Tonight we're turning to Exodus chapter 12. We want to read from the opening verse of the chapter here and read a few verses from God's precious word. Follow along please in your Bibles to Exodus chapter 12 and the verse number 1. The Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, This month shall be unto you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year to you. Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them Every man a lamb according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house. And if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next on to his house, take it according to the number of the souls. Every man according to his eating shall make your count for the lamb. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a meal of the first year. You shall take it out from the sheep or from the goats. And ye shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month, and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening. And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts, and on the upper doorposts of the houses wherein they shall eat it. And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleaven bread. And with bitter herbs they shall eat it. Eat it not of it raw, nor sodden, at all with water, but rose with fire, his head and his legs with the pertinence thereof. And ye shall let nothing of it remain until the morning. and that which remaineth of it until the morning ye shall burn with fire. And thus shall ye eat it with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand, and ye shall eat it in haste, it is the Lord's Passover. For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast, and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment, I am the Lord. And the blood shall be to you for a token upon your houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you when I smite the land of Egypt. Let's go down to verse 28. And the children of Israel went away, and did as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron, so did they. And it came to pass that at midnight the Lord smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne, unto the firstborn of the captive that was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of cattle. And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he, and all his servants, and all the Egyptians, And there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house where there was not one dead. Amen, and may God bless the reading of his precious word to our hearts. Let's seek the Lord together, please, in a word of prayer. If you're a Christian, then pray that God will help in the preaching of God's word. Let's pray. Our loving Father, we now come to the preaching of thy word, the central act of public worship. Lord, we do cry to thee for the help of thy spirit. We cry, Father, for those who meet with us via the internet this evening. Lord, grant, dear God, thy blessing to be upon them and the word. Lord, may it carry not only to the ear, but right into the heart and to the soul. We think of those who maybe join us who are not yet converted, who are not yet saved, who know not Christ as Redeemer. Lord, grant, dear Father, even the ministry tonight to be a blessing and to be the means to bring them to a saving knowledge of sins forgiven. Lord, come now and fill me with Thy Spirit and grant, Lord, blood-bought liberty, for I pray these my petitions in and through Jesus' precious name. Amen and amen. At our family worship service today, we have already considered a saint's response to a plague. And we did so from Numbers and the chapter number 16. Well, tonight I want us to look at the other side of the coin and preach a message that I've entitled, A Sinner's Response to a Plague. A sinner's response to a plague. And I want to use the details that we have here in Exodus chapter 12 for that gospel message. Let me take a little bit of time, a little moment to set the context in which the events here in Exodus chapter 12 take place. We are reminded here in Exodus 12 and the verse 40 that God's people, the Israelites, had been in Egypt for some 430 years. But now was the foreordained time for God to deliver his people from under the bitter and the hard bondage that they were in and they were experiencing at the hand of their oppressors. In order to accomplish that deliverance, God sends Moses and his brother Aaron to communicate to Egypt's Pharaoh God's clear directive, let my people go. Exodus chapter 5 and the verse 2 informs us of Pharaoh's initial response to that divine directive. Pharaoh said to Moses and Aaron, who is the Lord that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not the Lord, neither will I let Israel go. Soon, Pharaoh would realize and know exactly who God was. For God is about to inflict upon the Pharaoh and his nation nine plagues. First, God turned all the waters of Egypt into blood. Second, he caused innumerable frogs to come up over the whole land. Third, he would inflict both man and beast with swarms of lice. Fourth, he caused a multitude of flies then to invade the land. Fifth, he would send a grievous pestilence among the cattle. Sixth, he smote both man and beast with boils. Seventh, he would destroy the crops with storms of hail accompanied with thunder and lightning. Eighth, he desolated the whole land with swarms of locusts. Ninth, he spread a palpable darkness over all the land of Egypt. As each plague followed the next, We see, as it were, a ratcheting up of the severity of the judgments of God, a graduation from weak to strong, however each plague failed to break Pharaoh's stubborn heart. Now there were times that it seemed that Egypt's ruler offered some kind of repentance for his sins. On a number of occasions, after some of the plagues, he would testify that he had sinned. However, that repentance was soon found to be false and fake, because whenever the danger had passed, whenever the judgment had left it, Pharaoh just went back to live as he lived before in his sin. Let me say, Before I continue, I fear that this may happen within our nation. There will be those who will profess faith in Jesus Christ during these days of pandemic and as soon as the danger has passed. soon as the coronavirus has gone and becomes only but folklore and part of history, I fear that such people who profess faith in Jesus Christ in such days will go back to their old sinful ways of living. God knows it is my prayer that many will come to faith in Jesus Christ during these days. Can I just say that coming to Christ for salvation, sinner, is no guarantee that sickness or death will pass you by in these days. I want to remind you that if you're unconverted watching into this service, that the cost is still the same. God in days of pandemic hasn't marked down the cost. with regard to God's salvation. And sinner, you need to count the cost of becoming a believer in Jesus Christ. You see, to become a Christian, there will have to be a complete abandonment of your sin. A complete abandonment of your sin. Smoking. drinking, gambling, swearing, sexual immorality, drug taking, self-righteousness and whatever other sin you care to mention will all have to be forsaken from this moment onwards if you want to become a genuine Christian. Now can I say that that forsaking of sin is held by a number of things. First of all, it is helped by a new nature that takes possession of a person's life. When they repent of sin and believe the gospel, a new nature is given. A new nature with new desires and with new longings. that will enable the genuine convert to forsake their old way of living. Not only is there a new nature, but thank God there's a new resident. Because within the child of God, God the Holy Ghost comes to take up residency. And by His grace and by His help and by His enabling, thank God the Holy Spirit will enable the new convert to overcome the world and the flesh and the devil. And so if you're going to become a Christian in these days, the cost is still the same. There needs to be a repentance of sin, an abandoning of sin, a forsaking of sin entirely. Not only that, but there needs to be a resolve to follow after righteousness. That simply means that a Christian is to live a holy life, a life that is separate from the world. Can I remind all who are watching in tonight or listening to this broadcast or to this recording, I want to remind you that the road to heaven is still the narrow way. It's still the narrow way. God hasn't, in recent days, as it were, done a road-widening scheme. If you want to get to heaven, you're going to have to walk the narrow way. I want to remind you, if you're unconverted, unsaved, that God hasn't shifted the goalposts with regard to His salvation. Repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ are still the twin requirements that God expects from any sinner if they are to experience God's salvation. Failure to meet such requirements will result in a superficial religious experience that will not be a genuine work of God's saving grace. May God save the church from counterfeit conversions in these days. Conversions like Pharaoh, who for a moment of time repented, but when the judgment left it, his repentance was shown to be false and to be fake. Oh, may God spare the church from people like that in these days. Now initially, Pharaoh hardened his heart in the face of these plagues, showing how depraved and how deceitful the human heart really is. However, there came a moment in his life after the sixth plague of boils that God hardened the heart of Pharaoh. God hardened his heart. While each plague was designed to see to the release of God's chosen people, each plague of judgment was discarded by Pharaoh. And so therefore God had to employ one last plague to accomplish his purpose. And that brings us here to Exodus chapter 12. It would be the death of the firstborn that would see to the exodus of the children of Israel from the land of bondage from the land of Egypt. I believe the details within this chapter, there is within them a wonderful picture of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that being so, I want to highlight a number of gospel truths that we learn from this event in Israel's history in Exodus chapter 12. The first truth that we learn from this chapter, a truth that carries through to the gospel in our day, is man's condemnation. I see in this chapter man's condemnation. That is where, that is where we must always start when presenting the gospel of Jesus Christ. Because the good news is never really good news until we understand and we come to accept the bad news. Very simply, the bad news is that each and every one of us, born of Adam's A cursed race is born under sin's condemnation. We see the condemnation of the people here in the words of the verse 12 of the chapter. God declared, for I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast, and against all the gods of Egypt, where I execute judgment, for I am the Lord. Here we see God passing a sentence of death upon all the firstborn in the land of Egypt. All were condemned already. I want you to notice that God places no distinction here between the Hebrew or the Egyptian home, but rather each home is under the same condemnation. I will smite the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast. This is the condemnation of all men under the law. We are all under the curse according to the scripture. Descendants of death has already passed upon all men for that all have sinned. Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death has passed upon all men, for that all have sinned, the wages of our sin is death. And thus all, all who enter this world are found as they enter this world, and as they travel through this world, they find themselves in a state of condemnation. A state of condemnation. I remind Every person, every sinner, listening to my voice tonight, that you're found in such a state tonight. Tonight you're found in a state of condemnation. Now you may not sense that to be the case, but that matters not. Because Scripture tells us that we are condemned already. Lord Jesus Christ, there in John chapter 3 in the verse number 18, he said these words, He that believeth on him is not condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. There are a few questions that arise here with respect to our condemnation that is spoken of by the Savior in John chapter 3 in the verse 18 that certainly need answering tonight. We asked the first question, by whom? By whom is the sinner condemned? The answer quite simply is by God. He who is the righteous judge, the judge of all men. condemns all men, condemns all men. For what is the sinner condemned? Not merely for simply breaking the law of God, but for insulting the very lawgiver by refusing the pardon that was secured and procured by the death of his only begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. We ask the question, when is the sinner condemned? Sometime in the future? When death comes? Will I come into condemnation at that moment of time? No, the scripture reminds us here in John 3 verse 18 that we're condemned already. Now, this very moment, condemned already. To what is the sinner condemned? To hell. the blackness of darkness forever, to a place of separation from God, to the place that echoes with the sound of weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth, condemned to the lake that burneth with fire and with brimstone, condemned to everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power, with whom Is the sinner condemned? They are condemned with the devil and his angels as well as every unregenerate sinner. By what is the sinner condemned? By the law and by the gospel. We understand our condemnation by the law. We have broken God's law in letter and in spirit. We have violated God's moral law on a daily basis, every day. condemned by the law, we understand that to be so, but we're also condemned by the gospel. Sinner, you're condemned by the gospel, because up until this moment of time, you have rejected the gospel. You've rejected God's only remedy for sin. You've rejected and despised the Savior's blood. You've resisted the Holy Spirit and you've set yourself in opposition against God rather than submitting to himself, to you and his cause, to you in grace. And thereby the gospel condemns you tonight as well as God's law. Here were a people in Exodus chapter 12 and they were condemned to die. And so are we. Sin has brought us into this condemned state. Death is the just sentence passed upon each and every one of us for our sin. The soul that sinneth, it shall die. And so before I continue, let me ask you, do you understand the perilous state that you are in tonight? Are you aware that you're condemned already? I asked you, are you conscious that you're on death row, awaiting simply the day of execution? If not, may God arouse you. May God arouse you from your spiritual slumber. before it is forever too late. Coupled with the truth of man's condemnation in this chapter, there is a second truth that is presented, namely God's provision. God's provision. God's provision centered on a lamb. God's provision centered on look with me at the verse number three and we'll read down to verse 7 speak on to all the congregation of Israel saying in the tenth day of the month they shall take to them every man a lamb according to the house of their fathers a lamb for a house And if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next to the house take it according to the number of the souls. Every man according to his eating shall make your kind for a lamb. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a meal of the first year. You shall take it out from the sheep or from the goats, and you shall keep it up until the 14th day of the same month. The whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening, and they shall take of the blood and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the house wherein they shall eat it. This lamb in Exodus chapter 12 points, I believe, points us to another lamb, the lamb of God who taketh away the sin of the world, the Lord Jesus Christ. There are a number of well-known things we can say about both this Lamb and Heaven's Lamb, the Son of God. Can I say in the first place that it was a singular Lamb? A singular Lamb. God's instruction very clear in verse 3. A Lamb for a house. A Lamb for a house. Each household was to take a single lamb, not lambs, but one lamb, and prepare that lamb for the night whenever the death angel would pass through the land. One lamb was sufficient to meet the need of all within the household. In actual fact, in some homes and in some cases, the land was more than sufficient for that particular household. In order then that they were enabled to meet together in a number of homes or to use that land for a number of families if the number was too small. Never was the family need greater than the land. But thank God the land was always greater than the need. And what truth we learn there when it comes to God's Lamb, Heaven's Lamb. Thank God there is only one Lamb who meets the need of every sinner, the Lamb of God. This singular Lamb is God's special Lamb. His work for sinners is sufficient to put away sin. No sinner in their need will ever come to this Lamb, Heaven's Lamb, the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the world, and find that he is deficient in any way to meet the need, but rather, thank God, the sinner will find that he is able to save to the uttermost. All that come on to God by him, the sinner will find that he is all sufficient, that he is able, that he is willing, that he is ready to save to the uttermost. Not a sinner will find deficiency in this lamb, but rather the lamb meets the need. Christ will meet the need of every sinner. Yes, you the sinner. Whatever your sin has been, whatever you have done and wherever you have been, Thank God, the Lamb of God is able to meet you at the very point of your need tonight in the Gospel. He's able to save your soul. He's able to cleanse your sin. He's able to reconcile you to God. He's able to give you peace and joy and satisfaction in this life. And then, thank God, He's able to take you to glory. He's able to glorify you. He's able to take you through the gates of peril put your feet and plant them on those streets of gold and enable you to inherit, oh, inherit all of the joys and the blessings and the benefits of heaven itself. Thank God the lamb is sufficient. This lamb, this singular lamb, one lamb, just one lamb is sufficient to meet the need. And so it is with Heaven's Lamb that I point you to tonight, that John the Baptist's cry, my cry is, the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world. Look away from this preacher, look away from every believer that you know, look away from the priest, look away from the pastor, look away from every other religious leader in this world and fix your eyes, fix your eyes sinner on the Lamb. God's Lamb, the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world, let the eye of faith transfix itself upon the crucified one. Look away to the cross, look away to the Lamb, look away to Christ and be saved. Sinner, behold the Lamb of God, trust in His blood alone, to cleanse you and to pardon you Oh trust in his blood for the present complete and everlasting pardon off your sin look to the singular line heavens line God's line secondly this line was a spotless lamb. Verse 5, your lamb shall be without blemish, a meal of the first year. No spot, no flaw, no fault, no blemish, no imperfection was to be found in the lamb of Exodus chapter 12. We could say that the lamb had to be a perfect lamb. an unblemished lamb, a spotless lamb, and such a thought brings us swiftly to consider the Lord Jesus Christ who is the perfect Lamb of God. In Him there was no spot, no deficiency, no flaw, no fault, no imperfection. He is the spotless, sinless, harmless, flawless, crimeless Lamb of God. Christ is a lamb without blemish and without spot. He, according to Hebrews 9, verse 14, offered himself without spot unto God. His enemies would say that I find no fault in him, and such was required, such was necessary, if he was to be the saviour of sinners, because a sinful saviour is no saviour at all. The Savior of sinners had to be sinless in order that he, by the sacrifice of himself, could put away sin on behalf of the sinner. One preacher put it like this, as one floor vein in the marble fatally damages the sculpture's work. as one speck in the lens of microscope or telescope destroys its use and demands a recasting As one leak would inevitably submerge the noblest vessel that ever rode the waters, so one leak in the mighty ark of mercy, one flaw, one stain in the nature of the divine surety would have been fatal to his qualifications as a ransom for the guilty. This lamb needs to be sinless, the impeccable lamb. Christ is the impeccable Lamb. I ask you tonight, are you trusting in the spotless Lamb of God to save you from your sins? Oh, if that is not the case, may this night be the night that you would say these words, I lay my sins on Jesus, the spotless Lamb of God. He bears them all and frees us. from thee accursed Lord, I bring my guilt to Jesus, to wash my crimson stains, white in his blood most precious, till not a spot remains. Thirdly, this lamb was a separated lamb. In verse five and six, we see what was to happen to this singular spotless lamb. You shall take it out from the sheep or from the goats and you shall keep it up until the 14th day of the same month. This lamb was to be taken, separated from the flock, separated from the rest within the flock for four days. Some Bible commentators, like William Nicholson, see significance even in these four days. Nicholson remarked Jesus was crucified at the end of 4,000 years of the world, cut off in the fourth year of his ministry, and entered Jerusalem four days before his crucifixion, and precisely at the time of the Passover. In the council of eternity past, God the Son was separated for the great task of redeeming a people for and unto himself. And then in the fullness of time, God sent forth his Son, God's Lamb came forth, made like unto his brethren, yet he remains holy, harmless, undefiled. Listen to these words, separate from sinners. That separation from sin and sinners made him the only adequate and suitable Savior for sinners. By that perfect life, by that death and resurrection, the Lord Jesus Christ secured eternal redemption for us. Sinner, Christ did for you what you could never do. He lived a perfectly holy life. He obeyed entirely and completely the law of God. He died a satisfactory death and rose again from the dead on your behalf. All you are to do to secure salvation then is to turn from your sin and to trust in that particular work. Will you do that even tonight? Fourthly, this lamb was a slain lamb. Look at the end of verse six and into verse seven. Speaking of the lamb, God gave the following instructions. The whole assembly of the congregation shall kill it in the evening. They shall take of the blood and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door posts of the houses wherein they shall eat it. The cross. The cross of Jesus Christ. is very much to the fore in these very details. Note the lamb was to be sacrificed before the whole assembly. Just so Christ was crucified, crucified publicly, made a spectacle to God, to man and to angels. He was slain in the evening. Christ was sacrificed in the evening of the day at the ninth hour at 3 p.m. We're told that he gave up the ghost. What about the blood of this lamb? Well, we're told that it was to be gathered up, taken up, and then applied by the individual within the home, applied to the side posts and to the door lintel of the home as a visible indication of the family's trust in God's devised means of salvation. Just so. The blood of Jesus Christ must be applied to our hearts and sprinkled on our consciences. We are to be saved from our sins. I asked you this evening, has there been a saving application of Jesus' blood to your conscience and heart? I wonder tonight how many preachers in this nation and across this world will they mention the blood of Christ? I tell you that it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul. It is the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, that cleanseth us from all sin. A bloodless gospel is no gospel. But all the blood of Jesus. The hymn writer asked the question, what can wash away my sin? Nothing. Nothing. But the blood of Jesus, nothing but His blood, can wash that sin stained. It is the blood of Christ that cleanses sin away, and nothing but the blood. One preacher said, if you were to wash your soul in the Atlantic Ocean, Yet the crimson spots of your transgression would still remain, but plunge into the fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel's veins, and in an instant you are whiter than snow. Every speck, every spot, every stain of sin is gone and gone forever. Hallelujah for the blood, the blood of Jesus Christ. Sinner, plunge beneath the fountain filled with Emmanuel's blood. Wash and be clean. Cleanse your heart. Fifthly, this lamb was a substitutionary lamb. That slain lamb on Passover night became the substitute for the firstborn within the home. Because the Lamb died, the firstborn was spared from death. So the slain Lamb of God becomes the substitute for all who come to trust in Him. He takes my place. He dies in my stead. He bears the wrath of God for my sin. He bears them as the great sin bearer. He becomes my substitute. In Germany, many years ago, a man was working high up on the steeple of the church, and all of a sudden he lost his footing and fell headlong to the ground. However, grazing on the grass within the churchyard, there was a lamb The body of the man fell on the lamb, and thus his fall was broken. Inevitably, the lamb perished because of the man's fall upon it. But the man lived. The man was saved. As a token of his gratitude, he would carve on one of the stones over the doorway of the church the figure of a lamb. It would be a timely reminder every time that he would enter the church that the lamb died in my place. The lamb died in my stead. So God's holy lamb died in our place. He died for me, for which I am everlastingly grateful for. I ask you tonight, are you able to say Christ loved me, gave himself for me, because that's the testimony of every Christian. Another of infinite worth has taken my place, has died in my stead, and therefore I live. Oh, that you would come and place your trust in the substitutionary land. We thought about man's condemnation from Exodus 12. We thought about God's provision From this event in Exodus 12, let me close quickly by thinking with you about the people's decision. The people's decision. God gives very clear, concise instructions to the people here in Exodus chapter 12 via Moses and Aaron. They knew exactly what they had to do if they were to escape death's angel. But knowing that intellectually was not enough. Rather a decision had to be made with the information that had been given to them by God's messengers. There would either be the appropriation of God's way of salvation. What I mean by that is that there would be an acceptance of this means of salvation When the lamb was selected, separated and slain and the blood applied to the home, that act indicated that all in that home were trusting in and sheltering under the blood of the lamb. The blood on the doorposts and the lintels signified that the counsel of God had been taken to heart and then obeyed. It had moved from a simple acceptance of this instruction intellectually, and it had moved to the actual applying of that which had been taught, that which had been conveyed and communicated to the people. There was the slaying of the lamb, the application of the blood. It indicated that they were assenting to this way of salvation. This is my hope. This is my trust, this is my confidence. I have taken to heart the council and this blood on the doorposts and on the lintel indicates that I believe the word and I believe the council. There was either the appropriation or there was the rejection of God's way of salvation. To reject This God devised way of rescue meant that the angel of death would have crossed the threshold of that home and would have laid hold of the firstborn within that home. Rejection of the lamb would lead to death. Those were the only two options. Either an appropriation of this way of salvation or a rejection of this way of salvation. That's the only options. Those are the only choices. Just who? No other options. No straddling the fence. No, there was a decision that had to be made. You would think, you would think that it was a no-brainer, as we would say. Who in their stupidity would have failed to reveal themselves of the way of salvation in Exodus chapter 12. Who in their stupidity would have rejected the way of salvation? And yet I speak to men and women who are yet not saved. The gospel has come repeatedly to you Creatures and family members have exhorted you to shelter under the blood of Christ, and still you're not saved. Oh, that tonight you would walk that road of repentance, repenting of your sin, hiding yourself in the wounds of Calvary. That's the only safe place to escape eternal death, is by saving union with Heaven's Lamb, God's Lamb. Permit me quickly to bring a final thought. Notice in verse number three that it speaks of a lamb. Then in verse number four it speaks of the lamb. Then in verse five it speaks of your lamb. This change from a lamb to the lamb to your lamb illustrates what happens. in the work of regeneration. It illustrates what happens when salvation is wrought in the heart. You see, prior to salvation, Jesus Christ is simply a lamb. That's all he is. However, when the Spirit of God begins to illuminate the mind and the heart of the sinner, the sinner comes to appreciate something about Jesus Christ. He's not only a lamb, but he is the lamb. He is the lamb. And yet it is only when faith is personally exercised by the sinner Christ is trusted in for salvation, that the lamb becomes your lamb. Your lamb. Your lamb, sinner. As I close, let me ask you, is he your lamb? Have you trusted in him for salvation? Are you depending upon him for time and eternity? If not, why not bow your heart before God just now, confess your sin to him, and ask him to be your Lord and Savior? The promise says that whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Israel was saved. that night because of the Lamb. And thank God you will be eternally saved, saved from eternal death, the second death, when you trust in Heaven's Lamb. Will you come to Him? Will you be saved? Will you be reconciled to God? If you need help or further spiritual counsel in this matter, let me encourage you to make contact with us either via Facebook Messenger or email us at portlanonefpc athotmeal.co.uk or telephone 02825 821 765. I'll be glad to speak with you, be glad to communicate with you about these things. Death was coming in this chapter, in Exodus chapter 12. But all those who sheltered under the blood of the Lamb, thank God, were spared death and were brought into a state of freedom. and deliverance. May God bring you to such a position and into such a state. May you, the sinner, respond by seeking after the Lamb. Let's bow our heads in prayer. Loving Father and our gracious God, we leave this meeting in thy care and in thy hand. Bless the word as it has been preached. We pray for thy people to pray much over it, and grant dear God even those who have joined us unsaved. May dear Father, O God, this night be the night that they come to trust in the Lamb who for sinners was slain. May they cry in the words of the hymn writer, just as I am, without one plea, that thy blood was shed for me. And that thou bid'st me come to thee, O Lamb of God, I come. May there be a coming to Christ. Answer prayer and bless thy word. We offer prayer in and through Jesus' precious name. Amen. Thank you for watching. May the Lord bless you. God the Son was separated from the great task of redeeming a people for a God to Himself. And then, in the fullness of time, God sent forth His Son. God's land came forth. But across the threshold, that was Israel gone. I want to remind you that the road to heaven is still the narrow way. It's still the narrow way. God has it.