Sermon Tone Analysis

We’re taking things out of order today, and here’s why: instead of preaching about the Passover and all its regulations and prescriptions and then doing it again in a couple of weeks when we come to these verses, we’re going to do it all at once.

Like last week, the sermon is going to lead right into observing communion.

I thought the connection was pretty obvious last week, but apparently didn’t do my job very well.

I had a few people ask why we took communion at the end of the service, even though I’d been preaching for 25 minutes about the connections between Passover and Communion.

So, this week, let me make it very, very clear: there’s a major connection between Passover and the Lord’s Supper; communion (which we celebrate today) parallels Passover in several significant ways.

We’re not looking at Passover just for the sake of learning about Passover and its regulations.

We’re looking to see what it has in common with communion, what it has for us.

I’m going to pause throughout the sermon and draw our attention to the connections and parallels.

You’re intelligent, bible-reading, Jesus-people; you’ll pick up on several parallels, several connections, no doubt.

Last week, we studied Exodus 12:14-28 (“A Lasting Ordinance”) and saw the need for the Israelites to celebrate, commemorate, and observe the Lord’s Passover every year.

They were to do this in some specific ways; the Lord gave to them detailed instructions.

And, now, a little later in Exodus 12 and still more in Exodus 13, the Lord gives to Moses more regulations.

If you’re anything like me, you’re thinking, “More regulations?

You’ve got to be kidding me!”

>We know, though, that what the Lord does, the instructions He gives, the regulations—these are for a purpose; they are not for nothing; they are important and instructive.

If you have your Bible (and I hope you do), please turn with me to Exodus 12.

If you are able and willing, please stand with me for the reading of God’s Holy Word.

May the Lord add His blessing to the reading of His Holy Word!

__________________________

As I was reading through Exodus in preparation for this series through Exodus, these verses struck me; they hit me kind of funny.

I get the point, I think, but these verses rubbed me the wrong way.

It all seems to be a bit much, a little exclusive.

“No foreigner, no temporary resident, no hired worker, no uncircumcised male” may eat the Passover meal.

Feels a little country club-ish, to me.

It’s exclusive.

This—Passover—was a meal to share with God’s people and only God’s people.

The Lord said to Moses:

The Israelites needed to hold a festival to the Lord; the entire community was to gather together for worship.

If anyone refused to participate, he/she was cut off from Israel.

It was important—vitally important—for all God’s people to celebrate Passover, and to celebrate it together; together, because they were all rescued together.

Since salvation was something they shared, it was only right for them to join together for the feast that praised God for the grace they had all received.

*This should trigger something in us; this is an obvious parallel to communion.

We (as people who belong to God through faith in Jesus Christ) share a common salvation.

It’s only right for us to gather together for the feast that praises God for the grace that we’ve received.

Together.

That’s a crucial idea.

Togetherness explains why it is absolutely vital for Christians to be faithful in attending and being part of public worship.

It’s good to worship God in private.

I would encourage you to have some regular routine of personal prayer, worship, and Bible study.

But we cannot be Christians on our own.

It’s the very essence of Christianity that we worship God together, praising Him for the salvation we share in Christ.

A Christian who decides it’s not necessary to attend church is in grave spiritual danger.

Together, as the people of God, the Israelites were to partake in the Passover meal.

Passover was a meal for all God’s people to share.

Everyone was included—every man, woman, and child and Israel.

However, some people were excluded.

This is the part that gets to me a little.

To be blunt, when it came to the Passover, God discriminated.

Passover was for His people and for His people only.

As I was studying this, I thought to myself: “Who else would want to eat this meal with the Israelites?

Who else was even with them?”

This was an actual issue they had to deal with, because the Israelites were not the only ones who left Egypt.

The Bible says:

The good ol’ King James Version calls the group who left Egypt a “mixed multitude,” meaning that they came from a variety of ethnic backgrounds.

Some of them might have been Egyptians who feared the Lord Yahweh, the God of Israel.

Others in the “mixed multitude” likely came from other tribes—fellow slaves who seized their opportunity to escape when they saw the Israelites walking into the desert.

Begs the question: were the non-Israelites allowed to take part in the Passover?

The basic answer was “No, sir.”

Passover was exclusive.

It was only for the people of God, not for outsiders.

Foreigners and migrant workers were not allowed to keep the feast.

The reason?

They were not members of the covenant community.

They were not believers.

These outsiders had not yet put their faith in the God of Israel, so they had no right to the Passover meal.

It was inappropriate for them to receive the sign of salvation because they had not trusted, and were not trusting in the blood of the lamb.

Passover was exclusive—by nature and by intention.

The same is true with the Lord’s Supper (communion).

The Lord’s Supper is not for everyone.

It’s only for those who have come to faith in Jesus.

This is what the Bible teaches:

At the very least, these verses mean that Communion is not for those who do not know Christ.

Communion is for Christians.

It is inappropriate and even dangerous to participate in Communion without having received Jesus Christ as Lord.

It’s necessary, then, for me as elder and preacher to warn people not to participate in communion if they don’t know Jesus.

I’ve probably been too lax in this over the years.

I make a point to tell people that communion is for all those who belong to God through faith in Jesus; that this is for Jesus-people.

But I’m probably not direct enough in telling people not to partake if they haven’t trusted in Jesus for themselves.

P.G.

Ryken: “This is for the people of God.

This is for those, and only those, who have confessed their sins, who have publically professed their faith in Jesus alone for their salvation, and who remain members in good standing of a gospel-preaching church.”

Old Scottish Presbyterians called the practice of keeping communion to the Lord’s people “fencing the table” (to put a metaphorical fence around the table, not the fencing with swords and facemasks, though that sounds more interesting).

The purpose of giving such a warning is not to keep people away from Christ, but to make it clear that the only way to receive salvation is by coming to Him in faith.

We cannot have communion with Christ unless we have faith in His blood.

By drawing a line between those who are inside and those who are outside the church, it helps people who have not yet made a commitment to Christ to recognize that they are not yet saved.

The exclusivity of communion is something we have to take seriously.

Right there in our bulletin each week it says we observe “open communion” and that “whether you partake is a matter between you and the Lord.”

Some churches allow only their members to partake.

Others limit it to their own denomination (i.e.

“If you’re a Baptist, you can take our communion.”

“If you’re an Independent Christian Church Christian, you’re welcome).

We’re not going to do that; I don’t see any Biblical basis for that.

Anyone who trusts in Jesus alone for their salvation is welcome to partake here; those who don’t know or trust Jesus should refrain.

There is one way to be saved—to come to God in faith.

In the time of Moses, one joined the covenant community by faith and followed their profession of faith by receiving the sign of circumcision.

Once they were circumcised, whether Israelite or not, they were eligible to share in the Passover meal.

>It’s not mentioned explicitly in the text, but the first of the Passover regulations is, very clearly, that this is a meal exclusively for those who have faith.

Regulation #1: Faith in the Lord

God provided a way for outsiders to come into His family and receive His saving grace.

God has always offered salvation to every kind of person, no matter the race or ethnicity.

As such, He provides a way for the non-Israelites who were part of the exodus from Egypt to be part of His people.