Don't waste the Lamb
Your House is too little for the Lamb
Don’t Waste The Lamb!
Some people hate leftovers. In the case of some of the food we will eat in a little while, it really is better after it has set for a day. I was so thankful that Bro. Will was willing to bring me the church roaster last night even though he was coming to town this morning. He knows – gumbo is better the second day.
Until you try it yourself, you don’t appreciate the expertise and timing of cooks in the kitchen who can make everything delicious and hot at the same time. Advance planning is also needed to make sure that you have enough for everyone, and that you don’t prepare so much food that it spoils before it can all be eaten.
With this in mind, we can appreciate God’s advice when He spoke to Moses in Exodus 12:1-4 - And the LORD spoke unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, 2 This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you. 3 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: 4 And if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbour next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls; every man according to his eating shall make your count for the lamb.
Good, practical non-wasteful – but this is no ordinary meal, no ordinary lamb.
God was giving the Israelites an object lesson to help them understand how one day He would be the “lamb that takes away the sins – not just of an individual or a family, but of the whole world!”
In John 1:29 and 35, John publicly identified Jesus as “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” Elsewhere in the New Testament Jesus is called a lamb (Acts 8:32; 1 Pet. 1:19; Rev. 5:6). The Book of Revelation speaks of Jesus as a lamb 28 times. John’s reference to Jesus as the Lamb of God calls to mind the Old Testament sacrificial system. In the sacrifice God accepted the blood of animals as the means of atonement for sin, and to help them relate to how one day there would be no more need for sacrifice.
Hebrews 9:13 - For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: 14 How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without fault to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
We will be looking at some of the details of the Passover process, but the message I want to clearly establish is that the lamb is too big for your house.
There had been a time of provision when God provided manna from heaven that they were instructed to gather no more than they needed for the day. When they tried to store some up, it rotted. But when God laid out His plan for deliverance and redemption, He made it clear that there was a procedure to follow when you had more than enough.
Maybe there were some families where there was just enough to go around. Since there was no instruction for what you were supposed to do if you needed another lamb, there must not have been a need. Somehow I feel that in most cases, there was more than enough to go around. I realize that there are lives and families where the blood of Jesus just barely covers; where there is just enough grace to make it – but here tonight we realize that there is more than we need.
No, there is no more sacrifice for sins needed. Jesus paid it all!
But what Jesus did is not enough! It has to be applied – obey His Word
When Is the Blood Applied?
Since the new birth is a single, indivisible whole, we believe that the blood of Christ applies throughout the process. The blood is not a magical substance to be daubed on our souls. When the Bible speaks of the blood of Jesus, it simply means Christ’s substitutionary death that satisfied God’s justice and made God’s mercy available to us. The blood of Jesus purchases our salvation. Without Christ’s atonement we could not seek God, could not repent effectively, could not receive remission of sins at water baptism, nor could we receive the Holy Ghost.
In other words, the substitutionary death of Jesus makes repentance, water baptism, and the Spirit baptism both
available and effective.
Using the terminology of the blood, the blood is applied to our hearts at the first hearing of the gospel to enable us to seek God, at repentance to enable us to turn from sin to God, at water baptism to remit sin, and at the Spirit baptism to enable us to receive God’s Spirit.
After the new birth, we continue to live an overcoming, holy life by the power of the blood. Thus, the blood is applied not just at one point in time, but throughout the salvation process, from the first hearing of the Word until the return of Christ for His church.
There is too much lamb around here. We need to apply it to our lives, and then share it!
*When you get on a plane, there is an interesting process that takes place. The stewardess goes over all the emergency procedure – you know, put your seat belt on – don’t take your seat belt off until the captain turns off the seat belt sign. In the event of a loss of cabin pressure, air masks will drop from the ceiling. EVEN THOUGH YOU MAY BE SEATED NEXT TO SMALL CHILDREN OR OTHERS THAT CAN’T HELP THEMSELVES – THEY STRESS THAT YOU MUST TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF FIRST!
Sacrifice –
Application –
Sharing – How can we share Christ’s sacrifice
Find a neighbor – there is enough; share the Lamb – make sure they know
The principle of sharing – When we open our hands to give, it puts us in position to receive. When we try to hoard what we have, we cut off the supply line by which God blesses us.
Sacrifice without application -
Sharing without a sacrifice – good works alone are not good
Joshua 24:15 - And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.
Matthew 26:26,27 I Cor. 11:23-26
John 13:1-15 - Footwashing