April 3, Corinthians 5:1-8 Pastor Larry Adams Remember our Passover Lamb

Transcription

1 April 3, Corinthians 5:1-8 Pastor Larry Adams Remember our Passover Lamb Hi Everyone. My name is Larry Adams and I want to take a moment to thank you for downloading the podcast of this message. At Golden Hills we are committed to exalting Jesus and preaching the Word. Your downloading of this message is a great encouragement to us, as we know that our ministry is going out to spread God s Word all over the world. We want you to know, too, that in no way do we intend these messages to be a replacement for your involvement in a good local church, where, sitting under the authority of pastors and other teachers, you can learn to worship, grow and serve and be engaged with a body of believers where you can grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. We realize also, that some of you may be in areas of the world where there is no local church. Therefore, we hope these messages you are using, to gather with your family or other believers, or people from the community that it will be a great encouragement to you, as you hear God speak into your life, helping you to become disciples who are true, reproducing followers of Jesus Christ. If you have your Bible today, I d like you to turn with me to 1 Corinthians chapter 5. Communion time, we spend a concerted time dealing with the sacrifice of Jesus. Today is no different. In 1 Corinthians 5, Paul the apostle is writing to a church he dearly loved. It was a good church, a vibrant church, but they were a church that was becoming proud over their tolerance, much like what s happening in the world today. Tolerance over sin that should be confronted, because sin destroys everything it touches and Paul said, look I m glad you are forgiving and compassionate, but you are allowing things in your body. You re not helping them, and it s going to spread like yeast throughout your whole church. So he writes this in 1 Corinthians 5, about a man who is carrying on an immoral relationship with his father s wife (apparently, his stepmom), and in so doing, Paul calls them back to remember who they were, and why they were cleansed of sin through Christ the Passover Lamb, the one we are remembering today in Communion. Here s how Paul set the context for them in 1 Cor 5:1-8 It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that even pagans do not tolerate: A man is sleeping with his father s wife. 2 And you are proud! Shouldn t you rather have gone into mourning and have put out of your fellowship the man who has been doing this? 3 For my part, even though I am not physically present, I am with you in spirit. As one who is present with you in this way, I have already passed judgment in the name of our Lord Jesus on the one who has been doing this. 4 So when you are assembled and I am with you in spirit, and the power of our Lord Jesus is present, 5 hand this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord. 6 Your boasting is not good. Don t you know that a little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough? 7 Get rid of the old yeast, so that you may be a new unleavened batch as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. 8 Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old bread leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

2 Let s pray together: Father, these words seem so foreign in our politically correct world today. We re so afraid of judging anything, that we allow sin to continue without realizing it s killing the people who are involved in it, and it can spread like a cancer and a yeast (You said) throughout an entire body, and eventually, an entire nation. We re not judgmental if we re calling people to account for their good and for the good of the body, and for the sake of Your name. The reason we do this is, we realized that as Christians, we re not perfect, but we are saved, saved from sin, covered with the blood of the Passover Lamb, Jesus Christ Himself. Lord, as we come to this table today, as we come to remember You and Your sacrifice, help us to remember that You are our Passover Lamb, and by Your blood, we are forgiven. We thank You for all that You ll show us today. In Jesus name, Amen. It is a festival that the Jews in Jerusalem and around the world, actually, have been celebrating for more than 3500 years. It is the Passover. It s a time for them to remember the night of their deliverance from Egyptian bondage, by God s mighty hand. Because of some very thoughtful and generous friends, Karla and I were able to be in Jerusalem during a Passover season a few years ago. I can tell you, it is something the Jews there take very seriously. As the Passover approached, there were signs beginning to appear in the lobby of our hotel, asking us to purge all yeast from our hotel. So they asked us, be sure you don t bring in breads or pastries or products containing yeast; don t have it in your rooms; please don t have it in your luggage; please don t have it anywhere. Purge everything. So the only bread we ate that week was this unleavened, like cracker-type stuff. It s really good if you put enough glop on it, but crackers after a while get old. But there was no yeast. All bread products served during Passover are unleavened. Now there are two reasons for this. First, the reminder that the Israelites left Egypt that night under Moses, in such haste they didn t have time to put yeast in their bread to carry it with them. Secondly, yeast is also a symbol for sin, so just as yeast works through a whole batch of dough, so sin works through a people and a church and a nation. That s why they were called to purge the sin from their midst, which is why when the apostle Paul called the Corinthian church to remove sin from their church, he referred to removing yeast as they had done for the Passover. Because we are to keep the festival, he said, but it s not just ritual, this festival is kept by the way we live. So, he said (1 Cor 5:6-8): 6 Your boasting is not good. Don t you know that a little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough? 7 Get rid of the old yeast, so that you may be a new unleavened batch as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. 8 Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old bread leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. All this, because Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed. People, that s what we re remembering today in Communion. Communion comes out of that Jewish Passover festival. Communion, like the Passover, is a memorial meal. Jesus said, Do this as often as you eat it, in remembrance of Me. Now, eating this meal will not forgive your sins. It won t earn you any grace or get you into heaven. But eating it does remind us of the sacrifice of the one who brings our forgiveness. It is a meal, like the Passover, that was to focus our attention on the need for a sacrifice, our need to be cleansed. Jesus is that sacrifice. Jews can celebrate the Passover, but if they fail to recognize Christ as the Passover Lamb, then their Passover continues to just be ritual. Christians can observe Communion, but if we don t recognize Christ is our Passover Lamb in the Communion, then our Communion is just ritual. Paul called the Christians at Corinth to live like bread with no yeast a new life, cleansed of sin. Purge the sin from your lives, he said, And from your church, before it spreads. (1 Cor 5:7): 7 Get rid of the old yeast, so that you may be a new unleavened batch as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.

3 Communion reminds us that Jesus is our Passover Lamb. How is this so? By way of His sacrifice. Jesus, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed. That s why he said (1 Cor 5:7), 7 Get rid of the old yeast, so that you may be a new unleavened batch as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Many of you are familiar with the name John Muir, naturalist, adventurer, explorer. Many times, people equate John Muir s work with the work he did in the American West, particularly in California. But many aren t aware that he also spent concerted time exploring Alaska. In fact in 1879, he wrote a book about his experiences there called Travels in Alaska. It was in that book, that he wrote about an encounter he had with two Indian tribes. One called the Thilinkit Indians, also known as the Stikine Indians, and the Sitka tribe. They had been warring for years. Yet, when Muir encountered them, they told him a story about why they had responded to the gospel when missionaries came to share with them the good news of Jesus Christ. When Muir wrote in his book, he put it like this: The Thilinkit tribe, or the Stikine Indian, gave a hearty welcome to Christian missionaries, in particular they were quick to accept the doctrine of atonement, because they themselves practice it. Although to many of the civilized whites there, it is a stumbling block, and an offense. As an example of their own doctrine of atonement, they told Mr. Young and me (Muir s travelling companion), that 20 or 30 years ago, prior to Muir s coming and the missionaries arriving, they were in a fight with the Sitka tribe. Great fighters, pretty evenly matched. After fighting all summer in a sultry, squabbling way, fighting now under cover, now in the open, watching for every chance for a shot, none of the women dared to venture to the salmon streams or berry fields to procure their winter stock of food. At this crisis, one of the Stikine chiefs came out of his blockhouse fort, into an open space midway between their fortified camps. He shouted that he wished to speak to the leader of the Sitkas. When the Sitka chief appeared, he said, My people are hungry. They dare not go to the salmon streams or berry fields for winter supplies, and if this war goes on much longer, most of my people will die of hunger this winter. We have fought long enough, let us make peace. You brave Sitka warriors go home and we will go home. We will all set out to dry salmon and berries before it s too late. The Sitka chief replied, You may well say, Let s stop fighting, when you have had the best of it. You have killed ten more of my tribe than we have killed of yours. So give us ten Stikine men to balance our blood account, then, and not until then, will we make peace and go home. Very well, replied the Stikine chief. You know my rank. You know that I am worth ten common men and more. Take me and make peace. This noble offer was promptly accepted. The Stikine chief stepped forward, and the Sitka tribe shot him down, dead in front of both tribes. Peace was thus established [Muir wrote], and all made haste to their homes and ordinary work. That chief literally gave himself as a sacrifice for his people. He died that they might live. Therefore, when missionaries preached the doctrine of atonement, explaining that when all mankind had gone astray, had broken God s laws and deserved to die, God s Son came forward and, like the Stikine chief, offered Himself as a sacrifice to heal the curse of God s wrath and set all the people of the world free. When they heard that, the doctrine was readily accepted. Yes, your words are good, they said, The Son of God, the Chief of Chiefs, the Maker of the World must be worth more than all mankind put together. Therefore, when His blood was shed, the salvation of the world was made sure.

4 People, that s what Jesus has done for us. That s the good news message that people all over the world are hearing and receiving, when they understand their sin and what it does. The apostle John once described it like this (1 John 2:1-2) My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 2 He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world. 1 John 4:9-10 : 9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. You see, John used that word a lot, atoning sacrifice. It s the word propitiation. It s a very important word. It means God s wrath has to be poured out against sin, whether in my life or yours, there is no exception. But the sacrifice of Jesus propitiated that, meaning it expiated God s wrath. It satisfied God s wrath and justice, so that God poured His wrath out on Jesus on the cross, so He doesn t have to pour it out on us. That s what happened between those two tribes. The wrath and anger that existed between those two sides was expiated, or propitiated when the chief came forward and offered his life in their place to settle the blood account. Peace ensued. You and I have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. That s the sacrifice we re remembering in Communion. You see, Paul told the Corinthian believers that we were to live morally upright lives in sincerity and truth, because Christ our Passover Lamb has been sacrificed. By His blood, we have been saved. We can t see sin the same way any more. We can t let it remain in our lives as though we have not been forgiven. We can t let sin keep destroying others when they are engaged in it and don t see the error of their wrong. If we don t deal with it, he said it will be like a yeast that spreads. So live an unleavened life, he said, of sincerity and truth, not wickedness and malice. He called them back to remember the Passover night. Now, many of these people in Corinth were not Jews, they were Gentiles. But just like so many of them, we who are Gentiles, and Jewish Christians, need to remember our heritage, so Paul called them back to remember. Listen to how Moses recounted the night of the Exodus (Exodus 12:21-29) 21 Then Moses summoned all the elders of Israel and said to them, Go at once and select the animals for your families and slaughter the Passover lamb. 22 Take a bunch of hyssop [a branch they used like a paint brush], dip it into the blood in the basin and put some of the blood on the top and on both sides of the doorframe. None of you shall go out of the door of your house until morning. 23 When the LORD goes through the land to strike down the Egyptians, he will see the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe and will pass over that doorway, and he will not permit the destroyer to enter your houses and strike you down. 24 Obey these instructions as a lasting ordinance for you and your descendants. 25 When you enter the land that the LORD will give you as he promised, observe this ceremony. 26 And when your children ask you, What does this ceremony mean to you? 27 then tell them, It is the Passover sacrifice to the LORD, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt and spared our homes when he struck down the Egyptians. Then the people bowed down and worshiped. 28 The Israelites did just what the LORD commanded Moses and Aaron.

5 29 At midnight the LORD struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sat on the throne, to the firstborn of the prisoner, who was in the dungeon, and the firstborn of all the livestock as well. It must have been one of the most terrifying and liberating nights in history! Egypt had already been devastated by the prior nine plagues, which were poured out against all the false gods of Egypt. God thrashed everyone and showed their bankruptcy. But still, the people would not repent. So God said, I m going to bring the worst plague of all. They penalty for sin is death. The firstborn are going to die. There is only one way to be saved: you must take a lamb, a spotless lamb, and shed its blood. Take the blood and put it over the door of your house, then go inside and don t come out until morning. If you have the faith to believe me and obey God, and take that blood of the Passover and put it over your door, then when the Destroyer comes, I will see the blood, and by faith, you who are under the blood will have death pass you over. That s exactly what happened that night. Exodus 12:29-30: 29 At midnight the LORD struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sat on the throne, to the firstborn of the prisoner, who was in the dungeon, and the firstborn of all the livestock as well. 30 Pharaoh and all his officials and all the Egyptians got up during the night, and there was loud wailing in Egypt, for there was not a house without someone dead. The only houses that were spared that night were amongst the people of Israel who believed God and took the blood and by faith, came under that blood. Hebrew and Egyptian alike, slave and free, male and female, young and old. The Bible tells us there were many Egyptians who believed as well after what they had seen, and they came to the homes of the Hebrews and entered in, and death passed them over as well. Because all who come under the blood will be saved. It is the Passover. Just shy of three weeks from how, on April 22 this year, Jews all over the world will be gathering at twilight, at sundown, to celebrate the Passover again. Our Easter schedule is determined on a totally different schedule than the Passover. The Passover is always the fourteenth of Nisan, on the Jewish calendar. The fourteenth day of the first months of their new year. At sundown, the lambs were to be slaughtered. But it s a needless sacrifice any more, because all of those Passovers pointed to the need for an ultimate sacrifice: Jesus Christ has been sacrificed as our Passover Lamb. The question is: have we by faith come under His blood because we believe God? Or are we still outside, slaves to our trespasses and sins? Remember, it was during the Passover that Jesus instituted the Communion memorial, reminding all who have believed that for those who are under His blood, death has passed them over. Remember Luke 22:7 7 Then came the day of Unleavened Bread on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. And Luke 22:14-20: 14 When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table. 15 And he said to them, I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. 16 For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God. 17 After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, Take this and divide it among you. 18 For I tell you I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes. 19 And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.

6 20 In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you. You see, that night was to be the last Passover ever observed. Now it would move to its fulfillment. The next day, Jesus was to die on a cross, pouring out His blood and offering His body for the sins of the world. So that now, we would gather at a table like this one, and we would remember our Passover sacrifice. In that remembrance, it would change the way we live. We would not live like the old yeast, but be a new unleavened batch and we would live as the new bread, indwelt by Christ and filled with Him who had no sin. Jesus was not only our sacrifice, but He was the priest who offered it. The sacrifice is complete. There is no need any more for any more sacrifices. That s what the writer of Hebrews meant (9:26-28) when he said: 26 Otherwise Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But he has appeared once for all at the culmination of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27 Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, 28 so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him. You see, that s why in Communion we eat this bread and drink this cup until the Lord comes. Why do we need a sacrifice for death to pass us over? Paul told the Romans (3:23), for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. All of us. We re all guilty. Romans 6:23, For the wages of sin is death [separation from God], but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. That s why John wrote (John 3:16) For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. Christ, our Passover Lamb, had been sacrificed. In Communion, like Passover, we are reminded that we are saved by faith, under the blood of another. Many of you may have read things by Ravi Zacharias, heard him on the radio, read some of his books, seen him on television. In 2010, he wrote a book called Has Christianity Failed You? In that book, he recounted the time on November 6, 2008, when a gang of terrorists stormed the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel in Mumbai, India. You may remember the carnage left by those terrorists. 200 people dead. Many, many people injured. A reported interviewed a guest who had been at the hotel dining room for dinner that night where everyone was mowed down by these terrorists. The guest described how he and his friends were eating dinner when they heard gunshots. Someone grabbed him and pulled him under the table. The assassins came striding through the restaurant, shooting a will until everyone, or so they thought, had been killed. But miraculously, this man survived, unhurt. When the interviewer asked the guest how he had lived when everyone else at his table had been killed, he said, I suppose it s because I was covered in the blood of another. Zacharias went on to say, This is the perfect metaphor of God s gift through Jesus Christ to each one of us. He paid the penalty for our sin. Because we are covered in the blood of the sacrifice, we may have eternal life. Are you covered by the blood of Jesus? If you re not, you are still dead in your trespasses and sins. You re in the house of death like so many in Egypt that night who did not come under the blood. If you have believed the gospel, the good news that Jesus Christ died for our sins on a cross, was buried in a

7 tomb, rose again the third day and He is alive, offering hope, forgiveness and eternal life to those who believe who believe God and come under His blood. If you believe that, then death will pass you over, in fact it already has. Death may claim your body, but it will never be able to touch you. Because by grace we are saved through faith, and this not of ourselves, it is the gift of God, not by works, so no one can boast. Death will pass you over. Paul told the Corinthians, live a life set free from the yeast of sin. You ve been delivered from that bondage. Live a life, not of malice and wickedness, live the unleavened life of Christ in you, the bread of sincerity and truth. Sin killed Jesus. It destroys everything it touches. How can you live in it any more? (1 Corinthians 5:6-8) 6 Your boasting is not good. Don t you know that a little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough? 7 Get rid of the old yeast, so that you may be a new unleavened batch as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. 8 Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old bread leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. Jesus said, This bread is My body. This cup is My blood. It is given for you. Now, as often as you eat it, remember Me. The Passover Lamb, your Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed. Father, it feels so good to be forgiven. I can t even imagine living today in the sin I used to live in. I know I still sin, but I have an advocate with the Father; Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the atoning sacrifice for my sin and the sin of so many of us in this room, the sin of so many who are listening to my voice right now, wherever we are here or around the world, Jesus, You are our Passover Lamb. You have been sacrificed. As we come to the table of Communion today, we are called to remember. Sin is serious. The price has been paid. While we still all sin, we are never to choose it. We re to never live in it. We are not to live the old leavened life. We are to be the new, unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. God thank You for that gift. Thank You that we ve been set free from sin s bondage and slavery. We now have an advocate, an atonement, a Passover. We thank You for all that we remember today in this time together. In Jesus name, Amen.