Understanding The Importance Of Passover For Every Christian

James Greer: [00:00:52] Good morning, Journey Church. Hey, hopefully after this Sunday, this dude will be off. Won't have to look at that anymore. Amen? Yeah. Well, today is going to be a special day in the Lord's Supper. Also next Sunday, we're starting a new series called All in the Family. It'll be for all ages, but we're going to really try to support the family during the month of February. You can look in here at some things that we're offering that you might not know. Creating a marriage that lasts. I mean, you don't have to be having a marriage that's having problems to go to that class. I mean, we just keep growing to have better marriages. Amen? We have CR, which is Christ-centered 12-step program every Thursday night. We have grief support every Wednesday night. We have a 12 laws of leadership going on. Pretty soon, we're going to have raising kingdom kids. I think we're going to do that right after the marriage thing. And then we have some people that have offered free financial counseling that are really professional. So we want to help you in any and every area we can. But I want to tell you tonight, this morning, as we get ready for the Lord's Supper, the Psalmist said in Psalms 133:1, behold how good it is and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. It said, it's like precious oil upon the head running down on the beard of Aaron, running down the edge of the garment.

James Greer: [00:02:17] And then it says, for there, the Lord command a blessing. If you will participate in the Lord's Supper today correctly, you'll have a peace and a unity like nothing else. And that's what God wants for you. We're going to go all the way back to the Passover and we'll bring it up to the Lord's Supper. Actually, when Jesus called His disciples to go make ready, He was saying go make ready for the feast of the Passover. They had not even had the Lord's Supper yet. And so that's what we're going to, you understand everything in the Old Testament, especially in this Passover is a physical picture of spiritual application that we can apply today. So when we look at what they did in the Passover in the Old Testament, we can have spiritual application in the New Testament. So the truth is the feast of the Passover, they were celebrating to remember how the children of Israel were delivered from bondage from the Egyptians. God sent Moses to set the children. God sent Jesus Christ as our Savior to set us free. Amen? So let's kind of look at it. And so in Exodus 12:11, it begins like this. It is the Lord's Passover. Whose Passover is it? Amen. And so since it's the Lord's Passover, it's to remember Him and what His son has done for me and you.

James Greer: [00:03:56] Now what I'm going to tell you something really important. You're going to understand your salvation as we go from beginning all the way to the end, probably better than any other time in your life. So many people think it's because they pray to prayer, maybe got baptized and joined the church that they're saved. That didn't save you. What saved you was the precious blood of Jesus Christ who died on the cross and the resurrection. So see, you check your salvation out today. Say, hey, how did I get saved? Did I get saved because I believed that Jesus died on the cross and rose on the third day? If you didn't, we're going to give a time and an invitation at the end. Let's make sure that we settled our salvation. Amen? So keep that. This is a great time to settle your salvation. It'll be clear. It'll be simple. It'll be plain. Okay. So for it came to pass through the land of Egypt on that night, I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the men and the beasts and against the God of Egypt. They had a God of Egypt. And I will execute judgment. Why? I am the Lord. See, the God will execute judgment. But God always gives us grace before that. See, the battle is always between who's the real god? Who am I got a real worship?

James Greer: [00:05:15] The battle's still today. Are you ready? Who is your god? See, you're going to do the Lord's Supper today and the battle is who's your God? Is God going to be first place in your life? Or is your job or your hobby or your pleasure? Who's going to be your God? And God said, hey, we're going to settle who the real God is? He said, now the blood shall be a sign for you on the house where you are. In other words, you see they got blood on the door posts. And when you see the blood, I'll pass over you and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when you strike the land of Egypt. Now see, what we have today, we have the blood of Jesus Christ. And so what He said, and so this day shall be to you a memorial, for you shall keep it as a feast of the Lord and throughout your generation, you shall keep it as a feast by an everlasting ordinance. See, we're still doing it. We're teaching you today what it is. That's what Jesus was going to do with the disciples. He was going to tell them, do this in remembrance, how my blood delivered you and protected you. Jesus was teaching them. You ready? He was teaching them I am the lamb.

James Greer: [00:06:34] I am the lamb that shed the blood to forgive you and to save you. See, now it goes on, and he talks about how Moses called the elders to Israel and said, pick out and take a what? A lamb. Say lamb. For yourselves, according to the families, and kill it for the Passover lamb. So he said, listen, you're going to take a lamb, you're going to kill it for the Passover lamb, and you shall take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood of the basin and strike the lintel and the two door posts with the blood that is in the basin. Why? Because none of you should go out of the house until morning. In other words, he said, you see the door posts and they've got blood on both sides and there is a purpose of that. Now today, Jesus is the perfect lamb. That was a picture of what Jesus does for us. And John the Baptist saw Jesus coming. In John 1:29, he said, behold, the Lamb of God. He has come to take away the sins of the world. I mean, Jesus was even born in a stable, probably for lamb. The shepherds came to see Him, the lamb. And so 1 Peter 1:19 says, but with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb, without blemish and without a spot that we're saved.

James Greer: [00:07:57] So how are you saved? By the precious blood of Jesus Christ. Amen? Not what you do, not what you say. You're not saved by anything else, but the precious blood of Jesus Christ. So if you think you're saved by anything else other than the precious blood of Jesus Christ, get it straight today. Amen? And then Exodus 12:22, it said what they did. Said, hey, drain the blood into a basin, then take a bottle of the hyssop branches and dip it into the blood. What do you do with it after you dip it in the blood? You brush the hyssop across the top and the sides of the doorframe in your houses, and no one may go out through the door until the morning. So He's telling them what to do and He's telling them how to do it. See, He's also telling me and you, when you get saved and you have a great need in your life, you got to remember you're under the blood of the lamb. You got shelter, you got protection, you got provision because if you're saved, you're under the blood. Amen? And for the Lord will pass through and strike the Egyptians, and when He sees the blood on the lintel and the two door posts, there'll be different. It won't be the same. You know why? Because the Lord will pass over the doors and not allow the destroyer to come into the house and strike it.

James Greer: [00:09:22] See, even the destroyer has to obey God. He's in charge. See, when you're saved and you got the blood of lamb, you got power over the enemy. See, so many people give the enemy too much power when the real power is in the blood of Jesus Christ. He defeated the enemy at the cross when He shed the blood. They couldn't hold Him. They couldn't keep Him. They couldn't keep Him. The death couldn't hold Him. The devil couldn't defeat Him. And He rose from the grave. Amen? And the same thing today. And you shall serve this ordinance for now and forever, your sons forever. And it's going to come to pass when you're in the Land of the Lord and you give the land a promise that you should keep this service. Okay, no problem. And it's come when your children, are you ready, when your children say to you, what does this service mean? All right. You ready? If you have children in here and they're saying, what does this service mean, we've got the Lord's table here. We've got a door post here. We have Jesus on the screen some. And so when they say, what is this all about, you don't need to go tell them it's about the Passover. You need to tell them the truth. Man, they killed Jesus Christ, who had never sinned.

James Greer: [00:10:41] And He shed blood. It was real blood. And He did it for me and you because we had all sinned. And the only way to go to Heaven is accept what Jesus did for you. It's a free gift, but it cost Jesus. That you shall say, it is the Passover sacrifice of the Lord. Yeah, it was. It was Jesus Christ was our sacrifice who passed over the houses of children of Egypt. Then he struck the Egyptians and delivered the household. And so the people bowed their heads and they worshiped Him. So it was now they did that, and they came and all the first born of all the Egyptians died. Pharaoh has a change of heart now. His first born died also. He's seeing that the children of Israel's God is the God of God. He is the King of Kings. He's the Lord of Lords. See, really and truly, if you understand that you're under the blood of Jesus Christ, you really don't have to worry about what's going on in the world. Because really, Jesus Christ is still the Lord of Lords. He's the King of Kings. He's in charge of the whole world. Amen? Then He called Moses and Aaron at night, and He said, rise, go out from among us. This is Pharaoh, the one that's in charge. Both you and all your children, y'all go and serve the Lord as you have said. He's the Lord now.

James Greer: [00:12:07] He said, Yeah, He's the one in charge. He said, I really basically believe you. You go out, and you do what He said. He said, not only you go out, he said in 32, he said, also, take your flocks, your herds as I have said and you go out. You know what he says? Look, would you bless me too? Now, here's a guy that had them in bondage, he had turned terrible, and now he's telling them to go. Now he realized that there's a God of God. And he says, y'all go. Y'all leave. And then he said, would you bless me too? And the Egyptians urged all the people that they might send them out from the land in haste. And they said, hey, we all, shall we be dead? In other words, leave. We know that y'all's is the God of Gods. We want you to go. And then the people took their dough before them, the levened, having their kneading bowls bound up in their clothes on their shoulders. But listen to this next verse. Ooh, I love this. Now, the children of Israel, they had been in bondage, correct? Yes. They had done according to the word of Moses, and they asked the Egyptians who they had been enslaved to for the articles. Hey, y'all, give me y'all's silver, give me y'all's gold, give me y'all's clothing. It's turning around now.

James Greer: [00:13:27] They had all the silver, they had all the gold, they had all the clothes. Now here are the ones that had been in bondage, they said, hey, now you give it to us. And the Lord had given the people favor. I love the favor of God. Amen? The favor of God has been upon our church like it's unbelievable. And in the sight of the Egyptians. So they granted them that request, and they plundered the Egyptians. It's unbelievable. See, God turned it all around. He said, listen, the ones that thought they were in power, when God showed up, they weren't in power. The ones that thought they were rich lost the riches. Isn't God good? The Psalmist sums it up real quick. He said, also, the destroyer destroyed all the first born of their land and the first of all their strength. You ready? He also brought them out with the silver and gold. You ready for the rest? It's real important. And there was none feeble among the tribes. Another translation says this. And he led the Israelites and they carried the silver and gold, and all of them were healthy and strong. Do you understand what he said? He said, not only I delivered you, not only do I set you free, not only do I defeat the enemy, but when they left from bondage, when they went from there, ready to go to the Promised Land, not one person was sick. Healed every single one of them.

James Greer: [00:14:50] Amen. And did you know what? I'm going to tie it into the New Testament, the Lord's Supper, that there could be people that are sick because of sin that could be healed. It ties into it, the New Testament does. And if we read the rest, it said, then they were satisfied, they had joy, they had gladness. But what I want to do now is sum up the Passover, which is a physical picture of a spiritual application, and then we'll get ours. Here are some things. Here's the result. The enemy was defeated. If you're under the blood of Jesus Christ, you can defeat the enemy. Amen? They were set free from bondage. There are some people there in bondage and have it [inaudible] you can be set free. He blessed them financially. Your finances can change. He plundered the enemy. The Lord healed the sick. That can happen today. The Lord went before them, behind them, He protected them, He provided for them, they were satisfied, they had joy. Even Acts 17:24, it said, He Himself gives them life and breath to everything, and He satisfied their every single need. That's pretty good. Amen? That's a pretty good Passover. Let's talk about the Lord's Supper today. Let's see what He told us to do now. That was the physical picture. Now we're bringing it up to date to see the spiritual picture. All right?

James Greer: [00:16:15] For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus Christ, the same night in which He was betrayed, He took bread. Isn't it a shame that Jesus was portrayed from within, not without? Did you know what really hurts? Is when those people closest to you betray you and hurt you. That's where it really hurts. And it hurt Jesus too. And when He had given thanks, do you know what? I think part of the Lord's Supper is you start, you need to be giving thanks. Give thanks for God sending His son. Give thanks for every good and perfect gift. Thank God for your health. You ought to just start giving Him thanks. And He broke it, and he said, take and eat. This is my body which is broken for you. Do you know when He said it's broken for you, do you know what Isaiah said about him? They said they beat Him beyond recognition as a man. Do this in remembrance of me. And so that's what He's saying, do this in remembrance of me. And when in the same manner, He also took a cup, and after sipping it, He said, this is the cup of the new covenant of my body. Do this. You ready? As often as you drink this cup, do it in remembrance of me. He does not say how often you do it. He doesn't tell you when to do it.

James Greer: [00:17:33] He says, but when you do it, He tells you how to do it. All right? It's really important that you understand that. For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, what do you do? You proclaim the Lord's death until He comes. He's telling you how to do it. But say something else. Therefore, whoever eats this bread, drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the blood, the body and the blood of Lord. An unworthy manner, you ready? Is living an unworthy lifestyle and to continue open sin. You know that God says don't live that lifestyle and you just keep doing it anyway. It's sin that you do not ask God to forgive you, and it's somebody you do not forgive. But He said, let us examine ourselves and let us, let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. So now He's trying to tell us what to do. Let us examine ourselves what? For sins not confessed and people not forgiven. In other words, in a minute, we'll have a time that you better ask God, hey, God, search my heart. Know if there's any wicked way. Have I been complaining? Do I have a bad attitude? Is there immorality? What's in my life that I shouldn't have? Who hurt me that I have not forgiven? And he said, hey, today's the day you do that.

James Greer: [00:19:02] I mean, if you're married and you're in here and you do it right, man, you ought to be so close when you get out of here, it should be a union unbelievable. So that's what we do. There's nobody you can't forgive and light that hurts you compared to what happened to Jesus. There's nobody that beat you with a whip and stripped the skin off your back. They didn't put a crown of thorns on your head and then hit it. They didn't nail you to a cross. So in light of, and then Jesus said, I forgive you. So start thinking about somebody that you have not forgiven and today's the day you forgive them. For whoever eats and drinks in an unworthy manner, eats and drinks judgment to yourself, not discerning the body. In other words, He's saying, you better be careful because you eat and drink the Lord's Supper without forgiving others and confessing your sin and you're not discerning the truth, you're inviting judgment on yourself. Let me ask you that. On the Passover, on the Lord's, I mean, the Passover, the people that didn't have the blood on the door posts, there was death of the firstborn. Today we have the blood of Jesus Christ. He shed the blood. We're to put our sins under the blood of Jesus Christ. That's when it's time to put your sins under the blood of Christ. They went in and put it on the door posts. We're to put it under the blood.

James Greer: [00:20:30] He goes on and tells us why this is so important. He sums it up at 1 Corinthians 11:30. Very important. For this reason, many are weak, sick, and many of you sleep. Now He's not talking about y'all falling asleep while I'm preaching. He talking about you dead. Do you understand when you come to the Lord's Supper, this is the time to get your life straight? I hope I'm making this clear. You confess all known sins. You forgive everybody, everybody that's hurt you because it can bring emotional and physical sickness. I'm not saying that every sickness is because of sin, but I am telling you we're not going to till to Heaven, how many people died and are sick because of sin. It is a dangerous thing. Now, the good news is you don't have to be one of them. That's why we have the Lord's Supper, to remember what Jesus did for us and to confess our sins and forgive others. That way, it says, if we'll do that, if we'll judge ourselves, we will not be judged. What a great time to do that. Amen? But, but if we don't judge, if we don't do it, we'll be chastened by the Lord that we might not be condemned. In just a minute, just a minute, I'm going to have you stand up and we're going to have a time to think and ask God to, sins that we need to confess, people we need to forgive. Sometimes I have something, I have some, it's a cheat sheet to my confession. Because when I first asked God, I said, God, you know what sins? I mean, I knew two or three or four or five and I thought, oh. Then I started reading my attitude, my behavior. I'd lose my temper. Complaining, critical spirit, my discipline in my life. Do I get up and spend time with God? Fearful. I shouldn't be fear because I've got God. Giving, do I give to God on a regular basis what He deserves? Do I tithe? An unforgiving spirit, worldliness. Is God really my God? Or is the world my God? You know. Because what do you put first? Am I worshiping God? Am I faithful in my worship? Pride. I don't want to say I'm sorry. I don't want to say forgive me. Do I have a thankful spirit? Thankful for His son, thankful for all you have, thankful for your health. Your tongue, speaking unkind words, jealousy, worry, guilt, selfishness, and greed. That's just a few. But now I'm going to have you stand, and I'm going to pray with you for a minute. And one of the things I want you to really, this is a very serious, serious time. Whether you're upstairs or downstairs, you do understand that you're saved only one way, one way of salvation? It's through the blood and sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

James Greer: [00:24:04] I don't care if you're young. I don't care if you're old. It wasn't just a prayer. It's that you're putting your faith in Jesus Christ and you believe that He died on the cross and He took your place. He was the lamb of God. And if you're not sure, I would come up to the altar in a minute and I would settle it because there's no clearer picture than the picture that I showed you from the lamb in the Old Testament to Jesus Christ in the New Testament. Have Him as your Savior. Let Him forgive you. Let Him cleanse you. Bow your heads and let me pray for you. Father, I thank you for your son, Jesus Christ and the blood He shed on the cross. I pray this is a clear presentation, God. First, I pray for anyone that might not know Him as their Savior, that in just a moment, that they would come that they would settle it. Then God, I want to have the praise team sing for a few minutes where we can examine our hearts for sin and unforgiveness. And if we've hurt somebody, make a commitment that we're going to ask them to forgive us, God, that we can go out with an unity and a peace and a power that surpasses all understanding, God. Now, thank you for that. Let us sit here, God, and examine our hearts as they play.

[Praise team singing]

James Greer: [00:30:49] You can be seated. What a special morning. Amen? I mean, God is here, I tell you. When we finish the last [inaudible], husbands and wives, man, you forgive each other for anything to the present to the past, man, y'all should have a closeness like never before. Tell each other in a minute that you love them and you hug them. Families and kids, let everything else go. There's nothing more important than the love of Christ between you both. Okay? And really, you understand that the whole church, the body, you've confessed your sins and you're right with God. And that's a unity that you can't always have. So enjoy today. You love each other. Tell each other. See in Matthew 26, and as they were eating, Jesus took the bread, He blessed it. Take yours. And He broke it. He gave it to the disciples and He said, eat. This is my body. And then He took the cup, and He gave thanks. I'll tell you, part of the Lord's Supper, you need to remember to be thankful for all that you have and all that God's done for you, thankful that Jesus died on the cross and shed His blood. He gave thanks and He gave it to them. He said, drink from it, all of you. This is my blood. This is the new covenant, which is shared for many, for the remission of sin. And they drank. But I say to you, I will not drink from this fruit of the vine. But from now until the day when I drink it with you for my Father's Kingdom. It said, back then that Jesus said really and truly after that, He said they had a hymn. And they went out. What I'm going to do today, I want to dismiss in a different way. I'm going to have the praise team in just a minute, I'm going to have them just sing a song. And we're just going to dismiss as they sing. But I wouldn't leave without telling somebody that I love them. And you that are married, especially tell one another.

Bruce Goulart: [00:33:50] On behalf of Pastor James, I just want to say thank you for joining our online experience this morning. Y'all, what an amazing day to take communion with each other and to listen to that message about the Last Supper. Y'all, next week, we are starting our brand new series, All in the Family, and you do not want to miss it. So I hope to see you next week, either here in service or online at 8:30, 10:00, or 11:30. Thank y'all.


Recorded in Pineville, Louisiana.