Oct 15, 2009 ... Babylon. And while in captivity, remember the prophesies of. Jeremiah and those
and they prophesied they would come out in seventy years.
Covenant: Knowing God’s Covenant Lesson 5 Video, Wayne Barber (47:47) 10/15/2009
looked at the binding agreement that you enter into when you enter into covenant. Remember now, this is ancient language; God chose this language to help us understand our relationship with Him.
The Language of Commitment, Part 2 A.
The penalty of breaking covenant was death. There had to be a sacrifice in order for covenant to be made.
B.
Between man and man, the death of the animal was symbolic of their own death as they entered into newness of life.
C.
Blood was shed because the life is in the blood.
D.
Between God and man, there had to be a perfect representative of each.
E.
Jesus was the perfect God-man. Jesus came to die so man and God could be in covenant together.
F.
Three important words associated with Jesus Christ: 1. Lamb 2. Passover 3. Sacrifice
G.
Jesus said: 1. You must eat My flesh. 2. You must drink My blood. 3. The lamb satisfied them. 4. The blood protected them.
Introduction “Now, Behold. I Myself do establish My covenant with you, and with your descendants after you.” Genesis 9:9 “I set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth.” Genesis 9:13 “And He took a cup and gave thanks and gave it to them saying, “Drink from it, all of you; for this is My blood of the covenant, which is to be shed on behalf of many for forgiveness of sins.” Matthew 26:27–28 “Like a lamb that is lead to slaughter, and like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, so He did not open His mouth.” Isaiah 53:7 Video What did it cost God for us to be in covenant with Him eternally? We’re going to look today at what the sacrifice was all about that had to be there whenever there was a covenant ritual. Now, let’s go back to last week. Last session we looked at the seriousness of the covenant. We
We saw the penalty of breaking covenant was death. But in order for the covenant to be made, let’s go back and remember, there had to be a sacrifice. Remember we saw that in Genesis 15 and it appears other places. There had to be a sacrifice. They would take an animal or animals and they would cut them at the back of the neck all the way back into halves. They put one half on one side, one half on the other side. It was a very gory part of the covenant ritual, but it was a very necessary part because this animal became a representative of the people entering into covenant. The death of that animal was symbolic of their own personal deaths as they entered into the newness of a relationship. One dying to an old way of life another dying to a way of life and entering into a brand new life, into newness of life. The two becoming one. So that sacrifice then, was representative of the people entering into covenant. Blood was shed. Why? Because the life is in the blood. Leviticus tells us that. The life of one dying and entering into a life of another. A brand new union is being formed, you see. That’s the whole picture. One dies out, one dies out, and there’s a brand new union coming together. Now, as we begin to see this in relationship to our covenant with the Lord Jesus Christ, already there’s an excitement because there’s a precious picture that’s being drawn. Obviously it cost God a lot for us to enter into covenant with Him. Now, for man to be in covenant with man, an animal would suffice and so therefore, when it would die it would be a representative of each. But for man to be in covenant with God, there had to be a perfect representative of each, whereas an animal would suffice for man and man. An animal would not suffice for man and God. And if you’ll just think about it for a second it’ll light your fire. If it doesn’t, your wood’s wet. Look in Philippians chapter 2, 5 through 9. And we know the Scripture, but let’s read it in light of covenant. Philippians 2, 5 through 9. Here is God coming down, absolutely perfect. Always has been God, always will be God. John 1, some of the cult areas try to say that Jesus was created. They just don’t understand the Greek. And if you take the Greek and you look through John 1, it nails her down. He was God before the foundations of this earth. By Him all things were
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created. He became flesh, but He’s always been God. He never ceased to be God. He came down. But in Philippians 2, verse 5 it says: Phil 2:5-8 [reads] 5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, [that’s basically the context of chapter 2, but look what he says] 6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. NASB Now, you see here the perfect God-man. The perfect representative that would be sacrificed so that man might enter in the way of death to covenant with God the Father. Jesus came to die. I know the Moonies try to tell us that Jesus failed in His mission. Adam was the first one who came and he failed and so Jesus was the second Adam and He came. But before He could get married and have a perfect race He was crucified. And now there’s going to be another one. And of course, they try to make you think that the moon’s a part of . . . but anyway, when Jesus came, He came to die. It was no accident that He died. There has to be a sacrifice if you’re going to enter into the sacredness of covenant. He became the perfect representative of both man and God that would die in order for man and God to be in covenant together. Look in John chapter 1, and verse 29. Verses that we’re very very familiar with but when you put them into the understanding of covenant they really come alive. John 1, verse 29. Ol’ John the Baptist sees Jesus. In verse 29 he says: John 1:29 [reads] 29 The next day he saw Jesus coming to him, and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God [the Lamb of God, the Lamb of God, hang onto that; the Lamb of God] who takes away the sin of the world! NASB Look at verse 36. It says: John 1:36 [reads] 36 and he looked upon Jesus as He walked, and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God!" NASB Look in 1 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 7. 1 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 7. You know, the thing I love about this course is it just builds piece by piece. 1 Corinthians 5, verse 7. Now, he uses
some language here so we can understand. He says:
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1 Cor 5:7 [reads] 7 Clean out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, [some of you look a little lumpy, but you may be a new lump] just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ our [what?] Passover also has been [what?] sacrificed. NASB Now, we see three words there in John 1 and also in 1 Corinthians 5 that are important. The word “Lamb,” the word “Passover,” and the word “sacrifice.” We want to key in on that tonight and I want to track it back to Exodus the twelfth chapter. And I tell you, every time I go through this thing something new pops to the surface. So, as we go through you pray for me that we might all be taught tonight. I’m not the teacher, the Holy Spirit is the teacher. Let’s go back to Exodus chapter 12. You see, the death of Jesus Christ, His sacrificial death, obviously is absolutely totally important to our relationship with God. As a matter of fact, it becomes the means of our relating to God. Just as in covenant you had to have a sacrifice and that sacrifice became known as the way of death, or the path of blood. So Jesus now is the sacrifice through which we enter into covenant with the living God eternally forever, okay? Now, Exodus chapter 12. And I’m going to take it verse by verse and just make comments as we go. And watch the parallel as we go through it. Verse 1: Ex 12:1-3 [reads] 1 Now the LORD said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, 2 "This month shall be the beginning of months for you; it is to be the first month of the year to you. [verse 3:] 3 Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying, 'On the tenth of this month [now, this is so important. The tenth. Remember that; that’s a key word there] they are each one to take a lamb for themselves, according to their fathers' households, a lamb for each household. NASB Now, some of the historians, and if you ever read Edersheim and some of these guys, some of the historians estimate that there were 250,000 households at this particular time when this was written. That’s how many people there were, the children of God, that were in captivity in Egypt. 250,000 households. Now, you think with me for a second. He says to take a lamb for each household. So if they’re correct and I don’t know if they are or not, they weren’t there, they’re just estimating, but if they’re
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correct, that’s 250,000 lambs that were about to be slain for this particular thing He’s going to tell them here in Exodus chapter 12.
they’re to keep it for three days and examine it and get it ready and then on the fourteenth day it says] then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel is to kill it at twilight. NASB
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Now, verse 4. Look what He says: Ex 12:4 [reads] 4 'Now if the household is too small for a lamb . . . NASB By the way, I had a thought as I was studying this. It doesn’t cost you a thing extra. The household may be too small for the lamb, but the Lamb’s never too small for the household. I don’t know, but that seems profound. Somehow that just seemed profound to me. Understanding the Lamb to be the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, remember we’re looking at terminology that was found in the New Testament absolutely attributed to the Lord Jesus Christ. The word “lamb,” the word “Passover,” and the word “sacrifice,” is absolutely the Lord Jesus. This is not typology to some people who are afraid to use, this is typology to Paul himself used in 1 Corinthians 5. So you know we can attribute it to Jesus. It’s an early picture of what the Lord Jesus is going to be doing for us. It starts back in Exodus chapter 12. So we can very quickly do that, all right? Ex 12:4 [reads] 4 'Now if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his neighbor nearest to his house are to take one according to the number of persons in them; according to what each man should eat, you are to divide the lamb. NASB Now, the key here is if you’ve got a small household, then go in with somebody else, but make sure that that lamb is completely eaten. That’s the whole picture. And so a single parent or whatever, or a single person, or whatever, could enter in with another household, but they had to completely partake of that lamb. Now look in verse 5. He said: Ex 12:5 [reads] 5 'Your lamb shall be an unblemished male a year old; [now, unblemished meant without any spot, any wrinkle on it at all.] you may take it from the sheep or from the goats. NASB Now, this lamb was not to have anything at all of a blemish. They would even examine their eyelids to see if there was any blemish at all. It had to be absolutely a perfect lamb to be the sacrificial lamb. No spot or blemish on it whatsoever. Verse 6: Ex 12:6 [reads] 6 'And you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month, [now, they got it on the tenth,
Now, twilight was about three o’clock in the afternoon. The word in the Hebrew means: between the two evenings. And we know that’s sometime in the afternoon. About the exact same time, if I might just pre-empt a little bit of what I’m going to say, when the Lord Jesus said, “It is finished,” on the cross. About the exact same time. This is when twilight was in the Hebrew understanding of this time. So, at twilight on the fourteenth day they’re to kill this lamb. Now, for three days they’re to examine it. All right? Then in verse 7: Ex 12:7 [reads] 7 'Moreover, they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. NASB Now, you can automatically feel the affection that one would have for a little lamb kept in the household for three days, getting ready to slay that lamb. If you’ve never been around sheep, if you’ve never been around little lambs, you’ve missed the whole point of this. I suggest, take your family, take your children and go out to somebody who’s raising sheep and look at those little lambs. Now, friend, if it doesn’t win your heart the moment you look at one, you’re a very cold, calloused person. That’s all that I can say. But they’re just the sweetest things. They’re just so tender and so affectionate. And you can see bringing a little lamb into the household for three days with that household and the endearment that would come from the family to that little lamb. And then it says on the fourteenth day they’re to slay it. Then they’re to take the blood . . . Now picture here, is they would get a basin and they would cut the throat of that lamb and they’d catch the blood in that basin. None of it was to spill on the ground. They would probably take hyssop (hyssop was an abrasive plant back in that day that you could use like a paint brush) and dip it in there and they would put the blood on one side of the door, on the other side of the door, and above the door. Whoo! And if you back away from that door and look at it, it’s almost a picture of the cross, the way you would see it. The blood on both sides and the blood at the top of that door. And so we see then the explanation here, the blood is going to protect them from something. That’s why they’re putting it on the doorposts. Look at verse 8:
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Ex 12:8 [reads] 8 'And they shall eat the flesh that same night, roasted with fire, and they shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. NASB Now, can you imagine? I don’t know, sometimes you read through these verses and just miss it. I mean, it just goes right over the heads. Where are the people of Israel when this is being told to them? They’re in captivity in Egypt, right? They’re in an Egyptian slave camp, is that not correct? Anybody disagree with that? An Egyptian slave camp. How many people, well, they estimate 250,000 households. About a million and a half people figuring four to five or whatever to each household. Now, can you get an idea just for second, what this would have been like? Suppose you were a guard in the Hebrew slave camp. God had just told His people, 250,000 households of them, to each get a lamb, not to boil it, He’s going to tell that in a minute. But to roast it. They’re going to have a barbecue friends, like you have never seen a barbecue. And can you imagine the Egyptians coming, catching a whiff of these lambs being roasted on an open fire? 250,000 of them? And then thinking to themselves: “What are these people up to?” Friends, it’s not what the people are up to, it’s what their God is up to. What if, I have a thought, anytime God’s ever started to stir, the people of the world always back off and say, “What are these people up to?” Well, brother, they’d better start asking what is their God up to, because He’s commanding them now, to do this. Now, think of this in your mind. 250,000 lambs are going to be barbecued at the same time in a Hebrew slave camp. All right. Let’s move on to verse 9. Verse 9 and 10: Ex 12:9-10 [reads] 9 'Do not eat any of it raw or boiled at all with water, but rather roasted with fire, both its head and its legs along with its entrails. 10 'And you shall not leave any of it over until morning, but whatever is left of it until morning, you shall burn with fire. NASB Now, here’s the picture. The blood of the lamb was protecting them on the doorpost, as you’ll see in a moment, while the meat, the body of the lamb, was satisfying them as they partook of it inside their household. Now, Who does the lamb point to? The Lord Jesus Christ. Oh me, if you don’t kind of get excited about this as you go through this understanding the picture, I’m telling you, there’s no hope for you. Just
get saved and everything’ll be all right. Look at verse 11.
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Ex 12:11 [reads] 11 'Now you shall eat it in this manner: [whoo! This gets exciting! Watch this] with your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it in haste — it is the LORD'S Passover. NASB Upon eating the lamb, something was about to take place and what was it? Why would they have their sandals on their feet? Why would they have their loins girded? You see, when you put, they had robes all the time. We talked about that. That’s why they exchanged robes. I don’t know what we would exchange. Ties or something? They’d pull their robe up and then belt it around, tie it around them and tuck it up under that belt. And that was always getting ready to walk or to run. They’re fixing to do something; they’re going somewhere. There’s about to be a deliverance upon the partaking of the lamb. Anything ringing a bell in your mind? He’s telling them, friend, get ready; what you’ve been looking forward to, you’ve been in captivity for all these years, you’re about to get out. There is a deliverance in front of you but first of all, you eat the lamb. While you eat it get ready because you’re going to be delivered; you’re going to go out. Well, look at verse 12: Ex 12:12 [reads] 12 'For I will go through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike down all the first-born in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments — I am the LORD. NASB Probably the most horrible event, I guess, in all of Scripture could have happened that night. And He’s telling them ahead of time, “Listen . . .” These Israelites were no better as far as their moral life than the Egyptians were. I mean, they complained, they were rebellious, they were stiff-necked. There was all kinds of problems. But the difference was, God had pulled them out. God had chosen them and what He’s telling them is: on this night you’d better have the blood on the door, the death angel’s going to execute judgment on all the first born. Verse 13 says: Ex 12:13 [reads] 13 'And the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live . . . NASB Aren’t you glad that He didn’t tell them to take all their good works and write them down and nail it to their door? And when the death angel came to deliver and execute judgment for God, he would check out those good works to see whether or not
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your hair’s cut short enough, to see whether or not, ladies, you’re wearing slacks; to see whether or not you witnessed to thirty-five people the next day; to see whether or not you not missed church for the last ten years. You see, He didn’t say that. He said the blood shall protect you. Not what you do, not what you ever could do, but the blood will protect you. And the most beautiful thought comes out in this. You see, judgment could not fall upon these houses because it had already fallen upon the what? Upon the land. That’s why they were protected. Did somebody receive judgment? Yes. Did they receive it? No. Did they deserve to receive it? Yes. But who received it? An innocent, spotless lamb without blemish was the one sacrificed. And the blood of the lamb protected the people from God’s judgment that horrible night as recorded in Exodus. Are you beginning to understand some of the terminology of the New Testament? In John chapter 6, Jesus said some things that blew His disciples away, and some of the people who were following Him. He said, “You must eat of My flesh and drink of My blood.” What in world is He talking about? As a matter of fact, some of the disciples said, “This saying is too hard for us.” And the Scripture records that they would walk with Jesus no more. But are you beginning to understand? The lamb satisfied them, the body. The blood protected them. While the blood was on the doorpost they were eating the lamb on the inside ready to be delivered, you see. All of that fits together as a picture of what happens to us in the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, verse 14 says:
5 Ex 12:14 [reads] 14 'Now this day will be a memorial to you, and you shall celebrate it as a feast to the LORD; throughout your generations you are to celebrate it as a permanent ordinance. NASB Now, He tells Israel every year on the tenth day of this first month I want you to take that lamb on the fourteenth day, I want you to kill that lamb, to remember what I’ve done for you today. You see, this is to go on every year as a feast of Israel. And we begin to see the setup. Now, Israel is a nation and we know that if they . . . God told them if you want to worship Me, I’ll give you a means of that worship. And He called it a tabernacle. [He’s beginning to draw a picture of the tabernacle on the white board. See diagram below.] And I’m not too good at remembering all this stuff. But there’s an altar right here, okay? We know the laver. Then there was this big ol’ building looking thing. There was a Holy Place here. And it had different things in here; we won’t get into all that. But here’s the Holy of Holies right here. Now, do you remember what it was that separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies? It was a veil, right? And we know from Hebrews what that veil represented. What was it? It’s man’s fleshly sin, isn’t it? It’s the sinfulness of man that that veil represented and we’ll read that later on in Hebrews. So therefore, man could not just walk into the presence of God. Remember the fire came down. And in here, was the ark of the what? Oh! I wonder who that’s a picture of. Well, anyway, let’s get off of that. But here is the Ark of the Covenant.
The Veil Man’s Sin
Holy Place Laver
Altar
Holy of Holies
Ark of the Covenant
High Priest = once a year = by the blood
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Now, one man, the high priest, once, how many times a year? Once? All right. Once a year could walk in behind that veil. That veil was eight inches thick. They said if you took two oxen and tied them to each side of it, that they could not pull it apart. That’s how it was so woven together. There was absolutely no way you could tear that thing in half. Absolutely. Which makes the fact that it was ripped from top to bottom a real miracle of what took place when Jesus was crucified. That veil of flesh, uh, that veil was hung there. Now, he could enter in one time. But he could only enter in by the what? What did he have to take in to sprinkle on the mercy seat? Sprinkle all over? By the blood. Now, every year at Passover they would come for this particular observance. And the lambs would be slain. And this was a picture of man’s sin here, and the importance of the blood of those lambs, all right? So, I’m not getting into detail about that because if I do I’m going to confuse you and myself both. But there was a worship time. There was a tabernacle. Then there was later on a what? A permanent structure. Yeah! There was a temple; first a tabernacle here, and that was when they were wandering around the wilderness. It had to be taken down and carried and everything. Then there was the temple. And so they had their worship in the temple. And every year they would have this feast of the Passover and people would come; they would bring their lambs. And they would sacrifice those lambs. And it was a remembrance of their deliverance from Egypt. All right, now we know that Israel as a nation did not follow the ways of God. We know that they finally divided. Ten tribes went to the north and retained the name of Israel. Two tribes, Judah and Benjamin, went to the south and they became known as the southern tribes or the tribes of Judah. Actually it’s two: Benjamin and Judah. We know that Israel was taken over by the Assyrians and just completely disbanded. There was no more Israel. God really carried out a judgment on them. But Judah hung in there for a long time. Finally Judah was taken into captivity by whom? Babylon. And while in captivity, remember the prophesies of Jeremiah and those and they prophesied they would come out in seventy years. Who was it who brought them out? Ezra and Nehemiah. Remember they came back and they rebuilt the walls of the city of Jerusalem which had been torn down, and the temple had been torn down, and they rebuilt the temple. Remember the weeping of the priest when
he saw the second temple ‘cause it was nothing like the beauty of the first? But they rebuilt the temple, Ezra and Nehemiah, bringing them out.
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And then we see, later on, how Israel again kept turning away from God. And boy, I am really taking the Old Testament and [thewm!] And we see that Israel just continued to turn away from God, just continued to rebel to Him. So, God withdrew the fire, remember? And for four hundred years there’s no mention of God doing anything with the children of Israel. From Malachi to Matthew nothing. It’s just a dark, dark, dark time, okay? Now, that’s what I wanted to bring you up to as we get in to the New Testament. Well, the Jews began to return back to the feast. Remember Herod’s temple was built and they began to come back to the feast. And we see these feasts active in the days of Jesus. And I want you to see something here because when they came back it was different. They used to raise their lambs. They were nomadic people; they raised their lambs. But they got into the practice of selling temple lambs. The rabbinic law of that day said that you could not sell these lambs inside the city and so they had to do it out on the hillsides outside the gates of Jerusalem. You find that with Edersheim and Josephus and some of the early church historians. I want you to look with that in mind. Here we are now, we’re in the New Testament; it’s been a long process. This all started in Exodus chapter 12, very clear what it was all about, to remember it every year, they finally come back to the practice. They’re using these temple lambs. They’re having to come to Passover, go out get a lamb that’s already been bred for sacrifice, purchase it, and then take it into the temple for the day of Passover, okay? Now, look with me if you will, to Luke chapter 2, verse 8. They had special shepherds that would do this. I want you to look with me to Luke chapter 2 and verse 8. And I agree. I realize that this is strictly from this point for the next few points, is opinion. You remember that and I’ll, it’s plug nickel time, okay? You check it out, whatever you believe, fine, and I know what I’ve come to believe on this thing. I agree with Edersheim, and when he says that the shepherds on those fields tending those flocks, were shepherds tending the temple lambs which were being prepared for sacrifice on Passover. And look in verse 8 with that in mind. Wouldn’t it be
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exciting if that were actually right? It says in verse 8: Luke 2:8 [reads] 8 And in the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields, and keeping watch over their flock by night. NASB And like I said, and I agree with him that these were shepherds watching over temple lambs which were to be shed or to be slain on the day of Passover. Look at verse 9. Luke 2:9-11 [reads] 9 And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened. 10 And the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which shall be for all the people; 11 for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. NASB Boy, if that’s true, if Edersheim is right, if I’m right, wouldn’t that be a beautiful picture of how the angels came to the very ones who were watching over those little temple lambs? And you know a shepherd and the sheep, if you’ve never watched a shepherd with their sheep . . . When I was over in Israel and stayed in a hotel, there was a pasture behind us with just shepherds and sheep. And I would spend hours watching those shepherds with those sheep. And there was something between, a relationship that develops there like it must have been back in Exodus 12, when they kept that lamb in their household for three days. That affection to them, knowing that those little lambs were going to be sacrificed on that feast of Passover. And the angels came and said, “Behold, I bring you good tidings of something that’s to take place.” And as John said in John 1:29, the Lamb of God has come. No more little lambs to be slain. Finally, the perfect God-man, the sacrifice, our Passover, the Lamb of God has come to this earth to be slain for our sins. Well, if you’ll look with me in Matthew chapter 21, we see something interesting in the Lord Jesus’ life. Matthew chapter 21. And this is the story of how Jesus entered in, His triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Matthew 21. By the way, and He went up there for the feast of what? Passover. That’s what He went there for. And He entered in that triumphal way on the donkey. Let’s begin reading in verse 1. Matthew chapter 21.
7 Matt 21:1-11 [reads] 1 And when they had approached Jerusalem and had come to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, "Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied there and a colt with her; untie them, and bring them to Me. 3 "And if anyone says something to you, you shall say, 'The Lord has need of them,' and immediately he will send them." 4 Now this took place that what was spoken through the prophet might be fulfilled, saying, 5 "Say to the daughter of Zion, 'Behold your King is coming to you, Gentle, and mounted on a donkey, Even on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.'" [that’s a quote from the prophets of Isaiah and Zechariah. Then in verse 6 through 11, watch.] 6 And the disciples went and did just as Jesus had directed them, 7 and brought the donkey and the colt, and laid on them their garments, on which He sat. 8 And most of the multitude spread their garments in the road, and others were cutting branches from the trees, and spreading them in the road. 9 And the multitudes going before Him, and those who followed after were crying out, saying, "Hosanna to the Son of David; Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest!" 10 And when He had entered Jerusalem, all the city was stirred, saying, "Who is this?" 11 And the multitudes were saying, "This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth in Galilee." NASB Now, here He is entering in. He’s coming for the feast of Passover, all right? Now, what do we remember, what was the day that the lambs were slain? What day? Fourteenth. Now, what day was it that Jesus entered in? That just really intrigues me. And I began to do a little digging. I would submit to you, I believe, it was on the tenth day. Let me show you why. Okay, look down at verse 17, chapter 21. Matt 21:17-18 [reads] 17 And He left them and went out of the city to Bethany, and lodged there. [that’s still the same day. Verse 18:] 18 Now in the morning, when He returned to the city, He became hungry. NASB Now, I see a change of day. Did you see a change of day there? I believe He’s gone now from the tenth to the eleventh. “Wayne, you are so dumb. Why are you doing this?” Well, hang on I’ll show you. Look in chapter 26 now, and verse 2. There’s absolutely no change of days all the way through here. Take all the time you want to and read through it. There’s absolutely no change of days in
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Matthew. Chapter 26 and verse 2. Look what Jesus says to His disciples. Matt 26:2 [reads] 2 "You know that after [how many days?] two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man is to be delivered up for crucifixion." NASB Well now, let’s see here, after two days. Well, we’ve seen the tenth, we’ve seen the eleventh. As far as I can tell, that would be the twelfth and the thirteenth. And He says, “After two days.” Isn’t that what He says? Which to me would be the fourteenth, that would be the day of Passover itself. After two days, He said. The Passover is coming. Now, drop down to verse 20 of the 26th chapter. Now, this is the fourteenth day. When did their day begin, by the way, does anybody know? No, at six. When? P.M. So anytime it says in the evening, that’s actually the day of Passover begins at six o’clock in the evening. All right. Let’s look here at verse 20 of chapter 26. Here He is with them. Matt 26:20 [reads] 20 Now when evening had come, He was reclining at the table with the twelve disciples. NASB And look down at verse 26. Here’s what He says to them: Matt 26:26-29 [reads] 26 And while they were eating, [this is on the fourteenth day now] Jesus took some bread, and after a blessing, He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, "Take, eat; [eat, this is my what?] this is My body." [Who is He, chapter 1 verse 29 of John? The Lamb. He says, “Take, eat, this is My body] 27 And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you; [now, hang on to what we’re saying here] 28 for this is My blood of the [what?] covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins. 29 "But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father's kingdom." NASB Now, we know that so far, up to until this point, there’s been no blemish found on the Lord Jesus Christ. Has He not been taken and examined? And we know that He was examined and what did Pilate say about Him? I find no fault in this man and talked about being innocent blood. We know that He’d been found that way. Now, you see, His blood, He says drink of this cup it’s My blood. The blood does what? What did we see from Exodus 12? What does it do? Protects.
And the body does what? It satisfies. And you see the picture. The thing that’s just so intriguing to me is to see the picture coming all the way from Exodus 12 of exactly what the Lord Jesus is going to do. And remember there had to be a perfect sacrifice for man and God to ever be in covenant with one another.
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Now, look in Hebrews chapter 10. He see that Jesus came down; we see that He dies on the cross for us. And what does this mean now in our covenant relationship? Hebrews chapter 10 and verse 19. The word “Holy Place” here in verse 19 is referring to the Holy of Holies. He says: Heb 10:19-20 [reads] 19 Since therefore, brethren, we have confidence to enter the holy place by the [what?] blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, [what?] His flesh, NASB The veil was rent. Now see, in order for us to be in covenant with God, there was a great big barrier and that’s the veil which represented man’s sin. That absolutely had to be dealt with. There had to be a sacrifice. That sacrifice could not have been an animal. We’re talking about man and God. It had to be God and it had to be man. A perfect God-man had to come down and represent us on the cross. Jesus therefore, came down. Remember, God looked upon this earth and found that there were none righteous, no not one. So, God the Father sent God the Son down to this earth and as the God-man He went to the cross. Now, the veil was rent. We see that in Scripture. When was it rent? When was it rent? When He gave up His Spirit on the cross. And when do we believe that time was? Three in the evening, or what, as the Hebrews saw it, twilight. Same exact time. Now, think of this with me. On the tenth day, here He is entering into the city. But at the same time He’s entering into the city, they’re also taking in all the temple lambs to the temple to be slain on the Passover. He’s examined; He’s examined and then on the fourteenth day on the cross at three in the afternoon, as they cut the throats of those lambs on a hill within sight . . . You ought to go there and look. It’s within sight of where He died. At the same time they’re slaying these animals, He is dying on the cross. What happens to that veil which has caused this sacrifice? It was ripped from bottom to top? Top to bottom. Which opened up a way. What is that way?
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Now look, just think with me. In John 14, Jesus says, “You know where I’m going.” And Philip, the dummy, was it Philip? Said, “We don’t know where You’re going.” And Jesus said, “Well, I am the what? the way. I am the way.” The way of what? How do you enter in? Well, look. What is that way called? The way of what? The way of death. Well now, wait a minute. I know He died, but in covenant there’s a death of both represented, is that correct? I know He died for me. Then obviously I must die in order for Him . . . I must die to Wayne. He died for me; there’s also a death on Wayne’s part. And so, to enter in to covenant, you enter in the way of death. The veil has been ripped and Jesus is the sacrifice. He is the way. He’s the path of blood. That’s how we enter in to a covenant with a living God. And that’s exactly what we’re trying to teach. Covenant is not just come down to the end of the service and cry a bunch of tears and hope that you’ll get into heaven. Covenant is entering in to a relationship with a holy God. How can you do that? God’s perfect, sinless. How can we as sinners do that? Because His Son came down and there’s been a sacrifice and that sacrifice now is done. He died how many times? Once and for all the Scripture says in Hebrews. Once and for all. The blood has been shed. It never needs to be shed again. He has died for us and now has opened up the door for you and I to enter in through that time. But in order to we must enter in the way of death. All through Exodus 12, it’s a picture of what God was going to do through His own Son, Jesus Christ. Even back in Egypt, it was a picture. We’re being delivered out as you partake, as you’re protected by that blood; you are delivered from the bondage to which you’ve been in in sin. Which has imprisoned you and kept you from entering into covenant with the living God. Do you know what ordinance we use in churches today? What is the ordinance of churches today, that picture this exactly right? What is the ordinance? Not the Lord’s Supper. That’s a reminder of the covenant. But what is the other one? Baptism. Did you know the word baptize is not even a word, it’s a transliteration of a word: baptizmo is the word. And the King James scholars were a little nervous about translating it ‘cause the Anglican church didn’t believe quite what they were fixing to put on paper. The secular Greek tells you God drowned; uses the word baptize or baptizmo. Why baptism? What happens? What happens when you go down under the water? What’s happening? What is that a picture of? Right, brother. Dead to our old way of life. And when you come up out of the water you’re raised to walk in what? Newness of
life. You see, One has died, now you have died, now there is a union of the two and there’s a brand new life for both of you. God in man. That’s what Christianity’s all about. It’s me receiving Him but I only enter in the way of death.
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You know, this has bothered me just a little bit. This issue of lordship and how many people are so stirred up about it. Friend, I don’t know where you are in this, but when I say “lordship,” so you’ll understand, I’m speaking of deity, and I’m speaking of bowing down, and I’m speaking of entering in to where He absolutely now becomes the Master of my life. I don’t know what everybody else means by it. I’m not talking about fleshly works. But I’ll tell you this, the book of James says, “Show me a faith without your works.” There’s going to be works as result of it. But they’re not going to be your works, they’re going to be His works in you. And these people who say, “Oh no, salvation is just by grace.” I wouldn’t disagree with that. Would you disagree with that? Ephesians 2 gets that pretty clear. So what are they saying? But you must enter in. That’s the covenant. That’s the language God chose to use. I didn’t choose to use it. There’s a lot of people today that are on church roles that have missed Jesus by 55 miles. An then perhaps are coming to Precepts and you’re thinking perhaps, “I’ve got to be in Precepts so I can start growing as a Christian.” You may not even be in, folks. Have you entered in? Have you entered in the way of death? Have you seen yourself as being unrighteous which needs to die? And have you entered in and put His robe on and now into a brand new life with Him living in you? There’s the key. My wife came to me one day. She said, “Wayne, I’m not saved.” You’ve got to know my wife. I mean, she’s just right, I don’t know. She just missed a good chance if she wasn’t. She just never says anything about people and she’s got a real gentle and precious spirit. And just the best person I’ve ever known. I’m serious. I mean, even back before the Lord came into her life. It was a real neat thing. But I said, “Diana, you’re just doubting.” I almost talked her out of it. I said, “Well, you tell me why you think you’re not saved.” And she just blows me out of the water. She said, “Until today I have never seen myself as being totally unrighteous, never.” She said, “When I went forward I was in a Sunday school class and a bunch of girls went forward. And I was the only one. And I was 5 ft 10 inches and I didn’t want to be the only one sitting around and not go. So I walked
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forward with them. I didn’t want to be standing there by myself.” And she said, “The preacher never asked me one thing. He said, ‘So, you’ve come forward to be baptized. Do your parents know about it?’” She said, “Yes.” And that was it. And one day sitting in a revival meeting we had a guy teaching like this, with a blackboard. And he began to show the need for us to die to our old way of life because we’re totally unrighteous. And Diana didn’t think of herself as unrighteous because she didn’t go out and commit adultery, she didn’t go out and do all the number big five sins. And she couldn’t see how she could be unrighteous. But boy, when she saw it in the Word of God revealed to her heart, she saw how filthy she was. Then she understood why that ol’ life had to die and how she was now entering into a new life, entering into another type of newness of life. And boy, when she shared that with me, I just backed off about ten feet and let her go on and pray and receive the Lord Jesus. And she’s never been the same. You see, a lot of people get messed up because they don’t understand covenant. Covenant is not “God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.” Yes, He does. But let’s examine the plan and the terms of the plan. And the terms are: You repent which includes all we’re talking about, and you believe, you enter in by faith. And you see, you’re now in a covenant relationship with Him. And I want to ask you a question. How in the world, understanding this, just going through it piece by piece as we’re going, can you believe you can walk back out? That blows my away. Somebody’s going to have to help sometime before this thing is over with to figure how people come to that conclusion. When you enter in, is it forever? Is it forever? Yes! And listen, in the old covenant they entered in, you say, “Wayne, they entered in; they blew it and they walked away and they were cursed.” That’s right because it was built on their faithfulness. But the new one, boy, I’m pre-empting us now. But the new one’s not built on my faithfulness, folks. We’re going to study it. It’s built on His faithfulness. You think, “Maybe He can hold me in”? You better believe it! And you see, covenant begins to unlock the door and the mysteries of what’s been a problem to a lot of people for a long time. What does it really mean to be saved? It means you’re in covenant with a living God. “How did I get there? I don’t deserve to be there.” That’s right. God came down and became a man. Why? So He could represent us on the cross. Because all of us were sinful and our unrighteousness disqualified us. There had to be a
10 perfect sacrifice. And when He went to the cross and died He opened up a door that you and I by repentance and faith, now may walk back in. And we enter in the way of death. Death to Wayne and I’m risen to walk in newness of life. Boy, the sweetest thing that’s happened to me in a long time is doing a meeting in a Methodist church. I’ve got some Methodist friends, folks, that are on fire for the Lord. And when I got up there, the first thing they asked me to do . . . now you’re telling me God’s not doing something? They said, “Wayne, will you do a baptism while you’re here?” Will I? Does a bear live in the woods?! I said, “Where are we going to do it?” We went to a Baptist deacon’s house, to his swimming pool, and they lined up and the preacher was the first one, he and his wife. And ol’ precious, precious brother John said, “Wayne, do you know where I came to conclusion I needed to do this?” I said, “Where?” He said, “In the Word of God.” He said, “Because I want to be a witness to my people that John has died, that John has been raised to walk in newness of life.” Not only did I do it that Sunday, I did it on the following Tuesday night after church. I was there at eleven o’clock at a Baptist deacon’s swimming pool, freezing to death, baptizing people. Listen, I’m not saying, you do whatever you want to do. I’m not saying I’m going to pick on anybody. But I’m telling you, covenant is an entering in; it’s a dying to self. It’s going in the way of death. It’s entering into newness of life. And the Lord Jesus Christ was that Lamb. And on the tenth day when they were driving in those temple lambs, He entered in. Matter of fact, He entered in on four feet, didn’t He? He entered in. And for three days was examined and on the fourteenth day, having found no spot or blemish, He died upon the cross. And at three o’clock in the evening when He gave it up and it was finished, the veil was rent. No more sacrifices, no more need for any blood to be shed. It’s all been done now. We enter in to the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, I hope that somehow unlocks some of the doors for you. I know I’ve got some bases I haven’t covered and some doors I’ve left unopened, or shut. I don’t know what I’m trying to say. But doesn’t it get exciting? This thing. And listen, if you’re a little confused, welcome to the club. Hang on. Just hang on. Don’t quit just because you don’t understand something. I’m trying not to pre-empt you, but I’m just so tempted ‘cause each time we go through one, we’re adding one more dimension, one more dimension. And one day we’re just going to come in here and not do a thing, just shout for about an
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hour. And go home tell people we’re in covenant with a living God. Well, I hope you’ve entered in. I really do. And uh, remember entering in doesn’t just mean a Person, it means a way. Brand new life, brand new direction, brand new rules, brand new path. Let’s pray together. Father, I just thank You so much for covenant. Lord, there’s so much in this and we’ve left so much out. Thank You, Father God, the Holy Spirit covers the bases for us. And Lord, thank You for Precept that teaches us to search these things out for our self. Lord, I just thank You. I don’t deserve anything from You and Lord, I just thank You that You love me enough that Jesus came and died and took my place upon a cross, a representative. And Lord, I just thank You now that through Him that we might enter in. Lord, I just praise You that Jesus is Who He is and has done what He’s done. Lord, I pray for anybody that might be listening to this tape or may be in this audience tonight, if they have joined a church, but have never bowed down and confessed Jesus to be Lord, never entered in the way of death, Father, I pray that You would convict their heart, even at this moment. Father, that they would reach out and receive what You’ve done for them. Lord, we thank You that it’s all there and very clear. Thank You for the revelation of Your Spirit You give to our heart. And Lord, we just pray now as we study this next week as we add one more piece to it that You’ll keep putting it all together. We know Father, You’re not the author of confusion. So Father, we just pray for that clear direction and revelation. In Jesus’ Name, amen.
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