The Passover: A New Beginning - III

The following message from Pastor Greg Laurie is made possible by harvest partners, helping people everywhere know God check out virtue our website for Christian women go to harvest.org/virtue today. Pastor Greg Laurie is good reassurance God's forgiveness is complete thinking is delete she will your Sunnis remove this from the West, so you think you says forget your sin price is not to remember what God has chosen the virgin why the blood nearly fast relief group and benefit the give a little relief for little while when it comes to forgiveness of our sins we are more interested in immediate everlasting relief. The open guile today on a new beginning.

Pastor Greg Laurie fixes the mystery of the first she God provided a solution for sin is the price. Chapter 12 also. Matthew chapter 26 going to talk about the cross in the blood in the Passover celebration and also in communion and the Passover is very important to both Jews and to Christians in here are God's instructions for observing the Passover. Let's read them in Exodus chapter 12 a reverses 1 to 5. Everything from the new living translation while the Israelites are still in the land of Egypt, the Lord give the following instructions to Moses and Aaron. From now on this month will be the first month of the year for you and also the whole community of Israel and on the 10th day of this month. Each family must choose a lamb or a young goat for a sacrifice.

One animal for each household for families too small to eat a whole animal. Let them share with another family in the neighborhood divided the animal. According to the size of each family and how much they can be the animal you select must be a one-year-old male, either a sheep or goat with no defects.

There so the Passover as I said is important to the Jews. This is to remember what God did for them that he passed over them in his judgment upon Egypt because they observed this and did what he told them to do but Passover is important to believers as well. Christians because Jesus celebrated Passover with his disciples because he knew it pointed to him.

Everything in the Old Testament points to what is fulfilled in the New Testament, Christ is concealed in the Old Testament he's revealed in the New Testament, Jesus was the fulfillment of the Passover lamb soap person take away points in the Passover that apply to you if you're taking notes here is point number one. The Passover was to be a new beginning. The Passover was to be a new beginning. Verse two from now on this month will be the first month of the year for you.

So God starts by making this a new beginning for the nation Israel right in the middle of the year God gives to the people and new beginning.

In the same way. It doesn't matter if it's June October or March or whatever you ask Christ to come into your life and ask for his forgiveness. You can have a fresh start as well.

Jesus says in Revelation 21 five behold I make all things new. I don't know what the narrative of your life is right now but I can tell you this, God can change your story. If you have a different ending, then you are expecting. If you'll turn it over to him because today can be a fresh start for you. I'll tell you in on a few minutes of point number one.

The Passover was a new beginning number to the Lamb that they were to offer was to be the very best. It was to be carefully chosen and examine the very best we should bring our very best to God that are left over because he gave his very best for you. Number three the Lamb had to be slain and was in the life of the Lamb that save the people from judgment. It was the death of it. In Hebrews 922 says without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin.

Some people claim to admire the life and teachings of Jesus, but they don't want the death of the Lamb. Or they don't want the cross, you know we love the idea of heaven in the hope and forgiveness and all those great features of our faith, but none of it would've happened without the death of Jesus on the cross. Matthew 26, 28, Jesus said this is my blood of the new covenant shed for many for the remission of sins. It's his blood that doesn't. You can have the benefits without sacrifice. Point number four.

This is a big one. Don't miss this one. The blood had to be applied. The blood had to be applied. Having an unblemished lamb was not enough even slain the Lamb was not enough you are to apply the blood of the slain lamb to your doorpost look good.

Exodus 12 verse 13 the blood of the doorpost will serve as a sign marking their houses where you're staying. Underlying this when I see the blood, all Passover to Sunderland when I see the blood all Passover, the plague of death will not touch when I strike the land of Egypt. Imagine for a moment if you can a doorway writer. Now imagine that you just slain the Lamb taken the blood of the Lamb on a kiss up for a little bush in your taking the blood now because you know the judgment of God is coming on the firstborn of Egypt, and you don't want that judgment to come on your firstborn, God told you what to do slain the Lamb and apply the blood. So they got the blood on your little bush and you put it on the left. Now you put it on the right now you put it up on the top and the Lord sees the blood and he passes over in his judgment. What does this remind you of blood on the right blood on the left blood on the top. It's across the left and the right hand of Jesus cures with the Roman Spike's head.

Having the crown of thorns on it, causing lacerations, so you have to apply the blood and he promises to cleanse me from all sin that some sin, all sin and were told in verse John if I walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another lesson in the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses me from all sin.

But I say I have no sin, the truth is not in me, but up. I will confess my sin. He's faithful and just to forgive me my sin and cleansing from all on righteousness.

So you see effectively.

Lord you suffered on the cross for my sin. Now I confess it, I repent of it and I accept your forgiveness made available to me through your shed blood. Now listen now you drop it drop it quit dragging it up again all I did this many years ago. Hey, he says he'll forgive your sin and forget your sin. I should not choose to remember what God is chosen to forget.

Apply the blood that's within me by the blood I mentioned the word justify justified before God. Every believer rinses Lotta ways to define that phrase justified but one definition is you change your status. I like that you change your status used to be center loss person. Now you change it to say person, the more specifically justified person on my keyboard. I have a key says delete and a five some text in the document and I want to get rid of it to highlight it and I hit the delete key. It all disappears under Nora goes God is taken his delete key. If you will to your sin and he's removed it as far as the east is from the west, so apply the blood. Number five, they were ready to be moving at a moments notice so they celebrated Passover had to be ready to move in a moments notice. Look at Exodus 1211.

These are your instructions for eating this meal be fully dressed where your sandals carrier walking stick in your hand eat the meal with urgency for this is the Lord's Passover. Let's update have your running shoes on. Have your suitcase packed have your cell phone charged have your passport ready and be ready to go out the doors meaning what meaning live in this sense of expectancy of the imminent return of Jesus Christ ready to go ready to go toward what if you call me I'm ready and also be ready for opportunities double come in your path like here's a way to share the gospel.

Those things pop up often unexpectedly be ready be alerts do these things. This is how we are to live under Greg Laurie will have the second half of his message in just a moment, everybody Greg Laurie here in finding you to join me every weekend for what we call Harvest at Home.

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Join us Harvest at Home@harvest.org. Glad your long for today's message from Pastor Greg called the Passover a new beginning and I think store harvest partners for helping to make today study possible with their consistent support, knowing when to shift gears to what will you look at here in Matthew 26. As we look at the final Passover meal that Jesus celebrated with his disciples. It was a bittersweet night because Jesus was having a final meal with them. He knew it, but they did not know it. And so now he is telling them what they need to be aware of as this great event is about to unfold before their eyes.

He's already revealed to them that one of them is going to betray him, and it's true. This is scary. It who leaves the room and by the way the Bible says, Satan entered him. That's the only time the Bible never says Satan entered anyone so the devil ever had a son that would be Judas and so he leaves the room and now Jesus breaks bread with his disciples in this Passover dinner Matthew 26 starting in verse 26 I'm reading from the new King James translation as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it and gave it to his disciples and said, take any. This is my body.

Then he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, drink from it, all of you this is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sin is not vegan for a moment if you're one of the disciples, you don't really know what's happening.

You have other Passover meals with Jesus and that you have a lot of meals with him and usually their fun times as a meal might be with family and friends profound times, enjoyable times. This is different. You can see something is on the mind of Jesus something is troubling him. But suddenly everything you're doing is taking on new meaning now is you're talking about the Passover lamb might be occurring to you. I am looking at the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. This is pointing to him. You know something I left out was when the Jewish people celebrated the Passover, they were to get rid of all of the leaven in their house or the East and in the Bible. Leaven is often a symbol of sin or compromise affecting the church of Corinth. There was a member reality going on in this couple that were engaged were not only allowed but they were welcomed into the church and pulsing. What are you guys doing you need to get these people out of the church. Other living in sin and then he goes on to say, don't you know that a little leaven leavens the lumber a little yeast that affects the does so deal with that. So there's a picture my wife and I were traveling recently in the gave us a little jar of pretzels, but the ones with peanut butter and them you ever have those these things are addictive to me. I don't know why it's just a little bit of peanut butter and saltiness and so I knew I shouldn't try the but I had one whole soak. So I went over had another walk across the room. Come back again and every the third none having 1/4 time in the my fifth I thought I would need this whole thing so I couldn't resist it. I was too weak so I walked over and I needed to do this. I walked over to the toilet and I flush the rest on the toilet God Tim Tatian eliminated Kathy my wife comes walking into the kitchen. She sees the empty jar you ate all of those pretzels. I said no. I flush them down the toilet.

She's like she's believing that though I did really well. I did and sometimes in your life. There might be something that is such an Tim Tatian the best way to deal with that is if possible, literally get it out if it will be specific. Let's say you have a problem with drinking and you keep bottles of booze in your house, get rid of them will what what what do for now. Let's say you have drugs in your house, get rid of it could isolate know you don't don't sell it will be arrested shouldn't have, but you definitely shouldn't sell it. Get rid of it is in the bed stewardship know that smart thinking get rid of these things that you have to sometimes we have to take drastic measures in our life. So as we come to the communion table. I want you to be honest before God and as we pray just say Lord, is there anything in my life that's like 11 that's hurting me that's tracking me down.

Maybe it's a relationship. Maybe it's something I'm so excited about doing as soon as I get out of church. It's actually not a good thing at all. Maybe it's something else. Lord, would you show that to me right now going back to Exodus 12 notice this in verse three. The Passover lamb is called a lamb in verse four. It's called the Lamb. And in verse five it your land all lamb, the Lamb, your land, and these verses show our reactions to Christ from the day we first learned of him first.

He was all lamb tie was to me when I first heard of Jesus.

I admired him. He is out there. He was a lamb but then one day he became of the land, you realize this isn't just one of many gods. This is the one and true and only God the Lamb of God, but then one day he became your land, so one day he just God. The next day you realize he's God.

Then finally he becomes your God. That's what happens I said earlier that you can have a new beginning, a fresh start.

Remember Passover was to be a new beginning for Israel today can be a new beginning for you no matter what sin you've committed no matter how egregious or horrible. It is, you can have it forgiven by God, and it can be under the blood, but only you can confess your sin.

I can't do it for you. Somebody else can do it for you to listen again.

The Bible says if you will confess your sin, he is faithful and just to forgive you your sin and cleanse you from all unrighteousness and it can be in your rearview mirror and a part of your past not a part of your present and certainly not a part of your future, he can make all things new. You need that, would you like to get the reset button in your life it can happen if you call out to him. Morgan, a pray in a moment, and I'm in a give you an opportunity to ask Jesus Christ to come into your life and be your savior, not just Savior. Not even the Savior. Your Savior, your Lord, your friend, your God, he's just a prayer away. So if you need Jesus in your life. Respond to this invitation as we close in prayer and if some of you need to maybe make a recommitment to the Lord, you can do it now as well. Let's all bow our heads and everybody praying father, thank you for loving us so much he sent Jesus to die on the cross in our place. Lord Jesus, you came as a very Lamb of God, and you took away the sin of the world and you died there in our place and now you're here with us in this room risen alive ready to change lives and I pray for any person, here or listening wherever they may be.

If they don't have a relationship with you. Let it start right here right now in Jesus name I Greg Laurie important prayer with those who like to make a change in their relationship with God today if you'd like to do that. Pastor Greg will come back to help you for today's addition of a new beginning. Concludes so stay tuned. If you missed any part of today study a message called the Passover a new beginning. You can hear it again online@harvest.org or get a CD copy by calling 1-800-821-3300.

That's 1-800-821-3300 Pastor Greg have always enjoyed hearing the stories behind some of the popular songs we've all heard some of the stories are actually pretty surprising because there's so much more to the story than what's evident within the lyrics. That's right. And many people know Jeremy Called. I Still Believe He's Been Singing It for Many Years. This Is the Story behind the Song Is Amazing. It's Inspiring. In Fact, That Story Has Been Made into a Film of Full Feature-Length Film and We Want to Make That Movie Available on DVD Right Now. Don't Wait Yes We Really Do That. That's a Powerful Song. I Still Believe in Them Plays a Role in My Life As Well.

I Was Having a Conversation with Jeremy A While Ago and and I Told Him for the First Time How the Song Impacted Our Life When Our Son Christopher Went to Be with the Lord. Here's a Little Bit of That Conversation, You Know, Jeremy Listed in This Very Stage XI Years Ago after Our Son Christopher Died in an Automobile Accident and That It Was a Church Service on the Sunday Morning That I Was Planning on Speaking of Just Sitting There Just Traumatized after the Death of My Son, Which Was Unexpected and I Felt Prompted by the Lord to Come and Say a Word and I Walked up to the Pulpit and What I Said Was I Still Believe That I Was Thinking of Your Song and It Just Summed up the Way That I Felt Because You Know People Sometimes Say When You Go through Suffering.

You Can Lose Your Faith We Hear People Say I Lost My Faith of This Crisis and What I've Said before, Is the Faith That Cannot Be Tested Is a Faith That Cannot Be Trusted You Know and and We Believe Not Because of Our Circumstances, but despite Them, and We Do When Life Is Bad, God Is Still Good. You Know, so Your Son Touched Me in and I Sort of Used It As a Theme to Describe How I Was Feeling and in Its Can the Touch Millions of People Because Were Not Hurting World. As You Know and Every Day People Wake up to Bad News in Their Life Is Altered in and Things Change and God Can Be with You through Your Pain and Even More.

There's an Afterlife. There's Hope There's Heaven Sake Say Something about That. You Know, One Thing I Realized Was Having. The Story Is That Pain Is Universal. We All Experience Nice, but We Have Jesus and That's What I Want to Show That the Only Way I Got through This Because of Jesus and That's It. That's the Message, and I Know the Song I Still Believe Is Resin Needed with Other People around the World and in Jeremy Wrote It in in the Short Period of Time. It Just Came to Him Really and Today It Was a Song That Was Effectively Saying despite the Horrible Setbacks He Had Faced and in His Case It Was Losing His Wife Melissa to Cancer, but He Said I Still Believe in Your Faithfulness. I Still Believe in Your Truth and That Song Now Is the Title of the Film That Tells the Story of Jeremy and Melissa Campanelli Came Together. It's a Beautiful Love Story You Laugh, You'll Be Moved by It, Then How They Pleased. Adversity Together in the Great Faith That Melissa Had to the Very End and How Jeremy Was Able to Survive This Unimaginable Tragedy and Go on in Life and He Certainly Done That. And so It Became a Great Song Now. It's a Great Film and I Want You to Have a Copy of This Film Called Again.

I Still Believe Starring KG Op Britt Robertson Shania Twain Gary Sinise Expertly Directed by the Irwin Brothers Are Going to Be Moved by This Film and You're Gonna Watch It Is Soon As You Get It and You Gonna Want to Show It to Your Family and Your Friends As Well. By the Way, Your Kids Will Love This Film.

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It Makes a Difference for Eternity. So Send Your Donation Today and Ask for, I Still Believe on DVD You Can Write a New Beginning. Box 4000, Riverside, CA 92514 or Call 1-800-821-3300. That's 1-800-821-3300 or Go Online to Harvest.org Yesterday. Today You Ramped up Your Message by Talking about Eternity. How Can Someone Listening Know That They're Going to Heaven. That's a Great Question and I Guess We Take It a Step Further. I Know That Is the Most Important Question You Can Ask, How Can a Person Know They're Going to Have Let Me Say at the Outset, I Believe I'm Going to Have an Effect out to Get a Step Further. I Know I'm Going to Have Is That Greg Is Not Kind of Arrogant, Not Really, Because I Know This Because God Is Made a Promise to Me and I've Believed That Promise. The Bible Says We Write These Things to You That Believe on the Name of the Son of God, That You May Know That You Have Eternal Life. I've Believed on the Name of the Son of God. Thus, I Know I'll Go to Heaven When I Die, Here's My Question to You Do You Believe on the Name of the Son of God, Is There Any More Important Issue That That I Can Think of One.

So I like to Lead You in a Simple Prayer and This Is a Prayer Will You Will Be Asking Jesus to Forgive You of Your Sin and You'll Be Asking Them to Be Your Own Savior Friend Lord. It's a Prayer. Only You Can Pray Pray These Words. If You Would, Lord Jesus, I Know I Am a Sinner but I Know That You Are the Savior Who Died on the Cross for My Sin and Rose from the Dead. Jesus Come in the My Life. I Want to Believe in You.

I Want to Follow You. I Want This Relationship with You. Thank You for Dying on the Cross for My Sin and Rising Again from the Dead, and I Think You That You've Heard This Prayer and I Believe You've Come into My Life in Jesus Name I Pray, Amen.

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I Guess It's Sort of a Form of a Bag of Seeds Because I Want to Sell Some Spiritual Seed in Your Life to Help You Develop As a Follower of Christ, so I'm of the Send You a Copy of the New Testament and the New Living Translation but It's a Special Edition That's Called the New Believers Bible and It's Filled with Notes That I Wrote That Will Encourage You in This New Commitment or Recommitment You've Made to Christ and There's Some Other Materials in the New Believers Packet As Well so Order Your Copy Today and I'm so Glad I Have This Privilege Today to Lead You, and That Prayer. God Bless You. You've Made the Right Decision. The Decision to Follow Jesus Christ. And Here's How to Get That New Believers Packet Just Writers Had a New Beginning. Box 4000, Riverside, CA 92514 or Call 1-800-821-3300. That's 1-800-821-3300 or Go Online to Harvest.org and Click the Words No God. Sometimes We Find Ourselves in a Real for What We Do When We Don't Know What to Do.

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