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Christ Our Passover
A Sermon Delivered on Sabbath Evening, December 2, 1855, by the
REV. C.H. SPURGEON
At New Park Street Chapel, Southwark
"For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us."1 Corinthians 5:7.
The more you read the Bible, and the more you meditate
upon it, the more you will be astonished with it. He who is but a casual reader of the
Bible, does not know the height, the depth, the length and breadth of the mighty meanings
contained in its pages. There are certain times when I discover a new vein of thought, and
I put my hand to my head and say in astonishment, "Oh, it is wonderful I never saw
this before in the Scriptures." You will find the Scriptures enlarge as you enter
them; the more you study them the less you will appear to know of them, for they widen out
as we approach them. Especially will you find this the case with the typical parts of
God's Word. Most of the historical books were intended to be types either of
dispensations, or experiences, or offices of Jesus Christ. Study the Bible with this as a
key, and you will not blame Herbert when he calls it "not only the book of God, but
the God of books." One of the most interesting points of the Scriptures is their
constant tendency to display Christ; and perhaps one of the most beautiful figures under
which Jesus Christ is ever exhibited in sacred writ, is the Passover Paschal Lamb. It is
Christ of whom we are about to speak to-night.
Israel was in Egypt, in extreme bondage; the severity of their slavery had continually
increased till it was so oppressive that their incessant groans went up to heaven. God who
avenges his own elect, though they cry day and night unto him, at last, determined that he
would direct a fearful blow against Egypt's king and Egypt's nation, and deliver his own
people. We can picture the anxieties and the anticipations of Israel, but we can scarcely
sympathize with them, unless we as Christians have had the same deliverance from spiritual
Egypt. Let us, brethren, go back to the day in our experience, when we abode in the land
of Egypt, working in the brick-kilns of sin, toiling to make ourselves better, and finding
it to be of no avail; let us recall that memorable night, the beginning of months, the
commencement of a new life in our spirit, and the beginning of an altogether new era in
our soul. The Word of God struck the blow at our sin; he gave us Jesus Christ our
sacrifice; and in that night we went out of Egypt. Though we have passed through the
wilderness since then, and have fought the Amalekites, have trodden on the fiery serpent,
have been scorched by the heat and frozen by the snows, yet we have never since that time
gone back to Egypt; although our hearts may sometimes have desired the leeks, the onions,
and the flesh-pots of Egypt, yet we have never been brought into slavery since then. Come,
let us keep the Passover this night, and think of the night when the Lord delivered us out
of Egypt. Let us behold our Saviour Jesus as the Paschal Lamb on which we feed; yea, let
us not only look at him as such, but let us sit down to-night at his table, let us eat of
his flesh and drink of his blood; for his flesh is meat indeed, and his blood is drink
indeed. In holy solemnity let our hearts approach that ancient supper; let us go back to
Egypt's darkness, and by holy contemplation behold, instead of the destroying angel, the
angel of the covenant, at the head of the feast,"the Lamb of God which taketh
away the sins of the world."
I shall not have time to-night to enter into the whole history and mystery of the
Passover; you will not understand me to be to- night preaching concerning the whole of
it; but a few prominent points therein as a part of them. It would require a dozen
sermons to do so; in fact a book as large as Caryl upon Jobif we could find a divine
equally prolix and equally sensible. But we shall first of all look at the Lord Jesus
Christ, and show how he corresponds with the Paschal Lamb, and endeavour to bring you to
the two pointsof having his blood sprinkled on you, and having fed on him.
I. First, then, JESUS CHRIST IS TYPIFIED HERE UNDER THE PASCHAL LAMB; and should there be
one of the seed of Abraham here who has never seen Christ to be the Messiah, I beg his
special attention to that which I am to advance, when I speak of the Lord Jesus as none
other than the Lamb of God slain for the deliverance of his chosen people. Follow me with
your Bibles, and open first at the 12th chapter of Exodus.
We commence, first of all, with the victimthe lamb. How fine a picture of
Christ. No other creature could so well have typified him who was holy, harmless,
undefiled, and separate from sinners. Being also the emblem of sacrifice, it most sweetly
pourtrayed our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Search natural history through, and though
you will find other emblems which set forth different characteristics of his nature, and
admirably display him to our souls, yet there is none which seems so appropriate to the
person of our beloved Lord as that of the Lamb. A child would at once perceive the
likeness between a lamb and Jesus Christ, so gentle and innocent, so mild and harmless,
neither hurting others, nor seeming to have the power to resent an injury.
"A humble man before his foes, a weary man and full of woes."
What tortures the sheepish race have
received from us! how are they, though innocent, continually slaughtered for our food!
Their skin is dragged from their backs, their wool is shorn to give us a garment. And so
the Lord Jesus Christ, our glorious Master, doth give us his garments that we may be
clothed with them; he is rent in sunder for us; his very blood is poured out for our sins;
harmless and holy, a glorious sacrifice for the sins of all his children. Thus the Paschal
Lamb might well convey to the pious Hebrew the person of a suffering, silent, patient,
harmless Messiah.
Look further down. It was a lamb without blemish. A blemished lamb, if it had the
smallest speck of disease, the least wound, would not have been allowed for a Passover.
The priest would not have suffered it to be slaughtered, nor would God have accepted the
sacrifice at his hands. It must be a lamb without blemish. And was not Jesus Christ even
such from his birth? Unblemished, born of the pure virgin Mary, begotten of the Holy
Ghost, without a taint of sin; his soul was pure, and spotless as the driven snow, white,
clear, perfect; and his life was the same. In him was no sin. He took our infirmities and
bore our sorrows on the cross. He was in all points tempted as we are, but there was that
sweet exception, "yet without sin." A lamb without blemish. Ye who have known
the Lord, who have tasted of his grace, who have held fellowship with him, doth not your
heart acknowledge that he is a lamb without blemish? Can ye find any fault with your
Saviour? Have you aught to lay to his charge? Hath his truthfulness departed? Have his
words been broken? Have his promises failed? Has he forgotten his engagements? And, in any
respect, can you find in him any blemish? Ah, no! he is the unblemished lamb, the pure,
the spotless, the immaculate, "the Lamb of God who taketh away the sin of the
world;" and in him there is no sin.
Go on further down the chapter. "Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the
first year." I need not stop to consider the reason why the male was chosen; we
only note that it was to be a male of the first year. Then it was in its prime then its
strength was unexhausted, then its power was just ripened into maturity and perfection,
God would not have an untimely fruit. God would not have that offered which had not come
to maturity. And so our Lord Jesus Christ had just come to the ripeness of manhood when he
was offered. At 34 years of age was he sacrificed for our sins; he was then hale and
strong, although his body may have been emaciated by suffering, and his face more marred
than that of any other man, yet was he then in the perfection of manhood. Methinks I see
him then. His goodly beard flowing down upon his breast; I see him with his eyes full of
genius, his form erect, his mien majestic, his energy entire, his whole frame in full
development,a real man, a magnificent manfairer than the sons of men; a Lamb
not only without blemish, but with all his powers fully brought out. Such was Jesus
Christa Lamb of the first yearnot a boy, not a lad, not a young man, but a
full man, that he might give his soul unto us. He did not give himself to die for us when
he was a youth, for he would not then have given all he was to be; he did not give himself
to die for us when he was in old age, for then would he have given himself when he was in
decay; but just in his maturity, in his very prime, then Jesus Christ our Passover was
sacrificed for us. And, moreover, at the time of his death, Christ was full of life, for
we are informed by one of the evangelists that "he cried with a loud voice and gave
up the ghost." This is a sign that Jesus did not die through weakness, nor through
decay of nature. His soul was strong within him; he was still the Lamb of the first year.
Still was he mighty; he could, if he pleased, even on the cross, have unlocked his hands
from their iron bolts; and descending from the tree of infamy, have driven his astonished
foes before him, like deer scattered by a lion, yet did he meekly yield obedience unto
death. My soul; canst thou not see thy Jesus here, the unblemished Lamb of the first year,
strong and mighty? And, O my heart! does not the though rise upif Jesus consecrated
himself to thee when he was thus in all his strength and vigour, should not I in youth
dedicate myself to him? And if I am in manhood, how am I doubly bound to give my strength
to him? And if I am in old age, still should I seek while the little remains, to
consecrate that little to him. If he gave his all to me, which was much, should I not give
my little all to him? Should I not feel bound to consecrate myself entirely to his
service, to lay body, soul, and spirit, time, talents, all upon his altar. And though I am
not an unblemished lamb, yet I am happy that as the leavened cake was accepted with the
sacrifice, though never burned with itI, though a leavened cake, may be offered on
the altar with my Lord and Saviour, the Lord's burnt offering, and so, though impure, and
full of leaven, I may be accepted in the beloved, an offering of a sweet savour,
acceptable unto the Lord my God. Here is Jesus, beloved, a Lamb without blemish, a Lamb of
the first year!
The subject now expands and the interest deepens. Let me have your very serious
consideration to the next point, which has much gratified me in its discovery and which
will instruct you in the relation. In the 6th verse of the 12th chapter of Exodus we are
told that this lamb which should be offered at the Passover was to be selected four
days before its sacrifice, and to be kept apart:"In the tenth day of this
month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a
lamb for an house: and if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his
neighbour next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls; every man
according to his eating shall make your count for the lamb." The 6th verse says,
"And ye shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month." For four days
this lamb, chosen to be offered, was taken away from the rest of the flock and kept alone
by itself, for two reasons: partly that by its constant bleatings they might be put in
remembrance of the solemn feast which was to be celebrated; and moreover, that during the
four days they might be quite assured that it had no blemish, for during that time it was
subject to constant inspection, in order that they might be certain that it had no hurt or
injury that would render it unacceptable to the Lord. And now, brethren, a remarkable fact
flashes before youjust as this lamb was separated four days, the ancient allegories
used to say that Christ was separated four years. Four years after he left his father's
house he went into the wilderness, and was tempted of the devil. Four years after his
baptism he was sacrificed for us. But there is another, better than that:About four
days before his crucifixion, Jesus Christ rode in triumph through the streets of
Jerusalem. He was thus openly set apart as being distinct from mankind. He, on the ass,
rode up to the temple, that all might see him to be Judah's Lamb, chosen of God, and
ordained from the foundation of the world. And what is more remarkable still, during those
four days, you will see, if you turn to the Evangelists, at your leisure, that as much is
recorded of what he did and said as through all the other part of his life. During those
four days, he upbraided the fig tree, and straightway it withered; it was then that he
drove the buyers and sellers from the temple; it was then that he rebuked the priests and
elders, by telling them the similitude of the two sons, one of whom said he would go, and
did not, and the other who said he would not go, and went; it was then that he narrated
the parable of the husbandsmen, who slew those who were sent to them; afterwards he gave
the parable of the marriage of the king's son. Then comes his parable concerning the man
who went unto the feast, not having on a wedding garment; and then also, the parable
concerning the ten virgins, five of whom were very wise, and five of whom were foolish;
then comes the chapter of very striking denunciations against the
Pharisees:"Woe unto you O ye blind Pharisees! cleanse first that which is
within the cup and platter;" and then also comes that long chapter of prophecy
concerning what should happen at the siege of Jerusalem, and an account of the dissolution
of the world: "Learn a parable of the fig-tree: when his branch is yet tender and
putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh.: But I will not trouble you by telling
you here that at the same time he gave them that splendid description of the day of
judgment, when the sheep shall be divided from the goats. In fact, the most splendid
utterances of Jesus were recorded as having taken place within these four days. Just as
the lamb separated from its fellows, did bleat more than ever during the four days, so did
Jesus during those four days speak more; and if you want to find a choice saying of Jesus,
turn to the account of the last four days' ministry to find it. There you will find that
chapter, "Let not your hearts be troubled;" there also, his great prayer,
"Father, I will;" and so on. The greatest things he did, he did in the last four
days when he was set apart.
And there is one more thing to which I beg your particular attention, and that is, that
during those four days I told you that the lamb was subject to the closest scrutiny, so,
also, during those four days, it is singular to relate, that Jesus Christ was examined by
all classes of persons. It was during those four days that the lawyer asked him which was
the greatest commandment? and he said, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy
heart and with all thy soul, and with all thy might; and thou shalt love thy neighbour as
thyself." It was then that the Herodians came and questioned him about the tribute
money; it was then that the Pharisees tempted him; it was then, also, the Sadducees tried
him upon the subject of the resurrection. He was tried by all classes and
gradesHerodians, Pharisees, Sadducees, lawyers, and the common people. It was during
these four days that he was examined: but how did he come forth? An immaculate Lamb! The
officers said, "never man spake like this man." His foes found none who could
even bear false witness against him, such as agreed together; and Pilate declared, "I
find no fault in him." He would not have been fit for the Paschal Lamb had a single
blemish have been discovered, but "I find no fault in him," was the utterance of
the great chief magistrate, who thereby declared that the Lamb might be eaten at God's
Passover, the symbol and the means of the deliverance of God's people. O beloved! you have
only to study the Scriptures to find out wondrous things in them; you have only to search
deeply, and you stand amazed at their richness. You will find God's Word to be a very
precious word; the more you live by it and study it, the more will it be endeared to your
minds.
But the next thing we must mark is the place where this lamb was to be killed,
which peculiarly sets forth that it must be Jesus Christ. The first Passover was held in
Egypt, the second Passover was held in the wilderness; but we do not read that there were
more than these two Passovers celebrated until the Israelites came to Canaan. And then, if
you turn to a passage in Deuteronomy, the 16th chapter, you will find that God no longer
allowed them to slay the Lamb in their own houses but appointed a place for its
celebration. In the wilderness, they brought their offerings to the tabernacle where the
lamb was slaughtered; but at its first appointment in Egypt, of course they had no special
place to which they took the lamb to be sacrificed. Afterwards, we read in the 16th of
Deuteronomy, and the 5th verse, "Thou mayest not sacrifice the Passover within any of
thy gates, which the Lord thy God giveth thee; but at the place which the Lord thy God
shall chose to place his name in, there thou shalt sacrifice the Passover at even at the
going down of the sun, at the season that thou camest forth out of Egypt." It was in
Jerusalem that men ought to worship, for salvation was of the Jews; there was God's
palace, there his altar smoked, and there only might the Paschal Lamb be killed. So was
our blessed Lord led to Jerusalem. The infuriated throng dragged him along the city. In
Jerusalem our Lamb was sacrificed for us; it was at the precise spot where God had
ordained that it should be. Oh! if that mob who gathered round him at Nazareth had been
able to push him headlong down the hill, then Christ could not have died at Jerusalem; but
as he said, "a prophet cannot perish out of Jerusalem," so was it true that the
King of all prophets could not do otherwise,the prophecies concerning him would not
have been fulfilled. "Thou shalt kill the lamb in the place the Lord thy God shall
appoint." He was sacrificed in the very place. Thus, again you have an incidental
proof that Jesus Christ was the Paschal Lamb for his people.
The next point is the manner of his death. I think the manner in which the lamb was
to be offered so peculiarly sets forth the crucifixion of Christ, that no other kind of
death could by any means have answered all the particulars set down here. First, the lamb
was to be slaughtered, and its blood caught in a basin. Usually blood was caught in a
golden basin. Then, as soon as it was taken, the priest standing by the altar on which the
fat was burning, threw the blood on the fire or cast it at the foot of the altar. You may
guess what a scene it was. Ten thousand lambs sacrificed, and the blood poured out in a
purple river. Next, the lamb was to be roasted; but it was not to have a bone of its body
broken. Now I do say, there is nothing but crucifixion which can answer all these three
things. Crucifixion has in it the shedding of bloodthe hands and feet were pierced.
It has in it the idea of roasting, for roasting signifies a long torment, and as the lamb
was for a long time before the fire, so Christ, in crucifixion, was for a long time
exposed to a broiling sun, and all the other pains which crucifixion engenders. Moreover
not a bone was broken; which could not have been the case with any other punishment.
Suppose it had been possible to put Christ to death in any other way. Sometimes the Romans
put criminals to death by decapitation; but by a such death the next is broken. Many
martyrs were put to death by having a sword pierced through them; but, while that would
have been a bloody death, and not a bone broken necessarily, the torment would not have
been long enough to have been pictured by the roasting. So that, take whatever punishment
you willtake hanging, which sometimes the Romans practised in the form of
strangling, that mode of punishment does not involve shedding of blood, and consequently
the requirements would not have been answered. And I do think, any intelligent Jew,
reading through this account of the Passover, and then looking at the crucifixion, must be
struck by the fact that the penalty and death of the cross by which Christ suffered, must
have taken in all these three things. There was blood-shedding; the long continued
sufferingthe roasting of torture; and then added to that, singularly enough, by
God's providence not a bone was broken, but the body was taken down from the cross intact.
Some may say that burning might have answered the matter; but there would not have been a
shedding of blood in that case, and the bones would have been virtually broken in the
fire. Besides the body would not have been preserved entire. Crucifixion was the only
death which could answer all of these three requirements. And my faith receives great
strength from the fact, that I see my Saviour not only as a fulfilment of the type, but
the only one. My heart rejoices to look on him whom I have pierced, and see his blood, as
the lamb's blood, sprinkled on my lintel and my door-post, and see his bones unbroken, and
to believe that not a bone of his spiritual body shall be broken hereafter; and rejoice,
also, to see him roasted in the fire, because thereby I see that he satisfied God for that
roasting which I ought to have suffered in the torment of hell for ever and ever.
Christian! I would that I had words to depict in better language; but, as it is, I give
thee the undigested thoughts, which thou mayest take home and live upon during the week;
for thou wilt find this Paschal Lamb to be an hourly feast, as well as supper, and thou
mayest feed upon it continually, till thou comest to the mount of God, where thou shalt
see him as he is, and worship him in the Lamb in the midst thereof.
II. HOW WE DERIVE BENEFIT FROM THE BLOOD OF CHRIST. Christ our Passover is slain for us.
The Jew could not say that; he could say, a lamb, but "the Lamb,"
even "Christ our Passover," was not yet become a victim. And here are some of my
hearers within these walls to-night who cannot say "Christ our Passover is slain for
us." But glory be to God! some of us can. There are not a few here who have laid
their hands upon the glorious Scapegoat; and now they can put their hands upon the Lamb
also, and they can say, "Yes; it is true, he is not only slain, but Christ our
Passover is slain for us." We derive benefit from the death of Christ in two modes:
first, by having his blood sprinkled on us for our redemption; secondly, by our
eating his flesh for food, regeneration and sanctification. The first aspect in
which a sinner views Jesus is that of a lamb slain, whose blood is sprinkled on the
door-post and on the lintel. Note the fact, that the blood was never sprinkled on the
threshold. It was sprinkled on the lintel, the top of the door, on the side-post, but
never on the threshold, for woe unto him who trampleth under foot the blood of the Son of
God! Even the priest of Dagon trod not on the threshold of his god, much less will the
Christian trample under foot the blood of the Paschal Lamb. But his blood must be on our
right hand to be our constant guard, and on our left to be our continual support. We want
to have Jesus Christ sprinkled on us. As I told you before, it is not alone the blood of
Christ poured out on Calvary that saves a sinner; it is the blood of Christ sprinkled on
the heart. Let us turn to the land of Zoan. Do you not think you behold the scene
to-night! It is evening. The Egyptians are going homewardlittle thinking of what is
coming. But just as soon as the sun is set, a lamb is brought into every house. The
Egyptian strangers passing by, say, "These Hebrews are about to keep a feast to
night," and they retire to their houses utterly careless about it. The father of the
Hebrew house takes his lamb, and examining it once more with anxious curiosity, looks it
over from head to foot, to see if it has a blemish. He findeth none. "My son,"
he says to one of them, "bring hither the bason." It is held. He stabs the lamb,
and the blood flows into the bason. Do you not think you see the sire, as he commands his
matronly wife to roast the lamb before the fire! "Take heed," he says,
"that not a bone be broken." Do you see her intense anxiety, as she puts it down
to roast, lest a bone should be broken? Now, says the father, "bring a bunch of
hyssop." A child brings it. The father dips it into the blood. "Come here, my
children, wife and all, and see what I am about to do." He takes the hyssop in his
hands, dips it in the blood, and sprinkles it across the lintel and the door-post. His
children say, "What mean you by this ordinance?" He answers, "This night
the Lord God will pass through to smite the Egyptians, and when he seeth the blood upon
the lintel and on the two side posts, the Lord will pass over the door, and will not
suffer the destroyer to come into your houses to smite you." The thing is done; the
lamb is cooked; the guests are set down to it; the father of the family has supplicated a
blessing; they are sitting down to feast upon it. And mark how the old man carefully
divides joint from joint, lest a bone should be broken; and he is particular that the
smallest child of the family should have some of it to eat, for so the Lord hath
commanded. Do you not think you see him as he tells them "it is a solemn
nightmake hastein another hour we shall all go out of Egypt." He looks at
his hands, they are rough with labour, and clapping them, he cries, "I am not to be a
slave any longer." His eldest son, perhaps, has been smarting under the lash, and he
says, "Son, you have had the task-master's lash upon you this afternoon; but it is
the last time you shall feel it." He looks at them all, with tears in his
eyes"This is the night the Lord God will deliver you." Do you see them
with their hats on their heads, with their loins girt, and their staves in their hands? It
is the dead of the night. Suddenly they hear a shriek! The father says, "Keep within
doors, my children; you will know what it is in a moment." Now another
shriekanother shriekshriek succeeds shriek: they hear perpetual wailing and
lamentation. "Remain within," says he, "the angel of death is flying
abroad." A solemn silence is in the room, and they can almost hear the wings of the
angel flap in the air as he passes their blood-marked door. "Be calm," says the
sire, "that blood will save you." The shrieking increases. "Eat quickly, my
children," he says again, and in a moment the Egyptians coming, say, "Get thee
hence! Get thee hence! We are not for the jewels that you have borrowed. You have brought
death into our houses." "Oh!" says a mother, "Go! for God's sake! go.
My eldest son lies dead!" "Go!" says a father, "Go! and peace go with
you. It were an ill day when your people came into Egypt, and our king began to slay your
first-born, for God is punishing us for our cruelty." Ah! see them leaving the land;
the shrieks are still heard; the people are busy about their dead. As they go out, a son
of Pharoah is taken away unembalmed, to be buried in one of the pyramids. Presently they
see one of their task-master's sons taken away. A happy night for themwhen they
escape! And do you see, my hearers, a glorious parallel? They had to sprinkle the blood,
and also to eat the lamb. Ah! my soul, hast thou e'er had the blood sprinkled on thee?
Canst thou say that Jesus Christ is thine? It is not enough to say "he loved the
world, and gave his Son," you must say, "He loved me,, and gave himself
for me." There is another hour coming, dear friends, when we shall all stand
before God's bar; and then God will say, "Angel of death, thou once didst smite
Egypt's first born; thou knowest thy prey. Unsheath thy sword." I behold the great
gathering, you and I are standing amongst them. It is a solemn moment. All men stand in
suspense. There is neither hum nor murmur. The very stars cease to shine lest the light
should disturb the air by its motion. All is still. God says, "Has thou sealed those
that are mine?" "I have," says Gabriel; "they are sealed by blood
every one of them." Then saith he next, "Sweep with thy sword of slaughter!
Sweep the Earth! and send the unclothed, the unpurchased, the unwashed ones to the
pit." Oh! how shall we feel beloved, when for a moment we see that angel flap his
wings? He is just about to fly, "But," will the doubt cross our minds
"perhaps he will come to me?" Oh! no; we shall stand and look the angel full in
his face.
"Bold shall I stand in that great
day!
For who aught to my charge shall lay?
While through thy blood absolved
I am From sin's tremendous curse and shame."
If we have the blood on us, we shall see the angel coming, we shall smile at him; we shall dare to come even to God's face and say,
"Great God! I'm clean! Through Jesus' blood, I'm clean!"
But if, my hearer, thine unwashen spirit
shall stand unshriven before its maker, if thy guilty soul shall appear with all its black
spots upon it, unsprinkled with the purple tide, how wilt thou speak when thou seest flash
from the scabbard the angel's sword swift for death, and winged for destruction, and when
it shall cleave thee asunder? Methinks I see thee standing now. The angel is sweeping away
a thousand there. There is one of thy pot companions. There one with whom thou didst dance
and swear. There another, who after attending the same chapel like thee, was a despiser of
religion. Now death comes nearer to thee. Just as when the reaper sweeps the field and the
next ear trembles because its turn shall come next, I see a brother and a sister swept
into the pit. Have I no blood upon me? Then, O rocks! it were kind of you to hide me. Ye
have no benevolence in your arms. Mountains! let me find in your caverns some little
shelter. But it is all in vain, for vengeance shall cleave the mountains and split the
rocks open to find me out. Have I no blood? Have I no hope? Ah! no! he smites me. Eternal
damnation is my horrible portion. The depth of the darkness of Egypt for thee, and the
horrible torments of the pit from which none can escape! Ah! my dear hearers, could I
preach as I could wish, could I speak to you without my lips and with my heart, then would
I bid you seek that sprinkled blood, and urge you by the love of your own soul, by
everything that is sacred and eternal, to labour to get this blood of Jesus sprinkled on
your souls. It is the blood sprinkled that saves a sinner.
But when the Christian gets the blood sprinkled, that is not all he wants. He wants
something to feed upon. And, O sweet thought! Jesus Christ is not only a Saviour for
sinners, but he is food for them after they are saved. The Paschal Lamb by faith we eat.
We live on it. You may tell, my hearers, whether you have the blood sprinkled on the door
by this: do you eat the Lamb? Suppose for a moment that one of the old Jews had said in
his heart, "I do not see the use of this feasting. It is quite right to sprinkle the
blood on the lintel or else the door will not be known; but what good is all this inside?
We will have the lamb prepared, and we will not break his bones; but we will not eat of
it." And suppose he went and stored the lamb away. What would have been the
consequence? Why, the angel of death would have smitten him as well as the rest, even if
the blood had been upon him. And if, moreover, that old Jew had said, "there, we will
have a little piece of it; but we will have something else to eat, we will have some
unleavened bread; we will not turn the leaven out of our houses, but we will have some
leavened bread." If they had not consumed the lamb, but had reserved some of it, then
the sword of the angel would have found the heart out as well as that of any other man.
Oh! dear hearer, you may think you have the blood sprinkled, you may think you are just;
but if you do not live on Christ as well as by Christ, you will never be
saved by the Paschal Lamb. "Ah!" say some, "we know nothing of this."
Of course you don't. When Jesus Christ said, "except ye eat my flesh, and drink my
blood, ye have no life in you," there were some that said, "This is a hard
saying, who can heart it?" and many from that time went backand walked no more
with him. They could not understand him; but, Christian, dost thou not understand it? Is
not Jesus Christ thy daily food? And even with the bitter herbs, is he not sweet food?
Some of you, my friends, who are true Christians, live too much on your changing frames
and feelings, on your experiences and evidences. Now, that is all wrong. That is just as
if a worshipper had gone to the tabernacle and began eating one of the coats that were
worn by the priest. When a man lives on Christ's righteousness, it is the same as eating
Christ's dress. When a man lives on his frames and feelings, that is as much as if the
child of God should live on some tokens that he received in the sanctuary that never were
meant for food, but only to comfort him a little. What the Christian lives on is not
Christ's righteousness, but Christ; he does not live on Christ's pardon, but on Christ;
and on Christ he lives daily, on nearness to Christ. Oh! I do love Christ- preaching. It
is not the doctrine of justification that does my heart good, it is Christ, the justifier;
it is not pardon that so much makes the Christian's heart rejoice, it is Christ the
pardoner; it is not election that I love half so much as my being chosen in Christ ere
worlds began; ay! it is not final perseverance that I love so much as the thought that in
Christ my life is hid, and that since he gives unto his sheep eternal life, they shall
never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of his hand. Take care, Christian, to
eat the Paschal Lamb and nothing else. I tell thee man, if thou eatest that alone, it will
be like bread to theethy soul's best food. If thou livest on aught else but the
Saviour, thou art like one who seeks to live on some weed that grows in the desert,
instead of eating the manna that comes down from heaven. Jesus is the manna. In
Jesus as well as by Jesus we live. Now, dear friends, in coming to this table, we
will keep the Paschal Supper. Once more, by faith, we will eat the Lamb, by holy trust we
will come to a crucified Saviour, and feed on his blood, and righteousness, and atonement.
And now, in concluding, let me ask you, are you hoping to be saved my friends? One says,
"Well, I don't hardly know; I hope to saved, but I do not know how." Do you
know, you imagine I tell you a fiction, when I tell you that people are hoping to be saved
by works, but it is not so, it is a reality. In travelling through the country I meet with
all sorts of characters, but most frequently with self-righteous persons. How often do I
meet with a man who thinks himself quite godly because he attends the church once on a
Sunday, and who thinks himself quite righteous because he belongs to the Establishment; as
a churchman said to me the other day, "I am a rigid churchman." "I am glad
of that," I said to him, "because then you are a Calvinist, if you hold the
'Articles.'" He replied "I don't know about the 'Articles,' I go more by the
'Rubric.'" And so I thought he was more of a formalist than a Christian. There are
many persons like that in the world. Another says, "I believe I shall be saved. I
don't owe anybody anything; I have never been a bankrupt; I pay everybody twenty shillings
in the pound; I never get drunk; and if I wrong anybody at any time, I try to make up for
it by giving a pound a year to such-and-such a society; I am as religious as most people;
and I believe I shall be saved." That will not do. It is as if some old Jew had said,
"We don't want the blood on the lintel, we have got a mahogany lintel; we don't want
the blood on the door-post, we have a mahogany door-post." Ah! whatever it was, the
angel would have smitten it if it had not had the blood upon it. You may be as righteous
as you like: if you have not the blood sprinkled, all the goodness of your door-posts and
lintels will be of no avail whatever. "Yes," says another, "I am not
trusting exactly there. I believe it is my duty to be as good as I can; but then I think
Jesus Christ's mercy will make up the rest. I try to be as righteous as circumstances
allow; and I believe that whatever deficiencies there may be, Christ will make them
up." That is as if a Jew had said, "Child, bring me the blood," and then,
when that was brought, he had said, "bring me a ewer of water;" and then he had
taken it and mixed it together, and sprinkled the door-post with it. Why, the angel would
have smitten him as well as anyone else, for it is blood, blood, blood, blood! that
saves. It is not blood mixed with the water of our poor works; it is blood, blood,
blood, blood! and nothing else. And the only way of salvation is by blood. For,
without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin. have precious blood sprinkled
upon you, my hearers; trust in precious blood; let your hope be in a salvation sealed with
an atonement of precious blood, and you are saved. But having no blood, or having blood
mixed with anything else, thou art damned as thou art alivefor the angel shall slay
thee, however good and righteous thou mayest be. Go home, then, and think of this:
"Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us."
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