SBS Sermon Notes

SBS     Sermon Notes     Note 771A

The Festival of Freedom

Reading Exodus 12 & 13

1. INTRODUCTION

The Week of Unleavened Bread, also called the Passover Week, is a memorial of Freedom through the power of Almighty God and the Blood of His Son Yeshua the Lamb of God. Freedom from:

Ancient Israel was freed from Egyptian slavery on the 1st Day of Unleavened Bread. Remember that fact. To begin with let us understand certain words that come to mind when we talk of freedom. They are slave, bondman, bond-servant, servant.

Slave

The word 'slave' appears only twice in the Bible; once in each Testament (Jer.2:14, Rev.18:13). The word 'slave' means: 'a person who is the property of another and obliged to work very hard for no wage other than food and a little clothing.' Slaves have no rights or privileges. They are in the same category as domestic animals; kept only for work.

Bondman

Another Bible word for a slave is bondman. This word appears five times in the Old Testament and once in the New.

Gen:44:33 Now therefore, I pray thee, let thy servant abide instead of the lad a bondman to my lord; and let the lad go up with his brethren.
Deut:15:15 And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in the land of Egypt, and the LORD thy God redeemed thee: therefore I command thee this thing to day.
Deut:16:12 And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in Egypt: and thou shalt observe and do these statutes.
Deut:24:18 But thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in Egypt, and the LORD thy God redeemed thee thence: therefore I command thee to do this thing.

From these verses we can see that slaves and bondmen have no freedom whatsoever. They must do what their masters demand. They cannot do as they please.

Bondservant

This is another word akin to a slave.

Lev.25:39 And if thy brother that dwelleth by thee be waxen poor, and be sold unto thee; thou shalt not compel him to serve as a bondservant: 40: But as an hired servant, and as a sojourner, he shall be with thee, and shall serve thee unto the year of jubile:

We can see from this verse that bondservants do not receive wages. They are not hired servants; but are similar to slaves and bondmen.

Servant

A servant is someone who works for wages; someone who is free to go at will if the job doesn't suit him/her.

2. YESHUA THE REDEEMER

Except for the redeemed of the LORD, the whole human race is in slavery; bond-servants to Satan and sin. It's ironic, but sin does pay a wage. The Bible tells us that the wages of sin is death! Freedom from sin is only possible through Yeshua (Jesus). He alone is able to free the slaves of sin and its horrible result - eternal death! Once delivered from death, believers are no longer referred to as slaves in the 'Real Bible, the Authorised King James Version.' Alas the modern translations still refer to believers as 'slaves.' A tragic mistake!

John 8:31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
32: And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
33: They answered him, We be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free?
34: Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.
35: And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever.
36: If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.

3. HOW DID YESHUA MAKE FREEDOM POSSIBLE?

Yeshua made freedom possible by purchasing us from Satan and setting us free. He bought us back from slavery with his own blood; that was the price He paid. It's like buying a caged bird and then setting it free. Just as ancient Israel was physically redeemed and saved by displaying the blood of a literal lamb on the lintel of his house, so too, but in an infinitely greater and eternal way, the people of God are redeemed by the blood of Yeshua, the Passover Lamb of God. That's right: we are purchased, redeemed, ransomed, bought back from Satan, by the blood of the Lamb of God; by the blood of the Son of God! We were like lepers, caged birds, slaves in Egypt, brute beasts, with no hope of freedom or life everlasting till Yeshua shed his blood and set us free.

Acts:20:28 Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased WITH HIS OWN BLOOD.
Eph.1:7 In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace. (Also Col.1:14)
Rom:5:9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.

4. POWER IN THE BLOOD

In the Bible the disease of leprosy symbolises sin's dominion over a healthy body. Slowly, remorselessly leprosy eats away the nervous system and the healthy flesh is literally worn away and the leper finally dies. When in ancient Israel a leper was miraculously cleansed, which happened very seldom in those days, he/she was required to go through an amazing ritual involving blood. The symbolic ceremony is described in Leviticus 14:1-32.

The TurtleDove

Lev.14: 1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
2: This shall be the law of the leper in the day of his cleansing: He shall be brought unto the priest:
3: And the priest shall go forth out of the camp; and the priest shall look, and, behold, if the plague of leprosy be healed in the leper;
4: Then shall the priest command to take for him that is to be cleansed two birds alive and clean, and cedar wood, and scarlet, and hyssop:
5: And the priest shall command that one of the birds be killed in an earthen vessel over running water:
6: As for the living bird, he shall take it, and the cedar wood, and the scarlet, and the hyssop, and shall dip them and the living bird in the blood of the bird that was killed over the running water:
7: And he shall sprinkle upon him that is to be cleansed from the leprosy seven times, and shall pronounce him clean, and shall let the living bird loose into the open field.

John 8:31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
32: And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

33: They answered him, We be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free?
34: Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.
35: And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever.
36: If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.

The Passover Lamb of God

Yeshua the Messiah (Jesus Christ) is the real Passover Lamb of God. Faith in Him is absolutely necessary for salvation.

Exodus 12:1 And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying,
2: This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you.
3: Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, 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:
4: 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.
5: Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats:
6: And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening.

7: And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it.
8: And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it.
9: Eat not of it raw, nor sodden at all with water, but roast with fire; his head with his legs, and with the purtenance thereof.
10: And ye shall let nothing of it remain until the morning; and that which remaineth of it until the morning ye shall burn with fire.

11: And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the LORD's passover.
12: For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD.

13: And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: AND WHEN I SEE THE BLOOD, I WILL PASS OVER YOU, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.
14: And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the LORD throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever.
15: Seven days shall ye eat unleavened bread; even the first day ye shall put away leaven out of your houses: for whosoever eateth leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel.

16: And in the first day there shall be an holy convocation, and in the seventh day there shall be an holy convocation to you; no manner of work shall be done in them, save that which every man must eat, that only may be done of you.
17: And ye shall observe the feast of unleavened bread; for in this selfsame day have I brought your armies out of the land of Egypt: therefore shall ye observe this day in your generations by an ordinance for ever.

Heb.11: 28 Through faith he (Moses) kept the passover, and the sprinkling of blood, lest he that destroyed the firstborn should touch them.

For information as to how one applies the blood of the Passover Lamb in this century,
see The Passover Service.

Power In The Blood

Just as a child in its mother's womb or at its mother's breast, feeds off its mother, in a far more miraculous way we believers live by the nourishment we obtain from God Himself. Note these words:

John 6:53 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.
54: Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.
55: For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.
56: He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him.

Sons/Daughters of God

The next stage higher up the ladder of freedom is that believers 'become sons and daughters of God!'

John 1:12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.

Rom. 8:14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.

1John 3:1 Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.
2: Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.

We shall be like Him! Oh the wonder of this verse. Spend time thinking about it.

5. ARE YOU AFRAID?
Are you afraid that amid life's awful strife, its stress and strain, its physical and mental pain you cannot cope? Are you afraid?
Are you afraid that in the world you really roam alone? And that all the grind will find you shorn and torn from everything that holds out hope.
Are you afraid that greed and gain with speed insane is gulping down the good, as though it could, or even should - destroy the earth? Are you afraid?
Are you afraid that in this race you're out of place; that you belong - not with the strong who throng the track, but with the weak who at the back somehow seek to withdraw, from all this silent war? Are you afraid?
Are you afraid to breathe your last or has death cast a darkening shadow on your soul? Are you afraid that sin without - within - has cheated you in life from getting to your goal? Are you afraid?
Marvel of the universe, could I include it in this verse the remedy for fear. Yes, "Have Faith in God and Fear Not" For soon the tangle of life's knot he will undo for you.
Then like a ransomed ship you'll set out free! Cut loose from the moorings of fear you'll sail right out to sea. Piloted and full of faith, you'll ride the roaring waves. You'll live above the splashing sound of a world so full of slaves - Slaves of Fear!

Have you dear friend accepted freedom from slavery, from sin and fear? Or are you still desperately trying to cope with life's impossibly heavy burdens and its leprous grip on your soul?

My dear friend,

Do not waste your time worrying about what your friends or neighbours may say. Now is the time for you to believe the Gospel, expressed in the verses above. I again invite you to believe the Almighty God and accept freedom today. Tomorrow may be eternally too late!

The First Day of Unleavened Bread is a memorial of freedom from slavery and sin. No soul alive can afford to ignore God's amazing offer of freedom. Come dear reader - be done with slavery forever. Believe the Gospel and become a son or daughter of the Almighty God. No privilege could be greater; and its yours for the taking.

Amen

Elder: David B Loughran

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October 1999
Stewarton Bible School, Stewarton, Scotland