Transcription
I'd like for you to open your Bibles with me to the Book of Exodus chapter 12 and I want you to read with me beginning with verse three. Speak to all of the congregation of Israel saying on the 10th of this month every man shall take for himself a lamb according to the house of his father, a lamb for a household. And if the household is too small, notice this, this is what I want to preach on. If the household is too small for the lamb, let him share it with his neighbor next to his house, taking it according to the number of the persons. According to each man's need you shall make your count for the lamb. I love that phrase. And if the, if the household or your home or your family is too small for the lamb, he never, we never find, uh, him saying, if your house is too big for the lamb. Because the lamb, which is a type of Jesus, there's nothing in your home and in your family too big for the lamb to take care of. And he said, as a matter of fact, you're going to find out, and this is what I'm preaching on, that the lamb is so powerful that he is more than enough.
And what he gives in this chapter is instructions for the Passover meal. The plagues had ended. It was over, and Pharaoh had agreed to let God's people go. And he says, now I want you, for the first time, God himself instituted the Passover meal, what we call, and under the New Covenant, communion or Holy Communion. And he said, what I want you to do is I want you to prepare, prepare this meal. And he gave such specific instructions all the way through that chapter. He says, now I'm going to tell you how to cook it. I don't want you to S it. I don't want you to water down the lamb. That's literally what he said. Don't water down the lamb. Don't start talking this universal stuff of all roads lead to heaven and, uh, whatever religion you pick, any many Mindy Mo, they'll all get you there. No, they will not. There's only one lamb. There's only one lamb, and his name is Jesus. He is the way, the truth, and the life. And we're not going to water down the lamb. And he said, as a matter of fact, you, you roast it on the fire. When you serve the lamb, serve it hot. Praise God. Preach the word with fire and let, let the chips fall where they may. And then he even told him what to do with the bones.
But what caught my attention is, if he said, said, if your house is too little, and you, after you've eaten, and he actually tells them in the chapter, you take the blood of the lamb, listen carefully, and you put it on the doorpost of your home so that when the Destroyer passes through, he'll have to pass over your home because you have applied the blood of the lamb over your house. And then he said, you are to take the lamb and you are to eat all of it. None of it is to be wasted. And that's where the verse comes in. And if you can't eat it all, if, if your family is not big enough that you can consume, and he said, make sure that you eat the lamb. And when your belly is full of the meat of the lamb, don't you dare waste it. They didn't have refrigeration back then. They didn't have, you know, I don't know about you, but, uh, we should, we all know what leftovers are. And he said, when you eat all that you can eat of the lamb, when you get the blood on your house, and don't you dare think that that the lamb is not big enough for your family. I don't care what kind of situation you face. I don't care how bad your marriage is. I don't care what challenges you face with a child or a situation. He said, the lamb is enough and more than enough.
And I want you, once you get full of the lamb and the blood on the doorpost, it is the way out of Egypt. You got to understand, they had been in Egyptian bondage for 470 years. And God said, this night, when you eat this meal, listen to the words. He said, you keep your shoes on your feet because what I'm about to do is going to astound you and shock you, and it's going to happen so quick that when I say, we're moving out of Egypt. I know you've been in this situation, this bondage, this addiction, this, this slavery to something. They have, they enslaved you. It bound your grandparents, your parents, for generations. It might have been going on. It was going on. But what I'm about to do through the lamb is so powerful that it'll happen suddenly. And the Bible said that they came out through and by the blood of the lamb, full of the lamb, full of the lamb.
And then he said, but before you leave, I want you to get some of that lamb. If you can't consume it all, it's too good to keep to yourself. And go and share the lamb with your neighbor. Go and share the goodness and what the blood did for you and what the meat in your belly did for you and the power of this meal to bring you out of the bondage of slavery in sin, in Egypt, a type of sin in the world. He said, I want you to not keep it to yourself and not waste it. But I promise you, that same lamb that got you out and blessed you, it'll get your friends out. It'll get your neighbors out. But you've got to share it with them. You've got to take it to them and make sure that they have lamb in their house because the same thing that brought you out and your family out will bring them out.
I'm, I'm old-fashioned. I still believe that God can set people free from vaping, from drunkenness, from alcohol, from drugs, from immorality, from sexual immorality. God can do it. God can do it. The way out, the only way out of a messed-up life is by the lamb. I'm going to preach it until I die. I still believe there's power, power, wonder-working power in the blood of the lamb. The blood of the lamb can get your marriage out of defeat. The blood of the lamb can set your family free. The blood of the lamb can bring you out of shame and condemnation and failure and a wasted life. Hallelujah.
It's an interesting verse in the Book of Genesis when Joseph, uh, was meeting with his brothers who had tried to kill him, and he forgave them. And he said, now you're about to come to Egypt and live because the famine is going on, and God's going to really bless you. But when you go before Pharaoh for your interview, I want you to tell him, when he asks you what is your occupation, he said, you tell them that you are herdsmen. Don't you dare tell them you're shepherds, even though they were shepherds. Told him to tell a story he shouldn't have done that, but I'm, that's what he told him. And he said, he said, you tell them because to the Egyptians, every shepherd is an abomination. Egypt, a type of the world, hates shepherds. And he said, I want you to understand that you need to kind of conceal. We're going to be shepherds. There'll always be some lambs because one day, the only way out of Egypt would be through the blood of the lamb. And so I got to keep some shepherds. But don't think that Egypt, the world, is going to appreciate shepherds. They hate shepherds. It's an abomination for anybody to be a shepherd. They only want herdsmen.
You know, I'm going to preach just a minute because we're living in an environment that hates preachers. The Egyptians, the world hates shepherds. And I'm going to tell you why. Because when it says they're only after this, or they're a bunch of charlatans, or they're this, or they're that, you have to make up your mind whether or not you think a shepherd is important to you and your family. And when you understand that the only way, the reason that the Egyptians hate the shepherd is because the shepherds are the ones who connect the people to the lamb. You can look at me and you can live in your defeat and in your bondage, or you can let me connect you to the answer that can get you out of there. You can break the curse off your family that has been for generations. You can see God do what you thought was not possible to do, even in your children and grandchildren. I believe this book above what I see or what I feel, and I'm going to preach it into your family and connect you to the lamb. The answer is still the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, that takes away the sins of the world. Clap your hands and praise the Lord.
The voice of the Egyptian says, don't go to church. The voice of the Egyptians says, oh, you don't need that. But when you understand the power of the lamb, that's why we do outreach. That's why we, this church is full of the lamb. And so we don't keep it to ourselves. We take the lamb to rest homes, 30 services a month. We take the lamb to prisons, and it costs hundreds of thousands of dollars to buy the equipment, and we make donations to the prison system and bless them and bless those people that were in there and do what we can do. But you know why? Because the lamb's too good. We got to share the lamb with our brothers and our neighbors and our sisters. Turn to somebody and say, you're my neighbor, and if you're in Egypt, I know the way out. Let me offer you some lamb. Praise God. He's the leftover lamb, and he's always enough and more than enough. There's enough lamb in Free Chapel this morning in this service to bring you out. Hallelujah. You don't have to do it anymore. You don't have to live it anymore. You don't have to be defeated anymore. You can come out of that in Jesus name.
When Adam and Eve messed up in the garden, the Bible said God slew an animal, and he took the covering and he covered their nakedness. And that lamb that covered them, I want you to understand, it didn't just cover Adam and Eve, but that lamb was more than enough because the next generation in their family, Cain and Abel, they had a fight, and Cain slew his brother. And the Bible said that God was in a society and in a time under the old covenant that it was an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. In other words, if you murdered someone, you were to die and you were to be slaughtered right there. But God, because the lamb wasn't just enough for Adam and Eve, Mom and Dad, it was enough for the sons that had messed up. And Abel was slain, and God should have killed Cain, but he didn't do it because the blood of the lamb was more than enough. And God said, I'll mark him, but I won't kill him. I'll give him mercy. He deserves judgment because there's a lamb in that house.
Abraham's taking little Isaac up the mountain called Mariah. And they get to the top, and the little boy says, Dad, I see the wood and I see the fire, but where is the lamb? And Abraham said, God himself will provide the lamb. And I want you to know that God provided what they needed. And the scripture said that that wasn't just enough lamb for Abraham and Isaac, his son, and Jacob, his son, but there came a moment when one of the nephews named Lot got in a terrible mess and shouldn't have been in Sodom and Gomorrah, had no business being there, and couldn't get out and was doomed and was headed for judgment. Fire was about to consume him and his family because of the, of the stench of sin in that community. And God, because the lamb isn't just enough for Uncle Abraham and Isaac, my nephews, but it's enough for the, for the nephew Lot and his family. And God sent an angel and led them out of that place. Don't tell me your family's too far gone. The lamb is more than enough. There's more than enough to save. I don't care if they're in Sodom and Gomorrah this morning. I don't care how bad they're out of their mind on drugs or whatever. I'm telling you, our lamb is mightier. Our lamb is stronger. Our lamb and his blood cannot be conquered. We are overcomers by the blood of the lamb and the word of our testimony. Give him a praise right, right now if you believe it. Don't you give up on your home. Don't you give up on your marriage. Don't you give up on what God's told you he would do with that child or that grandson or that granddaughter. You need to say, in the name of Jesus, the lamb is more than enough. Hallelujah.
I want to conclude by telling you that when you read the New Testament, you find this leftover lamb. Jesus is walking, and he preaches and performs a miracle on the Sabbath, and the Pharisees grabbed stones, and the people were so angry that they were trying to stone Jesus to death. And the Bible said he supernaturally passed through the crowd, and they couldn't, they couldn't kill him and stone him to death. And he goes to the next city, and they bring to him a woman caught in the very act of adultery, right out of the bed, scattery clad, barely clothed, thrown down at the feet of Jesus. She's ashamed, she's embarrassed, she's humiliated. And the Pharisees pick up the rocks and said, Moses and the law said, stone him. But watch the lamb. He said, they tried to do that in the last city I was in. They couldn't stone me. And because the lamb is standing here, you're not going to stone her either. And he says, let him that is without sin cast the first stone. And every one of them dropped the rock. And he said, neither do I condemn you. Neither do I condemn you. You better, you better not condemn people. We need to drop our rocks and get off our little holy high horses, and we need to understand without the lamb, you're nothing. Without the lamb, all your righteousness is filthy rags. Without the lamb, you can't give your way into heaven. You can't buy your way into heaven. It's, it's only one way and one lamb, and his name is Jesus.
And John ends up on the Isle of Patmos all by himself. And he said, I was in the spirit, and all of a sudden, I was caught up into heaven. I heard a voice say, come up here. In Revelation five, he said, they were searching frantically in heaven saying, there's no one, no man worthy to break the seals and open the book. What about David? No, he's not worthy. He messed up. What about Abraham? No, he lied. He messed up. What about Samson? No, he messed up. No man worthy. And then he said, and I saw a lamb in the midst of the elders, and there stood a lamb as though it had been slain. A lamb that was slain. And he was standing. So much of the lamb that is, he's watching the end times. He's writing the Book of Revelation. He's seeing it all. He's seen the plagues. He's seen the Great Tribulation. He's seen the rapture. He's seen the lukewarmness. He's seen evil. He's seen the Antichrist. He's the one that gives us all those insights. He's seen everything. But the one central message that he says is the most powerful is, I see the lamb still standing. There's still enough lamb. Legalizing everything sinful, but there's still enough lamb. I know you're beat up. I know somebody's listening to me who's forsaken. I know somebody's listening to me who you've been through it and you just feel like giving up. But he said, do three things, and they can come. Oh, they're already here. They can put the blood of the lamb on the doorpost, and then get the meat of the lamb in your belly. Folks, you better listen to this preacher. We're living in times now where what you thought you could get by doing or not doing a year ago, five years ago, pretty much all your life, if that's how you've done neglecting this book. If you don't get full of the lamb, in the beginning was the word, and the word became flesh. When you don't read this, you don't fellowship with the lamb, you're not full of the lamb. Do you know when they ate the lamb, the Bible said there was not a weak or feeble one among them? They got healed. And there shouldn't be a weak or feeble marriage among us if we'll get our belly full of the lamb. Because what happens is he starts living through you, and you start forgiving, and you start having the, not just the gifts of the Spirit, but the fruit of the Spirit: love, kindness, gentleness, longsuffering, patience. The lamb is enough.
I close with this. For every marriage, the lamb is enough. Your problem's not too big for the lamb. Don't you worry about the lamb being too small to handle your situation. He said, the problem is if your house is too little to handle all the lamb can do, you're going to have to share it with somebody else and help them. When I get through with you, the lamb is enough for every family. The lamb is enough for every sinner. The lamb is enough for every backslider. He's enough to restore you, to change you, to transform you. Get full of the lamb, and then start giving it to your neighbor. There is enough lamb for you. The same lamb that brought us out can bring you out and your family out. Do you believe that this morning? Do you believe that this morning? There doesn't have to be one person under the sound of my voice that leaves or that's listening that has to sit in the darkness anymore. The lamb is more than enough. I'm so thankful today for Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world. He's more than enough to break every addiction. So just pray right now in sincerity. Here's how you do it. Say, Lord Jesus, I pray to you right here. Forgive me of my sins. Wash me, Lamb of God, in your precious blood. I receive more than enough grace, more than enough help, more than enough power to do the will of God this year for me and my family. In Jesus name, amen.
If you prayed that prayer, we would love to hear from you. That's why we have a website that you can click on right there and just click on the Salvation tab, and we have a free devotional that we want to send you. It's going to help you so much in your brand new walk with the Lord. We'll tell you what to do next about your journey with Jesus. He's going to be with you, and he's going to walk you through this year in a powerful way.
I want to end this time together by saying thank you from the bottom of my heart for your support, especially concerning the nation of Israel. We are seeing a miracle happen. We are praying for the peace of Israel. We are praying for the Palestinian people, and we are praying against the demonic, wicked, terrorist leadership that they have. But we stand with Israel, and we stand with hurting people all over the world. That's why we have committed a one million gift this year in 2024 to help build the Resilient Center where survivors will receive much-needed psychological treatment, comfort, health. They're suffering from PTSD and so many other emotional and mental traumas. And this is one of the number one needs, especially with the children, with, with the women that are living in fear for their families and the soldiers. Together, we can be a blessing to Israel. Together, we can heal broken minds and broken hearts, emotional and mental traumas. I want you to pray. I'm telling you, I'm telling you, I'm, I'm, I'm 61 years old. I don't have time to play games on TV. If you support Israel, God will bless you and your family and your business. I'm just telling you, you can't out-give God. Please watch and see how critical your support for Israel is right now.
I'm standing here in the Zach's house, the Zach family house, in Kibbutz Suvim, the first community that we introduced you to on October 7. This entire family perished. When we walked after the atrocities of October 7 into this house, we saw the father lying here behind me on the floor with a knife in his hand, and in the shelter behind me, the mother in bed hugging her son, both dead and both burned alive. But just like this instinct of a family to protect each other, to save each other, this is what we feel with you, Pastor Jensen Franklin, and your entire congregation. It was an instinct, a family instinct to come and stand with us and to remind us that we are not alone. You are responding immediately because you know us. You know us already for many years before, and you committed to build a resilience center that will give us therapy for our communities to heal together in these atrocities of October 7. We know that we will rebuild again. It will be painful and hard, but we know that with you, we can make it happen, step by step, together as a family.
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