Well, if you have your Bibles, go with me to the book of Exodus. I believe that's the direction we need to go this evening. The book of Exodus, chapter number 12. Amen. Familiar passage, and I'm glad mercy walked in. Amen. Praise God. That crunked my tractor and threw another log on my fire. Amen. So I feel pretty good, and a little wore out. We drove in about four hours this afternoon, and so a little tired, but that's all right. It's all right. Amen. I'm gonna read a lengthy passage, so we'll just remain seated this evening, but look in verse number one. The Bible says, and the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, this month shall be unto you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year to you. 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 a house. And if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next unto his house take it according to the number of souls every man according to his eating shall make your count for the lamb. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year, and you shall take it out from the sheep and from the goats. You shall keep it unto the 14th day of the same month, and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening. They shall take of the blood and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the house wherein they shall eat it. They shall eat the flesh in the night, roast with fire and unleavened bread, and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. Eat not of it raw nor sodden at all with water, but roast with fire, his head with his legs and with the pertinence thereof. And ye shall let nothing of it remain into the morning, and that which remaineth until the morning ye shall burn with fire. And thus shall ye eat it with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, your staff in your hand, and ye shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord's Passover. For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night and will smite the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and his beast. And against all the gods of Egypt, I will execute judgment. I am the Lord. And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the house 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. 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 forever. Seven days shall ye eat unleavened bread, even the first day ye shall put away. Eleven out of the house for whosoever eateth leavened bread from the first day unto the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel. and the first day thereof shall be a holy convocation, and the seventh day there shall be a holy convocation to you. No matter of work shall be done in them, save that which every man must eat. That only may be done for you. You shall observe the feast of the unleavened bread, for in this selfsame day have I brought you brought your armies out of the land of Egypt. Therefore shall ye observe this day in your generations by an ordinance forever. We'll take up reading there. Dear heavenly Father, help us this evening. God, I can't do what I'm about to do without your touch and without your help, without your hand upon my life. God, if we've ever needed you before, Lord, in this day, in this hour, we sure do need you now. God, we ask, Lord, that you touch and you help as only you can. We'll be sure to thank you and praise you. It's in your name we ask it, amen and amen. We look in this text and in this passage and we're familiar with the passage, we're familiar with the text and we know that the children of Israel are getting ready to come out of Egypt and God has ordained and set up this thing of a lamb. If you go back to the beginning of the Bible, in the beginning, Adam and Eve, when they sinned in the garden because of their sin, they were cast out. And before they were cast out, the Bible says that He took animals and the skins of animals and made a way. They were to sacrifice and all throughout Scripture it was a lamb, it was a lamb, it was a sacrifice and it was the blood of that lamb or the blood of that goat that caused them to be able to go another year with their sins forgiven, their sins under the blood of that lamb. I'm thankful for the day that my sins, oh yes, were covered by His blood. See, it's one thing for you to look and say that it's the children of Israel and their sin. Oh, but honey, the day that I knelt at an old-fashioned altar and the day that it was me and my blood that was covered by His precious, darling Lamb's blood, that's the day that it changed my life. That's the day that it changed me forever. It's no longer Egypt, it's no longer Israel, but it's Luke, Lindsay in 2018, whatever year we're in, that it was my sin that he covered. 2020 messed me up. Hallelujah. Praise the Lord. We see that the blood covered My birth. Amen. I needed blood. I needed pure blood. I needed holy blood. I needed righteous blood. And my birth and the blood that I had, Brother Tate, wasn't good enough. But God in his riches and his mercy made a way and made me a new birth. The blood covered my birth. But not only am I born or birthed in the family of God, but I'm also adopted in. And that covers the legality of my life, hallelujah. Well, glory to God, you look at me kind of funny, but I'm here to tell you that I'm covered all the way by the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm an heir and I'm adopted into his, hey, I can't get out if I wanted to. Now that messes up a lot of people, but you can be messed up. I'm gonna read the word of God and I'm gonna be right, amen. Praise God, the blood. The blood. But as I look in Exodus chapter 12, I begin to notice that when they consumed the lamb, it changed some things for the children of Israel. And as I looked at Exodus chapter 12, brother Tate, it was a reflection of what the blood and what the lamb changed in my life the day that I received Christ. The only begotten lamb of God. So for the next few moments, I just want to point out some things that will change when you get the lamb. If you read the text, the Bible says that God had given the plan to Moses, and Moses portrayed that plan to the children of Israel, and the plan was this, to get a sinless, spotless, unblemished lamb, and to cook it with fire, to roast it, and to consume every bit of it. What was not consumed was to be burnt with fire the next morning. They were to consume all of it. What changes when you get the lamb? See, the next morning when they woke up, The thing that they had looked at, the thing that they had protected, the thing that they had looked over that would save the life of the firstborn, that would save the life of the household, was the thing that was on the outside. But now, the next morning, that which was on the outside is now on the inside. Can I tell you, see Jesus didn't do nothing for me when I was looking at Him out there. But the day that He moved inside here, Brother Jacob, was the day that business picked up, honey. Was the day that He began to change my life. Old things passed away. Behold, all things become new. Why? Because Jesus was no longer out there, but He was in here. So many people in the world, they look and they say, yeah, I know Jesus, but he's more than just knowing out there, but you gotta know him in here. There's a lot of people sitting on church pews, and they know him, they've been in a Christmas play, they've been in Sunday school, they've been in church, they have a knowledge, a head knowledge of him, but no heart knowledge. For 18 years, I walked around with a head knowledge of Jesus. Granddaddy was a preacher. Grandpa was a preacher. Daddy was a preacher. Now, three of my brothers, including me, are preachers. But knowing Him there didn't matter until I knew Him here. And we see that it was not enough. Whoo! Glory to God! It was not enough for me to know about Jesus in church. The day that I realized that I needed Jesus in here was the day that he turned my world upside down. Was the day that church became church. Oh yes! I was reading something earlier this week as we're going into this thing of the Christmas season and then there was something that I never knew about that manger scene. about all that was going on there in Bethlehem, which Bethlehem was the place, as most of us know, where they kept the sheep that were to be sacrificed in the temple. And the shepherds, hallelujah, the shepherds that were on the field when the angels appeared, they weren't just keeping any old sheep, but they were protecting a flock of sheep that were going to the temple to be sacrificed on the behalf of the sins of the Israelites. Luke chapter two, I'm preaching two different messages, but glory to God, you'll get them two in one, amen. I like a two for one anyway, amen. Luke chapter 2, you've got two perspectives. Luke chapter 2 verse 1 through 7, you've got the earthly perspective of Mary and Joseph. Luke chapter 2 verse 8 through 14, you have a heavenly perspective of what the shepherds saw. I ain't going into it. But I always pictured that manger of a wooden manger. But this writer said it wasn't a wooden manger, but it was a manger that was hewn out of rock. And what they would do is they would place that lamb that had been picked for sacrifice, they would place it in the hewn out part of that rock which they called a manger. Where normally they would put a straw or feed for the animals, but particularly they would put a lamb in there so that it would not break a leg or it would not harm itself or would not bring a blemish to itself so that it could go to the temple as a pure sacrifice. And what they would do with that lamb so that lamb would not harm itself while it was in that manger, they'd wrap it in swaddling clothes. As you would take a brand new baby I've had three, and I've helped mama. I know how to tie that baby up so it can't get out, and it feels secure in that little cocoon that you make. And that's what they did with those lambs. They would wrap that thing up, not because they were wanting to hurt it, but so that it would not hurt itself. Y'all might not be having a time, but I'm doing cartwheels inside, and hang on honey, it's coming out. When those shepherds got to where Jesus was, they'd already gotten news from another world that you shall find Him wrapped in swaddling clothes and laying in a manger. And when they walked in, it wasn't a lamb in a manger, but it was the darling Son of God. And they said, yep, that's Him. That's Him! That's Him! That's Him! The lamb, which took away the sins of the world. I'm thankful for the lambs. Here in this passage, we see that they were commanded to seek the message. This is round two. We see a lamb. We see the lamb. But a lamb and the lamb eventually became the lamb of the household, which is my lamb. It's not good enough to know a lamb. It's not good enough to see the lamb. But the lamb has to become your lamb. The lamb has to become my lamb. And only when he becomes my lamb do things begin to change in your life. See, there's a lot of people that are religious and they say they know the lamb. And no doubt they know something knowledgeable of the lamb. But it's more than just knowing him knowledgably. I make up my own words. Y'all just hang on. But it's to know him from the heart. When he moves in, things change. First of all, number one, what will change when you get the lamb? Number one, it'll change your calendar. So what are you talking about, preacher? Notice, if you will, verse number two. He says, this month shall be unto you the beginning of months. Wait a minute, they'd all been living 400 something years in bondage in Israel, and all of a sudden God says, nope, today changes everything. We're starting from today. See, when I got saved, all things passed away. Oh, I'm about to knock that Bible off right there. Behold, all things become new. What happened? I got a calendar change. I was no longer living to the way of this world, but I was living to God. Why? Because He changed my calendar. Not only did He change my calendar, but secondly, notice this, when you get the lamb, it'll change your crowd. Notice verse number three. Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel. Now they're being talked of as a crowd, a collective group. Them, they, us. When I got saved, when I partook of the lamb, my crowd changed. The things I used to do, I don't do them anymore because there's been a change in my life. I'm thankful for the day that I got all of him. He got all of me. And in I getting all of him and he getting all of me, it changed who I wanted to run with. You want to run with the wrong crowd, something's wrong. Amen. I understand we live in the flesh. I understand we still fight the flesh. But hey, there should be a spiritual man on the inside that desires the things of God, that wants the things of God, that says, hey, I can't wait to get back to church Wednesday night. I can't wait for play practice on Saturday. I want to be in the house of God. Why? Because you've taken all of Him. Amen. I like it. I like play practice. I like Christmas plays. Some people don't, but hey, go do what you wanna do. I like it when a church includes the children within the church. That's what we've lost in this generation. We're all consumed about us and what we gotta do. We ain't got time for the children. But honey, it won't be but 12 years and those kids will be grown adults and they'll look and they'll say, well, you didn't want any part of us then. Why should I be a part now? and they're leaving by the droves because there's nothing here. I'm not saying compromise. I'm not saying going the way of the world or going a different way. The old book and the old time religion still works, but you better involve them now. There ain't nothing wrong with a little Christmas play. Amen. There ain't nothing wrong with what, three, four years old, five? Six, praise God, Jesus loves me. I like it. If I can egg on Brother Josh singing Mercy Walked Him, I can egg on little boy right here singing Jesus Loves Me. Why? Because there's not one greater than the other. Matter of fact, he was more important than him. And you. I'm just sharing my heart, Brother Tate. I'm tired of going to church. Well, Brother Luke here, the Lindsay's are here. Boy, they gotta sing. I ain't gotta sing. Let somebody else stand up and sing about the goodness of God in their life. Sing about how God's good. Well, they can't sing. Hey, it don't matter how they sing. Make a joyful noise. Why? Because the Lamb's within. Change their crowd. Not only change your calendar and change your crowd. Praise God, I'm having a time. Hey man, I like it. But notice this thirdly. It'll change your conversation. Up until this day, being slaves and in bondage to the children of Israel, you can imagine that mostly the conversation went something like this. Boy, I can't believe I gotta get up again this morning and go out there and slave for that man and make bricks and mortar to build his city. I'm tired of this. I'm tired of living like this. But this day, they weren't talking about what they had to do out there. What they were worried about was a lamb. What they were worried about was a firstborn son. What they were worried about was have we done it the way that God has told us to do it? Change your conversation. You know what happens when you get the lamb? Change your conversation. Hey man, I'm not saying that you've got to walk around all spiritual and talk about the Lord every moment of every day. No, but the Lord should be in your conversation somewhere or another. Because I'm here to tell you, I promise there ain't not one soul in this building where God has not been good to you in 2021. Change their conversation. All they could talk about was, did you get a lamb? I got a lamb. Did you get a lamb? I got a lamb. And as they're working that day, they're thinking about what they got to do when they get home with that lamb and how that they've got to prepare it just the way. Why? Because it was the determination of their future and the firstborn of their family. Change their conversation. Not only did it change their conversation, but notice this, what will happen when you get the lamb? It'll change your conduct. Huh. They were worried about what was going on at the house now. They weren't worried about who won football game today. They weren't worried about who's going to the national championship in a couple of weeks. Wasn't on their mind. They weren't worried about bucks in the woods. They might have been worried a little bit, but not like they were before. Can I get a witness right there? Amen. Amen. I'm still worried about a buck in the woods back home. And hopefully I'll get him before deer season's out. But honey, nothing takes place of the house of God. Changed their conduct. Has the Lamb changed your conduct? How you act in front of people? Or do your neighbors look at you one way, and the church look at you a different way? What I'm saying is, do they look out there on Sunday morning when you're loading the kids up and say, yeah, there they go to church again, but I know how they live Monday through Saturday. Conduct. They were so concerned that they had to get it right, or they'd be digging a grave for somebody the next day. See, I believe that's what's happened to our churches. We've lost the special of church. That church has become some monotonous thing that we come in and we sing a song and we take an offering and we sing a special and we hear the preacher preach. But when was the last time that you said, God, speak to me through that song. God, speak to me through your man and through your Word that I can carry something through the week that will sustain me. and sustain my family. I'm afraid as 21st century Christians, we are so callous and so monotonous in our church service that we come to church with the world on our mind. We go home with the world on our mind. We wake up day after day with what we've got to do out there. And God is a secondary thought to everything that we do. In 2020, the world looked at the church and said the church is non-essential. Why did the world look at the church in 2020 and say the church is non-essential? Because somewhere back down the road, the church considered we're non-essential. We don't matter. Why? Because we've gotten used to just going through the motions of church and just having church and it's become nothing more than just a big hula party. And we're having fun, but there's nothing changing. That's why we're losing our kids. They're looking at you and how you live Monday through Saturday and how you change and put on a mask and you go to church and everything's fine on Sunday, but there's no literal concrete change in your life and it's week after week and they get so bitter about it and so callous to it that they say, when I turn 18 and I can get out of here, I'm running as far as I can. Why? Because they're tired of the hypocrisy. And I understand that we shouldn't allow hypocrites to allow us in our thinking of how we look at church. But honey, it's the evidence. It's the truth. And what it is, it's our kids growing up in an environment of seeing mom and daddy play a game at church rather than being on fire and shelled out for God saying, God, what would you have for us to do? I'm concerned about my family. I'm concerned about my children. I'm concerned about my church. I'm concerned about my community. Changed their conduct. Not only would you see that when they took of the lamb, it changed their conduct, but notice this, fifthly. When they partook of the lamb, it changed their cuisine. Notice verse number eight. They shall eat of the flesh, and the night there roast with fire and unloving breath, and with bitter herbs shall eat it. Verse number nine. eating none of it raw nor sodden at all with water, but roast with fire, his head with his legs, and with the puritans thereof. I ain't got time to go into all the meaning of this Passover lamb, but I will say this, it was not what they were used to eating in Egypt. It was different. You know what? God don't want you to eat the things of this world. but he wants you to eat the things of God. And you've got to have an appetite for the things of God. Because the world looks at the things of God and says, that's bland. That's boring. Why do I want to come and spend an hour at church? But honey, the day that God quickens your spirit and does something in you, the thing that you said, that's boring and that's bland and that's blah, is the very thing that you say, I can't get enough of that. Preacher, you know there's a revival around town that I can just go to this week. I just ain't got enough and I want some more. You know what that is? That's a change of cuisine. I'm reminded of Hannah over in 1 Samuel. She was barren without child and she begged God for a child and finally God gave her a child. That child changed some things in her life. where once she was barren and there was no evidence of something in her life, but now because God had stirred the womb and because God had made a miracle, now there's life living within her. Well, you get life inside of you, it'll change some things about you. Remember the first time, I say the first time, our first child, when my wife was with child with our first one, Bristol. Things begin to change in her life. Her walk changed. The way she used to walk, well, she don't walk that way anymore. She walks a little different. Why? Because there's life inside. She talked different. Used to, she'd talk about going to Ulta and going to TJ Maxx and hanging out with the girlfriends and all this, but now since life moved in, all she could talk about was that life and what was inside. It changed her cuisine. Used to, I mean, we'd go eat steak and salad bars and golden corrals and all that stuff. But when that life moved in, she'd want ice cream and Taco Bell and olives and pickles. No, not at different times, like all together. It was weird, bro. It was weird. What had happened, her cuisine had changed. She came to me one day and she said, honey, these old clothes, they just don't fit like they used to. I'm going to need some new clothes. Why? Life had changed. See, instead of trying to fix somebody before they get life inside of them, wait until life gets inside of them, God will take care of all that. What we're trying to do is dress dead people and wonder why they ain't going to dress any different than what they were out there. Because there ain't nothing changing here. But when they got the lamb, It changed their cuisine. Not only did their cuisine change, but notice this. When you get the lamb, it will change your ceremony. You say, what are you talking about preacher? What do you mean your ceremony? Verse number 14. And this day shall be unto you for a memorial. And you shall keep it a feast to the Lord throughout your generations. You shall keep it a feast by an ordinance forever. to change their ceremony. It was no longer, well, it's Sunday. But now it was Sunday, and Sunday reminds me of last Sunday, and we're going to do it like we did it last week. I'm putting them to sleep, praise God. Benny Hinn, Hills, Luke, Lindsey, puts them to sleep. Amen. The ceremony. Has church become boring to you? It might be that you need to get back in the Scripture and say, God, make it fresh and anew. Change their ceremony. Oh, it was no longer, well, we've got to go to church this Sunday. But it was beating there by the car, honking on the horn, saying, hurry up, we've got to go. I can't wait to get there. Change their ceremony. When you get the Lamb, not only will it change your ceremony, but it will change your convocation. Notice verse 16. And in the first day there shall be a holy convocation. In the seventh day there shall be a 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 for you. Which is no different than just an assembly. See, I was going to church 18 years before I went to church. But August the 13th, 1999, church changed for Luke Lindsay. It was no longer just an assembly of people, but it was a day and a time when I could go and I could spend time with my Savior, collectively with other believers that believe like me. And church became church. I remember as a kid, my dad, he surrendered to preach, surrendered to the mission field, and he sold everything and we moved to Greenville, South Carolina. Dr. Harold B. Seitler, Tabernacle Baptist Church, White Horse Road, Greenville, South Carolina. Four years of college there. I'll never forget the first day I walked into that church. It was on a Sunday night. The choir was singing, number four, I'm free again. And when they hit that course, that place erupted in something I had never seen before. Now, I love my granddaddy. My granddaddy was a great preacher, but that was just not how he did church. He went to Furman University and then New Orleans Theological Seminary and he'd come out under the Southern Baptist line and so he was more reserved. than what these people were at Tabernacle Baptist Church, Greenville, South Carolina, White Horse Road. And we got in there and they got to shouting and doing all kinds of stuff. One fellow run down, grabbed a pot plant and took a lap. Leaned over at my mama and I said, Mama, are these people saved? She said, Yes, they're just excited about what the Lord's done for them. Well we lived on Green Avenue and on Fridays, you young people won't know nothing about this, but calling on weekends was cheaper than calling during the week and so mom would call her sisters and her mama on Friday evening. Well she'd lock us in the back room to do it. So what we'd do is we'd go to play in church in the back school room just like we saw it played out week after week at Tabernacle Baptist Church, White Horse Road, Greenville, South Carolina. Benny Carper and that trio, Bluegrass Trio, they'd get up there with their mandolin and their doghouse bass and their guitar and we'd grab a broom and grab a ping pong paddle and whatever else we could find and we imitated what they were doing. Just like we saw them do it there, we did the same thing at the house. and it wasn't long until a ping pong paddle would fly, a broom would fall on the floor, and something else would hit a wall, and here we'd go. Whoo! Somebody grabbed the flowers off the kitchen table, and we is running. Why? Because we saw it like that at the house of God. We'd have us a shouting spell. But you know what I realized, Brother Josh? Yes, Jacob, Josh, Jacob. You know what I realized, Brother Tate? I know who you are. Is this, we never experienced revival. We never saw one person get saved. One person called to the ministry. We never saw any of that playing church. We acted it out. We did it like everything we knew to do. I mean from the preacher, to the singer, to the shoutin', but we never experienced God in that back room of that house on Green Avenue, Greenville, South Carolina. And I believe there's a lot of churches that have, don't know the word to say, a counterfeit of what church should be, but they're lacking the Spirit of God within that. So they act it out and play it like they know to, but there is no God. And I'm tired of going to church like that, Brother Tate. And honestly, I've come to the realization, whether you have church or don't have church, don't matter to me. I've made up my mind. I've been in too many dead churches. I will have church. And I will have a good time. Because God dwells within me. And if it's just me and Him, where two are. And me and Him makes two. Matter of fact, He's got three, so that makes four. I ain't real good with math, but I can come up with four. I might not come up with any else, but I can sure come up with four. But I'm bound and determined to do this, to have church when I show up for assembly of church. Why? Because the Lamb has changed something in my life. Not only did it change their convocation, but it will change your concerns. How are we doing on time? 31 minutes, 4, 5, 6 seconds. We're doing good. It will change your concerns. Notice verse 26. And it shall come to pass when your children shall say unto you, what mean ye by this service? I believe we've lost this in our churches. Children are asking, what mean ye by this service? And we say, I don't know. We live in a generation now where people don't even know why they're Baptist. People don't even know why they believe what they believe. All they know is mama believed it and daddy believed it. Can I give you a little simple illustration of this? There's a young lady, they're getting ready for a Sunday dinner and she walked in the kitchen and mom was in there and she had her pan and she was fixing to put the roast in the oven. And she saw her cut off half of that roast and throw it in the garbage can and put the other half in the oven. And she said, Mama, why did you cut off the back end of that roast and throw it away? She said, the pan was plenty big for all of it. She said, I don't know, but Mama did it that way. So little Susie went to Grandma and said, Grandma, why did you cut off the back end of the roast? She said, I don't know. Great Grandma did it that way. That's how I've always done it. So one day she was at great-grandma's house. She said, great-grandma, why don't you cut off the back end of the roast when you cook a roast? She said, because I've never had a pan big enough for the whole roast. See, so many times we're doing stuff just because we're doing it, but we don't know why we're doing it. And can I encourage you sometime to maybe go back and study and see why you believe what you believe? Because it's detrimental to your faith to know why you believe what you believe. So when somebody comes and challenges your faith, it's not, well, mama did it and daddy did it. Because if they challenge you and that's the only answer you've got, you'll chunk your faith. Because there's no foundation to it. And I believe in 2021, we're looking at people that have no foundation to their faith, and when somebody shakes it, they say, well, I don't know. So they start going looking for answers, and they're looking for answers in the wrong place. I ain't going there. And they're getting twisted, and they're going down I don't know what you call them. But they're coming out the other end, messed up far more than if somebody would have just line upon line, precept upon precept, preached the Word of God, taught the Word of God. But we've come so far that we think, and I'm not knocking it, I like it, Brother Josh, this is all we know. Church is singing 346, 150 and shouting the house down. And I'm for shouting the house down and I'm for singing 346 and 150. If y'all don't know what that is, that is hymnal talk for I know my name is there and the dearest friend I ever had. But if that is the basis of your faith, because it's got to go deeper than that. It's got to go so deep that it's grounded in the Word of God, grounded in Scripture. Study to show thyself approved unto God. A word, men, that need not to be ashamed. And here in 2021, we've got some soft Christians that don't know nothing about the Word of God, and all they know is what they've heard because somebody's come up with a line, and they've shouted it once after another every time they preach, and that's all they know about Christianity. And it's weak. And the winds of this world blow and they shake and they crumble and they fall apart. I don't know how many people you've lost during this COVID thing, but I know a lot of churches that have lost a lot of people. And here's the deal, they were looking for a way to get out because they had no substance to their faith. What am I talking about? What am I talking about? It will change your concerns. Their concerns was no longer about themselves, but was about that firstborn. because his life hung in the balance of what was fixing to happen come midnight. And it was all based on if daddy did it right, then he'd live. I wonder what would happen if that night came back again. And if our children's lives relied on what I did and what you did as a parent. How many graves we'd be digging come Monday morning. But here's the truth of the matter. Because that day will not come physically, we don't see the detriment to it. But spiritually, we're digging graves every Monday. Because people are walking out of church and leaving church because their faith has no foundation to stand upon. But when they consume the lamb, it changed their concerns. Not only did it change their concerns, I'm almost done. 36 minutes. Notice verse number 29. When you take the lamb, it will change your clock. And it came to pass that at midnight, Now do you understand that these are slaves? And they had to wake up before dawn cracked. Y'all ever heard that term, crack of dawn? They were up before then. Making bricks and mortar for the Egyptians. But this day, that didn't matter to them. because the table had been spread, the blood had been applied, and they were sitting inside the house safe from the death angel and rejoicing in what God had given them. And it changed their clock. People look at us that go till midnight sometimes or ten o'clock when God blows in, and we don't want to leave because God's here. It doesn't matter what happens come Monday morning. We'll rather drag in late to work because we'd rather be in the presence of God. Oh, I desire and long for those services and long for those days when God shows up and it's no longer about a preacher or an evangelist or a singer or this or that, but it's just holy God meeting with unholy people that love Him. Say thank you that you love me anyway, that you died for me anyway, When you get the lamb, it will change your clock. Not only will it change your clock, but then lastly. No, it's not lastly. I'm lying. Notice this. It will change your contender and it will change your perception of your contender. You say, what are you talking about? Look at verse number 30. And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he and all his servants and all the Egyptians, and there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house where there was not one dead. And he called for Moses and Aaron by night and said, rise up and get you forth from among my people, both you and the children of Israel, and go and serve the Lord as He has said. The one that was holding them, the day they took of the lamb, That contender was no more. But they had power over the contender. Do you realize the day that you got saved? Do you realize the day that you partook of the Lamb? That old devil has no control over you anymore. But you're covered by the blood. And it don't matter how much he roars, how much he yells, and how much he slanders and lies to you. You're kept by one that's greater than him. And greater is he that is in me than he that is in the world. We are more than conquerors through the Lord Jesus Christ. Nothing of ourselves but God in us. And the day that I realized that even though He comes at me, and even though there's times that He tempts me and I fall, there's nothing He can do because I'm covered by what's inside. The day they partook of the Lamb was the day that the contender changed for them. But then lastly, look at this. When you take of the Lamb, the Lord will change your consideration. Notice verse 34. And the people took their dough before it was leavened, their nitros being bound up in their clothes upon their shoulders, and the children of Israel did according to the word of Moses, and they borrowed of the Egyptians jewels of silver and jewels of gold and raiment. And the Lord gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they lent unto them such things as they required, and they spoiled the Egyptians. God will show you favor. What I'm saying is God will bless you. Now don't misunderstand me. I'm not preaching a prosperity gospel. I'm not saying you get saved and you'll get a limo and a Mercedes and a Learjet and a mansion. No. Our treasure is on the other side where moth and rust cannot corrupt and thieves can't enter and steal. But God will bless us beyond our imagination. Because just like I like to spoil my kids, sometimes when they don't even deserve it. My little boy, four year old Jacob, come up to me and say, I'll say, you want to ride with daddy to Walmart? Yeah, I want to go to Walmart. Oh, you know why he's going to Walmart? He ain't got no concern riding with daddy. He knows there's a prize at Walmart and if he can get in the doors of Walmart, he will leave with something. Because I love that boy. And we'll sit in there and negotiate. Can I have this one? No, it's too much. We got a $2 limit. What about this one? No, it's too much. That one's $14. Well, what about this one? No, that's $6. He'll walk out with a Hot Wheel car or something, Josh. But because he's mine. And he's got so many toys at the house, we clean out the toy box every year for Christmas before we give him more presents. Because he's so spoiled. But sis, it doesn't change the fact that he's mine. And I want to spoil him some more. On Thursday, we went hunting. Me and I took all the kids. Mama gets to sit in her own deer stand and I'm fighting with kids. So we all piled up in a blind and there's little Jacob. He'd get up on that scope and he'd put his head right to that scope and he'd say, I see one. I'd say, well son, shoot it. I'd say, did you get it? He said, I did and it's this big. I'd say, praise God. Hey man, better hunter than I am. He killed five in one sit. But this is what changed it for me. We walked out of them woods, got in the truck, and he got up on the console next to me and he wrapped his arm around me and said, Daddy, I like you. I said, boy, I like you too. And I'll give that boy the world as much as I can because He's mine. And I want to show favor to Him. I want to raise Him right. I want Him to live for God. But just so, even so much more, is He our Heavenly Father. And sometimes He just wants us to get up next to Him and say, Father, I like You. So He can look at us and say, I like You too. and I'm going to show you some more favor. I'm going to pour out some blessings. I'm going to save your kids. I'm going to grow the church. I'm going to give you a man of God that loves God and loves you and preaches to you. I'm going to give you a church family for you all to just hug on each other and love each other and pray for each other and be there for each other. Why? Because one day somewhere down the road we made a choice and we partook of the Lamb. And because of it, the devil's going to lie to you and he's going to tell you, you ain't there. Ain't nobody care about you. You're by yourself. But here, I'm here to tell you there's a church that loves you. When you need help, don't get isolated out there, but come to the house of God and throw your hands up and say, I need help. Will y'all pray for me? I need help. I'm going through something. And I promise you, there'll be somebody on the altar praying for you and praying with you and helping you. And you've got a pastor and a pastor's wife that love you and want to see why. because you partook of the Lamb. I think there's about 10 or 11 things in there. What I'm here to tell you is when you partake of the Lamb, it will change some things in your life. And you'll have more on that side than you do on this side. You'll have more to go to Heaven for than you have to stay for. In this day and hour, and here we are Christmas, and we don't have a lot. I mean, shoot, inflation's on the rise. Praise God. Expenses are high, but this is what God's called me to do, is to go to a church and encourage somebody. And the first day I stepped out, Brother Josh, I asked the Lord, if you'll let me help one person. One person. That'll be enough for me to keep going on. And God's allowed me to help more than just one. It's given me that encouragement, that fire to keep on. And I don't know what it is, Brother Tate, but drag in, you're tired, but somewhere between there and there, I get hooked up with there. And I think I can do it again. I can go one more time. Family's eight hours, ten hours away. I don't even know how far they are away right now. They're home. I want to be home, but God's got me here. And I know that one day on the other side, God will pull back the curtain and reveal to me what He's done. Not because I'm somebody. Jacob, I ain't nobody. But He's everything. In church, if you just let God be everything in your life, you might not ever stand behind a pulpit and preach or sing or do anything, but you just being faithful. It's required of a steward to be found faithful. And if all you can do is be found faithful, God says, I'll show you a favor you've never thought. I'm done. I'm through. I pray that there's something that's been said this evening that will draw you to God, that will encourage you, that will strengthen you, that will challenge you to have a closer walk with Him. As we stand, turn it over, Brother Tate. He's going to come to invitation. You mind the Lord, though. You need to come to this altar and speak to the Lord. Talk to Him. Why don't you come? as they give us the verse of invitation. Brother Tate, the service is yours.