On the 14th day of the first month, the returned exiles kept the Passover, for the priests and the Levites had purified themselves together. All of them were clean. So they slaughtered the Passover lamb for all the returned exiles, for their fellow priests and for themselves. It was eaten by the people of Israel who had returned from exile, and also by everyone who had joined them and separated himself from the uncleanness of the peoples of the land in order to worship Yahweh, the God of Israel. And they kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days with joy, for the Lord had made them joyful and had turned the heart of the King of Assyria to them. so that he aided them in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel. It's going to be a very, I hope, short sermon. It was quite hot this morning, and I promise I will not try to provoke you more than I have to by means of a long service. Last time we saw that the exiles who had come back into the land by the sovereign hand of God, who had stirred up the kings and allowed them to plunder the Babylonians as they entered back into Judah. That they had built the altar, persecution had come, they had ceased their work, they had began to compromise what Yahweh had commanded them. And for many years, four, they had let the work of the Temple of God pass by. And they were more focused on building their panel houses, according to Haggai 1.6. And finally, Yahweh sends Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Edo to come in. And they began to strengthen and encourage and prophesy unto the returned exiles. And we have here that the Temple was built and completed. And the very first thing they do after the temple is completed, they dedicated it. And that's what we saw three weeks ago. Was what does it look like when God does a mighty work in the life of his people, and when they dedicate their temples to his service. I would love to review, but I forgot the five points as well. So I'm not going to put you on the altar. This week here, we're gonna see now right after the temple's been consecrated or dedicated or sanctified or set apart to Yahweh, we see that already it's right towards the New Year. And the first thing they do with the completed temple and the providence of God is celebrate the Passover. And it's very important. It's very important that they keep this Passover, which I will explain why in a second. Last time we saw the marks of true worship. Dedication, consecration, sacrifice, obedience, and anticipation. This evening we see now the foundation of true worship. Basically all those five points from the last time I preached are built upon this foundation of worship. Why do we worship? Why do we consecrate ourselves? Why do we obey? Why do we do all these things? Why do we anticipate the Lord's second coming? One word, though I have five points again. Redemption. That's the foundation of true worship. If you're not saved by the blood of Jesus Christ, your worship is in vain. I knew what it was like to sing as an unregenerate heathen. We grew up in a Lutheran church. We did the whole two services per year and we'd sing. You know, we'd come in on Easter and on Christmas and I would sing. And I had no idea why I was worshipping until God in His sovereign mercy rescued my soul. And now I understand what is the foundation. Why would I ever devote my life as a living sacrifice to God? Well, Romans 12 verses 1 and 2 in the NIV says, in light of God's mercies, now consecrate yourselves. Now obey Him. And so I'm sort of using that motif to show you that the foundation for everything that happened the last time I preached is redemption. And the greatest illustration of redemption in all of the Old and the New Testament is pictured in the Exodus. And when my brother was reading all 51 verses, or however many there were, I hope you were reveling in them. Each one of those verses is so sweet. If you could have just read that, we could have just prayed and worshipped Jesus Christ for the next hour. It's very simple. And that's what's going on here. They're remembering the Passover. 70 years have elapsed. or more since they've celebrated the Passover. How long were they in captivity according to the prophecy of Jeremiah? It was around 70 years. The temple in the providence of God is completed 70 years after Nebuchadnezzar obliterates it in 586 BC. And they're sent and carted off to Babylon where they hang up their harps and they have no joy. they can't celebrate sacrifice, they don't remember the Passover. They come back, God does a mighty work, they build the Temple, they consecrate it, and now they can celebrate redemption, i.e. they can celebrate the Passover. But the Passover means nothing without redemption. or this part of the Bible, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther. I'm stealing from a man named Bruce Waltke. He calls it the gifts of return, restoration, and reform. And we've already looked at one of those. Tonight we're going to look at the next, number two. And when I come back in three weeks, we're going to look at the third. So we've seen that they return to the land. God stirs up the heart of Cyrus. the pagan neighbors, they plunder them, they return into the land. He restores the altar. He restores the temple. He's restoring now their celebration of redemption. And we're going to see that. And then chapter seven comes, and all of a sudden they celebrate the gift of reform. You say, why is it called Ezra? Where is the guy? What does he show? Well, Ezra's writing this, and he comes in the seventh chapter in a second exodus, and he's going to reform them with all their intermarriage and stuff. That's right, Caleb. But right now we're looking at restoration. God's restoring all the things that define, all the things that set apart His chosen people, and one of them is redemption. Our brother Reddick, who celebrates the Passover? The sons of Israel, the sons of the exile here. And this meant a lot to them, more than probably the Lord's Table means to Christians, unfortunately. A little side note before I get into the points. The text reverts back now to the Hebrew language. All the previous chapters, the last two and a half chapters have been in Aramaic. So the Bible is written in Hebrew, a couple sections of here, and in Daniel are in Aramaic. And now for some crazy, mysterious reason, it returns to Hebrew. You can ponder on that, but I think that they did that on purpose. I think the Holy Spirit of God did that for a reason. that the other chapters of persecution by the pagans were written in the pagan language. And now the celebration of the glorious Passover is to be written in the pure language of Hebrew. Perhaps that's me reading into the text, like some read infant baptism into this morning's text, but I think that's interesting. The setting, April 21st, 516 BC, I'm trusting in commentaries, but it is 516 BC. only a few weeks after the dedication of the Temple. The last recorded Passover celebration, Josiah, that glorious king who embodied typologically the Lord Jesus Christ. The last time Israel as a nation has celebrated the Passover, 2 Chronicles 35. It's been more than 70 years. And we see that now there's joy when they celebrate redemption in obedience to God's Word. God commanded that it would be an eternal a celebration, a memorial to be kept for all generations. And when they obey that, there's going to be great joy. And I know I'm hammering this over and over and over again, but joy comes in obeying the Lord. It is good to obey the Lord. It is good to praise Jesus Christ, for the Passover lamb has been sacrificed for us. It's not a grievous command. And so when we obey the Lord, when we gather together as His people to praise the name of Jesus, God will bless that. with lots of money? Perhaps not, but He will bless you with that fullness that comes only when you are doing what you were made for, and that is celebrating, praising God with thankfulness for the Passover lamb that was shed and killed for you. By five points, the reason, the remembrance, the requirements, the recipients, and the results. Mysteriously they're all beginning with the same letter. I try my hardest to make it memorable. I'm hoping that maybe you write just those points in the margin. If you don't, that's fine. It just sounds like I'm so much more eloquent. The reason I'd rather read it, I'm not going to preach through it. If you don't get it, just read Exodus 12. You don't need to be a theologian. God makes it quite simple. The reason they celebrate it? Redemption. But let me just draw a couple points that I thought are interesting and I'll sort of bring it into the new covenant and show you how it's looking forward to Christ. Who was the one who was to sacrifice the Passover lamb for his family? Which member of the family? It's the father. I think that's interesting. The father was to sacrifice the firstborn. I just think that's interesting. Maybe I'm reading it into the text. I don't think so. In the same way, we celebrate the Passover, the reason is redemption. The Father has sacrificed His firstborn, Jesus Christ. It's called the firstborn in Colossians chapter 1 and in Revelation somewhere, 5 maybe. And so we celebrate here that the Father has sacrificed the firstborn. By faith they were to apply the blood over the doorpost and the lintels. Only by faith would they appropriate it. It's the same way. Jesus' blood is not some magical, mystical thing. It's faith in the blood. It's not some crazy spiritist thing. I read yesterday where people drink blood thinking that they gain more power. It's ridiculous. It's faith in the blood that applies. God saw their faith that they actually by faith put the blood on and He passed over. It's the same thing on Judgment Day. God will look upon every single person sitting here and every single person ever born into the world and He will pass over those who have applied the blood of Christ. How? by faith, okay? You can't go to some fancy relic in Rome and find some, you know, preserved blood of Christ. No, no, no. He shed his blood once for all. That's in the book of Hebrews. And you appropriate it by faith, the exact same way the, sorry, he's messing up. I was going to say the Egyptians, the Israelites did. So it's by faith, Caleb, by faith. None was to be left over. It was a holy consecration. It's not a common meal. You don't put it in the fridge and have leftovers the next day. So is Christ special and consecrated? He's not to be treated as common. It's a special consecrated meal. Holy. You don't leave it sitting around. You celebrate it once. Whatever's left is burned. According to Exodus 12, Yahweh passes through Egypt and He strikes down every firstborn as a judgment upon the gods of the world, or the gods of Egypt. So He will do again on Judgment Day. Every unbelieving person in this world will understand that the Lord alone is God and they will see all the false gods, you know, whatever you want to put their names on, I'm not going to list them. They're going to understand that the Lord is going to pass over His people and every single other person in this world is going to be executed with perfect and righteous justice or judgments. Salvation and deliverance in the book of Exodus are from something. They're saved out of what? Egypt. And they're saved to the promised land, or God. Understand that. When you're preaching the gospel to unbelievers, there is a place called Hell. You're saved from something, right? If I would say, oh, I was saved, well, it would imply that I was in a perilous condition. I went swimming and I was saved by a life raft. That must have meant I was drowning. I tell people that they are saved not from Satan. They're not saved from... They're saved from their sins and the wrath of God that will justly punish them for them. So you're saved from something to something. The best New Testament text you should memorize 1 Thessalonians chapter 1 verse 12. They're saved from idols to worship the living God. That's my fifth point, so I'm going to sort of take it easy. But salvation and deliverance are from something to something. From Egypt to the Promised Land. From Pharaoh to Yahweh. The reason they celebrate is because that's what redemption is. It means to buy something that's in bondage. Right? Were the Israelites having parties in Egypt? No, they were what you would call slaves. Groaning Exodus says, under the heavy weight of a cruel king and taskmaster. So it is with every person born into this world. Ephesians 2, I read this morning. Every person born into this world has a cruel taskmaster. And his name's not Pharaoh. He's the anti-type of Pharaoh. Pharaoh typified who? I believe Satan, the very anti-God, or anti-Christ, if you will. So every person born into this world is under bondage to Satan. And praise God that the Passover shows that the reason for celebration is redemption. God has purchased His people through the Lamb, through death. And that's why we celebrate. Yeah, it's morbid. I love blood. Why? Because that blood was shed for me. It should have been my blood. Which means death. First, it's reason, redemption. Second, it's remembrance. According to Deuteronomy 16, which Moses is giving in his second command to the Israelites about to enter into the promised land, he says that this is to be an everlasting memorial. Just like he said back in Exodus 12, but he says this is to be remembered every year. But in Deuteronomy 16 too, it says that it was to be remembered in the place where he chose to make his name dwell. And that's important. The exiles were where for 70 years approximately? Babylon. Okay? God delivers them with an outstretched arm just the way he did the remnants out of Egypt. He delivers them out of Babylon. Where to? Samaria? No, the Promised Land. And I did that huge Biblical theology. The Promised Land ultimately is Jerusalem. Why? Because the Temple is situated there. Why? Because that is where Yahweh reigns as King. The Temple is His throne. And He's saying in Deuteronomy 16 to celebrate the Passover in the Promised Land. And the exiles are celebrating the Passover where? In Jerusalem. It's very important. Because Jerusalem is where redemption would take place, where the Messiah would set up his kingdom. We're going to see that in Mark. As Zechariah has promised, there's going to be this Messiah who rolls into town, as it were, on a donkey. And he's going to set up his everlasting kingdom, and rule over the nations, and rule over everyone with justice, and equity, and righteousness. But it would be from Jerusalem. Because Jerusalem is where judgment and salvation would take place. Understand that salvation and judgment They're almost like the flip or the two sides of the same coin. You can't have one without the other, right? When Christ comes back a second time, He's going to do one thing with two results. He's going to come back and He's going to judge and save. And they're to remember it now in the promised land. Could they remember the Passover in Babylon? Not according to Deuteronomy 16.2, so it's very important they come back to Jerusalem. I'm getting to Christ, trust me. It is also to be pedagogical. Does anybody know what that fancy word means? Harry's not here, he loves it. What does pedagogical mean? Teaching your children. Parents teach your children all the time about redemption through Jesus Christ. They're to remember it once a year, the father was to thank, the son would doing this?" If you read the Old Testament, and he'd say, well this is to remind us when God, Yahweh, the God of Israel, delivered us with an outstretched arm, and He displayed His glory and splendor in destroying Pharaoh and the Egyptians, and saving us by grace. And the son, hopefully, would understand that and put his trust in Yahweh. And it's pedagogical. It happens in the first month of the year. Remember I said last time that they dedicated the temple in the last month of the year? Now they're celebrating the Passover and it's the first month of the year. And you're thinking, Pastor, you're all over the place, you're boring the tar out of me. This is essential to understand. That the first celebration, the first feast, is the one that introduces the new year. Because the new year in pagan cultures celebrates new life. And I'm not making that up. Commentaries say that, and if you do a biblical theological study of the Passover, it makes sense. This corresponds to the Hebrew New Year, symbolizing a new beginning as God's chosen people who were delivered out of an oppressive regime by His outstretched arm. In the ancient Near East, New Year's festivals normally coincided with the new season of life in nature. Listen, the designation of this month as Israel's religious new year reminded Israel that its life as the people of God was grounded in God's redemptive act in the Exodus. Basically it says this, God saves us and life begins after He has saved us. That's why I said, how old are you Ryan? I'm 10 years old. My life began when the Lord saved me of my sins. And that's exactly what Israel was to remember. Israel was not a nation until God delivered them. Read that in the book of Exodus. Israel is not a nation until they're just taken out of Egypt. And now they celebrate the new year, which basically shows new life. And they celebrate it because new life is at the expense of a life of another. They celebrated it to remind them that Yahweh is controlling all things in keeping with His promises to Abraham. Our brother read that in Genesis 15 this morning. I think one of the most important passages in the Bible. Genesis 12, 15, and 17. And if you understand them properly, I promise you, you won't be a covenant theologian. But these are so important. Basically, Israel always looked back to the promises of Abraham. where He was promised a seed, a Zerah, He was promised a land, and He was promised a heritage, and He was promised to be a blessing to the nations. And the Passover shows that God is fulfilling that. God has a people He plucks out of Egypt, a seed. He plucks the seed and puts them into a land, and He makes them a blessing to the nations as we see in Ezra. We have pagans getting saved because they're celebrating the Passover, the goodness of God's redemption. God is controlling history to bring about his promises to Abraham, which ultimately Romans 4 and 2 Corinthians 1 say, find their yes, and amen, and who? Jesus Christ. That's so boring, Pastor. Theology drives me nuts. Just do a backflip and tell me some funny joke. Understand this, that God is controlling history to bring about his predestined plans to glorify himself in Christ. You should take great courage in that. I sure do. You remember all those studies we did in Ezra 1? God stirring up the heart of all these pagans. Why was God stirring up the heart of them? Why was God controlling history? What about their free will? He's still overriding that. He's controlling the pagans and he's bringing about his promises as he declares the end from the beginning, Isaiah 46, to save his people through Israel, who is Jesus Christ. That's why people celebrate. I don't know, maybe that's just me. I love theology because it is an unshakable anchor for my soul as a sinner. Man, I need to know this stuff. When I have a sinful thought, driving to church because we got separated from the in-laws, and I'm like, oh no, that stupid driver, he wouldn't let them in, he's driving way under the speed limit in the left lane. And I think, ah, praise God that he has saved me and nothing is going to deviate him from his course to save me in Jesus Christ, even though I am a wretched sinner and of my free will sin. Theology is sweet. It's not just for people who are losers and study the Bible all day. Trust me. Theology will give you great assurance in this life. It did for these people. These people are celebrating theology. Sovereign God who makes plans to Abraham to save a people for himself at all the expenses he will save him. Remember when we called the, oh what was the word? Unilateral covenant when God passes through those pieces? That is God saying, if I don't keep my promise to Abraham, I will cease to exist. Good thing, because if that were true, the exiles would still be in Babylon. Because you need a seed, you need a land. Babylon is not the land. The New Eden is represented by Jerusalem. But God in His unilateral covenant keeps His word, even if Israel can't as a whore. and is castigated out of the promised land. That's good news. Remember? I keep saying it. I'm a whore, spiritually. And that's good news for me. That God will keep His promises. Do I deserve them? No. But I thank Him for the fact that He has promised me eternal life in Christ. Because I put my trust in Him. So the reason they celebrate it? Redemption. They remember it because God commanded. But it's a good command. Parents teach your kids. redemption, and celebrate redemption every day with them. Teach them what the Lord's table is about. It's not just a religious thing we do once a week, or once a month, or once every quarter. Celebrate and remember what God has done. Thirdly, it's requirements. I get this actually from the text of Ezra 6. You're thinking, man, he always talks about preaching from the text. Well, I gave you the context from verse 19. Verse 20 is the requirements. The NIV, I don't know why they took out the word for. They like to do that sometimes, like in Romans 1. On the 14th day of the first month, the returned exiles kept the Passover for the priests and the Levites had purified themselves together. All of them were clean. What are the requirements of keeping the Passover? The priesthood must be purified and clean. You don't have a clean priest? You don't have a purified priesthood? You're in trouble. But this is good news if you read the book of Hebrews, right? Who is our new covenant priest? The eternal priest, not of Aaron, but of Melchizedek. It's Christ! And He is perfectly clean. He's the spotless Lamb. Why? No sin is found in Him. He's God incarnate. The requirement is that we have a clean priesthood. Praise God that we celebrate the Lord's Table, we can celebrate it, for the priest has consecrated himself and made himself clean. Christ, if Christ was defiled, if Christ had one sin he had committed, this would be all in vain if he celebrated the Lord's Table. But, he is pure, spotless, Lamb of God, slain before the foundation of the world. The priests then had to make necessary ritual preparations, so also did Christ. He came here, He lived a sinless life as a man, He had to prepare Himself for the sacrifice, He cleansed Himself through perfect obedience, and then He died in our stead. It stresses the holiness of Yahweh, the holiness of God, who must be regarded as holy. I'm thinking of another time when there were two priests, the son of Aaron, and they were trying to offer sacrifice to Yahweh. Nadab and Abihu. Does anybody remember what happened to them? They had some good American fireworks or something called strange fire. I think it was more the disposition of their heart than per se the type of fire. But anyways, what happened to them? Dead. Smitten on the spot. Why? They did not regard the Lord as holy. The exiles understand that. By God's grace, they understand God is holy. We need to follow what Moses commanded in the book of Exodus and Leviticus. We need to be consecrated. We need to be purified. We need to be clean. Why? We're coming into the presence of a thrice holy God. And I revel in the fact that Christ ultimately purified Himself. so that we could celebrate the Passover lamb. For us on this side of the cross, how do we approach God? Do we have to come through a clean priest? Absolutely. The priests were mediators, right? Between an infinitely holy God and sinful humanity. And so the priest would mediate. He'd be the middle dude. He'd be the lawyer. And we would come to the priest who would represent us to God, and the priest would represent himself We represent God to the people. How do we do that in the New Covenant? Read Romans 5. We have access into this grace by which we now stand by faith. In whom? Jesus Christ. Therefore, having been justified by faith, we now have peace with God. That's Romans 5.1. And Romans 5.2 says, now through Christ, by faith in His blood, we have access into this grace by which we now stand. I don't know, I think that's pretty sweet. So you say, I want to celebrate the Passover, what's the requirement? Christ as the pure lamb has made all the requirements, all you have to do is believe. That's it? Yes. His blood can make all clean. My fourth point, before I put you all to sleep, it's recipients. Verse 20b, if you can do that in verse 21. So we see the requirements at the beginning of verse 20, and then it says here, So they slaughtered the Passover lamb, and here's the recipients, for all the returned exiles, for their fellow priests and for themselves, namely Israel. It was eaten by the people of Israel, who had returned from the exile, and also everyone who had joined them, and separated himself from the uncleanness of the peoples of the land, to worship the Lord, the God of Israel. Who are the recipients? Israel, and those who join themselves to Israel. For all who were willing to receive it by faith, they could celebrate the Passover Feast. That's the Israel. Who's the new Israel of God and the New Covenant? Romans 2.28. Those who have been circumcised in their heart by the Holy Spirit, namely those who express saving faith in Jesus Christ. But I'm not Jewish. If you're in Christ, you are more Jewish than those pagans in Israel right now who defy the Lord Jesus Christ. That sounds harsh, but read Paul. Nothing matters except Christ and Him crucified. Circumcision? Nothing. Uncircumcision? Nothing. It's the new creation. And the new creation, 2 Corinthians 5.17, is in Christ. Whether you're a Jew or Gentile, if you're out of Christ, no Passover celebration. Whether you're male, female, born, slave, free, barbarian, Scythian. Nathan loves that. The Scythians, apparently, according to Nathan, would drink out of skulls. That's from Nathan, so if I'm wrong, you come back and get him. But if that Scythian repents and is found by faith in Christ, can he celebrate the Passover? Absolutely, because we have pagans here joining themselves to Israel, and they too could celebrate it. Nathan read Exodus 12, and God said, no one who is not an Israelite can celebrate it. Those who sojourn with you, if they're circumcised, then they can celebrate it. What's circumcision in the New Covenants? It's not baptism, though it is. I say that with a grain of salt, because baptism is a sign of salvation. So circumcision, like baptism, represents what? The new creation. It represents people who have been circumcised from their uncleanness. So only circumcised people can celebrate it in Exodus 12. Only circumcised people can celebrate it in Ezra 6. Only circumcised people can celebrate it in the New Covenant. But I'm a girl, how do I do that? You're circumcised when you believe in Jesus Christ. And I'm not pulling that out of the air. Read Romans, read Galatians, read Colossians 2. It's a major theme. Did I say Galatians? Reread Galatians if I said it. Already we see in the Old Testament that there is a redefinition of Israel. Before the exile, Israel were basically the 12 tribes. And then it was separated after Rehoboam into the northern and the southern. But it was sensed that it was still Israel. And then you see that there's the exile. They're taken off into Babylon. And Isaiah starts to talk about an elect remnant who would be Israel. And I've shown you from the book of Ezra who is Israel now. It's the exiles from Judah and Benjamin. What about the other 10 tribes? Already you're seeing a restructuring of who Israel is. It's preparing, I believe, the way for the New Covenant definition of who Israel is. So already, you have pagans who are incorporating themselves now into Judah and becoming the new Israel. And ultimately, we see that in Jesus Christ, who is the Lion from the tribe of Judah. Incorporating themselves into Him by faith. Circumcising themselves by trusting in all that He has done for them. So we have the redefinition of Israel. It's the elect remnant. But the elect remnant are those who now join them. Turn to Isaiah 2. I want to show you. This is one of my favorite passages in all the Bible. And you can write down Zechariah chapter 8, but I'm not going to read that. This is looking forward to the new covenant, but it's being fulfilled in part already in 416 BC in Ezra chapter 6. The word that Isaiah, the son of Amos, saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. It's a big word. It's Judah, Jerusalem. It shall come to pass in the latter days. The Jews are thinking, sweet, this is the end. Messiah's coming. Sorry, he comes in the person of Jesus. In those days the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains and shall be lifted up above the hills and All the nations shall flow to it, and many peoples, pagans, shall come and say, Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that He may teach us His ways, and that we may walk in His paths, for out of Zion shall go the Torah." Who's the Torah that we saw this morning? The answer, Sunday school kids, is? It's Jesus. Good! He shall judge, and He shall bring peace, and He shall bring in the Messianic reign. And as we're going to see by the time we get to the end of Ezra, it doesn't happen. But this is what's going on here. The recipients of the kingdom now extends out of Israel to reach the nations according to Genesis 12. Abram, you're going to bear seed, and that seed is going to bless the nations. That's what's happening in Exodus 6. I think so. They're worshiping. Remember in chapter 3? They could hear them celebrating from a ways off. And pagans like Rahab, and Ruth, etc., etc. They hear this, and by grace they believe in God, and they circumcise themselves, and they adhere and join themselves to this New Jerusalem, to this elect remnant, where they can now celebrate all the blessings that God gives to His people. So, who are the recipients? Those who believe in the promises of God, whether Jew or Gentile. That's the New Testament, isn't it? That's why the Old Testament is important. You know, you should be reading the Old Testament because it points to Christ. That's my reason why I think you should read all the Bible and not just your favorite passages. Missions! In the Old Testament, centripetal. I like using these big words, they wake you up. What does centripetal mean? Come on physics, 6th grade physics. It goes to the center. Right? Everything is drawn to the center. Isaiah 2, where is everything drawn? Where are the nations drawn to? Jerusalem. Centripetal. So the center of the earth, according to the Jew, is Jerusalem. What? God dwells there. That's His holy habitation. Psalm 46. And the nations come to Jerusalem, for out of Jerusalem, the law of God will come out. So, if we're missionaries, we're way back, and we're Jewish, how do we missionize people? Come to Jerusalem. How do we do it in the New Covenant? Come to Christ. Come to Jesus. the New Jerusalem. And I've argued that over and over and over. He is the Promised Land. He is the Temple. He is the Sacrificial Lamb. He is everything the Old Testament was looking forward to. So the Old Testament, centripetal. The New Testament, the New Covenant, I say it's centripetal. We bring them to Jesus and yet it's centrifugal. What does that mean? Outwards. That's Matthew 28, right? So Matthew 28, Acts 1-6. We go out. And we tell people about Jesus. So we go out and tell them to come in. To Jerusalem? No. We go out and tell them to come to Jesus. Centrifugal? We go out. Centripetal? Come to Jesus. I don't know. I love that kind of thing. I'm a loser like that. Missions in the Old Testament is already starting to show that God is extending grace to the Gentiles who find it in Jerusalem, where the law is, and where they celebrate their feasts, which Jesus Christ fulfills all of them. If you're an unbeliever here this evening, I say, come to Christ. Come to Christ. The Passover Lounge sacrificed for us. 1 Corinthians 5-7. Fifthly, and the most important point, if you forget the other four points, I might forgive you. But if you forget the fifth point, it'll take a lot of grace for me to forgive you. Because this is what I believe is one of the crucial lacking evidences in the Church. Especially Baptistic, and especially Reformed Baptistic churches. What is the result? It's worship. Go back to Ezra 6. Or if you've never turned there, stay there. Look in verse 22. Uh, verse 21, I'll start. It was eaten by the people of Israel who had returned from the exile, those who separated themselves from the uncleanness of the peoples, to worship the Lord, the God of Israel. So the result of the Passover is worship. Verse 22. And they kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days with It's hard to say in a Baptist church, eh? But joy! For the Lord had made them joyful, and had turned the heart of the King of Assyria to them, verse 1, chapter 1, so that He aided them in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel. The result of redemption, the evidence of redemption, I will say, is joyful worship and thankfulness to God for all that He's done for you in Jesus Christ. Ephesians chapter 1 verse 6. I love it. It's one of my favorite verses. Why are we saved? That we might be to the what? Praise of His glorious grace. The purpose of redemption, so that Israel would worship the living God. Turn to 1 Peter 1 and 2. I'm getting to the end, I promise. It's just such a sweet passage, I couldn't cut it out. No Occam's razor here. And if you don't know what that means, don't worry. 1 Peter 1 verse 1. Peter, he's using exilic language by the way, Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who are elect exiles, that almost sounds like Isaiah and Ezra, to those who are elect exiles of the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with His blood. May grace and peace be multiplied to you. Here's my paraphrase quickly on a hot Sunday evening service. God in His whole knowledge elects people. Why? So that they might obey Jesus Christ. He elects them so that they might be sprinkled by His blood and being sprinkled by His blood they might worship Him forever and ever and ever and have this hope that fills them with joy inexpressible and filled with glory. That's the rest of 1 Peter 1. Why does God save wretched, vile sinners like me? Because I am worthy? I don't think I'm worthy. And if you think I am, you should get to know me. And if you think you're worthy, then read your Bibles. No one is righteous. No one can merit the grace of God. Why does God love Israel in Deuteronomy 7, 8, 9? He loves Israel because He loves Israel. That doesn't make sense. That's because God is God and we are not. But understand this, Israel, it's not because you're great or powerful or rich that I saved you. Don't you dare think that I'm saving you for anything inherently good in yourselves. I'm saving you so that you might be a blessing to the nations. So that you might lift high the banner of salvation that comes only through me. It's no different for Christians. God has saved you for obedience. And part of obedience is worship. That's such a hard command. Are you saved? The purpose of redemption, joyful worship slash thankfulness. Worship is thankfulness. I think so. If you have a hard time worshipping, you should start looking back at things like the Passover, and Christ shedding His blood for you. I think a little bit of thankfulness should well up in your heart. All of this is a result of what I call the relentless and sovereign grace of God, begun in the very first book of Ezra, where he stirs up the heart of Cyrus, and then Xerxes, and Artaxerxes, and Darius. God in His infinite grace saved these people so that they might do things like celebrate a Passover, so that ultimately we might celebrate Jesus Christ, so that Christ could say, Father, glorify Yourself through me, through Your people. That's sweet. That's the result of redemption. If you have a hard time worshipping Jesus Christ, I would ask you, have you been saved? I'm changing up the last song. My heart is filled with thankfulness for Him who died for me. Our life is to be a continuous thanksgiving song. Sing to the Lord a new song. That's the song of salvation. The Lord puts a song in your mouth. And His name is Jesus Christ. Remember I said salvation is separation, consecration from something to something? We're saying from sin to and for worship, namely God. Romans 12, that's what it says. Therefore, in light or in view of God's mercies. Read Romans 9-11, and then read Romans 1-11. With those hard passages that perplex your mind, and mine too. God does all these things that blow your mind, so that you might forever consecrate yourself to Him as a living sacrifice, which is your reasonable service slash worship. It's reasonable! Can God save you? You have to! That's what would happen if I was on death row, and someone said, I would probably be leaping like an heart, or for us, a deer. Right? Just imagine, Marvin, tomorrow you're getting executed. We're in Texas now. Okay, you're going to get executed. And I, being the super pious pastor that I am, I say, wait, wait, Marvin's a good, no, Marvin's a vile sinner, but for some crazy reason, we'll call it grace, I'm gonna come in and you can stick the needle into me and fill me full of drugs that kill me. Do you think Marvin will be eternally thankful? I sure hope so. I hope so. That's why God saves us. From the foundation of the world, He planned it this way. And so that we might redound to Him in eternal worship. The reason I do this is next time you celebrate the Lord's table, celebrate it with joy. Not self-lashing, not dwelling on your morbid sins, but rather dwelling on the glorious Savior who bore those sins upon Himself and swallowed up the wrath of God. Amen is right. I hope when we sing this last song, I hope it's real for you. And here's the last confession. Life often doesn't make sense to me. One, because I'm human, and two, because I'm not very smart. But I'll tell you there is a lot of time when life does make sense to me. And I'll tell you it's this. Often when I'm at home, and Christina can attest to this, when I'm listening to songs about Jesus Christ, And I'm singing to Him with all that is within me, blessing His Holy Name. That is when life makes sense. In the midst of mortgages, and raising children, and having unsaved parents, and wondering about economic recession, and wondering about all kinds of wickedness in the world. Everything makes sense when I'm worshipping because that is why God saves me. That's why He saves you if you're in Christ. Come to Him. The most glorious thing you can do is worship the Living God, which is what you're going to do in the new heavens and the new earth. If you don't want to worship Him, heaven is going to be hell for you. But for us who have been ransomed, purchased, redeemed by the blood of Christ, let this life be a precursor to what awaits us when we shall see Him face to face. What glory that will be. Let's close. Father, my heart is filled with thankfulness. And Lord, when my sinful tendencies make me forget, please, by your Spirit, remind me of this passage in Exodus. Remind me of Ezra 6. Remind me of Golgotha. Remind me when Christ cried out, my God, my God. Why have you forsaken me? Lord, remind us all of these passages. Help us to get out of our narrowness. Help us to get into your big picture, your purpose, and that is for us to gather around the Lamb on that glorious day, singing eternal hallelujahs. Lord, let our evangelism be worship. Let our songs be filled with joy and celebration. Let us train our children up, not out of duty, but out of delight. Father, as we go to work tomorrow, as we go into the mundane things that so often asphyxiate us and bore us, remind us of Christ, and that He was raised again for our justification. Lord, when we're stricken with illness, or fraught with difficulties, or family members that are straying, teach us, Lord, to worship You. in the high priest named Jesus Christ, who has made Himself clean through His obedience and yet died for my disobedience. Lord Jesus, we praise You. Thank You. Though You had no sin, You became sin for us, so that in You we might be accepted in the sight of God. Lord, may our worship be an awesome testimony to the unbelievers that come into our midst and our Sunday services, but even in our families and at work. May they hear us as we jubilantly sing the triumph of Christ. In His name we pray. Amen.