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00:00 It's going to be punctuated by a little
00:02 bit of coughing because I've been having
00:04 this since
00:06 um Wednesday,
00:08 but I think many of you have got a cough
00:11 as well.
00:12 Maybe God thinks that my sermon is a bit
00:14 boring and some coughing may help to
00:16 keep you awake.
00:19 As some of you are already aware, we are
00:21 now in the midst of a series on Exodus
00:24 and this morning we are at Exodus
00:26 chapter 12, the story of the lamb.
00:29 Actually, Peter was supposed to preach
00:33 this sermon on the lamb while my slot
00:35 was supposed to be 20th October on mana,
00:39 the break from heaven from Exodus 16.
00:42 But near the end of August, Peter
00:44 emailed me to suggest a swap.
00:47 He wanted my mana in exchange for his
00:50 lamb.
00:54 I started thinking, hey, lamb is not too
00:56 bad, you know.
00:59 I mean my wife Lea, she cooks really
01:02 good, delicious lamb chops and ask my
01:05 children and they will agree. And so I
01:07 said okay to the swap. After all, I've
01:09 never tasted mana.
01:13 But jokes aside, the story of the lamb
01:15 is one of the most important topics in
01:17 the Bible, if not the most important
01:20 topic.
01:22 It is a foundational theme that cuts
01:24 across scripture from Genesis all the
01:27 way to Revelation. Understanding the
01:29 story of the lamb is both crucial and
01:32 central to our faith.
01:35 And you don't have to be a theologian to
01:37 realize that this lamb spelled with a
01:39 capital L refers to none other than
01:42 Jesus, the lamb of God.
01:45 I found out recently that there exists a
01:49 heavy metal band that goes by the name
01:51 Lamb of God.
01:53 It amazes me that they couldn't think of
01:55 a better name for their ridiculous act.
01:59 Unfortunately, their lamb is not spelled
02:00 with a capital L and God is not spelled
02:03 with a capital G.
02:06 Putting heavy metal aside, although I
02:08 admit our discussion this morning is
02:10 going to get a little heavy, but not
02:11 that kind of heavy.
02:14 It is also amazing to note that the term
02:16 lamb of God appears only twice in the
02:18 Bible both in John chapter 1.
02:23 In John
02:25 1:29,
02:27 the next day John referring to John the
02:30 Baptist saw Jesus coming toward him and
02:33 said, "Look, the lamb of God who takes
02:37 away the sin of the world." And further
02:40 down in verse 36, the next day, John,
02:44 again, John the Baptist was there again
02:46 with two of his disciples. When he saw
02:48 Jesus passing by, he said, "Look, the
02:51 lamb of God."
02:53 Our task this morning is to trace the
02:56 story of the lamb from our text in
03:00 Exodus 12 to John chapter one here from
03:04 the Old Testament to the New.
03:08 Shall we start with a word of prayer?
03:15 Our father in heaven, open up your word
03:17 for us this morning and reveal your
03:20 truth to us
03:22 so that we might find our place in your
03:25 eternal plan.
03:27 So that we might live life the way you
03:29 intended us to live. Transform us by the
03:33 power of your word and the sanctifying
03:35 work of your spirit. For this we ask in
03:38 Jesus' name. Amen.
03:42 In November 1995, I had the good fortune
03:46 of traveling to the mighty land of
03:48 India. It was a 10-day trip which I
03:51 thoroughly enjoyed. First I was in Neil
03:53 Delhi, then to Agra where I visited the
03:58 Taj Mahal and finally to Bombay, better
04:01 known as Mumbai. Now
04:04 I'm not sure what India is like today
04:06 after two decades of rapid development.
04:09 But the India I saw in the mid '90s is
04:12 best described as both interesting and
04:15 intriguing.
04:17 While in Mumbai
04:19 near the famous monument known as the
04:22 Gateway of India, I was browsing around
04:24 some shops and I chanced upon a most
04:28 mysterious object.
04:32 It was a lock of considerable age made
04:36 of metal and very heavy. I suppose this
04:40 can also be described as some form of
04:42 heavy metal.
04:44 It came with four keys all different and
04:47 I could see only one keyhole
04:51 which I have marked here with a red
04:52 arrow.
04:54 I was stumped for a while be before long
04:56 I realized that one of the keys belonged
04:58 to the keyhole that was visible
05:01 but I couldn't open the lock because I
05:03 didn't know what to do with the other
05:04 three keys.
05:06 I was determined to discover the secrets
05:08 behind this enigma and so I bought it
05:12 due to its antiquity. It did cost me a
05:14 small fortune.
05:16 Of course later I managed to open the
05:18 lock and I can tell you that all four
05:20 keys had to be used one by one.
05:24 To cut a long story short, it can only
05:26 be unlocked by working through the
05:29 various clues that are embedded in his
05:32 design. There are clues on the on the
05:35 body of the lock itself and more clues
05:38 on the keys.
05:40 Now, we don't have time to go through
05:41 this in more detail. Besides, it has
05:44 little to do with Exodus chapter 12. But
05:46 if you like, you're welcome to drop by
05:48 my house and have a go at this
05:50 challenging contraption
05:52 free of charge. Or maybe I should charge
05:54 you to recoup my investment.
05:57 The reason why I showed you this old
05:59 Indian lock is because sometimes
06:02 understanding the Bible is comparable to
06:05 trying to unlock this metallic mind
06:07 teaser. There is a goal which is to open
06:11 the lock.
06:12 But you cannot get to the goal until you
06:15 have examined and resolved the many
06:18 clues that surround it. Studying the
06:21 scripture is often a little like that.
06:24 In Bible study, there is a goal to
06:26 understand the passage or the truth. But
06:31 we cannot get to that goal until we have
06:33 examined and worked through the many
06:35 clues that surround it. And this is of
06:38 course done under the illumination of
06:39 the Holy Spirit.
06:41 On more than one occasion, I have said
06:43 that Bible the Bible should be studied
06:45 more than it should be read. Of course,
06:48 you can do a casual reading of the Bible
06:51 and you can be strengthened and
06:52 encouraged along the way. Not a doubt.
06:56 But because the Bible is so deep,
06:58 serious Bible study as opposed to plain
07:01 Bible reading is often more rewarding
07:04 and more enlightening and therefore
07:06 should be encouraged.
07:08 We see through its many clues.
07:11 We examine the many connections between
07:13 passages.
07:14 We read the verses in context
07:17 so that we can better see the whole
07:20 rather than in parts so that we can
07:23 unlock the whole truth instead of a
07:26 fraction of the truth.
07:28 To set an example, let's consider the
07:31 let's consider the fourth gospel. The
07:33 gospel according to John. Now from the
07:36 other three gospel accounts, Matthew,
07:37 Mark, and Luke, we know that Jesus
07:39 performed many miracles during his
07:41 earthly ministry.
07:43 Of all these many miracles, John chose
07:47 only seven to be included in his book.
07:50 And he didn't call them miracles.
07:53 Instead, he called them signs. Now, we
07:56 don't have time to discuss this in
07:58 detail, but each of the seven signs in
08:01 John was carefully chosen in order to
08:05 reveal who Jesus was and what he had
08:08 come to do. You shouldn't look at just
08:11 one sign. It's like just having one key
08:14 out of the several keys. When reading
08:17 John, you must examine all seven signs
08:20 one by one in order to see the larger
08:23 picture.
08:25 It is no coincidence that there are also
08:28 seven seals on the scroll in Revelations
08:32 5:1.
08:34 Seven seals that have to be broken one
08:36 by one
08:38 in order to open the scroll. in the book
08:41 of revelation which most Bible scholars
08:44 believe to be also written by John.
08:48 Coming to the story of the lamb now with
08:50 the lock the Indian lock as an analogy
08:53 and with the seven signs in John as a
08:56 model I want you to know that there are
08:59 many clues or many signs in the old
09:02 testament that point to Jesus as the
09:04 lamb of God.
09:06 The proclamation by John the Baptist
09:09 which we saw earlier did not come out of
09:12 the blue. Rather, it was the culmination
09:16 of an elaborate plan that cuts across
09:18 the centuries, across the pages of
09:21 scripture.
