Ladies and Gentlemen,

This is Brother Frank speaking to you.

Today we shall have the subject about the Pessach, the Passah, the Passover. A number of names speaking of the same event and celebration. In Exodus, chapter 12, we find the word Passover a number of times. This was a very, very special event. God had made a promise in Genesis 15, verse 13, the promise to Abraham, “… after four hundred years I will bring your people out of bondage.” And when the 400 years had come and gone, God remembered His promise He made to Abraham and his seed. And the Lord God appeared to Moses in a burning bush, speaking to him, saying, “Take off your shoes, for the ground you are standing on is holy ground.” Then we know how Moses as God’s prophet was sent to Pharaoh to demand, “Let My people go!” Here we have the command, “Let My people go!” 

And after all the plagues something happened: The Lord spoke to Moses in Exodus, chapter 12, giving him precise instructions of how the deliverance of God’s people, the people of Israel, would take place: how every family should gather and slay a lamb and put the blood left and right and above on the doorposts and eat the flesh of the lamb. And then the Lord said, “When I see the blood, I will pass over you.” All of the others, all the families in Egypt were struck and the firstborn died. But everywhere the blood was applied, no destruction, no death could take place, because the blood was there, the lamb was slain. 

And here it says in Exodus, chapter 12, verse 11, “And thus shall ye eat it: with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the Lord’s Passover.” The Lord’s Passover! In verse 13, “And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you” – pass over you. Don’t hurt, don’t destroy, don’t kill, just pass, because the blood was applied. 

And therefore, it is the greatest feast of the three feasts in Israel: the Passah, the Pessach, Passover. It means, going by, not hurting. It was protected, the whole house, the whole family, the firstborn were protected by the blood of the lamb. And this was already a sign that the Lamb of God would come. And only those who are under the Blood, who received the forgiveness of sins through the shed Blood on the cross of Calvary, they are protected. And when the great judgments are going to strike the earth, those who are redeemed by the Blood, they will be in Glory at that time. 

Even if we read on in chapter 12, we can see the divine purpose of that great celebration. It was the greatest day in the history of the Jews. As I already mentioned, God made a promise to Abraham, then to Isaac, then to Jacob, and now the time had come to fulfill that promise. And it’s absolutely wonderful to believe God’s promises and then to see the promises fulfilled. But, as we also read, we must do what God requires. We cannot have our own ways, our own protection, our own religion, no, we must follow God’s instructions, we must come God’s way, we must realize what God has promised unto us.

Passover. It says here in verse 21, “Then Moses asked for all the elders of Israel, and said unto them, Draw out and take you a lamb according to your families, and kill the Passover.” It was the Passover lamb – not only Passover, but the lamb that was slain was necessary that the angel of destruction could not do any harm to that house and to that family. 

So we understand by the grace of God even the application from the Old to the New Testament. In 1 Corinthians, in chapter 5, the Apostle Paul writes like this, “Your gloring is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?” (verse 6) If you go back to Exodus 12, they should eat for seven days unleavened bread. It was in connection with the lamb slain, so the Passover could take place. Now, in the New Testament, the application goes to the Lamb of God, to Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and then to all who believe in Him. And therefore, the apostle writes, “Your gloring is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?” and the admonition, “Purge out, therefore, the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ, our Passover, is sacrificed for us.” Here in the New Testament, Christ is the Passover, and the lesson is profound:  “Purge out, therefore, the old leaven …” 

Now, everybody knows that Brother Frank preaches God’s Word without compromise. Therefore it must be said, that we have to come out from all the religions, from all the denominations, because there is leaven in all of them, and we must be purchased, we must be cleaned and we must have a new start without leaven. And it says here that even Christ, our Passover, is sanctified for us, and we must accept God’s divine instructions and orders to put all teachings, to put all practices, to put all things we inherited away and start anew with the Lord Jesus Christ. Not mixing old and new, but put the old leaven away and be a new creature in Jesus Christ, our Lord. 

It says here, for Christ, our Passover, is sanctified for us, and we are only sanctified in Him. There is no salvation, no justification, nothing outside Christ. Only in Jesus Christ we have the forgiveness of our sins, the redemption. Only in Christ we have eternal life. And that is why the Word of God says in 1 John, chapter 5, verse 11 and 12, “… He that hath the Son hath eternal life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not eternal life.” And, Friends, we can only live eternally, if we have received eternal life. And death does not give eternal life. Only Jesus Christ gives us eternal life. And therefore, we must prepare in our lifetime to meet the Lord in Glory. We must come to find the narrow way and the gate that leads to heaven.

Then it says here in 1 Corinthians 5, in verse 8, “Therefore, let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread – with the unleavened bread – of sincerity and truth.” What a message, connecting us to Exodus, chapter 12, when God fulfilled His promise and brought His people out of Egyt after 400 years of slavery. And the Lord said, “Kill a lamb, put the blood on the doorposts and on the upper side of the entrance. And when I see the blood the death angel will not strike, the family is safe, the firstborn is safe, nothing will happen to those who are under divine protection.” 

We all remember, at least I do, World War II: people were seeking protection from the bombings. And, Friends, destruction will come upon the earth. And there will be no safe place on the five continents. No, and once again, no. Only in Christ, we are safe. And then, before sun turns into darkness and moon into blood, before the great and dreadful day of the Lord comes, before the judgments will strike the earth – the Lord Jesus made a promise: “I go to prepare a place, and then I will return and take you to be where I am.” The main object and message today is about the second coming of Christ. And our preparation and the essence of the message is, as it was then: we must be redeemed. We must recognise that the Lamb of God was slain, and the blood must be applied. Only then we have redemption, we have deliverance, we have security. Only then the Red Sea will open. Only then we shall have a free exodus. And the enemy might be after us, but the Red Sea will open up and all the enemies will drown. And we shall move on into the Promised Land. 

So, the Passover with the Jews up to this day is one of the greatest celebrations: to remember the great day, the great day, when the Israelites were taken out of Egypt, when God fulfilled His promise, and when the Passover lamb was slain and the blood was applied. What a lesson! And here we understand the celebration the Jews have up to this day, reminding them of that which happened in the days of Moses. 

But we as New Testament believers, we have a second celebration, a second memoration of what happened, when the New Testament covenant was made and when Christ, the Lamb of God, was slain on the cross of Calvary, when His Blood was shed, the Blood of the New Covenant. Now the enemy must pass by. It’s impossible: he cannot step across the blood. It’s impossible. No. We are redeemed. And we move on this way until we are taken to Glory. So, not only the Passover, the Passah, no, that’s not enough. I am grateful for the Passah, but I am grateful for the Passover Lamb of the New Testament, when our redemption was made complete. Not only a Passover, but a total forgiveness, total redemption, a new life was given unto us by the grace of God through Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God.

If you read John, chapter 1, there two times John pointed to Jesus Christ, saying, “This is the Lamb of God, taking away the sins of the world.” And then, when the time came, our Lord and Saviour was crucified and gave His life, and shed His blood for our redemption. We are children of God, because the Son of God redeemed us, and through the Son of God all who believe in Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour are placed back into the divine order of sons and daughters of God, fully justified, sanctified and made perfect by the grace of God – not by your own choice or works, but by the grace of God. 

For us it is not only a celebration, it’s an experience, it’s salvation of our soul – it is something very, very precious! And as the Israelites had to celebrate seven days and eat unleavened bread, so the New Testament Church goes through the seven church ages, not allowing anything to be leavened, but to be unleavened, purely the Word of God, recognising that the Lamb of God was slain, recognising that we were redeemed. 

So, beloved Friends, we must not stop at the Passah, at the Passover, we must take the lesson from Exodus, chapter 12, and go to the New Testament, right to the cross, right to the resurrection, right to the ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ. After He conquered death and hell, He was taken to Glory. And in Acts, chapter 1, from verse 9-11, we read, “… This same Jesus, who is taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you have seen Him going up to heaven.”

The Jews celebrate Passah. We celebrate and we experience the Passover, Jesus Christ, the Passover Lamb. When the enemy sees the Blood, he must pass, he cannot hurt us. He must pass, when he sees the Blood. So, please remain under the Blood of the New Covenant. Be blessed with the blessings of Almighty God. We not only celebrate the Lord’s Supper as a memory to what happened for us, when our Lord said, “This is the Blood of the New Covenant …”, when He gave the bread and when He blessed the cup. But then He shed His Blood for the remission of our sins. Please, receive the lesson from the Old Testament and come to the New Testament and see what happened on the great day, when God and man were reconciled, the great day of atonement, when God was in Christ, reconciling the world with Himself. Receive Christ, the Lamb of God, and be saved by the grace of God in Jesus’ holy Name. Amen.