and in Peru. So it can be doctors, nurses, medics can go and work on our medical ships,
or if you're just not medically gifted or you're not a medical professional, you can go to Tanzania
and Peru to work with our construction teams building homes for orphans and children who
have lost their parents through HIV and AIDS, and also we're working with children in Peru
who are street children or vulnerable children. So that's the sort of the work that Vine Trust
has been involved in for the last 30 years.
Fantastic, and at least a couple from our church have been out to Peru, and indeed one came back with a very special friendship from it.
Kenny, what do you do? What is your role within the Vine Trust?
Yeah, well, my job title is Programmes Manager, which is very vague, and that's just to cover a multitude of different activities.
Predominantly, my role is to be the link between the projects we have in Peru and Tanzania and the Vine Trust,
so I'm the person that's chasing them up for reports, getting on their backs for different things,
but also it's to what we call capacity building. Sounds very fancy, doesn't it? It's all about helping and equipping our partners in Peru and Tanzania
to develop their skills and abilities to help the projects develop.
Fantastic, thanks very much. And just anything particularly we can pray for for Vine Trust yourself at the moment?
Yeah, please pray for the new health project we have in Tanzania.
We had a medical ship taken away from Greenock all the way to Lake Victoria, and we're now in the final stages of getting that up and running,
hopefully in the month of March, and we're working with the African Indian Church to be using that to reach out to the island communities,
so that's one thing to pray for. And also please pray for the work that's going on in Peru.
We're looking to develop the health work we've got there going there too, to reach more and more communities,
and we're working with Scripture Union there, so just please pray for those two parts in particular.
Fantastic. Let me just pray for both the work of Vine Trust and Kenny to come to speak to us now.
Our Father, we thank you that here in Edinburgh we can partner with those around the world.
We thank you with those who are actively involved and serve you in that way.
We thank you for Kenny's work with Vine Trust, and we do pray for him as he coordinates things,
as he holds things together, if you really give them wisdom and help in that.
We pray for the work in Tanzania. We thank you for this exciting new project.
We pray for the work that will enable them to reach many more in the motor parks, in the islands and so on,
and they'll be a real blessing for you.
We pray for the ongoing work in Peru as well, and as they will seek to reach further
and to tell people that the Lord Jesus will provide for their medical needs.
We pray that you will grant safety, that you will grant good care with the people,
and that your world will really spread out and have wonderful effect,
even as people's bodies too are healed.
We thank you for your presence with us this morning, and we quickly commit Kenny to you now
as he brings us your words, that what you have shown to him, he will be able to present to us clearly,
and that you will speak through him, and that we will be listeners and hearers and doers of the words.
We commit ourselves to you in Jesus' name.
Amen.
Thank you.
Well, good morning.
It is a real privilege to share from God's word with you this morning,
but before we turn to God's word, I just want to say on behalf of the family,
thank you to Brunsfield for the way you've welcomed them.
We felt very welcome as soon as we walked through the door.
We had about five or six people welcoming us in the first five or six minutes,
and I said, the clouds are amazing.
We felt so welcome since we walked in the door,
and over the last, well, it was an Easter Sunday last year that we came for the first time.
So it's just about a year, but we felt so welcomed here,
and we just want to thank you for the way you've accepted us into the church family.
We thank you for your patience with us as well.
It's been quite a process for us as we've settled into life here in Scotland.
When we arrived back on the plane in July 2013,
we thought we were going back to Bolivia in January 2014,
but God had different plans for us completely,
and by November of that year, I had a new job with the Vine Trust,
and I had to go back to Bolivia myself and sell the house
and move all the things around and come back with three suitcases of things.
And God really has blessed us as we've settled back in,
but it's been a challenge.
So we thank you for your patience with us, for your prayers, for your concern,
for your encouragement. It's really a real blessing to us as a family.
As I say, it's been a real challenge, but also a real blessing during this time
to have settled back into life in Scotland.
I left Scotland at the age of 23,
and I was out to Bolivia 15 years.
So you can work out how roughly how old I am.
I'm not as old as I look, going by the hair.
But it's amazing having spent all that amount of time outside of Scotland
how little really I knew of my own country.
And it's been a real pleasure to me to find out more about Scotland
and do it with my family as well.
One of the things we love to do as a family is go out and explore.
And I must admit that part of that motivation is to find new things,
but also I have three children.
And if any of you have seen or know our three children,
or at least I've heard our three children,
they have boundless energy.
And often on Saturday it's the plan.
The question I ask each other is,
where are we going today?
Where can we go so the kids can burn up so energy
and they'll sleep this evening?
And so we often go to the beach.
And North Berwick Beach,
that's a picture of North Berwick Beach,
is one of our favourite places.
We also love Yellow Craigs Beach.
I don't know if anyone's ever been to these places.
Great places not too far from here.
And the places we go and we've got to know really well
just by enjoying the scenery
and just walking along the beach.
But what we've found as a family
is often we'd go walking for long distances
and get to know the area in a very general sort of way.
But sometimes the visits we enjoyed most
is we would go to a certain part of the beach
and just stop and start looking down.
And often you'll see the whole family on the beach
when we were down and hunched down,
looking and picking up tiny little shells.
And we have a collection of different shells and stones
that we've collected from all over different parts of Scotland.
Really enjoying seeing some of the smaller details
in this beautiful large landscape.
And that image came to my mind
as I turned to this passage we're looking at today
in Exodus chapter 11 and 12.
It's a passage which for many people here today
it'll be very familiar.
You'll have heard many times.
Maybe as you came up through Sunday school
you'll have heard this story over and over again.
And the problem with that is when we know something
we think we know something so well
and become so familiar with it
sometimes we can lose the small details.
And my prayer has been that as we
turn to these chapters today
as we turn to this story today
that maybe there's something
we just jump out of the page
from God's word to you today.
It happened to me a few weeks ago
when we were in Exodus chapter 5.
And we read these words.
It said, this is Pharaoh speaking.
He said,
Who is the Lord that I should obey him?
I've read that chapter I don't know how many times.
But that question he asked Pharaoh,
Who is the Lord that I should obey him?
And that link between knowing and obeying
nearly come to my mind.
And what also jumped to me from the page
was that Moses didn't answer.
He let God answer that question.
And my prayer this morning is that
as we turn to God's word
and we would have that question
maybe in our minds,
Who is the Lord?
Who is he to me?
Because I think this chapter 11 and chapter 12
really speak to us in a powerful way
about who this true God is.
And there wouldn't be that you would hear me speaking
this morning.
In the same way that Moses just
ignored the question altogether
and let God answer it.
I hope this morning as we look,
turn to God's word
that God will really speak to your hearts
as we go through his words.
Last week John was going through
the last nine of the ten plagues.
And we now come to the final plague,
probably the most gruesome of all.
And chapter 11 and chapter 12,
chapter 12 in particular,
it's like a list of instructions
when you read through it for the first time.
Now, we men have a bad reputation
when it comes to instructions.
And if my wife asked me
about me reading instructions,
not often the first thing that I do
when we buy something,
not even in the Ikea flat pack furniture,
have a go first of all,
and it doesn't work,
then you turn to the instructions.
Before it used to be asking directions in the car.
Men on the doors were not asking directions too.
Now we have GPS.
So we no longer don't listen to the people
in the neighborhood where to go to.
We now don't listen to the GPS
where it's telling us where to go to.
And we argue with the GPS.
Well, I do anyway.
Have a running battle.
Turn right?
No, I'm turning left.
Turn right?
No, I'm turning left.
And that is the way it goes.
But this chapter here,
11 and 12,
12 in particular,
is a list of instructions
that we really need to turn to
and listen to.
And I'd like God to apply those truths
to our hearts.
These are sort of multi-layered,
multi-purposed instructions
that we have here
in this part of God's words.
In chapter 11,
we read in verse 1,
it says there'll be,
God tells Moses there'll be
one more plague.
One more plague.
So God is making it very clear
here to Moses
and to all the Israelites,
this is the end of the plagues.
And then in verse 2,
we read something
which is maybe unusual
in the context
when we're reading through this.
It says here,
verse 2 of chapter 11,
tell the people
that men and women alike
are to ask their neighbours
for articles of silver and gold.
It seems like a very strange instruction
right in the middle
of all these plagues here.
Tell the people
that men and women alike
are to ask their neighbours
for articles of silver and gold.
And here we have this unusual,
what seems to be a usual instruction by God,
but actually God is linking this back,
what's about to happen,
to something that happened
many, many years ago.
In Genesis chapter 15,
in verse 14,
we read this,
when God's speaking to Abraham,
the father of the Israel nation,
he says,
I will punish the nation
they serve as slaves
and afterwards
they will come out
with great possessions.
I will punish the nation
they serve as slaves
and afterwards
they will come out
with great possessions.
So here we have God
instructing them
to ask for possessions.
And by giving this instruction
very clearly here,
he's linking this back
to a promise
and a statement
he made to Abraham
many, many years ago.
So what is about to happen
is not something
sort of random thing,
it's not something
which is just happening,
it is part of a divine plan.
This is God's plan
for the Israelites,
something that was planned
many, many years beforehand.
So when Pharaoh is asking,
who is the Lord?
We find that here,
he is about to declare to Egypt
and leave them
without any doubt at all,
they are dealing
with the eternal,
all-powerful God
who is in control
of everything
from the past
and the present
and into the future.
And in this demonstration
of his power
and this declaration
of who he is
will go even further
than Egypt at that time.
Later on,
when you read about
the Israelites
going to the promised land
and when the spies
meet with Rahab
in Jericho,
we read this
in Joshua chapter 2,
he says,
she says this,
we have heard
how the Lord
dried up the water
of the Red Sea
for you
when you came out
of Egypt.
When we heard of it,
our hearts melted
and everyone's courage
failed because of you.
For the Lord,
your God,
is God in heaven above
and on earth below.
Who is the Lord?
He is the all-powerful God
in control of everything,
past, present
and future.
So this last plague,
a horrific plague,
we're going to read
from verses 4 to 8
in chapter 11.
It says,
so Moses,
verse 4,
this is what the Lord says,
about midnight
I will go throughout Egypt.
Every firstborn son
in Egypt will die
from the firstborn son
of Pharaoh
who sits on the throne
to the firstborn son
of the male slave
who is at her mill hand
and all the firstborn
of the cattle as well.
There will be a loud
wailing throughout Egypt
worse than there ever
has been or will ever be again.
Among the Israelites
not a dog will bark
at any person or animal.
Then you will know
that the Lord
who makes a distinction
between Egypt
and Israel.
All these officials of yours
will come to me
bowing down before me
and saying,
go,
you and all the people
who follow you,
after that I will leave.
Then Moses,
hot with anger,
left Pharaoh.
It's a horrific plague.
As I say,
we often read these words
and we've heard them
so often before
that we may become numb
to this last plague.
It is the death
of the firstborn
of these families.
A truly tragic
and horrific plague.
I wonder if you can
just,
in your minds,
just try and imagine
something similar
happening today.
The firstborn
of every family
and even in the cattle
dying
just overnight.
But we see
in what is to follow
in chapter 12
and it's highlighted here
that it says
that God will make
a distinction
between Egypt
and Israel
but God had instructions.
He had plans
and some guidance
for them
so they could avoid
being struck down
by this horrible plague.
And reading through
chapter 12,
I think there are
three things
that we can see
from these instructions.
First of all,
these are practical instructions.
Practical instructions
to save them
from the final plague.
what the Israelites
had to do
at that time.
Then they have
a remembrance element.
In God's instructions
he says
that they are
to have a festival
into the future
to remind them
of what God
has done for them.
And also these instructions
are symbolic.
And what I want to focus
more time on
this morning
is just how
what we see here
in these instructions
that God gives to them
that there is
an outline
or a glimpse
of God's
great salvation plan.
Not just for the Israelites,
not just for one nation,
but for all humanity.
In chapter 12
in verse 1 and 2
it says this,
The Lord said to Moses
in Egypt,
This month is to be
for you
the first month
of your year.
So here we have God
outlining
a new calendar.
Changing the whole
structure of their lives
even from when
their calendar
the year starts.
This is a momentous occasion
that God is saying
this is a new stage
in your lives
a new phase
in your walk
with me.
So much so that
I'm going to change
the whole calendar
and you're going to
start every year
remembering
what I have done
in your lives.
These are practical
instructions.
Verses 3 to 11
in chapter 12
says,
Tell the whole community
of Israel
that on the tenth
year of this month
each man is to
take a lamb
for his family
one for each household.
If any household
is too small
for a whole lamb
they must share one
with their nearest neighbor
having taken into account
the number of people
there are.
You are to determine
the amount of lamb
in accordance
with what each person
will eat.
The animals you choose
must be year old
males without defect
and you may take them
from the sheep
or the goats.
Take care of them
until the fourteenth day
of the month
when all the members
of the community
of Israel
must slaughter them
at twilight.
Then you are to
take some of the blood
and put it on the sides
and tops of the door frames
of the houses
where they eat the lambs.
That same night
they are to eat the meat
roasted over fire
along with bitter herbs
and bread made
without yeast.
Do not eat the meat
raw or boiled in water
but roasted over a fire
with the head, legs
and internal organs.
Do not leave
any of it
until morning.
If some is left
until morning
you must burn it.
This is how you are
to eat it
with your cloak
tucked into your belt
your sandals on your feet
your staff in your hands.
Eat it in haste.
It is the Lord's Passover.
There is always a bit
of a worry
when you are sharing
from God's Word
when it is talking
about food
and roasting food.
It is so close
to lunchtime.
I hope the stomachs
are not rumbling too much
and hopefully not
be too much longer
so you can get away
and have that lunch
but especially having
roast lamb
for dinner today.
But these are
very, very specific
instructions God
is giving to them.
On the tenth day
I take a lamb
one for each household.
It is to be a year old lawn
without any defect at all.
On the fourteenth day
they are to sacrifice
that one at twilight.
They are to paint blood
on the door frames
and then they are to roast
not boil
but roast the lamb
eat it with bitter herbs
eat bread without yeast
and then eat
or burn
all the leftovers
and be dressed
ready to go
and eat quickly.
Very, very specific
instructions that God
has put in place
for them.
But if they are complete
and do what God
has said
and if they obey
then verse 13
says this
The blood will be
a sign for you
on the houses
where you are
and when I see the blood
this is God speaking
I will pass over you.
No destructive plague
will touch you
when I strike Egypt.
What God is saying is
here are some
specific instructions
if you obey
then when I see the blood
I will pass over you
and my destructive hand
will not touch
your family.
Practical instructions.
But these also have
instructions for remembrance
into the future.
In verse 14
it says
this is a day
you are to commemorate
for the generations
to come
you shall celebrate it
as a festival
to the Lord
a lasting ordinance.
And in verse 25
it says this
when you enter the land
God is looking
into the future
when you enter the land
the Lord will give you
as he promised
observe this ceremony
and when your children
ask you
what does this ceremony
mean to you
then tell them
it is the Passover
sacrifice to the Lord
who passed over the houses
of the Israelites
and spared our homes
when he struck down
the Egyptians.
So it's a new calendar
some specific instructions
to save themselves
from the destruction
of the final plague
but also a reminder
a festival
which God starts
to help them
to reflect
on what he has done
and help them
to worship too.
and it's to be passed down
from generation
to generation.
When we're driving
in the car
going anywhere
doesn't matter
where we're going
we can go to Tesco
in the shops
or Sainsbury's
wherever
it's always daddy
and then there's a question
daddy why is this
and daddy's why that
and I'm going
you've got your mum
sitting here too
she can answer
some questions too.
Kids are generally
inquisitive
well mine are anyway
always asking why
why is this
why is that
and God is saying
when you're
when you're celebrating
this festival
in the future
and your children
will ask you
because that's what children do
why
then you can tell them
what God did for you
in the past
because in years to come
that generation
was no longer
good to be there
and as humans
we have this tendency
to forget
we're great at forgetting
what's happened
in the past
and what God wants to do
is make sure
that the next generation
the next generation
the generations to come
will know
who God is
and what he has done
for them
but this Passover
isn't just practical
it's just for remembrance
but it's also symbolic
and I want to pick out
just very quickly
some
symbols here
in this
passage
which speak to us
about God's
great wonderful
salvation plan
not just as a
for one nation
not just for one night
but for
for all humanity
forever
it describes
at the beginning
of Genesis
when we started
this study
a number of weeks ago
right at the beginning
we find out
these Israelites
this family
who'd been invited
to Egypt
invited as guests
were no longer guests
they were now living
as slaves
and it says in verse
23 of chapter 2
that they cried
for help
they cried for help
why?
because
they were completely
powerless
to overthrow
the Egyptian rulers
their overlords
they had no power
to get rid of them
at all
and this is an example
of where we are
the Bible clearly
illustrates and tells us
that we are also slaves
in Romans chapter 6
it talks about
we are slaves
to sin
that sin
controls our lives
our thoughts
our actions
our motives
our desires
we are controlled
by it
and our destiny
is shaped
by the sin
and we are
completely powerless
under our own strength
to do anything
at all
about this
when I was
growing up
as a kid
there was only
one television program
worth watching
as far as I was concerned
it was the 18
now my daughter
Ella's daughter
Emma saw this picture
and she says
who are they?
I was shocked
I thought
what have I been doing
what education
have I been giving
to my children
they have no idea
who the 18 is
whatsoever
I wanted to be
that gentleman
there on the right hand side
B.A. Barakas
he was my favourite
I wanted to be like
B.A. Barakas
I have kind of like
the reverse Mohican
going on now
instead of the
but he was my hero
he was a big tough guy
and even
I'm sure you must have
most of you seen
the A team
at some time
they were always
these guys are running away
from the police
and from the army
and they'd be
always holed up
somewhere in a warehouse
and it looked like
everything was lost
and all of a sudden
because there was guys
these guys were geniuses
they could get
this old bit of metal
from here
and this old bit of metal
from there
and they would put together
a tank
from absolutely nothing
it's ridiculous
I actually turned around
it's true
I actually watched an episode
a couple of years ago
I thought
why on earth
did I watch this again
it was completely ridiculous
but they
through their own
just sort of
genius
were able to save themselves
from a helpless situation
and sometimes
of course
we don't run
in warehouses
making tanks
to escape from
helpless situations
in our own life
but we think
that sometimes
when problems
arrive in our lives
that through our own
maybe cleverness
through our own skills
and our money
and ability
and influence
we try to influence
situations
to escape from the problems
that appear in our lives
but this passage
this book of Exodus
and the whole Passover
and what happens here
clearly illustrates this to us
in a symbolic way
that there is one problem
we can do absolutely nothing about
under our own power
and that is sin
it doesn't matter
how smart
how clever
how wealthy
or powerful you are
there is nothing you can do
to escape from
the problem
of sin
and this Passover
teaches in a symbolic way
that freedom
from the slavery
of sin
is God's initiative
it is God's plan
it is through God's power
and it is through
God's grace
see God didn't save
the Israelites
from the slavery
in Egypt
because they were worth it
because I'm worth it
like the advert says
on television
it wasn't because
they had done something
that justified
or made God
want to do it for them
it was because
God's grace
he wanted to
save them
from slavery
in Egypt
and then we have
the image
of the lamb
this was to be
sacrificed
in place
or in substitute
for the firstborn
it was to be a lamb
without defect
and here we have
such a beautiful picture
of our Lord Jesus Christ
do we not
he who was without sin
he who gave his life
as a sacrifice
as a substitute
for us
John the Baptist
when he saw Jesus coming
he said
look
the lamb
of God
who takes away
the sin
of the world
one of my favourite
bible commentators
is a man called
Warren Wearsby
he's tremendous
way of opening up
God's word
in simple ways
for people who are
simple like me
can understand
and he turns
to these verses
of verse 3
to verse 5
of Genesis
of Exodus
and he says here
he points out
three things
in verse 3
it says
each man
is to take
a lamb
and then in verse 4
he says
according to what
each can eat
you shall make
your count
for the lamb
and then in verse 5
he says
your lamb
shall be
without blemish
and he points out
the progression
here that is
from a lamb
to the lamb
to your lamb
to general
to specific
to personal
and he points out
that this
this image
of the lamb
becoming something
very general
to specific
and then to personal
is also the plan
that God has
for our lives
towards the lamb
of God
Jesus Christ
he should be
no longer just
a lamb
he would then move
to the lamb
of God
and then our lamb
or my lamb
of God
this wonderful
progression here
because God
wants Jesus Christ
to become personal
to each one of us
we're talking about
the study in John
chapter 17
this week
from the young people
of the day away
John 17 verse 3
gives us a wonderful
definition of what
eternal life is
it says
now this is
eternal life
definition
that you may know
the one true God
and Jesus Christ
whom he has sent
the eternal life
which God has to offer
each one of us
is a personal
relationship
with God
from a lamb
to the lamb
to my lamb
and then there's
the blood
which we've been
singing about
in many of the songs
this morning
that people
would understand
clearly that blood
was a symbol
of life
in the book
of Deuteronomy
we read
the blood
is the life
the blood
is the life
I wonder
what the Egyptians
were thinking
as they saw
these Israelites
slaughtering a lamb
at twilight
and all of a sudden
starting to paint
their doors
with lamb's blood
it must have been
a shocking
a worrying
image to see
but this painting
of blood
onto their door frames
was an act
of faith
how on earth
can just by painting
blood onto a door frame
save you from
your firstborn
dying
but the thing is
you have to understand
that this simple
blood of a lamb
the power was in
what God understood
that lamb to represent
that that blood
being painted
there was an act
of faith
an act of obedience
an act of trust
and that that blood
of that lamb
was to be in place
or that sacrifice
that lamb was in place
of the firstborn
in that household
and that blood
there was nothing else
they can do
there was no other way
there was no other
instruction
just the blood
of the lamb
on the doorpost
that's what they were
to do
and because God
says when I see
the blood
I will pass
over
this is a wonderful
symbolic expression
of what Jesus Christ
has done for us
his blood
that covers us
and our sin
so that God
passes over us
he sees his
son's blood
that was shared
on the cross
for us
and we no longer
receive the punishment
that we deserve
in Ephesians chapter 1
verse 7
it says
in him
in Jesus Christ
we have
redemption
through his
blood
the forgiveness
of our sins
according to the
riches
of his grace
again
because of his
grace
in the same way
that Israelites
did not deserve
to be forgiven
and to be pardoned
from this final plague
we do not deserve
to be pardoned either
but it's from God's grace
that he
forgives us
so Jesus Christ
is our
Passover
lamb
this Passover
passage is not just
about a new calendar
it's not just about
salvation from the
tenth plague
it's not just the
introduction of a
new festival
that they are to
celebrate
but points us to
very clearly
the
Passover
lamb
Jesus Christ
his life
his death
his sacrifice
once and for all
his
victory
you see
that is the only
way
to salvation
is to do
to come before God
and trust in him
and receive what
Jesus Christ
done for us
in faith
and when
they did this
it says
here
it is the
Passover
sacrifice
to the Lord
who passed
over the
houses of
Israelites
in Egypt
and spared
our homes
when he
struck down
the Egyptians
when Moses
explains these
things to the
people
what was the
response
when they
heard this
message
it says
then the
people bowed
down
and worshipped
bowed down
and worshipped
it was the
only true
response
and understanding
fully
that as they
were grasping
what God
was about
to do
for them
their
response
was
worship
and that
should be
our
response
this
morning
that as we
understand
and appreciate
what God
has done
for us
to Jesus
Christ
it's to turn
round
and worship
him
I want to
leave you
with a quote
from a hymn
that was written
almost 100 years
ago
in 1917
it says this
the chorus
of the hymn
and I pray
that these
will be the
words of our
hearts
and our
worship to
God
this morning
O
Jesus
Lord
and Saviour
I give
myself
to you
for you
in your
atonement
did give
yourself
for me
I owe
no other
master
my heart
shall be
your throne
my life
I give
henceforth
to live
O Christ
for you
alone
may God
bless the
reading of
his words
this morning
thank you
I love you
God
will
let's
bless you