Are You Covered? | Exodus 11-12 | Blake Jenkins

Make disciples for his glory.

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Spring Valley Baptist Church exists to make disciples for the glory of God.

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Thanks for listening.

Heavenly Father, as we come to your word this morning, I pray that you would give us eyes to see.

God, that you would give us ears to hear.

God, I pray that you would speak.

For we your servants are listening.

It's through Christ we pray.

Amen.

It's very interesting to now be living through childhood memories, but from the parent's perspective.

You know, now we're walking through a store, and uh my almost 10-year-old is more calm now, but my just turned six-year-old, I'm still having to look at him and be like, stop acting crazy in this store.

You're gonna break something.

You know, because I can think back to a time, a very specific time, when I was a child, and I was all little boy.

And I was in a store with my mom, and I was doing as little boys do.

I was acting crazy.

I was running around, flailing, doing who knows what, and my mom has to call out after me, Blake, stop acting crazy.

You're gonna break something.

I round the corner and I come upon an end cap, and wouldn't you know it, I bump into and knock over a very large, very expensive dark green lamp.

Crash.

My mom hears the sound, comes around the corner, sees it, and her face just falls.

I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry.

I'll clean it up, I'll clean it up, I promise, I'm sorry.

You know, I thought the problem was the mess.

But my mom saw the sticker that was there on the shelf that it just fell off of.

And she knew what I didn't know at that time, but that day I learned a lesson.

You break it, you buy it.

This did not compute with my childhood brain.

We didn't come here for this lamp.

We definitely don't want this lamp now.

It's broken.

You mean to tell me we have to pay for this to be able to leave the store to be set free, so to speak.

It just didn't make sense.

I thought we I could just try to sweep up the mess.

You let me borrow a broom, I'll clean up the mess.

But that day I learned that lesson, and my mom paid a debt that I could not pay so that we could go home.

Less money, a broken lamp, but we were set free.

So I want you to take that image, take that story, take that picture, and come with me to Egypt.

As we pick up in the book of Exodus, we're gonna see that Moses is in the land of Goshen.

So that's a smaller portion there in the land of Egypt where God's people were dwelling.

God's people, the land of Israel, they had been enslaved for 400 plus years, brutally oppressed.

They had seen a generation of their baby boys thrown into the Nile River.

They've been calling out to God, deliver us, save us, act on our behalf.

And God sent Moses, an unlikely candidate, to bring deliverance.

And there had been all of these wonders, there have been all these plagues that have been visited upon the land of Egypt, but Israel, there in the land of Goshen, they were kept safe.

It didn't touch them.

And so Moses, he is there with his people in the land of Egypt.

As all of these signs and wonders have been going on.

The Nile turning to blood, the infestation of frogs and gnats and flies, the livestock dying, the boils popping up on people's skins, hail and fire raining down from the heavens, billions of locusts in a three-day darkness, a darkness, God's word says, a darkness that could be felt.

All of these things have been happening.

But why?

Why these plagues?

Well, you can look at Exodus chapter 9, verses 15 through 17, and this is where God gives his why.

Exodus 9:15–17

For by now, this is God speaking, I could have put out my hand and struck you from your people with pestilence, and you would have been cut off from the earth.

But for this purpose, this why, I have raised you up, Pharaoh, to show you my power, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth.

You are still exalting yourself against my people and will not let them go.

God could have cut off Egypt totally at the very beginning.

He could have smote them all in a second, but he didn't.

Why, God's word?

Why?

For his glory.

To show his power, that his name might be proclaimed in all the earth.

And we're able to see, he was doing this to bring judgment on Egypt for the wickedness, for the sin that they had committed, and to give them time for repentance.

God, he is in a very calculated way judging Egypt for their false worship, for worshiping these little g gods.

Each of these plagues, as Spencer preached for it so wonderfully last week, like each of these plagues was a direct hit against one of these little g gods.

This is this is their pantheon.

This is their Mount Rushmore.

These are all of the ones that they bow down and worship, and God is taking shot after shot at the centers of religious and economic life in Egypt.

And one by one, God is exerting his dominance over all of these fake gods.

But God, he's not only judging Egypt for their false worship and their wickedness, he's also giving time for escape.

The seventh wonder, the seventh plague that God did, that when hail was raining down.

Do you remember in that plague that God actually gave through Moses the call?

Hey, this is coming.

Take cover.

If you're outside, you're gonna get struck down, but if you're inside, you will be safe.

And God's word says, those that were outside got struck down, but those that were inside were safe.

He is telling them, there is this coming judgment, but there is a way, there is a means, there is a path for you to take to experience salvation.

And just to give a preview of what's coming next week, as God's people are finally leaving the land of Israel, it says, and a mixed multitude went out with them.

There are some Egyptians among the ranks of Israel that are leaving behind the false gods, that are leaving behind the wicked ways and are choosing to align themselves with God and his people.

That God is giving time for repentance and showing them that he is the one true Lord of heaven and of earth.

So there were nine signs and wonders, but Pharaoh with his hard heart will not let God's people go.

And so God says to Moses in Exodus 11, verse 1, Yet one plague more I will bring on Pharaoh and upon Egypt.

Exodus 11:1

And afterward he will let you go from here.

And when he lets you go, he will drive you away completely.

One plague more.

And that word plague, this is the first time this particular Hebrew word for plague is used.

Up until now it's been wonders.

But now you are able to see that this Hebrew word is the word for strike or for blow.

One blow more I will deal to Pharaoh and to the land of Egypt.

So God, like a calculated precision boxer, is squaring up against Pharaoh in Egypt.

And you know, you look at a ring and boxers in a ring sometimes, and you have the ones that are kind of like, you know, fancy footwork and doing all over the place, kind of dancing around.

I just imagine the Lord showing up and being like, let's go.

None of the other frills, no extraneous movement.

All right.

All of your Egyptian gods really fall into one of three categories: the the gods related to the Nile, gods related to the land, and gods related to the sky.

Okay.

Alright.

Gods related to the Nile, Jab.

Alright?

River turned to blood, infestation of frogs.

Alright?

Okay, all of your gods related to the land, cross.

Infestation of flies and gnats, dust coming on you and turning to boils, all of this other livestock dying.

Okay?

All of your gods related to the sky.

Hook.

Alright, all the locusts coming in on the wind, fire and hail raining down from the sky, and then darkness.

I'm cutting off the sun.

You worship the sun, God, I'm cutting it off.

Darkness that you can feel.

Alright, and last, okay, Pharaoh, you think you're a God and you think that after you die, your son is going to be raised up.

He's going to be God incarnate.

All right.

Uppercut.

The last one, the last blow that I'm going to deal to you to show you I am the one true God.

One plague more.

So we knew it would get to this point.

Or we would know it if we believed God when he spoke.

He had told Moses all the way back in Exodus chapter 4, right after the episode at the burning bush, and as he is on his way to Egypt, this is what God said.

Exodus 4 · chapter mention

Verse 22 of chapter 4.

Then you shall say to Pharaoh, thus says the Lord, Israel is my firstborn son.

And I say to you, let my son go that he may serve me.

And if you refuse to let him go, behold, I will kill your firstborn son.

Israel was God's firstborn son.

And God was the father to this nation, and God's son had been enslaved, beaten, and killed en masse.

And Pharaoh and the Egyptians, they had killed the sons of Israel.

They had ripped the babies from the arms of their mothers and thrown them into the Nile for them to drown, turning the river to blood in their own way.

And wickedness upon iniquity, upon violence, upon oppression, upon depravity, upon sin had been committed.

God said, Let my son go.

And if you refuse, I will visit justice upon you.

I will kill your firstborn son.

And you might be here this morning and you might recoil a little bit against this divine justice.

And I would say you need to be shocked out of your suburban sensibilities.

I didn't come up with that, by the way.

There's a professor at Yale University.

His name is Miroslav Wolf, a Croatian professor who personally has undergone a lot of suffering and pain in his life, and has talked to a lot of people and written extensively on this topic.

And he says, one, this is paraphrased, one of the only ways that you can be offended by a God who brings justice upon evil is if you live comfortably in the suburbs.

And you think that everybody is essentially good, and that nothing happens in your nice little bubble, that everything that is on the news is somewhere else.

And it doesn't touch you.

But God will judge.

God who is perfectly wise, perfectly patient, perfectly loving, is also perfectly just.

Great evil and sin had been committed.

And we know from the New Testament letter in Romans chapter 6, verse 23, for the wages of sin is death.

Romans 6:23

What we earn from the sin that we commit, what is paid out, what is demanded, is death.

It would be unjust, it would be unloving if God did nothing.

So God is going to do something.

And God says through Moses that there will be one more plague, one more blow.

Look at Exodus 11, verse 4 and following.

Exodus 11:4

So Moses said, Thus says the Lord, about midnight I will go out into the midst of Egypt, and every firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die.

From the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the slave girl who is behind the handmill, and all the firstborn of the cattle.

There shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there never has been, nor ever will be again.

This is the judgment.

This is the retributive justice.

This is what Egypt will reap based upon what Egypt has sown.

So, church, make no mistake, God will judge the sinner.

God will judge the sinner.

And it brings me no pleasure to tell you that.

But it does bring me great comfort that one day God will right every wrong.

I know unspeakable evil that has been done to people that I dearly love.

And there have been times when I have wanted to take matters into my own hands.

When I have wanted to be judge, jury, and executioner all in one.

But we go to God, we go to his word where he says, Vengeance is mine, thus says the Lord.

It brings a comfort to know that I don't have to get my pound of flesh back.

I can leave it to the Lord because He will judge the sinner.

And if you're here this morning, if you you're hearing the sound of my voice, you're a sinner.

You're a sinner.

I'm a sinner.

You might be thinking, I've not done anything like super heinous.

I've never done anything, I'm not a criminal.

I would just tell you, you need to stop grading yourself on the curve and everybody else according to the letter of the law.

You need to stop taking you at your best and comparing yourself to everyone else at their worst.

That every single one of us are on equal ground before the Lord of heaven and earth.

That we all, like, Romans 3.23 is true.

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

This is bad news.

You being a sinner, it's bad news.

You you deserving death because of your sin, that's bad news.

God judging the sinner, judging Egypt, that's bad news.

But thanks be to God, there's not only bad news.

Let's figure out what's going on right here.

Romans 6.23 continues into the same sentence with a comma.

Romans 3.23 continues into Romans 3.24.

Exodus 11 and the coming threat of the death of the firstborn is followed by Exodus 12 and the way of escape.

It is not only bad news.

The Lord tells Moses and Aaron, the time has come, one plague more, and everything is about to change.

You get to the beginning of Exodus chapter 12, and God tells them in the first two verses there, hey, Israel, your calendar is about to change.

Exodus 12 · chapter mention

This is going to be the first day in a new way for you to account for time.

What I'm about to do, what you're about to experience, is so significant, it shall be a renewal of days.

It shall be a new day for you.

And then he says in verse 3, this is what you're going to do.

Tell all the congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month, every man shall take a lamb according to their father's houses.

A lamb for a household.

Verse 5, your lamb, it shall be without blemish.

A male, a year old.

You may take it from the sheep or the goats, and you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill their lambs at twilight.

Israel, this is what you're going to do.

You're going to pick a lamb.

A perfect lamb.

You're going to pick it on the tenth day of this new month.

And you're going to keep it with you until day 14.

This is when you have to kind of slowly read and start to think about what would it have been like there in those houses?

I don't know if your children are like mine, but whenever you have an animal that wanders upon your household, one of the first questions is, can we keep it?

Four days to keep this lamb close.

Your kids are probably going to get attached.

It's going to be small, it's going to be soft, it's going to be cuddly.

But you're going to keep this lamb for four days.

And then on the fourth day at twilight, everyone in unison for each one of these households will kill the lamb.

Verse 7, then they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lentil of the houses in which they eat it.

They shall eat the flesh that night, roasted on the fire, with unleavened bread and bitter herbs, they shall eat it.

Okay, Israel.

This is what you're gonna do next.

You're gonna take that blood that is spilled, and you are gonna use it like paint upon the doorposts, the vertical doorposts of your house, and the lintel, that cross beam that connects the two, making an entranceway for your home.

And you will paint it there.

And on the inside, you're gonna eat the meat, it's gonna nourish you.

But on the outside, that blood will cover your house.

And you might be asking.

Asking, like me, why blood?

It's because the life is in the blood.

God's word would say.

And God's word would also say, without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins.

And so we see right here, they're gonna have the blood cover their doorposts, and on the inside they are going to eat.

And this is how they're supposed to eat, verse 11.

In this manner, you shall eat it, with your belt fastened, with your sandals on your feet, and with your staff in your hand, and you shall eat it in haste.

You're gonna eat it quickly.

For I will, it is the Lord's Passover, for I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn of the land of Egypt, both man and beast.

And here it is.

And on all the gods of Egypt, I will execute judgments.

I am the Lord.

Israel, you're gonna eat this meal like you're in a hurry and like you're on the way out of town.

This isn't with your shoes kicked off and your slippers on and kind of everybody's hanging back a little bit.

But no, you are gonna eat this with your sandals on, everything wrapped with your walking stick, like you're ready to go.

And in the future, you're gonna eat it in this way.

And this is what I'm going to do this night.

I am going to have justice and I will judge the gods of Egypt.

And look at verse 13.

The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are.

And when I see the blood, I will pass over you.

And no plague will befall you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.

And so there's another question that comes up here.

Why did Israel have to do this?

Shouldn't we have been able to see that through the rest of these plagues, that God is able to distinguish Israel from the land of Egypt?

That they have been kept from the pestilence and the affliction that have been visited upon Egypt?

That God is able to section them off, but now the destroyer is coming and he's unable to?

No, it's not that God is unable to.

It's because Israel is also unrighteous.

Israel also needs a covering.

Because God's word in Romans chapter 3, verse 10 is also true.

Romans 3:10

Because there is none righteous.

No, not one.

Israel, too, needed payment for sins.

The debt of sin was not something that only the Egyptians had.

To avoid judgment, they had to be covered by the blood of a lamb.

God is just and judges sin, but God is merciful and also makes a way of salvation from sin.

Israel, they needed a substitute.

And God said, When I see the blood, I will pass over you.

And so, church, we need to make no mistake, God can save the sinner.

God is able to be both just and merciful.

Verse 29, at midnight, the Lord struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt.

From the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne, to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of the livestock.

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 household where someone was not dead.

The Lord did it.

Judgment is visited upon Egypt and the Egyptian gods.

And it says that cries come out.

Cries similar to what we heard at the very beginning of Exodus when God's people were crying out.

And do you see in verse 30?

There was not a house where someone, or the Hebrew could also be translated, something was not dead.

Every house had a death, either of the firstborn or of the lamb.

Every house had judgment.

Some of the houses had salvation through a substitute.

And you might be thinking, goodness gracious, this is all so random.

Why did it have to be a lamb?

What I tell you.

And the lamb points back to God in his work and how he had acted in the past.

And the lamb points ahead to God in his work and how he will act in the future.

Because if we were to journey back to Genesis chapter 22, Abraham, Father Abraham, had many sons.

Genesis 22 · chapter mention

Well, there was a time when Father Abraham had no sons, but he had a promise.

God would give him a son, Isaac.

And after years of waiting, he finally had this son.

But then God comes to Abraham and says, I want you to sacrifice Isaac on the altar.

And it's at this point that Abraham is just disturbed to the greatest degree.

Because he knows that God hates human sacrifice.

Why would God ask him to do this?

But in obedience, he goes to Mount Moriah with his son Isaac, and he lays his son there on the altar, and in dramatic fashion, Genesis 22 says that Abraham has the knife raised to the heavens and then hears God call out, stop.

Stop, Abraham.

For now I know that you love me.

Look over here.

And what does Abraham find when he looks?

He finds a ram caught in the bushes by its horns.

And God says, take that in the place of your son Isaac.

A substitute is provided and accepted.

We can look back and see how this points to God and his work, and we can look ahead and see how this points to God and his work.

Because in the fullness of time, when Jesus Christ came, there at the beginning of his earthly ministry, John the Baptist, the last of the great prophets, the forerunner, going on ahead of Jesus, turns around, looks back, and when he sees Jesus coming there at the very beginning of the Gospel of John, he gets a case of the can't help its, and he just has to call out and say, Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

That from the very beginning of his earthly ministry, Jesus was seen as and testified to be the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

And then there, at the climax of his ministry, in Holy Week, there leading up to Easter.

When Jesus comes on Palm Sunday at the triumphal entry, that was the day in the nation of Israel when the Passover lambs were driven into Jerusalem.

And there on that Maundy Thursday, that night when Jesus was with his disciples, guess what meal he was eating?

The Passover meal.

The bread is there, the cup is there.

But guess what's not there?

The Lamb.

Because he himself is the Lamb.

He gets to the cup and he says, This is the cup of the new covenant, the cup of my blood, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.

And then the next day on that Good Friday, John would write in his gospel that that was the time when Jesus was on the cross that the Passover lambs were killed.

That Jesus is the true and better Passover lamb, the substitute in our place that would show us God is both just and merciful.

God will judge the sinner, but God can save the sinner.

Jesus is the only one who can pay, and he willingly paid for you and for me.

And that's why at that time and times after time, Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.

It's why Paul in 1 Corinthians chapter 5, verse 7, would say, For Christ, our Passover lamb has been sacrificed.

1 Corinthians 5:7

Not just a Passover lamb, but the Passover lamb and our Passover lamb.

The possession that we now have, this is the good news after all of the bad news.

The bad news that you're a sinner, it doesn't stay there.

The bad news that you deserve death, it doesn't stay there.

The bad news that a plague is coming for all of the firstborn, and now, not just for the firstborn, but for every sinner.

It doesn't just stay there.

Do you remember from a few moments ago?

Those verses from Romans?

Romans 6.23.

For the wages of sin is death.

But the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

But the free gift of God, you don't have to earn this.

You don't have to pay for this.

He gives it to you as a gift.

Or Romans 3.23, for all have sinned.

All you, me, your mama, your grandmama, everybody.

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and are justified by his grace as a gift through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.

God will judge the sinner.

But God can save the sinner.

Jesus has come to seek and save the lost, the wayward, the prodigal, the stumbling, those that are bound in chains in the kingdom of darkness.

He has come for you.

And he has come for me.

Judgment, another judgment is coming, God's word says.

The final judgment.

And God tells us that he will return and he will judge individuals and nations.

And your position on that day rises or falls, hangs completely on one thing.

Are you covered by the blood of the Lamb?

That's it.

Are you covered by the blood of the Lamb?

Some of the best preaching that I've ever heard was from a man named D.A.

Carson, New Testament theologian, Chicago area.

It was at a pastor's conference back in 2016.

And there, D.A.

Carson, he's reflecting on the Passover.

And he talks about, just imagine what some of the Jews there at the very first Passover would have been thinking.

All right, so let's think of two groups of two.

That you have a pair of Jews there that are walking along the road and that are talking with one another, and one of them looks at the other and says, Hey, are you going to do this whole blood thing tonight?

And he answers back and is like, Well, you know, I'm not as bad as the Egyptians.

And, you know, it's kind of messy, and I, you know, God and I just kind of have this understanding.

And so I think I think I'm going to skip out on the whole blood thing.

What about you?

And the other one says, Well, you know, I'm I'm a good person.

I try to do more right than wrong.

And like I go to synagogue as much as I can, and I just, you know, I think I can I can come through the night without doing this whole blood thing.

So that's the first pair.

Then you have another pair.

Smith and Brown, Carson calls them.

And so Smith is talking with Brown and looks at him and says, Hey, are you gonna do this whole blood thing?

He's like, Man, it has been crazy around here lately.

I mean, all of this stuff that's been happening, I just, I mean, I know Moses and Aaron told us that we're supposed to do this.

The the lamb has been here for a little while.

My kids are getting kind of attached, but like I feel like we we've got to.

What about you?

Well, the the other one says, Well, I mean, I'm just I'm not sure.

I'm not sure.

I yeah, I I did it.

I I still have a lot of questions.

I don't know why it has to be this way, but like, I mean, I got a lot writing on this, and I just, yeah, I went ahead and did it.

Have you painted the door post?

Have you painted the lintel, the crossbeam?

Have you taken care of it?

Yes, yes, I've done all of this, and I am ready.

I trust in the promises of God.

Bring it on.

And so, of these two pairs, of these four, when the destroyer passes through the land of Egypt that night, which ones lost their sons?

Well, we know for certain the two that were not covered by the blood of the Lamb, they lost their sons.

Because the Lord said, When I see the blood, I will pass over you.

But of these other two, one who was very confident and one who was kind of faltering and doubtful, of these two, which lost their son?

The answer, of course, is neither.

And this is the point that Carson makes.

It is not on the ground of anything else, not on the grounds of your good works, not on the grounds of even your good faith or the intensity or clarity or perfect acting out of your faith.

It is on no other grounds than the blood of the Lamb.

That is the only thing that will satisfy a holy and righteous and just God.

It's not your good works and it's not even your good faith.

It is only the blood of the Lamb.

And so for us, you might be here this morning, and you are doubtful, you have questions, you love the Lord, but you just are struggling with assurance.

You need to know it is not based on the intensity of your faith, but it's based your standing before God is based on the blood of the Lamb.

And if you're here this morning and you are trusting in anything else other than the blood of the Lamb, you are doomed.

But there is time to repent.

It's not, oh, well, I identify as a Christian, or oh, I've been to church this many times, or I've given this much money, or I've done this many good deeds.

No, it's not any of that.

It is only, are you covered by the blood of the Lamb?

That is the only thing that counts when we stand before the Lord.

So you might be here wondering, how can I know?

How can I be covered by the blood of the Lamb?

It's no secret.

But God's word makes it very clear.

Romans 10, 9 and 10 says this.

Because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.

I'm a sinner.

I need the Lamb.

Jesus is Lord, and I am not.

Jesus died and rose again for me to save me, to save you, to bring us to himself.

Jesus has said that he is the way and the truth and the life, and no one comes to the Father except through him.

You must be in the house, covered by the blood of the Lamb.

You must be in Christ, covered by the blood of the Lamb.

That is the only way to escape the coming judgment.

Eternal death and punishment will be administered in God's justice, and there will not be a house, there will not be a life where there is not someone dead.

The question is, will it be your own or will it be the substitute in place of your own?

Will it be your blood or will it be Jesus' blood applied to you?

Will God pass judgment on you?

Or will God pass over you when he sees the blood?

I have confessed to the Lord that I have broken it.

I've shattered it, I've smashed it and destroyed it.

Not just the lamp as a kid, but my life and his glory.

I've dishonored him and the glory that he is due.

Shattered pieces, broken everywhere.

But I learned a different lesson through the gospel.

You break it, he buys it.

You don't have to pay for it.

You don't have to earn it.

There's no amount of good that you could do.

But he willingly paid the price.

And I don't just get to walk out of the store free.

I don't just get to walk out of this life free.

I get brought into a story and into a family that God has made, and I have a future because of what Jesus has done for me.

You might be here this morning thinking that you have no future.

God has made a way for you to have a beautiful, glorious future.

I'm going to read you about my future.

And this can be yours as well.

Revelation chapter 5 says this.

Revelation 5 · chapter mention

This coming, this is coming.

And between the throne, that's the throne of God, and the four living creatures, and among the elders, I saw a lamb.

I saw a lamb standing as though it had been slain.

Verse 9, and they sang a new song, saying, Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain.

And by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priest of our God, and they shall reign on the earth.

And then I looked around, and I heard around the throne the living creatures and the elders and the voice of many angels, numbering myriads and myriads and thousands of thousands, saying, This worthy is the Lamb, the Lamb who was slain to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.

The question isn't, are you good enough to get into heaven?

The question is, are you covered by the blood of the Lamb?

That's the only way you get there.

Not by you not breaking anything.

Not because you never wavered in this life, but because the Lamb never wavered.

Are you covered by the blood of the Lamb?

Let us pray.

Gracious Heavenly Father, we thank you that in your justice and in your mercy, you have made a way for sinners to be saved.

Sinners like me.

Sinners like everyone here this morning.

And I pray that if any does not know you today, that they would be covered by the blood of the Lamb, that they would come into the house, that they would come into Christ.

Leaving behind sinful ways of living, leaving behind living life on their own terms apart from you.

And would they find great joy and peace in believing and being covered by the blood of the Lamb.

For there is no other way, for there is no other name under heaven by which we can be saved.

We thank you, Jesus, and it's in your name we pray.

Amen.

Thanks for listening to the Spring Valley Baptist Church podcast.

Spring Valley Baptist Church is a growing, multi-generational, multicultural church located at 91 Polo Road in Northeast Columbia, South Carolina.

And led by Pastor Blake Jenkins.

We'd love for you to join us each Sunday morning for our worship service at 9.30 a.m.

and our life groups at 11 a.m.

If you want to learn more about our church, visit springvalleybaptist.com.

If you want to know more about what it means to be a disciple of Jesus, email us at communications at springvalleybaptist.com.

Thanks for listening.