1172. Three Preliminary Steps

Three Preliminary Steps

"Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for a house" (Exo_12:3).

1. Thou shalt take "EVERYONE OF YOU" a lamb. Salvation is an individual and not a general matter. We read the other day where one of our denominational leaders said something about the conception of the Gospel held by Carey and Judson as an individual conception. They went to India with the thought of presenting Christ to each individual man. They followed the one by one method. But, said the leader, "our conception is a far larger one." He believed in what he called the collective conception of the Gospel–the saving of communities.

We stand with Judson and Carey. It may be the old-time method, but it is certainly the Scriptural one. Salvation is an individual matter. There is no such thing as whole countries becoming permeated with the ethical conception of the Gospel, and thereby being saved.

2. Thou shalt TAKE everyone of you a lamb. Salvation is prepared for every man by the death of Jesus Christ upon the Cross, but the individual must receive, believe, take. No one is saved merely because Christ died. "Whosoever will, let him take the Water of Life freely."

3. Thou shalt take everyone of you a LAMB. Of course, we know that the lamb was typical of the Lord Jesus Christ.

When John stood by the river Jordan and saw Jesus approaching him, he cried: "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." This tells us in unmistakable words that the lamb was Christ.

The Book of Revelation uses the word "Lamb" almost exclusively in referring to our Lord Jesus Christ. It is the Lamb Who takes the Book! it is the Lamb that was slain; it was the Lamb Who received blessing and honor and glory; it was the Lamb Who broke the seals; it was the wrath of the Lamb. It was by the Blood of the Lamb that the saints overcame; it was the Book of Life of the Lamb; it was the song of God and the Lamb. The antichrist made war with the Lamb; the Lamb was married; and it was the marriage supper of the Lamb. The Bride was the Lamb's wife; the twelve Apostles were the Apostles of the Lamb. The Cord God Almighty and the Lamb were the temple of the city and the light thereof. It was the throne of God and the Lamb.

Now we can appreciate the expression spoken fifteen hundred years before Christ was born: "Thou shalt take everyone of you a lamb."

In passing it is worthy of note that the lamb was never too little for the house, but there were cases where the household proved too little for the lamb. In such cases one house and his neighbor next unto his house, could take the lamb according to the number of souls.

Autor: R.E. NEIGHBOUR