Essex Congregational Remembrancer 1 Corinthians 5:7-8 Purge out therefore the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, as you are unleavened… We shall — I. TRACE THE ALLUSION. Note — 1. The victim. (1) It was a lamb — the most gentle of creatures of the type. (2) "A male of the first year" — that is, in its highest state of physical perfection. And Jesus was led to the altar in the flower of His age. (3) "Without blemish" (Hebrews 9:13, 14). (4) The paschal lamb was previously selected and set apart four days before it was slain. The service required forethought and preparation, which suggests that the Lamb of God "verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world," and actually entered Jerusalem four days before He suffered. (3) The point of dissimilarity is that the lamb was unconscious of its approaching fate. But Jests saw the end from the beginning. Yet He pressed forward with unbending resolution until He could say, "It is finished." 2. The appropriation of the blood. (1) The means of protection to Israel was the blood. Without this they had been equally exposed with the Egyptians. And what is it that affords security to the sinner against the more fearful judgments of the Almighty but the blood of the heavenly Lamb which was shed upon the Cross? (2) But the blood of the paschal victim afforded no protection till it was sprinkled with a bunch of hyssop. And here we are reminded of the necessity of a believing application of the gospel remedy. (3) The blood sprinkled answered the end of its application because of the Divine ordination. If the sacrifice of the Cross were merely the device of man, it would possess no virtue, but because it is of Divine origin and appointment it will ever prove "the wisdom of God and the power of God."(4) The blood of the victim was not to be cast upon the threshold, to be trodden under feet as a thing of nought. And beware how you treat the gospel remedy (Hebrews 10:28, 29). 3. The ceremony of eating it. (1) The flesh of the lamb was designed for food. And what says Christ? (John 6:53-57.)(2) The whole lamb was to be eaten. And Christ must be received in all the extent of His official character and relations. (3) It was to be eaten with bitter herbs and unleavened bread. The benefits of Christ's redemption can only be enjoyed in connection with the exercise of that "godly sorrow which worketh repentance." And "the old leaven of malice and wickedness" must be purged out, that we may "keep the" gospel "feast with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth."(4) It ,was also to be eaten in haste and in a departing posture. Christians, this is not your rest. Ye are strangers and pilgrims on the earth. Stand, therefore, having your loins girded about with truth, &c. II. EXAMINE THE FACT. Christ our passover is sacrificed for us — is slain not merely for our good — that we might have the benefit of His example and the confidence arising from His testimony — but in our room and place. 1. This principle characterised the paschal sacrifice. The lamb was virtually and in effect, if not strictly, a substitutionary victim. There was life for life. Herein is typified the death of Christ, by which a way has been opened for our escape from the doom to which we are exposed and our enjoyment of everlasting life. Hence the death of Christ is uniformly represented as the meritorious cause of our redemption. All the blessings of the gospel are ascribed to this as the means of their procurement — the reason of their bestowment — and the consecrated medium through which they flow. Pardon (Ephesians 1:7). Justification (Romans 5:9). Purity (Hebrews 9:13, 14). Access to God (Hebrews 9:19). Victory over Satan (Revelation 12:10, 11). Peace and joy (Romans 5:1, 2, 11). Final introduction into the presence of God in heaven (Revelation 7:14, 15). 2. The fact, then, is one of no common character or trifling consequence. For if Christ was not "sacrificed for us," I am left without a refuge, with no ground of confidence or of hope when anticipating the transactions of the last great day. But I cannot thus surrender my hope. (Essex Congregational Remembrancer.) Parallel Verses KJV: 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: |
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