Communion — Ian Paisley

The Passover Lamb and the Blood of Protection

And if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls. Every man according to his eating shall take your count for the lamb.

The Lamb Without Blemish and the Passover Sacrifice

Your lamb shall be without blemish. A meal of the first year, ye shall take it out from the sheep or from the goats, and ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month. And the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening.

Applying the Blood and Eating the Passover

And they shall take of the blood and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses wherein they shall eat it. And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleaven bread, and with bitter herbs they shall eat it.

Eat not of it raw, nor sodden at all with water, but roast with fire, his head with his legs, and with the pertinence thereof. And ye shall let nothing of it remain until the morning, and that which remaineth of it until the morning ye shall burn with fire.

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. And I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn of the land of Egypt, both man and beast.

And against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment. I am the Lord. 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, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you when I smite the land of Egypt.

Remembering the Passover Through Unleavened Bread

And this day shall be unto you for a memorial, and ye shall keep it a feast to the Lord throughout your generations. Ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance forever. Seven days shall ye eat unleavened bread.

Even the first day ye shall put away leaven out of your houses. For whosoever eateth unleavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel. And in the first day there shall be a holy convocation, and in the seventh day there shall be a holy convocation to you.

No manner of works shall be done of them, save that which is every man must eat, that only may be done of them. And ye shall observe the feast of unleavened bread, and in this selfsame day have I brought your armies out of the land of Egypt.

Therefore shall ye observe this day in your generations by an ordinance forever. In the first month of the fourteenth day of the month at even, ye shall eat unleavened bread until the one and twentieth day of the month at even.

Seven days shall there be no leaven found in your houses. For whosoever eateth that which is leavened, even that soul shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he be a stranger or born in the land.

The Preserved Blood of the Lamb

Ye shall eat nothing leavened. In all your habitations shall ye eat unleavened bread. There's a great portion I was thinking of today before I came to the service. Of course, the center of this portion is the blood of the Lamb.

This is a portion about the power, the presence, and the blessing of the blood of the Lamb. And I was thinking about that, and if you read carefully, you'll find that the blood of the Lamb was, first of all, preserved blood.

It was put into a basin, and the basin was taken to the doorpost. The doorpost was to be baptized in that blood, and so the man took the plant of the hyssop, and he dipped the hyssop until it was steeped in the blood, and the blood was taken from the basin, and it was put upon the doorpost and middle of the house.

None of it dropped to the ground. It was all caught in the basin. It was preserved blood. And thank God, when Jesus died in Calvary, His blood was preserved. It didn't run into the ground and perish. It's the imperishable blood.

Peter said in his book, you're not redeemed with corruptible things, such as silver and gold. The blood of Christ can never corrupt. It's as powerful today as when He shed it on the cross. It's as mighty today as the day He saved your soul and washed it whiter than the snow in that blood.

The Power of the Blood Against the Devil

So never let us forget that this blood is preserved blood. Notice something more. This blood was not only preserved, but this blood was most powerful blood. It turned the house of the place where the children of Israel lived.

It turned it into the strongest castle, the strongest armored place in the whole of Israel. It was so strong when the blood was on it that the devil couldn't get into it. The devil cannot penetrate the blood.

The blood spells defeat and ruin to the devil. So this precious blood, the blood of Christ, is the blood that preserves us. It's preserved itself, but it preserves us. The devil can't get in on us. Keep me under the blood, dear Lord.

Deliverance From Sin Through the Blood

Calvary's crimson blood, not my own, but Thine alone keep me under the blood. But notice something else. This blood was so powerful that it broke up all the families of the Egyptians. There wasn't one house that there wasn't death in.

From the king, pharaoh, to the loneliest person in the land, there was a popper. Their house was broken into. And the firstborn died. Oh, there is power in the blood of the Lamb. Do you remember those old sins that used to worry you?

Do you remember those old bad habits that you lived with before you were born again? And you hated them. But one day Jesus came. And He broke the power. And my, they don't infuse you today. I remember talking to Willie Mullin one night after a meeting.

And he says, there's one thing, Ian. We'll not be stopping at the pub on the way home. We'll get past the pub. There was a time I couldn't pass it. But thank God I can pass it today. Thank God there's power in the blood.

Communion and the Sufficiency of Christ's Blood

Oh, as we take this bread today and drink this wine today, let's remember the blood of the Lamb. When I see the blood, it doesn't say when I see your church membership or your baptismal lines or I see your denominational grouping.

It's not interested in that. When I see the blood, I will pass over you. The blood is all you need. It's all you require. Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Let's worship the Lamb who shed it today with all our hearts and all our souls and all our minds.