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Paul Mahan

Supper With The Saviour

John 12:1-3
Paul Mahan January, 25 2023 Audio
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John

In Paul Mahan's sermon titled "Supper With The Saviour," he explores the significance of the meal shared between Jesus and Lazarus, Martha, and Mary as recorded in John 12:1-3. The sermon emphasizes the doctrinal importance of Christ's presence and communion with His people, illustrated by the details of Lazarus' resurrection and the significance of Bethany, meaning "house of dates" and "house of misery." Mahan argues that every detail in Scripture serves a purpose, particularly highlighting how the six days leading up to the Passover symbolize completion and rest in Christ, our true Sabbath. The practical takeaway reflects the Reformed belief in God’s sovereignty as well as the joy of communal worship and service, which are central to the life of a believer who has been spiritually raised from death. Mahan articulates that true worship occurs when God's people gather with hearts inclined to glorify Him, participating actively in His redemptive work.

Key Quotes

“Lazarus, which had been dead, whom he raised from the dead. This man was dead.”

“He came to raise Lazarus from the dead... He could have raised everybody in that graveyard, but he raised Lazarus.”

“Every time He attended a funeral, the person got up... You can’t stay dead in the presence of life.”

“Three sinners saved by grace. Martha served... It was an honor for her to serve the Lord.”

Sermon Transcript

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That's a good hymn, isn't it?
You like that? Scripture was my prayer, my heart's
desire. Give us homes built upon the
Savior, the solid rock, Christ. Christ is head, counselor, guide. A home where they all put their
hope and trust in Him. A home where Christ is Lord and
Master. God's Word is read. The hymns
are sung. Prayer. comes first and prays
his natural speech. Lord, our homes are thine forever. And let's look at a true Christian
home tonight. Lazarus, Martha, and Mary, chapter
12 of John's Gospel. Entitled is Supper with the Savior. You think about that. Try to
imagine. Try to imagine what that was like for Lazarus and
Mary and Martha. That wasn't the first time. But
they had Him in their home. Every word is significant. Every
word is a blessing. I was so blessed by this. I hope
it comes out half the way it went in. Verse 1 begins, Then
Jesus, six days before the Passover, came to Bethany. Gives time. There's nothing in Scripture
just for information. Nothing. Every word is significant.
All the who's, what's, when's, where and why and all that. Gives
glory to Him and it's all connected. Six days before He suffered Christ,
our Passover. Six days. And after our Lord
suffered six days, He passed away on the cross. And in doing that, He obtained for us rest. The Lord created the world in
six days. After six days, He rested. He rested. Six days before
the Passover. That's another picture of our
Lord. The Creator who rested is now
the Redeemer who is going to rest in His love. This man, they
said, of Boaz will not rest until he finishes his work. Our Lord
rested very little, but He rested after the cross. And in six days,
within the space of six days, there's seven chapters or more
devoted to six days in the life of our Lord. What could you write? I've got a little journal that
I - it's not a journal, it's just a day-by-day - what do you
call it? Every day where you just write
things down so you won't forget them. What do you call that?
It's not a diary. No, I don't write in my diary.
It's not a journal. It's not telling all about me
and my feelings. It's just where I write, I've
got a doctor's appointment. So I won't forget. Anyway, six days. You look, there's not
much written there. Most of our days are pretty empty. Look at the last verse of John's
Gospel. The last verse of John's Gospel.
In seven chapters, six days, some of the words and the works
and the deeds of our Lord were written down, just some of them.
Every line, every verse is something he did or said. And the very
last verse of John's Gospel said, these are many other things which
he did, which if they should be written, I suppose even the
world itself could not contain the book that should be written.
Amen? Six days, seven chapters. In fact, John's gospel begins,
you know, when he was an adult. So what about when he was a young
man? What all he did then? A child.
Six days. He came to Bethany. came to Bethany. This is where, that's when, this
is where he came, Bethany. And he, to get to Bethany, you
ever look at your maps in the Bible to see where these places
are? It's a blessing if you think about it. I looked at it. The
Lord left Bethany the first time and went to a little town In
chapter 11, look at verse 54. It says, he left Bethany and
went into a country near the, to the wilderness. He went into
the wilderness, a city called Ephraim. And that's where he
contended with his disciples. John 11, 54. So he, he left Bethany and went
into the wilderness and to a town called Ephraim and dwelled there
with his disciples that were in the wilderness. The church
is called a church. in the wilderness, like Israel
of old who wandered through the wilderness. Country, out in the
country, outside the camp. That's where he was with his
disciples. All right, then he left there and went back to Bethany. Okay? It was about 15 miles over
difficult terrain, mountains, and walking, and there weren't
good roads back then. But he had to pass Bethel. Anybody know anything about Bethel?
Huh? Oh, that's where Abraham and
Jacob were and worshipped. And then he went by Ramah. Where's Ramah? That's where Hannah
and Samuel lived. And he went by Gibeah. The Gibeah
nights and all that happened there. He passed by Jerusalem. He had to pass by Jerusalem to
get to Bethany. Everything he did, everything
was for the purpose of and aimed in the direction of his people. He passed by many. So he left Ephraim and came back to Bethany. The Lord comes back where his
people are gathered. He will come back. To whom coming? We come and he comes to us, doesn't
he? Came to Bethany. Bethany means a couple of things.
The writers are all kind of agreed that it means a couple of things.
A house of dates. Figs. That's interesting. Figs. A house of figs. This house
that he went in was full of fruit. Unlike that fig tree the Lord
cursed because there's no, it's barren and no fruit. He found
fruit in this house. It was full of fruit. Love, joy,
gentleness, goodness, long-suffering, faith, meekness, temperance.
Not in Jerusalem. He didn't find it there. But
he did in Bethany. House of dates. It also means
house of misery. House of affliction. Though this
house was blessed by the Lord, it was not immune from misery
and from affliction. Misery, as we saw last week,
is mercy. For the Lord to make us miserable
here is great mercy. For the Lord to afflict us, trials
and afflictions are blessings from the Lord. They're for His
glory. Remember chapter 11, verse 4,
it said this is not unto death, this is for the glory of God
and the glory of the Son of God. This is for His glory. And it
was. It redounded unto His glory,
didn't it? The Lord came to these mourning
sisters and they came to Him. They didn't go to the grave to
mourn. They came to Christ for comfort.
What a testimony that was before everybody. They all said they're
going to mourn. No they're not. They're going to Christ. That
grave won't do them any good, but Christ did. They came to
Him for comfort and He spoke peace to their hearts. Gave them
peace and comfort. So this is for His glories, trials
and afflictions. It's for us to call on Him. It's
a shame that we just don't call on Him much until we get in trouble,
sorrow and affliction. Isn't that right? So afflictions
are a blessing. We'll call on Him. You know what?
He'll answer it. If we give Him our two-bit prayers,
He's not going to answer us, is He? We call on Him. It's a trial of our faith that's
found unto praise, honor, and glory. To the praise of the glory
of His grace. Trials and afflictions. You know
that Lazarus, after he's raised from the grave, look at verse
10. The chief priest consulted how
they were going to put Lazarus to death. What did Lazarus do? What did Lazarus do? That they
wanted to kill him too. Well, it's just a fulfillment
of what our Lord said in it. They're going to hate you for
my sake. You know good and well that Lazarus, what was his conversation
from here on? After the Lord raised him from
the dead. What's he talking about? Who's he talking about? Who's
he giving all the glory to? Christ. And people that didn't
love Christ didn't want to love what he had to say. So they said,
we'll kill you too. In 1 Thessalonians, well, let
me read you from Revelation 7. This is wonderful. All those
people in glory, this is what it says about them, about tribulation. In Revelation 7, it says they're
all singing blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and
honor and power and might be unto our God forever and ever.
Lazarus sure knew that. He's singing that right now.
He's one of them. One of the elders answered and said unto
me, Who are they? What are these that are arrayed
in white robes? Where did they come from? I said,
Lord, thou knowest, sir. He said to me, These are they
which came out of great tribulation and washed their robes and made
them white in the blood of the Lamb. First Thessalonians, Paul
said, I know your election. Our Gospel came unto you, not
in word only, not in doctrine, but in power. Life-giving power. Raise you
from the dead. That's power. And the Holy Ghost
in much assurance. Of what? The truth of Christ.
He said, then you receive the Word with much affliction. That's how I know, He said, that
you're one of His. And Lazarus is one of His. So
he suffered affliction, didn't he? And the Lord raised him,
quickened him. His troubles weren't over. They
just began. His troubles would have been
over if the Lord had left him. He hadn't raised him yet. But
this is a picture of when we're born again, when we're raised
from the dead, our troubles aren't over. They are with God. But
our troubles have just begun in this world. And then we become
strangers. Bethany. Where is it? Bethany.
Well, it's where Lazarus was. That's what it keeps saying.
It's where Lazarus was. Where did he come? Bethany. The
Lord comes to sup. and sit where His people are. That's where you're going to
find the Lord Jesus Christ. You're going to find Him where
His people are. He entered this town and went
straight to this house of His loved ones, His elect, that were
precious to Him. He found them where He put them.
A particular place, a blessed house, where the Lord often visited. And it's the same today. This
is a blessed little house right here. We've got several, Marthas
and Marys and Lazarus. Every one of us is Lazarus. If
we're going to quicken. Deuteronomy, go over there. Deuteronomy
chapter 12. Those of you who are listening
over the internet, turn there. You need to see this because
at least a dozen times or more, the Lord says this. an exhortation, a command. Deuteronomy
12, do you have it? See, the Lord put these people
in a particular place. It's a place where He was. It's
a place He was found. It's a place He came to. It's
a place where He was worshipped. It's a place where His people
were. All right, look at Deuteronomy 12, verse 5. Under the place
which the Lord your God shall choose out of all your tribes
to put his name there, even under his habitation shall ye seek,
and thither shalt thou come. And thither you shall bring your
burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, your heave offerings
of your hand, and vows, your freewill offering, firstlings
of your herd and of your flocks. And there you shall eat before
the Lord your God, and rejoice in all that you put your hand
unto, wherein the Lord thy God, with your household, wherein
the Lord thy God hath blessed thee. God's house. God's house. And it says that,
I could show you so many places. Look at verse 11. There shall
be a place which the Lord your God shall choose to cause His
name there, to dwell there. God is not in every place, though
God is omnipresent. God's not in these houses of
ill repute. He's where His people are. Read on. It says, "...the place
He has caused His name to dwell there, His honor, His glory.
Thither shall you bring all that I command you." Verse 12, "...and
you shall rejoice before the Lord your God, you, your sons,
your daughters, your servants." My father-in-law witnessed everybody
that worked for him. And nearly every one of them
came to hear the gospel at least once, didn't they? Amazing. It says in verse 14, In the place
the Lord shall choose, and one of thy tribe there shalt thou
do all that I command thee. Thank God for this place. This
little place where He promised to bless. He came to their house,
but it's really not their house. Is it? Does anything belong to
us? What do we have we haven't received? That wasn't Martha
and Mary and Lazarus' house. That belonged to the Lord. They
were renters. Free rent. It was on loan from
the Lord, like Simon's ship. Remember when the Lord came to
Simon's ship? He said, cast off, we're going
out here to fish. He'd gotten the ship, John. That's
Simon's ship. That's the Lord's ship, that's
the Lord's lake, that's the Lord's disciple. This is the Lord's
home, this is the Lord's people, that's His food, that's His table,
all things. He said the earth is the Lord's
and the fullness thereof. The world and they that dwell
therein. Everything belongs to the Lord. That's why He gets
all the praise and honor and glory. We're just renters. We
don't do anything for the Lord. We bring back what He's done
for us. Right? No, the Lord commends it. Jacob's
well. Jacob's well? Was it Jacob's
well? The Lord gave Jacob that well.
The Lord Jesus Christ. And one day he came and sat on
his well. And there was a woman that came, and for years the
Lord gave her water out of that well. That was his wife. And one day he sat on that well,
and she came for water in the well, and she found the water
on the well. That's his bride, that's his wife, that's who he's
come for. That's his well, that's his water, that's his wife. So this is the Lord's house,
the Lord's people, the Lord's table, the Lord's food. Who'd he come for? Verse 1, Lazarus,
which had been dead, whom he raised from the dead. This man
was dead. Makes a whole chapter about a
man who was dead. There's no doubt about it, the
fact that this man was dead. His sisters even admitted it.
He's stinking dead. He's been dead a long time. He's
stinking dead. What's that mean? It means you're
dead. What can a dead person do? Nothing.
What's it going to take? The Lord. And you. Hath he quickened? He quickened.
Who were what? Say it loud. Lazarus told everybody
he ran into, I was dead. Did you accept him, Lazarus?
No. I was dead. How can I put it any plainer? Stinking dead. I'm living now
because of Jesus Christ. raised, quickened me by His power,
by His Word, by His grace. Who's there? A man that was dead
and he's now alive. That's where he went. That's
who he went for. Our Lord doesn't dwell with the
dead. He dwells with the living. He's
a living Lord. Every time He attended a funeral,
the person got up You know that every funeral, you can't stay
dead in the presence of life. Give your life to God. You ask Lazarus, is Jesus a part
of your life? A part of my life. I wouldn't
have life if it wasn't for Him. In Him I live and move and have
my being. You must be dead. That's what
he would say. You must be dead if you don't know that. Lazarus was dead. That's where
he came, a man who was dead, a man whom he raised. According
to his purpose, according to his power, a dead man. According
to his voice, according to his grace, according to his electing
love, he raised this man from the dead. He could have raised
everybody in that graveyard, but he raised Lazarus. A man
with a name, a particular man, Lazarus. The Lord loved him. The Lord loved him, so he came
for him. Now the Lord actually raised
Lazarus three times. He raised him from being dead
and trespassed in sin, and then he died and He raised him that
time. There's going to be another time He's going to raise him
again. He's raising us twice. When we're
born again, quicken from the dead, and then when we die, He's
going to raise us a second time. But the Lord came to raise Lazarus
from the dead, and now he sups with him. He raised him from
the dead, and now he's eating supper with him. Surely this
is telling us about baptism and the Lord's table. Are you with
me? Are you listening? See, this
table is for those who have been raised from the dead, those who
have been crucified, buried, and risen with Christ. That's
baptism in it. And then you take and you sup
with them. Communion. The communion. In His honor. For His glory who
raised you from the dead. Baptism at the Lord's table.
Oh my. How blessed this house was. They
made Him a supper. Verse 2. They made Him a supper. They. His loved ones. His family. His friends. They.
That's who He came to. Them. They. Who are they? Who are they? Those that the
Lord loves. That's who they are. Them. Our Lord said of others I have
which are not of this fold, them also I must bring. They. They made him a supper. The ones he loves and the ones
who love him. What about our Lord's blood kin? You know, the only mention of
our Lord's blood kin, he had brothers and sisters and a mother,
is in rebuke and unbelief. You know that? Mary, except Mary,
at the foot of the cross. Every other time he rebuked her. Woman? at the feet of the marriage. And when he's preaching one time,
who is my mother? Didn't he say that? Who is my
mother? Where were his brothers and sisters, John? Said they didn't believe on him.
Remember? Said go to Jerusalem, make yourself known. You make
us famous too. No mention of his blood kin.
They weren't here. Who was? His blood kin. His real family. Are you with
me? This is his real family. Where's your family? You three,
you three, Scallywags, sinners, sisters, sisters, sinners, saved
by grace. You know how blessed you are?
Three of you. I know you know that. How blessed. Lazarus, Martha, Mary. Where,
where, where are our family? Where, all of you, where are
your, your blood kin? Where are they? They're right
here in this room. That's what it is. This is who
you're going to dwell with forever. You know that? Who is your mother,
your brethren, your sister? Right here. Right here. Well, this family, this house,
they made Him a supper. What were they doing? This was
all for Him. This house was about Him. This
house was devoted to Him. This family, this house, this
table was all about Him and to Him who loved us and is going
to wash them from their sins in His own blood. They were singing
hymns. They were worshiping Him. They
were feeding Him and feeding off of Him. Isn't that what this
house does? That's how you know the house.
I preached a message one time from Exodus 12. What's going
on in the house? The Lord said, don't leave the
house. This is where God's people were. He said, don't leave the
house. What were they doing in that
house? Eating lamb. Worshipping, singing unto Him. Unto Him. This is the place where
Christ came. They heard His voice, His sweet
voice. They sat at His feet and they
supped with Him. Revelation 19 says, Blessed are
they which are called to the merry supper of the Lamb. How blessed. Wouldn't you like
to have been a part of this little gathering, these three? We are.
We have been, we are, we shall be. A sufferer. What did they
fix? They made him a sufferer. What
did they fix? I have a friend in New Jersey who said, what
do you mean fix? Fix is when you fix broken things.
He said, you southerners talk about fixing things. And you
made a table with all the fixings. It didn't make sense to him.
But they fixed him. Suffered with all the fixings. What did they fix? What did they
make him? Did they bring him some savory
meat such as he loved? I wonder what meat our Lord did
love. Didn't he tell us to eat that
lamb roast with fire and bitter herb? Do you reckon that's what
they ate? Passover's soon. That's the savory
meat that God loves. Lamb. How about you? You know,
it's not an acquired taste. You either love it or you don't.
I love it. And this gospel's not an acquired
taste. It's given. You're born again with it. And
you love it. Lamb. Did they fix him unleavened
bread? Butter and honey? Butter and
honey shall he eat. Did they bring him bread and
wine? Did they? Wine on the leaves,
well refined. You reckon? They served him bread
and wine. Brothers and sisters, they made
a special supper for Him. In a little while, He's going
to make a supper for them. His own body. His own blood. Body broken for them. His blood
shed for their remission of their sin. He said He's going to tell
them, eat that you may live. lamb, unleavened bread, wine,
well refined. So they made a special supper. Supper is the last meal of the
day, isn't it? It's supposed to be. It ought
to be the last. Right? But it's the last meal
of the day and then you fast. You don't eat anymore until breakfast. But it's the last meal of the
day. Is this our last meal? It might
be. Right? Everyone has a last time
that they hear the Gospel. Yes, you do. All of God's people
have a last message to hear. God, this is why Paul said, Woe
is unto me if I preach not the gospel. Our Lord said, Blessed
is the man who when I come, find him feeding my people, my sheep. What do we feed? What do you
feed on? What do you need to feed? What
food do you like? Lamb. The Lord Jesus Christ. It's the
last supper of the day. And you know, before supper,
before a meal, you give thanks, don't you? Usually the man of
the house gives thanks, doesn't he? Or if it's a notable person
with authority, he decides who gives thanks. If Lazarus was
the man of the house, he'd probably lead in prayer all the rest of
the time. But the Lord was here. But maybe the Lord told Lazarus
to pray. Wouldn't you like to hear that
prayer? Huh? What did he pray? Are you with
me? Oh God, my Father, thank you
for sending Jesus Christ to raise me from the dead. Oh, Lord God,
thank you for coming to this place and revealing your Son
to us and in us. Thank you, Lord God in heaven,
for the Gospel, for Christ. Thank you for this house. Thank
you for my sisters. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Bless this house. Bless this gathering. Bless this
food. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
That's what all God's people pray all the time, isn't it?
Everyone who's been raised from the dead, that's what they pray.
Their chief cause for rejoicing in prayer is thank you for Jesus
Christ. Thank you for salvation. Thank
you. It's back to who was there. It
says in verse 2, Lazarus and Martha and Mary, verse 3. Just go ahead and tell you, I'm
going to devote a whole message Sunday to the ointment. So I'm
not going to deal much with that tonight. So just pay attention. There's so much to be seen here.
And especially in the ointment. But who was there? Lazarus, Martha,
and Mary. And the Lord came there often
to that half. And there were only three. Only
three. Isn't that what he said? Isn't
that what he said? He promised, where two or three
are gathered in my name, I'm right in the middle of them. Psalm 46, you love it. God's
in the midst of her. The church. Three. Only three. What mercy, what infinite grace
and love and mercy to three souls. Don't you know those three were
glad to be one of three? Especially Lazarus. Let us never be disappointed
in a few, in a few. Who had despised a day of small
things? Well, you despise this small
gathering? Three people? Oh, they were so
happy to be in this number. Ask Noah. Noah, how many do you
have in that ark? Seven and me. Hallelujah. And here's the wonderful thing
about it. All my house. And the greatest thing is, I'm
there. Only eight? Yeah, isn't it wonderful? Isn't it wonderful? Isn't it
wonderful that we're part of this little flock? There was a time, I love thinking
about this, there was a time 6,000 years ago in heaven, there
was one sinner, Abel. One man had died and raised to
glory. Abel. He's not by himself. The angels and Gabriel and Michael
and all the angels are with him. He's sitting with the Lord. He's
walking with the Lord. He's talking with the Lord. And
that one man is singing from the top of his lungs and the
bottom of his heart. Oh, how merciful. One man. And now, and then, there are
going to be people which no man can number. Like a sea, going
to look like a sea of glass. But I'm just glad to be one of
them. Aren't you? So glad. Three sinners and the Lord. Three
sinners and the Lord. How many does it take for the
Lord to come? Two. I told you before, maybe somebody
hadn't heard this. There was a man in West Virginia
who had a little country church of just a few people. And he
was kind of embarrassed about it. And the dad was a televangelist. He thought, the man thought he
was one of these televangelists. He didn't know him very well.
And he called him and asked him if he'd come preach in this little
country church. He thought, surely this big televangelist
won't come up here. And he asked Dad, he said, how
many, how many does it take for you to come preach here? Dad said, two. Me to preach and
you to hear it. And he went. Boy, we've been
a part of some little gatherings at Dingus and no place better on earth. No
place. I've been in some homes with
a few people. Wonderful. Three people. Three sinners saved
by grace. Martha served, verse 2. They
made him a supper and Martha served. Martha was always serving,
wasn't she? This is after the first time
that she served. Martha's always served. Blessed
Martha. I thank the Lord for Martha.
Don't you? Yes, I do. You know how the Lord loves those
that serve Him and His people? You know what the Lord says about
those who serve Him and His people? They're the greatest in the Kingdom
of God. Martha served. She served. Oh, my greatest. And this time
she's not complaining. After what the Lord did for Lazarus
and her, you're not going to hear one word of complaint out
of Martha somehow. It's the greatest privilege and
honor and undeserved favor for her to serve the Lord for the
great things He had done for her. She now realizes She owes everything to Him. She's
not complaining. The Lord lovingly and gently
rebuked her, but she is lovingly, willingly, humbly, meekly serving
the Lord and her brother and sister with great gratitude. What an honor. You know, I say
there were three people. We don't know. There may have
been... The disciples were with the Lord everywhere, weren't
they? Twelve of them. Twelve men. Went everywhere with
Him. Walked with Him, talked with
Him, ate with Him, unless they were out preaching. Did twelve
men show up at their house? What would you do if twelve men
showed up? I know what Irene would do. She'd
put on some fixings. It's nothing to her. But you
reckon Martha minded 12 disciples showing up at her house? Oh,
no. She loved them just like she did Lazarus. She did. She considered it an honor for
those men to be in her house just like the Lord did. And the
Lord said, as much as you've done it unto the least of one
of these my brethren, you've done it unto me. Well done, Martha. Well done. One time Simon, the Lord came
to Simon's house, and it was full of his disciples. And his
mother-in-law got sick, deathly sick. Couldn't think the Lord
was in the house, but he raised her from the sick. And what'd
she do? What'd his mother-in-law do when
the Lord raised her? Got up and started serving the
Lord. And nobody's going to serve Him until He quickens them. And they'll do it willingly,
they'll do it lovingly, and they'll do it to His honor and His glory.
Service is a good thing. Who was there? Lazarus was at
that table. People, in the first story of
Lazarus, I don't have time, I'm running out of time. The first
story of Lazarus, there's no mention of, I mean the first
story of Mary and Martha, there's no mention of Lazarus. You know
that? And the Lord came to Mary and
Martha's house. Martha's house. Martha was serving.
Mary was sitting at His feet. There's no mention of Lazarus.
He's not there. He's not there. Where is He? I know where He
was. See, he was dead before he died.
He was out in the world. He was captive to the world.
He was dead and trespassing sin. He was walking according to the
course of the world. He was sitting with the scorners.
He was standing in the way of sinners. Sitting with the scorners.
That's where Lazarus was. But God. How do you know he belongs to
the Lord? He's sitting right now at the table. He was dead,
now he's sitting at the table. Ain't that a miracle? People came from all over to
see, what a miracle. There's Lazarus, he was dead,
now he's sitting at the table with the Lord. You're looking
at a miracle. Some of my old friends that see
me, they think, I can't believe it. One of my dad's old girlfriends,
Peggy, saw him at his 50th reunion and said, I can't believe you're
a preacher. She was disappointed. Disappointed. Probably wasn't the only one,
Mom. He was a handsome man. But Lazarus
was there, he's at that table, he was dead and now he, how do
you know he's alive? He's sitting at the table eating. The Lord raised a woman in Luke
chapter 8. He raised a woman and proved
that she was alive, he said, give her something to eat. Oh,
blessed are they that hunger and thirst. Blessed are those
that eat Christ's body and drink his blood. You know what? They're
alive. They're alive, they're living. He that hath the Son
hath life. He that hath the hunger and a
thirst and a need and loves to hear the gospel, that person
is alive. That's how you know. When our Lord raised Himself
from the grave, He came to His disciples and they couldn't believe
it was Him. He showed them His hands, He
showed them His feet, and He said, Do you have anything to
eat? And they gave Him a broiled fish and a honeycomb. And He
ate it. And they said, He's alive. How do you know someone's been
raised from sin and quickened? They eat the Gospel. They're hungry and thirsty. They
live on Christ. Mary. Blessed Mary. Verse 3. Then Mary. Then took
Mary, a pound of ointment, a spike, very costly, astronomically costly,
whatever, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with
her hair. Mary, blessed, beloved Mary,
there she sits at the table once again. That's where you always
find Mary. That's where she is right now.
Mary is right now sitting with another Mary, Mary Magdalene.
Several Marys. Mary Turner, another Mary. Mary Magdalene, she's sitting
with Mary Magdalene, she's sitting with Mephibosheth. She's sitting
with Rahab and Tamar. She's sitting with the thief,
Jacob. See, this man receiveth sinners. And what? Edith bit them. Edith bit them. That's where
Mary loved to sit. That's where she wanted to be.
And she was often at his feet when, after the Lord rose from
the grave, And he appeared to Mary, Mary
Magdalene and Miss Mary, and Mary his mother. Lots of Mary's. More Mary's than that. But he
appeared to them, and it says, when they knew it was him, they
fell at his feet and grabbed ahold of his feet. Why is that? Because blessed, how beautiful
are the feet of them that bring this blessed gospel of glad tidings. There's no feet more beautiful
than the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ. They've got scars in
them. But they're beautiful feet, aren't they? She fell at his
feet. She went and got the thing most
costly to her. It meant nothing to her compared
to Christ. She anointed his feet, washed her feet, dried his feet
with the hair of her head. The hair is a woman's glory.
She let down her hair in a good way. She let it down, humbled
herself, abased herself at the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ,
and washed and wiped his blessed feet. I'm a nothing. I'm no beauty and no cunningness,
but all his feet are the most beautiful thing on earth to me. God bless. Is that what you think
of Jesus Christ? You've been blessed. Okay. Stand
with me.
Paul Mahan
About Paul Mahan
Paul Mahan has been pastor of Central Baptist Church in Rocky Mount, Virginia since 1989; preaching the Gospel of God's Sovereign Grace.
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