Alright, we're going to be in
Mark 14. Mark 14, looking at verses 17
through 25. Mark 14, 17 through 25. Now,
last week we began looking at the preparation of the Lord,
and this week we'll continue looking at these events that
led up to the most important event in human history which
is the crucifixion of our Savior because in his death he accomplished
the eternal redemption of his people once for all. Now this morning we're going
to be looking at the establishment of the Lord's Supper what it
means for his people. And then we'll come back to some
of the earlier verses in our text to see for whom Christ accomplished
this salvation. And the title is, Is it I? Is
it I? And we'll be looking first, therefore,
at what the bread and the wine represent, and then for whom
was this work done? So let's begin our study looking
at the moment when Christ established the ordinance of what we now
call the Lord's Supper. First off, let me say that when
we take the Lord's Supper, it's not a means of grace. It's not a means of grace, and
I have to say that you take the bread and the wine,
that there's grace communicated to you, that there's some blessing
of God being communicated to you in taking that, that God
is imparting some spiritual favor or gift to you that maybe you'll
be stronger or be kept from sin that day with greater fortitude
and things like that. And so, it's not a means of grace. It's not getting us set up to
be more specially favored and blessed of God because we took
the bread and the wine. So, there's no grace communicated
in the taking of it. What we do well to remember is
that all the grace of God is shown to us, the favor of God,
the blessings of God are shown to us in His Son, Jesus Christ. Don't ever forget that. That's
where God blesses His people. That's where God pours out His
grace upon His people. He's gracious to us because of
His Son, Jesus Christ. All the spiritual blessings that
we have, the abundance of these blessings, continue to flow to
us through Christ. And the reality is, even when
we aren't mindful and thoughtful of Him, very merciful and very
gracious to us. He's ever keeping us and ever
instructing us and teaching us and keeping us for his glory
and for his praise, right? We glory in the name of the Lord. We glory in his name ever, all
right? Now we're told, let's pick up
in verse 22. Mark 14, verse 22. It says there that as they did
eat, Jesus took bread and blessed it. Now, Christ and his disciples,
as you read these accounts in the Gospels, Christ and his disciples
had eaten the Passover feast. They had eaten the lamb now. They had eaten the lamb roasted
with fire. And so that's done. And now Christ
takes bread. He takes up bread and what it
shows us, what it conveys to us is that the Lord's Supper
is superseding that Passover feast. We now observe the Lord's
Supper. We don't observe the Passover.
We don't have, you know, do what the Jews did in observance of
the Passover. And so, our very life, what we
are and what we know of God, it all exists in that covenant
of grace which Christ established. He established everything necessary
for the blessings of the covenant of grace to be shown unto us,
these are all established by Christ's death and the shedding
of his blood. is our husband, and just as the
wife, she submits to the authority of her husband, and she looks
to her husband, so the bride, the Church of Christ, as his
bride, we look He tells us what we are to know
and He reveals to us what we are to know and how we worship
our God. We hear His voice. We follow
Him, even as it's pictured in marriage for us today. Now, Christ
always, always was the salvation of His people. Always the salvation. Throughout, you know, today,
following His crucifixion, as well as what has led up to the
Lord's people were always saved by Christ. And so Christ is pulling
back, he's removing the veil of darkness which was upon the
face of all peoples. who saw in the Old Testament,
that saw the ceremony and the moral law and the practices that
they were doing, they saw that God, what God was revealing,
that our righteousness is in the Lord Jesus Christ. And so
Christ is now pulling back that veil that was, where we were
in darkness and unable to understand the things of God in the natural
heart. And he does this to make more
evident and more plain to us what God has freely given to
us in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the mystery of godliness. It's revealing Christ, that he
is our righteousness, that we are the very righteousness of
God in Christ. That's the mystery of godliness,
that it's a part from what I've done, that God freely forgives
his people in his Son, Jesus Christ. Now we're told that he
blessed the bread that he took. He blessed the bread. And that
means he gave thanks. He gave thanks for the bread
just like we give thanks to our Father, our God, for giving us
the food and what he's blessed us with in our lives, right? We give thanks just, and this
is what Christ did. He gave thanks. And what that
picture is, what that, shows and reminds us is that we're
ever thankful of Christ, who we feed upon. He's our spiritual
food. We continue to thank God for
his blessing and mercy to us in sending his son and providing
his son, who is our righteousness. All right? And so Mark 14, 22,
just remember those things. As they did eat, Jesus took bread
and blessed and break it. gave to them and said, take,
eat, this is my body. So we're told that Christ took
the bread and he break it. He break it and gave it to them.
And that picture is that he died for us. I was wondering, what
does that mean? He break the bread. What does
that mean? Well, Christ died for us. He broke his body. He gave up
the ghost for his people. He died to reconcile us to the
Father. And so, we're delivered now by
Christ from eternal wrath and eternal judgment, which is coming
upon those who have no hope in Christ, who don't believe Christ,
who don't trust that Christ is their righteousness. Theirs is
wrath, theirs is damnation, but Christ has delivered us from
that. And the way he did that was he died, he gave up the ghost,
he broke his body. And that's why he came in the
flesh. That's why the Holy Spirit formed
his body in the womb of the Virgin. It was so that he would come
forth in the likeness of this flesh, in this flesh, but without
sin, fulfilling all the law of God perfectly, that he might
die, that he might lay down his life for his people. Turn over to Hebrews 10. We'll
look at a couple of verses in Hebrews. So, put a mark there,
because we'll be looking at a couple. Hebrews 10 verse 5 is where we'll
begin. And we see this, what Christ
said. It says, Wherefore, when he cometh
into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not. but a body hast thou prepared
me. Look at verse nine. Then said
he, lo, I come to do thy will, O God. All right, so. It's not, you know, God isn't
pleased with and looking to the sacrifices, the ceremony that
we can do in religion. He provided his son Christ for
this purpose, that he would provide the righteousness of his people,
alright? Now, no man can charge Christ with being a sinner. Christ
isn't a sinner. Christ is perfect. He did everything
perfect obedience to the law of God. Now it says in verse
9, he taketh away the first that he may establish the second. And so he fulfilled all the righteousness
of the law and he removes that burden and that weight, that
yoke that the Jews could never fulfill and keep and we can't
fulfill and And we in him are made righteous
before God. And so by his work, he established
the second. That we're not looking now to
what occurred under the law of Moses. We're looking to what
God has provided in his son, Jesus Christ. By the which will,
verse 10, by the which will we are sanctified through the offering
of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. So that's why Christ
came. He came to establish righteousness
for his people. There's not still works and other
things for us to do and to work out and to make this effectual
for us. Christ made it effectual. The
works are done in him. All right, now next we read in
Mark 14, verses 23 and 24. It says, and he took the cup,
and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, and they
all drank of it. And he said unto them, this is
my blood of the New Testament, which is shed for many. Verily
I say unto you, I will drink no more of the fruit of the vine
until that day that I drink it new in the kingdom of God. So this cup of wine is picturing
for us the blood of Christ, wherein the shedding of his blood purges
the stain of sin from us and from our conscience. He's purged
away the shame and the stain and the guilt of sin, so that
in Christ, that's put away. He's teaching us to look to Him
and trust Him. Now in Hebrews 9, in Hebrews
9.22, And again, just continue to keep
a mark in Hebrews. Hebrews 9.22 says, and almost
all things are by the law purged with blood, and without shedding
of blood is no remission. Look at verse 14 now of Hebrews
9.14. How much more shall the blood
of Christ, who through the eternal spirit offered himself unto God
without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to
serve the living God. And so our Savior, our Lord,
as our substitute in our place, he bore the eternal wrath of
God that was our due, that we could never pay. We could never
pay the debt of righteousness. Christ paid the debt of righteousness
and we pay that debt of righteousness in Christ. He is our substitute. He has put away the sin of his
people and so now having established this covenant of grace, we receive
all the blessings of God through Christ who obtained this redemption,
who put away our sin, who makes us righteous so that we now have
that communion and fellowship with God in our Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ. All right? Hebrews 9, 16. Hebrews
9, 16 says, for where a testament is, there must also of necessity
be the death of the testator. That is, that these things went
into effect for us when Christ died. So when he died and when
he shed his blood, our sins were put away and all the blessings
of the covenant are ours. He obtained that for us. You
can die without shedding any blood and you can shed blood
and not die, but Christ died and shed blood to put away, to
establish the covenant for his people so that we now have the
blessing of God and the fellowship with God being delivered from
our sins. All right, so his blood put away
our sins and his death reconciled us to God and now his spirit
as part of that the blessings of his covenant he gives his
spirit to dwell within us whereby we know him and whereby we come
to to see the light of God in Christ whereby we know now what
God has freely given to us in his son, so that he's delivered
us from that yoke of the law, that burden of trying to continue
to earn his favor and to keep ourselves in and under God's
favor. All right, so let's see this
here in Hebrews 13 now. Hebrews 13, verse 20. We see how this blessing is entirely
established on what Christ has done for us. It's all established
in him. Hebrews 13 verse 20, now the
God of peace that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus,
that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting
covenant, make you perfect in every good work to do his will,
working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight, through
Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. And so, brethren, that's what
we're celebrating. We're celebrating the grace of
God for us, freely given to us by His Son. That blessing that
we just read there in Hebrews 13, He dwells in us. He teaches us. He places our
steps. He gives us a heart. He corrects
us. He instructs us. He keeps us. All the blessings of God, everything
that we need to stand before God, perfect and holy, is all
shed upon us abundantly by Christ. We know this because He raised
Him from the dead. He raised him from the dead testifying
that I am pleased with the offering that my son made and my people
were all in him and they've established my righteousness perfectly in
Christ. So God is pleased with his people. They are forever his people. And so we're celebrating that
very fact that Christ has made us perfect to stand before the
throne of God even now. Even now, right? And so we're
remembering this when we take the Lord's Supper and we take
the bread. and you take the wine, you're remembering. That's what
Paul meant by discerning the Lord's body. You're remembering
that our hope of salvation is in Christ. He's done the work. That's discerning. You're understanding
that my righteousness is Christ. He's done everything necessary
for me to stand before Him. Now, if you don't believe Christ,
if He's not your hope, then don't partake. That's where it comes
back to, it's not a means of grace. It's not going to make
you any more holy. It's not going to make you to
believe that you're His by taking the bread and wine. If you believe
that He is the Savior and that you cannot save yourself by your
own works, take the bread and take the wine. Trust Him, believe
Him, He's the Savior. But if you don't believe Him,
then don't partake. God isn't pleased with our religious
service and our religious works. And so Paul, this is what he
meant when he said, these are from 1 Corinthians 11, where
I typically read from when we take the bread and the wine.
And he says, but let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of
that bread and drink of that cup. He's saying, is Christ your
hope of righteousness? That's what we're examining.
Do I believe Christ? Do I have a hope yet still in
my works of righteousness? Do I think that it's something
that I have to do to earn and keep the favor of God? Then you've
examined. You know now that you're still
trusting in something you do. But if you say, Lord, I have
nothing. There's nothing that I can do.
I can't save myself. I have no hope but Christ. Then
that's all the examination that you need. You know that Christ
is the Savior of his people. Then take up the bread and the
wine, all right? And so it'll be evident in this
because we'll confess him before men. We'll be baptized, we'll
follow him in baptism publicly, and we'll be joined to his people
and we continue with them. So that's what I mean by it's
not a means of grace. You can't get yourself saved
by taking the bread and the wine. You take the bread and the wine
because you believe that he is the Savior and that you have
no hope in yourself and you trust him, you believe him. This is
a good time where we'll go on to our next point, which is for
whom was this done? For whom did Christ lay down
his life for and shed his blood? Look back in Mark 14. You can
let go of Hebrews now. In Mark 14, 24, our Lord says,
this is my blood of the New Testament. which is shed for many." Now
what did Christ mean when he said that his blood was shed
for many? Why didn't Christ say his blood
was shed for all? Why didn't he say it was shed
for all? You know there's many in religion, many in the world
that would teach and do teach that Christ's blood only becomes
effectual when you make a decision for the Lord. When you decide,
you know, I'm hearing what Christ has done and I'm hearing what
they're saying and I'm going to make a decision now to follow
Christ. I'm going to become a Christian.
I'm going to get baptized and become a Christian and follow
Him. And they think that after they
believe that they now have become part of the many for whom Christ
died. The reality is, if that's your
confession, if that's what you believe, that it's after our
confession of Christ, that it's after our decision to believe
on Christ and to make Him our Lord or make Him our Savior by
our decision, then what you are saying is that you believe that
man saves himself, that God has brought it, salvation, as far
as He can bring it, but now it's up to you to make it effectual
for yourself. That there's the button of salvation
and you've got to push the button of faith and then it fires up
the engine and now all of a sudden the work of salvation can move
forward and now you become part of of the many. But that's not
at all how God saves. That's just an idol of man's
imagination, imagining that he has some part, some cooperation
in the work of salvation with God. And so, that God is subject
to the will and the whim of man. And that's not how the Lord saves
his people. Now, this is what Christ said,
this is my blood of the New Testament which is shed for many. And he's confirming the certainty
of his people. Christ is confirming the certainty
of the salvation of his people. That none can be lost. That he's
accomplished their salvation. It's shed for many because there's
a particular people for whom he has shed his blood. And their
salvation is certain. Because it's in Christ. And so
all their salvation, all that is necessary for their salvation,
shall be worked in them. They shall confess Christ. They shall continue to trust
Christ unto the end. This is assured, and it's certain,
because God fixed it in eternity in the past, apart from any works
of good or evil in us, so that it has, our salvation has everything
to do with Christ and not with us, so that He works, it's His
will to save a person. He works his will for that person. He performs the operation of
grace in the hearts of his people. They're going to believe him.
They're going to trust him. They're going to know him. I know that when grace preachers
declare grace and we speak of salvation by God's grace, There
are some people that stumble and say, well, how do I know
if Christ died for me? How do I know if I'm one of the
elect? And the Lord doesn't call us
to approach it in that way, to answer and solve that question,
what if I'm one of the elect? What we're gonna do, we're gonna
look at Judas here, and you'll see the hypocrisy in that man's
heart. You'll see that traced out for
you, and you that hope, I'll keep trying to say this, as long
as I'm your pastor, I'll keep trying to say this and make it
more clear to help you, it's not, You know, because what you're
doing is you're thinking, well, I know that I'm a sinner. I know
that Christ is the Savior of his people. I know that there's
no other salvation, but how do I know if he's my Savior, right? That's what the stumble is and
why we don't have assurance in ourselves whether we're Christ's.
But the fact that you have been brought by the Lord to see that
you're a sinner and that there's no hope that you have in yourself. You have no confidence in the
flesh, as Paul said. He's the one that revealed that
to you. Not flesh and blood has revealed that to you. The one
who's revealed that Christ is the Savior is the Father. That's
the man The flesh and blood doesn't reveal that Jesus is the Lord
and that Jesus is the Savior, that He's the Savior of His people.
The Lord reveals that and convinces you of that in the heart so that
you have no hope in your own works. You cease believing and
trusting in your works to save you. And that's a blessing and
a mercy. And I can't answer that question
for you, but the Lord is the one that keeps you ever looking
to Christ. And, you know, I know sometimes
we get thrown off and scared because, you know, this thought
will go through our head, you know, where we'll think, Jesus
isn't the Lord. Oh, no. You know, and you think
that, I thought this wicked thought, and now, therefore, I must be
disqualified. And, you know, how could I ever
think that awful thought? This flesh is very weak and very
prone to foolish things and thinking things. That doesn't mean that
you're an apostate and that you're leaving Christ and going off
to try and establish your own righteousness or just be done
with things. You'll see that You know, that
apostasy in Judas, but the very fact that you have no hope of
righteousness in yourself, that you know that Christ is the Savior,
that God has provided him for his people, If that's your hope,
rest in Him. Rest in Him, believe Him, trust
Him, venture upon Him. You have no other hope. And you
wouldn't have that hope and that firm belief except that the Lord
revealed that to you. And so let's go on and hopefully
that'll be more clear just seeing what we see here in the example
with Judas, all right? So look back at Mark 14, verses
17 through 19. Mark 14, 17 through 19. And in
the evening he cometh with the twelve. And as they sat and did
eat, Jesus said, Verily I say unto you, one of you which eateth
with me shall betray me. And they began to be sorrowful
and to say unto him one by one, those that were sorrowful, is
it I? And then the way Mark words it
is, and another said, is it I? So there were some that were
sorrowful who said, is it I? And another said, is it I? And
this is the time where that cold, hard, calculated heart of Judas
was already set in, the betrayer. It was already, he already knew
what he was doing. What we have here in Judas is
he's a beacon of what religion without Christ looks like. He's full of hypocrisy. The difference between, because
we see hypocrisy in ourselves, we see hypocrisy in ourselves
and in our works that don't always glorify Christ and we see that
and the Lord shows us that and reveals that to us but this man
what he was doing, he thought he was right and just in what
he was doing there to the Lord and betraying him. Now Matthew
words it a little differently. Matthew says in Matthew 26 verses
22 and 25, it says, and they were exceeding sorrowful and
began every one of them to say unto him, Lord, Is it I? Lord, is it I? And then Judas,
which betrayed him, answered and said, Master, is it I? And he said unto him, Thou hast
said." Now when the disciples heard when Christ said, one of
you shall betray me, they were fearful because this is the Lord
speaking. do. This is the one who can speak
a word and the waves and the winds just die down and cease. So if he's saying, they didn't
see it in themselves at the time, but when he spoke it, they said,
wow, well the Lord knows. He knows if I'm going to betray
him. But there was no, at the time
he said it, They weren't plotting and planning to betray him at
that time. But there was one that was there,
and he said, master, or rabbi, or teacher. teacher, is it I? And so he's acting like, I, your
humble student, would I do something like that, Lord? Now you that
are fathers that have daughters, whether you've experienced it
yet or not, but you that have daughters know typically they'll
call you dad, dad, dad, and you know when they come to you and
say, daddy, daddy, can I borrow? the car keys, you know they're
up to no good. If you don't know, get ready,
because it usually means they are up to no good. When they
say daddy, they're trying to butter you up for something.
And it's similar, what Judas is doing here. They're all saying
Lord, it's very formal. And he's saying master, teacher,
you're a humble student when I do that to you. He knows that
he is doing that to him. He knows, and he's trying to
play a hypocritical, game with this lord because he knows what
he's doing. And that's what people in religion
do. They're playing a religious game.
They think that they're getting ahead, that they're advancing
themselves in religion, that they're doing something by their
works. And you can see the hypocrisy. You that lack assurance and are
fearful, whether you're the elect, that's not why you're here. You're
here hoping, trusting, Lord, where else can I go? I'm a sinner. I have no hope anywhere else
but in Christ. Lord, where can I go? Have mercy
on me. You see the difference in the
hypocrisy? Judas is there because he's trying to get ahead in his
religion. I mean, he thinks that this movement's
taken off and that he's going to benefit. As Christ goes up,
he's gonna be going up and he's gonna profit and benefit with
them. And so he did it as long as he could. But those that have
hypocrisy in their heart, they're still negotiating and working
with God. But you that have, that are hoping in Christ, you're
not. here in religion, hoping that you can work your way and
earn your salvation with God. You're here because, Lord, where
else can I go? Have mercy on me, Lord. Comfort
me, show me the rest and the peace that you've ordained for
your people and your son, Jesus Christ. That's a very big difference
in the hypocrisy there. One is a hypocrite and one is
not. They're hoping in Christ, they're
trusting in him. And you have every right to hope
in him because he says freely, freely I've given my son. Come
to the waters of life. Whosoever will, let him come
to the waters of life freely, freely. So he doesn't say ask
whether you're an elect. He says you that see this is
the water of life that God has provided, come, come freely. not trusting in anything of yourself.
He's not playing games with you. He's showing you Christ. He's
showing you your need of Christ. He's showing you that you can't
save yourselves. And that's why you're coming.
So you hope and trust him and believe him. Come to the waters
of life and believe him. Rest in him, all right? Now,
Paul had written in 2 Corinthians. So this is now the other letter
to the Corinthians. We saw where he said, examine
yourselves in 1 Corinthians 11. Now, in 2 Corinthians 13, verse
5, he says, examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith, prove
your own selves, know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus
Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates. we don't even know
how to examine ourselves. We don't even really know or
understand how to do that. And, you know, in my experience,
the children of the King, those that are washed by the blood
of Christ, those that Christ did come and lay down his life
for, they usually are the ones who are thinking Lord, I don't
know if I'm one of His. Lord, I'm afraid because I see
what I am in the flesh. Whereas the vain hypocrite says,
don't even waste your time examining yourselves because I can tell
you already. you're not one of His. They're so cocky and sure
that they are Christ and that you that are weak and fearful
aren't His. And so, again, there's just that
difference in just what's in our hearts. Our salvation in
Christ is absolutely secure. And so you that have no confidence
in the flesh rest in Him. If you know He's the Savior,
that He is the Savior of His people, and you're just wondering,
well, is it for me? Rest in Him. If you know He's the Savior and
that you can't save yourselves, rest in Him. And the only reason
you would have to fear is when you become so confident in your
works and in what you're doing that you don't need Christ. Everything's going good now.
You don't need Him, all right? All right, now Mark 14, verse
20 and 21. Here he says, and he answered
and said unto them, It is one of the twelve that dippeth with
me in the dish. The son of man indeed goeth as
it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the son of
man is betrayed. Good were it for that man if
he had never been born." Now, we know that Christ must die
according to the scriptures. It's the purpose of God that
he die. according to the scriptures. But some seeing this, you know,
what Judas has done in his betrayal, you might wonder, well, why is
he then held accountable? Why is he held accountable for
what he's done? Because who has resisted the
will of God? But let me just say a few things
on this. The sovereignty of our God never
excuses us for our sin. There's never an excuse for us
in the sin that we commit. James chapter 1 verses 13 and
15, 13 through 15 says, let no man say when he is tempted, I
am tempted of God. For God cannot be tempted with
evil, neither tempteth he any man. But every man is tempted
when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed, that when
lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin. And sin, when it is
finished, bringeth forth death." And what the Lord is showing
us is that this was in the heart of Judas to betray Christ. It
was in his heart. He did what he wanted to do. And that's what is true of all
of us. What's in our heart, that's what
we're going to do. And it's the grace and the mercy
of God that turns us from the love of sin and that practice
of sin and continuing in sin. It's the grace of God that turns
us from that. So you see this reprobation,
right? You see this reprobation, and reprobation is always a matter
of God's justice and divine retribution. And we see this, you know, with
Pharaoh. Turn over to Romans 9. Romans
9. Romans 9 verse 17 will pick up. It says, For the scripture saith
unto Pharaoh, even for this same purpose have I raised thee up,
that I might show my power in thee, and that my name might
be declared throughout all the earth. Therefore hath he mercy
on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth." And
so what the Lord is showing us here is that God hardened the
heart of Pharaoh. His heart was already hardened. It was already hard with sin
and he was doing what he wanted to do and the Lord hardened his
heart and that he would work the very will of God and the
very purpose of God in delivering and delivering his people from
Egypt. And so we see that, that sin,
that sinfulness in us. We know that by nature we're
all sinners, dead in trespasses and sins in Adam until God gives
us life and delivers us from that death whereby he makes us
to know that we're sinners, he makes us to know our need of
Christ, and he gives us faith to behold that Christ is the
very salvation of his people. And it says there in Romans 9
verse 19, going on, he says, Thou wilt say then unto me, Why
doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will? Nay, but, O man, who art thou
that replyest against God? Shall the thing formed say to
him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? That's the
heart of the unregenerate person, the person who has no life in
Christ. They're always looking to justify themselves before
God. They're never brought to say,
Lord, you know that I'm a sinner. You know that I have no righteousness
of my own. You know that I can't save myself
by my own works. So the heart that the Lord's
teaching and instructing, they're brought to see that we have no
hope in ourselves, that we might see all our hope is in Jesus
Christ, the righteousness of his people, rather than arguing
with him and trying to find a justification for why we are the way we are
naturally. All right? Hath not Potter, verse
21, Hath not the potter power over the clay, Of the same lump
to make one vessel unto honour, And another unto dishonour? What
if God, willing to show his wrath, And to make his power known,
Endured with much long-suffering the vessels of wrath fitted to
destruction and that he might make known the riches of his
glory on the vessels of mercy which he had afore beforehand
in eternity past prepared unto glory. And so what the Lord reveals
to us what he's showing to us is that every one of us deserves So everyone that does the things
that they do, they're left to themselves doing that, working
out that which is in their own heart to do. But for those of
us that are shown that we're sinners, and are shown that we
can't do anything to right that, to make ourselves righteous before
God, for those of us who see that and see that God has provided
His Son Jesus Christ, that's His salvation, that's His grace,
that's His mercy, that any of us should be saved, that any
of us should know Him, right? Because the wages of sin is death,
but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ, our
Lord, all right? So the Lord left Judas to do
what was in his wicked heart to do. So the question is, what
think ye of Christ? Which one, you know, who said,
is it I, are we? Again, not looking at our works
of righteousness, which we've done, but is your hope the Lord
Jesus Christ, or is your hope yet in the things that you're
doing to please God? because that shows the hypocrisy
of the heart. Are we looking to Christ and
resting in him, the righteousness which God has provided for his
people, or are we yet trusting in something that we are doing
or not doing for righteousness? And so the Lord is the one that
reveals that to us. He's the one who shows us our
need. Either we see the need that we have in Christ, or we
trust in ourselves and in our own works, or we think the brain
our works in cooperation with what God has done in Christ. So, you that have no hope in
your works, trust Christ, rest in him. But you that are yet
playing religious games and yet, you know, trusting is something
you do, you have every reason to fear and be afraid like Judas. But you that need Christ, hear
his voice that said, I am the living bread which came down
from heaven, If any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever,
and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give
for the life of the world." So, whosoever eats the flesh of Christ
and drinks His blood, that is, lives upon Him continually, that
He is our righteousness, they shall be filled. They have eternal
life, and you rest there, you believe Him, and you trust You
trust Him, so He's our assurance of eternal life. So I pray the
Lord will bless that and help you, brethren, to trust Christ
and rest in Him. All right, so let's pray. Our
gracious Lord, we thank You, Father, for the mercy You've
provided in Your Son. And Lord, You know our hearts.
Lord, leave us not to ourselves to trust in our own works of
righteousness, but Lord, deliver us from that. Deliver us from
trusting in ourselves and looking to our works for assurance or
for the hope of righteousness. And help us look instead to your
Son, Jesus Christ, who you've provided freely to your people. that is, without our works, freely
provided, and all those who come with nothing in their hand, Lord,
are assured of the promise of salvation in Jesus Christ. Father,
help your people, help us to see our Savior and rest in Him. Lord, we pray for for this group
here, Lord, for this gathering, we pray that you would bless
your people, that your spirit would be upon us and help us
to see our Lord and Savior and what he has indeed accomplished
in salvation for his people. It's in Christ's name that we
pray and give thanks. Amen.