Alright, go with me back to Mark
15. Mark chapter 15. This morning we looked at our
Lord's crucifixion and death. And in that we saw substitution
and satisfaction, right? Substitution and satisfaction,
the gospel. That is the message we gather
around every single time we come together, isn't it? Every single
time. It's the only message a believer
wants. Let a man stand up, you know,
you think, well, haven't we heard this? Let a man stand up and not preach
Christ crucified and see how God's people react. If we are wondering, is this
really the only message we want? Let a man stand up and not preach
Christ crucified. Substitution and satisfaction.
And let's see how God's people respond. This is the only message
God's people want. This is our hope. This is our hope. So many people hope in so many
things. This is our hope. This is our
foundation for worship. People always want to know, what
do you all do over there in worship? We sing about Christ crucified. These songs we just sang, those
verses, was that not the gospel? We sing about Christ crucified. We read about Christ crucified. We preach Christ crucified and
we pray and give thanks for Christ crucified. And then we go home.
That's the center of our worship. It's the foundation of our worship. And our Lord told us over in
first Corinthians 11, he said, I want you to show these things. The commandment is believe these
things. And he said, I want you to show
these things and we're showing the Lord's death. We are showing
our desire to be a partaker of that substitution and that satisfaction. When we observe the ordinance
that we're going to observe tonight, we are confessing Publicly, I
desire to be a partaker of this. I want to be a partaker of this.
I'm not okay with this passing me by. Jacob said, I will not
let you go except you bless me. We all say that knowing I can't
lay hold of him. He has to hold on to me and not
let me go except he bless me. Yet, don't let me go except you
bless me, please. In Mark 15 verse 34 says, And
at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloi,
Eloi, lama sabachthani? Which is being interpreted, My
God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? And some of them that stood
by, when they heard, said, Behold, he calleth Elias. And one ran
and filled a sponge full of vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave
him to drink, saying, Let alone, let us see whether Elias will
come to take him down. And Jesus cried with a loud voice
and gave up the ghost." Can you imagine that scene? Can you imagine
that scene? And the veil of the temple was
rent in twain from the top to the bottom. And when the centurion,
which stood over against him, saw that he so cried out and
gave up the ghost, when this centurion saw Christ crucified,
he said, Truly, this man was the Son of God when he saw how
he died. I think about whenever the Queen
of Sheba went to see Solomon, when she watched his ascent by
which he ascended his throne. When this man saw how he died,
The glory in this death. He saw this. It wasn't like the
other deaths. He didn't just die. He saw that
man just gave up his ghost. And he said, truly. He was listening
that whole time, you know, are you the son of God? Are you the
king of the Jews? Pilate asking him that and everybody
mocking him and that centurion was watching and listening. He
listened to the message he preached. He heard everybody crying, his
blood be on us and our children. And all of a sudden he saw his
eyes watched Christ crucified. And he said, that was God. That
was God. Truly, that was God. The son of God. When a sinner
sees Christ crucified. when he finally sees who died. This was not just another man
who died. People die all the time. People
die all the time. This was not just another man
who died. This was not just a martyr. When
he saw who died and when sinners see who died and what he accomplished
in that death, they all say truly, this man was the Son of God. That Ethiopian eunuch, Philip,
when asked him, do you understand what you're reading? He said,
how can I except some men tell me? And he said, would you come
up and sit in this chariot with me and tell me about these things? The place of the scripture which
he read was Isaiah 53. He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities,
like a lamb done before his shearers, straight into the slaughter.
God laid on him the iniquity of us all. Through his stripes,
we're healed. And he said, there's water, what
hinders me? He said, if you believe with
all your heart, you may be baptized. He said, I believe Jesus Christ
is the son of God. I believe he's God. I believe
he's God. The sovereign God. I believe
he did this on purpose. I don't believe that this was
an accident. I don't believe this was anything
other than the sovereign salvation of God Almighty on sinners. This man was the only man who
could take the sin of his people on himself and still satisfy
God. I have sin on me, and because
of that sin, I cannot satisfy God. This was the only man who
could take that sin upon himself and still justly satisfy the
demands of the holy God. This was the only man who could
do it. This was the God man. God himself did this. Truly,
that was the Son of God. Have we seen that? Have we seen
that? Who can forgive sins but God
alone? Have we seen that? Truly this
was the Son of God. Now seeing that, when a sinner
sees that, it creates a response in a child of God. It creates
a response in those who have been given the same heart as
these women right here in this text. Verse 40 says, there were
also women looking on afar off. They were looking on him. John wrote that which was from
the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with
our eyes, which we have looked upon. We've seen him and we've
looked upon him. And he said, our hands have handled
of the word of life. We've seen him and we've looked
on him. We have not yet physically seen
him, but we are looking on him right now. We're looking on him
right now. We haven't seen him one of these
days. Blessed are these eyes. They're going to see God. One
of these days, we're going to see God. But right now, we don't
see Him, but we look on Him with eyes of faith. We are looking
on Him right now. Verse 40 says, There were also
women looking on afar off, among whom was Mary Magdalene, And
Mary, the mother of James the less and of Josie and a woman
named Salome, who also, when he was in Galilee, followed him. That's what God's children do.
They follow him. Those who are partakers of this
heavenly calling, those who have fallen in love with the Lord
Jesus Christ. That's what being a follower
of Christ is. It's falling in love with the
Lord Jesus Christ. I mean, falling in love with
him and those who have follow him. They follow him. Verse 41
says, who also, when he was in Galilee, followed him. and ministered
unto him. They were his servants. They
ministered unto him, many other women which came up with him
unto Jerusalem. They were all his servants. And
that's what we are. We are his servants. We follow
him. We look to him. And in this ordinance
right here, as we partake of it, as the Lord commanded us
to do, as oft as you do this, he said. And I remember somebody pointed
out, he didn't say as few times as you do this, he said as often
as you do this. As often as you do this. we are
confessing something. We're confessing publicly, outwardly,
some things concerning our Lord. Now, in this text, we're going
to read, we see what's going on, we understand our Lord gave
up the ghost and that centurion said this man was the son of
God and these women are looking on him, watching all these things. And as we read it a moment ago,
this man Joseph of Arimathea is going to beg his body and
take him down and put him in the tomb. In this story, I want
us to look down through this story, I saw seven things that
we are confessing in this table. This table represents this event. This is a picture, a type of
the event that we're reading, the Lamb slain. And in this,
there are seven things that we confess when we partake of this.
Here's the first one. Verse 42 says, And now when the
even was come, because it was the preparation, that is the
day before the Sabbath, Joseph of Arimathea, an honorable counselor,
which also waited for the kingdom of God. When we partake of this
table, we are confessing that we are waiting for the king. When, as oft as we do this, we
are reminding ourselves, we're reminding each other, that we
are waiting for this king. Pilate asked him, are you the
king of the Jews? He said, what would you have
me to do with this one whom you call the king of the Jews? He
put a sign above him as he hung there, the king of the Jews.
Every time we take this table, we are confessing we're waiting
for the king. We're waiting for the king. We're
going to keep doing our jobs. We're going to keep loving our
families. We're going to keep marrying and giving in marriage.
But all the while, may this never leave our minds. We're waiting
for the king. The king is coming. This king
is coming and we're waiting on him. That's what we do. We're
confessing that through his death, we have been made fellow citizens
with the saints of God, fellow citizens in this kingdom. We're
waiting for this kingdom. Turn with me over to Ephesians
chapter two. Ephesians 2 verse 14 says, For He is our peace, who hath
made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition
between us, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, even
the law of commandments contained in ordinances, For to make in
himself of twain one new man, so making peace. And that he
might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having
slain the enmity thereby. And came and preached peace to
you which were afar off and to them that were nigh, for through
him we both have access by one spirit unto the Father. Now therefore
you are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens
with the saints and of the household of God." Isn't that wonderful?
Fellow citizens. In remembering what he did for
us, in laying down his life, he said, I'm going to prepare
a place for you. Isn't that what he said? I'm leaving to go prepare
a place for you. in his father's house he said
in my father's house are many mansions and in partaking of
this ordinance what we're saying is thy kingdom come we're waiting
on the king waiting on his kingdom He said, watch, you know not
what hour it's coming. You don't know the hour it's
coming. And all of God's people say, come quickly. Come quickly,
Lord. Go with me back over to Mark
15. Mark 15, verse 43 says, Joseph
of Arimathea, an honorable counselor, which also waited for the kingdom
of God, came and went in boldly unto Pilate and craved the body
of Jesus. In this ordinance that our God
has given us, when we take this, we confess that we crave the
broken body and the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. He
craved. He said, I have to have it. He
craved it. I have to have that body. Can
we be satisfied without it? Have you ever craved something?
I've got to have it. Can we be satisfied without it? Look with me at John 6. Turn
with me over to John 6. John 6, verse 53, our Lord said,
except you eat of the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His
blood, you have no life in you. Isn't that what He said? No life
in you. Verse 58, He said, this is that
bread which came down from heaven, not as your fathers did eat manna
and are dead. He that eateth of this bread
shall live forever." Live forever. What that means is He is my life. Joseph craved the body of the
Lord Jesus Christ. He is my life. I live by Him. I live by Him and I do. I live
by Him. I can't make it without Him. I mean physically through this
world. I couldn't have sanity without him. I couldn't keep
going without him. I just couldn't. I live by him. Our Lord said, this is my body
broken for you. God's people crave that. They
crave it. Go back to Mark 15. Here's the third thing we're
confessing in this. Mark 15 verse 44 says, and Pilate
marveled if he were already dead. The crucifixion was a very slow
and painful death. You suffocated fluids filled your lungs, it
took a long process and sometimes it took days before a person would die. And
they did not want anybody hanging on the cross during their Passover
feast. How ironic. What did the Passover
represent? Christ on the cross. They observed
that for 2,000 years. What is that? Christ on the cross.
Broken body, shed blood. And there he is, Christ on the
cross. And they said, we better get
him down quick. We don't want him ruining our feast. So they
said, we're going to break everybody's legs and speed up the suffocation
process. And they came to our Lord and
he had already given up his ghost. And he said, you're not going
to break one bone in my body, representing his people, his
bones. He said, you're bone of my bone. You're not going to
touch my people. You're not touching my people. I'll give up my ghost
before you touch one of my souls. So they didn't break his legs.
They didn't break any bones in his body. And Joseph came and
begged it, verse 44, and Pilate marveled if he was already dead. Calling unto him the centurion,
he asked him whether he had been any while dead, and when he knew
it of the centurion, he gave the body to Joseph. And Joseph
bought fine linen, and took him down, and wrapped him in the
linen, and laid him in a sepulcher which was hewn out of a rock,
and rolled a stone unto the door of the sepulcher. and Mary Magdalene
and Mary the mother of Josie beheld where it was laid. And
when the Sabbath was passed, Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother
of James and Salome had bought sweet spices that they might
come and anoint him. In openly confessing his sacrifice
and partaking of his table, we are anointing and honoring him
in what he's done for us. That's what we're doing. Mary
Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome, they did the
same thing that Joseph and Nicodemus did. They all did the same thing.
Look with me quickly at John 19. John 19 verse 38 says, After
this Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly
for fear of the Jews, besought Pilate that he might take away
the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave him leave. He came, therefore,
and took the body of Jesus. And there came also Nicodemus,
which at the first came to Jesus by night, and brought a mixture
of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight. Then took
they the body of Jesus and wound it in linen clothes with the
spices as the manner of the Jews is to bury." They wrapped his
precious body in the finest linen money could buy. They brought,
Nicodemus brought a hundred pounds of the sweetest spices that had
ever been mixed. And that's what these women did.
They honored him. They anointed him. They brought
these spices to anoint him. They acknowledged him to be the
king that he is. They wrapped him in the king's
linen and anointed him. And so do we. So do we. Where do we want all the honor
to go? Right there. Where do we want all of the anointing
to go? I mean, all of it. Him. Right there. It all goes to him.
All hail the king. I can't wait to say that. All
hail the king. Crown Him, I love that song,
crown Him Lord of all, crown Him. Revelation talks about God's
people receiving crowns. He says, I'm just going to take
them off and start throwing them at His feet. Crown Him, crown
Him. So we're waiting for Him. He
said, this do in remembrance of me. We're waiting for Him.
We crave His broken body. We anoint and we honor Him. Back
in Mark 15, here's the fourth thing we confess. Actually, Mark 16. Mark 16, verse
2. Very early in the morning, the
first day of the week, they came unto the sepulcher at the rising
of the sun. In taking this table, this is
what we're saying, Lord, we come. We come. He said, come unto me. all ye that labor and are heavy
laden, and I'll give you rest." If a person does not have a desire
to come to the Lord Jesus Christ, if a person has no inner desire
to come to Christ, then he has no reason to partake of this
table. That's what we're saying, Lord, we come. We come to you. We come to your sacrifice. We
come to the washing of this blood right here. We come to this fountain
of forgiveness. We come. If a person does not
have that desire, then that person should not take this table. This
table is not for everybody. It's not for everybody. This
is for those who come in the heart to the Lord Jesus Christ. They come as the beggars they
are. They come as the sinners they
are. They come in need. They come for mercy. And that's
what we're doing. They came and so do we. We come
out of my sickness, this is what one song says, out of my sickness
into thy health. Out of my want, lack, and into
thy wealth. Out of my sin and into thyself,
Lord Jesus, I come to you. I come to you. I come in the
heart. Another song that I love says,
just as I am, without one plea, but that thy blood was shed for
me, and that thou bidst me come to thee, O Lamb of God, I come. I come. I do, I come. I don't want to stand here, I
come. Here's the fifth thing we're confessing in this table.
Mark 16 verse 2 says, Very early in the morning, the first day
of the week, they came unto the sepulcher at the rising of the
sun. And they said among themselves, Who shall roll us away the stone
from the door of the sepulcher? And when they looked, they saw
that the stone was rolled away, for it was very great, and entering
into the sepulcher, they saw a young man sitting on the right
side, clothed in a long white garment, and they were affrighted."
Entering in. Look with me at John chapter
10. John chapter 10 verse 9 says,
I am the door. By me, if any man enter in, he
shall be saved and shall go in and out and find pasture. Our Lord said, knock and it shall
be opened unto you. Isn't that what he said? Knock
and it shall be opened unto you. And then do you know what his
commandment is? To all men. This is his commandment to all
men. This is his merciful call to his people. He says, enter
in. Enter in. The commandment to
all men is enter in. The merciful call to his people
is, enter in. Our Lord said, enter ye in at
the straight gate. Broad is the way that leads to
destruction. Enter in. Entering in is absolute commitment. Absolute commitment. All of my
eggs are in this basket right here. That's it. I am not content
to just stand here at the door. I'm not satisfied to just stand
here at the door. I have to enter in. I cannot
imagine how many people were standing just outside the door
of the ark when God's judgment rang down. I cannot imagine how
many people were right there. That much separated them. right
there, probably had their hand on the door. Can you imagine?
Right there when God's judgment rang down. You know what salvation
is? Entering in. entering in. Now if I am going to enter in,
God is going to have to put me in. God put Noah and his family
in the ark. That was God's mercy to Noah. But this is all my desire. Here's what I'm confessing. You're
going to have to put me in if I'm going in. But this is all
my desire. In the last words of David, this
is all my desire. This is all my desire. I want
to enter in. Lord, would you put me in? I
enter in, in this heart. Here's the sixth thing that we're
confessing in this table. Back in Mark 16, verse 5 says, and entering into
the sepulcher, they saw a young man sitting on the right side,
clothed in a long white garment, and they were affrighted. And
he saith unto them, be not affrighted, ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which
was crucified. He is risen, he is not here,
behold the place where they laid him. When we take this table, this
is what we're confessing. We believe you. That's what we're
confessing. We believe you. He said, this
do in remembrance of me. And what a comforting remembrance
it is. We believe you. Over in Matthew's
account of this, it says the same thing. These ladies entered
in and they saw this man and he said, you seek Jesus, whom
was crucified. He is not here. He is risen,
as he said, just like he said. He told you this. He said this
is exactly what would happen. This is what happened. We believe
you. We believe you. Just like He
said. He said He bore our sins. Now let me just say this. I can
see my sin. I'm looking on Him with eyes
of faith. I haven't seen Him yet. But I'll tell you one thing
I can see. My sin. But you know what he
said? He said he bore my sin. Isn't
that right? He said he put my sin away in
this burial right here when Joseph of Arimathea put him in that
tomb and closed it up. He said he put my sins away right
there. He said he has redeemed us back
to God through this resurrection that these ladies are being told
about right here. This angel said he is not here.
He is risen. As he said, all the children
of God cry. We believe you. We believe you. Mark 16, here's the last thing,
the seventh thing we're going to confess in this. Verse 6,
He said unto them, Be not affrighted, ye seek Jesus of Nazareth which
was crucified. He is risen, He is not here,
behold the place where they laid Him. But go your way, tell His
disciples and Peter that He goeth before you into Galilee. There
shall you see him as he said unto you. And they went out quickly
and fled from the sepulcher, for they trembled and were amazed. Neither said they anything to
any man." They didn't stop and have conversations. They were
running with a straight course to God's people. Neither said
they anything to any man, for they were afraid." They went
and did exactly what God told them to do. What did God tell
them to do? He said, go and tell. Go and tell. Our Lord gave us this ordinance
right here to openly confess what is secretly in our hearts.
These things are in the secret of the heart. And he gave us
this to confess that. I don't need this ordinance to
wait for him. I don't. I don't need this ordinance
to crave his broken body. I don't need it to anoint and
honor him. I don't need this for that. I
don't need this ordinance to come to him. I don't need this
to enter in in the heart. Enter in. This is my all. I don't need this ordinance to
say to him, I believe you. But this is what he said to every
soul that he has chosen to show mercy to. He said, you go and
tell how great things the Lord has done for you. Go and tell. Go and tell. He told these disciples,
you go into all the world. Verse 15, he said unto them,
go into all the world and you preach this gospel. You go and
tell how great things the Lord has done for you. And that's
what we're confessing. Before God, before men, this
Lord right here, this King, the Lamb of God, the One who made
Himself to be my sacrifice, the sacrifice for sinners, He's done
great things for me. I mean, He's done great things
for me. I'm so unworthy of Him. I'm so unworthy of him. He's
done great things for all of us. If God put us in Christ,
we are blessed. We are blessed and we confess
him. Didn't he say, confess me. And I will confess you. You know
what he meant by that? I have confessed you. And we
do. We do. We confess Him because
He confessed us. He confessed us to the Father.
All right. Brother Tony is going to come
up and read for us.