Mark 14. Our Lord was having supper. Two weeks ago we looked at the
first few verses of this chapter and our Lord was having supper
in a house in Bethany. And after Mary anointed him with
a very precious and costly ointment, it was called spikenard. And
our Lord said that she did that to honor him in his death. He
knew what awaited him. He knew. He knew what was coming. He knew the whole reason he came
to this earth. And after that happened, verse
10 says, Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve, went unto the
chief priests to betray him unto them. Alright, Judas went to
the preachers, the chief priests, all the preachers, they wanted
him dead. They wanted Christ to die. So
verse 11 says, when these chief priests heard what Judas had
come to them about, oh, they were so glad. This couldn't have
worked out more perfectly. They were glad and they promised
to give him money and he sought how he might conveniently betray
the Lord. Verse 12 says, in the first day
of unleavened bread, when they killed the Passover. His disciples
said unto him, Where wilt thou that we go and prepare that thou
mayest eat the Passover? And he sendeth forth two of his
disciples, and saith unto them, Go ye into the city, and there
shall meet you a man bearing a pitcher of water. Follow him. And wheresoever he shall go in,
say ye to the good man of the house, the master saith, where
is the guest chamber where I shall eat the Passover with my disciples? And he will show you a large
upper room furnished and prepared. There make ready for us. And
his disciples went forth. and came into the city, and found
as he had said unto them, and they made ready the Passover.
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, Is it I? And another said, Is
it I? They went right down the line.
Now my prayer for this morning is that by the end of this message
we understand why each one of them said, Is it I? Is it I? Verse 20 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. And as they did eat, Jesus took
bread. He took unleavened bread. representing sinlessness, not
lifted up, not puffed up with pride and self. Unleavened bread,
it says. Verse 22, and he blessed and
break it and gave to them and said, take, eat, this is my body. And he took the cup, our Lord
used wine. And I thought about proving that
to us, and I'll be happy to later, but we won't take the time right
now. Our Lord used wine. He served wine. It represents
the unending perfection of His blood. It won't spoil, like grape
juice will. So He served wine, and verse
23 says, 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. And when they had sung
in hymn, they went out into the Mount of Olives. Now, what is all of this? What is all of this? Why did
our Lord do this? Why does He command us to do
this? What does it mean? What does
it mean? This is what I want us to see
this morning. In the next few minutes, I want us to see why
we're doing this. Why we're doing this. And I want
us to see how we should do this. There is a right way to approach
this table, and there is a wrong way to approach this table. I
want us to see why we're doing this and how we should do this. What should be the heart and
the motive in doing this? Now, turn with me, if you would,
to Exodus chapter 11. Exodus chapter 11 verse 1 says and the Lord said
unto Moses yet will I bring one more plague one plague more upon
Pharaoh and upon Egypt afterwards he will let you go hence when
he shall let you go he shall surely thrust you out hence altogether
you're going to be set free those the children of Israel they were
in bondage and he said you are going to be delivered you're
going to be the bondage will be over and our Lord recorded
all this to tell us that if we are his people if we truly are
his people then we have been set free we have been delivered
that bondage to sin, that bondage to self, that bondage to Satan,
the adversary, is over. We have been delivered. In chapter
12, verse 1, it says, The Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron in
the land of Egypt, saying, This month shall be unto you the beginning
of months. This month it shall be unto you
the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of
the year unto you. Now, I just want to tell you
that I had planned on, before I decided to not have a Sunday
night service, I had planned on having the Lord's table tonight
because it was the first Sunday of the month. And then I read
our text. After that, And thought, wow,
that's interesting. The Lord is instituting his supper.
Well, that's another good reason. And then I came over here to
Exodus 12, and it said, when you do this, this is going to
be the beginning of months of the year for you. This is going
to be the start of your new year. And I thought, I believe we need
to have the Lord's table today. I do. And that's what he said. This is going to be the beginning.
This is the beginning for you. This is the beginning of the
month, the first month of the year to you. And then he went
on to say right here, I want you to take a lamb. This is what
he told him. I want you to take a lamb and
I want you to kill it. And I want you to take that lamb
and I want you to roast it with fire and I want you to eat it.
And I want you to take the blood of that lamb and I want you to
smear it all over the door of your house. I want you to smear
it all over the top post and both side posts of your house. And right here in chapter 12,
verse 12, if you look at verse 12 with me, he said, For I will
pass through the land of Egypt this night And will smite all
the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast. And against all the gods of Egypt,
I will execute judgment. I am the Lord. I'm God. I'm the God who executes judgment. I'm the God who does not sweep
anything under the rug. Nothing. I'm the God who kills. May God call somebody to hear
this in this town. May God cause the message to
go out. I'm the God who kills. He said,
I'm coming through the land. Isn't that what he said? I am
coming through the land. And he said, if your house is
not under the blood, death is coming to your house. That's
what he said. If your house is not under the
blood, death is coming. But he said, if that blood has
been shed for you, then right here in verse 13, he said, the
blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where you 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. That blood will save your soul. It'll save your soul. Verse 14,
he said, And this day, the first day of the first month of the
year, this day shall be unto you for a memorial, for remembrance. And he said in verse 26, it shall
come to pass when your children shall say unto you, what mean
ye by this service that you shall say it is the sacrifice of the
Lord's Passover who passed over the houses of the children of
Israel in Egypt when he smote the Egyptians and delivered our
houses. And the people bowed the head
and they worshiped. Because of all this, I felt led
for us to worship Him, give thanks to Him for our deliverance. We've been delivered through
this table. Now, not every soul was delivered
that night. Isn't that right? Not every soul
was delivered. That Lamb did not represent everybody. That lamb did not die for everybody. The death that God sent, it literally
swept through Egypt. It slaughtered Egypt. There was
a great cry from the house of the servant all the way to the
house of Pharaoh. A great slaughter. Only those
who were under the blood were saved. Spiritually speaking, that's
exactly how it is right now. That is exactly how it is right
now. Let me tell you what is not saving truth. Christ did
not die for everybody. And it's not just going to be
okay. Go on and meet God, happy go lucky. It's not okay. He didn't die for everybody.
The death that God sends because of the rebellion of man against
him, it slaughters this world. It's a slaughter to this world. Men and women leave this world
and they march up to a slaughter and they don't know it. But every
soul who is under the blood, and this is the honest truth,
this is the most important thing we could ever hear. Every soul
who is under the blood is safe. Every soul. That lamb didn't
represent everybody, but it represented everybody that God put under
the blood. This table right down here does
not represent everybody. But it does represent every soul
that God put under the blood. Every single soul. Let me show
you this in 1 Corinthians 11. Go with me over to 1 Corinthians
11. First Corinthians 11, look with
me at verse 27. Wherefore, whosoever shall eat
this bread and drink this cup of the Lord unworthily shall
be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. Not under it, guilty
of it. guilty of it outside of the blood
of Christ this whole world is guilty before God that's what
Romans 3 says guilty before God verse 28 right here says but
let a man examine himself and so let him eat of that bread
and drink of that cup for he that eateth and drinketh unworthily
eateth and drinketh damnation to himself and not discerning
the Lord's body. Outside of the blood of Christ,
everything that a man or woman does is unworthy before God. Every single thing he does. Under
the blood of Christ, every single thing that a man or woman does
is worthy before God. Outside of the blood, we're damned. Under the blood, we're saved. That is the deciding factor. Now, which one am I? Which one
am I? Before we partake of this table,
any of us, any of us, here's what I want to find out. Here's
what we all ought to find out. Am I under the blood? Or am I
outside of the blood? Which one? Which one am I? How can I know if God has put
me under the blood or if God has left me outside of the blood? Here's how. When God puts a sinner
under the blood, God puts the whole center under the blood. The whole center. God puts His
heart under the blood. God puts His mind under the blood. God puts His will under the blood. God writes His Word on the table
of that center's heart. That center bows in the heart
to whatever God's Word says. He believes it. He follows it. He agrees with it. He loves it. God puts the whole sinner under
the blood. He denies. He completely renounces
everything he once thought if it disagrees with God's Word.
Everything. And he desires and he begs for
and he hopes in one thing. When God puts a sinner under
the blood, that sinner begs for and hopes for one thing. This one thing consumes his heart,
it consumes his mind, and it consumes his will. This is how
I can know if God put me under the blood. Turn with me over
to Philippians chapter 3. Philippians 3, the end of verse
8 says, the very last phrase in verse 8 says, that I may win
Christ and be found in Him. That I may win Christ and be
found in Him. That's it. I mean that's it. That's all of it. That's all
of it. That's the heart, that's the
motive. You know why I want to take this table? You know what
the heart of a believer is saying when he takes this table or she
takes this table? That I may win Christ and be
found in Him. That's it. That is it. That's the all-consuming desire
of a sinner who's under the blood. In that last day, there's going
to be this last day, the only thing that a sinner under the
blood will want is to be in Christ. That's it. Certain understanding, a higher
attainment, a doctrinal position will mean nothing. It will mean
nothing. You can call that person whatever
ism or ist you want to. It will mean nothing. All that
sinner will care about is, am I in Christ? Am I in Christ? Now, am I in Christ? Am I? How can I know if I'm in
Christ? Verse 3 right here in Philippians
3 says, We are the circumcision. We're the chosen people of God. We're the ones that He placed
under the blood of Christ. And let's all read this carefully. Each of these three phrases.
Which worship God in the Spirit. You know what everybody can say
to that? Okay. We could preach that anywhere.
I could go into any church and say, which worship God in the
spirit, the true God in the spirit. Okay. Look at the next price
and rejoice in Christ Jesus. Okay. Oh, how I love Jesus. Look at
the last one. "...and have no confidence in
the flesh." I mean none. None. This is the heart that
every sinner receives who has been given to Christ. They see the truth of their own
deeds. They see it. They get it. They
understand. They start to understand exactly
why Isaiah said, from the crown of my head to the sole of my
foot, there's nothing but wounds and bruises and putrefying sores. Every good thing that I see in
myself is nothing more than a filthy rag before God. After seeing
His holiness, seeing our sin, all we can cry is this. Unclean. Isn't that right? Unclean. Verse
4 says, Though I might also have confidence in the flesh, if any
other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the
flesh, I more. Circumcised the eighth day of
the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, and Hebrew of the
Hebrews, as touching the law a Pharisee concerning zeal, persecuting
the church. Touching the righteousness which
is in the law blameless. Can we enter into what he's saying
a Person might think well I was born to two good Christian parents. That's what most everybody thinks
in this country I was born to two good Christian parents two
good fine hard-working Christian parents. I never really got into
trouble as a kid not real trouble I Was taught manners I love this
area of the country. You know what people say around
here? Yes, sir. Yes, ma'am. Thank you. Please, let me get
that door for you. I go to church. I was baptized in the church. I'm fair. I really am. I do right by people. I'm generous. I'm helpful. You need some help?
I'm helpful. We talk about whether or not
a person is worthy to take this table and the flesh says, after
a man examines himself in the flesh, he says, I'm worthy. I'm just trying to be honest.
Not trying to be proud. Just trying to be honest. I'm
worthy. I'm a good person. Compared to everybody else, if
somebody else is worthy to take the table, then so am I. I'm
just as good as everybody else. Paul said, the apostle Paul said,
that's what I thought too. Yep. That's what I thought too.
Verse seven says, but. He was always telling people
what happened to him. He said, God came to me. God showed me
the majesty of who he is. God knocked me down. You believe
Paul thanked God for knocking him off of that horse that day?
Thank God he knocked me down. He showed me the sinfulness that
I truly am. And he showed me that after all
of these self-righteous deeds are done, men and women are still
being damned. Do them. It's better to do them
than not do them. But God revealed to me that after
all of these self-righteous deeds are done, men and women are still
being damned. And the reason is because it's
only the blood of Jesus Christ that can save the sinner. Only
the blood of Jesus Christ. Verse 7, he said, But what things
were gained to me, those I counted loss for Christ. I denied all
my works. I denied all the good that I
thought I was, everything that I thought was a checkmark for
me, God revealed to me it was actually a checkmark against
me. And the reason is because not only did they not help me,
they increased my pride. That's what they did, they increased
my pride. So he says, now I count every deed I've ever done Loss. It's all loss. Verse 8, Yea,
doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of
the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord for whom I have suffered
the loss of all things. God in mercy has stripped them
from me. Stripped them all from me. I
don't have any confidence in any of them. I've suffered the
loss of all things, and do count them but dumb." That's a strong
word, isn't it? Not only are my efforts not good
enough, they're all dumb. They're all dumb. I see that
now. I see that now. I acknowledge that to be the
truth. Verse 8, He said that I may win Christ. and be found
in him, not having mine own righteousness which is of the law, but that
which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which
is of God by faith." I cannot speak for anybody else. I can't. But this is all I have. That's all I have. That is absolutely
all I have. The fact that I'm a preacher,
a pastor, that will not do me any good in the last day. Not
one ounce of good. That's not one notch on my belt. If I am not under the blood of
Christ, I don't have anything. I'm going to go meet God with
nothing. Nothing. The only thing that
causes me or you or any other sinner to have any worthiness
is the body and the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's
it. Verse 10, He said that I may
know Him. That I may know Him. If I don't
know Him, I don't have any hope. And the only way I can know Him
is if He knows me. I know Him because He first knew
me. I love Him because He first loved me. I must know, He said
in verse 10, the power of His resurrection. I must be risen
with Him. He said, I must know the fellowship
of His sufferings. Meaning, my only hope of surviving
God's punishment is if I survived it in Him, is if I suffered it
in Him. In verse 10, He said, I must
be made conformable unto His death, if by any means I might
attain unto the resurrection of the dead. What He's saying
is, my payment must be in full. It has to be completely, completely
finished. I must be clean. That's the only
way that it's possible for a soul to be saved. Under that blood. Now has God revealed that to
us? Has God revealed that to us?
Has He shown us this? Do we truly Do we bow the knee
to this all-authoritative God, this high, holy God and His Word? Do we rejoice over the fact that
Christ gave us the only thing that could save us, Himself,
His body, His blood? Do we have any confidence in
this flesh? Let me tell you why you can have
a good hope of going to heaven. It's because you're a good person.
Is that what we believe? If we don't, then we have been
given the heart and the mind and the will of a sinner who
has been plunged under the blood. Every sinner in here this morning,
every true sinner who completely renounces every goodness you
thought was in you and has only one hope in the heart for salvation. I mean one hope. The blood of
Jesus Christ. Every sinner who can say, if
God put me in Christ, I'm saved. And if God leaves me alone, I'm
damned. If Christ is all you have, I mean, if He's all you
have, then you have the only salvation that saves. The only
salvation that saves. And when you come before the
throne of God, When you come before the throne of God Almighty,
covered in the blood of the Lamb, God is going to say, worthy. Worthy is that Lamb that was
slain. When I see the blood, when I
see the blood of that perfect, perfect Lamb all over you, when
I see the blood, I'll pass over you. If that is your only hope, that's
my only hope. If that's your only hope, then
let's give Him thanks, alright? Let's give Him thanks. Let's
worship Him, honor Him. Let's remember Him in His death.