That's excellent. My role, my refuge, my peace
in blood and righteousness. Leave it to Horatius Bonar or
Isaac Watts or Augustus to write something worth singing. Now
back to Luke 22. Luke 22, as you know, we've been studying
through the Gospel of Luke. We did not finish chapter 21
Sunday morning, but we'll pick that up on Sunday
morning, Lord willing. Tonight, we're going to deal
with chapter 22, because I wanted us to partake of the table tonight. It's been a while. I like to
do it on Wednesday, because it's mostly God's people, believers,
and they make a special effort to get here. All right, verse 1 says, Now
the feast of unliving bread drew nigh, which is called the Passover
feast. And I remind you that all of
the gatherings of people, all of the things our Lord instructed
for them to do in worship were feasts. Every one of them. Feasts. Feasts at the tabernacle,
feasts at the unleavened bread, feasts, feasts, feasts. And so
therefore, while it is serious, it's not, shouldn't be too somber. A feast is not. a morose or melancholic
time, is it? Have you ever been at a feast
where everybody was sitting around down in the mouth? Not at all. But it's a glad time. So it's
called the Feast of the Unleavened Bread, which is also called the
Passover. Unleavened Bread, we'll look
at in a moment. Passover six times is mentioned
in the next few verses. Six times we read it. The Passover. Our Lord kept talking about Passover. Where is the Passover found in
the Old Testament? Exodus. Somebody got that. Watch
out. Let's go back there. Like I said, I ask these questions.
Folks, this is fundamental. This is fundamental. This is where it all starts. Commit this to memory, okay,
Exodus 12, so that somebody has to give a reason for the hope
that's in you. Let's go to Exodus 12 and I'll
show you. This is where the Lord set this
thing called the Passover. This is where he set forth the
Passover. Now, in chapter 11, I need to
turn there myself. In chapter 11, look at this. And there's no way that an honest
person could look at this and not see what the Lord is saying.
Exodus 11, verses 5 through 7. All the firstborn. Verse 4. Verse 4. Moses said, Thus saith
the Lord. Now, who is the Lord? That's
right. Who's the Lord? Jesus Christ. Is He alive then? Why, He sure
is. Who's the Lord Moses is talking
about? Who talked to Moses at the burning bush? Who put Moses
in the cliff of the rock? Who spoke to Moses? The Lord
Jesus Christ. All right? That's the Lord. Make
no mistake about it. He's the same yesterday, today,
when Paul wrote that, and forever. Christ. All right? The Lord said,
look at it, verse four, about midnight will I go into the midst
of Egypt. The Lord Jesus Christ, every
single bodily appearance of God. Every time God spoke to a human
being, it was Jesus Christ. In Him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead by the Lamb. Jacob, Moses, Abraham, all of
them who heard God speak and God appeared to, it was Christ.
Right? Now look at this. He said, I'm
going to go into Egypt. Verse 5, And all the firstborn
in the land of Egypt shall die. The Lord Jesus Christ walked
through Egypt and killed the firstborn child and beast in
every Egyptian household whether it was a one-month-old baby or
a twenty-month-old son. Isn't that shocking? That's sad. You see, this is the Christ that
this world hasn't a clue about. It's another Jesus that man's
picking up. Is that not right? Do you believe
this? That was the Lord Jesus Christ, and He said, I'm going
to kill. Now look, read on, verse 5. Everything
shall die, from Pharaoh that sitteth on the throne, even unto
the firstborn of the servants that is behind them, Neal, and
the beasts. And there shall be a great cry
throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there was none like it
nor shall be like it anymore. But against any of the children
of Israel shall not a dog move his tongue. Read on. Against man or beast, that you
may know how that the Lord the Lord Jesus Christ doth put a
difference between the Egyptians and Israel. Now how can you misconstrue that?
What is that? What divine discrimination, election? Is it not? By what was the difference? The Egyptians were sinful. rotten,
no good, pagan, idolatrous people. What about the Israelites? Oh,
well, they were nice and awful, rotten. You see, they got out
in the wilderness a little while later, and they didn't look any
different than the Egyptians. What was the difference the Lord
put between the Egyptians and the Israelites? What was it that
the Lord saw that kept him from slaying those no good Israelites? Chapter 12, all right? Chapter
12. Let's read now. I may make a few comments in
a minute, but let's read verse 13. Now the Lord spake unto Moses
and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, This month shall be unto
you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of
the year to you. Speak ye unto all the congregation
of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall
take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their
fathers, a lamb. Or it happens, if the household be too little
for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next unto his house
take it according to the number of souls. Every man according
to his eating shall make your account for the lamb. That is,
everybody must be accountable. Read on. Your lamb shall be without
blemish of male of the first year, that is, in its prime.
You take it out from the sheep, from the goats, right from the
midst of the flock. You shall keep it up until the
fourteenth day of the same month, that is, so that everyone could
observe that without a doubt, this lamb is without spot on
heaven. And if you're with me reading
this, you should be smiling by now. of the congregation of Israel
shall kill it. All of them shall kill it in
the evening. And they shall take of the blood of that lamb and
strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door posts of
the houses wherein they shall eat it. The dwellings. The place
where they are found. Their refuge. And they shall
eat the flesh, eat that lamb, not just strike the blood, but
eat the flesh of that lamb. And that night, roast with fire
an unleavened bread, and with bitter herbs they shall eat it.
Don't eat it raw, eat not of it raw, nor sodden at all with
water, not watered down, but roast with fire, head, legs,
pertinence thereof, the whole thing. Not part, but in whole. And you shall let nothing of
it remain until the morning. That which remaineth you shall
burn with fire. There's not going to be anything
left over. Thus shall you eat it with your
loins girded, your shoes on your feet, your staff in your hand. Eat it now. It's the Lord's Passover. For I will pass through the land
of Egypt this night. I will smite all the firstborn
in the land of Egypt, man and beast, against all the gods or
rulers of Egypt. I will execute judgment. I am
the Lord. I kill, I make alive. 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 flag shall not be upon
you to destroy you when I smite the land of Egypt. And this shall be unto you for
a memorial." You're going to remember this, he said. And you'll
keep it a feast to the Lord throughout your generation. You'll keep
it a feast by an ordinance forever. Seven days shall you eat unleavened
bread. Even the first days you'll put
away leaven out of your house. No leaven. Whosoever eateth unleavened
bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall
be cut off. Verse 17, you shall observe the feast of unleavened
bread. For in this selfsame day have
I brought your armies out of the land of Egypt. Therefore,
shall you observe this day in your generation by boredness
for ever. Now do you know what it was that
made a difference between the Egyptians and the children of
Israel? What was it? What was it? What was it? Look at Army drill
sergeant. I didn't hear you. We're going to shout it someday.
Blood! When I see the blood, I'll pass
over you. Pass over. The Passover. I could quit right now, and that's
all that needs to be said. And what makes the difference
between God's people, God's elect, and the rest of the world is
the particular redemption or the blood applied to the souls
of God's people. It wasn't on the houses of the
Egyptians or God would have passed over. Nor was the love upon them,
but the wrath of the Lord Jesus Christ. Was it not? But the difference between the
two was in the blood and the blood alone. It was in the choice
of God and the blood of that sacrifice. And that's the gospel. That's
our hope. We sang that song about Horatio.
Mine is the sin. Thou the sacrifice. Your blood, your righteousness.
It's all my hope. It's all my hope. That's what makes the difference.
Who maketh thee the difference? that Lord Jesus Christ, because
He died for you. God has chosen the people, gave
them to Christ. Christ came to die for them,
live for them. And this is what the Holy Spirit
teaches them. It's the blood that make atonement
for the Son. All right, and He passes over
us in judgment. And this is the Passover. And
this is the table. Our Lord said, do this forever.
Now, they didn't actually, we don't kill any more lambs, do
we? Christ came and He offered that one true sacrifice, the
substance, not the shadow, not the type, not the picture, but
the actual Lamb. That's what John said that day,
Behold the Lamb of God. There's our Passover Lamb. That's
what John said that day. There's our Passover Lamb. And
Christ kept telling His disciples for three years, I must suffer.
Ought not Christ to suffer? because he's our lamb. And Christ came and he lived,
established that righteousness, and died to pay the penalty of
our sin. The soul that sinneth must surely
die, and Christ died in our stead, like Isaac's ram. All right, now in our text, Luke
22. Go back there. So the Passover. which is mentioned so many times. That's what the Passover is.
If somebody asks you, and young people, I hope you're paying
attention, because that's what Moses, that's what the Lord said
to tell Moses, or what the Lord told Moses to tell children.
When your children ask you what this means, you tell them, you'll
be able to tell them. What is this all about? What's
this table all about? Go back to Exodus 12. Let's show them. This is a picture. We're not
killing lambs, but this wine and this blood represent the
Lamb of God, Christ. Alright, verses 2 through 6 is
where Satan entered into Judas. We'll not read that again. It's just as interesting that
he covenanted for money to betray Christ. Our Lord covenanted with
his Father without price. And I want it all to justify
us. Well, verse 7. Then came the day of unleavened
bread when the Passover must be killed. The Passover must
be killed. Christ came to live and to die. Christ came to die. That's why
he came. He came to die. For this hour
I came, he said, to die. The Lamb of God. And he sent
Peter and John to say, go and prepare us the Passover that
we may eat. Passover. Go and prepare. Just
as I, stand before you tonight and try to prepare for you something
to eat. That's what the Lord told these
two to do. Go prepare us Passover that we
may eat. That's what His other shepherds
are called to do, to feed, to flock, read on. They said unto
Him, verse 9, Where? Where wilt thou that we prepare?
Where would you have us to go? Read on. And he said unto them,
Behold. Now every time, we don't say
that. When we're speaking, we don't
say, Behold. Our Lord said this quite often.
Quite often. Old Testament ending. Behold. It's kind of like saying, now
you listen. Or listen very carefully. Listen
now. Behold. Watch this. Because what he's about to say
is amazing. What he does, everything he says
should be amazing. It should fill us with wonder.
It should cause us to sit up. And David says, Selah, quite
often in the psalm, like a musical pause. I mean, you stop and think
of that. Behold, read on. Now, all that
he says here is absolute, as if he had already given orders
beforehand. And he had. Where do you want
us to go prepared? Where shall we go? Behold, read
on, when you're entered into the city, there shall a man meet
you. Somebody's going to meet you.
Well, how do I explain it? I'm going to have a pitcher of
water. Read on. Bearing a pitcher of water. Now,
men didn't carry water. Men didn't carry water. But this
woman's job. Remember the woman at the well,
going to the marijuana? Men just didn't do that. Well,
here this man is. I don't know who this man
was, but he's sitting in the house. He's an innkeeper, evidently. And, you know, he's got all his
turbans and a wife, perhaps. And he's sitting there and he
says, we need some water. Well, they all jump up. He says,
well, I feel compelled to do it myself. I'll do it. You've never done it before.
I want to do it today. He got this picture and went
and got some water and look at it. It says, read on. A man shall
meet you bearing a pitcher of water. Follow him into the house
where he entereth in. Entereth in. Just walk right
in. There's a man gonna meet you.
Walk right into his house and you shall say. You don't ask
him, remember? King never asked. Christ never asked anybody anything,
ever, to do his service. They never asked. None of God's
apostles or prophets ever asked one person for one thin dime
or one stick of bread or drink of water. When they did, like
Elijah, it was in the form of a command. Remember Elijah to
the widow? Give me something to drink. But,
but, but, but, I said, give me something. Give me a cake of
bread. Right? Because the Lord has already
prepared the heart of the people to receive and to give and so
forth. What I'm trying to point out is not the authority of the
man, but the authority of our Lord. The Lord prepares all things,
all things are made ready. Even those who are not his people. There's no indication this man
was a believer, Stan. Yet he did the king's bidding
that he did exactly what the king told him to do. He even
had these people in his house. Opened up his house to a bunch
of a motley crew. All right? And we never hear
from him again. All right, the master saith unto thee, now here's
what you'll tell him, the master saith unto thee, where's the
guest chamber where I shall eat the Passover with my disciples?
I will, I shall, you shall, I have and therefore you shall and he
will and therefore we shall. Well, what are we going to do?
Where are we going to go? How are we going to do this? Are
you going to make a way? Now folks, this applies to every
facet of our lives. God's people are not beggars
on this planet. We're kings and priests. Lame furniture exists for John
Sheehan. Do you believe that? Behold. Don't ask for a job. Behold. I've done all things,
freedom. And he says, he'll say unto you,
the master say unto thee, where's the guest chamber? And he shall
show you a large upper room furnace. There make ready. There make
ready. So this, he talks about a place
prepared. And I could not help but think
of when our Lord said, I go and prepare a place for you. The
good man come to have it. Our Lord bearing a pitcher of
wine. in which place we're guests.
He'll show us into a upper room, a large upper room, where all
things are made ready. That's what our Lord did for
us. All things have been prepared.
You see, Christ was slain in time, yet He was the Lamb slain
before the world began. We believe in time, yet it is
already predetermined. We call upon him, yet he'd already
called us saints to begin with. Large upper room. Verse 13. And
they went and found it was just like he said it would be. Was there any doubt? Now folks,
This is just Luke 22, 13, just a little verse of scripture in
passing perhaps, but this is a great verse for great peace
because you're going to find everything as He said unto you. Read it again with me now.
And they went and they found as He said unto Everything our Lord, let me find
somebody that's getting a hold of it, everything our Lord said,
you're going to find it to be just like He said it is. And
if we just trust Him, if we just wait, behold, you're going to
find it's just like He said it would be. Just wait, in patience,
possess your souls, He said, just a few Huh? Verses before
that. Possess your soul. Hold on here.
I'm in charge. I'm doing it. Just wait. Now
go, and you're going to find it just like I said. What do
you think of this talking point? Here comes this man. Should we
tell him? We don't even know him. You know, I've never seen
him before. The Master said, oh, come right in. But yes, up here. Set up your thing, go ahead and
do what you need to do. My name is, I know you. Behold, it is justice he said
it would be. We're going to look back. And
faith, this is what faith does now. Christ said, if you believe,
you see the glory of God. We just believe. You see the glory of God. God
honored that faith. And someday we will. We'll look
back and just marvel at it. It was just like he said. Why
couldn't I believe him then? Well, I've got to give us faith. Give us faith. Just must receive
faith. You're going to find it as he
said always. When the hour was come, he sat down and the twelve
apostles with him. He sat down and the twelve apostles
with him, seated with Christ. What a place, what a time, when
the hour was come. And he said the other day in
verse fifteen, and I can't say this like he said it, The margin
says, I heartily desire. We can't say anything like the
Lord said. You know what? No man spake like this man. Charlie,
if the Lord spoke one of these verses to you, you'd hear it
for the first time. It doesn't matter how many times
you've heard a man preach it or read it yourself. It really
does not bear its full meaning or its full weight or carry home
to the heart. But if the Lord now says it. Oh, we're going to hear him speak.
He said with desire, I have desired to eat this Passover with you
before I suffer. I've heartily desired to eat
this Passover with you before I suffer. For I say unto you,
I will not eat any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the
kingdom of God." The fulfillment of this supper. Now, there's two suppers, Ed. The actual Passover, when Christ
went to Calvary. And then there's the marriage
supper of the Lamb. Same elements are present, same
people too. Christ and His disciple. Read
on. He said, I'll not eat any more
eat thereof until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God. And he
took the cup and gave thanks and said, take this. Divide it
among yourselves. In other words, every one of
you, eat it, drink it yourself. Among yourselves. Nobody can
feed this to you. Now, I labor this point because
it needs to be understood. Don't be, let us not be ignorant,
as some are. If you'll turn on your TV, if
you'll watch some of these ceremonies in Catholicism and Episcopalians
and so forth, where they're doing so-called communion. You'll notice
who it is that is giving the bread and the wine. It's a priest,
so-called. A rogue homosexual is probably
who it is. But anyway, he's, he and I'm,
is that truth? Am I being too hard? He himself
is administering the cup. They're not, people aren't laying
hold on the cup. Nobody's touching the cup. Watch what he said. Nobody's laying hold on that
cup and taking it themselves. That man's doing it. Nobody's
taking the bread he puts away from that cup. Is that not significant? That's exactly what they teach,
is that they administer salvation. The church, the priests, and
so forth. But God's people now got to take Christ Himself. If
you eat not, Christ said, if you eat not my flesh and drink
not my blood, you have no part in it. Every man for himself.
I can't think this bread is to eat nor he meant. Right? We got
to lay hold of Christ ourself. Mom can't do it. Dad can't do
it for the children. We have to eat Christ ourself. Kingdom of God shall come. So it says he sat down, the disciples
with him, and he said, I won't do this again until it's fulfilled
in the kingdom. Now the scripture says we are
seated with Christ right now. That's what it says. We're seated
with Christ in the heaven. In other words, representatively, As he is, so are we. Christ is at the right hand of
the majesty on high right now. How is it? Acceptable. How is
it? Holy, without blame, unapprovable
in God's sight. How is it? The well-beloved Son
of God. How is it? At peace with God. So are we. We're seated with
Christ in him. Just like that Old Testament
priest went into the tabernacle of old with the names of God's
people on his breastplate, engraved on his hands, scripture said,
on his shoulders, on his miter. That's all a type of picture
of the Lord Jesus Christ who did what he did on Calvary Creek
for his people. With our names, that darn male
pop. Lewis! Properly, Paul was on
the heart, breastplate, carrying me on his shoulders, in his mind
of the Lord Jesus Christ, when he went to Calvary's tree, he
said, Father, forgive Darnell for his sins. Hold me accountable. Then when Christ went into glory,
the Father accepted him, he accepted Louis Paul. Every person that believes in
your name, in the heart, shoulders, and mind of the Lord Jesus Christ,
right now, right now, as He is, so are we. Do you believe that?
There is no peace of mind, heart, life, without peace. But if you
have it, there is perfect peace. Perfect peace. Nothing moves
and nothing harms us while we trust in Him. Whatever happens,
behold, we're seated in Him. But now someday, we will actually,
we will actually be seated with Him, someday, in reality, physically,
physically. We are going to be seated with
the Lord Jesus Christ at that marriage supper of the Lent,
actually seated with him. Let me ask you something. Do you eat dinner often with
other people perhaps? Is there anyone you especially
enjoy eating with? Anyone you expect to enjoy eating
with. Someone that you greatly admire. Someone who may have, to you,
a lovely character who's very interesting. You can have an engaging conversation
with this person. This person is very knowledgeable.
You like to listen to them talk. I'm going to sit down with him. You
don't sit with him. Who? Him. You know him, don't
you? Huh? You know, often I sit, what,
let me use this as an illustration. I've been, I've been many times
this has happened, but I've been in the company of, I'm not ashamed
to admit, it's my passion. This is a man that I heartily
enjoy sitting at the table with and listening to. But I've been
there, sat there at the table with him and other people there,
and I hear them talk and talk and talk, just everybody talking
and talking and talking. I think everybody should shut
up a little bit, we might glean some wisdom from somebody who's
got something worth saying. That's our problem, we talk too
much. Well, there's not going to be
much talking at this stage. I can guarantee you that. When
we sit with him, the rest of us are just men, but now when
we sit down with him, every mouse can be stopped. Listen to what he has to say. And we thought we knew something,
but in real life, I know nothing. Our words will be few. That's
what exactly what Scripture says now. God is in heaven, thou upon
earth, therefore let thy word be few. We're going to be seated
with him. Isn't that going to be glorious
someday? Maybe that's why there's going to be silence in heaven
in the space of 30 minutes, Scripture says. We're going to hear him
for the first time. Sit with him. Listen to him. And we're going to take this
same tape. Right here. Same elements. We're going to
take this same, very same table. And people, when we bite into
that cracker, we're going to know. For the first time. If we moved out
now, if we could enter into this now, we would be, well, we'd
enter in. But then, we'll know. We bite
into that cracker. Oh, thank you, Lord. This is
your body. Drink that wine. Thank you for
the blood shed at Passover. May the Lord make it so for each
one of us. All right. Verse 19. And he took bread and
gave thanks and breaking and gave unto them, saying, This
is my body, which is given to you. This do the remembrance
of me. Brethren, let's serve the free
at last.