Sitting at the Masters Table

Good morning. Thank you, Tom. I really can't think of a more appropriate hymn to open this hour with. I want to try to bring a message from John chapter 12, the first couple of verses on sitting at the master's table, sitting at the master's table. By way of introduction, I'd like to ask you to hold your finger in John 12 and turn with me over to Revelation chapter Revelation chapter 19.

What we just sang that when the bride gathers at the wedding feast in heaven that the bridegroom will be feeding her and that's something that We can't understand, but whatever it means, we look forward to it. We long for that day. And our hope is right now that the Lord will send that manna down from heaven and feed us as we gather at his table here this morning. Let's go to the Lord in prayer and ask him to bless our time. Our merciful Heavenly Father, how hopeful we are this morning, this hour, that you would feed us with that bread that came down from heaven.

We know that that is the body and the blood of thy dear son, our Savior, who worked out by his perfect obedience to thee a righteousness on behalf of his people, and who made of himself a sacrifice to thee to atone for our sins or that we would be able this morning to rejoice in the body and blood of the Lord Jesus in his person and in his redemptive work. Lord, we know that you must open the windows of heaven if that sweet manna is to come down. that you must open thy word if we're going to be able to see Christ and rejoice in him, that you must open our hearts. Lord, and we know that what you open, no man can shut. Lord, we are not able to open these things, but how glad and how hopeful we are In your precious promises, we know Lord that you are faithful to your word. And we know that where two or three are gathered together in thy name, there you are in the midst of them.

Lord. Bless this hour. For Christ's sake. And for our good. We are a needy people. And we ask it in Christ's name. Amen. You have your bottles open to Revelation chapter 19. Look with me at verse 17. Let us be glad. And rejoice. And give honor to him. Now. John is looking at the gathering of the church in heaven. But this is our hope now. And the only way that we're going to be able to be glad and rejoice in heaven and honor him is if we're able to be glad and rejoice now and honor him.

John's going to go on to tell us about the bride preparing herself for this time. And that's what we're here this morning to do, to be prepared for this glorious day. For the marriage of the lamb is come and his wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white, for the fine linen is the righteousness of the saints. All to be clothed in that garment of righteousness, to be able to stand in the presence of a holy God and be worthy will be dependent upon Christ being all our righteousness.

And he saith unto me, write, blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the lamb. And he said unto me, these are the true sayings of God. The true sayings of God. What hope, what comfort there is in reading these words and knowing that God Almighty is speaking to us. And that he has called us to this place this morning that we might make ourselves ready for that marriage supper when the entire church is seated in glory. and being fed by their master.

Now, turn back with me, if you will, to John chapter 12, because this is the picture that we have in the first two verses of John chapter 12. And we know that according to Ephesians chapter two, that when the Lord Jesus ascended back into glory, That he as the living word did not return unto God void, but he accomplished the purpose for which he was sent. What was the purpose for which he was sent? To save his people.

So that his life is our life, his death is our death. His ascension back into glory according to Ephesians chapter two, The Lord tells us that we right now, right now, are in heavenly places in Christ. That we are seated positionally in the person of our Savior right now before God Almighty. And so the one that was slain before the foundation of the world is now our advocate, who became our sin bearer, is now our advocate before God.

What a glorious mystery. We don't know what heaven's gonna be like, but we know that he's gonna be there, and we know that we're going to see him as he is, We look through a glass darkly now, we see in part, we know in part, but then we shall know even as we are known and we shall be made like him. What a glorious hope. This is our hope throughout this life.

And the evidence that we have that hope is that we are waiting and watching. and that we are making ourselves ready for that day. She had made herself ready. And we know that it's the Lord that works in us, causing us to will and to do after his own good pleasure. We know it's the Lord that called us out of darkness. We know that that salvation is of him from beginning to end. But here's the believers life. This is our walk of faith. That we that we long for and look to, that great feast, that table where we'll be seated all together.

And our hope now is that the Lord would do for us what he did for those disciples on the road to Emmaus. You remember in Luke chapter 24, after the resurrection of Christ, He was walking with two of the disciples from Jerusalem to Emmaus, and they didn't know that it was the Lord. The scriptures say that the Lord had kept their eyes holden, that they did not recognize him, reminding us again that the Lord must reveal himself to us if we're to know him.

We can walk in his very presence. We know that he's here. We can be in the presence of God and not see him. The seeing eye and the hearing ear are of the Lord. Lord, enable me to see thee. When did the Lord open the eyes of these disciples on the road to Emmaus?

In the breaking of bread. They pleaded with him. He acted, the scripture says, as if he would have gone on. When they got to their house in Emmaus, the Lord said, you know, good talking to you. And he continued to go and they urged him, no, no, come in and break bread with us.

And that's the heart of every child of God. Lord, break open the bread of life. And in the breaking open and the breaking of the bread, which we're doing now, their eyes were open and they saw him. And they said, did our hearts not burn within us as he spake with us along the way? He talked to them about those things concerning himself.

But it wasn't until that they sat down at a table and the Lord broke the bread that they were able to see. Now, all of those things being said, let's look at this picture. It's what it is. It's a picture of what we've been talking about in John chapter 12.

Then Jesus, six days before the Passover, came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, which had been dead, whom he raised from the dead." Don't you love how the Holy Spirit inspires John to make an emphasis of that? He was dead, and the Lord raised him from the dead.

There they made him a supper, and Martha served, but Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table with him. Sat at the table with him. I pray that's what the Lord will enable us to do now. To sit at the table with Christ. Now he will do for us what he did for those disciples in Luke 24 that he will put in our hearts a longing for that wedding feast when we will sit at the table with him. That he will feed our hearts, our souls right now.

This is a picture of public worship. A picture also of private worship when we are able by the Spirit of God to go before the Lord in private prayer and private scripture reading and private thought. But it comes to its pinnacle in the believer's life when the whole church gathers together in worship. As important as private worship is, public worship, is more important. This is where the Lord promised to be. This is where he promised to manifest his grace and his glory. There I will meet with thee. And so we have a picture of that sitting at the Lord's table together. Lazarus was just one of them. He was just one of them.

You know, you compare what believers have when they meet together for public worship to what's being practiced in religion, and there is a stark contrast. There's a big difference in that What happens in, I hear it a lot, people come here, they come one time. There wasn't much going on, wasn't much excitement. What do you have for my children? That people want to be entertained. And that's what public worship is in many, many places, if not most places. It's nothing more than entertainment.

And Satan himself is entertaining men on their way to hell, fattening the hog for the slaughter. And the hog is so consumed with the enjoyment of the moment that he does not even give thought to what lies around the corner. That describes what happens in most religious gatherings today. who are of the flesh are not interested in those things which are done in the spirit. They have no desire for the bread that comes down from heaven. They just want to feed their flesh on the husk of this world. Entice my senses. Make me feel something. Give me something to look at. Give me something enticing to hear with my natural ears. And that's what Public worship is in so many places.

When God's people gather together, God does not fatten hogs for the slaughter. He feeds his sheep with that bread that comes down from heaven. What did David say in Psalm 23? He has prepared a table in the presence of mine enemies. And he leads us beside still waters. And he feeds us. He feeds us. He makes us, David said in Psalm 23, to lie down in green pastures. And our cup runneth over.

Goodness and mercy. Goodness and mercy, this is what the Lord was saying to the woman at the well. They that worship me must worship me in spirit and in truth. If we sit at the Lord's table, the overflowing of our cup is not gonna make a mess on the table.

We're not gonna be doing the foolishness that unbelievers do when they pretend to worship God. The Lord's going to do a spiritual work of grace in our hearts. He's gonna speak to us in a voice that's much louder than an audible voice. And we're gonna see things much more clearly than they could be seen with the physical eye. This is a miraculous work of grace that God has to do in the heart.

We look not on those things which are seen. The things which are seen are temporal. We look on those things which are not seen. For the things which are not seen are spiritual. They are eternal. We just read about what we cannot see in heaven. We cannot see ourselves in heaven in the person of the Lord Jesus. Right now in heavenly places in Christ.

But we believe these things. We believe them. God has given us the faith to see them. We see them more clearly than we see the things of our physical sight. Our physical sight can deceive us. But when the Lord shows us the truth in his word, then we know that as we just read in Revelation 19, these are the true sayings of God. And we know they're true. And we know they're infallible. We know they're inerrant. We know they're eternal. We hang the hopes of our immortal soul on the things that God has said.

What do we see in this world that we would be willing to do that with? Men do. They build their lives on sinking sand. They attach themselves to the things of this world. Here's what saving faith does, brethren. It sits. It sits. That's the word I want to emphasize in what we just read in John chapter 12, verses 1 and 2.

They're not dancing. They're not waving their hands. They're not crying out. They're not looking at videos and crosses and things to appeal to the flesh. They are sitting quietly. And God shuts their mouths and God speaks to our hearts. That's worship. That's sitting at the Lord's table. Now, who was there? Well, Lazarus. Lazarus was there, amongst others, but the emphasis is placed on Lazarus, and the emphasis is placed on the one who was dead, the one whom the Lord raised from the dead. Those are the only ones that are able to worship God.

I talk to people all the time. They think they've known God all their lives. That's way, way too long. They think there was never a time when they didn't believe. I've always believed in God. I've always believed, you know, that Jesus is the Son of God. I've never had, you know, I was taught that from a child and I've just always embraced it. I've always believed it. I fear. that person's inability to enter into worship. Lazarus's name translated means the one whom the Lord helped. And doesn't just mean that he gave him a helping hand.

When the Lord raised Lazarus from the dead, the scriptures in John chapter 11 makes an emphasis of how the Lord got word of Lazarus being sick. And the Lord said, this sickness is not unto death. And the disciples said, well, Lord, if he's sick, he'll raise again.

No, Lazarus is dead. By the time the word got to the Lord, he had already died. And the Lord tarried. He tarried there. And he said, this death is for the glory of God. And he waited four days before he came back to Bethany. And the body was already decomposing. And there was no question, there was no question that Lazarus was dead. He had no ability in and of himself to get himself out of that tomb.

I've read that there were some Jews that had some sort of superstition that the spirit hovered over a person's body for three days before it finally departed. Perhaps maybe that's why the Lord waited four days just to do away with any superstition. And the point that I want to make is that any thought that a person has the spark of life within them to exercise their free will is nothing different from that superstition that a spirit would hover over a dead body for three days.

No. No. Lazarus has no ability to raise himself from the dead. Who are those who sit at the Lord's table? Those who know that they are Lazaruses. Those who know that I was dead in my trespasses and sins, I had no ability to save myself. I had no ability to believe. I had no ability to hear. I could not see. I could not save myself. I was completely dependent upon the voice of God to call out my name and say to me, come forth. And he gets all the glory for my salvation. I didn't make a decision. I didn't perform a work. I didn't come to a conclusion. I haven't always been this way.

That's who sits in worship. A person who thinks they've always known God They're not worshiping. They'll either participate in something that I've already defined in man-made worship, or they will come under the gospel and have no interest in what's being said. Why? Because they are presuming upon God. They are presuming that God's always been there for them. He's always been merciful to them. He's always, they've always believed on him.

No, there is no spark of life. He dead. And his body stinks. And that's our condition. Every worshiper's condition. They know that there was a time when they were dead, and they know that they stunk. Everything about them. There was nothing in them that wasn't rotting and stinking. Where did this take place?

Talking about sitting at the Lord's table. May the Lord enable us right now to sit at his table and feast on that manna that comes down from heaven through faith, believing what God has revealed in his word about us, about Christ, about our salvation, It took place in Bethany.

Now, names of cities are significant in the Bible. You remember when Jacob was fleeing from his brother and they went to Bethel, the house of God, Bethel. The Lord Jesus was born in Bethlehem, Beth being house of. Bethlehem being the house of bread, the Lord Jesus being that bread from heaven. So what does Bethany mean? It means the house of affliction. It means the house of suffering. It means the house of misery. You say, well, is this Bethel? Yeah. Yeah.

We've come here today because we've been afflicted by our sin. We're in misery with ourselves. We loathe ourselves. We need Christ. We need a Savior completely outside of ourselves. We have found nothing in this world but misery. We see nothing in ourselves but sin and suffering and affliction. Lord, we need to sit at your table. We've come to this place because we are In misery of sin, we are poverty stricken, we are poor and needy people. We don't have to manipulate people to come to church, shame them, gaslight people about why they should be here.

I used to think that church attendance, and you see it differ from one person to another in the church, was dependent upon personal commitment. Some people really committed and some people were not so committed. I don't believe that anymore. It's all dependent upon need. Need, not commitment. If the windows of heaven are being opened and the bread, the manna is coming down and a man is faithful to tell me what God says and to preach Christ to me, I'll be there. I'm hungry. I need, I need that. Because apart from that, I have nothing but affliction. I have nothing but misery. I have nothing but sin. I've got to have Christ.

That's who sits. That's who sits at the Lord's table. And this happens six days. Numbers are also significant in the Bible. You see in verse one in Jesus, six days before the Passover, the Lord's going to be crucified on Passover. And so this is six days before he goes to the cross. And we know that the number six represents man. And man, at his very best state, is altogether vanity. 666 is the number of man. The sixth day of creation is when man was made.

There we are. Creatures made from dust. dependent upon God Almighty to breathe the breath of life into our nostrils. We need a sacrifice. We need a Savior. We can't atone for our own sins. We can't save ourselves. We need an advocate with God. There's another story in the Bible about a man who sat at the master's table. You remember Mephibosheth? Mephibosheth was crippled in both his legs. He couldn't walk. It happened as a result of a fall, a picture. our fall in our father Adam and how we're crippled in both our legs. We can't stand in the presence of God. Who shall stand in his holy presence?"

And Mephibosheth was hiding out in a place called Lodabar, a land of no bread. Fearing for his life, Mephibosheth was Jonathan's son. The grandson of Saul, David, has now taken the throne. And the pattern would have been that you, as a king, get rid of any threat to your throne by killing all descendants of the previous king. Mephibosheth knew that hiding out in Lodabar, the king was going to find him eventually. And David says to Ziba, his servant, is there anyone left from the household of Saul that I might show them kindness for Jonathan's sake? Mephibosheth didn't know about the covenant that Jonathan had made with David.

And Ziba said, well, there is one. There's a man by the name of Mephibosheth. He's hiding out in Lodabar. David said, what? That's him. Go get him. Go get him. Here's another glorious picture. Mephibosheth knew that his days were, his number was up. It was time for David to be rid of him.

Brought him into the king's presence. And the king looked at Mephibosheth and said, oh, Mephibosheth, Mephibosheth. Don't you know that he could see in the countenance of Mephibosheth the likeness of Mephibosheth's father, Jonathan, whom he loved and in whom he had a covenant relationship? And so it is when God looks at us He sees the likeness of his son and the covenant that he made with his son to redeem his people.

And God says to us what David said to Mephibosheth, sit down here at my table. Hide your crippled feet under my tablecloth, and you're going to eat of the king's fare the rest of your life. And Mephibosheth said, What would the king have to do with such a dead dog as I?

Why would you give me the thought? Why would you not kill me? Why would you show me such kindness? One reason, Mephibosheth. Jonathan, your father. He's your savior. I'm doing this for his sake. Because of him. We're like Mephibosheth, we're men of misery, men of corruption, men of sin, in Bethany, just men. And the Lord's fetched us to come and sit at his table. I want you to notice in our text, and I made point of this a moment ago, in verse 2, and there they made him a slipper and Martha served, but Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table.

Now private worship is critical in the spirit of God. If he's not causing us to be people of prayer and people of devotion and giving us a hunger for his word and causing us to crave after the sincere milk of the word of God so that we can't, we can't wait till once a week to eat. We've got to eat every day. You, you, you eat once a week or twice a week, you're going to be in bad shape physically. And I fear that that's the case with many who wait until public worship to, to feed on the bread of life. The Lord will draw us. In public, private worship is important. But here I think is the point that we need to hear, because I've heard it many times over the years.

I can worship God without the church. I don't need the fellowship of the saints. I've got direct access to God. I don't need a man to teach me anything. I've got the unction of the Holy Spirit. I don't need a pastor. I don't need the fellowship of other believers or the encouragement or prayer of them. I can make it on my own.

Well, that's not what God says. The Lord likened his church to a body. Now let me ask you this, what part of your body don't you need? Or what part of your body, here's a more appropriate way to ask that question, what part of your body could say to the rest of your body, I don't need you? Is your hand gonna say to the rest of your body, I don't need you? Just cut me off and let me over here by myself. Is your eye gonna say to the rest of your body, I don't need you?

I mean that illustration is so graphic, it's so clear, so simple. That's what the Lord's saying about the church. Lazarus was one of them. We need each other. We need to pray for a man that God has called that he will be able to feed us. Turn with me to Hebrews chapter 10.

Here's what the Lord says about this. Hebrews chapter 10, verse 24, let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering. For he is faithful that promised. What is the profession of our faith? Christ is all. Salvation is of the Lord. It is finished. The Lord Jesus is the profession of our faith. His glorious person and his accomplished work is the one we trust. and let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is.

Oh, there were people back then that were saying, I don't need the church. I don't need the body. I don't need a preacher. But exhort one another. That word exhort means to encourage one another. exhort one another and so much more as you see the day approaching the closer we get the more the more we grow in grace and the knowledge of Christ the more we see our need for the body of Christ and that we're just one at the table.

We're just one at the table. They continued daily in one accord in the temple and from house to house. That's what it says about that early church in Acts chapter two. They've gathered together. You know the word church means a gathering. It means, it doesn't just mean called out of darkness into his light. It's not just a reference to the, to the, effectual call of the spirit bringing us to faith in Christ, it's a gathering, it's a calling out to a gathering, to an assembly. And how often we read about the church in the scriptures. If we're off by ourselves, we're not part of that gathering.

And they continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine, in fellowship, in the breaking of bread and in prayer together. Lazarus was one at the table. I just want to close with this last point. Who was it that did the serving? Notice in verse two, there they made him a supper and Martha served. Martha served. Martha's name means once was a rebel, one who was a rebel. That's what Martha's name means.

Now, what is the point here? Well, Paul said to the church at Corinth, we preach not ourselves. but Christ Jesus the Lord and ourselves, your servants for Jesus' sake. A gospel preacher is nothing but a servant, a foot washer, a table waiter, a lowly servant. Love to be able to preach in such a way that all you could see and all you could hear was Christ. Martha, who once was a rebel, is now a servant. I've heard men preach, you've heard men preach, and you've come away from hearing them preach With this feeling, if I had it together as well as you do, I wouldn't have the problems I have. I wouldn't have the needs I have.

You need to hear the gospel from a sinner to sinners. You need to hear the gospel from a beggar who knows where to find bread. It's been defined that way, preaching is one beggar telling other beggars where to find bread. I like what Scott Richardson said, a preacher is a nobody who tells everybody about somebody who can save anybody. What a great description. of what preaching is.

I've sat under men that promote themselves. I've sat under men who make me feel like you may have it all together, but I don't. Martha's serve. Peter's serve. Simon, lovest thou me, feed my sheep. And when Peter, you're gonna deny me three times, but when you're converted, teach my sheep.

In other words, teach them from your own experience with sin, what it is to come to the Lord's table and to feast on that bread that comes down from heaven. This is what it is. to be glad and rejoice at the master's table. And if we can do it now, in part, if we can do it now, one crumb at a time, like that Syrophoenician woman, yes, Lord, I'm a dog, but the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from the master's table. Then we'll have the hope that one day, one day, will feast at that table of the bridegroom. All right, let's take a break.

Sitting at the Masters Table

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Sitting at the Masters Table

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