All right, if you would, open
your Bibles with me to Exodus chapter 12. Exodus, the 12th
chapter. I am happy to report to you that
Ken and Joyce were successfully married yesterday and hope that they enjoy a good time
together. In case you've missed it, there's
a church directory in the vestibule if you need to make any changes
to your information or your family's information, you wanna check
and make sure it's all right. We'll give it a couple more weeks
and then print an updated version for everyone. Exodus chapter
12, we're gonna read the first 14 verses. And the Lord spake unto Moses
and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, this month shall be unto
you the beginning of months. It should be the first month
of the year to you, speaking unto all the congregation of
Israel, saying in the 10th day of this month, they shall take
to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers,
a lamb for an house. And 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 the souls. Every man according
to his eating shall make your count for the lamb. Your lamb
should be without blemish, a male of the first year, You should
take it out from the sheep or from the goats, and you should
keep it up until the 14th day of the same month. And the whole
assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the
evening. And they shall take of the blood
and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post
of the houses, wherein they shall eat it. And they shall eat the
flesh in that night, roast with fire and unleavened bread, and
with bitter herbs they shall eat it. Eat not of it raw, nor
sodden at all with water, but roast with fire, his head with
his legs and with the pertinence thereof. And you shall let nothing
of it remain until the morning. And that which remaineth of it
until the morning, you shall burn with fire. And thus shall
you eat it, with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and
your staff in your hand. And you shall eat it in haste.
It is the Lord's Passover. And 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. And 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. And this day
shall be unto you for a memorial, and you shall keep it a feast
to the Lord throughout your generations. He should keep it a feast by
an ordinance forever. We'll end our reading there.
All right, let's all stand as Chris leads us in singing our
call to worship. of him who more than paid my
debt. Remember, cry upon the tree,
and there'll be mercy full to all. How that Jesus bled in this poor
guilty sinner's stead. You're your anchor for me In
His own body on the tree ? With righteousness we run ? ?
And by His blood my pardon borne ? ? So that His righteousness
my being ? ? Bow to me ? ? I plead the merit
of the blood ? ? From Jesus Christ, the Son of God ? ? The sinner's
substitute ? All right, if you would at this
time take your hymnal and turn it to 132, he lives. One, three,
two, he lives. I serve a risen Savior, He's
in the world today. I know that He is living, whatever
men may say. I see His hand of mercy, I hear
His voice of cheer. And just the time I need Him,
He's always near. He lives, He lives, Christ Jesus
lives today. He walks with me and talks with
me, a long life's ne'er away. He left, He left salvation to
impart. You ask me how I know He lives. He lives within my heart. In all the world around me, I
see His loving care. Though my heart grows weary,
I never will despair. I know that He is leading through
all the stormy blare. The day of His appearing will
come at last. He lives! He lives! Christ Jesus lives today. He walks with me and walks with
me. A long lost narrow way He lives,
He lives Salvation to impart You ask me how I know He lives
He lives within my heart Rejoice, rejoice, O Christian Lift up
your voice and sing Eternal Hallelujah to Jesus Christ the King, the
hope of all who seek Him, the hope from all who find, the love
who is so loving, so good and kind. He lives, He lives, Christ
Jesus lives today. He walks with me and talks with
me along life's narrow way. He lives, He lives, salvation
to impart. You ask me how I know He lives. He lives within my heart. If you would, now open your Bibles
with me to Mark chapter 14. We've been going through the
book of Mark in our Bible classes, and I came to this passage and
determined that instead of bringing it in the Sunday school time,
I'd bring a message from this this morning, and then we can
observe the Lord's table afterward. I didn't feel right teaching
through this and then not observing the Lord's table, so I thought
this would be a good time for us to do that. Mark 14, we'll
begin our reading in verse 12. 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 one of the
house, The master saith, where is the guest chamber, where I
shall eat the Passover with my disciples? And he shall 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 12, 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? And he answered and said unto
them, it is one of the 12 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 and blessed and break it. and gave to them
and said, take, eat, this is my body. And he took the cup
and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them and they all
drank of it. And he said unto them, this is
my blood of the New Testament, which is shed for many. Verily
I say unto you, I will drink no more of the fruit of the vine
until the day that I drink it new in the kingdom of God. We'll end our reading there.
Let's bow before our Lord together in prayer. Our Father, we're so thankful
that by your mercy and grace that you have allowed us to be
here this morning, to hear your word opened and read and preached
to us, to be able to come before you in prayer, thanksgiving,
to be able to sing the praises of our dear Savior. And Father,
we're especially thankful that this morning we can partake of
the Lord's table. And father, I cause, I beg of
you that you'd cause us to, as we take this table to truly be
able to remember our Lord Jesus Christ, to remember his awful
bloody sacrifice, where he offered himself to God to put away the
sin of his people. Father, we're amazed. absolutely,
utterly amazed that the Son of God would stoop so low and suffer
so greatly to save wretched vile worms like we are. Father, I
thank you. And we praise you. We praise
you from the heart. Not as you ought to be praised,
but Father, we do. We do praise you from the heart. And we ask that you would accept
us, that you'd hear our prayers, that you'd hear our cries, that
you would see us only in our Lord Jesus Christ and accept
us in him for his sake. Father, we thank you for a place
that you've given to us where we can meet together in peace
and unity with one accord, with one heart to hear a word from
thee and to worship your son. Father, I pray you would preserve
it and protect it as a place where we can come and hear your
gospel preached, and you would give each of us the wisdom and
the grace to do what we can to preserve it and protect it and
to promote the unity and love that we have here. And Father,
for those who are sick and afflicted of our number, those that we
know of here and in other places, and those that we don't, Father,
we lift them up to thee. We pray especially for our brother
Gary Hoback. He's going through this recovery
and difficult time. Father, that you would be with
him in a special way, that you'd touch and heal his body, be with
him and his family. Father, give us the grace to
wait on thee and trust thee, knowing that thou doest all things
well. We ask you continue to be with Novi as she heals. We're
thankful for the good report. Father, pray you continue to
be with her. Others that need you especially, Father, you know
the need of all your sheep, and you're able, and we hold them
up to thee. Now, Father, all these things
we ask, and we give thanks in that name which is above every
name, the precious name of our Lord Jesus Christ, amen. I've titled the message this
morning, The Lord of the Passover. As you see this story unfold
before us, you'll see that Christ is the, in every way, the Lord
of the Passover. Now this is going to be the last
Passover. The Lord and his disciples have
gathered together. I don't know how many Passovers
it's been from the first one, but this is the last one. Begin
in verse 12. This is the first thing I want
us to see. I want us to see Jesus Christ, the King. Verse 12, And
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 should go
in, say ye to the good men 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.
Now, wherever the Lord is, how far he is outside of the city,
the disciples want, you know, it's time for the Passover. We
must observe this Passover, eat the Passover. And he sent him
into the city. to meet a man that they didn't
know, that they'd never met before, and the only way they had to
identify him is he's carrying a pitcher of water. Now, how
did the Lord know there was gonna be a man carrying a pitcher of
water down the street right at that time? How did he know the
good man of the house wouldn't decide to send a woman to fetch
the water that day? How did he know the good man
of the house was gonna send a man? And how did he know when this
man was going to leave the house at just the right time? You know,
if he started to leave the house and carrying his pitcher of water,
he thought, oh, I forgot to get my wallet. And he went back to
get his wallet. Well, he had left too late and would have
missed the disciples altogether. How do you know how fast the
disciples were gonna walk? Did they get there just the right
time and meet this man on the street? I mean, you just go on
and on and on. You see what I'm asking, don't
you? The Lord knew all that because he ordained it from all of eternity. It wasn't that he's a fortune
teller and he could tell this was gonna happen. He's the one
that ordained it from all of eternity. And wouldn't you know
it, the disciples came to town and met a man bearing a pitcher
of water and they followed him to the house. And then when they
get to the house, they say to the good men of the house, where's
the guest chamber? We're gonna prepare the Passover
to eat with the master. Where's the guest chamber? Now,
that sounds pretty bold, doesn't it? I just show up at your house
and invite myself into your house. Where's the dining room? What
are you having for dinner tonight? But the disciples found not only
did the good men of the house not think that they were rude,
they were welcome. And he had the guest chamber
already prepared for the Lord to use to observe the Passover. And from what I read, when it
says a large and furnished room, it means it was a very nice room,
a very comfortable room. It had tapestries and hanging
up and comfortable chairs and all these places for them to
sit. And the owner of this house had prepared that room for a
man to use that he didn't even know was coming. Now only our
God could do that. Only He can arrange these events
of providence because this is His purpose. And one of the clearest
displays of the sovereignty of our Lord is He is sovereign over
the free will thoughts and actions of men. Someone decides that
they want to do this, you know why they decided they want to
do that? Because the Lord determined before for it to be done. Isn't
that what Peter told us happened at the cross? Those men at the
cross, in our Lord's mock trial and at the cross, they did everything
their wicked hearts wanted to do. But they did everything the
Lord determined before to be done. Now they wanted to do it,
as far as they knew, this is what I want to do, this is my
free will choice, I'm gonna do this. But they did what the Lord
determined before to be done, because our God is sovereign
over everything. Everything is going to happen
exactly the way that he determined for it to happen from before
creation for this one purpose. So that the people that he chose
under salvation will be saved. That they'll hear of the Lord
Jesus Christ and believe on him. You just can't take this thing
of our God's sovereignty too far. In what's getting ready
to happen in two days, the death of our Savior. is gonna happen
at the exact appointed place at the exact appointed time.
A time determined before the foundation of the world. How
many times did our Lord say, mine hour's not yet come? Mine
hour's not yet come. Now the hour's come. The hour
that's been purposed before time began. And the method of our
Lord's death was not an accident either. I mean, you know, the
Romans are in charge of this whole area But they also let
people kind of rule their own selves and their own customs
and things, as long as it didn't interfere with Rome collecting
their taxes. But the Jews' form of capital punishment was stoning. Why didn't they stone the Lord?
The Roman form of capital punishment was crucifixion. Well, why did
the Roman form take precedent over the Jewish form of capital
punishment? To fulfill the scriptures. This
was the eternal purpose of God. Deuteronomy 21, 23 says, he that
is hanged on the tree is accursed of God. Whoever it is that's
crucified is accursed of God. Christ must die on the cross
showing us he's bearing the curse of the sin of his people and
putting that curse away. This is all God's purpose. The
most minute detail of things that you would never even notice
or ordained of God before time began. And that's such a good
thing for us to remember. It's just as true today in our
lives as it was true in the days of the patriarchs, as it was
true in the lives of the apostles and the disciples, and of our
Lord Jesus' life. It's just as true in our life
that every event I mean, things big, things small, things that
we notice, things that we don't notice, are all ordained of our
God because he's sovereign over all. And we're real happy when
something happens that we like, aren't we? Oh, God was so good,
God purpose, I'm so thankful. We sing a little bit different
tune when something painful happens to us, doesn't it? But you take
comfort in this, when those things happen, those dark, dark days
of trial and pain and doubt and fear. This was ordained by our
father from before time began. And he's working it together
so that our end will be glorious. When we're brought together to
be with our savior, and it's gonna happen because our savior
is sovereign king over everything. And here's a really good example
of what I'm talking about, verse 17. And in the evening he cometh
with the 12 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 saying to him one by one, is it I? And another said, is
it I? There's evidence of a believer
when the Lord says one of you is going to betray me a believer
The new man sees the old man, you know, only the new man can
see the sin of the old man and make me think Yeah, I do that
Lord is it I? Keep me from doing it. Is it
I I know myself enough to be afraid of this. Is it I? And
he answered and said unto them. It's one of the twelve that dippeth
with me in the dish the son of man indeed goeth as it's written
of him. But woe to that man by whom the
son of man is betrayed. Good word for that man if he'd
never been born." Now, our Lord knew that Judas was gonna betray
him. He always knew who it was that was gonna betray him. And
again, not because he's a fortune teller, not because he could
look down through the telescope of time and tell what's gonna
happen. Judas was gonna betray the Lord because the Lord ordained
him to betray the Lord. But it's still Judas' fault. It must happen, the Lord said.
He must go as it's written of him. This is God's eternal purpose. He wrote about it in the Old
Testament, told us that this was gonna happen. But what of
that man that did it? What of that man that betrayed
the Savior? The Lord knew exactly who it
was that was gonna betray him. And he wasn't hiding. He wasn't
hiding. He was sitting at the table with
the man. sitting at the table with him. The Lord knew Judas
had already gone out and made an agreement to betray the Lord.
And you think of this, Judas went out, went to the chief priests
and the Pharisees and he made this agreement, you're gonna
pay me X amount of dollars and I'm gonna betray the Lord to
you with hate in his heart. And then he went back and observed
the Passover with the Lord. He came to this solemn religious
meeting, you know. I mean, we're a mess. I mean, you know, when you talk
about Judas, listen, we're not being, you know, so looking down
our nose at Judas that we're so much better, because we're
not. The only reason I'm not Judas and you're not Judas is
God's grace. That's right. That's the only
reason. Our Lord knew who was going to betray him because he
ordained it. And he wasn't hiding. because his death on the cross
in just two days is gonna happen because it's his will. It's the
will of God, but it's the will of the Lord Jesus too, because
the Lord Jesus is God. This is his will coming to pass. It has to be his will. No one
could take the Lord and take his life away from him unless
it was his will. The only way somebody can take
his life from him, how did he say? I lay down my life for the
sheep. No man takes it from me. I lay
it down on myself. He couldn't have been, that mob
could not have taken him against his will. All he had to do is
say his name. I will. And they're all flat
on their back, helpless. They could have taken him, but
they took him because it was his will to be taken in that
way, to be brought to this mock trial and to be crucified on
the cross because it's the will of the King, Jesus Christ. The master of the feast, the
Lord of the Passover, is the sovereign king. But here's the
second thing I want you to see. I want us to see Jesus Christ,
the man. Verse 22 says, as they did eat,
Jesus took bread and blessed it and break it and gave it to
them. Now here's the man, Jesus, Jesus
of Nazareth, sitting eating the Passover as a man. He is God,
like I just said, he is God, fully God, but he's also fully
a man. And the Lord Jesus was observing
the Passover as a man. See, it was required by the law
that the Jews observe the Passover. Our Lord was observing this Passover,
not just because it was something to do, not just because it was
dinnertime, well, you know, maybe we'll eat something, you know,
roasted lamb sounds pretty good. He was obeying the Passover as
a man, as the representative of his people. He must obey the
law perfectly. And he did. Even to sit and eat
the Passover with the man that was going to betray him. even
to sit and eat the Passover with a group of men, and I'm sure
there were women there too, who had followed him and been with
him, you know, whose faith was so weak, who were so ignorant
of so many things, even though he told them plainly, he's sitting
at the table with them, eating the Passover, because he's obeying
the law for his people. He never stopped. establishing righteousness for
his people. He was always obedient. Even unto death, the scripture
says, he never one time stopped caring for his people. He never
one time thought this is too painful for me. This is too much
for me. I shouldn't have to do this.
He never one time thought about himself. He always thought about
his people. What does it take? to save the
people that I love from their sins." And he did it. He always
did it. You know, the disciples asked
the Lord, where should we go make ready the Passover? And
the Lord told them, you know, what to do. I think about the Old Testament
law and the ceremonies and things that they had to do. As a young man, I would have
had it all down. I would have remembered it and
had it all down, done everything just the right order, just the
right time. And as I get a little older, I find that there's holes
in my brain or something. I don't know how to explain it.
I couldn't remember. I'd have to write down every
step. I'd be so worried I'm going to make a mistake and mess something
up and do something in a way it's not supposed to be done,
get me and my family killed. But the Lord is the Lord of this
Passover. all the preparations were done
perfectly because everything he does is perfect. And I love to read that Matthew,
Mark, Luke, and John. I love to read about our Lord
as a man during his earthly ministry. He always did good. He never
did something evil. He never did something sinful.
He was always doing good. He was always obedient to do
his father's will. He was always obedient to the
law. That thrills my soul to read
that and to think about that. You know why? Because his obedience
is my obedience. It's the only obedience that
I have. It's his faithfulness. It's not my faith in him, it's
the faith of Christ. His faithfulness. to obey the
law perfectly, to do everything that it takes to make a sinful
man like me accepted in the presence of the Father. His obedience
is my obedience. You think about John the Baptist. Do you remember when the Lord
came to John the Baptist to be baptized? John said, no, sir. I'm not worthy to baptize you.
You ought to be the one baptizing me. And the Lord said, suffer
it to be so now. Let us fulfill all righteousness. Now, John didn't do anything
to fulfill. He didn't help Christ. John the
Baptist and the Lord together fulfilled righteousness. But
John did this, and that's righteous, and the Lord did this. Put together,
it's righteous. What the Lord meant is this.
John, I'm obeying the law. And when I obey the law, you
do too. When I establish righteousness,
you do, because you're in me. Let us fulfill righteousness.
This is Jesus Christ the man establishing righteousness for
his people by obeying the law perfectly. He knows what's coming. He knows
what's coming. He's getting ready to go to the
garden and sweat great drops of blood. I mean, blood's going
to start coming out of the pores of his skin. because what he's
getting ready to suffer is so abhorrent to him, to his holy
self. It didn't ruin his appetite.
He ate the Passover because he's obeying the law for you and me.
That's Jesus Christ, the man. Then the third thing I want us
to see is Jesus Christ, the sacrifice. Verse 22, As they did eat, Jesus
took bread and blessed and break it and gave to them and said,
take eat. This is my body. And he took
the cup when he had given thanks and 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'll drink no more of the fruit of the vine
until that day that I drink it new in the kingdom of God. Now
I want you, if you can, to imagine the disciples. They still don't
know what's happening right now, but they're eating the Passover
with the Lord, who the apostle Paul called our Passover sacrifice
for us. The picture has met the person
and they're eating the Passover with the lamb of God. They're
eating the Passover with him. And I'm just confident of this.
Most of Israel probably is just going through this ceremony this
weekend. It's kind of like a vacation
for people. Well, we're required to go to
Jerusalem. We'll make a week out of it. They probably forgot
the significance of the Passover. They're not thinking about the
power of God as he swept through Egypt that night and killed all
the firstborn unless there was blood on the door. That Passover
is the reason Israel's not still a slave down there in Egypt.
I mean, they've probably forgotten all about that. And this is just
another ceremony that they go through. But here are the apostles. And then women that were with
them are eating the Passover with the Lamb of God. Now I'm
sure of this. They didn't sit around the table
in silence eating the Passover. I don't think they did, do you?
I bet they talked as they ate the Passover. And I'm just confident
of this. I'm as confident as I can be. As they were eating that Passover,
the Lord taught them. They didn't talk about the gladiator
scores down there at the Coliseum or something. This is a high,
high day. This is the last Passover. The
Lord himself is gonna be crucified in just a few days. And I just
betcha he taught them that night as they were eating that Passover.
They ate that lamb, roast with fire, its head and its legs and
the pertinence thereof. It could be that the Lord talked
to them about that lamb. That lamb, that first Passover
they took was a lamb three years old. It was in the prime of its
life. The Lord was taken in the prime
of his life. And they examined that. that
lamb. They set it up in a pen all by
itself and examined it to make sure it didn't have any spot
or blemish. Our Lord could have told his disciples, that's what
my whole time on earth has been. I've been examined to see if
there's any sin in me, especially these last three years of my
public ministry. I have been there in public for
all the world to see, to examine me to see, is there any blemish
in me? Is there any fault in me? Is
there any sin in me? Is there any guile in me? He said, no
man can convince me, convict me of sin. He's the sinless sacrifice. He was observed for the whole
world to see. And before he's put to death,
even Pilate has to say, I find no fault in him. Even the chief
priest, while they didn't openly admit it, they had to admit there
was no fault in him. They had to find people willing
to lie in order to convict him. This is the sinless sacrifice.
That's what that Passover lamb represented. And that lamb, I
wouldn't surprise me in the least if the Lord talked to them about
this lamb. That first Passover, that lamb
was a substitute for the firstborn. That lamb in that house was a
substitute for a specific person. In my family, I'm the firstborn.
Becky's the secondborn. Becky, if we lived in that time,
you wouldn't have to worry if all that was done just right,
because that lamb wasn't a substitute for you. It's a substitute for
the firstborn. That lamb was a substitute for a specific person. And our Lord looked around that
table I'm guessing except for Judas.
I hope, you know, Judas was the only one who did not know the
Lord. He looked around. This is my
elect. These people that the father
gave me to save before time began and that covenant of grace when
the father and the son struck hands, the father said, I've
chosen these people. I'm giving them to you to say.
And the son said, I'll do it. I'll do it. Now the times come
and he looked at them and he told them, I'm a substitute for
a specific people. All those that the father gave
me and none of them will perish. They're all going to be redeemed
by my blood. Then maybe he talked to them
about the lamb that had to be, have its body roast with fire. It couldn't be baked. It can
be made into a stew. It had to be roast with fire.
And the Lord could have told his disciples, that's why we're
here this week. We've come to Jerusalem this
week so that my body will be roast with fire. Body and soul. The Jews and the Romans, it's unspeakable what they're
gonna do to my body. And my father is gonna preside
over the whole thing, executing justice upon me when I make my
soul an offering for sin, when the fire of my father's justice
is poured out on me until all the sin of all of my elect has
been put away. But that's gonna involve suffering.
I'm gonna suffer under the wrath of my father, roast with his
fire until his justice is satisfied and I won't turn away from it.
I'll not shy away from it. I'll not say anything that would
get me out of being crucified because I must bear the punishment
that my people deserve. I love my father. I will honor
him. I'll be obedient unto death.
I'll honor both his justice and his mercy, his truth and his
grace. And second, I love my people.
I'll not see them condemned. I'm going to stand condemned
for them so that they're redeemed. Then he talked to them about
his blood, the blood of the New Testament, the blood that he's
going to shed on Calvary's tree. It's going to be shed to purchase
the redemption of all of my people. It's going to cleanse my people
from all of their sin and pay their sin debt in full so they
don't owe anything to God's justice anymore. And when their blood,
my blood, is applied to their hearts, they're going to be born
again. They're going to be born. And the father says, when I see
the blood, when I see the blood of my son, I'm going to pass
over you. There's no need to execute judgment
on you. I've executed on my son. His
blood applied to your hearts is the proof of it. The Savior
says, it's my blood. It's my blood. We're not talking
about animal blood anymore, are we? Bulls and goats and calves
and lambs. This is my blood, my blood, which
I shed to put away the sin of my people. I just would not be
surprised if the Lord taught his disciples these things that
night, because I know he taught the Apostle Paul. And when Paul
wrote in Corinthians about the Lord's table, The Lord clearly
had taught him these things, and so I just feel pretty confident
he taught the rest of them the same thing. And you and I hear the same gospel
today. The gospel of the Passover. What does that lamb picture?
What is him being roast with fire picture? What is his blood
picture? What is his blood applied to
the doorpost? What is all that a picture of? It's the same gospel
today. It's been over 2,000 years that
we've been observing the Lord's Table. And the Lord's Table preaches
the same message today that it did this night. The broken body
and the shed blood of Christ, that's how God's people are redeemed
from their sin. Now this is the last Passover.
There'll be no more after this because when Christ dies, all
the law is gonna be finished. All the ceremonies are gonna
be done away with. Now we don't have to look at
the picture anymore. By faith, we see the real thing. So there's
no more Passover. So the Lord institutes his table
as a picture of something you and I can partake of to remember
him, to remember his sacrifice, to remember what he endured,
to save my sin. See, this is so much better.
I would much rather observe the Lord's table than I would the
Passover. Because the Passover, you're
remembering an historical event. You're marking an historical
event. When we observe the Lord's table, we're remembering Him.
This do in remembrance of me, the Lord said. And we're not
just remembering what the Lord did for a nation when we observe
the Lord's table. You know, the Lord's table is
part of a public worship service, isn't it? We take this bread,
we take this wine, and we do it in front of our family, our
friends, the people that we know. This is a public thing, but it's
very personal. It's very private at the same
time, isn't it? This is what the Lord did for me. I'm not
just remembering what he did for a nation. This is what he
endured to save me. If I was the only one God sent
him to save, his body would still have been broken just like it
was. His blood would have to be shed
just like it was. This is what the Lord endured
to save a wretch like me. I'd a whole lot rather observe
that than the Passover. Wouldn't you? And the Lord Jesus
is the Lord of this feast. The Lord took the bread. The
Lord break it and gave it to the disciples. The Lord took
the wine and gave it to the disciples. They wouldn't had anything. The
Lord instituted, he is the Lord of the feast. And he took bread. Now the bread that he took and
broke is a good picture of his sinless body. It was unleavened
bread. It was the only kind of bread
that a Jew would have in his house at this time. Before the
Passover, they had to go through and make sure there was no leaven
anywhere in the house. I mean, you had to scour it.
There can't be no leaven because leaven is a picture of sin. And
when they bake this bread, it has to be unleavened bread. as a picture of the sinless body
of our Lord Jesus Christ. He had no sin. He knew no sin. There's no sin in him at all.
He's the sinless sacrifice. He wasn't even acquainted with
any sin. His nature is the nature of God. It's holy. It's righteous. So
he couldn't sin. So if you're gonna observe the
Lord's table, it has to be unleavened bread. which is a picture of
the sinlessness of Christ. Unleavened bread doesn't go bad. The bread that we use in this
Lord's table, you know how long it's been there? Right after
we bought this building, been a long time ago. I bought a case
of it. There's still about that much
left. And it's as good when I took it out today as it was, how many
years ago has it been? I don't know, a long time. It
doesn't rot, it doesn't mold, it doesn't decay. That's a picture
of the sinless body of our Savior. Even when he died, his body saw
no decay. He lay in the tomb for three
days, his body did not decay. After four days, Martha said,
Lord, don't unroll that stone. Lazarus stinks by now. That's
embarrassing. I don't want anybody to smell
that. I don't want anybody to associate that smell with him. But after
three days, our Lord's body saw no decay. He didn't stink because
there's no sin. There's no sin to corrupt Him.
And that precious, sinless body, He gave it into the hands of
men who broke it. Oh, how they broke it. broke
his body. They beat him with their fists.
They plucked his beard out. They took that cat of nine tails
and raked it over his back. They took him and put a wooden
cross on that back that had been lacerated and bloody and bleeding
and raw flesh under that skin and laid that wooden cross on
his back and made him carry it. Then they laid him down on it
and drove nails through his hands and through his made sure that
crown of thorns was still good as it thrust down on his head,
and picked that thing up and dropped it in the hole. And his
body just tore right with pain. And then they mocked him while
he died. And what's worse than that is his body was broken,
showing us in his body what he was suffering in his soul. He
was getting exactly what he deserved because he'd been made sin for
his people and the father gave him everything that sin deserves. In a few moments, Dan's going
to come up and he's going to take the bread and before we
distribute it, he's going to break it. The room will be quiet
and you'll hear it. You'll hear him breaking that
bread and they distribute the bread and you'll take that piece
of unleavened bread in your hand and you'll eat it and you'll
chew it. And you're going to hear that
bread being broken and ground. That's what our savior endured
in his body to put away the sin of his people. When I take that
bread, what I'm saying is I'm such a vile sinner. The only
way my sin could be put away is Christ's body broken for me.
And then the Lord distributed the wine. Now, wine is the only
proper way to observe the Lord's table. You can't observe the
Lord's table by drinking grape juice, because grape juice has
yeast in it. Grape juice will spoil, but wine won't. Wine is
a picture of the sinless, pure blood of Christ. And the Savior
says, my blood is the blood of the New Testament, the blood
of the new covenant. The old covenant was the covenant
of the law. And that covenant never saved
anybody, did it? It never helped anybody out. All the old covenant
of the law could do is show us how sinful that we are. But the
new covenant, that's the covenant of God's grace. It's his eternal
covenant. Now it's newly revealed to men,
but it's the eternal covenant. And it's new and it's fresh every
day. How many times have you heard
about the covenant of God's, his eternal covenant of grace.
How many times have you heard about that? It's just as much
good news today as the first time you ever heard it. It is
of your sinner, his eternal covenant of grace. Because not only does
it not have a beginning, it doesn't have an ending either. I'm never
gonna out sin God's grace. And Christ says that his blood
is the blood of this covenant. Because his blood ratified this
covenant of grace. Scripture refers to our savior
as the lamb slain from the foundation of the world. When the father
and the son agreed, this is how we're going to save God's elect.
I've chosen them, I've given to you. You're going to sacrifice
yourself to put away their sin. At that time, the father saw
Christ as the lamb that had been slain. He accepted his people
in the blood and sacrifice of his son because the purpose of
God is just as sure as the past act of God. But it did have to
be carried out in time, didn't it? Now that hour's come. And when Christ shed his blood,
he ratified that covenant. God's elect have been sealed
in the blood of Christ because the blood of Christ is successful,
sin-atoning, sin-purging blood. The Savior said, my blood is
shed for many, many. Now, not shed for all. Not shed
for every son of Adam, and if they don't accept him, they'll
perish anyway. No, his blood's not shed for all. It's shed for
many. He said in his great high priestly
prayer, Father, I pray not for the world, but for them that
you've given me. They're the many. They're God's
elect. And the blood of Christ paid
their sin debt, and cleansed them, and washed them white as
snow. And when we take that wine, What
we're saying is this, I'm so vile. I am such a vile sinner,
polluted through and through all I can do, all I can think,
all I can want. Everything I do is so sinful.
The only way my sin debt can be paid is the blood of God. The only way I can be cleansed
of my sin is being washed in the blood of God. And when I
take that cup, I'm remembering how he shed his blood to put
my sin away. Now in closing, let me give you
something. I think it can be a blessing to you. It is to me.
This table is for any believer who's here. If you trust in the
Lord Jesus Christ, you take this bread and you take this wine
as a way to remember him. And here's the thing that I hope
will thrill your soul like it does mine. You don't have to
be a perfect believer. with unwavering faith to eat
this table. The Lord served this first Lord's
table. I'm sure that there were women
there, the women that attended the Lord, that followed him,
that saw after his needs and so forth. But I do know for sure
around that table, there were 11 believers. I know that for
sure. And in just a few hours, one of them is gonna deny he
even knows the Lord. Never heard of him, never seen
him before. Don't know who you're talking about. Jesus who? And the other
10 are gonna abandon him. Run away like scared jackrabbits
and run away in fear. And the Lord served them the
first Lord's table anyway. I'm not asking you, is your faith
perfect? What I'm asking is this. Do you
believe Christ? Do you believe him? Do you trust
him? is the only way that your sin can be put away is in Him,
then you take this table and remember Him. This is such a
simple and blessed way to remember how it is that Christ our Savior
sacrificed Himself for His people. And that's what we'll do now.
So, Dan, if you would, you men distribute the bread, if you
would, please. The Apostle Paul gives us instructions
for the Lord's Table, 1 Corinthians chapter 11. For I received of
the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus,
the same night in which he was betrayed, took bread. And when
he had given thanks, he break it and said, take, eat. This is my body, which is broken
for you. This do in remembrance of me. Let's pray. Our Father,
how we thank you for the precious body of our Lord Jesus Christ
that you gave to be broken, to put away the sin of his people.
Father, we're so thankful that his body bore every stroke of
your justice that we deserve. And Father, we're thankful as
we take this bread in faith, trusting our Lord Jesus Christ.
Father, I pray that you cause it to comfort and thrill our
souls to think that we're free from condemnation because Christ
was broken as a substitute for his people. Father, it's in his
name we give thanks. And when he had given thanks,
he'd break it, and said, take, eat, this is my body, which is
broken for you, this do in remembrance of me. After the same manner
also, he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, this cup
is the New Testament in my blood. This do ye, as often as you drink
it, in remembrance of me. For as often as you eat this
bread and drink this cup, you do show the Lord's death till
he come. Dan, would you give thanks for
the blood, please? Our Heavenly Father, we thank
you for giving us this remembrance of the blood shed by our Lord
Jesus Christ. It's unspeakable to think that
blood spilled for our sin, for our covenant. We're so thankful
for this token, and Lord, we pray that you would keep us ever
mindful of the death of our Lord Jesus
Christ, who was made sad for us, that we might be made righteous
again in the name of the Lord, the Lord Jesus Christ. We give
thanks and pray in his name, in the name of the Lord Jesus
Christ, amen. It says here after the Lord instituted,
the first Lord's table says when they sung a hymn, they went out
into the Mount of Olives. So we'll do that. Chris, you
come lead us in a hymn before we go out. In closing, if you would, take
your hymn and turn it to 129. and let's be standing as we close
at the cross. And did my Savior bleed? And did my Sovereign die? Would He devote that sacred head
For such a worm as I? At the cross, at the cross Where
I first saw the light And the burden of my heart It was there by faith I received
my sight, And now I am happy all the day. Was it for crime
that I have done, Be grown deaf on the tree? Amazing pity, great
unknown, and love beyond decree. At the cross, at the cross, where
I first saw the light, and the burden of my heart rolled away,
It was there by faith I received my sight, And now I am happy
all the day. Well, Michael saw in darkness
night, And shed his glory bright, When Christ the Mighty Maker
died, O'er man the creatures sinned. At the cross, at the
cross, where I first saw the light, And the burden of my heart
rolled away, I received my son, and now I
am happy all the day. But drops of green and berry
paint At the cross, at the cross, where
I first saw the light, and the burden of my heart It was there by faith I received
my sight And now I am happy all the day