Wonderful hymns we've just sung,
right? What a blessing. What messages
in all three of those hymns. Let's turn tonight to John chapter
12. John chapter 12. We continue messages on Sunday night from
the Gospel of John. Tonight we've come to 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. There they made him a supper,
and Martha served, but Lazarus was one of them that sat at the
table with him. Then took Mary a pound of ointment
of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and
wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with
the odor of the ointment. Then saith one of his disciples,
Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, which should betray him, why
was not this ointment sold for 300 pence and given to the poor? This he said, not that he cared
for the poor, but because he was a thief and had the bag and
bear what was put therein. Then said Jesus, let her alone. Against the day of my burying
hath she kept this. For the poor always you have
with you, but me you have not always. Much people of the Jews
therefore knew that he was there, and they came not for Jesus'
sake only, but that they might see Lazarus also, whom he had
raised from the dead. After the Lord Jesus raised Lazarus
from the dead, we've seen how that the Jewish leaders began
in serious to plan his death. If you look back into chapter
11 and verse 53, just after he raised Lazarus from the grave,
the scripture says, then from that day forth, they took counsel
together for to put him to death. Let me just remind us of this.
The Lord Jesus Christ would die. He came into this world on purpose
to give his life a ransom for many. But he would die at the
time that God had determined. His hour was fixed, and until
that hour came, they could not keep him from dying, or they
could not hurry his death up. And yet he went away, we've seen
this, he left Judea and stayed in a place called Ephraim for
several days, maybe for weeks, and now this passage of scripture
tells us that he returns to Judea, to Bethany, and he will remain
here and be crucified in the following week. I want to call
our attention tonight in this narrative to several things,
and then I want us to look at several things in this narrative
in a spiritual way. In a spiritual way in relationship
to the Lord's Supper. But there are five things in
this passage I want to mention. First of all, the hospitality
of this family of believers. That is Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. Notice in verse 2, we are told,
they made him a supper. The hospitality of this family
of believers. Now we know from Luke's Gospel
that this was not the first time that they entertained the Lord.
This was not the first time that they showed their hospitality
in receiving the Lord Jesus Christ into their home. For in Luke
chapter 10 in verse 38 we read, Now it came to pass, as they
went, that he entered into a certain village and a certain woman named
Martha received her into her house. The hospitality of believers. Keep your place here, but notice
with me in Hebrews chapter 13. The apostle closes this letter
with this exhortation. Hebrews chapter 13 and verses
1 and 2. Let brotherly love continue. Be not forgetful to entertain
strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. We believe he has reference,
of course, to Abraham, recorded in Genesis chapter 18, when Abraham
was sitting in the door of his tent, and three men appeared
to him. And they were three angels. Two
angels and the angel of the covenant. The word angel, of course, means
messenger. And the angel of the covenant,
we know, was the Lord Jesus Christ at Jehovah. That is, one of his
pre-incarnate appearances that are scattered through the Old
Testament. He entertained angels unawares. And when we read about Abraham,
I've just been reading through that part of Genesis again. And
there's so much about Abraham that always strikes me. But one thing in particular is
his obedience. How quickly he obeyed. How quickly he obeyed. When the
Lord said, move, he moved. When the Lord said, take your
son, the son that you love, your only son Isaac, up on the mountain
and offer him as a sacrifice, he's up the next morning on his
way. Isn't that amazing? No wonder
he's called the father of the faith. Faith produces obedience,
doesn't it? And any faith that doesn't produce
obedience is a spurious faith. It's a false faith. And many
people We now have that kind of faith and it is worthless. Abraham, he was the father of
the faithful because he believed God. It was imputed unto him
righteousness. We saw that this morning. And
he was obedient. His faith produced obedience. Faith, Paul says, faith which
worketh by love. So that's the first thing I point
out to us. The hospitality of this family
of believers. Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, they
entertained. They received the Lord Jesus. They made Him a supper. The second
thing I mentioned to us is this. The resurrection of Lazarus was
further verified because he sat at the table with Him. And as
I said, this may have taken place, we know, several days after His
resurrection. It could have been several weeks. We're not sure about that. But
there was some time that transpired between the time he was raised
and the time that our Lord now returns to Bethany. Because there's
several things that are mentioned in the Gospel of Luke that John
doesn't mention, but took place during this time. One of the
things that took place, he went to Jericho. He passed through
Jericho, and it was there that blind Bartimaeus was granted
his sight. So, we don't know how long it
took place, but here is Lazarus, who had been raised from the
dead, sitting at the table with the Lord Jesus Christ and the
others who were invited there. And this further verifies the
fact that he was, he who had been dead, was alive. And I say
this because the Lord Jesus Christ, when he appeared to his disciples
on the day of his resurrection, they thought they saw a spirit. In other words, they didn't realize
that he came out of that grave bodily, that the same body The
same body that was laid in that grave came out of the grave,
just like the same body of Lazarus that was all wrapped in grave
clothes and lay in the grave for four days. He came walking
out of that grave. He's sitting here at the table
eating. And when our Lord appeared unto
His disciples, look with me in Luke chapter 24 if you will,
He verified that He had been raised bodily by eating. Look with me here in Luke chapter
24 and verse 36. Luke chapter 24 and verse 36. And as they thus spake, that
is the eleven disciples, Jesus himself stood in the midst of
them and said unto them, Peace be unto you. But they were terrified
and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit.
And he said unto them, Why are you troubled? Why do thoughts
arise in your hearts? Behold my hands and my feet,
that it is I myself. Handle me. And see, for a spirit
hath not flesh and bones as you see me have. And when he had
thus spoken, he showed them his hands and his feet. And notice,
and while they yet believed not for joy and wondered, he said
unto them, Have you here any meat? Do you have any meat here? And they gave him a piece of
a broad fish and of a honeycomb, and he took it and did eat before
them. A spirit, a spirit does not eat,
but this body. And it's amazing to me to think
about the fact that even though our bodies, our resurrected bodies,
our glorified bodies will not need to eat, that we will be
able to eat. In fact, we will sit down at
the Lamb's Supper, the Supper of the Lamb. Remember, our Lord
said they shall come from the east and the west and north and
south and sit down with Abraham and his kingdom, and the kingdom
of God, rather. So we, it's amazing. I know there's much we don't
understand, much that hasn't been revealed unto us, but the
point I'm making is The resurrection, yes, Lazarus was raised from
the dead. He who had been dead, he was
alive, he was sitting at the table, and he was eating. And
I say unto us tonight, there was no denying that he who died
and was buried was raised bodily four days later. The resurrection
of Lazarus is so. The resurrection of Christ is
so. And the resurrection of the bodies
of all believers will be so. It will. Here's the third thing. If you'll turn back here to John
chapter 12. The love of Mary, or rather,
the love Mary had for the Lord was manifested. In verse 3 it
says, Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very
costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus. Now Lazarus figured
out quickly how much this ointment would sell for, 300 pence. A
man worked for a day for a pence. So this ointment, the monetary
value of this ointment was worth a man's wages for a year. It was costly. But what we have
is the love Mary had for her Lord was manifested. Before, in that passage in Luke,
when the Lord was at the home of Mary and Martha. You remember Martha complained
that Mary was not helping her serving. And our Lord said this,
she has chosen that good part. She was sitting at the feet of
Jesus and he said one thing is needful. She has chosen that
good part which would not be taken away from her. Mary had
learned of our Lord's love for sinners. She had learned that
at the feet of Jesus, and that nothing can separate us from
the love of God which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord. No expense,
no expense was too great for her to manifest her love towards
her Lord, to show for her to show that His love for her called
forth her love to Him. We love Him. We love Him because... This is what John says, isn't
it? We love Him because He first loved us. The fourth thing that I mention
here is the pretended care for the poor of Judas. In verse 5. Now this is one of those places
where John, the writer of this gospel, he explains what has
taken place. Judas acted like he had a great
concern for the poor. Why was not this ointment sold
for 300 pence and given to the poor? It's such a burden for
the poor. John explains. This he said, not that he cared
for the poor. That wasn't it at all. Not that
he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief and had the bag
and bear what was put therein. He pretended care for the poor. May I remind us tonight that
this man, Judas, that he was a preacher. He was a preacher. He was a man who accompanied
for three years in that inner circle with the Savior himself. He was a preacher. He was a man
who worked miracles. but he was not a new creature
in Christ Jesus. Don't ever fall for that deceit
that Judas was saved and then lost his salvation. He was never
a saved individual. Christ's sheep are in his hands
and nothing can take one of his sheep out of his hands. But it
behooves all of us to think about the fact that he was a religious
man, a preacher, a worker of miracles, and yet he was a child
of hell. Now the last thing, the fifth
thing I would point out to us is this. The Lord Jesus Christ
is no longer here upon the earth in his body. He said clearly,
me you have not always. Now the poor, even after the
great society and after every other socialized idea that man
has to make all people equal over these last 2,000 years,
we still have the poor. Just as our Lord said, the poor
you will have with you always. but not me. Me, he said, you
have not always. He told Thomas, or Mary rather,
I send unto my father and your father and to my God and your
God. I will no longer be bodily here
upon this earth. In spirit, yes, the Holy Spirit
that he sent. His Spirit. But the Lord Jesus
Christ, the man, the God-man, the body that He assumed, united
to His deity, is seated on the right hand of the Father in heaven. Me you have not always. Look with me in Hebrews just
a moment. The writer of Hebrews is careful to make us understand
this. Because I see five times in Hebrews
that he points this out to us. In Hebrews chapter 1, first of
all. Hebrews chapter 1 and verse 3. who being the brightness of his
glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding
all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself
purged our sins, sat down, where? On the right hand of the majesty
on high. All right, look down in that
same chapter to verse 13. But to which of the angels said
he at any time, Set on my right hand, until I make thine enemies
thy footstool. And of course he never did say
that to an angel. The apostle is showing that Christ
was more than an angel, a created angel. He is the eternal Son
of God. Alright, look in chapter 8, Hebrews
chapter 8. in verse 1. Now of the things which we have
spoken, this is the sum, we have such an high priest who is set
on the right hand of the throne of the majesty in the heavens. What did he say in our text tonight?
Me you have not always. Where is he? He is sitting at
the right hand of the majesty on high. Alright look, in chapter
10, Hebrews 10, and verse 12. But this man, after he had offered
one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of
God. Now the point here, no doubt,
the point the apostle is making writing this letter to the Hebrews,
to the Jews, those who were familiar with the tabernacle and the temple. They knew that the priest never
sat down in the temple, in the tabernacle. There was no chair
there for him. He never sat down. Why? Because
his work was never finished. He offered a sacrifice today.
He'd be back in the morning. Great Day of Atonement will be
back next year. All of those sacrifices, they
were pictures. But it's not possible that the
blood of bulls and goats can take away sin. But this man,
this man, this God-man, after he had offered one sacrifice
for sins, forever sat down on the right hand of God. One other
place in chapter 12 and verse 2, looking unto Jesus, the author
and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before
him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at
the right hand of the throne of God. Me you have not always. Now, the second part of our message,
if you go back with me to John chapter 12, I want us to look at a few things
in this passage and spiritualize them. I guess that's the best
way to say it. But the first thing is we see
in the passage of Scripture, they made him a supper. Notice that in verse 2. There
they made him a supper. He made us a supper. They made Him a supper. He made
us a supper. And when I say that He made us
a supper, I mean that He did so in two ways. First, He literally,
literally made, gave His body as bread that is broken and His
blood as wine or His life poured out. Listen to these two passages
from the book of Isaiah. In Isaiah chapter 50, verses
5 and 6. The Lord God hath opened mine
ear. Now you know, when you read that,
what that refers to. The ear that was opened. The
ear that was bored. Talking about a servant. The
servant of Jehovah. The Lord Jesus Christ. He said,
The Lord God hath opened mine ear. The Lord's servant, yes,
but remember this, when the ear was bored, the servant was a
willing servant. And he was willing to remain
a servant. Why? Because I love my master. He loved God with all his heart,
all his soul, and all his being. I love my wife. He loved the
church. gave himself for it. I love my
children. He loves each and every one of
his seed, his children. The Lord God hath opened mine
ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back. I gave
my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked out
the hair. I hid not my face from shame
and spitting. And then in Isaiah 52 and verse
14, we read, as many were astonished at thee. Many, many were astonished
at him. Why? Because his visage was so
marred We're talking about this one on the cross. His visage
was so, we're talking about bread broken. His visage was more marred
than any man, and his farm more than the sons of man. Christ
our Passover, the Passover lamb, one requirement was not a bone,
of that lamb is to be broken. His flesh was roasted and eaten,
but not a bone was broken. So the Lord Jesus Christ is our
Passover lamb. His body was broken, His blood
was shed, but not a bone of His body was broken. He was cut off
out of the land of the living, for the transgression of my people
was He stricken. He literally made a supper for
us. He made His body broken bread
and blood poured out, life poured out. And He said in John chapter
6, except you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and
drink His blood, you have no life in you. This supper that
He made for us, we eat by faith. By faith we eat His flesh and
drink His blood. We trust that His one sacrifice,
His one sacrifice, is all our salvation. But also, not only
did He make a supper for us literally, But he made a supper for us in
the sense that he instituted the Lord's Supper. This supper
that we will partake of tonight. He instituted it and he said,
this do in remembrance of me. In obeying this command tonight,
those of us who will partake of this supper, in obeying his
command, and it is a command, This do, this do in remembrance
of me. As we do so, we show forth his
death till he comes. We eat tonight the bread which
represents to us his broken body and the wine which represents
to us his life, his blood that was poured out. Okay, here's
the second thing I want to speak to. Spiritualize. In the narrative we see that
several persons are named. And I want us to think about
each one of them. First, one man at this supper was named
Lazarus. But it was Lazarus who had been
dead. He had been dead physically. Those of us who come to this
table tonight, we also were dead. Not physically, but spiritually,
we too were dead in trespasses and sins. But God... This is the way the apostle Paul
says it in Ephesians 2. But God, who is rich in mercy... For His great love, wherewith
He loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened
us together with Christ. By grace are you saved. So those of us who come to this
table, we like Lazarus, he was dead physically, we were dead
spiritually. But thank God we've been quickened
and made alive in Christ. The second person who's named
here is Martha. Martha, we are told, she served. And those who are to come to
this table tonight are those who were dead but now have been
made spiritually alive and that we serve. In Ephesians chapter
2, you know this scripture very well. For by grace are you saved
through faith, and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of
God, not of works, lest any man should boast, for we are his
workmanship. Now listen, created in Christ
Jesus unto good works. Good works, in other words, serving
Him. He said, Inasmuch as you have
done this unto the least of these my brethren, you have done it
unto me. Whatsoever we do, we are to do
to the glory of God. The third person who's named
here is, of course, Mary. Mary, who anointed the Lord's
feet. And those who come to this table
tonight We, too, are like Mary in the sense that we set at the
feet of Him. Now, we set at His feet, first
of all, to learn of Him. That passage in Matthew chapter
11, when He said, Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy
laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn
of Me. For I am meek and lowly in heart."
We're still learning, aren't we? I can't speak for everyone here,
but I'll speak for myself tonight. I've got a lot to learn. Meek
and lowly. setting at the feet of Jesus.
We're here at this table tonight, those of us who come, and we
are to learn of Christ. And another thing about being
at the feet of Christ, not only to learn, but to worship. Did you know the word which is
translated worship in the New Testament, that leper that our
Lord cleansed, the scripture says He worshiped Christ. Actually,
the word means to prostrate oneself, to bow down, worship Christ. But there's another man, another
individual that's named, his name is Judas Iscariot. And we
should learn this from him. Evidently, he did partake of
the Lord's table. And that's the lesson that we
should learn from Judas, and that is salvation is not in ordinances. A person can take the Lord's
Supper just like a person may be baptized and not know Christ. Salvation is not in the bread
and in the wine that's upon this table. Salvation is not in ordinances,
it's not in ceremonies, it's not in religious rites. And know
this, man by nature is a religious being, all men. But salvation is in a person,
in Jesus Christ, our Lord. This is life eternal. that they
might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou
hast sent." Well, here's the last thing I want to point out.
In this passage, we are plainly taught, and we've seen this,
you know this is so, we emphasize this by going through those verses
in Hebrews. His bodily presence is no longer
with us. And those who teach that through
some mysterious hocus-pocus that they're able to turn this bread
into the literal body of Christ and this wine into the literal
blood of Christ are denying in this place, if nowhere else,
but there's many other places, they're denying outrightly what
the Lord Jesus Christ said. He is not here physically. This bread is not his body. It represents his body. This
wine is not his blood. It represents his blood. Me, you have not always. Well, I trust the Lord will bless
these words and these thoughts to us once again. What a privilege it is to be
with God's people and obey God's command to observe this ordinance. What a privilege. I'll ask the man, if you will,
to come at this time.