1 00:00:03,600 --> 00:00:07,760 Me meeting in Mark chapter 14, please, as we begin together, 2 00:00:08,200 --> 00:00:10,480 beginning in verse 10 of this chapter. 3 00:00:15,280 --> 00:00:20,000 It's always a joy to hear your voices in song and now it's a 4 00:00:20,000 --> 00:00:22,360 time to hear God's voice in his Word. 5 00:00:24,600 --> 00:00:28,200 As you're aware, on more than one occasion the Lord Jesus told 6 00:00:28,200 --> 00:00:32,680 his disciples that there was a time coming where he would die, 7 00:00:34,080 --> 00:00:39,440 that he would be buried, that he would be resurrected. 8 00:00:40,720 --> 00:00:45,360 But there's an important detail in those predictions, which 9 00:00:45,360 --> 00:00:49,680 total number of three in the Gospel of Mark that he would be 10 00:00:49,680 --> 00:00:55,680 handed over, He'd be delivered to the chief priests and the 11 00:00:55,680 --> 00:01:00,640 scribes, and they would be the agents that would judge him and 12 00:01:00,640 --> 00:01:05,440 condemn him to death. And what you and I have before 13 00:01:05,440 --> 00:01:11,800 us in this text is the entry point of the realization of that 14 00:01:11,800 --> 00:01:15,880 prediction. This is going to serve as the 15 00:01:15,880 --> 00:01:19,840 beginning of the drama of Christ's atoning death and 16 00:01:19,840 --> 00:01:24,040 resurrection. We are now going to unfold the 17 00:01:24,040 --> 00:01:28,520 anticipated sacrifice that will serve as the provision for 18 00:01:28,520 --> 00:01:33,720 humanity's redemption. And as we journey on this path 19 00:01:34,120 --> 00:01:42,000 of discovering, rediscovering, reinforcing the story of our 20 00:01:42,000 --> 00:01:48,280 salvation, there are wonderful inspirations and insights and 21 00:01:48,280 --> 00:01:50,800 instructions that await to be harvested. 22 00:01:52,400 --> 00:01:56,400 And that is the case with this particular portrait of Jesus's 23 00:01:56,400 --> 00:02:01,720 life, where he is now ready to celebrate a unique Passover with 24 00:02:01,720 --> 00:02:06,280 the 12. And there are indeed spiritual 25 00:02:06,280 --> 00:02:13,000 pearls that await to be stringed together so that these truths 26 00:02:13,000 --> 00:02:18,120 can be bound on our hearts and that they can be tied around our 27 00:02:18,120 --> 00:02:20,320 necks like Proverbs speaks about. 28 00:02:21,480 --> 00:02:25,000 And the way we're going to see these things is by considering 29 00:02:25,000 --> 00:02:29,520 three important observations about this particular Passover 30 00:02:29,520 --> 00:02:32,560 feast. The first thing is the 31 00:02:32,560 --> 00:02:38,160 preparation for this Passover. The second thing will be the 32 00:02:38,160 --> 00:02:41,760 proclamation during this Passover. 33 00:02:42,960 --> 00:02:48,120 And lastly, we will look at the prophecies about this Passover. 34 00:02:49,080 --> 00:02:50,960 And so I want us to read from verse 10. 35 00:02:51,400 --> 00:02:55,760 Down to verse 21 in one sitting to get an idea of what we're 36 00:02:55,760 --> 00:03:01,560 going to examine more carefully. Then Judas Iscariot, who was one 37 00:03:01,560 --> 00:03:05,520 of the 12, went to the chief priests in order to betray him 38 00:03:05,520 --> 00:03:07,880 to them. And when they heard it, they 39 00:03:07,880 --> 00:03:11,840 were glad and promised to give him money, and he sought an 40 00:03:11,840 --> 00:03:16,080 opportunity to betray him. And on the first Day of 41 00:03:16,080 --> 00:03:19,200 Unleavened Bread, when they sacrificed the Passover lamb, 42 00:03:19,200 --> 00:03:22,560 his disciples said to him. Where will you have us go and 43 00:03:22,560 --> 00:03:24,560 prepare for you to eat the Passover? 44 00:03:25,400 --> 00:03:29,000 And he sent two of his disciples and said to them, Go into the 45 00:03:29,000 --> 00:03:32,600 city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. 46 00:03:33,200 --> 00:03:36,880 Follow him, and wherever he enters, say to the master of the 47 00:03:36,880 --> 00:03:39,400 house. The teacher says, Where's my 48 00:03:39,400 --> 00:03:43,040 guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples? 49 00:03:43,600 --> 00:03:46,920 And he will show you a large upper room, furnished and ready. 50 00:03:47,200 --> 00:03:51,320 There, prepare for us. And the disciples set out and 51 00:03:51,320 --> 00:03:54,280 went to the city, and found it just as he had told them, And 52 00:03:54,280 --> 00:03:58,320 they prepared the Passover. And when it was evening he came 53 00:03:58,320 --> 00:04:00,840 with the 12th. And as they were reclining a 54 00:04:00,840 --> 00:04:06,960 table and eating, Jesus said, Truly, I say to you, One of you 55 00:04:06,960 --> 00:04:10,320 will betray me, one who is eating with me. 56 00:04:11,520 --> 00:04:15,320 They began to be sorrowful and to say to him, one after 57 00:04:15,320 --> 00:04:20,560 another, Is it I? He said to them, it is one of 58 00:04:20,560 --> 00:04:24,480 the 12 one who is dipping bread into the dish with me. 59 00:04:25,240 --> 00:04:28,000 For the Son of Man goes as it is written of him. 60 00:04:28,000 --> 00:04:31,320 But woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed. 61 00:04:31,640 --> 00:04:35,280 It would have been better for that man if he had not been 62 00:04:35,840 --> 00:04:41,120 born. Father, I admit my weakness. 63 00:04:42,480 --> 00:04:47,120 We all admit our frailty. We ask that the word would work 64 00:04:47,120 --> 00:04:49,600 in. US and Lord, as this word is 65 00:04:49,600 --> 00:04:51,440 shared, that you would work through it. 66 00:04:53,000 --> 00:04:57,080 We desperately need you to change us and it cannot happen 67 00:04:57,080 --> 00:04:59,160 unless we depend on you in prayer. 68 00:04:59,760 --> 00:05:02,560 So Lord, we do not assume that just because we have this room 69 00:05:02,880 --> 00:05:06,440 that we sang some songs and that we have Bibles before us that 70 00:05:06,440 --> 00:05:10,200 things will occur. We ask Lord, that you would 71 00:05:10,200 --> 00:05:13,480 bless this time and that we would sense your blessing. 72 00:05:14,000 --> 00:05:18,720 In Jesus name we pray, Amen. If you and I meditate on verse 73 00:05:18,720 --> 00:05:23,520 12 alone, there are two sparks that will surely kindle our 74 00:05:23,520 --> 00:05:27,360 hearts toward Christ. Let us consider firstly the 75 00:05:27,360 --> 00:05:32,840 preparation for this Passover. We see here that Jesus is 76 00:05:32,840 --> 00:05:36,920 approached by his disciples. Jesus is approached by this 77 00:05:36,920 --> 00:05:40,800 whole group, and they are the ones who inquired about 78 00:05:41,000 --> 00:05:44,680 preparing for this feast. It wasn't Jesus who initiated 79 00:05:44,680 --> 00:05:48,040 it, it was in Jesus who brought them in and commanded them. 80 00:05:49,240 --> 00:05:52,680 It was the 12 who are mindful and vocal about their 81 00:05:52,680 --> 00:05:56,960 willingness to volunteer to meet this requirement. 82 00:05:58,120 --> 00:06:00,320 And this already is truly admirable. 83 00:06:00,320 --> 00:06:04,400 It's something that is worth seeing as inspiration. 84 00:06:05,360 --> 00:06:08,360 You know, it's one thing as disciples of Jesus Christ to be 85 00:06:08,360 --> 00:06:12,200 willing to serve the Lord. It's another thing to look for 86 00:06:12,200 --> 00:06:17,160 opportunities to serve. As these men did, there's an 87 00:06:17,160 --> 00:06:19,480 interesting place in one of the the short epistles. 88 00:06:19,480 --> 00:06:21,280 It's it's a book of Titus and you don't have to turn there. 89 00:06:21,280 --> 00:06:25,520 But Titus speaks about good works, good works, good works. 90 00:06:26,320 --> 00:06:29,680 And they're in Titus three. He actually tells Titus to tell 91 00:06:29,680 --> 00:06:34,400 his people to be careful to devote themselves to good works. 92 00:06:35,280 --> 00:06:38,640 Later he actually says to learn to devote themselves to good 93 00:06:38,640 --> 00:06:42,840 works. But before in Titus 214, he says 94 00:06:43,320 --> 00:06:46,480 that Jesus Christ died for a peculiar people. 95 00:06:47,160 --> 00:06:51,640 That they might be. Zealous for good works, zealous 96 00:06:51,640 --> 00:06:54,800 for good works. So not just to devote yourself 97 00:06:54,800 --> 00:06:57,080 to good works, but to be passionate about it. 98 00:06:57,720 --> 00:07:00,080 If you're if you're zealous about anything, you're going to 99 00:07:00,080 --> 00:07:05,400 pursue it with conviction, with excitement, with discipline. 100 00:07:06,160 --> 00:07:10,720 And this is what the Spirit is saying to his people, be zealous 101 00:07:10,720 --> 00:07:12,240 for good works. And that's modeled here, I 102 00:07:12,240 --> 00:07:14,080 believe it with these disciples. There's a lot of things about 103 00:07:14,080 --> 00:07:16,200 the disciples that disappoint us, But right here in this 104 00:07:16,200 --> 00:07:20,560 snapshot, we should be moved that they approach the Lord and 105 00:07:20,560 --> 00:07:22,360 they say, Lord, what do you want us to do now? 106 00:07:22,800 --> 00:07:24,240 What is it that what? What's the next? 107 00:07:24,240 --> 00:07:26,520 Mission. What's the next task? 108 00:07:27,960 --> 00:07:32,000 You know, somebody made a very humbling observation about the 109 00:07:32,000 --> 00:07:35,600 church at large. The church, he said, is often 110 00:07:35,600 --> 00:07:40,680 like a soccer stadium. Where you have 11 people on the 111 00:07:40,680 --> 00:07:45,360 field who are in desperate need of rest and thousands of people 112 00:07:45,360 --> 00:07:48,040 in the stands who are in desperate need of exercise. 113 00:07:51,000 --> 00:07:54,480 How true it is that that is the tempo. 114 00:07:54,480 --> 00:07:58,160 That is kind of the environment of many local churches. 115 00:07:59,240 --> 00:08:02,080 Maybe a handful of people who are excited to serve God, not 116 00:08:02,080 --> 00:08:04,880 just attend, but serve God. And they're doing a lot, they're 117 00:08:04,880 --> 00:08:07,680 caring a lot. And a lot of people are like at 118 00:08:07,680 --> 00:08:10,560 a game watching. Who are in desperate need of 119 00:08:10,560 --> 00:08:14,600 spiritual exercise may not be so of Maranatha Bible church in 120 00:08:14,680 --> 00:08:19,920 Jesus name but at the same time though these. 121 00:08:19,920 --> 00:08:24,080 Disciples came to the Lord and they volunteered their hearts 122 00:08:24,080 --> 00:08:29,600 and their hands. You see Christ responding by 123 00:08:29,600 --> 00:08:32,080 commissioning only two of them. Isn't that what we see in verse 124 00:08:32,080 --> 00:08:34,799 13? And he sent two of his 125 00:08:34,799 --> 00:08:38,280 disciples. Now the two are actually named 126 00:08:38,280 --> 00:08:40,360 when you look at Luke's account, which you don't have to turn to. 127 00:08:40,360 --> 00:08:43,159 But in Luke 22, verse eight, it was Peter and John. 128 00:08:43,919 --> 00:08:46,840 He sent Peter and John to prepare this feast. 129 00:08:47,520 --> 00:08:49,520 And there's application even in this. 130 00:08:49,520 --> 00:08:53,120 You see, although we might all want to be willing and even 131 00:08:53,120 --> 00:08:56,240 eager and seek opportunity to serve, at the same time we have 132 00:08:56,240 --> 00:08:59,640 to accept that the Lord will delegate and distribute 133 00:08:59,640 --> 00:09:02,120 different opportunities to serve. 134 00:09:02,200 --> 00:09:03,960 And we have to trust in His wisdom. 135 00:09:06,000 --> 00:09:08,960 So as much as you might be excited, also know that you must 136 00:09:08,960 --> 00:09:11,280 be trusting in his leading. Because I know that there are 137 00:09:11,280 --> 00:09:13,520 other people who want to serve, who are looking for 138 00:09:13,520 --> 00:09:15,920 opportunities to serve, but are also frustrated. 139 00:09:16,840 --> 00:09:20,480 Frustrated perhaps because they want to serve in a particular 140 00:09:20,480 --> 00:09:22,640 way. They want to exercise certain 141 00:09:22,640 --> 00:09:24,040 gifts that they may not even have. 142 00:09:25,120 --> 00:09:28,080 But I see also the submission of these disciples who though they 143 00:09:28,080 --> 00:09:30,760 came collectively to the Lord Christ says, OK, I'm going to 144 00:09:30,760 --> 00:09:37,280 select two of you now you go. And so be willing to serve and 145 00:09:37,280 --> 00:09:41,640 be willing to even wait at times for the Lord to call you when he 146 00:09:41,640 --> 00:09:43,800 needs to call you and providentially open the door for 147 00:09:43,800 --> 00:09:47,960 you when He wants to. All you have to do is be like a 148 00:09:47,960 --> 00:09:52,000 servant on your feet ready to be commissioned when the master 149 00:09:52,000 --> 00:09:56,720 commissions. And that's one simple truth, but 150 00:09:56,720 --> 00:09:58,240 the second truth from verse 12 alone. 151 00:09:58,240 --> 00:10:00,920 Again, we are warming ourselves at the fire of meditation. 152 00:10:01,440 --> 00:10:03,880 It's not from the disciples necessarily, but from Jesus 153 00:10:03,880 --> 00:10:07,280 himself. When the disciples approach 154 00:10:07,280 --> 00:10:11,320 Christ and asking to do what is necessary to prepare for the 155 00:10:11,320 --> 00:10:14,400 feast, they're implying, and obviously it's implying to us 156 00:10:14,400 --> 00:10:18,560 that they're going to eat this feast with who Jesus, that 157 00:10:18,560 --> 00:10:22,200 they're going to observe and commemorate this Passover 158 00:10:22,200 --> 00:10:26,200 together. Now you might miss this unless 159 00:10:26,200 --> 00:10:29,040 you have an understanding of the Old Testament, because in the 160 00:10:29,040 --> 00:10:33,680 Old Testament where this Passover was instituted, we're 161 00:10:33,680 --> 00:10:38,280 not only told there when the Passover is supposed to be 162 00:10:38,280 --> 00:10:41,880 observed. We're not only told how the 163 00:10:41,880 --> 00:10:45,720 Passover is supposed to be recognized, we're also even 164 00:10:45,720 --> 00:10:49,920 instructed with whom you're supposed to celebrate this feast 165 00:10:49,920 --> 00:10:52,760 with. I want you to see it with your 166 00:10:52,760 --> 00:10:57,360 own eyes in Exodus chapter 12 beginning in verse one, and see 167 00:10:57,360 --> 00:11:00,240 how this reflects upon the heart of Jesus for His followers. 168 00:11:02,760 --> 00:11:04,600 Exodus 12 beginning in verse one. 169 00:11:08,760 --> 00:11:13,320 Remember that this was a feast created by the Lord Himself in 170 00:11:13,320 --> 00:11:17,960 order to remember the. Exodus, and at the very time of 171 00:11:17,960 --> 00:11:21,720 the original exodus out of. Egypt into the promised land. 172 00:11:21,720 --> 00:11:23,760 This is what the Lord says in verse one of this text. 173 00:11:24,120 --> 00:11:26,440 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt. 174 00:11:26,440 --> 00:11:28,960 This month shall be for you the beginning of months. 175 00:11:29,440 --> 00:11:31,360 It shall be the first month of the year for you. 176 00:11:32,160 --> 00:11:35,080 Tell all the congregation of Israel that on the 10th day of 177 00:11:35,080 --> 00:11:40,160 this month every man shall take a lamb according to their 178 00:11:40,160 --> 00:11:44,240 father's houses, a lamb for a household. 179 00:11:46,120 --> 00:11:48,840 And if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and 180 00:11:48,840 --> 00:11:51,760 his nearest neighbor shall take according to the number of 181 00:11:51,760 --> 00:11:53,480 persons, according to what each can eat. 182 00:11:53,480 --> 00:11:56,640 You shall make your count for the lamb. 183 00:11:57,200 --> 00:11:59,360 So you see here that the institution calls for the feast 184 00:11:59,360 --> 00:12:04,360 to be honored by each household. And that's confirmed by verse 185 00:12:04,360 --> 00:12:07,600 four that if that household was too small, then they can extend 186 00:12:07,600 --> 00:12:10,400 the invitation to the nearest neighbor to eat of the lamb 187 00:12:10,400 --> 00:12:12,400 together. And there are. 188 00:12:12,400 --> 00:12:15,880 Awesome practical truths. Even in this, though, this feast 189 00:12:15,880 --> 00:12:18,440 is not binding on us as Christians in the New Covenant. 190 00:12:18,600 --> 00:12:21,320 There are principles here, surely, about family worship, 191 00:12:22,920 --> 00:12:28,040 how to honor the Lord as a unit that share the same blood. 192 00:12:29,280 --> 00:12:31,640 But more than that, I want us just to see how this points to 193 00:12:31,640 --> 00:12:35,560 what Jesus is saying about his own. 12 Did Jesus have an 194 00:12:35,560 --> 00:12:38,800 earthly family? He did have an earthly family. 195 00:12:39,440 --> 00:12:42,120 But is there any indication at this point in Mark that Jesus 196 00:12:42,120 --> 00:12:44,680 celebrated the the Passover with his earthly family? 197 00:12:45,760 --> 00:12:48,840 No, Who is he celebrating it with the 12th? 198 00:12:49,640 --> 00:12:52,360 What does that mean? I believe the explanation is 199 00:12:52,360 --> 00:12:54,720 given to us in a different part of the Gospel of Matthew. 200 00:12:55,480 --> 00:12:58,200 In Matthew we read here in chapter 12 verse 15. 201 00:12:58,200 --> 00:13:00,720 You don't have to turn there, but listen to the words of Jesus 202 00:13:00,720 --> 00:13:04,200 in Matthew 1250. For whoever does the will of my 203 00:13:04,200 --> 00:13:12,120 Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother. 204 00:13:13,720 --> 00:13:17,160 Do you see this? What is Christ saying about his 205 00:13:17,160 --> 00:13:19,440 own, even in the way he's celebrating the Passover? 206 00:13:19,440 --> 00:13:24,680 These 12 are my family because they're doing the will of the 207 00:13:24,680 --> 00:13:28,800 Father. See, when you give your life to 208 00:13:28,800 --> 00:13:32,560 Christ, you are not becoming a subject to His Kingdom. 209 00:13:32,560 --> 00:13:37,120 Merely Jesus Christ goes a step further than that and He adopts 210 00:13:37,120 --> 00:13:41,520 you into his family. He makes you one of his own. 211 00:13:43,120 --> 00:13:47,600 He brings you to himself and I wonder how many people in this 212 00:13:47,600 --> 00:13:50,280 room view their relationship with Christ in such a way. 213 00:13:50,920 --> 00:13:53,920 It's very easy and understanding the sovereignty of God, yes, 214 00:13:53,920 --> 00:13:56,200 even God and his sovereignty coming as a Savior, 215 00:13:56,600 --> 00:13:58,000 understanding his love, but it's very. 216 00:13:58,000 --> 00:14:01,320 Easy to see how the appropriate response would be to say I'm 217 00:14:01,320 --> 00:14:04,720 your servant, you're my Lord. Whatever you asked me to do, I 218 00:14:04,720 --> 00:14:06,480 will do. My life belongs to you. 219 00:14:06,480 --> 00:14:08,960 That's, that's quite simple. What's more difficult to grasp 220 00:14:08,960 --> 00:14:17,120 is that he calls you his son, his daughter, his friend. 221 00:14:18,640 --> 00:14:20,920 That's what people wrestle with. That's what people find 222 00:14:21,560 --> 00:14:25,280 hesitation to leap into and to enjoy and experience in their 223 00:14:25,280 --> 00:14:30,000 Christian journey. And yet Christ in direct ways 224 00:14:30,000 --> 00:14:34,240 and indirect ways, wants us to believe that, that you have that 225 00:14:34,240 --> 00:14:37,120 kind of relationship with the living God. 226 00:14:38,600 --> 00:14:40,920 And we have to understand it. And I'll tell you why I believe 227 00:14:40,920 --> 00:14:44,440 that this is so important to the heart of Christ because he he 228 00:14:44,440 --> 00:14:46,720 dispels something. In one of the first statements 229 00:14:46,720 --> 00:14:51,200 he makes after his resurrection, Christ says something so 230 00:14:51,200 --> 00:14:56,440 profound that is applicable to you and I and understanding, OK, 231 00:14:56,840 --> 00:14:59,560 I'm studying who Jesus is, but who's Jesus now? 232 00:15:00,000 --> 00:15:03,120 He's resurrected, he's ascended. Is there any indication of what 233 00:15:03,120 --> 00:15:05,040 he's like now? And the Bible gives us plenty of 234 00:15:05,040 --> 00:15:08,320 evidence. Mary. 235 00:15:09,000 --> 00:15:14,320 Mary who went to the tomb and wanting to find Christ, bumps 236 00:15:14,320 --> 00:15:17,160 into what she perceives to be the gardener, and it's in fact 237 00:15:17,320 --> 00:15:20,000 Jesus. And she realizes that, and Jesus 238 00:15:20,000 --> 00:15:23,840 says something to her. Jesus commissions her to go to 239 00:15:23,840 --> 00:15:27,280 the disciples and to reveal that he is in fact alive. 240 00:15:27,760 --> 00:15:30,120 And what does Jesus say to Mary? And John? 241 00:15:30,120 --> 00:15:34,040 Chapter 20, verse 17, Let me read the words of Jesus to you. 242 00:15:34,840 --> 00:15:39,040 He said here, Jesus said to her, do not cling to me, for I have 243 00:15:39,040 --> 00:15:48,040 not yet ascended to the Father, but go to my who brothers, Not 244 00:15:48,040 --> 00:15:53,000 my servants, not my subjects, not my ministers, not my 245 00:15:53,000 --> 00:15:56,400 apostles. Go to my brothers, go to my 246 00:15:56,400 --> 00:15:59,840 brothers and say to them, I am ascending to my Father, and your 247 00:15:59,840 --> 00:16:04,240 father to my God and your God. Now it's moving enough to see 248 00:16:04,240 --> 00:16:07,520 that Christ would use such familial language to mere 249 00:16:07,520 --> 00:16:09,120 creatures. But what's more? 250 00:16:09,120 --> 00:16:12,480 Moving is when you. Consider the timing of him 251 00:16:12,480 --> 00:16:14,600 identifying the disciples as such. 252 00:16:15,520 --> 00:16:17,360 Where? Were the disciples when he sent 253 00:16:17,360 --> 00:16:22,720 Mary to fetch for them where? They were cowering in fear. 254 00:16:24,560 --> 00:16:29,640 They denied him not too long ago, they distanced themselves. 255 00:16:29,640 --> 00:16:32,160 They were in doubt, they were in unbelief. 256 00:16:33,360 --> 00:16:37,360 And yet Jesus and understanding their current condition still. 257 00:16:37,360 --> 00:16:41,520 Calls them my brothers. You know what that means for you 258 00:16:41,520 --> 00:16:45,600 and I failing, stumbling Christian, listen to this. 259 00:16:45,600 --> 00:16:49,640 Christ is committed to you. He's committed to you. 260 00:16:49,760 --> 00:16:52,240 I know that might be hard to believe, but that's why you need 261 00:16:52,240 --> 00:16:54,360 to get to the word and see the heart of Jesus. 262 00:16:54,960 --> 00:16:59,880 He calls them my brothers, even though they have failed him 263 00:17:00,960 --> 00:17:06,440 after 24/7 attendance before Christ, they they come to this 264 00:17:06,440 --> 00:17:11,480 point we're even on the night of his betrayal, they boasted we're 265 00:17:11,480 --> 00:17:13,640 willing to die with you. Oh really? 266 00:17:16,280 --> 00:17:18,680 And so he sends a woman as a witness. 267 00:17:19,839 --> 00:17:23,240 She's going to tell him, Jesus said, tell my brothers that. 268 00:17:23,280 --> 00:17:29,480 That's the grace of Christ. That's what you have to put your 269 00:17:29,480 --> 00:17:34,120 hope and day in and day out, not just when you you feel good in 270 00:17:34,120 --> 00:17:37,720 your walk with the Lord, but even like these disciples, when 271 00:17:37,720 --> 00:17:40,400 your head is down and your heart is sinking and you're wondering, 272 00:17:41,240 --> 00:17:45,720 where did I go wrong? Tell my brothers. 273 00:17:48,440 --> 00:17:52,400 And the Lord gives Peter and John back in Mark 14 somewhat 274 00:17:52,400 --> 00:17:56,160 strange instructions. Let's go back to our text and 275 00:17:56,160 --> 00:18:00,760 read it again in verse 13 down. And he sent two of his disciples 276 00:18:00,760 --> 00:18:03,760 and said to them, Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar 277 00:18:03,760 --> 00:18:06,760 of water will meet you. Follow him and wherever he 278 00:18:06,760 --> 00:18:10,120 enters, say to the master of the house, The teacher says, where's 279 00:18:10,120 --> 00:18:13,800 my guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples? 280 00:18:15,760 --> 00:18:18,000 This seems to be intentionally vague. 281 00:18:19,720 --> 00:18:22,480 So he recruits these two, He launches them out and he gives 282 00:18:22,480 --> 00:18:24,600 them a set of instructions. And it seems to be like this 283 00:18:24,600 --> 00:18:29,640 undercover mission. And one of the first things that 284 00:18:29,640 --> 00:18:32,880 he tells them to do is, is to go and look for this man with a jar 285 00:18:32,880 --> 00:18:34,400 of water. And he's going to lead you and 286 00:18:34,480 --> 00:18:36,480 you're going to find this place, and that's the place where it's 287 00:18:36,480 --> 00:18:39,480 going to be. But why is Christ being so 288 00:18:39,480 --> 00:18:43,680 cryptic? Like many of Jesus's 289 00:18:43,680 --> 00:18:47,760 instructions, he does not provide much explanation, right? 290 00:18:47,760 --> 00:18:49,640 Because he wants faith from you and I. 291 00:18:51,000 --> 00:18:54,520 But if you want to know answers to what seems to be a mysterious 292 00:18:54,520 --> 00:18:58,160 thing in one of your readings of the text, always do this. 293 00:18:58,160 --> 00:19:01,000 This is what you always have to do, and you always come to a 294 00:19:01,000 --> 00:19:02,680 closer place of finding an answer. 295 00:19:02,680 --> 00:19:05,080 Look at the context. Look at the context. 296 00:19:05,080 --> 00:19:08,800 That's the key. What happened right before Jesus 297 00:19:08,800 --> 00:19:11,640 was approached by the disciples and Jesus sent two of them in 298 00:19:11,640 --> 00:19:13,960 this way? Go back to verse 10. 299 00:19:14,600 --> 00:19:17,200 What do we read? Judas Iscariot, who was one of 300 00:19:17,200 --> 00:19:19,760 the 12, went to the chief priests in order to betray them, 301 00:19:21,000 --> 00:19:23,520 to betray him to them. So what we see here is that 302 00:19:23,520 --> 00:19:29,000 Judas, we learn now Judas is ready to at any moment report 303 00:19:29,000 --> 00:19:32,440 where Christ is at the right opportunity and have the 304 00:19:32,440 --> 00:19:35,560 authorities arrest the Lord. And you know who was aware? 305 00:19:35,560 --> 00:19:40,520 Of that the Lord. Jesus knew what Judas was up to. 306 00:19:41,440 --> 00:19:44,680 And, and Jesus here at this time and giving these instructions in 307 00:19:44,680 --> 00:19:51,080 this way was to conceal the details of his next location in 308 00:19:51,080 --> 00:19:55,800 order to blind Judas and to prevent him from doing this evil 309 00:19:55,800 --> 00:19:59,120 thing. It wasn't time. 310 00:19:59,160 --> 00:20:02,800 Do you understand that Jesus was not only in control of His 311 00:20:02,800 --> 00:20:06,840 passion, He was absolutely sovereign over every single 312 00:20:06,840 --> 00:20:11,560 second of it? He would be betrayed later that 313 00:20:11,560 --> 00:20:13,680 night, but not at that time of the night. 314 00:20:13,680 --> 00:20:15,680 Why? Because Christ had to do a few 315 00:20:15,680 --> 00:20:18,640 things, share a few things, teach a few things to his own 316 00:20:19,040 --> 00:20:22,840 before he would be betrayed. Christ, as we're going to learn 317 00:20:22,840 --> 00:20:25,640 in the weeks to come, is going to institute the Lord's Supper 318 00:20:25,920 --> 00:20:30,040 at this Passover feast. Christ, according to John 13 to 319 00:20:30,040 --> 00:20:34,680 John 17, is going to pour out precious and powerful truths for 320 00:20:34,680 --> 00:20:36,440 the 12 and for disciples to come. 321 00:20:38,160 --> 00:20:43,440 And so when he gives these instructions, surely Judas was 322 00:20:43,440 --> 00:20:47,320 in attendance and was listening very carefully. 323 00:20:48,560 --> 00:20:52,360 But what Christ did was leave out the necessary details, to 324 00:20:52,360 --> 00:20:56,080 leave him in the dark, all the wisdom of Jesus. 325 00:20:56,840 --> 00:20:59,080 All the brilliance of the mind of Christ, you and I just a 326 00:20:59,080 --> 00:21:02,320 moment ago didn't understand why he only sent two and not all of 327 00:21:02,320 --> 00:21:03,360 them. Now you know. 328 00:21:06,200 --> 00:21:09,080 We didn't understand, perhaps at first why he's, he's giving 329 00:21:09,080 --> 00:21:12,120 these mysterious plans. Now we know. 330 00:21:12,400 --> 00:21:14,160 Can I tell you something, please? 331 00:21:15,080 --> 00:21:18,880 Would you trust Christ? Always, Always. 332 00:21:20,520 --> 00:21:24,160 If you're in the dark at any point, don't you dare fall into 333 00:21:24,160 --> 00:21:27,640 the temptation of criticizing his wisdom or doubting his 334 00:21:27,640 --> 00:21:29,480 heart. He knows. 335 00:21:29,800 --> 00:21:34,760 He always knows. Cling to him, obey him, worship 336 00:21:34,760 --> 00:21:38,560 him and watch him lead you perfectly, perfectly. 337 00:21:41,360 --> 00:21:46,360 And so he says, go enter into the city and you're going to 338 00:21:46,360 --> 00:21:50,680 find a man with a jar of water. You have to remember that this 339 00:21:50,680 --> 00:21:56,040 was what, during the Passover, hundreds of thousands of people. 340 00:21:56,200 --> 00:22:00,640 Were cramming the streets. The hustle and the bustle, the 341 00:22:00,640 --> 00:22:04,520 noise, the purchasing, the planning, the last second 342 00:22:04,520 --> 00:22:07,760 arrangements. You can imagine how crazy it 343 00:22:07,760 --> 00:22:11,640 was. How is identifying a man with a 344 00:22:11,640 --> 00:22:15,040 jar of water going to be significant evidence to identify 345 00:22:15,040 --> 00:22:16,560 the person who's supposed to lead them? 346 00:22:18,040 --> 00:22:20,600 Unless you understand that it was not common for a man in the 347 00:22:20,600 --> 00:22:24,000 public to carry a jar of water. Because that's what the 348 00:22:24,000 --> 00:22:29,440 Scriptures tell us, that this task was designated exclusively 349 00:22:29,520 --> 00:22:33,120 generally for woman. And you get hints of that in the 350 00:22:33,120 --> 00:22:35,440 scriptures. You see it in Genesis 2411 with 351 00:22:35,440 --> 00:22:38,120 Rebecca, that when Abraham's servant is looking for a wife 352 00:22:38,120 --> 00:22:41,440 for his son, he goes to the well at the time where the woman come 353 00:22:41,440 --> 00:22:43,480 out and draw water. You see it in the New Testament 354 00:22:43,480 --> 00:22:45,240 with the woman at the well in John chapter four. 355 00:22:45,400 --> 00:22:49,680 It was a custom for a woman to go fetch, deliver water. 356 00:22:49,840 --> 00:22:53,960 Men did not do that chore. And so now it makes a little bit 357 00:22:53,960 --> 00:22:56,920 more sense. This man will stand out surely 358 00:22:56,920 --> 00:23:00,040 to the disciples. But before we move on too 359 00:23:00,040 --> 00:23:02,680 quickly, what does that say about this man? 360 00:23:02,680 --> 00:23:05,600 Because evidently Christ and giving this plan to these two 361 00:23:05,600 --> 00:23:07,680 disciples pre arranged these things. 362 00:23:08,880 --> 00:23:12,200 He pre arranged them the, the man with the the room had it 363 00:23:12,200 --> 00:23:15,040 ready. So whether he did so naturally 364 00:23:15,040 --> 00:23:16,320 or supernaturally, we're not told. 365 00:23:16,320 --> 00:23:18,040 But he did pre arrange these things. 366 00:23:18,360 --> 00:23:20,360 And so here's what I learned about this man with a jar of 367 00:23:20,360 --> 00:23:23,600 water. He was willing to obey Christ no 368 00:23:23,600 --> 00:23:29,680 matter how it made him look in public, that he was willing to 369 00:23:29,680 --> 00:23:35,520 play even a small part in this greater drama of redemption. 370 00:23:36,200 --> 00:23:39,280 And what was his part? To carry A jar of water so that 371 00:23:39,280 --> 00:23:41,720 two of the 12 disciples can say. That's the guy. 372 00:23:42,360 --> 00:23:47,840 Let's follow him. And so I see something about 373 00:23:47,840 --> 00:23:50,480 humility. I see something about 374 00:23:50,880 --> 00:23:57,400 inspiration from this unnamed soul who loved Christ enough to 375 00:23:57,400 --> 00:24:00,400 do his bidding, as small as it may have been. 376 00:24:02,200 --> 00:24:03,560 But the inspiration doesn't stop there. 377 00:24:03,840 --> 00:24:05,760 Never mind the man with the jar, that's one thing. 378 00:24:05,760 --> 00:24:07,360 What about the man who owned the house? 379 00:24:08,320 --> 00:24:11,200 No name given. And again, this is intentional. 380 00:24:12,360 --> 00:24:14,800 Judas didn't need to hear names. He didn't need to hear addresses 381 00:24:14,800 --> 00:24:16,640 or street names. He didn't need any of that. 382 00:24:17,440 --> 00:24:19,600 But this man who owned the house, this man with the jar 383 00:24:19,600 --> 00:24:22,960 would lead him to this specific abode. 384 00:24:25,520 --> 00:24:28,960 Now if this man had a family. And I'd like to think he did. 385 00:24:29,520 --> 00:24:33,120 Then he obviously in wanting to honor the law had to what, 386 00:24:33,120 --> 00:24:34,800 prepare for his own Passover feast. 387 00:24:36,840 --> 00:24:38,800 And you know what it's like in festive days, right? 388 00:24:38,800 --> 00:24:41,000 In festive seasons, they're running around the last second 389 00:24:41,000 --> 00:24:45,280 things and Christ selected his home and he says I would like to 390 00:24:45,280 --> 00:24:49,200 have my disciples and myself celebrate in one of your guest 391 00:24:49,200 --> 00:24:51,520 rooms. And what does the man do? 392 00:24:51,960 --> 00:24:54,640 He. Complies, he complies. 393 00:24:55,200 --> 00:24:58,000 Was it convenient timing wise? Probably not. 394 00:24:58,000 --> 00:25:01,080 But you know what this man teaches me? 395 00:25:02,760 --> 00:25:04,600 Nah. He wasn't too busy to serve 396 00:25:04,600 --> 00:25:08,800 Jesus. He wasn't too preoccupied with 397 00:25:08,840 --> 00:25:12,200 other things, even good things, to serve the Lord. 398 00:25:12,440 --> 00:25:20,760 Are you too busy to serve Jesus? Are you too dizzy by everything 399 00:25:20,760 --> 00:25:26,280 around you? I see a man here who says, come 400 00:25:26,480 --> 00:25:33,600 yes, Lord, come to my home. And timing wasn't the only 401 00:25:33,600 --> 00:25:39,360 potential excuse for this man to step away from accepting Christ 402 00:25:39,360 --> 00:25:43,640 inviting himself into his home. Do you remember what happened 403 00:25:44,880 --> 00:25:47,880 right before John chapter 12 where Mary of Bethany anoints 404 00:25:47,880 --> 00:25:50,880 Jesus? I want to remind you what 405 00:25:50,880 --> 00:25:53,120 happened in John Chapter 11, verse 57. 406 00:25:53,120 --> 00:25:55,960 Listen to these words. Now the chief priest in John 407 00:25:55,960 --> 00:26:01,360 1157 and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where 408 00:26:01,360 --> 00:26:05,640 he was being Jesus, He should let them know so they they might 409 00:26:05,640 --> 00:26:09,160 arrest him. So there was this public call. 410 00:26:09,320 --> 00:26:13,720 If anybody knows where this Jesus of Nazareth is, let us 411 00:26:13,720 --> 00:26:16,920 know, because we're looking for Him. 412 00:26:18,440 --> 00:26:21,400 So timing wasn't the only issue here. 413 00:26:22,160 --> 00:26:27,560 Trouble was, it's not just inconvenience for the master of 414 00:26:27,560 --> 00:26:35,480 this house, but serious danger hosting Jesus at this time where 415 00:26:35,480 --> 00:26:38,480 the most powerful people apart from Rome were looking for him. 416 00:26:39,800 --> 00:26:42,840 And yet this anonymous individual says, you're having 417 00:26:42,840 --> 00:26:45,920 it in my home. Christ is worthy. 418 00:26:46,920 --> 00:26:51,520 Christ is worthy of our time. Christ is worthy of any risk. 419 00:26:51,520 --> 00:26:54,840 And what do you read? Look at verse 16. 420 00:26:55,120 --> 00:26:58,000 And the disciples set out and went to the city and found it, 421 00:26:58,000 --> 00:27:01,960 just as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover. 422 00:27:01,960 --> 00:27:06,120 Don't you love that phrase? They had found it just as he had 423 00:27:06,120 --> 00:27:10,760 told them. When you obey the Lord. 424 00:27:10,760 --> 00:27:14,560 Even if His instructions may seem to be difficult to grasp or 425 00:27:14,560 --> 00:27:20,280 understand, or even dangerous to pursue, you will, if you honor 426 00:27:20,280 --> 00:27:24,840 His wishes, walk into a fascinating realization of His 427 00:27:24,840 --> 00:27:28,040 faithfulness. Exactly the way Christ said it 428 00:27:28,040 --> 00:27:30,480 would happen, happen exactly what He said would would come to 429 00:27:30,480 --> 00:27:33,000 transfer it to transpire exactly what He said. 430 00:27:34,320 --> 00:27:37,720 It is a greater risk not to obey the Lord than to obey the Lord. 431 00:27:38,600 --> 00:27:42,160 Remember that no matter what fears you face as you stand at 432 00:27:42,160 --> 00:27:46,360 the threshold of trusting Jesus Christ, always remember that it 433 00:27:46,360 --> 00:27:51,200 is a greater risk to step away and disobey than to thrust 434 00:27:51,200 --> 00:27:57,320 yourself and to obey Him always. They found it exactly as He said 435 00:27:57,320 --> 00:28:01,040 they would find it. But we come now from the 436 00:28:01,040 --> 00:28:04,640 preparation to the proclamation, the proclamation at this 437 00:28:04,640 --> 00:28:07,240 Passover. And what do we discover? 438 00:28:07,800 --> 00:28:12,840 Verse 17 And when it was evening, he came with the 12 and 439 00:28:12,840 --> 00:28:15,760 as they were reclining a table and eating, Jesus said, truly, I 440 00:28:15,760 --> 00:28:19,120 say to you, one of you will betray me, one who is eating 441 00:28:19,440 --> 00:28:22,520 with me. They began to be sorrowful and 442 00:28:22,520 --> 00:28:28,120 say to him one after another, is it I So at some point in the 443 00:28:28,120 --> 00:28:29,560 celebration, they're all reclining. 444 00:28:29,560 --> 00:28:32,160 They're honoring the feasts and the traditions surrounding it. 445 00:28:32,480 --> 00:28:36,040 And the Lord uttered this heart sinking statement. 446 00:28:37,560 --> 00:28:42,680 You can just imagine how tension filled that room in that very 447 00:28:42,680 --> 00:28:45,880 moment. You can imagine the silence. 448 00:28:46,480 --> 00:28:48,880 You can imagine the heartbeats of these disciples that were 449 00:28:48,880 --> 00:28:52,680 pounding against their chest when Jesus, who has never been 450 00:28:52,680 --> 00:28:55,600 wrong about anything that he had said, made this claim. 451 00:28:56,240 --> 00:28:58,680 One of you is going to betray me. 452 00:29:02,120 --> 00:29:06,120 And you have to recall that Christ on more than one occasion 453 00:29:06,240 --> 00:29:11,560 told the very same 12 I'm going to die, I'm going to be buried, 454 00:29:11,560 --> 00:29:13,040 I am going to raise from the dead. 455 00:29:13,280 --> 00:29:16,560 And two out of those three times he said I will be delivered up. 456 00:29:18,360 --> 00:29:23,960 And at this point, now he is closing in on the culprit, the 457 00:29:23,960 --> 00:29:28,000 one who is actually going to commit this inconceivable crime 458 00:29:28,280 --> 00:29:32,240 of giving the Son of God over to vicious, evil, wicked men. 459 00:29:35,360 --> 00:29:39,000 And as Jesus says this, you might be wondering why. 460 00:29:40,440 --> 00:29:42,440 Why is the Lord sharing this publicly? 461 00:29:42,440 --> 00:29:46,200 Why is he telling the disciples? And I believe the main reason is 462 00:29:46,200 --> 00:29:49,000 so that he can reveal his omniscience yet again. 463 00:29:50,560 --> 00:29:52,480 He's done it on different occasions, and he's doing it 464 00:29:52,480 --> 00:29:55,800 once more here, providing further evidence that Jesus. 465 00:29:55,800 --> 00:30:00,480 Christ did not get surprised at any point of him surrendering 466 00:30:00,480 --> 00:30:01,920 his life. Not once. 467 00:30:02,520 --> 00:30:06,360 What is Christ showing here? I know exactly the horrific 468 00:30:06,360 --> 00:30:10,000 plans that are made against me, and I willfully am walking into 469 00:30:10,000 --> 00:30:11,960 them. I'm not. 470 00:30:12,000 --> 00:30:15,040 I'm not here unwilling to be apprehended. 471 00:30:15,040 --> 00:30:18,680 I'm here laying down my life and I'm telling you now I know which 472 00:30:18,680 --> 00:30:20,200 one of you is actually going to betray me. 473 00:30:20,640 --> 00:30:22,800 Now think about this. If for whatever reason, you've 474 00:30:22,800 --> 00:30:27,240 been given divine inspiration that one person in your friend 475 00:30:27,240 --> 00:30:29,720 group is going to betray you to people who want to murder you, 476 00:30:29,720 --> 00:30:31,600 what would you do with that knowledge? 477 00:30:32,400 --> 00:30:39,160 Run, escape, not have dinner with the guy And what, what does 478 00:30:39,160 --> 00:30:42,440 Christ do? He is conveying to the I know 479 00:30:42,600 --> 00:30:45,480 which one of you are going to do and I'm still here because this 480 00:30:45,480 --> 00:30:47,320 is this is a part of a greater thing. 481 00:30:48,960 --> 00:30:51,440 And so that the disciples would know and that the disciples like 482 00:30:51,440 --> 00:30:54,840 us would know for generations to come that Christ came into this 483 00:30:54,840 --> 00:30:59,800 world and embraced his mission. He didn't cower from it. 484 00:30:59,800 --> 00:31:01,960 He didn't flee from it. He didn't second guess it. 485 00:31:03,120 --> 00:31:09,000 He would joy chest out, walked into it. 486 00:31:11,000 --> 00:31:13,520 But what I find amazing here is how this announcement disturbed 487 00:31:13,520 --> 00:31:15,280 the consciousness of all these disciples. 488 00:31:15,920 --> 00:31:18,840 Did you catch? It it says here that they were 489 00:31:19,040 --> 00:31:21,240 sorrowful. In verse 19 they began to be. 490 00:31:21,240 --> 00:31:25,160 So this is talking about deep grief, significant pain. 491 00:31:25,640 --> 00:31:29,240 They began to be sorrowful and one after the next began to say 492 00:31:30,480 --> 00:31:39,680 is it I, is it me, is it me? Notice I didn't say I think it's 493 00:31:39,680 --> 00:31:45,440 him, not once. And it makes you wonder also, is 494 00:31:45,440 --> 00:31:50,240 this self examination something to be praised or concerned 495 00:31:50,240 --> 00:31:54,880 about? And I think the self examination 496 00:31:54,880 --> 00:31:56,800 taking place at this moment is honorable. 497 00:31:58,400 --> 00:32:01,680 It's honorable because hearing the words of Christ concerning 498 00:32:01,680 --> 00:32:06,640 the capability of our sin should always encourage reflection. 499 00:32:08,680 --> 00:32:11,040 And no matter how strong you think you perceive yourself to 500 00:32:11,040 --> 00:32:17,040 be, it is a dangerous thing to be in a place where you feel 501 00:32:17,040 --> 00:32:20,520 like you will never fall. Paul warns about that in First 502 00:32:20,520 --> 00:32:23,760 Corinthians 10. And So what you see with these 503 00:32:23,760 --> 00:32:27,520 disciples is that they're doing some soul searching, not to the 504 00:32:27,520 --> 00:32:29,920 point of condemnation, and that should never be the case for 505 00:32:29,920 --> 00:32:32,880 you, but this soul searching when you hear a strong word, 506 00:32:32,880 --> 00:32:35,040 when you come to the word of God for yourself, when you begin to 507 00:32:35,040 --> 00:32:37,560 feel conviction in your conscience, or when you hear of 508 00:32:37,560 --> 00:32:40,320 a failure of another. And it causes you in a holy way 509 00:32:40,320 --> 00:32:42,160 to be like Lord. May it never be of me. 510 00:32:42,560 --> 00:32:45,080 That's exactly what it should produce, not condemnation, but 511 00:32:45,080 --> 00:32:48,200 clinging to the Lord with a greater grip. 512 00:32:50,280 --> 00:32:52,720 Lord, I don't want to fail you. Lord, I don't want to deny you. 513 00:32:52,720 --> 00:32:55,480 I, I pray that it would never be true of me. 514 00:32:57,840 --> 00:33:00,640 So you can applaud the fact that these disciples are asking about 515 00:33:00,640 --> 00:33:02,920 themselves and they're not scrutinizing one another. 516 00:33:05,280 --> 00:33:08,680 But I'm also convinced here because what's so interesting is 517 00:33:08,680 --> 00:33:13,520 that they didn't suspect Judas. In fact, I, I believe that the 518 00:33:13,520 --> 00:33:16,840 disciples, if they had to make a list of who is most likely to 519 00:33:16,840 --> 00:33:20,800 betray Christ, Judas would be on the bottom, at least the lower 520 00:33:20,800 --> 00:33:22,360 tier. Do you know why? 521 00:33:22,600 --> 00:33:26,960 Because he was trusted enough to be made the manager of the, the 522 00:33:26,960 --> 00:33:30,400 ministry finances. That's John chapter 12, verse 523 00:33:30,400 --> 00:33:32,720 six. You have to trust somebody to 524 00:33:32,720 --> 00:33:34,840 deal with the ministry finances and funds. 525 00:33:35,240 --> 00:33:39,520 And, and Judas was selected and he held that position for that 526 00:33:39,520 --> 00:33:42,160 three-year tenure. So there was something about him 527 00:33:42,160 --> 00:33:48,440 that was winsome disarming. There was no suspicion about him 528 00:33:48,440 --> 00:33:55,080 necessarily, but I'm convinced that if the disciples paid a 529 00:33:55,080 --> 00:34:01,800 little bit more attention as each one began to ask the Lord, 530 00:34:02,000 --> 00:34:05,400 is it I, they might have suspected something of Judas. 531 00:34:06,720 --> 00:34:08,719 I don't want to prove that to you because you don't see it 532 00:34:08,719 --> 00:34:10,679 here in Mark, but you do see it in Matthew. 533 00:34:11,199 --> 00:34:14,719 So go to Matthew with me in chapter 26 and I want you to 534 00:34:14,719 --> 00:34:19,800 look at how Matthew depicts this very same scene in Matthew 26 535 00:34:19,800 --> 00:34:37,250 and verse 22. And they were very sorrowful and 536 00:34:37,250 --> 00:34:41,850 began to say to him, one after another, Is it I, Lord? 537 00:34:41,929 --> 00:34:43,489 What does Matthew add? Lord? 538 00:34:43,489 --> 00:34:47,850 They said, Lord, each of these disciples said, Is it I, Lord? 539 00:34:49,210 --> 00:34:52,810 He answered, He who has dipped his hand in the dish with me 540 00:34:52,810 --> 00:34:56,199 will betray me. The Son of Man goes as it is 541 00:34:56,199 --> 00:34:58,600 written of him. But woe to that man by whom the 542 00:34:58,600 --> 00:35:01,160 Son of Man is betrayed. It would have been better for 543 00:35:01,160 --> 00:35:02,680 that man if he had not been born. 544 00:35:02,680 --> 00:35:07,880 Now look at verse 25. Judas, who would betray him, 545 00:35:07,880 --> 00:35:15,000 answered, Is it I Rabbi? Is it I Rabbi? 546 00:35:15,000 --> 00:35:17,640 He said to him, You have said so. 547 00:35:17,920 --> 00:35:23,560 Ha, so the 11 said, Is it I Lord? 548 00:35:24,080 --> 00:35:28,400 When it came down to Judas, he didn't call him Lord. 549 00:35:32,000 --> 00:35:34,280 Judas was making an attempt, right? 550 00:35:34,280 --> 00:35:36,920 Because Christ here is being ambiguous on purpose. 551 00:35:38,560 --> 00:35:41,800 And like the past three years, Judas is trying to camouflage 552 00:35:41,800 --> 00:35:46,840 himself at this critical moment. And so as these disciples are 553 00:35:46,840 --> 00:35:48,880 saying, one after the other, is it I Lord? 554 00:35:48,880 --> 00:35:50,680 Is it I Lord comes down to Judas turn? 555 00:35:50,680 --> 00:35:55,960 He wants to try to blend in, but even in his attempt to try to 556 00:35:55,960 --> 00:36:00,560 blend in, he can't help but cough up the word rabbi, which 557 00:36:00,560 --> 00:36:04,680 means teacher. Why didn't he echo the 558 00:36:04,680 --> 00:36:07,520 disciples? Why didn't he say, Is it I, 559 00:36:07,520 --> 00:36:11,440 Lord, I'm persuaded because he could not. 560 00:36:12,480 --> 00:36:15,280 He could not. His heart had determined to 561 00:36:15,280 --> 00:36:18,800 betray him, and to even. Use the word Lord was too heavy 562 00:36:18,800 --> 00:36:22,840 on his lips. It was a weighty thing. 563 00:36:24,960 --> 00:36:27,720 And so he says, Rabbi, you know what's interesting? 564 00:36:27,720 --> 00:36:30,240 In the Gospel of Matthew, you have two instances where you 565 00:36:30,240 --> 00:36:32,040 have the recorded words of Judas. 566 00:36:33,040 --> 00:36:35,160 You have it here, and then you have it in the same chapter in 567 00:36:35,160 --> 00:36:38,600 verse 45. Look at verse 45, when Judas 568 00:36:38,600 --> 00:36:42,680 finally brings the band of murderers behind him to find 569 00:36:42,680 --> 00:36:45,320 Christ in the garden. Notice what Judas says here in 570 00:36:45,320 --> 00:36:50,120 verse 49. And he came up to Jesus at once 571 00:36:50,120 --> 00:36:53,440 and said, greetings. What rabbi? 572 00:36:54,800 --> 00:36:57,160 Greetings, Rabbi. And he kissed him. 573 00:36:59,760 --> 00:37:03,480 Never called him Lord. At least at this point, he 574 00:37:03,480 --> 00:37:07,600 couldn't listen very carefully. Judas serves as a sobering 575 00:37:07,600 --> 00:37:10,600 reminder for those who think that they can live successfully 576 00:37:10,600 --> 00:37:15,600 in compromise. No matter how clever you think 577 00:37:15,600 --> 00:37:17,960 you are, no matter how successful you've been over the 578 00:37:17,960 --> 00:37:24,440 years, Judas proofs to us that exposure is bound to come. 579 00:37:26,200 --> 00:37:31,080 You might reveal it yourself, others might discover it about 580 00:37:31,080 --> 00:37:35,240 you, or the Lord of Glory himself will unmask it. 581 00:37:38,560 --> 00:37:42,400 Judas did pretty good up to this point, but upon close and 582 00:37:42,400 --> 00:37:48,280 careful investigation, he wasn't who he said he was and he even 583 00:37:48,280 --> 00:37:51,360 stood out from the true disciples. 584 00:37:52,720 --> 00:37:57,440 Why? Why did Judas betray Jesus? 585 00:37:58,720 --> 00:38:00,800 The general answer that people tend to give is because he loved 586 00:38:00,800 --> 00:38:02,440 money. He did love money. 587 00:38:02,840 --> 00:38:04,360 He stole from the ministry funds. 588 00:38:05,800 --> 00:38:08,880 He did love money, but he loved money all along. 589 00:38:08,880 --> 00:38:10,680 Why at this point did he betray Christ? 590 00:38:11,000 --> 00:38:14,560 Again, when you look at the context, you have the best key 591 00:38:14,560 --> 00:38:19,720 of unlocking Revelation. What happened right before Judas 592 00:38:19,760 --> 00:38:23,920 chose to collaborate with the Pharisees and the chief priest? 593 00:38:24,400 --> 00:38:26,480 What took place that triggered that moment? 594 00:38:26,480 --> 00:38:28,720 Go back to Mark 14 and you'll see it for yourself. 595 00:38:35,750 --> 00:38:41,310 We read it in verse three of Mark 14, that while he was at 596 00:38:41,310 --> 00:38:44,070 Bethany in the House of Simon the Leper, as he was reclining a 597 00:38:44,070 --> 00:38:46,950 table, a woman came with an alabaster flask of ointment of 598 00:38:46,950 --> 00:38:50,430 pure nard, very costly, and she broke the flask and poured it 599 00:38:50,430 --> 00:38:52,630 over his head. Who was in attendance? 600 00:38:52,790 --> 00:38:57,160 Judas. In fact, he was the one who 601 00:38:57,600 --> 00:38:59,960 began the criticism and the disciples followed. 602 00:39:00,440 --> 00:39:02,360 You could have sold this for 300 denari. 603 00:39:02,560 --> 00:39:04,040 We could have given this to the poor. 604 00:39:04,120 --> 00:39:08,240 He was offended by this ultimately because he thought I 605 00:39:08,240 --> 00:39:12,160 could have stuffed my pockets. More if we we sold this, this 606 00:39:12,160 --> 00:39:14,280 was a donation I would have I would have made more money for 607 00:39:14,280 --> 00:39:17,800 myself. But something happens. 608 00:39:18,040 --> 00:39:20,840 Jesus in defending Mary says she did this for what? 609 00:39:20,840 --> 00:39:24,600 My burial. She's paying tribute to my 610 00:39:24,600 --> 00:39:28,800 death. And I am convinced that at that 611 00:39:28,800 --> 00:39:35,080 moment it dawned on Judas, he, he's not here to establish a 612 00:39:35,080 --> 00:39:40,280 Kingdom. He's, he's going to die. 613 00:39:42,720 --> 00:39:45,560 He's he's saying it. And I wonder if all the past 614 00:39:45,560 --> 00:39:48,080 times where Jesus said I'm going to die, I'm going to be buried, 615 00:39:48,080 --> 00:39:50,400 I'm going to raise, I wonder if that crashed into his thinking 616 00:39:50,400 --> 00:39:53,000 right there and then as well. Whether it did or not doesn't 617 00:39:53,000 --> 00:39:57,880 matter at this moment. Judas understood that this Jesus 618 00:39:57,880 --> 00:40:00,960 of Nazareth is not going to be establishing a government. 619 00:40:02,600 --> 00:40:07,280 He's talking about his death. I didn't sign up for this. 620 00:40:09,520 --> 00:40:12,920 I signed up when I realized that I was chosen, among others, a 621 00:40:12,920 --> 00:40:14,720 band of men who are going to have the most prominent 622 00:40:14,720 --> 00:40:16,560 positions in this Kingdom. And now he's talking about 623 00:40:16,560 --> 00:40:19,840 dying. And now this woman's anointing 624 00:40:19,840 --> 00:40:22,560 him because he's going to be dying, evidently very soon. 625 00:40:23,680 --> 00:40:26,320 I'm jumping this ship because it's the sinking one. 626 00:40:27,080 --> 00:40:29,040 But you know what? I'm not going to leave here 627 00:40:29,320 --> 00:40:33,800 without something in my hands. So I'll sell him. 628 00:40:34,320 --> 00:40:37,080 If he's going to die, let me make something out of it. 629 00:40:37,440 --> 00:40:38,800 Do you see what Judas is thinking? 630 00:40:41,440 --> 00:40:44,160 So he goes to the chief priest and he says, what's the price? 631 00:40:44,160 --> 00:40:47,600 I'll give him over to you. I realized that this man has a 632 00:40:47,600 --> 00:40:50,560 tendency to whatever he says about himself or events or 633 00:40:50,560 --> 00:40:54,240 people is always right. 100% he's talking about dying. 634 00:40:56,920 --> 00:40:59,280 I'm abandoning this cause, but I'm not leaving here empty 635 00:40:59,280 --> 00:41:00,840 handed. So what's the price? 636 00:41:00,840 --> 00:41:02,440 30 pieces of silver. Perfect. 637 00:41:04,840 --> 00:41:09,200 So it's the timing. It dawned on him that things are 638 00:41:09,200 --> 00:41:10,960 going to change. Things are not what I thought 639 00:41:10,960 --> 00:41:13,480 they would be. And so he's going to betray the 640 00:41:13,480 --> 00:41:19,400 Master. But this isn't catch Christ by 641 00:41:19,400 --> 00:41:22,400 surprise because now we come to the prophecies about this 642 00:41:22,400 --> 00:41:24,680 Passover. We talked about the preparation 643 00:41:24,680 --> 00:41:26,200 for it, the proclamation during it. 644 00:41:26,200 --> 00:41:29,280 But now we come to the prophecies about this Passover. 645 00:41:31,480 --> 00:41:33,680 What does Jesus say in verse 20 of Mark 14? 646 00:41:33,680 --> 00:41:37,040 He said to them, It is one of the 12, one who is dipping bread 647 00:41:37,040 --> 00:41:40,240 into the dish with me. For the Son of Man goes as it is 648 00:41:40,240 --> 00:41:42,240 written of him. But woe to that man by whom the 649 00:41:42,240 --> 00:41:44,600 Son of Man is betrayed. It would have been better for 650 00:41:44,600 --> 00:41:45,920 that man if he had not been born. 651 00:41:45,920 --> 00:41:51,240 Notice again in verse 21. For the Son of Man goes as it is 652 00:41:51,240 --> 00:41:54,760 written. Christ didn't know about Judas 653 00:41:55,120 --> 00:41:57,400 merely because of His omniscience. 654 00:41:58,040 --> 00:42:01,520 Christ also knew about Judas because it was declared hundreds 655 00:42:01,520 --> 00:42:06,680 of years ago, thousands of years ago, Not just about Christ's 656 00:42:06,680 --> 00:42:09,800 death, burial, and resurrection, but even his betrayal has been 657 00:42:09,800 --> 00:42:14,080 foretold by the prophets. And one of the clearest passages 658 00:42:14,080 --> 00:42:17,720 as we come to a close in this message is found from the lips, 659 00:42:18,040 --> 00:42:21,280 or the pen rather, of the psalmist of Israel. 660 00:42:21,280 --> 00:42:25,480 David, look at this with your own eyes in Psalm 41. 661 00:42:25,920 --> 00:42:31,040 And I want you to see how even this moment has been told, and 662 00:42:31,040 --> 00:42:33,120 we've been prepared for it by the Spirit of God. 663 00:42:36,320 --> 00:42:42,240 Psalm 41 beginning in verse 9, Jesus alludes to the words of 664 00:42:42,240 --> 00:42:46,120 David in his own experience of treachery, and it's found here 665 00:42:46,120 --> 00:42:54,400 in this verse of Psalm 41, verse 9, David writes, Even my close 666 00:42:54,400 --> 00:43:00,960 friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread has lifted his heel 667 00:43:00,960 --> 00:43:03,280 against me. You know what it means to lift 668 00:43:03,280 --> 00:43:06,240 your heel against someone? It's to lift up your foot and to 669 00:43:06,480 --> 00:43:12,200 deliver a crushing blow. And David says, a friend of mine 670 00:43:12,840 --> 00:43:18,280 whom I trusted, who ate with me. You know, that's it's even more 671 00:43:18,280 --> 00:43:21,800 painful when you've had some meals with a person and you 672 00:43:21,800 --> 00:43:24,040 enjoy that experience with someone and yet that person 673 00:43:24,040 --> 00:43:26,360 turns around to kick you in the face. 674 00:43:28,040 --> 00:43:31,080 Where did David had that experience with his own son 675 00:43:31,080 --> 00:43:35,520 Absalom, with one of his most trusted advisors, a heathful 676 00:43:36,280 --> 00:43:39,000 this was fulfilled in David's experience with the Holy Spirit 677 00:43:39,600 --> 00:43:43,640 uses this to show a greater fulfillment in the greater son 678 00:43:43,640 --> 00:43:49,280 of David with Judas and Christ. But the prophecy doesn't end 679 00:43:49,280 --> 00:43:52,400 there. We continue in verse 11:50 and 680 00:43:52,400 --> 00:43:54,720 we realize that there's more to it. 681 00:43:55,280 --> 00:43:58,200 But you, David says. But you, O Lord, be gracious to 682 00:43:58,200 --> 00:44:01,480 me and raise me up that I may repay them. 683 00:44:01,640 --> 00:44:03,800 By this I know that you delighted me. 684 00:44:03,840 --> 00:44:10,280 My enemy will not shout in triumph over me, but you have 685 00:44:10,280 --> 00:44:14,480 upheld me because of my integrity and set me in your 686 00:44:14,480 --> 00:44:18,240 presence forever. That's David speaking. 687 00:44:18,240 --> 00:44:21,680 Yes, that's David. By the Spirit disclosing to us 688 00:44:21,680 --> 00:44:24,760 the reality of eternity and resurrection, I'm going to be in 689 00:44:24,760 --> 00:44:30,040 your presence forever. But what is David speaking about 690 00:44:30,040 --> 00:44:31,400 here? Vindication. 691 00:44:32,600 --> 00:44:35,560 Yes, my closest friend would betray me, but I'm asking you, O 692 00:44:35,560 --> 00:44:38,480 Lord, to not let him have the triumph over me. 693 00:44:39,000 --> 00:44:42,320 Vindicate me, O God. And God did vindicate David. 694 00:44:42,320 --> 00:44:46,280 But again, we have to connect us to Christ and the unthinkable 695 00:44:46,280 --> 00:44:50,120 loyal disloyalty of Judas that God vindicate the Son of God 696 00:44:50,120 --> 00:44:52,920 absolutely. It did not end with Judas's 697 00:44:52,920 --> 00:44:57,080 betrayal. He was brought forth and raised 698 00:44:57,080 --> 00:44:59,600 up into the presence of the Almighty. 699 00:44:59,600 --> 00:45:01,880 Forever and ever and he sits at his right hand to this day. 700 00:45:04,200 --> 00:45:08,360 So if there is anyone to be pitied in this, in this scene, 701 00:45:08,360 --> 00:45:12,520 this sombering scene here, it wasn't the Lord Jesus Christ, 702 00:45:12,520 --> 00:45:16,760 it's Judas. Because Judas is not coming out 703 00:45:16,760 --> 00:45:18,000 victorious. He's not even to come out 704 00:45:18,000 --> 00:45:21,640 prosperous, even temporarily. He's going to end his own life, 705 00:45:21,640 --> 00:45:26,880 unfortunately. And that's why Jesus pronounces 706 00:45:26,880 --> 00:45:28,480 a woe against them. He says, what? 707 00:45:28,960 --> 00:45:32,240 Woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed. 708 00:45:34,000 --> 00:45:36,520 And this is how he ends. It would have been better for 709 00:45:36,520 --> 00:45:37,800 that man if he had not been born. 710 00:45:38,920 --> 00:45:40,880 Can I tell you what that means? Here's what it means. 711 00:45:41,520 --> 00:45:47,480 Judas's non existence would have been better than his eternal 712 00:45:47,480 --> 00:45:56,240 existence in torment. Judas so horrific will the 713 00:45:56,240 --> 00:46:00,160 punishment and the divine wrath be against Judas for what he did 714 00:46:00,160 --> 00:46:02,640 against the Son of God. That would have been better if 715 00:46:02,640 --> 00:46:07,200 he was not born. This might be a little bit of an 716 00:46:07,200 --> 00:46:11,640 awkward way to end a message like this, but maybe somebody 717 00:46:11,640 --> 00:46:15,600 needs to hear it. Hell is a real place. 718 00:46:16,800 --> 00:46:19,200 You don't hear the word often unless it's used as a cuss word 719 00:46:19,200 --> 00:46:21,840 or derogatory in a derogatory way. 720 00:46:23,040 --> 00:46:25,640 And I think that's Satan's tactic of making hell seem like 721 00:46:25,640 --> 00:46:32,520 a joke. It's not a joke, it's real, and 722 00:46:32,520 --> 00:46:36,280 there will be people going there and they're not going to have a 723 00:46:36,280 --> 00:46:40,000 second chance. The only chance you have of 724 00:46:40,000 --> 00:46:42,720 making sure that you have eternal life is if with the 725 00:46:42,720 --> 00:46:45,640 breath you still have in your lungs, you admit that you've 726 00:46:45,640 --> 00:46:49,520 sinned against a holy God, but you also receive this holy God's 727 00:46:49,520 --> 00:46:52,840 love in the person of Jesus Christ who wants to rescue you 728 00:46:52,840 --> 00:46:58,080 from the wrath of God. So what is it in your mind 729 00:46:58,080 --> 00:47:00,200 that's causing you to delay and accepting that? 730 00:47:01,280 --> 00:47:04,840 Is it money? There will be many people in 731 00:47:04,840 --> 00:47:07,920 hell because they served money in their 7080 years of life. 732 00:47:07,960 --> 00:47:16,800 Many people, you know, some people, it's a disappointment, a 733 00:47:16,800 --> 00:47:20,480 misunderstanding of who God is, like Judas. 734 00:47:21,440 --> 00:47:23,600 And that was enough to deter them and to cause them to live 735 00:47:23,600 --> 00:47:27,520 in rebellion against him. You know, Judas would realize he 736 00:47:27,520 --> 00:47:29,880 would experience a deep sorrow. He never experienced true 737 00:47:29,880 --> 00:47:31,880 repentance. And I am among those who believe 738 00:47:31,880 --> 00:47:34,920 that if Judas repented, God would have forgiven him. 739 00:47:35,480 --> 00:47:39,880 He didn't repent. He was, he was broken, but he 740 00:47:39,880 --> 00:47:42,640 didn't confess. He didn't flee to Christ. 741 00:47:44,320 --> 00:47:46,240 He killed himself in the shadow of despair. 742 00:47:48,920 --> 00:47:55,640 Do you know Jesus Christ? Do you have the guarantee that 743 00:47:55,640 --> 00:48:03,280 you have eternal life is Christ Lord, was there a moment that 744 00:48:03,280 --> 00:48:07,840 you remember where you said save me Lord Jesus, save me, forgive 745 00:48:07,840 --> 00:48:10,760 me for my foolishness, forgive me for my waywardness. 746 00:48:11,120 --> 00:48:14,080 I now stop and realize that you've done all that you could. 747 00:48:14,920 --> 00:48:17,960 The unimaginable you came and you died in my place so that I 748 00:48:17,960 --> 00:48:19,560 would have a place with you forever. 749 00:48:20,480 --> 00:48:23,960 Has that has that thought ever dawned on you to the degree that 750 00:48:23,960 --> 00:48:27,560 it caused you to bend your knee and to say, I want to live for 751 00:48:27,560 --> 00:48:32,160 this Christ? I want to let you know that your 752 00:48:32,160 --> 00:48:37,000 woe can turn into a win. And all that is required of you 753 00:48:37,000 --> 00:48:41,080 is to realize that He is the Lord and He is your Savior. 754 00:48:42,720 --> 00:48:46,960 So why delay a moment? Why delay another second? 755 00:48:47,360 --> 00:48:53,240 Why not at this very second you forget everything around you. 756 00:48:53,480 --> 00:48:57,000 You realize that in this past 50 minutes you have tasted 757 00:48:57,000 --> 00:49:01,040 something of the beauty of Jesus and He can become your Savior. 758 00:49:03,400 --> 00:49:04,920 And here's here's where I'm ending. 759 00:49:05,920 --> 00:49:10,640 This will result more than just you going from hell to heaven. 760 00:49:12,000 --> 00:49:14,480 That's wonderful, that's glorious. 761 00:49:14,960 --> 00:49:17,880 I love that. But I'll tell you why it's 762 00:49:17,880 --> 00:49:21,800 better than that. He takes you from enemy to a 763 00:49:21,800 --> 00:49:28,320 son, from a rebel to a daughter, from a foe to a companion. 764 00:49:29,600 --> 00:49:33,120 And you don't experience that only way when you pass on from 765 00:49:33,120 --> 00:49:37,160 this life, the moment you are justified, you are brought into 766 00:49:37,160 --> 00:49:43,320 his heart and you walk with him day by day by day, and he does 767 00:49:43,320 --> 00:49:46,080 things in you and he just does things through you. 768 00:49:46,080 --> 00:49:50,400 And you accumulate these testimonies until it it climaxes 769 00:49:50,400 --> 00:49:53,040 where you meet him face to face. That's what the Christian life 770 00:49:53,040 --> 00:49:55,240 looks like. Do you want that? 771 00:49:56,920 --> 00:49:58,640 What do you have that's that's better than that? 772 00:49:58,640 --> 00:50:00,200 Please meet me at the door and tell me. 773 00:50:00,200 --> 00:50:04,960 I'm very curious. Oh, your business. 774 00:50:07,520 --> 00:50:11,720 Oh, your properties. Oh, you chasing one girl that's 775 00:50:11,720 --> 00:50:13,840 satisfying you. That's why you keep running 776 00:50:13,840 --> 00:50:17,640 around. You know down deep inside that 777 00:50:17,640 --> 00:50:19,280 what you're doing in your own efforts, in your own 778 00:50:19,280 --> 00:50:23,360 imagination, with your own lust is only temporary and it always 779 00:50:23,360 --> 00:50:25,560 fails you. So why'd you keep going back to 780 00:50:25,560 --> 00:50:28,280 it? Why don't you just bring your 781 00:50:28,280 --> 00:50:32,520 sin to the foot of the cross, let Christ deal with the record 782 00:50:32,520 --> 00:50:36,120 of debt, and then give you a new heart so that you can live out 783 00:50:36,120 --> 00:50:37,440 the way you were created to live. 784 00:50:37,440 --> 00:50:43,480 And that's for Him. So I, I end this message about 785 00:50:43,480 --> 00:50:49,280 Jesus celebrating the Passover with an invitation for you to be 786 00:50:49,280 --> 00:50:52,480 saved. Believe you if you're saved, 787 00:50:53,200 --> 00:50:56,560 just praise him more today. Give him thanks that you belong 788 00:50:56,560 --> 00:50:58,760 to him and that he has a purpose for you. 789 00:50:59,520 --> 00:51:01,400 Can we pray? Let's pray. 790 00:51:15,910 --> 00:51:19,710 I want you to think about maybe one or more than one thing that 791 00:51:19,710 --> 00:51:22,350 touched your heart and then translate that into prayer. 792 00:51:22,350 --> 00:51:28,190 Respond to the word of God with your own words and and commune 793 00:51:28,190 --> 00:51:29,750 with the Lord. And if you're a person here who 794 00:51:29,750 --> 00:51:33,030 doesn't know the Lord, the Bible tells us that if you confess 795 00:51:33,030 --> 00:51:36,800 with your mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord and believe in 796 00:51:36,800 --> 00:51:40,600 your heart that God raised him from the dead and you will be 797 00:51:40,600 --> 00:51:44,120 saved. Confess with your mouth and 798 00:51:44,120 --> 00:51:48,040 believe in your heart not just that Christ died, but that he 799 00:51:48,040 --> 00:51:51,760 rose and that he's living and he beckons you to come to him. 800 00:51:52,320 --> 00:51:54,640 And as you're praying there silently, I'll ask the priest 801 00:51:54,640 --> 00:51:57,480 team to come and join us and prepare for us to respond in 802 00:51:57,480 --> 00:52:00,040 song. But just there's so much noise 803 00:52:00,040 --> 00:52:02,480 today just in, in a. Brief moment of silence. 804 00:52:02,760 --> 00:52:05,920 Let each of us just seek the Lord and then we will sing to 805 00:52:05,920 --> 00:52:42,240 him together, shall we? Well, we ask that these words 806 00:52:42,480 --> 00:52:51,040 would in fact live in us. We want to be changed. 807 00:52:51,040 --> 00:52:54,400 We want to know you, live for you, glorify you for the rest of 808 00:52:54,400 --> 00:52:56,200 our days. We thank you for what you've 809 00:52:56,200 --> 00:52:58,520 said to us. Now we respond to you with these 810 00:52:58,520 --> 00:53:02,000 words of love in Jesus name, Amen. 811 00:53:02,480 --> 00:53:06,880 I had an interesting time studying the Word yesterday, as 812 00:53:06,880 --> 00:53:10,920 I usually do for Sunday, as you know, studying about the Last 813 00:53:10,920 --> 00:53:14,080 Supper. And I'm sure most of us in here 814 00:53:14,080 --> 00:53:18,400 received a text or stumbled upon a clip on the Internet of how 815 00:53:18,400 --> 00:53:23,840 the opening ceremony of the Olympics in France included a 816 00:53:23,840 --> 00:53:28,240 blasphemous display of drag Queens who were mocking that 817 00:53:28,240 --> 00:53:32,800 very scene that we uphold and Revere and adore Christ for. 818 00:53:33,600 --> 00:53:39,360 And as obscene as devilish as that was, late last night, I 819 00:53:39,360 --> 00:53:42,560 pulled out my phone and had trouble sleeping. 820 00:53:42,560 --> 00:53:46,200 But I watched Living Waters Ray Conference Ministry because 821 00:53:46,200 --> 00:53:48,800 they're out there in Paris now doing some evangelism work. 822 00:53:48,800 --> 00:53:52,600 And they responded quickly to that, that whole ordeal. 823 00:53:52,600 --> 00:53:55,560 And they began to interview people about what they thought, 824 00:53:55,600 --> 00:53:59,560 did anybody see this, what they thought about what happened at 825 00:53:59,560 --> 00:54:03,000 the opening ceremony? And I don't know what broke my 826 00:54:03,000 --> 00:54:09,360 heart more, what that thing was or how the people responded to 827 00:54:09,360 --> 00:54:13,320 it. Things along the line of, yeah, 828 00:54:13,960 --> 00:54:19,800 it's art or why, you know, And I mean, any other religion, Paris 829 00:54:19,800 --> 00:54:25,760 would be on fire, right? I don't remember the last time. 830 00:54:25,760 --> 00:54:28,120 A lot of things that made me feel different ways in the past 831 00:54:28,120 --> 00:54:33,680 few years, but this this one made me emotional after seeing 832 00:54:33,680 --> 00:54:37,800 that that interview with different people and though it 833 00:54:37,800 --> 00:54:41,680 made me broken and grieved. I felt something I don't know if 834 00:54:41,680 --> 00:54:47,680 you sense that to this holy boldness, this boldness in what 835 00:54:47,680 --> 00:54:52,320 sense if the world is only intensifying in their blasphemy. 836 00:54:53,160 --> 00:54:57,360 My prayers since last night was, Lord, amplify my life to be 837 00:54:57,360 --> 00:54:59,560 unashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ. 838 00:55:00,000 --> 00:55:03,960 Unashamed. No crack in your voice, no 839 00:55:03,960 --> 00:55:07,680 hesitation to say it. No, no, no set back on calling 840 00:55:07,680 --> 00:55:10,520 sin sin. If there was a time to be bold, 841 00:55:10,520 --> 00:55:12,120 it's today. It was. 842 00:55:12,120 --> 00:55:16,440 If there's a time to be vocal and to to share the good news of 843 00:55:16,560 --> 00:55:19,160 Jesus Christ, it's now. It's now. 844 00:55:19,400 --> 00:55:23,240 We don't respond to wickedness and even blasphemy by protesting 845 00:55:23,240 --> 00:55:25,960 or threatening. Or rampaging or looting. 846 00:55:25,960 --> 00:55:28,440 We don't do that. But the way we do it is we go 847 00:55:28,440 --> 00:55:32,200 out and we give more light. More truth in the power of the 848 00:55:32,200 --> 00:55:34,480 Holy Spirit. And so I just thought it was 849 00:55:34,480 --> 00:55:36,640 interesting timing, at least for me, studying about the Last 850 00:55:36,640 --> 00:55:39,160 Supper, and this blasphemous thing shows up on my phone. 851 00:55:40,400 --> 00:55:44,600 So don't allow your righteous indignation to just remain as a 852 00:55:44,600 --> 00:55:47,240 motion or to cause you to act carnal. 853 00:55:47,240 --> 00:55:51,320 Ask the Lord to give you the wisdom to protest with the truth 854 00:55:51,320 --> 00:55:53,840 of Jesus Christ. And if they're going to shove 855 00:55:53,840 --> 00:55:57,880 this in people's faces, they may we, by the wisdom of God, give 856 00:55:57,880 --> 00:55:59,920 this gospel to as many people as possible. 857 00:56:00,280 --> 00:56:02,760 To allow these things every event it just seems like the 858 00:56:02,760 --> 00:56:06,840 birth pains are getting more intense so let's be more intense 859 00:56:08,120 --> 00:56:12,680 by the spirit as he energizes us and I just if anything, I. 860 00:56:12,680 --> 00:56:15,280 Want to see the church explode in revival in these days? 861 00:56:15,680 --> 00:56:17,560 That's been my prayer and I hope it's your prayers. 862 00:56:17,560 --> 00:56:18,840 Well, why don't we pray together? 863 00:56:19,400 --> 00:56:23,800 But we thank you. You told us, Lord, that if they 864 00:56:23,800 --> 00:56:28,000 call the master of the House Belzebul, how much more that 865 00:56:28,000 --> 00:56:33,920 servants, so that we are not completely shocked at the evil 866 00:56:33,920 --> 00:56:37,600 around us and the evil that will come our way, not just for your 867 00:56:37,600 --> 00:56:39,720 name, but even for those who bear your name. 868 00:56:40,400 --> 00:56:44,160 Make us bold, Lord. Fill us with faith, Lord. 869 00:56:44,680 --> 00:56:47,480 Fill us with the knowledge of your words, that we can give an 870 00:56:47,480 --> 00:56:50,160 appropriate defense for the hope that we have. 871 00:56:50,840 --> 00:56:53,040 We pray, Lord, that what we're seeing around us would only 872 00:56:53,040 --> 00:56:55,160 cause the Church to be more alive than ever. 873 00:56:55,680 --> 00:57:00,400 May the Holy Spirit not be grieved among his people. 874 00:57:00,720 --> 00:57:02,920 May He be pleased. May you be pleased by what you 875 00:57:02,920 --> 00:57:05,480 see here with every ministry represented here. 876 00:57:05,480 --> 00:57:09,840 Lord, we, we want to walk out of this place with a strategic 877 00:57:09,840 --> 00:57:14,520 mindset, a missional mindset that the gates of hell will not 878 00:57:14,520 --> 00:57:16,200 prevail. We will succeed, we will win in 879 00:57:16,200 --> 00:57:18,000 the end. And we want to be part of that 880 00:57:18,000 --> 00:57:21,200 plan to see people come to the Kingdom of God. 881 00:57:21,600 --> 00:57:23,080 So we do ask that you go before us. 882 00:57:23,080 --> 00:57:26,560 Keep your hand on our minds and our hearts and may we Lord be 883 00:57:26,560 --> 00:57:30,760 your vessels for your glory. In Jesus name we pray, Amen and 884 00:57:30,760 --> 00:57:31,160 Amen.