The Upper Room

We will be turning over in just a moment to Exodus chapter 11. So, We are approaching in the book of Mark. The crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Trying to time that. So, we end up there at at Easter in in just a month or so.

We have entered into the Passion Week or the the last week preceding Christ's death. We have come now to the evening before, okay? Evening before in Mark chapter 14 and we're going to begin by reading verses 12 through 16 of Mark 14. Verse 12, and the first day of unleavened bread, when they killed the Passover, his disciples said unto him, where wilt thou that we go and prepare that thou mayest eat the Passover? And he sendeth forth two of his disciples and say it unto them, go you into the city and there shall meet you a man bearing a pitcher of water.

Follow him. And wheresoever he shall go in, say, you to the good man of the house, the master say it, where is the guest chamber where I shall eat the Passover with my disciples? And he shall show you a large upper room furnished and prepared. There, make ready for us and his disciples went forth and came into the city and found as he had said unto them and they made ready the Passover. Now, let's go to Lord in prayer once more.

Dear heavenly father, thank you Lord for your word today and this wonderful day that you have given us Lord to look into it, that you might take it and by your spirit, use it in our life to conform us more to the image of your son. To challenge us in your service, to bring comfort in the trials that we face, to bring conviction over sin. That we might learn to depend more on you. That we might learn how to serve you better. That you might be magnified in this place, in this congregation, in each and every life and Lord, if there be one here today that's never trusted in Jesus Christ as savior, I pray that you would help them, Lord.

To understand what you did for them, who you are, and the desperate need that we have to be saved from our sins and receive your gift of everlasting life through Jesus your son. In Jesus name, we do pray. Amen. Well, as we approach the day of Christ crucifixion here in Mark chapter 14, we are also approaching the time of the Passover. Now, you may have heard that term used before.

But you may not be completely aware of of what the Passover is and and what it meant to Israel and to the Jews to Jesus and his disciples and and what that might have to do with Christ's sacrifice of himself on the cross on the following day. They are all interconnected along with the celebration of the Lord's supper that we're going to celebrate next Sunday night also. So, if you'll take your Bibles and and purpose was and what it portrays and means lives to Israel and and and also to us. So, Exodus chapter 11, we're going to read beginning in verse four in just a second. Now, the Jews, Israelites were in slavery and bondage in Egypt where they had been for four hundred years following Joseph and and the Lord had raised up Moses to deliver them out of the hand of bondage, out of slavery in Egypt to to deliver them out of Egypt unto Mount Sinai where he would give them the 10 commandments and make of them a nation and then lead them up to the promised land that they might receive the land that God had promised to whom?

That God had promised to Abraham that his seed would take possession of that land one day and that is about to happen but right now, they are in slavery in Egypt and Moses is there and God is bringing plagues upon Egypt to convince Pharaoh to let Israel go but Pharaoh is being stubborn. He's hardened his heart against the Lord and is refusing and that brings us to what is the tenth plague here as we come to Exodus eleven and twelve. The tenth and the last plague upon Egypt. Here we learn that there will be a plague that will come upon all Egypt from the cattle to Pharaoh himself resulting in the immediate death of every first born, every first born child. Except for the Israelites.

Look if you would in chapter 11 verse four and Moses said, thus saith the Lord about midnight, will I go out in the midst of Egypt and all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die from the firstborn of pharaoh that sit up with upon his throne even unto the firstborn of the maid servant that is behind the mill and all the firstborn of beasts and there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt such as there was none like it nor shall be like it anymore But against any of the children of Israel shall not a dog move his tongue against man or beast. That you may know that the Lord doth put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel. Some of the earlier plagues that had come upon Egypt, the Israelites had suffered just the same as the Egyptians had. Some of they of some of them they had and some of them they hadn't. Here God is making a clear distinction between the Egyptians and the Israelites and he is doing so by providing a way so that the Israelites will not lose their firstborn in this last and final plague and that is described in chapter 12.

So what way did God provide and by the way there was only one way. There wasn't two ways. There wasn't 10 ways. There was only one way. That always reminds me of John chapter 14 and verse six.

Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the father but by me. Exodus four Acts chapter four verse 12, there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. That is the name of Jesus. Only one way.

Look if you would in verse one of chapter 12, okay? We'll look at the provision God provided and the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron the land of Egypt saying, this month shall be unto you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year to you. Speak you unto all the congregation of Israel saying, in the tenth day of this month, they shall take to them every man a lamb according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house. And if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls.

Every man according to his eating shall make your count for the lamb. Your lamb shall be without blemish. A male of the first year, you shall take it out from the sheep or from the goats and you shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening and they shall take of the blood and strike it on the two sideposts and on the upper doorpost of the houses wherein they shall eat it and they shall eat the flesh in that night roast with fire and unleavened bread with bitter herbs, they shall eat it. Eat it, eat not of it raw nor sodden it all with water but roast with fire, his head with his legs, and with the pertinence thereof. And you shall let nothing of it remain until morning, and that which remaineth of it until the morning you shall burn with fire and thus shall you eat it with your loins girded and your shoes on your feet, your staff in your hand, and you shall eat it in haste.

It is the Lord's Passover. For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast and against all the gods of Egypt, I will execute judgement. I am the Lord. And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where you are. When I see the blood, I will pass over you.

And the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you when I smite the land of Egypt. And this day shall be unto you for a memorial and you shall keep it a feast to the Lord throughout your generations. You shall keep it a feast by an ordinance forever. That describes to us how the Passover feast came to be that Jesus has now just instructed his disciples to go make ready for in Mark chapter 14. The way that God provided for the children of Israel to escape the judgment that was come upon Israel was to take a lamb a unblemished lamb without spot, without blemish, without issue.

One that wasn't lame, that wasn't blind, that there wasn't an obvious problem with. To take that lamb, to set it apart and aside from the tenth to the fourteenth day of the month and then in the late afternoon, on that day, to kill and slay that lamb, to shed its blood, and then to take the blood, to put it on the doorpost of their homes, the top and the sides, and then to roast it with fire and eat it inside their home. And as the death angel came and brought judgement upon the land of Egypt and killed all of their firstborn, the firstborn of Israel was safe. That sort of reminds me of of Noah and the ark. God brought judgement upon all the world and all of mankind.

But not upon Noah and his family because they were safe where? They were safe in the ark. Here we see Israel safe in their homes. With Noah's ark, it was God who closed the door and sealed them in to protect them. Here they are protected by the blood that is on the doorpost of the sacrifice that they killed so that their firstborn would not die.

Notice they had to trust in the Lord and the blood of the lamb to protect them from God's wrath. Being Israelites was not enough and though God said he was going to put a difference between the Egyptians and the Israelites, if any Israelite did not. Trust the Lord and do as he said, their firstborn would still have what? Would still have died because there was only one way to be saved, delivered from that judgment and that was through the blood of the lamb and through trusting in the way of the Lord. The Bible tells us for without faith, it is what?

It is impossible to please him. For he that cometh to God must believe that he is and is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him and the way he has provided through Jesus Christ his son and in symbolism here through the Passover lamb. God told them to keep it every year at the same time that they might remember what he did to deliver them from slavery in Egypt and to keep them safe as the plague came upon them. Not only did God keep them safe from the judgment that passed over them while everyone else suffered. Not only did God deliver them out of slavery but God delivered them as a nation to Mount Sinai where they became where they received the covenant and became God's people as a nation with laws, with him as their king.

To leave that place to go and conquer the land of Canaan. This this Passover lamb, this celebration, this deliverance that God provided for Israel is also a foreshadowing of the lamb of God that takes away the sin of the what? The sin of the world. You see, all of us lay under God's condemnation because we are all sinners and whether you're born in a Christian home and whether you have spent all of your life in church, whether you are better in your eyes than someone else, we are all affected by sin and there is only one way that God has provided to be saved. From the sentence of hell in the lake of fire and that is the blood of the lamb.

Not a little lamb the the offspring of a goat or of a sheep. But as John said in John one, the lamb of God, that's Jesus, who came to take away not just the sin of Israel but the sin of the what? The sin of the world. That's you and me. So, is the Passover and Jesus Christ crucifixion is about to happen?

Are they disconnected? No. They're very much connected because the Passover foreshadows what Christ would do. For he is truly the righteous one and he became sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in him. So, that brings us back to our text in Mark chapter 14 if you want to turn back there again.

Jesus told his disciples, now, go prepare for the Passover. As he was going to keep, as he had throughout his his life, kept the the Passover feast that was commanded for Israel to keep. And so his disciple, well, where do we do that? Where where should we should go? They were not most of his disciples were Jerusalem.

They were from Galilee which was up in the North. So, they didn't have a place, a home in order to celebrate the Passover together. So, they asked him, where should we go with the lamb that we take to sacrifice to prepare for this all important meal. Jesus told them, well, you'll go into town and you'll see there a man and that that man will be carrying a picture. Look if again if you would chapter 14 and it says here in verse 13, he send it forth two of his disciples, say it unto them, go you into the city and there shall meet you a man bearing a pitcher of water, follow him.

Now, that was maybe a little bit out of the ordinary because normally, it would have been a lady that was going to get the water for the day. So, again, that's why he could say, you'll see a man follow him because it was a bit out of the ordinary and so they did and they followed him. They he says in verse 10, wheresoever he shall go in, say you to the good man of the house, the master, where is the guest chamber where I shall eat the Passover with my disciples and he shall show you a large upper room furnished and prepared. So, Jesus told me, go into town, you find this man, you follow him to his house. When you get to the house, you ask him, you ask the the owner of the house, where is the place provided for us to keep in Jesus, the master here, he calls himself to keep the pastor and he'll show you the room.

So, guess what? They went into town. They saw a man. They followed him. They went to the house.

They asked and low and behold, he said, yes, here it is. All ready for you to prepare for the meal and the Passover. Now, did Jesus have to, did Jesus have to do it that way? Couldn't he have just said, you know, go to 1323 Sycamore Drive and there, you know, I don't know if they had addresses and street names in Jerusalem in that day. They probably didn't but they had other landmarks that he could have told me.

He could go say, go to so and so's house. Maybe they knew who so and so was. But that's not what he told them. He said, no, you go into town, you look for a man carrying a pitcher of water. You follow him, you ask.

Why, why, why do it that way? Why not just say go to such and such a house? Well, I think for this reason, Jesus wanted to continue to strengthen their what? Continue to strengthen their faith and every time Jesus taught them in this manner, they saw and recognized that whatever Jesus said, guess what? It came true.

Because he is the son of God and they had every reason to trust him. Even if they didn't always completely understand. There's something coming up that they certainly did not understand. Over and over again, Jesus in the scriptures had told him that he was going to go to Jerusalem. He was going to be arrested.

He was going to suffer. He was going to die. He was going to rise again. They didn't want to accept the death death part. They couldn't get that in their heads.

They needed their faith strengthen and so often Jesus taught them in this manner. Why why feed the 5,000 the way he did? With five loaves and two fish. Why break them and give it to give the pieces to his disciples to distribute. He could have fed the mass in any way he wanted to.

But he chose to do it that way that he might strengthen their what? Their faith. Why send them out on the Sea Of Galilee when Jesus knew a storm was coming up. To which he would need to calm by saying peace be still. Why do it that way?

Well, because he wanted to strengthen their faith. He said, oh you of little what? Of little faith. Why did God direct the Israelites as they left Egypt up to the Red Sea where they couldn't get across with the Egyptian army bearing down upon them. Why?

Why God, why did God direct them that way? So, he could part the waters and strengthen their what? And strengthen their faith. Why send them into the land of Canaan to Jericho and have them walk around the walls 13 times? God could've knocked down the walls the first time.

Or any way God wanted. Why do it that way? To strengthen their why? To strengthen their faith. To help them to learn to trust him.

And we don't always know the answers and we don't always have the big picture and sometimes our ways are not whose ways? God's ways. But we will not fail if we learn to trust him and follow him. The trials that we face in life, the Red Seas that we get up against that we can't cross or can't seem to. Our God's way of strengthening our faith.

Count it all joy when you fall into diverse temptations knowing this, the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have a perfect work that you may be perfect and entire wanting or lacking nothing. So, again, Jesus strengthens their faith. Even in the little things, even in the little things. Well, they prepare in verse 17.

They are now to the evening the lamb has been slain. They have roasted it. They have prepared the meal in the upper room that God has provided and they are sitting down to celebrate the Passover. Look if you would in verse 17. In the evening, he cometh with the 12 and as they sat and did eat, Jesus said, verily I say unto you, one of you which eateth with me shall betray me and they began to be sorrowful and to say unto him one by one, is it I?

And another said, is it I? And he answered and said unto them, it is one of the 12 that dip it with me in the dish. The son of man indeed goeth as it is written of him but woe unto that man by whom the son of man is betrayed. Good were it for that man if he had never been born. As they sat down and they began to to partake of the meal there in celebration of the Passover, Jesus reveals something to them.

He says point blank to them that evening, one of you is going to betray me. Jesus says, one of you that dips from the bowl that I'm eating from is prepared and ready and about to betray me. His disciples couldn't believe what they were hearing. Is it I? Is it I?

They they didn't think it was one of them. That is except for the one who probably didn't say, is it I? Because he knew. And the fact is Jesus knew. And the fact is Jesus knew from the very day that he chose him to be one of the disciples.

He mentions it several times throughout the gospel. In John chapter six and verse seven, we get to it here. Jesus answering them, have I not chosen you 12? And one of you is a devil. Jesus knew that from the beginning.

But you see, Jesus came to die on the what? To die on the cross. Because that's what Israel and all of us needed to be saved. You see the blood of bulls and goats is not enough to wash away sins. It requires the blood not just of an innocent but of the righteous son of God, Jesus Christ.

And Jesus came to die on that cross In if you think I have it up here, yeah. Isaiah chapter 53, I'll I'll read from there. This is one of many passages in the Old Testament that speaks of Christ's coming death and resurrection, his suffering, for sin. Isaiah 53, beginning in verse four, surely it says, he hath born our griefs and carried our sorrows. Yet, we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

That's how the Jews saw Jesus. He came unto his own and his own what? Received him not. But he was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities.

The chastisement of our peace was upon him and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned everyone to his own way. The Lord hath laid on him that is Jesus, the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth. He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter and as a sheep before her shears is dumb so he openeth not his mouth.

We could continue this morning in that passage. It speaks of his death. It speaks also of the prolonging of his life even that of his resurrection. Along with other passages. Like Psalm 22, Daniel nine twenty six, Zechariah thirteen seven.

Wasn't a mistake that Judas was one of the 12. No, it was all part of God's eternal plan of redemption but nonetheless, Judas was making that decision of his own accord and he would have to bear the guilt of what he was about to do. Thus, Jesus referred to this passage in Psalm forty one nine. Yey, mine own familiar friend and whom I trusted which did eat of my bread have lifted up his heel against me. And that the one who did betray him.

It would have been best if he had never at least for his own sake. If he had never been born. Yet, it would not deter Judas. Judas' mind was set. His path was laid out.

The money was awaiting and he continued down the path that he had chosen and for which he would bear the consequences. You see Judas had everybody fooled. Everybody fooled but who? Every bloody fool but God. And I can be easily fooled.

I am somewhat gullible. But praise God. He sees the heart and he knows whether I do or not. That brings us to the upper room and what Jesus taught his disciples that evening. In chapters in John, John 13 through John 17, John records a lot that went on that evening in the upper room.

We won't look at that in detail this evening this morning for the sake of time But in that upper room, Jesus taught his disciples once again how to be servants as he washed their feet. In John 13. He he told them not to be anxious over his departure. For he was going away to prepare a place that he would come again. To take them home to it.

John 14, let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. In my father's house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.

If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself. That where I am, there you may be also. In John 15, Jesus taught them the importance of abiding in his grace and strength as a branch abides and receives sustenance from the vine. I am the vine and ye are the branches. He that abideth in me and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit for without me ye can do nothing.

In John 16, he gave them words of comfort and assurance concerning the coming gift of the father, the Holy Spirit. Helper and guide of every born again believer. John sixteen seven, nevertheless, I tell you the truth, it is expedient for you that I go away. For if I go not away, the comforter will not come unto you. But if he'd, I depart, I will send him unto you.

And then in John 17, he prayed for them. I'll read just a portion of that prayer. He says in prayer, I have given them that is his disciples, thy word and the world hath hated them because they are not of the world even as I am not of the world. I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world but thou thou shouldest keep them from the evil. They are not of the world even as I am not of the world.

Sanctify them through thy truth. Thy word is truth. As thou hast sent me into the world even so have I also sent them into the world and for their sakes, I sanctify myself that they also might be sanctified or set apart, dedicated through the truth. Neither pray I for these alone. But for them also which shall believe on me through their word.

You know who Jesus prayed for in John 17? He prayed for you and he prayed for me as he did his disciples That the father would set us apart under his service, that he would cleanse us, that he would keep us, and that he would be there to help us. And he has said in his word, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee and then after Jesus was done praying, he instituted the Lord's supper. Look if you would in verse 22, verse 22. And as they did eat, Jesus took bread and blessed it and break it and gave to them and said, take eat, this is my body.

And he took the cup and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them and they drank, all drank of it and he said unto them, this is my blood of the New Testament which is shed for many. Verily I say unto you, I will drink no more of the fruit of the vine until the day that I drink it new. In the kingdom of God. And so, Jesus concludes the evening in the upper room with the institution of the Lord's supper as we call it or we also may call it communion. He takes bread that was eaten with the Passover meal.

It was unleavened bread. It had no yeast in it because in the Bible, yeast is off often representative of sin. Jesus is without sin. And so he took the unleavened bread and he break it and he says to them, this is my body. This represents my body which is broken for you.

His sinless body but terribly marred and slain or would be by the next day for the sins of mankind. And then he took the cup filled with grape juice or wine representing the blood of Jesus Christ who would be spilt that next day. On the cross, to cleanse us from all sin. The Passover was kept by Israel as a memorial or token of the old covenant. That covenant that Israel received through Moses at Mount Sinai in which God said to them, I make of you a nation and I give you these laws and if you keep them and if you say true to me, I will bless you in the land.

You will stay in the land forever but if you depart from me and serve idols, I will strip it away from you. What happened? Israel didn't keep the old covenant. Israel didn't keep the law. Israel turned idolatry and what happened?

Assyria came and Babylon came and conquered them and and tripped them out of the land. The blood of the the old covenant, that of the lambs and goats wasn't sufficient. It wasn't enough. We must have the lamb of who? Jesus Christ, the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

Not the blood of the old covenant but the blood of the what? The new covenant. Your Bible is divided into Old Testament and New Testament. What's the word testament mean? It means covenant.

When you speak of the Old Testament, you're talking about the old covenant. Think of the New Testament, you don't mean off the what? The New Covenant and as the Passover was a memorial to the old covenant. The blood of Jesus Christ that would be slain on the next day which that which sealed a new covenant, a better covenant and the Lord's Supper a memorial not to the old covenant but to the new and better covenant. The Lord's supper is kept by the church today as a memorial of the new covenant.

The blood of a new and better covenant being sealed in the blood of Jesus Christ which he was about to shed on Calvary's Cross. For the remission of sins who all, for all who believe in him. To the Jew first but also to the what? To the Greek or to the Gentile. Speaks of this in Hebrews chapter nine.

Let me get there. But Christ being come and high priest of good things to come. Neither by the blood of goats and calves but by his own blood enter he entered in once into the holy place having obtained eternal redemption for us and for this cause he is the mediator of the what? The New Testament or the New Covenant. Jeremiah prophesied about that New Covenant way back in Jeremiah 31.

He said, behold the days come saith the Lord that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, with the house of Judah, not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers and the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt which my covenant they break. That's the old covenant. That's the mosaic covenant. They broke it. But Jeremiah says, God is going to make a new covenant and in the new covenant not only Israel but we who come to faith in Christ all might be saved and secured in him.

He says, but this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days saith the Lord. I will put my law in their what? In their inward parts. And write it in their hearts and I will be their God and they shall be my people. Where the blood of bulls and goats and the commands of the Mosaic Covenant failed.

The blood of Jesus Christ will not fail. When we come to Christ in faith, we enter into a what? A new covenant and a better covenant. Through Jesus Christ the lamb of God who died for us. The elements of elements of communion serve as a reminder and a means to worship the Lord who has provided such a wonderful redemption in Jesus Christ.

Until the day that we are with him in person. As he promised. It is a joyous celebration of our eternal hope and our fellowship with the father. And with one another through faith in Jesus Christ, his son, who shed his blood on Calvary's Cross. But understand, the elements of communion, the bread, and the juice are not a means to salvation.

The only means to salvation is faith in the shed blood of Jesus Christ and in his power to save man from sin. For by grace are you saved through what? Faith. We'll be observing the Lord's supper together next Sunday night and I hope you will come as you should to celebrate it with us. But the most important question this morning is not will you come next Sunday to celebrate the Lord's supper.

The most important question is this, have your sins been washed away? In the blood of the lamb. Are you secure as Noah was in the ark? Are you secure as the Israelites were in their homes with the blood on the doorpost? Are you secure in Jesus Christ?

Through faith in what he did for you on Calvary's Cross. Have you come to him to put your faith in him alone? And receive his offer of everlasting life. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God sent not his son into the world to condemn the world but that the world through him might be saved.

He that believeth on him is not condemned but he that believeth not is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten son of God. But God commended his love toward us and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. That is you. Have you put your faith in him? Trust in him?

Have you come to him? In repentance and faith and cried out. For the Bible says, for whosoever shall call in the name of the Lord shall be saved. Let's pray. Dear heavenly father, thank you Lord today for your mercy and grace and the sacrifice of your son.

Thank you for the beautiful picture of the Passover and how you provided a way for your people not only to be saved and delivered from the judgment but to be delivered from slavery and Lord, we today are born in slavery to sin but praise God through the blood of the lamb. Jesus Christ, our savior. We can be redeemed and set free. Lord, we can be justified and forgiven. Lord, thank you for what you did for us on Calvary's Cross.

Thank you for the privilege of serving you and also celebrating the Lord's supper as we will do next week in remembrance of what you did for us. Lord, I pray if there's one here today that doesn't know you as savior. May they come as we give this hymn of invitation this morning. Lord, if there's someone here that's doubting today, if they're unsure, I pray they would come as we sing this hymn of invitation. In Jesus name, amen.

Turn if you would to your in your hymn books, hymn 249, standing pleased to sing just as I am. Two forty nine, standing please. Come. If you would today.