Trust in the One Who Knows
Notes
Transcript
Good Morning
I told my daughter to go to bed, the cows are sleeping in the field.
She said, What’s that got to do with anything?
I said, that means it’s pasture bedtime.
Last Sunday was such a good day. God is so good to us. I want to thank everyone for their hard work in getting ready and for serving the way you did.
Keep the DOM search committed in your prayers as we are trying to find the man God has for Mullins Association.
See you at the pole is this Wednesday morning. There is a rally at Immanuel Baptist Church tonight from 5:30-7:30. There will be food, games and a rally. I will not be able to attend as I will be in Anadarko. It is for Youth group aged kids. It will be a fun time, if you have teens, I encourage you to take them.
Today we are going to be in Mark 14:12-16.
Last week we saw the difference between a disciple and a deceiver.
MARY
Mary was a woman with no real standing
She gave what she could to Jesus
She blessed her Lord
She loved her Lord
She did a beautiful thing
She served Him as her Savior
Her actions will be remembered in a positive light for her devotion to Jesus
JUDAS
He was a man, who was one of the apostles
He took what he could get from Jesus
He betrayed his Lord
He used his Lord
He did a terrible thing
He sold Jesus like He was his slave
His actions will be remembered in a negative light for his betrayal to Jesus
From the outside Judas and Mary appeared to be no different from each other in their devotion to Jesus.
No one knew Jesus was talking about Judas when He said one of them was going to betray Him.
We do not know who is saved and who isn’t. All we can do is see what fruit they are producing. We are to be fruit inspectors not salvation inspectors.
Even though Jesus always knew Judas was going to betray Him, He still allowed him in the group and showed him love. He still let Judas hear all the truths that He spoke.
We are not called to judge as to salvation, we are to judge ones fruit production (their behavior) and call out behavior that is not that of a true follower of Christ. We are to judge peoples actions not their motives.
We can not see into someone’s heart. We are to call out their bad actions so that they can repent and get back on the narrow path. Only God knows who is saved and unsaved. Only He can see someone’s heart.
Today we are going to see the sovereignty of God. We are going to see that Jesus knew exactly what was going to happen before it happened. Some commentaries that I read stated that Jesus set up this appointment with the master of the house days before and setup the details of how the disciples were to find his guy and follow him to his house and he would have it ready for them. I don’t think this is what happened at all. Jesus knew all that was going to happen. He told Judas that he was going to betray Him before he did. He told Peter he was going to deny Him 3 times before he did. He told the disciples where to find the donkey for His entrance into Jerusalem. Jesus wasn’t surprised by anything. He knew what was happening. He foretold many things while He was here on earth. I believe this is one of those times.
Please stand as we read God’s Word
12 And on the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they sacrificed the Passover lamb, his disciples said to him, “Where will you have us go and prepare for you to eat the Passover?” 13 And he sent two of his disciples and said to them, “Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him, 14 and wherever he enters, say to the master of the house, ‘The Teacher says, Where is my guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ 15 And he will show you a large upper room furnished and ready; there prepare for us.” 16 And the disciples set out and went to the city and found it just as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover.
This is the morning of the Passover meal. Mark tells us that the disciples came to Jesus and asked Him where do you want us to and prepare the Passover meal? This was a very important meal and memorial that the Jews were commanded to do every year in remembrance of the day that God spared them from the death angel in Egypt. Mark doesn’t tell us which two disciples Jesus sent, but Luke does 22:8. Luke tells us that Jesus sent Peter and John.
Next we see Jesus give very detailed instructions to them on where to go and what to look for. First He tells them to go into the city, the city where the leaders are trying to arrest and kill Jesus! This is a dangerous mission. Everyone would know that they are with Jesus. They were with Him when He cleansed the temple and when He taught at the temple the whole next day. People would recognize them as Jesus’ followers.
Next He tells them to look for a man carrying a jar of water. To us this seems like this would be a difficult thing to find. But back in Jesus’ day, it was customary for women to carry water jars and men would carry a water skin. A man carrying a water jar would have stuck out like a sore thumb. Some commentaries said that man would stick out like a man carrying a purse. We that is not that uncommon today! It would not have been hard for them to find this man. He would have been the only man carrying a jar of water. It just wasn’t done by men.
Next they are to follow this guy and whatever house he enters, they are to enter also. They are playing a spy game it sounds like! When they enter the house, they are to say to the master of the house, the Teacher says, Where is my guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples? That seems like something strange to say to someone who they have never met before. But to them, they have come to expect things like this from Jesus. They never knew what was going to happen, but they had learned that when Jesus said something was going to happen, it did. Just like when He sent them to get the donkey for Him to ride into town on, they didn’t know what was going to happen, but Jesus did and it happened just like He told them it would. They had come to trust Jesus. They had seen time after time that what He said happened.
Jesus told them that the master of the house would show them a large upper room that was already furnished and they were to prepare the meal there for them. That is exactly how it happened. They did exactly what Jesus told them to do and they prepared the meal where Jesus had told them. In the house that the man carrying a jar of water went to and they said exactly what Jesus told them to say and the master of the house said exactly what Jesus said he would say. Every time Jesus says something will happen a certain way, that is money in the bank. It will happen the way He says it will.
Why did Jesus take such care in getting a place to eat this Passover meal and why all the secrecy?
1st off, it hid the location from Judas, who had already made a deal with the scribes to betray Jesus. This would have been the perfect place to betray Him. There would not be a lot of people and they would have been isolated. Jesus knew this, so he did not let Judas know the location a head of time. Only Jesus and Judas knew of his plan to betray Jesus. This meal was too important for it to not happen.
2nd, Jesus want to control the environment of this Passover meal. This Passover was hands down the most important meal ever eaten in the history of the world. Why? I am glad you asked.
It identified Jesus as THE PASSOVER LAMB! The Lamb who would take away the sins of the world! It would be the final meal that Jesus ate before His death. This identification as the Passover Lamb would graphically explain the centrality of Christ to salvation: His blood must be wine to us, and His flesh our bread.
3rd was that this was a night that devout Jews were filled with hope of God’s intervention once more. In Exodus 12:42 it says of the Passover, It was a night of watching by the Lord, to bring them out of the land of Egypt; so this same night is a night of watching kept to the Lord by all the people of Israel throughout their generations. The Jewish commentary on that passage reveals that in that night they were redeemed and in the night they will be redeemed in the future. Jesus’ fulfillment of the Passover was in accord with the dream of Israel, and He wanted them to see it! He wanted them to know that His death is no accident. His death was a willful laying down, a willful sacrifice!
This was an important day and it happened just as Jesus said it would.
God can give us some crazy detailed instructions sometimes! Some instructions that seem easy enough to follow, but to us seem like they are out there and will make us look like a fool.
As believers we are called to be obedient to our Lord. Peter and John didn’t care how they looked following Jesus’ instructions. They had learned to be obedient to Christ. Peter didn’t care how he looked when he called out to Jesus on the water and Jesus told him to come. Peter walked on water! Because he was obedient.
How did they become so obedient? I am glad you asked
They had learned that they could trust Jesus!
Obedience comes through trust. You will never be obedient if you don’t trust that person telling you what to do.
If someone you just met told you to go to Downtown Duncan and look for a man wearing a purse, follow him and whatever house he enters, you enter. Then he tells you to say to the owner, the teacher asks, where is my guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples? Do you honestly think you would do it? I wouldn’t! It takes trust to do what we are told to do. Trust is earned over time. We have to see that the person telling us to do something is worthy of our trust.
If you are not doing what Jesus commands you to do, you do not trust Him enough to do what He says. You haven’t seen Him do enough in your life to warrant your trust. I didn’t say He hasn’t done enough in your life for you to trust Him, I said you haven’t seen enough to trust Him.
You have to start doing some of the things that Jesus commands us to do so that you can build that trust in Him. You will never be obedient in the big things if you have never built that trust doing the smaller things. You have to do something or that trust will never be built. The disciples were with Jesus for 3 1/2 years, they saw Him do miraculous things. They saw many things happen just like He had told them. They had built that trust one day at a time. To the point where these instructions He gave them the morning of the Passover seemed like nothing, like ok Jesus said it will happen like this and we have seen this before so we can trust and obey Him.
For some it doesn’t take much for that trust to be built. It only takes a time or two, but for others, that trust may never be fully there.
It is not easy to walk the narrow path and be obedient to God. We have to sacrifice a lot of things that we see others enjoying and doing. I am not saying that following Jesus is not fun, it is the greatest fun I have every had, but it is at the same time the hardest thing I have had to do also.
The easy thing to do is not teach men’s class on Tuesday night, then teach Wednesday night, and then prepare a sermon for Sunday morning. All while working a full time job and being a husband and father. Most of the time I am beyond tired and don’t know where the strength is, but Jesus always provides what I need to follow Him and be obedient to Him.
You want to have real fun, put your trust in Jesus. He will show you things that you would never see otherwise. You will meet people that you would have never talked to before, and they are great people. Most of my dearest friends are the ones that I have met because I trust in Jesus fully.
Beth and I are praying and seeking God’s will for us to trust Him in more and deeper ways than we do now.
Jesus is the only one who is worth trusting. Everyone and everything else will let you down. Christ will never forsake you and He will never leave you! He is at your side always.
If you are not fully trusting Jesus, what is stopping you. Why are you not trusting Him. His commands are good, they can be difficult to follow sometimes, but they are good!
I promise that if you put your trust in Jesus and begin to do what He tells you to do, not just the things that are easy, or you think are fun, but all the things, that is the goal. Total obedience to all His commands. It will be the most fun and the hardest time of you life. It is worth every second. The only regret I have is not doing it sooner and having more time to do His will and not to have wasted so much of my time on my will and doing things my way. Those things did not end well!
Let today be the day that you put your full trust in our savior. Let Jesus lead your life. Let Him take you on some of the best adventures that could be. With Jesus, you will do things that you thought you would or could never do! It is not easy, but it is worth it! He loves you so much.
He is waiting for you to fully trust Him and fully turn your life over to Him.
Will you do it today?
Let’s pray
