“The Blessing Of Serving!”
Mark 14:12-16
Introduction:
1. IE: I Know That Several Of You Have Been On A Trip To Israel - And Most Of Us That Haven’t Gone Would Love To See The Homeland Of Our Savior While He Was Here On Earth - One Of The Most Famous Attractions In Israel Is The Dead Sea - I Have Seen Pictures Of People Literally Floating In The Waters Of The Dead Sea Without Swimming & Without Any Floatation Device Because Of The Heavy Concentration Of Minerals In The Water - In Fact, “The Dead Sea Is So Salty That It Contains No Fish Or Plant Life. What Accounts For This Unusual Condition? There Are Absolutely No Outlets! A Great Volume Of Water Pours Into This Area, But Nothing Flows Out. Many Inlets Plus No Outlets Equal A Dead Sea. This Law Of Nature May Also Be Applied To The Child Of God, And It Explains Why Many Believers Are So Unfruitful And Lacking In Spiritual Vitality. It Is Possible For Some People To Attend Bible Conferences, Listen To Religious Broadcasts, Study The Bible, And Continually Take In The Word As It Is Preached From The Pulpit, And Yet Seem Lifeless And Unproductive In Their Christian Lives. Such Individuals Are Like The Dead Sea. They Have Several “Inlets” But No “Outlets.” To Be Vibrant And Useful Believers, We Must Not Only “Take In” All We Can, But We Must Also “Give Out” In Service To Others!” (Our Daily Bread, May 22, 1996)
2. This Morning, As We Return To The Gospel Of Mark, I Want You To Know That There Is Great Blessing In Serving!
- We See This In The Lives Of The Disciples As We Meet Them Preparing For The Last Supper Of Our Lord!
- Let’s Turn To Mark 14:12-16, And Read About Their Exceptional Service To The Lord!
3. There Is Great Blessing In Serving!
- And Throughout This Passage, We Learn Many Facets About Our Service To The Lord That Will Lead To Great Spiritual Blessing In Our Lives!
- We First See A:
1. Willingness In The Lord’s Service!
- In Order To Experience The Great Blessing The Lord Has In Store For Your Service, You Must First Be Willing To Serve! This Is Usually The Hardest & Most Difficult Step! But We See The Lord’s Disciples Ready, Willing & Eager To Serve The Lord – And So Must We!
- 14:12 - “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?”
- The Disciples Said Those Three Important Words:
- “Where Wilt Thou?”
- They Sought The Lords Will In Their Service! They Were Willing To Do Anything & Go Anywhere In His Service! You Might Even Say Those Words: “Where Wilt Thou” Have Me To Go, Lord? Or, “What Will You” Have Me To Do, Lord? You Might Even Sing From The Bottom Of Your Hearts:
“I’ll go where You want me to go, dear Lord,
O’er mountain, or plain, or sea;
I’ll say what You want me to say, dear Lord,
I’ll be what You want me to be.”
- But Do You Really Mean Those Words? Do You Really Understand What Those Words Mean & Imply? A Willingness To Serve Implies That You Are Already Serving Him!
- When The Disciples Used The Word “Go” In This Verse, It Revealed That They Were Already Making Preparations For This Passover Meal! Another Translation Brings Out This Meaning With The Disciples Saying: “Having Gone, Where Will You Have Us Prepare?” Preparations Were Already Well Under Way! They Were Already Intent On Serving The Lord, And Couldn’t Wait For His Further Instructions!
- Perhaps You Are Willing To Serve, But Do Not Know Specifically Quite Where The Lord Wants You To Serve! Don’t Just Sit There, “Waiting & Praying” - Get Into Serving The Lord & Let The Lord Lead You! - IE: Isn’t It Much Easier To Turn A Vehicle That Is Already Moving, Than One That Is Sitting Still Or Barely Moving? We Have Tremendous Opportunities Where You Can Begin To Serve!
- But A Willingness To Serve Also Implies That You Will Labor For Him! Serving The Lord Involves Work & Effort!
- The Disciples Were Willing To “Prepare” This Bountiful Feast For The Lord, So That He Could Continue To Do His Work! And This Preparation Took Time, Effort, & Even Money! They Were Willing To Serve No Matter What The Cost!
- Perhaps You Are Wanting To Serve, But Do Not Want To Pay The Price! Consider The Price The Lord Paid In Serving You! Mark 10:45 - “For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many!”
- Perhaps You Are Already Serving In This Way! Galatians 6:9 - “And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not!”
- There Is Great Blessing In Serving The Lord!
- And If You Desire This Blessing From The Lord, You Must Be Willing To Roll Up Your Sleeves & Get To Work! But, Always Remember That: “Your labour is not in vain in the Lord!” (1 Corinthians 15:58)
- Because There Always Is A:
2. Purpose In The Lord’s Service!
- This Purpose Is Given By The Disciples In Verse 12:
- “That Thou Mayest Eat The Passover!”
- When You Serve The Lord, In Any Capacity, It Is Not About Or For You! It Is Not For Your Glory! It Is Not For Your Profit! It Is Not For Your Pride!
- When You Serve The Lord, It Is All About The Lord!
- The Disciples Were More Interested In The Lord Eating This Passover Meal Than Themselves! It Was His Passover - He Would Be The Host - And The Meal Would Be For Him!
- There Is Even A Prophetic Quality To This Comment By The Disciples! Because The Passover He Would Eat Foreshadowed What He, The Final Passover Lamb, Would Do & Accomplish For The Sins Of Mankind! Their Service Was For His Glory, For His Enjoyment, And For Him Alone!
- There Is A Profound Difference Between True Service For The Lord, And Service Done For Yourself! What Kind Of Service Are You Willing To Give To Your Lord? Only True Service, Devoted To & For The Lord Alone, Will Receive Great Blessing From The Lord!
- But In Order To Serve This Way, There Will Also Be:
3. A Calling In The Lord’s Service!
- All The Disciples Were Willing To Serve The Lord! But Only 2 Were Specifically Chosen By The Lord For This Special Task!
- 14:13a - “And he sendeth forth two of his disciples!”
- We Learn From Luke That These Disciples Were Peter & John! We Learn From This That The Lord Does Have Special Callings In His Service! But Who Does The Lord Give These Special Callings & Tasks To? The Lord Will Call Those Who Are Faithful In Their Service To Him!
- Peter & John Had Proven To The Lord That They Were Devoted & Faithful Followers Of Him! Luke 16:10 - “He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much!” So The Lord Chose & Called Them For This Special Task!
- But Why Didn’t The Lord Use All Of His Disciples? Didn’t They All Come To The Lord? Weren’t They All Willing? Perhaps They All Were, But: The Lord Will Not Call Those Who Are Unfaithful In Their Service To Him! Remember 14:11 - Judas “Sought how he might conveniently betray him!” I’m Sure Judas Was Willing To Find Out The Lord’s Wishes, But For All The Wrong Reasons!
- Do You Desire Great Blessing In The Service Of The Lord? Have You Been Faithful & Consistent In The “Little” Opportunities God Has Given You? Or Have You Been Unfaithful, Inconsistent, Or Even Giving Up! I Remember The Song Steve & Debbie Kissling, Missionaries On Deputation To Serve Our Military Overseas: “Little is much when God is in it! Labor not for wealth or fame. There’s a crown—and you can win it, If you go in Jesus’ Name!”
- And When The Lord Calls You Into His Service, Know That There Is:
4. Direction In The Lord’s Service!
- The Lord Does Not Leave Anyone Alone In The Work That He Calls Them To! Look At These Explicit Instructions Given By The Lord!
- 14:13b-15 - “And saith unto them, Go ye into the city, and there shall meet you a man bearing a pitcher of water: follow him. 14 And wheresoever he shall go in, say ye to the goodman of the house, The Master saith, Where is the guestchamber, where I shall eat the passover with my disciples? 15 And he will shew you a large upper room furnished and prepared: there make ready for us!”
- In These Verses, We See A Couple Notable Things About Our Lord: His Supreme Knowledge! His Supreme Authority!
- According To His Supreme Knowledge: He Knows Everything That Our Service Will Entail & Everything That Our Service Will Accomplish! Look At These Amazing Details!
- According To His Supreme Authority: He Can Command His Servants To Do Whatever He Wants Them To! Look At These Powerful Commands! “Go – Follow – Say [Tell] – Make Ready!” There Are Lessons In Each Of These Commands That, If We Had The Time, We Could Apply To Our Own Service To The Lord Today!
- And What Did His Willing Disciples Do? They Simply Trusted In The Lord’s Knowledge & Obeyed His Instructions & Commands! Isn’t This All That Is Required Of Us, As His Servants, As Well?
- “Trust And Obey, For There’s No Other Way, To Be Happy In Jesus, But To Trust And Obey!”
- But There Is Also No Other Way To Serve! But To Trust & Obey!
- There Is Great Blessing In Serving The Lord! And One Of The Greatest Blessings, Is That The Lord Himself Will Bring:
5. Success In The Lord’s Service!
- 14:16 - “And his disciples went forth, and came into the city, and found as he had said unto them: and they made ready the passover!”
- Those Willing Disciples “Trusted & Obeyed” The Words Of The Lord, And Found Everything Exactly The Way The Lord Had Told Them They Would Be! So What Did They Do? They Finished The Job The Lord Had Given Them! And Because Of What Those Disciples Did In Service For The Lord, John (In Chapters 14-17 Of His Gospel) Was Able To Record What The Lord Jesus Both Did & Said During That Special & Meaningful Last Supper! What A Blessing - That Even We Can Benefit From Thousands Of Years Later!
- When The Lord Calls You To Serve Him, You Must “Finish The Job!” (Dr. Bob Jones Sr.)
Conclusion:
1. There Is Great Blessing In Serving!
- But It All Starts With A Willingness To Serve!
- A Willingness To Get Your Hands Dirty & Sweaty!
- A Willingness To Do Whatever Task Needs To Be Done Whenever It Needs It!
- A Willingness To Do The Small, Seemingly Insignificant, Even “Invisible” Tasks That The Lord Might Call You To Do!
- But That Willingness Is What The Lord Is Looking For!
- And That Willingness Is What The Lord Can Use!
2. There Is Great Blessing In Serving!
- Because When There Is Willingness In The Lord’s Service, And You Are Doing It For The Right Purpose - For Him & His Glory Alone!
- Then, The Lord Will Call You Into Even Greater Service!
- Giving You Direction, Which, If You Trust & Obey, Will Lead To Wonderful Success In The Lord’s Work & In The Lord’s Eyes!
