Let us turn in God's word to the Gospel of Mark and chapter 14. And we read from verse 10. And Judas Iscariot, one of the 12, went unto the chief priests to betray him unto them. And when they heard it, they were glad and promised to give him money. and he sought how he might conveniently betray him. 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 saith unto them, go ye into the city, and there shall meet you a man bearing a pitcher of water. Follow him, and wheresoever he shall go in, say to the good man of the house, the master, Seth, where is the guest chamber where I shall eat the Passover with my disciples? And he will 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. And in the evening he cometh with the twelve. 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 dippeth with me in the dish. The Son of Man indeed goeth as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed. Good were it for that man if he had never been born. And as they did eat, Jesus took bread and blessed 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 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 that day that I drink it new in the kingdom of God. Mark, in his gospel, gives us a broader account of Christ rather than the finer details. These are left to the other gospel writers. So when Mark records the Last Supper from verse 17 here, it is shorter than Matthew, Luke, or John. Nevertheless, it has its own inspired view of this which is instructive. He gives it to us in a vivid way. In verse 17, we read, and in the evening he cometh with the 12. You see, it's in the present tense. He cometh with the 12. It is happening before his eyes. And he shows it as if happening before our eyes, that we see it. And there are important truths in these few words. And in the evening he cometh with the twelve. Let us look at these, taking in the following verses as well, regarding the institution of the Lord's Supper, which came after the Passover meal. the institution of the Lord's Supper effectively ended any observance of the Passover because the Lord's Supper fulfilled what was anticipated in that ordinance. And so, what is the significance of Jesus in the evening coming with his disciples to this upper room? where these solemn and precious things took place. Well, let's look first of all at His coming. And in the evening He cometh with the Twelve. It was late afternoon the day before Good Friday. The Lord and the disciples came to the upper room for the observance of the annual Jewish Passover meal. And as I say, it moved into the institution of the Lord's Supper, which fulfilled that. Judas joined them, having lately covenanted with the chief priest to betray him. And that's why it says, in the evening he cometh with the 12. Now notice the time of his coming. in the evening. It can stand for the evening of world history. As if the Old Testament, the annual observance of the Passover from the time of the exodus from Egypt and all the other Jewish institutions of the ceremonial law, as if the Old Testament history was a long day of anticipation of the fulfillment of all that with the coming of Christ, the Messiah. In Luke 2 and verse 25, we read of one who waited for the consolation of Israel. For 4,000 years in all, there was that waiting, that looking for the coming of the Redeemer. And then at last, he appeared in the evening as if before the dawning of the gospel day, late in time, behold him come, offspring of a virgin's womb. And Hebrews 9 verse 26 puts it like this, but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. Up until that time in Old Testament times there was the animal sacrifices and the priests to put away sin in a provisional way so that those who came with their animal sacrifices and placed their hands on the head of it and then the sacrifice died to pay the price of their sins. and forgiveness came to them through that death and that atonement. That was over all that time. But now, in the evening of the world, as it were, late, the end of the world, hath he, Christ, appeared, the fulfillment of that, the one sacrifice for sins forever, to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. not the priest sacrificing animals, but Christ our Great High Priest and he becoming the one sacrifice that alone can atone for sin and make us right with God. In the evening, late, he comes to end the long night and to bring in the Gospel day and the full blaze of revelation and fulfilment. And dear friends, we live in this day and we're not looking forward now to Christ's first coming. He has come and he's fulfilled all this and he's become the Saviour and the Gospel is being sounded forth, the Church of Christ is in the world. We look for his second coming, when he comes at the end of all of world history, and he'll come and everything will be headed up in a grand consummation. But at the time of his coming, in the evening. And you see here too, the fulfillment of a type in the evening, by the word type, we mean the way our Lord is found in the Old Testament, where there are pictures or illustrations of him, object lessons, which find their fulfillment in the New Testament. One very well-known one is the Passover sacrifice, of course, that's in view here, and Exodus 12 and verse 6, where we read, that on that night before their exodus from Egypt, that Passover night, the Passover lamb that is to be slain, ye shall keep it up until the 14th day of the same month, and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening. And now in the evening, he comes with his disciples to be that Passover lamb. And we read in 1 Corinthians 5 and verse 7, Christ, our Passover, is sacrificed for us. And so this is the fulfillment of it. And you'll notice the particulars here. that in Exodus 12, 6, the lamb that they were to use in the Passover to be sacrificed, it was kept from the 10th day to the 14th day and then killed in the evening. So four days of being set apart and to be proved to be without blemish and a suitable type of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's the fulfilment when our Lord came. He entered Jerusalem four days before the Passover around which he was crucified. And like that Passover lamb to be proved, his was the culmination of a perfect life of 33 years that could be examined by every possible witness And it was. 1 Peter 2 verse 23, He did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth. Until that evening, before his death, he had been exposed to every means to try to prove him otherwise than sinlessly perfect. The temptations of Satan The tiredness and physical infirmities which can make a man irritable, lose temper and speak unbecomingly or act badly. The early popularity when the crowds followed him and lauded him, but no pride. The provocation of so many enemies and not one word of retort or anger dullness of his disciples, and the patience with which he lovingly, patiently dealt with them. The knowledge that one of his disciples would be a traitor, and all these things and many more as well, witness after witness, has to acknowledge that he is perfect, the holy, harmless, sinless son of God. The devil left him failing to draw him into sin. Which of you convicteth me of sin, he can ask his enemies, and no one did. I have kept my father's commandments, he said, and no one contradicted him. There was testimony to his sinlessness, Pilate's wife. She had a bad dream. before Pilate condemned the Lord to crucifixion. And she said, have thou nothing to do with that righteous man? I have suffered many things in a dream because of him. The centurion who was on duty at the time of the crucifixion, certainly this was a righteous man. Every human verdict, every demonic silence, and the Father's witness from heaven, this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. Sinlessness, perfect life, in order that He can be our salvation. Because if someone dies for our sins, who is a sinner himself, then he's only paying the price of his own sins. But he who knew no sin can bear the sins of all believers and he can make atonement for them and he can bear them all away and bring in forgiveness and everlasting righteousness for them and set them right with God. And I say his sinlessness is our salvation. He dies to atone for sins not his own. Your debt he has paid, and your work he has done. My dear friend, if you are a Christian tonight, you owe your salvation to a Savior without sin. No sin in him, but our sin on him. Personally innocent, but officially counted guilty for our sakes. 2 Corinthians 5 verse 21, God hath made him to be sin for us, to be constituted the sin bearer and the substitute and the sacrifice. Made him to be sin for us, he who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. He takes our sin. We take His righteousness and we're clothed in that perfect obedience of the Son of God, justified from all things, counted righteous in our standing and accepted forever. It's your trust in this Saviour because He is the Saviour that you need. You can't deal with your own sins. You can't make reparations to God for your sins, even if you could live a perfect life from now on. What about all the sins of the past that you've committed? What about them? A man might be in debt for £10,000 to someone and say, I'll never run up any debts at all ever again. I'll be straight and honest and I'll manage my money perfectly. Never again will I run up any debts with you. And the man who is the creditor has got a right to say, well, that's all very well, but what about my £10,000 that you owe me? And you see, sin is debt to God. We're indebted to God. He has the right to exact from us payment of everlasting punishment in hell for our sins. Who is going to pay our debt? There is only one surety who comes forward and who can clear our debts entirely and say, paid in full, all gone, and all that we owe has been paid for. the sins that we should suffer for, and the righteousness we've never paid God and owed but never paid, all discharged by the surety. And it's because of his sinlessness, no debts of his own, no sins of his own, so he can undertake to deal with all ours perfectly, gloriously, And I say we owe our salvation to a saviour without sin. There's no other way to get right with God. Even if we could try to keep his commandments, we never can do it perfectly. And our righteousnesses are as filthy rags, our own righteousness, says the scripture. and all our best efforts are but splendid sins, and we have to repent of them as much as we have to repent of our sins and come as we are to Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the world. His coming in the evening to fulfill these things, the time of His coming, the sacrifice that is sinless. his coming. And then secondly, his knowing. And in the evening, he cometh with the twelve. And when gathered together, our Lord announced something shocking. Verse 18, one of you which eateth with me, shall betray me.' And the disciples' reaction to this is interesting. And it's typical of true disciples. And it proved their love for Christ. To show that they, even though they but dimly understood what all this meant, their hearts were right. They believed on the Lord Jesus. He was their Saviour. And dear friends, there may be many things that you don't understand, but there is one thing you must believe, and that is that the Lord Jesus is willing to be your Savior if you trust in Him. Ah, but I don't understand this, or I can't see that clearly, or I'm so ignorant over that. Never mind! Wise unto salvation through faith. which is in Christ Jesus. That's the simplicity of it. And these dear men here had that. But when they heard that news that one of them, and of course we know who, but they didn't know at the time, one of them would betray the Lord. Notice verse 19, they began to be sorrowful and to say unto him one by one, is it I? literally, surely not me? And of course, they hope for a negative answer. But the important thing is to notice, they did not assume innocence. They didn't say, I'll never be me, I could never do that. Is it I? Because you see, when you're in a state of grace, When the Lord has changed your heart and you love the Lord, you've come out of a state of carnal nature. You've got a new nature now, but you've still got the old one, which is kept down and is lurking there. And Jeremiah 17 verse 9, the heart, the old nature, that every Christian carries with him. The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Remaining sin, the seeds of all known sin, still lurks within a real Christian, born again of God's grace and led by the Spirit of God. And any sin can appear apart from grace. And you notice with Peter afterwards, he was one who said, is it I? But you remember afterwards, he lapsed into self-confidence and fell. And he said, though all men forsake thee, yet will not I. And he did. And he denied the Lord three times. He was a lot better when he said, is it I? rather than yet will not I. And how quickly, you see, you can change. If grace doesn't keep you, you can fall. And these men acknowledge that. Is it I? It's the spirit of Psalm 119 and 117. Hold thou me up and I shall be safe. We dare not trust ourselves. That's why we've got to steer clear of temptation and be very, very careful of situations, places, things we see, things we hear that contempt us and incite sin. We are very vulnerable. We need the grace of God to keep us and we need the wisdom and the resolve to keep ourselves from temptation and sin. But is it I? They're willing for the Lord to say who it is, one by one. And that shows a healthy suspicion. It's in the spirit of Psalm 139, 23, 24, search me and know my heart. Try me, know my thoughts, see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. Is it I, Lord, tell me? Tell me if I'm the one who's going to be guilty of this, and tell me so that I might have grace to repent and turn back from it and never do it? Matthew Henry said, they trusted more to his word than to their hearts. And so they're willing for the Lord to tell them. And we would be willing if we're real Christians. Lord, is there anything in my life that is displeasing to thee? Is there anything I'm unaware of that I need to repent of and be forgiven for and get clear of that I might be wholly thine and have a pure heart and a right spirit? Lord, tell me. That's grace, you see. It doesn't take for granted that all is well and all will always be well. It suspects oneself and trusts to grace to keep us. They cannot bear suspicion. They were sorrowful. And that's what love for the Lord does. Lord, it couldn't be surely that you think it might be me. who is going to do this thing? That anything like this could so come between us? And if so, I'd rather know, because a relationship of love doesn't, can't bear anything like this, suspicion. Love thrives on being open and close and sincere, but suspicion, Love can't bear it. And the thing is, they do not suspect Judas. None of them asked, is it Judas? But it is I. Is it I? They did not think that it was him. And that shows, doesn't it, what an apparently bona fide disciple he was. that none suspected him. How far a professing Christian can go in a very credible testimony so that even those close to him don't suspect? And that is a challenging thing, isn't it? And here is Judas, who was not unstable like Peter, he was not ambitious, and proud and carnal like James and John could be. He was not doubting like Thomas. He was a good disciple. After all, he was the treasurer. But they only suspect themselves. And if false disciples have deceived true ones, then it's only because grace teaches us in the words of 1 Corinthians 13, to bear all things, believe all things, hope all things, and think the best of other Christians. But they did not suspect that it was Judas. And our Lord identifies him though. You notice the change In verse 19, they began to say unto him, one by one, is it I? And another said, it is I. That's Judas. And in, I think it's Matthew's account, which is a little fuller, the Lord hears from each of the disciples, each one round about, Lord, is it I? And when it comes to Judas, he says, Master, is it I? And Jesus says, thou hast said. You see, Judas couldn't keep up his hypocrisy that far by calling the Lord by his divine title, Lord, but the lower title, Master. But the disciples blessed them. They couldn't see it. And they'd been together for three years, meaning that Judas would have heard all Christ's sermons, would have preached himself, would have worked miracles himself, would have followed the Lord, been like the other disciples. And 30 pieces of silver mean more to him than Christ. And he's prepared to sell the dear Lord in a treacherous betrayal for money. But no one knew. He was the treasurer. He'd been thieving from the bag, we're told. He'd been stealing the money. And now here's the best bit. He can get 30 pieces of silver in one go for this treachery. How careful we need be. that that sin, that one sin, is not the end of us. For Judas, it was covetousness. For others, it can be another sin that becomes their downfall. Oh, how we need to keep close to Christ and ask him to search us, ask him to make us sincere and true and real, and keep us from being deceived. Wherever we're like that, we are safe. But here is one more opportunity to repent for Judas. You notice that the Lord Jesus says, one of you shall betray me. Generally referring to what Judas is going to do, to give him a chance to think about it. for it to come home to him and to even at this late stage have an opportunity to turn from this by repentance and get his heart put right. The Lord leaves the way open for even Judas to be yet saved. You say, ah, he was a son of perdition. He goes the way that the scriptures predicted and they must be fulfilled. No, no, don't think about that. Think of the Lord, as M'kshain put it in one of his sermons, seeking to melt, melt the traitor. And on the human level, there is the opportunity for Judas to be turned from this, if he had the heart and will to do so. And the final opportunity came. Remember in the garden, when Judas comes with a band of soldiers and others from the temple, and Jesus said to him, friend, wherefore art thou come? Friend. That could have melted him, but sadly, The money meant more. What means more to you than having Christ as your saviour, I wonder? For some people, it's the fear of being laughed at if you become a Christian. For other people, it's what might have to be given up in a worldly lifestyle. Concerning keeping the Sabbath day holy, maybe. or being self-denying as a disciple over other things, oh, I couldn't give up these things, or my worldly mates, or going to this place or that place, and the devil trying to convince us that these things, the 30 pieces of silver, are worth more than Christ. Friend, he says. What a melting thing. Here is the Lord's worst enemy. And he says, friend, betray us, the son of man, with a kiss. What a thing. And the Lord leaves the way open right to the very end until it's too late. And Judas again rejects the opportunity, rejects a willing Saviour who would be the lover of his soul and his salvation. And he, with the others, take Jesus away to be condemned and crucified. And then we know the story, don't we? Then it dawns upon Judas what he's done. And in a fit of remorse, he tries to put the thing right. And he goes back to the chief priests in the temple. And he flings the 30 pieces of silver down on the floor. He says, I've betrayed innocent blood. And they sneeringly say, what is that to us? And he turns around and goes out. And in despair, commits suicide, hangs himself. That's the end of such a man. What a tragedy. And that's called repentance in Matthew's gospel. Judas repented himself, but it's not saving repentance that comes to a merciful God and is forgiven and saved. Not saving repentance, but remorse, what's called the repentance of the world. the sorrow of the world. It's only the horror of what he's done that he's woken up to. And there's no fixing it. There's no going back. The die is cast. And Christ is going to be crucified. And I've done this. And 30 pieces of silver, which he coveted so much, is now flung away And you see, that's the promise of the devil, who promises advantage by sin, gain by worldliness, the world better than Christ. Anything in the world you can't possibly give up for Christ. Keep it and forget about the Savior. And we find that the things of the world, Paul and Cloy, and don't satisfy and let us down. Oh, may it not be too late for anyone here to wake up to the realization that you forfeited your own mercy. The Christ who was willing to save you, you were not willing to come to. You'll find that your 30 pieces of silver, whatever form they take, You'll want to throw them away. There'll be nothing to you. Nothing can take the place of Christ. Nothing can be as wonderful as knowing the Savior. Nothing can be like eternal life. All that thrills my soul is Jesus. He is more than life to me. finds every real Christian and even the gold and silver and the lottery money and the super yachts and the mansions and all the possessions and the fast cars of the whole world heaped in one great pile. Rubbish compared to my Saviour. Nothing compared to knowing Him, the excellency of the knowledge, of Christ Jesus, my Lord. Oh, he knows. He knew the sincerity of these dear men. He knew Judas, and he knows you, and he knows me. His coming, his knowing. And then thirdly and finally, his speaking. and in the evening he cometh with the twelve. And this evening can also stand for later in life, because you see, the older we get, the shadows are lengthening, and fast to its close ebbs out life's little day, as the poet says, and the evening of life will come on And we'll get older and nearer the end of our lives. And he speaks to us here. In the evening he cometh. He comes with us into later life. The word cometh with is literally a company to emphasize the fact that his presence is with his people. It's the word that's used in Luke 24 verse 29 when the disciples asked the Lord Jesus to abide with them, to stay with them in this little house in the village of Emmaus and he went in to tarry with them. How blessed if we have him with us. In the evening he comes, in the evening of life he's there and it makes all the difference Zechariah 14 verse 7, it shall come to pass that at evening time it shall be light. The best light ever. All of us, whatever age we are, if we are spared, will come to the evening of life when the darkness will approach. How wonderful if at that time it shall be light. Without him, all is growing darkness. I've heard elderly people who are not Christians say to me, well, the fact is, all my life is behind me. I've only got memories and I've got nothing to look forward to because just a few years left and then I'm gone. How depressing. nothing to look forward to. When they were young, oh yes, youthful optimism, all one's life before them, great days, happy days. And then comes middle life, later life, later life, later still, and feeling the weight of the years. The death of many contemporaries, The loneliness, being unwell, feeling wretched. More past, much more past than future. And the present, Satan has no happy old people, the saying goes. But ah, in the evening he cometh. Grow old along with me, he says. Come with me into toward the end of life and I'll be there ready to take you to heaven at the appointed time. Without him all is growing darkness but with him, Proverbs 4 verse 18, but the path of the just is as the shining light that shineth more and more unto the perfect day. It's getting brighter and brighter. more and more of Christ, more and more of heaven by anticipation, nearer and nearer now, the great culmination of everything. When I depart to be with Christ, which is far better, and I see my Saviour face to face, and I sing His everlasting praises for the wondrous grace that has saved me, His precious blood, His eternal redemption. more and more. A Christian near the end of life can say, I've got the best to look forward to, the Lord will keep the best until now. Because the end of life is only the beginning of eternal life with the Lord in the glory of that place, shining as the stars in the kingdom of my Father. We've got everything to look forward to. In the evening he cometh with the twelve. May we say, Lord, come with me. Lord, may I go with thee into the evening, into the night, and into the eternal day. Amen.