If you would turn with me to
the gospel of John chapter 18, please. John chapter 18. As you know, John 17, the Lord
Jesus prayed what is truly the Lord's prayer, and he prayed
so in his intercessory role as his people's high priest, mediator,
and substitute. It'd take a lifetime for a man
to preach all the truths found in those 26 verses in John 17. And even then it would and could
not be truly exhausted. It would drain our physical and
mental capabilities to even attempt to preach and understand it all.
But I'd have you notice that in verse, or chapter 18, verse
one, it begins this way. It says, when Jesus had spoken
these words, no sooner than the Lord prayed that heavenly prayer
found in chapter 17 and finished speaking those beautiful words,
we read, he went forth with his disciples over the brook Sedron,
where there was a garden into the which he entered and his
disciples. So the Lord Jesus here has entered
into Gethsemane's garden and his disciples, 11 of them, are
with him. And I was thinking again this
morning as I read over this how appropriate that this garden
is called Gethsemane. That means oil press. For it was here in Gethsemane's
garden that Christ would tread the oil press, the wine press
alone. And the wine press is a symbol
of the wrath of God, which our Lord tread alone as the surety
and the savior of his people. Oh, what soul-suffering. We often
dwell on the physical suffering of our Lord before and on the
cross, but I'm telling you, it would do us good to consider
the soul-suffering of our Lord that He endured in taking our
sin upon Himself. Though all the disciples were
there with him, with the exception of Judas, and he's soon to arrive,
we're told in Matthew's account, having taken with him Peter,
James, and John, which I suppose you could consider his inner
circle, he took them further into the garden with him. It
says he began to be deeply distressed and troubled. Over what? The sin of his people being put
upon him. His soul was overwhelmed with sorrow and grief, even to
the point of death, that he told them to stay there and watch.
And Matthew tells us that upon entering, he went a little further
and fell upon his face and he prayed, saying, oh my father,
if it be possible, let this cup pass from me, nevertheless, not
as I will, but as thou wilt. Christ's concern was always the
Father's will, always. He came to do His Father's will,
and His Father's will He did. Oh, the heart-wrenching agony
of soul endured by the Son of God to save His people from their
sin. May we never, ever forget that
suffering of soul. In order to save us from our
sin, it was not possible for this hour to pass. This was the
will of God and the salvation of His people. Christ must die
in the room instead of chosen sinners. Salvation for the chosen
sinner was a sovereign gift of God to His people, but it cost
our Lord Jesus His life. His agony, his sorrow was so
great that the scriptures tell us that as he prayed so earnestly,
that his sweat was as if it were great drops of blood falling
to the ground. Now you and I can never imagine
this suffering of soul, but it doesn't make it any less so.
And when he went back to his disciples, what did he do? He
found them asleep. And he said unto Peter, what,
could you not watch with me one hour? You know, I often think,
and I'm not trying to be ugly, but oftentimes when I'm preaching,
I see folks asleep. And I think to myself, and I've
been guilty of it too. Sometimes it's just hard to stay
awake. But can we not watch and pray with him for one hour? Can
we not give three hours a week to our Lord who loved us and
gave Himself for us? Two times more the Lord returned
His disciples and found them asleep. And He told them then
to rest on for now. Now the next words in our text
are so revealing as to what human nature and human flesh are capable
of if left to themselves. You know, I know folks that find
it very offensive when you talk about the sin and depravity of
men and women. Doesn't make it any less so.
Men and women by nature are depraved. We're capable of doing anything
and everything if left to ourselves. And these words shine forth to
me like a bright, flashing, neon sign light in their revelation. Verse two, and Judas also, which
betrayed him, knew the place. For Jesus oftentimes resorted
thither with his disciples. Judas knew the place. How did he know the place? We're
told he was one of Christ's disciples. He had often been there with
the Lord Jesus. Matthew describes him as one
of the 12. So let me just say here that
even those who profess to believe, profess to be followers of Christ,
profess to know and to love the Lord Jesus, all, including you
and I, are capable of betraying our Lord, if not for God keeping
us by His sovereign power and grace. Judas knew the place. This is no doubt a special place,
a place where the Lord often went with His disciples. The
Lord Jesus didn't go to this garden to hide. He did not go
there to secure Himself from arrest. He resorted to this place,
now listen, so that they might easily find Him. Think about
that. Judas knew that this is the place
where Christ would be. And the Lord knew that Judas
was the one who would betray him. Verse three, Judas then,
having received a band of men and officers from the chief priest
and Pharisees, come thither with lanterns and torches and weapons. Judas had been given a band of
men. It is said that the captain of
this band was the commander of a thousand men. Then you add
the officers of the chief priests and the Pharisees and their servants,
and you add the captains of the temples, the elders of the people,
you have what Matthew's account describes as a great multitude.
There's a lot of folks that came out to take one man who was unarmed a peaceful man, non-violent and
unarmed. And they bring a multitude with
weapons. And Judas had given them a sign,
a signal that the one that he kissed was the one that they
sought. And he walked up to our Lord and greeted him and kissed
him, betrayed with a kiss." And that's what religion does
today. They say good things about the
Lord Jesus Christ. They declare Him to be God's
Son. Oh yeah, He's God's Son. They say that He's made salvation
possible. They go, get off track real quick. But all they do is betray Him
with a kiss. In Luke's account, the Lord Jesus
asks, Be ye come out as against a thief with swords and staves? When I was daily with you in
the temple, you stretched forth no hands against me. But this
is your hour and the power of darkness." And Frieze, the amazing
thing about this is the multitude with their weapons would not
have even been sufficient if Christ had not determined from
the foundation of the world to voluntarily go with them. They
could have brought another multitude with more weapons. It wouldn't
have mattered. Look at verse four. Jesus, therefore,
knowing all things that should come upon him, went forth and
said unto them, Whom seek ye? They answered him, Jesus of Nazareth. And Jesus saith unto them, I
am he. And Judas also which portrayed
him stood with them. And as soon then as he had said
unto them, I am, the word he being italicized, they went backward
and fell to the ground. He's italicized. What the Lord
said here was, I am. He was declaring to them who
He was. He is the great I am. What majesty, what authority
attended with divine power are found in those two words. I am. Weapons weren't sufficient to
take Him. They fell backward at the mention of who He was.
They fell to the ground, helpless in His presence. This was not
done for Christ to make His escape. This was done to give proof of
His deity. He said, I am that I am. Our Lord was letting those know
who came for Him to know that they could have never laid hands
on Him or taken Him had He not allowed them to. What proof this
should be, or should have been to them, and what proof it should
be to us. Who died to put our sin away?
God did. The great I Am did. No man took
His life. Christ went willingly to the
cross to put away the sins of His elect. No man took His life. He laid it down. That's what
He said. I lay it down. Hold your place here and look
back at John chapter 10 with me. Just a few pages back. Verse 17. John 10. Verse 17. The Lord Jesus here
in His own words says, you got it? Verse 17, John 10. Therefore
doth my Father love me Because I lay down my life, that I might
take it again. No man taketh it from me, but
I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down,
and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received
of my Father. And do you know what happened
when the Lord said that? The very next verse, verse 19
tells us, there was a division there again among the Jews for
these saints. And many of them said, he hath
a devil and is mad. Why hear you him? And others
said, these are not the words of him that hath a devil. Can
a devil open the eyes of the blind? A division. There's still a division. There's
still a division. Nobody has a problem with a helpless
Jesus. Did you hear me? No one has a problem with a frustrated
Savior. Nobody has an issue with a needy
Lord. Except the believer. We've got
a problem with it. But the Lord Jesus is anything
but helpless, frustrated, and needy. That's why He's called
THE Lord Jesus Christ. He's the only Lord and Savior. He's the only substitute and
surety for His people. Lord means someone who possesses
power and authority, and our Lord is the Lord of Lords. No
one possesses the power and the authority that He does. And that's
why there is a great division today. Many call my Lord a devil. But He's anything but. He is
the God with whom we have to do. And men don't like it, and
they say that He's a devil. I had a man tell me that one
time. Your God's my devil. He is the great and the powerful
I am. In Exodus chapter 3 verse 13,
Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children
of Israel, and say unto them, The God of your fathers hath
sent me unto you, and they shall say to me, What is his name?
What shall I say unto them? And God said unto Moses, I am
that I am. And he said, thus shalt thou
say unto the children of Israel, I am hath sent me unto you. You remember how that turned
out? Moses went before Pharaoh, he
and Aaron, and he said, the Lord said to let my people go. And
Pharaoh said, I don't know the Lord. Who is the Lord that I
should obey Him? I don't know Him. And I'm not
going to obey Him. I'm not going to let His people
go. I don't care whose people they
are. They're my people. And I'm not letting them go.
But He did. He did. Because He's the great
I Am. Now we come to the words of our
Lord that I want us to consider back in John 18. Oh, how our
Lord's words reveal to us the very reasons that Christ came.
That's what I want to hear in preaching. I want to hear who
it was that came, why he came, and where he is now and what
he's accomplished. Verse 7, Then asked He them again,
Whom seek ye? They picked themselves up off
the ground. Well, at least they had enough
courage to stay there instead of run for their lives. He asked
them again, Whom seek ye? And they said, Jesus of Nazareth.
And Jesus answered, I have told you that I am. If therefore you
seek Me, Let these go their way. That's the title of this message.
Let these go their way. And let me just say what you
already know. This is the only hope that you
and I have. That our Lord prayed, or commanded, let these go their way. So the
first thing we see is Christ's willingness to die. Peter had
drawn his sword, in one of the other accounts, and had cut the
ear of the high priest's servant off. Surely he would be arrested
or killed. But he was listed in this group
called these, that our Lord powerfully commanded that no harm come to. Let these go their way. Peter and John afterwards went
to the judgment hall in the very presence of the Lord's enemies,
and other than just a couple of accusations, they were suffered
to go their way. John stood at the foot of the
cross with Christ's mother, Mary, and he wept. Yet not a finger,
not a finger rose to be laid on Him or any of Christ's disciples. Why? Because the Lord said, let
these go their way. A young man, we're told, who
the soldier seized but escaped leaving his garment behind and
ran off naked. You remember that? Some believe
it could be John, James, or possibly Mark who wrote that account. It said supposing him to be one
of the Lord's disciples. But he got away. He was naked. But he got away. Why? Because Christ had said,
let these go their way. Not so much as one of Christ's
disciples was mistreated. Not at this point. And this wasn't
a request. It wasn't a bargaining situation
where the Lord said, you can take me if you let these go their
way. He said, take me and let these
go their way. It's a command. We cannot fail
to see here that by a simple word, He delivered His disciples. How much more could He have delivered
Himself? Well, they fell back at just
the mention of His name. But He didn't speak a word that
would have saved Himself. He came to save others, not Himself.
You know, when Adam sinned, where did God find him? Hiding in the
trees. God came down in the cool of
the day. Where are you, Adam? Adam said, I was afraid and hitting
myself. But our Lord Jesus is openly
standing in the garden. He's standing as the surety of
his people. And he boldly said, if you seek
me, let these go their way. The Lord put that if there as
though it were not so much they're seeking him as it was him seeking
them. You see, He had come into their
very presence to die. If you seek Me, or since I'm
seeking you, let these go their way. He even mentioned in a verse
there that we read that He sat at the table, or you know, that
He was in the temple often, and they could have taken Him, but
didn't. And right before this occurred, He sat at the table,
having supper with his disciples for the last time, why could
he not have just waited there to be seized? Because he's the
lion of the tribe of Judah. And he steps out boldly and he
faces his enemy. He does not wait to be attacked,
but he goes forth to meet death head on. Our Lord goes to his
enemies and he says, here I am. If you seek me, I've come to
give myself up. I'm gonna lay it down, lay my
life down. I'm gonna let you have your way
with me. No need to search for me. No
need to hunt to find me. Here I am. If you seek me, I'm
ready to die. Take me, I have no opposition
to make. All I have to say is, you let
these go their way. Our Lord was no unwilling Savior.
Secondly, we see Christ's concern and care for His people. Oh,
the agony of the Savior's heart at this moment. A friend in trouble
is frequently forgetful. Most would not expect a man in
great grief and trouble to remember them. Their heart is at that
moment full of its own bitterness. At such a time, they have no
time to think of others. They're in trouble. All they
can think about is how am I going to get out of this trouble? And you and I would forgive anyone
for not noticing us in the street if they were ill. We'd quickly
forgive anyone for forgetting us when They were loaded with
pain and suffering and grief and sorrow, wouldn't we? Well,
you see, thus his heart is sick, you know. But that's not the case with
the Lord Jesus. Note how kind and compassionate
His heart is for those whom He loves. He says, if you seek Me,
here I am, but let these go their way. Is that not the gospel? That is the gospel in just a
few words. Thirdly, we see our Savior's
wisdom in this. When our Lord commanded, let
these go their way, what wisdom we ought to see there. Those
that he loved were not prepared to suffer at that time. They
weren't prepared to suffer. And if they had suffered then,
it would have been thought that they somehow shared in the honor
of redemption. Therefore, our Lord would have
none but thieves hanging on a cross next to Him. There's a lesson
there. There on Golgotha's hill, nothing
but thieves, lest it be thought that he had a helper. Our Lord
Jesus tread the winepress alone. And of all the people, there
were none with him, the scripture said. Therefore our substitute,
our Savior, our surety, wisely said, if you seek me, let these
go their way. The disciples had to yet grow
in grace and in the knowledge of their Lord and Savior. They
must experience some suffering of their own. and trials of their
own. And I've heard it said and considered
what a great mercy it would be if the Lord would save us and
then kill us. And wouldn't it? The Lord save
us and then just take us right on home to be with him. But that's
not usually how it works. It's by omnipotent design and
sovereign purpose and providence that we, through much tribulation,
enter into the kingdom of God. We're gonna be weaned from this
world. That's right. The Lord's gonna
wean us from this world and the things of this world. And we're
gonna be happy and joyful about leaving this sin-ridden world. You know, I remember Brother
Montgomery used to say all the time, I just hope the Lord takes
me. I'm just ready to go. And I've
told you this. I've confessed this to you. I
was in my late 30s and early 40s, and I go, well, I'm sure
not. I'm not ready to go. I've got some things I want to
yet do, experience. But you know what? Now at 68,
I'm ready to go. I am. I'm ready to go. because the Lord is weaning me
from this sin-cursed world. Isn't He you? I know He is many
of you. Any to whom Christ has been divinely
revealed will have no problem with Christ placing Himself first. He said, if you seek Me, let
these go their way. What heroic self-sacrifice that
our Lord gives us as an example. You know, a mere professor of
Christ, one who just simply professes to know Him, would probably say,
let me go my way, seek another to be put to death. When the
rubber meets the road, that's often the way people are. But
one who has experienced the grace of God, And the Lord Jesus Christ
takes Christ's words here to be their own. They say, if you
seek me, and you should, because I'm the chief of sinners, let
these go their way. Our Lord Jesus in the garden
was taking all the sin of all His elect people throughout all
time upon Himself. He's the only one who could pay
the penalty of divine justice, God's law. He's the only one
who could satisfy the holy justice of God and justify the ungodly. We have no strength to justify
ourselves, Romans 5, 6. He is the just one dying for
the unjust. He is a just God and a Savior. There's none beside Him, Isaiah
said. I declare to you this morning
the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, which Paul said is to
declare, I say at this time, His righteousness. We're going
to declare our righteousness? It's nothing but self-righteousness.
It's nothing but filthy rags righteousness. What is there
to brag about concerning our righteousness? We declare His
righteousness that He might be just and the justifier of him
which believeth in Jesus. Romans 3.26. And when the Lord
Jesus said, let these go their way, what He means was, let me
suffer, not them. Let me suffer. If there be any
painful suffering for sin, let me suffer it. Let them escape
that which they deserve, and let me suffer it in their room
instead. I'll give myself as a willing substitute for them
in the matter. What a Savior! What a Savior! Let me suffer for sins, the just
for the unjust, that I might bring them to God. Who these? Who them? I am the way, the truth, and
the life, and no man cometh to the Father, but by me." John
14. This is the only way that He
could bring us justly to God. Now what are we to learn from
this? What great teaching does this foreshadow? Look at verse
9. "...that the same might be fulfilled
which He spake, Of them which thou gavest me, I have I lost
none. None. Of all that God gave to Christ,
he has lost none. What does that have to do with
the disciples all going their way? Well, it has everything
to do with it. It's the foreshadowing, it's the picturing of the great
deed of substitution. Christ took the burden, Christ
took the weight, Christ took the balance for His people. What
is that but substitution? Substitution is defined as the
action of replacing someone or something with another person
or thing. It means to exchange. It means
to replace. It means to switch. It means
to swap, to trade. That which was due to sinners
like you and I, who deserve death and condemnation, Christ exchanged,
He replaced, He switched, and He swapped Himself in our place. Is that not what His words are
saying? If therefore you seek Me? What
were they seeking Him for? He hadn't done anything wrong.
Paul says later, he says he knew no sin, he did no sin, but he
was made sin. Why was He made sin? That His
people might be made the righteousness of God in Him. That's letting
these, His people, His elect, His sheep, go their way. That's
exactly what that is. That's what this is foreshadowing.
The only way you and I can have any refuge is by Christ bearing
the burden and the weight of our trouble, and our trouble
is caused only by our sin. Before the throne of God, fiery
justice once drew its sword and went out after all those that
had offended God's law. And that includes all of us.
Every single one of us. There's none that doeth good.
No, not one. There's none righteous. No, not
one. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. How
many? All of us. You, me, all of us. But there stood a chosen multitude,
a number that no man can number, all the elect of God throughout
all time, reserved by love, chosen by grace, elected by grace in
Christ. And justice said, I'm going to
kill them. I'm going to kill them all. They're sinners. They
must perish. And the Lord Jesus comes forth
He doesn't wait for justice to come to Him. He comes forth to
justice. And He said, whom seekest thou? Whom do you seek? And justice
said, I've come to seek sinners. And the Lord said, then thou
seekest Me. Because I've been made to be
their sin. And all their sin is now on Me.
So you let these sinners go their way. They were sinners once, but they're
righteous now. They're clothed in my perfect
righteousness. If you seek the sinner, here I am. And justice
says, what? Are you the sinner? And the Lord says, no, I'm not
the sinner, but I'm the sinner's substitute. You know, people
argue about, well, you say Christ was a sinner? No, I said He was
made to be sin. He's not a sinner. He knew no
sin. He was made to be sin. So that you and I might be made
the righteousness of God in Him. It's called substitution. That's
what we're talking about. I'm the sinner's substitute.
I am the sinner's substitute. All of the sin of these given
to me by the Father and their guilt was imputed to me. All
their unrighteousness is mine and all my righteousness is theirs.
Take me, and let these go their way. And justice accepted His
substitution, and it took the Savior to substitute, and it
crucified, and it did to Him what should have been done to
you and I. Of them which Thou gavest Me,
have I lost none? There's no doubt in my mind Those
words speak of Christ's disciples, but there's no doubt in my mind
that those words are true of all His people. You and I included
that trust in Him. None of them would be lost. Christ's
enemies were not allowed by the Spirit of God to lay hands on
any of them. Beloved, our enemies are Christ's
enemies. Satan. Sin. What about this one? Self. Boy, that's a big one. He's everywhere you go, trying
to do you in. They cannot lay hands on me. They cannot lay hands on you.
If God be for you, who can be against you? Who shall lay anything,
anything to the charge of God's elect? Who is he that is able
to condemn one for whom Christ died and and is justified in
Him. Who can separate us, His elect,
from the love of God? Our substitute, our Savior, our
surety and sacrifice said in John chapter 6 beginning in verse
37. We're close enough to turn there
and I'll finish. John 6 verse 37, look at it. I've already quoted it a couple
times this morning. The Lord Jesus says in verse
37, all that the father giveth me shall come to me and him that
cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out. For I came down from
heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent
me. And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that
of all which He hath given me, I should lose nothing, but should
raise it up again at the last day. And this is the will of
Him that sent me, that everyone which seeth the Son, and believeth
on Him, may have everlasting life, and I will raise Him up
at the last day. Do you see Him? Do you see Christ? Do you believe on Him? Well, what encouragement that
ought to be to you. Because if you see Him and you
believe on Him, you're going to have everlasting life. That's
His promise. And He said, I'll raise Him up
at the last day. Oh, we may be six foot under
in the ground, but on that day, we're going to be raised. Newness
of life to be forever with Christ. And this is our hope. Christ
didn't use the hope of glory. This is our confidence. I don't
have any confidence in me. And I don't have any confidence
in you, and you shouldn't have in me. Our confidence is in Him. This is our assurance. And we
often say, well, I just don't know if I am saved. Well, get
your eyes off you. Get your eyes off what you think
you must do to be saved and get them on Christ who finished the
work of redemption for you and made God to accept you in His
finished work. Not like he had to twist God's
hand. It has to be perfect to be accepted. And in Christ, we're
perfect. This Christ, Jesus Christ, is
our salvation. He's the gospel. Let these go
their way.