Let us turn again to the Word
of God in the 22nd chapter of the Gospel according to Luke. In Luke chapter 22, over these
last number of weeks we have been considering something of
the detail of Christ's experience in the Garden of Gethsemane recorded
here in verses 39 to 46. They say we've considered something
of the detail, the agonising of the Lord Jesus Christ in his
prayers to God concerning all that was before him and that
bitter cup that he was to drink, and he must of course drink it
to the end even to the bitterness of the dregs of it. But now he
prays to his Father, if Thou be willing, he says, remove this
cup from me nevertheless, not my will, but thine, be done."
And then we are told, being in an agony, he prayed more earnestly,
and his sweat was, as it were, great drops of blood falling
down to the ground. How he had to wrestle with the
Father, it was not that he would not accomplish all the will of
the Father, that was the purpose of his coming into the world,
not to do his own will, with the will of Him who had sent
Him to finish His work. And yet here we see how He is
so conscious of that tremendous cost when He was to make that
one sacrifice for sins forever. When on the cross He must pour
out His soul unto death and know what it was not only to bear
the scoffings of men but also the wrath of God against himself,
that great cry recorded in Matthew 26, My God, My God, why hast
thou forsaken me? There he was pleased to taste
death in the room and in the stead of his people. Well, having considered something
of the Lord's experience there in the garden, we turn now to
this 47 and I want to read the passage from verse 47 through
to 53 in Luke chapter 22 and reading verses 47 to 53 and while
he gets back remember last time we saw how he was speaking to
his disciples those three Peter, James and John in particular
they had slept whilst he was in prayer And he said to them,
while you sleep ye rise and pray, lest ye enter into temptation. And then these words in verse
47, while he gets back behold a multitude. And Eden was called
Judas. One of the twelve went before
them and drew near unto Jesus to kiss him. But Jesus said unto
him, Judas, he prayest thou the son of man with a kiss? When
they which were about him saw what would follow, they said
unto him, Lord, shall we smite with the sword? And one of them
smote the servant of the high priest and cut off his right
ear. And Jesus answered and said,
Suffer ye thus far. And he touched his ear and healed
him. Then Jesus said unto the chief
priests and captains of the temple and the elders which were come
to him, Be ye come out as against a thief with swords and staves. When I was daily with you in
the temple, ye stretched forth no hands against me, but this
is your hour and the power of darkness. And it is particularly
these words at the end of verse 53 that I want to take for our text.
The Lord says, but this is your hour and the power of darkness. And to consider something of
the power of darkness over against the light of the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember what we're told in the
very first chapter of the Gospel according to John concerning
the light. And the light shined up in the
darkness and the darkness comprehended it not. And the word that used
to comprehend there literally means to seize, to overtake it. The light shineth in the darkness
and the darkness did not seize it, was not able to overtake
it. So that ultimately even in the
midst of that great darkness the light must prevail. First
of all Let's consider this power of darkness that the Lord Jesus
is speaking of in this portion. He says to those who would come,
and amongst them are those who are the chief of the Jews, the
chief priests, captains of the temples, the elders, These are
the ones he addresses himself to, those who imagine themselves
to be in the light. And yet, the words of Christ
so solemn, this is your hour, and the power of darkness. This expression suggests to us
something of the great evil of sin. And though these were professedly
religious men, Yet the Lord is indicating that they were guilty
really of the greatest of sins. It is the ungodly. It is the
unbelieving who love the darkness. Remember again the words that
we have in John chapter 3, where the Lord speaks of the reason
for him coming into the world. We are familiar with the words
of John 3.16, How God so loved the world. that he gave his only
begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but
have everlasting life. This is why God has sent his
son into the world that salvation might come to sinners. But as
the Lord goes on there to again speak of the ungodly he says
this is the condemnation that light is coming to the world
but men love darkness rather than light because their deeds
were evil. Here is the reason then Christ
says why men like the darkness, because it's a cover for their
evil ways, for their wicked works. Paul then can speak of those
works of darkness and he calls them the unfruitful works of
darkness. Now then this expression that
Christ is using in the text is a most striking expression, the
power of darkness. It reminds us of the evil of
sin, the ungodly, unbelieving ways of sinners who want to cover
their evil deeds. What do we see here then? We
see first of all something of the deceitfulness of sin. Satan himself works in the darkness. He works in the dark in order
that he might have cover for his evil dreams, that we might
not be aware of those things that he is really about. gives exhortation to believers
concerning their spiritual warfare in Ephesians chapter 6. Remember
there he said before us that armour that God has provided
for his children whereby they might engage in that terrible
conflict with sin and with Satan and with the world. Well Paul
tells us what it is that believers are fighting against. We wrestle
not against flesh and blood, he says, but against principalities,
against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world,
against spiritual wickedness in high places. And we have that
expression again, you see. The rulers of the darkness of
this world. And there in that verse in Ephesians
6 he is speaking of course of the fallen angels' principles,
principalities, powers, the rulers of the darkness of this world,
spiritual wickedness in high places. The great host of those
fallen angels who set themselves against God, would seek to destroy
all the works of God. And do we not see it at the very
beginning of the creation? When God creates the first man,
the first woman, and sets them there in the Garden of Eden,
sets them in Paradise, how Satan immediately will seek to destroy
that work of God, and he comes by means of the serpent in the
way of temptation. Now he contradicts the truth
of God's words, where as God had said to Adam concerning the
fruit of that tree of the knowledge of good and evil, Thou shalt
not eat of it, for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou
shalt surely die, dying, thou shalt die semphatic. There's
no question about it. Disobedience will bring death.
And yet when the serpent tempts thee, he contradicts that. They shall not surely die. Oh, the devil, you see. Oh, he sets himself against all
the works of God. And we are those, if we are the
Lord's children, if we are those who have known that call of his
grace and been delivered from the awful thraldrum of sin will
know something of the conflict. There will be that warfare, wrestling,
wrestling against Satan, wrestling against this world. The world
lies in the wicked one. All that is in the world, the
lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of
life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And we are not
to love the world. We are to set ourselves against this world.
All we see the world even now is it lies in that wicked one.
How the world goes about its business, how the world has no
thought of God, no concern for God's Word, no concern for that
day that God himself has set aside. This is what we are to
fight against. And I say ultimately we see how
that the darkness is associated with all the works of Satan in
the book of the prophet Isaiah. In Isaiah chapter 29 and verse
15 we read this terrible woe. Woe unto them that seek deep
to hide their counsel from the Lord and their works are in the
dark and they say, who seeth us and who knoweth us? Oh, the folly, the foolishness
of men. The night and the day are alike
to this God. There can be no concealing anything
from Him, and yet here are the works of wicked men. They seek
deep to hide their counsel from the Lord. They think they can
some way or other hide things from the Almighty. Their words
are in the dark and they say, Who seeth us and who knoweth
us? Now, when we consider the context
here in which the Lord is speaking the words of our text this morning,
these words in verse 53, This is your hour and the power
of darkness. It has to do of course with the
betrayal of the Lord Jesus Christ. It has to do in particular with
the activity of Judas, who professedly was a follower of the Lord Jesus
Christ. So I said at the outset, in the
immediate context we see that the Lord is addressing himself
to these religious men, chief priests, captains of the temple,
elders of the Jews. But ultimately the general context
is that of a word that concerns the activity of Judas Iscariot
who was one of those who professed to be a follower of the Lord
Jesus Christ and yet It's His hour and it's the power of darkness
that we see here. How solemn it is when we think
that even amongst those who profess the name of Christ there might
be that desire to cover themselves. Satan himself we know will sometimes
appear as an angel of light when the apostle writes to the church
at Corinth, he has to remind them of that. They were a church,
greatly gifted and yet how they have been ensnared by false teachers,
false apostles. How these false teachers have
stolen their hearts and Paul identifies that ministry of the
false apostles again with the activities of Satan. In 2 Corinthians 11 and verse
13, such are false apostles, he says, deceitful workers, transforming
themselves into the apostles of Christ, and no marvel, for
Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. And yet,
of course, Satan, though he might seek to appear as an angel of
light, He's one of those identified here with the power of darkness. But what of Judas? Judas here
is surely Satan's instrument. The Lord had identified him,
had he not, at that institution of the Holy Supper. He'd given
him the sock. It identified him. We see that
in the detail of the 13th chapter in the Gospel according to John. There at verse 21 we are told that Christ
himself is troubled in spirit. He was troubled in spirit It
says, and testified and said verily, I say unto you that one
of you shall betray me. And then he goes on to identify
just who this one is. They all were suspicious of themselves,
that is a mark of grace, is it not, when a person he's suspicious
of himself and they were saying to him Lord is it I? and another
said Lord is it I? oh they were fearful those who
were the true disciples of the Lord but Christ quite deliberately
identifies who it is that's going to betray him verse 26 there in John 13 Jesus
answered he it is to whom I shall give a stop when I have dipped
it And when he had dipped the sop, he gave it to Judas Iscariot,
the son of Simon. And after the sop, Satan entered
into him, it said. Satan entered into him. Then
said Jesus unto him, That thou doest do quickly. And then verse 13, He then having
received the sop, went immediately out, and it was night. Isn't
that a striking expression at the end of that 30th verse? As
he goes about this dastardly business, as he goes forth now
as the very instrument of Satan, as he leaves the Lord and those
other disciples, and it was night. How these things you see are
done under the cover of darkness. And it's done at such a time
in order that it might be hidden, that its true character might
not be seen, that's why. Wicked men love the dark, they
love the night. But we see also here not only
that the darkness is associated with the evil that's in the heart
of this man who is betraying the Lord Jesus Christ, but we
see something more of the deceitfulness of sin in the pretence that he
manifests. He would still come and give
the appearance of being one who is a lover of the Lord Jesus
Christ. In verse 47 we are told how Judas
comes forth and kisses the Saviour. While he had spake, behold, a
multitude, and he that was called Judas, one of the twelve, went
before them and drew near unto Jesus to kiss him. He would seek
then to appear as one who is Christ's friend. We offer now, of course, if we
meet one another, we offer our right hand, we shake hands, it's
a sign of friendship. And here in the East, this kiss
would be an indication of friendship, not of enmity. Here we see something
more of the deceitfulness of the sin that's in the heart of
Judas. The wise man tells us in the
27th chapter of the book of Proverbs, the kisses of an enemy are deceitful. Is that true? That is here. We read from that Psalm, Psalm
55, that Psalm of David, because surely in that Psalm we have prophecy. It doesn't
just concern David, Psalm 55, it concerns David's greatest
son, it concerns the Lord Jesus Christ himself. David, it would appear, wrote
this Psalm at the time of Absalom's rebellion, when his son Absalom
turned against his father and stole the hearts of the people,
remember? and David has to flee from Jerusalem
because he sees that his life is in the greatest of danger
and there are many who were in this conspiracy with his son
Absalom and amongst them was that man Ahithophel who was such
a great friend of David and in the psalm it seems that David
is speaking either of Ahithophel his counsellor, his great friend,
or he is speaking of his son absolutely not. He sees the city
now in that state of enmity against him. All of the city has set itself
against David. Verse 9 of the Psalm, O Lord,
He says, Divide their tongues, for I have seen violence and
strife in the city. Day and night they go about it,
upon the walls thereof. Mischief, also, and sorrow are
in the midst of it. Wickedness is in the midst thereof. Deceit and guile depart not from
the streets. That's the state of the city
in general. This is why David has to flee
for his life. And we can read of these things,
of course, in the books of Samuel. But then he says at verse 12,
it was not an enemy that reproached me, then I could have borne it,
neither was it he that hated me that did magnify himself against
me, then I would have hid myself from him. But he was thou, a
man mine equal, my guide and mine acquaintance. We took sweet
counsel together and walked unto the house of God in company.
It does seem to be Ahithophel who was David's counsellor and
the the council of Ahithophel in those days was as the oracle
of God that's how they considered the
man and the advice that he might give he was reckoned to be such
a godly man and this is a man who was turned against David
in verse 21 of the psalm he says the words of his mouth were smoother
than butter But war was in his heart, his words were softer
than oil, yet were they drawn sore. Now, that might all be true in
the case of David, but surely friends it is so evident that
David here is speaking a prophetic word. The psalm is a messianic
psalm. The psalm ultimately has to do
with the experience of the Lord Jesus Christ. And it's not just
Ahithophel that we see here, it's Judas Iscariot. Now that
he was one of the twelve, even here you see, back in Luke 22
and verse 47, he is identified with the twelve, one of the twelve. Oh yes, the Lord would often
be with him, he was much in the Lord's company. They would walk unto the house
of God in comfort. But now you see, what are his
words? They are smoother than butter.
But what's in his heart? War. His words were softer than
oil, yet were they drawn swords. The psalmist in there is speaking
of these very events that we have recorded here. concerning
the betrayal of Christ by Judas Iscariot. And in each case we
see the deceitfulness of sin. The deceitfulness of sin. How
this man Judas would come and he would appear as if he was
still the friend of Christ. If he still loved the Saviour
and yet, by a kiss, what is he doing? He is denying the Saviour.
or the power of darkness that we see here, the awful deceit,
the pretense of the sinner. But also, do we not see something
of the danger, the danger of sin? The words of the text in verse
53, When I was daily with you in the temple, Christ said he
stretched forth no hands against me. speaking to these who are
the leaders of the Jews how often they would have taken him but
they could not we know that there were those other occasions when
they sought to destroy him but we are told his hour was not
yet come for example in John chapter 7 and verse 30 we have
one such occasion when they would have killed him but they could
not John 7 verse 30 they sought to take him but no man laid hands
on him because his hour was not yet come and then again in the
very next chapter John 8 and verse 20 these words speak Jesus
in the treasure as he taught in the temple and no man laid
hands on him, for his hour was not yet come. There were those
occasions, you see. He was with them, he was ministering,
he was in public places. When I was daily with you in
the temple, he stretched forth no hands against me, he said.
But this is your hour and the power of darkness. Now it's permitted. Now the hour
is come. And are we not reminded, friends,
in the midst of all this, that all these events are in the hands
of a sovereign God? That God's sovereignty is an
absolute sovereignty. That when the Lord Jesus Christ
comes to die, it's not so much that the men
are taking His life, they did do that. But they did do that, with wicked
hands they took him and they crucified him and they slew him.
But we know that it was all in accordance with the divine foreknowledge. It was what God himself had purposed.
Doesn't Peter declare those two truths in the course of his preaching
on the Pentecost? Him being delivered by the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God, there is divine sovereignty.
He hath taken and with wicked hands hath crucified and slain,
there is their responsibility. They did it. They were guilty
in it. But it was all in fulfilment
of the great purpose of God and yet God is not the author of
sin. The divine sovereignty, I say,
is an absolute sovereignty. And we see it so strikingly in
the life and the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ. We see
it in His coming into the world. We see it in His dying in the
world. When does He come? He comes in
the fullness of the time. That's what it says in Galatians
chapter 4 and verse 4. When the fullness of the time
was calm. God sent forth his son, made
of a woman, made under the law. His birth, you see, was determined
from eternity. That's true of all, of course.
There's a time to be born, there's a time to die, we read in Ecclesiastes. All things are in God's hands,
but we're thinking particularly here of the Lord Jesus Christ,
and these things that are coming upon him. As with his coming,
as with his birth, so also with his death. We go back to chapter
9 where the Lord begins to make that final journey to Jerusalem. What was it that lay behind him
making that journey? Many times he went to Jerusalem.
But from chapter 9 in Luke and verse 51 we see that this is
the last journey he begins to make. The counterparts, when
the time was come that he should be received up, he steadfastly
set his face to go to Jerusalem and sent messengers before his
face and so on. He sets his face to go to Jerusalem
there, knowing all that will befall him there in the city.
He knew that the time must come when he was to be received up. In John chapter 12 and verse
27, for this cause, says Christ, for this cause to die, came I
to this hour. He knew. And that's what lies
behind all that anguish and suffering in his soul that we've considered
in the previous portion here. His agonisings in the garden
of Gethsemane. He's no stoic. He's not going
to go through this unfeelingly. He's a real man. Though a son
yet learn the obedience by the thing that he suffered. He is
the eternal son of God. He is God. He is God manifest
in the flesh. But he is no superman. He is
a real man. He is a man of flesh and blood.
And how he feels these things. And he knows what is before him. And he knows he is going to be
betrayed by Judas Iscariot, does he not? You see, God's sovereignty is
seen even in the sin of Judas. Previous to these events, in
the garden where he's arrested, we have that great detail of
all that transpired on that night when he observed his final Passover
with the disciples and instituted the Lord's Supper
After that according to what we are told in John, in John
13, 14, 15 and 16 we have those discourses. Remember the beginning of John
13 it was before the feast of the Passover when Jesus knew
that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world
unto the Father having loved his own which were in the world
he loved them unto the end and supper being ended The devil
hath he now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son,
to betray him, Jesus knowing that the Father had given all
things into his hands, and that he was come from God and went
to God. He rises from supper, laid aside
his garments and took a towel and girded himself. After that
he poured out water into a basin and began to wash the disciples
through. and to wipe them with the towel where he was girded. This great act of humiliation
on behalf of the Lord. But then we have those discourses
all taking place on that momentous night and after his preaching
we have his prayer. And all before you see he enters
into the garden where he is going to be betrayed. It's not until
we come to chapter 18 of John. when Jesus had spoken these words
when he had spoken to the Father in his prayer he went forth with
his disciples over the brook Cedron where was a garden into
the which he entered and his disciples and Judas also which
betrayed him knew the place for Jesus of time resorted thither
with his disciples but even when he comes to pray to his Father
We see in that prayer how the Lord Jesus makes mention of Judas. In John 17 verse 12, While I
was with them in the world, speaking of the disciples, I kept them
in thy name. Those that thou gavest me I have
kept, and none of them is lost but the son of perdition. that
the Scripture might be fulfilled. Who is the son of perdition?
That is Judas Iscariot. And he is lost. He was never
saved of course. Though he had every appearance
of being amongst the twelve. He is the son of perdition, he
is lost. Why? That the Scripture might
be fulfilled. This is part of God's purpose.
This is that that God has spoken of, as we've seen, He spoke of
it beforehand there in the 55th Psalm. It's not so much Absalom
or Ahithophel that we have there, it's Judas Iscariot. God, we know, is not, cannot
be the author of sin. And yet, as we've said, God's
sovereignty is so absolute that even this wicked greed committed
by Judas Iscariot is part of the divine decree. God is not
the author of sin, God is Light. God is Light and in Him is no
darkness at all. And this is their hour, this
is the power of darkness. We cannot really begin to explain
these things. We know that from the first that
seed of sin was in the heart of Judas Iscariot. There is no
doubt about that. It was there from the beginning.
Even when the Lord chose him to be one of his apostles, one
of the twelve. We see this in what is recorded
in that sixth chapter of John, do we not? The chapter of the
great diminishings, the multitudes following Christ at the beginning
and then at the end they are all deserting Him and it appears
that even the twelve will depart from Him, but they do not. In verse 67 of John Jesus says
to the twelve, will you also go away? Then Simon Peter answered
him, Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal
life, and we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ,
the Son of the living God. And then verse 70, Jesus answered
them, Have not I chosen you twelve? And one of you is a devil. He
spake of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, for he it was that
should betray him being one of the twelve. Or from the beginning,
you see, from the very first, the Lord knew who he was. The seed of sin was there in
the heart of Judas Iscariot. But that seed of sin was being
held back, restrained. But when that restraint was withdrawn,
how the sin sprang forth. Man knows the beginning of sin,
but who can bound the issues thereof? For when lust hath conceived,
it bringeth forth sin. And sin, when it is finished,
bringeth forth Then let us not forget, friends,
that that seed of every sin is in our own hearts. That's what we are by nature,
we are fallen creatures. We are the offspring of Adam
and Eve. And the seed of every sin is in my heart and in your
heart. And it is only God who can keep
us and God is the one who must keep us from the power of darkness,
this awful power of darkness. Observe the language of Jews,
it's the power of darkness that we read of here. Didn't the Lord
say to the disciples when he was with them in the garden,
when he was resting in prayer himself, and setting before them
a great pattern of prayer, there in verse 40, when he was at the
place, he said unto them, pray that ye enter not into temptation,
Now we need to pray that we do not enter into it. Again, when he comes to those three
favoured ones who have been taken a little further with him, in
verse 46 he said to them, Why sleep ye? Rise and pray, lest
ye enter into temptation. Oh friends, oh, we need to pray
even as Christ himself directs and instructs in that pattern
prayer. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For
thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory. God is able
to deliver, you see. And God is the only one who can
deliver. We cannot keep ourselves, we need that constant keeping
of God, kept by the power of God, said Peter, through faith
unto salvation. This is our comfort, you see,
even the fact that God is all-powerful, that God is the one whose sovereignty
is an absolute sovereignty. Paul assures the seershah, no
temptation taken but such as is common with man. But God is
faithful. He will not suffer you to be
tempted above what you are able, but shall with the temptation
make a way of escape that you may be able to bear it. That's
our comfort. We must look to God. We must
acknowledge our complete and utter dependence upon God for
that safe keeping from the power of darkness, the power of evil. This is your hour, says Christ,
and the power of darkness. But let me just, before we conclude
this morning, say a little more concerning that light of the
Lord Jesus Christ that shines in the midst of the darkness.
And the darkness does not comprehend it, the darkness does not seize
it or overtake it. Christ says, I am the light of
the world. One of those great I am statements
that we have in John's Gospel, John 8 verse 12. Here he is,
you see, he is the great I am, he is Jehovah. He is God manifest
in the flesh. He is the fullness of that revelation
of God in the face of the Lord Jesus Christ. I am the light
of the world. He that followeth me shall not
walk in darkness but shall have the light of life, or the light
of life. Consider it here, He is the Saviour.
What do they come for? Into the garden they come that
they might lay hands upon Him, and arrest Him, and take Him
away, and destroy Him. That's what they are bent on.
So what does the Lord do in the midst of these things? He is present, to heal. He is present to heal. One of them, one of his followers,
we know it was Peter from the other accounts, smote the servant
of the high priest and cut off his right ear. And Jesus answered
and said, suffer ye thus far and he touched his ear and healed him. Oh, it's the power of darkness,
but how that glorious light of the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ even here shines forth the Son of Man is not come to
destroy men's lives but to save them that was the purpose of
His coming into the world and the darkness of sin is not going
to overcome that glorious light of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ. That light comes, friends, and
it comes into the hearts of those whom the Lord is pleased to favour
with His grace. And what is the consequence when
that light of the Gospel shines in the heart? Does it not show
the sinner himself? Does it not reveal to us what
we are? Does it not show us the darkness
and the deadness of our native condition as sinners? The psalmist
says, in thy light shall we see light. And when that light comes,
you know, it is a terrible thing to experience, is it not? We
are so very much aware of the darkness that our souls are in,
the darkness of our minds. Having the understanding darkened,
we read in Ephesians 4.18. Being alienated from the life
of God through the ignorance that is in them. Terrible to
be in the dark. And yet when that light comes,
you see, that's the first thing we're so very much aware of.
We're made aware of what we are by that light. that shines into
the heart. But God has a gracious end in
view, does he not, when that light shines? God, who commanded
the light to shine out of darkness, says Paul, has shined in our
hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God
in the face of Jesus Christ. Oh, when that light of the Gospel
comes, Yes, we are aware of what we are, the darkness, the deadness
of sin, law and terrors, few but hard, and all the while they
work alone, but a sense of blood-bought pardon soon dissolves the hearts
of stone. All that light of the Lord Jesus
Christ that we see as He comes into the world, as He comes here
to deal with these who are the instruments of Satan, the power
of darkness. The greatest, of course, of all
those works of the Lord Jesus Christ was that that he accomplished
when he went to the cross at Calvary. It was his dying at
Calvary that was the consummation of all the great work that he
came to fulfil. And what do we read concerning
that? Well here, in the very next chapter, in chapter 23 and verse 44, it
was about the 6th hour. The 6th hour would be 12 noon,
high noon. They counted the hours from 6
o'clock in the morning, remember? It was the 6th hour, high noon,
the sun at its zenith. And there was a darkness over
all the earth until the ninth hour, three o'clock in the afternoon. And the sun was darkened, and
the veil of the temple was rent in the midst. And yet in the
midst of all that darkness we have the glorious light of the
Gospel. It's God overcoming all the powers
of darkness, overcoming all the works of Satan, overcoming all
that sin that is in the hearts of his children. The Lord Jesus
Christ coming to make that great sacrifice, this was the purpose
of his coming. It was not so much that they
took his life, was it? They could not lay a finger upon
him. There, when they came to arrest him, as we see in John's
account, there in the opening verses of that 18th chapter,
he declared himself to be the Great I Am and they fell backwards.
He couldn't touch it. And there upon the cross you
see they had no power over it. Therefore does my father love
me because I lay down my life, he says that I might take it
again. No man takes it from me. I have power to lay it down.
I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received
of my father. And this is how he overcomes
all the power of darkness, all the works of Satan, all the evil
of sin when he makes that great sacrifice in those three hours
of terrible darkness over all the face of the earth. All the glorious light then of
the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Let me just close by
reminding you of those words that we have in the first chapter
of John's first epistle. In 1 John chapter 1 and verse
5, the message. This is the great message of
the gospel, is it not? This then is the message that
we have heard of him and declare unto you that God is light and
in him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship
with Him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth. But if we walk in the light,
as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another,
and the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth us from all
sin. O God, grand friends, that we
might today be those who do indeed walk in the light as he is in
the light. The Lord bless his word to us
for his name's sake. Amen.