I would normally be in Matthew
for our message and we've been in 2 Timothy for the Bible study
but I decided to swap the texts and in a moment you'll see why. I'm going to begin by telling
you the title of this Bible study so as we read this you can see
where we're going with it. The title is Whose will was done? That's the subject matter that we're gonna
see if the Lord will prove and just solidify in our hearts.
Whose will was done? Here in Matthew 27, Judas has
betrayed the Lord. And our Lord is now standing
before Pilate, and we pick up with verse 15. It says, now at
that feast, the governor was want or known to release unto
the people a prisoner whom they would every year at the Passover
feast, it was the custom then, for the governor to release one
of the prisoners, and the governor did not decide who the prisoner
was. The people did. Verse 15, now
at that feast, the governor was wont to release unto the people
a prisoner whom they would. And they had then a notable prisoner
called Barabbas. That word notable means famous
in a bad way. Infamous. Very well known for
his horrible crimes. Mark's account says he made insurrection,
which means he started a riot through the city. And it says
he committed murder in that riot. It may have been one person.
It may have been many people. He may have just run through
the city and others with him. John's account says he was a
robber. He looted and stole, I'm sure,
in that riot, but probably just in general. He was just a bad
person. Verse 17, therefore, when they were gathered together,
Pilate said unto them, whom will ye that I release unto you? Barabbas,
or Jesus, which is called Christ. Whom will ye? Who do you want? Verse 18, for he knew that for
envy they had delivered him. When he was set down on the judgment
seat, Pilate's wife sent unto him, saying, Have thou nothing
to do with that just man? For I have suffered many things
this day in a dream because of him. But the chief priests and
elders persuaded the people that they should ask Barabbas and
destroy Jesus. The governor answered and said
unto them, whether of the twain will ye that I release unto you? They said, Barabbas, whether
of the twain will ye? They said, Barabbas. Verse 22,
Pilate saith unto them, what shall I do then with Jesus, which
is called Christ? They all say unto him, let him
be crucified. And the governor said, why, what
evil hath he done? But they cried out the more,
saying, let him be crucified. But when Pilate saw that he could
prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was made, he took water
and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent
of the blood of this just person. See ye to it. Then answered all
the people and said, his blood be on us and on our children. Then released he Barabbas unto
them. And when he had scourged Jesus,
he delivered him to be crucified. Now, clearly in what I just read,
there is a lot that we can look at. And I believe in my heart
there's a lot we are going to look at. But for today, we're
going to consider something very specific. Whose will was done in this? I have too much in these notes.
And I tried to cut them down this morning, and it didn't work.
I'm going to try to cut them down right now, OK? Mark's account,
I was gonna have you turn to Mark's account. It's saying the
same thing. The chief priest moved the people
to do this. The chief priest wanted this
to be done. And they did move the people to say this and want
this. And it goes on to say that the
tumult was so great Pilate did this, willing to content the
people. He was just trying to content,
make them content, okay? Willing to content the people,
he did this. And over in Luke's account, it
says that they were instant, they were crying, Let Him be
crucified. We want Him to be, we want Christ
to be crucified. And it says they were instant. That means they pressed on Him
in a violent tempest. They raged on Pilate. The crowd was taking matters
into their own hands. They were raging on Pilate. And
so He delivered unto them whom they required. They required
it. Whom they had desired. He delivered
Barabbas to them, it says, whom they had desired. And it says
he delivered Jesus to their will. That's the wording of Luke's
account. He delivered the Lord Jesus Christ
to their will. Now, let me ask the question
in the title again. Whose will was done? I believe this is so important. If we want to learn something
about God Almighty, I believe this is so critical. Whose will
was it that the Lord Jesus Christ be crucified? I'm going to do
something that I don't believe I've ever done. You know, I've talked a little
bit, but I've pretty much just read scripture to you. I'm going
to read verses of scripture to you for the rest of the Bible
study. You know that I'm one who likes
to turn a lot. I've made that very clear over
the years. I'm sure I turn more than the
average preacher. The reason I do that is because
I like to see these things in the Word for myself. I always
have. Some people don't. Some people
literally don't, who I have confidence in. But they don't want to turn,
and I understand that. But that's just not me. I want
to see it with my own two eyes in the Word. I want it to be
proven to me. I don't want to just take a man's
Word for it. And I want it to sink in. I want to learn where
these verses are. You'll get to a place where you
can quote verses, but you have no idea where they are. Well,
after you see them and see them and see them and see them, it's
just embedded in your brain. That's Ephesians 2 verse 8. That's,
you know, so. I want the same thing for you.
And I do realize that sometimes it can be too much. Over the
years, I have read too much to you. And I've left the message
thinking, why did I do that? I mean, you can't go wrong with
God's word. This is the safest thing to say
from a pulpit. But I do realize that sometimes
it can be too much. And sometimes it's just more
turning and reading then we can process, okay? I don't want that to be the case
this morning, but I don't believe it will be. In my heart, I don't
believe it will be. If you have seen these things
before, I believe you will enjoy seeing this again, all in one
place, all at one time. If you have never seen these
things before, You need to see this. I believe you will be glad
that you've seen this. If you would like to just listen,
I will be glad to give you all of these scriptures later. If
you don't wanna turn, that's fine. But we're gonna let God's
word answer and prove our question, all right? Whose will was done
in this? Whose will was it that the Lord
Jesus Christ be crucified? Go to Psalm 22. I'm going to make a few comments
as we go, but I'm going to very quickly go scripture to scripture.
Psalm 22 verse 1 says, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken
me? Why art thou so far from helping
me and from the words of my roaring? That's the cry of our Lord from
the cross. And this is what he said. Why
hast thou forsaken me? He didn't say, why have they
forsaken me? He didn't say that. He didn't
say, Father, why have they forsaken me? He said, why have you forsaken
me? Verse seven. All they that see
me laugh me to scorn, they shoot out the lip, they shake the head,
saying, He trusted on the Lord that he would deliver him, let
him deliver him, saying he delighted in him. That's the very thing
they said in mockery to him as he hung on the cross. Verse 16,
Dogs have compassed me, the assembly of the wicked have enclosed me,
they pierced my hands and my feet. I may tell all my bones,
those are his people, bone of his bone. They look and stare
upon me. Psalm 34 says he keeps all his
bones, not one is broken. And on the cross, not one was
broken because they represent his people. He was broken that
they might not be broken, not one bone of his body. Verse 18,
they part my garments among them and cast lots upon my vesture. This is all the prophecy of the
cross. Go with me to Psalm 41. Psalm 41 verse five, mine enemies
speak evil of me. When shall he die and his name
perish? That's what the scribes and the
Pharisees wanted. That's what they were saying.
Verse seven, all that hate me, whisper together against me. Against me do they devise my
hurt. An evil disease, say they, cleaveth
fast unto him, and now that he lieth, he shall rise up no more. Yea, mine own familiar friend,
in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, this is Judas
dipping bread with him in the sop. Mine own familiar friend,
in whom I trusted, did eat of my bread, he hath lifted up his
heel against me. We're literally reading the accounts
of the cross. Look at Psalm 69. Verse 20 says, Reproach hath
broken my heart. And I'm full of heaviness, and
I looked for some to take pity, but there was none. And for comforters,
but I found none. He hung there alone. They gave
me also gall for my meat. And in my thirst, they gave me
vinegar to drink. Turn over to Isaiah 50. Isaiah 50 verse 5 says, the Lord God hath opened mine
ear. He gave me the work. He told
me the work he wanted me to accomplish. And I was not rebellious, neither
turned away back. I gave my back to the smiters
and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair. I hid not my face
from shame and spitting, for the Lord God will help me. Therefore
shall I not be confounded. Therefore have I set my face
like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed." The
sufferings of the cross. Look at Isaiah 52. Verse 13, behold, my servant
shall deal prudently. He shall be exalted and extolled
and be very high. As many were astonished at thee,
his visage was so marred more than any man and his form more
than the sons of men, more than any man has ever been. That could
only be said about Christ on the cross. Look at Isaiah 53
verse 7. He was oppressed and he was afflicted,
yet he opened not his mouth. He is brought as a lamb to the
slaughter and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he opened
not his mouth. He was taken from prison And
from judgment, and who shall declare his generation? For he
was cut off out of the land of the living. For the transgression
of my people was he stricken. And he made his grave with the
wicked, that was those two thieves on either side of him, and with
the rich, Joseph of Arimathea, that's whose tomb he laid in.
Because he'd done no violence, neither was any deceit in his
mouth, yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him. He hath put him
to grief. The Lord did it. The Lord did
it. Turn over to Zechariah chapter
nine, page 1176 in my Bible. It's the second to the last book
in the Old Testament. Zechariah chapter nine. Verse 9 says, Rejoice greatly, O daughter of
Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, thy King cometh unto
thee. He is just and having salvation,
lowly and riding upon an ass. And upon a colt, the foal of
an ass. That's how your king's gonna
come to you. That is exactly how our Lord rode into Jerusalem,
headed to the cross. Look at Zechariah chapter 11,
verse 12. Zechariah 11, verse 12. It says, I said unto them, if you think
good, give me my price. And if not, forbear. So they
weighed for my price 30 pieces of silver. And the Lord said
unto me, cast it unto the potter, a goodly price that I was prized
out of them. And I took the 30 pieces of silver
and cast them to the potter in the house of the Lord. That's
how much Judas was paid to betray him. And whenever he repented,
as the scripture says, he threw it down in the house of the Lord
and they picked it up and bought the potter's field with it to
bury strangers there. Look at Zechariah 13, verse 7. Awake, O sword, against my shepherd,
and against the man that is my fellow, saith the Lord of hosts. Smite the shepherd, and the sheep
shall be scattered. And I'll turn my hand upon the
little ones. Smite the shepherd. That's my command. That's the
Father's command. Smite the shepherd. All right,
go to Matthew 16. I've got five minutes more. Go
to Matthew 16. Verse 21, from that time forth began Jesus
to show unto his disciples how that he must go unto Jerusalem
and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and
scribes and be killed and be raised again the third day. He
started showing them that this must happen to Him. That's what
He started telling them, this must happen to Me. Look at Matthew
17 verse 22. And while they abode in Galilee,
Jesus said unto them, The Son of Man shall be betrayed into
the hands of men, and they shall kill Him, And the third day he
shall be raised again. And they were exceeding sorry.
Look at Matthew 20 verse 17. And Jesus going up to Jerusalem
took the 12 disciples apart in the way and said unto them, Behold,
we go up to Jerusalem. And the Son of Man shall be betrayed
unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn
Him to death and shall deliver Him to the Gentiles to mock and
to scourge and to crucify Him. And the third day He shall rise
again." Boy, it was all mapped out, wasn't it? It was exactly
mapped out. Shall, this shall happen. Look
at Matthew 26. Verse one. And it came to pass when Jesus
had finished all these sayings, he said unto his disciples, you
know that after two days is the feast of the Passover. That very
same feast that Pilate was known to release a prisoner at. You
know that after two days is the feast of the Passover and the
Son of Man is betrayed to be crucified. You know, I've told
you, you know this is going to happen. Turn to John 10. John 10 verse 14, I am the good
shepherd and know my sheep and am known of mine. As the father
knoweth me, even so know I the father, and I lay down my life
for the sheep. and other sheep I have which
are not of this fold, them also I must bring, and they shall
hear my voice, and there shall be one fold and one shepherd.
Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life,
that I may take it again. No man taketh it from me." No
man. 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. I did this. My father did this. Turn to Acts
chapter two. Almost done. Acts chapter two. Verse 22. You men of Israel, hear these
words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved
of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which
God did by Him in the midst of you, as you yourselves also know,
Him being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of
God, you have taken and by wicked hands have crucified and slain. Whom God hath raised up, having
loosed the pains of death because it was not possible that he should
be holding of it. Him being delivered by the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God, you have taken and by wicked
hands have crucified and slain. Look at Acts chapter four, verse
26. The kings of the earth stood
up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and
against his Christ. For of a truth against thy holy
child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate
with the Gentiles and the people of Israel were gathered together
for to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before
to be done. Whatever your hand and your counsel
determined before to be done. Look at Galatians 1. Galatians 1 verse 3, it says, Grace be to you and peace from
God the Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself
for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world
according to the will of God and our Father. to whom be glory
forever and ever. Amen. Whose will was it? You
say, well, Gabe, you could have just gone to that one and just
read that one. I know. Believe me, I know. But don't
you love seeing the predeterminate counsel and foreknowledge of
God in this, leading up to this? Whose will was the cross? Last
one, all right, this is the last one. Go to James chapter one,
just after Hebrews, James chapter one. This is one of my favorite verses
in all the Bible. This is right in there with the
193,412 other verses that I have. All right, James 1 verse 18,
it says, of His own will begat He us. with the word of truth that we
should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures. Whose will
was it? Whose will was the cross? It was God's will. The cross
was God's will. The shedding of Christ's blood
was God's will. Of His own will begat He us. Man only carried out and accomplished
the will of God Almighty. It has always been that way. It is that way. And it will always be that way. Man will only ever carry out
the will of God Almighty. You say, yeah, but people are
evil. They're doing sinful evil. I know, we've been reading about
it for 30 minutes. That's the most sinful, evil,
wicked thing that has ever happened on this earth. And men and women
were the pawns of God Almighty. Do in the will of God Almighty.
To God Almighty be glory for the cross. For the cross to Him
be all the glory for Jesus Christ crucified. That was not man's
free will. Well now men and women are free
moral agents and they can do whatever they want to do. No
they can't. They can't. They can sin according
to the will and purpose and hedging and controlling of God Almighty. He will leave men alone and let
them do their bidding as He sees fit to accomplish the purpose
of His will. But the cross was God's sovereign
will and he gets all the glory for it. He gets all the glory
for it. Salvation through the cross of
Christ is all to the praise of the glory of his grace. Amen. All right.