He they may kill, but with the
righteous will, His kingdom is forever. The Apostle John wrote in the
last part of his first letter, he said, These things have I
written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God,
that you may know that ye have eternal life. and that you may
believe on the name of the Son of God. In other words, those
of you who believe, this is written for your assurance and to increase
your faith, that you may believe even more confidently. And he goes on to say, And we
know that the Son of God is come, and he hath given us an understanding
that we may know him. That is true. And we are in Him. That is true. Even in His Son,
Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal
life. So, he said, these things are
written. What we're going to look at tonight should increase our faith. Should make us more persuaded
than ever of whom we have belief, that he is indeed very God of
very God. What we are going to see here
in this dark garden, we're going to see sin, we're going to see
betrayal, treachery, but in the midst of all of this, the Son
of God stands strong, fearless, and faithful. The true one and
the Just One, the Redeemer of His people. Though all of them
forsake Him, He is not going to forsake them. The Redeemer. Now, from this
garden to the cross, this is man's darkest hour. This is man's darkest hour. greatest proof of man's utter
depravity. That God Almighty came to this
earth, and what did they do with him? They hated him. They wanted him dead. Everybody.
Everybody. Scripture says all. All. kings of the earth, people, Gentiles,
they all. This is man's darkest hour, but
from this garden to the cross is Christ's finest hour. This is the greatest proof from
what happens, everything he did and said bears testimony or witness
of who he is. But from this point on, from
the garden to the cross and afterward is the greatest proof of all.
that he is indeed the Son of God. While he was hanging on
that cross, even one of the Roman centurions standing there admiring
such a man said, truly, this man was the Son of God, a righteous
man, truly. And what I hope we see tonight
is in spite of all this sin, in spite of all of this evil
that goes on, this multitude of enemy, I want us to see that
Christ is reigning and ruling over this whole thing. God's
Word is being fulfilled. It says that two or three times
here, that the Scriptures might be fulfilled. And His people
are being saved. This is the true God. This one
here, an eternal life. Now look at verse 45, the Lord
said, Behold, the hour is at hand. The hour is at hand. He said over in John's Gospel,
he said a few times, he said things like this in chapter 12,
the hour has come. The hour has come that the Son
of Man should be glorified. He went on to say in that same
chapter, now is the judgment of this world. Now shall the
prince of this world be cast out. Now it might be. He said
over in John 13, verse 31, he said, now is the Son of Man glorified
and God is glorified in him. So he said the hour is at hand.
For this cause came out to this hour. And he said, and the Son
of Man, verse 45, is betrayed into the hands of sinners. He
says, Rise, let us be gone. Behold, he is at hand that doth
betray me. And while he yet spake, while
he was saying this, Judas, lo, it said, lo, that means, whenever
the scripture says behold, it means, just think about this
now, look at this. Or lo, that means, just stop. Consider this. Lo, while he yet
spake, the Lord saying he is at hand, that doth betray me. And lo, while he gets fake, lo,
Judas, one of the twelve, came. Though Judas was doing what his
evil heart intended to do, what his covetous heart wanted to
do, he was a greedy man, and he sold the master. He sold his
master for pocket change. But he was doing what God determined
before to be done. When Christ came, when He was
30 years old, He called His disciples, didn't He? He called 12 of them.
And one of them was His betrayer. And He called him for that purpose. Because He's the Lord who does
all these things. Remember that in Isaiah? Chapter
45, I the Lord do all these things. Saying in chapter 46, I declare
the end from the beginning. The things not yet done. Not
yet done. He called Judas to be his betrayer. Though Judas did what he wanted
to do, the lot was cast into the lap. The whole disposing
thereof was of the Lord. Who is the Lord? The Lord Jesus
Christ. And for this purpose, what he
said of Pharaoh could be said of Judas. For this purpose have
I raised you up. And to fulfill scripture, as
with everything, scriptures must be fulfilled. Now look at this.
This is a solemn thing to consider. Judas was one of the twelve. He was one of the twelve. As we've noted so many times,
there were only twelve apostles, Roy, but one of them was a betrayer,
a reprobate. That's a solemn thought in it. Then and now, listen to the scripture,
the apostle writes, then and now there must be heresies among
you. He was writing to the Corinthians,
he said there must be heresies among you. that they which are
approved might be made manifest. God is going to make it clear
who are his men, who are his women, who are his saints. One
of the twelve. And it goes on in verse 47, one
of the twelve came and with him a great multitude. A great multitude. When scripture says a great multitude,
that's a lot of people. The Lord is never given to exaggeration. We are, aren't we? Someone said
preachers are the worst mathematicians of all. They have a hard time. They greatly inflate numbers. The Lord doesn't exaggerate.
A great multitude means there's a lot of people. A great multitude. The truth is not in the majority.
The truth is not in the majority. It's not in numbers. There's
not strength in numbers. There's not truth in numbers.
Can the majority be wrong? Listen to me. According to Scriptures,
it always is. Always. Except in the end. In the end. But there came a great multitude. John summed this up. We talk
about the truth. The truth is in the minority.
Always has been. Always has been. You know for
a fact that many were saying of Noah, you think you're right
and everybody is wrong, don't you, Noah? I know how Noah answered
that. Don't you? The same way we do. No, we say that God be true.
And every man a liar. If they preach not or believe
not according to this word, there's no light in them. John summed
it up. The Apostle John, Jeanette, summed
it up. He said, We are of God and the whole world lie in wickedness. It's a bold statement. Isn't
that a bold statement, John? Once again, Scripture is just
not given to exaggeration, is it? Speaking of the saints, who
are the few chosen, we are of God. And the whole world lieth
in wickedness. And he that is of God heareth
us." Can a true preacher say that? He must. We are of God. The whole world lieth in iniquity. Well, in wickedness. And this
multitude, look at it, they came with swords and staves. from
the chief priests and elders of the people. The chief priests
and the elders, these were of the people. These people were
religious people. That's who they were. See that? As old Brother Barnard used to
say, this was a Sunday go-to-meeting lynch mob. from the chief priests and the
elders of the people, religious rulers and leaders, holy men. Holy men sent this mob. Priests and elders, they were
called. They weren't true priests, Roy, and they weren't elders.
They weren't from God. You know who were the true elders
sent of God? Where were they? They were with
Christ. outside the camp, weren't they?
Bearing his reproach. That's how you know him. That's
how you know him. It's always been so. It's always
been so. The world has never received
true preachers. Never. They killed all the prophets. They killed all the apostles.
They hated all the early church fathers. And they hate all that
preach the gospel. Christ said that, didn't he?
If you were of the world, the world would love you, but you're
not, he said. So they hate you. If they loved
me, they'd love you, but they don't, he said. So Christ's true
elder, God's true teacher, elder means teacher, they were with
Christ right now in the garden, outside the camp, bearing his
reproach, he said. But this great multitude came
from the religious leader. Now, he that betrayed Christ
gave them a sign, saying, looking down through here to see if his
name is mentioned again. I don't believe it is. Not in
this passage. It isn't, is it? But next chapter it is when he
hangs himself. But Scripture is not going to
bring his name up again. It's not worth mentioning again,
is it? He that betrayed him. That's how he's going to be remembered.
Now, here's what the sign was. He gave this sign saying, Whomsoever
I shall kiss, the same as he, hold him fast. You know, I thought
about this for the first time. I thought about this, really.
Why did he have to identify Christ? The Lord had been preaching in
front masses of people for years, hadn't it? He'd been in the temple in broad
daylight, sitting out on the mountain in broad daylight. Here's a spiritual lesson. Men
still don't know him. They don't know him. But here's
the point, too, is that he didn't look any different than the apostles,
the disciples. You dress like them, just common
ordinary. They all look alike. They all look alike. Peter didn't
look like Christ when he found him, when Christ found him. But
three and a half years later, he does. And we're going to see
in the next chapter, Tammy, where it says that his speech gives
him away. He's become him. So Judas, and he was dark. It
was dark at this time. But I thought about that. And
Judas says, Whomsoever I shall kiss, the same as he, hold him
fast. Get a good hold on him. Why does
he say this? Because he's there. He was there
several times when they tried to take the Lord in. Several times they tried to take
him. A whole mob came. And we're going to lead him out
to the brow of the hill, remember, and throw him off." He says,
Pastor, Pastor. And Judas says, Hold on to him. Oh, man. They can't even lay hold of him
at all until he gives him, until he delivers himself to them,
can they? But here's the, here's the solemn lesson. Go over to
Proverb 27 with, Proverb 27. gave this sign that he would
betray the Lord Jesus Christ with a kiss. Why? That the Scriptures might be
fulfilled. The Scriptures. This was his
mark of treachery, betrayal, a kiss. Look at Proverbs 27. You know this verse. Look at
verse 5. It says, Open rebuke is better
than secret love. Scripture says if you don't chasten
your children, you hate them. You love yourself. You hurt. You don't want to see
yourself hurt. Open rebuke is better than secret
love. You're going to get mad at me. You're not going to like this,
but I'm going to say it anyway. Why? Because I love you. Read on. Faithful are the wounds
of a friend. Wonderful prophecy this is, huh?
Scripture says, Let the righteous smite me, and it won't break
my head. There will be a kindness to me. Wounds, the Lord must wound us
before he heals us, mustn't he? The Lord must humble us before
he exalts us, mustn't he? He must break our heart before
he We must take out the old one, give us a new one. We must wound
our heads, take away all our false notions, give us the truth.
Verse 6, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful. The kisses
of an enemy are deceitful. Go back to our text. That harlot
over in Proverbs 7, that Proverbs 7 is the story of the false religion
is what it is. enticed the simple young man
to come into her. He allured, she allured him.
She allured him with all of her beauty and all of her, the trappings
and all of her finery and all of that. And she kissed him,
smiled at him. I'm just quite certain Satan,
smooth words and fair speeches, deceived the hearts of the simple.
And I'm just quite sure Satan had a smile on his face. He was
pleasant to look at. And he went to the woman. Well,
kisses of an enemy are deceitful. Beware of smiling preachers. I know you are. And flattering
lips. Flattering lips. Hail, Master, Judas said. Hail,
Master. I pointed out to you before that
over in the previous chapter, the Lord said, one of you shall
betray me. And every one of them said, Lord?
Is it I? Lord? This is how the apostles referred
to Him. He said one time, you call me
Lord and Master in that order. And you say, well, for so I am. The fear of the Lord It's the
beginning of wisdom. We call Him Lord. Why do we call
Him Lord? Because that's who He is. That's His name of glory and
power, Lord. Judas, though, said, Master,
is it I? Master, is it I? I'm not nitpicking
when I say that people are far too familiar with the Lord of
glory. And they keep calling him Jesus,
honestly, people. Anybody hears this on sermon
audio, take note who you're talking about. Hail, Master. You know, it was only his enemies
that called him Jesus. The devils called him Jesus.
Hail, Master. The Lord said, this people draws
near to me with their lips. Hail, Master." His heart was
far from hailing Him, wasn't it? Hail, Master. People say, oh, how I love Jesus,
don't they? But they hate the Lord Jesus. You start describing the Lord
Jesus of Scripture, and you watch these Jesus lovers get mad. It's true, isn't it? Hail, Master. My, my. Kisses of an enemy are
deceitful and flattering lips. Beware of them. The Lord will
cut off, Scripture says, all flattering lips. Read on. And forthwith he came to Jesus
and said, Hail, Master, and kissed him. And Jesus said unto him,
Friend, wherefore art thou come? Why are you come, friend? Now, Judas was not his friend,
was he? And I don't believe Christ was
his. But why did the Lord call him friend? I'll tell you why. That the Scriptures might be
fulfilled. As with everything. Psalm 41
says, My own familiar friend that did eat of my bread. He
hath lifted up his heel against me." The Lord, while here, was good to Judas, wasn't he? But
Judas was his enemy. Friend, the Lord said this, not
because he was his friend, but that the Scriptures might be
fulfilled. Then they came, verse 50, then came they and laid hands
on Jesus and took him. I told you last Sunday that the
Lord was being, are you with me? You look tired, but this
is good, okay? Stay with me. Stretch your arms or something.
I know you're tired and it's a
little bit warm, but this is my mind. They came and they took hold
of him. They laid hands on him. The Lord was being made sin. God was delivering him up for
us all. He was being made sin at this
point in the garden when he began to sweat blood, when sin was
being laid on his broad shoulders. God was forsaking him also, giving
him over. The Lord, Scripture says, spared
not His only Son, but delivered Him up. The Lord Jesus Christ
could not have been taken by men. There's only one time in
Scripture it says, what will you do with Jesus? And that was
Pilate. And he said he gave them a choice
of Barabbas or Jesus, but really they had no choice. They were
going to take whom God determined for them to take. They did what
they wanted to do with their evil heart, but they did what
God purposed before to be done. And God was delivering His Son
up as a substitute. This is, Nancy, this is the ram
caught in the thicket. You remember Abram and Isaac
on the mountain? And he looked behind him and
lo! A ram caught in a thicket by his horns. And he laid hold of, and they
offered up that ram in the stead of Isaac. Well, Christ, right
now, is this ram caught in a thicket. God put him there. They couldn't
have taken him. They couldn't have taken him. They, the Lord, they tried to
several times, didn't they? But they couldn't. But now, the
only reason they could lay hold of him is because he allowed
it to be done. God purposed it to be done. Bind
the sacrifice, the psalmist said, bind the sacrifice with cords. Bind it to the altar. That's
what they're going to do. They've taken the lamb, our substitute. They took hold on him and took
him. Behold, verse 51, one of them which were with Jesus stretched
out his hand and drew his sword and struck a servant of the high
priest and smote off his ear. This was Peter. It says it was
Peter later on. Peter drew out his sword to defend
the Lord. In the other accounts, this account
is given in all four Gospels. That means it's, well, one time
it's Bible, four times. We better listen. But all four
times this is recorded, this drawing of the sword, this is
the only time when it appears that the Lord, when the Lord
says something to him. Peter drew his sword. He was
defending the Lord. Noble, wasn't it? But unnecessary. It was noble, though. The Lord
is really not rebuking Peter here. I want to show you that
in a second. It's a noble effort. The Lord, I believe, because
Peter, because Peter is about, Polly, because Peter is about
to deny the Lord and go through about the worst time in his life,
the worst three days of his life, he's going to deny the Lord and
doubt if he's one of his disciples. The Lord gives him, though, right
before this horrible denial and terrible sin, gives him one more
opportunity to show his loyalty. Did Peter love the Lord or did
he not? Yes, he did. Did he mean it when
he said, although I'll forsake you, I won't? Yes, he did. Did
he mean it when he said, I'll die with you? He proved it, didn't
he, John? He took out a sword. There's
a multitude of people, folks. Do you know how many swords the
disciples had? Two. The Lord is not saying you can't
have a sword. He gave these to them. Over in
Luke 22, they said, he that hath no sword, let him take up one.
Peter, one of them, said, here's two. He said, that's enough.
They're not going to need those, but The Lord doesn't, you know,
condemn defense of your loved ones. Also, in Scripture, men
took up the sword, and they had to at various times. Well, anyway, Peter is a noble
effort. He's defending the Lord's honor. And there have been a few times,
haven't there, when we've been able, by the grace of God and
the mercy of God, to just a few. We've denied him a lot more than
we've defended him. But thank God for the times. And it's a noble effort. We need
to, don't we? Defend our Lord's honor before
men. But he really doesn't need us. He doesn't need us. No, no, no, no. And there's no
fights. There's not going to be fights.
Fights are not going to take place here. They're not going to have a fight
over the Lord here. No, sir. The Lord said this at another
time. He said, My kingdom is not of
this world. If it was, my servants would
fight. This is why all this notion of
some kind of big holy battle on earth is false. Who's fighting? Who's going to be fighting? God's
people aren't going to be fighting. Oh, no. Our kingdom is not of
this world. Well, and Peter took out this
sword, though, and he was aiming at the man's head, wasn't he?
The Lord caused him to miss. Thankfully. I want you to think
with me now. The Lord's in control of this
whole situation. Oh, yeah. The Lord allows Peter
to do this one more time for his to prove the sincerity of
his love. Yes, sir, for Peter's and for the other apostles' sake,
too. Peter's going to be a leader of the apostles, isn't he? He's
going to be the spokesman. And the Lord's in control of
this whole thing, and Peter took out that sword, buddy, and was
going at that man's head. And the man either ducked or
the Lord directed the blow, and he just cut off his ear. I thought about this, how many
times I've taken out this sword. You know, this thing is a wonderful
thing, but it can be dangerous in the hands of novices, can't it? Many times I've taken this sword
as a young man and gone at their head, you know. It's a hard way. But the Lord directed this blow,
and it just cut off the man's ear. And what's the purpose of
that? This is recorded all four times.
I don't know. I can only conjecture that this
man was a servant of the high priest, it says. See that? Servant
of the high priest. Smote off one of his ears. Cut
off his ear. Well, I thought about this. Maybe
this applies. Religious leaders today only
tell half the truth because that's all they hear. And half the truth is a lie,
isn't it? In other words, they've pretty much done away with just
half of this book, haven't they? Done away with it. You'll rarely hear them ever
even mention it. Half the truth. You don't know
anything about the New Testament if you don't know something about
the Old. If the Christ of the New Testament doesn't fit the
Christ of the Old, you've got the wrong one. You've got the
Antichrist. If the God of the New Testament is not the same
as the God of the Old, you've got an idol. You've got a false
god. Right? Verse 1 of Genesis, in the beginning
God. That's where you start. The whole
counsel. God says, any man take away any
of it from my words. I'll cut him off. I'll cut him
off. Well, and the half that they
do have, Sherry, the half that they do use is a perversion.
Well, verse 52, he cut off his ear. It doesn't tell about the
Lord healing it, but he did. Verse 52, Then Jesus said unto
Peter, Put up again thy sword into his plate. All they that take the sword
shall perish with the sword. Put up your sword. All they that
take the sword shall perish by the sword. I don't believe the
Lord is directing this at Peter. I believe He's directing this
at the men who came to Him with swords. Because as I said, the
Lord gave them these two swords. But listen to this. Listen as
I read from Psalm 94. Listen to this. This is wonderful.
Listen very carefully. Or you can turn over there if
you want to. He says, David says, O Lord God, to whom vengeance
belongeth, O God, to whom vengeance belongeth, show thyself, lift
up thyself, thou judge of the earth, render a reward to the
proud. Lord, how long shall the wicked, how long shall the wicked
triumph? How long shall they utter and
speak hard things? Listen, how long? The workers
of iniquity boast themselves. How long? They say the Lord doesn't see
this. They say the God of Jacob doesn't regard it. Now listen
to this. He said, you need to understand, the brutish among
the people, you fools. He that planted the ear, shall
he not hear? Don't you think he's hearing
everything that's being said? He that formed the eye, doesn't
he see what's going on? Absolutely. He that chastiseth
the heathen, shall not he correct? He that teaches man knowledge,
does he not know? The Lord knoweth the thoughts
of man. And he goes on down to say, He
shall bring upon them their own iniquity. He shall cut them off
in their own wickedness. Yea, the Lord our God shall cut
them off in due time. It's just not time. Don't you
know the angels? Dan, don't you know the angels
when they finally laid hold on the Lord? What do you think the
angels were doing about this time? Angels in heaven, servants of
the Lord, they ministered to Him all the time. And now this
mob takes hold of Him. They don't understand this. They
don't understand this. Well, what do you think they're
thinking? There was 12 legions ready. Just
to say the word. Boy, you're talking about a sword.
That's what's going to happen, brother Sam. That's what's going to happen. A bloodbath. Why? It all has to do with this man's
treatment of God's Son. Melanie, that's what it's all
about. He convinces the world of sin because they believe not
me, Christ's self. They laid hold on him. And all
they that take the sword are going to perish by it. Count
on it. The sword of God's justice is
going to fall. Bloody men shall perish. I will
repay. Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord. I will repay. I love that. I'll never forget.
I've committed it to memory when I was a young man. Ecclesiastes
8, 11, I believe it is. It says, because sentence against
an evil work is not speedily executed, meaning because God
doesn't deal with people right then and there when they do something,
like at Calvary or in the garden. Because sentence against an evil
work is not speedily executed. Therefore, the hearts of the
sons of men are fully set to do evil. Thinking, I got away
with that. Do something else. I got away
with that. Well, I'm going to get away with everything. Well,
there is no God, is there? Told you. God doesn't work according to
man's time, does he? God's justice is sure. But it's
not always swift, is it? He said in verse 53, go on. He
said, Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and He
shall presently give me more than 70,000 angels? Don't you think that I can right
now, presently, pray to my Father, just say the word? And according
to however many a legion is, Estimates have it from 6,000
to 12,000. 70,000 to 100,000 angels. Now, folks, one angel is going
to destroy a fourth of the earth. One. Don't you think? Snap my fingers. That song I remember as a boy,
an old gray-haired man named Hillman Bernard. He'd travel
around all the conferences and he'd sing, That song, it just
thrilled my young heart. He'd sing, He could have called
ten thousand angels to destroy the world and set Him free. He
could have called ten thousand angels, but He died alone for
you and me. Thankest thou not. I don't need
your sword. And they are laying hold of me.
They're only laying hold of me because I allow this. Don't you remember? See, all
of their fears and all of their ignorance and everything, because
they're not listening. Right? Didn't he say, Gabe, earlier
on, no man taketh my life from me? Didn't he say that? Didn't he keep telling them,
I've got to go to Jerusalem? I must go to Jerusalem, and the
Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of men, and they're
going to take Him, and they're going to crucify Him and kill
Him, and the third day He's going to rise again. Didn't He say
that over and over again? Well, why didn't they know that?
They weren't listening. They had ears to hear, but they
didn't hear. They should have just been sitting
there. He said this was happening. He said this was happening. Here
it is. In a manner, if possible, rejoicing. Just waiting. Waiting on Scripture
to be fulfilled. Scripture after Scripture. He
said, thinkest thou not? And what about now, folks? What
about now? When you see all of the... I
read that Psalm 94 to you. You see all the enemies of the
Lord. What we just read there, Psalm
94, when you see all that they're saying against the Lord. David
said that, Lord, it's time for you to work. They're making void
your law, your word. They're corrupting you. It's
time for you to work. David said that. It's time, David. David,
I'll work in my time. I don't work according to your
time. It's time for you to work. I know how David feels, don't
you? Do something. The disciples want, let's call,
Lord, let us call down fire. It's coming. But you're not going
to do it. Let's take a sword after. I'm the one who's going to use
the sword. You'll cut down the innocent. The Lord knoweth them that He
is. Don't pull up the tares. You don't know who they are.
Some are pretty obvious, but you'll pull up some wheat, guaranteed. I know it's time, when I say
it's time. And, you know, Roy, I wanted
the Lord to come years ago, didn't you? Come quickly. Well, he said, I will, even so
I come quickly, I come quickly. A short work will the Lord make,
compared to what has gone by, it's going to be a short work.
It's not going to be much longer. Brother Henry, for you, it's
not going to be long at all. The Lord is coming for you real
shortly. I really envy you. I really do. Thinkest thou not, folks, when
you see all of this, everything that goes on in the world today,
thinkest thou not that He could call twelve regions of angels? Look what happened. I the Lord
do all these things. You see? He's reigning right now. They've
got a hold of him. Who's got a hold of who? And look at what he said. I love
this. Verse 54, How then shall the
Scriptures be fulfilled? Thus it must be. Everything he's
doing is according to Scripture. He's fulfilling everything concerning
him. You see, God is working all things
now and then. God is working all things according
to his good pleasure. According to his good pleasure
which he purposed in himself, Scripture says. Which he purposed
in himself. He said he didn't consult with
anybody. Though Job and a few fellows were trying, he said,
where were you when I did all this? Just shut up! That's what
the Lord said. Just hush your mouth right now. I'm going to tell you, I have
purposed all things. And you don't know what I'm going
to do the next moment. But I do. Known unto me are all
my works from the beginning of the world. And you don't know. God is working all things according
to that purpose. That purpose and pleasure was
written down In a book, before the world began, God wrote this
book called the Book of Life. Whose is it? Whose book is it?
It's the Lamb's book. Christ's book. He is the Word. It's His book. He's the author.
He's the one that wrote this. He's the author, and He's the
finisher. He's the one that wrote this
book. And you will like this, Deborah. He's the one that wrote
this book before the world began. Every jot and tittle in it. He's
the author of it, and he's the finisher. He's fulfilling every
jot and tittle of it. He's directing all of it. He's
the divine director of all things. He's the conductor of this symphony
called salvation. We went to a concert the other
night, Brother Ed, a few of us. And that conductor, man, he sure
wields a lot of power with that thing, doesn't he? That little
baton. And they come in. Come on, they
come in. And then it rises. The Lord Jesus Christ is conducting
every fly and flea, let alone men and nations. Do this. Do that. Stand. Fall. Die. Live. Huh? He's the conductor of this
thing called salvation, this symphony. It's all going to bring
praise to the glory of His amazing, sovereign grace. He's conducting it. He's got
the book. He doesn't need a copy. It's
just written. And He's fulfilling every job until they don't know
it, but they're fulfilling it. They're fulfilling His The things
he said they would do. The things they were saying,
doing. Saying and doing, Brother Henry. It's like somebody was
over at the side saying, now it's time to do this. Isn't it? It's amazing. This is how we
know this is God's Word. It's amazing. Now it's time,
you've got to kiss him. He's got to be betrayed with
a kiss. You've got to pluck out his beard.
It says right here. And on and on it goes. The Lord wrote this book and
sealed it up. And these seals, you read the
Revelation, that's an ongoing account of the same old story. Same old story. Most everything
written in that book has already been taken place. The seals have
already been removed. The Lord had been taking these
seals off and reading it. It says, now it's time for this.
Now it's time for that. Now it's time for this. Now it's
time for that. Now it's time for this. You will
do this and you will do that. You will do this. Seals. Purpose. Verse 55. All things must be fulfilled.
And in that same hour said Jesus to the multitudes, Are you come
out as against the thief? Who's the thief? Who are thieves? A thief is one who steals what
doesn't belong to him. Christ didn't take this honor
to Himself. The Father gave it to Him, didn't He? I tell you
who's a thief is a fellow who calls himself a high priest.
He's going to mention him about five times in the next chapter.
High priest, high priest, high priest, high priest. The high
priest, the great high priest, is going to be standing before
this peanut puny fella who's called the high priest. He's a thief. And little will he know it, but
he's being judged by the accused. Men do err not knowing the scriptures
nor the power of God. We got Him now. Satan said, I got Him now. You
just cut your own head off. Nailing to the cross. Yeah, you
just fulfilled the Word. Just fulfilled the Word and sealed
your doom. My, my. Are you come out against
a thief? The Lord is the only one who
ever lived. He wasn't a thief. He didn't steal God's glory. Loved his neighbor as himself?
Huh? Only one. And if you come out with sticks
and stones, and so are you going to take me with a pea shooter? I think the Lord may have smiled
at this point. If you come out against me, with a sword and some sticks? Oh my, who was it that said,
we better watch out now, if we find out we're fighting against
God, we can't win. David wrote, he said, they only
consult to bring you down from your majesty. This is what they're
doing. My favorite psalm, right now, my favorite psalm, Psalm
2, why do the heathen rage and the people imagine a vain thing?
The kings of the earth and the rulers gather themselves against
the Lord and against His anointed and say, let us break His bands
asunder. Verse 4 says, and He that sitteth in the heavens will
laugh. We'll take Him. We're going to
take Him down. Let's go get Him. Let's go get the Lord of glory.
Yeah, right. We got him now. You coming against me? With sword? Oh, he that saith it in the heavens.
She'll laugh. Martin used to say all these
religious people try to gang up on God. You know, they try
to gang up. Holler at Him. He's not listening. Like those people that brought
that woman, you know, and they were all yelling at the Lord.
They were. They were hollering at Him. What
are you going to do? What are you going to say? What are you going to do? Does
the law say anything? They didn't know the law. If they'd known
the law, they wouldn't have brought her in there. Wouldn't it? They'd have known
that they were just as guilty. There's no way they'd have brought...
If they'd have known the law, they'd have known who this was.
If they'd have known the law, they'd have known this is the
law giver. They'd have known him. They wouldn't have brought
her. And they were all hollering at him. What are you going to
do? What are you going to do? What are you going to do? I'll tell you what I'm going
to do. I've just condemned every one
of you. I'm going to set her free. But he never answered them
a word, Kelly. They kept saying, what are you
going to do? And it says that he made it so he didn't hear a word.
He's not listening. There's that one woman he's listening
to. She wasn't saying anything. He's hearing her. They're doing
all this talking. He's not hearing a word. You
come out against me. He said, I sat daily, and I quit. He said, I sat daily with you
teaching in the temple, and you laid no hold on me. No, and they
wouldn't, because they're a bunch of cowards. Didn't we read that? Didn't our Lord say that? He
said, he that doeth evil loves the darkness. Didn't He? Here's
condemnation. A light came into the world,
but men love darkness rather than light. But he that doeth
the truth cometh to the light, and his deeds might be made manifest.
He comes to the light. Christ is the light. I sat daily, and ye laid no hold
of me. No, because they are a bunch
of cowards, and they come in the darkness, and they couldn't.
No man could take him. He must deliver himself. But
verse 56, and all this was done. All this was done. This is the
whole point of this whole message. All this was done, as is everything
in your life. We spend our lives as a tale
that is told. Your story is written down. Your
life is written down. From the day you were born, before,
no, before that, long before that, all your members were written. Psalm 139 says that. Everything about you. Though
there was none of them. God knew you. And he wrote this
book, your tale, your story, purposed everything in it. That's
right. How many hairs would be on your head? So you cannot take
any glory in that. Or anything. What do we have
we have not received? And everything about you was
purposed by the Lord. Yes, you do. The world doesn't
believe that, does it? Well, that's our God. And everything
about us, everything about our children, Mary, it's the Lord. He's going to do what seemeth
good to Him. That's your comfort. That's your peace. That's your
hope. And the day you die has been
determined by the Lord. The means of it? The germ may
be in your body right now that's going to kill you. And nobody else calls that but
God. Nurses, Robin, you and Jenny
haven't got AIDS yet, have you? You've been around all this blood
and all this stuff for years. How long has AIDS been documented? So just, but the number of your
days are determined they're with the Lord. The bounds are set.
You cannot pass. I gave Brother William, I just
said we keep bringing him up, don't we? We've been waiting
on him to die for 50 years. Haven't we? And every time he goes in the
hospital, I say, I don't think he's going to make it through
here. Brother Ron, I'm going to quit saying that. Because
I don't know. My wife's mother got cancer when
she was 52 years old. The Lord sent it. He said, I
wound. He sent cancer. Fifty-two. That's young. That's
my age. Your mother was 48. My sister 42. Joe was a young
60. Sixty-two is getting younger
to me. It was every year. But it's young, isn't it Roy?
Sixty-two. But my wife's mother was 52 years
old. She got cancer. Robust, strong
woman. 52 years old, she got cancer. One day she discovered a lump.
She told Ed, she said, honey, there's something here. They
went to the doctor and they did an x-ray and they said, your
liver is gone. They said, there's nothing we
can do. Their liver was completely full
of cancer. Can't live without a liver. So, and they did all they could
at the time. You know, we do that, don't we?
We do whatever we can to make, you know, hindsight is 20-20
isn't it? We say it now, don't we, that
we wouldn't have opted for what we did. But the Lord, that's
the Lord, too. We got to watch her. I got to
be there when she died. I was blessed. I was blessed. I was there. I just heard a man
quote what our Lord said at Lazarus' tomb. A man quoted, He that liveth
and believeth in me shall never die. You believe this? I just
heard those words out of his mouth, and Eddie walked downstairs
and said, Paul Joyce is dead. And I smiled. I said, no, she's not. And anyway, when she got cancer,
we were waiting on her to die, weren't we? She's gone. Seven people in the church died
before she did. Seven. Nearly every one of them
unexpectedly. Seven. Our days are determined with
the Lord. Bounds are set. Scriptures must
be fulfilled. Your story, your tale must be
told. It must be fulfilled. Then all the disciples, it says,
forsook him and fled. They forsook him. Why? The scriptures must be fulfilled.
He just said that. All of you are going to forsake
me. No, we're not. My word shall not pass away. See, you can trust the Lord's
Word. Here's the whole point. Faith
cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. This is why
we read line upon line, line upon line, precept upon precept,
precept upon precept. Here a little, there a little.
God's work. God's work. God's work. God's work. Book
after book after book after book. We're driving nails. Driving
nails. Driving nails. Building you up. We're laying bricks. Building
you up on this faith. What's this faith? On Christ
the solid rock. Nancy, we're building you up
on this solid rock. The foundations stand assured.
Who is it? Christ. The Word of God abideth
forever. Forever, O Lord, thy Word is
settled in heaven. What's that? That's the book
and the Son. They're one and the same. Settled in heaven.
He said heaven and earth will pass away, not one word of mine.
So what should we do then? There it is. Okay. Nothing to
worry about. Look, look, look. Oh yeah, it says that. It says
that. The Divine Conductor is conducting
this symphony. Okay, let's stand. Our Lord, we are so glad that
thou hast chosen us that we might know and understand that thou
art He, God, beside thee, none else, reigning and ruling among
the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth.
None stave your hand or even say, What doest thou? Thou art God, in whose hands
our breath is, and all our ways we do glorify. Thou art God,
and Thou art our God. And we want to trust Thee. We do, but Lord, help our unbelief. Establish our feet on the rock,
the solid rock of Thy Word and Thy Son. Establish our going. Establish our thoughts. Ground
us. Settle us. Establish us in the truth, in
Christ. Let nothing and no one cause
us to fear. We thank You, Lord, for Thy blessed
Word. Keep revealing it to us until
You come. It's in Christ's name we pray.
Amen. Take a look at the Lord.