The prince of darkness grim. We tremble not for him. His rage we can endure. For lo is true, is true One little
word shall tell him That word above all earthly power No thanks
to them are violent. The spirits and the fiends are
out to remove the dark shadow. Goods and hindrance go. Lord, the life, the soul, the
body, they make Him. The truth, the life is near. 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 believed. that
he is indeed very God 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. True one
and the just one a redeemer of his people. Though all of them
forsake him, he is not going to forsake them. Redeemer. Now, from the garden,
this garden, to the cross, this is man's darkest hour. This is man's darkest hour. This
is the 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 forty-five. 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. Not might be, but shall
be. He said over in John thirteen
verse thirty one 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 in the son
of man verse forty five is betrayed into the hands of sinners. He
says rise let us be going behold he is at hand that doth betray
me and while he gets faith while he was saying this Judas low
it said low that make whatever the scripture says behold it
means just think about this now look at this. Or low that means. To stop. Consider this low while he gets
faith 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. 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's 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 forty-seven,
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. It's not, the Lord does not,
is never given to exaggeration. We are, aren't we? Someone said preachers have the
worst math of all, or the worst mathematicians of all. They have
a hard time. They greatly inflate numbers. The Lord doesn't exaggerate in
it. 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.
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. With a came a great multitude
here John some this up we talk about the truth. The truth is
in the minority always has been always have been. You know for
a fact that many were saying of know what you think you're
right and everybody is wrong don't you know. I know I know
I answered that don't you. Same way we. Know 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 lies 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're of God and the whole world
life and wickedness. And he that is of God heareth
us. Can a true preacher say that? He must. We're of God. The whole world life in iniquity. Well, and wickedness. And at
least this multitude, look at it, they came with swords and
staves. from the chief priests and elders
of the people. The chief priests and 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 meet and lynch mob. from the chief priest 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 was, who were the
true elders sent of God? Where were they? They were with
Christ. outside the camp weren't there
bearing his reproach that's how you know. That's how you know
it's always been so. It's always been so it's never
been there's never the world has never received through never.
I killed all the prophets killed all the apostles. I hated all
the early church fathers. And I hate all the preachers
got Christ said that didn't. If you were of the world, the
world would love you, but you're not, he said. So they hate you, they love 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. What this great multitude came
from the religious leader. Now, he that betrayed Christ
gave them a sign. I'm 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 the next
chapter it is when he hangs himself. But Scripture is not going to
bring his name up again. 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 crime. He Lord been preaching in front
of masses of people for years and. He'd been in in in the temple
in broad daylight sitting out on the mountain in broad daylight. Here's a spiritual lesson me
I still don't know they don't know. But here's the point, too,
is that he didn't look any different than the apostles, the disciples. He dressed like them, just common
ordinary. They all looked alike. They all looked 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 said, and it 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 to take the Lord in. Several times they tried to take
him. A whole mob came and were going to lead him out to the
brow of the hill, remember, and throw him off. He said, Pastor,
Pastor. Judas says, Hold on to him. They can't even lay hold of him
at all until he delivers himself to them. But here's the solemn
lesson. Go over to Proverb 27. Judas gave this sign that he
would betray the Lord Jesus Christ with a kiss. Why? That the scriptures might be
fulfilled. 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. Oh, what a wonderful prophecy
this is, huh? Scripture says, Let the righteous
smite me, and it won't break my head. There'll be a kindness
to me. 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 hearts before
he hums us, take out the old one, give us a new one. He 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 and proverbs seven. At proverbs seven is the story
of the false religions what it is that harlot. 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 trappings and
all of her binary and all of that and she kissed him. Smiling
at him. I'm just quite sure Satan smooth
words and fair speech to save the hearts of the. And I'm just quite sure Satan
has smile on his face he's pleasant to look at. And he went to the
wall. Well kisses of an enemy are deceitful
beware of smiling preachers. I know you are and flattering
lips. Hail, Master, Judas. 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 is 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? Aster is that I am not nitpicking
when I say that people are far too familiar with the Lord of
Glory and they keep calling him Jesus, honestly. 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 draweth
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 he watches Jesus lovers get
mad. It's true and hail master. Kisses of an enemy or deceitful
and flattering lips beware of the Lord will cut off scripture
says all flattering lips. Read on and forthwith he came
to Jesus 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. However, 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 fifty, 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. This is good, okay? Stay with
me. You can stretch your arms or
something. I know you're tired. It's a little
bit warm, but this is. 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. Only one time in Scripture it
says what will you do with Jesus. And that was pilot. And he said
he gave him 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 the thicket by his horns. And he laid hold of and offered
up that ram in the stead of Isaac. Well, Christ, right now is this
ram caught in the 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 cord. Bind it to the altar. That's
what they're going to do. They're taking, they're taking
the lamb, our substitute. Well. They took hold on him and
took him behold verse fifty one 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 vital. 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 all 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. That's a
multitude of people, folks. 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 Lord doesn't, you know, condemn
defense of loved ones. Also, the scripture of men took
up the sword and 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, been able To just a few, we've denied him
a lot more than we've offended him, but thank God for the time. 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. Doesn't he? Doesn't he? No, no, no, no. And there's no fights. There's
not a lot of fights 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 are going to be fighting. I don't know. I came it was not of this world.
Well and and this Peter took out the sword though and he was
aiming at the man's head one. The Lord caused him to miss.
Thankfully. I want you to think with me now
the Lord's. 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 his sincerity of
his love. Yes, sir. He for Peter's. And on for the other apostles,
like to. Peter's going to be a leader of the apostles, and
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 work. 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.
In other words, they've pretty much done away with just half
of this book. You'll never, 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, if the Christ of the New Testament doesn't
fit the Christ of the old, you got the wrong one. You got the
anti-Christ. If the God of the New Testament is not the same
as the God of the old, you got a idol, got a false god, right? Verse one of Genesis, in the
beginning God. That's where you start. The whole
council. God says, any man take away any,
any of the, 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 fifty-two, he cut off his ear. It doesn't tell
about the Lord healing it, but he did. Verse fifty-two, Then
Jesus said unto Peter, Put up again thy sword into his plate.
All that, 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 to 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. 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, you 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, who ministered to Him all the time. And now this mob
takes hold of Him. They don't understand this. They
don't understand this. What do you think they're thinking? It was twelve legions ready to
say the word. Boy, you're talking about a story.
That's what's going to happen, Brother Sam. That's what's going
to happen. Bloodbath. Why? All has to do with this man's
treatment of God's son. Melanie, that's what it's all
about. It convinces the world of sin because they believe not
me. They laid hold on it. 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 guard because sentence
against the evil work is not speedily execute therefore the
hearts of the sons of man are fully set to do evil thinking
I got away with that. I got away with that I'm getting
away with everything well there is no God is there. Told you. God doesn't work according to
man's time does it. God's justice is sure. 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 seventy thousand angels? Don't you think that I could
right now, presently, pray to my Father, just say the word?
And seven do that, according to however many allegiance. Estimates
have it from six thousand twelve thousand seventy to a hundred
thousand angels. Now, folks, one angel is going
to destroy a fourth of the earth. One. Don't you think? Seventy, that's all I remember
as a boy, an old gray haired man named Hillman Bernard. Traveled around all the conferences
and he'd sing that song and it just thrilled my young heart.
He'd sing, he could have called 10,000 angels to destroy the
world and set him free. He could have called 10,000 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 allowed this. No man
taketh, 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. Having 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 that, 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 said, 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 wanted, let's call,
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 cut down the innocent. The Lord knoweth them that are
his. Don't pull up the tares. You don't know who they are.
Some are pretty obvious, but you pull up some wheat, guaranteed.
Oh, no, 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. And 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.
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's coming for you. real shortly. I really envy. 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 regional angels? Look what happened here. I, the
Lord, do all these things. You see? He's thinking. 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. Well, in verse 54, How then shall
the Scriptures be fulfilled? That 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 said, 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, 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 who wrote it. He's the author, and he's the
finisher. Are you with me? He's the one
who 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, that thing, doesn't he? That little baton,
buddy. He said, Come on, they come in.
Come on, they come in. God, I hear it rise. 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 divine. 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 jot and tilt. They don't
know it, but they're fulfilling it. They're fulfilling the things
He said they would do. The things they were saying,
doing, saying and doing, Brother Henry, it's like somebody was
over to 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 work. 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. Same old story. Most everything
written in that book has already been taken place. The seals have
already been removed. The Lord has been taking these
seals off and reading them and 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. Cease. Purpose. Verse fifty-five. The whole thing must be fulfilled. And in that same hour said Jesus
to the multitudes, Are you come out as against the Who's the big. Who's who are the. People want to steal that what
doesn't belong to. Christ didn't take this honor
to himself father gave it to him that I tell you who's a thief
is a hotness fellow calls himself a half-breed we're going to have
he's going to mention him about five times in the next chapter
half-breed half-breed half-breed half-breed The high priest, the
great high priest, is going to be standing before this peanut,
puny fellow 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. Are you come out against a thief?
The Lord is the only one who ever lived, wasn't a thief. Didn't
steal God's glory. Loved his neighbors and said,
huh, I only want. 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. You come out against me. With a sword and some sticks. Oh my, who was it that said,
now we better not, 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 four says, and he that's hidden in the heavens
will laugh. We're going to take him down.
Let's go get him. Let's go get the Lord of glory.
Yeah, right. We've got him now. You coming against me? with sword. He that sitteth in the heavens
shall 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 when they were all yelling
at the Lord they were they were hollering and what are you going
to do what do you say well you know the law say that they didn't
know the law. If they'd known the law they
would have brought her in there. Would. They'd have known that
they were just as guilty. There's no way they'd brought
if they'd have known the law they'd have known who this was
if they'd have known the law and they'd have known this is
the law giver. They'd have known him. 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 one that one woman is
listening to. She wasn't saying anything. He's hearing her. They're
doing all this talking, not hearing a word. 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 of me. No, and they
wouldn't because they're a bunch of cowards. Did we read that? Didn't our Lord say that? He
said, he that doeth evil, Loves the darkness, didn't he? Here's
condemnation that light came into the world, but men love
darkness rather than light. But he that doeth the truth cometh
to the light that his deeds might be made manifest. Comes to the
light. Christ is the light. I sat daily and you laid no hold
of me. No, because they're a bunch of
cowards and they come into darkness and they couldn't. No man could
take it. He must deliver himself. 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. 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. 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? But the number of your days are
determined with the Lord. Bounds are set. You cannot pass. I gave Brother William Hodges. 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 there. Brother Ron, I'm going to say 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. 52. That's young. That's my age.
Your mother's 48. My sister's 42. Joe's a young 60. 62 is getting
younger to me. It was every year. But it's young and it wrote sixty
two. But my wife's mother was fifty
two years old. He got cancer robust. Strong
woman fifty two years old she got cancer. One day she discovered
a love. She told me it's something here. Went to the doctor and they did
an x-ray and said your liver is gone. They said there's nothing
we can do. Didn't. 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's 20-20 in it. We wouldn't have, we'd 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. Gee, I just heard
a man quote what our Lord said at Lazarus' tomb. The 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, Oh, 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 that. Nearly everyone of unexpected. Our days in turn. Bound to say. Scriptures are must be fulfilled
your story your tale must be told. It must be fulfilled. Well, then all the disciples,
it says, forsook him and fled. They forsook him. Why? The scriptures must be fulfilled.
It 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 Word, God's Word, God's Word, God's Word. 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, OK. Nothing to worry
about. Oh yeah, it says that. It says
that. Fill it up. The divine conductor
is conducting this symphony. OK, let's stand up. 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 stay 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. 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. uh...