Welcome to the Reign of Grace
radio broadcast. My name is Bill Parker. I'm the
pastor of the 13th Street Baptist Church in Ashland, Kentucky.
This program is sponsored by the members of Eager Avenue Grace
Church in Albany, Georgia, located at 1102 Eager Drive, Albany,
Georgia. I'll be bringing you a gospel
message of the sovereign grace and glory of God in the Lord
Jesus Christ from God's holy word. And now, the message. Welcome to our program. Now,
today I'm going to be preaching from the book of John, chapter
18. And I'll be preaching on the subject of Christ identified
under trial. Christ identified under trial. Now the question comes forth,
who is Jesus Christ? And I suppose there's not a more
important question that we could ask ourselves and seek to answer
that question from the Scriptures. Who is Jesus Christ? The Lord
of glory, Jesus himself, he asked the question one time to some
scoffers and doubters and skeptics And he asked them, he said, what
think ye of Christ? Whose son is he? And they couldn't
answer him in a way that was proper and scriptural and truthful. Well, he identified himself throughout
his earthly ministry. And here in John 18, he is about
to be arrested as he went to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray.
He just finished his high priestly prayer in John chapter 17. and
he's going to the garden of Gethsemane and he's going to pray and there
Judas and the enemies of Christ, the Romans and the chief rulers
of the Jews would come to arrest him and put him on trial. Now
his trial was a very strange event because in that trial they
kept trying to toss him back and forth between the Romans
and the Jews He went before the Sanhedrin, he went before Pilate,
he went before Herod. Nobody wanted to pronounce the
sentence of death upon him legally and properly and publicly, but
they wanted him gone, they wanted him dead. And they trumped up
charges, they brought in false witnesses, And they humiliated
him, mocked him, one soldier slapped him, and all this that
he was going through, and we have different viewpoints of
this in the different Gospels, but it's the same trial. And
under this, under this trial, how he stood up under trial,
we see exactly who Jesus Christ is, and what he came to this
world to do, to accomplish the redemption of his people. So
I want to begin reading in John chapter 18, verse 1. And in the first six verses of
this chapter, what is brought out in these verses is that Jesus
Christ is God. That's number one. He is God
incarnate. Everything about him spoke of
deity. recognized him to be not only
just man, even a perfect man, but very God of very God. It
says in verse 1, when Jesus had spoken these words, he went forth
with his disciples over the brook Cedron, where was a garden into
which he entered and his disciples. Now, that's the garden of Gethsemane.
And Judas also, which betrayed him, knew the place, for Jesus
oft times resorted there with his disciples." This is a place
that the Lord went with his disciples on several occasions. And Judas
knew this, Judas who betrayed him. Remember, Judas was sent
out of the upper room. And he's called the son of perdition. And he was going to betray the
Lord Jesus Christ. And verse 3 says, Judas, then
having received a band of men and officers from the chief priests
and Pharisees, cometh thither with lanterns and torches and
weapons. Now the first band that came to arrest him were of the
Jews. And how strange this is, the Jewish nation, the nation
from which our Lord came according to His humanity. The Bible says
He came unto His own and His own received Him not. And so
here they are, the religious, the highest religious officers
represented here, the chief priest and the Pharisees, the most dedicated
of religious men, along with the officers, they came with
torches and weapons to get one man whom they thought to be a
rebel, a criminal. And it says here in verse 4,
Jesus, therefore knowing all things that should come upon
him, went forth and said unto them, Whom seek ye?" Now that
speaks of His omniscience. That's a term that simply refers
to the nature of God who knows all things. You see, you and
I are ignorant about many things, but not the Lord Jesus Christ,
not God the Son Incarnate. He has an infinite, perfect knowledge
of all things, and He well knew what things were going to come
upon him. He knew why he'd come into the world. He came into
the world, he told his disciples, to suffer and to bleed and to
die in obedience to the law for the salvation of his people.
And we need to understand something about God's all-knowing nature. It's not simply God knows all
things because he foresees the future. Now, many people think
that, but that's not correct. You know, you think about somebody
foreseeing the future or looking down through the telescope of
time, as they say, that would be impossible. God knows all
things because He has determined all things. He's the God of predestination,
the God of foreknowledge and foreordination. And you know,
the simple matter of that is this, it's not a simple matter,
but it's simply, it's a simple matter in this, we cannot understand
the omniscience of God. That's something we can't enter
into with our puny, finite minds. We're limited. But we cannot
deny it. People in religion have a tendency
to deny things they do not understand. Well, there's a multitude of
things we don't understand concerning the very nature of God, but we
don't deny them. You see, he is God. He's very
God of very God. And this is what Christ is revealing
here under trial. You see, he had to be both God
and man in one person. When he asked that question,
what think ye of Christ? Whose son is he? They said he's
David's son. He answered them in Matthew 22
there, and he said, well, how then does David call him Lord? In other words, if he's David's
offspring, how could David worship him as Lord? You don't worship
any man. Yet this person who is man, we
do worship because he's both God and man in one person. And that's an infinite mystery
to our minds. We can't understand that, but
we don't deny it. You see, he is God and man. It
took such a person to save his people from their sins. The Bible
says that his name shall be called Jesus, for he shall save his
people from their sins. Well, how do we know that he's
able to do so? Well, later on in Matthew chapter
1, it says, his name shall be called Emmanuel, which being
interpreted is God with us. The Word was made flesh. The
Word which was with God, the Word which was God, was made
flesh and dwelt among us. So here, as he's being arrested,
He is identified as God in human flesh. And he says, he asked
them, he said, Whom seek ye? And verse 5, they answered him,
Jesus of Nazareth. Now, listen to his response.
Jesus says, And Jesus saith unto them, I am. Now, if you have
the King James Version of the Bible, it reads, I am he. And
you'll notice that the he there is in italics, which means that
it was supplied by the translators but did not appear in the original
text of the Greek language in the New Testament. So here's
what it would say, Jesus saith unto them, I am. Now this is
one of the great I am statements of the Lord Jesus Christ we find
throughout the book of John. You know, he said, I am the light,
I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto
the Father but by me. He said, I am the resurrection
and the life. I am the bread of life. All of
this, those I am statements, he said before Abraham was, I
am. All these I am statements identify
him as God. But look what happened here.
It says in verse 5, And Judas also which betrayed him stood
with him. As soon then as he had said unto
them, I am, they went backward and fell to the ground. In other
words, his power as God sent this whole company backward to
the ground, proving that he had the power to deliver himself
in himself if he desired to do so. You see, he told his disciples,
he said, he gives his life for the sheep. In other words, his
life that he gave was not taken from him by force. But he freely
gave it, voluntarily gave it. You see, in order for sinners
to be saved, it must be a qualified substitute. Well, he's qualified
in that he is both God and man in one person. He had to be a
willing substitute. He said, no man takes my life
from me. He said, I lay it down of my
own accord. And when they came to take him,
he wanted them to understand, and his disciples too, that you
are not taking me by force, I'm allowing you to do this. Now,
why did he allow them to do it? Because he had a mission to accomplish.
And his mission was the salvation of his people, and he had to
suffer and bleed and die on the cross in order to save them. And he says that in these other
verses. But he said, I am, and they fell
backwards. This kind of reminds me, I see
people on TV in these healing services when preachers will
touch them on the head and they fall backward. My friend, the
only time you ever find anybody falling backward in the scriptures
is when they're forced under the power of God or when they
are running away from God. What we're to do as believers,
if we truly are regenerated children of God, is we're to fall forward
in humility and worship and fear. But they fell backward at the
sound of his name." What power! He is God. You see, he has that
power because of who he is. Now, in the next verses, beginning
at verse 7 through verse 14, he identifies himself as the
substitute, as the redeemer of his people. It says in verse
7, "...then asked he them again, Whom seek ye? And they said,
Jesus of Nazareth." Jesus answered, I have told you that I am, there's
that name again, that name that identifies him as God, God and
man in one person. He said, now listen to this statement,
he said, if therefore you seek me, let these go their way. Now who are the these that he's
speaking of here? His disciples. If you seek me,
let these go their way. And he says in verse 9, that
the same might be fulfilled which he spake, of them which thou
gavest me have I lost none. Now you remember back in John
chapter 6, the Lord said in verse 37, all that the Father giveth
me cometh unto me, and him that cometh unto me I will in no wise
cast out." He went on to say, "...this is the will of him which
hath sent me, that of all that he hath given me I should lose
nothing, but raise it up again at the last day." And what he's
showing here is that he came to save a particular people from
their sins. And he told these soldiers, if
you seek me, you can have me, I'll allow you to do that, not
by force, not by power of men, but because of my love for my
people. And he said, if you seek me,
let these go their way. Christ is the substitute of his
people. He is the redeemer of his people.
It goes on in verse 10, it says, Then Simon Peter, having a sword,
drew it, and smote the high priest's servant, and cut off his right
ear. The servant's name was Malchus. Peter, in his brashness, in his
quick way of losing his temper, he pulled out a sword and he
cut off this man's right ear. And Luke records where Christ
touched the man and healed him. And what he said, here's the
reason, verse 11, it says, Then said Jesus unto Peter, Put up
thy sword into the sheath, the cup which my Father hath given
me, shall I not drink it? You see, the Father sent Christ
into the world to be the Savior of his people. And in order to
be the Savior of his people, he had to meet all of the conditions
and the requirements of their salvation. You see, who were
his people? Well, they were sinners, and
we'll talk about that more in just a minute. But in order to
save them from their sins, he had to suffer under the just
punishment of the law of God for sin. The soul that sinneth,
it must surely die. And the cup of which he speaks
here is the cup of the wrath of God, not the wrath of men.
but the wrath of God upon Christ for their sins charged or laid
upon him." And he had to bring forth righteousness, an everlasting
righteousness of infinite value whereby God could be just to
justify the ungodly. He had to stand in the place
of his people and die for their sins and be raised again for
their justification. And so he's telling Peter, he
said, Peter, what are you doing? He spoke the word, he said, I
am, and they fell back. Didn't Peter understand that
if he wanted to, he could have just wiped them all out with
just one breath of his nostrils? And yet Peter, in his impulsiveness,
pulled out that sword. But he said, the cup which my
father hath given me shall I not drink it? He told him, he said,
this is why I came into the world. It says in verse 12, in the band
of the captains, and the captain, and officers of the Jews took
Jesus and bound him." They didn't really have to bind him. He was
going willingly, but they did. This is the contempt that they
had for him. And it says, "...and led him away to Annas first."
Now, Annas was the father-in-law, it says, to Caiaphas, who was
the high priest that same year. In verse 14, the Holy Spirit
directs John, by divine inspiration, to go back to a statement that
Caiaphas, the high priest, had made. when Christ had made his
entry into Jerusalem. And it says, "...Now Caiaphas
was he which gave counsel to the Jews, that it was expedient,
or necessary, or needful, that one man should die for the people."
So here, even in his arrest, about to go to trial, Christ
is identified as God, the God-man, and he's identified as the substitute
The Redeemer, the one who should die for the people. Whose people? His people. All that the Father
gave him. Now, beginning at verse 15 and
going on through a good deal of this chapter, verse 27, he's
identified in another way. He's identified not only as the
Savior, but specifically, and more emphatically, the Savior
of sinners. You see, Paul wrote to Timothy,
he said, this is a faithful saying, worthy of all acceptation, that
Christ Jesus came into the world to save who? Not the righteous. The righteous need no salvation.
Not those who are good in themselves, they don't need salvation. He
came into the world to save sinners, Paul said, of whom I am chief.
Remember I quoted it earlier, his name shall be called Jesus.
For he shall save his people from what? From their sins. That's what we need salvation
from. We need salvation from sin. Sin is the problem. Somebody
says, well, I need to be saved from hell. Well, that's true.
But hell is the product of sin. Hell is the eternal sentence
of those who die in their sins without hope, without a mediator,
without the blood of the crucified one. And this is seen in Peter,
Simon Peter, now the same one who was so bold to pull his sword
and cut off Malchus's ear. Later on, when Christ was arrested,
it speaks of Peter denying him three times. It says he came
to a campfire here, and there was a little girl there. Verse
17, it says, "...then the damsel that kept the door unto Peter
said, Art not thou also one of this man's disciples? And Peter
said, I am not." Peter denied him. And then it says in verse
19, "...the high priest went up during the trial, and Peter
stood there and warmed himself, and the trial of Jesus Christ
was going on here." Verse 19, "...the high priest then asked
Jesus of his disciples and of his doctrine." That's the first
thing they did when they put Christ on trial. They wanted
to know about his disciples and his doctrine. And his answer
to them was that he taught openly and publicly, not in hiding.
You see, he was no cultist. People talk about cults all the
time today. And they don't even know what
a cult is. A cult gathers around one central man. You see, now
we gather around Christ who is God-man. He deserves to be worshipped. He deserves to be followed. But
if your religion hangs on one man and what he says and what
he doesn't say and how he commands, that's the beginning of a cult.
And also, a cult is secretive. In other words, they want things
kept within their circle. They don't want anybody in unless
they buy into this one man, and they don't let anybody out. And
so they hide things. But Christ said, I haven't hidden
anything. Ask the people that listen. Talk
to the people, he said. Talk to those who follow me and
ask them what I preach openly, honestly, above board. Well,
during this time, Simon Peter was faced again with this issue
of identifying with Christ. It says, "...he stood and warmed
himself by this fire, and they said therefore unto him, Art
thou not also one of his disciples? And he denied it, and said, I
am not." That's the second time Peter denied him. And then verse
26, "...one of the servants of the high priest, being his kinsman,
whose ear Peter cut off," this was one of Malchus' kinsmen,
"...saith, Did not I see thee in the garden with him? And Peter
then denied again, and immediately the cock crew." Now, that's a
reference to what Christ had told Peter in the upper room
when Peter was so bold and he said, I'll never deny you, I'll
never leave you. And Christ, in his love to Peter
and his pity and compassion, he looked at him and he said,
Peter, Peter, he said, before this night's through, he says,
before the rooster crows the following morning, he says, you
will have denied me three times. Now, Peter was one of those sheep
that Christ came to save. And what we see immediately here
is that Christ is the Savior of sinners. We see that salvation
is not conditioned on the sinner, but on Christ. Had it been conditioned
on Peter, Peter would have failed and remained lost. But the power
of God's grace, the power of God's mercy, the power of God's
love to save such sinners as we are is an amazing thing. Christ did not come to save those
who would do this or do that. You see, all the conditions were
laid upon Him, and in His obedience unto death, the Lord Jesus Christ
fulfilled and met every condition for the salvation of His people.
Let me tell you, if one condition or one stipulation or one qualification
for salvation rests upon you or on me as sinners, We'll be
of all people most miserable. We'll be damned. But you see,
all the conditions and qualifications and stipulations were put upon
Christ. And he fulfilled them perfectly.
and completely. And somebody says, well, what
about faith and repentance? Well, faith and repentance are
required for salvation, but not as conditions you and I must
meet in order to attain or maintain salvation. They are the instruments
by which God brings us in our conscience and in our heart and
in our mind and in our spirit unto Christ, who fulfilled all
the conditions for salvation. So there's Peter, the sinner.
Here am I, the sinner. Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners, of whom I am chief." Now, the last one here
in the rest of this chapter is this, that Christ, He's identified
as God, God the Son incarnate, He's identified as the substitute
Redeemer, and He's identified as the Savior of sinners. Now
He's identified as the perfect Redeemer. In verse 28, here He
is before Caiaphas. led unto the hall of judgment.
And they kept accusing him. But we see that because it was
Passover, they were wanting to shuffle it off onto Pilate. Pilate
met with him and says in verse 29, Pilate then went out unto
them and said, What accusation bring ye against this man? And
they answered and said unto him, If he were not a malefactor,
a criminal, we would not have delivered him up unto thee. You
see, they didn't have a specific accusation. And Pilate said unto
them, Take ye and judge him according to your law. The Jews therefore
said unto him, It is not lawful for us to put any man to death,
that is, on the Passover." See, their religious ceremony meant
more to them than the mercy and justice of the law. And he says,
"...that the saying of Jesus might be fulfilled, which he
spake, signifying what death he should die, the death of the
cross." He told Pilate, Pilate questioned him, he told Pilate
in verse 36, he said, My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom
were of this world, then would my servants fight that I should
not be delivered to the Jews? But now is my kingdom not from
hence. His kingdom is a spiritual, a heavenly, an eternal kingdom.
He didn't come here to conquer any geographical land on this
earth or any nation. He came to save his people from
their sins and establish his kingdom in glory. And then it
says here, verse 37, Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king
then? And Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this
end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world,
that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is
of the truth heareth my voice." My friend, if you are of the
truth, you hear the voice of Christ in His Word. But listen
to Pilate's reply. Pilate saith unto him, What is
truth? Now that reflects their thought of the day that truth
is something you couldn't pin down. But see, Christ is the
way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father
but by him." He said, the truth will set you free, the truth
as it is in him. And when Christ had said this,
or when Pilate had said this, he went out again unto the Jews
and saith unto them all, I find in him no fault. No fault at
all. Even old Pilate, that heathen
governor from a heathen country who served an idol, recognized
that in Jesus Christ there was no sin. In him was no sin. Now, he was made sin, but he
was only made sin by imputation. God the Father legally charged
and accounted him with all the sins of his people. And they
were laid upon him. He's called the sin bearer. He's
the substitute, the sacrifice for sins. He's a sin offering.
But he knew no sin, he had no intimate knowledge of sin in
his mind and in his heart to the point that he was made a
sinner as some would say. Listen, to be made a sinner is
to be made one who sins. And Christ never sinned. And
even through His trial, His suffering, even through His experience on
the cross, He never, never had a sinful thought, a sinful motive,
He never had a sinful inclination. Yet He suffered the full pain
and sorrow and suffering that was due unto the sins of His
people. Christ suffered in His very soul.
It was real suffering. It wasn't God pretending. It
wasn't God plain like Christ was sin. He was made sin, but
only by imputation, only as God accounted the demerit of the
sins of His sheep to Christ, so that they might have His righteousness,
that they might be made the righteousness of God in Him. His righteousness,
the merit of His entire work of obedience unto death, might
be accounted to them. But in Him, There was no fault. You see, he suffered the just
for the unjust. Even while Christ suffered, in
himself he was just. But he became guilty based on
sin accounted to him. Now that's Christ identified
in his suffering, in his trial. I hope you've enjoyed that message.
I hope it's been helpful to you. And if you'd like to get a copy
of that message, this message, Listen to the announcers, he
gives you the details. The title of this message is
Christ Identified Under Trial. And I hope you'll join us next
week for another message from God's Word. We're glad you could join us
for today's message. If you would like to receive
a copy of this message, or if you would like more information
about Eager Avenue Grace Church, remember we are located at 1102
Eager Drive in Albany, Georgia. You can call us at 229-833-7000.
432-6969 or visit our Reign of Grace website at www.rofgrace.com. Thank you, and may the Lord be
with you.