Let's open our Bibles again to
John chapter 18. We certainly cannot set one scripture
above another. Each scripture is the Word of
Almighty God. But we are treading on holy ground.
The Savior, His suffering has already begun here in our text.
as he goes to be the sacrifice for the sin of his people. The title of the message this
morning is The Sacrifice is Bound. We saw last week how the Lord
Jesus Christ is the sovereign, willing savior of his people.
Not only was he willing to be the sacrifice for his people,
he wanted to be the sacrifice for his people. So therefore,
our text begins in verse 12, that word then should be therefore. Therefore, because the Lord wanted
to be taken and bound, because he wanted to be bound as a substitute
for his people, therefore, the band and the captain and the
officers of the Jews took Jesus and bound him. The only reason
that mob could bind our Lord and lead him away was he was
willing to be bound. He wanted to be bound and led
away to be the substitute for His people. Now, this mob, they
bound our Lord because they were afraid He would escape again.
How often did He just walk through the midst of them? They couldn't
lay a hand on Him. He was right there, suddenly they couldn't
see Him. So they bound Him because they were afraid He would escape
again. And can you imagine when they laid hold on Him and they
bound Him? How tightly they bound him after
all those times he slipped through their fingers. Now they have
him just like a ravenous wolf. They laid hold on our savior. They, I don't know if they bound
him with chains or ropes, how they bound him, but they bound
him tight, just ravenous excitement. They finally got their hands
upon him and they bound him to humiliate him. They bound him
to treat him like a common criminal. To treat him, to show everyone,
this is the worst malfactor. He's bound tightly. You know,
when they brought our Lord to Pilate, they couldn't prove he
had any guilt. So the only proof that they gave
to Pilate that he was guilty is the fact that they bound him.
Look over verse 29. And 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 malfactor, we
wouldn't have delivered him up to you. Look, he's tied up. He
must be guilty. They couldn't say he was guilty
of anything. They just said, look, he's tied up. We wouldn't deliver
him to you if he wasn't guilty. They bound our Lord to humiliate
him as the worst kind of criminal. But all that happened because
this was our Lord's will. He had willed this to happen.
He desired for this to happen. And they bound our Savior. and
led him to a most wicked man. Caiaphas was a religious man,
but he was a very wicked man. Look at verse 13. And they led
him away to Annas first, for he was father-in-law to Caiaphas,
which was the high priest that same year. Now John says Caiaphas
was a high priest that year. Why did he say that year? The
high priest was a high priest for life. Well, at this time,
The office of high priest was an office that was appointed
each year. I don't know if it was elected
or appointed. Somehow they appointed a new
high priest each year. It was appointed to the man that
paid the most bribe money, who had the most political connections.
That's how you became high priest. The high priest was not a man
appointed of God from the tribe of Levi. The office of high priest
was bought and sold, just like the office of dog catcher. That's
what the high priest had become. And Annas, they brought our Lord
to Annas first. He's Caiaphas' father-in-law.
Annas is the real power behind the position. Caiaphas has the
office, but Annas is the one pulling the strings behind the
veil and controlling everything. He's the power behind the position.
You see how wicked this had become? The high priest doesn't answer
to God, he answers to his father-in-law. It's a political position. And
Caiaphas was religious, but oh, look at verse 14, how wicked
he was. Now Caiaphas was he which gave
counsel to the Jews, that it was expedient that one man should
die for the people. Caiaphas was afraid that Jesus
was gonna take over their religion and change everything. It was
expedient for them that he die. Expedient for who? Well, Caiaphas
meant for the religious leaders, the Pharisees and the scribes
and the Sanhedrin. It's expedient for us he dies
so we can keep our power. He didn't know he was preaching
the gospel, did he? We'll come back to that in a minute. But
Caiaphas, he is a wicked man. You know, when he told the Sanhedrin
this, it's expedient for us. One man died for the people.
Caiaphas and his cronies had already decided the moment we
get our hands on Jesus, we're going to kill him. We're going
to put him to death. They decided that long before
they ever had a trial. You know, that's why we call
this a mock trial. It was a mockery of justice.
They'd already decided what they were going to do. And we'll see
more of this in a minute. We say it was a mock trial, a
mockery of justice, but really it wasn't, was it? Really, this
is strict justice. The justice of God being carried
out here. Now Caiaphas, that was not his
intention, but that's what's happening here. The justice of
God is being carried out. So because our Lord was willing
to be bound and willing to be taken before these wicked men,
he was taken. And when he was, all the disciples
scattered and left him. Look back at Matthew chapter
26. Matthew says, They all forsook the Lord and
fled, even Peter. Remember, Peter told the Lord,
all these fellows will forsake you, not me. They'll all flee
and be offended, not me. They all fled, even Peter. Matthew 26 verse 31. Then saith Jesus unto them, all
ye should be offended because of me this night. For it's written,
I will smite the shepherd. Who? God will smite the shepherd.
and the sheep of the flocks will be scattered abroad. But after
I'm risen again, I will go before you into Galilee. And Peter answered
and said unto him, though all men should be offended because
of thee, yet will I never be offended. Jesus said unto him,
verily I say unto thee, this night before the cock crow, thou
shalt deny me thrice. Peter said unto him, though I
should die with thee, yet will I not deny thee. Likewise said
all the disciples. Well, look at verse 56, just
not very long after that, but all this was done that the scriptures
of the prophets might be fulfilled. Then all the disciples forsook
him and fled. They all deserted him, ran off
to their holes and places to hide. Peter deserted the Lord. But Peter did come sneaking back.
Look back in our text in John 18 verse 15. And Simon Peter followed Jesus,
and so did another disciple. That disciple was known unto
the high priest, and went in with Jesus into the palace of
the high priest. But Peter stood at the door without.
Then went out that other disciple, which was known unto the high
priest, and spake unto her that kept the door, and brought in
Peter." Now we usually think that John's referring to himself
when he talks about another disciple or that disciple. We think he
normally is referring to himself. But this time, when he talks
about another disciple, John's not referring to himself. John's
not with Peter at this time. A poor fisherman from Galilee
like John, he would never have known the high priest. And he
certainly would not have had any influence with the high priest. To be able to talk to the high
priest and do him a favor and let my friend come into your
palace. This other disciple, for whatever reason John did
not name him, but he's someone like Nicodemus or Joseph of Arimathea,
those Pharisees who were secret disciples, who secretly believed
but would not confess to the Lord publicly for fear of the
Jews. Someone like that would have influence with the high
priest. And he used his influence to get Peter into the palace.
But this shows us something else about the high priest. He lived
in a palace, a palace. You know, the high priest in
the tribe of Levi just lived off that 10% that all the other
tribes gave. He ought to live just like everybody
else. He lived in a palace. Religion's always been big business,
hasn't it? That's not something new to our
day. Religion's always been big business. He lived in a palace.
He's a wicked, wicked man. Well, verse 17, then saith the
damsel that kept the door unto Peter, are not thou also one
of this man's disciples? And he saith, I'm not. Now here's
the first time Peter denies the Lord. Just a little bit ago,
Peter was bold enough to take on a thousand men by himself
with one sword. Just an hour ago. And now Peter's
afraid of this young girl, probably a teenage girl, he's afraid of
her. That is the weakness and the depravity of human flesh.
Sin always brings weakness and death. Sin makes us afraid of
everything. I mean, we're afraid of our own
shadow. We're afraid of other flesh and we're afraid of death.
Even the ridicule of a teenage girl. Now, Peter was not afraid
to die with the Lord. He really was not. The difficulty
for Peter was to live for the Lord, bearing his reproach and
shame. And understand this now, I am
not being hard on Peter, not at all. It's only by God's grace
it doesn't say Simon Frank there instead of Peter. These things
we see Peter do, if we're honest, we see them in ourselves. If
we're honest, we know. If I was in this situation, I'd
do the exact same thing Peter did. But I want us to see this
morning, if we can't learn something from how our Lord dealt with
Maybe it's something we can learn and take with us for our comfort
when we find ourselves being just like Peter. Now look at
verse 18. And the servants and officers
stood there, who had made a fire of coals, for it was cold, and
they warmed themselves. And Peter stood with them and
warmed himself, for it was cold. This was one of those cold nights
where that cold just goes clear through you. I don't care how
many layers you got on, I don't care how good the, was it North
Face, is that that thing? How good a North Face polar fleece
you got on, this cold goes right to the bone. It was much colder
than normally it was at this time of year. I think that's
because nature had already begun to groan and rebel against something
so unnatural as the Son of God being taken and bound, tied up,
put on trial by the creature, and then killed by the creature.
Romans 8 says that nature groans under the weight of sin, the
sin of man, waiting for the manifestation of the sons of God. This day,
nature groaned and just sucked the heat out of the air. And
it was cold. The next day, nature's gonna
rebel again. God's gonna turn the sun, he's
gonna shut it off. The world's gonna be in darkness
because of man's sin and rebellion in crucifying the Son of God.
And here's Peter. He's out in the cold night air.
But that's not why Peter was so cold. Peter was so cold. Because his heart was spiritually
cold. The cold was within. Peter had
come back out and he followed the Lord. But Matthew says he
followed afar off. Well, no wonder Peter was cold.
He removed himself from the source of heat. He followed the Lord
afar off. There was a man I used to know,
he said, I like to sit on the front row. I come to serve, I like
to sit on the front row, be close to the source of heat. Well,
I don't know about that, but Peter followed the Lord far off.
He removed himself from the source of heat and he was so cold. His heart was so cold because
right now Peter's relying on the flesh. Now he did follow
the Lord to the palace of the high priest, but Peter was trying
to follow the Lord in the strength of the flesh. Maybe Peter was
trying to keep his word. He remembered he told the Lord,
I won't be offended because of you. I won't desert you. And
he's trying to keep his word. And he's doing it, though, under
the power of his own steam. He was following the Lord in
the power of the flesh. Our Lord had just told Peter,
Peter, where I'm going, you can't go now. Now you can come later,
but right now, you can't go where I go. Well, what's Peter doing? He's still following anyway,
isn't he? In the power of the flesh. Peter stood outside that
door, the palace of the high priest, waiting, trying to get
in. We need to have wisdom to know when I'm opening the door
and when the Lord opens the door, there's a difference. Peter opened
the door this time to get into that, put himself in that situation. And our Lord had warned Peter,
Peter, Satan's desired you, to have you, that he might sift
you as wheat. Peter, and he's gonna sift you
now, You're going to deny me three times before the cock crows
in the morning." And Peter disregarded everything the Lord told him.
And he opened the door. He didn't wait for the Lord to
open the door. He opened the door and put himself in this
situation. And there he stands. There he
stands. Around this fire that the officers
had made. It's cold. He's trying to warm
himself. Can you imagine The conversation
taking place around that fire. Can you imagine what they're
talking about? And there stands Peter listening.
Silent. Didn't say a word. Trying to
warm himself. He's so cold. His heart is so
cold. And he's cold because he's relying
on the power of the flesh and he's trying to warm himself with
the power of the flesh. Look back at Isaiah chapter 50.
You know, Peter's trying to warm himself by the fire that the
enemies of God made. And that fire is not going to
make him any warmer. That fire is the power of the flesh, and
there's no warmth there. No wonder he couldn't get warm.
In Isaiah 50, verse 11, Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, you
kindle your own fire under the power of your own flesh, that
compass yourself about the sparks. Walk in the light of your fire
and in the sparks that you have kindled. This you have of my
hand. If you build that fire, God's
gonna let you have your way and you're gonna lie down in sorrow. That fire is not gonna warm you.
Now this fire is the fire of our own works. And every believer
does this. We have a time of spiritual coldness
and darkness and deadness. And what do we think? Well, I'm
so cold and dead. I know what I'll do. I'm going
to try harder. I'm just going to start living
better and being kinder and being gentler. I'm going to try harder.
I'm going to pray more. That's my New Year's resolution.
I'm going to pray more. I'm going to read more. That's
building our own fire. Now, listen to me. We ought to
do those things. We ought to pray more. We ought
to read God's word more. We ought to be kinder and gentler
people. But if we rely on those things to give us spiritual life,
we're gonna freeze to death. That's just a fact. Well, what
should we do then? If you're still there in Isaiah
50, look up at verse 10. Who's among you that feareth
the Lord, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh
in darkness and hath no light? Let him trust in the name of
the Lord and stay upon his God. Are you spiritually cold and
dark and dead? Look to Christ. That's what we
ought to do. Look to Him. But Peter's not
doing that, is he? Peter is trying to rely on his
own strength of his own flesh and his own fire. So he's cold. Now we're going to deal with
this mock trial of our Lord the next time, Lord willing. But
I want us to look at while this mock trial is going on, the Lord
is being tried by these wicked men. What's Peter doing? Verse
25. And Simon Peter stood and warmed
himself. They said therefore unto him, are not thou also one
of his disciples? He denied it and said, I'm not. Now this is the second time the
Lord or Peter has denied our Lord. Now you'd think, Peter
would think, huh, I've just denied the Lord twice. You'd think he'd
remember the Lord telling him, Peter, you're going to deny me
three times. But Peter didn't remember. It doesn't seem like
he remembered our Lord's warning, did he? And you know why? We
don't remember the Word of God when we're trying to warm ourselves
with our own fire. When we're trying to warm ourselves
with our own works and our own ability and not looking to Christ,
we don't remember the Word of God. I believe that's what happened
to Peter here. And he's still standing there.
He denied the Lord the second time, still trying to warm himself.
He's still so cold. In verse 26, one of the servants
of the high priest, being his kinsman, whose ear Peter cut
off, saith, Did not I see thee in the garden with him? Peter
then denied again, and immediately the cock crew. Now, Peter denied
the Lord the third time. This man's a kinsman, maybe he's
a cousin or something, a Malchus. Remember, Malchus is Peter gonna
cut his head off, and Peter cut his ear off, and the Lord put
it back on. And this cousin of Malchus, I think I've seen you
somewhere before. Haven't I seen you before? Don't
I recognize you? Aren't you that guy who tried
to kill my cousin?" Mark says, tells us that the man said, your
speech betrayed you. You sound like one of them. Well,
now Peter's getting scared. He's thinking maybe they're going
to do the same thing to me they're doing to my master. So Mark tells
us that Peter cursed, swore like a sailor to show he was one of
them, not a disciple of the Lord Jesus. I want you to look back
at Luke chapter 22. As soon as Peter denied the Lord
a third time, that caught crew. And he remembered what the Lord
had told him. And at that moment, they brought
the Lord out of that mock trial into the courtyard where Peter
was trying to warm himself. Luke 22 verse 59. And about the space of one hour,
after another confidently affirmed, saying of a truth, this fellow
is also with him, for he's a Galilean. And Peter said, man, I know not
what thou sayest. I don't know what you're talking
about. And immediately, while he yet spake, the cock crewed.
And the Lord turned and looked upon Peter. And Peter remembered
the word of the Lord. He said unto him, before the
cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And Peter went out and
wept bitterly. Now, what do you reckon was in
that look? I don't know. I'm confident it was not a harsh,
judgmental look. Maybe it was a look of disappointment. Oh, the Lord, you know, knew
what was going to happen. Maybe it was a look of disappointment.
I'm sure in that look there was compassion and there was forgiveness
for Peter. That's what broke his heart.
That's what broke his heart. He denied the Lord who loved
him and forgave him. It broke his heart. He went out
and wept bitterly. Now I have an extremely simple
outline. That's a pretty long introduction,
but I've got one point. There's one point in my outline.
It ought to be easy for us all to remember one point. Salvation
is by grace, through the death of Christ our substitute, who
was bound as our sacrifice. Why was Peter forgiven and not
forsaken like Judas was? Why? Peter and Judas sure look
a lot alike from the outside, don't they? Peter, where'd our
Lord, when our Lord comes out and he gives him that look, where
was Peter? He was standing with those Jews
and those soldiers. Just like Judas. Where's the
last time we saw Judas? Standing with that same crowd
in the garden. He was standing with them just like Judas did.
Peter, he denied being a disciple of the Lord. A whole lot like
Judas did. Peter denied the Lord. Judas
betrayed him. Not a great deal of difference
probably. They sure look a lot alike. Well, why did Peter receive
a look of forgiveness and not get hauled before the bar of
God's justice? Why? Because Christ, our substitute,
had already been bound for Peter. At that very moment, our Lord
was being tried in Peter's stead. And our Savior looked in mercy
and forgiveness upon Peter. Because in just a little while,
the Savior is going to die in Peter's place. Peter is going
to live because our Lord is going to suffer and die for Peter's
sin. And our Lord is going to die.
He's going to suffer and put away the sin of all of us. Guilty,
weak, sinful Peters. We're just as stable as water,
just like Peter. Well, that's all right. That's
the people the Lord died for. He died for their sins. The only
reason any of us go free is Christ was bound as a substitute to
be the sacrifice for our sin. That's the only reason we go
free. But how free we go because the sacrifice was bound. All
of us are just like Peter. We're sinners by birth. We act
this way because this is the way we're born. It's the nature
we're born with. We're sinners by birth. We're sinners by choice. We choose to sin. We're sinners
by practice. It's all we do. All we've ever
done is sin. But we go free because Christ
our substitute was bound as the sacrifice for our sin. And when
Christ was bound, he fulfilled every Old Testament picture of
that sacrifice, the sacrifice that God would accept. You remember
there in Isaiah 53, Eric read it for us Wednesday night. Isaiah
prophesied the Messiah is going to be taken prisoner for the
transgression of his people. And after he's taken prisoner,
what's going to happen to him? He's going to be led as a lamb
to the slaughter. That's why Peter and all of us who believe
Christ are going to go free from the prison house of sin and the
prison house of the law because Christ was taken prisoner in
our place and he was led as a lamb to the slaughter. Remember, they
found our Lord, that mob found him in Gethsemane's garden. Now
remember, our Lord crossed the brook Chitron. He went out there
to Gethsemane. Well, from that place, you know
where they'd enter back into the city? Through the sheep gate. Only God and His providence could
arrange that. He entered back into the city through the sheep
gate. The sheep gate is the gate that they used to bring all the
sheep into the city that would be used as sacrifices in the
temple. And they kept those sheep in a meadow. right across from
the brook hydrant. Remember, we looked at that last
week. That brook hydrant means black. It represents the sin
of God's people. Christ, our Savior, crossed that
brook and drank it dry. But right across from that brook,
there's a meadow. And all the sheep, they're gonna be used
for sacrifices. They kept them feeding in that meadow until
it was time for them to be sacrificed. They take them from that meadow.
They cross the brook hydrant, and they come in through the
sheep gate to be sacrificed. The Lord Jesus Christ, the Lamb
of God, who was sent to take away the sin of His people, He
entered that sheep gate as the sacrifice for sin. He entered
the sheep gate as the Lamb who would end all sacrifices and
end all ceremonies. The Lamb of God came to be sacrificed
to the sheep gate, just like all the sheep sacrificed in the
temple. And our Lord entered the city
bound. Just like the sacrifice would
always be bound to the altar by the horns of the altar. But
our Lord wasn't bound with rope or chain. He was bound by the
power of His love for His people. He was bound by His love, His
power to save and His love for His people. It was cords of love
and cords of His power to redeem His people that bound Him. He
entered bound. But before the sacrifice could
ever be offered on the altar, it had to be presented to the
high priest. The high priest examined every
lamb that was to be sacrificed to be sure there was no blemish
in the sacrifice. Isn't that what happened to Christ,
the lamb of God? He was bound and they led him
to Annas and then to Caiaphas. Now Caiaphas never said, I find
no fault in him. Pilate said that for him. But
you know, Caiaphas never could prove any guilt in our Lord.
Couldn't do it. He tried to. He tried to get
all these false witnesses to lie. And that's how it is when
you lie. You know, nobody can ever tell
the same lie. Nobody could agree. And you know why they couldn't
agree? Because Christ was sinless. Now, Caiaphas didn't mean to
show that, but that's exactly what he showed. This is the Lamb
of God without blemish and without spot. The high priest examined
him, showed it to be so. But even though he was sinless,
our Savior was bound, wasn't he? He was bound to the altar. Just like that ram that Abraham
found. Remember, Abraham was getting
ready to kill his son and God said, Abraham, Abraham. He stopped
and looked behind him. There was a ram caught in the
thicket by his horns. And Abraham took that ram and
he offered it up in the stead of his son, Isaac. That ram was
bound to the altar. It was drawn and quartered and
burned as a sacrifice to God. Well, why was that lamb bound?
Why was he bound to the altar and offered before God as a burnt
sacrifice? For this reason, so Isaac could
go free. Isaac went free. He came down
that mountain because that ram was offered in his stead as his
substitute. The Lord Jesus Christ was bound.
He was taken as a common criminal so common criminals like you
and me could go free. He was bound as our substitute, our sinless Savior, sinless in
His person. He was also taken and bound to
that altar because the Father had already made Him guilty of
the sin of His elect. And we'll see more of this in
the coming weeks, but you'll notice in this study, never one
time did our Lord open his mouth to defend himself during this
mock trial, either with the Jews or with Pilate. He never once
defended himself. He never once said, I'm innocent
of these charges. Never. Why? Why wasn't he? If somebody accused
me of murder and I was innocent, I'd be screaming it from the
rooftop. Why didn't our Lord say, I'm innocent? Because his
father had already made him guilty, guilty of the sin of his people.
So he went meekly and quietly as a lamb to the slaughter. He
wasn't driven, he was led there to be the sacrifice for the sin
of his people. So what's the difference between
Peter and Judas? What's the difference? You know
the answer is Christ. He is the difference. Peter forsook
the Lord, but our Lord never forsook Peter, because the Father
gave Peter to Christ in the covenant of grace, and the Savior's never
gonna forsake him. Peter denied the Lord, but our
Lord never denied Peter. Christ loved him and died for
him. He never denied him. Now, Peter
denied the Lord. Peter denied he was a disciple
of Jesus. He denied he even knew the man. But you'll notice he never did
deny that Jesus was the Christ. He never did deny that Christ
is the only Savior of sinners. Because a believer just can't
deny that. There's no denying Christ is the Savior of sinners.
There's no denying the only way I can be saved It's through Him,
through His life, through His death, through His resurrection.
The only hope of salvation we have is the Lord Jesus Christ.
We can't deny He's the Savior, that's obvious. Peter knew that
Jesus was the Christ. Didn't Peter know that? Peter
said, we believe and we're sure thou art the Son of God. I'm
so confident, I know that. Peter knew that, he's confident.
But Peter couldn't rely on his knowledge and he couldn't rely
on his confidence to save him, could he? Because both of them
were going to fail. Only Christ could save him from his sin.
Peter believed Christ fully and completely. Peter believed. He had God-given faith. I know
he did because our Lord said so. But Peter can't look to his
faith, can he? Peter must look to Christ crucified. He must look to Christ bound
and crucified as a sacrifice for his sin. And Peter did love
the Lord. Now he loved, I know he denied
him, but now he loved the Lord. Peter was willing to fight that
whole mob because he loved the Lord. When it's all said and
done, Peter just had one confession. Lord, you know all things, you
know I love you. My friends can't see it, but
you know I love you. And the Lord didn't deny it.
Peter loved the Lord, but Peter cannot look to his love for Christ.
Peter must look to Christ who loved him and suffered and died
and gave himself for Peter. You see how Peter stands as an
illustration of this truth. This is my one point. Salvation
is by Christ alone, through grace alone, through mercy alone, because
Christ was bound. as our substitute to be our sacrifice. We can't find any hope in Peter's
flesh. It's just like ours. It's sinful,
fallen flesh. Our only hope is Christ crucified. If anyone deserves to be cast
out, who do you think it's Peter? If anybody deserves to be cast
out, Peter denied the Lord. Nobody would blame the Lord for
denying Peter. Would nobody deny the Lord for
casting Peter out just like Judas was cast out? But salvation is
not in our doing. Salvation has anything to do
with our flesh. Salvation is by God's grace alone,
through Christ our substitute, Christ our sacrifice alone. Now,
that's Peter. What about you and me? You know,
it's easy for us to sit here today and say, you know, Peter's
no better than Judas. It's easy to say that. What about me? Now, can I say
that? I'm no better than Judas. Can
you say that, that you're no better than Judas? What makes
you different from Judas? What makes the difference? Why
aren't you the betrayer of our Lord? Why not? What makes you
to differ? If the answer just went through
your head is anything but Christ, you're in trouble. The difference is not our faith.
The difference is not our love. Peter had that. The difference
is not our knowledge. The difference is not our obedience
or our doctrine. If we're trusting in those things,
if we think that makes the difference, we're going to be damned just
like Judas. Our only hope is Christ alone. through grace alone,
through his mercy alone, through his sacrifice alone. And that's
a good hope. Now there are days, times, that
our soul is troubled because we know this. Our heart is troubled
because of our sin and we know because of our sin we should
be cast out. We're not worthy of God's mercies. None of us are worthy that Christ
would come take our place and suffer and die for us. We're
not worthy of that. We know if anybody should be
cast out, it ought to be me. If anybody should, it ought to
be me. And that troubles our soul, doesn't it? Because we
can't say it's not true. Oh, no, it's not true. No, we
can't say that. It's true. If anybody should
be cast out, it should be me. Well, in that darkness and that
coldness and that fear comes upon us, what's our confidence?
What's our comfort? What's our hope? Salvation doesn't
have anything to do with us. It has nothing to do with our
flesh, what we've done, or what we haven't done at all. Salvation
is by grace, through Christ our substitute. When our sin abounds,
our comfort is, grace does much more abound. Our only hope is
in the message that wicked Caiaphas preached in verse 14. Caiaphas
gave counsel to the Jews. It's expedient. It's necessary. That one man should die for the
people. Now Caiaphas didn't know what
he was saying and he better than Balaam's ass knew what he was
saying, but that's the gospel nevertheless. Our only hope is
Christ crucified. That one man, the perfect God
man, the perfect son of God, the lamb sent by God, suffered
and died and put away the sin of his people. If He's all you've
got, if Christ is your only hope, you've got a good hope. If He
died for you, if He died as your substitute, my friend, you can
never die. Never! Because He died in your
place. If Christ was bound for you,
then you'll never be bound hand and foot and cast into outer
darkness where there's weeping and gnashing of teeth. Never,
because He was bound and sent to that place for you. Guilty
sinners are saved from all of our sin. We're saved from any
condemnation for our sin by God's grace alone. The only explanation
that's possible for the Son of God being willing to be taken
and bound as a substitute for sinners And then crucified, suffering,
and dying in the place of those guilty sinners is God's electing
grace. That's the only explanation.
Thank God for His grace. That's a good hope. Is that a
good hope? If that's your hope, you go home rejoicing. That's
a good hope. Good hope in Christ our substitute
being bound, sacrificed as a substitute for our sin. God make it so.
Let's bow in prayer. Our Father, how we thank you
for your word. How we thank you for this precious
portion of Holy Scripture that you enable us to look at this
morning and that we'll look at in the coming weeks. Christ,
the Lamb of God, bound and willingly sacrificed for the sin of your
people. It's impossible for us to thank
you as you ought to be thanked. It's impossible to praise you
as you ought to be praised. It's impossible to love you as
you ought to be loved for such an amazing gift of eternal life
through the death of your son. And our only plea, Father, is
the same as our brother Peter. Lord, you know all things. You
know we love you. You know we love you. It's by
your grace. It's because you loved us first,
but we do love you. And we pray that you'd increase
our love. We pray that you would reveal
yourself to your people through the preaching of your gospel,
that we all would leave here this morning with this Only hope,
Christ crucified is my substitute. It's in his precious name and
for his sake we pray, amen.