John chapter 18 verse 1 again we read when Jesus
had spoken these words he went forth with his disciples over
the brook Sidron where was a garden into which he entered and his
disciples It was in the Garden of Eden, as you well know, that
the first Adam fell. And when he fell, we fell in
him. He fell from the arms of God
into the arms of Satan, someone said, and Satan was there to
kind of catch the fall. We fell into death and utter
ruin, and we lost everything. In Adam, all die. There are no exceptions. We inherited
the nature of not Adam before the fall, but Adam after the
fall, and we act just like him. We first hear the voice of God,
and our first instinct is to run and hide, and we think we
can. And our Lord Jesus Christ, the
last Adam, came into a garden to restore all that which he
took not away. And more, and more. He restores
more to us than we lost in Adam. But our text shall be verse 8.
Here, John 18 and 8. Jesus answered, I have told you
that I am, if therefore you seek me, Let these go their way. Now I gave this message, this
text, several titles before I finally settled on one to give Bobbie,
because I give her the title and the text, each message, and
she uploads it up on Free Grace Radio, which she's been doing
for years and I appreciate very much. But I first thought of
this one, One or the Other. one or the other, that would
have fit. Take me, not these. Or not both. Any of those were
fit. If I remember right, Bobby, what
I wrote down for you was take me, not these. That's exactly what Christ said.
We have here another example. Another example of that kind
of love that is greater than the love of any man. That he
should lay down his life for his friends. In chapter 13, look
there if you will, we'll come back to our text. In chapter
13, our Lord said in verse 1, or we read in verse 1, now therefore,
or rather, before the feast of the Passover, this was the last
Passover. There are no more Passovers.
Oh, I know the Jews still blind and observe a Passover, but this
was the last Passover because Christ would fulfill everything
that was just a picture. Now before the feast of the Passover,
when Jesus knew that His hour was come, that He should depart
out of this world unto the Father, having loved His own which were
in the world, He loved them unto the end. He's on the very edge
of His last sufferings when it might have been supposed It might
have been justly, in a sense, supposed that he would be absorbed
with his own sufferings. The awful prospects that were
ever before his mind's eye, that hour had come when God would
be forsaken by God. That time from which time began,
the reason for time to begin at all, had arrived when Christ
would be forsaken by God. Now, who can describe that? Who
can understand that? But it might be supposed that
would have absorbed all of his thinking, had taken up all of
his thoughts, the prospect of that, but he was so far from
that, that he was thinking about his sheep. Not himself, not even
in this hour, but his sheep, his own. His care was for them. that he seems scarcely to think
about himself at all. Those whom Christ loves, as we
read in John 13 and 1, he loves unto the end. He is constant
in his love to his people. Constant. It never varies. Now you think about that. It
never fluctuates. It's never less. It's always
intent. He's loved us with an everlasting
love. From the council halls of eternity
to the consummation of it in glory, he's loved his people. Nothing, nothing, regardless
of what our hearts may tell us from time to time, nothing can
separate a believer from the love of Christ. Nothing. He loves his own unto perfection. For he will perfect that which
concerns them, and he will bring them to that world where love
is perfect. It's perfect for him and in him
now for us, but oh then, our love will be perfect for him. My, so notice what it said, having
loved his own. There's a distinction there,
isn't it? Having loved his own. Yes, they were in the world.
but he chose them out of the world. You're not of the world
anymore because I took you out, I chose you out. Having loved
his own, that is all his had left, there his own by his choice,
by the Father's gift of them to him. I find great joy in this,
and this crosses my mind almost on a daily basis, that Jesus
Christ is my surety, and when God put me into the hands of
Christ, In that everlasting covenant of grace, Christ accepted me
and promised His Father that He would do everything necessary,
whatever it was He would do, to bring me back to glory and
present me back to the Father without a spot or a blemish or
any such thing. Yes, that's my surety. He loved
His own. We're His by the Father's gift
of us to Him. and by the purchase he made for
us with his own blood. You're not your own, you're bought
with a price, and oh, what a precious price. And we're also his in
that time of love. By the effectual call of his
grace, we become his and know it. We've always been his, but
we didn't know it, didn't care to know it, didn't want to know
it, but he changed that. In each of those things, we are
his own. Before the beginning of time,
until time shall be no more, we are his own. Jeremiah 33, the Lord hath appeared
of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee, I have loved
thee with an everlasting love. Therefore, Now there's something
that follows that word. Therefore, I mean, surely, surely,
we can't expect God to say something like preachers tell us. The Lord
hath appeared of old unto me, saying, I have loved thee with
an everlasting love. Therefore, I will not choose
you unless you choose me. Is that the results of therefore?
Is that what it means to be loved by God? Does it amount to no
more than that? I cannot give you life unless
you make the first move. Dottie Bell wrote an article
in the paper there in Crossville called Your Checker Playing God. The God most men worship waits
for you to make the first move before he can make a move. It's
like who's going to take the first move like in a checker
game. I think he took some flack from
that. But that's all right. I have loved thee with an everlasting
love. Therefore, I will not save you. I love you. I love you intensely. I love you everlastingly. I've
always loved you. Therefore, I will not save you
unless you are first willing to be saved. Now, what kind of
love is that? In all honesty, in all fairness,
giving all elbow room possible to those who advocate such a
love as that, I ask you, what kind of love is that? What does
that mean? What does that produce? How does
Christ love his own? What's it worth? Why does it
matter at all if the therefore is not followed with these precious
words? I have loved thee with an everlasting
love, therefore, therefore with loving kindness have I drawn
thee. I have loved thee, therefore
I chose thee. I loved thee, therefore I came
to redeem thee. I loved thee, and there I gave
you life and faith. I love you, therefore I want
you with me where I am, that you might behold my glory. That's
what follows the therefore of God's everlasting love for his
people. He loved them unto the end, which
showed by dying for them, how he loved them, and continues
now by his continual intercession for them in heaven. His presence
before the presence of God speaks volumes, so to speak. It speaks everlasting satisfaction,
the very fact that he's accepted before a holy God tells me that
God always accepted and always will accept the sacrifice he
made for his people, his presence there proves it. And he intercedes
for his own. Oh, he loved them until the end
by supplying them all the grace needed in this life and preserving
them from falling away finally. Fall, yes, but never fall away.
and he will at last introduce them into the kingdom of heaven,
and when they shall be forever with him, and so that love to
them continues, not only in this life, but in the life to come. Oh, he shall love them into the
end, forever. Loved, Bobby will recognize this. I used to ask her to sing it
quite often. I love this old hymn. It touches
my heart. It says, love with an everlasting
love, drawn by a grace that love to know. Can you identify with
that? Spirit sent from Christ above,
you have taught me it is so. All this full and precious peace,
from his presence all divine, in a love that cannot cease,
I am his and he is mine. That's not determined by who's
in the White House. That's determined by that one
who sits in the Father's house upon the throne of everlasting
grace. It doesn't matter whether it's
Trump or Biden. It doesn't make one lick of difference.
Jesus Christ loves his own. He is forever only his. Who the Lord and me shall part.
Ah, with what a rest of bliss Christ can fill the longing heart. Heaven and earth may fade and
flee. Firstborn light and gloom declined. But while God and I
shall be, I am his and he is mine. We could just stop right
there, Pete. We could just stop right there.
Just stop and say, let's just go home and think about that.
Let's just go out that door into this world that gets more and
more wicked every day. I don't recognize the country
I live in anymore. It grows more insane, more dark
by the hour and by the day, but this is never affected by that. As long as God and I shall be,
I am His and He is mine. Romans 8 and 35. Paul makes this
challenge, oh no, God the Holy Spirit by the mouth of the apostle
Paul makes this challenge. Who shall separate us from the
love of Christ? Shall tribulation, well that's
been tried, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril,
or sword, it's all been tried. As it is written, for thy sake
we are killed all the day long. We are accounted as sheep for
the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are
more than conquerors. Now that's a head-scratcher.
More than conquerors. Not just conquerors, but more
than conquerors. Through him that loved us. For
I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities,
nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, Or we worry
about tomorrow. What's going to happen tomorrow?
Well, it doesn't matter what happens tomorrow. Nothing can
separate us from the love of God. Nothing today, nothing tomorrow.
Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able
to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus
our Lord. I read this just perhaps yesterday
in someone's bulletin. It's by Brother John Chapman
that passed this up in North Carolina, Spring Lake, North
Carolina. He wrote, when the Lord saved
me as a young man, I found the promises of God in Christ to
be very comforting and encouraging. They gave me great hope. Now
I find them to be an absolute necessity. They are my meat and
my drink. They are my breakfast and my
lunch and my dinner. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise
cast out. With many such promises I lay
me down to sleep, knowing that in Christ, Christ is all, and
it must be well. Isn't it a joy, child of God?
I mean, no more of us than there are here this morning, if we
would sit down, and instead of counting our blessings as we
should count our woes, and our ills, not making light of them,
but oh my soul, just how many would there be? In the world
you'll have tribulation. Oh, but this is still so, this
is still so. Nothing, none of those things
separately, none of those things all piled together. No matter
what happens today or tomorrow or the rest of the tomorrows
of your life, you know who holds tomorrow, so it must be well
with nothing can separate me from the love of God which is
in Christ Jesus. It'll never be done. Now look
back at our text here in verse 8 of John 18. Note the care, as we've already
mentioned, that Jesus manifested even in this hour of trial toward
the sheep of his hand. He resigns himself to the enemy. I'm here. I don't resist you. Here I am. Here I am. Take me. But he interposes a word of power
on the behalf of his disciples, doesn't he? having loved his
own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end. As
to himself, like a sheep, as the prophet said, like a sheep
before her shearers is dumb, he opened not his mouth, but
for his disciples he spake a word with almighty authority. Now
there's love, constant, self-forgetting, self-denying, faithful, endless
love. If you seek me, oh, can you hear
him speak? Can you picture that? I mean,
I've read commentary that said there were at least 500 and up
to 5,000 in that mob that came to take Christ, and he steps
forward with his 11 feeble, trembling, fearful sheep, and the great
shepherd steps in front of them and says, if it's me you seek,
you found him, take me, but you can't have my sheep. You can
have my sheep, take me, but not these." Oh, is this not the very
soul and spirit of the atonement in these words? When he says
this, does it not ring loud and clear the glorious doctrine of
substitution or substitute? The great shepherd lays down
his life for his sheep. And that demands, listen now,
that demands that they must therefore go free. The surety is bound,
and justice demands that those for whom he stands as their substitute
shall go their way. You can have both. Just as he
told those that hated him, here I am, take me, but you can't
take my sheep. One or the other, but you can't
take both. And that's what he told God the
Father in the covenant of grace. Lord, I will stand for them.
I will live for them. I will die for them. Take me. that my sheep may go free. Oh, that sounds like a certain
and sure substitution to me, don't it? People think it's beautiful,
beautiful that it's God honoring to say Jesus died for everybody.
I mean, Not according to the Word of
God. Oh, it just recommends God's love. It exalts His grace to
say He died for everybody. Well, does it really? Now, just
give that a little thought. Does it really? I mean, it didn't
do Judas much good. If God loved Judas, who went
to hell, As much as he did Peter, then Peter's probably going to
end up in hell too. What kind of love is that that
can save my soul and stands back and won't do it? What kind of
so-called love of God is that that will love me today, love
me enough to send his son to die for me, and then cast me
into hell tomorrow? What kind of love is that? You
can have it. You can have it. I don't want it. Oh no, give
me that everlasting love of God. by which nothing shall ever separate
me from. The thundercloud was about to
burst over the cross of Calvary. It was about to pour upon the
head of our dear Redeemer, so that the pilgrims of Zion shall
never be spitten by a bolt of divine vengeance. Oh, let's rejoice
in that immunity. Not immunity according to earthly
judges and earthly laws, but that that immunity according
to God's law of justice and righteousness in heaven. The verdict has been
rendered by the judge of all the earth, not guilty. Not guilty. I don't want to digress too much,
but again, concerning this country that I recognize less and less
anymore, even though I'm still living in it. People in the country
illegally commit crimes. They go before a judge. What
a waste of time. They're out on the street the
same day, not before the judge of all the earth. Oh no, the
holy law of the just God has been declared on behalf of his
people. He says concerning what Christ
did for them, the substitute, when he said, take me, that these
must go their way, the verdict is in. There is therefore now,
not going to be when I stand before God. No, now, right now,
there is no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. What
shall we say then to these things? If God be for us, who can be
against us? He that spared not his own son,
but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also
freely give us all things? Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Who
is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea,
rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand
of God, who also maketh in recession for us. It's all for us, Billy. It's all that Christ's done. All that he will do and promised. All that he has in store is for
us. We're joint heirs with Jesus
Christ. Father, I will that everything
I've earned, everything I've merited, everything I deserve
be given to them. I want them with me where I am. Oh, I like what old Topper lady
wrote. From whence this fear and unbelief? Has not the Father
put to grief his spotless Son for me? And will the righteous
judge of men condemn me for that debt of sin which Lord was charged
to thee? Would a just God do that? Complete
atonement thou hast made, and to the utmost farthing paid,
whatever thy people owed. How then can wrath on me take
place, if sheltered in his righteousness, and sprinkled with his blood? Indeed, how? If thou hast my
discharge procured, and freely in my room endured, the whole
of wrath divine, payment God cannot twice demand, first at
my bleeding surety's hand, and then again at mine." God will
never do that. He would have to cease to be
God to do that. And he would have to step off
the throne to do that. He would have to change to do
that, and he's immutable. I am the Lord, I change not,
he says, therefore, there's another voice, therefore, you sons of
Jacob are not consumed, and you never will be. If ye seek me,
oh, don't those words just ring with comfort and hope in your
heart? When you hear the great shepherd
say these, if you seek me, let these go their way. Christ was
about to suffer for them. Therefore, it was not just that
they should suffer too. There is sort of a popular hymn
that says, I should have been crucified. Well, let me tell
you something. It wouldn't have made a lick
of difference. If you and I would have been crucified, it wouldn't
have made a lick of difference. The only crucifixion that mattered
was the crucifixion of the Son of God because he offered himself
without spot or blemish or any such thing. If the whole world
had been crucified, it wouldn't have put away one's sin, it wouldn't
have satisfied God's wrath. Oh, but when the Son of God by
himself purged our sins, he cried, it is finished. He got the job
done. Oh, let these go their way. Christ
must trod the winepress alone. They couldn't suffer with him
unless their suffering should have been thought to be a part
of the price of redemption and that could not be. No blood of
animal sacrifice or human was mixed with the blood of the Lord
Jesus Christ. These words might be considered
as an emblem, a pledge of the discharge of God's elect through
their surety. Christ drew near to God on their
account. He took my place. He took my
place. substituted himself in their
room and undertook for them in the council and covenant of peace
and laid upon himself, put himself under obligation to pay their
debts, to satisfy their sins, to bring in an everlasting righteousness. When he had by himself purged
our sins, he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on
high. The job was finished. neither
by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered
in once into the holy place, having obtained, past tense,
having obtained eternal redemption for us." Christ's people are
no longer under the law. They are become free from the
curses of the righteous law and let go by divine justice and
will never suffer the strokes of it, never. neither in this
world or in the world to come. There is no demand made by God
upon them. They're free. They're free. They shall go their way into
everlasting life when time shall be no more with them, neither
law nor justice having anything to say to the contrary. Justice
says the mercy. I'm satisfied. I find no fault
in them. Spurgeon, in his biography. He wrote this as a young believer. But he said, I cannot comprehend
the gospel which lets saints fall away after they are called
and suffers the children of God to be burned in the fires of
damnation after having once believed in Jesus. Such a gospel I abhor. If ever it should come to pass
that sheep of Christ might fall away, my fickle, feeble soul
at last would fall a thousand times a day. and mine too. If one dear saint of God had
perished, so might all. If one of the covenant ones be
lost, then so may all. And then there is no gospel promise
true, but the Bible is a lie, and there is nothing in it worth
my acceptance. I will be an infidel at once
when I can believe that a saint of God can ever fall finally. If God had loved me once, then
he will love me forever. Amen, Mr. Spurgeon. That's exactly
right. A debtor to mercy alone, of covenant
mercy I seem, nor fear with your righteousness on my person and
offering to bring. The terrors of law and of God
with me can have nothing to do. My Savior's obedience and blood
hide all my transgressions from view. the work which his goodness
began, the arm of his strength will complete, his promises yea
and amen, and never was forfeited yet. Things future, nor things
that are now, nor all things below or above, can make him
his purpose forego, or sever my soul from his love. You like that? Nothing can separate
us from his love. where God had made Christ to
be sin for us who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness
of God in Christ. This is what he told them. You
cannot have the shepherd and the sheep. You cannot punish
both the substitute and those for whom he is punished. Let
these go their way. That was not a request. He did
not say pretty please. That was a demand. That was a
command. a command to which justice fully
agrees. Let my people go. Here's the
second thing. In the midst of Egypt's bondage,
the voice of that one who spake as none other ever had says,
let these go their way. In the time of love, when Christ
comes to his own, in their time, Out of slavery of sin he commands
them come. Out of Satan the redeemed must
come. In every cell of the dungeons
of despair the sound is echoed throughout, let these go their
way. And Satan must lose his hold. He must let, as Pharaoh did,
let my people go. Listen to that voice as it speaks
in no uncertain terms. No ifs about this, no maybes,
no perchances, no uncertainty whatsoever. Listen, this is the
voice of the Great Shepherd. He says, All that the Father
giveth me, not most of them, all of them, that the Father
giveth me shall come to me. And him that cometh unto me I
will in no wise cast out, because I came down from heaven, not
to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. And
this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which
he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it
up again at the last day. And this is the will of him that
sent me, that if every one which seeth the Son, and believeth
on him, may have everlasting life, and I will raise him up
at the last day." He answers the plea of that outcast leper. who cried out to him as he bowed
in the dust, if you will, if you will, you can make me clean. And I don't have to elaborate
about the condition of a leper. He was outcast. He had to leave
home, society. If he had any companion at all,
it was other lepers, which looking upon them just reminded him of
his own sad state. But he comes to Christ and falls
before him. Oh, and with a word, the miracle
is done. Oh, see our great captain, our
emancipator. He moves with compassion and
puts forth his hand and does what none else could do. He touched
him. He touched that filthy, cankerous,
dying leper. And at the same time, he said,
I will be thou clean. Oh, my son. Can you remember?
Do you remember? When, like that leper, you were
an outcast? an outcast. God had gotten you
lost. Nope, the preacher didn't do
it. God did it. God got you. God stripped you. He brought you down. He made
your heart to fear for the first time in your life and you cried
out from your heart in sincerity, oh Lord if you will. You don't
have to. You don't owe it to me. It's
not like I've Been told my whole life, I don't deserve it. No,
I deserve wrath. I deserve hell. I'm asking for
your mercy. Will you please have mercy on
me? Oh, do you hear those liberty
bells ring when he says, I will? I will? Praise God, he said,
I will. Whosoever cometh to me, I will
in no wise cast out. Yes, I will. And at the same
time he reaches forth, saying, I will, and he touched him. And
that fast, that fast, he was made whole. The leprosy departed
from him, such as it is with the sinner. When the blood of
Jesus Christ is applied to that sinner seeking mercy, he's made
perfectly whole. As soon as he had spoken, immediately
the leprosy departed from him, and he was cleansed. That's a
picture of what the great physician does for those diseased with
sin. Blind Bartimaeus, the demoniac
with 5,000 demons, Mary Magdalene, the thief on the cross, and we
could go on and on, but every one of them are just pictures
of what the great shepherd does for his sheep by his conquering,
reigning grace. Oh, God, forgive me. that I can think about that miracle,
that wonder, that mercy to me so, so little. One hymn writer
put it this way, shackled by heavy burden, beneath a load
of guilt and shame, then the hand of Jesus touched me and
now I am no longer the same. You never will be. If God's grace
enters your soul, if the great physician comes to where you
are and touches you and says, be thou clean, you'll never be
the same again. You won't be a carnal Christian.
Your heart won't be stuck out in the world. No, no, you'll
never, you'll be a new creature in Christ Jesus, and you always
will be. Since I met this blessed Savior,
since he cleansed and made me whole, I will never cease to
praise him. I'll shout it while eternity
rolls. He touched me. He touched me. Oh, my soul, I remember There
was a time when I just wanted to get all of this world I could
get. Oh, what would I do if I was rich? How happy I'd be, I thought,
Billy, if I had all the money that I could ever spend. Oh,
if I was a millionaire. And then God got a hold of my
heart. Pete, I went to my dear grandmother. She said she was
a believer. I didn't know too many. And I
said, Granny, Granny, I'm lost. I'm lost. I'm as lost as I can
be, and I don't know what to do. I need mercy, but I don't
know how to find it. I said, Granny, if someone came
in here right now and laid a million dollars at my feet, it would
make a lick of difference. What would it matter? I'm going
to live, I'm going to die, and I'm going to go to hell. I need
mercy. Man, you talk about being serious. And I lay down at night
and think I don't deserve mercy. I've been too wicked. God's not
gonna save me. Why would he save me? I've shunned
him, I've mocked him my whole life, I've made fun of people
that profess to be believers. Oh, my soul. But I cried out,
Lord, if you will, if you will, you don't have to, but if you
will, you can make me clean, and he touched me. He touched
me, and oh, the joy that floods my soul. Something happened.
And now I know he touched me and he made me whole. Is that
not what Christ did for you and for me and for all those who
are his own? To the sin that bound us he demanded,
let them go. And when he had thus spoken,
he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. And he that was dead
came forth bound hand and foot with grave cloths And his face
was bound about with a napkin, and Jesus said unto them, Loose
him. Those aren't fit attire for a living man. Take those
grave cloths off of him. He's alive. Loose him, and let
him go. God, who is rich in mercy, for
his great loveworth he loved us, even when we were dead in
sin, hath quickened us together with Christ. By grace are you
saved. and have raised us up together,
and made us set together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that
in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of
his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. Every saved sinner is proof of
Christ's power to save, that he is able to save all that come
unto him, save to the uttermost, seeing that he ever liveth to
make intercession for them. Here's the last thing. Death. Death. Death soon has heard and
soon will hear. Let these go their way. And the
graves of the believer will open. The gates of glory shall swing
open wide and they shall enter in. Marvel not, he said, at this,
for the hour is coming into which they that are in the graves shall
hear his voice and shall come forth. They that have done good
unto the resurrection of life. They that have done evil unto
the resurrection of damnation. And I give them eternal life
and they shall never perish. Neither shall any man pluck them
out of my hand. Because I live, ye shall live
also. I'll just bring this to a close
by reading a few scriptures. For the Lord himself shall descend
from heaven with a shout. Even so, come Lord Jesus. For
the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with
the voice of the archangel and with the trump of God, and the
dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain
shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the
Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord. For
God has not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our
Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep,
we should live together with him. Wherefore, comfort one another
with these words. That dog we have at home, Festus,
that one that was peeping out, Bobby, when you dropped me off
Friday. Often, after he's got his belly full, and I declare,
it doesn't seem to ever get full, But when it does, he'll lay in
front of my recliner on his back with his paws up and just looking
back at me. And I'll tell Robin, I want you
to look at that. Look at him. He doesn't have a care in the
world. Man, he's got it made. He's just got it made. And so do I. has given me the taste, the rich
grace of his son. I want to be like Abraham. It's
that Abraham glorified God. How in this world could a sinner
glorify God? By believing God. Simply by believing
that what God promised he's able to perform. Oh my Savior, give
me grace to forgive my unbelief that so dishonors you and give
me grace and faith that does. He deserves it. He deserves it. You've heard
it said so many times. I say it. Oh, we don't trust
him as we should. Oh, he's trustworthy, isn't he? He's trustworthy. God bless you.
Thank you for your attention.