Our lesson this morning will
be taken from Luke chapter 22, verses 39 through 53. Luke 22, verses 39 through 53. And in these verses, he tells
us about his agonizing prayer in Gethsemane. He tells us about his disciples
sorrow and sleep. They heard him in agonizing prayer
and were sorrowful and couldn't do anything about it. And then
we're told in these verses about his betrayal by the son of perdition. And he sums it all up and tells
them that this is their hour, the hour of evil men and also
the power of darkness. So let's read these verses together.
Luke 22 beginning with verse 39. And he came out and went,
as he was wont, to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples
followed him. And when he was at the place,
he said unto them, Pray that ye enter not into temptation. And he was withdrawn from them
about a stone's cast, and kneeled down and prayed, saying, Father,
if thou be willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not
my will, but thine be done. And there appeared an angel unto
him from heaven, strengthening him. And being in agony, he prayed
more earnestly, and his sweat was, as it were, great drops
of blood falling down to the ground. And when he rose up from
prayer and was come to his disciples, he found them sleeping for sorrow,
and said unto them, Why sleep ye? Rise and pray, lest ye enter
into temptation. While ye expect, behold a multitude. And he that was called Judas,
one of the twelve, went before them, and drew near unto Jesus
to kiss him. But Jesus said unto him, Judas,
betrayest thou the Son of man with a kiss? which were about him saw what
would follow, they said unto him, Lord, shall we smite with
the sword? And one of them smote the servant
of the high priest and cut off his right ear. And Jesus answered
and said, Supper ye thus far. And he touched his ear and healed
him. Then Jesus said unto the chief
priests and captains of the temple and elders which were come to
him, be ye come out as against a thief with swords and staves. When I was daily with you in
the temple, you stretched forth no hands against me. But this
is your hour and the power of darkness. Now, I want to begin
here with the message this morning Our Lord is the God-man. He is
both God and man in one person. We read here about our Lord,
the omnipotent God, being strengthened. We read about Him being weary. Can God be weary? He can, robed
in our flesh. He's as much man as if He were
not God, and as much God as if He were not man. You can't, in
Scripture, when you read these things about Him, you can't get
the dividing line. You can't come to the place where
you can actually discern the difference. He knew all things. He knew Judas would betray Him,
and told Him. So, didn't give him his name,
but he told him he was going to be betrayed by one of them. And he said, the one that I hand
the sock to, that's the one that's going to betray me. And he did
to Judas and told Judas in front of him, go do that which you
do quickly. And they still didn't understand that Judas was the
betrayer. He knew Peter was going to deny
him. Didn't he? Well, he told him
so. He told him so. He knew that
Satan would enter into Judas and his influence over those
men and that man would cause him to do what they were about
to do. And even more than that, he knew he must stand before
God. Now who knows God more than God? This man knew what he had to
do. He knew why he was here. He knew why he was robed in human
flesh. Why he must be born of a woman,
made of a woman, made under the law. He knew that. He knew the
price of redemption. He knew what God required of
a man. He knew that he must stand before
God as our sin-bearing substitute and suffer the awful vengeance
and wrath of God in our stead. For he, here's what Paul said,
he's talking about reconciliation, and here's what he said. For
he, that is God, hath made him, that is Christ, to be made sin
for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. Now this is the way of reconciliation. Not the cruel mockings of men,
nor the betrayal of himself by a friend. It was not the denial
of one of his disciples. It wasn't the beatings or public
humility or scourging that caused him to agonize in prayer. He
knew that he must stand before God as the sinner. And God would
look on him as the sinner. And God would punish him to the
full extent of his justice. He knew that. And he said, Father,
if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not
my will, but thine be done. It was a cup that he must drink
and a cup that God could not forbear. And knowing all these
things, he said, nevertheless, not my will. But thine be done. And here's the heart of salvation
and the subject before us this morning. It's the sovereign will
of God. It's the sovereign will of God.
In Ephesians 1.11, Paul tells us that in Christ we have obtained
an inheritance being predestinated according to the purpose of Him
who worketh all things. What's included in that? all
things after the counsel of his own will. There's a power at work. It's
a force beyond anything that you and I can imagine. It's controlling,
arranging, moving, and directing all things. He worketh all things. He tells us that the ever-changing
hairs of our head is numbered with Him, and not a sparrow can
fall to the ground without Him. By Him, talking about our Savior,
the Son of God, He said all things consist. They continue to be. They don't fall apart. They have
a continuance. They hold fast. And God established
His sovereign will with these words, let it be. Let there be. You know what I'm saying? Let
there be. There was nothing out there. There was nothing out there,
just God. And God said, let there be. Let
there be light, and there was light. Let there be a foundment,
and there was. Let the waters under heaven be
gathered together into one place. Let the earth bring forth grass
and herb-bearing seeds. Let there be lights in the firmament.
Let there be. He goes on and on all through
Genesis. All of creation is God saying,
let there be. He spoke, David said, and it
was done. It was done. Does that sound like somebody
can have his own will? Huh? He spoke and he commanded
and it stood fast. Let there be and it came to pass.
Paul began right here when he addressed the philosophers at
Mars Hill. He looked around, saw all their
monuments, saw all their writings. Religious folks loved to have
writings and monuments. And he looked around and he saw
them, and he said, when I was looking around and looking at
all your monuments and things, he said, I noticed one that I
agreed with, the unknown God. Him declare I unto you. So where
did he start? I'm going to declare to you this
morning something about the living God. Where am I going to start?
I'm going to start with creation. That's where God established
His sovereign will is in creation. He's the creator of all things.
He said, God that made the world and all things therein, seeing
He is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made
with hand. You build these little temples
and these little monuments here and you say, God dwells here.
No, He don't. No, He don't. He don't dwell in temples made
with hand. And he's not worshipped with
men's hands as though he needed something. I'm hearing things about salvation. God wants to say, if God wants
something, He'll have it. He'll have it. He is Lord of heaven and earth.
He dwells not in temples made with hands. He is not worshipped
with men's hands as though He needed anything, seeing He giveth
to all life and breath and all things, hath made of one blood
all nations of men, for to dwell on all the face of the earth,
hath determined the times before appointed, and set the bounds
of their habitation. Does that sound like a sovereign
God? They're not the smallest detail
in creation that God's not involved in and over which His sovereign
power and will is not engaged. And yet we're unwilling, seeing
all that, we're unwilling to confess that God has His will
in the salvation of sinners. We want to attribute that to
man's will, don't we? He worketh all things after the
counsel of his own will. God, the sovereign Lord of all
creation, has a purpose, and this purpose is a purpose of
grace. He worketh all things after the
counsel of his own will, having saved us according to his purpose.
That's what he says in verse 11. God has a purpose. He has a purpose, and a purpose
is a purpose of grace. Our salvation and calling Paul
said, is according to his own purpose and grace, which was
given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, and manifested
by his appearing. If you read Ephesians chapter
1, you'll find out that God's sovereign will predestinated
us to the adoption of children. It was according to the good
pleasure of his will. Isn't that what he said? What
is predestination? He determined the means of our
calling. He tells us over in James chapter
1 that, Every good and perfect gift cometh down from the Father
of lights, with whom is no wearableness, neither shadow or darkness. His
sovereign will ordained the means and brought the means to pass
and enables those means to save ourselves. Read about that. Of His own will begat He us with
the word of truth. He effectively called us, regenerated
us, and gave us power to become the sons of God. Who did? Those who were born of God. God's Spirit is not some silent
influence that occasionally interrupts our thoughts and makes us feel
good about ourselves. That's what men call, oh, the
Spirit was in that place today. Huh? It was as Christ was preached. But you feeling good about yourself
has nothing to do with the Spirit of God. Satan can make you feel
great about yourself. What God does is effectual. It's effectual because he's sovereign. God never tries to do something
and fails. God's done all he can do. Isn't
that what religion says? Now it's all up to you. When
he arrests a man, he's arrested. When he says, that's far enough,
that's far enough. You ain't going any further. When he commands light to shine
into a man's heart, his heart is enlightened. When he leads a man to repentance,
he repents. When he gives a man faith, that
man believes. He ruleth. That's what the Scripture
said. He reigneth in the armies of
heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay
his hand. Everything God does is effectual. It's effectual. No man can stay his hand or question
what he does. And our Lord resisted sin and
would have died resisting it if God had not strengthened him.
And still in agony, he cries as his sweat becomes as great
drops of blood. And what does he say? Where does
he go? The worst suffering that's ever
been. The truest suffering that's ever been. And here he is, and
he's agonizing in the garden. He would have died under that
load had not God strengthened him. And here he is, he's praying,
he's agonizing. Where does he go in this prayer? He goes to the sovereign will
of God. Isn't that where he goes? Not
my will, but thine be done. Nowhere is the sovereign will
of God displayed as it is in the death of Christ. He had to
die, didn't he? He had to die. Oh, but you say, what about the
powers of darkness? What are you going to do with
God's sovereignty and over here the powers of darkness are at
work? What are you going to do with that? Well, here's what
it says in Proverbs 16, 4. Are you listening? The Lord hath
made all things for himself, yea, even the wicked for the
day of evil. Who made them? God did. Who used
them? God did. In Isaiah chapter 45 verse 7,
listen to this. And here's what he's talking
about. He said, I'm God. Y'all make them statues and cover
them with gold and silver and put them up in some prominent
place and fall down before them and pray and do all that stuff.
He said, I'm God. There's none else beside me. There's none like me. None like
me. And here's what he says. I form the light and create darkness. I make peace and create evil. I, the Lord, do all these things. Darkness and evil have a place
in the purpose of God, and as horrible as they are, He uses
these things to manifest His glory in the salvation of sinners,
in the salvation of His elect. When declaring the sovereignty
of God and salvation to the saints at Rome, Paul said, hath not
the potter power over the clay? Of the same lump, to make one
vessel unto honour and another to dishonour? Now watch this. We're talking about the sovereign
will of God. What if God willing, huh? What he wills is going to
be done. What if God, willing to show
his wrath and make his power known, endured with much longsuffering
the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction, endured them as
he did Pharaoh for a season, endured them as he did Sodom
for a little while? Endured them as he did Antediluvian
world until the ark was full. Endured them as he did the Jews
and Gentiles until what his hand and his counsel determined before
to be done was done. Endured them as he does now manifesting
his glory and effectual calling and preservation of his saint
in an evil world. What if God willing to show his wrath and make his
power known, endured with much longsuffering, he's not longsuffering
toward them, he's longsuffering toward his elect, and he endures
them for his elect's sake. He endures them with much longsuffering,
not toward them, but toward his elect, that he might make known
the riches of his glory. Ain't that what he says, Nick?
That and That's the reason. That's the reason. Oh, that he
might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy
which he had aforeprepared unto glory. This is your hour, he
said. It's your hour. And it's the
power of darkness. I was in the temple every day.
You were going to stone me. over in that city. You remember
that one, had that great big tall cliff? You're going to come
over there and take me and throw me over that cliff. That's what
you had in your heart, but you didn't do it. You didn't lay
hands on me. I walked right between you and
you didn't even make an effort to lay hands on me. I planted
a whip and beat you out of the temple and you didn't lay hands
on me one time. I preached there what you despised
and you didn't do anything about it. And now you come out in this
big lynch mob against me? This is your hour. What hour?
The hour that God purposed. He purposed. Oh, my soul. The hour of the
sinner is that hour when the power of darkness so penetrates
his mind and heart that he'll kill the Son of God and steal
his throne if he could. He'd oppose and exalt himself
above all that's called God. That's Paul describing the man
of sin. That is, worship so that he is
God, sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he
is God. Isn't that what free will's all
about? Free will is you sitting in the temple saying, I'm God.
I decide my destiny. I decide how long I'm going to
live. I can fix anything that's wrong. Really? Oh, what a comfort to know that
God our Savior, God the Holy Spirit, and God our Father rules
and reigns even over wicked men and devils and uses them to accomplish
our salvation. Uses them to put food on our
table. Uses them to produce lumber to build our house. Being enlightened of God, we're
brought to see our deliverance from the power of darkness under
our present standing in the kingdom of his dear son. The sovereign saving will of
God extends even over the power of darkness. And then thirdly,
he tells us something about his sovereign will as it's written
and preserved in this book. That which is written must yet
be accomplished in me. Isn't that what he said? He didn't
say it might be, he said it must be. It must be. Why must it be? Because God's
sovereign will is going to be done. It's going to be done. Every scripture concerning him
had to be fulfilled, and it was. To the letter, even to the words
that he called out on the cross. My friend, we have the book of
God. It contains all that we'll ever
know about God in this world. Don't listen to people when they
start talking about, I saw God or God said to me. Only thing
God ever said to you is written in that book. That's what God
has to say to us. He told John the secret things
belong unto God. You don't write them down. Put
your pen up. But anything written in that
book, That's the children's bread. And men spend their lives seeking
experiences and feelings and evidences and all sorts of things
to assure them of their relationship with God. Eternal life, he says
twice. He says it twice. John says it
once, Christ says it once. Eternal life is to know Him. To know Him. And everything there
is to know about him can only be found in the Scriptures. We
say, what about preaching? I have nothing to preach but
the Word. That's Paul's charge to every preacher. Preach the
Word. Study to show thyself approved. One able to rightly divide the
Scriptures. I've got nothing else to preach.
I don't have any other information on God other than what he preserved
in that book. And that's why it's so foolish
when men start talking about what I think. What's that got
to do with anything? What I think and feel has little
consequence apart from the Word of God. John said, if we receive the
witness of men, the witness of God is greater. For this is the witness of God,
which we testified of His Son. That's what that book is, God's
testimony concerning His Son. And Paul said, For whatsoever
things were written aforetime were written for our learning,
that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might
have hope. Where did hope come from? It
comes from that book. And beware of any man or any
doctrine or any teaching that establishes any kind of hope
apart from the Word of God. Our Lord said, when the Spirit
of God comes, this is the revealer of truth, the comforter. When
He's come, He will not speak of Himself. He'll take of the
things of mine and shove them unto you. of his own will begat he us with
the word of truth. And the gospel of Christ is the
message of Holy Scripture, and in depth the revelation of the
very name of God in his Son. We have, Peter said, a more sure
word of prophecy. More sure than what? He said,
I stood on the Mount of Transfiguration, and I saw Jesus transformed before
my eyes. He was white and glistering.
He was talking to Moses. He was talking to Elijah. He
was talking to dead saints. And I saw him on that mountain,
and we wanted to build three tabernacles there. And God told
us to listen to His Son. Quit worrying about building
tabernacles. Listen to His Son. He said, My beloved Son, in whom
I am well pleased, hear ye Him. But He said, We have a more sure
word of prophecy. This is your hour, he said, and
the power of darkness. And that power is great and irresistible
by fallen men, but in the end, it is but a tool in the hand
of God, and when he's finished with it, he puts it up, same
way I do my hammer. He hangs it up where it goes.
And that's what he'll do with evil men. When he's done with
them, he'll put them where they belong. He uses these things for His
glory. And I say these things not to put you at ease with sin,
but to show you that in Christ we have the victory. Sin is powerful. Sin is overwhelming. You don't
think Peter was overwhelmed that he did this? He couldn't even
conceive of himself denying Christ. He said, I'll go to the death. When he wielded that sword at
that high priest's servant, he didn't mean to cut off his ear.
He meant to cut off his head. He was going to fight to the
death. But he didn't know all things
like Christ did. Oh, the power of darkness, it's
irresistible by fallen men, but in the end it's just a tool.
And I'm trying to show you that in Christ we have the victory
over it. He said, as sin has reigned unto
death. Does it? It sure does, if God
don't intervene. There's not even a shadow of
a chance that a man's going to do anything other than sin. if
God don't intervene. But he said, as sin hath reigned
unto death, even so might grace reign unto righteousness through
Jesus Christ our Lord. Grace reigns. It's reigning grace. Why? Because it's the sovereign
will of God. The sovereign will of God. And
that grace, he put in his Son. And that's where our assurance
is. May God bless the reading and teaching of His Word, for
Christ's sake.