If you'll turn with me to the
Gospel of John, chapter 18, and just hold your Bibles open there
for a minute, I want to make a few comments. And I would also
like to express my gratitude to this church and your pastor.
I always love coming here. It's like going home. It's like
being with family, because it is. And you're so kind and hospitable. And another thing that's very
impressive to me, and it doesn't matter if it impresses me or
not, but some of you that came from so far, to hear the gospel,
what a blessing that is to my heart. A true blessing it is. It was the darkest of nights. Not because there was a partial
moon or an overcast sky, but because the precious Son of God
was about to be portrayed into the hands of wicked men, but
it was by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God. He
goes to his favorite place of prayer in the agony that he would
experience that night was because he was about to be made sin for
all his elect people. The Scriptures tell us, having
taken with him Peter, James, and John, he began to be deeply
distressed and troubled. This is the God-man, all God
and all man. His soul was overwhelmed with
sorrow, even to the point of death, and he told them to stay
there and watch. Matthew's account tells us that
upon entering, he went a little further and fell on his face. God in the flesh fell on his
face and he prayed, saying, Oh, my father, if it be possible,
let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, nevertheless, oh,
how I wish I could learn this in my own heart. Nevertheless,
not as I will. Lord, deliver me from my will.
Not as I will, but as Thou wilt. His concern was the Father's
will. And oh, the heart-wrenching agony
of soul endured by the Son of God to save His people. You see, dear friends, it was
not possible for this cup to pass from Him, for it was the
Father's will to pour out His wrath that was due to you and
I. Christ must die in the room instead
of chosen sinners because the holy justice of God must be satisfied. And the wages of sin, which is
death, must be paid in full for those that the Father had given
Him." And what a wondrous thought to think that salvation for the
chosen sinner was a sovereign, free gift of God to us. Free to us. But it cost our Lord
His life. gave. God gave. The Scriptures also tell us in
the Gospel accounts that His agony and sorrow was so great
that He prayed so earnestly that His sweat was, as it were, great
drops of blood falling to the ground. Can you picture this?
And when He went back to His disciples, He found them asleep.
Boy, that's me. And he said unto Peter, what,
could you not watch with me one hour? I'm often amazed even in
myself, excuse me, how difficult it is to even sit for an hour.
Your mind wonders. He said, watch and pray that
you enter not into temptation, The spirit indeed is willing,
but the flesh is weak. Friends, our flesh is weak. And when he went away again the
second time and prayed, saying, Oh, my father, if this cup may
not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done. He was always, always about his
father's business. He said, for I came down from
heaven not to do mine own will, but the will of Him that sent
me. And then He comes again and He finds His disciples asleep
again. And He left them and He went
away again and prayed the third time saying the same words the
Scriptures tell us. And then finally He came once
more to His disciples and He said, you sleep on now. You sleep
on, you take your rest. Behold, the hour is at hand,
and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. You
go ahead and rest, dear child of God. This is not a work that
you and I can do. You just rest. For the Lamb of God must alone
tread the winepress of divine justice. And having loved His own which
were in the world, He loved them unto the end." Oh, I love that
verse. He loved me to the end. Then our story picks up. Here
in John 18, Judas, one of the twelve who lived and walked with
our Lord for over three years, came with a multitude of those
with swords and staffs and with the chief priests and elders
of the people. You see, Judas had given them
a sign, a signal, saying, Whomsoever I shall kiss, that same as he,
hold him fast." But God cannot be detained. Our Lord was betrayed
with a kiss. And friends, I don't think I
stretch this at all by saying that's what religion does today.
They say good things about the Lord Jesus Christ. They declare
Him to be God's Son. You won't find anybody that's
had any kind of religious background at all that would probably disagree,
other than maybe a Jewish person, that Jesus Christ is not the
Son of God. They say, however, that He's
made salvation possible. They do no more. than betray
Him with a kiss. And even after Judas' betrayal,
the Lord said, Friend, wherefore art thou come? To those
who know Him not, I ask you plainly this morning, what will you do
with the beloved Savior? And when I say that, I mean,
will you trust Him? Or will you continue in your
rebellion? What an amazing thought that
our Lord called him a friend. What an example to us Christ
is. Our Lord told His disciples,
for if you love them which love you, what think have you? For
sinners also love those that love them, but love ye your enemies
and do good. What an example He was. So let's
pick this up here in chapter 18, verse 2. And Judas also,
which betrayed him, knew the place, for Jesus oftentimes resorted
thither with his disciples. And Judas then, having received
a band of men and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees,
cometh thither with lanterns and torches and weapons, And
Jesus, therefore, knowing all things that should come upon
him, went forth and said unto them, Who seek ye? He knew whom
they sought. He knew all things. You see,
beloved, Christ is the all-knowing God. He's the sovereign omniscient. And He knew everything that should
come upon Him. Omniscient simply means knows
everything. The Lord Jesus Christ knows all
things, even the thoughts and the intents of the heart. Hebrews
4.12. There is nothing that can be
concealed from Him. He is perfectly acquainted with
every detail in the life of every soul in heaven and earth and
in hell. Nothing escapes His notice, nothing
can be hidden from Him, and nothing is forgotten by Him. And may
we say with the psalmist, such knowledge is too wonderful for
me. I cannot attain unto it. His
knowledge is perfect. He never errs, He never changes,
never overlooks anything. And neither is there any creature
that is not manifest in His sight, but all things are naked and
open unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do." One day
you're going to stand before Him. He's the God with whom we
have to do. And David said, Thou knowest
my down-sitting and mine uprising. Thou understandest my thoughts
afar off. Thou compassest my path and my
lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. For there is
not a word in my tongue but, Lo, O Lord, that Thou knowest
it altogether." What a God! What a Savior! The Lord saith,
for I know the things that come into your mind, every one of
them. Oh, that should make a shudder. Thoughts that have gone through
my mind this morning, if they were displayed on a screen behind
me, I'd run out that back door screaming as fast as I could. But what comfort the child of
God finds in this great truth. In times of trial, In times of
trouble, we say with Job, but he knoweth the way that I take."
He ordains it. He directs our steps and guides
us in our paths, Job 23.10. And when our actions betray our
devotion to him, the searching question from our Lord came to
Peter saying, lovest thou me? What did Peter say? Well, after
three times, he said, Lord, thou knowest all things. You know that I love you. You
know that I love you. Friends, do you love the Son
of God? Is He your everything? If He's not, I pray that today
be the day of salvation for you. When we pray, we have no fear
of not being heard. He knows everything. It shall
come to pass that before they call, I will answer. And while they are yet speaking,
I will hear." What a God! You'll hear me say that often.
What a God! The infinite knowledge of God
should fill us with amazement. How far exalted is our Lord above
the wisest man! And beloved, He most definitely
knew all that should come upon Him. Many times in the Scriptures,
in one in particular in Mark 10, He and His disciples were
on their way to Jerusalem and our Lord said, Behold, we go
up to Jerusalem And the Son of Man shall be delivered unto the
chief priests and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn Him to
death, and shall deliver Him to the Gentiles, and they shall
mock Him, and shall scourge Him, and shall spit upon Him, and
shall kill Him. And the third day He shall rise
again." Yes, our Lord knew all things that should come upon
Him. But there's two words there particularly
that just stick out to me. He went forth. Went forth. Pay close attention to those
two little words. John 10, 17 says, Therefore doth
my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I may take
it again. No man taketh it from me, but
I lay it down of myself, And I have power to lay it down,
and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received
of my Father. Rejoice, dear friends, that Christ
went forth." This is a faithful saying. We quote this all the
time. You know it by heart. This is a faithful saying and
worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus did what? Came! He came into the world to save
sinners. He went forth. In the salvation of God's redeemed,
Christ went forth. He went forth of His own accord.
He didn't hide Himself in the garden like the first Adam did. No, He didn't stay till those
who sought His life came up to Him. He went forth. And He said
unto them, Who seek ye? Whom do you seek? Knowing all things, our Redeemer
knew full well who they were seeking. He voluntarily made
known who He was." I grow so tired of hearing men say things
like, I offered Jesus my heart. Do you know that He don't want
that wretched thing? He takes out that heart, that
stony heart, and puts in a heart of flesh. But He offered Himself. And He
offered Himself to these who came after Him this night and
was willingly to be taken by them and voluntarily suffered
what you and I deserved. Now that's substitution. And
that's the basis and the foundation of the gospel which we preach.
Christ is doing for me what I can't do. That's what you preach. Every Sunday, you tell people
what Christ did for them that they couldn't do for themselves. I don't even know if Brother
Don knows this, but the first time I heard the Gospel in 1986
at a conference, someone said, we're having a Sovereign Grace
Bible Conference. I said, what's that? I found
out real quick. And he preached the message,
I'll never forget it, on the crucifixion of Christ. And I
remember saying to myself, somebody finally told me the truth. Somebody's
finally told me the truth. He didn't stay till those that
sought his life came up to him. He went forth. When asking them who they sought,
they answered Him, Jesus of Nazareth. And Jesus saith unto them, I
am He. And Judas also which betrayed
Him stood with them." Let me ask you a question. Who
are you standing with this morning for those who are not for Him
are against Him. And again, we see that the Lord
took the initiative even in His own apprehending and death. When
asked the question of whom they sought, they didn't answer Christ. They rejected and denied Him
as the Messiah. So I ask you, do you know Him
as the Christ? the blessed Savior of sinners? Or is He just Jesus of Nazareth
to you?" And when our Lord and Savior
answered them, He said, I am He. And that word He is italicized,
added to the original text. What He answered was, I am. Moses said, who do you want me
to tell Pharaoh sent me? He said, you tell him, I am that
I am. That's who was in this garden
this night. I am. I am. But notice that he owns the name
of Jesus of Nazareth, and which further shows his willingness
to be taken by them. standing in the place of David
of New Caney, and Darwin of Taylor, and Larry of Sylacauga, and Don
and Shelby of Danville, those that he died for. He identified
with us. And we know according to many
references in the Scriptures that he could have called 10,000
angels to His defense. But beloved,
our Savior went to the cross with the joy set before Him in
the redemption of His people. He suffered that we might not,
and He died that we might live. That's not a hard message, is
it? But it's impossible to believe
unless God divinely Intervene and show it to you. This was His purpose from the
very beginning. Look at verse 6, And as soon
then as He had said unto them, I am, they went backward and
fell to the ground. Oh, the power of God! As soon
as our Lord answered, I am, they went backward like men that had
been thunderstruck. Oh, the power in that blessed
name of God, the name of God I am, encourages and it constantly
comforts and revives those who trust in Him. Who do you put
your trust in this morning, David? I am, the great I am. That's who I put my trust in. But it struck His enemies down,
and they fell to the ground. And no man can stand in the presence
of holiness, friends, but those that God holds in His sovereign
hand. And nobody can pluck me from
His hand." This also should again remind
us what He could have done with them. You think about that for
a moment. When He struck them down, He
could have struck them dead. When He spoke them to the ground,
He could have spoken them to hell. But He didn't do so, for
again, His purpose was to be delivered up and sacrificed in
the place of His people as their saving substitute. And the hour
of His suffering had now come, and He would not let it pass.
He would show that His life was not forced, from him, but he
laid it down of himself, as he had said many times, no man taketh
it, I lay it down." What a display of his patience and long-suffering
towards those that hated him without a cause, and only striking
them down and nothing more. And even in this, our Lord gave
them a call to repent. You think about that. When they
came to their wits or whatever you want to call it, and they got up from the ground,
nothing had changed. Nothing had changed. Their hearts
were hardened, and I'm reminded of the Scripture in Psalm 21,
12, and it was fulfilled, thou shalt make them turn their back.
when thou shalt make ready thine arrows upon thy strings against
the face of them." They had risen to their feet with no harm done
to them, and for our Lord always did good and harmed no one. And
then in verse 7, He asked them again, Who seek ye? And they
said, Jesus of Nazareth. Nothing had changed. had seen
the power of God in just His name, and yet they say, Jesus
of Nazareth. And after asking them again whom
they sought, their heart, mind, and answer did not change." Those
of you without Christ, how long will you remain indifferent?
You've heard this glorious message of Christ and Him crucified.
And I know deep in the recesses of your heart and conscience,
you must be saying like I did years ago, this man is telling
me the truth. These men are telling me the
truth. This man stands every week and tells the truth about
who God is and what we are and our need of Him. It seems when the power of our
Lord had thrown them to the ground just by the mention of His name,
their thoughts of who He was might have changed. But no, they
answered, we see Jesus of Nazareth. Verse 8, Jesus answered and He
said, I've told you that I am. I am He. If therefore you seek
Me." Now friends, here's the Gospel. This is what I've been
working up to. If you seek Me, you let these
go their way." That's the Gospel. Let these go their way. Christ was about to suffer for
them and therefore it was not just that they should suffer
too. There was no need for them to suffer with Him. Can you see
the beauty of the Gospel here? was condemned and the guilty
was set free. Let these go their way. He drew near to God on our account. He substituted Himself in our
place. He undertook for us the judgment
and condemnation that we deserved. We deserved. He took upon Himself
the obligation to take away our sin, satisfy God's wrath that
was due to us, and to bring in an everlasting righteousness
to and for us. He gave Himself to keep and preserve
us in this world and to make us perfectly holy in the world
to come. Salvation is in the person and
work of the Lord Jesus. Has God shown you that? Has God
shown you that salvation is truly of the Lord? Oh, lost one, can you see the
beauty in the lily of the valley? Can you smell the beautiful fragrance
of the rose of Sharon? Let these go their way. when we should have been the
ones taken and crucified. And oh, how beautiful is the
truth that Christ is the Lamb slain before the foundation of
the world, and in Him God is both just and justifier. Oh, of him which believeth in Jesus.
Now God's divine justice finds the sins of all the elect upon
His Son, on whom the Father had laid them. And having taken our
sin upon Himself, His death demanded satisfaction for all our past
sin, all our present sin, and even all our future sin. And He being under the law in
our place was made a curse for us by coming into the world to
fulfill God's holy law. And let me say this in closing,
dear friends, Christ would bear the curse of the law being made
a curse for us. And He was made sin. He who knew
no sin, He knew no sin. that we might be made the righteousness
of God in Him. Now let me ask you, is that not
good news? Is that not good news? Is that
not the gospel? Let these go their way. When the believer stands before
God in judgment, and we one day will, our Savior stands before
God's throne and He says, Russell Sanders, let him go his way. Enter in, thou good and faithful
servant. And Russell will tell you, it
sure ain't because of your righteousness, is it brother? It sure ain't
because of mine. It's because of the perfect righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ which was freely given to chosen sinners. Payment God cannot twice demand. First at my bleeding surety's
hand, and then again at mine. Verse 9, and I'm done. That the
saying might be fulfilled which He spake of them which Thou gavest
Me, Have I lost none? None. This is God's Gospel. Do you believe it? Do you believe
it? To those of you still without
Christ, I ask you sincerely, why do you remain indifferent?
He that hath the Son hath life. and he that hath not the Son
of God hath not life." Has it ever been put any simpler and
plainer than that? He that hath the Son hath life. He that hath not the Son hath
not life. May God, by His sovereign grace,
cause you to see your need of Him who died for you and did
for you what you could never do, And is it any wonder that
the Apostle Paul said in Titus chapter 3, not by works of righteousness
that we've done, but according to His mercy. His mercy. That's what I want to hear. His
mercy. I look forward to sitting down
and hearing about His mercy. I look forward to putting on
my little earphones on the way home and listening to His mercy,
preached by these men whom God has called. May God enable you
to come to Christ.