In the 18th chapter of John's
Gospel, we begin at verse 12. The title of my message is, Jesus
Taken and Bound and Led Away. We read here in John 18, verse
12, then the band and the captain
and officers of the Jews took Jesus and bound him and led him
away try to picture the scene here
is God our creator bound by creatures led away as a common malefactor
Christ, the only perfect man who ever walked on this earth,
bound and led away as a common criminal, bound by the hands
of men whom he alone could give strength with which to bind him. And he's led away to be crucified
as our substitute. Then the band and the captain
and officers of the Jews took Jesus and bound him and led him
away to Annas first for he was father-in-law to Caiaphas which
was the high priest that same year. Now Caiaphas was he which
gave counsel to the Jews that it was expedient that one man
should die for the people. 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 Peter in. Then saith the damsel that
kept the door unto Peter, Art not thou also one of this man's
disciples? He saith, I am not. And the servants
and officers stood there, who had made a fire of coals, for
it was cold, and they warmed themselves. Now stop and think
about that for a second. It was a cold night, so cold
that inside the palace of the high priest they had to build
a fire to warm themselves and they were gathered around this
fire. You can picture them. Just a little while before this,
just a little while, a matter of an hour or two, the Lord Jesus
knelt in Gethsemane's garden as he anticipated being made
sin for us. and sweat. Not while he was laboring, while
he was praying. Sweat, great drops of blood falling to the
ground. What anguish of heart must have
overtaken him as he anticipated being made sin for us on a frosty
night in an open garden, he breaks out into a sweat. They made a
fire and warmed themselves, for it was cold. And Peter stood
with them and warmed himself. Verse 19. The high priest then
asked Jesus of his disciples and of his doctrine. Jesus answered
him, I speak openly to the world. I ever taught in the synagogue
and in the temple whether the Jews always resort. And in secret
I have said nothing. Why askest thou me? Ask them
which heard me what I've said unto them. Behold, they know
what I said. And when he had thus spoken,
one of the officers which stood by struck Jesus with the palm
of his hand, saying, Answerest thou the high priest so? Jesus
answered him, If I have spoken evil, bear witness of evil. But
if well, why smitest thou me? Now Annas said to him, Bound
unto Caiaphas the high priest. And Simon Peter stood and warmed
himself. They said therefore unto him,
Art not thou also one of his disciples? He denied it and said,
I am not. 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. I believe the intent of the Spirit
of God in this passage is to direct our attention to five
specific things that stand out glaringly. I'm sure they will
as I call your attention to them. Five things that are matters
of great importance, of instruction for our souls, for our edification,
for our comfort, for you who do not know our Redeemer. May
God be pleased to use them to gather your soul to our Savior. And may God, the Holy Spirit,
whose word we have before us, be our teacher. The first thing
that strikes me in this portion of Scripture, is that it gives
us a display of God's adorable providence. I mention this frequently. Matter of fact, I rarely preach
that I don't say something about God's providence and substitutionary
redemption. That's not by accident, that's
on purpose. God's providence is the opening
of God's purpose, the fulfilling of God's will. The Lord God Almighty
rules the universe absolutely You just scratched your chair
to then you'll live he ordained that So what what does that matter
you can't control the big things if you don't control the little
things Our God rules everywhere Always, absolutely. I mean by that that nothing comes
to pass in time except that which God decreed from eternity and
brings to pass according to his will in providence. The king's
heart is in the hands of the Lord so that like rivers of water,
he turneth it whithersoever he will. The lot is cast into the
lap. Men roll dice. What's going to
come up? Whatever God ordained, every
time they're rolled. The whole disposing thereof is
of the Lord. That's what the book says. The
scripture describes our God as that one who abounds toward us
in all wisdom and prudence. Wisdom and skill. What a way
to describe God's works of providence. Make it known to us the mystery
of His will, according to His own good pleasure, always working
all things after the counsel of His own will, so that everything
that comes to pass in time is but the unfolding and the revealing
of God's will every day, every moment, every hour. You want
to know what God's will is? Hang on. You're fixing to find
out. Whatever comes to pass is God's will. Whatever it is. If God didn't will it, it would
not come to pass. Everything. You mean the good
and the evil? Well, of course. Of course. He
said, I make light and create darkness. I make peace and create
evil. Isaiah 45 7. You mean God rules
the evil and the good? Of course he does. I don't have
any trouble with the good things, it's the evil things that bother
me. It's the difficult things that bother me. Our God rules
absolutely. So that the evil that comes to
pass, he has ordained as well as the good that he may overrule
the evil and accomplish good for his own. so that there is
no evil that shall happen to the just. That's the language
of scripture. John shows us this display of
God's providence in several ways. First, he reminds us here that
the high priest, Caiaphas, look at verse 14. was he which gave
counsel to the Jews that it was expedient that one man should
die for the people. Turn back just a couple of pages
to chapter 11. This man Caiaphas, the high priest, he was the religious
leader of the day. He was Billy Graham and the Pope
all rolled together in one. He was the go-to man for a religious
opinion. He was the highest religious
leader of the day. He didn't know God from a gourd.
He didn't know Christ. He didn't understand scripture.
He knew the letter of scripture. He knew the historic books of
Scripture. He was a well-trained Jewish theologian, but he didn't
know God. He didn't understand Scripture.
He didn't know Christ. He had no spiritual perception.
He was just a religious hireling who was self-serving, but even
he is used of God for God's purpose. Even he is used of God for God's
purpose. And on one occasion, he used
this man Caiaphas to proclaim the gospel in as clear a terms
as Isaiah the prophet did. Now that should not surprise
us. I remember a false prophet by the name of Balaam who declared
one of the most wonderful things I've ever read in my life. True,
absolutely, the Lord has not beheld iniquity in Jacob nor
sin in Israel. That man Balaam, that man Balaam,
the Lord God spoke to him, spoke to him one day by an ass. He did. So it shouldn't surprise
us that he could speak by a false prophet and speak truth by a
false prophet. He did Balaam. As a matter of
fact, the most astonishing thing about that, I was discussing
with a friend of mine a few weeks ago, we were driving down the
road. Not only did God speak to Balaam by an ass, but Balaam
started arguing with the ass. Can you imagine seeing such a
thing? Here's this man Caiaphas, no more knowledge of God than
the ass that Balaam rode, and yet he speaks the truth of God
by God's ordination and God's purpose. Look at John 11 verse
50. It is expedient for us, it's
necessary, it's needful for us, that one man should die for the
people. That one man should die instead
of the people. That one man should die in the
room and place of the people. That one man should die for the
deliverance, safety, and salvation of the people. And that the whole
nation perish not. And this spake he. Now here's
the explanation of it that the Spirit of God gives. This spake
he, not of himself, but being high priest that year, he prophesied
that Jesus should die for that nation. and not for that nation
only, but that also he should gather together in one the children
of God, which were scattered abroad. Now notice how he describes
God's elect. Even though they had not yet
been gathered to Christ, they're called the children of God. They
were his children before the world began, adopted by his grace. And the Lord Jesus dying in the
room instead, not of that political, physical nation of Israel, But
in the room of that holy nation, chosen of God before the world
began, the royal priesthood of his elect, those, the children
of God, scattered abroad, the certain result of Christ dying
in our stead is that all the children of God shall be gathered
to him, and none of his elect shall perish. Next, it seems
to me, The Holy Spirit inspired John to describe Peter's denial
here in such a way that we could not miss seeing that the Lord
himself placed Peter in the place of temptation. The Lord himself put Peter in
the place of temptation. No, God does not tempt men to
evil. No. But no man experiences anything
that God doesn't arrange. And the Lord God put Peter in
the place of temptation. Hear what our Savior says concerning
this. There hath no temptation taken
you, but such as is common to man. But God will with the temptation
make a way of escape that you may be able to bear it. And I
know him whose name is the Way. Jesus Christ our Redeemer. is
the only way of escape and the only one by whom we can bear
the temptation. Peter comes with John following
the Lord Jesus behind this crowd that had taken him and brings
him to the high priest's palace. But Peter and John are just Galilean
fishermen. They don't know anybody in the
high priest's palace. They don't have access to the high priest.
You get in there only by permission. But there is another disciple,
one of those secret disciples named in John chapter 12 who
for fear of the Jews did not openly confess the Savior. And
that other disciple who goes unnamed went in and got permission
for Peter to come into the priest's palace. And so he goes back to
the maid who's keeping the door and says to her, Peter can come
in, he go with me. And Peter goes in. The Lord God
arranged to bring him there for a reason. There, Peter would
deny the Lord Jesus three times. and teach us that there is no
evil that is not in us all of us no evil we will not perform like
that if God leaves us to ourselves that goes to Tony and Tony and
Mama and your baby no evil There is no evil in this world that
is not in the heart of all men. We are all depraved, vile, corrupt,
wretched sinners and that doesn't change after God saves us. There
is no evil in the world that's not in us and no evil we wouldn't
do if God didn't prevent it. And we cannot resist the lust
of the flesh The lust of the eye, the pride of life, or Satan
himself. Can't resist him. But we're commanded
to resist the devil. He may flee from us. We're also
commanded to walk before God and be holy. But you can't do
either. You can't do either. The only way we walk before Him
in holiness is if He gives us the holiness and causes us to
walk before Him. And the only way we resist the
devil, or resist temptation, or resist any evil, is if God
sustains us by His grace. Well, Brother Don, that sure
puts us all on a very low plane, doesn't it? That's where you
need to always be reminded you are. Nothing but sin. Nothing but sin. Nothing but
sin. The Lord put Peter here because
there he would look on his fallen disciple with tender eyes of
unfailing mercy and love and grace. Peter denied the master and he
denied him again. And the third time he took the
oaths of a drunken sailor and cussed and said, I don't know
that man. Now watch this. Watch this. And
Jesus turned and looked on Peter. Peter could never have seen that
look had it not gone through that fall. Not a look of anger. Not a look of disgust, not a
look of fury, a look of tenderness, compassion, as if to say, Peter,
remember, I prayed for you. Remember, I told you the devil
desired to have you that he may sift you as wheat. Remember,
I told you you would deny me before the rooster crowed this
hour, and he looked on Peter. There the Lord Jesus used the
maid, the soldier, and the devil to prepare the way for him to
make himself more intimately known to Peter, the object of
his love, than Peter could otherwise have known him. One of the young preachers in
our congregation called me a couple weeks ago Brother Frank Call
is looking at passages where the Lord said, if you deny me
before me and I'll deny you before my father. And he said, but Peter
denied him. And he didn't deny Peter. How
do you explain that? I said, you explain it and understand
it this way. The only difference between you
and the reprobate is the difference grace has made. The only difference. What difference is there between
Peter and Judas? What difference in their behavior?
None. None. What's the difference then?
God chose Peter. God's gracious to Peter. The
Lord redeemed Peter. Peter belongs to God. That's
the difference. And that's all. And now the Lord
Jesus is determined to make himself known to Peter in a way that
Peter could not otherwise know him. We Talk about the fall of
Adams folks. They will do God ordain the fall
if we hadn't fallen in Adam Tony. We couldn't know redemption We
couldn't know mercy We couldn't know forgiveness. We couldn't
know grace. We couldn't know the love of
God that passeth knowledge. Only through the experience of
the fall can we experience the blessedness of redemption and
deliverance. And only through this trial and
this fall and the subsequent recovery could Peter be made
the man that he was made to be. He's a better man for it. He's
a better man for it. Absolutely. Look at Peter in
Acts chapter 4. He's healed this impotent man.
And he's arrested by the Sanhedrin, the folks who put the Savior
to death. And they said to Peter, said, By what authority and in
whose name have you made this man whole? Do you know what Peter
could have said and been telling the truth? He could have said,
Brother Wayne, By the name and authority of the Lord God Jehovah,
the only God of Israel, this man stands before you whole.
That's good. That'd be true. But it would
have been a compromise of God himself and a compromise of the
truth. Peter knew who he was talking
to. Rather than saying that, he put it slightly differently.
He said, be it known unto you that by the name of Jesus Christ
of Nazareth, whom you crucified, this man stands before you whole. Now do what you want to do. What did he do? He confronted
the Lord's enemies boldly as he would never have done had
this not been his experience. Never. Never. This same young preacher asked
me, he said, Brother Don, have you ever known preachers who
once preached the truth and departed from the Lord, abandoned the
gospel? I said, yes, sir, I have. He
said, have you ever known any to come
back? I said, only one, only one. And that one's a very dear friend
of mine. And he's a better preacher now than he's ever been. You see, what God in his providence
arranges, even in the midst of our falls, in the display of
our weakness and sinfulness, the Lord God is always doing
good to his own. And it does everything for our
spiritual and our everlasting good. And then again we see a
display of God's adorable providence in using the Jews here to fulfill
his word. Sometime when you're studying
the scriptures, I would suggest just as you read through the
scriptures, beginning when you start in Genesis, start to read
through your Bible next time, mark down every prophecy of which
it's clear the scripture is speaking about something that was to be
done to the Messiah. Mark down every one of them.
Just make your own notepad. Mark down every one of them.
And then go to the Gospels and watch what they did. Watch what
they did. It would look as though the Jews
said, now let's see. We're supposed to spit on him
here. We're supposed to slap him here. We're supposed to pluck out his
beard here. We're supposed to put a spear inside here. We're
supposed to hang him on a tree rather than stone him. We're
supposed to cast lots for his garment. I mean, it looks like
they went back and used the concordance to find out what they were supposed
to do. And yet they with willing hearts did exactly what God before
ordained must be done with his son and wrote it in his word.
In Leviticus chapter 17 verses 1 through 9, God gave a law concerning
the sacrifice to be brought to the altar. Do you remember the
first thing they were to do with the sacrifice? Bring it to the
high priest to be inspected. And the high priest must inspect
the sacrifice to be sure there's no flaw, no blemish, no spot,
no fault in the sacrifice. And so here comes our sacrifice,
Christ our Passover who sacrificed for us. And the first thing they
do is they bring him to Annas. And Annas said, no, I'm not the
high priest. The high priest has to examine
the sacrifice, take him to Canaan. and they take him to Caiaphas.
And while Caiaphas does not declare the perfection and the faultlessness
of the Lamb of God, he sends him to Pilate so that in the
mouth of Jew and Gentile, in civil and in ecclesiastical authority,
the Lamb is described as the Lamb of God without spot and
without blemish, who is foreordained by whom our sins must be taken
away. Oh, what a marvelous display
of God's providence. For as much as you know that
you were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold from
your vain conversation, received by tradition from your fathers,
but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without
blemish and without spot, who verily was foreordained before
the foundation of the world. The first thing then that stands
out here is God's adorable providence. When carnal reason would demand
why this or that my God ordained, my heart in faith, Lord, humbly
bend before your throne, my God and King. When doubts disturb
me and distress, when darkness seems to block my way, oh, give
me grace on this to rest. that thus it seemeth good to
thee. Be this my joy, my Christ is
king and by all things performs his will. Your providence I would
adore and calmly, sweetly trust you still. Here's the second
thing. The astonishing hardness of depraved
human hearts. the astonishing hardness of these
people who came to the Lord in the garden, took Him, bound Him,
and led Him away. Now, remember who's in the crowd.
The servants, Jews who were the servants of the high priest,
Roman soldiers, Jewish people, Romans, Gentiles, Judas, and
the Pharisees. And remember what happened up
here in the first part of chapter 18. Our Lord Jesus met the fellows
who came to arrest him. He took the initiative. He said,
Whom seek ye? Whom seek ye? They said, Jesus
of Nazareth. He said, I am. Remember what
happened? They went away backwards, fell
down. Like dead men. I am! They fell down. He said,
who was it you said you were looking for? Jesus of Nazareth. He said, I am he. Now this is
the one they've come to arrest. He said, I am he. If you seek
me, let these go their way. You can't have the shepherd and
the sheep. let these go their way and thus it is with the law
of God the law takes the shepherd and the shepherd dies for the
sheep and the sheep go free he says let these go their way justice
demands it these folks had seen the Lord display his omnipotent
power as God by the simple enunciation of his name I am they fell away
backwards like dead men Peter took out his sword and smote
off the high priest servant's ear. And the Lord Jesus said,
Peter, if you can't do any better than that, put your sword up. He said, put up your sword, my
kingdom is not of this world. And then Luke tells us, he touched
his ear and healed it. Now, I believe that'd get my
attention. I just believe that'd get my
attention. Except I know better, it wouldn't.
It wouldn't. Nothing would change these hearts.
Nothing would penetrate these hearts. Nothing would break these
hearts. Nothing would cause these men
to tremble before God. These men remained unmoved, cold,
indifferent, insensible, and hard. Such is the depravity of
the human heart. They acted as if they had seen
nothing unusual. They acted as if they had seen
nothing unusual. They went about just as coolly
and calmly and callously as if nothing had happened. Zechariah
tells us in Zechariah 7 verse 12 they made their hearts as
an adamant stone They saw these things and they hardened their
hearts like Pharaoh hardened his heart Why do you suppose
the Lord uses that term adamant stone? to describe the hardness
of man's heart There's no such stone The adamant stone was just
a legendary stone. Just a legendary stone. A stone
like one of those magical swords you hear about in these movies
these days. Just a legendary stone. But the legend had it
that the adamant stone was so hard that it was harder than
the nether meal stone, Ezekiel said. It was harder than flint,
Job said. The adamant stone, the legend
had it was so hard you couldn't break it with a sledgehammer.
If you heated it ever so hot, the heat never penetrated. It
was just hot right on the surface. But there was one thing that
would break it. One thing that would dissolve
it. If the adamant stone were soaked in the blood of a goat,
the adamant stone would dissolve like a peel in water. What will break the heart of
man? Law won't do it. You can preach hell so hot you
can feel the flames coming up between the pews. Judgment won't
do it. Even the wicked cast into hell
don't repent. Stories of heart-wrenching tenderness
won't do it. Trials won't do it. Tsunamis
and earthquakes won't do it. Tornadoes won't do it. Near brushes
with death won't do it. Being in prison won't do it.
Well what will break the heart of man? Nothing except God the
Holy Spirit sprinkling on your heart the blood of Christ the
scapegoat. That'll melt your heart before
God. That's why we preach Christ crucified. We preach Christ crucified. That's
the only hope sinners have. God, oh God, be so gracious to
you as to sprinkle your heart with the precious blood of his
son and you will find yourself melted before him. Here's the third thing. We have
before us a marvelous display of the amazing condescension
of our Lord Jesus. Here is the son of God, our creator,
the sovereign of the universe, taken prisoner and led away,
bound like a common malefactor. He's arraigned before the wicked
and unjust judges. He's insulted and treated with
contempt. He had in all this process only
to will it, and he'd be free. Don, all he had to do was will
it, and he's free. But he's bound as a common criminal. He could only have had to command
confusion, and these folks would have been in utter confusion.
You remember this is the same one who, when Pharaoh and his
armies were pursuing Israel across the Red Sea, sent darkness and
confusion so that the Egyptians couldn't find their horse bridles,
while Israel walked in light. He's just with it, and confusion
will come on them. This man, Christ Jesus, is the
judge before whose bar Annas and Caiaphas must soon stand
with their companions and be sentenced to everlasting damnation.
And yet he condescends to be arrested and treated as a base
common malefactor. Why? Why? When he was led away to the slaughter,
he was bound with the sins of his people. And our blessed Savior
was thus led without the camp to suffer without the gate for
us. As Isaiah put it, he was taken
from the prison and from judgment when the Lord God had laid on
him the iniquity of us all. so that like the sacrifices of
the Old Testament were bound to the altar with cords. So the
cords of divine justice and indescribable infinite love, the cords of divine
truth and divine mercy bound our Savior to the altar of sacrifice. Our Lord Jesus was bound for
the transgressions of his people, bruised for our iniquities, that
we by his bondage might be made free. We who were in the bonds
of darkness made the children of light. We who were held in
the shackles of our own depravity set free by his grace. Truly
here is a display of the love of God that passeth knowledge. to die for one you love, that's
not too hard to understand. Any father could understand a
father giving his life for his child, or a mother giving her
life for her child, any of us could understand that and admire
it. Dying for one that has some worthy character, some worthy
quality that you can understand and recognize it to be a commendable
thing. Dying for those who are thirsting
for your blood. For sinners who wish that you
should be made to die. Dying unwanted, unasked, unsought,
unthanked. The Lord God thereby commends
his love for us, and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died
for us. This is love that baffles understanding. This is love that passeth knowledge. Could we with eek the oceans
fill, and were the skies of parchment made, were every stalk on earth
a quill, and every man a scribe by trade, to write the love of
God above would drain the oceans dry, nor could the scroll contain
the whole, though stretched from sky to sky. Oh, how he loved me! The Son of God gave himself for
me. He came into this world as our
surety. He set his face like a flint
to go up to Jerusalem. He gave his ear to the Lord God
who opened his ear as a willing bond slave and he would not go
back because he was determined by his suffering unto death to
pour out his life's blood to the satisfaction of divine justice,
and by his substitutionary voluntary sacrifice of himself, thus to
obtain eternal redemption and eternal salvation for us. Not
only did our Lord Jesus suffer for our sins as our substitute,
but he stands before us as an imminent example as well. In
all things, Christ humbled himself. He emptied himself to be made
sin for us. And he humbled himself to walk
before us as our example. Brother Jim and I were discussing
this just a little while ago out front. Believers aren't motivated
by law. We're not motivated, inspired,
and governed by rules and regulations. The Ten Commandments of folks
are under the law. We're not under the law, but under grace.
Believers are motivated by something else. The love of Christ constraineth
us. That's what the book says. We're
inspired by gratitude and faith. Our Lord is an example. An example,
He says, that you should follow. You remember when He washed His
disciples' feet? He said, I've given you an example. You go
do what I've done. Serve one another. People talk
about good works. Isn't it amazing how religious
people talk about good works? Religious people talk about good
works, that means you don't chew tobacco. Well, I guess in Tennessee you
can. But down here you don't drink
any wine. You dress a certain way. You talk a certain way.
You go to certain stores. I remember one time I was in
Lexington, Kentucky at a Bible conference years ago. And I was thirsty.
It was hot. And I was walking with some preachers
down the road. I turned and walked into this place. They got me
a Coke. And they stood, there were three of them. And they
stood on the sidewalk. And it was like this when I came out. You know where you've been? I
went and got a Coke. That's a pool hall. I said, I
didn't want a Coke. I didn't know you were supposed
to go in there. That's religious good works. It's always taboos
and do's. Always. You know how our Lord
describes good works? It's always kindness and mercy
and forgiveness and give a thirsty fellow a drink of water, feed
somebody who's hungry, clothe somebody who's naked. None of
those things that men observe and poor dad said, my, look how
godly he is. None of those things. Our Lord
gave an example. He said, I've washed your feet,
you go wash one another's feet. In first Peter, Peter tells us
that the Lord by his death left us an example of how we ought
to suffer. Rather than reviving, he reviled
not again, but submitted himself to God. God's the one who brought
it. Submitted himself to God. Our
master said, come unto me all you that labor and heavy laden
and I'll give you rest. When I was not quite 17 years
old, I had been laboring with fear and dread and guilt and
sin. Brother Dwight, I couldn't sleep
and I couldn't function. I was tormented day and night.
And the Lord Jesus came to me and called me to come to him
and I've been at rest ever since. I've been keeping a perfect Sabbath
ever since. But he said something else. He
said, take my yoke upon you and learn of me and you shall find
rest unto your souls. You take an oxen or a mule that's
been accustomed to pulling a plow and bring the yoke out, they
don't resist. Put it on them, they slip under
the yoke. That's what he says. The more you resist, the more
it hurts. When God brings trouble and pain and heartache, quit
murmuring and fussing and fighting against God. But submit. Take his yoke upon you. And as
soon as you submit to it, you'll find rest. You'll find rest for
your soul. And our Lord Jesus is an example
in another sense here. Caiaphas asked the Lord about
his disciples and his doctrine. He said, now tell me what you've
been preaching. And our Lord was the premier example, the
premier pattern for all preachers. Well, you've got one other preacher
here by the way. You know what he told Caiaphas? He said, why
are you asking me? Why are you asking me what I
preached? I didn't say anything in private. I wasn't one of these fellows
who just comes around and talks about what he believes in the
coffee shop. I didn't just talk about it among preachers. You
could find me every Saturday in the synagogue and in the temple
where the Jews constantly resort and there I declared God's truth. You want to know what I preached?
Ask the folks who heard me. They know what I said. They know
what I said. Some of you folks have only heard
me preach once. Anybody here confused about whether or not
I believe God predestined everything else to pass? Anybody confused about whether
or not I believe Christ is a successful Redeemer? Actually did put away
sin? Actually did redeem His people?
Anybody confused about whether or not man's absolutely depraved?
Anybody confused about whether or not God chose a people and
actually saves those people? I don't believe I've ever preached
to you before, ever. You heard that, didn't you? How come? Because
I intended for him to understand it. I didn't speak it in such
a way, he might say, well, you know, I don't know whether Brother
Don believes that or not, let's go ask him. You see, when preachers
preach in such a way, well, I wonder what he's, I wonder if he really
believes this. That's because he wants you to
wonder. That's because he wants some wiggle room. He wants a
way out. Either that or he doesn't know what he's talking about.
Either way, he's got no business preaching. Our Lord taught us
to preach God's word, God's truth, God's gospel so plainly that
it could not be mistaken. So that it could not be mistaken.
I can't make everybody I preach to believe the gospel. I can't
make anyone believe it. But I did sure make you understand
what I'm saying. I make you understand what I'm
saying. And that's our responsibility, by the way. Declare God's truth
and don't take the pointed edges off, sharpen them. Sharpen them. Well, it's so offensive. That's the reason to sharpen
them. That's the reason to sharpen them. Men who are offended must
be made to bow or perish. One of the two. Our Lord Jesus
shows us in all things his exemplary conduct in his condescension.
There's a fourth thing here. I dare not ignore the fact that
the Holy Spirit sets before us here an undeniable display of
the abiding sin that's found in God's people in every true
believer for as long as we live in this world. Brother Don Carpenter, you're
about as old as anybody here. It doesn't get better, does it?
The sin The corruption, the vileness is just as great as ever it's
been right now. It was true of Peter, and it's
true of you, and it's true of me. But doesn't God make us new
creatures? He sure does. But it doesn't
change that old creature. Not until Resurrection Day. Peter
is here that strong faithful believing man forsakes his master
and acts like a reprobate wretch there he is running away when
he ought to have stood firm ashamed to own his Lord when he ought
to have confessed it boldly denying him cussing and swearing I don't
know him. And all of this takes place just one day after the Lord instituted
the Lord's Supper. He ate bread and wine with them.
Just a few hours after he heard the Lord's last discourse, John
13, 14, 15, 16. Just a little while after he
heard our master pray that great high priestly prayer. All this
takes place then. And it all took place when Peter had nothing to gain
by it. There's no way to explain why
he did what he did. No way under the sun to explain
why he did what he did, except the Lord God Almighty was determined
to sift him and make him understand Peter's nothing. Christ is everything. Our acceptance with God is not
in what we do, but what Christ has done. Our security is not
in our mighty hold on our God, but in His mighty hold on us. We're kept by the power of God
through faith that God gives and God sustains. Sage sinners
are sinners still. Our only righteousness is Christ
our Redeemer, His blood, His obedience, His righteousness,
His intercession. Salvation is by grace alone. So let me give you this one last
thing. Here we see again where sin abounded, grace did much
more abound. Peter truly loved the Lord Jesus,
though he often acted otherwise. So it is with you and me. Peter denied the Lord Jesus three
times, but the Savior never has denied Peter. So it is with you
and with me. And at the appointed hour, the
Lord Jesus restored Peter by his grace. Otherwise Peter would never have
come back. So it is with you and with me. One of my favorite texts in scripture
is Mark 16 verse 7. Remember the angels are at the
tomb. The ladies are at the tomb and
the angel meets them there and says, go tell my disciples. I'll meet them. In Galilee, like
I said, I would. And I can see those two ladies
walking away. Be sure you tell Peter, too. Be sure you tell Peter! Nothing
has changed. Everything's all right. Everything's
all right. You see, God's grace is free. And God's grace is immutable. You didn't do anything to get
it. And bless God, you can't destroy it. You can't destroy it. Oh, brother
Don, you don't dare tell people that. Well, let me see if I can
say that another way. You didn't do anything to get
it. And bless God, you can't destroy it. Grace never changes. He says, I am the Lord. I change
not. Therefore, you sons of Jacob
are not consumed. Oh, Brother Dodd, is it possible
really for sinners to have such free forgiveness, such complete,
total deliverance? Every sinner who comes to God
by faith in Christ is forgiven freely, fully, and forever right
now. The Savior says, him that cometh
to me, I will in no wise cast out. How do I come? Any way you can get to him, be
all right. I don't have faith enough, that's
not what he said. I've not repented enough, that's not what he said.
I'm not sorry enough, that's not what he said. I don't feel enough,
that's not what he said. He said, come to me. Him that
cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast out. Do you mean, Brother
Don, it's not possible for a guilty, hell-deserving wretch like me,
it's not possible for me to come to Christ and perish still? It's not possible. It's not possible. He that believeth on the Son
of God hath everlasting life. Your coming is but the evidence
and the declaration that He's already given you His free grace. Oh, God help you then. Believe
on the Son of God right where you are Without closing your
eyes or bowing your head or moving a muscle, without saying a prayer,
can you believe on the Son of God? I do believe Him. I have everlasting
life. God's forgiven all my sin, and
He will never charge me with sin. Oh, what a God. What grace. What mercy. May God make it yours for Christ's
sake. Amen. Brother Chris, will you pray
for us please? He's gone. Tony, pray for us
please.