Let's take our Bibles now and
turn to John chapter 18. John chapter 18. I realize I'm
spending a lot of time on a few verses of Scripture here, but
when it comes to the cross and the things that lead up to the
cross, there's nothing in here that's just insignificant. Everything about this is significant. So let's read here beginning
with verse 2. And Judas also, which betrayed
him, knew the place. For Jesus oft times resorted
thither with his disciples. 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, Whom seek ye? They answered him, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus saith unto them, I am he. And Judas also, which betrayed
him, stood with them. As soon then as he had said unto
them, I am he, they went backwards. and fell to the ground. Then
asked he them again, Whom seek ye? And they said, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus answered, I have told you
that I am he. If therefore you seek me, let
these go their way, that the saying might be fulfilled which
he spake of them Which Thou gavest me, have I lost none." Now, for
several Sundays we've been looking at the things leading up to the
cross. There are several chapters here
just filled with comforting promises and words of comfort and assurance. Our Lord's about to leave His
disciples and do what He came into this world to do, accomplish
the will of God. But He will not go until He's
giving confidence and assurance and comforting words to His disciples.
And we've got all of those chapters that leads up. And then His high
priestly prayer in John chapter 17. What a comfort that is. It's
like listening in on a heavenly conversation. The Son, the appointed
one, the mediator, speaking with the Father, interceding on our
behalf. And He does so in such a way
that He not only allowed His disciples to hear it, but He
preserved it in the Scriptures for all to read and find comfort
in. And then we talked about the
crossing of the brook and the betrayal of Judas and our Lord's
agonizing prayers in Gethsemane. I don't think we talked much
about this, but while all this was going on, there were sleeping
disciples. That's a subject for you to consider
for a little while. Sleeping disciples, they were
asleep. And he came back and woke them up, and he said, can
you not stay awake even for an hour? And he went back and began
to agonize in prayer, and again they went to sleep. Finally,
he told them to just sleep on. Now an angry mob comes with spears
and torches. One writer said it was half an
army that came, according to the historical writers, a half
an army, torches and spears and staves and you can almost picture
it at night with lanterns and rushing up on them there in the
garden with those just eleven disciples and a man who, and
none of them known for being rowdy or rough. And here comes
a half an army to get them. He crosses that brook, betrayed
by Judas. This mob comes to get him with
torches. As though torches could have
made a difference if he did not want to go. And this, I believe,
is what he's demonstrating when they come to him. He said, Whom
seek ye? They said, Jesus of Nazareth.
Now, I want you to look in your Bibles at what he told them. He says, I am he, but look at
that he. That he's not in the original.
That he was added by the translators. You see it in italics? Just lift
that he out. He meant to say, he didn't stop
with half a sentence. What he meant to tell them was
something that they well knew. He said, I am. And they fell
backward on the ground. And he says it three times to
them. I, I, and that's what I want to talk to you for a little while
about this morning. The cross was not just a place
of his death. Yes, he died on the cross. Yes,
he did. But it wasn't just the place
of his death. People spend fortunes to go over
to what they call the holy lands to see the place where Christ
died. When he talks about the cross,
he's not talking about the place where he died. I know that there
is some significance to it as it concerns fulfilling the scriptures
and so on. Maybe one day we'll find out
even more about the significance of that place. But when he's
talking about the cross here in the scriptures, he's not talking
about just the place where he died. And he's not just talking
about the means by which he died. Yes, he was nailed to a Roman
tree, a cross. And he was taken out between
two malefactors and crucified out on Galgotha's Hill. All of
those things are true. But to understand the cross,
you must know to some degree who ordained it, who appointed
Christ to it. It's very obvious. He's making
it very obvious for all who study this, for all who consider this.
to see that he wasn't taken altogether by the will of man with just
a word, just an answer. Half an army was thrown back
on their back just from his voice. So what's that all about? He's telling them, what you're
doing, I'm allowing you to do. That's what he's telling them,
because I'm God. This thing's being done according
to the purpose of God. This is God that you've come
to get. This is the God-man. This is not just a man. We've
got to understand to some degree who appointed Christ to this
cross and why He must bear it, and who He is that's being nailed
to it, and what's purchased by it, and what's declared by it.
We've got to enter in and understand something about the the potential
of this cross. What did it accomplish? Did it
accomplish anything? What was the success of it? Brother
Winston quoted something last week that he'd read in a book
to me. And this is the statement that he made. There is an order
to the cross. And that's what we need to look
at this morning. There is an order to these things.
These things didn't just happen. These are not just random things
going on here. Everything here had an order.
And it was all laid out throughout the Old Testament. Even the words
that he cried out on the cross foretold a thousand years before
he came. And there's nothing insignificant
about the cross either before, during, or after his death. I
don't know if you realize it or not, but the cross is sometimes
used to describe the whole gospel that we preach. Did you know
that? The cross. Paul said to the church
at Corinth, Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the
gospel. Not with wisdom of words, lest
the cross of Christ be made of none effect. Well, the preaching
of the cross. You see, the cross is where the
offense of this thing is. The cross is where the, it's where the whole of this
thing, this is the heart of what it is that we're preaching here
is in the cross. It wasn't just preaching a Messiah. All of Israel believed in a Messiah. They didn't understand what the
Messiah was all about. They didn't understand what the
Christ was all about. And the cross is what reveals
it. For the preaching of the cross,
he said, is to them that perish foolishness, but unto us which
are saved it is the power of God." And then over in Galatians
chapter 6 he said this, having laid out to them in these previous
five chapters what this gospel is, he comes down in chapter
6 and he says this, but God forbid that I should glory save in the
cross. In the cross. the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ
by whom the world is crucified unto me and I unto the world. And it is by way of the cross
that God reconciles both Jew and Gentiles. That's what He
says in Ephesians chapter 2. And He tells us it was accomplished
in one body by the cross. And then in Hebrews chapter 12
verse 2, He says, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher
of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured
the cross, despised the shame, and is set down at the right
hand of the throne of God. So let's look at a few things.
How must He go to this cross? How must He go? It's obvious
to me that it's very important. So how must He go? When we look
at Him, what do we see? What do we see going on as He
goes to the cross? We've been studying these things.
We've been looking at these comforting words that He says to His disciples.
We've been looking at His high priestly prayer, the significance
of this brook. Everything in creation has its
significance. God made that little brook, rained
on that hill, drained down that slope, come down there and made
this little dark brook that run down through there for one purpose.
to illustrate what's going on when our Lord crosses it and
goes to that garden. That was its main function. It sat there for thousands of
years. People crossed it and played
in it and done everything in the world in that little brook
and didn't know what it was there for. And someday we'll find out
the same thing about places and things and all these things where
we've been. But what do we see when we see
this? What do we see going on when he goes to the cross? Well,
the first thing I see here is I see this is of the sovereign
God. This is somebody appointed to
this business. This is not somebody that men
can just come and grab and drag over here. If he don't want to
go, you ain't going to take him. You're not going to take him.
He must go there as one appointed of God. And from the very dawn
of man's existence on this earth, God foretold the coming of Christ.
His promises were given by God. Man didn't dream this thing up.
Peter said, we've not followed cunningly devised fables. God
set this gospel forth. He set it forth in the garden.
And all down through time, he's maintained this thing from the
beginning of creation. God told Adam about the seed
of the woman. He told Abel concerning the lamb.
He told Noah to build an ark. told Abraham that he'd provide
himself a lamb for a burnt offering. And God told Moses, He said,
take that lamb of the first year and pin him up and scrutinize
him. And on a certain day, you take him and you roast him. You kill him. You take some hyssop
and you take that blood and strike it on both sides of the door
and across the linen. And then you roast his body whole
and you eat it all. You eat every bit of it. And
he said, I'm going to pass through Egypt. The destroyer is coming
through. And when he comes through, when I see the blood, he said,
I'll pass over you. God sent forth this gospel. And there was never any kind
of option concerning the lamb. It was the lamb or death. Go
through the Scriptures. There's no kind of option here.
It's the lamb or bondage. It's the lamb or curse. It's
the lamb or the destroyer. It's not just the lamb, it's
the lamb or else. That's what God said. Here's
the lamb. What I'm trying to point out
to you is there's no option about this thing. This thing's ordained
of God. This man is appointed of God.
And it's been established from the beginning. It's not something
being made up here as a reaction to to the Jews because they didn't
do what they were supposed to do. This thing had been this
way from the beginning. Jesus Christ was singled out by John the Baptist, foretold
in the scriptures as the herald of Christ. Now here he stands. People coming up and down this
little path. All of a sudden he sees one.
And just as God revealed to him, that dove coming down, descending
on him. He said, there's the Lamb, right
there. There's the Lamb. There's the Lamb. He said, I
came down from heaven not to do my own will, but the will
of Him that sent me. And this is the will of Him that
sent me, that of all which He hath given me, I should lose
nothing, but raise it up at the last day. The cross he goes to
is the very cup, he said, given him of the pot. Given to him
to drink, and drink it he must, because it's purposed of God
for him to drink it. He's going to let us know that.
He's going to let us know that. the difference between the things
of God and religion. I'm always trying to point these
things out to you. I want you to look. Just look at it and
see. See if I'm telling you the truth. Look at the scriptures
and look at what's going on around you. Everything that religion
brings about, it makes happen. It makes it happen. They sit
down and they plan it, and they scheme it, and they say, here's
what we're going to do, and they go and do it, and whatever their
end is, whatever their goal is, that's exactly what comes to
pass. It's not that way with God. God says, here's the way it's
going to be, and that's the way it is. And it always happens
in the last, the least way that you'd think it could ever be
brought to pass. That's the way God does it. And
he does it that way so that you know that it's of God. That's
what he tells you. He says, I declare the end from
the beginning. I'm not like you. I don't have
to wait until it happens to know what's going on. I declare the
end from the beginning. And from ancient times, the things
that are not yet done say, my counsel shall stand. I'll do
all my pleasure. And he does it. He does it. Our Lord goes to the cross. He
goes to the cross as one appointed of God. And then secondly, the
Lord Jesus Christ must go to the cross because the cross is
the only way God can save sinners and still be God. There is no
other way. There's no other way. I mean,
think of how many people have died, and their death did nothing
to atone for sin. Think of the countless millions
and billions of people from the beginning of time that's died
because of sin. And their death has done absolutely
nothing to atone for sin. Nobody's death, not all the lambs
and bulls and goats. He says in Hebrews chapter 9,
those things can never take away sin. He never had any pleasure
in them. Ain't that what He said? He said
that thou wouldest not. Had no pleasure therein. Not the blood of bulls and goats,
but by His own blood He entered in one time into the holy place,
having obtained eternal redemption for us. There is no other way. God cannot simply forgive sin. To forgive sin necessitates redemption. Redemption means to buy back,
to purchase, to pay. And the cross is the only way
that will justify God in His justification of men. Listen
to Romans 3, 24. Being justified freely by His
grace through the redemption. You see that? through the redemption. Well, I'm justified by grace. You sure are. But not apart from
redemption. You see what I'm saying? Not
apart from that price. Not apart from that purchase.
You can talk about justification all day long, but you're not
justified apart from that blood. Whom God set forth to be a propitiation,
a mercy seat, the way to God, the way to worship, the way of
sanctification through faith in His blood. God set Him forth
as a propitiation through faith in His blood, sacrificial blood by His death. And to what end? For what reason? God said it
was to declare His righteousness. He said, that's why I did it.
I want you to know that when I justify that guilty sinner
down there, when I justify that man who all his life has been
a rebel, he's just like this one that I didn't justify. Looks
just like him, acts just like him, born with the same curse.
They're two peas in a pod. But the difference is, I bought
this one. I bought this one. So I want
you to know that I'm just when I justify him. I'm just when
I send the Holy Spirit and send a preacher to cross His path
and cause that gospel to be effectual in His heart. I want you to know
that I'm just in doing it, and I'm just in not sending it to
Him. He bought the right. That's what the Scripture says.
To this end, Christ came, He died, and was raised from the
dead, that He might be Lord of what? The dead and the living. Ain't that what it says? That's
right. He purchased the whole shooting
match and he can do what he wants to with it. Do what he wants
to. And then thirdly, Christ must
go to the cross because our sins have been laid to His charge. He's been charged with them.
Charged with them. How can that be? It says the
Lord hath laid on Him. Who did? The Lord did. laid on Him the iniquity of us
all. Huh? Ain't that what it says?
The Lord did. And He agreed to that task when
He undertook to be our surety before the world began. Listen
to this scripture. God was in Christ reconciling
the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them, not
charging their trespasses unto them. He was the lamb slain, it says,
before the foundation of the world. Listen to this scripture. This is back a little bit in
the book of John, back to John chapter 12. He said, now is my
soul troubled, and what shall I say? Father, save me from this
hour. But for this cause came I unto
this hour. I was sent here to do this. That's
why I'm here. Sacrifice and offering thou wouldst
not, but a body, he said, thou hast prepared me." He prepared
him a body to go to this cross. Listen again closely to the language
of Scripture over in Galatians chapter 3 verse 16. Now to Abraham
and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, and to seeds
as of many, but as of one unto thy seed, which is Christ." And
this I say. Here's what I've got to say about
that, Paul said. That the covenant that was confirmed
before of God in Christ. Huh? Before Abraham? Oh yeah. Ain't that what he told them
Jews? Before Abraham was, I am. Ain't that what he's telling
that little ragtag bunch of Warriors coming after him with staves
and spears in their hands. He's saying, I am. That covenant that was confirmed
before of God in Christ, the law, which was 430 years after,
cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect.
Everything that God promised to Abraham and swore by oath
to give him was confirmed before of God in Christ. It was made
sure. Now, there's only one way for
the surety to make something sure. It's by his blood, by his
death. And he agreed to the task. When
did he do it? Long before Abraham came along.
Long before Adam came along. All right? Fourthly, Christ must
go to the cross to expose God's utter hatred for sin. He told Israel, he said, I've
sent you pestilence and I've sent you curse after curse after
curse after curse. I've killed hundreds of thousands
of you and I've sent drought and plagues and famine and all
these things to you." He hadn't moved you at all. He had not
been moved. God come along and destroyed
this whole world except for seven. The whole world destroyed with
a flood. Don't look to me like it convinced
anybody of their sin. Huh? As soon as the ark landed,
sin was manifest, wasn't it? As soon as it landed. Didn't
convince anybody of sin. But He convinces of sin. Why? On that cross. You want to learn
something about sin, look at that cross. See who's dying on
that cross. How bad, how evil, how exceedingly
sinful is sin. It'll nail the Son of God on
a cross. That's what it'll do. Holy, harmless, undefiled. You
can't find any reason. He didn't start any trouble.
He didn't make any trouble. He didn't do anything to deserve
to be there. But our sins is on Him. You want
to know something about sin, there it is. There it is. If there were any place in the character
of God that could tolerate sin, overlook sin, Let sin slide. That's what they're talking about.
A fellow used to take a racer and come over on a little blackboard
and race it off. He had some little numbers on
there and he raced them off. So that's how God forgives sin.
That's not how God forgives sin. Sin has to be paid for and it's
paid for in that man dying on that cross. It has to be paid
for. That's where you learn about
sin. And if there's any place, any place in the character of
God, Well, you're talking about God's wrath. I'm talking about
His love. If there was any place in the love of God, the mercy
of God, the grace of God, you go through the character, any
part of His character, any place in the character of God that
could tolerate sin, overlook sin, let sin slide, surely He'd
manifest it toward His Son. But He didn't. It said, God spared
not His Son. God tells me that He's not going
to spare anybody. He's not going to spare anybody. There on that cross, He exposed
it, He judged it, and He put it away. And then fifthly, Christ
must go to the cross because the cross is to be His greatest
manifestation of love. Christ died while we were yet
sinners. Ain't that what that says? Why
did He do that? to manifest His love. Here in His love, He said, not
that we loved Him, but that He loved us and sent His Son to
be the propitiation for our sins. He who goes to the cross is he
that is sent to the cross, and he that is sent goes willingly. He said, I am. And the whole
outfit fell back on the ground. Judas, too. It makes that perfectly
clear, don't it? And Judas, too, stood in the
company. He let you know that before they
fell back on the ground. Sitting there on the ground with
her spears and staves in her hand, and here's this man in
a shepherd's robe standing there. He said, now who do you seek? and sitting on the ground in
the mud with their torches and lanterns, they said, Jesus of
Nazareth. He said, I'm healed. I'm healed. And so they take him. They take
him. But he makes it known that he
goes willingly. He said, I lay down my life.
No man taketh it from me. He said, but I lay it down willingly. with them. And then he tells
them this. He said, if you seek me, then
you let them go. Now you and I both know that
this little ragtag bunch of Jews and Roman soldiers didn't have
any power over the Son of God, except it were given them. Except it were given them. They
didn't have any power over Him. And so he By commandment, He
tells them, He said, if you seek Me, then you let these go, because
you can't have Me and them. You take Me. You take Me. This is the God-man, the one
mediator between God and men, and he goes to the cross of his
own accord. The life he lays down is a life
that's required of God. in the everlasting covenant of
grace, ordered in all things and sure. And to mediate this
covenant and bless the whole house of Israel, to mediate this
covenant and bring to pass what was given Him and put into His
trust, to mediate the covenant which God has sworn by Himself
to uphold, Christ must go to the cross. But before he goes, he's going
to let you know this. No mortal's going to make me
go. I'll go on my own. And then when
Peter, at the end of this time, I'm going to just have to let
the rest of it go. But Peter, at the end of his time, when
all these things were done and Christ had rose from the dead
and he ascended into heaven and they went to Jerusalem and the
Holy Spirit fell on them and they began to realize what was
going on. First thing Peter told those Jews, he said, yeah, he
said Pilate and Herod and all the people joined together with
the Gentiles. Everybody's in on it. Everybody's
fingers in on this. He said, you all joined together
and did exactly what God determined before to be done. And that's
what Christ is manifesting here in these verses. I'll go, but
I'm going willingly. And I'll have you to know, you
that take I'm going to have you know something. I'm going on
my own accord. And if I didn't want to go, you
couldn't take me. You couldn't take me.