The scripture says that God is
spirit. And the blood that flowed from
the veins of the Lord Jesus Christ is the blood of God. That's an awesome thought, isn't
it? Feed the church of God, which
he purchased with his own blood. Turn to John chapter 18 once
again, please. After the Lord's great high priestly
prayer for his people, he brings his disciples to the garden of
Gethsemane. His hour has come, and this was
a place where he spent a lot of time with his disciples. Look
in verses 1 and 2. When Jesus had spoken these words,
talking about this glorious message that he gave in John chapter
13 through 16, and then this prayer in chapter 17, he went
forth with his disciples over the brook Kidron, where was a
garden into the which he entered in his disciples. And Judas also,
which betrayed him, knew the place. For Jesus oft times resorted
thither with his disciples." John's gospel does not give us
much detail regarding Gethsemane, but I would like us to read what
Matthew has to say in Matthew chapter 26, if you turn there. Matthew chapter 26, beginning
in verse 36. Then cometh Jesus with them unto
a place called Gethsemane. An oil press is what the word
means, where something is crushed. And saith unto the disciples,
sit ye here while I go and pray yonder. And he took with him
Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and
very heavy." Now, this is the Son of God. He began to be sorrowful
and very heavy. Then saith He unto them, My soul
is exceeding sorrowful even unto death, tarry ye here, and watch
with me.' And he went a little further, and fell on his face,
and prayed, saying, O my father, if it be possible, let this cup
pass from me." Now remember that passage I just read? The cup
which my father hath given me, shall I not drink it? Here he
is in Gethsemane's garden saying, if it be possible, let this cup
pass from me nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt.
And he cometh under the disciples and findeth them asleep. and
saith unto Peter, What? Could you not watch with me one
hour? Watch and pray that you enter
not into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing,
but the flesh is weak. He went away again the second
time and prayed, saying, O my father, if this cup may not pass
away from me except I drink it, thy will be done. And he came
and found them asleep again, for their eyes were heavy. And
he left them and went away again and prayed the third time, saying
the same words, Then cometh he to his disciples and saith unto
them, sleep on now and take your rest. Behold, the hour's at hand
and the son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise,
let us be going. Behold, he is at hand that doth
betray me. And while he yet spake, lo Judas. One of the 12 came and with him
a great multitude with swords and staves from the chief priests
and elders of the people. Now he that betrayed him gave
them a sign, saying, Whomsoever I shall kiss, the same as he,
hold him fast. And forthwith he came to Jesus
and said, Hail, master, and kissed him. Jesus said unto him, Friend, wherefore art thou come? Then
came they and laid hands on Jesus and took him. And behold, one
of them which were with Jesus stretched out his hand and drew
his sword and struck a servant of the high priest and smote
off his ear. Now, evidently he was intending to cut off his
head and he ducked and the ear came off. Verse 52, then said Jesus unto
him, put up again thy sword into his place. For all they that
take the sword shall perish with the sword. Thinkest thou that
I cannot now pray to my father, and he shall presently give me
more than 12 legions of angels? But how shall the scriptures
be fulfilled that thus it must be? In that same hour said Jesus
to the multitudes, are you come out against a thief with swords
and staves for to take me? I sat daily with you teaching
in the temple and you laid no hands on me, but all this was
done. that the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled,
then all the disciples forsook him and fled." Gethsemane. Mark, at this time, says that
he was sore amazed and very happy. terrified. Now, this is the Son
of God. This is the Creator of the universe,
sore amazed and very heavy. Luke says, being in agony, He
prayed more earnestly. Now, how in the world can the
Son of God pray more earnestly? But He does. And the scripture
says, and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling
down to the ground. While he was praying at this
time, blood forced itself out his pores. He was under such
stress and such sore amazement. The Son of God. You see, his
suffering had begun at this time. This suffering had begun before
he was nailed to the cross. but the thought of what he was
getting ready to go through. Turn back to John 18. Now, the Lord is in Gethsemane
with His disciples. Verse 3, Judas then, having received a
band of men and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees
come a thither with lanterns and torches and weapons, Jesus
therefore knowing all things that should come upon him. None
of this took him by surprise. You see, everything that happened
was what he ordained to happen and what he was in control of.
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. Now you'll notice the he is in
italics. It was placed there by the translators.
Not really there. He didn't say, I am he. He said,
I am. Whose name is that? You remember
there in Exodus chapter three, when Moses said to the Lord,
after the Lord told him to go to the children of Israel, he
said, what am I going to tell them your name is? He said, I
am that I am. Tell them, I am hath sent thee. Jehovah, the self-existent one. I am. That's who God is. I am. Not I was, not I could be, not
I should be, not I want to be, not I will be, but I am that
I am. That's who God is. That's his
name. I am holy. I am sovereign, in
control of all things. I am immutable. I am utterly
just. I am all-wise. I am all-powerful. I am that I am. His name is a declaration of
his isness. He that cometh to God must believe
that he is. He is as he says he is in his
word. These soldiers come up to the
Lord and he says, I am. Turn to John chapter six. He
said this several times. Verse 20 or verse 18, and the
sea arose by reason of a great wind that blew. So when they
had rowed about five and twenty or thirty furlongs, they see
Jesus walking on the sea and drawing nigh into the ship. And
they were afraid. And he saith unto them, It is
I. Now in the original that reads,
I am. I am. Be not afraid. Look at John chapter
eight, verse 23. And he said unto them,
ye are from beneath. I am from above. You are of this
world. I am not of this world. I said,
therefore, unto you that you shall die in your sins for if
you believe not that I am. You should die in your sins. What a horrible thought to die
in your sins. But he says, if you believe not
that I am, I am the eternal, omnipotent God, the creator of
the universe. I am. Look down in the same chapter,
verse 56. Let's start in verse 5, verse
54 rather. Jesus answered, if I honor myself,
my honor is nothing. It's my father that honors me
of whom you say that he's your God. Yet you've not known him,
but I know him. And if I should say I know him
not, I'd be a liar like you, but I know him. And keep his
saying, your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day. And he saw it,
and was glad. Then said the Jews unto him,
Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham?
Jesus saith unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before
Abraham was, I am. That is God the Son, the Eternal
I Am. Let's go back to our text in
John chapter 18. Verse 5, they answered him, Jesus
of Nazareth. That's who we're seeking. Jesus
saith unto them, I am. And Judas also, which betrayed
him, stood with him. And as soon as he had said unto
them, I am, a miracle took place. They went They got knocked backward
by almighty, invincible power. This wasn't just, I mean, the
force of His words, I am. They went backwards and fell
to the ground. There are three things we see
from this. He is, I am. The eternal, uncreated, God of
glory in complete control. You see, he was no victim. When
they come to get him, he was no victim. His will was being
done. You know, when he was going to the cross and the daughters
of Jerusalem were weeping for him, all they felt so sorry for
him, poor Jesus. He said, daughters of Jerusalem,
weep not for me. I don't need your pity. You weep
for yourselves. He is the eternal I am. And look how freely He's doing
this. He was in control of every event,
yet He let them come and take Him. But He's going to let them
know who He is before He lets them take Him. He's going to
let them know. They're going to fall backwards to the ground. And they're going
to understand He's no victim. He's in control of this situation.
Verse 6. But soon then, as he said unto
them, I am, they went backward and fell to the ground. Then
asked he them again, Whom seek ye? I wonder what their voices
sounded like when they said, Jesus of Nazareth. Bet they couldn't hardly get
it out. Jesus of Nazareth. Verse eight. Jesus answered,
I've told you that I am. If therefore you seek me, let
these go their way. That is a command. The Lord only
speaks by command. He wasn't saying, y'all give
me a break. If you seek me, let these go their way. That the saying, verse nine,
might be fulfilled, which he spake of them, which thou gavest
me, Have I lost none? Look back in chapter 17, verse
12. While I was with them in the
world, I kept them in thy name. Those that thou gavest me, I've
kept. And none of them is lost but
the son of perdition that the scriptures might be fulfilled. Now, I see the gospel so clearly
in these verses. Verse 8 of John chapter 18 is
substitution. If therefore you seek me, let
these go their way. Verse 9 is salvation, that the
saying might be fulfilled which he spake, of them which thou
gavest me, I have lost nothing. Now he says to the law and justice
of God, you seek me, let these go their way. You seek Me. If my sin was laid upon Christ,
and if my sin became His, sin can't be in two places at once.
If my sin was laid upon Him, you know what? It's no longer
on me. I have no sin. Let these go their way. that the saying might be fulfilled
which you spake of them which thou gavest me have I lost none
now I'm gonna I don't know how many times I've said this but
I'm gonna say it again and maybe somebody will hear for the first
time that you listen to me real carefully when the Lord Jesus
came to walk on this earth, to keep the law, to die. He did
not do so as a representative of all men. He only came for
God's elect. He said, I pray for them. I pray
not for the world, but for them which you've given me." You remember
when that Syrophoenician woman came to him and she was asking
for mercy? He said, I've only come for the
lost sheep of the house of Israel. He didn't come for everybody.
He came only for his elect. He came to save them. And that's
exactly what he did. Turn back to John chapter 10. Verse 15, As the Father knoweth me, even
so know I the Father, and I lay down my life for the sheep. Is everybody sheep? No, there
are goats. He said, I lay down my life for
the sheep. Look in verse 24 of the same
chapter, Then came the Jews round about him, and said unto him,
How long dost thou make us to doubt? If thou be the Christ,
tell us plainly. Jesus answered them, I told you,
and you believe not. The works that I do in my Father's
name, they bear witness of me, but you believe not, because
you're not of my sheep. See, everybody's not a sheep.
You believe not because you're not of My sheep. As I said unto
you, My sheep, the ones I died for, they hear My voice. They hear My voice in the Gospel
and I know them. I love them and they shall follow Me. Now, some people call this particular
redemption. Some people call this limited
atonement, but what it is, is substitution. If he took my place,
I must go free. Let me repeat that. If he took
my place, I must go free. This is what our Lord did on
Calvary's tree. When he was dying on Calvary's tree, my sin became
his. He took my place, He paid for
my sin, His righteousness is given to me, and now I stand
before God without guilt. Those thou gavest me, I have
lost none." Now, if Jesus Christ could die for somebody's sins
and want to save them, and if they ended up being lost, He's
a failure. Write that down. If he could
intend to save somebody and want to save somebody and pay for
their sins, and they end up being lost, he is a failure, and salvation
is not in what he does, but in what you do. If Jesus Christ
died for all men the same, and some of those men are saved and
some of them are lost, that means his blood does not save. Salvation
is dependent upon what man does. That is salvation by works. Nothing
more. Salvation by works. Now here's
the gospel. Of those thou gavest me, I have
lost none. That's the gospel. If Christ
bore my sins, they're not on me. They're on Him. He put them away. Back to our
text in John 18. Verse 8, Jesus answered, I've
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? Then Simon
Peter, having a sword, drew it and smote the high priest's servant
and cut off his right ear. The servant's name was Malchus. Peter's trying to help out, so
he cuts off his ear, and we know from the other accounts that
the Lord healed that servant's ear. You see, this must be verse
11, then said Peter, Jesus unto Peter, put up thy sword into
thy sheep, the cup which my father hath given me, shall I not drink
it? Now, if you'll remember reading
that passage in Matthew chapter 26, he said, Oh, Father, if it
be possible, let this cup pass from me. Now, the Lord knew it wasn't
possible. But he was so overcome. Knowing the cup that he was getting
ready to drink. If it be possible, let this cup
pass from me." Now, is it possible? No. No. Because it was ordained
by God. Remember how the Scripture says
He's the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world? God
purposed it. And all that He purposed in eternity
must take place in time. It must. For somebody like me
to be... He agreed to be my surety. He
agreed to be my substitute. He agreed to be my Savior. For
me to be saved, He had to drink this cup. No, it's not possible
for this cup to pass away. He says, if it's not possible,
not my will but Thine be done. And so now He says, the cup which
my Father hath given me to drink, shall I not drink it? Now who
gave him this cup? His father did. His father gave
him this cup. It was the will of God being
done. Hold your finger there and turn
to Acts chapter 4. Verse 27. Verse 26, the kings of the earth
stood up and the rulers were gathered together against the
Lord and against his Christ for of a truth against the holy child
Jesus whom thou has anointed both Herod and Pontius Pilate
with the Gentiles of the people of Israel were gathered together
for to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before
to be done. What was going on? God's will. God the Father gave him this
cup to drink. Now turn back to Isaiah 53. What
is this cup? This cup is the wrath of God
against sin. Now turn with me to Isaiah 53,
that great chapter regarding what our Lord accomplished on
the cross. Beginning in verse 4. Surely He hath borne our griefs,
and carried our sorrows. Yet we did esteem Him stricken
and smitten of God and afflicted, but He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace
was upon Him, and with His stripes we are healed." Look at this
confession of sin. All we like sheep have gone astray.
We've turned everyone to his own way, and the Lord hath laid
on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, he was afflicted,
yet he opened not his mouth. Why? Because he was guilty. He
didn't try to defend himself because he's guilty. When my
sin became his, he was guilty of it. He's brought as a lamb
to the slaughter and as a sheep before his shearers is done,
so open not he his mouth. He was taken from prison and
from judgment. And who shall declare his generation?
For he was cut off out of the land of the living. For the transgression
of my people was he stricken. And he made his grave with the
wicked and with the rich in his death, because he had done no
violence. Neither was any deceit in his mouth yet. It pleased
the Lord to bruise him. He hath put him to grief when
thou shalt make his soul offering for sin. Now see that word offering
for sin? Hold your finger there in Isaiah
53 and turn with me to Proverbs chapter 14. Proverbs chapter 14. Verse 9. Fools make a mock at
sin. That word sin is the same word
translated and offering for sin. It's translated that way several
times throughout the scriptures. Turn with me to Genesis 26. I want you to see this from the
word of God. Genesis 26. Verse 10, And Abimelech said,
What is this that thou hast done unto us? One of the people might
lightly have lied with thy wife, and thou shouldst have brought
guiltiness upon us. That is the same word translated,
a sin offering. When thou shalt make his soul
guiltiness. When thou shalt make his soul
sin. in answer to the great scripture
in 2 Corinthians 5.21, for he hath made him to be sin for us
who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of
God in him." Now, what was this cup he was drinking? It was the
wrath of his father, his righteous indignation, his hatred of sin. Here's the cup he was drinking.
Listen to this from Psalm 11.6. It's the cup that the wicked
must drink. Psalm 116, upon the wicked he shall reign snares,
fire and brimstone, and horrible tempest. This shall be the portion
of their cup. For the righteous Lord loveth
righteousness. His faith doth always behold
the upright. This cup he was drinking was
the cup of the wrath of God. against sin. God hates sin. All sin must be punished. God could not be God and just
sweep sin under the carpet. It must be punished. And when
our Lord is drinking this cup, that means He's drinking the
cup of God's wrath. Oh my, no wonder as He was in
the Garden of Gethsemane, He was sweating great drops of blood. He knew He was going to suffer
the full equivalence of hell. The cup which my father hath
given me, shall I not drink it? The scripture says who his own
self bear our sins in his own body on the tree. That's why he came to this earth
to drink this cup. This as the sin bearing substitute. He took, we just sang about it.
He took my sins and my sorrows. He made them his very own. He bore the burden to Calvary
and suffered and died alone. That's the cup his father gave
him to drink. And all that's associated with
sin, I don't understand this, But he felt the guilt and the
shame of the sin before his father. Now, he never committed sin.
He's the only man to never sin. But he experienced all the guilt
and all the humiliation and all of the shame of sin so that he
was made to cry out, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken
me? He was forsaken by his father. His father won't have anything
to do with sin. That's why he was forsaken. And
he did all this alone, nothing but his father's awful frown. All of his disciples had forsaken
him and fled. They weren't saying, we know
you're doing this for us. No, they got out of there. He was
all alone. He by himself purged our sins. All alone, yet he was not alone. Now let me show you this in the
Scriptures. Turn with me to Matthew chapter 20. Matthew chapter 20, "...then came to him," verse
20, Matthew chapter 20, verse 20, "...then came to him the
mother of Zebedee's children with their sons, worshiping him.
and desiring a certain thing of him. And he said unto her,
what wilt thou? She saith unto him, grant that
these my two sons may sit, the one on thy right hand and the
other on thy left in thy kingdom. And I, you know, when I read
this passage of scripture, I can't help thinking of my mom. I guarantee
she'd do the same thing. Grant that Todd may sit at your
right hand. That's mothers. But Jesus answered
and said, you know, not what you ask. Are you able to drink of the
cup that I shall drink of? And to be baptized with the baptism
that I'm baptized with?" He's talking about being totally submerged
under the wrath of God. And listen to their answer. This
is James and John. They said unto him, we're up
to the task. We're able. We can do it. How could they say something
that stupid? Of course they're not able. They're weak, sinful
men. And yet they say, we're able.
We're able to do this. We're able to stand up before
this. And look how our Lord replies to them. He said unto them, you
shall drink indeed of my cup and be baptized with the baptism
that I am baptized with. He said it's going to happen.
How? Because when Jesus Christ drunk
this cup of wrath, I did too. It was for my sins that became
His that He did it for. I was with Him on the cross.
Really, I was right there. When He kept the law, I did too. When he died, I did too. When
he was submerged under the wrath of God, drinking the cup of God's
wrath, I was too. I indeed, the Lord, I love the
way the Lord says indeed. You shall indeed drink of the
cup that I drink of and be baptized with the baptism I'm baptized.
It really happened. Now he drank this cup of God's
wrath completely dry. And you know what that means?
There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus. No condemnation now, I dread. I am my Lord's and He is mine,
alive in Him, my living head, and clothed in righteousness
divine. No condemnation. He drank that cup dry. And everybody that he died for,
they were right with him on the tree. He drank it dry. The cup which my father hath
given me to drink, shall I not drink it? Now there's no wrath
left. Everybody he drank this cup for
is now the very righteousness of God. If you seek me, if you
seek me, let these go their way. Now, here's what I want to close
with. I understand that if Jesus Christ,
the Lord, died for me, my salvation is an utter necessity. Do you understand that? If Christ
died for you, you must be saved. And I also understand that He
did not die for everybody. He only died for the elect. He
didn't die for every son of Adam. I understand that. It's what
the Scripture actually teaches. And there's not one Scripture
that even implies anything different if you look at it in its context.
Christ Jesus died for His elect and anybody He died for must
be saved. Now here's the big question. How can I know if He
died for me? How can I know if I'm one of
those people for whom He died? How can I know He saved me? Turn with me to Romans chapter
10. Romans chapter 10. Verse 6, "...but the righteousness which
is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not
in your heart who shall ascend into heaven, that is to bring
Christ down from above. Don't even say in your heart,
what can I do to get Him to save me? What can I do to get Him
to respond to me? Don't even say that. That's salvation
by works. Verse 7, or who shall descend
into the deep, that is to bring up Christ from the dead. Don't
say or think, what can I do to get what He did to work for me?
Just strike that from your thinking. Get rid of it. Don't say that.
Verse 8, But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in
thy mouth, and in thy heart, that is the word of faith which
we preach, that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord
Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God raised Him from
the dead, thou shalt be what? Saved. 4. With the heart man believeth
under righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made
unto salvation. Now listen to me right now. I'm
confessing with my mouth what I believe in my heart. Jesus
Christ is Lord. He is the dictator of the universe. He's the Lord. He controls all
things. I'm in His hands. You're in His
hands. He can do whatever He's pleased to do and whatever He
does is right. He's the Lord. He's the controller. He's the
sovereign dictator. He's the first cause behind everything.
He's the Lord. I'm confessing that with my mouth.
Jesus Christ is Lord. You believe that? He's the Lord. I believe the same thing that
thief did. Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom.
He's the Lord. I'm confessing that with my mouth.
Not only am I confessing with my mouth, I'm believing in my
heart. The heart is not just some kind
of ooey-gooey, that's the whole man, that's the understanding,
that's the affections, that's the will. I'm believing in my
heart that God raised him from the dead, not simply believing
in the fact of the resurrection, but knowing and believing that
he was raised from the dead because God accepted what he did. He
was raised from the dead because the debt was paid. My sin was
put away. I believe it with the heart man
believeth unto righteousness. I really believe that His righteousness
is the only righteousness and God is righteous in saving somebody
like me through the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm confessing
with my mouth He's Lord. I'm believing in my heart that
God raised Him from the dead. Do you confess that? Do you believe in your heart
that God raised him from the dead because he satisfied all
that God required. Do you believe that? If you do, he died for you. You have all the assurance you
need. He died for you, and your salvation
is an absolute necessity. The justice of God demands it. Aren't you thankful that he drank
of that cup? Oh, I wouldn't be saved if he
didn't. But thank God he drank that cup dry. And I'm set free. Let's pray.