John chapter 18. John chapter
18. I've enjoyed myself immensely
being here. Enjoy my accommodations. Enjoy your fellowship. Enjoy
how you've taken care of me. All the good food and all the
love and care that went into preparing it. And I often talk
about the Gospel. I tell the folks at home, you
know, we set the table. I remember one time I'll tell
you all this and get into my message. But years and years
ago, when I first hadn't been pastoring very long, I was bad
to get discouraged. Not just bad, real discouraged.
And I had a little old hosting calf, bottle calf. You ever seen
a bottle of cash where you feed them on the bottle and you raise
them up? Well, I'd be glad to go down there and feed that cash. But one Wednesday, I was so down,
so discouraged about how things were and nobody coming to services,
you know. Hard to get something to preach.
And I says to myself, I said, well, Lord, I'm not even going
to try to get anything to say tonight. I'll just go if anybody
shows up, I'll take it, play it by ear. So I started down
to the barn to feed that calf. On the way down there, boy, the
Lord slapped me right somewhere in the heart. He said, you're
going down there to feed one calf, and then you get discouraged
about feeding my sheep? And I talked last night about
Christ one after one. And I said, Lord, forgive me.
If there's one there, I'm going to have something to feed him.
And we set the table. With grace, righteousness, forgiveness,
justification, sovereignty, election. We set the table with the things
of God. The things of God. John 18. The title of my message this
evening, Glimpses in the Garden. I'm going to read these first
11 verses. When Jesus had spoken these words,
he went forth with his disciples over the brook Cedron, where
there was a garden, into which he entered with his disciples.
Judas also, which betrayed him, knew the place, for Jesus oftentimes
resorted there. 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. Our Lord therefore, knowing all things that should
come upon him, went forth and said unto them, Whom seek ye?
They answered him, Jesus of Nazareth. Our Lord hath said unto them,
I am. And Judas also, which betrayed him, stood with them. As soon
then as he had said unto them, I am, they went backward and
fell to the ground. Then asked he them again, Whom
seek ye? And they said, Jesus of Nazareth. Our Lord answered again and said,
I told you that I am. If therefore you seek me, let
these go their way, that the same might be fulfilled which
ye 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.
Then said Jesus unto Peter, Put up thy sword into the sheath.
The cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it? Shall I not drink it? In any
place you read in the Scriptures, in every situation and circumstance
in which our Lord Jesus was found, they were just revelations of
His character. So many revelations in any situation
you find Him. Anybody He's talking to, any
miracle He's performing, any word He says, any situation it
is. It's just a further revelation
of His blessed, blessed character, of His blessed person, of who
He is. And wherever he was and whatever
thing was going on, his unique personality could not be hid.
This couldn't hide it. If he saw a multitude hungry,
he looked at them as sheep without a shepherd and being moved with
compassion, he fed them. Whether it's 4,000, whether it's
5,000, he said, I'll feed you. I'll feed you. Moved with compassion,
sheep without a shepherd. When he heard the cry of a beggar
sitting by the wayside one time, Crying for mercy, our Lord Jesus
Christ stopped and gave that poor man sight. Oh, every way
you find Him. And, oh beloved, when He looked
on the fields, He see more than just flowers. He saw more than
just weeds. He said, and then He looked on
and He said, see those lilies out there? He said, they're beautiful. But Solomon in all of his glory
was not arrayed like these. Oh, Solomon had glory. The queen
of Sheba came all the way from the south to see and seize glory
to hear about his tales. But he said, Solomon is not dressed
like those there. My father dressed them. He gave
them the beauty. He gave them the color. He gave
them the smell. He gave them the fragrance. And
he said, whenever you think, what am I going to wear? He said,
you remember, if my father closed in, what in the world is he going
to do for you? What's he going to do for you? So you see, he
reveals the truth of God, but also the need of man. And as
you read the scriptures, and you hear his voice, we sing that
song, we hear his voice in every line. And you know, you read
the Scripture and you hear His voice, you begin to really see,
really see what a wonderful, wonderful Savior is Jesus our
Lord. What a blessed, wondrous character,
as we read the Scriptures, is opened up before our very eyes
to see this glorious person, this God-man, the Lord Jesus
Christ. And how many people saw Him that
never saw Him. How many people heard Him that
never heard Him. The people that watched Him were stood there
and saw Him raise Lazarus from the dead, where sooner or later
they stood at the cross and said, Crucify Him. Crucify Him. But here in these verses that
I read to you this evening, we see some glimpses, just some
glimpses of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ while He's
in the Garden of Gethsemane. And our Master, even in His earthly
weakness, We see such strength. We see such glory. We see such
power. So let's just look at just a
few things here and see just some glimpses of our Lord's wonderful
character. And maybe see some more revelations
of it. Look what it said here in verse
2. Excuse me, verse 1. Our Lord Jesus When he had spoken
these words, he went forth with his disciples over the brooks
of Cedron, which was a garden. Now, he's in the garden again
in a minute. That's where he's at. And he often resorted there
with his disciples. It's not the first time he's
been over there with them. It's not the first time he's entered
into that garden with the disciples. And yet, and that's why it says
there, Judas, which also betrayed him, he knew the place. He knew
exactly where Christ was going to be. Because he oftentimes
went over there with his disciples. And you know what our Lord went
over there to do? He went over there to pray. That was the place
where he went to pray. He often prayed there. And in
this particular place tonight where I read to you, he had already
went off and prayed three times before these men ever got here.
It already prayed three times. But this was a place where our
Lord Jesus Christ went to pray, to call on His Father. He not
only prayed, He not only possessed the spirit of prayer, but He
also had a place to pray. And that's one thing I think
every believer ought to have is a place to pray. Our Lord
set it in the closet. And I think we ought to have
a place where we get along with God. Do like our Master did.
Emulate Him in that sense. Get along and call on God. Desire
His presence. Open the Scriptures to me and
wisdom. If you ask for anything from
God, if you're His child, say, give me wisdom. I want wisdom. Give me some understanding of
your Word and wisdom to understand it and delight in it and rejoice
in it and explain it to others. Understanding of your character
and your nature. Understanding of the character
and nature of men. Understanding of your salvation
that's free and sovereign. Give me some understanding and
wisdom how to tell it. Oh my, and oh beloved, and all
of John 17 here is our Lord's prayer. And that's why I said
when He has spoken these words, spoken these words, then He says,
come on, come on. And Jesus said here, there in
verse 2, He said, and Judas which betrayed Him, Every time you
hear Judas' name mentioned, it's he betrayed Him. Judas Iscariot,
which betrayed Him. When you hear John's name mentioned,
it's always John, that disciple whom Jesus loved. But oh, what a solemn warning
for us. He knew the place where Christ was. What a solemn warning. He had been a companion of the
Lord Jesus Christ for three years. He had seen the miracles of our
blessed Redeemer. He heard the sermons of our Savior.
He heard Christ preach the Sermon on the Mount. He heard Christ preach time and
time again. He heard Him denounce the fire
season, the scribes. He heard Him talk about the last
days. He heard Him talk about oh so many things. Heard His
messages. Heard His private instruction
when He sat down and He talked to Him. professed himself to
be a believer, worked and preached in the Lord Jesus' name. And
it says, Judas, which had betrayed Him, knew the place. And how many have betrayed Him
who knew the place? How many have I known, Don, that
you know has betrayed Him? How many have walked away from
the Lord Jesus Christ? They knew the place where He
was, and yet walked away from Him. Lord, what is man that you're
mindful of Him? Or the Son of Man that you'd
visit Him? What is man that you'd have a thought towards Him? Oh,
if a man thinks he stands to take heed lest he fall, all it
takes to sink a ship is one little bitty hole. That's all it takes. And the very minute you think
you're standing, look out, you're on your way down. If a man thinks
himself to be something when he's nothing, he deceives himself. And oh beloved, old Scott Richardson
says, we're like a hole in a donut. What's in a hole of a donut?
Nothing. And when God saved us, He saved
nothing. And when he runs out of nothing, he'll make some more
nothing and save some more nothing. That's what I'm talking about.
What is man? If you think you stand, take
heed, lest you fall. And oh, listen. Look what it
says down there in verse 3. It says Judas took a band of
men with him. A whole band of men. He knew
where Christ was going to be. And watch what it says down there
in the last part of verse 5. And Judas... also which betrayed
Him, stood with them." Stood with who? Stood with those who
came to arrest the Lord Jesus Christ. Stood with Him when He
heard Him preach. Stood with Him when He's been
in there so many times. Been with Him. And now He stands
with the Lord's enemies. Take heed. Take heed. Listen
to me. Take heed. Don't do that. Oh, cast yourself
on Christ and say, I have no strength. People say, well, you
know, we all got a weakness and Christ will compensate for our
weakness. I'll tell you something. We have no strength whatsoever. We are nothing but weakness.
If many of you think you got any strength whatsoever outside
of Christ, you're in trouble. We have no strength. I had none
whatsoever. And people say, well, we need
to sneak up on their weak side, their back side, and all that.
There ain't nothing but weakness. That's why the Scripture says,
doubt my strength. When He's your strength, that
means you ain't got none. If He's your wrath, that means
you ain't got no place to hide but in Him. When you don't know nothing,
then He becomes everything. When you're empty, that's when
He fills you. When you're blind, say, Lord,
I don't see. Then He gives you sight. And
so, don't be like Judas. Don't betray him. Cast yourself
on him. Say, Lord, I'm afraid of myself. Of all the people I'm afraid
of, the one I'm afraid of more than anybody else is me. People
say, I'm worried about that fellow. I'm worried about me. I'm afraid
for me. How about me? That's it, you
know, there's a traitor in the castle. Born in me. Oh, what we think sometimes.
Oh, God help us. But oh, listen, he had this happen
in prayer, but Judas knew the place. Solemn warning. Look at
another thing about our Savior. There in verse 4. There's another
thing about His blessed character. He prayed. Oh, what a revelation. He prayed. And He took His disciples. Wouldn't you love to hear the
Savior pray? When He prayed John 17, those fellows sat there listening
to that. Hear the voice of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Father, I pray for them. I pray not for the world, I pray
for them. And they're sitting there. And
then He said, I'm not only going to pray for them, but I'll pray
for them which also shall believe on Me through their work. That's
Me! But oh, look at His knowledge
of the future. Verse 4, Jesus, therefore knowing all things
that would come upon Him, went forth. Our Lord Jesus Christ,
a man here, in His weakness, knowing that all things that
would come upon Him, He knew the future. He knew before He
came into this world, everything was going to befall Him. Every
word that was going to be said, everything that was going to
happen. How many times did He say, My hour is not yet, My hour
is not yet, My hour is not yet. But it's said here that our Lord
Jesus Christ, knowing all things, What does it say? He went forth. Went forth. Our Lord went forth
to see. Now listen to me. Our Lord went
forth to see and to make certain that all things would be fulfilled
concerning Him. I'm going to see that it happens.
Look over in John 19.28. Oh my, He went forth knowing
all things going to happen to Him. If you and I knew all things
that's going to happen to us, you'd hide a lot of times. Say,
I ain't getting out of the house. I'm not going over there. I'm
so thankful that we don't know the future. Oh, I'm so thankful
that I don't even know what's going to happen tonight. If God,
you said, oh, everybody wants to go off to these places, you
know, and see these fortune tellers. will tell you future. I know
my future as far as Christ is concerned. I'm going to inherit
glory. I've got inheritance. But on
this earth, I don't know what, you know, what if you knew that
a year from now, he was going to be diagnosed with cancer and
he's going to be terminal? Well, you won't know that. And
it hasn't happened yet. You know what you do? You spend
all the year worrying about that. And then if you knew I was going
to win the lottery, I was going to make a lot of money. Oh, you'd
go out and go so deep in debt, counting on getting all that
money. That's why God is so blessed to not let us know anything but
Him. Look, John 19, 28. After this, Jesus, knowing that
all things were now accomplished, What I'm talking about, He knows
all, He knows the future. Now that He's in such control
that He says, now that all things are now accomplished, that the
Scripture might be fulfilled. What is He saying? I thirst.
He said that the Scripture, He said, I thirst that the Scripture
might be fulfilled. And Jesus, knowing that all things,
He went forth. The hour has come. Our Lord is
not hiding from His enemies. He knew Judas was on His way
there. He knew Judas knew where He would
be. He knew that those men were going
to come out against Him. He knew how many there was. He
knew their names. He knew their hearts. He knew
their intents. He knew their thoughts. He knew it before they
asked. For they knew it! They got up that morning. They
didn't know they was going to go arrest Christ that evening.
But He knew it! Oh, listen, that's what he says
there. You know in John 13, 3, the Father hath given all things
into His hands. So everything's in His hands,
including His own death. Now He's going to empty Himself. And all these things are going
to be accomplished. And it says here that He went
forth. He went forth to the agony of
betrayal. He went forth to the shame of
becoming a prisoner and being treated as a common criminal.
He went forth to the humiliation of being left to the devices
of men. He went forth to having his rear plucked out. He went
forth to having his back beaten bloody. He went forth to being
slapped in the face. He went forth to being spit upon.
He went forth to be lied on. He went forth for men to do what
they will with him. And knowing everything going
to happen, he said, I went forth to do it. And he went forth to
be cut off out of the land of the living. And Noah just says,
Jesus knowing that all things should come upon him. Our Lord's
foreknowledge was perfect. There were no surprises. He knew
his sufferings. He told his disciples long before. I must go to Jerusalem. I must
suffer. I must be crucified. And he went forth to endure,
knowing all things. What did he know? He knew the
decree of God concerning him. He knew he was the Lamb slain
from the foundation of the world. He knew that he came into this
world to fulfill all the decrees of God. He knew that, beloved,
all things agreed upon in the eternal covenant of grace. I
mean, the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost entered into
this eternal covenant. And, beloved, you know you and
I had nothing to do with that covenant? I never entered into
a covenant with God, and I'm not going to. I'm not going to
know. He entered into one between Him
and just as God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Ghost entered
into it, I was only in Christ as He was in that covenant. And
they made a covenant between themselves, and that covenant
was that I'll give you a number of people. And I'll call them
my people, and I'll give them people to you. I'll give them
lock, stock, and barrel. Sin, depravity, hateful, hating,
full of enmity. I'll give them to you. The one
thing you've got to do, you've got to put away the sin. They've
got to be redeemed. You're going to have to suffer
for them. You're going to have to bear their sins in your own
body. You're going to have to be their substitute. You're going
to have to pay their debt. And when you do that, and because
you do that, you know what I'll do? I'll give you every one of
them. I'll take every one of them.
I'll make every one of them righteous in your righteousness. And I'll
take every one of them and bring them to you. And I'll give them
faith to come to you. I'll do everything that's necessary
for their salvation. All that the Father giveth me,
what are they going to do? Down home you know these free
willers, they say, Turn loose of that bench back there. If
you're going to turn loose of that bench, come down here to
Jesus to save you. You reckon holding on to a bench is going
to stop God from saving a man? Hey Shamir, is that the way Jesus has done
you, not just practicing? Please let me in. Is that what
he's done for you? Blessed is the man whom thou
choosest and causes to approach unto you. Boom! He kicks that door in. And he ascends the throne. Oh,
if he sits on the throne of this glory, we're sitting on his footstool.
There ain't nothing nobody under any circumstances can keep him
from getting to you. And oh, listen, he knew. And
I tell you, all things were predicted concerning him in the Old Testament
Scriptures, and we don't know, and I thank God we don't. Now,
I do things that surprise me. I do things that surprise my
wife. I do things that surprise the
church every once in a while. But I ain't never done nothing
to surprise God. Oh, but look what he says about
himself. So you see, he went forth. And
it says here that they came. There in verse 5. Our Lord, you
know, knowing all things come upon Him, He said, they all come
around there and they're carrying their weapons and their lanterns
and their torches. And they said, whom seek ye?
Our Lord did. And what's what they said? Jesus
and Asherah. He said, I am. I am. I am. And I want you to notice
them. They came to take Him and He
steps up and challenges them. They didn't acknowledge Him as
the Christ. They didn't acknowledge Him as the Son of God. They didn't
acknowledge Him as supernatural. They didn't acknowledge Him in
His miracles. They didn't acknowledge Him as Christ in any way. They
said, Jesus of Nazareth. You ain't nobody but Mary's son.
Joseph's son. And that's His name of humiliation.
His name of reproach. And they come looking and said,
where's that despised one? Where's that root out of dry
ground? Where's that one that there's no comeliness or beauty
that we should desire Him? Have you all ever seen that picture
where Christ is supposed to be in Gethsemane and He's down by
that rock praying and there's this great big light coming down?
You've never seen that? If you've got one of them, carry
it to the quickest place you can. Turn it. Because you know
why Judas had to go there and point him out. If you got any of them pictures
of Wild Bill Hickok, throw them away. I'm telling you, I don't
mean to hurt your feelings, but get rid of them. Get rid of them. You know, like that little boy
that God saved him and come home and he He took his father's crucifix
and smashed it up with a hammer. His father came in and said,
what did you tear up my crucifix for? He said, just to show you
that your God can't. Mine can't. Mine can't. And oh beloved, listen. And when
it says there I am, what happened? As soon then in verse 6 as he
said unto them, I am, they went backwards. and fell to the ground. They came to arrest him and ended
up falling backwards, scared. I've never seen no cop fall back
when I told him who I was. I'm not trying to belittle him,
but I've never seen anybody nearly fall back. In fact, if I tell
my wife who I am, she'll say, who do you think you are? That's
the way people do it. Who do you think you are? That's
the way they talk to us. But our Lord said I am, and back
they fell. They came to arrest him, and
they end up retrieving him. Instead of falling down and worshipping
him because he said, I am. They fell backwards. See, this
is the same voice that spoke to Moses out of that burning
bush. He said, who am I going to say sent me? You tell them,
I am that all sent you. I am the true vine. I am the
life of the world. I am that bread which came down
from heaven. I am that I am! Oh, before Abraham
was, what? I am. Every time you see I am
in there, they put that he in there, don't they, Jesse? Because
that's just in our talents. Because it means that I am! Self-eternal,
self-existing. And oh, beloved, here what our
Savior is doing is displaying His majesty. His majesty, His
power. And it's what a quiet exhibition
of His power. He just said, I am! He didn't say, fall down. He
didn't say, go to hell. He didn't say, you're damned.
He just said, I am. Such a quiet exhibition of His
power. Who are you looking for? Jesus
in Nazareth. I am. Whom seek ye? Jesus in Nazareth. I am. They fell back. Oh, this is a demonstration that
He was the Word, the eternal Word, the all-powerful Word,
the quickening Word. He didn't need to raise a hand
against them. He spoke two one-syllable words,
I AM. That's all it took. And why did
our Lord act like this on this occasion? He wanted them to see
that He was more than Jesus and Asher. You may think I'm Jesus
and Asher. You may not regard me. You may
despise me. You may hate me. And you're going
to take me out of here and you're going to treat me cruelly. But
you're going to know that the person you came after is I Am. You're going to know that the
person you came after here is God manifested in the flesh.
You're going to know that I've got all power in heaven and earth
and you can't do nothing without Me. You can't even arrest me
unless I allow you. All I got to do is say I am and
you can't even get off the ground. And oh, listen, he's going to
see here and everyone's going to see clearly that he voluntarily
delivered himself into their hands. They didn't apprehend
Him. They didn't. He submitted Himself
to them. He gave Himself to them. He was
not captured. He gave Himself up. You said
it last night. Turn to John 7 with me just a
minute. Herein doth my Father love me, because I lay down my
life. No man taketh it from me. I have
the power. I have the authority. To lay
it down and have the power to take it up again. This commandment
that I received of my Father. Oh, He wasn't captured. They
thought we were going to go out and capture this man. We're going
to bind him. We're going to take him. He's just going to cower
in our presence. He's going to just shiver in
our presence. He's going to stand back and be scared to death.
And our Lord Jesus Christ just said, who are you looking for? Jesus and ashes, I am. Down they
go. That's my redeemer. That's my
savior. That's the one who loved me and
gave himself for me. And oh, instead of me going back,
I want to go forward. I want to be at his feet. I want to lean on his breast.
I want to embrace His feet. I want to be hugged up to Him.
I want Him to hug me. I want to have His presence and
I want Him to hold me in His arms. I want to know Him as well
as a man can know Him intimately. I don't want to go from Him.
I want to go to Him. Now! Now! Now! Lord, here I come! I'm coming! I'm coming! I need
You! You know I am! John 7.32, look what it says. The Pharisees heard that the people murmured
such things concerning him. And the Pharisees, the chief
priests, sent officers to take him. They sent somebody to take
him. Now, look over here in verse 44. They got some fellows to get
him. They said, I want you all to go get that man. Everybody's getting
him. Too many people's following him.
Too many people's listening to him. And, you know, we're losing
our crowd, we're losing our money. Well, you know, money's being
taken out of the treasure. You know, when you start losing money in a Baptist
church, it's time to do something. You know, not just losing money,
losing church members. And oh, he comes and look what
it says here in verse 44. And some of them would have taken
him, but no man laid hands on him. Then came the officers to
the chief priests and Pharisees, and they said unto him, Why have
you not brought him? Why haven't you brought him? I sent you,
I gave you orders. I mean, I gave you orders. Why
ain't you brought him? Ain't that what they said? Why
ain't you brought him? You come back empty handed, I told you
to do something. Watch what happens. Why have
you not brought him? The officer said, never a man
spake like this man. And I mean, and even when they
come to get him, He was the one that gave himself
to them. They didn't take him. He was
led as a lamb to the slaughter. And all beloved, he has power
over his enemies. He fell a man with a word or
with a look. That's all it takes, a word or
a look. He could have sent them to hell as easy as they fell
to the ground. They came there to put him at their mercy and
they ended up being at his mercy. They came there because they
thought he was helpless and come to find out they were helpless. And oh, he could have walked
away. Could have just walked away. But he didn't come to walk
away. What time did I start? Then look about His love for
His own. See how these things of our Lord's
character and personality just stands out? And back over here
in our text, look down here in verse 8 and 9. You know, they
ask Him. He's asked them again. And they
said, Jesus, as He said in verse 8, I've told you that I am. I've
done told you that. I am. Now watch this. Look how
He loves His own. Look what He does for His own.
And have a note over in John 13, verse 1, it says this, having
loved His own, He loved them to the end. Having loved His
own. His own by covenant. His own
by gift. His own by price. His own by
power. And His own, we're willingly
His own. Ain't that right? Having loved His own. Oh my,
to be loved by Christ. To be loved by the Lord Jesus
Christ. To have that love shed abroad
in your hearts. But look what he says to them here. If you
seek me, let these go their way. Now even here in this particular
time, here these fellas standing there, they got weapons. There's
a bunch of them. And he's standing there, he's
in control of this whole situation. If you're looking for me, if
I'm the one you want, let these go. He didn't say, will you please
let them go? I'd like for you to let them
go. No, he speaks as the King, the glorious King in authority.
Let them go! You can't have me and them both. He wasn't concerned about his
own suffering. There, here's the shepherd protecting
his sheep. And oh, they would remember the
Lord Jesus Christ saying, oh, they come to get Him, but let
us go. And old Simon Peter said, I'll go with you. But here the
Lord says, you can't. You can't go. And oh, our Lord
here doesn't act like a captive, but He says, let these go. Take
Me, but don't you dare touch My anointed. Let these go their
way. You have Me. You have me. And beloved, listen to me. It's
not just. That's what our Lord says. It's
not just for me to suffer and them to suffer. I can't suffer
and them suffer. If I buy their sins, then they've
got to go free. Sins can't be in two places at
the same time. Get it, Chris? If sin's on Christ,
it can't be on me. If He satisfied justice, that
justice can't come after me. If Christ bore my sin in His
own body, then I'll never bear it in here. Ain't that right? Christ is the end of the law
for righteousness to everyone that believeth. Huh? Oh, I said, those sins and iniquities
I will remember no more. Why would I remember them? Because
there ain't nothing to remember. They're gone. Oh, you said this morning, who,
who, don't they take the charge of God's delight? It's Christ
that died! It's Christ! Oh, they can't suffer
with Him. Why? Because He by Himself must
suffer. He by Himself must pay the price
of our sin. He by Himself purged our sins
and sat down at the rock. He entered into the holy place
by Himself and obtained eternal redemption. He went into the
holy place with His own blood. And He came out of that holiest
of holies by Himself victorious. And oh, beloved, and that's what
our Lord said. He said there in verse 9, you
think He's, look what He says, is that the same? Hear again.
Scriptures fulfilled which you spake of them which thou gavest
Me. I ain't lost to one of them. People say, well, you'd be lost again.
If you'd never been found, you could. In fact, you won't be
lost again. You're already lost. You are
lost. And then look what he says here quickly, and I'll give you
about three minutes, and I'll be done. Look what our Savior
did down here in verse 11. Look at our Savior submissive
to His Father's will. He says, "...the cup..." Peter,
put that sword up. We didn't come here to fight
with a sword. "...the cup which my Father hath given me, shall
I not drink it?" Shall I not drink it? He submits himself
here to man and God at the same time. And oh, what power is in
his submission here, in his subjection, his willingness, his willingness
to do it. Here is the sovereign, yet the
servant. Here is the lion causing men
to fall down, but here's the lamb, submitted himself. And
that's what he says the cup. which my Father hath given me,
shall I not drink it?" He doesn't say, a necessity is laid upon
me to drink this cup. He doesn't say, my Father has
commanded me to drink it. But he says, shall I not? Was
there any doubt that I wouldn't? Is there any thought for a moment
that from all eternity that the Father had this cup and that
I would ever for one moment think that I'd never take it? Shall
I not take it? And oh, it shows us His heart,
His spirit, didn't know how to do anything other than do His
Father's will. He couldn't help but do it. This
is the highest willingness there can be. Shall I not drink it? And oh, what a lesson our Savior
teaches us here. If He took that cup, and if we're
ever given a bitter cup, God sometimes gives us some awful
bitter cups. And when He gives it to you,
you say, this is from my father's hand. My father gave me this
cup. Shall I not drink it? Oh, I've seen some folks been
handed some awful bitter cups, and drank it, and say, it's the
Lord. Let Him do what's in His good.
It's the Lord. I'll drink His cup. Bless His
name. If you don't know the Lord Jesus
Christ, if you've never come to Him, never bowed to Him, never
submitted to Him, don't know what it is to be loved in Christ
and to love Christ, God will help you right now. Right now. to come to Him. Come to Him. Amen. Thank you, Preacher.