this evening again to John chapter
18. John chapter 18 and the Lord
willing tonight we will be looking at verses 12 through 27. Last time we looked at the first
11 verses And I pointed out to us the willingness of Christ
to die for his people. And we saw this in three ways
in those 11 verses. First, he went willingly to the
place where the betrayer knew he would find him. And then we
saw that he willingly presented himself to those who came to
take him. And third, he willingly drank
the cup that the father gave him to drink. And I wanted to
point out his willingness to die for his people to remind
us of his willingness to save. His willingness to save every
sinner that comes to him, that looks to him by faith. You know,
we think of these two things, his ability, he has to have the
ability to save. And we know that he has that
because he is both God and man. And he also has the willingness
to save. all that come unto him, he said. All that the Father giveth me
shall come unto me, and him that cometh unto me I will in no wise
cast out. It seems that when God is dealing
with a sinner, that the flesh or Satan, someone, always indicates
that God would save others, but not me. He's willing to save
others, but not me. That's a lie. That's a lie that
comes straight from hell. The Lord Jesus Christ is more
willing to save than we are to come. That is for sure. He is more willing to save than
we are to come to him. Now in the passage tonight, these
verses we're looking at, verses 12 through 27, I have three subjects
that stand out to me and I trust will stand out to you. First,
in verse 12, then the band and the captain and officers of the
Jews took Jesus and bound him. And what stands out to me in
this verse is this. The lost man's need of the grace
of God. The lost man's need of the grace
of God. This group of men who bound the
Lord Jesus Christ, it was made up both of Jews and Gentiles,
both Roman soldiers and Jewish servants of the priest. They're
the ones who bound him. And I would just remind us that
each and every one of these men who bound him, they had all,
A-L-L, they had all just experienced the power of the Lord Jesus Christ
and saw a miracle. All of them had. When he answered
them with those words, I am he, they all fell to the ground.
Now that was nothing other than the power of God. They experienced
the power of God, all of these men. It doesn't say that any
were accepted. They all fell to the ground.
And then when the Lord touched Malchus' ear, healing him, they
all witnessed that healing of the Lord Jesus Christ. But whatever
impression this made upon them, it had no, absolutely no saving
effect. Man is a depraved individual. He's dead in trespasses and sins. And what he needs is the grace
of God. That's the first thing that I
see here. A lost man's need of the grace
of God. It's not seeing a miracle. It's
not seeing the power of God because all men see the power of God.
And what do men say? They say, oh, that's a mother
nature. That's a sign or that's a demonstration
of Mother Nature's power. Men all over the world, God has
not left Himself without witness. Everywhere, as the sun comes
up in the morning and runs its race, God is witnessing and testifying
to all men everywhere on the face of His planet Earth of Himself. Men see the power of God and
see miracles. I don't think you can see a baby
born and not see a miracle of how God has created men and women
so that we procreate and a baby comes into this world. A miracle,
no doubt about it, but it makes no difference. The power of God
Seeing the healing miracle of God makes no difference upon
the heart of a lost man. Jeremiah said, the heart is deceitful
above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it? We don't know. We don't know
how wicked our heart is. No man does, only the Lord. The heart is deceitful above
all things and desperately wicked. We know that because the word
of God tells us that. But we don't know it. We don't
know the depths of the wickedness of our own heart. If God were
to just let us go, just let us go, there's not a person in this
building that could not turn out to be the worst of mankind. if God just lets us go. Why? Because men have a wicked
heart, a desperately wicked heart, deceitful. The apostle Paul in
Romans wrote, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of
God. The only thing that can meet
man's need is the grace of God. That's the only thing. Those
two words, but God. But God. Ephesians chapter 2. And you hath he quickened who
were dead in trespasses and sins. But God. There's a difference,
right? Who makes the difference? God.
The grace of God. But God, who is rich in mercy,
for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were
dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ by grace
are you saved. What then should a lost man do?
If a lost man hears this truth, that what he needs is the grace
of God, what should he do? Well, first of all, he should
go to the God of all grace and ask for grace. What keeps a lost man, if he
hears the truth, believes the truth that what he needs is the
grace of God, what keeps him from going to God and suing Him
for mercy? That's what it means. a lost
man should do. He should go to the God of all
grace and ask for grace. And number two, he should set
himself, herself under the ministry of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Because God has chosen to convey
himself into the heart of his people through the preaching
of the gospel. What man needs, what lost man
needs, is not to see some demonstration of power. You know, people like
to think that, don't they? Well, if I could just see a miracle,
I'd believe. No. These men, they saw a miracle. They didn't believe. They bound
Christ, carried him away to be judged. It's not seeing a demonstration
of God's power that man needs. It's the grace of God. The second thing that stands
out to me is the injustice, the injustice to which the Lord Jesus
Christ subjected himself. Let's read verses 13 through
23. And led him away to Annas first,
for he was father-in-law to Caiaphas, which was a 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 spoke unto her that kept the door, and brought in
Peter. 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, and Peter stood with
them, and warmed himself. 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
have I said nothing. Why askest thou me? Ask them
which heard me. What I have 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 the evil. But if well, why smitest thou
me? The injustice to which the Lord
Jesus Christ subjected himself. Notice these things. First of
all, John tells us the Lord was led to Annas. This man, Annas. When we see that he was led,
that reminds us, of course, of the scripture which says he was
led as a sheep to the slaughter. But you notice John mentions
two men, Annas and Caiaphas. And he says that Caiaphas was
the high priest this year, and Annas was his father-in-law.
Now, if you just read over that quickly, you miss a very important
point. These religious leaders, both
of these men, are called high priest in different places. But
Caiaphas was the high priest this year. Annas, his father-in-law,
was also a high priest later and before. And what we see here
is how they disobeyed the law of God. The law of God said that
when a man became a high priest, how did he become a high priest?
His father was a high priest. His father died. And he took
the place of his father. Well, you see, they had set aside
the law of God and were observing their traditions. And the office
of the high priest now was sold and it was passed from one to
another. No man should ever have been
high priest after his father-in-law was high priest. The only way
any man should have been high priest was that his father Before
him was a high priest and he had passed away. And then the
office fell upon him. Now why was this important? Do
you remember the law of the manslayer, the cities of refuge? Of those
six cities in the land of Palestine called cities of refuge. We know
that when a man accidentally Now if a man murdered someone,
he laid wait for this man and murdered him, he could run to
the city of refuge, but when the elders met, he would be convicted
as a murderer and executed by stoning. But if a man by accident
killed or was responsible for the death of another man. Then
he ran to the city of refuge and when they settled the matter,
and yes, he didn't do this on purpose, it wasn't premeditated
or anything like that. The illustration that's given
in the book of Deuteronomy, I believe it is, they're out there in the
woods and they're using an axe and the axe head comes off the
axe and strikes a man and he dies. He didn't mean to kill
him. It's what we would call accidental.
So he flees to the city of refuge. And sure enough, it was an accident. He's not guilty of murder. He
lives there, and he must stay there, even though he wasn't
guilty of murder. If he goes out of that city,
the next of kin, the avenger of blood, had every right to
destroy that man. But when the high priest died,
when the high priest died, Then the man could go home. He was
free. And the Avenger of Blood could
not touch him. But you see what they were doing,
the high priest would never die. They were selling the office
of the high priest, passing it from one to another. Had there been a manslayer in
a city of refuge at this time, he would have just been there
forever, because the high priest would never die. But the point
is, they set aside the law of God. They made void, our Lord
told the religious leaders, you make void the law of God to keep
your traditions. The second thing we see here
about our Lord submitting himself to this injustice, he was brought
before Caiaphas. Now, Caiaphas was a high priest
and he's going to stand before him, but remember this, Caiaphas
had already declared back in John chapter 12, it's expedient. They said, well, we're going
to lose our position. The Romans, if we let this man,
the Lord Jesus Christ, if we allow him to continue to do what
he's doing and teaching, the Romans are going to come and
they're going to take away our nation and our position. And
this man, Caiaphas, he said, it's expedient. that one man
died for the nation and not the whole nation. Forget about justice. Forget about justice. Now we're
using expediency. What's expedient? A third thing that we say about
this injustice is the Lord Jesus was asked to testify against
himself. Notice that in verse 19, the
high priest then asked Jesus of his disciples and of his doctrine. You know, usually when a person
is put on trial, there's a charge. There's a charge and there is
the, what's the office? Can't think
of it now. The prosecutor anyway. There's
a charge leveled against a man, and then there's a prosecuting
attorney, and the man never has to witness against himself. And I looked this up, I have
a copy of the Bill of Rights back there on a plaque in my
office, and I looked this up in Article 5, Bill of Rights
of the U.S. Constitution. This is plainly
stated there. No person shall be compelled
in any criminal case to be a witness against himself. This is not
justice. Not what they were trying to
do. This is not justice at all to demand of him that he testify
against himself. No. Level a charge. Bring a charge. And then the
defense responds. But that's not the way they go
about it. There is no justice here. The
prisoner has no rights. And fourth, the Lord Jesus Christ
responded to the question. And when he did, he was struck.
He was struck. Verse 20 through 22. When he had thus spoken, one
of the officers which stood by struck Jesus with the palm of
his hand. He spoke openly. His answer was,
he spoke openly. He taught in whatever house. We know we read of him teaching
in a house. Remember he was in that one house
and people were all around the door and those four men wanted
to bring that paralyzed man. And the only way they could get
him before the Lord Jesus Christ was to open up a hole in the
roof and let him down before the Lord. He borrowed Peter's
boat one day, didn't he? And he sat in that boat and taught. He taught in the synagogues,
he taught in the temples, he taught everywhere, and he spoke
openly. And yet when he answered the
man's question, he was struck. Many people believe that our
Lord being struck here is a fulfillment of a prophecy in Micah chapter
5 and verse 1 that says, they shall smite the judge of Israel
with a rod of iron upon the cheek. Something to notice here, when
our Lord was struck, remember in the Sermon on the Mount, he
said, when they strike you on one cheek, turn the other cheek.
But here we see by his actions that that's not always, that's
not always to be practiced. When it comes to the truth and
to justice, then God's people do have a right to calmly, our
Lord shows no emotion as far as getting mad at this man in
any way, but he calmly answered him. If I have spoken evil, he didn't
turn the other cheek. If I've spoken evil, bear witness
of the evil. But if well, why, why do you
smite me? Now the third thing that stands
out to us here is the sifting of Peter by Satan. Remember in
Luke's gospel, this is the way it's recorded. The Lord Jesus
told Peter, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you
that he may sift you as wheat. Now we're all familiar with the
self-assurance that Peter demonstrated. He didn't follow our Lord's teaching
when he said to pray, lead us not into temptation. He didn't
pray, deliver us from the evil one, but he boasted in his power,
his ability, to follow the Lord, even unto death, and even said,
though all these others forsake thee, not me. We all recognize
that, and I know we've all heard messages that point out three
things about Peter's fall here. First of all, he followed from
afar, then he warmed himself with the fire of the soldiers,
and then he denied the Lord. But I want us to look at this
tonight, and I want to point out five things that I see here
about Peter's fall. And I believe that they will
help us and we can learn from these. Of course, it goes without
saying, we should be always mindful of the scripture, let him that
thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. But I want you to look with me
tonight. First of all, and I'm going to put these five things
in five questions. Five questions. First of all,
what about the Lord's Word? as we think about Peter's fall.
What about the Lord's Word? And I want you to turn back just
a few pages into John chapter 13. In verses 36 and 37, Simon Peter said unto him, Lord,
whither goest thou? Jesus answered him, Whither I
go, now watch this, thou canst not follow, thou canst not follow
me now, but thou shalt follow me afterwards. Peter said unto
him, Lord, why cannot I follow thee now? I will lay down my
life for thy sake. Keep that in mind, the Lord's
word. You cannot follow me, Peter. Isn't that what he said? Whither I go, thou canst not
follow me now. All right, now look in chapter
18. Chapter 18, in this verse we looked at in the passage last
week, in verse 8. The Lord Jesus answered, I have
told you that I am He. If therefore you seek me, let
these go their way. Let these go their way. And in Matthew's gospel, he says
the same verse, but this was done. This was done that the
scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled. Then all the disciples
forsook him and fled. The Lord said, where I go now,
Peter, you cannot follow me. And when they came to arrest
the Lord, evidently they would have taken the disciples as well.
But the Lord said, if you seek Me, let these go. And all of
them, Peter included, all of them fled. They all left the
Lord Jesus Christ. But where do we see Peter next? Look in verse 15 of chapter 18. And Simon Peter followed Jesus. But the Lord had told him, where I go now, you cannot follow
me. And the Lord arranged it so they
were released. But where do we find Peter? We
find him following the Lord. The second question I want us
to think about, what about the closed door? What about the closed
door or the Lord's providence? You see, Peter followed Him,
and when he got to the palace of the high priest, there was
a door, and that door was closed. Here's Peter on the outside,
here's the temptation on the inside, the door is closed. What about that closed door?
And I bring this to our attention for this reason, and I don't
want to read too much into this, but I do know this, that sometimes
we pray for God's will and God closes the door and we put our
shoulder up against it. to push it open. Peter would have been much better
off if, when he saw that closed door, he had left. What about that? What about God's
providence? And then third, what about the
word also? A-L-S-O. What about the word
also in that maid's question? Verse 17, Then saith the damsel
that kept the door unto Peter, Art not thou also? Why would
she say also? Isn't it because the disciple,
which we believe was John, who knew the high priest, who had
entrance into the palace, that he had come, he spoke to this
damsel who kept the door so that she would allow Peter to come
in, and then she questions him, are not thou also one of his
disciples? Doesn't this suggest that this
woman, this maid, she knew that John was one of the disciples,
and he was on the inside. And this would have been an opportune
time for Peter to confess to a simple question, yes, I am
also. And there he would have been
with that other disciple. I am also one of his disciples. Of course he lied. And as always,
one lie calls for another lie to cover up that lie. And then fourth, what about warming
at the fire of the Lord's enemies? This was a compromise. It was
a compromise, and let me say this, nothing good ever comes
from compromise when it comes to the things of God. Never. You know, they say in politics,
compromise is the name of the game, and that may be so, and
that may be appropriate, but when it comes to the things of
God, compromise is never good. It's never good. Not when we
have, thus saith the Lord. It's never good to compromise. Nothing good ever comes out of
it. And the fifth thing, what about the progression we see
in Peter's denial? Now John here in this passage,
he simply says that Peter denied again in verse 27. Peter then denied again. But we know from the other gospels,
it was more than just another denial. It was a denial with
an oath, a denial that he even knew the Lord Jesus Christ. And immediately, John does tell
us this, that immediately the rooster crowed. He doesn't tell
us what Luke tells us, that the Lord looked upon Peter, and he
doesn't tell us that Peter went out and wept bitterly. He just simply says, and Peter
denied again. I'm so thankful tonight that
the scripture says, in many places, there is forgiveness with thee
that thou mayest be feared. That's what the psalmist said.
With God, there is forgiveness with thee that thou mightest
be feared. And it's easy to point out Peter's failure, isn't it? It's easy to see this, but each
and every one of us know that we too have many times failed. And I'm so thankful that there
is forgiveness with God. and forgiveness that he might
be feared, we might worship him. And remember, David said, if
thou shouldest mark iniquity, O Lord, who could stand? I pray that the Lord would bless
these words to us this evening. We'll sing a couple of verses
of a hymn and be dismissed in prayer.