Good morning everyone and welcome to class. Hope you all had a good weekend, good time at church, good time with family and friends over the weekend and ready for another week. Okay, we'll begin looking at Romans chapter two. We will study Romans chapter two today and before that we just pause for a word of prayer. Can I ask one of you to please lead us in prayer? Please anyone, John Paul or Anita, anyone can lead us in prayer. Okay, let's pray. Lord Jesus, we want to thank you for this morning. Thank you for bringing us together in your presence. We pray Lord that you would speak to us, help us to understand your word. We submit past our hands and we pray that she'd be able to reveal the mysteries of your word to us, God, Holy Spirit, leaders and guide us, teach us Lord Jesus so that we would be able to understand the truths of your scripture Lord. We thank you in Jesus name, we pray. Amen. Amen. Thank you John Paul. We'll begin Romans chapter two so we can read through Romans chapter two and can somebody you know read maybe the first there are around 29 verses so maybe you know all of you can read about five or six verses can somebody start reading verses one to five or six and then we can move on please. Romans chapter two verses one to five, one to six therefore you are inexcusable oh man whoever you are you who judge when whatever you judge another you condemn yourself for you who judge practice the same thing but we know the judgment of God is according to truth against those who practice such things and do you think this oh man you who judge those practicing such things and doing the same that you will escape the judgment of God or do you despise the riches of his goodness forbearance and long suffering not knowing that goodness of God leads you to repentance but in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God who will render to each one according to his deeds. Thank you Jefina. Thank you Jefina so in someone else read verses seven to maybe 14 or 15 in someone else read verses seven to was 14 or was 15 please. Okay was anyone wants to read? Okay. Thank you. Eternal life to those who by patience continents in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality were said but to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth but obey unrighteousness indignation and Raj 19 oh sorry nine tribulation and anguish on every soul of man who does evil of the Jew first and also of the great then by glory, honor, and peace to everyone who works the what is good to the Jew first and also to the great 11 for there is no partiality with God 12 for as many as have seen without law will also perish without law and as many as have seen in the law will be judged by the law 13 for not the hearers of the law are just in the sight of God but the doers of the law will be justified 14 for when Gentiles who do not have the law by nature do the teams in the law this although not having the law are a law to themselves 15 who show the work of the law written in their hearts their conscience also bearing witness and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them or was 16 as well as the other three just was 16 please 16 in the day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel amen thank you so even as we read verses one to a 16 is there anything that you know any thought that has come to your mind any verse any phrase any word that just left out that you with from scripture anything that you remember it's starting before hearing before God has spoken to you through any of these verses anyone would like to share some thoughts chapter 2 verses 1 to 16 or anything that just stood out for you even as we were reading it maybe the Holy Spirit just prompted something something just came to your mind anyone would like to share Romans chapter 2 was 1 to 16 sorry jeffina you're saying okay jeffina saying she's just excited to learn the you know the interpretation or the meaning or the revelation from these verses okay thank you yes hello to me verse 11 stood up the most for me as it says for there is no partiality with God like in the past when I was 13 in ministry I happened to work under some leaders who you know show very partiality I can see but you know as I'm going to the scriptures it just stood out and reminded me no matter what you know I just need to make my heart right my attitude right and you know I'm not serving the leader I'm serving the Lord and these really helped me in working along with that the leader yeah yes thank you so much for sharing that I think that's so true there is no partiality with God sometimes even in family parents with their children you know there is partiality we see that schools that we study and teachers the way we treated us of friends there's partiality among siblings there's partiality even in the workplace and sometimes we get very frustrated we can get very dejected we can feel down let down but it's so wonderful to know that with God there is no partiality yes he loves us all the same he looks at us all the same and that's so wonderful thank you Zealotoli for sharing that anyone else would like to share anything that stood out for you anything you reminded that you studied before any scripture passage from this verses that we looked at Romans chapter 2 verses 1 to 16 and Oma yes yes Abu Bakr please go ahead Romans chapter 2 verse 5 says but after the hardness and repentance will be in penitence art the cereal is opened to the shelf right at the base of rock and the rhythm of the righteousness fragrance of God so this piece is telling us that is soft and the repentance art is needed to avoid God right God rocks on the base of product on the base of judgment the final judgment first to the best families someone to plot Jesus Christ for forgiveness of sins but most of but unfortunately most people story now product for themselves on the final day so that that is very very very something that is going on around the world now people don't care about the day of judgment anymore and because of this the wrath of God is upon many people and the only solution for that is a soft and the repentance art so that we can avoid day of that judgment amen amen thank you thank you thank you for sharing that yes so important you know we harden our hearts some of us even you know even if we are pastors or teachers or teachers or the ministry or you know just basically receive salvation children of God we can harden some of the areas of our heart where we treasure up you know spin and you know ultimately the wrath of God and yes you know God is a gracious compassionate merciful and forgiving God but he's also a God who is a righteous God who will come as the judge and yes we will have to you know give an account for our lives yes thank you for pointing that out and you know people of this world also just treasure up wrath for themselves paying to know that there is a judgment that is coming awaiting them thank you anyone else would like to share okay there are no more thoughts or you and no one else wants to share we'll we look at or study chapter two now in chapter two Paul is dealing with the issue of law and conscience both with the Jews and Gentiles and Paul is basically you know debating within himself thinking in terms of what the you know his readers or those who are going to read his letter you know thinking according to their mindset or what they would be thinking in their minds and according to what they are thinking in their minds or what they would you know what their thoughts would be he's he's thinking and he's addressing that or he's basically writing it so he's basically debating within himself at the mind of the readers and this whole issue of law and conscience with respect to the Jews and the Gentiles so he's saying for the Jews they have the law and the Gentiles they don't have the law so how is God going to judge the Gentiles okay yes of course the Jews they have the laws they're going to be judged by the law or according to the law and how are the Gentiles going to be judged so Paul says there is a law an inbuilt law that is in every person and what is this inbuilt law that is in every person there are two things one is reason and the other is conscience so there is reason and there is conscience which means that within every person the way God has designed us he's already given us these two things what are these two things you know these two things is the reason and conscience and these reason and this conscience actually tells us about God it tells us what is right and wrong and that is what he is talking spoken about in chapter one he says hey if you look at creation creation reveals the eternal power the the the godhead it reveals the you know the nature of God okay sorry Lubega I think you got the link only now it's 742 okay yeah I will basically I just finish another class I have first two hours so by the time I move from that classroom to this classroom and set things up so the link goes in goes out late but I'll ensure that I post the link right on time from next week on sorry for the inconvenience and yeah so what we were basically doing is so far was you didn't miss anything much we were just reading we read Romans chapter 2 verses 1 to verse 16 and I just asked a couple of them to share so three of them shared Jeffina said that she's looking forward to learning from Romans chapter 2 then we have Zealotoli who talked about Romans chapter 2 verse verse I think it was verse 6 so where God says you know there is no partiality with God was 11 and then Abu Bakr he shared also from Romans chapter 4 where you know people um sorry verse 5 where he talks about people heartening their hearts and storing up for themselves wrath when they are going to face a judgment from God and then I just began Lubega you know giving a background to Romans chapter 2 he's left the meeting again okay so he'll I think maybe he's lost his connection okay so in chapter 2 as I said that Paul is dealing with issue of law and conscience both with regards to Jews and Gentiles so Paul says that inside all of us there is an inbuilt you know law that is there in every in every person and these two things is reason and conscience that means within every person the way God has designed us he's already given us these two things reason and he's given us conscience so reason is you know what he was talking about in the latter part of chapter one where he says hey you know nobody can say that they do not know there is a God you know or they can't say that there is no God sure to me God approved to me that the existence of God just creation itself you know proves the the the eternal power the eternal nature it reveals the Godhead and so people are without any excuse so by reason reasoning of their mind they can know that you know this inbuilt thing that God is designed they know that there is a God that there is the existence of our God and it's not things or man or animals that is God but there is a God who created all of this and then you know so reason actually tells us about God it reveals God to us which is an inbuilt thing that God is given to us and then there is conscience conscience basically helps us to know what is right and wrong okay so there is reason and conscience so those who do not have the law Paul is saying you know they have the reason and conscience to know about God to know about what is good and bad so they are not left without any excuse so the Jews have no excuse because they have the law they'll be judged by the law the Gentiles say hey we we don't know what is right and wrong because God has not given us the law but Paul is saying hey you can't say that because you know there's something that's inbuilt the way God is designed as he's given us a conscience and a conscience tells us what is right and wrong okay and then Paul very interestingly says you know but everyone will not will be judged by the how will everyone be judged by what does he say in Romans chapter 2 he says everyone will be judged according to the gospel whether it is Jew or Greek you know verse 16 he says in the day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel so Paul is saying the Jews will not just be judged by the law the Gentiles will not be judged by their conscience the inbuilt way God is designed them of reason and conscience but Paul says that everyone would be judged according to the according to the gospel of Jesus Christ okay whether you are a Jew or a Gentile so then he we'll just begin looking at Romans chapter 2 verse 1 okay so we see that you know Paul in chapter 1 says man is sinful he has suppressed the truth he has gone after his own wild passions and thoughts of his corrupt mind and therefore man you are inexcusable and he says that you know even if you are judging somebody you are in you're not excused you're inexcusable and he's speaking to the Jews and he's saying if you are a teacher of the law and you don't keep the law it's pointless and you know because God is going to judge you by the law he's going to judge you by what you are teaching so it's it's pointless you know you are just holding on to the law you're saying hey you know we are these great people we have the law we have the prophets we have the covenants and you're looking down on the Gentiles but what is the point you know you are teachers of the law you are the custodians of the law the law is given to you and you don't keep the law then it's basically pointless and God is going to judge all of us okay and Paul is saying hey Jews we can point to the Gentiles saying that hey you're doing all of these things you know and which is not right and he's saying but we too are inexcusable because we judge others and you know when we judge others we will be judged by the same standard so he's basically saying you know don't judge others whether you're a Jew or a Gentile you know you don't judge others but he's basically talking from the point of view of the Jews and he's including himself because he's a Jew and he's speaking to Jews and he says if you are a teacher of the law and you don't keep it it's pointless because going God is going to judge us and he says no we can point to the Gentiles and say hey you're not doing all of these things but at the same time we are as Jews inexcusable because when we judge others we too will be judged by the same standards okay verse 3 he says and do you think this oh man you will judge those practicing such things and doing the same that you will escape the judgment of God okay so verse 3 is saying you are doing the same thing and when you do the same thing and you expect others to do what you are not doing then you cannot escape the judgment of God. Everyone you know whether they are Jew or Greek all says we are all going to be judged by the life that we are living the kind of life that we are living and then he says there is no partiality with God you know but he says those who will be judged are who will be judged first the Jew first and then the Greek he mentions this twice he says this in verse 9 and verse 10 he says you know the Jew first and then the Greek so says we are all going to be judged so we can't point our fingers at others you know for whatever point or whatever place we are judging others we are doing it ourselves and we are going to be judged by the same standards verse 4 he says although you despise the riches of his goodness forbearance and long suffering not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance okay so in verse 4 he says don't despise the goodness the patience and the long suffering of God why why is he asking us not to despise the goodness the patience and the long suffering of God why is he asking us in verse 4 not to despise the richness of his goodness forbearance and long suffering thank you jeffina because he says it's you know because the goodness of God leads to what it leads you to repentance now think about this the goodness of God leads you to repentance what does Paul really mean by saying that the goodness of God leads you to repentance any thoughts okay we know that God is a just God and he is a God who demands justice okay for sin he's also a righteous God which means that you know he demands that there is a judgment for sin every sin you know you know when we sin God is just he's righteous he has to punish sin okay but how does God deal with sinful man Paul is saying yes you know at one hand God is just and he's righteous when he sees sin he has to judge sin he has to pass the judgment at the same time we know that God is good he's gracious he's compassionate he's merciful forbearing loving so it's like you know the weighing balance okay two sides God is just and also God is loving and forgiving and merciful and compassionate so how does God deal with sinful man when we say hey he's just in punishing sin but also he is good and gracious and compassionate merciful Paul says that goodness of God leads people to repentance yes God will judge sin but what is really God doing when he judges sin he's drawing people by his goodness his mercy his forbearance and his long suffering okay so when God judges sin he passes out the judgment which means we face the consequences for our sin right we do face the consequences for our sin sin is not overlooked it's not condoned it's not you know hidden under the carpet so to say you know God is not saying hey okay this is the grace period you can do what you want I'll just cover up your sin I will just act like I didn't look at it no there is consequences for our sin and what these consequences of the sin that we go through is not something that God wants us to go through because you know he wants us to be punished and feel terrible for our sins and feel like this worm but we read in scripture that you know just like a father disciplines his son so our heavenly father also disciplines us because he loves us how much more a heavenly father will discipline us because he loves us so when an earthly father disciplines his or her child he's doing it because he loves the child he's doing it because he doesn't want the child to go away do things that are wrong commit the same mistake that can be harmful detrimental for that child the same way our heavenly father punishes us so that we do not go away in the parts of sin and unrighteousness and unholiness but we walk in parts of righteousness and holiness so it's only when we face the consequences of our sin now when we face consequences of the sin how do we react sorry yeah when we go through you know suffering when we go through pain what do we basically do we realize what sin we have committed right we said hey I've done this and that is why I've done this sin or even if we have not done I mean nothing comes to mind we say God you know I'm going through this hard struggle this period in my life where I'm just seeing dead ends hindrances mountains giants I'm facing you know what sin did I commit God show me what sin I commit I will you know I would seek your forgiveness I was I would repent God so that I can do away with all of this difficult phase of life that I am so they can receive your mercy and grace and your favor and your goodness so actually when we go through difficulties we are thinking about our sinful habits sinful ways and how we can repent and we come back you know to God so you know so Paul is basically saying that God will judge sin but God is really trying to do this even as he judges sin or when we face the consequences of sin he's drawing people to himself by his goodness mercy for parents and long suffering and people realize that hey you know when I was doing obedient to God doing what he want I enjoyed his favor enjoyed his goodness enjoyed his blessing now I've stepped away and you know what happens when you step away from your spiritual covering right you step away from the spiritual covering you you encounter whom Satan and Satan is all out to steal kill and destroy our life and this is what we will also study the next semester when you when you study Paul writing to Timothy he says you know there is this man who is you know committing this grievous sin you know correct him and he's you've corrected him but he's not changed so I want you to throw him out of the fellowship so we can think hey you know how rude of Paul to say throw him out of the fellowship have nothing to do with him and but Paul says you know by doing so he can you know you will you will save his soul so how what does Paul mean even when Paul is writing to the church at Corinth he says you know give that person up to Satan you know and when you read that you can say how rude of Paul to say give that person up to Satan but what Paul is basically trying to say is you know when this person is out of the fellowship he's basically he or she's basically outside the spiritual covering of God and when he or she's outside the spiritual covering of God they're open to the attacks of the evil one who's all out to steal kill and destroy and when they go through troubles and difficulties they will recognize their sin they would repent and they would come back so it's actually going to work for their benefit it's actually going to work for that good and that is what Paul says so we see it here that you know God would judge sin but God is really trying what is God trying to do even as he punishes people this sin it's a draw people by his goodness mercy for parents and long suffering so what Paul is saying is you know hey when we are dealing with the issue of sin and sinfulness with people we know what is right and wrong but we need to know that the goodness of God leads to repentance so don't judge people you know it also doesn't mean don't overlook their sin don't condone their sin it does not mean don't encourage sin no we have to deal with sin you know we need to correct them but we also need to demonstrate the goodness and the mercy of God knowing that the goodness of God leads one to repentance okay so even as you don't condone the sin even as you don't overlook and don't encourage sin but even as we correct the people deal with the sin and not the person don't you know be rude or you know just ignore the person or you know do harm that person with the person's character this whole person's mind or you know his emotions is so broken the way we treat him and the way we punish him for the things that he's done but deal with his sin in a way that demonstrates God goodness his mercy his loving kindness so that it will lead them to repentance so Paul says you know we are all doing the wrong things we're all going to be judged for the wrong that we do and he says Jews first and then the Greeks so we can't point our fingers at others because we ourselves are doing it and we cannot judge others but be kind be good be merciful to everyone okay and verses 12 to 16 he talks of how everyone will be judged and he says the Jews have the law the law will judge them the Gentiles are without the law but they too will perish without the law and when he says they too will perish without the law he's not talking about the law that God gave to the Jews so what what about the Gentiles you know who don't have the law you know Paul is saying in verse 14 for when Gentiles who do not have the law by nature do things in the law these all although not having the law are law to themselves okay so he's telling Gentiles by nature they do things pertaining to the law which means he's saying you know he's not talking about the law that God gave the Israelites he's saying the way people are designed we are designed with something inside us inside of us we all have a conscience that tells us what is right and wrong okay but so Paul is saying hey you don't have the law the Gentiles the law is not given to you but you have an inbuilt law and what is that something that is inside you and that is your conscience okay look at what he says in verse 15 who show the work of the law written in their hearts their conscience also bearing witness and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them so the law he's saying is written in their hearts and what is this law that is written in the hearts of the Gentiles he's talking about the conscience okay he says their conscience tell them that this is okay this is not okay their conscience tells them this is right and this is not right so every man is spawned with the conscience or he's saying this conscience is a law written in their hearts and it's a capacity to know the right and wrong which is an inbuilt thing in every person which God has designed all of us in that way with our conscience and he's calling this conscience as the law for the Gentiles now can the conscience be smeared or damaged can your conscience be smeared damaged or even dead yes or no and I have some answers please yes what about okay jeffina saying yes what about our online students can our conscience be smeared you know dead damaged yes no yes our conscience can be damaged it can be smeared it can be dead thank you zealotoli you know and our ability to know right and wrong can be damaged okay so when we continue indulging in sin people's it's we know that our conscience is dead to that part so you know we don't even have to think about lying because we're so used to lying it becomes a habit and our conscience is dead to lying so we can just lie in end out lying becomes like a natural self a natural part of our character or who we are and he says that you know we need to remember that the conscience does not replace the gospel the conscience does not replace the gospel the conscience is an alternate law but it cannot replace the gospel so what basically paul is saying here is hey your jews have the law but you will you know you can follow it the the the gentiles don't have a law but they have an inbuilt law that is got a design in everyone and that is their conscience but he finally says the jews will not be judged by that law the gentiles will not be judged by the law that is their conscience but all of us will be judged by the gospel of jesus christ okay so in verse 16 he says in the day when god will judge the secrets of men by jesus christ according to my gospel so in verse 16 he concludes that god is going to judge the secrets of men according to my gospel so the judgment of god which is a righteous judgment which is not an impartial judgment and a judgment according to the truth will be done according to the gospel of jesus christ it will not be done according to the law or the conscience but all of us irrespective of jews or gentiles will be judged according to the gospel of jesus christ so we can say hey what happens to those people who do not hear the gospel how will they be judged okay so paul has explained so far in chapter one and chapter two that you know there are people who have the law and there are people who don't have the law the jews have the law the gentiles don't have the law but he's saying that even though the gentiles don't have the written law that god is given the jews there are two things in every person in every person that is in built that god has designed them that you know that reason and conscience reason tells them hey there is a god telling them to seek the true and living god so every person has a reason and he says that you know through creation every person can look and say yes there is a creator god the invisible attributes of god are seen clearly in creation and also every person has a conscience whether there's jew or gentile every person has a conscience and that conscience tells them what is right and wrong so these two things in every person is basically directing us or it's convicting us and telling us hey there is a god that you should seek out the true and living god and every person who seeks after this god the true and living god every person who's searching for this truth paul says god in some way will bring that gospel of jesus christ to that person now if a person dies without hearing the gospel what will happen to them true they have the reason true they have their conscience and their conscience says that there is a true and living god and you have to seek after him but they never hear about jesus christ and they die okay but we can state according to verse 16 that everyone will be judged according to the gospel of jesus christ no excuse so will god have any other way that he will judge these people who've never heard about the gospel now scripture does not mention that to us so hence we cannot come up with an alternative we cannot come up with an alternate option all we know is what we read in verse 16 where it says that in that day god would judge the secrets of man by jesus christ according to my gospel so there's no other option so what should we do is you know say that hey conscience is not an alternative it's not a replacement to the gospel you know law is not an alternative it's not a replacement for the gospel and in verse 16 it says people will judge according to the gospel so what is the gospel what is the gospel those who believe in the law jesus christ will be saved and without christ there is no salvation there is no other name given to men by which they can be saved so we cannot say that god will use conscience to judge the people who have not heard the gospel this is a wrong conclusion we cannot say that we cannot say that you know people the jews will be judged according to the law because they did not hear the gospel of jesus christ we preached them no but according to verse 16 we just know that everyone will be judged according to the gospel of jesus christ there is no other alternative and when people seek the true and living god the gospel god in some way will have the gospel preached to them and that is why you know it is important for us to share and proclaim the gospel okay because everyone will be judged and no one can you know uh say you know can we say hey our conscience can judge us no and that is why we need uh to proclaim that is why we need to share the gospel okay anyone has any questions so far any questions jeffina has a question yeah so um basically this chapter i'm just i just want to know whether i'm uh understanding in the right way so basically this chapter talks about the judgment of god like how people get like the final judgment i ask or aside the link so sometimes people use this uh in saying uh like you should not judge my character uh you who are you to judge uh so what do you think about that like we had a devotion we are reading romans to at hostel every morning we girls have a group devotion so at hostel we were reading this today and that's why i was so excited to see this real perspective like what really understanding was like so basically i've seen people use this scripture who are you to judge me who are you to condemn me who are you to correct me uh you should not judge another uh how do you judge me you'll be you'll be judged in the same way so what do you think about people using it in the other way like i mean in judging others yes so how uh see uh judging is you know when um it's like you know judging the person and putting down the person and condemning the person you know romans ate there is no condemnation for those who are in christ uh jesus that does that that does that mean that god is not going to condemn our sin or he's just going to overlook our sin he's going to cover our sin he's uh not going to look at our sin no he is a righteous god he is a just god and he looks at sin and he punishes sin okay so doesn't mean that god covers up sin but he does not condemn us so when we when we're talking about judgment is judging are you judging the sin or judging the person you know so we need to help the person so that's why he says here you know the goodness of god leads to repentance goodness forbearance mercy so in this verse he's saying hey you know um he's basically talking the context of jews who's saying you have the law and you are trying to you know in the early church uh this was a problem the jews were trying to bring in uh you know certain kind of eating habits food habits telling the gentiles you have to follow these rituals these specific days they were bringing in endless genealogies they were bringing in the circumcision ritual and they were saying you know you have to do all of these things and even you have to keep the law and you say hey you jews you don't keep it yourself and when you don't keep it how can you judge somebody else you know that they are not keeping it because you are you yourself are breaking the uh law so he's talking about in a sense of pride in a sense of thinking that you're greater you're having a place of dominion but at the same time paul is saying that you know god is the one who judges but even look at when he judges sin how does he do it even though he's a judge and righteous god he does it with goodness mercy with forbearance and with patience so he's saying maybe when somebody does something wrong it doesn't mean that we don't we we overlook their sin no we don't overlook their sin we help them you know come out of their sin but how do we do it we do it with a sense of love goodness patience you know and forbearance okay good question okay any more questions if not we'll move on to worse uh uh 17 uh so can somebody please read verses 17 to 20 repeat this anyone can read verses 17 to 20 nobody wants to read verses 17 to 20 Romans chapter 2 verses 17 to 20 indeed you are called a jew and rest on the law and make your boast in god and know his will and approve the things that are excellent being instructed out of the law and are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind a light to those who are in darkness an instructor of the foolish foolish a teacher of faith having the form of knowledge and the truth in the law 17 to thank you jebina so verse 17 verse 17 you know he's strongly rebuking the jews it's a strong rebuke to the jews he says hey jews you're resting you're relying in the law and making your boast in god and in verse 18 he says we know his will and we can tell you what is uh you know right and wrong but paul is telling them you know what is right and wrong you're teaching it but you yourself are not doing it and when you're teaching it and you yourself are not doing you're also breaking the law okay so paul is basically building up the case here he's telling the jews jew the truth that you have the law you know everything in the law but you are also breaking the law and then verses 19 and 20 he says and are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind a light to those who are in darkness and instruct the foolish a teacher of babes having the form of knowledge and the truth in the law you therefore who teach another do you not teach yourself you who preach that a man should not steal do you steal you who say do not commit adultery do you commit adultery you who abhor idols do you rob temples you who make your boast in the law do you dishonor god through breaking the law for the name of god is blaspheming among the gentiles before because because of you as it is written so paul is saying here you have the law jews you boast about it but you are teaching it but you yourself are not able to keep it and because you are not able to keep it at every point you are breaking not just one law but you're breaking all of the laws so you saying don't steal but you're stealing you're saying don't commit adultery but you're committing adultery and by doing this what are you basically doing you're bringing blasphemy to the name of god and for the for the jews you know to blaspheme the name of god is something really big for that there's something that they won't even want to do or dare to do but he's equalling it by not keeping the law breaking the law and judging others he's saying you're basically blaspheming the name of god okay we'll continue verses 25 to verse 29 just a few more thoughts and then we'll end this chapter any questions anyone else anyone else has or any questions does anyone has any questions any thoughts anything that you didn't understand anything that you like to share no okay if there's nothing you'll like to share or no questions we'll end class today thank you everyone for joining class have a blessed day and a blessed week ahead and I will see you on Friday thank you thank you poster thank you zenith all


Our sermon title this morning is His Glory in Submission, His Glory in Submission, and we are in part two here as we're working through this text, John chapter 18, verses 1 through 12. As we get into these verses again this week now, we want to remember John's purpose for writing. John said that he wrote in chapter 20, verse 31, so that we might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing we might have life in His name. So what John intends to do through this text, as he does in all the texts of the Gospel of John, is to reveal the Lord Jesus Christ as the Christ, as the Son of God, as the Messiah, as our Savior, one who has come to take away the sin of the world. So in John chapter 18, verses 1 through 12, we're seeing Lord Jesus Christ revealed by John, the Apostle John, in this way in order to glorify the Lord. And specifically to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ through His submission in verses 1 through 12 here. We see the Lord who is sovereign over all, God in the flesh in humble submission, heading to the cross, walking now with His forehead as flint as it were, toward the cross to die there for His own. As we began this text last week, we saw that His submission was revealed first in His courage. It was a courageous submission. Knowing all those things that would come upon Him, He went forward. He marches inexorably to the cross, knowing all that would take place. And we saw that He, in submitting Himself to God the Father, as Hebrews says, being perfected, being tested and proven through the things which He suffered. It was a courageous submission. Now this morning as we come to verse 4, we not only want to look last week at His courageous submission, we want to look this week, this week point 2, at His humble submission from verses 4 through 9. And then we'll conclude our text with point 3 on your notes, His determined submission in verses 10 through 12. So in part 2, we want to unpack then the humility of the Lord Jesus Christ expressed in His submission, His humble submission beginning in verse 4. Let's begin there this morning. His humble submission beginning in verse 4, the humble submission of His authority, the humble submission of His power. In verse 4, John records, Jesus therefore, knowing all things that would come upon Him, went forward and said to them, Whom are you seeking? And they answered Him, Jesus of Nazareth. Now Jesus said to them, I am He, and Judas, who betrayed Him, also stood with them. Now when He said to them, I am He, they drew back and fell to the ground. And He asked them again, Whom are you seeking? And they said, Jesus of Nazareth. So Jesus answered, I have told you that I am He. If you seek Me, let these go their way, that the saying might be fulfilled which He spoke of those whom you gave Me, I have lost none. Now in two parts in verses 4 through 9, we're going to see His humble submission of His authority, the humble submission of His authority, and we'll see the humble submission of His power. Now in courageous submission to the will of the Father, in immeasurable love for His own. For those for whom He goes to die, Jesus, knowing all things that would come upon Him, went forward. When they wanted to take Him by force and make Him king, in John chapter 6 He withdrew from them. But when they want to take Him now by force and hang Him on a cross, the Lord Jesus Christ marches forward. He goes forward. He went forward in verse 4 to confront them directly. As we looked last week at His prayer, Matthew chapter 26, Mark chapter 14, Luke chapter 22, the Lord Jesus Christ is strengthened as He prays in the garden. He becomes more and more resolved, always resolved, more and more convinced of the Father's will, resolved to do the Father's will, and to take the cup that had been prepared for Him. So He says in Matthew chapter 26 and in Mark 14, to the disciples, rise, let us be going, my betrayer is at hand. He wasn't going to hide. He wasn't trying to flee, trying to escape. He was going out to meet them. And so going out in verse 4 then, He asks them, whom are you seeking? And we think about this passage, verses 4 through 9 specifically, it paints a very interesting picture of the Lord's arrest, paints a very interesting picture of the Lord's arrest in first His submission to the Father. But that picture intentioned by John to communicate here that He's the one in charge. Lord Jesus Christ coming into the garden with all authority. The Lord's not a victim here. He's not a victim. He's not fleeing. He's coming in, having all authority. He knows all things that would come upon Him. He's not cowering behind some rock, behind some bush. He's acting with complete authority. If you notice, He goes out to meet them. He goes out to meet them head on, to meet them directly. He is the one who initiates the contact. He goes up to them and asks them, whom are they seeking? He's the one asking the questions here, right? From start to finish, He is the one who directs this encounter, and we'll see that as we'll work through the text. All of this then taking place according to His will, and only by His will does this take place. Jesus told Peter in Matthew chapter 26 verse 53, He's rebuking Peter for taking out a sword. And Peter, He said to Peter, do you not think that I can now pray to my Father and He will provide me with more than 12 legions of angels? In other words, that's a rhetorical question. Certainly the Lord Jesus could. He chooses not to. The Lord has all authority, and the Lord is the one here directing this encounter. If He wanted to, He could have run Him out of the garden with a whip of cords, couldn't He? Right? Like He did those in the temple. John 2, Matthew 21. Now what are we to understand from this picture? First we're to understand His authority. His authority and His power and His sovereignty in this text are on display. And again, that's intended by John for us to see. John chapter 10 verse 18, speaking of His life, the Lord Jesus Christ says, no one takes it from me, but I lay it down of myself. He says, I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. Interesting that word, power there, exosia in the Greek. It's power, but it's power with authority. It's power that comes with authority, or authority's power to do what He has determined. In this case, He has the power, and only He has the power to lay down His life, and He has the power to take it again. And He says, this command, John chapter 10 verse 18, I have received from my father. When we were looking at John chapter 17 in verse 19, the Lord says, I sanctify myself for them. No one is taking this from Him. You see? He has the authority. He has the power. And what has He decreed? What has He decided to do? He's going to lay His life down for His own. He's going to go to the cross, and He's going to die for them. He says, I sanctify myself for or in behalf of their sakes. Now put this in perspective in John chapter 18 verses 4 through 9.  In all of that, Jesus Christ is the initiator. Jesus Christ is the one in authority. Jesus Christ is the one in complete and total control. The salvation of His people is only possible at the cross. And so what has Jesus determined to do? He is determined to go to the cross. He's going to go there for His people. He goes out of the garden here to take care of that business. So in verse 4, Jesus went forward then, taking the initiative. With authority, Jesus went forward instead of them, whom are you seeking? They answered him in verse 5, Jesus of Nazareth. Now picture the scene. Make the setting clear for a moment. You have this great multitude we discussed last week, this great multitude now that has come into the garden, come to arrest Jesus, a cohort upwards of 600 Roman soldiers, the temple guard sent by the Sanhedrin, the chief priests, the Pharisees, the Jewish leaders of the people, all representing this world's authority. And they certainly believe that they're in charge here. They've come out in force, right? Then you have the one who goes out to meet them, the one with all authority, true authority, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Son of man. He goes out with all authority. That authority partially veiled here in the garden by his own humble submission. But you catch glimpses of it. You catch glimpses of that authority, flashes of power that John intends here to bring out in this text. So you have this world's authority. You have true authority, but there's another so-called authority represented here. Another pretender to the throne. One who also believes in John 18, verses 4 through 9, that he's pulling the strings. Look at verse 5, and Judas, who betrayed him, also stood with them. Now flip back and look at John 13. John chapter 13, there's another so-called authority represented here in the garden. In John chapter 13, look at verse 1, before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come, that he should depart from this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world. He loved them to the end, and supper being ended, the devil having already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him, Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, rose from supper, laid aside his garments, took a towel, and he guarded himself. In other words, the devil now motivating Judas to betray the Lord Jesus Christ. Look down at verse 27, after the piece of bread, Satan entered him, and Jesus said to him, what you do, do quickly. Satan entered him and took over in John chapter 13, verse 27. So behind Judas, we see Judas here in the garden, behind Judas, you have Satan aggressively asserting his own authority in the garden, always laboring to usurp true authority, to undermine true authority. In John chapter 12, verse 31, John 14, verse 30, John 16, verse 11, Jesus calls him the ruler of this world. In Ephesians chapter 2, verse 2, he's called the prince of the power of the air and the spirit that now is at work in the sons of disobedience. In Ephesians chapter 6, verse 12, he heads the principalities and powers, the rulers of the darkness of this age. He is the leader of the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. In 2nd Corinthians chapter 4, verse 4, he is the God of this age. And according to Hebrews chapter 2, verse 14, he holds the power of death. Turn with me to Isaiah chapter 14, Isaiah chapter 14. We're looking here in the garden at these gathered authorities. You have one holding all authority, true authority, and you have two pretenders to the throne. You have this world's authorities that have arrayed themselves, gathered themselves together against the Lord's anointed, and you have Satan himself through Judas here asserting his authority in the garden. In Isaiah chapter 14, we see where this comes from and where this is going. Look beginning with me at verse 9. What happens to this world's presumptuous and pretender authorities?  It stirs up the dead for you, all the chief ones of the earth. It is raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations. They all shall speak and say to you, have you also become as weak as we? Have you become like us? Your pump is brought down to shield and the sound of your stringed instruments, the maggot is spread under you and worms cover you. Verse 12, how you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning. How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations. For you have said in your heart, I will ascend into heaven. I will exalt my throne above the stars of God. I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds. I will be like the most high. What happens to Satan and to his authority? Verse 15, yet you shall be brought down to Sheol to the lowest depths of the pit. That's what happens with these pretender authorities. That's what happens with Satan and his pretending authority. Verse 15, seals the fate of Satan. The Lord has spoken. Will he not do it? Certainly he will. And he comes into the garden with that thought in mind. We'll look at that in a moment. But Satan here in the garden, Satan knows his end. Satan's not omniscient. He doesn't have omniscience, right? Satan knows and understands based on revelation as things are revealed from God. And it has been revealed to Satan what his end is. Remember as the Lord Jesus Christ, right? In Matthew chapter eight, he meets the two demoniacs.   They were expecting torment. They knew that torment would be their end. They were questioning Jesus if he had come to torment them before the time. They know the time is coming. They know. They know. The demons know that there is an everlasting hell prepared for the devil and his angels. So if we think about Satan in the garden, what's his point? What's his purpose? His purpose is to oppose and hate, to oppose and hate. He's the adversary. Satan is the adversary. Both the Hebrew word and its Greek translation, Diabolos, mean adversary or plotter, someone who opposes through evil means. His intent is to oppose God, oppose the Lord Jesus Christ by fraud, by slander, by murder. Satan opposed God in the Garden of Eden, didn't he? With Adam and Eve. And now he opposes God in this garden in John chapter 18 as he stands before God and as he stands before the Son of God in brazen defiance. Satan knew from Genesis chapter three verse 15 that his ultimate destruction would come through the seed of the woman. So knowing that from Genesis chapter three, he at once begins to work in time in history to destroy that seed. What do you have in Genesis? You have Cain murdering his brother Abel, right? The first murder. And what does John say was the reason for that murder? First John chapter three verse 12 says that Cain was of the wicked one and murdered his brother. Why?  You see Satan's plan, Satan's motivation, Satan's heart, so to speak, in opposing God. Just a few examples in Satan's work to destroy that seed. It was revealed in time from God that the seed, the seed of the woman would come from Abraham's descendants. So what does Satan do? Works through Pharaoh, Pharaoh who tries to murder every Jewish male baby and Moses is saved in a little basket, a little arc, right? Haman in the book of Esther tries to destroy all the Jews and his plot is victoriously turned against him, right? He was hung on the same gallows that he prepared for Mordecai. It was revealed in time that this seed would come from the tribe of Judah into the line of David.  In second Chronicles, this is a great account, in second Chronicles chapter 21 and 22, Queen Athaliah, when her son King Ahaziah was killed, Queen Athaliah ordered every grandson in line for the Davidic throne killed, ordered every one of those grandsons killed. She thought she had succeeded, she thought she got away with it. But they hid one baby for six years, Joash. He was the only one, the line of David brought down to one baby. They hid that baby for six years to avoid him being killed and at age seven he was brought out of hiding in crowned king and the Davidic line was preserved by God. It was revealed in Micah chapter five, verse two, that the seed would be born in Bethlehem. And in Matthew chapter two, King Herod sent troops and had all of the male Jewish children in Bethlehem, two years old and younger, had all of them slaughtered. Mary and Joseph and the baby escaped into Egypt. Jesus began his earthly ministry. Jesus comes in his incarnation, begins his earthly ministry, and Satan takes him out immediately in Matthew chapter four to tempt him. All of this according to God's plan, none of this catches God by surprise. The Lord Jesus Christ is an authority. God in decree is superimposing his rule, his sovereign reign over all of this, but we see Satan's plot. The Jews of their father, the devil, constantly sought to kill him. From the beginning, they sought to kill him. As they stand here in the Garden of Gethsemane in John chapter 18, Satan continues to oppose him and wants him dead. Jesus Christ is about to have his heel bruised, but that heel is lifted and it's about to crush the head of the serpent. The Lord is in complete control here in the garden, but he is humbling himself. He's humbling himself in submission to the Father. According to Hebrews chapter two, there are always, always those who, like their father, the devil, oppose the work of Christ. Always those who presume to prop up their own authority, their own rights, so to speak. They stand opposed, stand against the Lord. Hebrews chapter two, drop down to verse 14. We see an example here of the Lord's intention in the garden. In verse 14, in as much then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, he, the Lord Jesus Christ, he himself likewise shared in the same. He did that by making himself of no reputation, right? Taking the form of a slave, coming in the likeness of men, being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and he became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. So that verse 14, through his death, he might destroy him who had the power of death. That is the devil. He goes into the garden, not subjected in any way to Satan's authority, not subjected in any way to anyone, to anything. He himself in sovereign control. He goes into the garden to destroy the devil.  That is the devil. Verse 15, and release those who, through fear of death, were all their lifetime subject to bondage. So Satan may believe that he's orchestrating the arrest in the garden. Those authorities, those worldly authorities, including Judas, they may believe that they're pulling the strings here and orchestrating these events in the garden, but that's not the case. That's not the case. And the Lord here is submitting himself in humility, great humility, right? You know, if we think in worldly terms, one of us might have been standing there. We can see it in Peter's response, can't we? When you want to reach out and grab Judas by the throat, Peter pulls his sword and wants to take a swipe at Malchus. That's the worldly response. The Lord Jesus Christ here in great humility, great humility submits himself to the Father's plan. In Hebrews chapter two, verse 16, he says, for indeed, he does not give aid to angels, but he does give aid to the seed of Abraham. Therefore, in all things, he had to be made like his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God to make propitiation for the sins of his people, to deal with the wrath reserved for his people as a result of their sin. He came to take that upon himself. Verse 18, for in that he himself has suffered being tempted. He is able to aid those who are tempted, not just similar to his brethren, but in all things. He was made like them and all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Why? Look at verse 17. Why? Well, first, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God. He represents his people to God and he wants to be and he is a merciful and faithful high priest. But secondly, to make propitiation for the sins of his people. In other words, to be totally sympathetic to the great need of his people and proven faithful through temptation, through suffering, so that he might effectively deal with the sins of his people and set them free from bondage and aid those who are tempted. Because Christ was tempted through his suffering, because Christ was exposed in the way that he was to humiliation, he is able to come to the aid of his own when they are tempted. When they're tempted to fall back because of suffering, when they're tempted to fall back or become weary or become discouraged because of their circumstances, because of persecution or because of suffering, Jesus Christ aids his own as Jesus Christ suffered such hostility against himself at the hands of sinners. So let's apply this to our understanding back in John chapter 18. The Lord here in John chapter 18 is humbling himself in the garden, one with all authority, one with all power. He is submitting himself to the death of the cross for his people to be their merciful and faithful high priest. This is a humble submission. And in thinking about that, make no mistake, the Lord Jesus Christ is in control. The Lord Jesus Christ is in control and through that very death, he is about to destroy him who had the power of death. You think about God's sovereignty in this, right? And how miraculous it is that God in his sovereignty bring to a confluence, if you will, God's will, God's plans, God's intentions, God's purposes, and the wicked intentions, wicked plans and wicked deceptions and wicked plots of all the wicked. And their intentions converge, if you will, here in the garden, converge, if you will, at the cross where God accomplishes, even through their wickedness, God in complete sovereignty, complete authority, complete control, accomplishes all his intentions, all his purposes. It's an awesome picture. And what's our response to that? Right, when we understand what the Lord Jesus Christ has come to do, He marches with authority into that garden to submit Himself, our response, knowing that He voluntarily and willfully determined and resolved and actually did submit Himself in that way in the garden to death, even death of the cross, we should submit ourselves, heart, soul, mind, and strength to Him who loved us and gave Himself for us. We should humble ourselves and submit. And when John 18, John makes the point at the end of verse five to say that Judas, who betrayed him, also stood with them. So Judas, now Judas himself, is a completely willing accomplice, obviously, in all of this. At the end of the day, no one can really say the devil made me do it, right? No one can say that. At the end of the day, Judas is only too willing to go along with all of this. Jesus in John chapter six calls him a devil.  So you have the first Adam in the first garden. He took of the fruit, right, and said in pride, not your will, God, but my will be done. And then he went and hid himself in the bushes due to his guilt, due to his shame. And he comes out of the bushes, cursed, and all his descendants cursed in him. So here's Judas in our garden in John chapter 18, having walked with Christ for three years of ministry, standing face to face with the Son of God after seeing all the miracles, right? After hearing the gracious words that came out of his mouth. Judas stands here in the garden, face to face with the Son of God saying, not your will, God, but my will be done.  He will not submit. He's blinded here in the garden by hatred.  He's witnessed firsthand the power of God, witnessed. He was an eyewitness to the grace of God in Christ, the love of God in Christ. And don't be tempted to think now of John 18 and Judas being an extreme example. Put yourself in Judas' shoes. If you're not following Christ wholeheartedly, then you're like Judas. Judas is a picture of the true nature of all men apart from the grace of God. Judas is a picture of the true nature of all men apart from the grace of God in Christ.  If you have not heart, soul, mind, and strength in repentant faith, entrusted yourself to your Creator to serve him and him alone, then you have a Judas heart. And like Judas, you have no excuse what may be known of God.   You've said in your heart, if you've not said it actually with your words, it matters not how straight the gate, how charged with punishments the scroll. I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul.  When he holds out grace and mercy in Christ, his only son who died, the blindness, the blindness of someone who has rejected the Lord Jesus Christ, the blindness of a hard heart who says, I will not follow him. I will not be ruled by anyone but myself. The hardness of heart, right? It reminds me of those in Revelation chapter nine, verse 21, when the judgments of God, the bowls and the trumpets are being poured out on the people. And what does the Bible say of them? What does the Bible testify of those earth dwellers? They would not repent. They wouldn't repent of their wickedness. They wouldn't repent of their murders. They wouldn't repent of their sorceries.  They refuse to submit themselves. And yet the Lord Jesus Christ goes into the garden here to submit himself to the will of the Father, to die for sinners, to give himself, to shed his blood that you might be saved. And you sit there with a hard heart.  You will surely perish. And in that you're like Judas. You have a Judas heart. Acknowledge that about yourself and turn to Christ in faith.  Submit yourself, confess your sin. Bow your knee to Christ and be saved. Why will you resist?   They would not repent. And here Judas is after walking with the Lord and he will not repent. Others, others feign to kiss him. They pretend to be one of his own.  Rabbi, teacher, I love you, Lord. Right? As they slowly slip the blade in between the ribs. Look at this Christian work that I'm doing. Look at all these Christian people that I'm doing it with. Look at the Christian attitude that I display while I'm doing it. But if any one of those genuine Christians attempts to hold them accountable for their sin, or if they don't toe the line that that one says they must toe, then he's going to kiss them too. Spurgeon said that bold-hearted men are always called mean-spirited by cowards. There's a lot of speculation in John 18, in Mark 14, Luke 22, Matthew 26 regarding the kiss. John doesn't specifically go into the details here in John chapter 18. All three synoptics address it, all three. Why did he do it? Why did he do it? Judas could have just pointed him out, right? And said, there he is. But he doesn't do that. Mark 14, verse 44, records that Judas had given them a signal saying, whomever I kiss, he's the one. Seize him, lead him away safely, it says there. The word is better rendered under guard. Judas wasn't concerned about the Lord's safety. It means hold on to him tight, keep him secure. Seize him, lead him away under guard. Verse 45 there in Mark 14 says, as soon as he had come, immediately he went up to him and said to him, rabbi, rabbi, and he kissed him. The word they're used for kissed is a compound word. And the compound word, the compound part, intensifies the kissing. It either means that Judas kissed him for a long time or kissed him repeatedly. But it intensifies the use of the kiss. Take those things together, that it's in all three synoptics. This was a point that the writers intended to convey, the Holy Spirit intends to convey. And then the intensity of the signal, the intensity of the kiss, the sign, kissing him repeatedly. Some would argue that Judas there was simply being foolish, right? Coming up with some unnecessary signal to point out Christ. Others would say that he's just being polite. This was a common way that you greeted, greeted your teacher in those days. It's apparent to me from the text that it's much more wicked and much more insidious than that. Proverbs chapter 27 verse 6 says, faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful. And here are the ways, think through this with me. Here are the ways in which this kiss is intended to be wickedly deceitful. First, Judas wanted to draw him close. Judas wanted to draw him close. He wanted to draw him close under a facade of friendship, under a fake deceitful picture, an illusion, a deception. In Matthew chapter 26 verse 50, after Judas kisses him, Jesus says, friend, why have you come? Judas wanted to draw him close under a facade of friendship, under a fake notion of friendship. Second, it's the closeness. It's the closeness that magnifies and intensifies the wickedness of the hate, the wickedness of the betrayal. David cries out in Psalm 55. David says, for it is not an enemy who reproaches me, then I could bear it, nor is it one who hates me, who has exalted himself against me, then I could hide from him. But it was you, a man my equal, my companion, and my acquaintance. We took sweet counsel together. We walked to the house of God in the throng together. We worked in ministry together. We evangelized together. We worshiped together. We fellowshiped together.  It's the closeness that magnifies and intensifies the wickedness of the hate, the wickedness of the betrayal.  One of the likely, or several, one of several indications of Judas' wicked heart occurred in Bethany when Mary anointed the Lord with the costly oil that she'd been saving in John chapter 12. And Judas responds to that. Why was this fragrant oil not sold for 300 denarii and given to the poor? And John said he said that not because he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief. So what happens in the heart of one like this who bent on sin? In other words, for Judas, among the 12, or among the 11, the other 11. I can't sin among them in the way that I want to, or in the way that I am. I can't continue in my sinful pattern among them in this way, and so I begin in my heart to despise them. Rather than humbly submitting to my brothers, contempt for my brothers now begins to grow in my heart. I want you to think through this progression with me, because this may be some of you.  Every time Judas says, every time I'm corrected, every time I feel convicted over my sin, every time I'm challenged for the direction that I'm taking, my contempt for them only grows until at last my pride will no longer allow me to stay among them. And in fact, my pride will not allow me in leaving them to remain silent. That would be too loving. I must vindicate myself by opposing them. I must justify myself by tearing them down. In the Lord's day, Judas had Jesus arrested. In our day, that comes through false accusation, it comes through slander, comes through gossip, comes through backbiting, comes through tail-bearing, here amongst the brothers and sisters, amongst God's people. You can't sin the way that you want to, because you have a loving brother, a loving sister who will come alongside you and confront you in your sin, will talk to you about your sin, will call you to repentance, you have two responses possible. You can be humbile or you in your heart can be hostile. Humble yourself, submit yourself to your brothers. When you aren't humble, when they come alongside you and say, listen, brother, you're sinning against the Lord, you're sinning against the Lord's people, when they don't respond with humility, then bitterness grows in their heart. Contempt for those brothers will grow in their heart. Eventually, their pride will get the better of them. Every time they're corrected, every time they feel convicted over their sin, it's an affront to them, an affront to their pride, and pretty soon they can no longer take it, and they've got to leave, but they just can't leave. Their pride won't allow them to simply leave. They need to leave opposing God's people. They need to leave with a vicious voice of hate towards God's people, saving faith for themselves. They need to leave opposing, vindicating themselves, justifying themselves by tearing the people of God down as they go. That's what Judas is doing here in the garden.  Can't think this is innocent in any way, shape, or form. Judas goes up to the Lord Jesus Christ, draws him in close, and then, and he does that with intention in his wicked heart to mock the Lord Jesus Christ, to save faith, to justify himself, to vindicate himself. I'm with these. It doesn't matter if you come out with a whole Roman cohort against the Lord Jesus Christ. Who's righteous in this, right? But what does Judas do? He comes out with an entire multitude with him. One so close to Christ revealed as a wicked, deceitful, lying, slandering, prideful, contemptuous, accusing, hypocrite. John's words, they went out from us because they were not of us. If they had been of us, they would have continued with us, but they went out that they might be made manifest that none of them were of us. They go out in sin, go out accusing, go out like Judas.  One closest to him within his inner circle has delivered him over. And Judas and Satan both reveling in this, they're reveling in it. This was a tasty morsel. And this was delicious to Judas, to Satan, to see this happening. And yet in the midst of it all, the Lord in great humility, incomprehensible humility, the Lord humbling himself to it as the will of the Father, committing himself to the one who judges righteously. So let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. Even when they gather around them, a bunch of religious looking people, yes, even then, hang in there, trust the Lord, submit to the Lord, believe upon him, hold on to his promises, obey his word, pray, even when they come with chief priests and Pharisees, leaders among the people, yes, even then, even then, trust the Lord, don't fear their faces, don't turn and cower, believe upon him, even though they come against you with an entire Roman cohort, cohort. I'm here from the association, I'm here to help you.  You commit yourself to him, you trust him, the Lord is in authority, the Lord is in control, the Lord is sovereign over all these things. Incidentally, this is what happens when you draw people close. When people get close, this is what happens.  Does this mean that you keep everyone at arm's length because you might get hurt?   If you're a part of this church, this has likely happened to you on a personal level many times.  Why? Why? Because it's the sin of a Judas kiss, it's the sin of a Judas kiss, and, and, because God in his goodness to us, God who will not withhold anything good from those who walk uprightly, because God in his goodness has determined that it must be so. In Matthew chapter 27 verse 3, Judas would show remorse, but his remorse wasn't genuine repentance, the evidence that it wasn't genuine repentance was that Judas didn't turn back to the Lord, he didn't turn back and bear fruits befitting repentance, he continued to take matters into his own hands, and he went out and he hung himself. Acts 118 says that after he hung himself, he fell, and that he burst open in the middle, and all of his entrails gushed out, fitting end for the betrayer.  Back in John chapter 18 verse 5, this was not Judas' hour, this was not Satan's hour, it was not the hour of the chief priests and the Pharisees, though they certainly thought that it was, this is the Lord's hour. Richard Phillips says, not as a victim, but as a determined savior who has come to his most glorious hour. The second Adam enters the garden, and for the joy that was set before him with all authority given to him, he said in humility, not my will father, but your will be done.  Now this narrative in John chapter 18, much less about what the world here and Judas and the chief priests and the scribes and the Pharisees and the cohort, much less about what the world is doing to him and much more about what he is doing for his own in this world. So point two on your notes, we're looking at the Lord's humble submission, his humble submission. With great humility of his submission, we see his great humility in that he submits himself despite having all authority. We also see that great humility, the humility of his submission, and the fact that he submits himself despite having all power. Verse four, Jesus, therefore, knowing all things that would come upon him, he went forward and said to them, whom are you seeking? And they answered him, Jesus of Nazareth. So he said to them, I am he. The word there is I am. He is added. Jesus said to them, I am. And Judas who betrayed him also stood with them. Now when he had said to them, I am, they drew back and they fell to the ground. As we've seen before in the Gospel of John, he responds to them here with a profound statement about his person. I am. It's become through the Gospel of John a clear title for who he is. It's a clear claim to deity. And here in verse five, there's no predicate with it. Not I am the bread. I am the life. I'm the, this is I am like in John chapter eight, verse 24.  John chapter eight, verse 58. Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was I am. They understood exactly what he was saying. And they understood exactly what he was claiming through the use of that statement in John chapter eight, verse 59. They pick up stones to stone him for blasphemy because he, they say, being a man claimed to be God. Here in John chapter 18, verse six, the reader, you and I, those reading this Gospel, are meant to understand exactly what he's saying. And that understanding is communicated through the response of those people in the garden listening to this statement. Their response in the garden emphasizes his identity and his power. Verse six, when he said to them, I am, they drew back and they fell to the ground. There was force in his words. Now someone want to explain this away, right? They want to explain it away. They, they do the same thing with the account of him clearing the temple with a whip of cords. Let's say it was the authoritative tone of his voice and we spoke with authority. He had this look in his eye and they were just astonished. They were taken aback by that. They stepped back and fell to the ground. No, this was, this was a miracle, a small, but significant glimpse of who he is, a glimpse of his power. One said the army fell down as if vanquished by a greater army. And that's true. This response, their response validates or reinforces our understanding of his use of I am to describe himself and the Lord wants us to see here. They couldn't even stand before him, much less arrest him without his consent. They wanted to kill him but could make no claim on him without his humble submission. Hundreds stood there to oppose him and hundreds were hopelessly outnumbered by one. This is the word, the word who was in the beginning with God, the word who was God, all things made through him and without him, nothing was made that was made. And one day all rebellious stubbornly standing rebels will be brought before him. You know, this one word and they step back and they fall to the ground. Imagine the terror of the wicked when they see his completely unveiled power. The full display of his power as every one of them, all the wicked is made to fall to the ground at the name of Jesus. That at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow of those in heaven and those on the earth and of those under the earth and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God, the Father. You can submit yourself to him now as he offers grace and mercy and love to you or you will submit yourself to him later then as you stand before him in judgment. Turn to Christ now. This is a time when the Lord Jesus Christ has come to seeking to save that which is lost in great mercy, in great grace, abounding in grace and mercy. The Lord Jesus Christ has come to save sinners. Those who are well though, those who are well though, don't need a physician. Those who are sick confess your sin, understand your condition apart from Christ. Repent, turn from your sin and bow the knee to Christ. In John chapter 18 verse 6, they're in shock.  They're probably trying to step out of the way of several puddles that have formed on the ground underneath them. In any event, in verse 7, they have to be asked again. He said in verse 7, then he asked them again, who are you seeking? It's like Jesus has come into the garden now helping them. He's trying to help them get on with the business. Again, he asked verse 7, who are you seeking? And they said, Jesus of Nazareth.  Therefore, if you seek me, let these go their way. That the saying might be fulfilled what he spoke of those whom you gave me, I've lost none. So in verses 8 and 9, then we see yet another example of his sovereign power. This is the good shepherd protecting his sheep. The same sovereignty by which he directs this entire encounter is the same sovereignty by which he now provides for and protects his disciples. He keeps the focus of the stunned multitude on him, right? Asking them twice who they came for. And then he says, he's got their focus on him. Who'd you come for? You came for me and let these go their way, right? It was a great foreshadowing. These words foreshadowing what was to come when he says to the crowd, take me instead of them, right? He'd go to the cross and die for his own saying to the father, take me and let these go their way. Edward Clink, the commentator said, if the greater purpose of the coming of Jesus was to remove the wrath of God from his disciples and place it upon himself, he could certainly do the same with the wrath of this world. The reason for this, because it was the will of the Father and because Jesus Christ had prayed for it. In John chapter 6, verse 39, this is the will of the Father who sent me, that of all he has given me, I should lose nothing but should raise it up at the last day. John chapter 17, verse 11, Holy Father, keep through your name those whom you have given me, that they may be one as we are. While I was with them in the world, I kept them in your name. Those whom you gave me, I have kept and none of them is lost except the Son of Perdition, that the scripture might be fulfilled. Here he doesn't even, in John 18 doesn't even mention Judas, it's obvious, right? The Son of Perdition, the Son of Destruction, betraying the Son of God with a kiss. They would eventually, these disciples here, he's praying for their protection, he's protecting them sovereignly, but they would eventually, they would be themselves arrested, they would be beaten, they would be scourged, they would be imprisoned, they would be martyred. But this was here in John 18, not just physical protection, it was as much spiritual protection as it was physical. They had a mission to accomplish, they had a work to do, it wasn't their hour yet, and they certainly weren't ready. Peter, Peter denies the Lord to a girl in the courtyard, much less having been arrested and facing death, facing execution, right? They weren't ready, they weren't ready for the torture, they weren't ready for the imprisonment, for the beating, they weren't ready for that kind of a severe test of their faith. It would have been too much for them. So the Lord is protecting them, he's protecting them physically, he's protecting them spiritually, and the Lord has the power to keep that which you have committed to him against that day. He considers all of that, all of that. He will preserve his own to the end, and you can trust him to do it. This is his protection of the disciples here in the garden, a practical outworking of the promise of eternal security, a practical outworking of the perseverance of the saints, God's preservation of his own people.  You are invincible in him, he will preserve you in the faith until the very end. Will he preserve you from pain? Not always. Will he preserve you from imprisonment? Not always. Will he preserve you from death? Yes, until he's done with you, until it's time for you to go. He will preserve you, however, always in the faith until the very end and take you to himself. Trust him, and trust yourself to him, and trust yourself to him. Thirdly, on your notes, we see his determined submission, beginning in verse 10. He is determined to submit himself to the will of the Father. Verse 10, then Simon Peter, having a sword, a makaira, it's a short sword, it's something that could be concealed under a cloak, right? Peter having a sword, he drew it, and he struck the high priest's servant, cut off his right ear. The servant's name was Malchus. It mentions him by name. In other words, these are eyewitnesses. These are people you could have gone and spoke to. They were eyewitnesses of what took place. Verse 11, so Jesus said to Peter, put your sword into the sheath. Shall I not drink the cup which my father has given me? Now, Luke 22, 49, Luke says that when they saw that he was going to be arrested, they asked him, Lord, shall we strike with the sword? At that point, it was when Peter drew his sword immediately and took a swing at Malchus. It was impulsive, Peter. But Jesus was determined to submit himself to the will of the Father in his circumstances. So Jesus said to Peter, verse 11, put your sword into the sheath. Dr. Luke, Dr. Luke mentions in his account how Jesus touched the ear of Malchus and healed him, right? Jesus touched him, touched his ear and healed it. But the Lord responds, shall I not drink the cup which my father has given me? One statement, right? A rhetorical question. Shall I drink the cup which my father has given me? A rebuke of Peter, a statement of divine intention, and a commitment of determined submission, all in one statement, right? The economy of words. It's an emphatic negation in the Greek. He said to Peter, essentially, do you think it's even remotely a possibility that I would even consider to refuse to drink the cup which my father has given me, right? It's an emphatic, an emphatic answer. It begs the answer in Spanish, no way, Jose. No way, Jose. That cup that we discussed last sermon is the cup of divine wrath, the cup of divine judgment. And it was a cup that he was determined to drink to the dregs for all those the father had given him. And it says in verse 12, the detachment of troops and the captain, the officers, the Jews, they arrested Jesus and bound him like the binding of a sacrifice to the altar. It's like Abraham's binding of Isaac, right? He took Isaac up on the mountain. The Lord Jesus Christ bound, bound, so that we could be loosed. He was bound so that we could be set free from our sin and the courageous, humble and determined submission that the Lord renders here in the garden. Think about this, becomes a part of his perfect righteousness. As you read this account, his humble, courageous, determined submission, his resolved obedience, even under the fiercest conditions, knowing all that would come upon him, he obeys perfectly to the point of death, even the death of the cross, all of that becomes a part of his perfect righteousness, that righteousness, which is credited to you if you turn from your sin and put your faith in him. He humbled himself that you might be forgiven of your sin. All part of God's perfect and sovereign plan for the salvation of you and I who believe in him. Praise the Lord for Gethsemane. Amen. Let's pray. Father in heaven, we praise be to your name. Thank you Lord for this unspeakable gift. Thank you Lord for your glorious grace, your goodness, your kindness to us in Christ. Thank you Lord Jesus Christ for your humble and perfect and courageous and determined submission in the garden. Thank you for your perfect sinless life. Thank you Lord that having loved your own, you loved them to the very end. Thank you Lord for the grace and mercy of a gift of repentance and faith. Thank you Lord for drawing us close with cords of love, where this world draws close in hate. Thank you Lord for your picture, this example, this truth, these acts of our Lord revealed to us here in John 18. I pray God that for your people, that they would consider Christ when they become weary, when they become discouraged, lest they become weary, lest they become discouraged. They would consider him who endured such hostility, such humiliation, such mocking, such evil, such wicked at the hands of sinners against himself. And that we would, by your spirit and according to our Lord's own submission, we would live in humble submission to you, who are able to keep that which we've committed to you until that day. And we praise you and thank you for the powerment and the enablement that your spirit provides. Thank you Lord for those often painful but in the end sweet sufferings that draws closer, that mature our faith, that prepare us, yield the peaceable fruit of righteousness. We thank you for all that Lord. Thank you for your grace and mercy to us and your kindness to us in that. Help us to learn those lessons. Father I pray for anyone here not saved. They would not go in the way of Judas. They would turn from their sin such a gracious loving Lord, such a gracious loving God. They would humble themselves to the one who humbled himself to die for sinners. And they would be saved for your everlasting praise and worship. In Jesus' name we pray all these things. Amen.


My name is Dhruv Mara. I am a student at SRM University Ramakaram campus. I'm in my third year right now. So I did this course called Introduction to Data Analytics. So it's a course basically ready to do statistics and machine learning in general. It's a course where you learn about maths in general, what maths you've learned in second year. It's very helpful in that. So I really like the course, how it was structured. It has helped me broaden my horizon a lot. And regarding the exam, it was kind of in a very helpful manner. We had no problems in finding where my room was, what the instructions were. And the questions were also like, it was ready to the course in general. So yeah, the exam was very nice and I would like to do another course if possible. Thank you.