As I've just said in prayer, the setting here and the details of these events are familiar. And you go back to verse number 33, and we're really going back to stories we've seen in our studies in John's gospel. The Lord, with no intention to flee, leaves the upper room and leads the disciples towards the advancing hordes. Matthew details, again, some of the nature of that company. And they are those who are coming with swords and staves They are those who are coming to capture the savior. Judas, of course, having left the fellow disciples earlier, during the upper room meal, is in the central place among the group. John himself tells us that Judas would have known the place because it was a place the Lord went often with the disciples. Again, the youngest in this congregation will remember the sign that was to be given. Judas was to kiss the Lord. It was dark, the bearded men in dark places are hard to distinguish, the dim light in the garden, thus the kiss was a sign that the Lord would be singled out from the others in the disciples' company. The disciples themselves had two swords with them, one in the hand of the ever-impulsive St. Peter. You can't but admire his bravery, but as we'll see, the Lord's rebuke comes to his action. And so the Lord is arrested and the disciples all flee, as was predicted in the scriptures. Verse 56 says, but all this was done that the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled. Then all the disciples forsook him and fled. As I said, verse 54 also refers to the scriptures being fulfilled. And yet in this section, we're not told the exact scriptures, it's more general. And so he asked the question, well, what is here being fulfilled? What's actually taking place in this particular historical event? Well, we could certainly say that the Lord's betrayal by Judas, that's being fulfilled. You go back to the Psalm 41. And you'll see references there again to the betrayal of the Lord. Psalm 41 and the verse number nine. This again, recurrent events. When friends will indeed do ill against other friends, the Lord comes to experience that in the actions of Judas here in Matthew chapter 26. And of course, also regarding Judas in Matthew 27, verse number nine, you'll see this fulfillment there. Verse nine, then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy or Jeremiah, the prophet saying, and they took the 30 piece of silver, the price of him that was valued, whom they of the children of Israel did value and gave them for the potter's field as the Lord appointed me. So again, all of this, the actions of Judas, no surprise to the Lord. No surprise to the God of heaven. So Judas' actions here are fulfillment of the scriptures. The desertion by the disciples also fulfills the scriptures. Again, we have that in verse number 56. Then all the disciples who sought him and fled. Fulfilling Zechariah 13, verse number seven, the shepherd is smitten and the sheep are scattered. The scriptures are fulfilled in these things. But even more generally than that, so you've got Judas, you've got the disciples forsaking the Lord, but even more than that, you have really the atonement itself being seen here as the scriptures being fulfilled. Verse 53 says, In other words, the Lord is saying, I have the power of my resources to stop these events right now. The band that comes in all of their strength, numerical, and with their weaponry can do nothing to prevent the angels stopping this event. But if that was to happen, verse 54, but how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled? You see, the hour had come. And this language of the hour coming is again a reminder that this is a time that God has appointed. Verse number 45, behold, the hour is at hand. Verse number 39 also shows us that that hour is consistent with the death of Christ Jesus. The cup is come. Verse number 42 also, O Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, the hour that comes is the cup that is being presented. And of course, Paul will tell us later on in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures. So the atonement of Christ is here being seen as something that must be fulfilled according to the precise language of the scriptures. There is no other way. There is no different way for Christ to save mankind. It has to be by the way of the scriptures being fulfilled. And of course we know that in Matthew's gospel on three occasions Christ himself has predicted these things. You turn back to one of those, chapter 16. Chapter 16 in the verse number 21. Remember the account here? From that time forth began Jesus to show on to disciples how that he must go on to Jerusalem and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and be raised again the third day. Again, the Lord is predicting something that must come to pass. How? Because He knows the Father's will for Him. He's been instructed, this is the will of the Father for you, the Son, to obey. And so He understands the details of His ministry. He's a sinless knowledge of the Old Testament scriptures. He understands that the one who will die for sinners will suffer the hands of men for that to come to pass. Christ understood all these things. And so the scriptures must be fulfilled. The Lord said the same, Matthew 17, 22 and 20 verse 18, similar language used regarding the fulfillment of the scriptures, the scriptures which Christ himself predicts to come to pass. And so over these course of these last few weeks, we've looked at various things that are fulfilled in Christ's ministry, various scriptures from his birth to his ministry and other matters also. But here we're seeing the very peak and pinnacle of this, that redemption accomplished is the fulfillment of the plans and purposes of God. God saves. So tonight I want to just take you back to first principles. How does the Father accomplish redemption? And what does the fact that this fulfills the scriptures teach us? Well to begin with we see that redemption is accomplished by the sovereign God of heaven. The Lord God is sovereign over the actions of wicked men here. God saves You know, there's so much in those two words. You go into the public square and announce God saves. That should provoke in the hearers a multitude of questions. Saves? From what? God? Who is this God? And how do these two words fit together? How does God save? From what? See, we take these things for granted, but I put those two words in one sentence, and it's a sentence, God saves. that has mind-blowing proportions that we've lost sight of in our familiarity. You see, we talk about salvation in different ways. Planned before time began. The eternal plan and purpose of God to save people out of their sins. That salvation then promised in covenants. Planned and promised. Predicted. Where? In the scriptures. that must then be fulfilled. But those scriptures are telling us about how God is going to fulfill His plans. And He's going to do it Himself. You see, man can't save himself. And so God comes and acts, He plans redemption, promises redemption, and then God Himself accomplishes redemption, and praise His name also applies it. It's all of God and all of grace. If you're struggling with your own pride, if you find yourself, you reflect upon the day and you see in the course of the day, oh, there was some pride bubbled up there. My words, my words were pride words. My actions were pride actions. My attitudes were pride actions. If you're wrestling with the sin of pride in your heart tonight, remember those two words, God saves. May they be the last words in your mind at night, because there is a God of heaven that alone saves us from our sins. No place for pride. You see, we see that here. What you're noting here in this narrative is that God is the one who's overseeing, governing all of these things. Judas, the chief priests, they act freely, without compulsion. They're not constrained externally. Very simply, they do what they want to do. They've come to hate the Lord. They're jealous, or Judas has got the love of money in his heart, and they're simply doing what they want to do. No one's forcing them. No one's making them act against their will. Their arms are not being turned up their back that they would do something they're reluctant to do. They're content to do this act. And yet the events which they're carrying out, their actions have been predicted by the eternal God in the Old Testament scriptures and by Christ himself in the Gospels. All of this is happening. You try to predict what Tuesday's gonna do. You might get the odd one, right? But here the Lord is fulfilling things that have been predicted hundreds of years earlier in precise detail. The only conclusion is that God is sovereign over these events. That he is in control even over the actions of wicked men. I want to comment on the sovereignty of God in this section. Because again, one of the things that challenges us is that God is not only sovereign over the good things, but he's sovereign over the actions of evil men. Acts 2 and Acts 4 make that very, very clear. Evil men do, and they accomplish the plans and purposes of God. He's sovereign over evil actions. Before we get there, I want to just stop and ask you to once again ponder the simple truth of all that God has done to save you from your sins. God has orchestrated thousands of years of human history for you to be here right now. Everything in the history of humanity is designed to gather in every single elect soul into the church of Christ. The rise of the Romans to the ascendancy at this period of time is part of God's purpose that you would sit here tonight. God does not leave humanity in sin, but does everything required to see salvation accomplished by Christ Jesus. So that when it comes to the point that you call upon the Lord, that you confess your sins and atonement has been made. That required hundreds of years of human history to bring this point in Matthew 26 to pass so that you can be saved tonight. Have you no joy in your soul in light of these wonderful truths? Doesn't that cause you to bubble up and wonder that God so loved me? And he'd say, and his only begotten son, We're so distant from these things. We see the big picture, but the big picture is for the individual. Christ loved me and gave himself for me. We have to stop and marvel at the fact that God steps into human history and acts to save sinners. Including, as we see here, the actions of evil men. Judas, the mob, working at the behest of the high priests and the chief Pharisees, all of these things, they're all working, but they're working under the sovereign hand of God's. As Joseph would say to his brothers, you meant evil, but God, God meant it unto good. God's sovereignty over the actions of evil men. We've got to live life with this mindset. We don't live passively. seeking to live our lives without preventing evil actions. You know, if you're in certain parts of the state, you'll definitely lock your car. You understand that I wanna lock my car so it's not gone when I come back. You take actions to prevent evil things happening. But sometimes evil things still happen. And if we forget the sovereignty of God over evil, then we may become bitter. Or we may begin to doubt the love of God when we're wronged. You see, God is sovereign over the evil actions of man. So to accomplish his redemptive purposes. And so again, we marvel not only at God's actions, but God's wisdom. You see, it is essential that God saves justly. We saw this morning, God's holy. God cannot set apart His holiness to redeem unholy men. And so, therefore, it is necessary that salvation is by sacrifice, by the taking of life. And because the life of the flesh is in the blood, it's necessary that salvation is by bloodshedding. No remission without bloodshed unless it's necessary for a substitute to die on behalf of sinful men, but that substitute must himself be sinless. So for a sinless man to die an atoning death with the shedding of blood requires an unjust act being performed from the side of men. Men must take the life of an innocent man so that sinners can be converted. And so you see the actions of God, but the incredible wisdom of God enabling salvation as he puts our sin upon his son. So the son dies justly in the heavenly court. but unjustly in the courts of men. It's a marvelous wisdom of God who can use evil actions to achieve his purposes and do so in perfect justness, holiness, and wisdom. You think of that tonight and fall upon your face and bow down and worship your God, his actions, his wisdom, and his love, the father, gave his only begotten beloved Son into this world, a world that would involve the suffering of the Son. Remember, in Trinitarian theology, we believe the second person, the Godhead, took to himself a true human nature in the incarnation. It's the God-Man that suffers here, the person of Christ, Now, the suffering, of course, suffering that's felt in his humanity. His soul is grieved, his body will die, but the union of the person, the natures are not separate. They're not mixed or mingled, but they're not separate. And so the father gives his beloved son to this shame and suffering, the ignominy of the false trial on the cross. Why? God so loved the world. And he gave his only begotten son. You know these things don't you? But I trust it's good to see them again. The scriptures being fulfilled in the atonement remind us again of the eternal plan and purpose of God. God is sovereign and God saves. Well the second thing we see certainly is the kingdom is here spiritual. So God accomplished redemption in the formation of a spiritual kingdom. Swords are prominent in our text tonight again. We see the swords and the staves in the multitude, verse number 47. We see verse 51, the sword is drawn. And again, swords are mentioned in verse number 55. Are ye come out as against a thief with swords and staves for to take me? The mob, they bring their weapons because they have a false perception of the Lord's kingdom. Again, Luke 23, I think we saw this in our studies in Luke's gospel some time ago now, but Luke 23, and the verse number two, they began to accuse him saying, we have found this fellow perverting the nation and forbidding to give tribute to Caesar, saying that he himself is Christ the king. Of course, the thing at that time was, if he's a king, he's going to have an army. He's going to have weapons. He's going to seek to overthrow Roman rule by force. So therefore, let's not take any chances and we'll come with swords and staves. The disciples also had the wrong idea. They had forgotten the Lord's predictions of things, bringing back in Luke 22 and the verse number 49. Lord, shall we smite with the sword? They had forgotten what was going to happen. They asked the question, should we smite with a sword? The Lord had already said that he must suffer from these things. Yet the one had the power to call his legion of angels. The disciples had forgotten the Lord's willingness to come to bear their sins. Later, of course, we're pilot. The Lord explains the events in the garden. Again, please turn to John 18 again. And just reinforce all that's taking place in Matthew's gospel, John 18. And the verse number 33. Then Pilate entered the judgment hall again and called Jesus, said unto him, Art thou the king of the Jews? Jesus answered him, Sayest thou this thing of thyself? Or did others tell it thee of me? Pilate answered, Am I a Jew? Thine own nation and the chief priests have delivered thee unto me. What hast thou done? Jesus answered, my kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight? I should not be delivered to the Jews, but now is my kingdom not from hence. The accomplishment of redemption is to produce a spiritual kingdom. The Lord has given the state, the sword, that it may compel obedience at the point of the sword That's what the sword is for in the hands of the state. If someone will not obey, the sword is used in the hand of the state to compel that obedience. Christ's kingdom is not at the point of the sword. It is not the task of the church or the state to compel people at fear of their lives to obey Christ or die. It is the church's delight to bring the sword of the Spirit to bear upon their hearts. You see, the aim of the church's preaching is not external conformity to the law in and of itself. The Pharisees had that down. They could manipulate and control whereby there's external obedience to external standards. But the task of the church is impossible. It's an impossible task. Men can use power to manipulate in families for a time, in churches, in society. There can be a mutilation of people to the point that they will conform to certain standards. That is not the task of the church. The task of the church is impossible. Because the task of the church is to change hearts. It is a kingdom that is spiritual. So that those who come into Christ's kingdom, they do so gladly and willingly. And they come to love Christ. They are not submitting to a king reluctantly with resistance. Again, you know it's often said, Calvinists, you believe in what's called the irresistible call. What that means is that God drags sinners kicking and screaming into the kingdom. There's no such thing. God works in the hearts of sinners so they are willingly, gladly submissive to Christ their King. They love Him, they adore Him, and they bow the knee willingly before Him. The church, we cannot accomplish that. That's what God does. So salvation that is accomplished by God is then applied by God. Now yes, we have a task to do. The weapons of our warfare are not carnal. This kingdom of Christ is a spiritual kingdom. Our weapons are spiritual. And so I say again, will you strive together with me in your prayers? Will you call upon God to save souls? Will you bring the word of God to bear upon their hearts? Because the spirit changes hearts by the word. In your homes, in the church, in our neighborhood, It is God, the God of heaven who changes hearts. It's a spiritual kingdom of spiritual weapons. May God help us to see that in this passage. One last thing, then we're finished. And we see in the accomplishment of redemption, we see again the submissive savior. In all the gospel narratives, there's never a sense of any panic. any consternation or anxiety. We've studied John 14 through 16 already. Whose hearts troubled there? The disciples' hearts troubled. Their hearts are troubled. They're in turmoil. They're in anxiety and anxious. Christ, he says, I've got peace. And I'm going to leave my peace with you. He's not fretful. He's in complete control and completely calm. Oh yes, his sufferings are intense. The scriptures tell us his anguish His grief, we see that even in Matthew's narrative, we see my soul is exceeding sorrowful. Even the point of death, the depth of Christ's sorrow is so profound. But he's the one that when they come to him in John's gospel and he says, I am, they fall backwards. He is the eternal God and nothing is happening here outside the Lord's full consent. And so a submission is manifest. And as I close tonight, I want to show you that submission that you would see again afresh. Not just the love of the father or the love of the spirit for your soul, but now the love of the son. He submits to be betrayed by his friend. Verse number 49 and 50. It's moving words. Judas comes, healed master and kissed him and Jesus said unto him, friend, No idea, we just can't even begin to imagine the tone of voice when the Lord said, friend. But for Judas to kiss the Savior required Judas entering into Christ's personal space. The proximity. And Judas approaches the Savior and the Savior does not avoid him or pull away. I don't want to speculate, but the Lord knew what Judas was doing here. The Lord has given his time and energy into Judas all the time knowing that he was a son of perdition. And the weight in his soul as Judas now comes and performs that fateful act and the Lord submits to that. I remember preaching on Luke's gospel and I made the comment in Luke's gospel that Christ's sinless response to the betrayal of a friend is an encouragement to us. It secures the righteousness that covers our sinful response to such betrayals. He submits to be betrayed by a friend. He submits to be viewed as a criminal. Verse 57, and following, and they that had laid hold on Jesus led him away. He submits to his arrest and subsequent trial. He submits to take the form of a common criminal, to be seen as a guilty criminal in the eyes of others, to be misjudged and misunderstood. He submits to take our sins. That's the more profound sense of this. He's now submitting to be seen as guilty in the eyes of the father, the beloved son, The person, the God-man, now guilty in the eyes of the Father, taking our sin to the cross. Then he'd pay the price of our sins. Thus he submits thirdly to undergo the punishment for our sins. The cup, the cup of God's wrath. I'm not going to throw the proof for that again this evening. Christ has offered the cup in the language of this passage in Gethsemane. It is not Christ's reluctance, it's Christ's willingness. We misread it if we see Christ being reluctant here. He is gladly consenting to do the will of the Father, though the weight of that is very, very heavy. He is the Messiah, I delight to do thy will, oh my God. He consents to take the cup and drink it to its last dregs. The cup, no more cup for me. And finally he submits to suffer and die alone. And we see the disciples forsaking him and fleeing. And he suffers and dies alone. Christ suffers alone as the sole solitary savior. No co-redemptrix. Christ alone pays the price of our sins. He only could unlock the gates of heaven and let us in. And so he suffers, alone, that we would never suffer the aloneness of hell. He took that for us. So what I think you see in this passage is just a glimpse of the eternal plan of God that brought the Old Testament Scriptures to bear, that showed us the love of the Father to act on our behalf, the love of the Spirit to change our hearts and brings into spiritual kingdom, and the love of the Son to do all that's required to save our souls. Hallelujah. What a Savior.