to the glory of God. I told you last week there's a lot of confusion in people's minds about the trial of Jesus. And one of the reasons is because the various Gospel writers only wrote parts of what happened. And so as we go through this, now this is my last sermon in Luke for this year. So we're not going to go any further into Luke next week all Lord willing if God is pleased I'll preach about the importance of the incarnation and why we acknowledge Jesus as being born of a woman and why that's important. And so January I'll begin a new series to begin the new year on. from Philippians 2 verses 12 and 13 concerning our sanctification and how that works in the various means of grace so. So but as we go through this trial of Jesus probably starting back up in March. We're going to go through all the four gospel records to. To get the full picture of what happens here so we need to understand that the trial of Jesus was actually an all night series of several smaller trials or interrogations, I guess would be a better term, that took place sometime right after midnight until early Friday morning. And there are actually six separate smaller confrontations that constitute what we would call the trial of Jesus. Three of them were conducted by the Jews and three conducted by the Romans. and the reason the Romans were involved at all is because they had occupied the land now for a long time and they had taken away the power of the Jews to execute criminals execute blasphemers to to put up to deliver the death penalty and that was all strictly given into the hands of the Roman authorities to do and that's why they were involved and we're going to see the great struggle that goes on that the Jews have to try to make the Romans believe that whatever Jesus supposedly did was worthy of death. And so as I told you last week this is a kangaroo court. This is a ridiculous trial. This was a farce. This was not a good trial at all. And if Jesus would have said too much he almost let the cat slip out of the bag in this one passage he said Yes I am. If He's God, they can't kill Him, and so they shouldn't kill Him. They shouldn't be putting Him on trial. If He's God, they should bow their knees and worship Him. So Jesus has got to be real careful in this trial that He doesn't do too much or say too much. Remember, He's already opened His mouth and spoken, and 600 soldiers fell on the ground. And then Peter missed the neck of one of the people and cut the ear off. And Jesus healed the ear. And I don't know if he picked the old ear off the ground and touched it and healed it, or if he just created a new one. But right then and there was an amazing miracle right there in front of all these wicked people. And so you'd think if miracles would save people, if the demonstration of miracles is what's missing in people's lives, Those of you that came from the Pentecostal side of the equation we were taught this that if we'll get out of the church and get out on the streets and heal the sick and raise the dead cast out demons people would see the power of God and be saved only the Bible doesn't teach that does it the Bible says people are saved through the preaching of the gospel. So we need to go out there we need to do we do need to leave the four walls of the church. And we do need to get out there but we need to be preaching. Amen make sure you're preaching while you're doing all the other stuff. So we also need to know that at each of these small trials or confrontations that Jesus was beaten. That he was spit on and abused. They just beat him and beat him and beat him and beat him. Another misconception about this segment is that they beat Jesus 39 times on his back. And that we get that from the Apostle Paul. The Apostle Paul was whipped 39 times. because Paul was a Roman citizen and if you if you whipped a Roman citizen forty times and he lived he was then declared free from all charges and you had to let him go so what they did get around the law they just beat him thirty nine times and then they could just keep them and beat him over and over and over again as long as they didn't go past thirty nine lashes but they beat Jesus repeatedly until they got tired of beating him there was no limit Wicked men abused Jesus repeatedly. Now remember, Jesus had just prayed for hours, agonizing prayer in the garden so much that He sweat great drops of blood. And so He has been up all night. He has been in intense prayer so much that the church had to invent a word, the word agony, had to be invented to describe this kind of anguish And an angel had to be sent from heaven to strengthen Jesus. He was in such an agony in his prayer. Immediately upon finishing his prayer for hours, he's arrested, led, stayed up all night, being slapped around and beaten all night long in these six separate times. And so he was led through these six separate interrogations, each one accompanied by beatings and physical abuses and insults that are almost incomprehensible. I want you to look again in verses 63-65 that Brother Andy just read. Now the men who were holding Jesus in custody were mocking Him. and different of the gospel writers tells us how they were how they were doing this they would put a robe over his head they would drape his shoulders with a robe and act like they were bowing down they would take a scepter stick it in his hand and they would take the separatist and hit him in the head with the scepter and and then they in verse sixty four said they blindfolded him and they were asking him, saying, prophesy who is the one who hit you. Remember, the Romans did not invent crucifixion. The Romans studied medicine. Dr. Luke was a Gentile medical doctor, and so the Romans perfected crucifixion. They found the medial nerve in the body, and they found where to put the nails to cause excruciating pain within these people. And so they discovered all kinds of ways to torture people They had leather gloves that they placed on their hand that had either sand or they had bits of metal in the glove where they would hit you with them and that's an early version of what we call brass knuckles or iron knuckles if if you've ever been involved in that kind of activity before you were saved. You were it gave you a leg up on whoever didn't have it so they just beat him and beat him and mocked him and beat him. And they were saying many other things, verse 65, against him, blaspheming. Now this is an incredible moment, because you've got to remember, this is the darling of the Trinity. You know, we give away our junk. We give away chairs that don't sit right, couches that have one leg longer than the other one. We give away shirts that's too small, shirts that don't have buttons, coats that's too small. Periodically we have thieves that break into our homes and steal all of our clothes and replace them with clothes that look just like ours but that are two sizes smaller. And so we have to periodically get rid of our clothes. And we feel good about that. We feel like we've done something. That we've given something to these poor people that need what we have. God gave what He wanted. God gave the jewel of heaven. God gave Jesus. So that's really the only ones who who one who has ever really given anything of value is Jesus even even people who give great sums of money I used to know a guy he would buy a grand piano Steinway grand piano over one hundred thousand dollars for a church somewhere around on the Gulf Coast every year he would buy one every year and give it away and he asked me he said Don't you think I got a leg up on salvation now. I said matter of fact you're worse off than if you wouldn't have given it. And so even then, though, he was given out of the excess that he had left over. So it really wasn't costing him anything. He was taking some of the interest off the money he earned and giving that. And so Jesus, God didn't give that way, did he? God gave the jewel of heaven. But then you have to understand the restraint of God in not eviscerating the people who were beating his son. Some people look at this as the height of evil, that evil is triumphing here. But I'm telling you that God is triumphing in this scene here. But there is a powerful dynamic that is going on here. In the midst of this trial of Jesus, two things are happening. Satan has tempted evil people to harm God's Son. And God has allowed that to happen. So anytime a godly person is persecuted or beaten by evil people, the very same God who chose that person to be saved before the foundation of the world has sovereignly allowed that evil to come upon them. And I believe that it is very important to prepare the people of God for suffering. I believe that that's a primary purpose of preaching and teaching, is to let you know that hardship is coming your way. If it hasn't already arrived at your home, it's down the road and it's headed in your direction. You are going to be persecuted. Some of you will be severely persecuted. Some of you will lose everything you own. because of Jesus Christ. That's coming to this people in this country. It's happened all over the world all the time. We've been spared for about 230 years. We've had a reprieve. That reprieve is ending. And you can't vote the right guy into office to keep this up. God has to set a hedge about His people or there won't be a hedge. And so understand that suffering and persecution and hardship are coming to the people of God. In fact, Jesus warned us to beware when all men speak well of us. So my question to you is, are you living your life? Are you saying the words that would create persecution? Are you troubling your city? Are you causing such a turmoil by your life and your words that people are saying the whole city has been turned upside down because of their words? We should be. And so it's important to let you know this morning that any time hardship and trouble and pain and sorrow and suffering comes your way, the very same God that called you to salvation, the very same God that sent Jesus to live and die for you has allowed that evil to come your way. That He has not abandoned you. to be sure God is absolutely sovereign over everything all the time. And so God does have the ability to stop or prevent all persecutions, all injuries, all hardships from ever touching His people. And many times He does. You know, reading about missionaries and their struggles will humble you. And I was reminded of a missionary who prayed as he was captured by the Muslims And he was praying as he was preaching the gospel to his captors. As he was beaten for preaching and he would get out of his beating and he would preach again. And he would tell them that they couldn't beat the love out of him that he had for them. So he was going to preach or they can kill him. Either way you want to go. And so they left him alone and they let him preach. And so they would try to starve him. They would try to not let him be able to use the bathroom. Not have a bath. Not be out of the cold. Not be out of the rain. They tried all kinds of things. And this man said he prayed and he cried out to God and he's in the middle of the jungle. He's in the middle of the jungle and he prayed and asked God for a hamburger. And by the end of the day, somebody brought him a hamburger. And he said, I knew that God was with me. I knew that God was with me. He didn't ask to be let go, he asked for a hamburger. And I don't know how they got a hamburger in the middle of the desert, but that's God's business. So many times God does move and He helps us and He hinders the persecution or He stops it. And many times it is God's will to either outright prevent or stop or hinder or even completely eliminate evil from touching the lives of the saved. And we praise God for those times, don't we? And we know that the Bible teaches that when that happens, when God so chooses to heal or deliver or rescue His people from trouble and persecutions and hardships and anguish, that it means that two things will always result from that healing or that rescuing or that Deliverance. God will be glorified. And God will work that deliverance to the fulfillment of joy for that person. But there are times when it is God's will to allow evil to touch the lives of those that He loves. There are times in God's own wisdom and plan where it seems good to God to allow hardship and evil and trouble and pain and suffering to touch the lives of the people He loves the most. And in those times, it is God's perfect will not to deliver them. It is His will not to heal them, not to rescue His people, but to sovereignly allow evil to touch them and to harm them. And those are usually times of great bewilderment to us and times of great anguish because most of the time we don't see, we don't understand what God is doing or why He is allowing the evil to touch our lives. And it's interesting how the Bible puts this. It says, Do not think that some strange thing has come upon you. Isn't that odd that God would tell us not to think that some strange thing has come upon us? And the reason He tells us not to think that some strange thing has come upon us is because when that happens in our lives, we think some strange thing has come upon us. But the Bible teaches clearly and repeatedly that when God does that, when God chooses not to heal, when He chooses not to answer, not to deliver, not to rescue, when God chooses to allow His people to hurt and to suffer and to be persecuted by evil men, that it is not because God is weak or because He lost His power. Suffering and tragedy does not come to God's people because God is mad at you. Or because you did something wrong. Or because you didn't even manifest enough faith. That simply isn't true. Even though that is exactly what is taught by many in the modern church. God allows suffering and hardship to touch the lives of the most godly people. For the very same two reasons that He delivers and heals and rescues other people. So that He will be glorified. And so that the fullness of God's joy will work in that person. So here is the theological statement that we need to get from this biblical truth. Godly people hurt. Godly people are abused and mistreated and maligned and persecuted by evil people. And godly people suffer and are not delivered to the glory of God. And ultimately to the fulfillment of joy in their own lives. And we can read countless examples all over the Bible where this was true, and that's why those examples were given to us, so we would not fall apart when these things would come our way. The problem is we see the end of their lives in the Bible. We can read the end of the story, and we see what God did at the end, and we don't see the end of our own story, so we're left to trust. We're left to trust that God is good. We're left to trust that what God has allowed is good. It's better than if He would not have allowed it. And that, many times, is a hard sell, isn't it? I'm fully aware that what I just said is radical theology. And I also realize that it runs counterintuitive to human reasoning and logic. And I also realize that it's a very hard sell, especially to those who right at this moment are hurting. Some of you are hurting. and you're bewildered by that, and you're suffering, and you don't understand why. But I'm telling you that what I just said is true. Now, what makes what I just said true is not because I told you. It's not because I believe it or teach it. What makes it to be true is not because I have personally experienced it in my own life, even though that is also true. What makes what I just said true is because the inspired and infallible and inerrant Word of the living God teaches it. It is thus says the Lord. And that's what makes it true, no matter how many people might disbelieve or condemn it. Now I could go into several different verses and passages all through the Bible to prove this to you, but we really don't need to look any further than this very passage that Brother Andy just read to us. Here the Gentile medical doctor, Luke, tells us that a perfectly sinless man is being beaten and abused and spit on by evil people. Now keep in mind that Jesus was not merely a godly man. Jesus was perfect. Jesus never sinned. Ever. Not a single time. Jesus is the only man who ever lived who loved God with all his heart, soul, mind, and strength. Did you know that? You don't love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. Nobody before or since loves God like Jesus did. We love God on occasion and by times, and while our love for God may be growing and it may be getting stronger, the reality is that we love God partially and haphazardly. And the proof that we don't love God like Jesus did is because we still sin. And sin is loving something else more than we love God, at least at that moment. But Jesus loved God with the very same love that God loves God. Perfect love. Now buckle your seatbelts. The love that exists between the three persons of the Trinity is unspeakable. It is beyond anything we can imagine. The joy and the peace and the love that God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit share with one another every second of every minute of every hour of every day is too much for our puny minds to comprehend. You've never seen an example of it other than you've read about one in the Bible. Nothing compares to the love that God has for God. Every example of love that we can think of pales in comparison. For example, the love that a mother has for her child. The love that a husband has for his wife. The love that a man might have for his country that would cause him to die for his country. None of those fallen human expressions of love even comes close to the love that has always existed, the love that exists right now, and the love that will always exist between the three Persons of the one true living God. And yet here is the sinless Jesus, the Beloved of God, the Darling of the Trinity, being beaten and slapped and spit on by evil men. And not only is God allowing it, it is God's will. Jesus loved His Father perfectly. He obeyed His Father fully. Jesus perfectly submitted to His Father's will. He was perfectly led by God the Holy Spirit. So why would God allow such evil to touch Jesus? Was Jesus lacking in His faith? No. Jesus had perfect faith. Was Jesus out of the will of God? No. God sent Jesus to the earth for the very reason to die for the sins of all of God's people. So why is Jesus suffering? Two reasons. To display the glory of the grace of God. and so that our sufferings will be fulfilled in His sufferings. Now, it's very important that you realize that God is operating in His complete, omnipotent sovereignty as Jesus is being beaten by these evil men. And that means that Annas and Caiaphas and Judas and the Sanhedrin are not decisive at this moment. It also means that Pilate, Caesar, and the 600 soldiers, and even the entire Roman Empire is not decisive either. And it also means that Satan is not decisive. God in Christ is decisive at this moment even as the sinless lamb is being mocked and slapped and spit on and beaten. So how are we to understand what is going on here with Jesus? Why is God allowing Jesus to be beaten and ultimately killed? It's an important question you need to answer because most people when asked this question, most good people, most people who would lay claim to being saved would answer, this is how much God loved me. God allowing Jesus to be beaten and killed is an example of the great love that God has for me. And the reason that God loves me so much is because I'm obviously lovable. That there are qualities about me that God just adores. That I bring a lot to the table. That I am adding to God's abilities. That I give God something He doesn't already have. That I provide something for Jesus that He doesn't have and that He needs. And I will promise you, you'll get answers like that. And when people answer questions like this, like that, it frightens me. Whereas I absolutely do think that God loves us, I think this kind of an answer exemplifies the self-centered attitude that permeates the modern church. To suggest that God is allowing Jesus to be horribly beaten and killed for no other reason than to show how much He loves us minimizes everything else that the Bible talks about. And it proves just how man-centered we have really become. Now, man-centered means that man comes first. That's just another way of saying that. So, here's the thing. I really believe that people are fine with believing and saying and teaching that we ought to be God-centered. That we ought to put God first. And it's really interesting how they hear putting God first because it gives them the thought that perhaps we come second. And that's why people hurry up on Sunday morning and get church out of the way where they can go do what they really want to do on Sunday. Especially when you get close to the playoffs. It's really why people start watching their clock when it gets time for the kickoff. and things like that, because they're trying to put God first, which means they're second. And so they've got the barbecue pit heating up, and they've got the petunia garden getting ready, and they've got the Super Bowl to watch, and they've got all these other things that they really want to do. And so they're trying to be religious, and they get their religion out of the way where they can go. This is the basis behind why church after church after church after church is canceling Sunday night services. This is why some churches are even starting Saturday night services. So we can go to church on Saturday night and get that out of the way so Sunday we can go do what the family has determined to do. Putting God first does not mean you come second. That's not true. Putting God first means He's the only one there. So God is 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 9th, 150th, 7,851st. You're not even in that. That's putting God first. You're dead. Your ambition, your dreams, the fulfillment of all your plans is over. You come to the cross to die. That's the end of you. Yeah. And now you live your life for no other reason than to magnify the worth and the value of Jesus Christ. And you go where He tells you to go. You say what He tells you to say. You marry who He tells you to marry. You have children. You raise them according to the dictates of God the Father. And you preach and proclaim Jesus everywhere you go. And that's called becoming one of those kind of people. And you get a reputation, don't you? That's what it means to be saved. That's being born again. That's being regenerated. That's belonging to Jesus. And I believe that people are more than willing to be God-centered. To put God first. Because in their heart of hearts, they believe that God is man-centered. So they're willing to put God first because they think God's going to put them second. And they're willing to do for God because they think God's going to do for them. And when that doesn't happen, and God doesn't do what they think God ought to do, they take their ball and go home. They pitch a fit. Now, we're too grown and spiritual to say we're pitching fits to God, so we'll say we're like Jonah. We pout. We get angry with God, and we rebel, and we withhold our worship, and we're not going to love Him because He's mean. And my question is, how's that working out for you? I do think God loves us. But I think we have become sinfully man-centered. So what I would like to do in this final sermon of 2016 from our journey through Luke is to magnify Jesus Christ and His sufferings. And in the process, I would like to put forth the ultimate biblical explanation for the existence of suffering. And I would like to do it in such a way that you and I would be freed from the paralyzing effects of discouragement and self-pity and fear and pride so that we would spend ourselves, able or disabled, in magnifying the supremacy of God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, I believe that the entire universe exists for one reason, to display the glory of the grace of God. That's it! In other words, I believe that the Bible teaches that the reason that God created the universe was so that He would have a vehicle that would enable Him to display the glory of His grace so that it would be seen and marveled at. You see, before God ever made the world, He was full and complete. The one true living God had no lack and needed no assistance. God was complete in Himself as manifested in the three Persons of the Trinity. And yet in His perfections, God was not able. I say He was not able to manifest or to make visible certain aspects of His holiness. He had these aspects and attributes and qualities, and He had them in fullness, but He was not able to display them in Himself. For example, God was gracious from the very beginning, but He had no way to manifest or to display His grace by Himself precisely because He doesn't need grace. He doesn't need mercy. He can't demonstrate His vengeance against unbelief unless there's some unbelievers to exercise vengeance on. And so God created the universe so that man would fall. And in that fallen state, man would need God's grace to be saved. And then as God would issue that grace to these rebels through what Jesus did, the glory of God's grace would be seen and valued and praised. And this is what the Apostle Paul meant when he wrote this in Ephesians 1, verses 5 and 6. He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace which He freely bestowed on us and the beloved. And let's examine this quickly. The Apostle Paul begins verse 5 by saying, He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself. This tells us that God issuing grace to save unworthy sinners through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ was not a divine response to our fallen state. This was the plan all along. By using the word predestined here, the apostle was being moved along by God the Holy Spirit to say that God saving sinners through Jesus was not an afterthought. In other words, God didn't see that we were lost and helpless and then work to fix that problem by sending us His Son. That's not what the Bible teaches. The Bible says that before God ever made the world, He chose to display the glory of His grace by adopting wicked rebels into His family by what He alone would do for them in Jesus Christ. That's what the Bible says. And so He decided that first and made the world as an afterthought. Yeah, that's why His plan will stay forever and the world will pass away. That's right. And then look what caused God to do this in the last part of verse 5. According to what? The kind intention of His will. Hallelujah. So the catalyst, the origination to why God chose from before the foundation of the world to adopt sinners into His family through Jesus Christ had nothing to do with us. In other words, it was not based on some quality that we possessed or some act or work or deed that we have done or that we would do. It was not based on some choice or decision that we made. It was based on God's choice that He made before the world was to save us in Christ and was made solely on the basis of who God is. Hallelujah. Paul said, according to the kind intention of His will. And then in verse 6, Paul tells us what the end result of doing this would be. To the praise of the glory of His grace. Hallelujah. Now when you praise something, you admire it. You tell of its value. You marvel at it. So, Ron and I were driving around one day and we turned the corner and there's this gorgeous garden on the corner of the road. Just take your breath away. Golly! And so that right there, golly! That's praise. When you see a waterfall and you go, whoa! That's praise. When you behold something lovely and you admire it, you value it, you set a value on it, you appreciate it, that's praising it. When you see a gorgeous sunset and you gaze at it lovingly and admire its beauty, you are praising it. When you so value your marriage that you look for ways to encourage your wife and you have eyes only for her, you are praising your marriage. I don't know about y'all, but me and Ron are getting older and we're changing. Y'all have noticed that. And I tell her every day how beautiful she is. And that the things that women don't like about themselves, that's a badge of honor. And it's what makes me admire her. And it's what makes me value her. And that I have eyes only for her. So to praise something is to honor it. To value it. To admire it. To marvel at it. Now, God's grace has a glory to it. but that glory cannot be seen or known or appreciated unless that grace is displayed or manifested or made visible. And the only way that God's grace can be displayed is if somebody needs it. So the only way that God can display or manifest His grace is that there exist sinners who need that grace. Huh? Now before God ever made the world, He possessed grace. He didn't start having grace when we fell. And God's grace was absolutely full and absolutely complete. But grace was hidden. It was not seen. It was not displayed because God doesn't need it. So grace was hidden until there could be fallen people who needed it. So God created a world and He allowed Adam to fall so that from his loins there would be a people who desperately needed the grace of God. And when God's grace is extended to unworthy sinners by and through Jesus Christ, the glory of God's grace is praised. It is seen. It is valued. It is marveled at. Look what God has done. Look who you were. And look what God has done. That should take your breath away. How is it that you now love God? A screaming Savior caused you to love Him. So yes, God died on the cross because He loved you. But He died on the cross because He loved you so that by dying, you would love Him. And that is why God made the world. That's the only reason he made the world. To house the people who needed his grace. To house the people that would display the glory of his justice by screaming in hell forever. Now the word 2 in verse 6 should be understood as because, or for. So the Holy Spirit writes infallibly through Paul here to say that the reason that God predestined to adopt sinners who have done nothing but offend His glory into His family was so that the glory of His grace would be seen, valued, and appreciated, and marveled at. Or in other words, that it would be praised. So that is the catalyst behind why Jesus was born, why He lived, why He died, and why He rose again. That is why He suffered. And that is why God is allowing Jesus to be beaten and spit on and laughed at and mocked. You say, wait a minute, Brother Blair, how is that bringing glory to God? Good question. You see, the glory of God shines most brightly and most fully and most beautifully in the manifestation of the glory of His grace. Because grace is absolutely free. Therefore, that is the ultimate aim and the final explanation of all things God created, and that includes suffering. God decreed from all eternity to display the greatness of the glory of His grace for the enjoyment of His creatures. And He revealed to us in Scripture that this is the ultimate aim and final explanation of why there is sin, why there is suffering, and why there is a great suffering Savior. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came in the flesh to suffer and die. And by His suffering and death, Jesus would save undeserving sinners like you and me. So this coming to suffer and die is the supreme manifestation of the greatness of the glory of the grace of God. Or to say it a little differently, the death of Christ in supreme suffering is the highest, the clearest, the surest display of the glory of the grace of God. And if that is true, then a stunning truth that shines forth from that is that suffering then is not some secondary issue, it's not plan B, it's not some side issue, but is an essential part of the created universe in which the greatness of the glory of the grace of God can be most fully revealed. So I will tell you that suffering is needed, that suffering is mandatory for God's grace to be appreciated and praised. So suffering is not an afterthought. Suffering is not a triumph by evil men or Satan over God. Suffering is an essential part of the tapestry of the universe so that the weaving of grace can be seen for what it really is. Or to put it more simply and starkly, the ultimate reason why suffering exists in the universe is so that Jesus Christ might display the greatness of the glory of the grace of God by suffering in Himself to overcome our suffering. The suffering of the utterly innocent and infinitely holy Son of God in the place of utterly undeserving sinners to bring us to everlasting joy is the greatest display of the glory of God's grace that ever was or ever could be. So in conceiving a universe in which to display the glory of His grace, God did not choose plan B. This was the plan all along. This was the plan for which everything else in the universe was planned. We must understand that there could be no greater display of the glory of the grace of God than what happened at Calvary. And therefore, everything leading up to it and everything flowing out from it is explained by it. And that includes all of the suffering in the world. And that is why God is allowing evil men to beat His own Son. Now this is either just lofty theology or it's true. And if it's true, then it is shown in Scripture. For example, the book of Revelation 13, verse 8 says this, All who dwell on the earth will worship Him. Everyone whose name has not been written for the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain. Now this means that before the world was created, there was a book. And that book was called the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain. And the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain was written before God created the universe. And the slain Lamb is Jesus Christ crucified. And so the book is the book of Jesus Christ crucified. Therefore, before God made the world, He had in view Jesus Christ slain. And he had in view a people purchased by Christ's blood written in that book. And that is exactly what Paul said in Ephesians 1 verse 5. He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself according to the kind intention of His will. And that is why I tell you this morning that the suffering of Jesus, not just on the cross, but also here in Luke 22 as He was being beaten was not an afterthought. as though the work of creation did not go the way God planned and God had to do something to fix it. No, before the foundation of the world, God had a book called the Book of Life of the Lamb who has been slain. So the slaying of the Lamb was in view before the work of creation ever began. Now turn with me to 2 Timothy chapter 1. I want you to read about four verses. 2 Timothy chapter 1 beginning with verse 8. 2 Timothy 1, verse 8, Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, or of me, his prisoner. Why would they be ashamed of Paul as his prisoner? because he wasn't having this so-called victory. He wasn't on top of things. He was being beaten in prison. He was being not let loose. He was in weakness. He was in despair. He was in frailty. He's not on top of things. So the temptation is to be ashamed. but join with me in suffering for the Gospel according to the power of God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity, but now has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel for which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle and a teacher." That'll preach. Now look closely again at verse 9. Who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace. Look at this. Which was granted us in Christ Jesus, when? From all eternity. Way before He ever made man. In other words, God gave us grace. Unmerited favor. Unearned special treatment. Unearned love. undeserved special treatment, unearned love, that's grace, in Christ Jesus before the ages began. We had not yet been created when God planned this. We had not yet existed so we could sin and need this grace. Yet before God ever made the world, He had already decreed that grace and in Christ grace, a blood-bought grace, a sin-overcoming grace, would come to us in, by, and through Jesus Christ. And God predestined this before He created the world. Hallelujah. And God predestined your trial, your suffering, your hardship, your disappointment, your disillusionment before He created the world. Whatever you're going through right now that's hard for you right now, God predestined it before the foundation of the world. And it is given to you as a gift that you will not waste, but that you will honor God and glorify God, not by just being delivered from it, but by staying faithful in it. You're supposed to say amen about right now. You've got to help people. So the Revelation 13 tells us there is a book of life of the Lamb who has been slain. And 2 Timothy 1 tells us there is a grace flowing to undeserving sinners who are not even created yet. And don't miss the magnitude of the word slain. John didn't say that the Lamb would be slain, but that He has been slain. And this Greek word is used in the New Testament only by John. And it literally means slaughter. So here we have suffering, the slaughter of the Son of God in the mind and in the plan of God before the foundation of the world. The Lamb of God will suffer. He will be slaughtered. That's the plan. And listen, that is the prime plan. Yeah. So the suffering of Jesus in His beating and humiliation and mocking and crucifixion is not a peripheral part of God's plan. It is not a secondary part. It is the center of God's plan. The important core that displays the glory of His grace through the suffering of His Son. Now you need to ask a question. Why is that? And I'll give you the biblical text which tells the answer, but let me state it again. It is because the entire purpose of creation is the fullest, clearest, surest display of the greatness, of the glory, of the grace of God. And that display would be the slaughter of the best and the most important being in the universe for millions of undeserving sinners. of the suffering and death of the Lamb of God in history is the best possible display of the glory of the grace of God, and that is why God planned it before the foundation of the world. Now go back to Ephesians 1. Look at verses 4-6. Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, to what end? That we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love, He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace." So the goal of the entire history of redemption is to bring about the praise of the glory of the grace of God. But notice that twice in these verses, Paul says that this plan happened in Christ or through Christ before the foundation of the world. In verse 4, he says he chose us in Him in Jesus Christ before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. And so God chose us in Jesus before the foundation of the world in order to bring about the praise and the glory of His grace. So God planned that Jesus would be born, that Jesus would live, that Jesus would die, that Jesus would rise again, that you would be born, that you would fall, that you would be a fallen part of creation, and that you would need grace, and that two things would connect, and you would be saved. He planned all of this before the foundation of the world. So don't get uppity and say, well, I got saved because I chose to get saved. Bless your heart. Did you now? Aren't you special? And look at verse 5. He predestined us to adoption as sons, what? Through Jesus Christ to Himself. So God predestined our adoption through Jesus before the foundation of the world. Why? To bring about the praise of the glory of His grace. Now what does it mean that in Christ we were chosen and that our adoption was to happen through Christ? We know that in Paul's mind, Christ suffered and died as a Redeemer so that we might be adopted as children of God. Galatians 4, verses 4 and 5 says, But when the fullness of time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, so that He might redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. We talked about that in our early morning Bible study about adoption. You're adopted into the family of God. God is your Father. Abraham is your Father in the natural. God is your Father in the spirit. Jesus is your older brother. You are now a true Jew when you're adopted. Your heart is circumcised. Hallelujah. Which allows women now to be part of God's new covenant. Glory! It's better in the new covenant. Yeah, it is. Don't go back under the old one, please. Therefore, what Paul means is that to choose us in Christ and to plan to adopt us through Christ was for him to plan the suffering and the death of his Son before the foundation of the world. So it's not just about you. He planned the suffering and the death of Jesus before the foundation of the world. And verses 6, 12, and 14 of Ephesians 1 make plain that the primary goal of this plan was to bring about the praise of the glory of His grace. That was God's main focus. And that is why God planned and then allowed both the suffering and the death of His Son for sinners before the creation of the world. Now, go to Revelation 5. I want to show you something else. 9-12. And they sang a new song, saying, Worthy are you to take the book and to break its seals, for you were slain and purchased for God with your blood, men from every tribe, tongue, people, and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom of priests to our God, and they will reign upon the earth. Then I looked and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, and the living creatures, and the elders, and the number of them was myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands." That's a whole bunch! Yeah. Saying with a loud voice. I like that. Look, there's one thing I know about heaven from the Bible. It's noisy. Heaven's not quiet. You want to be quiet, don't go to heaven. Heaven's noisy. Yeah, said with what? A loud voice. Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing. Huh? How'd you like to be there? Yeah. How'd you like to hear that? Forever. Myriads and myriads of thousands of thousands praising Him forever. He must be worthy to praise, huh? He must be worthy to praise. Now here the Apostle John sees the host of heaven worshiping the Lamb precisely because He was slain and killed and slaughtered. These beings focused their worship not simply on the Lamb, but on the Lamb that was slain. And they're still singing this song way over in Revelation 15. Therefore, we can conclude that the very centerpiece, or the catalyst, or the reason why those in heaven will worship God throughout all eternity is because God displayed the glory of His grace in the slaughtered lamb to redeem sinful rebels. Hallelujah. It's enough to make you want to get saved, isn't it? Yeah, it is. Don't you want to go to heaven with Him forever? How do you threaten a Christian? I'm serious. How do you threaten? What do you scare them with? You don't recant, Jesus, I'm going to cut your head off and send you to heaven forever. And that's supposed to scare us. What do you do to a Christian except let him live here? Leave him alone. That's the worst thing you can do to a Christian, right? I'm serious. It's amazing. So angels in all of the redeemed will sing of the suffering of the Lamb forever and ever and what the displaying of God's grace that that suffering produced. So the suffering of the Son of God will never be forgotten. The greatest suffering that ever was will be at the very center of our worship and our wonder in heaven forever and ever. And that is why I say that Christ's suffering and death is not an afterthought of God. It wasn't simply something that evil men did. It was the plan of God from before the foundation of the world. And that means that everything else is subordinate to this plan. Everything else is put in place for the sake of this plan to assist and complement and help to display the greatness of the glory of the grace of God in the suffering of Jesus Christ. Now since that is absolutely biblical, do you see what this truth implies then about all sin and suffering in the universe? So you've got to go that next step, right? According to this divine plan, God permits sin to enter the world and temporarily thrive. He passively allows it. God could have stopped it. He has that kind of omnipotent power, but He chose to step aside and allow it. And that means that God ordains that what he hates will come to pass. You didn't hear that. Don't turn too quick. God ordains that what he hates will come to pass. So it is not sinful for God to will that there be sin. God doesn't cause sin. He doesn't create it. He allows it. And the reason it's not sinful for God to do this is because by allowing that evil to exist and to temporarily thrive and even temporarily dominate, an infinitely greater good will come from it. Now it isn't important that we fully grasp this mystery as long as we believe it. We may content ourselves by saying over the sin of Adam and Eve what Joseph said over the sin of his brothers. when they sold Him into slavery. Genesis 50, verse 20 says, As for you, you meant evil against Me, but God meant it for good. Now, I wasn't taught that. I wasn't taught that. I was taught, you meant it for evil against Me, but God turned it for good. That's how I was taught. And so the evil comes first, God sees the evil, and God responds to the evil by turning the evil for good. That's the way I was taught. That's not what it says. The Bible says that God sovereignly meant for good what you sinful men mean for evil. And that means that God did not respond to what evil men did. God originated this from the beginning. He decreed it. It was His will that Joseph's brothers perpetrate the evil that was in their hearts on Joseph. And instead of stopping it, which He could have, God chose to use the evil that He allowed in these evil men to further His will. And so we see the end of Joseph's life, don't we? So when somebody asks you, why did God allow Joseph's brothers to sell him into slavery? And you say, well, God did that so Joseph could be the head of Egypt and that he could keep him from a famine. Well, that's that much of the answer. Keep going. So that by not dying in the famine, Joseph could call his people out of Israel into Egypt to be sustained through the famine Can't stop there. So that the Jew would be left alive on the earth. So that Jesus Christ could be born as a Jew. So that Jesus could suffer and die. So that you would be saved. So that the glory of God's grace would be displayed in the earth. So why did God allow Joseph's evil brothers to sell him into slavery? So that the glory of God's grace could be seen and displayed and marveled at. Hallelujah. Which is the same reason He's letting you suffer. It's the same reason. Your suffering is not in vain. It is not happenstance. It's not accidental. It's not some accident. It's not some mystery. It is planned on purpose for you from before the foundation of the world for the very same reason that Joseph's sufferings was planned for him. Or the Bible's not true. I believe the Bible's true. So God sovereignly and passively allowed evil men to manifest a portion of their evil, although he did restrain them from killing Joseph because they wanted to kill him, right? And the Bible goes on to say that the reason it was correct and was not sin for God to do this was because of what allowing that evil brought forth. Look at the last part of verse 20 of Genesis 50. In order to bring about this present result to preserve many people alive. Amen. And from that came the nation of Israel, and from that came Jesus, and from that came salvation, and from that came the glory of God's grace. So even though Adam and Eve meant evil against God as they willfully rejected Him as their Father and their Treasure, oh, what an infinite good God meant through their fall. The seed of the woman will one day bruise the head of the great serpent, and by his suffering he will display the greatness of the glory of the grace of God." So neither Adam and Eve nor Joseph's brothers undermined God's plan. No, no. They were allowed by God in their evil sin to bring it to pass. Just as Joseph was sold into slavery, Adam and Eve sold themselves for fruit. And once they were sovereignly allowed to fall and were not hindered or prevented from falling, their wicked sin set the stage for the perfect display of the greatness of the glory of the grace of God. By God allowing them to sin, by God stepping aside and not stopping them from doing the evil that was in their hearts to do, terrible things happened. But with those terrible things came the promise of utterly magnificent things. So not only did sin enter the world, but through sin came suffering and death. But through all of this evil also came the promise of the glory of God's grace. I was saved at 16 and immediately upon my salvation, my family disowned me. And my grandfather wrote me out of all the wills and the trust that I was written in just simply because I was born in that family. I had nothing to do with it. And he said, I'm not going to give my money to a religious fanatic. And so I had to grow up in my early years as poor, even though my family was unbelievably wealthy. And I praise God for every day I slept with rats. And I praise God for every day I was cold and hungry. I praise God for every bit of that. And so, I got married to a beautiful Christian woman and I'm going to raise my family to love Jesus. And so we had a mentally retarded child born to us. And the mentally retarded child contracted leukemia and she died slowly by inches in horrible pain. Gritting her teeth at night in the pain. and she died slow over years. And I was helpless to stop it. In the middle of that, I ran over my second child with a riding lawnmower and cut her leg off. In the midst of that, my uncle who had cerebral palsy, we started taking care of him. We had sorrow and tragedy and everything looked terrible and terrible and terrible. Meanwhile, I could not even hold a conversation with my father. I would go into the house and we'd have an argument. I could preach the Gospel to strangers. I could pray with strangers. People I wasn't even raised with were getting saved, and my own father and mother were distant from me. And the day came that my father came to my office, and he shut the door, and he pulled the chair next to my desk. He said, I've watched you under every stage of life, and I've watched you. I've watched you hurt, and I've watched you suffer, and you've got something I don't have, and I want it. And my father was saved. And you say, So you say, well, God didn't answer your prayer for 29 years. Yes, He was answering it the whole time. God, from the day that you set your heart to serve the Lord, your prayers have been heard. Don't you dare think God's not listening to you. Don't you insult God by thinking He's abandoned you. He said He wouldn't. And so you say, well, things are getting worse. No, God's moving. God's moving. Let God be God. God knows how to deal with human beings. Let God be God. Romans 8, 20 and 23 says, For the creature was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope, that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. When sin entered the world, horrible things followed. Disease, defects, disabilities, natural catastrophes, human atrocities, from the youngest infant to the oldest codger, from the vilest scoundrel to the sweetest saint, suffering is no respecter of persons. And that's why Paul said in Romans 8.23, not only this, but we also ourselves having the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves grown within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. So the grand purpose for all creation is to display God's glorious grace in the suffering of Christ for the salvation of sinners. 600 years before Jesus was beaten and killed, the prophet Ezekiel was moved along by God the Holy Spirit to say, say to them as I live, declares the Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from His way and live. Turn back! Turn back from your evil ways! Why then will you die, O house of Israel? So while God takes no pleasure in the destruction of the wicked, nevertheless, God sovereignly allows the wicked to exist. Now why would He do that? So that sinners may be shown the grace of God and live. And by showing unworthy sinners His grace, the glory of His grace would be displayed and marveled at. The same God who spoke through Ezekiel also spoke through Jeremiah to say this, For if He causes grief, then He will have compassion according to His abundant lovingkindness. For He does not afflict willingly or grieve the sons of men. The word willingly here does not mean that God acts against His will. It means that He doesn't afflict people for no reason. In other words, the reason that God afflicts or allows suffering is because He will have compassion according to His abundant kindness. In other words, God allows evil to exist and sometimes to thrive, but only so that by allowing that evil to exist and thrive, an infinitely greater good will come forth from that evil that would not have come forth if God had sovereignly stopped the evil from ever happening. So God ordains that sufferings come so that through that evil, God can work the display of the glory of the grace of God in the suffering of Christ for the salvation of sinners. So the stage has been set. The drama of redemptive history begins to unfold. Sin is now in its full and deadly force. Suffering and death are present and ready to consume the Son of God when He comes. All things are now in place for the greatest possible display of the glory of the grace of God. Therefore, in the fullness of time, God sent His Son into the world to suffer. Not to be praised, not to be loved, not to be admired, but to suffer. and suffer in the place of sinners. And every dimension of His saving work was accomplished by His suffering. In the life and death of Jesus Christ, suffering finds its ultimate purpose and ultimate explanation. Suffering exists so that Christ might display the greatness of the glory of the grace of God by suffering in Himself to overcome our suffering. And that means that everything Everything that Christ accomplished for us sinners, He accomplished by suffering. And that means that everything that we will ever enjoy, even in heaven, will come to us because of His suffering. Now I would like to end by asking you to consider the display of the glory of the grace of God and the achievement of Christ by suffering in seven different ways very quickly. Number one, Jesus absorbed the wrath of God on our behalf. And He did it through suffering. Galatians 3 and 13 says, Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us. For it is written, Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree. Number two, Jesus bore our sins and purchased our forgiveness, and He did that by suffering. 1 Peter 2 and 24, And He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness, for by His wounds you were healed. Isaiah 53 and 5 says, but He was pierced through for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. The chastening for our well-being fell on Him, and by His scourging, we are healed. Number three, Jesus provided a perfect righteousness for us that becomes ours in Him, and He did that by suffering. Philippians 2, 7 and 8, "...but emptied himself, taking the form of a bondservant, and being made in the likeness of men, being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross." Romans 5 and 19, "...for as through the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the one the many will be made righteous." Number four, Jesus defeated death. And he did it by suffering death. Hebrews 2, 14 and 15, Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death he might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives. 1 Corinthians 15, verses 55-58, O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting? The sting of death is sin. The power of sin is the law. Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, because that's true, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord. Number five, Jesus disarmed Satan and He did it by suffering. Colossians 2, 14 and 15, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us which was hostile to us, and He has taken it out of the way and having nailed it to the cross, when He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him. Glory to God. Number six, Christ purchased perfect, final healing for all of His people. And He did it by suffering. Isaiah 53 and 5, But He was pierced through for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. The chastening of our well-being fell upon Him and by His scourging We are healed. The book of Revelation 7 and 17 says, For the Lamb is the center of the throne, will be their shepherd, and will guide them to springs of the water of life, and God will wipe every tear from their eyes. Number 7, Christ will bring us finally to God, and He will do it by His suffering. 1 Peter 3 and 18, For Christ also died once for sins, once for all, the just for the unjust, so that he might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the Spirit. The ultimate achievement of the cross is not freedom from physical sickness or material prosperity in this life, I meant material poverty in this life, but fellowship with God. And this is what we were made for. Seeing and delighting and showing the glory of God. This is the glory of God's grace and it can only come by suffering. So the ultimate purpose of the universe is to display the greatness of the glory of the grace of God. And the highest, clearest, surest display of that glory is in the suffering of the best person in the universe from millions of undeserving sinners. Therefore, the ultimate reason that suffering exists in the universe is so that Christ might display the greatness of the glory of the grace of God by suffering in Himself to overcome our suffering and bring about the praise of the glory of the grace of God. So, to those of you this morning who are suffering right now, I want to say this to you. Remember what those who have gone before you have said about this very subject. Remember what people like Carl Ellis, and David Powelson, and Mark Talbot, and Steve Saint, and Johnny Erickson Tata said. They all, in their own way, said that whether we are able or disabled, enduring loss or delighting in friends, suffering pain or savoring pleasure. All of us who believe in Christ are immeasurably rich in Him and have so much to live for. So don't waste your life by wasting the suffering that Christ has allowed to come your way. Savor the riches that you have in Jesus. that was paid for through the suffering of your sinless Savior, and spend yourself, exhaust yourself, no matter what the cost, to spread your riches to this desperate world so that the greatness of the glory of the grace of God may be seen and valued and marveled at. Hallelujah! Let's pray.