In John chapter 10, Jesus expounds on the metaphor of the good shepherd to describe his own ministry. His people, the people of God, are seen as his flock of sheep, while the Lord himself regards himself to be the shepherd. And in this way, we see him caring for the sheep, and defending the sheep, and even demonstrating compassion for his sheep. But at the crux of His teaching, the Lord Jesus declares, In other words, He gives up His life and dies to save His people. And yet in another twist, He declares later on in verse 18, and I lay it down on my own initiative, I have the authority to lay it down and I have the authority to take it up again, this commandment I have received from my Father." And so the picture is not one of a Lord, a Savior who is ambushed and killed, helpless and unwilling. Rather, it is of a Savior who is acted upon by sinful men, yet He exercises complete sovereign control over what would take place. This is how the betrayal and arrest and trial and murder of Jesus Christ plays out in history. And while the sins are real sins against Him, we will see that every single aspect of the event of the Passion Week is carried out providentially by a God who intends to sacrifice His only begotten Son to save many. And so today we're gonna look at how that providential plan plays out in the arrest of Jesus Christ. Turn with me to Matthew 26 in your copy of Scripture, Matthew 26. Jesus has already arrived in Jerusalem on Palm Sunday to the sound of the cheers of hopeful worshipers declaring, Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. He comes ready to celebrate the Passover, to stay in the city all week long, to teach in the temple, during the daytime and then he lodges with friends in the nearby area in the evenings. And then by Thursday night of that week, the eve of Passover, Jesus and the disciples, they share the Passover meal in the upper room, following this as a long evening of teaching and fellowship. During this meal, Jesus unmasks a traitor, Judas Iscariot, who would sell out Jesus to the Jewish Sanhedrin for 30 pieces of silver. After his departure, however, Jesus announces the inauguration of the new covenant in his blood by which believers are forgiven of their sins by the sacrifice of Christ. Of course, we would come to know that this would be at a great cost. Jesus would himself bear the sins of the world on his own body on the cross. And as he contemplated this atoning act, he would go to Gethsemane, to what we believe is the Garden of Gethsemane, and three times he would entreat the Father with tears and blood shed and sweat from his brow. And he would cry out, Father, my Father, if possible, let this cup pass from me, but not as I will, but as You will. And the Son, we see, would submit Himself to the sovereign will of God and bear the full wrath upon Himself. And at the end of an hour of painstaking prayer, the Lord Jesus, He rouses the disciples to get up with Him. But no sooner does He rouse them and they get up, that Judas Iscariot appears ready to complete his betrayal. And that's where we are in Matthew 26, starting in verse 47. While he was still speaking, behold, Judas, one of the 12, came up accompanied by a large crowd with swords and clubs, who came from the chief priests and elders of the people. Now he who was betraying him gave them a sign, saying, Whomever I kiss, he is the one sees him. Immediately Judas went to Jesus and said, Hail, Rabbi, and kissed him. And Jesus said to him, friend, do what you have come for. Then they came and laid hands on Jesus and seized him. And behold, one of those who were with Jesus reached out and drew his sword and struck the slave of the high priest and cut off his ear. Then Jesus said to him, put your sword back in its place, for all those who take up the sword shall perish by the sword. Or do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father and He will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels? How then will the Scriptures be fulfilled which say that it must happen this way? At that time Jesus said to the crowds, have you come out with swords and clubs to arrest me as you would against a robber? Every day I used to sit in the temple teaching and you did not seize me. But all this has taken place to fulfill the scriptures of the prophets. Then all the disciples left him and fled. Well, verse 47 picks up immediately on the heels of Jesus's words in verse 45 and 46. It says, while he is still speaking, Judas arrives on the scene. And we know this is Judas Iscariot, who Matthew refers to as one of the 12. And you look at a little phrase like that, one of the 12, and already in Matthew's gospel he's been noted several times, but really this designation only serves as a reminder of the depth of his betrayal. This wasn't some random stranger who turned in Jesus for money. It wasn't one of the religious elite that came and had a vendetta against him that he saw coming. This is someone in Jesus's own inner circle, one of the 12. one of his disciples. And so Judas arrives, the Bible says, with a large crowd who came from the chief priests and elders of the people. These are the very same elders and chief priests that Judas had sold Jesus out to for money. And now they've sent a mob who are armed, they're soldiers armed to accompany this traitor. And you might ask, well, who exactly is with Judas in this crowd? Well, interestingly enough, John 18 3 tells us that the chief priest had sent with Judas a Roman cohort. A Roman cohort. Now, considering that If Israel at that time was occupied by Rome, the local governor would have wanted to quell any rebellion that would have arisen, especially during the time of a major festival. In Israel, these major festivals, a city would go from 100,000 to about a million people in just a matter of a week. And so, this could be a time of unrest if the Romans weren't careful. So even the hint of a possible insurrection or an uprising or an uproar would have been squelched immediately. So the Sanhedrins would have had no problem convincing the Romans to send a cohort of soldiers to help them arrest a so-called insurrectionist. Well, how big is a Roman cohort? They can range from anywhere between 300 and 600 soldiers. Three to 600 soldiers. But that's not all who's there. Luke 22, 52 adds that the members of the Temple Guard are also there. They are the Jewish police. So not just the Roman soldiers who were keeping peace in the city, it's also the Temple Guard as well. See, the Temple Guard was not allowed to carry swords in Roman-occupied Israel. The temple card carried clubs with them. That was their weapon that they were allowed to use. And so Judas has with him a mixed group of Jews and Gentiles, Roman soldiers and Jewish temple guards. And the Romans have the swords and the temple guards have the clubs and they are all there to arrest Jesus. Well, how did Judas know that he would be at Gethsemane? How could he arrange and coordinate such an event? Well, both Luke and John tell us that the disciples had frequently gone there. They went there all the time with Jesus. In fact, Jesus made a custom of going to this place, to Gethsemane, after this meal. Every time he was celebrating Passover, he tended to go to Gethsemane afterwards. And so, Judas knew exactly where to find him after the meal. Now verse 48 tells us that in preparation of the arrest, Judas had worked out a secret code. with the guard to identify Jesus, the person, without himself being given away to the disciples. And even when we read all the way to the end of this period of time, even into the book of Acts, they don't know until later on that it was Judas who betrayed Jesus. And so we read in verse 48, Judas has this sign, he says, now he who was betraying him gave them a sign saying, whomever I kiss, he is the one sees him. Seems simple enough. Whoever I kiss on the cheek or on the lips, that's going to be the one. And remember, this is a culture that was accustomed to kissing as a sign of fellowship and friendship and affection. A kiss would have been a pretty natural, subtle way to designate a person in the crowd who is Jesus. And yet, this really only intensifies the betrayal. Literally, this word for kiss here is phileo in the Greek. It's the same word that's used for love. Judas turned what was meant to be a sign of love into a kiss of death. Verse 49, immediately Judas went to Jesus and said, and then kissed him. Notice he doesn't call him Lord like the rest of the disciples do. He calls him rabbi, teacher, sort of a generic term, a term of honor, but certainly generic for someone who was so close to him. But Judas is offering nothing of true respect, true kindness, or true compassion. And when he does this, Luke 22, 48 actually records that Jesus utters these words, Judas, Are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss? You can almost hear the sadness in such a question. Because if you're betrayed by someone who hates you, you see it coming, don't you? Or if it's a total stranger, maybe you're shocked, but maybe you're not surprised at the fact that it could happen. Of course somebody who hates you will go after you. That's not really the kind of betrayal that cuts you to the core. but to be betrayed by a friend. That's a different level of wounding, isn't it? Especially a close friend, someone that you love, someone that you've shared a meal with, someone you've done ministry with. David writes about this when he talks about being betrayed by a friend. He says it's worse. Psalm 55, he says, for it is not an enemy who reproaches me, then I could bear it. If it was my enemy, I could handle that. That's relatively easy, you hate me and I see it coming. He says, but it is you, a man of my equal, my companion and my familiar friend, we who had sweet fellowship together, walked in the house of God and the throng. We used to eat together, we would sing together, pray together, worship God together. I was with you in the temple. I sent you on mission. and you're gonna betray me with a kiss? You're gonna turn me over to my enemies? This is another level of wounding. This is deep, my friends. But then Matthew picks it back up in the conversation in verse 50. Jesus has already said, Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss? And who knows what Judas would have looked at him with. Maybe he glanced away in shame. Maybe he stared at him in the face, emboldened by his own sinfulness. We don't know. But in the next moment, Jesus resolves and he says, friend, do what you have come for. This word friend is a little bit generic. It really can mean comrade or fellow. It's kind of a, it's a respectful title. It's open hearted, but it's certainly not intimate. It's not intimate at all. What's remarkable here, however, is that Jesus still treats Judas with respect even though he's being betrayed. Notice he never yells in his face. He never shouts him down. He doesn't call him a snake or a scoundrel. Like he does with the Pharisees, when he says, woe to you, scribes, Pharisees, hypocrites, whitewashed tombs, brood of vipers. He doesn't do that here, even though he's completely justified to do it, but he doesn't. He simply looks him in the face and says, well, just get it over with. Do what you've come for. Now at this point, Years later, John, the apostle, fills in a little bit more of what happens. Just listen to the next moments here in John's gospel of chapter 8. So Jesus, knowing all the things that were coming upon him, went forth and said, whom do you seek? They answered him, Jesus the Nazarene. And he said to them, I am he. And Judas also, who was betraying him, was standing with them. So when he said to them, I am he, they drew back and fell to the ground. Therefore he asked again, whom do you seek? And they said, Jesus the Nazarene. And Jesus answered, I told you that I am he. So if you seek me, let these go their way to fulfill the word which he spoke of those whom you have given, I have lost none." This account that John gives us at this moment where the soldiers are marching upon him and they're going to come arrest him. Judas has already marked him out. And now they're stepping forward asking, are you Jesus the Nazarene? And as soon as he says, I am, they fall over, they fall back. Imagine the sight of 600, 700, 800, maybe even a thousand soldiers falling back over at the sound of Jesus's voice. It's almost as if he says this and does this to flex his divine power for just an instant, to remind them of who they're dealing with. I can only imagine what would have happened in the next moments where They sheepishly, sheepishly come and lay hands on Jesus and seize him. But then something happens. Verse 51. Behold, one of those who are with Jesus reached and drew out his sword and struck the slave of the high priest and cut off his ear. Suddenly at the arrest, they put the bounds on him and chaos ensues. Jesus, who has no intention of resisting whatsoever, he's arrested, he is bound with chains or with straps. And one of the disciples takes action. Now Matthew doesn't name the disciple, but John does years later. And we can imagine maybe John does this much later to protect Peter at that time. Matthew doesn't want to give his name while people are still alive and reading this account and maybe there's retaliation, we don't know. But John, writing in the 90s, certainly does name who this disciple is. It's none other than Peter. Peter, who only hours ago pledged to die with Christ. Peter, who only hours ago told Jesus that he would not deny him. Peter, who only moments ago was sleeping when he should have been praying. And now, Peter has a chance, at least outwardly, to vindicate himself and take a real stand for Christ. He's going to prove his faithfulness. And so he sees the soldiers bearing down on Jesus, and he races to his side and he draws his sword. Now you might be asking, well, where did he get a sword from? Well, it was not uncommon in those days to carry a sword as a defensive weapon against criminals. I mean, keep in mind that you're traveling by foot, you're going town to town, you don't know what's coming, you don't know what's happening. It was not uncommon for robbers to attack and beat you up and take everything you have and maybe even try to kill you. And so it wasn't, again, uncommon. But we know from Luke chapter 22 that the disciples were actually told to carry swords by who? By Jesus. Just listen to Luke 22, 35, when he, Jesus said to them, when I sent you out with a money belt and bag and sandals, You did not lack anything, did you? And they said, No, nothing. He said to them, But now whoever has a money belt is to take it along, likewise also a bag. And whoever has no sword is to sell his coat and buy one. For I tell you that This which was written must be fulfilled that he was numbered with the transgressors for that which refers to me has its fulfillment. And they said, Lord, look, here are two swords. And he said to them, it is enough. So this is interesting because Jesus is the one who tells them to get a sword. Well, why? Well, because they're going to go out and travel and do ministry. This is going to happen in rapid succession here. The events of the Passover, of the death, of the resurrection, the ministry, I mean, it's going to happen very quickly. He tells them, prepare. Get your bag ready, get your things together, get a sword, arm yourself, protect yourself, get ready. Now, he's not telling them to incite an insurrection, but it's possible that maybe Peter, remembering those words, thought that, oh, this must be the reason. This is why he told me to get a sword so I could defend him. But that is not the reason at all. However, it's possible, it seems likely here, that Peter is in possession of one of the two swords that they were talking about. I have no doubt that James and John probably were fighting over the other one, but Peter has this one. And so he draws his sword and he attacks. Well, who does he go after? Most likely the one who's standing closest, that is the slave of the high priest. John later tells us that the slave's name is Malchus. Malchus is standing in front of him and Peter grabs his sword, hastily lunges for him. Maybe he intended to take a swing at his head, we don't know, but whatever happens in the commotion, he slices off his ear. And immediately, this would have caused a frenzy. But Jesus, Jesus acts quickly, and he stops Peter dead in his tracks. Verse 52, Jesus said to him, put your sword back into its place. Stop, Peter, stop. Put your sword away. Then he says to him, for all those who take up the sword shall perish by the sword. He stops him cold, and I don't know how this all would have played out. Maybe he put up his arms in front of the soldiers. Maybe they were shocked and didn't know what to do, and they froze. We don't know. But he offers this sentiment which has been debated for ages. He says, all those who take up the sword shall perish by the sword. What's the story here? Why does he say this? Well, as you can imagine, and people like to take verses out of context and run with them, some have seen this as a proof text that Jesus is a pacifist. He doesn't believe in any kind of violence whatsoever at any point in time, except that Jesus is the one who told them to buy the sword. So that doesn't work. It seems to be based on a maxim that's coming out of Genesis 9-6, which is the first time that we learn about God's purposes for capital punishment. In Genesis 9-6, the Bible says, And so the logic is this, that all human beings, all humankind, all men, are made in the image of God, but if you kill someone, God decrees that you are to pay for their life with your own life. A life for a life. That's what the Bible teaches. But the question is, well, who was to carry this out? Who is supposed to exact this kind of justice? Well, it is God's ordained law keepers, whoever that may be. Meaning, however, that government is to be installed and these keepers of justice are to be the ones that carry out this whole thing. In fact, that's what Romans 13 teaches. Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except from God and those which exist are established by God. Therefore, whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God. And they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves. For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you'll have praise from the same. For it is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid. For it does not bear the sword for nothing. But it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil. So God ordains human government. God also ordains the sword and the keepers of the sword to exercise justice when it needs to be exercised. God is not against the use of acceptable force. He's not against just war. He's not against capital punishment. In fact, God has decreed it. God demonstrates the value of human life by prescribing capital punishment on those who take innocent life. That is the value of life. However, saying all that, God is against rogues and vigilantes and renegades. He is against lawless men who try to take justice into their own hands. Let me contextualize it for us. God is not against the Second Amendment, but He is against those who are itching to exercise it. Huge difference. Because there are consequences for taking a life. We get all high and mighty. Oh, I'm going to go and defend what I have and defend this and defend that and use my whatever I have And that is a right given to us by God, but if you are a reckless, violent man who takes a life, you will very likely lose your life in the same way. That's a maxim from scripture. To say it in a more colloquial way, if you play with fire, you're gonna get burned. If you live by violence, you will die by violence. That's what Jesus is saying. You live by the sword, you will die by the sword. So we are to exercise extreme caution, extreme vigilance, extreme care here. But there is another element to what Jesus is saying here. He's not just making some grandiose statement about justice, even though that is certainly a principle that's laid in there, but there's something else going on. Because what's happening right now in the moment, Peter is trying to exert his own will and exercise his own justice. That's what he's doing. He takes matters into his own hands. He wants to defend Jesus. Because who wouldn't, right? You see your master being attacked, you want to take out a sword and you want to defend. There is a slightly noble air about this, but here's the question. Does Jesus need defending? Certainly not. Certainly not. In fact, that's where Jesus goes next. He tells Peter, put your sword back in its place for all who take up the sword shall perish by the sword. And then he adds this to the whole mix. He said, or do you not think that I cannot appeal to my father and he will at once put at my disposal more than 12 legions of angels. Peter, I want you to think about this for a second. He reminds him of who he is. Jesus is the Messiah. He is the captain of the Lord's army. Read Joshua 6. He's the king of heaven. And if he desires to call down more than 12 legions of angels, he can do it. Well, how many is that? How many is 12 legions of angels? Well, if we're thinking in Roman terms, a Roman legion is not 600, 6,000 soldiers. So 12 legions of angels, one legion for each disciple and Jesus, by the way, 12 legions of angels is 72,000 angels. Peter, if I wanna call down 72,000 angels, I can. Well, let's put this into more perspective. 2 Kings 19.35, the Lord dispatches to the Assyrian army how many angels? One. And one angel dispatched by the Lord wipes out 185,000 Assyrian combatants. One. Peter, if I wanna call down 72,000 angels who can do that, put your sword away. Jesus doesn't need Peter's little sword. He doesn't need anything, nor does he want anything. The kingdom of God does not advance through earthly warfare. And my oh my, how many movements, how many churches, how many individuals have tried to advance the kingdom of Christ through earthly means? Want to look at an example? Look at the Crusades. Now, there was some other things going on there. There is a sense of justice and protection of innocent peoples, perhaps, but all of it was done in the name of Jesus Christ. But Ephesians 6.12 says, our struggle is not against flesh and blood. but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world force of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. This is a spiritual war, a spiritual battle. Or consider 2 Corinthians 10, three through five. For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but are divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses." And then Paul goes on to say, we are destroying speculations. And every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we're taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. So Paul says, we're not fighting wars with swords and guns and shields and cannons and armies on earth. No, we fight a different kind of warfare. We attack arguments. We attack theologies. We attack philosophies. We attack verbal arguments. We attack thoughts in our minds and in our hearts. You wanna fight a war? Go to war against your own heart. That's how you fight. We don't win with weapons. We win through the word and through witness. That's how we fight. But there's another reason Jesus tells Peter to sheathe his sword. Not only is it dangerous for Peter because he might himself get killed, not only is it futile because he is the sovereign Lord and Peter is nothing, there's another reason. Another reason, look at verse 54. Jesus asks at the end of all of this, he says, how then will the scriptures be fulfilled which say that it must happen this way? Peter, have I not been telling you about this? I've been telling all you guys. For over a year, the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the scribes. He will be tried, he will be put to death, and he will rise the third day. Over and over and over again, I've been telling you this. And now I'm being arrested by the chief priests and the scribes and being led away to death. What are you doing? Things have to happen this way. Because this wasn't just Peter's futile attempt. This wasn't just about needing the trust and the power of God. There's more. This is about divine prophecy at stake. This is about the fulfillment of the scriptures. Scripture had to be fulfilled. The plan of God would be fulfilled to the letter. And even at that very moment, Even at that instant where Jesus is having his arms and his hands bound, at that very moment, the Messiah was prophesied to be betrayed by a close friend who kissed him. Psalm 41.9, even my close friend, in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted up his heel against me. It had to happen. It had to happen for the scripture to be fulfilled, and it was fulfilled. John records that Jesus tells Peter, the cup which the Father has given me, shall I not drink it? Peter, do you want me to defy the will of God? Is that what you're doing right now? It's not quite a get behind me Satan sort of a moment, but it's close. Peter, put your sword away. There is so much else going on. Do you expect me to spurn the will of my Father? God has decreed, Scripture has prophesied, and I will obey. That's what this is. It wasn't that Jesus lacked the opportunity or the ability to escape. If Jesus wanted to burst the bounds and level the soldiers and get away scot-free, He could. He could do all things. In fact, this could have been a chance to sidestep this sinful plot. But more and more we see that Jesus is submitting Himself to the plan of God. He was determined to go to the cross. He was determined to lay down His life. Remember John's words where Jesus says in John 10, no one takes my life from me. I lay it down on my own authority. I have the authority to lay it down and I have the authority to take it up again. And where did he get this authority? This commandment I have received from my father. Jesus says all authority in heaven and on earth. But we know that this would happen at the hands of wicked men. And at that point he turns his gaze, he turns and looks at this crowd of soldiers in verse 55. At that time, Jesus said to the crowds, have you come out with swords and clubs to arrest me as you would against a robber? Every day you used to sit in the temple teaching and you did not seize me. This is both an indictment and a declaration of innocence. Well, how so? Well, this army of soldiers here that's standing before him, they came to arrest him, didn't they? They marched out in the middle of the night. They came to Gethsemane with swords and with clubs, and they're acting as though he's some sort of a robber or a common criminal. And Jesus, who has nothing in his hands, says, have you come out in the middle of the night to come at me with swords and clubs? Why? Why are you arresting me? I know I'm speaking about the plan of God, but tell me, why do you arrest me? What was Jesus' crime? What did he do? Nothing's given here. They don't say anything. All week long. He'd been right out in the open. He'd come in every single day during that week. He'd gone to the temple, gone to the temple, gone to the temple. He preached against the scribes and the Pharisees and the Sadducees. They saw him. He was right there. At any point, they could have arrested him in the temple as he's sitting teaching. If he had been guilty of a crime, They could have arrested him in broad daylight, read the charges, he could have gone to court, there could have been witnesses, they would have had due process, they could have got him. But they didn't. You know why? Because he's innocent. He did nothing wrong and they knew it. They knew. Nobody arrests somebody in the dead of night, secretly, unless there's something behind it. And so this displays an indictment against them. It's their sin. Why are they arresting Him in the middle of the night? Because of their treachery. It's their treachery that's doing this. Remember, back from Matthew 26-4, the chief priests and the elders, they wanted to seize Jesus by stealth. We've got to find a way to get Him when no one's around, when no one's looking. And what did they determine? We're going to wait till the Passover is done. Why? Because they feared the people. They feared that if they arrested him in broad daylight, the crowds would riot because they loved Jesus, at least outwardly, and they would never like to stand on him. So they're looking for an opportune time, an opportune way, and so Judas presents himself, they pay him off, and it's all working to plan. Except Jesus knows. Jesus knows. They wait until the whole city is asleep, everybody's asleep, and then they go and arrest him. but they have no cause. They're the guilty ones, not Jesus. But he affirms in verse 56, but all of this has taken place to fulfill the scriptures of the prophets. You think this plot belongs to you? He would have said. You think this is your plan, your idea? No. You're just wicked men acting out a wicked scheme, yet you're doing so in accord to the divine plan of God. They're just pawns in the greater theater of history. Even the wicked are slaves of a sovereign God. They can do nothing without Him saying so. Just ask Job, he knows too. Well, as the soldiers are leading Jesus away to be put on trial, it's simply too much for the disciples. Despite their insistence that they would remain with Jesus to the end, they told him they would not fall away, even though he said they would. What happens here? The Bible says, true to prophecy, the disciples left him and fled. They all ran away into the night, who knows where. And Jesus, for the first time at this point, is left alone. And he's carried away. You know, there are times, I think, where it feels like things are out of control and evil just runs rampant. And there is wickedness in the world, but we ought to remember that nothing happens outside of the providential plan of God. Nothing. Every single event, every single world leader, every single natural disaster, everything happens according to God's sovereign plan. There is not a butterfly that flaps his wings unless God says so. You can be assured of that. And if ever we should learn this, let it come through examining the passion and the sufferings and the death and the resurrection of Christ. The greatest evil ever committed accomplished the salvation of God's people. And it carried out exactly the way that God intended. And this would bring glory and honor and praise to the Lord God. But let me ask you, do you know Jesus Christ? Do you know the sovereign Lord? Why did Jesus even have to be arrested? Why did he have to go to the cross? Why did he have to die? He died to pay the penalty for sins. He died to take away Your sins, the penalty, the punishment, the condemnation, all of it. And what is our command that we wrestle with? Well, the command from God is simply this, repent, turn away from your sins and trust in Jesus Christ. And the Bible says, you will have eternal life. You will be saved. And for those of you who have trusted in Christ, those of you who he is your God, he is your savior, Don't just trust him once for salvation. Trust him today. Trust him tomorrow. Trust him every day of the rest of your life until glory because you are in the palm of his hand. Jesus also says in John 10, my sheep hear my voice and they know me and I know them and they follow me and I give them eternal life and no one can pluck them out of my hand. You are safe in the hands of Christ if you belong to him. But again, if you don't belong to him, if you don't love Jesus, if you have never trusted in Jesus, you are in grave danger. Don't let your eyes close before you put your hope and your faith and trust in Jesus. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for your Loving kindness, we thank you for your providence and your sovereignty. Oh Lord, we can trust you because you are the hand that holds the world. You carry everything in your hands. You have sovereignly decreed all things, including the suffering and the death and the resurrection of your only begotten Son. Lord, let us not harden our hearts in rebellion. Let us not fall away and fall back as the soldiers did. Let us not wander off the path, O Lord. Let us not become faint with fear. Let us not be anxious about our lives. Let us not become dissuaded and disheveled. But let us put our hope in you. Lord, all of us, including the preacher, need to be reminded that you are the sovereign Lord. and you gave your son for us. And the Bible says, he who did not spare his own son, will he not with him freely give us all things? Lord, you've been so gracious to give us abundantly, far more than we could ever ask or think. And so Lord, build strong faith in us even today. Help us to trust you. not to carry out justice and vengeance on our own accord, to be our own defenders, but to look to you. Vengeance is mine, says the Lord. The Bible tells us that you will repay, you will bring all things to good. We trust you, oh Lord, we love you. And we thank you for your word. In Jesus' name, amen.