Luke 22 to begin with, Luke's Gospel chapter 22 and reading from verse number 47, and then we're going to John chapter 18. We will be moving between the two passages. If you have some way of marking them in your Bible, we'll begin with John and move to Luke a little later on, just to compare scripture with scripture. Luke 22, reading at verse number 47, please. Continuing to study the miracles of the master, this is the penultimate one. Next week, God willing, we'll look at the final one, over in John chapter 21. Luke chapter 22, and reading from verse number 47. And while he yet spake, behold, a multitude and he that was called Judas, one of the twelve, went before them and drew near unto Jesus to kiss him. But Jesus said unto him, Judas, betrayest thou the son of man with a kiss? When they which were about him saw what would follow, they said unto him, Lord, shall we smite with the sword? And one of them smote the servant of the high priest and cut off his right ear. And Jesus answered and said, suffer ye thus far. And he touched his ear and healed him. Then said Jesus unto the chief priests and the captains of the temple and the elders which were come to him, be ye come out as against the thief with swords and staves. When I was daily with you in the temple, you stretched forth no hands against me, but this is your hour. and the power of darkness. Over to John chapter 18, beginning to read at verse one, we need to look at both passages to get the full story. Luke is the only one that actually deals with the miracle that we want to think about this morning, the healing of the high priest servant's ear. But then John gives us a few more details. John chapter 18 and verse number one, When Jesus had spoken these words, he went over with his disciples over the brook Cedron, where was a garden onto which he entered and his disciples. Judas also, which betrayed him, knew the place, for Jesus oft times restored it hither with his disciples. Of course, it's Gethsemane. Judas then, having received a band of men and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees, cometh hither with lanterns and torches and weapons. Jesus therefore, knowing all things that should come upon him, went forth and said unto them, Whom seek ye? They answered him, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus said unto them, I am he. And Judas also, which betrayed him, stood with them. As soon then as he had said unto them, I am he, they went backwards and fell to the ground. Then asked he them again, Whom seek ye? They said, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus said, I have told you that I am he. If therefore you seek me, let these go their way. That the saying might be fulfilled which he spake of, Then, which thou givest me, have I lost none. Then Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it, and smote the high priest's servants, and cut off his right ear. The servant's name was Malchus. Then said Jesus unto Peter, Put up thy sword into thy sheath. The cup which my father hath given me, shall I not drink it? We'll end at verse 11, and we trust the Lord will bless the reading of his own precious, infallible, inerrant, and inspired word. Any of us here this morning, can become an obstruction in the work of the Lord. We can become a hindrance to God working, God working through our own lives, and perhaps even God working through our own church. And so it's possible that any of us could become an obstruction. I believe in this miracle we see that Peter was becoming an obstruction here to what the Lord was going to do. And that's what I want to think about very simply this morning. When we don't listen to instructions from the Lord, sometimes then we can become obstructions to the Lord. This incident is recorded in all four Gospels, but as I've said, the miracle is only mentioned by Luke. We have to go to John to discover that it was Peter who drew the sword and Malchus was the victim. This is Christ's last miracle before the cross. It's the only miracle where he used to heal an inflicted wound. It was a miracle in which no request was made for. He wasn't asked to do this miracle. It was also for the benefit of an enemy. It was for the purpose of correcting a mistake. And I want to look at this miracle simply this morning. I want to begin by just thinking about the Christ that we have to present here in Rathfrieland. The Christ that we have to present to this area. He's really a wonderful saviour. and all of the outreach and all of the endeavors and all that we seek to do is to exalt his lovely name. And we see something in John's gospel here of the if you like, the characteristics of this saviour. Think about the capability of our saviour to begin with. He had just been through the Gethsemane experience. Judas Iscariot comes with a band of men, verse 3 in John 18. Judas then having received a band of men, they think this could be five, six hundred men, officers from the chief priests and pharisees, come hither with lanterns and torches and weapons. They come with lights to arrest the light of the world. Jesus, therefore, knowing all things that should come upon them, went forth and said unto them, Whom seek ye? And the Lord steps forth, and he asks a question. Verse five. They answered him, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus said unto them, I am he. And Judas also, which betrayed him, stood with them. That's one of the most terrifying verses in the Bible. Judas stood with them. Think about it. For three years, he listened to the best gospel preacher in the world, Jesus Christ. He saw the miracle work in Christ firsthand. He listened to the words of the Savior. Never a man spake like this man. His words were the most gracious words. He looked at the perfect life. Sometimes people won't get saved because they point to other Christians and say, look at how they live. Judas looked at a perfect life. Jesus Christ never lost his temper. He never said anything wrong. He never did anything wrong. He never went any place wrong. He was sinless in word, thought and deed. And yet here's a man that spent three years with him. And yet he's standing with the enemies of Christ. And soon you'll find him going out and taking his own life and going to his own place, which was hell. And I say this to you this morning if you're not seeing it. You could be seeing the perfect example in the person of Christ, hear the best preaching in the world, and still die and go to hell. Because that's what happened to Judas Iscariot. Don't fool about with your soul. Don't mess about with Jesus Christ. It's too special, it's too important this morning. And where are you standing this morning? He stood with the enemies of Christ. That's not where you and I surely would want to be standing this morning. But look at the response of the Savior here. He said in verse five, then answered him, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus said unto them, I am he. The word he is in italics here. It's not in the original. He just says, I am. Now every Jew would understand exactly what Christ was saying. He says, I am. I am God. He was talking about his immutability. I am, not I was, not I will be, I am. You can't change it. You can't change I am. He is the unchanging God. He is immutable. His eternality, I am. From everlasting to everlasting. His proximity, I am with you always. No matter who else is there, or who else is not there, I am there. I am never changes. I am as eternal. I am in his proximity. I am in his sufficiency. To the hungry, I am the bread of life. To those in darkness, I'm the light of the world. To those who are lost, I'm the way, the truth, and the life. To those who are dead, I am the resurrection and the life. Do you see the capability of our Savior this morning? What a Christ we have. to present. Christ is the answer to my every need. Christ is the answer to my friend indeed. Problems of life my spirit may assail. With Christ my Saviour I need never fail, for Christ is the answer to my every need. Look at the effects that it had on the enemy in verse 6. As soon then as he had said unto them, I am, they went backward and fell to the ground. You know he bowled them over. They're lying on a heap on the ground. Such was the power of his words. He just knocked them for six. They couldn't stand against the Lord. We have a capable Savior this morning, one who is able to do according to Paul, exceeding abundantly above all, not just above all, but abundantly above all, not just abundantly above all, exceeding abundantly above all. What a Savior. we have to offer to Rathrailendon District. What a wonderful saviour we have. Do you see his capability? Look at his care. Again, John tells us in John 10 on two occasions that Jesus Christ is the good shepherd and we see some of his shepherding care here in John 18. Remember, five or six hundred men had come to arrest him and the eleven disciples. Look at verse 8. And John 18, Jesus answered, I have told you that I am, if therefore you seek me, let these go their way, that the saying may be fulfilled, which he spake of them, which I give us me, have I lost none. Do you notice the words, let these go their way? Jesus Christ is protecting his own, he's caring for them. He knew what they could handle. These men weren't long saved. They were babes in Christ. If they had to face persecution, imprisonment, it could destroy their faith. And the Lord knew exactly what they could handle. He says, listen, I am he. Let these go their way. He's being the good shepherd. He's protecting them from the enemy. He understands what they can handle. And he knows what you can handle. Later on, you'll discover that Peter is in prison. You'll find Paul. The Lord knew what these men could handle. And sometimes the measure of what you're going through is a measure of your faith. And sometimes when we go through difficult times, we think God's not happy with us. And the opposite couldn't be true. Couldn't be farther from the truth. God knows how strong your faith is. And your faith has been tested and your faith will come through, as Peter tells us and as Job discovered, and it'll shine as gold. Peter knew that arrest and imprisonment, the Lord knew that arrest and imprisonment would hinder the very foundation of the gospel. If these 11 men were arrested along with the Lord Jesus Christ, and none of them were left, where would the foundation, humanly speaking, of the church come from? And so the Lord's in control here, but I just want you to think of the care that he had for his own. It's already been quoted this morning by Marcus, casting all your care upon him, for he careth for you. I've often preached on Psalm 23 and I've heard it preached on by many others as well. The shepherd's son, you know you have everything you need for life. The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want you have everything you need for death. Yeah, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil for art with me thy rod and thy staff they comfort me and you've got everything you need for eternity Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever what a Savior we have do you see his capability and Do you see his care? Let me say something about his cross this morning. We preach Christ crucified. Look again in John 18 as we see Christ making his way to the cross. This is just on the eve of Calvary. I want you to see his fearlessness in verse 1. When Jesus had spoken these words, he went forth with his disciples over the brook Kidron where was a garden into which he entered and his disciples. He crosses over the brook Kidron. It's Kidron in the Old Testament. King David made the same journey in 2 Samuel 15 verse 23. He was fleeing from Absalom. He was the rejected king. Absalom had usurped authority, and David is fleeing and crossing the brook to escape with his life. But Jesus Christ's different, you know. Yes, he's the rejected one, but he's crossing over the brook and he's going to meet death. Face to face, do you see his fearlessness when we think of his cross this morning? Think of the favorite-ness here as well. Notice in verse 2 it mentions a place. Judas also, which betrayed him, knew the place. He knew about Gethsemane. He knew the Lord loved to go to Gethsemane. John doesn't record what actually happened there. You have to go to the other writers to discover the Gethsemane experience. But Judas knew the place. The Lord Jesus knew the place. It was a favorite place. If he had have wanted to avoid arrest, he wouldn't have gone to that place. A lot of people flee in other countries to avoid arrest. There's a man in England, I can't remember his name, it's to do with, is it Wikipedia or something like that, he's hiding in an embassy in London because he doesn't want to be arrested. He went to a place where he couldn't be arrested. The Lord Jesus Christ went to the place where he knew he was going to be arrested. You see his fearlessness, you see the fear that he's not avoiding Calvary. Do you see him up at the front in verse five? Then answered him, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus said unto them, I am he, he steps up to the front. I've already mentioned this already in order to be identified. I want you to see his willingness here as he's making his way to the cross. No reluctance, no holding back. Look at his foreknowledge in verse four. Jesus therefore knowing all things that should come upon him. Do you ever have a day and you said, if I had a new today was going to be like this, I wouldn't have got out of bed. If I had a new with this day held, I would have stayed in my bed in the morning. And here's the Lord Jesus knows everything that's going to happen to him. He knew Judas had betrayed him. He knew he was going to be beaten, battered and bruised. and bloodied. He knew he was going to be spat upon. He knew there'd be a crown of thorns driven into his head. He knew he'd be beaten black and blue. He knew all about the darkness of Calvary, where he would hang there and he would cry, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? When he took our hell and his own body on the tree, he knew about the burial. He knew all that was going to happen, all the trials, the six trials that he would have to go through and all the abuse and all the mocking. He knew all about it. And yet, and yet in spite of knowing all things, look what it says in verse four. Jesus, therefore, knowing all things that should come upon him, went forth. Now, what would you have done? Jesus Christ knows exactly what it's going to cost him. and yet he steps forth. Do you see his love this morning? Do you see his willingness this morning? You know, if I could really preach it, we'd all just fall on our knees and say, hallelujah, what a saviour. What a saviour. Look at verse 11 in John 18. Then said Jesus unto Peter, put up thy sword into the sheath, the cup which my father hath given me, shall I not drink it? The father had a cup, When we talk of a cup, we're talking about an experience that he had to take. And this cup came from the Father's hand. And this cup was difficult to swallow. But he says, shall I not drink it? Do you see the submission of the Lord Jesus Christ? Have you had a cup and it's difficult to swallow? And if you and I could see this morning that this cup came from the Father's hand, if we could see this morning that in submission and taking this cup, that God's going to be glorified in some way, because that's what's going to happen at Calvary. And unless Christ drank that cup, you and I wouldn't be here this morning. And we would have missed out in the greatest blessing of all. And maybe there's a cup and it's hard to swallow. And I can't promise you, and I don't know what blessing's gonna come from it. But if it's coming from the Father's hand, there's a blessing somewhere. And God's going to be glorified in this cup. But I just want you to think of Christ this morning. I want you to see His love as He steps forth. And He's willing to go through all of this in order that you and I might be saved. I want you to see the Savior that we have to present. You know, it's not a message we should ever be ashamed of. We have a Savior who's capable. He's the great I Am. We have a Savior who cares. Look at Him protect. his own. And think of them. Peter, who would always put his foot in his mouth. Thomas, who was going to doubt him. And all the other problems we've looked at. Philip even questioned him, do you remember, at the feeding of the 5,000. And there were so many of them, they argued among themselves. James and John, who was going to be the greatest. What an awful lot they were. Yet the Lord Jesus Christ loved them and he wanted to protect them. Because he cares. You see his capability, you see his character, you see his cross. We can tell men and women in Ruth Frieland and District that we have a Savior who willingly went to the cross and died for them. It's not a message we're ashamed of this morning. It's a glorious gospel of a glorious Savior that we have. He cares about sinful men. He's capable of saving sinful men. But I want you to see where I'm going with this this morning. I don't think you'll have any doubt agreeing with me this morning. We've got a wonderful Savior. But in spite of the great message and the great Savior and all that he's able to do, Peter, in one carnal act, nearly ruined the whole thing. You nearly ruined the whole thing. And I have to say to you lovingly and graciously this morning, you can have a church on fire for Jesus Christ with a message that's powerful, and we've got a powerful message. And it only takes your eye to behave in a carnal way to destroy that message. And I want you to look at Peter this morning. because Peter nearly destroyed the whole lot. I want you to come to Luke 22, where we read to begin with this morning, please. Because we see the capability and the care and the cross. I want you to see the correction of the Savior. We've got a powerful message and a powerful Savior, and yet we could ruin it, couldn't we? We could spoil it. What was Peter's problem here? You know Peter, he pulls out the sword, he tries maybe to cut the head of this man he misses and chops off part of his ear. And through this one act he could have destroyed everything. I want you to see the correction of the Saviour. What's Peter's problem? I think we have the answer in Luke 22, or the answers. Look at verse 31 and 32, up the chapter. And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not, and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren. Look at how Peter responds in verse 33. He said unto him, Lord, I'm ready to go with thee, both into prison and to death. Peter says, I'll die for you, Lord, I'll never deny you. Is this Peter here filled with pride? And he sees the opportunity. There's the sword. There's the Lord, the Saviour. And he'd made a big statement. He says, I'm going to take the sword and I'm going to deal with this man. Was he going to kill all 600? Did Peter think he could take the whole lot on with himself and one sword? You see, Peter's filled with pride. And if there's pride in your heart, and pride in my heart, and if we're seeking to impress someone by doing something for the Lord, then it's carnality. And it's gonna spoil the message. Do you see the pride? Do you see his perception? This is maybe a little bit more difficult. Look at verse 35. And he said unto them, when I sent you out without purse and script and shoes, and left you anything, he takes them back to that time when they were sent out and the Lord had provided for them. Now look at verse 37, for I say unto you that this is written, must yet be accomplished in me, and he was reckoned among the transgressors, for the things concerning me have an end. And they said, Lord, behold, here are two swords. He said unto them, it is enough, I better read verse 36. Then said he unto them, but now, he that hath a purse, let him take it, and likewise a script, and he that hath no sword, let us sell a garment and buy one. And here's the Lord, he's talking about getting a sword. And what he's saying to the disciples is, when you went out the first time, you were greeted, you were welcome, but things are going to change. The world's going to hate you, because the world hates me. And the Lord is describing what it's going to be like. He's not telling them to get a literal sword. He's telling them that they're going to be up against it. The Lord never would have wanted them to use a sword to spread the gospel. This is not Islam. That's not how you spread the gospel. Not with a metal sword. We do it with the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God, but Peter picks it up, doesn't he? And Peter just hears one word, and he hears the word sword. He says, here, I'm doing what the Lord wants me to do. There's the sword. He had spoken about a sword, and he goes for the sword. See, when we don't listen to the word of God and we don't understand the word of God, there's a danger that we could act outside the will of God and act in carnality. Something else which is not is prayer. Look at verse 40 and Luke 22. Do you remember what Peter was doing when Christ was agonizing in Gethsemane? I'm doing this very quickly. And when he was at the place, he said unto them, Pray that ye enter not into temptation. Look at verse 46. And said unto them, Why sleep ye? Rise and pray, lest ye enter into temptation. There was a time when Peter should have been praying and he was sleeping. And you see when God's people aren't praying, Then you see our activities will not be God glorified and God directed. There's a danger we're going to act in the flesh and become carnal. And you see Peter was filled with pride. He had the wrong perception. There was prayer. I don't think there was any patience either. Notice again in Luke 22 verse 49, And they which were about him saw what would follow. They said unto him, Lord, shall we smite with the sword? And they ask the question, here's the crowd coming to arrest the Lord, and the question's asked, shall we smite with the sword? Peter doesn't wait for an answer, he just goes for the sword. And he's moving ahead of Christ. And I remember George Bates saying to me as a young preacher in Grove many years ago, he says, Ian, if the old devil can't hold you back, sometimes he shoves you forward. And you're running ahead of the Lord. And that's as bad a place as being way behind the Lord. You want to be in step with the Lord. And Peter's running ahead, he didn't wait for an answer. He just jumps in with the two feet. And when we jump in and we don't wait and we've prayed for something, we've asked for guidance, we want the Lord to speak to us and let us know what to do, the answer doesn't come immediately. And we just do the thing we want to do anyway. And we act in a carnal method, in a carnal manner, and this is what Peter has done here. The Lord says, be still and know that I am God, but we don't want to be still. This is an instant age. We need the Spirit of God because the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, or patience. We don't have that patience. It's something we need the Spirit of God to give us to wait in God's timing. You see Peter's problem, there's pride, there's the wrong perception, there's no prayer, he's not patient. Passion in verse 50 and one of them as I said doesn't mention who it is here smote the servant of the high priest and cut off his right ear. Do you see the zeal he has? But it's a zeal without knowledge. The original word for ear here actually means earlobe. It doesn't really matter. It seems that he may have went for the head and the servant moved his head and he caught him in the earlobe and cut the earlobe off. But what was Peter doing? The great I Am, does the great I Am need a swordsman? You see, in a flash, in a moment of carnality, Peter is undoing all that Christ has done. What would have happened? Do you remember the Lord's steps up to protect them? Now what would happen? Peter would be arrested. What about the day of Pentecost? When Peter stood up and preached and 3,000 souls were saved? He could have ruined it. What about the 11 if they all had have been thrown into prison? Who was then going to take the word forward? What if they had have been sentenced to death? I know I'm speaking from a human perspective and I know that God's on the throne and God's sovereign. But can't you see the mess that Peter was going to make of it? And this would come back to haunt Peter. In John 18 verse 26, one of the servants of the high priest, being his kinsman, whose ear Peter cut off, said, did it not I see you in the garden with him? And one of the men remembered him and brings it up later and Peter says, no, it wasn't me. And he lies through his teeth. There's always consequences to carnality. And here's the problem. You can have a wonderful message and a wonderful plan and a great idea and someone in a carnal method can destroy the work of an assembly or the work of some child of God by one carnal act. And the whole thing's thrown out through the window. You see the pride, you see the perception, you see us praying, you see the patience, you see the passion. Look at Luke 22 verse 51. Here's the miracle. And Jesus answered and said, suffer ye thus far. And he touched his ear and healed him. Do you see the grace of the Lord here? Here's an enemy. The Lord touches him and heals him even though he's an enemy. Do you see his goal here? Christ has been through Gethsemane. What a, what a torment it was for him when he sweat as it were, great sops of blood. And he, we could well have excused him. He's about to be arrested for overlooking what has happened, but he doesn't. He's not looking for excuses not to do something. So often we are looking for excuses not to do something. See his grace, you see his goal, but then you see his greatness. And Jesus answered and said, suffer you thus far. And he touched his ear and healed him. It took a miracle of Christ to undo Peter's carnal act. It took a miracle of Christ. Paul says that the weapons of our warfare are not carnal. We're not to win people through metal swords. As I said already, it's through the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. But I've seen assemblies and their testimonies wrecked because of the carnality of some of God's people. And only a miracle will sort it out. You can see the lives of some of God's people, and only a miracle will sort it out. Thank God there is a miracle. Thank God the Lord Jesus Christ is able to sort it out. But you know, you don't want to get into that mess, do you? And maybe you're thinking this morning, what's this got to do with me? I don't have a sword, listen, you've got a tongue. And someone can cut the nose of someone else with their tongue, just like that. And that's the work ruined. Someone can cut to pieces someone else over the telephone and the work's ruined. Cut stripes out of someone else. And you can use your tongue like a sword. and can do untold damage in one carnal act and undo the efforts, your efforts and the efforts of God's people. And I'm saying to you this morning what Peter said, what the Lord said to Peter, you put the sword in the sheath, put that sword back. The weapons of our warfare are not carnal. A zeal without knowledge can be so dangerous. And I trust this message this morning is a preventative message. I trust none of us have acted in a carnal way. You know, we're looking to reach out, we're planning a mission. We want to make sure we can go into that area and just bring the message of Christ. If they reject Christ, that's on them, but I don't want them to reject us. And I don't want them to reject me, and I'm sure you don't want you to reject it. We've got a great saviour. He's capable this morning. He's capable of doing above and beyond what we can think. He cares this morning. He went to the cross this morning and we can tell him about the cross and tell him about a great saviour and what a wonderful, wonderful thing salvation is. But listen, one act of carnality and it could destroy it. So put the sword in the sheath. And remember that our weapons this morning, they're not carnal. We've got a different arsenal this morning. One that's tried and tested and proved. We've got prayer, we've got the word of God, we've got the spirit of God. We don't need fleshly weapons to win spiritual battles. Let's pray. Our Heavenly Father, we thank you for such a wonderful Savior. Lord, we thank you for stepping in and undoing some of the damage that Peter had done. Lord, when I look back over my own life, there's times when things could have been damaging, foolish things that were said, maybe hurtful things. Lord, we thank you for your overruling grace. And Lord, for times you stepped in and Lord, Maybe someone here this morning has been in a difficult place. Lord, we've said already that the fruit of the Spirit is love and joy, peace and long suffering. They found it difficult to be patient. Lord, if we don't be patient, we become impatient. And Lord, when we're impatient, then we can act in a way that's not in keeping with the will of God. So, Lord, bless thy word to all of our hearts this morning. Lord, you know our needs. You know where we are this morning. Lord, we have a wonderful Saviour. We want nothing or no one ever to detract from such a wonderful message. And we pray, Lord, if there's anything in my life or anyone else's life, Lord, reveal it to us and give us the grace to put the sheaf Put the sword into the sheaf. Lord, remember that our weapons this morning are not carnal. For we do ask it in our Savior's precious name. Amen. I'm going to sing in closing.