If you would, please take your Bibles with me to 1 Corinthians chapter one, or excuse me, chapter two. 1 Corinthians chapter two, and then see if we can't work our way back to Matthew chapter 26 after we've looked at a few verses here. We read in 2 Corinthians, rather 1 Corinthians chapter two, There in verse two, our brother Paul, the Apostle Paul, he writes there, I determined not to know anything among you save Jesus Christ and him crucified. Well, what is that exactly? Well, I think we should look at some other things the Apostle Paul wrote that will be helpful for us. In 1 Corinthians chapter 15, I've heard some people revert to this portion of 1 Corinthians chapter 15 as one of the better summaries of the gospel. I think it's very helpful for us and what the Apostle Paul writes here. He writes, moreover brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand, by which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures. Now in the portion we're looking at tonight in Matthew, we see a lot of things, just by way of summary in that portion. Go back there. Try and give a quick overview. There's a lot of verses there. But in the first part, our Lord tells the disciples how that his going to Jerusalem is not gonna be by accident. Look what he says there. He says, and this is Matthew writing there, and it came to pass when Jesus had finished all these things, he said unto his disciples, you know that after two days is the feast of the Passover, and the Son of Man is betrayed to be crucified. And this was done according to the scriptures, beloved. This past Sunday, I was rejoicing with you how that the Lord is the one who's chosen us. He said to his disciples, you have not chosen me, but I have chosen you. Well, where does that leave us? Well, when he saves a sinner, what he does is he leaves us with no choice. We read in Acts chapter four and verse 12, There's no other name given among men whereby we, what does it say there? Must be saved. I must be saved by the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's the Lord Jesus Christ according to the scriptures. Now this was a very low point for the disciples and we'll read about that as we study, if time allows, when we will look at the whole chapter. But here we see, that he tells his disciples that the Son of Man is betrayed to be crucified, to be killed. And then we see there in verse three, four, and five, that these men are plotting what God determined to happen beforehand. Though we don't see Peter at this point understanding this, we see him later on in Acts chapter two, knowing exactly what this is referring to, what we're seeing happening in Matthew chapter 26. You remember that time the Lord made Peter very bold, and in Acts chapter two, he says there in verse 22, ye men of Israel, hear these words. Hear these words, Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know, him being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken and by wicked hands have crucified and slain. This was done according to the scriptures, beloved. And it is remarkable to note, it seems that this woman mentioned who brought the perfume, that alabaster box of very precious ointment, she seems to be the only one to have heard him say that he was going to be betrayed, to be crucified, for she anoints him for his burial. And the Lord commends her. could act to him, even though the disciples murmured about such a waste. Nevertheless, he said that this deed that she has done unto me will be a memorial for her. Every time the gospel is preached, she'll be remembered. And he rebuked them gently, saying, you always have the poor with you, but you have not me always. And then as we go through this portion, We also see the betrayal of the Lord Jesus Christ, the betrayal. Judas Iscariot covenants together with these high priests to betray the Lord Jesus Christ for 30 pieces of silver. In Psalm 45, I believe it is, I think I have pulled the wrong reference. Psalm 41, verse nine, speaks about that. In verse nine, speaking about Judas Iscariot, yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me. But thou, O Lord, be merciful unto me, and raise me up, that I may requite them. Notice it's no longer speaking about a singular friend, but them, the unbelieving Jews. That's what that's in reference to. Now, this chapter 26, I believe, is best summed up in the prophet's words in Zechariah chapter 13. And it is exactly what we're reading about tonight. It says there, Awake, O sword, this is Zechariah 13, verse seven. Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith the Lord of hosts. Smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered, and I will turn mine hand upon the little ones. And it shall come to pass that in all the land, saith the Lord, two parts therein shall be cut off and die, but the third shall be left therein. Remnant. And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried. They shall call on my name, and I will hear them. I will say, it is my people, and they shall say, the Lord is my God. Now in Luke's gospel, We see here in Luke's gospel that the disciples that were walking together, they had much the same view of what happened to our Lord, that he failed. They didn't understand that the Lord Jesus Christ didn't come into the world to establish an earthly kingdom. No, his kingdom is a heavenly kingdom, the kingdom of heaven. the kingdom of God. And it says there in Luke chapter 24, And behold, two of them that same day went to a village called Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem, about three score furlongs. And they talked together of all the things which had happened. And it came to pass that while they continued to commune together and reasoned, the Lord Jesus himself drew near and went with them. But their eyes were holden that they should not know him. And he said unto them, what manner of communication are these that ye have one to another as ye walk and notice and are sad? We have a unique perspective tonight. Tonight, if you're believing on the Lord Jesus Christ, you're rejoicing. You're rejoicing in knowing that through the blood that he shed on Calvary's cross, and that precious body that was broken for us, he established a perfect righteousness that lacks absolutely nothing. But at this time they did not understand that he is risen indeed. He tells these on the road to Emmaus, Verse 26, "'Odd not Christ to have suffered these things "'and to enter into his glory, "'and beginning at Moses and all the prophets, "'he expounded unto them in all the Scriptures "'the things concerning himself.'" And we read later on there in that same chapter, Luke 24, those words that tell us that indeed everything that the Lord Jesus Christ has been vindicated. What does it say there? It says there in verse 34, saying, the Lord is risen indeed. He is risen, beloved. The Lord Jesus Christ has accomplished our salvation. That's what we read in the Gospel of Romans. Remember that portion in Romans in the latter part of the fourth chapter? chapter, the last verse, it says there how that our Lord and God Jesus Christ was delivered for our offenses and was raised again for our justification. And so to hear and to know that the Lord is risen indeed, they went from thinking the Lord was an utter failure to knowing that He is a sovereign, successful Savior who shall not fail to save His people. that everything he said was true. But at this time in our portion, I mean, you listen to the disciples on another occasion. For example, John's gospel, chapter six, and the Lord is teaching the multitudes there. And he said, therefore said I unto you that no man can come, this is John 6 verse 65, no man can come unto me except it were given unto him of my father. From that time many of his disciples went back and walked no more with him. Then said the Lord Jesus unto the 12, will you also go away? Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life. And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God. And we see the same thing repeated that we're reading in our chapter tonight. Judas Iscariot being identified as the one who should betray him. Jesus answered them, have not I chosen you 12? And one of you is a devil. He spake of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, for he it was that should betray him, being one of the 12. Now this chapter in Matthew is filled with much, much comfort, beloved. It teaches us again that we're not saved by our faithfulness, nor are we. No, we're saved by the faithfulness of the Lord Jesus Christ alone. We hear much boasting from Peter and the other disciples. They said, we will not flee from you, we'll not depart. And it's a, a great comfort to know that our salvation is not based on our faithfulness, it's entirely His faithfulness. And we read that throughout the Scriptures, so many places it tells us there. Just a few to think of, Ephesians 2 verse 8. By grace, ye are saved through faith. Now, full stop. That's not talking about our faith. We do have faith, but the object of our faith is the Lord Jesus Christ. It's the grace and the salvation, the faith, it's all given to us. By grace, ye are saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. We sing about it, don't we? Great is thy faithfulness. And it's not talking about James or Tyler or Desta or you, Gail, or Sandra, or any of us. It's talking about our sovereign, successful Savior. And that's why when the Lord opens up this book, it just comes in and floods in. Can you think of another place where we hear about how it is that we're saved by his faith? Peter wants us to know all the elect of God. He writes in 1 Peter 1, verse 5, and I'll never forget the night that our brother Elio was preaching on that text in Cancun. It says there, speaking of God's elect, that we're kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last day, in the last time. It's a ready salvation. It's a finished salvation. But here, the Lord is teaching us that He tread the winepress alone, if I could put it that way. Isn't that what the prophet Isaiah says? Look what it says in Isaiah chapter 63. It says there in verse three, and this is the same gospel we read in the New Testament, beloved, He saved us by the sacrifice of Himself, by Himself. It says in verse three, I have trodden the winepress alone, and all of the people, there was none with me, for I will tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury, and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all the remnant. where the day of vengeance is mine heart and the year of my redeemed is come. On the cross of Calvary, and we see in Matthew chapter 26, the captain of our salvation, the conqueror of our souls is on his way to Calvary's cross to accomplish our salvation. To bear the wrath that all of us are due If it were not for the doing and dying of the Lord Jesus Christ, beloved, we would perish, justly so, justly so. And such suffering, such unimaginable suffering that happened to our Lord Jesus Christ. If you look at the latter part of Matthew chapter 26, and there's this, ungodly trial with false witnesses, with wicked Caiaphas and the wicked elders there seeking false witnesses. And he told them plainly, I am the Christ. I am the Savior. I am the one sent of the Father into this world to save my people. And what did they say in response? It says there in verse 63, but the Lord Jesus held his peace and the high priest answered and said unto him, I adjure thee by the living God that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the son of God. Jesus saith unto him, thou hast said. That's right, what you say is right. I am the son of God. Nevertheless, I say unto you, hereafter shall you see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of power and coming in the clouds of heaven. Then the high priest rent his clothes, saying, He has spoken blasphemy. What further need have we of witnesses? Behold now, ye have heard his blasphemy. What think ye? They answered and said, He is guilty of death. Now, in this chapter, we see the Lord partaking of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and then the Passover, and then he institutes the Lord's Supper, the Memorial Supper. Now, that Feast of Unleavened Bread harkens back to Exodus. Exodus chapter 12, you remember, This is all talking about deliverance, beloved. Deliverance. This is who our Lord and God Jesus Christ is. He's our deliverer. That's what the Apostle Paul said. Who shall deliver me from the body of this death? Who shall deliver me from the body of this death? And he said, I thank God it's through Jesus Christ I shall be delivered. And in Exodus, that feast of unleavened bread was a remembrance of being delivered from Egyptian bondage. And in Exodus 12, verse 13, it says there, and take the blood of the lamb. You remember they were told to slaughter a lamb and that they were to eat it with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet and your staff in your hand and you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord's Passover. For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt both man and beast, and against all the gods of Egypt, I will execute judgment. I will execute judgment. I am the Lord. And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you when I smite the land of Egypt. And then in Exodus 13, there's a chapter over in verse, or rather, Exodus 14, verse 13, This is what the Lord is speaking to. He is the fulfillment of all the scriptures. Now, last Wednesday, I misspoke. I think I couldn't find it in Acts chapter 10, but it says there in Acts chapter 10, verse 33, to him, to the Lord Jesus Christ, give witness all the prophets. And look what it says. there. You can keep your place in Exodus 14, I'll read that in a moment. But in Acts, chapter 10, in verse 43, it says here, to him give all the prophets witness. To who? To the Lord Jesus Christ. God's only begotten Son. To Him give all the prophets witness that through His name, whosoever believeth in Him shall receive remission of sins. And then Exodus 14, verse 13, it says here, And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, which he shall show to you today. And that is what the Lord is pointing to and pointing to himself. He is the one, as we studied last Wednesday, who shall save his people from their sins. And we know that the Lord Jesus Christ, when He gave His life a ransom, He didn't make a salvation a possibility. Look what He says in Matthew 26, verse 26. This is when the Lord Jesus Christ instituted the Lord's Supper, this memorial feast. This is not the Passover, this is the Lord's Supper now. Now, he said here, Matthew's recording, and as they were eating, the Lord Jesus took bread and blessed it and break it and gave it to the disciples and said, take, eat, this is my body. Then he took the cup, and he gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it, for this is the blood of the New Testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. Notice the word many. In Mark's gospel, chapter 10, verse 45, the Lord says very plainly, very clearly, I did not come into the world to be served, but to serve, and to give my life a ransom for many, for many. It's so good to know that we can look at this chapter knowing that he's risen indeed. But at this time, the disciples were greatly discouraged, greatly discouraged. They didn't understand what was going on. Not at this time. Now they knew that he was the Christ. They knew who they were believing on and in. But as I was reflecting on this chapter and thinking about just the immensity of it, the only thing I kept on thinking about is where this is leading to. Where this is leading to. And where this is leading to is the cross of Calvary. And where our brother was reading from in Luke 23, all I could think about was our brother, the malfactor on the cross. You know, we hear in religion, they talk about, you know, sinner's prayers. You ever hear people talking about that? The sinner's prayer. Repeat after me, the following. And we think about our brother, the publican, remember that? It was two men went up to the temple to pray, the one a Pharisee, the other one a publican. And the Pharisee prayed within himself, and, you know, He just basically patted himself on the back in front of the Lord and saying, I thank you, God, that I'm not like this publican. In particular, he said, I thank you, God, that I'm not like other men. What darkness, what darkness, what ignorance. But when the Lord loves you, beloved, he puts you into the light and countenance of his well-pleasing Son. And it's not a proposition, it's not a choice. When He loves you, He shows you what you are. And all you can say is with the publican, our brother, Lord, be merciful to me, the sinner. Be propitious to me, the sinner. And I think I found something here that comforted me to ponder, and I pray it will comfort you tonight as you take this home with you. If you look at Luke chapter, 23, we see that it is God's grace that's made the difference between these two malefactors, these two thieves. It says there in verse 39, And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be the Christ, save thyself and us. But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God? Seeing thou art in the same condemnation, and we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds, but this man hath done nothing amiss. He's done nothing amiss. Our Heavenly Father made His darling, sinless Son, He who knew no sin, to be made sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Christ. He's done nothing amiss. When you, beloved, you and I, all we've ever done is everything amiss, but He's done nothing amiss. This is what the Lord showed our brother. and mercy and grace, that he is the only upright man in God's sight, that he is well-pleasing to the Father. The voice from heaven said, this is my beloved son in whom I am well-pleased, hear he him. And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, barely I say unto thee, today shall thou be with me in paradise. So what does that leave with us? He's already there, beloved. He's seated at the right hand of the Father. He's seated on the majesty on high. How come? Because he's purged all our sins. So can we take that to our lips tonight? Remember me. That's it. That's it. Remember me. Remember me. Shall we have an interview with this brother? Let's ask him, does he know anything about justification by faith? Does he know anything about sanctification? Tell me, do you know Tulip? Break it down for me, do you know it? He's just gonna look at us blankly. And you can lean closer to him and ask him, so maybe there's a preliminary interview with angels, I don't know. But they ask him, what makes you think you can come in here? Because he said I could. The Lord said I could. He told me. He's done nothing amiss, and he certainly doesn't lie to me. He told me, today you shall be with me in paradise. Now we're gonna learn more as we go in our study here in Matthew, to see what further develops here, but I'm so thankful tonight that my salvation doesn't have anything to do with my faithfulness. or anything I've done or will do, has everything to do with the doing and dying of the Lord Jesus Christ alone. In fact, one more testimony. Don't you love the testimony of our brother here? Remember me, remember me. There's another testimony, quite the contrast, and I guess we'll look at this here as well. The religious, the self-righteous will hear a preacher say that salvation has nothing to do whatsoever with what we do, and they're murmuring. They're quietly murmuring to themselves saying, no, no, you gotta do something to make what he did to work on the cross. It's just look and live, beloved. It's calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, how do you do that, audibly? No, you do that with the heart he's opened. And you can't do it unless he opens your heart. It says here, In Matthew chapter 25, it's quite the contrast between the redeemed and the reprobate. It says there, he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the king say unto them on his right hand, the sheep, come ye blessed of my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was a hungered and you gave me meat. I was thirsty and you gave me drink. I was a stranger and you took me in. Naked and you clothed me. I was sick and you visited me. I was in prison and you came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him saying, Lord, When saw we thee, and hungered, and fed thee? Or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in, or naked, and clothed thee? And when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the king shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it once unto the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. But the thing I want to point out is, they didn't think of themselves as doing anything. Well, how come? Because there's only one work they're looking to. They're looking to the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ, the doing and dying of our Savior. But quite the contrast with the goats on the left, they say, when saw we thee a hungered, or a thirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? I don't want anything to do with singing that song of the reprobate, do you? Lord, Lord, did we not preach in thy name? Lord, Lord, did we not cast out evil demons in thy name? And in thy name, we did many wonderful works. And the Lord will say to them, depart from me, you workers of iniquity. I never once knew you. Not savingly, not lovingly. I've never everlastingly loved you. Depart from me. But beloved, it will be our, As it is now, it's our joy. This is what we rejoice in, to know that He's all of our salvation. It says there in Revelation 5-9, and after this I'll ask Tyler to come up and dismiss us in a hymn. The new song of the redeemed. And they sung a new song saying, thou art worthy to take the book and to open the seals thereof for thou was slain and has redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred and tongue and people and nation and has made us unto our God kings and priests and we shall reign on the earth. Amen.