Secret Disciples Encouraged

Secret Disciples Encouraged

(No. 3207)

A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, JULY 21, 1910.

DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.

"Are not you also one of His disciples?" John 18:25.

BLESSED be His name, there are some of us who count it our highest joy
to answer this question, "Yes." Whatever may be entailed by the
confession, we shall be glad to endure! We could not do otherwise than
say, "He acknowledged us of old and He is still not ashamed to call us
brethren and, therefore, we are not ashamed of Him, but we delight to
call Him Master and Lord." In an interview I had about a fortnight ago,
with a dear and venerable friend who is just upon the borders of the
grave, he said to me, "There is a verse in the Hymn-Hook which I know
you do not like, Sir, and which I do not like, though both of us have
sometimes been obliged to sing it–

"Tis a point I long to know,

Oft it causes anxious thought

Do I love the Lord, or no?

Am I His, or am I not?"

"But I have no doubt about it," he went on to say, "any more than I
have about my own existence! Let others doubt if they like. I know I
love the Lord. I am sure I do. If there is anything in all this world
that is beyond a question to me, it is that I do love Him with all my
heart, soul and strength." That ought to be the condition of every
Christian! There ought to be no question here. We should, each one, be
able to reply at once, when asked, "Are not you also one of His
disciples?" "I am! I count it my honor, my joy that He permits me to
sit at His feet and to be instructed by Him, and to go forth into the
world bearing His reproach." But, at the same time, dear Friends, there
are some in the world who could not go that length, of whom,
nevertheless, we have the hopeful belief that they are His disciples.

I thought of speaking a little to such persons. This, perhaps, will be
unfortunate for most of you, for I shall not be addressing many,
perhaps, here present. Still, if there are but a few such, we must look
after the one at the risk even of leaving the ninety-nine. So I address
myself to those whom we assuredly suspect to be followers of Jesus,
concerning whose faith we need to have a little better evidence and
whose life we would see a little more consistent with their being truly
His followers.

I. First, then, I would ask, WHY ARE YOU SUSPECTED OF BEING A DISCIPLE
OF CHRIST? Please observe the reasons why Simon Peter was suspected,
for the same reasons may be applicable to you.

He was suspected by some of being a disciple of Christ because he had
been seen with the disciples. One of the servants of the high priest
said to Peter, "Did not I see you in the garden with Him?" Now, there
are some of you who are always seen in the House of God–not only at
stated services which are attended by the general public, but you are
seen at the Prayer Meetings, you are seen at times when the interest is
more spiritual–and when only the spiritual, it would be supposed,
would be attracted and find anything that would interest them–there
are you found. It is not only in the House of God that you are seen
with Christ's people, but out-of-doors, too. You do not enjoy frivolous
society. You are not at home in the haunts of vanity. Your companions
are the godly. You delight in their conversation and the more spiritual
the conversation becomes, the more you enjoy it!

Now, I do not know that you are a follower of Christ, but I have a
strong suspicion that you may be and I would like to put these
questions to you, if I might. "Are not you, also, one of His disciples?
Did not I see you in the garden with Him? Why do you keep such company
and love such society, if you are not one of them? Is not the old
proverb true, 'Birds of a feather flock together'? How is it that you
love the footsteps of the flock and the way of the shepherd's tents, if

you are not one of the sheep? I dare not say that you are, for I cannot
read your heart, but I will venture again to put the question, 'Are not
you also one of His disciples?'"

They suspected him, again, because of his conversation. Peter did not
want to be known and, therefore, I do not suppose that he voluntarily
said anything that would betray him. I daresay, if he conversed at all
at the fire, he kept clear of all topics and subjects that would reveal
him, or lead to the question being put as to whether he was a disciple
or not, but, somehow or other, whatever he talked about, there was a
sort of brogue, a twang in his speech, a something which showed that,
at any rate, he was a Galilean–and they began to suspect that he might
also be a companion of Jesus of Nazareth. It was his talk that betrayed
him!

Now I do not know, dear Friend, whether you are a disciple of Christ,
and I do not propose to press you to tell me, but excuse my asking the
question. Your language and accent have about them a seasoning and a
flavor of Christianity. You earnestly put aside from your speech
everything unclean and you delight to speak words that honor Christ. If
at any time in conversation there is a word said that seems to reflect
upon the Lord Jesus, you are grieved at it and you would not repeat any
sentiment or sentence that would dishonor Him. You are cautious and
careful, too, about truth in your speech. You also desire to speak for
the good of others. Especially during the last few months you have been
very particular, and your prayer has been, "Open You my lips." You have
been afraid of speaking those idle words for which God will bring men
into judgment. Now, I do not know that you are Christ's disciple, but I
suspect it, for a man is judged by his speech. We generally know what
is in the well by what comes up in the bucket, and the metal of a bell
can be pretty well judged by the stroke of the clapper. And I think we
can form some estimate of who you must be when we perceive in your
conversation the tone of a Christian, when we hear that you speak as
one does whose heart has been renewed by Divine Grace. I shall,
therefore, put the question to you, expecting an affirmative answer,
"Are not you also one of His disciples?"

Further than this, Peter was recognized, I suspect, as having acted for
his Lord, for the person who said, "Did not I see you in the garden
with Him?" was a relative of him whose ear Peter had cut off. As for
you, it is not long since you were angry when someone had blasphemed or
spoken unkind words against one of God's servants, or against God's
Gospel. I am not sure that you did well to be angry, but at any rate,
it was a holy zeal that made you angry. Why, you were quite red in the
face as you defended the Truth of God! I say again, I am not sure that
you did well to be angry, but at any rate, while you were cutting off
that fellow's ear with that sharp sword of yours, and dealing such hard
blows for Christ–if I had been there to see you, I would have thought
that you were one of His disciples–even though I would have known that
your Master would not have wished you to use that sword, or to be so
violent as you were. Yet your very zeal for Him though, perhaps, it was
indiscreet, and perhaps not altogether what He could approve, showed
that you really had some love to Him, some concern for His cause, some
zeal for His Glory. Is it not so? Surely you are also one of His
disciples! These things led them to suspect Peter, and these things
lead us to suspect you.

One other thing, I doubt not there was about Peter, as he stood warming
himself by the fire–he was especiallyinterested in the fate of Jesus.
Alas for him, he had so far forgotten himself that he tried, perhaps,
to avoid showing that he took any particular interest in the trial. But
I will guarantee you that those who could read faces could read
something in Peter's face as it was lit up by the glare of the coals!
When he heard them smite his Master with the palms of their hands upon
His cheek, did you not see that tear roll down his face? He pretended
he was brushing away a drop of sweat from his brow, but anyone who was
watching him, especially one with the quick eyes of the maid that
spoke, could see that it was a dewdrop of another sort that was falling
from his eye!

Now, you have not saidthat you are a disciple of Christ, but have we
not sometimes caught you unawares and read it in your face? The other
Sunday, when we spoke of the Redeemer's sufferings, your soul was
melted. When we talked of His glories, we could see how you exulted in
the theme. And when the Gospel was freely preached to the chief of
sinners, your eyes looked as if you understood it–and as if you loved
it. Though, perhaps, even now, you would hardly venture to say, "I am
saved," yet you experience a joy and delight in hearing the Truth of
God which you would not have known if you had not been one of Christ's
disciples–and a holy trembling and heart-searching under the Word of
God that you would not have experienced unless you had been first of
all quickened by the Spirit of His Grace. Yes, the countenance will
often betray what is going on within–and those dear ones who are
saved–I have no doubt they have observed about you a great many things
and have compelled them cheerfully to say, "We believe So-and-So is a
Christian. We can-

not doubt it. There is a something about his whole manner and
conversation, his manner of speech, his mode of thought and style of
action that betrays him as being a disciple of Christ."

Now, Beloved Friend, I cannot follow you home and judge as to your
secret life, but I will put this question to you in various ways, in
which, of course, I must leave Simon Peter out of the question. You
have lately put your trust in Christ Jesus, alone. That is to say, if
you have not done so, or if you are not sure you have done so, at any
rate you have not any other trust and all the trust you have is set on
Him. You see that there is an end of all perfection in the flesh and
you are looking for the perfection which He gave to His people when He
finished His atoning Sacrifice and sat down at the right hand of God.
Though you cannot see much light, yet you know that there is no light
except in Him and you have cast away forever that false light in which
you once rejoiced. Well, I am glad, and I am inclined to put to you the
question, "Are not you also one of His disciples?"

You have lately begun to pray and that not as a matter of form. You
have left off that form you once repeated and now you pray from your
very heart. Sometimes you cannot pray as you would–in fact, you never
do make your petition quite such as you desire. Still, you pray as well
as you can, with groans and tears and longings that you may be taught
how to pray better. Well, I never yet heard of a praying soul that was
not one of Christ's disciples! It was a token that Saul of Tarsus was a
convert to Christ when it was said, "Behold, he prays." So I will put
to you the question, since you utter the living prayer of a truly
earnest soul, "Are not you also–despite your doubts, questions, and
humble lamentations–are not you one of His disciples?"

Moreover, you now have an interest in the Word of God. The Bible was
very dull to you once. A three-volume novel pleased you much better.
But now anything that will tell you of your Lord and of His love, and
will instruct you in His Truth–anything of that sort you care for–you
have a hungering after it. Well, I have not yet known dead people
become hungry and I do not know that I ever yet heard of a carrion crow
that desired to feed on the food of the dove! I think there must be
some change in you, or you would not love the clean winnowed grain
which delights God's children. I am not sure about it, but still, I
shall venture to put the question and believe that I know what answer
you will give, "Are not you also one of His disciples?"

Besides, you know that there is a change in your life. As a child, you
are now striving to honor your parents. As a tradesman, you have now
left off many practices that you once allowed yourself to adopt. As a
common man speaking to others, you are now more charitable in your
words than you used to be. There are things that were once amusements
to you which yielded you pleasure, but which have now become vanity of
vanities to you. Now you know that when you rise in the morning, the
thing you are most afraid of is that you should do wrong during the
day–and if you are troubled at night, it is because you have done a
wrong. And the matter that pains you about it most is not the loss of
custom, but the loss of a peaceful conscience. Now, I think if you are
all this, surely you are also one of Christ's disciples!

I have suggested many hopeful things that would lead me to think that
you are His disciple, but if you are not, then assuredly you are His
enemy! What do you think of that? If I should make a list of this
congregation and should write down all the disciples of Christ,
(supposing I were able to do that), and if my pen were just about to be
withdrawn from the paper, could you bear that I should say, "I am about
to close this roll. I have written down all the disciples of Christ
here. I have finished the list, and your name is not there"? I am sure
you would say, "Oh, stay your hand a while, Sir! I was afraid I was not
one of His, but now it comes to the push, I dare not withhold my name!"
And I am certain that if I were then to take another roll and to begin
to write down the names of all those who did not believe in Jesus, you
would say, "Oh, no, do not do that! Stop a moment. Do not let my name
be written down there! I could not stand that, for I think I am not
quite His enemy. At any rate, I long to be His disciple."

I sometimes wish you would push yourself into this corner. If it came
to the point, Beloved–if it really came to the point–some of you who
have said, "I am afraid I do not love Him," because you do not love Him
as you ought. Some of you who have said, "I am afraid I do not trust
Him," because you have some doubts and some fears, I have no doubt that
if it came to the point, notwithstanding all things, God would lead you
to trust Him and to rejoice in Him! Remember that story of one of the
martyrs who had been condemned to die for Christ, and who, about a week
before he died, was full of fear and trembling? He was afraid of the
fire and much cast down by the prospect of being burned. There was a
fellow prisoner with him who scolded him for it and told him that he
ought to trust in God, that he ought not to be dismayed, and ought not
to be cast down. When the day came for them to burn together, the poor,
weak, trembling man stood on the firewood and he said, before the fire
was kindled, "Oh, He has come! He has come! He has come and He has
filled my soul with His Presence!" He died triumphantly, while the
other man, who had scolded him for his lack of faith, recanted at the
last moment and became a traitor to the Truth of God. The Lord will
help you if you are but right toward Him. Still, I pray that you may be
delivered from every question about whether you are His disciple or
not.

II. Now, having thus uttered my suspicions about some of you, I shall,
in the second place, demand from those of you who seem to be Christ's
disciples, WHY DO YOU NOT ACT AS IF YOU WERE A DISCIPLE? "Are not you
also one of His disciples?

Why, then, are you not sharing His reproach?Peter is standing there
warming his hands, looking to his personal comfort. His Master is over
yonder being despised and rejected, maltreated and smitten. If you are
one of His disciples, Peter, is this the place for you–among the
ribald crowd around the fire? Is not your proper place at your Lord's
side, to be laughed at as He is, falsely accused as He is, and buffeted
as He is? I may be speaking to some who love Christ, or are to be
suspected of it, but they have never borne His reproach. You are not
numbered with any Christian Church because well, it is not a very
respectable thing in the circle in which you move! You have not
professed those Truths of God which you have believed because it would
render you extremely unpopular if you did! You have not said in your
household, "I am a Christian," because it is clear to you that your
husband might not like it, or that your father might not have patience
with it. You have slunk into the workshop and you have hidden your
colors and you have been comfortable with ungodly men–and when they
have uttered hard things about Christ, though you have not liked what
they said, you have not expressed your disapproval–and so your silence
gave consent to them.

"Are not you also one of His disciples," and do you refuse to share the
reproach of Christ? Have you forgotten Moses, who, though he might have
been like a king in Egypt, yet took his place with the poor despised,
enslaved Israelites, "esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches
than the treasures in Egypt"? Can you not take your place with Christ's
poor people? Are you ashamed of them because they are not titled and
rich, or because their literary standing is not very high? Are you
ashamed of them because other people misrepresent and slander them? Has
the offense of the Cross ceased? Do you expect that true Christianity
will ever be fashionable? Do you believe for a moment, in your heart,
that Christ spoke a lie when He said to His disciples, "Behold, I send
you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves"? If there is a religion
concerning which all men speak well, woe be unto it, for it cannot be
the religion of Christ! Do you not know that the way to Heaven is
upstream? The current runs downward to the Gulf of Destruction! Are you
not willing to take the Cross and go against popular opinion–and
against everything else that is necessary for Christ's sake?

The day comes when they who have been ashamed of His Cross will find
themselves losing His crown. "No Cross, no crown." This is what Christ,
Himself, says "Whoever shall be ashamed of Me and of My Words, of him
shall the Son of Man be ashamed when He shall come in His own Glory,
and in His Father's, and of the holy angels." If you dare not follow
Him because you fear shame–shame shall be your perpetual inheritance!
Remember that verse, "But the fearful, and unbelieving…shall have
their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone: which is
the second death." Oh, that we may never be among those cowards, for
those are the persons He means, not the fearing ones, but the fearful
ones who dare not be reproached for Him! Is there listening to these
words one who loves his Lord and knows the Truth, and knows where God's
Church is, but has been afraid to join His people–ashamed to confess
the Truth and to follow Christ? I come to you with this word and I
would gladly look you in the face and say, "Are not you also one of His
disciples?" Yet you go in and out with the ungodly and you warm your
hands at their fire! And you are mirthful with their jollity and you
are pleased with their ungodliness. "Come out from among them, and be
you separate, says the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing." Confess
Christ before men that He may confess you before His Father and the
angels in Heaven!

Again, if you are among Christ's disciples, why are you not witnessing
for HimP. It was not only that Peter was not sharing His shame, but
that when Christ was on trial, it was due to Him that every person who
could have spoken a good word for Him should do it–but everyone was
silent. When Christ said, "I spoke openly," Peter might have said,
"Yes, I have heard all He said and I have never heard Him utter
sedition or blasphemy! Nothing of the kind has ever come from my
Master's lips. If anything has been spoken in secret, I have been
there. I have been with John and James in the most select circle of all
His disciples and thus, too, I can bear witness that He is innocent."
But, no, Peter is silent and instead of witnessing he denies his
Master!

It is the duty of every Christian to be witnessing for Christ. Jesus is
still on trial every day. He stands before the world, as it were, at
this very hour, and the question is–Is He the Son of God or not?
Witnesses are being examined every day for Him and against Him. "What
do you think of Christ?" is a question which is stirring all this city
and all lands, more or less! And now shall He who claims to be the
Savior of men and the Head of the Church–shall He, while so many speak
against Him, lack the evidence of anyone who knows Him, who has been
with Him and loves Him? There are some of us who find it sweet to
witness for Him that He is the very Christ of God–and we do not take
any honor to ourselves for so doing–for flesh and blood have not
revealed it to us!

But is anyone keeping back his testimony? "Why," asks one "what would
mytestimony be worth?" You do not know what it would be worth. "Nobody
would notice me. I am only a humble woman in my family." What? Have you
no desire that your family should know the Truth of God? Have you one
little child on your knee, and have you never put your arms about that
little one's neck and prayed that she might belong to Jesus, or that
the boy might be the Savior's? Have you never told those darlings of
yours what Christ has done for you? You could not do it, do you say?
Not talk to your own child of what is written in your own heart
concerning your own Lord? Ah, if you cannot, cry to God against such a
disability and be not satisfied till you have conquered your unholy
shame, for unholy it is! If you are also one of His disciples, bear
your witness to Him, even if it is but one who can hear it! If that one
is all the congregation that God sends you, you have done your part. I
am not accountable for the people that hear me, but only for the
witness that I bear! And you shall not be accountable for the largeness
or smallness of your sphere, but for the faithfulness of your testimony
for Christ. Tell all with whom you come in contact that He is your
Savior, a precious Savior, a true Promiser, a Promise-Keeper, a
faithful Friend, a Helper in life and in death! And I say again you
know not what may be the value of your testimony, for if it is borne
but to a child, that child may grow up to bear testimony to tens of
thousands! You know not what may come of a spark of fire. Do but let it
drop and you may set half a continent on a blaze! "Are not you also one
of His disciples?" If you are, then bear your witness as well as take
up your cross!

Now, diverging a little from what some of you will think most
practical, let me ask, "Are not you also one of His disciples?" Then
why are you not enjoying the privileges which belong to His
disciples?You have not been baptized! Yet He who said, "Believe," also
said, "Be baptized." It is written of some, "These are they which
follow the Lamb wherever He goes." I ask you, did not the Lamb go down
into the Jordan? Was He not baptized? Have you followed Him wherever He
goes? If You have not done so, in being disobedient to His will you
have lost a great privilege! There is His Supper, too. 'Tis but an
outward form, as the other ordinance is. Both are but emblems, but
still the Lord has been pleased to say, "This do in remembrance of Me,"
and He often gives to His people very sweet manifestations of Himself
in the breaking of bread. You are one of His disciples, or at least I
suspect you are–but You have never been to the Lord's Table!

"There are others that can observe those things," you say. Stop!
Suppose it is right for any one Christian to neglect the ordinances of
God's House? Clearly there can be no exceptional privileges–it would,
therefore, be right for all Christians to neglect these two ordinances!
You are not a member of any Christian Church, but you think you are
right in standing alone. If you are, so would all be! And clearly, the
visible Church would become extinct–but it could never have been the
Lord's intention that it should be so! He has not ordained that His
people should live as individuals alone. He calls Himself a Shepherd,
because sheep are gregarious. They gather together and they make a
flock in a fold, and He would have His people so. If He had called them
by the name of some other creature, it might be supposed that they
would go to Heaven separately and alone–but He calls them His flock
and that signifies fellowship–union.

If you are right, then we should all be right in doing as you do. And
where and how could the means of Grace be maintained? Would not almost
the very preaching of the Gospel become extinct? For the Church of God
"is the pillar and ground of the Truth," by which is meant, I suppose,
that, as in the Roman forum there were certain pillars upon which the
decrees of the Senate were put up, so the Church is a pillar upon which
God hangs up the Gospel–and its proclamation of the Gospel to the sons
of men is the pillar and ground upon which God exhibits the Gospel to
all onlookers. And truly it must be so. It is the Church's business to
evangelize the world and to maintain Christ's ordinances. But where
would the Church be to do this if all Christians were to be allowed to
remain separate from the Church? Your business is to find some company
of Believers, unite yourself with them and enjoy the privileges which
Christ has given, such as His two ordinances of Baptism, and the Lord's
Supper–and all the other blessings which belong to the Church as
constituted in His name. "Are not you also one of His disciples?" His
disciples meet to remember Him and some of you turn your backs! They
gather around His Table and feed upon the bread and wine which are
emblems of Him, but you go away and seem to say, "We do not need these
emblems. Christ has instituted an ordinance which we do not require, we
can do without it. We are so spiritual that we do not need it." O Sirs,
say not so! If you are one of His disciples, do as He bids you!

But now a more cheering thought with which to close. "Are not you also
one of His disciples?" Then why are you not resting in His love, in His
Grace and in Hispower? You came in here tonight with a burden upon your
spirit which is crushing you into the very dust. You are low and
depressed and miserable, and people in the house where you live know
it–and yet they know that you are a professed Christian! "Are not you
also one of His disciples?" and did not He say, "Behold the fowls of
the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns;
yet your heavenly Father feeds them…Consider the lilies of the field,
how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin; and yet I say unto
you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of
these…Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? Or, What
shall we drink?" You also are one of His disciples and yet you are
vexing yourself with cares and troubles just like a heathen and a
publican! Oh, but you have lost a friend, a child, a husband, or a
father–and you are crushed into the very dust! You now have no hope
and you are angry with your God–and yet Christ said, "Not as I will,
but as You will." "Are not you also one of His disciples?" Is this like
your Master? He drank the gall cup and you put it away and fight
against your God!

"But I am afraid of a trial that is coming upon me," you say. Yet Paul
said, "Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and
supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto
God." Your heavenly Father knows that you have need of all these
things! And you, one of His disciples, are fearing for the future? O
Friend, O Friend, does this become you? Is this right? I have come,
just now, from the bedside of a dearly-beloved friend to whom I have
already referred. Strange as it is, he has been unconscious two days to
everybody else, but the moment he hears my voice, he opens his eyes and
says, "Oh, how happy I am to see your face once again, my dear pastor!"
And then he begins to pour out a blessed torrent of adoration and
praise to his God! Barely alive and yet he says he is the happiest man
alive and Christ is more precious to him than ever! He is gently
sinking away rejoicing. He says he is as happy as ever he was in his
life and, he thinks, more happy, though the death-gurgle is in his
throat and he can scarcely breathe.

And you are afraid to die, are you? You are a disciple of that blessed
Lord who is helping our dear Brother to die, but you think He will not
help you, too? Why, thousands of His people have closed their eyes on
earth, only to open them in Heaven! Thousands have died triumphantly!
Thousands have passed through the River of Death calmly rejoicing in
Jesus! And you also are one of the disciples of the same Master, the
same Master who can–

"Make a dying bed Feel soft as downy pillows are"– the same Master who
has said, "Fear you not, for I am with you: be not dismayed, for I am
your God." Yet you cannot trust Him who has been so faithful to
others–yes, and let me also say, who has been so faithful to you up
till now! Oh, if you are, indeed, His disciple, go and put that aching
head of yours right on the bosom of your Lord, for within that bosom
palpitates a heart that never changes and that never fails one of His
disciples! Go and rest there. You may rest, for it is well–it will be
well with you for the present, for the future, for time, for eternity!
If you are one of His disciples, take His yoke upon you and learn of
Him! Like He, be meek and lowly of heart, and you shall find rest unto
your soul. Remember that it is not your place to question what God
does, nor to arraign Him at your bar. Your duty is not to say, "My will
be done," but to remember that "it is enough for the disciple that he
be as his Master, and the servant as his

Lord."

I trust the questions I have put to you, my Hearers, will not be lost
upon you. It may strike you that it is not necessary to answer at once
whether you are Christ's disciple or not, but it will be very necessary
to answer that question soon. I have lately been struck beyond measure
with the fact of our mortality and the suddenness with which many of
our friends depart out of this world. I heard, only this last week,
"Brother So-and-So walked into my shop on Thursday. On the Sunday I
heard that he was dead." "Sister So-and-So was at the Communion
service, and within 48 hours she died." This is the world of the dying!
You seem to be passing before me in a procession and I, too, am part of
the procession, myself! Oh, make sure work for eternity! Run no risk
concerning your souls–not even this night's risk, for this night, at
midnight, without a knock at your door there may come the messenger
saying, "Prepare to meet your God." And

then–and then, it willmatter if you are Christ's disciple, or not! It
will notmatter, then, whether you have been rich or not, educated or
not–but it will matter for all eternity whether you are His or not,
for remember the division–"These shall go away into everlasting
punishment; but the righteous into life eternal." God grant that you
then may be with the company of the disciples of Jesus for Jesus
Christ's sake! Amen.

EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: JOHN18:12-27.

Verses 12, 13. Then the bandand the captain and officers of the Jews
took Jesus and boundHim, andledHim away to Annas first; for he was
father-in-law to Caiaphas, who was the high priest that same year. [See
Sermons #2820, Volume 49–

CHRIST BEFORE ANNAS and #2822, Volume 49–CHRIST IN BONDS.] Annas had

been high priest before, and he seems to have been still regarded as
high priest and to have been a leading spirit among the adversaries of
Christ. The old sinner would not go to bed that night until he had seen
the Man whom he hated brought bound before him. Sometimes hatred
becomes a more powerful passion than even love, and here, while the
disciples of Jesus all fled in terror, Annas, the Savior's bitter foe,
was wide awake and awaiting His arrival with those who had taken Him
captive.

14. Now Caiaphas was he who gave counsel to the Jews, that it was
expedient that one man should die for the people. Therein uttering a
prophecy which he did not fully understand, speaking like another
Balaam through whom God spoke His Truth, as once He did through the ass
that Balaam rode! Sometimes God makes the basest men the unconscious
utterers of His Truth which they do not, themselves, comprehend.

15. And Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did another disciple. Here
is John's usual modesty–he will not mention his own name, but simply
speaks of "another disciple."

15, 16. That disciple was known unto the high priest, and went in with
Jesus into the palace of the high priest. But Peter stood at the door
outside. John boldly followed Jesus and so was safe. Peter stood at a
distance from his Lord and so was in danger.

16-18. Then went out that other disciple who was known unto the high
priest and spoke unto those whom kept the door and brought in Peter.
Then said the damsel that kept the door, unto Peter, Are not you also
one of this Man's disciples? He said, I am not. And the servants and
officers stood there, who had made a fire of coals, for it was cold:
and they warmed themselves; and Peter stood with them, and warmed
himself Peter was in bad company. While he was warming his body, his
soul was growing cold to his Master. Men cannot go into bad company
without getting some hurt. It is said by a quaint old writer that if
men go to Ethiopia, they may not become Ethiopians, but by the
scorching of the sun they will grow blacker than they were before. It
is always better to keep out of harm's way if we can. He that would not
fall into a ditch should take care not to walk near the edge of it. So,
if Peter wanted to stand fast, he should not have gone where he would
be sure to be tempted.

19. The high priest then asked Jesus of His disciples, and of His
Doctrine. This was a sort of preliminary examination before the
Sanhedrin should try Him officially.

20-22. Jesus answered him, I spoke openly to the world; I taught in the
synagogue and in the Temple, where the Jews always resort; and in
secret have I said nothing. Why do you ask Me? Ask them who heard Me
what I have said to them: behold they know what I said. And when He had
thus spoken one of the officers which stood by struck Jesus with the
palm of his hand saying, Answer You the high priest so?Here we get an
exposition of one of Christ's own sayings. You know that He said,
"Whoever shall smite you on your right cheek, turn to him the other,
also." Of course Christ would carry out His own precept, so we see that
He did not mean that His disciples were literally to turn the other
cheek to those who struck them, but that they were to bear such
treatment patiently, and not to give a railing answer. See how Jesus
Himself turned the other cheek.

23. Jesus answered him, If I have spoken evil, bear witness of the
evil: but if well, why do you strike Me?Nothing could have been more
calm or more dignified and, at the same time, more full of the spirit
of forgiveness.

24-27. Now Annas had Him sent bound to Caiaphas the high priest. And
Simon Peter stood and warmed himself. They said therefore unto him, Are
not you also one of His disciples? He denied it, and said, I am not.
One of the servants of the high priest, being his kinsman whose ear
Peter cut off, said, Did not I see you in the garden with Him? [See
Sermon

#2106, Volume 35–"IN THE GARDEN WITH HIM".] Peter then denied

again: and immediately the cock cre . We know that the Lord turned and
looked upon Peter. He did not speak a word, perhaps lest Peter should
fall into the hands of those who were round about him–but His look was
sufficient to kindle in Peter the fires of repentance–and he went out
to weep bitterly over his shameful denial of his Lord.