I hope you recovered from conference last week.
And as I said Friday, what was more exciting than any funds
that we were raised raising for the building fund is that we saw
people give their lives to Jesus Christ.
We saw people confessing Christ for the first time.
And that is the greatest thing that can ever happen in any
church meeting. So we give God, God glory for
that, and we trust that those who know Christ and knew Christ
then were built up in their faith.
And we're going to build our faith even more as we come to
the Bible together. Do you have a copy of God's Word
in your hand? I hope you do.
Meet me in Mark chapter 14, please.
Mark chapter 14 beginning in verse 32.
And we're going to read down to verse 42.
And they went to a place called Gethsemane.
And he said to his disciples, Sit here while I pray.
And he took with him Peter and James and John, and began to be
greatly distressed and troubled. And he said to them, My soul is
very sorrowful, even to death, Remain here and watch.
And going a little farther he fell on the ground and prayed
that if it were possible, the hour might pass from him.
And he said, ABBA, father, all things are possible for you.
Remove this cup from me yet not what I will, but what you will.
And he came and found them sleeping.
And he said to Peter, Simon, are you asleep?
Could you not watch one hour? Watch and pray that you may not
enter into temptation. The Spirit indeed is willing,
but the flesh is weak. And again he went away and
prayed, saying the same words. And again he came and found them
sleeping, for their eyes were very heavy, and they did not
know what to answer him. And he came the third time, and
said to them, Are you still sleeping and taking your rest?
It is enough. The hour has come.
The Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.
Rise, let us be going. See my betrayer as is at hand.
Lord, this is a text that we need your help with.
It requires your wisdom. It requires your guidance.
It requires your power for the full force of the agony and the
glory that Jesus displayed in this garden to make an impact in
our hearts. So we ask in great humility that
we would see something that we've not seen, that these shoes
would reignite a love, a passion, a worship for what
You've done for us. We trust that you will be here
as we come to Your Word. In Jesus name we pray.
Amen. According to the Law, during the
Passover, faithful Israelites were to remain in their homes
until morning during the feast. And this practice commemorates
the original Passover, when the Israelites were protected by the
smeared blood of a lamb on their doorpost while the Angel of
death passed over and claimed his victims.
But on this particular Passover, this very unique evening, we
don't find the Lord Jesus in the upper room.
We don't find them in any room. As you and I read, we see him
transitioning and making his way to this place called Gethsemane.
And according to John's Gospel in chapter 18, verse one,
Gethsemane was a garden. And it's important to confirm
that the departure Christ and the disciples made here was not
defiance. When Jesus made this move, he
was symbolically confronting death, not hiding from it, but
embracing it so that he would conquer it, overcome it, and
then through that make way for a new exodus.
Because as much as Jesus was the perfectly obedient servant,
perfectly obedient Israelite, he was also sent to fulfill his
duty as the Lamb of God who is to take away the sin of the
world. But I read this and I think to
myself, why did the Lord Jesus move from the upper room to this
place? And it's very plain.
There's no mystery here. We're told right in the
beginning of where we read that he went to this place to pray.
In fact, prayer is the theme that dominates this section of
Scripture. We find the Lord Jesus, aware
that His hour has come, feeling the great need and urgency to
commune with the Father, to be alone with the Father.
However, we know that he was not completely isolated because in
verse 33 He called for three out of the 11 disciples to join him
at a nearer distance. Why?
Why did Jesus call for Peter, James and John to be near to Him
if there are different reasons? And one of the reasons I believe
according to Jesus own words was for the sake of companionship,
for the sake of a level of support.
You may not get that impression from Mark's account, but listen
to how Matthew adds 2 important words when he invites these
three, his inner circle, to join him this very important night.
You don't have to turn there, but listen to Matthew 26 verse
38. Then he said to them, My soul is
very sorrowful, even to death. Remain here and watch with me.
Watch with me. There's a level of fellowship
that the Lord desired in His greatest hour, a great hour of
trouble. But it's more than that.
Christ and His invitation for these three leaders was also
intended for their instruction. The same group that learned from
Jesus as they were called up to that mount.
Remember that mount called the Mount of Transfiguration?
When Jesus unveiled His Majesty and His splendor, there was
instruction there. There was something that they
were to apply to their own hearts.
It is no different as they are now LED into this garden.
They are to learn a few things, learn a few things about Jesus
and learn a few things about themselves.
And that is why you and I also have been invited to witness a
very solemn scene, the Lord Jesus Christ enduring this great
agony before his arrest, more than just for you to be moved by
it, but also to grow and mature from it.
And since prayer is what permeates this passage, that
will be the main focus of our instruction as we consider 3
vital truths that the Master models for us.
And this will be our source of meditation before we come and
partake of the bread and the cup.
The first thing that we should take away.
There are many ways to go about this text, many angles, but the
first thing that we should absorb from this is that like
our Master, we must go to prayer in our times of sorrow.
Very quickly we read that Jesus felt and even admitted the deep
despair and anguish that was rising within his soul.
Soul. What was it though?
What was it that caused him to be distressed and not just
distressed? Look here again at verse 33,
we're told there and began to be greatly distressed.
And in his own words in verse 34, not just sorrowful, but he
says my soul is very sorrowful. And it makes you wonder, what
was this agony about? But before we get there, the
agony was so profound, so extreme, so intense that the
beloved physician Luke documents something that a doctor would
document that when Jesus was there writhing and wrestling
with this inner turmoil, it did something to him physically.
It brought him to a a point in which Luke tells us that great
drops of blood were falling down to the ground.
And Luke was not speaking in hyperbole.
Luke here is telling us in detailing for us, a very rare
but very real medical condition known as hematyrosis.
Tiny blood vessels around the sweat glands dilate and can even
erupt, causing the blood to leak into the sweat glands.
And that emotional stress can bring somebody to the point
where it looks like there is an open wound on their skin, when
in fact that is not the case. It's a phenomenon, and the cause
of this condition is exactly what Jesus here is describing.
But what's taking place in his heart?
And it makes you wonder, what was it?
Was it the faithlessness of his disciples?
Was it the vile partnership between Judas and this vicious
group known as the Pharisees? Would it be the false
accusations as he stood on trial and all these people lied about
his character and his actions? Would it be the torture that he
would experience, the shame of hanging suspended on a cross for
all to mock and for all to add to his pain with their slander
and their spit? Would it be all of those things
combined? I don't think so.
I don't think so because history testifies of many Saints who are
martyred and who also experienced devastating
betrayals and excruciating executions, but had resolve and
were embracing their death with singing hymns and smiles and
bold witness. I refuse to believe that mere
men showed more determination than the Savior.
No, what Jesus is experiencing is beyond human comprehension,
nevermind what humans have experienced.
The imagination can't even conjure up what he was
undergoing. The eternal Son of God moments
away of becoming the sin bearer of the world and as a
consequence becoming the object of God's fury, the Father's
wrath, and for the first time sensing a separation from the
one that he is known. Uninterrupted communion with the
thought alone for the Lord Jesus was crushing.
And it is no coincidence that Jesus experiencing this
pulverizing of the soul took place in Gethsemane because the
very name of that garden means oil press.
And so in this Grove of oil trees would have been an
instrument that would allow for olives to be crushed until every
drop of oil can come out of its skin and substance.
And here we find Jesus being crushed.
Why? Because He said right before
approaching Gethsemane that his blood would be poured out for
many. And it's beginning here.
But I I do not believe this is the only reason why the Lord
chose this location to prepare Himself to be the ultimate
sacrifice for humanity. Turn to John 18I quoted to you
briefly John 18, one where Gethsemane, according to John's
word, was a garden. But look at it John 18, verse 2,
John 18, verse 2. Now Judas, who betrayed him,
also knew the place, for Jesus often met there with His
disciples. This is not Christ's first time
at the site. The Spirit, through John, tells
us it was a very familiar place. He frequently visited there, and
I believe the reason why he visited there was because it was
his pleasurable preference. That was his spot.
He delighted to be there. That is where he retreated from
all the noise and all the demands of ministry.
That is where he felt the greatest refreshment.
That is where he would pray often with the beautiful scenery
and helpful seclusion. Jesus went to this place many
times before He would come here with his disciples.
So it is no surprise that this was where He decided to pour out
his heart before before the Father.
You might have a room like that in your house.
You might have one particular Bible that you enjoy going to,
and Gethsemane was a preferable place for Christ.
And though you and I can't relate to the source of His
suffering, we can identify with how He handles it.
The Lord shows us here where you and I must flee, when we begin
to feel our hearts flooded with pain and fear, not necessarily
to a garden, but before God. There's so many staggering
things about this moment, including how Jesus Christ
addresses God as He senses his very body being crushed.
Go here to mark 1436 with me. And he said, ABBA, ABBA, Father,
all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me yet.
Not what I will, but what you will.
ABBA, ABBA. You know, sometimes art muddies
our picture of what the Bible portrays.
You've probably seen the image of Christ there in the Garden of
Gethsemane with a Halo around His head, kneeling on some rock,
so poised, so put together, that that is not the image that we
get from the Bible. He fell to the ground.
There was red stains of blood mingling with dirt as He fell on
his face. And yet with all of that, he did
not lose sight of the comforting truth of who God is and His
immense love and compassion and who He was to Him.
He could have said father. That's how we always addressed
the father. But he adds ABBA, according to
Mark, and it's a word in the Aramaic that a child would use
to address his dad in a very personal and intimate way.
The Lord didn't lose touch of His Father, and He fully
understood the amazing mercy of the one that He was spilling his
soul before. And I believe there are many who
can't seem to find the liberty to do that as Christians, even
before God, because they can't seem to shake off this idea that
God is more like an unpredictable boss, a very hard
to read judge who is more inclined to listen to you on
some days over others. What a great loss to have such a
poor perspective of who God is and never challenge it.
The proper revelation of the character of God will make
prayer a real experiential means of relief even though you don't
receive what you are requesting in the way or in the timing you
were hoping for. Simply knowing, simply knowing
that you are entrusting your burdens into the hands of an all
powerful yet incredibly wise and personally caring Father is
healing in itself. And I just want to speak to you
from my heart to yours. If you go to the Lord and pray,
not believing that, not seeing him in that way, you're not
going to know the potential of this heavenly gift.
And if you go to him but are not sensing increments of comfort,
then perhaps you have to rediscover his character before
you can actually enjoy communion with him.
Here's the Lord who comes before God, the very one who is going
to pour out his judgement, and yet he addresses him as ABBA
Father, He runs to God. Yes, the Son of God runs to God
with his sorrow, but it's more than that, because we also
learned that we must go to prayer not just because of our
sorrow, but in order to overcome temptation.
Let me read to you again, verse 37.
Then he returned to his disciples and found him
sleeping. Simon, he said to Peter, Simon,
are you asleep? Could you not watch one hour?
That must have stung. He doesn't call him Peter.
He calls him what his name was before he met Christ.
Simon, are you asleep? Could you not watch one hour?
So we know how much time Christ spent in prayer up to this
point. Watch and pray that you may not
enter into temptation. The Spirit indeed is willing,
but the flesh is weak. Some here might deems Christ's
rebuke as being insensitive, but we have to remember that earlier
he commanded all the disciples to pray while he was praying.
You won't find that in in Mark. You're going to find that in
Luke's version. If you want the reference, it's
Luke 2240. He tells all the disciples to be
in prayer, including these 3. And that's important to know
because whenever the Lord commands anything, we are
assured that He provides the grace to fulfill it.
And if He provides the grace of the fill, any of His commands,
then we are without excuse to realize it.
Including these three disciples. They were asleep.
Yes, it was late, but Christ gave them an order.
And with that order, He gave them the power, surely the
mercy, the grace to be able to walk in it.
Now, on a side note, let me make this practical point of
discipleship, OK? I would never use a text like
this to teach Christians to deprive themselves from needed
sleep, even in the name of spiritual discipline.
I'm saying this for a reason. I know it seems like there's a
flow with the main sermon, but give me some space, please.
Godly Saints who have done this to themselves admitted later in
life of the great harm that they put themselves through because
of such thinking. So let me let me be very clear
here, as as a person who loves you and cares about your
sanctification, beware of extreme measures and of those
who teach and advocate them. Nonetheless, this was a very
important evening. This was a unique time for the
disciples, one that in a few moments would present a
tremendous challenge to their faith.
And the Lord was aware of that, and so He wanted them to be
prepared for that. These obstacles were about to
come and they needed to pray to overcome them.
And what would be the temptation that these disciples would face
exactly? We all know it very well.
To flee, to flee from danger because they were associated
with Christ and even to deny Him.
Did the Lord expect faithfulness from His own?
Yes, especially after their collective boasting in the upper
room, that they would go to the end with Him.
You remember that right led by Peter, of course.
Look at Jesus last words of their of our text.
Look at verse 42. Maybe you missed this when he
said that his betrayal was at hand.
He said something right before it rise.
Let us be going. He didn't say all right, it's
time for me to go. I know you're going to flee so
go ahead. He said let's let us be going.
Let's go together now. Let us be going.
My betrayer is at hand. So Christ expected them to stand
with Him like He expects us to stand for Him.
Unfortunately, it did not matter what the disciples said earlier
that evening, and it even didn't matter the command that Christ
called them to follow. Do you know why?
Because the Spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.
We need power. We need supernatural help.
We need God even to please God. And interestingly here, Peter's
threefold denial. That's how many times he denied
Christ, right? Peter's threefold denial came
soon after his threefold failure to pray.
Let me remind you, look at Mark 14 verse 30.
And Jesus said to him, truly I tell you this very night before
the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.
And how many times did Jesus go back and forth between his
private time of prayer and ensuring and calling his
disciples to pray? Look at verse 41 of Mark 14.
And he came the third time and said to them, are you still
sleeping and taking your rest? It is enough.
The hour has come. The Son of Man is betrayed into
the hands of sinners. You're going to deny me three
times and have followed a threefold failure of praying for
every temptation. It doesn't matter it's
frequency, regardless of how fierce it is, prayer can help us
defeat it. Prayer can help us conquer it.
But listen, this victorious, temptation defeating kind of
prayer carries a quality that you and I cannot afford to
overlook. And many people do.
When did Christ call his disciples to be watchful and to
be prayerful? Can I tell you when before the
temptation came? Do you know why I say that?
Because it's the tendency of Christians to run and rely on
this resource called prayer. The moment temptation comes, the
moment the test surprises you, that is not how Jesus trained
his disciples to pray. Instead, he calls them, and he
calls us to draw from it, even when the sun is shining.
Because the design of prayer is that as you engage in it and as
you enjoy it, it builds you. And that building them prepares
you. And that preparedness keeps you
when unforeseen tribulation visits you.
We see this working positively and negatively in this very
scene. Christ was able to succeed and
stand and go to the cross. Why?
In great part because He was victorious in the garden,
whereas the disciples, when their tests came, collapsed.
What was the difference? One was watching and praying and
the others were sleeping and snoring.
That's the difference and one minister put it wisely.
Listen to this. This is this is gold, he said.
Often times the spiritual battle is won or lost before the crisis
comes. Spiritual battles are often won
or lost before the crisis. Watch and pray, lest you enter
into temptation. Have you ever wondered why the
disciples fell asleep even after Jesus?
How are you sleeping? You would think that if Jesus
tells you wake up, you need to pray, that you're going to wake
up and you're going to pray. They were tired.
Yes, they were tired. Do you know why they were tired?
It was late. Yeah, it was late.
But there was something else. Luke tells us you'll see it in
Luke 22. Meet me there.
Luke 22, verse 45. And when he rose from prayer, he
came to the disciples and found them sleeping for sorrow.
Why were their eyes very heavy? Why were they exhausted?
Because emotionally, they were spent.
They were absolutely drained. Why were they drained
emotionally? Well, just look at the events
leading up to this. They were told by their master,
one of you is going to betray me.
Things began to register and they were grieved.
And so that weight caused them to doze off.
But that wasn't an excuse. The sorrow wasn't an excuse.
What did Jesus do with his sorrow?
He spread it at the feet of the one who said, cast all your
anxieties on me. It wasn't an excuse.
And the broader lesson is this. This is so important, so vital
to grasp. The lesson is that we cannot
afford to allow what you feel to keep you from doing what you
know you need to do. Brother, do you always feel like
praying? No, sometimes it's flesh.
I wake up to it and it's more aggressive than I thought it
would be. But I don't go with what I feel.
I go with what I know. I know that I need prayer.
I know it and I I've read the Bible, yes.
And I've also witnessed enough tragedies among ministers
especially to realize that when people crash and fall, usually
where it all begins is when they neglect prayer.
That's the common denominator. That's where it all starts.
The first thing to usually go before somebody's faith goes,
before somebody's testimony goes, is a dependency on God
expressed in prayer. I don't go with what if I go by
what I feel. Disaster awaits me and disaster
awaits you. You go with what you know.
Unfortunately, these disciples allowed what they felt to remain
in the driver's seat of the devotion.
And Jesus here reminds them, you must watch and pray if you're
going to overcome anything. We must go to prayer with our
sorrows because there is a loving God who has, yes, all
power, but also immense affection for us, who is willing
to hear us and do something with our request.
We must go to prayer to overcome temptation and closely associate
with that truth #3 we must go to prayer to receive grace, to do
His will. Mark tells us that after the
third session of prayer and verse 41 and 42, Christ returns
to his sleeping students and announces that his betrayer is
only steps away. But when you read verse 41 and
verse 42, you get this impression.
You are moved by his choice of words, as though He emerges from
this time of prayer with remarkable ascendancy and
authority. Read it again with me in verse
41. And he came the third time and
said to them, Are you still sleeping and taking your rest?
It is enough. The hour has come.
The Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.
Rise, let us be going. See, my betrayer is at hand.
Do you sense it? A strong Savior with his
shoulders rolled back and his head up.
Yes, perhaps there are stains of blood on his brow.
Yes, perhaps there is dirt on his knees.
But what we see here is a Jesus ready to drink the cup that His
Father prepared for him. Don't you dare disconnect the
awesome determination we see here in Jesus from his time of
prayer. That would be a grave mistake.
He is ready to drink the cup. Now.
I have to say this. I have to make mention of this
and briefly address the need to carefully interpret Jesus's
words when He came before the Father and said not my will but
yours be done. When He requested take this cup
if it's possible, let it be removed from me when Christ
prayed that it is in no way any indication that He was forced to
do this and that He was trying to escape it, that He was
begging for this not to happen, that would be wrong.
Instead, what you see here in His reaction is exactly what you
and I should expect from the perfectly holy, extremely and
eternally pure, sinless Son of God.
The fact that Christ cringes and He shudders at the thought of
becoming, in Paul's words, becoming sin.
You got to tread carefully with that verse.
Becoming sin and drinking the wrath of God would make sense in
light of His Immaculate purity. He who knew no sin would become
sin. So why is it even a debate?
Why is it a matter of criticism to see Christ here saying, if
it's possible, let this cup be removed from me?
And the fact that it was not removed from Him and He did
embrace the cross, means for us today that there is no other way
to be saved. There is no other way to be
saved. This is the only way, not only
because the apostles who were in dwelt with the Holy Spirit and
inspired by the Spirit writing that in their epistles, but
because of the Father's silence. There's no other way.
This is the only way that humanity will be redeemed.
This is the only way that sins can be forgiven.
This is the only way that we'll be able to populate heaven with
fallen sons and daughters of Adam.
Is there another way? There is no other way.
Why the request then? Because of His royal holiness,
the horrific thought of the sin being placed on him, and as a
result, God the Father turning his face away.
If anything, this does not defame his character.
It actually affirms His transcendent holiness.
That is why he wrestled. But he was able to, in his
wrestling, overcome and embrace the will of the Father.
Because when he prayed, not my will, but yours be done.
Something happened. Can I tell you what happened?
Luke tells us what happened again in Luke 2242, saying,
Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me,
nevertheless not my will, but yours be done.
And there appear to him an Angel from heaven, strengthening him.
And so great was this supernatural strength that was
administered to him, that when Judas and the mob were around
the corner, Christ said, Rise, let us be going.
What would be the reflex of any of us if we knew that a mob, a
crowd of enemies were on their way to apprehend you?
It wouldn't be rise, it would be retreat.
It wouldn't be let us be going. It'd be let us be fleeing.
But what was it that contributed to Christ standing tall and not
running from His enemies? Get this.
Walking towards them. He prayed, He prayed, let your
will be done. And when you, like the Master,
pray and desire God's will. He doesn't just grant His will,
He grants the strength to obey it and to walk in it.
It sustains you and it surges through you, and it's only
reserved for the prayerful and despite the intimidations or the
persuasions, ready to confront you.
Jesus shows us he showed it to his apostles who would no great
suffering after his departure and his ascension into heaven.
Seek him. Wait on him and trust that with
all his resources He will find a way to strengthen you for any
temptation. Is this the only time an Angel
came and ministered unto the Lord Jesus?
No, you remember in Matthew or he was tempted by the devil.
And at the end of that account Matthew tells us that there were
dispatched angels ministering to the Lord Jesus.
He is faithful. So Christ here in this holy
moment, he shows us that we must pray.
Run to him with your sorrow, that you must pray if you're
going to overcome any temptation, and you must pray if
you're going to receive grace to do his will, Jesus, his agony,
his glory in the garden. The Bible is a masterpiece for
different reasons, including how it all connects.
We read early in Romans 5 the contrast between the first Adam
and the last Adam, and that theme continues even here in
this gospel account, because the first Adam was in a garden, but
he rebelled. The second and last Adam was
also in a garden, but he submitted.
The first Adam was in a garden and he did not care for the will
of God, He cared for his will to be done.
But now you have the last Adam who says not my will, but yours
be done. You have the first Adam who
through disobedience brought in sin into the world.
Now you have Jesus, the last Adam in his obedience in a
garden bringing redemption and hope and salvation.
There's a lot of debate today about identity, right?
Identity politics. University classes about
identity. Classes of identity.
The Bible talks about identity, but it presents two classes and
only two. You're either in Adam or you're
in Christ. You're either a part of the the
race that is condemned or you're part of the race that is
redeemed. And what makes a difference is
you making the willful choice of who will be your representative.
You have a choice in how you are identified in this way.
And so every person has a choice to either remain under Adam and
to expect the consequences of his failure in the Garden of
Eden, or to shift your allegiance to a new
representative for humanity in the person of the Jesus Christ,
where he at a garden wins your obedience and wins eternal life.
And the way you transfer that is through repentance and faith.
Are your sins forgiven? Are you sitting here today with
a full assurance that if you stand before God, your record of
wrong will not be held against you?
Have you made a conscience decision to say Jesus Christ, I
receive what you've done on the cross for me.
If not believe, turn to him, receive him, repent.
He will receive you, He will forgive you, He will make you
new. Do not wait, do not delay, do
not harden your hearts. So I invite you, if you're not a
Christian here, if there's any response to this messages.
Did you get a did you get a taste of what this Jesus of
Nazareth went through for you? Has it moved you?
Has it convicted you? I pray to God that it does do
something to you. But for the believer, see what
pain, see what sorrow, see what difficulty Christ endured so
that you can rest. Are you moved by that, or has
the good news become old news to you?
Yeah, that happens a lot. I hope the name of Jesus has not
become tasteless to you. I pray that you savor it.
And Christ, knowing our forgetfulness, has instituted
something to help us remember, something that we can even taste
so that we can connect it to the goodness that is found in the
Savior. Let's prepare our hearts to
partake in the celebration, shall we?
Father, what we read, we believe actually happened, and we are
grateful that it happened. Thank you for the practical
truths. But Lord, we are more grateful
for the positional promise that these truths have won for us.
Lord, we today gladly admit that we can't be saved apart from
you. Every vile, filthy, despicable
thing has been plunged beneath the blood.
Move our hearts to worship You. For that we honor you, and today
we give you glory as we remember you.
In Jesus name, Amen.