1 00:00:05,033 --> 00:00:11,276 Yesterday in my session, we were in Mark's gospel, chapter 14. 2 00:00:11,277 --> 00:00:15,197 We're going to look at Luke's account this evening, 3 00:00:15,198 --> 00:00:20,749 of our Lord in Gethsemane; Jesus in Gethsemane. 4 00:00:20,750 --> 00:00:32,798 Luke 22:39-46, follow with me: 5 00:00:32,799 --> 00:00:42,016 "And He came out and went - notice this - as was His custom, to the Mount of Olives, 6 00:00:42,017 --> 00:00:49,005 and the disciples followed Him." I like that phrase too. 7 00:00:49,006 --> 00:00:54,206 Are you a disciple of Jesus? Then just follow Him, 8 00:00:54,207 --> 00:00:59,089 just follow Him all the days of your life, follow the lamb whithersoever He goeth. 9 00:00:59,090 --> 00:01:02,074 They just followed. They got this right. 10 00:01:02,075 --> 00:01:04,361 "The disciples followed Him. 11 00:01:04,361 --> 00:01:09,560 And when He came to the place (Luke calls it "the place"), 12 00:01:09,561 --> 00:01:17,917 He said to them, 'Pray that you may not enter into temptation.' " 13 00:01:17,918 --> 00:01:24,088 Now let me just comment briefly because I'm not going to preach on this aspect, 14 00:01:24,089 --> 00:01:31,997 but this is important: Jesus was not only praying for Himself in Gethsemane, 15 00:01:31,998 --> 00:01:37,937 He told the disciples several times, "Pray that you not enter into temptation." 16 00:01:37,937 --> 00:01:42,119 And He taught them over these three years, "Pray in this way: 17 00:01:42,119 --> 00:01:47,890 Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy Name. Pray." 18 00:01:47,890 --> 00:01:51,585 So He's not only praying for Himself, 19 00:01:51,585 --> 00:01:57,254 He is modeling and teaching them, setting before their eyes, 20 00:01:57,254 --> 00:02:03,429 what it means to endure in prayer in the most difficult time. (P) 21 00:02:03,430 --> 00:02:06,766 This had to ring loud and clear in their hearts 22 00:02:06,766 --> 00:02:14,947 because He's fixed in to be wrought upon by Roman soldiers. 23 00:02:14,948 --> 00:02:18,149 He calls it the hour of darkness. 24 00:02:18,149 --> 00:02:21,459 The disciples flee (they're going to be restored), 25 00:02:21,459 --> 00:02:29,849 but would not later our Lord saying to them, "Pray that you not enter into temptation," 26 00:02:29,849 --> 00:02:35,148 would this not have rung in their consciences and in their ears? 27 00:02:35,148 --> 00:02:39,934 "Pray," He says in verse 40, "that you may not enter into temptation. 28 00:02:39,934 --> 00:02:49,963 And He withdrew from them about a stone's throw, 29 00:02:49,963 --> 00:03:00,669 and knelt down and prayed, saying, 'Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me. 30 00:03:00,669 --> 00:03:07,543 Nevertheless, not My will, but Yours, be done.' 31 00:03:07,543 --> 00:03:13,725 And there appeared to Him an angel from heaven, strengthening Him. 32 00:03:13,725 --> 00:03:17,587 And being in an agony He prayed more earnestly; 33 00:03:17,587 --> 00:03:24,407 and His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground. 34 00:03:24,407 --> 00:03:31,174 And when He rose from prayer, He came to the disciples and found them sleeping for sorrow. 35 00:03:31,174 --> 00:03:34,041 And He said to them, 'Why are you sleeping? 36 00:03:34,042 --> 00:03:44,580 Rise and pray that you may not enter into temptation.' " (P) 37 00:03:47,918 --> 00:03:55,251 Yesterday we saw Jesus the Broken Man in Mark 14. 38 00:03:55,252 --> 00:04:04,384 Here in Luke, we see Jesus the Praying Victorious Man. 39 00:04:04,385 --> 00:04:12,629 Some anonymous hymn writer or poet wrote these words: 40 00:04:12,629 --> 00:04:19,587 "When God wants to drill a man, and thrill a man, and skill a man; 41 00:04:19,587 --> 00:04:24,741 when God wants to mold a man to play the noblest part; 42 00:04:24,741 --> 00:04:30,506 when He yearns with all His Heart to create so great and bold a man 43 00:04:30,506 --> 00:04:37,100 that all the world should be amazed, watch His methods, watch His ways! 44 00:04:37,100 --> 00:04:44,016 How He ruthlessly perfects whom He royally elects! 45 00:04:44,016 --> 00:04:50,662 How He hammers him and hurts him, and with mighty blows converts him 46 00:04:50,662 --> 00:04:56,089 into trial shapes of clay which only God understands; 47 00:04:56,089 --> 00:05:02,874 while his tortured heart is crying and he lifts beseeching hands! 48 00:05:02,874 --> 00:05:08,019 How he bends but never breaks when his good He undertakes; 49 00:05:08,019 --> 00:05:14,530 How He uses whom He chooses, and with every purpose fuses him; 50 00:05:14,530 --> 00:05:20,449 By every act induces him to try His splendor out -- 51 00:05:20,449 --> 00:05:26,160 God knows what He's about!" (P) 52 00:05:26,160 --> 00:05:34,565 The Father knew, in His servant the man Christ Jesus, what He was about. 53 00:05:34,565 --> 00:05:42,336 The Father knows what He's doing in guiding the man Jesus as He did, His whole earthly life. 54 00:05:42,336 --> 00:05:48,874 The Holy Spirit, three years earlier, poured out upon Him in the Jordan river mightily. 55 00:05:48,874 --> 00:05:51,165 And then the Bible says the Spirit led Him, 56 00:05:51,165 --> 00:05:56,326 drove Him into the wilderness for forty days, to be tempted by the devil. 57 00:05:56,327 --> 00:06:02,108 The Spirit was always leading Him, showing Him, teaching Him, impressing Him. 58 00:06:02,108 --> 00:06:12,585 And here, the Father's purpose is unfolding as He brings Jesus through Gethsemane. 59 00:06:12,585 --> 00:06:15,520 He knows what He's about. 60 00:06:15,520 --> 00:06:26,330 He has to go through Gethsemane, both physically and spiritually, to get to the cross. (P) 61 00:06:26,330 --> 00:06:31,525 Luke's gospel really has been called The Gospel of Prayer, 62 00:06:31,525 --> 00:06:38,333 because Luke traces Jesus' prayer life more than any other. 63 00:06:38,333 --> 00:06:44,392 Luke traces Jesus' teaching on prayer more than any other. 64 00:06:44,392 --> 00:06:51,815 For instance, Jesse took us this morning, at the end of his message, to Luke 11 & 18. 65 00:06:51,815 --> 00:06:57,882 Only Luke gives those parables on prayer, the Lord's teaching on prayer. 66 00:06:57,882 --> 00:07:06,160 Only Luke records that the disciples asked the Lord, "Teach us to pray." 67 00:07:06,161 --> 00:07:10,984 And so it's about Jesus praying. 68 00:07:10,984 --> 00:07:17,332 Primarily, this Gethsemane experience, the gospel writers are showing us 69 00:07:17,332 --> 00:07:26,655 Jesus having to pray, His being driven through this difficulty to prayer. (P) 70 00:07:26,655 --> 00:07:28,879 Now what is He praying about? 71 00:07:28,879 --> 00:07:34,276 Well, Jesus calls it the hour – "Let this hour pass..." 72 00:07:34,276 --> 00:07:42,505 He calls it what else? A cup – "If it's possible, let this cup pass from Me." 73 00:07:42,505 --> 00:07:47,965 The cup. Several times you read the gospels, particularly John, 74 00:07:47,965 --> 00:07:53,487 Jesus at different times says, "Mine hour is not yet come." 75 00:07:53,487 --> 00:08:00,869 But then finally He comes to the place, He says, "Father, the hour is here; My hour is here." 76 00:08:00,869 --> 00:08:07,201 And here, He is coming to Gethsemane, and He's dreading the hour, He wants it to pass. 77 00:08:07,201 --> 00:08:11,902 And He addresses this cup. The cup. (P) 78 00:08:11,903 --> 00:08:18,132 So, first, we must see, we're going to see His cup, 79 00:08:18,132 --> 00:08:27,061 His praying, His resignation, His victory, His Help that comes. 80 00:08:27,062 --> 00:08:31,021 But let's begin by seeing His cup. 81 00:08:31,021 --> 00:08:37,236 Verse 42 in our text, He begins to pray about this, 82 00:08:37,236 --> 00:08:46,568 and He says, "Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me. 83 00:08:46,568 --> 00:08:54,236 Let it pass. Let this cup pass." Now what's the cup about? 84 00:08:54,236 --> 00:09:00,896 Well, the cup is a symbolic term in both the Old and New Testaments 85 00:09:00,896 --> 00:09:10,066 about full identification with something, about deeply experiencing something, 86 00:09:10,066 --> 00:09:15,704 where you partake of it, and it becomes part of you. 87 00:09:15,704 --> 00:09:22,878 And the cup is not always used in an unfavorable way, it's used in a favorable way. 88 00:09:22,878 --> 00:09:31,776 For instance, Psalm 16:5, the psalmist says: "The LORD is my portion and my cup." 89 00:09:31,776 --> 00:09:36,378 Psalm 23, the psalmist says: 90 00:09:36,378 --> 00:09:40,763 "Thou anointest my head with oil; my cup overflows." 91 00:09:40,763 --> 00:09:44,321 Psalm 116:12, David says: 92 00:09:44,321 --> 00:09:49,881 "What can I render to the LORD for all His benefits to me? 93 00:09:49,881 --> 00:09:57,180 I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the LORD." 94 00:09:57,181 --> 00:10:05,852 Jeremiah speaks of the cup of consolation, comfort (Jeremiah 16:7). (P) 95 00:10:05,853 --> 00:10:09,816 So it's used in a positive way. 96 00:10:09,816 --> 00:10:13,604 It's used in a positive way in the New Testament, which we'll refer to in a moment. 97 00:10:13,604 --> 00:10:22,707 But the contrary is true: it's just as much, and perhaps, more used in an unfavorable negative way, 98 00:10:22,707 --> 00:10:30,239 symbolizing what? Divine judgment; God's wrath; God's displeasure. 99 00:10:30,239 --> 00:10:33,486 For instance, Psalm 75:8 says, 100 00:10:33,486 --> 00:10:38,058 "For in the hand of the LORD there is a cup with foaming wine, 101 00:10:38,058 --> 00:10:41,817 well mixed, and He pours out from it, 102 00:10:41,817 --> 00:10:46,860 and all the wicked of the earth shall drink it down to the dregs." 103 00:10:46,861 --> 00:10:49,423 That means every drop. 104 00:10:49,423 --> 00:10:53,816 They're going to drink down of the cup of God's wrath. 105 00:10:53,816 --> 00:11:00,207 Isaiah, in chapter 51, cries out, "Wake yourself, wake yourself, 106 00:11:00,208 --> 00:11:03,919 you who have drunk from the the LORD the cup of His wrath, 107 00:11:03,919 --> 00:11:07,736 the cup of staggering" (Isaiah 51:17). 108 00:11:07,736 --> 00:11:12,228 Ezekiel prophesies, "The LORD says to Jerusalem, 109 00:11:12,228 --> 00:11:15,978 'The nakedness of your whoredom shall be uncovered, 110 00:11:15,978 --> 00:11:18,879 and you will drink your sister's cup (that was Samaria); 111 00:11:18,879 --> 00:11:24,746 you'll drink your sister's cup, for it contains much, a horror and desolation; 112 00:11:24,746 --> 00:11:28,759 you will drink it down fully the cup of the LORD' " (Ezekiel 16). 113 00:11:28,759 --> 00:11:38,434 Habakkuk warns Israel that the vicious Chaldeans will cause Israel to drink a cup; 114 00:11:38,434 --> 00:11:44,568 and he says, "You will have your fill of shame instead of glory. 115 00:11:44,568 --> 00:11:49,232 Drink, yourself! The cup in the LORD's right hand will come around to you, 116 00:11:49,233 --> 00:11:52,135 and utter shame will come upon you!" (Habakkuk 2:16). (P) 117 00:11:52,135 --> 00:11:57,787 The cup in the New Testament symbolizes, really, three realities. 118 00:11:57,787 --> 00:12:00,435 Number one, grace and salvation. 119 00:12:00,435 --> 00:12:07,762 Number two, suffering - the suffering of the saints and the suffering of Jesus Christ. 120 00:12:07,762 --> 00:12:11,118 And three, the cup of divine wrath. 121 00:12:11,119 --> 00:12:13,248 Now think about these realities. 122 00:12:13,249 --> 00:12:19,351 Remember 1 Corinthians 15, Paul, by revelation (he wasn't there when the Lord Jesus did it), 123 00:12:19,351 --> 00:12:26,890 but by revelation he says, "It was revealed to me from the Lord, 124 00:12:26,890 --> 00:12:31,063 that the Lord Jesus on that night that He was betrayed, 125 00:12:31,063 --> 00:12:37,322 took bread, and when He had given thanks He broke it and said, 'This is My body.' 126 00:12:37,322 --> 00:12:41,395 In the same way, He took the what? the cup." 127 00:12:41,395 --> 00:12:51,234 And only Paul says this of Jesus' words: "This cup is the new covenant in My blood. 128 00:12:51,234 --> 00:12:55,897 This cup, you are to drink. Now all drink from it, drink all of it. 129 00:12:55,896 --> 00:13:00,626 This cup is the new covenant in My blood." 130 00:13:00,627 --> 00:13:04,620 So the cup in the New Testament does represent grace, 131 00:13:04,620 --> 00:13:09,897 salvation, forgiveness, participation in the New Covenant, 132 00:13:09,897 --> 00:13:12,478 union and communion with Jesus Christ. 133 00:13:12,479 --> 00:13:19,439 The cup of blessing, Paul says, is this not communion of Christ? (P) 134 00:13:19,439 --> 00:13:23,122 But another meaning Jesus puts on it is, 135 00:13:23,122 --> 00:13:26,273 when He talks about the believer's suffering He calls it a cup. 136 00:13:26,272 --> 00:13:33,181 For instance, in Matthew 20, remember sweet mother of James and John, the sons of thunder? 137 00:13:33,182 --> 00:13:38,513 She has the audacity and the courage and the importunity 138 00:13:38,513 --> 00:13:44,342 to go to Jesus and ask what? She wants to go lobby for something: 139 00:13:44,342 --> 00:13:47,924 "Lord, I just have a little request. 140 00:13:47,924 --> 00:13:54,566 Could my two sons sit on Your right hand and on Your left in Your kingdom?" 141 00:13:54,566 --> 00:14:00,004 How did Jesus reply to that? what did He say? 142 00:14:00,005 --> 00:14:04,637 Those guys were standing there (the sons), 143 00:14:04,637 --> 00:14:09,034 because He turns to them, and you remember what He says to them? 144 00:14:09,034 --> 00:14:15,027 Are you able to drink the cup that I'm going to drink? 145 00:14:15,027 --> 00:14:21,512 And what did they say? "Lord, we are able." 146 00:14:21,513 --> 00:14:26,784 And what did Jesus say back to them? "You will drink this cup"-- 147 00:14:26,783 --> 00:14:33,830 speaking of their coming suffering and martyrdom. (P) 148 00:14:33,830 --> 00:14:38,569 Well, Jesus takes the symbol of the cup, 149 00:14:38,569 --> 00:14:43,055 and He uses it to refer, here in the garden, 150 00:14:43,055 --> 00:14:47,551 to, specifically, His unique passion and suffering and death. 151 00:14:47,551 --> 00:14:54,092 The cup of all cups, ultimately in its fullest meaning, is Christ's alone. 152 00:14:54,092 --> 00:14:58,647 This is His cup. No one has ever drunk from this cup. 153 00:14:58,647 --> 00:15:04,059 No one will ever drink the cup that Jesus Christ had to drink. 154 00:15:04,059 --> 00:15:13,206 Matthew 26, He says, "My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me." 155 00:15:13,206 --> 00:15:22,607 Luke 22, "Father, if You're willing, please remove this cup from Me." 156 00:15:22,607 --> 00:15:29,369 So the cup here is about that which is in the cup: 157 00:15:29,369 --> 00:15:39,337 full participation, full experience, of the contents of the cup 158 00:15:39,337 --> 00:15:46,623 that the Father was going to have Him drink, immediately in these hours right before Him. 159 00:15:46,623 --> 00:15:50,815 For us, the cup is grace and salvation; 160 00:15:50,815 --> 00:16:01,463 but for Him, it's extreme suffering and death and agony. 161 00:16:01,463 --> 00:16:04,216 His cup. 162 00:16:04,216 --> 00:16:10,540 Have you praised Him lately for drinking the cup for you? 163 00:16:10,541 --> 00:16:13,992 for taking the cup for you? 164 00:16:13,993 --> 00:16:17,619 Sometimes we say, "Lord Jesus, thank You for dying for me." 165 00:16:17,620 --> 00:16:21,353 And we should. Brethren, this cup started in Gethsemane. 166 00:16:21,354 --> 00:16:25,468 Have you ever praised Him for being there for you and doing that for you, 167 00:16:25,468 --> 00:16:32,208 taking your cup, so you would never have to drink this cup? (P) 168 00:16:32,208 --> 00:16:40,295 And then we see, here in this account, not only His cup, but His praying. 169 00:16:40,295 --> 00:16:44,996 Matthew, Mark, and Luke, all highlight His praying in the garden. 170 00:16:44,996 --> 00:16:49,135 Matthew records, unlike Mark and Luke, 171 00:16:49,135 --> 00:16:54,169 that there were three private seasons of prayer that Jesus had in the garden. 172 00:16:54,169 --> 00:16:58,037 The twelve come in with Him to the garden; 173 00:16:58,037 --> 00:17:01,550 Jesus calls further in, the three; 174 00:17:01,550 --> 00:17:05,578 and then He withdraws from them, and He goes on, and He's alone. 175 00:17:05,579 --> 00:17:10,654 He says, "Sit here while I go pray." 176 00:17:10,654 --> 00:17:15,521 And Matthew alone says He had three real seasons of prayer. 177 00:17:15,521 --> 00:17:17,142 We don't know how long they lasted. 178 00:17:17,143 --> 00:17:19,893 He goes and prays, He comes back to them; 179 00:17:19,893 --> 00:17:21,803 He goes and prays, He comes back; 180 00:17:21,804 --> 00:17:24,857 He goes a third time and He prays. 181 00:17:24,857 --> 00:17:29,999 Now Luke's account, the reason I wanted us to read tonight and see Luke's account, 182 00:17:29,999 --> 00:17:33,017 is because Luke adds two things: 183 00:17:33,017 --> 00:17:38,664 one, that He prayed in agony - in agony He's praying. 184 00:17:38,664 --> 00:17:45,091 And Luke records: "an angel comes." 185 00:17:45,091 --> 00:17:53,726 You remember another time angels came for Him? When? 186 00:17:53,726 --> 00:17:57,156 Three years earlier - forty days in the wilderness. 187 00:17:57,156 --> 00:18:03,632 He's weak, He's hungry; angels come. 188 00:18:03,632 --> 00:18:06,533 There may have been other times, we don't know, 189 00:18:06,533 --> 00:18:12,231 but Luke alone tells us an angel comes. More on that later. (P) 190 00:18:12,231 --> 00:18:17,863 His praying truly is in view here. 191 00:18:17,863 --> 00:18:24,471 All His earthly ministry sprang out of prayer, was the fruit of prayer. 192 00:18:24,470 --> 00:18:27,845 Private prayer was central. 193 00:18:27,846 --> 00:18:30,092 And Luke is the gospel of prayer. 194 00:18:30,093 --> 00:18:34,016 Luke alone says that when Jesus was baptized: 195 00:18:34,016 --> 00:18:43,317 "When He was baptized and He was praying, heaven was opened, 196 00:18:43,317 --> 00:18:46,726 and the Holy Spirit was poured out upon Him." 197 00:18:46,726 --> 00:18:54,026 Luke 6:12 says, "Then He went out into a mountain to pray, 198 00:18:54,026 --> 00:18:57,718 and continued all night in prayer to God." 199 00:18:57,718 --> 00:19:02,401 Have you ever been to an all-night prayer meeting in any sense of an all-night prayer meeting? 200 00:19:02,401 --> 00:19:06,732 It's quite an experience. 201 00:19:06,732 --> 00:19:08,647 "He went out and continued all night in prayer." 202 00:19:08,647 --> 00:19:11,501 You remember what He did the next day? 203 00:19:11,501 --> 00:19:14,020 He officially chose the twelve apostles. 204 00:19:14,020 --> 00:19:17,472 Why did He pray all night? He wanted to get it right. 205 00:19:17,472 --> 00:19:19,824 He wanted to hear from His Father. 206 00:19:19,824 --> 00:19:21,722 He could have been praying a long time: 207 00:19:21,722 --> 00:19:24,454 He might have been praying through a list of forty people, 208 00:19:24,454 --> 00:19:27,242 we don't know, that's conjecture. 209 00:19:27,243 --> 00:19:32,763 It's not coincidental that He spent the whole night in prayer 210 00:19:32,763 --> 00:19:41,780 to choose the twelve that the Father showed Him to choose. (P) 211 00:19:41,780 --> 00:19:47,433 Luke 9:18 says that He did the same thing, 212 00:19:47,433 --> 00:19:49,680 you don't have to turn there, I'll go back to it. 213 00:19:49,680 --> 00:19:55,185 Luke 9:18 says this: 214 00:19:55,185 --> 00:20:01,564 "Now it happened that as He was praying alone, the disciples were with Him." 215 00:20:01,564 --> 00:20:05,968 Now that sounds like a contradiction - He's praying alone, the disciples were with Him. 216 00:20:05,968 --> 00:20:10,639 They're out here somewhere, they're with Him, but He's alone. 217 00:20:10,639 --> 00:20:17,844 And when He had finished praying, "He asked them, 'Who do the crowds say that I am?' " 218 00:20:17,844 --> 00:20:21,930 He's praying. 219 00:20:21,930 --> 00:20:30,133 Luke 11:1, "When He had finished praying, the disciples come, 'Lord, teach us to pray.' " 220 00:20:30,133 --> 00:20:37,004 Luke says that when Jesus took the three on the mount of transfiguration, 221 00:20:37,004 --> 00:20:40,020 they went there for the purpose of prayer. 222 00:20:40,020 --> 00:20:41,641 He went there to pray. 223 00:20:41,641 --> 00:20:45,962 Matthew doesn't say that, Mark doesn't say that. 224 00:20:45,962 --> 00:20:52,575 But here in Gethsemane, it's such prayer that especially stands out. (P) 225 00:20:52,575 --> 00:20:55,534 I want you to turn to Hebrews 5:7 and look at that, 226 00:20:55,534 --> 00:21:00,270 because Hebrews 5:7 sums it up. 227 00:21:00,270 --> 00:21:07,855 And some think it particularly is especially referring to the garden; 228 00:21:07,855 --> 00:21:16,526 others think it includes that, but it's more of a bigger picture of the years of His earthly ministry, 229 00:21:16,527 --> 00:21:17,735 we don't know for sure. 230 00:21:17,735 --> 00:21:22,328 What we do know is what Hebrews 5:7 says is true. 231 00:21:22,328 --> 00:21:29,688 Look what it says: "In the days of His flesh, 232 00:21:29,688 --> 00:21:36,908 He offered up prayers (plural) and supplications (plural)." 233 00:21:36,908 --> 00:21:38,682 So, what did He do? 234 00:21:38,682 --> 00:21:45,467 The man Jesus, all His earthly life and ministry, 235 00:21:45,467 --> 00:21:48,520 He's praying to His Father; He's making supplication; 236 00:21:48,520 --> 00:21:51,041 He's crying out of a pure heart; 237 00:21:51,041 --> 00:21:52,969 He's turning His Heart and His thoughts, 238 00:21:52,969 --> 00:22:00,197 He's uttering His voice and His cries to His Father who is always hearing Him, always pleased with Him. 239 00:22:00,197 --> 00:22:02,225 Always maintaining communion. 240 00:22:02,225 --> 00:22:08,588 The Holy Spirit taught the boy, and the young man, and the man Jesus, how to pray. 241 00:22:08,588 --> 00:22:12,798 He increased in wisdom and stature and favor with God and man. 242 00:22:12,798 --> 00:22:19,774 So what is He doing? Jesus is offering up prayers, supplications. 243 00:22:19,774 --> 00:22:30,876 How? It tells us, "with loud cries (plural) and tears (plural)." 244 00:22:30,876 --> 00:22:38,120 Let me ask you a question: have you ever prayed with tears? 245 00:22:38,120 --> 00:22:43,006 have you ever heard anyone pray with loud cries? 246 00:22:43,006 --> 00:22:47,611 It's scary. You want to think, is that demonic? 247 00:22:47,611 --> 00:22:54,501 Is the person mentally unstable? What's going on? 248 00:22:54,501 --> 00:23:02,224 This person is either off and in the flesh, or they're in tune with God. (P) 249 00:23:02,224 --> 00:23:06,974 I was in Romania one time with a group of men. 250 00:23:06,974 --> 00:23:08,833 We were there about ten days. 251 00:23:08,833 --> 00:23:18,196 One evening, after dinner, we were going to have a little prayer meeting in one of our rooms. 252 00:23:18,196 --> 00:23:21,228 We were gonna pray for about 15 minutes. 253 00:23:21,228 --> 00:23:29,599 We started praying, and one of the men started groaning. 254 00:23:29,599 --> 00:23:32,710 He couldn't say anything but groan. 255 00:23:32,710 --> 00:23:41,799 And then in trembling, he started saying, "Father, O Father, O God." 256 00:23:41,799 --> 00:23:50,419 And he went on like that for 5 minutes, and the Spirit of God filled that room, 257 00:23:50,419 --> 00:23:57,040 and there were loud, deep cries and intercession. 258 00:23:57,040 --> 00:23:59,882 And it seemed like a brief time. 259 00:23:59,882 --> 00:24:06,085 And when we finished, we realized two hours had passed. 260 00:24:06,085 --> 00:24:12,340 This is what was experienced by our Lord Jesus Christ. 261 00:24:12,340 --> 00:24:17,715 Can you imagine hearing Him pray with loud cries? 262 00:24:17,715 --> 00:24:22,546 What did He say? Did the disciples hear Him, we don't know. 263 00:24:22,546 --> 00:24:27,202 They had to have heard Him in the times that He prayed this way 264 00:24:27,202 --> 00:24:30,006 if they were a little ways at a distance. 265 00:24:30,006 --> 00:24:33,015 A holy hush would have fallen over them. 266 00:24:33,015 --> 00:24:36,431 They would have felt uncomfortable; perhaps, some of them embarrassed. 267 00:24:36,431 --> 00:24:39,407 They knew nothing of this ground, this holy ground, 268 00:24:39,407 --> 00:24:44,622 wherein their Savior was praying like no man had ever prayed. 269 00:24:44,622 --> 00:24:49,551 Earnest prayer. Zealous prayers. 270 00:24:49,551 --> 00:24:55,710 Transparent praying. Desperate, dependent praying. (P) 271 00:24:55,710 --> 00:24:59,607 He prayed in the days of His flesh, Hebrews says, 272 00:24:59,607 --> 00:25:07,124 with loud cryings and tears, to who? - not to Himself - 273 00:25:07,124 --> 00:25:11,281 to Him who was able, the text says; 274 00:25:11,281 --> 00:25:16,450 to His Father who is in heaven; our Father who art in heaven. 275 00:25:16,451 --> 00:25:20,943 Jesus never said "Dear God." 276 00:25:20,943 --> 00:25:23,231 He never said "Lord." 277 00:25:23,231 --> 00:25:26,845 He might have referred, quoting scripture, 278 00:25:26,845 --> 00:25:33,877 but we don't know always, perfectly, how He addressed the Father in prayer 279 00:25:33,877 --> 00:25:35,736 because not all of His prayers are recorded. 280 00:25:35,736 --> 00:25:38,348 But we do know His recorded prayers in the gospels, 281 00:25:38,348 --> 00:25:44,916 isn't He always saying "Father, Father, I know that You always hear Me. 282 00:25:44,916 --> 00:25:48,971 Father. Holy Father." 283 00:25:48,971 --> 00:25:55,666 He prayed unto Him who was able to keep Him through death, 284 00:25:55,666 --> 00:25:57,418 through this hour of darkness, 285 00:25:57,418 --> 00:26:02,123 through this hour of trial, all the way through. 286 00:26:02,123 --> 00:26:06,261 Hebrews 12:1 says, "Who for the joy that was set before Him 287 00:26:06,261 --> 00:26:12,267 endured the cross, despising the shame." 288 00:26:12,267 --> 00:26:15,467 And it was His cries to the Father, 289 00:26:15,467 --> 00:26:21,395 and it was the sustaining aid of the Holy Spirit upon Him, 290 00:26:21,395 --> 00:26:28,971 that enabled Him to cry effectually; and it preserved Him. 291 00:26:28,971 --> 00:26:36,854 And the result was, Hebrews 5:7 says, "And He was heard 292 00:26:36,854 --> 00:26:47,324 because of His godly fear - His reverence, His piety - His godly fear." (P) 293 00:26:47,324 --> 00:26:51,752 His Gethsemane praying was different. 294 00:26:51,752 --> 00:26:57,462 He's driven to this, into desperate agonizing cries in prayer. 295 00:26:57,462 --> 00:27:08,065 And even what we read here, He's just addressing His Father. 296 00:27:08,065 --> 00:27:14,482 And isn't it interesting that by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, 297 00:27:14,482 --> 00:27:20,538 God makes sure the disciples pen His very prayers. 298 00:27:20,538 --> 00:27:23,393 It's like the Lord Jesus saying, "Matthew, Mark, Luke, 299 00:27:23,393 --> 00:27:29,350 make sure you express what I was really feeling and what I said there." 300 00:27:29,350 --> 00:27:37,090 They record His prayers, and it was just simple, desperate, childlike praying. 301 00:27:37,090 --> 00:27:42,449 He didn't get fancy. 302 00:27:42,449 --> 00:27:46,912 Sometimes the most powerful prayers is a cry, it's a groan. 303 00:27:46,912 --> 00:27:53,963 The Spirit of God takes our groanings and makes intercession, 304 00:27:53,963 --> 00:27:57,420 and prays for us according to the will of God. 305 00:27:57,420 --> 00:27:58,979 We don't know how to pray; 306 00:27:58,979 --> 00:28:05,853 sometimes all we can do is just groan and say, "Father." (P) 307 00:28:05,853 --> 00:28:08,630 Two years ago when I was here on Sunday night, 308 00:28:08,630 --> 00:28:16,076 after the conference I got very very sick for six hours. 309 00:28:16,076 --> 00:28:24,008 And I was so sick all I could do was lay down, and I was hurting so bad. 310 00:28:24,008 --> 00:28:26,846 And I remember the main thing, 311 00:28:26,846 --> 00:28:34,853 in my agony, in my pain, I just said, "O God, help. Jesus help me." 312 00:28:34,854 --> 00:28:38,576 That was all I could muster. 313 00:28:38,576 --> 00:28:41,890 That's all we have to muster, beloved. 314 00:28:41,890 --> 00:28:46,711 Remember Peter? "Peter," Jesus says, "come to Me on the water." 315 00:28:46,711 --> 00:28:49,511 Peter goes, and it says he begins to sink. 316 00:28:49,512 --> 00:28:54,124 Peter didn't pray "O God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. 317 00:28:54,125 --> 00:28:58,054 O Thou that madest the heavens, the earth, and the seas. 318 00:28:58,055 --> 00:29:03,836 You know all things Lord, and You being omniscient and omnipotent and omnipresent, 319 00:29:03,837 --> 00:29:10,560 You can see that I'm sinking here." 320 00:29:10,560 --> 00:29:16,166 He just cried out, "Help! Lord, help me, I'm sinking." 321 00:29:16,166 --> 00:29:19,971 And Jesus reached out His hand and raised him up. 322 00:29:19,971 --> 00:29:21,652 What a picture that would have been. 323 00:29:21,652 --> 00:29:28,165 What power! The man Jesus, think of it, pulls a big fisherman, 324 00:29:28,165 --> 00:29:33,015 grabs his hand and pulls him up out of the water into the boat. 325 00:29:33,015 --> 00:29:36,958 Peter just cried in his desperation. (P) 326 00:29:36,959 --> 00:29:40,821 Jesus was praying real and desperate prayers. 327 00:29:40,821 --> 00:29:43,316 What did He pray here? 328 00:29:43,316 --> 00:29:46,708 You combine Matthew, Mark, and Luke, His prayers that are recorded, 329 00:29:46,708 --> 00:29:52,263 He says, "Father, if You're willing, remove this cup from Me." 330 00:29:52,263 --> 00:29:53,891 Now that's real, honest praying. 331 00:29:53,891 --> 00:29:57,378 Did our Lord Jesus Christ not know all along? 332 00:29:57,378 --> 00:30:03,778 From the time He was 12, He was receiving this messianic consciousness 333 00:30:03,778 --> 00:30:08,141 that He had a Father about whose business He was to be about. 334 00:30:08,141 --> 00:30:11,292 "Must I not be about My Father's business?" 335 00:30:11,292 --> 00:30:15,405 This messianic consciousness is growing on Him, 336 00:30:15,405 --> 00:30:21,259 until when He's 30 - it's time, and He knows His calling. 337 00:30:21,259 --> 00:30:25,137 He knew He was called to die. 338 00:30:25,137 --> 00:30:27,462 He knew He was called to be the Lamb. 339 00:30:27,462 --> 00:30:32,267 He knew, and He told the disciples throughout those three years: 340 00:30:32,267 --> 00:30:36,144 "The Son of Man will be betrayed. He must go to Jerusalem, 341 00:30:36,144 --> 00:30:40,998 and be betrayed by their scribes and elders, 342 00:30:40,998 --> 00:30:46,967 to be tried and beaten and crucified. 343 00:30:46,967 --> 00:30:48,499 And on the third day He'll rise." 344 00:30:48,499 --> 00:30:53,523 He knew, but here He's facing it. 345 00:30:53,523 --> 00:30:58,497 And in simplicity, and in single focus, 346 00:30:58,497 --> 00:31:03,068 you know, one of the keys of praying if you're around others, 347 00:31:03,068 --> 00:31:08,907 when you pray forget everybody around you - you have an audience of one. 348 00:31:08,907 --> 00:31:10,186 Just pray to your Father. 349 00:31:10,186 --> 00:31:12,553 Jesus said, "Just pray to your Father who is in secret; 350 00:31:12,553 --> 00:31:16,096 and your Father who is in secret will reward you openly." (P) 351 00:31:16,096 --> 00:31:23,326 Jesus simply cried out, "Father, if You're willing, remove this cup from Me. 352 00:31:23,326 --> 00:31:26,704 Let this cup pass from Me." 353 00:31:26,704 --> 00:31:32,672 He prayed, "If it's possible, let this hour pass from Me." 354 00:31:32,683 --> 00:31:35,308 He prayed, "Abba, Father." 355 00:31:35,308 --> 00:31:40,025 And remember, that term "abba" in Romans 8 and here, 356 00:31:40,025 --> 00:31:53,355 is used not in the context of great, flippant, happy, joyful, cheap talk and cheap intimacy; 357 00:31:53,355 --> 00:31:56,625 it's in the context of suffering. 358 00:31:56,625 --> 00:32:01,479 He prayed, "Abba, Father, all things are possible with Thee. 359 00:32:01,479 --> 00:32:04,770 Remove this cup from Me." 360 00:32:04,770 --> 00:32:11,775 Isn't there mystery? The Son knew He had to drink the cup; 361 00:32:11,775 --> 00:32:19,019 it was the Father's absolute perfect will for the Son to drink the cup; 362 00:32:19,019 --> 00:32:24,032 and they had perfect harmony and union and love; 363 00:32:24,033 --> 00:32:31,199 and yet the Son in His humanity is saying, "Father, this cup, please remove it from Me. 364 00:32:31,199 --> 00:32:42,460 My Father, let this cup pass from Me; yet nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will. 365 00:32:42,460 --> 00:32:44,814 Not My will, but Yours, be done. 366 00:32:44,814 --> 00:32:53,328 My Father, if this cup cannot pass unless I drink it, Your will be done." 367 00:32:53,328 --> 00:32:59,824 And Matthew says He prayed the same words three times in earnest. 368 00:32:59,824 --> 00:33:05,666 He was doing what, they used to say, He was praying through -- 369 00:33:05,666 --> 00:33:10,226 meaning He was going to win this battle on His knees. 370 00:33:10,226 --> 00:33:12,952 He was going to gain this victory. 371 00:33:12,952 --> 00:33:18,520 He was going to embrace this cup, and part of that was being so honest in prayer 372 00:33:18,520 --> 00:33:22,965 about His battle and His struggle in His Heart, and what He really felt. 373 00:33:22,965 --> 00:33:28,149 He told the Father exactly what He felt and desired and wanted, 374 00:33:28,149 --> 00:33:32,073 and He didn't fear doing that, but then He resigned 375 00:33:32,073 --> 00:33:36,270 and He yielded to the Father's purpose. (P) 376 00:33:36,270 --> 00:33:42,588 It is hard sometimes to yield to the will of God when it's difficult, 377 00:33:42,588 --> 00:33:44,115 but our Savior had to do it. 378 00:33:44,115 --> 00:33:48,750 He's your model in this. He's our example. 379 00:33:48,750 --> 00:33:52,490 He was laboring in prayer for Himself. 380 00:33:52,490 --> 00:33:55,709 Gethsemane was the place for Jesus, 381 00:33:55,709 --> 00:34:02,236 where all that was earthly and human, now is out of reach. 382 00:34:02,236 --> 00:34:07,635 All that's human is completely useless and had broken down, 383 00:34:07,636 --> 00:34:11,882 and in a sense, it had turned to ashes. 384 00:34:11,884 --> 00:34:17,670 And hope didn't have one foothold to stand on. 385 00:34:17,670 --> 00:34:24,478 And in such an hour, there is a perishing of everything, 386 00:34:24,480 --> 00:34:31,190 unless the soul waits in desperate desperation on God alone. 387 00:34:31,192 --> 00:34:33,141 That's what Jesus is doing. 388 00:34:33,143 --> 00:34:38,286 The disciples can't help Him; the crowds can't help Him; 389 00:34:38,286 --> 00:34:40,679 no one can help Him but His Father. 390 00:34:40,679 --> 00:34:43,360 Psalm 62, the psalmist said twice, 391 00:34:43,362 --> 00:34:51,540 "For God alone my soul waits in silence." - this is Jesus. (P) 392 00:34:51,540 --> 00:34:59,227 Someone said, "When you're shipwrecked on God and stranded on omnipotence, 393 00:34:59,227 --> 00:35:08,421 it is so scary and so risky and so radical, but God is there. 394 00:35:08,421 --> 00:35:12,725 And then you don't need a man, you don't need human help, 395 00:35:12,725 --> 00:35:19,199 you're shut up to God." 396 00:35:19,199 --> 00:35:26,100 You know, our life is really shaped by who we cry out to, isn't it? 397 00:35:26,100 --> 00:35:36,384 Is it family, or friend, or pastor, or God, primarily, that you go to first when you're needy? 398 00:35:36,384 --> 00:35:47,630 If you cry out to people first, you're asking people to do what only God can do. (P) 399 00:35:47,630 --> 00:35:52,607 God has put His son alone in the garden, and only God can help Him. 400 00:35:52,607 --> 00:35:57,731 We must be weaned off of dependence on man. 401 00:35:57,731 --> 00:36:06,259 This has been a hard lesson for me. 402 00:36:06,259 --> 00:36:12,105 We must learn first to cry out to the One who will never turn a deaf ear to us. 403 00:36:12,105 --> 00:36:15,946 He will never turn a deaf ear to your cries, 404 00:36:15,946 --> 00:36:21,081 and He alone is the One who has the power and the willingness 405 00:36:21,081 --> 00:36:24,226 to meet your need in your darkest hour. 406 00:36:24,226 --> 00:36:34,004 Think of this, if men can only help us partially with limited resources and wisdom, 407 00:36:34,004 --> 00:36:42,792 and God can help us 24/7 completely with unlimited resources and love and wisdom, 408 00:36:42,792 --> 00:36:49,088 then why would we ever depend on man rather than God? 409 00:36:49,088 --> 00:36:51,894 You see, we have to be taught, 410 00:36:51,894 --> 00:36:58,331 and we have to be through the crucible and the experience, 411 00:36:58,331 --> 00:37:03,498 when no one can take your place, and no one can fully go through it with you. 412 00:37:03,498 --> 00:37:09,262 You know, if you have a major serious surgery, or you have serious cancer, 413 00:37:09,262 --> 00:37:12,019 your husband, your wife, they are there with you, 414 00:37:12,019 --> 00:37:16,089 they are loving you, they are supporting you; but listen, 415 00:37:16,089 --> 00:37:18,124 you're going through it alone still, 416 00:37:18,124 --> 00:37:23,084 because they ain't got it, you got it. 417 00:37:23,084 --> 00:37:31,262 No one knows the deep experience of a hard depression 418 00:37:31,262 --> 00:37:36,980 except the soul going through it or the one who has been through it. 419 00:37:36,980 --> 00:37:41,432 Jesus is going through it, and He's praying in the garden 420 00:37:41,432 --> 00:37:44,413 because He is shut up to His Father. (P) 421 00:37:44,413 --> 00:37:50,496 Well, let me hurry on. His cup. His praying. 422 00:37:50,496 --> 00:38:09,122 And then thirdly, this is amazing, look in Luke 22:43, what does it say? 423 00:38:09,122 --> 00:38:14,388 "And there appeared..." -- the idea is, suddenly he shows up. 424 00:38:14,388 --> 00:38:16,714 Who shows up? an angel. 425 00:38:16,714 --> 00:38:25,043 Stay with me now, "There appeared an angel from heaven, strengthening Him." 426 00:38:25,043 --> 00:38:29,170 His cup, His praying, His angelic help. 427 00:38:29,170 --> 00:38:32,968 Do you know angels have helped you and you don't even know it? 428 00:38:32,968 --> 00:38:36,612 "Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister 429 00:38:36,612 --> 00:38:39,164 for those who are the heirs of salvation?" 430 00:38:39,164 --> 00:38:43,058 Angels have helped you, and you didn't know it. 431 00:38:43,058 --> 00:38:45,059 You may know sometime when an angel has helped, 432 00:38:45,059 --> 00:38:49,101 but many times probably Christians have been helped by angels and they didn't know it. 433 00:38:49,102 --> 00:38:53,826 You don't need to know it -- you'd either get scared or you'd start worshiping the angel, 434 00:38:53,826 --> 00:38:56,571 so you don't need to know when an angel has helped you. (P) 435 00:38:56,571 --> 00:39:00,145 An angel, His angelic help comes. 436 00:39:00,145 --> 00:39:04,348 Jesus' prayers were answered by an angel. 437 00:39:04,348 --> 00:39:07,873 Now that's a blessed angel. 438 00:39:07,873 --> 00:39:14,097 The angels, before the creation of the world, were in existence. 439 00:39:14,097 --> 00:39:19,939 These creatures, heavenly creatures, created to worship around the throne, 440 00:39:19,939 --> 00:39:26,650 do Jehovah's bidding, sent on universal errands, 441 00:39:26,651 --> 00:39:28,397 doing whatever they're told to do. 442 00:39:28,397 --> 00:39:32,850 They are around the throne - the cherubims and the seraphims - 443 00:39:32,851 --> 00:39:36,654 six wings: with one they'll cover their eyes, 444 00:39:36,654 --> 00:39:39,753 with one they'll do this, with two they'll do that. 445 00:39:39,753 --> 00:39:44,257 Strange creatures, these angels, heavenly bidding they're doing. 446 00:39:44,256 --> 00:39:51,778 This one, the Father had to have said, "You go, go to Him. 447 00:39:51,779 --> 00:39:53,128 It's your assignment, go. 448 00:39:53,128 --> 00:39:56,578 You go help Him. You go minister to Him." 449 00:39:56,578 --> 00:40:02,097 That angel, what joy would have risen in his heart: "I get, I get to go?" 450 00:40:02,097 --> 00:40:04,446 He got to go. This angel goes. 451 00:40:04,446 --> 00:40:11,140 This fortunate messenger wings his way to earth, to Israel. 452 00:40:11,140 --> 00:40:19,461 He comes down. He doesn't need a GPS. 453 00:40:19,461 --> 00:40:23,588 He doesn't need to go to maps to find it, He knows where to go. 454 00:40:23,588 --> 00:40:28,518 Was he one of the ones in the wilderness that came? 455 00:40:28,518 --> 00:40:32,038 We don't know about this one, but we know this: he was a fortunate messenger. 456 00:40:32,038 --> 00:40:34,965 He was a blessed minister from heaven. 457 00:40:34,965 --> 00:40:38,680 This angel, think about it, this angel knew the Savior. 458 00:40:38,680 --> 00:40:41,741 The Savior had created him - 459 00:40:41,741 --> 00:40:45,925 because all things were created through Jesus Christ, right? 460 00:40:45,925 --> 00:40:49,456 He's the agent of creation, Colossians says, Hebrews 1 says. 461 00:40:49,456 --> 00:40:51,766 The angel had been made by Him. 462 00:40:51,766 --> 00:40:56,765 And now this creature, made by His Creator who is prostrate in the garden, 463 00:40:56,765 --> 00:41:03,271 he gets to go minister to Him. 464 00:41:05,461 --> 00:41:11,215 The angel had worshiped Christ the Son in eternity. 465 00:41:11,215 --> 00:41:16,671 He had adored Him. (P) 466 00:41:16,671 --> 00:41:21,066 The angel is sent, the Father says, "Go, go to your Lord." 467 00:41:21,066 --> 00:41:22,316 So the angel has come. 468 00:41:22,316 --> 00:41:25,314 He appears, he shows up, he approaches the Lord. 469 00:41:25,314 --> 00:41:30,690 I don't know if they land, but he shows up, he's there, he's on the ground. 470 00:41:30,690 --> 00:41:33,658 Was he visible? we don't know. 471 00:41:33,658 --> 00:41:37,050 Did he come in the form of a (whatever form an angel is in), 472 00:41:37,050 --> 00:41:40,067 did he come in the form of a man? we don't know. 473 00:41:40,067 --> 00:41:44,403 But he approaches the Lord Jesus, 474 00:41:44,403 --> 00:41:48,426 and his heart would have been in awe - angels feel too. 475 00:41:48,427 --> 00:41:55,394 He would have thought, "O the Lord of glory, lowly lying in tears, 476 00:41:55,393 --> 00:41:58,179 how can I help Him? what can I do for Him?" 477 00:41:58,179 --> 00:42:00,215 Was the angel trembling? 478 00:42:00,215 --> 00:42:04,537 Was he saying, "Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts"? 479 00:42:04,537 --> 00:42:07,646 We don't know what he was saying or thinking or feeling, 480 00:42:07,646 --> 00:42:10,085 but he does something. 481 00:42:10,085 --> 00:42:16,216 Luke says the angel came and ministered to Him, strengthened Him. 482 00:42:16,216 --> 00:42:20,207 How did he do that? Did he touch Him on the shoulder? 483 00:42:20,207 --> 00:42:25,666 Did he put his hand (if he had a hand), did he put his wing on His head? 484 00:42:25,667 --> 00:42:29,008 Did he sit down by Him? 485 00:42:29,008 --> 00:42:31,518 Did he touch Him, did he lift Him up, 486 00:42:31,518 --> 00:42:34,385 did he talk to Him, did he speak tenderly to Him? 487 00:42:34,385 --> 00:42:39,822 We don't know, but he strengthened Him; he ministered to Him. 488 00:42:39,822 --> 00:42:48,440 Whatever he said or did, it ministered this: "Savior, You'll make it! 489 00:42:48,440 --> 00:42:52,933 You're going to make it! You're not forgotten in heaven. 490 00:42:52,933 --> 00:42:55,678 We're for You. 491 00:42:55,678 --> 00:42:58,798 For the joy that's before You, keep on. 492 00:42:58,798 --> 00:43:01,781 You're gonna make it all the way through. 493 00:43:01,781 --> 00:43:07,985 This is Your hour, You're going to endure it all the way." (P) 494 00:43:07,985 --> 00:43:12,938 An angel ministered to Him, and that was an answer to prayer. 495 00:43:12,938 --> 00:43:17,764 We don't know how the Lord is going to answer our prayers at times when we're so needy. 496 00:43:17,764 --> 00:43:22,445 The Savior, it's not said that He asked for an angel, 497 00:43:22,445 --> 00:43:27,070 but the Father's way at that moment was not to remove the cup, 498 00:43:27,070 --> 00:43:32,894 but to send supernatural strength to help Him embrace the cup. 499 00:43:32,894 --> 00:43:37,763 And after this, you know what He does? 500 00:43:37,763 --> 00:43:41,549 He resigns Himself to the Father's purpose. 501 00:43:41,549 --> 00:43:46,621 However dark, however hard, however grotesque, 502 00:43:46,621 --> 00:43:51,391 however painful, the Son resigns. 503 00:43:51,391 --> 00:43:58,195 He says, "Yet nevertheless, not My will, but Thine, be done." 504 00:43:58,195 --> 00:44:04,807 Listen, that one prayer, that one choice, 505 00:44:04,807 --> 00:44:09,315 was part of His qualifying to be your High Priest. 506 00:44:09,315 --> 00:44:16,631 That one choice was part of His accomplishing our salvation. 507 00:44:16,632 --> 00:44:21,071 That one prayer "Father, not My will, but Yours, be done" 508 00:44:21,071 --> 00:44:30,901 was part of His finishing His work that the Father had given Him to do. (P) 509 00:44:30,901 --> 00:44:35,043 The hymn says, "Thy way, not mine, however dark it be. 510 00:44:35,043 --> 00:44:39,938 Lead me by Thine own hand. Choose Thou the path for me. 511 00:44:39,939 --> 00:44:44,842 Smooth let it be, or rough, it will still be the best. 512 00:44:44,842 --> 00:44:49,017 Winding or straight, it leads right onward to Thy rest. 513 00:44:49,017 --> 00:44:53,998 I dare not choose my lot. I would not if I could. 514 00:44:53,998 --> 00:44:58,874 Choose Thou for me, my God, so shall I walk upright. 515 00:44:58,875 --> 00:45:03,540 Take Thou Thy cup, and with it, joy or sorrow, fill. 516 00:45:03,540 --> 00:45:10,915 As best to Thee may seem, choose Thou my good or ill. 517 00:45:10,916 --> 00:45:15,271 Not mine, not mine the choice, in things both small and great. 518 00:45:15,271 --> 00:45:20,069 Be Thou, my God, my strength, my wisdom, my all." (P) 519 00:45:20,069 --> 00:45:24,316 Listen beloved, like the Lord Jesus Christ, your resignation, 520 00:45:24,316 --> 00:45:35,573 your choices, your obedience through tears, through agony, through heartbreak, matters. 521 00:45:35,573 --> 00:45:37,991 Your yieldedness matters. 522 00:45:37,991 --> 00:45:44,922 Your choosing to be full of the Spirit of God and walk in the Spirit matters. 523 00:45:44,922 --> 00:45:48,951 It determines your next course. 524 00:45:48,951 --> 00:45:52,482 Our consecration is vital and is essential. 525 00:45:52,482 --> 00:45:56,789 Our usefulness and our full obedience supremely matters. 526 00:45:56,789 --> 00:46:01,020 As it did in the Savior's life here, so it does in yours. (P) 527 00:46:01,020 --> 00:46:12,212 Finally, think about not only His cup, and His praying, and His resignation; 528 00:46:12,213 --> 00:46:15,157 think about His victory. 529 00:46:15,157 --> 00:46:20,073 Look down in Luke 22 verse 45: 530 00:46:20,073 --> 00:46:22,423 "When He rose from prayer (this was the final time), 531 00:46:22,423 --> 00:46:25,426 He came to His disciples and found them sleeping for sorrow, 532 00:46:25,426 --> 00:46:30,337 and He said to them, 'Why are you sleeping?' or, 'Are you still sleeping?' " 533 00:46:30,337 --> 00:46:31,584 And then what does He say? 534 00:46:31,584 --> 00:46:35,789 "Rise and pray that you may not enter into temptation." 535 00:46:35,789 --> 00:46:42,207 Matthew and Mark record: "He came and said, 'Rise, let us be going; 536 00:46:42,207 --> 00:46:47,670 see, my betrayer is at hand." 537 00:46:47,670 --> 00:46:55,946 When Jesus came out of Gethsemane, have you ever noticed how in control He was? 538 00:46:55,946 --> 00:47:03,372 He's there, the guards come, the Romans come, Judas comes; 539 00:47:03,372 --> 00:47:05,833 and they march in, it's the hour of darkness; 540 00:47:05,833 --> 00:47:08,665 Jesus is never out of control, He's in control. 541 00:47:08,665 --> 00:47:12,937 The soldiers fall when He says, "I am." 542 00:47:12,937 --> 00:47:15,900 He tells Peter to put up his sword; 543 00:47:15,900 --> 00:47:18,945 the disciples flee; He goes on trial. 544 00:47:18,945 --> 00:47:23,919 He's in control. He's ruling the moments. 545 00:47:23,919 --> 00:47:27,987 He's not in a sense the passive one, 546 00:47:27,987 --> 00:47:35,328 He is actively controlling everything, all the way to the cross. 547 00:47:35,328 --> 00:47:44,550 His victory is certain because Gethsemane yielded its fruits. (P) 548 00:47:44,550 --> 00:47:50,777 Now let me give you three closing thoughts for you, that I hope will help and strengthen you real briefly. 549 00:47:50,777 --> 00:48:00,065 Number one, resignation to God's purposes and His sanctifying providences is often difficult. 550 00:48:00,065 --> 00:48:01,993 You know that. 551 00:48:01,993 --> 00:48:06,975 Some of God's dealings with us produce grief and sorrow, not joy. 552 00:48:06,975 --> 00:48:10,884 Peter said that, didn't he? James said that. 553 00:48:10,884 --> 00:48:14,968 "For the present time, no trial seems joyful but grievous, 554 00:48:14,968 --> 00:48:17,797 but afterward it produces - what? - 555 00:48:17,797 --> 00:48:22,383 peaceable fruit of righteousness if you're exercised by it." 556 00:48:22,383 --> 00:48:30,865 Resignation to God's purpose, His disciplines, His chastenings, 557 00:48:30,865 --> 00:48:35,460 and His sanctifying providences are often difficult and hard. 558 00:48:35,460 --> 00:48:37,515 And it doesn't mean you're out of God's will, 559 00:48:37,514 --> 00:48:41,585 it means you're smack-dab in the middle of God's will. (P) 560 00:48:41,586 --> 00:48:50,504 Secondly, desperate prayer and dependent faith is the only thing 561 00:48:50,504 --> 00:48:55,398 that will preserve you through those circumstances often. 562 00:48:55,398 --> 00:48:58,645 Not the manipulation of man, not the wisdom of man, 563 00:48:58,645 --> 00:49:02,430 not trying to figure out how you can get out of it. 564 00:49:02,430 --> 00:49:10,844 Desperate prayer, dependent faith, will preserve you through all your circumstances. 565 00:49:10,845 --> 00:49:18,673 Why? because God causes all things to work together for good 566 00:49:18,673 --> 00:49:20,871 to them who love God. (P) 567 00:49:20,871 --> 00:49:30,193 Thirdly, nothing ultimately will defeat the sons of God. 568 00:49:30,193 --> 00:49:32,448 It didn't defeat the Son of God, 569 00:49:32,448 --> 00:49:38,686 and nothing you face is going to defeat you as a child of God. 570 00:49:38,686 --> 00:49:41,650 End of Romans 8 says, "Nothing. Nothing." 571 00:49:41,650 --> 00:49:44,774 Paul names things - he thinks everything he can think of - 572 00:49:44,774 --> 00:49:48,618 and then he comes up with some terms that include everything else, 573 00:49:48,618 --> 00:49:53,388 and finally he comes to the end and he can't think of any other words. 574 00:49:53,388 --> 00:49:59,697 And he says "Nothing will be able to separate you from the love of God 575 00:49:59,696 --> 00:50:06,772 which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (P) 576 00:50:06,773 --> 00:50:13,215 John Newton wrote a hymn, he wrote a lot more than Amazing Grace. 577 00:50:13,215 --> 00:50:18,722 There's a hymn; listen, some of you know it, some of you have never heard it; 578 00:50:18,723 --> 00:50:25,636 listen to this, it's titled I Asked The Lord: 579 00:50:25,636 --> 00:50:32,227 "I asked the Lord that I might grow in faith, and love, and every grace; 580 00:50:32,227 --> 00:50:38,464 that I might more of His salvation know, and seek, more earnestly, His face." 581 00:50:38,464 --> 00:50:43,998 Is that not the heart of a Christian? 582 00:50:43,998 --> 00:50:47,484 " 'Twas He who taught me thus to pray; 583 00:50:47,484 --> 00:50:51,713 and He, I trust, has answered prayer! 584 00:50:51,713 --> 00:50:57,913 But it has been in such a way as almost drove me to despair. 585 00:50:57,913 --> 00:51:03,074 I hoped that in some favorite hour, at once He'd answer my request; 586 00:51:03,074 --> 00:51:10,306 and by His love's constraining power, subdue my sins, and give me rest. 587 00:51:10,306 --> 00:51:17,151 Instead of this, He made me feel the hidden evils of my heart, 588 00:51:17,151 --> 00:51:23,585 and let the angry powers of hell assault my soul in every way. 589 00:51:23,585 --> 00:51:30,902 'Lord, why is this,' I trembling cried, 'Will You pursue this worm to death?' 590 00:51:30,903 --> 00:51:37,461 'Tis in this way,' the Lord replied, 'I answer prayer for grace and faith. 591 00:51:37,461 --> 00:51:44,124 These inward trials I employ, from self, and pride, to set thee free; 592 00:51:44,124 --> 00:51:55,143 and break thy schemes of earthly joy, that you may find your all in Me." (P) 593 00:51:55,143 --> 00:52:01,096 God knows what He's about with you, beloved, every one of you. 594 00:52:01,096 --> 00:52:06,106 He will perfect that which concerns you. 595 00:52:06,106 --> 00:52:07,343 So you know what you're to do? 596 00:52:07,343 --> 00:52:12,026 Through the tears, through the heartache, persevere. 597 00:52:12,026 --> 00:52:17,520 John Bunyan said, "Perseverance is keeping one hand on the plough, 598 00:52:17,520 --> 00:52:20,977 while you wipe the tears away with the other." 599 00:52:20,977 --> 00:52:25,600 Press on. Persevere. Your Savior has trod this path, 600 00:52:25,600 --> 00:52:29,112 and He's calling you on, "Follow Me through Gethsemane; 601 00:52:29,112 --> 00:52:32,295 follow Me to Calvary; follow Me all the way to heaven. 602 00:52:32,295 --> 00:52:35,435 I will keep you, I'll preserve you, 603 00:52:35,435 --> 00:52:44,487 and I will sanctify to your soul every trial that falls from above." 604 00:52:44,487 --> 00:52:51,493 Jesus the broken man, Jesus the praying man, Jesus the victorious man. 605 00:52:51,493 --> 00:53:01,829 He's your Savior, and He's with you. Let's pray. (P) 606 00:53:01,829 --> 00:53:11,031 Father, I know my words are so inadequate, so imperfect, so feeble. 607 00:53:11,031 --> 00:53:20,431 Lord, I pray You'd wash me and forgive me for the imperfections of this effort. 608 00:53:20,431 --> 00:53:24,266 But we thank You Lord beyond that, above that, 609 00:53:24,266 --> 00:53:33,622 that we have this record given to us for our instruction, for our edification, 610 00:53:33,622 --> 00:53:35,513 that we might follow You; 611 00:53:35,513 --> 00:53:40,759 that we might see the glory of our Savior. 612 00:53:40,759 --> 00:53:46,271 O Lord, bless Your word to our hearts. 613 00:53:46,271 --> 00:53:50,291 Cause us to love You and adore You and worship You more. 614 00:53:50,291 --> 00:53:54,821 May this make You more real to us than ever before, 615 00:53:54,821 --> 00:54:00,518 that we might, in time of need, draw near to a sympathizing Savior, 616 00:54:00,518 --> 00:54:04,999 who knows our weaknesses, who feels our sorrows, 617 00:54:04,999 --> 00:54:09,521 and who has special grace for us if we'll come. 618 00:54:09,521 --> 00:54:17,351 Thank You and blessed be Your name, in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.