39 And he came out, and went, as he was wont, to the mount of Olives; and his disciples also followed him.
Sermon Transcript
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Verse 39 Luke 22 and he came
out and went as he was won't To the Mount of Olives and his
disciples also Followed him One of the things that's important
to me for us to understand Is that when we read the scriptures
even if you're just doing your if you have daily Bible reading
or whatever you whenever and however you read the scriptures.
You can't just read the word of God like it was a different,
like another book, just another book or a newspaper or something.
Every word is significant and the way the words are arranged
is significant. And we see that here. I want,
before we really even get into the, the heart of the text here,
I want us to notice something. This is not insignificant in
scripture, the way And we spoke about this truth already, but
we didn't see this verse yet in our study. And the Lord had
just told these disciples something pretty disturbing. It would have
been to me, and I'm sure to you, if the Lord said, if you can
get a sword, get one. He said, it's not gonna be like
it was when I sent you out in the beginning. It's gonna be
different now. And you're gonna want to save some money and take
some provisions with you where you go. If you're able to get
a sword, get one. And they said, Lord, here, we
have two. We have two swords. And we know from the context,
just the immediate context of this, just a little bit later
in this chapter, that two swords is not going to amount to very
much in this thing. They were met by at least 100
soldiers in that very garden where they stood and spoke with
our Lord here. But he said, when he saw the
two, so he said, that's enough. That'll do. And then the next words, that's
why I want us to look at this particularly, the way the scripture
is structured is important even. It's enough, and he, and he. That's why our insufficiency
is enough. whatever he provides for us is
enough because and he it's not just
there it's not just the next two words it's the next several
verses look at it with me beginning with verse thirty nine he came
he came he was the next verse verse forty he kneeled the next
verse he prayed verse forty four he sweat Verse 45, he rose. The next verse, he said, you
see why it's enough? As I said, we talked about this
last time, but this is beautiful, isn't it? This is why the five
loaves and two fish were enough. He could have fed them without
any of that, but he uses what he blesses us with. He uses these
means that he's given us in the blessing, but he does so in such
a way. that we see that the sufficiency,
the victory, the glory is in this, and he. I like the word
also in that verse too. We're also. He is gonna get everything
done that needs to be done, but we're also there. I'm so glad,
aren't you? They also followed him, but it
was him that went. and bore our sin. It was him
that went and defeated every enemy of his and ours. It was him that glorified the
father. It was him that pleased always
his father and did always those things. It was him that satisfied
the law. It was him that took our place
under the burden of all of our guilt and wretched sin before
God and sweat. It was him. The passage describes the Lord
Jesus Christ bearing our sins in his own body. Only that could cause the Lord
to say what he said in these following verses. He was concerned
with their spiritual well-being, as he always is, those of his,
that of his sheep. He said, you pray lest you enter
into temptation. He's about to go and face the
greatest, I don't even know how to say
it right, but can you, it was a trial, surely, it was a proving
of who he is. But he's saying, You pray because
you're going to be tried You pray lest you enter into temptation
And he was withdrawn from them verse 41 about a stone's cast
and kneeled down and prayed saying father If thou be willing remove
this cup from me nevertheless Not my will but thine be done
and there appeared an angel unto him from heaven strengthening
him and being in agony he prayed more earnestly and his sweat
was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground
only what we know he said that he was going to do we know that
all the scriptures teach that he was going to do we know that
that's what he's doing here because of the language because of what
he spoke he's bearing my sin and yours if you're his in his
body and it's causing such sorrow
that in another place in Matthew 26 38 he said my soul is exceeding
sorrowful even unto death tarry ye here and watch with me it
was sorrow the sorrow he bore it was sorrow that would have
killed anybody else because the only way It was sorrow, his sorrow was
unto death, not only for that reason, because if we had borne
one one millionth of it, it would have killed us outright, but
also it was unto death because death is the only way he could
put it away. He bore my sins and my sorrow,
and the only way for him to put it away Was to die it was unto
death just as he said it was And in the hour of his great
trial here that is testing Proving there was no question as to the
outcome because of who he is It's not that he could have failed.
It wasn't a test in that sense. He's the Immaculate invincible
son of God But he exhorts us to pray lest
we be tempted, lest we be tried, and we failed in that.
We see that plain. The disciples failed. They failed
to pray, they failed to watch, and they failed to try. They
came after, they all forsook him and fled. Simon denied that
he even knew him. But he came, and he prayed, and
he sweat, and he rose. I like the words here also that
it says, as he was wont, as he was accustomed to doing. It was something he did often.
He came to the garden alone at times. He prayed all night. He
went up into a mountain apart, the Mount of Olives, apart at
times, but also he came there often with his disciples. And
that's what he did here where it says he was accustomed to
do this. And there is that in the worship and service of our
Lord, which is customary. And this is a blessed thing. and I like that it says he was
accustomed because whatever our customs are here, in other words,
whatever we are accustomed to doing in the worship and service
of our Lord, if he's not accustomed to doing it with us, then it's
vain. We are wont to meet here and
pray together, aren't we? We do that. We sing together. We are wont to fellowship with
one another. And even at each other's homes
and such, we are wont to eat together. And I enjoy that. That, even that can be, and often
is, usually is, I believe, worship. Just sitting down and having
a meal together. Thankful in our hearts for God's physical
provision for us, but also that's a picture of how he provides
for us spiritually. What Sammy read a while ago,
what a beautiful picture of how We are in Christ. He provides. Everything's beautiful and lush
and prosperous. We are wont to open this book
by his grace and find out what God said and think about the
word of God and preach and hear what God has spoken concerning
his son and how sinners like us can be saved. How my sins
can be washed away. God says, come now, let's reason
together. And what does he reason with
us about? My sin, your sin, so your sins are great. They shall be. If you come to him, they shall
be. Come now. It's not if you come to him,
they might be. You come to him, they shall be. It's white as
snow. And his disciples, it says that
they also followed him. The word disciples there means
learners. or is that what we are? He said,
take my yoke upon you and learn of me. His learners still always
follow him. Wherever he is, that's where
I wanna be by his grace. In verse 40, and when he was
at the place, he said unto them, pray that ye enter not into temptation. The place, when he was at the
place. This is the hour. He talked about
his hour, mentioned quite a bit in the scriptures. They tried
to kill him several times. It says that he passed right
through the midst of them because his hour had not yet come. But
then in John 17, he said, father, the hour has come. And here,
the place. All of this, and this is so comforting,
is preordained by God. What's about to happen is the
most horrible, evil, vile, wretched display of man's sinfulness that
ever took place on this earth. But it doesn't mean that the
ones that were actually involved in it were any more sinful than
we are. It was just a display of what all of us are by nature.
I've seen people say, if he came back, we'd kill him again. I
agree, I believe we would. I believe we would. All of this is preordained by
God. What they did was what God's hand and counsel determined before
to be done. So that some of us who are guilty
Murdering God himself God's only son Are going to be forgiven
by the same blood that stained our hands in guilt and shame
before God The place the hour the time It's the everything
when it comes to him What God had ordained when he ordained
it where he ordained it. That's what's happening here.
And that's what's happening here. And he exhorts us, pray that
you enter not into temptation. I thought quite a bit about this.
Have you ever thought about this? The Lord was careful several
times. You remember when he taught us
how to pray? Many people call it the Lord's Prayer. It's not
the Lord's Prayer. The Lord Jesus doesn't have to pray, forgive
us our sins, because he don't have any. It's the disciple's
prayer. He taught us to pray this way.
And when he did, you remember what he said? Don't lead us into
temptation. You know why? You know what's
going to happen to you if you're tried? Same thing that happened to them.
They forsook the son of God and fled and denied any association
with him for selfish reasons. They were selfish and cowardly
and foolish, not smart to forsake the one that made you, shed his
blood for you. You think you'll fare better
than that if the Lord tries you? No, he's going to. He's gonna
try. Whatever he gives faith, he tries
it. And I'll tell you this, the reason I pray, not only because
he told me to, that's a good enough reason that he told me
to, but I pray, Lord, don't lead me into temptation, because I
know what's gonna happen when he does. Because we fail. They did and they failed. And
that's the lesson here. Now, many would say in religion,
I'm sure that the lesson is, you know, do what you're supposed
to do. Now, be sure you pray a lot and be careful now and
watchful so that you don't fail. Well, I'm certainly not teaching
you this morning, don't pray. Our Lord said we should pray.
Pray always. And be sober and vigilant. Because
your adversary, the devil, walketh about as a roaring lion, seeking
whom he knows. There's no question about that. I'm not saying that,
but he also taught us to pray, lead us not into temptation.
Do you think he was teaching us here by this text, when he
says, you pray now, lest you enter into, and then we see how
utterly, miserably they fail. Do you think he's teaching us
there how to be successful Christians? He's teaching us that we need
him. We don't need anything else or
anybody. We need him. We always need him. That's what he's teaching us.
Is that what we, do we learn here, looking into Gethsemane's
garden, that we ought to be better Christians? Is that the message
you get from this? You need him. They needed him. He did everything for them and
they failed. That's my testimony. And it's
always gonna be. I don't wanna fail him, but I'm going to. Don't lead
me, Lord, into temptation. Don't teach me your truth that
way. Now he's going to some, he's
gonna, and it's, he said, remember what? I believe it was Simon
Peter that taught us this. If need be, you're gonna suffer
trials. If need be. If that's the way
the Lord is pleased to teach you, then that's how he's gonna
teach you. But I'd rather just read his word and believe it,
wouldn't you? I'd rather he didn't have to show me by me falling
flat on my face and hurting everybody that loves me, what a failure
I am. I don't want him to show me that
way. Do you? You see why he taught us this? I'd rather just look
into the word and see that I need him every hour and never trust in my flesh,
never boast in my flesh. Don't lead me, Lord, into temptation. I tell you this, notice the way
he taught us to pray now in that sinner's prayer in Luke 11, four,
listen to the context of what I just quoted to you. And forgive
us our sins, for we also forgive everyone that is indebted to
us and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from, you know
what the next word is? Let me ask you a question. Considering
the context, considering that it's in the same breath that
we're saying, don't send us into a great trial, Lord, what evil
do you think he's talking about when he says deliver us from
evil? Satan hiding behind a rock over here somewhere? Deliver
me from my evil. Don't lead me into temptation,
Lord, but just save me. Just save me from it. Save me
from me. I'll tell you this, too, a trowel
from the Lord, if he tries your faith, if he puts you into the
furnace and you're tested and proven, the faith that he gives
will not fail. What he gives will not fail.
He said, I built my church and hell's gates won't prevail against
it. And that's why, because he built it. Because we abide in
the vine. But I'll tell you this, when
he sends you a trowel, It will never teach you that you are
strong and sufficient in yourself. It never will. You're not gonna
learn that from it. If he sends you, if he tests
you, if he, there's the word tempt here, it means trial or
prove. If the Lord puts you in the furnace,
you're never gonna come out saying, I'm an overcomer. The Lord's never going to teach
you that because you're not. That's why he's not going to
teach you that. That's not what you are. And I don't want to learn about
how much I need him by suffering a great failure in the humiliation
of my own weakness and inability and by hurting, as I said, others,
because it will. Being a discouragement to God's
people. Do you want to learn that way? That's why the second part of
that prayer is Lord deliver me from evil Don't show me my evil like that
just save me save me keep me Hold me Don't let me go Lead us not into temptation and
may he give us grace to pray that we enter not I Verse 41, and he was withdrawn
from them about a stone's cast and kneeled down and prayed. Y'all have heard me say this
before. One of the things that was impressed
upon me often when I was younger was that you don't have to kneel
to pray. And that's no doubt true. There's
a whole lot of things you don't have to do. But I know what our Lord did,
and I know what the Apostle Paul did in Ephesians 3.14. He said,
I bow my knees to the Father for you. Now, you can't always
do that. You're not gonna do that every
time you pray. But I don't think never doing that is good. Never
kneeling, just having a prayer as you're driving down the road,
and that's about it. I don't recommend that. There's two reasons for that.
If nothing else, it ensures that there's really not much distraction. Whenever I have got on my knee
before God, nobody ever saw me do it. Don't ever do that. Some people want to bow on the
sideline or something like that. Don't do that to be seen of men.
Our Lord specifically and deliberately taught against that. get in your
closet, get away, and sometimes get on your knees or even on
your face before God, you'll find that you'll be able to think
on the right things better in that place, I'm pretty sure. Do you have to get on your knees
to pray? No, of course not. But do you
understand what this is teaching us here? I believe there's a
reason the Lord went away from them. Even the three now, he
left some at the gate. Some didn't even come into the
garden with him, and then three did, but even them, he went a
stone's throw. I can throw a rock a pretty good
ways. And he got down on his knees
before God. And I'll tell you the second
reason. Often the outward is an expression of the inward. Does that make sense? It doesn't
have to be. Somebody can get on their knees
every time they pray and never get past the ceiling. Pray with
themselves. That's not the secret to praying.
Don't misunderstand me. That's not it. But it can be
true that the outward is an expression of what's on
the inside. That can be true. And you see that many times in
the scripture. And I think it should be so.
I hope that's clear. But that's not the main lesson
of this verse. He was withdrawn from them about a stone's cast
and kneeled down and prayed. I want to be like him, don't
you? But listen, our Lord prayed for us. And again, we see the
gospel here, don't we? Watch and pray. And they didn't,
they fell asleep, but he prayed for them. He prayed not only
for them in the sense that his prayer concerned them, Because
when he's talking about drinking the cup of God's wrath, that's
for them. That's for the glory of God,
primarily, certainly. He said, the hour has come, glorify
thy son that thy son may glorify thee. That's preeminent, that's
primary. But also, that's for them, isn't it? This is my blood
which is shed for you. He's praying for them in that
sense, but he's also praying for them in the sense that they
couldn't. He does everything that we can't. What the law couldn't
do and that it was weak through my flesh, God sent his son to
do. Everything he did was what I
can't do. And everything he didn't do is
what I do. So he prayed for them in that
sense too. He kneeled down and prayed. That's
the main lesson here. He told Simon that the only difference
between him and Judas, you look at that passage and you tell
me, He said, Simon, Simon, Satan hath desired you that he
might sift you as wheat. And in the same context, we see
the language that that's exactly what Satan's gonna do with Judas.
He's gonna chew him up and spit him out. But he said to Simon,
but I've prayed for you. that your faith fail not by grace
you're saved through faith by always looking only always unto
him the author and finisher of our faith you might read what he said in
the next verse and say he was praying for himself say he said
father if thou be willing remove this cup from me nevertheless not my will but
thine Be done. But by God's grace, I see me
in there, don't you? If you're his, I see us in there. This cup that he's about to drink,
that's a cup that you can't drink. You can never drink it. You can
drink of it for eternity, and some will, many will, most will. But you can never drink it dry.
But he's about to. And he's about to do it for his
sheep, for his people, for those that the father gave him, for
those he interceded for in John 17. Many have called this cup the
cup of God's wrath. And I definitely wouldn't really
argue with that. I believe that's part of what is represented here. He certainly
suffered the wrath of God. Against all of the sins of his
people We know what he said about our
sins also though that he bore our sins in his own body On the
tree He's about to go to the tree now And he said I've got
to drink this cup I'm gonna drink the cup Simon cut the in the next few
verses here cut the servant of the high priest ear off With
a sword the Lord healed him and said this cup that my father
has given me to drink. Shall I not drink it? So he's gonna drink it And so
no question in my mind that my sin This is the cup of the sins
of all of his people because see the wrath of God the cup
of God's wrath That's true. But why is the wrath? What's
behind that, you know? Did the son of God drink my sins
and iniquities? What does that even mean? I believe
that he did. And this, of course, is a metaphor.
The cup, he didn't actually have a cup there in the garden that
he drank from. But it was no less real than
if he had. and what a cup and I don't even need to tell
you that we're in over our heads now, aren't we? people like to ask a lot of questions
about this and other scriptures that are inexplicable that we
can never fully understand and we don't know much about this Let me ask you this, even
if you could say some people insist this is the cup of God's
wrath, that's what that was. Okay. Do you have any idea what
that is? Do you know what God's wrath
is? You reckon? All of God's wrath against all
of the sins of his people. I don't know what that is, but
what we need to know and what's beautiful and glorious and we'll
be singing about from now on is that our Lord Jesus Christ
drank it for us in our place so that we will never have to
taste of that cup. He said this, he kneeled down
and prayed, saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this
cup from me nevertheless not my will but thine be done and
we don't understand this and many questions have been raised
by it do you know why you don't understand this though i can
tell you why you don't understand it how can god in human flesh say
if it be possible let this cup pass for me. Why would God Almighty
say that? And the God, the son, I'll tell
you why that doesn't, why that's something you can't get ahold
of. It's because you don't know what sin is. That's why I don't understand
it too. I don't know what sin is and I don't know who he is
and neither do you. But if you did, if you knew who
he was, and you knew what sin is, you'd know why he said it. I guarantee you. But we don't. We know what we need to know
by God's grace. We know him to some extent, we
know him. And yet Paul's only prayer was,
oh, that I may know him. You understand that? That I may
know him. One thing have I desired of the
Lord, David said, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord,
behold his beauty, and inquire, I want to know him. I want to
know him. What is clear here is this, it
was not possible that that cup pass from him.
Is that clear? It's not possible. The Lord Jesus
said to the Father in John 11, 42, I know you hear me always. I know you always hear me. And
that didn't just mean audibly, you understand that. He gets
what he prays for because he deserves it. Because he's worthy
of it. Because he's God and he does
as he pleases. But also as the son, he earned
it. He said, I know you hear. Let
me ask you this, though. If it was not possible, then
why did he pray that? We can't fully answer that, but
I know this. I know the context of John 11,
42, where I just quoted. He said, I know you hear me always.
Listen to what else he said there. He said, I knew that thou hearest
me always, but because of the people which stand by, I said
it. I prayed the way I did because
of them, not because of I don't know some things. You see, that's the question
here. Did he know it was possible?
Did he not know? Did he think it was possible?
He said there in John 11, 42, I didn't say what I did because
I don't know. I said because of those that
stand by that they may believe that thou hast sent me. You reckon that has anything
to do with this prayer in the garden? Everything that is written, John
said it's written that you might believe that Jesus Christ is
the son of God and that believing you might have life through his
name. So don't speculate, don't say, well, maybe he didn't think
it was, it's not that he doesn't know, it's about what you need
to know. You need to know that the only
way for God to save a wretch like you is for his son to take
your place under his wrath, to take your place in life as your
representative, as your righteousness before God, to do always those
things that please the Father for you, and to be your atonement,
your redemption. By the shedding of his blood,
your sins are washed away in the sight of God. His blood was
shed for you. What's also clear here is that
the Lord Jesus Christ was utterly resigned to his father's will. Would you agree with that? That's
pretty clear here. Nevertheless, not my will but thine. Be done. And of course, he's
God. I suppose that he could have
taken the cup away. If you strictly consider him
as God, all things being equal, could he not? Again, when Simon
cut that servant of the high priest's ear off, the Lord said,
don't you think, Simon, that I could call on my father and
he would send more than 12 legions of angels? He could do that,
right? He could have delivered him from
this. He could have spared him. But not after he said, I will
have mercy, he couldn't. As soon as God says, I will have
mercy, this cup cannot pass from him. Not in save you, not in
forgive you. And so what our savior is saying
here, and what we're to learn is not that it wasn't possible,
but that this is what it takes. This is what it takes if his people are gonna be saved.
He said in that prayer in John 17 that we refer to because that
was his high priestly prayer as he was going to the garden
and to Calvary. And he said this, I will, Father,
that those that you gave me be with me where I am. Well then, Nevertheless, nevertheless, that's
what it takes. It's not that the Father's will
and the Savior's will were two different things. It's simply
that the Lord Jesus Christ's will as a man was subservient,
obedient, and submissive to the will of his Father. That's what
he's saying. Not because the Father didn't
know it or the Son didn't know something. but so that you might
believe that he's who he said he is. He taught us to pray this way
also, didn't he? Thy will be done on earth as
it is in heaven. Without hesitation and with all
the heart. Not ours, but his. Verse 43, and there appeared
an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him. And being
in an agony, he prayed more earnestly. And his sweat was, as it were,
great drops of blood falling down to the ground. Now, this angel
appeared to him in the context of his, the sorrow of his soul. He was in an agony. And I've
heard say that when he said in Matthew there, where we read
a moment ago, he said, my soul is exceeding sorrowful, even
unto death, that that's the reason that the angel came and strengthened
his body so that he wouldn't die right there in the garden.
A human body, even a perfect human body has limits, right? He had to drink and eat like
we do. He was weary like we are when he sat down on that well. And so some say that's true.
I don't know if that's what it was. I know this, if the Lord
didn't strengthen us often by an angel, by his spirit, by whatever
means he's pleased to use, we'd be goners a long time ago, wouldn't
we? But understand this, it was his
soul. My soul is exceeding sorrowful,
even unto death. And the suffering of the soul
affects the body. It tests the limits of the body.
But it wasn't physical torture that he dreaded. And that's important
for us to see, although he was tortured in an excruciating way. over and over. But it was the
sole torment of sin and the consequence of sin that he cried out about,
the prospect of his father forsaking him. And when the father did
forsake him on Calvary, he cried, my God, my God, why hast thou
forsaken me? But he never once cried out about
any physical pain or suffering that he was going through. Even
when he said, I'm thirsty, he wasn't just talking about physical
thirst. He refused what they gave him. Do you suppose the
Lord Jesus Christ didn't know why the father forsook him? There again, that's another thing
that people ask about. Why did he cry, my God, my God,
why? That's thou forsaken me. Let me remind you of John 11
42, where he said, I didn't pray the way I did because I don't
know it was for them. But also let me say this now. The answer to the question was
given. In the very passage of scripture that he's quoting there,
when he said, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? That
was prophesied in Psalm 22 one, and the answer there is given.
And I'll tell you this, I'm not very smart, but I know why the
father forsook him. So understand that the Lord never
asks a question in order to get information. And that'll help. He never does. But he does do that in order
to teach. We see that, don't we? And that's
what he's doing here. In Psalm 22, one, it says, my
God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Why art thou so far from
helping me and from the words of my roaring? Oh my God, I cry
in the daytime, but thou hearest not and in the night season and
I'm not silent, but thou art holy. I cry, but you don't hear me. Why have you forsaken me? You're
holy. O thou that inhabitest the praises
of Israel, thou art holy. That's why. Because the Savior
bore my sin and God is holy. The only begotten son of God
was forsaken by his father. And we're talking about this,
trying to understand the word agony in our text. It was so far beyond physical
suffering that we can never understand it. And it says that he sweat,
as it were, great drops of blood. And I know less about that than
some seem to, but I know that there was physical agony involved
in it too. But this is so far beyond that
that we can never understand it. But that doesn't mean we
don't want to try. I want to understand more, don't
you? I said a while ago, the reason we don't understand it
is because we don't know what sin is. But I want to know. I want to know what the Lord
will teach me, what he will reveal to me. He said to the disciples,
he said, I've got many things to show you, but you can't bear
them now. I don't want more than I can bear, do you? what he's
willing to teach me I want to know he does reveal something
about it here just just who he is and the language here of him
being in an agony and his soul being exceeding sorrowful even
under death only sin can do that and we do learn something of
what sin is just in who he is and what he suffered here I like
that song that I've quoted to you before that says, ye who
think of sin but lightly, nor suppose the evil great, here
may view its nature rightly. Here, its guilt may estimate. And only here, you're not gonna
figure it out by looking at you or somebody else. Only here can
we see what sin is. Mark the sacrifice accordingly.
See who bears the awful load. Tis the Christ, the Lord's anointed,
son of man and son of God. If we can understand something
of who he is, and we don't know who he is either, do we? But
we want to. We want to, we're gonna try.
And he does reveal himself in his glory here. He said, Father,
glorify thy son, that thy son may glorify thee. And this happened
just after that. This is what it is. When we see
him bearing our sins in his own body, and the prayer that he
prayed to the Father for us, we see God's glory in this, and
we see the glory of the Son in this. He said, glorify thy son,
that thy son may also glorify thee. And he did. And he did. And so we can't answer everything
about it. What does it mean that he drank
my sin? I don't know. Here's what I know.
It means I don't have any anymore. I know that. Is that worth knowing? It means they're gone. It means
he put them away. It means I don't bear. He drank all of it. He drank
it dry. This is why we're gonna sing
what we're gonna sing forever. Worthy is the lamb that was slain.
Because he redeemed us to God. And I think sometimes we miss
the greatest truths in the simplest language. He was in an agony. Now think about this. Think about what religion teaches,
I mean, everywhere. Everywhere you turn, it's Christ
died, but you, Here's what he did for you, now it's up to you.
But think about what we're taught here. Why was he in an agony? Why was his soul exceeding sorrowful,
even unto death? The wages of what is death? He actually bore somebody's sins. Is that fair to say? You don't
have to be bright to see that here. He actually bore somebody's
sins. He didn't potentially bear them. He didn't make it available.
He bore somebody's sins in his own body and took them to Calvary
and put them away. That's my hope. If he potentially did something
for somebody somewhere, and most of those for whom he did it are
going to hell, I guarantee you I'm gonna be one of those. My hope is that he bore my sin. The Lord laid on him the iniquity
of us all. And so we sing, thou art worthy
to take the book and to open the seals thereof, for thou was
slain and has redeemed us to God by
thy blood out of every kindred and tongue and people and nation.
And we say with a loud voice, even now, worthy is the lamb
that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength
and honor and glory and blessing worthy. Can we say that this
morning? I can't say that much about what
happened in the garden or on the cross or express it. If I
knew it, I couldn't express it to you. Paul said, I saw things
that I can't even utter to you. I can't even tell you. I cannot express the great glory
of the one who accomplished Salvation in that garden and on that cross
But I can behold what God has revealed and by his grace I can
say worthy Is the lamb He redeemed me to God by that blood that
began to drop in Gethsemane's garden and all of which Was poured
out on that cross They pressed a thorn on his brow
and blood came down his face. They stripped his back and blood
flowed out. They pierced his feet and his
hands and blood came down. And they stabbed him in the side
with a spear. And all of his blood was poured
out. And he says, this is the new
covenant. I shed it for you.
About Chris Cunningham
Chris Cunningham is pastor of College Grove Grace Church in College Grove, Tennessee.
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