I've entitled the message for
this evening, Gethsemane. Gethsemane. Now I've got a reason
for giving this introduction. You'll understand why after I've
given it. Recently, I was eating lunch
with a man and this man considered himself a theologian. And we
were talking about something that he'd said in a message And
it was just contrary to the gospel. And it was not something that
we could agree to disagree on. And during the course of that
conversation, he said, you're obtuse. That didn't sound good. I didn't
know what it meant, but it didn't sound good. So I, Got in my car,
and I asked Siri, what does obtuse mean? Dull and slow. Annoyingly insensitive. Slow to understand. Well, I made the mistake of telling
Lynn and Aubrey about it, and I've heard on numerous occasions,
you are obtuse. I've just heard that so many
times, and I told Donnie Bell about it when he was here last
week, and he said, well, you look obtuse, so. There is not a word more accurate
to describe how I feel about myself in trying to deal with
this subject, Gethsemane. And this was the name of the
garden where the Lord sweat great drops of blood. Scripture says
being sore amazed and being very heavy. Look in verse 35 of Mark chapter
14. And he went forward a little. and fell on the ground. And Matthew's
account says he fell on his face. And this is the son of God we're
speaking of. You've probably fallen on your
face before. But him, he fell on his face and prayed
that if it were possible, the hour might pass. from him. Now, Gethsemane means oil press. And there was a press that would
crush olives to get the precious oil in this garden. And it was
a place where he often went with his disciples. That's pointed
out when Judas went to betray him at this place. He knew that
the Lord would be there because he resorted there often with
his disciples. And it was a cold night because
we read that the same night men were warming themselves by the
fire. So a cold night, perhaps people's
breath showing as they breathe, but the Lord is sweating. And the scripture says in Luke's
account that he was sweating great drops of blood. You see, his hour had come. Now you noticed verse 35, he
went forward a little and fell on the ground and prayed that
if it were possible, the hour, might pass from him. Early in his public ministry,
he said to his mother, woman, what have I to do with thee?
Mine hour is not yet come. They sought to lay hands upon
him, but his hour was not yet come. No man laid hands on him
for his hour had not yet come. In John chapter 12, he said,
now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? Father,
save me from this hour. But for this cause came I in
to this hour. This is why he came. I think of the way he began his
great high priestly prayer in John chapter 17. He said, Father, the hour is come. He came for this hour. The universe was created for
this hour. God's purpose was all channeled
into this hour when the lamb slain from the foundation of
the world. That's such an awesome concept,
but he now has come in time for this hour. He said in Luke chapter
12 verse 50, I have a baptism to be baptized with, and now
is my soul straightened until it be accomplished. The hour
has come. Verse 32, And they came to a
place which was named Gethsemane. And he saith to his disciples,
and he tells them why he came. Sit ye here while I shall pray. And he certainly had something
to pray about. His hour had come. And he taketh with him, evidently
he left be eight right inside the gate and he taketh with him
Peter and James and John and began to be sore amazed. Now this is the son of God. This
is the creator of the universe. He began to be sore amazed. and very heavy. The word sore amazed is a state
of shock. Seized with terror and very heavy. These are the emotions of the
God-man at this time. Now what could bring him into
this, to be in a state of shock and terror? Very heavy. Verse 34, and he saith unto them,
Peter and James and John at this time, my soul is exceeding sorrowful
unto death. He was so overcome with what
was going on at this time that he said, I could die right now. Verse 35, and he went forward
a little and fell on the ground, at this time he's by himself,
and he prayed that if it were possible, the hour might pass. Luke says at this time, and being
in agony, being in agony. He prayed more earnestly and
his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling to the
ground. Now, this is a, from what I understand,
a real condition where your capillaries and your sweat Obviously, I don't
know what I'm talking about. I read this from somebody else,
but your sweat, your capillaries and your sweat glands burst and
it causes you to sweat blood and it only happens in extreme
anguish. What kind of anguish was the
Lord going through at this time that he would sweat great drops
of blood? And Luke also tells us that an
angel from heaven came and strengthened him. He was at the point of death
in his human experience, in his human body. He hadn't gone to
the cross yet, but he was at the point of death. And the Lord
sent an angel to strengthen him. Somebody says, explain that to
me. I can't explain anything here. I can only give the record
of what took place. He was getting ready to die right
then. Verse 35, he went forward a little. Luke tells us it was about a
stone's throw away, about the distance a man can throw a stone.
He was from the three. And all by himself, he fell on
the ground and prayed while he was sweating these great drops
of blood in agony, that if it were possible, the hour might pass. What hour? The hour for which the universe
had been created. the hour when he was to be made
sin as a substitute for his people. Now look what it says in verse
36. And he said, Abba, father, the near dear relationship he
had with his father, Abba, father, All things are possible unto
thee. Take away this cup from me. Nevertheless, not what I will,
but what thou wilt. Now at this time, he was given. a glimpse into the contents of
this cup. Peter said, who his own self
bear our sins in his own body on the tree. Now, I can't explain
how that is, but that's what the word of God says. He bear
our sins, the sins that I have committed. He bear in His own
body on the tree. The contents of that cup, you
know, people have said, well, it was the wrath of God, the
judgment of God. I wouldn't dispute that. I'm
sure that is included. But that's not the main point.
The contents of that cup was sin. The contents of that cup was
the sins of God's elect. Every single one of them. That's why The Son of God was
sore amazed and very heavy. That's what made him sweat great
drops of blood. You who think of sin but lightly,
nor suppose the evil great, here may view its nature rightly.
Here its guilt may estimate. Mark the sacrifice appointed. See him bear the awful load. Tis the word, the Lord's anointed,
Son of man and Son of God. And there is no way that you
and I can understand this. because of our familiarity with
this thing called sin. It's not something that shocks
us. You know, the scripture says,
how much more abominable and filthy is man that drinketh iniquity
like water. You see, sin just doesn't bother
us that much. We say things like, why would
God make hell eternal? And when we think that, and I've
thought it and you've thought it, we show how little we understand
about the evil of sin. Let me tell you why hell's eternal.
Because sin is infinitely evil. The sin of murdering God's son
and satisfaction by me or you could never be made. Another
reason hell is eternal is because there's no reform. You ever see
on TV, I've never experienced, but you watch on TV when the
guys that are gonna see if the guys can get out of prison, they
say, have you reformed? Are you better? And they'll generally
say, yes, but you know in hell, everybody's remains just as evil
as they were when they got there. And there is no change. That
is why hell is eternal. But this is he who is holy, who
knew, only he knew the evil of sin against God. And this one
would rather die and be forsaken by his father than let one sin
go unpunished. He only understood what was taking
place. And the thought of being made
the thing that the father hates, you think of that scripture,
for he hath made him. And in the King James, the 2B
is in italics, and it really messes up the meaning. He made
him. sin. And I feel so dull and stupid to try to talk about
something that I believe, but I don't really understand. He
made him sin. Now, the Son loved and loves
the father so infinitely. And the father loves, loved,
loves the son so infinitely, yet the scripture says, he spared
not. his own son. Pause my soul, adore and wonder,
ask oh why such love to me. He spared not his own son. But before he drinks that cup
and sees up close its content, sin, he is overcome with terror,
sore amazed, and very heavy. And he prayed this prayer three
times. Verse 36, Abba Father, All things
are possible unto thee. Take away this cup from me. That's not rhetoric. I don't
understand it. But at this time, he was saying,
if it is possible, take this cup that I'm called upon to drink. and drink the vile, noxious content
dry. Take this cup away from me. Nevertheless, not what I will,
but thy will be done. And we know that he prayed this
prayer three times. Now, Christ is called in Revelation
chapter 13, verse eight, and I've already alluded to this,
and I hope I allude to this every time I preach. He's called the
Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. When Christ agreed to be our
surety, He knew it was this cost. Before there was time, before
the sin had even been committed by us, He knew this would be
the cost. And He knew this was for the
glory of His Father. He said in John 17, 1, Father,
the hour has come, glorify Thy Son. that thy son also might
glorify thee. He knew this was for the salvation
of his people. We read in John chapter 13, verse
one, Jesus, knowing that his hour was come, that he should
depart out of the world unto the father, having loved his
own, which were in the world. He loved them to the end. With all of that in mind, the
thought of drinking the content of that cup and being made sin
and being forsaken by his father and losing all communication
with his father and feeling the awful frown of his father. Now I heard somebody just today
listen to a message and he said, God poured his fury out upon
the innocent Christ. No, when he drank the content
of that cup, my sin became his sin. I have no idea what I'm talking
about, but his human nature was overcome and he required an angel
to strengthen him at this time. He literally sweat great drops
of blood in the anguish of this question. Was it possible? Was it possible? If you and I were to be saved
or are to be saved, it's not possible. This is the only way of salvation. There is no other way. Somebody
says, well, he could have made another way. This is the only way. For me and you to be saved? No,
it was not possible. For God to be completely glorified
in every attribute of his glorious character, which is why Christ
came to the cross in the first place? No, it was not possible. It was not possible for God's
eternal decree for Christ to be the lamb slain from the foundation
of the world. It was not possible for him not
to come in time to perform this decree. And here is the essence
of his perfect, holy obedience. Not by will. but thine be done. After they left, when the multitude
came to arrest Christ with staves and clubs, and Peter pulls out
a sword, And he tries to cut the high priest's head off, and
he ducked and he just got his ear. You know what the Lord said? Put thy sword into thy sheath. The cup which my father hath
given me to drink, shall I not drink it? And beloved, He drank the contents
of that cup completely dry. I would think it would be trite
to think of the most loathsome, noxious thing you could think
of, and drinking that, this is infinitely worse. He drank the
full contents of that cup, completely dry. You see, every one of my
sins, every one of the sins of God's elect, He drank and there's
nothing left. There's nothing left. There's
nothing for me to be accused of. It's already been paid for. Jesus paid it all, all the debt
I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain,
he washed it white as snow. Now, when he finished drinking,
and I obviously don't understand this, but that's when he bore
our sins in his own body on the tree. And then he bowed his mighty
head and cried, it is finished. And then he said, father, into
thy hands, I commend my spirit. And he gave up the ghost and
he died. He was manifested to take away
our sins, John said. In Him is no sin. They were all taken away. Now I would like to close by
looking at the writer to the Hebrews comment on this. In Hebrews chapter 5, This one who is the priest forever
after the order of Melchizedek in verse 6. And this is what
the writers of the Hebrews was referring to this time in Gethsemane,
who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers
and supplication with strong crying and tears unto him that
was able to save him from death and was heard and that he feared. Though he were a son, yet learned
he obedience by the things which he suffered. Son, here's this cup. Drink it in obedience to my command
for my glory. and the salvation of my people.
And he said, yes, father. There's never been obedience
like that. He learned obedience. He became obedient unto death. even the death of the cross. He learned obedience by the things
he suffered. And look at verse nine, and being
made perfect. You see, the son of God is the
perfect savior. He's perfect. He is exactly suited to save
somebody like me or you. He's the perfect Savior and that
is seen by this statement. He hath perfected forever by
that one offering. By drinking that cup, by putting
away that sin, he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. Doesn't this show the utter absurdity
of salvation by works in any way? It's offensive, isn't it?
To think that there's something you could do to add to what he
did? He by himself purged our sins. And look what it says next. And
being made perfect, he became the author, the cause of, I love
this phrase, eternal salvation. This salvation never had a beginning
and it will never have an end. And he came in time to accomplish
that. And he became the author of eternal salvation to all them
that obey him, called of God and high priest after the order
of Melchizedek. Now, what is this thing of obeying
him? Here it is. Sirs, what must I do? to be saved. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. Now listen to me. I do believe he's the Lord. Won't you make him the Lord of
your life? Don't even think anything like that. He is the Lord. He's Jesus. Joshua, the Savior. He's God's Christ. He's God's
prophet. He's God's priest. He's God's
king. Now understand this. This thing of believing. Don't
wait till you feel something. Don't wait for some assurance
thinking, well, I believe he died for me. You're not called
upon to figure out whether or not he died for you. You're called
upon to believe him. To believe him. I love what he
said to that woman at the well. Woman, believe me. You know, it's a crime to not believe
him, isn't it? Let's just forget about yourself. Let's forget
about your feelings. Let's forget about your experience.
Let's forget about all the things that you need to be and all the
things you need to do. Just forget it all. Believe. Rely upon. Trust this perfect
savior with all the concerns of your soul. And thou shalt
be. Let's pray. Lord, we only want to believe him. And Lord, we believe from the
depths of our heart that what he did is enough. Not only is it enough, it's everything. And we give thanks for him. Lord, enable each one of us to
believe your gospel. Bless us for Christ's sake. In
his name we pray. Amen.