Kingsport Sovereign Grace Church,
located at 905 Yadkin Street in Kingsport, Tennessee, would
like to invite you to listen to a message of sovereign grace
by their pastor, Gabe Stoniker. And now, Pastor Gabe Stoniker. I would like to invite you to
turn with me to the book of Mark, Mark chapter 14, and I want to
encourage you to grab your Bible. We're going to look at quite
a few verses of Scripture in this chapter. The reason is because
everything that happens from verse 27 to the end of the chapter
happens in one night. Now, I would like for us to look
at the entire night. I've titled the message, This
Night. Verse 27 here in Mark 14 says,
And Jesus saith unto them, All ye shall be offended because
of me this night. You'll all be offended because
of me this night." What a tragic thing to hear him say. They just
heard him say to them back up in verse 18, one of you which
eateth with me shall betray me. They just heard him say that.
And it says they began to be sorrowful and to say unto him
one by one, is it I? Can you imagine the Lord saying
one of you is going to betray me? And one by one they say,
is it I? And now he's telling them in
verse 27, all ye shall be offended. You're going to stumble. That's
what he's saying. That's what offended means. You're going
to be made to offend because of me this night. because of
what is about to happen tonight. What a night, what a night. Verse 27 goes on to say, For
it is written, I will smite the shepherd and the sheep shall
be scattered. But after that I am risen, I
will go before you into Galilee. Our Lord never leaves His people,
never, never does He leave His people without the hope of the
gospel. He always gives his people the
hope of the gospel. He said an offense is going to
take place tonight. But it's for this purpose. Your
shepherd is going to be smitten. So his sheep can flee. That's the reason the shepherd
is going to be smitten. So all the sheep can flee. He
said that's what was written in the word of God and that's
what is about to be done. That was written in Zechariah
13. And he said, that's exactly what is about to be done. I'm
going to secure that deliverance, that fleeing. I'm going to allow
myself to be smitten of God to secure that for you. All of my
sheep. Now he said here in Mark 14 verse
28, but after that I am risen, I will go before you into Galilee. He told them exactly what was
going to happen. Exactly. He said, I'm going to
lay down my life. And he said, then I'm going to
take it again. He said, after I am risen, I will see you in
Galilee. He told them before it happened,
they should have known. And there are so many things
that we ought to know from his word. He told us what will happen.
verse 29 says but peter said unto him although all shall be
offended yet will not i you know we need to be careful what we
boast of don't we we need to be so careful when it comes to
this flesh never say never never say never our sinful Wickedness
has a way of taking something that appears to be a good motive.
What he said appeared to be a good thing, but it just pours pride
all over it. Our flesh, our wicked flesh has
a way of pouring pride and selfishness all over it. And that pride will
ruin us. It'll ruin us. verse 30 and jesus
saith unto him verily i say unto thee that this day even in this
night before the cock crow twice thou shalt deny me thrice he
said before this night is over and that rooster out there crows
two times You're going to deny me three times. Peter was so
proud of himself and the Lord said, Peter, you're going to
deny me three times tonight on this night. Verse 31 says, but
he spake the more vehemently to God. He's speaking to God
arrogantly, confidently. He's arguing with God. That's
what he's doing. He spake the more vehemently,
If I should die with thee, I will not deny thee in any wise. Likewise also said they all. Now we know the end of this story,
don't we? We know the story of Peter. We
know what happened. Peter is making a fool out of
himself right now. This tongue makes fools out of
all of us. May God teach all of us to say,
If the Lord wills, I'll do this or I'll do that if God wills.
God willing, by God's grace, I won't do this or I won't do
that. My life is at the mercy of his
will. Everything is at the mercy of
whatever he will allow me to do or not allow me to do. If he takes his hand off of me
for one second, if he takes his hand off of any of us, For one
second we're all capable of anything. All of us and the reason is because
we're covered from head to toe with sin. We are we're covered
from head to toe with sin. That's the whole reason for this
night. Sin. That's the whole reason
for this night. Verse 32 says and they came to
a place which was named Gethsemane. What a precious garden that is.
And he saith to his disciples, sit ye here while I shall pray. And he taketh with him Peter
and James and John. You know, it's amazing after
announcing all of that arrogant pride to the Lord, after everything
Peter just said to him, he he declared this to the face of
God Almighty. He said, this is what I'm going
to do. Telling God what he's going to do. It's amazing that
the Lord allowed him to come along. after Peter just acted
the way he did, but God was a long suffering to that poor man. He
was patient with him. And that says something about
how he deals with us. Our Lord is so good. He's so
good. Verse 33, he taketh with him,
Peter and James and John and began to be sore amazed and to
be very heavy. Now this proves that the all
knowing God became a man for us. He became a man. Soar amazed means utterly astonished. He became utterly astonished. It means thrown into terror. It means thoroughly astounded. He experienced the absolute shock
of our sin. As that's hard to imagine, it's
impossible to imagine. God, his father pressed our sin
into him right there in Gethsemane this night. And he felt the guilt. You feel guilt. And I feel guilt. It's because of sin. He felt
the guilt. Our guilt. He felt the pain. He felt the sorrow. He was violently
touched with the feeling of the sins that we have committed. Us, our sins, our sins in Him
caused Him to be very heavy. That means in distress of mind. That's what it means, very heavy.
It caused Him to be in distress of mind. That is the strongest
Greek word there is for absolute anguish and depression. Can you
imagine? That's God Almighty. But God
made himself to be a man. And he experienced the highest
level of absolute anguish and depression that a man can experience. Verse 34, he said unto them,
My soul is exceeding sorrowful unto death. He said, I'm overcome
with so much sorrow. If it were possible, I could
die from it. He said, tarry ye here and watch. And he went forward
a little and fell on the ground and prayed that if it were possible,
the hour might pass from him. His approach to God, his father
was so different than Peter's approach to him. So different. Verse 36, he said, Abba father. All things are possible unto
thee. take away this cup from me nevertheless
not what i will but what thou wilt he knew that for this cause
he came into the world he knew that he knew this was the entire
reason he came into this world but as the man as the sinner's
substitute The thought of being separated from God, that's what
spiritual death is separated from God. It was so terrifying
he almost couldn't bear it. But this is what he said. The
perfect man, the sinless man. He said, it's not what I will,
it's what you will. Thy will be done. He was the
willing substitute. He died for his people willingly. Verse 37, And he cometh and findeth
them sleeping. And he said unto Peter, Simon,
sleepest thou? Couldst not thou watch one hour? Peter had just finished telling
the Lord, I'm the greatest disciple you have. That's what he told
him. I am literally the greatest disciple you have. May we learn
that pride comes before a fall every time. Every time. Our Lord said, OK, Peter, I'm
going to go pray and I want you to keep a watch. And it wasn't
even one hour Peter was asleep. Man thinks he's something. But
you know what this word right here says? Man is nothing. Man is actually nothing. Verse
38, he said, Watch ye and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit truly is ready, but
the flesh is weak. And again, he went away and prayed
and spake the same words. And when he returned, he found
them asleep again. For their eyes were heavy, neither
wist they what to answer him. Can't you just see these men?
He woke them up the second time and they just didn't know what
to say. So ashamed. Didn't know what to say at all.
Without our Lord, we can do nothing. Verse 41, and he cometh the third
time and saith unto them, sleep on now and take your rest. It is enough. The hour is come. Behold, the son of man is betrayed
into the hands of sinners. Do we not find great comfort
in knowing that at all times At all times, he knows and he
understands our frame. Isn't that wonderful? At all
times, he remembers that we're dust at all times. He said, go ahead and sleep.
Go on and sleep now. I know you need it. This night. This amazing night here is the
defining moment in the salvation of sinners. And they're all asleep. This is the night. That for all
eternity, God's people are going to be thanking God for this night. And here they all are asleep.
And he said, it's OK. It's OK, I'll take care of it.
Isn't that wonderful? I'll handle it. You just go ahead
and go to sleep. I'll do it all. And then in verse
42, he said, rise up, let us go. Lo, he that betrayeth me
is at hand. As man, he was absolutely terrified
of what he was about to confront. But as God, he was ordering every
bit of it. He told them, this is what's
about to happen. And he told them, this is what's about to
happen. And then he would say, now, this is what's about to
happen. He woke them all up. He said, I'm about to be betrayed.
They're coming. They're on their way right now. Verse 43, And
immediately, while he yet spake, cometh Judas, one of the twelve,
and with him a great multitude, with swords and staves, from
the chief priests and the scribes and the elders. And he that betrayed
him had given them a token, saying, Whomsoever I shall kiss, That
same is he take him and lead him away safely. The word safely
means securely. What he said was you better hold
him tight. Hold him tight. Now, how many times did our Lord
just walk right through the mob, the mob that wanted to kill him,
the mob that wanted to lay hands on him, throw him over a cliff? How many times did he just vanish
away? How many times in the three and a half years that Judas walked
with him? What that proves to us is Judas
was an unbeliever. He was an unbeliever. He did
not believe that Jesus Christ was God Almighty. He did not
believe that. He thought he could take him.
He thought he could take him. And the only reason he did take
him is because The Lord allowed himself to be taken. That's what
happened right here. Judas was just the pawn that
God chose to carry out this night. Verse 45, And as soon as he was
come, he goeth straightway to him and saith, Master, master,
and kissed him. Judas came right up to him and
he said, Master, master. Not Lord, Lord. He didn't say
that. Master means teacher. He said
teacher, teacher. And he kissed him. And they laid
their hands on him and they took him. And one of them that stood
by drew a sword and smote a servant of the high priest and cut off
his ear. You know who that was? That was
Peter. That was Peter. Peter is trying. You do have to give him that.
He's trying. He's trying to do for God. And that's what men
and women try to do every day. They try to help their God in
this thing. They try to protect their God. But Peter is just not who he
thinks he is. And neither are men and women
today. We're not who we think we are. Peter was trying to cut
off that man's head. He missed and he cut off his
ear. And the other gospels tell us that the Lord said, Peter,
put away your sword. He said, don't you realize that
I could call down 12 legions of angels right now? 72,000 angels right now? Don't you realize
that I'm God Almighty? That I work, I control all these
things? Wait on the Lord, Peter. Look
to me and be ye saved. That's always the commandment.
Look to me, stop looking to yourself. Peter was looking to himself.
I've got to fix this. I have to save us. He said, look
to me, Peter. Verse 48, And Jesus answered
and said unto them, Are you come out as against a thief with swords
and with staves to take me? I was daily with you in the temple
teaching and you took me not. but the scriptures must be fulfilled. And they all forsook him and
fled. John's gospel tells us that our
Lord said, if you seek me, let these go. And that's the gospel. That's the gospel right there.
The Lord said, if you seek me, you have to let them go. If you
take me, you have to let them go. I'm their substitute. I'm going to die in their stead.
I'm going to take their place. Verse 51. And there followed
him a certain young man having a linen cloth cast about his
naked body. And the young man laid hold on
him and he left the linen cloth and fled from them naked. Now, I'm sure many things could
be said about this certain young man and what happened right here. It does not say who he is. It does not specifically tell
us who he is. He could be one of the apostles.
He could just be a bystander. I do believe he was one of God's
sheep. I do believe that he was a sheep.
Our Lord said, smite the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered.
That's what he just said. So I believe he was a sheep,
whoever he was. And here's why. Here's what we
see and what happened. They laid hold of his covering. And as he ran, his covering was
ripped off of him. And verse 52 says very specifically,
it points out that it was a linen cloth. Now do you know what our
Lord's body was wrapped in when they laid Him in that grave?
A linen cloth. That represents a sinner being
freed from his sin. That's what happened at this
very moment when they laid hold of Him and bound Him. All of
his people who are sinners were freed from their sin. That certain young man's sin
being ripped off of him and our Lord being bound in the very
thing that was taken off of the sinner. Because of that transaction,
they're all set free. That's the gospel. That's the
gospel. And that young man fleed the
wrath to come, didn't he? That's the good news of the gospel.
He was delivered. And that's what Christ accomplished
this night, right here in Gethsemane. That's what He accomplished.
He freed His people from their sin by binding Himself to it. That's what He was doing in that
garden. Verse 53, They led Jesus away to the high priest, and
with Him were assembled all the chief priests and the elders
and the scribes. And Peter followed him afar off,
even into the place of the high priest. And he sat with the servants
and warmed himself at the fire. And the chief priest and all
the council sought for witness against Jesus to put him to death
and found none. He was perfect. They couldn't
find one reason to put him to death. For many bear false witness
against him. They were lying on him. But their
witness agreed not together. And there arose certain, and
bare false witness against him, saying, We heard him say, I will
destroy this temple that is made with hands, and within three
days I will build another made without hands. But neither so
did their witnesses agree together. And that's how you can identify
false religion. That's how you can identify false
religion. When a man stands up and gives
his witness, if his witness does not agree with this witness,
the Word of God, somebody's lying. And I promise it's not God. It's
not the God who cannot lie. But even in the lives of these,
these witnesses, even in their own lives, they still declared
his truth. They still declared his truth.
Verse 58, we heard him say, I will destroy this temple that is made
with hands. And within three days, I will
build another made without hands. They thought he was talking about
that marble building. They'd been working on for 82
years, the temple. He was talking about himself.
A body has thou prepared me. He said, I'm going to lay this
body down and I'm going to suffer for my people. And three days
later, I'm going to rise again, having left the sins of my people
in that grave. And every one of them is going
to rise with me, rise in me as sinless as I am. New creatures. But as they stood there telling
their lies on him, verse 60 says, the high priest stood up in the
midst and asked Jesus saying, answerest thou nothing? What
is it which these witness against thee? But he held his peace.
And he answered nothing. Again, the high priest asked
him and said unto him, Art thou the Christ, the son of the blessed? And Jesus said, I am. I am. I love how clearly our Lord declared
the truth to them. I am. He deliberately said, I
am. That's Jehovah in the Old Testament.
Moses said, I am sent me to you. The Lord said, I am. Verse 62,
he said, I am and you shall see the son of man sitting on the
right hand of power and coming in the clouds of heaven. You're
going to see me when I come back. And they will. We all will. Verse
63. Then the high priest rent his
clothes and sayeth, what need we any further of witnesses?
You've heard the blasphemy, what think ye? And they all condemned
him to be guilty of death. And some began to spit on him
and to cover his face and to buffet him and to say unto him,
prophesy. And the servants did strike him
with the palms of their hands. That's what you would expect
out of his enemies, isn't it? But watch this right here, verse
66. And as Peter was beneath in the palace, there cometh one
of the maids of the high priest. And when she saw Peter warming
himself, she looked upon him and said, And thou also was with
Jesus of Nazareth, but he denied, saying, I know not, neither understand
I what thou sayest. And when he went out into the
porch, the cock crew. He said, I don't know what you're
saying, I don't understand what you're saying. And he went out
onto the porch and the cock crew. Verse 69, And a maid saw him
again, and began to say to them that stood by, This is one of
them. And he denied it again. And a
little after, they that stood by said again to Peter, Surely
thou art one of them, for thou art a Galilean. And thy speech
agreeth thereto. But he began to curse and to
swear, saying, I know not this man of whom you speak." I do
not know this man. He cursed God. He cursed God. And the second time the cock
crew, and Peter called to mind the word that Jesus said unto
him, before the cock crowed twice, thou shalt deny me thrice. And
when he thought thereon, he wept. He knew what he'd done. And one
of the other Gospels tells us at that moment in time, our Lord
looked at him. They met eyes and Peter knew. But do you know what happened
when our Lord arose on that third day? He sent his angels. They rolled away the stone from
the door and they told those two Marys, you go tell my disciples
that I'm coming to meet them. The Lord is going to meet them
in Galilee. He said, you tell all of them and Peter. And the
reason is because at this moment, the Lord died paying for the
sins of Peter. And if we belong to him, he died
paying for the sins of us. And all we can do is thank God
and praise God for mercy and forgiveness through the blood
he shed this night. Till next week, may the Lord
bless his word to our hearts. You have been listening to a
message by Gabe Stoniker, pastor of Kingsport Sovereign Grace
Church in Kingsport, Tennessee. If you would like a copy of this
message or to hear other messages of Sovereign Grace, you can write
to our physical mailing address at 905 Yadkin Street, Kingsport,
Tennessee 37660 or log on to our website at ksgctn.org. If you would like to come and
worship with us, our service times are Sunday morning Bible
study at 10 o'clock a.m., worship at 10.45 a.m., and 6 o'clock
p.m., Wednesday evening at 7.30 p.m. Please tune in next week
for another message of God's free and sovereign grace.