Matthew 26:36-46

Q: What does the Bible say about Jesus in Gethsemane?

Jesus experienced profound sorrow and distress in Gethsemane, bearing the weight of humanity's sins. In Gethsemane, as recorded in Matthew 26:36-46, Jesus faced deep sorrow and heaviness as He prayed, confronting the impending separation from the Father due to the sins He was about to bear. He was overwhelmed by the weight of our transgressions, which caused Him to sweat blood (Luke 22:44). This moment is pivotal, as it showcases not only His humanity but also His obedience to the will of God, praying, 'Not as I will, but as thou wilt' (Matthew 26:39). His anguish illustrates the great cost of our redemption and the love He has for His people.

Q: Why is Jesus' prayer in Gethsemane significant for Christians?

His prayer signifies His submission to God's will and the depth of His sacrifice for salvation. The prayer of Jesus in Gethsemane is significant as it demonstrates His profound submission to the will of the Father, which is the essence of His mission to save His people from their sins (Matthew 1:21). Despite the intense suffering He faced, He willingly accepted the cup of God’s wrath, highlighting the importance of obedience and reliance on God’s purpose in our lives (Philippians 2:8). This moment also brings forth the concept of atonement, emphasizing that Jesus not only bore our sins but also experienced the depth of anguish that such a burden entails, making Him the perfect substitute for sinners.

Q: How does Gethsemane relate to the doctrine of total depravity?

Gethsemane reveals the weight of sin that Christ bore, highlighting humanity's total depravity and need for a Savior. The events in Gethsemane reflect the doctrine of total depravity as Jesus faced the full weight of humanity's sin, illustrating our inherent sinful nature that separates us from God. In this moment, God began to lay upon Him the iniquity of us all (Isaiah 53:6), emphasizing that without His intervention, humanity is entirely lost and cannot save itself. The intensity of Christ's prayer and anguish underscores the seriousness of sin and the necessity of divine intervention for redemption. Therefore, Gethsemane stands as a reminder of our desperate need for a Savior, who took upon Himself the consequences of our total depravity.

Q: Why did Jesus ask not to drink the cup in Gethsemane?

Jesus asked for the cup to pass from Him, expressing His anguish, yet surrendered to God's will. When Jesus asked if the cup could pass from Him, He was expressing His deep distress regarding the wrath and separation He would endure on behalf of sinners. This cup represented not just physical death, but the spiritual agony of taking on the sins of the world (Luke 22:42). Jesus' plea reflects an honest human response to suffering, affirming His identity as fully God and fully man. However, His ultimate submission, 'Nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt,' demonstrates His commitment to God’s salvific plan, modeling for His followers the importance of aligning personal desires with divine will in the face of difficulty.

Q: How does Gethsemane demonstrate Christ's fulfillment of prophetic scripture?

Gethsemane fulfills prophetic scripture as Jesus experiences the sorrows foretold in Isaiah. The events that transpire in Gethsemane can be seen as a fulfillment of the prophetic scriptures, particularly Isaiah 53, which depicts the suffering servant. Jesus' overwhelming sorrow and anguish align perfectly with the description of one who is 'acquainted with grief' (Isaiah 53:3). As He faced the burden of our iniquities and the agony of impending separation from the Father, it highlights the depths of His sacrificial love and obedience to the predicted suffering. This moment confirms that Jesus is the prophesied Messiah who bears the sins of the people and fulfills God’s plan for redemption.

Self-awaited, all that I can
do At the cross, at the cross, where I first saw the light And
the burden of my heart rolled away It was there, my grace,
I received my sight And now I am happy all the day Now, go back with me to Matthew
26, Gospel of Matthew, chapter 26. This is truly a holy
scripture that we're looking at. somehow or another, if the Lord
could, cause us to take off our shoes, because we're on holy
ground. This is sufficient to tell this
story here. The Lord is on his way to Jerusalem,
on his way to be crucified, to the cross. He just left Mount
Olivet, the Mount of Olives, and then they walk down the mountain
on the way to Jerusalem. They have to cross over in Luke's
gospel, I believe it is, it says they cross the brook Sidron. I thought of Psalm 110, verse
7, that speaks of the Lord He'll stoop down and drink of the brook
in the way and lift up the head. What a prophecy. But I believe
the Lord stopped and drank of that brook of Cedron to fulfill
the scripture. As our head, he's about to be
lifted up. And then they come to this garden
of Gethsemane. This is on the way into the city
of Jerusalem, this garden of Gethsemane, verse 36. They come
to a place called Gethsemane. Now, the word means oil press. Wine press, John. That's what
it means. Isn't that fitting? Physically speaking, this was
a place where they brought the olives down from Mount Olive
to be pressed. Spiritually, this is where the
Lord has come to walk the wine press, as Isaiah said, 63. This is where he's being pressed
down with the burden of our sins. Remember, he said he became very
heavy. It was here that God began to
lay on him the iniquity of us all. He was
here in this garden that God began to make him sin, to turn
him into sin, whatever that means. And under this terrible burden,
the weight of our sins, a world of people, a weight, and the
thought of being separated from God, which is what hell is. He's going to go
through it. And the thought of being separated
from his God and being made sin, which he had none of. Luke says
that he sweats, as it were, great drops of blood. He began to sweat
blood. That's how horrible this was for him. Verse 36, he told his disciples,
Sit ye here while I go and pray yonder. But he took with him
Peter and the two sons of Zebedee,
the Lord in his marvelous wisdom. After what Peter said, he's going
to teach Peter a lesson. and took Peter with him and the
two sons of Zebedee. He left eight of them and took
three of them apart into a secluded place in this garden where he
is going to pray in order that they might hear his prayer. They
did, and they recorded it, or it is recorded anyway, and to
watch with him. The Lord took these same three
up on the mountain one day to transfigure himself for And I
thought, oh, that's just our God. Even at this present time,
there remained at the remnant, according to this election of
grace, whom God, whom the Lord had chosen, that we might behold
his glory, not only up on the mount, but to behold his shame
and sorrow and to watch with him. Watch with him. And it says here in verse 37,
he began to be sorrowful and very heavy. He began to be sorrowful. Scripture says in Isaiah 53 that
he was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, doesn't it? Our Lord was a man of sorrows
and acquainted with grief. I believe he was most of the
time. Joyful. I do. I believe most of the time he
was of a cheerful countenance. You know how. You. Your attitude and so forth is
reflected in others. You know how that if you're down,
you'll bring others down, won't you? It's just the way it is.
It's just human nature, isn't it? Someone who's leading us, if
they're always bad-mouthing and poor and this and poor that,
you'll be that way, too. So for this reason and others,
I believe the Lord was mostly of a cheerful countenance and
joyful. He kept telling them things like this, fear not. He said, I love, oh, I love when
he said to them, be of good cheer. I have overcome the world. He
told them first, he said, in the world you shall have tribulation,
but be of good cheer. There's no way to say that, but
smile. Cheer up. I have overcome the world. And in another place he said,
my joy I give unto you, my peace I give unto you. Peace. He kept telling them things like
that. Fear not. Peace. Be not afraid. Be of good cheer. It is not spiritual or pious
to be moody and melancholy all the time. It's not. Those are not signs of somebody
being real religious. Well, they are signs of just
being merely religious. The reason they're that way is
because they're touch not, taste not, handle not, and so forth,
and they're so miserable. When Scripture says, God giveth
us all things richly to what? Enjoy. Didn't he say, in Ecclesiastes,
live joyfully with the wife of Darius? Didn't he? And I believe the Lord reflected
this in his disciples. I don't think they had a worry
for three and a half years. I know they didn't. They didn't
worry about it. But when he was about to leave, oh, that's when
they started getting sad and sorrowful. Because there's a
time, Scripture says there's a time. There's a season for
everything. There's a time, a time to weep.
There's a time to weep. Can't be happy all the time.
Somebody that is happy all the time, he's a fake also. Somebody that's melancholy, moody,
and sorrowful all the time, that's not good either. There's a time
to weep, a time to laugh. Most people ought to have their
laughter turned to mourning. Shouldn't they? But he says,
those that mourn shall be joined. They'll be blessed. They'll be
happy. We should be more joyful. Why? For this reason. He hath borne our sorrows and
our grief. We have nothing to dread and
nothing to fear. Nancy, because he bore them. The sting of death is sin. Why are people so afraid of death,
this fear of death that they're in bondage to, and afraid to
die? Sin. We have none. And he says, you have nothing
to fear. So he bore our sins and our sorrows. He carried our songs. He bore
our grief and carried our sorrow. Did you hear? We used to sing
that chorus. We haven't sung it in a long
time. Did you hear what the Lord Jesus said to me? They're all
taken away. Your sins are pardoned and you're
free. They're all taken away. Now,
some of you are smiling. Do you reckon Mary Magdalene? Whoever
the one caught in adultery. When she came in guilty as charged,
she was weeping. But buddy, when the Lord says,
I don't condemn you, go, say no more. I think she fulfilled that prophecy. She said, then my feet did leap. I leapt over a wall. She didn't
touch the ground when she's walking out of that place. From then
on, there wasn't too much to make her too sad. Blessed, happy, blessed are they
whose sins are covered. But now, our Lord, His countenance
greatly changed. Says he began to be very sorrowful,
exceeding sorrowful. Verse 38. Exceeding sorrowful,
he said. And I cannot, I hate to even
read these passages. You know that? I hate to read
them. I don't want to try to sound like our Lord. There's
no way you could do that. When he prayed to the Lord, oh
my father, I can't. I don't like being the one to
read them. You know what I'm saying. Nobody
could enter into this, but it says he said, my soul is exceeding
sorrowful, exceeding sorrowful and heavy, exceeding sorrowful,
even unto death. It's as if he were saying, I'm
going to die right here in this garden before I get to the cross. And it was of Christ that the
preacher, lamentation, the preacher made this prophecy, Behold, and
see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow, which is done
unto me, wherewith the Lord hath afflicted me in the day of his
fierce anger. So he began to be exceeding sorrowful,
even unto death. The Lord had ministered. The
Lord sent an angel. right here in the garden. It's
not recorded here, but in another gospel it is. For he was died
right there from this heavy, heavy, the weight of this burden. And he says in verse 38 to Peter,
James, and John, tarry ye here and watch with me. I wrote to the side of that the
word Selah. Terry here. Terry here. Now stop
there. Just think about that. And watch with me. Watch with
me. And then it says he went on a
little further. Verse 39. He went a little further. Went a little deeper into the
garden. A little more secluded place. And fell on his face. fell on his face. The Lord whose
countenance, Revelation 1 says, is as the sun shineth in all
its strength, now his face is distorted with grief. Have you
ever looked upon someone who is just so distraught with grief
that their face is just disfigured as it were? Well, none like him
now. None. His face, he whose countenance
is as the sun that shineth in its strength, is now distorted
with grief. Distorted. The Lord, who is high
and lifted up, his head high and lifted up above all, head
above all, now bows his head. The Lord, before whose face all
men shall someday fall, saying, Hide us from his face. The Lord,
before whose face all men shall someday fall, now falls on his
face. And he prayed, verse 39, O my
Father, If it be possible, let this cup,
this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not as I will,
but as thou wilt. This cup, this hour, the Lord
is talking about this hour, right now, this time, right now, what
he's going through now, this cup of sorrow and grief that
he's drinking right now, this great grief, and he's being consumed
with this sorrow. He's consumed with it, and it's
going to consume him. And he's not praying, the Lord
is not praying to be delivered from death, from going to the
cross. One time he said that. What shall I say? Father, deliver
me from this death? No, he says, for this cause came
I into the world. As we've said so many times,
the Lord Jesus Christ was not killed by men. But it pleased
the Lord to bruise him, the Lord. Was not taken by me, and he said
no man can take my life from me. He gave himself the Lord
God delivered him up. Delivered him into the hands.
Did you notice in verse 45 it says he's betrayed into the hands
of sinners. God did that. put him into the
hands of sinners. So he's not praying that the
Lord would deliver him from the cross because that's why he came
to this earth. He's the lamb slain before the
foundation of the world. And this is the whole purpose
for him coming, going to the cross and dying as the sin atonement
shedding his blood to put away when he was born, it was announced
he shall save his people from their sins. How? By dying, by
shedding his precious blood to put away their sins. That's why
he came. But here in the garden, this
is where God began to lay on him the weight of all the sins
of all of God's people and began to separate him from himself. put him through hell as it were,
God began to make him sin, make him guilty, make him this scapegoat. God is laying on his head and
God is going to leave him, take him away and leave him, which
he ought to do to us, ought to do to his people, which he's
going to do to a vast number of people, leave them alone,
which God has done to a degree to many people. And our Lord whose. Life was bound up in life and
God in whom he lived and moved and had his being a man. Is now going to separate from
God. And he whose nature was absolutely
holy and perfect and pure and spotless No thought of sin, clean
hands, a pure heart, and never lifted up his soul into vanity
or swore deceitfully. Now this sin is taking hold of
his being. And he's recoiling at it. The
Scriptures talks about Lot being vexed with the conversation of
the wicked. No one's vexed like our Lord now is vexed. Do the
things of this world, if you have a renewed nature, the things
of this world If you're really concerned with God's glory, then
the blasphemy that goes on in God's name repulses you. This is why we sometimes seem
mad. This is why David said things
like this. Do not I hate them that hate thee. David said in another place,
he said, they only consult to bring down your glory. David
said. He said, Lord, it's time for
you to work. They've made void your law. They're making void
your word. They don't care what your word says. Do something.
They're bringing you down into the dirt. Bring them down. If
you're really concerned with God's glory, these things vex
you. And all of this filth, not only
in yourself, but just everywhere, it just vexes you. How much more? I can't tell this, but how much
more His holy nature. See, we were born in sin. We lived for sin for a while.
This was our bread and our drink. Sin was. We took pleasure in
it. But now this new man doesn't. This new man hates what he once
loved and loves what he once hated. But our Lord never loves
sin. He, the righteous Lord, loveth
righteousness, hateth iniquity. And now he's being made this
sin. It's entering his being. And he's saying, I want to die
from this right now before I go to the cross and shed my blood
and fulfill the scripture. And so he said, oh, my father,
if this cup may not pass from me, let this cup pass from me. Deliver me from this consuming
sorrow right now in this garden. Nevertheless. Oh, my. At not as I would. But as that. My, my. It's a prayer. Has something to do with the
will of God. We want to be heard. That's what old brother Barnard
said to that young fellow one time. The young preacher asked
him, Brother Barnard, what is prayer? And Barnard was quiet
for quite a while, and the young man didn't think he heard him.
And he asked him again, he said, what is prayer, Brother Barnard?
And he said, it has something to do with the will of God. That's all he said. This is what our Lord, who was
totally concerned with the will of God, came to do. Lo, in the
volume of the book is written of me, I come to do thy will,
O God. This is the man. He had a free will, but yet his will, his holy will, He said, if this is thy will, so be it. Oh my, Lord give us
that submission. I thought of Hebrews 5, listen
to this, in the days of his flesh, Christ in the days of his flesh,
this priest after the order of Melchizedek. in the days of his
flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplication with
strong crying and tears." The Lord was weeping here. He doesn't
say that, but I know he did, through this passage. When he
offered up prayers and supplication with strong crying and tears
unto him that was able to save him from death, and he was heard. in that he feared. Though he
were a son, yet learned he obedience how? By the things he suffered." So he said, nevertheless, not
as I will, but thou wilt, as thou wilt. Verse 40, and he cometh
unto the disciples. cometh unto the disciples, and
findeth them asleep." My, my. Our Lord is weeping. Our Lord is weeping, and they're
sleeping. That's something in it. Incredible
in it. And he says to Peter. Notice
who he says this to, Brother Sam. He speaks to Peter. All of them were sleeping, but
he spoke to Peter. Peter was so self-assured, wasn't
he? Because Peter was the first one to boast, he's the first
one that's going to be humbled. How blessed, how merciful the
Lord was to do this to Peter, wasn't he? The Lord chose Peter. Aren't you thankful that Simon
Peter lives? Aren't you thankful the Lord
went out and the first fellow he called was a fellow named
Simon? Aren't you thankful? I'm so thankful
for Simon Peter. I believe everyone in here can
relate to one of the apostles and one only, Simon Peter. The
Lord exposes everything about him. His pride. His cowardice, his sins, everything. Yet the Lord chose him first
to show that he saves the weakest, the chief of sinners. And he
came and he said to Peter, the first one, to Peter, he said,
what? What? Could you not watch with me one
hour? You remember Peter's boast, don't
you? Everybody may be offended, but
not me. No, I should die with you. I
won't deny you. The Lord says, OK, you stay here.
You watch with me and pray. He came back and found Peter
sleeping and the rest, and he said, Could you not watch with
me one hour? You know, this is so good for
Peter, because later on the Lord said, Now when you are converted.
When thou art converted. No, he said this earlier. He
said, When thou art converted, Peter, strengthen your brethren. The one who you're going to deal
with and who you're going to preach to are a bunch of weaklings. And the only. They're not going
to be able to relate. If Peter didn't fall like this.
He'd have been self-righteous, he'd have been, you know. But
because he failed like he did, because he failed like he did,
because he was so weak, he could He was able to sucker them, help
this weakness. And Paul the apostle said this,
he said, who is weak and I'm not weak? Remember that? Paul the greater said that. So
does Paul the lesser. I must, I confess to you right
now, there have been times when I couldn't read this book and
study for one hour. I hesitated to tell you that
before. There used to be a couch in my study down there. I took
it out. On purpose. Who is not weak enough? Can't watch one hour? That's
right. Much study is awareness to the flesh. Some of you, right
as I speak, are struggling so hard to keep your eyes But our Lord says this. Watch
verse 41, watch and pray. What does watch mean? It means
be wary, wary, watch. You ever watch? You men, Ron,
you're in the service. Henry, you ever serve guard duty?
What were you doing? You were watching, weren't you?
You were the lookout. You were the watch. What were
you watching for? The enemy. You were watching for whatever.
You're on the lookout. You're being diligent. What would
happen, Brother Ron, if you got caught sleeping on guard duty? What would happen, Brother Henry? And you'd just be real thankful
if the enemy didn't come in on your watch. Be real thankful. It says watch, be wary, be on
the lookout, be observant, be diligent, look out, watch and
pray. These go together. They always
go together. Watch and pray, watch unto prayer, Paul said. Watch unto prayer. Why do we
pray? Well, let me ask you men, when
you're on watch duty, did you ever get sleepy? You may have not been praying
at the time, but you were hoping, wishing that you wouldn't fall
asleep. Well that's what this is watching
the prayer without me our Lord says you can do nothing see Peter. Oh I won't deny you. Watch with
me. And he he he was asleep. Had he said Lord willing Lord
willing. Lord if you will. I won't deny
you. If you restrain me, I won't deny
you. If you constrain me to confess
you, I'll confess you. If you don't, I'll deny you.
Lord, if you don't give me the ability, I can't watch. Please help me to open thou mine
eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death. Let me not sleep as
do others. If he'd have said that, he'd
have been wide awake. He'd have been listening, wouldn't he? Without me, you can do nothing.
Why is it, let me ask you, why is it that we, when we come into
this place, we have such a hard time staying away? Why is that?
Why is that? Well, look at verse 41. He says, watch and pray that
you enter not into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing,
but the flesh is weak, is weak. I'm so glad he put that there.
So glad he said that. Our Lord told us to pray, lead
us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Deborah, what he
was saying was the evil one. The evil one. Satan hath desired
to sift you, Peter. The Lord told him this, didn't
he? Satan hath desired to sift you.
What's his hope? There's somebody that's never
going to sleep. Psalm 121, he that keepeth Israel. shall never slumber." He said,
be your eye bright for you. The effectual, fervent prayer,
John, of a righteous man availeth much. Satan had desired you. I'm going to let him have you
for a little bit. I'm going to let him have you for a little
bit just to show you what you are. To show you that without
me you'd be a pawn in his hand. But to show you that I put a
hedge about you, but I pray that I ever live to make intercession
for you. Oh, the flesh is weak. The reason
we have trouble, we come in here. You can sit and watch some ridiculous,
foolish, useless, worthless, vain TV show that is absolute
foolishness. I mean utter, absolute, you're
embarrassed when you watch it, aren't you? And you can sit there
and rap to it. Not bad an eye, not even wink.
But you come in here under the sound of God's Word, things that
are holy and pure and just and good and true and spiritual and
eternally profitable and not vain. There's not one vain thing
being said. It's all good. This is your life, Moses said. This is not vain. This is your
life. These aren't idle words. These are words of life. So why,
all of a sudden, Because we're not wrestling with
flesh and blood. We're not just wrestling with
the flesh. And so the weapons of our warfare
aren't carnal. Why do false preachers, why does
religion have to have all these bans? Keep everybody wet. Why do they get everybody jumping
up and shouting? To keep them from falling asleep. Honestly, what is the power of God? What
will lighten our eyes? What will open us, quicken us? The only thing. I was a young teenager and sat
through services just like this and I thought, this is killing
me. Honestly. It's not funny, it's really not
funny, it's a sign of death. But God. One day, he killed me. The commandment came, Romans
7, and I died. My heart stopped. Oh my. So we're not wrestling with mere
flesh and blood, and the scripture says the flesh lusts against
the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh. The old man, an old man of flesh,
is warring against your new man, warring against you. And you can't do the things that
you would. You, the new man, creating the image of Christ,
this new creature in Christ, has this other fellow, this old
fellow, whom you want dead and gone, but he's still there. This
body of flesh, It's lust against the spirit,
so you cannot do the things that you would. So our Lord said,
here's what you do. Call upon him. Call upon him. Watch and pray that you enter
not into temptation. Well, then our Lord went further,
went back into the garden. Verse 42, he went away again
the second time. Verse 42, and prayed, saying,
Oh, my father. If this cup may not pass away
from me, except I drink it, I will be done. The cup was God's wrath and fury. Philippians talks about the fellowship
of his sufferings. You know, we go through a little
bit of suffering. A little bit. He said you must,
didn't he? We go through a little bit where
we should know a little bit of the fellowship of his suffering
as we need to know a little bit we need to suffer a little bit
in this world we need to have some grief and some sorrow. We need to suffer we need to
go through tribulations. Why? That we might know we have
no continuing city here. That we might know that this
is not for us. This is not our life. To wean
us from this world, to wean us from the things we hold so tightly
to. To cause us to call on God, to
seek the Lord, to seek a city whose foundations and builder
and maker is God, to seek Him. Oh, the Lord doesn't fill us
up, though, with suffering. They couldn't take it, could
they? They couldn't take it. He gives
us just enough. A wee little gram. Just a wee
little gram, the Irish say, of suffering. Not too much. He knows who to give what and
how much. But it's not going to be overcoming. Oh, our cup of blessings runneth
over. Have you ever thought about that,
Sherry? Runneth over. The way the Lord blesses us.
in order to what? Run over. Bless others. If the Lord blesses
me, my family's going to be bad. And my friends are going to be
bad. Run up over. These cups of blessing, but never
our cup of suffering. Just a wee little dram. But the
waters of a full cup of wrath were wrung out to Christ from
the cradle to the grave. nothing but suffering. Nevertheless, this cup, that
just God is a just God, and now Christ is being made sin for
his people, and God is leaving him alone, and is going to leave
him alone. Like I said, like that scapegoat.
He's going to bear our sins away, this fit man, this able man.
He's going to take them away, separate them from us as far
as the East is from the West. But in order to do that, he has
to be separated. He has them. He has our sin.
But in Luke's gospel, it said there appeared unto him an angel
and ministered unto him. Oh, our Lord is so merciful.
No matter how much suffering, the Lord endured more suffering
than anybody will ever go. All of us put together and you
get the Lord sent unto him an angel to minister unto him. And verse 43, it says he came
and found him asleep again. Oh, my, he came and found him asleep
again. Why? Their eyes were heavy. He found them. How did he find
them? How did the Lord find us? People worry about, when the
Lord comes, how He will find us. I'll tell you how He'll find
us. He'll find us where He put us.
Those people who died years ago and are buried at sea and the
sharks ate every bit of them. or some who were mistakenly burned
and incinerated or cremated or whatever, and their ashes thrown
to the wind, how's he going to find them? I'll say to the north
wind, bring my children. I'll say to the bones, gather
the bones. He'll find them. Well, how will
he find them? He'll find us in Christ is how
he'll find them. How will he find us? He'll find us sinful
flesh with flesh. That which is flesh is flesh.
Aren't you glad? Aren't you thankful, Nancy Parker,
for Psalm 103 verse 13? Don't you love that? Like as
a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that
fear him. He knows our brain. He remembers. He comes and he
finds them asleep again. Didn't they learn the lesson
the first time? No. How's he going to find us? The
way He found us the first time. I don't seem to be making any
progress, preacher. I feel like I'm more sinful now
than I was. The Lord didn't save you. The Lord
found you in your sin the first time, and that's why He came
to you, to save you from your sin. And you're still a sinner,
and that's why you ever live it. He's still your Savior. He found them asleep again, again,
again. And it says he left them. Their
eyes were heavy. Oh, my. And he left them, and
he went away again. He let them sleep. He did not
brave them. Don't you love that passage in
James that says, if any man lack wisdom, let him ask from above. Let him ask the Father, who giveth
to all men liberally and upbraided not. In other words,
I gave you so, so much yesterday. What'd you do with it? I squandered
it. Oh, prodigal son, look what all
I did for you just yesterday. And now you're out of, you're
out of grace now. You're out, you're totally, you're
bankrupt. You don't have anything. You're
coming back to me again for mercy? Didn't I show you mercy yesterday?
You're going to do the same thing again? Yes. Well, here you go. He didn't upbraid them. He let
them sleep. But listen, Mark's gospel said
they woke up. Mark's gospel said they woke
up when he came back the second time. They woke up. And all he
says was nobody knew what to say. They wish not what's how
to answer. He didn't say anything, but they
woke up and they were so ashamed. How about you, Senator? The Lord
sees all and catches you again and he wakes you up. And I don't
have anything to say. What am I going to say? He leaves them. Now look at this. Oh, a blessed
conclusion to this. He left them. And he went away
and prayed the third time. The same words. Prayed the same
words. My, my. Our Lord had one pressing
need right now, right here in this story, had one pressing
need, and that's what he's asking for, that one thing needful. And so do we. We have one thing
needful, honestly. I thought about this just the
other day, that, you know, we're so blessed with material things,
aren't we? Everybody in here, rich and increased
with good, honestly. Catherine, the Lord said, having
food and rain, but we're to be content, just something to eat
and something to wear. He said, that's all you need.
That's all you need, your bodies, didn't he? And the fact of the matter is
saying, if we all lose our jobs and lose our homes and our automobiles
and all of our earthly possessions, if we have something to eat and
clothes, we're OK, aren't we? Can't we make it? Huh? You know
the Lord never, you ever thought about this? The Lord never gave
a dime to anybody when he was on this earth. Huh? You ever thought about that?
In light of this false religion today? The Lord Jesus Christ
never gave a dime to anybody. He could have made everybody
filthy rich. He could have walked and gave
somebody a million dollars right there, equivalent. He never gave
anybody a dime. The one time they said, let's
sell this and give it to the poor. I said, no. Because that's not what it, that's
not, that's not happening. It's the deceitfulness of riches.
The Lord didn't have any of that. He didn't have anything. He didn't
have anything. Was he blessed? Was he content? If we lose everything, better
is little with a fear of the Lord. How hardly shall they that
have riches enter the kingdom of heaven. I think the great blessing or
the great riches of this country is proof, further proof of God
leaving the reprobate society. I really do. As in the days of
Noah. Why did I say that? Oh, because
there's one thing One thing needful. And if preachers were true, they'd
be standing up telling the people this. You don't need to find a mate.
You don't need to have a new job. You don't need to find a
house. You don't need to find this, find that. You need to
know Christ. You need mercy. We need mercy. This is the one thing needful.
How often? Every morning. Mercy. God's going to destroy this planet.
We say that a lot, don't we? We ought to, the more as we see
the day approaching, to warn our people, don't fall asleep
in this enchanted ground. What if the Lord took it all
away? It might be the greatest blessing that all of us have
ever known. It might be. It really might be. I don't think
it's going to happen, but it just might be. Let's see who
really are the people of God. One thing, that's what he prayed
for. And I hear you men pray in the
study. One of our men always says his father, father, father,
always through his prayer, father, father. I like that. Another one of our men, right
before he prays, says, let's look to the Lord. You all know who that is, don't
you? Let's look to the Lord. That's what we're doing. That's
what prayer is, looking to the Lord. Lord, help us. What do
we need? What's our great need? Lord,
have mercy. Save us or we perish. Save us
or we perish. Save us and our children. Well,
he went on. He left them, came back, found
them asleep. They left them again, prayed
the same words, and then verse forty-five, he cometh, then cometh
he to his disciples and saith unto them, sleep on. They're sleeping again,
and he says, just take your rest. I thought, how fitting, how fitting
this is, since our Lord is grieving, they could be I don't ever remember my daughter
laying awake all night worrying about anything. I don't ever
remember. And when she was an infant, she kept us awake. And
it's going to be fitting, Hannah, that the same is done to you,
you see. Honestly. But how fitting this is that
the Lord says, just rest. You don't need to stay awake
anyway. Because as I quoted to you, he
that keepeth Israel shall never slumber or sleep. Rest. Just
rest. I'm bearing your sins and your
iniquities. Rest. I've done the work for
you. Rest. I'm alive forevermore, and you're
not going to die. You're just going to sleep. Hush now, little child, just
sleep on. In that bed, sleep on. Take your
rest. Take your rest. And he went on
to say, the hour is at hand. It's at hand. The son of man
is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Oh, that struck me,
too, that there. I hope this doesn't apply to
anybody in here. But anyway, a little while went
by, I believe, a little time, I believe the Lord is that they're
in the garden, okay, and the cycles are asleep. And the Lord didn't pray and
came back and he's asleep on. And so he's awake. And he doesn't
need a fire to warm him. But he's awake. And a little
while went by. They rested a while. They slept
a good while. He let them rest. It's going
to be some sleepless days in the next few days, aren't there?
Oh, they're not going to be able to sleep in a few days. Sorry,
Jerry. There's some real troubles coming.
He says, rest. He lets them rest for a while
and gather their strength. And then he says, rise. Time to get up. Let's be going. You know. Let's go. He's in hand. So there's time to sleep. It's time to get up. Time to
rest. Yes. Time to stand up. Get up,
Jeanette. It's the time. And let's be going. We're going
to rest, but we're sojourning. It's time to get up. We've got
to go. We've got to travel on. We've got to travel on. OK. Brother Gabe, come and lead
us in our closing hymn. Let's sing hymn number 122 and
stand again. 122. We'll sing the first and last verse. Why did they nail him to Calvary's
tree? Why, tell me, why was he there? Jesus, the helper, the healer,
the friend. Why, tell me, why was he there? All my iniquities on Him were
laid, He nailed them all to the tree. Jesus, the debt of my sin
fully paid, He paid the ransom for me. Last verse. Why should I linger apart from
his love? Why, tell me, why should I fear? Thank you.

Matthew 26:36-46

What does the Bible say about Jesus in Gethsemane?

Why is Jesus' prayer in Gethsemane significant for Christians?

How does Gethsemane relate to the doctrine of total depravity?

Why did Jesus ask not to drink the cup in Gethsemane?

How does Gethsemane demonstrate Christ's fulfillment of prophetic scripture?

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Matthew 26:36-46

What does the Bible say about Jesus in Gethsemane?

Why is Jesus' prayer in Gethsemane significant for Christians?

How does Gethsemane relate to the doctrine of total depravity?

Why did Jesus ask not to drink the cup in Gethsemane?

How does Gethsemane demonstrate Christ's fulfillment of prophetic scripture?

Sermon Transcript

About Paul Mahan

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