Sovereign Grace Chapel, located
at 135 Annabel Lane in Beaver, West Virginia, invites you to
listen to a gospel message concerning Jesus Christ, our Lord. Hello,
welcome to our broadcast. I hope you have your Bibles with
you and will turn with me to Matthew chapter 26. I've titled the message,
The Savior in Gethsemane. I want to look at the last few
moments that our Lord spent with his disciples before he went
to the cross to suffer and die for his people. And the disciples
spent some of those very last moments that they had in the
presence of the Savior sound asleep. Now I'm not being hard
on them. They had to be physically exhausted.
bodies need sleep. This was late at night, their
bodies needed sleep. But the lesson I want to take
to my soul, and I hope you will to yours, is I don't want to
spend time alone with the Lord, time in the public worship service,
spiritually asleep, when I could be getting something vital to
my soul. Now these last moments that the
Lord spent with his disciples before he suffered are recorded
here for our learning and our benefit. And I pray we learn
something about the Savior from this text that'll wake us up
spiritually and thrill our souls and enable us to trust in Christ.
The first thing I see here is this, that the suffering and
the death of Christ is the only way God's people could be saved.
Matthew 26, verse 36. Then cometh Jesus with them unto
a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, sit
ye here while I go and pray yonder. And he took with him Peter and
the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very
heavy. Then saith he unto them, my soul
is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death, tarry ye here and
watch with me. And he went a little further
and fell on his face and prayed. saying, O my father, if it be
possible, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not as I will,
but as thou wilt. And he cometh unto the disciples,
and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, couldst
thou not watch with me one hour? Watch, and pray, that ye enter
not into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing,
but the flesh is weak. He went away again the second
time, and prayed, saying, oh my father, if this cup may not
pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done. And he
came again and found them asleep again, for their eyes were heavy,
and he left them and went away again, and prayed the third time,
saying the same words. Now we know that the Lord Jesus
was not praying this way, let this cup pass from me, trying
to get out of going to the cross to suffer and die for his people.
That's not why he prayed that way at all. So many times during
his earthly ministry, he said the very reason he came incarnate
was to suffer and to die. He wasn't trying to get out of
suffering. It could be he prayed this way so that you and I would
know his suffering is the only way sinners could be saved. This
cup could not pass from the Savior because his suffering was the
only way his people could be saved from their sin. And what
was causing the Lord so much anguish here was not just the
physical sufferings on the cross. I don't mean to minimize those
physical sufferings, but he could endure those physical sufferings.
I mean, as horrible as they were, ended up killing somebody, many
people endured those sufferings at that time. The problem the
Lord was having here was soul suffering. He was getting ready
to be made sin when he went to the cross, and the thought, of
the Holy Son of God being made sin was so horrible to his mind
that just thinking about it made him think it will kill his body
before he even gets to the cross. Now the scriptures say that Christ
was made sin, and that's not speaking in type or picture.
That happened in reality. The Savior was made sin for his
people. He was made to be guilty of the
sin of his people even though he never committed any sin. That
sin became his. He felt the guilt of it. He felt
the shame of it. And then he suffered the penalty
of it. He suffered the penalty of sin
as a guilty man, dying because that's what sin demands, death
for sin. And that thought was more horrible
to the Holy Son of God than sinners like you and me could even imagine.
The physical suffering wouldn't be causing the Lord so much anguish.
It's his soul being truly made sin. That's what made him have
such anguish of soul, being made guilty of sin. If Christ died
for sin that was not his, if he died to pay a debt that did
not belong to him, well, the Lord would be dying as a hero,
kind of like a soldier dying defending his country. That soldier
didn't die because he did anything wrong. He died as an innocent.
He died defending his country. Now Christ our Savior absolutely
did die a hero's death, didn't he? Christ is the hero of his
people. He took our sin away from us
and then he died to satisfy God's justice so we never will have
to. He was made sin so that his father would be just when he
put him to death. And that was the worst suffering,
the soul suffering that the Savior is talking about here, being
made sin before his father. and suffering the penalty of
that before his father. Now you and I can't comprehend
what it was for Christ to be made sin. Our pea brains could
never comprehend such a thing. But we don't need to understand
how it happened. That's not the point. The scriptures
give us enough information to know why Christ had to be made
sin. Christ had to be made sin. It had to become his. because
that's the only way sin could be put away in justice. At Calvary,
the father did not put an innocent man to death. He put a guilty
man to death on the cursed tree, so he made his son sin. He made
him guilty, and then he killed him to satisfy his justice. It
was the father that plunged the sword of justice into the heart
of his own fellow, his son. The father did that. The Father
did that because the only way God can put away sin is in truth
and justice. The sacrifice of Christ that
included all of his sufferings unto death, that is the only
way God's justice could be satisfied. It's the only way God's elect
could be saved from their sin. It's the only way the penalty
of sin could be paid is by the suffering and the death of Christ.
He had to suffer everything he suffered to satisfy God's justice. If there was any other way, if
there's any way other than the sacrifice of God's son, the father
would have done it. Now this is what I know from
reading scripture. The father loves the son. He loves the son. If there was any way to put sin
away, that he could spare his son all this suffering and all
of this humiliation, the father would have done it. But there
wasn't another way. Now God is holy, and everything
God does must be holy. So in order to save his people
from their sin, the father can't ignore their sin. The father
couldn't just say, well, the debt's paid, even though it's
not. That wouldn't be holy. That wouldn't
be just, and everything God does must be holy and just. The father
can't just do some sort of, fancy accounting and cook the books
and make it look like sin's been paid for when it really hasn't
been. God's holy, he can't do that. That wouldn't be true,
it wouldn't be just, and justice would not be satisfied unless
sin is punished. It has to be punished in the
person of our substitute. See, in the father, when he made
his son sin, at Calvary, God wasn't playing games. He wasn't
playing games. He couldn't just pretend like
the sin debt of his people belonged to Christ. That wouldn't be holy
or just either, to just pretend. If the Lord Jesus Christ did
not truly, actually take the sin of his people away from them,
and take it into his own body on the tree, and make it his,
and then put it away by the power of his blood, by the power of
his precious blood. If he didn't take our sin away
from us, then our sin's still on us. And the holy God will
have to damn us for it because sin must be punished. If God's gonna stay God, he must
be just. So the Savior was not trying
to get out of being made sin. He wasn't trying to get out of
suffering and dying for his people. This is what he was doing. He
was showing how willing he was to drink that awful cup of God's
wrath dry. He was willing to drink it dry
for his people because he's the only one capable of drinking
it. He's the only one of satisfying God's justice by suffering and
dying for his people. He's the only one capable of
honoring the father by his death for sin for his people. He's
the only one able to put away the sin of the people who he
loves and he was willing. to drink it dry. That's what
he's showing us here. He's showing us there's no other
way that God's people could be saved. There's no other way that
the father could be glorified and he was willing to do it.
And that's my second point. The Lord has saved a sinful people. Christ didn't come to save good
people. Christ didn't come to save people
who are partway righteous and he could finish making them righteous.
Christ came to save a sinful people, a people who are nothing
but sin. And the disciples give us a picture
of that here in our text. These disciples who fell asleep
when they were in the presence of the Lord himself, in the very
last hours that they could be with the Lord, they fell asleep. The Lord just told them he was
exceeding sorrowful, even unto death, They had to know something
big is going on here. And they fell asleep. They were
alone with the Lord and could have heard him praying and talking
to his father about his sacrifice for his people. They're on the
precipice of the hour of hours, the greatest hour in human history. And they fell asleep. They're
getting ready to see God's greatest glory revealed to man. Of everything
that God's done, how God created the world just by speaking it
into existence, the glory of his power. How God rules and
reigns over every event of providence, his power and sovereignty in
doing that. But just like Moses of old, Moses
saw the miracles in Egypt. Moses saw the Red Sea part and
three million people walk across on dry land. And after Moses
had seen all that, he prayed, God, show me your glory. They're
getting ready to see it at this time. God's greatest glory is
his mercy to sinners because of the sacrifice of his son.
In order for God to show mercy to sinners, in order for God
to forgive their sin, his son had to suffer and die for those
people. That's God's greatest glory,
that he would show mercy to sinners like you and me by slaughtering
his son in our stead. They're getting ready to see
that in their sleep. They're getting ready to see
every attribute of God more clearly displayed at one time than ever
before or ever since. The cross of Christ glorifies
every attribute of the Father. They're getting ready to see
the wisdom of God glorified and magnified. At the cross, we see
God's wisdom. He found a ransom. He found a
way to be both just and justifier through the sacrifice of his
son. They're getting ready to see God's holy justice glorified
and magnified when God punishes sin. God is holy. He proved that, didn't he? He
punished even his own son when his son was made sin. They're
getting ready to see the power of God. You think of the power
of Christ the Savior. You and I can't pay for one sin
by an eternity in hell. In a matter of hours on the cross,
by his sacrifice, by the power of his blood, the Lord Jesus
Christ put away all of the sin of all of his people so that
God says it doesn't exist anymore. God who doesn't forget anything
said there's sins and iniquities who I remember no more. God who
is everywhere said I've cast their sins behind my back. Speaking
in language that we can understand to tell us the blood of Christ
made the sin of his people to not exist. He did that in a matter
of hours suffering on the cross. These disciples are getting ready
to see God's mercy and grace to sinners exalted. And like I said a minute ago,
the mercy and grace of God is exalted at Calvary. Because the
suffering of Christ is the only way God could be merciful to
sinners like you and me. And the father put his son through
that so that he could be merciful to his people. This moment, the
disciples are on the very precipice of it. This moment is it. This moment is the subject of
this whole book, the sacrifice of Christ. Every page of it,
every line of it, the subject of it is this moment, the sacrifice
of Christ. And these three beloved, respected,
and blessed apostles, what are they doing? They're sound asleep. And you and I can't throw rocks
at them, because we're just like them. Can't you identify with
them? In the weakness of our flesh, we're just like them.
And the fact that the father punished the son in the way that
he did, That tells me, first of all, there's no way we could
save ourselves. There's no way we could. The
father would be a monster if he slaughtered his son as a sacrifice
for sin, if there was a way we could earn a righteousness by
keeping the law. If we could earn a righteousness by our good
works, if we could do that and God still slaughtered his son,
he'd be a monster. But we can't do it, can we? We're
sinners. We can't earn righteousness by
our obedience. We can't somehow make ourselves
better in God's sight by our good works. We can't even stay
awake. We can't even stay awake. So
surely we understand we can't keep God's law. So Christ came
to save sinners who could never save themselves. The only way
they could be saved is if Christ is their righteousness. If he
earned a righteousness for them, by his obedience to the law is
their representative. The only way you and I could
be made righteous is if Christ is our righteousness. We need
to remember this. Righteousness is not a thing.
Righteousness is not a state before God. Righteousness is
a person. The Lord Jesus Christ, he is
our righteousness. The only way we can be righteous
is by being in him. The only way dead sinners like
you and me can be given life is if Christ died the death that
we deserve, and he give us the life that he earned. The only
way the Father could show mercy to sinners like you and me is
if Christ suffered everything our sins suffered by dying in
our place as our substitute. And that's what he did. That's
what he came to do, and that's exactly what he did. Christ saved
a people. who are completely dependent
on Him to do all of the saving. Christ came to save sinners. I mean sinners through and through,
sinners, 100% sinners. Not sinners who are 99% sinners
and 1% good, no. Christ came to save people who
are completely dead in sin. And by His sacrifice, He saved
them, eternally saved them. And then even after the Lord
saves us, even after he's pleased to give us faith in Christ, even
after he's pleased to give us eternal spiritual life, our faith is so weak, isn't it?
It's shameful to even talk about our faith. It's so weak. And
this flesh, that's what makes this flesh such a powerful enemy
to our souls. The body wants to sleep. when
we hear the gospel of our salvation being preached. There's a gospel
that declares salvation for the souls of sinners. And when our
body hears that, our body wants to sleep. God's given us his
word. This book is what Almighty God
has to say to men. And the surest way for somebody
to fall asleep is start reading this book. That's his flesh,
isn't it? The weakness of this flesh. Our
flesh is so weak and our flesh is so sinful, our flesh cannot
believe God. Our flesh cannot love God. He's
gotta give us a new nature that'll believe him and we'll love him.
But this flesh is so weak and it's so sinful, our flesh is
constantly trying to bring us back into captivity to the law
by telling us, whispering in our ear, you better do some good
work so God'll bless you. You better do some good works
to get back on God's good side now so God'll bless you. rather
than trusting Christ alone. This flesh, while it's weak in
this sense, it cannot believe Christ. It's powerful in this
sense, it won't believe Christ. And it's constantly trying to
bring us back into captivity to the law. I'm talking about
a saved person now. This is a person that God has
revealed himself to, given life. Christ's gotta keep us saved,
doesn't he? And this is the good news of the gospel. The Lord
Jesus Christ saved a people who are completely dependent on him
to do all of the saving. And they're completely dependent
on him to keep us saved too. There is never a time in our
spiritual life where God saves us and he sets us down and says,
now run along now and do the rest yourself. Never. He carries
us all the way home because we're completely dependent upon him.
And here's the third thing. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
willing sacrifice for his people. In verse 45 in our text, then
cometh he to his disciples and saith unto them, sleep on now,
take your rest. Behold, the hour is at hand and
the son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let
us be going. Behold, he is at hand that doth
betray me. Now I want us to notice here the tenderness of our Savior. his tenderness and understanding
for the weakness of his disciples. Even after this happened, he
asked them to stay awake and pray with him. He said, my soul's
exceeding sorrowful unto death, and they fell asleep. And he
willingly suffered for them anyway. Isn't that compassion? Christ
our Savior willingly suffered to save a sinful and weak people. He willingly submitted himself
to his father's will to redeem his people by his suffering,
by his sacrifice, and by his death. In order for salvation
to be accomplished, life himself had to die. He willingly did
that for his people. Nobody took the Savior to the
cross against his will. He went willingly. You know why?
The cross is his will. It was his will. The only way
that mob could have ever crucified the Lord of Glory is if he went
willingly. And he did. I just bet you those
Roman soldiers, when they were crucifying our Savior, they had
to think this is unusual. He had to be the only man who
ever laid out his hands on that cross and didn't try to pull
him away to be nailed down. He did that willingly. Here,
the Savior knew the mob was coming to take him, didn't he? He told
his disciples. You couldn't hear him, you couldn't see him yet,
but he said they're on their way. He knew they were coming. It was
nighttime. They were in the garden. He could
have easily run and hid, but he didn't do it. There were times
he was in the midst of a people, and suddenly they couldn't see
him, and he just walked through their midst. They saw him, and
they didn't have the power to lay a hand on him. He just walked
away, because his hour was not yet come. Now his hours come,
and he's not running and hiding. He's going out as the mighty
conqueror to meet this mob and allow them to take him, allow
them to crucify him, cuz he's gonna suffer willingly for his
people. And as he's getting ready to
suffer, it's just hard to imagine what's
in his mind as he's getting ready to suffer for the sins of his
people. And even though this great burden is upon him, he's
sweat great drops of blood at just the thought of what's getting
ready to happen. Even though all that's going
on in his mind, in his soul, he's still being so compassionate
with his disciples. It's like the Lord is telling
his disciples, all right, sleep on now, cuz you're gonna need
your rest. You sleep on, I'll stand guard
over you, and I'll protect you. You're weak, but I'll protect
you in your weakness. This moment is the hour of hours. The great transaction must take
place and you rest. I'll handle it for you. And he
didn't tell them sarcastically. I could see us saying this sarcastically
to our friends, well sleep on now. He didn't say it sarcastically. He said it in pity for their
weakness. And here's why I point this out.
God hadn't changed. The Savior hadn't changed. He
still looks at his people in compassion for our weakness. Now, there's never an excuse,
never an excuse for our weakness. There's never an excuse for anybody
to have weak faith in such a powerful Savior. But he said it in compassion
and pity for our weakness. He says this as the sovereign
Mighty Savior, you sleep on, I'll take care of this for you.
You're in my hand, I'll take care of this for you. It's almost
like the shepherd out there in the field at night telling his
sheep, you go to sleep now. Don't worry about the wolf, don't
worry about the bear, don't worry about the lion, you sleep on,
I'll take care of you. I'm on guard, you're my responsibility,
I'll take care of you. He says that in compassion for
their weakness. And all this about the Savior,
that he willingly drank the cup of God's wrath dry. This is the
only way God's people could be saved. That he died for such
a sinful, horrible, wretched people is just embarrassing in
our sin. And that's who he died for. That
ought to move our hearts. That ought to move our hearts
to cast all of our care upon Christ. That ought to move our
hearts to fully trust him. to be all of our salvation. It
should move us to take our rest in Christ. It should comfort
the hearts of God's people. This thing is not up to me. He's in control. He's taking
care of the sin problem of his people. The biggest problem anybody
could ever imagine, he's taking care of the sin problem of his
people. Now what else can't he take care of? He's watching over
his people, he'll take care of them. He never slumbers nor sleep,
that's what the Psalmist said, he never slumbers nor sleep.
We do, but he's watching over us even in our sleep, physical
sleep. And those times were unfortunately spiritually drowsy. He's watching
over us in our sleep and will not let us fall away. We'd fall
away because of our weakness, wouldn't we? But he won't allow
it, he won't allow his people to fall away. He saved a people
when we're dead in sin, and He'll not let one of them perish. He's
not gonna let one drop of His precious blood be shed in vain. He's not gonna shed His blood
for somebody that's gonna perish anyway. He's gonna save them
in His power, but also He's gonna save them in His compassion and
His love for His people. Earthly kings take their power
and abuse it, don't they? This king, who has all power,
uses that in love and compassion and pity for his people to save
them and to keep them saved. Now that's a savior we can trust.
And I pray almighty God will enable you to trust him, find
your rest and hope and peace and trust in him. So till next
time, may the Lord bless you.