Matthew 26. And we'll start reading in verse
36. I'm not going to read everything, but I'll read a few verses here.
ending in verse 56. To put the setting in the context,
Then cometh Jesus with His disciples unto a place called Gethsemane.
And He said unto His disciples, Sit ye here while I go and pray
yonder. And He took with Him Peter and
the two sons of Zebedee, And Christ 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." Verse 45, He came back the third
time and His disciples were still asleep. And He said, Sleep on,
now take your rest. Behold, the hour is at hand that
the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Verse 47, And while Christ yet
spake, lo, Judas, one of the twelve, he wasn't with them,
he was obviously with the high priests, soldiers, came and with
him a great multitude with swords and staves from the chief priests
and elders of the people. that betrayed him gave them a
sign, saying, Whomsoever I shall kiss, that same as he, hold him
fast. And forthwith he came unto Jesus,
and he said, Hail, Master, and kissed him. And Jesus said unto
him, Friend, wherefore art thou come? Then came they, and laid
hands on Jesus, and took him. Verse 53, Christ said, thinkest
thou that I cannot now pray to my father and he shall presently
give me more than 12 legions of angels? But how then shall
the scriptures be fulfilled and thus it must be? In that same
hour said Jesus to the multitudes, are you come out as against a
thief with swords and staves for to take me? I sat daily with
you teaching in the temple and you laid no hand on me, but all
this was done that the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled."
This is the passage of the words I want to look at this morning,
if I can read it. Then all the disciples forsook
him and fled. Now this sobering passage before
us is a painful text to read and to comprehend, but I want
us to look at this lamentable point in our history in regards
and in connection, first of all, to the disciples, what's going
on here, secondly, to ourselves, and thirdly, to our Redeemer.
as it concerns our Redeemer, then all the disciples forsook
Him, Christ, and fled. Let us see how this history of
mankind, how it deals in regards to His disciples here in the
history in our very text. Other than the betrayer, Judas,
all the disciples, it says all, they all fled. Now this shows
of a certainty that the best of men are men at best. I think about John the Baptist
when he was preaching. He said, what did you come to
hear? Who did you come to hear? Did you come to hear a reed shaking? Or did you come to hear about
Christ? The message that I'm preaching.
I spoke to someone on the phone the other day and told him about
that, that I said last Sunday, that example of that woman going
to church, and a visiting preacher was there, and it was Pastor
Ebenezer Erkskin. He's familiar if you read literature. And I say the same thing today
as I said back then. She hadn't heard him before,
and she heard the message, and she was so blessed. She was so
blessed. She went to her pastor, and she
said, who was that man? Well, that's Pastor Ebenezer
Erkson. He's going to be here next Sunday.
Oh, I've got to come to hear him next Sunday. So she came,
and she was greatly disappointed. She said, it wasn't the same
message. So she blamed him. As a matter
of fact, she was so foolish that she went up to him afterwards
and got up with him and said, Pastor Erskine, I listened to
the message last week and was so blessed. And this week, nothing. And he asked her and he said, why did you come last week? And
she said, well, to commune with Christ, to worship Christ, to
learn more of my Savior. He said, that's what you heard.
He said, what did you come this week for? She says, I wanted
to hear you. I wanted to hear you. And he says, that's who
you heard. That's who you heard. I pray
that when we come here this morning, we would desire to hear of Christ,
to see Christ, even in this A horrible, tragic history that must needs
be, as Christ said a couple of times, all scriptures, it's got
to be fulfilled. This has to happen. But as I
said, this shows of a certainty, the best of men are men at best.
We, as they, are weak and depraved. The flesh never gets any better.
It doesn't improve. Oh, it may slap on morality,
it may slap on proper dictation, and it may not curse, and it
may not smoke, and it may not do these things, but the flesh
is the flesh. It's always the flesh. These
men fled out of the fear of man, which I know something about
that. And this was needless fear. Why do you say it was needless
fear? It was very real. Well, let me read to you why
it was needless fear. In John 18, verses 8 and 9, you
don't have to turn there, Jesus answered and He said, I told
you that I am He. If therefore you seek Me, and
this is the same lesson, it's in John 18. If therefore you
seek Me, let these go their way. let them go their way, that the
saying might be fulfilled which He had spoke of them, that Thou
hast given Me, I have lost none." So they were not in danger of
being lost. They were not in danger of being
smitten by the sword. Christ said, if you want Me,
take Me, let these go. That's exactly what happened.
They still fled, every one of them, for the fear of man. So
their fear, like ours often times, whether it's the politics that's
going on in this country, whether it's local, whether it's national,
whether it's work-related, or just getting old. Less hair, more gray. Whatever our fears are really
needless. They are. I mean, most of the
time, they don't come to fruition. And most of the time, they just
concern us and they're not that important. Christ Himself stated, for their
safety and protection, you want me, take me, let these go. That
the Scripture may be fulfilled, I've lost none. They were under
great obligation and love towards Christ. They walked with Him
three years. They beheld the blind to see,
the lame to walk, the dead were raised, showing therefore and
knowing and confirming that this Man, the Son of God, was Lord
and King over all His subjects, all of them. Yet they all fled. He called them He named them
disciples and apostles. He was going to bleed, suffer,
and die for them. Yet every one of them fled. They had professed great affection
and servitude for this one of Galilee. In our same chapter
in Matthew 26, starting in verse 30, and when they had sung a
hymn and they went out on the Mount of Olives and Jesus said
unto them, You shall be offended because of me this night. For
it is written, I will smite the shepherd and the sheep of the
flock shall be scattered abroad. After I am risen again, I will
go before you in Galilee. And Peter said unto them, Though
all men should be offended in thee because of thee, yet I will
never be offended. And Jesus said unto him, Verily
I say unto you, that this night before the cock crow thou shalt
deny me three times. And then Peter had an answer.
He said unto them, unto him, Christ, though I should die with
thee, yet will I not deny thee. What's the next phrase? Likewise,
all said all the disciples, yet they all fled. What is man? What is man? I was thinking about this the
other day, thinking about some modern technologies that we have
seen in my generation that I had never thought we'd see. Stuff
you see in the Jetsons or Star Trek, something that you wouldn't
dream of that you'd see. I've seen some of those things.
Yet for all this, what is man? How we have fallen
in Adam. that still, the fact still remains,
in Adam, we're all dead. Oh, to grace, the song says,
how great a debtor daily I'm constrained to be. That's the
disciples. That's what we see them. That's
the sad story we see of them. But secondly, with regards to
ourselves, how do we view ourselves in here? His disciples, They
physically beheld Him with their own eyes, but what of us? We're
all cut from the same cloth, as they say. How susceptible
we are to the weakness of this flesh. We should learn the exceeding
sinfulness of sin. We should learn that we are capable
of forsaking our closest friends, save God and Christ keep us from
falling. Jude 24. Let's turn to Psalm
55. Now this isn't prophetic of Christ,
but this happened to David. This happened when Ahithophil betrayed him. Psalms 55 and verse
12, this regards to ourselves, it's not uncommon, it's not out
of the question that we would forsake our very closest of friends. Verse 12, for it was not an enemy
that reproached me, then I could have borne it. Neither was it
he that hated me that did magnify himself against me. Then I would
have hid myself from him. But it was thou, a man mine equal,
my guide, my acquaintance. Oh, we took sweet counsel together
and walked unto the house of God in company." We've seen that
here. We sure have. This was David perhaps speaking
of Ahithophil, and it speaks of Christ and Judas. Well, we
could look at Job 6, verse 15. We won't turn there. Job makes
a comment about his friends and how they treated him. Outside
of grace, we are just as capable as any of committing the sins
revealed or hidden. Paul stated, he was addressing
the brethren in 2 Timothy 4, 16-18. He said, at my first,
no man walked with me, but all forsook me. I pray God to lay
it not to their charge. He's speaking about the brethren
in that particular section of Scripture. Showing we must ever
trust our sovereign Lord and not the arm of the flesh. We can learn just as this stunning
trial was to be used by our Lord to strengthen the apostles' faith
and fortitude for afterwards. The difference in change and
testimony that they had, they were very strong in the faith
and grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. They didn't have fear of man,
they just stood up and told it like it was. Because after you
look at an axe and see the great endurance that they stood for
Christ and His Gospel. And so too, in like manner, we
come forth the vessel more like our Redeemer. These trials, they
are needful. But they're hurtful. They're hurtful. May we just
act to become as simple little children, trusting and showing
absolute confidence in God's abilities to care for His sheep,
and not forsaking or fleeing away in shame before His presence. This is tough. We want to be
friends with everybody. We want everybody to like us.
You know, we've got friends that we've had for a long time. And
I'm not saying be mean, but I'm saying be bold. What are we waiting
for? The right opportunity, it's always
the right opportunity. Always. And I'm as guilty as
anyone to... But this is what we are. We're
like the disciples. Fellowshiping. We gather together. And then we go visit our ungodly
friends and seem to have more in common with them than we do
No, that's something not right there. This is the family. This is your family. This is
your family. And I know when I used to work
for the city there, I had several close friends. and they were
close to me and we had things in common, fleshly things in
common. I'll say that. We had sports,
we had basketball, we had volleyball, things that I enjoyed. That is
of the flesh. And in the flesh, spiritually,
it profits nothing. Do we love our Redeemer? Do we love our friends? Do we
love our family? Tell them of Christ. I don't
know how well my mom listened, but she listened Wednesday when
we were down there. We all sat around and dialed
in and listened to the Gospel. That was a wonderful message. This is what we are. We're flesh
and blood. But may we learn from them. Lastly in our text, Then all the disciples forsook
Him and fled. They forsook who? Christ, their
safety. Let's view this passage as it
has to deal with our Redeemer, our Savior. This shows His humility
and His passion. He stands there And they all forsook Him and
left Him alone. But this is what needed to be. This is what He
said was going to happen. And it happened. He is the Savior. He is the Redeemer. There is not another. Oh, the trial set forth in the
garden. The heart broken and crushed
by those He broke bread with. In Psalm 69, and you don't have
to turn there, but... 69 in verse 20. Reproach hath broken my heart,
and I am full of heaviness. And I looked for some to take
pity, but there was none, and for comforters, but I found none. He must suffer, bleed, and die
on Calvary's tree alone." They could have stood with him
and cheered him during this extreme trial. If anybody in trials,
when somebody's going through a hard situation, you try to
call them, you try to get with, you try to encourage them. That's
what they could have done. They didn't do that. This, says one old writer, heightened
his anguish. And this anguish that he suffered
right here was not even the more horrific agony of soul that he
was to taste for every wayward sheep. This was not his soul
agony, though I don't know where the line is. It all blurred together. We sing that song, stricken,
smitten, and afflicted, see Him dying on the tree. This is Christ
by man rejected. Hear my soul your Savior see. He's the long-expected prophet,
David's son, yet David's Lord. Proofs I see sufficient of it. He's the true and faithful Word.
Tell me, ye who hear Him groaning, Was there ever grief like his? Friends, through fear, his cause
disowning, foes insulting his distress. Many hands were raised
to wound him. None would interpose to save. But the deepest stroke that pierced
him was the stroke that justice gave. Ye 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 who bears the awful load, tis the word of the Lord's anointed
Son of Man and Son of God. Here we have a firm foundation. Here the refuge of the lost.
Christ the rock of our salvation. Christ the name of which we boast. Lamb of God for sinners wounded. Sacrifice to cancel guilt. None
can ever be confounded. Who on Him their hope is built. That's exactly right. That's
exactly right. Nevertheless, Christ endured
this and all that God, as it were, would throw at him and
come out of this affliction in full resurrection, honor and
glory. Never has humankind seen such
undying, unquenchable and eternal love that was shown and seen
at Calvary Street. He was not surprised or taken
off guard by his betrayal. And being left alone, we've seen
that. The Scriptures must be fulfilled. John 16 says the same
thing. No, these realities Christ foresaw
and were predestinated from before time. All was for His ultimate
glory and exaltation on Calvary's tree. Remember, Christ knew all. All was before Him, but He did
not turn His back. He set his face to the smiters,
opened not his mouth, but steadfastly and surely tread forward. I wouldn't have done that. I
would have ran. And thus he fulfilled all scriptures and honor his
father and his father's obligations. He honored them and him. He did
so without error, without fault. I want us to remember two things
as we leave. Matthew chapter 10. Matthew chapter 10 and verse 24. For us who are struggling, the disciple is not above his
master. nor the servant above his Lord. He says very plainly, if the
world hates you, it hated me first. And Hebrews chapter 12, Hebrews chapter 12, lest we say,
woe is me. Hebrews chapter 12 and verse
3, For consider Him, that word is
contemplate, Christ, that endured such contradiction of sinners
against Himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. Consider
Him, contemplate Him, look to Him, come to Him, and do not
rely on yourself. If you rely on yourself, we're
going to flee. I will say this, Christ, we know
this in the Scripture, historically, and the Bible states it, Christ
restored His few disciples. He will restore this little flock. Just keep coming. Keep looking.
We're human. We're going to sin. We're going
to fall apart. We're not going to stand. I wish
I would have said that, or I could have said that. Yes, yes, always. Look to Him. Come to Him. Embrace Him. He's sufficient. He's always sufficient. He says,
My grace is sufficient. Well, I'm a sinner. I say, where
sin abounded, grace through Christ does much more abound. He's our
only hope. This morning, tomorrow, The day
after, trust in Him, and all will be
well. Nathan, would you close this?