Mark chapter 14 this morning.
I want to consider verses 32 down to verse 42. Mark 14, 32
through 42. The title of the message is,
The Agony of the Lord, or the Lord's Agony Here in the Garden
in Gethsemane. It says in verse 32, And they
came to a place which was named Gethsemane. And he saith to his
disciples, Sit ye here, while I shall pray. And he taketh with
him Peter, James, and John, and began to be sore amazed, and
to be very heavy. And saith unto them, My soul
is exceeding sorrowful unto death, tarry ye here, and watch. And he went forward a little,
and fell on the ground, that if it were possible, the hour
might pass from him. And he said, Abba, Father, all
things are possible unto thee. Take away this cup from me. Nevertheless,
not what I will, but your will be done. Who can fully understand
all that is taking place here as the Lord of glory prays unto
His Father, about redeeming us from all our sin. Who is sufficient to declare
the tremendous agony the Lord of glory is suffering as He is
about to be made sin for us? Can you get a hold of this? So
much anguish, so much distress of soul, Sweat flows out of his
body, mingled with his own blood. His sweat became great drops
of blood, it says in Luke 22. Who can fully explain or comprehend
the deep mysteries of this awful sight? The Lord of glory agonizing
like no other creature no other man has ever suffered. The Son of God exceeding sorrowful
unto death as a sword of God's holy justice is about to fall
upon His soul without any mercy whatsoever. As we read last time
from Zechariah 13, a Waco sword against my shepherd, against
the man that is my fellow. Smite the shepherd, saith the
Lord of hosts. What tremendous things are taking
place as the Lord of Glory, our Mediator, our Substitute, our
Redeemer, prays unto the Father about the very matter of our
salvation. These are tremendous things.
I feel helpless, totally helpless, to try to declare unto you what's
going on here. It's beyond my ability to speak
it. What can we learn from this incredible
sight? And it is an incredible sight. Well, four or five things I think
we can see here. What is the cause, first of all,
what is the cause of such anguish of His holy soul? He is the Holy One of God. He is God. What is the cause
of such anguish and being so exceedingly sorrowful even unto
death? What is the cause? What is the
reason? I can sum it up in one word.
It just has three letters. S-I-N. Sin. Why was the Lord Jesus Christ
so full of sorrow to the point of death? He was not the mere
thought of physical pain, although I would minimize that. He suffered
as no other. As we read in Isaiah 52, his
vision so marred, he didn't even look like a man as he hangs on
Calvary's tree, stripped, naked, bloody, beaten. He didn't even
appear to be a man. It was not the mere thought of
physical pain. It was not the thought of death. He did not fear death. It was
not even the agony of being crucified, and they say that's a horrible,
horrible death. But rather, it was the anticipation
of being made sin, becoming the mass of sin, taking our sin,
all the sin of God's elect. Imagine the amount! And imagine
the enormous amount and the weight of all the sin of God's elect
of all ages being rolled together and made to meet on His head. Becoming the mass of sin. Bearing the weight of that sin.
Bearing the weight of that guilt of sin in His own body on the
tree. Peter said he'd bear our sin.
in His own body. Now consider this. This is the
one, the Scripture says, who knew no sin. You can't find one
sin on Him. He knew no sin. He was about
to be made sin for us. He who did no sin, neither was
guile found in His mouth, was about to experience the awfulness
of sin. He never knew this. Holy. He has a holy nature. Yet he's
about to experience the awfulness of sin. He who had no sin, he
appeared once in the end of the age to put away sin, but he had
no sin of himself. He never committed any personal
sin. He was manifested to take away
our sin. John said, and in him is no sin.
is about to know all about the guilt and defilement of sin. It's a holy one. The one who
is holy, harmless, undefiled is about to be made accursed
for sin and suffer the curse of the law for sin. For accursed
is everyone that hangeth on a tree. He who is a covenant surety and
shepherd is about to become the covenant sacrifice. and shed His blood. Behold the Lamb of God that takes
away our sin. My friend, this is the essence
of the Gospel. We sum it up in this one word
that we use often, substitution. The Lord Jesus Christ, wounded
for our sin, bruised for our iniquity, the chastisement of
our peace was laid upon Him. All the sin of God's elect was
made to meet on Him. The Lord laid on Him our sin. The Lord Jesus Christ here dying
in the room instead of His people, enduring the wrath of God for
us. Here He is dying, or He will
soon, in our text, He will soon go to the cross. Die the just
for the unjust that He might bring us unto God. He once suffered
for our sin, the just for the unjust that He might bring us. There's no other way. There's
no other way that a sinner can be brought before God, justified,
but except someone pay his debt in full. And the Lord Jesus Christ
is doing that for His covenant people. You see, the essence
of the gospel substitution Substitution and satisfaction. Now here's
the good news. Since the Lord Jesus Christ died
for His covenant people, since He fully satisfied the justice
of God for His covenant people, the believer has no need to fear
condemnation, no need to fear accusation, no need to fear separation. Who can separate us from the
love of God which is in the Lord Jesus Christ? You see, turn to
Romans for a moment. Find Romans 5. Let's see if we
can work on those three statements for just a moment. Seeing the
Lord Jesus Christ shed His blood. Romans 5. There is therefore
saying that He took the full weight of the wrath of God against
our sin. How much wrath is due me? Look what it says in Romans 5
verse 8. But God commended His love toward
us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more than being now justified
by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. He that believeth on the Son
hath life. He that believeth not the Son,
the wrath of God abides on that person. But because the Lord
Jesus Christ took the wrath of His people, Those who believe
Him, there is no wrath left for us. Turn to Romans 8. No wrath,
no condemnation. Romans 8, 1. There is therefore
now no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus, who walk
not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. No condemnation? Not even. Not even. Not even in the courts of God's
justice, not even an accusation can be heard. That's right. Read
on, Romans 8, verse 31. Why shall we say to these things,
if God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not
his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not
with him also freely give us all things? Who can lay, who
shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? Where's the accusation? It's God who is justified. It
is God that justifies. Who is He that condemneth? It
is Christ that died, yea, rather than is risen again, who is even
at the right hand of God, who also ever lives to intercede
for us. You see the tremendous good news
in the Gospel No condemnation, no accusation. Romans 8, look
at verse 39. Nothing can separate us from
the love of God. We are more than conquerors through
Him that loved us. Romans 8, verse 39. Nor height,
nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us
from the love of God which is in the Lord Jesus Christ. You
see, He was separated being made sin Now there is no separation
for those who are in Christ Jesus. He fully paid the debt. He separated
us from our sin. Now we have reconciliation in
the Lord Jesus Christ, in Him. Oh, the blessed good news of
the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ made sin. God made Him
sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness
of God. That's what I need. I don't need
Tom's righteousness. I'm a wicked man. I'm a sinful
man. You are too. I need the righteousness
of God. And that's Christ. That's the
Lord Jesus Christ. Now, here's the second thing
I want to consider. What is the meaning of the Lord's Prayer?
Look back at the text again, verse 35. What is the meaning
of the Lord's Prayer here? He went forward a little. He
went forward, a little fell on the ground, and prayed that if
it were possible, this hour might pass from him. Verse 36, and
he said, Abba, Father, dear Father, my Father, all things are possible
unto Thee. Take away this cup from me. Nevertheless,
not what I will, but Your will be done. What You will. What
is the meaning of the Lord's words here? Let me first say
a word about the importance of prayer. When the Lord Jesus Christ
was in great pain and agony of soul as a real man, real man,
God in flesh, but a real man. When the Lord Jesus was in great
pain and agony of soul, He turned unto His heavenly Father for
help. That's a good example for us.
God is our refuge and strength of every present help in time
of trouble. What an example the Lord gives
unto us. The first person we should turn to in our trouble
is our sovereign God, our sovereign Lord. Anything too hard for Him?
He will either remove the burden or give us grace to endure the
burden. No wonder He says, come boldly
unto the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy. Find grace
to help. in time of need. Well, we ought
to always pray and give thanks unto our Father for all things.
A word about prayer. Something else I see here, I'm
very confident and very certain that the Lord Jesus Christ is
not asking the Father that He might avoid being crucified,
that He might somehow get around Calvary. I don't I'm confident
that He is not asking that He might miss death. Our Lord is
well aware of what's going to take place. Remember He told
the disciples earlier, I must go to Jerusalem. I must be forsaken
of the Pharisee. I must die. I must be raised
again. These things must take place. Read John. Read this with me.
John chapter 12. That's why I'm just confident
that he's not praying that, Lord, somehow, there's some other way
I can save my people and not die. That's not being said. That's not what he's praying
for. He's praying for strength in this time of his need at this
hour. In John chapter 12, notice verse 23. John 12, 23. And Jesus answered them, saying,
The hours come that the Son of Man should be glorified. Verily
I say unto you, Except the corn of wheat fall into the ground,
and it die, it bides alone. But if it die, it bringeth forth
much fruit. He that loveth his life shall
lose it. He that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto
eternal life. If any man serve me, let him
follow me. And where I am, there shall also my servant be. If
any man serve me, him Will my Father honor, now look at verse
27, now is my soul troubled, what shall I say? Father, save
me from this hour. But for this cause came I unto
this hour. Father, glorify thy name. And there came a voice from heaven
saying, I have both glorified it and I will glorify it again. Save me from this hour? Oh no.
This is why I'm here. He came to seek and to save his
people from their sin. I believe what's being said here
in verse 36 where he says, if it be possible, let this cup
pass from me. Here's what he's saying. He's
praying for help in his agony at this time to be sustained
by the power of God in this hour in the garden lest he die on
the spot and not be able to suffer on Calvary's tree. for our sin. Turn and read this with me. Turn
to Luke 22. And this prayer was answered.
He's praying for strength that he might endure this hour as
our sin is being laid on him. The Scripture said, I've laid
help upon one that is mighty. And he's saying, Lord, sustain
me in this hour lest I die in the garden rather than on Calvary's
tree. And the Lord sent help immediately. Look at Luke 22. Verse 39, and
he came out and went as he want to the Mount of Olives, and his
disciples followed him. And when he was at the place,
he said unto them, Pray that ye enter not into temptation. And he was withdrawn from them
about a stone's cast, and kneeled down and prayed, saying, Father,
if thou be willing, remove this cup from me, nevertheless not
my will but thine be done. And here comes help. And there
appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him. And being in agony, he prayed
more earnestly, and his sweat was, as it were, great drops
of blood falling to the ground." The Lord did send help, didn't
He? The Lord did sustain him in that
hour of need. Turn to Isaiah 50. I think we
can read something more of that here in Isaiah chapter 50 verse
7. The Lord God will help me. Isaiah 50 verse 7. Therefore
shall I not be confounded. Therefore have I set my faith
like a flint. I know that I shall not be ashamed. He is near that justifies me.
Who will contend with me? Let us stand together. Who is
my adversary? Let him come near." The Lord
sustained him. The Lord helped him in this time. And that's what he's praying
here for. He's not praying that somehow maybe we can just forget
Calvary. No, the Lord sustained me in
this hour that I might go to the cross, that I might accomplish
all things according to your will. Now here's the third thing,
back in Mark 14. The Lord Jesus Christ, as the
man mediator, willingly bows and submits to the sovereign
will of God. He says, I will, not what I will,
but what you will, your will. Here we see the God-man mediator
in complete harmony with the eternal purpose of God. The Father's
desire becomes His desire. The Father's eternal purpose
becomes His purpose. The Father's will becomes His
will. That's true submission, is it
not? He became obedient unto death,
even the death of the cross. He willingly submitted to the
Father's will in this matter. May we as His beloved people
bow in like manner unto the Lord's eternal purpose and will. He
worketh all things after the counsel of His own will. I want to bow in submission to
His will. May God ever give us grace to
willingly submit to Him in all things. You know what that's
an evidence of? Growth in grace. Bowing. Lord, not my will, Thy
will be done. Submitting to His will. The will
of His predestinating grace. He will have mercy on whom He
will have mercy. We bow to His sovereign pleasure. That is true. He will have mercy
on whom He will. And we bow to His will in saving
mercy. Secondly, we bow to His will
that's revealed in the Scripture. What is that? Turn over here
to John chapter 6. We bow to His will as it's revealed
in the Scripture. There is no other Savior but
the Lord Jesus Christ. John 6, look at verse 40. And
this is the will of Him that sent me, that everyone which
seeth the Son and believeth on Him may have everlasting life,
and I'll raise Him up at the last day. We bow to His will. We believe the Gospel and we
bow to the Lord Jesus Christ. We bow to His will in predestinating
grace. We bow to His will revealed in
the Scripture concerning Christ as the only Savior. We bow to
His will in providence of Him and through Him and to Him are
all things to whom be glory both now and forever. I trust we can
say with our brother Job, as God killed all his children,
took all of his substance, all things he had, he said the Lord
gave, the Lord had taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. I want that, don't you? To bow
in submission to the Lord's will. Not in rebellion, but in submission. Here's a fourth lesson we learn
from these verses. What frail creatures we are.
How much we are hindered by our own sinful infirmities. In verse 37, He cometh. Now this is such a tremendous,
critical point in the ministry and the life of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And He instructs His disciples to watch and pray with
Me. And He comes and He finds them
sleeping. And He says to Peter, Simon, sleepest thou? Could not you watch for an hour?
Watch him pray, lest ye enter into temptation. The Spirit truly
is ready. The flesh is weak." And he went
away again and prayed the same words. And he returned and found
them sleeping again. And they said, we have nothing
to defend ourselves. Guilty. They knew not what to
answer. What frail creatures we are.
He knows our frame. He knows that we are but dust.
Peter, James, and John, the inner circle among the disciples, instead
of watching and praying, were sleeping on the job. I'm sure they began by... Don't
you think they began when the Lord said, you watch and pray?
And they said, we're going to do that. We're going to pray.
Fifteen minutes. Twenty minutes. Thirty minutes. Out. How frail we are. I'm sure they began with earnest
desire in their heart, but they had a problem. Flash. Flash. You know, we have the
same problem. Oh, how weak, how frail, how
sinful we are. Not to be critical of any of
you here. Now, I say this in love. But often times I watch
your faces. Sometimes I see you nodding off. I understand. I used to sit in
the same place. And sometimes I do that too. It's just a frailty of the flesh.
I try to overlook it. I'd rather you'd listen to me,
but sometimes we're just so frail. We're just so weak. These disciples
were. The Spirit truly is ready. That's
why we're here. You came ready to worship this
morning, didn't you? Made ready to worship Him. Made
ready to serve the Lord. That's what I desire. Lord, I
want to serve You. But often the old flesh, the
old sin nature, greatly hinders our worship and the service to
our Lord. Remember what the Apostle said?
Oh, wretched man that I am. When I would do good, The evil
is present with me. Within every believer, there
are two opposing, warring natures. There's that old Adam sin nature. We have been, by the grace of
God, regenerated and made new creatures in Christ. And true,
the Spirit is anew. The Spirit is alive. The Spirit
is made in the likeness of God. But we have that old flesh that
drags us down and it's so hinders us. The Spirit truly is willing. Believers are partakers of the
divine nature, yet we have that old Adam nature that's not eradicated. Thank God it's somewhat subdued,
but it's not eliminated. Someday it will be when we kill
it and put it in the ground and He gives us a new body without
any sin. But right now we have this old
nature to contend with. No wonder the Lord said to Nicodemus,
that which is born of the flesh, flesh, all there ever will be,
flesh, sinful, rotten, guilty, stinking, flesh. That which is
born of the Spirit, that is Spirit. Within every believer now, there
is that two-fold nature. There is that Adam nature. And
there is that new nature given in the new birth. What are we
to do? What's the remedy? Well, the
Lord tells us here in verse 38, watch and pray. Watch and pray. We must always be on guard as
soldiers in a hostile enemy territory, always daily fighting against
the desires of the old sinful nature, continually looking to
the Lord Jesus Christ for His grace and strength to contend
for the faith. Lastly is this. In verse 41 and
verse 42, the Lord steadfast resolved to die for our sin.
Look what He says, And He cometh the third time and saith unto
them, Sleep on now. Take you rest. It's enough. The hour has come. Behold, the
Son of Man is betrayed in the hands of sinners. Rise up, let
us go low. He that betrayeth Me, He's at
hand. Here's the Lord's steadfast resolve. The appointed hour now is come.
The hour in which He would accomplish our salvation by His redeeming
blood. He said this is the hour. The
hour appointed of God. Him being delivered by the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God. Let us rise up. Let us meet the enemies head
on. Let us not flee away. Let us go. Nothing could keep
the Savior from calvary. Nothing. Nothing could prevent
Him from dying for our sins. Nothing. Nothing could keep Him
from calling and saving those for whom He redeemed with His
precious blood. Nothing. All that the Father
hath given to me, they will come to me, and those that come to
me I will in no wise cast out. In closing, remember these three
things. The Lord Jesus Christ died vicariously. That means
He died as a substitute. The Good Shepherd laid down His
life for the sheep. He died not only vicariously,
but He died voluntarily. He said, no man takes my life
from me. I have power to lay it down. I have power to take
it again. This commandment have I received in my Father. And
thirdly, He died victoriously. He said on Calvary's tree, it's
finished. It's done. I am He that liveth
and was dead. Behold, I am alive forevermore.
When He had by Himself purged our sin, He sat down at the right
hand of God, hiding the keys of death and hell. I rejoice
with the Apostle as he says, thanks be unto God who has given
us the victory through Our Lord Jesus Christ.