Crushing the Serpents, Part 1: The Battle

All right, good morning. Sorry, try that again. How's everybody doing? Good to see you. Glad you're here. I want to invite you to stand with us. We'll pray and we'll get started.

Father, we thank you for the day, Lord, and we just thank you for another opportunity, Lord, to be here to serve you, Lord God, and to spend some time in your word and in worship, Lord God. Lord, may we lift a joyful noise this morning, and may it be a sweet song in your ear, Lord God. And we just ask your blessing upon this time, and we love you and we praise you. In Jesus' name, amen.

Lord, amen. One day every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that you, Lord, are Lord. Amen? Amen. You guys can go ahead and have a seat if you like. Who I am, because I know who.

The cross of salvation is only the stone. Now I'm given a living.

Raised up.

Was made. From old.

Shame. When a fountain of grace was so salve. Only the stone.

The living. Out of all.

By night. From my shame.

Raised back. Was made.

A fountain of grace. You count on Jesus. Left. And died for me. Be his words. His. Be your. Body. Bound. Transcend. Tears. They lay him, Joseph, to the entrance of the stone. We just thank you for who you are, Lord God, and how much you love us. Lord, we look forward to that day when we can just spend every day praising you, Lord God, for the rest of our days.

Lord God, we just thank you again for just how good you are to us. And Lord, when I look back at my life, Lord, I can see. Your goodness in my life, Lord, I can see how good and faithful you are and that you have been, Lord, and regardless, regardless of my sin and my rebellion, Lord God, you've always been there and you've been faithful. And so, God, we we praise you, God, and we thank you or that you love us that much, Lord, that you are always faithful and that you will never fail.

Of the goodness of God is not like no other.

It's running out.

Lord God, we just thank you again that you are so good and so faithful. And Lord, that even when we fail, you don't. Lord God, we have so many reasons to praise you, God. Lord, and we should be praising you every day.

Lord God, you are worthy of all honor and glory and praise, God. Worthy of it all.

Lord God, you are worthy. Worthy of it all. I want to do something. Just. Real quick, and I know the video guys are not ready for this, but I just I just want to sing this chorus. You can follow along if you can. You are worthy of it all. You have it all. You have it all. Father, God, you are worthy of it all. You are worthy of all honor and glory and praise.

You're worthy of everything. We're God, you're worthy of all my attention, all my affection. We're God for what you've done for us, Lord God. You've offered up your. You willingly gave your one and only son Lord on the cross for my sin. You put him in the place that I rightfully deserve to be on that cross. Lord God, so that I wouldn't have to so that I could have a right relationship with you or Jesus and we thank you or we praise you because you are worthy of it.

All the Lord is Pastor Ryan comes this morning. God just pray that you would overflow him with your Holy Spirit. Lord God. May you do something awesome and mighty in this place where because you are, you are an awesome and mighty God and you do awesome and mighty things. So, Lord, we invite your Holy Spirit to here this morning to do awesome and mighty things.

We love you. We praise you in Jesus name and all God's people said, Amen. Let's have some fellowship.

Good morning. You could begin to locate your seats. Grab your bulletin. We'll get ready to go over some announcements.

Welcome to Calvary Chapel. I'm glad that you have joined us this morning. If you would grab your bulletin, we're going to go over a few announcements.

You might have to over on the left hand side of your bulletin are the things that go on throughout the week. I would encourage you to find a spot to get plugged into middle section of your bulletin. A couple of reminders. Well, a reminder and then a couple of things that are coming up. First of all, a reminder that today is the last day that the mowing sign up sheet will be out there.

So if you want to get involved. And. In that ministry, please sign up today and then you need to mark your calendars because it's getting close to Holy Week. We're actually just about three weeks away from that. And they there we will. The Missionary Alliance is putting on Holy Week services again. So the the list of those is hanging out in the foyer. And then I will have a list of all of the churches and speakers in the bulletin next week.

Those services will be from noon to one at different churches throughout the community. And then there is a conference coming up on April the twelfth and thirteenth at First Baptist Church of Burden. It's called the proclaiming the gospel conference. And again, if you're interested in that, there is a flyer hanging up out in the foyer that you can check out the details on that.

But it looks like it's going to be pretty interesting to to check out. So those are the things that are going on. If you would make sure that your mobile device is silenced and for our responsive reading this morning, we are going to be in. Psalm 30, Psalm 30, looking at the new American standard for this part, just so that we sound the same. You need a copy of the new American standard.

There should be one in a row around you. And as you are turning to Psalm 30, if you are able, please stand in the honor of the reading of God's word. Psalm 30. I will read the odd verses. If you will follow along with Pastor Allen and the even versus a song, a song at the dedication of the house, a song of David. I will extol you, O Lord, for you have lifted me up and have not let my enemies rejoice over me.

O Lord, my God, I cried to you for help and you healed me. O Lord, you have brought up my soul from Sheol. You have kept me alive that I would not go down to the pit. Sing praises to the Lord, you is godly ones and give thanks to his holy name for his anger is but for a moment. His favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may last for the night, but a shout of joy comes in the morning.

Now, as for me, I said I will prosperity. I will never be moved. O Lord, by your favor, you have made my mountain to stand strong. You hid your face. I was dismayed to you, O Lord. I called into the Lord. I made supplication. What profit is there in my blood? If I go down to the pit, will the dust praise you? Will it declare your faithfulness here? O Lord, and be gracious to me.

O Lord, be my helper. You have turned for me my morning into dancing. You have loosed my sackcloth and girded me with gladness that my soul may sing praise to you and not be silent. O Lord, my God, I will give thanks to you forever. It's the Lord. We do praise you for who you are and the work that you do and how much you care for each of us individually. And so, Father, I pray that as we take time to hear from you this morning,

that you would move by the power of your Holy Spirit. In Jesus' name, amen. You may be seated. And before we get into the Word this morning, we are blessed to have a gentleman with us named Jim Butler. There is an organization that we support here at Calvary Chapel. It's called the Gideons. And about once a year, he comes and shares with us some stories about what God's Word does in the lives of people through the work of the Gideons.

So, Jim, if you'd like to come on up. I've come to tell you about all my health problems. So what it says, once you hit 80 or so, that's all you got to talk about. But fortunately, I do have something important to talk about, and that's the Bible. But every year I have a difficulty trying to come up with some new way to say the same thing. And I envy the pastors because they have this big book that they can use.

But anyway, I thought, well, sometime, I'd like to just stand up and read about the Bible, you know, like, just read all of Psalm 119 or 19. But this book was given to me a long time ago. It says, uh, heaven and earth shall pass away, but my word shall never pass away. And in Psalm 119, it says, forever, O Lord, your Word is with me.

word is established in heaven. And Paul said, you know, I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It's the power of God unto salvation. And it's alive and it's powerful. Boy, I wanted to do that sometime, but I won't. I think today I'm going to kind of, well, tell you a little bit about the organization in case you're not familiar with the Gideons. Then I want to tell

you a few local stories. And number one about, I may have mentioned this last time, but we finally hit the two and a half billion mark in Bibles. And if you stack them, you know, it would go all the way to the moon now. I've always wanted to say that. Or around the equator, eight and a half times. Around the world. And then I guess I like to talk about the blitzes that we have. Every week we send

a number of Gideons to a major city. And then they spend maybe a week there and just see how many Bibles they can distribute. We came back from the Philippines, but I think it was 800 or 900,000 different scriptures there. We give about, you know, two million a year away. Or no, 200 million a year. And then I thought, well, I could talk about the fact that we as an organization will not speak in an LBGTQRSTV whatever. And of

course, they usually don't want us in there anyway. But it's now official that we are going to be able to do that. We're not going to, in any way, join hands with unbelievers. Locally, I think you know, we go to the jails and we go to the motels and we go to different hospitals, doctor's offices, anywhere we can leave scriptures. And so we continue to do that locally here.

And in the past few years, we've had some great stories from pastors. And I love to hear from a pastor. I'm going to just kind of quote some of them. There was a wonderful pastor in the county. He's gone now. But he, when I was there, he grabbed this Red Testament that was given to him in the fifth grade. And he said, it was all gnarly, you know, he said, if it weren't for this, I wouldn't be a preacher today.

And my sons wouldn't be preachers either. And it was, I said, well, let's just take up the offering then. I mean, he said, everything needs to be said. And then there's a pastor up in Udall, John Warwick. And I love the story that he can tell you. I wish you were here to do it. But he was raising, he and his wife were raising foster kids. And the mother of these kids was a cult leader somewhere.

I don't remember which cult. And so she finally kind of cleaned up her act and she came to get the kids. And it was a sad time because they had been with the Warwicks for quite a while. And all of a sudden, why, they're gone. And on the way home, they stopped at a motel. And the mother was trying to convince the kids about how that Jesus Christ is not God. And so the little nine-year-old girl grabbed the Bible at the motel and disputed her mother.

And according to John, she won the battle. Well, they went on and I was there last week or two weeks ago. And the mother had abandoned the kids then. And. John and his wife have adopted them and they are the sweetest kids you'll ever know. But just to know that they, at nine years old, had a command of the scriptures and they knew where they could find it. And that speaks to me of why I do what I do.

I love to see people grasp that I just was listening to Dobson. Do you ever listen to him on the radio? And there was a testimony of a man on Friday. He said that he had gotten saved out of a homosexual lifestyle and different things and that he was in prison for a number of things. And he looked outside the cell and the trash can was there. And on top of the trash can was a Gideon Bible.

And he grabbed that little testament and got saved. He now it teaches all over the world. And so it's nice to hear it from another source. Let me think. I got a call from a pastor in Cedarvale. They we'd given out Bibles to them. Juana's there and we do it. We we hit the Bible schools as best we could this year. Give out several hundred. But he called me and he said, I just want you to know that the kids in this is a second or third year.

They've gotten their scriptures there. And he said, so they all agreed that they were going to take them. And pass it out at their school to other kids. And I thought, wow, this this is what the little piece of the puzzle that I wanted to get hold of, because each year I wanted to emphasize something different. And this year I want to emphasize a program called the Friend of the Gideons.

If anybody can join a child, the boy that from Guatemala I brought some time ago. He was the youngest at the time, 10 years old. And it doesn't cost any money to get on that site. Friends of the Gideons. And I have little pamphlets here. I'll be glad to give you as I stand there at the back. And I want to encourage you to to get on there and think about it, because you can buy the scriptures that we use at our cost.

Forty five years ago, Dr. Myers. The chiropractor, he sold me a box of Gideon Bibles, a hundred of them for eighty five dollars. Well, you know, inflation is now there after forty five years, they're up to a dollar thirty five. So I always think of my folks donut shop, we sold two dozen donuts for fifty cents the first day, so inflation has not hit us. Well, we find so many ways to distribute the Bibles in a cheaper way than many of the commercial people do.

And so I really want to encourage you to do that. And then you can have you can come to the prayer meetings. You can also get on the Gideon site. It's different. Just the Gideons dot org or something like that. And then you can pick up this app that I think is most important. And it has twenty two hundred and eight different versions of the Bible in different languages, the entire Bible in a different language.

And so whether you're in. Russia or China or we found some for the two keys people here in Park City. Are you familiar with the Micronesian Church? Well, they speak two keys and sure enough. It's on the app. And a pastor in burden might marker. He said, do you have anything? Do you print anything in Bhutan language? I said, I don't know where that is, but no, but you can use this and tell the pastor there on his smartphone that he can pick that up and download it or whatever you call it and and then be able to offer that to people.

And I want to encourage you. To do that because you are you'd be surprised when we go to a college campus or something. There's always somebody from a foreign country there and they might want to know and we get letters back all the time about that particular thing. And I like what the Bible itself says that God exalts his word above his very name. That's so hard to imagine because that's how important his word is.

Because it's established. Established in heaven is like a fire. It breaks the rock to pieces. And so I want to encourage you to to check with this app and I'll give you a brochure and then you can start doing what so many Christians want to do. They want to they want to get involved in evangelism, but it's a real hard thing to have the tools and so we can provide those New Testaments or whole Bibles for $5.

And then you can take those helps in the back and explain the gospel of people. And if nothing else, give them the scripture because everybody's a friend to somebody who gives them a gift. And so this is our emphasis this year. And I'd call it become a friend of the Gideon's. It costs nothing. And you can do it as a child. A woman can do it. Even a pastor is allowed now.

To be involved in the Gideon's and thank you so much.

Thank you, sir. Always appreciate hearing from you. All right. And then after service, he will be at the back with his Bible open. If anybody would like to make a donation of any sort. So if you would open up in your Bibles to the book of Matthew chapter 26. Matthew chapter 26.

We're just a few weeks away from Easter. Resurrection Sunday and I will be gone for one of the weeks and so I thought it seems like a really good time to go ahead and jump into our resurrection series felt like the proper time to do that and so that's what we're going to do here this morning and so we'll be looking this morning at Matthew chapter 26 verses 36 through 46 Matthew chapter 26 and if you would as you're turning let's pray one more time father.

I pray right now that you would settle our hearts Lord settle our minds and focus us in on what your word has to tell us this morning Lord as many have said before this section is considered holy ground in Scripture because of what takes place in this prayer in the garden and so father as we approach it may we do so with a heart to understand exactly what you have to share with us this morning may our hearts be open to the moving of your Holy Spirit and to the

Lord may you move through these words today and we just pray these things father in Jesus name amen so let's pick up in verse 36 of chapter 26 and it says this Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane and he said to his disciples sit here while I go over there and pray and he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee and he began to be grieved and distressed.

and he said to them my soul is deeply grieved to the point of death remain here and keep watch with me and he went a little beyond them and fell on his face and he prayed saying father if it is possible let this cup pass from me yet not as I will but as you will and he came to the disciples found them sleeping and said to Peter so you men could not watch with me for one hour keep watching

and praying that you may not enter into temptation the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak and he went away again a second time and prayed saying my father if this cannot pass away unless I drink it your will be done again he came and found them sleeping for their eyes were very heavy and he left them again and went away and prayed a third time saying the same thing once more he came to the disciples and said to them are you

still sleeping and resting behold the hour is at hand the son of man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners get up let us be going behold the one who betrays me is at hand as we move into this this resurrection series I put a title on it and the title that I put on this entire series is is called crushing serpents crushing serpents if we were to go all the way back into Genesis and we've done this a lot of times we would we would find that the fall of man takes place and as God is handing out the discipline he talks to the woman and he says there will be enmity between the seed of the woman and

the seed of the serpent the serpent will will bruise his heel but the seed of the woman will crush the head of the serpent that was the very first promise of a Messiah that would ultimately defeat the serpent that would ultimately defeat death, that would ultimately defeat sin, that would ultimately be our Savior. And the rest of the Bible tells the story of his first coming and introduces us to his second coming. And so all of history, all of the Old Testament worked forward to the coming of this Messiah, the first coming of this Messiah, who would be the one who would crush the head of the serpent. And so Matthew has told the story of Jesus. And so to get us lined up with the story

of Jesus, to get us to this Garden of Gethsemane, let me give us a little bit of background information. Jesus has spent the last three years of his life from the ages of 30 to 33 ministering to the people. He had been teaching, he had been preaching, he had been healing, but all of it with a central focus, all of it with a focus on one thing, that he was looking to the cross, because that was the reason that he came. They wanted to crown him.

They wanted to make him a leader. They wanted to make him a ruler. But he kept saying, that's not why I came. I came to seek and to save the lost. Well, in that last week or so of Jesus's life, after he rode into Jerusalem on what we call Palm Sunday, as he came riding into the shouts of the people who were crying, Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord,

as he was tested by the religious leaders through their questions, as he was tested by the religious leaders, and they observed his life, he continued to have one theme with his disciples. You need to understand something, guys. I have to face death. I will be taken into the hands of sinful men, and I will be crucified by the Romans. But at the end of the day, I will rise again. At

the end of three days, I will rise again. And he kept preparing them for those things all throughout that last week. And then we come to the very last night of Jesus's life. Then in that last night, he gathered his disciples into the upper room, and they celebrated what we call the last supper, but was their Passover meal. It was their time of celebrating the Passover. And as he

celebrated the Passover with them, he taught them about servanthood. As he girded himself with a towel, and he washed the feet of the disciples. And after he had washed the feet of the disciples and eaten with them, he declared that one of them would be a betrayer, that one of them would ultimately betray him. And while all of them asked the question, Lord, is it me? Ultimately, when Judas got up to leave, he said, what you need to do,

do quickly. And Judas went off into the night, and we're told that Satan filled Judas at that point in time. And after Judas left, Jesus was there with the 11 disciples that were left with him, the 11 loyal disciples that were left with him. And he established the Lord's supper, what we call communion. And as he established that time of communion, and as they

celebrated together, it says that, they sang a song, and they began to walk towards the garden. And as they walked towards the garden, he gave them that discourse on abiding. He said, I am the vine, and you are the branches. And the greatest place of victory in your life is for you to maintain an active and living relationship with me. And then after he finished teaching them those things, we're told that he prayed for his

disciples. The greatest thing that he prayed is that they would be one, as he and the Father are one, but that God would sustain them through the difficult times, and that they would be one. And would always stay close to the Lord and as that on that journey he taught them and as he prayed for them we arrive at the garden and that's where we pick up in Matthew chapter 26 he says and Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane I left one thing out because I got ahead of myself there was one last thing that Jesus had told the disciples he said you all will flee because of me tonight every one of you will abandon me tonight and of course Peter stood up and in the way that

only Peter can said that's not true I don't care what all of these other guys do I would die for you and Jesus looked at him he said I don't think you realize who you really are and is that not a problem that some people in the world have we don't realize who we really are he says you don't realize who you really are because before tonight is done you will have denied that you even know me you will have denied that you even know me three times then Peter of course was unwilling to face it and Jesus said don't worry Satan's gonna sift you but I've prayed for you and so that leads us to this garden of Gethsemane it says in verse 36 Jesus came with him to the place called Gethsemane now

this garden is pretty a pretty fascinating place and it is so for a couple of reasons it is so first of all because this garden of Gethsemane sat at the foot of the Mount of Olives and the term Gethsemane actually means an olive press or an olive tree or an olive tree or an olive oil press which is kind of interesting when we think about what Jesus is about to go through because because when we think about what he's about to go through with this battle that he's going to face when we think about the battle that he's going to face to get ready to crush the head of the serpent there's going to be an intense pressure an intense pressing that takes place on his life and while he's not an olive that will ultimately release the oil that the

olives would release he is a man who will release his own will to the Father at this point in time and as he faces this great pressure of this garden of Gethsemane. But in this garden of Gethsemane, the second thing that we take note of is that it is a well-known place. It's a very well-known place. He went to a spot that Judas, the one who would betray him, would know exactly where he was going to be.

I point this out for a specific purpose. Jesus, we must understand, was not a martyr. Jesus was not a victim. Jesus was not someone who didn't have control of the entire situation. Jesus, we will find, was in control of this entire thing. Because if Jesus really wanted to flee, he could have gone just about anywhere that he wanted to, to find an escape from Judas.

But he went to a place that would be easily spotted by Judas, so that there would be no difficulty in tracking him down. Because the death that he faced was not a death that he faced as a victim. It was a death that he faced as a sacrifice. And he would face it victoriously. And so they come to this place called the garden of Gethsemane. There's one last thing I'd like to point out to you about the garden.

And that's that it is a garden. Because if you remember, when Adam and Eve sinned, where were they? They were in, they were in a garden. They were in the garden of Eden, a garden where everything was perfect. And in a garden where everything was perfect, man surrendered his own will to the will of Satan. And in a garden that is full of great pressure, Jesus, the second Adam, will surrender his will to the will of the father and ultimately pay for the sins of humanity.

So the next thing that we see here is that we see Jesus with his disciples. Notice what it says. So he said to his disciples, verse 36, Sit here while I go over there and pray. And he took with him. And Peter, the two sons of Zebedee, and he began to be grieved and distressed. And he said to them, My soul is deeply grieved to the point of death. Remain here and keep watch with me.

Handful of things I'd like to point out to you again out of this. So he's got 11 of his disciples left and they arrive at this garden of Gethsemane. Again, a very familiar place to Jesus, a very familiar spot to his disciples. And he looks at the 11 disciples and to eight of them, he says, I need you guys to hang out here, perhaps at the entrance of the garden, perhaps one particular spot in the garden.

Kind of paint this picture in your mind, if you will. So they just need you guys to hang out here. Wait here for me. Because I'm about to have to go do something that I can only do by myself. But I need you guys to wait here. And then he looks at three of his disciples, Peter and we're told the sons of Zebedee. Now, the sons of Zebedee we know are James and John.

And he looks at Peter, James and John, and he says, You guys come a little. Further into the garden with me. Now, perhaps you've asked yourself in the past. I know I have several times. Why were Peter, James and John always the closest ones to Jesus? Why did it seem that that Jesus sort of singled them out and made them like his his special crew, right? Like they always got to do things nobody else got to do.

They got to go places no one else got to go. They were there on the Mount of Transfiguration. They're closer to Jesus when he's in this particular point. Why did he choose them? Well, some might say that it's because of the. Roles that Peter, James and John would ultimately play. After all, Peter will become one of the pillars of the early church and ultimately the first one to date to take the gospel to the Gentiles.

He'll deliver that first message on the day of Pentecost. He will deliver a powerful message in the temple. Thousands of people will get saved because of the work that he did. Maybe that's why he took Peter with him. John would be the longest living of the apostles, and he would go on to write not only the gospel account of John, which is the last of the gospel accounts that was.

Written, but he would go on to write the epistles, the first, second and third John, and he would be the one to whom Jesus would give the revelation of Jesus Christ, which shares with us so much of the second coming of Christ and of course, James, this James, the brother of John, would be the first martyr of the disciples. Maybe that's why Jesus took them. But maybe it's for another reason. You see, when I was in Bible college, I was a part of a group called the dorm stewards.

Now, that's not a singing group. That has a really. Bad name that that meant that I was in some form of leadership in the college. I was in charge of my my dorm room, five other guys, and there was a bunch of us that were in charge of different rooms. And and and when you got to that place where you were in charge, you had a meeting about once a week with the dean of men, and as we met with the dean of men, the very first time we met with him, Mark Schwartz, scariest human being I'd ever been around in my life.

Up to that point in time, he looked at all of us, and he said, some of you are here because of the great leadership skills that you have, and because we see a gifting. In. You. And we see talents in you, and we want to see that that is developed. That's why some of you are here. Some of you are here because I don't trust you, and I need to keep a closer eye on you, and I'm never going to tell you which one you are, and sometimes I think that's the way it was with with with Jesus and Peter, James and John, because remember, Peter was the one that stuck his foot in his mouth all the time, and James and John were known as the sons of thunder because they wanted to call down fire on a village that didn't believe in Jesus.

Maybe it's because of the great guys that they were. Maybe it's because Jesus needed to keep a closer eye on him. It's hard. To say which one it was either way, Jesus brought Peter, James and John closer to him. And as Peter, James and John come in to share this a little bit more intimacy with Jesus, I want you to notice the mental state of Jesus at this point in time.

Notice what it says in verse 37. It says, and he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee and began to be grieved and distressed. And he said, my soul is deeply grieved. And he said, my soul is deeply grieved. And he said, my soul is deeply grieved. To the point of death. There are three Greek words that are used for depression. And the strongest of those three Greek words is what's used here for the word distressed.

It is the strongest word that could be used in the Greek language for depression. In other words, as Jesus was about to face the cross, he faced it with intense depression. His soul was cast down at this point in time. He had a heaviness about him at this point in time. There was a depth of grief inside of his soul that was unexplainable through words. And we'll find how hard words are for him in just a moment.

But then he describes himself this way. That's how Matthew commentates on what Jesus looked like. But Jesus describes himself as being deeply grieved to the point of death. Sorrowful to the point of death. Now I bring this out because I think it's an important thing for us to pay. Attention to that. Jesus knew what it was like to battle depression. Jesus knew what it was like to battle depression because in his humanity,

that's what he was going through at this point in time is he was facing a certain amount of depression. Why? Well, because we are told at 2nd Corinthians chapter 5 verse 21 that he who knew no sin would have was to become sin for us. That as he faced this battle of the cross that he'll face in the garden, as he faced this battle of the cross that he'll face in the garden, as he faced this battle of getting ready to go to the cross, he dealt with intense depression because he knew the weight that he was about to carry.

Because he knew the physical weight that he was about to carry. Because quite frankly, he was about to face a death that only slaves and thieves were to face. This death on the cross, the intensity of the physical anguish that he was about to go through, he had seen very well. Because one of the things that we forget in our culture is that based on the physical anguish that he was about to go through, based on what we know from history, the upright beam of the cross would have sat just outside of Jerusalem.

So for his entire life, as he walked to Jerusalem, he could see the upright beams of the cross and know that that was what he was about to face. And he had undoubtedly seen crucifixions at points in time. And knowing that he was less than 24 hours from that point, his soul was deeply grieved because he knew the physical pain that he was about to go through. He also knew the emotional strain that he was about to go through to have, to have everyone abandon him.

He knew the emotional strain of what he was about to go through to have everyone turn their back on him, to be lied about, to be cursed, to be spit upon, all of the emotional abuse that he would go through in the next 24 hours. But more than all of that, he knew that he was going to have to bear the guilt of the sin of humanity in less than 24 hours. And brothers and sisters, I think one of the greatest causes of depression in our culture today is guilt because that guilt weighs a person down. You know the guilt of what you've done and how much it's weighed you down in the past and how much Jesus set you free from that.

Now imagine the guilt of all of humanity for all of history being placed upon your soul for you to bear on a cross. He knew what he was about to face. And as he did so, there was great distress in him. There was great depression in him because in his humanity, that's what he experienced. Now, I tell you all that for this one purpose. Depression is the single most diagnosed mental illness in our culture today,

and it continues to grow. And I want you to know it doesn't just happen to people outside of the church. It happens to people inside of the church. And sometimes it feels like nobody else understands, but Jesus does. He knows what it's like to face a deep depression. He knows what it's like to face a deep depression. He's been through it before. He understands it.

And so even when nobody else understands what you're going through, Jesus does, which is why when you go to Jesus is that merciful and faithful high priest and you bring him all of that depression and you say, I don't even know how to put it into words. I'm just so down. I just feel so oppressed. I just feel so depressed. He goes, I get it. I've been there.

Let me help you through it. Because he's experienced it. Before because as a merciful and faithful high priest, he's been through the things that we've been through yet without sin. So we're told that as Jesus goes to pray, as he gathers three of his disciples to him, he says, I'm deeply distressed deeply grieved to the point of death. And then he tells them to do one thing.

Remain here and keep watch with me. Remain here and keep watch with me. The idea of the word to keep watch means to remain aware or remain alert to be vigilant. He says, be vigilant, be watchful for me. Essentially, what is he saying? Pray for me because in his humanity and I think we should hold on to that idea. We'll talk about it again in a minute in his humanity.

He was about to face something hard and he knew the greatest thing he needed around him at that point in time was prayerful support from his friends. And so he says, stay here and watch remain here and watch with me. And as he tells them to do so, we read about his prayer. Notice what it says. Verse 39. He says, and he went a little beyond them. And he fell on his face and he prayed saying,

my father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me. Yet, not as I will, but as you will. So I think what will always shock me about this prayer is the brevity of it. Now, maybe there's a whole lot of other words that are not recorded. Maybe there's a whole lot of other things that were said by Jesus that aren't recorded and he only told Matthew. This is what I want you to record because remember Matthew is not right here with him at this point in time.

I actually think this was autobiographical on the part of Jesus when he talked to Matthew afterwards when he was around the disciples for some of those days. I think he told them they said, what did you pray are bad for falling asleep? What did you pray while you're out there? And he's and he shared it with him. That's the only thing that I can think of how they would have known what Jesus prayed,

but it's such a short little prayer. Why? Because Jesus is deeply grieved and when you're deeply grieved when you're deeply distressed when you're battling that kind of emotional depression. Sometimes all you can do is just sit in it, right? Sometimes all you can do is just kind of grown and sit and think and meditate and try to come up with the word. But you can't and it's almost like you can imagine him sitting there all of this time.

And finally he comes up with the words and he says Father. If it's possible, let this cup pass from me. Not as I will. But as you will he's all by himself. He's simply addressing the father and he makes one request. Let this cup pass from me. What does he mean by the cup? You should ask yourself. Questions like that. What does it mean by let this cup pass from me?

What's always kind of interesting because throughout Scripture when the cup is used particularly the Old Testament, it always speaks of God's wrath. It always speaks of God's wrath being poured out like the like the the cup is trembling. The cup is overflowing the cup of God's wrath. And so and so what he's speaking of there and you might just write to the side of the margin of your Bible God's wrath.

What he's saying is Lord, if there's any other way for me to not have to face your wrath, then show me what that is now. Nevertheless, not my will, but your will be done. I think there's four interesting things that we learn from this prayer that Jesus prays from this battle that Jesus is going through four interesting things that I think that we should pay attention to. Number one, Jesus is all alone.

Jesus is all alone. And I think that that's interesting for a couple of reasons. I came across this. Great quote in David Guzik's commentary, and it's from the from the Puritan commentator Matthew Poole, and I want to read what it says. It says a fervent prayer loves privacy. Fervent prayer loves privacy. See, there's there's nothing quite like being able to get alone with God to be able to shut out all of the other things of the world,

all of the distractions of the world, all of the temptations of the world, all of the noise of the world to be able to shut all of that. Out and just be alone with God because that fervent prayer loves privacy and you have you will find that public prayer is great and praying in groups is awesome. And I love the power that comes when you're praying in groups. But when you're going through something when your heart is born down with something fervent prayer, it just loves privacy.

Because it's really hard to sit in the silence that sometimes is required in fervent prayer when you're around a lot of other people fervent prayer loves privacy. But but the second thing I take note of when it comes to Jesus being all alone is that Jesus Jesus was all alone. No one was with him to support him. No one was with him to undergird him. No one was with him to to help him with this.

Even the guys. He said, could you pray for me? We're going to find in just a minute that they're asleep because Jesus Jesus is all alone. And I know sometimes people feel that way because in a culture that we live in today that is so connected. It is still so disconnected and so many people feel like they are all by themselves. They're all alone because nobody else understands and they just feel so lonely in their life.

And I just want you to know Jesus understands. He knows what it's like to feel alone. He knows what it's like to feel like no one's there with them. Like no one understands him like no one can help him like no one can pick up what he's putting down because he felt all alone. And if that's you today, I want you to know, as far as this world goes, you may feel completely alone.

But as far as Jesus goes, you are never alone. Because he faced it for you. But but he felt all alone. The second thing that I take note of in this is I take note of the humanity of Jesus. The humanity of Jesus. I've read a couple of cut might have just been one commentator. I can't remember. I didn't take enough notes on that. That tried to say when Jesus was all like,

let this cup pass from me that there was something spiritual about that that he wasn't saying. Hey, I don't want to have to go through this. But everything that everything right there that says like if there's any other way, you know in his humanity, he's like I'm open for options, right? I'm I'm open for other ideas at this point in time. If there is any other way why because in his humanity he had to face all of this and I think that we need to remember that because while Jesus is one was 100% God.

He was also 100% man and in his divinity. He knew exactly what he had to do. But in his humanity, he knew what he would have to face and what we see on display here is the humanity of Jesus Christ because we are reminded that it is in his humanity that he made that sacrifice for us. And we see that humanity of Jesus Christ on display for us. Number three is we see the importance of.

Surrender. We see the importance of surrender. You see, Jesus had to hit a point where he said in his humanity, not my will, but your will be done. And that's one of the hardest things for us to do is to surrender our will, right? Like like we are born as little babies with this strong will right with this will that wants what I want. You know why babies cry because they want what they want and to an extent.

There's an aspect of Innocence in a little baby. He's crying because there's things that they need at that point in time, but then they turn about two or three years old and you realize all of the Innocence is gone, right? And and now they just want what they want because they want their will let my will be done. And that's the way we live our lives until we first come to Jesus.

And that's the first time we begin to surrender our will because we've been living according to our will up to the point in time of coming to Jesus. And finally, we said living according to my will has left me. Destitute that's left me guilty. It's left me ashamed. It's left me knowing that I need something more. And so we come to Jesus and say, I surrender to you.

But what we don't realize is is that began a process of surrendering our will to God that we will now take the rest of our lives to do. And Jesus gives us a perfect picture of surrendering our will to the father because in his humanity, he's like, man, I really, that's going to be really hard. Nevertheless, not my will, but your will be done. And then number four, there is no other way to salvation.

There's no other way to salvation. You know how I know because Jesus went to the cross. There's there's no other way to salvation other than the cross of Jesus Christ other than faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross because if there was another way, how cruel, is God to allow his son to go through that? But there was no other way. This is why anybody that presents any other way to be made righteous other than faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ is slapping Jesus in the face.

Because if you think that your good works are enough, then he didn't need to go to the cross. If you think that attending church is enough, then he didn't need to go to go to the cross. If you think that some sacrifice you can make is enough, then he didn't need to go to the cross. If there's some other way, then he didn't need to go to the cross. Then when he said,

father, if there's any other way, God would have said, well, now that you mentioned it, I did have a plan B. But he finally had to say, nevertheless, not my will, but your will be done because there's only one way to salvation and that's through Jesus. And so he comes back to his disciples. And I want you to notice what it says. Verse 40. He came to the disciples and he found them sleeping.

And he said to Peter, so you men could not keep watch with me for one hour. Keep watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. Now, there's a couple of things I'd like to point out to you. One of them, I think is kind of funny. So he goes back to the three disciples. That's who he goes back to. And all three of the disciples are sleeping.

But who does he address? Peter. He goes back and sees the disciples sleeping. He says, Peter, why are you sleeping? Can you imagine Peter at that point in time? There are three of us here. Why am I the only one? That gets named in this situation? Why didn't you say James and John? Why didn't you say Peter, James and John? Why didn't you say John? Why am I the only one that gets named?

You know why? I think Peter was the only one that got named because Peter was the one that said, everyone else may leave you, but not me. I will stand strong. I will die with you, Peter. You can't die for me. You won't stay awake for me, right? And that's kind of what he says at this point in time. But he goes to them and he says, what are you doing? Why are you sleeping?

Why are you sleeping? Now? I think there's something really important for us to pay attention to a really important lesson. We should focus on here because he looks at him says, why are you sleeping? Because they were sleeping in two different ways. Yes, they were physically sleeping and I totally get that. Listen, I've said it before. I'll say it again. If I want the best night's sleep of my life,

I will start off by saying, dear Jesus, right? And either one, I will give Jesus all of my problems or number two, I will just simply fall asleep, but it'll be the best night's sleep I've ever had, right? But they were just physically sleeping. They were spiritually sleeping because spiritually speaking, they failed to recognize the gravity of the situation.

It didn't matter how many times he told him what was going on. It didn't matter how many different clues he gave them. It didn't matter how many different hints he gave them. He's getting ready to go to the cross. Peter or Judas has left and they didn't even notice that he was going to betray Jesus. He had told them over and over and over again. This is what's about to happen and he's praying great drops of blood,

flowing from his brow and they're sleeping. Why? Because they failed to realize what was going to happen in his life in the next 24 hours. They failed to realize the gravity of the situation. And so they were asleep. And you know what? I fear sometimes about the Western culture church today. We failed to recognize the gravity of the situation. And so we are asleep.

Now, I'm starting to see some hope that the church is starting to wake up. And if you just woke up from your nap just now, I wasn't talking to you. I am starting to see some hope that the church is waking up because we're watching revival start to take place. But brothers and sisters, we need to pay attention to what Jesus says here because what does he tell his disciples?

Keep watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation. Keep watchful, keep vigilant, give strict attention to the things that are going on and to prayer so that you won't slip into temptation. You know what? The easiest way for us to slip into temptation, is to become really, really comfortable and say, I've got time. I'll deal with that later. And all of a sudden you find yourself slipping into temptation because you lost your edge because you lost your focus.

And he says, watch and pray lest you enter into temptation. Why? Because the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. Well, in verse 42, he goes and he prays again since he went away a second time and he prayed saying my father, if this cannot pass away, unless I drink it, your will be done. Now, I find something interesting about the second time that he prays the second time that he prays a little bit shorter and a little more pointed.

You notice that he doesn't pray Lord. If it be your will, he doesn't pray Lord. Let this cup pass from me. He says, Lord, if this cup can't pass from me, then let your will be done. You see, he's, he's, he's, he's, he's, he's, he's, he's, he's, he's, to what what the father wants for him. The first time was a battle. The second time's less of a battle. Why?

Because that's what happens with you and I the more that you surrender the easier. It is to surrender. You see, our brains have this ability to form these things called neural pathways. And these neural pathways are kind of fascinating. Every time you make a decision, it sort of forms a little groove in your brain. So that the next time that choice comes up it's more natural to go with that decision

because you started forming that neural pathway, that works negatively with sin. The more that you sin, the more that you give in to that, which is why we need God's word in our lives to wash us from those neural pathways. But it's also true in good ways. When you choose to surrender to God, the next time the choice comes up, it's a little bit easier because you made that choice.

And that's exactly what Jesus does. He has first surrendered to God. He comes the second time and he says, if it can't pass, let your will be done. Of course, he comes to him again and he finds him sleeping. Then notice what it says in verse 44. And he left them again and he went away and he prayed a third time, saying the same thing once more. We're not really told exactly what he said,

although we just know it was similar in nature. And so Jesus goes off and prays one more time. And notice what it says in verse 45. He came to his disciples and he said to them, Are you still sleeping and resting? Behold, the hour is at hand. The son of man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners. Get up. Let us be going. Behold, the one who betrays me is at hand.

He goes and he prays the same thing a third time. And he comes back and he finds him sleeping again a third time. Not a big surprise right at this point in time. Finds him sleeping again a third time. Only this time when he comes back, he says, Are you still sleeping? It's time to get up. My betrayer is at hand. Let us be. Be going. Now, did you notice something different there?

Maybe it was the way that I read it. Maybe it's the way that I understood it. But I want to read it to you one more time. He says, Get up. Let us be going. Behold, the one who betrays me is at hand. Now, does that sound like the words of someone who is deeply distressed and grieved? Does that sound like the words of someone who is grieved to the point of death?

Or does that sound like someone who is determined and focused? I think that last verse sounds like someone who is determined and focused. Because now he has won the battle. Now, he has dealt with the surrender. Now, he has faced the cross and he is ready to do it. Why? Because he won the battle in prayer. There's a fantastic scene in Mel Gibson's movie, The Passion of the Christ.

I don't love everything about The Passion of the Christ, but I love this scene. It's at the very beginning of the movie. It's the very beginning of the movie. It depicts Jesus as he's praying in the garden. And while he's praying in the garden, there's a snake that is slithering through the garden on his way to Jesus, right? I was automatically like scariest movie I've ever seen.

Anyways, it's it's slithering its way to Jesus. Obviously an artistic rendering. This did not actually happen, but symbolically it did. And as this snake is slithering its way to Jesus, he's praying and great drops of blood are flowing from his brow and he's praying and he says, nevertheless, not my will, but your will be done. And he gets up and he says, behold,

my betrayers at hand, let us be going. And he lifts up his heel and he crushes the head of the serpent. Brothers and sisters, that's called winning the battle in prayer. You see, the battle of the cross did not take place when he was getting, three nails put into his body. The battle of the cross took place when he was in a garden and he said, not my will, but your will be done.

You see, crushing serpents started with a battle in the garden. And once that battle was won, he was able to face the cross with confidence. Amen. Let's all stand.

And if you'd bow with me,

father, we come before you and Lord, I thank you for your. Your word. Lord, I thank you for what it does in our hearts and lives. Lord, I thank you for the truth of the cross. And father, I pray that you would sink deeply into our hearts, the knowledge and the understanding of the fact that you defeated death and Lord, it all began in a garden. It all began with a battle and prayer and father,

our lives are no different as we face the serpent in our own lives. We know we can have victory if we will win the battle in prayer. And so father, give us hearts that seek you. Give us hearts that cry out to you. Give us hearts that are poured out to you and father, help us to win that battle in prayer. And we just thank you father in Jesus name. Amen. Be blessed.