Prayer
Heavenly father, I thank you for all your wonderful goodness
I thank you that you have provided this place to gather
I thank you for all who have come to hear, and all those listening online
I thank you Lord for my many brothers and sisters who love you, and love your word above all else
I pray as we look a the scriptures tonight, that you help us to see you through your word
Lord, my chief desire is to know you
Open the eyes of our understanding, and help us to see your glory
Let it be, in Jesus name
Amen
Introduction
It is very good to be with all of you tonight, and to see everyone out
I do want to pass along a message from Bro. James in South Africa, he is doing much better now, the Lord really worked wonderfully in his situation
He is back on his feet, and just keep him in prayer. He is really doing a tremendous work among the saints there. Just pray for them all.
I was also talking with Bro. Solomon in Israel earlier in the week, and there have been several terrorist attacks there lately, one was not very far from his fellowship
Just lift them up in prayer, and also remember him. He is about to take a journey to go visit several different churches sharing the truth with them.
God is moving, and the work is bringing forth fruit
I just pray God have his perfect way, and we will fit into what part he has us to help the saints
And just one note, this will be the last day we have a Friday service. We are going to continue having the Sunday morning and Thursday services at the church like we have been for the past year. But we will move our Friday night fellowships to Sunday evening moving forward. There have been several more who have been wanting to join us, but Fridays are not working well for them. We have all talked this over already, and I think we are all agreed that Sunday evening will work for us all.
When we started having these Friday night fellowships, we tried to do it this way so people could come on Friday without having to be absent from anywhere else, and that has worked well.
But Lord willing we will start Sundays evenings for this fellowship service moving forward. So after today, our next fellowship service will be April 24.
We are doing these fellowship services specially for people who are being starved spiritually, but are in a trapped condition.
I very much understand how hard it is to get away peacefully from an abusive group of people
And when you see the way the hateful way they react to kindness and truth, I certainly understand the fear people feel
And shame on them for making you so fearful of following the leadership of the spirit of God in your own life
That is not godly
I have always been content to let people be led by the Lord to do what is best for them.
But I want you to know that God knows your heart, and he knows when you are doing your best to serve him.
Sometimes we are trapped in a circumstance, and we just have to find a way to make the best of it.
That’s all I ever ask of anyone, do your best
And its between you and God to know what that is.
If you are in Christ Jesus, you soul is secure
The Title of my message tonight is Jesus at Gethsemane
In my last message, I started looking at the sacrifice of Jesus Christ
And I will be starting in the book of Mark tonight
We began with the betrayal of Christ, and examining the character of Judas
And we will pick up tonight about where we left off
And I will maybe summarize just a little bit
After Judas went out into the night, on his way to finalize his betrayal
Jesus spoke a little more with his disciples
He had shared with them that evening that he was the fulfillment of the Passover lamb
Letting them know he was going to die for their sins
Bro. Jesse has really covered the types and meanings of the Passover feast really well in his last message
And that forms a background to this unfolding drama, and unfolding story
Everything Jesus is going through, it is the fulfillment of a pattern laid out since the very beginning of man
All the way back to the types that God gave to Adam and Eve, when he made them a coat of skins to cover their nakedness
It took a life, to produce something to cover their nakedness
And it was going to take a life to cover our sins
The scripture tells us that life is in the blood
And the penalty for sin is death
And the only way to ever atone for sin, was death
And to atone for your sin, its either going to be your death, or Christ’s death
Someone has to die and go to hell
If we go to hell, there is no coming back
But if we trust on Jesus death to atone for our sins, he conquered death, hell and the grave
And we can live in peace
Jesus, as the spotless lamb of God, his innocent blood, atoned for our sins
And the fact that Jesus is following the exact pattern laid out in the Old Testament
is one way God gives us to authenticate and verify he was who he claimed to be
Jesus didn’t just go about these things any old way
He fulfilled the pattern laid out by God
He fulfilled prophecy in the old testament, and not just one, but hundreds of them
And he did it in a undeniable way
That is why Luke could write that Jesus offered many infallible proofs of who he was
And those proofs played an important role for the believers
Its not wrong to ask for proof
There are people who abuse the scripture, and tell you its wrong to ask for proof
But they just don’t even know what they are talking about
Jesus was happy to leave behind infallible proofs
Even to this day, there is very solid proof of the resurrection of Jesus Christ
Its not something we believe merely by blind faith
But our faith is based on something
We heard the word, we heard the truth, we understood the truth, and that brought us our faith
Faith based on nothing is not faith, its foolishness
Blind faith might not really be faith at all.
And if you truly have the spirit of God in you, you will seek and find the truth behind your faith
The spirit of God will not lead us into blind faith, it will lead us into the truth which our faith is based on
And faith based on Jesus, faith based on the word of God, that is true faith
God does not ask us to have blind faith, based on nothing
God asks us to have faith in his word
Maybe we will get to that in a few messages.
But just know, everything Jesus is doing here is an evidence of who he is, because he is fulfilling prophecies and patterns from the old testament
Jesus proved who he was, there is no question
He was the messiah, the one and only savior of mankind
And as Jesus finished relating to dispels how we was fulfilling the patterns of the old testament it says they sang a hymn together, and then started off to take a walk
And, as they walked, Jesus told them many things
He told them about the coming of the holy spirit
He told them about being fruitful
He gave them the great commandment, telling them to love another as he loved them
And he took time, and he prayed for them all, one of the most powerful prays in the whole bible
And I would love some time to look at all again
And we might have time one day
But finally Jesus and the disciples finished walking, and they reached their destination
Turn with me to Mark chapter 14, starting at verse 32
and we will read the verses I want to focus on tonight
Mark 14:32-42 (KJV)
32 And they came to a place which was named Gethsemane: and he saith to his disciples, Sit ye here, while I shall pray.
33 And he taketh with him Peter and James and John, and began to be sore amazed, and to be very heavy;
34 And saith unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful unto death: tarry ye here, and watch.
35 And he went forward a little, and fell on the ground, and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him.
36 And he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me: nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt.
37 And he cometh, and findeth them sleeping, and saith unto Peter, Simon, sleepest thou? couldest not thou watch one hour?
38 Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation. The spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak.
39 And again he went away, and prayed, and spake the same words.
40 And when he returned, he found them asleep again, (for their eyes were heavy,) neither wist they what to answer him.
41 And he cometh the third time, and saith unto them, Sleep on now, and take your rest: it is enough, the hour is come; behold, the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.
42 Rise up, let us go; lo, he that betrayeth me is at hand.
Jesus’s Great Trial
As we read these verses, Jesus was staring at the prospect of what was going to happen over the next few hours
Jesus was contemplating the torturous death he was about to face.
The next hours of Jesus life, were going to be his hardest
He was going to be beaten beyond recognition
He was going to be humiliated and degraded in every conceivable way
And when it is all over, Jesus was going die a painful agonizing death.
It is something very brutal, and very extreme that Jesus was about to face
In some ways, you and I can never fully relate to what Jesus faced
The extreme nature of what he faced certainly goes beyond any trial, or any situation that I have ever faced
But although he is facing a situation here that is a magnitude greater than anything we have faced, there are things in Jesus’s passion which we can relate to ourselves
And there is a reason that these things are call the passion of Christ
It was because he passionate
And passion, if you look up the word, it means emotions which can barely be controlled
Passion is an overflowing of emotions
And there are things here in this story which, are common to all men
There are lessons we can draw for our own comfort and strength
And that is chiefly what I would like to focus on this evening
And we realize tonight is Good Friday, this is the day Jesus died.
While no single person cannot fully relate to what Jesus is facing here, there are aspects everyone can relate to.
At its most basic, Jesus is facing death
And there has not yet been one sane person who is not grieved by the prospect of their death
Thinking of our death is not something we like to do
Man is programmed almost to not even consider the thought, because it is such a ugly thing to think about
If you run into someone who is not grieved by the prospect of death, I would be checking to make sure he is not a Jim Jones kind of character
Truly, there is joy in knowing what wait beyond death for the saint
But there is also grief that accompanies death, because death brings separation
And separation bring sorrow
There are many people that faced terrible deaths, Paul was beheaded Peter and Andrew crucified, Thomas stoned. There were martyrs that were eaten by the lion, trampled by the beast, roasted alive, cut to pieces, killed in every way you can imagine.
There are pretty traumatic and extreme ways that Christians have died
And even in our own day, there are Christians in the world who face a martyrs death
When we look at the news over in Ukraine this past month, there are bodies they are finding that were tortured to death
No doubt some of those people were Christians
Those are very brutal deaths
And maybe a step back from that, we realize there are also people who go to the doctor, and they get news
You only have so many more days to live
And like Jesus, they are staring their death in the face
That is what is happening here, Jesus is looking at the prospect of a terrible death
A great life shaking trial
And we see how our Lord reacted to this terrible situation
And we realize something as we analyze his reaction
Jesus was a perfect a man
There was never a thing he ever did that was short of perfection
He is our perfect example
And anything we see in his life, it could never be a sin, it could never be wrong
It could never be anything short of the perfect spotless lamb
And Jesus don’t get a pass because he is Jesus
Jesus follows the same word of God that you and I do
So as we look at Jesus here, we realize he was just as perfect in this garden of Gethsemane as he was when he healed the sick
He was just as perfect as when preached his sermons
He was just as spotless as when he hung on the cross
He was just as pleasing to the Father as the day he ascended into heaven
Furthermore, Jesus was the image of the invisible God
The scripture says God was manifested in the flesh – that was Jesus
He was a perfect manifestation of the attributes of God
When you look at Jesus, you see God
And I don’t mean what we see with our eyes – that is flesh
But I am talking about the life he lived, the actions he performed, the way he conducted himself
Everything was a perfect representation of his father
Everything Jesus did, his father would have done the same
Because he and his father were one, there was no variance between them
Like father, like son
I am just emphasizing this point, not get into the godhead, but to draw your attention to the fact that Jesus was more than just a perfect man, but his actions are the very nature of God on display
Everything God wants mankind to know about himself, he reveals in the person of Jesus Christ
We cannot look at what happens here in the garden, and call it anything short of perfection
Keep that in mind, its important as we analyze what is happening here
The Lord Jesus was the perfect Son of God. Perfect in his spirit. Perfect in his body. Perfect in his mind.
There is nothing that we see here which is displeasing to God.
God was in no way displeased with Jesus when he was in the garden.
So with that in mind, lets look at these verses
Closer friends
Let me read verses 32 and 33 again
32 And they came to a place which was named Gethsemane: and he saith to his disciples, Sit ye here, while I shall pray.
33 And he taketh with him Peter and James and John, and began to be sore amazed, and to be very heavy;
Now notice something interesting here
As Jesus goes to pray, he takes all his disciples
But he choses three of them – Peter, James and John – and he takes them further
The rest are back in the distance, but Peter James and John – he wants those three there praying right beside him
And in this simple act, we see something that is apparent throughout the gospels
Some of Jesus natural friends are closer to him than others
Peter, James, and John, it really seems like Jesus has a special friendship with them.
Not that he loved them more, or cares for them more
But as a natural human person, we are limited
My eyes can only see in one direction
My ears can only hear so far away
My mind can only process so many thoughts
I am limited
And Jesus, as a man, had those same limitations
But the God that was in Jesus, he is no so limited
There is no limit to what he can see
There is no limit to what he can hear
There is no limit to how many things his mind can focus on
He can be the best friend to every person at the same time
But natural man, we can be friends with everyone, but we are limited
And we tend to have a some friends who are closer than others
Jesus, as a man, was the same way
He had closer relationships with some, than others
And here in garden of Gethsemane, as Jesus is coming into the greatest trial of his life
Jesus took his closest friends with him to pray beside him.
And as we might compare that to ourselves,
Often times when we are facing hardship and trials, we often reach out to people and say, pray for me
And when our trial is an especially overwhelming situation, or a time when we are very weak or vulnerable
We tend to look towards those we trust most for comfort
And what I hope you notice, is that is exactly what Jesus is doing
He is leaning on his closest companions to be there for him
Jesus wasn’t expect them to change his destiny
But he just wanted someone to be there
And often times, when someone is facing a great hardship, that is all we can do
We can just be there for them
I can’t walk on the water
I can’t tame the raging sea
I can’t heal
I can’t make money appear out of nowhere
But we can be there for one another
And that is all Jesus wanted, he wanted them to be there
He wanted to know they cared
And by seeing Jesus example, we can learn something
So as Jesus prayed, he had Peter James and John praying next to him.
But they are so tired, that they start falling asleep
Look at what Jesus said in verse 37
37 And he cometh, and findeth them sleeping, and saith unto Peter, Simon, sleepest thou? couldest not thou watch one hour?
38 Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation. The spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak.
Jesus asked the three of them to watch and pray with him
But they ended up all falling asleep
And look at what Jesus says to Peter, who seems to have been Jesus best friend, in the natural
Jesus said Peter – you couldn’t even stay awake and pray with me?
You couldn’t even give me one hour of your time?
Notice there that Jesus was disappointed in his comforters
But Jesus understands, as he says there in verse 38 – the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak
Jesus recognized their limitation, and he didn’t hold it against them
Here below, in the natural, no one will ever care for us like our heavenly father
No one will ever be able to comfort us like he can
And Jesus knew that, and you can detect that in his answer
So it’s good for us to also keep that in mind, when we are disappointed in our comforters
Its good for us to realize, man is limited
Men can disappoint us
And we should be prepared for that sometimes, and be willing to show them grace
So I hope that as we read these verses, we can this dynamic
Jesus asked his friends to be there for him
He was looking to them for some support and comfort
And he voiced his disappointment when they failed to do so
Jesus felt a little let down by his friends
Reproach hath broken my heart
And the bible tells us this even more clearly in another verse, because what is happening here in the garden of Gethsemane is the Fullment of prophesy
Turn back to Psalms 69 with me, and I will just read one verse there
Psalms 69 is one of the messianic psalms, pointing to Jesus
Psalm 69:20 King James Version (KJV)
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.
This verse starts applying in Gethsemane
Jesus fulfillment of this prophecy, started there
And it says something very clearly to us about Jesus
He was looking and desiring for someone to take pity on him and to comfort him
I don’t have to guess about what was in Jesus mind when was disappointed in Peter falling asleep
The bible tells me what Jesus was thinking
There are people who try to apply their own conceived ideas to scripture, but really the bible interprets itself
And very clearly, we see here Jesus actively sought for people to show him pity and to comfort him
And seeing that Jesus did that, we can realize it is a normal thing to do when we are in a low condition
Jesus showed us a pattern
He asked them all to pray, but he leaned most heavily on his closest companions
I hope we can see that
And turn back to Mark 14 with me, and we will look at another aspect of this setting.
Jesus experienced sorrow
Lets read verse 34
34 And (Jesus) saith unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful unto death: tarry ye here, and watch.
Now, that is a pretty strong thing Jesus that Jesus told his close friends
He didn’t tell it to everyone
But he tell his closest friends
Maybe we could read over this quickly and not feel the full weight of it
But is a major thing Jesus has said
Maybe I can paraphrase it
Jesus said, my grief is so great I feel like I am dying
My sorrow is so great, I feel like I am going to die
That is a feeling I don’t think a person could ever understand, unless they felt it themselves
This emotion Jesus was experiencing was so overpowering, it was so strong
It made him feel like dying
That is really something
Jesus experienced emotions so strongly, he felt like he was dying
And you and I, we may wonder, was he feeling a special kind of grief of here?
Was he feeling something outside of the natural human condition?
That is a good question
It’s a question I have wondered, was this something supernatural happening to bring about these feelings in Jesus?
But there is answer, go back to Isaish 53 briefly with me, because this is also fulfilling another prophesy
I will read just two verses there
As we ask the question: what was the nature of this deep sorrow and grief Jesus was feeling?
Isaiah 53 King James Version
3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
The answer my question is in those verses
And verse 4 really spells it out very clearly to us
It says, yet we did esteem him stricken and smitten of God and afflicted
That was our thought
But the answer is in the first part of verse 4
Was his sorrow and grief something supernatural or otherworldly?
No!
What Jesus was feeling in Gethsemane, the grief and sorrow that was so great that it made him feel like dying
The bible says it was our griefs
It was our sorrows
The same kind of griefs and sorrows that you and I face in life, Jesus was bearing them
Jesus was experiencing them in Gethsemane
And as I said before, I believe it was a magnitude greater than anything we have ever faced as individuals
I have faced overwhelming things at times
But I never sweated drops of blood
Jesus’s emotional experience there in Gethsemane was the worst kind a human being is capable of experiencing
But it was still within the range of human emotions
Let me go back to Mark 14 and read it one more time, what Jesus said
34 And (Jesus) saith unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful unto death: tarry ye here, and watch.
Here Jesus was experiencing our griefs
Our sorrows
He is experiencing those emotions in just the same way you and I can experience them
And his emotions were so powerful, and so overwhelming, he said, I feel like I am dying
That was my Jesus
That’s how he felt in his heart
He said, I feel like I am dying
He was not tied up
He was not in chains
He was not being beaten
He was not nailed to a cross
But these emotions he experienced were so powerful, he felt like he was dying
And when this happened, he didn’t just keep it to himself did he?
He didn’t bury it down, and pretend like it wasn’t happening
He looked over to his closest friends, and he said
I am so overcome with sorrow and grief, I feel like I am dying
Please, please, stay here with me, pray with me
He is reached out for help
He is telling his friends how he feels
That is really something to think about, that aspect of it
And as you think about that, I want to ask you a couple questions
And no one needs to answer
If your friend came to you and said, I am so overcome with emotions that I feel like I am dying
Maybe they are weeping
Maybe they look like an emotional trainwreck
In John is says Jesus was agony
How would you react to that?
There is an old song I like, it says
If my lord should come again
If he walked and talked with men
What if every friend he had, was just like me
Would he feel welcomed here?
Or would he turn away in tears?
Am I all that I should be?
Is he satisfied with me?
I think of that as I read these verses
How would I have handled this situation
How would I handle a friend who had a breakdown like Jesus did?
Maybe none of you have ever had a friend like that
But I have had quite a few friends like that in life
And not so long ago, I had many people come to be like that on a regular basis, looking for comfort
And you love them, and your heart breaks for them
And you want to know the answer
How can I help that person?
What is the right thing to do?
And I have met people who had a certain idea of how to handle it.
Where we have come from, you would actually be rebuked for acting like Jesus did here in Gethsemane
I have known people who would say there is something wrong with you
They would shame you and belittle you, if you acted like Jesus did here
All they care about is a smile on your face – they don’t care how they put it there
And they don’t care if the smile reflects your heart or not
Just shut up and smile
People were explicitly forbidden from talking about their heartaches or heartbreaks or griefs or sorrows.
Every had to pretend that everything was ok, no matter what
But I would ask you a question
Can you make that fit the life of Jesus?
I have more to say on that point, but I want to continue along here a little more first
He feared
Let me show you something else
Turn over to Hebrews 5, I will read one verse there
Hebrews 5:7 King James Version
7 (Speaking of Jesus) Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared;
That is talking about Jesus at Gethsemane
And I want you to catch two details there
One it says Jesus was crying
And not a little crying
It was strong crying
With tears it said
In another translation, it says wailing and loud crying
This was an incredibly powerful emotional experience for Jesus
In other people, we might call it an emotional breakdown
And it says, he feared
Jesus was afraid
We was afraid to suffer what was coming
He was afraid of what about to happen
It was not just sorrow and grief that overtook him
But he was also gripped by dread and fear
That is important
In the garden Jesus experienced sorrow and grief
But he also experienced fear and dread
And those feelings became so overwhelming he wailed and cried
All with Peter and James and John right there with him to witness it all
He wanted someone to be with him
And those feelings in Jesus heart didn’t just start being there as he knelt to pray in Gethsemane
Jesus had been feeling that way for a long time
The fear, the dread, the sorrow, the grief, they had been part of Jesus life for quite some time
Turn back to John 12 with me
I will add another verse to help you see that
Let me read something Jesus said there
John chapter 12
And this chapter is palm Sunday, several days before he is praying in the Garden of Gethsemane.
Let me read it, verse 27
John 12:27 King James Version
27 (Jesus said) Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour.
Jesus said his soul was troubled
These troubled feelings are something Jesus had been living with for quite a while
And the same thought he was praying for in Gethsemane is here in John 12
And he lets us know very clearly what he is troubled about
His impending death
Jesus, our perfect savior
The perfect lamb of God
He was troubled, he was fearful, he was overcome with dread
That should tell us something about fear and dread, if our perfect Lord had such emotions
Just like sorrow and grief, those are things we are all subject to as natural men and women
Those are feelings that can overwhelm us at times, just like they overwhelmed Jesus
Horror hath overwhelmed me
I have one more passage I would like to read, turn to psalms 55 with me
This is another one of the messianic psalms pointing to Jesus
And this is a prayer, the kind of prayer Jesus was praying in the garden of Gethsemane
The kind of prayer we might pray at times
Let me read it
Psalm 55:1-8 King James Version (KJV)
55 Give ear to my prayer, O God; and hide not thyself from my supplication.
2 Attend unto me, and hear me: I mourn in my complaint, and make a noise;
3 Because of the voice of the enemy, because of the oppression of the wicked: for they cast iniquity upon me, and in wrath they hate me.
4 My heart is sore pained within me: and the terrors of death are fallen upon me.
5 Fearfulness and trembling are come upon me, and horror hath overwhelmed me.
Focus on that verse, and just let it bring home the magnitude of what Jesus was feeling
He is fearful, he is weeping loudly, he is visible shaking
And it says horror hath overwhelmed me
Did you know that Jesus became overwhelmed with horror?
It was an overwhelming emotional breakdown Jesus experienced in Gethsemane
One that was brought on by emotions just like the ones you and I are capable of experiencing
And look how this prayer ends, which is very comparable to what Jesus was praying in Gethsemane
6 And I said, Oh that I had wings like a dove! for then would I fly away, and be at rest.
7 Lo, then would I wander far off, and remain in the wilderness. Selah.
8 I would hasten my escape from the windy storm and tempest.
Escape Desired
As we consider these verses, it is pretty clear that Jesus desired to escape from what was coming
He had a personal will
He had a personal desire to avoid the hardship that was coming his way
And that was no sin either
Bro. Jesse has mentioned recently that we should enjoy life when we can, that there is nothing wrong with wanting to avoid suffering
Jesus showed us that
Its not a sin to desire to avoid heart aches and sorrows
Jesus enjoyed the good days, and we do well to do the same
A New Saying?
And you may wonder, if this is the first time you ever heard of these things concerning Jesus
You may wonder, why hasn’t the church I go to ever told me these things?
In fact, they tell me the opposite of these things
Why didn’t they ever show me Jesus emotional side?
And I will tell you the answer
It’s because they don’t really know Jesus
For all their knowledge and all their understanding, they have neglected the most important knowledge of all
The knowledge of Christ
And these things I say in this message are just the tip of the iceberg of what some have neglected
I know where I come from, in 35 years, I don’t ever remember anyone preaching the passion of Christ
Never once
And I never missed a service
How can you go 35 years, and never preach these things to people?
Something is bad wrong
But they can’t preach these things
Because the Jesus they serve is not the Jesus of the bible
The Jesus they teach is not the Jesus of the bible
They are following something false, something they have invented to justify themselves and their own wickedness
We must know Jesus
Because this is life eternal
That we know God, and Jesus Christ who he has sent
I am glad I know him
And I will tell you the truth
You and I live in an imperfect world
And even if we were totally perfect, just like Jesus
The fact that we live in an imperfect world means sorrow, grief, fear, and dread, are a reality
They are things we will have to face at times, no matter how good of a Christian we are
Sometimes those things can come our way
And when they do, we can follow Jesus pattern
Because his pattern is perfect
We can reach out for support or comfort or pity from close loved ones
And we can cry out to our heavenly father
We can even break down and wail and weep tears of sorrow and fear
Jesus did, and there was nothing wrong with him when he did it
He was still perfect
He was still the image of the invisible God
And maybe that is hard to wrap your mind around
But it’s the truth
If we will read the bible it will tell us pretty clearly
God himself feels sorrow, grief, and even dread
And he fells those things because sin is in the world
The presence of sin has that effect on the eternal God of heaven
So it is understandable that the presence of sin and its effects will at times have the same effect on us
It did on Jesus
And you and I, if we see someone in that state, we should offer them help and comfort
Treat them like Jesus wanted to be treated
He wanted someone to pray with him
He wanted his companions to be close to him
He desired for someone to show him some sympathy and compassion
That is how you treat someone in emotional distress
And if the only thing we have to offer is rebuke, then we should probably examine our hearts and try to figure out why we are giving place to the devil
Don’t be like Job’s comforters
You know his comforters were helping him, until they opened their mouths
He was comforted by them as long as they sat there quietly, praying and meditating with him
He was comforted just by their presence
And if you don’t know what to do with someone who is experiencing strong emotions
Pray for them
And be there for them
Encourage them
Don’t kick them while they are down
That is not the time to be hard towards them
And let us look ever higher, lets look to the God of heaven for his example
How did God answer Jesus prayer for comfort in his time of fear and grief and sorrow?
Did God answer Jesus by rebuking him?
Jesus, how dare you act that way?
Did God answer Jesus by piling on?
Did Jesus ask for fish, but God gave him a snake to bite him?
No, of corse not
turn over to the book of Luke 22, and we will see what God did when Jesus asked for comfort
Luke 22:43-44 King James Version
43 And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him.
44 And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.
The father showed compassion on Jesus
He sent an angel
An angel to strengthen him
And I think maybe that is something we can also relate to
Sometimes we pray so earnestly, so desperately
Sometimes the presence in the room will just change completely
A peace, a comfort, it just comes our way out of nowhere
God speaks peace to us
And that is what is happening here with Jesus as he prayed
This angel comes from heaven, and it strengthens him in his weakness
The strength he needs for what lies ahead
Our Perfect Savior
And again, I was to finish by pointing to my main theme of this message: Jesus was our perfect savior
And if there is one thing I hope you might take away from this message tonight
The way Jesus behaved in Gethsemane was perfect
Because Jesus was perfect
And anyone who would tell you the way Jesus acted was sinful, they are deceiver
And there are people in the world who do that
They take things that were in the life of Jesus, and tell us it was sin
And that alone is all the evidence we need to condemn their ungodly ideas
No man, speaking by the holy spirit, can call Jesus Christ accursed
Shame on the wicked men who turn Jesus into a sinner
Looking for someone to show comfort, compassion, or pity
That is not a sin, Jesus did it
Feeling deep sorrow and deep grief
That is not a sin, Jesus did it
Being overwhelmed with horror
Feeling deep fear and dread
That is not a sin, Jesus did it
Having an emotional breakdown, that is not a sin
Jesus did it
But I will tell you what is a sin
Denying comfort, compassion, and pity to someone who needs it
That is a sin
Rebuking and condemning people for seeking comfort and compassion
That is a sin
Piling more weight on a person who is already in distress
That is a sin
And saying things that would turn Jesus into a sinner
That is blasphemy
That is real blasphemy
Some people don’t even know what blasphemy is
I heard a person onetime say, you blasphemed a certain preacher
They don’t even know what blasphemy is
And the fact they think it is possible to blaspheme a preacher
That is in itself blasphemy
Because they equate the preacher to God
Its shameful
And these things I preach tonight
I don’t preach them because I want you to feel any of the emotional distresses we talked about tonight
But I say them to let you know, those things can happen to Jesus himself
And if you experience that, don’t beat yourself up over them
Paul said he wanted to know Jesus and the fellowship of his sufferings
When those things come upon you, you just getting a taste of what Jesus experienced himself
There are some things you can only ever learn through direct experience
And God has his ways of educating us
And I am preaching this message, not for the first time.
But I am preaching it again because there are deceivers out there
Some of you sitting here, some of you listening online
You have experienced it first hand
And they told you that you should be ashamed of yourself
And that you have something wrong with you
I want you to know they don’t know what their talking about
And the very things they condemn you for, would also condemn Jesus
And no one speaking by the inspiration of the holy spirit can call Jesus is accursed
You don’t ever need to be troubled by their words again
You see, I sat and I watched the devil move unmolested against the saints
I watched Satan abuse and torment person after person
Telling them it was wrong to seek pity
Telling it was wrong to talk about their feelings
Telling them something was wrong with them for feeling sorrow or grief
Telling them they had the devil because they felt fear
I watched multiple being widows rebuked for mourning their losses
I watched people be humiliated and shamed because they had a need
And the irony was, the same devil who causing their panic attacks and anxiety was also condemning for having those attacks
And I watched as the devil tortured people
I watched as the devil abused people
I watched as they fell into depression
I watched as they fell into despair
And I watched as devil’s victims had nervous breakdowns
And I watched as devil’s victims lost hope and lost faith
And I watched as the devil’s victims were destroyed
And I watched as some even committed suicide
And at a certain point, I said, that is enough
I am not going to standby and watch this abuse go on another day
And let me be very clear
What was happening was not godly
It was not spiritual
I was demonic
It was satanic
It was evil
It was abuse disguised with a cloak of righteousness
But to anyone hearing what I have to say today,
Be free in Jesus name
No one speaking by the holy spirit can say Jesus is accursed
I will say to you the same thing I said to the last person who asked me what to do
Run for your life
Because the thief is come to do nothing but to kill, steal, and destroy
Run to the arms of Jesus
And let me finish with this thought
You and I may come upon times in life where we face sufferings or hardships that cause us to have emotions like Jesus did in the verses we read tonight
But the thing about it is this: Jesus suffered so that you and I could be set free
When those situations come upon you
You can plead with God just like Jesus did
And for Christ’s sake, you can be delivered
You don’t have to voluntarily live with torment in your life
You don’t have to voluntarily subject yourself to abuse
Jesus had to go through with the cross, there was no other way
But you and I, we are free because of Jesus
We can say no, we can walk away from abuse
That don’t mean you won’t be abused
Because abusers don’t like to let people go
But you don’t have to stay and voluntarily subject yourself to abuse
When you see people bearing false witness against you
Trying to lure you into a trap
Being dishonest with you, trying to trick you
Insulting your wife publicly
Doing it in front of your own little children, making the kids cry
You don’t need to put up with that
God never called you that
And if they say you have no right to get angry over that kind of thing
That is just the devil in them talking
You have every right to be angry over that
Just don’t let your anger turn to wrath
Turn around, and walk away
That’s the thing to do
Jesus paid for your peace, and you can go before the throne of God asking him for that peace
Jesus knows exactly how you feel
He personally understands everything we have faced as natural people
And he is touched by the feeling of your infirmities
So call out to him
And you watch, and you will be amazed
Just like the angel came to Jesus
God will send you peace
He will do something that will make a difference for you
Amen