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[0:00] Let us now read the word of God as we find it in the New Testament in the Gospel according to John and chapter 18.

[0:11] John and chapter 18. When Jesus had spoken these words, he went forth with his disciples over the brook Kidron, where it was a garden into the which he entered and his disciples.

[0:31] And Judas also, which betrayed him, knew the place, for Jesus oftentimes resorted thither with his disciples. Judas then, having received a band of men and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees, cometh thither with lanterns and torches and weapons.

[0:47] Jesus therefore, knowing all things that should come upon him, went forth and said unto them, Whom seek ye? They answered him, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus saith unto them, I am he.

[0:58] And Judas also, which betrayed him, stood with them. As soon then, as he had said unto them, I am he, they went backward and fell to the ground. Then asked he them again, Whom seek ye?

[1:10] And they said, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus answered, I have told you that I am he. If therefore ye seek me, let these go their way. That the same might be fulfilled which ye spake of them which thou gavest me, have I lost none.

[1:25] Then Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it and smote the high priest's servant and cut off his right ear. The servant's name was Malchus. Then said Jesus unto Peter, Put up thy sword into the sheath the cup which my father hath given me, shall I not drink it?

[1:41] Then the band and the captain and officers of the Jews took Jesus and bound him and led him away to Annas first, for he was the father-in-law to Caiaphas, which was the high priest the same year.

[1:53] Now Caiaphas was he which gave counsel to the Jews that it was expedient that one man should die for the people. And Simon Peter followed Jesus and so did another disciple.

[2:05] That disciple was known unto the high priest and went in with Jesus into the palace of the high priest. But Peter stood at the door without. Then went out that other disciple which was known unto the high priest and spake unto her that kept the door and brought in Peter.

[2:21] Then saith the damsel that kept the door unto Peter, Art not thou also of this man's disciples? He saith I am not. And the servants and officers stood there who had made a fire of coals, for it was cold.

[2:35] And they warmed themselves, and Peter stood with them and warmed himself. The high priest then asked Jesus of his disciples and of his doctrine. Jesus answered him, And Simon Peter stood and warmed himself.

[3:16] Now Anasath sent him bound into Caiaphas the high priest. And Simon Peter stood and warmed himself. They said, Therefore, unto whom art thou also one of his disciples?

[3:29] He denied it and said, I am not. One of the servants of the high priest, Benes Kinsman, who seared Peter cut off, saith, Did not I see thee in the garden with him? Peter then denied again, and immediately the cock crew.

[3:44] Then led they Jesus from Caiaphas into the hall of judgment. And it was early, and they themselves went into the judgment hall. And they themselves went not into the judgment hall, lest they should be defiled, but that they might eat the Passover.

[4:00] Pilate then went out unto them and said, What accusation bring ye against this man? They answered and said unto him, If he were not a malefactor, we would not have delivered him up unto thee.

[4:14] Then said Pilate unto them, Take ye him and judge him according to your law. The Jews therefore said unto him, Is it not lawful for us to put any man to death?

[4:26] That the saying of Jesus might be fulfilled, which he spake, signifying what death he should die. Then Pilate entered into the judgment hall again and called Jesus and said unto him, Art thou the king of the Jews?

[4:40] Jesus answered him, Sayest thou this thing of thyself, or did others tell it thee of me? Pilate answered, Am I a Jew? Thine own nation and the chief priests have delivered thee unto me.

[4:51] What hast thou done? Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight that I should not be delivered to the Jews.

[5:02] But now is my kingdom not from hence. Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth.

[5:18] Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice. Pilate saith unto him, What is truth? And when he hath said this, he went out again unto the Jews, and saith unto them, I find in him no fault at all.

[5:31] But ye have a custom that I should release unto you one at the Passover. Will ye therefore that I release unto you the king of the Jews? Then cried they all again, Say, Not this man, but Barabbas.

[5:44] Now Barabbas was a robber. May the Lord bless unto us the reading of the portion of his word. We shall now sing from Psalm 41. Psalm 41 at verse 9.

[5:57] Yea, ye, my known familiar friend, on whom I did rely, who ate my bread, even he has healed against me lifted high.

[6:07] But Lord, be merciful to me, and up again me raise, that I may justly them required according to their ways. By this I know that certainly I favour them by thee, because my hateful enemy triumphs not over me.

[6:21] But as for me, thou may upholdst in mine integrity, and me before thy countenance as you settleest continually. The Lord, the God of history, I'll be blessed for ever then, from age to age, eternally.

[6:36] Amen, yea, and amen. We shall sing these verses to the Lord's praise. Psalm 41, verse 9, to the end of the psalm. Yea, ye, my known familiar friend, on whom I did rely.

[6:49] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

[7:17] Amen. Amen. Amen. Thank you.

[7:48] Thank you.

[8:18] Thank you. Thank you.

[8:50] Thank you. Thank you.

[9:50] Amen. Thank you.

[10:22] There are many places and geographical locations that are very special and precious to each and every one of us. There is, for instance, a place where we were born. It's a very special place for us.

[10:52] And where you served the Lord. All these are places and geographical locations that are special and very precious to you.

[11:05] Well, there are many places and geographical locations in Scripture that, when they are mentioned, it leads us to great spiritual thoughts. For instance, when we have Eden or the Garden of Eden, there we think of paradise and we think of the ruin of humanity or the fall of humanity.

[11:28] When you think of Aradad, there you think of wrath and mercy. When you think of Mount Moriah, you think of sacrifice and substitution.

[11:40] When you think of Egypt, you think of slavery and redemption. But tonight I would like to think of two places brought before us in the passage that we have just read.

[11:52] And that is the Brook Kidron and the Garden that is mentioned here in verse 1, which in the other Gospels is named as the Garden of Gethsemane.

[12:07] And let us think of their significance in the experience of Jesus and in our salvation. Jesus has eaten the Passover and instituted a new supper, which we call the Lord's Supper.

[12:21] And he has finished his instructions to the disciples, which is recorded for us by John from chapter 14 to 16 of his Gospel.

[12:32] Jesus urges his disciples to abide in him as the branches abide in the vine. He has warned them of the opposition of the world, yet encouraged them to bear witness to him nonetheless, remembering that the Spirit of Truth, who is the Holy Spirit, will be the chief witness.

[12:51] He also prayed first for himself, that he may glorify his Father in the coming ordeal, and that he may also be glorified by the Father. And then he prays for his disciples, that they may be kept in truth, in holiness, and in mission and unity.

[13:09] And lastly, for all those of subsequent generations who would believe through their message. And that prayer is recorded for us in chapter 17.

[13:22] Now, there have always been different opinions as to where all this exactly took place. Did it all take place in the upper room where they had assembled for the Passover?

[13:36] Or did the discourse begin there, and then on singing a hymn, they left the room? And did the discourse continue as they made their way out of Jerusalem?

[13:47] Well, however, here in verse 1, John tells us that as they walked through the streets of Jerusalem, in the stillness of night, and in the light of the full moon, that they crossed the Kidron Valley, or the Kidron Brook.

[14:05] Now, Kidron is a place of great spiritual significance. Jesus went over the Brook Kidron before he entered into the Garden of Gethsemane.

[14:19] And the first mention of the Brook Kidron, or of the Kidron Valley, is in 2 Samuel chapter 15. And the last mention of Kidron is here in the Gospel of John, chapter 18, verse 1.

[14:34] On the surface, this may seem to be just an aside, telling us the direction in which Jesus and the disciples were travelling.

[14:46] But this was the same night in which our Lord was betrayed, that he crossed over the Brook and went into the Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus' soul was made sorrowful even unto death.

[15:02] Why is it significant for John to record that Jesus and the disciples went over the Brook Kidron?

[15:14] Now, Jesus would probably have crossed this Brook on many occasions, but it has never been mentioned before. But why then mention it now?

[15:27] Why is John bringing this to our attention now? Now, well, this crossing of the Kidron on this night was very unique.

[15:39] Kidron was a dark, coloured, muddy Brook. And we are told that it carried the blood of the sacrifices from the temple.

[15:50] In other words, the blood of the sacrifices from the temple would flow down into the Kidron Valley, into where the Spruik was.

[16:02] It is mentioned four times in the history of Judah as a place of rejection and judgment. And we'll briefly look at them.

[16:13] It was a place that was very symbolic of rejection and judgment. In 2 Chronicles 15, verse 16, we read, And also concerning Maha, the mother of Asa, the king.

[16:33] He removed her from being queen because she made an idol in a grove. And Asa cut down her idol and stamped it and bunted at the brook Kidron.

[16:45] And in 2 Kings 23, verse 4, And the king commanded Halakai, the high priest, and the priests of the second order, and the keepers of the door, to bring forth out of the temple of the Lord all the vessels that were made for Baal, and for the grove, and for all the hosts of heaven.

[17:06] And he burnt them without Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron, and carried the ashes of them into Bethel. Verse 6 of the same chapter, And he brought out a grove from the house of the Lord without Jerusalem into the brook Kidron, and burnt it at the brook Kidron, and stamped it small to powder, and cast the powder thereof upon the graves of the children of the people.

[17:29] Verse 12 of the same chapter, And the altars that were on the top of the upper chamber of Asa, which the kings of Judah had made, and all the altars which Manasseh had made in the two coats of the house of the Lord, did the king beat down.

[17:44] And break them down from thence, and cast the dust of them into the brook Kidron. So that over this brook, the kings of Judah cast the ashes of the idols that they had destroyed.

[17:58] So that in every place where the brook Kidron is named in the Old Testament, there is a recalling, as it were, of desolation and judgment, rejection and refuse, and the carrying away of that which is unclean.

[18:17] In 1 Kings chapter 2, the brook is marked off as a boundary of judgment. There we read, and the king sent, and called to Shammai, and said unto him, Build thee a house in Jerusalem, and dwell there, and go not forth thence anywhither.

[18:32] For it shall be that on the day that thou goest out, and passeth over the brook Kidron, that thou shalt know for certain that thou shalt surely die, thy blood shall be upon thine own head.

[18:43] So, in the Old Testament, every mention that we have of the brook Kidron is symbolic of rejection and judgment.

[18:56] But let us come back to the first mention of the brook in Scripture, which is, as I said, in 2 Samuel chapter 15. And there we read, And all the country wept with a loud voice, and all the people passed over, the king also himself passed over the brook Kidron, and the king there was David.

[19:20] The king also himself passed over the brook Kidron, and all the people passed over toward the way of the wilderness. We are told here that this was the brook that David crossed as he was rejected, and as he fled from his son Absalom.

[19:39] It was at Kidron that the humiliating flight of David began. And now here we have the son of David, which is a Messianic title, crossing the same brook, which marks the introduction of the sufferings of Jesus, all the end sufferings of Jesus.

[20:01] Of course, there are differences. David fled to avoid the wrath of his son, but Jesus went forth, asked the son to meet, but the wrath of his father.

[20:17] Now, as David, King David, crossed the sprook, Ahithophel, his familiar friend, had now joined forces with his enemies. He had joined forces with Absalom.

[20:30] Now, Ahithophel was no ordinary man. He was one whom the king had taken into his confidence. David, numbered amongst his closest friends, and to whom he had shown much kindness.

[20:43] He not only enjoyed the most intimate relations with David concerning the affairs of the state, but had close fellowship with him also in spiritual things.

[20:54] With the exception of his own son's insurrection, there was the bitterest ingredient in the cup that David had to drink was this fact that Ahithophel had turned against him.

[21:10] In one of the Psalms we read, for it was not an enemy that reproached me. Then I could have borne it. Neither was it he that hated me, that did magnify himself against me.

[21:23] Then I would have hurt myself from him. But was thou a man mine equal, my guide and mine acquaintance? We took sweet counsel together, and we walked into the house of God in company.

[21:42] Now, what we have here, Ahithophel, is undoubtedly a striking picture of another, of the one who betrayed the Lord.

[21:53] It's a striking picture of Judas Iscariot, who, after being admitted into the inner circle of Christ's disciples, turned against him and went to the side of his enemies.

[22:07] Psalm 41 that we've sung, Yeah, my known familiar friend in whom I trusted, who did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his seal against me. Words quoted by Jesus as he washed his disciples' feet, and as he finished washing them and explained what he had done and how they were to follow his example, he said, I speak not of all.

[22:29] I know whom I have chosen, but that the scripture may be fulfilled. He that eateth bread with me hath lifted up his seal against me. Then there also we read, When Jesus had thus said, he was troubled in spirit and testified and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you that one of you shall betray him.

[22:52] Well, as Jesus crossed this brook here, there was only 11 disciples with him. One had left, one had gone to betray him. And you know, Jesus did feel this betrayal.

[23:07] If it was true that David felt the betrayal of Ahithophel, his closest friend, who had gone to the side of his enemies, if David felt that betrayal, it is true that Jesus also felt the betrayal of Judas Iscariot.

[23:28] And as Jesus crossed this brook, not only was he aware of what was going on in the city of Jerusalem, not only was he aware of that one of his closest friends had gone to betray him, but as he crossed the brook, which was so full of defilement, its blood-stained stream, it served as a suitable reminder of the deep mire into which he was himself about to sink.

[24:02] Psalm 69, these words, these messianic words, I sink in deep mire where there is no standing. The brook reminded him of the deep mire into which he was to sink.

[24:17] And as he looked upon the stream and saw the blood there that came from the sacrifices of the temple, a reminder to him that he was the true sacrifice that was soon to shed his own blood.

[24:32] It reminded him of his rejection by Jerusalem and the impending judgment that was before him. The brook represented a figure of the sins and iniquities of the people which he was now going to bear away.

[24:48] But his delight, Jesus' delight, was to do the will of his father and in doing so he had to drink of the brook and in so doing he lifted up his heel in victory as we shall see soon in another of the Psalms.

[25:08] They continued climbing up the Mount of Olives until they came to a garden. They crossed over the brook, continued to walk as they climbed the Mount of Olives into which they came into a garden.

[25:24] And from the other Gospels we know that this was an olive orchard named Gethsemane, which means an olive press. It was a favourite retreat for Jesus and the disciples, for John comments that Jesus knew the place, for Jesus often met there with his disciples.

[25:47] Just as a passing point of interest, remember when we looked at Jesus and the disciples and the preparation for the Passover, we noticed there that he chooses Peter and John and the only signal given to them was that a man would be bearing a pitcher of water, usually carrying such a jar was the work of women.

[26:15] There are many of the opinion that Jesus may have done this to keep Judas from knowing where they were meeting that night. He did not tell any of his disciples the secret location, but only gave Peter and John the sign they needed to find it.

[26:29] But now he goes forth and John reminds us that Judas knew the place, for he had often been there with Jesus. John does not mention anything at a place in the garden that we have to gather together from the other gospel writers.

[26:48] That's one of the things that is not to be found in the gospel of John. We just, it only mentions that Jesus went over the brook Kidron and entered into a garden and there it ends.

[27:01] We have to go to the other gospels and gather from them the information of what took place actually in the garden of Gethsemane and we are going to do that this evening.

[27:14] When we come to the garden of Gethsemane, people in general let their voices down when they reach this point. As I either read or heard some time ago, Gethsemane is not the field of study for the intellect.

[27:32] It is a sanctuary of our faith. We dare not assume that we can fathom all of the implications of what we think that we know about this night in Gethsemane.

[27:46] Bishop Ryle says of Christ's experience in Gethsemane, it is a depth which we have no line to fathom. The late R.A. Findlayson says, in Gethsemane there was something transacted that brings us completely out of our depths, yet something that has such a distinct bearing on our redemption that we dare not pass it by.

[28:10] Gethsemane is not a place for hurried theological tourism, it is where the believer must linger, where he must watch and where he must pray. Gethsemane is a place that is really meaningless except in relevance to Jesus and his mission into the world.

[28:31] So that the passion of this garden of Gethsemane is unique. It occurs only once. The agony of Jesus in the garden was a once for all event.

[28:46] Spurgeon says, and we've often quoted Spurgeon on this, he says, we will adore where we cannot comprehend. That's so true regarding this garden into which Jesus enters, the garden of Gethsemane.

[29:03] We will adore what took place there while we cannot comprehend it. As we enter and follow Jesus and his disciples into Gethsemane, we cannot but be arrested as to the contrast that there is between what Jesus did in the upper room and what he is to experience in this garden.

[29:26] In the upper room, Jesus is so calm as he washes the disciples' feet, as he partakes of the Passover, as he institutes the Lord's Supper and in his discourse with his disciples and as he prays to the Father as recorded for us in John 17.

[29:42] Everything there is so calm. But here in the garden of Gethsemane, there is restlessness. As we approach the scene, we cannot but be arrested by the forceful words which Jesus and the Gospel writers used to express the strong emotions that now entered into the experience of Jesus.

[30:06] Matthew says that it began to be sorrowful and very heavy. Mark says that it began to be sore amazed and very heavy.

[30:17] Cremacher says regarding the expression so amazed that it implies a sudden and horrifying alarm at a terrific object, something approached him which threatened to rend his nerves and the sight of it to freeze the blood in his veins.

[30:36] Greatly amazed, he says, indicates something beyond our expectation, something that is strange to our previous experience. We ourselves sometimes use this phrase regarding certain things.

[30:51] It blew my mind. Well, the sentiments behind that phrase is what we have here as Jesus enters into the garden of Gethsemane, as he enters into the experience of Gethsemane.

[31:08] Remember recently we studied Luke chapter 12 where Jesus says that he has a baptism to undergo which we understood to be a reference to his death and we notice that he felt distressed or oppressed or even tormented until it was completed.

[31:26] In John chapter 12 having made a reference to his death except a corn of wheat fallen to the ground and die it abideth alone but if it die it bringeth forth much fruit.

[31:39] And we read that he said now is my soul troubled and what will I say? Father save me from this hour but for this cause came I unto this hour. Well here then all that is before us here in Gethsemane reminds us of the sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ.

[32:02] It reminds us of what he had to undergo in order that there would be salvation offered to me and you tonight. here at North Tolstown. All this soul trouble that we have just mentioned was before Gethsemane but what about now?

[32:24] What causes this restlessness that he has in this garden of Gethsemane where he had often been where he had often prayed to the Father where he and his disciples had often met and there was calmness in those days but now tonight there is this restlessness.

[32:42] After the calmness of the upper room why has this garden become for the Son of God such a lonely place of struggle? We know that he was familiar with the place so it is not a strange place to him.

[32:57] That is not the reason for which restlessness suddenly enters into his experience. Jesus' self-description as overwhelming with sorrow expresses a sorrow or perhaps we should say a pain a distress which seems to hem in on him on every side from which there is no escape.

[33:22] He is aware of this pressure coming towards him from every side and there is no way of escape. The gospel indicates that Jesus was feeling an acute emotional pain as he looked with apprehension and almost terror at what was before him or set before him here in the garden of Gethsemane.

[33:48] Well what was it? What was it? What was it that caused this restlessness? Well this restlessness is caused because through the Holy Spirit the Father is now giving him a glimpse of the cup which his work as sin bearer entails.

[34:09] You all recall or some of you may recall the book written by Hugh Martin The Shadow of Calvary. Well here is the shadow of the cross and it causes such restlessness on the part of the Son of God.

[34:30] The sight of this cup induced a heaviness and dread that he had not previously known and a sinless humanity shrank back from the horror of that cup.

[34:41] It is not the physical suffering from which he shrinks, the torture of the scourge, horrible and terrible as it was, and the cross and the anguish of betrayal, denial by Peter and the desertion by his friends, the mockery and the abuse of his enemies.

[35:00] Many a Christian martyr has gone to death rejoicing, but what his humanity shrank from, what Jesus shrinks from here, is rather the spiritual agony of bearing the sins of his people.

[35:15] In other words, of enduring the divine judgment which sin deserves. That's what leaves him so restless. It wasn't the thought of the scourge, it wasn't the thought of mockery, it wasn't the thought of the abuse that he was to suffer at the hands of men, but what left him restless was the thought of enduring the divine judgment which the sins of his people deserved.

[35:47] His restlessness was caused by the fact the had become so identified with sinners that he was to bear their judgment.

[35:58] Luther says, no man feared death like this man. He says, death is the wages of sin, it is death with a sting, it is the undiluted wrath of God.

[36:12] He was to become totally exposed to God's wrath against sin and what is that? Damnation. Damnation.

[36:23] As he entered his garden, he was looking at this cup more closely, he was smelling its contents, he was seeing all the ingredients that filled the cup and beginning to taste its bitterness.

[36:37] The reality of what it meant to become the sin bearer was now brought before him and he knew that only by drinking it would his children be redeemed.

[36:49] Jesus knew that it was only by drinking this cup that there would be a gospel message tonight for you and me. He knew that. But the sight of what he was to drink, the sight of what he was to suffer, the sight of the death of the cross shocked him, overcame him and he felt that it would eventually kill him.

[37:12] the fury of almighty God against your sin and mine is what he saw in that cup.

[37:25] Now my friend, if there is no God in heaven as we're told today, if there is no holy law as we are told today, if there is no need for God's law to be satisfied, if there is no righteous hunger, if there is no hell, then this sin that is before us here in the garden of Gethsemane is one of the most demeaning sins that was ever recorded on a page of print.

[37:58] It is one of the most demeaning sins that was ever transacted. If there is no God, if there is no need for God's law, if there is no hell, then this sin is one of the most disastrous sins that ever took place upon the earth.

[38:19] If there is no real agony or torment of the damned, why then just, why does Jesus suffer? God's sin God's sin But Jesus knew that if anyone was going to be saved from hell, a substitution was required, that God's law had to be satisfied, and that the cup of God's wrath against sin had to be emptied.

[38:51] in Gethsemane, the father unveils to him the cup, and what it means to be identified with sin, it almost crushed him, he almost died just looking at the cup of God's wrath that was given to him to drink in order to save sinners like me and you.

[39:14] Now tonight, my friend, you might not take sin seriously, but Jesus takes sin seriously, so seriously that he drank this cup, that he emptied it to the very last drop, so that sinners like us could be given the cup of salvation, and the cup of salvation is a cup that is full of blessing.

[39:42] Oh, my friend, how can you play with sin in the light of Gethsemane? When you see Jesus so restless, how can you remain so indifferent to sin?

[40:01] Here is the sinless son of God, but when the sins of his people are imputed for him, when he became sin, as it were, it left him restless in great agony.

[40:21] The gospel records for us that he was withdrawn from them, that is Peter, James, and John, about a stone's castle. He knelt down and he prayed, saying, Father, if thou be willing to remove this cup from me, nevertheless not my will, but thine be done.

[40:40] Oh, here we are drawn in the deep mysteries of the incarnation. Jesus is both God and man, one person with two natures, a human nature and a divine nature, therefore he has a human will and a divine will.

[40:55] And here on his knees, he is, as the writer to the Hebrews says, who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears, and to whom that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared.

[41:11] And as Luke records for us, that an angel appeared to him, and being in agony he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was as a great drops of blood falling down to the ground.

[41:24] the sweat on this cold night shows us the extreme agony of human anguish. Jesus was at the very limit of his physical and emotional endurance.

[41:41] In Gethsemane we come to some measure of understanding of certain things, among which is this, that there was no other way to bring salvation to sinners like me and you but through the sufferings and the death of the Son of God on the cross of Golgotha.

[41:58] If you dismiss the cross, if you dismiss the sufferings and death of Jesus Christ at Golgotha, then there is no salvation.

[42:10] There is no salvation for you. You must become identified by faith to what was taking place here at Golgotha on the cross of Jesus Christ.

[42:23] If you are going to be saved, you cannot dismiss the cross of Jesus Christ. There is no other way by which sinners like me and you can be saved.

[42:35] Getsemane proves that to us, that there is no other way to salvation for sinners like me and you but through the sufferings and through the death of the Son of God on the cross of Golgotha.

[42:48] He died this death because there was no other way for sinners to be saved. There was no easy road to redemption of sinners.

[43:01] There was no alternative to the dreadful cursed cross of Golgotha. And all that is brought before the Lord Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane as he looks into the cup which the father howls in his hand and is given to him to drink of it.

[43:21] He saw damnation in that cup, the damnation of sinners like me and you and he became the substitute and he took that damnation so that sinners like me and you can be saved if we put our faith and our trust and commit ourselves to the Lord Jesus Christ.

[43:45] In the children's sin Jesus loves me this I know for the Bible tells me so. We have these words Jesus loves me he who died heaven's gate to open wide he will wash away my sin let his little child come in.

[44:07] If we are to understand anything about this garden it is that Jesus loves the person loves the person who puts his trust in him who commits themselves to him by faith Jesus loves them more than they can ever ever imagine.

[44:31] One other lesson that we can learn from this garden is that when things get hard for us when situations that can be hard for us to understand confronts us what should we do but follow the example of Jesus and bring it to the Lord in prayer for there is no situation that we can ever face that is too desperate for prayer.

[44:58] James says to us in chapter 5 of his own epistle is any among you afflicted let him pray and here is Jesus and he is coming to this crisis point of his life to this crisis point and working out salvation for me and for you and what does he do when he comes to this crisis point he goes and he prays to the father and when I and you come to crisis points in our life that is the great example for us to follow to take it to the Lord in prayer another lesson we learn here is in our hard place of suffering and lonely struggle we are to pray in full submission to our heavenly father not my will but thine be done and he answers the prayers of his son in a way that brought glory to him and in a way that brought salvation to sinners like me and you he answered his son how not by removing the cross though he could have but by strengthening his son in his human nature to endure the cross an angel was sent and an angel strengthened the humanity of our

[46:30] Lord in order that he would endure the cross he didn't take the cross away but he gave him strength to endure the cross for me and you the father will do the same Paul could say I can do all things through Christ which strength of me remember his thorn in the flesh and he prayed three times that it would be taken away but the Lord did not take the thorn in the flesh away Paul records verse the Lord said to him my grace is sufficient for thee for my strength is made perfect in weakness and what was Paul's response most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me to glory in his weaknesses in his infirmities that the power of

[47:31] Christ may rest upon me the power of Christ would be made manifest through his weaknesses the power of the grace of God would be made manifest through his weaknesses so the Lord did not take away the thorn but he strengthened him and when things confront me and you that we might find hard and difficult let us take it to the Lord in prayer perhaps he won't remove the difficulty perhaps he won't remove the hardships but he will give us strength to endure so that his power may be made known and that his grace may be made manifest well there are many more lessons I'm sure that we could find from the garden of Gethsemane but here is Jesus and he's on the way to Golgotha he goes over the brook

[48:33] Kydron and there was many reminders for him in the brook Kydron and he goes into a garden into the garden of Gethsemane where he submits himself to the father's will not my will but thine be done and that is what must be true of me and you that we must pray yes we must pray but we must pray in full submission to our heavenly father to our heavenly father here Jesus sees what it means to become the sin bearer here Jesus sees what it means to become the substitute oh salvation is at a cost at a horrendous cost but the cost is not borne by me and you the cost is borne by the son of

[49:33] God he bore the cost of your salvation he bore the cost for the salvation of sinners to me and you it is freely given he says commit yourself to me exercise faith upon me trust in me and this salvation will be yours I have paid I have paid for this salvation it is yours freely to take and tonight I plead with you I plead with you to take this free salvation to take it as Jesus wants you to take it to take it freely by committing yourself to him by trusting in Jesus Christ and in him alone may the Lord bless our thoughts let us pray eternal and ever blessed

[50:34] Lord we pray that we may in some measure come to understand the cost of salvation for sinners that we can in some measure understand the words of the writer who said how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation a salvation that caused the sufferings and death of the sinless son of God we give thanks tonight that thou did pay the price and we give thanks that the salvation that thou has brought out is available to us freely and we pray oh lord that we would be given that wisdom to hold out our hand of faith and to accept that salvation and to know that salvation in our own personal experience and the joy of that salvation we give thanks for this opportunity this night to take hold of that salvation the days are passing by the weeks are passing by the months and the years are passing by so swiftly and eventually there will be the last invitation and there will be the last opportunity oh lord grant to us that we make use of the privileges and the opportunities that we have tonight we pray oh lord that thou would continue with us during the coming week and all that we ask for the forgiveness of our sins in

[52:15]  Jesus name and for his sake amen