[0:00] We're going to begin our worship by singing to God's praise in Psalm 91 from the Scottish Psalter.! It's on page 351, Psalm 91 at verse number 1.
[0:11] ! In him trust I will.
[0:31] We stand if we are able to sing from verse 1 to verse 6 to God's praise. In all of him that is, the mighty shall abide.
[1:12] I call the Lord my Father to save. He is my refuge still.
[1:28] He is my fortress and my hope. And in him trust I will.
[1:44] Assured he shall be saved. And give deliverance from such a father's spirit.
[2:06] And give us from the noise of best of lands. His feathers shall be mighty like us.
[2:24] Under his wings shall we. His faithfulness shall be a shield.
[2:39] And give us a shield and power unto thee. The child of need to be afraid.
[2:57] Or terror's of the night. Nor for the hour. O love doth fly.
[3:12] I give voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy Let's bow our heads in prayer.
[3:59] Almighty and most gracious God, we are thankful to you for this new day. We rejoice in you as the God who is the God of the night and the God of the day, the God who has caused the sun to rise on this new morning.
[4:18] And we gather to worship you and we give thanks to you for the beauty of this day, for its peace and for its good gifts and for its privileges.
[4:31] You are a great God who has created the universe and created this world and all that dwells in it. Give thanks to you for the way in which your fingerprint on all that is made reminds us of your glory and of your power.
[4:50] And we pray today as we worship you that the beauty that we see around us will be in itself a stepping stone to draw near to you as our God and come to understand and to know and to appreciate the beauty of the revelation you have given to us in the passion of your Son.
[5:13] We rejoice today in the Lord Jesus Christ as our Saviour. We marvel at the news that you sent him into this world.
[5:23] Lord, we can never fully appreciate what that sending meant and what coming into this world meant for him. But we do give thanks to you for that great sending.
[5:35] We do give thanks to you for the life that the Lord Jesus lived. We give thanks to you for the death that he died and for the resurrection power with which he came back from the dead.
[5:50] And we are thankful today that his work is not yet complete. We are thankful that he is at your right hand and we come to you in his name thankful that he has secured with his death and his resurrection the great gift and grace of salvation.
[6:11] And praying today that we may sense indeed our need to bow down at his footstool to acknowledge his glory as our Saviour and to give thanks to you for his finished work and in doing so to be reminded that there is the prospect of his return.
[6:33] And we give thanks to you for the promises of your word that your Son will return to this earth and that he will stand upon it and that every eye will see him.
[6:44] So bless our worshipers. We do worship you that we may appreciate the work of your Son and that in appreciating and laying hold of all that he has done by faith that we may live with that hope of everlasting life in our hearts and the sure expectation of meeting with your Son on that great last day when the trumpet will sound and when the dead will rise from their graves and when all of the people of God will be gathered around your Son around your throne and at last led into fountains of living water and there to enjoy the eternal blessedness of the paradise of God.
[7:25] We pray for your blessing to be upon us as we worship you. We pray your blessing to be upon us as we reflect upon your word. We pray for your blessing to be upon all of our people.
[7:35] We are mindful of those who are away from us at this time on holiday. We pray that you will bless and keep and protect them and guide them in their time away. We are thankful to you for the children that are with us today and for their parents.
[7:49] We pray that you will bless our young people and you will bless your word to them and their learning and their understanding of the truth of the gospel. May their young hearts be blessed by you so that all that they hear and all that they learn would be the seed that is planted by you that will bring forth fruit in their lives in the days that are to come.
[8:11] Bless them in all of their learning in day school and in Sunday school and give them the knowledge and the understanding of your word as they grow up in life that they may appreciate the light that comes from the Bible that helps them along life's way.
[8:27] We pray for your blessing to be upon the children as you gather in different groups today and as you'll be near to all those who provide oversight and teaching and leading as well we do commit them to your care and as you will hear us in these prayers as we continue before you now help us and accept us and go before us for we ask all these things for Jesus' sake.
[8:49] Amen. Well boys and girls it's good to see you today it's good to see boys and girls visiting us as well and I know that many of your friends will be away on holiday but it's always a joy to see you coming to God's house.
[9:04] Our Bible message today is about Jesus and Jesus making his way through life and making his way to the cross and going to the cross on Good Friday and of course you are on your Easter holidays and Good Friday and Easter Sunday will come later on in the month.
[9:21] I'm going to think of three things today in our wee story and the three things begin with P that's the letter P the first of these is plans and some folks are on holiday today and some folks go away on holiday at different times but we make holiday plans we decide where do we want to go with our families or in our school trips.
[9:44] I was on the ferry a week last Wednesday and I think there were over 60 children from the Stornoway Primary School on the ferry a big group going away on a school trip and perhaps you were one of them but they were well behaved and they were accompanied by some adults as well so we make plans to go on our trips.
[10:03] I was in Auburn last Sunday preaching in Auburn and I knew in December I was going there so I had to make plans and the date was in my diary and I should be there and for us all today as those who worship God we want to be the children of God we want to belong to God's family and to belong to God's kingdom that should be our plan and if our plans don't include that then God wants us today to remember that the most important plan that we can have is to plan to be in God's kingdom and to be in God's family and so the first P is plans and when Jesus came into the world he had a plan and God had a plan for him and Jesus went and he fulfilled all that God said about the plan.
[10:52] The second P is preparation. If we have plans we need to prepare and Jesus lived his life preparing to fulfill everything that God had given to him.
[11:05] If I'm going on my school trip then I need to work out where I'm going I need to work how I'm going to get there and need to make sure that I get there safely. If I'm going to Oban to preach or going to Oban at holiday which is a great place to have a holiday and by the way if I'm going to Oban at holiday then I need to work how to get there I need to go to my Google Maps and get the best way of getting to Oban and the best way of getting there safely.
[11:32] And if I'm going by car I need to get my ferry ticket so there is preparation if I'm going to get where I plan to go. And we come to church it's part of our preparation to be the children of God and to be in God's kingdom.
[11:47] We go to Sunday school we learn about Jesus and about God and about God's word. We are preparing to be in God's kingdom and to be the children of God. We read our Bibles at home we learn our Bible stories and we do our prayers at home we are learning the story of Jesus because we need to learn about Jesus and about God if we are going into God's kingdom.
[12:09] So we have a plan that's where we want to be. We are doing the preparation there is work to be done. Now not just for boys and girls but for all of us here today we have to prepare ourselves if we're going to be in God's kingdom.
[12:25] My third P is power. And there's something I haven't mentioned if I'm going to make my trip to Oban or if I'm going to make my trip by car anywhere there is something I have not mentioned.
[12:40] Can you ever think what that might be? What do I need as well as all of that preparation? Well if I make all of these plans and my car is sitting at home and there is no fuel in it I can make all the plans that I can but I can't go anywhere.
[13:01] So I need to make sure that I've got fuel in my car I need to make sure that I've got not just fuel in my car but enough fuel to get me where I'm going.
[13:13] And no matter what else I do unless I have fuel, petrol or diesel in my car I'm not going to go anywhere. So if I am going to Oban which is 170 miles from Arable via Anvarnes I need to make sure I've got enough fuel in my car to get me the 170 miles because I don't want to run out of fuel in the middle of nowhere and be completely lost.
[13:37] We need power. We need petrol. We need fuel in our car. And today that's what God wants to remind us of. We need to prepare ourselves and learn all of the story of Jesus and the story of God but more importantly and most importantly we need to have Jesus in our hearts and we need to have the Spirit of God in our hearts.
[14:01] And Paul was writing to people in a church in Ephesus like ourselves he was praying for them that Jesus would dwell in their hearts by faith. And today all of you, all of us together we need to make sure that we have that power in our hearts.
[14:17] It's the love of God the love of Jesus the Spirit of God in our hearts and that's when we are in God's kingdom. That's when we are in God's family and that's when we can look forward to being with Jesus when we leave this world.
[14:33] Okay? So we have plans. We need to have plans. That's where we want to go. We want to be with Jesus. We need preparation. We need to learn about God and about Jesus and about how to get there.
[14:44] But we need to make sure that we don't forget that we need Jesus in our hearts and God's Spirit in our hearts because that's when we are truly the children of God and when we can be sure of being with Jesus.
[14:58] Thank you for listening. So now we're going to repeat the Lord's Prayer together. Let's continue now in our worship of God by singing, the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.
[15:27] Amen. Let's continue now in our worship of God by singing to his praise, this time from Psalm 65. Psalm 65 and the sing Psalms and it's on page number 82.
[15:42] And we're going to sing at the beginning of the Psalm. Psalm 65 at verse 1. It's on page 82. In Zion, praise awaits you, Lord.
[15:55] To you our vows will pay. To you all people will come near. You hear us when we pray. We stand to sing from verse 1 to the verse Mark 5. To God's praise.
[16:05] Amen. To you all people will come near.
[16:31] You hear us when we pray. When we bear over them license and guilt upon us day.
[16:52] Give our love our trespasses and watch our guilt away.
[17:06] And bless our woes to something. Within your hearts of grace.
[17:22] We live with blessings in your hands. In your hearts of holy place.
[17:37] Where constant beats of righteousness. You answer us, O God.
[17:51] Let's pray, O God.
[18:12] the New Testament from the Gospel according to Matthew chapter 26. Matthew chapter 26 and we're reading at verse 26. Matthew 26 and verse 26. Let us hear the word of God. Now as they were eating Jesus took bread and after blessing it they broke it and gave it to the disciples and said take eat this is my body and he took a cup and when he had given thanks he gave it to them saying drink of it all of you for this is my blood of the covenant which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until the day when I drink it new with you in my father's kingdom. And when they had sung a hymn they went out to the Mount of Olives then Jesus said to them you will all fall away because of me this night for it is written I will strike the shepherd and the sheep of the flock will be scattered but after I am raised up I will go before you to gallery. Peter answered him though they all fall away because of you I will never fall away. Jesus said to him truly
[19:34] I tell you this very night before the crows you will deny me three times. Peter said to him even if I must die with you I will not deny you and all the disciples said the same. Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane and he said to his disciples sit here while I go over there and pray and taking with him Peter and the two sons of Sebedee he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them my soul is very sorrowful even to death remain here and watch with me. And going a little further he fell on his face and prayed saying my father if it be possible that this cup pass from me nevertheless not as I will but as you will. And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping and he said to Peter so could do not watch with me one hour. Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing but the flesh is weak. Again for the second time he went away and prayed my father if this cannot pass unless I drink it your will be done. And again he came and found them sleeping for their eyes were heavy. So leaving them again he went away and prayed for the third time saying the same words. Then he came to the disciples and said to them sleep and take your rest later on and see the hour is at hand and the son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise let us be going. See my betrayer is at hand. Now when there's God's word we trust that he blessed to us our reading from it. Once more we bow our heads in a word of prayer.
[21:18] Lord our God we are thankful to you for your word. You have made yourself known to us in the words of scripture and we do give thanks to you for every way in which we have an insight into your work and your purposes and your plans. We are thankful to you for the words that we have read and for the insight that we have of the journey of your son and his experience when he faced the cross of Calvary.
[21:51] We are thankful to you that we can learn so much from what he experienced and we are thankful to you that he experienced all of these things so that we would not suffer the very things that he endured if we believe in his name. And today we do pray for your word to be in our hearts and by the light and the power of your Holy Spirit to be alive in our minds in such a way that we may see the truth as it is in Jesus. That we may see the truth and what it says about ourselves and that we may realize in the depths of our beings today that we need to know the Lord Jesus as our Savior. That we need trust in him.
[22:39] That we need the safety and the security that comes alone from resting in him and in all that he has done on behalf of sinners like ourselves. And so we pray for the power and influence of your Holy Spirit in our time of worship together, drawing your hearts, leading us to you, leading us to understand and to know and to know better the things of God and being persuaded day by day of the truth of them, of the value and the preciousness of them and recognize day by day the great need that we have to find our satisfaction in these very things that we have in the word of God and to find a rest in you day by day in the midst of the insecurities of life, in the midst of the many ways in which circumstances change, in the midst of the many ways in which we can come out of one crisis into the next and when our world can be in turmoil.
[23:41] So bless us and bless your word to us, all of us together here before you. Remember those who are unable to be with us, confined in their homes, we pray that you will reach out to them. We are thankful to you that you are the God who is always present with your people and we know that there are times when your people may conclude that you are not with them and we pray for any today who may be coming to such a conclusion that you will provide them powerfully with a reminder of your unforgettableness, of your presence with them, of your grace in their hearts and of your arms around them. Bless all of our homes and all of our families.
[24:21] Be with those who are unwell, we commit them to you. Be with those who mourn and grieve the loss of loudness, we remember them before you, not only in our congregation here but beyond all of the brokenness in the world and all those whose hearts are filled with heaviness today. We pray that your hand will be upon them and that your light and your comfort and your peace and your love would come to them and would carry them through their times of trial and testing and their times of grief and sorrow. Bless the world in which we live.
[24:54] We remember the nations of the earth in the midst of so much turmoil and so much uncertainty in these days. We ask you, O Lord, to lay your hand on those who are in positions of authority, who are so influential in the culture of this world as we see it, humanly speaking.
[25:12] We pray you, O Lord, to influence for good, to guide and to direct, to give us order, to give us peace, to restore order and peace where there is conflict and disorder, and to bring to the peoples of this world a sense of the goodness and of the grace of God. We give thanks to you for the whole church of Christ in the world. Pray your blessing to be upon all who love your name today, all who gather to worship as we do.
[25:40] May you encourage, may you enrich, may you build up and may you even restore in the faith all those who gather to wait upon you on this day. I'm praying especially for your persecuted people that you will bless and protect them in the midst of the danger that they face because of their faithfulness to you, what show them and to be gracious to them and strengthen them day by day and to make their witness powerful, even to change the hearts of those who are their greatest enemies. So bless your people and bless your word and bless all those who go out to preach today and be merciful to all connected to us.
[26:18] We pray for your blessing to be upon the Reverend Calamurdo at this time of holiday. May you bless him with rest and may be refreshed in his time away and may come back refreshed and ready to continue serving you here.
[26:31] And we pray for your blessing to be upon the intermoderary, Reverend Colin McLeod as well, that you will strengthen him in all his own burdens and responsibilities as we commit them to you and the care and the direction of our congregation during these days.
[26:44] We commit ourselves to you and pray that your hand will be upon our hearts to steer our thoughts and our paths in the days that are to come and to provide for us ministry in the gospel sent by you, equipped and prepared by you to be over your people here. So bless us and be near to us and go before us now.
[27:03] Blessing your word to us. Watch over us and keep us and guard us from every distraction as we do worship you and accept us and our mercy. For we ask all these things for Jesus' sake. Amen.
[27:14] Amen. Our next item of praise is Psalm number 69. It's at verse number 13. It's in the Scottish Psalter on page 306.
[27:28] Page 306 at verse number 13. And we can associate these words with the words that we read from the Gospel of Matthew and Jesus in the Garden here is a prayer that is very much a messianic prayer.
[27:44] A prayer belongs to Jesus especially. But in an acceptable time, my prayer, Lord, is to thee, in truth of thy salvation, Lord, and mercy great hear me.
[27:57] I'm going to sing from verse 13 to the verse 18 to God's praise. Amen. I pray, Lord, is to thee, in truth of thy salvation, Lord, and mercy great hear me.
[28:37] In liberty and of the life, from shame in gloomy peace, Reveal from those that do be made, and from the water stream.
[29:09] Let not the flag of me prevail, whose watcher overflows, Nor did we swallow, nor the pit, and our mouth upon me close.
[29:41] Hear me, O Lord, because thy love and kindness is most good, Turn on to me, according to thy mercy's multitude.
[30:13] For from thy servant high by faith, I've come soon again.
[30:30] From here, my soul, I'll yet redeem, because my hope's in heaven.
[30:50] So we're going to get on to the Gospel of Matthew and chapter 26. And we can read at verse 36. Matthew 26, and at verse 36.
[31:06] Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, Sit here while I go over there and pray.
[31:18] And so on down through the rest of this section. Now speaking to the children, we notice the importance of plans. And the importance of knowing where we are going, As well, of course, as knowing where we are coming from.
[31:35] And when we read the story of the Gospel, We understand that Jesus knew exactly who he was. And time after time, as we see in this passage itself, He proclaims himself to be the Son of Man.
[31:49] And he connects himself to all that God has spoken in the Old Testament, With the promise of salvation through a King, Who would have a kingdom and who would have glory.
[32:01] He knows who he is. And he also knows the plans of God. And as we read through the Gospel, We see the way in which Jesus, At every step of the way, Is doing the things that God had set out for him to do.
[32:17] He came because of God's plan. And he is working out the plan of God At each step in the Gospels. He knows where he has come from.
[32:28] And he knows that one day, He will arrive at his destination. And that destination will be at the right hand of God. There are plans. There is preparation.
[32:40] And as we read the story of Jesus, There is also power. Jesus has the power of the Holy Spirit, With which he is able to do the will of God, And serve God, And do all the powerful things, That we see Jesus doing in the Gospels.
[32:58] And as the scene develops in this Gospel itself, We see that there is a particular event and place, That begins to become central in the life of Jesus.
[33:10] He is fulfilling his ministry amongst all of the people. He is healing the sick. He is restoring sight to those who are blind. He is showing his power by bringing people around himself.
[33:26] And as he does, So he comes at last to the place where he leaves Galilee behind. The place where he has done most of his work. And he goes on to Jerusalem.
[33:38] And he knows he is going to face hostility there. And we think in this month of Good Friday and Easter Sunday, And we look back on the events that took place in the life of Jesus.
[33:53] And these events are of course significant and momentous. And they were the same for Jesus himself. For him, there were the most significant events in his life, As well as coming into this world, To die and to be raised were the two most significant things in his life.
[34:15] And bearing that in mind today, We want to look at this passage, Where the primary focus is on the Lord Jesus. And that's important for us to notice that.
[34:26] Sometimes we get so caught up in ourselves and what we need and what we want, That we lose sight of the primary focus of God on Jesus in the gospel.
[34:39] And so through this passage today, The disciples are a kind of sidebar in the story. The real story is about Jesus in this moment.
[34:50] And we want to think of this passage under the title, Jesus and the shadow of Good Friday. First of all, There is a shadow.
[35:05] A shadow can be something positive in the Bible. We sang Psalm number 91, Where it speaks of abiding in the shadow of the Almighty God. That's a positive thing.
[35:18] That's where we want to live our lives, Under the shelter of God. And the psalmist says in Psalm number 63, That in the shadow of your wings I will find joy.
[35:30] Shadow in the Bible can be a powerfully positive thing, That speaks to us of our relationship with God, And where we need to be as the children of God.
[35:40] But it can also be a very negative thing. For example, in Psalm number 107, The psalmist speaks of coming to sit in darkness, And in the shadow of death.
[35:54] It can be very negative. And in our broken world, The Bible time after time speaks about the way in which Suffering and death itself Covers us like a shadow.
[36:09] Positive and also negative. And when we read this story, It becomes clear That the shadow for Jesus Is something very negative.
[36:23] It's something that speaks of all the bad things That we have in life, And that speaks of the bad things That he must endure. Let this cup Pass From me The cup is a very simple thing In our everyday lives.
[36:47] We pour whatever it is, Our tea and our coffee into our cups, And we drink from our cups. They are very simple things. In the Bible, Cups were filled by By those who Who Were hosting guests.
[37:02] Cups were filled with With rich things And passed around To the guests To show of the riches of the king Who was hosting the people. Psalm number 23 speaks of Of the cup And the abundance of the Gifts of God.
[37:18] The cup can again give us A variety of things In the Bible. And when we Read this passage here, Jesus is referring to A specific cup.
[37:33] Let this Cup Pass from me. And this is really important Because it points us to Which cup Jesus is referring to.
[37:45] And we Read further on Earlier on In the passage The way in which he speaks Of the Blood Of the covenant Which is poured out for many For the forgiveness of sins.
[37:59] He had given thanks. He gave it. He took the cup And he gave it to them. This cup Is the new covenant In my blood.
[38:11] And all of these Adjudice that Describe this cup Speak of the Awful situation That Jesus was facing. It's a new covenant.
[38:24] That means there is An old one. And the Bible tells us That that old covenant The old relationship With God Is completely broken. And in this new Covenant That is in this cup That Jesus is about To take in his hand This new covenant Must in some way Fix the brokenness.
[38:45] The covenant Must in some way Address the broken relationship. And we Read in this Passage itself That that's about Forgiveness of sin. We read throughout Our Bible That it's about Turning away The wrath of God.
[39:01] We read in our Bibles That it is About Jesus Paying the ransom price. There are huge Elements As he drinks this cup Related to The broken relationship That arises From the broken Covenant Of God With his people.
[39:20] And when we Come to Think of This cup Today This cup Of the new covenant God wants us To think Of our own Relationship With God. To understand Where we are By nature In our relationship With God.
[39:36] To remind us That our relationship With God Is broken. And to remind us That to fix That broken relationship Is not a simple fix.
[39:48] It's something That only God Can do And only God Can do Through what Jesus is going To do. But we must Realize what The brokenness Means. That we have Sinned against God.
[40:01] That we are Alienated from God. That God Has become our Enemy because Of our sin. That the distance Is so far Because we have Broken our Relationship with God.
[40:13] This cup. And that very Same cup Which is The new covenant In his blood. It begins Something new.
[40:25] And that's The good news Of the gospel. That Jesus Not only Takes away The old That is broken. But that Having met The conditions Of that broken Relationship That he Establishes Something new.
[40:42] And that's The good news Of the gospel. But the way From the broken To the new Is what Jesus Is staring In his face As he Approaches The cross At Calvary.
[40:55] He is Looking At this Cup. And In a Symbolic way It's as if For the first Time God has Taken This cup And placed It In the Hands Of Jesus.
[41:12] And although Previously Jesus knew Where he was Going And why he Was going There That now There is A sense Of an Unveiling Of the Detail Of all That that Means.
[41:26] He is Coming face To face With the Reality Of what He already Knew And the Depths Of the Reality Of Reconciling Sinners To God This Cup The late Principal Donald McLeod Put it like This Here Satan Shows him Not all The kingdoms Of the world As in Previous Temptations But the Full Cost Of his Love The curse What will It mean The full Ransom Price What will It mean Forsaken By God What will It mean Think of Jesus In the Garden Think of Him coming Face to Face For the First Time With the Reality That shortly The father Whom he Loves And who Loves him In return Is going To hide His face From him That's
[42:27] What it's Going to Take How do We expect Jesus To respond To that We see In verse 37 That he Began To be Sorrowful And Troubled!
[42:41] There was A sense Of physical Pain A sense Of emotional Suffering There was A deep Sense Of affliction Arising From the View that He never Had of This Cup He was Sorrowful And Troubled He was Humanly Speaking Overwhelmed By the Very thought Of what He had To drink He was Full of Heaviness And we Should not Lose sight Of the Way in Which Jesus Was impacted By this Cup The way In which His Humanness And the Way in Which his Sense of Weakness Caused him To feel Such a Weight Of Heaviness In this Situation That he Was as if Not only Burdened With sorrow But surrounded By sorrow
[43:41] And the Sorrow that Led him Through the Next whole Period of Time Up until The cross At Calvary He was Sorrowful And he Was Troubled And He already Felt Alone And he Takes three Disciples With him And he's Pleading with Them He has Been pleading With them All of his Life For them To follow Him And the Promise That he Is with Them But in This moment The picture Is reversed And he Wants them To stay With him To be Alongside Him Imagine The son Of god The Jesus Of nazareth The son Of man Depending On three Disciples
[44:41] In his Greatest Hour Of need The shadow The shadow Of the cross On good Friday Let's think Of what Jesus saw As he Looked Into The cup That god Was placing In his Hand The shadow Leads to The struggle And we See That his Response And his Struggle That he Engages With god Through prayer What else Can he Do He Prays To god Oh my Father The father Concerning Whom he Says In john Chapter 11 I know That you Have always Heard Me And he Comes in This moment Of trouble And of Sorrow And he's Crying out
[45:41] To his Father Whom he Knows Loves him Whom he Knows That that Love will Never come To an End And whom He loves Himself With a Love that Corresponds To the same Love of the Father for Him He And the Father are One Such is The closeness Prayer The struggle That leads To prayer What an Example In our Struggles we We tend to Turn away From god And drown Ourselves in Our sorrows And in our Struggles Here is The example Of the Right Response!
[46:34] But as You will If it is Possible If you As if he Were saying To his Father If you Have The power In any Way To take This cup From me And let's Remember that When Jesus Adressing His Father And saying If it is Possible If you Have the Power We know That god Has all Of the Power We know That with His power He created The universe We know That he Is able To do Everything And anything We know That he Said to Abraham Is only Too hard For the Lord Everything Is possible For the Lord And Jesus In this Moment of Struggle With god He is Exploring The possibility That beyond His own Understanding At this Point That there May be Some Other Way He is Pushing The boundary He is Pushing Beyond
[47:34] Where he Is And perhaps God has The power And god Can do It In some Other way And we Read that In the Gospel of Matthew In the Mark in the Account in Chapter 14 All things Are possible With you If it is Possible He is Exploring Let this Cup Pass By me Let it Let it Develop in Such a Way That I Don't Encounter The drinking Of it That no Matter how Close I Am to It right Now That it Will Bypass Me That you And your Infinite Power and Glory and Wisdom Will find A way of Taking this Cup out Of my Hand And allow Me to go Forward in My journey Without drinking This cup At all Is that
[48:37] Not What you And I Would pray For If it is Possible Please don't Let me go Down this Road Please don't Let me Experience what Is lying In front Of me In other Words It's the Human Response To such A prospect And we See Jesus Here So like Yourselves Proving His Humanness Proving That he Is one Of us When faced With a Struggle He is Looking for A way To avoid The intensity Of drinking This cup And the Suffering That that Involves Father If it is Possible And As if he With all Respect as if He was Balancing His own Prayer Nevertheless Not as I will But as You will There is Never a Conflict There is
[49:37] A struggle There is The exploring Of a Possibility Of some Other way But there Is never A conflict Not as I will But as You will Father Whatever Your will Is That's the Path I Want to Follow But in This moment Is it at All possible That there May be Another way And as We Think of That struggle For Jesus Let's Take it All to Heart As we Think of What Jesus Has done For us In the Gospel Let's Think of Him Not just On the Cross But on The way To the Cross And let's Come alongside Him As the Disciples Were commanded To do That they Fell asleep Today Do not Fall asleep
[50:38] When we Think of What Jesus Was going Through In the Garden Of Gethsemane Be Wide Awake Be Alert To what He is Going Through Because It is Related To you It is Connected To you It is Connected To your Salvation Salvation And it Speaks Also Of the Darkness Of your Lostness If you Don't Have faith In Jesus The day May come When you Will cry For the Same Is it Possible That this Wrath May not Come upon Me Be alert To what Jesus Is doing And saying And be Alert To what It means For your Salvation Part one But we See as Jesus Continues In his Prayer We see That there Is There is Development He is Growing In his
[51:38] Understanding Of where He is And so Often in Life That's What Happens God Puts Me In a Crisis And I Cannot See my Way Through That Crisis But in The very Darkness Of the Crisis The light Begins To dawn And I See something That was Unknown to me Before The struggle Is the Means Through which The light Shines And the Day Begins To dawn And Jesus In his Second Prayer In Verse Number 42 Again For the Second Time He went And prayed My Father If this Cannot Pass Unless I Drink it You will Be done He has Explored The Possibility But now He is Face To face With the Fact That there Is no Other Way That this Cup Cannot Pass By him The only
[52:38] Way Forward Is for Him To drink It And let's Be sure Today That if There was Another Way Through which God Could save You and Me Bring us Into the Kingdom Of heaven Make us The children Of God If there Was another Way Other than His son Going to The cross On good Friday Then that's What would Have happened But there Is no Other way There is No other Passion There is No other Path There is No paradise Without the Path That Jesus On To the Cross On good Friday If it Cannot Pass By Unless I Drink it Your will Be done Jesus Is embracing The will Of God's Father He came Into this World His delight Was to Do the Will of God And that's Never going To change And he
[53:39] Realizes As he Now comes To Within Eye view Of the Cross As he Comes Under its Shadow He now Realizes That is Where the Will of God Takes Him It was The will Of the Lord to Crush him Says Isaiah The Lord laid On him The Iniquity Of his All He knew Where he Was going And now He is Face to Face With the Fact that There is No other Way For him The struggle Which brings Him At last To be Aligned With the Will of God And to Understand That no Matter how Great the Power of God is That there Is no Other way Of salvation But for Him To go To the Cross Let's Continue to Reflect As we move On And as we Come to Think of Jesus moving From the Shadow Through the Struggle
[54:39] Coming to Submission What does That mean He gives Himself Over Completely To God The Sidebar Is That the Disciples Were there And the Sidebar Is that The Disciples Failed Jesus said To them Watch and Pray lest You fall Into Temptation There's a Time of Struggle For you And for Me You watch And pray Lest you Fall into Temptation He comes Back and He finds Them sleeping Twice he Does that The Peter was Confident That he Would Never Deny Jesus Peter Could you Not Watch With me For one Hour They Failed In their Submission To the Will of God And in The Path of Discipleship And following The Lord Jesus Watch and Pray They Did Not Take
[55:39] Heed They Were Asleep The Sidebar The Contrast And perhaps That's where you might Find yourself As we come to The submission of the Lord Jesus That here Here you are And God Has told you To watch Not just to Watch what's Happening But to be On your Guard Because Here is the Moment of Temptation Here is the Moment of Testing Here is the Moment of Proving what's In your Heart Here is the Moment of Showing If your Words really Mean Anything Here is the Moment of Showing Your Closeness Your Dependence Your love For the Lord Jesus Here is the Sidebar And where Does that Sidebar Leave you Do you Join with The Disciples And are You Sleeping Your Way Along And all Of the Most Important Things In God's Plan Are
[56:40] About To be Fulfilled Here is Jesus He comes Back to The Disciples Who Have Failed And he Says To them In Verse Number 45 Then he Came to The Disciples And said To them Sleep And take Your Rest Later On You Have Failed In the Testing That there Is no More Time For Prayer Now You Are Going to Have To do That Later On The Moment Has Passed Them And Now The Case That The Hour Has Come For Him The Hour Is At Hand And The Son Of Man Is Betrayed Into The Hands Of Sinners Rise Let Us Be Going See My Betrayer Is At Hand The Son Of Man Is Betrayed Into The Hands Of Sinners We Know The Story Of The Trial We Know The Story Of The Conviction We Know The Story Of Of Embading
[57:41] The Cross We Know The Story Of Him Being Nailed To That Cross By Wicked Men On Good Friday The Son Of Man Is To Be Betrayed What Does Jesus Do Now Does He Pray One More Time No He Is Ready To Go And Do The Father's Will Rise Let Us Be Going Let Let Move On From Here As We Read In The Gospel Of John The Cup That The Father Has Given To Me Will I Not Drink It Not Only Has Jesus Overcome The Struggle But He Has New Energy And New Focus And He Leaves The Garden And His Betrayer Comes And He Is Given Over To Them But He Is Going So Now Clearly The
[58:45] He Goes To The Cross Willingly And Ready To Sacrifice Himself And I Guess We Can See The Closing Scene Something Like This The Opening Scene Is That The Cup Is There And The Shadow Of Calvary Falls Upon Jesus in the garden. But the closing scene is very different. He is the son of man who has been promised glory with God, a kingdom, and dominion. And what does Jesus now see in this closing scene?
[59:24] That behind the cross is the very glory of God and the light of the glory of God that causes the shadow of the cross to fall on him where he is. But as he now rises from the garden, what he sees in the first place is not the cross itself. It is the light that shines behind it.
[59:48] It is the glory of God. And when he prays in John 17, the hour has come, glorify your son. And that's him looking to the glory that creates the shadow that falls upon him in the garden of Gethsemane. I was thinking about this kind of image and looking at this yesterday. And we live just down below the war memorial. And depending on the height of the sun, the shadow can be very long or very short. But it's a massive building. And in certain conditions, the shadow falls quite far.
[60:28] But other times, the sun is high. There's hardly any shadow at all. But it reminds me of this image. The image that I believe Jesus had in his own mind as he went from here. Your glory, my Father.
[60:44] Me being glorified with you. The light of your glory. Let me look to you. And then let me go on my journey. And willingly drink of this cup. Willingly be stretched out by evil people and nailed to this cross.
[61:02] Willingly endure your wrath. Willingly endure my body being broken. With the weight that I must bear of your wrath in repairing and in addressing the conditions of the covenant that is broken.
[61:20] So that these people might have forgiveness of sin. And so let's go today with a real sense of the shadow of Good Friday. What it meant for Jesus.
[61:32] The struggle that he had because of that shadow. And let's not stop short of thinking about his submission. His willingness to go. And the sense of that willingness.
[61:45] Being inspired and having fuel for the journey. By the light of the glory of God. Shining upon him.
[61:56] And his Father looking upon him. And preparing him and bringing him to that place of glory. And let's ensure that we don't sleep on our way through the story of Easter.
[62:09] But that we walk with the disciples. That we have recovered from our sleeping. And that we understand why Jesus must go through these things for our salvation.
[62:22] And that we may hear them with gladness. And ensure that they become meaningful. In changing our own hearts and lives. And in discovering the new covenant.
[62:34] The forgiveness of sins. That Jesus speaks of here. And then we may well do. Take the cup of salvation. And call upon the name of the Lord.
[62:46] May God bless this word to us. Let us pray. Most gracious God. We rejoice in you. As our Father who is in heaven. We rejoice in you. As the Father who sent your Son into the world.
[62:59] We give thanks to you. And you are the God who did not spare your own Son. But delivered him up for us all. And help us to rejoice today. In the knowledge of the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
[63:12] In the knowledge that there is peace with God through him. And give us faith to believe in him. To accept him. As he has offered to us in the gospel. And give to ourselves that sight.
[63:23] And that prospect of your glory. As we journey on through the struggles of life. Here I pray we ask. And have mercy. For we pray these things for Jesus' sake. Amen. Amen. The closing psalm is psalm number 16.
[63:38] And sing psalms. It's on page 17. Psalm 16. And at verse number 5. And we'll sing to verse number 8.
[63:54] And we'll notice that the latter part. The end of the psalm is quoted by Peter. With regard to Jesus. In Acts chapter 2. And the resurrection of Jesus. But we'll sing at verse number 5.
[64:06] O Lord you are to me my cup and portion sure. The share that is assigned to me. You guard and keep secure. We stand and sing from verse 5 to verse 8.
[64:16] To God's praise. Lord you are to me my cup and portion sure.
[64:36] The share that is assigned to me. The share that is assigned to me. You guard and keep secure.
[64:52] The share that is assigned to me. The share that is assigned to me.
[65:02] The share that is assigned to me. And surely my inheritance To me is a delight And praise the Lord my God Whose counsel guides my choice And even in the night my heart Revolves in such an choice Before me constantly
[66:06] I set the Lord alone Because he lives At my right hand I'll not be overcome I'll go to the main door after the benediction The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ The love of God the Father and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all now and forevermore Amen Amen