Well congregation let me invite us to open this morning our Bible as we continue in Mark we're in chapter 14 and verses 13 to 42 our next section mark 14 and 32 to 42. I think I've said this the last couple of texts. These are sections we're very familiar with in the word of God. But we must understand the Holy Spirit is about the business of leading us into all truth. And so always his desire, his plan, his power is that we might come to know the Lord Jesus Christ better and better. and find more and richer reasons for praise and thanksgiving, and we also plan and hope to find the very same this morning. So Mark chapter 14, beloved, at verse 32, they went to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his disciples, sit here while I pray. He took Peter, James, and John along with him, And he began to be deeply distressed and troubled. My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death, he said to them. Stay here and keep watch. Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible, the hour might pass from him. Abba, Father, he said, everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. yet not what I will, but what you will. Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. Simon, he said to Peter, are you asleep? Could you not keep watch for one hour? Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak. Once more he went away and prayed the same thing. When he came back, he again found them sleeping because their eyes were heavy. They did not know what to say to him. Returning the third time, he said to them, are you still sleeping and resting? Enough, the hour has come. Look, the son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us go. Here comes my betrayer. As far as your congregation, the perfect and glorious word of the living God, let's now ask again for his help, and he will answer us. Let's pray. Our Father in heaven, how thankful we are that we are the recipients of your word. We hold in our hands what you have said to humanity, which also is what we each here this morning need to be told, and that is of the work of the Lord Jesus Christ and his ongoing work in his church today. And so, Father, we pray that by the Spirit you would lead us to grasp these things, fill our minds so that our hearts may be full, so that we may have hands and feet to live as you call us to by grace. We pray all this now in Jesus' name, amen. Well, dear congregation of the Lord Jesus Christ, this text this morning brings us back again to something we've had occasion to notice many times while preaching through Mark. Jesus is the focus of the text. Now, you might be thinking, well, that really doesn't need to be said. It's sort of an of course. Except again, we know texts like this one so well that we tend to focus on some things that are actually on the periphery, as we'll see this morning. You see, the word of God was written for us, but it is about him, our Lord Jesus Christ. That could not be clearer than with this text. And his humanity is in the spotlight here. His and theirs and ours. His humanity. He must wrestle with the horrors to come. Their humanity as they are too tired to keep their eyes open. Our humanity and our connection to these things as we'll explore such this morning. If he suffered, was persecuted, had enemies, experienced life under the cross, do we really think the church is going to sail always on calm seas day after day? Or should we expect something different? I really mean that. Should we expect? That's looking with a belief that it's going to come. Should we expect those trials since We are his people called by his name. So we Christians are called to cooperate by grace in the grief of the Lord. You'll find that in the handout in your bulletin for the sermon. We Christians are called to cooperate by grace in the grief of the Lord. First of all, this morning, congregation, his testing His testing, verses 32 to 34. His soul is deeply sorrowful. And the question, do we know this sorrow? The Lord Jesus, and this is the text from last time, had just told them that they would all fall away. And they in turn quickly told the Lord he was wrong. What sinful pride. They are at ground zero of the betrayal, Gethsemane. As they enter the garden, not Eden, but like Eden, I want you to notice that there is here no teaching from the Lord. He doesn't first set them down and give them a long explanation again about the things that are coming. He's done that multiple times. So it's a strange thing in terms of the way Mark is laid out. There is no first section of teaching and then following instruction or command. He goes simply to his burdened command, his request, his plea, pray. And then as he takes the three, stay here, keep watch. Why? Sorrow. overwhelmed soul. That describes Jesus Christ. He's at death's door. He says, I am sad to death. Why is he this grieved? Well, it's complex. You might think that the primary reason he is so grieved, as he knows what's coming, is the torment and the torture and the pain that is about to fall on him. And surely that is indeed a part of it. Perhaps it's that his disciples are about to betray him as he foresaw, as he knows is going to happen. And yes, again, surely that is hard and that's a part of it. But it's neither of those is the center of his grief. The center of his sorrow is the separation he knows that is coming. He knows he must be forsaken by his father on the cross. There is no deeper wound than the wound sin causes. And so when on the cross he becomes sin for us, he will be, he must be forsaken by the father. And the grief and the sorrow of that certainty is simply overwhelming to him. He is crushed by it. Oh, dear Christians. Can we say it this way by way of application already? Can we say to our own hearts and ask the Lord to help us on our own thoughts and thinking? May we love goodness more. May we love purity more. May we be passionate about holiness and spiritual beauty so much that we are instantly grieved when we witness the effects of sin. instantly grieved when we witnessed the effects of sin. We asked this morning, this first uncomfortable question, are you comfortable with sin and its implications? Is the church, our Christians in the year 2024, too deadened too bruised up, too callous about the realities of sin that we say, oh, well, somebody was stabbed. Oh, somebody engaged in armed robbery, five men in Oak Lawn Friday morning. Oh, well, what are you gonna do? May we rather beloved, Ask the Lord again for a heart that is soft about these things so that, yes, we are sorrowful again, gripped with the grief that sin brings. Have we lost count how many dead in Ukraine now? Oh, the Ukraine war. How many dead in Russia now? Oh, it's bled over into Russia itself. How about in Gaza and Israel? How many dead now? How many families ripped apart? Do we hate sin and sorrow over it? How many thousands, every hour of every day in America, unborn babies slaughtered in the womb by abortion? Are we gripped by the sorrow? Now, you're saying perhaps right now, but pastor, it's very personal for Jesus. Yes, of course. But the implications of what is causing the sorrow for him ought to also be felt by every Christian. For when somebody is murdered, a family is destroyed. Ask any family who's had somebody in their family murdered if their family was ever the same after that, and to a number they will say our family was never the same after that. We must, beloved, ask the Lord to help us understand the violence that the separation of sin causes. Well then secondly, his request. He asks for the cup to pass. Do we know this boldness? This boldness. Verse 35, going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible, the hour might pass from him. Abba, Father, he said, everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet, the older version, nevertheless, Not what I will, but what you will. Did you notice, by the way, that he had first invested Peter, James, and John with the privilege of being his grief partners? After that, he says, stay here, keep watch. He goes further. The text tells us, and sometimes we rush right past these little words, the text tells us, he fell to the ground. Now, I don't want to make some kind of idol out of praying on your knees. If you do that and you're still able to, great. If you pray in your chair, fine. If you pray standing or whatever, if you pray driving, please keep your eyes open. But the significance of the matter here is that he is so weighed down by these things. The text tells us he falls to the ground and prays. Now, why am I emphasizing this? because we need to remember that he is fully man. Yes, fully God, of course, but also texts like this one to remind us that he is also 100% real man. And we need to understand the full weight of humanity and hear of his humanity. Can we say it without kind of hedging that that he does not want, he does not want what is about to happen. He doesn't want this. In his humanity, he asks for it to be taken away from him. Let's not say about the text, well, we're gonna just rush over this and soft pedal it. Don't ever do that with the Bible. He's a real man. And he looks at what's coming, and he's overwhelmed with sorrow. He's in full grief mode. He's perplexed, and he falls down. Father, take this cup from me. Is Jesus' prayer here a sinful prayer? Would you say that? For he's asking for what he knows is about to happen to not happen. It is not a sinful prayer. It is a human prayer. And more so, it is a bold prayer. It is a, I don't like what's coming, could things work out together differently prayer. This text teaches us with the utmost clarity that our perfect Savior is fully 100% human. Yes, we add quickly so somebody doesn't clip this. Yes, also fully God, but also fully real man. And in his real humanity, he is really bold, asking for this cup to pass while also fully submitting to the will and determination of his father. Nevertheless, yet, not what I will, what you will. We need, beloved, to ask this morning from this text a deeply spiritual question of our own heart. How does grief about sin and its consequences move our praying? I was listening again this week to a commentary blog or some sort of how the church we have been praying since 1973, when Roe v. Wade was the law of the land, had been praying up until, and then all of a sudden, surprisingly to most people, it was overturned. And now we think wrongly that, well, now abortion's gonna be eradicated. I'm just not trying to pick on abortion, but as one very common thing that we see clearly and know to be evil and vile, do we continue praying? Are we bold to say, oh Lord, now please, in the state of Illinois and in all the other states, would you please bring constitutional amendments to outlaw this vile, evil, murderous activity? Are we bold in our praying? But let me put a finer point on it. Are we bold because we know the gospel to be the only answer to the problems humans face? And so we say about our neighbor living near us, the one we wave at and smile nicely to Lord, would you please bring my neighbor to saving faith? And if you would use a simple tool like me to do it, are we bold? We can't pray exactly the same as Jesus did in the sense that we're not the same. We don't know the same things. We don't have the same understanding and relationship with the Father as he did. This is a unique thing. But we can say that our prayers also go to the throne of grace just like his did. And so we can be bold to pray just like he is. Bold to pray. for what we perceive to be a godly end, a godly result. And then when we're praying, say, nevertheless, yet your will be done, accomplished. And this, especially against the sins impacting our society and causing havoc in our families. Dearly beloved of the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ, we need to rise up in boldness again, praying, seeking from the only change agent, Jesus Christ, who can actually do something about the sorrows we see. Pray. Well, thirdly, and in these last two, we need to delve more into the heart and the mind and the covenantal situation of the Lord Jesus Christ himself. Thirdly, his disappointment, verse 37. Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. Simon, he said to Peter, are you asleep? Could you not keep watch for one hour? Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak. Now, we mentioned again last sermon that certain texts are familiar because of something within that text. This text is no different. What we remember about this passage most distinctly is, if I were to query you and test you, what do you remember most about this passage? You would probably say, well, I remember that the disciples fell asleep. Now that's not wrong to remember that, of course it's not wrong, but beloved, there's something more central than that. It is that their sleepiness was in the face of his command and in the reality of the moment of his great need for their help. Verse 34, stay here and keep watch. The only thing they were watching was the inside of their eyelids. When the Lord finds them sleeping the first time, verses 37 and 38, he tells them that their actions are of weakness. And we read carefully those verses again, 37 and 38, and we discover as we read them carefully that Jesus is disappointed. Look at it again. Are you asleep? As in, seriously? You're sleeping? You really couldn't keep watch with me for just one hour? Really? Now again, why am I emphasizing this? Because, beloved, I'm afraid that sometimes we flatten the emotional life of the Lord Jesus Christ off as if his own human existence has no peaks of highs and no valleys of lows, that he's never more happy nor more sad at any moment than at any other moment. That's simply not true. There's no fully human man who doesn't have emotional swings, ups and downs. And here we need to say that Jesus Christ was like, I can't believe you're sleeping. I needed you. I needed you to keep watch with me. It's his hour of greatest need, and they are his closest friends. And what comes roaring out of the text, beloved, is something that we each need to affirm. We are not as strong as we think we are. We need grace. Every step of the way, every word we speak, every reaction that comes out from us, grace leads, grace leads, grace leads. As the Lord faces their weakness, not just once, not just twice, but he comes back, says the text, the third time, and then it's too late. The Son of Man is betrayed. As we'll see in a moment, time for us to go. That's a weighty passage, verse, we'll get to it in a minute. But we should ask this morning, beloved, of ourselves two assessment questions. And I believe the answer to these two assessment questions could really help our spiritual life, our own ministry, if you want to call it that, greatly. And the first question is this. I'm not going to ask you to look at anybody else, because you're going to be kind of tempted to do that, at least in your mind, with this first question. Do you realize that every other person in this congregation right now, seated near you, every other person in this congregation is full of weaknesses? Do you know that? Those people in front of you, behind you, to your left and to your right, they are people Now, this isn't the only thing about them, but we need to affirm this. They are filled with weaknesses. We need to treat one another that way. We need to assume that about each other, that he's not, she's not as strong as I think they are, or maybe as they think they are. Do we do that? Do we think that way? Do we behave that way amongst each other? Do we love one another that way? Well, what's the second assessment question? And perhaps you've already realized what the second one is. Here comes its question. Do you each realize how incredibly weak you are? And I'm saying that to myself as well. How incredibly weak we are. How needy do we watch and pray? Let's put ourselves to the test this week of preparatory. Let's ask those kinds of questions of ourselves. Let's pray that we will watch, that we will keep our eyes on the Lord Jesus Christ, and that we'll be quick to bring all of our weaknesses and the weaknesses of our brothers and sisters that come to our attention, all of those things to the Lord who is not we. Now again, why am I saying all of this? Because this is the most well-known, familiar part of the text, and it's so easy to be hard on the disciples. Oh, they fell asleep. What about us? What about our own congregation? It is important for us to think through these things because the work needed in the kingdom of God is work of intensity and energy and vitality, but the body is weak and temptations come with vile energy. Pray beloved. Ask the Lord to enable us to overcome by grace our own natural weaknesses. But then forth his determination. Verse 41. Returning the third time, he said to them, are you still sleeping and resting? Enough, the hour has come. Look, the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us go. Here comes my betrayer. These are the last words before his arrest in Mark. Focus on what he says, or better, on what he does not say. There's not one word of resistance here. But I want you to think about this in the broader context of what we've been following all along now in the Book of Mark. Can you make a list of how many times before this the religious elites tried to arrest him or kill him? It began immediately when he goes first time to the synagogue and he is there and he brings the word to them. What they try to do immediately after that is run him off the hill. Again and again and again in the three years of his earthly ministry, they tried to arrest him or to kill him, but he was able easily to thwart all of their efforts because it wasn't yet his time. But now that it is, Verse 42 ought to be read this way. Rise, let us go to them. He's not like, rise, let us run away, let us go. It's rise, let us go and face my betrayer. He is determined to accomplish his father's will. Don't we remember that he could easily call down an angelic army to come rescue him? which would be a failure, so he doesn't do it. He has determined to drink the cup of wrath God poured out against sin. He is determined to go to the cross to accomplish our salvation. How we need these words of determination. Arise, let us go. He moves forward. Who's in charge here? It's Jesus. He's in charge. We should never think, this is a theological problem some Christians face, we should never think that he is taken unwillingly to go to the cross. That's wrong. Read it again here. It's almost as if he is saying from the Old Testament, sleeper awake, rise, let us go. His greatest work about to be accomplished is done as a result of what happened in Gethsemane in the garden. There the second Adam was fully obedient after a real and true wrestling with an option of escape. Whereas the first Adam had failed in Eden, the second Adam comes out of the garden, listen, to remove the separation with God the first Adam caused. And He, Jesus, wrestled through prayer. So that kingdom work, wrestling in prayer for us, is now, it's our calling. We look at the following of sin. We look at the violence, the movement of our culture, the tendency of greater and greater debauchery in our day. And we say, no. We say, stop. We say, I'm going to pray. I'm going to worship God. I'm going to engage as I can. I'm going to do spiritual battle because of what he has done for us. I would say to our young people, go into every arena that you can possibly conceive of and do spiritual battle, whether that's the sciences, the arts, whether that's politics or government, whether that's business or whatever the calling the Lord lays on our hearts and our lives, whatever opportunities we have, we go forward with gospel invasion on our minds. And as we do, grief will meet us. Like it does in evangelistic efforts, we don't quit. We look at what the Lord has called his church to, the Lord who endured for us. And we say we Christians are called to cooperate by grace in the grief of the Lord. Amen. Our Father in heaven, we thank you so much for the beautiful, glorious, perfect work of our faithful Savior, fully God, fully man, who didn't shrink back from all that was for him to accomplish on our behalf. And our Lord, we thank you that these words of counsel and direction of command came from him to his church, including to us, by way of his victory at the cross and conquering of death at the tomb on the third day. Bless us and strengthen us, O Heavenly Father, that we may, by the grace of Christ, do your bidding, we ask in Jesus' name, amen. Well, let's sing again this morning, congregation, from our blue Psalter hymnal to 351. Ah, dearest Jesus, how hast thou offended? We'll stand to sing 351.