Participants: Floyd Bresee
Series Code: FC
Program Code: FC000364
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00:28 Hi, I'm Pastor Floyd Bresee and I've been
00:34 thinking, it seems to me that there be 00:37 a lot more Christians. If Christians were 00:40 a lot more Christ like, let's pray about it. 00:47 Loving Lord, I pray that as we spend 00:52 this time together, you will help us 00:56 to learn something that will assist us in 01:00 becoming truly more Christ like Christians 01:04 we pray, in Jesus name. Amen. 01:09 Our focus today will be on Gethsemane, 01:13 the Garden of Gethsemane. Let's leave 01:17 our Bibles open, to Mark and the 01:20 14th chapter. I'll be using the New 01:23 International Version. Do you ever stop 01:25 to think that the two biggest battles 01:28 of history were fought in gardens. 01:31 The Garden of Eden, where Adam lost 01:34 eternal life and the Garden of Gethsemane, 01:37 where Jesus won it back. We could never 01:41 emphasis Calvary too much, but I think we 01:46 do emphasis Gethsemane too little. 01:50 Salvation was not settled at Calvary, 01:53 but Gethsemane. It was implemented at 01:56 Calvary, but the battle was fought and 01:58 the victory was gained in Gethsemane. 02:02 Now, actually all of us face Gethsemanes 02:08 all our lives. And Gethsemane is when 02:11 like Jesus, we have to do what we don't 02:14 want to do. Occasionally, we 02:18 face big Gethsemanes maybe a sever 02:21 illness or a death, our own or a 02:25 loved one, rejection by a loved one 02:28 or someone you don't want to forgive 02:30 when you know you ought to, 02:32 you know you're supposed to, be 02:33 a Christian you must. Gethsemane 02:37 as when we don't want to do what 02:40 we have to do, now there are also 02:46 continuously little Gethsemanes, maybe 02:49 they don't hardly deserve the term, but 02:52 when we're young doing homework, 02:54 that's our little Gethsemane or as 02:57 we get older going to work in the morning, 02:58 that's the Gethsemane, or having to feed 03:00 the baby in the middle of the night or cook 03:02 another meal. My wonderful wife goes 03:07 through a little Gethsemane every time 03:09 she has to do the ironing, she hates it 03:12 but she feels she has to do it. 03:14 Gethsemane is something that you have 03:18 to do, that you don't really want to 03:21 do. Now, what do we do when we have 03:25 to do what we don't want to do? 03:28 Oh! As Christians of course we want to 03:31 do what Jesus did. Our lesson today, 03:34 Jesus succeeded in His Gethsemane 03:37 and you can succeed in yours. In Gethsemane, 03:41 Jesus faced what you maybe facing, 03:46 who knows how often, but the same stresses 03:51 that come to us came to Jesus. 03:56 Maybe you had a hard week, too much 04:00 to do, too little time, and you come 04:03 today all stressed out, listen Jesus has 04:08 been there and done that, Mark the 04:10 14th chapter, notice verses 32 and 33. 04:15 They went to the place called Gethsemane, 04:18 and Jesus said to his disciples, 04:20 "Sit here while I pray." He took Peter, 04:24 James and John along with Him, and He 04:26 began to be deeply distressed and 04:30 troubled. There is our word, deeply 04:32 distressed and troubled. Jesus had 04:37 had a hard week, no wonder He was 04:39 distressed. He had led a prayed back 04:41 on Sunday, He had driven the money 04:43 changers out of the temple, He had 04:45 been teaching his followers all week long. 04:47 He debating His detractors. 04:50 He just come from a huge personnel 04:53 problem in the upper room, especially 04:54 with Peter and with Judas, and tonight 04:57 he was going to be betrayed by a former 05:00 friend. This night he would be whipped, 05:03 tomorrow he would die. And Jesus knew 05:07 what stress was. William Barkley 05:10 estimates that 250,000 lambs were slain at 05:14 every Passover time. this was Passover time, 05:17 and as Jesus walked across Brook Kidron, 05:21 in order to get into the Garden of Gethsemane. 05:23 He crossed the Brook which was actually 05:26 the temples of drainage ditch, and as 05:30 he stepped across this blood tainted, 05:34 polluted brook, he must have been reminded 05:37 of the sacrifice of his own blood and how 05:41 imminent that sacrifice was. Now, you maybe 05:46 facing not only the Gethsemane of stress, 05:49 not only as Jesus been there done that, 05:51 but how about the Gethsemane of 05:52 discouragement? Depression? There is some 05:56 problem that's burdening you too much, 05:59 listen Jesus has been there, done that. 06:03 He has also experienced the same kind of 06:07 Gethsemanes as you do, notice in verse 36 06:11 of Mark and the 14th chapter, verse 36 says, 06:17 Abba Father, Jesus speaking, every thing is 06:21 possible for you, take this cup from me. 06:25 Take this cup from me. What was so terrible 06:30 about the cup, what was it that was 06:32 in the cup, in the cup were your sins, 06:36 and he hated them, because they hurt you, 06:40 but he couldn't confess them. His situation 06:43 was totally different from what ours ever is, 06:46 he couldn't confess because they were not 06:49 his sins. He could not confess your sins, 06:51 he could die for them. 06:55 He suffered separation from the Father, God 06:59 and sin cannot co-exist. I don't know 07:03 where you stand today but please if you're 07:05 separated from the Father don't take 07:07 it lightly, it nearly killed Jesus. 07:11 And so if you are facing the Gethsemane 07:14 of discouragement, remember Jesus has 07:16 been there and done that. You may be 07:19 facing the Gethsemane of neglect. 07:23 The most painful disease in the world 07:26 is not cancer or Aids, but his feeling is 07:29 uncared for, unwanted, deserted, alone. 07:36 Ah! Jesus has been there and done that. 07:40 Let's pick it up with verse 37, Then He 07:45 returned to his disciples and found 07:47 them sleeping. "Simon," he said to Peter, 07:49 "Are you asleep? Could you not keep 07:51 watch for one hour? Watch and pray so 07:55 that you will not fall in to temptation, 07:58 the spirit is willing but the body is weak." 08:01 Once more He went away and prayed 08:03 the same thing when he came back 08:05 he again found them sleeping because 08:06 their eyes were heavy. They did not know 08:09 what to say to him? Retuning the third time, 08:12 he said to them, "Are you still sleeping and 08:15 resting? Enough! The hour has come. 08:18 Look, the Son of Man is betrayed into 08:21 the hands of sinners." Jesus craved 08:27 companionship. He needed support, three 08:31 times He sought, three times it was neglect 08:36 that He received in return. How often 08:40 He comforted His disciples, yet they 08:42 totally failed to comfort Him. Those of 08:45 you who are aging parents may understand 08:47 the feelings of Jesus at this moment. 08:50 How often you have comforted your child, 08:54 but sometimes perhaps your children neglect 08:58 to comfort you. And so you maybe 09:01 facing the Gethsemane of neglect, you maybe 09:04 facing the Gethsemaneof failure. 09:08 My worst failure was setting my parents 09:11 house on fire? My older brother and I were 09:14 working in a box factory and the folks 09:16 went on a trip, and we couldn't go and so 09:19 we got up in the morning we're going to 09:21 have a good hot breakfast and we put 09:23 the paper in the stove and the kindling 09:25 in the stove, and it didn't start and 09:27 we put more paper in the stove and more 09:29 kindling in the stove, and it still wouldn't 09:31 started and finally we gave up, 09:33 we had cold cereal and went off to work, 09:37 but an hour and half later the boss came, 09:43 rush home, your house is on fire, that 09:46 kitchen stove had finally ignited and the 09:49 stove pipe that went up through the kitchen 09:52 started the wall, and the wall paper on 09:55 fire and went up and started the attic 09:56 on fire, and the fire men were all there, 09:59 and they were cutting through the roof, 10:02 and pouring water in. Oh! What a mess, 10:04 and every thing finally got down to 10:07 the main floor, and they drilled holes 10:09 and as so that they can get down there, 10:12 and get the water out of the basement. 10:15 We had to tell dad and mother, 10:17 that we had set the house on fire. 10:20 Now, I submit to you that's failure. 10:23 And if you face failure, remember Jesus 10:29 has been there and done that too Mark verses 10:33 43 to 47, notice this cast of characters 10:38 Just as He was speaking, Judas, one of 10:41 the twelve, appeared with Him was a crowd 10:44 armed with swords and clubs, sent from 10:46 the chief priests, teachers of the law, 10:48 the elders. Now the betrayer had arranged 10:51 a signal with them: "The one I kiss is 10:53 the man; arrest him and lead him away under 10:56 guard." Going at once to Jesus, 10:57 Judas said, "Rabbi." And kissed him. 11:00 The men seized Jesus and arrested Him. 11:03 Then one of those standing near drew 11:05 his sword and struck the servant of the 11:08 high priest, cutting off his ear. 11:12 What a cast of characters, there was 11:15 Judas who betrayed Him, there was 11:19 the crowd that rejected Him, that were 11:21 the priests and the teachers and the 11:23 elders who hated him, there was Peter, 11:25 perhaps the strongest leader in his 11:27 fledgling church still unconverted, 11:30 he saw misunderstood Christianity. 11:32 He resorted to violence in order 11:35 to perpetuate the kingdom of love. 11:40 So, whatever your Gethsemane, and we 11:44 all have big or little Gethsemanes all 11:47 of our lives, whatever the Gethsemane 11:49 you remember Jesus has been through it, 11:51 Jesus has been there and done that, 11:54 and Jesus success can be your success. 11:58 Let's look now for the secrets of 12:02 Jesus success, I want to suggest five 12:05 secrets of Jesus success, why did he 12:08 succeed in his Gethsemane? And if I do 12:11 as he did, how could I succeed in 12:13 my Gethseman? First of all, he succeeded 12:16 because of the power of love. John 13 says 12:20 that Jesus was about to show the full extent 12:23 of his love, at Cavalry they thought that 12:27 he saved others, he cannot save himself, 12:30 it was true he could not save both himself 12:33 and you and he chose you. 12:36 Gethsemane shows that he rather go 12:38 through hell for you then go to heaven 12:41 without you. Jesus would rather have gone 12:44 through hell for you then go to heaven 12:48 without you. The power of love motivated 12:52 Jesus to succeed in his Gethsemane, 12:55 and the power of love will motivate you 12:57 to do a lot of things for your spouse, 13:00 for your child, for your world that you 13:02 would never otherwise accomplish. And so 13:06 first of all, it was the power of love 13:09 that caused Jesus to succeed and secondly, 13:12 His previous intimacy with His Father. 13:17 Notice verse 36 again. "Abba, Father," 13:21 he said, "Everything is possible for you. 13:23 Take his cup from me. Yet not what 13:25 I will, but what you will. Abba Father." 13:30 Abba it was an Aramaic term, 13:33 it was a small child who totally trusted his 13:37 father would call his papa or his daddy. 13:41 Here's a little boy, and see he's standing 13:46 5 feet up above his father and his father 13:50 says, jump and the little boy is afraid, 13:55 father says, trust me, jump, the little boy 14:02 is not certain, then little fellow gets 14:07 to thinking, lots of times when I was 14:11 just on a chair, I jumped, dad always 14:15 caught me, and the other day I was 3 feet 14:18 high and I jumped, and dad caught me. 14:23 And so, the previous trust he had managed 14:31 with his father made it possible for him to 14:34 jump and leap into the arms of his daddy. 14:38 Jesus had a previous arrangement with the 14:41 father. He had learned to trust Him, 14:44 don't wait until you get to a good, good, 14:47 big Gethsemane before you establish a 14:50 trusting relationship with the Father, 14:51 do it today before a great Gethsemane comes. 14:56 The time to establish this trusting relationship 15:00 is now not sometime in the future, 15:04 not after the Gethsemane comes, 15:07 and so His previous intimacy with the 15:10 Father helped Jesus through His Gethsemane. 15:14 And third, He persistently prayed. 15:19 W. A. Criswell tells a story of a hopeful 15:22 evangelist that came to him and he told the 15:25 older man, I think I've been called to evangelism, 15:29 and so Criswell said, well, lets pray about it, 15:32 and so they knelt to pray. After Criswell 15:35 had prayed, he opened his eyes and he 15:38 looked down, and there was this young 15:41 evangelist totally prone on the floor with his 15:43 face in the carpet, and Criswell knew that 15:49 God was going to use Billy Graham in a very 15:52 special way. Notice verse 35, Going a little 15:58 further he fell to the ground, and prayed that 16:01 if possible the hour might pass from him, 16:08 and notice verse 39, once more he went away 16:13 and prayed the same thing, and verse 41 16:19 notice, Returning the third time, 16:21 he said to them, "Are you still sleeping and 16:22 resting? Enough! The hour has come. 16:24 Look, the Son of Man is betrayed 16:26 into the hands of the sinners." 16:29 Jesus not only prayed, he prayed persistently. 16:36 You have trouble with your spouse? 16:39 Pray, problems with the kids? 16:42 Pray, worried over your finances? 16:45 Pray, concerned about your MRI results? 16:50 Pray, and so you pray and nothing happens, 16:53 then what do you do? You pray some more, 16:54 you see sometimes God has to wait until we 16:57 find out for ourselves, how serious we really 17:02 are? And so the third secret to Jesus 17:08 success was persistent prayer, and the fourth 17:13 was submissive prayer. Notice verse 36 again 17:18 "Abba, Father," he said, "Everything is 17:20 possible for you. Take this cup from me. 17:22 Yet not what I will, but what you will." 17:27 Not what I will but what you will, 17:31 the battle of Gethsemane 17:34 was the battle of the wills. 17:38 Before when Jesus had asked for something, 17:43 the father had invariably said yes, 17:46 this is the only time recorded in scripture 17:50 when Jesus asked for something and the 17:52 father said no, Jesus asked that the water 17:56 would be turned into wine, and the father 17:58 said yes. At the feeding of the 5000, 18:02 the father said yes, stilling of the storm, 18:07 father said yes, father isn't there some other 18:12 way to save them, and the father said no, 18:18 but remembering the yeses, Jesus was able 18:24 to trust the no. Never forget Jesus did not 18:30 pray until he got his own way, he prayed 18:34 until he could accept the father's way. 18:38 He trusted the father enough because the 18:40 past experiences to hang on when He didn't 18:43 get what his human nature wanted, 18:46 Jesus never got what He as a human wanted 18:50 but He did get what was best and thank God 18:52 that he did, if the father had said no what a 18:55 difference it would have made for our world, 18:57 for our universe, otherwise there would be 18:59 no future for us, so there would be no 19:01 Christianity, you and I would be not here 19:03 together. And one nice thing when he 19:09 submitted not my will but yours, 19:14 then there came affirmation, verse 41 19:18 again. Returning the third time, 19:19 he said to them, "Are you still sleeping and 19:21 resting? Enough! The hour has come. 19:24 Look, the Son of Man is betrayed 19:26 into the hands of sinners." 19:28 Jesus said it is enough, enough of the 19:33 disciples sleeping, enough of his questioning 19:40 the father, it was enough, and when he 19:45 settled it, then an angel came, 19:50 according to Luke the 22nd chapter, 19:53 not to excuse him, but to strengthen him. 19:59 And when you settle that you are going to go 20:04 God's way come what may, it my not take 20:08 away what you really wish would happen, 20:13 it will strengthen you to accept God's will. 20:18 And when the angel came peace came, 20:22 and Jesus set his face like a flint toward 20:27 Calvary. He submissively joined the Father 20:34 and sacrificed himself for our salvation. 20:42 Do you ever think about the Father's 20:43 Gethsemane? He probably suffered most 20:47 of all. Really who was it that delivered Jesus 20:52 to die? It was not Judas for money, 20:56 it was not Pilate for fear, it was not the 20:59 priest for envy, it was the Father for love. 21:05 "For God so loved the world, that he gave 21:10 His only begotten son." In 1937, 21:18 John Griffith was tender of a railroad bridge 21:24 across the Mississippi, one day he took his 21:28 eight year old son Greg to work with him to 21:30 see what Daddy did? The bridge was open and 21:36 they walked out on the cat walk some 200 21:41 feet and they, and they looked down at the 21:42 water, and they looked down at the ships going 21:44 to and fro, they actually sat there and they 21:48 ate their lunch, and then off in the distance 21:54 Griffith heard the shrieking of a train, 22:00 the Memphis Express was coming, 22:02 he had been enjoying himself so much with 22:04 his son, he had forgotten about the time, 22:08 there was time to close the bridge, 22:11 but he would have to rush, he told his son 22:13 you stay where you are, he dashed back 22:17 for the control booth, and just as he was about 22:21 to push the lever and close the bridge, 22:25 he looked back and his son had tried to follow 22:27 him and fallen into the gears, the massive gears 22:32 of that bridge. Four hundred people were 22:37 depending upon him, four hundred lives were at 22:41 stake, but this was his son, what to do? 22:46 Clenched his teeth, he pushed the lever, 22:51 he sacrificed his son to save others, 22:55 it's a heart wrenching story of a father's 22:59 Gethsemane, but does it help you understand 23:03 what the father went through with the son in 23:07 Gethsemane, "For God so loved the world, 23:11 that he gave his only begotten son, 23:14 that whosoever believeth in him should 23:18 not perish, but have everlasting life." 23:26 And so Jesus submissively joined the Father 23:31 and sacrificing himself for our salvation. 23:35 One more lesson we need to learn, 23:38 is that how Jesus succeeded in his 23:41 Gethsemane, and that is simply that he 23:44 refused to remain there. Again notice verse 42 23:51 this time. Rise! Let us go! Here comes my 23:57 betrayer! Rise, let us go. Everybody has to go 24:04 through their Gethsemane, but nobody 24:07 has to live there, Jesus said "Rise and Let us 24:12 go." Gethsemane is not a place where we 24:15 settle down and retreat from life, 24:18 Gethsemane should be a place that strengthens 24:21 us to confront life. And I don't know what 24:26 Gethsemane you maybe facing today, 24:31 but don't use Gethsemane as an excuse 24:34 for doing nothing, Gethsemane should be like 24:38 Jesus, a place where we receive the strength 24:41 to confront life. Whatever Gethsemane 24:44 you face today, remember Jesus has been 24:47 there, he's done that, you are not alone in 24:51 this you know, he's gone before us, 24:54 and if we follow his example, just his five 24:57 secrets, we too will succeed just as he 25:00 succeeded. That was the power of love. 25:05 Jesus would rather go through hell for you, 25:07 then to go to heaven without you, 25:10 and the power of love will help you succeed 25:13 in your Gethsemane. There was an intimacy 25:16 with the Father. Jesus didn't wait until the 25:18 emergency came, he learned to trust his 25:21 Father before Gethsemane. And there 25:24 was the persistent prayer, too many times 25:28 we pray, and we don't get our way right 25:30 away then we lose confidence in prayer, 25:34 confidence in God or confidence in ourselves, 25:36 Jesus prayed persistently. There was 25:39 the submissive prayer, not my will but yours, 25:45 and we end our prayers that way but too 25:47 many times I'm not sure how deep it goes 25:51 with us. Am I really willing to trust the 25:53 Father, even though God asks me to do 25:57 something I really don't want to do. 26:00 And lastly, Jesus refused to remain in 26:05 Gethsemane. We all may have to go through 26:08 our Gethsemanes but that's no place for you to 26:10 spend the rest of your lives, let me tell you 26:14 the rest of the John Griffith story, 26:17 the bridge closed the train, rumbled across 26:21 safely, as this poor father looked out through 26:27 the window of that control booth, 26:31 he looked through the windows of the 26:32 passing train and there he saw people 26:34 reading their paper and people talking, 26:37 and people who were sound asleep, 26:40 and that grieving father beat against the window 26:43 of the control room, what's wrong with you 26:45 people, I gave my son for you doesn't anybody 26:49 care. Today, your heavenly Father says, 26:56 I gave my son for you, it seems the world 26:58 doesn't much care. Do you care? 27:03 I ask you to join me in a love commitment 27:05 to the Father and Son, both gave everything 27:08 for us, let's give our all for them. 27:10 Loving Father, thank you for all you've done 27:14 for us, and I pray that whether it's a first 27:17 time or the ten thousandth time, 27:18 we will commit giving our all to you, 27:22 in Jesus name. Amen. 27:26 Thank you for the time we've been able to 27:29 spend together, as you go back to life, 27:33 I pray that somehow the message of 27:36 Gethsemane will go back with you. 27:40 May the example of Jesus lead you through 27:44 the Gethsemanes that you will face the rest 27:47 of your life, be they big Gethsemanes 27:49 or small, follow the example 27:51 of Jesus and you will succeed. |
Revised 2014-12-17