Pt2.doc 3/28/09
Scripture References
(Mtt 26:36-46, Mk 14:32-42, Lk 22:39-46)
Series Introduction
Last week- started a new series- Footprints.
Want to follow the footprints of Jesus in the last days leading up to His crucifixion, death, resurrection.
Series- based on- poem written by Mary Stevenson …
Footprints in the Sand (read)
Jesus was on a journey to Jerusalem and the cross.
As he journeyed- left footprints in-in the sands of time
Footprints that …
left an impression on-eternal conscience of man
tell us about what kind of man Jesus was,
also speak to what kind men we should be.
What type of prints are we leaving in- sands of time?
foot prints, face prints, or butt prints?
As we walk in obedience to God, we leave clear footprints for others to see and even follow.
There are times we will stumble/fall- leave our face print in the sand, but Jesus is ready to pick us up.
At other times, as we struggle against the purposes of God, we leave butt prints as He drags us along.
Butt prints in the Sand (read)
Our Journey Continues
We started journey-Jesus entering- Upper Room.
He washed their feet/they ate- Passover meal together.
In that Upper Room He revealed to them the deeper meaning of Passover and instituted- Lord’s Supper
Today- continue- journey- as Jesus leaves the upper.
Drinking My Cup!
Mtt 26:36
Jesus/disciples- leave Jerusalem- enter into a garden called- Gethsemane or Mount of Olives.
It was in a garden that …
the first man, Adam, fell by yielding to the temptations of Satan and disobeying God,
now in another garden Jesus will overcome and defeat Satan by His obedience God.
A clear picture of what is required of us to live successful lives- Your will God, not my will.
Mtt 26:37
This is the third time Jesus takes Peter, James, John with Him apart from the other disciples …
Mount of Transfiguration- Mtt 17:1
Home of Jairus- Lk 8:49
Why? Perhaps …
to be a support and encouragement
to learn from what they would observe
to have men of faith w/Him-
unbelief hinders the work of God.
As we saw last week- when Judas got up and left the dinner table, Jesus leaned into the disciples and
shared truth w/them He had not shared w/them while the man of unbelief was in the room.
Faith opens the door to the incredible mysteries and adventures of heaven- become a people of faith.
Mtt 26:38-39
Why was Jesus deeply grieved?
Was it a fear of the beating He was to receive/death?
Jesus was both man and God.
His flesh wrestled w/same weaknesses we do.
Heb 4:15 For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. NASU
However, it was not fear that Jesus agonized over.
Jesus understood He was about to drink the cup the Father had prepared for Him- embrace God’s will.
Jn 18:11 So Jesus said to Peter, "Put the sword into the sheath; the cup which the Father has given Me, shall I not drink it?" NASU
Jesus was not resisting God’s will.
He was bringing His flesh into subjection to God’s will.
We see here a picture of both Jesus humanity/deity-
as Man, He felt the awful burden of sin
as the Son of God, He knew this was His mission to save the world.
God gave us four principles to live by in 2009 …
1. Live your life with purpose
2. God’s Word is true today
3. Expect Increase
4. Advance in Adversity
The first is to live our live with purpose.
To understand that God created you to be significant.
To live our lives w/sense of the eternal purposes to which God has called us- to drink God’s cup for us
That is what enabled Jesus to face the cross.
What Jesus was it that deeply grieved Jesus …
1. He engaged the powers of darkness
Jn 14:30 "I will not speak much more with you, for the ruler of the world is coming, and he has nothing in Me; NASU
As the enemy tempted Jesus in the wilderness, he attacks him again with an even greater fierceness.
As in the first attack, he finds nothing in Jesus that he can take a hold of to work for His purposes.
When- enemy attacks us- will he find something in our lives- he can take a hold of to bring us down?
2. He carried the sin of mankind
He was about to take on Himself- sins of all mankind.
Many godly people have been arrested, beaten, tortured, and killed because of their faith.
But only Jesus experienced the weight of the sin and the curse that was on mankind.
2 Cor 5:21 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. NASU
God the Father has never forsaken one of His own, but He turned away from His Son on the cross …
Mtt 27:46 … "MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?"
Do we understand- weight of the sin that was on Him?
Isa 53:3-6
To us, the sense of sin is as natural as wearing clothes.
In many cases we treat it as trivial as we play with it.
However, to- Holy Son of God, it was a heavy burden.
From His vantage point, He saw …
the Holiness of God and
helpless of man caught in sin.
As we should be sorrowful for our sins, so he was grieved for the sins of all mankind.
This is a place where He had to go alone …
the disciples could not go with Him.
it was a lonely place.
There are things that we go through in our lives that we must face alone.
Others can stand with us, pray for us, encourage us, but they cannot enter into our room of suffering.
Jesus was resolved to do the will of the Father.
In our room of suffering we must also be resolved to stand strong and do the will of our Father.
In the wilderness when Jesus was tempted by the devil He stood on the Word of God.
Here He stands on-revealed will of- Father for His life
If you/I are going to stand, we must have that type of relationship w/God where we know Him/His will.
Our ability- resist evil- proportional to our willingness to resign our will to God’s will for our lives.
Lord, not as I will, but as you will,
We do not realize- how much hangs- balance when we wrestle w/whether we will/will not- obey God.
"My will, not yours, be done," turned Paradise into a desert. "Your will, not mine be done," turned the desert into Paradise, and made Gethsemane the gate of heaven. (E. de Pressense)
Preparation, Protection, and Prayer
Mtt 26:40-41
One reason Jesus took Peter, James, John, w/Him was to keep watch with Him and pray with Him.
Watch- to keep awake, to gather one’s faculties or senses, to be alert to the situation around them.
Peter/disciples- had promised Jesus that they would be faithful to death, and yet they fell asleep!
Peter-assured Jesus he would never leave/forsake Him
If he could not watch/pray- one hour- there was little chance he would be able to stand when trials came.
This is a picture of the carelessness of men when it comes to the purposes of God.
If we cannot endure a little fatigue when there is no suffering, what will happen when real trials come?
This is-season-watch/prepare for approaching dangers
If we do not watch, we will be caught by surprise.
If- do not pray, we will not have the divine resources we need to stand when troubles come.
Spiritually we fight with watchfulness and prayer.
To be watchful- live our life as if we are standing on a precipice- need to be constantly alert lest we fall.
In prayer we engage God and His strength as our ally.
It takes the cries of our heart to God and brings down the provision of heaven.
Prayer is a messenger between earth and heaven.
It keeps- way open for provision to come from heaven
Prayer helps to break the force of present temptation.
When we pray, we need to have the expectation that the Lord hears and answers our prayers.
When you write a letter to someone, you look expectantly for a response- as we should w/prayer.
In ancient days- when- boat- in danger of sinking, sailors put notes in bottles, throw them overboard,
and hope someone would someday read them.
Prayer is not a chance happening, you are talking to the living God who allowed His Son to die for you.
Mtt 26:42-46
Because they had not been watchful and prayed, they were totally overcome by what happened next.
They all ran in fear and deserted Jesus.
Conclusion
No doubt- we are drawing closer to- end of the age.
As we look at what is happening in the world/ Israel, things appear to be moving faster than ever before.
Regardless of your end-time theology- there may difficult days ahead that we must face.
Four suggestions …
1. Drink the Lord’s cup
Embrace the purposes of God for your life.
Live your life with a sense of God’s eternal purpose.
There is more to life than- personal comfort/pleasure.
Resolve in your heart- not my will, but God’s will.
2. Be Watchful
Avoid the spiritual slumber that much of the church in the US has embraced.
Do not stick your head in the ground like an Ostrich.
Through the reading of scripture and prayer, understand the days in which you live.
Like the sons of Issachar, you will know what to do when the times of testing come.
3. Pray
Pray with expectation in your heart.
Embrace the resources of heaven that God has made available to you.
You can be watchful, but without prayer, you will not have the divine strength you will need.
4. Do not run from suffering
It is through difficulties that God molds and shapes us
Even Jesus learned obedience from the things that He suffered.
The cross was not just for Jesus- we must take up our cross on a daily basis.
Footprints in the Sand
(Mary Stevenson, 1936)
One night I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord.
Many scenes from my life flashed across the sky.
In each scene I noticed footprints in the sand.
Sometimes there were two sets of footprints,
other times there were one set of footprints.
This bothered me because I noticed
that during the low periods of my life,
when I was suffering from
anguish, sorrow or defeat,
I could see only one set of footprints.
So I said to the Lord,
"You promised me Lord,
that if I followed you,
you would walk with me always.
But I have noticed that during
the most trying periods of my life
there have only been one
set of footprints in the sand.
Why, when I needed you most,
you have not been there for me?"
The Lord replied,
"The times when you have
seen only one set of footprints in the sand,
is when I carried you."
Butt Prints in the Sand
Author Unknown
One night I had a wondrous dream,
One set of footprints there was seen,
The footprints of my precious Lord,
But mine were not along the shore.
But then some stranger prints appeared...
And I asked the Lord, "What have we have here.
Those prints are large and round and neat.
But Lord, they are too big for feet."
"My child," He said in somber tones,
"For miles I carried you alone.
I challenged you to walk in faith,
But you refused and made me wait."
"You disobeyed, you would not grow,
The walk of faith you would not know...
So I got tired, I got fed up,
And there I dropped you on your butt."
"Because in life there comes a time
When one must fight, and one must climb,
When one must rise and take a stand,
Or leave their butt prints in the sand."
Footprints Pt 3
Tree of Death
April 5, 2009
Suffering/Passover Lamb/Good Friday/Cross (Jn 19)
Phil 2- trial/beating, tortured, silent
Jn 19:16-30
Mtt 27:27-54
Mk 15:16-39
Lk 23:33-48
Tree of Death
Jn 19:16-27
Mtt 27:27-44
Mk 15:16-32
Forgiven
Lk 23:33-43
Photo Finish
Jn 19:28-30
Mtt 27:45-54
Mk 15:33-39
Lk 23:44-48
Footprints Pt 4
Cold Case
April 12, 2009
Resurrection (Jn 20)
He is finished, He has done everything necessary.
Jn 20:1-31
Mtt 28:1-10, 16-20
Mk 16:1-20
Lk 24:1-49
Missing Body
Jn 20:1-9
Mtt 28:1-10
Mk 16:1-11
Lk 24:1-12
Divine Encounter
Jn 20:10-18
Dead Among the Living
Jn 20:19-29
Mk 16:12-14
Lk 24:13-44
Why this Gospel?
Jn 20:30-31
In His Footsteps
Mtt 28:16-20
Mk 16:15-20
Lk 24:45-49
Other thoughts
What was Jesus looking for from His disciples?
Last Supper- servant hood, I have served you
Garden- passionate intercession
