Mark 14:32-42 - Let this Cup Pass from Me

[0:00] Good morning, everyone. And yeah, thank you. As obviously Norman said, Simon's away, so we are picking up where we left off last in Mark.

[0:13] ! And the last time we were in Mark, actually, Joe Conley took us through. Yeah. Loving it. Yeah, so Joe took us through the last passage. So our passage this morning is actually Mark 14, verses 32 to 42.

[0:33] So we've got 10 verses, and it's the passage in Gethsemane. So the first thing, I was speaking to Bill, and it's always great when the first thing someone says to you is, you've got an impossible task, mate. Always fills you with confidence. So thanks, Bill. But he's right.

[0:58] It is such a heavy piece of text. And actually, I've been mulling over it for a few weeks now. And you can't come away but think you can keep plumbing the depths of this passage and still never reach the bottom.

[1:17] I just want to thank Phyllis for ruining my sermon introduction because you'll see in a minute. But I was praying, actually, that you would be here this morning.

[1:30] And, you know, I just saw a taxi pull up and Phyllis hopped out. So, you know, you'll see why she ruined the introduction of my prayer, of my introduction of this sermon. But thank you for being here. So, yes, let's read the text.

[1:45] I'll pray and then we'll just go through it verse by verse. OK. So verse 32. And they went to a place called Gethsemane. And he said to his disciples, sit here while I pray.

[2:00] And he took with him Peter and James and John and began to be greatly distressed and troubled. And he said to them, my soul is very sorrowful, even to death.

[2:13] Remain here and watch. And going a little farther, he fell on the ground and prayed if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. And he said.

[2:27] Abba, father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will. And he came and found them sleeping.

[2:40] And he said to Peter, Simon, are you asleep? Could you not watch one hour? Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation.

[2:52] The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. And again, he went away and prayed, saying the same words. And again, he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were very heavy, and they did not know what to answer him.

[3:07] And he came the third time and said to them, are you still sleeping and taking your rest? It is enough. The hour has come. The son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.

[3:20] Rise. Let us be going. See my betrayers at hand. Lord God, we come before you this morning. Thank you, Lord, for what this text tells us, Father.

[3:34] What this tells us of you, of your heart, of the Savior, Lord Jesus Christ, for coming to take our place, Lord. So that we may have your righteousness. Lord, as we are gathered here this morning, we know, Father, we are inadequate.

[3:50] We know we're not sufficient for these things. But, Lord, you make us sufficient. You, by your grace, you allow us to be able to read the text, to be able to understand the text by your Holy Spirit, Father.

[4:03] We pray you open our eyes, open our ears, that we would hear what you have to say to us this morning. Transform us, Lord, Father, through this text. Help us, Lord, we ask in Jesus' name.

[4:17] Amen. Amen. So, when was the last time, I wonder, that you prayed out of sheer desperation? When was the last time you prayed like your very life depended upon it?

[4:35] When were you last on your knees and pleading with God as Jacob wrestling, saying, I will not let you go until you bless me. I will not stop until I have confirmation of your answer.

[4:50] Because here's the thing. We hear often, prayer changes things. We hear often, God answers our prayers. But what about when it seems like your prayers go unanswered?

[5:05] When things don't seem to change? When pleading is met with the echo of silence and nothing seems to happen? When night's dark shadow fails to retreat?

[5:19] When there is no glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel, just the horizon of perpetual darkness? No matter how dark or how silent, how hopeless your situation is, know this, Jesus knows.

[5:36] Know this, Jesus knows what it feels like to have the pangs of anxiety. He knows how it feels to be breathless in dread. He knows the loneliness in suffering, the palpitations of fear and the frailty of our flesh.

[5:54] We often quote this verse at Christmas, you know, Matthew 1, verse 23. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they will call him Emmanuel, which means God with us.

[6:07] Yes, the living God, as John 1 tells us, became flesh and dwelt among us. But we often forget in dwelling with us, he not only enrobed flesh, but he took upon himself the fullness of what it means to be human.

[6:26] Our experiences and more. So that he was truly with us. Verse 32 tells us, they went to a place called Gethsemane.

[6:41] And he said to his disciples, sit here while I pray. Now, Mark has already alluded to the fact that Jesus and his disciples were on the Mount of Olives. If you recall, it is there he made the prediction that they would all fall away this very night.

[6:56] And it was there, if you remember, as Joe was preaching, how emphatically Peter was to deny Jesus's claim that he would deny him. Remember, he said, even if they all fall away.

[7:09] If I must die with you, I will not deny you. So we find ourselves this morning in our text that they go to this place called Gethsemane.

[7:21] Now, John, in chapter 18, verses 1 to 2, informs us that this was a garden across the brook Kidron. I had to kind of find the definition of brook because we don't really use that, do we?

[7:40] It's a small stream. At least I don't. But yeah, it's a small stream. And this is where Jesus often met with his disciples. Luke chapter 22, verse 39 tells us it was Jesus's custom to go to this place.

[7:55] Now, the term Gethsemane literally just means oil press. And although it's stated as a garden, it would be better to think of this place more like an orchard.

[8:10] It would have been covered in olive trees. And being an oil press, this would have had a millstone for crushing the olives to extract the oil. Now, I've actually been to Gethsemane, or at least I think I have, because the actual location is actually debatable.

[8:29] Because as with all things in Israel, you know, the sentimentalism seems to have the authority and there's a church at every single place. Right. So I've got a picture up of there.

[8:43] There I am. And so I'm stood facing the Mount of Olives. And that church there is where the location said to be of Gethsemane is.

[8:54] And there's some olive groves actually to the left of that church. Did I put that picture up? Well, maybe not. But what would have been in that olive grove would have been a millstone for crushing the olives.

[9:10] And there's another picture of what that would look like. This is a small one, as you can see the olives there. But there's another one with a much larger one. Now, this might have been something that would have been there at Jesus's time.

[9:27] And depending on the size, sometimes it would require a donkey to pull this thing. So as I was reading, and as John says, you know, it was a garden.

[9:41] You can't help but be reminded of another garden in the Bible. As our scene is set, it should ring a familiar note. There was another garden that the Lord himself loved to also frequent in the cool of day.

[9:56] Genesis speaks of another garden where God would meet with man. And it was in this garden where man would also face temptation but fail.

[10:10] The Bible calls Jesus the second Adam. Whilst in the first garden, we see the first Adam, willful disobedience of God. Whilst in Jesus and in our garden, we see the second Adam, willful obedience to God's will.

[10:28] Whilst the first garden was a paradise in which the first Adam basked in effervescent light. In the second garden, except for the olive groves, this was a desolate place, clouded by darkness.

[10:42] Different conditions, the same question. To obey or not to obey? Man's will or God's will? That was the pressing question.

[10:59] And he took with him Peter and James and John and began to be greatly distressed and troubled. And he said to them, my soul is very sorrowful, even to death. Remain here and watch.

[11:09] Having come to the place, Jesus splits his disciples, eight and three. He leaves the majority, instructing them to sit and pray, whilst he takes those three close friends, Peter, James and John, further into the darkness with him.

[11:27] Now, I wonder what would have been going on through the mind of the remaining eight. Again? Again, Jesus, you're going to take those three?

[11:38] You know, just as those same three, Peter, James and John, were taken by Jesus up the Mount of Transfiguration to witness Jesus' glory. Here, Jesus takes them again, but this time into a deeper intimate scene to witness his sorrow.

[11:55] The words here translated as greatly distressed and troubled are exactly that. Greatly distressed and troubled. They echo a state of anxiety.

[12:08] He who told his disciples a mere few hours ago in John 14, verse 1, not to be troubled, was evidently here shaken. Visibly not his usual self.

[12:21] But instead, in a heightened panic, the walls are closing in. This was the moment his whole earthly life had been leading up to. The long, dark night of the soul.

[12:36] He instructs Peter, James and John to remain and watch. Be awake. Be on the alert. Be vigilant. The hour was nigh. And indeed, the hour is nigh even for us.

[12:51] John tells us that it is the last hour in 1 John, chapter 2, verse 18. And that was 2,000 years ago almost. So it surely must be the last few minutes.

[13:03] I wonder if Peter, right in 1 Peter, chapter 5, verse 8, was reminded of this specific night as he wrote, Be sober-minded. Be watchful.

[13:15] Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. Or again, in chapter 4, verse 7 of 1 Peter, The end of all things is at hand.

[13:27] Therefore, be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers. Jesus himself told the disciples that in their watching they were to pray.

[13:40] And notice, not for him, but for themselves, that they may not enter into temptation. Matthew 6, verse 13, Jesus teaching his disciples how to pray, said they were to ask to be led, not into temptation, but delivered from evil.

[14:04] Why is this crucial? When Peter came to know, we have a very real enemy that is eager to devour.

[14:14] He had asked to sift Peter, if you remember. Are we any different to these disciples trying to follow Jesus? We desperately need prayer.

[14:28] Praise be to God for 1 Corinthians 10, 13. No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability.

[14:42] But with the temptation, he will also provide the way of escape that you may be able to endure it. I am convinced that the way out of every temptation, as there in that verse it speaks of, comes through and only through prayer.

[14:57] How we endure and have the victory. We can't do it. And we shall see later on why. We need God, and we need prayer.

[15:07] I've been listening to Tim Keller's book on prayer, experiencing awe and intimacy with God. He writes this, Prayer is the only entryway into genuine self-knowledge.

[15:22] It is also the main way we experience deep change, the reordering of our lives. It is the way we know God, the way we finally treat God as God.

[15:36] Prayer is simply the key to everything we need to do and be in life. I really took away that simple sentence.

[15:48] It is the way we finally treat God as God. In our temptations and trials, prayer is the place of refuge and security.

[16:00] It is the place we know our lives are ultimately not in our hands, but rather in his. In the God who can do all things.

[16:12] The one who works in us to will and to act. And going a little further, he fell on the ground and prayed that if it were possible, the hour might pass from him.

[16:26] And he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet, not what I will, but what you will. The one who once walked in water now buckles under the weight of what's to come.

[16:43] And falls to the ground. As we witness the beginning of the crushing of Jesus. Just as the olives themselves would be crushed in that oil press.

[16:56] Jesus too here was to endure a crushing in fulfillment of Isaiah 53 verse 10. It was the will of the Lord to crush him.

[17:08] He has put him to grief. As I was studying this, it was interesting to see the way in which olives were actually pressed to extract the oil.

[17:20] There's a consensus that this was a multi-stage, arduous process. And each step actually served a different process, a different purpose.

[17:32] So they were pressed three times. The first was this gentle pressing of the olives, which actually yielded the purest and the highest quality of oil.

[17:45] Think of it as your waitress extra virgin oil, right? This would be used for religious ceremonies. Think of the anointing oil, the temple lamps, or what the elite would actually consume.

[18:00] And the second pressing was used with a slightly, a bit more pressure. And the oil extracted the second time would be used for food, cosmetics, and medicine.

[18:14] Apparently as a mild laxative or a remedy for gastric disorders. The third and last pressing was even more forceful.

[18:26] And this would extract the last remnants. And this was used for lamps or soap or industrial use. You're welcome. Just as the olives would be crushed thrice, three times Jesus experiences the tremors of anxiety.

[18:47] But note, three times he comes to pray. The first time then, he prays, if possible, for change in circumstances.

[18:59] Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me, yet not what I will, but what you will. He approaches God his Father, crying, Abba, Father.

[19:13] Father, which a lot of people say, well, it's like saying daddy. But it's not, because there's no equivalent in the English. But let's run with that. It's a term of endearment.

[19:25] And it's actually only present in the New Testament three times. The first time here in our text. And the second time is in Romans 8.15. And then also Galatians 4.6.

[19:39] And this is in reference to our adoption as children of God, because of what Jesus here accomplishes. Regardless, Jesus approaches God the Father in this childlike confidence.

[19:53] Note how he approaches the request. He knows to whom he prays. He approaches with the knowledge of his relationship with God as his Father.

[20:09] With full confidence that he is indeed the good Father, who he himself had spoken about in Matthew chapter 7, verses 9 to 11, about how he does not give his children snakes when they ask for fish, or stones when they ask for bread.

[20:30] And not only that, he approaches with the fact that he knows God is almighty and able to do anything.

[20:41] All things are possible for you. Which things? All things. What's all things? All things.

[20:54] Reminiscing of Genesis chapter 18, verse 14. God speaking to Abraham about Sarah having a child in her old age. Ask the rhetorical question, Is anything too hard for the Lord?

[21:09] I see your objections, Abraham. Yes, that is impossible for you. For you. But I literally spoke about light coming into existence and poof, there it was.

[21:24] God speaking to Abraham about the Lord. This is the same God whom Jeremiah exclaimed in chapter 32, verse 17. Our Lord God, it is you who made the heavens and the earth by your great and outstretched arm.

[21:39] Nothing is too hard for you. This is the same God who would later reply to Jeremiah, Behold, I am the Lord. God of all flesh.

[21:51] Is anything too hard for me? Chapter 32, verse 27. This God, Jesus approaches in full confidence and asks the question, Please change the circumstance I'm in.

[22:08] Take this cup from me. It's twofold, the prayer, but that's the first part. But how often have we prayed that prayer?

[22:21] That God would change our situation. If only you, God, would make me like this. Or take this thing away. Or do this.

[22:31] The Bible is literally filled with men and women pleading for God to change their circumstance. I'm reminded of Apostle Paul pleading with God that he might take that thorn in the flesh away three times.

[22:49] What does God reply? His grace is sufficient. Perhaps this is you this morning.

[22:59] Wondering why on earth, Lord, am I still in this situation? Please change it. Remember, Jesus, the Son of God, has come before you, pleading that the cup would be removed from him.

[23:18] Yet, remember this, how he prays, Yet, not what I will, but what you will. There is victory in our struggle.

[23:32] The victory is through surrendering our will. The victory is through submitting our plans, our agendas, and putting them on the altar, and then letting go.

[23:47] The victory is in the letting go of the illusion of control, and saying, God, you know best, not me. Chuck Smith said, As long as you're fighting the will of God for your life, you're destined for defeat.

[24:07] What is this cup? What's in the cup? What's in this cup that makes the Son of God shrink back in horror at the thought of drinking it?

[24:18] This is the cup of God's wrath that's against all wickedness, against all sin. Psalm 75, verse 8, illustrates that this is a cup of wrath.

[24:34] This cup is literally foaming with wine, well mixed by God himself, which the wicked of the earth shall drain down to the dregs. There is bitterness in this cup.

[24:47] This cup is God's judgment, his divine retribution. But why should he, Jesus, drink it? He who the Bible says was without sin, though he was tempted in every way.

[25:04] Hebrews 4, verse 15. 1 Peter, chapter 2, verse 22, says, He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth.

[25:18] Yet recall Isaiah 53, we read earlier. I read verse 10, but carry on. Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him.

[25:30] He has put him to grief. When his soul makes an offering of guilt, he shall see his offspring. He shall prolong his days. The will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.

[25:45] Out of the anguish of his soul, he shall see and be satisfied. By his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.

[26:03] And there in it is the mystery of the gospel. Remember Mark 10, as Jesus spoke of coming, not to be served, but to give his life as a ransom for many.

[26:18] Verse 45. The drinking of this cup would entail a crushing for the Lord so that his soul would be an offering for our guilt. Remember that scene, the scene we're in, that the Passover is the backdrop.

[26:34] Whilst the lambs were being slaughtered to cover sin, as if they could, the true lamb for sacrifice was being prepared in this garden. And not as the lamb only, if you recall, we were going through Leviticus last year.

[26:51] The idea of the scapegoat is here. The scapegoat where you would place your hand on this scapegoat, and it will be sent away.

[27:03] The hand placed on the scapegoat, saying, take my sin. The lamb for sacrifice.

[27:15] And this is the thought driven here for why Jesus was in great distress. It wasn't the fear of death.

[27:28] There has been many Christians who have come afterwards that have gladly gone to their deaths. Why would the author of life be struck by the thought of physical death as if that was the only thing that was troubling him?

[27:56] It's what's behind it. It is this bearing sin in our place. It was this, the fact that he would be treated as if he was the worst of sinners.

[28:13] The anger and hatred that God has towards sin, he alone would bear. He alone would bear that weight of sin. Interestingly, while Jesus wrestles with this thought, his disciples were sound asleep, failing to keep to the simplest instructions of staying awake, keeping watch, praying that they may not enter into temptation.

[28:45] Verse 37, he comes back and he finds them sleeping. And he said to Peter, Simon, are you asleep? Could you not watch one hour?

[28:59] Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. I can't help but think of how reflective this is of our Christian walk.

[29:14] God puts in the heavy work whilst we sleep. Psalm 121, verse 4, he who keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.

[29:26] calls us to pray. Pray. Pray often. Pray early. Pray late. But quite often, that 10-minute snooze is too tempting, right?

[29:44] We've all been the disciples in this situation. On a human level, we know what it is to be Peter, James and John and the other eight.

[29:57] We all know what it is to be disappointed and also to be the one doing the disappointing. Here we find our Saviour alone on the worst night of his life enduring hardship alone.

[30:14] He comes to Peter who just a few hours ago, if you remember, had just said that I'm willing to go to the death with you, Jesus. And here he is failing to keep awake for an hour.

[30:33] And I just love how Jesus confronts him with this question. Simon, are you asleep? As if he didn't know Simon was dozing off. Now, often we know the questions that God asks in the Bible are not because he doesn't know the answer.

[30:52] He knows. Yeah? Like, there in the garden, Adam and Eve are hiding and he says, where are you? It's not that he didn't know where they were. He's asking, do you know where you are?

[31:11] It's almost here asking, do you realize what you are doing? Do you realize the predicament you're in? Simon, do you realize the hour?

[31:23] Isn't it time to be taking a quick nap? I find it interesting that actually if you read Mark, so Peter's called Simon obviously, you know, up until chapter 3 and then he's not called Simon again until this passage.

[31:44] I find it interesting that the Lord who himself said to Simon, I'm going to change your name. It will now be called Cephas, John 1 verse 42, which means a rock.

[31:59] not saying there's anything wrong with the name Simon. There's a couple in our church, but interesting, it means one who hears or obeys actually, so it's quite interesting here because he's definitely not listening to what Jesus had been saying.

[32:20] However, in Peter's case, on this occasion, he's not acting as the new man that God has called him to be. He's acting more like his old self, and Jesus calls him Simon.

[32:35] Simon, you need to pray that you may not enter into temptation. Indeed, the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. It's almost an echo of what's going on in his own mind, right?

[32:52] Not my will, but your will be done. That's the spirit willing, but the flesh is weak. what's the answer? Pray.

[33:04] Pray. Verse 39. And again, he went away and prayed, saying the same words. Once more into the breach.

[33:18] Jesus, perhaps aware of his own will and spirit, but weak flesh, sets to do the exact same thing that he advised his disciples. now, Luke mentions that Jesus was in such agony, he prayed even more earnestly, and his sweat became like great drops of blood fall into the ground.

[33:41] Luke 22, verse 44. And there is, you know, believe it or not, there is a debate whether this is literally Jesus sweating blood, or was he just sweating profusely that it was like blood falling to the ground.

[33:55] now, I don't know about you, but I don't think it's too much of a stretch to think that it's literal. Luke being a medical doctor, he was probably knowledgeable enough to know this is a real condition.

[34:10] For those interested, I'm going to try to pronounce it, the condition is called hermitohydrosis, and it occurs in individuals suffering from extreme levels of stress, fear, or anxiety, and it is where the blood vessels around the sweat glands basically rupture, so it causes this spontaneous sweating of blood.

[34:38] Jesus, in his agony, prays the same prayer more earnestly as he feels that crushing weight, remove this cup from me, yet not what I will, but what you will.

[34:54] I'm putting that in because Mark doesn't directly quote that, but he said he prayed the same prayer. The question is asked again, and as before, it is bookended by the submission to the Father's will.

[35:09] And I think this speaks volumes about how one submits to God's will. And it is, it's never this sort of, we've all been there, we've gone to a conference, whatever, and you know, we've heard a sermon, it might be like this morning, where we come away and we're like, right, I'm ready, I'm ready, God, I'm submitting to your will.

[35:34] Great, for that moment, but what about Sunday afternoon? What about Sunday evening? And then Monday comes. I think there is a repeating prayer of submission that's illustrated here by Jesus.

[35:55] It is a continual process. It is not just, I did that thing once, it is continual submission. Matthew's account, he says the second time, there in chapter 26, he says, my father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.

[36:23] The second time is the acknowledgement as submission to God's wisdom. Again, he prays from that position of a relationship and I keep emphasizing that because it is only those in relationship with the father who can actually pray that prayer to submit.

[36:43] throughout Jesus' life, I don't think he had ever had a doubt of his position as God's son.

[36:55] He knew who he was and he knew his father, so he boldly approaches. John chapter 4 tells us Jesus himself spoke of his food being to do the will of him who sent him.

[37:11] verses 34 to 36. His delight was to do the father's will. He knew the will of God would be ultimately good, that the will of God would lead to the blessing of many, and it is why I think the Bible tells us that for the joy set before him, he endured the cross.

[37:31] Hebrews 12 2. Having resolved to do God's will, he comes back again and finds them, guess what, fast asleep.

[37:45] For their eyes were heavy and they did not know what to answer him. For their eyes were heavy, they were tired. Being caught in the act, they had no excuses, they could not answer him.

[38:01] And there is an excuse for disobedience. I don't care who you are, there is no excuse to God. However, there is a bit of grace because Luke's account tells us that they were asleep from sorrow.

[38:18] They were tired from their own heartbreak. They couldn't believe what was happening. And I think here we see such grace of Jesus with his disciples because he doesn't come at them and shout at them.

[38:36] He doesn't get angry and berate them like in a sort of angry father to children. The Bible says he knows our frailty, he knows our frame, he knows our weaknesses and I think he knew their weaknesses in this hour.

[38:59] So he goes away again to pray for the third time. And then Mark tells us he finds them again asleep. But by this third prayer session, Jesus had had the victory.

[39:14] He had endured the temptation of Gethsemane. He had endured the weight of temptation and rather than crumble, he rose victorious in choosing to obey God and proceed with a plan as opposed to his own will.

[39:32] The hour has come and the Son of Man is betrayed. And I found it interesting that the word betrayed literally is delivered and he's betrayed into the hands of sinners.

[39:47] So he's delivered into the hands of sinners. Who's he being delivered by? The Father delivers the Son. We cannot shy away from the fact that the Father didn't answer with, oh, there's another way, there's plan B over here.

[40:11] As we know, Jesus ends up drinking the cup fully. He died on the cross for our sake, taking our sin and giving us his righteousness. righteousness. This was the only way.

[40:24] How do I know it was the only way? Because it happened. Jesus' answer for that prayer was the fact he had to go through Gethsemane, then the trial, and then Golgotha.

[40:42] But I'm also, I was really thinking about this. I was super encouraged that God did answer this prayer. God's will was done.

[40:58] And here's the thing about prayer, because I can't fathom it. God, who's almighty, all-powerful, asks us to pray that his will would be done, so our prayers is the means for his will being done.

[41:15] I can't fathom that. Why does he invite us to take part in this process? It's not that he needs us, but this is the way, in his grace, he has mandated that things should be.

[41:34] So yes, our prayer does change things. It does. matter. They do matter. When we were going through Revelation and Simon brought out about the bowl of incense that ever before God, you know, the prayers of the martyrs, they're ever before God.

[41:59] Our prayers are ever before God, and he does something with it. but again back to our garden this was the only way and only Jesus and Jesus alone could fulfill the plan the plan for men and women to be restored to a right relationship with God so that he might once again walk in our midst and we in his so as we close I'm just going to read Romans 5 1 to 11 because I think why not but it does a far better job than I can so here we go therefore if you've been built if you've believed the message since we have been justified by faith we have a we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God not only that but we rejoice in our suffering knowing that suffering produces endurance and endurance produces character and character produces hope and hope does not put us to shame because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

[43:50] for while we were still weak at the right time Christ died for the ungodly for one was scarcely die for righteous person though perhaps for good person one would dare even to die but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.

[44:16] for now we are now being justified by his blood much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his son, much more now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life?

[44:41] More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. Shall we pray?

[44:57] Oh Lord God, we thank you so much for the words that we have read this morning, Lord. We thank you for just what it means for us here, Lord, that we can have justification, Lord, that we can have reconciliation, Lord.

[45:20] Lord, we know the text is heavy. We know there's just so much in there and we will never understand the depths that Jesus had to sink into and experience, Lord.

[45:33] We will never know that. And equally, Lord, we are like the disciples fast asleep. We, often, we thank you that you've done everything that is needed.

[45:47] You did it all, Lord. There is nothing that we need to contribute to this act of salvation, Lord. We just turn and say to you, God, I believe you.

[45:58] Help us, Lord, to repent of our unbelief. Help us to have complete confidence, Lord.

[46:13] In that Jesus took our sin, took our shame, took our guilt and bore it on the cross and there it was nailed.

[46:23] We don't have to bear it anymore. Thank you for the peace that comes from that, Lord. We thank you for your gospel.

[46:35] We thank you, Lord. And we pray that we would have this on our hearts this day, Lord, and this week and the months to come, Lord, and the years to come, Lord, so that we might be able to speak to those around us, Lord, and tell them the reason for our hope.

[46:50] Amen. Praise you, Father. Help us to worship you rightly. In Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.