September 18, 2005
Can we turn to Luke 22:41: “And he was withdrawn from them about a stone’s cast, and kneeled down, and prayed, saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done. And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him. And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.” What is going on here? We know the Lord has come to Gethsemane; the name means “oil press”, a device used to crush olives until the oil comes out. We see the Lord Jesus Christ in the garden of Gethsemane; we think of Calvary as the place of His suffering and sorrow for sin. Gethsemane preceded Calvary and there the Lord was praying in anticipation of Calvary. In John the Lord says, “the cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?” Here we have a reference to that cup. “That bitter cup, love drank it up, left but the love for me.” That bitter cup he had to appropriate was filled with all the sins, transgressions, and iniquities of man. It is being presented to Him here. Look at the physical effect: he needed an angel to strengthen Him, His sweat was like great drops of blood at the thought of taking that cup. He is the Holy One; we can’t know how he felt because sin is part of us. Not only was He a perfect, sinless person, but he had a nature that abhorred sin as being vile, awful in God’s sight. Sin was being presented as His portion on Calvary. The physical effects it had on Him help us realize a little bit what it was to Him to be made sin for us. It was the price He had to pay for us. In it was an atonement for us, so might have a portion in Heaven, on high. “The Holy One who knew no sin, God made Him sin for us.” What is contained in those words is so tremendous. What we see at Gethsemane is a little example of what He went through to make us His. Yea, we worship Him to see him drink that bitter cup and leave the love for us.
EG Hymn 82–Ere God had built the mountains, Prayer Genesis 1:16 • The greater light is the sun, the lesser light is the moon. It says God “made the stars also”; it sounds like He just threw them into space. We know He actually made each one and put it where it is. By looking at the stars we can see the vastness of space and realize how powerful God is. • If you follow the 2 right stars on the big dipper, or Ursa Major, up, you will reach the North Star, which always points north. Sailors used to use it to find their way at night. It is the first star on the handle of the little dipper, or Ursa Minor, which looks like it is pouring into the big dipper. • Light travels at 168,000 miles per second. In 1 year, light travels 5,298,048,000,000 miles. That distance is called a light-year. There are some stars whose light takes hundreds, even thousands, of light-years to reach us. That is a lot of space, and God fills it all. He is omnipresent. • Scientists have been trying to find where the stars end, but they have not been able to do it. At the end of the stars is Heaven. We can see how large and powerful God is when we consider this. • Job 22:12 • Job 38:31 • Psalm 8:3–4 • Psalm 9:1–2—This should be the response of our hearts to magnify such a magnificent Creator. • Psalm 33:8 • Psalm 147:4
Hebrews 6:12–20 • V. 11—The Jews had turned away from a religion they could see to one of faith. That faith gave them the full assurance of hope. They could say, “We can’t see it, but we know our sins are washed away and we will go to Heaven.” • V. 12—The Hebrews are being encouraged not to be “slothful” or sluggish but to be “imitators” (Darby) of those “who through faith and patience inherit the promises” Promises are nothing new to Christians; Abraham had things promised to him. It must have been an amazing night when God called Abraham out to look at a star-filled sky. Genesis 15 follows the battle of the five kings. The king of Sodom offered Abraham a reward, but he didn’t take it. In v. 1 God comes to Abraham and says “I am thy … exceeding great reward.” Read vv. 1–6. This must have a clear night; no clouds, no light pollution, just a sky studded with stars. God told Abraham, “so shall thy seed be.” What did Abraham say? “Oh, come on!”? No, he said, “Amen” and the Lord counted it to him for righteousness. Romans 4:18 tells us that even though it was a hopeless situation, Abraham had hope. He didn’t look at his circumstances, but at God. All his circumstances said, “impossible” but he looked to the God of the impossible. • V. 13–15—This speaks of Genesis 22:15 &16. In chapter 15, Isaac was not on the scene yet. Then Isaac arrives, the promised child, a miracle. But God asked Abraham to offer his son to Him. Abraham, still strong in faith, rose early, went to the mount and so on; God spared Isaac and gave Abraham full marks for faith. The promise of descendants like the stars is renewed and this time God swears by Himself (“because he could swear by no greater”). He made an oath. Abraham obtained the promise and we are exhorted to imitate him. EG Hymn 140–Will your anchor hold in the storms of life? Prayer