He Went a Little Further

To Matthew chapter 26, this morning I'm taking a quick, small break this

Lord's Day from 1 Peter. Our study as we're going through 1 Peter, I believe it's appropriate as we come to the

Lord's table in communion to focus on the cross of the

Lord Jesus Christ. Beloved, I'm here to tell you this morning, no matter how well

I preach, this text is not going to...

It's so great. My preaching will not touch it. I heard

Pastor John MacArthur preach from this text in 2005 as I went to the

Shepherd's Conference and afterward I went up to him and I said, Pastor John, that's such a wonderful text.

Thank you so much for unpacking that. And he even said, no matter how well

I preach this, there's no way you can do justice to this text. So I want to warn you that I will do my best by God's power.

I need your prayers this morning as we worship together in the word, but there's no way we can do justice to such a great text.

And we will see why in just a minute. Matthew chapter 26, one text we're going to look at.

We're going to look at lots of verses, but I want us to focus on one phrase from this text.

Reading from the Gospel of Matthew 26, one verse of Scripture. Verse 39, the word of God says,

And he went a little further and fell on his face and prayed, saying,

Oh, my father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me.

Nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt. Let's pray. Our Father in heaven, this is your holy word.

It's so powerful. It's so beyond us. It is eternal. You honor your word.

And Father, our prayer this morning is speak, Lord, for thy servant hears. And Lord, change us forever by your word for your glory.

And I pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. In 1953, there was two men by the name of Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay.

There was another team that was with them as well, and a team leader. They had an expedition that was really an impossible task in that time period in 1953.

And it was a mountain by the name of Everest, as well, I'm sure you know of.

It was located in the Himalayas along the border of Nepal and Tibet, China, soaring at a height of 29 ,000 feet and 35, the highest mountain in the world.

On May 29th, exactly at 11 .30 a .m., these two men reached the summit of this mountaintop.

They did something that no one had ever done in that time period. And it actually comes from this phrase in verse 39, they went a little further.

Hillary and Tenzing went a little further. They did something that no one else did.

And can I say this from that small introduction this morning, that over 2 ,000 years ago, there was someone that came out of the ivory palaces into a world of woe.

From the glory of heaven's splendor into a sin -cursed world, from heaven's light to earth's darkness, great condensation and condescension,

I'm sorry, and from the pinnacle of glory, from the third heavens to Bethlehem's stable, all the way from the bosom of the

Father to the womb of the Virgin Mary, Jesus Christ went a little further.

I don't want you to forget that phrase. I've heard many passages, and I've heard preachers preach from this, a few,

I should say. One, an old -fashioned Pentecostal tent preacher, and I'm telling you, it forever changed my life as a child of God as I heard this message, and it was so Christ -focused, and I said,

Lord, what a message. And I said, I've got to preach that one day. So, Lord willing, here I am,

I'm preaching it to you. The Word of God says in Galatians 4, 4, But when the fullness of time was come,

God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law. God sent forth

His Son. After leaving heaven's glory, born in a little humble town called

Bethlehem, Jesus goes from Bethlehem to Egypt, to Nazareth, to Capernaum as He grows.

He's full of the Spirit of God, and He learns the Scripture as a man.

We have very little in Scripture of His account as a child, but we do know that He baffled the doctors and the lawyers with His wisdom even as a child at the age of 12.

He grows up, He ministers in Capernaum, round about Galilee, and He went about everywhere doing good and healing all that was sick and diseased.

He was a prophet, priest, and king. He went from north to south, south to east to west, all over as prophet, priest, and king.

As a homeless stranger in the world, made by Him, made by His own words.

The Word of God was made flesh. The world did not know Him. He who made the worlds did not recognize

Him and did not know that He was very God, a very God, and very man, a very man. And if that wasn't far enough,

Jesus went a little further. Jesus now goes a little further in this text.

That one phrase, into the dark and dreadful second mile, would you please.

He traced the steps, measured the length, spanned the great, yawning the gulf of agony, pain, and anguish, that the man of sorrows in which we sung this morning went each step that spanned until He came to the last of them all, until He faced

Golgotha's mountain, the place of a skull. We're going to take this journey together this morning just briefly.

And as we see Jesus as He goes a little further, we're going to look how that no one else had ever gone where He had gone.

And a road to which no one else could ever go. He is deserving and worthy of our praise and worship this morning as Savior, Lord, and King.

The question I'd like to set before you, and I'd like to answer this in six points, is how far did

Jesus go? How far did He go? Well, He paid a debt

He did not owe. He paid the price, an awful price, with His own precious blood and for our redemption, beloved.

From glory to Bethlehem's manger, Jesus goes a little further. Number one, first of all,

He goes a little further to Gethsemane. And He goes to Gethsemane where He overcame the flesh.

Beloved, no one can approach this account of the Garden of Gethsemane without realizing that He is walking on holy ground.

And anyone who attempts to even comment on it feels a tremendous sense of awe. One commentator by the name of Guy King wrote this, quote,

The supernal character of the event causes one to fear, lest one should in any way spoil it by touching it.

Verse 36, look at our text, Then cometh Jesus, I'm sorry, verse 36,

I want to go back a little bit and then go to our text. Verse 36, it says, Then cometh

Jesus with them into a place called Gethsemane, And saith unto the disciples, now

He's speaking of the eleven disciples there, And He says to them, Sit ye here while I go and pray yonder.

The word Gethsemane means literally an oil press, an oil press. This was a frequent meeting place for Jesus and His disciples just across the

Kindron Valley from Jerusalem. And it's interesting to note also that Judas, the one that betrayed

Him, Judas Iscariot, Was familiar with Jesus' patterns that enabled Judas, when

Satan entered into him, To find Jesus there, because he knew that's where Jesus would be.

But so Judas knew that where to find the Lord when he betrayed Him, But the Lord Jesus also knew that as well.

Look at verse 37, And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, that's

James and John, And began to be sorrowful and very heavy.

Jesus tells the eight disciples to stay back,

And it's interesting to note that Peter, James, and John are the core, The three disciples that was really closest to the

Lord. Out of the eleven, the three was closest.

That should bear something to us. As a disciple of Jesus Christ, how close are you to the

Lord? Well, Peter, James, and John was the closest. I don't know about you, but I desire to be close as I possibly can to Jesus.

I'm sure the other disciples thought the same, But it was Peter, James, and John that was

His closest. And He actually gives them a command to sit and wait, to watch,

As He draws deeper into the garden of Gethsemane.

It goes a little further. He desires to share this agony with them, But beloved, can

I tell you this, as one preacher said it, They didn't have it. Even Peter, James, and John did not have it.

They were not made out of the same stuff Jesus was made out of. The greatest time in history that boggles the mind is about to take place,

And they had no idea of what was about to become. Jesus began to be deeply grieved, as the text says,

That means to be deeply sorrowful and very heavy. He tells

Peter, James, and John this, shares it with them. He tells them this. Such intimacy with these three.

And what's interesting about this text is that Jesus desires to share this with them. Notice verse 38,

Then saith He unto them, My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even unto death.

Tarry ye here, and watch with me. This is no doubt the unspeakable revulsion of His holy perfect soul,

As He anticipated becoming a sin offering for us. He was to become sin. And this is why

Jesus was born, beloved. This is why He came. This was His divine commission from the Father.

This is the purpose in Him coming into the world, To destroy the works of the devil, To fulfill and to pay for the redemption of God's people,

His elect. And He feels the weight of it. He feels the weight of all that was about to come upon Him.

In 2 Corinthians 5 21, The gospel in one verse, Paul the apostle says,

For He, speaking of God the Father, For God the Father, He made Him, Jesus, Who knew no sin,

To be sin for us, That we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

We who are sinful cannot even conceive what it meant to Him. Think of it for a second with me.

The sinless Son of God, The sinless perfect Son of God, To be made sin for us.

Think of that. Sin was completely foreign to Jesus.

As holiness is foreign to us. He was about to take upon Himself, All the sin of the world.

This is the Lamb of God. This is God's Lamb. This is God's suffering servant. And here, while He was in pain and anguish,

Like no other person ever. According to Luke 22 44,

His capillaries dilated to the point in His body, Literally bursting under the pressure of the deep distress,

And the sorrow of sin upon Him. Blood was literally leaked through the pores of His skin,

Mingled with sweat and falling down upon the ground. Beloved, we have a hard time to even labor in prayer, period.

But Jesus Himself was laboring so heavy, Under the burden of taking the wrath of God upon Himself, And literally sweated great drops of blood.

Think of that. Deep, deep sorrow.

No wonder He's called a man of sorrows. Jesus knew His only solace in this time,

Was with His heavenly Father. And He retreats to that holy place. Look at verse 39.

In the phrase there, And He went a little further. You see that?

And He went a little further. And what does He do? And He fell on His face,

And He prayed, Saying, Oh, my Father, if it be possible,

Let this cup pass from Me. Nevertheless, not as I will, but as Thou wilt. What a text.

What a text. Jesus goes a little further. Praise God. Aren't you glad He went a little further?

Beloved, in His deep sorrow, And His anguish, And pain, It had nothing to do, And by the way,

It had nothing to do with the fear of men. It had nothing to do with the physical torments

That He was about to endure physically on the cross, Even though as bad as that is, So many people look at that on the physical side,

Which was horrifying and horrible. But there was something deeper and more sorrowful Than what

Jesus was feeling the weight of. He was sorrowful because within the hour

In which He was agonizing, He knew that He was going to have to drink

The full cup of measure Of the divine fury of sin. The divine fury against the sin

That would be His own to drink.

I remember a story by the name of Leonard Ravenhill, A great evangelist of the past.

He's written just a few books. One of his books I thoroughly enjoy Was Why Revival Tarries.

It's a book that's... I believe the man wrote it on his knees. I really do. He speaks about one time he went to this

English, this little English lady's home. And she was very poor

And offered him a drink. And he noticed that within the cup

It was really dirty and nasty and slimy And filthy and disgusting.

And he said... I looked into it and he said He didn't want to hurt her feelings by no means. And he was invited there

As he was pastoring at that time part In Leeds, England I believe.

And she was being generous and cordial And showing hospitality to him. And as he looked into that cup

He thought he could not help but think about the cup That Jesus was about to drink. And that's what Jesus was doing here. He was looking into the cup.

And Ravenhill said he looked into that cup And he says that was the most horrible Slimy gook he's ever seen in his life.

And all of a sudden he said The Spirit of God just brought to his attention As he retracted in Matthew 26

As Jesus was about to drink this cup. A cup that had the wrath of God in it.

That's what the Old Testament Scriptures are full of About God's cup of wrath. Such a struggle here that was going on As Jesus was struggling.

And keep in mind he fell on his face. Posturated. He prays to his

Father. What an example for us When we are under a tremendous amount of weight.

Have you ever been there? Have you ever been to a place That no one else knows about? But I must tell Jesus alone.

And you have to go to that place of prayer of solace And no one else knows but Jesus.

I must tell Jesus. And by the way that's the only best place It is the best place to go

Is to go before God in prayer In the secret place of the Almighty Under the shadow of the

Almighty And know that God knows to take that burden. Praise God. And only

He knows it. But why the struggle here? Why? Let's look a little bit at it.

Jesus wasn't in any way trying to avoid the cross As some might think. Which was in the

Father's redemptive plan and purpose. His struggle and cry was One that was uniquely the perfect man

The sinless Son of God For whom the sentence of death should not even apply to. He was our substitute.

So he looked longingly to the Father For another option. That's pretty much what he's doing here.

He's basically saying Oh Father if it be possible Is there another way?

And notice here He does this three times. Look at verse 40 And he cometh unto the disciples and findeth them asleep.

They went asleep in the garden. He says unto Peter What? Could you not watch with me one hour?

And then he tells them Watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation The Spirit indeed is willing But the flesh is weak.

He's basically saying that to them. Verse 42 And he went again the second time

And he prayed Saying oh my Father If this cup may not pass away from me

Except I drink it Thy will be done. And notice again He comes back in verse 43

He came and found them asleep For their eyes were heavy Legitimately they walked a whole mile

From the upper room to the garden of Gethsemane And they were very tired.

It's interesting to note also That Peter, James and John The same group The inner circle disciples

Were the same ones If you look Previously I believe it's

Where is it? It's found in the mount The account of the

Transfiguration Comes to my mind A few chapters back

You don't have to turn there But you know the story That Peter, James and John Jesus takes them

And where does he take them? On the mountain Now isn't it interesting that These Hebrews Being the

Hebrews Got caught up And all of a sudden A vision takes place And Moses is on one side of Jesus And Elijah is on one side

And by the way That represents the law and the prophets Jesus is in the middle And Peter gets carried away

And says oh let us build a tabernacle And they get carried away With these great Hebrew patriarchs

And then the father Had to come and whisper them away And he said this is my beloved son Hear ye him

In other words their eyes Were getting upon these patriarchs Not Jesus But Jesus And what were they talking about?

The text actually says That they were talking about the exodus Jesus' resurrection

Also it could speak about the exodus That God Through, in the book of Exodus Took out the children of Israel And used

Moses as the leader A type of Jesus Christ To lead them out of Egypt The exodus

And Elijah Was the exodus of a prophet

That God took him out By a chariot of fire And here

Jesus The greatest exodus of all Was going to take place Through the resurrection

Isn't that great? But right here they fell asleep And Jesus goes back to them

Three times Jesus is struggling And you see the prayer Oh my father, oh my father And verse 44

And he left them and went away again And prayed the third time Saying the same words And he went a little further

The son would drink the full measure Of the father's wrath against the sins of his people Perfect submission

Perfect submission, full submission Resting completely in the perfect will of God Jesus accepted

What was to come He went a little further He went a little further

Jesus goes a little further He overcomes the flesh From Gethsemane Jesus still goes a little further

Gethsemane is where He gained the victory over the flesh And won the temptation

Over Satan To bypass the cross That was the temptation Bypass the cross

The struggle was real Don't fulfill the will of God But Jesus fulfilled the will of God perfectly

He goes a little further Secondly notice He goes to Gabbatha Gabbatha I said that right

Where he gained the victory over the world Not only the flesh but over the world Gabbatha Was the

Aramaic And Hebrew meaning of ridge It means ridge or height With a particular meaning of the ridge

Of the house or the temple mound Was located in Jerusalem Near the fortress of Antonia A combined palace and Roman Military barracks named after Mark Anthony As you well know in history

It was connected to the Northwest corner of the temple area

Gabbatha Was covered with a Mosaic colored stones If you ever go to That part of the world in which

I've never Been personally but I've seen on television There's the mosaic stones that still Exist from years back

In that time period of the Romans It's beautiful Now a lot of them has been preserved

But that's where it was Gabbatha was covered with mosaic Colored stones hence

It was known also in the scriptures As the pavement Jesus goes a little

Further from Gethsemane after he's Arrested Judas Basically Kisses him

Betrays him into the hands Of the religious leaders And it was

It was a custom of the Romans by the way The governors to conduct their tribunals In open areas So a judgment seat was placed in the

Pavement outside of the judgment hall Where it called the Petorian And it was here

That Pilate, the governor Judged Jesus Little did he know that one day

He would stand before Jesus And Jesus would judge him So determined to kill

Jesus These religious leaders were They broke several commandments In order to do so Flip over to Matthew 27

Let's just look at a few verses here Look at verse 1 and 2 And the morning was come and all the chief priests

And the elders of the people Took counsel against Jesus to put him to death And when they had bound him

They led him away and delivered him To Pontius Pilate the governor And skip to Verse 11

And Jesus stood before the governor And the governor asked him Saying, Art thou the king of the

Jews? And Jesus said unto him, Thou sayest And when he was accused of the chief priest And the elders answered

And he answered nothing And he said Then said

Pilate Unto him, Hearest thou not How many things they witness against thee? And he answered

Him To never a word Jesus did not say a word

And so much That the governor marveled greatly He marveled

And then it says In verse 15 Now at the feast of the governor Was wont to release unto

People a prisoner Whom they would And they had Then a notable prisoner called

Barabbas Therefore when they gathered together Pilate said unto them Whom will you that I release unto you

Be it Barabbas or Jesus which is called Christ And listen to what the text says

And for he knew that for envy They had delivered him And when he was

Set down on the judgment seat Speaking of Pilate, his wife sent unto him

Saying, Hath thou nothing to do With that Just man? For I have suffered many things to stay in a dream

Because of him And we know that that's satanic Satan wanted to have Jesus Put on the cross

But the chief priest and elders Persuaded the multitude that they should ask Barabbas and destroy

Jesus The governor Answered and said unto them Whether of the twain

That I release unto you They said Barabbas And Pilate said unto them

What shall I do then with Jesus Which is called Christ And they all say unto him

Let him be crucified So there you have the account At the pavement

The praetorian Where Jesus was handed over Jesus gained the victory over the world at Gabbatha False charges was

Made against Jesus He remained silent He was as a sheep before its shearers

Isaiah 53, 7 says He was oppressed and he was afflicted Yet he opened not his mouth

He is brought as a lamb To the slaughter and as a sheep Before his shearers is done

So he goeth not He opened not his mouth Wow He was charged with being

A worldly king and yet Little did they know They was crucifying the king of glory

He was struck yet He did not strike back He was reviled he did not revile back

He kept his mouth Quiet and shut He was charged with being an enemy of Rome Yet he was a true friend

Of all that would befriend him Religious politics ruled The day and that day but truth and justice

Would win out in time Jesus overcame The world The third thing

I like to point to you Give to your attention is That Jesus goes a little further Not only

To Gethsemane and to Gabbatha But he also goes a little

Further to Gagatha Gagatha Gagatha is the place of a skull

Jesus Dies To gain the victory over Satan he overcomes

The flesh he overcomes the world He overcomes Satan Look at chapter 27

Look at verse 32 to 244 And as they

Came out they found a man of serene Simon By name they compelled

To compelled him to bear his cross Could you imagine being that man They said

You compel they compelled him To bear his cross As Jesus fell under the load of it

And when they were coming to a place of Gagatha That is to say a place of a skull They gave him vinegar

To drink mingled with gall And he had tasted thereof And he would not drink it He did not want any

Sedatives to numb His pain he wanted to take the full Pain beloved Verse 35

And they crucified him They parted his garments to casting lots

That it might be fulfilled which is spoken by the prophet They parted my garments among them And upon my vesture did they cast

Lots and sitting down They watched him there And set up over his head accusation

Written this is Jesus the king of the Jews And there were two thieves Crucified with him one on the right hand

And another on the left And they that passed by reviled him Wagging their heads and saying

Thou that destroyest the temple And buildest it in three days

Save thyself if thou be the son of God Come down from the cross They were literally mocking him

And you and I know That he could have easily came off that cross But he went all the way

He went a little further Verse 41 likewise also the chief priest Mocking him with the scribes

And the elders said he saved others Himself he cannot save If he be the king of Israel Let him now come down from the cross

And we will believe him He trusted in God let him deliver him now Listen to the mockery

And if he will have him For he said I am the son of God See there you have the temptation That Satan is just hurling at him

Come down from the cross If you are the son of God The thieves also were crucified with him

Cast the same in his teeth Wow You know this is the purpose

That Jesus came into the world To destroy the works of the devil Go with me to first John First John and we will see this

From the scriptures This was the purpose That Jesus Not only to fulfill

And pay for the redemption Of God's people Then which the father would elect

And to purchase them But also Jesus came to destroy The works of the devil beloved First John chapter 3

Look at chapter 3 look at verse 8 through 5 through 8 5 through 8 and you know

That he was manifested Speaking of Jesus To take away our sins

Number 1 He was manifested That's why he came That's why he was born

That's why he entered into this world To take away our sins

And he took them away And notice what it says And in him is no sin

Verse 6 Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not That doesn't mean we are without sin

Basically what he means in that context Is he does not continue to practice Sinning He does not continue to run that course

Whosoever Sinneth hath not seen him Neither knoweth him

Little children Let no man deceive you He that doeth righteousness is righteous

Even as he is righteous In other words this is the transformation That John the

Apostle is saying within those That are born of the spirit of God They practice righteousness

It doesn't mean they're perfect Completely like Christ But they have an example as the

Jesus is the righteous one That they have a righteousness That's not of their own

That is the righteousness of Jesus Christ and In that new birth and regeneration

We love righteousness and hate sin There's a hatred towards sin Like we've never had before see

And we love righteousness And what does he say in Verse 8 and this is what I want to get to He that committed sin is

Of the devil and that word committed again Means practices sin He practices sin he goes on practicing

Sin is of the devil For the devil

Sinneth from the beginning We know about his history Don't we he was a lucifer an archangel

In heaven and he sinned against God God and pride

Is what was found iniquity was found In his heart and he was cast out of heaven With a third of the angels

And then what does it say For this purpose the son of God Was manifested that he

Might destroy the works Of the devil aren't you glad Jesus destroyed the works of the devil

He went a little further Well from glory To the manger to Nazareth to Galilee To Gethsemane Where he defeated

The flesh to Gabbatha where he defeated The world to Golgotha where he defeated The devil even after that Jesus went a little

Further fourth He goes a little further To the grave

Yes he went to the grave He was buried It was actually in a tomb they put him

In and it was not his own it was One that belonged To Joseph of Arimathea and it was

Actually Actually He was only borrowing it for three days As you well know

Jesus gained a victory Over death and hell Aren't you glad of that Go with me to Revelation chapter one

We now see Jesus Not only resurrected but He's glorified

He's in his glorified state And this same John That leaned upon the bosom of Jesus That was one of his

Closest disciples Sees Jesus On the

Lord's day In a vision On the isle of Patmos In verse thirteen in the midst of the seven

Candlesticks one likened to the son of man Clothed with a garment down to the foot Gird about the pats

With a golden girdle This is the way Jesus This is a picture of Him now in his glorified state

His head, his hairs Are white like wool As white as snow His eyes were as a flame

As a flame of fire His feet like unto a fine Brass and if they burned in a furnace

And his voice as the sound of Many waters And he had in his right hand seven stars

And out of his mouth went a sharp two -edged Sword and his countenance was as The sun shineth in its strength

If you ever try looking at the sun in midday The countenance of Jesus is like that Verse seventeen

And when I saw him How did John the apostle Respond I fell at his feet

As dead And he laid his right hand upon me Notice the loving compassion

Of Jesus and he told Him saying unto me he said fear not I am the first and the last

I am he That liveth And was dead And behold

I am alive forevermore Amen Notice what he says and I have the keys

Of hell and death He defeated death and hell Hell and death

He is resurrected He's glorified He's victorious He occupies the throne

Praise his name Fifth He gains

The victory over death and hell And also the grave He goes a little further

But he's victorious He's victor He goes to glory

He goes to glory He is victor over time as well as we know it Up from as the old hymn says

Up from the grave he arose With a mighty triumph over his foes He arose a victor from the dark domain

He lives forever with the saints to reign He arose

He arose Hallelujah Christ arose Praise God That's the gospel beloved

First Corinthians 15 First Corinthians 15 The apostle

Paul Again the resurrection chapter There is so much there Please read it in your devotional time

But he begins this chapter by saying this Moreover brethren He speaks to the brethren at Corinth I declare unto you the gospel

What is the gospel? That I preached He preached it Preaching is ordained of God Unto you

Which also you have received And wherein you stand We receive it and we stand by it

By which also you are saved We are saved by the gospel We believe it We receive it

We stand on it And we are saved by it Notice what he says If you keep in memory we must remember

What I preached unto you Unless you have believed in vain And what does he say

For I delivered unto you first of all That which I also received He received it

How that Christ died for our sins According to the scriptures

Notice what he says And that he was buried And that he rose again the third day According to the scriptures

According to the scriptures And that he was seen as Cephas That's Peter And then at the twelve

And after that he was seen above Five hundred brethren at once Whom the greater part remain

And to this present But some are fallen asleep And they're asleep basically means they're in the grave

And after that he was seen of James Then of all the apostles And of all the apostles

And last of all he was seen Of me also As of one born out of due time

And Paul was humbled by this Because only an apostle Has seen the resurrected Christ And met him head on For I am the least of the apostles

And I am not meet to be called An apostle because I persecuted The church of God What a heavy burden

Paul had upon him Jesus overcame First Timothy 3 .16

And without controversy That means there's no argument to it Without controversy

Great is the mystery of godliness God was manifested in the flesh Justified in the spirit Seen by angels

Preached among the Gentiles Believed on in the world Received up in glory

Last Jesus went a little further And one day he's going to go a little further beloved

And he's going to come back Don't take my word for it

Take God's word for it It's here He's coming back

Jesus promised it One of the most wonderful promises

We have is found in John 14 Jesus said it himself Verse 1, verse 2, verse 3

Listen to this Let not your heart be troubled Beloved don't let your heart be troubled You believe in God Believe also in me

In my father's house are many mansions They know that more to match to me Many dwelling places

If it were not so I would have told you I go to prepare a place for you And if I go to prepare a place for you

I will come again Notice what he says there I will come again And receive you unto myself

And where I am there you may be also And whether I go you know And the way you know And some of the disciples didn't get that quite

Thomas was one of them And he said unto him Lord We know not whether thou goest And how can we know the way

What a question But Jesus has got a great answer for that Jesus said unto him

I am the way The truth And the life No man cometh unto the father but by me

Did you get that? No man Cometh unto the father

But by me There's only one way to God That's Jesus Christ He's not just the best way

Or one of many ways He is the way Praise God Tell people that's in religion out there today

That's engrossed in all the religions of the world There's only one way to God the father And that's through Jesus Christ He's the door

He's the way He's the truth He's the life Praise God Well there's so many

Verses I can go to on that Conclude He went a little further beloved

He went a little further back to our text And he fell on his face And he prayed oh my father if it be possible

Let this cup pass from me Nevertheless not as I will but as thou wilt He fulfilled

Obediently the will Of God the father completely Go over it once again

Gethsemane He went a little further to Gethsemane Victory over the flesh He went a little further to Gabbatha Victory over the world

He went a little further to Golgotha Victory over Satan He went a little further

To the grave, victory over death and hell He went a little further To glory

Victory over time as we know it Praise the name of the living God Beloved we have a savior

And a lord that's risen today And he's worthy of our praises And glory and to be glorified

And be exalted above all He has conquered all We know who wins And all that's going on today

This is no time today For us to be asleep in the garden Like the disciples I close with this

And as we prepare our hearts For the communion 1

Peter 2 .21 2 .21 is an application text I'd like to give us something to apply

For all of us to really think And I want you to think about this verse 1 Peter 2 .21

For to this you were called Because Christ also

Suffered for us Did you hear that? He suffered for us Oh how he suffered

He drank the bitter cup Those bitter dredges in that cup In the full measure of the wrath of almighty

God Something that we would never be able to Even in glory Beloved No one has ever done this

To take upon himself God's wrath But that's how he suffered

And you notice what Peter says Who would know it but Peter Leaving us an example

What an example What an example That you should follow

In his steps You should follow his steps You should follow his steps

Think about that You should follow his steps We should walk as he walks He walked

My question to you Will you follow Jesus all the way All the way to the garden

Of Gethsemane Will you follow him all the way to Gavitha Will you follow him to the cross

And not turn back Not to desire anything That this world which passes away

Will you follow him to the cross And follow Jesus to the end Looking unto Jesus The author and finisher of our faith

As the writer of Hebrews says For the joy that was set before him He endured the cross

Despising the shame He sat down at the right hand of the throne of God And what does he say

For consider him Consider him That endured such contradiction

Of sinners against himself Least you be weary And faint in your minds

I tell you what

The kind of Christians we need to be Is the kind that we are set on Following Jesus No matter what the cost may be

We don't follow men We don't follow pastors We don't follow evangelists We don't follow so called apostles

And faith healers We don't follow politicians

Beloved, follow Jesus We follow Jesus We look unto Jesus And by the way

As the writer of Hebrews says Looking unto Jesus We look unto Jesus He's the author and finisher of our faith

He made it You can make it He endured the cross You can endure the cross

That's what the writer is basically saying For the joy that was set before him He endured that cross

He had the joy that was before him Beloved, if you endure the persecutions

And even all the weight That comes against you as a child of God For Jesus sake You have a joy before you

We have the joy Candace knows that joy now Her suffering is no more

Whatever you go through And what little suffering we have Pales in comparison

To the glory that awaits That's what Paul said One more verse

And we're going to go to communion Isaiah 50

Chapter 50 Look at this, this is such a wonderful verse

Isaiah 53 now Oh my goodness, it speaks of The suffering servant Who is

Jesus Christ That whole chapter speaks about Calvary's cross And the suffering servant

The Lord Jesus Christ But notice in Isaiah 50 There's some great verses here Notice verse 3

I like to read 3 all the way to verse 11 To the end And then we will go into communion

Let this be an encouragement for you This is a prophecy Of God helping those who trusted him

And by the way, God the Father helped Jesus Because Jesus was fully Trusting the

Father As he would drink The cup of wrath Notice what it says in verse 3

I clothe the heavens with blackness And I make sackcloth their covering

The Lord God hath given me

The tongue of the learning That I should know How to speak a word in season To him that is weary He waketh morning by morning

He waketh mine ear To hear is the learning Let me stop right there, do you wake morning by morning

And desire and yearn after God Do you desire

God Because you love him for who he is Do you desire him

Above anything That this world has to offer Verse 5 The Lord God hath opened my ear

Does he open your ear, well he does And I was not rebellious Neither turned away a back

I gave my back to the smiters This is a prophecy of Jesus And my cheeks to them that Clucked off the hair

I hid not my face from shame of spitting Look at how accurate

The word of God And prophecy thousands of years Before Jesus even Endured the cross

That is a full fulfillment right there A prophecy of Jesus Verse 7

For the Lord God will help me Therefore shall I not be confounded Therefore have

I set my face like a flint And I know that I shall not be ashamed

He is near that Justifies me Who will contend with me Let us stand together

Who is my adversary Let him come near to me Behold The Lord God will help me

Who is he That shall condemn me Lo they all

Shall wax old As garments As a garment The moth shall eat them up Who is among you that Feareth the

Lord That obeyeth the voice of his servant That walketh in Darkness and hath no light

Let him trust In the name of the Lord And stay upon his

God Behold All you that kindle a fire

That compass yourselves about with sparks Walk in the light of your fire

And in the sparks That you have kindled This shall you have in my hand

You shall lie down in sorrow Praise God That's the command of the living

God Will you go that extra mile today Will you go a little further As Jesus went a little further

You may not go as far as Jesus But you can go and follow Jesus And his train to glory

To the Gethsemane And to Gabbatha And to Golgotha And eventually to glory

Set your face like a flint Like Jesus did He's our example For this you were called

Do you hear that? You were called because Christ also suffered for us Leaving us an example

That you should follow his steps Will you follow him All the way to the end