27.9.26 am

Good morning everyone. A warm welcome to the service this morning and a special welcome to those who are visiting with us.

! We've got a number of visitors with us today. Some from Sydney, some from France, some from Glasgow, some from Ireland. I'm not quite sure.

But it's good to have people visiting with us and it's always an encouragement to have you. We have tea and we have coffee at the end of the service today. If you're able to stay behind, please do so.

And today you can say your goodbyes to Maria. Maria heads away to Glasgow, not to Glasgow, to Ireland tomorrow.

So if you stay behind, you can have a cup of tea and a chat with Maria. She'll be here till probably nine o'clock tonight. Thank you.

If you're able to stay for that or come along to that this evening, do so. Community lunch tomorrow, 12 till 2. Donations go to Crossroads for those who are able to give.

And the services next weekend or over the weekend, we have the details of them on the screen. It's our communion weekend next weekend and we have services on Friday through till Sunday.

So the Friday service, first one is at 12 o'clock and that will be taken by the Reverend Donald Donald McDonald, the Gaelic service.

Then we'll have a service at 7pm on Friday, 7pm on Saturday and on Sunday 11 o'clock. We will celebrate the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper and 6pm on Sunday evening.

Fellowship in the church on Sunday evening after. The service on team one is on duty for that. If you're able to help with catering, please put your name on the sheet out in the foyer and there'll be a fellowship in the manse on the Friday as usual.

And as I say each communion season, for any who know the Lord, who are trusting the Lord, who are remembering his death for them as the bread and the wine is served, please come and speak to us.

If you've never professed faith before, come and speak to myself or any of the elders by professing faith for the first time. If we know that we are great sinners, if we know that Christ is our great saviour, then the calling, the command that he gives us is to come and do this in remembrance of him.

There's lots of other notices, but you can read through these at your own convenience. Let's now begin this time of worship and we'll sing to God's praise from Mission Praise number 296, the words on the screen.

I stand amazed in the presence of Jesus the Nazarene. I stand amazed in the presence of Jesus the Nazarene.

I stand amazed in the presence of Jesus the Nazarene.

I wonder how he could love me, a sinner could end unclean. How marvelous, how marvelous, how wonderful, the land my soul shall ever be.

How marvelous, how wonderful, is my saviour's love for me.

How marvelous, how marvelous, how wonderful, is my saviour's love for me.

How marvelous, how marvelous, how marvelous, is my saviour's love for me.

How marvelous, how marvelous, is my saviour's love for me.

How marvelous, how marvelous, how marvelous, how marvelous, how marvelous, how marvelous, is my saviour's love for me. How marvelous, how marvelous, is my saviour's love for me. How marvelous, how marvelous, how marvelous, is my saviour's love for me. How marvelous, how marvelous, is my saviour's love for me.

How marvelous, how marvelous, how marvelous, is my saviour's love for me. How marvelous, is may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may And we were ransomed in glory, this place I now shall see, it will be my joy through the ages, to save God's love for me.

How marvelous, how wonderful, and my song shall ever be. How marvelous, how wonderful, is my Savior's love for me.

Let's unite our hearts together in prayer. Let's pray. Lord God, we thank you for this, your day, and we thank you for the desire and the freedom, the measure of health and strength that you've given us to enable us to be here.

In this place. We gather together as your people. We gather together in the name of Jesus Christ, your Son, our Savior.

And we thank you that we can call you our Father. We thank you as we pray week by week that we can come in reverence and humility, but with confidence, knowing that we are coming.

If we are trusting in Jesus, knowing that we are coming as children to our Heavenly Father. And we thank you that we have the promise that we do stand in the presence of Jesus today.

Where two or three meet together in his name, he promised that he will be with us in the power of the Holy Spirit. And so we thank you, Lord God, that you are here with us.

We thank you that even those who are in their homes watching at a distance at this time, as they seek to draw near to you, we thank you that they also have the assurance that you will draw near to them.

And so we pray that you would bless them and that you would bless us as we look to you in faith. We acknowledge as we have sang that we are amazed to be standing and bowing in the presence of Jesus, because we are sinners.

We are unclean in our hearts. We confess that in our thoughts and in our actions, in our inaction, that so often we are conscious of our sin.

But we thank you that we have the promise that as we confess our sin, you are faithful and just to forgive us and to purify us from all unrighteousness. So we come before you this morning and we ask, Lord, that in the silence of this place, as we name before you, the sins that we are aware of, the sins that we seek forgiveness for, we pray that you would cleanse us in the blood of Jesus.

And we thank you for that blood that was shed. We thank you for the gospel message that we have sang of in the hymn, that we have had upon our lips. We pray that it would touch our hearts.

Help us today as we read your word to see all that Jesus suffered for us in the garden of Gethsemane, on the hill of Calvary.

Help us to see what we have sang, that it was for me that he suffered. He took my sins and my sorrows and made them his very own.

He who knew no sin became sin, so that we who are sinners could become righteous just if we believe in him. He bore my burden to Calvary and suffered and died alone.

We thank you for the finished work of Jesus, that he died to pay the wages of our sin. But we thank you that death could not hold him, that he rose from the dead.

And he promises that because he lives, we too shall live. We shall have resurrection, eternal life, if we are believing in him.

So give us, we pray, faith to believe and give us courage, we pray, to profess that we are believers. As we think about communion weekend, especially we pray for any who are here or who are watching, who are trusting the Lord Jesus, but have not yet professed faith in Christ.

And we ask, Lord, that you would give each one the clarity to see that they are sinners who are saved by Jesus and the courage to come and take the bread and the wine and do this in remembrance of him.

We pray, Lord, that you would help us today. you see our lives, you see our struggles. And we ask that you would meet us at the point of our need.

For those who are sick, Lord, we pray for your healing touch upon them. For those who are struggling with addictions, with depression, with loneliness, with anxiety, with many different things, the cares of this world, we pray that you would grant your peace and your strength.

And we pray for those who are grieving. We are always conscious of those who are struggling with that sense of loss. And we pray for your comfort for them.

We pray for a world that is broken. We pray for places where there are wars and there are famines and there are floods and there are earthquakes.

these are all signs to remind us that the Lord Jesus soon will return. But as we see those who suffer, we pray for these places and people who are far from us.

We thank you that we can carry them to you in prayer. And we ask, Lord, that you would help them. We pray for your people who are persecuted, those who struggle for Jesus' sake.

And as they meet, without the security and the freedom that we have, we pray that you would bless them. And we pray for those who seek to minister to those who are in places where the name of Jesus cannot be mentioned.

And we ask that you would uphold them. We pray now that you would continue with us, bless each one of us, be with those who would desire to be here but who can't be because of old age.

Bless them, we pray. And bless the young ones that we see and that we hear amongst us. We thank you for them. And we ask, Lord, that they would know from their earliest years that Jesus loves them and calls them to come to him.

So bless us, we pray. Cleanse us from sin. Help us to fix our eyes upon Jesus. For we pray these things in his name and for his sake. Amen. Amen.

Boys and girls, would you like to come forward, please? How are you guys all today?

Good, good. I've got something to show you today. And this is something that Mary was telling me about.

So last week at the ladies' Bible study, Iona, Joseph's mum, who's not here today, she's working, she was at the Bible study and she was wearing this top.

So will I show it to you? And the question is, do you think this is a good top to be wearing for Iona?

What do you think of that? What does it say on it? Can you see? I'll put it down there so you can see it a bit more clearly.

What does it say? Point FC. Point FC. What does FC stand for? Point Football Club.

So what do you think Iona was doing wearing a top that says Point Football Club? I mean, she's in love with the top scorer from the Harris Football Club.

So, do you think this is a good top for Iona to be wearing? What do you think, Benjamin? No. Are you sure?

Definitely sure. Because, why is it not a good top for her to be wearing? Because it's a point team. And why is it not good for her to be wearing a point team top?

Because we live in Harris. And so, Iona, she's from Harris. she really, really loves the top scorer from Harris.

She belongs to Harris. So this is not the best top for her to be wearing, is it? What would be the best top for her to be wearing? A Harris top. You'll have to get that for her next birthday or for her Christmas present, Joseph.

Now, boys and girls, today in the Bible, when you go to San Diego, we're going to be reading about the first ever communion.

And do you know what happens at communion? What do we do when it's communion Sunday? The church looks a wee bit different. What happens, Finlay? We have wine and we have bread and we drink the wine and we eat the bread.

And why do we do that? What does that... Why do we do that? Do you know? Because Jesus died on the cross.

And how does the bread and the wine speak to us about that? Olivia? The bread reminds us that Jesus gave his body and the wine reminds us that Jesus shed his blood on the cross.

Why do he do that? Because he loves us and he wanted to take our sins away so that we could be his children. And when we're trusting in Jesus and when we're taking communion, do you know what we're saying?

We're saying, I belong to Jesus. So, for Iona, that's not the best top to be wearing because she doesn't belong to Point.

She belongs to Harris. And when we take the bread, boys and girls, and when we take the wine, what we are saying is that we're trusting in Jesus, we're remembering all that he did to save us and we are saying that we belong to him.

So, we pray now before that point Football Club top is destroyed. Let's pray. Let's close our eyes, let's put our hands together, and let's speak to God and pray.

Lord God, we thank you that you love us. We thank you, Lord Jesus, that you came to this world to be our saviour. We thank you that you took our sins into your body on the tree, on the cross.

We thank you that you shed your blood so that our sins could be taken away. And we thank you that you promise that when we believe in you, you save us forever.

You make us your children. And we thank you that when we take communion, we say that we belong to you. So help us, we pray, to see how much you love us.

Help us to trust you. And help us, whether we're taking the bread or the wine, or whether we're in school with our friends, help us not to be shy, but if we're trusting you to tell people that you are our friend and our saviour.

So bless us, we pray, and bless the children, especially as they go to Sunday school in a few minutes. And we ask all this in Jesus' name. Amen. We're going to sing, and we're going to sing Mission Praise 988, how deep the Father's love for us, how vast beyond all measure, that he should give his only Son, the Lord Jesus, to make a wretch his treasure.

that he should give his only Son, to make a wretch away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away

Thank you.

It was my sin that held him there until it was accomplished.

His dying breath has brought me life. I know that it is finished.

I will not boast in anything. No gifts, no power, no wisdom.

A time will boast in Jesus Christ, his death and resurrection.

Why should I gain from his reward? I cannot give an answer.

But this I know with all my heart. His wounds have made my ransom.

I cannot give an answer. I cannot give an answer.

26. Matthew chapter 26.

We come to verse 36. And we're going to read from verse 36 to 46. And then we're going to go back and read again the verses from 26 to 29.

Matthew chapter 26 and verse 36. Jesus prays in Gethsemane. Then Jesus went with them, that's the disciples, to a place called Gethsemane.

And he said to his disciples, sit here while I go over there and pray. And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled.

Then he said to them, my soul is very sorrowful, even to death. Remain here and watch with me.

And going a little further, he fell on his face and prayed, saying, my father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.

And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping. And he said to Peter, so could you not watch with me one hour?

Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. Again, for the second time he went away and prayed, my father, if this cannot pass until I drink it, your will be done.

And again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. So leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words again.

Then he came to the disciples and said to them, sleep and take your rest later on. See, the hour is at hand and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.

Rise, let us be going. See, my betrayer is at hand. And just before that, a different scene from the upper room as Jesus sits with his disciples.

I want to read again the verses that we were in last week, verses 26 to 29. Now as they, that's Jesus and his disciples, were eating, Jesus took bread and after blessing it, broke it and gave it to the disciples.

And said, take, eat, this is my body. And he took a cup. And when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, drink of it, all of you.

For this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you, I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom.

Amen. And may God bless these readings of his word to us. We're going to sing again now to God's praise. We'll sing from Psalm 116.

And we will sing the first two stanzas of the psalm, although I'll read a little bit more than that just now. So, Psalm 116, first two stanzas.

I'll read them in English before we sing in Gaelic. I love the Lord because my voice and prayers heeded here. I, while I live, will call on him who bowed to me his ear.

Of death the cords and sorrows that about me compassed round. The pains of hell took hold on me. I grief and trouble found. Upon the name of God the Lord, then did I call and say, Deliver thy my soul, O Lord.

I do thee humbly pray. God merciful and righteous is. Ye gracious is our Lord. God saves the meek. I was brought low.

He did me help afford. The first two stanzas of Psalm 116 will sing in Gaelic, and we remain seated to sing to God's praise in Gaelic. The first two stanzas of Psalm 116 will sing in Gaelic.

may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may Oh

Oh Oh Oh

Oh Oh Oh If you could turn back please to Matthew Turn back please to Matthew Chapter 26 And as we go there As we usually do Let's again come to God in prayer Lord God as we have sang in the psalm We thank you that you are the God who hears our prayers And who meets with us in our need And we pray for your help For the help of God the Holy Spirit As we come to a passage Which is In many ways dark Because we see

The beginnings of how Jesus suffered for our sin We pray that you would help us to see that As we take time to go through these verses Help us to see In greater depth What the children were telling us just a few minutes ago About the suffering of Jesus That he gave his body That he shed his blood So that we could be saved And as we follow the Lord Jesus Into Gethsemane And as we watch him Beginning to suffer We pray that you would take away From our minds Every distraction Every Every trivial thought And we pray for your help That we may see more Of the sufferings of Christ

And the love Of Jesus For us We pray that none of us Would be untouched We pray that any hearts That are Hard That you would soften them Lord We pray that any minds That are cluttered with All the cares Of this world That you would sweep These things away And that you would help us To see The Lord Jesus And what we pray for ourselves We pray for the children We ask Lord That you would be working In their lives That you would be working In their hearts That the childlike faith That we believe Many of them have Would grow And mature And we pray that they And we Would be Sanctified And formed More and more Into the image of Jesus Pray for the wee ones

In the creche And we ask Lord That even before Their minds can Comprehend The facts of The life and death And resurrection Of Jesus We pray That Holy Spirit You would be working In their lives To draw them To To Christ As Saviour And we pray for the wee ones At home as well We think especially Of little Evelyn today And we thank you For your healing Touch upon her As we think back To her in hospital Last Sunday We thank you That you are a God Who does hear And answer prayers And we pray That she would know Her strength increasing And that you would Guard her And keep her And we pray for all Those who are sick And those who are recovering And as we name them Before you In our own hearts We pray that your hand Would be upon them So hear us

And help us We pray In Jesus name Amen Sometimes It is the Small details That can be Of huge Significance And For those who Who watch True crime documentaries I bet you There's a few In this room Who Like to spend Their evenings Relaxing Watching the most Terrific True crime documentaries If you watch These programs Very often What we see Is that The detectives Who are working On the case As they look At every detail Often it's The smallest Fibre It's the faintest Print It's the one Obscure word From a witness Statement That helps To unlock A case And helps

Us to see What really Happened And what I'd like To do Today Is zoom In On one Word And it's The word Cup It appears Twice In the Passage That we Read Twice There's Reference To a Cup One Cup Is passed To Jesus In Gethsemane But it cannot Pass from him Only he Can drink From it And the Other cup Is passed By Jesus To his Disciples And in the Upper room They are Commanded To drink From it So two Points Today We'll Spend more Time On the First Point The first

Thing we'll Look at Is the Cup That only Jesus Could drink And the Second Point that We'll look At Is the Cup That Jesus Commands His Disciples To drink So first First of All The cup That only Jesus Can Drink And that Takes us To Gethsemane Gethsemane Was the Place It was the Location Where Jesus Would be Betrayed By Judas Iscariot Already Jesus Has told Judas And the Disciples About the Betrayal Although for The disciples The truth Of that Isn't Really Sinking In But we've Been Allowed To see That Jesus Is going To be Betrayed By Judas Iscariot And the Location Of that Betrayal Would be Gethsemane And we Can ask The question

How did Judas Iscariot Know That Jesus Would be In the Garden Of Gethsemane How did Judas Know Where to Find Jesus In Order To Betray Him Well The reason That Judas Knew That Jesus Would be In Gethsemane With his Disciples Was because Jesus Often Went there For Jesus Gethsemane That garden It was a Place of Peace It was a Place of Fellowship And prayer It was a Place where They Had known Much Blessing In the Past But not Today This would Not be a Place Today Where Jesus And the Disciples Would Have that Sense of Blessing Gethsemane

Was the Place Where Jesus Would go To war With sin And Satan And death And hell For our Sake We sang at The beginning Of the service Some of us For me It was In the Garden He prayed Not my Will But Thine So Let us I pray Cautiously And Reverently Look at Jesus As he Takes hold Of a Cup That only He Could Drink Three Things to Note about This cup The first Thing is That this Cup that Jesus Takes hold Of Is a Cup of Sorrow The most Extreme Sorrow

Verse 36 Then Jesus Went with Them To a Place Called Gethsemane And he Said to His Disciples Sit here While I Go over There and Pray And taking With him Peter And the Two Sons of Zebedee He Began To be Sorrowful And Troubled Then he Said to Them My soul Is very Sorrowful Even To death Remain Here And watch With me So what Did Jesus Feel Because that's What we'll be Giving some Measure of Insight Into We're not Given much In the way Of detail When it Comes to The cross We're told And they Crucified Him But what Did Jesus Feel In Gethsemane

Well Matthew Tells us In verse 37 That Jesus Was Sorrowful And troubled And the Greek words Used Mean that Literally Jesus Was in Deep Distress He was Going Through Intense Grief The most Intense Kind of Grief He was Going Through Acute Emotional Psychological Spiritual Pain And Matthew As an Eyewitness Is trying In verse 37 To stretch The vocabulary As much As is Possible To express What the Disciples Could see In Jesus But the Words Just don't Capture It And so In verse 38

Matthew In a sense Tries to Turn the Volume Up And he Says that Not only Was Jesus Sorrowful But he Was very Sorrowful And the Word in The Greek There Means That Jesus Was He was Encompassed He was Overwhelmed With With sorrow He was I'm using The literal Here from The scholars He was Grieved All around He was Exceedingly Very sorrowful So Matthew He's trying To find All the Words That he Can To try To show Us How sorrowful Jesus Was As he Saw this Cup And took Hold of This cup That he Cannot Pass on But he Must Drink In verse 38 It says He was Sorrowful Even Unto

Death Jesus Who In John 14 6 Said Of himself I am The Life He is Looking Into A cup That is Filled With Death And the Effect Of this Was to Encompass Him Was to Overwhelm Him With sorrow So this Cup First Of all It was A cup Of sorrow That Jesus Is holding The second Thing to Note About this Cup Is it's A cup Of Solitude And we See that As we Step Through These Same Verses There Is a Sense Of Distance Forming Between Jesus And the Disciples In this Garden Of

Gethsemane Notice Apology For Saying Often The First Calling Of The Disciples Back Then And the First Calling Of Disciples Of Jesus Today Is to Be With Him To Be With Jesus It's Not to Be Active For Him We Cannot Be Active For Him If We Are Not First With Him Mark 3 14 Jesus Appointed 12 Whom He Also Named Apostles That They

Might Be With Him And So Over The Last Three Years The Disciples Of Jesus They Were With Him We Can Step Back Through The Chapters And We See That Jesus He Asked The Disciples And They Are With Him As He Fed The 5,000 And The 4,000 They See These Miracles Up Close They Are With Him As He Stills The Sea With A Word They Are With Him As He Healed Many Who Were Sick Who Come To Him They Are With Him As He Raised The Dead And As Jesus Approaches Gethsemane He Calls These Same Disciples To Be With Him But Notice Pray

And That's The Beginning Of This Distance That Forms But As Jesus Goes To Prayer He Takes The Disciples That He Was Closest To With Him Verse 37 And Taking With Him Peter And The Two Sons Of Zebedee He Began To Be Sorrowful Troubled Then He Said To Them My Soul Is Very Sorrowful Even Unto Death Remain Here And Watch With Me But Again Watch This Watch The Distance That Forms Jesus Tells Peter And James And John To Remain Here But We're Told In Verse 39 That He Goes A Little Further On To Pray Verse 39 And Going A Little Further!

Jesus Fell On His Face And Prayed Saying My Father If It Be Possible Let This Cup Pass From Me Nevertheless Not As I Will But As You Will And He Came To The Disciples And Found Them Sleeping And He Said To Peter So Could You Not Watch With Me One Hour Watch And Pray That You May Not Enter Into Temptation The Spirit Indeed Is Willing Peter Needed To Hear Us But The Flesh Is Weak To Jesus As We See Him Holding This Cup He's In Deep Sorrow And There Is This Increasing Sense Of Solitude

There Is Physically A Growing Distance Between Jesus And The Disciples And Spiritually There Is A Distance Because These Disciples They Cannot Even Remain With Him For One Hour In Prayer They Go To Sleep Instead And We Don't Point The Finger At Them Because We Would Have Been Just The Same So Verse 42 Again For The Second Time Jesus Went Away And Prayed My Father If This Cup He's Talking About If This Cup Cannot Pass Unless I Drink It Your Will Be Done And Again He Came And Found Them Sleeping For Their Eyes Were Heavy And What We're What We're To See As We Step Through These Verses Is That Jesus He Is Alone

In This Struggle So Absolute Solitude He Is Alone In This Struggle Verse 44 So Leaving Them Again He Went Away And Prayed For The Third Time Saying The Same Words Again And Three Times In The Bible Is The Writers Way Of Saying This Is Maximum Emphasis This Is The Highest Volume This Is Bold Underline Highlighted Three Times For The Third Time Matthew Zooms In On Jesus To Show Us That Jesus He Is Struggling!

He Is Sorrowing! And Three Times Matthew Zooms In To Show Us That Jesus Is Utterly Alone In This Struggle!

As Jesus Takes This Cup Of Sorrow In His Hands As He Wrestles In Prayer He Is In Solitude He Is Alone This Cup Could Not Be Shared With The Disciples It Could Not Be Passed To The Disciples Jesus Is Alone This Is A Cup Of Solitude That He Holds And Yet There Was Was An Even More Painful Solitude That Was Ahead Of Jesus And He's Realizing This As He Suffers In Gethsemane Jesus Is Starting To See The Pains Of The Cross And On The Cross Not

Only Would Jesus Be Separated From His Disciples But He Would Be Separated From His Father Eric Alexander Says He Who From All Eternity Had Known As His Greatest Delight Unclouded Fellowship With His Father He Sees That The Reality Of Sin Bearing Is The Isolation Not From Men But From God As He Cries My God My God Why Have You Forsaken Me This Was A Cup Of Solitude This Was A Cup Of Sorrow The Last Thing We See Is That This Was A Cup Of Sin As

We See Jesus In The Garden Of Gethsemane We Have To Ask What Is In This Cup That Jesus Is Preparing To Drink What Is It That Is Causing Such Extreme Sorrow What Is It That Is Causing Such Deep Torment What Is It That Is Troubling And Distressing Jesus To This Extent That Great The Sweat That Came Off His Brow We're Told In Another Gospel Was Like Great Drops Of Blood Such Was The Anxiety We Could Get Anthony To Speak To About The The Medical Condition That Jesus Was Going Through As He Struggles In This Way What Is This Cup Full Of That He Is Holding And The Answer Is Sin This Is A Cup Of Death Romans 6 23

Says The Wages Of Sin Is Death And As Jesus Takes This Cup He Knows That It Will Take Him To His Death On The Cross But Let's Ask The Question If This Is A Cup Of Sin Whose Sin Is Filling This Cup It Can't Be Jesus Sin Because He Never Sin So Whose Sin Filled This Cup And The Answer Is It's Yours And Mine This Cup Was Full Of Our Sin So Think For A Moment

With Me Think For A Moment With Me About What Was In That Cup Every Wrong Thing That You And I Have Ever Done Was In That Cup Every Dark Twisted Thought That Has Ever Passed Through Our Minds That Sometimes We've Held On To Was In That Cup Every Deceitful Word Ever Spoken Was In That Cup Every Secret Sin Every Wrong Desire All The Things That You And I Would Be Horrified For Others To See Jesus

Is Looking At It And It's In That Cup That He's Holding And All That You've Thought Of In Respect Of You Take That And Multiply It By Every Sinner That Has Ever Repented Through All The Ages Past Present Future All That Volume Of Sin All That Death All That Judgment Is In That Cup One Commentator Says Our Lord Is Picking Up This Word Cup From The Old Testament Scripture Isaiah 51 Jeremiah 25 Ezekiel 23 Zechariah 12 These Are Passages That Show Us That The Cup

Is A Symbol Of The Judgment And Wrath Of A Holy God See A Holy God Must Punish Sin A God Who Has No Regard For Justice Is Not A God Worth Worshipping A Holy God Must Punish Sin And What We Are Seeing Here Is That Jesus God The Son He Is Determining In Love That He Will Take The Punishment For Sin It's All In That Cup And So It's No Wonder That Jesus In His Humanity As He Suffers In Gethsemane He Cries Out My Father If It Be Possible Let This Cup Pass From Me But

If We Were To Be Saved It Wasn't Possible For This Cup To Pass From Jesus So It Made It A Cup Of Solitude We Often Sing That That Old Children's Hymn There Was No Other Good Enough To Pay The Price Of Sin He Only Could Unlock The Gate Of Heaven And Let Us In So Jesus Knowing That Said My Father If This Cannot Pass Unless I Drink It Your Will Be Done There Was No Other Way That You And I Could Be Saved So Jesus Did Not Let This Cup Pass In Gethsemane With

That Solitude With That Extreme Sorrow He Drank It And Right On Cue Verse 45 Judas Iscariot Appears And Jesus Rises From Prayer He Exits The Garden He He!

He He to an upper room where Jesus is eaten with his disciples.

Verse 26, Now as they were eaten, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it, broke it and gave it to the disciples and said, Take, eat, this is my body.

And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, Drink of it, all of you. For this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.

I tell you, I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom.

So let's think here, as we come to a conclusion, about the contrast. As we put these two passages alongside each other, think about the contrast.

That the cup that only Jesus could drink, the cup that Jesus could not pass on, that cup that he held in Gethsemane, was filled with our sin. And Jesus took our sin from us as he drank that cup and went to the cross.

So what is in this cup that Jesus passes to his disciples? The one that he could not pass is full of sin. What is this cup that Jesus is passing?

What is that filled with? What is this cup that Jesus commands his disciples to drink full of? The answer is Christ's salvation.

Yes, the cup is full of wine, but the wine pointed forward to the blood of Jesus that would be poured out on the cross. For who?

Well, for the many, we're told, who believe in Jesus. For the forgiveness of their sins, our sins, if we're believing in Jesus.

This is a cup of salvation. And it's offered to you and I. It's possible that there's someone, or there's some people here today, or who are watching, and are unmoved by what Jesus is doing.

And if that's your state, all the sin that is in your life, it will be poured into a cup that you have to drink.

That's what hell is about. But what we see in the gospel, what we see in that upper room, is that Jesus is offering a cup that is full of salvation.

And if you and I want to have our sins forgiven, if we want our sins to be taken away, if we want to escape the punishment for our sins, we need to believe in Jesus.

We need to ask him to wash us in his blood, that blood that was shed on the cross. And if we ask him, he will cleanse us.

That's his promise. He will forgive us of all our sin. He will save us from our sin. He will save us from the death that is the wages of our sin.

He will save us from hell. And he will save us for a life, for an eternity, where we are blissfully with him.

And if we are with him, if we are those who have had our sins forgiven, if we have been saved by his blood, Jesus passes this cup of salvation to us and he says to us, drink of it.

Not think about it. Not work up a good enough religious CV a condemnation that you're worthy of it. You'll never get there.

Jesus simply says, if we have asked for forgiveness, if we are trusting in his blood, if we are saved through his finished work, we are to drink of the cup that he passes to his disciples.

It's a cup of salvation. So as we prepare for communion, let us not do so thoughtlessly.

Let us not rush there without considering all that Christ has done for us. Let us not rush to the communion table without examining ourselves and seeing what Jesus has done for us.

But let us remember the cup that only Jesus could drink if we were to be saved. A cup of sorrow, a cup of solitude, a cup of sin.

Let us remember what he went through in Gethsemane and then on the cross. And let us receive the cup that Jesus commands us to drink if we are his disciples.

A cup of salvation that was paid for through the pouring out of his blood. Let's pray for a moment.

Heavenly Father, we pray for your help as we go from here.

We ask that you would help us to see and understand and to believe all that is written in the scriptures. We are conscious that unless God the Holy Spirit drives the words of scripture into our hearts, there is no man or woman that can persuade us of the worth of it.

So Holy Spirit, we pray that you would be active in our hearts in this place that we may see all that Jesus has done for us and that we may believe and do what he commands us to do if we are trusting in him.

And we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. We'll sing to conclude Psalm 116 and we'll sing verses 13 to the end of the psalm.

I love salvation. Take the cup. On God's name will I call. I'll pay my vows now to the Lord before his people all. We'll sing down to the end of this psalm.

We'll stand to sing to God's praise. I love salvation, take the cup, for God's name will I fall.

I pray my bow to the Lord, before his people all.

Here in your sight is this King's death, thy servant Lord am I.

Thy servant sure, thy hand-paste son, thy bonds thou didst untie.

And offerings I to thee will give, and on God's name will come.

I pray my bow to the Lord, before his people all.

Within the courts of God's own house, within the midst of thee.

O city of Jerusalem, praise to the Lord in me.

And now may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, the fellowship of God the Holy Spirit, be with us all, now and forevermore. Amen.