WEBVTT 00:00:04.200 --> 00:00:06.559 You're listening to the Christ Our Cornerstone 00:00:06.559 --> 00:00:09.359 podcast, a ministry of Christ Our Cornerstone 00:00:09.359 --> 00:00:12.099 Church in O 'Neill, Nebraska. I'm Pastor Logan 00:00:12.099 --> 00:00:14.160 Merrick, and it's our prayer that this message 00:00:14.160 --> 00:00:16.500 strengthens your faith and draws you closer to 00:00:16.500 --> 00:00:21.879 Christ. Let's dive in. All right. So if you are 00:00:21.879 --> 00:00:23.739 taking notes, you want to write some stuff down. 00:00:24.120 --> 00:00:26.519 The title of my sermon today is Love Hurts. Remember 00:00:26.519 --> 00:00:33.880 that song? Trudy, I know that you are a big Nazareth 00:00:33.880 --> 00:00:40.659 fan. So that's what was going through my mind 00:00:40.659 --> 00:00:42.700 whenever I was putting the sermon together. So 00:00:42.700 --> 00:00:47.939 love hurts the cup that couldn't pass. And then 00:00:47.939 --> 00:00:50.380 the big idea, you can write this down and be 00:00:50.380 --> 00:00:52.759 right up here. Also, I'm going to go ahead and 00:00:52.759 --> 00:00:55.240 tell you guys, because I was told this past Wednesday, 00:00:55.719 --> 00:01:00.299 reminded. that I go too fast. So I'm going to 00:01:00.299 --> 00:01:04.739 ask you to just give me a thumbs up or something 00:01:04.739 --> 00:01:07.920 when you're ready for me to move on when you're 00:01:07.920 --> 00:01:10.840 taking notes. Because I don't want you to miss 00:01:10.840 --> 00:01:12.840 anything. I want you to get everything down. 00:01:14.379 --> 00:01:17.159 So just give me the OK. So the big idea is this. 00:01:17.359 --> 00:01:20.969 Write this down. The cup. could not pass because 00:01:20.969 --> 00:01:24.549 God's wrath against sin had to be satisfied. 00:01:24.769 --> 00:01:28.689 And Christ's love for us compelled him to drink 00:01:28.689 --> 00:01:30.489 it. What's the cup? We're going to look into 00:01:30.489 --> 00:01:35.069 that in just a second. So go ahead and keep that 00:01:35.069 --> 00:01:40.810 up there if you would for me. And as you guys 00:01:40.810 --> 00:01:47.769 are writing that down. How many of you guys? 00:01:49.230 --> 00:01:55.109 like a good story where the the main character 00:01:55.109 --> 00:02:01.829 or of whatever story movie whatever is staring 00:02:01.829 --> 00:02:04.049 death in the face they know they're going to 00:02:04.049 --> 00:02:07.530 die and yet they go willingly to their death 00:02:07.530 --> 00:02:10.710 they look death in the face and they're like 00:02:10.710 --> 00:02:16.819 I'm still doing this so I think about the movie 00:02:16.819 --> 00:02:19.539 300, I think about the movie Armageddon, I think 00:02:19.539 --> 00:02:22.479 about a lot of different movies, but the movie 00:02:22.479 --> 00:02:25.560 that I really wanted to, I'm hoping that you 00:02:25.560 --> 00:02:32.360 guys have seen, Doug, is Tombstone. Have you 00:02:32.360 --> 00:02:37.060 guys seen the movie Tombstone? Okay, Doug, still 00:02:37.060 --> 00:02:40.240 no? It's a western. I thought for sure you would 00:02:40.240 --> 00:02:42.599 go with that one where the guy was up on the 00:02:42.599 --> 00:02:46.389 moon. Armageddon. I was going to go with that 00:02:46.389 --> 00:02:47.909 one. And my wife was like, they're not going 00:02:47.909 --> 00:02:49.770 to know it. They're not going to know it. So 00:02:49.770 --> 00:02:52.069 I went with Tombstone thinking it's a Western. 00:02:52.370 --> 00:02:55.330 I almost went with the Alamo with John Wayne. 00:02:55.509 --> 00:02:57.909 And I was like, no, Tombstone. Surely everyone 00:02:57.909 --> 00:03:00.349 has seen Tombstone. That's your homework. It's 00:03:00.349 --> 00:03:04.310 an old movie. But you've got Val Kilmer plays 00:03:04.310 --> 00:03:07.689 Doc Holliday and you've got Kurt Russell and 00:03:07.689 --> 00:03:10.650 so there are these old gunslinging outlaws But 00:03:10.650 --> 00:03:14.569 there's this scene that's famous in the movie 00:03:14.569 --> 00:03:20.050 Where Doc Holliday is dying he knows he's dying 00:03:20.050 --> 00:03:23.360 he's dying because of blood loss, internal blood 00:03:23.360 --> 00:03:26.539 loss. And so he decides that he's just going 00:03:26.539 --> 00:03:30.020 to take on these guys by himself. And there's 00:03:30.020 --> 00:03:33.960 a famous line in it where he looks at one of 00:03:33.960 --> 00:03:40.620 the bad guys and he says what? There we go. Thank 00:03:40.620 --> 00:03:46.180 you, Emily. I'm your huckleberry. Meaning, I'm 00:03:46.180 --> 00:03:48.539 not afraid to die. You and me, let's do this 00:03:48.539 --> 00:03:55.000 thing right now. If it means saving the people 00:03:55.000 --> 00:03:59.460 behind me, I will willingly go to my own death. 00:04:00.800 --> 00:04:04.919 So I love stories about men and women who stare 00:04:04.919 --> 00:04:07.879 death in the face and they don't flinch, much 00:04:07.879 --> 00:04:10.979 like Doc Holliday. But there's other stories. 00:04:11.439 --> 00:04:13.759 Greek mythology has stories about Achilles. And 00:04:13.759 --> 00:04:16.040 you've got Roman stories, which is where the 00:04:16.040 --> 00:04:18.839 movie 300 comes from. You've got Westerns. You've 00:04:18.839 --> 00:04:23.160 got war movies. You've got all of these stories 00:04:23.160 --> 00:04:26.420 where heroes that know their fate, and they accept 00:04:26.420 --> 00:04:29.839 it, and yet they march towards it solemnly anyway. 00:04:30.339 --> 00:04:35.519 Right? So when we look at the story of Jesus 00:04:35.519 --> 00:04:38.759 in the Garden of Gethsemane Mark shows us something 00:04:38.759 --> 00:04:41.800 that's very different from the hero staring death 00:04:41.800 --> 00:04:44.540 in the face with a smile saying I'm your huckleberry 00:04:44.540 --> 00:04:49.180 Jesus just doesn't do that No instead we see 00:04:49.180 --> 00:04:52.040 Jesus is troubled and he's overwhelmed with sorrow 00:04:52.040 --> 00:04:55.439 and so today We're gonna look at our text before 00:04:55.439 --> 00:04:57.220 we go any further to kind of dive in a little 00:04:57.220 --> 00:05:00.579 bit more. So if you would We're gonna go through 00:05:01.269 --> 00:05:10.790 36, so Mark 14 verse 32. And they went to a place 00:05:10.790 --> 00:05:14.430 called Gethsemane. And he said to his disciples, 00:05:14.709 --> 00:05:18.490 sit here while I pray. And he took with him Peter 00:05:18.490 --> 00:05:23.060 and James and John and began to be greatly distressed 00:05:23.060 --> 00:05:24.759 and troubled. I want you to, if you're taking 00:05:24.759 --> 00:05:26.899 notes, you have your own Bible, circle those 00:05:26.899 --> 00:05:29.000 words, highlight those words. They're kind of 00:05:29.000 --> 00:05:31.040 crucial words. I'm going to show you in a second. 00:05:32.300 --> 00:05:35.279 And he said to them, my soul is very sorrowful 00:05:35.279 --> 00:05:38.860 even to death. Remain here and watch. And going 00:05:38.860 --> 00:05:41.500 a little farther, he fell on the ground and prayed 00:05:41.500 --> 00:05:44.779 that if it were possible, the hour might pass 00:05:44.779 --> 00:05:49.160 from him. And he said, Abba, which means daddy. 00:05:52.340 --> 00:05:57.939 The word Abba is the way my daughter talks to 00:05:57.939 --> 00:06:02.639 me. Dad, daddy, Abba, father, all things are 00:06:02.639 --> 00:06:09.540 possible for you. Remove this cup from me and 00:06:09.540 --> 00:06:16.240 then it stops. Does it stop? No. He says one 00:06:16.240 --> 00:06:19.490 other piece that's pretty crucial, right? Yet 00:06:19.490 --> 00:06:25.110 not what I will. Finish that for me. But what 00:06:25.110 --> 00:06:30.790 you will. So. Here's Jesus just before his execution. 00:06:31.509 --> 00:06:34.089 And he's opening his heart to his disciples. 00:06:34.790 --> 00:06:36.970 He's opening his heart to the Father. He's opening 00:06:36.970 --> 00:06:39.589 his heart to us as the readers of Mark's Gospel. 00:06:39.949 --> 00:06:44.069 And he lays bare his struggle and his agony and 00:06:44.069 --> 00:06:47.759 his fear of what he is about to face. And we 00:06:47.759 --> 00:06:50.480 see so much of His humanity in this scene. We 00:06:50.480 --> 00:06:53.899 see His fear. But I thought He was God. Yes, 00:06:53.899 --> 00:06:59.720 He is. So why wasn't Jesus facing death much 00:06:59.720 --> 00:07:04.339 like Doc Holliday in Tombstone? Doesn't Jesus 00:07:04.339 --> 00:07:07.980 know that there is an afterlife? Isn't He God? 00:07:08.060 --> 00:07:11.939 Yes, of course. So we are seeing that fear and 00:07:11.939 --> 00:07:15.889 things are natural. But it also must mean that 00:07:15.889 --> 00:07:18.670 Jesus knows something else and so Jesus pleads 00:07:18.670 --> 00:07:21.649 with the father Is there a way that this cup 00:07:21.649 --> 00:07:25.089 can be taken from me? Can we accomplish this 00:07:25.089 --> 00:07:29.819 mission of saving people any other way? So up 00:07:29.819 --> 00:07:32.600 until this point Jesus has been in control. We've 00:07:32.600 --> 00:07:34.980 seen that in every story. Doesn't matter if he's 00:07:34.980 --> 00:07:37.319 challenged by the Pharisees. Doesn't matter the 00:07:37.319 --> 00:07:39.660 demons he comes against. It doesn't matter the 00:07:39.660 --> 00:07:42.620 sickness that he sees. He's constantly and never 00:07:42.620 --> 00:07:46.560 taken off guard. He's always in control. Nothing 00:07:46.560 --> 00:07:49.680 surprises him. Nothing seems to jar him. But 00:07:49.680 --> 00:07:53.759 now he is deeply distressed. And Mark says that 00:07:53.759 --> 00:07:57.069 he is troubled. And here's something, that Greek 00:07:57.069 --> 00:08:00.709 word carries this idea of being overcome with 00:08:00.709 --> 00:08:04.889 horror. You've probably experienced this before 00:08:04.889 --> 00:08:07.889 where you either see something, experience something 00:08:07.889 --> 00:08:13.810 that immediately your skin goes pale, you start 00:08:13.810 --> 00:08:16.870 to get nauseous, you get a little sweaty, and 00:08:16.870 --> 00:08:19.430 you start hyperventilating a little bit, right? 00:08:19.949 --> 00:08:24.639 You get that lump in your throat. And that's 00:08:24.639 --> 00:08:26.939 something that Jesus is experiencing right now. 00:08:28.980 --> 00:08:33.220 But why? Why isn't Jesus facing death like Doc 00:08:33.220 --> 00:08:36.220 Holliday or Achilles or Bruce Willis in Armageddon? 00:08:38.200 --> 00:08:41.679 His struggle is not only unusual compared to 00:08:41.679 --> 00:08:43.820 ancient stories of great men facing death, it 00:08:43.820 --> 00:08:46.820 is also unique when compared with the history 00:08:46.820 --> 00:08:49.340 of the church. What do you guys know about the 00:08:49.340 --> 00:08:51.820 early church and those who have faced death? 00:08:53.320 --> 00:08:56.960 If you read the book of Acts, if you read Fox's 00:08:56.960 --> 00:09:06.120 book of martyrs, what do you know? Yeah, and 00:09:06.120 --> 00:09:09.559 they willingly went, right? There's also something 00:09:09.559 --> 00:09:15.200 in the early church, the bishops, it got to the 00:09:15.200 --> 00:09:18.879 place where they were trying to die, almost to 00:09:18.879 --> 00:09:21.419 a point of suicide. They wanted to be arrested. 00:09:21.600 --> 00:09:24.299 They wanted to be killed for their faith. Because 00:09:24.299 --> 00:09:25.940 they were just ready to go be with Jesus. And 00:09:25.940 --> 00:09:27.240 it got to the place where the bishops had to 00:09:27.240 --> 00:09:31.700 go, hey, hey, hey, let's calm down. We're almost 00:09:31.700 --> 00:09:34.019 to a place where we're trying to just get killed 00:09:34.019 --> 00:09:36.779 for the sake of it. We need to calm some things 00:09:36.779 --> 00:09:40.179 down. So they were willingly going. So why is 00:09:40.179 --> 00:09:45.029 it that Jesus isn't like that? And as a matter 00:09:45.029 --> 00:09:48.029 of fact, so we've seen, we know that we have 00:09:48.029 --> 00:09:50.350 accounts of believers being burned alive, mauled 00:09:50.350 --> 00:09:53.070 by lions, sawn in pieces. You can read about 00:09:53.070 --> 00:09:55.690 that in Hebrews, right? And yet they face their 00:09:55.690 --> 00:09:59.429 deaths with remarkable peace. If you know anything 00:09:59.429 --> 00:10:02.230 about the tradition surrounding Jesus' brother, 00:10:02.789 --> 00:10:07.830 James. If you don't know, Jesus' brother James 00:10:07.830 --> 00:10:11.110 was executed by being beheaded and he was being 00:10:11.110 --> 00:10:15.330 taken to his death. And as he's being taken to 00:10:15.330 --> 00:10:18.129 his death, the Roman soldier who's walking beside 00:10:18.129 --> 00:10:20.409 him is literally mocking him and spitting on 00:10:20.409 --> 00:10:26.809 him, yet he's not bothered. Then as James goes 00:10:26.809 --> 00:10:30.570 and lays his head down in order to be killed, 00:10:30.769 --> 00:10:34.889 he has such peace, and his life is taken. And 00:10:34.889 --> 00:10:36.370 you know what happens in that moment? Do you 00:10:36.370 --> 00:10:42.440 guys know the story? No? The Roman Guard? Because 00:10:42.440 --> 00:10:46.480 of the peace of James And because he didn't fight 00:10:46.480 --> 00:10:49.820 back didn't do anything Gave his life to Christ 00:10:49.820 --> 00:10:55.879 and was beheaded right next to him And so how 00:10:55.879 --> 00:10:58.960 can it be how can followers of Jesus? Sometimes 00:10:58.960 --> 00:11:01.799 face death with such calm when Jesus himself 00:11:01.799 --> 00:11:04.659 seems to be overwhelmed by it He's begging the 00:11:04.659 --> 00:11:07.580 father take this cup for me And now if you remember 00:11:07.580 --> 00:11:09.960 last week, I talked about the elements of the 00:11:09.960 --> 00:11:12.639 Passover, right? And what they represented. We 00:11:12.639 --> 00:11:14.419 talked about how the bread represented, do you 00:11:14.419 --> 00:11:19.240 remember? Affliction. And you can write this 00:11:19.240 --> 00:11:23.779 down if you don't remember. What does the cup 00:11:23.779 --> 00:11:28.279 represent? The wrath of God against human evil. 00:11:29.639 --> 00:11:40.549 The wrath of God against human evil. So Jesus 00:11:40.549 --> 00:11:42.529 knew something about death that Doc Holliday 00:11:42.529 --> 00:11:46.889 never knew Jesus wasn't simply walking walking 00:11:46.889 --> 00:11:50.950 towards death Jesus was walking into the wrath 00:11:50.950 --> 00:11:57.230 of God There's your difference Jesus had lived 00:11:57.230 --> 00:12:01.879 his entire earthly life his entire eternal life 00:12:01.879 --> 00:12:04.700 in perfect communion with the Father. From eternity, 00:12:04.919 --> 00:12:07.379 the Son existed in perfect fellowship. Remember, 00:12:07.580 --> 00:12:09.820 one of the very first sermons I preached when 00:12:09.820 --> 00:12:14.100 we started going through Mark was the dance of 00:12:14.100 --> 00:12:17.259 the Trinity, right? So they've always been in 00:12:17.259 --> 00:12:20.879 perfect communion together. And God is the source 00:12:20.879 --> 00:12:26.990 of all love, all life, all light. and in him 00:12:26.990 --> 00:12:30.129 he holds all creation together and now Jesus 00:12:30.129 --> 00:12:33.190 stands in the garden looking towards the cross 00:12:33.190 --> 00:12:35.409 knowing that he's about to bear the judgment 00:12:35.409 --> 00:12:39.629 that our sin deserves. So think about that for 00:12:39.629 --> 00:12:43.009 just a moment. This cup is horrifying because 00:12:43.009 --> 00:12:45.809 the father who he's always been in communion 00:12:45.809 --> 00:12:51.889 with who is light, who is love, who is all things. 00:12:52.750 --> 00:12:55.509 He's about to be disconnected from, which means 00:12:55.509 --> 00:13:01.730 what? What is the opposite of light? Darkness. 00:13:01.970 --> 00:13:06.250 What is the opposite of love? Yeah, so he's going 00:13:06.250 --> 00:13:11.929 to experience disconnection from the thing, from 00:13:11.929 --> 00:13:15.429 the being that he has always been in communion 00:13:15.429 --> 00:13:22.220 with. The cup isn't merely death. It isn't merely 00:13:22.220 --> 00:13:25.620 nails, or thorns, or the agony of crucifixion, 00:13:25.639 --> 00:13:29.639 which is brutal, by the way. The cup is the righteous 00:13:29.639 --> 00:13:33.220 judgment of God against sin, and Jesus is looking 00:13:33.220 --> 00:13:36.019 into the abyss of what He is about to endure, 00:13:36.100 --> 00:13:40.039 and for the first time in His ministry, He asks 00:13:40.039 --> 00:13:45.539 the Father if there's another way. Now you can 00:13:45.539 --> 00:13:47.679 understand the prayer father if you're willing 00:13:47.679 --> 00:13:51.340 take this cup for me But there was no other way 00:13:51.340 --> 00:13:54.299 this was plan a and it was always about plan 00:13:54.299 --> 00:13:58.700 a so Jesus Knowing exactly what was in the cup 00:13:58.700 --> 00:14:01.440 willingly drank it now. I'm talking metaphorically 00:14:01.440 --> 00:14:06.879 by the way Not because Jesus wasn't afraid. Not 00:14:06.879 --> 00:14:09.200 because the suffering was somehow easy for him. 00:14:09.440 --> 00:14:11.960 He drank it because he loved his father and he 00:14:11.960 --> 00:14:14.500 loved us. And that brings us to the question 00:14:14.500 --> 00:14:17.879 I want us to wrestle with today. Why couldn't 00:14:17.879 --> 00:14:24.100 the cup pass? Why was there no other way? And 00:14:24.100 --> 00:14:27.379 the answer is found and the wrath of God's love 00:14:27.379 --> 00:14:30.019 and the obedience of Christ's love. So for those 00:14:30.019 --> 00:14:33.220 taking notes, my first point is the wrath of 00:14:33.220 --> 00:14:45.200 love. So let me ask you this. What comes to your 00:14:45.200 --> 00:14:47.679 mind when you hear someone mention the wrath 00:14:47.679 --> 00:14:56.169 of God? What comes to your mind? Judgment. Anger? 00:14:57.529 --> 00:15:06.269 Justice. Anybody else? What about just discomfort? 00:15:07.250 --> 00:15:09.809 Does it make you a little uncomfortable to think 00:15:09.809 --> 00:15:15.970 about the wrath of God? Yeah, it does me too. 00:15:17.990 --> 00:15:22.590 I can remember sitting when I was a pastor in 00:15:22.590 --> 00:15:28.700 Arkansas. We did a small group for young couples 00:15:28.700 --> 00:15:32.200 in our church. And I can remember sitting with 00:15:32.200 --> 00:15:37.059 them and two young wives told me that they didn't 00:15:37.059 --> 00:15:41.639 like the thought of God's wrath or a wrathful 00:15:41.639 --> 00:15:49.379 God. Or the thought of having to fear God. Because 00:15:49.379 --> 00:15:53.460 as they said, God is love. If God is love, then 00:15:53.460 --> 00:15:56.240 wrath and these things like that just doesn't 00:15:56.240 --> 00:15:59.080 make sense. It doesn't compute. They wanted to 00:15:59.080 --> 00:16:01.379 think about God, and this happens a lot. They 00:16:01.379 --> 00:16:06.000 wanted to think about God as in the Old Testament, 00:16:06.100 --> 00:16:08.799 he's like an adolescent, angry middle school 00:16:08.799 --> 00:16:11.340 kid. And then in the New Testament, he's grown 00:16:11.340 --> 00:16:14.919 up and he's married and he's matured. You know 00:16:14.919 --> 00:16:19.299 what I mean? And that's not him. He is unchanging. 00:16:19.620 --> 00:16:23.440 He's always the same and that is comfort, right? 00:16:24.840 --> 00:16:30.100 But I understand that why the wrath of God would 00:16:30.100 --> 00:16:32.799 make us uncomfortable because I wrestle with 00:16:32.799 --> 00:16:35.259 that too. But you've heard me say this for the 00:16:35.259 --> 00:16:37.000 last three weeks and we're gonna write it down 00:16:37.000 --> 00:16:40.779 again. We cannot separate the wrath of God from 00:16:40.779 --> 00:16:46.470 the love of God. We cannot separate. the wrath 00:16:46.470 --> 00:16:49.289 of God from the love of God. So think about it 00:16:49.289 --> 00:16:58.990 this way. Can loving people become angry? Like 00:16:58.990 --> 00:17:01.350 even nice loving people can become angry right? 00:17:02.350 --> 00:17:08.549 They can get mad right? Can loving people like 00:17:08.549 --> 00:17:12.329 me loving my spouse or my kids can that make 00:17:12.329 --> 00:17:17.900 me angry? Yes, right. They can do things that 00:17:17.900 --> 00:17:23.420 annoy you, that make you upset. And so it's not 00:17:23.420 --> 00:17:27.119 in spite of our love for them, but it's because 00:17:27.119 --> 00:17:32.700 of our love for them that we get angry. Pastor 00:17:32.700 --> 00:17:34.220 Logan, what are you talking about? Hang with 00:17:34.220 --> 00:17:38.680 me. The more deeply you love someone, the more 00:17:38.680 --> 00:17:40.859 angry you can become when you see them being 00:17:40.859 --> 00:17:52.670 harmed or harming themselves. You you guys know 00:17:52.670 --> 00:18:00.650 that like if you were to Call my wife ugly Pastor 00:18:00.650 --> 00:18:04.950 Logan ain't saved no more for a moment right 00:18:04.950 --> 00:18:11.650 If you were to be hateful to my children The 00:18:11.650 --> 00:18:15.089 the unsaved part of me or the you know The old 00:18:15.089 --> 00:18:17.130 me wants to come out and you guys understand 00:18:17.130 --> 00:18:18.730 what I'm saying because you guys are exact same 00:18:18.730 --> 00:18:24.970 way Right? And so the more we love others, the 00:18:24.970 --> 00:18:28.910 more angry we can become whenever those people 00:18:28.910 --> 00:18:36.509 are affected. If you see someone or know someone 00:18:36.509 --> 00:18:39.390 or love someone that has an addiction problem, 00:18:40.029 --> 00:18:43.849 and you just want them to desperately, desperately 00:18:43.849 --> 00:18:48.769 get it together, and you see that how this addiction 00:18:48.769 --> 00:18:51.599 is tearing them apart, it's destroying their 00:18:51.599 --> 00:18:58.759 lives. It makes you angry. Does it not? Why? 00:18:59.940 --> 00:19:03.440 Because you love them. You want better for them. 00:19:06.980 --> 00:19:10.519 And so, you can write this down right here. Your 00:19:10.519 --> 00:19:14.160 sense of love and justice are activated together, 00:19:14.519 --> 00:19:20.269 not in opposition to each other. If you see people 00:19:20.269 --> 00:19:22.750 destroying themselves or destroying others and 00:19:22.750 --> 00:19:25.450 you don't get angry, it's probably because you 00:19:25.450 --> 00:19:30.549 don't care. You're too self -absorbed. You're 00:19:30.549 --> 00:19:48.190 too cynical. You're too hard -hearted. I already 00:19:48.190 --> 00:19:52.230 have something else. Are we good? I got a thumbs 00:19:52.230 --> 00:19:55.250 up. And I got Keith May telling me that I got 00:19:55.250 --> 00:19:56.710 to ask Vicki, though, because you're not the 00:19:56.710 --> 00:20:01.930 one taking notes. I see her over there. So here's 00:20:01.930 --> 00:20:03.430 another one for you to write down. The more you 00:20:03.430 --> 00:20:07.990 love someone, the more you fiercely or the more 00:20:07.990 --> 00:20:17.099 fiercely you oppose whatever destroys them. When 00:20:17.099 --> 00:20:23.740 you are raised by an alcoholic You know how many 00:20:23.740 --> 00:20:26.680 You know how many people I've known in church 00:20:26.680 --> 00:20:29.779 that they were raised by an alcoholic and so 00:20:29.779 --> 00:20:34.359 they are so fiercely against Alcohol period like 00:20:34.359 --> 00:20:36.819 not even just like being an alcoholic like they 00:20:36.819 --> 00:20:41.519 are against all forms of alcohol Why because 00:20:41.519 --> 00:20:46.400 it severely affected them, right? So they are 00:20:46.400 --> 00:20:55.759 fiercely opposed to it. That, that comes from 00:20:55.759 --> 00:20:59.799 the Lord. The Bible tells us that God loves His 00:20:59.799 --> 00:21:02.140 creation and everything in it and that's one 00:21:02.140 --> 00:21:04.680 of the reasons He gets angry at what is happening 00:21:04.680 --> 00:21:08.140 in creation. He gets angry at sin because sin 00:21:08.140 --> 00:21:10.859 destroys the people and the world he loves. So 00:21:10.859 --> 00:21:13.839 when someone says, I don't want a wrathful God, 00:21:13.980 --> 00:21:16.539 I want a God who is love, what they're really 00:21:16.539 --> 00:21:19.119 asking for is a God that doesn't care about evil. 00:21:21.660 --> 00:21:25.099 But a loving God must hate what destroys the 00:21:25.099 --> 00:21:28.500 people he loves. His wrath is not the opposite 00:21:28.500 --> 00:21:31.119 of love, his wrath is one of the ways his love 00:21:31.119 --> 00:21:33.849 responds to evil. You guys have heard me say 00:21:33.849 --> 00:21:35.930 this before and use this example before. If someone 00:21:35.930 --> 00:21:40.710 breaks into my home and they mean to do harm 00:21:40.710 --> 00:21:43.750 to my wife or my children, would I be loving 00:21:43.750 --> 00:21:46.210 by just saying, don't hurt me, but go ahead and 00:21:46.210 --> 00:21:51.910 take them? Would that be loving? Nope. But nobody 00:21:51.910 --> 00:21:59.130 would fault me, hopefully, if I took a 45, right, 00:21:59.130 --> 00:22:05.920 to someone's chest. Why? Because I love what's 00:22:05.920 --> 00:22:13.619 behind me. Right? So there's something else that 00:22:13.619 --> 00:22:15.480 we need to understand. If you don't believe in 00:22:15.480 --> 00:22:17.799 a God of wrath, you actually have no idea how 00:22:17.799 --> 00:22:22.119 valuable you are. Again, what's behind me is 00:22:22.119 --> 00:22:26.700 valuable to me. So here's what I mean. Think 00:22:26.700 --> 00:22:30.589 about it like this. A little G God, okay? A God 00:22:30.589 --> 00:22:33.369 without wrath has no need to go to the cross 00:22:33.369 --> 00:22:37.170 and suffer incredible agony and die in order 00:22:37.170 --> 00:22:41.710 to save you. So, picture on one side a God who 00:22:41.710 --> 00:22:45.650 simply says, I love you, but never does anything 00:22:45.650 --> 00:22:52.589 about evil that destroys you. There's no cost. 00:22:52.950 --> 00:22:56.150 There's no sacrifice. There's no cross. His love 00:22:56.150 --> 00:23:01.980 cost him nothing. But, look at the God of the 00:23:01.980 --> 00:23:06.220 Bible, because He is holy, He is angry at evil, 00:23:06.319 --> 00:23:08.700 and because He loves us, He doesn't leave us 00:23:08.700 --> 00:23:12.700 in sin. He comes after us, He goes to the cross, 00:23:12.839 --> 00:23:15.420 He absorbs the debt, He pays the ransom, and 00:23:15.420 --> 00:23:18.779 He suffers immense torment to rescue and redeem 00:23:18.779 --> 00:23:22.440 His people. So the wrath of God tells you how 00:23:22.440 --> 00:23:25.700 seriously He takes sin. The cross tells you how 00:23:25.700 --> 00:23:28.740 far His love is willing to go to save you from 00:23:28.740 --> 00:23:32.559 it. Amen. Do you remember this song in Sunday 00:23:32.559 --> 00:23:37.240 school? Alright. See if you can sing it with 00:23:37.240 --> 00:23:48.460 me. Ready? Jesus loves His children, all the 00:23:48.460 --> 00:23:53.539 children of the world. red and yellow, black 00:23:53.539 --> 00:23:58.160 and white, they are precious in His sight. Jesus 00:23:58.160 --> 00:24:02.440 loves the little children of the world. Good 00:24:02.440 --> 00:24:06.940 job. It's a beautiful truth because it's true. 00:24:07.980 --> 00:24:11.240 Jesus loves His people, but your conception of 00:24:11.240 --> 00:24:13.960 God's love and your understanding of your value 00:24:13.960 --> 00:24:18.359 in His sight will only be as big as your understanding 00:24:18.359 --> 00:24:23.109 of His wrath. Write this down for me. The greater 00:24:23.109 --> 00:24:25.750 you understand what He was willing to save you 00:24:25.750 --> 00:24:28.910 from, the greater you can see how far His love 00:24:28.910 --> 00:24:32.849 was willing to go to save you. And that's why 00:24:32.849 --> 00:24:36.430 Jesus is standing in Gethsemane looking into 00:24:36.430 --> 00:24:41.450 the metaphorical cup, the wrath of God, and He's 00:24:41.450 --> 00:24:47.430 going, if there's any other way. The wrath of 00:24:47.430 --> 00:24:51.990 God is not some theological abstraction. It was 00:24:51.990 --> 00:24:54.329 something very real and only something that God 00:24:54.329 --> 00:25:00.690 knew He could bear. That's why He came. It is 00:25:00.690 --> 00:25:10.890 what Christ came to bear for us. Are we good? 00:25:11.250 --> 00:25:17.089 Still writing? Son, why aren't you taking notes? 00:25:18.349 --> 00:25:38.420 Sad. Good All right point number two The obedience 00:25:38.420 --> 00:25:44.920 of love the obedience of love When life is going 00:25:44.920 --> 00:25:48.640 well, and you're receiving the desires of your 00:25:48.640 --> 00:25:54.440 heart What tends to happen? I'll Ask it again 00:25:54.440 --> 00:25:57.359 when life is going well, and you're on the mountaintop 00:25:58.840 --> 00:26:02.000 And God is giving you the desires of your heart 00:26:02.000 --> 00:26:08.740 what tends to happen? Are you happy? Yeah, hopefully 00:26:08.740 --> 00:26:14.420 if not What's going on here? But there's a word 00:26:14.420 --> 00:26:20.579 That I'm That I think you guys would agree with 00:26:20.579 --> 00:26:22.440 when things are going well when you're in a season 00:26:22.440 --> 00:26:26.440 of life where it's like Going really well, right? 00:26:27.279 --> 00:26:34.500 You're content, right? So what seems to happen 00:26:34.500 --> 00:26:39.000 is contentment. Now, when life isn't going well, 00:26:39.240 --> 00:26:43.799 when you're experiencing suffering or pain, or 00:26:43.799 --> 00:26:46.180 you're not even in pain, you're just uncomfortable 00:26:46.180 --> 00:26:51.420 with life, how do you respond? Discontentment, 00:26:51.539 --> 00:26:58.490 right? For me in the past, If I wasn't happy 00:26:58.490 --> 00:27:01.930 or if I was uncomfortable, I would convince myself 00:27:01.930 --> 00:27:04.230 that God is calling us as a family somewhere 00:27:04.230 --> 00:27:08.390 else. And you can't argue with God, right? Like 00:27:08.390 --> 00:27:10.490 if I say God is calling us, then there's nothing 00:27:10.490 --> 00:27:13.089 anyone can argue with me about because obviously 00:27:13.089 --> 00:27:16.269 God must be calling me. But I have learned over 00:27:16.269 --> 00:27:19.049 the years that it wasn't God at all. It was often 00:27:19.049 --> 00:27:23.259 my own unwillingness to grow. to rest in Jesus 00:27:23.259 --> 00:27:25.940 and to trust Him with what He was doing in our 00:27:25.940 --> 00:27:30.279 lives. And so what would I do? In my unwillingness, 00:27:30.660 --> 00:27:33.400 in my discontentment, I would look for a new 00:27:33.400 --> 00:27:36.140 job, I would change the scenery, I would buy 00:27:36.140 --> 00:27:39.839 something, anything that might distract me and 00:27:39.839 --> 00:27:44.000 change my circumstances. Now I don't want you 00:27:44.000 --> 00:27:46.119 to misunderstand me though. Because there are 00:27:46.119 --> 00:27:49.160 reasons for you to change your circumstances. 00:27:49.339 --> 00:27:52.319 Sometimes changing your circumstances is exactly 00:27:52.319 --> 00:27:54.539 the right thing to do. If you're running with 00:27:54.539 --> 00:28:01.059 the wrong crowd, leave them. If you've received 00:28:01.059 --> 00:28:03.839 a bad medical diagnosis, there's very good reasons 00:28:03.839 --> 00:28:06.460 to change your diet, exercise, living situation, 00:28:06.880 --> 00:28:10.920 whatever needs to be done in order to be good. 00:28:11.579 --> 00:28:14.240 But what we shouldn't change, or we shouldn't 00:28:14.240 --> 00:28:16.700 change things simply because we're uncomfortable. 00:28:17.680 --> 00:28:21.500 Write this down. Because sometimes God is doing 00:28:21.500 --> 00:28:25.000 his deepest work in us right in the middle of 00:28:25.000 --> 00:28:31.559 circumstances we would rather escape. Sometimes 00:28:31.559 --> 00:28:35.380 God is doing his deepest work right in the middle 00:28:35.380 --> 00:28:38.420 of circumstances that we would rather escape. 00:28:40.769 --> 00:28:45.410 So why do I bring this up? If you look at Jesus 00:28:45.410 --> 00:28:48.730 here in the garden, on the surface it looks like 00:28:48.730 --> 00:28:50.950 he wants to take the path of least resistance. 00:28:52.849 --> 00:28:58.589 Any other way God, any other way. He sees pain 00:28:58.589 --> 00:29:01.109 and suffering is on the horizon and he asks if 00:29:01.109 --> 00:29:04.210 there's any other way. And he's contending with 00:29:04.210 --> 00:29:08.049 the Father. And he says everything is possible 00:29:08.049 --> 00:29:13.619 for you. take this cup from me. And if the passage 00:29:13.619 --> 00:29:16.140 ended there, you might think Jesus was pulling 00:29:16.140 --> 00:29:18.480 the ripcord and just trying to get out, right? 00:29:18.599 --> 00:29:21.759 I asked you guys when we read it, is that where 00:29:21.759 --> 00:29:24.660 it ends? And everybody said, nope, there's still 00:29:24.660 --> 00:29:27.720 one sentence left, right? And so we keep reading 00:29:27.720 --> 00:29:32.539 and it says, not my will, but your will be done, 00:29:32.619 --> 00:29:37.200 right? So Jesus is not taking his circumstances 00:29:37.200 --> 00:29:41.720 into his own hands. He's wrestling, but he's 00:29:41.720 --> 00:29:46.079 obeying. He's relinquishing control over his 00:29:46.079 --> 00:29:49.039 circumstances and submitting his desires to the 00:29:49.039 --> 00:29:54.240 will of the Father. And what does he say? Yet 00:29:54.240 --> 00:29:59.000 not what I will, but your will be done. Again, 00:29:59.019 --> 00:30:02.180 he's wrestling, but he is obeying in love. And 00:30:02.180 --> 00:30:04.920 so I want you to think about this. Jesus had 00:30:04.920 --> 00:30:07.220 the opportunity at the last moment to abort the 00:30:07.220 --> 00:30:15.500 mission. He could have. But he doesn't. Notice 00:30:15.500 --> 00:30:18.119 that Jesus doesn't say, let's abandon this whole 00:30:18.119 --> 00:30:21.859 thing and go beam me up Scotty. Right? That's 00:30:21.859 --> 00:30:23.599 a Star Trek reference for those that don't get 00:30:23.599 --> 00:30:31.640 it. Jesus just says, is there another way? Because 00:30:31.640 --> 00:30:37.819 as horrible as this cup is, right, I know there's 00:30:37.819 --> 00:30:41.480 not another way. So I'm going to drink it anyway. 00:30:43.660 --> 00:30:47.680 He knows what his immediate desire is to be spared, 00:30:50.559 --> 00:30:58.319 but his ultimate desire is what? Obedience. Rescuing 00:30:58.319 --> 00:31:04.619 those behind him. To spare us. And Jesus doesn't 00:31:04.619 --> 00:31:07.559 pull the ripcord. He doesn't look for the escape 00:31:07.559 --> 00:31:10.099 hatch. He stays. He accepts the will of the Father 00:31:10.099 --> 00:31:12.940 and ultimately he trusts the Father despite the 00:31:12.940 --> 00:31:16.579 suffering that lies ahead. And that's where this 00:31:16.579 --> 00:31:20.180 becomes personal for you and I. You should trust 00:31:20.180 --> 00:31:23.119 the one who went under the flaming sword of God's 00:31:23.119 --> 00:31:26.039 wrath for you. You should trust him in the middle 00:31:26.039 --> 00:31:28.440 of your discomfort. You should trust him when 00:31:28.440 --> 00:31:30.680 you don't understand what God is doing. And you 00:31:30.680 --> 00:31:33.220 should trust him when obedience is costly and 00:31:33.220 --> 00:31:38.519 the easier path is right in front of you. So 00:31:38.519 --> 00:31:40.420 what are you currently begging God to take from 00:31:40.420 --> 00:31:44.039 you? What is the thing you desperately wish would 00:31:44.039 --> 00:31:47.799 change? It's okay to wrestle with God about it 00:31:47.799 --> 00:31:50.279 because Jesus did but don't confuse wrestling 00:31:50.279 --> 00:31:54.400 with disobedience Because you should bring your 00:31:54.400 --> 00:31:57.460 desires honestly before the father and then like 00:31:57.460 --> 00:32:02.279 Jesus surrender them to him We should all pray 00:32:02.279 --> 00:32:05.839 like we when I preached on how you should pray, 00:32:05.859 --> 00:32:09.470 right? At the end, it should always be, but yet 00:32:09.470 --> 00:32:14.609 not my will, but yours. Because the one who drank 00:32:14.609 --> 00:32:17.329 the cup for you is the one you can trust with 00:32:17.329 --> 00:32:22.509 whatever you're facing now. And so in closing, 00:32:22.549 --> 00:32:27.170 here's what I want to say. That love, the love 00:32:27.170 --> 00:32:29.210 we've been talking about all morning, the love 00:32:29.210 --> 00:32:32.009 whose obedience is wide and long and high and 00:32:32.009 --> 00:32:35.529 deep enough to absorb a mountain of righteous 00:32:35.529 --> 00:32:38.519 wrath, That is the love you've been looking for 00:32:38.519 --> 00:32:42.579 your entire life. No family love can give you 00:32:42.579 --> 00:32:46.099 this. No friendship, no mother or father, no 00:32:46.099 --> 00:32:49.039 spouse, no romance, no human relationship can 00:32:49.039 --> 00:32:52.160 ultimately satisfy the deepest need of your soul. 00:32:53.900 --> 00:32:56.559 Those loves are good gifts from God, but every 00:32:56.559 --> 00:33:00.359 one of them will eventually disappoint you. People 00:33:00.359 --> 00:33:05.549 will fail you. People will leave you. People 00:33:05.549 --> 00:33:09.730 will die Even the people who love you most cannot 00:33:09.730 --> 00:33:13.529 love you perfectly But this love is different 00:33:13.529 --> 00:33:17.390 This is the love that looked into the cup and 00:33:17.390 --> 00:33:20.309 drank it anyway This is the love that went into 00:33:20.309 --> 00:33:22.769 the darkness so that you could live in the light 00:33:22.769 --> 00:33:25.390 This is the love that endured the cross because 00:33:25.390 --> 00:33:28.529 of the joy set before him the joy of bringing 00:33:28.529 --> 00:33:33.509 sinners like us to home to the father So when 00:33:33.509 --> 00:33:36.900 you're afraid Trust Him. When you're suffering, 00:33:37.720 --> 00:33:40.059 trust Him. When you're uncomfortable and you 00:33:40.059 --> 00:33:43.880 don't understand what God is doing, trust Him. 00:33:44.900 --> 00:33:47.819 You can trust the one who went where you could 00:33:47.819 --> 00:33:50.720 never go or what you could never bear and drank 00:33:50.720 --> 00:33:54.400 the cup that you could never drink. So why couldn't 00:33:54.400 --> 00:34:01.140 the cup pass? Because your sin is real. God's 00:34:01.140 --> 00:34:05.680 wrath is righteous. And Christ's love is greater. 00:34:06.640 --> 00:34:09.960 So He drank the cup for you and if He loved you 00:34:09.960 --> 00:34:12.619 enough to do that, you can trust Him with everything 00:34:12.619 --> 00:34:13.820 else. Let's pray.