SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 5/15/2024 9:19 AM
My Worship Time Focus: PT-1 “Intro
to Matthew 26:36-46”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Matthew
26:36-46
Message of the verses: “36 Then Jesus came
with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to His disciples, "Sit
here while I go over there and pray." 37 And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of
Zebedee, and began to be grieved and distressed. 38 Then He said to them,
"My soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death; remain here and keep
watch with Me." 39 And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His
face and prayed, saying, "My
Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will,
but as You will." 40 And He came to the disciples and found them sleeping,
and said to Peter, "So, you men could not keep watch with Me for
one hour? 41 “Keep watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation;
the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak." 42 He went away again a second
time and prayed, saying, "My Father, if this cannot pass away unless I
drink it, Your will be done." 43 Again He came and found them sleeping,
for their eyes were heavy. 44 And He left them again, and went away and prayed
a third time, saying the same thing once more. 45 Then He came to the disciples
and said to them, "Are you still sleeping and resting? Behold, the hour is
at hand and the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners. 46 “Get
up, let us be going; behold, the one who betrays Me is at hand!’”
I
begin this introduction with a quote from John MacArthur’s commentary where he
quotes a portion of a sermon given by Charles Haddon Spurgeon which he preached
on April 12, 1885 which was named “The Man Christ Jesus.” “It will not be enough for you to hear, or
read [about Christ]; you must do your own thinking and consider your Lord for
yourselves…The wine is not made by gathering the clusters, but by treading the
grapes in the wine-vat: under pressure the red juice leaps forth. Not the truth as you read it, but the truth
as you meditate upon it, will be a blessing to you…Shut yourself up with Jesus,
if you would know him.’ Just before that he had said, ‘[Yet] I am never more
vexed with myself than when I have done my very best to extol his dear
name. What is it but holding a candle to
the sun?’ Spurgeon concludes, ‘I cannot
speak as I would of Him. The blasé of
this Sun blinds me!’ (The Metropolitan Tabernacle, vol. 31
[London: Passmore & Alabaster, n.d.], pp. 209,213).
If
someone wants to listen to this sermon read by someone it can be found by
searching the internet for Spurgeon’s sermons as I believe that most of his
sermons can be found.
I
have to say that a couple of days ago that I listened to John MacArthur’s two
sermons on these verses from Matthew 26:36-46 and I have to say that the
messages given on these verses from MacArthur were a wonderful experience. He stated that he spent much time thinking
about what he was going to say and wished that he could just preach one sermon
which would last well over two hours, but knew that would not be possible. I have to say that I was moved by what is
found in these verses and I hope that I can convey that as I attempt to write
about them over the next few days or perhaps it will take more than a week to
go through them, we will see.
He
goes on to write “Even when one’s best is done to study about and meditate on
the Lord Jesus Christ, it becomes clear that the mystery is far too deep for
human comprehension. We know and believe
that He is fully God and also fully man, but to state and even sincerely
believe such a paradox is not to understand it.
It is far to profound even for Christian minds enlightened by the Holy
Spirit to fathom. With humility, awe, and
reference we follow the Lord on His circuitous route to the cross.
“By
now it was probably near midnight on the Thursday of Passover week in A.D.
33. Jesus’ three years of ministry were
completed. He had preached His last
public sermon and performed His last miracle.
He also had celebrated the last Passover with His disciples. But infinitely more important than that, He
had come to be the last and ultimate Passover Lamb, the perfect and only
sacrifice for the sins of the world.”
Lord willing we will finish this
introduction in the next SD.
5/15/2024 9:45 AM
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