Of Gardens and Trees - losses and victories.

Luke_22_38-53
May 25, 2008
“Of Gardens and Trees - losses and victories.”

Main Idea
I. Of Gardens and Trees - losses and victories.
A. The battle for the souls of men was lost in in the Garden of Eden by the first Adam, but re-fought and won in the Garden of Gethsemane by the last Adam, Jesus Christ!
Romans 5:18 (NKJV)
18 Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life.

1 Corinthians 15:22 (NKJV)
22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive.

1 Corinthians 15:45 (NKJV)
45 And so it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.
B. Lost when in rebellion to God Adam ate the forbidden fruit of the tree of the Knowledge of good and evil, and taken back when Christ laid down His life on a Roman cross, an old rugged cross cut from a tree, thereby paying the penalty for the rebellion of man.
1. Man willfully forfeited life (fellowship with God) in an idyllic garden where he daily had fellowship with God and no struggles, Christ crossed the Brook Kidron (means murky or dark) to get to Gethsemane (olive press) and the cross, and by the forfeit of His life regained life and fellowship with God for man!
John 18:1 (NKJV)
1 When Jesus had spoken these words, He went out with His disciples over the Brook Kidron, where there was a garden, which He and His disciples entered.
a. Another king, David who had been a throne-less king like Jesus, crossed this same brook with his closest friends, while the people had rejected him and followed the leaders of rebellion instead.
C. Struggle
Noun
2struggle n
1560
1 : contest, strife
2 : a violent effort or exertion : an act of strongly motivated striving

Verb
1strug•gle \'str?-g?l\ vi
strug•gled; strug•gling \-g(?-)li?\ [ME struglen] 14c
1 : to make strenuous or violent efforts in the face of difficulties or opposition
2 : to proceed with difficulty or with great effort
II. Jesus prays in Gethsemane
Luke 22:39-46 (NKJV)
39 Coming out, He went to the Mount of Olives, as He was accustomed, and His disciples also followed Him.
40 When He came to the place, He said to them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.”
41 And He was withdrawn from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and prayed,
42 saying, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.”
43 Then an angel appeared to Him from heaven, strengthening Him.
44 And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.
45 When He rose up from prayer, and had come to His disciples, He found them sleeping from sorrow.
46 Then He said to them, “Why do you sleep? Rise and pray, lest you enter into temptation.”
A. Coming out, probably refers to leaving the city, He went to the Mount of Olives (to the Garden of Gethsemane, as was His custom.
1. As was His custom
a. This was evidently His nightly routine during this final week while teaching in Jerusalem.
b. This would make it easy for Judas to find Him and betray Him.
2. His disciples also followed Him
a. They accompanied Him to where He was going, as we will see to a special place to pray.
(1) I wonder how often we expect Jesus to follow us where we go, instead of us following Him to where He wants us to lead us?
B. Arriving at the place where they were He was accustomed to praying He instructed His disciples “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.”
1. A couple of things to consider here.
a. Jesus knows what's coming and while He will experience great anguish His first thought is to His disciples and their need to pray so that they don't fall prey to temptation.
(1) A warning and instruction He will repeat to them again before His arrest.
b. We see that Jesus places an emphasis on prayer when temptation is to be faced, and thus it must be a key ingredient for victory over temptation.
When He taught them to pray (at their request) and He gave them a model for prayer, He included
Luke 11:4 (NKJV)
4 And forgive us our sins, For we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one.”

c. His instruction works
Jesus was able to say to the Father in His High Priestly Prayer
John 17:12 (NKJV)
12 While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name. Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.

Paul to Timothy from prison prior to his execution (suffering for the testimony of Jesus)
2 Timothy 1:12 (NKJV)
12 For this reason I also suffer these things; nevertheless I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day.

To the church in Pilippi
Philippians 1:6 (NKJV)
6 being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;
(1) The same is true for you and I if we will heed His instruction.
C. We see that prayer was the key to victory in His struggle with the anguish He was about to endure
41 And He was withdrawn from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and prayed,
42 saying, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.”
43 Then an angel appeared to Him from heaven, strengthening Him.
44 And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.
1. We see that the instruction to pray that He gave the disciples were not just idle words, it was not do as I say, but do as I do, Jesus lived the things He taught.
a. I find a corollary to this, in that often the things I teach in some way I am experiencing them to some degree, for instance the past few weeks we have been talking about following the man of sorrows and I have experienced a form of grief and sorrow in regard to someone I love a great deal and the struggles they are enduring.
2. He knelt and prayed "if it your will take this cup away; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done."
a. The cup represents the wrath and judgment of God
Psalm 75:8 (NKJV)
8 For in the hand of the Lord there is a cup, And the wine is red; It is fully mixed, and He pours it out; Surely its dregs shall all the wicked of the earth Drain and drink down.

Isaiah 51:17 (NKJV)
17 Awake, awake! Stand up, O Jerusalem, You who have drunk at the hand of the Lord The cup of His fury; You have drunk the dregs of the cup of trembling, And drained it out.

Jeremiah 25:15 (NKJV)
15 For thus says the Lord God of Israel to me: “Take this wine cup of fury from My hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send you, to drink it.
b. Jesus was not a dumb sacrificial animal, or victim of circumstance, but He willingly resolved to lay down His life.
(1) He was about to drink the cup of God's fury so that we who were once enemies of God would not have to drink from it!
c. He drank from that cup on the cross at Calvary, but He decided once for all to drink it here at Gethsemane.
(1) We see that His will is in agreement with the Father's will...
3. Being in great agony we see He prayed more earnestly, to the point of sweating like great drops of blood
Weirsbe writes
Dr. Luke is the only Gospel writer who mentions ?sweat... like great drops of blood.? His use of the word like may suggest that the sweat merely fell to the ground like clots of blood. But there is a rare physical phenomenon known as hematidrosis, in which, under great emotional stress, the tiny blood vessels rupture in the sweat glands and produce a mixture of blood and sweat.
Wiersbe, Warren W.: The Bible Exposition Commentary. Wheaton, Ill. : Victor Books, 1996, c1989, S. Lk 22:40
a. None of us has ever experienced such tremendous agony as Christ was experiencing here in the Garden of Gethsemane.
4. Note that the Father did not take the cup from Jesus, but sent angels to strengthen Him for the task!
a. Choosing the road that has the most Jesus on it for us is the right road, doubtful it will be an easy road, but God will strengthen us for what is in front of us.
(1) So don't give up...
D. Finishing His own prayer, we read
45 When He rose up from prayer, and had come to His disciples, He found them sleeping from sorrow.
46 Then He said to them, “Why do you sleep? Rise and pray, lest you enter into temptation.”
1. Finds them asleep, they are wearied due to sorrow (no doubt from the things He had shared with them at dinner).
2. And again He warns them to pray so that they don't fall to temptation.
a. Prayer is a major emphasis for Luke in this gospel and this seems to be an emphasis here in this passage, it is a main point for him.
III. The text goes on
Luke 22:47-53 (NKJV)
47 And while He was still speaking, behold, a multitude; and he who was called Judas, one of the twelve, went before them and drew near to Jesus to kiss Him.
48 But Jesus said to him, “Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?”
49 When those around Him saw what was going to happen, they said to Him, “Lord, shall we strike with the sword?”
50 And one of them struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his right ear.
51 But Jesus answered and said, “Permit even this.” And He touched his ear and healed him.
52 Then Jesus said to the chief priests, captains of the temple, and the elders who had come to Him, “Have you come out, as against a robber, with swords and clubs?
53 When I was with you daily in the temple, you did not try to seize Me. But this is your hour, and the power of darkness.”
A. While He was still speaking here come Judas with a multitude (they are an armed multitude we know from other Gospel accounts).
1. Judas leads the way and betrays Him by identifying Him with a kiss, a false act of love!
2. Jesus questions Judas, and I believe this is an opportunity for Judas to think about what he is doing and repent...
B. Realizing what is going down one of those two swords mentioned earlier comes out in the hand of Peter, big bold Peter who takes off the right ear of the servant of the High Priest
1. Jesus interrupts things, instruction His disciples to permit eve this, that is His arrest and all that follows, and do not fight it.
2. And He heals the man's ear who had just had it cut off.
a. Jesus demonstrated His great compassion for men healing the ear, even the ear of an enemy!
C. But He rebukes the crowd for their actions, another opportunity for His enemies to think and repent.
D. What incredible love is pictured here in the garden of Gethsemane, a dark place, a place of immense struggle, a place where the ugliest of evils unfolds, yet it is a place of unmatched love!
1. Gardens and trees, are very significant in scripture, and we see they are the place of great loss, but even greater victory.
2. Don't miss and don't let go of the love Christ sends our way.
3. In the Garden -an invitation
I come to the garden alone
While the dew is still on the roses
And the voice I hear falling on my ear
The Son of God discloses.

Refrain

And He walks with me, and He talks with me,
And He tells me I am His own;
And the joy we share as we tarry there,
None other has ever known.

He speaks, and the sound of His voice,
Is so sweet the birds hush their singing,
And the melody that He gave to me
Within my heart is ringing.

Refrain

I’d stay in the garden with Him
Though the night around me be falling,
But He bids me go; through the voice of woe
His voice to me is calling.

Refrain

Wicked hearts we need a new one

Luke 22_1-10
5/11/09
“Wicked hearts we need a new one”
Happy Mothers Day!!
Luke_22_1-20
I. Wicked Hearts.
A. Jesus said to the Pharisees:
Luke 11:39 (NKJV)
39 Then the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees make the outside of the cup and dish clean, but your inward part is full of greed and wickedness.

Matthew 23:27-28 (NKJV)
27 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness.
28 Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
1. We see this vividly lived out in the lives of these religious leaders as our text opens today.
B. Judas agrees to betray Jesus.
Luke 22:1-6 (NKJV)
1 Now the Feast of Unleavened Bread drew near, which is called Passover.
2 And the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might kill Him, for they feared the people.
3 Then Satan entered Judas, surnamed Iscariot, who was numbered among the twelve.
4 So he went his way and conferred with the chief priests and captains, how he might betray Him to them.
5 And they were glad, and agreed to give him money.
6 So he promised and sought opportunity to betray Him to them in the absence of the multitude.
1. They are conspiring to commit murder, we often read over this and miss that fact, and it is a shocking thing to consider.
a. Note verse-2 "the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might kill Him"; that word sought in the Greek
2212 [zeteo /dzay·teh·o/] v. Of uncertain affinity; TDNT 2:892; TDNTA 300; GK 2426; 119 occurrences; AV translates as "seek" 100 times, "seek for" five times, "go about" four times, "desire" three times, and translated miscellaneously seven times.
1 to seek in order to find. 1a to seek a thing.
1b to seek [in order to find out] by thinking, meditating, reasoning, to enquire into.
1c to seek after, seek for, aim at, strive after.
2 to seek i.e. require, demand.
2a to crave, demand something from someone.

Strong, James: The Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible : Showing Every Word of the Text of the Common English Version of the Canonical Books, and Every Occurrence of Each Word in Regular Order. electronic ed. Ontario : Woodside Bible Fellowship., 1996, S. G2212
(1) The verb is in the imperfect tense which means they kept on seeking how they might kill Him.
(2) So we see that the religious leaders have conspired to find a way to kill Him, it is a premeditated action on their part.
b. This is even by today’s standard a capital crime, that is to say it can carry a death penalty judgment.
2. But perhaps what is most instructive for you and I is that they are doing this during the feast of Unleavened Bread.
a. The feast of unleavened bread began on the fifteenth day of the month of Nisan which was the day Passover was celebrated and ended six days later on the twenty-first.
(1) So as it drew near people began to make preparation for the celebration.
(2) Two days before the start of the feast they would go through the house with brushes and brooms searching for and removing all manner of leaven.
(a) Leaven typified sin, so they were acting out the process of searching out and cleansing themselves of sin.
b. And here the religious leaders would be reminding the people, teaching the people about the significance and importance of the feast of unleavened bread, and redemption through the blood of the Passover Lamb, all the while they are looking for ways to kill Jesus.
(1) The house may be clean but what about the heart?
Jeremiah 17:9 (NKJV)
9 "The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?

Matthew 15:19 (NKJV)
19 For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.

Matthew 15:9 (NKJV)
9 And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.' "
(a) We see the vanity of their worship, and the wickedness of their hearts, obviously there was no connection to reality in their observation of this feast.
(b) May our prayer be as David's at the end of Ps. 139
Psalm 139:23-24 (NKJV)
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties;
24 And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting.
i) And may our worship not be real and not vain religion.
c. Sadly it says that fear of the people is the only thing that gave them any restraint at all.
(1) There seems to be no concern on their part about what God thinks about their decision to kill Jesus.
C. Satan entered Judas
3 Then Satan entered Judas, surnamed Iscariot, who was numbered among the twelve.
4 So he went his way and conferred with the chief priests and captains, how he might betray Him to them.
5 And they were glad, and agreed to give him money.
6 So he promised and sought opportunity to betray Him to them in the absence of the multitude.
1. How could this be, how could this have happened to one of the twelve who were hand chosen by Him?
1 Timothy 6:9-10 (NKJV)
9 But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition.
10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
a. We know that Judas was a thief
John 12:4-6 (NKJV)
4 But one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, who would betray Him, said,
5 "Why was this fragrant oil not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?"
6 This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and had the money box; and he used to take what was put in it.
2. And forever Judas and his name are synonymous with betrayal and treachery, he will forever be know as a traitor
a. Seeds of betrayal don't just show up overnight, undoubtedly there were other issues that primed Judas for this.
(1) We need to learn to guard our hearts...
(a) Watch what kinds of thoughts you entertain, as well as what you hear and what you say (talking about others)
3. And so Judas agrees to betray Jesus for money.
II. Prparation for Passover
Luke 22:7-13 (NKJV)
7 Then came the Day of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover must be killed.
8 And He sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and prepare the Passover for us, that we may eat.”
9 So they said to Him, “Where do You want us to prepare?”
10 And He said to them, “Behold, when you have entered the city, a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water; follow him into the house which he enters.
11 Then you shall say to the master of the house, ‘The Teacher says to you, “Where is the guest room where I may eat the Passover with My disciples?” ’
12 Then he will show you a large, furnished upper room; there make ready.”
13 So they went and found it just as He had said to them, and they prepared the Passover.
A. Judas had his mind on money, but Jesus has His mind on the cross, what a contrast!
How true are the words of Christ,
Luke 16:13 (NKJV)
13 “No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”

and how sad Judas didn't take them to heart, I pray we take His word to heart.
1. Not only do we need to guard our hearts, we need to prepare our hearts.
We read concerning king Rehoboam
2 Chronicles 12:14 (NKJV)
14 And he did evil, because he did not prepare his heart to seek the Lord.

Concerning Ezra we read
Ezra 7:9-10 (NKJV)
9 On the first day of the first month he began his journey from Babylon, and on the first day of the fifth month he came to Jerusalem, according to the good hand of his God upon him.
10 For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the Law of the Lord, and to do it, and to teach statutes and ordinances in Israel.
a. Preparation is a key thought in our passage
(1) Jesus sent two disciples ahead to prepare a place for them to observe a Passover meal together.
(a) Jesus prepared by prearranging a place and a sign for them so they could find it.
(b) It would become a place of fellowship
(c) A place of teaching
i) It was here that He instituted "The Lord's Supper" or communion/
(d) A place of worship
(2) The sign intrigues me, follow the man carrying the pitcher of water (very unusual for a man to do this)
(3) Water a symbol for the word of God (follow the man that has God's word!)
(a) And in that place, reached by faith and obedience they, found provision.
i) Jesus had worked it all out.
ii) They just set it up to serve it.
b. How do we prepare our hearts. Pray, read ahead, anticipate and ask what God has for you, as well as to use you...)
III. Celebration
Luke 22:14-18 (NKJV)
14 When the hour had come, He sat down, and the twelve apostles with Him.
15 Then He said to them, “With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer;
16 for I say to you, I will no longer eat of it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.”
17 Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, “Take this and divide it among yourselves;
18 for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”
A. We see the sweetness of fellowship in Christ’s fervent desire for this time and this meal with them.
1. We see the love communicated in His pushing aside a cup He desired to drink, but shortly He will drink from a cup He desired to avoid.
a. What irony.
2. When is the last time in a meaningful way you expressed love to someone???
Our hearts are full of wickedness but He will give us a new heart if we let Him
IV. Communion
Luke 22:19-20 (NKJV)
19 And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”
20 Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you.
A. Jesus instituted the "Lord's Supper" at the Passover celebration with his disciples in the upper room.
A. He would literally fulfill Passover that night, all Passover celebrations prior to this one really just foreshadowed what Jesus was doing in His death at Calvary, and His resurrection.
1. It is now a memorial service, but more than a simple memorial service for someone who is dead, because though He died, He is alive having resurrected.
a. So when Jesus said do this in "Remembrance" of Me, that word remembrance means to actively participate in a past event.
(1) Like drawing money out of a retirement account, we are actively participating in a past accomplishment. (Not in the sense of the elements themselves, but that they represent our active participation His work of the cross).
(a) Communion / Identity

2. On that night He not only gave us a new covenant in His blood, but also a new commandment.
a. "Love one another, as I have loved you."
(1) He loved them to the end, so our love is to be an enduring love.
(2) He loved them unto death, so our love is to be a sacrificial love.
(3) He loved while we were yet sinners, so our love is to be with no strings attached.
(4) In His love He served others.
(a) And we saw the incredible example as He the Lord of heaven got down and washed the disciples feet, the most menial of tasks for a servant.
b. The nature of the new covenant
(1) It is not a covenant between two equals, but is established by one of the parties only - in this case God.
(2) And the other party can not amend it, they can only Accept or Reject it.
(a) So when we partake of communion that is the "Lord's Supper" it is an acknowledgement that we have accepted the covenant.
i) And if we partake of it without having accepted the terms of the covenant we mock the one who offers the covenant, and it is not a good thing to mock God.
B. A new day coming, when we will sit together with Him in His kingdom and drink a cup of new wine with Him, from which He has bee abstaining.
Supper ends with a song according to Marks Gospel!
Mark 14:26 (NKJV)
26 And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
I. And when they had sung a hymn,...
5214 ????? [humneo /hoom·neh·o/] v. From 5215; TDNT 8:489; TDNTA 1225; GK 5630; Four occurrences; AV translates as ?sing an hymn? twice, and ?sing praise? twice.
1 to sing the praise of, sing hymns to.
2 to sing a hymn, to sing.
2a singing of paschal hymns these were Psalms 113?118 and 136, which the Jews called the ?great Hallel?.

Strong, J. 1996. The exhaustive concordance of the Bible : Showing every word of the test of the common English version of the canonical books, and every occurrence of each word in regular order. (electronic ed.) . Woodside Bible Fellowship.: Ontario
A. What a picture of the humanity of Christ and the family like bond between He and His friends (the Disciples).
B. There are a number of opinions on what specifically was sung.

1. Many believe that at the end of the meal it would be the latter part of the Hallel that was sung Ps. 115-118
a. It might have been the first line of each of these Psalms followed by the phrase (Hallelu Yah) or Praise ye the Lord.
(1) So it would be like this:
Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, But to Your name give glory,
(Praise Ye the Lord)
I love the Lord, because He has heard My voice and my supplicatiion
(Praise Ye the Lord)
Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles! Laud Him, all you peoples!
(Praise Ye the Lord)
Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.
(Praise Ye the Lord)
b. Others believe that it was Ps. 118:24
Psalm 118:24 (NKJV)
24 This is the day the Lord has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it.

A look at Ps. 118:21-24 is interesting in light of what is happening here on this night.

Psalm 118:21-24 (NKJV)
21 I will praise You, For You have answered me, And have become my salvation.
22 The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone.
23 This was the Lord’s doing; It is marvelous in our eyes.
24 This is the day the Lord has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it.

(1) What a contrast here a picture of Joy and fellowship, but just a few hours away from suffering of the most intense kind, and He knows it is coming.
Psalm 34:1 (NKJV)
1 I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.

Ephesians 5:18-20 (NKJV)
18 And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit,
19 speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord,20 giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ