They're then relaxed. But you'll see a lot of work to provide so many breakfasts yesterday and then the serving of it. And a great crowd came. This was before the Answers in Genesis conference meeting that we had. We decided to have the breakfast. And just to run through some of the slides here of the people that came and sat at the table and enjoyed the breakfast made by our committee chefs. So you might just see yourself there in these photographs. We really appreciate the work that was done. And we thank you for coming and participating at the breakfast. They look well, don't they, our committee, with a nice white apron on? This was our Tuesday children's meeting, the juniors on Tuesday night passed, and then the seniors here in the fellowship area. We mentioned this on Thursday night at the prayer meeting, but I want the whole congregation to know the work that's going on here. This is in the schools this week. We had a tremendous time in the school ministry. visiting around, sharing the Word of God with the upcoming generation. Just one slide of what's happening in India. There was this little project that our dear brother did through his congregation with some of the ladies in India, providing a sewing machine for them. And that was an excellent thing to do just to give them a little bit of employment. In Kenya the work team have done the work on the mission house and so the Hamilton family enjoyed having them there. It was a great encouragement just to see this installation taking place. A couple of new water tanks that were installed as well. So continue to pray for Glenn and his wife and his children as they serve the Lord. And then little Daniel, that we've asked you to pray for, diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor. He starts his chemotherapy tomorrow, I understand. And quite a few of you have met him. I was able to pray with his father in the hospital. Daniel was sleeping at the time this week. and just committing to the Lord. We saw him just a few weeks ago, that's the young Daniel there in the blue coat. And we were able to help some of the families in Multiminoa. We're glad to do this. Whenever they're really stuck for a little bit of food, the local pastor visits. And then down in the county of Bizot, one of the families that Emmanuel works with received this consignment of wood to keep them warm. And that's seven little children. They're a very, very poor family, one of the poorest that I've ever met. And yet this was a kindness that was done for them. We continue to pray for those that are sick, belonging to the church family here, and we commit them to the Lord, of course, and we ask you to remember them in prayer. And we always pray for the lands that are in conflict, the land of Ukraine, and also the land of Israel. These are all the announcements we need to make. We bring our tithes and offerings in worship to the Lord. Its missionary council envelopes today And we sing 418. I'm pressing on the upward way. New heights I'm gaining every day. Still praying as I onward bound, Lord, plant my feet on higher ground. Let's give our seats. and let me stand. I belong here to save the land. How could it be that I have fallen or met my feet on higher ground? My heart has no desire to sleep. Some may dwell where leaves have grown, but where my feet desire to roam. Oh, lift me up, and let me stand. I think of heaven's stable land, the higher way in gladness. around. I want to live in the golden world, those sacred times that we are proud of, for in this world that I will study, this song will sing so proudly around. of glory bright. But still I pray, till then I find, Lord, lead me on to higher ground. Lord, lead me on, and let me stand. I think I'll ever stay alive on higher ground. To the mountainside, I herald thine with dark-eyed eye. I'm heaven-bent, I'm Easter-bound, with grateful heart of iron around. Oh, let me Oh. Just a little change in the announcement. The social is not on the Friday night. That's our presbytery night. So it was decided to have it on the Saturday night. So please make that adjustment to your calendar, your diary. It's on Saturday, the 5th of April. And I know the children are practicing hard for it. So thank you to our superintendent for that wee reminder of the change. The Gospel of Mark chapter 14 is the chapter that we've been in for a little time now, and we want to come and read again from verse 32 to verse 42. But see, in a moment of time, there's so much to learn, really, from the garden itself. And there's a few things that I don't want to pass over in what I believe is instruction for us. We come to this section of the New Testament, Mark's gospel, and the prayer in the garden. And they came to a place. which was named Gethsemane, and he saith to his disciples, sit ye here while I shall pray. And he taketh with him Peter, and James, and John, and began to be sore amazed, and to be very heavy, and saith unto them, my soul is exceeding sorrowful unto death, tarry ye here and watch. And he went forward a little and fell on the ground and prayed that if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. And he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee. Take away this cup from me. Nevertheless, not what I will, but what thou wilt. And he cometh and findeth them sleeping, and saith unto Peter, Simon, sleepest thou? Good is not thy watch one hour. Watch ye, and pray, lest ye enter into temptation. The spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak. And again he went away, and prayed, and spake the same words. And when he returned, he found them asleep again, but their eyes were heavy, neither wist they what to answer him. And he cometh the third time, and saith unto them, Sleep on now, and take your rest, it is enough, the hour is come. Behold, the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise up, let us go, lo, He that betrayeth me is at hand." Ending the reading at verse 42. And as we think of the message today, it's the place or the position where we are with Christ. You're a believer, and maybe there's a message here as well for the unbeliever. We want you to think about that. Where are you with the Lord today? What position would you have had here in the garden? But before we come to the message, let's pray. Heavenly Father, as always, we commit ourselves to the Lord in the Word. We are greatly in need of your help. The teacher is the Holy Spirit. We are the instrument in your hand today. So I need power. I need the help of God. As I bring the message, stand with me, fill me, grant me all the graces that I need to bring the word of the Lord today. But the church needs you, the people of God that are sitting here. Lord, we ask you to speak to our hearts. In fact, speak to everyone that's here, saved and unsaved alike, we pray in Jesus' precious name. Amen. Now, let me give you the little parts of the Scripture that's going to bring us through the message today as we think of the place or the position that we have with Christ. Verse 32, Jesus says to the disciples, to the majority of them, sit ye here while I shall pray. Verse 33, the opening part of the verse, He taketh with Him Peter and James and John, and then there'll be a little word, I believe, from the Lord as we think of verse 35, and we'll come to look at it more intently next week, He went forward a little The detail around the time of the cross is most interesting and instructive. Of all the history in the gospel narratives, perhaps the final days of Christ have the most to teach us. We should examine every minute detail, every little incident. We can be very sure that there's a wealth of instruction in every word, in every scene, in every event, in every person's experience. The Lord never gave one word in vain, never did. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction and righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works," 2 Timothy 3, 15. It is amazing how much of the four Gospels are devoted to the last few days of Christ. Indeed, as I looked at the chapters of each Gospel, I was amazed at the content the detail and the extent of Christ's final days. In the Christian calendar, we speak about the Passion Week, and this is the week leading up to the cross, the last seven days of Christ's life, including the awful crucifixion itself. The details of events, sermons, talks, parables, and encounters in these last seven days occupy so many of the chapters. I was just looking at this briefly, and as far as I can see, it's seven out of the 28 chapters in Matthew are devoted to those last days, from chapter 21 to 27. Five out of the 16 chapters in the Gospel of Mark, that's almost a third of the entire book, chapters 11 to 15, are devoted to those few days. five out of twenty-four chapters of Luke's Gospel, chapter 19 through to chapter 23, likewise the last seven days of Christ, and eight out of the twenty-one chapters of John from chapter 12 through to chapter 19. deal with those few days. That's quite amazing when you think of all that happened in the Gospels from the birth of Christ through to His ascension into glory, yet there are so many chapters given to seven days in that period of time. I'm just giving you this information to highlight the Immensity of detail given in the inspired word to these last days, and to emphasize, therefore, the importance. You don't want to miss out on the depth of instruction found in the content. And then when you think of the scene that's before us, just this scene of Gethsemane, those few hours, it's very instructive in so many ways. We learn about Christ's agony, how he suffered there, sweating the drops of blood that fell to the ground. We read about the failure of the disciples to watch and pray. That's what we thought about last week. We have Christ praying earnestly for the cup. this cup of suffering to pass from him three times over. He prayed about that. We have Christ going a little further. We're going to touch on that today and come to it next week. We have Christ strengthened by the angel. Such was the agony that Jesus was in. Such was the toll that it took on his body. An angel from heaven had to come to Gethsemane to strengthen the Lord physically. We think also of the perfect knowledge of Christ, who we're told knew all things. We learn that in Gethsemane. We learn about the betrayal of Judas Iscariot and the treacherous kiss that he gave to the Savior. We learn about the gentle attitude of Christ towards Judas. You ever think about that? Knowing what was in his heart. knowing what he was coming to do, to kiss him, to betray him into the hands of evil men, and yet the Lord dealt with him so gently. Friend, he said, he called him a friend. He was her pretend friend. Whence comest thou? We think of the declaration of Christ when he said to those who came, I am he. Because we think of the great I am. And he's really proclaiming there that he is the eternal God when he speaks those words. We also learn about the willingness of the disciples to fight, and they were. They were willing to fight for the Lord. Even on this occasion, Peter's rashness in drawing his sword cut off the ear of Malchus. And if you live by the sword, you will die by the sword. Jesus taught that on this occasion. Also in Gethsemane, we have Christ's authority over the legions of angels. The Lord could have called for the legions to come to His aid and help Him, but He didn't do that. He must now die. He must go to the cross. We learn about the fulfillment of Scripture. We learn about Christ's message to the religious leaders, the arrest of Christ by the mob, and then the forsaking of Christ by the disciples. All of them, all happened here in this very short period of time in Gethsemane. But there's another little detail that I want to consider with you, and that is the positioning of the disciples on this occasion at Gethsemane. It's given to us here, and therefore it must have some relevance. It must have some application for us. Coming from the upper room where they had celebrated the Passover and where Jesus Christ had instituted the Lord's table, our Savior and His disciples pass through the gates of the city, they cross over the brook Kidron, and they make their way to the Mount of Olives. They enter into the garden, known as Gethsemane, the oil press, where Jesus is going to agonize in prayer, a depth and anguish of heart and soul that we may never know. We can only imagine such affliction endured by Christ as His body and His soul was pressed beyond measure in the light of the cup that he must drink, in light of the sin and the guilt now beginning to weigh upon him with crushing pressure. We're going to see the places or the positions of the Lord's disciples at the Garden of Gethsemane and where the Lord is Himself. And so there's much to learn from this study. And we're going to ask the question, I trust every one of you will, what person best represents me or what group of people best represents me? What position would I occupy if I was living in those days and if I had traveled to the garden with the Savior? Where do I fit in? And I want you to really listen. I want you to examine your lives and ascertain where you are with the Lord today. Though Judas did not come to the garden with the Lord and his disciples at the start, he came much later with the mob, I think that we should include Judas in the study. There will be value in doing so for it may be that Judas Iscariot best represents some that are here or listening in and not the others. So we're going to ask you to listen up and pay attention to what the Lord is saying and challenge your own heart. Where am I with the Lord? What position do I occupy? So we're going to look at the false disciple who never made it to the garden in the first place. We're speaking here about Judas Iscariot. It was only during the last few hours that the true character of Judas was revealed. Up until this moment, the disciples seemed to have no idea about his unconverted state, his evil intentions, or his lust for money. Jesus knew all about him, of course he did. From the beginning, he knew the heart of Judas Iscariot, the kind of a man that he was. But the disciples thought him to be a fellow apostle, a colleague with them in the work of Christ, a co-laborer in gospel ministry, sound as a pin, you and I would say about him. They were totally unaware that money was his God, that he lived for personal advancement and not the kingdom of Christ, because we only learn about his true character at the end. Whenever the Lord was in Bethany, in the home of Martha, her sister Mary, you remember, desiring to show her love, esteem, and her appreciation for Jesus, her Savior, took a pound of expensive spikenard and proceeded to pour it over the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ. Judas complained that it was wasteful, that it should have been sold for 300 pence. which we reckon to be a whole year's salary. If you take, for a working man, a penny a day, well, 300 pence leaving out the Sabbath days is roughly a whole year's wages. And he wanted the money, so he says, to be sold, or the perfume to be sold, and the money given to the poor. But the subsequent commentary It's very interesting, and this is what we read in John chapter 12 verse 6. This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief and had the bag and bare what was put therein. It seems that there were two anointings at Bethany, one in Martha's home. that we read about in John chapter 12, six days before the Passover. And the other in the home of Simon the leper, two days before the Passover, when another woman with a similar box of spacknard or perfume came and poured it over, not the feet this time, but the head of the Lord Jesus Christ. And we read about that in this chapter of Mark, Mark 14. But look again at The response, Mark 14, go back to the early part of the chapter, verse 4, there were some that had indignation within themselves and said, why was this waste of the ointment made? For it might have been sold for more than 300 pence and have been given to the poor, and they murmured against her. Immediately after this incident, this beautiful act of devotion that was shown to Christ, we read in verses 10 and 11, And Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve, went unto the chief priests to betray him unto them. And when they heard it, they were glad and promised to give him money, and he sought how he might conveniently betray him. The real heart of Judas is now emerging. His falsehood, his pretense was all exposed. Judas was a false man, a false disciple. He didn't truly know the Lord. He was never genuinely converted. Oh yes, he had received a call from Christ to follow him, and he did that outwardly. He walked with the Savior during His ministry. He looked the part. Outwardly, there was no difference between Him and the other man. He had all the blessings of what it was to be in the immediate presence of Christ for three and a half years. Indeed, he himself was heavily involved in Christian service and ministry. It seems that he preached, he cast out devils, he did many wonderful works. We believe what Jesus said towards the end of the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapter seven to be a running commentary about Judas Iscariot on that great day of judgment when many would say, Lord, we've prophesied in your name, we've done many wonderful works in your name, we've cast out devils in your name. And yet the Lord says, I never knew you, don't know you. And Judas Iscariot is among that group of people. Judas' heart, was never right with God. He lived the lie. He was a false man through and through. He was a thief. He was a mummy grasper. He lived for personal gain. He had no real spiritual interest in Christ and his redeeming work. You might say that he went with the flow. He attended the congregations. He went to the prayer meetings. He became outwardly involved in so many things. He drew near with his lips. He sang the praises. He sat with the others as if he was one of them. But it was all a show. Now, I don't know whether he thought himself to be like the rest. in his activity, being with them, doing the same things that they did and speaking the same things that they spoke. You know, the language, the language of Canaan. Perhaps he did. Undoubtedly, he had an outward public profession of faith, but he did not have an inward possession of Christ. No hard work was ever done. No saving grace was ever imparted to him. And therefore, you wouldn't expect him to be at the garden of Gethsemane at this moment. He had already gone out into the darkness to do his treacherous work to betray Christ. Christ had him in so many places. Do you want to think about that? where he saw so many things and heard so many wonderful discourses, but Christ chose not to have him anywhere near him as he entered into his agony of prayer and sweating the great drops of blood as the pressure and the weight of sin was beginning to be fully laid upon Christ. Judas was not going to see anything of Christ's deep anguish. as our Savior began to be very heavy and sorrowful. And you know there are many, and they're like Judas today. They don't really get near the sufferings of Christ to witness and to see and to feel something of the spiritual and eternal agony of our blessed Redeemer as He deals with sin. They don't even get to the gate. Oh yes, they attend church and they sing, they outwardly worship, they pay attention, they listen to the sermons, they have friendship with other believers who are true Christians, and they even get involved in various ways in church life and Christian service. But the fact of the matter is they do not possess saving faith. Grace has never triumphed in them. Redemption through the blood has never been applied. Salvation has never been experienced. They go with the flow of attendees, and they have an outward form of godliness, but they do not possess true godliness. Maybe in their heart, their chief concern is making money. enjoying to the full life in this world, serving mammon, as the Lord Jesus Christ called it. Such people never get to get to Gethsemane. They never are called or brought by Christ to sit in such holy and solemn times, knowing fellowship with the sufferings of Christ. All I can say at this point is make sure that's not you. Make sure that you're not represented by Judas Iscariot. You don't want to be like him, just going with the flow, having no real work of grace done in your heart, never really getting to the cross or to Gethsemane or to the sufferings of our blessed Lord Jesus Christ. Don't be like him. But we come to the garden gate Christian. Eight of the disciples were left at the gate, and they didn't get any further than the gate. That was it. That's what we read in verse 32. They came to a place which is called Gethsemane, and Jesus saith to his disciples, sit ye here while I shall pray. Now they know what the Lord is going to do because he tells them. He's going to pray. But they were at a distance. I don't know if they saw anything of his agony, But let's suppose that they did. They saw something of the deep anguish that he was in. They maybe heard something of his sighs and his groans, but it was away at a distance. You see what I'm saying? And there's some Christians who may be described as garden gate Christians. They're genuinely the Lord's dearly redeemed people. They love Him, they serve Him, they follow Him, they defend Him. They enjoy many wonderful encounters with Him, as these disciples evidently did. But when it comes to the most sacred and blessed and intimate times with Christ, it's at a distance, way at a distance. They can sit in church and be blessed. They can attend a prayer meeting and take part. They can even be totally involved in ministry, as every Christian should be, but they don't get very near to the sufferings of Christ as others do. They're at the gate. They never enter in to see Christ in the depths of his sorrows. Now, I don't want to misrepresent these men in any way, who I know loved the Lord, and who were faithful to him and his congregations, who served alongside the Master during those years of his ministry, who enjoyed much of Christ in many ways. Yes, they were soundly converted. They were greatly involved in serving the Lord, and they saw much, and they heard much that others didn't. But on this occasion, for whatever reason, they're left at the gate. Eight of them all together. Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas, Matthew, James, the son of Alphaeus, Libeus, and Simon the Canaanite. And I think there's something to learn because Jesus left them there. He didn't bring them any further than the gate. But then there's three men and they're permitted to go a little bit further. And we're calling these the disciples of intimate fellowship. Look at verse 33, he taketh with him Peter and James and John, and began to be sore amused and to be very heavy. Three men, just three, entered the garden, and they went a greater distance to see Christ in his agony, Peter, James, and John. These were the men of the inner circle. They had been nearer to Christ and his ministry than any of the others. They were given certain privileges, as you know, that other disciples did not enjoy. They were there, brought right into the room where Jairus' daughter was raised to life again. The other disciples were left outside, but he brought Peter, James, and John right into the place where this little girl of 12 was raised to life again. They saw that mighty miracle. They were brought up the Mount of Transfiguration. The other disciples were left at the bottom of the Mount, but Peter, James, and John were brought to see Christ changed. to see Him in His glory, when Elijah and Moses came down and communed with Him on the mount, and Jesus was transfigured before them, and what an experience that was. And here again, these three men, just these three, are permitted to go into the garden of Gethsemane to see the Lord Jesus Christ as nobody else would see Him in His agony. Don't you want to be as near to Christ as possible. Dear believer, wouldn't you want to be named among these three? Wouldn't you like to be a Peter, James, and John who were permitted to accompany the Lord right in as far as they could go? They were in full view of his anguish and agony. It is here in the garden where the scripture tells us that Jesus began to be sore, amazed, and to be heavy, very heavy. As he addresses these three men of the inner circle, he says, my soul is exceeding sorrowful unto death, tarry ye here and watch. He wanted these three disciples to watch with him in prayer, to see his agony, albeit at a short distance. Now I don't know how much they saw or heard before they fell asleep, but they must have been witnesses, at least for a time of what Jesus was going through. They were permitted to see His sorrow of heart and His bloody sweat. They got a greater, they got closer, they got into a greater acquaintance, if you like, with the sufferings of Jesus than any other living soul. I wonder are there Christians here, and you get the ultimate view of Christ. You're brought a little further into sweet and intimate fellowship with Him. You receive special closeness with Christ through prayer, through worship. you're able to go that little bit more in the study of the Scriptures, in your own private meditation. You really get to see the Son of God. You get to know Him in a deeper way than others. As a bosom friend, you come almost to have that experience that John had at the Last Supper when he leaned on Jesus' bosom, he leaned on Christ. He got right up close. They say that Jesus had no favorites. I don't know about that. But what I do know is that there were those who were favored by Him to get closer and to see more than any others. Is that you? But before I leave the subject and just give you a challenge in your heart about your place with Christ, just notice very, very briefly one more thing, and that's Christ Himself. And the little phrase that we have in verse 35, that he went forward a little. Matthew puts it this way, he went a little further. Mark simply records he went forward a little, and Luke measures the distance as a stone's cast, just as you would just throw a stone. That's the distance. It all means the same thing. Jesus went further than them all. Some got to the gate. It's as far as they were permitted to go, it was as much as they were able to experience. Three of them, the inner circle, Peter, James, and John, they got to go into the garden a little way with Christ, almost, almost to the place of his agony of prayer. But Jesus went a little further than them all. And I've always been challenged by that phrase, and I think we'll see a little bit more application of that next week when we put it to our own hearts. But I'll just close by asking the question, who best represents you? Judas? The false prophet who never made it to the garden at all? The disciples at the gate? It was as far as the Lord allowed them to go. or the three men of the inner circle that were able to go a little further than the rest, or maybe even to be like Jesus himself, who went a little further again, who represents you as you think of this subject today, the place or the position that we have with Christ. Let us pray. Lord, just challenge our hearts. We're in your presence. We're before the Lord. As we sit here in church today, we know that God is here. He's been watching us. He's been listening to our hearts today as we have responded to the Word. And Lord, you know us. You know us through and through, and you know where we stand today. You know the kind of heart that we have. You know the place that we have with our dear Savior. You know that there might be someone who never gets to the garden at all because they don't truly know the Lord. And so therefore, they're not permitted to see that depth of agony that he went through. Lord, search them out. If they're here or listening in, search them out. And Lord, may they make sure they're not like Judas Iscariot. Then you know those that just get to the gate and that's as far as they ever get in their Christian lives. Lord, challenge them to want more, to desire more in their heart, to get closer to the Lord. And then others, Lord, they get to see for a time the agony of Christ in a deeper way than other Christians. Lord, bless those believers and give us more. Help us to see more. And Lord, even to take the example of the Savior himself, who went a little further. May it be our desire, we've been singing hymns today that speak about forward still, that speak about higher heights with God. Oh Lord, lift us up and help us to go forward with God and to gain those heights with thee, bring us into closer fellowship with Christ, to see more of him, more of his sufferings, more of the depths of agony. Because when we do so, it'll make changes in our lives and it'll help us to get our priorities right, what life on earth is really about and what eternity is really about. And then we shall live in the light of the cross and in light of the great eternity to come. Hear and answer our prayers for Jesus' sake. Amen. Go through with God thy vows to pay, as our closing hymn, 532, above thine own ambitions here. Another voice is sounding clear. It's the call of God to thee, O leave thy all and follow me. May the Lord help us to go through with him and to get as close to the Savior as possible. It's down to our feet. Thy light upon the altar lay. The Holy Ghost will do the rest, and bring to thee God's very best. The law of God is so clear, a friendship He's gone, then we'll know, know, know who we love. Know who to know, my heart's afraid, my life apart. God's very best. O good Lord, I once prayed, Thy life upon the altar laid. The Holy Ghost will do the rest, And bring to thee God's very best. Heavenly Father, we want God's very best. We want to go through with Him, to go through with Him all the way, to go as far as we can, to see as much as we can, to love Him more, to serve Him with greater diligence. Help us, Lord, to get us close to the Savior today and this week and in the coming weeks. We pray that we'll be enabled to lay everything on the altar of sacrifice as this hymn encourages us to do, to go through with God, our vows to pay, our life upon the altar lay. We present ourselves to Thee, even at the close of this service now. Take us home in safety, bless us through the afternoon, and call us out again to the house of God this evening, to serve Thee, to worship Thee, to hear the testimony, to hear the word. Give us a love for the things of Christ, in Jesus' name, amen. and and Yeah. you