It is my delight to welcome as our guest preacher to this special week of meetings, Reverend Reggie Cranston. He is originally from here, of course, but he does minister God's Word in a little place called Port Hope, and that's in the great vast country of Canada. And we're glad that he has been willing to come along. This is the time of our anniversary of the opening of our church here in Garba. On the 17th of March, 1971, the doors were opened for the preaching of the whole Council of God. So if your mass is good, you'll see that this is our 35th anniversary. And we do thank God that this is the Lord's doing. The Lord has opened the doors. And the Lord has kept the doors open and we do rejoice in the Lord's goodness and His presence has been known in our meetings. And we welcome our brother-in-law and we trust the Lord will bless him and help him as he brings the Word of God into our hearts even tonight. We're turning now to the Word of God. We're turning this evening to the Gospel of Luke and to the 22nd chapter. As you turn to that passage of Scripture, I would like first of all to thank the Reverend Patterson and the concession of this church for the invitation to come over and minister in this special week of meetings marking the thirty-fifth anniversary of this church. As I say, I do count it an honour and a privilege. We have had occasions before to fellowship with your minister. Those times have been good times and sweet times. And we're glad to have the opportunity to renew that fellowship with him, with the congregation here in Garva also. And I do bring you greetings from my church in Port Hope, Ontario, Canada. If you don't know where Port Hope is, if you get a map of Canada and find Toronto, just north side of Lake Ontario and look over to your right, you'll see a little town called Port Hope. We're about sixty miles from the city of Toronto. So we bring you greetings from our congregation. As you've been praying for the week of meetings here, we have also been praying for this week over in Port Hope. During this week we'll be looking at some of the incidents which took place regarding the Lord Jesus. as he went from Gethsemane's Garden to Golgotha's Bride. Mr. Patterson knows that if we were to deal with all those incidents, you could have fifty-two weeks of meetings, never mind one, because you just cannot possibly get it all in. But we want to look at some aspects of the Savior's journey from Gethsemane to Golgotha. Perhaps look at some of those aspects of that journey that maybe we haven't thought about before. As has already been announced, we want this evening to begin with the agony of Gethsemane. Then tomorrow night, the power of darkness, when they came to arrest the Lord Jesus in Gethsemane, said to those who came, this is your hour and the power of darkness. We'll continue on throughout the week and then the hounds of hell. The hounds of hell came the Lord Jesus as he made his way to the cross. We'll look at those things, God willing, throughout this week. Do please tell others about them and pray earnestly. As we consider these words, the Spirit of God, through the Word of God, will indeed lead us all to Calvary. Luke chapter twenty-two, and we begin our reading at verse thirty-nine. And he came out and went as he was wont to the Mount of Olives. And his disciples also followed him. And when he was at the place, he said unto them, Pray that ye enter not into temptation. He was withdrawn from them about a stone's cast, and kneeled down and prayed, saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but thine, be done. And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him. being in an agony, he prayed more earnestly. And the sweat was, as it were, great drops of blood falling down to the ground. And when he rose up from prayer and was come to his disciples, he found them sleeping for sorrow. And he said unto them, Why sleep ye? Rise and pray. Lest ye enter into temptation. And while he had spake, behold, a multitude, and he that was called Judas, one of the twelve, went before them, and drew near unto Jesus to kiss him. But Jesus said unto him, Judas, trust thou the Son of man with a kiss. When they which were about him saw that, what would follow? They said unto him, Lord, shall we smite with the sword? And one of them smote the servant of the high priest and cut off his right ear. And Jesus answered and said, Suffer ye thus far. And he touched his ear and healed him. Then Jesus said unto the chief priests and captains of the temple and the elders which were come to him, Ye come out as against a thief with swords and staves. When I was daily with you in the temple, you stretched forth no hands against me. This is your hour, the power of darkness. Amen. We'll end our reading there at verse fifty-three. The earnest prayer that God will bless the public reading of this holy and infallible word to our hearts this evening. Just before we consider God's word to our hearts tonight, let us unite once again in prayer. Let each one of us know the Lord. Let us draw nigh to God. With that earnest prayer, tonight indeed we will be led to Calvary. Most gracious Father and our loving God, we unite our hearts in prayer around the throne of grace. We bless Thee, Lord, we can go to that throne and obtain mercy and find grace to help in our time of need. No, Lord, we need Thee just now. We need the help of the Holy Ghost. We need the power of the Holy Spirit. We need, Lord, that skill to handle the Word of God rightly. We need our gracious Lord in earnest and a sincere heart. No, loving God, we pray that Thou would grant all these things to us this evening. And, O loving God, we pray indeed, as was prayed in the prayer meeting, that tonight thou would anoint our eyes with thyself, that, O Lord, we would see Jesus. And may we see Him who is altogether lovely. May we see Him who is the fairest of ten thousand. May we see Christ our Savior, Christ our Substitute, Christ our Redeemer. O Lord, may our hearts tonight be strangely warm. Lord, come Thou Thyself. We give Thee the book. Come, Lord, and open the book to us this evening. And show us, Lord, things pertaining to Thyself. Bless us now this evening, anoint us now, dear Lord, with the Holy Spirit. Help us, Lord, to preach Christ. Help us, Lord, to exalt Him. and to make much of His precious blood. For it is in and through His wonderful and precious and fearless name we pray. Amen. As we begin this series tonight, we begin in the Garden of Gethsemane. And our text is that verse forty-four. And being in an agony, He prayed more earnestly and as sweat was, as it were, great drops of blood falling down to the ground. He entered Gethsemane's garden and the Lord Jesus Christ began to be in agony. The terrible agony referred to by Luke which our blessed Saviour endured before going to Calvary, took place in a garden, as Mark puts it, a place which was named Gethsemane. And it was there in that place that the Saviour prayed. And sweat as it were, great drops of blood, falling down to the ground. Let me say that someone, somewhere, and at some time named that garden. And named that garden Gethsemane. And whoever that someone was, they named it well. For it is no coincidence that this particular garden, the garden of Gethsemane at the foot of the Mount of Olives, witnessed the agonies of the Lord Jesus Christ as He lay, first of all, kneeling, then prostrate in the garden, sweating, as it were, great drops of blood. For when we look at that name, Gethsemane, We find that it means the oil press. Someone named that garden Gethsemane because it was there that olives were pressed and the oil was extracted. Someone named that garden Gethsemane because they saw the olives being crushed when placed under a screw press. And then thick, highly coloured oil flowed out. Someone named that garden Gethsemane. And whoever that person was named it well, the oil press. But whoever named that garden Gethsemane could never have envisaged the crushing that would one day take place there, when the Saviour, the Son of God, the substitute for sinners, entered that garden and in agony, swept as it were, like oil flowing from crushed olives, swept as it were, great drops of blood flowing down to the ground. Whoever named that garden Gethsemane could never have envisaged the agony that that garden would witness when a weight heavier than any millstone pressed upon the very soul of the Son of God. And that great weight That great burden that only He could bear produced sweats of great drops of blood falling down to the ground. Oil was pressed from the olives. But the burden that lay in the heart and in the very soul of Christ that night in Gethsemane press the blood from the blessed Saviour's brow during those hours of agony in Gethsemane. Whoever named that garden, Gethsemane, named it well. Place of the oil press. the place where Jesus Christ agonized. For it was there in that place which is named Gethsemane, the prophetic words of Isaiah were fulfilled. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him, and he hath put him to grief. And that's what Gethsemane witnessed that dark night, the bruising of the Lord Jesus. That's what Gethsemane witnessed that dark night, the putting to grief of the Lord Jesus. That's what Gethsemane witnessed that dark night, the agony of our Saviour, an agony that brought from His sweating brow great drops of blood falling down to the ground. I tell you, whoever named that garden Gethsemane named it well. But why? Oh, why did the Lord Jesus have to suffer such agony even before the horrors of Calvary came upon Him? What was it that brought Him to that garden to be beaten and bruised? What was it that brought Him to Gethsemane and caused him to sweat, as it were, great drops of blood. It must have been something quite remarkable. It must have been something quite horrendous. He caused blood to flow from his brow as he agonized in prayer. pleased the Lord to boost him. And he hath put him to grief. But that's not all that Isaiah says. For Isaiah goes on to say, When thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin. Isaiah 53 and verse 10. And there we have the tell-tale words when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin. For it was there in dark Gethsemane that Christ, the spotless, sinless Lamb of God, could see. It was there in Gethsemane as he agonized in prayer. It was there that he could see. What do it mean? for his soul to be made an offering for sin. That's what he saw in Gethsemane. That's why he agonized in Gethsemane. That's why he prayed in Gethsemane. And that's why he swept, as it were, great drops of blood in Gethsemane. He who knew no sin. You also the Lord would lay upon him the iniquity of us all. He could see it, and he could see what it would mean for all the sins of his people to be laid upon him. I'd like you to turn, please, to Isaiah. to that wonderful chapter 53. Look there at the sixth verse. There in Isaiah 53, verse 6. Most of us, I'm sure, know this chapter off by heart. But look at the words of verse 6. All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned every one to his own way. And the Lord has led on him the iniquity of us all. The Lord has led on him, if you have a Bible margin, look at how those words may also be translated or rendered. The Lord led on him the iniquity of us all. Or, as it is, hath made the iniquity of us all to meet on Him. Think of that. Think of the iniquity, the sins, the transgressions of all of God's elect meeting in one point, meeting in one place, meeting in one person. And that person, the Lord Jesus Christ. Is it any wonder in Gethsemane he began to be in agony? Is it any wonder in Gethsemane that he began to sweat, as it were, great drops of blood when he could see it all? What it would mean for him to take our sins away? Of these words, Martin Luther had this to say, to be looked upon by God as if He were all the sinners in the world. To be looked upon by God as if He, the Lord Jesus, were all the sinners in the world and as if He had committed all the sin that ever had been committed by His people. For it was all led upon Him. And on Him must the vengeance due for it all be poured. The vengeance due for all those sins, that vengeance must be poured out on Jesus Christ. And there in Gethsemane, Christ could see it all. It was all ahead of Him. there on that hill called Calvary. And he must pray. He must pray over this matter. Pray over it he does. So as he entered Gethsemane, the Saviour's mind was in fixed upon the awful nature of sin and the consequences of sin. And there in the garden he agonizes over what was before him. I want every child of God tonight to remember this. It was our sin. that Christ bore on his own body. It was our sins that Christ took to the cross and healed. It was because of our sins that Jesus Christ agonized in the ascension of God. It was because of our sins But Jesus Christ's sweat, as it were, was because of us, because of us. Never forget. So we see Christ enter December. I want us to see Christ in the garden of tears. And the Lord Jesus went out of the city of Jerusalem with his disciples, down the hill, crossed over the brook, and entered into that garden. Into Gethsemane he went away, that another king had gone before him. For David had been rejected by Israel, And so he must leave his city, the city of Jerusalem, cross over the brook he'd drawn, and he went up by the ascent of the Mount Olivet and wept as he went. As he went up and had his head covered, and he went barefoot. 2 Samuel 15 verses 23 to 26, 36, Behold that procession of sorrow as it makes its way out of Jerusalem, makes its way across the Kidron Valley, makes its way up the ascent of the Mount of Olives. A procession of sorrow, because David wept as he went, being our Jerusalem's rejected And now we behold another procession. This time it's the King of Kings. He has been rejected. They will soon nail him to a tree. And like David before him, the Lord Jesus goes out of Jerusalem and goes across the Kidron Valley and enters into Gethsemane's garden. And what does he enter there for? He enters there to pray, he enters there to agonize, and he enters there to weep. That's why Gethsemane to Christ is a garden of tears. How do I know? reference made to the praying of Christ. In Hebrews 5 verse 7, who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death and was heard in that he feared. in the days of His flesh when He offered up prayers and supplication was strong, crying and tears. And this King, our blessed King, the King of Kings, goes into Gethsemane, He is guarded until week, as His predecessor had done. And here we have the Lord Jesus Christ and His sorrow in Gethsemane. When David left Jerusalem, only his closest friends and associates went with him, and so it was with Christ. The number of his friends were quickly diminishing at that time. Where were the multitudes now? Where were the thousands and the tens of thousands? that had followed him during the three years of his ministry, where were they now? He was left with his disciples. Matthew 26, verses 36 to 38 tells us that he went there with his disciples, left the majority of the disciples on the edge of Gethsemane, and brought with him Peter, James, and John. This they had done after they had celebrated the Passover with the disciples at which he had sung a hymn. But there's no singing now. His singing soul, his singing heart has been turned into a soul and a heart of sorrow. He is entering now Gethsemane. He is entering that place of prayer, that place of agony, that place of tears. He is entering Gethsemane, the garden of tears. And just as that oil press extracted the oil from the olives, so Jesus Christ entered Gethsemane and tears were extracted from His eyes and blood was extracted from His body. is going there to weep, as well as pray. He enters Gethsemane's garden as a man of sorrow. You know, you have to suffer many, many sorrows before you're given the title, a man of sorrow, in Gethsemane. As Christ goes into Gethsemane to pray and to weep, we consider the price. Sorrow is the price we all have paid for sin. Genesis 3, verses 16 and 17, we see that sorrow came in with sin. Genesis 3, verses 16 and 17, unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow. You go down to verse 17, and unto Adam he said, because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hath eaten of the tree, the witch I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it. Cursed is the ground for thy sake. In sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life." And every one of us here know all about the sorrow that sin has brought into the world. We've all experienced it at first hand. always will associate sorrow with sin, and sin with sorrow. The Lord Jesus went into Gethsemane's garden, so he's the man of sorrows, the man of sorrows because of our sins. And many today are weeping because of their sin. In the Garden of Eden, the first Adam became a man of sorrow, as we've just read. But in Gethsemane's garden, the last Adam became the man of sorrow. Not because of his sin, but because of ours. Because he went there to bear away our sin. And the sorrow the Lord Jesus Christ experienced shows us something else. It shows us the pain of the sorrow. When we have suffered loss, and we all have, are we all well? We know what it's like We know all about the pain. We have suffered loss. We sorrow over that loss. We say that our hearts are sore, pained with sorrow. Or we say, I am so sorrowful that my heart is breaking. There is the pain of sorrow. And our blessed Savior revealed to his three disciples, he said, my soul is exceeding sorrowful. My soul. What does that tell us? That tells us that the sorrow that Christ experienced, the pain that Christ experienced, went much deeper than any sorrow you and I have ever experienced. We have had sorrow of heart. Jesus Christ had sorrow of soul. Hannah knew all about the pain of sorrow. And she lamented her barrenness. She was in bitterness of soul. And she wept and she was sorrowful. But the sorrow of Christ went much deeper than that. I see David sitting there in the gate of the city waiting for this messenger to tell him about the battle. See, this man had gone up against Absalom. Absalom, his son. Absalom, his rebellious son. But Absalom, the son that he still loved, had loved him with all of his heart. And the first messenger comes. And he hasn't the courage, he hasn't the heart to tell the king, his son is dead. And then the second messenger comes. And the first thing David said, as he said to the first messenger, is, The young man, Absalom, see him. The messenger had to come. Someday. David turned around. and again to the side as it went, crying out for Absalom. Oh, Absalom, my son, my son, word to God, I have died for thee. Oh, Absalom, my son. We cannot enter into the heart of David, but we know this, his heart would break. He felt the pain, the sharp, cutting pain of sorrow. But let me say this, when Christ entered Gethsemane and the soul became exceeding sorrowful, Christ's sorrow went even deeper. David said, would that I had died for thee, Absalom. David hadn't died for Absalom, but bless his name, Jesus Christ died for me. It's because of me, Christ's exceeding sorrow. as he began to be sorrowful and very heavy." The words, very heavy. It's hard to put them into English. It's not just one word translation. Let me try and give you the gist of the meaning of the words, very heavy. They mean the complete occupation of the mind, the complete occupation of the mind with sorrow, the complete occupation of the mind with sorrow. When the Lord Jesus said that he was exceeding sorrowful, when the Lord Jesus Christ said that he was very heavy, he was saying, my mind is completely occupied with sorrow. to the exclusion of every thought which may have alleviated the distress. We might say that his whole mind was consumed with sorrow because he was going to Calvary to bear the sins of his people. He could see all that that would mean See, what was before was heaven-sent sorrow. Here was a sorrow that brought with it a pain from which Here was a sorrow that our sins put the Saviour through. Because of our substitute being our substitute, He was willing to bear the sorrows of our sin. And dear Christian, I want you to get a hold of that tonight. that all the sorrow that our sins would bring upon us—sin brings a lot of sorrow—but all the sorrow that our sins would bring upon us, Jesus Christ as our substitute suffered it all. That's why it's called nonsense. Experience, sorrow, and arson break upon us. No wonder, as he prayed, sweat appeared. Notice also the power of sorrow. Sorrow can be a powerful thing, driving the sufferer to destruction. Remember Elijah? Remember Elijah? After God's champion, man that stood against the false prophets of Baal, and once he heard that Jezebel was taking his life, he ran away into the wilderness. and wished he could die. He was of such a sorrowful spirit, such a sorrowful heart, he wished he could die. There is the power of sorrow. It will drive a man to that place where he wishes he was dead. Or Job. Oh, that poor soul. lost everything he had, stood there one day before the open sepulchre of ten of his children, and saw everything he had. And Job's sorrow was such that it drove him to the place where he cursed The power of sorrow. It was ready to drive Elijah to death. It was ready to drive Job to death and Jeremiah to death. And what do we read here? The Lord Jesus said in Matthew 26, verse 38, My soul is exceeding sorrowful even unto death. There is the power of sorrow. Such was the sorrow of the Son of God that it would have driven Him to death. Ah, but He wasn't for dying in the garden. He wasn't for healing up His life in the garden. Among them would witness His death. Not a garden, but a hell called hell. was there. Christ was there. This garden of tears, not only for Christ, a place of sorrow, but also a place of supplication. We read that when he came to Gethsemane, he was withdrawn from them about a stone's cast and kneeled down and prayed. That garden had often seen the Savior pray. Those that had believed the olive trees were in the garden, often witnessed the Son of God on His knees. Remember when old Judas came, the old traitor? came to betray the Lord, he knew where to go. John 18, verse 2. He knew where to find that. That's a good testimony. When Judas went out that night with the crowd with him, he didn't have to ask anybody, where will I find Jesus of Nazareth? He knew where he would find him in the place of prayer. That's a wonderful testimony. My, when it comes to the night of prayer or to the day of prayer, will people know where to find us? Will they be able to say, I know where he is? It's a testimony to have. Although trees have witnessed many, many a prayer meeting, many times have seen Christ even in prayer, they've never witnessed a prayer meeting like this. For it was a prayer meeting of such weight, such intensity, such agony, that it pressed bloody sweat from his brow and bitter tears from his eyes. I read there a few months ago, a little book about life of W.E.B. Nichols. I was greatly impressed. I read about his prayer life. I read about him conducting a mission in a certain place. He stayed with a family during the duration of that mission. And he told his hosts that they were not to disturb him until twelve noon. And the people of the home wouldn't see Nicholson until after twelve noon. What struck me was this. One of the days when he came out of his room, the lady of the house went in to tidy up the room or change the bedclothes. When she got to his bed, she couldn't believe what she saw. All the sheets on the bed were torn to shreds. He wasn't even conscious of what it was. He was agonizing in prayer over souls. Oh, we think we have a burden for souls. It doesn't compare to the burden that Nicholson had, but I'll go further. No one but no one had a burden for souls like Jesus Christ. For when Jesus prayed, sweat does it wear, grit drops some. See, His burden was there. No one ever went to God with such a burden as the Lord Jesus did that day. Because what he saw, what he saw, we are told, amazed. Mark 14, verse 33, we are told, he began to be sore amazed. and to be very heavy. He began to be sore amazed and to be very heavy, to be consumed with sorrow. He began to be sore amazed. What does that word amazed mean? It means much more than what we understand it to mean as we use it in our everyday language. It means more than that. The word here means to be stricken with horror. To be stricken with horror. And there is the Savior, and He enters Gethsemane. And He leaves some of His disciples behind, and He goes a little further, and He falls down and He begins to pray. And as he prays, he can see it all. It's all there before him. We are told that he was stricken with horror. What was it that caused the Savior to be stricken? The Lord was stricken with horror at the sight of the load of sin that was to be led upon him, and the vengeance which was due, a cut. It was the horror of our sin, what was involved in its removal that amazed us. That was the burden which he took to his father and prayed, Father, if Thou be willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but Thine, be done. It was the cup A lot of debate about what that cup was. In my study of this passage of Scripture in this event, the cup that the Savior was praying about here was the cup of separation. When the Lord Jesus would be separated from the Father, That was the cup. Because our sins He knew. The Saviour knew that if all our sins were laid on Him, then He must be separated from the Father, because that is what sin does. It separates a man from God. He was and is. He who from all eternity had lived in the bosom of the Father. He who was brought up with him and was daily his delight. Now I must see, and there it was before, what it would cost what it would cost to take away our sin. It was the cup of life. All will be accepted here. Remove this cup There's brokenness in prayer, but it was this prayer meeting Paul referred to there, if he was five or seven that we mentioned, who in the days of his flesh, when he offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him. Think of it, dear Christians. Our sins, our sins the reason for the Lord's burden and brokenness. He went because to take away our sins he must be separated from his Father. That's why he's there. The Father of life, he went to take those sins. It was the thought of that fellowship between the Son and the Father Notice the strengthening. Following the days of his temptation, we are told, angels came and ministered unto him. Matthew 4 verse 11, Now near to the cross of and the Lord Jesus going to Calvary. During the hours of his agony, we're told in verse forty-three, there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him. What does this teach us? It teaches us, first of all, his weakness. The burden the Lord was carrying had weakened him in his flesh. His sorrows had brought him almost to the point of death. He who had strengthened others now needed to be strengthened himself. Here we see His humanity. Here we see His humility. His humility, believer, that the Lord Jesus subjected Himself to be strengthened by an angel. He who is God Almighty condescended to go to Gethsemane and pray and agonize, only to be strengthened by him. He who could summon ten thousand angels humbled himself that he might be strengthened. It shows His humanity. It shows the toll that that prayer meeting of His dissemination took upon Him, that He needed to be strengthened. That speaks to His own will. The appearance of an angel strengthening the Saviour speaks to us of His willingness to go on, His willingness to go through with what was before Him. His willingness to engage in the battle, his willingness to engage in the conflict, his willingness to face the powers of darkness on our behalf, his willingness, he did it strengthened. He was strengthened, and that shows his willingness. His willingness to go to the cross to purchase my salvation. His willingness to go to Calvary to suffer as my substitute. He wanted to be strengthened by my call. didn't enter his head, not for one moment, not for a fleeting second did Jesus Christ think about turning back. No, he must go on. And he needed this angel to strengthen him that he might go on. Hallelujah. We must go quickly because we have the garden, Christ in the garden of tears and Christ in the garden of terrors. As if what we have said about that garden is not enough. After he had awakened his disciples from their slumbers, he returns to his place of prayer. And we read, And being in an agony, he prayed more earnestly. What terrors encompassed him as he agonized in prayer, we will never know. All we know is that it was our sins that took him there. Do you have his struggle? Luke tells us about the Lord being in an agony. He is telling us that the Lord was in the struggle. The word agony there means contest. Contest. The word refers to the mental distress that is experienced at the beginning of a contest. The word is not found anywhere else in Scripture. The Holy Ghost has kept this word to describe what the Savior was going through in the garden. It is used of Christ alone, of nobody else. And so here is an agony that belongs to Christ, an agony that is unique to Him alone. Because here was a contest that no one else was ever involved in or had ever experienced. Here was a conflict that no one but Christ could ever engage in. Belong to Christ alone. And here was a conflict raging within the soul of Christ between two tremendous forces. On the one side is love for his Father, on the other side is love for his people. He must go to Calvary, he must take all their sins upon himself, and he must be separated from the Father that he loves. There's the conflict. His people, his Father. For his people to be saved, he must die. For his people to be saved, he must be separated from What was it to do? Redeem his people and be forsaken of God and afflicted? Break the communion that had existed between the Father and the Son from all eternity? Or preserve that communion? Or preserve that fellowship and let all the sons of Adam's fallen race perish forever? What was he to do? There is the conflict. Because when they took him to Calvary, cried from that cross, my God, my God, why has I must love you. He must die. That man being separated from his wife, he must die. This is not Let your heart cry out, O come, let us adore him, O come, let us adore him, O come, let us adore him, O come, let us adore him, O come, let us adore him, O come, let us adore him. voice was heard from heaven, saying, This is my beloved son, whom I have produced at his baptism from the mount of transfiguration, and the one under a king. He's praying now, but there's no voice. Silence. No voice from heaven, just an angel. But for Christ, the presence of the angel did not substitute The sweat, where drops of blood are falling down from the thigh. This is what Christ wore for his suffering. How sinful, how terrible sin must be when a native of the Son of God dies, taken away. Ye who think of sin but lightly, was there ever grief like this? Here may view its nature rightly, here its guilt may estimate. Mark the sacrifice appointed. See who bears the awful load. Tis the Word, the Lord's anointed Son of Man. Tell me, ye who hear him groaning, was there ever grief like his? Friends through fear his cause disowning, foes insulting his distress. Many hands were raised to wound him. None would intervene to save. But the deepest stroke that could be done was the stroke of justice. We're live presence and are meeting tonight. Lord, we can say we have seen Jesus afresh. We thank the Lord that he trod the winepress alone. And O God, we thank the Lord that he was willing to go through from the agony of Gethsemane to the cruel cross of Calvary. He was willing to die for sinners such as we. We thank Thee tonight, Lord, we can say like the hen rider, My sin, O the bless of this glorious thought, My sin, not in part, but in whole. is kneeled to his cross, and I bear it no more. He is the Lord. He is the Lord, O my soul. Lord, we pray that Thou wouldst write this word upon our souls tonight afresh. O God, we pray for that closer walk with Thee, that calm and heavenly that light to shine upon the road that leads us to the land. Accept a verse of thanks, Lord, for giving thy servant help tonight. Lord, as we part one from another, we pray thy presence would abide with us. Thou wouldst bring each one of us to our homes in safety. O God, in thy will, bring us back for more tomorrow night. For it's in His name we ask and we pray these things, and for God's eternal glory.