CROSS TO COMMISSION | WATCH and PRAY | Matthew 26:36-46 | Philip Anthony Mitchell

You can be seated. Last week on Sunday that passed, a young brother on our productions team left this room. The older than 23, 25, on the Monday following that he left the gathering, he was in a car crash and crushed his lungs. He's sitting in a hospital right now at ICU and then getting ready to pull the plug on him this week. And all week my team and I and intercessors have been praying and some fasting for him. And I'll mention him for multiple reasons. One that if he will come up in your spirit today, that you would join us as we're praying before they tap that plug for if God is willing, he would perform a creative miracle for him right there in that hospital room because he's able to do that. And that God is willing he will give him more years to live before they pull that plug. That we will remember him in mercy and remember his family in mercy. And I mentioned that brother too because I take solace in the fact that if for any reason the Lord does not answer our prayer. If for any reason they pulled that plug, he wakes up on the other side of death because he is a follower of Christ. He will not see decay. He will not see hellfire, but he will stumble into the arms of his loving Savior. The one who rescued him in this life before he died. And this is why we say all the time that tomorrow is not promised to nobody. That we be making all these plans for next week, next month, next year. We're going vacation here. We're going to do that there. You may not see next year. It's why we beckon to the unbeliever to say today is the day of salvation. That when you feel the Spirit of God drawing you to himself, that is the moment to surrender. That is the moment to give your life to Christ because no person is prepared to die apart from Christ. You're not dug out enough. You're not strong enough. You're not rich enough. Money is not going to keep people out of hell. Fame is not going to keep people out of hell. Morality is not going to keep people out of hell. Church attendance is not going to keep... There are good people burning right now. There are wealthy people burning right now. There are poor people burning right now. And there is no safe departure from this life apart from a relationship with Christ. That's why we got to stop preaching a Western gospel that lie and tell people if you come to God, He's going to make everything perfect or He's going to make you perfectly happy. God is a lie. The gospel is not about happiness. It is about righteousness. Preach that garbage to a wealthy man that has everything. They think they don't need God. And you think the gospel is only for poor people because we preach it wrong. No, the gospel is for all men because all people need their souls to be saved before a holy God. The wealthy man and the poor man, the famous man and the man in obscurity. Amen. So pray, if you will, for that brother. Like, I'm just reminded of our mortality. My comfort makes us think we have all this time to get right with God. And you don't. You do not. You don't. It's when I heard God came and get me it. When I was suicidal in that bathroom, that was the day for me to turn to God. Same for you in this room. Amen. Anybody. So if you are a guest, we welcome you to 2018 to this sacred and holy place where we are serious about the spread of the gospel. And the harvesting of souls and the multiplying of followers after the Lord Jesus Christ. You're watching live right now across the nation around the world and you are one of our digital disciples. I want you to hear me that we love you, that we pray for you and we cover you. I have enjoyed in this year of travel all around America and outside the United States, seeing you in airports and bumping to you in streets and loving on you and hugging you and feeling your tears fall on my shoulder. You are more than numbers on a platform. And so I want you to know that we love you and we pray for you wherever you are. You are a part of our spiritual family and you mean everything to us. And if you're in this room or if you're sitting in an overflow watching across that camera and you do not have a relationship with Christ, we know that you're in here. We acknowledge you. We want you to know that you can belong before you believe. We are thankful that you are here and we welcome you to this place. And I just want you to hear that our prayer for you is that a day would come. You might be sitting in this room during worship or during prayer or while the word is being proclaimed, you feel God nudging on your heart and you just lean it enough to surrender in a moment. That can happen in your chair. Don't need an altar call for that, a special prayer for that. That you would come aboard the Ark of Safety. You would know the safety of Christ before you die. But you don't have all this time to get right. Right. And that is our prayer for you if you're not a follower of Christ. We have been studying a book called Matthew written by a man who was an outcast Jew in the first century AD. He worked for the Roman government. The Lord was walking by his job one day and saw him and said, Matthew, come and follow me. He left his job and followed Jesus in the first century AD. And the singular decision that changed his life, he went on to write a book that bears his name. It is the book that we have been studying as a church and now we have come to the end of that book. The final three chapters in that book, Matthew chapter 26, 27 and 28, the apex of the entire gospel. In our final series in our walk through the book of Matthew called Cross to Commission, in which we are studying together the final days, the final hours of the life of the Lord Jesus Christ. Our text today is coming from Matthew chapter 26 verses 36 through 46. Spirit of the living God. We feel your presence right now in this room. Remember our brother right now who was in a jam, God, that if you're willing, you would perform a creative miracle on his behalf. That you would comfort and strengthen his family. Remember our brother God who is suffering now and our sister who's suffering now. Remember those who are in desperate need of a touch from you. Father God, I pray you would turn our eyes away from worthless things and foolishness. We'll lean into this moment. We'll lean into what matters most. Let something like scales fall from our eyes. Let the hardness of our hearts be softened as your word is proclaimed. Minister to the son and daughter, minister to the one who's far away, minister to the one who was deceived. Let us hear your voice. Not through a man. Just let us just hear your voice, God, from a broken vessel with a microphone. Help us God in the mighty and the majestic and the matchless name of our soon coming King, the Lord Jesus Christ and all God's people said, Amen. And Amen. And Amen. Amen. In 2012, my father was diagnosed with a terminal illness and a doctor gave him six months to live. And my mother and my father, when he got that diagnosis, lived right down the street from me. And I remember those last six months of his life helping my mother care for my father as he was jammed up in that house. I watched my father wrestle and grapple with the fact that he was coming down to his final days in this life. I watched my father grapple with the fact that he was going to leave behind a wife and children and concerned about what happened to us after he was gone. I watched my father grapple with the fact that seemed like God was not listening to our prayers, that God was not hearing our prayers to heal him. I watched my father grapple with the fact that he's in this jam and we're getting closer and closer to the day where he may see death. I watched him grapple with that with courage and in weakness as he got to a point where he stopped talking to us. He would only write in our book and we would read the things that he wrote. I watched my father stare down death. And this is a very difficult thing for people to deal with. It is not easy when a human being gets a diagnosis that you have six months to live or three months to live. And it is even more difficult if that diagnosis or the day you face death, you know that what's coming with that is a great trial or persecution that's coming with that. This is what we read right here in the text when we approach the final hours of the Lord Jesus Christ. And as we preach this text to you, I want to invite you to lean in with your heart. One of the things that happened so much in America, man, we be reading God's word and be hearing God's word and we only connect with our mind but we don't connect with our heart. This is why I be angry when I hear people say stuff like, oh, they call people in the Bible characters and they talk about them like they were fictitious. Like you've never heard anybody call Abraham Lincoln a character. You've never heard anybody call George Washington a character. Why you talk about them like they were human beings that existed. The Lord Jesus is not a spook. He was a man like you and I who lived in the first century AD. He cried. He wept. He ate. He went to weddings. He hung out. He sip wine. He ate food. He had friends. He laughed. He loved. He felt pain. He got hungry. He got tired. He was a human being like you and me. And now he's come to the final hours of his life. He is in a room in a private place where his followers, 12 of them in that room, one leaves the room that night, goes out into the room. Goes out into the street in the middle of the night. He will betray him on that Thursday night and bring to him man, the Roman soldiers who will arrest him on that night. On that night he shares his final teachings with his followers. On that night he shares his final meal with his followers. On that night he has his final moment of corporate worship with his followers. And in the room that night was a young man named Matthew who recorded what we're about to read next. The lowest point in the life of Jesus. If you've ever been stressed. If you've ever been depressed. If you've ever been in a circumstance that crushed your heart so low that you did not want to get out of bed. If you've ever been in a place like I was when you wished for death or been suicidal. This is where we are right now with the life of the Lord Jesus. Matthew records the lowest moment in the life of Christ. Matthew chapter 26 and verse 36. Matthew says, then that is after they left that house that night. Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane. And he said to his disciples, sit here while I go over there and pray. It is the middle of Thursday night. It is probably after midnight. They are walking through the streets towards a place called Gethsemane. And I just want to point out to you something I thought about as I was reading this text. I thought about the fact that there are attributes that you and I share with God and we enjoy those attributes. They are called communicable. So God has emotions and he's given human beings emotions. God can see and he allows human beings to see. God can hear so he allows human beings to hear. They are attributes that you have of a human being that you share in common with God. But God has things called non-communicable attributes. That is things in his nature that you and I do not share. Let me tell you one that's sitting underneath the surface of the text. One of them is the Lord Jesus who was God in the flesh shares the communicable attributes with his father that you and I do not have of omniscience. That is Jesus when he was alive was all knowing. Everything happening and everything is about to happen. He already knows. This is a function in the life of Christ that you and I do not share. So as he's walking across that courtyard towards Gethsemane, he already knows he's a few hours away from being betrayed. He already knows he's a few hours away from being abandoned. He already knows he's a few hours away from being beaten within an inch of his life. He already knows he's a few hours away from carrying a cross beam to the top of a hill. He already knows he's hours away from being crucified and executed for you and me. He already knows that everybody in that room that night is going to abandon him. He already knows all of this is going to happen. And I marvel at the text because he spent three years with these men, eating with them, traveling with them, doing ministry with them, hanging out with them, teaching them, loving on them. He knew this day was coming and yet you can't find anywhere in the record of the life of Jesus where he mistreated them knowing this day was coming. Gosh. That's heavy, sir. You can't find anywhere in the record of the life of Christ where he had any pretense in his life knowing this day was coming. I only mention this to you for just a moment that we will learn tomorrow over the love of God who knows every time you're going to make a mistake. He knows every time you're going to betray him. He knows every time you're going to hurt him, offend him, walk away, and still he loves you unconditionally anyhow. The Lord knows your failures next year, next month, next day, and still he loves you anyhow. Never once did he treat them differently knowing this day was coming. There is no pretense in his love because the love of God is steadfast, has nothing to do with you and everything to do with his character and his nature. And us, we'd be like, oh, I want to know. I want to know. I want to know. No, you don't want to know everything because if the Lord gave you the same attribute, if you had the same attribute of Amnesians that you know all things from the beginning, that level of knowledge will crush you. You will not be able to enjoy life. Oh, he said, Philip, I don't understand. If you knew the person next to you that was going to betray you in three years, you wouldn't be able to enjoy them right now. If you knew ten years from now your husband was going to walk out of you. You wouldn't be able to enjoy them right now. If you knew twenty years from now the person that you loved most was going to abandon you. You will not be able to enjoy life right now. If you knew the person you called your best friend was going to betray you 12 months from now. You will not be able to enjoy them right now. If you knew everything that was gonna happen to you before it happened, you will not be able to enjoy life. You will have guards up all the time. You'll be looking at people crooked all the time. If you woke up tomorrow and knew your girl was gonna walk away from you next year, man, you'll treat her differently. I promise you, you will not treat her the same, right? It is the love of God. He has not allowed you to know everything. This is why we should thank God for the things He has shielded your mind from. You can't handle knowing everything, because I'll show you, you will not treat people the way God treats you. I'm so thankful God does not treat us the way people treat us. Because I'm telling you right now, if I knew everybody in this room that was gonna do me dirty a year from now, I might look at you funny tomorrow. I'll pray, but I might not bring you to the house. I'll pray for you, might not hang out with you. I'll pray for you, but might put a wall up between you or not. You will not be able to enjoy people if you knew what they was gonna do to you a year from now. No truth. You don't have the capacity to do that. But the Lord never one time in the Gospels, do you see Him treating them different, knowing this day was coming. Watch. He knows how you're gonna hurt Him next year and still loves you anyhow. The Lord knew David was gonna fumble and still blessed him as a king, still blessed his throne, still made him wealthy, still raised him up, knowing David was gonna fumble. The Lord knew David's son, He gave him all wisdom and He blessed his house. When He built that house for God, He sent glory from heaven on top that house, knowing that when Solomon got to the end of his life, all of his women was gonna lead him into idol worship. And although the Lord knew that Solomon would abandon him at the end of his life, yet he still sends glory upon his house. You and I don't get down like that. Is anybody thankful God don't treat you the way people treat you? You say, no, that don't sound theological. You can't hurt God because you have not read Ephesians 4 verse 30. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God. That word grieve in Greek means to emotionally wound. So we can hurt God and we can disappoint God and we can let Him down. And He sees us do this to Him all the time and He still shows up the next morning with grace. You still wake up, you still have activity in your legs. He still loves you, still gives you food, still bless your business, still bless your bank account, your 401k, still taking care of your house and your children, knowing what you're gonna do to Him next year. The Lord ain't confused on this night, no. He walks across that valley, knowing these men are gonna be trembling. He knew this all this time. And I just want you to see in the Lord, watch. He's going through a stressful moment of where does He go? He carries His heart to the presence of the Father. The Lord had a consistent life of prayer. Look at me. The Lord had a consistent life of prayer. What we see in Jesus is a denial of self-reliance. You read the text, you'll find Him on a mountaintop praying all night before He comes down and chooses 12 men to be His apostles. That is, He prays before He makes life decisions. We see Him praying before He performs miracles. That is, He's praying and getting power from the Spirit of God. We see Him praying before He walks on the Sea of Galilee to meet His followers on a ship in the middle of the sea. We see the Lord slipping away often, the Scripture says. And there He will be alone with the Father praying. Jesus had a consistent life of prayer. He lived dependent upon the Father. But notice where He went to Gethsemane. Give me my picture control room. This is where Jesus went that night. I was in Jerusalem, December, 2018, when I took my phone and snapped that picture. This is the remaining Garden of Gethsemane. Gethsemane was an olive grove of trees. And in the center of that olive grove was a garden. These trees are all that remains from that garden. They are thousands of years old. So they protected those trees. They're the same trees that was there when the Lord prayed in that garden. And I'm standing at the gate, staring at these trees and thinking about what happened in that place that night. The word Gethsemane means olive press. It was a place of crushing. Just symbolic of the fact that Lord would go into that place and on that night He would be crushed. He would be crushed in His spirit. He would be crushed in His emotions. He would be crushed in His heart. He would be crushed by betrayal. He would be crushed by abandonment. He would be crushed by an arrest. You want to go deeper? He would be crushed by the perfect will of the Father. And I just point that out to you, because on the backside of that, He would be highly exalted because powerful things come on the other side of crushing. You got Christians that talk about, they want to be anointed. You want oil, but you don't want to be crushed. You want power, but you don't want to be crushed. You want platforms, but you don't want to be crushed. You want platforms without process. And I'm talking to some of you right now. There are people listening to me right now who find yourself in a Gethsemane season. Like I am in right now, where you're going through some hardship. I'm talking to you. Some trial, some issues, some pain, some deep insecurities. You're praying, God is not moving, and what He's doing right now is crushing you right now in that moment. And what comes on the other side of crushing? Greater character? Greater strength? Who am I talking to? More wisdom? More knowledge? That's what I say. Pain should pay you. You should never go through something and come out with nothing. If I go through pain, it has to pay me. You go through a hard season, it should pay you. You should never go through a hardship and come out with nothing. In that garden, the Lord will be crushed that night. But what would come out of that, He will be exalted by the Father. And on the back, I'm telling for somebody right now, don't give up. On the backside of that, don't give up. Don't throw in the time. Don't throw in the towel. On the other side of your season of pain will be a greater man, a greater woman. If you watch, submit to the process of crushing. There are people right now going through a Get Send Me season. This is where you are right now in your life. And you think the Lord is not hearing your prayer. And you think He's unkind. And you think He abandoned you. He will never abandon you. He's in the garden with you. He's just not pulling you out as fast as you want to. I'm talking to myself. I already know I'm talking to myself. I've been dealing with hell for 11 months. I've been living here for 11 months. I set up camp here for 11 months. Been doing work from that garden for 11 months. I hear somebody crying. He's catching those tears. I hear you whimpering. He knows exactly where you are. He puts you there. See, and as you grow in Christian maturity, you don't just thank God for mountain tops. That's bottom shelf Christianity. You get to the point where you start thanking God for the things He used to break you, hurt you, because they transform you. Check your resume. You have been shaped more by the things you survived than by the things that you have been blessed by. I'm telling you right now what I know. You are wiser because of pain. You are smarter because of pain. You are stronger because of pain. The Lord has done more in you through the garden than He has through mountain tops. Mountain tops. I'm wired like this because of stuff I have survived in the streets and in the kingdom. And for as much as you be trying to rip those stories out of your life, just check your past. The Lord has done more in you through what He has crushed you in than just making life feel flowery all the time. Even people who got everything on the outside, all the trappings of worldly success and still crushed on the inside. The Lord won't change that yet. Why? He's using that to just keep you just dependent enough to call on Him, because He will never create for you a life that makes Him unnecessary. You could be wealthy and He'll leave a little insecurity. You could be wealthy, He'll leave a little bit of brokenness. You could be bubbling, He'll leave a little bit of drama. He'll leave just enough in your life to make you realize you can't do this on your own. We only think we're strong until a trial come that break us. Now, I want you to notice something in the text. He says to His followers, stay here while I go over there and pray. Do you see that in verse 36? He says to them, sit here while I go over there and pray. Now, that is a very important detail in the text for what I'm about to read to you next. Okay? The Lord comes to the front of the olive grove. He looks into the eyes of our Lord. He says, to the front of the olive grove, He looks into the eyes of 11 men. Watch. 11 men, He says, y'all stay here. I'm going to go over there and pray. That is an important detail in the text for what we read next. Look at the next verse. Verse 37, and taking with Him Peter and the two sons of Zeppari, that is James and John, He began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then He said to them, this is so powerful, my soul is sorrowful even to the point of death. Remain here and watch with me. Now, this is, look what the Lord did. He goes to the front of the olive grove with 11 men. Pay attention. He tells eight of them, you stay here. Then He takes three men, Peter, James, John. He says, y'all come with me. He takes them into the garden. And when He gets alone with Peter, James, John, He says to them, my soul is sorrowful unto death. The Lord confesses the brokenness of His heart, not to all 11 men. Okay. Watch. The Lord pours out the deepest parts of His heart, not to all 11 men. You've been taught wrong. The only three people that ever heard Jesus says, my soul is sorrowful unto death were three men, not all 11. Peter, James, and John. I only point that out to you in the text, because I want you to see the Lord gives us permission to have relational boundaries. And not to apologize for them. We never see the Lord trying to explain to the other eight why they can't come in. We don't see Him apologizing for that. We see the Lord using wisdom in creating relational boundaries that, watch, He knows who to be intimate with and who not to be intimate with. Watch. He knows who to be vulnerable with and who not to be vulnerable with. He knows who to share His heart with and who not to share His heart with. This is important because everybody cannot handle your vulnerability. Come on, man. Everybody cannot handle your humanity. There are some people you will tell them something intimate from your heart and they will change the way they treat you the next day. There are some people that have your last name that cannot handle the intimacy of your heart. There are people in your family that don't have the humility to handle the humanity of your heart. You cannot trust them with who you really are. You cannot tell them what you're going through. They will judge you the next day. This is the Lord modeling for you and I, the wisdom to know who can handle my vulnerability, who can handle my humanity, who cannot be truly honest with about the things in my heart. Watch. And they're not betraying me with that information. The Lord saw in those three men something in them that He trusted. They can handle His humanity. This is God in the flesh telling them my soul is sorrowful unto death. He is bearing His soul to three men. Watch. He used a filter for where He could be vulnerable. I'm just telling you that because your generation, this generation, we don't do that. We don't use no filters for vulnerability. You air all your business on social media. So we always know when you down. We always know when you broken. We always know when you upset. We know every time you go through a breakup. We know every time you struggle. We always know that because you use social media as your filter. And some of us think just because you have acquaintances, they have the right to your soul. Let me tell you, all people love, you do not owe everybody access. Access must be earned. Over consistency, I need to see that I can trust you with one piece of intimacy and see how you handle that afterwards. You put my business on IG, I know I can't trust you. Love you, can't trust you. Love you, can't talk to you. Love you, you'll never hear the deepest parts of my heart ever again. I'm just trying to help some of you watch. I'm trying to help some of you have the courage to take inventory of everybody in life and know I can trust this brother with my heart. I can trust this sister with my heart. Cannot trust them. Love them, can't trust them. So the Lord sets a relational boundary between the men. Leaves eight outside, takes three in. He's vulnerable in their presence. Not to mention this is not the first time he's been vulnerable with these men. The Lord's trusting them. He's been testing them over time. He's in the same three men. He goes to the top of a mountain and he shows them that he was God in the flesh. So he trusted them with his glory. Now he trusts them with their sorrow. This is the same three men. When he went into a man's house to heal his daughter, he told the other disciples, y'all stay outside. He took Peter, James and John into the room and raised a dead girl from the grave. Raised up a dead girl with only Peter, James and John. No? These are the same three men. When the Lord is gone, he would trust them to leave the church. This is the Lord modeling for you and I to have enough discernment to know who can handle your humanity and who cannot. Who can trust your vulnerability and who you cannot. This is him setting relational boundaries. Watch the next verse. Verse 39. This is powerful saying, my father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will. So he sets another boundary. He leaves 11 men at the door, eight men at the door, takes three men into the garden, then goes a little bit further from them and now he talks to God alone. This is you and I learning from the Lord that there's some things only between you and me, and I know that you're not alone. That there's some things only between you and God. If there's some things you keep to yourself, it's just you and God working this out in private. Now look at what he's saying to the father. This is so powerful. Lord, if it is possible, please let this cup pass from me. You know what he's saying? God, if it's possible, let me not go through what I'm about to face. He is being tempted, looking for an option out, trying to find another way to fulfill the plan of salvation, the plan of redemption. The Lord, watch, because he's omnipresent, he knows what he's about to go through, so he's praying for another way to handle that. He says, can this cup pass from me? What is the cup? The cup in the Old Testament represents wrath, it represents judgment, it represents hardship. What is inside the cup that night? Inside that cup is the fact that he's about to be betrayed, he's about to be crucified, he's about to be put to death, but what is at the bottom of the cup? What is at the bottom of the cup that he's concerned about the most? He is not the first person to be martyred, he is not the first person to face death, he is not the first person to give his life for Christianity, there's something at the bottom of the cup that he's most concerned about. The fact that this human being would never made a mistake, this human being who was sinless, for the first time now he was about to come in contact with sin. Watch. For the first time in his entire life, past and present, he was about to come in contact with sin, why? Because on the cross, when Christ dies there, he absorbs all of your sin, and all of my sin, and he takes that all upon himself, on the cross, so you could be set free from the wrath of God. Now watch, I say that to some of you and it means nothing, right? It only means something to those of you who's been set up with yourself at some point in time. Come on man. Like man, why am I always watching pornography? Why am I always masturbating? Why am I always angry? Why am I always jealous? Why am I always covetous? Why am I always still? Why am I ever been mad at your own self? Like why do you keep doing that? Why do you keep dating the same people? It's the same problems in different legs. The hips don't change the behavior. I'm not the only one that's ever in a moment said dang it Philip, what is wrong with you? Anybody's ever felt that before? Even one time. Has anybody been mad at yourself just one time? Like why did I mess up that business deal? Why did I lose that opportunity? Why did I lose that woman, that man? Has anybody ever been mad at yourself? You're mad at yourself because you are a sinner. That's yours alone. Imagine carrying the weight of yours and every human being that ever lived past, present, future. How's that for weight? And he knows for the first time he will be separated from the Father. That's why on the cross he cries out my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? For the first time the Father and the Son will be momentarily separated because of sin. The Father will have to turn his back on the Son and not stare at the Son. On the cross becomes a massive lump of sin. Carrying all of your mistakes, your shame, your failure. All of that is strapped to him and the Father has to back away from him in that moment. And so Jesus not wanting to be separated from the Father he's seeking for another option. Okay, watch. I just, I heart right here because I want to help some of you that be praying real shy. And you know what you want. And you tip to around God as if he'd already know. I'm trying to help some of you watch to just be bold about your struggle. This is the Lord giving you permission to tell God I'm struggling with your will. I know you're calling me to do this but I'm struggling with this. I know you're calling me to leave and I'm struggling with this. I know you're saying move to Atlanta to be a part of 2018, 2019 but I'm struggling with this. This is the Lord giving you permission to tell him you are struggling with what he's asking you to do. I'm just trying to help some of you stop condemning yourself. He can handle your honesty. Verse 40, And he came to his disciples, I'm almost done. And he found them sleeping. And he said to Peter, So my dude, you couldn't watch with me for one hour? You couldn't pray for one hour, Peter? You couldn't do access with me for one hour? Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The Spirit indeed is willing but the flesh is weak. Oh my God. Everybody watch this. I'm almost done. He comes back from prayer. He walks over into the garden. He sees Peter, James and John sleeping. He leaves John and James sleeping. He taps Peter. My dude, You, it is singular in Greek, not plural. You, Peter alone, You could not stay up with me for one hour in prayer? He did not talk to James and John, left them sleeping. It's gonna make sense in a second. You, Peter, I'm talking to you by yourself. You can stay up with me and pray for one hour? Then he says, watch this, everybody watch. Pray, Peter, let you fall into temptation. Now pay attention. He's talking to the man who in an hour from now is gonna deny him three times. He's talking to a man who in an hour from now is about to face the trial of his life. Watch, watch. And because the Lord is all-knowing, he already knows the hell that Peter's gonna go through when he walks out of that garden. So he's telling him what to do to prepare him for that battle. He's about to face. I point this out to you in your text because I'm trying to help some of you understand when God gives you an instruction. He'd be giving you instructions to either prepare you for something that's coming or to protect you from something that's coming. That's why we gotta learn to obey even if we don't understand. Amen. The Lord already knew that what Peter needed was strength for his trial. He said to Peter, your spirit is willing, but your flesh is weak. You know what he's saying? You can't trust his flesh. This skin that you and I wrapped in has been infected by sin. That's why you're insecure. That's why you deal with shame. That's why you struggle with pornography. That's why you struggle with lust and masturbation. Struggle with jealousy, greed. We all have been affected by sin. And listen to me. If you don't put this thing under subjection, it will ruin relationships. It will destroy marriages. It will destroy friendships. It will ruin businesses. It will topple ministries. If you don't put this flesh under subjection, how do you do that? Prayer. Fasting. Bible reading. Community. This is what Paul said, you have no confidence in your flesh. This thing right here will ruin things in your life. You don't believe me? We all can testify of relationships that got ruined, marriages that got ruined, business deals that got ruined, jobs that got ruined, opportunities that got ruined because of something we said or did in our sinful nature. No? It's real talk. This thing, this thing will shipwreck your life if it's out of control. I'm trying to, daughter. This thing right here, the flesh, will shipwreck your life if it's out of control. Peter is about to face the trial of his life. The Lord who knows this says to him, my dude, you better wake up and pray. Watch, you have no idea what's about to happen to you in an hour. Watch. This is why you have to learn to trust him even when you can't trace him. When God be talking, you have to learn to trust him, for example. My assistant, I have two full-time assistants, a male and a female. My female assistant, my executive leader who runs my itinerant ministry. When the opportunity came available for her to take that position, to travel with us on our travel team and run my office and handle all my itinerant ministry, she was working a corporate job. She felt the spirit of God telling her, take the position with 2018-2019. People around her were telling her, don't take the job. You can't trust no church. You know they selling chicken dinners. You don't know if you're going to be paying your bills. You can't trust no church. You got a good corporate job. Watch, you're comfortable. That's it. That's it. That's it. That's it. That's it. That's it. That's it. That's it. you you will be celebrating right now right three months later her whole department is getting layoffs say Philip I don't understand the Lord was giving her an instruction no one what if she did not obey now she's out two positions the Lord care about everything you care about he'll speak to you about your business partners he'll speak to you about your business deals he speaks you about who to marry who not to marry he'll speak to you about the person you're dating he'll talk to you about how to handle your finances he'll tell you don't go don't take that trip he'll tell you don't date that person he'll tell you don't sign that contract he will talk to you and how do you trust how do you not trust somebody that's all knowing this is why we're wise to invite him into every area of our life into our business and to our marriage our dating our parenting we are wise to pray to him about everything because he's all knowing he will tell you don't put your name on that contract don't buy that house he'll tell you leave that city and move to Atlanta to be a part of the fellowship of 2019 yes he will I feel the spirit of God telling me I need to move I don't know if I should move or not should move and I don't know if I should move or not should move trust him even when you can't trace him Peter get up my dude pray you got no idea what about the go-to on our whatever you are just crying listen to me I know you can hear my voice I don't know that pain you're feeling I know my own pain the Lord here ready for giving you for whatever mistakes you've made you need to take the wisdom you're learning right now and do differently starting tomorrow starting tomorrow pray about everything and invite God into every area of your life Lord teach me how to parent teach me how to be a better leader teach me how to be a better businessman a better business woman teach me how to date proper teach me how to be better in the community start inviting him into other areas so you can hear him protecting you and preparing you you somebody just lay hands on her right there touch her back just all y'all women come on I'm talking to y'all just just touch her so she feels support oh he so he feels support just touch him father in the name of Jesus we pray for this brother that you would comfort him right now that he would feel in this moment grace and mercy and forgiveness that you were given the grace to forgive himself yeah I know that the arms he feels right now he'll know the arms of God loving on him I pray strength over that brother right now in the mighty and the majestic and the mattress name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ let him go you could now my brother you don't got to look at me but you I just want you listen to me okay you ain't got I'm about to finish this message just listen to me bro you ain't got to look at me just listen to me hear my voice we all make mistakes we all go through pain nobody's exonerated from that but in this life everything you go through will either be a classroom or a coffin it's your choice it will be a coffin that buries you or a classroom that teaches you this is how you approach every mistake every failure look at me dude I'm talking to you every mistake every failure everything you've done you either make it a coffin that kills you or a classroom that teaches you you're no different than the person with the microphone I got things I regret I can't go back and change them so now I got to make a choice with all my failures that's behind me I'm either gonna let it be a coffin that buries me forever I'm gonna let it be a classroom that teaches me to be better as I go forward I am a better man not because of my mountain tops but because of the things I have learned from my mistakes and my failures you understand what I'm saying to you that makes sense be encouraged we all make mistakes but in life your problems and your failures will either be a coffin or classroom is your choice let me let me finish the text I want to get that brother out of here we're gonna pray for him look I'm landing the plane now this next verse is so powerful I want to teach you something very important verse 42 and again the second time he went away and he prayed for my father if this cannot pass unless I drink it your will be done and again he came and found the disciples sleeping for their eyes was heavy now everybody look at me very carefully the first time he prayed to God he says if it is possible so the first time he prays he's looking for an out watch the second time he prays he accepts the fact he is not getting an out he goes from saying if it is possible to Lord if this cannot pass your will be done now listen to me carefully in the parallel text in Luke Luke writes in this moment but he prayed the second time God sent an angel from heaven into the garden to strengthen him in that moment so he's praying for God to deliver him from a circumstance the father will not deliver him but the father sends him supernatural help this is you learning that there's something you're praying about that the father will not change but the father will give you supernatural help this is us seeing the unseen realm that in the unseen realm there be things you be going through you be crying praying stressing struggling depressed and God is helping you in that unseen realm this is you crying in the middle of the night because God will not answer prayer he may not take you out but he'll send you help in the middle of what you're going through this is me being loved by half the country and hated by half the country and they look at me and say but that's my son this is me going through 11 months of hell and the Lord not changing my circumstance but helping me my circumstance that is my son I will help him that is my prophet I will help him that is my mouthpiece I will help him that is my soldier I will help him he will not be removed from this trial until I'm ready but I'll give him strength in the middle of this trial this is me telling some of you some of the things you survived you was not strong enough to survive but the only reason you survived the because in the unseen realm the father heard your cries he did not take you out but he sends you supernatural help is anybody thankful for a God that sends supernatural help when you've been through hell the father has sent many of you supernatural help I'm done Frank as he tears falling over there I'm telling some of y'all you was not strong enough to survive some of the things you've been through this is important for you to know watch this I'm about to help somebody before we close look at me who's the one praying Jesus let me ask you a question did he ever make a mistake and he's sending him but the father didn't answer his prayer the father did not answer the prayer of a perfect man what are you trying to explain he didn't answer his prayer because the Lord did anything wrong he didn't answer his prayer because it was not in accordance with his perfect will this is me helping some of you who the Lord has not answered some of your prayers and you didn't do nothing wrong he's not mad he's not angry he's not upset he's just not answering that prayer because it goes against his perfect will this is you being freed from self condemnation from beating yourself up and tearing yourself down and saying what's wrong with me and why he's not answering my prayer no sometimes the unanswered prayer has nothing to do with the person praying has everything to do what you're asking God for is outside of his will watch so although the Lord is asking for something outside the father's will the father will not take him out of that but the father sends him help the Lord didn't heal my father he's not alive to see what happened with his son but maybe in those last six months of his life maybe God sent my father help that he can face his death with courage he fires the disciples sleeping again they look to me like the american church sleeping when they should be about their father's business you know right now in the uk they're mandating a chip an identity chip they are mandated that in 12 months everybody in the uk has to have an identity chip see you'll figure this out when you get home they're mandating in the uk that in 12 months everybody has to have an identity chip when the scripture says in the last days everybody will have to take a mark and they hand on a forehead and without that mark they can't buy or sell they have to have some kind of identity chip to function in society and they're about to mandate that in the uk i already point that out to you because i keep telling you the time is running out and jesus is coming back very soon and people are playing church and we don't have all that much time left we don't we don't we don't time is running out so leaving again he went and prayed for the third time saying the same things he's persistent in prayer that he came and saw the disciples and said to them i love this part i'm closing look since y'all are so tired sleep take your rest you know what that's called grace for your weakness the lord don't even flex on them he sees their weakness he sees their humanity he says you know what grace sleep take your rest look what he says the hour has that hand the hour is at hand the son of man is now betrayed into the hands of sinners rise and let us be going see my betrayer is coming sees them sleeping looks out at the back side of the garden he sees torches and lights in the middle of the night here comes judas here comes roman soldiers here comes the final hours of the lights of price by the next morning nine a.m he will be nailed to a cross by 12 he'll be crying out lord why have you forsaken me by 3 p.m he will die and i just pray you would glean from this text that we will model what we see in the life of the lord right here from this text a life of consistency and prayer a life of dependence on god a life of having filters for our relationships filters for who we share confident information with a life of learning to listen when the lord is talking to you he might be preparing you for something protecting for something getting ready to open a door a life of obedience even when you don't understand and that's what i want to pray over you right now so father in the name of jesus every head bowed every eye closed in the name of jesus lord i pray over every person under the sound of my voice that you would teach us to be consistent in prayer you would teach us to be obedient when you speak you would teach us not to put confidence in this flesh a prayer you would give us wisdom to take inventory of the people in our lives help us to know who we could bear our souls to and who we cannot trust with that information help us to marvel over the steadfast love of the lord who knows all of our mistakes failures and still loves us steadfast anyway i pray god lord that this teaching will not be lost on the hearts of your sons and daughters who you love so much and i pray for the man or woman in this room who do not really know you they've been in church they come every now and then but they don't really i pray right now right now where they're sitting they might surrender their life to you they might whisper in their heart lord forgive me for my sins lord i trust you with my life right there i pray they might surrender their life to you right there where they are they'll cry like that baby just cried and they will come to know you as a loving savior and you will lead them into all the plans and purposes you have for them i pray this over them right now in the mighty and the majestic and the matchless name of our lord and saviour soon coming king jesus christ hallelujah amen like a bride waiting for her group don't move we'll be church ready for you every heart longing for our king we see like a bride like a bride waiting for her group we'll be church ready for you every heart longing for our king we see even so come lord jesus come say even so even so lord jesus come so we wait so we wait we wait for you god we wait you're coming soon we wait we wait we wait for you god we wait you're coming soon like a bride like a bride waiting for her group we'll be church ready for you every heart longing for our king we see like a bride like a bride waiting for her group we'll be church ready for you every heart longing for our king we see even so come lord jesus come even so come lord jesus come even so come even so come lord jesus come even so come lord jesus come family listen to me before you leave i feel in my spirit somebody send the room saying that dude too rough you want to go to a church where you hear fluff you keep you comfortable in lies while you're on your way to hell i talk like this out of love i would rather hurt you and you be saved and keep you comfortable in lies and you die and go to hell that's why i talk like this and i just want you to hear me i want everybody in this room to hear me this the third time i have preached today i want you to hear i said it's to my whole church family listen to me i love you i really do love y'all with my whole heart warfare and the hell i go through i take some of that for you i stand for you and for the savior and i just want you i need you to hear me yo i love you it's why i bruise my knees for you it's why i shed tears for you during the week it's why i'm always covering you i pray for your mind your heart your marriages your relationships your businesses your homes your children i shed tears for you i need you to hear that i love you with everything in me and you mean everything to me and this is the greatest honor of my life to shepherd this great movement called twenty eight nineteen you hear what i'm saying to you be faithful what you're giving i'm not a money man i'm not going to manipulate you you do what you gotta do and because time is running out on us and we're trying to awaken society with the gospel i want you to turn your attention to the screen and then we'll send you home okay matthew chapter 28 and verse 19 where it says go therefore and make disciples of all things wait what no no that's that church from america i tell you my we're coming back in january right january what are you doing i'm in a city right now that was once a hub for global evangelism in the spread of the gospel in a city that has lost the influence of christianity we walk the streets of london now it feels heavy it feels spiritually dark and i feel like it's a revival revival i feel like right here in this global international hub if there's ever been a time we need revival it is right now we need believers around the world to pray we need christians in london to play we need men and women of god in london to cry out to the lord jesus christ time is running out the lord is going to return soon we don't have time to waste now is the hour to preach the gospel now is the hour to be serious about your walk with jesus now is the hour to pray now is the hour to believe for revival right here in london and cities all around the world yeah