Good evening, and welcome. Thank you so much for joining us tonight, wherever you are, across this earth, may God bless you and strengthen you. It is 736 here within the UK. And I pray as you join us across the earth for this broadcast. This evening, God will guide you and lead you into new beginnings, new areas. And I pray that your day has been well in the mighty name of Jesus Christ within a turn into the New Testament this evening, and for everybody that joins us on all the social networks that are on, and I Heart Radio as we push out across that, and in the world of Buzzsprout and Spotify and Amazon music. I'm just checking and making sure it's all connected it is connecting, it is well there must be 50 P in the meter. Thank you energy company, we got some electric tonight. Let's crack straight in. We're gonna go to the book of Matthew, the New Testament, we're gonna go to the book of Matthew and we are going to pick it up from this have a quick look at the moment, Matthew chapter 26. Matthew chapter 26. And we're going to start in verse 36. And we're gonna make our way through I hope you can hear me but we're going to press in tonight, and may God bless you tonight and much and me Jesus Christ. Never give up. Never give up hope wherever you are, never give up hope. It's just turnout down and start pressing him very, very slowly as people are connecting. And as we said, and as we always say, you can find us on Buzzsprout, iHeartRadio, Spotify and many other platforms that we are on pushing these broadcasts out and these podcasts across the world. It's absolutely amazing to me, it blows my little socks straight off my feet when I see this as this sticks come through and understand and start to see actually on the computer where we are actually pushing out to it's absolutely amazing the power of technology. So thank you so much to everybody that joins us across the other side of the world, New Zealand. Absolutely just crazy what you can do with technology. But let's go we're in yet. Good evening. I see you there yet. Good evening, and good evening, we are ready to rumble. We are in the book of Matthew with His Holy Communion. It is 738 here in the UK. And we're going to take communion in about 30 minutes. But I would just like to us to look at the Garden of Gethsemane, the Garden of Gethsemane and we're coming from the Gospel of Matthew chapter 26, verse 36. And we'll go all the way through to around about the end of verse 46, or 10 verses tonight. And there are three stages. We're not looking at the fathers, we're not looking at the will of Christ, what we're looking at tonight, is I believe God is leading me into this different area. So I'm gonna, it's gonna take my time, I'm going to spend a few moments, I've broken it down, or I should say, I see with my heart tonight and seen tonight, my heart, that this text that we're in these 10 verses are broken down into three stages, every one of us is on a journey. We journey with people for a while. And then our journey starts with people, then it might end up we might have just a journey on our own for a while. But then we come back to people again. So there are three stages to the journey of Christ, going to the cross of Calvary. And as you look at this garden of Gethsemane, experience is really powerful time of Christ. We're not looking at what the will of the Father is because we know what the will of the Father is that all men might be saved. We see that and we understand what the will of the Father is, but also there is the will of Christ. But amongst the will of Christ, we have to remind ourselves that here we have Christ completely fully human, fully God, fully word, fully great I am. He's in the fullness, he's in the fullness. But I honestly believe with every fiber of my innermost being, as we look at Christ here tonight in these 10 Small scriptures that we're in verses 36 to 46 I honestly believe this is the man Christ Jesus. We can look at this many ways, but there are three stages to his journey. Every one of us has a garden of Gethsemane experience we get an idea of what the Garden of Gethsemane is, we get a bit of a vague idea of what that may be a stretch in and and a time of laying on the floor and calling out to God not necessarily just laying on the floor but but literally just calling out to God in anguish and pain. But there are three stages and there is the first stage which is the entrance the walking in so it's the in movement, the progression of forward but then there's a second stage of it, which is the fall and I'm not referring to the fall as in falling into sin we're not referring to that what we're talking about the fall the the handing over when I when I'm talking about for I'm referring to the falling down and the the submission, the surrender the place of of coming under the complete will of the Father, even understanding what that will is for each and every one of us. Now, it can be very difficult because life can really throw some unusual curveballs at us. You know, we might be going along in our lives, we might be bobbing along, doing everything, oh, we might have a lot of trouble and saying happens. And then something just comes our way. So it just comes out. And no, there are loads of different analogies, as noted different ways of, of looking at what a journey is. But here we have the journey of Christ, I just got it in three stages. So we have the first stage of Christ journey to the garden, he's going to the garden with disciples, then he has to leave the disciples and He leaves them and the scriptures explain it to us. That's the second part. And I've titled that as the the fall, not the falling into sin, but the the fallen into complete trust the place of where he's trusting the Father's will, then the third stage of the journey is the rise from the next stage. But what's really interesting, in this journey, these three stages, these three steps of Christ, He prays three times, which is really interesting, he goes back in and he comes backwards and forwards. So there is a break point, point. And there should be a break point in our prayer life where we go in and we pray, and maybe we were wrestling with the prayer and we come back out, you can almost put like a ring fence around this, you can almost put it up like a, you can almost look at it like an aerial view of looking down onto a boxing arena, you know, when you're on the outside, you're you're looking from the outside, and then suddenly, it's your turn, you've got to get in to the arena. And then there's also a time of stepping out the arena, it's understanding of when the time is to walk in, to stay in, but also to walk out. But what, what is sorry, what is really, really clear here is that Christ walked to the gate of the garden. With those, he went into the garden with those, but then also he came out of the garden. And he continued his journey journey with those. So there's times when we journey with people, and we're with a crowd or on with people that we are familiar with. But then also, there comes a point when there is a pause point, when we have to go into the arena. And I'll put it into the arena with God, not with the world, but actually into the arena, into that place of stretching into that place of almost finding what the will is. But even it says very clear in the Scripture, he says, not mine, not mine, not mine, not his will, but the Father's will. And it can be very difficult. It can take us hours, it can take us days, it can take us years of trying to find what is the plan for God for our lives. You obviously in the world of Church and the world of teaching and preaching, and all that the world of Christianity, you're going to get those that are going to jump up and down on the table and go Yes, Brother, I know what the will of the Father is straight away. But actually, do you realize Do you really know what the will of the Lord is for you for every second of your heartbeat? Do you realize that what you anticipate and what you plan in your cultural press and your family press and your WordPress, your educational press might not be what the will of the Father is for you. But we get so herded we own. In a culture. We're in a society we're in a world where the herd mentality is so strong, we are all driven the same way we are all driven the same way we are all pushed the same way. Look at what's happening across the platforms of the political arenas at the moment within this nation. Look, look at the carnage that's going on there. You know, as we looked at Yes, then a scripture now is a time The just shall live by faith. So to live by faith is simply the fact is that I'm trusting in what the Father has for me. And what He has for you is a very important part of how Christian walk of course is Pastor faith is but actually to step out of the normal press of life because when I continue the journey as I anticipate and as I think it I'm living as I would expect my society, my culture, my my my upbringing, my family, my workplace. I'm living as they expect me to live, but how does Christ want me to live? What way in which way and how and so there's many questions about being a believer Lord, what is the correct way for me to go? See we are herded in denomination were herded through Elam through a OG through the Pentecostal movement is a form of herding Catholicism, Church of England, you know, when you look at different cultural churches, there is a there is almost a drive from the leadership from the denomination, the mega church, attitude to drive and that is the way that you and we are going to drive you but have you ever been in a large church? It's almost like a being in a corporate environment. When you are just literally just sitting in the chair note nobody really knows you when you're in a denomination and nobody really knows you because we are herded in such a way but I honestly believe there are there are many people breaking out of religious way ways of living, cultural ways of living, what ways of living understandings, when you look at this government, you can see very, very clearly that they are under stress like never before that things are changing, like, like you'd never believe it, you know, there's a switching all the time. So we need to pray for the government that God will stabilize the government, God will move through the government, God will show show us what is happening through the government. Many may be at that stage of understanding and looking and seeing what's happening through through the governments. But I pray that wherever you are at this hour in time, that we do not look at the government, but we look at the Scripture. So I'm going to read the Scripture tonight. And I pray that you will find peace in the Garden of Gethsemane, there are many right now walking up to the garden, but do not realize the stage of your life that you are about to approach. Now, this is very clear, we have people around us. But there are times when the people around us can't go to the next level of the journey with us, that we have to leave them at the gate and we have to go in, to be focused, to be sharpened, to be to be put through the fire, so to speak to be refined, but we come out. And when we come out of that garden, the same crowd, the same audience are still there. But we are coming out completely different Christ when in and when he came out, he was completely different. He was prepared for the next stage of his life, you might be walking with people you might be in a business area, you might be in a business setting, you might be in a corporate and you might be in many different, you might have your foot your toe in many different ponds at the moment, trying to balance so many and spinning so many plates on the sticks of life, and you're balancing so much. And actually you're just waiting for one of them to crash. Well, I pray for each and every one of us tonight that is spinning more plates and we can actually keep moving. I pray that God will give us stability, God will just show us the way forward. But you know what life makes a spin many plates, culture, life, finances, living, breathing, being a human being makes a spin loads of plates just to get through today. So I pray that wherever you are across this earth tonight, whenever this broadcast hits your heart, through your air gate, through your eye gate and lands on the tablet of your heart, I pray that you will just realize where you are on the three stages as Christ was. There's the approach to the garden, there's the garden experience, but then also there's the coming out of the garden. But when we come out of the garden, the audience looks the same. But what is different, the audience isn't different. You are different. That's really important for us to grasp if there's anything we can take from tonight, from this Holy Communion tonight, what is important is that we approach the garden together, we go into the garden as individuals, we have them times of that individual stretching, of refining, of character building of enduring, who knows how long that garden experience will last, no one can really tell. But when you look at Christ journey, there was the three stages in these 10 verses that we're in I'm going to read the scriptures. And I believe God will open up the envelope envelope sorry of revelation for revelation on knowledge, and He will reveal to you what needs to be revealed tonight through His Word. I'm just the reader. I am just reading God's word it is God's word that is going to penetrate your innermost being. And it is God that is going to get you to your destiny. So you might walk up to that garden point, you might go into that garden point alone. So you've walked up with an audience you've gone in on your own, you're in that place and who knows how long we're going to be in that place for but they're still on the outside. And when you come out of the garden, the faces of the people are the same, but you will be very different. You're all on very different stages, different walks, I'm a different walk to you you're on a different walk to me spiritually we're referring to you know, we all walk together in certain ways of life paths cross everything happens through the circle of living through being a human being. But we are all in definitely in one area of the you can't mean in three in one, you will be in one of these three stages whether you're approaching and sometimes the approach of the garden isn't isn't notice the approach of of the of the individual stretching, nurturing, working of the Holy Spirit, almost put it like going into the to the potter's house being placed on the potter's wheel and the master has to work at the clay. We cannot I cannot work with me. I've got many failings I've got many trip hazards in my life. I've got many areas where God's got a clean made deal with mean stretch me, test me, do whatever he's got to do. You know, I make mistakes, I make many mistakes, but by His grace and His mercy and His power, and his protection and his guidance and his strength, God is always leading. God is always leading. Sometimes it feels that we've gone ahead, but God is always ahead. God is protecting us, God is guiding us, God is leading us, God, God is drawing us God is always with us, the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, He says, I'll never leave you nor forsake you. But we are on a journey. Each and every one of us are on a journey. And I'm going to repeat myself or I can just see people are just jumping on the socials now. Now we're at the beginning of the journey, or we're in the center of the journey. So we're approaching the garden, wherever approaching or in the garden, or we come in on the third stage of the journey of coming out of the garden. Now, as we approach the garden, the audience, culture, life is the same. The work colleagues are the same church is the same, family is the same, it is the same, we are walking to the gate of the Garden of Gethsemane. But then we leave the crowd for a while we leave the rhetoric we leave, we leave the normality of what we have been walking in, and we approach the garden with the crowd. But then comes a point of leaving that crowd for a moment, and going into what God and what the Scripture calls the stretch in the Garden of Gethsemane. So the three stages. Now let's, let's read the scriptures, verse 36, of Matthew chapter 26, for those that want to follow this in the Scripture night, and God has God has you. I don't even know you. But I believe God has you because the Bible tells me the Bible makes it very clear for God in Jeremiah 29. For I know the plans I have for you. That's you, for those that are that are listening, that are following at this moment in time whenever you listen for another plans, or have you declares the LORD plans, not to harm you, but to give you a hope and a future. If you follow me of all your heart. Now is a time for us, for you and for me, to follow God with everything. Can I say like this? Maybe we mean, following the worldly church, maybe we've been following the world, maybe we've been following the business world maybe been following our cultural world, maybe we've been following the family world, maybe we've been following the money world, maybe we've been following the addictive world, maybe when following certain parts of the world. And you know what that that is, I'm afraid to say is a human trait that we get caught following because others followed. And that is just human life, I'm afraid to say we follow without actually realizing who and what we are following. Because we have been birthed into it, we have walked into it, we have been schooled into it we have been educated into it. And we have been religiously placed in that we have been culturally all of us have been birthed into culture. No one is, can say that they haven't, because our lives and our place of birth and our postcode. And our way of living is a form of culture. You know, where we have been birthed. And what we've been birthed into is a form of, of a society that is a culture, you know, even when you look at the socials, that is birthed in a culture, but within that culture, gotta be very careful that within that culture, there is a herd in there is a stretch, and there is a drawing of being dragged and drawn into a way in living in a lifestyle, that your body is reaching a stage where you're saying, actually, this is not for me anymore. There is a new beginning there is a new birthday, there is a there is a new gay opening, there is a new gate opening. And sometimes I'll be honest with you tonight, sometimes it is very difficult, through the washing machine cycle of life, to actually find out what is the purpose and what is the will. And what is next for me, God, as an individual. You were here, the theologians you were here, all those great ones that have got the guitar out singing Hallelujah, Jesus, they've got it right and let them get on and get it right. Let them look at that. But then ones will always say, Well, you should know what you're doing. You really should know, you're blessed and highly favored. You are a child of the living God. Well, actually, let me tell you this, sometimes I don't know what I'm doing. Because life is so busy. I've got so many plates spinning. And I'm just trying to focus on Christ and sometimes, sometimes we have, we do have to have very busy lives, because that is the circle of life. But there are many sitting at home saying I'm waiting on the Lord. Now. It's okay to be busy, but don't let the busy hold you. It's okay to have many things going on. But don't let the many things hold you. There are many areas or many ways that look at Is tonight but time does not give us right now I've got to read it. Verse 36, know when Jesus with His disciples went to a place called God gift seminar and he said to them sit here while I go over there and pray he took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him and he began to be sorrowed says sorrow for actually and troubled. Then he said to them, My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death, stay here and keep watch with me. Going on a little further, he fell face down to the ground and prayed, My Father, if it is possible, may this can't be taken from me, yet not my will. But as you will then hear returned to his disciples, and he found them sleeping. I think that we got many people in our lives, the sleeping, they seem to wake up when they want to give us their opinion, they seem to wake up when they see that I've done something wrong. They seem to wake up when they want to tell me that I've made a mistake. They seem to wake up, and you can see their eyes wide. And they go Yeah, I'm gonna tell you this one for sure, brother. It says going on a little further, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed father, or I should actually say what the Scripture says, My Father, if it is possible, man, this can't be taken from me. Yet not My will are not yet as I will, it says, but as you will then return to his disciples and found in sleeping, couldn't you men keep watch with me for one hour, he asked Peter, watch and pray so that you do not fall into temptation helped me Lord, the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak, then he went away for a second time. And he prayed, My Father, if it is possible, for this cut to be taken away, unless I drink it. May Your will be done. Then he comes back verse 43, it says, when he came back, he fell again. He found them sorry, again sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. There are many people in our lives that their eyes are heavy. But we got to keep going. We got to keep going. Enduring. There are many people that are falling asleep on us. There are many people that are tired upon us, there are many people that can cannot journey with us. Because they will get exhausted and they will get weary. And your journey and my journey is not for some people is not for the crowd. You are on a very individual journey. And God is calling you to a very individual journey. But you meet up for a while. But there comes a point on the three stages of the walk to the garden, the garden experience itself, and then the removal of oneself from the garden. And that's what we get into when he comes out in verse 44. And says, so he left them and went away once more. And he prayed for a third time saying the same thing. It gives me comfort to know that if Christ were to say the same thing to His Father in heaven, and he says My Father, if it is possible, if it can be Could you take this from me? Three times we have the living word. Three times we have Christ three times we have the Redeemer three times we have the sacrificial lamb three times we have the man Christ Jesus three times we have the living word. How do you know it's the living word? The Gospel of John says In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God go down a bit further in the Scripture. RANIA is down in rent about verse 14, you'll have to hold me on that you'll have to check it for yourself. I believe it says in John chapter one, verse 14, and the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. So He became flesh. He became like sin, but he did not become sin, he became the likeness of you know, because he's 100%, pure 100% God 100% Christ 100% Living Word. He is the WAY the TRUTH and the LIFE. But when we look at Christ in this format, when you look at Christ in this vision form, when you look at Christ in the textual form, when you look at him, however you see him, you see him very clearly in this, the man, Christ Jesus, because he was sweating. It was in anguish. He came out of that prayer closet three times. So I would gather from my own thinking and my own analyzing and from my own, looking at the scripture that he came out three times, maybe just to grab a breath, and go, I can't do this. I'm going to step back. From this moment. I'm going to grab my breath. I'm going to go back and have a conversation with the ones that I was with. I will try and gather some strength and grit I grabbed some time thinking, but then he went back in. So he went in for the first time. He prayed. We know the prayer that he prayed, he came out, he had a dialogue or conversation with the ones that he went to the arena with. Then he went back in, he said the same prayer. Then he came back, he had another conversation with the humans. Then he went back into the garden. It's very interesting that he went back, he went back in, he came back out, and he went backwards and forth three times, the Bible tells us, then he says in verse 45, then he returned to his disciples and said to them, are you still sleeping, and resting look, the hour has come, the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of Sinners Rise, that's where I've got the third stage of this text rise. There are many on this journey. And I would I believe this, we all have to experience this journey. We all approach we all. So the first part of the approach is the the in process, the moving forward. So that's the end, that's the move that's a progressive stage, then there comes a stage of, of stillness, and the fall not as in the fall of sin. But the fall, as the scripture says, he fell to the ground. If you look at the Scripture, it says that his his, he says, My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow, he fell because the man Christ Jesus, he fell in, in in weakness not in weakness as in because he was weakened, he was falling into sin, he fell because of the pressure of the journey was too much. I believe that there are many looking at the journey of ahead and are almost stumbling and holding the next stage because the human me, the human, me, and the human, human, the human you. We are almost looking and knowing what is ahead. And we are almost trying to swerve the next stage of the journey. We can't swerve the next stage of the journey. So we go in, and we come up to the gate and we go into the arena, we have the arena experience, the three times the three prayers and what and three times and what did that, um, that great writer of the New Testament, right? Three times I pleaded with the Lord. So here we have again, three coming up. Where else do we see three? We understand that through the journey of that great prophet, that great prophet that ran, I am not delivering that word to Nineveh. He spent three days in Christ, what what does what do we look at the Passover, and I'm using the word Passover, because I'm learning to come away from the word Easter. Easter is a very worldly word. It shouldn't be spoken within the world of Christianity, because Easter reflects, and it looks at what the religious order and what the world is doing. And that is to do with Easter bunnies and Hot Cross Buns. What the Bible says is the passing over we are remembering the past in over the passing over, and what is assigned to God the blood will be assigned. So I've got to remember the Passover, not a star, not what the world is looking at. And an all the sounds and all the stuff that's going on on the Easter bank holiday. That is not what I'm remembering, I am remembering the passing over of the angel of death for the angel of destruction. And who was that was that Lucifer? Was that the angels of darkness? No, that was that was God passing over. And God did not permit anyone to die that had a sign of the blood, he said the blood will be a sign. Very clearly here we have the word three, as in the way of numeri, numerology, the and the number three the word the number three, not the word as in being free but the digital 1333 days. Jonah was in a believer fruit fish, three times Christ when in and backwards and forth, it tells us the third time. So there is three again, we understand that Christ was in the tomb. How many days was that for? What was we looking at the number three there when you look at that. The great writer wrote Three times I pleaded and here we have Christ on three stages of the journey. So three is very critical. We're here we have we are looking at Christ going into there is the walk up to the garden, there is the garden itself itself sorry. And that is the that is the time of stretching of encouraging, of nurturing of seeking God I'm going into a deeper walk with them and and really analyzing and really pushing, pushing that, that that bond a bit further God, what is the purpose of this? Lord, what is the purpose of this? What is the reason behind this stage of this journey, every step that Christ took was a was a step closer to the cross of Calvary. Every step that we take is a closer press towards Christ calling us home. every breath, every move is a step further, a walk closer to Christ Jesus. And I pray that wherever you are, now, Christ hold the audience that was with with him rise. So he's come out of the garden, and he's been ministered to, and he has been strengthened, and he's ready for the next stage of his life. It's really important that I break my journey down into three stages, the approach to the garden, the garden itself, and then the, the stage of coming out of the garden, but the audience around me will look the same, they will still be the same, they will be who they are, and what they are. But what will be different will be you, you will be different, you will be strengthened for the next stage. So let's just remind ourselves as we come to the table, very, very important to me tonight to understand that there is a there is a move, a very clear move, we are in living in very powerful times. And our cultures are being challenged. The the church is being challenged, the money markets are being challenged, education is being challenged, governments are being challenged, life itself is being challenged. So Where where are you? Where am I at this moment in time, on this walk with Christ? When will this garden experience this walk because we're in either three positions at this moment, we're evil walk into the garden, along with a crowd, living life doing what you're doing, understanding who's around you. But then there's going to come a point when you're going to say this is a cut off point for the for a moment, then then we go into the garden. And then there's there's that position of question of asking, of, of stretch, strengthening, of nurturing, of enduring of coming to to God and saying, What is it God? Where am I? What am I what is next? What is next for me. And then through that process of being that, that one that is being bold enough to say, Lord, this is the moment God this is the moment, I've left the audience behind me. I've left culture, I've left family, I left loved ones, I've left situations, I've left work, I've left lifestyles, I've left everything on the outside of the garden. Now it's just me a new god. Now it's just me and you. I need father to have a clear pathway. It's really interesting when you look at Christ, Christ, ology studying Christ, looking at Christ, through theological eyes, as you look at Christ through the theological study, it could be quite difficult to see what is going on. So I believe that we go into the garden in the in a formation in a understanding of I'm going to believe, because when we look, when we look at what's going on, it says there very clearly, it says that he took the Peter and the two sons Ebody along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. There are many, like Christ before you get into the garden, are troubled and sorrow for at life itself, of what the next stage is, but then you carry the trouble in the sorrow. You don't leave it with the audience you're walking with, you take that into the garden, you walk into the arena, you walk into the olive grove, you walk into that prayer closet, you walk into that moment, you step into that posture, you get into that position, where you are troubled and sorrowed. And you are weary and you are tired, and you are trying to remove the next stage. But you know what the next stages you know what the next part of the journey is? He says, Then he said to them, My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. But then he says stay here. So there is a clear indicator here at the approach to the garden. The approach he's already already sorry. In sorrow and troubled, you might be sorrowed and troubled, you might be almost at the point of death, confused, unsure, uncertain, speaking to the audience, the ones that are with you at the moment and not even sure what is going on. But there is there is a troubling feeling. There is a time of sorrow. There is a Place of almost a death experience where this, I can't work this out three areas of life that Christ is looking at, he's not even got into the garden yet and he is troubled, he is sorrowed. And he is at that point of like death, he has reached this place in his life where he is troubled, sorrow for an at a stage of death. This is the king. This is the Lord, this is the great I Am This is the power of God. This is the Word of God, this is the man Christ Jesus, he is walk in with the ones that he has called his disciples, and the Scripture makes it clear, Christ is in sorrow, Christ is troubled. And it says, he says, This is Jesus. This is the living word, speak in this in human language. And it is loud, and it is clear, my sort, My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow and to the point of death, stay here and keep watch with me. The ones that are you're walking with at the moment, won't be able to keep watch with you. Because the journey that you are on is a journey of strengthening a journey of endurance. But Christ said, keep watch, I need backup. Keep watch with me. You got people in your life that are going to fall asleep on you. You got people on your life as well, that don't understand the journey that you are about to experience. You got people around you that are tired and weary with their own stuff you got people is very interested in the way Christ presents it back to them. Stay here, keep watch with me. Keep alert, keep praying, because I'm going on a little further. I'm going on to the next stage. And I want to know that you're here, keep watch with me. You will have people around you. That just will I won't say give up. But they are not looking at what you are doing. They are not interested in what you are doing. They are not worried about your stage because the disciples weren't worried about what Christ was doing. They fill a KIPP, they fell asleep because they were tired, their eyes were heavy, they found an opportunity to have a quick Kip, they found a moment just hang on, let Jesus get on do what he's gonna do. Isn't it interesting that the world really isn't interested in what we're doing. The world is just worried about what it is doing. This text is really oops, this text is really deep. It is really powerful. It is really enriched with so much. And what I see here, I see the man, Christ Jesus, I see the man saying to his friends, and the ones around him, keep watching me, I'm going in. But as as you study that, and as you open it up, and as you just take out line by line, as you look at that very carefully. It says Christ says we're coming to the table shortly, we've got a bit of time on our side. And it says he took Peter and the two sons along with him. And he began to be sorrowed there are people journeying with you at this moment that don't know your sorrow, that don't know your pain, that don't understand you that will not be able to capture how you are feeling. Because the way you are is just for you and God to deal with. So the ones that you are walking with won't be able to understand the pain and the sorrow that you are in. It says that before Christ actually got into the garden, before he got an A what I mean by getting into the garden, getting into the depth of the garden into the arena, getting right down face on the ground, pressure, worry, pain, anxiety, doubts, sorrowful pain, exertion, bones are aching weariness tired because when it says it troubled, Christ was troubled, you can't erase that from the text. You cannot. Let's read that again. Verse 37. He took Peter and two sons with him along with him. And he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, Christ is sharing. Christ is sharing his journey with them. Have you ever shared a journey with someone and they've just fell asleep on you? Have you ever shared your anguish and your pain and your anticipate Have you ever shared anything with you? He took three he took those with him, but they weren't really interested because It's not their journey is quite profound to find that there will be many people that you've journeyed with already that you are journeying with still, and you will continue to journey with that they're not really interested in your trouble and your sorrow. They're not really interested in what you are going through that they switch off to it. Here we have the humans on the backside of this garden experience just falling asleep, because the Bible says their eyes were heavy. So they had their own tiredness they had their own trouble to deal with. Isn't it interesting that no one else is really interested in, in our Surah that can be quite brutal and quite blunt to say, you know, but when you look at this, but it's encouraging to know, you might find the one that will really walk with you, you might find the one or the two, or I will put it like this biblically the fall that will carry you What do you mean, the four that carried their friend up to the rooftop. And the Bible says that they taught they they took the rooftop open, they opened it up to lower their friend. That's what you need. Friends that will carry you when you're weary when you're lame, when you can't walk when you're exhausted. Make sure that there are people around you that will carry you not fall asleep on you. They might not understand the sorrow and the pain, because when they carried their friend, they didn't carry that pain. They didn't understand that pain they couldn't understand. And they wasn't sure of why and the gifts and the butts of that person, their friend on that map, but they was willing to carry, make sure that you put around yourself, ones that will walk with you and carry you in your in your time of exhaustion, exhaustion, tiredness, where your legs are buckled with weight. I can't walk right today. Be careful because this is very clear. There are people in the audience of life around us, that will fall asleep on us that will just be not bothered walking with you. Talking with you, journeying with you spending time with you spend years with you. But when you really want and need. They're sleeping on the outside of the garden. He said to them, My soul is overwhelmed. If you really think about that, what he was bringing to their gateway to their doorway to their heart to their ear to their senses, to their to their perception. He said, Guys, I'm overburdened here, I'm here, but I've got to get in. But you wait here. So I've got to go a little further. If they was really in tune with Christ, I believe they could have said this, Lord Jesus, we will pray and stand watch. And we've got your back. You go on a little further. We will wait. But we will still be praying when you come out. You do not find that they was praying you find in the Scripture, that their eyes were heavy, and they were tired. You'll be surprised how many people in my life, your life, our lives, whatever way you want to look at it, are tired with their own journey and cannot connect with our own journey. So there are three stages to this journey. There's the approach, and even having a conversation with people around you. I'm tired and weary, I'm busted. I'm broken. I'm exhausted. I'm emotionally drained. I'm a washing machine at this moment. What do you mean, by a Santa? I've got a spin going on at the moment. And there's loads of stuff in the circle of, of life that is spinning in this washing machine that I'm that I'm with. And I just can't it's spinning so fast. I'm almost losing the focus. It's time to get in the Garden of Gethsemane. It's time to tell the audience I'm tired of oh, I'm overwhelmed. I'm going in. But guess what? I'm coming back. And the ones that you come back to will still look the same. Smell the same walk the same, look the same, have the conversation the same. But what will happen is that when you come out of the garden, you will come out a stronger character. You will come out with a clearer word with a clearer understanding now. Now we have the question. Well, how long is that garden experience? I ain't got a Scooby Doo. That's your understanding. That's my I haven't got a biblical understanding myself. How long is the garden? How long is that journey? How long is that stretching? How long is that sorrowful moment? You could look at that. is the journey of Psalm 23. Walking through the shadow of death, you're it's a long walk, it's a long stretch, the journey of Baca, who can actually tell God's timings are different to our timings. So three stages, we're going to I'm gonna bring this to a time of just breaking communion with you. Because that that clock is ticking. Now, where are we on the journey, it can be very difficult to work out where we are on the journey. Again, I'll repeat it but you will have people around you dictating and, and hurting and trying to control you, where you AM. And where I am. In the journey of life. Because people like to control the world likes to control situations business, education, family life, whatever way you look at it, there's always an element of of controlling for for the good, maybe for not for the good. You've only got to look at Saul, Saul was very controlling, so had at a heart where he looked after David, but they were but then suddenly his heart become a jealous heart when he he see David start to rise. But we got to remind ourselves this very clearly tonight, we are human. With human, there is tears, there is joy, there is laughter there is worry, there is fear, there is doubt there is loneliness, there is times I've been together, there is times of stretching, there are times of failing, there is times of redemption, there are times of sin. There is all seasons, and we are human beings, it's really important that we make sure that we got people around us that was that was just like the four in the Bible that carried carried their friend carried their friend to the rooftop to the highest point, they couldn't go any higher. But then they took the roof off, they opened up the roof, find people that will open up the roof for you, and get you into the presence of Jesus because it's not always as the hyper Church says hyper grace is not as the mega church says, you're always going to be bouncing and praising Jesus, I will guarantee you this. You could have more garden experiences than praise in Jesus experiences. Because the mega church is a business Church, the mega church environment, the mega ministry is our focus focused on one thing, cache, maybe more than one thing, cache control and possibly manipulation. A very triangular situation. The ones at the top are doing well. I don't want to get into that because I don't want to take us off the track. So I would suggest this to anyone. Just be a believer in Genesis to Revelation. Find yourself a church where you can talk to people and be yourself. Don't let that church or that ministry put a label on you and expect you to walk the ministry way. A good preacher or teacher or leader, a person that has been driven by God will encourage you to do what God is calling you to do, not what their ministry wants you to do. But what what is God calling you to do? What is God calling you to do good because God is calling us all of us. To do a lot. There is a lot to do. And it's not all pulpit. It's not all ministry. Do you know? The biggest audience around? Is the world watching you watching me? culture, society watching and as they watch me, they will see that I'm a human being. They will see the world will see me foul. The world will see me sin, the world will see me crack, crumble cry, laugh, kick, throw my toys out the pram run off, come back. Let's put it biblically prodigal son experience because that's what a human being does. But the mega church will try to put a a way around us, religion and church and denominations will try to mold us very interestingly, the same as them A cloning experience, a clone of them and their ministry, but you are not of them and you are not of their ministry, you are of this. You are of the kingdom of God. You are the king, you belong to the king, you don't belong to the preachers and the teachers. You don't belong to religious orders. You don't belong to the world. You don't actually belong to your parent or your your family, you belong to Jesus. You belong to the King of kings and the Lord of lords. The people in our life, the children that we are brought in, we are just responsible now for them for a certain time, they belong to God. I've opened up the can on so much tonight, we've pulled that lid back on the can of beans, and there's many beans in the can tonight. And I've only just probably spoken about a couple of beans. But get your spoon out. Get in, get in a baked bean cannon tonight and start pulling the beans out and start looking and start analyzing and start saying who is in my life? That is actually for me, who will carry me when I'm broke, busted and disgusted who would carry me when I really need Jesus, who would actually carry me to the rooftop to the highest point because they want me to get to Jesus. How many in our lives want us to get to Jesus? There's so much we're coming to the table. And I pray we're coming to the breaking of bread that you surround yourself. Now that's there's a different there's a different conversation on that alone. How do I know the ones for me? How do I know that they've really got my back? How do I know that they're really, really will carry me to the rooftop of life. Tear it open and lower me into Jesus not lower me in two ministry. Not lower me in to that that church setting, but actually get me to Jesus Christ, who would carry me when I'm at the three stages, busted, broken. smashed the pieces can't move can't walk, exhausted, tired. Who would actually carry me? Who would actually do that for me? Who would carry me and what I'm saying me I'm talking about that means you who would carry you to the rooftop of life and tear that roof open with their own hands and get you in rather than getting them in religion and the hyper church and that big movement out there. All they want is to get them in for their own gain. There are many that would have torn that roof off and they would have left me or you on the mat on the roof and just jumped in themselves. Although there's a big night, Lord, it's hitting hard tonight, Jesus. I pray that you follow Jesus. Please don't follow me. Please do not follow the ministers. Do not follow me. Yeah, it's great to share stuff. It's great to journey with one another for a while. It's great to talk about the podcast and the socials. Yes, you know what I'm saying? But please don't put every ounce of strength on me. I have failed, I will fail. I'm gonna fail. Purely because I'm a human being I will let you down and I will fail you. But let me tell you about someone. Let me tell you about someone who won't foul you. His name is Jesus. He won't let you down. Oh, god, it's every tonight. God won't let you down. I pray as you break bread with me. Whether you're any approach to the garden, you're in the garden or you're exiting the garden. I pray that you will just realize that the Father the Son, the Holy Spirit has got you. The Holy Ghost has got you. Make sure you know who is in your life that will carry you to the rooftop of life. No matter what the cost is. No matter what that cost is to that other person. They will get you to The rooftop, they will use their own strength, their own hands to open and get an access to get you in and not get them in. There are many people that will journey. Now this is where the very interesting side of this comes into the arena of conversation. The Darwinistic approach, there are many people that say they're Christians, but are very Darwinistic. What do you mean pastor Ben, that's a bit strong to say that all they want to do is trample over someone else to get themselves to the top, doesn't worry, not not worried who they're going to hurt on the way, the survival of the fittest we know what Darwin is, we know what the theories are, we understand that we get that we all understand what Darwinism is, and it is basically trample on and get over and do whatever I've got to do to get me because it's survival of the fittest, I'm afraid to say, we have an understanding of that we have a culture of that in church. I've said it. And I'll say it again, for your pretty little ears. There is a very Darwinistic approach in certain ministries in religion, that they will do whatever they are going to do to get themselves to the top of the Christmas tree, because it's all about them. Rather, it's about my neighbor. Treat others as you expect to be treated yourself. Carry that person. Carry that one. Even if it means climbing up the staircase, climbing up the staircase, and carrying that weight of that person climbing that staircase, and taking all of your strength, getting your hands dirty, and tearing the roof off for someone else. That's what a believer is, and that that believer will stand on that rooftop and lower you into the presence of Jesus, because they want you to get your miracle. Farther as we come to the table. I pray. I pray I pray. Please do not follow me. Follow Jesus. Yes, come to the church. Yes, worship with us. Listen to the podcasts, watch the live streams, because we will always be worshippers together. But please, I asked you follow Jesus Christ. Follow him at all costs. At every ounce of energy and strength you have Hebrews chapter 12 verse to keep your eyes on Jesus, the author and the perfecter of your faith. I'm alright, I see the socials going wild. I'm fine. I'm okay. I'm not broken. I don't need a counselor. I don't need anything whatsoever of this world. What I need is Jesus, and I've got Jesus. Please don't worry about me just because you hear my voice go. You might see me get a little bit wobbly wobbly sometimes. Don't worry. Please do not worry. I understand your concern. It's about it's about now the time is now to follow Jesus. Thank God for Elam. Thank God for the other denominations. I thank God for that. But that's a culture Elam is a culture as well. Or yo G is a culture. Catholicism. Catholicism is a culture. Church is a culture they all are have their own culture business, the elite if you're in a big workplace, a big culprit, they say they talk about the culture of the internal environment. I don't want to belong to a culture. I want to belong to a kingdom. I've got to belong to the kingdom. If I belong to a culture, I am belonging to an earthly move. I want to belong to the move of heaven. I want to belong to the move of God. I want to belong to the Word of God. I want to belong to the kingdom. But on that journey of the kingdom journey, I will meet people with different backgrounds upbringings different understandings of life but religion and church corporate, the elite political finance, education. It has an internal culture. Church has a internal culture. Be careful that you're not trying to be collateralized. You're trying to be squeezed. That's why so many people are so uncomfortable in church, because the culture, from the pulpit that the one at the pulpit thinks that that's the way for everybody. Jesus is the way for everybody. That's the only way the preacher should be teaching and speaking, follow Jesus the same message, time and time and time again, be be a child of the most higher, be washed in the blood of Jesus getting the word of God, get in the Word of God, we got to break bread, the 50 P is about to run out. The 50 P is about to bust. I got British Gas knocking at the door, Come on, son, you're running over time. Let's pray Father, in the name of Jesus, Lord, I don't want to be in a culture. I want to be in the kingdom. I don't want to be in a herd herding atmosphere. I want to be in the presence of God, Lord, so wherever I am, one, two or three, stage one, the approach of the garden, the garden itself, or the exiting of the garden, for the next level of life, remembering what we said, you walk to the gate with the people you go in, you come out, they look the same, they smell the same. Got the same clothes on exactly the same, no different. Christ was different. You'll be different. But then you keep walking with the same audience. Very interesting Father, we break bread. Now, right now. And Father, we thank you that your body was broken. Lord, we are not part of a culture. We are of the kingdom. So Lord, I pray as we break bread, as we rest as we be still. I thank you that your body was broken. Blood was shed at Calvary is cross. And I thank you God for the living Word of God. Come Holy Spirit. Refresh All of us tonight. Lord, Father, give us the strength, give us the energy and father. Can we be radical? Can I use that word? Can we be radical, radical believers? Radical believers? For Jesus Christ, Amen. Wherever you are, across this little Maltese up have an earth that is spinning amongst the galaxy, not the chocolate spinning on a precise axis, the that science reasoning, logic, space study quantum physics. Science cannot understand. Always looking for the button of life through the means of the Hadron Collider, through crazy theories, the string theory, this theory that theory, evolution, we come from a monkey, I don't think so son. I've come from the living Word of God. I have been created by the Creator. I didn't come up through an ape or a monkey. I didn't come out of a strange cave. I came out of the Word of God. You might have some strange understandings for your beginnings. But I'll tell you where I began. I began before the foundation of the world. I began in the heart of the Father. I began and where I began. Anyone that is a believer, you began you as before the word began, even came into the services, the dictionaries, the vocabulary, you was before was was even spoken. You was before anything was created. God said, I knew you before the foundations of the world. I spoke you into existence. You are my child. You are my son and you are my daughter. And I pray tonight as we take this cup, wherever you are. Father, I thank you for the shedding blood at Calvary is cross. And I thank you Lord, that I'm washed in the blood of Jesus cleanse me, wash me, Search me, test me. Try me, Lord, as the scripture says, But I thank you that I'm a sinner saved by grace, washed in the blood of Jesus, saved, always saved. In the hands of God, wash us we pray, in Jesus name, amen. If you have doubts, don't worry, if you are fearful, don't worry. However you are, do not worry about your feelings. Just say to God tonight, wherever you are, Father, I pray, I pray, Lord, that you will show me the way forward. I can guarantee that you this you will have people in your life that will tell you which way to walk, how to eat, what way to dress, what way to stand, what way to brush your teeth, what time to get to work, what time to leave work. But let me just remind you this, who the sun sets free is free indeed. So you are a slave to righteousness, not a slave to the world. You have been bought with a price. And there is a mark, you are silt. You are marked with the blood of Jesus. God bless you tonight, wherever you are. And thank you so much for joining us tonight. As I said, Don't follow me. Listen to the podcast. Listen to the yeah, as I said, the podcast sorry, listen to the the stuff that goes on listen to the teachings and the preaching and the seminars in and the Bible studies and the prayer nights that we have. Please, please, we encourage you to do that. But don't follow me. Don't follow religion. Don't follow the denominations. Don't follow the church follow Jesus. It has to be Jesus. But as I follow Jesus, I find that as I follow Jesus, I find that I begin and I start to walk with brothers and sisters of like mine. When I follow Jesus, God puts people in my path, God opens the door. For ones that are thinking and looking the same way. If you look to Jesus, the people that you should have around you will be around you. If you look to ministers and preachers and teachers, if you look to the world, you will have all that around you. If you look to Jesus, you will have Kingdom people. You will have prayer warriors, you will have sisters and brothers that know that they are a sinner but saved by grace and not frightened about talking about themselves and their failings or their their trappings and all that sort of stuff. The word is with you. Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and everything else shall be added on to the god bless. Good night. We have stretched it we have pushed it we have licked it. We have kicked it. We have stepped into it. We have gone one hour and eight minutes and 13 seconds. Have a great night. In the name of Jesus. I'm off. As always do I'm gonna say a man about dog. Stay safe. Stay in a word. God bless each and every one of you in Jesus name, amen.
Close:Thank you for listening to Elim church Swanleys latest podcast. You can find us on Buzzsprout Spotify Apple Music iHeartRadio Google Play Alexa Mixcloud, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube