The American Wisdom Series

Presents
Matthew #2568

 Contrary to what most of us have been taught, Jesus Christ was not the least bit apprehensive about facing death.

Jesus Christ has just taken Peter (a rock) and the two sons of Zebedee (my gift), who would be James (Jacob in Hebrew) and John (Yahveh is Gracious), to a place, a particular spot or location, called Gethsemane, which means "oil press" and is located at the foot of the Mount of Olives. And just as Father used Peter to teach us how not to be disobedient to His Word and thus end up denying Him in these last days, He will now use him along with James and John to teach us how not to fall asleep during the "one hour", i.e. the "hour of temptation" to come upon the world, when the pressing of the oil is under full pressure! So take heed and listen up and continue to fill your vessel with yet more of the precious golden oil of His truth.

Matthew 26:38
Then saith He unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watchwith me.
Tradition has it that Jesus Christ was pouring out His heart to the Father because He was apprehensive about facing death! This tradition is so ingrained in some people's minds that it is hard for them to dispel and so it prevents them from understanding the teaching concerning not falling asleep during the final hour of temptation that this section of scripture is all about. In other words, this is not about Jesus Christ facing the crucifixion at all! In fact, the phrase "exceeding sorrowful even unto death" itself does not have anything to do with the crucifixion. It is a figure of speech denoting the depth in Christ's heart of His grief over the subject He goes and prays about... which is what is going to happen when the cup of God's wrath is poured out upon all the people at His second advent. Perhaps if folks would connect this teaching concerning falling asleep during the final hour to the previous one we just learned concerning denying Christ, both of which involve Peter, they would better understand what it is we are to learn.

To that end, you may recall in our last study we documented that no man could ever take Christ's life unless He willfully gave it up! In fact, it can be easily documented that no one could even touch Him or lay hands on Him until His hour was come (John 7:30). So do not EVER let some weak minded would-be teacher or preacher try to tell you that Jesus Christ even momentarily possessed the spirit of fear in the garden of Gethsemane. That in itself is not possible for in Him there IS NO "spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind".

2 Tim. 1:7
For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
No, Jesus Christ was not the least bit apprehensive about facing death. What He was so grieved about was the heart felt pain in knowing that His children would have to go through a great deal of "wailing and gnashing of teeth" when the cup of God's wrath is poured out upon them because of their unbelief and disobedience to His Word in rejecting and denying Him. He so desired that there was some other less painful way for them... but alas, they would not "hear His voice" and turn to Him. Remember His emotions in Matthew 23:37 concerning His beloved Jerusalem, which is symbolic for His beloved people?
Matthew 23:37
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!
Boy, wouldn't that be wonderful if they just would turn to Him and be gathered back together to the Father? But they would NOT! Also, keep in mind the lesson we learned from Peter who quickly denied the plan of God concerning the suffering and crucifixion of His Lord. He would have gone against the will of God and prevented the pain to himself in seeing this come to pass, but you "see", it is not about our will but about the will of our Father which is in heaven who is so loving and fair and always has the best interest of His children at heart. How truly sad and grievous it is indeed that the cup of His wrath is going to have to be poured out upon the ungodly! How truly sad indeed!

Now let's go back and repeat verse 38 because the whole purpose of what is happening in the garden of Gethsemane is to teach His disciples what they must do doing the "pressing of the oil" during the final hour in order to avoid falling into temptation, i.e. falling to spurious messiah, Satan.

Matthew 26:38
Then saith He unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me.
He brought them to that place and instructed them to both "tarry" and "watch with Him"! (We will discover in verse 41 that the reason He gave them this set of instructions was so that they would not fall into temptation.) You "see", as a servant of God in these last days you must be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might.

Paul teaches us this in Eph. 6:

Ephes. 6:10-18
Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might.
Our strength comes from eating and absorbing the Word of God which is why Paul then tells us to put on the whole gospel armor (His Word) to be able to stand against the fiery darts of the Wicked one.

Then he gives us the following instruction:

[18] Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;
That is what the tarrying and the watching with Jesus Christ is all about. It is not for ourselves but rather for the sake of our brothers and sisters all of whom we love very much and yet who are fallen asleep and dwell under the spirit of slumber in these last days (Rom 11). So that is exactly what Jesus Christ is going to do as He now goes and falls on His face and gives supplication to the Father concerning that cup of wrath that must be poured out at His second coming.
[39] And He went a little farther, and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.
Though He desired that there could be another way rather than having to pour out the cup of God's wrath when He returns, unlike Peter, Jesus Christ did not even consider altering the will of the Father. Again, He was not wavering about going to the cross and being crucified, but even in His "heavy sorrow unto death" for those He loves He showed us how to be obedient to Father's will. And don't think for one moment He wasn't also thinking about His friend Judas who is about to come and betray Him and deliver Him into the hands of His enemies, the kenites, the sons of Cain. Remember we documented from the Psalms quoted in Acts 1:20 that "it is written" that a replacement would have to be found for Judas. Why? Because Judas would die a brutal death and Jesus knew that too.

Let's now go to the great Book of Isaiah, whose name means the "salvation of Yah", and document what the cup is that Christ will have in His hands when He returns.

Isaiah 51:17-20
Awake, awake, stand up, O Jerusalem, which hast drunk at the hand of the LORD the cup of His fury; thou hast drunken the dregs of the cup of trembling, and wrung them out.
Make no mistake about it. His cup of wrath shall be poured out in these last days. That is the cup he prayed that if possible could be passed from Him in Matthew 26:39. It was not His coming death by crucifixion that He was apprehensive about.


[18] There is none to guide her among all the sons whom she hath brought forth; neither is there any that taketh her by the hand of all the sons that she hath brought up.

[19] These two things are come unto thee; who shall be sorry for thee? desolation, and destruction, and the famine, and the sword: by whom shall I comfort thee?

The spiritual desolation we learned of in Matthew 24 and the famine of these end times (Amos 8:11-13) are all part of what shall happen in these last days because the fair virgins and the young men have fainted! Amos 8:11-13 "Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD: [12] And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, and shall not find it. [13] In that dayshall the fair virgins and young men faint for thirst."
[20] Thy sons have fainted, they lie at the head of all the streets, as a wild bull in a net: they are full of the fury of the LORD, the rebuke of thy God.
They shall faint and be ensnared like a bull caught in the net by the false messiah, whom they will worship as God. For this they shall surely be rebuked by our Father.
Isaiah 51:21-23
Therefore hear now this, thou afflicted, and drunken, but not with wine:
Hear this now! Are you listening? It is His voice! Our people are going to drink of the cup of His wrath because they shall be drunken in the night (1 Thes. 5:7).
[22] Thus saith thy Lord the LORD, and thy God that pleadeth the cause of His people, Behold, I have taken out of thine hand the cup of trembling, even the dregs of the cup of my fury; thou shalt no more drink it again:
God is not angry at His own children who love and serve Him. 1 Thes. 5:9 "For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ." He is angry with those who afflict Him and are disobedient to His Word.
[23] But I will put it into the hand of them that afflict thee; which have said to thy soul, Bow down, that we may go over: and thou hast laid thy body as the ground, and as the street, to them that went over.
You may recall we talked about this in Matthew 25 concerning the weeping and gnashing on the Lord's Day of those who stumble and fall in the great deception to the false messiah, Satan, when he comes to earth claiming to be God. They shall drink from the cup of His fury!

Here is what John says in Revelation concerning the pouring out of His cup of wrath.

Rev. 14:9
And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand,
In other words, this is all those who are deceived at the sound of the 6th Trump by the false messiah and believe he is who he shall claim to be, which is Jesus Christ. They are going to feel the heat of our Father's wrath when His cup is poured out!
[10] The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:
They will be in spiritual torment during the Millennium because they shall know they didn't make it during the final hour because they became unfaithful as harlots and adulteresses.
[11] And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.
They shall not receive rest but will have to work hard and endure much "pressing" because they did not overcome the beast and his image but rather fell asleep and were ensnared by his great wonders and the miracles he performed in the sight of men. In contrast, those who heeded the Word of God and tarried behind and kept laboring in the field and who kept the commandments of God and stuck to His Word, shall not receive of His cup of wrath.
[12] Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.
As we return to Matthew 26, remember that before Jesus had gone off and prayed to the Father, He instructed His disciples to do the same, i.e. to watch with Him. He now returns and finds that they have not been "watching" unto prayer and supplication. They have fallen asleep!
Matthew 26:40
And He cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour?
Isn't it interesting how the garden of Gethsemane is always thought of as the place of the "agony of Jesus" instead of the place where "the disciples fell asleep during the hour"? Jesus is teaching a valuable lesson to those who are to be watchmen during the final hour that comes upon this generation. Again, perhaps if they would connect this teaching using Peter to the previous one we just learned about denying Christ, they would better understand what it is we are to learn. Christ set the example and gave His command and yet His students, the disciples, did not follow that we may learn from what they did, or in this case what they did not. You "see", unless you "watch and pray WITH HIM" during this final hour of temptation, you too will fall asleep! Take Heed!
Here is His instruction to you and me!
Matthew 26:41
Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.
The disciples have gone to sleep on their "watch hour" because they did not do as Christ commanded them. We also learn categorically from Christ's three prayers that there shall be no change in the plan for this final generation so you can count on things coming to pass exactly as Christ said they would in Matthew 24. The abominable one is coming to stand in the holy place claiming to be God and there shall be a time, called "one hour", of spiritual temptation such as never was. If you are one of God's elect then you are not only privileged to know His plan and instructions, but you have a responsibility and a duty as a watchman to tarry right here, in the place He has brought you to, and watch with prayer and supplication for your family and loved ones. The promise is to you that if you will keep the word of His patience then He will keep you from that hour of temptation, i.e. from falling asleep during that time.
Rev. 3:10
Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.
We also learn in Rev. 17 concerning that "one hour" Christ spoke of regarding temptation, that it is when the fallen angels are cast out with Satan (Rev. 12:7-9) and reign with him for that "one hour"... which corresponds to a five month period as per Rev. 9:4!
Rev. 17:12
And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.
That hour is coming soon, so take heed to yourself. The spirit may be willing but the flesh is weak.
Here is what Jesus tells us in the Book of Luke concerning that hour to come.
Luke 21:34-36
And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.
Stay awake and stay in Father's Word!   Don't be "too busy" to study His Word or burdened with the cares of this life.
[35] For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth.
Don't be caught sleeping or you will fall into temptation and be tricked and ensnared in the net like that wild bull in Isa. 51:20!
snare, pagis, pag-ece', Greek 3803; from Greek 4078 (pegnumi); a trap (as fastened by a noose or notch); figurative a trick or strategem (temptation) :- snare.
Here then are Christ's instructions... which are the same as those given in that place of the "oil press", i.e. in Gethsemane.
[36] Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.
Again, the watching and praying are not for you but for all saints (Eph. 6:18), for our loved ones who we would sure hate to see drink of His cup of wrath and have to go through the great winepress in the Millennium.

Finally, before we conclude today's study and because this is such an important topic for His disciples in these last days, let us also go to Paul's teaching in 1 Thes. 5 concerning sleeping during the final hour.

1 Thes. 5:1-2
But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you.

[2] For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.

This concerns the day of the Lord which is when Christ returns and Father's cup of wrath is poured out upon those who are spiritually asleep and believe that Jesus Christ has already returned.
1 Thes. 5:6
Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.
Again, do not go to sleep but rather "watch" and be "sober" minded, i.e. having the spirit of a sound mind!
[7] For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night.
[8] But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.
We must stay in our Father's Word, watching and praying, to stay awake.
[9] For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,
Again, our Father is not angry at those who love and serve Him.

Let us return and complete this teaching of our Lord in the garden of Gethsemane.

Matthew 26:42
He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying,O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done.
There is no other way and so Yashua will have to pour out that cup when He returns upon those who reject Him and follow Satan, the spurious messiah. "Thy will be done"... and so it SHALL!
[43] And He came and found them asleep again: for their eyes were heavy.
Here is Strong's definition of "heavy":
heavy, bareo, bar-eh'-o, From G926; to weigh down (figuratively): - burden, charge, heavy, press.
Reminds one of Luke 21:34 that we read earlier, doesn't it?
[44] And He left them, and went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words.
Three is the number of "Divine completeness and perfection".Three times Peter denied the Word of God and three times he fell asleep to let us know the extreme importance of these two teachings and to also know that they apply to God's elect, those (petros), those "living stones" who make up the temple of God in these last days (1 Pet. 2:5). Certainly Peter was chosen to do what he did according to the Word of God for our benefit in these last days for you "see", the time of sleeping in now past and during that final hour when God's elect are delivered up, even as Christ shall now be delivered up, those who love and serve Him and keep His commands will notdeny Him, nor be scattered, nor fall asleep! Instead, we will confess His name and keep His Word and stay on our watch according to His will making prayer and supplications until the coming of our Lord!
[45] Then cometh He to His disciples, and saith unto them, Sleep on now, and take your rest: behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.
Get your sleep over with for the hour is coming when God's elect shall be delivered up.
[46] Rise, let us be going: behold, he is at hand that doth betray me.
The lessons now having been taught, Jesus Christ gives His final instruction to His disciples before the delivering up is at hand! Time for sleepy eyes to rise, i.e. "wake up" as in stand up, and "let us be going", as in "lead the way", as in let us be about our Father's business! Behold! The hour is coming! A word to the wise is sufficient!
rise, egeiro, eg-i'-ro, Probably akin to the base of G58 (through the idea of collecting one’s faculties); to waken (transitively or intransitively), that is, rouse (literally from sleep, from sitting or lying, from disease, from death; or figuratively from obscurity, inactivity, ruins, nonexistence): - awake, lift (up), raise (again, up), rear up, (a-) rise (again, up), stand, take up.

be going, ago?, ag'-o, A primary verb; properly to lead; by implication to bring, drive, (reflexively) go, (specifically) pass (time), or (figuratively) induce: - be, bring (forth), carry, (let) go, keep, lead away, be open.

behold, idou, id-oo', Second person singular imperative middle voice of G1492; used as imperative lo!: - behold, lo, see.

Coming up in our next study... too fascinating to describe!

... to be continued.

To study the Bible is the noblest of all pursuits; to understand it, the highest of all goals.
We pray that with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, you accomplish both.

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