The Suffering Servant: In Gethsemane

The Suffering Servant: In Gethsemane

The Reading of the Word of God

Mark 14:32-42

 And they went to a place called Gethsemane. And he said to his disciples, "Sit here while I pray."  And he took with him Peter and James and John, and began to be greatly distressed and troubled. And he said to them, "My soul is very sorrowful, even to death. Remain here and watch."  And going a little farther, he fell on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. And he said, "Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will."  And he came and found them sleeping, and he said to Peter, "Simon, are you asleep? Could you not watch one hour?  Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."  And again he went away and prayed, saying the same words. And again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were very heavy, and they did not know what to answer him. And he came the third time and said to them, "Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? It is enough; the hour has come. The Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer is at hand."

Let’s pray

Father we ask tonight, that your word would pierce our callous hearts. To have your very words, stir our inner beings. To have your Spirit bear witness to us the truth of the Gospel message. Let us not grow cold to the burden you bore, the beating you endured and the surrender you displayed. I cannot nor do I have the ability to preach with the passion you displayed that night so long ago. Set this message apart and myself as its deliverer, so that your work my be glorified… so that you may be exalted. In your holy name I pray, Amen.

Warm up

You may be seated.

PREACH

In the movie The Passion of the Christ, we see in much detail what Scripture only mentions in its accounts.

John 19:16-18

So he [the Roman official Pilate] delivered him over to them to be crucified.  So they took Jesus, and he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called the place of a skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha. There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side and Jesus between them

The Scriptures say that Christ was crucified. That’s it. They also say that he was flogged by Roman soldiers. And within this memorable movie millions of people were exposed to how Jesus died. It was a gruesome death. We don’t have to say as Christians that he suffered the worst of any body in all of time itself, for Scripture itself doesn’t say that.  Crucifixions were a common death sentence.  Mostly for men. When their were the rare times a woman was crucified, she was placed on the cross with their face away from the crowd so they would not see the agony of a woman’s face.

The images we saw in this movie moved many to tears. However, images cannot adequately convey the gospel’s content. They knew How he died, but ultimately not Why He died.
The gospel’s message isn’t visual IT      IS      TRUTH.  TRUTH TO BE BELIEVED, NOT JUST VIEWED.

To know what the gospel truth is and the very reason for the Servant Christ’s Suffering, I want us to camp in the  14^th chapter of Mark and understand  what is happening in this agonizing scene with Christ’s intimate prayer.

Let’s look at The Suffering Servant in Gethsemane. Within your notes

Introduction

“And they went to a place called Gethsemane.”   v32

• The word Gethsemane means “oil press. probably the place where the produce of the mount of Olives was prepared for use.

• John calls this "a garden." Now this garden was on the western side of the Mount of Olives, and a short distance from Jerusalem. This was not a garden for the cultivation of vegetables, but a place planted with the olive and other trees, perhaps with a fountain of water, and with walks and groves; a proper place of refreshment in a hot climate, and of retirement from the noise of the adjacent city.

• Luke had said in his account that it was a common place for Jesus to come and pray. (Luke 21:37; 22:39)

“And he took with him Peter and James and John”  v 33.

·         Why, Primarily for their benefit. They were privileged to be witnesses to Christ’s struggle in the darkest hour of His earthly life. From his example they would learn how to handle great affliction.

·         How ironic that the All Powerful,  Perfect Son of God felt great need to pray that evening- so vulnerably and honestly and so intimately  (note that only here do we see Jesus call the Father Abba my Father)- yet his weak, imperfect disciples felt no such need in that hour. They fell asleep.

Now we get into the outline of what Jesus Suffered in Gethsemane. Within your notes…

Jesus Suffered…

I. Emotional Distress Of Events To Come

“and began to be greatly distressed and troubled” v 33.

• B.B. Warfield wrote a study on The Emotional life of Our Lord. In quoting terms used in the gospels it reveals that…

1.      Luke says “being in agony, he prayed more earnestly” (v 44). That word agony is defined as “consternation (alarmed), appalled (or horrified) reluctance.

2.      Matthew and Mark’s accounts share the expression of the Lord being “troubled”.  That means their was a “loathing aversion (or a disgusting hatred) perhaps not unmixed with despondency. (or misery)”

3.      Jesus’ own description of being “very sorrowful” expresses a mental pain which is coming at him from all sides and  from which there is no escape.

4.      Also in Mark’s account he says the Lord Jesus was “greatly distressed.” Which is defined as horror struck, not exactly dread , yet alarmed dismay,.

5.      Altogether we see that Jesus was feeling an acute emotional pain,  as he looked at the events to come with uneasiness and  almost in terror.

• Luke reports in his account that Jesus “sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground”  That describes a rare condition known as hematidrosis. It can occur under heavy emotional distress. What happens is that capillaries under the skin burst under stress and the blood mingles with perspiration  and exits through the sweat glands.

Now, let me remind you that Jesus knew what he was going to face.  John 18:4 says he knew all that was going to happen to him.

·         He knew he was going to die : Matt 26:1-2 When Jesus had finished all these sayings, he said to his disciples, 2  "You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified."           Note that: He knew the fact that he was going to die at Passover and how he would die!

·         He knew he was going to be betrayed: Matt 26:21,25 And as they were eating, he said, "Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me."  ... "  25 Judas, who would betray him, answered, "Is it I, Rabbi?" He said to him, "You have said so."   Note that: Jesus knew who

·         He knew what Scriptures had said about the suffering servant. Jesus even said at his arrest Matt 26:56 But all this has taken place that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled."

In his divine nature Jesus the Christ understood and knew what was going to happen. It’s important to remember that

So what was this emotional distress over the events to come?

            Was it because he was going to face…

            The Bias Jewish Court?  

Who were trying to strum up charges that were hell bent on condemning him even though they were false

Or was it

The Beatings the Romans Guards were going to do?

They were going to   (1) Strip Him naked. (2) Tie his hands to a post and lift him high enough to be dangling. Then having (3) One or two scourge bearer skillfully lash his back 39 times with a short wooden handle with long pieces of leather attached to it. --Each leather strip having sharp pieces of glass, metal or bone on the end. Causing skin chunks to be torn and muscles deeply cut.

Or was it

The Brutal hanging on the Cross itself?

Where he would die a death of suffocation because they fastened His hands and feet to the beams, causing them to bear the weight of the body… pull his chest cavity upward and outward making it difficult to exhale and get a fresh breath, causing you chest muscles begin to paralyze. The only way to breath on the cross would be to lift himself up on his feet putting the weight on the nail sticking through them Causing excruciating pain, until he could gather a new breath of air.

Were any of these three reasons the very distressful and terrorizing focus of Christ's agony in the Garden that night?

The accounts of the life of Christ show us over and over again, Christ’s bravery and strength in the face to face conflicts with men. It would be hard to believe that the Son of God would be so terrorized to the point of sweating blood at the thought of what man could do to Him. Jesus said,

Matt 10:28

And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

Well if it is not the physical pain and the cruelty of mankind that he is distressed about, what is the agony in the Garden.

What Christ is praying about gives us some insight.

“And going a little farther, he fell on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. And he said, "Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me….”  V 35,36

The second thing we see in that

Jesus suffered…

II. Conflict With The Cup to Be Given

What is this “cup” Jesus is referring to?

• Jesus is not recoiling from the anticipation of the physical pain associated with crucifixion. It was just hours before when He and his disciples celebrated the Passover, that Christ said

"I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.” Luke 22:15-16

• He understood that he was going to suffer. He was going to drink of this cup. The ‘cup’ was a well known Old Testament symbol of divine wrath against sin

Note these verses:

“Wake yourself, wake yourself, stand up, O Jerusalem, you who have drunk from the hand of the Lord

the cup of his wrath, who have drunk to the dregs the bowl, the cup of staggering.”  Isa 51:17

“Thus the Lord, the God of Israel, said to me: "Take from my hand this cup of the wine of wrath, and make all the nations to whom I send you drink it.”            Jer 25:15

Even in the New Testament…

“he also will drink the wine of God's wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger,” Rev 14:10

The Conflict

{preach}

• The cup from which Christ is asking to be delivered from is the outpouring of divine wrath he would have to endure from His Holy Father. Now this prayer is not motivated from a sinful weakness. Rather it is from a normal human frailty. The very conflict Jesus has with the cup, is the same horrific  and terror any of us would be feeling if we knew we were going to undergo something extremely painful.

• Nowhere does the Bible ever declare that Jesus deity makes him something more than human or something other than human.  Christ was fully man.

“Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.” Heb 2:17

Jesus was not merely playing human, he was in the fullest sense human! And at this moment in the garden, His humanity manifested itself as clearly as ever during His ministry. And in this manifestation, Christ’s conflict was  about the fully human reaction to fully divine understanding of what was to come

           

In The Murder of Jesus, John MacArthur says:

“We can certainly understand his emotions: horror at the prospect of what God wanted Him to do; consternation over the reality of what that would cost Him; and a very real desire to avoid God’s wrath if there was any possible way. All of that contributed to the overwhelming sense of sorrow He was feeling as He anticipated the cross.”

Think about what was going to happen

1. He was going to bear the guilt of sin.

Heb 9:28

so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many,

1 Peter 2:24

He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree,

1 Peter 3:18

 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God

2 Cor 5:21

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Gal 3:13

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us

            Jesus was going to bear our sin, even actually become our sin. The man Christ was approaching the hour this was going to happen. He was beginning to feel the burden like he had never felt before.  His dread and sorrow was welling up and his intense prayer is an outpouring of these passions.

[slowly]

Now realize, that with Christ bearing our sin He was going to experience a greater abandonment than just the scattering of the disciples.  He would be facing the abandonment of the very presence of His Father. As Jesus bore our sins on the cross and the guilt of millions on him, he was alone without the very source of strength and joy. Why?  Because our holy Father cannot look upon evil.        

            The horror of being without the very grace and mercy of God that we experience everyday, would cause all of us to be troubled and distressed.

2. He was going to take the full weight of the wrath of God

            At the cross the full fury of God’s wrath was going to be unleashed against God’s own Son. Christ was our Substitution, he took the penalty that we deserved.

In doing that, he satisfied the righteous requirement for judgment.

“In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”                                                                                                                                     1 John 4:10

“Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.”                                                                                                              Rom 5:9

{preach}Jesus was going to take the full, righteous anger and hatred of sin from the heavenly Father. He was going to feel it.  

[slowly]It was going to hurt him, torture him  ultimately it was going to kill Him.  Why? Because

God says

“For the wages of sin is death,” Rom 6:23.

[Breath]

 {Preach passionately}To be praying in this Garden with these fully human desires and feelings coming to the hour in which his burden is growing and knowing that he will be exchanging the sweet life abiding, love encompassing fellowship of the Godhead Trinity to bear the very punishment and divine hatred of sin in which he felt in judging Sodom and Gomorrah, in judging the wicked in times past, even the anger he displayed in the temple turning over the tables while using a whip.

           

• Now he was going to be on the receiving end of that judgment.

       

• He understood the abhorrence, the hatred of sin.   And in a few hours, he was going to abhorred, hated by the Father,  hated by the Spirit!

• No wonder he was sweating blood, and deeply troubled.

Which takes us to the third thing we see

Jesus suffered…

III. Yet Surrendered and Saved

           

SURRENDERED

“…Yet not what I will, but what you will” v 36

Even in the midst of battling the frailty of his own humanity he was able to suppress them to the divine will.

In fact the more he prayed you see this happen, in Matthew’s account we see him say

"My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done." Matt 26:42

·         He’s no longer asking. He’s accepting and embracing it. Let me say for clarity’s sake Of course he knew he was going to surrender.

·         When he prays this at the end of His petition, there is not shown here a difference between the will of the Father and the will of the Son. Instead we see Jesus the Son surrendering deliberately , consciously all of His natural human, feelings to the perfect will of the Father!

·         {PREACH} Now if Christ, who had no sinful feelings and desires surrendered really, he provides for you and I the example of how we with sinful feelings and desires are to surrender. HOW DID HE DO THAT? By precisely submitting in verbal agreement and a humble heart, “not what I will but what you will.”

As for the cup itself. Jesus understood there was no other way, even before this.  Look at this verse

Titus 1:1-2

“Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God's elect and their knowledge of the truth, which accords with godliness, in hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began”

·         God promised in eternity past that eternal life would be given to his elect. He made this  promise “before the ages began.”  

·         As God the Father and God the Son covenanted with God the Spirit to redeem the elect, it was agreed that Christ would become a man and die to satisfy the wrath of God.

·         For his part, Christ covenanted to die for them, to be the substitute for them.

But why did Jesus have to go through this?

Ok we see the emotional distress and we understand conflict he with the cup and the way in which he surrendered to the Father’s will.`    But why is all of this and the physical suffering on the cross necessary?

Pause

SAVED

When Christ institued the Lord’s Supper he said

 “for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”

Matt. 26; 28

• It was for the forgiveness of our sins.
• DECLARE: Jesus suffered to save us from the consequences of our sin!  We deserved the wrath of God and eternal separation. Ye He was our substitute.

PREACH: Only God himself could save us from His wrath.

Problem of Forgiveness

• Now some people would say  “Why does God not simply forgive us without the necessity of the cross? After all nobody’s death is necessary before we humans forgive each other.

Really that question reveals a shallowness because it over looks the simple fact that we are not God. The truth is, you have not considered the seriousness of sin, nor the majesty of God.

J I Packer said, “Men are opposed to God in their sin and God is opposed to men in his holiness.”

The seriousness of sin

·         The word sin has fallen out of our vocabulary.  But the word sin means ultimately, to miss the mark. Either we fail to reach the standard which is righteous perfection or we deliberately cross a line to break the commands of God..

·         Every sin fails to love God with all our being, Yet when we sin we are refusing to acknowledge Him as Creator and Lord. We reject the position of dependence in which we are created to be in and strive to make a run at independence. Sin is a hostility to the Lord. It is a defiance and an arrogance of man that tries to replace man with God.

·         When we realize the seriousness of sin to our holy Creator. We have to wonder how God puts up with us at all  in our sin

The Majesty of God

 [PREACH]

·         The Bible says God is holy. That means he is separated from sin and evil. Because of that holiness, sin is incompatible with it. Habakkuk 1:13 describes God as one “who is of purer eyes than to see evil and cannot look at wrong,”

·         God himself is the maker of the laws we break! He is not suffering  just personal injury. Sin is not just a misdemeanor. It is rebellion.  HE ISN’T INDIFFERENT TO IT. HE IS RIGHTEOUSLY FURIOUSLY OPPOSED TO EVERY BIT OF IT.      

·         The Word of God says:

“For you are not a God who delights in wickedness; evil may not dwell with you. The boastful shall not stand before your eyes; you hate all evildoers. You destroy those who speak lies; the Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.” Ps 5:4-6

·         In light of his holiness and justice, He has no alternative but to punish sin and punish the sinner. God is a God of love. But He is also God who is Just and Holy.

·         Illus:

In our court system a judge who simply overlooked people’s offenses and ‘just forgave’ them would quickly be kicked off the bench.

·         God is righteous and must do what is right in punishing sin. That punishment of sin is called the wrath of God. God’s wrath means that he intensely hates all sin. In fact his wrath is his holy reaction to sin.

·         Considering how our sin must appear in the pure sight of the righteous and holy God who created us, why are we still here, alive and breathing!.        Praise God for His mercy!!!

In God’s love, he desires to save but how can he truly rescue anyone? He’s righteously opposed to sin, yet sin encompasses every human heart.

THIS IS THE VERY REASON JESUS CAME.

            “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost." Luke 19:10

Preach:

Christ came to save us.  He came to show God’s love for his people. He came to show the world God’s glory. It has been expressed this way:

“Divine love triumphed over divine wrath by divine sacrifice”- John Stott

Conclusion

Turn with me to John18

John 18:1-5

When Jesus had spoken these words, he went out with his disciples across the Kidron Valley, where there was a garden, which he and his disciples entered.  Now Judas, who betrayed him, also knew the place, for Jesus often met there with his disciples. So Judas, having procured a band of soldiers and some officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees, went there with lanterns and torches and weapons. Then Jesus, knowing all that would happen to him, came forward and said to them, "Whom do you seek?"  They answered him, "Jesus of Nazareth." Jesus said to them, "I am he."

·         Knowing all these things Christ suffered to save us.

·         He was forsaken so that we might be forgiven.

·         He received what you and I should be receiving—his Father’s full and furious wrath.  All so that we might gain favor because of His Grace.

·         What is God’s Grace? It’s His favor that we can’t earn from being good people or even being good Christians. We can’t earn this salvation because of our intellect, looks or bank account. We can’t even earn it because we are victims of bad tidings and luck and impossible situations. Or even because we are the worst of all sinners.    

·         It’s God favor to give. It’s our gift to receive

Eph 2:1-9

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ— by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

·         If you realize that God is calling you to Himself at this moment and yet your sins have gone on and you have not asked Him to forgive you and you stand guilty before him… today is the day for your salvation. He is making a personal invitation for you to come  and to personally trust Him to save you. Agreeing and acknowledging the fact that you are a sinner is the start. But then you need  to depend on and declare that personal trust in Him to forgive you and save you. 

·         If you are a believer, this message should cause you to rejoice in His mercy and worship Him for his holiness. Your delight in worshipping Christ in a few minutes with the Lord’s table, should be one of humbled gratefulness.  That as we have sung What a Savior! We rejoice in Christ alone for our salvation!

Let’s pray as we  closes.

Take a moment and say something from your heart to God.

            If God’s calling you to himself, admit you’re a sinner.          Ask Him to forgive your sins              Tell Him that you receive His gift of salvation and trust Him to save you from your sins.      Make a commitment to turn away from sinfulness in your life and to begin walking in obedience to Christ.

            If you’ve already done that in your life, then tell him how much you love Him. Not just his word or songs about Him, tell Him you love Him, God himself.  For God is the gospel, the good news for us who believe. It isn’t the cross we love, its Christ Himself. Declare that.

Heavenly Father, you sent your Son, the Suffering Servant, to die on our behalf. And we are forever grateful. On this night we celebrate the Lord’s Supper, we remember he was our ransom, our substitute, the lamb that was slain.            We remember he is our Deliverer, Redeemer, and Savior.  May we embrace him to be our Delight, Desire our Joy  and our All in All.           Thank you Father for saving us, for it was only you who could do it. And all god’s people aid Amen.

Your Life is Hidden in God

What Does It Mean… Series
audio link here Your Life is Hidden in God    Or this one
 LEFC Sermon Center

Reading of the Word

Colossians 3:1-3

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. ² Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. ³ For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. ⁴ When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

Let’s pray

Father, you are for the Christians, a hiding place and shield. We put our hope in your Word. We say to you, Lord and Master “ Our refuge and our fortress… our God whom we trust.”  Work deeply in hearts of your children today. Holy Spirit bring to mind the truth of your word in the coming months and for some within the sound of my voice the coming years, of what it means to be hidden in Christ.

 Amen

Warming Up.

You may be seated. If  you need a Bible this morning please raise your hand high and the ushers will get you one. This coming year LEFC emphasis will be dwelling on the Word of God. The way you start dwelling on God’s Word is by opening God’s word and reading it.

If you don’t know, my name is Eric Mattie I serve as one of the elders here at LEFC. It has been some time, since I’ve been able to share God’s Word with you. I always appreciate the opportunities the Board gives me to share the Word.

And as I was preparing for this in my prayer time, there was a very distinctive direction I sensed the Holy Spirit wanted me to encourage this body toward. Very specific circumstances are going to happen to some you in the coming year, where dwelling on the Word and dwelling in the presence of God, will be all that you have to stabilize yourself through that situation. I don’t know what it is. But I know that today, God has directed me to preach on the Security of the Christian Hidden in God

Introduction

The title of today’s message is Your Life is Hidden in God. There are always verses in Scripture, where the question is asked what does that mean? This phrase in Colossians 3:3 is one such verse. What does it mean, your life is in hidden with Christ in God?

 I mean we understand the first part of the verse where it say, for you died.  We understand that before a person becomes a Christian he  is dead IN THEIR sin- because they were living a life apart from God Eph 2.. BUT NOW in Christ  is now dead TO THEIR SIN because they have been saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ and is alive to God  Romans 6.

So we understand that very first part of the verse “For you died” as we are dead to our sin and that life apart from God.

But what about this phrase “and your life is now hidden with Christ in God”?

I can summarize it like this.
To be hidden with Christ in God is both a mystery and a security.

Let’s talk about the first briefly, because we are going to dwell on the second one for the bulk of our time today. I’ve given you notes  in order to follow the train of thought if you want…

I.         Hidden in God: A Mystery of the Christian Life

³ For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. ⁴ When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

My wife  Melanie and I like a good mystery.  Classics of Agatha Christie’s fictional sleuths of Hercule Poirot and and Miss Marple.  Growing up I read the adventures of Encylcopedia Brown. Which was a kids super sleuth  book series which gave you  the chance to figure out how Encyclopedia Brown solved the case.

But when I use the word “Mystery” it means that something is not fully understood.

You and I will walk out of this first point not fully know or being able to figure out the mystery of being hidden in God. So you need to accept that now. But there are clues about  the hidden life of the believer which gives us hope that one day, we will know. Look at v 4. our first clue.

Clue #1  v4 says that when Christ appears, we will appear.

When we say that we are appearing- it implies that we were unseen previously. That we were concealed in some way. Hidden.  So really our life will not be fully on display until Christ comes back.

There is something about the Christians’ life that is concealed now  (Hidden in God) and will be revealed later (When Christ appears). We wonder: “ what is it?” We ask:  “what will be revealed about the Christians’ life at the return of Jesus? THE ANSWER:  WE DON’T FULLY KNOW. OUR LIFE IS HIDDEN- Therefore even to us it’s a mystery.

         

Clue #2 He is saying to have a heavenly mindset- eternal mindset v 1,2...  Because NOW in Christ – is a hidden reality that is found in our union with Jesus Christ who right now is hidden in God the Father himself.

As one commentator said: “The world knows neither Christ nor Christians, and Christians do not even know distinctly themselves” - Bengel’s Gnomon

·         Remember that the Bible says that the world  did not recognize Christ when he came.  The world did not recognize Christ and it won’t recognize Christians either.  When the world looks at us there is something missing that they cannot understand. They can’t see it.  It is hidden.  From their logic and reasoning.

·         There is an element of mystery as to what motivates the Christian to act counter cultural to the worldly ways and dealings. We understand to a degree, that we walk as grace filled people, because we have new grace filled heart. It is a heart that wants to honor God by acting in graceful ways that acknowledge him.   It rids itself of bitterness, anger, and greed. It fights against lusts and selfish desires.

Why do we forgive and reconcile instead of just get bitter?

Why do we work hard even when we don’t get rewarded materially?

Believers understand to a degree of the motivation- its to glorify God, because giving that credit gives us joy.

                                                But the world says “I don’t get it. It’s a mystery. There is a hidden reason from their perspective that can only be understood by God revealing it to them.- Just as he does for us.

·         Our life is hidden with Christ and that is yet a mystery to us to. Here’s an analogy from Sam Storms- aPastor from Oklahoma:

Imagine a flower. “The root system is concealed beneath the surface of the earth. How it derives nutrients from the soil and contributes to the growth of the stem, leaf, and petal is unseen, being something of a mystery. But the beauty of the rose is for all to behold. Its color and fragrance are ever on display for the joy of all people. Likewise the Christian, whose strength and incentive and inner life are "hidden" from view, but whose kindness, faith, perseverance, and love are a perpetual witness to the glory of God's grace within.”

So the new life of believers in Christ is a mystery to the unbeliever and in part a mystery to the believer as well. We will not fully know what is hidden until Christ comes back and our life is revealed.

Clue #3 Look at Eph 2.. very familiar verse because we see the Gospel in it- that is Good News of our saving grace. But pay attention to the last verse.

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,  so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.  Ephesians 2: 4-8

God’s going to reveal to us the riches of His grace and His mercy. It’s going to take ages, eons, a good bit of eternity for you to get into the depths and beauty that is Jesus Christ- who is our life and what ever that hidden mystery is—we will no get bored with it- there will always be more to behold, and worship God about and here in this verse it says it will take ages to show the immeasurable riches of grace.

So if you are struggling with the first concept of being hidden with God, because you want to know more- relax :  Our brains are small and our God’s grace is so big it is immeasurable.  J   There is more of God that he will show in due time

Ok that is the first part of what it means to be hidden with Christ. To be hidden with Christ in God is both a mystery and a security. Let’s talk about the second meaning To be…

II. Hidden in God: A Security of the Christian Life

We see throughout Scripture the concept of hiding in God going hand in hand with the Christian being secure in God. The word “secure” means to be firmly fixed. And the fixed or fastened so as not to give way, become loose, or be lost.  Of course it’s a metaphor, but a very important way to see our union in Christ. I propose this statement to understand the Hiding Place of God as a security. We’ll work through it in three parts

 The hiding place of God is

A place of grace that is settled in the Christ’s righteousness and secure in God’s sovereignty

1.     A Place of Grace

There are times in the Bible that the first instance a phrase is use is important to determine for the other times the phrase is used.  The phrase  “hiding place”  is first mentioned in Psalm 32-1-7. Turn with me there.

Ps 32:1-7

Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.2 Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity ,and in whose spirit there is no deceit. 3 For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away

through my groaning all day long. 4 For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. 5 I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the Lord, "and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. 6 Therefore let everyone who is godly offer prayer to you at a time when you may be found; surely in the rush of great waters, they shall not reach him 7 You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with shouts of deliverance.

·         Summary

v 1-4 trying to hide sin… as if that’s possible.

V 5,6 experiencing  the grace of confessing sin.

V 7 now Hiding in God.

Point:

David experiences a wonderful truth found in the forgiving Grace of God. And that is this that is :since God forgives our sin, our lives are guarded through God’s Grace.

Why is that?

Preach:

Because if our sin warranted us the greatest troubles and problem for our eternal destiny… and the Father God had every justifiable right because of his holiness and righteousness to pour his wrath on us-yet

Sent Jesus Christ to save us…

 Rescue us and take our sin and forgive us---granting us eternal life! ..

Than why  would his people- his children be insecure about this pety short lived life here on earth?

Pause

What could happen to the Christian if they are not separated from God’s love and care?

Rom 8:31-39

31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32  He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? 33 Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. 34  Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised— who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.  35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 As it is written,

 "For your sake we are being killed all the day long;

we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered."

37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

This is the argument of the greater to the lesser. The hard to the easy.

If obtaining our salvation is the hardest obstacle because it took God to sacrifice his own Son—that is the hardest. If that can be done- and it has for the believer.- than the lesser obstacle- easier obstacle of graciously giving us all things can be done as well. If God did not withhold his Son, he will not withhold any good thing from us.

So the hiding place is a place of grace… He is For Us.
TRANSITION— Now…
Back to our original text Col 3:3  we’ll look at the next part of our statement about the security of the Christian’s life. A place of grace that is settled in the Christ’s righteousness

Settled in Christ’s Righteousness

 “…your life is hidden with Christ in God.” Col 3:3
           

DON’T MISS THE LITTLE PHRASE hidden with Christ… because if you are not with Christ, you will not be hidden in God.

·         We cannot know God without Christ. We are not saved from the consequence of sin in our life without Christ. We are not true believers without Jesus Christ. A person that is hidden in God, can only be hidden BECAUSE Christ is with him.

·         Remember the truth that sinful man cannot be near to a Holy God. PTL We can draw near to God and have our life hidden by Him because Jesus clothes us in righteousness that is His.

o   When we become Christians there is a A Great Exchange. At the great Exchange, I give my garbage (sin), and I get Jesus!  That’s the exchange for us.

o   Let me say it this way: at the  the Great Exchange, we are declared not guilty in God’s courtroom  and Christ carries our guilt. (doctrine of justification). Because While we were sinners, God attributed our sin to Jesus (imputed them to Jesus) and took Jesus perfect life and attributed (imputed)  to us. Therefore giving to us every spiritual blessing he deserved. This includes being hidden.

o   This Great exchange happens by grace alone through faith alone in  Christ alone.

o   When I struggle with my insecurity because of my sin. When I have to fight the condemning accusations of the devil. There are times I have to remember, that I am secure not because of my self and my goodness. But because of Jesus righteousness.

o   Picture:  My blog from last year: Reflecting on three major shifts in my life in the past nine years. Here’s what I said in one of them

3. God exchanged my sweetness for Christ’s righteousness.

I’ve always been the nice guy. The “so sweet” guy. Got a long with most everybody and everybody liked me. Or so I thought. No amount of my nice guy personality was going to excuse my sin against a holy God. Father God made sure of it in his disciplining of me. I had been playing with fire for too long and I was burning up (see Proverbs 6:27, 28).  My heart was beginning to become callous to the conviction of the Holy Spirit. I was unresponsive to God’s word. But outwardly still the sweet guy.

I praise God he didn’t leave me on the road that I was traveling on. Like Paul on the road to Damascus, he blocked my path, got my attention, disciplined me, called me to repentance and put me in an extended time of reflection to realize my need for a Savior to be my substitute. Because Christ is my substitute, I don’t live off of the “nice guy” reputation. Jesus is the reason for who I am and how I’ve changed. Not myself. 

o   When I think of the concept of being hidden With Christ… I remember that I am hidden  because of Christ.  Hidden in Christ’s clothing of righteousness. When I preach the gospel to myself, I remember that to be hidden for me a believer means His Imputation Declared Eternally (H.I.D.E.) over my life. He is my life!! None of what God sees is me and boy am I glad. I am secure because of my savior.

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.           Eph 2:8

·         So it is given to all who have abandoned their efforts of good moral living for the sake of pleasing God and have put all their hope and all their trust into Jesus Christ- as the one who is their Savior.

Side note: It is because we have been gifted salvation and the faith to believe, that we can trust Jesus’ word, that says “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. I and the Father are one.”                     John 10:28-30

                That is security! Settled in Jesus’ hand and his righteousness. He will cause you to persevere in your faith in what ever you are up against this next year- or the rest of your life.

Secure in God’s Sovereignty

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness is a shield and buckler.                                Psalm 91:1-4

Know what pinion is?  It is the outer part of a bird's wing including the flight feathers.

Picture: Listen to Charles Spurgeon’s encouragement:

“Just as a hen protects her brood and allows them to nestle under her wings, so  will the Lord defend His people and permit them to hide away in Him. Have we not seen the little chicks peeping out from under the mother’s feathers? Have we not heard their little cry of contented joy?  In this way let us shelter ourselves in our God and feel overflowing peace in knowing that He is guarding us.

“While the Lord covers us, we trust. It would be strange if we did not. How can we distrust when Jehovah Himself becomes house and home, refuge and rest to us?”

(If you want something to dwell on, Think and meditate on the Scriptures that describe God as our Rock, refuge,and shelter.  Think through what it means that he is a Might Fortress, a shield and our strength.)

There are times that God’s sovereign hand is at work and we don’t see it.

Point:

We deny ourselves deep and wonderful security and assurance when we don’t embrace God’s sovereign work in our life.

There is great comfort when we hear that God is for us. Because we know that no one can be truly successfully against us.

Preach:

For the Christian

·         Death’s sting- fear- is Gone- we view dying as a promotion and homecoming and celebration TO BE WITH OUR Lord we should never fear that!!

·         Troubles and distress in our life- are real- but our strength to ride them through,grow us up in Christ and handle things in a God honoring way- doesn’t come from our wisdom, or righteousness of Character- it comes from Christ. Apart from Christ you can do nothing.

·         Loss of job or unfulfillment- Christ is to be our contentment and our provider.

Is being hidden with Christ mean we will never have trouble- of course not!

But  I make this point: that Christian going through trials need to see God as bigger than there troubles. The Christian who knows how big  God is in order to hide inside,  will see trouble  as a strengthening of the faith  and a lengthening of their perspective about how big God is.

Joseph:

One of the most familiar examples is the story of Joseph in the Old Testament. His brothers hate him because he has had a dream that some day he will reign over them. So they throw him into a pit, and then sell him into slavery in Egypt, and then lie to his father about his coat so the old man will believe that his boy was killed by a wild animal.  Finally, after about 17 years God  of nothing apparently working together for any lasting good for Joseph or his poor old father, he interprets a dream for Pharaoh and Pharaoh rewards him by making him a kind of vice president in charge of all the food in the land as a seven-year famine comes.

The famine is threatening his family in Canaan and so the brothers who hated him and tried to get rid of him come to Egypt. Who is the one ready to help them, but their brother Joseph, whom they don’t recognize?

The point of the story is given in three texts.

 "God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors." Notice the word "sent".                      Genesis 45:7

You see it again in

"When he summoned a famine on the land and broke all supply of bread, he had sent a man ahead of them, Joseph, who was sold as a slave."                     Psalm 105:16-17

And we understand the word sent as being important for  interpreting the main text of the story, namely,

"As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today."                             Genesis 50:20

The Cross of Christ

This is a picture of what God did for us in sending Jesus to the cross to save us.,

 "In this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place."                 Acts 4:27-28

·         In other words, even though Jesus’ going to the cross involved the sins of Herod and Pilate and Gentiles and Jews, nevertheless it was God’s sending. They meant it for evil, but God meant it for good.

Job:
Look at this summary
“Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.                        James 5:11

·         In all Job’s pain and loss God was aiming at compassion and mercy. He planned and purposed and worked all things for Job’s good.

It is For God’s good purposes that we can stand secure hidden in Him. We may not always know His good purposes, but you can trust his over your own.

Here at LEFC our Sunday morning philosophy of ministry is simple- we preach a big God and through our singing- Brag on God. You can get that on Sunday morning and amen what we say. But the times where it really counts are when we are in the middle of the storm and our prayer is this:

For he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble; he will conceal me under the cover of his tent;

he will lift me high upon a rock.                               Psalm 27:5

You are my hiding place and my shield; I hope in your word.                      Psalms 119:114

Deliver me from my enemies, O Lord! I have fled to you for refuge!                         Psalms 143:9

I love the way the Heidelberg Catechism expresses it…

Q & A 28

Q. How does the knowledge of God’s creation and providence help us?

A. We can be patient when things go against us, thankful when things go well, and for the future we can have
good confidence in our faithful God and Father that nothing in creation will separate us from his love.
For all creatures are so completely in God’s hand that without his will they can neither move nor be moved.
Closing:
So there you have it-
To be hidden with Christ in God is both a mystery and a security. And that Secure hiding place is a place of grace that is settled in the Christ’s righteousness and secure in God’s sovereignty
Let’s pray
Lord may we  be patient when things are against us, thankful when things go well and for the future have the confidence  in you who is our faithful God. That as refuge and hiding place, we may experience no fear, full joy and continual hope in what ever comes our way.
Amen