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Philip
You can be seated. Last week, on a Sunday that passed, a young brother on our productions team left this room no older than 23, 25. On the Monday following that, he left the gathering. He was in a car crash that crushed his lungs. He's sitting in a hospital right now in ICU and then getting ready to pull the plug on him. This week and all week, my team and I and intercessors have been praying and some fasting for him. And I mentioned him for multiple reasons. One, that if he will come up in your spirit today, that you would. You would join us as we're praying before they tap that plug. For if God is willing, he would perform a creative miracle for him right there in that hospital room because he's able to do that and that God is willing he will give him more years to live before they pull that plug, that we will remember him in mercy and remember his family in mercy. And I mentioned that brother, too, because I take solace in the fact that if for any reason the Lord does not answer our prayer.
Frank
If for any.
Philip
Reason they pull that plug, he wakes up on the other side of death because he is a follower of Christ. He will not see decay, he will.
Frank
Not see hellfire, but he will stumble into the arms of his loving Savior, the one who rescued him in this life before he died. And this is why we say all the time that tomorrow's not promised to nobody, that we be making all these plans for next week, next month, next year we go on vacation here. We're going to do that there. You may not see. Next year is why we beckon to the unbeliever to say, today is the day of salvation. That when you feel the spirit of God drawing you to himself, that is the moment to surrender. That is the moment to give your life to Christ. Because no person is prepared to die apart from Christ. You not thugged out enough. You not strong enough. You're not rich enough. Money is not going to keep people out of hell. Fame is not going to keep people out of hell. Morality is not going to keep people out of hell.
Philip
Church attendance is not going to keep. There are good people burning right now.
Frank
There are wealthy people burning right now. There are poor people burning right now. And there is no safe departure from this life apart from a relationship with Christ. That's why we got to stop preaching a western gospel that lie and tell people, if you come to God, he's going to make everything perfect or he's going to make you perfectly happy. That is a lie. The gospel Is not about happiness. It is about righteousness. Preach that garbage to a wealthy man that has everything, they think they don't need God. And you think the gospel is only for poor people because we preach it wrong. No, the gospel is for all men because all people need their souls to be saved before a holy God. The wealthy man and the poor man, the famous man and the man in obscurity.
Philip
So pray if you will for that brother. Like I'm just reminded of our mortality. Like comfort makes us think we have all this time to get right with God. And you don't. You do not. You don't. So when I heard God came and get me it when I was suicidal in that bathroom, that was the day for me to turn to God. Same for you in this room. Amen. Anybody? So if you are a guest, we welcome you to 2819, to this sacred and holy place where we are serious about the spread of the gospel and the harvesting of souls and the multiplying of followers after the Lord Jesus Christ.
Frank
If you're watching live right now across.
Philip
The nation, around the world, and you are one of our digital disciples, I.
Frank
Want you to hear me. That we love you, that we pray for you and we cover you.
Philip
I have enjoyed in this year of travel all around America and outside the United States, seeing you in airports and bumping to you in streets and loving on you and hugging you and feeling your tears fall on my shoulder. You are more than numbers on a platform.
Frank
And so I want you to know that we love you and we pray for you wherever you are. You are a part of our spiritual.
Philip
Family and you mean everything to us. And if you're in this room or.
Frank
If you're sitting in an overflow watching.
Philip
Across that camera and you do not.
Frank
Have a relationship with Christ, we know that you're in here.
Philip
We acknowledge you. We want you to know that you can be long before you believe.
Frank
We are thankful that you are here.
Philip
And we welcome you to this place. And I just want you to hear that our prayer for you is that a day would come, you might be sitting in this room during worship or during prayer or while the word is being proclaimed. You feel God nudging on your heart.
Frank
And you just lean in enough to.
Philip
Surrender in a moment.
Frank
That can happen in your chair. Don't need an altar call for that.
Philip
A special prayer for that.
Frank
That you.
Philip
Would come aboard the Ark of Safety. You would know the safety of Christ before you die. But you don't have all this time to get right. And that is our Prayer for you if you're not a follower of Christ. We have been studying a book called Matthew, written by a man who was an outcast Jew in the first century Adam. He worked for the Roman government. The Lord was walking by his job one day and saw him and said.
Frank
Matthew, come and follow me.
Philip
He left his job and followed Jesus in the first century A.D. a singular decision that changed his life.
Frank
He went on to write a book.
Philip
That bears his name.
Frank
It is the book that we have.
Philip
Been studying as a church. And now we have come to the.
Frank
End of that book. The final three chapters in that book.
Philip
Matthew, chapter 26, 27 and 28. The apex, the entire gospel in our.
Frank
Final series in our walk through the.
Philip
Book of Matthew, called Cross to Commission, in which we are studying together the final days, the final hours of the life of the Lord Jesus Christ. Our text today is coming From Matthew, chapter 26, verses 36 through 46. Spirit of the living God, we feel your presence right now in this room. Remember our brother right now who is in a jam, God, that if you're willing, you would perform a creative miracle on his behalf, that you would comfort and strengthen his family. Remember our brother, God, who is suffering now, and our sister who's suffering now. Remember those who are in desperate need of a touch from you.
Frank
Father.
Philip
God, I pray you would turn our eyes away from worthless things and foolishness.
Frank
We'll lean into this moment.
Philip
We'll lean into what matters most. Let something like scales fall from our eyes. Let the hardness of our hearts be softened as your word is proclaimed. Minister to the son and daughter. Minister to the one who's far away. Minister to the one who is deceived. Let us hear your voice not through a man, just let us just hear your voice, God. From a broken vessel with a microphone. Help us, God, in the mighty and the majestic and the matchless name of our soon coming king, the Lord Jesus Christ. And all God's people said amen and amen and amen. In 2012, my father was diagnosed with a terminal illness and a doctor gave him six months to live. And my mother and my father, when he got that diagnosis, lived right down the street from me. And I remember those last six months of his life, helping my mother care for my father as he was jammed up in that house.
Frank
I watched my father wrestle and grapple.
Philip
With the fact that he was coming down to his final days in this life.
Frank
I watched my father grapple with the fact that he was going to leave behind a wife and children. And concerned about what will happen to us.
Philip
After he was gone, I watched my.
Frank
Father grapple with the fact that seemed like God was not listening to our prayers, that God was not hearing our prayers to heal him. I watched my father grapple with the fact that he's in this jam and we're getting closer and closer to the day where he may see death. I watch him grapple with that, with courage and in weakness as he got to a point where he stopped talking to us. He would only write in our book and we would read the things that he wrote.
Philip
I watched my father stare down death.
Frank
And this is a very difficult thing for people to deal with. It is not easy when a human being gets a diagnosis that you have six months to live or three months to live. And it is even more difficult if that diagnosis or the day you face death, you know that what's coming with that is a great trial or persecution.
Philip
That'S coming with that.
Frank
This is what we read right here in the text when we approach the final hours of the Lord Jesus Christ. And as we preach this text to you, I want to invite you to lean in with your heart. That one of the things that happens so much in America, man, we be reading God's word and be hearing God's word, and we only connect with our mind, but we don't connect with our heart. This is why I be angry when I hear people say stuff like, oh, they call people in the Bible characters.
Philip
And they talk about them like they was fictitious. Like, you've never heard anybody call Abraham Lincoln a character.
Frank
You've never heard anybody call George Washington a character. Why you talk about them like they were human beings that existed. The Lord Jesus is not a spook. He was a man like you and I who lived in the first century A.D. he cried, he wept, he ate, he went to weddings, he hung out, he sipped wine, he ate food. He had friends, he laughed, he loved, he felt pain, he got hungry, he got tired. He was a human being like you and me. And now he's come to the final hours of his life. He is in a room in a private place with his followers, 12 of them in that room. One leaves the room that night, goes out into the street in the middle of night. He will betray him on that Thursday.
Philip
Night and bring to him man, the Roman soldiers who will arrest him on that night.
Frank
On that night, he shares his final teachings with his followers. On that night, he shares his final meal with his followers. On that night, he has his final.
Philip
Moment of corporate worship with his followers.
Frank
And in the Room that night was a young man named Matthew who recorded what we're about to read next. The lowest point in the life of Jesus. If you've ever been stressed, if you've ever been depressed, if you've ever been in a circumstance that crushed your heart so low that you did not want.
Philip
To get out of bed, if you've ever been in a place like I was when you wished for death or been suicidal, this is where we are right now with the life of the Lord Jesus. Matthew records the lowest moment in the life of Christ. Matthew chapter 26 and verse 36. Matthew says then that is after they left that house that night, Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane.
Frank
And he said to his disciples, sit here while I go over there and pray.
Philip
It is the middle of Thursday night.
Frank
It is probably after midnight. They are walking through the streets towards.
Philip
A place called Gethsemane.
Frank
And I just want to point out to you something I thought about as I was reading this text. I thought about the fact that that there are attributes that you and I share with God and we enjoy those attributes. They are called communicable. So God has emotions and he's given human beings emotions. God can see and he allows human beings to see. God can hear, so he allows human beings to hear. They are attributes that you have of a human being that you share in common with God. But God has things called non communicable attributes.
Philip
That is things in his nature that.
Frank
You and I do not share. Let me tell you one that's sitting.
Philip
Underneath the surface of the text.
Frank
One of them is the Lord Jesus, who was God in the flesh, shares the communicable attributes with his Father that you and I do not have of omniscience. That is Jesus, when he was alive, was all knowing everything happening and everything is about to happen. He already knows this is a function in the life of Christ that you and I do not share.
Philip
So as he's walking across that courtyard.
Frank
Towards Gethsemane, he already knows he's a few hours away from being betrayed. He already knows he's a few hours away from being abandoned. He already knows he's a few hours away from being beaten within an inch of his life. He already knows he's a few hours.
Philip
Away from carrying a cross beam to.
Frank
The top of a hill.
Philip
He already knows he's hours away from being crucified and executed for you and me. He already knows that everybody in that room is that night is going to abandon him. He already knows all of this is going to happen. And I marvel at the text because he spent three years with these men, eating with them, traveling with them, doing.
Frank
Ministry with them, hanging out with them, teaching them, loving on them. He knew this day was coming.
Philip
And yet you can't find anywhere in the record of the life of Jesus where he mistreated them, knowing this day was coming.
Frank
You can't find anywhere in the record of the life of Christ where he had any pretense in his life, knowing this day was coming. I only mention this to you for just a moment that we will learn to marvel over the love of God who knows every time you're going to make a mistake, he knows every time you're going to betray him, he knows every time you're going to hurt him, offend him, walk away, and still he loves you unconditionally anyhow. The Lord knows your failures next year, next month, next day, and still he loves you anyhow. Never once did he treat them differently, knowing this day was coming. There is no pretense in his love because the love of God is steadfast, has nothing to do with you and everything to do with his character and his nature. And us. We'd be like, oh, I want to know. I want to know. I want to know. No, you don't want to know everything. Because if the Lord gave you the.
Philip
Same attribute, if you had the same attribute of omniscience that you know all.
Frank
Things from the beginning, that level of knowledge will crush you.
Philip
You would not be able to enjoy life. Oh, he said, philip, I don't understand. If you knew the person next to you that was going to betray you in three years, you wouldn't be able.
Frank
To enjoy them right now. If you knew 10 years from now your husband was going to walk out.
Philip
Of you, you wouldn't be able to.
Frank
Enjoy them right now. If you knew 20 years from now, you, the person that you love most, was going to abandon you, you would not be able to enjoy life right now. If you knew the person you call your best friend was going to betray you 12 months from now, you would not be able to enjoy them right now. If you knew everything that was going to happen to you before it happened.
Philip
You would not be able to enjoy life.
Frank
You will have guards up all the time.
Philip
You'd be looking at people crooked all the time.
Frank
If you woke up tomorrow, knew your girl was going to walk away from you next year, man, you'll treat her differently. I promise you.
Philip
You will not treat her the same.
Frank
Right? It is the love of God.
Philip
He has not allowed you to know everything. This is why we should thank God for the things he has shield your mind from. You can't handle knowing everything because I assure you, you will not treat people the way God treats you. I'm so thankful God does not treat us the way people treat us because I'm telling you right now, if I knew everybody in this room that was going to do me dirty a year from now, I might look at you funny. Tomorrow I'll pray, but I might not bring you to the house.
Frank
I'll pray for you, might not hang out with you. I'll pray for you, but might put a wall between you and I.
Philip
You would not be able to enjoy people if you knew what they was going to do to you a year from now. See, you don't have the capacity to do that. But the Lord never one time in the Gospels do you see him treating them different, knowing this day was coming.
Frank
Watch.
Philip
He knows how you're going to hurt him next year and still loves you anyhow. The Lord knew David was going to fumble and still blessed him as a king. Still blessed his throne, still. Still made him wealthy, still raised him up knowing David was going to fumble.
Frank
The Lord knew David's son.
Philip
He gave him all wisdom and he blessed his house.
Frank
When he built that house for God, he sent glory from heaven on top of that house, knowing that when Solomon got to the end of his life, all of his women was going to lead him into idol worship. And although the Lord knew that Solomon would abandon him at the end of his life, yet he still sends glory upon his house. You and I don't get down like that.
Philip
Is anybody thankful? God don't treat you the way people.
Frank
Treat you, You say? No, that don't sound theological. You can't hurt God because you have not read Ephesians, chapter 4, verse 30. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God. That word grieve in Greek means to emotionally wound. So we can hurt God and we can disappoint God and we can let him down.
Philip
And he sees us do this to him all the time and still shows up the next morning with grace. You still wake up, you still have.
Frank
Activity in your legs.
Philip
He still loves you, still gives you food, still bless your business, still bless.
Frank
Your bank account, your 401k, still taking care of your house and your children, knowing what you're going to do to him next year. The Lord ain't confused on this night. No, he walks across that valley knowing.
Philip
These men are going to Betray him. He knew this all this time.
Frank
And I just want you to see in the Lord, watch he's going through.
Philip
A stressful moment of where does he go? He carries his heart to the presence of the Father.
Frank
The Lord had a consistent life of prayer. Look at me. The Lord had a consistent life of prayer. What we see in Jesus is a denial of self reliance. You read the text, you'll find him on a mountaintop praying all night before.
Philip
He comes down and chooses 12 men.
Frank
To be his apostles.
Philip
That is, he prays before he makes life decisions.
Frank
We see him praying before he performs miracles. That is, he's praying and getting power.
Philip
From the Spirit of God.
Frank
We see him praying before he walks on the Sea of Galilee to meet his followers on a ship in the middle of the sea. We see the Lord slipping away often.
Philip
The scripture says, and there he will be alone with the Father praying. Jesus had a consistent life of prayer. He lived dependent upon the Father. But notice where he went to Gethsemane. Give me my picture control room. This is where Jesus went that night. I was in Jerusalem, December 2018, when I took my phone and snapped that picture.
Frank
This is the remaining garden of Gethsemane. Gethsemane was an olive grove of trees. And in the center of that olive grove was a garden. These trees are all that remains from that garden. They are thousands of years old. So they protected those trees. They're the same, same trees that was.
Philip
There when the Lord prayed in that garden.
Frank
And I'm standing at the gate staring at these trees and thinking about what.
Philip
Happened in that place that night.
Frank
The word Gethsemane means olive press. It was a place of crushing, Just.
Philip
Symbolic of the fact the Lord would go into that place and on that night he would be crushed. He would be crushed in his spirit. He would be crushed in his emotions. He would be crushed in his heart.
Frank
He would be crushed by betrayal. He will be crushed by abandonment. He will be crushed by an arrest. You want to go deeper?
Philip
He will be crushed by the perfect will of the Father.
Frank
And I just point that out to you because on the backside of that, he would be highly exalted. Because powerful things come on the other side of crushing. You got Christians that talk about they want to be anointed. You want oil, but you don't want to be crushed. You want power, but you don't want to be crushed. You want platforms, but you don't want to be crushed. You want platforms without process. And I'm talking to some of you right now. There are people Listening to me right now, who find yourself in a Gethsemane season like I am in right now, where you're going through some hardship, I'm talking to you. Some trial, some issues, some pain, some deep insecurities. You're praying God is not moving. And what he's doing right now is crushing you right now in that moment. And what comes on the other side of crushing, Greater character, greater strength. Who am I talking to? More wisdom, more knowledge. That's why I say pain should pay you. You should never go through something and come out with nothing. If I go through pain, it has to pay me. You go through a hard season, it should pay you. You should never go through a hardship and come out with nothing. In that garden. The Lord will be crushed that night, but will come out of that, he will be exalted by the Father. And on the back, I'm telling for.
Philip
Somebody right now, don't give up.
Frank
On the backside of that, don't give up. Don't throw in the towel. On the other side of your season.
Philip
Of pain will be a greater man, a greater woman. If you watch, submit to the process of crushing. There are people right now going through against enemy season. This is where you are right now in your life. And you think the Lord is not hearing your prayer. And you think he's unkind. You think he abandoned you. He will never abandon you. He's in the garden with you. He's just not pulling you out as fast as you want to. I'm talking to myself. I already know I'm talking to myself. I've been dealing with hell for 11 months. I've been living here for 11 months. I set up camp here for 11 months. Been doing work from that garden for 11 months. I hear somebody crying. He's catching those tears. I hear you whimpering. He knows exactly where you are. He put you there. See? And as you grow in Christian maturity, you don't just thank God for mountaintops. That's bottom shelf Christianity. You get to the point where you.
Frank
Start thanking God for the things he used to break you, hurt you, because they transform you. Check your resume. You have been shaped more by the things you survived than by the things that you have been blessed by. I'm telling you right now what I know. You are wiser because of pain. You are smarter because of pain. You are stronger because of pain. The Lord has done more in you through the garden than he has through mountaintops. I'm wired like this because of stuff I have survived in the streets and in the kingdom. And for as much as you'll be trying to rip those stories out of your life, just check your past. The Lord has done more in you through what he has crushed you in.
Philip
Than just making life feel flowery all the time. Every people, you got everything on the outside, all the trappings of worldly success and still crushed on the inside. The Lord won't change that yet.
Frank
Why?
Philip
He's using that to just keep you just dependent enough to call on Him. Because he will never create for you a life that makes him unnecessary.
Frank
You could be wealthy and he'll leave a little insecurity. You could be wealthy, he'll leave a little bit of brokenness. You could be bubbling. He leave a little bit of drama. He leave just enough in your life to make you realize you can't do this on your own.
Philip
Come on, man.
Frank
We only think we're strong until a trial come that break us. Now, I want you to notice something in the text. He says to his followers, stay here while I go over there and pray. Do you see that in verse 36? He says to them, sit here while I go over there and pray. Now that is a very important detail.
Philip
In the text for what I'm about to read to you next. Okay?
Frank
The Lord comes to the front of the olive grove. He looks into the eyes of 11 men. Watch, 11 men. He says, y' all stay here.
Philip
I'm going to go over there and pray.
Frank
That is an important detail in the text for what we read next.
Philip
Look at the next verse. Verse 37. And taking with him Peter and the.
Frank
Two sons of Zebedee, that is James and John. He began to be sorrowful and troubled.
Philip
Then he said to them, this is so powerful.
Frank
My soul is sorrowful even to the point of death. Remain here and watch with me.
Philip
Now this is.
Frank
Look what the Lord did. He goes to the front of the olive Grove with 11 men. Pay attention. He tells eight of them, you stay here. Then he takes three men. Peter, James, John. He says, y' all come with me. He takes them into the garden. And when he gets alone with Peter, James, John, he says to them, my soul is sorrowful unto death. The Lord confesses the brokenness of his heart not to all 11 men. Watch. The Lord pours out the deepest parts of his heart, not to all 11 men. You've been taught wrong. The only three people that ever heard Jesus says, my soul is sorrowful unto death. And were three men, not all 11. Peter, James, and John. I only point that out to you.
Philip
In the text because I want you to see. The Lord gives us permission to have relational boundaries.
Frank
And not to apologize for them.
Philip
We never see the Lord trying to explain to the other eight why they can't come in.
Frank
We don't see him apologizing for that. We see the Lord using wisdom and creating relational boundaries that watch. He knows who to be intimate with and who not to be intimate with. Watch. He knows who to be vulnerable with and who not to be vulnerable with. He knows who to share his heart with and who not to share his heart with.
Philip
This is important because everybody cannot handle your vulnerability.
Frank
Come on, man. Everybody cannot handle your humanity. There are some people, you will tell them something intimate from your heart and they will change the way they treat you the next day. There are some people that have your last name that cannot handle the intimacy of your heart. Already there are people in your family that don't have the humility to handle the humanity of your heart. You cannot trust them with who you are, really are. You cannot tell them what you're going through. They will judge you the next day. This is the Lord modeling for you and I the wisdom to know who.
Philip
Can handle my vulnerability, who can handle my humanity.
Frank
Who can I be truly honest with.
Philip
About the things in my heart?
Frank
Watch.
Philip
And they not betray me with that information. The Lord saw in those three men something in them that he trusted they could handle his humanity. This is God in the flesh telling them, my soul is sorrowful unto death. He is baring his soul. The three men watch. He used a filter for where he could be vulnerable. I'm just telling you that because this generation, we don't do that. We don't use no filters for vulnerability. You don't. You air all your business on social media. So we always know when you down. We always know when you broken. We always know when you're upset. We know every time you go through a breakup. We know every time you struggle.
Frank
We always know because you use social media as your filter. And some of us think just because.
Philip
You have acquaintances, they. They have. They have the right to your soul.
Frank
Let me tell you, you owe people love.
Philip
You do not owe everybody.
Frank
Access must be earned over consistency. I need to see that I can.
Philip
Trust you with one piece of intimacy.
Frank
And see how you handle that afterwards. You put my business on ig. I know I can't trust you. Love you. Can't trust you. Love you. Can't talk to you. Love you. You'll never hear the deepest parts of my heart ever again. I'm just trying to help some of you Watch. I'm trying to help some of you. Have the courage to take inventory of everybody in life. And know I can trust this brother with my heart. I can trust this sister with my heart. Cannot trust them. Love them, can't trust them.
Philip
So the Lord sets a relational boundary between the men. Leaves eight outside, takes three in. He's vulnerable in their presence. Not to mention, this is not the first time he's been vulnerable with these men. The Lord's trust in them, he's been testing them over time. These are the same three men. He goes to the top of a mountain and he shows them that he was God in the flesh.
Frank
So he trusted them with his glory.
Philip
Now he trusts them with his sorrow.
Frank
This is the same three men.
Philip
When he went into a man's house.
Frank
To heal his daughter, he told the other disciples, y' all stay outside. He took Peter, James and John into the room and raised a dead girl from the grave. Raised up a dead girl with only Peter, James and John.
Philip
No, these are the same three men. When the Lord is gone, he would trust them to leave the church. This is the Lord modeling for you and I to have enough discernment to know who can handle your humanity and who cannot. Who can trust your vulnerability, who you cannot. This is him setting relational boundaries. Watch the next verse. Verse 39. And going a little further, he fell on his face and he prayed. This is powerful, saying, my Father, if.
Frank
It is possible, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will. So he sets another boundary. He leaves 11 men at the door, eight men at the door. Takes three men into the garden, then goes a little bit further from them. And now he talks to God alone. This is you and I learning from the Lord that there's some things only between you and God, that there's some things you keep to yourself. It's just you and God working this out in private. Now look at what he's saying to the Father. This is so powerful. Lord, if it is possible, please let this cup pass from me. You know what he's saying? God, if it's possible, let me not go through what I'm about to face. He is being tempted, looking for an option out, trying to find another way.
Philip
To fulfill the plan of salvation, the plan of redemption. The Lord watch because he's omnipresent. He knows what he's about to go through. So he's praying for another way to handle that. He says, can this cup pass from me? What is the cup? The cup in the Old Testament represents Wrath. It represents judgment. It represents hardship. What is inside the cup, that night, inside that cup, is the fact that he's about to be betrayed.
Frank
He's about to be crucified. He's about to be put to death.
Philip
But what is at the bottom of the cup?
Frank
What is at the bottom of the.
Philip
Cup that he's concerned about the most?
Frank
He is not the first person to be martyred.
Philip
He is not the first person to face death.
Frank
He is not the first person to.
Philip
Give his life for Christianity. There's something at the bottom of the cup that he's most concerned about. The fact that this human being who had never made a mistake, this human being who was sinless for the first time, now he was about to come in contact with sin.
Frank
For the first time in his entire life, past and present, he was about to come in contact with sin. Why? Because on the cross, when Christ dies there, he absorbs all of your sin and all of my sin, and he takes that all upon himself on the cross so you could be set free from the wrath of God. Now watch. I say that to some of you.
Philip
And it means nothing, right?
Frank
It only means something to those of.
Philip
You who's been fed up with yourself at some point in time. Come on, man. Like, man, why am I always watching pornography?
Frank
Why am I always masturbating? Why am I always angry? Why am I always jealous? Why am I always covetous? Why am I always stiff? Why?
Philip
Have anybody ever been mad at your own self?
Frank
Like, why do you keep doing that? Why do you keep dating the same people? It's the same problems in different legs. The hips don't change the behavior. Am I the only one that's ever in a moment said, dang it, Philip, what is wrong with you? Anybody's ever felt that before, even one time? Watch. Has anybody been mad at yourself just one time? Like, why did I mess up that business deal? Why did I lose that opportunity? Why did I lose that woman?
Philip
That man.
Frank
Has anybody ever been mad at yourself?
Philip
Right? Right. You're mad at yourself because you are a sinner, right?
Frank
That's yours alone.
Philip
Imagine carrying the weight of yours and.
Frank
Every human being that ever lived. Past, present, future.
Philip
How's that for weight? And he knows for the first time he will be.
Frank
Watch.
Philip
Separated from the Father. That's why on the cross he cries out, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? For the first time, the Father and the Son will be momentarily separated because of sin. The Father will have to turn his back on the Son and Not stare at the Son. The Son now on the cross becomes a massive lump of sin, carrying all of your mistakes, your shame, your failure, all of that is strapped to him. And the Father has to back away from him in that moment. And so Jesus, not wanting to be separated from the Father, he's seeking for another option. Okay, watch. I just. I harp right here because I want to help some of you that be praying real shy and you know what you want. And you tiptoe around God as if he don't already know. I'm trying to help some of you.
Frank
Watch.
Philip
To just be bold about your struggle. This is the Lord giving you permission to tell God. I'm struggling with your will. I know you're calling me to do this, but I'm struggling with this.
Frank
And I know you're calling me to leave, and I'm struggling with this. I know you're saying, move to Atlanta to be a part of 2819, but I'm struggling with this. This is the Lord giving you permission to tell him. You are struggling with what he's asking you to do. I'm just trying to help some of you stop condemning yourself.
Philip
He can handle your honesty. Okay, verse 40. And he came to his disciples. I'm almost done. And he found them sleeping.
Frank
And he said to Peter.
Philip
So, my dude, you couldn't watch with me for one hour?
Frank
You couldn't pray for one hour? Peter, you couldn't do access with me for one hour? Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.
Philip
Oh, my God. Everybody watch this. I'm almost done.
Frank
He comes back from prayer. He walks over into the garden. He sees Peter, James and John sleeping. He leaves John and James sleeping. He taps Peter, My dude, you. It is singular in Greek, not plural. You, Peter alone. You cannot stay up with me for one hour in prayer. He did not talk to James.
Philip
And John left them sleeping. It's gonna make sense in a second.
Frank
You, Peter, I'm talking to you by yourself.
Philip
You can stay up with me and pray for one hour. Then he says, watch this.
Frank
Everybody watch.
Philip
Pray, Peter, lest you fall into temptation.
Frank
Now pay attention. He's talking to the man who in an hour from now is gonna deny him three times. He's talking to a man who in an hour from now is about to face the trial of his life. And because the Lord is all knowing, he already knows the hell that Peter's going to go through when he walks out of that garden. So he's telling him what to do to prepare him for that battle he's about to face. I point this out to you in your text because I'm trying to help some of you understand when God gives you an instruction, he be giving you instructions to either prepare you for something that's coming or to protect you from something that's coming. That's why we got to learn to obey even if we don't understand. The Lord already knew that what Peter needed was strength for his trial. He said to Peter, your spirit is willing, but your flesh is weak. You know what he's saying? You can't trust his flesh. This skin that you and I wrapped in has been infected by sin. That's why you're insecure. That's why you deal with shame. That's why you struggle with pornography. That's why you struggle with lust and masturbation, struggle with jealousy, greed.
Philip
We all have been affected by sin.
Frank
And listen to me. If you don't put this thing under.
Philip
Subjection, it will ruin relationships, it will.
Frank
Destroy marriages, it will destroy friendships, it will ruin businesses, it will topple ministries if you don't put this flesh under subjection.
Philip
How do you do that? Prayer, fasting, Bible reading, community. This is why Paul said, put no confidence in your flesh. Why this thing right here will ruin things in your life. You don't believe me. We all can testify of relationships that got ruined, marriages that got ruined, business deals that got ruined, jobs that got ruined, opportunities that got ruined because of something we said or did in our sinful nature.
Frank
No, it's real talk. This thing will shipwreck your life if it's out of control. I'm trying to daughter this thing right here. The flesh will shipwreck your life if it's out of control. Peter is about to face the trial of his life. The Lord who knows this says to.
Philip
Him, my dude, you better wake up and pray.
Frank
Watch.
Philip
You have no idea what's about to happen to you in an hour. This is why you got to learn to trust him even when you can't trace him. When God be talking, you got to learn to trust it. For example, right, my assistant, my full time. I got two full time assistants, a male and a female. My female assistant, my executive leader who runs my itinerant ministry. When the opportunity came available for her to take that position, to travel with us on our travel team and run my office and handle all my itinerant.
Frank
Ministry, she was working a corporate job. She felt the spirit of God telling her take the position with 2819 people around her Were telling her, don't take the job. You can't trust no church. You know, they selling chicken dinners. They don't know if you're gonna be paying your bills. You can't trust no church. You got a good corporate job. Watch. You're comfortable. Stay right there in your comfort. She hear God telling her, take the job.
Philip
She follows the Holy Spirit above the voices of men.
Frank
She takes the job.
Philip
Watch. Three months later, they're laying off people at her job.
Frank
If it was you, you would be.
Philip
Celebrating right now, right? Three months later, her whole department is getting layoffs. Say, Philip, I don't understand. The Lord was giving her an instruction. Now what if she did not obey? Now she's out two positions. Come on. The Lord care about everything you care about. He'll speak to you about your business partners.
Frank
He'll speak to you about your business deals. He'll speak to you about who to.
Philip
Marry, who not to marry.
Frank
He'll speak to you about the person you're dating. He'll talk to you about how to handle your finances. He'll tell you, don't go. Don't take that trip. He'll tell you, don't date that person. He'll tell you, don't sign that contract. He will talk to you, And how do you trust? How do you not trust somebody? That's all knowing. This is why we're wise to invite him into every area of our life. Into our business, into our marriage, our dating, our parenting. We are wise to pray to him about everything because he's all knowing. He will tell you, don't put your name on that contract. Don't buy that house.
Philip
He'll tell you, leave that city and move to Atlanta to be a part of the fellowship of 2019. Yes, he will.
Frank
I feel the spirit of God telling me I need to move. I don't know if I should move or not should move. I don't know if I should move or not should move.
Philip
Trust him even when you can't trace him. Peter. Get up, my dude.
Frank
Pray.
Philip
You got no idea what you're about to go through in an hour. Whoever you are that's crying, listen to me. I know you can hear my voice. I don't know that pain you're feeling. I know my own pain. The Lord, he already forgiven you for whatever mistakes you made. You need to take the wisdom you're learning right now and do differently starting tomorrow. Starting tomorrow. Pray about everything and invite God into every area of your life. Lord, teach me how to parent. Teach me how to Be a better leader. Teach me how to be a better businessman, a better businesswoman. Teach me how to date proper. Teach me how to be better in the community. Start inviting him into other areas so you can hear him protecting you and airing you. Somebody just lay hands on her right there. Touch her back. Just. All y' all women, come on, I'm talking to y'. All. Just. Just. Just touch her so she feels support. Oh, he. So he feels support. Just touch him. Father, in the name of Jesus, we pray for this brother that you would comfort him right now, that he would feel in this moment grace and mercy and forgiveness, that you were given the grace to forgive himself. Yeah, I know. That the arms he feels right now here. No. Are the arms of God loving on him. I pray strength over that brother right now in the mighty, in the majestic and the matchless name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Let him go. You could. Now, my brother, you don't got to look at me, but I just want you to listen to me, okay? I'm about to finish this message. Just listen to me, bro. You ain't got to look at me. Just listen to me. Hear my voice. We all make mistakes. We all go through pain. Nobody's exonerated from that. But in this life, everything you go through will either be a classroom or a coffin. It's your choice. It will be a coffin that buries you or a classroom that teaches you. This is how you approach every mistake, every failure. Look at me, dude. I'm talking to you. Every mistake, every failure, everything you've done, you either make it a coffin that kills you or a classroom that teaches you. You're no different than the person with the microphone. I got things I regret. I can't go back and change them. So now I gotta make a choice. With all my failures that's behind me, I'm either gonna let it be a coffin that buries me forever, or I'm gonna let it be a classroom that teaches me to be better as I go forward. I am a better man, not because of my mountaintops, but because of the things I have learned from my mistakes and my failures. You understand what I'm saying to you? That makes. Be encouraged. We all make mistakes. But in life, your problems and your failures will either be a coffin or classroom. It's your choice. Let me finish the text. I want to get that brother out of here. We're going to pray for him. Look, I'm landing the plane now. This next verse is so powerful. I want to teach you something very important verse 42. And again the second time, he went away and he prayed, my Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done. And again he came and found the disciples sleeping, for their eyes was heavy. Now, everybody look at me very carefully. The first time he prayed to God.
Frank
He says, if it is possible. So the first time he prays, he's looking for an out. Watch. The second time he prays, he accepts the fact he is not getting an out. He goes from saying, if it is possible, to, lord, if this cannot pass, your will be done. Now, listen to me carefully. In the parallel text in Luke, Luke writes, in this moment, but he prayed. The second time God sent an angel from heaven into the garden to strengthen him in that moment. Okay, so he's praying for God to deliver him from a circumstance. The Father will not deliver him, but the Father sends him supernatural help. This is you learning that there's some things you're praying about that the Father will not change, but the Father will give you supernatural help. This is us seeing the unseen realm. That in the unseen realm there'd be things you'll be going through. You'll be crying, praying, stressing, struggling, depressed, and God is helping you in that unseen realm. This is you crying in the middle of the night because God will not answer prayer.
Philip
He may not take you out, but he'll send you help in the middle.
Frank
Of what you're going through. This is me being loved by half the country and hated by half the country. And they're looking at me and saying, but that's my son. This is me going through 11 months of hell and the Lord not changing my circumstance, but helping me in my circumstance. That is my son. I will help him. That is my prophet. I will help him. That is my mouthpiece. I will help him. That is my soldier. I will help him. He will not be removed from this trial until I'm ready. But I'll give him strength in the middle of this trial. This is me telling some of you.
Philip
Some of the things you survived. You was not strong enough to survive.
Frank
But the only reason you survived is because in the unseen realm, the Father heard your cries. He did not take you out, but he sends you supernatural help. Is anybody thankful for a God that sends supernatural help? When you've been through hell, the Father has sent many of you supernatural help.
Philip
I'm done, Frank. I see tears falling over there. I'm telling some of y' all you was not strong enough to survive some of the things you've been through. This is Important for you to know. Watch this. I'm about to help somebody. Before we close, look at me. Who's the one praying? Jesus. Let me ask you a question. Did he ever make a mistake and he sinned him? But the Father didn't answer his prayer. The Father did not answer the prayer of a perfect man. What are you trying to explain? He didn't answer his prayer because the Lord did anything wrong. He didn't answer his prayer because it was not in accordance with his perfect will. This is me helping some of you who the Lord has not answered some of your prayers and you didn't do nothing wrong. He's not mad, he's not angry, he's not upset. He's just not answering that prayer because it goes against his perfect will. This is you being freed from self.
Frank
Condemnation, from beating yourself up and tearing yourself down and saying, what's wrong with me and why he's not answering my prayer? No. Sometimes the unanswered prayer has nothing to do with the person praying, has everything to do. What you're asking God for is outside of his will. Watch. So although the Lord is asking for something outside the Father's will, the Father will not take him out of that. But the Father sends him help.
Philip
The Lord didn't heal my father. He's not alive to see what happened with his son. But maybe in those last six months of his life, maybe God sent my Father help that he can face his death with courage. He finds the disciples sleeping again. They look to me like the American church sleeping when they should be about their Father's business. You know, right now in the uk, they are mandating a chip, an identity chip. They are mandated that in 12 months, everybody in the UK has to have an identity chip. You'll figure this out when you get home. They're mandating in the UK that in 12 months everybody has to have an identity chip. When the scripture says in the last days, everybody will have to take a mark in a hand on their forehead. And without that mark, they can't buy or sell.
Frank
They have to have some kind of.
Philip
Identity chip to function in society. And they're about to mandate that in the uk.
Frank
I only point that out to you because I keep telling you the time is running out and Jesus is coming back very soon and people are playing church and we don't have all that much time left. We don't, we don't, we don't. Time is running out.
Philip
So leaving again, he went and prayed for the third time, saying the same things he's persistent in prayer. Then he came and saw the disciples and said to them, I love this part. I'm closing. Look, since y' all are so tired, sleep, take your rest. You know what that's called? Grace. For your weakness. The Lord don't even flex on them. He sees their weakness. He sees their humanity. He says, you know what? Grace, Sleep, take your rest. Look what he says. The hour has at hand. The hour is at hand. The Son of man is now betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, and let us be going. See, my betrayer is coming. Sees them sleeping. Looks out at the backside of the garden. He sees torches and lights in the middle of the night. Here comes Judas. Here comes Roman soldiers. Here comes the final hours of the lights of Christ. By the next morning, 9am he will be nailed to a cross. By 12, he'll be crying out, lord, why have you forsaken me? By 3pm he will die. And I just pray you would glean from this text that we will model what we see in the life of the Lord. Right here from this text. A life of consistency in prayer. A life of dependence on God. A life of having filters for our relationships. Filters for who we share confident information with. A life of learning to listen when the Lord is talking to you. He might be preparing you for something, protecting you for something, getting ready to open a door. A life of obedience even when you don't understand. And that's what I want to pray over you right now. So, Father, in the name of Jesus. Every head bowed, every eye closed in the name of Jesus. Lord, I pray over every person under the sound of my voice that you would teach us to be consistent in prayer. You would teach us to be obedient when you speak. You would teach us not to put confidence in this flesh. I pray you would give us wisdom to take inventory of the people in our lives.
Frank
Help us to know who we could.
Philip
Bear our souls to and who we cannot trust with that information. Help us to marvel over the steadfast love of the Lord who knows all of our mistakes, failures, and still loves us steadfast anyway. I pray God, Lord, that this teaching will not be lost on the hearts of your sons and daughters, who you love so much. And I pray for the man or woman in this room who do not really know you. They've been in church. They come every now and then, but they don't really. I pray right now, right now where they're sitting. They might surrender their life to you. They might whisper in their heart, lord.
Frank
Forgive me for My sins. Lord, I trust you with my life. Right there. I pray they might surrender their life to you right there where they are.
Philip
They'll cry like that baby just cried. And they will come to know you as a loving savior and you will lead them into all the plans and purposes you have for them. I pray this over them right now. In the mighty and the majestic and the matchless. Name of our Lord and Savior and soon coming King Jesus Christ. Hallelujah. Amen.
Worship Leader
Like a bride waiting for her don't move. Will be church ready for you Every heart longing for our king we sing like a bride Like a bride waiting for her room Will be church ready for you. Every heart longing for our king Wishing even so come Lord Jesus come say even so Even so come Lord Jesus.
Philip
Come so we wait.
Worship Leader
So we wait. We wait for you.
Frank
God.
Worship Leader
We wait you come.
Philip
We wait.
Worship Leader
We wait we wait for you God, we wait. You're coming soon.
Philip
Like a bride Like.
Worship Leader
A bride waiting for her groom Will be a church ready for you. Every heart longing for our king we sing like a bride Like a bride waiting for her groom we'll be church ready for you Every heart longing for our king who we see even so come Lord Jesus, come even so come even so come Lord Jesus, come even so come Lord Jesus, come even so come Lord Jesus come.
Philip
Family, listen to me before you leave. I feel in my spirit somebody sitting in the room saying that, dude too rough. You want to go to a church where you hear fluff, keep you comfortable in lies while you're on your way to hell. I talk like this out of love. I would rather hurt you and you be saved and keep you comfortable in lives and you die and go to hell. That's why I talk like this. And I just want you to hear me. I want everybody in this room to hear me. This is the third time I have preached today. I want you to hear I said this to my whole church family. Listen to me. I love you. I really do love y' all with my whole heart. The warfare and the hell I go through, I take some of that for you. I stand for you and for the Savior. And I just want. I need you to hear me. Yo, I love you. It's why I bruised my knees for you, is why I shed tears for you during the week. Week is why I'm always covering you. I pray for your mind, your heart, your marriages, your relationships, your businesses, your homes, your children. I shed tears for you.
Frank
And I.
Philip
Need you to hear that I love you with everything in me and you mean everything to me. And this is the greatest honor of my life to shepherd this great movement called 2819. You hear what I'm saying to you? Be faithful. What you're giving. I'm not a money man. I'm not going to manipulate you. You do what you got to do. And because time is running out on us and we're trying to awaken society with the gospel, I want you to turn your attention to the screen, and then we'll send you home. Okay? Matthew, chapter 28 and verse 19, where it says, go therefore and make disciples of all nations.
Frank
2819.
Philip
That's that church from America. We're coming back in January, right?
Frank
January.
London Evangelist
What are you doing in a city right now that was once a hub for global evangelism and the spread of the gospel in a city that has lost the influence of Christianity? We walk the streets of London now. It feels heavy. It feels spiritually dark. And I feel like it is prime for revival. I feel like right here in this global international hub, if there's ever been a time we need revival, it is right now. We need believers around the world to pray. We need Christians in London to pray. We need men and women of God in London to cry out to the Lord Jesus Christ. Time is running out. The Lord is going to return soon. We don't have time to waste. Now is the hour to preach the gospel. Now is the hour to be serious about your walk with Jesus. Now is the hour to pray. Now is the hour to believe for revival right here in London and cities all around the world.
Frank
Yes. Hallelujah. Lord God.
Podcast: 2819 Church
Host/Speaker: Philip Anthony Mitchell
Date: November 25, 2025
Scripture Focus: Matthew 26:36-46
Main Theme:
A deep dive into the garden of Gethsemane: the crushing, surrender, and prayer of Jesus before his arrest, and what it means for believers today—how crushing seasons, prayer, and boundaries shape our maturity and dependence on God.
This episode is an urgent, heartfelt message from Philip Anthony Mitchell on the events in Gethsemane (Matthew 26:36-46). With personal stories and raw transparency, Philip explores Jesus’ struggle, vulnerability, and obedience before the cross. He challenges listeners to pray, set healthy relational boundaries, embrace God’s timing, and let crushing seasons work for their transformation. This is an unfiltered call to Christian maturity, dependency on God, and urgency in discipleship.
Philip’s delivery is direct, passionate, vulnerable, and uncompromising—marked by love for his congregation and a deep sense of spiritual responsibility. He calls for honest prayer, relational discernment, endurance under crushing, and readiness for Christ’s return. The overarching spirit is one of tough love: “I would rather hurt you and you be saved, than keep you comfortable in lies and you die and go to hell.” (Philip, 64:09)
For more teachings or to get involved, visit 2819Church.org.
(Ads, donation calls, and extraneous content were omitted in this summary for clarity.)