The Cup of Gethsemane

Lest I forget Gethsemane
Lest I forget thine agony
Lest I forget thy love for me
Lead me to Calvary

Spurgeon says, Jesus seized this cup and, At one tremendous draught of love, He drank damnation dry.”




Sermon from Luke 22:39-44 - The Cup of Gethsemane

Boice & Ryken on 'Today's False Gospel'...

'Sadly, this is not the church's finest hour. We live in an age of weak theology and casual Christian conduct. Our knowledge is insufficient, our worship is irreverent, and our lives are immoral. Even the evangelical church has succumbed to the the spirit of this age... and lost it's grip on the Gospel.'

'Perhaps the simplest way to say this is that evangelicalism has become worldly. This can be demonstrated by comparing it with yesterday's liberalism. What was once said of liberal churches must now be said of evangelical churches: they seek the world's wisdom, believe the world's theology, follow the world's agenda, and adopt the world's methods.'

'According to the standards of worldly wisdom, the Bible is unable to meet the demands of life in these postmodern times. By itself, God's Word is insufficient to win people to Christ, promote spiritual growth, provide practical guidance, or transform society. So churches supplement the plain teaching of Scripture with entertainment, group therapy, political activism, signs and wonders - anything that promises to appeal to religious consumers. According to the world's theology, sin is merely a dysfunction and salvation means having better self-esteem. When this theology comes to church, it replaces difficult but essential doctrines like the propitiation of God's wrath with practical techniques for self-improvement. The world's agenda is personal happiness, so the gospel is presented as a plan for individual fulfilment rather than as a pathway of costly discipleship. The world's methods for accomplishing this self-centred agenda are necessarily pragmatic, so evangelical churches are willing to try whatever seems like it might work.'

So, 'what happened to the Gospel of grace?'

'It was lost in the church study, when the minister decided to give people what they wanted rather than what they needed.'

'It was lost in the Christian bookstore, somewhere between the self-help section and the aisle full of Jesus merchandise.'

'And it was lost in our minds and hearts when we decided to accept the world's theology of human achievement, saving room for our own personal contribution to salvation.'

Excerpts above were taken from the fantastic book by Boice & Ryken, Doctrines of Grace