Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

Attention - Jim Elliot and Nate Saint were determined to reach the Auca Indians

Operation Auca was an attempt by five Evangelical Christian missionaries from the United States to bring Christianity to the Waodani or Huaorani people of the rain forest of Ecuador.

The Huaorani, also known pejoratively as Aucas (a modification of awqa, the Quechua word for 'savages'), were an isolated tribe known for their violence, against both their own people and outsiders who entered their territory.

With the intention of being the first Christians to evangelize the previously uncontactedHuaorani, the missionaries began making regular flights over Huaorani settlements in September 1955, dropping gifts, which were reciprocated.

After several months of exchanging gifts, on January 3, 1956, the missionaries established a camp at "Palm Beach", a sandbar along the Curaray River, a few kilometers from Huaorani settlements.

Their efforts came to an end on January 8, 1956, when all five—Jim Elliot, Nate Saint, Ed McCully, Peter Fleming, and Roger Youderian—were attacked and speared by a group of Huaorani warriors.

The news of their deaths was broadcast around the world, and Life magazine covered the event with a photo essay.

The deaths of the men galvanized the missionary effort in the United States, sparking an outpouring of funding for evangelization efforts around the world.

Their work is still frequently remembered in evangelical publications, and in 2006 was the subject of the film production End of the Spear.

Several years after the death of the men, the widow of Jim Elliot, Elisabeth, and the sister of Nate Saint, Rachel, returned to Ecuador as missionaries with the Summer Institute of Linguistics (now SIL International) to live among the Huaorani.

This eventually led to the conversion of many, including some of those involved in the killing.

Now, the deaths of these missionaries was incredible enough, but did you know that Jim Elliot’s wife and young daughter went back a year later to continue the mission her husband started and stayed there for two years!

Wow!

And I am certain that the decision for Elizabeth to go back was more difficult than we can imagine.

And I am certain that she bathed this in prayer.

And once she understood God’s will she pressed ahead.

Elisabeth and Rachel lost no time in taking up this unprecedented offer.

However, Elisabeth admitted that taking her three-year-old daughter, Valerie, along strapped to her back was ‘the biggest test of faith ever’.

As well as the usual dangers found in jungle terrain, she had to face the possibility that the Aucas might choose to kill her and carry off the youngster.

In a later interview she said that, although she appreciated the kind warnings of fellow Christians, she felt that ‘as long as this is what the Lord requires of me, then all else is irrelevant’.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Auca

https://www.newlifepublishing.co.uk/articles/faith/elisabeth-elliot-the-missionary-who-lived-with-the-tribe-that-killed-her-husband/

Need - Friends, Christians miss out on so much blessing because of fear and a lack of faith.

Are you not grateful that Jesus didn’t allow desperately difficult circumstances he faced keep him from following the will of His Father?

If he would have capitulated, you and I would be lost in our sin.

Main Idea: Life Can Be Exceptionally Difficult, Talk to your Heavenly Father and Do what He Says!

Many of you in this room are facing some seemingly insurmountable circumstances.

Some difficulties that are overwhelming you and you are just not sure what to do!

Do you know what is comforting to me? Jesus.

Jesus is our God.

Jesus is our Savior.

Jesus is our friend.

And Jesus went through all the emotional struggles that you and I deal with on a day to day basis.

And because of this, He has great empathy for us.

Amazing!

And because of the fact that He can empathize with us, we can appreciate and worship Him with greater fervor and passion!

But we can also look to Him as a wonderful example of how to walk through the most challenging circumstances we face.

We can learn a lot from our Lord Jesus Christ.

If you remember the story, Jesus is about to die.

Today we are going to explore some verses farther into this chapter (vs.

36-46)

We are going to move from the upper room where Jesus instituted the Lord’s supper to Gethsemane where a very poignant scene takes places

Show map of Gethsemane

There are three scenes within the verses we are going to look at this morning.

And I want you to notice two things.

First, I want you to notice the tremendous difficulty Jesus is facing.

Second, I want you to see how he responds to the fact that He is about to go the cross and experience enormous physical torment.

But even more than the physical torment, He will endure something you and I cannot even fathom.

Jesus is about to face the Wrath of God from His Father in Heaven.

Why?

So you could be saved from eternal Hell.

Jesus obeyed God the Father to provide you the opportunity of release from your sin debt.

And this is the gospel and we praise God for what He has accomplished for us through Christ!

But I also want you to appreciate HOW Jesus handles this difficult situation.

Maybe there is something you can learn from His example as you face your own difficulties...

1. Are You Crushed with Grief?

Talk to Your Father in Heaven (vs.

36-39)

Life can be overwhelming at times.

Maybe you’ve lost a spouse or child?

Maybe you’re dealing with a sickness that will ultimately take your life?

Maybe you’re finances are such a mess that you can see no way to recover?

Whatever the situation, the GRIEF you are experiencing can be excruciating and overwhelming.

Jesus knows something about this level of grief...

The Scene

The Lord and his disciples have just finished with their meal and Jesus has instituted the “Lord’s Supper.”

As we harmonize the gospels together, the next thing to happen is found in the Gospel of John.

In the NIV Harmony of the Gospels, Robert Thomas and Stanley Guthrie call it the “Discourse and Prayers from the Upper Room to Gethsemane.”

This takes place from John 14 - 17!

Show map

So basically, after Judas leaves, Jesus walks his disciples to the Garden of Gethsemane and on the way, he teaches them.

This is very late in the evening Thursday of the Passion week.

Just so you know, Jesus was crucified on the cross Friday morning.

This helps us understand the backdrop of text we are working through this morning...

The People

After they, the disciples of Jesus had walked with Him on the way to Gethsemane, Jesus gave the twelve specific instructions.

“Sit here, while I go over there and pray.”

But he didn’t leave all the twelve to sit there and wait.

He took His closest earthly friends to go with Him to pray.

This speaks to His humanity.

He desires to have those closest with him to bear him up in prayer.

Take a look at the text.

The Emotion

I think this is a moving emotional picture.

Sometimes we have the idea that Jesus was the cold, mission-driven man.

An emotionless, other worldly being who was here to do a job.

No - Jesus was a man of great emotions.

Jesus received joy by pleasing the Father.

Jesus was felt exhaustion because of the demands of the ministry.

Jesus was angry at the hypocrisy of the religious.

Jesus was disgusted at greed, racism, and the oppression of the poor.

Jesus was sorrowful at the effects of sin and death.

Jesus had compassion for the lost

Jesus was frustrated at the lack of faith

Jesus had empathy for the pain of others.

Jesus had a spirit of forgiveness with those who betrayed him!

https://www.crosswalk.com/faith/spiritual-life/10-real-life-emotions-jesus-expressed.html

And when the weight of what was about to take place began to crush in, the natural, human emotions of sorrow and being troubled started to crush in.

Sorrowful - “To be sad”

Troubled - “to be much distressed,” “to be very heavy”

Jesus was very sad because the weight of what was about to happen to him was a crushing weight that troubled him greatly!