When His Will Is Not Mine

Well, we come to the end of the gospel meeting, as was mentioned by. I was hoping he would be my friend, but he’s hoping what he’s hoping for is that you will look closely at my tie and see some of my supper on it. Not that he would draw attention to anything.

It’s been a really good week, half week, whatever we call this. In Illinois, we still do the full week meeting, so it’s kind of hard for us to get used to, or hard for me to get used to the shorter meetings. But it’s been good for us to be here and to be with you. And I’ve really enjoyed spending some time with Tony. Talked to him a couple times on the phone and just I’ve heard of him through years, and turns out we were closer to the school in college than we thought we were. But anyway, it’s been good to get to know him and share. We’ve had supper with them every night, I think, so it’s been good.

And it’s just been good to be back here with people at Decker Prairie, that we’ve come to grow through the years to love and to know and love, and we appreciate so much your willingness to have us. I really am thankful to the elders here for having us this week. and just there are a number of things that go into that, contribute into the into why I’m so thankful for this opportunity and privilege to be here. I am so thankful that you were also very kind and accommodated to me and my schedule in light of the fact that we had this meeting planned for some time and then and then this opportunity came up for me to go to West Africa, which was a great opportunity for us, and you were gracious enough, the elders were gracious enough, and you as a group were gracious enough to go along with the change up date to suit our schedule, and I appreciate that so very much.

It’s been good to be here. It’s I don’t know if I have a unique style, I don’t know. I just try to talk to people about things that are very important to me as a disciple of Jesus and as someone who’s trying. I’m not I’m not a perfect man and have not been a perfect man, and certainly am not a great preacher or anything like that, but I’ve I’ve tried hard. My wife and I love the Lord, and we want to do what’s right, and we want to help people do what’s right. And so we work hard together. She’s such a great helper to me in preaching the gospel, and that woman.

That woman has you know, she’s followed me across the world, literally. She’s taken I went with me to Eastern Europe when the opportunity to go to Africa came up, and I and I had actually my friend David Disselkamp, I went to hear him give a report on going to Africa and his trip there, and after that report, he came to me and said, what do you think about going sometime? And I and when they really actually talked to me about actually going with them, I was considerably hesitant because it was not going to be just funny games. And my woman was the first one, the first one to say, Go, you’ve got to go. And my family has always been good to be willing to sacrifice so that they that I could preach and share the gospel with others, and I think so thankful for that.

And so I want to say thank you to everybody. I appreciate so much the good singing and the good prayers that have been led. Just the periods of worship together have been inspiring and encouraging to me. Appreciate so much the hospitality of people who’ve had me and fed me this week, me and Candy, appreciate it, and also me and Candy and these guys, you know, following us everywhere we go. it’s been it’s been good. And so thank you very much for that. Usually I also like to say thank you to my family because my family does always make sacrifices for me to be preaching. But always more than anyone else. I thank my Lord, who on November 19th, 1978 washed me clean in his blood, and allowed me to be one of his servants, and put me into service in preaching the gospel.

And sometimes, Tony, I don’t know how you feel about it. Sometimes I just don’t understand why I get to do this. It’s it’s it’s such a great privilege to be able to do it, and I’m so thankful that I have had that opportunity, and I’m thankful that he has allowed that. So thank you very much. I never feel like I do an adequate job of thanking. So if I don’t do an adequate job of thinking, please understand God trying to do that. If you do what in mind, please open your Bibles to Matthew the 26th chapter. Matthew the 26th chapter. I’ll begin with reading a text to you. Matthew 26, beginning at verse 36. Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane. And he said to his disciples, sit here while I go over there and pray.

And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee and began to be grieved and distressed. And he said to them, My soul is deeply grieved to the point of death. Remain here and keep watch with me. And he went a little beyond them and fell on his face. And he prayed, saying, My father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will. And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping and said to Peter, So you men could not keep watch with me for one hour? Keep watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. And he went away again a second time and prayed, saying, My Father, if it cannot pass away unless I drink it, your will be done.

1. Jesus Always Intended to Do His Father's Will

Again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy, and he left them again and went away and prayed a third time, saying the same thing once more. I want to be very clear as I begin to say the things that I say tonight about Jesus. I want you to understand that there is no doubt. There’s no doubt in my mind, there’s certainly no doubt from the biblical perspective. There is no doubt that it was always the intention of Jesus to do the will of his father. He wanted to do what his father wanted him to do. At Sychar, for example, after he had his visit with the Samaritan woman in John the fourth chapter, he made it clear that his food, my food, my sustenance, he talks about, is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.

He came, he wanted to do what his father wanted him to do. After healing the lame man at the pool of Bethesda, Jesus affirmed very clearly in John chapter 5 and verse 30, that I did not come to that I did not act on my own authority. He made it very clear that he didn’t act by his own initiative or his own authority. Because he didn’t come to seek his own will, he came to seek the will of the one who sent him, the will of his father, the one who sent him. That’s whose will he wanted to do. After feeding the 5,000 in John the sixth chapter in his bread of life sermon, he again affirmed that he came down out of heaven not to do his own will, but the will of his father who sent him.

And once again, as he speaks to his disciples at the Last Supper, Jesus affirmed his absolute dedication to obeying the commandments of his Father. In John chapter 14, and in verses 30 and 31, I believe the verses I want to look at, I will not speak much more with you, for the ruler of this world is coming and he has nothing in me. But so that the world may know that I love the Father, I do exactly as the Father commanded me. And so I want to make it very clear that it is very obvious from the general teaching of Scripture that various things that Jesus said throughout his life is very clear that Jesus wanted, always wanted, always intended, always wanted to do what his father wanted him to do.

2. In Gethsemane, His Will Was Not His Father's

But I want to suggest to you that just because he always wanted to do his father’s will doesn’t mean necessarily that his will was always consistent with his father’s will.

And one illustration of that, it may be the only illustration of that maybe, is this text that we’ve looked, that we just read here from Matthew the 26th chapter. And you recognize the scene that we were reading about here. It is that time, the night that Jesus is betrayed when he goes to the Garden of Gethsemane. And when we, as we’re reading through the text of Matthew, we come to this particular scene, and we’re reading the text, it becomes very clear that it’s almost immediate that there’s Jesus is very serious and somber and his mood changes suddenly when he gets to this scene. It’s not that he wasn’t already somber or stressed or serious, but something about his mood was different when he gets to the garden.

He’s changed in some way. Suddenly, there is a greater sense of stress and dread and trepidation in his mood. And it’s almost visibly apparent to his disciples. It’s so obvious that’s the way it was. The text even says that he began to be grieved and distressed, verse 37. And Jesus himself even admits in verse 38, my soul is deeply grieved to the point of death. Jesus is very stressed at this time.

And I don’t mean necessarily the exact time of day, but he knew where along this road that he had come and this mission that he had come to establish, he knew exactly where it was. He knew that it was very near. In fact, probably within an hour or so that they would come to arrest him in the garden. And he knew that would mean that his trial would follow immediately. And that very soon then he would be experiencing the excruciating pain of execution by crucifixion. He knew that before this day was over, he was going to be dead and buried in a tomb, having endured an agonizing, tormenting death by crucifixion. And yet, though he knew all along, even before he left heaven’s glory, even though he knew that exactly where this path was ultimately going to lead, when Jesus actually comes face to face with the reality of the cross, I want to suggest to you that its horror exceeded even his own expectations.

And he became grieved and distressed. And his soul was deeply grieved to the point of death. And that’s when Jesus began to pray. And I think it’s interesting, or maybe not interesting, but it’s moving to see that Jesus goes off a little ways to pray. And the text doesn’t simply say here in Matthew that he fell to his knees. It says he fell to his face. And he prayed. Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me. Yet not as I will. Not what I want, but as you will. Three times the text tells us that he prayed similarly this kind of prayer. Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me. If it cannot pass away, unless I drink it, your will be done.

It’s what Jesus prayed three times. Actually coming face to face with the reality of the cross moved our Lord to admit his earthly will. He really wanted, if there was any possible way, he wanted a way out. He really didn’t want to go to the cross. In this moment, his will was not his father’s. And that’s when the real test came. It is in that moment that if ever our eternal salvation stood in jeopardy, it is in that moment that maybe our eternal salvation really almost hung in the balance. Would Jesus do his own will on this occasion in that moment? Or would he surrender? Would he submit his will to the will of the Father? Would he resist or would he yield? Well, you know the answer to that.

3. In Yielding, Jesus Learned Obedience

Our salvation was not ever really in real jeopardy at all. Because even though he admitted that this cup was something that he didn’t want to have to drink, if possible, take this cup away, find some other way, as it were, he was still willing to surrender his will to the will of his father. He was willing to yield. He was willing to do what his father wanted him to do, even though his own flesh in deep distress was crying out, no. It was in his willingness to yield. And I must say, not just his willingness to yield, but the fact that he actually did yield. The fact that he actually did surrender his will to that of his father. It is in that event and in that experience that the New Testament teaches us that Jesus learned obedience.

In Hebrews, the fifth chapter, beginning at verse 7, we have a reference to this experience that Jesus is going to go through. Hebrews chapter 5, beginning at verse 7. In the days of his flesh, he offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the one who was able to save him from death. And he was heard because of his piety. Although he was a son, he learned obedience from the things which he suffered. And having been made perfect, he became to all those who obey him the author or the source of eternal salvation. It was in his, the fact that he yielded his will to the will of the Father and did what his father wanted him to do. In that way, in that experience of suffering, he, the text says, learn obedience.

And in it was in learning this kind of obedience by his suffering that the text goes on to say that Jesus was perfected. The word that doesn’t mean flawless, as we sometimes use the word perfect to mean, but a word that means complete. He was completed by doing his Father’s will. The point is that before this experience, as obedient as Jesus had been throughout his life, before this experience, he was yet imperfect. His obedience was yet incomplete. Again, I’m not saying that he was flawed. That’s not what I’m saying. I’m saying that his obedience had not yet reached its completed end. And in order for his obedience to reach its completed end, in order for him to be made perfect in that sense, he was going to have to do this.

4. The Real Test: When His Will Is Not Our Will

He had to do this. This was the ultimate experience or test of his obedience was the ultimate expression of his obedience to God. So in obeying the Father when his own will was different from his. That is when he was perfected or completed. And then, the text says, having been made perfect through that experience, he became to all those who obey him the author of eternal salvation. I believe that this experience of Jesus at Gethsemane. It is in this experience that Jesus teaches us about real obedience. Because the same thing is true for us. The real test of our obedience to the Father does not come when it’s easy, or when we agree with the Father, or when His will is our will. When what He asks us to do is something we agree.

Yeah, that’s something I want to do. Doing His will when we agree with Him, or when we want what He wants, or when his demands are easy, is easy. That’s not the real test of obedience. The real test comes when his will is not our will, when what he wants and expects of me is not what I want to do. And yet I do it anyway. That’s when real obedience is offered. When we don’t want to. But we do it anyway. I think that most of us would probably say that we want to do the will of the Father. Is there anybody here? I’m not going to say that first. I mean, is there really anybody here who would actually, if I ask the question, raise your hand if you don’t want to do the Father’s will?

Most all of us, I think, would say, certainly, I want to do the will of the Father. Like Jesus, it is our intent. It is our desire. It is maybe even our commitment, and ought to be our commitment to do his will. But what happens to that intent and that commitment and that desire when his will is not my will, when it’s uncomfortable for me to obey, when it’s hard.

Do I go ahead and do it anyway? Even though, even though his will is not my will at that moment? Or do I in that moment begin to resist? Obedience is learned when we don’t want to do what God wants us to do, but we do it anyway. That’s when we really learn obedience. When it’s tough to do, when it’s uncomfortable to do, but we do it anyway. When my flesh screams, no, I don’t want to. And even my desire says, no, I don’t want to. But I do it anyway, because that’s what he asked me to do. That’s real obedience. That’s real obedience. And it’s when I obey him, though it’s hard. Or when I obey though I don’t want to. When I don’t want to do what he asks me to do, what he says I must do.

5. We Obey God Up to a Point

That’s when I begin to see how much I really want to do his will. Again, you ask yourself the question, or say, ask yourself the question, do I want to do the will of God? Most of us would say yes. The question of the test of that, what we’re saying is the test of that comes when he’s asked us to behave in a way that doesn’t come natural, that’s not what we want. And I will tell you, my biggest fear for myself. And I think it’s, or at least one of my biggest fears for myself. And I think it’s something that I’m concerned about for us as people. One of the biggest concerns is that we obey God up to a point. As long as we agree with him.

As long as what he’s asked is something that we say, yeah, I buy that. Yeah, that’s the right thing. As long as his will is my will, or as long as it’s easy, or as long as my flesh doesn’t want to violently rebel.

We’ll obey up to that point. When doing his will makes me uncomfortable, or goes opposite to what my body wants, and my body often wants something different than what God wants. Or when my intellect, it goes different to what my intellect agrees with. What I’m afraid happens in those moments is that then we find a way, some way, to avoid obedience.

At times we outright rebel. I know that happens at times, but what I’m not talking about, I’m not talking about the fact that there are those times that we outright rebel. I’m talking about the fact that most of the time what we don’t obey because what we do is we find what we think is a better way. You know, God’s way normally works, but on this occasion it won’t work. We find a way intellectually to avoid doing it. We go through a sort of a mental, spiritual, mental gymnastics of some sort that make me somehow figure a way to somehow turn this thing that I ought not, you know, to go opposite of what God’s asked me to do. Or I try to find a way to justify not doing what he wants me to do.

We’re Christians here. And so we want to do his will. We’re not rebels. And that’s true. But the problem is that sometimes in those instances, we’re not obeying him either, because we’ve found some way around doing what he’s asked us to do. We’re not acting like Jesus did, because Jesus went ahead and did what his father wanted him to do. Despite the difficulty. Despite the pain. And even despite the fact that in that moment, he would really have found, would have rather found another way. And it’s only because he did, went on and did not his will, but the will of his father, it is in that fact that he learned obedience, our Bible tells us. And that’s why, according to that same text, he is exalted to become our eternal, the author of our eternal salvation.

6. The Author of Salvation to Those Who Obey Him

You understand that if at that moment Jesus had said, no, I’m not going to do this. It’s just not worth it. I’m going back to be with my Father. You understand that he would not then have been the author of our eternal salvation. We would have been out of luck.

It was only because he went on and did that he becomes this author of eternal salvation. And in that, I believe there is an implication for us. And that implication is this: that only when we’re willing to surrender to his will, to yield over and do what he wants, yield, give up our own will in submission to his will.

It’s only when we’re willing to do that we will truly be blessed. How do I know that? Because it was only, because that is only that is real obedience. And Jesus is the author of salvation, eternal salvation to those who obey him, not to those who obey him most of the time or when it’s convenient or when they agree. But they obey him even when they are struggling to do that, even when they don’t want to do that. To those who obey him only when it’s easy or convenient, or when we agree, or when our flesh agrees, those that’s not obedience at all, and those are not the ones who will experience eternal salvation. That’s not real obedience. It’s when we obey like he obeyed.

Conclusion

It’s when we’d really rather do something else, but we do his will anyway. That’s when we really obey, and that’s when we can experience the blessing that comes from real obedience, eternal salvation. I hope that these lessons haven’t been hard on us. I well, I don’t know if I should say that. I don’t intentionally preach sermons that make us uncomfortable. But I do want to challenge us to think. I do want us to challenge us to think about where we are in our experience with the Lord. And I want us to realize how important this is so I want you to think about how you are doing with your experience. We have aimed what we have said this week at the heart of everyone.

Every one of these lessons you could have listened to and you could have applied them to somebody else and thought about somebody else, and boy, that sure meets that person. But we want you to think about yourself in regard to these things. And where you are. And we’ve urged every one of us not to think about somebody else’s situation, but our own. And that is certainly true about the lesson tonight. I know that there are times that I don’t want to do what God wants me to do. That’s when my obedience is really put to the test. And I ask you to think about what you do in those experiences. Because when I do his will, when his will is not my will, that’s when I prove that I really obey him.

I want you to think about that. And I want you to think about whether or not you in your life are really obeying the Lord. And if there’s some way that we can help you tonight to truly obey him, to break down your stubborn will, maybe, and become a Christian. Submit your life to Him by being so convinced of who he is that you’re willing to repent of your sins and acknowledge your faith in Him. Would you let yourself this night be baptized into Christ for the forgiveness of your sins? But really, I speak mostly to people who I think are already Christians. And I ask you to think about your life. And if you have been obeying His will or not. Don’t think just about the times when you do right and you agree.

Think about those times when you don’t agree. How do you act in those moments? That’s the question. And if we can help you to make the right choice tonight, let us do it. Exchange number 336.