Not My Will

Luke 22 39 New King James Version coming out he went to the Mount of Olives as he was accustomed prayed there a lot sounds alike and his disciples also followed him he came to the place he said to them pray that you may not enter into temptation and he was withdrawn from them about a stone's throw and he knelt down and prayed this is what he said father if it is your will take this cup away from me nevertheless not my will that yours be done tonight I want to speak on the words that Jesus said not my will God bless you please be seated there is a prayer meeting waiting in bed times and all of that so please put your mental tennis shoes on how old will try to hurry your will is a really big deal and everyone has a will some people have a strong will some people are weak willed we might think about the will of a strong person as a determination a tenacity to succeed and overcome some people lose their will to live and your will is a determining factor in your spiritual trajectory for eternity but the will that I'm talking about tonight the will to which I refer is that gift from God that gives you and me a choice it is often called free will your free will the freedom to choose to assert self-will or to submit your will to God in the Bible self-will in the Old Testament to Hebrew it's it's it's in a wicked sense of wantonness in the New Testament it has the carries the idea of self-pleasing of arrogant or overbearing second Peter 2 and 10 the Apostle Peter writes about those who walk according to the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and despise Authority they are presumptuous self-willed Paul wrote to Titus and said that a bishop a leader of a church must not be self-willed self-will is a is a dangerous thing and self-will I'll say this later but it is the it is the essence of sin Isaiah 53 6. all we like sheep have gone astray we have turned everyone to his own way and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all Isaiah the Lord is saying that everyone is turned to his own way it sounds something like the Book of Judges where everyone did that which was right in their own eyes I've observed that the progressive nature of sin goes like this that that at the root of sin is the sense of autonomy that I am going to be self-governing no one will tell me what to do that is self-will and that is the essence of sin that we have turned everyone to our own way and the Lord sacrificed his life for people like us but distance of autonomy leads to Rebellion or rejecting the will of God because I want my will to be done then I reject the will of God and I rebel against God's will now so far maybe nothing that we would call sinful has been done is still in the attitude is still in the will is still somewhat internalized but autonomy leads to rebellion and Rebellion leads to unrighteousness selfish and rebellious attitudes lead to ungodly Behavior now you live it out you say things and do things that are against the nature of God and the word of God so autonomy leads to rebellion and Rebellion leads to unrighteousness in the beginning of world history sin enters the world through self-will and in the end of all things Jesus Christ will put down all competing Realms of Authority First Corinthians 15 24 then come at the end when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God even the father when he shall have put down all Rule and all authority and all power for he must Reign till he hath put all enemies under his feet and on Philippians Paul said that every knee shall bow of things in heaven of things in Earth of things under the Earth and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father so self-will is a really big deal so I want you to think about this how does an Angel become the devil Satan is described as the devil and it kind of means someone who is like it's referred to him as an entity but later becomes his name the devil and Satan those two names are used often in the Bible but he's often described as the tempter the elves above the enemy the evil one Belial the adversary the deceiver the dragon the father of Lies a murderer a sinner and but like 70 out of 83 times that he's referred to in the Bible it's Satan or the devil but from the beginning he was not that in the beginning he's a high-ranking Angelic being Ezekiel 28 speaks about him and this is a double reference to the king of tire and also the devil ever most commentaries that are somewhat conservative would believe this is a double reference and kind of he he moves from talking about the king of tire to Satan and he says thus saith the Lord you are the Seal of perfection full of wisdom and perfect in Beauty you were in Eden the Garden of God well that can't be the king of tire right every precious stone was your covering the starred as topaz the diamond the barrel the Onyx The Jasper the sapphire the turquoise emerald in Gold the workmanship of your temporals and pipes was prepared for you on the day that you were created these verses are not on the screen but it's Ezekiel 28 14 now you were the anointed Sheriff who covers I establish you the Lord said you are on the Holy Mountain of God you walk back and forth in the midst of the fiery Stones you were perfect in your ways from the day you were created that is this covering cherub this perhaps second in command maybe in human governments we would refer to him as God's prime minister maybe the highest of all Angels he's called the anointed or the covering cherub he appears that then the most beautiful of God's creation but not content with who he was it's fascinating and you can read a lot about this that he seems like he didn't just play music but he was music that he didn't just play the keyboard or the Hammond B3 or C3 he was he had timbrels and pipes that were created in him to give praise to God fascinating what he was but Lucifer because of his Beauty instead of using his created ability to give glory to God he resented God he desired to be God essentially he wanted to kick God off his throne and take over he wanted to be God and the desire that he had was the same Temptation that he offered to Adam and Eve in Genesis 3. now this is kind of an allusion to this idea that perhaps Satan started a campaign to subvert other Angelic beings to join him in his Rebellion Ezekiel 28 16 says by the abundance of your trading he became filled with violence within and you sinned and tells the consequences that I'll read a little bit about later when commentary said the word trade or traffic is from a Hebrew word that means to go about either with the purpose of trade or for slanderous gossip Ezekiel may be referring to how Satan went around slanderously gossiping about God and inciting other angels to turn away from God you see people doing this like Absalom who stood in the gate and turned the hearts of the people away from his father the king so whatever really happened there we know that according to Revelation 12 and 4 it appears that he drew a third part of the stars of Heaven that a third of the Angelic host defected with Satan and like him turn from angels to devils God judged all of them Ezekiel 28 16 says that the Lord cast him out as a profane thing out of the Mountain of God I destroyed you o covering cherub from the midst of the fiery Stones Isaiah 14 and 15 says yet you shall be brought down to sheol or hell and the King James to the lowest depths of the pit it is not surprising that Satan represents everything God hates Proverbs 6 16. these six things the Lord hates yes seven are an Abomination to him a literary device to get to seven a proud look a lying tongue hands that shed innocent blood a heart that devises Wicked plans feet that are Swift and running to evil a false witness who speaks lies and one who sows Discord among the Brethren Satan in heaven sowing Discord even among his Angelic cohorts is comrades Ezekiel 28 Isaiah 14 speak about this and the Bible in Ezekiel 28 I told you I would come back to this Ezekiel 28 15. you were perfect in all your ways from the day you were created I stopped there a little while ago till iniquity was found in you now I want you to think about this how long did that take and when did that happen was it like flipping a switch was it a process I I cannot fathom God tolerating iniquity what was percolating in Satan's excuse me Lucifer you know pre-fall that Angelic being what was going on in him and then God found iniquity all of a sudden there was no there was no iniquity in him then all of a sudden there was iniquity in him it was found in him by the abundance of your trading you became filled with violence within and you sinned therefore I cast you as a profane thing I I noted in studying this message that the Bible doesn't say that Satan fell says Satan was cast out now we say that man fell from Grace by sin or they were also cast out of the Garden of Eden Satan is cast out of Heaven as a profane thing out of the Mountain of God and I destroyed you a covering cherub I think we're repeating this from the midst of the fiery says your heart was lifted up because of your beauty you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your Splendor and I cast you to the ground I laid you before kings that they might gaze at you you defiled your sanctuaries by the multitude of your iniquities by the iniquity of your trading therefore I brought fire from your midst it devoured you and I turned you to ashes upon the Earth in the sight of all who saw you now Satan describes excuse me Isaiah not Satan Isaiah describes Satan's five I wills and I want you to see them because we're talking about the will our will my my I will and your will and we're looking at what happened to Satan Isaiah 14 12. how are you falling from Heaven oh Lucifer son of the morning how are you cut down to the ground you who weaken the Nations for you have said in your heart I will please don't say I will right now it just sounds scary doesn't it I will the essence of all sin autonomy we've turned everyone to his own way that thing that was in Satan that was at the root of rebellion against God I will Ascend into heaven there are five of them I will exalt my throne above the stars of God I will sit I will also sit on the Mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north I will Ascend above the heights of the cloud and then he says finally I will be like the most high scared to even read that right but then the Lord says yet you shall be brought down to sheol to hell to the lowest depths of the pit I will Ascend I will exalt I will sit I will Ascend I will be like all of us have a human will and years ago James Dobson wrote a book called The strong willed child and all of us thought he wrote it for us for our children was it written for my parents but they would have needed two copies or four copies four strong-willed kids but here is Lucifer he goes from being in the presence of God to being cast out of God's presence he was as beautiful as precious gems but his heart was lifted up because of his Beauty he thought he was really something that's what Ezekiel 28 17 says he was perfect in all of his ways from the day he was created everything about him was Immaculate there was no flaw in him the way God created him but what got in him destroyed him so how does an angel become a devil how does the covering cherub become the prince and power of the air how does that happen and if you look at the scriptures and I've kind of already covered this in the Scriptures it is self-will it is a spirit of I will and it is rejecting the sovereignty of God in your life I don't really know this we don't know this I referred to this a while ago in Satan I don't know if it was a process I don't know how God like you can't trick God you can't fool him so there's no iniquity there and then there's iniquity there and was it something that stirred up in him was God tolerant of that or was it instantaneous but Satan allowed iniquity in his heart and iniquity by the way is a crookedness a perverseness it is to go astray it is Satan look who you are you're second to almighty God but that's not good enough for self-will and and I found that with my will and with human will that whatever God has for us if if we are trying to exalt ourselves if we are all about ourselves good is never good enough there's always this desire for exaltation to climb the ladder and that's why so much of the New Testament is about the way up is down and then he that is greatest of all let him be the servant of all so much about the kingdom of God turns the world's way upside down because it is rooted in this sin of self-will and that's why my message is not my will now Satan obviously had a free will a gift from God it appears biblically that in angels and I can't develop a theology about this that once they made that decision once they were gone forever that they can't repent they can't be redeemed there's no blood shed for them I've lived long enough and most of us have to see people flip-flop in their you know they love him they love him not they love God but if an angel It's one and done they were gone but in the spirit of a human being if you read Romans 1 and other passages of scripture when you reject the lordship of Jesus Christ the attitude of rejecting God's sovereignty in your life it's really not something that you flip-flop on from day to day you may be like Simon Peter you have a weak will and used to come to temptation to deny the Lord but this is something deeper it seems that was in Satan lifted up in Pride full of himself and in a moment the Bible said in Ezekiel 28 he was cast out as a profane thing out of the Mountain of God in Luke 10 and 18 Jesus said I saw Satan like lightning fall from Heaven so I refer to this scripture through the years because you know you wonder when God and the devil get in the ring how long does the match last the boxing match the MMA the wrestling match is it like 15 rounds in a technical knockout is it does God win on points but that's not the way the Bible said when God is through tolerating Satan as The Prince and power of the air a single angel will cast them into the bottom bottomless pit and when God got ready for him to leave Heaven it wasn't a shoving match it was instantaneous it was at the speed of lightning cast out of heaven God doesn't play so standing in sharp contrast to Satan the epitome of rebellion is Jesus Christ the epitome of submission the Bible says in multiple places Hebrews 10 and 9 I came to do thy will o God Jesus said I came down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of him that sent me John 6 38. Romans 5 19 so by one man's obedience shall many be made righteous the age of about 33 in the prime of his life Jesus Christ faced the most difficult decision possible would he submit his human will there is one God and one mediator between God and man the man Christ Jesus Jesus had he will that was submitted and if there was no choice then there would be no sacrifice in Redemption but what would he do would he die or would he allow self-will to determine his Destiny now we know how it ends right but walk with me back to this Garden of Gethsemane born to die but not forced to die he said no one takes my life from me I lay it down of myself John 10. God's plan was for Jesus to offer himself as a sacrifice for the sins of the world he's the lamb slain from the foundation of the world that's the plan but he has a will he can say Yes To The Cross or he can say yes to himself and if you didn't know how the story ended and you heard Jesus praying In The Garden of Gethsemane you would wonder which way this is going to go this was not a slam dunk in terms of it being easy Luke 22 our text coming out he went to the Mount of Olives as he was a custom and his disciples also followed him and when he came to the place he said to them pray that you may not enter into temptation I mean when he was withdrawn with them from them about a stone's throw he knelt and down and prayed now this is his prayer and this prayer this Gethsemane story is in all four gospels Matthew Mark Luke and John Matthew tells us he prayed three times he would go awake and warn the disciples and go back to pray but he prays father if it is your will take this cup away from me nevertheless not not my will but yours be done now why would he say not my will because as a human being there is a will to live there is a will to not become sin I think ultimately you have to say that becoming sin was that the hardest thing that Jesus faced he that knew no sin became sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in him so would the sinless one become sin for us would the Lamb of God who slain from the foundation of the world finish it well the seed of the woman crush the head of the serpent as the first prophecy in Genesis 3 15 said this prayer of Jesus is like a lot of our prayers when we're facing a decision or a test or a temptation and it really doesn't come down to how shiny the object is about the free it's Pleasant to the eyes good for food desire to make one wise that's the bait really comes down to the relationship and the will the prayer of Jesus is like our prayer let this cup pass if it would be your will to let me skip this what a great idea let's skip the cross Matthew writes about Jesus saying to them watch and pray lest you enter into temptation the spirit indeed is willing but the flesh is weak my text again and I'll skip for the sake of media all the way to verse 42. last couple phrases nevertheless not my will Matthew records the four-wheel words that sealed the deal deal in Matthew 26 42 the very last couple phrases well I'll read it again a second time he went away and prayed saying O my father if this cup cannot pass away from me unless I drink it your will be done so I believe that scripturally you would have to say that the biggest sin is a sin of self-will and the biggest decision you will ever make is to submit to the will of God but Bible names some pretty terrible sins for an occasion idolatry adultery homosexuality sodomizes is all in First Corinthians 6 thieves Covetous people drunkards revilers extortioners Revelation 21 talks about people who will go to the Lake of Fire the Cowardly the unbelieving the abominable murderer sexually moral Sorcerers idolaters and all liars shall have their part in the Lake of Fire sin will send you to hell terrible sins societal terrible sin sins with horrible consequences and and sins of the spirit attitudinal sins sins like self-will will send you to hell though where sin is the sin of self-will it is the source of all sin as I read earlier Isaiah 53 6 we've all like sheep we've gone astray we've turned every way to his own way own way but Luke 22 42 nevertheless not my will what is what is my will what does it represent the case of Jesus I think it's to live and not die is to be sinless and not become sin is to avoid the cup a lot of speculation what is in the cup I think sin he becomes sin even more than death the cruelty of the cross and a physical body that was ripped and torn to shreds for my will when it is bound up in self-will is about self-preservation and self-exaltation it's about me mine it's about what's to my benefit how's this going to turn out to me my will may be to avoid the intrusion and inconvenience of God's will why is there often a war of these Wills my will and God's well it might be a lack of trust that God loves us that God is sovereign God is wise he knows best we rationalize God out of the equation and we choose our way over God's way maybe we've got a short-term perspective we can't see past the cross to the Joy that's on the other side tonight as we engage in prayer for school and back to school and our church I want to challenge you to submit your will to the will of God I challenge you to discover the power and the protection that comes from being under the mighty hand of God I challenge you to reject the mentality that this world promotes which is self-will and the temptation to do whatever pleases you not my will