Not My Will

Mathew 26:36-46

Verse 39: "He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, 'O Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.'"

Jesus knew that the time of His death was coming soon. The disciples wanted Him to stay and set up His kingdom on the earth. But Jesus knew He wasn't going to set up an earthly kingdom but was going to set up a heavenly kingdom. He came to a decision that night in Gethsemane. He suffered His will that night so that He would be able to suffer physically on the cross. He had to come to the place of giving up His will for His Father's will. God won't make us do something. We must give up our own wills.

We can't put if off until tomorrow. We must submit our will today. His will never takes place in our life until we give up our will. We think- we'll do it next week. We'll pray tomorrow, next week. There must be a breaking of our will. It requires less and less of us. The doors of the Tabernacle got more narrow the further in a person went. The brazen altar of sacrifice was set before one entered the door of the tabernacle.

Verse 41--He told the disciples to "watch and pray" lest they fall into temptation. Many are falling into temptation and deception today because they are not watching and praying. Temptations WILL come- but we must resist temptation. We must prepare for times of temptation by watching and praying. "The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." Our spirits must be stronger than our flesh through watching and praying.

John 3:30: "He must increase, but I must decrease."  The word "He" here is referring to Jesus Christ.  He must increase in our life- have the preeminence. We must decrease. We must submit our will to His.

I must give up my will = DECREASE

His will takes over = INCREASE

Our flesh resists suffering but our spirits rejoice.

(Taken from Pastor Keith's sermon- 8/12/2012)