Only One Way Matthew 26:36-46: “And going a little farther, He threw Himself upon the ground on His face and prayed saying, My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass away from Me; nevertheless, not what I will [not what I desire], but as You will and desire.” (v39)
25th February 2024 | | sermon source |
We are seeing that our desire for self-determination has got be curbed, checked, controlled, if possible eradicated or else it will lead us into ruining ways that are not the Way. ‘One of the characteristics of a radiant Christian’, says J. Oswald Smith, ‘is willingness to put his personal life and affairs into the hands of our Lord Jesus Christ–without qualification and without reservation.’ This is a real challenge, a war of decision inside oneself but it is what I believe Lord Jesus is referring to in part when He talks about taking up the cross daily. It means being prepared day by day to put self-interest to death and to say: ‘No longer my will Lord, but Yours be done in my life O God my Lord.’ It is a difficult kind of life to live because you have got to fight with a lot of counter decisions inside of your heart or mind and unless you are an embodiment of the Lord’s Word and a strong decisive Christ believing person with a strong fear of the Lord in your heart otherwise self and an inclination to what the people will say, will miss lead you to enter in the wrong way, the carnal way!
When the urge towards self-assertion, self-aggrandizement and self-pleasing or satisfaction gives way to the desire to please and satisfy God, much of the stress and strain goes out of life. Dr William Sadler, a Psychiatrist tells of a lady he once treated who said to him, ‘You know, I am a very sensitive person.’ ‘Yes’, said Dr Sadler, ‘I know you are a very selfish person.’ ‘But I didn’t say “selfish”’, protested the woman. ‘I did’, replied the doctor. She went away angry, but ten days later she came back, and confessed it was true she is selfish. Because she after pondering deeply on the Dr’s alleging selfishness on her she realized that it was her self-centredness that was the basis of her poor mental health. We need to be very careful with ourselves and how we evaluates ourselves so that self will not always miss lead us and one way to be such careful is to be guided by the word of God in all that we do in life! Many of us go to Church on Sundays, hear the word of God but we don’t make it a part of us and we don’t live it in our daily life, too bad; which is why we fall into diverse temptations and troubles! When we pray the prayer…lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil…, one way that our Lord Jesus does this for us is through and by His Word, so if you don’t know His word then how can you follow?
The man who was the healthiest Person who ever lived on our planet earth, a Man who radiated health –only to touch Him was to be made whole –followed the way of His Father right to the very end. When confronted by the Cross, His own cross in life He was greatly tempted to follow His own desires, His own selfish desire different from what His Father desired and take the way that seemed best, easy and safe to Him, but He came through the struggle inside of Him to say: having quickly realized Himself, ‘Father …not as I will, but as You Will.’ God’s way is not just a way, or even the best way –it is the Way; the Only Way!