April 7, 2019

Words Matter : The Will of GOD
April 7, 2019
Pastor Jonathan Falwell

 

Open:

Probably all of us have been through a time of tribulation that has saturated our being, causing us to call out to God to keep us from the pain, to change the outcome, to hear our prayer. Can you share a time?

As we near the celebration of Easter, we have been looking at the life of Jesus as He taught, healed, and ministered. Last week we looked at specific instances that irritated the Jewish leaders so badly they desired to have Him put to death. Today we are going to look at the anguish He suffered prior to His arrest and feel the hatred the Pharisees had for the Son of the living God.

Key Verse: Matthew 26:39: “He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.”

Focal Passage: Matthew 26:36-46.

 

Discuss:

Asking God to remove us from our present pain is okay:

• Read the text in Matt. 26:36-46 that we might get a clear picture of the topic. What did Jesus tell Peter, James and John in verse 38? Has there been an instance where you have been crushed by grief, and wanted God to remove the situation? Were you later able to look back and see good come from it?
• What were the disciples likely to have been thinking as they watched Him? Why did they not understand?
• Read verse 39b. How did Jesus feel about His coming suffering? How was He able to place Himself under God’s authority to see it fulfilled?
• Jesus had the power to have called “legions of angels” (Matt. 26:52-53) to have stopped the horrendous arrest and subsequent violence. Why did He not do this? Where would we be if He had not gone through with the crucifixion?

Complaining is not okay:

• Has there been a huge challenge that God called you to do (perhaps, as an instance, taking care of an aged parent)? Although the weight of it crushed you, did you cry out to Him for strength, or did you bitterly complain because He let it come into your life? What is the difference?
• Read verse 39c, Isaiah 52:14b and 53:4-7. Jesus, in His humanity, was about to be beaten beyond the appearance of a man. Why can we not comprehend this?
• During a normal day, which do you believe of yourself: that you spend more time being grateful for your blessings, or complaining of what you lack?

To do the will of God requires dependence on God:

• Read verse 41. What did Jesus tell the disciples (in our vernacular)? Where was His dependence? What was He trusting God to do?
• By submitting to the will of the Father, what did He know to be the final outcome? Why is it so hard for us to trust God to see us safely through a testing?
• Read 2 Corinthians 11:23b-27. What were some of the troubles Paul went through?
• Read Acts 14:21-22. Why did Paul not allow the tribulations to stop him? Where was his strength? Where is your strength?

 

Close:

The woman was just past fifty, raised as a pastor’s daughter, and married at a young age to her White Knight. Children and thirty years of marriage did not dim the beauty of their relationship. They were completely devoted to each other and served the Lord in their local church.

When he was diagnosed with cancer, her world crumbled around her. No words of condolence, no messages of love, no gladness for his soul to be with his heavenly Father soothed the anguish. She did not want to wake up each morning and cried herself to sleep every night. Her children and grandchildren saw nothing except grief, and—unfortunately—bitterness that God had not answered her plea for saving his life, for providing a miracle, for healing him. She would be the first to tell you she hates God for not answering her prayers.

Three years later and the grief is as fresh as it was originally. Meanwhile, the grandchildren are in her care. What are they seeing? Are they understanding that Granny misses Grampy so much that she can hardly function? Probably not. They see and hear that God failed her in her time of need. They see she is suffering because God did not answer her prayers the way she thinks He should have. They see nothing about Him that draws their soft little hearts to the Father. He is not dependable, she complains. She doesn’t see her bitterness is defiling those delicate souls of the grandchildren. She doesn’t go to church, so they don’t go to church.

Are you in a position where you have complained about God’s answer to your prayers, rather than trusting Him to provide the strength you need to get through the days and nights, and you are letting your bitterness defile your family? In 2 Corinthians 13:5, Paul writes,” ⁵ Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you fail the test?” Examine yourself daily to make certain you are trusting God for the testing you will go through. Trust Him to give you the strength, that you will not complain, but that you will cry out for His grace to get you through. It is the will of God that you trust Him!