Christ's Obedience
Obedience • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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This is our last week in Obedience. It is hard to believe that we are already 16 weeks into the year! We went through a series on Trust, then a series on Obedience ending today. What better Biblical example to end on than Jesus. When it comes to obedience no one on this earth has been able to replicate the level of obedience that Jesus followed through with. We often compare ourselves to others around us, because quite frankly you have bad days and I have bad days and if we compare to each other on some days we can feel like we are rock stars. When I compare myself to Jesus, I realize that I have so much more to learn. This morning we will see the example of obedience that lead through a place of pain and sorrow, through a place of fleshly struggle, and ended up in the Heavenly Rewards. This morning we will be in Matthew 26:38-42
38 Then he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.” 39 And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” 40 And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping. And he said to Peter, “So, could you not watch with me one hour? 41 Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” 42 Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.”
and
19 So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God.
This morning we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Today we honor His obedience to the Father. Today we pray for a spirit of obedience in our lives as Jesus had in His.
The Pain in Sorrow
The Pain in Sorrow
Sorrow;
a feeling of deep distress caused by loss, disappointment, or other misfortune suffered by oneself or others
Sorrow draws a lot of pain. It brings you to your knees. What has sorrow done to you? In this passage we find the Son of God, The one with the power to command angels in deep sorrow. Read what it said.
38 Then he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.” 39 And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”
Have you ever felt this type of pain? What do you do with it? How do you handle it? This morning I want you to know that the pain and sorrow are Okay. These feelings do not make you weak, they make you like God. We know that we are made in the image of God and that the things we feel are the same emotions that God feels.
27 So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.
Obedience to God will bring you to places of sorrow. Such a difficult place to be in and a difficult thing to walk through. In the Scripture this morning we find Jesus in this same place. A place where obedience to God has brought Him to a place of sorrow.
In northern Chile, between the Andes Mountains and the Pacific Ocean, lies a narrow strip of land where the sun shines every day! Clouds gather so seldom over the valley that one can say, "It almost never rains here!" Morning after morning the sun rises brilliantly over the tall mountains to the east. Each noon it shines brightly overhead, and every evening it brings a picturesque sunset. Although storms are often seen rising high in the mountains, and heavy fog banks hand their gray curtains far over the sea, Old Sol continues to shed his warming rays upon this "favored" and protected strip of territory. One might imagine this area to be an earthly paradise, but is far from that! It is a sterile and desolate wilderness! There are no streams of water, and nothing grows there.
We often long for total sunshine and continuous joy in life, and we desire to avoid the heartaches that bring tears to our eyes. Like that sunny, unfertile part of Chile, however, life without clouds and even an occasional downpour would not be productive or challenging. But though showers do come, they will also end, and the sun will shine again. "Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning." (Psalm 30:5).
I know you were looking for me to tell you that there is a way out of pain and sorrow but I am going to tell you this morning not how to get out of it but how to prepare for it. Jesus was in a place of understanding what he was fixing to go through and it pained him to the point of feeling like he wanted to die. Are you in a place like that? Have you been in a place like that? The pain you are feeling or have felt it is real and it is OK. The common belief in the christian community is that you always need to be OK. You must always let others know that you are OK. I am telling you right now it is OK to not be OK. It is OK to not love where your life is, it is OK not to want to do what God is calling you to do. You must learn to be truthful. The world needs Christians to be truthful with the fact that life is not always OK. The christian world often times sets people up for failure. You bring someone in to the church and you help them with a struggle and they begin to come. They learn to tell everyone that its all OK. They learn to put on a brave face, because people need to know that our faith is in God and He makes everything OK all the time. The church must learn to be truthful and tell the world that sometimes we are not OK. The death of a loved one, the loss of financial security, a divorce, whatever your struggle is, it is OK not to be OK! How can you know that it is OK not to be OK? Look to the scripture.
18 The Lord is near to the brokenhearted
and saves the crushed in spirit.
4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. 34 And he said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” 35 Jesus wept.
Sorrow and Pain are normal feelings and are normal for even Christians to feel. Jesus felt sorrow and you will feel sorrow. Your sorrow will lead you to one of two responses and it is important for you to understand how you need to respond. In order for you to understand how you need to respond it is important to understand what the tendency of the flesh is. Sorrow can bring you to a place of rejection of your faith, or it can lead you to a place of obedience. Jesus was obedient even in a place of Sorrow. Jesus also contrasted the life that led by the spirit and the life that lead by the flesh.
The Struggle of Flesh
The Struggle of Flesh
40 And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping. And he said to Peter, “So, could you not watch with me one hour? 41 Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
In the scripture we see this contrast of Jesus who is struggling in sorrow with the spirit and then a glimpse of the disciples who were asleep because the flesh could not keep up. Jesus is warning His disciples that a time is coming soon that they must live in the spirit. They will be facing a struggle that the flesh cannot handle. When we are met with times of sorrow as Jesus was, we often times react as the disciples did. We react in the flesh. What does the flesh want to do in times of sorrow and pain? Thats right it wants to sleep. It wants to stop walking in obedience and it wants to do what it thinks is the best. Jesus was preparing His disciples for what was to come and He was giving them insight into the decision they would have to make. When things got tough or difficult the disciples would have to decide if they were going to live by the spirit and follow through with obedience or if they were going to live in the flesh and walk away from what God was calling them to. Jesus told them to prepare themselves because the Spirit wants to do what God wants but the flesh is weak and if you are not prepared to live by the spirit the flesh will lead you away from what God is calling you to.
The flesh is a built-in law of failure, making it impossible for the natural man to please or serve God. It is a compulsive inner force inherited from man's fall, which expresses itself in general and specific rebellion against God and His righteousness. The flesh can never be reformed or improved. The only hope for escape from the law of the flesh is its total execution and replacement by a new life in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Mark Bubeck, The Adversary, Moody Press, p. 28.
Jesus understood how His flesh would respond but He also knew how to quiet His flesh and lean into the Spirit for God’s will. Jesus was intentional in His desire to live by the Spirit. He understood the Spirit. What does the Bible say?
11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.
4 and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power,
6 Then he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts. 7 Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain. And he shall bring forward the top stone amid shouts of ‘Grace, grace to it!’ ”
The Spirit of God allows us to be overcomers. It allows us to lift up out of the ashes. It brings dry bones to life, it gives life to the lifeless. Jesus promised the Spirit.
7 Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.
Jesus knew the weakness of flesh but also understood the strength of the Spirit. In times of sorrow it is important to lean into the Spirit. Not to override the pain and the feelings of hurt. But out of those feelings to raise up an army.
3 And he said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord God, you know.” 4 Then he said to me, “Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. 5 Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. 6 And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the Lord.”
7 So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. 8 And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them. But there was no breath in them. 9 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.” 10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.
We who believe and live in the spirit as Christ lived in the spirit are that army. I want to live in the spirit to be the ones that proclaim our Fathers love for all. Through the pain and through the sorrow, spirit lead me to a place of obedience. Are you trusting in the spirit to lead you in obedience in places that the flesh would fail you? Jesus walked into a place of obedience to the cross, not because He was able to do it Himself but because the Spirit led Him there. Jesus if He had leaned into His flesh would not have followed through in obedience to the Father. Jesus leaned into the Spirit and followed through in obedience.
The Heavenly Reward
The Heavenly Reward
19 So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God.
The Obedience that Jesus lived resulted in a Heavenly reward. We should be chasing heavenly rewards. Lives that reflect the heart of obedience to the Father. Jesus walked in obedience. Jesus would go to the cross, He would be killed in the most painful way the Romans had learned to kill someone. Jesus would be laid in a tomb and His disciples would hide in fear for their lives. Thank God today that Jesus did not stay in that tomb!
2 And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. 4 And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men. 5 But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. 6 He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. 7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. See, I have told you.”
Obedience lead Jesus to a place of suffering. The suffering though did not last. After the suffering was over Jesus was rewarded in only the way that God could reward. Had Jesus sought His flesh and walked away from the cross, sure He could have been a local celebrity. Sure He could have lived a comfortable life. Instead Jesus chose the cross and it resulted in a reward that the world could never give Him. Are you living a life chasing the Heavenly rewards? Jesus desire to live in the Spirit and honor the Father, resulted in Him being seated at the right hand of the Father in a constant relationship with the Father. What are you seeking? Are you seeking a good life, comfort, desires of the flesh? What will that result in for you? Sure it may result in a great life here but what about the eternal life?
19 “There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. 20 And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, 21 who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. 22 The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried, 23 and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. 24 And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’ 25 But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish.
Are you seeking the kingdom of God? This Easter Sunday let us celebrate the obedience of Jesus. Let us celebrate the overcoming of the flesh and the seeking of the spirit that led to Heavenly rewards. The rewards though are for us all. Because of what Jesus did, we no longer have to take on the full weight of death. We will suffer though the loss and pain, we though because of the ability to know Christ will never have to deal with the final death. While the flesh will go to sleep the spirit will be present with Jesus. Let us be people who seek obedience at all cost, through all our struggles and through the pain.
In his book The Weight of Glory, C.S. Lewis notes how believers often underestimate the full riches God has for His children.
"...If we consider...the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that our Lord finds our desires, not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures...like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased."
23 Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets.
14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
26 He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward.
11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.
Gods plan for us though obedience is to bless us in ways that make the rewards of this earth look like mud pies. Are you going to live in a life of obedience?
