The Battle of the Wills
Sermon • Submitted • Presented
0 ratings
· 8 viewsNotes
Transcript
Anyone who has ever raised children will tell you about the terrible 2’s.
Most parents get shaken very abruptly out of their day dream of what they think parenting will be like when their child is roughly 2 years old.
Why? What happens at 2 that turns our darling little angel into what feels like Evil made flesh dwelling among you?
The answer is: Will.
At around 2 years old most children develop their own will.
What do we mean when we speak of someones will? We mean that they have a personal intention.
If i say “Its my will to go bed early” i am saying that i have every intention to go to bed early. Its what I want.
Under 2 years children cannot really express personal intention, apart from basic things like wanting to eat, wanting to sleep etc.
But at 2 a child is well aware of reality - they are aware that they are an individual person and that their parents are individual people. And with that comes the revelation that their parents have a will that is often different to their own will.
Parents say “time to bath” but infant now says “No, its not my will to bath”.
And so the terrible 2’s are really just a battle of wills.
The child has a will - The parents have a will - and now the battle begins!
And be sure it is a battle to death! For the family to continue to maintain health one of those wills must die.
And the child will fight for their life, seriously.
Temper-tantrums, screaming till they turn blue, often biting their parents to the point of drawing blood.
I have counselled mothers who's spirit has been broken by the behavior of their 2 year old child.
Application:
Application:
Now, what does any of this have to with a sermon?
Well more than you may think.
What i have just been describing to you is the dynamic interaction between a parents will and the child will.
Well let me ask you a question: Have you received Jesus Christ as your savior?
Then:
12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name,
2 Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.
As the wills of parents and children clash in the flesh, so to will our will often clash with God’s will.
And make no mistake - this is also a battle to the death.
Why the Battle?
Why the Battle?
Now we might ask: Why is there a battle of the wills?
Well lets go back to the infant.
Why does the infant scream when its time to stop playing and to eat?
Why does the infant scream when its time to stop playing and sleep?
Why does the infant scream when its time to change out of the dirty clothes into clean ones?
Answer: Because the infant cannot understand or comprehend why the parents are doing what they are doing.
At 2 years old, these responsible, healthy, good actions of the parents are utterly mysterious acts.
In the exact same way:
8 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord.
9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts.
As parents we wish we could just tell our kids that they may not understand what we are doing but when they mature they will see that it was for their good.
My dear friends: God literally told us this exact same thing: WORD FOR WORD!
Jesus himself said:
7 Jesus replied, “You don’t understand now what I am doing, but someday you will.”
What happens when the will of a believer clashes with the will of God?
On this palm Sunday let me take you to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
It was a special day.
It was a special day.
The crucifixion of Jesus did not happen on any arbitrary day, diving providence ensured that Jesus, the Lamb of God, would be sacrificed on the Passover.
55 Now the Passover of the Jews was near, and many went up to Jerusalem from the country prior to the Passover, in order to purify themselves.
Being the passover many people from the surrounding areas came to Jerusalem.
But i want to draw your attention to just one man.
For those who lived close to Jerusalem, attending the Passover was a regular practice.
However many Jews were still living very far because of the dispersion and for those who lived far away, going to Jerusalem was a special occasion, and going to Jerusalem during passover was a once in a life time opportunity.
One far away place where many Jews lived was in what we today call Libya.
Today with modern roads its a 2000 km trip.
Back then, this was a massive undertaking.
Well, 2000 years ago a man worked it hands to the bone saving every penny, probably for years, so that he could have the privilege of making this once in a lifetime trip to Jerusalem to celebrate the passover.
And so weeks, maybe even months before the crucifixion of Jesus this Jewish man, who’s will it was to go and celebrate the passover, set out from Libya to Jerusalem.
It was not called Libya back then and we even know the name of this man:
Simon of Cyrene.
Simon of Cyrene.
This mans will was to go to Jerusalem and celebrate the passover.
However on the very day when his intention was to be accomplished and enjoyed, his will came face to face with God’s.
21 And they compelled a passer-by coming from the country, Simon of Cyrene (the father of Alexander and Rufus), to carry His cross.
I want to point out a few key details:
1: Simons will was to be a passer-by.
1: Simons will was to be a passer-by.
21 And they compelled a passer-by coming from the country, Simon of Cyrene (the father of Alexander and Rufus), to carry His cross.
Simon did not spend his life savings on this once in a lifetime trip to get caught up in a political drama in a city where he does not even live.
Passer-by is the greek word “para-go” and it means “To vanish”.
This was Simons will - when he arrived in great excitement he saw the crowds and drama, curious he came closer, saw what was happening to this poor man, lying in the streets, weak from blood loos, naked and beaten and whipped to an inch of his life and Simon’s intentions now is to vanish away from this mess.
We often want the same.
We want to live our life, do what we want without all the drama.
My friends you dont need to create drama, drama has a way of finds us.
2: Simon was forced against his will.
2: Simon was forced against his will.
21 And they compelled a passer-by coming from the country, Simon of Cyrene (the father of Alexander and Rufus), to carry His cross.
The word compelled does not mean asked, its a greek military word which means conscripted.
The Roman soldiers conscripted this man into temporary service, failure to comply to Roman conscription was a capitol offence punished by death.
One of my favorite proverbs is:
21 You can make many plans, but the Lord’s purpose will prevail.
Simon was a man with a plan. But that plan went out the window.
We do not get to chose how our plans play out.
We do not get to chose how our plans play out.
Simon had a plan that day, a carefully laid out plan, but God also had a plan, very different from Simons.
What happened when these two plans, wills, intentions clashed?
My friends When our will clashes with God’s will there will always be a cross to carry.
24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me.
What did Jesus mean by “deny himself”? Denying yourself is exactly what Jesus did in the garden:
39 And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will.”
To carry the cross of Jesus Christ means us saying “Not my will but they will be done”.
Its painful because it often means the death of our plans, of our intentions, even of our dreams.
But, as Simon himself found out, what God has planned is always better.
Simon’s p[lan was to celebrate the Passover.
God’s plan was that he met the actual passover Lamb.
Simon’s plan was to go back home and share stories of his trip.
God’s plan was for him to go back as a missionary of the Gospel.
Look again at Mark 15.
21 And they compelled a passer-by coming from the country, Simon of Cyrene (the father of Alexander and Rufus), to carry His cross.
Notice that Mark adds an interesting detail, he mentions that this man Simon was the Father of Alexander and Rufus.
Why add this detail unless Alexander and Rufus were known to the readers.
Well years later when the Apostle Paul was finishing up his letter to the Romans he concludes with special greetings and among those mention we read:
13 Greet Rufus, a choice man in the Lord, also his mother and mine.
God’s will was that not only would Simon come to know the true Lamb of the Passover, but that his whole family would as well.
This Palm Sunday, know that you can trust the will of God. Yes, you may not understand now, but one day you will.