The Flesh and The Will Of The Spirit

Gregory D. Moore Sr.

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The Desires of the Flesh

Jesus Prays in Gethsemane

Mar 14:32 And they came to a place which was named Gethsemane: and he saith to his disciples, Sit ye here, while I shall pray.

Mar 14:33 And he taketh with him Peter and James and John, and began to be sore amazed, and to be very heavy;

Mar 14:34 And saith unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful unto death: tarry ye here, and watch.

Mar 14:35 And he went forward a little, and fell on the ground, and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him.

Mar 14:36 And he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me: nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt.

Mar 14:37 And he cometh, and findeth them sleeping, and saith unto Peter, Simon, sleepest thou? couldest not thou watch one hour?

Mar 14:38 Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation. The spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak.

Mar 14:39 And again he went away, and prayed, and spake the same words.

Mar 14:40 And when he returned, he found them asleep again, (for their eyes were heavy,) neither wist they what to answer him.

Mar 14:41 And he cometh the third time, and saith unto them, Sleep on now, and take your rest: it is enough, the hour is come; behold, the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.

Mar 14:42 Rise up, let us go; lo, he that betrayeth me is at hand.

As we come closer to the Holy Week and the celebration of Ressurection Morning, we often times retract the events and walk of Jesus from this time to the cross.

It was the dying on the cross that fulfilled Jesus as our sacrificial lamb that atoned our sins and his three days in the earth that fulfilled the words of Christ .. For he said as Jonah was three days and three nights in the fish’s belly so shall the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights.

His rising on the third day morning gave us our access to eternal redemption and freed man from the grips of the grave and thus removed the need for any more sacrifices and made Him Lord for ever.

But we must remember that Jesus was both human and divine while on earth, thus making him susceptible to all the thirsts and cravings of the flesh.

Though he was God he was yet in the flesh and could not be separated from the wanton lusts of it.

As it is stated....the flesh never gets saved.

Gal 5:17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.

Why is this we may ask ....Well let’s look at the two natures.

Gal 5:19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,

Gal 5:20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,

Gal 5:21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

Gal 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,

Gal 5:23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

9. Even the apostle Paul describes the inner struggle in himself with the flesh fighting against the will of the Spirit.

Rom 7:18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.

Rom 7:19 For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.

Rom 7:20 Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.

Rom 7:21 I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.

Rom 7:22 For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:

Rom 7:23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.

Rom 7:24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?

Rom 7:25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.

Okay so we say well this struggle just happens in man. I know Jesus did not have to contend with these issues in his earthly life.

As Gomer Pyle would say surprise , surprise, surprise.....Jesus had to deal with his flesh also.

Although he was born without sin, yet his flesh was contrary to the Spirit and he had to keep himself under the will of the Spirit and the will of his Father.

Heb 4:15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.

Remember how ruthless Satan was to come and tempt Jesus just after he had fasted for 40 days in the wilderness.....

Now if Satan had the gumption to tempt Jesus and even Jesus has to put his flesh in place.....

Somebody needs to say Lord have mercy on us....

This flesh…it took Eve down in the garden....

It go Noah drunk right off the ark..

It made Abraham lie

It got Sodom and Gomorrah burned to the drown

It made King David an adulterer and a murderer.

It made Jonah almost get drowned on the ship

It made Judas betray Christ

It made Peter deny him

It made Paul persecute the Church

It made you and I bring a laundry list of sins to God when we repented and asked for forgiveness.

Even after our conversion we will be faced with trails and temptations and we will all come to that great place of decision,,,our Gethsemane.

Look at our text:

Jesus Prays in Gethsemane

Mar 14:32 And they came to a place which was named Gethsemane: and he saith to his disciples, Sit ye here, while I shall pray. (Jesus is wrestling with doing what the Father wants and what his flesh doesn’t want to go through) Jesus is always asking us to do things we just don’t want to naturally abide to....