TITLE: “Eviction Notice”
#3 in the SERIES: “Empty”
MAIN TEXT: Mark 14:32-42
Good Morning! Today, we are jumping into another lesson from our series, EMPTY! Remembering that the goal is all about being EMPTY, so you can be filled with the fullness of Christ!
In this series, we have been following the last few days of Jesus’ life in the Gospel of Mark and watching how people, and even Jesus, EMPTIED themselves out or came up EMPTY in their lives.
First, Jesus was anointed by Mary, when she DRAINED the contents of her alabaster box upon Him in Mark 14:3-9. Emptying herself of her dreams and desires.
Then, Jesus revealed Himself in a new way to His disciples through their First Communion service, as He would soon POUR OUT His life for us all in Mark 14:22-26. Together, we learned that we need to be available and authentic, just as Jesus was!
But this morning, I want to give you another “image” of EMPTY as we give some thought to “the battle of our wills!” Meaning MY will versus GOD’S will! Because every human that ever lived will fight this battle of the WILLS.
Adam and Eve fought their “battle” in the Garden of Eden, but they lost.
And Jesus fought His “battle” in the Garden of Gethsemane, yet, He won!
And each of us fight this “battle,” sometimes on a daily basis. There are times that we win and other times when we lose. This morning, I want to help you to see how you can WIN!
How are we going to do that? Well, I want to challenge each of you to serve your WILL…
TITLE: “EVICTION NOTICE.”
Our Goal: Surrendering our will to His will!
Mark 14:32-42, They came to a place named Gethsemane; and He said to His disciples, “Sit here until I have prayed.” 33 And He took with Him Peter and James and John, and began to be very distressed and troubled. 34 And He said to them, “My soul is deeply grieved to the point of death; remain here and keep watch.” 35 And He went a little beyond them, and fell to the ground and began to pray that if it were possible, the hour might pass Him by. 36 And He was saying, “Abba! Father! All things are possible for You; remove this cup from Me; yet not what I will, but what You will.” 37 And He came and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “Simon, are you asleep? Could you not keep watch for one hour? 38 Keep watching and praying that you may not come into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” 39 Again He went away and prayed, saying the same words. 40 And again He came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were very heavy; and they did not know what to answer Him. 41 And He came the third time, and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? It is enough; the hour has come; behold, the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners. 42 Get up, let us be going; behold, the one who betrays Me is at hand!”
PRAYER:
INTRODUCTION:
After the Last Supper that Jesus shared with His disciples, He went with them to a place called, Gethsemane, or the Garden of Gethsemane. This was a garden just outside of the city of Jerusalem, across the Kidron brook and on the Mount of Olives. According to John 18:1-2, this was a place that Jesus often went with His disciples. What’s interesting is that Gethsemane means “olive press.”
Reminding us that it is a great place to go when you are being “squeezed” by the things of this world. A perfect place to run to when you are “pressed” and in need of God’s strength! Each of us need to find a “secret place” of our own to go to in the pressing time to seek the Lord! Or for our purposes here today, we need to find our own “Garden of Gethsemane” to go to often in the variety of moments we have in our lives. Because, this is where Jesus went in His times of “squeezing/pressure” and upcoming suffering. And it was there that His own “battle of the will” was won. And where Jesus served His will an EVICTION NOTICE so that His Father’s will would prevail in His life!!
THIS, my friends, is what we need to see happen in our own lives! To serve and EVICTION NOTICE to our will, so that God’s prevails in us! That in our own moments of “pressure” and “squeezing” by the stress and struggles we have in our own lives, we have to lose so that God can win!
ILLUSTRATION:
Mark Batterson, in his book “The Circle Maker,” made mention of the winning/loosing thing with God. He said, “Here is what I learned about arguments with God: If you win the argument you actually lose, and if you lose the argument, you actually win.”
So we need to be willing to LOSE “the battle of the wills” with God so that we will actually WIN! Who wants to be a loser?!
Well, I know that the enemy of our soul, the devil, wants to make you a loser, but in another sense he only wants to devour your life! -I Peter 5:8 And he only wants to steal, kill and destroy you! -John 10:10
However, I also want you to know that Jesus wants to make you an overcomer! John 10:10 also says that Jesus have come to “give life and life abundantly!” Romans 8:37 tells us that we are “more than a conqueror through Him!”
YET! We have this inner struggle, the “battle of the wills.”
SHOW VIDEO: “The Stool”
Have you been there and done that? I think Paul characterized it well when he made this statement in Romans 7:15, “For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate.” Now, I could get deep and theological here with this verse, but practically speaking, Paul is in his own “garden of squeezing” and he is voicing something that each of us know all to well, how he also struggled with his own “battle of the wills!” My will and way VS. God’s will and way. And who is going to win or lose in that struggle is a decision that only you can make.
My encouragement? To serve notice to your will and EVICT it, so that God’s will can prevail in you! Let Jesus have the seat of honor and be EMPTIED of self so that God can fill us full of His will in us! If it was good enough for Jesus, then it is good enough for me! Now, the Garden was a place of victory for Jesus, and it can be for you and me too! But, it didn’t come easy for Jesus, as we all know; and it won’t be easy for us either… (Just like it wasn’t easy for the woman in the video.)
So let’s first consider…
POINT ONE: THE STRESS!
Let me ask a dumb question, has anybody here ever been stressed out?! Absolutely! We all know what it is to be “stressed out” about something. Whether you struggle with paying your bills. Troubles with raising your kids. Difficulties in your marriage. Or maybe pressures in your career. It could be questions about your future. Or security in an unsettled economy at retirement. All in all, it really doesn’t matter WHAT it is that we are STRESSED out about, but one thing is for certain, Americans know what it is to be STRESSED OUT!! We live in a day where people are overwhelmed with panic attacks and are weighed down with anxieties! We fight all kinds of dis-orders and “alphabetized” diseases. So, STRESS, yeah, it is very real!
And, we read here in our text of how Jesus also experienced great distress and troubles. And in Mark 14:33-34 it actually says that He began to be very distressed and troubled. And He said to them, “My soul is deeply grieved to the point of death…” Luke recorded that Jesus was “in agony” and He sweat drops of great blood. –Luke 22:44
Obviously, Jesus knew that “The Hour” had come for His betrayal, which would initiate the scourging, His crucifixion and death. This moment, which he knew was imminent, was now upon Him and He was deeply STRESSED or distressed. You and I have moments of “great stress” that none of us can avoid either, often they seem like they are imminent for us. If you live on this earth, you will know troubles Jesus said. Job 14:1 says that “life is short and full of troubles!” So there is a great need for us to make room and take time in our own “gardens of prayer!” What better time is there to run to the GARDEN then when we are being “pressed” and “squeezed” by the STRESSES of this life?
Jesus found it important when He was enduring His time of intense sorrow and loneliness. Which was partly due to the fact that He was taking our sorrow and grief upon Himself according to Isaiah 53:4-5.
What it comes right down to is that fact that we struggle with “the battle of the wills” in these times! To trust God or to trust our feelings? To do what we want to do to fix it, or find God’s heart and plan in it?
In our times of great STRESS, we battle with our WILLS and God’s WILL for our lives. And half the battle is serving that EVICTION NOTICE on our will so that we will be in the middle of God’s will, where there is rest.
Which leads me to the thought of…
POINT TWO: SURRENDER!
But, that’s just the issue here, isn’t it?! Because we feel like we are losing at something when we do it.
Now, no one likes to lose! I hate to lose. Which makes it tough for a guy who is not very good at much. I have never been good at sports, so I couldn’t command much respect on the court, on the links or on the field. Not even on a mini golf course! I am not good at board games, which is why I don’t like to play them. I don’t even like to lose the TV remote, just for the record!
But, here is one area I really don’t like to lose in, MY WILL! Like most of us here, I like things my way. The problem with that is what Mark Batterson said, if I don’t lose this STRUGGLE with God and SURRENDER to Him, I am not going to win with God in anything! So, I have to choose to SURRENDER to the Lord!
But none of us enjoy SURRENDERING our dreams, desires or wills to anyone, let alone God! Just like the lady in the video who struggled with SURRENDERING her will to Jesus, you and I are the same…it just isn’t natural. It doesn’t “feel” right.
But a Biblical perspective for us would be found in Matthew 16:25, “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.” Basically, when you live your life for self, you are living your life outside of Christ! His plan and will for your life. And you are going to miss out on God’s best when you do that! However, when you lose, when you give it up and SURRENDER to God. It couldn’t be better!
But when I think of those who couldn’t SURRENDER, I see Peter, James and John who couldn’t keep watch with Jesus. Their will was to sleep and get rest because that is what their “flesh” really wanted! In Mark 14:37-38 it says, And He came and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “Simon, are you asleep? Could you not keep watch for one hour? Keep watching and praying that you may not come into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
Two things I want to pick up from these two verses here… First, Jesus asks them, “Could you not keep watch for one hour?” In fact, Jesus asks them this question THREE TIMES! And each time this question reminds us of the struggle of the flesh and the spirit! The “battle of the wills!” It reminds us of that battle Paul talked about in Romans, “Why do I always do what I don’t want to?” And we are faced with the question, ”WHO am I going to SURRENDER to? God’s will or mine?” Second, think about how Jesus referred to Peter, He called Him “SIMON!” Simon was His old name after Jesus renamed him Peter. Simon means “shifting sand…” It was as if Jesus was reminding Peter that when He does his own will thing, he will get the results of his old life and ways.
Friends, I am here to remind you that when we refuse to SURRENDER our will to the Lord, we are not standing on solid ground either! Therefore, we have to serve our will an EVICTION NOTICE and be EMPTIED of self so that God’s will can prevail in us!
But! Look at Jesus’ words… Mark 14:36, And He was saying, “Abba! Father! All things are possible for You; remove this cup from Me; yet not what I will, but what you will.” Jesus had His moment of SURRENDER and you need to seize the same moment in your life!
Are you ready to be EMPTIED of yourself? Won’t you surrender your will to God’s today?
ILLUSTRATION:
Andrew Murray made this statement that relates to surrender, “God is ready to assume full responsibility for the life wholly yielded to Him.”
As much as you might not like to lose anything friends, I want you to know that when you do serve your will an EVICTION NOTICE and surrender to God’s will, THEN you find…
POINT THREE: HIS STRENGTH!
God’s STRENGTH is found to help us through our STRESS when we SURRENDER to Him! God’s STRENGTH is given to those who yield their lives to God! God’s STRENGTH is available to those who find God in the Garden!
In fact, God told Paul in his own “garden moment” of STRESS. II Corinthians 12:9, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Very truly, God’s STRENGTH is available to those who are weak and weary. To those who are weak to God and His will in their lives.
Likewise, Jesus agonized in prayer and we read of it in Mark 14:35. It says that Jesus fell on the ground and began to pray in His distress. He cried out, “Abba! Father! Remove this cup from me!” Uncertain that He would be able to “drink” this cup before Him.
But THEN, in verse 36, Jesus served His will that EVICTION NOTICE! The evidence is in His words, ”Not My will, but Yours be done!”
Keep in mind that it was Adam who first said, “Not Your will, but MINE be done!” And the floodgate of sin swung open onto all mankind. Then man was removed from the Garden of God!
But, when Jesus SURRENDERED, and said “Not MY will, but YOURS be done!” Victory over sin and access to God was made possible! Death was about to be dealt a final blow! And it gave Jesus the STRENGTH to follow through on God’s will for His life!
The “battle of the wills” was won!
The Gospel of Luke records this. Luke 22:43, “Now an angel from heaven appeared to Him, strengthening Him.” It was not necessarily the answer He wanted, but it was what He needed! God’s STRENGTH for the moment! Paul got the same kind of answer. He didn’t get the thorn removed like He asked God to do, but He got what He needed! STRENGTH that was sufficient to meet his need in the meantime!
And each of us need STRENGTH from the Lord – especially at those moments of STRESS we often face!
Your key to strength and sustaining from God? SURRENDERING you will to God! Serving it an EVICTION NOTICE! Regardless of the circumstance you find yourself in, God’s strength is there to sustain you and bring you through! Just “cease striving and know that He is God” like Psalm 46:10 says.
AS WE CLOSE:
How many of you know what it is to fight in the “battle of the wills?”
Like each of us, Jesus fought the “battle of the wills!” In the process of SURRENDERING His will to His Father, Jesus gained a new resolve, STRENGTH!
Listen to the change in Jesus’ spirit we read in Mark 14:41-42, And He came the third time, and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? It is enough; the hour has come; behold, the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners. 42 Get up, let us be going; behold, the one who betrays Me is at hand!”
For Jesus, the Garden was both, a place for STRESS and for STRENGTHENING. But notice what made the difference. It was SURRENDER! Jesus could get up because He had already knelt down. He could stand now because He was surrendered earlier! All because Jesus took His issue to His Father in prayer! Fervent and persistent prayer made the difference! Prayer that was submitted to the will of God!! Prayer that would STRENGTHEN and enable Jesus to face what He would have to face.
Church, there will be times we have to enter into our “GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE” too. When we are fighting the “battle of our wills!” Those times of distress, sorrow and loneliness. But those times can also be times of great STRENGTHENING for us! IF we are willing to lose, and surrender to the Father’s will in our lives!
Philippians 4:6, Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
Are you ready to be EMPTIED of your will today? Are you ready to SURRENDER to God’s will and purpose in your life? Let’s serve an EVICTION NOTICE on our wills today!
ALTAR CALL:
Salvation.
Dealing with stress in life.
Surrendering your will to the Lord!
Be strengthened for your circumstance.
SONG:
Open Up The Sky
