Not as I Will, But as You Will

Pastor John Talcott
Christ's Community Church

Read Part 4

(8/20) Welcome to all of you. We are continuing in part five of this series called Divine Direction today. We’ve been talking about making decisions, biblical and godly decisions, wise decisions, and this message is incredibly important, because we make our decision but then our decisions make us. In other words, who we are tomorrow will be based upon the decisions that we make today.

Now, it would be nice if we were given a glimpse into the future, but we couldn’t handle it. It is too great of a responsibility to see everything that is going to happen in the future, but the good news is that we serve a God who can and who directs our steps. And so, all we have to do is be faithful in the next step, learning to follow his directions, and consistently walking with him.

Let’s jump right in, turning in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 26, as we learn from Jesus, our rabbi, our master and teacher. The context here is that Jesus is at a pivotal point in his ministry, very literally a life changing decision. The setting is here in verse 36,

"Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane" (Matthew 26:36).

Now, the name Gethsemane literally means oil press, and so it’s a garden, it’s a place where they crushed olives to get oil. And so, this is a pressing place where Jesus goes to pray and to make a critical decision. This is the time immediately preceding the cross and he is crushed by the anxiety of this decision.

He goes there with his disciples hoping to find strength from his inner circle, those closest to him, but just because you like somebody doesn’t mean that they can handle where you are on a spiritual level. We like to have company when we are going through a difficult time and the truth is that we all have these crushing places in our lives. We don’t like them, we didn’t ask for them, we don’t want them, but it’s inevitable that we go through seasons where we are pressed, squeezed, and crushed.

This is Gethsemane, this is where Jesus was, and the weight of his destiny was pressing down on him. He went into the garden with his disciples,

"And he said to them, "Sit here while I go over there and pray" (Matthew 26:36).

And then he took those closest to him, Peter, James, and John, along with him, deeper into this place called Gethsemane.

"He began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me" (Matthew 26:37-38).

"Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me" (Matthew 26:39).

In other words, "Father, if there’s any way that I can get out of this, may this cup be taken from me." But look at what he says next, he subjects himself to the Father, bringing his will into alignment with the Father’s will and says,

"Not as I will, but as you will" (Matthew 26:39).

Now, it’s easy to come to an agreement with God when he is asking you to do something that is good and will bring you pleasure. But it’s much more difficult when God’s will means giving up what you had in your mind to do. You know, like less friends, less money, less of this or less of that, and then it’s even more difficult when what God is asking you to do includes suffering and you have to do it alone.

That was the decision Jesus wrestled with, choosing a Divine Direction, surrendering what he had in mind, yielding to the will of God, and being open to whatever he wanted to do. And he had to do it alone because verse forty says, that when he returned to his disciples, he found them sleeping.

"Could you men not keep watch with me for one hour?" he asked Peter. "Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation" (Matthew 26:40-41).

He said, "the spirit is willing, but the body is what? "The body is weak."

In other words, it’s a contest, the spirit and the body are in a fight. Willing and weak are struggling to see who’s going to drive the narrative in the garden, in this pressing place.

Once more, Jesus went away and prayed the same thing, "My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done" (Matthew 26:42).

In other words, he prayed over and over and over again to bring himself into alignment with the Father. That’s important because when he first started to pray, he was praying to have his own way. But as he continued to pray, he brought his will into alignment with his Father’s will so that he was thinking the right things, saying the right things, and ultimately doing the right things.

And so, as Jesus prayed, he surrendered to the will of the Father, because he recognized that he could make it without Peter, James, and John. But he had too many hills to climb, and that he couldn’t, and that he didn’t want to do it without being in alignment with his Father’s will.

"When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing" (Matthew 26:43-44).

Now, I hope you realize that if Jesus had to pray three times praying once a week is not going to work. Praying once is certainly not going to get you through those dark seasons that include betrayal, denial, and suffering.

After this third time, he returned once again to the disciples and said to them,

"Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour is near, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us go! Here comes my betrayer" (Matthew 26:45-46)!

This prayer in the garden is so significant because Jesus’ decision would make all the difference in the world. And so, in order for Jesus to endure the sufferings of the cross, he had to be in alignment with his Father.

Determined to move in a Divine Direction, while Jesus was still speaking to his disciples,

"Judas, one of the Twelve, arrived. With him was a large crowd armed with swords and clubs, sent from the chief priests and the elders of the people" (Matthew 26:47).

The Lord Jesus faced them confidently because he had spent time in the presence of his Father and he had received Divine Direction. Therefore, as Isaiah tells us, "He set his face like flint" expressing his complete confidence in God declaring, "I know I will not be put to shame" (Isaiah 50:7). And so, he was determined not to shrink back from his mission, in spite of severe suffering and humiliation.

You see, Peter, James, and John had fallen asleep, but Jesus had gone on a little further. They gave up on him, they let him down, but Jesus did not let us down. He had been pressed down, he was crushed, his life was in turmoil, his emotions were all over the place, but he stayed the course. He said,

"My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me." Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed" (Matthew 26:37-39).

He prayed to bring his will into alignment with his Father, because the spirit is willing, but the body is weak. He prays until he hemorrhaged, bleeding out of his sweat glands, wrestling to bring his will into alignment, because when your will is out of alignment, when you are caught between two opinions, when you are listening to two different voices, the Bible says you are double minded, and a double minded man is unstable in all he does (James 1:8).

And so, when you’re caught between two opinions it will wear you down, you’ll be exhausted. In other words, you go to bed tired, and you rise up tired, because your mind doesn’t rest, you are wrestling in your sleep. That’s why you need to get into alignment, coming to that place where you can say decisively,

"Yet not as I will, but as you will" (Matthew 26:39).

And when you begin to move in a Divine Direction, when you come into alignment with God, demons started trembling and hell gets nervous, because they know that God is going to do something amazing in your life.

And so, walking in the divine direction, living in a divine direction, is everything, because when you’re in alignment with God’s will you don’t have to wrestle and struggle with navigating through life. Of course, there are going to be things happening in your life, because everything doesn’t always work the way we want it to, but when you are brought into alignment life is so much easier to handle. And that’s why the devil, your spiritual enemy will fight so hard to keep you from being aligned with God, because he doesn’t want you walking in the Spirit. He knows that the spirit is willing, but the body is weak. And so, he will do everything he can to keep you from being a witness in your home, your workplace, or your community.

In other words, every demon in hell will try to keep you from worshiping in the church, serving in ministry, and making a difference in this world. And so, they will do anything to disrupt you, to distract you, and to discourage you from testifying to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Because when you’re in the right place, when you’re walking in the Spirit, when you’re in alignment with God he said,

"In that day the burden will be lifted from your shoulders, and the yoke from your neck…will be broken" (Isaiah 10:27).

In other words, mountains will be moved, doors will be opened, and miracles will happen when you are in alignment with God.

And so, we want to be peacemakers, we shouldn’t be looking for arguments, certainly not looking to get even, because that takes us out of alignment. In other words, sometimes you have to bite your tongue, keeping your opinion to yourself to stay in alignment, because the Bible says,

"Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord" (Hebrews 12:14).

And so, sometimes you just can’t respond to people, you don’t get to say everything you want to say, because you understand that living in peace brings you into alignment.

In other words, your divine direction is making every effort to live in peace because when you are in alignment, the Holy Spirit will come. That’s what happened in Acts chapter two, the Bible says,

"They were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting" (Acts 2:1-2).

You see, they thought they were waiting on God, but God was waiting on them to get into alignment, and when they did the Bible says,

"All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them" (Acts 2:4).

I want to encourage all of you today to start walking in a Divine Direction, because when you come into alignment God will release the anointing in your house, in your marriage, and in your ministry. When you come into alignment, God said,

"See if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it" (Malachi 3:10).

But God can’t pour out a blessing until we get into alignment.

In other words, no bickering, grumbling, and complaining, but gathering together in unity and in agreement. Jesus described it this way in Matthew chapter 18, verse 19,

"If two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven" (Matthew 18:19).

In other words, when we agree about what we are asking, what we are seeking, in agreement or alignment with his will, he promises,

"There am I with them" (Matthew 18:20).

But on the other hand, when you’re out of alignment, if you have an offense against your brother, or your brother has something against you, Jesus said,

"Leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift" (Matthew 5:24).

In other words, come into alignment with the will of God, then come worship, then come pray and ask. He said, I will only do it when you are in alignment with God the Father and with one another. And that’s why the enemy fights so hard to bring division, jealousy, and contention in our lives, keeping us fighting among ourselves and fighting God’s purpose in our lives.

And so, sometimes you have got to swallow your pride, not letting your emotions move you out of alignment. In the Bible, James talks about submitting to God, getting in alignment, he says,

"Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up" (James 4:10).

In other words, what sense is there in proving that you are stronger than somebody else? What does it matter if you win the fight if you lose the war?

You see, our divine direction must be alignment with God, coming together in agreement, getting in the right place at the right time to get what God has for you. The psalmist tells us this in Psalm 133, "How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity!" In other words, when you’re in agreement, divine alignment, living together in unity, you are positioned in the right place. Because when God pours out the anointing of the Holy Spirit,

"It is like precious oil poured on the head, running down on the beard, running down on Aaron's beard, down upon the collar of his robes... For there the Lord bestows his blessing, even life forevermore" (Psalms 133:1-3).

And that’s why the devil will try to move you out of your place, get you out of alignment, because he doesn’t want you to be in the right place. In other words, there are some of you who are thinking that you must need to move because all hell is breaking loose, but the Lord said,

"Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today" (Exodus 14:13).

In other words, when the Lord begins pouring out his blessing, when the oil is poured on the head, you want to be in alignment, because you want to be lined up with the head so that as the oil flows it will run down the beard and on the clothes.

In the same way, you want to be in alignment with your spiritual leaders so that they are blessed. The Bible says it this way in Hebrews chapter thirteen,

"Obey your leaders and submit to their authority… so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you" (Hebrews 13:17).

And so, when you see the anointing poured out, when you see the oil hit the head of your leader, that same blessing will be on the beard and on the robes. In other words, you will receive the same anointing, the same blessing, but you’ve got to be in alignment.

This is the way it has always been from Creation, 8,000 years ago, up to today. There has to be order, there has to be structure, there has to be alignment, and so the Holy Spirit begins to move in the chaos. Once the Lord had everything in alignment, then he started bringing forth fruit, because he is not going to give you fruitfulness in chaos.

Now, if that was true in the beginning, true in Genesis, true in the Psalms, true in Gethsemane, then it is true now. We need to get in alignment, coming together in agreement, moving as one body in a divine direction, so that were in the right place when God is ready to release what he has for us. And so, it’s not about how impressive we are, how big we are, or how strong we are; because when God gets ready to pour out his blessing, he will reach down into a little town like Fairfield and call someone like me. An associate pastor in a little church that nobody was thinking about, because the Bible says,

"He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things — and the things that are not — to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him" (1 Corinthians 1:28-29).

And so, when God gets ready to bless you, to anoint you, and to raise you up, he doesn’t need people to help you, but he needs you to be waiting in the right place. God’s got something for you, but he needs you to be moving in a divine direction. The Holy Spirit is coming,

"To do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us" (Ephesians 3:20 ESV).

And so, Jesus was in the garden of Gethsemane praying, weeping, sweating drops of blood because of the intense agony of what he was facing on Calvary’s cross. But the truth is that his direction was settled that moment in the garden when he said,

"Yet not as I will, but as you will" (Matthew 26:39).

When Jesus said that it was settled, it was over. In the same way, you don’t have to wait till you see it happen for it to be over, the moment you get in alignment with God, the moment you say yes in your spirit, it is already as good as done.

The Lord may have been speaking to you, his instructions were almost too simple, and you are struggling and wrestling with his directions. And you have been saying, "Lord, as soon as I see the way I am going to move," but God is saying, "Can you obey me limited information?"

You see, for some of you it feels like you’re in the dark, you don’t know which one it is, you don’t know which way to go. And so, the Lord says, "Will you trust me and follow my word even though you see but a poor reflection as in a mirror" (1 Corinthians 13:12).

In other words, will you trust me and let my word be a lamp to your feet and a light to your path (Psalms 119:105). Will you trust me, moving in a divine direction, even though you can’t see all the way down the road to your destination? And so, you may only be able to see enough to make the next step, but God is going to light it up little by little, step-by-step. Because the Bible says,

"The steps of a man are established by the Lord when he delights in his way" (Psalms 37:23, ESV).

In other words, you are not going to see 10 years down the road, you are only going to see the next step. Even Jesus, the Son of God, didn’t have all the details. He said,

"No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father" (Matthew 24:36).

But he sought the Father, trusting him with the details, and made himself nothing. The Scripture says, being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient to death, even death on the cross.

There was so much that God had prepared for his son, but the glory could only fall in the right place, and when he had the right attitude. In the garden that night Jesus had the right attitude, he got in alignment fulfilling centuries of prophecy because he recognized that it wasn’t about him, it is about what is going to come through him. His divine direction was determined when he said,

"Yet not as I will, but as you will" (Matthew 26:39).

This was his prophecy, this was his destiny, and this was his legacy, not just about the man, but it was about the glory of Christ, the anointed one.

Many of you today are getting into alignment, you are moving in a divine direction, and when it is your time, it is your time, and the Holy Spirit knows what God has for you is for you. And so, you just get in the right place, because you don’t have to fight anybody, you don’t have to argue with anybody, you don’t have to be jealous of anybody, this is yours, God is releasing it, it’s coming down from glory, are you ready for it, this is your prophetic word, this is your anointed word, this is your alignment.

Read past sermons by Pastor John Talcott