In His prayer to His Father, Jesus spoke these words in the end, “Thy will be done.” Jesus was facing a terrible ordeal that same night. Gladly He would have avoided it, but the will of His Father was more important to Him than His own comfort. How often do we pray and ask many things from God, but forget to add in the end, “Thy will be done.”
When you became a Christian you joined the army of Christ to fight against the powers of evil, against sin and corruption, against selfishness and pride, against the love of the world.
Only a few Christians truly understand the terrible warfare that is going on for their souls and for the souls of every person that is born into this world. Satan is a terrible enemy of God’s children. Very few even among professed Christians escape his deceptions. If he could deceive the holy angels in heaven, can he not also deceive us, especially after six thousand years of experience in deceiving people?
Jesus met a man with an unclean spirit. “And when He was come out of the ship, immediately there met Him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit. Who had his dwelling place among the tombs; and no man could bind him, no, not with chains: Because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces: neither could any man tame him. And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones. But when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshipped Him, And cried with a loud voice, and said, What have I to do with Thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high God? I adjure Thee by God, that Thou torment me not. For He said unto him, Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit. And He asked him, What is thy name? And he answered, saying, My name is Legion: for we are many.” Mark 5:2–9
Satan sent a legion of evil angels to keep this man a prisoner. He was in a hopeless condition. Alone he could not have freed himself. “The same evil spirit that tempted Christ in the wilderness, and that possessed the maniac of Capernaum, controlled the unbelieving Jews. But with them he assumed an air of piety, seeking to deceive them as to their motives in rejecting the Saviour. Their condition was more hopeless than that of the demoniac, for they felt no need of Christ and were therefore held fast under the power of Satan.” –The Desire of Ages, p. 256
How did these Jews come under Satan’s control while believing that they were serving God?
Sister White writes, “It is not only by resistance but by neglect that the soul is destroyed.” –The Desire of Ages, p. 323
They did not deliberately choose the service of the kingdom of darkness, but by neglect, they did not ally themselves with the kingdom of light.
Unless we are vitally connected with Christ we cannot resist Satan and the effects of self-love, self-indulgence, and temptation to sin.
“The hearts of many are at war with God. They are not subject to His law. Only as they shall come into harmony with the rule of His government, can Christ be of any avail to them. They may talk of Christ as their Saviour, but He will finally say to them, I knew you not.” –Selected Messages, book 1, p. 239
Paul did not know that he was fighting against God and His people. He thought that he was doing service for God in persecuting the Christians. So great can be the deception with Christians even today. In the name of religion, terrible crimes have been done. Millions of people have been killed in the name of God. When legions of evil spirits control the religious leaders, we can only expect hatred, confusion and false doctrines.
Sister White wrote that, by neglect the soul is destroyed. Neglecting prayer, Bible study, and also missionary work, can destroy our soul.
Jesus said, “He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much.” Luke 16:10
By willful unfaithfulness in small things we lose the power of God and then we will be unfaithful also in the greater things. Even our eating habits can led us in the wrong direction. When we ask of ourselves what we like to eat, we may ignore the health reform that God has given us.
In anything that we want to think, speak or do, we must ask the Lord, “Is this Thy will?” We should tremble at the thought that our own will would be done. To do our will is selfishness, and also it is sin.
Sister White wrote, “The warfare against self is the greatest battle that was ever fought. The yielding of self, surrendering all to the will of God and being clothed with humility, possessing that love that is pure, peaceable, and easy to be entreated, full of gentleness and good fruits, is not an easy attainment.” –Testimonies for the Church, vol. 3, p. 106–107
Satan was very successful in heaven, deceiving the angels by offering them the freedom of will. No more doing God’s will but their own; and this great deception he is using in the world today.
Satan is presenting an easier religion, one that does not require self-denial nor cross-bearing. He is successful in offering people heaven without the bitter cup that Jesus is offering to us.
Jesus will ask of everyone, “Lovest thou Me more than these?” To love Jesus more than these, means all those things that we liked before in life. Now for Jesus we give them up. We are in a war against ourselves, against our desires, appetites, and passions. Our reformation means complete surrender of our will to God.
“Wrongs cannot be righted, nor can reformations in character be made by a few feeble, intermittent efforts. Sanctification is the work, not of a day, or of a year, but of a lifetime.” –Testimonies for the Church, vol. 8, p. 312–313
Our efforts towards holiness must be continuous, and persevering. We must war against temptations from without and within. All can overcome in this battle if they put all their body, mind, and soul into it. Life itself is less important than obedience to God, while a life of self-indulgence leads to death. To young people, Sister White wrote, “Beacons of warning are placed on every side in the pathway of life to prevent men from approaching the dangerous, forbidden ground; but, not withstanding this, multitudes choose the fatal path, contrary to the dictates of reason, regardless of God’s law, and in defiance of His vengeance.
“A little time spent in sowing your wild oats, dear young friends, will produce a crop that will embitter your whole life; an hour of thoughtlessness, once yielding to temptation, may turn the whole current of your life in the wrong direction. You can have but one youth; make that useful. When once you have passed over the ground, you can never return to rectify your mistakes. He who refuses to connect with God, and puts himself in the way of temptation will surely fall. God is testing every youth.” –Adventist Home, p. 59
It is not important what I want, what I love, or desire, they all have been crucified; the only important thing is to do God’s will even if it kills me. This is the victory that we must gain.
When Satan offered to Jesus all the kingdoms of the world, He despised this offer. Jesus overcame by fasting and prayer, and we can do the same. Then we can say with Paul, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love His appearing.” 2 Timothy 4:7–8
All who are willing to give up their own will and do the will of God will have a crown that Jesus will place upon their heads, which no one can take away. AMEN.
Timo Martin