We are looking at beginnings. In the beginning God. He is on the move and He speaks. We begin with the Lord, we devote ourselves to Him first, we trust, we feast on His Word. We share with one another. We break bread with one another and remember the death of Jesus. Often. It is our staple. And we talk to the Lord. In everything, about everything - we begin (and end) with prayer, it is imperative that we pray. In the imperative.
How’s that going, by the way? Have you been able to try that? Let me make a suggestion in case you’d like to try that. Try changing your lingo from:
“I just pray that you would heal Scott’s eye” to “Please heal Scott’s eye”. From “I just pray that You would open my eyes to see wonderful things in Your law” to “Please open my eyes to see wonderful things in Your law.” Confidence. Normal confident conversation. In Jesus’ name.
But in the flow of this Beginnings series as I originally conceived it, we were going to first consider today’s topic BEFORE we talked about the Imperative. First we were going to talk about The Impossible. The Impossible. Let’s talk about that…
John 14:1-11 “Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also. And you know the way where I am going.” Thomas *said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, how do we know the way?” Jesus *said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him.” Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” Jesus *said to him, “Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; otherwise believe because of the works themselves.”
Jesus is shepherding their hearts, but He’s also setting them up for a teaching moment here. He has just told them that He is going away, and that they can’t go with Him, at least not yet. Peter asks, why? Why can’t I follow You right now? Jesus tells them, don’t let your hearts be troubled. I’m going to prepare a place for you. I will come again and get you. And you know the way, how to get there. To which Thomas says, um, Lord, ok sounds great, but we don’t even know where you're going, much less the way to get there. To which Jesus replies, I am the Way. No one comes to the Father but through Me. It’s not so much about a path, it’s about a Person! Me! Believe IN Me! It’s a relationship. And to know Me is to know the Father, and to see Me is to see the Father. And now Philip jumps in, and says, yes Lord, ok sounds great - show us the Father. Maybe we don’t even need to know Him, but yes, we’d love to see Him. Please just show us the Father, that’s good enough. And Jesus could’ve been like, hello? McFly? Anybody there? But with profound patience He answers and says, don’t you know who I am, Philip? I am in the Father, and He is in Me. I and the Father are one. If you’ve seen Me, you've seen the Father. To know Me is to know the Father. In other words, I am God. I am the Way, and I am the Life - I am the destination. And if you can’t believe the words that are coming out of My mouth, believe the works that I am doing. These works I am doing, these amazing miraculous miracles, these wonderful impossibles - they are proof that I am who I say I am. That My words are true. They show that I and the Father are one. If you've seen Me, you've seen Him. And if you know Me, then You know Him. Believe Me. And, believe IN Me. Believe what I am saying to you about Who I am. And if you need any extra convincing, look to the works. Look at what I’m doing, what I’ve been doing before your very eyes these past three years. That should show you Who I am, that I am who I say I am. That I am the great I AM… Believe in Me.
Believe the works. The miracles. One thing we don’t see too much of in the Gospels is people’s reactions when they saw a miracle. What do you think their responses were?
We see amazing magic tricks and trick shots on YouTube - talk about mind-blowing. How do you respond when your mind is blown?
Guess what? Now here comes an even bigger mind-blower. Look at what He says next:
John 14:12 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father.”
And they were like, what? I think their eyes got more than just a little bit wider. Do what You do? Uh, I could never do that. There’s no way. And greater works? Um, Lord, that’s not possible. That’s impossible. You’re not even going to be with us - we’re still trying to get our minds around THAT one, and now You’re telling us that not only are we going to carry on the whole enterprise, but we’re going to grow it? We’re going to do the things that You do, but we’re going to do even greater things? Um, that’s definitely impossible, and maybe even certifiable, but certainly not possible, humanly speaking. And Jesus was like, ah ha… Cuz He goes right on to say…
John 14:13-14 “Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.”
You guys don’t think you can do what I do, much less do even greater works. In fact you’re having trouble even just believing and doing what I say, and I get that, but guess what? We already have that figured out. Me and the Father. The Father and I, sorry. I’m leaving yes, and I’m going back to the Father, yes, but that’s actually a good thing. In fact, that’s exactly what I need to do, and what is going to be best for you (not to mention what is going to unlock the impossible). Because two things come in to play once I go to the Father. The first is, I am going to be right at the Father’s side, interceding for you. And so your prayer life is about to get a major upgrade. It is going to be Prayer 2.0. You are going to pray in My Name, and WHATEVER you ask in My name, that I will do. And their eyes must have bugged out a little wider, cuz He repeats it. He says, that’s right, you heard Me. If you ask ANYTHING in My name, I will do it. The first key to greater works, is believing prayer in Jesus’ Name. Confident, believing prayer. Often. The first key to The Impossible is The Imperative of prayer. Because the greater works do not depend on us, not ultimately - remember, prayer is the measure of our dependence on Him. We need to ask, but Jesus says it twice, for emphasis - I, I will do. Future indicative - it is a promise, a future fact. And we talked about this last time. But again, the order here is reversed. First we need to talk about the impossible - then we talk about the imperative. It is our understanding of the impossible, this bar set so high as to be humanly impossible, which creates in us the requisite felt need such that we realize that prayer IS the imperative. It is imperative that we pray. Cuz this bar is set way too high for little ol’ me. There is no way I can do the works of Jesus, much less greater works. So Jesus is saying, I am going to do them, silly. You are going pray, you are going to ask the Father in My Name, and then I am going to do them. And guess Who gets the glory? Exactly?
Prayer is expected here, btw. The actual language in the Greek read like this: “Whatever you should ask in My Name…” It is called the aorist subjunctive. It is almost as certain as the future indicative. He is saying, yes, you definitely should ask, and you pretty much will… You should ask. You will ask.
So prayer is the first thing which comes into play as to how to carry out this whole greater works enterprise. The second thing Jesus mentions is - well, let’s see what He says. He continues:
John 14:15-17 “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.”
If you love me, you’ll do what I say, right? You’ll do what I ask. Everything that I ask. No problem, right? Easy peasy. Like Staples - that was easy. Except it isn’t, is it? It isn’t easy at all. In fact it is humanly impossible. Hundreds of commands in the Law, and we get a bushel full of new ones in the New Testament. But even just keeping the Great Command and the New Command is impossible, isn’t it? Love the Lord with all your heart, and your neighbor as yourself? Oh, and now love one another. And then let’s add in the Great Commission - make disciples of all the nations. Just these right here are mission impossible. Totally impossible, humanly speaking. I think the Lord might be doing a couple of things here. He’s keeping the bar set high, to be sure - impossibly high - but in doing so, I think He is trying to bring us to the end of ourselves. And that, my friends, is one of the prerequisites for the greater works. Until, and unless I feel sufficiently needy, I won’t really pray. I won’t ask for help. You and me both.
See, cuz we are Americans. We built this country from the ground up. We built this city on blood sweat and tears. And rock and roll. We are pioneers. Rugged individualists. The American experiment - generation upon generation incubated in the beaker of freedom. Capitalism. The land of opportunity. We are the little engine who could. I think I can, I think I can. Let’s do it. Just do it. Git er done - these are our mantras. Throw enough money and ingenuity and elbow grease at something, and the sky’s the limit. Or the ceiling is the roof. This sense of indomitability. We’re Americans! We’re practically undefeated. And we can do whatever we want. Pretty much anything we put our mind to. Pretty much all we need to do is show up. And this never-say-die, just do it mindset has some tremendous upside. It can be a beautiful thing. I had the chance to visit with Ben and Bettye Letourneau this week, and got to hear some of the amazing stories of some of their family exploits. Such an amazing spirit of pioneering and determination and risk-taking. Um, R.G. - we need a better earth mover. No problem - I’ll build it. Pop, we need a trailer to haul these boys to Bible camp. No problem, I’ll make it. These young men need a place to stay and food - and Jesus. No problem, I'll make that happen. We need a new deep sea oil rig. No problem, Mr. Bush - I’ll invent that. Such determination and grit. This is the spirit which has made America great, hasn’t it? And so much has been done in the name of Jesus, to the glory of God.
But if we’re not careful, apart from God’s grace, there can be an unintended consequence, can’t there? Left to its own devices, this spirit can breed arrogance. Selfishness. A level of affluence and self-sufficiency which doesn’t have any felt-needs - and worse, doesn't think it has any needs. Doesn’t need help. Doesn’t ask for help. This can be particularly true with the men. Ladies, isn’t this true? Most men are uncomfortable with weakness, with neediness. We don’t mind a challenge, we don’t mind a bar set high, but we got this. I got this. I don’t need any help. We don't like to ask for help, much less admit that we need help. It's one reason why you'll find more women in church services and prayer meetings - religion is basically saying, I don’t got this. Prayer, at least at a certain level, is saying, no, I don't got this. It is about surrendering to One Who is greater, and acknowledging my deep and profound need for Him, for the help that He offers. And this flies in the face of a huge chunk of the American mindset. Many folks insist, “I don’t need a crutch.” So yes one of the keys to greater works is this coming to an end of ourselves. Cuz our instinct when we're faced with a challenge, with a problem, with a bar set high, is to reach for our boot straps, isn't it? We try to calculate whether we have the resources to pull this off, or can access them in sufficient quantities. Then we channel our little engine who could. I do think that God gives us gifts and skills and abilities and passions and resources to help us do all kinds of things for Him. But the jumping off point is not, I think I can.
Look what Jesus says just a few verses later:
John 15:1-5, 16 “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you.”
Apart from Me, you can do nothing. That word in the Greek means nothing. Nada. Zilch. Not one thing. There is not even one thing we can do apart from the Lord.
Jesus here introduces this metaphor of bearing fruit. What He’s asking us to do is to bear fruit. More fruit. Much fruit. Lasting fruit. The fruit of greater works. The fruit of doing what He commands. The fruit of changed lives all around us, and in every nation. The fruit of others with hearts and lives devoted to Jesus. And this fruit is lasting fruit. It is fruit that doesn’t dry up. It is fruit that echoes into eternity. It’s not just a bunch of activity and meetings and programs and noses and nickles. It’s about changed lives - changed families, and changed cities, and a changed world. Truly changed. For good. And for forever. And the only way for this to happen - is if Jesus is the One Who does it. The scope is way too big, and the bar is way too high. We're talking about a mission, and a power, which is way beyond the reach of our bootstraps. Even - and especially - as Americans. Greater works. All our heart. All the nations. We can’t do this. It’s impossible - in our own strength. Which is precisely Jesus' point. He wants to bring us to the end of ourselves, to the end of our abilities…
When we stop to consider these words, we see that Jesus is setting the bar impossibly high, but in the same breath He says, the Father is going to give you a Helper. You are going to need to ask for help, you are going to need to ask Me to show up and do what I do, but guess what. These greater works, this whole commands-and-much-fruit thing? Loving the Lord with all your heart and loving your neighbor (and your enemy)? I’m gonna do you one better. I'm gonna do you a solid. Cuz up until now, I’ve been limited by time and space. I’ve been your Teacher, and I’ve been with you, yes, and you’re understandably concerned about Me leaving, but now I am going to be IN you. Through My Spirit. The Holy Spirit. He is the Helper Whom the Father is going to send. And once and whenever you realize that you are powerless and cannot do any of this apart from Me, without My help - then through My Spirit, the Holy Spirit, I am going to be able to do what I do - IN you and THROUGH you. Prayer - needy, dependent asking - and the Holy Spirit. These are the keys to greater works. To mission accomplished, the impossible mission. The key to miracles. And there is nothing any of us are facing that a little miracle wouldn't cure.
A traveler was riding on a train in China, past vast flooded fields of rice. In the distance he saw a man pumping water from a well, into the field. Cranking away, up and down, tirelessly. And he thought, surely that man is unable to fill this huge field of water. But as he got close, he realized it wasn't a man at at. And it wasn't a pump at all. It was a spring, full of water, forcing its way up and out of the ground, making the arm of the pump go un and down, and someone had set up a figure on the pump that looked like a man. Jesus said, “Whoever believes in Me, from their innermost being will flow streams of living water.” Life-giving water. And in saying this He spoke of the Spirit.
Paul teaches us about this:
Galatains 5:16-23 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law. Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
What he's saying is that in our own strength, left to our own devices, our own efforts, we get what he calls the deeds of the flesh. Man’s inhumanity to man. The love we long for, the joy and peace and patience we so desire we cannot sustain in our own strength. It is produced in our hearts and lives by the Spirit of God. It is fruit. And how does a branch produce fruit? What is the key to bearing fruit? What did Jesus say? You gotta tap into the trunk. Into the vine. I am the Vine, you are the branches. Abide in Me. Remain in Me. Stay vitally connected to Me. Cuz ain't no fruit if you don’t.
Ephesians 5:15-20 Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil. So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father…
Paul says be filled with the Spirit. That which fills you controls you and produces a change in your behavior. This passage is not a prohibition for drinking wine. The believers had wine at many a meal. Paul is using the metaphor of filling. He is saying, the Holy Spirit should be the thing that fully fills you. Not wine - or anything else. God’s Spirit should be fully/increasingly in control, and changing you, giving you the power that you need to live into the greater works. To live into what God wants for you, every moment of every day. It is present tense - be presently filled, be constantly filled, controlled and empowered by the Holy Spirit. He is in control. Not me. I'm not in control. Which is a hard lesson to learn. A friend in college - Jay Moon - whenever he was asked, "How ya doin', Jay?", his answer was always the same: "Outta control!" But we like to be in control, don’t we? We like to have all our ducks in a row. Master of my domain. We like to have the remote, don’t we? But me outta control, God in control - that’s the key to miracles. Filled with the Spirit. God in control. Not alcohol. Or any other substance. Or any other thing, period. We can be filled with all kinds of things, can’t we? We can be controlled by all kinds of things. Anger. Lust. Materialism. Money. Our stomach. Our appearance. Our career. A relationship. You see, this goes to the very core of our devotion and worship, of who we are as spiritual beings. We were made to worship. We were made to give our hearts to something. And we were made to give our hearts first and foremost to the Lord. He's in control. First place - that’s His place.
So in talking about being filled with the Holy Spirit, we are talking about two things. Most people see this as a question of guidance, that you give control of your heart and will to God’s Spirit and He generally shows you what to do. But it’s not merely about the what. It is just as much about the how-to. It’s about the ability. It’s not just about guidance, it’s about power. This is the lesson which the Lord had to reinforce for Paul:
2Corinthians 12:7 Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me — to keep me from exalting myself! Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me. And He has said to me, “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. Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.
The word for weakness in the Greek here means literally, no strength. See, the American translators chose the word weak. And weak is such a misleading word, especially to Americans, cuz to us that means I have a little bit of strength. I am the little engine who could, remember. I can get up this hill if I just dig deep enough. Uh uh. Nope. That’s not what the Lord had to teach Paul. Paul was amazingly gifted, well-educated, and he had been given some amazing revelations. He had been personally instructed by the Lord in Arabia. And the danger there was that he could depend on these things, any of these things, instead of depending on the Lord. So the Lord allowed him to have a thorn in the flesh. We don't know exactly what it was. Some kind of sickness or disability or problem. And Paul repeatedly asked the Lord to take it away. He probably prayed in the imperative - not, "Lord, I just pray that You would remove this thorn", but "Lord, please remove this thorn!" And God said no. But the reason for the no, was that God wanted a greater glory, and He needed Paul to learn, not that he was weak, not that he had a little strength, but that he had NO strength, apart from the Lord. Strength-less. Power-less. Apart from the Lord, there was nothing he could do. Nothing at least in the realm of eternally significant and lasting fruit. The key to miracles, the key to the impossible, to greater works, to mission accomplished, is not I think I can. It is, I know I can NOT. Then we ask. And then the Helper goes to work. Jesus gets busy. And in the end, that’s what we’re talking about. Jesus getting busy. Jesus showing up, and doing His thing - through me. Through lil' ol' me. Finite, flawed, weak and powerless. Just a jar of clay. A clay pot. In which and through whom Jesus shows up. Christ in me, the hope of glory. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. That’s what we’re talking about. And when the world, or my neighbors, or my family, sees that, sees Jesus doing His thing in and through me, they will take notice. They may not be able to explain it - like magic, but real. And that’s the point. Inexplicable. Inexplicable. My life, inexplicable. Impossible - apart from Jesus.
Ask the Lord to fill you with His Spirit. He will do it, because He has commanded us to be filled. Recognize and admit that apart from Him there is nothing you can do. And Ask Him to guide you and empower you to do the things He wants you to do. Ask Him to show up. And then watch out…!
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