Last week I wrote about the door that was open before us, and that it was time to go through that door and represent Jesus well, taking His presence and power with us. There is a world to be reached, there are millions even in the U.K. who have never heard the gospel, never felt God’s presence or seen His power. The door is open. It’s time to go through.
One of the most challenging verses for me, in the New Testament is John 14 v 12. Jesus says, “whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these because I am going to the Father (and leaving Holy Spirit to fill us and empower us). As we rise to this awesome challenge we will see the words of Mark 16 v 20 fulfilled as we go: “The disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it”
But how does that work? What do we do? How do I get to do what Jesus did – and more? Last week I finished by saying we’d make this practical. Well, here goes ….
You might think we’d start with how to pray for the sick, how to expel a demon or two, or how to preach the gospel. Well, yes we will look at some of that stuff, but we need to start further back than that. We need to settle two crucially important questions first.
- Who God is and how we respond to that.
- Who He is in you?
I’m sure we can all come up with words that describe God, like loving, good, kind, generous, powerful, merciful, awesome, full of grace, slow to anger and quick to forgive etc. And all these are true. Where would I be without His forgiveness, never mind His grace and mercy towards me? What kind of life would it be walking with Him, if I couldn’t depend on His love, His goodness and His kindness that underscores everything in our relationship. There is something else though. God is not to be messed with. He is not just powerful, He is All-powerful. As Paul reminded Timothy, one day Jesus will judge us all. Yes, really.
There are two types of judgement in the Bible. There is the judgement that decides guilty or innocent – the kind of judgement made in a court of law. For Christians that judgement has already been made. We are innocent because of Jesus’ sacrifice on our behalf. Romans 8 v 1 “So now the case is closed. There remains no accusing voice….”
The other kind of judgement is the kind that takes place at the end of a competition. Effort, and skill and results are assessed and rewarded. There is for us, a judgement to come of how we have lived for Jesus. This is not a tally of sins or wrongdoings. It is a judgement of how we have followed Him, and what has been the fruit of that. He is Lord, and there is accountability.
Sometimes in all our emphasis on His love, mercy and grace we can forget that there is accountability. Mercy and Grace are levers which God has available to use at His discretion in accordance with His character. We make a mistake if we think that they are levers that we have a right to choose to operate for ourselves in our favour to allow us to live in incomplete obedience.
The New Testament has a lot to say about continuing in our walk with Jesus. “Come follow Me” says it all. It’s active not passive. As we continue to follow Jesus continued mercy and grace are poured out to cover the times when we fail or fall.
Jesus’ call to us is to follow Him not just to believe in Him. Followers are moving. They are leaving stuff behind. They have decided to follow Jesus (is there a song there?) wherever He chooses to take them. Think of the first disciples. They left everything. That’s a pattern, not a one-off.
Those who settle this issue get to do the stuff Jesus did, and more. Those who prefer to be just believers but are basically happy with where they are may get to do some of the stuff if they are that way inclined, but they will never reach full potential. Those whom God will trust with His Presence and Power in increasing intensity are those who have settled the issue that they will follow Jesus wherever He takes them. They know that there will be pain, discomfort at times, maybe suffering but also intense joy as they see more and more the Glory of God revealed. And isn’t that what we all signed up for?
The second question, ‘Who is He in us?’ Is then easily settled. He is the One I choose to follow. The King of Kings, Majesty, God of heaven living in me….The God who wants to partner with us in living out the promise of Jesus in John 14 v 12 ….doing what Jesus did, and more.
Here’s a song for you….
Church is out there 