The Need To Understand The Greater Task - Uproar 1

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We have started praying already. We surely have a need of God this morning. We have a need of God in this meeting.

And we want to raise a cry to heaven. And we believe that God will hear us in the name of Jesus Christ. I'd like us to read our team text, just that one verse, in Isaiah chapter 49, verse 6. That's where our prayer will be taken from.

Isaiah 49, verse 6. I'm going to read from the Good News Version. The Lord said to me, I have a greater task for you, my servant. Not only will you restore to greatness the people of Israel who have survived, but I will also make you a light to the nations so that all the world may be saved.

I have a greater task for you. This theme itself is a challenge to my own heart. It's a challenge in the sense that it would be presumptuous to think that we know that greater task.

Especially when you read it and it went on and said, not only will you restore to greatness the people of Israel who have survived, but I will also make you a light to the nations. You may think you know it because we are familiar with that kind of world. You would think you understand what God is saying when he says, I have a greater task for you.

But I see a great need this morning for God to touch our eyes as we began to pray this morning. To touch our eyes of understanding so that we will not be presumptuous and interpret what God is saying in our own understanding. Sometimes when God speaks and he speaks in a familiar language, you can be presumptuous, you know.

We may think we understand it as Martha thought he understood Jesus on that day. Do you remember when Jesus went and Lazarus died? And Jesus was saying to Martha, your brother will rise again. What did Martha say? I know he will rise at the resurrection of the dead.

Was that what Jesus was saying? But she knew about resurrection so much that she was misinterpreting what God was saying about her brother. Jesus said your brother will rise again at the resurrection of the dead. Martha knows too much that she will not even seek understanding, a fresh understanding of what God is saying.

Jesus said to her again, I am the resurrection and the life. And then Martha said, I know. If you read that scripture, you will see I know too much in the life of Martha.

I know, I know you are the Christ, the son of the living God who is to come into the world. Was that what Jesus was saying? If we will not be presumptuous in this meeting about the greater task, if you will not presume that you know what God is saying when he says you will be a light to the Gentiles, you need to go to God. You need a fresh touch to your understanding.

We must not be presumptuous. You must cry to God, Lord, show me this greater task. Reveal it to me, don't allow me to be presumptuous.

Some of us, our knowledge is too much. We know everything. And so God cannot speak anything new to your hearts.

You will cry to God and say, Lord, open my eyes that I may see. I wish Peter understood when Jesus said to him in Matthew 16, 19, and I give unto you the keys of the kingdom. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven.

Whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. I wish Peter understood. And if he did not, he could have asked Jesus the question, Lord, what do you mean? He did not understand and he did not ask questions.

Yet the keys of the kingdom had been committed unto him. So when he was to open the doors of the kingdom to the Gentiles, he put the key in his pocket and locked the door. He did not understand what Jesus said that day.

He did not know that he has the key. He locked the door. The key was in his pocket.

Thomas could not open it. John, as close to Jesus as he was, could not open that door. The key was in the pocket of Peter, but he did not open it because of lack of understanding of what Jesus said.

That was his portion in that labor, but he did not understand. He was so presumptuous. And you see, each one of us, God is saying that to us.

As the Lord has brought you into this meeting, he is saying I have a greater task for you. But it's important for us to understand what is this task and what is your own portion in it. Even though you will be the light unto the Gentiles, what does that mean to you? What is God saying to you about it? What's your portion in it? We have a great need of understanding.

That will be the key to our cry this morning. Because if you don't understand it, you will be stranded in the days ahead. You will be stranded.

You will be stranded and you will become irrelevant. Because you would have been persisting in something old. You will be persisting in things that are outdated.

Things that God has finished with. That's what you will still be doing. So you will become irrelevant.

You will pray, Lord, what are you saying to me? What is this greater task? Open my eyes that I may see. Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, did not understand that greater task. He was a high priest already serving God.

He thought that was the only thing he would do. He did not know that God has a greater task for him. He was to bring forth a John the Baptist who will prepare the way of the Lord.

And when the Lord came to announce that greater task to him, did he understand? He did not. He questioned God's ability. He said, how can when I am old? Don't you know I'm old? How can it be impossible? God said, okay, you will be dumb until these things come to pass.

If you don't understand, you may become dumb when the time of break forth comes. You will not be a part in it. You will beg God, open my eyes that I may see.

That's the first prayer. So that we will have time to pray, I want to quickly just introduce the point. And then you will raise a cry to heaven.

Because if God doesn't do that for us, whatever will be said and done in this meeting, for your own life, it will be in vain. You will cry. You will plead with God.

Lord, open my eyes. Open my understanding. What is this greater task, oh Lord, for me? And what is my part in it? What is my part in it? That will be the second prayer.

What's my role in it? And we are going to also cry to God. When God said, I have a greater task for you. It means that task is greater, by far, than what you are presently doing.

If you persist in what you are presently doing, and it is not in the light of the greater task, you will be stranded. Lord, this task that you are talking about, what makes it greater than what I am doing presently? Help me to see. Help me to see, so that I will throw the whole of my life into it.

Help me to see. Lord, help me to see. Help me to see the greatness of it that makes it greater than what I am presently involved in.

You may be a preacher, and you are enjoying that work, but like Zechariah, there is a greater task. Even though you will preach, but there is something greater that must be your emphasis. You will ask God, show me what makes it greater, so that I will put the whole of my life into it.

You remember the Nehara Kingsman in the scriptures, in the book of Ruth? Do you remember? Do you remember Ruth chapter 4? The Nehara Kingsman in the family of Elimelech. He was in the lineage of David, in the lineage of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world. But he didn't know.

So when it was time to perpetrate the name of the dead upon his inheritance, Marlon who died and left Ruth. When it was time for Ruth to be married, so that God will bring forth that lineage. He will continue that lineage for the Savior to come.

And they announced this greater task to him. It was clearly announced at the gate. They said, redeem this Ruth.

It was the land first. Redeem the land of Marlon who died. He said, yes, I will redeem it.

He wanted land. He did not want a Ruth. He didn't understand.

So when they said, okay, the day you acquire the land, you will acquire the widow. He said, ah, no. I don't want to marry my own inheritance.

Did he see it? He did not understand the greatness of that task of acquiring Ruth. He did not know. He said, that will be something that will mar his own inheritance.

Self will not let him go. You will cry to God today that you may see. Let the Lord open your eyes.

Otherwise, if you cling to what you are doing now, at this time of divine visitation, when God is about to launch us into a new thing, if you cling to the old, you will become irrelevant. God is introducing something that will make you known in eternity. Oh, he did not know.

He did not understand how great it was. He wanted to raise the name of the dead upon his inheritance. The child that will be born, according to Israel, that child must be bearing Obed Marlon.

Because it was the name of the dead. For God, who will not cheat any man? Once Obed was born, they called him Obed Boaz. If you read Matthew chapter 1, you will see that Marlon's name was not even there.

But the Nehara king's man did not know that his name would have entered the genealogy of the savior of the world. He did not know. That's why we need to cry.

What you don't know, you don't know. And if you don't know, you will miss it. You will call on God, Lord, open my eyes.

Help me to see the greater task. Help me to know my portion in it. Help me to grab it with my two hands.

Whatever it means, even if I will lose what I'm presently doing, let me grab this greater task. That will be our cry this morning. Reveal it to me.

The rich young ruler also did not understand this greater task. You know, so many people missed it, but I thank God that many understood it. This rich young ruler was a ruler of the Jews and a rich man.

What a great man in Israel. He was rich and he was a ruler in God's own purpose at that time. Unfortunately, when Jesus announced to him this greater task and said, what to do now? It is time to sell all that you have.

It is time to even sell your kingdom. Sell it. You are a ruler.

Sell it. Give it to the poor. Sell it so that your kingdom will become my kingdom.

Let it not be yours again. You will have treasures in heaven. Then come, take up the cross and follow me.

Did he understand? He did not understand. But I'm still, I'm serving God. Why would God want me to go into another thing? I'm serving God.

You will miss it in the days ahead if you don't cry this morning. We have a need to call on God and say, Lord, help me to see as you see. Don't let me cling to the old.

Even if you want to renew the old to become new, do it. Let me hear you afresh. Let me see you afresh.

Let me understand this greater task in a new way. Let me know my dimension, the dimension of my portion in it. Mary, the mother of Jesus, do you know she understood it? When they announced the greater task to her and said, you are going to bear a son, not by meeting with a man, but it's a miracle.

It has never been heard. And they announced it to her. And that meant abandoning her wedding plans.

Abandoning all her glory. To carry a pregnancy in her womb as a virgin. What a shame that she faced.

But she understood it and she told the angel, let it be to me according to your word. She understood it and she became the mother of the savior of the world. She understood it.

Even Joseph eventually understood it. God revealed it to him and he grabbed it with his two hands. To nurse a baby that will not bear his name.

If you don't understand it, you will make a caricature of what lies ahead. And you may spoil something. There was another man in the Bible who understood this new thing, this greater thing.

This greater task. Ushai, the friend of King David. In 2 Samuel chapter 15.

Ushai was like the special advisor to King David. And when Absalom took over and wanted to, and drove away his father from the throne. Ushai ran after David to follow him because he was his close friend.

That was his own plan. I'm following my friend David. David was anointed of God.

I don't know about this Absalom. But as he followed David, David said, I have a greater task for you. It's good you are my friend and you still remain my friend.

But not to follow me now. You can't follow me now. Go back and join the cabinet of my enemy.

You don't understand. Go and join the cabinet of Absalom. So that you will be able to defeat the council of Ahitophel.

Ah, would that not be dangerous? Sheep in the midst of wolves. Absalom knew that I am your friend. Will he not kill me? God will protect you.

This greater task. He said, I will deliver you from the hands of your enemies. From the hands of your people.

I will deliver you. The greater task. And he left his own plans.

He left his own political ambition. To starve the ambition, the plan of the king. He defeated the council of Ahitophel.

And that was how today the plan of God was not scuttled. David was established again as the king. Because he understood the greater task.

And he went for it. Even though it was a risk. You are going to pray.

Oh God. Since there are people who understood it and carried out this greater task. Help me also.

Open my eyes. To see the greatness of this task that you are advertising. That makes it greater.

Than what I am presently doing. Open my eyes. When Jesus called the disciples, Peter and others.

It was that they understood it. That they left their boats and their nets and followed Jesus. Please you will pray.

Open my eyes. This is our cry. This is the prayer we need to pray this morning.

Otherwise the days ahead will be gloomy for you. The rich young ruler did not understand. So he went away in sorrow.

He saw other people following Jesus. But he did not. He has made his choice.

He did not. So he went away in sorrow all the days of his life. What a terrible life.

If you don't understand, you will make a wrong choice. We have a need to cry and say, Father, give me understanding. Why are you talking about this thing as a greater task? What is this greater task? What is my portion in it? What makes it greater than what I am doing now? Lord, show me your glory.

Open my understanding. Lord, touch my eyes. Touch my eyes.

Don't assume that you know, brothers and sisters. There is something that God wants to do to us in this meeting. There is something God wants to say.

He wants to launch us into the future. The glorious future that he has for us. And if you miss it, you have missed something.

So we are going to stand up on our feet and raise a cry to heaven. And beg God for your own life. This time is to pray for yourself.

Don't assume. Don't be Mr. To Know. Mrs. Know All.

When God says one thing, you already know it. Beg God, touch my eyes. Help me to see as you see.

What is this greater task? Oh God, I can't go away from here without understanding it. I can't go from here without knowing my portion in it. I can't go from here without understanding why you say it is greater.

Lord, have mercy on me. Have mercy. Pray.

Talk to God. Talk to God for your life. Lord, shine the light.

You are in danger. You are in danger. Your future is in danger.

If God will not do something in your life in this meeting. You are in danger. You are in danger of losing an inheritance.

You are in danger of being dumb. You are in danger of going sorrowfully all the days of your life. Lord, shine the light.

You are in danger. Have mercy upon us, oh Lord. Have mercy upon me.

Have mercy on me, oh Lord. Have mercy. Help me to see as you see.

Lord Jesus. Lord. Lord.

Lord. Lord. Lord.

Lord. Lord. Lord.

Lord. Lord. Lord.

Lord. Lord. Lord.

Lord. Lord. Lord.

Lord. Lord. Lord.

Lord. Lord. Lord.

Lord. Lord. Lord.

Lord. scales fall off. Let the scales fall off from my eyes, oh God.

Help me to see as you see. What you are saying, eyes have not seen it. Ears have not heard it.

It has not even entered into the heart of any man. Lord, open my eyes. Let me see.

Oh Jesus. Oh Jesus, we need a miracle. We need a miracle.

We need a miracle. If you leave us as we are, we are blind. Lord, open our eyes.

What is this greater task? What is my portion in it? Father, what is my portion? Don't hide it. Reveal it to me, Father. I don't want to be irrelevant.

I don't want to be a maintenance officer of old things. Maintenance officer of old things. Routine minister.

Lord Jesus. Young and old, you have a portion. Pray.

The God will reveal it to you. Something is hidden so that it may be revealed. It is hidden so that it may be revealed.

Lord, take away my blindness. As old as you are, you have a portion. Pray, Lord.

Reveal it to me. Young people, beg God. Otherwise, your future is in trouble.

Lord, open my eyes. Lord, open my eyes. Have mercy.

Have mercy, Lord. Don't leave me alone. Don't leave me alone.

Reveal it to me, Lord Jesus. What is my portion at a time like this? Have mercy on me, O Lord. When you are touching others, when you are showing others, don't leave me alone.

Don't leave me alone. Lord. No, Lord Jesus.

Don't hide it, O Lord. Don't hide it in this meeting. Don't hide my portion.

Let it come out to me. Ministers, pray. Beg God.

Don't be like Zechariah. Otherwise, you will be dumb in the coming days. Lord, what is my portion in it? Reveal it to me, O God.

What makes it greater than what I am doing now? Show me, Lord of mercy. Pray. Pray for understanding.

So that you will not call it a marring, a ruin of your own inheritance. The nearer kinsman misses it. He misunderstood.

Lead with God. Give me understanding. Touch my eyes.

Jesus in a special way. Lord, what is my portion in it? Reveal it to me, O God. In Jesus' name, we pray.

We have prayed in Jesus' name.