Guidance and Commitment 1988

I'd like to read, to begin, from the Gospel of John, okay, Dave, maybe you can leave them open, but if it gets, what happens, there's so much traffic, that door opens and shuts and opens and shuts, and it really, if that starts getting to be a problem, shut them up. Okay, we'd really like to all be able to think now, me too included. From John chapter 14, starting at verse 12, truly, truly, I say to you, Jesus is speaking by the way, he says, truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in me will also do the works that I do, and greater works than these will he do, because I go to the Father.

Whatever you ask, in my name, I will do it, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in my name, I will do it. If you love me, you will keep my commandments, and I will pray the Father, and he will give you another counselor to be with you forever, even the spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him, nor knows him, you know him, because he dwells with you, and will be in you.

Now these verses were spoken by Jesus during the Last Supper, it was part of a teaching in which Jesus is preparing his disciples to function in a new way. Soon, these followers of Jesus, as a body of believers, are going to be guided by the same spirit who guided Jesus through his ministry. Soon, this body of believers is going to function exactly as Jesus did.

They're going to do the things that Jesus did. They're going to heal the sick, they're going to preach the gospel, they're going to teach, they're going to make disciples, they're going to cast out demons. Truly I say to you, he who believes in me, the works that I do will he do also, and he will do greater works than these, because I go to the Father.

Each believer is going to have that kind of faith. Each believer is going to live that kind of life, but the power and the guidance will come from the Spirit of God moving in the body. So you don't get it out here in left field, by yourself, as God's prophet, in isolation like the Lone Ranger.

Pretty soon, these disciples, these believers, as a body, are going to have a prayer life which matches the prayer life of their master. Jesus asked, and it was done. They're going to ask, and it will be done.

Whatever you ask in my name, I will do it, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in my name, I will do it. Again, each believer will have that kind of prayer life, but the power and the guidance is going to come from the Holy Spirit moving in the body, not off in left field by myself somewhere.

People often ask when they read that passage, do these promises still really apply? Can we expect to have such power moving in the body of Christ in 1988, so that we do the works that Jesus did, and move heaven with our prayers the way he did? If you love me, you will keep my commandments, and I will pray the Father, and he will give you another counselor to be with you forever. Even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him, you know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. Notice this promise of the Holy Spirit coming into the church, into the body, comes in two parts.

Part one, if you love me, you will keep my commandments. You will live the life I'm calling for. You will do the things that I'm commanding.

In other words, you're going to commit yourself to me. Then, part two, I will pray the Father, and he will send you another counselor to be with you forever. He will give you the Holy Spirit.

What we need to understand is that the promise of the Holy Spirit is never made, nor is the Spirit ever given, to an uncommitted people. The promise of the Holy Spirit is made, and the power of the Holy Spirit is given exclusively to people who are committed. You will have power to do the things that I did.

You will pray as I prayed, and you will see things happening. I'll answer those prayers. You will be wonderfully guided by the Holy Spirit when you are, in fact, committed to me, says the Lord.

Much of the charismatic movement today is promising the guidance of the Holy Spirit to people who have been taught almost nothing about what it means to be committed to Jesus, radically committed to Jesus. The result is unstable people, unstable churches, unstable leadership, kooky, kooky writings and teachings going to some of these bookstores. The Holy Spirit will not move among people whose hearts are lukewarm to the call of Jesus to radical commitment.

So, if we want to have the power of the Lord moving among us, if we want to be guided day in and day out by the Spirit for our personal lives and for our corporate lives, if we want to have the power to bring healing and life and deliverance and freedom to people in the our job is to nail our hearts to the cross of Jesus, to turn our lives over to His purpose, in other words, to commit ourselves. Reading from the book of Mark, chapter 10, verse 17, as Jesus was setting out on His journey, a man ran up to Him and knelt before Him and asked Him, good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life? Jesus said to him, why do you call me good? And he just kind of picked him up and now the man is standing again. Jesus says to him, why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone.

You know the commandments, do not kill, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not bear false witness, do not defraud, honor your father and mother. And he said to him, teacher, all these I have observed from my youth. And Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said to him, you lack one thing.

Go, sell what you have and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven and come follow me. At that saying, his confidence fell and he went away sorrowful for he had great possession. Now here was a man who was looking for divine guidance, who was thirsty for God.

He was a beautiful man. Jesus looked at him and loved him. The guy ran up to Jesus and got down on his knees.

He was serious and Jesus received that. He cared about him and He wanted to bring him into life. But he lacked one thing, commitment.

You lack one thing, Jesus said to him. And so, he was afraid to commit himself because his love of money held him back. He walked away sorrowful.

He walked away from the guidance of God back into the world of things where his soul died long before his body did. By contrast, we look at Levi the tax collector. Now Levi the tax collector was also a rich man.

And he had not kept all the commandments from his youth. He was bad. But when Jesus called him to commitment, he was glad to respond.

And that was the difference. Reading from Luke chapter 5, verse 27. After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the tax office and he said to him, follow me.

And he left everything in rows and followed him. And Levi made a great feast in his house. There was a large... He made this feast for Jesus.

Levi made him, Jesus, a great feast in his house. And there was a large company of tax collectors and others sitting at the table with them. And the Pharisees and the scribes murmured together against his disciples saying, why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners? And Jesus answered them, those who are well have no need of a physician but those who are sick.

I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance. And you could turn that around and say sinners to commitment. That's exactly what repentance is.

Commitment. It's not just shedding five tears and saying I'm really sorry. It's commitment.

So this sinful man with a shady past up to all kinds of nonsense enters into the life of God, receives the guidance of God because he gladly commits himself. He gets up and walks out of his tax office and leaves this stuff behind with great joy. Then he has his dinner for Jesus and invites all his tax collector friends.

And then he says, look, I'm leaving all this to go with him. This is the greatest day of my life. Rejoice with me.

Here is a man who will soon be doing the works of Jesus. Here's a man who will soon be praying and those prayers will be answered. Here's a man who will soon be living under the anointing of the Holy Spirit.

Acts chapter 13, verse 1. We look at it now in terms of body, corporate commitment. Now the church in the church of Antioch, there were prophets and teachers. Barnabas, Simeon, who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manion, a member of the court of Herod the Tetrarch, and Saul.

While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them. Then after fasting and praying, they laid their hands on them and sent them off. We're looking here at a church that was guided by the Holy Spirit.

The Spirit would speak to these people and they heard. Because they were committed. As they worshiped the Lord, ministered to the Lord, it says in King James, Served the Lord and fasted.

This was an indication that here was a church that left absolutely no doubt about where its heart was. Now if we look at this brief passage in Acts chapter 13, We see three kinds of commitment to which we as a body are called. First of all, we see we are called to commitment to Jesus himself.

As they worshiped the Lord and fasted. In other words, they were concentrating on him. They were seeking his face.

They were drawing near to him in prayer and worship. This was the foundation of everything they did. Not hot and cold, off and on, sometimes yes, sometimes no.

But consistent, disciplined seeking of the face of the Lord. When that goes on, then you have power. Here are people who are committing themselves, not just with their mouths, but with their lives.

The way they use their time, the way they handle their money, The way they put themselves under the authority of the Word of God, The way they feed on the Scriptures, When you have, as a body, that kind of consistent seeking of the face of the Lord, That kind of commitment, you can be sure that we will do the works that Jesus did. We will pray, and it will be done. And we will wonderfully be guided by the Spirit of the Living God.

Clear cut. The second kind of commitment we see in this passage, Is that we are called to commitment to the Body of Christ. On earth.

These five prophets were doing exactly what Jesus told them to do. They were together. They were in submission to each other.

They were washing each other's feet. They were loving each other. They weren't, you know, Lone Ranger prophet off here, Some kind of career evangelist over there.

But here were five prophets who were in submission to one another, in submission to the Body. If I am committed to Jesus, I must be committed to His Body on earth, And not in some vague spiritual sense, But to a specific group of people, in a specific place, As long as God has me there, These are my sisters and my brothers. These are the people I'm going to wash their feet, I'm going to love them, I'm going to serve them, I'm going to be with them.

Seeking the face of God as the high point of every week. I'm going to be doing that. When we have that kind of commitment to the Body, We will do the works that Jesus did.

We will pray, and it will be done. And we will be guided by the Spirit of God, In everything, big and small. The third commitment we see in this passage, Is commitment to the harvest.

We are called to commitment to the harvest. The Spirit said, Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul, For the work to which I have called them. And when they had prayed and fasted, They laid their hands on them, And sent them off.

They didn't say, Wait a minute, we need Paul and Barnabas here. You can't take them away from us yet. Because they understood that their commitment was to the harvest.

That was why they're there. The Spirit says, time for them to go on. And they go, they send them out.

Lift up your eyes and see, Jesus said. You say, there are yet four months, then comes the harvest. It's not time yet.

Jesus says, uh-uh, time is right now. Lift up your eyes and see, the fields are already ripe for harvest. Look at the harvest.

Give yourself to it. Get into it. For instance, here we are, Located in a spot in Detroit.

This is a mission field. All around us, there is a harvest field, Extending across the city, Out into the suburbs and beyond. And there are, Near and far, People who are waiting to hear, For all the cynicism, And the hardness of heart, And the skepticism about the institutional church, Which is understandable.

There are people who are definitely hungry, And ready to respond to an invitation. What was it? Tuesday afternoon, John Konieczko and I, Talked to a man on the street, on the curb, Over here on Vinewood, Who said, I need the Lord. Told him about Bible study.

He came in here Wednesday night. I don't see him here, But I can't read the whole balcony. He may even be here now, I don't know.

But he's here Wednesday night, Came in on Thursday morning, and again he said, I need the Lord. I mean, the guy said it. Many people are crying out in their hearts, And they can't say it.

He said it. And he's a half a block from this building. This is a mission field.

Near and far, Out over there. And what the Lord is saying, There they are. If you will commit yourself to that, You're going to haul them in, To the kingdom of God.

Not to a club for nice people, But to the kingdom of God, Which never looks like a club for nice people. It will always be full of disruptions, And all kinds of problems, And life from God with it. When we have that kind of commitment, To the harvest, We will see.

That we will do the works that Jesus did. Our prayers will be answered With tremendous power. And we will be guided By the spirit of truth.

Truly, truly, I say to you, He who believes in me, Will also do the works that I do. And greater works than these Will he do, Because I go to the Father. Whatever you ask in my name, I will do it, So that the Father May be glorified in the Son.

If you ask anything in my name, I will do it. Can we dare, As a congregation, To believe that? We can, If we will also dare To believe this. If you love me, You will keep my commandments.

And I will pray the Father, And he will give you another counselor To be with you forever. Even the spirit of truth, Whom the world cannot receive, Because it neither sees him Nor knows him. You know him, For he dwells with you And will be in you.

If you love me, Jesus says, Commit yourself To me, To my body on earth, In a specific place, And I will pray the Father, And he will send you another counselor. The Spirit of God, who is already here, Will move with much more freedom And much more power Than you could ever ask Or think. Let's just wait upon the Spirit of God now In silence, Just for a minute or so.