When the Lord Breaks Through

Whenever the Spirit of God begins to stir in the body of Christ, as He is stirring here and really throughout the whole body of Christ on earth at this hour, the first thing that happens is that people become aware of their desperate need for more of God. It's never, thank you Lord, now I'm satisfied, but rather it's always when the Spirit begins to move, thank you for that taste, Lord, now give me everything, pour out your fullness on me. Because once we've tasted the life of God, instantly we become conscious of the fact that we have been so empty, and so dull, and so needy, and so powerless, and so blind to God, and our hearts just cry out for more of His light, and more of His Spirit, Lord, come among us, and quicken us, and ignite our hearts, and loosen our tongues, and open our eyes.

In fact, we can become so desperate for more of God that we then succumb to the temptation to try to help make it happen, to get in there and help God answer our prayer, and when we begin in some way to try to give God a hand as He pours out life on the body, we only get in the way. Once God has promised in answer to our prayer that He will pour out His Spirit, there's only one thing He wants from us, and that's His trust, nothing else, only His trust. And so we have to distinguish between the situations where God is calling us to do something, and the situations where God is commanding us to hold still and step back while He does something.

For instance, if it's something that God has already told us to do, then it's a waste of time for us to sit around and wait for God to do it for us. God told us to do it, so we better do it. For instance, God is not going to say our prayers for us.

He told us to pray, and He will help us to pray, but we at least have to make a start. We don't know how to pray. The Spirit has to help us in our weakness, but we have to at least begin.

There's no other way. You can read 50,000 books on prayer, but nothing happens until you begin. There has to be a start.

The Lord has told us to forgive, and it's absolutely ridiculous for us to sit around and wait for God somehow to put us in a forgiving mood before we do it. There's no such thing as a forgiving mood. Get on and forgive.

Many of us to this moment have been carrying grudges in our lives down through the years that are like cancer inside us and destroying us and hoping that somehow that's going to change. It's not going to change until you do something. Go that second mile.

Turn the other cheek. Go out of your way for your brother instead of waiting for him or her to go and do everything, even if they're wrong and you're right. Get reconciled, He says to us.

He tells us to feed the hungry and clothe the naked. That's something we're to do. He's not going to do it for us.

We're to do that. He tells us to go out and proclaim the gospel. Everyone, you don't hire a missionary to do your preaching for you.

You preach. You teach. You speak.

You share. Then there are situations where we're asking God to help us. We're praying for his help, for something that we can't do.

And God will do that thing, whatever it is. It will cooperate. For instance, I may be hopelessly in debt to Master Charge or Visa.

And it's legitimate for me to say, Lord God, deliver me from being a credit card freak. And that's good. But God's not going to cut up those cards for me.

I need a job. It's legitimate for me to ask God to open a door for me so I can get a job that will pay me enough to support my family. And yet, while I do that, it's certainly still within my power to look at the want-ass, to go out and look, to try to find something.

I don't just sit home by the telephone and wait for it to ring. But there are prayers that I pray to God in which the answer to my prayer rests entirely with God. There is absolutely nothing that I can do.

It's up to Him. And for me to get in there and try to help God answer my prayer is only for me to get in God's way. When Jesus stood before 5,000 people with five loaves and two fish, He was utterly dependent upon His Father.

The temptation could have been there too, to try to make something happen, to get something here. How are we going to do this? He could have moved on the crowd or He could have moved on His Father in a way that was not legitimate. For instance, He could have passed the plate a second time.

Come on, you guys! Five loaves and two fish from 5,000? Don't be a skinflint! Cost some more food up here for me! Maybe He would have got a few more loaves. And that would have been it. Or suppose Jesus had spent half a day jumping up and down, shouting in heaven, I know you can do it, Father! I know you can do it! We need a biggie here! You know? When you get behind God and try to help Him, know that He was utterly dependent upon His Father.

He takes the bread, raises it toward heaven, and gives thanks. Thank you, Father, for these five loaves. Thank you, Father, for these two fish.

And then He breaks and serves. Breaks and serves. And the rest is up to the Father.

Without any help from any man beyond the five loaves and two fish. Going one more step farther. When it's something which God has promised that He will do for us, the action rests with Him.

And again, the one thing He wants from us now is trust, nothing else. Don't get in there and try to help Him out. You'll only mess things up.

Step back and watch Him work. God promised Abraham and Sarah a son. Years went by.

When we read the Scripture, it all happens so fast, and we lose our sense of how long drawn out this thing was. These people are getting older. They're going beyond childbearing age, and they're getting nervous.

Did we really hear what He said? Was that truly from God, Abraham? Are you sure? Maybe we're supposed to... How about if we take by hand, Megan Hagar? Go into her. And as they jump in to give God a hand, Sarah and Abraham make things so much more difficult for themselves and for the child of promise, Isaac, who was ultimately born. Every time God promises that He's going to do it, and we get in there to give Him a hand when He's told us He's going to undertake, all we do is make a mess.

We complicate this thing. When God promises, He doesn't get nervous about how He's going to fulfill it. The promise was that the son Jesus would be raised on the third day.

Do you think it made God nervous that they put His son Jesus, His body, in a tomb made of rock? And then, do you think God began chewing His nails when they saw them roll that huge stone in front of the hole and put a seal on it? Come on, you guys, give me a break. I promised I'd raise my son from the dead, but do I have to roll... God welcomes the skeptics to pour as much water on His promise as they want. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh.

The Lord shall have them in derision. From Matthew 28. The choir sang it twice today.

It was read earlier today. I'm going to read it again. I believe we're supposed to listen to this.

Now, after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the sepulchre. That's all they thought they were going to see. And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat upon it.

His appearance was like lightning and His raiment white as snow. And for fear of Him, the guards trembled and became like dead men. But the angel said to the women, Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified.

He is not here. He has risen, as He said. Come see the place where the Lord lay.

Then go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead, and behold, He is going before you to Galilee. There you will see Him. Lo, I have told you.

So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy and ran to tell His disciples. And behold, Jesus met them and said, Hail! And they came up and took hold of His feet and worshipped Him. But how do I know this? How do I know this record is authentic? How can I be sure that this really happened? There you go again, being skeptical.

Don't you know that skeptics make God nervous? Doubters may hinder the moving of the Spirit in their own lives, but there is nothing you or I can do or fail to do that can hinder God from raising His Son from the dead. Nothing we can do or fail to do that will stop God from doing the thing He promised. If God says, I will, He will.

I will bring back the captives. I will release the prisoners. And He does it.

On this rock I will build my church and the gates of death shall not prevail against it. He's doing it. I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh.

Remember the contest Elijah had with the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel. The deal was, the prophets of Baal had to select a bull, cut it up, lay it on the wood, but put no fire to it. Elijah gets a bull too.

Cuts it up, lays it on the wood, puts no fire to it. The God who answers by fire. He is God.

Well spoken, said the people from 1 Kings 18. Then the prophets of Baal took the bull, which was given them, and they prepared it and called on the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, O Baal, answer us. But there was no voice.

No one answered. And they lived about the altar which they had made. At noon Elijah mocked them, saying, Cry aloud, for He is a God.

Either He isn't using, or He's gone aside, or He's on a journey. Perhaps He's asleep and must be awakened. They cried aloud and cut themselves after the custom with their swords and lances until the blood gushed out.

And as midday passed, they raved on until the time for the evening sacrifice. But there was no voice. No one answered.

No one heeded. Now here we have a picture of prophets trying to prime the pulp, trying to make it happen. And no doubt if Elijah hadn't been there with his eagle eye, watching everything that's going on, one of those fellas would have slipped behind the altar with some lighter fluid and a match and got it going.

Happens all the time. Elijah doesn't use that approach. He uses the very opposite.

Elijah doesn't try to help God. He doesn't rant and rave. He doesn't cut himself with... In fact, you could say he makes it harder for God.

Then Elijah said to all the people, Come near to me. And all the people came near to him. And he repaired the altar of the Lord that had been thrown down.

Elijah took 12 stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord came saying, Israel shall be your name. And with the stones, he built an altar in the name of the Lord. And he made a trench about the altar as great as would contain two measures of seed.

And he put the wood in order and cut the bowl in pieces and laid it on the wood. And he said, Fill four jars with water and pour it on the burnt offering and on the wood. And he said, Do it a second time.

And they did it a second time. And he said, Do it a third time. And they did it a third time.

And the water ran about the altar and filled the trench with water. What's this guy trying to do? He's trying to quench the Spirit. No.

He's making sure that there's going to be no hanky-panky. Nothing phony. Nobody's going to be able to say that Elijah cheated.

When this thing catches fire, it's going to have to be from God. At the time of the evening sacrifice, Elijah the prophet came near and said, O Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel and that I am thy servant and that I have done all these things that thy were. Answer me, O Lord.

Answer me that this people may know that thou, O Lord, art God and that thou hast turned back their hearts. Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust and licked up the water that was in the trench. And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces.

We're praying for fire from heaven. We want the resurrection life of God to break through and raise us from the dead. We desire that the same spirit that raised Jesus from the dead should take complete authority in this assembly.

And we can be sure that God will do these things just as surely as we ask for our Father. When we ask Him for bread, He doesn't give us a stone. He gives us bread.

We ask our Father for a fish. We don't get a scorpion. We get fish.

And when we ask our Father for the spirit that raised Jesus from the dead to come among us and cleanse us by the blood of the Lamb and raise us from the dead, He will. If we will learn one lesson today, don't try to help God out. Don't try to make anything happen.

Just ask. Keep asking if you like, but then step back and know that God will do it. There will be more life from God in this place than we have ever seen.

There will be more fruit in this place than we have ever seen. There will be more repentance in this place than we've ever seen. And there will be more worship in this place than we have ever seen.

If we'll step back and let God do it. May the God who raised His Son from the dead without any help from any man, may the God whose fire consumed the lives of sacrifice and the wood and the stones and the dust and the water manifest His glory among us until we fall on our face and repent of ourselves and offer Him worship worthy of His name. Let's just wait on Him now.

Let's do some repenting in our hearts.