The Unforced Rhythms Of Grace
I. John 5:19,30, 8:26-29,38-Jesus
only said what he heard and did what he saw
A.
Jesus could do nothing of himself (John
8:28-NASB-I do nothing on my own initiative)
B.
If you just pick one it’s in the flesh and it
won’t amount to anything-John 6:63, 2 Cor 3:6
1.
We’ve made the mistake of picking what to do
because the Word says it
a.
We’ve thought because all those are in the
Word we could just pick whatever one
we wanted and it’d work; that would
be fine if that’s what Jesus did
2.
There’s a specific thing to do and to say for
every situation
3. If it’s just you and something you decided to do it’s flesh and it means
nothing
a.
It’s you alone in a corner with a principle
just doing something in your own efforts trying to work something up (You
decided to pray through etc.)
b.
If you want to do the works of Jesus, you
have to do them the way he did and that’s not the way he did them
C.
When you see Jesus what you see is somebody
who was always looking inside for wisdom and direction and leading about what
to do and what to say
1.
The word says wisdom is the principle thing
and it’s been the last thing to us-Prov 4:7
a.
We do all we know to do and when nothing
works, we start seeking for wisdom
2.
When you talk about knowledge you’re talking
about information/revelation that has been accumulated; but wisdom knowing how
to use the knowledge gained for the specific situation you’re in and it comes
by seeing and hearing from the Father
3.
You don’t decide that you’re just going to
releasing your faith, pray, bind, loose, rebuke; the first thing that you do is
look inside to see and hear what to do
II. John 14:12-To do the works
that Jesus did, we’ll have to do them the way he did them
A.
People have taken Jesus has their moral
example, but have taken the supernatural part of Jesus’ life and put it in a
category unattainable to us
1. They say all that calming storms, speaking to trees, healing people that
was for Jesus because he was the son of God and we can never do that, but we
can endeavor to live a moral good life like he did; that’s not true
2. We are supposed to have an empowered life like Jesus, as well as a moral
good life
B.
Jesus credits the Father in Him to the works
that were done
1. John 5:19,30, 8:28-Jesus could do nothing of himself, so neither can you
a.
“I could never do what Jesus did.”
– What (work) did he do? – John 5:17
2. John 5:1-9-From Jesus’ perspective, how did this happen?
a.
The Father worked and Jesus worked: what was
Jesus’ work? – John 5:17
b.
How did this happen? Jesus saw the Father do it and then he did what he saw and said what he heard and the Father in Him did the work
1) Jesus’ work was seeing and doing and hearing and saying
2) It was the father in Jesus that did it and the way he did is He showed
him
c.
Jesus went up to the pool to minister to that
man because that’s what he saw and he said what he heard; he didn’t pick this
guy and talk at random
1) That man was lying there for 38 years how come Jesus didn’t do anything
before? How come Jesus didn’t heal all these other sick people?
2) Mark 7:32-They tried to get Jesus to lay hands on him, but he wouldn’t
d.
According to Jesus he didn’t heal this guy,
but rather it was the Father in Him
3. “I could never do what Jesus
did” --- You are making thise harder than it has to
be; Jesus did what he saw and said what he heard and yielded to the Spirit’s
leading; You can’t hear spiritually? You can’t see spiritually? You can’t yield
to the Spirit?
a.
It’s not that Jesus has more power than you;
it’s that he heard better, saw better, and yielded better-Acts 10:38, John 8:29
4. When you think about the works and power think about the Father in Jesus;
When you think about Jesus think about seeing, hearing, and yielding
a.
To many people get focused on themselves: Can
I do it? Do I have enough faith? Can I heal them? Can I set them free?
b.
EX: If we have the same generator it can do
the same thing for both of us
C.
These works are closer to us than we have
thought; this is closer to our reach and it can happen easier and quicker in us
and through us than we might have imagined
1. We’ve been trained to think that these things are very hard and for them
to be done we got to work something up and it’s going to take all this might, power
and effort even to the point where subconsciously we begin to think we have to
do it
2. John 16:13-The Holy Spirit has come and now you should be seeing and
hearing
a.
We can do the same kind of works Jesus did if
we will see and hear like he did in and then by faith go and say what we heard and
do what we saw
b.
If we are interested in doing the works that
Jesus did we have to get interested in hearing and seeing the way he did
c.
We’ve been strong on the faith part, but weak
on the vision part---Strong on principles weak on perception --- Strong on
saying weak on seeing and hearing
III. Jesus lived an unforced
life; what he did wasn’t hard or complex; it was easy-Matt 11:27
A.
He’s calling out to people who are trying to
work stuff up and doing that will make you tired because you’re trying to carry
God’s responsibility and you can’t
1. This is the resting side of life; I see and I do---I hear and I say
2. 29-You’re trying to work stuff up, but I’m not so learn of me and watch
how I do it
B.
Jesus said learn of me and then lists two
things about himself (John 8:28)
1. Meek-Meekness is when we yield to God without disputing or resisting;
Meekness is when we rely on God and not on our strength; Meekness the opposite
of SELF-assertiveness (Jesus didn’t assert Himself, he asserted the Father);
The attitude of one is forbearing, patient, slow to anger and remains in
control of himself in times of pressure; A person who has learned to submit his
will to a higher authority; He’s not weak he’s controlled; He may have his own
opinion, but has learned submission and how to bring his will under control
a.
The meek man is one who has learned to yield
to the spirit’s leading in spite of his own feelings, thoughts or opinions
2. Lowly-To be humble; Someone who doesn’t think they know better
a.
Humility is reality; it’s truth
b.
Humility keeps you looking inside
3. Not only had Jesus learned to yield to the Spirit, he knew how dependent
He was upon Him
C.
Jesus simply heard and spoke and saw and did
and then the Father would work through and great things would happen; these are
the unforced rhythms of grace
1. Does this look like a man who’s working something up in his own
effort-John11,Luke8, Mathew 14
2. You can see Jesus after each miracle thinking; that was easy
D.
He’s never trying to work anything up or do
anything in himself of his own power; he is just seeing and doing and hearing
and saying
1.
Zechariah 4:6-It’s not by might or power, but
by God’s spirit and the Holy Spirit is going to give you direction and maximize
your potential and be effective like Jesus
2.
We’ve focused on the might and power and not
the Spirit’s leading
3.
This is a picture of the Church; a bunch of
power and a little impact
a.
Until will learn to be led by the Spirit our
potential will go unreached
E.
We’ve thought exalted faith and patience and
love and rightfully so, but you can be doing all those things and if you’re not
seeing and hearing it won’t be good
1.
We’ve been trying to force it with our faith
and with our authority and we’ve skipped the principal thing
2.
When you don’t get direction from God on what
to do, you’re forced to come up with something on your own and do something in
your own might