Lighthouse Church Durban

Working WITH Jesus

The true Christian life is a supernaturally charged life! God himself works in us to motivate us and enable us to do the work that he has prepared for us to do.

To experience this, we must learn to live in close relationship with Jesus, moving in his direction, in his time, at his pace.

Daily disciplines that help us to do this are:

- seeking his presence in prayer and worship

- seeking his will in reading his words

- obeying him as he leads us

- asking him for wisdom

Acts 1:4-8, Philippians 2:12-13, John 15:5, Matthew 11:28-30, James 1:5

Duration:: 18m
Broadcast on:: 02 Nov 2024
Audio Format:: other

"Hey there, welcome to the Lord House Church sermon broadcast. The title of today's message is 'Working with Jesus.'" The last time I preached, we learned that God has recreated us to do good things that He Himself has prepared for us to do. We learned that He works in us and through us with His power. So we are all people with purpose and we are all the right person for the job. It's not about our ability but rather his ability and our availability. Today I want to continue on this theme but to get a bit more practical. We're going to look to the Bible to learn how to do those amazing things that God has prepared for us to do. Let's begin in Acts chapter 1 from verse 4. I'll be reading from the new international version. On one occasion, while He was eating with them, He gave them this command. Do not leave Jerusalem but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days, you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit. Then they gathered around them and asked them, "Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?" He said to them, "It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father is set by His own authority, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." Jesus had just commissioned His disciples to go and change the world by making disciples of all nations. But they were not to go just yet. They were to wait until they had been empowered by the Holy Spirit. They would not be able to fulfill their God-given destiny until they had received this power. And the same is true for you and I today. This work of representing Jesus and making disciples of Jesus is a supernatural task. We can't do it without the power of God within us. But when we do have His power at work in us, everything becomes possible. Listen to Philippians chapter 2 from verse 12. "Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence, continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill His good purpose." We should all live our Christian life with a fear of God, a sense of deep reverence and awe. This is not a fear of failing or being punished. It's a sense of absolute awe that God, God who spoke the universe into being, is working in us. I think too many people today think of the Christian life mainly on human terms. We think Christian living as largely about attending some meetings, trying to live a better life and if we feel brave enough, telling others about Jesus. But the Christian life is so much more than that. It's a brand new, supernaturally charged life. It's a new life where God is personally at work in us and through us. Let's take a closer look at that text and see how this new life works. Firstly, it tells us that we as Christians are the ones who are visibly at work. We work out our salvation. We're not passive waiting for Jesus to do something. We're actively engaged in God's mission. Secondly, and most importantly, God is invisibly at work, empowering us to work out our salvation. It is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose. God works invisibly in us so that we can do that invisible work. So both God and us are at work together. We do our part as we obey God, as we go to people, as we speak to people, as we pray for people, as we follow his leading, as we do the things that he has told us to do. At the same time, God does his part. He moves in our hearts, creating new desires to see his kingdom advance, to see the name of Jesus glorified, to see people saved and transformed. He empowers us to do these things so that we end up doing things that we could never have done in our own power. So we really do need to learn how to work with God. We're not merely trying to work for him, we're wanting to work with him. Now Jesus described working with him so wonderfully using two illustrations in particular. John chapter 15 and verse 5 says, I am the vine, you are the branches. If you remain in me and I am you, you will bear much fruit. Apart from me, you can do nothing. And Matthew chapter 11 from verse 28, come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble enough, and you will find rest for your souls, for my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. In both of these cases, this is something that we do together with Jesus. We bear fruit with him, like a branch that is connected to a vine. We work with him, like an ox who was yoked together with another ox. This is partnership we work with Jesus. When we just try to work for Jesus doing our best and our strength to do all that he's commanded, we find ourselves ineffective and exhausted. Our own strength is simply not enough. We could pour out everything into a task, but that's not enough. A supernatural task requires supernatural power. But when we learn to work with Jesus, that burden of the work becomes light, because he is pulling with us. I love the way Matthew chapter 11 verses 28 to 30 is expressed in the message. Are you tired, worn out, burned out on religion? Come to me, get away with me, and you will recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me, and work with me. Watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me, and you learn to live freely and likely. Friends, if we want to live this new life to the full, if we want to fulfill our God-given destiny as children of God, we need to learn to work with Jesus. So let's try to learn how to do this from Jesus' illustrations. Back to John chapter 15 and verse 5, "I am the vine, you are the branches. If you remain in me, and I am you, you will bear much fruit. Apart from me, you can do nothing." Working with Jesus means that we must surrender our pride and our independence. We need to constantly remind ourselves that we are completely dependent on Him. There are no self-made men and self-made women in the Kingdom of God. We cannot achieve anything of eternal significance without Jesus. So if we are going to live this supernatural life, we have to learn to depend on Jesus, to hold on to Him. We have to learn to get close to Jesus and to stay close to Jesus. Here are four practical things that help us to get close and to stay close. Firstly, consistent times of prayer, not as a religious chore, but seeking to be in His presence. Secondly, consistent times of reading the Bible, seeking to hear from Him. Thirdly, consistent times of worship. And fourthly and so importantly, a lifestyle of obedience to His words. When prayer, Bible reading, worship and obedience are a significant part of our life, we will find ourselves getting closer to Jesus and staying close. But if we start to neglect prayer, Bible reading and worship, we are likely to drift away from Jesus. If we start to compromise on obedience, we will surely drift away. Because think about it, we can't stay close to Jesus when we start moving in a different direction from Him. So it is very helpful to develop some daily disciplines. Pray, read your Bible, worship Jesus, obey His words, especially when it's hard. Make those changes that you know you need to make so that you can grow in your relationship with Jesus. Let's look at the second illustration, Matthew chapter 11 from verse 28. "Take my yoke upon you and learn from me. For I am gentle and humble in art, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." Jesus says, "Take my yoke upon me." Yoking in with Jesus means that He is the one who sets the direction, the pace and the timing. Imagine for a moment that you are yoked in with another ox. You're a young ox being taught out of plough, so they yoke you in with an older ox, an ox who knows exactly what to do. He's mature, he's powerful, and you're yoked to Him. You look at the field in front of you, and you see where you think is the best place to start. But the big ox knows better and heads in a different direction. When you try to go in your direction, that yoke cuts into your neck, that hurts. But when you follow his lead, the yoke doesn't hurt at all. As you think about the size of the field, you get stressed and you try to go faster than the big ox. Again, you feel the yoke digging in. Later, you tire and try to go slower than the big ox, and the yoke hurts again as it pulls you forward. But as you settle into the pace of that big ox, that yoke becomes easy. The next morning you're tired. A late start seems like a great idea, but the farmer yokes you in early that morning because this is the best time to plough. He sets the timing. When we're yoked in with Jesus, we submit to His direction, to His pace, and to His timing. We learn to go where He wants us to go, not where we want to go. We learn to work at His pace, not at our pace. We learn to trust His timing, waiting patiently for His directions, and then responding immediately to His directions. Let me give you some practical examples. Firstly, His direction, the where to go. We may not like the place where we were born, but if God has put us there, we should be faithful there. Or we may like it very much, but if God calls us to go to another place, then we should move to that place. The missionary journeys that we read about in the book of Acts were directed by God, not by those who went. If we go to another place or nation, it should be in response to God's leading, not because we just fancy a trip there. We may see another disciple or another church moving a certain direction or start a certain ministry. We may think, wow, that looks amazing. We should do that too, but we should ask God first, Lord, do you want me or us to do that too? Then there's His timing, the when to go. When God shows us something that He wants to do, we may assume that it's going to happen now, but it may only happen much later. He's only showing us now so that we can get ourselves ready. Or He may be putting us in a new position. Maybe He puts us in a new situation or gives us a new opportunity, and we think, this is too soon, I'm not ready. But if He makes it happen now, then we can trust His perfect timing. Then there's His pace, how fast to go. Many of us are impatient, we want to see results now, we want that job that breaks through that healing now. But God works in our lives at His own pace. Jesus spent about three years discipling His twelve apostles, slowly and carefully growing their faith and understanding. Later though, He grew His church at an explosive pace, surely way faster than the apostles expected. The key in all these things is to learn to discern God's direction, God's timing and God's pace. And we really can't trust our feelings. For example, our insecurities can hold us back, or personal ambition can drive us too far or too fast. We need discernment and wisdom from God. And the wonderful news is He offers it to us. Listen to James chapter one and verse five. If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God who gives generously to all without finding fault and it will be given to you. As we seek to move in the Lord's direction, timing and pace, we must keep asking for His wisdom, trusting that He will give it to us. Let me summarize in conclusion. The Christian life is a glorious, supernaturally charged life, where God Himself works in us to motivate us and to enable us to do the work that He has prepared for us to do. We can all live this glorious life if we will learn to live in partnership with Him, living in a close relationship with Him and moving in His direction, in His time and at His pace. Daily disciplines that help us to do this are seeking His presence and prayer and in worship, seeking His will and Bible reading and obeying Him as He leads us. Let's grow in these ways so that we can live this glorious life that He has planned for us. Amen. [BLANK_AUDIO]