Chapter 23 - The Work
Mat 10:5 These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not:
Mat 10:6 But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
Bonhoeffer- 'The work of God cannot be done without due authorization, otherwise it is devoid of promise.'
'But does not the very love of Christ constrain us to set no limit to its proclamation? The love of Jesus is something very different from our own zeal and enthusiasms because it adheres to its mission.'
'If Christ will not let us preach the gospel in any particular place, we must give up the attempt and abide by his will and word.'
'...the commission.
Mat 10:7 And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Mat 10:8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.
The proclamation and activity of the messengers are identical with that of Christ himself. To them has been granted a portion of his power. They are charged to proclaim the advent of the kingdom of heaven, and to confirm their message by performing signs. They must heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead and drive out devils. The message becomes an event, and the event confirms the message. The kingdom of God, Jesus Christ, the forgiveness of sins, the justification of the sinner through faith, all this is identical with the destruction of the devil's power, the healing of the sick and raising of the dead. The proclamation of the apostles is the Word of the Almighty God, and therefore it is an act, an event, a miracle. It is the one Christ who passes through the land in the person of his twelve messengers and performs his work. The sovereign grace with which they are equipped is the creative and redemptive Word of God.'
My thoughts-
The power of Jesus. The power to perform the miracles He wanted performed. Not a single miracle could be performed where Jesus did not want it performed. We can go anywhere we choose, but the power we go under will NOT be Christ's if we aren't doing His will but rather our own. There might be someone we long to bring God's message, but every time we talk of Christ and His kingdom to them they grow deafer and blind to it. We can't comprehend the reason for their inability to understand. We pray for them, we ask God to bless us as we witness to them, and still… nothing. It truthfully could be that it isn't us who are to bring the message of God to them, but another, in another way. We can't presume to do our WILL. Does this mean we stop offering the truth of the kingdom of God to others? No. It means we sow the seeds our Lord gives us to sow and then we let HIM through the Holy Spirit do the convicting of their hearts.
We may not have the power of the disciples given to them by Jesus Himself, but we have this--
Joh_16:7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.
Read this prayer of JESUS to OUR FATHER GOD-
Joh 17:1 These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee:
Joh 17:2 As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.
Joh 17:3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
Joh 17:4 I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.
Joh 17:5 And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.
Joh 17:6 I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.
Joh 17:7 Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee.
Joh 17:8 For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.
Joh 17:9 I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.
Joh 17:10 And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.
Joh 17:11 And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.
Joh 17:12 While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.
Joh 17:13 And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.
Joh 17:14 I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
Joh 17:15 I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.
Joh 17:16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
Joh 17:17 Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
Joh 17:18 As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.
Joh 17:19 And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.
Joh 17:20 Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;
Joh 17:21 That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.
Joh 17:22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:
Joh 17:23 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.
Joh 17:24 Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.
Joh 17:25 O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me.
Joh 17:26 And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.
Our Savior wills that ALL that believe on HIM through the word of His disciples be ONE as the FATHER is in HIM, and we may all be ONE in them.
This ONENESS is all of us agreeing in ONE ACCORD to the TRUTH! And that TRUTH is the LOVE OF GOD.
The work that our SAVIOR wants us to do is the work of HIS WILL, not our WILL. We must move as HE wills us to MOVE and if we are called to MOVE and we refuse that is on US, not HIM. And if we are not called to MOVE and we move that is on us as well. We must PRAY to God, pray that we work according to HIS will not our own, not ever our own.
Please LORD, teach us, show us Your will in ALL things, always! Help us NOT to do our own will, our own works thinking we are doing Your will, Your work. PLEASE LORD we believe on YOU through the Word that has been given us through others doing YOUR will, we would be ONE with YOU. Please LORD. By YOUR GRACE! Through YOUR LOVE!
Mat 10:5 These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not:
Mat 10:6 But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
Bonhoeffer- 'The work of God cannot be done without due authorization, otherwise it is devoid of promise.'
'But does not the very love of Christ constrain us to set no limit to its proclamation? The love of Jesus is something very different from our own zeal and enthusiasms because it adheres to its mission.'
'If Christ will not let us preach the gospel in any particular place, we must give up the attempt and abide by his will and word.'
'...the commission.
Mat 10:7 And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Mat 10:8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.
The proclamation and activity of the messengers are identical with that of Christ himself. To them has been granted a portion of his power. They are charged to proclaim the advent of the kingdom of heaven, and to confirm their message by performing signs. They must heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead and drive out devils. The message becomes an event, and the event confirms the message. The kingdom of God, Jesus Christ, the forgiveness of sins, the justification of the sinner through faith, all this is identical with the destruction of the devil's power, the healing of the sick and raising of the dead. The proclamation of the apostles is the Word of the Almighty God, and therefore it is an act, an event, a miracle. It is the one Christ who passes through the land in the person of his twelve messengers and performs his work. The sovereign grace with which they are equipped is the creative and redemptive Word of God.'
My thoughts-
The power of Jesus. The power to perform the miracles He wanted performed. Not a single miracle could be performed where Jesus did not want it performed. We can go anywhere we choose, but the power we go under will NOT be Christ's if we aren't doing His will but rather our own. There might be someone we long to bring God's message, but every time we talk of Christ and His kingdom to them they grow deafer and blind to it. We can't comprehend the reason for their inability to understand. We pray for them, we ask God to bless us as we witness to them, and still… nothing. It truthfully could be that it isn't us who are to bring the message of God to them, but another, in another way. We can't presume to do our WILL. Does this mean we stop offering the truth of the kingdom of God to others? No. It means we sow the seeds our Lord gives us to sow and then we let HIM through the Holy Spirit do the convicting of their hearts.
We may not have the power of the disciples given to them by Jesus Himself, but we have this--
Joh_16:7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.
Read this prayer of JESUS to OUR FATHER GOD-
Joh 17:1 These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee:
Joh 17:2 As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.
Joh 17:3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
Joh 17:4 I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.
Joh 17:5 And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.
Joh 17:6 I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.
Joh 17:7 Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee.
Joh 17:8 For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.
Joh 17:9 I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.
Joh 17:10 And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.
Joh 17:11 And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.
Joh 17:12 While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.
Joh 17:13 And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.
Joh 17:14 I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
Joh 17:15 I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.
Joh 17:16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
Joh 17:17 Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
Joh 17:18 As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.
Joh 17:19 And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.
Joh 17:20 Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;
Joh 17:21 That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.
Joh 17:22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:
Joh 17:23 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.
Joh 17:24 Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.
Joh 17:25 O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me.
Joh 17:26 And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.
Our Savior wills that ALL that believe on HIM through the word of His disciples be ONE as the FATHER is in HIM, and we may all be ONE in them.
This ONENESS is all of us agreeing in ONE ACCORD to the TRUTH! And that TRUTH is the LOVE OF GOD.
The work that our SAVIOR wants us to do is the work of HIS WILL, not our WILL. We must move as HE wills us to MOVE and if we are called to MOVE and we refuse that is on US, not HIM. And if we are not called to MOVE and we move that is on us as well. We must PRAY to God, pray that we work according to HIS will not our own, not ever our own.
Please LORD, teach us, show us Your will in ALL things, always! Help us NOT to do our own will, our own works thinking we are doing Your will, Your work. PLEASE LORD we believe on YOU through the Word that has been given us through others doing YOUR will, we would be ONE with YOU. Please LORD. By YOUR GRACE! Through YOUR LOVE!
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