THE STRENGTH TO DO THE IMPOSSIBLE
- Matthew 28:16-20
> Matthew 28:19 Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, Jesus has been crucified. He has been buried and risen again. He has visited with His disciples and taught them. Over 500 people have seen Him. Now, Jesus is about to leave the earth. Just before He leaves, just before He ascends into the clouds to take His place at the right hand of the Father, He gives the 11 disciples that are there with Him, and those to come to know Him through their testimony, an assignment. He says, “Go and make disciples of all nations!” Did you hear that? “Go and make disciples of all nations!” I want you to underline the word “ALL”. Have you ever considered the magnitude and impossibility of the assignment Jesus gave His followers? Have you ever considered the importance and the magnitude of the assignment God has given you?
In 1534, Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor & King of Spain, suggested for the first time that a canal be built in Panama. The French were the first to try the impossible undertaking, beginning construction on their canal on January 1, 1880. After working for more than 12 arduous years on the project, and after the death of an estimated 22,000 workers, the French gave up in defeat.
The United States later bought out the French equipment and excavations, and began work on the canal themselves, on May 4, 1904. The Canal was finally opened on August 15, 1914, one year ahead of schedule.
At the time the canal was completed, the designers estimated that the most traffic the canal could ever support was 80 million tons per year. In 2005, over 278.8 million tons of cargo moved through the Panama Canal. (Wikipedia, Panama Canal).
An impossible task, finally completed by people who wouldn’t give up, who wouldn’t quit, and who wouldn’t let the obstacles and impossibility of the task ahead of them cause them to quit. The results today are past the designers’ imagination.
Listen, God hasn’t called you to do just little things. He hasn’t called you to a diminishing, shrinking, receding and retreating assignment. He has called you to be a world shaker, a world changer. He has called you to do the impossible. He has called you to change the world!
As we think of the assignment God has given us, however, the question lies before us, “How do we do what God has called us to do? How do we make disciples of every nation? How do we avoid the failure others have known and make the most of our lives? How do we accomplish the impossible?
There are a number of tools God has given us, to help change the world. He has given us:
I. TOOLS FOR CHANGE
1. Example – First, we lead others to Christ, we bring glory to God, we change the world by our example, through the way we live.
> Matthew 5:13-14 You are the salt of the earth,…You are the light of the world…
> Philippians 4:9 Do what you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.
Do you remember the Sermon on the Mount, that the Matthew verses we just read came out of? In Matthew chapters 5-7, we find the Sermon on the Mount recorded. In that Sermon Jesus says that you and I are to turn the other cheek. We are to go the extra mile. We’re to love our enemies. He says, “Don’t worry, trust God, and refuse to judge others”.
My friend, when you live a life that is different than the world, when you respond differently than everyone else around you does, you are being a witness, you are helping to change the world through your example. But, to change the world we cannot stop with only being a good example. So there is a second tool you and I can use for change in the world and that is our witness.
2. Witness –
> 1 Peter 3:15 but set apart the Messiah as Lord in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you.
Did you see that? Peter says that you and I are to always be ready to give a defense, to give a reason for the hope that is within us. After people see that we act and react differently than other people, after they notice that we talk differently and love differently, that we are to be ready to witness, to tell other people why we act the way we do.
God has given us an impossible mission, to make disciples. We use our examples, and our witness to help accomplish that mission. There is another tool we use for change, for making disciples, and that is teaching.
3. Teaching
> Acts 20:20 and that I did not shrink back from proclaiming to you anything that was profitable, or from teaching it to you in public and from house to house.
To change the world, we must teach. We teach our children. We teach in Sunday School. We teach adults. Using the Bible, we teach people about a God Who loved them enough the send His Son to die for them. We teach one another from our experience and our walks with the Lord, and by the way, you don’t have to be a Sunday School teacher in order to teach.
- Titus 2:1-8
> Proverbs 27:17 Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.
We are to teach one another. Those who have been Christ followers for a long time are to teach those who have been Christ followers for only a short time. Older women are to teach younger women. Older men are to teach younger men.
We make disciples by example, by witness, and by teaching, but those are only the tools that we use. Those are not the energy, they are not the power, to accomplish the job we’ve been given.
Those three things are the bulldozers used for clearing the land, but they are not the fuel in the dozers. They are the lamps for lighting a room, but they are not the electricity in those lamps. They are the power plants that drive the ship, but they are not the fuel in those power plants. They are the paddles that move the canoe, but they are not the energy that moves the paddles. They are tools we use on the mission God has given us, but where does the power come from? Where does the strength come from? Where do we find the energy, the drive and the strength to live as Jesus commanded us in the Sermon on the Mount? Where do we find the strength to turn the other cheek, when we’d rather bust their lip? Where do we find the power to go the extra mile, when we didn’t want to go the first mile? Where do we find the strength to trust in difficulties, when circumstances say the situation is impossible? Where do we find the strength to live the Christian life, and to change the world? I believe the strength for accomplishing the impossible comes from our obedience to the command given in Ephesians 5:18.
II. THE HOLY SPIRIT PROVIDES STRENGTH TO DO THE IMPOSSIBLE
- Ephesians 5:15-18
> Ephesians 5:18 And don’t get drunk with wine, which [leads to] reckless actions, but be filled with the Spirit: (HCSB)
1. He works in people’s hearts –
- Acts 2:4, 14, 37
Took a weak, frightened Peter & caused him to stand boldly & preach.
He took a skeptical crowd & caused them to want to know this Jesus Peter proclaimed.
2. He gives us the ability to live wisely
- Ephesians 5:15
- John 14:1, 15-18
Jesus’ disciples were afraid because Jesus was leaving. In response Jesus says, “I am going to send another Comforter. I am going to send Someone to you Who will do for you what I have been doing while I have been with you. You have turned to Me when you had difficulties, you have asked Me your questions, I was always there to answer your questions. I was always there to direct you. I was always there to help you. Now I am sending Another, to help you with all of those things.
3. He gives us the ability to make the most of our time
- Ephesians 5:16
4. He gives us the ability to make the most of our relationships
Ephesians 5 & 6
a. Wives to husbands – 5:22
b. Husbands to Wives – 5:25,33
c. Children to parents – 6:1-2a
d. Parents to Children – 6:4
e. Workers to Employers – 6:5-8
f. Employers to Workers – 6:9
My friends, God, through the Holy Spirit working in you, can change you & change the world.
III. THERE ARE SIGNS THAT YOU ARE CONTROLLED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT
A person controlled by the Holy Spirit is:
1. Joyful
– Ephesians 5:19
> Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, self-control. Against such things there is no law.
Christian joy is not a thermometer that rises & falls with every circumstance. It is a joy that is present regardless of circumstances.
> Philippians 4:11 I don’t say this out of need, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am.
2. Thankful
- Ephesians 5:20
The person who thinks the world owes him a living is never thankful for anything. But a person who is filled with the Spirit sees the hand of God behind every gift and is thankful for what he has & for what’s been given to him.
3. Submissive
- Ephesians 5:21-33
> Luke 22:26 But it must not be like that among you. On the contrary, whoever is greatest among you must become like the youngest, and whoever leads, like the one serving.
We are to think of others as more important than ourselves.
Paul says, “Be filled with, be controlled by the Holy Spirit. Together we have seen why we should, and how to tell if we are. Let’s look now at how we are. What must we do in order to be filled with the Spirit?
IV. STEPS TO BEING CONTROLLED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT
1. Do not Grieve the Holy Spirit
> Ephesians 4:30 And don’t grieve God’s Holy Spirit …
If I allow my lusts & passions to control me, then the Holy Spirit is not controlling me. You cannot be controlled by wine and be controlled by the Holy Spirit at the same time. You cannot be controlled by sin and controlled by the Holy Spirit at the same time.
> Galatians 5:17 For the flesh desires what is against the Spirit, and the Spirit desires what is against the flesh; these are opposed to each other,…
If I am living a life of sin, the Holy Spirit is grieved & He does not control me when He is grieved.
2. Do not Quench the Holy Spirit
> 1 Thessalonians 5:19 Don’t stifle the Spirit,
“The Holy Spirit is within me, stimulating, giving ideas, producing thoughts & making suggestions. Every time I refuse or reject them, every time I say “No, wait a minute, I want to do this first, … I am quenching the Spirit.” (Martin Lloyd Jones, quoted in his commentary on Ephesians) …
3. Realize He is living in you
> 1 Corinthians 6:19 Do you not know that your body is a sanctuary of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own,
4. Listen closely to His Leading
> Philippians 2:13 For it is God who is working in you, [enabling you] both to will and to act for His good purpose.
If you ever sense a sudden desire to read your Bible, go and do it at once, that is the Holy Spirit working in you. Obey him. Do it. If you feel called to pray, go and do it. Don’t put off obeying and doing what He’s called you to do. The more you listen and obey, the more He will prompt you. (Ibid)
5. Listen to Him Speak through the Bible
> 2 Peter 1:21 because no prophecy ever came by the will of man; instead, moved by the Holy Spirit, men spoke from God.
Oh my friends, the Holy Spirit speaks God’s will to us, often, through God’s Word. If you want to be controlled by the Holy Spirit, look for His promptings and guidance in the Bible.
My friends, God has given us a great mission, an impossible mission, to make disciples of every nation. He has given us an impossible task, to be Christ-followers, living like Jesus. He has called us to a great task. He has called us to be fellow laborers and builders with Him in the Kingdom of God. He has given us a great vision, to storm the gates of Hell. He has also given us a great Helper, His Holy Spirit living in and through us, controlling us. Whether or not you allow Him to do so is your call. You can be more than you ever imagined. You can be used in a great way. You can be a mover and shaker, a life-saver, a kingdom builder, and a world changer, if you allow the Holy Spirit to direct you.
Please, don’t settle for a second rate life. Don’t settle for making no mark on this world. Don’t settle for a plain vanilla existence, settling for “Good Enough”. Get in it to win it. Be all God has called you to be.
Do you remember the impossible task we spoke of at the beginning, the building of the Panama Canal? After the canal was completed, after working on that seemingly impossible mission, the men who build that canal wrote a song. They said:
“Don’t send us back to a life that’s plain again,
We who have shattered a continent’s spine.
Easy work? Oh, we couldn’t do that again.
Haven’t you something that’s more in our line?
Got any rivers you say are not crossable?
Got any mountains you can’t tunnel through?
We specialize in the wholly impossible,
Doing what nobody ever could do.”
(Quoted by W. A. Criswell in his sermon on Ephesians 5:18)
My friend, that’s what God wants to do with you, if you’ll let Him. Doing what nobody ever could do.
