Lesson 8
EQUIPPED TO SERVE
We are called by God to serve Him. Many are called but few are chosen, as it tells us in Matthew 22:14:"For many are called, but few are chosen."
What brings about the change from being called to being chosen?
Romans 1:1-6 says:‘Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel of God which He promised before through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures, concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead. Through Him we have received grace and apostleship for obedience to the faith among all nations for His name, among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ;’
Paul was called by God to be set apart for the Gospel of God. He had to be set apart from worldly things and ways so that he could live in full righteousness and holiness.
In obedience of faith, for the sake of His Name among the nations, include yourselves who are called, to BELONG to Jesus Christ. Once we live Romans 1:1-6, we come to be His chosen, to reach out to the world around us with His glorious gospel.
Spending time daily in His presence is therefore the most important thing you can do, for here you can hear God, hear His call on your life and directions to walk in. In a vision, sometime ago, I saw Jesus and He pointed me to the Father. I took a step in that direction and found myself in a white mist. I could see nothing, I could hear nothing, but what I felt changed my life forever.
I felt just one tiny touch of the Father’s heart for the nations of the world. The pain, the love, the sorrow, was so great that I burst into tears. “I’m sorry”, I repeated over and over. What else could I do?
I then realised that half the world seems not to want to know Who created them; and many who do often prefer their own chosen life styles rather than to turn to Jesus. God is heartbroken, watching the devil steal, kill, and destroy so many humans whom He loves so much and yet so few of His own people are going out with the powerful truth of what Jesus did on the cross to save mankind. Many Christians all over the world are keeping the glorious gospel that Jesus has made available to mankind for themselves only. They sit comfortably in their houses, when millions are dying in their sin, sickness and problems under the grip of the devil.
Many are called, but so few are prepared to go out with the Gospel to reach out to the lost for Jesus.
At least 15 minutes had passed and I was crying bitterly, still saying, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry”. Suddenly I knew there was something I could do about it. Even if I am only a girl, these are no excuses. “Father God”, I prayed, “I promise You, that from this second on, I will give you every day for the rest of my life to go out to wherever you send me to preach the Gospel anywhere You want me to, to rescue as many as I can, out of the clutches of the Evil One and bring them into Your Kingdom. I will also speak to as many churches as I can, to warn your people to wake up and do the same, to share your glorious gospel with as many people as possible”. Suddenly I was following Jesus up a steep hill and I knew the Father had accepted my promise. My job now is to keep my eyes constantly on Jesus, not looking left or right, but to keep focussed on him, for the path is narrow and steep and there are many boulders in the way. Yet I know that even if I battle to keep up with Jesus, I will make it, to the top of the hill, for next, Jesus sat down upon a beautiful white rock, shining like marble and I panted up to Him and knelt in the dust. Now knowing I was at His side, I could take my eyes off Him and bow my head down onto the cold white rock. As I did this, I came out of the vision. This vision was like a covenant with God Himself and I am doing what I promised. God Himself has led me into a very exciting ministry, where I see His hand at work in very powerful ways.
This is reality, more real and more important than anything else, for serving God embraces eternity and the eternal destiny of millions of people. I know that even in the small bicycle ministry I run, that within 10 years, by supplying 100 bicycles, megaphones and Bibles to 100 evangelists a year in Africa, around one million people can be converted and discipled within that time. I also know that this work will succeed. I have no doubt, because the Lord Himself is doing it.
God the Source
The first, most necessary, preparation to serving God effectively is to come to know God, to seek His Will and hear His command. The FATHER is the SOURCE of all things and JESUS ALWAYS POINTS TO THE SOURCE.
This is explained in John 5.19:‘Then Jesus answered and said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.”’
‘DO WHAT YOU SEE THE FATHER DOING’.
Coming into His presence is the only way we can ever see what the Father is doing. That is why Jesus spent so much time praying. He spent 40 days in the wilderness before He started His ministry, and all night before He chose His disciples. He spent much time drawing aside by Himself to seek His Father.
Jesus describes it thus in John 5.30:"I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me.”
Here Jesus clearly heard all that He was to do and did nothing on His own authority. It is when we do things on our authority that mistakes are made. When we hear God and obey Him it will always work, for God’s ways can never fail. Jesus is and was fully God and fully man. He lived a perfect life on this earth, doing only what the Father told Him to do, and everyone Jesus prayed for was healed and delivered.
He provides further confirmation in John 12:49:"For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak.”
Every teaching, every parable that Jesus gave us was from the Father and His teaching is perfect. Now if Jesus, the very Son of God, had to come to the Father to receive every teaching, every parable, how much more should we? In the book of John alone there are over 9 scriptures where Jesus says that His teachings and works are from the Father.
How dare any of us try and preach on our own authority. It does not matter how much Bible training we have had, how clever we may be, how entertaining or poetic or how well versed we are in scripture, on our own authority the words will be empty and will effect little or no change upon our listeners. Yet when we have been in God’s presence and have the commandment from God as to what to say and speak, it does not matter that we may not be eloquent speakers or that we may stammer; for the Holy Spirit will speak through our mouths in power and authority, to reach the hearts of the people before us, to bring about changed lives.
Even as Paul in 1 Corinthians 2:4-5 says: 'And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.’
When God tells you to do something and you obey Him then you will also know. He will confirm the word He has told you to speak with power and signs following in the demonstration of the Holy Spirit in your midst.
Jesus the Authority
Once we have learnt to come to the Father, who is the source of everything we do for Him, Jesus will give us the authority of His name, the name above all names, the name to which every sickness, every demon, every spirit has to bow. This victory He won on the cross. God has now raised Jesus above every dominion, power and authority and above every name that is named.
Sicknesses have names, demons have names, every spirit has a name and all have to bow the knee and obey the powerful name of Jesus.
Luke 10.19 encourages us thus:"Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.”
The authority of the powerful name of Jesus has been given to us to use, to tread over the enemy, and nothing shall hurt us.
In Nigeria I was invited to speak in a very depressed town, well known for demon activity. I even felt this heaviness in the church and fought it while waiting to speak. I was determined to fight it off. My name was called and I walked to the lectern. I said my first sentence when suddenly everything went black. About 5 minutes later I woke up out of unconsciousness on the floor to peer through legs of people pleading the blood of Jesus over me. It all started to come back and I began to shout at the demon trying to strangle me, louder and louder and on the seventh command it left.
I immediately got up off the floor and gave the sermon more powerfully than I ever had in the past. The pastors all stood up in excitement at the victory gained over the demonic forces. They suddenly realised that, in Jesus, we are actually far stronger than the demonic forces that have held back that town for so long. Now the pastors are taking authority, in Jesus’ name, over every demonic force and the town is now free, and the churches are growing. I thank the Lord so much for allowing the demon to attack me, for the victory He gave brought us to a new level in Him and made us bold, as NO demon can hurt us if we are in Jesus.
A further encouragement is found in Acts 4.30:"by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus."
When we stretch out our hands to all in the name of Jesus, signs and wonders and healings happen, without even the laying on of hands. When we preach the simple gospel, signs and wonders will follow as we pray in the mighty name of Jesus.
Often in Africa, when there are three or four hundred sick people, I just tell them to put their own hands on their sickness or pain. I then pray, “In the name of Jesus: sickness go, in the name of Jesus: pain go, in the name of Jesus: bodies be healed.” Suddenly squeals and shouts of joy speak of a few hundred receiving their healings right where they are in their seats in Jesus’ name.
All I have done is spoken the word in Jesus’ name and stretched out my hands towards the people, and Jesus has done the rest! He has healed the people. Jesus is at work today through hundreds of evangelists who can tell you similar stories. Jesus is alive and Jesus is doing it!
The Power of the Holy Spirit
Jesus tells his disciples in Acts 1:8: "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."
The first and most important reason that the ‘Holy Spirit and power’ is given to us is to enable us to be witnesses for Jesus: first to Jerusalem (that is the local city where we live), then to Judea (that is to the villages and towns nearby), and to Samaria (reaching further afield from our area) and then to the ends of the earth. We should all be witnesses for Jesus with the gifts He has given to us, to reach out to the lost, to bring them out of the clutches of evil into the Kingdom of God.
My job for thirty-five years was to teach horse riding. People ride horses for different reasons, pleasure, company, competition, freedom etc. Horse riders are often a people group searching for something. Horses are the key to this people group. We found a way to reach them for Jesus, through horses, one at a time. This was my Jerusalem experience, leading many to Jesus through my job as a riding teacher. I then wrote ‘The Biblical Approach to Riding’ and have been training riding instructors in this approach in England, the USA and certain countries in Europe, right up to now. This approach to horsemanship has also been shown on national TV in England.
Romans 15:13 gives encouragement to all who trust in Jesus: 'Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is also given to us to fill us with His love, joy and peace in believing that, by the power of the Holy Spirit, we may abound in hope. God’s love, joy and peace fills our hearts, but we must not just seek the Lord for these feelings and keep them for ourselves. We need to go out and do God’s work, in whatever area He has gifted us in, as soldiers ready to go out in total obedience to whatever or wherever He is directing us.
This takes obedience, for sometimes we may not want to go to where God wants us to go, to where the need is. Extreme heat and humidity is what I struggle with. I don’t mind where I sleep or what I eat, but I don’t like humidity, especially where there are no fans or running water for relief. However, I still have to go, and will go. When God heals the sick, it all becomes worthwhile.
John 16:13-15 gives further guidance from Jesus:
"However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you.”
When you go out in the name of Jesus, know that the Holy Spirit goes with you. He will declare to you all truth, for even He does not speak on His own authority but whatever He hears from the Father. He will take the things of Jesus and declare them to you, even things that are to come. We have everything we ever need to do God’s work because JESUS IS EVERYTHING WE EVER NEED! THEREFORE WE SHALL SUCCEED FOR JESUS COMES WITH US IN THE PERSON OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.
Romans 15:19:‘…in mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God.’
We need to go in the power of the Holy Spirit and in the name of Jesus to save, heal and deliver, and God's miracle power becomes reality.
We need to go to:
- The Father who is our source
- Jesus who gives us the authority of His Name
- The Holy Spirit who equips us with power
Some Questions to Think About
Why does Jesus point us to the Father?
What does the authority of Jesus’ name accomplish?
Name three things that the power of the Holy Spirit does.
If you are equipped by the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, what will you be able to do for God?