They say that following Jesus isn’t easy. Not not just “they” in fact Jesus said that following Jesus wouldn’t be easy. Because following Jesus means swimming against the tide of popular opinion. Following Jesus means, all too often … in fact most of the time … going in the opposite direction. That’s why we need power … power unlimited … to follow Jesus.

 

WARNING: The Countercultural Christ

Over the last couple of weeks on the program, we’ve been talking about the unlimited power that’s available to you and me through God’s Word. It seems like a bit of a crazy notion, this idea that you can find incredible power, unlimited power in a book. But the Bible, well … the Bible isn’t just a book. It’s the living Word of the living God and when God speaks, amazing things happen.

This is what the Bible says about the Bible – two key verses that change everything about how we look at God’s Word:

Hebrews 4:12: Indeed, the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow; it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

2 Tim 3:16-17: All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work.

It never ceases to amaze me how people who call themselves Christians think that they can live their lives in peace and joy and power and service … by never, ever opening the Bible. By never, ever drinking in the living, active Word of God that helps us discern the intentions of our hearts. Because let’s face it, it’s in our heart that we deceive ourselves. It’s in our heart that we conceive sin and give birth to it. And so we do need teaching, we do need reproof and correction and training in righteousness in order to be proficient and equipped for every good work.

What I’ve discovered in my life is that there are fundamental flaws and weaknesses in my personality, that, try as I might, I am powerless to change. And yet, when I let God’s Word wash through my heart, when I allow the Holy Spirit to write God’s Word on my heart, He does things that I could never do, He unleashes power … power unlimited … to do the things I cannot do. That’s what happens when we listen to God through His Word. Because God calls into existence the things that do not yet exist (Romans 4:17).

Think about it, how did God create the universe?

God said “Let there be light and there was light.” (Genesis 1:4)
God said “Let there be a dome in the midst of the waters. (Gen 1:6)
God said “Let dry land appear” and it was so (Gen 1:9)
God said … God said … God said … and so the universe was created. In other words God spoke the whole universe, the trillions of stars, the great lights, all the creatures and plants on the earth … God said … and it was so. That’s the power of God’s Word. And if that isn’t power unlimited, I don't know what is.

But … there always seems to be a “but” doesn’t there? … but you and I, all too often, we want that power for all the wrong reasons. We want it to make our lives better, rather than to empower us to sacrifice our lives for Christ’s sake. We want it to get ahead, to overcome this, to get that … rather than to take our Cross and follow Jesus. I said at the beginning of the program that Jesus said that following Him would be hard. Here it is:

Matthew 16:24-26: Then Jesus told his disciples, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life.

Let me ask you plainly, quietly but very honestly: Why do you want God’s power, God’s unlimited power, in your life?

Is it in order to change the difficult circumstances, the difficult people the things out there, the things around you that are causing you grief? Or is it in order that God would change you, to empower you, to enable you to be the light of the world, the salt of the earth? Is it that the Holy Spirit would give you the power to take up your Cross and lay down your life, to potentially lose it all, for Christ’s sake?

This whole series of messages Power Unlimited, comes with a warning. Don’t try this at home, unless you’re prepared to lose it all because this wild, untamed, Jesus, is radically counter-cultural and He’s calling His followers to a radical, counter-cultural life. A life that could cost you, will cost you, everything.

Have a listen to these couple of encounters that Jesus had with the religious establishment. It’s worth taking a few moments to see how Jesus upset the prevailing culture of His day:

Matthew 12:1-8: At that time Jesus went through the grain fields on the Sabbath; his disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. When the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, “Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.” He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? He entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him or his companions to eat, but only for the priests. Or have you not read in the law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple break the Sabbath and yet are guiltless? I tell you, something greater than the temple is here. But if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.”

He left that place and entered their synagogue; a man was there with a withered hand, and they asked him, “Is it lawful to cure on the Sabbath?” so that they might accuse him. He said to them, “Suppose one of you has only one sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath; will you not lay hold of it and lift it out? How much more valuable is a human being than a sheep! So it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and it was restored, as sound as the other. But the Pharisees went out and conspired against him, how to destroy him.

Do you get it? This is what got Him killed. This is why they crucified Him … because He shone light where there was darkness; because He brought truth where there were lies … and that upset people. Have you noticed how vitriolic people, society, culture becomes when you stand up for the rights of the unborn child, or when you speak with love of the wonder of God’s plan for marriage to be a sublime union between one man and one woman, or when you pull back from the filthy jokes that people tell at work? Have you noticed that?

Or have you noticed about the “dangerous religious teachings” in schools that people talk about these days in the news … when it was Christians who are responsible for taking education far and wide across this globe, founding schools, founding hospitals, caring for the needy. Have you noticed?

Jesus isn’t calling you to an easy life my friend, make no mistake about it. You follow Jesus and you are going to upset people, and they will come against you like nothing else on earth. And what you’re going to need the power for, is to make it through in love, to continue shining the light of God’s love into this earth, despite the opposition, the persecution, the difficult people, the difficult circumstances.

As Adrian Pass wrote: You’re going to need the joy to bear the pain and sorrow. And yet, when we get God’s Word into us, the promise of Jesus, the Son of God Himself, is this:

John 15:7-8: If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples.

Did you get that? If the Word of God abides in you, dwells in you, has say in you, and if you abide in Jesus – you can ask for whatever you wish – whatever – and it will be done for you. There it is. Power unlimited. But not to do the things that you want, because once God’s Word abides in you, you’ll be asking for the things that He wants. Let your will be done on this earth … as it is in heaven. Power unlimited.

 

Laying hold of Power

A few years ago now, I had the opportunity to speak with a group of high school students at the opening of their college and senior campus. The subject of my presentation was this: ‘How to Get More out of Your Parents’. I just remember that when I was at high school, speakers at those functions were so boring. I wanted to grab their attention and it certainly did that.

A few of the parents, I have to tell you, were listening pretty closely as well but the heart of the presentation was this. Our parents, at least the greatest majority of them, are hard wired to bless us, but one of the things teenagers do, I know I did, is rebel against them and that stops the flow of parental blessing dead in its tracks.

I shared some insights with these young men and women about how, in a very practical way, they can respond to their parents’ love at the same time as growing up, to get that relationship and that blessing flowing again. You could see some lights going on as they came to grips with how to respond to their parents. It turns out, our relationship with God is no different.

Over the last little while on the program, we’ve been working our way through a series of messages called, 'Power Unlimited'. Over the last twenty or so years I’ve spent a lot of time studying God’s Word, the 66 different books in the Bible and so I’ve had the chance to mull it all over. And whilst I know I’ve really just scratched the surface, the more I think about it, the Bible appears to me to be about 4 things. Who God is, God’s will and purpose for us, who you and I are in his heart and fourthly, the thing I want to talk about today is, how we can respond to God. And as it turns out, that’s the key to laying hold of the unlimited power that He has for us.

Now some people think that all the Bible has to offer, is a bunch of rules and regulations. But as I’ve read my way through the Bible, what I’ve discovered is that, how we can respond to God isn’t the main thing, it kind of drops out of all the other three; it’s a natural consequence of who God is, His will and purpose, who I am and as we get our hearts around those things, well for me at least, my heart just wanted to explode and respond to Him.

We’re going to unpack this last one today because you know something; it’s not a rules and regulations thing. I don’t stay faithful to my wife because I have to, I do, but that’s not why I stay faithful to her. I stay faithful to her because I want to; it’s my response to her love and to our promise to one another. Not a difficult thing to do at all, because she loves me and one of the ways that I respond to that love is through my faithfulness to her.

It’s the same deal with God but you know something, it’s not good enough to know that we ought to respond or even that we want to respond, we need to know how to respond. So often in marriages the husband wants to show love to the wife and the wife wants to show love to the husband, but they’re actually two very different people and they don’t know how. A lot of marriages fall apart simply because people don’t know how to love one another.

We were talking about teenagers earlier; nobody ever explained to me what was going on when I was growing up. You know, we start with a total dependence on our parents, we’re a baby, we have breast milk, we’re in nappies and progressively we grow to be independent of them.

It’s a natural thing to grow up and become an adult and to be independent of your parents. Jesus quoted the Old Testament, he said:

Matthew 19:5 For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife and they’ll become one flesh.

In those teenage years, we’re kind of almost adults but not really, we’re still dependant on our parents financially. We’re still under their authority and discipline; we still live in their home. Those awkward in–between years are times when a lot of people rebel against their parents in all sorts of ways. You know the teenage roll of the eyes, "I know it all and what would my parents know".

We continually do things parents ask us not to and we yet do them anyway. We leave the empty coke can on the sink or the underwear on the floor in the bathroom, whatever it is that a teenager does that drives their parents nuts, it’s almost like if they know that it drives their parents nuts, they’ll do it more. I did that. We establish a pattern of behaviour that’s rebellious and so you get into a rut that you don’t know how to get out of. In the short time we spent together, these young people and I, I just gave them some practical advice on how to honour their parents so that the blessing will flow to them.

You know something; I think it’s the same in our relationship with God. It’s the little things we do or we don’t do. The way we think, the way we behave, the way we hold onto things and the pride and the selfishness. We can understand God’s love, perhaps we even understand what Jesus did on the cross for us but unless we know how to respond to that, we may not respond properly. And sometimes we know but we just can’t bring ourselves to respond.

The Apostle John explained how to love God:

1 John 5:3 This is love for God, to obey His commandments and His commands aren’t burdensome because everyone born of God overcomes the world.”

Here’s what a regular pattern of Bible reading and prayer has done for me: it’s changed me progressively. Just when I’m going through a tough time in a relationship I read something like this,

1 John 4:18 There is no fear in love but perfect love drives out all fear because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears isn’t made perfect in love, we love because God first loved us. If anyone says ‘I love God’ yet hates his brother, he’s a liar because anyone who doesn’t love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he hasn’t seen and he has given us this command, “Whoever loves God must also love his brother.

You know, when you’re going through a tough relationship and you want to rip someone’s head off, you pick up your Bible and you read that, you go "God’s speaking to me about how I should respond to His love." Just when I’m struggling with this or that, I turn the next page and He speaks to me right into that struggle, right into that need, right into that "I want to go my way" and God says, "but if you want to respond to my love, this is my way. It’s a much narrower path, it’s a much more difficult path, but these are my ways and my ways are not always your ways, my thoughts are not always your thoughts".

His quiet, still voice speaks into our heart with a power and gentleness and calls us in His direction, not our own and for me it’s always been that God’s spoken to me in a way that my heart just wants to receive what He says. In a way that nobody else could speak and He does that through His Word, the Bible. He speaks in a way that changes me, that fills me and equips me and prepares me and encourages me. When I read God’s word I’m not just a better preacher, I’m a better husband, I’m a better father, I’m a better work colleague. God teaches me how to respond.

Now I have to tell you, this is still very much a work in progress and others no doubt are much further down the track than I am but that’s not the point. Like a surgeon He’s taking out the cancers, the cancers of sin, reconstructing, repairing, healing, encouraging. That’s what happens when we go to Him and listen to what He has to say. He teaches us and shows us how to respond when we spend time in His Word – He just does!

That’s why there is such incredible power in the living Word of the living God.

 

Two ways of Living

You see to me one of the hardest thing about living my life for Jesus is having to be different from the rest of the world. You see, we are social creatures. God made us that way and so we all liked to be liked and be accepted. By and large, we don't like conflicts, we ... we don't like to ridiculed or scorned. And I am not saying to be a Christian you have to be an oddball or an idiot. Jesus was neither of those, but there times when we have to go in the opposite direction. There are times when we have to be different. And those times are never very comfortable.

Some Christians try to have a foot in each camp, they laugh at the dirty jokes and swear like a trooper at work. And then they lift their hands in worship in church on Sundays. It ... it never lasts too long. It's too hard to have a foot in both camps. You can't be a dog with two masters. When one says, "come" and the other says, "stay", which one are you going to obey?

How are you going to remain true to yourself? To many of Christ's follower, it comes as something of a surprise that their faith ends up resulting in a clash of cultures. It comes as a surprise that following Jesus, this radical countercultural Jesus leads to persecution.

In my country, in my city, questions of family and marriage and sexuality are big issues at the moment. Any Christians who stand up and says, "Excuse me, that is not what God wants for our nation. That's ... That's not where we should be headed", is a narrow-minded conservative big head.

And anyhow, "Didn't Jesus love and accept everyone?"

Let's take a quick look at just one story of the Book of Acts, just one of many where persecution fell on Jesus's disciple. Act 5:17 onwards:

Then the high priest took action; he and all who were with him (that is, the sect of the Sadducees), being filled with jealousy, arrested the apostles and put them in the public prison.

When they had brought them, they had them stand before the council. The high priest questioned them, saying, “We gave you strict orders not to teach in the name of Jesus, yet here you are, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and you are determined to bring this man’s blood on us.” But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than any human authority.

The God of our ancestors raised Jesus up, whom you had killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior that he might give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him.”

When they heard this, they were enraged and wanted to kill the disciples.

That point comes for each and every person who believes in Jesus. At some point, we need to make a decision, which way am I going to live. For myself? Taking the easy way, going with the flow? Or for God and others? Standing as those disciples did - well, by this time they were apostles.

One sent out by Jesus to proclaim the Good News of the Risen Christ. Standing like that takes courage, it takes power. I don't know about you, but that is the sort of courage and power that I don't have within myself. And yet, God's word - the bible is full of power. Power unlimited, resurrection power, Holy Spirit power that will fill you with every verse that you read. As you read, receive and respond to God's word. Your live is going to be remarkably transformed.

As you digest the bread of life, the word of God, the Holy Spirit is gonna turn that immeasurably great power in you. That's his promise! The very same power that raise Jesus from the dead - the resurrection power that you need to live you live for Christ.

And the Christians that ignores God's word, the ones that leaves their bible up on the shelves gathering dust, those Christians will be powerless to live the new life that Jesus came to give them.

So, which way you live? The old way or the new way? It's up to you.