John 14:12-14. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.
John 14:15-17. If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will beg in you.
John 14:21. Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.”
So what commandments are Jesus referring to?
Matt. 22:37-40. And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
Gal 5:14. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.
Jesus is saying walking in love is the key to fulfilling all the commandments. Let me ask us: If you love others would you steal from them, kill them, have sex with another person’s spouse, wish you had their belongings? Of course not!
John 14: 23. If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. This verse reminds me of John 15:4-5. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
The fruit Jesus is talking about is the works he said we would do. It is the witness of a life well lived and having an abundance that enables you to share what you have. When he says you can do nothing without me, this is referring to the Holy Spirit being in you and equipping you with His power. This abiding means to daily being connected, praying throughout the day and asking for wisdom, disciplining ourselves to be quiet to hear his instruction and afterward being obedient to what the tells us. Abiding is staying…it’s not a coming and going, a day here and few days later again…it is a constant communication…a staying that continues no matter what!
Let me give you an example. If you were married and each morning you got up, neither of you spoke to the other, you got ready for work and left and never said goodbye. Later you come home and eat dinner but no interaction, go to bed and still no interaction…how long do you think this kind of relationship would grow and produce good results? We would never think of doing such a thing. Because we know the consequences would be detrimental to the relationship. Unfortunately, there are some couples that live like this…but they are not surviving!!! But this is exactly how we many times treat the person Holy Spirit. Should we be any different with the Holy Spirit than we are with our spouse? Or vise versa? No, of course not…this is why Jesus emphasized being connected to him and used the illustration of a main vine with all the necessary nutrients for the connecting branches to produce fruit.
Let’s look at another way the Holy Spirit enables us.
John 14:26-27 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.
The Holy Spirit teaches us. Notice Jesus doesn’t say the Holy Spirit will contradict the words of the Father nor will he tell you something different. But he says he will remind you or bring to your remembrance the things Jesus said. Now to remember something you have to had once known it. To know something means to perceive or understand a fact or truth and to apprehend clearly and with certainty. To know something this well you would have to have meditated on it, probably spoken about it and certainly acted on it at some point. In other words, it became a part of you. This is what is often referred to as Rhema…a Word that has become apart of us to the point we operate in it’s knowledge and know it’s application thereby producing fruit.
The power the Holy Spirit supplies is what equips us to do what Jesus said we could and should do. And Jesus made a promise to us that not only would he take up residence in us but would provide guidance and the truth of God’s Word.
Waiting for perfect timing or best timing is difficult for many of us, but Jesus didn’t intend on us to wait when it comes to doing the “works” he referred to in the Bible. These “works” that Jesus talked about us doing have often been discussed in our small groups. Can anyone of you name one work that Jesus did? How about some of these?
Raise the Dead
Heal the sick
Turn water into wine
Heal the blind
Multiplied food to feed the hungry
Cast out demons
Walked on water
Calmed an angry sea by speaking to it
Provided finances when needed ( coin in the fishes mouth to pay taxes)
Prophesied
Shared the Good News
Miraculously escaped danger (Those wanting to throw him off a cliff..more than once)
Didn’t succumb to temptation (even after no food or water for 40 days)
Kept his anger in check ( he was spat on, lied about, betrayed)
But his ULTIMATE WORK was defeating Satan. This is the one work we DO NOT have to do because Jesus did that once and for all. We are just to maintain this position of victory!!!
Colossians 2:9-15. For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority. In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.
Revelation 1:17-18. When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.
Eph. 4:8-12. Therefore it says,
“When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.”(In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth?b He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.) And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ
Jesus actually went to hell…Remember he took our punishment at the whipping post and on the cross but also suffered an eternity in three days so that we would not have to. This is what the song refers to that says “Jesus Paid it All…all to him I owe”.
Remember on the cross Jesus said “It is finished”. He wasn’t saying that hanging on the cross was finished, he was saying that he had fulfilled all the law. He came as a man and lived a sinless life, and now had returned the power and authority once given to Adam, back to man. He had become the second Adam, and didn’t sin like the first Adam. And on the cross he not only took on our sin, be BECAME sin. Sin and all that is in the curse was placed on him…God, his Father struck him with all that and when he died he took that sin and the curse straight to hell with him.
Isaiah prophesied about this and that when Jesus was on the cross and became sin and the curse that it marred his body so terribly that he was not recognizable.
Isaiah 53:4-11. Surely he has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his wounds we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
yet he opened not his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
so he opened not his mouth.
By oppression and judgment he was taken away;
and as for his generation, who considered
that he was cut off out of the land of the living,
stricken for the transgression of my people?
And they made his grave with the wicked
and with a rich man in his death,
although he had done no violence,
and there was no deceit in his mouth.
Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him;
he has put him to grief;
when his soul makes an offering for guilt,
he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days;
the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.
Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied;
by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant,
make many to be accounted righteous,
and he shall bear their iniquities.
The word “pleased” here mans that it was God’s desire that this should happen in order to fulfill the plan from the beginning of God’s time.
Rev. 13:8. And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship Him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
This was God’s plan before he ever created man, because He could see into the future, the fall of man and knew there would need to be a plan of redemption. The fact that God put sin and the curse on his Son was not an act of hate and unkindness but the complete opposite. He loved mankind so much that he offered his Son which was a willing participant to become the sin sacrifice once and for all. When Jesus said I thirst, he wasn’t saying he was actually thirsty for drink, but that he desired to drink what was called the “bitter cup”. This cup contained all the sin, all the wickedness and all of the curse and all the works of the devil. He was then ready to take all of that into himself and die. This is what Jesus was referring to when he said “it is finished”. The plan designed before the foundation of the world had been completed.
So what are these works of the devil that Jesus destroyed?
How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: Who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him. Acts 10:38. Oppressed means to burden with cruel or unjust impositions or restraints, harsh exercise of authority or power, to weigh down, subdue or suppress, press against or crush. It also means to remove the control or right to exercise authority. This is what sin does and it is what satan attempts to do to everyone that will allow it.
When you’re in darkness and operating in the kingdom of darkness which is the way of the world, you lose your ability to exercise your authority in and over your situation and circumstances. But when you become a child of God, a child of the kingdom of light, Jesus restores your authority and satan no longer has control over you…you now have authority and control. We now have the choice to follow Jesus and act like he did. We can bind and lose, we can call things that be not as though they were, we can speak life into our situations and have the power to dominate over sin. We have the right to insist that God’s will be done on earth in our life as it is in heaven. We have the right to walk in peace. Jesus destroyed the works of the devil which are sickness, sin, oppression, poverty, and even condemnation.
Remember the woman brought to Jesus in the act of adultery? He asked her “woman where are your accusers?” She said I have none and Jesus replied, neither do I condemn you…go and sin no more. Part of the devil’s schemes includes condemnation. He wants your mind to be fixed on your sin, your mistakes and shortcomings; rather than what Paul said in Romans 8….There is therefore now no condemnation to those that are in Christ Jesus.
Satan has no power over us. He only has what we allow him to usurp from us. He is referred to as the god of this world but that is referring to his being cast out of heaven and having an ability to roam here freely. His power is only as potent as we allow. If he can trick you like he did Adam and Eve, he can rob you just like he did them. The Bible says he is as a roaring lion seeking about whom he may devour. Are you devourable? If so, how did you become so? By engaging in sin, by not listening to the voice of the Holy Spirit, by not walking in love, or by being inconsistent and vacillating from darkness to light back to darkness?
We just read a moment ago about Jesus taking the keys….Jesus stripped satan of all power and took the keys to death, hell and the grave. And Jesus has now given those keys to us. Jesus said in Matt 28 that all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. And in chapter 16, Jesus said “I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven”. Jesus transferred his authority in doing this but told his disciples to wait upon the Holy Spirit so that they could be endued with power in order to operate in this authority that Jesus had just given them.
Jesus didn’t just break the works of satan. Something broken can be mended…fixed. But Jesus literally destroyed the works of satan, never again to be regained. It is our job to maintain this victory, not to obtain it all over again.
So how do we do this? We rely on the Holy Spirit in the following ways:
First know, acknowledge and accept (by studying the Word for yourself) all I’ve just shared with you. Read and re-read these scripture and meditate on them, allowing them to penetrate your mind and renew it to it’s truths.
Second: We have to know that we are the reinforcer of what Jesus did and don’t scum to the tactics of the devil. Paul says in Ephesians that when we are clothed in the full armor of God we can stand against these schemes. That armor begins with knowing the Word of God and the authority that has been placed inside you! Third: We have to use the keys. If you’ve been given keys to a brand new house but never us them, you will never enjoy the comforts and joys of that new home. We use the keys by doing what Jesus said to do. One key is binding and loosing. Many people are confused about this scripture. It simply means that whatever is bound in heaven (the curse which is sickness, broken relationships, disease of any kind, strife, envy, hatred, darkness of any kind) can be bound on earth. All of heaven will back you up. The same is true of loosing. Whatever is already loosed in heaven, you can lose in your life and circumstances. Think of what is in heaven…peace, joy, abundance, prosperity, health, wholeness in every area of life. Another key is speaking. We can speak to the mountains in our life and expect them to be removed. We believe in our hearts and don’t doubt and we can expect that to come to fruition. Renewing our minds daily in the Word is another key. It will keep us reminded of the authority we have and how to use it. This keeps us from operating according to our natural senses, but rather in the realm of the spirit and call things that be not as though they were. One other key is building our faith. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. WE exercise our faith daily, pray prayers based on God’s Word expecting our faith to carry us until the manifestation of that prayer. And as our faith grows we draw on that connection to the true vine that then produces fruit and helps us to operate in our spiritual gifts. We begin to extend God’s mercy and grace to others, always preferring to walk in love!!!
Fourth: Know that when individuals or groups of people are living in conflict, your REAL battle is not with them!! This could be a husband/wife relationship that is strained, a person at church that is unkind, or a neighbor that is inconsiderate of you, your family and property. The bottom line is that these situations steal your peace. Jesus died for our peace, so that we could be free from the curse that it is associated with. Paul stated that strife actually hinders our prayers. Paul says in Ephesians 6 “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood (people), but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places”. Paul is saying “people aren’t your problem, but the demons that stimulate them to behave the way they do”. Even Christians can allow the devil to use them as a tool, if they are not careful. You have been given authority over all wickedness and you have the right to exercise that authority.
If you’re facing anything that robs your peace, get your armor on and battle that in the spiritual
The Holy Spirit is our enabler! He can help us walk in authority and achieve all God has called us to do!!! He is our Teacher! He will remind us of all we have studied and learned in God’s Word and will teach us to apply it daily in our lives. The Holy Spirit will give wisdom regarding using our keys. Just think how the disciples felt when Jesus had left them but the Holy Spirit had taken up residence inside them. They were reminded daily of the things Jesus had taught them, the Holy Spirit taught them how to carry out Jesus’ instructions, and most of all, there was a familiar presence with them all the time. You know, I envy those people that knew Jesus personally and later were filled with His Spirit! That must have been some amazing confirmation there!! They knew what it was like to literally be in the physical presence of Jesus and then they knew what it was like to literally have him dwelling and abiding constantly within them. This is why they were so “on fire for Jesus”. The Holy Spirit was a constant reminder of the person Jesus, their friend.
Don’t fail to know Him like your closest friend. Talk to Him daily. He has much to say to you and is waiting on us to make time for Him. He wants to empower us like he did the early church, to do great and marvelous things for the Kingdom!!! He will empower you, teach you and walk with you as you go about your daily life! He truly is our friend!!!
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