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LED TO LEAD
Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshiped him; but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations......" Matthew 28:16-19a
...."All power is given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations....."
"I'm giving you the power, go and do it!"
We understand what Jesus means, and we see the people he wants to reach ... they're all around us ... where we live, where we work, not far from where you are reading these words.
"Go out there and make disciples."
"Lord, if only I could find the right word .... the right thing to do."
"Lord, if only I could work the appropriate miracle ... bring them some sign of the Kingdom which they couldn't miss ... but I feel no more equipped to make disciples than to jump off the Empire State Building and fly."
And so we tip-toe through our lives,
- drop a little word here, - say a little prayer there.
Once in a while we even have a serious discussion with an old friend about the Kingdom of God ... about what Jesus has done for us.... but make disciples?
Make disciples, - bring people to commitment, - make them followers.
"All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me ... now I give it to you ... go make disciples."
Disciples - not just nominal Christians, not just respectable church members, ......followers, ......committed ones.
So, how do you make disciples? It's like walking through the City of Despair finding people on a crowded street, and saying,
"I have found the door that leads out of this City of Despair into a new life. What have you got to lose? Come on, I'll show you!"
Maybe one or two people stop and listen. You lead them to the door. You usher them through. You introduce them to Jesus, and stand by to help in any way you can. The important thing is to lead them to the door.... lead them. They can't lead you. They don't know where the door is ... you will have to lead them ... and you will lead them when you're sure of that door yourself. And you will be sure of that door when you yourself are being led by the One who stands in that doorway.
Example: Jesus spent less than an hour talking with the woman at the well. When he was finished she went back to her village and announced,
"Come see a man who told me all I ever did. Is not this the Messiah?"
And they all followed her like lambs to Jesus.
Just then his disciples came. They marveled that he was talking with a woman, but none said, "What do you wish?" So the woman left her water jar, and went away into the city, and said to the people, "Come see a man who told me all I ever did. Can this be the Christ?" They went out of the city and were coming to him. John 4:27-30
They followed her because she took the lead. And she was able to take the lead because she herself was being led.
So, he came to a city of Samaria, called Sychar, near the field that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Jacob's well was there, and so Jesus, wearied as he was with his journey, sat down beside the well. It was about the sixth hour. There came a woman of Samaria to draw water Jesus said to her, "Give me a drink." For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. The Samaritan woman said to him, "How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?" For Jews had no dealings with Samaritans. Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, 'Give me a drink,' you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water." The woman said to him, "Sir, you have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep; where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, and his sons, and his cattle?" Jesus said to her, "Every one who drinks of this water that I shall give him will never thirst; the water that I shall give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw." John-4:1-15
The woman had come to draw water from this wonderful well which was used by Jacob nearly twenty centuries before. Now she finds herself being addressed by a stranger who has words like she's never heard.
- She recognizes truth,
- She sees light....... and she follows it!
The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw." Jesus said to her, "Go, call your husband, and come here." The woman answered him, "I have no husband." Jesus said to her, "You are right in saying, 'I have no husband'; for you have had five husbands, and he whom you now have is not your husband; this you said truly." The woman said to him, "Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain; and you say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship." Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for such the Father seeks to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth." The woman said to him, "I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ); when he comes, he will show us all things." Jesus said to her, "I who speak to you am he." John 4:15-26
With this she leaves her water jar, walks into the city and announces,
"Come see a man who told me all I ever did. Is not this the Messiah?"
and they followed her. They followed her to Jesus because she allowed herself to be led by Jesus. - She was not a spectator. - She was not an admirer. - She was a follower.
She allowed herself to be led by Jesus in three specific ways.
1. She let Jesus lead her to living water. 2. She let Jesus lead her from darkness to light. 3. She let Jesus lead her to repentance.
1. This woman allowed Jesus to lead her to the living water.
Jesus said to her, "Every one who drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst; the water that I shall give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw."
Jesus was putting his finger on her inmost life. Nobody she had ever talked to before understood how desperately thirsty she was...... he knew.
"You're right, teacher. I'm thirsty. Give me this water. Give me this life I've been searching for all my days."
.....no complaining, no excuses. She doesn't say, "But teacher, you don't understand .... I've had a hard life."
.....instant submission to his leading.
"Sir, give me this water."
Guidance from the Spirit of the Lord Jesus begins with thirst.
"My soul thirsteth for thee. My flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land where no water is." Psalm 63:1
"Lord, give me this water! Give me this water!"
"Are you thirsty? Thirsty enough to ask him for a fresh measure of the living water?"
"If any one thirst, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me, as the scripture has said, 'Out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water."' John 7:37-38
2. This woman allowed Jesus to lead her from darkness to light.
.....She didn't protest. .....She didn't try to cover her sullied past.
She allows Jesus to lead her out of darkness into light.
"You're a prophet. You've looked into my soul. You've told me the truth about myself." This is the part so many of us are having such a hard time with. Jesus turns on the light ... puts his finger on - our deceit, - our egotism, - our hypocrisy, - our uncleanness,
and instead of saying, "You're a prophet, you speak the truth about me," we keep changing the subject or telling him about our brother's sin or our sister's faults.
There will be no progress until we allow Jesus to lead us into the light and confess what we are and thank him for making it clear.
This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not live according to the truth; but if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just, and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. I John 1:5-9
3. This woman allowed Jesus to lead her to change her direction ..... better known as repentance.
Repentance is more than tears. Repentance is turning around and heading your life in the will of God, instead of against the will of God.
So the woman left her water jar......
That water jar sitting on the edge of the well was the sign that this woman had been stopped cold in her tracks and turned around. It's the same for us. Repentance is leaving our water jar at the well and walking a new road. When's the last time you've actually changed
- the direction of your life, - the direction of your attitude, your behavior, your goals,
in answer to a call from Jesus? For each of us there is a call for some kind of repentance... a turning, a change, a leaving of the water jar, a forsaking of the fishing boat.
When we are willing to let Jesus lead us to repentance there will be power from God in us to lead other people to repentance.
Now because this woman allowed herself to be led by Jesus she could take the lead. She went into the city and literally commanded those people to follow her to Jesus.
"Come! See a man who told me all I ever did. Is not this the Messiah?"
She took the lead and they followed. They followed because the power of the Lord was resting upon her life as a woman who was being led by the Spirit of the living God, by the living word from Jesus' mouth. We will lead people to him, people we've been concerned about, praying for, talking to for years with little result, when we submit to the leadership of the Spirit of Jesus in these three areas......
- let him lead us to the living water, - let him lead us from darkness to light, - let him lead us to repentance.
The Spirit of Jesus comes to us to guide us into all truth. But how can he guide us into all truth unless we follow his lead? When we follow his lead, we will lead people to the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
"0, but guidance has always been my biggest problem. I can't seem to find guidance. I'm never sure which socks he wants me to wear, or whether I'm to shop at WalMart or Sears. I never know what I'm really supposed to do."
Wear any sock you want .... put a different colored sock on each foot ..... shop where you think you can find the best deal. But understand that guidance from the Lord is a matter of letting him,
- lead you to living water, (Don't be afraid to expect a personal word from the Lord Jesus.) - lead you to the light, (When he puts his finger on something you've concealed, confess it.) - lead you to repentance, (Expect the Spirit to point out a needed change…and act on it!)
Then you will go into the village where, even now, they are waiting for you to come and say, "Come see a man who told me all I ever did. Is not this the Messiah?"
……..and they'll follow you.
And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age."
"You will make disciples," says Jesus, if you lead them to the door---to me."
"And you will lead them to me if you give your body, mind and spirit to my leadership," says the Lord.
"I will guide you to living water,
I will guide you from darkness into light,
I will guide you to repentance,
…….if you will follow me."
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