I have
glorified thee on the earth:
I have
finished the work which thou gavest me to do. John 17:4 KJV
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f the servant is truly as
his Lord, then it follows that when he arrives at
the end of his
journey on earth he should be able to say as the Master did,
"I have accomplished the work which thou gavest
me to do." The apostle Paul was not embarrassed to say, "I
have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the
faith." Paul had been given a job to do. He did it, and now he was
ready to go on.
If we were to be told quite
clearly by the Lord that we have only a few months left in this world of flesh
and blood, would we not be inclined to panic? "Please, Lord, not yet! I
haven't done anything. I haven't been effective ... give me some more time!"
Please understand that I am
not talking about salvation. Salvation is a gift and can be received in a split
second. Any person who desires salvation needs only to turn away from the old
ways of self and throw his/her life on the mercy of the Lamb, trusting his
death and resurrection, relying on his ever‑present Spirit ... and the
new life of a child of God has begun.
But now that you
are God's child, there is work to be done. The redemption of this world, bought
and paid for by the blood of the Lamb, only becomes reality through us.
We are the salt, the light, the aroma of Christ to God among men.
"You did not
choose me, I chose you, and appointed you that you should go and bring forth
fruit, and that your fruit should remain."
( John 15:16)
Is there such a thing as
being saved and useless? How long are we allowed to be ineffective servants and
still remain servants? What will the master do when he calls us to account for
what we did with the talent he gave us and all we can do is dig it up? To be
saved and ineffective is meaningless. Does not our Lord himself say that every
branch in him that bears no fruit is cut off and thrown into the fire?
Paul may have experienced a
considerable amount of suffering, pain and anguish in his ministry... but Paul
was never plagued by doubts about his effectiveness. Paul knew that he was
accomplishing something. In the very midst of numberless problems, disappointments
and failures, Paul knew that he was bearing fruit.
For all the weeping our
Lord did over the hardness of
There is no reason why we can't be equally
certain, day‑after‑day, that we are doing the work we've been given
to do and that we are effective ... things are getting done ... fruit is being
borne. There is no reason for us to forever be up in the air and in doubt about
these things. Do you think the laborers in the vineyard were having nervous
breakdowns about their calling, forever wondering if they were in the right
vineyard? Having an identity crisis with every bunch of grapes they pick? Do
you think that the servant who comes in from the field, girds himself and makes
supper for his master has time to indulge in soul‑searching as to whether
he should really have been working in the field that day? And when we sit
around and agonize as to whether we're in the right place in the kingdom it's a
sure sign that we are not effectively doing the job we've already been given. We
are destroying our own effectiveness by doubting our call. Actually we are
doubting the faithfulness of the One who sent us forth and has promised to be
our guide.
On the
evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being shut where the
disciples were, for
fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, "Peace be
with you." When he had said this he showed them his hands and his side.
Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again,
"Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me,
even so I send you." And when he had said this, he breathed on them and
said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any,
they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained." John 20:19-23
..."As
the Father has sent me, so I send you." Now if he, Jesus, sent me, how can I be anything but
effective? If he ordained me to go and bring forth fruit, how can it be any
other way? This ought to be our rock bottom confidence ... that in the name of
Jesus and in the power of his Spirit we shall turn men and women from darkness
to light and from the power of Satan to God.
We don't hire somebody to
do this for us ... nor do we send another in our place. We are to be the salt
of the earth, the light of the world, the city set upon a hill, beginning where
we are. If we are faithful where we are and the time comes when our Lord wants
us in
Then why do so many of us
feel so useless so much of the time? Because we take our eyes off the One who
called us and the work he called us to do and fix them on other people. We
compare ourselves with them, measure ourselves against them, and soon we're
caught up in their work instead of our own. This leads to three diseases which
undermine our effectiveness as servants of the Lord:
1.
The Celebrity
Syndrome. In this set of symptoms the
These may be dedicated,
committed people. But they are being used by Satan at least to this extent:
they are allowing themselves to be portrayed as more important ... their
ministry and work as of more value than that of the numerous unknown people who
faithfully serve. Our Lord relentlessly teaches that this is not to happen
among us. The greatest among us must be the least ... the leader as one who is
a lowly servant ... as a slave.
There is no such thing as a
Christian celebrity. Those who allow
themselves to be cast in that role are robbing glory from the living God. There
is only one big name among us ... the name of Jesus ... the One who made
himself the lowest of all. You will never take your work seriously, (the work
Jesus himself gave you to do), nor will you do it effectively so long as your
mind is dazzled by any name other than the name of the lowliest man who ever
walked this earth.
2. Be on guard against the Success Syndrome.
Voices are being
raised right now which say in effect that if you really get hold of the gospel from
the right end, everything you touch will turn to success. We need to note the difference between
bearing fruit and being a success. You
were called and ordained to bear fruit for the
you will. But the way of
bearing fruit is not the way of success, but the way of death.
"Unless
a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone. But if it
dies, it bears much fruit. He who loves
his life
loses it; but he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal
life." John
12:24-25
You are going to be
falling into the ground and dying every day. You are going to fail in the eyes of men
again and again. And you will
willingly lose your life as you walk a path that takes you through devastating
problems, tosses and turns you on waves of disruptive circumstances. And in
the process you will bear much fruit that the Father may be glorified.
3. Watch out for the "Christian
Heavy" Syndrome. These are the folks on the other end of the spectrum
who spurn big names and would
rather spit than be a success. But what a production they make
out of their "total commitment to the Lord." It's as if they are the
only ones in the world who really love Jesus ... as if they are the sole
preservers of the New Testament Christianity ... they are the only true
believers left. If you get caught up in their world you will never bear any
lasting fruit. You will be far too busy being really heavy ... really serious ... and weeping over everyone else's
apostasy.
Jesus said to
them again, "Peace be with you. As
the Father has sent me, even so I send you." And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to
them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you
retain the sins of any, they are retained." John 20:19-23
If you have met Jesus alive
from the dead ... if he has given you his peace ... if he has breathed on you
and told you to receive the Holy Spirit, be sure of this: he has sent you to do
what the Father sent Him to do. Jesus has sent you to touch lives with
forgiveness in his name ... to warn the impenitent of judgment in his name ...
to lay down your life in his name. You can do that every day wherever you are.
And you can know that as you do, you are effective ... you will bear fruit.
When the end comes may we
be able to say to the Father through the Son,
"I have
glorified thee on earth, I have accomplished
the work thou
gavest me to do." John 17:4