"Are Ye Able?"
I come unto you once again by the grace of God and the anointing of His Holy Spirit. These things of God were made possible to us all by the work of love that Jesus did on the cross. We must never fail to honor Him and give Him all the glory. Jesus was the Word made flesh. He was there in the beginning with God! He was God! Nothing that was made, was made except it was made by Him. Life was in Him and that life was the light of the world. He shined in darkness (this world) and the world had no understanding of who He was. Sadly enough many still don�t today. Many standing in pulpits don�t know Him. Many who have repeated a sinner�s prayer or shook a man�s hand, don�t know Jesus! A lot of people run about claiming His name, but it is a �Jesus� that they have created, not Jesus Christ our Saviour and very soon coming King. Jesus Christ paid a great price and set the example for those who would truly follow. For those who would be true disciples, being able to spread the only true Gospel. Jesus suffered and those who reign with Him will too. The title of this message is, �Are Ye Able?�
Our message tonight will start in Matthew 20:17. Before you start reading this message, I hope you will pray and ask the Holy Spirit to open your ears, your eyes and heart to receive the Word. I think before anyone can truly understand this message, they should read two chapters that describe what Jesus would endure before the cross, and at the cross, all to redeem us from sin. Those chapters are Psalm 22, often referred to as the �Psalm of the Cross�, and Isaiah 53. These portray Christ�s suffering on the cross. Two facts are found here. First, it represents a cry of anguish from a Godly sufferer � one not yet delivered from the pain and grief of this flesh, one who still has to endure trials and hardships in this life. All TRUE children of God can identify with this. That�s why Jesus had to suffer them. Remember, He was God but very much man in the flesh. Before He could ask us to walk that path of suffering, He first had to experience it! He had to endure in the flesh as a man to prove that we are able! It would be too easy to say, �We aren�t able to do that in the flesh - He was God.� No, Jesus had to deny His flesh just like you and I do today. It wasn�t no piece of cake for Him. You see, a lot of people read books or study in colleges about how to preach. They get a message that is pretty or even has some degree of truth, but I�m here to tell you that Jesus will make YOU a message in flesh and blood! Jesus will send you through the University of the Holy Spirit and you�ll receive experience and know what it is to suffer. You will be able to preach to those in need, those suffering themselves. My friends, that�s why Jesus did what He did at the cross. If He hadn�t, then He couldn�t have asked us to do it! The second fact in these chapters is that it expresses an expectance that our feeble minds can�t begin to fathom. Jesus went through suffering far beyond anything we could ever think of going through. As you read these chapters I want you to consider a question Jesus asks, �Are Ye Able?�
Now that we�ve covered that area, we�ll return to Matthew 20:17-23. Jesus takes His disciples apart (off to themselves) to let them know what is about to take place. These were the chosen ones, those closest to Christ. Today through the Holy Spirit things are revealed to the chosen, to those who seek a close walk with the Lord. He reveals the things to come to those there, even concerning His betrayal � Judas standing right there! I�m sure when Jesus told of the suffering and death He had to face that the disciples weren�t happy. I know the Holy Spirit has revealed some things to me at times that I didn�t want to accept. I certainly didn�t want to speak them to others. At times I�ve been slow to speak them, and found myself with a stern rebuke from God. Now Jesus reveals all that is soon to come to pass. No doubt some just couldn�t grasp this happening to their Lord. After all, these were men who expected Him to take over and rule with might. Still today, people tend to form a Jesus of their own plans and expectations! Before you or I or anyone who was ever born, Jesus knew that He would have to come and endure these things. Jesus knew He would be spit on, beaten, mocked, falsely accused and put to death. He knew that He had to die that all could have the opportunity to live eternally in Heaven. Jesus knew He would have to suffer. He knew that He�d be poor on this earth in order to know what the poor were going through. He knew that His heart would have to be broken before He could truly identify with the broken hearted! Jesus would experience being taken captive, to set the captive free. Jesus experienced all these things and more so that He could rightfully identify on each man�s level. The Spirit of the Lord was upon Him, and He was anointed for this task (Isaiah 61:1-2, Luke 4:18-19). Jesus told His disciples of these things to come because they too would have to endure suffering. They too would have to endure the things of the common man. How could they preach from the heart, how could they identify with suffering, if they had not suffered? Jesus proved we are able � �Are Ye Able?�
In Matthew 20:20-21, here comes the mother of James and John. She�s desiring a certain thing from Jesus. To desire means you really want something and you�re eager to obtain it. This mother was no different from many today. Parents often desire things for their children, and don�t realize what they are truly asking for. Some want their children to be preachers and send them off to school for it, often completely neglecting the fact that just because momma says you�re a preacher, doesn�t make it so! No suffering, no anointing = NO POWER TO PREACH the truth of God! So Jesus asks the mother what she wants. No different from any parent, she wants her sons recognized! Parents can be dangerous to their children and whole congregation by their attitudes. They don�t always realize what they are getting their children into, nor do they see what it�s doing to the congregation! In verse 22 Jesus tells her, �Ye know not what ye ask.� Friends, if we are going to reign with Jesus, we have to suffer with Him! Then Jesus asks them, �Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?� James and John answered quickly saying, �We are able.� I�ll cover some of what was in that cup, and then consider the question, �Are Ye Able?�
That cup Jesus talked about wasn�t one filled with fame and glory. No, it wasn�t one sitting on a throne having dominion over everyone else. It was a cup full of self-sacrifice, being as nothing, a cup of servitude and death to the flesh. People are quick to say �I am able�, when they can�t even push away from the table and deny this flesh a few meals! Some will say �I am able�, and spend more time in front of a TV or at ballgames or other functions, giving the world more time than God. Some will say �I am able�, and mouth some short little learned prayer to God about feeding the hungry or helping the homeless. Yet it�s only a half-hearted effort and a lie to God. Sincere disciples deny themselves the pleasures � they may be poor but are quick to give of what they have. They have a sermon that comes by experience! God doesn�t just give them a sermon, He makes them a sermon. That�s what Jesus was! He was a walking, talking example, a sermon non-stop 24/7 in all that He did! In all that He said! ALWAYS having the needs and welfare of others first on His list of priorities. Jesus� cup was full of sacrifice, pain, hunger, self-denial! You see, He knew that He�d be arrested and abandoned. All the people He had healed, fed, comforted � ALL ran off in His hour of need! When Jesus needed a friend He had none! He went to the Garden of Gethsemane, praying for all of mankind. He prayed until it was as if His �sweat was as it were great drops of blood.� He prayed, agonizing before God. I can�t ever remember praying like that myself, have you? Jesus proved that we are able. Maybe our hearts aren�t burdened enough for the lost? For the hungry? For the homeless, the broken-hearted, those bound up by drugs or alcohol? How about those bound up in sexual perversions and homosexuality � can you pray like that for them? Jesus did! Jesus was exhausted after His arrest and an all-night interrogation, being dragged from one spot to another. Yet, He remained meek. Jesus was scourged, tied down, chunks of flesh torn out to the bone. Two men whipping Him according to tradition. Mocked with a robe and crown of thorns placed on Him. As He traveled the road to Calvary and as He hung on the cross, He was slandered, defamed and abhorred. He had no sin but took on our sin (II Corinthians 5:21, Galatians 3:13). Here God�s Son hung on a cross, able to say �I quit� or �I can�t stand anymore�, able to call down Heaven�s angels to avenge and rescue Him. Instead He cried, �Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.� For the first time in all creation, the Son knew what it was like to be separated from the Father. He hung there with the world�s sin on Him, and God�s back turned to that sin. What Jesus did at Calvary was to pay the ransom for ALL. He knew the full content of the cup set before Him. He experienced all things in the flesh as a man. Jesus proved that we are able! Each day people answer the call of God. When we become Christians it is our desire to tell the world about Him. It is our desire to see people saved, delivered, healed, fed. Why? Because it is what Christ did. Now when you say �I am a Christian�, ask yourself this: �Are Ye Able?�
Friends, wearing the name of Christ is a serious thing. We must always be aware that we are His representatives. The eyes of the world are upon us, to see if we truly love one another and our fellow man. The devil will stop at nothing to distract you, and will use anyone that gives place to him. Don�t find it strange to be abandoned and standing alone with nothing but lint in your pockets. Jesus endured it all and He proved �WE ARE ABLE�. The fight is never lost until YOU quit. God will not quit you, but many will quit Him!
I desire your prayers for this ministry and for my family. I ask that you pray for a Pentecostal pastor in Sweden, Oka Greene. In Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom, it is now a hate crime to preach or read from the Bible concerning homosexuality. This pastor doesn�t compromise and he�s been given a jail sentence. Our country will follow the same path if Christians don�t vote strong at the polls in November. I�ll speak plain here: a vote for Kerry and Edwards is a vote for homosexuality, murder of unborn children and for the destruction of America. Stand up for God�s truth � �ARE YE ABLE?�
In Christ's Love, Bro. Don George
