"OH, YES! WE ARE ABLE!"

By David P. Nolte

AUDIO SERMON:

MATTHEW 20:20-23

Self-confidence and self-reliance is a good thing if it isn't carried too far. We should stand on our own two feet; we ought to work to provide for our families rather than depending on others to do it for us; we must face the challenges of life; we need to make our own choices rather than to have someone else think for us.

But when we become so independent and self-confident that we think, "I don't need anybody! It's all about me! I don't even need God," then that's too far.

We see the brothers, James and John, expressing an exaggerated self-confidence they would later discover to be false and excessive.

"Then the mother of James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Jesus with her sons. She knelt respectfully to ask a favor. 'What is your request?' He asked.

She replied, 'In Your Kingdom, please let my two sons sit in places of honor next to You, one on Your right and the other on Your left.'

But Jesus answered by saying to them, 'You don't know what you are asking! Are you able to drink from the bitter cup of suffering I am about to drink?' 'Oh yes,' they replied, 'we are able!'

Jesus told them, 'You will indeed drink from My bitter cup. But I have no right to say who will sit on My right or My left. My Father has prepared those places for the ones He has chosen.'" Matthew 20:20-23 (NLT).

What they should have said was, "Oh, no! We are NOT able without You!" And as Linda's song suggests, we should all admit, "I can't make it without Jesus!" But we, as humans, don't always recognize that.

1. WE MAY SAY "WE ARE ABLE!" IN OUR OWN STRENGTH:
   1. Note:
      1. "Oh, yes! WE are able!"
      2. How reminiscent of Peter's zealous over-self-confidence: "Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You." Matthew 26:35 (NASB).
   2. Now, I am not accusing anyone of having that sort of excessive, boastful pride; but the reality is that it is a temptation to us all to magnify our capabilities, or to exaggerate our dependability.
      1. The Bible does not advocate a false humility, but it does warn about putting confidence in the flesh.
      2. Paul merely said about self-estimation, "Because of the privilege and authority God has given me, I give each of you this warning: Don't think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us." Romans 12:3 (NLT).
      3. That would be unlike the heady woodpecker who was knocked silly when lightning hit the tree, shredding it to splinters. When he roused himself he said, "Wow! Look what I did to that tree!"
      4. Or it is different than the rooster who boasted saying, "When I crow, the sun comes up!"
   3. The point is that we should put no confidence in the flesh. Our own strength, our own capabilities, our own power is inadequate.
   4. Aesop told a fable about two soldiers and a robber. It goes like this, "Two Soldiers, traveling together, were set upon by a Robber. The one fled away; the other stood his ground, and defended himself with his stout right hand. The Robber being slain, the timid companion runs up and draws his sword, and then, throwing back his traveling cloak, says: 'Let me at him, and I'll take care he shall learn whom he has attacked.' On this, he who had fought with the Robber made answer: 'I only wish that you had helped me just now, even if it had been only with those words, for I should have been the more encouraged, believing them to be true; but now put up your sword in its sheath and hold your equally useless tongue, till you can deceive others who do not know you. I, indeed, who have experienced with what speed you ran away, know right well that no dependence can be placed on your valor.'" So would the disciples have been better off not so quickly declaring their own ability to stand their ground in suffering.
      

BUT THERE IS A SEQUEL TO THIS THOUGHT:

2. IF WE SAY "WE ARE ABLE!" IN OUR OWN STRENGTH WE ARE GOING TO FALL:
   1. Let's take a leap into the latter part of the gospels to see how the disciples fell:
      1. When Jesus was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane, "Then all the disciples left Him and fled." Matthew 26:56 (NASB).
      2. Peter, after the arrest, denied Jesus three times, declaring, "I do not know the man!" Matthew 26:74 (NASB).
   2. The Bible teaches us, and so does experience,
      1. "Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall." Proverbs 16:18 (NIV).
      2. "Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall." 1 Corinthians 10:12 (NASB).
   3. I only point this out so we don't fall carelessly into the trap of thinking we can get along on our own without Divine intervention. If we do, we are setting ourselves up for a fall.
      1. Trusting in ourselves alone is like building a paper house with a graham cracker roof on a marshmallow foundation.
      2. Trusting our own power is like climbing a ladder with balsa wood rungs.
   4. A young preacher illustrates the folly of confidence in self. He was trying out for his first congregation and walked boldly up to the pulpit full of smug self assurance. He was set to wow the people with his eloquence and fluency. Things didn't go so well, however, and he stumbled through 20 minutes of embarrassment. Finally, he concluded the sermon and walked dejectedly to the back of the sanctuary. He heard one man say, "If he'd gone up as he came down, he'd have come down as he went up." His pride had brought him low. That always happens when we think we "can do" in our own power.
      

   THE SUM OF THE MATTER IS THIS:

   
   
   3. WE SHOULD SAY "WE ARE ABLE!" ONLY IN CHRIST'S POWER:
      1. Another leap ahead in time shows the Christ empowered, enabled and emboldened apostles.
         1. On the day of Pentecost the 12 (with the substitution of Matthias for Judas) boldly preached the gospel. Peter said, "let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ - this Jesus whom you crucified." Acts 2:36 (NASB).
         2. When ordered to shut about preaching Jesus, the apostles replied,
            1. "Whether it is right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge; for we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard." Acts 4:19-20 (NASB).
            2. When threats continued, Peter said, "We must obey God rather than men." Acts 5:29 (NASB).
      2. Now why was that? Did they take karate lessons? Did they hire a body guard? No, they were empowered by God Himself. Luke wrote, "And with great power the apostles were giving testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and abundant grace was upon them all." Acts 4:33 (NASB). Because of that, they experienced these truths:
         1. Paul wrote, "For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases Him." Philippians 2:13 (NLT).
         2. And the Hebrew letter says, "May the God of peace, Who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing His will, and may He work in us what is pleasing to Him, through Jesus Christ, to Whom be glory for ever and ever." Hebrews 13:20-21 (NIV). Remember: God doesn't call the equipped, He equips the called.
      3. So, we can safely say, "Oh, yes! I can!" but only through His empowerment.
         1. Paul said, "I can do all things through Him Who strengthens me." Philippians 4:13 (NASB).
         2. He prayed for the church, "that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man." Ephesians 3:16 (NASB).
         3. It still holds true, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." 2 Corinthians 12:9 (NASB).
         4. "Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever." Ephesians 3:20-21 (NASB).
         5. And, finally, "Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever." Jude 1:24-25 (NASB).
         6. This does not mean we will always succeed, or will never face opposition. It means, that if we are wearing the armor of God, we will be able to stand. Ephesians 6:1ff.
      4. Herbert Jackson told how, as a new missionary, he was assigned a car that would not start without a push. After pondering his problem, he devised a plan. He had to ask for a push often. Finally, he would either park on a hill or leave the engine running. He did that for two years. Ill health forced the Jackson family to leave, and a new missionary came to that station. When Jackson proudly began to explain his arrangement for getting the car started, the new man began looking under the hood. Before the explanation was complete, the new missionary interrupted, "Why, Dr. Jackson, I believe the only trouble is this loose cable." He gave the cable a twist, stepped into the car, pushed the switch, and to Jackson's astonishment, the engine roared to life. For two years needless trouble had become routine. The power was there all the time. Only a loose connection kept Jackson from putting that power to work. The Phillips paraphrase of Ephesians l:19-20 says, "How tremendous is the power available to us who believe in God." When we make firm our connection with God, His life and power flow through us.
         
         

   We can't save ourselves, but Jesus can.

   We can't change our hearts, but Jesus can.

   We can't get ourselves to heaven, but Jesus can.

   We can't please God in our own power or goodness, but Jesus can.

   
   
   

   We ARE ABLE TO choose to believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God; We ARE ABLE to repent of sin; We ARE ABLE to be baptized by immersion in water; We ARE ABLE to follow Jesus by faith in the new life He creates by the power of God at work in us.

   
   
   

   So, as He asks US as He asked THEM, "Are you able?" With His grace and power, we may answer, "Oh, yes! We are able!" and then we must follow from this day forth.