Led By The Spirit

Perhaps, in some minds, stemming from yesterday’s offering, there have been lingering questions such as these. What is so mighty about giving commandments to others? How does an everyday task of choosing workers, helpers or even partners, warrant the superior and supernatural works wrought by the Spirit?

Does this not take us back to Jesus’ open words of invitation to His amazed and afraid disciples, to behold, touch and experience Him in true human form, with all the limitations of flesh? Although Jesus was totally divine, He was also totally human and we are noting how He had to always die to all works of His flesh, all works of His human understanding and powers, to do the works of His heavenly Father, according to His Father’s will. Jesus, our Brother, knew and understood fully that without the working of the Holy Spirit, absolutely nothing He did in His Father’s Name and interest, would be acceptable or profitable.

As our Leader, Lord and Master, we are not above Him, therefore we must follow His pattern and lead. He has not just told us and schooled us in this, but He has demonstrated it in His earthly living in flesh body, that we need the Holy Spirit to do all things pleasing, in and through us.

What then is the work before Jesus? It is the choosing of His disciples and He did not even presume to begin to think about calling disciples until He had prayed. Truly, Luke has written that, Through the Holy Spirit, Jesus had chosen them. He is simply reiterating a truth which he has already stated, in his Gospel. Now it came to pass in those days that He went out to the mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God. And when it was day, He called His disciples to Himself; and from them He chose twelve whom He also named apostles. Luke 6: 12 – 13. Here are some exposed faith facts. Just because the Name, Holy Spirit, is not written out plainly in this setting, it does not mean that Jesus is doing all this work without Him. What work is Jesus doing here?

Separation for Prayer - First, we note the work of separating Himself from His usual or daily tasks, to engage in the unusual. In other words, choosing apostles is not an ordinary, everyday work of His. Jesus is very conscious and aware of the heavy and onerous responsibility of choosing people to work with Him in His Father’s business. He does not rely on His own human strength, intuition and good human intentions, but leans heavily on the Holy Spirit, through whom this work of separation is wrought. We also, as Jesus’ witnesses, ought to be consciously aware of occasions when we must separate ourselves through the Holy Spirit, to have special and specific communion with our Father in heaven, for some specially called work of His. 

Steadfastness in Prayer - Stemming from this separation, we identify the work of prayer. Jesus separated Himself not just to pray, but to be steadfast in prayer. Again, Jesus does not depend on the fact that He is of God and take it upon Himself to pray. No! Mindful that in His flesh lies nothing good and pleasing to God, He denies all His will, His thoughts, His strengths and intelligence in the flesh and relies solely on the Holy Spirit. We do not know the nature of Jesus’s prayer, whether He wept, or sighed, or more, for example. We do not know the words He spoke, if He spoke in Hebrew, another tongue, or the Spirit’s language, if at all He spoke. We do not know whether He was sitting, or kneeling, looking up to heaven, or lying prostrate before His Father. All we are told is that Jesus, went out to the mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God. In His steadfastness, He continued in prayer all through the night. Be assured that this is all through the Holy Spirit, by whom such work is victoriously wrought.

We also, as Jesus’ witnesses, must know steadfastness in prayer, stealing ourselves away from even the good and needed, to receive the wisdom and power of the Spirit, to do some specific work for our Father in heaven.

Solemnizing through Prayer – Let’s behold and examine these words again. And when it was day, He called His disciples to Himself; and from them He chose twelve whom He also named apostles. From Luke’s account Jesus had many disciples, however, the special work before Him was the solemnizing of a dozen of them, to be named apostles. We are taking the meaning of solemnize as to make sacred, holy and distinctly different, these Twelve, for the work of the Kingdom. Jesus did not trust Himself to confer such sacredness on ordinary men, so He sought His Father on such delicate a matter. These were chosen to be as Jesus Himself, for He was charged with not just training and teaching them, but showing them the Father in His daily living and being. Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, handpicked, calling by name, twelve men from among many.

 We also, as Jesus’ witnesses, must be aware of occasions when delicate, specific choices must be made, and we have to rely and rest bodily on the Holy Spirit.

Holy Spirit, let Your hearing works be wrought mightily in us. Amen!