NOTHINGNESS IN
SERVICE
"Then Jesus answered and said to them, 'Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner'" (John 5:19).
Notice what an amazing statement this is — The Son can do nothing of Himself. The deeds He performed were done because of, and through the One, Who sent Him. And the Lord says — I also send you (John 20:21). We can apply this to ourselves — we can do nothing of ourselves. Any deeds of true service for God will be performed by the One Who sent us. Notice how definite this teaching is; it takes us right out of the picture.
If any real service is to be done, then it must be done by the One Who sends me. Christ living in me, in the person of His Holy Spirit, must be able to use me as the vehicle or implement of His divine will.
It is my responsibility to say "Yes Lord, here I am, send me and use me." All Christ wants of me is my availability.
So I don't go — I am sent, and when I am sent I don't initiate the doing, I simply present myself to be used by the one who sent me.
Someone might say, "Isn't that a dangerous idea? After all, if I don't get on with the job, nothing will be done!" Yet Jesus said, if you do get on with the job, then nothing will be done — you can do nothing of true value for God apart from the inward working of Christ.
Always remember that running here and there, being on this committee and this group, etc. etc., does not necessarily mean that it is true productive service for God. No one sees the trees growing or the flowers opening, but they do grow and open. There is no noise or excitement as the stars and planets move on their courses but they do. We can never imagine the Lord in a rush or a panic, but "all things were accomplished."
"I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me" (John 5:30). Here is the same thought again. His decisions were not His own. How terribly this fact is illustrated in Matthew 26:39 — "O my Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will." The desire was His, in all His humanity but the decision was the will of the One who sent Him. And Our Lord says to us — "I also send you."
We, too, may have human desires but the decision must not be ours but from Him who sent us. Remember, our main thought is the Lordship of Christ — the Lord and the slave — we have no decisions. We must be ready to do as Mary said in John 2:5: "Whatever He says to you, do it!" She was able to say that because she began her service for God by saying — "Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it to me according to Your word." If this is our attitude to our Lord, then many of the problems of life will be settled for us because our own desires, however good and sincere, will not be the deciding factor. The decision will be in relation to the fact that we are sent.
If my Lord is sending me for a certain job, He will also supply all that I need — "And my God shall supply every need of yours according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:19).
Regarding this verse, Charles Haddon Spurgeon, the great English preacher of the last generation, used to say it was God's check. The company was "My God." The promise on the check was "shall supply." The amount written was "all your need." The account was "His riches." The bank was "in glory" and the signature on the check was "By Jesus Christ."
Again we are faced with the fact that so many Christians have never proved God. They have never taken Him at His word and launched out on His promise. This is why we are continually called to "rest in the Lord — commit thy way unto the Lord." Let the decisions be His, for Christ said — "I also send you."
"Jesus answered them and said, 'My doctrine is not Mine, but His who sent me' " (John 7:16).
Many in the world today accept Christ not as the Saviour but as a great teacher. This is a remarkable fact, for in several places our Lord disclaimed all responsibility for His teaching. As in this verse, He teaches that He has no doctrine, no ideas or views of His own. All the pronouncements from His lips came from the One who sent Him. He gave all the authority and the glory to God — "I also send you" — under the same conditions.
Just as the Lord constantly hid Himself behind the One Who sent Him, seeking no privileges, expecting no rights because He was the sent one — "I also send you."
We must learn to let the Word of God be the answer to the many questions that crop up. We must stop quoting our views and airing our opinions and remember always — "My doctrine is not Mine, but His who sent me."
Let us remember that when Christ faced the tempter in the wilderness He never used any new ideas or techniques; He quoted from the Word of God. Whether in defense, or decree, His doctrine wasn't His own. The Word of God is sufficient for you and for me.
"For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak." (John 12:49).
It is amazing how, as we read John's gospel, we meet the same idea over and over again — "Not mine but the Father who sent me." The recurrence of the phrase is surely not accidental.
The Lord constantly effaced Himself and always brought in "the Father who has sent Me." Here He teaches that He had been given orders what to say. The authority of God was behind His words. Just as of old the prophets cried — "thus says the Lord" — and pronounced the message God had given them, so Christ spoke. His words carried weight. There was a crispness of authority so that men said — "No man ever spoke like this Man" (John 7:46). But He was only being faithful to Him Who sent Him — "I also send you."
We who teach and preach and guide in the things of God are sent not to speak of ourselves but of "the Saviour, who sent me. He gave me a command, what I should say and what I should speak." Popularity in preaching is not always a sign of faithfulness in preaching.
Paul, writing in 2 Corinthians 5:20 gives an excellent illustration of the idea: "Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God." His message is — "be reconciled to God," but God is doing the imploring through Paul, and Christ is doing the speaking through Paul. Paul is simply the vehicle of the Godhead.
He was an ambassador. Notice that an ambassador is always sent, he never goes where he chooses. When he arrives, he, himself, is "a nothing," but he represents everything. When the American Ambassador in Paris speaks, America is speaking. He doesn't say what he likes if he is a faithful ambassador; he speaks the words of the one who sent him. The Ambassador is not ashamed to witness for his country. His residence flies the flag of America, his automobile displays the flag — he is America.
Therefore his conduct has to honor his country, and he has to be guarded in his speech. He is the chosen vessel sent to a foreign land; he is the mouthpiece of his country.
In like manner, we, too, are ambassadors for Christ. We are to be faithful, unashamed, displaying our flag, and the words we speak are the words of our Lord — "I also send you."
