Last week I took you to John 5:19.  In that verse Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself…”  I stopped there because I wanted you to see the impact of that when we read Jesus’ words, “Apart from me you can do nothing…,” but I want you to hear the rest of that verse—“he can only do what he sees His Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.”  Verse 20 says, “For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, to your amazement he will show him even greater things than these…”  He goes on to picture the abiding work of the Father in 14:10, “Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in me?  The words I say to you are not just my own.  Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work.”  That word, “living in me,” is the same Greek word for abiding.

Now let me try to wrap all of this together—Jesus says He did what He saw the Father doing.  He also says that He shows Himself to those who obey Him.  We know that we cannot obey unless we abide and if we abide we will find Jesus showing Himself to us and giving us the power to simply get involved in what He is doing.  It isn’t us doing it at all—it is Him showing us what He is doing and then allowing us to do it with Him.  When that happens we bear much fruit.  What kind of fruit will we bear?  Let me show you something that will just blow you away.

Everything that Jesus said and did was the result of abiding in the Father.  He tells us that in 14:10, but He goes on to say something even more radical just a few verses later—He says, “I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing (abiding in the Father).  He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.  And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father.  You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.”  Once again we find that wonderful promise of answered prayer and the victorious life given in the context of abiding.

Jesus did everything through abiding in the Father and the Father abiding in Him—He tells us to live that same life and promises us a life of even greater results.  We need to remember that John 14 begins with the famous words, “Let not your hearts be troubled…”  You don’t have to worry about me leaving this earth—you will never have to be separated from me—you can abide in me and I will abide in you.  His physical body was limited to being in one place at one time, but now His omnipresence offers every single believer the opportunity to abide in Him and to have a relationship that is even more intimate than the relationship the disciples had with him while he walked the earth.   That opportunity is available to you if you will just abide.

Let me close with a few questions:

• Does the Sun Room illustration from the other day connect with you?  Are you still in the broom closet of works and talents?  Isn’t it time to step through the veil of Jesus’ flesh and simply abide in His presence?
• Are you climbing the wall of works and religion?  Get down off of that ladder and walk with Him in a personal relationship. 
• Are you continually coming up short?  Are there areas in your life that you are not obeying Him?  Work on your intimacy with Him—spend time with Him and learn to abide in Him and obedience will take care of itself.  If there are things that He has spoken to you in those close and intimate times—you will not go further with Him until you trust Him enough to obey Him and trust Him.