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It Takes Two:
A Word for 2022 & Beyond
03 - Dwelling with God
Church on the Park | Sunday, 06 FEB 2022 | Glen Gerhauser
Text: “For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them” (Matt.
18:20, NIV).
“One hand full of rest is better than two fists full of labor and striving after wind…Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor; for if either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion.
But woe to the one who falls when there is not another to lift him up!
Furthermore, if two lie down together they keep warm, but how can one be warm alone?
And if one can overpower him who is alone, two can resist him.
A cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart” (Ecc.
4:6, 9-12, NASB).
Theme: It takes two––God and you––to bear the fruit of his Kingdom.
Intro: There’s an amazing thing that happens when you dwell with God, and God dwells with you: you find rest––deep and true rest for your soul.
Now you are working with God, and he is working in your life.
You no longer have two fists full of labor and striving after the wind.
Instead, you are yoked to Jesus, and he is bearing the brunt of the burden.
It was the day after Christmas 2021, and I was worshipping the Lord and began singing in the Spirit.
The Holy Spirit moved me to sing, “It takes two.”
Then I began to sing, “It takes two in 2022.”
I wrote it down in my journal and began to test the Word.
I felt it was an important word for 2022, but it reminded me of a 90’s hip hop song––so I didn’t want to preach on it.
I tried to get rid of it, yet it stayed with me.
Next thing you know, the Lord began to walk me through Scripture, emphasizing the importance of twos, partnership and mateship.
1) It takes two (Matthew 11:28-30).
As many of us know, a yoke attaches two oxen together so they can work together.
The yoke lightens the load of the plow, making the work more pleasant.
Pulling a heavyweight by yourself is no fun.
The Bible begins with the duets of Genesis singing out.
The heavens and the earth
The evening and the morning
The seas and the dry land
The greater light (the sun) and the lesser light (the moon)
The fish (sea creatures) and birds (flying creatures)
The animals and man
Male and female
The Lord and his Sabbath rest
The two are separate and distinct, but as they work together, it is very good.
The night without the day is not good.
Heaven without the earth is not good.
The land without the waters is not good.
The sun without the moon is not good.
A male without a female is not good.
Humankind without sabbath rest is not good.
But when the two come together, there is life, balance and fruitfulness.
The Bible is full of pairs and partnerships.
The men and animals came to Noah’s ark in pairs.
Abraham and Sarah
Abraham and Isaac
Moses and Joshua
Joshua and Caleb
Elijah and Elisha
Paul and Timothy
And most of all, Jesus and you.
When you are saved, God works to break your stubbornness so that you don’t live independently of him.
It takes two––Jesus and you––for his Kingdom to be manifested on earth.
By choosing the way of covenant, the Lord decided to become interdependent with us.
As Abraham Heschel (the great Jewish scholar) used to say, “God chose to need us, even though he did not need us.”
In other words, God made himself vulnerable to us by making a covenant with us, and that vulnerability of love led him to the cross.
You are called to co-labour with God rather than work independently from him (1 Cor.
3:9).
We have been chosen to work in sync with God, together with him
But here is the thing: we are tempted to do good and religious things––even ministry work––independent of Jesus.
In other words, we plow without being yoked to Jesus.
Or worse, we get yoked to the wrong people.
Then we get completely drained and angry with God when it was our fault all along.
The great lesson every man or woman of God must learn is to stay in step with Jesus, letting him set the pace.
This pace is not too slow or too fast.
Instead, it’s in sync with the Lord.
Last week we looked at the temptations of Jesus (Matthew 4:1-11).
What is Satan trying to do in these temptations?
He’s trying to get Jesus to operate independently of the Father.
He’s trying to get Jesus yoked to him rather than his Father.
And this is the big temptation for us today: who will we be joined to?
Who will we be yoked to?
Satan doesn’t mind Jesus doing miracles as long as he’s listening to him rather than the Father.
When we stray from dependence on the Father, we test God.
We are thankful that the Father is patient with us, but let’s not test his patience.
2) Dwell intimately with Jesus, and he will intimately dwell with you (John 15:1-8).
One of the passages of Scripture that helped me the most during our break was John 15:1-8.
I cannot control how people act toward me, this church or our ministry.
But I can be proactive about being intimate with Jesus, and I am promised that that connection will bear much fruit.
So that’s what I focused on.
Dwelling with him and doing what he moves me to do.
So let me read to you a fresh translation of John 15:1-8, and here’s a black and white copy of it.
You can get the colour infographic of this @ https://www.brisbanefire.com/infographics
“I am the real grapevine, and my Father is the gardener.
Every branch in me that does not bear fruit, he lifts up, caring for it.
On the other hand, he prunes every branch that does bear fruit, making it more fruitful.
Already you've been pruned – cleansed through the word I've spoken to you.
“Dwell with me – intimately – and I will intimately dwell with you.
Just as the branch cannot bear fruit alone – it must be intimately connected to the vine – so you cannot bear fruit unless you are intimate with me.
“I am the grapevine; you are the branches.
Those who dwell with me – intimately – are those I intimately dwell with.
The ones closely connected to me bear much fruit.
Realize that without me, you have no power to produce anything.
“If someone does not stay intimate with me, they dry out, wither away and fall off the vine.
The gardener gathers these dry, dead branches and throws them into the fire – they're useless.
“If you remain intimate with me – letting my solid sayings dwell within you – you may ask what you desire, and it will become a part of you.
This is how you glorify my Father: bearing much fruit and becoming my disciples (John 15:1-8, Inspiration Translation)
3) Lastly, dwelling with Jesus means you will dwell with his people (John 15:1-8).
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