/I am able to do nothing from Myself.
(John 5:30 AMP)/
You get to the heart of everything in
the case of the Lord Jesus when
you recognize that the one question
which constituted the testing
ground of His life was: "Will this Man
act alone, speak alone, choose
alone, decide alone, move alone?" And
His answer was always, "Not out
from Myself!" "The Son can do
nothing out from Himself." "The
words
that I speak unto you I speak not out
from Myself." Every kind of
appeal was made to Him to persuade
Him on the impulse of the moment,
or in response to an entreaty that
seemed to promise success, or by an
argument that appeared to be the
truest wisdom, to move, act, speak,
do something as out from Himself....
At times the suggestion would be
influenced by necessity of
circumstances, at times by the
promise of effectiveness in His
service, or again by representation of
the utter un-wisdom of the line
that He was taking, as when His own
brethren, who did not believe in
Him, chided Him for delay, saying, "Go
up to Jerusalem and show
yourself!" To them He said, "I go not
yet up to this feast!" And then,
so quickly after, when His brethren
were gone up He went up also. But
He would not go up at the persuasion
of popular reason; He would not
do this merely because it was the
thing which everybody else was
doing, or because it was urged upon
Him that, since everybody was
going to the feast, He ought to go too.
That ninety-nine people do a
thing is no argument for the
hundredth to do it. We are not to be
led
by the appeals that decide the actions
of the many - "It is the
popular thing! Everybody else is doing
it! It is the recognized thing
to do!" No! Does my Father want me
to do this thing? That is the
question that must ever rule our
steps. In the case of the Lord Jesus
there was all the time an
underworking to get Him to adopt the
contrary course, to act without inquiry
of His Father, without direct
leading from His Father; to act in His
individual capacity as though
He were His own Master, as though
He had not to
make appeal elsewhere.
In Him there was none of that which
was personal, independent. We are
not speaking merely of such things as
are sinfully personal,
positively personal, but simply of
independent action, action taken
for the best ends, for a good motive,
with quite a proper intention.
Yes, all this may be done, but apart
from the positive word from the
Father. That creates an independent
thought, however good may be the
motive.