Upper Room Discourse

The fifth point in this Upper Room discourse is God's supernatural revelation...see how it works. Jesus said, "Obey Me because you love Me, and there will be revelation that comes to you.' Now the revelation is what produces the great works. It is very difficult to see great things happen in the kingdom, apart from revelation from the Son who got it from the Father. And now has been revealed to us by the Spirit.

When we see some of these big miracles and great things happen today, it is because somebody has got a revelation of what God wanted to do. That revelation produced faith in the person who received it, and who in turn sopke it out or acted on it. Revelation produces faith in the person who receives the Word. That creates a faith as a grace of God to enable the person to experience the promise.

Do you see the importance of us hearing and then being able to speak? Paul said, "We believe, therefore we speak". Now here is a key: for years I had been hearing more than I would say and didn't know it. I thought it was just me. I did this for years! God was talking and I didn't think it was really Him; I just thought it was only my own thoughts. But as I began to step out of the boat onto the water, I realized that what I heard was really Him!" And He was speaking quite a bit more than I was realizing.

Sometimes His voice sounds like the subtle thought that came in and left a split second later. We are scared to say that thought, because if it's wrong we're going to look bad. If it is wrong then we are going to have a lesson in humility and get humble.

OK, revelation and fruit: where's this at in the passage? Look at John 15:15: "I no longer call you servants because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead I have called you friends, for everything I learn from My Father I have made known to you." Revelation is the privilege of friendship. The Apostle Paul said, "We believe therefore we speak." When you really believe what you are getting is from God, then you are not afraid to share it. In fact, you can tell if you really believe it or not by whether you speak it.

If you get a word as an impression coming into your mind, or you felt something or any way one of the ways God communicates, you don't really believe it until you have enough certainty of belief that you are willing to speak it. Now you can say, "I got a word, I know I got a word!" But it's not really to the degree of faith that produces a miracle until you believe enough that you speak it. Until that word is spoken, that word cannot have an effect on the people who hear it. And so the power that could have been released by the revelation to produce the fruit that brings glory to God -- that power will not happen because if you don't believe it enough to speak it.

Now I am not saying that whatever we speak creates something. That is not the case. What I am saying is that when we speak what we hear from God, that will create. There is a big difference here and it all has to do with whether or not what is spoken originates from God.

Look at verses 16 and 17: "You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit -- fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in My name. This is My command: love each other." Look what Jesus said here, He said that He appointed us to bear fruit and that fruit will last.

Ephesians 2:10 echoes that same concept. "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works which God prepared in advance for us to do." God doesn't just want us sitting on the pew. I mean, He does want us to sit on the pew and worship and stuff. But He wants that so we can get charged up to go out and do good works, to bring glory to the Father, to produce fruit proving that we really are His disciples.

What have I been saying? Revelation that comes out of intimacy produces fruit because what we know that He says to us. We know what He reveals to us, and when we speak that out, it literally has a creative power because it is the Word of the Lord. That is not just you saying whatever you want and create what you want, it is a thing of our intimacy and hearing God and believing it to the point of speaking it.

Have you wondered how you can really know if you have the gift of faith in a particular situation? You have to say it. Now do you know how you know if you have a gift of faith or not? If it was a real gift of faith, it happens. If it doesn't happen, it isn't the gift of faith. And that's the way you learn.

But you never know unless you step out of the boat. Some people are so scared of sinking because their brain tells them "you can't walk on water". But there are some higher laws than the physical laws that we know. There is a law that's higher than gravity that God has at His disposal. So if you ever think you'd like to walk on water, you have to step out of the boat. If you step out of the boat when you think it was Him saying "Come to Me" and you sink, then it wasn't Him saying "Come to Me." Or if you start to sink because you're getting nervous and you say, "Lord help me," then He will pick you up.

The sixth point is that revelation produces fruit, and the fruit is what brings glory to God. In John 16:12, Jesus said: "I have much more to say to you, more than you can now hear. But when He the Spirit Of Truth comes, He will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on His own. He will speak on what He hears and He will tell you what is yet to come." [This is the key right here, verse 14] "He will bring glory to Me."

Now a while ago who was getting the glory? The Father. Now who's getting the glory? The Son, Jesus. Who is the "He" in this verse? The Spirit. And where's the Spirit getting His stuff from? The Father!

"He will bring glory to Me by taking from what is Mine and making it known to you." In this most precious discourse, Jesus basically says, "Guys, I've taught you a lot of things, but here's the essence of it, the most important. You've got to get it because I'm getting ready to be crucified! And I want you to get this because if you get this you're going to be powerfully used! Love me, obey Me, and you'll hear Me. Love Me, obey Me and you'll get revelation. Love Me, obey Me, then you've got to act on the revelation."

How do you know you really believe? Paul gave us that answer when he said, "We believed therefore we spoke." It was something that needed to be spoken, or God is telling you to do something. If you believe it you say, "I believe God's telling me to do ___." You really don't believe it until you do it.

There is a difference between this word "faith" and the word "believe" used in the Bible. It has to manifest somehow in response to God. And action either speaking what He said or doing what He commanded, and that causes it to happen. Is this making sense to you? I know this is really simply stuff, but it is all right there in the Bible.

"He will bring glory to Me by taking from what is Mine and making it known to you. All that belongs to the Father is Mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is Mine and make it known to you." Over and over in this discourse, Jesus kept talking about 'I'm going to make things known to you,' 'I am going to reveal to you,' 'I'm going to show Myself to you.' Intimacy is not characterized by silence; intimacy is characterized by communication.

Several years ago some minister friends of mine were driving to Saint Louis to visit friends of theirs. As they were driving down the highway, his wife Linda heard God tell her "Amy has a new refrigerator". And so Linda sat there thinking, "Holy Spirit, what's up? Why would you tell anybody that Amy has got a new refrigerator? How is that going to help anybody? Why would You tell me that? "Is that You? What good does it do me to know Amy has a new refrigerator? I'll know it as soon as I get to Amy's house." And she heard back, "I just like to talk to My friends. It has no value at all. I just like to tell you things."