“BARRIERS THAT WERE MEANT TO BE BROKEN”
Mark McCool
TEXT: John 5:19-20
19 Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.
20 For the Father loveth the Son, and sheweth him all things that himself doeth: and he will shew him greater works than these, that ye may marvel.
INTRODUCTION:
We live in the greatest days the world has ever known. No longer is the industrial the forefront, but now it is the Information Age. Greater accomplishments, recognized achievements, and new challenges are the quest of today’s visionaries.
We live in a time where men are consumed with breaking the records that their predecessors once achieved. Humanity is looking to do things faster, quicker, greater, higher, en-masse, and beyond what we now consider “the norm.”
When the Wright Brothers broke the barrier of gravity it changed the face of the world, but in this past generation Chuck Yeager took flight further and faster, and broke the sound barrier.
To run a five minute mile was at one time the norm for a man, but Glenn Cunningham was born and not only overcame the barrier of being a crippled child, he staggers the track and field world by breaking the mile barrier in less than four minutes.
But while Chuck, Orville, Wilbur, and Glenn have all died, there is One Barrier Breaker who lives on, and is still breaking barriers! It is Jesus Christ!
Because of Him, there is no limit to our possibilities. For the Bible tells us that “greater is he that is within you than he that is in the world.” He who was dead is alive forever more, now has the keys, not only of death and hell, but all those that unlock the gates to every barrier that was made to be broken!
At any given moment, we have more possibilities than we can act upon. When we look at the possibilities, our vision expands and dreams are captured. And we can reach out and touch the limits of our being, and break the barriers before us!
Paul said, “For I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me!”
I. JESUS BROKE BARRIERS
By definition, a barrier is something that divides; that separates and comes in-between.
A. Barrier of Dispensation (The wrong time)
1. Syrophoenician Woman pleading for her daughter’s pitiful condition.
2. Jesus ignored her. Then clarified, His mission was only to the lost sheep of the house of Isreal.
3. The he appeals to practicality: “For it is not meet (the right thing to do) to give the children’s bread unto dogs (mongrel dog).”
4. He left the door open to her. The barrier is almost broken now.
5. Then her faith stepped through that barrier and turns the table on rejection saying: “True Lord. But even the dogs (the house pet) get the crumbs that fall from the children’s table…”
B. Barrier of Fellowship (The wrong relation)
1. The Samaritan Woman at Jacob’s Well had come to draw from waters for which she would thirst again.
2. Rejected by the Jew and her own kindred for what she was, she came alone. The women of Samaria did not associate.
3. She was an outcast among outcasts. The relationships that she thought would bring her happiness had dissipated with the changing winds of time.
4. Five times married…Five times a widow. Now shacking up with a man to whom no vow was given. But possibly she felt, “Why should I? He will die just as the others. No thank you, commitment is just not for me.”
5. But Jesus breaks the barrier, “The water that I’ll give you will cause you to never thirst again.”
C. Barrier of Sin (The wrong condition)
1. Mary… a prostitute, possibly Simon’s daughter or near kin…
2. Washes the Lord’s feet with repentant tears, breaks her treasured box of oil, and lets the fragrance of her adoration fill the room.
3. Jesus can no longer stand it. He is moved by her brokeness, and the blindness of the crowd’s criticism.
4. But he says to her, “Thy sins be forgiven thee.”
D. Barrier of Sickness
1. The man born blind.
2. Who did sin? This man or his parents?
3. Neither! But that the works of God might be made manifest!
II. THE CHURCH MUST BREAK BARRIERS
Jesus said:
John 14:11-14
11 Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works’ sake.
12 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.
13 And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
14 If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.
