Today on Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram, God wants to do something impossible through you. Not hard, not unlikely, not difficult. but impossible. He wants you to experience his supernatural power in ways that are literally unimaginable. The question is, how does that work?
What do you need to do in order to experience that kind of life-changing breakthrough? That's what we'll cover today. Stay with me. How did Jesus prepare his disciples for breakthrough? Today on Living on the Edge, Chip Ingram takes us inside Jesus' ministry training program.
Watch how Jesus deliberately teaches his followers to recognize his goodness, power, and compassion. From healing the sick to feeding thousands, every miracle had a purpose, to show that God isn't just powerful, He's good. It's all part of our series, Experience Breakthrough, Learning to Stop Feeling Confined by Life's Biggest Barriers and Spiritual Futility. If you're ready to see God work in ways you never imagined, this message is for you. Let's join Chip Ingram with the first step to breakthrough.
How did Jesus, are you ready for this? How did Jesus teach his disciples to experience breakthrough. If you're taking notes, The first question was, What is breakthrough? The second question was: Is there a biblical pattern of breakthrough? And I think we've demonstrated that.
The third question, how did Jesus Teach the disciples to experience and be agents of breakthrough. It's twofold. Repent and believe the good news. Repent. Meta.
Noia, it means with your mind. Have a change of mind. Think differently about God. Think differently about yourself. And start thinking about it the way God thinks about it.
Believe the good news. Believe that He loves you and live out of the freedom and the reality. The gospel is not what can I do for God? How can I earn His favor? The gospel is good news.
This is what God has already done for you. Receive it, believe it, let it fill you up, and then out of thanksgiving and love, express that same kind of love to others.
Now with that said, how did he teach his disciples? He wanted to teach. These good Jewish religious boys. That he didn't come to change the culture. He came from the city.
For people to move out of their stuck religion and the wickedness of the day. And to have a relationship with the living God. And so he announced what it was. And then as you look at the book of Mark, what I want you to see His goodness, His goodness, His kindness.
So, as you pick it up, notice, okay, he's going to announce the good news. Skip down, if you will, to verse 21. Then he went to Capernaum, and the Sabbath came, and Jesus went into the synagogue, and he began to teach. And the people were amazed at his teaching because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law. And there was a man in the synagogue.
who is possessed by an evil spirit. What do you want to do with me? The first thing he does is eradicate evil.
So there's sort of some authentication. Whoa, who is this guy? The next thing he does, as you skim, look at verse 29, he goes over to Peter's mother-in-law's house and she's sick. And people are wondering, wow, who is this guy? And he heals her.
And then, if you skim down a little bit after that, what you find is there's a real buzz here. And he spends almost all night and the whole town comes out. He casts out demons and heals. And people are coming from everywhere. And then he gets up real early the next morning to pray to stay focused.
And the disciples say, Jesus, last night you were a super hit. Everyone's talking about you. This is going to be awesome. Come on back. And he says, no, no, no, no.
There's many other villages and places I need to go.
So he teaches the disciples it can't be about them, it can't be about us, it can't be about just now. It's fulfilling what God wants. And so notice then he begins a preaching tour. And in chapter 2, what's he do? He heals a paralytic.
And then in the end of two and The early part of 3, he calls the disciples, deals with some theological issues, and then chapter 3, notice, he went into a synagogue again. And there's a man with a shriveled hand. His popularity is mushrooming. And now the Pharisees are jealous. And what's he do?
He speaks, doesn't even touch him. He speaks. and the man is healed. Afterwards, the Pharisees, the religious people, are plotting how to kill him. Then the crowds follow Jesus.
Skip down, if you will, verse 9 of chapter 3. It says, Because of the crowds, he told the disciples to have a small boat ready for him to keep the people from crowding him, for he had healed many.
So that those with diseases were pushing forward to touch him. What's the message? It's a new preacher, and you say to yourself, what's he doing? He just keeps healing people, and healing people, and touching people, and touching people that no one thinks is worth anything. It's good news.
This isn't measuring up. He just keeps loving people. And if you're one of his early Jewish boys' disciples, you're going, this is really different. And did you notice it's not about how many services they have or how many buildings they're building? What is it?
It's his power. The world today doesn't need to see more church buildings or more services or our numbers increase for that sake. They need to see the power of God in you and in me, in our homes, in our work, in our neighborhood, unleashing the power. that does good. That's the gospel.
And that's what he wants to teach him.
Well, notice he appoints the twelve and They come with him. And then chapter. Chapter 4, he begins to do some teaching, which is always very important.
So he teaches him about the kingdom. And then after he teaches them about the kingdom, He wants them to understand. That they are agents. to bring breakthrough in the lives of people. And we don't have time to go into depth, but I encourage you to read it on your own.
Chapter 4, he teaches about the kingdom, about trusting God, about the soil, it's responding to God's word. And he talks about how it grows with the mustard seed, and how, if we don't respond to the truth that we get, we don't get more truth. And he talks about how it's a supernatural thing that happens, and in and of itself, it will grow. It's the power of God's word as the Holy Spirit uses it. in the hearts of people that are open and willing.
And then he says, let's go to the other side, because what he wants to do now. He has helped them see, this is my message, it's good news. But now he wants them to understand this is who I really am. And I'm not only good, but I'm powerful enough to handle anything that ever comes up anytime with anyone. And so he says, let's go to the other side.
And these professional fishermen get into an impossible storm. And what's he do? You know the story? He's at peace. He's asleep.
They cry out, He speaks and what happens? It's a breakthrough. And they go. Who is this guy? And then they go to the other side, and there's not just a guy with demons.
If you read it later today, very carefully. It's a demoniac that has a legion of demons in him, and no one. In other words, it's impossible. No one can control this guy.
So, anybody have demons in your life? I don't mean necessarily literal ones, but I mean, we talk about You know the demons from our past, our family of origin, my addiction. And there may be some literal ones. And what's he do? He speaks.
And he's healed. And he wants them to know that it really happened, so the demons get into pigs, so visually you can see this is reality. And then they go back across, and as he's going, he hears there's a little girl that's very, very sick. And as he's walking, there's a woman who's in an impossible situation. I mean, the author makes it very clear.
She's used up all her money. She's sought all the doctors she can find. Nothing works. But she believes there's goodness in this man. She's heard.
She's seen. If I could just touch him, and she does. The goodness of God is so great. That Jesus, unaware, when someone draws near to the goodness of God by faith, Supernatural things happen. She's healed on the spot, and did you notice what he said to her?
Daughter, you're what made you well? Your faith. But she got to the point that George Mueller talked about. I'm bankrupt. There's nothing I can do.
If this Jesus can't help me, if I don't get a breakthrough, there's no hope. And then he's on the way to help the little girl. The servants come, it's too late, don't bother him, she's dead. And this might be worth putting your nose in. Mark Chapter Five.
Ignoring verse thirty-six what they said. Jesus told the synagogue ruler, Don't be afraid, just Belief. Are you starting to get the gospel? It's a declaration. It's an announcement.
How is he teaching these disciples? What's he doing? He's demonstrating the goodness and the love of God. And then if you would care to skip over uh to chapter six the beginning Because hearing about it and watching it never makes it real in your life.
So chapter 6, he says, boys, Going to send you on an expedition, but I want you to depend on me and I want you to experience what you've seen.
So, no cloaks, no second bags, no money, no walking sticks. I want you to go to these villages. I'm on a preaching tour, and I want you to heal the sick. I want you to cast out demons, and I want you to announce the kingdom. And they go do it, and God works through them.
Whoa! And they come back to him, and they're exhausted and they're excited. They're now agents of breakthrough. Lord, the demons, they listened to us. People were healed.
He says, well, let's go get a break. And they go to get a break, and as they arrive, oh my lands. He makes Mick Jagger and every rock star in the entire world. seemed like nothing because the crowd swell and swell and swell and swell and swell. He has compassion on them.
And so in chapter 6, here's, don't miss this. In chapter 6. The disciples, after he teaches them, By this time, verse 35, it was light in the day. And the disciples came to him in this remote place. He said, it's already very late.
Send the people away so they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages. and buy for themselves something to eat. Notice Jesus' response. But he answered them, You give them something. You're listening to Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram.
We'll hear more from Chip in just a moment. If you've missed any part of this message or if you'd like to share it with a friend, you can find it anytime online at livingonthege.org. And while you're there, you'll also discover a full library of Chip's teaching series, small group resources, and practical tools to help you grow in your faith. It's all waiting for you at livingonthege.org.
Now let's get back to today's message.
Now, I don't know about you, but I've, you know, they've seen some miracles. God's used them to perform some miracles. There's been some breakthroughs. There's 5,000. The way they counted in those days were 5,000 men, who knows how many people.
Okay, listen very carefully. This is what we lost. Jesus expects you to do impossible things. Period. God expects to do impossible things in you and through you.
And if you go on and read the story, you will say, Well, how does it happen? What's he do? He said, Well, what do you got? I'm not asking you to do something with what you don't have. What do you got?
Bring it to me. Trust me. And when you understand, By faith. How good I am. And you're willing to obey what I've already said.
I will show up in ways. That declare and reveal my glory and my goodness to people that have no idea that I love them. That's what breakthrough's about.
Now when I read things like that, I get very encouraged. But I also began to ask questions like, Number four, is there a historical precedent that breakthrough can happen in our day. Right? In other words, this is great, this is great stuff. It's Bible stuff.
But does God still do that? And I would say if we could do a quick run of church history, of which we won't. Yeah. What I'd say is you would see that The book of Acts is a picture of breakthrough, and there will be many things that we'll learn about what these very ordinary People did. of people who believed what he said.
who are very ordinary. transformed. by about the next 300 years, the entire world. And during that time, you'll find guys like Athanasius, who stood his ground. when all of Christianity was moving in a way apart from the truth.
And there was a breakthrough. And you'll see times where then corruption happens in the church, and they get connected in this, quote, holy Roman Empire. Everything that Jesus said and all that he taught, and who we were to be, little by little by little, would begin to just be so far away from what was happening in the life. of the church. And so he would raise up a Saint Francis over here, and a group of monks over here, and a Teresa Avia here.
And then a John Hus, a Czech priest, who said, Wait a second, and it's the Bible. And then a Luther, a Calvin, and a Zwingli, and a Reformation would be birthed. And they did it. Imperfectly, and they did some wonderful things, and then they did some really terrible things in the midst of it because God doesn't use perfect people who have it all together to do breakthroughs, they have blind spots. And then after that Reformation you have People like Tyndale, who said, You know something, we got this printing press.
I'm going to start making Bibles in English that people can get. Huss made a copy and Breakthroughs are expensive, really expensive. They burned Huss at the stake as a heretic. Probably the greatest breakthrough that happened in the last 500 years was Martin Luther. And I uh In my journey here, I was led very clearly by God to study Martin Luther.
Because the parallels of what was happening In 1512 through about 15, 60 are very akin to what's happening in our world today. Here's the historical context. The Holy Roman Empire is now in cahoots with the church. There's corruption. No Bible for the common people.
The only person who could interpret the scripture was the Pope. Only priests had access to God. The church and the church laws was the authority, not the Bible. People were paying at this point for their salvation in indulgencies, trying to pay their way out of hell into heaven. And there was ignorance, poverty, a functional caste system with the nobles, hierarchy of the church, and most of the world, illiterate peasants, called the Dark Ages.
After Husk blazed the trail, literally, no pun intended. Um Martin Luther shows up. He had a tortured childhood, very strict, strict parents. That's putting it mildly. He had a conscience that he could never get right.
And he found himself longing to please God, and he did get a good education. But in the middle of his education in law school, he had this horrendous experience, some sort of lightning or thunderstorm, along with the loss of a friend. And he promised God, he prayed, according to church history, he prayed to St. Anne: if you get me out of this, I'll be a monk. And he lived, and so he.
Went to be a monk. Wittenberg. He got his doctorate, his master's, then his Uh Became a teacher at Wittenberg. And he had no peace in his soul. I mean, it was a complete works orientation.
The justice of God, the justice of God, what God demands, said Luther in his own words, made me hate God. I hated God. And he was like obsessive, compulsive, over the top. I'll do whatever it takes. He fasted, he did all kinds of weird things to himself.
He went on pilgrimages. He prayed for long periods. I mean, he just, anything that can earn God's favor. And then he would always come back realizing his own heart, his own motives, and he just hated God. And so his supervisor, you're a monk.
It's hard to be a monk. And hey, God. I mean, it's not a good job. And so uh His supervisor had him Do his doctoral work in the original languages where he taught the Psalms, Romans, and Galatians. And after teaching those courses for about three years, on a certain day at a certain time, for the first time ever, he read what the Bible said, not the indoctrination of the heresy that he heard, that the just shall live by faith.
Therefore, we have peace with God since we've been justified by faith. And the lights came on, and Luther had what he described as an evangelical awakening. And he thought it was no big deal. What he realized was, I've just rescued the authentic gospel, and he began to teach it, and things started happening in Wittenberg. And he literally, the first was 97 theses, not 95.
And people were excited, and there was a movement. And there was conflict with the Holy Roman Empire, and God and His sovereignty had this king, Frederick, who really liked Luther, and so the Pope didn't want to mess with him. And then he did the 95 theses later, and I mean, all blank broke loose. And one man Stood. very imperfectly.
And because of that, the Reformation And here's what happened to you because of that breakthrough. All individuals. You, normal people, can have a personal relationship with Christ. Salvation is by faith. Salvation is a gift of God's grace.
You are a priest. You can talk to him directly, and God wants to use you. Marriage was elevated. Peace and assurance, a joyful life, not living under the thumb of this angry God. Scripture is the authority of your life.
No teacher, no church, no organization. The word of God is your authority. The equality of men and the basis of democracy. Are all rooted in even peasants matter to God? You know what the message was?
God is good. God is good. God is loving. God is great. God wants to bless people.
He doesn't think any more of kings than he does of peasants. Germany went through this tumultuous time and the king hit Luther and he translated the Bible. into German for the common people. And despite his horrendous views of Jews and some of his anti-Semitic, they were terrible early on, and then as he grew in Christ, he moderated them. And then near the end of his life, he got frustrated.
He said some terrible things. I mean, he was a very blunt. You would read some of his stuff and go, are you kidding? And the only thing I can tell you is it's encouraging to me. Yeah.
Because I don't know if the Lord will come back or Maybe there'll be another 50 years, but if I'm dead 50 years from now, I'm sure there's going to be some people that will listen to or read a sermon. And say, you know, how could Ingram be just? I mean, he seemed like he was really on about this, but he was so off. Mean that? Because we are a product of our culture and environment, but we don't know it.
And God can use ordinary people where you are. In your life now.
So the first question is, so What? What is? This idea of breakthrough. Is there a pattern in Scripture? Yes.
How did Jesus teach his disciples? Is there historical precedent? And I mean, it's happening through history, and after Luther, it goes on. And I mean, we could talk about then the next generation of them and what Kerry did, and then Wesley and Whitfield and Edwards in America, and then the next generation of Moody and Spurgeon, and then the end of the century, Amy McPherson at the turn of the century, and Billy Sunday, and then all of a sudden a war, and Dawson Trotman, and Billy Graham. Bill Bright Regular, ordinary people like you And me.
whom God become so real and so good They live out of what He's already done for them, and they believe it to the point that they begin to look at other people as objects of God's love and mercy, and they begin to treat and think and act that way and live with a joy because they don't have to measure up. you already measure up. That's the gospel. Final question. Maybe the most important one.
How? Do you experience? The first step. a breakthrough. And I'm going to tell you, it is so easy to say and so hard to experience.
Are you ready? It's to believe that God is good. Not intellectually, I mean believe. It's to believe that he is willing. It's to embrace That God wants to do not something hard or difficult, but the impossible in you.
And through you, it's his will. If you were one of his disciples, he would turn to you, he would look you right in the eye and say, You feed him. And you go, What? You reach your neighborhood. What?
You be the breakthrough at work. What? You take the first step in the reconciliation of this marriage. What? You break that addiction and bring other people with you.
What? So what he expects. And all the power. is available to do it. How?
I don't want you to intellectually be, oh, yeah, when I was there, it seemed like God really loved me, and He cares about me, and I'm valued, and I'm forgiven, and His Spirit lives in me, and I have gifts, and He's got a plan for my life. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And then Monday morning. I want you to read this over. And I want you to put your name in it.
Because I want you not to memorize this or say, God will love me more if I get this down. This passage was not written just to read at funerals. This is one of the most graphic pictures of God's goodness in all the Bible. And when you personalize it, I mean, just in preparing for this, I just read, The Lord is Chip's shepherd. Chip lacks nothing.
He makes Chip lie down in green pastures. He leads Chip beside quiet waters. Wow. He refreshes Chip's soul. He guides Chip along the right paths for his name's sake.
Even though Chip walks through the darkest valley, Chip will fear no evil, for you are with Chip. Your rod and your staff, they comfort Chip. You prepare a table for Chip in the presence of Chip's enemies. You anoint Chip's head with oil. Chip's cup will overflow.
Surely, goodness and love will follow Chip, not somebody somewhere sometime, me. All the days of Chip's life, and Chip, talk about promise, will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. I want you this week to write your name in there, and I want you just to read it over. And by the way, as you're reading, if you find If you slip into start praising God, it's okay. If problems about, oh, I mean, God would really give me direction or help me get through this, and you start thinking and thoughts come to your mind that solve problems, that's okay.
If you renew your mind next seven days, okay, at least a couple times a week. Your intellectual assent that God is good. will move from your head into your heart. and you will begin to see differently. And you will Begin the first step.
Yeah. breakthrough. This is Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram. Did you catch what Chip just taught us? Jesus didn't just perform miracles to show off his power.
He was teaching his disciples and us that God is good and he wants to work through us. Chip will be back with one more thought, so please stay with us. As we continue this series on Breakthrough, we want to make sure you have tools to help you dig deeper. That's why we're offering Chip's free 10-day devotional called Psalms of Hope. This isn't your typical devotional.
Here's the format. Each day, Chip gives you 10 minutes of focused teaching on Psalm 1, Psalm 15, or Psalm 23. Then you take 10 minutes alone with God to meditate, pray, and let His Word sink deep into your soul. Just 20 minutes a day for 10 days. You'll discover how these Psalms address the very issues we're talking about in this series: how to find strength when life feels impossible, how to stay close to God when everything's falling apart, and how to experience His presence even in dark valleys.
Whether you're dealing with disappointment, fear, or just need a fresh encounter with God's goodness, Psalms of Hope will meet you exactly where you are. It's completely free at livingonthege.org. Just search for Psalms of Hope and start your journey today. Here's what makes all this possible: faithful friends who invest in this teaching ministry. Your financial support allows us to keep creating resources and delivering biblical truth every single day.
Now, if this ministry is making a difference in your life, please consider giving today. Visit livingonthege.org to give or write to Living on the Edge PO Box 3007, Atlanta, Georgia, 30024. You can also call 888-333-6003. And don't forget, the Living on the Edge podcast brings you every message on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you listen. Subscribe today and share it with someone who needs to hear this.
Well now here's Chip with a final thought. And you think about The breakthrough. I mean The impossible thing. And right now, you may not really be able to believe that it could happen, but I want you to know. That God is good, that He is your shepherd, that He is for you, that, as the text says in Psalm 23, His goodness is literally running after you.
It's pursuing you. It's amazing to think about that The god of the universe all-powerful. That he knows everything about you and cares about you, and he wants to do. good things, better things even that you could think, Reimagine. And so I have a a little exercise that Will help you begin to, little by little, start to get that from an intellectual concept to something in your life and heart that you could really believe.
And so, what I want you to do is get Psalm 23 out right in front of you, and then I want you to rewrite it. And I want you to rewrite it where you put your name wherever there is a personal pronoun. And it'll feel a little funny at first. In other words, the Lord is. Chips Shepherd.
Um He's going to lead Chip in paths of righteousness. Um He restores Chip's soul. I mean, that's how I've done it. And as you go through that, sort of meditatively, you'll thank God. And, you know, four or five minutes just before you go to bed, pondering that, and now you've planted that in your subconscious, and the Holy Spirit.
is going to begin to help you conceive and believe. That you are precious and valuable and protected, and God loves you. In fact, there's one verse that summarizes. Psalm twenty three very well in the New Living Translation. It's Psalm eighty six five.
And I love the way he puts it. It says, Oh, Lord, you are so good, so kind, so ready to forgive. to everyone. Who calls upon your name? I just love that.
So good, so kind, so ready to forgive. And here is the condition, to all of those who call upon your name. Could you believe today that the beginning of breakthrough is believing that God is good? and he wants to be good to you. Ready to make room for God's breakthrough in your life?
I'm Dave Druy, inviting you to hear what that looks like tomorrow on Living on the Edge. Today's program is produced and sponsored by Living on the Edge. Uh
