3) The third thing is our assignment. Notice what Jesus said... Now He hasn't gone to the cross yet, but He could say: "I've honoured You". I've brought honour to You on the earth. That was His whole purpose - I'm here to honour My Father. Sons honour their Fathers, because, if you honour your father and mother, apparently there's a blessing goes with it. What I've found when I counsel people and their life is not going so well, I always check: did they honour the father and mother. I found they didn't. They've got unresolved baggage, and so they've got problems.
So notice what He said: I brought honour to You. How did He honour the Father? Through intimacy, through representing Him. He said: I've finished the work You gave Me to do. In other words, He had an assignment given to Him. Jesus had an assignment, a specific assignment His Father gave. Now if you're a son, you need to think: what is my assignment; who are my assignment? Where has God positioned me, and planted me? What has He called me to accomplish; and who will help me in the training process? Church is to help train people to become sons, so they can fulfil an assignment. Now here's the thing: every assignment God gives, requires the power of the Holy Spirit. It requires the supernatural power of God. If it didn't need the supernatural power of God, then He could just get an unsaved person to do it.
The assignments God gives us cannot be done without the supernatural power of God. There's nowhere that God commissions someone to do something, without giving supernatural ability to do it. Why would we think we can do it today, in a world of today, without the supernatural power of God? Why would we neglect the supernatural? If you're going to represent God - is He a supernatural God, or not? If He's a supernatural, then don't hide who He is! It's like I'm embarrassed of what God's like, so I'm going to dress it up a little bit, so I won't tell you all about Him. You might get upset by what He does... because He's a mighty deliverer! But we better hide that in a corner, because it might upset someone.
Do you understand, the church has moved so far away from what it's supposed to be doing. It's got to return again to the original design - intimacy with the Father, being transformed to become more and more like Him, so we build a community where it's safe to be open, and let the Spirit of God bring healing and deliverance; where there's a plan in place for people to be healed and restored and built, so sons and daughters can find their assignment, and do it. So you need the power of the Holy Spirit to be intimate. You need the power of the Holy Spirit to change. You need the power of the Holy Spirit to fulfil your assignment.
Jesus began His assignment saying this: "the Spirit of the Lord is upon Me". Why is He anointed? So He can do His assignment: proclaim the gospel, connect people to God, to heal the broken hearted. He just announces His assignment: set people free, connect them to the Father, release them from their bondages... When Jesus commissioned the disciples, Mark 3:13, He called them to be with Him, that He might send them to: preach the gospel, cast out demons, heal the sick. Why do we only just take the one little bit: preach the gospel? Why just narrow down, and take away two-thirds; take away the doing part, just have the preachy bit? In Matthew 10:1, when He sent the apostles out, He anointed them and appointed them, and gave them authority and power over demons; and to heal sicknesses, commission and preach the gospel, minister the gospel.