I Would Have Gone Into the Mud Business

I Would Have Gone Into the Mud Business

by Tommy Tyson

Transcribed from the original recording; may contain errors.

Precious Lord, we do thank You for the beauty and wonder of this day. We thank You for the miracle of sleep and the ministry that You’ve given us while we rested. We’re grateful to know that You’ve prepared things for us today which we can only receive by the Spirit.

We thank You, Lord Jesus, for Your ministry of grace and love that is so faithful in every regard. Lord, we thank You for divesting from our minds and hearts those interests that are foreign to Your own nature and letting us be invested afresh and anew with holy purposes. Let scales drop from our eyes that we might see. And even as Thelma guided us this morning, let our hearing be quickened that we might have ears to hear what the Spirit is saying to us. And above all, perfect us in love that we might love You and one another even as You love us. Help me now to be used in the very best way possible. Thank You, Lord Jesus.

Amen. I said last night that the eternal purpose of God is to conform us to the likeness of Jesus. And I want to just hit right in on that this morning. It’s really theologically what we call the incarnation. And this is what has happened: that God our Father has perfected His plan for us in the coming of Jesus. There is no other manifestation of God’s idea for man except in Jesus. You won’t know what God has for you by looking at me. Too bad about that. I won’t know what God has for me by looking at you. As good as that is.

God’s plan for you is in Jesus Christ. God’s plan for me is in Jesus Christ. God’s plan for every man is perfected in Jesus Christ. And when God became man in Jesus, He fulfilled His creative purpose. Not only in some ultimate mystical sense, but in the down-to-earth processes of life. You know, God has made our humanity for Himself.

You see, this is so wonderful to me when it talks about God perfecting His plan and purpose in Jesus. When Jesus became man, or God became man in Jesus, how He used supernatural power, and yet used the natural processes. You know, we want to divorce this world. We want to compartmentalize it. You know, we think of heaven over here, and earth here, God over here, man here, the spiritual here, the material here. I think this is one reason a lot of men don’t come to prayer retreats. It’s that somehow there’s ingrained within our consciousness that it’s impractical in a world like ours to get spiritual.

And so they’ll pay for their wives to go to a prayer retreat, and you wives run along and pray. That’s a good womanly thing to do. But somebody’s got to be realistic. You know, that’s the way us men think. Because ingrained within us is the feeling that the more spiritual we get, the more divorced we are from this natural world. And that’s not what we see in Jesus. Jesus Christ coming into this world from the very beginning of the gospel. You know, look at what it’s saying. That here is God becoming man, miraculously sure. The Holy Spirit overshadowing the virgin. You know, you don’t explain that. You just accept it. Or else throw it out. You don’t explain it. Don’t ever try to explain it in mirrors. If you can explain it’s not, Lord.

You see? But even so, as He became incarnate, born of the Spirit, look at the beautiful processes. That Jesus wasn’t born in a flash, a 33-year-old man with a beard. But there was the nine months prevailing processes in the life of Jesus. So that Mary, maybe all of her life, she played dolls, you know. Maybe all of her life, this precious woman, a girl wanted to be a mother. Maybe that was the secret of her heart. I think it is of most girls. Women still notwithstanding. I mean, God has made woman to be a mother. And this precious girl, up and down those hills, outside, wherever she was raised, carrying this dream in her heart. And then God spoke and said, through the angel, “I’ve separated you. And I’m going to overshadow you. And that to which you’re going to give birth is to be holy.” And Mary said, “I belong to God. Mind, body, and soul. Let it do with me what it will.” Do you think maybe she thought, now I’ll never know what it is to be a mother? She may have thought that. You see, so often we think if we give our lives to God, we’ll miss out on the dreams hidden in our hearts. A lot of people feel that way.

If I really commit my life to God, those things in the natural order that mean so much to me, I’ll honor heaven. But as Mary surrendered herself and submitted herself to the Holy Spirit, aren’t you glad that in giving birth to Jesus our Savior, she did not miss out on a single heartbeat of that baby on me and Sarah. That God fulfilled the processes of motherhood in becoming the worldly part. You know, I don’t know whether that excites you or not, but it thrills me. And Jesus Christ, you know, knew you, from experience, went through every process we go through in developing and coming into this world. And when He was birthed, though the angel sang, the baby cried. He cried just like you. And had to be cared for just like us. And then as you see Jesus in the flesh, that miraculously sure, there is Father within and about the Spirit. Nonetheless, the natural, not done away with, but fulfilled. So that in this daily walk, He became the captain of our salvation by the things that He suffered. That really says He became the captain of our salvation by bringing the natural processes into their fulfillment through union with the Father. And as Jesus Christ lived in the flesh with union with His Father by the Spirit, He did not miss out on a single area of His earthly potential.

You’d never find Jesus running from anyone every day. Oh, if you’ve got to walk in the Spirit, you can’t pay attention to your mind. You know, I hear some people talking as if the mind is an enemy of God. And I’ve never found God apologizing for making a human brain.

I’ve never found God putting a premium on ignorance. And I never find Jesus talking about living in the Spirit as if it was in contradiction to the use of His mind. But as you see Jesus unfold, His life unfold in the Spirit, you see the development of the mental processes that His mind was made to think the thoughts of God. Can you imagine a higher use of a human brain than that?

How about yours? How about mine? That our brain, our thought process were made to be quickened by the Spirit of God so that God could think His thoughts through us. The human sight, all this, you know, this mystical part of our own maker. Jesus didn’t run from that.

The more I dabble in psychology, and I’m not a good student of anything really. I just, a little learning is a dangerous thing. I’m dangerous. I just got a little learning in it too. But this is one reason I love Paul Tournier so much. Paul Tournier shows us what it is to walk in this psychological part of us in the Spirit and to come to understand our own human nature in the Spirit. You know, for a large part of my life I felt guilty about being a human being. Did you? I felt guilty by all of these processes of our own humanity, that somehow I wasn’t supposed to be that way. And I wanted to be that way and yet I wasn’t supposed to be that way. And that’s a mess. That’s frustration. And a lot of people feel that way. Some of you feel that way. That you really are ashamed of being you.

You somehow are not quite willing and you haven’t fallen in love with yourself as a child of God and the processes of your own life ordained of Him alone. But as we see Jesus unfold His life in the Gospels, right in a historical setting, a down-to-earth setting, He does not run from a single area of His own humanity, but simply by the Spirit He learns to walk in every realm of His own humanity. In His dream life. Are you learning to walk in your inner life? Not just His sleeping dream, including that. And incidentally, there are a lot of good books out on dreams now if you want to go into that field, just wonderful. Of course, two of my favorites are Morton Kelsey and John Sanford. John Sanford, Agnes’ son, who’s a rector down in San Diego. And Morton Kelsey, who’s also an Episcopal rector, who teaches at Notre Dame now in South Bend, Indiana. Both these boys tremendous scholars and have written good books on dreams. And I recommend them very much. But to see the Holy Spirit walk into that area of your life and begin to develop it. To see the Holy Spirit walking into the personality. Have you looked at Jesus in the Gospels? Have you seen Him at Mary and Martha’s house?

Have you seen Him in Bethany? Have you seen Him with twinkles in His eyes? Have you seen Him responding to different people? Can you picture Him with the Syrophoenician woman? When this precious woman came to Him and said, “I’ve come on behalf of my daughter. My daughter is sick, and I’ve come for her to be healed.” She wasn’t a Jewish woman. She wasn’t a believer. She was a mother. That’s all. A mama with a baby. That’s all. Come to Jesus. And can you see Jesus responding to her? And He said to her, “Look, you’re asking for the children’s bread.”

“You’re asking for that which belongs to the household of faith.” And this mother, you know, she’s not about to surrender. I love mamas that’ll be mamas. You know that I really refuse to take no for their children. None of you have given up on your children. I’ve never seen a mama that would give up on a child. Not a real mama. Boy, everybody else may forsake him. That mama will hang right in there. She’ll pray. She’ll believe. She’ll refuse to give up. Who put that in her? That’s God. And here’s that precious woman saying to Jesus, “Well, I may not be entitled to the children’s bread, but even the dogs can eat the crumbs that fall from the table.” Do you think Jesus stood very placidly? What do you got shot? This is great. Here’s a mother who’s determined and is going to break through all tradition to lay claims for her daughter. And Jesus responded, and this precious girl was healed. Look at the personality of Jesus as you watch Him minister. Don’t just see the work. See that too. But see the man before the man who’s doing the work. And see how He responded in union to His Father.

Let me show you another side of Jesus that maybe I don’t like parts of Jesus like I do others. I don’t like His anger. Him. You know, I sometimes have a piety attitude was one of them. It made and the more holy you got the more you walk like that.

But you look at Jesus. Do you think for a moment He went into that temple with those money changers making, you know, a profiteering deal, taking advantage of people, and Jesus walked in and said, “Naughty, naughty, this is a no-no”? No. Either He went in with anger and He turned those tables over and He drove those out of the side of that temple, and He was angry about it. Have you learned to be angry with the things that make God, if you don’t think God has anger you have looked at Jesus. God has holy anger. There are some things that make God mad, and He showed me that in my walk with Him. There are some things He doesn’t tolerate in my life. I mean, He just gets very stern with me at times. And you know, here is a strange thing. The times I want Him to be tender, He gets stern. And the times when I’m willing for Him to think He should be stern, He’ll get real tender. But to see Jesus in union with His Father developing His own personality, that’s the point I’m making, and going through every area of life, His mind, His spirit, and letting His body manifest that achievement of union. See, this is the order of life that we see in Jesus.

It’s from the inside out, that as He learned to live in union with His Father, He said He kept His eyes on His Father. Where was His Father? Say it. Right. “My Father who’s in me, He does the work.” He said, “I keep my eyes on my Father.” That’s glorious, isn’t it? “I listen to my Father. What I hear my Father say I’ll repeat. What I see my Father do I respond to it. I reproduce.” Did He know this is really the order of life? See, I wanted to find the fulfillment of life by keeping the processes and finding the fulfillment of law through the processes. For instance, I know that the fulfillment of life in the mind is good mental health. See, well, I wanted to develop that kind of fruit by learning the laws of mental health. Of affirmation of faith, you know, and all these responses that go to make for good mental health. Do you know you can have mental health by responding to the Lord in your mind?

Know in your heart. Give your mind to Jesus, and then pay attention to your thoughts. Really want good health, pay attention to the thoughts. It’s amazing how we ignore what’s happening on the inside of us. We’re so busy looking for the kingdom out here someplace. Looking to see how that person did it. Looking to see what’s happening over there. Listening to see how that man preaches. I do it myself, you know. Boy, if I would have bought somebody with a method that really is victorious and didn’t copy that method, it wouldn’t have done it all for me to have been with Jesus on the level of the incarnation. Because if I’d been there and seen Him spit in the clay and make a mud polish and heal that woman’s eyes, or man’s eyes, you know what I’d have done, don’t you? I’d have gone in the mud business. I would have found the method. Or if I’d seen that woman touch the hem of His garment and be healed, I’d go around and figure that out. And I’m looking for a method that I can manipulate and somehow work. That’s not the life in Jesus. The life in Jesus is response to the person of God. What I hear my Father say. And Jesus discovered this for Himself. And He shares it with us in our walk in the street.

That built within you is the capacity to respond to God. Now, and this is why, for some of us, our thought life might be the, you know, the real way we respond to God. That we do it intellectually. We do it through the mind. Others find it very natural to respond intuitively by the spirit. And somehow, just through the spirit you respond, in terms of your own spirit. Others respond, they don’t call it a response unless they start wearing out shoe leather. You know, different people have different ways of responding. Find your way. Find your way of responding to God on the inside of you. And then develop that. And learn different ways. For as you enter into one area of God, of life with God on the inside of you, and you begin to learn to develop that, the chances are, you’ll close out the other areas of the people. For instance, when I broke into the life of the spirit, my natural way is, you know, just intuitively. I’m not an egghead. I wish I were. I’m so much a square head that I’m impressed by eggheads. I just get all gooey by eggheads. Because I wish I were an intellectual. I’m not. So my natural response is just intuitively. And I was fond of the way down within me.

And when I began to walk in the spirit this way, and the Lord began to get a really whisper to my heart, and let me see things and hear things and know things that were beyond my human understanding, I thought I’d burst by. And my prayer life was just deep down within me, you know. And that’s the way I walked in the spirit. And then I found He began to close that off.

And you know, I felt so good. I can’t afford the Lord. Have I seen it? What have I done to break this, Lord? How have You guided me the way You used to? I never had to worry about what God’s will was. I knew it before I asked. And then I found myself coming to a place where I didn’t know what God’s will was. I’d have to spend long hours just this thing. “Lord, what are You saying? What are You going to do?” And then it began to dawn on me. “Well, son, you’ve learned how to respond to me intuitively by your spirit. But you’ve been ignoring your mind. Now, I want you to know, whether you’re an intellectual or not, I can think through your law. Now, I can’t think through your mind for a long.” And I went through a process where I just really studied it. And the whole approach was almost intellectual in terms of walking in the spirit. And sometimes, in fact, at least again, it has been through the will. The emphasis has been on God teaching me to use my will in subjectivity. What did you weep? You know, a lot of times we just sit around waiting for God. Waiting for God. Waiting for God. And there are that times.

Just like Phil was saying this morning, there are times when we must wait on Him. And wait with patience. But there are other times when you’ve waited enough, He’s waiting on you. Amen. Now, you need to know those differences. We need to know when God is saying, “Wait on me.” And we need to know when He’s saying, “I’m waiting on you. What do you want? What do you want?” And we run into that with Jesus at the Pool of Bethesda. Incidentally, I was just in Jerusalem a few weeks ago. Sister Burke was going in a few more weeks. And one night, this Jewish friend of mine came to the hotel to see me. He was just praying. I mean, just light of heaven breaking through him. And I said, “What in the world happened to you?” He said, “I was coming by the Pool of Bethesda. And I heard someone over there making some noise. And I went over, and,” he said, “there was a Nazarene preacher from the States. With a group of people. They were singing like you’ve never heard singing before. And,” he said, “they had one of the greatest healing services you could ever imagine. People being healed of all manner of sin. Right there at that pool.” Well, this old boy, the Jewish boy, he came to see me and tell me about it.

But that made me think of the story. But when Jesus came to that Pool of Bethesda that morning. And here was this man, you remember the story. That they’d been bringing people to the pool. And an angel would come and stir their waters. And the first one in the pool after the water was stirred was healed. So here came Jesus up to this man. And said, “Do you will to be made whole?”

You know what he did, didn’t you? He started blaming others. Just like us. He said, “I want to be healed. But everybody turns their head up. I don’t have anybody to help me. Other people notice. You know, other people. I’m so insignificant. Nobody paying attention to me.” You ever feel that?

But Jesus Christ. Ask Him again. “Wilt thou be made whole?” And do you know what that involves? That involves an inner awareness of healing. That involves an inward picture of wholeness. For instance, if you are hungry for bread, you have to have some idea about what bread is. You can be hungry and not the word that you want. But if it’s bread that you want, you have to have some idea about bread to want bread. You have to have some idea about water to want water. You have to have some idea of wholeness to want wholeness. And Jesus was saying to this fellow, “On the inside of you, do you have an idea of wholeness?” But also, your desire. Do you desire to be healed? Do you desire to be more than you are? Do you desire to be filled with the Spirit of God? Do you desire to be in the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ? Do you desire to be effective in transmitting the power of His grace? Do you desire to set yourself approved under God, a worker that needs not be ashamed? And this is… you know, God works through your wills. I’ve been with Estelle Carver out much in recent years. Some of you may know Estelle, and some of you may not.

Estelle is an Anglican by training and commitment. She’s taught in a boys’ school in New Haven for most of her life. Her background is British. And she has the British mindset, that conservative mindset. But a great scholar. The best Bible teacher I have ever heard in my life. I’ve just never heard anything like her. Perhaps the most literate person I’ve ever… She and Margaret Applegarth are two of the most literate people I’ve ever known. And I get around Estelle Carver, and I love her, and she loves me. But she tears me up. I can’t stop it. I can hardly say it. Because, you know… And she’s in her 80s. And no prizes for all kinds. You know, just knows all kinds. She just put the Bible, just all those verses. In whatever version you might want.

And just bring forth all kinds of poetry. You ought to hear her do the Hound of Heaven. It just sets you on fire. And I get around with a mind like that, a student like that. And I think, Lord… By Your grace, I’m going to study to show myself a proven… God, forgive my laziness, Lord. You know what Estelle does? She gets up at 4 o’clock, everybody. First three hours. Study the Word of God. And I say, Lord… I’m going to really be a student. And along about 4 o’clock, I wake up. And I cut all the lines. Look at the Lord. And I say, Lord… Thank You, I’ll do it tomorrow.

I don’t need to be a student. Now, I want to be a student. But God has given me the means. I just don’t have to live. Now, I can just pray to doomsday to be smart like Estelle. And that’s foolish praying. Because God is saying, “What will thou? What will thou? Do you really want to?” And a lot of areas of life, walking in a student, examining my own wills. And learning to pray that will under subjection to God. And I’m learning that love can and is to be released through the will. And so I see in Jesus this development of every area of life. In the mind, in the emotions, in the will, and in His physical body. Now, I’m painting with a big brush this morning. But I’ll just hit it in this before I close. Because it’s been a thrill to me to see Jesus’ response to the natural world. To the physical world. You know, I somehow thought that if you really got caught up in the Lord, like that song, “Turn your eyes upon Jesus.” I used to think that way. But it’s not true. For me. Things of earth have not grown strangely dim. Things of earth grow much more clear. When I look in this mirror. I never knew a rose.

I never knew, you know, that bougainvillea was so glorious. I never knew that seagulls, you know, had that cross. Until I saw them in meditation. It’s the things of the Spirit that have really bring this natural world out to me. And I see that in Jesus. When Jesus talks about the Kingdom of Heaven. And that’s the very spiritual term. The Kingdom of Heaven. But have you noticed what He says in describing the Kingdom of Heaven? He doesn’t say that. If you really want to know the Kingdom of Heaven. Close out this world around you. Just get your mind off everything. Think of Heaven. No, He doesn’t say that. He says to a group of fishermen, “You want to know what the Kingdom of Heaven is like? Look at that fishing bag. Look at it.” He says to housewives, “You want to know what the Kingdom of Heaven is like? Look at that yeast you’re using to make that bread.” Aren’t you glad to be in a country where they still make bread by hand? Aren’t you? Isn’t it wonderful? The boys and I at breakfast. John, you have breakfast boys. I love them. I had breakfast with them. And it was just so wonderful. They were telling me a lot about the bread.

Old Ralph’s a little guy. We didn’t make good bread. They were telling me. But it’s wonderful. Have you noticed the Kingdom of Heaven made bread? For instance, look. So many things jump out. Can you think of dough that you’re using and going to put the yeast in? Can you think of dough as having a yeast whole department? You know, you don’t just think about, “Now, where shall I put this yeast? Make me a little whole.” No, you just put the yeast in. And mix it in. And the yeast in, it doesn’t run off to one side. Jump up now and say, “Hallelujah, I’ve got it.” That yeast dies out. To the whole body. That’s the life of the Spirit. You know how a Spirit of life is found.

You know how I live inside of you. You have you. And to walk in the Spirit is to let the Holy Spirit come into every area of your life. The so-called bathroom. The so-called fruit. Bring it all in. Let all that you do be done as unto the Lord. That’s what we see in Jesus. So that it was more holy for Him to break corn on the Sabbath than it was to be in the altar. Can you imagine? How does that matter? It’s more holy. You know, I remember when I was in the pastor. And I’d ride to church on Sunday morning, Sunday school. Pretty day, you know. And I’d see some of those old boys that I’d play golf with. And, you know, carried on with. Trying to dwell unto the Lord. They’d be out there washing their car on Sunday morning. It would make me so mad. You know. And I’d go to church and preach about it. Well, it’s much more holy to wash your car and be happy in the heart of Sunday than to get mad preaching.

Do all as you do unto the Lord. So here’s this whole process of life. Jesus describing the kingdom. So He sees the outward order. As a way of revealing. The hidden things of God. And I love this story. Because I grew up in the country. Jesus stood outside Jerusalem. And said, “Jerusalem. Jerusalem. How I would have gathered you. As a mother hen gathers her brood under her wing. But ye would not.” How did ye know how mother hen did?

See, He’d watch these processes. He had learned from heaven. By watching the world around. Don’t you? Don’t you learn the life lessons of the Spirit. In every process of life alone. That’s a glorious thing to learn. This is the incarnation. God becoming one with us. And Jesus, our Lord, our Savior, our Master. Learning to bring all this natural order. Into its fulfillment. By union with His Father from within. In hope and love. And I’ll just close with this. Because this is the heart of it. And I’ll get into this point the next time I’m with you. And that is that all of life. Is meant to be personal.

Not just following principles. Principles are good. But principles will leave you in a dead end street. Because life is meant to be personal. And life as we see it in Jesus. Is a person to person love relationship. Between Him and His Father. And then between Him and everyone He meets. And I see Jesus approaching life. Not with a preconceived idea. I never find anything that indicates Jesus thinking to Himself, “Alright, today I’m going to be a soul with him. And I’m going out on a spiritual visitation camp today.” Can you imagine Jesus organizing. An evangelistic committee. To do spiritual visitation. I can’t imagine that. I can’t imagine Jesus doing that. But in everything you see. It was responding to His Father. Not with a preconceived idea. But with a moment by moment response. Whether it was at Simeon’s house. Or whether it was in Bethany. Or whether it was in the cornfield. Or whether it was in the woman at Samaria. Or Simeon’s house. Wherever you find Jesus. You find Him letting the outward circumstance. Be an occasion. To respond to His Father on the inside.

Now think of that. And think what a challenge that is to me. That our every contact with one another is an opportunity. To respond to God on the inside of us. Are you free? To respond to God. In my presence.

Are you free? To respond to God. God. On the inside of you. In my presence. A lot of times I’m not. I’ll close out with this. Because this is threatening. You know, when I start reading. We talk about freedom of work. But we don’t speak to God. Unless it really died out in the center. I have a friend named Wayne McLain. And old Wayne is really about as dead himself as his buddy. I don’t know. He’s quite a boy. Quite capable in some in-the-round. PhD and all that. But he’s so down to earth. And I was with him in a restaurant one day. I first began to break into the life of the spirit. And Wayne and I were sitting there talking. We got through eating and started to pay our bills. And I had already gotten to the cash register. When I heard that booming voice he is singing. “Friends, this embarrasses me perhaps more than it does you.” Talking to everybody in the restaurant.

Boy, I wanted to… They’ll find out how I’m in. Everybody stopped and looked at him, you know. And he said, “I was just sitting here enjoying my meal with my brother over here.” And he said, “I would just stay with the love of God. And I want to tell you that Jesus loves you very much. Thank you for letting me give you.”

You know, just people sit in the holy awe. And I thought about that. And I’ve learned everything. But I thought about that often. Wayne McLain was free to respond to Jesus in the presence of others. Jesus was free to respond to His Father in the presence of others. Some called Him a fool. Some called Him an act. Some called Him Lord and I see You.

Let’s pray. Our Father, so often we have had a sense of divorcement from You. We have to live in this world because it’s given to us. And so many down-to-earth things we have to do to make a living, to fit in with society, to be a part of the human race. And yet we realize we’re made for another world, another order. We’re made for somehow to be more than we are. And we found so much conflict between trying to live in two worlds.

Lord Jesus, thank You for letting us see how You tied heaven and earth together. That You really know what we’re going through. And You show us that it’s not by might, not by power, but by the Holy Spirit. And they’re living from within in the Spirit. We learn to master all the world. Because we are dying out to self in love with You. Thank You, Jesus. Amen.