The Person Driven Life
Jn.6:66-69 - From that time many of His disciples went back, and walked no more with Him. Then said Jesus unto the twelve, "Will you go away also?". Then Simon Peter answered Him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the Words of eternal life. And we believe and are sure that thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God".
One of the distinct innermost feelings I had when I was lost, and boy was I lost, was a feeling of unfulfillment and purposelessness. Like wandering in a dark cave without a guide or light, I tried to achieve a purpose. Was it making money? Was it self indulgence? Was it intellectualism? Was it music? I dabbled in all of it (a little light on the intellectual phase), and the interesting thing was that I had a sense of purpose in all those areas...temporarily. Yep, soon the same old purposeless feeling would return and I would try something else to no lasting avail. But then in March of 1975 I was sought by the Redeemer and on one night overlooking New York City I was transformed, as I believed that Jesus was the Savior God, and without knowing much theology, I believed He alone was Lord. I always will.
I cannot fully describe the intensity that became a part of me. People who came to Christ as children sometimes cannot understand some of us who were literally and positionally transformed at one, distinct, and unforgettable moment. Can you imagine not knowing if God even existed, and then on one day, I'm talking ONE DAY, not only realizing that God exists but coming to KNOW Him!? It is a glorious mystery that I recall often, especially when the refuse of all the ecclesiastical, man made stuff collects in my spirit and seeks to drown me in murky and encumbered waters, it is then I go back to a 22 year old, lost sinner sitting on top of Garret Mountain in Wayne, New Jersey on a clear and cold night and feeling, yes I said feeling, the Holy Spirit entering my very being because I had embraced Jesus as my Savior God!!
Now on that day I entered the Person Driven life which, by the way, I am still on that journey that leads to Him. Paul, the great apostle to the church and who saw Jesus face to face, said and prayed, "That I may know Him...". And the word for know there is the same word that in Matt.1:25 declares that Joseph "Knew her not till she (Mary) had brought forth her first born son...". Intimacy unimaginable. So we are supposed to do the work of the ministry of Jesus, but our ultimate purpose is always defined by a Person, the Lord Jesus. Like Mary, Martha's sister, worship is our life. All this other stuff may be good and have its place, and service has its reward, but we are driven by the Person of Jesus the Christ, Son of the Living God, the Risen Lamb, Second August Person of the Godhead, the Creator Redeemer. And I am convinced that if we were driven by Jesus Himself the world may be drawn to Him in a greater way than all our so called evangelism strategies. There is nothing like knowing Jesus and have that knowledge keep growing and permeate our inner being, energizing both our inner and outer man to emulate the aspects of Christ that God has revealed to us, promising to add to that knowledge as we keep our eyes on Him.
I guess to lay out the particulars they would include God's Word, prayer, and bringing all the "apocalypse" that God has given you and use it in...worship. A theologian (whatever that is) without a tender heart of worship is as dry as toast without butter, and a worshipper without the Word and an obedient walk is open to deception. But there is absolutely nothing like worshipping Jesus, in private, with others, with music, without music, there is nothing to compare. We are driven by Him and His presence! And like the siren's irresistible songs, we can hear heaven's eternal songs wafting up before the awesome throne of our one and only purpose...Jesus.
Part of me feels sorry for the emergent church converts because they have grown tired of Jesus. The Jesus of Paul doesn't fulfill anymore, and the Jesus that Luther and Calvin knew doesn't yet quench their thirst. Wesley's Jesus? No, not enough. Spurgeon's Savior? Still missing something. And all this post-modern gibberish has been the excuse for expanding and redefining who Jesus is, because, before the wonderful post-modern line of demarcation that "loosed the hounds", He must have been woefully inadequate. And the devil has convinced them that the major shortcomings of traditional evangelicalism (which are many) are really a result of a partially revealed Jesus, a Spiritual panacea that they can fix with new literary pioneers that navigate new waters of Christology.
But I, a nobody, would ask them this honest and sincere question. Will you go away also? We don't need a new and post-modern Jesus, we need to know more of the New Testament Jesus. And in place of business strategies to market Jesus, let us give up our western, hedonistic toys, and let us seek the historic revelation of Jesus with a new passion. John the Baptist was the harshest, most abrasive, and insensitive prophet of the New testament. Can you imagine some religious people coming to a church service and as the service begins the pastor points them out and screams, "Who warned you...!"? And yet the Savior called him the greatest man of woman born. And Jesus Himself knew when He said the Words in John 6 that many would be offended and stop following Him, but He said them anyway. Why? Because they wanted to define unto themselves the kind of Jesus they wanted to follow in the post-John the Baptist era, but that is just a mirage seen by carnal eyes and not Jesus Himself. Is He not worth following as He is in truth?
Are you telling me as you read Spurgeon's many revelations of the Savior, inspired by the Spirit of revelation in the knowledge of Him, are you saying that the tears that fall from our eyes as we read a man's words that so honor Christ, that isn't the real Jesus? Are you telling me that the Moravian boys who sold themselves to a Caribbean slave trader for life, just to share Jesus with the African slaves, are you telling me that wasn't the real Jesus? Are you telling me that as the Wesley brothers endured months of hardship several times to come to America to share Jesus with the settlers, are you telling me that wasn't the real Jesus? Are you telling me that one of the martyrs, just as the flames finally scorched his body black on the stake, he lifted up his hand to heaven as a testimony to those who witnessed his death, are you telling me that wasn't the real Jesus? Are you telling me that the five missionaries murdered in Ecuador by the people they went to share Jesus with, are you telling me that wasn't the real Jesus? Or maybe you're telling me that those followers had not yet entered into the fullness of the revelation that you have discovered. Yea, right.
No, no, it is you who are departing from 2000 years of the Holy Spirit's revelation of the Lord Jesus in His incarnation and heavenly glory, and now many try and transform Jesus to a feeder of the poor that surely will appeal to most everyone. If Jesus wanted His ministry to be defined by humanitarian efforts, He could have miraculously made three square meals for all of Jerusalem on a daily basis. And I believe entirely that the church neglects its calling to humanitarian efforts, so don't set up that straw man, but Ted Turner, Bill Gates, and Bono can feed the world, but only Jesus can save it. But let me bring us back to John chapter six, because after Jesus fed the five thousand many people followed Him because of the food, but Jesus reproved them for seeking earthly food. In John 6:27 Jesus made eternal life, that's right, eternal life the priority.
And to you who read this and have not sought an expanding definition of Jesus, let's seek an expanding revelation and followship of the Jesus we met on the day He first manifested Himself to us. We have nothing, absolutely nothing, to be smug about, we ourselves need to press toward the throne and gaze into the face that shines like the sun. We need to cultivate a thirst that can only be quenched by a daily and deeper reintroduction to the Thone Reigning Lion, seeking His glorious face which changes us from glory to glory. Face time in prayer with Jesus, that is what He himself desires without any reason but love.
To whom can we go? All men are poor fountains of wisdom. All men are poor comforters. All men are poor examples. All men are only men. We go to Jesus, alone. And if He uses a man to glorify Himself, let it be so, but we continue to go to Jesus and His Word, alone. The battle for the faith rages, but let us savor the most precious time with the General Himself, inclining in His Spirit, and listening to His Words, our training and command. And after we've studied His Word, and after we've lifted our petitions, and after we've taught others, and after we've contended for the faith, after all that, wrap it up and put it on a shelf for later, and fall on your face with nothing in your hands, nothing in your mind, and nothing in your heart...but Jesus. And with the awestruck spirit of a little child on Christmas morning...worship Him...and in that He is glorified. Selah, selah.
One of the distinct innermost feelings I had when I was lost, and boy was I lost, was a feeling of unfulfillment and purposelessness. Like wandering in a dark cave without a guide or light, I tried to achieve a purpose. Was it making money? Was it self indulgence? Was it intellectualism? Was it music? I dabbled in all of it (a little light on the intellectual phase), and the interesting thing was that I had a sense of purpose in all those areas...temporarily. Yep, soon the same old purposeless feeling would return and I would try something else to no lasting avail. But then in March of 1975 I was sought by the Redeemer and on one night overlooking New York City I was transformed, as I believed that Jesus was the Savior God, and without knowing much theology, I believed He alone was Lord. I always will.
I cannot fully describe the intensity that became a part of me. People who came to Christ as children sometimes cannot understand some of us who were literally and positionally transformed at one, distinct, and unforgettable moment. Can you imagine not knowing if God even existed, and then on one day, I'm talking ONE DAY, not only realizing that God exists but coming to KNOW Him!? It is a glorious mystery that I recall often, especially when the refuse of all the ecclesiastical, man made stuff collects in my spirit and seeks to drown me in murky and encumbered waters, it is then I go back to a 22 year old, lost sinner sitting on top of Garret Mountain in Wayne, New Jersey on a clear and cold night and feeling, yes I said feeling, the Holy Spirit entering my very being because I had embraced Jesus as my Savior God!!
Now on that day I entered the Person Driven life which, by the way, I am still on that journey that leads to Him. Paul, the great apostle to the church and who saw Jesus face to face, said and prayed, "That I may know Him...". And the word for know there is the same word that in Matt.1:25 declares that Joseph "Knew her not till she (Mary) had brought forth her first born son...". Intimacy unimaginable. So we are supposed to do the work of the ministry of Jesus, but our ultimate purpose is always defined by a Person, the Lord Jesus. Like Mary, Martha's sister, worship is our life. All this other stuff may be good and have its place, and service has its reward, but we are driven by the Person of Jesus the Christ, Son of the Living God, the Risen Lamb, Second August Person of the Godhead, the Creator Redeemer. And I am convinced that if we were driven by Jesus Himself the world may be drawn to Him in a greater way than all our so called evangelism strategies. There is nothing like knowing Jesus and have that knowledge keep growing and permeate our inner being, energizing both our inner and outer man to emulate the aspects of Christ that God has revealed to us, promising to add to that knowledge as we keep our eyes on Him.
I guess to lay out the particulars they would include God's Word, prayer, and bringing all the "apocalypse" that God has given you and use it in...worship. A theologian (whatever that is) without a tender heart of worship is as dry as toast without butter, and a worshipper without the Word and an obedient walk is open to deception. But there is absolutely nothing like worshipping Jesus, in private, with others, with music, without music, there is nothing to compare. We are driven by Him and His presence! And like the siren's irresistible songs, we can hear heaven's eternal songs wafting up before the awesome throne of our one and only purpose...Jesus.
Part of me feels sorry for the emergent church converts because they have grown tired of Jesus. The Jesus of Paul doesn't fulfill anymore, and the Jesus that Luther and Calvin knew doesn't yet quench their thirst. Wesley's Jesus? No, not enough. Spurgeon's Savior? Still missing something. And all this post-modern gibberish has been the excuse for expanding and redefining who Jesus is, because, before the wonderful post-modern line of demarcation that "loosed the hounds", He must have been woefully inadequate. And the devil has convinced them that the major shortcomings of traditional evangelicalism (which are many) are really a result of a partially revealed Jesus, a Spiritual panacea that they can fix with new literary pioneers that navigate new waters of Christology.
But I, a nobody, would ask them this honest and sincere question. Will you go away also? We don't need a new and post-modern Jesus, we need to know more of the New Testament Jesus. And in place of business strategies to market Jesus, let us give up our western, hedonistic toys, and let us seek the historic revelation of Jesus with a new passion. John the Baptist was the harshest, most abrasive, and insensitive prophet of the New testament. Can you imagine some religious people coming to a church service and as the service begins the pastor points them out and screams, "Who warned you...!"? And yet the Savior called him the greatest man of woman born. And Jesus Himself knew when He said the Words in John 6 that many would be offended and stop following Him, but He said them anyway. Why? Because they wanted to define unto themselves the kind of Jesus they wanted to follow in the post-John the Baptist era, but that is just a mirage seen by carnal eyes and not Jesus Himself. Is He not worth following as He is in truth?
Are you telling me as you read Spurgeon's many revelations of the Savior, inspired by the Spirit of revelation in the knowledge of Him, are you saying that the tears that fall from our eyes as we read a man's words that so honor Christ, that isn't the real Jesus? Are you telling me that the Moravian boys who sold themselves to a Caribbean slave trader for life, just to share Jesus with the African slaves, are you telling me that wasn't the real Jesus? Are you telling me that as the Wesley brothers endured months of hardship several times to come to America to share Jesus with the settlers, are you telling me that wasn't the real Jesus? Are you telling me that one of the martyrs, just as the flames finally scorched his body black on the stake, he lifted up his hand to heaven as a testimony to those who witnessed his death, are you telling me that wasn't the real Jesus? Are you telling me that the five missionaries murdered in Ecuador by the people they went to share Jesus with, are you telling me that wasn't the real Jesus? Or maybe you're telling me that those followers had not yet entered into the fullness of the revelation that you have discovered. Yea, right.
No, no, it is you who are departing from 2000 years of the Holy Spirit's revelation of the Lord Jesus in His incarnation and heavenly glory, and now many try and transform Jesus to a feeder of the poor that surely will appeal to most everyone. If Jesus wanted His ministry to be defined by humanitarian efforts, He could have miraculously made three square meals for all of Jerusalem on a daily basis. And I believe entirely that the church neglects its calling to humanitarian efforts, so don't set up that straw man, but Ted Turner, Bill Gates, and Bono can feed the world, but only Jesus can save it. But let me bring us back to John chapter six, because after Jesus fed the five thousand many people followed Him because of the food, but Jesus reproved them for seeking earthly food. In John 6:27 Jesus made eternal life, that's right, eternal life the priority.
And to you who read this and have not sought an expanding definition of Jesus, let's seek an expanding revelation and followship of the Jesus we met on the day He first manifested Himself to us. We have nothing, absolutely nothing, to be smug about, we ourselves need to press toward the throne and gaze into the face that shines like the sun. We need to cultivate a thirst that can only be quenched by a daily and deeper reintroduction to the Thone Reigning Lion, seeking His glorious face which changes us from glory to glory. Face time in prayer with Jesus, that is what He himself desires without any reason but love.
To whom can we go? All men are poor fountains of wisdom. All men are poor comforters. All men are poor examples. All men are only men. We go to Jesus, alone. And if He uses a man to glorify Himself, let it be so, but we continue to go to Jesus and His Word, alone. The battle for the faith rages, but let us savor the most precious time with the General Himself, inclining in His Spirit, and listening to His Words, our training and command. And after we've studied His Word, and after we've lifted our petitions, and after we've taught others, and after we've contended for the faith, after all that, wrap it up and put it on a shelf for later, and fall on your face with nothing in your hands, nothing in your mind, and nothing in your heart...but Jesus. And with the awestruck spirit of a little child on Christmas morning...worship Him...and in that He is glorified. Selah, selah.
And to whom should we go, Lord? You alone have the unchangeable Words of eternal life, and by them we were transformed, and we believe and are sure that you are the Christ, Son of the Living God. So how shall we forsake You, Jesus, there is no one who has cared for us but You. To say that You are the greatest Savior is to suppose there are contenders...there are none. You alone are Savior, You alone are King, You alone are Redeemer, You alone are Creator, You alone are Alpha, You alone are Omega, You alone are the Rose of Sharon, You alone are the Bright and Morning Star, You alone are Lord, You alone are God,
You alone are...Everything
You alone are...Everything
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1 comment:
Rick, Thanks for sharing about the day the LORD our God sought you and saved you. Blessed be the name of the SON.
How true- because it aligns with God’s WORD- that the day He saves us HE begins to drive our life. The omnipotent sovereign God that supernaturally rebirths us and gives us a new heart also conforms us increasingly to the image of HIS SON.
And, indeed, there is absolutely nothing like worshipping Jesus. There is nothing to compare. Eternity will be so glorious; worshipping HIM continuously in perfect truth, with perfect reverence, with perfect awe perfectly- in ever increasing wonder at HIS glory, knowing HIM more and more. O magnify HIS name.
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