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The Call of Every Christian
Consider for a moment what it was like for Jeremiah the prophet, truly "a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief" (Isa. 53:3). A man who knew nothing but the tears of God falling profusely over a people who had forsaken the Fountain of Living Water, and hewed themselves out broken vessels that could hold no water whatsoever. Free-flowing tears from the eyes of God pouring through the tear ducts of His love-slave and spokesman. He so longed for them to see and understand the Deuteronomic call to the people of God. "Hear, O Israel...thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might"(Deut. 6:4-5). But love for God was perverted into lust for what they wanted from Him. And God's unfailing love cried out, "What iniquity have you found in Me, My people?" What faults will you find in God? To what will you point your fingers, accusing the Lord of all of failing? "Well, Jeremiah, it was better for us when we burned incense for and prayed to our idols, because we were prosperous. As a matter of fact, I used to be happy and filled and blessed and at rest when you weren't around with your messages of doom and gloom. Go away prophet of Yahweh!" (Cf. Jeremiah 44:15 ff.)
Healthy, wealthy, and fat with our own filth. Isn't that the way we want it? Oh, we would never say it. We would rather just live it, with a facade of Christianity that is attractive on the outside. But when the world wonders at us they draw near to smell the fragrance of the pretty flower that we purport to be, and we stink, we are a stench, we wreak with all the stuff that the world is so familiar with. We have our big buildings, our thriving groups, our popularity is on the rise, people like us. We have good music, great preaching, and a coffee stand to die for. And we are putrid with pride and a purpose estranged from the Living God.
"My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you..." (Gal. 4:14). But God will bottle the tears of those who travail over His church, weeping over a people who have loved to wander around, playing the harlot, going from house to whorehouse, from television screen to movie screen, from selfish motive to self-fulfillment. "After all, I am worth it, right? I deserve a little break from the round and round of devotion to Jesus Christ." Did the Son of God ever say seek first the kingdom of God, and then you can seek other stuff? You know, so long as God is first. God forbid it ever being so! He said, "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you" (Matt. 6:33). "You watch after your relationship with Me," said Jesus, "and I will see that every need is met in My way and in My time and for My Father's ultimate glory."
Maybe I just need to pray more about this thing or that thing, maybe that is why I cannot figure out what direction to take. Is that really it? Do we need to focus more on what we want God to do for us? Oh, child of God, do not seek Jesus Christ because you need to know where to turn, what college to go to, what job to take, what to major in, what man is to be your husband. Set your eyes to His throne, lift up your countenance to the Living God, bow down to the King of all majesty for no other reason than HE IS WORTHY! Fall at His feet and shut your mouth. "Be still, and know that I [am] God" (Ps. 46:10).
When was the last time you entered the courts of the Lord with adoration for Who He is, for all that He has done, climbing into the fullest memory of everything God has ever been to you? Have you ever been so in awe of God, so enraptured with His glory and the beauty of His holiness that you were utterly speechless? To speak at such a moment would almost constitute blasphemy, because your human language fails so miserably to fully express the worship in spirit and in truth that the Father so forlornly seeks. Would you dare to be silent in the Presence of the Eternal God, not uttering one word, until the Holy Spirit beckons you, and takes you into the true intercession and groanings of His heart for the church of Christ, for your family, for your city? Is He not the Spirit of grace and supplications? Does not the Eternal Spirit know the mind of God alone? He is the only One Who can reveal the Father's purpose and take us into true intimacy and communion with God.
Oh how we need to see that prayer is not for us to try to convince God of what we need, twisting His arm to conform to our plans, adjuring Him on the best course of action in any given situation. Prayer is seeking the face of Christ until you have His mind on the matter, true communion with the Almighty, desiring nothing else and nobody else more than that one thing that is needful--to sit at His feet, to gaze upon His beauty, to be one in whom He is well pleased. Vicarious intercession is what God is after in us--groaning, travailing, birthing prayer that knows the mind of Christ and is confident that whatsoever is asked of God is received, because it is His very will that is prayed. Oswald Chambers says that he defies any man or woman who is truly spiritual and abiding in Christ to ask anything that is not in perfect accord with God's will. Such an one offers petitions before the throne of God that are in absolute agreement with the foreordained decreees of God (Cf. 1John 5:14-15). "Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus" (Heb. 10:19). What a gift it truly is to rest in God until hearing His voice is your soul's sole desire. Or maybe it is the grace of God's most intimate silence that He will grant you, to share in the secret of His heart, whether in sorrow or delight.
Have you ever been broken with the brokenness in God's heart for a people who want nothing from Him, just Him. Not a job, not a wife, not early retirement--Jesus Christ first, second, third. We get off on our own good ideas. Wouldn't it be nice to build a bigger building? Surely it is God's will for us to grow so big we do not even recognize that we are churning out half-hearted, ill-informed, scarcely saved men and women content to walk about the fringes of God's kingdom. Christian colleges are supposed to build strong Christian "leaders" who can influence the marketplace with integrity and an honest work ethic, right? Just don't ask whether their lives carry even the slightest fragrance of surrender. So long as we save souls. That's the business of the church, isn't it--to save souls?
Jesus Christ never commanded us to save souls, He commanded us to make disciples. The saving of souls is the job of the Holy Spirit, we are entrusted with the task of seeing that into the life of every born-again believer of Jesus Christ is brought the furnace of God's refining that purges every agenda and blemish and blot that would be worthy of censure in the light of God's ever-seeing eye. A man or woman is not truly a disciple until that one has been spoiled for every other goal in life than total reckless abandon to the Living Christ. "My goal is God Himself, not joy, nor peace, Nor even blessing, but Himself, my God: 'Tis His to lead me there, not mine, but His--'At any cost, dear Lord, by any road'"(Frances Brook, English hymnwriter).
What was Paul's first question to the disciples of Ephesus in Acts 19. "Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?" Not, "Did you join a Bible study? Have you been plugged in? Did you start tithing, because you know, that is the only way to ensure God blesses you." NO! "Have you received the Holy Spirit?" Oh God, grant that we might learn that the only thing that matters is that the Triune God comes and takes up His abode with the seal of His ownership in every vessel who names the Name of Christ (Cf. John 14:23). Our God is a consuming fire, and He is jealous for a people who are His alone (Ex. 34:14). What was the determined message of preparatory preaching for the coming of the Messiah by John the Baptist? "He that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and [with] fire" (Matt. 3:11). Baptized, immersed, enveloped, filled with God the Eternal Spirit and the necessary ensuing flame of fire marking His presence and inscribing His Name upon the newly born son or daughter. "This man, this woman, is Mine and I will do with them whatever I like."
Have you ever learned the one simple truth that it is not about Where I am going, Why I am going there, or What do I get at the end of it all? It is Who is getting the glory out of my life, For whose pleasure am I living, and Who is the supreme love of my life? If the answer is not Jesus Christ, "Then," says Jesus, "you are not worthy of ME" (Cf. Matt. 10:37-38). And so soliloquizes the broken, suffering, beaten down, but inconquerable lover of God, the apostle Paul, "This one thing I do...I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus" (Phil. 3:13-14). Can you say this of your own life, or have you been deterred? Is the path broadening before you with the world increasingly in view? If so, flee with all the strength God has given you, and cast yourself at all costs upon the narrow way of the Worthy One. There is only one safe place for every saint of God to be found, and that is at His throne of grace. It is there that Jesus Christ unfolds His true call for you--that you would belong to God Almighty, to be His purchased possession. It is not so much that we are called to do this thing or that thing; we are called to Jesus Christ. Have you seen your calling?
Healthy, wealthy, and fat with our own filth. Isn't that the way we want it? Oh, we would never say it. We would rather just live it, with a facade of Christianity that is attractive on the outside. But when the world wonders at us they draw near to smell the fragrance of the pretty flower that we purport to be, and we stink, we are a stench, we wreak with all the stuff that the world is so familiar with. We have our big buildings, our thriving groups, our popularity is on the rise, people like us. We have good music, great preaching, and a coffee stand to die for. And we are putrid with pride and a purpose estranged from the Living God.
"My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you..." (Gal. 4:14). But God will bottle the tears of those who travail over His church, weeping over a people who have loved to wander around, playing the harlot, going from house to whorehouse, from television screen to movie screen, from selfish motive to self-fulfillment. "After all, I am worth it, right? I deserve a little break from the round and round of devotion to Jesus Christ." Did the Son of God ever say seek first the kingdom of God, and then you can seek other stuff? You know, so long as God is first. God forbid it ever being so! He said, "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you" (Matt. 6:33). "You watch after your relationship with Me," said Jesus, "and I will see that every need is met in My way and in My time and for My Father's ultimate glory."
Maybe I just need to pray more about this thing or that thing, maybe that is why I cannot figure out what direction to take. Is that really it? Do we need to focus more on what we want God to do for us? Oh, child of God, do not seek Jesus Christ because you need to know where to turn, what college to go to, what job to take, what to major in, what man is to be your husband. Set your eyes to His throne, lift up your countenance to the Living God, bow down to the King of all majesty for no other reason than HE IS WORTHY! Fall at His feet and shut your mouth. "Be still, and know that I [am] God" (Ps. 46:10).
When was the last time you entered the courts of the Lord with adoration for Who He is, for all that He has done, climbing into the fullest memory of everything God has ever been to you? Have you ever been so in awe of God, so enraptured with His glory and the beauty of His holiness that you were utterly speechless? To speak at such a moment would almost constitute blasphemy, because your human language fails so miserably to fully express the worship in spirit and in truth that the Father so forlornly seeks. Would you dare to be silent in the Presence of the Eternal God, not uttering one word, until the Holy Spirit beckons you, and takes you into the true intercession and groanings of His heart for the church of Christ, for your family, for your city? Is He not the Spirit of grace and supplications? Does not the Eternal Spirit know the mind of God alone? He is the only One Who can reveal the Father's purpose and take us into true intimacy and communion with God.
Oh how we need to see that prayer is not for us to try to convince God of what we need, twisting His arm to conform to our plans, adjuring Him on the best course of action in any given situation. Prayer is seeking the face of Christ until you have His mind on the matter, true communion with the Almighty, desiring nothing else and nobody else more than that one thing that is needful--to sit at His feet, to gaze upon His beauty, to be one in whom He is well pleased. Vicarious intercession is what God is after in us--groaning, travailing, birthing prayer that knows the mind of Christ and is confident that whatsoever is asked of God is received, because it is His very will that is prayed. Oswald Chambers says that he defies any man or woman who is truly spiritual and abiding in Christ to ask anything that is not in perfect accord with God's will. Such an one offers petitions before the throne of God that are in absolute agreement with the foreordained decreees of God (Cf. 1John 5:14-15). "Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus" (Heb. 10:19). What a gift it truly is to rest in God until hearing His voice is your soul's sole desire. Or maybe it is the grace of God's most intimate silence that He will grant you, to share in the secret of His heart, whether in sorrow or delight.
Have you ever been broken with the brokenness in God's heart for a people who want nothing from Him, just Him. Not a job, not a wife, not early retirement--Jesus Christ first, second, third. We get off on our own good ideas. Wouldn't it be nice to build a bigger building? Surely it is God's will for us to grow so big we do not even recognize that we are churning out half-hearted, ill-informed, scarcely saved men and women content to walk about the fringes of God's kingdom. Christian colleges are supposed to build strong Christian "leaders" who can influence the marketplace with integrity and an honest work ethic, right? Just don't ask whether their lives carry even the slightest fragrance of surrender. So long as we save souls. That's the business of the church, isn't it--to save souls?
Jesus Christ never commanded us to save souls, He commanded us to make disciples. The saving of souls is the job of the Holy Spirit, we are entrusted with the task of seeing that into the life of every born-again believer of Jesus Christ is brought the furnace of God's refining that purges every agenda and blemish and blot that would be worthy of censure in the light of God's ever-seeing eye. A man or woman is not truly a disciple until that one has been spoiled for every other goal in life than total reckless abandon to the Living Christ. "My goal is God Himself, not joy, nor peace, Nor even blessing, but Himself, my God: 'Tis His to lead me there, not mine, but His--'At any cost, dear Lord, by any road'"(Frances Brook, English hymnwriter).
What was Paul's first question to the disciples of Ephesus in Acts 19. "Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?" Not, "Did you join a Bible study? Have you been plugged in? Did you start tithing, because you know, that is the only way to ensure God blesses you." NO! "Have you received the Holy Spirit?" Oh God, grant that we might learn that the only thing that matters is that the Triune God comes and takes up His abode with the seal of His ownership in every vessel who names the Name of Christ (Cf. John 14:23). Our God is a consuming fire, and He is jealous for a people who are His alone (Ex. 34:14). What was the determined message of preparatory preaching for the coming of the Messiah by John the Baptist? "He that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and [with] fire" (Matt. 3:11). Baptized, immersed, enveloped, filled with God the Eternal Spirit and the necessary ensuing flame of fire marking His presence and inscribing His Name upon the newly born son or daughter. "This man, this woman, is Mine and I will do with them whatever I like."
Have you ever learned the one simple truth that it is not about Where I am going, Why I am going there, or What do I get at the end of it all? It is Who is getting the glory out of my life, For whose pleasure am I living, and Who is the supreme love of my life? If the answer is not Jesus Christ, "Then," says Jesus, "you are not worthy of ME" (Cf. Matt. 10:37-38). And so soliloquizes the broken, suffering, beaten down, but inconquerable lover of God, the apostle Paul, "This one thing I do...I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus" (Phil. 3:13-14). Can you say this of your own life, or have you been deterred? Is the path broadening before you with the world increasingly in view? If so, flee with all the strength God has given you, and cast yourself at all costs upon the narrow way of the Worthy One. There is only one safe place for every saint of God to be found, and that is at His throne of grace. It is there that Jesus Christ unfolds His true call for you--that you would belong to God Almighty, to be His purchased possession. It is not so much that we are called to do this thing or that thing; we are called to Jesus Christ. Have you seen your calling?
posted by Bryan | 7:49 PM
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