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God's word is insufficient to reveal the person of Jesus, but it will give you heart burn.
Do you remember the story of the two men that Jesus walked with on the road to Emmaus? Jesus said they were foolish and slow to believe and then explained all of Scripture to them concerning himself.
It doesn't matter what expository champion you pick, I'll guarantee their faithfulness in preaching the word doesn't hold a candle to this treatment: THE Word was opening the word to explain what he had revealed to the prophets to write down about himself before he came as a man to fulfill what he said he was going to do...as himself...through the first hand integrity of experiential execution.
Think about that for a second. Makes my head hurt.
"Said that, been there, done that, have the scars to prove it. Any questions?"
Yes, they did have questions AND they still didn't recognize Jesus.
Think about this, too. Also makes my head hurt.
How could you hear a sermon from the resurrected Jesus on himself and still not recognize who he was? Well, it's because God's word is insufficient to reveal the person of Jesus.
Jesus is revealed by Spirit.
John tells about this at Jesus' baptism when he said, "I baptize you with water for repentance, but after me will come one who will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ I have seen and I testify that this is God’s Chosen One.”
Isn't this wild?!? John and Jesus were family! John had leapt in recognition of Jesus' person from his mother's womb and I'm sure had grown up hearing the testimonies about Jesus and the prophetic words concerning him. But what does John say?!?
"I wouldn't have known him if it hadn't been for the Holy Spirit."
After the eyes of our gents from the road to Emmaus are opened and they see Jesus for who he is, they immediately ran back to Jerusalem and on the way say, "Were our hearts not burning within us on the road as he opened the Scriptures to us?"
Friends, attending communities with teachers who faithfully teach the word of God and cause their congregant's hearts to burn week after week will be no more effective at revealing Jesus to you through the full counsel of Scripture than Jesus was. It is ridiculous to presume that our teachers will be able to do what Jesus failed at. Jesus does, indeed, empower us to do what he has done and greater, but you can't do something greater unless it was first done by Jesus and you imitate him.
All Jesus was able to do in giving the full counsel of Scripture about himself was to give his hearers heart burn.
If you want to impart hearts that are ON fire, carry fire, and impart fire to others that recognize Jesus' revealed person, you'll have to partner with Spirit on this just like Jesus did.
The older I get, the less I like heart burn. Never have been a fan, but it seems like it comes around more and I like it less and less. I pray that the same is true with you and your walk with Jesus. Don't delight in the heart burn that you get being fed by God's word over and over and over with the full counsel of Scripture teaching about Jesus.
Constrain Jesus! Grab him, pull him into your secret place and communion with him by partaking of his person in the filling of his Spirit! Spirit is the most faithful servant of Christ and stands at the ready to reveal his person to the glory of our Father. If you receive Holy Spirt, you'll receive Jesus; and if you receive Jesus, you receive the one who sent him and the fire of his love.
However, if all you ever do is partake of the word, you'll live a life of constant heart burn but never recognize the person of Jesus, and heart burn is not Spirit's fire.
Live in the fire with fire within: this is where Jesus is revealed.
Do you remember the story of the two men that Jesus walked with on the road to Emmaus? Jesus said they were foolish and slow to believe and then explained all of Scripture to them concerning himself.
It doesn't matter what expository champion you pick, I'll guarantee their faithfulness in preaching the word doesn't hold a candle to this treatment: THE Word was opening the word to explain what he had revealed to the prophets to write down about himself before he came as a man to fulfill what he said he was going to do...as himself...through the first hand integrity of experiential execution.
Think about that for a second. Makes my head hurt.
"Said that, been there, done that, have the scars to prove it. Any questions?"
Yes, they did have questions AND they still didn't recognize Jesus.
Think about this, too. Also makes my head hurt.
How could you hear a sermon from the resurrected Jesus on himself and still not recognize who he was? Well, it's because God's word is insufficient to reveal the person of Jesus.
Jesus is revealed by Spirit.
John tells about this at Jesus' baptism when he said, "I baptize you with water for repentance, but after me will come one who will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ I have seen and I testify that this is God’s Chosen One.”
Isn't this wild?!? John and Jesus were family! John had leapt in recognition of Jesus' person from his mother's womb and I'm sure had grown up hearing the testimonies about Jesus and the prophetic words concerning him. But what does John say?!?
"I wouldn't have known him if it hadn't been for the Holy Spirit."
After the eyes of our gents from the road to Emmaus are opened and they see Jesus for who he is, they immediately ran back to Jerusalem and on the way say, "Were our hearts not burning within us on the road as he opened the Scriptures to us?"
Friends, attending communities with teachers who faithfully teach the word of God and cause their congregant's hearts to burn week after week will be no more effective at revealing Jesus to you through the full counsel of Scripture than Jesus was. It is ridiculous to presume that our teachers will be able to do what Jesus failed at. Jesus does, indeed, empower us to do what he has done and greater, but you can't do something greater unless it was first done by Jesus and you imitate him.
All Jesus was able to do in giving the full counsel of Scripture about himself was to give his hearers heart burn.
If you want to impart hearts that are ON fire, carry fire, and impart fire to others that recognize Jesus' revealed person, you'll have to partner with Spirit on this just like Jesus did.
The older I get, the less I like heart burn. Never have been a fan, but it seems like it comes around more and I like it less and less. I pray that the same is true with you and your walk with Jesus. Don't delight in the heart burn that you get being fed by God's word over and over and over with the full counsel of Scripture teaching about Jesus.
Constrain Jesus! Grab him, pull him into your secret place and communion with him by partaking of his person in the filling of his Spirit! Spirit is the most faithful servant of Christ and stands at the ready to reveal his person to the glory of our Father. If you receive Holy Spirt, you'll receive Jesus; and if you receive Jesus, you receive the one who sent him and the fire of his love.
However, if all you ever do is partake of the word, you'll live a life of constant heart burn but never recognize the person of Jesus, and heart burn is not Spirit's fire.
Live in the fire with fire within: this is where Jesus is revealed.
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