Knowing Christ - It's Everything

"... those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. (Romans 8:14)

There was a time in the far past when God called Israel his firstborn. The implications of that are staggering in that it has a relationship and similarity to when Jesus was recognized as the only begotten Son of the Father. Now there is a difference of course, but the identification of Israel as His firstborn has the same love and relationship attached to it.

That is extremely important because what is called Christianity, overall, has went the way of officialdom and formality, rather than a close love relationship with Christ Himself.

God stands by His people on the basis of this intimacy. Once it turns outward, as it does with the majority of those that name Christ, God can no longer give Himself to them that say they take His name.

Let's back up a moment though and understand that this intimacy is recognizable by those that keep the commandments of Christ. Jesus Himself said if you love me, keep my commandments. So intimacy and passion for Christ will always lead to becoming like Him, which is really what it means to obey His commandments.

After all, how many people outwardly adhere to the commandments of Christ and yet inwardly are full of sin and corruption? They are legion, as anyone that has the power of observation and interacts with those proclaiming Christ know.

The first letter of John confirms this, saying those that are true believers will walk as He walked. How did He walk? He had the sole goal of communing with and doing the will of the Father. By extension, that means we are not to walk in a sin-filled life, but one that is full love, joy and peace in the Holy Spirit. That's part of what it means to be filled with the spirit. It's being intoxicated with God in a way that who He is in character begins to take shape within us. That's obeying His commandments. After all, the commands of God are always to lead us to Christ Himself, who comes to abide in us and transforms us into His image.

This can only be done inwardly in fellowship with Christ. It's an experience; not simply trying hard to adhere to the letter of the law or scriptures, which inevitably always leads to failure and frustration.

If we want to count for something in Christ while living in this world, this is the only way to go. Christ, while God, is still a living being, and His purpose for creating us was so we could spend our lives in fellowship with Him and one another. This fellowship with Christ is intimate and within, working its way out to others who bear the life of Christ within them as well. That is the fellowship we are to have with one another.

Everything we are is related to being practical sons of God. Being sons of God means we are to know Him within. There is nothing more intimate in regard to man than that experiential reality. Even the one-ness between a husband and wife pales before it.

As for the outworking of that? Whatever it is God would have us to do, He will be there with us as long as we aren't official or outward Christians, but are of the tribe that seeks to live a life centered in Him. That center resides in our innermost beings, and is something that must be cultivated on a daily basis.

This is what Jesus was talking about when referring to the different types of ground the word, or really Himself, is planted into. The ground is the key because the seed that is Christ is perfect. Our job is to open ourselves up to being good ground so the seed can take root and grow. The ground and the seed can only be one under those circumstances.

There is nothing we can't do when retaining and remaining in that place of openness to Christ no matter what life brings us. This is why Paul taught us to admonish one another daily so a root of bitterness wouldn't spring up.

We need to watch over and challenge one another not to allow ourselves to become hardened within, as there would then be no way for the perfect seed of Christ to be close in a way that transforms us into what He is like.

Ultimately this is what produces the outward form of religion, which looks holy outwardly, but inwardly is dry and dead to Christ. We are called to something much higher than that, and it all begins and really ends, with Christ dwelling in our innermost being by the Spirit.

This is why we are told that it is Christ in us which is the hope of glory.

Being Obsessed with Christ

There is no answer in this world and the time we spend in it as to our problems and challenges than that of being obsessed and captivated by Jesus Christ.

Most of the readers here are those seeking something outside of what is called "institutional" Christianity, and so may feel they have a leg up on other believers who focus on the outward forms and many unbiblical practices included with all of that.

But whether or not you see what it is God wants for His people, there can be no spiritual benefit whatsoever if we're not infatuated and obsessed with the person of Jesus Christ. None at all.
After all, if all that is happening is people are switching locations of where they meet from a building to a living room, and yet have little or no change of heart towards the person of Jesus Christ, there is little reason for going through that unpleasant experience, even if it results in a more biblical practice of church life.

In other words, you can be just as dead in a living room, or even living day-to-day life together if the purpose hasn't come from the love of Christ within our hearts.

On the other hand, when Jesus Christ is our sole purpose and focus for being a people and friends, it is unlimited as to what can and will occur as together we walk in Him and are conformed to His glorious image.

Many times we search the scriptures, especially the New Testament writings, for the secrets that made the early church what it was, and in the end, there is no other answer than the fact that they were enamored and in love with Jesus Christ. That's it! Nothing else. That answers everything as to the practical outworking that came forth as a result.

We can obsess with techniques and other such things, but those only came forth in response to challenges the people of God faced and as they sought Jesus Christ and how to handle them as they appeared. But it was that love of Christ and consequently, of one another, that allowed for those answers to be found. If there was no love, most wouldn't have cared one way or the other how a particular situation worked out.

Those believers that have had a real work of the cross of Jesus Christ in their lives can testify to the reality that even though they have suffered greatly by following Christ, that weight is in fact very light when compared with the privilege and honor of being offered the opportunity of knowing Him. I'm not talking about knowing things about Him, but literally and actually getting to know Him on a moment by moment basis; both individually and corporately.

Before we go on, don't think because you intellectually agree with these thoughts and statements that you have all these things. Either you're in deep love with Christ or you're not. Either you can't stop thinking about Him all the time or you don't think about Him much.

Even when working a job or interacting with others throughout the day in other situations, you can remain in unhindered and non-stop fellowship with Jesus Christ. That's because that is to happen in our innermost being, not in the head primarily. So even though we are many times able to dwell upon Him with our thoughts, outward circumstances may not allow us to remain in that practice. Yet we can still be in real, inner fellowship with Christ that doesn't demand thought processes, but the awareness of His life dwelling intimately deep within us.

If you want the answer as to how the early believers were able to handle the enormous opposition they faced from the world, and the persecution and martyrdom of some of the apostles and believers, this is totally and completely the answer: they got hold of a real relationship with Jesus Christ and everything else didn't matter. That's why they could gladly have everything taken away from them and not miss a step in their closeness and obedience to Jesus Christ.

All of that means the world was truly dim to them in the light of the face of Jesus Christ, who made this world look lame in comparison. The result was that they held things in this world very lightly, and so when they were attacked or had their property and goods confiscated, it had no effect whatsoever upon them other than they went on their way homeless and without any goods in this world. This can only come about from a revelation of, and participation in, the person of Jesus Christ. It must go beyond revelation alone into becoming a living and practical reality. But we still need to see Christ in order to respond accordingly. They work together hand-in-hand.

Having said that, the most simple person or people in the world can love and obey Jesus Christ without being able to explain Him or expound upon doctrine concerning Him. It's the deep love and being caught up into His amazing person hood that is important and eternally valuable, not how much light and revelation that we have of Him.

Most of our problems in life and our response to them come from the fact that we are influenced by personal interests. Those undermine our relationship with the Lord and cause us to be distracted.
If only we could grasp and embrace this wonderful Jesus Christ. If we open ourselves up to Him and want only Him, we'll find that what many consider difficult in abandoning sin and many of the other distractions of the world isn't even that hard. As a matter of fact great joy accompanies true fellowship with Christ, but not the joy of the world that is largely dependent upon things working out easily and the way we want them. Rather it's the joy of simply knowing Him for no other reason than enjoying and wanting to be with Him.

One way of knowing whether or not you're close to reaching that place is when you find you have no regrets in pursuing Christ and finding Him, or rather being found by Him.

Whether we have lost our reputation because of Christ; our goods; friends; family; or any other thing or person that is important to us, it's our infatuation with Jesus Christ that continues to dominate our being and life that is important to us, no matter what life in this world brings. Jesus Christ said He has overcome this world, so we can be of good cheer as a result. Those that are walking in Him will find that they participate in that conquering, so can overcome all that come their way without the feeling of loss in any way. That's the same with the flesh and the devil as well, which Christ has also overcome. The secret is sitting at the feet of Christ like Mary did. After all, Jesus Himself said that that is all that really matters in this life, to be gathered around Him as we sit at His feet together. 
Again, this isn't something that comes about from mental assent, but rather from being literally, actually and in reality, living with Jesus Christ being the entirety of our lives.

Don't be flippant about this. It'll cost us everything, or at least if we pursue and desire Christ in this manner, it has the potential to cost us everything. The key is that it shouldn't and won't matter to us once we are in the reality of walking with Christ in this way. The cost can and will be real, but the fallout of that cost won't matter to us as we hold onto and keep our eyes on this amazing Christ who created and died for us so that we could participate in friendship and fellowship with Him. That, after all, is what eternal life is.

All of us need to get desperate with Jesus Christ in this. Ask, plead, beg if you have to, that Jesus Christ will help you to lay aside all the weights, sins and personal interests so you can walk with Him unhindered while living on this earth. This isn't primarily a call to do this individually, although that's important, but it's a call for us to walk this corporately in a living way.

Finding Christ in the Quiet

Probably never in history have we needed to focus on and grasp again, the concept and practice of learning to live in quiet before and in the Lord Jesus Christ.

I want to invoke a couple of historical individuals to show how importantly they viewed their inability to hear and see as key components of their success.

One was a deist, Thomas Edison, the inventor and businessman, and the other a beloved Christian sister: Fanny Crosby, who was known to have written thousands of hymns during her lifetime.

Both of them had the tenacity to perform their respective roles over and over again to attain their desired results. Both of them attributed that tenacity to their inability to hear, in the case of Thomas Edison, and see, in the case of Fanny Crosby.

When technology started to catch up with the challenges of being deaf, Edison was asked if he wanted to be treated in order to hear better. His answer was a resounding "no." Edison said that if he started to be able to hear he wouldn't be able to concentrate as he had in the past; one of the major reasons behind his success in his view.

Fanny Crosby said something similar:

It seemed intended by the blessed providence of God that I should be blind all my life, and I thank him for the dispensation. If perfect earthly sight were of­fered me tomorrow I would not accept it. I might not have sung hymns to the praise of God if I had been distracted by the beautiful and interesting things about me.

So Edison didn't want to be interrupted be being able to hear, and Fanny Crosby didn't want to be interrupted by what she would be able to see.

The point in all of this is when we learn to practice the presence of Jesus Christ in a quiet manner, we gain access to something similar that Edison and Crosby did: the ability to focus sharply and long on the goals they had before them without interruption. That was a huge part of their success.

As it applied to walking effectively in Christ, that is the goal of learning to quiet ourselves before the Lord in order to enjoy His presence without distraction, and also to hear and see clearly what it is He may want to do with us at any one time.

We must get back to this practice on a daily basis, eventually attaining the goal of walking in His presence without interruption. The fact that most don't even consider this a thing to be attained, or that could be attained, testifies to the age we live in, where Christians believe more will be attained for Christ by hard work and endless strategies.

It is impossible to know, see and hear Christ when our souls are active. It's as simple as that. The lesson from Edison and Crosby is we must learn to quiet out God-given senses in order to fellowship with and hear the Lord clearly from the quiet of our spirits deep within our beings. There is no other way.

We must learn to allow the Lord Jesus Christ to shut down our soulish activity in order to be able to tune into the activity of the Lord deep within our beings.

In this article we're not going to touch much on the practicals of that (and learning this is very practical), but rather on setting out the fact that this is something that must be done, as it's a major part of the eternal purpose of God in Jesus Christ.

There is a seeking and a hunger we must ask Christ to give us for Him, as he's always wooing us to be quiet before Him in order to be able to shut out the world and its distractions in order to be close to one another.

It's out of that closeness that the rest will come. But if there is no quiet, there simply is no practical and real closeness with the Lord, and consequently, it's out of that innermost being where rivers of living water will flow out into this world while we're alive.

If we aren't quiet before the Lord, the Spirit of God will still be within us, but He will be locked in without a way to get out because of the way we are distracted by all that is around us.

Speaking from experience, I can testify to the fact that once you learn to live in the presence of the Lord without ever leaving that presence, the rest of the responsibilities of life are eased significantly by the Lord, who has called us to walk in this manner.

The way this can be achieved is by the willful shutting down of our senses while we wait on the Lord in a restful place. Continuing to practice that allows for that time of quiet to slowly extend, not only to times when we're alone with Him, but to all areas of life we are involved in.

This isn't an intellectual endeavor, but a spiritual one hidden deep in our inner man or spirit. That allows us to walk and talk and participate in life without ever leaving the presence of God. And it has absolutely nothing, in general, to do with feelings. It's completely an experience and walk of faith.

Using Crosby and Edison of examples are for the purpose of showing how they were able to live productive lives in light of the loss of hearing and sight. Picture what it would be like if we were to willingly allow the Lord to shut down those aspects of our lives without having to actually lose those faculties. It would be extraordinary the lives we could live on a daily basis when not taking in all the external stimuli around us.

I don't mean by that that we can't enjoy the beautiful creation of God, but what I mean is that is simply a part of a picture of who Jesus Christ is. He is far beyond this pointers to who He is; being the only reality there ever will be. That's why He Himself stated that He is the reality.

The place to begin with all of this is to recognize that we're not able to do this on our own. We must ask Jesus Christ to enable us to walk in this way of life. Only the Spirit of God within us can empower us to walk in this way.

And once you start to learn to successfully walk in this manner, from there it can be expanded to other brothers and sisters, who together can learn and share the inner and hidden things of Jesus Christ residing in our spirits and confirmed by the Holy Scriptures.

The creation is groaning for the manifestation of the sons of God, and imagine what it will be like when an untold number of Christian brothers and sisters learn to walk this way together in this world.

Ask Christ to show you a glimpse of what that could and will be like. It will be a great impetus to not only start your quiet journey to know the Lord as deeply as He wants you to know Him, but also to continue on that journey for the rest of your life on this earth, and on into the ages of ages.


One Caveat
One caveat on this story. I mentioned that Thomas Edison was a deist for no other reason than it was how he believed. I don't in any way agree with that, but the purpose of including him in the article was to show how he benefited from the loss of memory in being able to focus in a way he would not have otherwise been able to.

It's the asking of Christ to help us to quiet ourselves before Him so we can fellowship with Him without distractions that is the point, not anything else related to Edison's beliefs or person.

Knowing Christ in an Over-Stimulated World

The world we live in today is one obviously not conducive to building a solid relationship with Jesus Christ. Not only because of sin and opposition, but possibly even more importantly, the speed of change and distractions now inherent to our generation.

While all of these have existed in the past, the impact I see on our generation as far as it relates to knowing Christ, is in being over-stimulated because of the sheer bombardment of our senses via the ubiquitous media outlets and screens we now have available to us.

In other words, we're always connected, and we don't want to, or believe we can't, disconnect for the type of interaction with Jesus Christ which has meaning and fulfilment to us and for Him.

As news and reporting tends to gravitate largely to the negative or spectacular, it elicits a emotional reaction in us on a consistent basis, which is the reason for identifying it as being over-stimulated.

It's like having children eat sugar all day long with them never coming down from the high as they bounce off the walls. We adults are experiencing that through the media sugar we consume every day, resulting in Christians largely neglecting their relationship with Christ, which must include literal quietness to cultivate and be impacted and changed by that fellowship with Him.

Forget about those people who try to tell you how to know Christ while maintaining a lifestyle which doesn't allow for it, not matter how it is spun.

You can't know or fellowship with your spouse, children, or other believers, unless you take the targeted time to do so, and it's the same with Christ, even more so, because of the need to absolutely be quiet before Him.

Time must be made and committed to on a consistent basis in order to enjoy the gift of Himself that Christ has given us. There are no short cuts to this, and there are no substitutes. We must change our behaviors and possibly, other areas of our lives if we want to participate in eternal life, which Jesus revealed was knowing Him and the Father.

To do that, we must give our time and attention to that. And as for how to do it, it must be done in circumstances where there are no outside or internal stimulants which will choke out the value of being restful and quiet before Him.

The purpose of this article isn't to get into the numerous ways that can be done, but to encourage and admonish you to remember this is the purpose of Jesus Christ in creating us, so that we could enjoy an eternity together in extraordinary fellowship. That's to begin happening while we live on this earth.

Again, work on being restful, peaceful and quiet before the Lord. It will take time, and it will be frustrating at the beginning, as you must learn and develop the discipline of living outside of the stimulation of this world in order to participate now in the eternals with Christ, who lives in heaven and within all true believers.

Revelation is not Enough

From 'A Witness and a Testimony'

January - February, 1970 Vol. 48, No. 1



REVELATION IS NOT ENOUGH

[A. W. Tozer]

The following message by the late Dr. A. W. Tozer, to be included in a further volume of addresses by him now in preparation, is, we feel, so much in keeping with the ministry of A Witness and A Testimony, that we borrow it for our readers, assured that they will be very glad to read it. It was recently in The Alliance Witness of the Christian and Missionary Alliance. And while mentioning this, may I say that, in early years of ministry and the Lord's work, I owed very much to the life of Dr. A. B. Simpson, founder of that 'Alliance'. - Editor.

"About the midst of the feast Jesus went up into the temple, and taught. And the Jews marvelled, saying, How knoweth this man letters, having never learned? Jesus answered them, and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me. If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself" (John 7:14-17).


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THE key, the crux of this whole issue, is in verse 17. If any man is willing to do God's will, he shall know.

People marvelled at our Lord as He taught. They asked: "How knoweth this man letters having never learned?" 'How does He know learning', in other words, 'never having studied in the regular schools?' In those days they had no schools as we know them; a rabbi taught little groups of students. Our Lord evidently never attended a rabbinical school so they asked: 'How does He get His wonderful doctrine, since He has never been to the schools of the rabbis?'

Now, this question tells us a good deal about these people. It tells us that they held truth to be intellectual merely, capable of being reduced to a code. To know truth it was necessary only to learn the code.

Most of them had no books of their own -- they learned by memorizing. That was their conception of truth. I gather this not only from verse 17 but from the whole Gospel of John. To these people truth was an intellectual thing -- just as we know that two times two is four.

That is truth, but it is an intellectual truth only. They reduced divine truth to that status. They knew the laws: "Thou shalt have no other gods before me.... Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.... Thou shalt not ...". But to them there was no mysterious depth in truth, nothing beneath and nothing beyond the obvious fact. It was exactly here that they parted company with our Saviour, for our Lord Jesus constantly taught the beyond and the beneath.

These people believed that the words of truth were the truth. And here is a basic misunderstanding of Christian theology with a moral and spiritual consequence that is vastly important. They believed that if you had the words of truth, if you could repeat the code of truth, you had the truth. That if you lived by the word of truth you lived in the truth.

The Saviour tried to correct this inadequate view. He showed them the heavenly quality of His message. He said: 'My doctrine is not Mine -- I am [18/19] not a rabbi teaching doctrine that you can memorize and repeat. What I am giving you is not that kind of doctrine at all.'

He had said previously: 'I say nothing for Myself -- what I see the Father do, that I do, and what the Father speaks, that I speak. What I have seen yonder I tell you about. I am a transparent medium through which the truth is being spoken. You believe that the way to truth is to go to a rabbi and learn it. That's not the truth, that approach to truth is inadequate.'

Here, it seems to me, is the weakness in modern Christianity. The battle line, the warfare today, is not necessarily between the fundamentalist and the liberal. There is a difference between them, of course. The fundamentalist says God made the heaven and the earth. The liberal says: 'Well, that's a poetic way of stating it; actually it came up by evolution.' The fundamentalist says Jesus Christ was the very Son of God. The liberal says: 'Well, He certainly was a wonderful man and He is the Master, but I don't quite know about His deity.' So there is a division, but I don't think the warfare is on these matters any more.

The battle has shifted to another more important field. The warfare, the dividing line today, is between evangelical rationalists and evangelical mystics. I will explain what I mean.

There is today an evangelical rationalism which is the same as these Jews had. They said the truth is in the word, and if you want to know truth, go to the rabbi and learn the word. If you get the word, you have got the truth. That is evangelical rationalism and we have that today in fundamental circles. 'If you learn the text you've got the truth.'

This evangelical rationalism will kill the truth just as quickly as liberalism will, though in more subtle way. The liberal stands over there and says: 'I don't believe your inspired Bible; I don't believe your deified Christ. I believe the Bibles in a way; it is the record of the high points of great men and I believe in a certain mystic communion with the universe and it is all very wonderful, but I don't believe as you do.'

You can easily spot this man -- train your glasses on him and there he stands. You can tell he is on the other side, for he wears the uniform of the other side.

But your evangelical rationalist wears our uniform. He comes in wearing our uniform and says what the Pharisees, the worst enemies Jesus had while He was on earth, said: 'Well, truth is truth, and if you believe the truth you've got it.

Such see no beyond and no mystic depth, no mysterious heights, nothing supernatural or divine. They see only: "I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth: and in Jesus Christ His only Son, our Lord." They have the text and the code and the creed, and to them that is the truth. So they pass it on to others. The result is we are dying spiritually.

Now, what about the evangelical mystic? I don't really like the word 'mystic' because you think of a fellow with long hair and a little goatee who acts dreamy and strange. Maybe it is not a good word at all, but I am talking about the spiritual side of things -- that the truth is more than the text. There is something that you've got to get through to. The truth is more than the code. There is a heart beating in the middle of the code and you've got to get there.

Now the question is simply this: Is the body of Christian truth enough? Or does truth have a soul as well as a body? The evangelical rationalist says that all of that talk about the soul of truth is poetic nonsense. The body of truth is all you need; if you believe the body of truth you are on your way to heaven and you can't backslide and everything will be allright and you will get a crown in the last day.

Now otherwise stated: Is revelation enough or must there be illumination? Is this Bible an inspired book? Is it a revealed book? Of course you and I believe that it is a revelation, that God spoke all these words and holy men spoke as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

I believe that this Bible is a living book, that God has given it to us and that we dare not add to it or take away from it. It is revelation. But revelation is not enough. There must be illumination before revelation can get to your soul. It isn't enough that I hold an inspired book in my hands. I must have an inspired heart. There is the difference.

You can memorize all the texts of the Bible -- and I believe in memorizing -- but when you are through you've got nothing but the body. There is the soul of truth as well as the body. There is a divine inward illumination the Holy Ghost must give us or we don't know what truth means.

Conversion is a miraculous act of God by the Holy Ghost; it must be wrought in the spirit. The body of truth is not enough; there must be an inward illumination.

Christ's conflict was with the theological rationalist. It revealed itself in the Sermon on the Mount and the whole Book of John. Just as Colossians argues against Manichaeism and Galatians argues against Jewish legalism, so the Book of John is a long, inspired, passionately outpoured book trying to save us from evangelical rationalism, the doctrine [19/20] that says the text is enough. Textualism is as deadly as liberalism.

Now revelation, I repeat, can't save. Revelation is the ground upon which we stand. Revelation tells us what to believe. It is the Book of God and I stand for it with all my heart; but there must be, before I can be saved, illumination, penitence, renewal, inward deliverance.

I have no doubt that many people are eased into the kingdom. They are jockeyed into believing in the text, and they do; but they have never been illuminated by the Holy Ghost. They have never been renewed in their hearts. They never get into the kingdom at all.

Now, there is a secret in divine truth altogether hidden from the unprepared soul. This is where we stand in the terrible day in which we live. Christianity is not something you just reach up and grab. There must be a preparation of the mind, a preparation of the life and a preparation of the inner man before we can savingly believe in Jesus Christ.

Somebody asks: Is it possible to hear the truth and not understand the truth? Listen to Isaiah: "Hear ye indeed, but understand not, and see ye indeed, but perceive not" (6:9). It is possible to see yet not perceive.

Paul says (1 Corinthians 2:4-5): "My speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God."

Now the theological rationalists say that your faith should stand not in the wisdom of man but in the Word of God. Paul didn't say that at all. He said your faith should stand in the power of God. That's quite a different thing.

Verses 9 through 14 say: "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.... But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned."

Paul, the man of God, is saying: I came preaching and I preached with power that would illuminate and get to the conscience and to the spirit and change the inner man in order that your faith might stand in the power of God.

My brethren, your faith can stand in the text and you can be as dead as the proverbial doornail, but when the power of God moves in on the text and sets the sacrifice on fire, then you have Christianity. We call that revival, but it's not revival at all. It is simply New Testament Christianity. It's what it ought to have been in the first place, but was not.

Now look at Matthew 11: "Jesus answered and said, I thank thee O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight. All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father, neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him."

So there we have the doctrine taught plainly that there is not only a body of truth which we must hold at our peril; there is also a soul in that body which we must get through to, and if we don't get through to the soul of truth we have only a dead body on our hands.

A church can go on holding the creed. and the truth for years and generations and grow old and die, and new people come up and receive that same code and they grow old and die.

Then some revivalist comes in and gets everybody stirred and prayer moves God down on the scene and revival comes to that church. People who thought they were saved get saved. People who have only believed in a code now believe in Christ.

A man will go along in a church and believe texts and quote them and memorize them and teach them and maybe become a deacon and all the rest. Then one day, under the fiery preaching of some visitor or maybe the pastor, he suddenly feels himself terribly in need of God and he forgets all his past history and goes to his knees and like David begins to pour out his soul in confession. Then he leaps to his feet and testifies: 'I've been a deacon in this church twenty-six years and never was born again until tonight.'

What happened? That man had been trusting the dead body of truth until some inspired preacher let him know that truth has a soul. Or maybe God taught him in secret that truth had a soul as well as a body and he dared to get through and pursue by penitence and obedience until God honoured his faith and flashed the light on. And like lightning out of heaven it touched his spirit and all the texts he had memorized became alive.

Thank God, he did memorize the texts and all the truth he knew suddenly now bloomed in the light. That is why I believe we ought to memorize. [20/21] That is why we ought to get to know the Word, why we ought to fill our minds with the songs and the great hymns of the church. They won't mean anything to us until the Holy Ghost comes. But when He comes He will have fuel to use. Fire without fuel won't burn but fuel without fire is dead. And the Holy Ghost will not come on a church where there is no Biblical fuel. There must be Bible teaching. We must have the body of truth.

Jesus said if any man is willing to do God's will, he shall know -- he shall know the doctrine, he shall know the teaching. Now, this body of truth can be grasped by the average, normal intellect. You can grasp truth, but only the enlightened soul will ever know the truth and only the prepared heart will ever be enlightened.

And just what is the preparation needed? Jesus said: 'If any man is willing to do My will the light will flash in on him. If any man will obey Me, God will enlighten his soul immediately.'

We make Jesus Christ a convenience. We make Him a lifeboat to get us to shore, a guide to find us when we are lost. We reduce Him simply to Big Friend to help us when we are in trouble.

That is not Christianity. Jesus Christ is Lord. But when a man is willing to do His will, he is repenting and the truth flashes in.

No man can know the Son except the Father tell him. No man can know the Father except the Son reveal Him. I can know about God, that's the body of truth. But I can't know God, the soul of truth, unless I am ready to be obedient.

Before the Word of God can mean anything inside of me there must be obedience to the Word. Truth will not give itself to a rebel. Truth will not impart life to a man who will not obey the light! "If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin." If you are disobeying Jesus Christ you can't expect to be enlightened.

But there is illumination. I know what Charles Wesley meant when he wrote: "His spirit answers to the blood, And tells me I am born of God!" Nobody had to come and tell me what he meant. 'He that is willing to do My will,' said Jesus, 'shall have a revelation to his own heart. He shall have an inward illumination that tells him he is a child of God.'

If a sinner goes to the altar and a worker with a marked New Testament argues him into the kingdom, the devil will meet him two blocks down the street and argue him out of it again. But if he has an inward illumination and he has that witness within because the Spirit answers to the blood, you can't argue with that man. He will say: 'But I know.' A man like that is not bigoted or arrogant, he is just sure.

Now that's revival, but yet it is not revival either; it is normal Christianity. It's the way we should be. "If any man will do his will, he shall know."

But you say you're going to take a Bible course. If you are holding out on God, refusing to follow Jesus, you can take a course and learn all about synthesis and analysis and all the rest. But you might just as well read Pogo; all the courses in the world won't illuminate you inside. You can fill your head full of knowledge, but the day that you decide you are going to obey God it will get down into your heart. You shall know. Only the servants of truth can ever know truth. Only those who obey can ever have the inward change.

You can stand on the outside and can know all about it. I once read a book about the inner spiritual life by a man who was not a Christian at all. He had an amazing penetration. He was a sharp intellectual, a keen Englishman. He stood outside and examined spiritual people from the outside but nothing ever reached him.

You can read your Bible -- read any version you want -- and if you are honest you will admit that it is either obedience or inward blindness. You can repeat the Book of Romans word for word and still be blind inwardly. You can quote the whole Book of Psalms and still be blind inwardly. You can know the doctrine of justification by faith and take your stand with Luther and the Reformation, and be blind inwardly. For it is not the body of truth that enlightens; it is the Spirit of truth that enlightens.

If you are willing to obey the Lord Jesus He will illuminate your spirit, inwardly enlighten you, and the truth you have known will now be known spiritually and power will begin to flow up and out and you will find yourself changed, marvellously changed. In that great day of Christ's coming all that will matter is whether or not I have been inwardly illuminated. Inwardly regenerated. Inwardly purified.

Do I know Jesus?

The Challenge and Privilege of Knowing Christ

Many Christians have a desire to have a deeper relationship with Christ, but struggle to enter into one; many times thinking it's just not possible or attainable in this world.

While a number of believers may not say it that way, their actions do.

Assuming there is a determined honesty to someone wanting to know the Lord Jesus, there are a couple of things to remember before going in and talking about it.

When Jesus taught the crowds the parable of the sower, He brought His disciples aside and said this in Mark 4:

13 “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables?

The point He was making was extraordinary. Parable reflected the realities of who Christ was and the Kingdom of God. This specific parable was a foundational parable that gives meaning to the rest.

Jesus was basically saying that if they didn't understand this one, the rest would be misunderstood and misinterpreted.

Continuing on, Jesus gives the interpretation of the meaning of this foundational - parables of parables:

14 The sower sows the word.

15 And these are the ones by the wayside where the word is sown. When they hear, Satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts. 16 These likewise are the ones sown on stony ground who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with gladness; 17 and they have no root in themselves, and so endure only for a time. Afterward, when tribulation or persecution arises for the word’s sake, immediately they stumble. 18 Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word, 19 and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. 20 But these are the ones sown on good ground, those who hear the word, accept it, and bear fruit: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.”


I only bring this up not to get into the scriptures above, but to say that getting to know Jesus Christ is determined by the obstacles above, and overcoming them in Him.

A walk with the Lord can't be without conflict, challenge; both within and without. That's the point He makes above.

With that in mind, let's talk briefly about getting to know the Lord Jesus Christ.


The first and foremost thing that must be part of us is a detemination that no matter what happens, we will continue on with our walk with the Lord.

This doesn't mean we won't falter or stumble, but that even when we do, we allow Him to pick us up, while keeping our hearts open to Him.

If we don't have this, no matter what else we do, it'll be pretty hopeless and fruitless. The reason why is instead of going two steps forward and one step back, we basically take one step forward and then go one step back; making no progress, and if we're fortunate, just barely holding on to what we do have of Christ.

Now this doesn't mean we won't feel that way, just that the reality must be forward progress, and not going nowhere.

So with determination must come the desire to want to walk with Christ, even when we know we'll meet the cross immediately, and who we are begin to be weakened that Christ may show forth. This of course takes a lifetime, so we must settle into a marathon, and not a sprint mentality.

That way when we do go through struggles, we can hold on knowing they are temporary, and eventually the Lord will bring us through them.

One thing to keep in mind with the two things mentioned here - determination and desire to know Jesus Christ - we can't do it without Him. So we must ask Him to give us that determination, while also giving us the desire to know Him better in the midst of adversity and struggles, or in the best of times as well.

Without Him we can do nothing.

While there is the direct knowing of Christ, beyond that there is the knowing of Christ in fellowshipping with our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Modern day church practices make it almost impossible to do that, which is a major reason for Acts29review blog and website, which challenges and calls for the church of Jesus Christ to return to a more organic church experience and practice, which empowers believers to know Christ individually and corporately.

At this time I'm not going to get into too many practicals in this, as it's most important to ask the Lord Jesus to cultivate within us the desire and determine to continue to know and fellowship within, before we think of practical ways on how to do it.

One of the better books you can get and read on that is from Jeanne Guyon called Experiencing The Depths of Jesus Christ, which you can look at and purchase below if you choose.

Once you start on a path in learning to know and fellowship with Christ, eventually it becomes a simple, immediate and continuous step of faith you walk and live in.

It's nothing more than turning to Him within you, and from a corporate standpoint, living, sharing and walking in that together.

In reality, that's the way Christ becomes all in all, and that's the process and the end result of what is called the eternal purpose of God, where we literally bear and are changed into the image of Christ while we walk in Him together.

Knowing Christ: Individually and Corporately - Part 4

"Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom ..."

The purpose of this little series on knowing Christ individually and coporately was to help you understand the tension that can come about from seeing the value of displaying Christ as a people corporately, while also seeing that the only way Christ can be seen in this way is if individual members of the body are functioning and sharing within that context.

Many people think if you function individually that you're taking away from the coporate purpose of God: that's a misunderstanding and not true. Rather it's the very key of revealing who Christ is to one another and the world, as the input of many members gives a more full view of who He is, and others parts of the body of Christ become more fully orbed and reflecting Christ by how you function or what you verbally share.

But as the scripture above says, we must allow the Christ to dwell within us richly in order for this to work, and to present to one another the wisdom of God, which is Christ.

The problem in many attempting to do this without help is they draw from the world and the many things it offers, rather than Christ as the means to accomplish the Father's purpose. Many of you attempting to find this way of practicing Christ together are already way off the mark by focusing instead on irrelevant things like those who promote dubious environmental causes, homosexuals being born into their lifestyes, and a host of other things not related to Christ. You're unfortunately doomed to fail if that's the road you continue to travel.

All that is is a political philosophy built upon humanism you've learned in your high school and college classes. It has no place overall in the purpose of God, and is far from what God has purposed in Christ from before creation.

God is after Christ dwelling in you; both individually and corporately. Dwelling in you isn't referring to just getting you fire insurance and happily going your way, taking in every wind of doctrine along your wayward path. Christ dwelling in you is the formation of Christ within as you set your mind and will on Him who lives in you, and as the many challenges of life force you to hold to Him while He changes you through a myriad of ways into His very image. That's what the work of the cross does, weaken you so the life of Christ can be shaped within you. It's that life which is to be shared with one another, and which ultimately unveals itself as the fulness of Christ from that sharing.

That's what it means for the word of Christ to dwell richly in you. That's what is to be shared with one another and ultimately leads to the end of God's purpose that all should know Him from the least to the greatest. It's knowing Him and bearing His image that is the result of all this, and it can only be done as well as those who individually take Him up and then come together as one in Him.

Knowing Christ: Individually and Corporately - Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4

Knowing Christ: Individually and Corporately - Part 3

Eph. 4:16 - From Him (Christ) the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

Continuing on with the complimentary lifestyle that emerges from being one body but many parts, let's look at this verse to see how it simply operates in practicality.

First of all note "From Him," which determines the rest of the practical outworking of the body. For each part to properly do its work, we must be in Him to receive from Him. By in Him I mean in constant union with Christ so we can than bring forth His life to others in the body.

The next part telling us that the body is joined and held together by supporting ligaments because each part is doing its work. Here again we have the complmentary aspect of being one body but many parts.

Again, there can be no body if the parts aren't operating, as with a real, physical body it would shut down and either be sick or eventually die if the parts aren't doing what they're meant to do.

Remember that the end of the eternal purpose of God is to be all in all. This is meant to be seen in the physical world we live in through the body of Christ. This will never happen unless the people of God are in fellowship with Christ, and from there share the things Christ is doing in them with others in the church when they meet together.

Of course this goes beyond meetings to every aspect of life, as many things are practical and not only sharing through talking in meetings.

But the reason why a people are held together is because of this rich variety of sharing of things with one another which creates a type of bond that is eternal. This is why I say that there must be a strong individual relationship and connection with the Lord in order for the corporate body of Christ to emerge.

The body of Christ isn't a glob, but a conglomeration of many parts functioning in a way that makes the whole of Christ be seen. At least that's the goal of the Lord in living within us.

Knowing Christ: Individually and Corporately - Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4

Knowing Christ: Individually and Corporately - Part 2

Remember last post when we talked about going to the Godhead to see how things work? Here's one scripture that extends the understanding of that reality.

1 Cor. 12:4-6 (NIV)

"There are different kinds of gifts but the same Spirit. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working but the same God works all of them in all men."

In other words, while there is an extraordinary variety of ways to express and reveal Christ through His people, it's the same God doing it all.

Remember the context of all of this was the Corinthians were scattered all over the place, separating into cliques and basically divided amongst themselves because they didn't understand that variety and oneness weren't in conflict with each other in the Godhead, rather they complimented one another.

Individuals who saw the Lord in certain ways weren't to separate because others saw another aspect of the Lord. It was the sharing of the Lord with one another that made them a body, a people. The problem with the Corinthians is they would separate over everything that came along, including those that brought a message to them.

Paul said it perfectly in verse 12 of I Cor. 12, saying it this way:

"The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ.

In verse 14 Paul continues saying, "Now the body is not made up of one part but of many," and in verse 19 he asks the rhetorical question: "If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts but one body." v27 - "Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you a part of it."

The point of all of this is if you feel the tension and inner conflict concerning being one and many, remember that Paul explains to us the two compliment one another, and exist in time together. You can't have one without the other. You can't have corporate without individuality.

If you attempt to make something corporate without the body parts functioning in their role, you end up with something called a glob; a monstrosity. On the other hand if you have an individual unconnected to the body, they serve no purpose and have no impact on showing forth the many-sided wisdom that Christ is.

Only the body can truly show forth Christ, and that's done through each part properly functioning. To function properly they need to be in union with the Lord.

When this is lived out properly and healthily, the individual parts of the body show forth Christ far greater than could ever be seen, and at the same time the body than gives something back to individual parts which makes them grow in Christ in a way they couldn't on their own. This is how the two compliment one another. When this is lived out, the tension between the two disappears and flow together in a fantastic way.

One thing to keep in mind here, when taking into account the word individual, I'm not referring to what many in the Western world would call "independent." What I'm saying is the people of God can only truly show forth Christ in His fulness by offering up what each one of them have individually. The result is to see Christ in a way that can't be seen individually, no matter how far advanced a person is.

Knowing Christ: Individually and Corporately - Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4

Knowing Christ: Individually and Corporately - Part 1

In the next several posts I want to talk about knowing Christ. What I want to do is help some of you in the area of individual versus corporately knowing Christ. There is sometimes confusion and uncertainty concerning the two dwelling together.

The reason this becomes an issue for those meeting outside institutional Christianity, is if we're following the right path, we'll in the beginning years have a focus on the corporate aspect of learning Christ (especially Westerners), as we're more of an individualist people than those from the East.

Sometimes those who understand the lack of corporateness in the Western church tend to focus so much on it that it can sometimes confuse and frustrate those who have a strong relationship with the Lord, and in some cases even make them feel guilty for doing it. This isn't done intentionally or in a evil manner, it's just that the focus on corporateness can make people feel uncomfortable pursuing the Lord in their private time individually.

What we need to do is go directly to the Godhead and see how things are done there.

One of the basic truths concerning the Godhead are that they are three but one and one but three. This is where we are to begin. In the scriptures concerning the practical outworking of the Godhead, we see that Father is called the Father of spirits, Jesus the bishop of the soul, and the Spirit the redeemer of the body. This doesn't mean there was any lack of oneness simply because they had specialties they ministered to. Rather it was from that oneness that it happened.

In the church we also see that while we are to be one, we at the same time operate in a variety of ways within that oneness. The reason we operate in a variety of ways is because we have something of the Lord to share with others. That sharing is what enlarges us corporately, and causes us to see the Lord in a much larger way. The way we get there is to know the Lord individually, share it corporately and see and grow in the Lord in a wider, fuller and deeper way than we could alone.

In the many years I've lived in the church outside the institutional churc boundaries, I've seen the ebb and flow of corporate and individual knowing of the Lord. The two work together and not alone. If you attempt to be solely corporate, an odd type of thing emerges, to the point where I've heard some even call themselves a "glob." The problem with something like this is the people can have community and hang out together, but also have a very limited experience and expression of Christ because they are fixated on the corporate part at the expense of the individual.

The point is you can hang out and do things together and still have a very limited relationship with the Lord. Again, the two must work together to have a healthy emergence of the image of God.

If brothers and sisters aren't individually pursuing and fellowshipping with the Lord, they sure aren't going to be able to come together and offer anything to one another that will have spiritual significance.

Knowing Christ: Individually and Corporately - Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4

Knowing The Lord

by Bill Heroman


A teenager went to his dad one day and said, “Dad, can you show me how to drive The Car?”

Caught off guard by this, the dad felt a bit embarrassed to realize they’d never had this conversation. But he sat up straight, turned to the boy and said, “Son, I’d be delighted to tell you all about The Car. What would you most like to know?”

The boy said, “Well, mostly, I'd really like to learn how to drive The Car.”

“Of course, of course. Son, I’m so glad that you’ve come to this day. I can tell you all about driving The Car. I learned when I was your age from our old Youth Mechanic, and now it’s really an honor to get to teach you.”

The boy began to feel hope and excitement, thinking, This is it, I’ll be driving soon!

The dad stood up, went to the coffee table, and picked up his leather-bound, monogrammed Driver’s Manual with the gold-foil pages. “It’s Sunday anyway, son. Let’s go to the Garage!”

The boy started to protest, “But I don’t want to go to the garage, dad. I want to drive The Car.”

The dad grinned, “The best way to learn about The Car is to be in the Garage, son!” He grew more comfortable as he remembered this simple fact. He liked feeling like he was able to give his son some right answers.

Grudgingly, the boy agreed. “But dad, after the garage, do you promise you will show me how to drive The Car?”

The dad looked blank again. “Oh, sure, son. Of course. Now let’s go hear the Mechanic!”

They left the house together, the son full of hope, the dad with his Manual.

Then they walked all fifteen blocks to the Garage, through empty streets!

In the empty parking lot, they said hello to friends who were also walking to the Garage, holding their Manuals. One man called out, “Looks like Junior’s ready to grow up and find The Car! Good for you, Junior! Glad you’re finally smart enough to bring yourself in for service! Now, don’t forget to make your dad get you a Manual, and make sure you read it every day!”

But Junior felt confused. He whispered to his dad, “What does coming in for service and reading the manual have to do with actually driving…”

“Shush! We’re walking into the Garage!” his dad said.

Silently, they found their seats while the Garage Band was starting up. For a while, everyone sang some great songs about how much they all liked to drive. Then it was time for the Mechanic to speak. It was a warm, encouraging message, about how some people’s cars are different colors and that no color car was better than another. “The important thing,” the Mechanic said, “Is that you’re all trying as hard as you can to be courteous drivers!”

“But nobody drove here this morning,” thought Junior. Still, everyone else was nodding and calling out “That’s right!” so he figured he’d leave it alone. But it didn’t help him feel any less confused.

Just then, Junior looked behind him and saw, way in the back row, a man pulling something shiny out of his pocket. But no one else seemed to see it. It was on a string, and the man swung it around his hand until it made a clinking noise against his watch. But no one else seemed to hear it. (The Mechanic was now talking about minimum legal liability in the state of Texas.)

The man with the shiny thing turned to go, just as the service was ending. Junior had a strange feeling as if he wanted to follow.

Just then his dad said, “Wasn’t that great?”

Junior just looked at his dad, more confused than ever. “Dad”, he said, “Doesn’t anyone here ever actually drive The Car?”

“What are you talking about? We just DID!” Exclaimed the dad,” but inside, he was thinking, Maybe he missed it. Well, it takes time before people can see the truth about The Car. I remember it sure took me a while. Man, was I confused for a while, too!

Then Junior’s dad said, “Hey. Come with me to Car School. There’s a guest speaker today who’s going to be talking about two-way left-turn channelization lanes, which are everywhere, when you start to notice them! Or maybe you’d want to go in room 425, where they’ve been doing a series on the great Automakers of History, who pioneered what we believe about The Car. Does that sound good?”

Junior wasn’t sure. “I really just want to know one thing, dad.”

“Okay. What is that?”

Junior felt unimportant as well as mute, but repeated himself. “I’d like to learn how to drive The Car!”

His dad looked at him like he’d just asked for the moon or a pink pterodactyl. After a moment, he said, “Wait here, son. Let me go talk to the Mechanic.”

As his dad made his way through the greeting line, Junior wandered over to a bulletin board and began reading it, to pass the time. There was one article about giving money to build a new, larger Garage with more seating. There were notices of the Car School classes being offered, and a news clipping about last summer when the Mechanic went on a Mission to Africa to share the good news about The Car with people there, “to rescue them from life in the slow lane”!

An old lady saw Junior and walked up to him. “Isn’t it wonderful?” she said, “You know those people had never even heard about The Car over there. I think it’s so exciting!”

Junior was too single minded to be bothered by anything. He decided to ask her what he really wanted to know.

“Excuse me, ma’am. Did you drive here this morning?”

The old lady looked surprised and a bit offended. Then she smiled and laughed at him in a condescending way and said, “Of course I did, young man. I drive all the time. You do know The Car is inside your heart, don’t you?” Then she looked around. “Oh, excuse me, I see my good friend. Goodbye.”

Junior was stunned. And still confused. But he was starting to suspect that nobody in this place was going to be able to help him actually learn to drive The Car.

Just then Junior’s dad found him again. “Junior, good news. I talked to the Mechanic about what you said. It’s kind of advanced, and I wasn’t sure you were ready for this yet, but the Mechanic said you can come to a special class he’s teaching today about Driving The Car.”

Finally, the words he’d been longing to hear! Someone was going to talk about How to actually Drive The Car! Junior was surprised at that moment to feel his own hope and excitement mixed with a guarded sense of skepticism. Maybe the Mechanic was saving the “good stuff” for the inner circle – which would explain why he didn’t talk about it during his lecture – but he couldn’t escape the feeling there was something a little too slick about the Mechanic. Like maybe no one really understood how The Car even worked, and he was just coming up with fancy ways to tell them why it was really alright.

Junior pushed these skeptical thoughts aside, feeling guilty for doubting his dad and the important Mechanic. He reached again for the hope deep inside him, and he clung to it.

In Car School, everyone sat in rows of chairs while the Mechanic began to lecture again. He started talking about all the great daredevils of history who made it their ambition and goal to really, truly Drive The Car! He talked about how hard they had to work for it, and how much they had to want it, and how they spent their lives to uncover the secret of Driving The Car… the secret, he said, that they had now left for the rest of us to learn from.

Again, Junior dared to hope. His mouth went a little dry.

Just then, a glint of something caught Junior’s eye. He saw the man with the shiny thing again. The man was holding the shiny thing in his fingers, fiddling with it like a pencil, though it was smaller than a pencil. As it moved, it sent small flashes of light across the room… but no one else seemed to notice.

“Do you want to drive The Car?” The Mechanic had moved from the podium and was looking into the rows of chairs, right at Junior.

Junior couldn’t answer. He nodded, aware that part of him was afraid to find out what the Mechanic was about to tell them. Junior was afraid to find out one more thing that just wouldn’t seem right, or sound like it worked.

The Mechanic’s voice was building with passion and excitement. “The main thing you all need to know today, if you want to truly Drive The Car, is you need to understand that The Car is inside you! And The Car has also been placed inside the most precious gift ever given to human beings who want to Drive! That’s right! The Car Itself, has placed Itself, inside the Manual!!!”

Junior blinked, and looked around. Everyone else seemed excited. He looked for the man with the shiny thing and saw him, holding a fist tightly closed in his lap. Looking calm. Oddly, showing no expression whatsoever.

The Mechanic kept on. “That’s right, I’m telling you – The Car is IN The Manual! So you might say that Reading The Manual is a lot like Driving the Car!”

The Right-On’s and Oh Yeah’s from the audience were getting louder. Again Junior glanced at the other man in the room who wasn’t responding at all.

The Mechanic went on. “As a matter of fact, I have it by Divine Revelation that I can tell you this Great Mystery, that all the Mystic Car Drivers of history have used to learn how to Drive The Car in their own private lives… and here is the Great Secret!”

Junior was totally bracing himself.

“The secret,” said the Mechanic, “To Driving the Car.” (Then he paused for dramatic effect.) “Is to Read the Manual! That’s Right! Reading the Manual is the secret to Driving The Car!!!”

Junior was stunned. A part of him was not really shocked, but a part of him was crushed. He noticed one man in the room actually crying. Everyone else seemed to be very emotional about this – except for the man at the end of the row, by the door. Junior noticed he had just slipped out.

Everyone was standing up now, thanking and congratulating the Mechanic on a great lesson with such a positive, helpful, encouraging message in it. Junior’s dad looked at him and asked, “Well?”

Junior just said, “I’ve gotta go to the bathroom dad.”

“Are you alright, son? I know it’s a lot to take in. Would you like to go read my manual outside by yourself?”

“No, dad. I just need some air.” Then he left. Quickly.

The dad watched his boy leave, while a friend came and put his hand on his shoulder. “I guess it doesn’t happen all at once for some people, does it?” Junior’s dad said.

Outside in the fresh air, Junior’s eyes were adjusting to the light as he looked out toward the empty parking lot. Then he saw it again! The glint! The man with the shiny thing was walking alone through the lot.

Junior started running after the man – for no real reason other than one last, wild hope.

He caught up. “Excuse me,” said Junior, panting. And the man turned around.

“I wanted to ask you – I mean, I was wondering – that is…” and the whole thing burst out of him. “I came here because I asked my dad to show me how to drive The Car this morning and all he’s done is talk about his Manual and listen to this Mechanic and I saw you holding something I’ve never seen before and you just look different so I had to come out here and just ask…”

“Ask me what?” said the man.

Junior looked around himself. There was no one and nothing around them for a hundred of yards. He built up his courage again.

“Um… do you know how to drive The Car?”

The man smiled at Junior with his whole wrinkled face, with eyes that shone like they'd been patiently waiting for someone to ask that question for too many years.

“Why yes, I do.” Then he paused. “Is that all you wanted to ask me?”

Junior thought a moment and said, “No. I mean… can you – will you – show me how to drive The Car too?” And hope began to pound in his chest once again.

The man pulled the shiny thing out of his pocket again. It glinted in the light, and it lit up Junior’s eyes in return. The man said, “Would you like one of these?” And he reached in his pocket again, and pulled out another shiny thing! Junior reached for the small object, took it in his hand, and just as he was about to ask what do I do with it he saw… something!

All of a sudden, where it hadn’t been before, something large and beautiful just appeared right next to where they both were standing.

“What is THAT???!!!” shouted Junior.

“Oh, so you see it now? That’s fantastic!” The man was laughing out loud and shouting with joy! (The people back near the garage didn’t seem to notice – but suddenly, Junior had forgotten to notice them, too.)

Junior was practically crying. I’ve never actually seen… it’s so beautiful… is it really true that we can… oh, I just almost can’t even believe that we could…”

“Would you like to go for a ride?”

Junior’s jaw dropped. He managed to say, “YES!”

So the man said, “Hop in!”

And Junior said, “Hop? How? Where? You mean we can go IN The Car?”

The man smiled again, crying a little himself now.

“Here. Look.”

“I’ll show you.”

The man put the shiny thing into the side of the large thing. He worked it, and something opened. He removed it, closed the thing, and let Junior try.

It took Junior a few tries to feel like a natural. Just turning the shiny thing, and opening the other thing. "That's called a 'handle'," the man told him.

The man was patient. He didn't fuss. He didn't use a lot of words. Junior was exploring The Car. And the rest of the world just faded away.

The rest of the day was like that. Actually, the rest of Junior's life.

Junior never did manage to explain to his dad why he wasn't interested in the Garage anymore. He did read the manual every once in a while, but it was totally different. They couldn't talk about it. After a while, his dad stopped asking.

But Junior continued to go spend time with the man and his new group of friends. They did a lot of driving together. Somehow, oddly, no one ever noticed them.

Over time, the friends learned all sorts of things together about How to Drive The Car. Wonderful Things. Amazing Things. Things I could tell you about, if there were only words for such things, in our language. Or if it were possible to actually communicate about them in a book. But I can tell you this much:

They explored The Car. They practiced Driving. And they Knew. Over time, more and more, they found they deeply Knew.

How.
To.
Drive.
The Car!

*---------------------------------------*

So that's my story! May you all have eyes to see and a heart to find some people who not only say that they Know, but who can actually Show. How. To Know.

Not ideas, or books, or feelings, or thinkings, or fancy explanations of things that just don't ever seem to work out.

But actually, simply, purely...

Jesus Christ.
===============================================
Bill adds:

I live in this neighborhood with 17 others. We meet on the street, in our yards, in our homes. We remind each other that Jesus Christ IS our daily life... TOGETHER!
Bill has two good blogs you can read here:
The Jesus Story
and
Hero Bill

Eight Things this Christian Generation Needs to Learn to Pray and Live

That God may be all in all

That we may all know Him

Comprehend that eternal life is knowing the Father and the Son

All may know Him from the least to the greatest

We may know whom we believe in

That we learn Christ

We would know all that matters is that we're with Him together

We no longer live, but Christ lives in us