“Those who seek, and those who find”
Very few people recognized Jesus during His early life. Even those of His household, His own brothers and sisters, who saw Him and were in contact with Him daily, did not encounter the Prince because He was not revealed to them. To them He was just ‘Jesus’ the apprentice carpenter. Just as it would be in any earthly Kingdom, an encounter with the Prince of Life is by appointment only. ~ “His brothers therefore said to Him, “Depart from here and go into Judea, that Your disciples also may see the works that You are doing. For even His brothers did not believe in Him” (John 7.3,5). All who confess the name of Jesus believe they are in daily contact with Him even though in their hearts most of them feel very distant from Him and unsure as to how to accurately discern His voice.
An Encounter
The only true encounter with the Messiah must be pre-authorized by none other than the Father, the First member of the divine Trinity. ~ “And He said, “Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father” (John 6.65). Frequently, the triune nature of God is forgotten by those who would follow Jesus. Without going into a lengthy discourse on the three-person nature of the trinity, suffice it to say that how one responds to the Father determines whether he will ever be granted the princely privilege of an encounter with the reigning King1 of Kings. Jesus said that the determining factor is how one responds to the ‘teaching’ (word) of the Father. ~ “Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me” (John 6.45).
The Model
Nothing less than a genuine encounter with the Prince of Life will remedy the weakness and confusion that characterizes the present post-modern church. It all comes down to whether the word of God is received or it is ignored. The person of Christ is only manifest (encountered) to those who recognize and recieve the word of God as they would receive Christ Himself because Christ Jesus is in fact the Word2 of God and to encounter Christ is to experience none other than a manifestation of the Word of God. The model of the real church is recorded in the book of Acts. The early Church understood plainly that the only way to encounter the person of Jesus was through the word of God.
The Church God Built
The book of Acts is an historic record of the first church. Most revealing is how early Christians used the term ‘the word,’ instead of the name of Jesus. Today, most Christians would say ‘They received Jesus,’ instead the first Christians said ~ “Those who gladly received his Word were baptized.(Acts 2.41). When was the last time you heard a church glorifying the Word? They ~ “glorified THE WORD” (Acts 13.48). The true child of God understands the only way one can be saved or lost is determined by what is done with the Word, not by the mere laying-on of hands, confession, or prayer. ~ “Who will tell you Words by which you and all your household will be saved’ (Acts 11.14). The prevailing Word (Christ) governed everything ~ “Now when the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had RECEIVED THE WORD OF GOD, they sent Peter and John to them, (Acts 8.14). This is not the way things are done today.
Seekers, Finders & Doers
As it was with the first church so it is today. People are in contact daily with the written word of God, but rarely encounter the person of the Messiah because they treat the word of God as if it were merely a book, not the living presence of the Second Member of the godhead. Only those to whom the Word is manifest in the living form of the second person of the Godhead have a real encounter with the Prince of Life. But simple encounters fall lamentably short of the mark. These are only seekers. It is one thing to seek, another thing to find, but doing falls into a complete distinct category. The God and the prophets openly mock these feeble lost souls throughout the Bible. ~ Yet they seek Me daily, and delight to know My ways, As a nation that did righteousness” (Isaiah 58.2). Notice the word ‘as.’ They pretend they are a righteous to the point of fooling even themselves.
Jesus is Lord
Jesus said ~ “But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do the things which I say?” (Luke 6.46). Jesus is the Word,3 and He cannot be received until His Word is given first place as the only and final governing authority in one’s life. Why are so few saved? Because Jesus said ~ “whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple,4 I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, he who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it, and you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But he who endures to the end shall be saved, and he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.” Decide this day who you will serve.5
Romans 2.13
For not the hearers of the law are just in the sight of God, but the doers of the law will be justified.
Notes
1. 1Timothy 6.15
2. John 1.14
3. John 1.14, Revelation 19.13
4. Luke 14.33, Matthew 10.35, John 12.25, Matthew 10.22,38
5. Joshua 24.15
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© L. Jonathan Blais 2023 All rights reserved. Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.