"Passion for Jesus"
Author: Dr. Neal Gray
Passage: John 10:19-31, KJV
Purpose: It is an eternal surprise to me. Jesus wants to know me. And the Son of God allows me to know Him. Jesus gives me eternal life, never perishing, never separated from Him. My passion is to know Him, to follow Him, to love Him.
INTRODUCTION
Opening
This past week, (i.e., February, 2002), the Lord impressed upon me His greatness. God was not "bragging" to me; He was just reminding me of who He is and who I am. I think about that old television show where the man used to say, "No brag. Just fact." For my Lord, "No brag. Just TRUTH."
==> The truth is that "MY GOD IS AN AWESOME GOD!" Amen? Amen!
My Heart Stirred by the Lord
Anyway, my heart really melted last week. I suppose that it has been awhile since I have really been moved, either by something or someone.
But God moved me. HE STIRRED UP IN ME THE EMBERS LYING NEARLY COLD IN MY HEART. And the fire of holy love for God and mankind sparked bright again! In the light of His fire, I also saw the current condition of my soul.
This whole episode has shaken me in a strangely wonderful way. And I can find no other word to describe how I feel, and no other phrase to put rightly what God wants from me--and from you.
==> That word is, "passion," and that phrase is, "passion for Jesus."
Passion Defined
All week long I have been thinking and meditating and praying about this word, "passion." The word is not foreign to any of us. But perhaps the idea of using it in a godly way and in a holy context, that might be a strange and new usage.
Wondering more about the exact meaning, I looked up the word, "passion," in my dictionary. Unfortunately, it can describe feelings and attitudes that are nothing less than "the lust of the flesh," (see Galatians 5:16ff.). But it also said that "passion" is "any powerful emotion, such as love or joy." And the dictionary also gave this: "Passion is ardent adoring love, and the object of such love." (It also listed "Passion," as the sufferings of Christ after the Last Supper. Is this because He cares passionately for lost souls?)
Really, I didn’t learn anything new from my dictionary. You and I all know what I mean when I say that I have a "passion for Jesus."
==> For me, "passion" is the only English word that describes the feeling, and the only word that describes the conviction that God sent upon me. It SPEAKS TO ME ABOUT BEING FOCUSED WITH SINCERE DESIRE...
* Toward Jesus,
* Toward my relationship with Him, and,
* Toward His cause.
I like this word, along with all of its synonyms: passion, zeal, enthusiasm, fervor. It is truly A GOOD AND HOLY PASSION THAT GOD HAS STIRRED UP INSIDE ME.
Scripture
Now, the word "passion" does not appear in the Scripture--not even once. So, I prayed about the Scripture focus for this message.
I thought, "Well, the Great Commandment, ’Love your God and your neighbor,’ would be a good passage." Or even, "Go, teach, baptize, make disciples in the world, and I will be with you always," i.e., the Great Commission, would be a good theme to wrap passion around.
But, the Lord led me to this passage, John 10:19-31. Let’s see why.
DIVISIONS AMONG PEOPLE
Introduction
Two things that became clear to me immediately upon reading this passage:
1. There were Jesus and two groups, and everybody was passionate about their cause.
AND...
2. Not everyone’s passions went in the same direction. These two large groups were divided among themselves.
Jesus Has Passion for His Cause
There was Jesus, the carpenter, the Son of Mary, the Son of God, the Prophet, the Healer, the Teacher. AND JESUS HAD PASSION FOR HIS CAUSE.
Jesus knew who He was: He was (and is) "the Christ." He knew what His mission in life was all about: "I give eternal life to My followers." And nobody, but nobody, was going to keep Him from accomplishing that mission: "no man is able to pluck them out of My hand."
==> Jesus’ powerful emotion is to bring love, joy, and life to people!
Passionate People On His Side
Then there was the group that believed in this Prophet; they believed that He must be the Christ. Arguing against the other group, they proclaimed, "These are not the words of him that hath a devil."
My sense is that this group spoke those words with passion. They longed for the Messiah. They sought the Eternal King. And everything that they had seen in Jesus pointed toward Him being the Christ. Like debaters in parliament, they yelled out their position:
"THIS MAN MUST BE THE CHRIST! We have seen His works. We have heard His teaching. We have examined the Scripture. THIS MAN MUST BE THE CHRIST!"
Though there may had been doubts, (and who doesn’t have some doubts of some sort?), they did indeed believe.
Passionate People Against Jesus
But the other group had passion, too. Their passion was to do away with this young upstart of a preacher.
He had challenged their long-held belief system. Yes, He taught the Scriptures; but He seemed pretty sure of Himself, and taught new things. They wanted to know, "Where was His respect for the established religious leaders who were rightly in charge?"
==> Their passion was to hold on to the old ways, and THIS MEANT REJECTING JESUS IN EVERY WAY. "We like our life the way it is. So away with this new Teacher," they yelled back.
Divisions Exist Today, Too
There were divisions among that population. Today we have the same sorry thing happening.
There are those of us who boldly proclaim that the historical Jesus: born in Bethlehem, lived in Nazareth, crucified in Jerusalem and raised again to life; we testify that JESUS IS LORD! We proclaim by our public worship that we are the group who believes.
Yet there are many more people who stay away from Jesus. Unlike the hostile group in Jesus’ day, they tolerate you and me worshipping in God’s House. But like the hostile group in Jesus’ day, their attitudes say to us, "Worship your Savior if you want, but don’t bring His ways to my life. I don’t want any of Jesus’ ways." They fiercely reject the Christ.
So they stay home. They sleep in on the Lord’s Day. They ignore the Creator who gave them life. And they die in their rebellion against God.
==> With a passion--with the great desire to be God’s people, pleasing to Him--we come to worship Jesus. With a passion greater in intensity than ours, they refuse to worship Jesus; they stay away.
There is still Jesus, and there are still two groups.
MY RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS
Introduction
But I’m not so sure anymore that the unbelievers have a more intense passion than me. This was God’s word to me as He stirred up the embers.
In my heart of hearts, I sense the fire of the Holy One flaming up to renew my sense of desire and love for Jesus! Last week, as I prepared, and today as I preach this message, I proclaim with all of my being, and with the power of that Flame, "JESUS IS LORD!" He is Lord of my life. He is the Lord of your life. He is the Lord of their lives, too, even though they won’t accept Him. And He is the Lord of His Church.
MY PASSION FOR JESUS HAS BEEN LIGHTED ANEW! You see, I know that I know that I know that I have a relationship with God in Christ. And in this Scripture passage, I see several aspects of this wonderful relationship. Look with me at verses 10:27-28.
I Hear Jesus
The first thing is that I hear the voice of My Savior. "My sheep hear My voice." Lest you misunderstand me, I will say it plainly: I ACTUALLY HEAR THE VOICE OF JESUS SPEAKING TO ME. To be sure, it is an inward hearing.
* Sometimes His voice is a voice of conviction. He informs me-- not in a harsh way--that my actions, my thoughts, my words, and/or my attitudes are not holy. My response is not so much to fall all apart at my failure, but to say, "Yes, Lord, I see now. I understand. I truly don’t want to continue in that way. Please forgive me and help me to grow."
* Sometimes His voice is a voice of instruction. I am a growing Christian--an ever-growing Christian. Jesus instructs me as my life continues.
* Sometimes His voice is a voice of encouragement. Most of the time, my Savior finds me doing and being just as He would like. I hear Him speaking words of encouragement. Jesus knows well that behavior praised is behavior repeated.
==> I hear His voice. His voice never harms me. His voice always is gentle. His voice is always loving. His voice is unmistakable.
Jesus Knows Me
The second aspect of my love relationship with Jesus is that He actually knows me! "I know them." I mean, the King of all kings, the Lord of all lords, THE ONLY TRUE ALMIGHTY GOD ACTUALLY KNOWS ME!
Probably this is where MY PASSION FOR GOD FIRES UP. I am known by God! He knows me. He knows my name. He knows where I live. He knows me.
And because God knows me, I AM RESPONSIBLE TO HIM. This is the aspect of the Christian life that SO MANY CHRISTIANS IGNORE. But the reality of this hit me strongly this week.
==> I had to answer this question: "Is the definition of who I say I am...is that actually what I do?" Our Lord Jesus, who knows me, ASKED ME THE TOUGH QUESTION. And our Lord Jesus--who knows you, too--knows how you must answer that tough question.
I Follow Jesus
Because I am responsible to God, I follow Him. "They follow Me," Jesus said. The situation is the same for me as the O.T. leader who once said, "As for me and my house, we have decided to follow Jesus." WE HAVE A CHOICE:
* Be a part of the group that follows Jesus, OR,
* Be in the group that rejects Him.
More than simply deciding to follow Him, I am actually doing it. May I never be the object of Jesus’ scorn like those religious leaders of His day:
"Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity." (Matthew 23:27-28)
==> Is the definition of who you say you are...is that actually what you do? Unless you have a "passion for Jesus," you won’t follow Him.
Beloved, let me see your eyes, for in them your heart is revealed. I pray that even right now the fire of the Holy Ghost of God is flaming up in you.
Jesus Knows Our Church, Too
I have high hopes that Christ’s Church will follow Jesus "to the max." Not only does Jesus know me, and know you, Jesus knows His Church, too. And I heard His voice about His church. He questioned me about our church. He asked, "Is the definition of who we as a church say we are...is that what we actually do?"
==> Wrapped up in His question was an underlying but unspoken question: "Does My Church have the passion to accomplish My desires?"
Are we motivated to accomplish Christ’s desires? If not, then what will motivate us? What will fire up our passion? to do Christ’s will, to see men and women and children introduced to the Savior, to see Christians join together to worship Him with gusto?
Jesus Gives Us Eternal Life
I guess that one thing which should motivate us is this: Jesus the Lord gives to us eternal life. "I give unto them eternal life." Think practically for a moment: this life will certainly end someday. The promise of eternal life ought to motivate us to follow this God-Man.
I know we think that it is in the distant future. I’m alive today. My death will not happen until many tomorrows. How wrong that thinking is. My prescription for humans is this: "Live today like it may be your last day on earth, and one day you’ll be right!" It might be today.
==> Whether today is my last day on earth, or I’ll be here another 50 years, MY JESUS HAS RESERVED MY PLACE IN HIS ETERNAL HEAVEN, and I’m following Him!
We Shall Never Perish
Seeing how fragile life is, will this assurance give you the passion to fully live a holy life: "They shall never perish"?
Everything around me perishes. Food gets old and perishes. Cars rust out and perish. Employers layoff employees, so their livelihood perishes. People get sick, and so their health perishes. And if we are not united in our purpose to actually be the Church of Jesus Christ, we too will find that soon we shall perish.
==> But, but, but...Jesus, my Jesus, your Jesus is faithful; and WE SHALL NEVER TRULY PERISH! Amen! Passion for Jesus! Why wouldn’t you have passion for this Jesus?!
No One Can Snatch Us Away from Jesus
Last in Jesus’ exquisite statement of promise, "...neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand." No one, but no one can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord (see Romans 8:39)--EXCEPT OURSELVES.
You alone decide which group you belong to. You alone decide whether you will allow God the right-of-way to put a "holy fire" in your heart. ONLY YOU STAND IN THE WAY OF POSSESSING A PASSION FOR JESUS.
CONCLUSION
They Rejected the Lord Jesus
My Jesus is the Lord. "I and My Father are One." The hostile group became very hostile at Jesus’ plain proclamation of His lordship. So hostile, they took up stones to stone Him. They showed their hostility with active aggression.
In our day, in our world today, people show their true feelings by what they don’t do for the Lord Jesus. Their hostility against His claim of Lordship shows itself by simply ignoring Him, by not following Him. They show their hostility with passive aggression.
And to the extent that we don’t truly love and serve Jesus moment-by-moment, we exhibit our passive aggression against the Lord.
They Have Passion for Worldly Things
In the world, people have passion for all sorts of worldly things.
* Commending the 10 soldiers who died in the helicopter crash near the Philippines last week, the Brigadier General boasted, "They died doing what they loved. Their unit’s motto, ’Night Hawks never quit.’" A passion for duty. VERY HONORABLE.
* Olympic skaters at the Salt Lake 2002 Olympic games: "She skates with passion," the announcer boasted. VERY BEAUTIFUL.
* While watching those games, I boasted about Vicki’s chocolate-chip and pecan cookies: "These cookies win the Gold Medal!" She replied, "Well, I did use Gold Medal flour!" VERY TASTY!
Gain a Passion for Jesus
Hear today the voice of Jesus. If you are His, if you are a child of God, you will hear His voice. Even right now you hear His voice.
He is saying to you plainly, "I am the Christ. I am Your God."
Jesus is saying to you personally, "Hear My voice. I know you. Follow Me. I have already given to you eternal life. You will never perish. No one nor no thing shall ever separate you from Me."
"Who I say I am...that I am actually doing--FOR YOU!"
==> Beloved, Jesus has a PASSION FOR YOU.
Hymns & Reading
Suggested hymns and readings from the "Sing to the Lord" hymnal:
Gentle Shepherd...................Hymn #626
Behold the Throne of Grace........Hymn #631
Open My Eyes, That I May See......Hymn #461
O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing..Hymn #147
AMEN.
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| Copyright 2002
| Practical Holiness Ministry (r)
| "BRINGING PRACTICAL IDEAS TO
| THE CHRISTIAN LIFE." (tm)
|
| You may reprint or publish or hopefully preach
| this material as long as it is not-for-profit,
| except that it may profit one’s soul,
| (see Mark 8:36).
|
| Dr. Neal Gray is the Senior Pastor of the
| Baltimore Parkville Church of the Nazarene.
| 8510 Fowler Ave -- Baltimore, Maryland 21234
|
| You can reach Dr. Gray by e-mail at:
| mailto:drngray@earthlink.net
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| Also, please visit the church’s website:
| http://www.ForMinistry.com/21234BPCOTN
|
| LEARNING. MENTORING. SERVING. (tm)
| 2 Pet. 3:18 - 2 Tim. 2:2 - Matt. 20:26-28
|
| All Scripture is the King James Version.
| Used with God’s blessed permission.
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