Fixing Our Eyes On Jesus

"I pray that the eyes of our heart may be enlightened..." (Eph. 1:18, NIV).
"Open my eyes that I may see..." (Psalm 119:18, NIV).

The Greeks came to the disciples inquiring: But we would see Jesus! It's not a matter of having some religious or spiritual encounter that lets you behold Christ clearly and meaningfully, but a life of obedience, not ecstasy, vision, or experience! Remember what Jesus told Thomas: Blessed are those who haven't seen! The point is that Jesus opens the eyes of the blind. But Christians all have the ability to see Christ at work in the world, the church, their brethren, and even themselves if they persist in growing in the faith. It is vital to know that Satan will trip us up with a temptation to test us at our weak points and vulnerabilities. And we must realize that he is like" a devouring lion, seeking whom he may devour" (cf. 1 Pet. 5:8)!

As Christians with the Spirit within, we have an advantage over those who actually did see Jesus in the flesh and may have become biased, calloused, or blinded to the Spirit. We don't have to go to and fro seeking Jesus' teaching and presence but have the power at work within--which is a much greater blessing and comfort. We are exhorted to walk by faith and not by sight, and if we do we'll see Christ by faith! To be a person who thinks clearly with our thinking straightened out, we must see (Christ) clearly (i.e., by faith). As the Christian sees Jesus from page to page throughout the Bible like a scarlet thread of His theme in action, that the whole of Scripture is about Him.

Peter walked on water as long as he kept his focus on Jesus, but the second he was overcome with the situation at hand and got his eyes off Jesus he began to sink. Suddenly he realized he needed the intervention of his Savior and uttered the simple words of salvation: Lord, save me! We all need to realize that we are in over our heads in this life and need Jesus in order to cope with the mundane. The distracted mind is no fertile territory for the seed of the Word of God to germinate.

It has been said that the faith the grain of a mustard seed can move mountains; likewise, we can have faith to move mountains in Christ, figuratively speaking. William Carey said that we ought to "Expect Great Things From God; Attempt Great Things for God!' It's not how big our faith, in other words, but the size of our God, who can work the impossible on our behalf. The clearer our perception of Jesus, the closer we can walk with the Lord and be of benefit to the kingdom. Too often the cares of this world smother our spiritual life and we lose focus from keeping the main thing the main thing. We don't want to major in minors, or become legalists! Each of us has a part to do in the Great Commission and can learn from each other doing their part.

The more we learn of Jesus and see Him spiritually at work, the more proficient we are at accomplishing His work. The Great Commission will one day be The Great Completion (by the corporate body of Christ working in unity). Yes, they say that we can walk on water if we have faith, or that someone has the faith to walk on water. This applies to everyone and not just to a spiritual elite, for there is no room for a class system in Christ--we are all one in Christ.

I read a book once called The Jesus I Never Knew by Philip Yancey that was a description of the Bible's doctrine of Christ. The point: one can never adequately describe Jesus, but you can know Him personally! And we must learn to focus on Christ in the mundane and everyday and down to earth, not just in a book. Each of us is a gospel in shoe leather and has a story to tell or a gift to give. We don't want Jesus to be just in our head or what's called story faith or head knowledge but have first-hand experience one-on-one with our Lord that we have something to share and pass along to others of our encounter with the Lord.

We are to walk hand in hand with our Lord through all the ups and downs, through thick and thin, to realize the presence of our Lord and being able [to see Him more clearly,] "to know Him more clearly, to follow Him more nearly, and to love Him more dearly"  (cf. Richard of Chichester). You don't just need a book to know Jesus, you need Jesus! Jesus is as close as the mention of His name! However, the temptation is to get enamored with the intellectual aspect of the faith and not to apply what we know. And the Bible wasn't written to describe Jesus, but to make Him known.

Our faith is not a creed to believe or even song to sing, but a relationship and person to know in the here and now with vibrations throughout eternity.   Religions are creeds to believe but Christianity is a Person to know!  We don't need to get informed, but transformed, and to know our Lord, if we are to walk with Him. We get to know the Spirit at work in our hearts and grow in the faith as we increase in our experiential knowledge of Jesus as our Lord and Savior. "But we do see Jesus..." (cf. Heb. 2:9). God is with us through the indwelling Spirit. The disciples longed to see the Father, thinking it would suffice, but Jesus reassured them He is all they need.

We are not boasting of visions and dreams or visitations, but we see Christ at work in the world in the here and now through each other. Do you see just evil in the world, or do you see the good overcoming evil? Paul said that it was "Christ in you, the hope of glory..." (cf. Col. 1:27), meaning that we live an inhabited life, not just an imitating one. Our walk is a substituted, transforming, relinquished, and surrendered one--"I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ lives in me..." (cf. Gal. 2:20).


We ought to be so preoccupied with our Lord in all we do that he is the center of our life and our treasure is in Him that it shows to the point of being a testimony and a light in the dark if we are Jesus freaks or fanatics to some or even "out of our mind" (cf. 2 Cor. 5:13) it's for Christ's sake, that would be a compliment, as long as we don't live in ignorance of sound doctrine, having a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge (cf. Rom. 10:2, Prov. 19:2) Colossians 3:2, NIV, says: "For you died., and your life is now hidden with Christ in God."

We are the hands to do Christ's work, the heart to show Christ's love, and the voices through which Christ speaks to a lost world that doesn't realize He's for real and works in us. We shouldn't be saying that we see the devil at work in the world and ask "why?" but Jesus at work through the church and ask "why not?" As the hymn by William Cowper goes: "God works in mysterious ways, His wonders to perform."(Cf. Isa. 45:15, NLT).

The faith we have is the faith we show--we must learn to become contagious Christians because of our fixation on the Lord, though we are not fanatics who have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge, because the clearer our vision of Christ, the more useful in the mission to the world and ministry in the church, as it becomes obvious that we have been in the presence of Jesus!

Bear in mind that to see Jesus with our physical eyes may not do any good spiritually, we must behold him with our spiritual eyes and not only with our intellect but with our whole heart. We need a real-life personal encounter with God that will change us from the inside out so that we can walk with Christ through faith. To see Jesus is to know Him and to know Him is to love Him.

In sum, let's follow on to know the Lord (cf. Hos. 6:3).   Again, as Richard of Chichester said, "To know Him more clearly, to follow Him more nearly, to love Him more dearly."

CAVEAT: TO THE PERSON WHO DOES NOT SEE, HE SHOULD ASK HIMSELF: WHERE IS HIS HEART? Jesus Himself said that the person who is really blind is the person who thinks he sees and doesn't. Soli Deo Gloria!

Checking Out The Spirit

We should always be suspicious of hyper-spirituality and so-called hyper-charismatic phenomena. Piety has its place but not to be paraded before man and to be "holier-than-thou" (Isaiah 65:5). There is the real thing out there, so there is also the counterfeit of the devil.  You can be a spiritual person without being very "religious" (expressing religiosity) at all.  The simpler your faith the better off you are--make things simple, but not more than necessary, Einstein said.

The big issue today in charismatic circles is whether one has the "baptism."  1 Cor. 12:13 says "By one Spirit we were all baptized into the body."  Baptism of the Holy Spirit takes place at salvation--that settles it!  Nowhere are we exhorted to "seek the baptism." This is a false dogma of the Neo-Pentecostal movement. There is no second work of grace to expect--they are going by experience, not Scripture.

The filling of the Spirit is another story:  It is always accompanying some ministry that the Holy Spirit has appointed to be accomplished by His power. The fillings are not permanent, but for a purpose and empower the believer for service that he couldn't accomplish alone.  When Paul was saved they told him to "be filled with the Holy Spirit."  To be filled by the Spirit for a task is to be controlled and led by God's will.  Like when the apostles were filled with the Holy Spirit and "spoke the Word of God with boldness."  I believe that when the Word says that the Spirit "fell on them" that it is basically the same thing.

Fillings are the result of obedience and in the service of God and doing His will, often in the context of one's spiritual gift.  No gift or fruit of the Spirit is solely for one's own benefit, but for the body's sake--they are predominately manifested in the realm of Christian service.  It is crucial to realize that it is not how much of the Spirit you have, but how much of you the Spirit has.  In other words, the degree or amount of filling depends upon our yielding to God.  It is not like Elisha getting twice the spirit of Elijah.  We all have the measure of the indwelling Spirit.

Paul exhorts the Ephesians to "be filled with the Holy Spirit."  This does not refer to a perpetual "high" on Jesus or walking in the glow of some experience.  Paul goes on to describe basic speaking manifestations--presumably to take place at the meeting of the church.  I believe that one is filled initially at salvation, but that he "leaks."  We can lose the filling and may need confession or restoration (Gal. 6:1; 1 John 1:9),  We need each other to edify and encourage each other.

"Walking in the Spirit" is another matter:  We demonstrate or exhibit the fruit of the Spirit when we are "walking in the Spirit" according to Gal. 5:16,25.  In the context of the fruit of the Spirit, he refers to "walking in the Spirit," and not filling of the Spirit.  There is overlap--they are not mutually exclusive.  It is hard to imagine a preacher, for instance, is filled with the Spirit, and not walking in the Spirit to show the fruit.  But it is easier to see one still walking in the Spirit, but not necessarily filled or anointed for his ministry or gift.

There is also the question of the anointing--also called unction.  In the Old Testament before the Spirit-filled every believer there were selective fillings and anointings, as well as seers and prophets (cf. Psalm 105:15).    1 John 2:20 says that all believers have the anointing.  There are no special believers out there who are infallible prophets or priests or preachers/teachers because they have received an anointing.  There is no Supreme Pontiff that has authority over all of us, so to speak.  The Pope is not the vicar of Christ on earth, but the Holy Spirit is.  The body works together in Christ and all parts are necessary.  We are not infallible and prone to error.  Even if our doctrine were impeccably correct, if we have not love we are nothing, God is more concerned about the condition of the heart than whether we are theologians--is it in the right place?

Being led (or guided) by the Spirit is a sign that we are sons of God (cf. Romans 8:14).  This refers to a direction in the Spirit of what to do or say, as if God were speaking through us or of something we can only attribute to God, such as writing a timely letter or knowing God's will and doing it so that God is glorified.  If we are not led by the Spirit, we are not sons of God.  Galatians 5:18 says that if we are led by the Spirit we are not under the Law. You may say, "I was inspired to do this," or "I did it at what seems a fortuitous deed."  Providence is at work because there are no impersonal forces such as luck, chance, fortune, or fate--God micromanages the universe.

We demonstrate the fruit of the Spirit as a result of obedience and in the service of God, doing His will, often in the context of our spiritual gift.  No gift or fruit of the Spirit is solely for our own benefit, but for the body's sake--they are predominately manifested in the realm of Christian service.

We could debate about what you call this or that and quibble about the meaning of words (cf. 1 Tim. 6:4), but this is unhealthy and unproductive.  God wants us to be of one accord in the Spirit (Eph. 4:3).  What is vital is not the names of things for our spiritual health but the state of our spirit and attitude.  It is God's will for us to be holy, for instance, not to debate whether we call it a filling or a walk.  God is much more practical (application is more stressed than theoretical knowledge) and less technical than that--it is like splitting hairs.  It is paramount to learn how to walk in the Spirit and how to be filled!   Soli Deo Gloria!