A Deeper Revelation of Jesus Christ: The Secret to a Christ-Centered Life – Part 2 -Gene Edwards

(Continued from Part 1)

And the reason is that neither you nor I are ever going to…we’re going to stay as Christians, but we’re not going to survive a 40-year hunt for the truth if we have not had a revelation of the Lord Jesus…it’s going to backfire on you eventually. You’re going to be hurt deeper than you ever understood hurt could be, hurt worse than cancer could ever hurt. Hurt worse than the loss of a loved one could ever hurt. The worst pain, at least in your soul, you can ever know is the hurt that comes from being inflicted on you by other Christians, especially in some corporate expression, when you are put down, you are chastised, excommunicated, demeaned, gossiped about. You will not survive with joy without a deep, deep revealing of the Lord Jesus Christ in your spirit.

I want to say something to you who might be Christian workers. Let your church get in trouble, and you will start picking up all sorts of “its”. He’s got a demon. I tell you, he’s of the devil. You never heard that before, have you? No. You never heard a Christian talk that way about you? I bet it felt so good, didn’t it, for someone to say that you were of the devil? Didn’t you enjoy that day? Went home feeling so good. That hurts. Brother, you have no business in ministry.

Let me tell you what a problem in the church is for. It is for you. It is an opportunity given to you to broaden, heighten, and deepen a revealing of the Lord Jesus Christ. The only way any body of believers is ever going to survive anything when they get into a mess, and there’s dissension and all sorts of problems, is to… Lord, forgive me for being light, but to drown them in the face with the knowledge and the revelation of their Lord. That’s what you’re supposed to do. That’s your heritage. That’s what the brothers did in the first century when they got in trouble – they presented Christ. That’s how they dealt with these problems. If, brother, you stay on this earth and deal with that which is objective and outward, you have done nothing.

Dear saint of God, if you are one of those causing the trouble and the dissension, and I know you didn’t mean to, it just happens. You’re disgruntled; you have done nothing but show that you’ve never caught a glimpse of the excellency of Christ Jesus. There is an unfolding. There is a revealing of your Lord and mine that has been missing in the church for 1700 years. I pray, Lord, I pray right now that you will raise up men who have seen Him, and in the tightest days, and in the worst moments, and in the darkest hours, and in the most awful situations, you’ll minister Jesus Christ. That’s all you minister in, and when they take you out, you’ll still be ministering Him. You will live with a clear conscience, and you will not get bitter.

Dear child of God, if the Lord so blesses you to catch a sight of Him and you’re caught up in a church fight, you’re going to be in pain, but you’re not going to be bitter because, despite all that’s happening around you, to see Him is to live in the presence of a quiet awe. When all of these things are happening around you, and everything has fallen apart, you’re going to sit there with a quiet awe of seeing your Lord. I’m not sure that any of us can truly come to rest in the Christian life without having Him unveiled here.

Now, I need to stop here, don’t I, and say, “I’m not preaching something like the Pentecostals that you got to have the baptism of the Holy Spirit.” I’m not trying to say you’re selected, or you’re unique if you do this, that this is the last move of God; this is the great final revival. I’m saying the very opposite: that if you have seen your Lord in your spirit, and you have really seen Him and see that you are in Him…and that in itself is Him…you see not His works, but Him; not His deeds, but Him, you will never be found starting a movement, praying for a revival, claiming that you or those who are with you are special. It is a contradiction in terms to use such cheap things and speak of a revelation of your Lord. It can’t be done.

I want to say a couple other things here. I was driving along and listening to the radio one day, and I heard someone, I don’t have any idea who he was, say, “I saw the Lord face to face. I stand 5′ 11. I weighed about 180 pounds, and I saw Him face to face. He stands about 5 ’11, maybe six feet tall, and weighs around 180 pounds. I saw Him face to face. He had dark brown hair and such and such eyes and so and so and so and so.”

Brothers and sisters, if I ever see the Lord face to face, I may not live to tell about it. I will never see my Lord face to face. I will see my Lord on my face. I will…I will be on my face, and so will you. This is humbling; it does not vault you up, and it does not cause you to speak of your revelation of Jesus Christ.

Do you know it’s not possible to boast of your spirituality? Have you ever thought about that? It’s also not possible to boast of your sight of Christ. Can’t be done. I’ll tell you what else it’ll do. It gives you great tolerance for the Lord’s people, including the preachers who preach all this head stuff; because you see something…you just see something. You have seen the enormous centrality of your Lord. To touch a sight of Him is to touch the mind of God. The Father’s mind is centered on the Son. All things of the Father were for the Son, as all things of the Son are for the Father. And you can not only add “for,” but “in,” “to,” “by,” and “through” on both sides.

One of these days you’re going to be sitting in a meeting, and you’re going to hear somebody promoting an “it,” and it’s not going to make you sad, and it’s not going to make you want to throw the rascal out. It’s just going to cause you to sit there and rest. I want to tell you something else. I’m not saying to you this is something that’s going to transform you. You know, it’s not going to make you somebody great. It won’t improve your spirituality because it is not of you, by you, for you, through you, or to you. It is of Him, by Him, for Him, through Him, and to Him, and not to you. The arrows all point toward Him, not toward you.