Only Jesus-Part 1

In my many years of ministry I have been surprised by how much Christians cling to and follow people more than Jesus. Along with that, they also trust man's knowledge over God's wisdom, and that wisdom comes from the Word of God. I ask myself why? It seems like if our faith is not very strong we need to see God with some skin on and actually begin to follow a man or woman more than God. I had a friend who told me of a woman who was a strong member of their church, and when their pastor left she said the following words, "Bro. _____ was MY pastor and if he isn't our preacher, then I won't even go to church because no one touches me like He does when speaks. It was all I could do to not say "bless your heart" to the lady telling me this story because she agreed with this lady's conclusion about why she even goes to church.

It is dangerous to wrap ourselves around a teaching from a man or woman and to just totally follow them and get our Bible knowledge from them. I am very hesitant about using any commentary that has an "agenda" attached to it. Like following a certain teaching from a man like John Calvin, or Martin Luther, or John Piper, or anyone else. Secondhand truth has never been good to me, because it always has some falsehood mixed in with the truth, which pollutes the whole truth anyway. I only follow the teaching of Jesus, or Paul, as written in the Word of God, and I let the Bible be its own commentary, because it is, and the truth always comes through.

There are two different ways for Christians to have fellowship, and in those two ways, there is a wrong way and a right way. If a group of believers are clustered around the teaching of one individual, or one way of thinking where all of them agree and make a pact to defend the teaching, even if it is just a teaching from one individual, I stay clear of it. The reformed movement is a strong example of a group of people who have bent their thinking toward one man's impression of what the Bible says, and they think their way of following Jesus is the only right way. The man is John Calvin, and even though he had many good characteristics, he was flawed like all men, so some of the teaching would be flawed, if it ignores certain areas of the Bible.

The other way to have a fellowship is to center it around like-minded people who are searching for God's truth about life and are open about what the Bible is showing them. Part of taking up our cross and following Jesus is "following Jesus only" and that means we don't give any man the place in our heart or thinking that is meant for Jesus Only. Luke 9:23 Then he said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me. To "give up our own way" means to give my thinking over to Jesus, and Him alone. When we do that we are drinking from the pure source, meaning NO SUBSITUTES. Here is the promise that goes along with that way of thinking, and I really love this promise from Jesus Himself in John 8:12 Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.” My choice is fellowship number 2, but that is my choice. You can choose either one as God leads.

Only Jesus deserves our full attention, and it is important to study our Bible enough to let the Holy Spirit show us His teachings for us. People with a weaker faith are the ones who fall off the pure wagon and follow some person's impressions about how to live and what to believe. I have seen groups study a book by a certain person and they will raise their families on these teachings, and not study the background themselves. DANGEROUS. Then in time the author of said book will be found to be lacking in character and Godliness and those people will be like sheep without a shepherd. HEY! Jesus is our ONLY shepherd, and there are no substitutes, so keep Him the Lord of your life and the Lord of your learning. John 15:5 “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.6 Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned. 7 But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! 8 When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father.

Today's Message,

David Warren