IGNITE – Pt. 1- “Your Passion For Christ”

 

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To “ignite” something means, “to catch fire, to arouse an emotion, to ignited a fury, inflame or instigate.” In this series of messages we have chosen four areas of our lives that we want to “ignite,” arouse, instigate to a new level of fire!

If ever the Christ-follower, the true believer, needed to be “set on fire” it is today!  Jesus told the Last Day’s church at Laodicea that because they were “lukewarm,” neither hot or cold, He was ready to spit them out of His mouth.  Wow, that’s a serious threat from the Lord God Himself!

In this message I want to do something that could change our lives, both believers and unbelievers. I want the Holy Spirit to “ignite” our PASSION FOR JESUS!

Passion is “a powerful force; strong and barely controllable emotion; a state or outburst of such emotion; intense desire or enthusiasm for something; a thing arousing enthusiasm.”

Ask yourself, “What am I passionate about?” Is it sports, music, sex, reading, news, money, business? Recently 250 pastors gathered for our Concerts of Prayer – Annual Summit in PA.  David Bryant led us in an experience called, “Christ Alone.”  It got all of us all thinking about the question, “How passionate am I for Christ?”

In a recent article by Francis Chan, “Public Passion Vs. Private Devotion,” he confessed the possibility that he could lead a successful church in America without being in love with Jesus.  I wonder how true that is for many of us, whether it be ministry, business or career?

What brought you to the point of salvation?  Was it desperation caused by a problem in your life, marriage, family, business, finances, sickness or a divorce?  Maybe it was to escape Hell (not a bad idea). I wonder how many of us were motivated by the “love of Christ” or “love for Christ” when we realized how much He loves us, and how much He wants to bring us into fellowship with Him?

I believe that the prize of the high calling in Christ is not getting to Heaven (a good idea) but rather to become like Jesus in all the glory of His moral attributes.

A.W. Tozer said it well, “The modern scientist has lost God amid the wonders of His world; we Christians are in real danger of losing God amid the wonders of His Word.” The end affect in similar.  We miss Him!

Last month we spent three days at our Pastor’s Summit reveling in the majesty and glory of Jesus. Since then, God has been dealing with me personally, especially after reading Francis Chan’s article. I have been faced with the question over and over again, “Do I love the church, the ministry, my work, my wife, my family, my own personal ambition and success, MORE than I love Jesus.”

In the movie, “The Hiding Place” Cory and Betsy are imprisoned in Ravensbrook Concentration camp, and face the challenge of trusting God completely. A bitter Jewish violinist who has had her hands broken by the Germans challenges Betsy.  With her career ruined, and now imprisoned, she blames God for what has happened.  Betsy replies, “If only you knew Him and His love…when you know Him, you don’t have to know why.” Do we really know Him? How much do we really love Him?

As I read Scripture and look at the great people of the Bible like Moses, Job, David, Isaiah, Paul, I sense that they knew something about God that we may have missed.  I suggest that this is the greatest challenge of life.

MOSES faced it on Mt. Sinai, EX. 3:10- “Therefore, come now, and I will send you to Pharaoh, so that you may bring My people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt.” But Moses said to God, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt?” And He said, “Certainly I will be with you, and this shall be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God at this mountain.” Then Moses said to God, “Behold, I am going to the sons of Israel, and I will say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you.’ Now they may say to me, ‘What is His name?’ What shall I say to them?” God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM”; and He said, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ ”

You see, it’s not who we are that really counts in a blessed life, it is Who HE IS. Once Moses got to know God for WHO He is, it was all downhill from thereon.

DAVID had to have had an encountered God before he could write Psalm 23, (MES)“God, my shepherd! I don’t need a thing. You have bedded me down in lush meadows; you find me quiet pools to drink from. True to your word, you let me catch my breath and send me in the right direction. Even when the way goes through Death Valley, I’m not afraid when you walk at my side. Your trusty shepherd’s crook makes me feel secure. You serve me a six-course dinner right in front of my enemies. You revive my drooping head; my cup brims with blessing. Your beauty and love chase after me every day of my life. I’m back home in the house of God for the rest of my life. God claims Earth and everything in it, God claims World and all who live on it.”

No wonder David said, “Like the dear pants after the water brook, so my soul pants after God.” When you know Him, you want Him, and when you know Him more, you want Him more!

ISAIAH’S life was changed and challenged when He encountered God is all His glory (6:1-5) “In the year of King Uzziah’s death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple. Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called out to another and said, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory.” And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke. Then I said, “Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.”

What is blocking your view of God today?  What “Uzziah” has to die emotionally, personally, ambition-wise, even physically in your life before you can see Jesus clearly?

PAUL’S quest to know Christ is legend, Phil. 3:7-17 (MES “The very credentials these people are waving around as something special, I’m tearing up and throwing out with the trash—along with everything else I used to take credit for. And why? Because of Christ. Yes, all the things I once thought were so important are gone from my life. Compared to the high privilege of knowing Christ Jesus as my Master, firsthand, everything I once thought I had going for me is insignificant—dog dung. I’ve dumped it all in the trash so that I could embrace Christ and be embraced by him. I didn’t want some petty, inferior brand of righteousness… I gave up all that inferior stuff so I could know Christ personally, experience his resurrection power, be a partner in his suffering, and go all the way with him to death itself. I’m not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. Friends, don’t get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I’ve got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I’m off and running, and I’m not turning back. So let’s keep focused on that goal, those of us who want everything God has for us. If any of you have something else in mind, something less than total commitment, God will clear your blurred vision—you’ll see it yet! Now that we’re on the right track, let’s stay on it.  Keep track of those you see running this same course, headed for this same goal.”

Consider Paul’s description of Jesus as he got to know Him better:

Colossians. 1:15-20 (NLT)  “Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation, for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see—such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world.  Everything was created through him and for him. He existed before anything else and he holds all creation together. Christ is also the head of the church, which is his body. He is the beginning, supreme over all who rise from the dead. So he is first in everything. For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, and through him God reconciled everything to himself.

He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross.”

I keep asking myself, “What did these men know about Jesus that our generation seems to have missed? People get saved, baptized in water, join the church, even get into ministry, but there is little evidence that the God of Moses, David, Paul, is sought after and passionately pursued.

When you really know Jesus, and He is everything we read in Colossians, Philippians, Psalms, then it is easy to trust and obey Him in everything. Then we are not only Purpose Driven, but also PERSON Driven.  Maybe some of us need to get Person Driven before we can even become Purpose Driven.

DR. J. I. PACKER describes the modern church, “In today’s church historic Christian belief in Jesus Christ is like Humpty Dumpty; it has had a great fall, and now lies before us in broken pieces.  Everyone picks us some of these, but few have them all or know what to do with what they have.”

This is what Jesus was teaching in the Beatitudes – Matthew 5:6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. (MES)“You’re blessed when you’re at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule. “You’re blessed when you feel you’ve lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you. “You’re blessed when you’ve worked up a good appetite for God. He’s food and drink in the best meal you’ll ever eat. “You’re blessed when you get your inside world—your mind and heart—put right. Then you can see God in the outside world.

DAVID BRYANT points out the sevenfold revelation of Christ from Scripture as what Christ is TO us, FOR us, OVER us, BEFORE us, -WITHIN us, THROUGH us, UPON us:

-TO us -This speaks of how His supremacy is firmly rooted in his deity, His nature, His character, as well as His Trinitarian existence as the Son of the Father. In Him we have the embodiment of the fulfillment of Scripture, the image of the invisible God.

-FOR us- this speaks of His incarnation; He became one of us so that through His redemptive, sacrificial death, followed by His victorious resurrection He conquered death and hell FOR us.

-OVER us – This speaks of his supremacy as King of the Universe, the Ruler of history, the Lord of Hosts over the Nations, and the Master of our lives.  Jesus is LORD.

-BEFORE us – Jesus went before us into the Throne Room of Heaven to intercede for us. He is the first-born of the resurrection paving the way for us; we are already seated with Him in the Heavenly places because He is already there.

-WITHIN us – By His Holy Spirit, Christ indwells every born-again believer; Christ is you, your hope of glory; Paul prayed that we would be “filled with all the fullness of God in Christ”

-THROUGH us – His supremacy is evidenced working through the Holy Spirit making us witnesses to the lost; to make known to the Nations His salvation and Lordship, with weapons of our warfare that are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds, taking everything captive to Christ.

-UPON us – He is pouring out His Spirit UPON us in these last days, bringing in the spiritual revival that will precede His return

What a resume, what a description, what a SAVIOR! No wonder Paul sums up this seven-fold revelation of Christ with these words, “That in everything Christ may have first place!”

-Is this the Christ you are hungering and thirsting for?

-Is this the Christ you have welcomed into your heart as your Savior, to cleanse and sanctify your life?

-Is this the Christ you seek daily in prayer, the Word, in every circumstance you face?

-Is this the Christ you surrender to as Lord of your life, marriage, family, business, education, and ministry?

-Is this the Christ you are waiting to see, any day now?

Make some practical steps to apply this truth:

1. Make some time for Jesus, just to love Him

2. Get into His Word daily – find a good devotional

3. Spend quality time in prayer – speaking and listening

4. Show you love for God by serving Him and others

5. Give God access to your finances in good stewardship, tithes and offerings.

6. Keep you life pure as you wait for Him to return.

Let the Holy Spirit IGNITE your passion for Christ anew today, and turn your eyes upon Jesus!