Touching the living Christ

Touching the Living Christ
by Chip Brogden
“And the whole multitude sought to touch Him, for power went out from Him and healed them all” (Luke 6:19).
“And now, little children, abide in Him” (I John 2:28a).
How do we touch the living Christ? The answer to this question depends entirely upon our relationship to Jesus. If we are part of the multitude then we must try and touch Him; but if we are one of His little children then we may simply abide in Him.
The difference, dear friends, is the difference between a religion and a relationship. The multitudes do not have a relationship with Jesus, and so they must travel to where He is and work their way into His presence in hopes of touching Him.
This is the way many church services operate. We go here and there hoping to touch something of the power of God, or the presence of God. Many times we do in fact touch something or receive something from the Lord - not because of the meeting, but in spite of the meeting. Even so, that touch does not last for very long. It is a touch, it is not the Living Christ. Soon we begin checking the calendar for the next meeting, gathering, conference, or church service so we can go back and get another touch. This represents something lacking in our walk.
I have been in many meetings where the worship leaders spent a great deal of time and energy trying to get people to “enter in” to worship or “enter in” to the presence of God. I used to lead worship this way and it can be very frustrating. Perhaps they enter in; perhaps they do not enter in. Either way, this struggle to “enter in” only proves one thing: neither the worship leaders nor the worshippers are abiding in Christ.
To abide in Him is to remain in Him. If we remain in Him we do not have to enter in to Him over and over again. That would be like trying to get into a room in which I am already sitting. Once we are in the room, and we are seated, we do not have to try and enter in.
“He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more” (Revelation 3:12a). Overcomers do not go to church to enter in to God; they do not require worship leaders to get them in the mood; they do not follow the multitudes around hoping to get a touch from the Lord. Overcomers are pillars in the Church that Jesus is building. They are permanent fixtures in the temple and they do not go out and in. They simply abide in Him.
I had the privilege last week of eating lunch with two pillars. The younger brother was from Australia, and the older brother was from England. When I say “older brother” I mean this gentleman was ninety-four years old. Before we began eating we asked the English brother to pray. Right there in the restaurant he cried out, “Heavenly Father!” He said it so slowly and deliberately and loudly that I thought his prayer would probably last thirty minutes or more. After a pause, he quietly said, “Thank you.” And we began to eat.
May I say that this brother spent no time entering in, because he was already abiding. With two or three words he brought us before the throne of God, and the very presence of Jesus was immediately manifest. This is what it means to touch the living Christ - immediately, effortlessly.
How do we abide in Christ? “As you have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him” (Colossians 2:6). Receiving Christ Jesus the Lord is the Gate, while walking in Him is the Path. The first happens in a moment, while the second is a daily process. How did we receive Christ Jesus the Lord? We came to Him with all our sins, and weaknesses, and needs, and we cast ourselves upon Him. We trusted in His Life, and His Love, and His Grace, and His Mercy to save us. And so He did.
What is the next step? It is this: to walk in Him as you received Him. “As you have received… so walk.” We are not saved by Grace and then left to live the Christian life in our own strength. Instead, we walk in Him the same way we received Him - by Grace, through Faith, and that not of ourselves. From start to finish it is the Gift of God.
I need Him as much today as I ever have. How about you? Apart from Him I can do nothing. Is this your experience also, or do you still think there are many things you can do without Him? I am still in need of His Life, and Love, and Grace, and Mercy in order to live. Are you that much different from me? I think not. We all approach Him the same way.
This understanding will naturally cause us to humble ourselves as little children. I do not know, I cannot say. I only know what Daddy says and I only see what Daddy does, and this is all I know. How do I know these things? When I pray, when I read the Scriptures, when I spend time with my brothers and sisters, when I just live life and keep my eyes open and my mouth closed, then I begin to experience intimacy with God, and that is when I begin to touch the living Christ - even though I know that these activities by themselves are not Christ. They can lead me to Him, and they can help me to abide in Him. Yet the goal is not the activity, but the intimacy.
To touch the living Christ we must first believe that He is, in fact, the living Christ. He is not dead. He is not a historical figure from two thousand years ago. He is not a mystical presence dwelling somewhere in the far reaches of the universe. He is not a system of theology or a doctrinal statement. He is not something I enter in to when I go to religious meetings, and something I leave when I go home. He is the Living Lord Who lives in me now, Who lives through me now, Who is with me everywhere I go.
This is not a complicated thing to understand, but our head tends to get in the way of our heart. The exhortation to abide is for little children, not grown-ups. Little children! There is a simplicity in Christ that the multitudes cannot comprehend. We cannot wrap our brains around it, we must immerse our hearts into it.

The Four Stages of a Religious Spirit

The Four Stages of a Religious Spirit

By Mark Pfeifer www.markandnicki.com


Matthew strategically wrote his gospel account to show how the Jewish leaders rejected Jesus as their Messiah. Their debates with our Lord increased until it reached a climax in the Twelfth Chapter. This was the turning point. In the first eleven chapters, Jesus spoke openly about the Kingdom of God being offered to national Israel. After chapter twelve, however, He only spoke in dark parables. Explaining Himself to His disciples, He quoted the prophesy of Isaiah,

"And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says: 'Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, and seeing you will see and not perceive; for the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, So that I should heal them.”
Isaiah 6:9-10

What was it about the Jewish leaders that made them resistant to the Kingdom of God? What caused them to reject what God had offered them? What did Jesus see in them that made Him conclude that they would NEVER receive it? It was a religious spirit!

Using Chapter 12 in Matthew as a guide, we can see the four stages of a religious spirit in action...

Stage #1: JUDGEMENT V-1 & 2

The Pharisees watched Jesus’ disciples pick corn in the fields and eat it on the Sabbath. This infuriated them because not participating in any labor on the Sabbath was a rule that they kept devotedly. Looking down their theological noses at the munching disciples, they took a position of moral superiority and began judging their actions.

At its root, the religious spirit is supported by pride. It makes us feel holier than others because we keep rules that they don’t. Perched atop this morally superior position, we compare ourselves to others using our religious standards as a guide. When they fall short of this measurement, we set ourselves up as their judge and draw conclusions about them which gives us the perceived right to criticize them.

Stage #2: ACCUSATION V-9 & 10

The Jewish leaders in the synagogue wanted to catch Jesus in a sin. The desire to catch Him doing something wrong was greater than their desire to see a poor man healed. So they used the man with a withered hand to try and catch Jesus doing something for which they could criticize their Messiah.

The religious spirit is sneaky! It feels compelled to get the lowdown on people in order to reveal their true motive. The cynical nature attached to a religious spirit can not believe that people would actually have a pure heart and right motive in doing something kind since deep down, those who operate with a religious spirit are always putting on a show for people.

Stage #3: DESTRUCTION V-14

The Pharisees saw that they were getting nowhere in their trickery. This led them to begin creating plans to destroy Jesus. At this point, all bets were off. They were reaching a point of no return. Instead of receiving from Him, they were more interested in shutting Him up.

People who are dominated by a religious spirit despise a challenge. The root of their extreme reactions is fear. They fight to preserve what to them is the most important ingredient to their walk with God, the law. What makes this even more deceptive in that their actions are based on a zeal for God. This is why Paul said in Romans 10:2, “For I bear them witness that they (Jews) have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge.” This zeal for God mixes with a fear of change and creates passion. When this passion boils over, plans are be made and actions justified to eliminate any perceived threat.

Stage #4: HARD HEARTEDNESS V-23 & 24

The Pharisees had crossed the line. From this point forward, Jesus knew that their hard hearts would keep them from receiving the new form of the Kingdom of God. That’s why from this chapter forward, Jesus only spoke in parables. He saw that they had reached a point of no return.

When a person reaches this point it is impossible for them to humble themselves, repent and be forgiven. Jesus went on to talk about the unpardonable sin in the next few verses. What was happening? He was describing the only type of sin that God can not forgive - sin that is unconfused. When the religious spirit has a person at this level, they will never be forgiven because they see no need to repent. In their eyes, they have no sin. They keep all rules. It’s all those other fellows who need to be forgiven. Someone who is blinded by a religious spirit sees no need of such loathing.

Conclusion:

In identifying the four stages of a religious spirit from Matthew 12, we have also touched on four root traits of the religious spirit. Did you catch them? They are:

(1) Pride
(2) Cynicism
(3) Fear
(4) Blindness

Sometimes it’s easier to recognize those traits operating in our lives than it is to look in the mirror and see a religious spirit.