Jesus Christ is my God!
Issued 10.09.2001
The meeting of Jesus
Meeting of persons can be either pretended or sincere. Pretence spoils any meeting whatever it is. Fear of man makes us to pretend, but fear of God makes us to be sincerely open-hearted. Christian meeting is often pretending because people have not come together in the name of Jesus but in the own name of some Church.
In any meeting
There are organised and spontaneous meetings. A convenor is the owner of a meeting. An information meeting of a managing director is his meeting. Then people are assembled in his name. The employees have come before the face of their leader.
When friends meet by chance on the street they can have a spontaneous meeting. They discuss with each other and are looking at the faces of their friends. Therefore a circle is the arrangement of their meeting. To meet each other requires seeing each other's faces.
A meeting of people means a reception of faces. Meeting of persons can be either sincere or pretended. Any meeting can be only a reception of masks. Then the true persons don't meet at all. Pretence brings about superficial gathering. Teamwork of a company drags, if the members of a team are afraid of each other and so they are not able to expose their real thoughts.
There are organised and spontaneous meetings. A convenor is the owner of a meeting. An information meeting of a managing director is his meeting. Then people are assembled in his name. The employees have come before the face of their leader.
When friends meet by chance on the street they can have a spontaneous meeting. They discuss with each other and are looking at the faces of their friends. Therefore a circle is the arrangement of their meeting. To meet each other requires seeing each other's faces.
A meeting of people means a reception of faces. Meeting of persons can be either sincere or pretended. Any meeting can be only a reception of masks. Then the true persons don't meet at all. Pretence brings about superficial gathering. Teamwork of a company drags, if the members of a team are afraid of each other and so they are not able to expose their real thoughts.
In whose name are believers coming together?
When I was the preacher of a congregation, I made an invitation for the tent meetings. In the header of the paper there was the following text:
JESUS'
MEETINGS
IN A TENT
Later I heard that some elders of the Church had cut away the top row of the invitation where there was the word JESUS', because otherwise they did not dare to distribute them. However they spoke piously at the beginning of meetings: "We start this meeting in the name of Jesus. He is now here, because He has promised that where two or three are gathered together in His name there He is among them." Woe, what pretending! If they wanted to come together in Jesus' name, why did they cut His name away from the invitation leaflet?
Jesus says: "Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven." Matth.10:32-33 An invitation to a meeting has to acknowledge Jesus, because it is a matter which is "before men". It is also a matter-of-fact place to mention the name of the convenor.
If Jesus is not the convenor then people have not come together in His name. Really, He has given the promise concerning meetings: "Where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them." Matth.18:20
Jesus doesn't allow any admissions for fear of men, because acknowledging or disowning Him is a matter of love. Whom you love him you want to please. Those who try to please all become pretenders.
When I was the preacher of a congregation, I made an invitation for the tent meetings. In the header of the paper there was the following text:
JESUS'
MEETINGS
IN A TENT
Later I heard that some elders of the Church had cut away the top row of the invitation where there was the word JESUS', because otherwise they did not dare to distribute them. However they spoke piously at the beginning of meetings: "We start this meeting in the name of Jesus. He is now here, because He has promised that where two or three are gathered together in His name there He is among them." Woe, what pretending! If they wanted to come together in Jesus' name, why did they cut His name away from the invitation leaflet?
Jesus says: "Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven." Matth.10:32-33 An invitation to a meeting has to acknowledge Jesus, because it is a matter which is "before men". It is also a matter-of-fact place to mention the name of the convenor.
If Jesus is not the convenor then people have not come together in His name. Really, He has given the promise concerning meetings: "Where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them." Matth.18:20
Jesus doesn't allow any admissions for fear of men, because acknowledging or disowning Him is a matter of love. Whom you love him you want to please. Those who try to please all become pretenders.
Hiders of Jesus
Hiders of Jesus defend themselves by saying: "We are not ashamed of Jesus, but we don't put His name out, because it would turn people out of meetings. During the meeting we are going to preach His name." Whom do they assume to bluff with their trick? Is it really so that they don't realise that their trick prove that they are pretenders? Outside of a meeting they try to please people and in a meeting they try to please God.
If they really would love Jesus they would put His name out without any calculations. It is obvious that their flattery turn more people out than putting out the name of Jesus. According to the Bible the Holy Spirit witnesses the value of Jesus. This means that a person, who shrinks back from the name of Jesus, has already rejected the Holy Spirit from his life. So it is needless to draw this kind of person to a meeting organised by a Church.
In many Churches they have assembled in the name of their Church or in the name of their denomination. In practice their leaders are trusting more in their own authority as a convenor than the authority of Jesus and the Holy Spirit.
Hiders of Jesus defend themselves by saying: "We are not ashamed of Jesus, but we don't put His name out, because it would turn people out of meetings. During the meeting we are going to preach His name." Whom do they assume to bluff with their trick? Is it really so that they don't realise that their trick prove that they are pretenders? Outside of a meeting they try to please people and in a meeting they try to please God.
If they really would love Jesus they would put His name out without any calculations. It is obvious that their flattery turn more people out than putting out the name of Jesus. According to the Bible the Holy Spirit witnesses the value of Jesus. This means that a person, who shrinks back from the name of Jesus, has already rejected the Holy Spirit from his life. So it is needless to draw this kind of person to a meeting organised by a Church.
In many Churches they have assembled in the name of their Church or in the name of their denomination. In practice their leaders are trusting more in their own authority as a convenor than the authority of Jesus and the Holy Spirit.
Coming before God
The temple of Jerusalem was in the time of the Old Covenant the place, to where people came "before the face of God". That temple was an exemplar of Jesus. When Jesus died on the Calvary the glory of God moved away from the temple. When leaving away He tore in two pieces the curtain of the temple so that everybody would see that He isn't there anymore. After that moment there has been no building on earth to where you could go before God.
A priest or a preacher is often the centre of a meeting of a Church. They have separated for themselves the holy serving place in the church hall in the same way as God had the holy of holies in the temple of the Old Covenant. In this way they want to convince people of their divine authority. Therefore they also use a clerical robe. Why do they do this though God has put an end to that kind of temple service? Therefore because they don't personally know Jesus, who moved away the old covenant and brought forth the new one.
Those who come to a service, which is arranged in the Old Testament style, have come only before the face of their priest though they are made to believe that they now are before God. It is no wonder, if they who trust holiness of a church building easily look at a priest or at a leader of the Church like God. Even the devil wants to become such a priest, because he wants to settle down in the place of God.
Everybody who belongs to Jesus is always before the face of God, because God's face is present in his heart. "And we, who with unveiled faces reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into His likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit." 2Cor.3:18
"For God, who said,: 'Let light shine out of darkness', made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ." 2Cor.4:6
A member of the New Covenant doesn't need anymore a meeting to come before God. A believer himself is a temple of God. Therefore an assembled congregation of believers doesn't need any kind of service arranged the way it was in the days of the Old Testament.
The temple of Jerusalem was in the time of the Old Covenant the place, to where people came "before the face of God". That temple was an exemplar of Jesus. When Jesus died on the Calvary the glory of God moved away from the temple. When leaving away He tore in two pieces the curtain of the temple so that everybody would see that He isn't there anymore. After that moment there has been no building on earth to where you could go before God.
A priest or a preacher is often the centre of a meeting of a Church. They have separated for themselves the holy serving place in the church hall in the same way as God had the holy of holies in the temple of the Old Covenant. In this way they want to convince people of their divine authority. Therefore they also use a clerical robe. Why do they do this though God has put an end to that kind of temple service? Therefore because they don't personally know Jesus, who moved away the old covenant and brought forth the new one.
Those who come to a service, which is arranged in the Old Testament style, have come only before the face of their priest though they are made to believe that they now are before God. It is no wonder, if they who trust holiness of a church building easily look at a priest or at a leader of the Church like God. Even the devil wants to become such a priest, because he wants to settle down in the place of God.
Everybody who belongs to Jesus is always before the face of God, because God's face is present in his heart. "And we, who with unveiled faces reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into His likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit." 2Cor.3:18
"For God, who said,: 'Let light shine out of darkness', made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ." 2Cor.4:6
A member of the New Covenant doesn't need anymore a meeting to come before God. A believer himself is a temple of God. Therefore an assembled congregation of believers doesn't need any kind of service arranged the way it was in the days of the Old Testament.
Church-goers trained to be pretenders
In many congregations a member of the Church is like a marionette. A leader of a meeting says: "Shake hands with your neighbour", "Sit down", "Get up", "Give a hug to your neighbour", "Say the confession of our faith in chorus", "Let's pray", "Sing a song", "Listen", "Lift up your hand", "Kneel down", "Stand up" and "Go home". Is not it quite obvious that in this way congregations bring up pretenders? Because we know that God hates lies and pretence, we know that He doesn't get on well in the meetings where people are approaching Him with formal gestures.
Only God knows if someone is pretending, because He knows all hearts. Someone can have a right experience in his heart, though people around him are pretending. However this doesn't give any permission to urge anybody to pretend. Someone can receive the glory of God, though around him is going on a completely formal service. However it doesn't give any right to organise a Christian meeting to be a theatre.
Only the fact that curtain is missing in the church makes difference between many church services and a theatrical performance. Your pretence is permissible only if everybody knows that now you are acting. When the scene opens everybody knows that now you start to pretend and when the scene closes they know that now you finished your acting. Whole life of many people is a non-stop theatre. Therefore theatrical Christianity fits so well for them.
In many congregations a member of the Church is like a marionette. A leader of a meeting says: "Shake hands with your neighbour", "Sit down", "Get up", "Give a hug to your neighbour", "Say the confession of our faith in chorus", "Let's pray", "Sing a song", "Listen", "Lift up your hand", "Kneel down", "Stand up" and "Go home". Is not it quite obvious that in this way congregations bring up pretenders? Because we know that God hates lies and pretence, we know that He doesn't get on well in the meetings where people are approaching Him with formal gestures.
Only God knows if someone is pretending, because He knows all hearts. Someone can have a right experience in his heart, though people around him are pretending. However this doesn't give any permission to urge anybody to pretend. Someone can receive the glory of God, though around him is going on a completely formal service. However it doesn't give any right to organise a Christian meeting to be a theatre.
Only the fact that curtain is missing in the church makes difference between many church services and a theatrical performance. Your pretence is permissible only if everybody knows that now you are acting. When the scene opens everybody knows that now you start to pretend and when the scene closes they know that now you finished your acting. Whole life of many people is a non-stop theatre. Therefore theatrical Christianity fits so well for them.
Quality of Jesus' meeting
What kind of gathering is needed by those who belong to Jesus? They come together to share with each other the things they have got from God. They are one body in Christ, whose members need each other. "When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation." 1Cor.14:26
In a meeting of Jesus His appearance is sought. No-one of the members of the Church is the centre. It is a session where everybody is seeking the face of Jesus when facing each other. In this way He is the centre. During the meeting He shares Himself to those present. Therefore every Jesus' meeting is the Holy Communion though a bread is not broken or wine drunk. "Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf." 1Cor.10:17 When the congregation of God is assembled there is actually only one person present - Jesus. Members of the Church are only bits of Him.
God is approaching us in Jesus informally and without ceremonies, because He is seeking our heart, not our services. Official solemnity becomes from pretence, which drive God away from the place. He says that He doesn't want to hear the singing of pretenders. "Away with the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps. But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never failing stream!" Amos 5:21-24 He even says: "I hate, I despise your religious feasts; I cannot stand your assemblies." Why? They are sitting there so solemnly and praising God, though at the same time they live in sin. For this reason God hates many Christian meetings. Do not say prayers, if you do not mean what you say. Do not sing praises for Him, if your heart also praises false gods.
What kind of gathering is needed by those who belong to Jesus? They come together to share with each other the things they have got from God. They are one body in Christ, whose members need each other. "When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation." 1Cor.14:26
In a meeting of Jesus His appearance is sought. No-one of the members of the Church is the centre. It is a session where everybody is seeking the face of Jesus when facing each other. In this way He is the centre. During the meeting He shares Himself to those present. Therefore every Jesus' meeting is the Holy Communion though a bread is not broken or wine drunk. "Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf." 1Cor.10:17 When the congregation of God is assembled there is actually only one person present - Jesus. Members of the Church are only bits of Him.
God is approaching us in Jesus informally and without ceremonies, because He is seeking our heart, not our services. Official solemnity becomes from pretence, which drive God away from the place. He says that He doesn't want to hear the singing of pretenders. "Away with the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps. But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never failing stream!" Amos 5:21-24 He even says: "I hate, I despise your religious feasts; I cannot stand your assemblies." Why? They are sitting there so solemnly and praising God, though at the same time they live in sin. For this reason God hates many Christian meetings. Do not say prayers, if you do not mean what you say. Do not sing praises for Him, if your heart also praises false gods.
Arrangements of meetings
Jesus' meeting is an organised assembling where He is the centre of everything. It has also the feature of a spontaneous gathering, because its content must be according to the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
The program of a meeting should be based on what those hearts present have to give not on their speaking skills or musicality. Order should be kept with the authority of the Holy Spirit and not with human discipline. When we fear to meet people as they are, we create formal arrangements so that nobody could ruin our beautiful meeting order.
Sincerity is a threat to pretenders, because it often brings forth differences of hearts. They are afraid of conflicts which could reveal them. They don't want to see the real state of the congregation. Therefore they want to hide the problems behind a mask. A meeting is made to be a beautiful performance so that outwardly all would seem good. In this way insincere meeting culture is created where the congregation is kept together with the power of pretence. At the risk of dissolution of the Church turning to sincerity is the only way to life. The hard step must be taken: Become what you are! After that God can change you to what He wants you to be like.
Although we cannot remove pretence with outward arrangements, it is good to give up the habits created by pretence. The seats of the meeting room should be set so that everybody sees other's face as much as possible. It is not a place for looking at performances, but for meeting each other. No visible altar shoud be built. The altar is in our heart. There we meet God, when we kneel in spirit before Him.
Because the Christian meeting culture is so far from the ideal one, currently home meetings best carry out meetings which please God. There it is easier to carry out the unaffected reception of faces, where the body of Christ become nourished. Lonely hours of prayer are better than public prayer meetings, because then it is easier to pray without pretence.
With pretence we try to protect our inmost being against other's looks. However before God everything is opened and uncovered. No-one can actually hide oneself from Him. The purpose of Jesus' meetings is to uncover secrets of hearts. "If an unbeliever or someone who does not understand comes in while everybody is prophesying, he will be convinced by all that he is a sinner and will be judged by all, and the secrets of his heart will be laid bare." 1Cor.14:24-25 Powerful presence of God makes it impossible to pretend. The Spirit of God takes masks away.
Jesus' meeting is an organised assembling where He is the centre of everything. It has also the feature of a spontaneous gathering, because its content must be according to the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
The program of a meeting should be based on what those hearts present have to give not on their speaking skills or musicality. Order should be kept with the authority of the Holy Spirit and not with human discipline. When we fear to meet people as they are, we create formal arrangements so that nobody could ruin our beautiful meeting order.
Sincerity is a threat to pretenders, because it often brings forth differences of hearts. They are afraid of conflicts which could reveal them. They don't want to see the real state of the congregation. Therefore they want to hide the problems behind a mask. A meeting is made to be a beautiful performance so that outwardly all would seem good. In this way insincere meeting culture is created where the congregation is kept together with the power of pretence. At the risk of dissolution of the Church turning to sincerity is the only way to life. The hard step must be taken: Become what you are! After that God can change you to what He wants you to be like.
Although we cannot remove pretence with outward arrangements, it is good to give up the habits created by pretence. The seats of the meeting room should be set so that everybody sees other's face as much as possible. It is not a place for looking at performances, but for meeting each other. No visible altar shoud be built. The altar is in our heart. There we meet God, when we kneel in spirit before Him.
Because the Christian meeting culture is so far from the ideal one, currently home meetings best carry out meetings which please God. There it is easier to carry out the unaffected reception of faces, where the body of Christ become nourished. Lonely hours of prayer are better than public prayer meetings, because then it is easier to pray without pretence.
With pretence we try to protect our inmost being against other's looks. However before God everything is opened and uncovered. No-one can actually hide oneself from Him. The purpose of Jesus' meetings is to uncover secrets of hearts. "If an unbeliever or someone who does not understand comes in while everybody is prophesying, he will be convinced by all that he is a sinner and will be judged by all, and the secrets of his heart will be laid bare." 1Cor.14:24-25 Powerful presence of God makes it impossible to pretend. The Spirit of God takes masks away.
Revelation of God
Why some man becomes a believer easily and the other one doesn't? Natanael came easily to the faith. Jesus said some good words about him already before he believed. "Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is nothing false!" John 1:47 Because Natanael didn't pretend, he came easily to the faith. Jesus also gave him the next promise: "You shall see greater things than that." John 1:50 Because of the previous passage we can make the conclusion that God's power will appear in the congregation, where pretence is put away. May this give us encouragement to sincerity.
To those, who don't come easily to the faith, God says: "Whom have you so dreaded and feared that you have been false to me, and have neither remembered me nor pondered this in your hearts? Is it not because I have long been silent that you do not fear me?" Isaiah 57:11
You were afraid of what people say about you and therefore you pretended. You did so because you had experienced how human words hurt you. You didn't care what God says about you, because you had no experience of how His words hurt you. Maybe you now have also this experience through the Bible passages I quoted for.
What would happen if we as believers really would put everything false and pretence away from our life?
Why some man becomes a believer easily and the other one doesn't? Natanael came easily to the faith. Jesus said some good words about him already before he believed. "Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is nothing false!" John 1:47 Because Natanael didn't pretend, he came easily to the faith. Jesus also gave him the next promise: "You shall see greater things than that." John 1:50 Because of the previous passage we can make the conclusion that God's power will appear in the congregation, where pretence is put away. May this give us encouragement to sincerity.
To those, who don't come easily to the faith, God says: "Whom have you so dreaded and feared that you have been false to me, and have neither remembered me nor pondered this in your hearts? Is it not because I have long been silent that you do not fear me?" Isaiah 57:11
You were afraid of what people say about you and therefore you pretended. You did so because you had experienced how human words hurt you. You didn't care what God says about you, because you had no experience of how His words hurt you. Maybe you now have also this experience through the Bible passages I quoted for.
What would happen if we as believers really would put everything false and pretence away from our life?
The Bible version used in references is NIV