“He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything.” -Col. 1.18

That Jesus is the “head” of the church is not merely a statement regarding ecclesiological structure. It is a heavenly reality, a description of His ultimate place of enthronement, and apart from the occasional mention in a doctrinal way, the revelation of His supremacy has been mostly neglected in the Church.

What does it mean for Jesus to “have first place in everything?” The King James calls it “preeminence.” The NIV calls it “supremacy.” It is a remarkable phrase that Paul uses, and it is not nearly as complicated as one might think.

Ultimately, “He Himself will come to have first place” at the end of this age when He comes to rule and reign from the holy hill of Zion. The glory of the Lord will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea, the name of Jesus will be universally exalted, and His government and ways will increase with rapidity and force in the earth. Righteousness, love, peace and joy will rise like an irreversible tide in the earth.

But the expression of His preeminence does not wait for that final day. It will be ultimately manifested then, but it does not wait only for the unfolding of eschatological events.

He means to have the preeminence, supremacy, and first place in the hearts of His people in this age. In an increasing manner, as He comes to first place in our theology, as He has the preeminence in our prayers and missions and life decisions, and as He has the supremacy in our affections, there you see Him manifested as the Head of the Church, and the firstborn from the dead. Namely, there you see Him as the resurrected Son, the King of all creation.

It is not a flighty and ethereal idea. It is nuts and bolts Christianity. If He does not have first place in our hearts, we are not experiencing the faith that the apostles handed down to us. But if He is becoming the preeminent and supreme figure more and more, day by day, then we are being touched by the apostolic and true faith. Jesus is the Head! Jesus is Supreme! Jesus must have first place in all things! Jesus must have the preeminence in our prayers, in our handling of money, in our families, in our affections, in our thoughts, in theological endeavors, in our missionary activity, in all things!

I was in a gathering yesterday with over 20,000 souls, and the song going up from that place was an encouragement to my soul. Here are the words, unlike anything I’ve heard in modern worship gatherings:

“My soul longs for You Lord,
In a dry and weary land.
Come and take Your place in the center of our hearts,
Come and take Your place.
And have the preeminence, Jesus!”

Oh, let His preeminence be manifested in the Church in this age, that we might prepare for the great day when His supremacy is revealed permanently and indestructibly from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth! All glory to the Lamb who was slain!

“Jesus said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread out of heaven, but it is My Father who gives you the true bread out of heaven.’” -Jn. 6.32

Jesus, being the good Rabbi that He was, was thoroughly immersed in the Tanakh, or the Old Testament as we call it nowadays. If anyone was acquainted with the teachings of Moses, and if anyone had esteem and honor for the Scriptures, it was Him. Yet in this remarkable passage, He pulls the rug out from underneath the feet of His Jewish kinsmen.

In Jesus’ day, and even in our day amongst Orthodox Judaistic circles, Moses is the foundational name of the faith. It is not an exaggeration to say that Judaism is Moses-centric, and that as far as men are concerned, he is one of the most crucial figures, if not the most crucial figure, of the faith itself. After all, what other man conversed with Yahweh “face to face as a man speaks to a friend”? What other man spent weeks and weeks in the immediate presence of the glory of God on the mountain? What other man was chosen to deliver the Law to Israel? What other man led them out of Egypt and into the land of promise?

Yet Jesus insinuates that they were missing the heart of who Moses was, for if they failed to esteem the greater Prophet, Jesus Himself, they were failing utterly at hearing the lesser prophet, namely Moses. Jesus reminds them that Moses was not the one who gave them bread from heaven, but that their eyes needed instead to be on the Father.

Every true servant of God will point the people Godward, rather than seeking to become the source of life himself. Jesus indicates that His own kinsmen were missing the point of Moses’ ministry, which was to deliver Israel into the knowledge of the Lord who had chosen them. Moses had even cried out, “I would that all God’s people were prophets!” He longed for them to know the Lord in the same way that he did, and Jesus desired the same reality for His hearers. Instead, they had their eyes on Moses, the Law, and the traditions that had developed over the years within early Judaism.

The Lord had to issue a call for them to break away from their religious identity, and the false security they had within a Moses-centric faith, and to realize that unless they were receiving fresh bread, which can only come from heaven, they were not receiving life in the inward parts. We may not be “Moses-centric,” but are we living in a lifeless cycle of breadless Christianity, depending on nourishment that only comes from other men?

Jesus Himself is the bread which nourishes, enriches, and strengthens us for the pilgrimage to Zion. No preacher can carry us there, no prophet can be our escort, no pastor can guide us all the way. Every servant of God, functioning rightly, will simply remind us that we must boldly approach the Throne of God Himself, who gives the bread of life- His own Son. If your eyes are on a man, even a true servant of the Lord, you miss the entire point of his ministry to the Church, for his purpose is to point you to the Throne, from which God Himself will give you the indestructible power and life of the eternal Kingdom.

“For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven, and gives life to the world.” (v.33)

“…. judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment!” -James 2.13

At the end of our lives, we will see that the most crucial component of our character in God, is whether or not we have become a people of mercy. When the smoke and fire of Jacob’s trouble has cleared, and judgment has been enacted in an ultimate way, the revelation of God in relation to Israel will be a revelation of indescribable mercy. The revelation of God that comes to us in Hosea and elsewhere in the prophets, is that judgment and wrath are not the end, but rather a means to the end; namely, the disclosure of God’s great character and desire, which is mercy.

Men who use “discernment” as a term for their self-righteous judgments and the spread of gossip have totally lost sight of the Spirit of the Gospel itself. If we look upon others- even those with false doctrine- from a humanly contrived foundation, rather than through the lens of mercy, we have removed ourselves from the wisdom of God. We are all recipients of mercy, and if we have anything at all in God, it’s only because it has been given from above.

One of the clear signs that our “discernment” of others is born from below is that it moves us to expose and insult the ones who we are purportedly examining. If the Lord gives us sight of another brother’s error, it is first for the purpose of intercession, and if we haven’t given ourselves in that place first, it most always becomes sin to speak of that erring brother.

There is a need for examination and discernment in this hour, maybe more than ever. I can’t think of time when there were more false gospels being propounded in the earth and paraded as authentic. I can’t think of time when there were more self-appointed apostles, popularized half-gospels, and strange emphases in the Church. True discernment is of paramount importance in our day. Yet there is no true discernment unless it comes from the Spirit of God, and if it comes from Him it will invariably lead us into humility, brokenness and hope for the ones who are deceived. If it leads to a superiority complex, a release of gossip, or any such thing, it has come from below rather than from above. Hear Wigglesworth on this:

Most people seem to have discernment, or think they have, and if they would turn it on themselves for twelve months they would never want to discern again. The gift of discernment is not criticism. I am satisfied that our paramount need is more perfect love.

Lord, in this hour, when the cross has been neglected, and the need for discernment is so crucial, mark us with the Spirit of Christ Himself. We don’t want to be a gullible people, tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine, nor do we want to be a people who think themselves superior or correct, and who have lost the primacy of merciful intercession, and love towards the brethren. Increase the reality of truth and love in our lives, Lord. We need You more than ever.

“Now the day was ending, and the twelve came and said to Him, ‘Send the crowd away, that they may go into the surrounding villages and countryside and find lodging and get something to eat; for here we are in a desolate place.’
But He said to them, ‘You give them something to eat!’ And they said, ‘We have no more than five loaves and two fish, unless perhaps we go and buy food for all these people.’” -Lk. 9.12-13

We would do well not to condemn the ignorance and blindness of the disciples, for we are often walking in the same manner that they were in this passage. We are an earthbound bunch, and it matters not that we’ve experienced grace and mercy, without a continual stretching and exercising of vital faith, we eventually fall into a non-supernatural view of life.

The disciples had just returned from their first real Kingdom mission, for the Lord had sent them to preach the Gospel and to “perform healing” (v. 2) on all who would receive. They had gone “throughout the villages, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.” (v. 6) This must’ve been a remarkable experience for them, for the same miraculous works that they had seen performed from the Lord were now taking place through their own hands. They returned to Jesus, and gave Him an account of the preaching and healing.

If this weren’t supernatural and mind-blowing enough, Jesus took them to Bethsaida, “but the crowds were aware of this and followed Him; and welcoming them, He began speaking to them about the kingdom of God and curing those who had need of healing.” (v. 11) So following their own brief but remarkable mission, they were brought to a new city and were blessed to watch the Lord perform even more works of power and deliverance before their eyes.

But “now the day was ending.” Surely the multiplied teachings and healings were enough to call the day good. Surely Jesus was fatigued by now. Surely the crowd needed to start heading back into town to find lodging and food. Surely things could only go downhill from here on out, and they were moving into “down-time” mode.

The sensible logic of the disciples enters into the text now, and it is just here that Jesus is wanting to teach something that they would never forget. He is looking for co-laborers, and He longs to walk with those who will believe Him in ways that seem ludicrous or illogical to the world and its wisdom.

How crooked their faces must’ve looked when Jesus said, “You give them something to eat!” They responded like most of us would. “We only have five loaves and two fish. I guess we could go into town and buy something from the food shop.” They wanted to obey Him, they wanted to serve the people, but they were thinking on an entirely lower plane than that which Jesus was teaching them to live on. How could Jesus have expected that these men would believe for a supernatural multiplication of fish and loaves?

It doesn’t seem reasonable, but He expected them to believe nonetheless, and we all know the outcome to the story. “And they all ate and were satisfied.” We mustn’t be too quick to fall back on our logic and human understanding. There may be a totally unexpected route that the Lord would have us to take in any given situation, so a moment-by-moment dependence upon Him is absolutely crucial. The possibilities of grace far transcend anything we can expect or figure, so we must walk in child-like faith before the One who is enthroned above, and who intends to demonstrate His power through those who are willing to co-labor with Him.

“Who is like the Lord our God,
Who is enthroned on high,
Who humbles Himself to behold
The things that are in heaven and in the earth?” -Ps. 113.5-6

In his masterpiece on the Psalms, The Treasury of David, Charles Spurgeon wrote that the subject of Psalm 113 was “the greatness and condescending goodness of the God of Israel.”

There is no faith but that of the Old & New Testaments which brings to mankind the revelation of a God who is full of majesty and holiness, while simultaneously characterized by humility and kindness. We cannot fathom this glory with mere human logic, for we have never known a man who bore great power and authority, while exhibiting perfect humility and love toward those who were beneath him.

It is no wonder that the Psalmist was filled with wonder. Through the life of praise, and a meditation on the Law of God in the Tabernacle, he had come into a vision of Yahweh that induced the question, “Who is like the Lord our God… enthroned… Who humbles Himself to behold things… in the earth?”

We are easily duped by showmanship humility. A sports star says, ‘hello’ to us or signs an autograph, and we say, “He’s so down to earth and kind. It’s so good to see a man using his platform to set an example.” We put their posters on the wall and devote hours upon hours to watching them play, and we delight in personal details about them.

The psalmist was wrapped up with another glory altogether. No man has ever exhibited this kind of humility, save the Man Christ Jesus. The singer had come into a revelation of God’s exaltedness, declaring that the “Lord is high above all nations; His glory is above the heavens.” (v. 4) By His word the galaxies were formed, the great mountains were raised, the deepest valleys were laid, the oceans were filled and made to roar, and the streams were made to flow. As elevated as are the thrones of kings, as high as are the heavens, as powerful as are the greatest of angelic hosts, the glory of the Lord is “above” them all.

Our minds cannot grasp the height of His exaltedness, but when we are touched with His mercy, we receive a glimpse of the greatness of God, and we are overcome with trembling and awe.

The remarkable thing is, we would never have heard His name, nor seen His character, had He not been a God “Who humbles Himself to behold the things that are in heaven and in the earth.”

Who is like Him? There is no one. It is Jesus only, Jesus from eternity past, Jesus in this moment, and Jesus in the age to come. The Son of God has stooped lower than the profoundest of human minds could imagine. When He came, He did not merely walk by to sign an autograph and say ‘hello.’ He came into the earth, took on flesh, lived a common life amongst common men, spoke life-words, performed heavenly works, and just when men wanted to exalt Him in an earthly sense, He died the death of shame upon a Roman cross. In this He humbled Himself, not only to behold things in the earth, but to save mankind and creation altogether. That means you, and that means me! Hallelujah!

The psalmist is not begrudgingly walking through some Davidic liturgy when he says to “Praise the Lord.” He is calling his people to the only sensible response to such a glorious and condescending God! Praise Him, O servants! The Gospel is not an opinion formed by Christian men. It is the full-orbed revelation of Son of God Himself, who is enthroned transcendently above the heavens, but Who humbled Himself to the point of death to make dead men live in the glory of the Father. What “condescending goodness!” What remarkable mercy! Do you remember the darkness from which you’ve been saved?

“He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap,
To make them sit with princes, with the princes of His people.” (vv. 7-8)

Praise the Lord!

“For I will pour out water on the thirsty land
And streams on the dry ground;
I will pour out My Spirit on your offspring
And My blessing on your descendants.” -Is. 44.3

Of this verse, the “good pastor” Robert Murray McCheyne once remarked:

There are no other words in the whole Bible that have been oftener in my heart and oftener on my tongue than these.

The passage applies directly to Israel, but the principle of the promise can be applied to all contexts where the Creator is active amongst men. Where the land thirsts for righteousness and mercy, and where men thirst for God in recognition of the dryness of their own hearts, the word stands true that He will “pour out water” from heaven, and His own interpretation of the image is that He will pour out His Spirit on our offspring, and his blessing on our descendants.

I would rather be found in the tension of spiritual thirst, without having yet seen the water to come, than to be drunk and satisfied with the wine of this age. I would rather be as a cracked desert ground, and aware of my dryness, than to be full of the delusion of self-satisfied living. To be able to thirst after God is a great gift from heaven. To yearn for Him in the barren wastelands is better than to be satisfied without Him in the man-made reservoirs of the city.

To be at ease and full without the outpouring of His Spirit is to live in a delusion. I may whittle away a lifetime without really thirsting, taking sips from fashion, swigs from sport, gulps from Hollywood, and guzzles from religion, and my life will end in deception. My children will have been robbed of a glory and knowledge of God that could have been theirs, had I been a man of thirst.

But I may live a life of thirst, and in my weakness, yearn for Him in the quiet places of the desert, and the promise will one day be answered. I know not when. I know not the hour of visitation. But the certitude cannot be shaken, for He Himself has declared it. He will “pour out water upon the thirsty land,” and my children will see something of His glory that they would have missed if I had settled for something less than God Himself.

If only the world knew of the glory of thirsting for Him! If only the Church weren’t so distracted and filled from the “buffet” that the world offers us and the busy mentality that modern “ministry” puts before us.

Though I have heard of His great love, and experienced it on many glorious occasions, it still staggers me that He longs to pour out His own Spirit upon us, and our children. It matters not that I’m a dry and cracked soul. In fact, that is the ground upon which He copiously pours out His holy rain. Oh, to live a life of anticipatory thirst. To ache for God Himself, until He comes and makes all things new. This is blessedness indeed.

Oh then wish more for God, burn more with desire,
Covet more the dear sight of his marvellous Face;
Pray louder, pray longer, for the sweet gift of fire
To come down on thy heart with its whirlwinds of grace.

Yes pine for thy God, fainting soul! ever pine;
Oh languish mid all that life brings thee of mirth;
Famished, thirsty, and restless, -let such life be thine,-
For what sight is to heaven, desire is to earth.

(Frederick Faber, as quoted in The Christian Book of Mystical Verse, compiled by A.W. Tozer; Christian Publications, 1963; pp. 56-57)

He will pour out water, dear soul. Thirst then! Thirst after Him…

“…. when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, ‘Death is swallowed up in victory.’” -1 Cor. 15.54

In his book Israel: An Echo of Eternity, Abraham Joshua Heschel gives us these poignant thoughts:

What lends meaning to history? The promise of the future. If there is no promise, there is no meaningful history. Significance is contingent on vision and anticipation, on living the future in the present tense.

This is one of the gifts of the Bible to the world: a promise, a vision, a hope.

History is not a flimsy course of disconnected happenings devoid of duration. History has a  memory of moments. Man may forget, history remembers. Man has often tried to destroy history, yet again and again the memory of history bursts forth seeking to repair the absurdity caused by brutality and suicidal tendencies. It is the memory of history that holds together despair and hope, defiance and promise, in spite of the passion to refute all hope.

(Abraham Joshua Heschel, Israel: An Echo of Eternity, Farrar Straus Giroux Publishing; 1967, pp. 127-128)

Perhaps the greatest tactic of the prince of darkness, in his “passion to refute all hope,” is to create and instill a hollow hope in fleeting things that don’t lead to the eternal life of God, which alone destroys death and meaninglessness. America is known as the land of hope. People from all over the world travel here in hopes of experiencing democratic liberties, and even more, in hopes of finding prosperity and peace. The tragedy in this brand of hope is that at its best, it only stretches the span of a lifetime. What is the meaning of life then? Are we created merely to grow up, work a job and raise kids, only so they can grow up, work a job and raise kids? What is the meaning of all this?

Heschel wrote that the Bible gives us a “promise, a vision, a hope.”

The great hope is that in the last analysis, this world will be transformed into a dwelling of God Himself, the nations will study war no more, righteousness will roll like a mighty river, and justice like an ever-flowing stream. The great promise is that God will literally live amongst men forever (Rev. 21). The great vision is of a world wherein God Himself functions as the Father and King of all. The hope is that, no matter what befalls the righteous in this life, death itself will once and for all be “swallowed up” in the victory of resurrection life.

History, with all of its sweeping statements, colorful characters, and remarkable events, is yet hollow and without meaning unless there is a promise of life following the inevitability of death. But when we see the “promise, vision, and hope” that the Scriptures set forth, every day is powerfully charged with meaning and significance. Do not see yourself through the brutal eyes of hopeless thought. Your days are not meaningless, dear soul. To paraphrase M’Cheyne, “The Lord of all history is looking with intensest interest upon all your steps.”

Take heart, dear believer! Hope and promise are accessible through the Holy Spirit, and if you have been redeemed, your present is totally charged with the Light of the future age. Turn to Him today, receive life in the inner-man, and find meaning in the promise of the resurrection to come. We will not all sleep forever, but “we will all be changed.”

“O death, where is your victory? O grave, where is your sting?”

“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house upon a rock.” -Matt. 7.34

The life of faith is never founded upon visions, ethereal experiences, and lofty ideas about spirituality. The Kingdom which Jesus brings to bear upon the earth is not at all akin to the multitudes of religions that men have formulated. Their religions are flighty, inconsistent and fleeting, and they do not answer the moral dilemma that the condition of humanity raises. It is no use finding solace in what you will be in the next life if you have not been delivered from the stranglehold of sin in the present life. The Gospel of the Kingdom sets itself into the earth to do just that. It sets the captives free. Wholly free.

Jesus was very practical. Even in the demonstrations of supernatural power which He carried out, He was always effecting change and revealing the Father in the realm of real life. If it was sensational that Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, the simply fact remains that He brought back to life a man who had perished at the hand of sickness. He effected practical change in Lazarus’ life, and in the lives of those with whom Lazarus was acquainted. If it was sensational that Jesus walked on water, in the last analysis He used the miracle to teach His disciples that there was no reason to walk in fear or anxiety, for He Himself was Lord over the waves. Again, He established a practical reality that affected their lives in a lasting way.

The Kingdom of God changes us when it breaks in upon us. It does not produce men with new litanies of theories and speculations. It causes us to love righteousness and to hate sin. It provokes us to serve the human race in meekness, without expecting a reward in return. It reveals the nature of God Himself which, though totally transcendent, touches the most hum-drum issues of life and infuses them with heaven, making all things holy unto the Lord.

Beware of spiritualizing the demands of the Scriptures. When at once you hear the word of the Lord, do not look for a speculative interpretation. Obey it.

If it calls you to love your enemy, don’t inquire, “But what if my enemy does thus and such?” Just love.

If it calls you to pray, don’t ask, “But how do I pray for that situation or that person?” Just pray.

If it calls you to repent of an attitude or sin, don’t think of ways to justify a shortcoming or weigh the percentage of your own justice. Repent, and consecrate your heart to the Everlasting God.

The Gospel is the most no-nonsense message in the earth. It reveals God as He is. It exposes man for all that he is not. And it brings the Adamic race into a union with the God of holiness in one glorious ensemble of Communion through the Man Christ Jesus. The redeemed soul in vibrant fellowship with the Living God- this is the solidity of practical obedience. It is what we were created for, and it is the magnificent inheritance of those who have become His.

Are you obeying Him freshly, with tenderhearted leadings and Spirit-guided decisions? He offers you solidity and peace in exchange for the confusion and inconsistency which is the inherent plight of our fallen race. Turn to Him today, dear soul. He will make all things new.

“And He went up on the mountain and summoned those whom He Himself wanted, and they came to Him. And He appointed twelve, so that they would be with Him and that He could send them out to preach, and to have authority to cast out the demons.” -Mk. 3.13-15

We would do well not to pass over the raw message of this text. There is a remarkableness to the phenomenon of the Lord’s callings, and we have so often heard the story of the twelve that it’s easy for us to miss it altogether. Here are a few things I’m drawing out of it:

1. Jesus “summoned those whom He Himself wanted….”

Has it ever occurred to you that the men “whom He Himself wanted” were basically a collection of immature and flawed souls? We don’t see any indication that even a few of them were religiously qualified or educated in the Law. We don’t see any exceptional qualities that would have attracted Him. What then drew Him? In Luke’s Gospel, we see that Jesus had come straight from an all night stretch of prayer when he appointed the twelve. Clearly, there is the element of Divine selection here. But was there something more than a mere robotic choosing of twelve men? Ben Witherington III offers these thoughts from his commentary on Mark:

Jesus appointed the twelve to be with Him. This is part and parcel of the portrait of the fully human Jesus in this Gospel- in this case He needed a support group. He longed for fellowship. He lived as a person in community, not as an isolated prophet.

Isn’t it remarkable to think that Jesus longed for fellowship? Isn’t it remarkable that He didn’t choose those who had it all together when He sought to fulfill that holy desire? Can you believe that He is longing for fellowship with you, even now?

2. “And He appointed the twelve, so that they would be with Him….”

The greatest tragedy in western ministry is that men are carrying out all kinds of duties and tasks, but they have not adequately been “with Him.” Mark lays out the proper pattern of discipleship in this way: “they came to Him,” they were “with Him,” He sent them out “to preach, and to have authority to cast out the demons.” Have you been “with Him,” dear saint, or are you living and talking and eating and ministering and playing and working in a way that is devoid of true fellowship with Him? He wants you to “be with Him.” Isn’t that remarkable?

3. He sent “them out to preach, and to have authority to cast out demons.”

Witherington’s further comments:

These were not merely to be Jesus’ pupils, but His friends and co-workers. They are appointed for fellowship as well as for witness, being sent to teach and cast out demons.

There is something to be said for the fact that Jesus did not foresee a 40-year season of preparation for the disciples before they would bear witness to Him, teach others, and cast out demons with noteworthy authority. They would function as foundational apostles only three years after this initial calling, and even before that, He sent them out to proclaim the Kingdom, heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, and cast out demons.

Is there something different about their faith than ours? Do we have a vital proclamation of His Kingdom in the midst of our lives? Is the evidence of Divine authority present in our lives as it was through theirs? They were already casting demons out and healing the sick as immature disciples who had not even been immersed in the Spirit yet. All this goes to say that we ought to anticipate the breaking in of His rule in a much simpler manner than we have in times past.

We need to go back to the simplicity and rawness of coming to him, fellowshipping with Him, and from that place, preaching the Kingdom and casting out demons. If Jesus said the Kingdom was at hand 2,000 years ago, how much more is it upon us now?

“Truly I say unto you, he who believes in Me will do the works that I Myself am doing; and even greater works than these, for I go to the Father.” -Jn. 14.12

“Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” -Rev. 19.10b

I am gripped by these statements from Eberhard Busch, regarding Karl Barth’s views on preaching:

From early on one of the elemental convictions of the theologian Karl Barth was that the same God who had spoken clearly the testimonies of the Holy Scriptures speaks also to us today. Therefore he formulated as a basic principle to be heeded precisely: ‘Preaching aims at the people of a specific time to tell them that their lives have their basis and hope in Jesus Christ’ (Homiletics, trans. Geoffrey W. Bromiley and Donald E. Daniels [Louisville: WJK Press, 1991], p. 89).

And even more: it is the task of preaching to state clearly that God himself makes himself heard in the contemporary situation.

…. The danger would then be too great that the preacher would play the role himself as the intermediary between God and humans or that the congregation would be kept busy with merely human opinions. According to Barth, the question is much more whether with the whole congregation the preachers also hear and pay attention to what God says- not only said, but says. Barth learned from the Reformers that the sermon…. is to correspond to the prophetic office of Jesus Christ.

However, according to him, this concept can also be said the other way around: The congregation hears God’s word only when it listens to the word of God, who has already spoken according to the testimony of the Holy Scriptures. God has spoken not merely once, but rather once for all.

(The Word in this World: Two Sermons by Karl Barth, Ed. by Kurt I. Johanson, Regent College Publishing; 2007, pp. 7-8)

To what degree can our modern preaching and living be found in direct correspondence “to the prophetic office of Jesus Christ?”

The above quote was given in a little booklet that contained two sermons from Karl Barth. The first, delivered in 1912, was a message regarding the sinking of the Titanic, which was obviously weighing heavily on Barth’s mind.

The second was delivered in 1934, two days after The Confessing Church challenged the Nazi system, and two days prior to Barth being fired from his professor position and shipped out of the country.

Suffice it to say, delivering the present testimony of Jesus Christ can have historic effects, but it will also be costly, and we need to settle it in our hearts that this is the way of the Kingdom.

I’m convinced that most of our modern preaching, witnessing and writing is having little effect on the hearers, and scant impact on society, because we are rarely speaking from the prophetic office of Jesus Christ; which is to say, we are busying souls with “merely human opinions,” rather than leading them in listening in a lively way “to the word of God, who has already spoken according to the testimony of the Holy Scriptures.”

Who is bearing the word of the Lord for this hour, saints? The Church has a calling, and preachers all the more so, to be so immersed in the Spirit of God, and so enwrapped by the revelation of God through the Scriptures, that we would have the prophetic grace to discern the times and seasons in our generation, and to set forth the word of Jesus Christ as superior to all other voices and vantage points. Who is hearing His word, much less setting it forth?

Failing here, we fail in the most simplistic and central of callings; namely, bearing witness to the present testimony of the Son of God. What are His thoughts in this hour, after all?

At 9-11, men thundered out whiplash responses of judgment, and others offered a humanistic comfort. But where was the prophetic office of Jesus Christ expressed through the Church? As smoky, bloody, and horrific as that day was, were we as the Church fit to set Him forth in the midst of it? Or was the Lord absent on that gut-wrenching day, with no desire to speak to our nation?

What of the moral condition of our country? What of the rise of Islam within our own borders? What of the multitudinous issues and plights that flood the airwaves? I’m not suggesting a meticulous, anxiety stricken pursuit of understanding every detail in this hour. I’m asking, who is bearing the word of the Lord? Who is abiding in the continuum of Biblical thinking that can only be given when we’ve entered into the prophetic office of Jesus Christ? What is He saying, saints? Have we really got a jealousy for the hearing and knowing of His great heart? If we’ve given ourselves to lesser voices, it is only because we have not been willing to step into the great calling to set Him forth, and that is a calling, in the first and last analysis, that can only be carried out through those who have been redeemed. The platform of a conversation with your co-worker is just as crucial as the platform of an internationally recognized preacher. But what’s being given on Christian T.V.? And what’s being given to our co-workers and neighbors? Are we bearing the very testimony of Jesus Christ, or are we playing paper-rock-scissors with opinions and hypotheses? Failing to hear and deliver His own word, we fail to live as the Church.

We’ve got to go back to the place of prayer and worship, and the place of a radical study and meditation upon the Scriptures. We have a mandate to set Him forth, but to settle for human opinion regarding Him, or regarding the events in our generations, is to drop the ball entirely. He is jealous to raise up a nation of priests, those whose hearts are utterly before Him, loyal to His own perspective, and willing to set Him forth as He is, no matter what consequences will result.

Lord, take the weak souls that we are, and consume us with the fire and truth of Your great heart. Let us hear Your voice in this wilderness, and privilege us to set forth Your mercies and judgments in this pivotal hour. Amen.