“But their eyes were holden that they should not know him.”
— Luke 24:16

The disciples ought to have known Jesus, they had heard his voice so often, and gazed upon that marred face so frequently, that it is wonderful they did not discover him. Yet is it not so with you also? You have not seen Jesus lately. You have been to his table, and you have not met him there. You are in a dark trouble this evening, and though he plainly says, “It is I, be not afraid,” yet you cannot discern him. Alas! our eyes are holden. We know his voice; we have looked into his face; we have leaned our head upon his bosom, and yet, though Christ is very near us, we are saying “O that I knew where I might find him!” We should know Jesus, for we have the Scriptures to reflect his image, and yet how possible it is for us to open that precious book and have no glimpse of the Wellbeloved! Dear child of God, are you in that state? Jesus feedeth among the lilies of the word, and you walk among those lilies, and yet you behold him not. He is accustomed to walk through the glades of Scripture, and to commune with his people, as the Father did with Adam in the cool of the day, and yet you are in the garden of Scripture, but cannot see him, though he is always there. And why do we not see him? It must be ascribed in our case, as in the disciples’, to unbelief. They evidently did not expect to see Jesus, and therefore they did not know him. To a great extent in spiritual things we get what we expect of the Lord. Faith alone can bring us to see Jesus. Make it your prayer, “Lord, open thou mine eyes, that I may see my Saviour present with me.” It is a blessed thing to want to see him; but oh! it is better far to gaze upon him. To those who seek him he is kind; but to those who find him, beyond expression is he dear!

Spurgeon, C. H.

We tend to love the Jesus we've made him to be within our minds and not from The Word.

We can't know the Jesus of the Bible - until we know Jesus [i]from[/i] the Bible.

I see that if you are staunch in your beliefs of Him being God - that you will be accused of being "unloving and hard hearted".

To the degree that we love The Word of God - the written word - is how much we love "Jesus".

His Word should be everything to us. I like what Brother Spurgeon wrote here and it's refreshing to hear these words from man.

Quote: "We should know Jesus, for we have the Scriptures to reflect his image, and yet how possible it is for us to open that precious book and have no glimpse of the Wellbeloved!
Dear child of God, are you in that state? Jesus feedeth among the lilies of the word, and you walk among those lilies, and yet you behold him not. He is accustomed to walk through the glades of Scripture, and to commune with his people, as the Father did with Adam in the cool of the day, and yet you are in the garden of Scripture, but cannot see him, though he is always there. And why do we not see him?"


Don't we know that it is "because of" His Word that we will be persecuted? Unless we're compromisers and just caught up with the emotionality of some [i]Jesus[/i] we've concocted in our heads.

Why were all the Apostles killed?

If we give in now to small pressures, that contradict The Word - how will we stand when our lives depend on whether we'll hold true to His Word or not?

If we think a discussion or defense of Christ's Deity is a waste of time or not worth the effort and there are other more important things to discuss ---- GOD Help us!


Seeing [b]Jesus[/b] '[u]is[/u]' Revival - Nothing less.

Dear Brother, since the "Jesus" topic became so predominant last week, I sort of feel bound and gagged. I have little more to say but - it's all about [b]HIM[/b].

What we have in "the church" - like it or not is - Religion.

Not The Person of Jesus - but sermons, discussions and so forth about "stuff".

The "thou shall nots" were written so we wouldn't hurt others or ourselves - and then some have added on some more "thou shall nots" to those in The Word just to be 'different or better' than the rest or have complicated the entire issue of "sin" as something more than just "Love the Lord thy God with all of thy heart, soul, mind and strength and love others."

You can't LOVE One that you haven't "seen".

If we can't love the One we haven't seen, than how can we love others.

It has been His intention that we "see" HIM.
I miss the 'Jesus' Freaks.

Yes, that it is what "Know" means in Paul's writing - to "see". Experiential Knowledge.

All the rest is Religion. Head knowledge. A concoction of the mind. A delusion in the spirit realm. Another "sect". A personal conviction. A club to belong to so you're not a bad person. A Fire Escape. An interesting party to be a part of, to discuss some sort of "knowledge" with - like the Civil War expert clubs, they even dress the part and have "reinactments" and only wear the "genuine garb" when meeting together.
I truly believe with all of my heart that JESUS is not here, there or anywhere - except with the few who have sought Him with all they've got and have had that "vision or visitation" of HIM. The real McCoy - not the visions I see posted all over the Internet. Like Paul and John had.
That's what's missing. All the rest is just Religion and shop talk.

Unless we've "seen" Him - it's all just talk.
A lot of the "talk" have big words and titles to it.
Lots of christianese talk. Not - [u]"The Way, The Truth and The Life." Who is a Person and not a "subject".[/u]

The more I read - the less I see [b]HIM[/b].

See lots of stuff "about Him" or what we [i]think[/i] "HE wants" or what others say He wants or what we think HE thinks is important - but little about HIM-HIMSELF.

HE's Real - He's Alive - and wants to be Known Experientially - not just mental assent or head knowledge or some 'feeling' in spiritual ways.

Last week it hit me hard. It's 99% Religion and not all about "HIM" in this last days church.

I want to hear about HIM. No more "topics". That's all.

Deu 4:29 But if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.

Psa 27:8 When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, LORD, will I seek.

Psa 105:3 Glory ye in his holy name: let the heart of them rejoice that seek the LORD.

Psa 119:2 Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart.

Jer 29:13 And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.

Oh sister, amen to your whole post. I have often found it strange that in times of fellowship with other believers there seems to be little desire to talk about Christ other than to toss around a few of our standard Christian phrases. Have you ever had the experience of sharing with someone a deep work that the Lord is doing in your heart or some wonderful revelation of His Person that you have received through His word, only to be met by a blank stare? It leaves me with a cry in my heart - "Does anybody want to talk about Jesus anymore?" That's why I am here at SI. Although there are many topics that turn into doctrinal disputes, every once in a while someone will start a thread that is focused on the glory of Christ and the impact of that on our lives, or something similar. I am always so grateful to see those.

_________________
Danielle