Matt. 16:13 Now when Jesus came into the parts of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, Who do men say that the Son of Man is? (14) And they said, Some, John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets. (15) He said to them, But you, who do you say that I am? (16) And Simon Peter answered and said, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. (17) And Jesus answered and said to him, Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in the heavens.
This [vv. above] shows us clearly that a Christian must be one who has received a revelation from God. If you want to be a Christian, you must have this revelation and knowledge. If you say that you admire the life of Jesus, this will not make you a Christian. If you say that Jesus' teaching contains some very deep philosophy, this will not make you a Christian either. You may not agree with this word. You may argue: "I admire Jesus and honor Him; I am favorably inclined towards Christianity. Does that not make me a Christian?" No, it does not. Being a Christian is not a question of admiring or not admiring; it is not a question of being favorably or ill inclined towards Christianity. Some considered the Lord Jesus to be John the Baptist, Elijah, or Jeremiah. Was not John the Baptist good? Was not Elijah good? Was not Jeremiah good? Yet these were all man's views and man's opinions. Christianity is absolutely not from man. Therefore, human views and human opinions cannot replace Christianity. Christianity is a religion of revelation. Only those who have received a revelation from God and who know the Lord Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the living God, are blessed by the Lord. Once a man receives a revelation, he touches the Lord Jesus in the Holy Spirit, and he comes face to face with the Lord Jesus. He has a direct relationship with Him and has made contact with the Lord. Let me give a little illustration. Once an electrical power line in a brother's home became worn out. It was easy to receive an electric shock from the wire. The brother was not careful enough and touched the line. Immediately he withdrew his hand and shouted, "What a shock! What a shock!" His young son saw how his hand stretched out and pulled back, and he imitated his father and pretended that he had been shocked also. He stretched out his little hand and pulled it back shouting, "What a shock! What a shock!" But we know that the son was acting in an outward way; he was imitating. The father was genuinely shocked by the electricity; he tasted the reality of the experience. Brothers and sisters, outward imitations do not count; it is the real taste that counts. You must touch Christ like the brother who touched the electrical current. Do you know that Jesus of Nazareth is the Son of God today? It is not what men say, but what you say within yourself that counts.
Bible verses are taken from the Recovery Version of the Bible and Words of Ministry from Watchman Nee, General Messages, Vol. 37, The Collected Works of Watchman Nee, pp. 228-229. Both are published by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim, CA. Please visit us at www.emanna.com. Send comments to: [email protected].
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