Tony Evans - Experiencing God First

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Today, I want to talk with you about experiencing God’s Word first. He’s given you a program, called the Bible, which is half of the equation. In 2 Timothy, Chapter 1, verse 16, «For we did not follow cleverly devised tales when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty. For when He received honor and glory from God the Father, such an utterance as this was made to Him by the Majestic Glory, 'This is My beloved Son with whom I am well-pleased' and we ourselves heard this utterance made from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain».

Let’s pause right there. The apostle Peter is recounting an experience that he had had with Jesus on the mountain. It was called the Mount of Transfiguration. You can read all about it in Matthew, Chapter 17, verses 1 to 8, because that summarizes this great event that he’s speaking of here. Jesus had invited Peter, James, and John, the inner circle, to meet him on this mountain. So the three of them went up on the mountain. While they were standing there with Jesus, two other figures appeared: Moses and Elijah.

So let me talk about those two. Moses gave the law. Elijah was a prophet. The law and the prophets are used to speak of the Old Testament. So when Jesus wanted to talk or the New Testament talks about the Old Testament, it would often say what the law and the prophets said. You remember, Elijah didn’t see death. He was whisked up in a chariot of fire. Moses’s body could not be discovered, and the reason why their deaths, or departures, were unique was because God was gonna do a recall on them in Matthew 17. So God recalls them up to meet with Peter, James, and John, while they’re apostles who are writing the New Testament. So you’ve got Moses and the prophets and the New Testament apostles all converging on the Mountain of Transfiguration.

Let’s say it another way: You got the Old Testament meeting the New Testament. That’s called the Bible. And they have gathered around Jesus Christ. Well, you know, our friend Peter loved to wear peppermint socks the way he kept his foot in his mouth, and on this occasion, he says, «Well, why don’t we build three tabernacles? We can build one for Moses. We can build one for Elijah. We can build one for us». And then heaven opened up. The Bible says, «And the glory of Jesus Christ broke through, and He began to shine like the sun. And heaven opened up, and a voice came from heaven that said, 'This is My beloved Son, hear ye Him.'»

And then when Peter opened up his eyes, all he saw was Jesus. That’s the backdrop of what Peter’s talking about of the event that happened to him. The Old Testament met the New Testament around the person of Christ. When the Old Testament met the New Testament and Jesus became the focus of both testaments, heaven opened up, and the voice of God was heard, «This is my beloved Son in whom I’m well please». Let me say that again: When the Old Testament (Moses and Elijah) met the New Testament (Peter, James, and John) around the person of Jesus Christ, heaven opened up. And when heaven opened up, they heard the voice of God. In other words, when the Bible came together and Jesus was the centerpiece, God was talking. When you have a Bible but no Jesus, heaven is gonna stay closed.

When you have Jesus and no Bible, heaven is gonna stay closed because it’s takes the written Word and the living Word to hear heaven open up. You’ve gotta take what God has written and who Jesus is in order to hear from God. This is called special revelation. There is general revelation, Psalm 19, which says, «The heavens and earth declare the glory of God». So even if you don’t have a Bible and don’t know about Jesus, you know God is real. The only people who don’t know God is real, according to the Bible, are fools because the Bible says, «The fool has said in his heart, 'There is no God.'»

You have to be a fool to be an atheist, or you’ve had to go to college first, it’s one of them, 'cause that ain’t normal, not when you have two eyes, two ears, a nose, and you can see the creation, okay? Atheism isn’t normal. Special revelation is when God moves from the generic to the specific because he has inside information he wants to communicate about himself. We call that special revelation. And there is written special revelation, the Bible, and there is living special revelation in a person, Jesus Christ. Those are the two parts of special revelation. That’s what you had on the mountain. That was the event Peter is talking about. And Peter said it was majestic. To put it in our contemporary language, «What we saw that day blew our minds, we saw a preview of coming attractions. We saw Jesus’s deity break through his humanity, and we saw the glory of Christ».

Peter is writing to a group of people who hadn’t experienced what he’s talking about. He’s writing to second-generation Christians who are not there, and they weren’t there, and they only know what they’ve been taught, but they never physically experienced it, not being with Jesus at the time of his life. So Peter is telling them, «When we were on the mountain, we had it going on. When we were on the mountain, we saw it. It blew our minds, but I’m writing to you folks in the book of Peter who weren’t there».

That’s you and me. That’s the folks he was writing to, but who wish you were. So now Peter is gonna take you and me from his personal experience to telling you and me how we can have our own, how we can go up to our own private mountain and have our own private experience similar to the one he had when he physically experienced it. I don’t know about you, but I don’t wanna live my life piggybacking on the testimony of everybody else. I don’t wanna live my life talking about what God did for my neighbor only. I wanna be able to say, «I have seen him for myself. I’ve experienced him for myself».

What Peter is about to tell you, that what he had on that mountain, with the symbols of the Old and the New, the Bible, along with the living Word, Jesus Christ, is transferable even to the 21st century, you and me. So let’s go on to verse 19. In verse 19, he says, «So we have the prophetic word made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts». Whoa. He says, «When we saw Jesus’s glory, he blew our minds, and we want him to blow your mind, too, as he rises in your heart».

What’s supposed to rise in your heart? He says, «The day star». Well, what’s the day star? That’s the sun. You know, you woke up this morning, and the sun was coming up. The sun is the day star. It tells you it’s daytime, the sun. It is the light that dispels the darkness. Jesus is called in the Bible «The Son of Righteousness». In Revelation 22:16, he is called «The Bright and Morning Star», day star. So when he says, «Day star,» he’s talking about Jesus Christ, and he’s talking about you seeing Jesus Christ in the glory like you see the glory of the sun in the morning, and he says, «This day star, Jesus Christ, he wants to rise, and he wants to rise inside of you».

So you don’t get to see the physical Jesus till you go to heaven, but you get to experience Jesus spiritually, right now, as you get your own private sunrise. He says, «As the sun rises, the day star rises in your heart». So the question is «How can I have my own private mountain? How can I get to this mountaintop experience that made him so excited»? He says, in verse 19, that this Word, referring to Scripture, you’ll see that in a moment, is made more sure. He says, «You heard what I experienced, but you want something for you so that you can be sure that you’ve experienced what we’ve experienced». He says, «What I’m getting ready to tell you will be even more sure than what we had, and we had it physically, but the Word I’m getting ready to tell you is more sure than if you were physically transported by a time machine back to the first century and were able to see Jesus physically».

So whatever this is, it must be a beast 'cause he says it’s more sure. It carries with it an even greater manifestation of Christ 'cause it’s something that happens inside of you. And, you know, when something happens inside you and you know that you know it happened, it doesn’t matter what anybody tells you then. It doesn’t matter what everybody else says. See, the reason why we’re so messed up is 'cause nothing has happened on the inside. So we’re controlled by what everything else is happening on the outside. Notice the context of this manifestation. He says, «Until the day star, or the lamp, is shining in a dark place».

Now, the dark place is the world. The dark place is the society in which you and I live, which is like night. It’s full of evil, unrighteousness. It’s dark, but in the middle of your dark life, your dark circumstances, your dark situation, and the dark world in which you live, God says, «There is a lamp,» verse 19, «a light that wants to break forth inside the darkness». So I don’t care what’s got you dark right now or the environment of darkness you live, he says, «If this light ever comes on inside of you, the darkness will no longer control you». But let me flip it: If your commitment is to the darkness, you’ll never see the light.

See, if you committed to night, then you don’t get to see day, 'cause you can literally have day, but there’s so many clouds in the sky you don’t see much of the light, or you could be at home at 12 o’clock noon, close all your shades, close all your blinds, turn off all the lights, and be in darkness even though the light shines. One of the reasons why Christ doesn’t feel comfortable showing up and showing off in our lives is that we’re more committed to the darkness than our desire for the light.

You say, «But how do you know I’m more committed to the darkness»? 'Cause the darkness is where we go for our answers. The Bible calls it human wisdom, man’s perspective. When you go to the darkness, you leave the light, and the light won’t chase you. You’ve gotta come to the light if you want to experience daytime in your life, but if you go to the dark… see, 'cause a lot of us hang out with dark friends, a lot of us listen to dark advice, a lot of us live on earthly wisdom, and we wonder why we don’t hear from heaven. The sky doesn’t open up, and we don’t experience this day star rising in our heart, because we exit the light because we’re so used to hearing from the darkness. And once you leave the light, the darkness will be the one informing you. He says, «We have a more sure Word, and this more sure Word, which is to rise in you», when he says, «'You do well to pay attention.'»

What he is saying is… and he’s gonna say this more directly in a moment, that the written Word and the living Word must be prioritized in your life. You must do well. You must do well to heed it. Colossians 3:16 puts it this way. It says, «Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly». That means «Be full of Christ’s Word operating inside of you». He says, «You do well, you do well to pay attention». James, Chapter 1, verses 19 to 21, says this. It says, «Be quick to hear». Quick to hear what? God’s point of view. «Slow to speak». Slow to speak what? Man’s point of view. We flip it. We’re quick to hear man’s point of view, slow to hear God’s point of view, and then wonder why it’s not working. 'Cause we do not take heed to pay attention to God’s point of view.

Once you get God’s point of view through the Word and then pursue a relationship, the meal, with the person of Christ, the living Word then will intersect with the written Word so that you have an experience with the Word and not merely knowledge of the Word. Did you know you can learn the Bible and be in darkness? You can memorize Scripture and it not work because the Scripture didn’t lead you to the relationship. What God is inviting you to is that. He says, «I want you to read about me in my Word upfront. I want you to do it first, but then I don’t want you to be satisfied simply with what the Bible says. I want what the Bible says to cause you to pursue a relationship with me. And if you will pursue a relationship with me based on what the Bible says, you will discover I am what my profile declared me to be, and you will experience heaven open, and you will see God face-to-face for yourself».

He wants to bring you into an experience with him. In other words, when Jesus was on the road to Emmaus, with the two disciples, he says that «the law and the prophets, the Old Testament, spoke of me». So the whole point of the Bible is to lead you to a person. 1 Thessalonians 2, verses 13 and 14, says that «when you take the Word and you act on the Word while pursuing a relationship, the Word will perform inside of you. It will begin to be activated». So what am I saying? I’m saying two things must happen. For you to see heaven open and see the day star, Jesus Christ, become alive inside of you, you must start with what he has written, the written Word, but then you must pursue a relationship, the living Word, and when you get what Peter got, the written Word tied to the living Word, heaven begins to open, and you begin to experience the Word in your daily life.

Hebrews, Chapter 4, says that «the Word of God is sharper than any two-edged sword,» and then it comes down in verses 12 to 16, and it says, «Not only is the Bible alive, but the Bible connects with a person, and Jesus is alive». And so he says, «The Bible that’s alive and Jesus that’s alive come together to bring healing and help to your soul». So if you do not pursue a relationship with Jesus Christ personally, the Bible will stay a dead book to you even though it’s a living book. It won’t be alive in you. It’ll just be a bunch of words you read on a daily basis because you’re not pursuing a relationship. The Bible and Christ must cross in order for you to experience heaven open up and the day star rising in your soul. When you in trouble with the law, you don’t just need a law book, you need a «law-yer».

When you’re sick, you don’t just need a medical manual, you need a «doc-tor». When criminals are coming after you, you don’t just need a penal code, you need a «police-man». In other words, you need the visible manifestation of what has been recorded in the document. The Bible is the inerrant Word of God. It records perfectly everything God wants you to know, but having the Bible doesn’t turn what you know and what it says into your experience. In the same way a non-Christian can read John 3:16 and never get saved, a Christian can read what the Bible says and never be changed because the Bible only becomes alive when you act in faith, based on what it says, in pursuit of a relationship with its author. He says in verse 20, «Know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture», he’s talking about the Bible, «is a matter of one’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God». He says, «The Holy Spirit, like wind, blew on the authors of Scripture so they went where he was going».

In other words, they wrote down what he wanted written down. They didn’t come up with their own thoughts, their own ideas, but they wrote as he blew. So as the breath of God blew, they wrote Scripture, using their own style, their own personalities. In fact, sometimes, they didn’t even know what they were writing. Sometimes, they didn’t even understand at the time they were writing. Peter says when he reads Paul, sometime he don’t know what Paul talking about. That’s what Peter says in one of his books: «Paul is often hard to understand». And, Peter, I agree with you 'cause sometime he a little rough to interpret, but they were blown along.

Now, here’s the argument you gonna get. Here’s the argument you gonna get. We’ve all heard it. «Well, I don’t know if I can believe the whole Bible, 'cause it was written by man». You heard that one? «It was written by man, and men are sinful. Men are not perfect. So I don’t know why I can believe a book written by a man,» okay?

So, first of all, it wasn’t written by man 'cause man wanted to write it; it was written by man 'cause the Holy Spirit wanted it written, okay? But watch this: A woman gave birth to Jesus Christ, a woman born in sin like every other person who’s born in sin with the Adamic nature. A woman gave birth. Yet Jesus Christ was sinless. So how could a sinful woman give birth to a sinless child? The Bible says that her egg was fertilized by the seed of the Holy Spirit. So the Holy Spirit’s seed, apart from a man, entered the egg of teenaged girl named Mary. And watch this: And the Holy Spirit covered the conception, the birth, and the life of this child in order to keep sin out while keeping humanity in. In other words, the reason why Jesus was sinless is that the Holy Spirit was involved in the conception.

So the Holy Spirit had the power to keep sin away, which is why we have a sinless Savior. Well, watch this: What the Holy Spirit did for the living Word, he did for the written Word. Even though there was sinful men writing, since the Holy Spirit was the one controlling what was written, he kept sin away from the written Word like he kept it away from the living Word. So both Words are perfect. So anyone who doubts the authenticity and inerrancy of Scripture rejects automatically the perfection of Jesus Christ. You can’t have a perfect Jesus and an imperfect Bible. If you’ve got a imperfect Jesus, you have an imperfect Bible. But if you’ve got a perfect Jesus, by the Holy Spirit you got a perfect Bible by the same Spirit because he kept sin away.

Now, watch this, watch this, watch this: He says that they were born along by the Spirit, and when they were, it wasn’t somebody’s idea, no private interpretation, no cherry-picking. Everything connects with everything else, and that is called God’s revelation leading to God’s inspiration. God reveals and men wrote. Well, God’s not doing any more revelation in that sense. There’s no more Scripture to be recorded. The book of Revelation says, «Any man who adds to this is gonna be cursed. Any man who takes from this is gonna be cursed». In other words, when Revelation was finished, the Bible was finished, okay? But while revelation is finished, in terms of the writing of Scripture, illumination is not. The word «illumination» means to turn the light on. He’s already talked about that, a lamp coming on. So God wants to turn the light on inside of you so that you experience his reality by the same Holy Spirit.

1 Corinthians, Chapter 2, verse 9 through 13, it says that the Holy Spirit takes the written Word in order to turn a light on in your head about what God wants you to do, how God wants you to do it: «Go over here, don’t go over there, connect with this person, don’t connect with that person». The Holy Spirit begins to illuminate the written Word as you pursue a relationship with Jesus so that heaven opens up and talks to you inside your soul. So a lot of us are going outside of our soul for information we already have inside of our soul, if we were that connected to God with the written and the living Word because he gives illumination of the revelation based on the inspiration individually.

And when you watch that Word erupt in your soul, when you start hearing heaven open and God talking to you, guiding you, leading you, correcting you, convicting you, moving you along, and blowing you along, and he becomes real to you, it becomes a sure Word 'cause now you’re not depending on Peter’s word. You got your own Word. A lady’s son got locked up in jail for some crime. He called his mother. He said, «Mama, I need some money, badly».

Mother mailed him a Bible. She said, «Son, pray and read your Bible». He was ticked off. He got on the phone. He said, «Mama, I asked you for some money. You sent me the Bible. I don’t, come on, come on, Ma, come on. I need something practical right now». She said, «Son, all I can tell you is 'Pray and read your Bible.'» So he was mad. He was mad. You know, he called his mother for some money. And, you know, he grew up in church and all that. She sent him a Bible. Finally got out after a year, went back home, hardly wanted to speak to his mother. Said, «Mama, I needed you, I called on you, I told you I needed some money, and you sent me a Bible. I know we raised in church and all that, but right now I needed something practical, and you did not meet my needs».

She said, «Son, did you pray and read your Bible»? He said, «Yeah, I prayed and read my Bible, but I needed some money». She said, «Where’s your Bible»? She gave him the Bible. At the front of all 66 books was a hundred dollar bill. He ain’t read nothing. He ain’t read nothing. He had a Bible, but he didn’t use the Bible. So he didn’t get the value that was inside of the Bible. You may have a Bible, but the question is did you get the value inside of the Bible because you took time to be with the Word of God and with the living Christ operating within your soul?