Dear Bro. John:
Thank you for sending your 1993 sermon “Destruction by Redefinition“ (and thanks to Amy B. for typing it for us). It blessed me again to realize that Jesus has saved us from so many of Christianity’s snares and opened our eyes to the truth, and that we believe and understand what he has given to us thus far. There was a lot to take in and so many good parts in the reading. I just wanted to share a small part that touched me:
And when Jesus came on Peter’s boat, he said, “Depart from me Lord, I’m an unclean man. I’m unfit for you to be here.” That’s the kind of person Jesus was looking for, because he knew that Peter was unfit for him to be there. This whole world wasn’t fit for Jesus to come to. He was too good for the whole place. He was looking for someone else who knew that. And every person that would come to Jesus and say, “I’m not worthy for you to be here”, was blessed by God. They were confessing the truth.
When the Centurion heard that Jesus was on his way to heal his son, he sent a servant and said, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you under my roof. Just say the word and my servant will be healed.” Jesus looked around at those following him and said, “I haven’t seen this kind of faith in all Israel. That’s the kind of faith I’m looking for. Go tell that man his son is healed.” But they didn’t have to go down there and tell him, his son was healed when Jesus said it. When they got there, he told them his son was healed! They got to figuring on the times, and figured out the young man was healed at the same time Jesus said he was. That’s what Jesus is looking for – for somebody who feels unworthy of him. That’s somebody God has spoken to. When God speaks to you, you find out you’re not worthy of Jesus.
My, my! If we come into His Presence with just that one thought – that we are unworthy of him. There is no room for pride in a heart that truly believes this. For him to visit us is such an honor and privilege. What I am feeling right now makes me want to crawl into our meetings.
I was so very thankful for the “moment” Jesus shared with me Wednesday night. I needed to feel the refreshing of the Spirit, to feel that thankfulness to be able to lift my hands in praise and feel the Spirit just flowing. As I listened to the words of Bro. Darren’s song, they were like “scrubbing bubbles” to my soul. It was like I was listening to the story of a rich man and realizing I was the rich man! I was unworthy, but Jesus knew what I needed – Him! I was thinking today how the flesh doesn’t want to “get past” what happened yesterday, to just let go of it all so that we can have our sweet moments with Jesus. Then, I thought of how Jesus left everything good with his Father to come to this world of woe so that we might know that “glorious good” they shared. Jesus had nothing to let go of but good – his life was perfect. But, he did that for us. Yes, we are unworthy of such love. How precious is our Savior!
So thankful for what you sent out today. Sorry for the length of this email, but I had to share just a little bit of how blessed I felt after reading your sermon.
Sandy
P.S. I do believe Bro. Darren’s song, “It’s Another One” may sum up the 1993 sermon. 🙂