David Wilkerson redefines passion for Christ as far more than tears, emotion, or private devotion. A genuine passion for Jesus can never remain a personal pursuit but must burn with the same intensity for the whole body of Christ. It is proven not by feeling but by humility and total dependence on God.

Preached: November 25, 2001

Main Points:

• Under the Old Covenant, God raised up individuals like Abraham, Noah, and Enoch to pursue him personally because the body of Christ didn't yet exist. Under the New Covenant, a purely private passion is not enough, because we are members of one body, and what happens to one member happens to all.

• Pursuing Christ only so your own family stays blessed, saying "I got mine" while the rest of the church compromises around you, is a trap. That's not biblical passion no matter how sincere it feels, because your sin and your pursuit both ripple through the whole body.

• True passion has almost nothing to do with emotion or forceful preaching. It's impossible to have real passion for Jesus without a walk of obedience. Every tear shed in the secret closet of prayer cannot produce one iota of passion if you refuse to obey what's revealed.

• Jesus rebukes the self-exalted religious leader in Matthew 23 who preaches holiness he doesn't practice himself. David Wilkerson confesses his own struggle with this, admitting his wife has had to catch him inflating numbers about his books and church attendance to impress people.

• Humility is not meekness, self-deprecation, or a long face. It is total dependence on the Lord. Jesus himself modeled this: "I can do nothing of my own self" was not weakness but the very definition of passion, complete reliance on the Father for everything.

• Just as one Christian's bitterness can defile many in the body according to Hebrews 12:15, one obedient, fully dependent Christian can bless and affect many in the body. Passion for Christ pursued rightly becomes contagious rather than isolating.

• This sermon closes by describing what pursuing this kind of passion actually costs: your life becomes a laboratory where God lets you feel pains and burdens that have nothing to do with your own walk, because he's drawing you into ministry to the whole body, not just personal blessing.

https://wcmin.us/SS260823c