REVDANS

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. (Matthew 5:6 NIV)

For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.” (Romans 1:17 NIV)

As a young boy growing up in the church, I often heard sermons on righteousness, translated as righteous behavior and emphasizing the need for me to do right things and live the right way.

I don’t remember this concept being tied to a right relationship with God as thoroughly as I have come to understand that it is. I now understand it in relational terms: how to get right with God (justification), how to stay right with God (sanctification), and how to end right with God (glorification). So when Jesus tells his disciples to hunger and thirst for righteousness, He is encouraging their pursuit of the One who is righteous, who makes righteous, and who enables righteousness.

When the Apostle Paul lays out his premise for his letter to the Romans, he centers it on a righteousness which comes by faith (trust in the Righteous One who enables that righteousness in us). He explains why we are not right with God (chapters 1-3), how we can get right with God (chapters 4-5), how we can stay right with God (chapters 6-8), how God is right in His dealings with Israel and the Gentiles (chapters 9-11), and how being right with God works in our earthly relationships to keep us right with others (chapters 12-16). Now I am sure some might disagree with this simple outline of the book, but my contention still stands that Paul is dealing with rightness in terms of relationships.

One reference work explains it thus: “Furthermore, the Hebrew usage, which influences that of the NT writers, tends to be relational and concrete; one is ‘righteous’ with respect to another human being or to God, in a particular kind of conduct, or in a particular ‘contention’ which has arisen (*e.g. Deut. 6:25; Ps. 106:31; Is. 5:7; Ezek 3:20; Luke 1:6; Rom. 2:13; 1 Pet. 3:10–12).” [From Righteousness, Justice, and Justification, New Dictionary of Biblical Theology]

Those who have joined the band of brothers and sisters in THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE BURNING HEART must learn this. Our burning passion must not become just a quest for knowledge about God, not just a desire to do right things or live a right kind of life. Put in proper perspective these are important. However, our passionate desire must be for God alone, to be right with Him and to stay right with Him. When our relationship with Him is right, these other important matters fall into place. Our other relationships begin to work as God intends, when we are right with Him, and even when they are not working as we wish them to, when we are right with Him, we can do right by others, whether or not they do right by us.

James L. Snyder in his Forward to my edition of The Pursuit of God describes Tozer’s passion: “Tozer’s walk with God was a priority with him and he allowed nothing to interfere. It was the basis of his attraction to the Christian mystics. Their absorption in the daily practice of the presence of God was a stimulus for him and he delighted in their spiritual fellowship. He could forgive anyone almost anything if he discovered they had pure intent toward God.”

He also describes Tozer’s spiritual quest: “Dr. Tozer’s prayer life was quite remarkable. His regular habit was to sprawl on his study floor, facedown, and worship God. Often, according to his own testimony, he would lie in silent, wordless worship of God, usually oblivious to his surroundings. Such prayer and worship marked the foundation of his study and preparation for public ministry.”

Fellow members of TFOTBH, let us make an attempt to keep the vertical relationship right and see how that affects our horizontal relationships. I believe that if we will seek God with all our hearts, not only will He allow us to find Him, but in finding Him, we find all that we need in every area of life. It certainly deserves our best effort.

The Fellowship of the Burning Heart

In J. J. R. Tolkien’s trilogy, The Lord of the Rings, the fellowship of the ring was the name given to an odd group of seeming misfits on a quest that would both define their lives and bind them together in a journey of incredible challenges toward the ultimate goal of saving their world.

The fellowship of the burning heart should become such a band. A ragtag band we might seem, but the shared goal of knowing God supremely, intimately, and personally binds us together and thrusts us against the obstacles and challenges before us to press on in the pursuit, knowing that life and death issues are at stake, both for us and those around us. As the members of the fellowship of the ring learned that they needed each other to accomplish their task and achieve their goal, so those in the fellowship of the burning heart recognize their need for each other as well.

Hebrews puts it this way: And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. (10:24-25 NIV)

Those in our fellowship recognize that knowing God goes well beyond possessing certain factual information about Him. We know that information is important, but the crucial element is how that information is allowed to penetrate our thinking, attitudes and actions and to thrust us into the very presence of the living God, where we encounter Him and experience a relationship with Him that is life-changing.

John Wesley had such an experience at Aldersgate. He said of that experience that he felt his heart strangely warmed. He too was a member of the fellowship of the burning heart, and that experience filled him with a confidence in the faith that proved unshakeable, a passion that burned hot with zealous holiness, and a boldness that shook a nation and a world in crisis. His accomplices, such as George Whitefield, his brother, Charles, and others, stood with him to encourage and spur him on.

A DAY is approaching indeed. The Bible refers to it as a day of wrath, the day of His appearing, the day of judgment, the day of the LORD, the day of God’s wrath, the day of our Lord Jesus Christ, the day of redemption, and the day of evil. NOW is the day of salvation. It is imperative that we stand together “as we see the Day approaching”, knowing that “our redemption draweth nigh.”

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. (Matthew 5:6 NIV)

The Pursuit of God was first published in 1948 and has, in the last 65 years, become a classic work in the aid of spiritual formation. This year I plan to explore the book online and attempt to encourage, challenge, and provoke myself and others to pursue, passionately and persistently, a deeper relationship with God – what the Bible encourages us to do in Hebrews 10:24 (ESV): “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works,….”

Please understand: I do not intend to give a book report. Nor will I be providing a summary of the book’s message. Rather, I intend to use the book as a catalyst for our own thinking, meditation and musings on the pursuit of God. If you intend to follow this blog, I would encourage you to obtain a copy of Tozer’s book (print or electronic version) and read it for yourself. And if, perchance, you decide to use the book in a group study of some type, you should also pick up a copy of the study guide for the book to aid you. I will draw upon both of those resources, but have no intention of supplanting their use. If you choose not to read the book, you may still benefit from our discussions here. But it is a small book and not intimidating at all.

I intend to foster what Tozer called ” the fellowship of the burning heart.” I am reminded of the words of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus after their encounter with the risen Christ:

Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures? (Luke 24:32 ESV)

I hope you are considering making a commitment to the fellowship of the burning heart. There is no greater quest nor more promising life than this one.

And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. ( John 17:3 ESV)

Bibliography
Tozer, A. W., 1897-1963
The Pursuit of God/A. W. Tozer
ISBN: 978-1-60066-015-3

Graf, Jonathan L., 1957-
The Pursuit of God Study Guide/Jonathan L. Graf
ISBN: 978-1-60066-052-8