JESUS ONLY

You're still thinking of yourself as a strong disciple and you're impatient with these so-called Christians who aren't serious. But in the temple of your own heart it is no longer Jesus alone on the throne, ruling without rival. It's Jesus side-by-side with your pet doctrine. Jesus side-by-side with your favorite thing about the Holy Spirit. Jesus side-by-side with your advanced view of the church. It might even be Jesus side-by-side with your wife and kids, or your reputation or your bankbook. And when you have Jesus side-by-side with something else, you don't really have Jesus at all. you have an idol, an image, an idea, a memory of Jesus.... not the real, living, blazing, glorious Son of God. Because Jesus does not stay in the throne room of any heart unless he occupies the throne alone.

This is why so many churchmen who know so much about so many things are so hopelessly ignorant of the one thing that matters: Jesus himself. Jesus is not on the throne within them. They have his picture hanging on a wall... they have his statue standing in a corner. But the living Christ they do not know...they have too many other things on their minds.

"I am the Lord, that is my name; my glory I give to no other. Nor my praise to graven images." Isaiah 42:8

When we talk about Jesus we're not talking about a mere prophet. We are not talking about some genius among men. We're talking about God the Son in human flesh, by whom the worlds were made.... the Holy One. You don't put him side-by-side with anyone. He is above all. If the Son of God is going to sit on the throne of your heart and stay there, you don't make him take turns with other things that are precious to you. You don't put two or three idols up there with him. It's Jesus only, or no Jesus at all.