Revelation: When God Speaks

The Scriptures in light of the Cross With the blogosphere alive with the talk of the gifts of the Spirit and their existence or non-existence today, I’d like to discuss a sticking point that has long dogged the issue of modern day charismata: revelation.

Revelation scares people. God does not open His mouth and speak without major consequences. Revelation bothers many non-charismatics because the idea of God speaking to people today seems to butt up against the closed canon of Scripture; if God still speaks, should we not be writing down what He says? The Book of Revelation ends with a serious warning that whoever adds or subtracts from the Book will face dire consequences, right?

In the Book of Romans we read early on:

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.” For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.
—Romans 1:16-20 ESV

Revelation of God has come through the created order. What God has made speaks to us about who He is and what His character is like. What God has made testifies about Him:

The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard. Their measuring line goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them he has set a tent for the sun, which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber, and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy.
—Psalms 19:1-5 ESV

This kind of revelation is referred to as General Revelation. It is God revealed through what has been made. This is the basis of the argument for Intelligent Design now being bandied about in scientific circles. It is also the revelation that speaks to us when we are out and about in the daily course of our lives on this third planet from the sun. For people who thoughtfully consider what God has put around us, His General Revelation can powerfully speak to the soul. Consider this hymn, a favorite of many:

O Lord my God, When I in awesome wonder,
Consider all the worlds Thy Hands have made;
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,
Thy power throughout the universe displayed.
CHORUS
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art!
When through the woods, and forest glades I wander,
And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees.
When I look down, from lofty mountain grandeur
And see the brook, and feel the gentle breeze. CHORUS
And when I think, that God, His Son not sparing;
Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in;
That on the Cross, my burden gladly bearing,
He bled and died to take away my sin. CHORUS
When Christ shall come, with shout of acclamation,
And take me home, what joy shall fill my heart.
Then I shall bow, in humble adoration,
And then proclaim: “My God, how great Thou art!” CHORUS

“How Great Thou Art” begins with the acknowledgment of God revealed through General Revelation, then moves on to another kind of revelation, Special Revelation.

Think of Special Revelation as an autobiography of a craftsman. It’s an in-depth portrayal of a person. General Revelation is more like a photo of the craftsman’s workshop. We can deduce things about the craftsman by seeing his workshop, but we do not know anything in detail about him, only what he has made and the level to which he has made it.

For Christians, the Bible is Special Revelation of God. It speaks in detail concerning the history of our Triune God in reality and tells us details of His character. Special Revelation, therefore, is intimate in a way that General Revelation cannot be. It details who God is, how He is, and what He desires. General Revelation attests that He is and that He is awesome, but can tell us little more than that. Unlike Special Revelation, General Revelation cannot tell us what pleases God or how we can be found acceptable to Him. This is what makes Special Revelation essential. It can tell us how to be restored to God and how to please Him. It is God Himself speaking directly to Man—out of God’s mouth to our ears, preserved in print for all eternity. It is the essence of what all men need to know.

The Bible’s place as Special Revelation is universally true, therefore. It is Universal Special Revelation in that it speaks to all men at all times in all places for a general purpose. Because the Bible is given to Man as a Universal Revelation, its authority is grounded in God and has no exceptions, therefore, to whom it applies. For this reason, its authority cannot be abrogated. General Revelation cannot trump it. Instead, that revelation is subordinate to the Universal Special Revelation found in the Scriptures. The Scriptures illumine General Revelation and not the other way around.

Now I believe that there is one other kind of Special Revelation, and this is the part that becomes contentious. I’ve blogged about this before (and I would encourage everyone to read the post), but I believe that God speaks uniquely to specific men in specific times in specific places for a specific purpose. An example of this is in Acts:

Now there were in the church at Antioch prophets and teachers, Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen a member of the court of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off. So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus.
—Acts 13:1-4 ESV

Notice how the Holy Spirit operates here. He specifically called two people out of a specific congregation for his specific pupose. It was a Unique Special Revelation of God meant for that time, that place, those two believers, for one unique mission.

This idea of a Unique Special Revelation of God is what many non-charismatics object to within the charismatic movement. At issue is the idea that Unique Special Revelation somehow fights Universal Special Revelation for authority.

But as I’ve said, something that speaks to all men in all places at all times must be the final authority by nature of its universalism. Unique Special Revelation is not meant to speak to all men in all times in all places for general purpose.

Think of it this way. Many businesses have detailed vision and mission statements that the boss has handed down to employees and that serve as a template for all things done within the company. Those statements are a universal special revelation to the people who work for that boss. But should the boss come to a specific employee and say, “Johnson, I need you to fly out to Dallas and negotiate a deal with Franklin Heavy Industries,” the boss’s request is meant to further the vision and mission statements of the company so that the company prospers. The request is in keeping with the universal special revelation, but is in itself a unique special revelation. The rest of the employees of that company do not need to know that Johnson is on his way to Dallas. If they keep working in line with the vision and mission statements of the company, what Johnson is doing no way interferes with the common goal, but helps accomplish it. Nor are the bosses words to Johnson added to the vision and mission statement of the company.

In the case of the Acts 13 passage above, the Holy Spirit is going to the body of believers gathered at Antioch and nowhere else. That makes the message specific to a single gathering. In His words, he selects two believers from the crowd. There, too, is specificity, as is the mission itself: to go to Cyprus and beyond.

We see this same kind of Unique Special Revelation in Acts 16:

And they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. And when they had come up to Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them. So, passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas. And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing there, urging him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.”
—Acts 16:6-9 ESV

The Holy Spirit forbade the apostles from going into Asia. Whether this was by His words or by His setting up a roadblock, either way the point was made and a unique revelation of God’s specific purposes was achieved. Later on, the Holy Spirit again speaks to Paul via a Unique Special Revelation by giving him a vision of the Macedonian man praying. Notice that this was NOT a Universal Special Revelation in that God was not asking the entire Body of Believers at that point to move to Macedonia and start an evangelistic crusade! No, the Lord was directing Paul and his companions alone to do that specific work within the universal call to make disciples of all nations.

Again, all of the Unique Special Revelations listed in Acts exist to uphold the truth given within Universal Special Revelation. The Universal Special Revelation is the final authority over Unique Special Revelation.

A few more thoughts on this…

Not every word that God spoke is recorded, nor are all His actions. The book of John ends this way:

Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.
—John 21:25 ESV

Jesus lived for thirty-three years, but the Gospels do not record every word He spoke in His entire existence on this planet. I, for one, would have loved to have heard the conversations He had with His parents in His youth. Wouldn’t those be fascinating and helpful for parents? Or what did He talk about with His disciples in those three years of nights around a campfire? We don’t hear all those. We are not privy to all His prayers. The differences between the Gospel of John and the three Synoptic Gospels are profound enough so that it is clear that not everything that Jesus said made it into the Bible. But God preserved what He wanted preserved in the Scriptures. What He felt was essential to Universal Special Revelation is in there. The canon is special for that reason.

What is even less recorded in the Scriptures is Unique Special Revelation. We know from the examples given in Acts that it certainly exists. I believe the very reason why these Unique Special Revelations are recorded in our Universal Special Revelation goes beyond the historical nature of Acts and into the very nature of Unique Special Revelation itself. God wants us to know that it exists and that He speaks that way.

What I do not believe is that each of those Unique Special Revelations must be known in order for the Body of Christ as a whole to operate. This is the reason that I have no problem not equating them with Universal Special Revelation. Those specific words are not essential for all of us to know, either in the days of the first century Church or the church of the 21st century. Their very specificity does not make them candidates for inclusion in Universal Special Revelation.

Although Paul clearly advocates revelatory speech through the charismatic gifts of words of knowledge, words of wisdom, words of prophecy, and the interpretation of tongues, God did not elect for Paul to record every single one of those Unique Special Revelations in His Universal Special Revelation. Yet the very fact that Unique Special Revelation does exist and that it is a means by which God works His specific will through specific people in specific times and specific places is important. For instance, Martin Luther’s 95 Theses pounded to the front door of the Wittenburg church was the result of God speaking to Luther and then to the people around him via the Unique Special Revelation granted him by the Holy Spirit, the one who grabbed hold of the reformer and used him for His unique purpose.

When a preacher expounds on the Universal Special Revelation via his sermon on Sunday, how can we not see that the Lord has ignited those words by means of Unique Special Revelation given to that preacher? What is the Unction of the Holy Spirit other than the Spirit speaking to a man in a given time to a given people for a given purpose?

I do not believe it is possible for the Church to exist without Unique Special Revelation. Just as Paul and his troupe were led to a man praying in Macedonia for a revelation of God to him and his people, so missionaries are called to specific groups of lost people around the world through the prompting of the Holy Spirit. When a missionary says that she has a heart for a certain people group, is that not a Unique Special Revelation given her by the Holy Spirit?

I believe we do an injustice to the Holy Spirit when we claim that Unique Special Revelation does not exist anymore. But I also believe that we grieve the Spirit when we try to manufacture Unique Special Revelation or fail to test any revelations we receive. This is clearly a mistake on the part of charismatics and non-charismatics have every right to call charismatics to task for this abuse. On the other hand, non-charismatics need to tread lightly when it comes to insisting that Unique Special Revelation does not exist. It certainly existed as recorded historically in the Universal Special Revelation of the Bible! Given its function, there is no reason to believe that God no longer wishes to direct His people in the same manner today that he did then. Nor do I see any proof that this kind of Unique Special Revelation has ceased. If it has, then no preacher should ever preach on the Scriptures, only read them to the congregation without any additional insights because those insights are no longer given by the Holy Spirit to a specific people in a specific time and place. Nor should he ever advise anyone in any specific instance of direction because all such direction has ceased.

I believe that Jesus chose these words very carefully:

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.
—John 10:27 ESV

Notice that He does not say that His sheep hear His words. It is the voice that matters. A voice speaks and continues to speak, whereas words are spoken once. And so the Spirit of the Lord Jesus speaks to us today. Discernment is therefore called for since there are other voices speaking that are not of God. However, the existence of those voices does not negate the existence of the One Voice, the Unique Special Revelation of God that His people are called to follow. The Shepherd is still speaking and we must obey.

The Lord either leads by His Spirit today or He does not. Based upon all the Scriptural evidence, God still speaks through Unique Special Revelation. I just pray that we are both open and discerning enough to hear Him and act on His direction.

The American Church’s Five Most Pressing Needs

The Cross If you haven’t already noticed, this blog is about the Church, especially the American variant. In my search for an authentic 1st century faith in a 21st century framework, I’ve come to the conclusion that there are about two dozen ways in which American churches have gone off the path. For anyone new here, this blog isn’t about complaining about the problems; it exists to galvanize believers into action to remedy those shortcomings.

Over the years, folks have asked me many times what I think are the most pressing of those two dozen problems that are afflicting today’s Church in America. Rather than go into detail about all of them, I’ll list the five I believe are key:

5. We need to “de-materialize.”

No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.
—Matthew 6:24 ESV
As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.
—Matthew 13:22 ESV
And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.
—Luke 12:16-21 ESV

If there’s a sign of the times in the Church today, it’s that we’re possessed by things. Our desire is for what worm, moth, and rust destroy and not for what is eternal. This is the great deception of the Enemy that we should trade eternal riches for earthly ones. The Church in America is caught up in the materialism of an age that cries, “More!” Rather than simplifying our lives, we clutter them. Death purges all materialism; everyone dies a pauper in the eyes of God save for the ones who abide in Christ and gain His riches forever.

4. To be real disciples, we need to abide in Christ.

Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”
—Luke 10:38-42 ESV
Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love.
—John 15:4-9 ESV

The Church in America is troubled by many things that have little eternal value. We get caught up in quibbles and quandaries when we should be caught up in dwelling at the feet of Jesus. What draws us away from real discipleship is our desire to explore the boundaries rather than staying near the Master. This means that no deviation from the words of Christ is allowed, nor should we allow those words to be perverted by those who seek to corrupt them. We need only one thing in our lives: to abide in Christ.

3. We need to put into practice what the Lord has taught us.

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing. If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.
—James 1:22-27 ESV
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
—Matthew 28:19-20 ESV
Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing. We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves. And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil. Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
—1 Thessalonians 5:11-23 ESV
Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’
—Matthew 25:37-40 ESV
For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.
—Hebrews 5:12-14 ESV

Why do we need the basics taught to us over and over again? Because we are not putting those basics into practice. The reason we’re not moving on in maturity and taking America for Christ is that our outward service isn’t growing with what we know. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up, and love is what drives us to put our faith into action—love for the Lord and for those who so desperately need Him. And who is it that loves the Lord? The one who has His commandments and keeps them.

2. We need to develop a true Christian counterculture that questions all worldly systems and seeks to live outside them.

To what then shall I compare the people of this generation, and what are they like? They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another, “‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not weep.’ For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is justified by all her children.
—Luke 7:31-35 ESV
See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.
—Colossians 2:8 ESV
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
—Romans 12:2 ESV

When the world sings, why is it that most Christians dance to the tune? Why do we so easily conform to the culture around us without asking if the very culture itself is bankrupt? Christians blindly follow far too many systems that have their origins outside the perfection of Christ’s wisdom. Certainly, we question the blatantly antichrist ideas that infuse the modern world, but only if they don’t benefit us. Far too often do we assent to ways of living simply because we’ve been too lazy to discern their deadly outcomes or we’re too comfortable with what they provide—even if what those systems provide isn’t as good for us as what Christ has purchased. Living counterculturally forces our dependence off of ourselves and onto the Lord and the community of Faith He has created for His good purpose.

1. We need to return the cross to its central place in the message of salvation.

For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.
—1 Corinthians 2:2 ESV
For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
—1 Corinthians 1:17-18 ESV
I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
—Galatians 2:20 ESV

Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
—Matthew 16:24-25 ESV

Many of our churches no longer preach the cross. The cross demands too much for the majority of people, so they bypass it altogether. As a result, we have too many fleshly, half-baked disciples who may be deceiving themselves as to the truth of their actual conversion. What could be more deceptive than to believe that Jesus is ours without a trip to Gethsemane? Only by that journey can we take that next step in making our calling and election sure. Preachers who do not preach the cross are not preaching the Gospel. If they were, we’d have a whole lot fewer megachurches and a whole lot more folks who have died to the world and are now doing great things for the King and His Kingdom.

As I see it, if we address these five needs on the Church today, we’ll be living out exactly what the Lord desires of us.

Disagree? Are there other priorities you would substitute? Drop a comment below and let me know what you think.

On Disappointment

I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD
In the land of the living.
Wait for the LORD;
Be strong and let your heart take courage;
Yes, wait for the LORD.
—Psalms 27:13-14 NASB

Disappointed
— 36,600,000 occurrences on Google

Disappointment is always lurking. Due to astonishing similarities to an existing series of books by a bestselling novelist (who was a complete unknown to me just a few weeks ago), my novel and the series that I hoped would spring from it may be dead. At the advice of another author who was familiar with that other novelist's recently published trilogy, Faceplant I read those books. Having finished them this last Sunday, I sit here now and wonder how it is possible.

It wasn't too long ago that I landed my dream job at Apple Computer bashing Windows and the PCs that ran it. Newly married, I was on top of the world. We moved cross-country, thrilling to the hope held out before us. However, less than six months later my department was disbanded and we were stuck in Silicon Valley, a place where "it's all about who you know," without knowing anyone.

My mother was a "mom's Mom" in every sense of the word. And though she worked with young children every day, she had no grandchildren. How excited we were to learn of our pregnancy just days before we flew back to Cincinnati to stay with my folks for Christmas. There was even talk of moving back to be near the soon-to-be grandparents. Two months later, Mom was diagnosed with brain cancer. We moved back to Cincinnati, and I was fortunate to find a great job. My Dad died a couple weeks before the Christmas that followed the joyous one just a year before; Mom followed just over three months later. My exciting new company started having money trouble in the wake of the looming Internet bust and the layoffs came. My wife kept her good job, but we had a new baby and Dad's estate was troubling, so I stayed home to try to solve all the issues of losing both parents in rapid succession. We moved into our first home just a few months later—and then my wife was laid off, too. New house, new child, no parents, no income.

And so it goes.

In the last ten years I've stared in the face of more disappointments than I can remember. After a while you take a look at your list of goals in life and ask, "What was I thinking?" And while that's not the commonly accepted Christian response to goal-setting—at least from what all the bestsellers on the Christian bookstore shelves say—it may be closer to the truth than some wish to admit.

When the Tower of Siloam fell on eighteen hapless residents of long-ago Palestine, Jesus wasn't trapped by the question of the source for their rotten sense of timing and luck, He simply said, "…unless you repent, you will all likewise perish." He had a much different perspective, didn't He?

For centuries people have made the Bible into a talisman for good fortune. Entire theologies are woven around what God is mandated to give us if we apply the right alchemy of verses to our woeful situations. Yet who claims to force the hand of the Almighty? Who is that prideful? Well, Lucifer comes to mind….

What no one asks is if it's okay to pray what David prayed in Psalm 27. He said, "Lord, without the assurance of goodness provided to me in the here and now, I'm ruined!" God never intended for us to go through life without goodness evident this side of Heaven.

Now this is not prosperity thinking. You won't see any links to Rod Parsley on Cerulean Sanctum. But isn't the status quo, either.

I believe that we as a Church need a readjustment. Our idea of goodness is possessing every glossy item featured in the latest Neiman-Marcus catalog, plus a few from Family Christian Stores. We've let America infest our idea of what is good. In many ways, we've traded in a few of our "worldly" trinkets for "approved and redeemed Christian" versions. (A step down if you ask me.)

When we die in real life, what do we take with us? Nothing. But what about when we die at the foot of the cross? The answer's the same. Yet the problem with so many of us American Christians is we aren't fully ready to leave it all at the foot of the cross. And since we aren't, we never fully appreciate what the Father gives us in exchange for all the junk we lug around.

And what does the Father give us at the cross? Jesus.

Folks, do we want Him? Or will we cling to what is ephemeral, what is gone with one pink slip, heart attack, fire, or theft.

The goodness David waited upon, the anchor to goodness that held him, was the Lord Himself. There is no disappointment in the Father for in His right hand are pleasures forever (Psalm 16:11.) And we know who sits in that strong right hand.

When we know Jesus Christ and are known by Him, how can we be disappointed?

A hymn says it all:

I'd rather have Jesus than silver or gold;
I'd rather be His than have riches untold;
I'd rather have Jesus than houses or lands;
I'd rather be led by His nail-pierced hand
Than to be the king of a vast domain,
Or be held in sin's dread sway;
I'd rather have Jesus than anything This world affords today.
I'd rather have Jesus than men's applause;
I'd rather be faithful to His dear cause;
I'd rather have Jesus than worldwide fame;
I'd rather be true to His holy name
He's fairer than lilies of rarest bloom;
He's sweeter than honey from out the comb;
He's all that my hungering spirit needs;
I'd rather have Jesus and let Him lead

Beloved, never be disapponted that Jesus is all you ultimately have.