Crossing the Rubicon — E.A. Johnston

The Rubicon as a Picture of Spiritual Decision

Have you ever heard the expression, crossing the Rubicon? The idiom, crossing the Rubicon, means to pass a point of no return. This refers to Julius Caesar's army crossing the Rubicon River in Italy in 49 B .C., which was an act of insurrection.

Caesar declared to his troops, as they crossed over, to die as cast. In other words, there was no turning back. I was reading about an incident in the life of D .O. Moody, where he heard a man say to him, the world has yet to see what God can do, with a man wholly sold out to him.

Moody walked away and muttered beneath his breath, by God's grace, I will be that man. And he became that man. It was a turning point in the life of D .O. Moody. In a sense, he had crossed his own personal Rubicon.

There's another incident in the life of Moody, which involved a medical doctor who went to hear him preach. The doctor's name was Wilford Grenfell. And as he listened to Moody preach, he rose to his feet, declaring he would follow Christ.

Listen to his words. I went out, recalled Grenfell, feeling that I had crossed the Rubicon and must do something to prove it. This man, Wilford Grenfell, gave himself as a medical missionary for the next 20 years in Labrador.

I recall an incident in my own life, which was my personal crossing of the Rubicon. It occurred in the month of December in 2001, right after the 9 -11 attacks by the terrorists. I was attending a Stephen Offord preaching institute in Memphis, Tennessee.

And during that preaching institute, I sat spellbound as I listened to Stephen Offord preach. God was dealing with my heart. God was turning my life upside down by that man's preaching. And when the week was over, I knew I had crossed my own personal Rubicon and there was no turning back.

My life has never been the same since that glorious week where I went on the Out Now for Christ as never before. Let me ask you, friend, have you been there? Not to a Stephen Offord institute, but have you ever been to a place in your walk with God where you crossed over your very own personal Rubicon, where you were so on fire for God, you could not wait to go out and do something about it.

Rekindling a Diminished Passion for Christ

But perhaps later you became discouraged or distracted and things didn't turn out like you planned. Why has your flame gone out? When did the fire die? Why have you somehow adjusted to the ordinary? Listen, dear friend, dear preacher brother, ministry can beat us up and we can face great discouragement and life in general can take a toll on us.

But the fire is still there. You just need to stoke it. It's still lit inside you. It may only be on a slow burn, barely visible, but you can reignite it. You can once again cross your Rubicon for God and go all out for him and his glory.

Remember the story of Elijah and how he repaired the altar of the Lord and the fire from heaven descended and consumed the sacrifice? Well, there was a point in my life, in my walk with God, where I needed to repair the altar of my heart.

My flame for Christ was burning low and I needed to do something about it. I wrestled with God in prayer until I got the fire back and I wrote the following poem about it. Give me a fire, O Lord, give me a fire for thee.

Give me your fire, O Lord, let it burn brightly in me. Give me a fire, O Lord, the wood of my life I give to thee. Consume my ashes, O Lord, and let a revival begin with me. Give me a fire, O Lord, give me a glimpse of hell and eternity.

Make me a fire, O Lord, so my life may be burned out for thee. Give me a fire, O Lord, increase my desire for thee. Make me a flame, O Lord, that draws others to you through me. Oh dear friend, if you are in need of a personal revival and you are willing to admit it, go to your knees and beg God for the grace of repentance, the grace to restore the altar of your heart and re-enter a vital walk with God.

Returning to a Vital Walk Through Prayer and Repentance

God has things he wants to say to you personally, but how can you hear his voice if you are not in a vital walk with him? God is stirring his remnant today to face the upcoming persecutions that will come.

God wants you to be on fire for him in a red-hot love relationship with him. He wants you to be a firebrand for him. Go to your knees and seek him earnestly for he is the rewarder of those who diligently seek him.

Seek his face in holy desperation and ask God to give you a fresh revelation of his glory. God wants to use you in your full potential for Christ, friend. God wants to give you a breakthrough with him if you will only be willing to face him honestly about what is grieving his heart in your life.

Come clean with God and seek his face in utter brokenness over your great departure from him. You know your heart has grown cold towards him. You know you've only been going through the motions in the Christian life and in Christian service.

If you don't know it, he certainly has noticed it. Jesus wonders why you don't want to spend time with him like you used to. Jesus marvels at the sad fact that you love this world more than him. His heart is broken over the fact that you prefer others and other things to occupy your time rather than spend time with your faithful friend.

Perhaps sin has separated you. Perhaps you are in a backslidden state. Turn back to Jesus and ask him for the grace of repentance and restoration. The shepherd would go after a straying sheep and restore it to the fold.

He would dress its wounds and care for it and heal it once again. The great shepherd will do the same for you, friend. Jesus wants to restore you to a close intimate relationship with him once again. Do it, friend.

Don't delay. Ask God now to come again in your life in a fresh way and restore a right relationship to him. God wants to do great things through you. God wants to bestow great blessings upon you. God wants to use and produce much spiritual fruit through you to bring him glory.

Hosea’s Warning Against Spiritual Half-Heartedness

But somehow, somewhere, your flame went out, your love for him decreased, and your love for the world increased. This has grieved the heart of God. Listen to what God told the Jews in the days of the prophet Hosea.

The more they increased, the more they sinned against me. Then the broken heart of God laments, none among them calls upon me. Let me ask you, friend, why has your prayer life become so barren, so infrequent?

There's no sacrifice attending it. God is a God who delights in sacrifice. Here in Hosea, God declares this about his people. None among them calls upon me. He took notice of their lack of prayer. But listen to the great love of God for his strained, disobedient people.

I will heal their backsliding. I will love them freely. God compared the backslidden people of God to a cake, half-baked. I fear many who used to be on the full stretch for God are now only half-baked Christians.

God wants all of you. God wants all of you so he can be all to you. But why is your walk with him so up and down? Where is the intimacy you once shared with him? Why is heaven silent to you? Listen, friend, God doesn't want a divided heart.

He wants all your heart. God doesn't want a half-baked follower with one foot with him and one foot in the world. He must have all of your allegiance. He must have all of you. He gave his all for you.

Full Surrender to the Holy Spirit

I heard a story that a man went to hear Dr. R .A. Torrey preach at the end of his life when Torrey was an old man with a shaky voice. But Torrey had this to say to a group of believers. He said, don't be concerned so much about you getting more of the Holy Spirit as you should be concerned about the Holy Spirit getting more of you.

And that's true, friend. God wants all of us every inch. Give it to him in a full surrender and he will take you by the hand and help you cross your Rubicon for him. In the Gospel of John, chapter 15, it speaks of God's pruning knife in the life of the believer.

Listen to verses one and two. I am the true vine and my father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit, he taketh away. And every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it that it may bring forth more fruit.

The Painful Work of God’s Pruning

The pruning knife of God is painful as it cuts away the dead wood in our lives, but it is necessary, friend. I remember preaching one night to a group of pastors. I had brought with me two men whom I was discipling at the time.

I gave those two men strict instructions that their job was that night while I preached was to sit there in the back of the room and pray, pray that God would be pleased to bless the message and to move hearts.

Well, these two men must have laid hold of God that night because while I was preaching on John, chapter 15, suddenly the faces of the men in that meeting changed. They grew deeply concerned and looked alarmed.

I was preaching on the pruning knife of God in the life of a believer, and there was a solemnity in that room that night. Well, after the meeting, some pastors lined up to speak with me. I recall one man in particular.

He was an older saint. He hugged me and told me, I want you to know I have been preaching for 50 years. But tonight I'm going home. And when I get there, I'm going to kneel by my bed and ask God to get his pruning knife out on me and my ministry.

That man was serious about having a personal revival. Let me ask you, friend, are you willing to ask God to get his pruning knife out on you? Do you want to be more fruitful for him? Seek him earnestly and ask him for the grace to give you a personal revival where your heart is inflamed for him with a red hot love for him, a love for lost souls.

A Prayer for Renewal, Surrender, and Holy Fire

Ask God to give you a fresh vision of eternity. Oh, friend, seek God now and enter into your crossing of your own spiritual Rubicon. Let us pray. Oh, blessed King, oh, Ancient of Days, dear Jesus, stir my heart afresh for Thee.

Do a work in me, oh Lord, and bring me into a deeper relationship with Thee. Forgive me, oh God, for grieving your heart with my rotten sins. Forgive me for my lack of love towards You. Forgive me for replacing You with other things.

Oh, great God, forgive me. Give me the grace to yield to your pruning knife upon my life. Renew in me your presence, oh Lord. By your Holy Spirit, I surrender everything to Thee right now. I stand on your word.

Your word says, return to me and I will return to you. Here I am, Lord Jesus. I give you my all. Touch me, oh Lord, with a fresh fire for Thee. May I go out and be all you desire me to be. May I live the rest of my days on the full stretch for Thee.

Do it, oh Lord, for your kingdom and for your great glory. Amen.