No More Hot Dogs — E.A. Johnston

Christ Shining Through the Believer

There was a minister, who went to the Alps for a time of refreshing from the Lord. My friends, we must all, like Jacob, have our Bethels, where we meet our God. And this man was eager to see Mont Blanc, which means White Mountain.

It's the highest mountain in the Alps. And for the first two days the great mountain was hidden by thick mist, which almost refused to leave. Each time this man came out of his room and went down to the lobby and looked out the window of the hotel, he was disappointed.

But finally, the next morning, as the sun shone brightly outside, he had his first glimpse of that magnificent monarch of a white mountain, as every vestige of mist had now parted. And in all its regalia there stood Mont Blanc, majestically from its base to its snow-clad peak.

Now, if I may so speak, that's what God intends for each of us who are his children. That Christ should shine through clearly in our everyday lives. That the mist of the veil of our self-life must fall away to reveal Christ in all his regalia as the monarch of our life, like the Apostle Paul declared in Galatians 1 .16, to reveal his Son in me.

You know, friends, a filet mignon tastes pretty good when you've been living on hot dogs. Have you been living on hot dogs, friend, in your spiritual life? You may even be the pastor of a church, and you long for your people to see Jesus shine through your life and ministry.

But some clouds, some mists have been blocking that sighting. Every Sunday you get up there with your carefully prepared message, and afterwards folks grab your hand and smile and tell you how much they enjoyed it.

But inside you were dying because you didn't want them to enjoy the message, but to be transformed by it. Or rather, transformed by the Christ in the message. Somehow, Christ is veiled by the mist of something in your life that's keeping him hidden.

I believe it's a pretty fair assumption to make that many believers today, when it comes to our spiritual life, are more accustomed to living on hot dogs than steak. If you are honest with yourself, your walk with God is more up and down than you'd like, and your intimacy with God lacks the consistency which you desire.

Christ is there, but he is veiled by that mist which holds you back from experiencing the joy of victorious living. And that's the subject of my message today, friends. My message is entitled, No More Hot Dogs.

Genesis 32 and the Call to Transformation

And my text can be found in the book of Genesis. You can turn in your Bibles there now, friends. We will be in chapter 32. To reveal his son and me from Galatians 1 .16 brings to my mind my homiletical mentor, Dr. Stephen Olford, for he was a man who was a living example of that text.

Allow me to explain, friends. Stephen Olford was invited to go preach in a Dallas church, and the pastor of the church had just asked his seminary intern to go to the airport to pick up Dr. Olford. The young intern asked the pastor if he had a photo of Stephen Olford so he would recognize him.

The pastor replied, No need for that. Just go to the airport terminal where the plane from Memphis is, and as the people come down the terminal, just look for a man who has God all over him. The young man did as he was told, and sure enough, as the people came off the flight, he easily picked out Stephen Olford from the crowd.

Dr. Olford was a man like Zacchaeus, little in stature, but he stood out like a great mountain because of Jesus in him. That's why he had such authority in the pulpit and power in his preaching, because Christ shined through the man brilliantly.

So listen to me, dear friend. If you're sick and tired of living on hot dogs, pay attention to this message, which I believe, if you do what is required, it can transform your life forever. In chapter 32, we find a man whose life was transformed forever.

Jacob’s Crisis and the Encounter at Jabbok

Jacob is in the crisis of his life. His brother Esau is riding with 400 men to come get his vengeance upon him, a crooked Jacob who wrangled the birthright from him. Stephen Olford aptly said of Jacob, he was so crooked he could hide behind a corkscrew.

And it's true, Jacob was a conniver, a liar, and a cheat. His up-and-down walk with God is a marvel to behold. No other Bible character represents more fully the conflict between the lower and higher nature than does that of Jacob.

But we see here in chapter 32 the transforming power of an encounter with God in a man's life that forever alters him. I stand amazed at the life of Duncan Campbell, so mightily used of God in the Lewis revival in Scotland in 1949.

It was said at that time that the presence of God saturated the island. People would be drawn out of their homes to the meeting by power greater than them. Many could be found laying on a hillside at 3 a .m. like soldiers wounded in a battle, crying out, What must I do to be saved?

Well, I knew a minister from Scotland who knew Duncan Campbell, and one time I asked this man to describe this remarkable person, Duncan Campbell to me, who was so powerfully used in that revival, and this is what he told me.

He said, Duncan Campbell was an ordinary man who had had an extraordinary experience of God. Now that's what happened to Jacob here in our passage from Genesis 32. Let's look at verses 22 to 24. And he rose up that night, and took his two wives, and his two women servants, and his eleven sons, and passed over the four Jabbok.

And he took them, and sent them over the brook, and sent over that he had. And Jacob was left alone. But let me pause here, friends, to say, Jacob is in a trial so severe it unnerves him. He fears for the life of his family.

He parts with them, parts with his herds, all his servants, all he has. When he first left his father's house, he left with only a staff, but now he has two bands. He previously declares to God, but he has to get alone.

There comes a time in each of our lives when we are ready for a change in our walk with God, and we come to a crisis. We must get alone. We must get alone with our God and do business with him, or we know we are done for.

So here, Jacob in his crisis is alone. Oh, what happens? And there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day, our text says. There is Jacob, the conniver, the cheat, finally cornered in life, and now shut up with God in prayer.

Have we ever come here? Have you ever been here? Have you, friend, ever been here? Finally cornered in life, admitting your shortfalls to the Almighty and seeking Him for a transformation? Have you been here at your own brook Jabbok?

Surrendering the Self-Life to God

Something that J. Sidlo Baxter wrote struck me like a ton of bricks. It describes this process of the self-life going the way of the cross to where we give God, all of us, a complete surrender to take the Christ life for the self-life so Jesus can be revealed more clearly through us.

Sidlo Baxter wrote, Oh, what I give to him, he takes. What he takes, he cleanses. What he cleanses, he fills. And what he fills, he uses. Jacob had come to the end of himself here at Pinell. The angel asked him in verse 27, Oh, what is thy name?

Well, God knew his name was Jacob, but he wanted this man to come clean with him and admit he was a conniver. That's what his name meant, supplanter. Look at verse 28. And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel.

For as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed. For years I preached out of this passage from Genesis 32. And I preached many sermons for the last 20 years about Jacob wrestling with God that night and prevailing.

But I always overlooked something. And that something was central to the text. His name is changed. Yes, we see that. But, oh friends, what transpires in the life of Jacob, from his wrestling with God in prayer, is an end of his self-life.

God is now the center. And what occurs, as a prince, hast thou power with God and with men. That describes Stephen Oford. That sums up Duncan Campbell. And that can be yours, friend, for the taking. It can transform your entire ministry from this point forward.

People will notice the difference because the myths have been drawn back to reveal his son and me. Power with God and men. The Christ life for the self-life. Transformation. Look at the other result as well.

The Mark of a Transforming Encounter

As seen in verse 31. And as he passed over Pine Isle, the sun rose upon him, and he halted upon his thigh. His change left a mark on him. From that point on, every time he took a step, he'd wince in pain from the memory of that night of desperate prayer.

Oh, what cost counts and what counts costs? Have you been here? Have you been here? The sun rose upon him, our text declares. Yes. And when you have your personal crisis, at your personal jabbick, and you give God all you are and all you have to gain the pearl of great price in such a way that he shines forth through you, then the sun, the S-O-N, will rise upon you.

And people, when they look at you, won't see what they've previously seen, which blocked out that sun. But the mists have dissipated, and Christ shines forth like the monarch he is in all power, majesty, and authority.

If you haven't come here, friend, if you've talked about it but held back, now is the time to do business with God. Aren't you tired of living on hot dogs? Go get along with God this evening, and make it a night to remember.

Get with God and get across your Rubicon. Let us pray.