16. He Calls Me by Name

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The opposition against Jesus began in Chapter 1 – His own did not receive Him – and will continue until His death. Yet, that same opposition has continued until our day, coming out from the leaders of the Church against the things Jesus actually says all through John’s gospel. Four terms, God, man, Christ, and salvation, are wrongly defined and then those false definitions are forced upon every Bible passage, driving Jesus far away from a believer and chopping up the verses into unrelated ideas.

For starters, let me include the first text of the Jesus Secret page, which I had already written.

From Conception to the Way. John writes to answer the questions of what life is and how we obtain it. In Chapter 7, John seems to have brought his first thread of thought to a completion, from being conceived of God to rivers of Spirit flowing out, that is, the source and generation of life.

But now in Chapter 10, John seems to begin again with a slightly different approach to this overall topic of LIFE. This time, he develops the Way through which we are led to life. John will continue with the weaving together of Word and Spirit as before, but now he also brings in the press against that Way, that is, the world on one side, and loving your brother on the other.

Life as the Way. Now, I am just overwhelmed as I see Jesus’ intention towards us as I felt to work with Chapters 10 and 11 together. I can see already that I need a “Jesus Secret” box at the end of the page for Chapter 11, “I Will Never Die.” This box will contain a very intense interchange between Jesus and us. And it is this very intense interchange between Jesus and each one of us, out from John’s gospel, that the splitters-apart and the mis-definers wish to eliminate.

Further evidence that John has switched, now, to LIFE as the Way is that it is here in Chapter 10 that he introduces that phrase, tithemi psuche, that will become the most demanding line in the ten ruling “verses.” – And we also.

Always Personal. Now, Chapter 10 has more statements of faith and less space on the page than Chapter 11, and so we will consider both pages together as we lay out the boxes. Notice, of course, that this page is titled “He calls me by name,” and in the next Chapter, Jesus says, “LAZARUS, come forth.” Jesus is always personal, and thus the two chapters are meant to be together in John’s mind.

Now, the central word of Chapter 10 is this. – Jesus KNOWS me, and I KNOW Him. Yet this knowing is first personal, and thus “He calls me by name” is the right opening line of the WAY to Life.

Devoted for Himself. Before we can know what our topics might be or how much room on the page we have, we must first enflow all the statements of faith together. And already my breath is taken away, for even in this introduction to setting forth our souls for one another, John inserts the word “devote” into the story-line. – Him whom the Father devoted [for Himself] and sent into the world.

And now I see the whole picture and I bow my head in worship. I know even more that what I have been teaching you is the truth.

The Enflowing of Word. I hear Jesus’ voice, and He calls me by name. Jesus calls me by my name! Jesus is the only Way in which I walk. Jesus alone is the Door through which I enter; I enter into all that is Christ. Jesus goes before me; I perceive His voice, and I follow Him. Jesus leads me out into all abundance. I flee from any stranger, for I do not recognize the voice. I am always entering into God through the Doorway of Jesus, and I am safe. I am safe, and I am always increasing with abundance of life. I possess life, abundantly and beyond all expectation.

Jesus is my good Shepherd; He sets forth His soul just for me. Jesus knows me, and I know Him. – Jesus KNOWS me, and I KNOW Him. I am Jesus’ sheep. I hear His voice. Jesus knows me, and I follow Him. I am a member of one flock led by one Shepherd. Jesus gives me age-unfolding life, and I will never perish. No one can take me out from Jesus’ hand. The Father has given me to Jesus, and no one can take me out from the Father’s hand. I am seized in His grip.

The Father and I are one. I am a judge, made just like God. The Father devotes me to Himself before He sends me anywhere. I do the works of my Father; my works testify that I come out from God. I know that the Father is inside of Jesus inside of me and that I am inside of Jesus inside of the Father.

Two Threads. I see two major threads in these lines, but I was unable to separate them in this enflowing of Word. Those two threads are “Personal Intimacy, and “The Voice in the Way.” “Abundance of Life” is mentioned, but that topic fits with the later page titled “I Bear Much Fruit.”

Personal intimacy is Covenant; the Voice in the Way is Kingdom. Personal intimacy is where we live; the Voice in the Way is how we walk. Personal intimacy always comes first; following Jesus comes only out from there.

Three Beginnings. We see that there are three beginnings in this passage. There is a pointing towards completion hinted at with each of these three, but completion is not the present topic.

The first beginning is in our human lives, that moment when we first hear Jesus calling our name. The second beginning is the beginning of the Way in which we are led, and that is Jesus setting forth His soul just for me. But the third beginning mentioned is the first beginning for real, though we knew nothing about it far into the Way. And that first beginning is the Father devoting us to Himself before He ever gives us to Jesus or sends us in the Way.

My Definition of God. Let’s keep these beginnings in the order in which we find them in John 10, for this is God’s way, to place the first last and to place the last first. Hearing Jesus call our name is the last beginning in reality, but the first in our experience of knowing.

Now, I have talked a lot about ruling verses giving to us the underlying definitions of all reality, and I have set out clearly my goal towards all who read and that is to change your definition of God. I must say, then, that a large part of my definition of God comes out from one line – He calls his own sheep by name.

Being an Offense. I lived for years under the false “cross,” a “cross” of violence, a “cross” that never allowed me in, but always kept me out, a “cross” that required me to CEASE, a “cross” that found Daniel David Yordy to be an offense. Yet these same messengers presented me with a “God” who was not Father and a “Christ” who was not Jesus. Eliminating Daniel Yordy and eliminating Jesus and eliminating the knowledge of the Father are not the work of the cross, but the work of a rabid ruler of demons.

The most precious word I have ever heard is that JESUS Himself comes into union with ME, Daniel Yordy, and takes ME, in all that I am, entirely into Himself.

Distinct Persons. The Cross is the Doorway into all that is Jesus inside of God. The Cross is me running ever into Him and never anywhere else.

How could I honor you if you were not a distinct person of great respect? How could you honor me if I were not a distinct person of great respect? You see, every part of the false is an arrogance inward and a contempt outward. The false is NOTHING else. Just take a pin and puncture the bubble of someone who exudes in “oneness,” and you will discover there is no “oneness” at all and never was.

Jesus Knows Me! The Way begins in our own lives with personal intimacy. I call Jesus by name; He calls me by name.

Then Jesus made a most incredible statement, one that I have never noticed before no matter how many dozens of times I have read this passage. I know My own, and I am known by Mine. – These words we then speak as, “Jesus knows me, and I know Jesus.”

Jesus KNOWS the personal me; Jesus KNOWS   Daniel David Yordy  . (Put your own name in the blank). And I KNOW Jesus only out from His personal knowing of ME first. Union is personal intimacy between two.

Like Him Now. Then the statement, “He sets forth His soul for me.” is the actual beginning of the Way. We know that the completion of the Way is you and me setting forth our souls for one another and for all our brothers and sisters. But notice how John does not mention that completion here. Such a revelation comes only out from here. – By this we know love, because He set forth His soul for us, and we also… (1 John 3:16).

And so this Way to Life is not a way by which we become “like Jesus someday.” It is the way we are like Him NOW.

This Way. This Way is our ministry, this Way is the word of reconciliation and reconnection with God in our mouths. This Way is our gift of service to one another. This Way is our sharing in the redemption given by Jesus to others. This Way is the sending forth of the aroma of His knowledge in every place we go. It is the Way of the celebration of all victory already accomplished. This Way is the revelation of Jesus Christ; it is the Way of God manifest in the flesh.

And thus, as we consider “The Voice in the Way,” we know of it as our participation with Jesus in life towards others.

Our Secure Place. Yet here is our place before the Way ever starts. – “The Father devotes me to Himself before He sends me anywhere.” Yes, this is from Jesus speaking of Himself, yet it is He whom we are inside of God.

And so the Way comes out from a secure Place inside of God, fixed and unmoving, utterly safe. Here we find ourselves in the deepest of personal intimacies, kept utterly inside of Father, sharing Hheart with God. Thus we cannot truly know the Way except we know it from here. This is the true definition of a Personal “God.”

From Etymonline.com. Then consider the word “devote.” To devote and to dedicate are almost the same thing; both come from Latin. Here is something I found in the etymology of words.
To devote indicates the inward act, state, or feeling; to dedicate is to set apart by a promise, and indicates primarily an external act; to consecrate is to make sacred, and refers to an act affecting the use or relations of the thing consecrated …. [Century Dictionary]

All three are God towards us before He ever gives us to Jesus or releases us into existence. God covenants with us, all that you are belongs to me and all that I am belongs to you.

Personal Intimacy. God is a Person, most private and intimate and of the greatest honor and respect; I call Him Father. I know that my Father devoted me to Himself before He ever gave me to Jesus. Jesus is my Good Shepherd; He leads me in the Way out from His own personal setting forth of His soul for my sake, separate from all others, that I might be joined with the Father inside of Him. I knew the personal intimacy of my God, the honor and respect He holds for me when I first heard Jesus call my name. Jesus calls me by name into Himself. And here, inside of Jesus, inside this safe place of personal togetherness, I KNOW Jesus just as He KNOWS me. Jesus and I are the closest of friends. We walk every step together as one.

The Steps of the Way. Now that we know the three beginnings of personal intimacy out from which this Way comes, along with knowing our purpose inside this Way, we are finally able to consider the practical aspects of the Way given by Jesus.

But then we see that Jesus starts with the negative, that is, “another way,” led by one who steals with stealth and violence that which belongs to you and who entices you to do the same towards God. We will sum up the negative later in a single slide. Here we want to set out the steps of the positive.

And look at that, the Voice in the Way does not lead us in, rather, we are already IN, and He leads us OUT.

From Allegory to Reality. Consider Verse 4: When he has brought out all who are his own, he goes before them and the sheep follow him, because they perceive his voice. Jesus is speaking allegorically; John said that. Yet the allegory is much more than a shepherd and his sheep. We translate these words into the reality of Jesus’ existence towards us and towards all. – Sustaining all things by His power-filled words. – Always hitting the target for them.

Just as breathing is in and out, automatically, every second, so Jesus serves in His role as Servant to us and to God, joining us together in a dynamic interchange of LIFE.

Every Step I Take. Jesus is always coming to us from the Father, connecting God to us, and Jesus is always going forth from us to the Father, connecting us with God.

The Word of God is living and energeoing… – For out from God and coming through God and returning to God are all things [in every moment] (Romans 11).

Here is one more way in which we now know a living Jesus, as expressed by verse 4. – Every step I take is a step already taken by Jesus, slightly before I take it inside of Him. I am always following Him in this Way because He is always just before me in that step.

The Voice of Friendship. Then consider verse 27: My sheep hear My voice. For long decades this short line has been of utmost importance to me, along with Father at Home in my heart.

There is a line coming up in Chapter 15 that keeps singing inside of me. – All that I hear in the presence of My Father I make known to you. And this line is the definition of a word Jesus was using –  “friend” – “You are My FRIENDS.” The Voice in the Way is the voice of friendship, of companionship, of two walking together. This is a Voice we KNOW, for we come out from this Voice every moment.

The Thief. The thief, the stranger, the hired servant, the wolf, these are all a description of most ministries in Christianity operating out from Nicene theology. In fact, although “deeper truth” in its many forms seems to draw closer to God, yet it is deeper truth preachers who seem to want to drive Jesus away the most. The crucifix, the “always dead and faraway Christ,” always taking from you, always trying to “kill” you. “You’re just a dead man walking,” an adherent of Norman Grub hurled at me in order to silence my writing about my desire to know the Father, union with a Jesus-less “Christ.”

The In-Between. The beginning of this Way is Jesus setting forth His soul for each one of us, and the completion of the Way is “And we also,” but what about the in-between? Yes, there is a pressed-in-ness, a constraint, but the constraint is to Jesus as our only identity. Inside this pressed-in-way, then, we find SAFETY, and we find overflowing ABUNDANCE and increase in every direction.
But Jesus also places this abundance into the flock, into many together as one, into the commitment of Church life. Church life contains abundance as we have never known.

The Voice in the Way. Jesus lives inside of me, yet this same Jesus goes before me in every step I take. I hear His voice calling my name; I enter into all that is God through Jesus alone. I hear His voice by which Jesus speaks me and sustains my existence every moment. I know that I am always coming out from the speaking of His voice. I know His voice; I hear no other voice. I follow Jesus in every step. Every step I take is a step already taken by Jesus, slightly before I take it inside of Him. I am always following Him in this Way because He is always just before me in that step. I follow Jesus; that is who I am and what I do, for there is no other reality. Jesus always leads me in the celebration of victory and in the overflowing abundance of life.

I Follow Jesus. Every next lesson in our Studies in John, as we create the Jesus Secret pages, seems to seal us ever more firmly into our God and into coming out from Him, in our knowing. The profound absoluteness of PERSONS with me, Father and Son, the Son always connecting Father and me together, the close sharing They engage in towards me every moment, the Personal Intimacy, the immediate going before in every step, this is goodness beyond measure.

I KNOW that every step I take, this Jesus who KNOWS me and whom I KNOW well, has just taken that step already, right ahead of me. I follow Jesus; nothing else can be true.

Reading for Next Time. The next lesson is titled “I Will Never Die,” and covers John Chapter 11. I am very glad I did 10 and 11 together, for they fit, and it is my hope that the next lesson will be a bit intense.

In the garden, God said, “You shall surely die,” but the serpent said, “I’ve got good news for you, you will not die.” In the gospel, God says, “You shall never die,” but the serpent says, “Hey, everybody dies; only a fool imagines he will escape death.”

He who lives and believes into me shall never die. Do you believe this?

Let’s Pray Together. Our prayer today is synergeoing with God for the sake of our brethren across the earth, specifically, that the false definitions of God in their minds would be shattered, and that they would hear Jesus as He is inside of them.

“Father, we place ourselves inside Your presence for the sake of our brothers and sisters all across this earth who hold an image and definition of You that is untrue. We know, Father, that they will keep You away from themselves in their knowing until that false image is gone.

“Father, in the name of Jesus, we break the false image of a distant God in the minds of our brethren.

“And Father, we join with Jesus in speaking the name of each one whom You devoted to Yourself before You ever placed them into this world. With Jesus, we call each one by name out of the darkness of this age and into the knowledge of Your glory filling them full and flowing out from them.

“Father, in the name of Jesus, cause Your people everywhere, by the power of Your Spirit, to know You as an intimate Person sharing their lives with them. Cause Your people to know Your Salvation through them into their world.

“And we stand together in utter certainty that the Devoted Spirit is now revealing Jesus as He is to many.”