By Derek Prince
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Be encouraged and inspired with this Bible-based sermon by Derek Prince.
Be encouraged and inspired with this Bible-based sermon by Derek Prince.
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By way of introduction to my message this morning Iām going to read not from the gospels as is customary. Weāve already heard the gospel record presented beautifully by the choir in song. Iām going to read from Romans 6 which is the application in our lives of the truth that he died, was buried, and rose again. That is going to be my theme this morning. I have been dealing with a scripture in Galatians 3:1, an unusual starting point where Paul says:
āO foolish Galatians, who bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was evidently set forth, crucified among you?ā
And from that text I have deduced that there is a sinister force at work in the church, and Paul calls it witchcraft whether you like his terminology or not, which blinds Godās people to the works of the cross. Once Godās people are blinded to the cross, they are a prey to Satan. Thatās his reason for trying to blind the people of God to the reality and the power and the effect of what was accomplished by Jesus through his sacrifice on the cross.
The two previous nights I dealt with two areas. The first was what Jesus obtained for us through his death on the cross, and I pointed out that every provision and blessing of God that can ever come in our lives comes on the sole sufficient basis of the cross. There is no other basis. All that Jesus obtained for us through his death on the cross the Bible calls salvation. Thatās not just being forgiven, itās not just receiving eternal lifeāwonderful though that is, but itās every provision of God for every part of our being for time and for eternity. Itās salvation and it was all obtained through the one all sufficient sacrifice of Jesus on the cross.
Last night I dealt with the second aspect of the cross which is that itās the only basis of righteousness acceptable to God. God will not accept any righteousness thatās based on our own efforts or on our own religious deeds. He has completely and finally set that aside through the death of Jesus. Romans 10:4 says:
āChrist is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believes.ā
If you believe in Jesus, his death and resurrection, that is the end of all law as a means of achieving righteousness with God. Thatās very little understood in the church today. Most Christians are still trying somehow to earn righteousness by what they do. Paul says very succinctly, āIf righteousness come by the law, Christ died in vain.ā There was no need for him to die. And when we go back to seeking to achieve righteousness by keeping laws, weāre telling Jesus in a fact, āYou didnāt really need to die, weād have done without you.ā Itās a terrible condition to be in.
This morning Iām going to speak about the cross as it is applied to the life of the believer. I want to point out to you that God is totally just and what happened on the cross was total justice. It was not injustice, it was the due punishment of a criminal. The only unusual fact was that the innocent was receiving the punishment justly due to the guilty. Who are the guilty? We are.
By the death of Jesus on the cross, God finally and forever demonstrated his estimate of human flesh. Thereās nothing good in it. Letās look for a moment in Romans 6:6ā11. It starts in the middle of a sentence, donāt let that worry you.
āKnowing this...ā
My observation is that the majority of Christians donāt know it. Itās there but they donāt know it. I lived in that condition as a Christian quite a number of years. I didnāt know this. When I came to know this it made the most profound change in my whole life.
āKnowing this, that our old man...ā
That means our old Adamic nature. Itās also called our flesh. And when Paul in that context talks about our flesh, he doesnāt mean our physical body but he means the nature that we received by inheritance through our physical body. And that nature is summed up on one word which is rebel. Within every descendant of Adam there is a rebel. Whether we acknowledge it or not, we are all rebels by nature and by act. That is the basic problem of the human race. If youāve never discovered it, you may come face to face with this fact here this morning.
āKnowing this, that our old man [the rebel] was crucified with him [Jesus]...ā
Notice thatās a historical fact. I prefer that tense āwas crucifiedā rather than the alternative translation āhas been crucifiedā because āwas crucifiedā means that it is an actual historical fact. More than 19 centuries ago when Jesus died on the cross, our old man, the rebel in you and me, was put to death. Thatās true whether we know it, whether we believe it or not. But knowing and believing it is going to make a lot of difference in each of us.
ā...that the body of sin...ā
Thatās another way of saying the fleshly nature.
ā...might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.ā
Until we come face to face with this fact, we are slaves of sin. See, in lots of churches they teach that our sins can be forgiven. Thatās wonderful but it doesnāt solve all our problems. I know this from experience. I grew up in the Anglican church, which is the Episcopal church, in Britain. I attended it, I had to, I had no options, it was compulsory for many years. I became totally familiar with its prayers and its formsāwhich are very, very beautiful, Iām not making fun of them in any way. I knew every Sunday morning at around about 11:15 we would all be saying, āPardon us miserable offenders.ā And being a critical teenager, after a while I said to myself if all religion can do is make me an offender, I can be an offender without religion and not nearly so miserable! That was my decision when I had the option. I parted company with the church for about ten years.
But you see, my problem was, even in those days I had an analytical mind. I said to myself, okay, suppose God has pardoned me. I know full well when I get out of this church Iām going to go on committing the very things I asked him to pardon. I asked myself does it please God or does it provoke God that I ask him to forgive things I know Iām going to go on doing? You see? Forgiveness of past sins is wonderful but itās not the total solution. Because our sins may be forgiven but the rebel may still be alive in us. And as long as he lives in us we are going to go on doing rebellious things.
So Godās solution is not merely forgiveness of past sins but itās execution of the rebel. God has no program for the old man, no religious program. He doesnāt send him to church or Sunday School, or teach him to memorize scripture. He only has one solution, itās execution. God is such a realist. He knows you can do no more and no better for the old man than execute him. Thatās Godās solution. The mercy of God is the execution took place when Jesus died on the cross. I want you to understand it was perfectly just. All that happened to Jesus was absolutely what our old man deserves. That may shock you.
āFor he who has died has been justified from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: knowing that Christ having been raised from the dead, dies no more; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death that he died, he died to sin once [for all], but the life that he lives, he lives to God. Likewise, you also reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.ā
Notice thereās two things. Weāve got to know out of scripture. Second, weāve got to reckon. Weāve got to believe itās true in me. Because of the fact that our old man was executed in Jesus weāve got to reckon that old man, that rebel, dead indeed to sin. Thatās a very striking phrase. Reckon yourself to be dead indeed, that means in reality, not just in religious nomenclature but in reality to be dead to sin.
What does that mean? I have in my foundation series of books which was spoken about, I have a little illustration. We have this terribly bad man. By religious standards heās awful. He watches pornography on the television, he drinks whiskey, he smokes a cigar, he curses his wife, heās unkind to his family. He is bad. Okay? But his wife is a believer and she takes the children to the gospel chapel some Sunday evenings. They sneak out quietly one Sunday evening knowing that theyāll be cursed if the man is aware of what theyāre doing. They leave him sitting in is armchair watching the television, smoking a cigar and drinking whiskey. They have a wonderful time in the gospel chapel, the Spirit of God falls and they get so happy they come back singing choruses. Suddenly they realize if he hears them heās going to curse them. They put a hand over their mouths in silence. They tiptoe into the living room and they see him sitting in the chair, the smoke of the cigar is curling up but heās not smoking it. The whiskey is on the table beside him but heās not drinking it. Thereās a scene on the television screen but heās not watching it. You know what happened? Can you guess? He had a heart attack, heās dead. Heās dead to sin. Sin has no more attraction for him, sin has no more power over him, sin produces no more reaction from him.
Likewise, reckon you yourselves to be dead indeed to sin. Thatās the message. Itās totally another phase from having your past sins forgiven. Until youāre dead to sin, youāre a slave of sin.
Iād like to illustrate that a little bit from my own experience many years ago in the early l950s. I was pastoring a small congregation in central London in England. Three times every week we went to a place called Speakerās Corner Marble Arch, which is a very notorious place, and I conducted a street meeting. I did that every week three times a week for eight years. We would gather sometimes quite large crowds, 200 people, and some would listen and some would heckle and some would actually be violent but we stuck it out and we saw quite a large number of people come to the Lord through those meetings.
But one day during that period I had a very vivid dream. And in this dream I saw a typical street meeting with a circle of people gathered around and a man in the middle preaching. I listened to his preaching and I said heās preaching a good message. There was real power in his preaching. But as I looked at the man I didnāt like what I saw. He was kind of hunchbacked, he had a club foot, his body was all crooked. I thought to myself his body isnāt really in line with his preaching. Well, I woke up, thought that was strange but I didnāt think any more about it.
About two weeks later I had precisely the same dream. That time I said to myself God must be trying to say something to me. So I began to talk to the Lord and I said, āLord, what about this dream, what about the man in the middle? His preaching was all right but there was something very unattractive about him. Who was that man?ā You can probably guess, the Lord answered me like Nathan answered David, āThou art the man.ā I thought, I am?
About the same time Easter was coming on and I had in my mind a mental picture of the three crosses on Golgotha and the middle cross was taller than the other two. They were all empty. The Holy Spirit said to me, āNow tell me, for whom was the middle cross made?ā Then he said, āBe careful before you answer.ā So I knew there was a kind of trap in the question so I thought for a little while and I said it was made for Barabbas. He said thatās right. If you reason it out, it was. It was there for Barabbas. Then he said, āBut Jesus took Barabbasā place.ā I said thatās right. Then he said, āI thought Jesus took your place?ā I said yes. He said, āWell then, you must be Barabbas.ā
I never argue with people about that. At that point I saw I was the criminal for whom the cross was made. It was perfect justice for me. It was exactly what I deserved, it was made to my measure. Our old man was crucified with him. And that changed my life significantly at that point and progressively ever since. I realized the nature of the rebel within me. I realized the only remedy is execution. I had to believe that he had been executed when Jesus died.
Now, believing, in a sense, is progressive. It became more and more real for me over the years and I still have to reach out for more faith but I know that is the divine solution and I know there is no other solution.
What I want to point out to you this morning is you look at the cross and you get Godās estimate of our carnal nature. It is incapable of pleasing God. There is nothing it can do that will please God or earn Godās favor. That is totally unfamiliar to the majority of Christians. They have not seen that they personally are Barabbas.
I want to go into this truth and relate it to the reality of witchcraft. See, thatās a very surprising statement that the Christians in Galatia had been bewitched. I pointed out the first night they knew Jesus Christ, theyād received the Holy Spirit, theyād seen miracles in their midst. Very few of you here have anything in experience beyond what they had. Yet, they were bewitched. See the logical conclusion, it could happen that people like us are bewitched, too.
What would be the result of being bewitched? We would have lost the vision of the cross. I want to turn to 1Samuel 15:23. These are words that were spoken by Samuel to King Saul after he had disobeyed Godās commission. I donāt want to go into them because weāll never get out again, I just want to read the words. Verse 22ā23.
āThen Samuel said, Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed [or hearken] than the fat of rams.ā
When our girls were growing up in our home in London just about that period, that was one scripture they all knew. To obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams.
āFor rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.ā
I donāt want to read any further but you see there rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft. In other words, wherever thereās rebellion you are always exposed to witchcraft. They are two forces that operate together.
Let me also point out another statement there that stubbornness is idolatry. You see, we wonāt accept in our churches people who bow down and worship wooden idols. I mean, I think we havenāt come to the stage even with the declension of the church that we would accept such people. Maybe there are very advanced churches that do accept them. But generally speaking, people like us would say idolatry is out of place in a Christian church. But you see, the Bible says stubbornness is the same as idolatry.
Why? Because a stubborn person makes an idol of his own opinions: doctrinal opinions, political opinions, personal opinions. I want to tell you, the church is full of idolaters. Itās full of people who are too stubborn to bow to the authority of Godās word and Godās spirit. They hold on to their own opinions whether they agree with the Bible or not. Theyāre like the person who says, āDonāt confuse me with facts, my mind is made up.ā Thatās stubbornness. And the Bible says itās idolatry because you are making an idol out of your own concepts and opinions and standards. We wonāt go into that but I just point that out by way of passing.
Letās look then at the relationship between witchcraft and rebellion. Rebellion means setting aside Godās appointed authority, the authority of God and those whom God delegates. Thatās rebellion. But you canāt exist without some kind of authority so rebellion replaces divine authority by illegitimate authority. Then it supports that illegitimate authority by the power of witchcraft. Witchcraft is the power that enforces illegitimate authority. When you think of witchcraft, you can think of three words. Manipulate, intimidate, dominate. I would have to tell you wherever you encounter those forces at work, somewhere behind them there is witchcraft.
I donāt want to spend a lot of time taking examples but in the Bible God has given authority to parents over their children. I know thatās disputed, you canāt change the fact, God did it. Nevertheless, a little child no older than four years can often manipulate its parents. What is it doing? Itās getting its own way. What is its own way? Itās self-will. What is self-will? Itās rebellion. And whatās the power behind that? Maybe witchcraft.
See, Paul says two things about witchcraft in Galatians 5 in the list of the works of the flesh he says witchcraft is a work of the flesh. Itās one of the ways that fallen human nature expresses itself. I want my way and Iām going to get it even if itās by illegitimate means.
But witchcraft is more than that. Itās also a sinister spiritual force that infiltrates the church.
So we have this little child that wants more candy and mother says no. The child throws itself on the floor, kicks its legs in the air and screams. And ultimately, just to get peace the mother says all right, one more candy. She doesnāt realize sheās dealing with witchcraft. You see, you can have a very small child with a very strong spirit in him.
We once lived next to neighbors who used to do their grocery shopping on Saturday night in England in those days. They had a little girl of about three and a half, and when they took her out grocery shopping she was as happy as could be. Next morning when they wanted to dress her for church she threw herself on the floor and screamed. She didnāt reason it but there was a person in her that didnāt mind grocery shopping but objected to going to church. Do you see that? I tell you, she ruled that house. Three and a half years old. She got her way.
Listen, if you are one of those people who is determined to get your way, youāre being manipulated by an evil power.
Another area of authorityāand I hope that I donāt sound chauvinistic. You heard the story about the apostle Paulāthis is apocryphalāwhen he arrived in Corinth for meetings. The womenās lib were out there to meet him carrying large banners which said āPaul is a male chauvinist pig.ā Paul said, āI see you got my letter!ā
Well, to return to our point the Bible has, in certain areas and with certain restrictions, given a husband authority over his wife. Thatās just the way it is. Nobody can change it. They can refuse it but they canāt change it. I thinkāI hope youāre going to love me after thisāI think in America today it is almost normal for wives to manipulate their husbands to get what they want. I think lots of little girls have grown up in a family where thatās the only way theyāve ever seen mother treat father.
There are endless different ways of manipulating people. You just pout and act sulky and spoil the food. He gets the message. You know what? There are very, very few men who are strong enough to stand up to witchcraft. Very few.
All sorts of ways. Iāll give you another example from my experience. We knew a really godly family way, way backāand I have to be careful I donāt identify the country. Father, mother and five children. He was a minister, they were all saved, they all knew the Lord. Mother had a background in the occult and a little bit of it still clung to her. She got terrible migraines and whenever the family decided on any course that mother didnāt approve of, she got a migraine. She would lie in bed for two days and the family would tiptoe around, āShh, Motherās got a headache. Donāt make a noise.ā And nobody dared to go against her. She didnāt reason that out but the thing that was in her knew that migraine was a way to get her will. See? See what Iām saying?
Iām going to talk to you about the safeguards. Iām going to talk to you now for a little while about the nature of our flesh. Remember, Iām not talking about the physical body, Iām talking about the person that was born in us. Thereās one key word which describes the flesh and itās in Ephesians 4:22. Iām not going to go any further although itās the middle of a sentence.
ā...that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man [thatās one of the phrases] which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts.ā
The key word is corrupt. Because of the fall, man is born with a corrupt nature. Heās corrupt in every area: spiritually, morally, and physically.
I want to point out to you an interesting fact you may never have considered. That corruption is irreversible. There is no way to turn it back. You can delay it but you cannot stop it or turn it back. Thatās a vital factor in our whole understanding of the human race and of the forces at work in our world today because we see the forces of corruption gaining tremendous power in many areas of our society. We can delay corruption, itās the business of the church to do that, weāre the salt of the earth, the salt that delays the corruption of the meat; but we cannot reverse it.
Take an example of a beautiful peach such as grows in this part of the world. It looks so beautiful, itās got such a wonderful texture to its skin but you leave that peach a week and it begins to shrivel, dry up, become unattractive.
What you can do is put it in the refrigerator. Thatāll keep it a whole lot longer but it will not change the fact of corruption and its progression.
I sometimes think that the church is like the refrigerator. We put people in the refrigerator and the corruption is much slower but itās still there. Thereās only one remedy, what is it? Execution, thatās right. Nothing else, no other remedy. Matthew 7:17ā18, Jesus is speaking.
āEven so every good tree bears good fruit; but a corrupt tree bears corrupt fruit. A corrupt tree cannot bear good fruit; and a good tree cannot bear corrupt fruit.ā
The old nature is a corrupt tree. It is incapable of producing good fruit. This is the fact that really, Iād have to say, religion is somewhat like the refrigerator. It slows down corruption to the point where we donāt recognize itās there. But it does not change it.
Paul said in Romans 7, āI know that in me, that is in my flesh, dwells no good thing.ā Okay? The difference between you and Paul is that maybe you donāt know it. But itās the only difference. Understand? God has pronounced his sentence on human flesh. Heās carried out the execution. Look at the cross and youāll see Godās estimate of our carnal nature. No matter how talented we are, no matter how educated we are, how sophisticated, how refined; weāre still corrupt.
Hereās the relationship between self will or rebellion and witchcraft. Satan can manipulate the uncrucified flesh, do you understand? Our only protection against the influence of Satan is the cross. If we are not covered by the cross we are exposed to his influence. Itās a strange thing that Iām preaching this message here because in my opinion, as I see it, this is the great basic problem of the Christian church, particularly in America. Not exclusively in America. We have not allowed the cross to be applied to our lives.
Consequently, we donāt know what is pure and what is not pure spiritually. You see, as long as I am serving God out of self will with personal ambition and a desire to get things for myself, Iām exposed to witchcraft. Not only will I be manipulated but Iāll probably manipulate others. There is a tremendous amount of manipulation that goes on under the guise of preaching. Because, as long as a person wants his own will, heās not safe. Self will is a twin to witchcraft. See that? Only that which has been purified by the cross can not be manipulated by Satan. Thatās the only way to eradicate corruption.
Last Sunday I was preaching in a Episcopal church. I always like being in an Episcopal church, especially on those occasions because it reminds me of my boyhood which I have now come to remember with gratitude. Ruth and I were reading, it was Palm Sunday, so Ruth and I were reading the account of Jesus riding into Jerusalem and how the people were welcoming him and spreading their garments on the road and on the donkey and cutting down the branches of the trees. As we were praying, Ruth said something like this, āI trust we will not be those who merely lay down our garments and do not lay down our lives.ā You see, five days later many of the same people who were saying āHosanna to the son of Davidā were saying āCrucify him.ā Why? Because it was the flesh. They had not laid down their lives. Jesus was not deterred, he went to the cross because only on the other side of the cross are we immune from Satanās influence. That which has not been submitted to the cross is always in danger of Satanic influence.
Iād like to read Galatians 6:14.
āBut God forbid that I should glory [or boast] except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ; by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.ā
See, there is one way to separate the world from the church. Itās the cross. There is no other way. At the present time, the world and the church are almost indistinguishable. You really donāt know who is where and what is what.
Interestingly, I read a totally secular survey by a marketing firm who conducted research on how to market to the born again Christian section of Americaāwhich they estimate is 40 or 50 million people. Itās a major section of the market. And this survey was conducted solely for secular reasons to determine how to make as much money as possible out of born again Christians. It was very well done, it was carefully researched. The conclusion was very simple. There isnāt any difference, theyāre just the same. Their tastes are the same, their motives are the same, you can reach them with the same type of gimmicks. You donāt need to change. What does that tell us? The world and the church are not separated.
Somebody said years ago āA ship in the sea is all right. The sea in the ship is all wrong.ā The church in the world is all right. The world in the church is all wrong. What will happen? The church will sink.
Whatās the dividing line? I prayed about this and considered this for a long while because Iāve seen it so clearly. Only just recently have I seen the cross is the only protection. When you can say I am crucified to the world and the world is crucified to me, the world has no more influence over you. I do not bow to its standards, I do not accept its values, I am not motivated by the things that motivate it, I donāt care what it says about me, I donāt care whether Iām popular or unpopular. Thatās not the point. The point is as I pleasing the Lord? The worldās opinions are dead to me. They can like me or dislike me, it doesnāt make a shade of difference. Thatās what it means when you say Iām crucified to the world and the world is crucified to me. Between the world and me there is that cross and on that cross is Godās estimate of the opinions of the world.
Iād just like to say one more thing. Paul said you can produce two kinds of material in your Christian service. 1Corinthians 3. You can produce gold, silver and precious stones or you can produce wood, hay and straw. Iāll tell you this, the flesh produces wood, hay and straw. And you can produce vast quantities of it. But, Paul said, thereās a day coming when itās going to be tried by fire. And if it can be burned, itāll be burned up in an instant. The servant of the Lord who has produced wood, hay and straw will be saved like a naked soul escaping through the flames. Thatās the translation of the NIV. Why spend all that time and trouble laboring for something which will vanish in a minute?
Normally we donāt amass vast quantities of gold, silver or precious stones, do we? If quantity is our standard, weāre much more likely to be producing wood, hay and straw than we are gold, silver and precious stones. If weāre dictated to by the world standards, thatās what weāll produce. If we aim to succeed in the worldās eyes, thatās what weāll produce. If we aim to impress the world, thatās what weāll produce.
Let me ask you a question. Which do you think has had more influence on the other? The church on Hollywood or Hollywood on the church? Honestly answer me. I mean, thereās no doubt Hollywood has influenced the church to a point where thereās hardly any way to distinguish between the two. I donāt think the church has had any influence on Hollywood. As long as the sea is in the ship the ship canāt do much sailing. It can just about stay afloat.
How do we apply this? Iād like to turn to Matthew 16. While weāre turning there Iād like to make a comment. I have consistently taught for years, even before whatās called the faith movement came into being, that itās the will of God for us to prosper. I still believe that. But Iāll tell you this, brothers and sisters, when we teach that itās Godās will for us to prosper out of scripture, we need to have a scriptural definition of what prosperity is. Itās not the worldās definition. Thatās the problem. Paul prayed in Romans 1 that he might have a prosperous journey by the will of God to Rome. The same word is usedāexactly the same Greek word in 3John 2 where John says:
āBeloved, I pray above all things that thou may prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospers.ā
The same word. Have a prosperous journey, or have a prosperous journey through life. Now, I believe God answered Paulās prayer. He gave him a prosperous journey to Rome. But have you ever stopped to consider the nature of his journey? He did not travel first class. He was a prisoner, manacled. They had a totally unnatural storm which lasted for 14 days and nights in which they saw neither the sun, moon or stars. They all thought they were going to drown. They were shipwrecked on an island and the first thing that happened to Paul was when he was gathering sticks, a viper fastened on his hand. Is that our definition of prosperity? Yet he had a prosperous journey.
Why? Because he successfully accomplished the purpose of God for that journey. Why was there a storm of 14 days? Well, there are things we canāt explain. I think if Joe Blow Christian had been going to Rome there would have been no storm. I think the devil didnāt want Paul to get to Rome because he could cause a lot of trouble for the devil. I think the men and women of God who can impact the world and trouble Satan meet storms that just donāt come the way of people who travel first class on cruises. See what Iām saying? All those in Asia turned away from him, he was awaiting execution. Was that success? He said, āDemas has forsaken me, having loved the present world.ā
One of the unforgettable sermons I heard was by an old servant of the Lord who said, āIāll give you four reasons why Demas forsook Paul. First of all, he was a failure. He left Trophemus sick, he couldnāt even pray for his fellow worker to be healed. Second, he didnāt have enough money.ā He went through the list. By the standards of the world Demas did the sensible thing. How many of us would be like Demas? If weāre influenced by the worldās standards, brothers and sisters, when it comes to the crunch, thatās what weāll do. Donāt say to yourself I know Iām living a self indulgent life but when the test comes, I really will be faithful to the Lord. You wonāt. If youāre not faithful now you wonāt be faithful when the test comes. I have a feeling the test is pretty close at hand.
God said to Jeremiah, āIf you couldnāt keep up with the footmen, how are you ever going to run with the horsemen?ā He that is faithful in little will be faithful in much. And he that is unfaithful in the little will be unfaithful in the much. If you are not faithful now in the simple basic duties of Christianity in your present situation, when the test comes you will be unfaithful. There is no option.
Iāve learned this to my own cost. I worked with a young man who was tremendously gifted, produced some of the greatest results Iāve seen in ministry. But I never could count on him in the small things. He was never punctual, he would promise to do a little job and not do it. I said after all, heās got talent, heās got a powerful ministry. Brothers and sisters, he has no ministry at all today. Heās a wreck and he nearly wrecked me with him. Why? Because anyone who is unfaithful in the little will be unfaithful in the much. Thatās a law. Itās just as much a law as the law of gravity. Donāt step out of a fourth floor window and say it wonāt work for me because it will.
We donāt break Godās laws. If we go against them they break us.
Letās turn to Matthew 16:24ā25.
āThen Jesus said to his disciples, If any one desires to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it: and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.ā
So if you desire to follow Jesus, there are two preliminary steps. You must take up your cross and you must deny yourself. Then you can follow him. Without those two steps you cannot follow him. You can sit in the church, you can sing hymns; but in the things that really matter, you cannot follow Jesus. You have to deny yourself, take up your cross. Do you know what to deny is? Itās to say no. What is to deny yourself? Self says I want, you say no. Self says I think, you say youāre wrong. Self says I feel, you say your feelings donāt matter. Thatās to deny yourself.
Then you take up your cross. Iāve heard two statements about the cross, both of them illuminating. Number one, the cross is where your will and Godās will cross. Whose will is going to prevail? The second, the cross is the place where you die. God wonāt impose the cross on you, you have to take it up. Itās optional.
But, if you save your life, youāll lose it. But if you lose your life, youāll find it. You have a life to find and a life to lose. Jesus said if a grain of wheat remains alone, it brings forth no fruit. But if it falls into the ground and dies, it will bring forth much fruit. Your life is a little grain in your hand. Youāve got two options. You can hold onto it and say itās mine, nobody takes it from me, I do what I want, nobody tells me what to do, I donāt believe in that fanaticism. Youāll hold it but you know what? Youāll remain alone.
Do you know what this great nation of ours, with its big cities? It is full of lonely people. Why are they lonely? Because theyāre holding on to the grain.
Or youāve got the option. You can drop it, you can let it go. Itāll go down into the dark soil beneath the surface. People may even walk over it. Are you prepared to be walked over? But somewhere down in the soil something will happen. That hard shell of your egotism will begin to rot away. And when thatās rotted away, out of that seed will come a totally new life. Whatās that? Thatās resurrection.
Listen, in Romans 6, which I didnāt read, Paul said, āIf we died with him, we shall also live with him.ā Notice the āif.ā Before resurrection there has to be death. I went through this process more than once in my life. Iām thinking of one particular situation. Actually, it was when I was planning to marry Ruth. I donāt need to go into the details. For reasons which I donāt need to go into, God required me to lay that desire down which was perhaps the most painful thing Iāve ever done. I went through the dealings of God. I cried out to God one day and I said, āGod, why is it that anything you bless has to die and then be resurrected?ā I understood God gave me this answer. āBecause when I resurrect a thing, I resurrect it not the way it was but the way I want it to be.ā
There is no other way into life in the sense of the New Testament but death. If we died with him we shall also live with him. If we hold on to our life, we hold on to the grain, we can hold it. But we stay alone, fruitless. If we lose our life, let the grain drop, weāve lost our life. But when itās really good and dead, a little green shoot starts to come up. Think of the strength of that shoot. It can force its way almost through anything. Even through stones and rock. Thatās resurrection life. Itās unconquerable life. Itās undefeatable life. Itās eternal life. Itās full life. Itās fruitful life. Thatās Godās offer.
I just want to read some words of Paul that have so gripped me. Dear Lord, forgive Paul for all the things he said. I mean, he said some very uncomfortable things. Thank you for him. With this Iām going to close. These words have challenged me personally, thatās why Iāll read it to you. 2Corinthians 12:7ā10.
āLest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, an angel of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure.ā
Paulās language surprises me. He says God gave me an angel of Satan. He didnāt say God imposed on me an angel of Satan. It was a gift from God. To buffet me, to beat me. Personally, my understanding of that text is thatās why there was a riot in every city that Paul went. It was unnatural. You couldnāt explain it by natural terms. But there was a Satanic angel that stirred up everybody when Paul arrived. The tumult subsided when he left. Itās uncanny. There must have been more than a natural explanation.
So when Paul arrived in Corinth or Philippi or Thessalonica, behind the visible he saw this dark Satanic angel stirring up the magistrates, stirring up the Jews, stirring up the wealthy women, āMake trouble for Paul.ā Quite irrational. Paul said, āWhy was this given to me? To keep me humble. Thank you Lord.ā He said, āThree times I asked the Lord to take it away.ā You know, everybody knows, God answers apostleās prayers. Three times God said no.
I get people who come to me and say God doesnāt answer my prayers. I say maybe youāve forgotten that no is also an answer. Letās go on reading.
āConcerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times, that it might depart from me. He said to me, My grace is sufficient for you: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.ā
Thatās a key. Godās strength is made perfect in weakness. God doesnāt release his strength except through weakness.
Now, this is Paulās comment.
āTherefore, most gladly will I rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore, I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses for Christās sake: for when I am weak, then I am strong.ā
When I read that 10th verse some years back I said, āRuth, you know, thereās some things Paul said, Iām not sure I can honestly say them.ā I take pleasure, take pleasure in infirmities, distresses, persecutions. Whether God heard my comment or not, I donāt know. But we were in the midst of intensive ministry and the next day I came out with an inexplicable rash all over my body except for the places that showed. My hands and my face were perfectly clear. I went to see a doctor, it was in Northern California. When I took my shirt off he threw up his arms and ran for his partner because heād never seen anything like it. They discussed whether it might be Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever but they concluded it wasnāt. They didnāt have a diagnosis.
Now, Ruth and I were in intensive ministry the rest of that month. We prayed twice a week for the sick in meetings that lasted five and six hours. All this time I had this rash. The hotter I got, the more unpleasant it became. I donāt know why I had the rash but I think God just wanted to check out and see whether I would take pleasure in infirmities. All right? That the power of Christ may rest upon me. I have to say to the glory of God the power of Christ did rest on me. We saw many people miraculously healed. And here am I with this rash! I couldnāt tell anybody about the rash except the Lord and Ruth.
Godās strength is made perfect in weakness. If you want to find your life, youāve got to lose it. Youāve got to accept the fact that your old man was executed more than 19 centuries ago. But the execution only becomes effective in your life when you voluntarily accept your death and lay down your life. Thatās the doorway to resurrection. Itās the key to the fullness of God.
I finished my message but some good many years ago the Lord said, āI didnāt call you to deliver religious lectures. If you ever preach on anything thatās practical, I want you always to give the people an opportunity to respond to the practical in what you said.ā So Iām going to do that here today. I dare say that some of what Iāve said has been somewhat new to many of you, and somewhat shocking. I have no desire to shock people, I just am convinced that what Iāve said is the objective truth. Whether we like it or not, it remains true. We wonāt change it by disliking it or reacting against it. But there are some of you here this morning who really want the fullness of life. Youāre somewhat frustrated with the fact that you seem to be somewhat ineffective and you only get so far and you rise to a certain level and nothing ever happens beyond that. I want to suggest to you youāve never lost your life. Youāve never dropped that little grain. Itās a decision, itās not an emotion.
If you want to make that decision here as in the sight of God, and remember, youāll be answerable to God for your decision, I want to give you an opportunity. Itās very simple. If thatās your decision, āLord Jesus, this Easter Sunday morning, in response for all youāve done and all weāre celebrating at Easter, I want to lay my life down before you and before your people, to be a servant. Lord Jesus Christ, I thank you that on the cross you died for me, you endured my execution. What was due to me, to my old fleshly nature, came upon you. My old man was crucified with you on the cross. I reckon myself dead on that basis and Lord Jesus, now I lay my life down before you and before the people of God. I renounce my own will, my own ways, my own wishes. I embrace your purpose, whatever it may be, wherever I need to go, whatever you have for me to do. Lord, I embrace it. I make your will my will. In Jesusā name, amen.ā
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