I am in Christ

[00:00:00] Good morning. Greetings in the mighty, precious, wonderful name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, the one who is worthy to be glorified and to be worshipped. I just for maybe a minute or two or a few minutes, I know that many of you have seen and heard the stories of the devastation in the country of Haiti. And I'm sure you've heard some particular stories we could take probably all morning [00:00:32] and talk about some of the stories that we hear. Where is God in all of this? I saw a little news thing on, actually, Fox News. The question was asked, does religion have anything to do with it? Think of the country of Haiti and on the same island, the country of the Dominican Republic, the difference that is there. This came across as, yeah, there's a country of voodoo and witchcraft and all of that. [00:01:06] Maybe God is trying to, before he sends Christ back, maybe God is trying to say something to not only the country of Haiti, but to us. I guess I will take the liberty just to open it up. If you have any comment you want to make, maybe we should just spend a few minutes in prayer for the country of Haiti and especially for the believers that are there because they're at the risk of their lives. Anyone have a comment you'd like to make? How we should pray? [00:01:37] Maybe the Lord has stirred something in your heart and your spirit that you want to share with the rest of us. I am sure that we just wanted to have the missionaries, I have them, the brothers down there now, the brothers and so on, that we can go every day to the Lord of the Rings. People just come running and want to help. But I think we really need to go right now. Yeah. Yes, the evidence of the risk of people, the missionaries and the Christians are there. [00:02:25] Anyone else, quickly? Thank you. [00:03:15] In Jesus' own body, I confess the sacrifice, which is the sacrifice of the Son of Man. I've got friends down there right now that are, we all know of people that are trying to reach out. [00:03:53] But I'm looking at my own heart, and I'm going, what? Do I just go on with life? Can we? And that's the thing that struck me, this is happening in our world every day. Not just in an earthquake, but in a city. Yeah, it's even all around us. And the challenge for me is, it's easy for a part of me to say, I served them right. That is wrong to have that kind of an attitude. They need the gospel of Christ and the compassion of the church now more than any other time. [00:04:33] I think what we'll do is maybe just take a few minutes. If the Lord lays it on your heart to pray, then you just verbally pray. And Luke, can I ask you to kind of close this time of prayer then? Just be sensitive. and if the Lord lays just a simple phrase, it doesn't have to be a lengthy prayer, just breathe a prayer. I just think God would be honored if a number of you would just lead out in brief prayers. Whatever the Lord lays on your heart, let's just do that for a few minutes, okay? Yes, Lord. [00:05:11] Yes, Lord. Anabaptist, Anabaptist, Anabaptist, Anabaptist [00:05:43] Yes Lord Father, I pray that our time be with you today, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and of the Holy Spirit, and of the Holy Spirit, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. [00:06:43] Sermons of the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit of Christ, the Holy Spirit of Christ, the Holy Spirit of Christ, Father, we thank you that you are here. [00:07:33] Yes, you are. Thank you, Lord God, for your people who are here right now. We lift up our friends, we lift up our brothers and sisters, those we don't know, and those who are right now need courage and wisdom. Wisdom to know how to get involved and where to get involved. Courage to step out, even in the face of danger, including the shooting. [00:08:05] We're willing to lay down our lives, Lord, and pray for your people. We pray, Lord, for all those who are being hated and killed. Father, we thank you that I'm here in the hands of Jesus Christ. And those of us here, Lord, in North America, feel so helpless. We pray, Lord, God, that you would first touch our hearts with your hand. Yes, touch us, Lord. That you would tear up our hearts with your hand. And that we would know how to pray. And we would know how to reach out, not just with dollars, but with a sense of compassion. [00:08:43] That our hearts would be with you, that our hearts would be with you, so that our prayers would be with you. Father, we pray, oh God, that you would give us a church to believe in, and how to relate to this world. We pray, Lord, that your spirit would be poured out on us, and Lord, that your name would be poured. Amen. [00:09:34] Thank you, brothers and sisters, for your prayers. Let's continue to keep those in our hearts and minds because God's hand is moved when God's people pray. The message this morning is entitled, I Am In Christ, and there are some notes in the back. If you want some of those, if you haven't got them, there were. Hopefully there will be enough in the back there. But I am in Christ. Scripture text is taken from Romans chapter 5. You might say, well, where is this in that? And basically, this is simply a background scripture. I'm not going to take a, expound from this scripture verse by verse necessarily, but look at it as a background in the ideas here that Christ came to make a change for not only you and I, but for the entire world. [00:10:26] and how that you and I are on a road to death because of the first Adam that it talks about here. But thank God, God had a plan and he has a plan. Theme verse is, therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new. I believe many times we have looked at this verse and heard this verse explained. And I believe it does mean what we have heard from before, that a person that comes to Christ becomes a new creation in Christ. [00:11:02] But brothers and sisters, I believe that it doesn't just stop there, that we continually as God's people, day by day, week by week, month by month, year by year, become a continual new creation in Christ. And as we grow, we grow and old things are passed off and things become new. I'm reminded of the lowly snake. In seasons of time, it sheds its skin and it gets a new skin. It continues to do that, does that throughout its life as it grows. [00:11:34] And as I think of that illustration in my life, in your life, brothers and sisters, I think God sometimes wants us to take off some of the old things that we have and still have because we're in this human body and continue to seek new things. And I believe that there are necessary new things that are for us. What can that really mean? That we continue to die to self. And as I prepared my heart this week for this message, the Lord just began to instill something within me with this word death. [00:12:11] And then I read in Washman Nee's book, Spiritual Power, and glean some more challenging thoughts that God wants me to die. And then I have to ask myself, have I done a good job in dying? You see, death brings life, and the only way that I can have life is by dying. Christ said, I die daily. Jesus said, if any man come after me, what's he supposed to do? [00:12:44] Daily take up his cross and follow me That's what Jesus said I'd like to read in Romans chapter 5 beginning in verse 12 You've all been sitting for a while So will you stand with me as I read this portion of scripture Romans chapter 5 beginning in verse 12 For as by one man sin entered into the world And death by sin and so death passed upon all men For all that all have sinned For unto the law sin was in the world Sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned, after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who was a figure of him that was to come. [00:13:24] But not as the offense, so also the free gift. For if through the offense of one many be dead, but much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ has abounded to many. and not as it was by that one sin so that it so is the gift for the judgment was by one to condemnation but the free gift is of many offenses unto justification for if by one man's offense death reigned by one much more they which receive abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one Jesus Christ [00:13:55] therefore as by the offense of one judgment came upon all all men to condemnation even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life for as by one man's obedience many were made sinners so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous excuse me, that's one man's disobedience verse 20, moreover the law entered that the offense might abound but where sin abounded grace did much more abound that a sin hath reigned unto death even so might grace reign through righteousness unto the eternal life [00:14:29] by Jesus Christ our Lord. You may be seated. As we think of God and His grace and His goodness, this is some of the information I have taken from Victorious Christian Living that I had the privilege of being a part of. I must ask you this question this morning. Are you in Christ? Are you allowing yourself to be completely immersed in Christ? Is your life pleasing to God? Have you been trying to take God's place in your life? have you willingly died that Christ might live [00:14:59] or have you taken as God's enemy Satan tried to sit on your own throne and not allow the Holy Spirit to sit there Adam and Eve were created to be God's friends they were created to be in sweet fellowship with God continually and all brothers and sisters can you imagine The sweet fellowship that Adam and Eve had before they became the enemy of God [00:15:30] Because they did become an enemy of God And again the theme verse is taken from 2 Corinthians 5 verse 17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation Old things are passed away, behold all things have become new Are you allowing the things of Christ to come to you that things become new and to become fresh and to become in a way that God allows himself to show through you. Now we begin with Adam and if you have those notes in front of you, we can see that Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever according to Hebrews. [00:16:11] As we think of Christ being the same, as we think of Adam, his sin led to separation from God and it led to his death. But I'm glad this morning that we have one verse in our scripture here in verse 8 where he says but God showed his great love. How great was God's love? It was so great that he was willing to die on the cross for you and for me. He was willing but God commended his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. Now we see on this diagram that's coming here, we see that Adam was created with a beginning. He began. [00:16:48] And every generation after that inherited what we have in our scripture here. Verse 12, wherefore as one man sin entered the world, and death began to come. When Adam and Eve sinned, they were separated from God. They started on a road that was going to lead them to nothing but death. If in the back you can't see, but there's little squares here on this line, on this chart here. This little stick person is you. And every person, the next little square is your dad, and then his dad, on and on, all the way back to Adam. [00:17:28] So all of us have received an inheritance from Adam, and that was to die. The beginning, where Adam is, leads to a never-ending death, separation from God, completely away from God. But God, in His mercy, and according to this scripture, it says there's one man, offense came by one man. Thank God that there was someone able to come and to take care of that one offense. [00:18:00] and that man was none other than Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ came because he says nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses and these people he was writing to they had high regard for who Adam was but they had greater high regard to Abraham and to Moses and the patriots of old he said even to those that hadn't sinned well wait a minute the Bible says all have sinned and come short of the glory of God right? yes, so therefore we have sinned because of Adam's sin We have taken something upon us that we couldn't help. [00:18:31] And that is the sin nature that he's talking about. Just as one man sin entered, there is one man that has entered so that we can never not fall short of the glory of God. If I can get it said this morning, for all have sinned and come short of the glory. But it is because of Christ. He has allowed that, can I use this word, shortness to make long Or that I have fallen from grace but I can go back into grace [00:19:02] For the wages of sin is death Thank God it doesn't stop there, but what? The gift of God is eternal life through none other than Jesus Christ our Lord Humans have then, and you and I have become identified as sinners because we have this sin nature We are in Adam We cannot change that no matter how hard we try, we can't change that That I am a sinner This is prior to the cross, but we're going to get that just in a minute [00:19:36] We all pick up that identity that we are sinners And sad to say that too many people, even in the church, just say, well, I'm just a sinner That's why I sin. What do sinners do? Don't they sin? You see, I could have opened the scripture this morning. I could have greeted you this morning and said, Greetings to you in the name of Jesus, you saints at Calvary Chapel. Because you are saints, those of you that are in Christ. You see, he wasn't writing to people that were already dead when he wrote to the church at Ephesus when he said, [00:20:07] The saints in Christ and to the faithful in Christ Jesus. There you go. It goes in Christ Jesus. Jesus Christ came to do what? To give us eternal life. Now, as we notice, Adam had a beginning and ended up at death is forever, all eternity. Now, notice the line here with Jesus Christ. Has no beginning and has no end. You see, Jesus Christ always was. He was in God because he was a part of God. So, if I can somehow, if I am on this line here in life, and I'm headed to death, how am I going to get on this horizontal line? [00:20:49] Is there a way for me to get there? I'm here this morning to tell you, brothers and sisters, those of us that have received Christ, we are there. But what I've found in my own life, I have not chosen to take the cross. His death has allowed me to become a new creation And yes, brothers and sisters, not just when I, at the age of 13, in October When David Bontrager was preaching at the church at Pilgrim Fellowship [00:21:23] When I raised my hand I had the privilege then to go to the back room And he sat down and wondered if I ever publicly had confessed Christ as my Savior I said, no, I did not It was on that day that I went from this line to the other line. To the line of Christ Jesus when I picked up a new lineage. How do I then get from that line? What do I do? Because see, I need to get on that line. I need to do something. Is there something that I can do to receive eternal life? [00:21:55] Is there something I can do to receive it of my own self? Nothing at all. You and I cannot do it of our own. And I believe that sometimes we try too much in our own strength So do I have a part? Yes, I do That part is that I must believe that Jesus Christ did come to make a difference And that He came to change my life He showed His great love As I said before, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us [00:22:26] To escape that line leading from Adam to death, to get off of that line onto the line of Christ, into the lineage of Jesus Christ, then I must believe in Romans 3 verse 25. Romans 3 verse 25 says, Whom God has set forth to be a perpetuation through faith in His blood, to declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are passed through the forbearance of God. You see, as I said earlier, Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. [00:22:58] Jesus Christ has died for my sins. Jesus Christ has died for my sins that I committed in the past, and that I commit now, and in the future. First of all, we must believe and do our part that Christ did die for us. We must believe in the one and eternal Lordship of Jesus Christ. And that as He died, then I must be willing to die. How am I going to get on that cross? It is only through Christ. I said something earlier to Mark Yoder if he's going to help me with this message. So I'm going to ask him to come up here. Will you, Mark? Come on up here. You can do it. You're part of this church and you can help me with this message. But as we look at our scripture text again, how that Christ came for you and for me. And as I said earlier, I had to look at my life and say, have I been willing to die? We're not willing to die. We're not willing to let flesh be crucified. It's not always pleasant to let our flesh be crucified. [00:24:01] You see, we are in this body. We carry about in us the body of Christ within us. And see, as Mark is making his way, I wish I had a way of making this into a 3D picture here. Because if I could turn this sideways, you would see this horizontal line is a long ways from the diagonal line. And there's no way that I could go from here to this line. It's impossible. There's no room. There's no way to get there. Now this morning, we know that Mark has the ability to get around with his wheels here. [00:24:38] I sometimes tease him, have for years, that this is a big old black Peterbilt truck, because he likes trucks. And on the side it says, Glory to Jesus. Amen? Someday, Mark is going to not have to worry about these wheels. The Lord is going to give him a new set of legs, and he's going to be able to walk and glorify Jesus. Amen? Look back again at this line, this diagonal line and this horizontal line. They're a long ways apart. There's only one way that I can get that is through Jesus Christ. [00:25:10] So for right now, the only way Mark was able to get from back there to up here was with these wheels. He has the ability to grab this little lever on the side and to make it move and to make it go. When I asked him to come up here, he had to respond to my voice because he could hear my voice. He had to do his part to get up here. He could have said, no, I'm not going up there. That's ridiculous. He could have. He had that choice to make. But he chose to listen to my voice and come up here. [00:25:46] And I ask you to come up here because the point I want to make is that we do have a part in it. And brothers and sisters, I think sometimes we fail in one aspect of this that we don't keep doing our part in this. That we think once we come to Christ that it's alright to come to church Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night and just sit on the bench and not grow in our life. And I say, God help us. Mark, it's alright. Thank you for coming and helping me out. You can go back. [00:26:18] I want to this morning just share a little story about a man that I've learned to know over a few years. And last Sunday, he's from Harlan, Indiana and a part of the Sunrise Chapel Church. Yesterday, or Sunday afternoon, we were able to lay our hands on him and ordain him to a pastoral ministry. Because he has a heart for God. At three o'clock or so, some of us ministers had gathered around him in a small room and Pastor Lael just said, just share some words of encouragement and blessing to this man. [00:26:50] There were some of us there that just simply said, you know, his man is so different than he was. I just shared how that when I came to that church first, because they had been without a pastor for about five years, that there was complacency, there was fear, there was discouragement. People had been a part of the kingdom, but they were at the very outskirts of the kingdom. This man was one of those. But the Lord began to stir something in James Graber. He said he remembers when he committed it completely to Christ. He remembers the date when he went to the altar. And there he was prayed with. [00:27:24] He said his life was changed from that point on. God began to call him to a greater level of death. He began to die daily. How did he die? Daily he went to the Word. Daily he immersed himself in the Holy Spirit's power. Sometimes this man, keep on working, but take 21 days to fast and to pray for his own life, for his wife, and for his church. [00:27:57] He began to push into the things of the Spirit of God, push into a prayer life. His life began to change. What was interesting about that conversation last Sunday afternoon, there was two men there. They just shook their head and said, we don't know what your other brothers are talking about. We didn't know this man back then. It's kind of hard for us to imagine that he was just a man that came to church and sat on the back bench and that was good enough for him. What they see in this man was a man that is committed to die every single day of his life so that Christ can come forth. [00:28:33] and the difference that he has made every day of his life. His boss was there. Every day he works with him. Elton Delagrange was the moderator and he said, Dave, come up here, will you? Come up here and share some words about James. Whoa. His boss is going to come public to the church and he's going to talk about him? [00:29:08] I interject a statement for you. What would your boss say about you if he was flat out honest and stood in front of the church? The people you work with, what would they say about you? What a testimony. He just made a statement. Very few statements that he made, but one thing that stood out was he was a faithful man. Faithful to God. faithful to his wife and family, faithful to the lordship of Jesus Christ. You see, death means that he was willing to let himself be crucified [00:29:45] and that he was willing to go from the inheritance he had in Adam to change that, to get from the diagonal line. What happens when I let the cross, again, if I could turn this sideways, we could see that the cross stretches from the diagonal line to the horizontal line. Meaning that I can get on the cross of Christ and I can take my steps and get on the line that will take me to life and life eternal. [00:30:22] You see, when I do that, God has a part in it. You see, I must first do my part. I must come to that point where I am willing, now as a believer, every single day of my life, that I do as Christ says, take up my cross. Does that mean that I live and I walk around because, oh boy, I had to crucify myself again today. No. You see, it's like James, there's something flowing from him [00:30:53] Because he daily takes up his cross And he pushes into the things of God Almighty People began to see a man that blossomed for the Lordship of Christ Because he's willing to let God do his part Because sometimes God will take us through circumstances Through distressful times So that we have a privilege Yeah, I say a privilege to die It doesn't always feel good What does God do when I am in Christ? We must first do our part in believing that Jesus died for our sins [00:31:31] and we must believe that God is doing His part in a continuing way to allowing my flesh to be crucified. When the sinner goes from the diagonal line to the horizontal line, it is Jesus Christ through God. Colossians 1 verse 13 I've taken this one from the New American Standard because it says transferred and I like that word for he rescued us from the dominion of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved son [00:32:03] so you see from this diagonal line to the horizontal line that is in Christ and I can have life and have it more abundantly and I can have life that is full of the love and full of the compassion of Jesus Christ to reach out to others Full of the grace and the mercy of God Full of everything that is The Bible talks in Ephesians about That in Christ dwells everything that is in God God's power and God's strength God's compassion and God's mercy And yes, God's power to come against the forces of evil through Jesus Christ [00:32:36] Then he is able to take me And transfer me Transform me into the image of his son Jesus Christ Meaning that I must be willing to die every single day of my life. And if I die, then I am able to have life. And yes, have it more abundantly. We must believe that He did it on the cross, but that He does it every single day. He transfers me into the kingdom of His dear Son, Jesus Christ. So that I can have life again. [00:33:08] Brothers and sisters, as I think and reflect on where the American people are in the church today, I'm not sure who you are in your life right now, but I believe that God has called me, and I say this as testimony, to live a life, more of a life of death, so that I can have more of a life of abundance in Him. You see, brothers and sisters, when I die daily, I am continually being transferred to become more like Jesus Christ. [00:33:40] My desire is to become more like Christ And it doesn't really matter where I'm at It doesn't really matter what I'm doing Because I will know that God wants me to become more like His Son Jesus Brothers and sisters, we must hang on to the positive things And there's about a half a dozen here that I want to share with you in verses These verses are taken from the New King James You can refer to them, I'm going to go through them very rapidly I want to give you a blessing here toward the end of this message. [00:34:13] The positive part of it is that you are, you have been, I should say, you are and you have been born again. Meaning, as a believer, you are on this line. But where are you on that line as far as where you are with death and life? Are you willing to die? For you, in 1 Peter 1 verse 23 says this, For you have been born again, your new life did not come from your earthly parents because the life they gave you will end in death Again, referring back to Romans chapter 5 where in Adam everyone is going to die [00:34:43] We inherited that from our parents Now we have a new life, but this new life will last forever because it comes from the eternal living word of God This word that we have here that people have so many years tried to destroy This is the living word of God, this is an example of the word of God The Bible says that forever is my word, forever settled in heaven. Meaning that his mercy and his grace is forever settled in heaven. And as you think of us becoming a new creation in Christ, the Bible talks about it in the book of Psalms. How often are God's mercies? [00:35:18] The Bible says that every day God's mercies are new. Every day God's mercies are new You are a new creation Going back to our theme verse Therefore, if And you are My brother, my sister, you are He says, therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation Old things have passed away, behold, all things have become new [00:35:49] You have a new future Oh thank God that my future is no more going to death as it was for Adam But is on a life eternal with Jesus Christ and with his fellow saints John 3.16 You have a new future What happened? Because God loved us so much that he has given us eternal life You also have a new past As I have a new future, God took away my sins And therefore I can look back in my past and say my past is now something new because I have become new [00:36:24] Because it's under the blood, that means it's gone Galatians 2.20 says this way I have been crucified with Christ Nevertheless, I no longer live, but Christ lives within me And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God Which is Jesus Christ, of course, who loved me and gave himself for me Paul had some struggles in his flesh though he walked with God and yet when he went through those times [00:36:54] of distress and turmoil he recognized who was on the throne of his life that was Jesus Christ and yet he said he dies daily he said I have been crucified with Christ today my brothers and sisters you are God's child you are God's child because he says he has given us according to John 1 verse 12 but as many as received him gave he the right to become the sons of God or the children of God or we could say the sons and daughters of God [00:37:26] to those who believe on his name meaning on the name of Jesus Christ as we looked in our scripture text today you are God's friend according to Romans chapter 5 10 and 11 we have become now God's friend For if when we're enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son much more being reconciled we shall be saved by His life and not only so but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ by whom we have now received the atonement [00:37:57] or we've been reconciled to God You see here He says we now receive it with joy the things that God has given to us We are now in Christ and not in Adam anymore Blessed be the name of the Lord And as you think of God's mercy and of His grace Excuse me That sneeze wanted to come out but I guess it will stay in there You have now a new future and a new past You have a new identity God's friend and His child Don't be fooled by hanging on to your old identity Saying well I have this struggle for a long long time [00:38:43] I can't get over it. I've had this habit that has been a part of me for a long, long time and I just can't get rid of it. It's just a weakness that I have. Some other brothers and sisters, they have that weakness and that's their kind of thing they have to carry on with. But listen, you've got to get past that. The devil wants you to be there. He wants you to stay there. But God, Jesus Christ, wants you to take the example that he did. He wants you to die every single day. And when you die, life can flow. You become a new creation. to some it may be a change of an occupation [00:39:14] to some it may be a change of a location to some it may be staying at the exact same spot it may mean being born in a house that you still live in 40, 50, 60 years ago it may be having the same job for 50 years but I believe what God wants in his church today is more or death to the flesh and the fleshly desires. And brothers and sisters, I can identify with this. [00:39:47] There's still a continuous stirring going on within my heart. To some, sometimes when you're in the midst of something, life may not make sense. But I'm here to tell you, brothers and sisters, life does not need to make sense. What needs to happen is your trust and your faith in God. Keep your heart right. Those of you that are married, as husbands, you are the leader in your home. Keep your heart right. [00:40:19] Keep your wife's heart right. And keep your family's heart right before the Lord. You see, I don't need to be identified with something excepting with Jesus Christ. You see, one time there was an intense struggle within me. Well, if I leave, I won't be Pastor John anymore. I won't be identified with a church where it seems like a lot of good things are happening. I've been here this morning that I know and understand what it means to die to a certain degree, but I'm still learning. The Lord has just renewed something within me. [00:40:52] That He wants more of my flesh to die. Because the more my flesh dies, the more God has of me. And the more God has of me, the more effective I can be in His kingdom. It doesn't matter. Remember those positive things that I said to you? You have been born again. You have a new future. You are a new creation in Christ. And I believe, brothers and sisters, I've come to the realization that this verse means much more to me today than it did even a short time ago. [00:41:24] But I've become a new creation. And I've continually become a new creation in Christ. Brothers and sisters, there's so much more to this life than simply living and attaining and gaining the things of this life. You can accomplish a lot with your physical body. You can accumulate lots of things. You can accumulate a lot of toys. You can accumulate a lot of land. You can accumulate a lot of stuff. But when you come before the throne room of Almighty God, what's going to matter? [00:42:02] I believe, brothers and sisters, what's going to matter more than anything is that I've been willing to die to my flesh and to crucify this old flesh with its flesh of desires. Not worry about what I've attained and gained, not even what I've lost. None of that. But that I've died to Christ and that I am alive in Him. There's a man that wrote many, many of our New Testament scriptures, After the Apostle Paul, he identified, he knew, he knew what it was like to give things up. [00:42:39] He counted it as pure garbage. Philippians 3, I'd like to read some verses from Philippians 3, 7, 8, and 9. And think of who this man was that's writing this. He said he was a Pharisee of the Pharisees, meaning he was learned, he understood Scripture. Meaning that he knew what he was about and had attained a lot of things in the religious world But yet all of that he had gained [00:43:11] What did he count it as compared to dying to himself and attaining for Jesus Christ? Philippians 3 verse 7 But what things were gained to me, those I counted lost for Christ Yea, doubtless, and I count all things but loss For the excellency of the knowledge of Jesus Christ my Lord In whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, and be found in him, not having my own righteousness which is of the law, but that which is through faith of Christ, the righteous which is of God by faith. [00:43:44] We talked a little bit this morning about faith. Paul was a man that I believe had gained many things, yet he understood his importance of dying to Christ. I'm going to read those verses again from the New Living Translation, Philippians 3, verse 7-9 I once thought all those things were so very important, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the priceless gain of knowing Jesus Christ my Lord. I have discarded everything else, counting it as pure garbage, so that I may have Christ and become one with Him, [00:44:20] no longer counting my own goodness or my own ability to obey God's law. But I trust Christ to save me, for God's way of making us right with himself depends upon faith. Do you know him as he knows you? Are you willing, brothers and sisters, to make a new and a fresh commitment to God this morning and say, Simply, I need to crucify myself. You see, when you crucify yourself and let God be God, [00:44:53] Let him on the throne, your life will become different You no longer just want to come to the back of the church and sit on the back bench so to speak You don't want to just come to church and just warm the bench and just find yourself there That's all well and good But to die to self continually That may mean taking time to fast and to pray You might say, well I can't do that very good It doesn't matter, if God asks you to do it then you will give you the strength to do it As I close this morning, my challenge to you is, are you willing to commit anew and afresh to die daily in Christ? [00:45:29] I invite you to stand as we close in prayer. But right where you're at, you have to bow your heads and just close your eyes. And whatever it is in your life that you need to give up, whatever area of your life you need to die, Why? I'm just going to pause for a minute or so and you let the Lord have his way. If you have the need to come to the altar this morning to pray, if you want somebody to pray with you, however the Lord leads you, you just do what the Lord tells you to do. I'm just going to let you respond however the Lord would have you respond. [00:46:03] But I'd like to have you just speak to the Lord and say, Lord, what area of my life do I need to crucify? What area of my life or do I need to die? Just ask God that and let him respond to you as he wills. In a moment I'll pray. Father God, this morning we come to you [00:46:48] thanking you first of all for salvation through Jesus Christ. Thank you, Lord Jesus, you are willing to die on the cross for our sins. Thank you, God, that through Christ you transfer us from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light. Thank you, God. God, you call us to a life of death, because when we die, then we live. [00:47:20] Father, this morning is those areas that we have committed to you. I pray, God, you would give us the strength to completely commit those areas to you, and not to let them resurrect again. God, I pray that those who have committed, that they would share with someone else as a testimony to you. And Father, I pray you would help us as a church to die daily. So that Jesus Christ, you are glorified in our lives. God, that there could be a difference in America. [00:47:51] Lord, we know that there are many churches and many people that simply want to continue to live and do things to the flesh. Oh, dear God, I pray you would help us to die so that we can live and be a mighty example for you. A mighty testimony for you. will lead us this day, God, to a greater life of death so that we can live and live for you. God, I pray you would bless us as we go to our respective places of abode today, that you would protect us and you would guide us. You would lead us by the power of your Holy Spirit. [00:48:24] We bless you, we praise you. In the mighty name of Jesus, we pray. And all the people said, Amen. God bless you. Thank you for watching!