Bible Teaching

Calvary Temple Teaching Library

Crucified Pt.1

Just continue to pray for all of our brothers and sisters, the warfares that are going on in the heavenlies in Africa; pray especially for Charles. There's some warfare that he's involved in right now, and of course you know the attack on the ministry there in Kakamega. The enemy always looks for opportunities to bring about destruction, and we're not ignorant of his devices. Amen? So lift up their hands and encourage them in the faith. We're believing God for some great victories there.

...Also for the fellowship in Maine. There are some positive things as it pertains to these families that are involved, and we just encourage you to continue to pray that Forbe and Ruth would move in the wisdom of God. The Lord has been using them so continue to hold their hands up. We've spent a lot of hours--between Maine, Richmond, and Africa we've had a lot of hours these last few days. On the phone all hours of the day and night, but God is merciful and His wisdom is going forth and His Word.

Hold up Rob's hands. Other events are transpiring that have just solidified his walk in grace and his hope in the goodness of God. We believe that God is going to be glorified, that He works all things together for good to those that love Him and are called according to His purpose. Praise God. And so as he just shared this afternoon as I was talking to him, that which we all believe, "There's no weapon that is formed against us that will prosper; [Amen?] And every tongue that rises against us in judgment we shall condemn for that is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and our righteousness is of Him." Praise God. (Isaiah 54:17).

Let's turn to the book of Galatians. I want to start this evening a teaching that I don't know how long we'll be on. It's not doctrinal as much as it is a word of admonition to us as we've been talking about watchfulness and the need to prepare ourselves for the coming of the Lord. The day that we're in of abundance, the spirit of hedonism. We talked about the force of amusement in our society and how it's robbing us of the ability to just wait on God and be quiet. When is the last time you were just still for a prolonged period of time, and just quiet to hear the voice of God, to be able to be refreshed by the sweet fragrance of the Rose of Sharon, the Lily of the Valley? To hear that sweet song of praise coming from your spirit and to enjoy the beloved's rest? He said He gives us rest and He gives us peace. "Not as the world knows," He says, "I give to you." In the day of all of the fear and all of the turmoil, men running to and fro, the Scripture said, in the last days. We talked about the form of godliness and people lacking the power to walk in the doctrine that they know, living far below God's intention for us as believers.

Are you at peace tonight? "Peace I give unto you." And if not, then we need to survey our hearts and say, "Okay, why is it that I'm walking so far short of what God has provided for me? He is no respecter of persons and the Scripture says that He's given us all things that pertain to life and godliness, amen? Everything that you need to live a life of godliness, of holiness, of victory, has already been given to us. What are we doing to appropriate that?

So I want to talk about the thing that is lacking in many believers' lives and that is the awareness that this life that you and I are involved in, this walk of Christianity, is a walk of daily death. We've come into the thought in our society and into the false doctrine in most of our Christian churches today, that Christianity is supposed to be a life of ease, and comfort, and gain, and peace, and serenity. And I'm here to remind you that this life that you and I have been called to is one of a sword. Oh, not as the Muslims, not a physical sword, but just as real. And the violence of this kingdom that you and I are inheriting and partaking of in the spiritual realm is just as violent as that that has been seen in the Renaissance and the Crusades. "For the kingdom of God suffers violence, and the violent take it by force" (Matthew 11:12). Amen? Paul said, "I strive, I press on, I fully extend myself for the prize, the high calling of God in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 3:14).

What kind of an effort are you putting into this life that God has given us, this eternal life? There's an effort involved. Not an effort to obtain redemption--that's free--by grace we are saved through faith; but an effort to finish this course, to allow sanctification to work its process in us that we might experience glorification. There's a misinterpretation today and many of you have even been proponents of it when you've been out witnessing and telling people, "You just need to accept the Lord, and if you do, He's going to bring you peace." He does. "And the Lord will bless you." He does. "And God will heal your family." And He does. But also there's a sword that is brought. And the Lord said, "I'm going to split households right down the middle, three against two and two against three. And your greatest enemies are going to be those of your own household" (Luke 12:52, Matthew 10:34-36). Are you ready for that?

He said, "The world is going to hate you because they first hated me. They're going to kill you [the religious people, "Christians," professed Christians] are going to kill you and believe with all of their hearts that they are doing God service" (John 15:18 and 16:2) just as Paul as he breathed threatenings against the church of God. He was convinced he was representing God until that day on the road to Damascus. He was sure that he was God's vessel as he killed the children of light. And we're going to experience that.

What are you doing to prepare yourself for that hour? Does your theology allow you to embrace that? "All that live godly in Christ Jesus are going to suffer persecution" (2 Timothy 3:12). "Many are the afflictions of the righteous but God will deliver us out of them all" (Psalms 34:19). What does your doctrine say? What do you believe? What are you sharing with others about Christianity and what it means to follow Jesus? What are you teaching your kids? All they've known is peace and safety. What are we doing to prepare ourselves for this hour that is taking place?

Paul said in Corinthians 15: "I die daily." Do you? So many people just saw the movie, "The Passion of the Christ." It's really amazing the affect that the visual has on people, isn't it? How many people have been told the story of the crucifixion in Sunday School and how many have heard it in church over the years? And then people went and probably saw one of the most realistic renditions of what Jesus endured as the sin bearer, the gift of God to humanity. And many were moved by it and were horrified at the violence, at the cruelty, at the cost for the forgiveness of their sins. And yet that didn't even come close to really representing the torment that the Master went through. Because the Scripture says very clearly that when He went to that cross He was so beaten and so marred, and so affected by your sin and by mine that you couldn't even recognize Him as a man. He was just a mutilated mass of flesh. That's what it means to be crucified and that's what's supposed to happen to you every day. What are you experiencing?

If I am to be crucified with Christ on a daily basis it's that ugly, it's that violent, and it's that real. How did your cross go today? Because, you see, what we're talking about when we talk about dying daily, being crucified with Christ, here's what we're talking about and here's what we're going to be studying as we study this topic called "Crucified." "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me" Paul said in Galatians 2:20. Crucified.

What crucifixion is all about is you coming off your throne and climbing onto a cross. The throne of self-will, of self-reliance, of self-righteousness. The idolatry of secular humanism, the worship of the creature more than the creator, as our churches are full of the doctrine of self-helps, twelve-step programs, improving our image of ourselves, our self-worth. "I'm okay, you're okay." And Christianity, biblical Christianity, isn't even recognizable in most churches today because there's no talk about death to self; it's the honor of self; it's the glorification of self, it's the promotion of self. And the tragic thing is that we promote self in the guise of serving Jesus. And we battle for positions in the eyes of those in the community; and we want to serve in this area where we can be seen. We want these works appreciated; and we wonder why this person received preferential treatment over us and why is it that all of our good gifts are being overlooked, etc. It goes on without end to the degree that there are people in our churches.

Now what about us as a fellowship? How do we measure up? "Well, praise God we're better than those guys down the street!" Well, are we? I don't see anywhere in the Scripture where we're supposed to compare ourselves with the people down the street. There's only one standard, and it's perfection. There's only one prototype, it's Jesus. There's only one that we can compare ourselves with and that's the Gift of God.

In the second chapter of Galatians, turn over there, I quoted it but I want you to see it with your eyes. Take just a few moments as we're going to meditate upon this. Paul says in verse 19, "I through the law am dead to the law, [chapter 2] that I might live unto God. And I am crucified with Christ." Now what does that mean?

Keep your finger there for just a second and turn over to Romans, chapter six. "I am crucified with Christ." In chapter six, Paul, writing to the Romans says, "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?" Shall we continue in sin that grace might abound? The whole argument is the fact that we're saved by grace and grace reigns through righteousness to eternal life by Jesus Christ. It's not of works lest any man should boast. And of course we've spoken towards this many times, and we're not going to emphasize that tonight, but he answers that question in verse two and says, "God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? [Dead to sin, I die daily; I am crucified with Christ. Do you not understand?] Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?" (Romans 6:1-3)

When you were baptized we explained to you what was taking place, to all of you that were baptized in this ministry. We teach and share with those that are being baptized what is taking place; the symbolism of that death. As we are willfully giving our lives up and identifying with Jesus' crucifixion we're acknowledging that our will died on that cross with Jesus Christ. That when He became Lord and we accepted His finished work by accepting Jesus as Lord you are abdicating your personal will. You are no longer in control of your life; you are bought with a price, the precious blood of Jesus. You are not your own.

And that is what you're saying when you become a Christian and when you're baptized. I was crucified. I'm dead. It's no long I that live but Christ that liveth in me. So I was crucified with Him. I was baptized; I was buried with Him. And then the good news is we were resurrected with Him. As we come out of the water, the symbolism is that we are now raised into a new life of abiding in Christ. A new life that is no longer controlled or dominated by sin, by the sin nature that is in us. Sin is still in our members but it's no longer dominant. I have a renewed mind; I have the mind of Christ. My mind is continually being renewed; my mind is being washed by the water of the Word. I think upon these things.

How can you say you're a Christian and not die daily? How can you proclaim Christianity and remain seated on your throne? How can you call Him Lord with that crown on your head; of self-will, of self-reliance, of self-righteousness? You see, this is what Paul is addressing here. And he said, "Look guys, we were baptized into His death [verse 3] therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death; that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in the newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, [crucified, buried with him], we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection. Knowing this, that our old man..." You see, that's what is getting crucified every day, our old man, the self man, the selfish man, self-willed, self-indulgent, self-reliant, and self-determinate.

You know, you had better be very careful when you just blow off the admonition that says, "Tomorrow I'm going to go do such and such. I'm going to go to such and such a city, I'm going to make such and such a deal; I'm going to spend this much money; I'm going to make this much money. I'm going to come home and this is the plan for the day. I'm going to cut my lawn, and I'm going to watch this program; and I'm going to eat dinner at this time." Really? Are you able to see that far ahead into the spirit realm?

Now there's nothing wrong with having a plan, of being organized. The question that I have for you is: How flexible are you to be available to serve the community, to esteem others, to minister the gospel? How quick are we to run home to fulfill our schedule and miss that encounter with a lost soul? How quick are we to blow off the opportunities to care for one another, our most precious possessions, relationships that we have right here in this community, because we're now so common and familiar with one another, to fulfill some temporal pleasure, appetite, schedule, idealistic perception of what the Good Housekeeping lifestyle is of this generation as we move in next door to the Cleavers and Robert Young. (All you old people know who I'm talking about "Leave It to Beaver" and "Father Knows Best") We have this misconception of what it means for me to live is (say it) Christ. Is that really the truth for us? Is that what satisfies you? To be able to say, "This day has been spent fully in representing Jesus. Not satisfying myself, representing Jesus." Can we say that our old man is crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed so that henceforth I no longer serve sin?

You see, what we're talking about here, so many of us say, "This habit, this sin, or whatever, just seems to keep--it's a besetting sin that just keeps manifesting itself, and I just don't know how to get rid of it." You choose to get rid of it. "But I have chosen, I've said, I don't want to do that anymore, I refuse to do that anymore." What are you filling that time that is usually spent on doing that? What are you filling that time with, more of self? You may stop doing this but anything consumed upon self is just as evil. What are you doing with the energy that it took to do that? Is it building the Body of Christ, is it seeking the Kingdom, is it seeking the things that are above where Jesus is seated at God's right hand?

We're talking, beloved, about preparing ourselves for this hour, watching, and being ready. The only way is to crucify self, to make no provision for the flesh. Go back to the Galatians passage and look what he says. "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not frustrate the grace of God; for if righteousness comes by the law, then Christ is dead in vain" (Galatians 2:20-21). He's not talking about working to righteousness; he's talking about righteousness working to obedience. The grace of God working righteousness in us that causes us to obey.

Now, it happens through this act that we call crucifixion. It's a choice. The dying daily is a choice. I am crucified with Christ daily. Turn over to Matthew 16 for just a second and take a look at this particular passage of Scripture. I'm going to do something in the introduction of this that I have never done before. I'm going to read a lengthy portion out of a book, a couple of pages, because frankly, I just can't say it any better than the book does. Well, in reality I should be reading a book every time I get up here, but this one is something that I believe will really speak to us and cause us to hear in a very succinct manner this spirit that I'm trying to identify that each of us battles with. The constant warfare against the promotion and exaltation of self--my way, my wishes, my glory--and this selfness that dominates all of us that are members of Adam's family was never meant to be. The fruit of the knowledge of good and evil, the eyes being opened and becoming as gods, the force that we constantly battle to exalt ourselves and promote ourselves against our Father. Everything in us wants to rebel.

I like one of the phrases in the book that I'm going to share in just a moment, and one of the phrases is, he says the problem is we're born rebels and because of that we don't realize that we are, as we should. It's so natural. Born enemies of God, haters of our Creator. We so naturally defy the One that is working for our good. Nothing in us, beloved, in the natural, produces righteousness. "In me, that is in my flesh, dwells no good thing." "All have sinned and come short of the glory of God." "There is none righteous, no not one."

Now, if that is the case then you have to die daily. "Well I'm born again, Spirit filled." Well praise God, that got you through today, and tomorrow you have to die and start all over again. It's like Groundhog Day, that movie. And you know, there are some parallels there because as you continue to go through this thing then things don't surprise you like they used to. You're not ignorant of Satan's devices, you're not ignorant of your own actions; you know how you respond in certain situations so you begin to prepare for those things, if you're wise.

Listen to what the Master says. Jesus had asked the question "Who do men say that I am" and Peter had responded and the Lord spoke of the grace and the mercy that had been shown to him to give him that revelation. And then it says in verse 21 of the sixteenth chapter of Matthew, "From that time forth began Jesus to show forth unto his disciples, how he must go to Jerusalem, suffer many things of the elders, be killed, and raised again on the third day. Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, "Lord, be it far from thee [this will not happen to you, I'll see to it] this shall not be unto thee." But he turned and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me Satan; for [your self-will] is an offense unto me; for thou savourest not the things that are of God, but of men" (Matthew 16:21-23). You're looking for what is best for you. You have it all figured out.

One of the deacons was sharing last night about somebody in our midst that is battling with the understanding of the doctrine of healing, and talking about how we've changed--me--that I've changed what I believe and teach about healing. There's not one thing that I've changed. I have not changed one thing that I teach and not one thing that I believe in the doctrine of divine healing. What has changed is I have died more to self and accepted more of the sovereignty of God. I've stopped trying to boss God around and getting ticked off when He didn't do it my way. That's what's changed. In other words, I grew up a little bit. I fully believe that by the stripes of Jesus we are healed. Fact. I believe that the prayer of faith saves the sick and the Lord raises them up. I believe that we as a people walk in victory in proportion to our faith. And all of those promises that are yea and amen, that are sure to a thousand generations, are what I expect and hope and trust. And then when it doesn't happen the way I expect, hope, and trust, and it doesn't happen in the time, and it doesn't happen in the way, then I step back and say, "God is true, let every man be a liar. He works all things according to His good pleasure. The Lord is good, He gives, He takes, blessed be the name of the Lord. I'm getting to know Him more and more every day. And I die daily; it doesn't have to be my way. I don't have to understand." How in the world can we, with a finite mind, comprehend an infinite God?

I've shared it with you; this [holding up his Bible] is not all there is to God. This is all God has revealed to us and this is all you need to know to be saved, and this is all we need to know to glorify God in this realm called time and space. But in eternity God is going to constantly reveal Himself for He is infinite, and He is eternal, and you will never exhaust Him. So don't think for a minute you're going to figure God out and don't think for a minute He's going to answer to you.

So when we begin to move in our understanding of God and we begin to fully appreciate who we are and who God is, it's liberating. And if something doesn't seem to be working right as it pertains to Scripture, guess who's messing up? Who is it? Yes, it's me. It's not God. So when we look at these revelations of ourselves, Peter is trying to tell Jesus how it is going to happen. "This is not going to happen that way because here's what I believe. And according to my faith it's going to be done, praise God!" Jesus said, "Get behind me, Satan. You don't have a clue what I'm doing. You don't even know what's best for you because if I don't die, you will." Aren't you thankful that Jesus died for us so that we could live with Him?

So it goes on and it goes like this. Watch what He goes on to say. "You are an offense, but if any man will come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me" (Matthew 16:23-24). Look what we're dealing with here, self-denial. Denying of self, the taking up of the cross. "For whosoever will save his life sake shall lose it and whosoever shall lose his life for my sake shall find it" (Matthew 16:16:25). And this is what we're going to be talking about in these next couple of sessions. Let me read this to you. It's out of Tozer's book on the gems, and I've read--I can't tell you how many times I've read this book, ("Gems From Tozer) but especially this chapter. It's called "The Old Cross and the New." And if you haven't seen the "Gems From Tozer" and how this thing is put together, it's paragraphs out of a lot of different books and it's compiled to deal with one subject. So in these particular three and a half pages there are four or five of his books being represented. How many of you have read this book? A couple of you. There will be more after this.

It's interesting when he's talking about modern times, he's going to use that statement, and he's talking about the 1950's. And some of you are going, "Yeah, I can identify with that." Okay. [I just happened to catch Neil here out of the corner of my eye.]

He [Tozer] says:

All unannounced, and mostly undetected, there has come in modern times a new cross into popular evangelical circles.

From this new cross has sprung a new philosophy of the Christian life, and from that new philosophy has come a new evangelical technique--a new type of meeting and a new kind of preaching.

The old cross would have no truck [never related] with the world. For Adam's proud flesh it meant the end of the journey. The new cross, if understood aright, is the source of oceans of good clean fun and innocent enjoyment. It lets Adam live without interference. His life motivation is unchanged; he still lives for his own pleasure.

The new cross does not slay the sinner, it redirects him. It gears him into a cleaner and jollier way of living and saves his self-respect.

The old cross is a symbol of death. God salvages the individual by liquidating him and then raising him again to newness of life. God offers life but not an improved old life. The life He offers is life out of death. It stands always on the far side of the cross. [You've got to go by the cross.]

Among the plastic saints of our times Jesus has to do all the dying and all we want is to hear another sermon about His dying. [Just like "The Passion." And people get all teary eyed, and people get all moved emotionally about His dying. People don't mind sermons about His dying.] We want to be saved but we insist that Christ do all the dying. No cross for us, no dethronement, no dying. We remain king within the little kingdom of Mansoul [Pilgrim's Progress] and wear our tinsel crown with all the pride of a Caesar, but we doom ourselves to shadows and weakness and spiritual sterility.

So subtle is self that scarcely anyone is conscious of its presence. Because man is born a rebel, he is unaware that he is one. His constant assertion of self, as far as he thinks of it all, appears to him a perfectly normal thing. [Listen to this.] He is willing to share himself, sometimes even to sacrifice himself for a desired end, but never to dethrone himself. [That's a powerful statement! Sacrifice himself, share himself, but never dethrone himself. You see, even sacrifice; for a righteous man scarcely some would even die. I'm still making that decision. I choose who I'll die for, who I'll sacrifice for. To the natural eye it looks to be some type of act of true benevolence, but its self-will.].

Sin has many manifestations but its essence is one. A moral being, created to worship before the throne of God, sits on the throne of his own selfhood and from that elevated position declares, "I AM." That is sin in its concentrated essence, yet because it is natural it appears to be good. "What shall we do?" [to be saved] (Acts 2:37) is the deep heart cry of every man who suddenly realizes that he is a usurper and sits on a stolen throne.

Promoting self under the guise of promoting Christ is currently so common as to excite little notice. Self can live unrebuked at the very altar. It can watch the bleeding Victim die and not be in the least affected by what it sees. It can fight for the faith of the Reformers and preach elegantly the creed of salvation by faith, and gain strength by its [own] efforts. To tell all the truth, it seems actually to feed upon orthodoxy and is more at home in a Bible Conference [and in church] than in a tavern. Our very longing after God may afford it an excellent condition under which to thrive and grow [Our very longing after God provides an environment for self to thrive and grow.]

Self is the opaque veil that hides the Face of God from us. It can be removed only in spiritual experience, never by mere instruction. [You might] As well try to instruct leprosy out of our system [one's body]. There must be a work of God [that brings] in destruction before we are free. We must invite the cross to do its deadly work within us. We must bring our self-sins to the cross of judgment.

Our uncrucified flesh will rob us of purity of heart, Christ-likeness of character, spiritual insight, fruitfulness; and more than all, it will hide from us the vision of God's face, that vision which has been the light of earth and will be the completeness of heaven.

Why do we build our churches upon human flesh? [For self-gain, for self-comfort] For we teach men not to die with Christ but to live in the strength of their own dying manhood.

One time a young man came to an old saint who taught the deeper life, the crucified life, and said to him, "Father, what does it mean to be crucified?" [And we'll end with this for tonight] The old man thought for a moment and said, "Well, to be crucified means three things. [This is profound] First, the man who is crucified is facing only one direction." I like that--facing only one direction. If he hears anything behind him he can't turn around to see what's going on. He has stopped looking back. The crucified man on the cross is looking in only one direction and that is the direction of God and Christ and the Holy Ghost, the direction of Biblical revelation, world evangelization, the edifying of the church, sanctification, and the Spirit-filled life.

And the old man scratched his scraggy grey hair and said, "One thing more, son, about a man on a cross--he's not going back." When you go out to die on the cross you bid good-bye--you are not going back! [You see too many people are trying this; too many people are leaving bridges unburned. Too many people still have a "Plan B." To be crucified with Christ is solely, my life is solely, totally invested in Him. If I lose Him I have nothing]. If we would preach more of this and stop trying to make the Christian life so easy it's contemptible we would have more converts that would last. Get a man converted who knows that if he joins Jesus Christ he's finished, and that while he's going to come up and live anew, as far as this world's concerned he is not going back--then you have [the makings of] a real Christian indeed.

The old man went on, "Another thing about the man on the cross, son; he has no further plans of his own." I like that. Somebody else made his plans for him, and when they nailed him up there all his plans disappeared. [In our hectic society we Christians are dominated by our plans.] Oh, what busy-beaver Christians we are with all of our plans!

It is beautiful to say, [Christ is making my plans.] "I am crucified with Christ," and know that Christ is making your plans."

The man who takes his cross and follows Christ will soon find that his direction is away from the sepulcher. Death is behind him and a joyous increasing life before. [And then he ends every chapter with a prayer or a thought, and he says]

If I see aright, the cross of popular evangelicalism is not the cross of the New Testament. It is, rather, a new bright ornament upon the bosom of a self-assured and carnal Christianity. The old cross slew men; the new cross entertains them. The old cross condemned; the new cross amuses. The old cross destroyed confidence in the flesh; the new cross encourages it.

Father, help us to be crucified with Jesus. And cause us in this hour to face the question, "Do I die daily?" As I've wrestled personally over these last days over this topic, meditating upon the Word of God and the course of my life, the ministry that we've been called to, the one conclusion that I was able to come up with is this: I'm not comfortable off of the cross.

I dealt with a severe case of depression yesterday morning, and it is something I battle--have always battled in my life. As I was just praying and meditating on the Word, and reading over this subject, knowing I was going to be teaching along these lines. I know that genetically it's something within me that causes this. I know the onslaught of the enemy; I know the attacks that come upon me in these ways because of my office. I know all of the causes, but it is still real. You still have to deal with it and destroy it, pull it down. There is only one way and that is through thanksgiving, just rejoicing in the goodness of the Lord. I don't mean for the things that you have, or the health; I'm just talking about thankful for the presence of God.

I remember what I was without Him. I remember what life was without Him. And the conclusion that I came up with is this--and we'll close with this for tonight--I'm not comfortable off the cross. When I begin to get anxious, when I begin to have to deal with an anxiousness, confusion, discontentment, I realize that I've put myself back in the place of making decisions, of self-control, of self-determination, that I have an agenda. And what appears to be horrible I've found, in reality, to be a rest. There is no greater rest than death, to be emptied of self. And as always, I just rejoice in that moment as it came over me just as the waves of depression tried to at times. When I climbed back onto that cross and got comfortable, leaned back against that cross and got comfortable with the nails in my hands, and the abdicating of the throne of self, the crown of self-will and self-determination, the peace comes, the joy comes, the life comes. For me to live is Christ, to die to self is gain. We do thank you for it, Father, in Jesus' name.

Let's stand before the Lord tonight. We're going to be dealing with a number of different issues as we go on through this topic. I don't know how much you were able to hear out of those four pages that I read, but if you heard what was written on those pages you'll never be dominated by sin again. You see, it's not a choice. It's made at every encounter, every intersection, every infomercial. It's a decision that's made once and for all that causes you to be able to recognize how self responds and to quickly get it back on the cross.

You see, Jesus died once for all. We die daily. It's painful to the natural man; it is violent to self-will; it is horrific to the emotions; but to live you must lose your life. Make that real we ask, Father, in Jesus' name.

As Gary plays for us, we'll take just a moment. Allow that word to sink into your heart. What did you hear tonight? Did you have ears to hear what the Spirit was saying to His church? As we sing this together just rejoice in the goodness of the Lord and thank Him for all that He's done. "Lord, you are so precious to me." Oh, just bless Him as you sing it again. "Lord, you are so precious to me." Oh Lord, we thank You for that love and the grace. You're so precious, Lord; the treasure of our hearts. Nothing can be compared to You. Show yourself in us, Father; be glorified in us; as men see our reliance, let them glorify our Father in heaven. It's our heart's desire, in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Before you go, turn to somebody next to you and say, "For me to live is Christ." Amen. Go in peace, God's love go with you.

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