Father in Heaven, I'm grateful that we are
here discussing this subject that is really so
wonderful.
I'm grateful that the Holy Spirit has been
present, and I pray, Lord, as people have
listened, that they have been blessed, and that
they have been able to learn some things
that will hopefully help them in experiencing the
more abundant, victorious life that You want them
to have.
Lord, we know it's an ongoing work, it's
the work of a lifetime.
I'm grateful that You're the one that determines
the pathway, that You're the one that helps
us, and that in the end, Lord, we
can find ourselves in that celestial city.
Help us, Lord, to live in such a
way that others will want to know that
city as well someday.
So be with us again.
Lord, You know that I'm only an instrument,
I'm only a mouthpiece, and I really need
You to speak through me, Lord, so that
the people's time here will not be wasted.
I ask this in Jesus' name.
Amen.
Now, there's one good thing about knowing these
things, and that is when you go and
talk the way that I have been, and
any of you, by the way, can do
as much as I've done, and someday, the
Lord willing, you'll be sharing just as I
have.
When it's not about you, when it's all
about God, you don't have near the worry
in standing up before people, because you literally
look for God to impress you as you're
sharing.
And I can assure you that if you've
been to other seminars of mine, the subject
matter is the same, but the illustrations always
change, because they're prompted as I'm going along,
and I just let the Spirit move.
And that's one of the reasons why I
don't like PowerPoint, because PowerPoint just holds you
in and you can't be flexible at all
for the Spirit's promptings.
So, it's good.
It's good to know Jesus in this way.
Let's look at Galatians 2.20 as we
pick up.
Galatians 2.20. Welcome
back.
Galatians 2.20, it says, I have been
crucified with Christ.
It is no longer I who live, but
Christ lives in me, and the life which
I now live in the flesh, I live
by faith in the Son of God who
loved me and gave himself for me.
He says, I've been how?
Crucified with Christ.
He says, it's no longer I who live,
but it's Christ now who lives in me.
Let's look at another one.
Galatians 6.14, it says, But God forbid
that I should boast except where?
In the cross of Christ, of our Lord
Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been
crucified to me and I to the world.
Paul said, when I look at what's made
the substantial difference in my life, it's been
the cross of Christ.
He said, I don't want to boast anywhere
but the cross.
And you know, when Paul went to Athens,
and there he attempted to reason with those
people who were caught up in the mysticism
of their day, and he tried to reason
using logic, he discovered that that didn't work,
and he says, I choose to only know
one thing, and that's Christ and him crucified.
Paul came back to Christ and him crucified.
Let's look at 1 Corinthians 2.2. 1
Corinthians 2.2. It says, therefore, I determine
not to know anything among you except Jesus
Christ and him crucified.
I guess I just referenced that.
But here's the point.
Jesus said, if I be lifted up, I
will draw all men unto myself.
I remember I was at the University of
Michigan, teaching a little bit to the campus
group, the missionaries that work on the University
of Michigan campus, and I spent the whole
week talking about what it means to really
lift up Jesus, that we have been called
to lift him up, and how sometimes we
spend more of our time lifting up programs
and good preachers, and we have a great
music program, but it's pretty rare where we
say, you know, at our church, you'll really
experience Jesus.
We don't do that much.
And is it any wonder, if he said,
if I be lifted, I will draw all
men unto myself, is it any wonder that
we don't gain greater results?
And I remember a student wrote me after
the fact and said, you know, Dan, she
said, for the first time, when I realized
it wasn't about me and my enthusiasm, but
it was all about Jesus, she said, it
changed completely the way I give my Bible
studies.
You know, it's just a huge change, a
huge change in how we view what we're
doing.
Now notice Romans chapter 12, verse 1.
Romans chapter 12, verse 1.
Gentlemen, go right ahead.
It says, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by
the mercies of God, that you present your
bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God,
which is what?
Your reasonable service.
We have been called to give our lives
as reasonable sacrifice.
Now, if you gave a sacrifice, what would
happen?
If you sacrificed something, you would take it
and it would be, you would surrender completely,
you'd put it on the altar for the
purpose of what?
Of it being completely consumed, right?
When Paul calls us to give our lives
as living sacrifices, he says, give it for
the purpose of it being what?
Consumed by God.
Now, we're lucky, in our day, we're not
really thinking of our lives being consumed, you
know, on a martyr's pile, on a fire.
You know, we're not talking about that kind
of thing.
But the surrender should be to the same
extent, and I believe that's what our brother
Jeffrey was talking about this morning.
Because we don't know when the times will
change, and we're called that way.
And as he so rightly pointed out, he
said it would be easier to die for
Jesus than to live for Jesus, because living
for Jesus is in the ongoing dying to
self experience that goes on from day to
day.
Now, I'd like to have us look at
a few quotations.
First of all, at line 41, it says,
The new birth is a rare experience in
the age of this world.
This is the reason, I'm on page 19,
by the way.
19, line 41, 42, something in there.
The new birth is a rare experience in
the age of this world.
This is the reason why there are so
many perplexities in the churches.
Many, so many who assume the name of
Christ are unsanctified and unholy.
They have been baptized, but they were what?
They were buried alive, self did not die,
and therefore they did not rise to newness
of life in Christ.
Okay?
The reason there are so many perplexities in
the churches is because many have been buried
alive, self did not die, and therefore self
came back up just as alive and just
as active for wanting its own thing as
before.
Now, if you went to a funeral home,
and they were burying live people, would you
have a problem with that?
Sure, they would throw the funeral director in
jail for that, wouldn't they?
And I say this without throwing any stones,
but I am absolutely amazed that we don't
even mention dying to self in our fundamental
doctrines.
If you read what the Bible says, if
you read what Ellen White says on the
subject, I mean, that's foundational.
That is foundation, and I will prove that
to you in a greater way.
Just imagine what it would be like to
be in a church where every person was
wanting only God's will to be done.
I remember there was a time when I
attended a church where we baptized a whole
bunch of people.
Now, we only had like a nominal attendance
of 115, 120, and I think with re
-baptisms we had almost 80 people.
And we were thinking about the future, and
some people quickly figured out that when they
held the next business meeting, these on-fire
members, these new members, could come and vote
every single officer out of the church.
And it's interesting that the stress became to
how to keep the status quo.
You know, I don't know what the membership
is here, but if, for example, how many
members are there here?
A couple thousand maybe?
Okay, whatever, let's say there's 3,000 just
for discussion purposes.
Imagine if you had 2,500 people join
your church in one month.
Your church wouldn't know what to do with
it here.
Why?
Because you'd be so afraid that they would
leave the church away.
And I believe there's a great need in
our church to convince people to want to
know and do God's will at whatever the
cost, no matter what the cost might be.
Because if that is the stress, there's no
fear about new people coming in because everyone
wants the same thing, and God isn't going
to tell one person one thing and another
person another.
But it's because we've become so accustomed to
listening to men, sincere, well-intentioned men, and
sincere, well-intentioned women, instead of hearing God,
that we haven't really learned the need to
hear from God.
George Mueller said some things about that, especially
about how to know God's will.
And we haven't done as much in educating
in that respect as we could either.
But anyway, the new birth is a rare
experience because there are many who are going
down into the water thinking it forgives them,
but now realize that when they come out
of the water, they have made a public
statement that from now on, just as this
represents death, from now on there's only one
voice I want to hear and obey, and
that is the Lord Jesus Christ.
And I believe that the reason Jesus was
baptized was not just as an example, you
know, that you'll need to be baptized, so
I need to go through it as well,
but it was His public statement as well,
of dying to self and saying, you know,
in my ministry, in a special way, there
will only be one voice heard, and that
is the voice of my Father.
Okay?
When we are baptized, it's not just forgiveness,
it is also a public declaration that there
is now a new person in charge.
A new person in charge.
Turn with me, because I've mentioned that, to
page 21.
Line 28.
This is a quotation, actually, from George Mueller.
George Mueller said, There was a day when
I died, and as he spoke, he bent
lower until he almost touched the floor.
Continuing, he added, I died to George Mueller,
his opinions, his preferences, taste, and will.
Died to the will, its approval or censure.
Died to the approval or blame even of
my brethren or friends, and since then, I
have studied only to show myself approved unto
God.
He said, There was a day when I
died.
I died to my will, my preferences, my
taste.
I died to whatever the world would say,
either good or bad.
I died to their praise.
I died to their censure, to their negative
feelings.
I died both to the praise and the
censure of my brothers.
So there was only one thing I cared
about from that point, and that was to
know and do whatever God wanted.
And I believe that's the reason that God
used him in such a great way.
It's interesting.
I told you how in 1874 he was
able to support all those missionaries and feed
all those 2,100 children and 10,000
pounds overseas and all those things.
And he wrote at one point, he said,
There are those who think that God blesses
me because I'm more spiritual than most.
They said, That's not true.
He said, To the degree that I have
followed God's will, to that degree God has
blessed me.
That is the secret.
To that degree.
And you know what?
It's only when we've truly died to self
that God is on the throne the way
he wants to and that he can truly
bless us in unstinted measure.
Now, I'd like to share with you a
few quotations.
On page 20, line 22.
It says, We cannot retain our own self
and be filled with all the fullness of
God.
We must be emptied of self.
If heaven is gained by us at last,
it will only be through the renunciation of
self and in receiving the mind, the spirit,
and the will of Christ Jesus.
Are we willing to pay the price for
eternal life?
Are we ready to sit down and count
the cost whether heaven is worth such a
sacrifice as to die to self and let
our will be bent in fashion into perfect
conformity with the will of God?
Until this shall be, the transforming grace of
God will not be experienced by us.
Did you hear that?
Until we've done this, we will not experience
the transforming grace of Christ.
Just as soon as we present our emptied
nature to the Lord Jesus and his cause,
he will supply the vacuum by his Holy
Spirit.
We can then believe he will give us
of his fullness.
He does not want us to perish.
You see, there's a relationship between our dying
to self, being emptied of self, and the
Holy Spirit's ability to fill us with himself.
Some people have asked me the question, they
said, Dan, when you talk about dying to
self, does that mean you're calling us to
become doormats and benevolent nobodies?
You know, this feels good, walk all over
me.
No.
The purpose of dying to self, the purpose
of being emptied to self, is for the
sake of being filled by the Lord Jesus
Christ.
Okay?
And I can tell you that when he's
the one in charge, he has you doing
things and going places that you never dreamed
possible.
I told you, you know, I wander.
Last year and a half, I've been to
New Zealand four times.
I've been to Fiji twice.
I've been to England, to Canada, to the
United States.
I'm going to Cambodia, Thailand, later to England,
back to New Zealand, probably Australia.
All, by the way, by faith.
No payroll.
No one's saying, Dan, we'll pay you.
Sometimes the money comes ahead of time.
Sometimes the money comes during the time.
Sometimes it comes within days after I get
back home.
But God knows what he's doing.
And if he's busy and you don't say
no, okay?
Because, see, I believe that when the invite
comes, it's not for Dan, it's for him.
And if I say no, I'm in effect
saying no for him, and I can't do
that.
And it's amazing what he can do, because
it's a life that's not about Dan, it's
about him from beginning to end.
Let's continue.
Line 44 on the same page.
How few are aware that they have darling
idols, that they have cherished sins.
God sees these sins to which you may
be blinded, and he works with his pruning
knife to strike deep and separate these cherished
sins from you.
You will want to choose for yourself the
process of purification.
How hard it is for you to submit
to the crucifixion of self, but when the
work is all submitted to God, to him
who knows our weaknesses and our sinfulness, he
takes the very best way to bring about
the desired results.
See, we all want to configure, you know,
how God would purify us, how God would
change us, but only God really knows the
best way.
Can we trust him?
Page 21 now, at the top of the
page, line 3.
In order that we may die to self,
we are called upon to endure trial, and
when the chastening hand of the Lord is
laid upon us, we are not to fret
and complain and not to rebel, not to
worry ourselves out of the hand of Christ.
We are to humble ourselves before God, pleading
with him to give us rest and peace.
We enter the furnace of affliction with our
hearts darkened by selfishness, but if patient under
the crucial test, we shall come forth reflecting
the divine image.
Okay?
If we are willing to trust God, trust
what he's doing, he will make an entire
change in our lives.
Line 33, same page.
On one occasion I spoke in reference to
genuine sanctification, which is nothing less than what?
A daily dying to self and a daily
conformity to the will of God.
Turn to page 22 now.
Two more quotations on this, and then a
little story, and then we'll move to the
last section.
Line 18.
You are to die to self to crucify
the flesh with the affections and the lust.
You need not devise ways and methods to
bring about your own crucifixion.
Self-inflicted penances are of no avail and
will be found worthless when the test comes
upon you.
We are to surrender the heart to God
that he may renew and sanctify us and
fit us for the heavenly courts.
I remember when I was sharing this at
Pioneer Memorial Church, and Pastor Dwight sat on
the front row and said, Dan, you've convinced
us about the need to die to self,
but you can't leave until you tell us
how we die to self.
Is that a good question?
Absolutely.
How do we die to self?
What did we just read there?
She says that it's not for us to
figure out, devise ways and methods of bringing
about your own crucifixion.
Okay?
We can't devise our own method.
Line 27.
No outward observances can take the place of
simple faith, but no man can empty himself
of self.
We can only consent for Christ to accomplish
the work.
Then the language of the soul will be,
Lord, take my life, for I cannot give
it.
It is thy property.
Keep it pure, for I cannot keep it
for thee.
Save me in spite of myself, my weak,
un-Christlike self.
Mold me, fashion me, raise me into a
pure and holy atmosphere, where the rich current
of thy love can flow through my soul.
It is not only at the beginning of
the Christian life that this renunciation of self
is to be made, at every advanced step.
Notice.
No man can empty himself of self.
You can't do that.
How does it happen?
I believe that from my experience, and I
can show you one good example in the
Bible, is that God providentially orchestrates the circumstances
that force us to release into His hands
those things that we find so impossible to
surrender.
Okay?
He knows each one of us, and He
will literally sometimes bring us kicking and screaming
because we don't want to surrender.
And He'll put us in situations where we
have to accept His way of working.
But as a result of that, we die
to self in that area too.
Sometimes, because we have no choice but to
endure.
But out of that process, we learn.
Think of the children of Israel.
You know, they had severe problems in Egypt,
didn't they?
For 80 years, their life was falling apart.
Wasn't it?
More than that.
When they were being enslaved, and the male
babies were being killed.
And they were praying, weren't they?
You know why their prayers weren't being answered?
Because they were praying, bless me in Egypt
prayers.
And God is not in the business of
answering, bless me in Egypt prayers.
When we pray, bless me in Egypt prayers,
you know what happens?
God makes our life more difficult instead of
better.
God makes our life harder.
Because it's so hard to get Egypt out
of our blood.
When they finally were ready to go, what
did they always think about?
Oh, if we were back in Egypt, right?
But that journey through the wilderness was a
progressive journey of dying to self.
First, God's voice is serious.
You have to accept it.
God's direction, going to the Red Sea.
Accepting God's way of deliverance.
And then, accepting God's timing, three days to
the hot desert sand.
Accepting God's bitter disappointment at Mara.
Accepting God's blessing.
Accepting the Sabbath.
Accepting God's way of health.
Accepting the Ten Commandments.
Accepting God's leadership.
All of that stuff was a progressive journey
of dying to self.
And He's going to take each one of
us down that journey, providentially.
They're not the ones that chose to go
to the Red Sea.
It seemed an absolute trap.
There was the water before them, mountains on
each side, and the Egyptians behind.
And for all they knew, they were going
to die and they were ready to go
back.
But God spoke to Moses, and Moses, you
know, he raised his rod and the waters
parted, right?
And they went forward.
And that which had been the obstacle to
them became God's way of deliverance in their
lives.
And they were saved.
Okay?
And for us, often this process of dying
to self, the way forward looks impossible.
And on each side are circumstances that we
can't change.
And behind us, guess what is running from
behind?
Our past.
And the devil is saying, you've never changed
before.
Don't expect a change now.
Okay?
That's what he says.
But as we, by faith, obey, God takes
us through.
Sadly, like the children of Israel, even though
we have head knowledge, sometimes we haven't learned
to trust Him enough to actually do what
we know.
And so instead of crossing over the river
to take Jericho, as you heard this morning,
we go back into the wilderness.
I say this morning because the other church,
I heard a few minutes and they were
talking about taking Jericho.
They went back into the wilderness and there
they enjoyed wilderness blessings, not promised land blessings.
And many of us have become so accustomed
to wilderness blessings that we think that's all
there is.
Eventually they came back.
They crossed the river and God took the
city down.
You know how it happened?
They obeyed consistently.
They obeyed unitedly.
They obeyed in a peculiar way.
No one had ever seen that before.
But because they did their part, God could
do His part.
And those walls came down.
And that which is impossible does, if we
will obey and trust God, will come down
too.
But it's a progressive journey where God leads
us intentionally in a way that our lives
will change.
A little illustration from my own life.
Some time back I was dating someone, thoroughly
in love with her.
Because I'm divorced, I'm single.
And we were talking about things like marriage.
But I just wasn't convinced that she wanted
to have the vagabond kind of life that
Dan had.
Because sometimes I'm on the road for two
months and I'm in a different house every
couple of days.
And that means that you're always in a
fishbowl and you're always getting acquainted with people
and doing all those things.
And two months is long, but that's okay.
But I wasn't convinced.
And so one day I told her, I
said, You know, I said, you need to
really make a decision about whether you want
to be married to me considering the kind
of lifestyle that I have.
And then she said, well, what if someone
wants to date me?
And it's like, you know, that's between you
and God.
It can't be between you and me.
And I was fine because I was fairly
convinced she'd come back to me.
But one day she started dating someone else.
Told me about it, you know.
I think she was wondering what I was
going to say.
I said, hey, it's between you.
And she's married to the person now, okay.
Has a baby.
We're not enemies.
But I went into depths of despair over
the whole thing.
I stopped eating.
I stopped sleeping.
It was horrible.
Forget Weight Watchers and all those other things.
Just, you know, serious breakup for Dan.
It just changes his whole lifestyle.
Some of you know what I'm referring to.
And finally, in desperation, I said to God
one day, God, unless you help me, I
am not going to survive.
And that evening, the Lord suddenly spoke to
me out of the blue.
And God has a way.
When he speaks, it's very short, but it's
absolutely profound.
You know it's him.
Only happened to me a few times.
He said the following.
He said, Dan, write her a letter goodbye.
And by the way, your struggle is not
with her.
Your struggle is with me.
Do you trust me?
Wow.
That changed things.
You know, I was worried about whether she
was making the right decision, you know, and
if this guy was right for her and
had I done the right thing.
God, in effect, said, I'm the one that
impressed you that you needed to, you know,
give the space.
Can't you trust me?
And I said yes.
And where I had felt no peace before,
suddenly I felt peace.
Went to sleep for the first time and
actually slept until four o'clock in the
morning.
Woke up thinking about this letter.
I'd never written a letter like that before.
Was I saying goodbye to her or saying
goodbye to the relationship?
I didn't know what was going on.
And in the, maybe the fog of waking
up, I imagined that perhaps there was a
hole open in the ground next to me.
And I kind of looked in the ground
and I imagined that she was down there
and I was kind of, you know, burying
my problem.
I said, no, I like her too much.
I would never do that.
And then the Lord spoke again and said,
no, it's not her down in the hole.
It's you down in the hole.
And I get to hold the shovel.
You no longer have to worry about this
relationship.
To me, that taught me a great deal
about dying to self.
Dying to self is not getting rid of
your problems.
It's actually giving your challenges to God.
And accepting what happens from Him and somehow
He knows what He's doing.
It's you in the hole and God holding
the shovel.
But as we trust God, as He leads
us forward, that which was so impossible before
becomes very possible.
And it is life changing.
So we talked about two costs.
One was pride, you know, accepting our nothingness
so we truly receive Jesus.
As our personal Savior receiving His pardon and
receiving His righteousness.
And then the other problem is the cost,
okay, of control.
Losing control of our lives so that He
will be the one in charge.
I have to point out something to you
as we go into kind of the last
little mini-section of what I wanted to
share.
And that is that we've only heard about
what I refer to as the emptying half
of sanctification.
We haven't heard yet about the filling half.
And if I only stop now I would
do you a great disservice because we are
emptied of self.
We die to self for the purpose of
what?
Being filled by the Lord Jesus Christ.
And Adventists are really good on the surrender
side.
But we rarely understand the need to receive
Jesus as a living Savior as well.
So let's talk about that for just a
few moments.
If you would, turn with me to about
page 24 and we will look at some
of the things there.
First of all, this first quotation on line
18 of page 24.
It says, The work of sanctification begins in
the heart and we must come into such
a relationship with God that Jesus can put
His divine mold upon us.
We must be, notice, emptied of self in
order to do what?
Give room to Jesus.
Now that you have heard some of these
things, you're going to find these concepts all
through the writings of Ellen White.
The incredible thing is you hardly read anything
at all about it.
It just amazes me.
So we must come into a relationship with
God that Jesus can put His mold.
We must be emptied of self in order
to give room to Jesus.
I'm on line about 18 now.
But how many have their hearts so filled
with idols that they have no room for
the Redeemer of the world?
The world holds the hearts of men in
captivity.
They center their thoughts and affections upon their
business, their positions, their family.
They hold to their opinions and ways and
cherish them as idols in the soul.
But we cannot afford to yield ourselves to
the service of self, holding to our own
ways and ideas and excluding the truth of
God.
Line 23 now.
We must be emptied of self.
But this is not all that is required.
For when we have renounced our idols, the
vacuum must be supplied.
Did you notice that?
When we have renounced, the vacuum must be
supplied.
If the heart is left desolate and the
vacuum not supplied, it will be in the
condition of him whose house was empty, swept
and garnished, but without a guest to occupy
it.
And the last day of that man was
worse than the first.
As you empty the heart of self, you
must accept the righteousness of Christ.
Lay hold of it by faith, for you
must have the mind and the spirit of
Christ that you may work the works of
Christ.
If you open the door of the heart,
Jesus will supply the vacuum by the gift
of his spirit.
And then, and then, and then, you can
be a living preacher in your home, in
the church and in the world.
You can diffuse light because the bright beams
of the sun of righteousness are shining upon
you.
Your humble life, your holy conversation, your uprightness
and integrity will tell to all around that
you are a child of God and an
heir of heaven, etc.
You see, dying to self is for the
purpose of receiving Jesus as a living Savior.
If we do our part, he will do
his part.
Do you see that?
Do you follow?
Is that clear?
I'm curious.
We've vaguely known that, but do you see
it maybe more based on what we've shared
this afternoon?
I hope so.
It certainly was something that looked very new
to me when I first saw it.
Look at Romans, actually not Romans, let's look
at John chapter 15.
John chapter 15.
Speaking of the vine, it says, I am
the true vine and my father is the
vine dresser.
Every branch in me that does not bear
fruit, he takes away and every branch that
bears fruit, he prunes that it may bear
more fruit.
You're already clean because of the word which
I've spoken to you.
Abide in me and I in you, as
the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless
it abides in the vine, neither can you
unless you abide in me.
I am the vine, you are the branches.
He who abides in me and I in
him bears much fruit, for without me you
can do nothing.
So if we're abiding, how much fruit will
we bear?
Much fruit.
If anyone, verse 6, does not abide in
me, he is cast out as a branch
and is withered, and they gather them and
throw them into the fire and they are
burned.
If you abide in me and my words
abide in you, you will ask what you
will and it shall be done for you.
By this my father is glorified that you
bear much fruit so that you will be
my disciples.
Now when we think of the life of
a branch, what do we know about the
life of a branch?
Here are a few suggestions.
When you think about the life of a
branch, particularly in relationship to the vine, what
do we know about that branch?
It depends on the sap, okay?
Good.
What else?
Requires a connection.
Constant connection, right?
Requires a connection.
What else?
Excuse me?
It has to be pruned.
Absolutely.
I haven't noticed too many grape vineyards down
here, but up where I live they're beginning
to put more and more vineyards.
And they prune them mercilessly, okay?
Mercilessly.
Because otherwise they'll just be branches and not
fruit, so they have to be pruned.
What else?
Does the branch have any identity apart from
the vine?
Does the branch ever say, look at me
and look what I can do?
No.
The branch, it is completely dependent upon that
vine and its life is but an extension
of the vine, right?
And when it's pruned, does it say, whoops,
here we go again?
No, it just sits, it endures because, well
it has no choice, but you know looking
upon it, it's because the one doing the
pruning knows what he's doing, right?
And as I read in one book, I
thought it was a very helpful thought, that
the vine dresser is never closer to the
branch as when it's pruning, okay?
The person pruning is never closer as when
he's actually doing the pruning.
So if we're going through a pruning experience,
it's not that God has abandoned us, but
it's because he is so close, you know?
The devil would suggest, and I think we
can understand the bigger picture now, he would
suggest that God has forgotten about us, because
he doesn't want us to successfully undergo the
dying to self process, okay?
Because our very dying to self allows the
Holy Spirit to come in and it defeats
his purpose.
So the devil doesn't want us to do
that.
Now notice, if you would, with me some
verses about the new life that is possible.
Look at 1 Corinthians 1, verse 30.
This is the kind of life that God
wants us to have.
1 Corinthians 1, verse 30.
It says there, So
Jesus becomes what?
Wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption.
All of those things become ours in Jesus.
We've already read Galatians 2.20, but let's
look at it one more time in the
context of what we've just read.
Galatians 2.20. It says, I have been
crucified with Christ.
It is no longer I who live, but
who?
Christ who lives in me.
And the life which I now live in
the flesh I live by faith in the
Son of God who loved me and gave
himself for me.
I no longer live, said Paul.
It's Jesus that lives in me and lives
through me.
Philippians 1.21. We read that as well
earlier, but I think you'll see it in
a new way.
Philippians 1.21. For me to live is
what?
For me to live is Christ.
Look at Romans chapter 8, verse 2.
It says, For the law of the Spirit
of life in Christ Jesus has made me
free from the law of sin and death.
And you know, I read it as for
the law of the Spirit of life in
Christ has set me free from the law
of sin and death.
You can vary where the break is in
that phrase.
And it speaks of a life and how
that life, Christ's life, is the one that
gives us the new experience.
Has made me free from the law of
sin and death.
Look at 1 Corinthians chapter 15, verse 22.
It says there, For as in Adam all
die, even so in Christ shall all be
made alive.
Or in Christ all shall be made alive.
Do you agree that in Adam somehow we
all die?
Do you agree that in Christ we all
can live?
The verse says that, but I'm not convinced
that everyone is as quick to believe it
and actually live that.
Okay?
You know, we're quite convinced about the fall.
We're not nearly as convinced about the potential
of a new resurrected life.
That's because we have such a tendency to,
as Adventists, especially on the surrender, the giving
side, not as much on the receiving side.
Look at 1 Corinthians chapter 15, verse 57.
Same chapter.
But thanks be to God who gives us
the victory, how?
Through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Thanks be to God who gives us the
victory, how?
Through Christ Jesus our Lord.
2 Corinthians 2, verse 14.
2 Corinthians chapter 2, verse 14.
It says, Now thanks be to God who
always leads us in triumph, where?
In Christ.
We're always led in triumph in Christ.
Look at Galatians chapter 5, verses 22 and
23.
It's somewhere in here.
Here we are.
It says, But the fruit of the Spirit
is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness
and faithfulness, and gentleness, self-control against such
there is no lot.
And those who are aware are Christ have
crucified the flesh with his passions and desires.
If we live in the Spirit, let us
also walk in the Spirit.
In other words, the fruits of the Spirit
come in this relationship.
Those who are Christ have done what?
Have crucified the flesh.
There has been a change.
Look at 2 Corinthians chapter 5, verse 17.
It says there, Therefore, if anyone is in
Christ, he is what?
A new creation.
Old things have passed away.
Behold, all things have become new.
Okay, if anyone is in Christ, he is
a new creation.
Old things have passed away.
Behold, all things have become new.
Look at Ephesians chapter 1, verse 3.
It says, Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed
us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly
places, where?
In Christ.
Okay, we've been blessed with every spiritual blessing
in Christ.
Look at, finally, 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, verses
23 and 24.
1 Thessalonians chapter 5, verses 23 and 24.
It says, Now may the God of peace
himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole
spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at
the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
He says, May you be completely sanctified.
Verse 24, He who calls you his faithful,
who also will do it.
Okay, he's faithful, he'll also do it.
So, if you get discouraged, don't look at
yourself.
If you do your part, then you can
say, God, I've done my part.
Please, come in and live in my heart.
Live in me.
Live through me, if necessary.
Live in spite of me.
Make an entire change.
Now, let's look at some quotations that go
with this.
Page 25, line 23.
A union with Christ by living faith is
enduring.
Every other union must perish.
Page 25, line 23.
Christ first chose us, paying an infinite price
for our redemption, and the true believer chooses
Christ as first, last, and best in everything.
But this union costs us something.
It is a union of utter dependence to
be entered into by a proud being.
All who form this union must feel their
need of the atoning blood of Christ.
They must have a change of heart.
They must submit their own will to the
will of God.
There will be a struggle, notice, with outward
and internal obstacles.
There must be a painful work of detachment,
as well as a work of attachment.
Pride, selfishness, vanity, worldliness, sin in all of
its forms must be overcome if we would
enter into a union with Christ.
The reason why so many find the Christian
life so deplorably hard, why they are so
fickle, so variable, is that they try to
attach themselves to Christ without first detaching themselves
from these cherished idols.
You see, there you see the need to
die to self so that we can receive
Christ.
Now, line 43 again.
And I've read this quotation before, but I
must give it to you again.
The Lord Jesus loves His people, and when
they put their trust in Him, depending wholly
upon Him, He strengthens them.
He will live through them, giving them the
inspiration of His sanctifying Spirit, imparting to the
soul what?
A vital transfusion of Himself.
He acts through their faculties and causes them
to choose His will and to act out
His character.
Is that not good will, based on what
we've seen?
You see, He'll even cause us to choose
His will and to act out His character.
Could there be anything better than that?
Would you not agree that that is truly
the ultimate definition of righteousness by faith?
It's not just a righteousness in a legal
kind of forensic, you know, His character has
been placed, you know, to my credit, but
it's where actually our lives become changed, and
we become increasingly like the model, like Jesus.
Line 49.
When the soul surrenders itself to Christ, a
new power takes possession of the new heart,
a change is wrought which man can never
accomplish for himself.
It is a supernatural work, bringing a supernatural
element into human nature.
The soul that is yielded to Christ becomes
His own what?
His own fortress, which He holds in a
revolted world, and He intends that no authority
shall be known in it but His own.
A soul that's kept in possession by the
heavenly agencies is impregnable to the assaults of
Satan.
You see, this life is about a new
power in the new heart.
And I'd like to say something to you
that's quite radical.
Victory is not so much a behavior as
it is a person.
You see, victory is not something I have,
but victory is something that happens as Jesus
is living His life in and through me.
And so if our behavior is an issue,
instead of focusing more on our behavior, guess
what we need to do?
We need to focus more on Jesus, and
He will lead us down that pathway of
dying to self in whatever area, showing us,
you know, often what we have chosen not
to surrender, and then He will lead us
onward, and then, you know, through it, and
then onward as well.
Let me see if there's anything else that
we should truly make sure we...
I have to share one more paragraph.
It's starting on line 26, 30, and then
I'll be done, okay?
It is hard for those who are slaves
to sin and evil habits they have long
sought to overcome to believe that by simply
accepting Jesus and yielding to Him, they instantly
receive a new nature and a power enabling
them to live a new life.
This is Meade McGuire at this moment, okay?
He says, it's hard to believe that by
accepting Christ, we get a new nature.
Yet this is true, and countless thousands have
experienced this mighty miracle.
Man of himself not only has no life,
but no peace, no victory, no faith, no
righteousness, nor any other attribute of God.
The Father gathered up all these blessings and
bestowed them upon us in the precious gift
of His Son.
Nothing has been withheld.
All is embraced and included in the one
great gift.
Is it not strange, he asked the question,
that everywhere men are praying and pleading for
that which has already been graciously given in
Christ?
Okay?
They pray for peace, but the Father answers,
I've already bestowed my peace upon you in
Christ.
Receive Him, and you have peace.
Men pray for life, and the reply is
the same.
I have given you eternal life.
It is in my Son.
Receive Him, and you have life.
Men cry to God for victory, and the
answer is, there is no victory for humanity
except in the victory.
Now, Christ took our humanity in one everlasting
victory, not for Himself, but for men.
In the same way that life and peace
are gifts, so is victory a gift.
Thanks be to God, which giveth us the
victory.
Why do men struggle and fight to obtain
what comes as a gift in Christ?
They talk of victory on this point, and
victory on that point, when if they would
only believe it, Christ is the victory on
every point.
How about that?
Is that not good news?
Now, here's the quotation from Ellen White.
This is kind of the capstone to everything
else.
By faith you became Christ, and by faith
you are to grow up in Him, by
giving and taking.
This is from Steps to Christ now.
You are to give all, your heart, your
will, your service.
Give yourself to Him to obey all His
requirements, and you must take all.
Christ, the fullness of all blessing, to abide
in your heart, to be your strength, your
righteousness, your everlasting helper, to give you power
to obey.
You see, we must not only give all,
we must take all.
And it brings about an entire change.
That's the secret of the more abundant life.
It's not about me, it's all about Him.
And when we realize that we can't, when
we come to our nothingness, God begins to
lead us providentially, carefully, correctly, to the point
that we increasingly empty ourselves of areas that
we don't want to surrender.
Sometimes one finger at a time, kicking and
screaming, but He still leads us until we
get to the point where we're willing to
be God's person, doing God's work, God's way.
And Hudson Taylor said, God's blessing, he put
it this way, he said, God's work done
God's way will always bring God's blessing.
And if we're not experiencing God's blessing, there's
a pretty good chance we're either not doing
God's work or not doing God's work God's
way.
And because of that, we're just experiencing what
we can do on our own.
God wants you to experience the more abundant
life.
As I have learned these things and I
have surrendered my life more to God, He
has sent me on amazing journeys.
I wish I could share more stories, I
won't take the time.
But trust me, it works.
It really, really works.
I'm not perfect.
I don't claim to be perfect.
But I'll tell you what, the things that
were impossible before, they're no longer an issue.
And God is leading me further in my
trust with Him.
It's a progressive journey.
Praise God for that.
Now, we're at kind of a break time.
They said we were supposed to network for
a while.
Would you like to take a break for
like ten minutes?
And if you have questions, come back.
I'll be here and I can answer your
questions.
But we should take a break.
I'd like to have a word of prayer
in closing.
And then we'll take a break.
And if you have questions, you can come
back.
Father in heaven, I am grateful that you
have allowed us to consider this matter of
the more abundant life.
I've tried to share how we need that
life, Lord, that you called us to it,
the world is looking for it.
There will be consequences in terms of our
friendships and in terms of our own lives
if we don't pursue it.
Lord, I've tried to show as well that
there is a cost admitting that we can't
do it on our own, that it's not
righteous by works at all, and that somehow
at some point you call us to die
to self, to surrender, to be empty, so
that you could have the last word, in
fact, all the word from beginning to end.
And Lord, in the Bible it talks about
counting the cost.
Counting the cost.
And I pray, Lord, that there's not a
person here who doesn't trust you enough to
not say, Lord, I'm willing to give you
a chance with my life.
As we give all, please flood us with
your life.
That voice, that saying, this is the way,
walking in it, that I'm with you, be
a good share, I have overcome the world.
Might you be everything including our victory.
Reach each one of us wherever we are
today.
And thank you that you are with us
as we study together.
In Jesus' name.
Amen.