1 00:00:00,900 --> 00:00:04,260 The men in ministry who have influenced me 2 00:00:04,260 --> 00:00:08,120 the most were men who walked with God 3 00:00:08,120 --> 00:00:11,360 and whose lives made me more thirsty for 4 00:00:11,360 --> 00:00:11,900 Jesus. 5 00:00:12,460 --> 00:00:16,400 Every time I was around Adrian Rogers, I 6 00:00:16,400 --> 00:00:18,360 felt I was with Jesus. 7 00:00:19,100 --> 00:00:22,620 Every time I was with Stephen Olford, I 8 00:00:22,620 --> 00:00:26,180 hungered to have a deeper reality of God. 9 00:00:26,180 --> 00:00:29,640 I believe the Bible speaks clearly on what 10 00:00:29,640 --> 00:00:32,760 is expected of us as followers of Christ 11 00:00:32,760 --> 00:00:33,280 Jesus. 12 00:00:33,720 --> 00:00:38,580 In 2 Corinthians 3 and in verse 17 13 00:00:38,580 --> 00:00:42,220 we read, Now the Lord is that spirit, 14 00:00:42,640 --> 00:00:44,980 and where the spirit of the Lord is, 15 00:00:45,260 --> 00:00:46,560 there is liberty. 16 00:00:47,360 --> 00:00:51,120 The Lord Christ is here mentioned as the 17 00:00:51,120 --> 00:00:54,980 one who gives us liberty, liberty from the 18 00:00:54,980 --> 00:00:58,740 penalty of sin, and liberty from the power 19 00:00:58,740 --> 00:00:59,440 of sin. 20 00:00:59,720 --> 00:01:03,200 I believe this verse can read, Now where 21 00:01:03,200 --> 00:01:06,300 the spirit is Lord, there is liberty. 22 00:01:06,980 --> 00:01:10,840 Speaking of his Lordship and our lives as 23 00:01:10,840 --> 00:01:13,120 we live in full surrender to him. 24 00:01:13,620 --> 00:01:16,840 Surrender to the Lordship of Christ is not 25 00:01:16,840 --> 00:01:20,100 a one-time act, but a daily occurrence. 26 00:01:20,620 --> 00:01:24,020 The flesh tries to reassert itself in many 27 00:01:24,020 --> 00:01:27,460 areas, but we must stay in an unbroken 28 00:01:27,460 --> 00:01:30,400 relationship with our risen Lord. 29 00:01:30,820 --> 00:01:33,340 I believe the most neglected doctrine in the 30 00:01:33,340 --> 00:01:36,600 church today is the Lordship of Jesus Christ. 31 00:01:37,040 --> 00:01:39,760 Few preach it because few live it. 32 00:01:40,100 --> 00:01:43,720 The reality of Christ's presence in our lives 33 00:01:43,720 --> 00:01:46,900 is lacking in the majority in our churches 34 00:01:46,900 --> 00:01:50,760 today who are merely cheating themselves out of 35 00:01:50,760 --> 00:01:53,400 a vital walk with the living Lord. 36 00:01:53,840 --> 00:01:57,060 That's the very reason why our young people 37 00:01:57,060 --> 00:02:00,660 today have left our churches in droves because 38 00:02:00,660 --> 00:02:04,020 they see no reality of God there. 39 00:02:04,360 --> 00:02:07,300 The reality of God is missing in the 40 00:02:07,300 --> 00:02:10,340 lives of their parents who merely dictate to 41 00:02:10,340 --> 00:02:13,920 their children a do-as-I-say mentality 42 00:02:13,920 --> 00:02:16,860 rather than a do-as-I-do as 43 00:02:16,860 --> 00:02:19,380 the teenagers can see right through it. 44 00:02:19,700 --> 00:02:22,280 But when God comes in revival to a 45 00:02:22,280 --> 00:02:26,620 church, it is the teenagers who cannot be 46 00:02:26,620 --> 00:02:29,360 dragged away as they long to stay in 47 00:02:29,360 --> 00:02:31,840 the presence of God and soak in the 48 00:02:31,840 --> 00:02:35,660 reality of a living Christ who gives liberty. 49 00:02:37,100 --> 00:02:40,620 I believe the text in 2 Corinthians 3 50 00:02:40,620 --> 00:02:44,820 and verse 18, which follows our text today, 51 00:02:45,020 --> 00:02:48,880 is a clear description of what God desires 52 00:02:48,880 --> 00:02:51,780 for each of us, and that is our 53 00:02:51,780 --> 00:02:55,680 Christ-likeness through the process of sanctification. 54 00:02:56,280 --> 00:02:59,320 I want to read us 2 Corinthians 3 55 00:02:59,320 --> 00:03:03,380 .18 from the Amplified Bible, which I feel 56 00:03:03,380 --> 00:03:07,380 gives an accurate description for our reading today, 57 00:03:07,520 --> 00:03:08,120 friends. 58 00:03:08,460 --> 00:03:11,000 As we approach the Word of God, we 59 00:03:11,000 --> 00:03:14,040 must come to it with an expectation for 60 00:03:14,040 --> 00:03:15,360 transformation. 61 00:03:16,060 --> 00:03:18,560 The Word of God must be a living 62 00:03:18,560 --> 00:03:20,240 reality in our life. 63 00:03:20,600 --> 00:03:23,900 I'll never forget the story related by the 64 00:03:23,900 --> 00:03:27,100 saintly F.B. Meyer, who one time was 65 00:03:27,100 --> 00:03:29,200 rooming with C.T. Studd. 66 00:03:29,420 --> 00:03:32,560 Meyer wondered why C.T. Studd was so 67 00:03:32,560 --> 00:03:35,180 absorbed in his Bible as he kept a 68 00:03:35,180 --> 00:03:38,840 dedicated quiet time each morning, and one day 69 00:03:38,840 --> 00:03:41,780 he asked the younger man why he pored 70 00:03:41,780 --> 00:03:44,440 over a passage for such a long time. 71 00:03:45,200 --> 00:03:48,380 Studd looked up from his Bible and replied, 72 00:03:48,380 --> 00:03:52,340 I have been asking the Lord Jesus to 73 00:03:52,340 --> 00:03:55,780 make this verse a reality in my life. 74 00:03:56,380 --> 00:03:59,800 We must ask ourselves, do we ask God 75 00:03:59,800 --> 00:04:02,900 to make His Word a reality in our 76 00:04:02,900 --> 00:04:03,460 life? 77 00:04:03,860 --> 00:04:06,240 Do we lack power and authority in our 78 00:04:06,240 --> 00:04:10,980 ministry because we are not seeking transformation from 79 00:04:10,980 --> 00:04:13,240 the God of the Word and the Word 80 00:04:13,240 --> 00:04:13,940 of God? 81 00:04:13,940 --> 00:04:16,899 The Bible is a book about our Lord 82 00:04:16,899 --> 00:04:20,279 and Savior Jesus Christ, and as we approach 83 00:04:20,279 --> 00:04:23,920 it, we should come with anticipation that God 84 00:04:23,920 --> 00:04:26,460 will make the verse we are studying a 85 00:04:26,460 --> 00:04:28,120 reality in our life. 86 00:04:28,440 --> 00:04:31,860 The black print on white paper shall soon 87 00:04:31,860 --> 00:04:34,320 melt away as we gaze in the face 88 00:04:34,320 --> 00:04:38,540 of Christ Jesus in His transforming power. 89 00:04:38,960 --> 00:04:42,820 Here now is our verse, And all of 90 00:04:42,820 --> 00:04:48,100 us, as with unveiled face, because we continue 91 00:04:48,100 --> 00:04:52,060 to behold in the Word of God, as 92 00:04:52,060 --> 00:04:54,660 in a mirror, the glory of the Lord, 93 00:04:55,040 --> 00:04:59,980 are constantly being transfigured into His very own 94 00:04:59,980 --> 00:05:04,240 image in ever-increasing splendor and from one 95 00:05:04,240 --> 00:05:06,280 degree of glory to another. 96 00:05:06,980 --> 00:05:09,600 And this comes from the Lord, who is 97 00:05:09,600 --> 00:05:10,380 the Spirit. 98 00:05:11,060 --> 00:05:14,800 This passage speaks of our sanctification by the 99 00:05:14,800 --> 00:05:17,320 Spirit of God in making each of us 100 00:05:17,320 --> 00:05:18,660 more Christ-like. 101 00:05:19,100 --> 00:05:21,700 It is my prayer, friends, that we will 102 00:05:21,700 --> 00:05:26,540 earnestly search the Scripture with renewed vitality and 103 00:05:26,540 --> 00:05:30,060 with an expectation that God's work will be 104 00:05:30,060 --> 00:05:33,480 manifest through our lives by our own Christ 105 00:05:33,480 --> 00:05:36,840 -likeness so we can be salt that makes 106 00:05:36,840 --> 00:05:39,280 others more thirsty for Jesus.