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I don't believe you can be friends with

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a great man of God without that man's

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life rubbing off on you.

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We aren't familiar with Cornelius Winter today, but

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he was a young man when he became

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a personal aide to George Whitefield toward the

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end of Whitefield's large life.

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Cornelius Winter came from a troubled past, was

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converted under Whitefield's preaching, and traveled with Whitefield

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on his last preaching tours to America, and

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he was with Whitefield the last week of

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his life.

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When I was in Rottingham Tabernacle, near Bristol,

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a favorite place where Whitefield loved to preach,

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I sat in Whitefield's chair and held his

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walking stick in my hands as I spoke

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with the curator of the church, who told

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me that Cornelius Winter preached his first sermon

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in the chapel there, and preached his last,

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before going home to Painswick to die.

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Cornelius Winter had a remarkable influence upon William

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Jay, the well-known pastor, who was converted

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under his preaching.

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I say all this, friends, because I don't

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believe you can be friends with a great

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man of God without that man's life influencing

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your own.

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Such was the case with my homiletical mentor,

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Dr. Stephen Oford.

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Spending time with him in his study, talking

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about revival, spending time with him in prayer,

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watching him and observing him, and being under

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his preaching, influenced me.

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It touched my life in profound ways.

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Stephen Oford preached two great themes.

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The Lordship of Christ, and the exchanged life

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in Christ.

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Galatians 2.20 was his life verse.

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I am crucified with Christ.

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Nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ

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liveth in me, and the life which I

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now live in the flesh I live by

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the faith of the Son of God, who

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loved me, and gave himself for me.

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But for years that verse troubled me.

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I pulled back from its ramifications of a

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personal crucifixion.

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Who in his right mind wants to live

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on a cross?

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A cross is a place to die, but

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it's no place to live, especially for a

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man who was in the prime of his

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life, as I was at the time.

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Then I met Stephen Oford, and he shared

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with me how he lived such a life

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of surrender in his holy walk with God.

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If you ever heard Dr. Oford preach, friend,

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you know that he had a mantle of

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authority and an anointing of the Holy Spirit

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that was so profound upon him, his preaching

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was life-transforming.

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Dr. Oford shared his secret of a holy

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life with me one day in a study.

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He said the following.

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We are to walk beneath an unclouded heaven

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with our Lord in a daily walk of

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surrender to him.

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If a sin temptation arises and darkens the

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sky above, a threat in the hand of

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our walk with God, he would stop everything

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and pray, nail it, Lord, nail it.

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When he told me that, I saw that

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a cross was a good thing for sin.

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Sin should be placed on that cross and

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be crucified.

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Then I realized I'd been looking at Galatians

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2.20 from the wrong end.

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I had been previously focused on the crucified

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aspects of it and did not want to

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embrace the crucifixion, the flesh repels from such

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things.

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But I had to realize that after the

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shame and pain of the cross comes the

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glory of the resurrection.

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And I had to come to realize that

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if I focused more on the last half

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of Galatians 2.20, I'd be better able

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to digest the first half of that remarkable

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verse.

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I began to breathe the reality that the

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Son of God loved me and gave himself

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for me, that redemption means buying back, and

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that he had bought me with his blood,

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and I now belonged to him, I didn't

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belong to myself any more.

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And if that was true, that I now

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belonged to him, I had to give up

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everything to God.

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Jesus held nothing back at Calvary.

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How could I hold anything back from him

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once I focused on his love for me?

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In going to the cross for me, that

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he died for me, he took my sins

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upon him as my substitute.

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He bore the curse, becoming a curse for

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me.

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He bore the turned face of the Father

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and took the wrath of justice upon him

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so I would not suffer the penalty of

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sin in a place of punishment for sin

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called hell.

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Jesus did all that for me.

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When I finally saw that, it wasn't hard

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to give all up for him.

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I have a life to live, and I

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choose to live it for Jesus, who loves

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me so.

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He lives in me and gives me power

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that I don't have of my own.

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Power over sin.

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He nailed every sin of mine on that

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bloody cross.

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And as I walk with him beneath a

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cloudless sky, if a sin cloud should appear,

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which it often does, I know where it

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needs to go.

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To the cross.

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I can now say with authority, Nail it,

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Lord.

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Nail it.

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Let us pray.