1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:12,440 We've been talking together on this matter regarding the Christian life. 2 00:00:12,440 --> 00:00:20,280 It is apparent, I think, to many of us, perhaps even from personal experience, that there 3 00:00:20,280 --> 00:00:31,320 is a good deal of discouragement, misunderstanding, perhaps even frustration in this matter of 4 00:00:31,320 --> 00:00:35,720 what we call the Christian life. 5 00:00:35,720 --> 00:00:41,660 We have seen together that the Christian life is not living for God, but rather it is God 6 00:00:41,660 --> 00:00:47,400 living through us in His resurrection power. 7 00:00:47,400 --> 00:00:55,120 It is not trying to live up to a certain standard, but rather it is developing an intimate communion 8 00:00:55,120 --> 00:00:58,880 with the living God Himself. 9 00:00:58,880 --> 00:01:08,440 The Christian life, in its essence, is simply the outliving of the reality of eternal life. 10 00:01:08,440 --> 00:01:14,200 Jesus says regarding His sheep, I give unto them eternal life. 11 00:01:14,200 --> 00:01:19,800 And later in the Gospel of John, He defines eternal life by saying, and this is eternal 12 00:01:19,800 --> 00:01:29,000 life, that they might know Thee and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent. 13 00:01:29,000 --> 00:01:34,640 There is nothing more crucial in all of life than what Jesus describes there as eternal 14 00:01:34,640 --> 00:01:37,960 life. 15 00:01:37,960 --> 00:01:40,840 How well do you know God? 16 00:01:40,840 --> 00:01:45,280 How well do you know Jesus Christ? 17 00:01:45,280 --> 00:01:47,760 Well you say, I know Him as my Savior, my Lord. 18 00:01:47,760 --> 00:01:51,840 I invited Him into my heart, into my life. 19 00:01:51,840 --> 00:01:57,680 I am glad for that, for that is of course the very beginning of it. 20 00:01:57,680 --> 00:02:04,880 There may be someone here today who has never made that life-changing decision to trust 21 00:02:04,880 --> 00:02:06,640 Jesus Christ as Savior. 22 00:02:06,640 --> 00:02:13,080 It is the difference between heaven and hell. 23 00:02:13,080 --> 00:02:22,120 But when we trust Jesus Christ as Savior, we come to know Him in only an initial sense. 24 00:02:22,120 --> 00:02:26,320 We are to go on in our knowledge of Him and to grow in it. 25 00:02:26,320 --> 00:02:36,560 It is to become more intimate and more personal, indeed more consuming in our lives. 26 00:02:36,560 --> 00:02:45,840 In Jeremiah chapter 9, we have a good word from God regarding this matter. 27 00:02:45,840 --> 00:02:52,080 Our world today boasts in basically three things. 28 00:02:52,080 --> 00:02:56,640 There are those who boast in their intellect. 29 00:02:56,640 --> 00:03:02,520 Higher education is becoming almost a god in our society. 30 00:03:02,520 --> 00:03:09,240 A person's worth is determined by the number of degrees that come after his name, the value 31 00:03:09,240 --> 00:03:16,120 of his opinion based upon whether or not he has attained a certain intellectual level. 32 00:03:16,120 --> 00:03:18,480 That's how our world evaluates it. 33 00:03:18,480 --> 00:03:20,480 It boasts in intellect. 34 00:03:20,480 --> 00:03:29,400 Our world boasts furthermore in power, whether it be corporate power, religious power, or 35 00:03:29,400 --> 00:03:31,980 political power. 36 00:03:31,980 --> 00:03:38,120 To our world, power is often the name of the game, how much you can control and influence 37 00:03:38,120 --> 00:03:41,080 people and events. 38 00:03:41,080 --> 00:03:47,400 The world boasts of power, and then our world boasts in money. 39 00:03:47,400 --> 00:03:54,220 Not always in how much money, as much as in what money can provide in terms of satisfaction 40 00:03:54,220 --> 00:03:58,200 of things and pleasures, etc. 41 00:03:58,200 --> 00:04:08,040 But in one verse, God absolutely destroys the world's bases for boasting. 42 00:04:08,040 --> 00:04:10,360 In Jeremiah 9 verse 23, 43 00:04:10,360 --> 00:04:13,840 Thus says the Lord, 44 00:04:13,840 --> 00:04:17,880 Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom. 45 00:04:17,880 --> 00:04:21,520 It's not in intellect, says God. 46 00:04:21,520 --> 00:04:24,240 Let not the mighty man boast of his might. 47 00:04:24,240 --> 00:04:28,000 It's not in power, says the Lord. 48 00:04:28,000 --> 00:04:33,000 Let not a rich man boast of his riches. 49 00:04:33,000 --> 00:04:36,720 Boasting is not to be found in things or money. 50 00:04:36,720 --> 00:04:46,520 But let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows me. 51 00:04:46,520 --> 00:04:54,000 That I am the Lord who exercises loving kindness, justice, and righteousness on earth. 52 00:04:54,000 --> 00:04:59,320 For I delight in these things, declares the Lord. 53 00:04:59,320 --> 00:05:05,000 God says if there is anything that we are to seek after, if there is any cause of boasting, 54 00:05:05,000 --> 00:05:09,680 let it be that we know and understand the Lord. 55 00:05:09,680 --> 00:05:16,040 All we know him, but do we know him? 56 00:05:16,040 --> 00:05:18,560 Do we understand him? 57 00:05:18,560 --> 00:05:21,320 You say, how can we do that? 58 00:05:21,320 --> 00:05:27,640 We come to know a person by drawing near, by getting close, spending time. 59 00:05:27,640 --> 00:05:32,680 Last week we saw that if we expect to draw near to God and for him to draw near to us, 60 00:05:32,680 --> 00:05:38,280 there is a miserable experience we must pass through. 61 00:05:38,280 --> 00:05:45,400 It is the experience of seeing ourselves in the light of God's holiness. 62 00:05:45,400 --> 00:05:52,520 It is the experience of a self-examination in the light of who he is. 63 00:05:52,520 --> 00:05:59,200 When we do that, in honesty, it brings us to repentance and brokenness before God. 64 00:05:59,200 --> 00:06:05,480 Our frivolity is turned to mourning. 65 00:06:05,480 --> 00:06:09,680 We weep and we are in misery. 66 00:06:09,680 --> 00:06:14,840 Like Isaiah of old, we cry out, Woe is me! 67 00:06:14,840 --> 00:06:26,080 I am a man who is ruined, and I dwell in the midst of a people who are ruined and unclean. 68 00:06:26,080 --> 00:06:33,840 For my eyes have seen the Lord. 69 00:06:33,840 --> 00:06:40,360 This breaking process that we talked about last week is both a crisis and a process as 70 00:06:40,360 --> 00:06:44,240 I see it. 71 00:06:44,240 --> 00:06:50,760 It is not something that we do and then it is all over forever. 72 00:06:50,760 --> 00:06:54,320 We need to continually bring ourselves before God in humility. 73 00:06:54,320 --> 00:07:01,520 That should be the practice of our lives, to break ourselves before him of our arrogance 74 00:07:01,520 --> 00:07:05,480 and pride and independence. 75 00:07:05,480 --> 00:07:12,400 What follows that initial breaking? 76 00:07:12,400 --> 00:07:16,560 Does it take only brokenness to come to know God? 77 00:07:16,560 --> 00:07:18,000 The answer to that is no. 78 00:07:18,000 --> 00:07:20,200 That is where it starts. 79 00:07:20,200 --> 00:07:27,480 But there is development beyond that if we would draw near to God and know him and understand 80 00:07:27,480 --> 00:07:28,480 him. 81 00:07:28,480 --> 00:07:37,160 I believe that we find an example in the Old Testament of a man who had that experience. 82 00:07:37,160 --> 00:07:39,920 Not much is said about him, but what is said is significant. 83 00:07:39,920 --> 00:07:52,600 I invite you to turn to Genesis chapter 5. 84 00:07:52,600 --> 00:07:57,480 Someone has called this chapter the Bible's obituary. 85 00:07:57,480 --> 00:08:05,360 For over and over it says, and he died, and he died, and he died, as it traces the ancestors 86 00:08:05,360 --> 00:08:12,500 of Adam, or the children of Adam. 87 00:08:12,500 --> 00:08:18,040 From one generation to another death entered in just as God warned that it would if man 88 00:08:18,040 --> 00:08:19,440 sinned. 89 00:08:19,440 --> 00:08:28,320 But we come in this fifth chapter of Genesis to verse 21 where it mentions this man Enoch 90 00:08:28,320 --> 00:08:31,400 who had been born to Jared. 91 00:08:31,400 --> 00:08:38,960 And it says Enoch lived 65 years and became the father of Methuselah. 92 00:08:38,960 --> 00:08:44,200 Then Enoch walked with God. 93 00:08:44,200 --> 00:08:51,040 It would seem that something happened with the birth of Methuselah that caused Enoch 94 00:08:51,040 --> 00:08:55,620 to be broken before the Lord. 95 00:08:55,620 --> 00:08:57,480 The question is, of course, what happened? 96 00:08:57,480 --> 00:09:05,120 What was it that in his 65th year he began to walk with God? 97 00:09:05,120 --> 00:09:12,240 I think the best answer to that question is found in the implication of the name Methuselah. 98 00:09:12,240 --> 00:09:21,220 For that name literally means, when this one is gone, then it shall come. 99 00:09:21,220 --> 00:09:26,680 And if you figure out the years of time from this point on, you will find that in the year 100 00:09:26,680 --> 00:09:36,120 that Methuselah died, the flood of Noah came. 101 00:09:36,120 --> 00:09:42,520 I believe that what happened to Enoch was that God showed to him what was going to take 102 00:09:42,520 --> 00:09:49,160 place in terms of judgment. 103 00:09:49,160 --> 00:09:54,900 And God said, your son, Methuselah, is a sign. 104 00:09:54,900 --> 00:09:59,540 And when he is gone, then it shall come. 105 00:09:59,540 --> 00:10:06,600 And it was that insight, it was that understanding of God and his purposes that from that point 106 00:10:06,600 --> 00:10:15,960 on revolutionized the life of Enoch, the son of Adam. 107 00:10:15,960 --> 00:10:21,340 Enoch walked with God 300 years after he became the father of Methuselah and had other sons 108 00:10:21,340 --> 00:10:22,840 and daughters. 109 00:10:22,840 --> 00:10:28,400 So all the days of Enoch were 365 years, verse 24. 110 00:10:28,400 --> 00:10:37,560 And Enoch walked with God and he was not, for God took him. 111 00:10:37,560 --> 00:10:41,400 Those of you in the doctrinal class this morning will remember that we talked about the rapture 112 00:10:41,400 --> 00:10:47,840 of the church, which is to come and may come at any moment. 113 00:10:47,840 --> 00:10:53,280 Here we have an example of an Old Testament rapture. 114 00:10:53,280 --> 00:10:56,640 For you see, Enoch did not die. 115 00:10:56,640 --> 00:11:03,100 He walked with God and one day God simply took him from the scenes of earth into heaven, 116 00:11:03,100 --> 00:11:07,680 one of two men in the Old Testament to whom that happened, the other being whom? 117 00:11:07,680 --> 00:11:10,680 Elijah. 118 00:11:10,680 --> 00:11:13,800 Enoch walked with God. 119 00:11:13,800 --> 00:11:17,620 He knew God. 120 00:11:17,620 --> 00:11:28,900 The fellowship was so sweet and so precious to God as well as Enoch that on a particular 121 00:11:28,900 --> 00:11:36,040 day by his power and according to his own gracious purpose, God said, Enoch, come up 122 00:11:36,040 --> 00:11:39,920 here. 123 00:11:39,920 --> 00:11:45,640 Turn with me now to Hebrews 11 where we have a word regarding Enoch. 124 00:11:45,640 --> 00:11:51,640 The only other reference to him in the Bible is found in the book of Jude. 125 00:11:51,640 --> 00:12:04,520 There are three references, but here in Hebrews 11 and in verse 5 it says, 126 00:12:04,520 --> 00:12:15,520 By faith Enoch was taken up, so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because 127 00:12:15,520 --> 00:12:19,000 God took him up. 128 00:12:19,000 --> 00:12:26,160 For he obtained the witness that before his being taken up, he was pleasing to God. 129 00:12:26,160 --> 00:12:29,920 Isn't that a tremendous verse? 130 00:12:29,920 --> 00:12:32,960 What a commentary of the Holy Spirit on this man Enoch. 131 00:12:32,960 --> 00:12:35,440 But he goes on to say, 132 00:12:35,440 --> 00:12:40,720 And without faith it is impossible to please God. 133 00:12:40,720 --> 00:12:47,960 For he who comes to God must believe that he is, and he is a rewarder of those who seek 134 00:12:47,960 --> 00:12:48,960 him. 135 00:12:48,960 --> 00:12:53,220 Verse 6 is a commentary on verse 5. 136 00:12:53,220 --> 00:12:57,760 How was it that Enoch was pleasing to God? 137 00:12:57,760 --> 00:12:59,680 How was it that he was taken up? 138 00:12:59,680 --> 00:13:03,360 It was by faith. 139 00:13:03,360 --> 00:13:09,440 I believe that what it was about Enoch that pleased God so much was his walk of faith. 140 00:13:09,440 --> 00:13:14,560 There are two men of whom it is said, before the flood they walked with God. 141 00:13:14,560 --> 00:13:18,760 One of them was Noah, the other Enoch. 142 00:13:18,760 --> 00:13:24,480 What was it that pleased God in Enoch's growing knowledge of him? 143 00:13:24,480 --> 00:13:30,320 What was it that enabled Enoch to understand the Lord? 144 00:13:30,320 --> 00:13:33,160 It was that he walked by faith. 145 00:13:33,160 --> 00:13:35,160 He walked by faith. 146 00:13:35,160 --> 00:13:44,400 And I believe that after we come to God in brokenness, repenting of our sins, that the 147 00:13:44,400 --> 00:13:51,040 next step in the knowledge of God is the walk of faith. 148 00:13:51,040 --> 00:13:54,720 And that is what the Christian life really is all about. 149 00:13:54,720 --> 00:14:01,640 We come to know God, we come to understand God as we learn what it is to walk by faith. 150 00:14:01,640 --> 00:14:06,780 This idea of walking by faith seems to encompass two ideas. 151 00:14:06,780 --> 00:14:12,440 They are abandonment and abiding. 152 00:14:12,440 --> 00:14:19,980 We don't often use the word abandon in a religious or biblical context. 153 00:14:19,980 --> 00:14:24,200 And yet the word is biblical in its concept. 154 00:14:24,200 --> 00:14:28,560 Often the word forsake is used in the New Testament. 155 00:14:28,560 --> 00:14:34,920 Here in Hebrews 11 we have it illustrated for us in Moses where it says in verse 27, 156 00:14:34,920 --> 00:14:44,760 By faith he left, he forsook, he abandoned permanently, is the verb. 157 00:14:44,760 --> 00:14:52,400 By faith he abandoned Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king, for he endured as seeing 158 00:14:52,400 --> 00:14:56,440 him who is unseen. 159 00:14:56,440 --> 00:15:00,200 By faith you see. 160 00:15:00,200 --> 00:15:07,840 I believe abandonment is an essential idea in this whole matter of walking by faith. 161 00:15:07,840 --> 00:15:10,520 When was it that Moses did this, by the way? 162 00:15:10,520 --> 00:15:16,600 There are two possibilities, either when he left after killing the Egyptian soldier and 163 00:15:16,600 --> 00:15:21,440 after Pharaoh had sought to kill him or later when he led the people out. 164 00:15:21,440 --> 00:15:28,880 And I believe that looking at the context of both of those possibilities that the best 165 00:15:28,880 --> 00:15:31,580 one is the first one. 166 00:15:31,580 --> 00:15:42,240 When he left Egypt after killing that soldier, it does say that Moses was afraid back in 167 00:15:42,240 --> 00:15:50,200 the book of Exodus after he had killed that soldier because Pharaoh tried to kill him. 168 00:15:50,200 --> 00:15:56,200 And from that we assume, and I think incorrectly, that it was fear that caused him to leave 169 00:15:56,200 --> 00:15:59,240 Egypt. 170 00:15:59,240 --> 00:16:05,040 But I believe this verse here gives us a deeper insight not found in Exodus, and that is that 171 00:16:05,040 --> 00:16:14,000 while his initial response was fear, that then Moses realized the possibility of several 172 00:16:14,000 --> 00:16:15,000 things. 173 00:16:15,000 --> 00:16:20,520 Perhaps he could lead a slave rebellion, for example, against Pharaoh. 174 00:16:20,520 --> 00:16:24,920 But no, that wasn't the way and this wasn't God's time. 175 00:16:24,920 --> 00:16:32,520 And so by faith, believing that somehow, someday, God would bring him back to Egypt to do the 176 00:16:32,520 --> 00:16:38,600 job, he left. 177 00:16:38,600 --> 00:16:45,160 He abandoned Egypt with its possibilities for him at that point. 178 00:16:45,160 --> 00:16:48,280 He forsook it. 179 00:16:48,280 --> 00:16:51,840 I think we see another example of this abandoning in the disciples. 180 00:16:51,840 --> 00:17:21,200 Turn back to the Gospel of Luke chapter 4, verse 11. 181 00:17:21,200 --> 00:17:29,680 I'm referring to the calling of the disciples, and rather than taking time to look for it 182 00:17:29,680 --> 00:17:35,960 now since I'm in a little bit of a rush, let me simply remind you that when he called 183 00:17:35,960 --> 00:17:43,320 them, he said, leave your nets here, and what? 184 00:17:43,320 --> 00:17:44,320 Follow me. 185 00:17:44,320 --> 00:17:47,620 And what does this say they did? 186 00:17:47,620 --> 00:17:56,520 It says that they left it all there, and they followed him. 187 00:17:56,520 --> 00:18:01,600 Regarding Levi, who was called Matthew, it says the same thing. 188 00:18:01,600 --> 00:18:09,560 When Jesus saw him there collecting his taxes, a despised and hated man, he said to Levi, 189 00:18:09,560 --> 00:18:11,680 follow me. 190 00:18:11,680 --> 00:18:14,880 And Levi left everything and followed him. 191 00:18:14,880 --> 00:18:21,240 Do you see there illustrated the abandonment I'm talking about? 192 00:18:21,240 --> 00:18:29,800 It is leaving behind that which has absorbed us previously in order to give ourselves totally 193 00:18:29,800 --> 00:18:34,920 to Jesus Christ. 194 00:18:34,920 --> 00:18:40,320 Jesus' teaching also included this important thrust. 195 00:18:40,320 --> 00:18:45,520 I know where we are now in Luke chapter 9, if you'll turn over there. 196 00:18:45,520 --> 00:18:53,920 Look at verse 23. 197 00:18:53,920 --> 00:19:02,920 And he was saying to them all, if anyone wishes to come after me, let him deny himself and 198 00:19:02,920 --> 00:19:07,600 take up his cross daily and follow me. 199 00:19:07,600 --> 00:19:11,920 You see the abandonment here in his teaching? 200 00:19:11,920 --> 00:19:19,760 He says, if any of you in this crowd wish to follow me, then do so, but first you must 201 00:19:19,760 --> 00:19:24,960 deny yourself. 202 00:19:24,960 --> 00:19:33,360 First you have to abandon your self-interest, your self-goals, your self-will. 203 00:19:33,360 --> 00:19:40,800 Come across a little poem in my reading yesterday that kind of describes how most of us live. 204 00:19:40,800 --> 00:19:44,160 It's called Tea Party. 205 00:19:44,160 --> 00:19:47,280 I had a little tea party one afternoon at three. 206 00:19:47,280 --> 00:19:54,320 It was very small, three guests in all, just I, myself, and me. 207 00:19:54,320 --> 00:19:57,280 Myself ate up the sandwiches while I drank up the tea. 208 00:19:57,280 --> 00:20:03,400 It was also I who ate the pie and passed the cake to me. 209 00:20:03,400 --> 00:20:07,640 Isn't that how we live? 210 00:20:07,640 --> 00:20:13,380 Jesus says, if any man wishes to come after me, he must first of all abandon his own selfish 211 00:20:13,380 --> 00:20:15,840 desires in life. 212 00:20:15,840 --> 00:20:21,880 He must deny them and forsake them. 213 00:20:21,880 --> 00:20:33,040 Turn over to Luke chapter 14, verse 26. 214 00:20:33,040 --> 00:20:42,640 If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children 215 00:20:42,640 --> 00:20:48,640 and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. 216 00:20:48,640 --> 00:20:54,600 How strange words these seem to be that come from the Savior's lips. 217 00:20:54,600 --> 00:20:58,480 The Lord Jesus is speaking in hyperbole here. 218 00:20:58,480 --> 00:21:04,480 He is exaggerating the point to get another point across, and that is that if we are going 219 00:21:04,480 --> 00:21:12,320 to follow him and walk with him by faith, then we must be willing to abandon our earthly 220 00:21:12,320 --> 00:21:20,320 relationships in the sense that all of them come in a secondary perspective to the primary 221 00:21:20,320 --> 00:21:24,420 relationship to him. 222 00:21:24,420 --> 00:21:32,560 Our devotion and our love to him must be so strong that the normal ties that we have to 223 00:21:32,560 --> 00:21:38,440 our family seem like hatred in comparison. 224 00:21:38,440 --> 00:21:41,280 That's the point. 225 00:21:41,280 --> 00:21:47,080 And so if you and I are going to have a walk of faith, it means that we must put our earthly 226 00:21:47,080 --> 00:21:51,000 relationships in their right perspective. 227 00:21:51,000 --> 00:21:55,040 How many people there are who say, Lord, I don't want to go to the mission field because 228 00:21:55,040 --> 00:22:03,840 I'll have to leave home and leave my parents and leave my family. 229 00:22:03,840 --> 00:22:09,680 Jesus said that we cannot follow him and walk the life of faith unless we are willing to 230 00:22:09,680 --> 00:22:14,200 put those earthly relationships second to himself first. 231 00:22:14,200 --> 00:22:17,520 We must abandon them in that sense. 232 00:22:17,520 --> 00:22:24,200 Then in verse 33, he says, So therefore no one of you can be my disciple who does not 233 00:22:24,200 --> 00:22:29,680 give up all his own possessions. 234 00:22:29,680 --> 00:22:32,080 That's a strong word, isn't it? 235 00:22:32,080 --> 00:22:38,400 Jesus seems to say here, if we are going to walk the life of faith, then we must abandon 236 00:22:38,400 --> 00:22:41,320 all of our possessions. 237 00:22:41,320 --> 00:22:46,000 Does that mean that we are to literally sell everything we possess? 238 00:22:46,000 --> 00:22:52,360 There have been some who have been called by God to do that very thing. 239 00:22:52,360 --> 00:23:03,920 And yet I believe that the application here is that to whatever extent our possessions 240 00:23:03,920 --> 00:23:08,800 bind us and hinder us in our walk of faith, we are to get rid of them. 241 00:23:08,800 --> 00:23:12,280 That's the real point. 242 00:23:12,280 --> 00:23:18,320 If I am bound by my possessions, if I am hindered in my walk of faith because of what I own, 243 00:23:18,320 --> 00:23:26,560 I am to abandon those things to give priority to the life of faith, trusting God. 244 00:23:26,560 --> 00:23:37,200 So abandonment is part of Jesus' teaching, but it's not just abandonment from some things. 245 00:23:37,200 --> 00:23:41,760 It's also abandonment to something else. 246 00:23:41,760 --> 00:23:48,280 And in our reading we notice that that something else is the cross. 247 00:23:48,280 --> 00:23:55,400 We not only must deny or abandon ourselves, but we must also take up our cross daily and 248 00:23:55,400 --> 00:23:58,440 follow Him. 249 00:23:58,440 --> 00:24:02,800 What is that cross that we take up? 250 00:24:02,800 --> 00:24:09,840 Is that my rheumatism, my arthritis, my bunions? 251 00:24:09,840 --> 00:24:11,680 Is that the cold I have? 252 00:24:11,680 --> 00:24:16,400 God bless you for sneezing there. 253 00:24:16,400 --> 00:24:18,880 Is that what my cross is? 254 00:24:18,880 --> 00:24:20,760 No. 255 00:24:20,760 --> 00:24:27,240 When Jesus used the illustration of the cross, there was not any question in the minds of 256 00:24:27,240 --> 00:24:30,640 those in His society about that. 257 00:24:30,640 --> 00:24:36,680 He knew that, or they knew rather, that He was calling them to death. 258 00:24:36,680 --> 00:24:43,680 For a cross was used but for one thing, and that was execution. 259 00:24:43,680 --> 00:24:49,760 Jesus was actually calling them to death, to sacrifice, to the giving of themselves 260 00:24:49,760 --> 00:24:53,160 totally to Him. 261 00:24:53,160 --> 00:24:56,040 I read a statement by Andrew Murray. 262 00:24:56,040 --> 00:25:02,360 Christians need to understand, he says, that bearing the cross does not in the first place 263 00:25:02,360 --> 00:25:10,680 refer to the trials which we call crosses, but to the daily giving up of life, of dying 264 00:25:10,680 --> 00:25:17,320 to self, which must mark us as much as it did the Lord Jesus. 265 00:25:17,320 --> 00:25:27,840 Which, he goes on to say, we need in times of prosperity almost more than adversity. 266 00:25:27,840 --> 00:25:33,840 It is in the time of prosperity, he reminds us, that the cross is so much more needed 267 00:25:33,840 --> 00:25:37,720 in our lives. 268 00:25:37,720 --> 00:25:40,960 We need the cross. 269 00:25:40,960 --> 00:25:44,240 We need to take it up daily and follow Him. 270 00:25:44,240 --> 00:25:50,280 Abandon ourselves, abandon our earthly relationships, put them in the right perspective, abandon 271 00:25:50,280 --> 00:25:55,160 our possessions to the extent that they limit us in the life of faith, abandon ourselves 272 00:25:55,160 --> 00:26:03,440 from those things to death, to self at the cross. 273 00:26:03,440 --> 00:26:10,520 Jesus used a brief little parable in John chapter 12 to describe this. 274 00:26:10,520 --> 00:26:14,960 He was describing what He was going to do, but the application is for us. 275 00:26:14,960 --> 00:26:19,000 Maybe you'll want to look at that. 276 00:26:19,000 --> 00:26:34,920 John chapter 12, verse 24, truly, truly, I say to you, says Jesus, unless a grain of 277 00:26:34,920 --> 00:26:44,200 wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains by itself alone, but if it dies, it bears 278 00:26:44,200 --> 00:26:48,840 much fruit. 279 00:26:48,840 --> 00:26:57,600 He is that grain of wheat, but it applies as well to you and to me. 280 00:26:57,600 --> 00:27:04,720 For Jesus goes on to say, he who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in 281 00:27:04,720 --> 00:27:08,900 this world shall keep it to life eternal. 282 00:27:08,900 --> 00:27:13,360 If anyone serves me, let him follow me. 283 00:27:13,360 --> 00:27:16,760 And where I am, there shall my servant also be. 284 00:27:16,760 --> 00:27:20,600 If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him. 285 00:27:20,600 --> 00:27:27,420 If we are going to follow him, if we are going to serve him, then we must be willing to lose 286 00:27:27,420 --> 00:27:32,200 our lives for his sake. 287 00:27:32,200 --> 00:27:40,000 That could mean martyrdom, but there's something more painful and lasting than that, and that 288 00:27:40,000 --> 00:27:49,280 is the continual denial of self, making him Lord of the life day by day throughout the 289 00:27:49,280 --> 00:27:54,200 40 years, the 50 years, the 80 years that God gives us. 290 00:27:54,200 --> 00:28:02,400 Do you know why we don't know God like Enoch did? 291 00:28:02,400 --> 00:28:09,200 Why we don't understand the Lord as we can and should? 292 00:28:09,200 --> 00:28:14,120 It's because we don't want to do this. 293 00:28:14,120 --> 00:28:19,600 We resist losing our lives for his sake. 294 00:28:19,600 --> 00:28:21,920 We would rather hang on to them. 295 00:28:21,920 --> 00:28:24,840 But will you notice what Jesus says to us? 296 00:28:24,840 --> 00:28:32,120 He says if we hang on, ultimately we lose. 297 00:28:32,120 --> 00:28:38,160 But if we give them up, ultimately we gain them. 298 00:28:38,160 --> 00:28:41,260 Is that not a paradox? 299 00:28:41,260 --> 00:28:49,000 We must be like that grain of wheat that falls to the ground and dies, and in so doing it 300 00:28:49,000 --> 00:28:53,760 abandons itself as an entity. 301 00:28:53,760 --> 00:28:55,800 Its outer shell has decayed. 302 00:28:55,800 --> 00:29:00,880 It is gone. 303 00:29:00,880 --> 00:29:10,220 But through that process of abandonment, it sprouts and brings forth a plant so that out 304 00:29:10,220 --> 00:29:17,200 of that life that is lost, much more is gained. 305 00:29:17,200 --> 00:29:20,160 It takes faith to believe that. 306 00:29:20,160 --> 00:29:21,160 It does. 307 00:29:21,160 --> 00:29:26,240 Do you have that kind of faith? 308 00:29:26,240 --> 00:29:32,640 Do you have that kind of commitment, that kind of abandonment? 309 00:29:32,640 --> 00:29:38,520 Abandonment is choosing to lay aside the present safety and security that we know. 310 00:29:38,520 --> 00:29:43,760 Abandonment is laying aside our goals and ambitions to be a single purpose Christian, 311 00:29:43,760 --> 00:29:52,160 to know God, and then to be available to Him. 312 00:29:52,160 --> 00:29:58,400 Are you willing to abandon yourself to do the will of God, whatever that may entail? 313 00:29:58,400 --> 00:30:07,240 Are you willing to abandon yourself from the plans and the desires you have, even for a 314 00:30:07,240 --> 00:30:16,960 big income, or for marriage, or whatever your plans are, are you willing to say, Lord, I 315 00:30:16,960 --> 00:30:19,200 put them on the altar. 316 00:30:19,200 --> 00:30:21,280 I give it up. 317 00:30:21,280 --> 00:30:22,600 I deny it. 318 00:30:22,600 --> 00:30:27,880 I abandon that that I might know you. 319 00:30:27,880 --> 00:30:33,480 Are you willing to abandon your habitually seeking after your own best interests? 320 00:30:33,480 --> 00:30:37,920 Aren't we clever at that? 321 00:30:37,920 --> 00:30:46,240 And so often we work out what's best for us in the disguise of helping other people. 322 00:30:46,240 --> 00:30:56,360 Are you willing to abandon some relationship that may be unhealthy for you spiritually? 323 00:30:56,360 --> 00:31:01,880 Jesus Christ calls us to abandonment. 324 00:31:01,880 --> 00:31:04,040 He calls us to forsake. 325 00:31:04,040 --> 00:31:07,680 He calls us to the life of faith. 326 00:31:07,680 --> 00:31:11,440 I want to go on next week and talk about abiding. 327 00:31:11,440 --> 00:31:16,580 That in one sense is the positive side of the life of faith. 328 00:31:16,580 --> 00:31:18,880 I hope that you will join us then. 329 00:31:18,880 --> 00:31:25,720 Let's bow together in prayer. 330 00:31:25,720 --> 00:31:26,720 Our heads are bowed. 331 00:31:26,720 --> 00:31:29,280 Our eyes are closed. 332 00:31:29,280 --> 00:31:34,360 I don't know what the Spirit of God has been saying to you this week, what he has impressed 333 00:31:34,360 --> 00:31:36,560 on your heart this morning. 334 00:31:36,560 --> 00:31:51,520 But I do know that there are some of us who are clinging tenaciously to life, self-life, 335 00:31:51,520 --> 00:32:03,280 self-will, self-goals, self-plans. 336 00:32:03,280 --> 00:32:13,160 Jesus Christ is calling you today, my friend, to open that clutched hand of yours and to 337 00:32:13,160 --> 00:32:19,720 give yourself to abandon yourself fully to him. 338 00:32:19,720 --> 00:32:24,640 Will you today take that step of faith? 339 00:32:24,640 --> 00:32:29,240 Maybe you need to come to the place of brokenness first. 340 00:32:29,240 --> 00:32:34,000 Perhaps you're in the process of being broken. 341 00:32:34,000 --> 00:32:35,480 Things are hard right now. 342 00:32:35,480 --> 00:32:37,040 They're tough. 343 00:32:37,040 --> 00:32:42,640 You're resisting and rebelling and complaining against God. 344 00:32:42,640 --> 00:32:49,520 Do you see in all of those trials, just like in Job's case, God's only trying 345 00:32:49,520 --> 00:32:54,120 to show you himself? 346 00:32:54,120 --> 00:32:58,080 Will you today give that up, that rebellion? 347 00:32:58,080 --> 00:33:03,200 Will you with Job say, I've heard of you, but now I see you. 348 00:33:03,200 --> 00:33:10,600 I see you working in my circumstances, Lord, and I repent of my rebellion and my pride. 349 00:33:10,600 --> 00:33:15,560 I retract myself and give myself to you. 350 00:33:15,560 --> 00:33:23,280 If you're discouraged in the Christian life, if you're frustrated by it, just maybe, 351 00:33:23,280 --> 00:33:28,720 just maybe, that's the reason. 352 00:33:28,720 --> 00:33:42,440 Father help us to see today that if we would walk the life of faith, we must abandon ourselves 353 00:33:42,440 --> 00:33:49,880 totally to the lordship of Jesus Christ. 354 00:33:49,880 --> 00:33:56,880 May there be some here today who will, in a great crisis decision in their life, say, 355 00:33:56,880 --> 00:34:00,920 Lord, take all of me. 356 00:34:00,920 --> 00:34:05,020 I come to you. 357 00:34:05,020 --> 00:34:15,440 Believe me, open my heart to know you. 358 00:34:15,440 --> 00:34:35,840 I pray this, Father, in Jesus' name, amen.