Where There's Death There's Life (Transcript/Notes)

Sometimes we wail and complain about the modern church. we complain about its spiritual state, we complain about its carnality, we think that somehow the church had its glory days of maturity and obedience, and now we are sunk to something the early church would never have dreamed of.

But then we read the letters to the Corinthians. And we shake our heads to clear the fog, and we say, “Wait a minute. Those old days gone by seem a lot like our days.”

And we see that the letters to the Corinthians are also the letters to the Americans, or the Australians or the Asians or the Europeans or the Africans.

We Still Need Jesus

Not much has changed in these 2000 years, because the heart of man is the heart of man. We’re still born sinners, and we still need a Savior.

And when we’re born again, when we receive that Savior, when we become a Christian and our sins are forgiven, we still need to learn and grow and fail and fall on our face and get up and learn and grow some more, don’t we?

And when we read 2 Cor. 4:6 we see that “...it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”

He has shone in our hearts…to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God...you get that?...the knowledge of the glory of God in our hearts...how?...in the face of Jesus Christ. When we received Christ, we received the knowledge of the glory of God.

I wish we had time to go through a survey of the Bible to fill in the gaps of what the glory of God means. The awesome power, the awesome blinding light of the Shekinah of God.

Which could fill the temple with smoke, which could blind someone who just glimpsed it, which could be a pillar of fire or a pillar of smoke, one touch of which puts a man to the ground on his face.

The glory that huge expanses of galaxies and universes in the heavens declare, and yet just brush the surface of the great glory of God.

The knowledge of this glory, in the face of Jesus Christ, you have inside of you, the Bible says.

However...

But...verse 7 of 2 Cor. 4 says...BUT...

“...we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.”

Earthen vessels. Clay pots. How do you like being called a clay pot?

Are You Nobody?

I know a church that has as their slogan, “Where everybody is nobody, and Christ is all.” Now they mean well by saying that you are nobody. But is that true? Is that biblical?

I don’t think so. If you are born again, you are a new creation in Christ. Is that nobody? You are a child of God. Is that nobody?

Together with the rest of us believers you are the Bride of Christ, the very Body of Christ, and in Him dwells all the fullness of the godhead bodily, and He dwells in you. Is that nobody?

I don’t think so.

So what’s this "earthen vessel" thing? What’s this "clay pot" thing?

You're Not Nobody, But You're Sure Not God

Well, the answer is that we still have this ol’ body. And we still have a mind that needs renewing. And we still have emotions and wills that need to be shaped by Christ as He lives His life in us.

And when we’re shaped and changed it’s God who is doing the shaping and changing. There’s a lot of glory going on, but it’s in these clay pots, these jars of clay, these earthen vessels.

And non-Christians, the ones who don’t believe in Jesus Christ, a lot of times just see the clay pot. In the eyes of the world, we are just some sorta crazy people who spout morality, do certain meaningless religious rituals to appease some god, don’t do certain secular things, join exclusive clubs to meet together, believe ridiculous things by blind faith, and look smug and narrow-minded, while really being hypocrites.

Some of you may be surprised by that view by the outside world, but I’ve seen and heard it many times over the years.

But that’s why I love 2 Cor. 4:7, because it gives the real truth of the Christian faith, “We have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.”

God Has A Great Purpose

This gives us insight into God’s great purpose. His great purpose is being carried out in humanity.

It’s not by accident. He designed it that way. Humanity is the clay pot. But humanity is not to get the credit. A clay pot is only for one purpose. To contain something. And when it contains this something we call Christ...Christ in you...there is a sure hope of glory.

This is humanity as God intends it to be, in the believer.

This is true Christianity, not just God taking you to heaven, but Christ living in you, living your life as you, and bringing Him glory as He does it.

And so in the next two verses, we have the experience of the Christian life. Listen...

“We are hard pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed" - 2 Cor 4:8,9

That’s life, isn’t it? These are all the pressures and experiences of a normal life. It’s become a cliché to say that when you become a Christian these trials and pressures don’t go away, but it’s true, they don’t go away.

Categories of Trials

Look at the categories here:

PRESSURES, or afflictions: These are the normal trials that everyone faces, Christian and non-Christian. Your washer hose breaks and floods the house, you get stuck in traffic or worse, a family member gets sick. There is no end to these things, is there?

PERPLEXITIES: Tough things in life that call for decisions, and we don’t know what to decide. We can’t see the future, we don’t know what to do. The consequences may be big, but we anguish over the decision to make.

PERSECUTIONS: these include misunderstandings, cold-shoulders, deliberate slights, mean actions and attitudes, attacks on our character or reputation and so on.

CATASTROPHES: struck down...shattering stunning events that shake up a family or church...accidents, fatal illnesses, earthquakes, war, riots, suicide...things that seem to come out of nowhere and leave us crying, “Why?”

But look at the reactions: hard-pressed (that’s the pressures), yet not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed.

The Power And The Glory

That’s the Christian life. There is some internal power, some internal glory that overcomes, that balances the outward trials of life.

And the next couple of verses tells how this inward power and glory comes out in our lives.

Vs. 10 “always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.”

We are cross-centered, Christ-centered. We sort of have communion, moment by moment, without the bread and the cup. We memorialize Christ, we remember that He died for us, and lives again, in us. We look to Him, we look to His life in us, and we live it.

And this changes everything. It changes our perspective. It reminds us of the sovereignty of God, and it reminds us of the fact that nothing is too hard for Him.

Two Musketeers

We are two Musketeers, Jesus and me, side by side, showing His glory.

And verses 11 and 12: "For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus' sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So then death is working in us, but life in you."

This is our dying. This is understanding that our old man died with Christ. This is recognizing that since He died for us, and since we died with Him, that we can die daily, as Paul called it.

We can submerge ourselves into Him, deny ourselves and take up our crosses, be so centered in Christ Jesus that we see ourselves as clay pots with the glorious purpose of showing forth His glory.

Communing with Him and saying, “Not my will but thine be done.” Basking in His love for us, and so loving Him to the point that our lives are surrendered to His, now. This moment. This hour, this day.

And in so doing, the death to self, becomes life. To you, and to others whom you touch, and who see you and who glorify our Father in heaven because they see the power of the glory in the earthen vessel which is you.

Where There's Death There's Life

This week's message on Grace Walk Radio:

Where There's Death There's Life

Grace For Life radio archives are here.

What Every Christian Needs

by Michele Rayburn

NOTE: The following was written in response to a discussion about a prominent Pastor known for his course, foul language in the pulpit.


"Filthy speech puts those who are guilty of it among the chief of sinners, and to them will certainly be meted out a terrible vengeance in that day when God shall solemnly curse those who have so glibly cursed themselves."
-Charles Spurgeon, "A Great Gospel For Great Sinners"

[There seemed to have been some confusion among believers as to whether Spurgeon was speaking to believers or to unbelievers, that is why I said the following:]

Charles Spurgeon appears to be speaking to the unbeliever about his sin in this particular passage.

But what is the solution, the remedy, for the believer? What this Pastor in question needs is what we all need because we all sin just like him. James reminds us that "no one can tame the tongue".

Galatians 5:16 says:

"But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh."

and

Galatians 5:25 says:

"If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit."

I think that part of this Pastor's problem might be, like so many of us, that he was raised in a legalistic sin-focused church and was never truly grounded in the knowledge of God's grace and of spiritual living, but instead was taught to stop sinning in his own strength rather than relying on God to work that work in him by His Spirit.

I think his sin problem may be a backlash, a rebellion if you will, to the legalism that says "Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch..." (Colossians 2:21)

In context, Colossians 2:20ff says:

"If you have died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world, why, as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourself to decrees, such as, "Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch!"... in accordance with the teachings of men? These are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, but are of no value against fleshly indulgence."

What is the Biblical solution then?

Colossians 3:1-11:

"Therefore if you have been raised with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is...not on the things that are on the earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God...Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed...and in them you once walked, when you were living in them...put them all aside: anger, wrath...abusive speech. Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices, and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him...Christ is all, and in all."

And Isaiah says:

"You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You." (Isaiah 26:3)

I like to paraphrase it by saying that God didn't say to keep your mind stayed on sin. He said to keep your mind stayed on Him!

I was looking at a blog called "Herescope". And it said a very interesting thing in an article entitled "The Dominionism of Sin" (Aug. 4, 2007):

"This blog [Herescope] spends a considerable amount of time examining and exposing the swift rise in our age of the false doctrines and practices of Dominionism.

"Indeed, it is human nature to seek human solutions to overcome the fallen nature of man. And that, in brief, is precisely the temptation of the heresies of Dominionism.

"Dominionism promises that mankind can better himself, perfect his nature, change societies, cultures and governments; and even reverse the effects of the Fall, build the kingdom of God on earth, bring Jesus back as King, and restore Paradise.

"It is easier to look outwards at the world and try to fix it than to look inwards at the heart. For it is the heart, and the dominion of sin over the heart, that truly must undergo transformation."

http://herescope.blogspot.com/2007/08/dominionism.html

And that really sums it up for me. We can try to tell people what to do, do, do all day if we want to, but it will not change the person's heart unless he is told how to be, be, be.

It may seem easier to tell people what to do, but it cannot change the heart. There will usually only be a temporary fix, if anything. Only God can change the heart, and, with regard to a particular sin, that may take time...and in many cases, a lifetime.

The biggest problem with sin in the Church is that too many of us do not know who we are, so we don't know how to be. And until we do learn who we are (in Christ), and how to be (in the Spirit), we will not be able to control what we do, because that control can only come from God's Spirit, not by "the will of man".

As we learn who we are, and how to be, and our focus is on Him, He will control our sin, by His Spirit, and in His time...in His perfect timing.

Who Are We In Christ?

"But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light..." (1 Peter 2:9)

And we are Saints. Paul never said "To the Sinners who are in Ephesus..." He called us what we are, not by what we sometimes do.

Now, go and "be" that Saint by walking in the truths of who you "are".

The Symphony of God We Call "Nature"

There is a sense in which all of creation is like a gigantic symphony conducted by the Creator.

It's just that sometimes it's not that obvious.

This time it is.

The following video -- if viewed from the standpoint of the Sovereignty, Omnipotence, and Wisdom of the Lord -- can take your breath away.

Talk about "His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me"!

Click the HQ (High Quality) button and watch full screen for maximum beauty

Keep Your Mind Stayed On Him

By Michele Rayburn

When Christians say that they are against Legalism, sometimes I wonder if they even know what that entails.

The tentacles of Legalism reach deep down into our lives, producing false guilt, self-abasement, and an unhealthy obsession with sin, which results in saying and believing things that indicate that we feel worthless, unloved, unforgiven, and unacceptable to God.

As I said in a previous post, what Christians need to realize and need to appropriate in their lives is who they are in Christ, how to "be" in Christ, and how to "walk by the Spirit". The alternative is to "walk in the flesh".

We need to focus on Him, not focus on our sin.

You've probably heard it said that if you're told to not think of pink elephants, the next thing you know...you're thinking of pink elephants.

So when we are taught about sin, somehow we just can't stop thinking about that sin, and about continuing in that sin, and then about how we are going to resist that sin.

But it's going to be in our own strength, if we're not being told, straight from the Word of God, how to depend on God to deliver us from a particular sin, and if we're not being told how to "walk by the Spirit".

Because these teachings are so neglected, it leaves a spiritual void in people's lives. And that is the reason I believe we have so many legalistic churches, which sometimes leads to false churches, "movements" and cults.

All of them, and some "movements", have one thing in common. In a subtle, man-centered way, they are seeking to earn God's love and favor by what they think they can do for Him, not realizing that it's by His grace alone.

All of the false religions have no risen Savior. But the true Church has a risen Savior. And if we truly want to exalt Him in our lives, then we should be looking to Him, focusing on Him, walking in Him, depending on Him for everything, including the strength to overcome our weaknesses.

Try thinking about your sin and focusing on the Lord at the same time. I think you will find that you can't do that. And yet that is what I think Christians are taught to do.

But the result, I believe, is that we will become "the double-minded man, unstable in all his ways".

The Apostle Paul says in Romans 8:5-6, "For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace..."

In Romans 7:25, Paul says, "So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin."

Paul knew the struggle against sin like all of us, and how he could not "serve in the newness of the Spirit" and "in the oldness of the letter [of the law]" at the same time. But he proclaimed that we have been delivered from the law, having died to it. (Romans 7:6)

And he also said, "For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace." (Romans 6:14)

And so we should continue to proclaim these truths in the Church today.

Why Christ And Him Crucified?

This week's audio message:

Why Christ And Him Crucified?

Grace For Life audio archives are here.

What Is Spiritual Growth?

Huge amounts of ink or pixels are used in discussing spiritual growth. However, very little ink or pixels are used in clarifying what spiritual growth actually IS.

Most who attempt this tend to parrot others who say things like:

1. Become more obedient to God’s Word,

2. Become more conformed to the image of Christ (whatever that means),

3. Be more like Christ in behavior (as in WWJD?),

4. Develop the fruit of the Spirit.

I’d like to take those one at a time, show where they fall short, and then take a stab at defining what spiritual growth really is.

1. Become more obedient to God’s Word.

The problem with this is it says nothing about motive. An unregenerate person can be more obedient to the “basics” of God’s Word than some fairly “mature” Christians.

And some Christians can appear deceptively “mature”, when they know in their hearts they’re just putting on a show for the Church, while desperately reflecting Romans 7 (”I do the things I don’t want to do”) in their hearts and minds.

2. Become more conformed to the image of Christ (derived from Romans 8:29).

The problem with that is that not only is it usually not defined what “conformed to the image of Christ” means, and if it is defined, it’s usually something along the lines of Number 1 above, or Number 4 (see below).

3. Be more like Christ in behavior (as in WWJD?).

Like Number 1 or Number 2, this can be imitated by unbelievers. For example, I think if the Dalai Llama wore a suit and tie, and attended a typical church — and didn’t talk theology too much — he’d be thought a very godly man, even though he rejects Jesus Christ, and therefore the Father.

4. Develop the fruit of the Spirit.

This probably comes closest of the four to real spiritual growth, but again, one can *appear* to have love, joy, peace, patience, etc., without even having the Spirit. Or if they do have the Spirit, they can be walking by the Flesh, but “faking” the Fruit.

So...

What is REAL spiritual growth, biblically speaking (what is often called sanctification)?

First, the word “sanctification” or “sanctified” (”set apart” or “holy” is the idea) is almost always used in Scripture for something that is *already* accomplished. We are already “sanctified” by God for Himself.

But the idea we want to get at is this thing we call *Progressive* Sanctification, or Spiritual Growth.

Here’s my attempt at a biblical definition (with special emphasis on key ideas):

Progressive Sanctification is UNDERSTANDING more and more the ETERNAL TRUTHS of God, particularly those of the NEW COVENANT, and living accordingly.

1. “UNDERSTANDING” means that we actually appropriate the truths through the renewing of our minds, as opposed to just acknowledging them to be true.

For example, all believers would agree that Romans 8:28 is true, “God causes all things to work together for good to those who love Him...”

But the more we really “get” that, appropriate it, and really understand it intellectually AND experientially (in our feelings), the more we will actually live accordingly.

The change in us may be visible to others (I would complain less, for example, because I know God is working it for good), or it may be invisible (I would have peace in tragedy, for example).

2. “ETERNAL TRUTHS” means those truths which are not visible or temporal, but are true nonetheless, because God has declared them to be true in the invisible eternal realm.

For example, Romans 6:11 says that we are “dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus”.

We may say, “I don’t FEEL dead to sin, or LOOK like I’m dead to sin. Unfortunately I can sin with the best of them when I’m not walking close with the Lord! What do you MEAN dead to sin? Are you crazy?”

Spiritual growth brings us to the point of realizing the truth of Romans 6:11, EVEN WHEN IT LOOKS TOTALLY UNTRUE! (Sorry for shouting.)

Or how about, “There is no longer any condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”? I may FEEL condemned, or that God is frowning and angry with me when I behave badly. But it’s simply not true. His favor and intense love for me are not dimmed in the least by my sin, which is paid for and forgiven already, for eternity!

Spiritual growth means I’m APPROPRIATING that truth more and more.

3. “NEW COVENANT” is perhaps the most important concept of Scripture in “rightly dividing the truth” of the Word of God.

Hebrews 11 makes it clear that the Old (Mosaic) Covenant is obsolete, and the ETERNAL TRUTHS of the New Covenant have been accomplished in Christ, through His death, burial and resurrection.

These truths include all kinds of invisible truths like:

- our sins are already forgiven, past, present and future

- we are righteous (what we call Justification, declared righteous by God) — “Yes,” you say, “but only in God’s eyes.” — whoa…whose eyes COUNT, yours or God’s? — see, that’s spiritual growth

- we are new creations now, who love Jesus and hate sin

- we are dead to sin and alive to God through Christ Jesus

- we have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer we who live, but Christ lives through us

- we are no longer under Law, but under Grace (Rom. 6:14) — this is one of the most ignored verses in Scripture.

Try this experiment: Go to the 5 most biblically knowledgeable people you know and ask them to complete the sentence from Scripture: “For sin shall no longer be master over you, because...” Very few will complete the sentence from Rom. 6:14, because very few understand that we are no longer under Law, but under Grace (a radical New Covenant truth in itself).

FINALLY...

When we do indeed understand more and more these eternal truths, our behavior will be affected, but it’s not the behavior which is the spiritual growth.