The Power of the Preaching of the Cross
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You see that faith is all important : everything is granted through grace and obtained through faith, otherwise it would not be through grace. It is God’s gift to you, and He says : "All I require is that you receive all those things through faith (and what’s more, faith, too, is my gift to you) so that you say : "Thank You, Daddy, I receive that gift and will walk in the gift You have granted me ! When in your heart of hearts you receive a revelation from God, then you walk in that revelation. You have received it and you know it is true. Have you ever seen Jesus with your own eyes ? You haven’t ? But do you know that He is alive ? How do you know that He is alive ? Because the Holy Spirit, whom God has sent into your heart, tells you so, and witnesses to the truth of it. It is written, but not only in that everlasting Word that is Spirit and life ; within you there is the Holy Spirit of Life and the very Person of the Lord, witnessing to you. The Spirit of God within us witnesses to the fact that we are children of God. And tonight the Spirit of the Lord is telling us, deep down in our hearts, that Jesus has accomplished everything, that our flesh has been crucified, that it is done. For God, it has ceased to be a problem ! But it can still be one for you, if you are not aware of what took place at the Cross, if you don’t know what the Cross means. Indirectly, it becomes a problem for God as well because He tries to make you understand. Jesus has dealt with the problem. Jesus has enabled you to receive the revelation of it through faith and to receive this wonderful inheritance : the forgiveness of your sins, the understanding of the fact that your former nature is dead and that you have received a new nature ; now you walk in faith in the Son of God who has granted you this gift. Provided you remain in that attitude, if tonight your faith in God’s Word has deepened, the fruit of it will be seen immediately, if you remain in an attitude of faith.
Colossians 3:3 declares : "For you are dead, and your life is hidden with Christ in God." In Christ crucified, "in God". You and all your carnal reactions have died and you are hidden with Christ in God, who is life. "Your life is hidden with Christ in God" is indeed a beautiful phrase. You are safely encompassed within God’s heart, hidden there with Christ, in God who is your life. "When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then will you also appear with Him in glory." (Col. 3:4). Christ is our life because he passed through death, and He is our life only because we have passed through death in Him. But "when Christ, who is our life, shall appear", you too will appear with Him in glory. "Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth : fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry." (Col. 3:5). It might be any other kind of sin you care to name. God says : "put them to death." Now that you understand and believe that you are dead, you have the power to put all those things to death, since you are dead. A dead tree no longer bears fruit. If you are dead, all that evil fruit — rebellion, anger, idolatry, and evil desires — died with the tree. You are now in a position to obey that command, when those things come to you in the form of temptations, evil desires, or evil thoughts. Perhaps one of the last things you put to death will be that little outburst of impatience, that tit-for-tat retort. The flesh still tries to hide in things like that. They too must be put to death, till no evil root of any kind is left in you ; only abundant life, love, joy, and peace are left, with no fleshly response at all.
It can be done, because Jesus did it ; He is alive within you and wants to manifest Himself in you, if only you believe. However can a Christian go on saying : "Oh, but that is far too lofty an ideal, nobody could ever be like that." It is better never to start out than to start from there. It would make you the most miserable person in the world ! Someone once said : "Nothing is easier than giving your all in the world. Nothing is easier than giving your all in Jesus. But there is nothing harder than walking at the same time with Jesus and with the world." It makes you double-minded, it splits you down the middle on the inside. The root of the problem remains untouched as long as you go on hauling your uncrucified flesh around with you. You try to walk in the Spirit ; on some days you manage, and on others, you don’t. The root of the problem has not been dealt with. I suppose nobody wants to remain the most miserable of all men — or of all women — all his (or her) life !
It is therefore vital that we should come to God to receive the revelation that we have died and been raised to new creaturehood in Christ. The Life of God is within you, ready to be manifested if the vessel is broken. And it was broken in Christ.
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The cross - Power for
spirit, body and soul
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