Download... March 28, 2010. Sunday Morning Service. Bro. Dave Goble.
TEXT JOHN 17:6-11, 12-21
6 I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.
7 Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee.
8 For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.
9 I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.
10 And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.
11 And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.
Jesus was on the road to "somewhere", to an end point,.. and end to His earthly existence. Here Christ found Himself praying for His disciples to be kept as one.
John 17: 21 That they all may be one; as thou, Father, [art] in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.
Jesus prayed that we all might be one, no divisions, so that the world may believe that we would love one another as He loved us.
John 15:12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. Herein is when the world would recognize that we are one with the Father and Son, seeing His reality through our life's testimony. Is my relationship with God such that the world can see I am in unity with all others that truly believe? Society needs to be able to discern the relationship by my life. To know who Jesus is by how I treat all others, family, friends, acquaintances...each one. The world should recognize by our life that agreement with all others of Christ. There must a oneness with all who truly serve Him, if there is to be a testimony to all the world. Not just an intellectual theory, but geographically a real place and time that God dealt with us and a transformation came about. Jesus in the above text, was coming to an end of His earthly existence. One life came to an end, so in another He would be risen. We cannot ask for God's newness of life, without first, dying out to self. "I die daily," I Corinthians 15: 31 I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our LORD, I die daily. End of self, ..self must be slain, so God can be manifested. There must be an end to living after the flesh, just as Jesus allowed His life to end, in order to be risen to a newness of life.
Acts 9:1-5
1 And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest,
2And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem.
3And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven:
4And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?
5And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: [it is] hard for thee to kick against the pricks.
Until we come to the end of our own self and ways as Saul here, God will not have His way in our life. We can be sincere, but sincerely wrong, as many in this world are. Sincerely deceived as Saul had been. Sincerity is not prerequisite to making Heaven your home. Many atheist can be sincere and very nice. So the requirement here, is to have a relationship with God. Paul had been a sincere person while persecuting God's people. So God ordained at that time to deal with him, to truly reach Paul's mind and soul. Jesus then introduced Himself to Saul, here at this miraculous and privileged time. It is for all of us, who actually surrender. Saul did not refuse Christ, but trembled with, "Lord what would thou have me to do?" We all need to be like Saul, and ask that same question. Forsaking all our own ideas (end of self) so Christ can live through those are that are born again in Him. Starting new. Certainly Saul was already acquainted with Christ teachings, but not With Christ, until this "introduction" took place. This same new life can only happen for us, if we are at the end of self, at the appointed time and place God dictates. It is at the end of self, only then it can happen. It is a clear and clarified place and time.
Something happened on that cross. Our sins were nailed to the cross so that we would no longer be bound, but completely freed. Not sins to be repeated, but redeemed completely. It does not come just because God has at any time spared you mercifully in a crisis, but only when full repentance and forsaking of sins takes place.
Saul was arrested on the road to Damascus, so he would see his dependency on Jesus in order to live spiritually. If you are still contending for your own way, you also still need that spiritual arresting, so you can be truly and fully redeemed for Christ. Saul was blinded at first to bring to his attention, his need to see his total dependence on Jesus. Saul's helpless condition also brought him to a place of deliverance of the carnal nature to prepare him to do God's will. God sanctified Saul and filled him with the Holy Ghost. Unless we come to the end of ourselves at a place in time, we will not see our need to totally be totally dependent upon Christ. The flesh left alone wants to fight back when instead it must be surrendered. Is there someone here spiritually seeing the need to come to the end of self? It is a prerequisite to a life in Christ.
Romans 8:1-4
1 [There is] therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
2For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
3For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:
4That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
Do you walk after the spirit? Are you condemned? Stop walking after the flesh. We must come to the place where we say to God, "Fill me," so we can walk after the Spirit. Condemnation only comes from walking after the flesh.
Romans 8:5-8
5For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.
6For to be carnally minded [is] death; but to be spiritually minded [is] life and peace.
7Because the carnal mind [is] enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
8So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.
Those in "the flesh" of heart, cannot please God. All of our self must be submitted to God's spirit.
Just as the washing of the walls of a house on the outside is not enough, but the inside necessary too, so the will is the core of our being and must be cleansed from our own ways. It is the will that dictates our actions, and needs to be surrendered to God's will. Then we will walk after the Spirit. The Spirit is like the oil that lubricates and keeps away the friction and "rust." We will know them by their fruits. Matthew 7:16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? The oil of the Spirit will lubricate the body to walk after the Spirit, thereby producing the fruits thereof. Hard places and times will still be a challenge, yet God's Spirit will prevail if you still die daily and stay yielded to God's will. The oil of God's Spirit will keep you moving such that the world will know you are of God and His body. It will be displayed by the end of self, so that Christ can be recognized within you.
Romans 7:25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.
Romans 17:19 For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.
This is the conflict of an unsanctified experience, or not being fully surrendered.
What does it mean to be sanctified in our speech, dress, actions or behavior? People can tell who Jesus is,.. by looking at you. They will know you are Jesus disciple, by looking at you and your life. How do you treat others? What does it mean to be sanctified? Holy, Holy, Holy, will be the life that we live! By the grace of God we can be "measured," if we come to the end of our self.
Again,.. Saul was introduced to Jesus at an appointed time and place. Fully surrendered, at the end of self. For us too, being surrendered to Christ will remove all the pride, defenses, all ongoing "issues" or "games that people play." End of self means,.. we will be upright and honest. At the end of self, God can truly begin our life daily,.. in Him.
