SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
(Galatians 2:20) "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me."
(Romans 7:15-17) (15) "For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I" (16) "If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good." (17) "Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me."
(Romans 7:18-20) (18) "For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not." (19) "For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do." (20) "Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me."
(Romans 7:21-23) (21) "I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me." (22) "For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:" (23) "But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members."
(Romans 7:24-25) (24) "O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" (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 6:6 "Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin."
PREFACE SUMMARY
Dear reader, this is a timely message that is much needed today that deals with how we view life and how we observe how some people are able to overcome things that have caused others to end up in a mental institution hooked on psychotic drugs.
Beloved, I will never forget the time when I was visiting a good sized Baptist church in Kentucky and the man which I barely knew teaching the men's Sunday school class decided to pick on me.
Dear reader, I will never forget when the man looked at me and asked if he could ask me a very personal question which put every nerve in my body on alert.
Beloved reader, without warning the man teaching Sunday school asked me point blank, "Brother Jerry, would you be willing to tell our class what the sin is that you have had the most trouble overcoming?"
Beloved, I did not know what to say or even how to answer this direct question for really beloved, I was both embarrassed and humiliated for a person that I barely know to ask me such a question in front of a church body that I barely know.
Dear reader, did you know that out of nowhere the Holy Spirit shattered my thoughts speaking deep within my being, "Tell him yourself?"
Beloved reader, I spoke up and said to that teacher and church body that the answer to your question would be what every Christian struggles with in life and that would be our human nature which would be myself, and then beloved, I began to quote Galatians chapter two and verse twenty which says, "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me."
Beloved Saints, I said to that church body that no matter how many days, months or years may have passed in our Christian pilgrimage and no matter how convinced we have become that our old Adam nature is dead, when we least expect it and especially if someone or something has rubbed us the wrong way, we will discover that that old hateful Adam nature will rise from the dead or in other words church, we will discover that when we attempt to get a drink, that old man tied to us will try to get one too.
Dear reader, I will speak more on this subject and overcoming the temptations and allurements the world offers which tend to wake up our fleshly emotions as we move further in this message concerning the inward and outward struggle we encounter everyday as we stive to live a consecrated crucified life in a world that has rejected God and everything he stands for.
THE STRUGGLE WITH THE FLESH
Dear reader, this message is about the crucified life and for us to understand this timely message that is so needed today is to understand what the Apostle Paul meant when speaking of keeping the flesh under subjection to the Spirit.
Beloved, the Apostle was giving us a livid illustration of the crucified life and he was speaking from his heart that he desired to live this crucified life and remember he is the one that spoke in (2 Corinthians 12:7) about his thorn in the flesh calling it a messenger from Satan whose purpose was to torment him.
Saints, here we discover that Paul had men coming against him concerning the gospel he preached but beloved, what was he saying to us concerning the crucified life and what can we glean from his teachings?
Beloved, I believe our answer to this question concerning Paul's desire to live a crucified life can be found is found in (Galatians 2:20) which says, "I am crucified with Christ nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me."
Dear Saints, the Apostle Paul like so many of us was saying that he has a desire to live a crucified life but he has a problem and that problem is that he is still alive in the flesh and he still has those ugly fleshly desires to contend with, but notice beloved that he gives us his secret to being an overcomer and that secret is trusting in the work God is doing in his life through the indwelling presence of his Holy Spirit.
Beloved Saints, notice in (Romans 7:21) Paul reveals to us that "when I would do good, evil is present with me" and notice in (Romans 7:24) where he asks an important question, "O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?"
Dear reader, back in the 1980's, I was suffering through a seven year nervous breakdown and I remember like it was yesterday, meeting an elderly gentlemen at a truck stop that impacted my life forever.
Beloved, I was being so used and abused that one night, in the early mid 1980's, I gave in to temptation and was so down on myself with what I had done that I unknowingly carried the condemnation with me into a truck stop restaurant.
Beloved reader, attempting to eat my breakfast and entertaining the thoughts that if I ever did have anything with God, it is gone now but beloved, to my surprise while leaving, an elderly gentlemen held the door for me and asked to speak with me outside to which I agreed.
Dear Saints, I want you to know that God loved me enough to send his Angel to me that morning, which was actually the second Angel he had placed in my path on my way back to the world.
Beloved, the Angel began informing me that God loved me and has a great ministry waiting on me but beloved what he said next made me realize that someone had been watching my every move even behind closed doors.
Dear reader, the elderly man stated that just because you mess up with a member of the opposite flesh does not cancel God's plan in your life and stop the world from turning.
Beloved Saints, the man's face began to shine like the Son as he quoted these verses from (Romans 7:24) placing an emphasis on the twenty forth verse which ask a question, "who shall deliver me from the body of this death?"
Dear Saints, the man changed the subject to describe to me just how beautiful Heaven is and how God has already seen me enter it after completing my assignment on Earth which to him is a powerful ministry that will be used of God to change many lives.
Beloved reader, I want you to know that after informing me that the Lord God Jehovah sent him to me, someone yelled at me and while I turned to look, the Angel started walking a way and vanished in thin air right before my very eyes.
Dear reader, I remember so well those seven long years trying to discover myself driving those trucks attempting to out run my troubled past and I remember placing that gun under my chin beside the Associations of Christian Truckers Chapel located in the truck stop in Carlisle Pennsylvania to end my life.
Beloved, I also remember pretty red head lady chaplain named Kris Tackitt and her well built Navy husband named Joe who had the words I needed to hear concerning the flesh which caused me to make it a point to stop by when my trips to the east coast brought me their way which was usually every other week.
Dear reader, I wanted to know how a so called man of God could rape their daughters and go with anything wearing a skirt and still go stand in a church and preach?
Beloved, Chaplain Kris wearing her white Go-Go boots replied, "Honey, it is because the flesh wants to do what it loves and knows how to do, and some of these ministers in their younger years have probably been abused too."
Dear reader, this reminds me of the prophet Samuel instructing King Saul to carry out an assignment from God which was to rid the land of a rebellious kingdom including everything living including the animals but Saul saved King Agag and the best animals alive as if to sacrifice them to the Lord.
(1 Samuel 15:32-33) (32) "Then said Samuel, Bring ye hither to me Agag the king of the Amalekites. And Agag came unto him delicately. And Agag said, Surely the bitterness of death is past." (33) "And Samuel said, As thy sword hath made women childless, so shall thy mother be childless among women. And Samuel hewed Agag in pieces before the LORD in Gilgal."
Beloved, King Saul was instructed by the Prophet to not allow anything to live in the kingdom of Agag and not touch or covet any of the spoil but King Saul listened to the cries of the people instead of the commands of God which caused God to reject him as being the King over Israel.
Saints, we can look at the story and liken king Agag as a type of the flesh and you know what happened in the end, the prophet Samuel took a sword and slew the king and beloved, we must do the same to the temptations of our flesh especially if we are going to be successful in our Christian walk here on earth and in closing, I am reminded of an old Indian saying that there are two wolves in man and the one you feed will become the strongest and subdue the other.
Beloved, did you know that under the reign of the Roman empire that if a man was convicted of taking the life of another man, the dead man was tied to him and he was forced to live in the valley of Gehenna which was often called the valley of fire because this beloved was where all trash and discarded pieces of pottery was cast as a means to get rid of the unwanted trash.
Beloved reader, this is where it is believed that Judas who betrayed Jesus hung himself which is in this valley of discarded pottery.
Beloved, did you know that if pottery had a flaw in it that there is not anything they can do in reworking the clay that will take out the flaw but they discovered that if they will visit a Shepard and find a certain tick that had been sucking the blood of one of their lambs that when they would mix the blood from the tick which represents the world and the the blood from the lamb into the flawed pottery, the pottery would go back together without a flaw?
Dear reader, the man that was sentenced to live his life here in this valley of Gehenna with the punishment of having the dead corpse tied on his back, is to live in this valley till the corpse would rot off which meant that the diseases and skin worms from that dead corpse would greatly impact his body?
Beloved, this meant that if the man could find water or food, he had no choice but have to drink and eat with the dead man tied to him which beloved is a type of our outward flesh tied to us and no matter how many times that we think that we have our flesh buried and under submission, we are still human and when someone or something out of the norm pushes us beyond our limit, we will discover that when we go to get a drink, that human nature will attempt to get one with us and that is why Paul stated that he has a desire to live the crucified life but he understands that he is still alive in the flesh which still has its earthly fleshly desires which must be brought under control and the only way that that can be possible is to submit ourselves to the guidance and leadership of God's blessed Holy Spirit.
WE WALK BY FAITH, NOT BY SIGHT
Dear reader, this message is about living the crucified life while facing the struggles and temptations we encounter every day in a world where sin as the bible declares in is no longer hiding in the dark but has bravely come out into the light with no shame spreading itself like a flowering tree in a generation that has risen to call evil good and good evil attempting to silence anyone protesting their evil promiscuous lifestyle.
(Psalms 37:35) "I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a green bay tree."
Beloved reader, Paul spoke in (Galatians 2:20) that the life he now lives in the flesh, he lives by faith in the Son of God who loves him and gave himself for him which beloved dear reader, can be better understood as Paul informs us that he has complete trust in the Holy Spirit that lives within him to finish or complete the work of producing Christ qualities in his life.
(John 15:16) "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you."
(Philippians 1:6) "Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:"
Beloved, Saints, (John 15:16) gives us a picture of the call and plan of God for our life which occurred before the foundation of the world and we understand that it is in Christ that we live and have our being. (Acts 17:28)
Saints, Christ is the very essence of life and it is in him that we live and have our being therefore let us strive for perfection and enter into God's rest for he speaks volumes in the fifteen chapter of John's gospel and the sixteenth verse that he called us and ordained us that we should go forth and bring forth fruit, and that our fruit should remain; that whatsoever we shall ask of the father in his name, he may give it unto us.
Beloved, these scriptures plainly state that God is the one that chose us, therefore it is up to him to finish the work and all that is required on our part is to be willing to surrender our life to him and abide in his amazing grace and love.
Dear reader, I want you to rest in knowing that God's Spirit is the one that begun the work of grace in our life and he will be the one that will finish it that his church may be presented on that day without spot or blemish as the bride of the lamb.
Beloved, we can rejoice in knowing that the one that is armed with the plans God has for our life has come to lead us into all truth and righteousness for his name sake.
Dear reader, did you know that there is an old saying that if you try to make a horse do what it does not want to do, it will throw its rider and run off but a mule will throw its rider and wait nearby for the rider to get some sense?
Beloved reader, in my younger years as a teen, we used to fix up old cars for racing and the one item that we made sure to put on our cars was what we call a stabilizer bar whose main purpose is to keep the rear end of the car from hopping or swaying under torque from our high powered engines, and beloved, this illustration can give us a glimpse of our Christian life with and without the guidance of God's Holy Spirit.
Beloved, a good illustration of the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer would be to ask a friend to take you somewhere to buy some groceries.
Dear reader, there are two ways you can go with your friend that will get you there but one would require you to hold on which would be to crawl upon the hood of his automobile and hold on.
Beloved, as long as you hold on tight and he does not swerve all over the road, you will arrive at your destination although you may be a little worn down from all the stress and energy required to remain safely on the hood without getting thrown off.
Dear reader, I know this may sound a little rough but this is the mindset that some people have concerning their Christian journey not understanding that grace is a free merit (gift) of God to man for he said that our righteousness before his is as filthy rags therefore beloved, we do not have power in ourselves to keep our flesh under control but he that begun a good work in us will take care of what we are not able to control if we remain faithful to maintain our relationship with him.
Beloved, the Holy Spirit does not jump in and out of a believer when they mess up for he knows that we are imperfect vessels living in a fallen world and he is able to work through our fallen nature to conform us to the image of God's Dear Son, but beloved, it does require us to summit to his leading and guidance.
MY CONCLUSION
Church, it is time to wake up to the clarion call and task upon us, strip ourselves from the love of this world including the love of self satisfaction, and turn to the Lord with our whole heart with fasting with our prayers being saturated with our tears until we hear from heaven.
Beloved, let us always remember that our view of the Living God will affect our view of our fellow man and as the word says in (1 John 4:20) "How can we say we love God whom we have not seen and hate our brother whom we have seen who is made in his image and likeness"
Dear reader, the bible teaches that Jesus is the doorway to God and Jesus has already defeated Satan when he hung on that roman cross for the sins of the world, and he secured our place in God when after three days and nights, God raised him from the dead, gave him a name above every name that is named, and set him at his own right hand far above all principalities, powers and dominions "Kingdoms."
(Colo. 1:18) "And he is the head of the body, the church; who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence."
Dear Saints of God, Christ is the risen Head of the church, and its members are subject to him therefore in and through the name of Jesus, we can break Satan’s hold over us because we are under a new authority.
(Ephesians1:21-23) (21) "Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world but also in that which is to come" (22) "And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church," (23) "Which is his body the fulness of him that filleth all in all."
Beloved, we discover in the verses above that Jesus is the head of the body which is the church and we as the church of Jesus Christ are under the authority of Jesus, therefore because we have surrendered our life to the lordship of the Jesus Christ, we are no longer under the authority or rule of Satan.
Dear reader, I love to tell people that approach me concerning my walk with Christ and the high anointing on my life that they can drink from the same fountain that I drink from and that is the fresh clear water of the Holy Spirit by spending time with him in solitude.
Beloved, we find in (Proverbs 25:25) the word of God says that “As cold waters are to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country.”
Beloved, we have been entrusted with the greatest news on Earth and that word is (John 3:16) “For God so loved the world (man) that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life.
Beloved, it is time to get past the Sanctuary of worship and enter a wonderful relationship with Christ who is not flesh and blood, but an eternal being and nothing should ever be allowed to take the place of being in his presence.
Dear reader, there should never be a question in our mind when it comes to our relationship with Christ, that we never allow People places and things including family which are temporal to hinder our walk with him.
Saints, did you know that our place of being in direct relationship with Christ will determine how much he can trust us with in the world to come, therefore let us lay aside every weight and the sin that may easily beset us, and run the Christian race before us with patience as we look to the author and finisher of our faith to live his life through us that he may leave his signature through us to future generations.
International Evangelist
Jerry W. Hulse Ph.D.
Miracle Life Church International
MY CLOSING PRAYER
Dear Lord, I want to thank you for the opportunity to close this message in a word of prayer to all who will take time out of their busy schedule and read this message with an open heart.
Father, I ask that you move to bless each one that through this message have surrendered their life more to your purpose and I ask that you intensify the work that you have begun in their life and ministry.
Lord, I ask that you bless them spiritually, financially, physically, relationally and emotionally that their life may be blessed to enrich the lives of others, and Lord, from this day forward, I ask that your will, your purpose, your word and your Spirit will have free course in their life and everyone that they meet.
Dear Lord I ask in Jesus mighty name that you will touch, heal and deliver all that read this prayer and call upon your wonderful name, that you will meet their need right where they are.
Father, I pray that all curses and words spoken against them would be broken and I ask that you stand up in them in these last days and make their life count for your cause and purpose and lord, as you awaken the gifts and talents placed in them from birth that they may become unified in the faith with other believers realizing the need to work together in harmony like a fine tuned orchestra in the masters hands.
Dear Heavenly Father, I thank you for your great love and blessing over our lives, for we rest in knowing that you promised to never leave nor forsake us as your children, and you promised to go with us all the way even to the end of the world.
Dear Lord, please forgive us for failing to remember that you know our needs before we ask, for you were once one of us that was tempted in all points as us and you went to the cross to pay our sin debt that we could be adopted into your royal family as Sons and Daughters sharing with you in your glory. "Thank You Jesus"
Dear Lord, we ask for you to enlarge our borders and place your hand of blessing upon us to guide us in the path you chose for us for we need your divine guidance that we might walk fully in your blessing and goodness as you lead us by your Spirit to divine appointments, and Lord, please deliver us from evil that we will not be tempted or cause pain.
Dear Lord, I pray that your blessed holy name might be glorified throughout the Earth as you leave your signature through us to future generations., and Lord I ask that you assign an Angel to accompany this work into the home of every person that will take time to read it.
Lord, help us stand firm together activating our faith, for it is in these trying times through your grace that we can find rest in knowing that we can depend on you our God, "Our Father", to come on the scene to direct our path and to guide our footsteps.
Dear Lord help us to understand our dependence for survival is upon you and Lord, help us realize that we represent your glorious body on Earth, therefore Lord help us also understand that there is strength in numbers and we need each other to be fruitful and live a prosperous life as your people.
Lord, please help us to not be careless and prideful in our Christian walk, or resemble a bunch of used body parts, but help us realize Lord, that we are apart of something bigger than ourselves; that we are a part of your glorious body as sons and daughters in your royal family and kingdom.
Dear Lord, my prayer is that you stir us up and burden our heart for true revival, yes Lord, in every country throughout the world and demonstrate to the people in these countries that you are the Unchanging God, for your word declares it, that what you were yesterday, you are today, and will be tomorrow! (Hebrews 13:8)
Dear heavenly Father, I ask that you move to bless each one that has taken time to read this message and have humbly surrendered their life more to your purpose and I ask that you intensify the work that you have begun in their life and ministry in Jesus mighty name.
Father, I ask that you bless them spiritually, financially, physically, relationally and emotionally that their life may be blessed to enrich the lives of others, and dear Lord, I ask that your will, your purpose, your word and your Spirit will have free course in their life and everyone that they meet.
Father, I pray that all curses and words spoken against them would be broken and I ask that you stand up in them in these last days and make their life count.
Dear Lord, I ask you to awaken the gifts and talents that was placed in them at birth, that they may become unified in the faith with other believers, realizing the need to work together in harmony like a fine tuned orchestra in the masters hands.
Father I pray that if any reading this prayer should need deliverance from some oppressing spirit including some illnesses that may be attacking their body, Lord, I pray that your Holy Spirit would raise up a standard against these attacks and set these people free.
Lord, I pray that the power of your written and spoken word be activated through the authority that is made available unto us that is in the name of Jesus, and we apply the following scriptures to our prayer.
(John 16:23) "And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you." and (Psalms 34:15) "The eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry."
Father, we close our prayer believing that you have heard and answered us according to your divine will and purpose, for it is in Jesus mighty name we pray and ask these favors. A-Men
