THE POWER OF A CRUCIFIED LIFE
*******************************
OUTLINE
1. DYING TO SELF AND TAKING UP YOUR CROSS DAILY
2. TRANSFORMING POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
3. LOVING GOD MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE
4. A NEW COVENANT AND A NEW HEART
5. REWARDS FOR SACRIFICING EVERYTHING
6. POWER OVER THE ENEMY AND HONOUR FROM GOD
7. PEACE OF MIND AND A HEALTHY BODY
THE MESSAGE
THE POWER OF A CRUCIFIED LIFE
*******************************
1. DYING TO SELF AND TAKING UP YOUR CROSS DAILY
****************************************************************
The Lord wants us to die to ourself and let Christ live in us . That is the only way in which we can live a victorious life free from the bondage of sin and satan. Only when we are totally surrendered to God , we can bear much fruit and be used in the Kingdom of God mightily . We must deny ourselves and take up the cross daily to follow the Lord. We must deny our selfish desires and longings and offer our lives on the altar of the Lord everyday and dedicate ourselves to fulfill His will in our lives. Then we will be filled with the life of God and we will experience life in all its fulness.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
********************
GALATIANS 2:20
"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. "
JOHN 12:24
" I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. "
ROMANS 6:6-14
" For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—
because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.
Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.
For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him.
The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.
In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires.
Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness.
For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace. "
MATTHEW 16:24-25
" Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.
For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. "
MARK 8:34-35
"Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.
For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it."
LUKE 9:23-24
" Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.
For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. "
LUKE 17:33
" Whoever tries to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it. "
JOHN 12:25
" The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. "
2. TRANSFORMING POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
********************************************************
The Lord promises to fill us with His Holy Spirit to transform our hearts and lives . Our flesh constantly fails to please God and obey His commandments. Therefore when we acknowledge our failures and our helpless condition and throw ourselves into the hands of God , the Lord will fill us with His Holy Spirit and empower us to live a life pleasing to Him. The secret is to stop struggling in our flesh to obey God. We must realise our utter helplessness and humbly surrender ourselves to the Holy Spirit and let Him take total control of our lives . Then the Holy Spirit will transform our hearts and produce the fruit of the Spirit in our lives. Only then can we live a life that is pleasing to God. We must hunger and thirst after righteousness .Only then the Lord would satisfy our longing and do an amazing work of grace in our lives . If we are careless and indifferent concerning our walk with the Lord we will never enter the depths of intimacy with God . May the Lord draw us close to Him and use us for His glory.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
********************
ROMANS 8:1-14
" Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,
because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.
For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man,
in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.
Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.
The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace;
the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.
Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.
You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.
But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness.
And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.
Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation—but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it.
For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live,
because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. "
GALATIANS 5:16-25
" So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.
For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want.
But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.
The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery;
idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions
and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires.
Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit."
MATTHEW 5:6
" Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. "
JUDE 1:24-25
" To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy—
to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen. "
3. LOVING GOD MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE
***************************************************
The Lord wants us to love Him more than anything else in our lives. The Lord must be first and foremost in our lives. We should not love even our family or our own lives more than the Lord. The Lord will test us in our love for Him. He tested Abraham by asking him to sacrifice his son Isaac .Abraham proved his supreme love for God and the Lord blessed him abundantly. The rich young ruler failed the test of love because he loved his riches more than God. We can be the disciples of the Lord only when we are willing to love Him more than anything else in our lives and are ready to sacrifice anything for His sake.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
********************
MATTHEW 22:36-40
"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?"
Jesus replied: " ’Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’
This is the first and greatest commandment.
And the second is like it: ’Love your neighbor as yourself.’
All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."
MATTHEW 10:37-39
" Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me;
and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.
Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. "
LUKE 14: 26-27 , 33
" If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple.
And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. "
" In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple. "
REVELATION 2:1-7
"To the angelof the church in Ephesus write: These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands:
I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false.
You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.
Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love.
Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.
But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.
GENESIS 22:1-2, 16-18
" Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, "Abraham!" "Here I am," he replied.
Then God said, "Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about."
" and said, "I swear by myself, declares the LORD, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son,
I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies,
and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me."
LUKE 18:18-23
" A certain ruler asked him, "Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
"Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good—except God alone.
You know the commandments: ’Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.’"
"All these I have kept since I was a boy," he said.
When Jesus heard this, he said to him, "You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."
When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was a man of great wealth. "
4. A NEW COVENANT AND A NEW HEART
**********************************************
The Lord makes a new covenant with us when we surrender our lives to Him. He will write His laws in our hearts and cleanse us from all our sins and wickedness . He will forgive all our iniquities and remember our sins no more.He wants to show His abundant mercy in our lives and give us a fresh start in our walk with Him. He will give us a new heart and put a new spirit in us . He will remove our stony hearts and replace it with a heart that longs to obey the commandments of God.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
********************
EZEKIEL 36:25-27
" I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols.
I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.
And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws."
HEBREWS 8:10-13
" This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.
No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, ’Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest.
For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more."
By calling this covenant "new," he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear. "
JEREMIAH 31: 31-34
" The time is coming," declares the LORD, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.
It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them, " declares the LORD.
"This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time," declares the LORD. "I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.
No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, ’Know the LORD,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest," declares the LORD. "For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more."
5. REWARDS FOR SACRIFICING EVERYTHING
*****************************************************
The Lord has promised great rewards for all who sacrifice everything for his sake. He has promised that we would rule with Him in His eternal Kingdom. He has also promised to bless us by meeting our material needs as well as by giving us loving relationships as well as the assurance of eternal life. But all these blessings may be accompanied by persecutions for His sake . We can be sure that the Lord is faithful to honour the sacrifices that we make for His sake.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
********************
MATTTHEW 19:27-29
"Peter answered him, "We have left everything to follow you! What then will there be for us?"
Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. "
MARK 10:28-30
" Peter said to him, "We have left everything to follow you!"
"I tell you the truth," Jesus replied, "no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel
will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—and with them, persecutions) and in the age to come, eternal life. "
LUKE 18:28-30
" Peter said to him, "We have left all we had to follow you!"
"I tell you the truth," Jesus said to them, "no one who has left home or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God
will fail to receive many times as much in this age and, in the age to come, eternal life."
MATTHEW 6:25-34
"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?
Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?
Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin.
Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.
If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
So do not worry, saying, ’What shall we eat?’ or ’What shall we drink?’ or ’What shall we wear?’
For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
6. POWER OVER THE ENEMY AND HONOUR FROM GOD
********************************************************
The Lord gives us power over the enemy when we are totally surrendered to Him . When we have submitted to God, we have the authority over satan and all his evil forces. The Devil has to flee when we resist him because of the authority that the Lord has given to us when we have submitted ourselves to the Lord. We have the authority to punish every act of disobediance when our obedience is complete. It is dangerous to resist satan when our lives are not submitted to God. The seven sons of Sceva tried it with disastrous consequences .We must humble ourselves in the hand of God and the Lord will lift us up and honour us in due time. The Lord Jesus humbled himself and totally submitted Himself to the will of God even to the extent of dying on the cross. Therefore God highly exalted Him and gave Him a name above every name.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
********************
JAMES 4:6-10
" But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble."
Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom.
Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. "
I PETER 5:5-9
" Young men, in the same way be submissive to those who are older. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble."
Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.
Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings. "
II CORINTHIANS 10:3-6
" For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does.
The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.
We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
And we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience, once your obedience is complete. "
ACTS 19:13-16
" Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists took it upon themselves to call the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, "We exorcise you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches."
Also there were seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, who did so.
And the evil spirit answered and said, "Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?"
Then the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, overpowered them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. "
JOHN 12:26
" Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me. "
PHILIPPIANS 2:5-11
"Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross!
Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. "
7. PEACE OF MIND AND A HEALTHY BODY
**************************************************
The Lord will fill us with peace and joy when our lives are totally surrendered to His will. When we have turned our lives completely in the hands of God , we need not worry about anything because the Lord will take care of our lives. We can enjoy a life of peace and joy. We can commit all the injustices and evil that we face into the hands of God and He will render justice to us.The Lord also promises us good health and strength when we obey His commandments because He is the Lord who heals us.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
********************
I PETER 5:7
" Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you."
ISAIAH 26:3
" You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you. "
PSALM 138:7-8
Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You will revive me; You will stretch out Your hand Against the wrath of my enemies, And Your right hand will save me.
The LORD will perfect that which concerns me; Your mercy, O LORD, endures forever; Do not forsake the works of Your hands.
I PETER 2:23
" When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. "
EXODUS 15:26
" He said, "If you listen carefully to the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD, who heals you."
***************************************************************************
