Date archive for January, 2008
-
Sermons – 2008 Week 04 – Jan Wk 4
The Messages of Christ Crucified (Part 3)
John 8:32,36
I. First Step in Deliverance
The first premise is that one who is full of self cannot be filled with the Spirit
God declares His standard for men. In 1Peter 1:15,”but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct,”
How can one by holy?
The answer is found in John 8:32 and that is “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
We are saved by grace through faith. We are delivered from the self life by grace through faith. God’s way of deliverance is through death. Romans 6:6 tell us this, “knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.”
II. Dying unto Sin is not a Daily Dying
2Cor 5:14,” For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if one died for all, then all died;”
Col 3:3,” For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.”
Romans 6:10-11,”For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”Only those who reckon Christ’s death as their death experience, the crucifixion of the old man. Jesus Christ died not only for sin but also to sin. We are thus dead to sin.
There is a difference between dead to sin and sin dead to me. What is the difference between these two terms?
III. Resolving the Conflict of Duality
To help discover ourselves, ask these questions
a. Am I absolutely truthful?
b. Am I absolutely honest?
c. Am I absolutely pure?
d. Am I easily offended?
e. Am I living for something really worthwhile?If we can’t give the right answers, we have not been delivered but are still walking after the flesh. This experience of inner conflict is a wretched state. Unless the flesh has been deposed, the Holy Spirit cannot have His way.
Is it true then that so long as we carry all these baggage we will never live the victorious life? Is it because we still walk in the flesh?
Gal 5:21,” envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”
Note that the emphasis here is on practice as is continually doing it. Whereas people who did but are repentant and forgiven by God’s grace and have faith in Christ will inherit the Kingdom of God. In contrast when people continue to practice these, they will not inherit the kingdom of God.
IV. God’s Solution for the Inner Conflict
What is the solution to the inner conflict?
The issue is that of choosing Christ or self. We cannot obey both the Spirit and the flesh. Galatians 5:16-17 tells of walking in the Spirit so that one shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. They are contrary to one another so that one do not do the things that one wishes. The only solution is to denounce the flesh.
One must commit the old ways to the cross. God will cause circumstances for us to surrender ourselves.
V. An Assurance of Victory in Every Situation
God will give assurance of victory in every situation In Joshua 1:5-6 God reassured the children of Israel when the came into the promise land. We are also given the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23 for our victory in walking in the Spirit. This is a state of grace we need not fall. We need to surrender our “self”.
VI. Steps for the Soul Seeking the Victorious life
The three steps are:
a. Know there is a way to deliverance. God’s redemption is complete
b. Surrender – consecrate our life to Christ in total abandonment -outward cross and inward cross
c. Trust God to deliver as we yield to HimMr and Mrs ET Chua
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (0.0KB)
-
Sermons – 2008 Week 03 – Jan Wk 3
The Messages of the Cross (Part 2)
Colossians 1:13
The importance of the message of the cross must be incorporated in whatever we present. An example was Paul’s excellent message on Mars’ Hill in Acts 17. The sermon was excellent but conversion were few. He then went to Corinth and we see that in 1Cor 2:2, which was the essence of the sermon last week, Paul spoke of the cross.
All too often, when we present the Gospel, we get an acceptance based on Jesus as Lord and saviour without the appropriate repentance. There is no victory over sin. This new found acceptance is exciting for a while, but the underlying sin continues to corrode this new found joy. Until there is victory over sin, there is no true joy.
Is it true that without repentance we have not got rid of the old man and are unable to put on the new man? Is repentance a one-off action on our part or do we repent daily of our sins and take up the cross daily that we may be become Spiritually minded?
Adam, the federal head of the human race, was confronted with the exercise of choice. He yielded to the Devil and sinned, causing that separation from God. Thus, all his descendents manifest this self-will and self-centeredness, instead of God-centred, lives.
Christ crucified as us was presented in the last sermon and is the emphasis in this week’s sermon. While most times we know that Christ was crucified for us and our sins, we have not moved on further in our Christian life by discarding the old man. In this sermon, we look at Christ crucified as us. Romans 6:6 sums up this aspect of the crucifixion, ” knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin”. Just as Adam sinned and caused this self centreness and lost the God centreness, we too must rid ourselves of this self centreness in order that we may no longer be slaves of sin.
When the Spirit rules the flesh, it is right but when the flesh rules, it it is anarchy. In Romans 8:6, “For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace”.
The solution to all these problems is that those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.(Galatians 5:24) And when the flesh is crucified, the Spirit rules. When the Spirit rules, we will walk in the Spirit.
One must distinguish between “flesh” as the controlling element and “flesh” as the neutral human body, otherwise what does the Spirit rule?
To summarise we should ask the question,
what relevance has this to do with our lives?
Everything one should say. This is because as Christians we are faced with the problem of sin as well as the temptations of sin. Having been saved through our repentance and faith in Christ, we are still confronted with our mortal flesh. We are thus grappling constantly with the flesh. We can overcome this dilemma because we also know that we can have the strength to fight this constantly and replace it with a new man. We can let the Spirit rule and with this we will see further transformation. Henceforth, we will see Christ crucified in us in a later development.
Mr and Mrs ET Chua
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (0.0KB)
-
Sermons – 2008 Week 02 – Jan Wk 2
The Messages of the Cross
1Corinthians 2:2
The emphasis for the apostle Paul is nothing is important except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
Why was this so important to Paul?
And how could this event alone of Christ encapsulate his whole belief system?
In Christ’s crucifixion we will see the death on the cross as an experience for us. We will see that Christ was crucified for us, as our representative and crucified in us.
Let us take the first understanding of Christ crucified for us. In this He died for our sins and this act is thus a propitiation of God for our sins He has put in its place His righteousness so that we are justified in the sight of God. In short Christ died for us.
In the second, Christ was crucified as our representative. But it is not just dying for our sins, He was crucified as us. Here we are looking at having been saved, we need to rid ourselves of the old man and put on the new man renewed in knowledge according to His image. (Col 3:10). We need to deny ourselves and take up his cross and follow Him. In this we see that the crucifixion on the cross goes beyond salvation because one reckons oneself to be dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Thus the death on the cross was to give us life to God. But our old self must die in order than the new man be alive.
Finally the crucifixion also means that Christ was crucified in us. In Luke 9:23 we are told to take up the cross not once but daily.
What would that mean if Christ had been crucified for us, it cannot be taking up the cross daily?
This must mean that in our daily life we walk in the Spirit. The Spirit indwells in us for we have discarded the sinful old man and put on the new man that allows this to happen. This new man needs to be brought to subjection to God. Then can we begin to manifest by the renewing of our mind and to conform to His image.
Mr and Mrs Chua
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (0.0KB)
-
Sermons – 2008 Week 01 – Jan Wk 1
Repairing the Altar of the LORD
1 Kings 18:30
Why do people go to church?
Some go for peace of mind, for spiritual well being, for a subjective feeling of wellness and seeking a payoff from religion. This is certainly not what the Lord wants us to do. The Lord wants us to come to Him in purity of heart, not as a weekend God-seeker with a weekday idol-indulger. Yes, all too often, we leave God behind on a Sunday and indulge in our own living idealisms during the rest of the week.
Do we indulge in materialistic pursuits, in time consuming computer games, in sports in the guise of exercise?
These are the idols of today which we indulge in, and not giving our whole heart to God.
If you give priority to God on a Sunday, do you also give priority to God during the weekday? Do you spend time with Him in quiet contemplation, seeking answers from Him?
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (0.0KB)
-
Cantata CD is Now Online
-
BFC PA Team Recruitment
