(3/15/23) How? Buried In Baptism

The speaker is discussing the importance of being crucified with Christ and the concept of baptism. They explain that baptism is more than just a physical act, but a spiritual truth. Being baptized means being buried with Christ, which can only happen after being crucified with Him. The old man, or the old way of life, needs to die in order for new life in Christ to begin. The old man is described as lonely and powerless, with a nature and legal problem. The speaker emphasizes the need to surrender to God and let Him reign in our lives. The goal is to enter into the kingdom of God and have authority through Him. Not going to reveal a lot, but just a little bit to figure out where we are. Brother Randy and you guys haven't been here with us too recently, so we'll just do a quick refresher. Why are we talking about rest? Back up. We're talking about why you might want to be crucified with Christ. I'm so excited, but I know as I was preparing, the Lord impressed it so clear. My people would lay hold of this, and I can feel it. This is why I wasn't able to just jump to what I wanted to jump to. I wanted to tell you this three months ago, but the Lord's been preparing our hearts, preparing us, and giving us an absolute hopelessness in the life, the Old Covenant life, the old man specifically. So, we've been talking about the Gospel, and those three things are believe, these are the commands of the Gospel, the imperatives of the Gospel, be baptized, and be filled. We talked about this, and right now we're unpacking what it means to be baptized. There's a very practical, something that you're not unfamiliar with. When you read in the Scripture, there are more Scriptures referring, if you go look up the word baptized, you're going to find that the concept of baptism has a lot more to do with the spiritual truth than it does, even the word counts. You will find that very, very, very, very often it is referring to the work that God is willing to do. Jesus said, when he was talking about Calvary, he said, I have a baptism wherewith to be baptized. And that was after he had been already in the water. What was it? Because when he went into the water, he was promising that it isn't about me, I've come to do thy will, O God, and a body thou hast prepared for me to give to you. And so, he went into the water, but the water was a promise of faith to, and when he made that commitment to his Heavenly Father, it says that the Holy Spirit ascended, descended like a dove. And so, we find in the Scriptures a lot of truth packed in around this. And so, what does it mean to be baptized? And we discovered, we've been discovering this. Let me see here, see if I got it written down. I didn't grab my other one. Well, we've been talking about the old man, because why should the old man need to die? So, we decided that it talks about being buried with Christ, as we sang that song. But you cannot bury something that's not crucified, you cannot crucify something that is not condemned. And so, we have a condemnation that needs to happen. That sounds so scary, doesn't it? That sounds so scary, doesn't it? It's actually the most wonderful thing I get to talk about. Condemnation, burial. Oh, I skipped it. Let's insert this here. Crucifixion. Crucifixion. This is not good spelling, I forget here. Anyway, okay. You cannot bury something, you want to be buried with Christ. Oh, it says, because our lives are hid with Christ in God, and we've been talking about all these things. What does it mean to be buried with Christ? Well, we can't be buried with Him until we're crucified with Him. And we can't be crucified with Him until, and I won't say the next line, give it away. We're going to look and see what Jesus has to say about it. But this is the background to what we're talking about. And this condemnation that we've been discussing has its foundation. It has how we could actually come to a sense of condemnation in the old man, and actually give up hope in that old man, send the old man to the glue factory. It's when we discover how useless life in the old man is. Absolutely useless. What is he? He's lonely, right? Because except a corn of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it lives alone. It's like, oh, Jesus is with you. It's like, well, whether or not the presence of Jesus is here is not really the debate. Whether or not that heart will ever believe it is whether or not they're crucified with Christ. And so you can attempt to be acknowledging Him in all your ways. I'm trying to trust that Jesus is with me. If you're not crucified with Christ, except a corn of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it abides alone. All the cohabitation that God wanted to have with His people was all on the other side of the Red Sea. He'd be washed in His blood, trusted Him to hold back this judgment and guilt of sin, and take it in His own body on that tree. But unless we are crucified together with Him, unless we go down into that Red Sea, we cannot watch the power of sin be drowned. He is trying to fight. They're pinned up against the Red Sea, and they're pinned up against the rock, and here comes the Pharaoh and all his army. And we foolishly tell people who are not crucified with Christ to fight, come on, try, resist. You cannot resist the flesh. You die to the flesh and you resist Satan. Very, very important. You cannot resist the flesh. You die to the flesh and you resist Satan. And you tell, oh, just fight those impulses, fight those... You can't fight them, because it's you fighting you, and you don't... You need to die. Only when we go down into the water does God break that power of sin. So what are the problems with the old man? The old man, why, he's got us. He's got... He's got lots of problems. He's lonely, and he's powerless. Why is he powerless? We gave plenty of time to this, and I don't know what else to say. The Holy Spirit just wants you absolutely done with this. Just no hope anymore. Do not put any confidence in the flesh. None. Lonely and powerless. So he's powerless because he has a birth. He's powerless by birth. He has a nature problem. He has a problem in his nature. He literally does not possess... He does not possess the features of one that is born again. And so you're trying as hard as you can to do the commandments in the New Covenant. But those commandments are taking for granted that you have died and Christ is living. Those commandments are taking... That is given to a new life. And if you in your old life attempt to manufacture the fruits of the Spirit and manufacture the imperatives in the New Testament, it's absolutely useless because you have a natural problem. Your nature is totally wrong, and you will not be able to produce... You can produce shabby-looking counterfeits, but they're terrible. Peace is just like trying to keep a straight face when there's chaos. All these things just fall. They're not real peace. They're not real joy. It's not real nothing. We have a natural problem. We have a legal problem. I see the legal problem is that... So you think, well, why can't I just wake up and just do the right thing? Today, I'm just going to do the right thing. You cannot, because the soul that sins shall die. There's a law of God that will never be broken. It's not the kind of law that you can speed and if nobody sees you, it's fine. No, it's a law like gravity is a law. You don't break it. You could get power to overcome it. And that's what happens in the law. The Spirit of life in Christ Jesus gives us power over the law of sin and death. But an airplane is not defying gravity. As in flipping a switch and turning gravity off. But it is overcoming it. It is overcoming it. And so, at no point does it cease to be the case that the soul that sins shall die. And when we sin, our spirit dies. And we might spin around in that moment and go, Oh, that was a dumb idea. I'll go walk in the spirit. It's like, spirit? Spirit? Come on, we've got to watch the spirit. Spirit? Spirit's dead. That's what happened in the Garden of Eden. That's what happens when you and I choose sin. Spirit dies. And the soul that sins will die. Period. So, you have a legal problem. You cannot get back across. It's broken. Except we can die with Jesus and then be raised to newness of life. Hallelujah. So, we have a natural problem. We have a legal problem. And then we have an authority problem, which we spoke on. Oh, God. And this means Jesus says that unless you're born again, you cannot see or enter into the kingdom. The kingdom of God. And what do we know the kingdom is? I mean, what do we know the kingdom is? Is it just castles and moats and walls? Anywhere a king has cooperation, obedience, and loyalty. When God is reigning in you, you have entered his kingdom. He has authority in you. And when he has authority in you, he has authority through you. Jesus says that a strong man is able to keep his house. Who's the first strong man? Satan. Right? Until the stronger than he comes. Who's the stronger than he? Somebody. Jesus. Stronger than he comes and takes away the armor in which he trusts, and takes from him his house. Who's the house? We are. You belong to sin and Satan. You are under the authority. When he took Jesus up and Luke says that he showed him the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time and said, I will give them to you. We noted the fact that Jesus didn't say, knock it off, Satan. You don't really own all that. No, he's the prince in the power of the air that works now in the children of disobedience. Scripture says he has authority. Because why? Because he has cooperation and because he has obedience and because he has loyalty. But Jesus turns and says, I'm not going to make any side deals with you. I'll fight you for him. And Jesus enters into a combat and a contest with the enemy for your cooperation, for your obedience and for your loyalty. You can choose which kingdom you're a part of via death with Jesus. But the old man, the old man, I don't care how long you've been professing Christ until you're dead with Jesus. You have a natural problem. You have a legal problem. You have an authority problem. And those things are going to keep you absolutely powerless. Absolutely powerless. And I hope that the Holy Spirit has worked a total desperation and a hopelessness in us to ever be found in this state. And when we discover that somehow we are putting trust in the flesh, that we are not yet crucified with Christ in the area of our life, that we are quick through desperation to let God reign there, give it to him. And then we, of course, talked about Simon, our friend, as a case study. Simon and all the Samaritans. And that was a tough one. I couldn't tell if it was just me. That's a tough passage there. Because it's a case study on what it means to believe, even be baptized, but not be filled. Why? Why? Well, to be baptized in Samaria, you didn't have to hate your own life. They were all good minded. Oh, you're baptized. That sounds good. Oh, me baptized. Well, I haven't been yet. But you know, my wife has been, and it's a good place. And you could be a witch doctor one minute and be getting what the next. And it was okay. It was fine. You didn't have to hate your life. And so you could run through the motions of this, forgetting the reality, the spiritual reality of crucifixion and death with Jesus. But praise the Lord, he doesn't go, oh, bummer to be you. You happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. No, God has answers. And Philip, who I imagine was young, full of the Holy Ghost, but young. He'd never seen anybody believe and be baptized and not be filled. Like, those are not things. And he goes, why don't you call for Peter and John to come down? They need to pray through some stuff. And sure enough, they do. And they're filled with the Holy Ghost. Okay. So was it just me? Or did I feel a little bit like I've been in these shoes before? And maybe we'll be tomorrow again if God confronts me with something I haven't noticed that hasn't been surrendered to him. Excuse me. The devil knows that what is not crucified will never cooperate with the Holy Spirit. And so he is maintaining, as best he can, you to make excuses. Let's let go of him, brothers and sisters. And then we talked about, I will give you rest. This was the sad state of the one who will not die. That's what this was. He has a natural problem. He has a legal problem. He has an authority problem. This is the sad state of the one who will not die. And we got to talk about the happy state of the one who can find the grave. I will give you rest. And then Job says that there the servant is free from his master. There the wicked cease from troubling. And there the weary are at rest. They do not hear the voice of their oppressor. And John says the wicked one touches him not. And you say, oh, that sounds wonderful. Yes. What was he describing? He was describing death. He was speaking into the future what God was going to do in the man Christ Jesus and allow us to come and be made partakers in that rest. I will give you rest. God wants to give you rest. Okay. Praise the Lord. And now we finally get to talk. Hallelujah. Answer the question, how? How? How do we be crucified with Christ? How do we be buried with Him? How do we be baptized? And this is what I didn't say yet. You see, it says as many as have been baptized into Christ. Well, you know how they got there? They were baptized into His death. So this is why you can have a pool party. And I'm not saying you should be baptized in a pool. But you could get a bunch of people wet. But if they are not entering into death with Jesus and they are not ready to resign into His death, well, we're not going to have the same effect. You see, God answers faith. And it's the faith in the heart of the person going down into that water saying, here goes Jesus. Here goes. Here goes. This scares me to death. But here goes. I'm trusting you with everything my whole life. My dad, when he would baptize people, and when he baptized me, and there was snow on the ground, we went down into the river. He didn't like just rushing the ordeal. So if you happened to be baptized when it was cold, you stood there cold for a little bit, chattering. And he'd ask you the tough questions. He'd say, you're going to go wherever God leads you, even into foreign lands to lose your life? You're going to do this? How about this over here? How about that over there? You're going to say no to the world, the flesh, and the devil when they tempt you? Oh yeah. Are we going in? Yeah, we're going in. And in faith, you walk that person through the... right so that that action is an action of faith. That's what it means to be baptized. So how? How do we do it? Well, somebody... Tyler, can you get us Romans chapter 6, verse 4 through 7? There's a lot. There's a big context, but we're just going to brush up on these truths a little bit. Elijah, do you find us Ephesians chapter 4, verse 22 through 24? Simeon, do you mind finding Colossians chapter 3, verse 9 through 10? And then Mr. Costner, would you mind finding for us Luke 24, verse 20? Thank you. Okay, go ahead. Therefore we are buried with him by baptism unto death, that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection. Knowing this, old man is crucified with him, and the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is free from sin. Knowing this, when you know this, that the old man is pinned there with him. Hallelujah. That the whole structure and form of sin might crumble and be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve it anymore. Because he that is dead is free from sin. Go ahead, Elijah. Chapter 4 you said? Yes, chapter 4, verse 22 through 24. That in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lust of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth. Hallelujah. That you put off the old man, the old self. What translation is that? The old self. You put off the old self, which is corrupt according to deceitful lust, and you be made new in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new man, which is created, this is amazing, which is after the image of God is created in righteousness and true holiness. Do you see that you are not trying to manufacture goodness for God? You die. He lives through you, and that new life has been created in holiness. And when that life is created in holiness, I don't have to worry about working the details about holiness. I simply die with Jesus, and then read the owner's manual to a brand new machine. This machine has amazing features. It was made for righteousness and true holiness. True holiness. Colossians 3 verse 9 through 10. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices, and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. Same truth. Praise the Lord. Don't lie to one another. Why not? Oh, because you don't have to anymore. There's a new man. You see, why does anybody lie? We once dealt with him. He was a minister in a church. Many, many, many years. And he was a pathological liar. He had demonic bondage, I think, on that particular note. It wasn't just like when you and I lie. We've had some discussion on this. Some of us lie and we're like, oh my goodness, it's like you just swallowed a frog. You can't believe you just said that, but you were terrified to say the truth, so you said a lie, right? Well, this man, he'd lie. It was just brilliantly smooth. But the things ended up coming back to contradict themselves and him. So he was sitting down with other pastors who were trying to deal with this man. He would not admit it, not admit it, not admit it, not admit it, until finally pinned up against his deacon, sitting there and going, yeah, you did say that, and so forth. He said, well, I do seem to struggle with telling the truth under pressure. And he thought, does anyone have a struggle other than when it's under pressure? That's when we all lie, right? We're scared to speak the truth. There's pressure. Okay, why don't we have to lie to one another? Because there's a new man there who isn't scared of nothing. Hallelujah. And you can let him live. You can say, God, if I speak the truth, they're going to kill me. Then die. Don't lie. Don't lie. See how you can read that commandment? And you're trying not to lie, but oh, it's so hard, and I don't know why I just lie. Before I even think of it, I just start lying. Oh, I guess I'm embarrassed to go and repent for the lie because I don't want them to think I'm a liar. I mean, I lie, but I don't want them to think I'm a liar. And all this problem. But see, you can read that as an instruction to a new owner's man. It's a new machine because this machine doesn't have to lie. You put off the old man. Hallelujah. And you put on the new man. Which this new man was created in the same knowledge of the image who created him. So the same God, this is why the Scripture says, you can be filled with all the fullness of God. Unbelievable. Why? Because this new man has in his nature the very nature of God. So you don't have to lie. Praise the Lord. Okay. That's that old man. That's that old man that's hopeless. He's powerless. He's lonely. Has nothing to do about it except to die. How? How? How do we die? Well, let's start down this path. And brother, you got our Luke 24 verse 20. And how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death and crucified him. Yeah. What's that got to do with anything? Well, the only reason I mention that is, brothers and sisters, if you're going to be... There are three words in there that are key words to us. But we'll just highlight the one for right now. Condemned to death and have crucified him. You won't be the first person or the last to come and sit under the teaching truth of the word of God. Or sit alone with God and you study and you're praying, you're reading your Bible. And you think, God, I need to be crucified with you. You won't be the first person or the last who's had that desire, but is not crucified. And you think, how can that happen? Isn't it enough for me to just want to be crucified? Well, let me just ask you a practical question. What did they have to do to Jesus before they could crucify him? He had to be condemned to death. Brothers and sisters, I'm going to speak to you. You will never be free from what you will not condemn. I had somebody ask me to pray for him one time. And this has not been the only time. I failed the Lord. And I'm going to do better next time because I was a little ignorant and immature at the time. But the person said, they went on this long spiel about how someone else thinks they have a problem. They don't think they have that problem. But would I pray for him just in case they do? And I should have said no. There's no reason to pray something that you know is not illegal. It is not legal in the kingdom of God. You cannot be crucified to something you don't think is a problem in your life. And God wants to bring you and I to that bitter reality that it can burst into the sweetness of his deliverance. But you're going to have to come laden with the bondage. You're going to have to own it. Say it to me, standing in the need of prayer. God, I have this bondage. But you see, as long as you're still kind of like this and you're making excuses for it and still kind of defending it, if anybody else says something about it, you're going to have that until you die. What will be buried must be crucified and what will be crucified must be condemned. And so we're going to talk about this this evening. This is how to be crucified with Christ. It must be condemned. We must bring it under condemnation. It must be condemned. You're not wanting anything extra special to discover that you might want to be crucified with Christ. Many, many people have come to this place and not been crucified or buried with Jesus. Why? Because they will not condemn what God condemns. Whatever you will be free from must first be betrayed, condemned, and crucified with Jesus. And then we can be free. Hallelujah. The old man must be condemned. And hopefully we're in agreement here to put off the old man and his deeds. Okay, what's the next thing? Well, if he's going to be condemned, the old man is indeed condemned. Something must follow. Now, this is helpful to us, very helpful, because it does bleed into what Jesus actually said more often than anything else on this particular topic. The first thing that happens to a condemned person is he is denied his rights. Our Declaration of Independence in this country. These men wrote, and I'm actually not in disagreement with this phrase necessarily, and I'll just quickly explain that. What God tells you is the right of your brother and sister in relationship to you. It's not the same as what you have to come to Him for. What God tells you is the right of your brother and sister in relationship to you. It's not the same as what you have to come to Him for. It is in the same posture. You see, I don't have the right to take away your life, but neither do I have the right to keep mine. And so, what these men, who were not necessarily godly, but were somewhat marinated in a fear of God, wrote down, have come to an interesting conclusion. This is what they say. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that men are created equal, and that they are endowed by their creator with a certain inalienable right. I technically disagree with that. But that among these rights are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. And then the Declaration of Independence, and also our Constitution, is written around the defense of these rights of Kay brothers and sisters. You and I are quick to maintain our rights. I told you that the reason God brings us to a place of hopelessness is because when we come to crucifixion, it is not pleasant on the flesh. And this isn't good news to the flesh, but see, if you're like me, I've given up on the flesh. My heart is hard to the flesh. I am not moved anymore by His crying. What does the song say? There is no voice that answers within. Hallelujah. Satan may come, and the world may entreat me, but there is no voice that answers within. This is where God wants to bring every single child, every child of God. The condemned are denied their right. And you say, wait a second, are you sure? Yeah, think about it, brothers and sisters. We'll just work with those three things. That's a good overlay of the rights that we have. Happiness, liberty, and life. The pursuit, our pursuits. You don't get in my way. You don't stop me pursuing the things that I want to pursue. And you don't stop me from being happy, and you don't stop me from having the liberty that I deserve to have. And you don't get in my way for life. And if anybody does that, how does our law judge them? As a breaker of the law, right? But what happens when somebody under our law is condemned? First thing you do is lose your right to pursue happiness. And then shortly thereafter, your right to liberty. And if you've committed what you and I are guilty of in the Spirit, do you know what that is? It's murder. Do you know what people that are condemned of murder are deprived of? Their right to life in a just society. So, you and I are coming back into the judgment hall. And the beautiful thing about being crucified with Christ is that just for you, you can't right the wrongs for everybody else. But the most beautiful, breathtaking thing is that for Joshua, we get to go back to Pilate's hall. And we get to send the murderer to the crucifixion. The one who rightly should go. And you know who that one is? It's me. You see, the flesh chose a murderer over Jesus. And we get to go back and reverse that decision and say, send the murderer to crucifixion. I choose Christ. When a man is condemned by our law for murder, he systematically is denied his pursuits, his liberty, and finally his life. If the old man is indeed condemned already, brothers and sisters, Jesus said very close to John 3.16, I think it's John 3.18, He says that he that believeth not is condemned already. How? When you and I agree with our adversary quickly, while we're in the way with him, and we realize that Satan, who is our accuser, is actually right. We're guilty of sin. We're guilty before God. And when we will agree with God's sentence, and we agree with the condemned already, listen, if this old man is really condemned, if as God has done the work in you that I believe He has, that old man is condemned, and if that old man is indeed condemned, the very next thing we need to do is deny him his right to happiness, deny him his right to liberty, and deny him his right to life. For he that is dead is free from sin. You cannot be free from what you will not condemn. You cannot be free. Go ahead. You read a little bit of the Declaration of Independence. My Declaration of Independence is Roman VIII, but if I run to Roman VIII before I've gone through this, I'm in a lot of trouble. Yeah. It doesn't work yet. Exactly. I have a Declaration of Independence. I can do nothing except tantrum. I can do nothing. But in Christ, I am free from all. Paul even says of his own brothers and sisters in Christ, he says, it's a little thing that you judge me. I don't even dare judge myself. I don't trust my own judgment on myself. He's judging me. So the fact that you think that you didn't like what I said, you didn't like what I did, well, if you're right, I'm in grave problem. But if you're wrong and he was smiling and you were frowning, it's a small thing to be judged of you. Amen. We're getting there. Amen. Hallelujah. You cannot be free from what you will not condemn. That's the only thing that I communicate to you. I'm just telling you as a brother in Christ, I've learned this the hard way, brother. You say, but I don't like that I'm like that. Yeah, well, that doesn't set you free. I've carried bondages for years that I could have been free from if I would just condemn it and stop making excuses. What will be buried must be crucified. What will be crucified must be condemned. Romans 1021 quotes Isaiah and he says, all day long, God is speaking all day long. Dad quoted to us on Sunday. I have been stretching forth my hands to a disobedient and gainsaying people. Does anybody here know what gainsaying means? Make excuses. All day long, God's been chasing you around. He wants to deliver you and set you free, but you keep making excuses. Continued disobedience is a result of continued excuse making. You have not condemned what you're still making excuses for, brother. See, when something is condemned, it no longer has any justification or excuse. You see, in our law, as a believer, I'm on a different plane, but in this earthly law, is every person who ever squeezes the trigger and sends a projectile into the mortal body of another, is every person condemned for murder? No. Why? Because our law has determined that there are justifiable reasons that one might encounter to do that. For instance, if someone was sending, trying to send a projectile into your mortal body, and you just happened to get on first, and there was a fear of actual life endangerment, they put you in cuffs and they temporarily suspend your liberty, but we would go before the court, and we would go to court, and we would go to court, but we would go before the court, and who was this young man who was being tried here recently? Rittenhouse, Kyle Rittenhouse. The courts decided that though he had killed at least one person, two people, it was a justifiable action, and thus, everybody, he was not condemned. So you can commit the same act. We can sit next to each other, and we could both be guilty of pathological lies. We lie, we don't mean to stop. But she stops making excuses for it, and I keep making excuses for it. Hers gets condemned, she can be buried with Christ. I sit here in bondage. You see the same action when there's still excuses made for it, and in the little court of your mind, you're still defending it. I had reason to treat her like that. I mean, I'm not saying it was right, but you should have seen what she said to me. You're still making reasons for fleshliness. You're still defending the old man. Somebody steps on the old man's toes, and you wince, and you start getting combative. When something's condemned, it no longer has any justification or excuse. We just say, God, that wasn't you, was it? No. Okay, what are we doing to make that God? I hate that. And I'm going to move forward in obedience to what you have said, and this is what we're going to see here. As long as we keep defending that old man, we'll never go to Calvary. That cross, brothers and sisters, once and only for him to die for you, it was for you to die with him. And that's what Paul says when he said, I have one boast. And what is that one boast? I boast of nothing except one thing. I have one boast. And he did not say, not that it would have been improper to, to say that on that cross, my boast is in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ, by which he pardoned me from my sins. That wouldn't have been a bad thing to say. But what was Paul so excited for you and I to come into relationship, true relationship with, truth in the innermost being? What did Paul say? I have one boast, and it's in the cross of my Lord Jesus Christ, where the world is crucified to me, and I'm crucified to the world, where the world is bloated and stinking to me, and I'm bloated and stinking to the world. That, that is what the cross, that is where the cross sets us free. And we can be crucified with Jesus. And we have to condemn it first. By making excuses. If you will condemn what God condemns, you can also deny that old man his rights. Hallelujah. See, condemned buildings are not respected or used. There was a beautiful house sitting right up here on this hill. Dad, do you remember that? Right down the bank. Yeah. Well, they decided that house, it was an old historic house. It was built with this one and that one. And somebody, I can't remember who it was, lived there. But then it was just gone. They just showed up, this beautiful thing that was preserved and had a placard out front, and they were preserving for the community to see. They just randomly, to us, to me, they just showed up with giant things, and just bloated and stuck and drove it away. Well, it didn't condemn. That's what happens to things that are condemned. They are ruthlessly destroyed. They had decided that it was hazardous to life and health, they'd use asbestos in it. So a perfectly looking house, they just destroyed it. That's what happens when we condemn things. We are no longer defended anymore. I didn't go and chain myself to the post in the front yard, right? You will not! You will not take this house! It was condemned. Okay. Now you are ready to be a disciple of Jesus. Hallelujah. Matthew 16, verse 23-25. Dad, would you mind? Is it convenient for you? No, it's not. Only if it's convenient. Matthew 16, verse 24-25. Brother Randy, would you read for us Mark 8, verse 34-35? And then Luke 9, 23-24. And there's a redundancy here, but each place has a... Jesus says it in a slightly different form, and it's helpful. Go ahead. 16, verse 23-25. Yes. Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it, and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find him. Mark 8, 34-35. Mark 8, 34-35. And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it, and whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel, the same shall save it. Amen. Amen. Go ahead. Luke 9, 23-24. And he was saying to them all, If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake, he is the one who will save it. Amen. Okay. Ravenhill. We're going to be with the Lord. But he says, There's one thing you know for certain about a man carrying a cross out of a city. He's not coming back. Right. Hallelujah. He's condemned. He's condemned to death. So, where does this begin? How? How? How do we be crucified with Christ? How do we come to a place of absolute condemnation? We stop making excuses, and what does this look like? How do we do it? Well, Jesus says very practically, we must, he must, the old man, you, who is it? Is it me or is it him? Well, it's me. But it's him in that it's the old man. So, I'll just use Jesus' words. Deny himself. Deny himself. You must deny himself. And take up his cross. Okay. We'll first address this one here quickly. Because I'm going to spend a little more time, if the Lord allows. But, to take up his cross is to actively participate in the condemnation of life in the flesh. Actively participate in life in the flesh. It goes something kind of like this for a believer who knows this life. When somebody says something to him, I, one time, I pulled in. I was on cloud nine. I pulled in. We were going to be married sometime in the near future, I think. And I had just finished seeing you for that evening and I pulled over to another brother's house in Plains who was letting me stay there because my mean father-in-law would not. No, no. Anyway. I don't know why I did that. I don't think that was the Lord. Anyway. Anyway, I drove over and I pulled in and I kicked the door open there and I was sitting there. I think I was reading something. I was reading like this. And I hear a truck pulling behind me. Now, I'm at somebody else's house and it's later. Not very late. It was a little later in the evening. They had gone to bed and they were letting me stay in a little barn there. And I had my door open. I was reading it. And I can feel, I can feel how I felt that moment. The Lord was doing all kinds of wonderful things and He's finally giving me faith to ask her to marry me because I was terrified about laying down my good job. Anyway, and I'm sitting there and this guy pulls in this old truck. Right up behind me. Like blocking me in. He jumps out, sure enough, and starts screaming at me. Yeah. Very aggressively. He thought I, he had come from one way and had saw me turn in and he thought that I was the person that had passed him. I had come from the other way. I was not the person that he thought I was. We discovered that. But anyway, he was not in the frame of mind for me to explain that immediately. It was just like, yes, sir. I'm sorry, sir. He thought that I'd cut him off and almost ran him off the road. And he was screaming at me. Anyway, what I'm getting to is in that moment, you know what Joshua is not supposed to do is say, I don't deserve this. You know what Joshua says? Yeah, the old man, he can get his toes stepped on. He's got it coming. It's okay. It's okay. He didn't mean to scream at me and I didn't actually do the thing. But I've done some things and never got screamed for them. So, somebody pulls in and screams at me. I had that coming. Old man had that coming. You see, you're carrying, you just march out of the city. You're in agreement with the condemnation. You're not defending those feelings. You're right to have your feelings not transgressed. You're right for this and you're right for dignity and you're right for independence and you're right for this and all your rights. You see, somebody who's crucified with Christ, they've let all those rights go. And if you slap me on one cheek, I don't even know that cheek. You want to hit this one too? It's a different life. It's an entirely different life. That cheek had it coming. It's very strange. It's very strange. Yes. Take up his cross daily. You all know, and I think if you're just as carnal as I am at times, what that feels like when something similar to what Joshua described and you feel that old man trying to rise up and you get slapped. Needs to be crucified with Christ. And if I do it today, I'm going to have to do it tomorrow too. Don't get beat up because the old man wants to come to life again. It's an opportunity to send him to Calvary. Amen. Until that date, I don't know if I'd ever had anybody scream at me before. So you don't know what that feels like. And then it happens. And in that moment, you've been walking with Jesus. And it doesn't have to take away your peace. And that was amazing in that thing. I say I was on cloud nine, but see, it wasn't just an emotional thing, you guys. When you're on cloud nine with Jesus, you can stay there even when someone's screaming at you. And it didn't take my peace. And the reason that he calmed down as quickly as he did is because I was respectful. Because it didn't scare me. Because Jesus is my protector and I've already given him my rights and my life and everything. And so Jesus is able to walk through where the old man isn't. But only one of you can live at a time. And would you die for the past for him to pray for you? Would you take a bullet for him so that he can know Jesus? Amen. You've heard Keith Daniel. That's reminded me. Talk about the two men that were sitting in a battle zone. And the guns started to come across. It was kind of a lull. And this man had a smile on his face in the middle of the carnage. And another man who was angry. This man would be a godly man in South Africa after God got a hold of him. But he saw that man smiling. And he just... The rage. How can you smile? And he hauled off and beat him in the face. But he didn't stop smiling. He started talking. How can you smile? And he says the man started to stand up. And he just kept going up and up and up. The Christian... Excuse the way Keith tells the story. The Christian was plenty sized enough to fight him in the flesh. But that wasn't his desire. And he's telling him about Christ. And he gives him his Bible. Just after that the guns start to go off. And they're moving across the field. And he sees it coming. He throws his body in front of that man that just beat him in the face. And he dies. And as he dies he says I died for you. You're not ready. It's a small thing. I'm going to be with Christ. But you you don't know him. You're not ready to die. You're not ready to die. And that man would be used by God mightily. Yes. Praise the Lord. Deny himself. OK. So take up your cross. We are in agreement with the sentencing. So a man that's taking up his cross there's no more argument. He's marching to his place of execution. And he's literally participating in his own execution. And that's what Jesus is calling you and I to. To participate in the crucifixion of the old man. The man who's carrying his cross and I'm speaking now in the spirit of this truth. He's carrying his cross because he has decided that this life is not acceptable. I will not defend it. And he needs to die. Brothers and sisters those of you most oh when you hear when you hear a heart that is coming to God with this this it's not acceptable. I will not defend it. And he needs to die. Deliverance is all you can feel it. It's so near. But as long as you're still making excuses you're still justifying it. And I know what I said probably wasn't right. But, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but. Interestingly enough you won't be surprised to read that Paul was talking about a particular difficulty that they came through in 1 Corinthians 1 verse 9. He says we have the sentence of death in ourselves that we should not trust in ourselves. This is what this is. It is a sentence of death that you have agreed with. You're in agreement. Yes! It's unacceptable. And it needs to die. Where are we going? Oh! Big hill over there? Okay, let's go. You mean I have to just keep letting her talk like that to me? I don't get to set her straight? You mean I have to let him just take my stuff? No, I know. Joyfully accepting the compensation of your goods. But I thought that was for spiritual people. Sentence of death in ourselves that we should not trust in ourselves. That we should not trust in ourselves. We are all done trusting the old man to accomplish his goal. We are all done trusting the old man to accomplish and pull us through. Okay, deny yourself. Deny yourself. The issue with this is not the translator problem. They translated it well. I think there's just a there's a familiarity there's a contempt that is bred in a position of familiarity. And I've said before that I don't like that phrase. I'll say it like this. Familiarity breeds contempt in the heart of a fool. Because I know my wife better than I have ever known her before. Better than I did six years ago. And it's not breeding contempt in my heart. And I know Christ more than I knew him a year ago. And it's not breeding contempt. But in the heart of a fool who thinks that anything that comes to me that I can comprehend and whatever is a small thing. Yeah. And there's something there's something like that. And that seems to have played upon this phrase. It just seems like it has. Deny himself. Deny himself. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. Sounds good. Yeah, sometimes when I feel like eating twelve Oreos I only eat three. Oh, I'm not saying that. Oh, I'm not saying that's not denying yourself. But that's not all it is. And I want you to see in light of Scripture really the all of it. The maximization of that truth so that the Oreos might be part of that dying but you haven't relegated it to only the small thing. Let's read here. I'll read Matthew 26. Who would like to read John 18? I've picked on all the men already. Tyler, go ahead and read John 18 verses 16 through 27. And I want you to get a contextual this is what we're doing right now. And this is very helpful if you're studying the Word of God. If you have to prepare something for the people of God you want to make sure that you are understanding. And because it's a translation sometimes we think we understand the phrase but it's very helpful to go get a contextual definition. So you go find and in this case the same Greek word not only the English word because sometimes those are things. And it's just helpful sometimes to go and see it in all its locations and go, oh oh, I see now. Okay, so we're going to find this concept of denying and we're going to see where this may lead us here. Go ahead, Tyler. Say 16 to 27? Sure. Okay. So Peter stood at the door without then went out at other disciples which was known unto the high priests and spake unto her that kept the door unto Peter. Okay, where are we? We know where we are, right? If you're not following up Jesus is in judgment right now. He's being before the Sanhedrin I think. Okay, go ahead. Keep going. Then saith the damsel that kept the door unto Peter Art not thou also one of this man's disciples? He saith, I am not. And servants and officers stood there who made fire where it was cold and they warmed themselves and Peter stood with them and warmed himself. The high priest then asked Jesus what is the doctrine? Jesus answered him I spake openly to the world I ever taught in the synagogue and in the temple whether the Jews always resort and in secret have I said nothing. Why ask askest thou me ask them which heard me what I have said unto them behold they know what I said. And when he had thus spoken one of the officers which stood by struck Jesus with the palm of his hand saying answerest thou the high priest so Jesus answered him if I have spoken evil of the evil but if well why smitest thou me? And Annas had sent him bound unto Caiaphas the high priest and Simon Peter stood and warmed himself they said therefore unto him art not thou also one of his disciples? And he denied it and said I am not. One of the servants of the high priest being his kinsman whose ear Peter cut off said did not I see thee and immediately the cock crow. Now we know this story and we know that was that Peter's intention a few hours earlier was to deny Jesus? When Jesus said all of you will be offended at me this night what did Peter say? He said although all shall be offended yet will not I. And Jesus said unto him verily I say unto you that this day even this night before the cock crows twice you will deny me three times. He said but he spake them more vehemently if I should die with thee I will not deny thee in any case. And likewise also said they all yeah yeah Matthew 26 gives us the same account and he spat in his face and buffeted him it says and others smote him with the palms of their hands in verse 67 of chapter 26 saying prophesy unto us thou Christ who is he that smote thee? They're literally hitting Jesus in the face not like a smack not like a woman might smack somebody no they're pounding him in the face. And he can he's an eye shot of Peter who is not denying himself he's swarming himself is what he's doing he's denying Christ and and I I need you to see brothers and sisters somebody's going to get hit in the face and the old man we when he gets pounded we'd either deny him and we say I don't know it's fine when the person says I heard what they said what do you think about that? he's going I I don't know I I hadn't thought of it because you act like because you act like you don't know him or Jesus will be pounded in the face and you'll say I don't know him this is this is the gravity of this is when Jesus said he must deny himself like I have deprived my father I have denied my father the right of communication the right to eat from my table the right to come to my house the right of all kinds of things why do you suppose he's been denied those rights since he passed away because he's dead and nobody has came up to me and accused me of of some kind of evil because I am not regularly visiting and speaking with my father and regular all these things why? because in this life for now right here in this reality he is dead your behavior to the old man in denying him this is where the rubber is meeting the road this is this is where you are deciding if you are going to keep your rights or you are going to deny yourself those rights are you going to hold on I want to know what rights somebody who is crucified has go ahead and explain I am sure go ahead did I think of anything let's see amen amen yes, amen I am talking specifically about somebody pinned to a tree in the flesh yes, amen yes, amen amen but let's see you can talk you can't move you can hardly breathe because that's kind of the body weight and the pain that it takes to push up on those nails to make it so hard to push up to get your breath that you suffocate yourself with your own skeletal system and then water starts to accumulate around your heart and your lungs and you are literally suffocating so that it's like someone's sleep apnea you go down and you don't breathe for a good long while and you are thinking I am just going to let go of life I am just going to let go and you just push up as excruciating as it is you shove up on those nails to get your breath in and settle back down on those same nails and you can't breathe again you could talk if you could get your breath but then they might take a sponge and shove it in your mouth you don't have a lot of rights you don't even have the right to dignity they are taking away your clothes you don't have nothing everything is taken away from you and this is what mm-hmm oh you want to walk in power you want to walk in victory you want to walk in resurrected life praise God he says follow me mm-hmm take up your cross deny yourself the right to the pursuit of happiness the right to liberty the right to life this is the proper perspective on denial when they are beating Jesus in the face Peter is warming himself and denying Jesus because why because he was terrified that he would undergo the same problems that Jesus was encountering if he didn't and let me just clarify for Peter Peter was not insincere when he said that earlier I don't at all think that he was a phony and he was a fake and he was a hypocrite and he really intended on denying Jesus I don't believe any of that at all what Peter was trying to do was something that cannot be done he was trying to live a life that could only be lived in the spirit he was trying to live it in the flesh brothers and sisters you will deny yourself or you will deny Christ you will deny the old man to his right to happiness his right to liberty his right to life or you will deny the new man his right to happiness his right to liberty his right to life or you will deny the old man his right to happiness his right to liberty his right to life or you will deny the new man his right to happiness his right to liberty his right to life in you in you God made you a sovereign being and there are doctrines in this world that teach that God is the only one who has a will he is the only sovereign I do not believe in that because we are made in the image of God and the whole of Scripture the tenor of Scripture is speaking to us as though we could do something about it and that is the reason why we are made in the image of God and the whole of Scripture the tenor of Scripture is speaking to us as though we could do something about it and that is the reason why we are made in the image of God and the whole of Scripture is speaking to us as though we could do something about it and that is the reason why we are made in the image of God and the whole of Scripture is speaking to us as though we could do something about it and that is the reason why we are made in the image of God and the whole of Scripture is speaking to us as though we could do something about it and that is the reason why we are made in the image of God and the whole of Scripture is speaking to us as though 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it and that is the reason why we are made in the image of God and the whole of Scripture is speaking to us as though we could do something about it and that is the reason why we are made in the image of God and the whole of Scripture is speaking to us as though we could do something about it and that is the reason why we are made in the image of God and the whole of Scripture is speaking to us as though we could do something about it and that is the reason why we are made in the image of God and the whole of Scripture is speaking to us as though we could do something about it and that is the reason why we are made in the image of God and the whole of Scripture is speaking to us as though we could do something about it and that is the reason why we are made in the image of God and the whole of Scripture is speaking to us as though we could do something about it and that is the reason why we are made in our mortal flesh. You will betray yourself. It feels like betrayal. But there is life, brothers and sisters. All of you can let go of. It feels like you are betraying yourself because that is exactly what you are doing. If you want to be crucified with Christ, you need to go through the betrayal and the condemnation. You will either betray yourself or you will betray Christ in a moment of pressure. You will either deny yourself or you will deny Christ. You will be crucified with Christ or you will put him to open shame and he will be crucified afresh. The saddest thing is when believers profess the name of Jesus because they will not die with Jesus and they are maintaining their right to life. Jesus is crucified afresh in their lives and put to open shame. The Jesus that should be able to shine forth beauty, only his name is stuck on ugliness. The Jesus that is loving has his name stuck on hate and he has to go through that shame again in you. It should have been enough that day that he died, brothers and sisters, it should have been enough when they put him to open shame but not you and I do it again by attaching the name of Jesus to ignominy and disgrace. Unless unless crucifixion with him and he walks us there but you don't need to be the reason people hate Jesus. You will be crucified with Christ or you will be crucified afresh and put to open shame. You will betray yourself or you will betray him. Only one of you can live at a time. Are you still maintaining your right? Your right to life? This is a great reason for loneliness and powerlessness. In the lives of professing believers Christ cannot live where you will not die. And you cannot die to what you will not condemn. It begins at denying ourselves these rights. We begin, this is where we begin and Lord willing we'll talk how to come into the fullness of faith on this matter but this is where it starts. In that moment of loss of dignity do you have the right to be you or does Christ have the right to be Christ? Only one. Only one. Jesus is inviting you to come to this life. The spirit and the bride are saying come. Come. Everybody that's thirsty come. I will give you rest. We betray ourselves be crucified with Christ and be buried or be dipped or be baptized into his death. John Bunyan beautiful poem it's older English so you have to pay close attention but he says he that would kill must first be overcome and who would live abroad must first die at home and he first by grace must conquered be that sin would mortify who that he lives would convince me unto himself must die. A brother who knew this truth you're going to have to let go of all those rights so that Christ can have his right to his pursuit his happiness his liberty and his life in you and through you. Do we have any more any word in the spirit that needs to be added to that? Anything that I'll write that down here. They come to me in Romans it simply says that Christ died for all because all were dead. Yes. I just want to affirm that this is a very stricken English and hopefully it's went into all of our hearts deeply and along with that story Russell told me that when it comes time to die a lot of people were Bible translators and a lot of them were there and almost none of them were willing to physically even die for the Lord. And so he said that the people that are led of the spirit the walk of the spirit the walk of the spirit they die for the Lord and it may not always be physical death but they're not afraid. So when he was captured he said he became unafraid of anybody or anything and he said since then he's never been afraid of anybody or anything no matter how big a church no matter what people thought they got to speak all that mattered and all he said still matters is that God and so he emphasized for me and challenged me over and over again several times is that anything you trust in that's not walking the spirit will not stand. Amen. And so tonight I heard that same call again and that's the call that you said it many ways you said it over and over again but if I crucify if I don't if I'm not crucified I'll crucify Christ I don't deny myself I'll deny Christ and many such things and so this is liberty in that let the spirit of God so grip our inner man that the part that's renewed by Jesus by the Holy Ghost then we will not be afraid of anything and we will walk and we will give up our rights as was so clearly said tonight so I just wanted to say thank you Jesus Amen. Good appetite wholesome pure way into the life that hardly anybody gets to or hardly gets taught because there's such a resistance obviously of the devil and there's such a resistance in the natural man I was thinking one more thing David we went to pick him up and they were having a fundraiser for Teen Challenge but anyway let him get up and speak to another guy and one of them so I think it was David I gave up my whole being into him he said that and he totally took over and the war is done and if we stay in that place I have been crucified with Christ 2000 years ago I was crucified with him if I accept it I died when he died but if I don't recognize that then I go about to establish my own righteousness and there's a tremendous judgment over me I can't do it and so tonight I just want to thank God I want to say thank you for Joshua and Billy for making these things clear God I pray you'll see you in each heart tonight for your glory each one of us will be found on that day we stand before you you see nothing but yourself a life to be given thank you Jesus yes anybody else? any of the men I'm sorry I don't want to not be clear just while we're a captive audience you men speak God lays something on your heart another thing is too guys some of the most important things I did and I should have done it more when I was a new believer was to seek out somebody who had already been there in faith and so you just know I'm sure there's hearts here Kimberly and I will make ourselves available and anybody else you're not obliged to do that but find somebody it isn't because we have all the answers we just have come into relationship with someone who does and so if you need somebody if somebody put their shoulder in the face and lock it in there with you and push so you can surrender to the Lord just find somebody and just say I need to praise I need to help I need to talk don't be bashful it's the great honor of everybody who knows Jesus to lead someone else to the same thing and so there's no shame in that praise the Lord thank you Lord Jesus for your word thank you that it's life and life everlasting thank you when Randy was sharing the devil is terrified lest these hearts should lay down that old man and that new man would face him on the battlefield he's not scared of your old man's face he's scared of the face of Christ and if you lay it down oh Lord Jesus please impress on every single heart prevail break through to every single heart Lord thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you I pray in every single heart Lord that we let go of that old man and we stop making excuses for him in every situation and we let him get pounded in the face and we cherish our dear Savior you're not doing that to Jesus he's going to live in me and through me and it's okay when my rights are tread on when my rights are taken away but I want you Lord Jesus to have the right to my life and you haven't ever withheld you fill whatever I give you everything I've ever given you you've filled with yourself when you get to have more of me then you get to have more of my world and more influence in the people in our lives and you're very willing to magnify your power and make your word to be great in this world each little world that these people represent each little soul and heart here the people they talk to the people they speak to and their behavior is seen give them a great desire that all that behavior is Christ and that none of it is flesh stop making excuses that the old man would be condemned and that we betray ourselves so that you can live and be who you want to be oh we thank you if you didn't give us this path we would be in totally stuck but if you didn't give us this path we would be in total stuck but you blazed the path through death hallelujah and we thank you and we follow you there we're scared to death Jesus but we're coming we thank you we commit our lives I commit each of these hearts and souls to you in the