Faithful People – 10

Faithful People – 10

Subject – Dying to Self

by Rick Welborne

1 Cor. 15:31 (NKJV)

31 I affirm, by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily. 

Matt 16:24‑27 (NKJV)

24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. 

25 "For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. 

26 "For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? 

27 "For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works.  

–I hope by now that you get the message that God is calling us to be extraordinary in our faithfulness to Him.

–We really have no excuse for not being extraordinary in what we do and in who we are because of the supernatural God Who saves us and fills us with Holy Spirit.

–We need to walk in the liberty wherewith Christ has set us free and to be a witness that this extraordinary Savior has done extraordinary things in our lives.

–To not live extraordinarily is testifying that Christ power is ineffective in our lives. Today I want to speak to us about being extraordinarily willing to die to our own selves and to live for Christ.

–Curly Joe, one of the three stooges speaking about death...It seems so final...there is no future in it. Jesus summed it up best by saying that if we are going to follow after Him...that we must be willing to die.

–Amazingly, all but one of His disciples died a martyrs death and still to this day there are those who give their lives for the sake of the gospel. 150 to 200 thousand per year!

–If America keeps going the way that it seems to be going...I can foresee a day when it will be against the law to be a Christian.

–Political correctness will be the destruction of all of us unless the church stands up and says enough is enough.

So what are we to interpret from the words of Jesus and of Paul.

–Surely God would not really expect me to die to my own desires, deny myself, take up my cross, and follow Him.

–It comes down to the fact that I really do want to save my life (I really want to do want what I want) and it is just too much to expect to ask for more from me. Tithe and attend!

–Yes, I know what is right...and part of me wants to do right...but there is another part of me that is warring against what is right...wanting to do what I know is wrong.   Paul:

Romans 7:21‑25 (NIV)

21 So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 

22 For in my inner being I delight in God's law; 

23 but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. 

24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 

25 Thanks be to God‑‑through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin. 

1. What a wretched man I am! I need to be rescued from this body of death.

--The obvious answer to this question is Jesus Christ our Lord...key...our Lord. Our Lord has said if you want to follow after me...deny yourself...die.

--The One Who delivers me from this bondage of death tells me to die. The only way to get this monkey off of my back is to die-what is plan B please?

--Couldn’t there be a better way than this life of denial and self-sacrifice...nope? It is either our way or God’s way! Jesus showed us what it meant to die to ourselves when he could have taken other options.

–When Jesus was on the cross:

Matt 27:41‑42 (NKJV)

41 Likewise the chief priests also, mocking with the scribes and elders, said, 

42 "He saved others; Himself He cannot save. If He is the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him.   

--"He saved others; Himself He cannot save”...is this a true statement?

--Of course not...Jesus could have slipped away like before, Jesus could have just spoken the Word, He could have called for legions of angels.

--The only thing we can surmise is that Jesus had no intentions of saving Himself, He came to save others ...what about us?  Who are we trying to save?  Number 1.

--Whenever we find ourselves in a conflict or stressful situation the question will be whether we will try to save ourselves or others.

--When we are tempted to do what we know is wrong...will we deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow God or will we try to save ourselves?

--Listen to the profound words of the Apostle Paul:

1 Cor 6:19‑20 (NKJV)

19 Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? 

20 For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.   

--You are not your own...here lies the rub...the conflict...the battle...the struggle. I don’t want to lay my life down...I want to take it up...I don’t want to die...take this cup from me because dying is too much to ask.

2. The process of raising children teaches us about this dying process!

--Children are a blessing from God, children are God’s gift to us, blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them...this is Scriptural and true but:

--Anyone who has had children knows that when the little blessings come into the world...your life is no longer yours...you die to yourselves to meet their needs.

--We die when we have to get up and feed them, hold them when they are sick, when we want to send them back to the One Who blessed us with them-something in us has to die to get the little darlings raised and out…

--You start with blessings and now they are little darlings. Part of the dying process! When they wound you with their words or get in trouble...you die.

--That reaping and sowing thing in the Bible is quite frustrating to me also. I die every time I yell at them when I know I am really yelling at me in them.

--Please just do what I tell you, when I tell you, and do it with a good attitude, you are killing me...oh, really?  Maybe that is the plan.

--James Dobson says when they turn 13 put them in a barrel and feed them thru a hole...At 16 stop the hole...at 21 open it up and let them go!

--I have to be to school early...pick me up at 5:30 after practice, I have to be at Youth at 6:30...what ever happened to my life...I am dying. Life not your own.

3. The process of marriage teaches us about this dying process!

--When I put the engagement ring on Tricia’s finger...I told her that she had been bought at a price. Little did I know what the price would be during those dating and engagement days.

--When couples come to me for pre-martial counseling all goo-goo eyed, hanging on to each other like they might lose their honey for a second...why do you want get married...we just love each so much & can’t live without each other.

--I just want to grab them and tell them...get ready to die...you are about to learn what life is all about...it is about dying to yourself...you are not your own.

--He or she completes me...right! They will make me happy! They will meet my every need! They will fulfill my every desire! Are you marrying God?  Hello!

--Listen to what Paul says about marriage and see what it sounds like to you:

Ephesians 5:22‑25 (NIV) 

22 Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. 

23 For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. 

24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. 

25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 

–Wives submit! Men say...Amen! Ladies you are not your own...you are to deny yourselves...not save yourselves. Die to what you want and meet his needs.  

–It is not all about you, Honey, it is about living your life for this man...remember you are dead!

–Has Paul lost his mind...wives be subject to your own husbands in everything...what?

–Your time, Men!  You are to love your wives like you love yourselves! Wow!

Ephesians 5:28‑29 (NIV) 

28 In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 

29 After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church‑‑ 

–Love her like you love yourself...most men take really good care of what they want and need...you need to do the same thing for your wife.

–If I take care of her like I do me it will cost me something!  Right! Remember you are not your own...you have died to your life and now you live for her. This first part of female. Fee! They come with a price tag.

–Pastor Rick, those things aren’t who I am... good, Boy...that is why it is called dying to yourself, denying yourself to meet the needs of the lady.

–I don’t want to do them...then, be a hermit and leave the woman alone and don’t marry her because if you are not willing to die to yourself and live for her...she will be miserable...you too!

–I want her to be subject to me and respect me as the head of the household but I don’t want to watch chick flicks, go shopping, plant daises, cuddle in front of the fire place...

–Well, don’t be surprised when she doesn’t want to make happy with you when you are ready to make happy!

Eph 5:22‑25 (NKJV)

25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her,     

–Jesus died for the church...for His bride. Jesus meets the needs of His bride...He died for her and now He sends her gifts, He extends His affection, and His presence is available to touch her life.

–If you have a wife who is crying for your attention, needing your affection, asking for the gifts that you can provide...then die to yourself and give the lady what she needs.

–Love her as Christ loves the church...love her and give yourself for her. Now I know marriage is the ultimate test to go to heaven. 

--The truth is that the process of death, that we fight the hardest against, is the only hope of life that we have. Jesus said: 

John 12:23‑26 (NIV) 

23 Jesus replied, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

–It is in losing our lives that we find them...it is in dying to ourselves that we find more abundant life.