LIFE Church Sermons

2020 Annual Business Meeting

Subject – Dead Men Wanted

by Rick Welborne

Galatians 2:20 (NKJV)
²⁰  I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

--Crucifixion was the equivalent of being sentenced to the gallows (hanging), guillotine, electric chair, or the firing squad. Only difference it was more painful and longer lasting. The result was the same – death.

--The cross brought about a finality to every area of a man’s life. He was dead to the world, dead to his friends and family, dead to his pride and ambitions, dead to self-interests, dead to future plans.

--In our text Paul said I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me and then, he went on to say;

Galatians 6:14 (NKJV)
¹⁴  But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.

--It is no wonder that preaching of the cross has lessened today even though Jesus challenged every one of His followers to take up their cross and follow Him. The biblical meaning of the cross has almost been eliminated.

--This is not surprising when the title of one of the most popular Christian books on the market today is “Your Best Life Now”. Go to Christian bookstores and see all the self-help books…dieting and dressing for success.

--Let’s face it, self hates to die and lose its preeminence. We do everything to look good, smell good, and feel good. We want to be pampered, coddled, fussed over, and have people help us. 

--We flock to people who tell us how we can become more self-centered and more selfish than we already are. Paul perfectly described the attitude of the day when he warned Timothy;

2 Timothy 3:1-7 (NKJV)
¹  But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come:
²  For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
³  unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good,
⁴  traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,
⁵  having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!
⁶  For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts,
⁷  always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. 

--Self is the root here. Money provides the means to pursue pleasure to indulge one’s self. Yes, it is all about me and mine. I don’t think we know this or maybe we do, social media gives us the avenue to display the self-life.

--Not too hard to trace this desire for self-promotion to its origin. You arrive at Lucifer’s plan to usurp God. 

Isaiah 14:12-14 (NKJV)
¹²  "How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, You who weakened the nations! 

¹³  For you have said in your heart: 'I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation On the farthest sides of the north;
¹⁴  I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.' 

--Every fallen son of Adam has the same overwhelming urge to “do it My way”. It is only when self is dethroned that Jesus can take His rightful place as Lord and Master of our personal lives. 

--Hear your pastor…self is so powerful that the only way to successfully deal with it is through the cross. 

David Ravenhill – Make no mistake about it: Those who preach a man-centered message are enemies of the cross and God’s Kingdom. The whole new emphasis on “seeker sensitive” places the focus on man and his importance, rather than on the King and His Kingdom. I suspect those preaching this “gospel” are doing more to further the kingdom of Satan than even some of his most powerful demons. 

--What the Church needs, what Life Church needs in this hour are not those glorifying the selfish self-life but those who are willing to die to themselves and are living for Christ. 

--We don’t need more leaders who have a vibrant, thriving self-life but we need those who have learned the way of the cross…dying to themselves. We need people who are dead to themselves and alive to Christ. How, Paul?

1 Corinthians 15:31 (NIV)
³¹  I die every day--I mean that, brothers--just as surely as I glory over you in Christ Jesus our Lord.