By Pastor Samuel Chess

Grace Emmanuel Church

Port St. Lucie, Florida

(Deliverance from self and selfishness)

I. The Principle of Divine Exchange

II. The Principle of Deliverance

1) Deliverance from this present evil age

2) Deliverance from the bondage of the Law

3) Deliverance from self and selfishness

4) Deliverance from the flesh

5) Deliverance from the world

A) Deliverance from the Law… seeking to achieve righteousness before God by keeping a set of rules.

(Galatians 2:19-20) For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. 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. (NIV)

That brings us to the next logical point

B) Deliverance from Self and Selfishness

(Galatians 2:20) …… I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. (NIV)

I weighed whether I would break off from this series today and talk about the Christmas theme of Jesus coming in human form to take our sins on himself. I felt like God said:

“Look at the passage…there’s very little you could preach about that would be more in keeping with the true message of the Christmas story as it relates to our response.

We talked last week about this phrase: I have been crucified with Christ…

The Law brought about Jesus crucifixion! Once Jesus was executed, the Law had no more claim on him; once dead the law lost its effect.

The law brings you to punishment, once you die with Christ, the law loses it’s effect.

Let me review these verses for you and they will lead us to where we are going today:

(Galatians 3:24-25) So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith. Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law. (NIV)

(Romans 6:6-7) 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. (NIV)

(Romans 7:5-6) For when we were controlled by the sinful nature, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in our bodies, so that we bore fruit for death. But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code. (NIV)

(Galatians 5:18) But if you are led (present continuous action) by the Spirit, you are not under law. (NIV)

So this thing of being crucified with Christ has to do with our symbolically dying with him to the Law. His death overcame the power of the law to point out our sin but not empower us to live righteously. His death and resurrection and ascension back to heaven provided for the law to be written in our hearts. It provided for his spirit to become our inner guide into all truth. It provided power over sin that the Law could never provide.

So that’s what it means to be “crucified with Christ”????? Yes!

Is that all it means to be “crucified with Christ?????_____________________

When we read in Romans 6:6: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. (NIV)

Is the phrase “old self crucified with him” talking about us symbolically dying with Christ or is there something more?

Is our “crucifixion” purely talking about our acceptance of His death for us or does “our crucifixion” involve some kind of death on our part as well?

Look carefully at the phrase again: “…our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with..”

Doesn’t the text seem to indicate that there is some part of us that has to actually die with Christ. Something called “the old self” has to be put to death so that the old sinful life will be replaced by the new righteous life.

It seems God doesn’t just take us in our sinfulness, wash up the outside, and declare us clean based on our acceptance of his death on our behalf. There is actually something inside of us that must be put to death.

(Ephesians 4:22-24) You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. (NIV)

It seems that the old self has to go….. Not just the old outward actions of sin, but the old self on the inside that pushed you to commit those sins in the first place.

What I’m preaching about is not popular, modern, cultural thought. We, human, are by nature self-centered, self-serving, self-aware, self-assured, self- asserting, self contained, self existent, self fulfilling, self-proclaiming, self-important, self- sufficient, self-serving, self-willed, self-sustaining, self-willed bunch of very self-ish people.

The society around us assures us that all of those traits are positive personality traits. In our society we often set the most self-centered people up as our greatest heroes. Most of what you see on TV reflect a self-asserting, self sufficient world view and we often simply accept what we see as normal human behavior. The entire advertisement industry is based on mankind’s self-centeredness.

Let me remind you: Self-centeredness is not some great superhuman trait that the winners of this world achieve and the losers of this world never quite seem to acquire!

Self-centeredness is the curse of our world, a poison inserted into mankind when Adam and Eve fell in the garden…reinforced in every generation by the evil one who wants to make sure that you do not find out the real truth about fulfillment in this life.

If your life is lived purely to serve yourself, your days are packed with self-serving activities, your goals have only to do with how you can advance yourself over others ….that’s not something to be proud of…..The world is jam packed with people like that.

The real achievers of this world are not those who blindly follow the pattern of the evil one who tried to claw his way to the top only to lose all that was really important. The real achievers of this world are those who follow the example of their Savior. Never was there anyone in human history who was more completely unfocused on his own self and more completely focused on the eternal needs of others.

When Jesus was on this earth he spent a lot of time trying to undo the mindset instilled in humanity by the evil one. Watch this one:

(Matthew 16:24-26) 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. What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? (NIV)

How does this phrase mesh with modern thought:

If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself …

Jesus doesn’t exactly makes this a multiple choice quiz..

If you are going to follow after me note the following…

If you are not then the following doesn’t apply…

If you are going to come after me you must deny…self….

Deny- aparneomai- disown…….deny utterly

Self- heautou- his own self

My goodness.. in order to do that I would have to say no to myself…. All of life couldn’t be seeking my own fulfillment. I might be faced with urges I would have to not give in to….What would that do to my self actualization….My self image might be damaged beyond repair. I could never do that and reach the lofty heights I have willed myself to reach.

Why that kind of thinking isn’t even American….It’s not even human!

That’s right…that’s not human thinking….that’s divine thinking!

If anyone would follow after me

He must disown himself utterly

Take up his cross- stauros- instrument of death…same word a Jesus’ cross

(Back to the idea of crucifixion)

And follow me….no distractions….

But I want…I need…. I feel….I deserve!

We must come to understand that this life was designed to be “training for reigning

What I feel is not primary…What God says is! Because of sin, you will often find it true that your natural tendencies, desires, feeling, needs run exactly contrary to God’s best for your life.

To the degree you follow after self…to that degree you will miss God’s very best for your life!

If your desire is to follow after Jesus in this life…let me reinforce Jesus words to you heart:

You cannot wholeheartedly follow Jesus unless you:

1) Deny yourself

2) Take up you cross

A) The cross is the place where your will and God’s will cross

B) The cross is the place where your self will must die

(Galatians 2:20) …… I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. (NIV)

Not I…..but Jesus!!

Not I…..but Jesus!!

Not I…..but Jesus!!

Jesus is not asking you to walk a path that he did not walk ahead of you. The story of a baby in a manger is so cute that we miss the depth of what really was taking place. The God of heaven was selflessly emptying himself of all that He was to become, all that we were, so he could drag us from the depths of our self-centeredness and make something eternal out of us.

And He specifically asks us to walk the same path with him…

(Philippians 2:5-8) 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! (NIV)

(Philippians 2:5-8) 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,

Step #1..but made himself nothing…he emptied himself of all but love

Step #2...taking the very nature of a servant, he could have been an angel and still been a servant, he came clear to our level

Step #3...being made in human likeness…took on human nature and frailties

Step #4...being found in appearance as a man.. nothing distinguished him

Step #5...he humbled himself… not a ruler, not a priest…a carpenter

Step #6...became obedient to death…He lived as a man.. he died as a man.

Step #7... Even death on the cross… the lowest form of death

Therefore!!!!!! (What is therefore there for?)

(Philippians 2:9-11) 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. (NIV)

Stage #1... Therefore God exalted him to the highest place

Stage #2... gave him the name that is above every name

Stage #3... that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow

Stage #4... in heaven

Stage#5... on earth

Stage #6...under the earth

Stage #7... every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

(Matthew 23:12) For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted. (NIV)

Jesus did not consider equality with God something to be grasped…He stooped down and was raised up.

Lucifer reached as high as he could reach and fell to the bottom.

Originator of the sin of PRIDE

All of our sin stems from PRIDE

It seems the way up is down!

D.L. Moody- As a young preacher I used to think God kept his gifts on shelves. The best gifts were on the highest shelves and I had to reach up for them. Later I discovered that God kept his best gifts on the lowest shelves and I had to stoop down for them.

Conclusion:

(Philippians 2:3-5) Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: (NIV)