The Spirit And The People of God – Part 3

Okay.

Guys, so we continue with the topic we were dealing with, the Spirit and the people of

God.

This is the third part.

And so today, based on the fact that it is Good Friday, what do you say?

Do you say Good Friday to you?

No.

We were debating that on the way in.

Is it Blessed Friday to you or Good Friday to you?

So given that it was Good Friday, I want to chip away.

I want to chip away at something that the cross brings a sledgehammer to.

At something that the cross brings a sledgehammer to.

And what does the cross bring a sledgehammer to?

The cross brings a sledgehammer to self-preservation.

So let's try and chip away at it.

Because I know we are supposed to use the same thing that happened on the cross in our

lives.

It's so ingrained that it's sometimes hard to destroy in one shot, but at least we can

begin the process if we haven't already started.

So I want to chip away at something that the cross brings a sledgehammer to.

The cross does bring a sledgehammer to self-preservation.

Because Eugene Peterson used to say that most of us as humans and as believers have an exoskeleton.

That exoskeleton is an outer covering of protection of self-preservation.

And because we have that exoskeleton, the endoskeleton of Christ does not grow.

That's how he put it.

He said, whenever we have an exoskeleton, as in a shell that covers us from the outside,

it prevents any internal growth.

That's why mollusks and clams, they always remain the same.

You can take them when they are small, you can eat them at dinner.

They always have that bulbous little mass that you see inside the shell.

Nothing grows inside because the outside is covered.

And he said once the exoskeleton is removed, then the endoskeleton begins to grow.

That's why humans don't have an outer covering.

That's why they are so fragile when they are born.

But the intent is can things begin to grow inside?

And so one of the exoskeletons that we have, or one or two of them, is protection and self-preservation.

Until I abandon the exoskeleton or the outer covering of protection and self-preservation

and trust the one who counts all my bones and knows how to preserve them, and knows

how to preserve them, the endoskeleton of Christ cannot be formed in me, cannot be fully

formed in me.

Cannot.

And that's one of God's desires, right?

That Christ be fully formed in you.

It's odd, eh, but it was prophesied that not one of his bones will be broken.

And it was true of Christ.

Not one of his bones was broken.

They beat him.

They beat him badly.

But none of his bones were broken.

And when it came time for the soldiers to be sent to break the legs of those that hung

on the cross, they broke the legs of the guys to the right and to the left of him.

But by the time they got to Christ, he was already dead.

And so they did not break his legs.

None of his bones were broken.

And so, until I abandon the exoskeleton of protection and self-preservation and trust

the one who counts all my bones and knows how to preserve them, as in, until I trust

him with protection and preservation, the endoskeleton of Christ cannot be fully formed.

And so, if you were to define self-preservation, let's just call it SP for now, self-preservation

is about doing what we can to be sure we remain safe.

Doing what we can to be sure we remain safe.

Safe, or in other words, secure.

Now, it's not to say that one should not be safe or one should not be secure.

What happens is it becomes a primary value in our lives.

So God is not saying abandon safety, abandon security, be insecure, be unsafe.

That's not how he wants us to live.

That's why he gives us parents.

That's why he gives us protection.

That's why he gives us the law.

But the intent is, what happens to us as humans is this becomes primary.

This becomes really important.

And that he does not want, because it prevents him from being fully formed and it prevents

him from advancing the kingdom through us, because everything in the kingdom is unpredictable

and quite insecure and unsafe.

So self-preservation is doing what we can to be sure we remain safe and secure.

And so when we operate in self-preservation mode, when we are operating in self-preservation

mode, we are playing it, on one hand we are playing it safe, we are playing it safe.

And on the other hand, we show where our treasure is.

Self-preservation just means that my treasure is myself.

I'm the treasure.

Where my treasure is there, my heart will be also.

And I mean, one of the places where you see this is in Matthew 25, where there was a servant

who received one talent, and what did he do?

He went into self-preservation mode, where his thing was, can I secure what I have and

make sure I don't lose it?

And that's usually how most of us live.

Can I secure what I have so that I don't lose it?

I'll trade it once I'm guaranteed that if I trade, I'll get more.

But I will not trade it.

I'll keep it safe and secure if I'm not guaranteed an outcome.

So self-preservation mode is when, one, I play it safe, two, I become the treasure,

and therefore my heart is towards keeping the treasure intact.

Any questions on that before we go on?

So usually, if you were to draw concentric circles and decide what's at the center, what's

next, what's next, what's next, I'd be hard-pressed to say that God is at the center of my life.

I'd say, I'm usually at the center of my life.

And then God comes second, coffee, and then the Canucks.

Or something like that.

But it's not usually me at the center.

It's not usually God at the center.

God and I have to sometimes tussle for the center because the moment self-preservation

kicks in, it's hard to preserve myself and God together at the center.

Because he doesn't share space like that.

Any questions?

So it's a struggle that must be overcome.

We wrestle through it.

And when we find God displaced from the center by us, when the idol at the center is you,

we have to displace it and might have to do it multiple times, but so what?

Eventually he wins.

That's your desire.

The strange thing is we all desire that God be at the center.

So that's established.

That's a huge start, eh?

Because the world cannot even desire that.

The world can't even desire it.

We can have that passionate desire which then allows us to do what is required.

On the cross, you see someone, and this is why the cross takes a sledgehammer to self-preservation,

because everything about the cross is opposed to self-preservation.

Everything about the cross.

There's nothing that happens that day on the cross that has anything to do with preserving

self.

And so it goes against the grain of Christianity to preserve self.

Which is, at every time someone decides not to preserve self, they become potent for the

kingdom.

The prosperity gospel, in a sense, is preserving of self.

And once you preserve self, you can decide what you do with your stability, security,

and your gain.

And so, on the cross, you see someone not seeking their own gain.

You see someone.

So the cross is diametrically opposed to self-preservation.

And you see someone not seeking their gain.

You see someone who instead seeks the well-being of others.

So the absence of self-preservation must result in the benefit of others.

The absence of self-preservation must result in the benefit of others.

Indifference is not the remedy to a lack of self-preservation.

Someone can say, I don't care.

It doesn't matter how I live.

That's indifference.

The thing with self-preservation is, once the cross attacks it, it goes the same route

that Jesus took.

On one hand, he doesn't seek his gain.

On the other hand, he seeks the well-being of others.

When you read Philippians 2, 6-9, Philippians 2, 6-9, that's the anti-self-preservation

scripture.

Philippians 2, 6-9.

Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to.

Instead he gave up his divine privileges.

In giving up his divine privileges, he gives up heaven, he gives up glory, he gives up

stability, he gives up security, he gives up being God.

Instead he gave up his divine privileges, he took the humble position of a slave and

was born as a human being.

When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal's

death on a cross.

Therefore God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above

all other names.

So Philippians 2, 6-9 is about the end of self-preservation.

My hope is that at the end of this teaching, that we will feel this nudge to it in different

areas of our life and self-preservation.

It looks different for each of us, but there are things that we hold on to that we can't

let go because in it is our security, in it is our stability, and it's different for different

people at different levels and in different things too.

The father and son underwent excruciating suffering.

We sometimes think the suffering was only that of the son, but the father and son went

through excruciating suffering and they went through our rejection of them in order to

save us.

So in giving up his son, the father is giving himself to us.

In giving up his son, it's the only way.

The only way that the father could give himself to me is by giving up his son.

There's no other way.

A holy God, that's the problem.

If this God was not holy, everything could be settled so easily.

That's why most other gods and most other religions can do whatever they want and then

give blessings or take away blessings because none of them ever, ever, you don't hear this,

see?

You don't hear this from any other religion.

No other religion, no other God in any other religion says, I am holy.

No one says that.

It's crazy.

Not only does our God say, I am who I am, he then goes on to say, I am holy and that

becomes a problem.

So without a father giving us his son, he cannot give himself to us.

And therefore he goes through excruciating suffering to give his son so that he can give

himself to me.

And so in a sense, not in a sense, in an absolute sense, God turns his back on his self-preservation.

God turns his back on his self-preservation to love us.

Why is it then that we think that as believers, we can do, become, identify with him without

chipping away at the self-preservation that is so a mark of our culture?

Guys, we like finding our identity in Christ.

Everyone loves that.

But we're not too keen on identifying with Christ.

That's a whole different ballgame.

Finding one's identity in Christ is great.

I want to find my identity in Christ.

That's great.

But identifying with Christ?

Strangely enough, it's in identifying with Christ that I find my identity in Christ.

So while self-preservation is human nature, God calls me to lose my life for his agenda

and interests.

He's very direct.

He expects us to gradually climb that curve, but he gives us the horizon right off the

bat.

And so his thing is, yes, I understand that self-preservation is your human, is your fallen

human nature.

Yes, I understand that.

But here's what I'm calling you to.

I'm calling you to lose your life.

I'm calling you to lose your life for my agenda and my interests.

To lose your security, to lose your safety for my agenda and my interests.

Any questions?

I love that he's an extreme God.

This is demand.

But anything he asks of us is already something that the Godhead has done.

The Godhead will never ask anything of us that they haven't already done.

So Aaron, lose your life for his agenda and interests.

Tomo, lose your life for his agenda and interests.

Zeru, lose your life for his agenda and interests.

Pradesh, lose your life for his agenda and interests.

That's the end of self-preservation.

Self-preservation disguises itself as individuality.

I'm just a different individual.

My individuality is important.

These are the things that the world feeds on.

The world just builds up.

Everything that the world presently builds up is exactly diametrically opposite to what

the cross portrays.

So we give high value to individuality.

But at the end of the day, the characteristics of individuality are again, self-preservation,

independence, assertiveness.

The very things that the world wants us to increase in.

And these three things actually hinder my spiritual life.

They hinder my spiritual life.

And worse, it stifles my God-given personality.

Stifles my God-given personality.

There's a personality that you and I have that has been shaped by the world.

And that can be pretty messed up.

But then there is a personality that has been given us by God, shaped by him, that every

so often believers display.

Where you can say that person has such a sweet spirit, or that person is so kind, or that

person has such generosity, or that person has, you see different aspects of people.

And you can look around this room and you can pick.

And you'll find it in everybody, whether you know them a lot or know them a little, you'll

find that there are certain aspects of God that have been woven into your personality.

Even without knowing each other much, you can identify it.

Now that gets stifled when these three things are in operation.

Independence, assertiveness, self-preservation.

Those are like straight jackets that prevent God-given personality from even expressing

itself.

What do we tell our children when they start getting too generous and give all their toys

away?

Why is it that we take away all the new toys that they get for Christmas and for birthday

and keep them on top of a cupboard that they can't reach till three years from now when

Elmo is no longer popular?

Instead of preserving the things of life, instead of preserving, instead of preserving

the things of life, instead of preserving things of life, sometimes when we say self-preservation

of life, we have to think of things of life.

Instead of preserving the things of life, can I seek, can I seek to preserve and further

God's glory and kingdom?

God's glory and kingdom while trusting God to preserve my life.

This is the story of most of the heroes of the Bible.

And we must understand that you cannot preserve the things of life and preserve God's glory

and kingdom.

They cannot be done together.

You have to choose.

You always have to choose.

We choose.

I'm not saying we are not down this path.

I'm just saying sledgehammer blows are not part of our equation.

We tip away at it.

And you're right, I started off saying let's tip away at it some more.

But the cross delivers sledgehammer blows to this.

And so it's not like we are not down this path.

All of us are down this path.

But I'm saying it's just not enough to tip away at it slowly.

So, instead of preserving the things of life, and everyone here preserves something or the

other, right?

We're preserving.

Instead of preserving things of life, can I seek to preserve and further God's glory

and kingdom?

And both are incompatible.

You cannot hold one and do the other.

You have to let go of one to have the other.

And if you do, can you also trust God to preserve your life?

This is basically what Jesus says when he says, those that hold on to things will lose

them.

Those that will sacrifice them will gain them.

We just take it as, ah, give my life away and he'll give me eternal life.

And if I don't give my life away, I'll lose it anyways.

He wasn't talking about salvation.

He was talking about all of life.

And there are, I mean, may the Spirit of God just begin to touch different things in your

life that are so strong that to give it away, not to give it away, to release it would be

so difficult.

Sometimes it's not money.

Do not focus only on money.

There are other things too.

We may touch on some of them.

But the cross is supposed to bring a sledgehammer blow to these things because everything about

the cross is supposed to self-preservation.

A willingness to sacrifice, a willingness to sacrifice, actually Jesus sacrificed all,

so the operative word really is all.

That's such a stretch for us, eh?

A willingness to sacrifice all.

What does all look like?

Let's touch on a few things that all looks like.

Money and life are what we usually think of.

And life probably won't be demanded of you.

Money maybe.

But there are other things too.

Your rights.

Loyalty to different things.

Tradition, culture, family, friends.

Loyalty.

Directions that you have received from people before or even directions that you received

from God maybe a year ago that we are holding on to.

Nothing wrong with it, but what if God is changing something?

Principles.

Reason.

Conscience.

Freedom.

Whenever these things which are good things compete with obedience or soul allegiance

to Christ, they actually become monsters.

This is what happened to the Jews.

The Torah, which is meant to be something that showed them God became a monster and

began to literally have them crucify the one who wrote the commandments.

Here's a terrible truth.

I cannot follow Christ freely if my heart is set on myself, my family, money, work.

Possessions.

These won't allow me to.

I have to choose.

I cannot follow Christ freely.

I can follow Christ, but not freely.

I cannot follow Christ freely.

I can follow Christ.

It's not that we can't follow Christ with all these things because 95, 98 percent of

Christians follow Christ with these things.

God is looking for that 2 percent because then he has them at his disposal to do as

he wills.

But you cannot follow Christ freely if my heart is set on myself, my family, money,

work or possessions.

Those things won't allow me to.

It doesn't mean I have to let them go.

It just means the priority should be super clear.

There should never be a struggle.

There shouldn't be a struggle.

And there are enough scriptures to show this.

There's Matthew 14, 26.

There's Luke 9, 52 to 59.

There's Mark 10, verse 28 to 30.

Mark 10:28–30

Write them down.

You can check them later.

Matthew 14, 26.

Luke 9, 52 to 58.

Mark 10, 28 to 30.

The disciples come to him and he says this again and again and again in different

gospels saying, it's not possible.

He actually uses harsher words than I'm using.

He says, you're not even worthy to be my disciples.

Those are the words he uses.

I'm softening it because to say that sounds a little too harsh.

What is he trying to do here?

He's trying to bring an end to self-preservation because in bringing an end to

self-preservation, he suddenly has the right to ask you the question,

do you love me more than these?

And if you do, well then, feed my sheep.

That's what he's bringing Peter to a week from now,

or three days from now.

He asks Peter the same thing.

Because this is the case, work together on it.

We have to work on it together as a family,

as couples,

as a family,

as a church.

Because if you can work on it together, then everybody gets to start the journey

together.

Otherwise you have one who begins to get it and runs while the other one is left

behind and then that brings in conflict.

But what if you can work this together as a couple?

It may not happen in a day.

It may take three years, but in three years, imagine the freedom you arrive at

and imagine the freedom God has.

When you want to get married to someone, don't look at whether they can fit into

Acts 29 or whether they know as much as you know.

It is whether they are willing to put an end to self-preservation.

You find someone like that, lock them up in a room and get married.

Lock them up in a room and get married.

Yeah, just call me, I'll quickly...

I'll get calls tomorrow, Jacob, I've got someone locked up.

I'll say, I'll get there before 9-1-1 does.

I don't know who said these lines, but they're brilliant lines.

Self-preservation is the greatest enemy of boldness.

Self-preservation is the greatest enemy of boldness.

The reason we are not bold, the reason we don't say anything

is usually because of self-preservation.

The strange thing is whenever you preserve yourself,

you come up with decent reasons and excuses to have taken that stance.

We always come up with good reasons for, and that was the wise thing to do.

Self-preservation is the greatest enemy of boldness.

It means then that absolute obedience,

absolute obedience to self-preservation,

absolute obedience to your instinct of self-preservation

is actually cowardice.

Absolute obedience to your instinct of self-preservation

is actually cowardice, being a coward.

So on one hand, self-preservation opposes boldness.

On the other hand, because we so capitulate to self-preservation,

we are actually cowards.

Very hard to work with cowards, right, for God?

Which is why then he would have to go and say to Joshua, to Gideon,

be of good courage, be strong, do not be afraid.

Self-preservation takes the route of waiting, not acting.

So many times we do this, I do this,

where I'm so sure it's God who's speaking,

but I'm so scared because if I take that step,

I'm going to lose something that's important to me,

or I have to give away something that's important to me.

And so I wait, I do not act.

I'm hoping that by waiting I can avert the risk.

The greater the cause, the greater the risk, guys.

The greater the cause, the greater the risk.

And the greater the risk,

the greater the urge of self-preservation.

The greater the cause, the greater the risk,

the greater the urge of self-preservation.

We take the route of waiting instead of acting.

That's what was happening in the garden

when Tune was singing that song,

Do Not Forget Get Seemly, that's what was happening.

That's what was happening.

I mean, Peter had sworn he would die with Jesus,

but at that particular moment,

his feet were fleeing, his heart was failing,

and he had a distrust of God to preserve him.

Given the weight and the horror of the circumstances,

the disciples fled.

Here are some other nasty things about self-preservation.

It seeks to predict, this is so important,

it seeks to predict the safest,

most favorable, most in control outcome.

Self-preservation,

it seeks to predict the safest, most favorable,

most in control outcome,

the one that keeps us most comfortable.

The one that keeps us most comfortable.

The one that keeps us most comfortable.

And it helps avoid doing right.

It helps avoid doing right

if doing right will bring

pain, loss,

if it brings pain, loss, or hardship.

It is in this, in human nature.

The only way to overcome this is when you love somebody,

that's when it's overcoming.

It's always overcome when you love somebody.

Self-preservation goes out of the window

when you love somebody.

When spouses love each other,

when parents love their children,

when someone loves somebody who they don't know,

self-preservation goes out of the window.

This is why self-preservation could not stand a chance

with Christ, because Christ loved.

And Christ loves his enemies,

and therefore self-preservation must go.

Otherwise, self-preservation will always seek to predict

the safest, most favorable, most in control option

that keeps me most comfortable,

and that way it helps me avoid doing right.

If that doing right brings me pain or loss or hardship,

then self-preservation kicks in, unless I love.

And once I love, it goes out of the window.

I pray, God, that for some of us,

this will be so convicting

by the sheer power of the Spirit of God

that in some area we will stop.

We will stop.

So for some of us, may there be hammer blows.

For others, may the chipping stop,

but may no one escape.

Yeah, I pray, God, that we don't resist the Spirit of God.

The sin of self-preservation is the sin of self-preservation.

The sin of self-preservation.

No, we begin to justify,

we begin to justify that Jesus would not ask us

to give a month's salary away

or would not ask us to lose our job

or would not ask us to do anything that would risk our lives.

So,

when I come up with excuses to preserve myself,

you spot it so easily.

The ones that don't spot the excuses

are the ones that are making them.

When you ask me something and I come up with an excuse

saying I have this and that,

you can immediately spot,

this guy's just trying to preserve us, hide.

The ones that don't see it are the ones making the excuses.

I don't think Jesus asks us for things that don't have risk in it.

Most of the things Jesus asks us carries risk in it.

Because if there is no risk, there is no need for faith.

So where is the sin in self-preservation?

Where is the sin in self-preservation?

Where is the sin?

The sin is that I begin to prioritize,

I begin to prioritize my well-being,

dignity,

safety,

comfort,

provision,

plan,

and life

over,

one, the leading of the Spirit,

two,

Scriptures,

three, you.

Therein lies the sin.

That's where the sin is.

The reason self-preservation is an evil sin,

even when we say sin, it doesn't carry weight.

The reason self-preservation is evil,

and it's an evil that I'm doing,

is because it prioritizes my well-being,

my dignity, my safety,

my comfort, my provision, my plan,

and my life first over the leading of the Holy Spirit.

Therein lies the biggest resistance.

I'm resisting the Spirit

because he's asking me to do something that will jeopardize my self.

Therein lies the first sin.

This is the order that we should follow.

Leading of the Spirit,

Scriptures, where the Scriptures say,

follow the Holy Spirit, where the Scriptures say,

you need to do this, where the Scriptures say,

do not say to him who is cold,

be warm, I will pray for you.

It says so in the Book of James.

And then the third one is prioritizing it over you.

Because in that one commandment,

everything is broken, right?

He said, keep two commandments.

Love the Lord your God,

love your neighbor as you love yourself.

There is the sin.

Any questions before we go on?

Yeah, assertiveness is bad

when assertiveness requires that I trample you down.

To assert myself,

if you have to be tread down,

then assertiveness is bad.

I'm not saying assertiveness as in

at times you have to take a stance.

Not that kind of assertiveness.

Assertiveness that requires that

dillna be pushed down so that I can rise.

That assertiveness is bad

and that's very common in the world.

Then let's use the word aggressiveness

where one tries to

I have to stand on your back to rise up

without doing that I won't be able to rise up.

It's an assertiveness that harms you

so that I may benefit.

Yeah, and you can use the word aggressiveness too.

Any other questions?

Yeah, so when I prioritize my well-being,

my dignity, my safety, my comfort, my provision,

my plan in life over yours,

then therein I'm sinning.

The whole Samaritan story,

the whole love the Lord your God and love your neighbor.

Everything that is summed up in just those two.

It says that I'm sinning.

I'm sinning.

I'm sinning.

I'm sinning.

I'm sinning.

I'm sinning.

I'm sinning.

I'm sinning.

I'm sinning.

I'm sinning.

I'm sinning.

I'm sinning.

It says the law and the prophets are fulfilled in those two.

It says the law and the prophets are fulfilled in that command.

We did a teaching called,

and the second is like it, long ago.

And in that teaching it says that

God is not saying love Sheldon instead of yourself.

God is saying love Sheldon as yourself.

Therefore, as you desire provision for yourself,

as you desire provision for Sheldon.

Therefore, as you desire that he be welcome,

therefore, as you desire that you be welcome in a group of strangers,

make sure that he is welcome.

Therefore, as you desire to be warm in winter,

desire that for him.

So there is an element to loving yourself,

but self-preservation completely hollows that out.

Because self-preservation is,

once everything is taken care of,

then I will begin to think of him

if I have enough.

And that is where my preservation has entirely become

my exoskeleton, my protection.

I'm not trusting my preservation to God

because I have to first gather into my barn

so that I have plenty before I can supply him.

And therein lies the sin.

This is a radical religion, guys.

And the radic...

What is radical about this religion?

It just refuses you to be the king of your life,

to be the idol of your life,

to be the main part of your life.

It does not allow you that privilege.

Self is not allowed

except in its identification with Christ.

And then your true self is discovered.

Not in your identity in Christ,

but in your identifying with Christ.

By picking on some things that you know

are so important to you

that if I took it away from you,

it would be like...

it would completely disrupt your life.

It can be different things for different people.

For some of us it could be our job,

for some of us it could be our independence,

for some of us it could be our money,

for some of us it could be...

Cat.

It could be our cat.

Praise the Lord for problems I don't have.

Praise the Lord for problems I don't have.

So it could be different things.

It could be different things.

Yeah.

And so start with the one thing.

While I'm doing this,

I know what the one thing is.

You'll find self-preservation is a repetitive habit.

You'll find so many times in life

you will know what God wants,

you know what is right through scriptures,

you know what is right by the Holy Spirit.

You won't know what is right in terms of the community

and yet your heart desires to do it

but then up comes this wall of self-preservation

and you begin to take a step or two back

and you say tomorrow.

One of the ways to identify the things you are preserving

is by seeing what you delay.

In your delay of doing something,

you will begin to spot the things you are taking more time on.

You don't want to pull the trigger on it.

You just want to wait another day.

You want another confirmation.

Sometimes the reason we ask for confirmations

is just so that we can secure something from God

before we give something away

and God ain't playing that game.

So often the confirmation doesn't come from God.

And then you have to go looking at every license plate.

God won't play that game.

When I desire confirmation

because I want to secure something from God

before I will take a risk,

God will not give me that,

especially if you're an older Christian

as in if you've been around with Christ for a while.

Definitely ain't happening.

I speak from experience,

not from my experience,

I speak from experience,

not from five years ago,

from five days ago.

This is perhaps the most basic instinct of flesh.

Most basic instinct of flesh this is.

Self-preservation.

See it as absolutely evil.

Think of what the Sanhedrin,

the 72 most knowledgeable,

most well-trained,

most taught Jews

of the land.

Think of what they're saying.

For the sake of a nation,

one man should die.

What are they saying?

To preserve ourselves

and our way of functioning

and our systems

and our power,

we must get rid of him.

It's the most basic of instincts.

Think of the woman who brings a child

and says to Solomon,

go ahead and sever this child in two.

Basic instinct, eh?

It's what national geographic

documentaries are made of.

Self-preservation.

It's perhaps the most basic instinct of our flesh

and the most deadly to our faith.

Most deadly to our faith.

Why?

Because it,

because it dulls.

It's the most basic instinct

of our flesh.

Because it dulls.

It dulls our witness.

It dulls our witness.

It absolutely dulls our witness.

So how can we begin to

chip away at it

or bring a sledgehammer to it

so that Christ may be formed?

Let's look at two or three

and then I'll make sure I stop

by the next 10 minutes.

First,

keep thinking of these lines.

I'm not my own.

I belong to Christ.

I belong to you.

This, if I began to practice

or you began to practice

would absolutely shatter self-preservation.

Just this one line

and it's scripture.

If,

we've been through this

about two years ago

but some of you perhaps were not there.

When someone asks you the question

who do you belong to

most Christians who are born again will say

I belong to Christ.

But according to 1 Corinthians 6

you cannot belong to Christ

till you get to a point

where you say I am not my own.

The scriptures say

do you not know that you are not your own?

You have been born at a price

that you do not belong to yourself anymore.

One has to first arrive at

I am not my own.

And then you can go to

I belong to Christ.

And that would be convenient

but then he takes it one step further

and he says I belong to you.

That is an absolutely certain way

to destroy self-preservation

and that is so hard to do.

I can't force you to belong to me

but I can choose to belong to you.

And then if that is said

what does it look like

when you begin to believe that?

This, sorry go ahead.

Yeah, it has to start

it's impossible.

Yeah, it's impossible

the only one who could pull it off

for the entire earth was

Christ.

But start with a small group of people

and include in that group

people that you don't yet fully love.

It's easy to do this

for someone you love.

You do it for your spouses

and your children

and your family

on a regular basis.

Every parent, every spouse

does this

I am not my own

I belong to Christ

I belong to you

I mean that is the marriage vow

isn't it?

That I am laying myself down before you

I no longer belong to myself

I am yours

that's what we say in our vows to each other.

So spouses and families

and parents do this on a regular basis

but it is still so compact

it has to go beyond that

and that is where

why not start with a small group of people

and the sooner we get here

the more you will find

God beginning to use you part of you

and that is the way

the sooner you will find

God beginning to use you powerfully

because the end of self preservation

will be the beginning

of power through you

because there is nothing that can stop now

so include in your group

a few that you do not yet

love the way you love

the ones that you love

start small

and then let it increase

any questions?

I am not my own

I belong to Christ

I am not my own is difficult too

I am not my own is to say

this is the end of self determination

I do not determine

or make decisions

for my life anymore

because someone else makes them

this is what John 21

Jesus says to Peter in John 21

when you were young

you would decide where to go

but the days are coming

where they will bind you

and take you

where you do not want to go

what a beautiful religion we serve

this is no ordinary religion

this is not for namby pamby

pamper wearing devotees

this is hard man

this is hard man

I am not my own

I belong to Christ

I belong to you

and if this is backed by love

it becomes so easy

so easy

so easy

why do you do

what your will does not want to do

why would I do

why would I do

what my will

does not

want to do

simple

because

I love someone

because I love someone

more than

my life

and my will

that's the only way

you can get a cat into my house

I have to love you so much

that you can bring a cat in

and thank God

that ain't happening

moving on

why would I do

what my will does not want to do

this is the reason why

so

to try self preservation

to try and self preservation

without loving God

is going to be really difficult

very difficult

it's going to be very difficult

but if you begin to love him

this will become easy

and the strange thing is

if you love him

he'll deliver hammer blows

he'll collapse it

Matthew 26 verse 39

Matthew 26:39

earlier today

or last night when he was in the garden

at Gethsemane

that's what you're seeing

Father is there any way

I can escape this cup

is there any way

I can

I can escape what I'm going to

what I know I'll have to go through

and then he makes that statement

but not my will

but yours be done

he does not want

no

no

no

no

no

no real human being

would want to be put

through the torment

that he would be put through

and then he says

not my will but

yours be done

and the Holy Spirit will

help us make these choices

because

he

guys he lives fully in me

if I want this

he can begin to help me

and like I said

wrestle through it

fail

get up

wrestle through it

fail

get up

there's no harm

in failing while you're wrestling

the harm is in not wrestling

the shame is when

we don't wrestle

the shame is not in failing

when you're wrestling

the shame is

is in not wrestling

and when you wrestle

invite a few people to watch

one of the

one of the easiest ways

to win

is to invite

and encourage us to watch

those that wrestle

quietly without anyone

watching

usually don't win

invite a few people to watch

share your story with them

I'm struggling through this

there's nobody here

who does not need

an Aaron and a Hermann

the Spirit of God

really likes helping

the Spirit of God

really likes helping

what does it look like

when Jesus can help

I'll end with these questions

what does it look like

what does it look like

when Jesus can

help himself

to my life

at will

what will happen

if I'm serious about this

he'll start

using

the things of my life

he'll use

time

treasure

talent

strength

and things

in my life

and he'll use

time

and he'll use

time

and he'll use

time

in my life

to serve

his interest

in others

and he'll do it

he'll do it

by emptying me out

before

replenishing me

so here are the scary parts

what does it look like

when Jesus can help himself

to my life at will

he'll start

he'll start using

what

time, treasure, talent, strength, things

things that are important to me

he'll start using

to do what

to serve his interest

great, I love doing things for the Lord

serve his interest in others

why others

why can't it be just you and me

doing great things

for the Kingdom

nope, for others

how will he do it

he'll do it by emptying me out

nuts, is there another way

nope

but after he empties me out

he'll replenish me

just the other way around it

what a cool God

he's an all or nothing God

but he can live

in between

but it's not his favorite

thing to do

do you love me more than these

well then, feed my sheep

he's not talking to pastors

he's talking to each of us here

do you love me more than these

feed my sheep

you know in the

in Philippians 2 verse 17 and 18

Philippians 2:17

it says

if I'm

Paul is talking and he says

if

even if I am to be

poured out as a drink offering

upon the sacrificial offering of your faith

I am glad and I rejoice with you

even if I am

poured out

as a drink offering

upon the sacrificial offering

that you are

I'm glad

and it's such a cool thing

once

you read it in Numbers 15 verse 3 and 5

Numbers 15:3

here's what it says

it says that once

Israel entered the promised land

whenever anyone would bring

an offering to the Lord

like a voluntary offering to the Lord

once they entered the promised land

they had to pour upon

the promised land

on the offering

on the altar

a liter of wine

they had to

a drink offering was suddenly commanded

once they entered the land

so you could bring an offering

put it on the altar

then you had to bring some grain

and overall that you would have to pour out

and then the fragrance would rise to the Lord

and it used to be called an ascending

fire fragrance or whatever

and so what Paul is saying is this

I am being poured out so that they can be

beautifully

I am being poured out

so they can be offered up

just think of that

when God begins to do that with you

where you begin to say

Father pour me out

I am being poured out

I am being poured out

so you can be

offered up

isn't that brilliant

wouldn't you love to do that

who here wouldn't

who here wouldn't

it's just so natural for us as believers

to work this

this is what you do for your children

this is what you do for the ones you love

you being poured out so they can be

offered up

which believer here wouldn't want this

but to be poured out

self preservation must end

we pour ourselves out

so that they can be offered up

so labor guys

work give

so that you can present others

as ones that you

offer up

this is Paul's desire

this is my desire

and once you have the desire

run labor work fail

run labor work fail

run labor work fail

but more and more will be offered

this is how we do it

any questions

let me pray

Jesus

I need

you to bring a sledgehammer

Holy Spirit to

our lives here

that have such chunks

and blocks of self preservation

please oh God spare nobody

I'm asking as the pastor of this church

spare nobody

start with me but spare nobody

I'm asking that we resist you but that you spare nobody

if we resist you yes

there's nothing you can do

because you don't usurp our will

but I ask oh God

please

across this room and to anybody else

who hears

self preservation must end

otherwise the glory of God

and the kingdom of God

cannot advance

so we bring before you our exoskeletons

our outer covering

whatever it is

independence pride

money

whatever it is

independence pride

money

risk aversion

individuality our own individual traits

distrust

hurt

all this drives us into this place where we begin to preserve

please ask that you end it so that you may have

a group of ordinary people that can be used

as and when you want oh God please

yes we understand that if you begin to do this

that it will be to serve your interest in others

sometimes locally sometimes at other places

and that it will require an emptying of myself

but then I've got to trust you to preserve my life

on Good Friday

on the day that you did nothing to preserve your life

when you could have called down 12 legions of angels

when you did nothing to preserve my life

this is our prayer

granted I pray in Jesus name

Amen

cool guys see you Sunday if you need prayer

there will be people here to pray with you

feel free to come up to them and they'll pray for you