Crucify Him

 Luke 23:21
 But they cried, saying, crucify him, crucify him.

A week ago, the people were praising Him, “Hosanna! Blessed is the king that comes in the name of the Lord.” Some say that these were the same people now crying out to crucify Him, crucify Him! I like to think that they were not. The crowd last were filled with hope and anticipation that Jesus would be their deliverer. I believe many of them were heartbroken to see their hopes dashed by the events that were happening. Those that were crying out for the blood of Jesus to be put to death were those who felt threatened by His popularity and the large following He was gathering.  The Pharisee, Sadducees, Sanhedrin, and many of the religious sector who were blinded by their own self righteousness and greed for power. They were convicted by the life of Jesus. The crowd last week were fearful for their lives to be identified with Jesus, and I believe, feared repercussions from the religious leaders. But, their refusal to stand up for Jesus made them part responsible for Jesus being crucified. They may not have cried out, “crucify Him!” but like Peter, they were guilty of forsaking Him. His death on the cross was necessary for the salvation of mankind. It was prophesied many hundreds of years ago. We don’t have control over the events of life and what happens tomorrow, but we can still do what is right today, and live a life that is not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ. Many still today are nailing Him to the cross and crucify Him afresh and anew. But we can take a stand for God and take up the cross and follow Him.

In The Potter's Hand

  Isaiah 64:8

But now, O Lord, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand
“Melt me, mold me, fill me, use me.” is the chorus often sung in our worship services. We are nothing until we are made into a vessel that God can use. Our humanity is like a lump of clay. It is not until we let God, the maker of life, mold us into something that can be used to His glory.  He is the potter that wants to form us into a vessel that can be filled with the Holy Spirit. Satan would desire to make us a vessel that is filled with self, malice, corrupt communication, and all manner of sinfulness. The Father wants to take the works of Satan and reshape us into His image. When we yield our lives to God, we surrender our desires and ambitions, we allow Him to be the Lord of lives. We are crucified with Christ. “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me..” Gal.2:20. This is what it means to allow God to mold us and make us. We are the work of His hand, let God mold you into something special, someone He can use for His Kingdom.

Live in the Spirit

 Gal 5:24-25

And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

If Christ owns our life, then our sinful affections and desires have been nailed to the cross of Christ. We now live in the Spirit and the fruits (attitude, actions, affections) of our lives now reflect the life of Christ. We no longer live and follow the ways of the flesh if we continue to walk according to the fruits of the Spirit.

Overcoming the Flesh

 Gal.5:19-21, 24
 And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
The works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like:
Overcoming the flesh (that which causes us to sin) is done when we have put to death those things that cause us to fall away from God. The flesh is put to death when we allow the Holy Spirit to come into our lives and dethrone self and self-living. We are now led by the Spirit of God to do what is right. His fruit is now manifested in our lives, not by following a set of rules, but by submitting to his will , and allowing the Spirit to direct our path. This is holiness at work in the life of the believer.

Crucify the Flesh

Gal. 5:24 And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.

Jesus was crucified on the cross, died and shed His blood for our sins. We who have been forgiven of our sins and have accepted Jesus into our lives identify with His death. We also have been crucified with Christ. The life we now live is not ours, but it belongs to Christ. Our sinful affections and our lustful desires to live for self have been nailed to the cross. We no longer yield our members to the things that have been crucified. Those affections have been forgiven and put to death. Through Christ, we yield our hearts to live a life that is holy and pleasing to God. We our to be a reflection of Christ in how we act and live. As we walk in the light of Gods word, he leads us to a complete surrender of our whole body, soul and spirit. Our hopes, our ambitions and everything that we live for is brought to the foot of Jesus. The fullness of His spirit is manifest in the actions and reactions of our lives. The fruit of the  Spirit now rules without command in our hearts. 

Crucify the Flesh

Gal 5:24  And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.

Living the Christian life in this world goes contrary to the fleshly appetite of sinful human desires, in this case, the lust of the flesh. This goes beyond human need for food, shelter, love and self esteem. Such sinful desires are base in unbelief and the aggrandizement of self. Life is center around pleasing and satisfying the wants of the flesh. We are all born with this nature to sin. At some point in our lives we become responsible for the our actions that stem from this nature. “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory (pleasing) of God. That is the reason Christ came. To provide a way for this sin to be forgiven. Because Christ died, we can come to Him and lay our burden of sin at the foot of the cross. They who are now in Christ come to see that they now must surrender their life in full consecration to the will of God. The nature of sin has been crucified, put to death, and the Christian no longer are masters to the sin nature. The Holy Spirit comes to the believer, as He did on the day of Pentecost and fills the heart, cleansing and empowering the Christian to walk in the Spirit to manifest the fruits of the Spirit. Our lives no longer are dictated by our sin nature, but by the Spirit that dwells within us.

They Knew Not

Luke 23:34 Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do…

Blinded by sin people often lash out or act out in ways that hurt or betray others. They don’t know how to love because sin and self controls their life. They do what is natural to them. Hard to imagine being the one to strike the nails in the hands of Jesus, or to be the one crying out “Crucify Him!” But sin is no respecter of person, it will cause people to do things that they thought they would never do. When others do or say things about us, it is natural to be resentful or even despiteful toward them. Forgiving those who cause us hurt requires that we have the mind of Christ and know the heart of God. The heart of God so loved the world that even tho the world would reject Him, He sent His Son to be the sacrifice for sin. As Christ hung on the cross, being put to death by those He loved, He spoke words of forgiveness for they were all lost in sin and in need of a Savior. 

The Mind Set of Jesus

Phil 2:5.8 “ Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus,… He humbled Himself and became obedient unto death—even the death of the cross.”-

The mind set of Jesus was always on serving others. He, who is the Son of God became human flesh to serve and die for humanity’s sins. The mind of Christ is to seek the will of the Father, to humbly submit to the needs of others, preferring others before self. This radical mind set is foreign to the philosophy of the world that promotes self gratification and self importance. Seeking to make a name, to make it to the top, climbing the ladder of power and popularity. Such is the mind of this world. Followers of Christ, that have the mind of Christ have picked up the cross, crucifying the flesh with all of its sinful desires that they may serve God and others as obedient servants of God. 

Dead with Christ

Col 2:20a, 3:12 “Therefore if ye be dead with Christ ..., holy and beloved, as the elect of God, put on hearts of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering,”-

Being dead with Christ gives life a whole new meaning. The deeds in our life are no longer measured by keeping certain laws of what we eat, or the relics we cherish as sacred. The life that we now live in Christ is demonstrated by our actions toward one another and to those who don’t know Him. It is the fleshly tendency of man to be critical and hard. When others interfere with what we want or get in the way of our desires we become impatient and intolerable with them. Paul says that if you have taken up the cross of Jesus and have been crucified with Christ you no longer act that way. Action in speech and attitude reveal what is in the heart. As believers in Christ, we are to show kindness in situation that normally would irritate us. Instead of being critical and oppressive, we are to show mercy and long suffering. Let us pray that God will help us to have the heart of Christ and live in such a way that God would be pleased.

Belong to Christ

Gal 5:24 “And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its affections and lusts.”-

Being part of the Vine is to belong to Christ. Those who belong to Christ have been forgiven of their sins and have been transform from death to life. A person who has truly given their life to Christ will strive to please God in every part of their life. The old habits of the flesh and the desire to fulfill the lust of the flesh have been crucified with Christ and have been nailed to the Cross. A person who is in Christ will allow the Spirit of God to led them in a deeper walk with God. As long as the carnal nature sits on the throne of our hearts, we will always be warring against wanting fleshly desires. The Spirit leads us to a place in our life where we our willing to present our life a living sacrifice to God in complete consecration. The carnal nature (self) is removed from the throne of our heart and the Holy Spirit is given full control. We still have daily choices to make, and we our not exempt from temptation, but our primary desire is now to fulfill what the Spirit desires. The actions of our life are not written down in tablets of stone, but are written on the tablets of our heart to fulfill that which is good and acceptable to God. The Spirit leads unerring, perfecting holiness in all who are willing to be led by the Him. 

Walking in the Spirit

Galatians 5:13-26
April 27th, 2008
There are many scriptures in God’s word that speak of a definite second work of God’s grace. The experience of the in-filling of the Holy Spirit, or “thee sanctification” is clearly taught in the scriptures. Paul does not mention in this book of any second filling of God’s Spirit, but Paul was concern that the Galatians were not allowing the Spirit to led them to a life of complete surrender to God. He sets the standard for Christian living, and insisted that the Holy Spirit is the only one that can bring them to the place of full deliverance and complete consecration to God. The Spirit leads Christian to the realization that Christ not only died for the sins that have been committed, but to knowledge that the nature of sin must be crucified. This is done as we walk in Spirit and come to the truth of full surrender to the complete will of God.

Liberty in Christ
• Set free from the law
• Freedom from bondage of sin
• Freedom with responsibility
Love and Serve
• Love trumps liberty
• Greatest commandment
• What does it mean to love self?
• Serving- doing for others
Lust of the Flesh
• The line between the carnal & human
• The war between the Flesh & Spirit
• Manifestation of the Flesh
• Sinning religion- “shall not inherit the kingdom”
Led by the Spirit
• Walk in the Light (Christ)
• Let us go on unto perfection
• Follow peace and holiness
• Failure to walk in the Spirit results in backsliding
Living in the Spirit
• Demonstrated by the fruit we bare
• They that belong to Christ will not fulfill the flesh
• How do we live in the Spirit?
Letting go of Self
• The flesh has to be put to death- “death route”
• Entire Sanctification is completed when Self is surrender to God
• It is not about me (vain glory), but about Christ