God’s Word tells us in no uncertain terms: “Follow…holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14).
Here is the truth, plain and simple. Without the holiness that’s imparted by Christ alone—a precious gift we honor by leading a life devoted to obeying his every Word—none of us will see the Lord. And this refers not just to heaven, but to our present life as well. Without holiness, we won’t see God’s presence in our daily walk, our family, our relationships, our witness or our ministry.
It doesn’t matter how many Christian conferences we attend, how many preaching tapes we listen to, how many Bible studies we are involved in. If we harbor a cancerous sin, if the Lord has a controversy with us over our iniquity, then none of our efforts will produce godly fruit. On the contrary, our sin will only grow more contagious and infect everyone around us.
Of course, this issue goes beyond all lusts of the flesh, to corruption of the spirit as well.
Paul describes the same destructive sin in this passage when he says, “Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer” (1 Corinthians 10:10).
So, dear saint, will you allow the Holy Spirit to deal with all the lusts you may be harboring? And will you instead seek and trust in the escape that God has provided for you? I urge you to cultivate a holy fear and trust in these last days. It will keep you pure, no matter how loudly wickedness rages around you. And it will enable you to walk in God’s holiness, which holds the promise of his enduring presence.
It is all a matter of faith. Christ has promised to keep you from falling, and to give you sin-resisting power—if you simply believe what he has said. So, believe him for this godly fear. Pray for it and welcome it. God will keep his Word to you.
You cannot break free from the death-grip of besetting sin by willpower, by promises, or by any human effort alone.
“Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord” (Zechariah 4:6)
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Friday, March 19, 2010
THE CROSS TEACHES US HOW TO DENY SELF
Never once does our Lord say, “Stoop down and let me lay a cross on you.” Jesus is not in the drafting business; his army is all volunteer. Not all Christians carry crosses. You can be a believer without carrying a cross, but you cannot be a disciple.
I see many believers rejecting the way of the cross. They have opted for the good life with its prosperity, its material gain, its popularity and success. I’m sure that many of them will make it to heaven—they will have saved their skins—but they will not have learned Christ. Having rejected the suffering and sorrow of the cross, they will not have the capacity to know and enjoy him in eternity, as will all the cross-bearing saints who have entered into the fellowship of the suffering.
You will have to carry your cross until you learn to deny. Deny what? The one thing that constantly hinders God's work in our lives—self. Jesus said, "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross, and follow me" (Matthew 16:24). We are misinterpreting this message if we emphasize self-denial, that is, the rejection of material or unlawful things. Jesus was not calling upon us to learn self-discipline before we take up our cross. It is far more severe than that. Jesus is asking that we deny ourselves. This means to deny your own ability to carry any cross in your own strength. In other words, "Don't take up your cross until you are ready to reject any and every thought of becoming a holy disciple as a result of your own effort."
Millions of professing Christians boast of their self-denial. They don't drink, smoke, curse or fornicate—they are examples of tremendous self-discipline. But not in a hundred years would they admit it was accomplished by anything other than their own willpower. They are practicing self-denial, but they have never denied self. In some ways, we are all like that. We experience "spurts" of holiness, accompanied by feelings of purity. Good works usually produce good feelings, but God will not allow us to think our good works and clean habits can save us. That is why we need a cross.
I believe Jesus is actually saying to us, "Before you take up your cross, be ready to face a moment of truth. Be ready to experience a crisis by which you will learn to deny your self-will, your self-righteousness, your self-sufficiency, your self-authority. You can rise up and follow me as a true disciple only when you can freely admit you can do nothing in your own strength—you cannot overcome sin through your own willpower—your temptations cannot be overcome by your self-efforts alone—you cannot work things out by your own intellect.
Your love for Jesus can put you on your knees but your cross will put you on your face.
Sermons David Wilkerson Today, Daily Devotions
I see many believers rejecting the way of the cross. They have opted for the good life with its prosperity, its material gain, its popularity and success. I’m sure that many of them will make it to heaven—they will have saved their skins—but they will not have learned Christ. Having rejected the suffering and sorrow of the cross, they will not have the capacity to know and enjoy him in eternity, as will all the cross-bearing saints who have entered into the fellowship of the suffering.
You will have to carry your cross until you learn to deny. Deny what? The one thing that constantly hinders God's work in our lives—self. Jesus said, "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross, and follow me" (Matthew 16:24). We are misinterpreting this message if we emphasize self-denial, that is, the rejection of material or unlawful things. Jesus was not calling upon us to learn self-discipline before we take up our cross. It is far more severe than that. Jesus is asking that we deny ourselves. This means to deny your own ability to carry any cross in your own strength. In other words, "Don't take up your cross until you are ready to reject any and every thought of becoming a holy disciple as a result of your own effort."
Millions of professing Christians boast of their self-denial. They don't drink, smoke, curse or fornicate—they are examples of tremendous self-discipline. But not in a hundred years would they admit it was accomplished by anything other than their own willpower. They are practicing self-denial, but they have never denied self. In some ways, we are all like that. We experience "spurts" of holiness, accompanied by feelings of purity. Good works usually produce good feelings, but God will not allow us to think our good works and clean habits can save us. That is why we need a cross.
I believe Jesus is actually saying to us, "Before you take up your cross, be ready to face a moment of truth. Be ready to experience a crisis by which you will learn to deny your self-will, your self-righteousness, your self-sufficiency, your self-authority. You can rise up and follow me as a true disciple only when you can freely admit you can do nothing in your own strength—you cannot overcome sin through your own willpower—your temptations cannot be overcome by your self-efforts alone—you cannot work things out by your own intellect.
Your love for Jesus can put you on your knees but your cross will put you on your face.
Sermons David Wilkerson Today, Daily Devotions
Thursday, March 18, 2010
YOU CANNOT CARRY YOUR OWN CROSS
Jesus said to his disciples, "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross, and follow me" (Matthew 16:24). However, Jesus could not carry his cross and neither can you!
As Jesus bore his own cross to Golgotha, led by his tormentors, he was too weak and frail to carry it for long. When he had reached the end of his endurance, his cross was laid on another's shoulder. The Bible doesn't tell us how far Jesus carried his cross but we do know Simon, the Cyrene, was compelled to pick it up and carry it to the place of crucifixion (see Matthew 27:32).
What does this mean to us? Would our Lord make us do something he could not do? Did he not say, "...whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:27)? A cross is a cross, be it wooden or spiritual. It is not enough to say, "His cross was different—our cross is spiritual."
Personally, it gives me great hope to know that Jesus could not take up his own cross. It encourages me to know that I am not the only one burdened down to the ground at times, unable to go on in my own strength.
Jesus knew exactly what he was saying when he called us to "take up our cross and follow him." He remembered his own cross and that another had to carry it for him. Why then would he ask us to shoulder a cross he knows will soon crush us to the ground? He knows all about the agony, the helplessness, and the burden that a cross creates. He knows we can't carry it all the way in our own strength.
There is a truth hidden here that we must uncover, a truth so powerful, it could change the way we look at all our troubles and hurts. It may sound almost sacrilegious to suggest Jesus did not carry his own cross, but that is the truth.
God knows that not one of his children can carry the cross they take up when following Christ.
We want to be good disciples by denying ourselves and taking up our cross, but we seem to forget that that same cross will one day bring us to the end of our human endurance. Would Jesus purposely ask us to take up a cross that he knows will sap all our human energies and leave us lying helpless, even to the point of giving up? Absolutely yes! Jesus forewarns us, "Without me ye can do nothing" (John 15:5).
So he asks us to take up our cross, struggle on with it, until we learn that lesson. Not until our cross pushes us down into the dust do we learn the lesson that it is not by our might or power or strength, but by his power.
That is what the Bible means when it says his strength is made perfect in our weakness.
Sermons David Wilkerson Today, Daily Devotions
As Jesus bore his own cross to Golgotha, led by his tormentors, he was too weak and frail to carry it for long. When he had reached the end of his endurance, his cross was laid on another's shoulder. The Bible doesn't tell us how far Jesus carried his cross but we do know Simon, the Cyrene, was compelled to pick it up and carry it to the place of crucifixion (see Matthew 27:32).
What does this mean to us? Would our Lord make us do something he could not do? Did he not say, "...whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:27)? A cross is a cross, be it wooden or spiritual. It is not enough to say, "His cross was different—our cross is spiritual."
Personally, it gives me great hope to know that Jesus could not take up his own cross. It encourages me to know that I am not the only one burdened down to the ground at times, unable to go on in my own strength.
Jesus knew exactly what he was saying when he called us to "take up our cross and follow him." He remembered his own cross and that another had to carry it for him. Why then would he ask us to shoulder a cross he knows will soon crush us to the ground? He knows all about the agony, the helplessness, and the burden that a cross creates. He knows we can't carry it all the way in our own strength.
There is a truth hidden here that we must uncover, a truth so powerful, it could change the way we look at all our troubles and hurts. It may sound almost sacrilegious to suggest Jesus did not carry his own cross, but that is the truth.
God knows that not one of his children can carry the cross they take up when following Christ.
We want to be good disciples by denying ourselves and taking up our cross, but we seem to forget that that same cross will one day bring us to the end of our human endurance. Would Jesus purposely ask us to take up a cross that he knows will sap all our human energies and leave us lying helpless, even to the point of giving up? Absolutely yes! Jesus forewarns us, "Without me ye can do nothing" (John 15:5).
So he asks us to take up our cross, struggle on with it, until we learn that lesson. Not until our cross pushes us down into the dust do we learn the lesson that it is not by our might or power or strength, but by his power.
That is what the Bible means when it says his strength is made perfect in our weakness.
Sermons David Wilkerson Today, Daily Devotions
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