Christ is my Life and Strength

Introduction: Ballast for the Soul and the Series Overview

0:04 Our communion meditation tonight will be comprised of the fourth message in a very brief series, which I began to preach on December 31st in the year 2000. We were snowed out, I believe, on that morning, and when we gathered for that New Year's Eve service, we began to consider what I have entitled, Ballast for the Soul, using the analogy of a ship that must have sufficient ballast in its hull if it is to be a seaworthy vessel. We've been looking at those particular biblical truths which act as ballast in the soul of a child of God, enabling him, by the grace of God, not to capsize or to be dashed on the rocks of confusion and frustration or despair when the sea of life becomes unbearable. We've been looking at those particular biblical truths which act as ballast in the soul of a child of God, enabling him, by the grace of God, not to capsize or to be dashed on the rocks of confusion and frustration or despair when the sea of life becomes unbearable. And in the first message, we consider two such truths. The first, that God is on his throne, governing all things in this universe,

1:31 as an absolute sovereign. Secondly, that the crucified, risen, and exalted Lord Jesus shares that throne as the administrator of all things, leading to a glorious consummation. He is the administrator of all things toward the end of the consummation of the kingdom of God. And that is the posture of our Lord Jesus in this very hour.

2:01 Then in the second message, we took up a third truth that should act like ballast in the soul of a child of God, and it was this, that the God who is on his throne is my loving, all-knowing, kindly disposed, but principled Father in heaven. And then in the last time we considered this theme together, we looked at the fourth truth, and it was this, that the exalted Christ is my advocate and intercessor at the right hand of God the Father. And in that message, as we focused upon the meaning of Christ as advocate from 1 John chapter 2, and intercessor primarily from Hebrews 7 and verse 25, and again in Romans 8, we saw that in response, to that which is the greatest source of grief, perplexity, and anxiety in the heart of a true child of God, the matter of his ongoing struggle with his sin, he finds consolation and stability in the believing appropriation of what Christ is to us as advocate and intercessor.

The Biblical Framework: Union with Christ

3:27 Now tonight, I want simply to point to the blessed biblical, biblical reality, bound up in the next couplet of words. A few of you may remember, back to our last meditation, when I stated that we would focus upon this fourth category of truth, that Christ is my advocate and intercessor, comma, my indwelling life and strength, comma, my guide and constant companion. Well, having considered what Christ is to us as advocate, and intercessor, now for our communion meditation, I want us to think together on this that constitutes one of the most blessed realities, one of the great mysteries of the Christian faith, that the enthroned Christ is, if I'm a true believer, my indwelling life and strength. And in the time allotted, consider with me, first of all, the biblical framework for this blessed reality, secondly, the biblical witness to this blessed reality, and thirdly, the biblical implications of this blessed reality. First of all, then, the biblical framework for this blessed reality, that is, the reality that every child of God is warranted to say

4:55 that the enthroned Christ, the very Christ, who is administering all things, in his kingdom, towards a glorious consummation, that that Christ is not only my advocate and intercessor at the right hand of the Father, but he is also at one and the same time my indwelling life and strength. And the biblical framework for this blessed reality is the massive New Testament doctrine, the New Testament doctrine of union with Christ. The phrases, in Christ, in whom, in him, are found approximately a hundred and fifty times in the epistles of the New Testament. So that it is no exaggeration to say that the doctrine of union with Christ is the most foundational truth, the most central truth, the most central truth, the most central truth, with respect to the salvation of hell-deserving sinners. Professor Murray, in his very helpful chapter on this subject, Union with Christ, in the book Redemption Accomplished and Applied, wrote, Union with Christ is really the central truth of the whole doctrine of salvation,

6:24 not only in its application, but also in its once-for-all accomplishment in the finished work of Christ. Indeed, the whole process of salvation has its origin in one phase of union with Christ, and salvation has in view the realization of other phases of salvation in Christ. From our being chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world, to our being raised at his second coming, Christ is our true salvation. His second coming for the dead in Christ shall be raised.

7:06 They shall be raised. Union with Christ is that which binds the entirety of God's saving work into one beautiful fabric. So that's the framework of our consideration of this. But we are narrowing in and bracketing only one aspect of that wonderful proof of union with Christ.

7:30 And it is that union with Christ that is effected in us when we are actually brought to repentance and faith. When God sovereignly regenerates us, takes out the heart of stone and gives us a heart of flesh. And the first beatings of that heart of flesh are the beatings of repentance. And when we are brought to repentance and faith, a penitence suffused with faith and a faith suffused with repentance, we are at that instant united to Christ vitally in our own personal experience.

8:07 For example, Romans 8 and verse 1. There is therefore now no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus. We are either in a state of condemnation for ourselves, or in Christ, the day of judgment has come and has passed for us. Or the familiar text, 2 Corinthians 5.17.

8:32 If any is in Christ, a new creation, the old has passed, the new has come. If any man is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old things have passed away. All things.

8:51 Have become new. Or 1 Corinthians 1.30. But of him, that is, by God's working, are you in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.

9:08 Or perhaps more accurately rendered, who is made unto us wisdom from God, and righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. Or the familiar words of Ephesians 2. 8-10. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves.

9:27 It is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast or glory. For we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God has before ordained that we should walk in them. This is why Paul, in listing out these various people in the church of Rome, to whom he wants. Greetings to be sent, could say in Romans 16 and verse 17.

9:57 Romans 16, I'm sorry, in verse 7. For I do not wish now to see you. No, I've got the wrong. I've got 1 Corinthians.

10:06 Romans 16 and verse 7. Salute Andronicus and Junius, my kinsmen and my fellow prisoners, who are of note among the apostles, who also have been in Christ before me. Well, you see, he can't be speaking of that union of Christ that goes back to our election. In Ephesians 1, he speaks of being chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world.

10:34 And these brethren, whose names were Andronicus and Junius, his kinsmen, they were not in Christ, in sovereign, free, electing choice, before Paul. No. He is speaking of that experiential union with Christ that is effected when we are saved by grace through faith, when we are created anew in union with Christ unto good works. Well, that's the broad biblical category of our consideration of this matter of Christ right now being our indwelling life and strength.

The Biblical Witness: Christ Indwelling His People

11:12 So, having briefly considered this broader biblical category, the framework of this reality, now, secondly, the biblical witness, to this blessed reality, where in the Bible does it state in unmistakable terms that the Christ on the throne actually dwells in his people as the source of their life and their strength? Well, I want us to look at four or five texts which state this in unmistakable language. First of all, Romans chapter 8. Romans chapter 8.

11:54 The apostle, having made the statement which we quoted a few moments ago, tells us how we came into this state of no condemnation based upon the work of Christ being sent by the Father in the likeness of sinful flesh, condemning sin in his flesh. And then he opens up this subject that there are now two realms of spiritual reality and existence. The realm of the flesh, which leads to death. The realm of the spirit, that leads to life.

12:27 And speaking of every single Christian at Rome, he can say, verse 9, but you are not in the flesh, but in the spirit. You are no longer in the realm where flesh, that is, human nature, unblessed, untransformed by the power of God, operates, dictates your perspectives and your desires, your standards, your goals, etc. He says of these, Christians, you are not in that realm of the flesh as the generic realm of your spiritual existence, but you are in the spirit, if so be, that the spirit of God dwells in you. But if any man has not the spirit of Christ, he is none of his. Now, do you see the two terms he uses as interchangeable? Spirit of God, spirit of Christ. Why are we no longer in the realm of the flesh, that leads to death?

13:27 Because the spirit of God has come to take up his residence in us. And the spirit of God is, here in this text, called the spirit of Christ. But now look at verse 10. And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the spirit is life because of righteousness.

13:48 Spirit of God, spirit of Christ, Christ himself. So that, when the spirit of God comes to indwell us as the spirit of Christ and of God, it is Christ who comes to indwell us. It is Christ who now dwells in us. Christ is in you.

14:12 He is not in you in his glorified body. He is there in his glorified body at the right hand of the Father. But though he is in you by his spirit, he is in you. Paul does not scruple to use the term, and if Christ is in you.

14:33 And it's not the if of doubt, it is the if of certainty, since Christ is in you. As true Christians, if any, has not the spirit, he is not a true Christian. The identifying mark of every true Christian, according to this passage, is that the spirit of God dwells in him, and the spirit of God, which is the spirit of Christ, means Christ himself dwells in us. Galatians chapter 2 and verse 20.

15:03 In this letter where the apostle is ringing the changes on the matter of justification in Christ alone, by faith alone, apart from the works of the law,

15:18 emphasizing in some of the most vigorous terminology possible his substitutionary curse bearing in chapter 3. Note what he says. Note what he says in chapter 2 and verse 19. For I through the law died unto the law that I might live unto God.

15:41 The law slew me. It condemned me. And in its condemning power, I died to its authority in my union with Christ to the end that I might live unto God. Now verse 20.

15:56 I have... I have been crucified with Christ.

16:00 There's an aspect of our union with Christ that takes us back to the space-time historical events in the life of Jesus. When Jesus of Nazareth was crucified, all of his people were with him and in him and were crucified in his death. Romans chapter 6. The whole first section, the first 14, verses is built upon the reality condensed in these words.

16:32 I have been crucified with Christ. And it is no longer I that live, but Christ lives in me. Language could not be simpler, plainer, unambiguous. Christ lives in me.

16:53 But now notice. And the life which I now live, oh, live in the flesh. Well, wait a minute, Paul. You said you don't live.

17:02 It's Christ that lives. And now you say I live. Are you dead or are you alive? Are you living or is Christ living?

17:10 And Paul says don't give me either or. It's all true. I, Paul the proud, Saul of Tarsus the proud, self-righteous, self-dependent, blind, bigoted Pharisee. Where is he?

17:24 He's dead on Christ's cross. He was done on the cross. I have been crucified with Christ with all of my so-called righteousness rooted in the law. The law slew me.

17:41 I died to it in the death of Christ. But I'm alive. And I'm conscious of living a life as Paul the Apostle. Nevertheless, I live.

17:54 Well, are you dead or are you alive? Well, I am dead, but I am alive. Well, what's the rationale? What's the explanation for the way you now live?

18:04 The way you live, pouring out your life that others may know of Christ. Denying yourself legitimate liberties. Willing to spend and be spent for others. Saul, Paul, whoever you are, how do you explain who and what you are?

18:19 He says I'll tell you. Christ lives in me.

18:23 He lives in me. Christ who died and rose lives in me. But not in such a way that I am no consequence. No longer conscious of living.

18:33 And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live in faith. Faith which is in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. There is a beautiful fusion of the deepest recesses of the mystery of union with Christ in all of its legitimate, subjective, experiential, biblical mysticism with all of the vigorous, glorious, objective reality that Christ loved me, gave himself for me. There's the objective object of faith joined to this consciousness and conviction that the Christ who died and rose lives in me. Then we come to John 17 in which our Lord is praying for his own and in this prayer for his own that follows, all of the instruction about the coming of the Comforter, language that obviously puzzled the disciples at first and it puzzles us. He said, I'm going away, yet I'm coming. And when I come, the Father is coming with me.

19:50 But I'm going away and I'm sending the Spirit. When the Spirit comes, I come. And when I come, the Father comes. I'm going away, but the Spirit will come.

19:59 He's with you and shall be in you. But I shall be in you, in the person of the Holy Spirit, in where I and the Spirit are. The Father? The Father is present.

20:08 It all sounds like mumbo-jumbo to the unbelieving mind. But listen to what Jesus prays in verse 22 of John 17. And the glory which you have given me I have given unto them, my people, that they may be one even as we are one. I in them and thou in me that they may be perfected into one.

20:32 And this is not something that awaits heaven. That the world here and now may know that you did send me and loved them even as you loved me. He said the validation of your sending me, Father, and of your love to them that has some parallel with your love to me will be my indwelling in them. That has some parallel, not identity.

21:06 Similarity is not identity. But let the truth of the words filter upon your heart as mind-boggling as they are. I in them, thou in me, that they may be perfected into one. And what is the measure, the standard, the parallel of that oneness?

21:27 Verse 22, that they may be one as we are one. Something of the intimacy of inner Trinitarian life. Is mirrored, not replicated, but mirrored in the union of Christ with His people.

21:45 You say, explain that to me. I can't explain. But I can read what's here. You don't need to know a word of Greek.

21:54 It's plain.

21:56 I have given this unto them. The glory which you gave to me, I have given to them that they may be one as we are one. I in them, thou in me, they may be perfected into one.

22:09 Marvelous statement. Of Christ's own indwelling. And it's in that context, you remember, that He gives us the analogy of the branch and the vine. John 15, verses 1-8.

22:22 I am the vine. My Father is the caretaker. You're the branches. The same life that courses through the main stalk of the vine goes out into the least branch.

22:35 It is a commonality of life. The relationship of vine and branch is not the same. It is not plastic, wooden. It is organic.

22:46 It is living. There is life that flows from the vine into its branches. The Apostle Paul, in the summary of his ministry as a minister of the New Covenant in Colossians chapter 1, notice what he says is the very focal point of that truth hidden for generations,

23:09 but now manifest in the Gospel. Here in Colossians chapter 1, we have one of the grandest statements on the major pivots around which a biblical ministry will turn and function. He says, I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, verse 24, and fill up on my part that which is lacking in the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for His body's sake, which is the church, whereof I was made a minister according to the dispensation of God which was given me to you to fulfill the Word of God. Even the mystery that has been hid for ages and generations, but now it has been manifested to His saints, to whom God was pleased to make known.

23:54 Now look at the language. What is the riches of the glory of this mystery? It is a mystery. Something hidden for ages and generations now revealed.

24:05 And that which is now revealed, the mystery revealed, has glory. And that glory is so profuse that it's revealed. Riches of the glory of the mystery. Now he's going to identify it.

24:17 And what is it? Which is Christ in you? The hope of glory. That's the riches of the mystery.

24:28 That in the gospel, God not only settles all of the legal accounts in the court of heaven, without which He could not righteously declare us righteous and forgiven, nor have a basis, on which to adopt us into His family as sons. Justification and adoption. Those legal declarations of heaven rest down upon the objective work of Christ in substitutionary atonement. But that is not the end of our salvation.

25:03 The God who justifies and adopts comes in the Spirit to bring Christ Himself in us. The hope of glory. And he says this is the riches of the glory of the mystery. Christ in you.

25:21 The hope of glory. So it should not surprise us that when he comes to chapter 3 and speaks of our union with Christ in a broader way, we've been raised together with Christ. At the end of chapter 2, he speaks of our having been crucified together with Him. Raised with Him.

25:41 Seated with Him. And notice how he describes that same Christ in verse 4. When Christ our life shall be manifested. When Christ our life shall be manifested.

25:57 That's where I got the language of my heaven. That the Christ at the right hand of the Father is not only our advocate and intercessor, but He is our life and our strength. That's the...

Biblical Implications: Not Passivity or Unbiblical Mysticism

26:14 heart of the biblical witness. Other passages could be brought to bear, but these are some of the most explicit. Now, briefly, the biblical implications of this blessed reality. We're anticipating coming to the Lord's table.

26:30 Is there any connection between all of this and what we'll be doing as we take the bread and the fruit of the vine? Well, let me state negatively, God never revealed this truth, nor does He make it real to establish, establish a ground for passivity among His people. You see, there's no truth. The devil will not prostitute and profane and twist to his own ends.

26:55 And there are some who have taken this truth of Christ dwelling in us, Christ living in us, and they say, if that's so, then I must be just like a funnel. I put my mind in neutral. I put my affections in neutral. I put my will in neutral.

27:11 And I just sort of get adjusted, and I let Christ live His life. I was under that kind of teaching in a context that made it very, very attractive. And I desperately tried to get the funnel shaped right. And all the people that taught me this were very temperamentally reserved.

27:34 They never wiggled a hand when they preached. They never raised their voice when they preached. So I figured that's the way Christ must have taught and preached. And because Christ is living in them and Christ is living through them, I've got to learn how to preach with my hands at my side and talk in a very ordinary tone of voice and never get excited.

27:54 And sure enough, once or twice, I thought I had the funnel all adjusted. But three minutes into preaching, I backslid. And out came my hands. And then I found my voice roaring.

28:06 And then I thought... And you know, we laugh.

28:09 And the laughter was innocent and legitimate. But I'd go back to my room and say, Lord, when, when, when will I get so used that Christ will preach through me? Christ will live through me. I got to the place where I couldn't make rational decisions.

28:25 If I have the mind of Christ, I wait for the impulses of His mind upon my mind. I must not let my mind, the mind of the flesh, get ahead of me. And it brings a sincere soul into tremendous bondage. This truth is not revealed to constitute a ground for passivity.

28:45 For you see, in the text that teach it most clearly, there's no passivity. I have been crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, there's more I than Christ in Galatians 2.20.

28:56 Nevertheless, I live. Who's the I? He has a mind. He has will.

29:00 He has affections. He has judgment. He has desires. He has likes and dislikes.

29:04 He said, I live. Yet not I. If you ask the secret for the kind of life that I live, why my mind works the way it works, why my affections flow the way they flow, why my will chooses what it wills, the answer is Christ is in there. Christ, by the Spirit, has transformed me.

29:27 And His life is my life. The life which I now live in the flesh. Likewise, in this passage in Colossians, where he identifies the riches of the glory of the mystery as Christ in you, there's no passivity in the man preaching it. For he goes on to say in verses 28 and 29, whom we proclaim, admonishing every man, teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man mature or perfect in Christ.

29:56 Now notice, where unto I labor also striving. Agonizomai again. Intense, passionate engagement of His whole being. He said, I labor striving according to His working.

30:20 Which works in me mightily. Well, is it Christ's working or Paul's striving? It's not either or. It's both and.

30:31 Christ's working comes to light and manifestation in Paul's striving. And when you ask him, Paul, what's the source of your passion? You could say, day and night with tears, I labor with my own hands to provide. Paul, where does the passion, the strength, the focus come from?

30:53 He says, it's Christ's working in me. Well, how do you know it's Christ's working in you? Because things are done in me and by me that I would never do, nor have the desire to do, if Christ did not live in me. So it's no call to passivity.

31:11 Nor is it a warrant for an unbiblical mysticism. An unbiblical mysticism. Living by what we would interpret as the impulses of the indwelling Christ. We wait to feel to be led to pray.

31:26 And if the indwelling Christ isn't leading us to pray, we don't pray. We're waiting for the indwelling Christ to lead us to seize an opportunity to speak a word for Christ and to seek aggressively to establish friendships that we might earn credibility and speak of Christ. No, that would be the flesh. We want to wait.

31:46 No, no. This is no call to passivity. It is no warrant for an unbiblical...

31:51 Unbiblical mysticism. Rather, rather, it is a call to three very simple things. Nothing, nothing, nothing magical. But these are the things that constitute ballast in the soul.

Biblical Implications: Abiding, Expecting Strength, and Believing Submission

32:04 First of all, it is a call to abide in Christ.

32:09 If Christ is our life and our strength, and he meant it when he said in John 15, without me, severed from me, cut off from me, you can do nothing. That's not hyperbole. That's the truth. We can do nothing of spiritual good.

32:30 Nothing that is well-pleasing to God. Our works to be good works must not only be done according to the rule of Christ's word and done, presented to God in the virtue of Christ's atoning and intercessory work, but they must be done in Christ's strength.

32:53 Christ's word. Christ. Christ. Atonement and Christ's spirit.

33:00 All three combine if we are to be filled with the fruits of righteousness that Paul describes in Philippians 1.11 with this language, which are by Jesus Christ unto the glory and praise of God. This is a call to abide in Christ. And when you ask, how do I abide in him?

33:24 Read John 15, 1-8. We abide in him by faith and obedience in an atmosphere of prayerfulness regulated by the Scriptures. If you abide in me and my word abide in you, you shall ask what you will and it shall be done unto you. Herein is my Father glorified that you bear much fruit.

33:52 Secondly, it's a call to continually expect strength from Christ. It is a call to continually expect and to draw strength from Christ. Philippians 4.13.

34:08 Remember the context? Paul said, There are times when I know what it is to have my tummy play a tune on my backbone. I know what it is to be in want, not to have the basic necessities of food and earthly comforts. But he said, I found contentment.

34:27 You come by the place where I'm chained to a Roman god, You come by the place where I'm chained to a Roman god, You come by the place where I'm chained to a Roman god, and I've gone several days on a very Spartan diet, little or nothing to eat, and what I had to eat was very, very rough fare. And you find me singing hymns and psalms of praise. And someone has come from one of the churches, like Epaphroditus came from Philippi, and he brings the bounty of the church, and I've had three squares, and I've got a new coat on, and I've had a new set, and I've had a new set of razor blades brought, and I've been able to trim my beard. And he's singing the same hymns and the same psalms.

35:10 And you say, What makes you tick? He said, Well, I have learned in whatsoever state I'm in to be a psalm and hymn singer, to be content. Well, where do you get that strength, Paul? He says, I'll tell you.

35:23 Look at Philippians 4.13. This is the context. I have learned the secret, both to be filled and hungry, to abound and be in want.

35:28 I can do all things in him that I want. I can do all things in him that I want. I can do all things in him that I want. I can do all things in him that empowers me from within.

35:35 The Greek verb to give strength or power with the prefix, en, in. I can do all things laid upon me in the will of God. The all things here is contentment in whatever state we are in. How?

35:53 By the strength of the indwelling Christ. Ephesians 3 and verse 20. Here the apostle speaks of a man. A measure of power that we often refer to, verse 20, unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all we ask or think, and we stop.

36:13 But it's according to the power that works in us.

36:20 That is at work in us. Whose power is that? It is nothing other than the power of Christ, that to which he points these same Ephesian Christians in chapter 6 and verse 10. And finally, be strong in the Lord, now notice, and in the strength of his might.

36:41 Strength that comes from union with Christ, and the strength of his might. That's why Paul could write as he did in Romans 15, 18, in an almost casual way. For I will not dare to speak of anything save those which Christ wrought through me. For the obedience...

37:05 The obedience of the Gentiles by word and deed. You want to find out why my ministry produced this effect? The answer is very simple. Christ wrought those through me.

37:16 Well, he can't effect them through us if he doesn't dwell in us. And for Paul, the concept, the reality of the indwelling Christ, so filled his own mind that when he describes the fruit of his ministry, he said it is the things that Christ wrought through me. So this...

37:35 So this is a call to continually expect and to draw strength from Christ. And thirdly, and this is what clinches the other two, it is a call to a believing submission to Christ and to all the circumstances that shut us up to his strength. It's a call to a believing submission to Christ and to all the circumstances that shut us up to Christ. I want you to look at several passages in 2 Corinthians.

Strength in Weakness: The Genius of God's Way

38:09 The great theme of 2 Corinthians is strength in weakness. The super apostles were all the time strutting about, showing what great guys they were. And they were despising Paul and trying to demote Paul in the esteem and affections of the Corinthians by saying, look, he's this, this, and this, and all of those aspects speak weakness, contemptible speech. Contemptible speech.

38:35 Physical presence unimpressive. And he goes around sick half the time and he's got this thorn in his flesh. Weakness, weakness, weakness. We're the strong ones.

38:46 Look at us. And Paul picks up on that and says, I want to show you that strength in the midst of weakness is the genius of God's way with his people. Look at chapter 1 of 2 Corinthians. Verse 8.

39:01 For we would not have you ignorant, brethren, concerning our affliction that befell us in Asia, that we were weighed down exceedingly beyond our power. Ah, he said God got us to the place where he said if we ever get out of this, we won't pat ourselves on the back. Beyond our power. In so much, we despaired even of life.

39:30 Yes, we have had the sentence of death within ourselves. Why? That we should not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead. You mean, Paul, you are so inclined to trust in yourself that you're telling us that this great trial that befell you was ordered of God to knock the stuffing of self-trust out of you?

39:58 He said yes. Yes, exactly. And I don't want you to be ignorant of it. That's what he said.

40:07 Notice how he amplifies. He amplifies that in chapter 4. Verse 7. We have the treasure in cracked clay pots.

40:17 We have the treasure in earthen vessels. Why? That the exceeding greatness of the power may be of God and not from us. We're pressed on every side, yet not straightened, perplexed, yet not unto despair, pursued, yet not forsaken, smitten down, yet not destroyed.

40:35 Now notice. Always bearing about, in the body, the dying, the putting to death of Jesus. Why? That the life of Jesus may be manifested in our body.

40:50 This is something going on right now. He's not talking about the resurrection and bodily transformation at the coming of Christ. Notice. For we who live, this has to do with life right now, are always, that has to do with life right now, delivered unto death, for Jesus' sake, to what end?

41:11 That the life also of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So then, death is working in us, but life in you. Do you see it? He is saying, my life is one string of circumstances in which God brings me virtually into my grave.

41:35 So that if anything good is done by, by Paul the Apostle, it'll be by the God who raises the dead. And when people see it done, they'll say, how in the world did that man do what he did? Respond the way he did. And the only answer is, the resurrection life of Jesus is at work in him.

41:58 The God who raises the dead is the one who is at work in his servant. And of course, that's culminated in chapter 12. When he takes, he takes us in to the inner circle of his own struggle with this thorn in the flesh, whatever it was. And Paul had come to the conclusion, oh Lord Jesus, you have given me strength out of weakness in this, that, and the other.

42:27 And I know I have said in the past that I understand it, but this thing, whatever it is, it is going to preclude my fulfilling your will for me. Lord, it must be taken away. It's either my diminishing, diminished usefulness, or the removal of this thorn in the flesh. So he says that he gave himself to three seasons of prayer.

42:51 Most likely, though the text does not say it, where you read other passages in Corinthians where he speaks of fasting often, could well be seasons of prayer and fasting. He says to the Lord that I must have this thing removed. Verse 8, concerning this thing, I be sorry, but the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And he said unto me, my grace is sufficient for you.

43:20 Now notice, my power is made perfect in weakness. And he says that he sought the Lord three times. Verse 8, and unless there is compelling contextual reasons to make this conclusion, when Paul says the Lord, he's speaking of the Lord Jesus. He is identifying which members, which members of the Godhead he was deeming with.

43:44 For this thing I sought the Lord three times. And he, the Lord, said to me, my grace is sufficient for you. My power is made perfect, not replacing weakness, but in the midst of weakness. There's all the difference in the world.

44:03 He says my power is made perfect in weakness, not replacing weakness, but in the midst of weakness. Follow on. Most gladly, therefore, will I glory in my weaknesses. If his power is made perfect in the context of evident weakness, then come on, weakness.

44:27 The more weakness, the more power. Most gladly, therefore. Gladly. Not, okay, if that's the way God's going to do it, I'm going to knuckle under.

44:41 He says, come on, weakness. Whatever makes me consciously weak, if his power is made manifest in weakness, then I'll glory in my weakness that the power of Christ may spread itself like a tabernacle over me so that when you see me, you won't see me, you'll see the power of Christ that has spread itself over me. That's what Paul said. Wherefore, you think the guy was masochistic.

45:12 I take pleasure. In weaknesses. When I get up in the morning and look at my duties for the day and say, Lord, they take me to ten o'clock at night, I don't feel I got strength for ten o'clock in the morning. He says, good.

45:24 So when you make it to ten tonight and you've done something worthwhile in my kingdom, you'll know my power has spread itself over you like a tent. He said, boy, you can get hooked on that. Most gladly will I take pleasure then in my weakness, in injuries, necessities, persecutions, distresses. For Christ's sake, for when I am weak,

45:48 then am I strong. It's in the midst of weakness that His strength is made manifest. It's a call, dear people, this truth, and I know I've gone on longer than I'm supposed to in the communion meditation. It's a call to a believing submission to Christ and to the circumstances in which He's going to teach us this truth experimentally.

Personal Application: Christ Manifested in Our Mortal Flesh

46:13 That we get pressed beyond ourselves.

46:18 I think of some sitting here never knew what that was till the darling of your heart, that son or daughter, walked away from everything you've prayed and labored to see them become and it was like a grave to you. Yes. A grave in which God wants to put you. That out of it, He'll bring that which has no explanation but resurrection life.

46:43 The power of Jesus. And people are looking to say, how in the world does that man, that woman, keep his or her sanity? Keep cheerful. And you say, well, the explanation is really simple.

46:53 Christ lives in him.

46:55 My dear wife is not here tonight. She's out in Michigan with her grandson and her daughter, my son-in-law. I can rarely say anything about her publicly because I have to go home and live with her. And that sweet, quiet, old lady,

47:11 if I say anything that embarrasses her, she'll let me know. So I'd rather not get her frown. But I want to say seriously, as I reflected upon this, to put it in concrete, in terms that most of you can relate with or relate to.

47:26 As I would see my wife during those 10 months of 11 chemotherapy treatments, for the first several days after lying on the floor in her workroom, curled up in the fetal position, with her head on a pillow, and I would come by and ask how she was. Never once, never once,

47:50 did she complain. When I saw her go through the indignity of losing every stitch of her hair from the top of her head to the sole of her feet. Never once, never once,

48:04 any evidence of wounded pride in the rape of her womanhood by that potent stuff that was put in her veins.

48:16 And as I've looked at my wife, child of a broken home, reared with no mother,

48:22 I said, how do I explain that woman? I've been forced to say there's no explanation, but Christ lives in her. Christ lives in her. In all of that weakness and necessity, responses that defied any chuck-yourself-under-the-chin, grin-and-bear-it, stiff-upper-lip approach to life.

48:46 Eleven doses of chemo will knock that stuff out of you pretty quick. The second or third will do it. Now I want to ask you the question.

48:57 Can your husband say something parallel about you as a wife?

49:05 No, you've not gone through chemo. No, God has his own ways of bringing you to the place, where what you're going to do and be will have no explanation, but that you've been handed over to death, that the life of Jesus might be manifested in your mortal flesh.

49:23 Do you respond in such a way that the only explanation is Christ lives in you?

49:29 Or does a lot of old Adams still come out, complaining, grousing, bucking about you husbands?

49:41 Can your wives say this of you? There's no explanation for that man I live with, but that the Christ, who died and rose and sits at the right hand of the Father by the Holy Spirit, lives in my husband. His patience with some of my kinks and quirks as a wife is high explanation. It's the patience of Christ.

50:06 The wisdom God gives him in areas where he didn't have training from his own dad and didn't have examples. But he lives in his Bible, and the Spirit of God helps him to apply it. There's no explanation for my husband, but Christ lives in him. Can your wife say that?

50:24 I challenge you, go home and ask her.

50:31 Get the principle.

50:34 If Christ is going to be glorified in us,

50:38 then you better settle it. God's not taking you to heaven on easy street. He's got his own tailor-made executioners to hand you over to death,

50:49 that in every situation, the life of Jesus may be manifested in your mortal flesh.

50:57 Dear people, I meet people that come up to me and know a little something of the history, of our life over the last three years, and they're ready to go into mourning for me. I tell them, Savior, mourning has never been more glorious. I've never enjoyed more being a Christian,

51:15 never enjoyed more serving Christ, when it's cost me the most. Because in it, there have been new dimensions of knowing His strength, made perfect in me.

51:29 And I'm not quite where Paul was. I can't yet say I take pleasure in the weaknesses. I think, I can say, I'm beginning to feel a little more comfortable with them.

51:41 But I want to grow to the place where I can say, Lord, bring them on. Bring them on! If in so doing, Christ will be more glorious,

51:52 most gladly, will we take pleasure in weakness. So, as we continue on our journey to the celestial city, there's one of the truths you need to have down in the ballast of your soul. It's got to be in there, folks. Not only that God's on His throne, governing all things, that Christ shares the throne, administering all things to the glorious consummation.

Communion and Concluding Prayer: A Call to Deeper Surrender

52:15 Not only that Christ is advocate and intercessor, but Christ is indwelling life and strength. And what better place to say afresh, Lord Jesus, if you died, that that might be the fruit of your death in me, than as I take that symbol of your body broken, and that symbol of your blood poured forth. Oh, Lord Jesus, take me beyond sparing myself, protecting myself, pitying myself. Lord Jesus, take me beyond it, and do in me whatever must be done, that there'll be no explanation for who and what I am to anyone who knows me with any degree of accuracy, but that you, Lord Jesus, live in me.

53:03 Are you ready to pray that kind of prayer? Can we pray less when we take the bread? What did He spare? Nothing.

53:15 When we take the cup, what did He hold back? Nothing. To the end that He might have here in this world, the people in whom His life is manifested, that's evangelism. That's the church being what she is to be.

53:33 And the world takes notice and begins to ask. And we are privileged to give an answer to everyone who asks the reason of the hope that is in us. And no. weekend seminar on church growth can give you that.

53:51 No cute little packaged outline of the gospel can give you that. That comes out of the crucible of your dealings with God in Christ. Committed that you too will be handed over to death again and again that the life of Jesus be manifested in your mortal flesh. Let's pray.

54:18 Our Father, we confess that when we seek to speak of these high and marvelous mysteries of the faith, we feel as clumsy as someone trying to thread a needle with boxing gloves on. Lord, you know my sense of frustration, my own felt ignorance of the depth and richness of these realities. Oh God, have mercy upon us all. Expand our hearts. Take us where we've never been before. And while our flesh would cry to be spared, what we are as new men and women in Christ cries out, Lord Jesus, do whatever must be done that you will be more evidently manifested in us. We ask you now to seal your word, to bless us as we come to the table. Lord Jesus, we want you to see the full reward of your suffering in us.

55:24 Has not the Father pledged that you would see the travail of your soul and be satisfied? Lord Jesus, so work in us that you will have a fuller satisfaction in the fruit of your suffering manifested in our lives, being lives that defy any explanation, but that you live in us. Hear us for your name's sake. Amen.