Post by brobob on Jun 19, 2007 14:39:29 GMT -5
It is said that during one of Charles Haddon Spurgeon's many sermons at the Crystal Palace in London, England that the great atheist/evolution speaker of the day Herbert Spencer was attendance with his assistant to hear the message. After the service and as they were leaving, the assistant asked Herbert Spencer, "Well, what did you think of him?" and Spencer apparently looked at him like coming out of a trance and said, "What did I think of who?" To this, the assistant replied, "Spurgeon, what did you think of Spurgeon?", and Spencer replied, "Spurgeon? Oh, Spurgeon...I don't know. I was totally consumed with Spurgeon's Jesus."
What a testimony! How real must a person's relationship with Christ be in order for people to be consumed with their Jesus? How real must Jesus be in their life!
In John 3:30, at the beginning of Jesus' ministry and towards the end of John the Baptist's ministry, the Baptizer said, "He must increast, but i must decrease." Meaning that his influence and the attention upon him must be much less as all of the attention is now drown to Jesus for His influence to grow. It took an effort for John to do this since he was probably the most well known religious leader of his day. In the same way we must make an effort to make sure it is less of ourselves and more of Christ in our lives.
This is the essence of the Lordship of Christ. We surrender to Him and His will, while our own wills become less valuable to us in light of the grace we have been shown by Him.
The Apostle Paul wrote in Gal. 2:20, "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." Paul's desire was to be so void of Himself that people would be consumed with His Jesus. This was Spurgeon's desire...and it is my desire.
So, how can this happen?
1. Humble yourself. Salvation begins here when we see ourselves in light of God's standard of holiness and see our need for grace and mercy. And it is an attitude we should live with daily. James tells us, "Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you."
2. Know your position. When asked what is the first and greatest commandment, Jesus replied that we should love the Lord with all our heart, soul and mind (Matt. 22:37) and then to love our neighbors as ourselves (vs. 39). I once heard it said that an acronym for JOY in the Christian's life is: Jesus first, Others second, You last.
3. Find joy in service. We are not slaves in the classic sense that we know, like the pictures we get from the movies "Roots" or "Amistad"; rather we are indentured servants who are willingly offering themselves into service to their master as a "slave". The reason, the servant knows there is no better place to be than in the service of the Master. In 2 Tim. 2:21 we see, "If a man therefore purge himself from these (meaning the old way of living), he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work."
We live in a society where it is very easy to think too highly of one's self…especially for the Christians who think we have a head up because of our salvation. The truth is, without Christ we are nothing…so for it to be less of us and more of Him, it shouldn't be that great of a transfer of power. Just has to be a transfer we are willing to make if others will be consumed with our Jesus.
What a testimony! How real must a person's relationship with Christ be in order for people to be consumed with their Jesus? How real must Jesus be in their life!
In John 3:30, at the beginning of Jesus' ministry and towards the end of John the Baptist's ministry, the Baptizer said, "He must increast, but i must decrease." Meaning that his influence and the attention upon him must be much less as all of the attention is now drown to Jesus for His influence to grow. It took an effort for John to do this since he was probably the most well known religious leader of his day. In the same way we must make an effort to make sure it is less of ourselves and more of Christ in our lives.
This is the essence of the Lordship of Christ. We surrender to Him and His will, while our own wills become less valuable to us in light of the grace we have been shown by Him.
The Apostle Paul wrote in Gal. 2:20, "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." Paul's desire was to be so void of Himself that people would be consumed with His Jesus. This was Spurgeon's desire...and it is my desire.
So, how can this happen?
1. Humble yourself. Salvation begins here when we see ourselves in light of God's standard of holiness and see our need for grace and mercy. And it is an attitude we should live with daily. James tells us, "Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you."
2. Know your position. When asked what is the first and greatest commandment, Jesus replied that we should love the Lord with all our heart, soul and mind (Matt. 22:37) and then to love our neighbors as ourselves (vs. 39). I once heard it said that an acronym for JOY in the Christian's life is: Jesus first, Others second, You last.
3. Find joy in service. We are not slaves in the classic sense that we know, like the pictures we get from the movies "Roots" or "Amistad"; rather we are indentured servants who are willingly offering themselves into service to their master as a "slave". The reason, the servant knows there is no better place to be than in the service of the Master. In 2 Tim. 2:21 we see, "If a man therefore purge himself from these (meaning the old way of living), he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work."
We live in a society where it is very easy to think too highly of one's self…especially for the Christians who think we have a head up because of our salvation. The truth is, without Christ we are nothing…so for it to be less of us and more of Him, it shouldn't be that great of a transfer of power. Just has to be a transfer we are willing to make if others will be consumed with our Jesus.
