"THE GREAT HIGH PRIESTLY PRAYER" PART II

JOHN 17:12-26

INTRODUCTION

          A father took his children to the county fair one day. Since they were obviously not interested in the prize pig or calf, the father bought a whole roll of tickets for the various rides at the fair. As each of the children approached a ride, they would hold out a hand to get a ticket from their father. At one ride, after all his children had received tickets, a strange boy whom the father had never seen came up and held out his hand, out obviously expecting a ticket.

          The father drew back his roll of tickets. He wasn’t about to give this boy a ticket. Upon seeing this, the man’s son Stephen turned and said to his dad, “It’s okay, Dad, this is my friend. I told him you would give him a ticket.”

          Do you know what the father did? He gave the boy a ticket in Stephen’s name. That boy had no right to a ticket, but since his son had said he would do it, the father honored the name of his son by giving that strange boy a ticket.

I.                  PRAYER FOR THE PROTECTION OF THE IMMEDIATE DISCIPLES VV. 12-16

Last Sunday, I told you that Jesus does not pray for the world which has rejected Him. Admittedly, God sent Jesus into the world because of His love for the world, but in His High priestly prayer, Jesus doesn’t pray for the world. Jesus leaves that responsibility in the hands of His disciples. The Book of Acts is the historical account of what the Holy Spirit did with the early disciples in the world. The early disciples have since parted from the scene. They have given the mantle of service and mission to us today to continue from where they left. Because the salvation of the world depends upon the witness of those the Father has entrusted to Jesus, He prays for their protection. During His ministry, Jesus protected the disciples and kept them safe in the name the Father gave Him.

Those that the Father entrusted to the care and protection of Jesus, He guarded them safely so that none perished, except Judas Iscariot. If you are not careful, you may conclude that Judas was doomed to destruction before his birth. That is farther from the truth. In fact, Judas had equal opportunity to be saved like any of the rest of the disciples, but he sold out to the devil. The phrase son of perdition points to Judas’ character, rather than his destiny. He was characterized by lostness, not that he was predestined to be lost. If you have genuinely been born again through the agency of the Holy Spirit, you should not fear. But if you have not made that spiritual discovery, you can do that today. You don’t have to end up like Judas Iscariot. You must be born again. In any true community of faith, there may be traitors and apostates, but the presence of such persons cannot endanger God’s elect, God’s chosen ones, because Jesus prays for our protection. Humans are not robots; we are responsible beings. Judas was a responsible person and acted freely, but God used Judas’ evil act to fulfill His purpose. No matter how evil you choose to become, you can never hinder the will of God. God protects His own. This is an encouragement to Christians who are filled with fear. This is also an encouragement to those of you who rely exclusively on the prayers of others. Before Jesus went to the cross, He prayed for your protection and safekeeping. Not only that, the Bible also says He lives to make intercession for you (Romans 8:34; Hebrews 7:24-25). This however, does not negate your own prayer. You must learn to pray because prayer is the way you communicate with your heavenly Father. Jesus the supreme and eternal High Priest has given you access to the mercy seat.

          Jesus continues to pray that the faithfulness of the disciples will be preserved and their joy made full. This is important because the world hates Christians, because our way of life is diametrically opposed to that of the world. Notice that Jesus does not pray that His disciples may escape from the world, for that would be to frustrate the divine purpose. Neither does Jesus pray that His disciples may be immune from the world’s hatred, for it is inevitable that the world’s hatred will be directed against Jesus and His disciples because they and Christians today cannot conform to the standards of the world. In His prayer, Jesus does not isolate or insulate His disciples from the world. The Middle Ages or Medieval Times were rightly called the Dark Ages when the Church retreated from the world into Monasteries. I have news for some of the cults and so-called churches that withdraw from the world. Jesus says, "You are the salt of the earth and the light of the world." If Christians retreat from the world, then we are saying in effect that the world should go to hell. I always feel pity for those who become Christians and sever their relationships with their friends in the world. I believe when you do that Jesus weeps and grieves for you. If you sever your relationship with your friends in the world, how can you tell them about Jesus? Jesus was maligned as the friend of sinners. When Matthew the tax collector was saved, he threw a party, invited all his friends and Jesus to the party. Jesus did not say because of your unsaved friends I am not coming. Jesus used that moment as an opportunity to save some. Brothers and sisters in Christ, Jesus has left us in the world with a mission. Our place is still in the world. It would be bad and disastrous for the world if the disciples were taken out of the world. Moses, Elijah, and Jonah all prayed that they be taken out of the world (Num. 11:15; 1 Kings 19:4; Jonah 4:38), but God did not grant any of the request.

          God has placed His church in this world for a purpose. The place for the people of God is in the world, though, of course, not of the world. The church of Jesus Christ is not some sort of holy club. The church is the spiritual hospital of Christ where those who are bruised, beaten, and battered by sin and Satan come for healing and transformation. Jesus rather prays that His disciples be protected from the evil one. Jesus recognizes the power of the devil and prays for His own to be protected from the adversary. Why do many pastors and Christians put too much emphasis on the devil in their prayer? Instead of praying for the Kingdom of God to come and the will of God to be done, some people waste all their time in prayer against Satan. Let me ask you a question, how much time do you spend worshiping and praising God? Compare and contrast that with the amount of time you spend binding, casting out the devil from your food, marriage, home, family, and work. You are afraid of Satan and his demons because you have something that belongs to him in your possession. There are some habits and ways of life that you live that belong to Satan that is why you are very afraid of him. Jesus said before He went to the cross, this is the hour of the evil one, but he has nothing against Me. He who said that Satan has nothing against Him is the one who prays for you. Why then are you too scared? Ladies and gentlemen, Jesus prays that you will be protected from the evil one. You can go home today and praise Jesus and the Father and have sound sleep tonight. The one who is praying for you is Christ, the Son of the Living God; He is God in the flesh. He has also given you a Helper, the Paraclete—the Holy Spirit to help you. He who is in you is greater than the one in the world (1 John 4:4). We are in the world but we don’t take our cue from the world. We are in the world, but we don’t dance to the drumbeat of the world. We dance to a different drummer. We belong to a different Master and His name is Jesus Christ. We are in better hands.

II. PRAYER OF SANCTIFICATION VV. 17-19

          Jesus prays that His disciples will be sanctified. The word sanctify comes from the Greek word hagiazo from which we get the adjective hagias, which means holy. Ladies and gentlemen, the way you live your life as Christians is very important to Jesus Christ. The moment the disciples put their faith in Jesus Christ, He sanctified them. Here the sanctification, the set apart is for mission. The means of this sanctification is the truth. Sanctify them by Your truth, Your word is truth. The Father will immerse Jesus’ disciples in the revelation of Himself in His Son. The Father will sanctify them by sending the Holy Spirit to guide them into all truth (15:13). This part of the prayer is a more serious matter. Jesus’ disciples would be set apart from the world, reserved for God’s service, insofar as we think and live in conformity with the truth, the word of revelation (v. 6), supremely mediated through Jesus Christ. Some pastors, evangelists, and lay Christians who did not take their sanctification seriously have been sidelined because they have become casualties to adultery, immorality, embezzlement of funds, child molestation, etc. Some of them are serving prison terms because they did not abide and set themselves apart in the truth. They have disqualified themselves from the service of Christ.

          Jesus did not ask the Father to remove believers from the world, but instead to use them in the world. Because Jesus sends us into the world, we should not try to flee from the world, nor should we avoid relationships with non-Christians. As the Father sent Jesus on mission to the world, Jesus also sends us on mission to the world. The protection that Jesus has prayed on behalf of the early disciples is because of our mission to the world. The truth of the matter is that, the world, which is our mission, is enemy territory; therefore, we need divine protection. God has provided this divine protection through Jesus’ prayer and the indwelling Spirit. I have said it and I will say it again. The reason God saved you is not that you will be happy or comfortable. His primary reason is that you will glorify Him. The next reason is that you will be His ambassador to the lost and dying world.

          Young people, you are ambassadors of Christ in your schools to bring some of your mates to Christ. Workers and business people, you are ambassadors of Christ to those you work and make business with. You and I are the extension of the mission of Jesus Christ. If you think it is the sole responsibility of the Pastor to preach and share Christ with others, I have news for you. Jesus says, "As you sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world." Jesus sanctifies Himself as He sets His face like a flint to the cross. Jesus has made up His mind. His work on earth is finished and there is no turning back.

III. PRAYER FOR SUBSEQUENT DISCIPLES VV. 20-26

          Jesus prays not only for His immediate disciples, He also prays for you, me, and others who are yet to be born into God’s family. It is one thing for you to pray for me and, I thank God for that. It is one thing for this church to pray for me and I thank God for that. It is one thing for my friends in Ghana to pray for me and I thank God for them. It is good to know that my wife prays for me everyday and I thank God for her. But it is another thing to know that Jesus prays for me. The Savior of the world, the Christ, and the Lord of lords is praying for you and me. Why then are you so obsessed with fear when Christ is praying for you? This should rather give you confidence to work for His Kingdom. Jesus prays for the unity of His disciples. This unity is to be enjoyed only in Jesus Christ. This unity is not unity at all cost. This unity is discriminating in the sense that you cannot unite with a person who does not believe in Jesus Christ. You cannot unite with a person or religions that think that there are other ways to God besides Jesus. It is the unity predicated upon the revelation of truth in Jesus Christ. This unity has its focus on Jesus and its source in the Triune God. Our unity in Christ is essential because it is through our love and unity that the world will know that we are Jesus’ disciples. Christian brother or sister before you slander, gossip, assassinate the character of another person, and injure another Christian, remember Jesus’ prayer—"that they may be one." You may agree to disagree. You may have different opinions about certain issues, but don’t consider the other Christian your enemy. How can your brothers and sisters become your enemies? When we are united in Christ, we can present a powerful witness to the world. Are you helping to bring unity into the body of Christ? You can pray for other believers, build others up, avoid gossip, work together in humility, give time and money, exalt Christ and refuse to get sidetracked avoiding unnecessary arguments and divisiveness. The unity that Jesus prays for is supernatural in character. Therefore, anyone who fabricates stories to create disunity in the church is demonstrating a character and spirit that contradicts the person, mission, character, and prayer of Jesus.

          Jesus frankly expresses His will to the Father, which is nothing less than the will of the Father. Jesus prays that the early disciples and all subsequent believers will be with Him and see His complete glory. While on earth, Jesus showed a glimpse of His glory to some of the disciples on the Mount of Transfiguration. I say a glimpse of Jesus’ glory because we cannot see the complete glory of Jesus until we see Him face to face in His second coming. That is why Jesus says; Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared yet what we shall be. We know that when He appears, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him just as He is (1 John 3:2). The glory of Jesus that we will see is the pre-incarnate glory; in other words, the glory of Jesus before He became one of us and offered His life on the cross for our sins. Nobody actually knows the Father except the Son of God, who has revealed the Father to us. The verb known is a perfect tense denoting something that happened in the past, but the result still going on.

          You and I who have become the disciples of Jesus are not expressing blind faith. The early disciples of Jesus did not follow Him blindly. They saw the uniqueness of Jesus in His character, authoritative teaching, His power to heal, and His miracles. It is upon this discovery that the Holy Spirit inspired them to write the Gospels and the rest of the New Testament. I hope you are not following Jesus blindly. I believe Christ has done something in your heart that has transformed you and convinced you that He is the Lord and Savior of the world. If you have not made that discovery, take a step of faith and come to Christ today. I hope when someone asks you why you are a Christian, you will be able to answer the person of the hope that is in you.

          In this prayer, Jesus has described the Father in a way that is unique to the writings of the Apostle John in the NT. In verse 11, Jesus describes His Father as Holy Father. Here in verse 25, He calls the Father, Righteous Father. Both epithets are full of meaning. God’s holiness is the guarantee that He will keep His saints from the evil of the world; His righteousness forbids Him to abandon His saints. Therefore, if you are a Christian, you have the holiness of God that protects you from the evil of the world and the righteousness that guarantees that He will never leave you nor forsake you. It is imperative that you live a life that reflects the character and person of Jesus Christ.

          Finally, we know Christ and the love of God is in us because of the indwelling of Christ in the person of the Holy Spirit. Take this prayer to heart, ponder on it, believe it, live for Christ, and share Christ with others and your life will be victorious. Our only mission is to bring others to Christ.

"THE GREAT HIGH PRIESTLY PRAYER"

JOHN 17:1-11

                              INTRODUCTION

          The story is told of a young girl who said, “Lord, I am not going to pray for myself today; I am going to pray for others.” But at the end of her prayer she added, “And give my mother a handsome son-in-law!” We just can’t seem to end a prayer without asking for something for ourselves!

Two Christian men lived near each other. The first was a farmer. Since there had not been any rain for several weeks, the farmer got up one morning and prayed for rain, but there was no rain that day.

          His next-door neighbor was also up early, but he was praying that it would not rain, because he was taking an unsaved friend fishing that morning. There was no rain that day.

          God hears both requests, but he can’t answer both. He will do that which glorifies Him the most.

I.                  PRAYER FOR THE GLORY OF THE SON VV. 1-5

This prayer concludes the Farewell Discourse. The Farewell Discourse begins at the Upper Room where Jesus washes the disciples’ feet and eats the Last Supper with them. In John 13, after Jesus washes the disciples’ feet, Judas Iscariot who has sold out to Satan leaves the room at the cover of night to complete his transaction to betray Jesus.

          Therefore, from John 14-17, Jesus is left with the eleven disciples, who are the inner circle of His disciples. Jesus pours His heart to them. He tells them of His impending death on the cross. He comforts them and assures them that He is going to prepare a place for them. He tells them unequivocally that He is the One who gives vitality to life and causes life to be productive (John 15). He promises the disciples of the work, help, teaching, and empowering of the Holy Spirit. Before He is glorified through death on the cross, Jesus spends time to intercede for the disciples. This is the most extensive prayer of Jesus recorded in the Gospels. It is not a prayer of a person on a sickbed. Rather, it is the prayer of the Savior who looks at death not as defeat, but as victory, vindication, and glorification. Jesus has ended His teaching ministry, but His great High Priestly ministry is not ended. In this prayer, I would like you to learn the heart of prayer.

          The first verse begins thus: After Jesus said this. After Jesus said what? This takes us back to 16:31-33. Jesus tells the Father, the hour has come. In the Gospel of John there are many instances where Jesus said, "My hour has not come." Now His hour has come; He is referring to His death. Now Jesus turns His gaze from earth to heaven, from the disciples to the Father. In verses 1-5, Jesus prays for Himself. There is nothing wrong in praying for yourself, but everything is wrong when your petition is centered only on material and financial needs. Yes, you are to pray for your material and financial needs, but remember that these are temporal things, but more than that pray also for your eternal needs. Many Christians are kindergarten Christians because the focus of their prayer is on themselves and the temporal needs of their immediate family. The Lord wants to take you to a deeper level in prayer. As we go through Jesus’ prayer, allow the Holy Spirit to teach you how to pray effectively. In His prayer of glorification, Jesus makes two requests. First, Jesus prays that in this hour which marks the climax of His earthly life and ministry, He may be used by the Father for the full and final display of divine love, as He offers His own life in sacrifice. Jesus’ death on the cross is the supreme demonstration of God’s love for you and me and all humanity. Here Jesus is looking forward to the cross but in a mood of hope and joy, not one of despondency. There is no expression of fatalism in Jesus’ prayer. When you are seriously ill how do you pray? I am not saying that you should not pray for healing. How many of you when you are ill pray that God should glorify His name through your illness? Why not? Because you have concluded that illness is the admission of human weakness, but Paul says when I am weak, I am strong. And God said to Paul, My grace is sufficient for you in your weakness. You see, to human point of view the cross was an instrument of shame. But to Christ it was a means of true glory. Jesus transformed the cross as a weapon of horrible death to an instrument of God’s glory.

          The glory of the Son and the glory of the Father are intertwined. They are inseparable; they are closely connected. To glorify the Son is to glorify the Father. To dishonor the Son is to dishonor the Father. To reject the Son is to reject the Father. And to receive the Son is to receive the Father. The two are one. Second, Jesus prays that His own humiliation in death may reflect His own glory (v. 5). The hour of Jesus’ death on the cross is momentous for Himself and all humanity. It is through the cross can Jesus be exalted and His authority over all humanity fully exercised. It is from the cross that Jesus is to reign and distribute His royal gifts. Now gets this, while the hour of Jesus’ suffering on the cross is the hour of judgment to unbelievers, it brings the gift of eternal life to believers (v. 2). Jesus’ entire earthly life has been a demonstration of God’s love, but the uniqueness of this love is displayed on the cross. On the cross when Jesus was suspended between heaven and earth He was saying to you, I love you; I love you.

          Jesus came to give the gift of eternal life, but only those who receive Him receive this life. In other words, God is sovereign. He can do whatever He wants, but humans are responsible in the way we respond to His revelation to us. Jesus gives us the definition of eternal life in verse 3. To know God is more than a mental assent. It is more than knowing the way to life. It is life. This knowledge is more than intellectual apprehension; it involves a personal relationship and fellowship with the Father through the Son. It involves a commitment to the Everlasting One. Eternal life then is based on a personal knowledge, experiential knowledge of God the Father and Jesus Christ the Son, whom the Father sent. Jesus has glorified the Father because He has done all that He was sent to do. This shows you and me the perfect obedience of Jesus to the Father. Are you obedient to God? When God puts it in your heart to tell your neighbor what Jesus has done for you do you obey Him? Every Christian has a mission from God, but are you obediently carrying God’s mission in your life? Half obedience is total disobedience. Christ’s mission on earth was not self-centered; it was God-centered. Let me ask you a question: can you honestly say that everything you do in this your life is Christ-centered? Jesus came into the world with only one mission, namely to do the will of His Father who sent Him. Jesus did not come to do His own thing. If you live life doing your own thing, you will regret in life, but it might be too late to do the right thing. In this world, you are not here to do your own thing. You are not here to do what pleases you. You are here to do God’s will, don’t forget that. In Jesus’ mission, Satan tempted Him to shift the attention from the Father to Himself and His own needs (Matthew 4; Luke 4). Others wanted Jesus to shift the focus from the Father to Himself by crowning Him an earthly King (John 6:15). Even Peter wanted Jesus to take the path of least resistance (Matt. 16:22). However, in every temptation Jesus remained faithful and loyal to the Father and focused on His mission.

          Verse 5, Jesus looks for glory in the least place you and I would look-- the cross. In the Gospel of John, the cross becomes the culmination of Jesus’ glory. The glory that Jesus seeks from His Father is the pre-incarnate glory. In other words, it is the glory that Jesus shared with the Father in His preexistent state (John 1:1). And this was before the creation of the universe. Jesus is asking the Father to exchange humiliation for glorification. You may curiously ask, did the Father grant His request? The answer is yes, the Father did (Acts 7:56; Philippians 2:10-11). The resurrection and ascension of Jesus is the proof of His glorification. Right now, as I speak with you, Jesus has assumed His exalted and glorified position.

          You and I must learn from the way Jesus prays for Himself even at the most critical time of His life, when the cross is staring Him right in the face. Jesus had one request, glorify Your Son. The word, glorify, means to praise, to honor. Pray that God may be glorified in your life no matter the circumstance.

II.               PRAYER FOR THE DISCIPLES VV. 6-11

What are the grounds for Jesus’ prayer for the disciples? What is Jesus’ reason for praying on behalf of the disciples? The answer is found in verses 6-11. In verses 1-5, Jesus has prayed for Himself, in particular for His glorification. I don’t want you to leave here with the impression that I don’t want you to pray for yourself. My concern is that in your prayer for yourself, don’t focus exclusively on your material or temporal needs; make your spiritual or eternal needs the center of your petition. Many Christians are kindergarten believers because they focus their prayer only on their material riches. The Lord wants to prosper you in the spiritual realm as well.

          Verse 6, Jesus lifts His voice to pray for those the Father has entrusted to His care. Jesus has come to reveal the Father to the nation of Israel in particular, and the world as a whole. However, some rejected Him, thereby rejected the revelation of the Father. Few as these disciples were in numbers they have embraced Christ and the revelation of the Father (Matt. 11:25-27). This is the truth: these disciples whom the Father has given to Jesus Christ the Son do not have any intrinsic righteousness. In other words, God has chosen them not because they are good. God has chosen them not because of anything they have done. God has chosen you in Christ not because you are good or righteous, but He has chosen you on the basis of His sovereign grace. You and I were part of the wicked world, but God has given us to Jesus because of His gracious election. This shows God’s divine initiative in our salvation. None of us ever planned in his/her heart and said; today I am going to be saved. God takes the initiative by convicting you of your sin and your need for Christ through His Holy Spirit. Yes, you have a role to play and that is whether to say yes to Jesus or say no to Him. The reaction and the response are yours to make. Jesus says to the Father, I have revealed your character to them. God’s name reveals His character, and this is what Jesus has manifested to the disciples. God has given these men out of the world to Jesus. They did not come from a different planet. Here the term world is the moral order which is in active rebellion against God. The world as a whole has failed to recognize Jesus as the revealer of the Father (12:37), but a select company of men and women, have been given to Jesus Christ. God loves this world that has rejected His Son, but He cannot force His love on the world. However, God causes some to open their heart to Jesus Christ, and these have obeyed the teaching of Christ. So, Jesus is praying for His disciples who have kept His word. Jesus uses the term world eighteen times in this prayer, but he does not pray for the world. I will tell you why, God willing next Sunday.

          In verse 7, Jesus says that the disciples have come to know that everything He has comes from the Father. In other words, Jesus is not a charlatan or an imposter, but the Messiah. The disciples may not have understood that the Messiah had to die and rise again. They may not have understood how all the OT prophecies of the Messiah would be fulfilled. Verse 7 also shows that Jesus lived His life in total dependence on the Father. Do you live your life in total dependence on God, or do you live your life independent of God? In verse 8, Jesus says three things about the disciples. 1. They accepted Jesus’ teaching, unlike the Pharisees and others who heard it but rejected it. The Pharisees were always in the temple but when God clothed Himself in the gab of humanity, they did not recognize Him. How do you treat Jesus Christ and what the Bible says about Him? Do you have any doubt that Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life? 2. The disciples knew with certainty the origin of Jesus. Their acceptance of this revelation led them to further truth. Let me give you a secret to the knowledge of truth. When you embrace the revelation of God in Christ, then God opens your mind and heart to further truth. The prince of this world, who is Satan, has blinded those who question the deity and atoning death of Jesus Christ. 3. The disciples believed in Jesus Christ. They believed His teaching, revelation, miracles, and Messiahship. They committed their lives wholeheartedly to Him. Have you committed your life wholeheartedly to Jesus?

          In verse 9, Jesus is saying that His prayer is for the disciples but not the world that has rejected Him. Jesus is right in not praying for the world, because He has revealed the Father in His teaching, miracles, and in His life, and yet the world has rejected Him. To pray for the world, the created moral order in active rebellion against God would be blasphemous; there is no hope for the world. There is hope for some in the world that would later come out of the world and become part of this redeemed people of God.

Verse 10, what belongs to the Father, belongs to the Son. There is community between the Father and the Son. What belongs to the One belongs to the Other. What did Jesus mean when He said; I have been glorified in them? God’s glory is the revelation of His character and presence. The life of Jesus reveals the character and presence of God (John 14:9). The lives of Jesus’ disciples reveal His character, and He is present to the world through them. Does your life reveal the character and presence of Jesus to those around you? When people see you, do they catch a glimpse of Jesus’ presence? Jesus has saved you to reflect His character and presence to those around you. Therefore, as a Christian be mindful how you live. You are a reflector of Christ to a dark and lost world.

          In verse 11, Jesus prays for the protection and unity of the disciples. Jesus is saying, I am coming home, but Father protect them by the power of your name and unite them. Jesus uses the phrase, Holy Father. The term Holy Father carries the idea of both remoteness and nearness. It depicts God’s transcendence and immanence. Jesus is the only one who reveals the true nature of God. In all other religions, God is only transcendent, but in Christianity God is both transcendent and immanent. God has come to save us. Jesus says that God is holy; that means He is awe-inspiring. He is holy in character and being. At the same time, He is Father; He is Abba, Daddy. He is intimate to us. This teaches you and I to combine respect, awe, and intimacy when we approach the presence of God in prayer and worship. God is our Father, but He is not our buddy. He is our loving Father, but He is also holy. Therefore, we are to live in holiness. We cannot live loose lives and still call God our Father. The children of the heavenly Father must reflect the character of the Father as Jesus has shown us.

WHO ARE YOU, SUPERNATURAL OR SUPERFICIAL?

1 CORINTHIANS 2:12-3:1-4

INTRODUCTION

          The late Dr. Robert G. Lee, a noted Southern Baptist preacher, who preached a powerful message titled “Pay Day Some Day,” regarding Ahab and Jezebel, once preached a scathing sermon against sin. He did not pull any punches. A lady whose feathers had been ruffled met him at the door after the service and said, “I didn’t appreciate that sermon one little bit.” Dr Lee replied, “The devil didn’t either. So classify yourself.”

          Classification is not always flattering, but it is always needed in spiritual matters. The Bible teaches that in the broad sense there are three categories or classes of people living on the Planet Earth. In 1 Corinthians 2-3 the Apostle Paul calls them the natural man, the carnal man, and the spiritual man.

          Classification is important because it is the starting point in our understanding of the life of faith in Christ. Just as you do not really grasp your need to be saved until you realize you are lost, so you cannot get to where you ought to be in your spiritual pilgrimage until you recognize where you are. You need to know into which of Paul’s classifications you fit. Aware of this insight, you can then lay a proper foundation as you build a home in your heart for Jesus Christ. As we study the characteristics of the natural man, carnal man, and spiritual man, may God show you where your house is out of line with His blueprint and help set your spiritual house in order.

I. THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE NATURAL MAN V. 14

          The first person we meet in Paul’s classification is the natural man. Paul states, “But the natural man does not accept the things of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them because they are spiritually appraised” (discerned). Why do we call the natural man by such a term? Because he is just that—natural. Let me clarify what a natural man is not. There is nothing inherently evil about the term natural man. It does not mean sinful. But it does point to the absence of spiritual discernment. It points to a person whose horizon is bounded by this life; in other words, one who lives on the purely material plane, without being touched by the Spirit of God. The natural man is the sum total of all that he has received by nature from his first birth and nothing more. The natural man is born into the natural world. The term natural man is used in a generic sense, so it incorporates men and women. The natural person may have been born well physically, receiving many admirable traits through his/her natural birth. He may be witty, charming, admirable, cultured, outwardly moral, and educated. He may even be religious! But because the natural man has had no second birth, he is dead to the spiritual world. Having been born only once, he is dead spiritually.

          Someone would ask how could we know that the natural man is dead spiritually? Because the Scripture states emphatically, “In Adam all died” (1 Corinthians 15:22). What does that mean? When Adam sinned, he died. He did not die an immediate physical death, but he died spiritually at that moment. Spiritual death is the separation of the Spirit of God from the spirit of man. God moved out of Adam’s spirit; Adam became devoid of God in his spirit. God says of our Lord Jesus Christ by way of contrast, “In Him was life; and the life was the light of men” (John 1:4). So, when the Lord went out of Adam, the life went out, and the light went out as well.

          Perhaps one of you is saying in your mind how does this apply to us? Every person born since that time has inherited Adam’s nature. We are born minus God in the spirit—dead, depraved, and darkened like our father Adam. Therefore, when we say that man was made in the image of God, we have to remember that we are making reference to Adam. Nevertheless, that perfect image was marred and defaced by sin. Listen to what the Bible says about Adam’s children. “Adam lived one hundred and thirty years; he became the father of a son in his own likeness according to his image, and named him Seth” (Genesis 5:3). We are born therefore in the image of Adam, rather than the image of God. It is sad but it is true and comforting to me. I would hate to look around humanity as it is and think that we are all in the image of God. Surely God is in better shape than that! God deserves better.

          This death to spiritual things that we inherited from Adam does not mean that every person is outwardly vile or inwardly cruel. Your life may not be as corrupt as someone who is wicked. But if you have not been born of the Spirit of God, both of you are dead. When a body is dead, there may be degrees of corruption and decay, but there are no degrees of deadness. Dead is dead! All people in Adam are from the same mold. So in a nutshell, the natural man is blind to the spiritual world. Due to this deadness and blindness, the natural man has no appreciation of spiritual things. That is why some people go to church but they don’t take delight in preaching, Bible study, Sunday school, witnessing, and prayer meetings. Yes, he is a church member, but his inward being has not been transformed. He or she is a natural person. Paul says that spiritual things are “foolishness to the natural man” (v. 14). Paul uses the verb, “receives,” which means to welcome as one would welcome a houseguest. The natural man has no welcome for Christ or the things of God. Let me clarify something here. This does not mean that the natural man may not enjoy coming to a church service. He/she may delight and thrill at great music. He/she can even be stirred by the articulation and oratory skill of a gifted preacher. He/she may also enjoy great comfort from the warm handshake of friendly people who gather to worship God. However, he does not truly welcome the message of God in his spirit. He/she does not surrender to Christ. Satan knows this secret so he does not oppose religion as such. Satan would just as soon send a man or woman from the pew to hell as from the gutter. Paul amplifies the natural man’s lack of appreciation for the things of God in 1 Corinthians 1:18. The natural man does not know the real meaning of the cross. That is why the preaching and teaching of the cross do not move some people in our churches today. The reason is because they are purely natural.

          Not only does the natural man have no appreciation for the things of God, he also doesn’t understand them (2:14b). What good is a television set if the tuner is broken? You cannot receive any program from such a television. The natural man does not have any spiritual apparatus. He/she may hear the words, but he/she never really gets the message. Some of you argue with people about Jesus Christ and the things of God. You don’t have to argue with a natural man/woman over spiritual things. “Why do you blame a blind man for not seeing?” Your job is to bear witness to Christ, then, pray that God in His mercy will turn the light of His revelation onto the darkened spirit of the person involved. A person in this condition is bound to this material world, which compounds the tragedy of life without God. The natural man lives a self-gratifying, and materialistic life without the miracle of the new birth from above. To those of you who are natural in your essential being there is more, there is so much more to life than you already have.

II.   THE MARKS OF THE SPIRITUAL PERSON

          The second category of humanity that Paul describes is the spiritual man. What are the characteristics of the spiritual man, the person who is living a supernatural life? First as the name implies, the spiritual man lives by the Spirit (2:12). The spiritual man is simply a person who has received the Spirit of God. Because he has received the Spirit of God, he has also received life. He/she has been born from above. He is not a natural man who has been improved. He is not a person who has had a makeover. Rather the spiritual man has been transformed into a prince by the kiss of God’s grace. Christians are not merely nice people. We are new creatures (2 Cor. 5:17).

          You have to remember that salvation is a matter of receiving Christ through the Holy Spirit into your heart. It is not merely having your sins forgiven. Forgiveness is necessary, but it is a stage setter for salvation—the entrance of Christ into your life. Salvation also does not mean merely going to heaven when you die. That is wonderful but heaven is the by-product of salvation. Salvation begins with getting Christ, the life, and the light back into your deadened spirit.

          Second, the spiritual man learns from the Holy Spirit. The spiritual man is given supernatural insight into the things that have been freely given by God (2:13). There are things that can be known only by the illumination of the Holy Spirit. That is why some of you read the Bible but you don’t understand what it means. To the spiritual, the human spirit becomes the organ of spiritual knowledge. The Lord reveals spiritual truth to the human spirit. Of course, this includes the mind and emotions, but they depend on the revelation that the human spirit has received from the Lord. The Holy Spirit is the Person who reveals God’s truth to your human spirit. That is why it is important to pray, teach, preach, witness, and minister in song in total dependence upon Him. For while I can preach truth to you Sunday by Sunday; it is the Holy Spirit who imparts truth. An intellectual pursuit of the Bible is important. But remember that the mind can only help you to understand what God has revealed to you by His Spirit. So when God wants to illumine you, the lamp He uses is your human spirit. Therefore, it would be wise of you to burn the oil of divine illumination rather than the wick of human intuition, which quickly burns out and leaves only so much smoke.

          Third, the spiritual man is liberated through the Holy Spirit (2:15-16). The spiritual man is no longer chained in the prison of this world’s system. He sees right through it. He judges, or discerns, all things. The word "judges" is a legal term that implies an examination made upon the basis of illuminated insight and knowledge. Because of the Holy Spirit the value system of the spiritual man is operating correctly. He is set free from the bondage that enslaves the thinking pattern of the natural man. This truth sets the spiritual man free. The things that motivate the natural man do not motivate the spiritual man. The Spiritual man marches to the beat of a different drummer (1 Peter 4:4). The truth is that the spiritual man is not weird or an oddity. He/she is not odd but just different. If a spiritual person displays some weird or odd characteristics, it is an indication that he/she was odd or weird before he/she was saved. However, there is a marked distinction in the life of the spiritual man.

III.           THE TRAITS OF THE CARNAL PERSON

          The third kind of person that the Apostle Paul mentions is the carnal man. This person was once spiritual but is now known as carnal or fleshly. The carnal man is unnatural. He is unnatural because he is a strange mixture. He is neither fish nor fowl. He has truly been saved, for Paul calls the carnal believers in Corinth his brethren. But this strange creature looks and acts much like an unsaved person. What are the traits of a carnal Christian? The carnal Christian is deformed (1 Cor. 3:1). Paul says that the carnal Christian is like a baby who has never grown up. When you give birth to a baby boy or girl you delight in him or her. Who does not love a baby? But later on when this little baby gets to eight or ten years and the only syllable that he can say is “dada” then, something has gone bad. In the physical realm when something goes bad and the baby fails to develop, the parents don’t condemn the child. They care and love that baby.

          But it is quite different when for no reason at all you do not develop and grow spiritually in the Christian life. How sad and tragic when you have all that you need to grow and yet, because of stubbornness, ignorance, laziness, or sin, you are a spiritual midget or pigmy. That means you are spiritually deformed. It is one thing to be childlike; it is quite another thing to be childish. The carnal Christian is not only deformed but also dependent (3:2). There is nothing wrong in feeding a little baby with milk, but there are so many good things to taste and enjoy for the adult! Technically, milk is a predigested food. Carnal Christians expect a pastor to bottle-feed them on Sundays and then burp them on their way out of the sanctuary. Because of his weak digestion and his spiritual dependence, the carnal Christian never grows in his theology much beyond “Hell is hot, heaven is sweet, and Jesus saves.” Thank God that these things are true, but there is so much more to know and enjoy about the Lord Jesus Christ. While the spiritual man is sitting down to a juicy, spiritual steak with all the trimmings, the carnal Christian never gets beyond his milk. And he even needs someone to get the bottle and feed him. The carnal Christian is also divisive (3:3). Like a spoiled child, the carnal Christian is the center of division and controversy in the church. The carnal Christian does not want peace in the body of Christ. He/she is always the center of controversy and division (3:21-23). He/she is not interested in the spiritual life of the church. He/she forms a clique in the church to ruin the spiritual life of the church. Such people are not happy. They have no joy. They have no peace in their heart. They have no contentment in the Christian life. And if they died in such a condition, they would stand before the judgment seat of Christ empty-handed because they would receive no reward. Who are you? Natural, spiritual, or carnal?

         

         

'HUMILITY: THE SECRET TO GREATNESS AND TRUE REST"

MATTHEW 11:28-30

INTRODUCTION

          “The true way to be humble is not to stoop until you are smaller than yourself, but to stand at your real height against some higher nature that will show you what the real smallness of your greatness is.” (Phillips Brooks)

          The Navigators are well known for their emphasis on having a servant attitude. A businessman once asked Lorne Sanny, president of the Navigators, how he could know when he had a servant attitude. The reply: “By how you act when you are treated like one.”

          In Matthew’s Gospel chapter 11:28, Jesus invites us to come to Him. The invitation is for salvation, but He does not end there. He also commands us to learn from Him, for He is gentle and humble in heart (v. 29). The problem with many people today is that they want to come to Jesus to receive salvation but they don’t want to learn from Him. In other words, they think all that they need is salvation but not the fruit of the Spirit that Christ wants to build into their lives. The reason many Christians do not have peace, rest, and contentment in life is because they have ignored or rejected the gentleness and humility of Christ. In fact, there is no harder lesson to learn than the lesson of humility. It is not taught in the schools of men, only in the school of Christ. It is the rare fruit of the Christian life.

          I believe that humility was the hardest lesson, which Jesus had to teach His disciples while He was here on earth. I also believe that if you are humble enough you will experience the richest blessings of the Lord. The conditions for God’s blessings upon your life depend more on you than on the Lord, because He is always ready to give a blessing and give it freely, but you are not always in a position to receive it. God always blesses the humble, and if you can get down on the dust before Him, you will not go away from His presence disappointed. It was Mary at the feet of Jesus, who had chosen the “better part.”

          Have you considered the reason Jesus gave for you and me to learn of Him? He could have said, “Learn of Me, because I am the most advanced thinker of the age. I have performed miracles that no man else has performed. I have shown My supernatural power in a thousand ways.” But no: the reason He gave was that He was “Gentle and humble in heart.”

          We read of the three men in the Bible whose face radiated with the glory of God, and all of them were noted for their gentleness and humility. We are told that the face of Jesus shone at His transfiguration on the Mountain. Moses, having been on Mount Sinai for forty days, came down from his communion with God with a shining face; and when Stephen stood before the Sanhedrin before the day of his death, his face was lighted up with glory. If your face is to shine you must get into the valley of humility; you must go down in the dust before God.

          Someone asked Saint Augustine what was the first of the religious graces, and he said, “Humility.” They asked him what was the second, and he replied, “Humility.” They asked him the third time, and he said, “Humility.”  If you and I have humility we have all the graces of God we need. Humility is like a sensitive plant, when you breathe on it, suddenly it drops its head, and when you touch it; it withers away. Humility is so sensitive that it cannot be brought out on exhibition. A Christian who is flattering himself that he is humble and is walking close to the Master is self-deceived. It consists not in thinking meanly of oneself but not in thinking of oneself at all. Moses did not know that his face shone. Others saw it.

          A man was given an award for his humility but the award was taken away from him because he received it. If humility speaks of itself it is gone. Today, we hear of Christian men and women who call themselves “anointed men and women” of God. In the Bible only Jesus called Himself “The Anointed One,” which means “The Christ.”

          A person can counterfeit love, he can fake faith, he can counterfeit hope and all the other graces of God, but it is impossible to counterfeit humility. You soon detect mock humility. In the East among the Arabs they have a saying that as the tares and the wheat grow they can show which of them God has blessed. The ears that God has blessed bow their heads and acknowledge every grain, and the more fruitful they are the lower their heads are bowed. The tares, which God has sent as a curse, lift up their heads erect, and high above the wheat, but they are only fruitful of evil.

          Many years ago, the London Times told a story of a petition that was being circulated for signatures. It was a time of great excitement, and this petition was intended to have great influence in the House of Lords. But there was one word left out. Instead of reading, “We humbly beseech thee,” it read, “We beseech thee.” So it was ruled out. Ladies and gentlemen, if we want to make an appeal to the God of the universe, we must humble ourselves; and if we humble ourselves we will not be disappointed.

          As I have been studying some of the Bible characters that illustrate humility, I have been ashamed of myself, and our contemporary Christianity. When I put my life beside some of these men and women of God in the Scriptures, I say, “Shame on the Christianity of the present day.” If you want to have a true picture of who you are before God, look at some of the people in the Bible that have been clothed with gentleness and humility and see what a contrast is your position before God and man.

          One of the gentle people in history was John the Baptist. You recall when the Sanhedrin sent a delegation to him to inquire if he were the Prophet Elijah who had come, or this prophet or that prophet. But John said, “No.” He could have said some very flattering things about himself. He could have said, “I am the son of the old priest Zacharias. Haven’t you heard of my fame as a preacher? I have baptized more people, probably than any man alive. The world has never seen a preacher like me.” There are some preachers today who would have done that were they in the shoes of John the Baptist. Today is the age of boasting. It is the day of the great “I.” Have you noticed that in some Christian quarters the pastors’ names are mentioned more than that of Jesus Christ? But man-centered Christianity is an abomination to God. Man centered-Christianity is a curse from the Garden of Eden. That is why we do not experience true revival from God. John the Baptist said, “He must increase, but I must decrease.” John knew his limitations.

          Let me challenge you to study the Psalms of David carefully. In all the Davidic Psalms there is not a single reference of his victory over the giant Goliath. If it had been today there would have been volumes of dissertations written about this victory of David. We live in a day when people publicize their achievements and say little about what Christ has done. If David were alive today he would be in demand as a lecturer, and he would have the title G.G.K.—Great, Giant, Killer. That is how life is today; great evangelists, great preachers, great theologians, and great bishops.

          The delegation asked John, “Who are you?” "I am nobody. I am to be heard, not to be seen. I am only a voice.” John had no word to say about himself. If you can only get self out of sight and learn of Him who was gentle and humble in heart, you will be lifted up into the heavenly places.

          In Mark 1:7 it is stated that John came and preached saying, “There comes one mightier than I after me, the latchet of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie.” Think of that and bear in mind that Jesus Christ was regarded as a deceiver, a village carpenter, and yet here is John, the son of the old priest, who had a higher position in the sight of men than that of Jesus. Great crowds were coming to hear him preach, even Herod attended his meetings.

          When his disciples came and told John that Christ was beginning to draw crowds, he nobly responded, “A man can receive nothing except it has been given to him from heaven. You yourselves are my witnesses that I said, "I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before Him." He that has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice; thus my joy therefore is fulfilled. He must increase but I must decrease.”

          It is easy to read that but it is hard for you and me to live in the power of such humility. It is very hard for us to be ready to decrease, to grow smaller and smaller, that Christ may increase. The morning star fades away when the sun rises. “He that comes from above is above all; he that is of the earth is earthly, and speaks of the earth: He that comes from heaven is above all, and what He has seen and heard, that He testifies; and no man receives His testimony. He that has received His testimony has set his seal that God is true. For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God; for God gives not the Spirit by measure to Him.”

          Now search your own heart. Let the Word and the Spirit of God throw their light on you. Have you been decreasing lately? Do you think less of yourself and of your position than you did a year ago? Are you seeking to obtain some position of dignity? Do you want to hold on to some title, and are you offended because you were not treated with the courtesy that is due you? The Pharisees were interested in John’s credentials, but John did not want any title. We live in a day and time when people buy titles, and some take the titles by force without laboring for them. But when you are right with God, you do not worry about titles. In one of his Letters written earlier, Paul calls himself the “least of all of the apostles.” Later on he claims to be “less than the least of all the saints,” and again just before his death, he declares humbly that he is the “chief of sinners.” Notice how Paul seems to have grown smaller and smaller in his estimation. So it was with John the Baptist. My prayer is that contemporary Christians will stop praising and honoring men and women and letting Christ have all the honor and glory. Humanist Christianity is like a curse of the Great Babel in the Old Testament. It is a hindrance to revival.

          In light of John’s humility read what Jesus Christ says about him: “He was a burning and a shining light." Christ gave him the honor that belonged to him. If you take a humble position, Christ will see it. If you want God to help and honor you, then take a humble position.

          If you had been in John’s position you would have said, “What did Christ say? I am a burning and shining light?” You would have had that recommendation grafted on a plaque and hanged it in your office. You would have put it in the newspapers and you would have sent them to your friends, with that part highlighted with yellow marker.

          Ladies and gentlemen let us stop patting ourselves at the back and let others praise us. Do not go around praising yourself. If you want God to lift you up, get down. The lower you get, the higher God will lift you up. The Bible says, “God resists the proud but He exalts the humble.” Jesus Christ’s eulogy of John was, “Greater than any man born of woman.” Isn’t it good to have Jesus Christ, the God-Man say something like this about you?

          The one virtue of Jesus Christ Himself, which is next to His obedience, is His humility (Eph. 2:5-11).

          In a class in homiletics in a theological school, different students would preach their sermons before the class. After the sermon, the student would go into the office of the professor, who would criticize it and offer suggestions. One day, the saintly professor said to a student, “The sermon you gave yesterday was mighty fine. The truth you dealt with was well arranged and well presented. But your sermon had one omission—a grave one, too. There was no word in it for a poor sinner like me!”

          Hsu Chu came from a wealthy Chinese family. He entered the China Inland Mission Hospital to be trained as a nurse. He dressed immaculately. One day he was asked to perform a menial service—to clean and shine some shoes. He felt insulted and refused. “No gentleman or scholar would do such a lowly work,” he said. The superintendent of the hospital took the shoes and shined them. Hsu Chu looked on with mingled feelings. “Come with me to my office,” said the superintendent. Then He asked Hsu Chu to read the thirteenth chapter of John. His eyes filled with tears as he read the verse: “If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; you also ought to wash one another’s feet” (John 13:14). “May Jesus forgive me,” he prayed. Thereafter no one scrubbed floors, washed dishes, shined shoes, or did other lowly tasks more joyfully than Hsu Chu. How sad that in a church like ours sometimes you cannot have people to clean the sanctuary, and yet everyone expects God to bless and use him/her.

          Brothers and sisters in Christ let us be filled with the Spirit of Jesus Christ so that gentleness and humility will characterize our life. When that happens no work will seem menial or demeaning to you. Humility will help you to ignore the approval of men and women and seek the approval of God. If Jesus were to say something about you what would He say? Pursue humility and Christ will exalt you in due time.