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 Striving To Be Holy - David Wikerson

Paul goes on to say that no man strived in the flesh to please God more than I did. Nobody, he said, there's not a man alive today in my generation that hasn't put forth more effort in my flesh to try to get to God than I have. This man of God could look in the eye of every circumcised Jew, every converted Hebrew, every believing Pharisee every Jewish convert who is struggling and striving to please God by the deeds of the Law and he could say I've been there, I've done that. he could say go ahead and tell me about your burning desire to please God tell me about all the promises you made to God that you wouldn't do that evil thing again and you failed and went back and did it, tell me about your zeal to please God with your long hours of study, your forced discipline, your repetitious prayers.

Tell me about the hypocrisy of looking holy on the outside but knowing on the inside there is wickedness. Tell me about all your useless efforts, how you sweat trying to be righteous and good by your own power and strength tell me about all the fears the failures the struggles the useless efforts tell me all about it, Paul says. I'll tell you I tried harder than you did. I've been through the circumcision route. He says I've tried to no avail to cut off my lusts all the evil thoughts I've been down the Benjamin Hebrew pride road. I'm a Benjaminite from the root of Israel. I'm the Benjaminite, I've been down that road and I can do it in my own strength. I'm that proud Hebrew. I know what independence is and self-pride. I know the boast I can do it I can put my mind to it to change my ways he said I've been down the Pharisee path, that strict discipline, study the Scripture to try to cleanse yourself without trusting in Jesus he said all these things I have done. I was totally blameless concerning the law in keeping all the dos and the do not's but I missed Christ. In spite of my efforts, I missed Him. No wonder Paul tells us that I am determined to know nothing among you but Jesus and Him crucified.

I've tried it all. There's nothing as pathetic as the quest to be holy. the devil is behind it, he's back there cheering he's saying try harder and when you fail he says you know your problem you didn't try hard enough get in there grit your teeth and try again and he's back there laughing at your foolishness. Pathetic the devil knows that walking in the Spirit is walking in total dependence on the Lord trusting the Spirit of God to produce the righteousness of Christ in us so he tries to go about and abort this process. He is going to try to get you to fight your own temptation in the power of the flesh independent of the work of the Holy Spirit and he's going to try to tell you that walking in the Spirit is simply doing your best not to sin.

Now that's not walking in the Spirit. Paul said as many as desire to make a fair show in the flesh they constrain you to be circumcised for neither they themselves who were circumcised keep the Law but they desire to have you circumcised that they may glory in your flesh. What Paul's saying, he said these people who come around tell you that you can kill and mortify your own flesh if you just try hard enough. He said they tried and tried but what they are trying to tell you to do, they haven't done. He said they don't have victory in their lives. They still have these lusts and sins in their lives, they've not mortified the flesh. They've been circumcised in their flesh, but their hearts have not been circumcised. He said they're preaching something they don't practice. They want you to think they are holy, but they're fighting a battle you know nothing about.

Paul gives us his secret to knowing and winning Christ. Look at chapter 3 of Philippians verse 7 and 8. "for what things were gain to me I count as lost for Christ yea I count all things but loss for the excellency of of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my lord; for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and do count them but dung that I may win Christ." He's not talking about boats and ships and food and houses and land. He's not talking about that loss. no - no – no - no he's talking about all these things that are done all these things I have given up is the striving of the flesh, I'm giving up mu Benjamin pride, I'm giving up my Hebrew efforts, I'm giving up all these things that I did in my flesh. I have given up on the flesh. I have once and for all for my lifetime given up any hope of pleasing God in my flesh. I've suffered the loss of that, I've given up on it.

Folks that's the beginning you cannot know Christ in fullness of intimacy until you once and for all give up this concept that you can dig in and try harder and get the victory over your sins. You can't do it! It's not in you. God will not accept your flesh even if you could accomplish it, He wouldn't accept it. Because he said, the flesh cannot please God its enmity towards God. Praise God. Paul knew he would never know Christ until he got rid of this hindrance. That hindrance that had to go he said all this flesh stuff is going. I can never know Christ intimately until I repudiate my human gifts all my human abilities, all my self-righteousness, all my striving to please God. I count all these fleshly things as dung, as garbage.

Where are you on this matter? Have you suffered the loss of all your confidence in your flesh? Have you come to this place like Paul came to where you say I repudiate, I will no longer try to work my fingers to the bone to try to get God's favor? I'm fighting lust in my own strength I'm fighting sin in my own strength I'm fighting a battle a whole in my marriage in my own strength and it's not working. Do you come...you have to give up the hope of ever improving your flesh. It's impossible to improve your flesh. It has to be crucified with Christ.

I tell you again, your flesh can not be improved. Flesh will always be flesh. That's why I told you once, I'm never I'm never surprised by my flesh. An evil thought comes, that's my flesh, you been that way ever since I was born, ever since I came to be, it'll be that way till I die be 99 years old and you'll still be talking that way. Your flesh! Are you surprised by your flesh? You shouldn't be! I know it embarrasses you, and I know it condemns you, but it's still flesh.

Paul says this hindrance has to go. I give up trying to improve my flesh, "for they being ignorant of God's righteousness and going about to establish their own righteousness having not submitted to the Righteousness of God." And the first step to submitting to the Righteousness of God by faith is to quit trying to produce your own. I can't produce my own righteousness and that's where you begin to submit to the Righteousness of God by faith. Hallelujah.

Now the Apostle can say, now that I've repudiated my flesh, I've no confidence in my flesh to please God, now I want to be found in him, not having my own righteousness which is in the Law but that which is through faith in Christ the righteousness of God by faith.

 2016/1/4 11:03





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