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Sunday, March 3, 2013

The Christian's Choice - Self or Christ? # 6

Life On The Highest Plane

Christian's Choice

We Must crown Jesus Christ as Lord.

2 Corinthians 5:15, "And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them and rose again."

Galatians 2:20, "I have been crucified with Christ: and it is no longer I that live, but Christ liveth in me."

Philippians 1:21, "For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain."

The very purpose of Jesus Christ's death and resurrection is to dispossess, to displace and to dethrone that old "I", and to give the throne of the human personality to Him to whom it belongs by the right of creation and of purchase, that He might reign there as its sole Lord and King. "To me to live is Christ" is the life God expects every believer to live. The apostle's cry of despair, "O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" and his shout of victory, "I thank God through Jesus Christ my Lord," were spoken almost in the same breath. By one supreme act of the will he seemed to step out of the grip of the old nature into the control of the new.

Dear friend, has Christ's coronation day as King been celebrated yet in your life? Who sits today on the throne of your being, Self or Christ? Unless by a definite act of your will you have chosen Him as Lord it is futile for you to expect Him to control your life.

We must covet the things of Christ.

Colossians 3:1-3, "If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.  Set your affections on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God."

It will never do merely to crown Christ as a puppet King by an act of the will and then live under the democracy of Self-desire. Of self, for self and by self, seems to be the threefold principle governing countless Christian lives. If self-will dethrones God in human lives today, it is self-love that votes to keep Him dethroned. It is not enough to have the will fixed in its purpose to crown Him as Lord and then have the affections lusting for the things of the world, the flesh and the devil. The desires of the heart must keep step with the decision of the will; the believer must"seek those things which are above" and joyfully, eagerly, "set his affections" upon them. How incongruous for him to be "In Christ" seated in the heavenlies  at the right hand of God and hid away with Christ in the Father's innermost sanctuary and yet be hankering for the things of earth and of time and of sense!

If one truly covets Christ, he will be willing to count all things loss. He will not only cut loose from every besetting sin and entangling alliance but he will stand ready to lay aside every hindering weight. He will make himself ready to be a victor in the race of life here on earth (1 Cor. 9:24-27), and he will have his bridal robe ready for the coming marriage to the Lamb (Rev. 19:7-8).

Philippians 3:7-8, "Howbeit what things were gain to me, these have I counted loss for Christ. Yea verily, and I count all things to be loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but refuse, that I may gain Christ."

Hebrews 12:1, "Wherefore, seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us."

The Apostle Paul put before him a prize to be gained - Christ Jesus Himself- and this prize he coveted above all else in life. His passionate desire for the Lord Jesus made him willing, nay even eager, not only to renounce all known sin but even to cast aside anything and everything that tended to make his spiritual experience stagnant and sluggish.

The Alpine climber prepares to ascend the Jungfrau - at last a long cherished ambition is to be realized. Into his pack go necessities as he thinks them to be. A heavy load it becomes. Early in the climb he is overcome. His body is wearied through its excessive burden. Finally the guide tells him a choice must be made because not only is he hindering his own progress but that of the other climbers to whom he is roped. He must either give up his hope of reaching the summit or he must cast aside the weights. Does he covet his prize enough to count all these things but loss that he may gain the summit of the Jungfrau?

My friend, have you been living in the valley, self-satisfied and self-complacent? As you have gone with me through these studies has your eye traveled up, up, up to the very summit of spiritual experience - Christ Jesus, crucified, risen ascended, exalted, living in all the fullness of His beauty, power, glory, and holiness in human life, conforming it to His image, and then using it to bring other lives into the same conformity? Have you aspired to reach the top - to live your life on that highest plane? The ascent is steep and difficult but it is possible and a thousand times repaying. But, if you attempt it, you will have to follow the explicit direction of the Guide not only for your own sake but for the sake of others. The divine Spirit will command you to renounce all known sin; He will even ask you to cast away some things which He sees are weighing you down and wearying you so that you cannot keep pace with your spiritual companions, which, if carried, will keep you from reaching the top. Perhaps He will require you to make that choice today. God grant that you may count all things but loss that you may win Christ.

~Ruth Paxson~

(continued with # 7)

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