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We will take it a bit farther this week in Series
VIII. We greet you in the name above all names, Jesus.
We're going to begin this part of our message with
Paul's words in Philippians 3:10;
"That I might know Him."
Last time we briefly discussed this word KNOW. This time we will get a little further in our dealings with it. Just as there is an intimacy between a man and his
spouse once they get married, there must be an intimacy with our Savior, too. Paul is now in a relationship that demands
more. He's gotten beyond the tasting stage and is hungry for more of Jesus.
He now has a desire to know (experience) that surging power that Jesus experienced in his everyday confrontations of life.
When Questioned about his (Jesus') relationship with his heavenly
Father, "I do always those things that please my
father". This was one of the things Paul was wanting to know about
Jesus. Remember before his conversion how he arrested and had Christians put to death, etc.?
Don't think for one minute that Paul didn't have natural feelings or that
Satan couldn't harass him, because he was harassed every day of his life after conversion because of his new found experience. When you
say yes to the lord, the battle begins and Paul knew he could not fight the adamic nature in himself. Paul had to know the secret of
Jesus always doing the things that pleased his father.
Remember Paul's statement in Galations 2:20,
"I am crucified with Christ". This is the statement of a man sold out to Jesus and
that has found the secret of being able to make such a statement. The key to that
resurrection power Paul wanted to know in Philippians 3:10 concerning experiencing that resurrection power surging throughout his being 24 hours a day, was wrapped up in one decision Paul made in the very
beginning of his Christian experience.
There is a word I am going to introduce into this series of messages on the Way of the Cross that we will be looking at for quite some time from here on out. It's a common word which in every phase of life should be considered as we journey through life as
Christians. We find it is a word that Satan knows very well and fell from his place of being in fellowship with God because of a decision to please himself.
This word is the key word to living the Jesus kind of life. That word is Obedience. That's right.
Paul found out that no matter what he faced in every day life he was going to be obedient to the cause of Christ. Yes, this little word, obedience, carries a tremendous effect with it . No matter what you do
there is a decision to make, and the outcome of that decision will have an effect on you and on others as well. Do you give thought concerning the decisions you make as to the effects of it?
Paul was known for his power of attorney in the religious life before his conversion. Saul of Tarsus was his name. His name brought terror to the ears of
Christians. But Jesus made the difference in his life. He became Paul the
bond-slave of Jesus. |
