Embracing Transformation: The Cost of True Discipleship

Piers Paul doesn't wave any Saud to the world here he is the greatest intellect of the day he might have out Gia gal but one day he capitulated to Jesus Christ and you know what he did he says as he says goodbye to the Galatians henceforth let no man trouble me I bear in my body the owner marks of Jesus or as way must translate it I bear the brands of the Christ of God his hands were branded he will do nothing but that what would please God his seat would branded he would only walk that it would please God the base of his neck because his intellect was branded for God he says at the end of that same epistle God forbid that I should Glory save in The Cross by which the world is crucified to me and I'm crucified to the world [00:18:44]

you see we're living in a day when people will go to the Cross but they won't get on the cross they want the benefits of his death but they don't want to die we're too ambitious ambitious and caral very often Even in our ministry you see we we folk maybe fortunately have never seen crucifixion when a man was crucified and he carried his cross outside of the city you could be sure about one thing he wasn't coming back and brother if you take up your cross tonight and and you only carry a cross to the place where you're willing to die on it you don't need to carry it an in further but if you carry a cross it's a oneway ticket [00:19:36]

and the man carrying his cross wasn't coming back if you die yourselves tonight if you die to your own ambition tonight if you die to Pride tonight if you die to love whatever it may be the lust of the flesh or the lust of fame or the lust of be a distinguished personality if you die to selfishness or some other thing you can take the cross and you can die on that thing and you can stay dead by the grace of God if you want to but that thing can come back too I know that but you see the man that brought a cross once he got on that cross he had no rights [00:20:23]

you could take a bucket of garbage if you like and destroy it on him this man could say I'll take a rock let me try and knock out his right eye and you try and knock out his left eye you take a bigger Rock and crush his ribs you take something that will lacerate his body once he's on that cross he has no rights the Son of God had no rights had he Paul had no rights and everybody when particularly if you're going to crucify a man like the rabbers oh come on let's take a rth let's take filth let's make this man put him in Hell before he gets there and they would ridicule and taunt and cast everything they had in the teeth of the man on the cross [00:20:48]

Paul says the world is crucified it has no fascination for me and what's more he says I am crucified to the world they don't find anything attractive in me anymore they think I'm strange and I'm perverted and twisted in my ideas sure he was you think of the scope of the life of this amazing man he began his life in Tarsus the historical capital of the world he ended his life in Rome the military capital of the world in between he he went to Jerusalem the uh Rel capital of the world in Acts 17 he went to Athens the intellectual capital of the world in Corinthians here chapter 3 he goes to call him the immortal capital of the world [00:24:27]

Prayer is the hardest work in the world my good friend who has just retired from Westminster there Dr Martin L Jones says I I find anything easier in my life than prayer sure Satan will drive you from your knees everything goes wrong if you decide to have a day of prayer and fasting everything comes up that day there's nothing in this world Satan say he doesn't fear our preaching I noticed one witchy American said not long ago he found a new proof to the inspiration of the Bible because it had survived so much bad preaching well that's that's a rather dismal view of the thing anyhow but but the thing is you see that we're living in a day when when Satan knows he doesn't need to be nervous too much about our preaching but oh Satan really fears men and women who know how to pray [00:26:24]

and Paul could pray and pray in the Holy Ghost he says in in in the eight of Romans there he talks about the groaning of the world and he talks about the groaning of his spirit and he talks about us groaning within ourselves because the highest form of Prayer has no language at all Hannah prayed she never said a word but she got a baby and answer to prayer Moses prayed but he stamed he wasn't eloquent but he saved the nation a little svel man I mentioned last night or the night before weighed about 110b and died at the rip old age of 28 and left us one of the most fabulous records of praying David BR you know America there's produced some of the greatest praying men in the history [00:27:16]

David Pon the praying Pon of Portland Dr Dean bounds that as a Young Man Rose at 4:00 every morning and when he got older and was nearly 80 he rose at 3 his daughter wrote to me after I compiled a book of his prayers and you should buy it because it's wonderful I didn't write it I nearly compiled it it's it's it's seven of his books put together in a book we call the treasury of prayer and his daughter wrote to me and said I'm glad you've done this work on my daddy's books and she said you know as he got older the older he got the earlier he got up to pray he knew how to pray in the Holy Ghost oh I wish somehow we could we could get some little groups of folk in our church and teach young men and women to pray [00:28:03]

we teach them to play baseball none a lie you'd have me believe I I I was in a big college just a few months ago and it had a very high saluting title and I said if your if your forefathers or your fathers 50 years ago knew that in this college where you have an emphasis on the fullness of the spirit you're engaged in competitive football and competitive baseball it just said never perish the whole thing but they spend more time praying now than praying one way to lose your business go to Bible School you lose it all right unless you're very careful because a program is so tight and there's so much Accent on this and that and the other that there isn't too much concern about about having the anointing of the spirit [00:29:33]

Paul sets off with his seven Le boots if you like very wonderful man he had nobody to finance him he had no comme he had no circular letters but he was in constant communication with the most high God and God directed his steps and in the course of of the way that he went you remember again he came in Acts 17 to the intellectual capital of the world and they discovered that this little undersized Jew that wasn't too attractive according to tradition which is uncertain I know but when he got with the intellectuals and they began to reason they found that he knew as much philosophy as they knew he knew as much history as they knew he knew as much of their poets as they knew and itaz it is billions but he didn't establish a church at Athens there is no Epistle of Paul to the Athenian [00:30:06]

I say this man on the Damascus Road when God met him God revealed himself to him and there in the wilderness God revealed himself in him I'm going to ask him one day what what happened he went to God's Bible school and you can go there it doesn't cost you a thing except obedience it's a rough school he took Moses there for 40 years he took John Baptist there for 20 he took Paul the greatest bread in the world there for about three and a half it's called the University of silence and God revealed himself in him now I don't know what happened all together but this I do know he came out of that experience filled with the Holy Ghost and for all his amazing life afterwards you cannot find five moments of his life and he backslid [00:30:39]

indeed as he gets nearer to the gold you'll find he quickens his pace and his passion everything that Jesus did Paul did Jesus raise the dead paway the dead Jesus healed the sick Paul healed the sick Jesus is in violent opposition to the status quo or if there's a kids say today the establishment and so was the Apostle Paul and yet after this most amazing Ministry of his after 30 years of Supernatural and like the good pastor he didn't have a penny to his name he didn't have a house he had no creature Comfort he was not often in impales and yet after this most amazing anointing of the spirit of God miracle and establishing churches against tremendous HS and pulling down the strongholds of Satan and yet as he gets nearer and nearer he says I'm still longing that I may know him and the part of his resurrection [00:31:24]