Christ Magnified In My Body # 3

Christ Magnified In My Body # 3

"Knowing this," Paul says, "that our old life, our old man was crucified with Him." "Nevertheless, I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me." (Galatians 2:20).

In Romans 6:11, he says "Reckon ye yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin." In the same verse, he says to reckon your body to be dead indeed unto sin, alive unto God in Christ Jesus. "The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death." that Christ may be magnified through my body." (Romans 8:2).

"Knowing this," Paul says, "That our old life, our old man was crucified with Him." "Nevertheless, I live, not I, but Christ liveth in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me" (Galatians 2:20).

In Romans 6:11, he says, "Reckon ye yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin." In the same verse, he says to reckon your body to be dead indeed unto sin, alive unto God in Christ Jesus. "The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death," that Christ may be magnified through my body" (Romans 8:2).

Do you remember the psalmist? He says, "upon an instrument of ten strings will I praise Thee." What kind of a thing is that? A guitar? A harp? You say, "I don't have an instrument of ten strings." Well, suppose you look at it this way: You've got two feet, two hands, two eyes, two ears, one tongue, and one heart. Ten strings!! That's why the girl says in that hymn:

Let my hands perform His biding;
Let my feet run in His way;
Let my eyes see Jesus only;
Let my lips speak forth His praise.

Or, an American hymn, if you like.

Take my life...
Take my hands and let them move,
At the impulse of Thy love.

Take my feet and let them be,
Swift and beautiful for Thee.

Take my love, my Lord, I pour,
At Thy feet its treasures store.
Take my will (that's the last area that we yield)...
Take my will and make it mine.

Paul isn't even saying that Christ may be magnified by my epistles. Oh, I think he wrote the greatest things that any human being was ever allowed to write.His magnificent epistle to the Romans, the Ephesians, the Colossians, etc. If you read carefully through the first chapter of Philippians, you'd see the position in life of the Christian. If you read the second chapter, you get the pattern of Christ. In the third chapter, you get the energy that carries the Christian through this world. In chapter four, the Christian superiority to our circumstances. In other words, this epistle is the whole character of the Christian life. Paul shows how to walk and work in the service of the Lord Jesus Christ. He, of course, is the fire leader, the best example of it.

I think that Paul was the greatest genius the world ever saw. A colossal intellect. A will that never tired. A faith that never flinched. A love that never broke down. A courage that nobody could dominate. He stands cheerfully before kings. He is as happy in jail writing the epistle of love as he is in any circumstance of life.

So he shows us that man, whatever amount of genius he has, can be complete in God without even being involved in the world outside the prison walls, in its material concept, or its business concept. He is totally Gods man.

I think it was Spinoza who talked about a "God-intoxicated man." That God-intoxicated man is the apostle Paul, in my judgment. In perils of the deep, he doesn't shake. Everybody else on the ship is terrified. He stand by. The captain send for him and Paul says, "Wasn't that some storm last night?" I can imagine the captain answering, "I've been at sea for fifty years and never gone through a night like that. I guess you're like the rest of us, cringing, holding onto your bed, terrified..." "No," Paul said, "I had a great night. I had a great time of fellowship." "Fellowship? Is there another Christian on board?" "Well, there was last night." "What's he called?" Paul said, "An angel from heaven." "A what?" Paul said, "Last night I had an angel visitor in my cabin. Boy, did we have a time talking about the glory and majesty of God!"

I think that experience he had is typical of the end of the age. Paul got on board that ship as a prisoner and he ended as the pilot. Everybody got the jitters. Everybody was terrified. Everybody was vomiting and yelling and screaming, and there Paul is; glorifying God!

Do you see what strange people Christians are? You know He was so amazing that when they skinned His back until it was raw, He said, "None of these things hurt me." Did He? No, He didn't. You know, people say that if you get saved and fully filled with the Holy Spirit, you'll never be hurt, you'll never have any troubles...Well I must be backslidden, because I get of lot of them! Paul did not say none of these things hurt Me, He said none of these things move Me.

~Leonard Ravenhill~

(continued with # 4)

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