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Introduction
Brad Cavanagh adn Deborak Kiley were the only two survivors of a five passenger sunken yacht in 1982.
Intending to arrive in Florida, Brad Cavanagh, Deborah Kiley, John Lippoth, Meg Mooney, and mark Adams all boarded a yacht in Maine for a routine trip.
When they left that morning, the weather reports indicated that the seas were safe for sailing.
However, by the second night, the waves were cresting over forty feet and winds were as strong as 90 knots.
Cavanagh and Kiley both attentively watched the storms, while in the mean time, the other three began to drink.
For eleven hours, Cavanagh and Kiley watched the destructive, turbulent conditions.
Finally, the other three said they were sober enough to keep watch so that Cavanagh and Kiley could get some rest.
Their rest soon ceased as they were awakened by rising water in the ship.
Adams and Lippoth had fallen asleep on duty and had lashed the steering wheel.
As the ship had drifted aimlessly further into the sea, the ship began sinking into the shark infested ocean.
For the next few days, the crew lived on an inflatable raft, suffering through a plethora of adverse conditions.
They drifted further into the sea while desperately hoping for a ship to find them.
Within a few days, Lippoth, Mooney, and Adams were dead.
After four miserable days on the inflatable raft, the two remaining survivors were finally rescued by a Russian ship that took them to the coast guard.
They lived to tell their haunting story of a drifting ship.
For each God-given spiritual victory we experience in our lives, the devil will try to cause us to drift from our spiritual commitments and decisions.
Whether the struggle is physical, emotional, or spiritual in nature, the devil will tempt us to get off course, to stray from our original position of victorious Christian living.
The story of Kiley and Cavanagh and their crew is a sad reminder that drifitng is a dangerous pattern, at sea as well as in our spiritual lives.
Notice these two facts about drifting:
It is often gradual
it is often not noticeable to the person drifting
When we make decisions for Christ, surely none of us plan for failure.
But, it is in our human nature to gradually allow decisions to become less important to us.
If we are not careful, we wont even notice the subtle change or drifting that takes place in our hearts as time goes by.
To help us not drift in our Christian life, we must learn to crucify the flesh.
One of the most transforming verses in the Bible is also one that is easy to drift from.
The transforming truths found in this verse offer the key to victory over sin.
That key is to be crucified with Christ, to be “dead” to your sinful flesh.
To be crucified with Christ means that our old, sin nature is crucified.
It no longer has the power over us that it once had.
Because of Christ’s death and resurrection, we are free from giving in to and serving this old sinful nature.
Today, I would like to invite you to a life changing event: your own funeral.
Your flesh’s funeral.
Funerals are heavy things.
They are serious matters.
I don’t say this title jokingly.
I mean it seriously.
Let’s look at five facts about your flesh’s funeral.
1.
It is a Personal Funeral
There are eight personal pronouns included in Galatians 2:20 alone.
As Paul wrote this passage under the inspiration of the holy Spirit, he made it clear that dying to self is a personal decision.
It is a decision that we must cling to, refusing to drift from it.
A) Christ’s death for you is your salvation
What Christ did for me on the cross is what allows me to be saved.
Before we can be crucified with Christ, we must believe in what he did for us at his crucifixion and resurrection.
We must put our faith and trust in Him for salvation.
APP: You must personally decide to crucify the flesh
B) Your death with Christ is your sanctification
Christ’s death for me is my salvation- it was a wonderful undeserving act that provided to me a relationship with Christ and a home in heaven.
But my death with Christ is my sanctification- it is a continual process that provides victory in my Christian life.
If I strive to be more like Christ, I must be crucified with Him.
Yet, what exactly did Paul mean when he said he was crucified with Christ?
We will dive into it deeper but being crucified with Christ basically starving your flesh and feeding your spirit.
It is identifying with Him.
We identify with Him through daily dying to our old man and choosing to allow Christ to live through us instead.
2. It is a Painful Funeral
It’s interesting to note that in our text, Paul doesn’t simply say that he died with Christ.
Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he wrote that he was crucified with Christ.
To be crucified involves much pain and agony, and this verb offers an entirely different perspective on the process of dying to self.
Many of us are more afraid of how we will die rather than of death itself.
For many, death is not what is scary, it’s the process of dying.
Obviously, a crucifixion was never a peaceful death.
So, by identifying with Christ’s crucifixion, Paul was identifying with Christ’s pain and suffering.
Just as Christ suffered dying on the cross, so will we suffer in dying to self.
Being crucified with Christ involves surrendering our flesh’s desires, sinful tendencies, and our old nature.
This is not an easy process!
Our flesh will want to convince us that we need to allow fear, anger, lust, envy, or pride to live in our hearts and minds.
Our flesh loves our sinful desires and will fight to keep us from surrendering them.
We all face an inward battle between our flesh and Spirit.
Even Paul struggled with this.
Listen to Romans 7:14-20
14 For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin.
15 For I do not understand my own actions.
For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.
16 Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good.
17 So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.
18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh.
For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.
19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.
20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.
Paul the apostle, the great missionary of the New Testament, admitted that his flesh fought against him.
It doesn’t matter how spiritually mature we may be- funerals are always painful, and our flesh’s funeral is no exception.
But, through identifying with Christ’s sufferings, we will ultimately find true joy that this world can never give us.
APP: Decide to crucify the flesh, no matter how painful of difficult.
Inevitably, we will face hardships and trials from the outside world in addition to our inward struggles.
Some may even suffer from the pain of criticism from others simply because of their faith.
Many Christians from around the world have identified with Christ’s suffering, some even in physical death.
While we may not experience suffering to this extent, we may be treated unfairly because of our faith.
But when we suffer or are treated wrongfully for our faith, don’t be discouraged.
Rejoice!
We are privileged to identify with Christ and his sufferings, and because of that we can enjoy closer fellowship with Him.
3. It is a Powerful Funeral
While funerals are very hard services to attend, because of the sorrow that accompanies them, the funeral for your flesh will be one of the most powerful and life changing funerals you will experience.
A) You are alive
… nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me…
This section of the verse seems to have a paradox in it: “I am crucified, nevertheless I live”.
Because of your funeral, you have life!
By dying to yourself and your old nature, you have new life in Christ.
How comforting is it to know that your life is not defined by the “old man”- your life and sinful nature before you met Christ- but rather, your identity is in your new life in Christ!
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