Handling Your Personal Selfish Life

Preacher: Apustulis Rufus F. Adžiboije

Opening Prayer and the Purpose of the Church

Consecration to God

The service opens with a prayer of gratitude for grace. The congregation is called to dedicate every part of life to God, not only activities that appear spiritual. Because believers have been purchased by Christ, they no longer belong to themselves. The prayer asks that every word and action would be considered in the light of God’s glory.

1 Peter 1:18-19 Knowing that you were redeemed, not with corruptible things, with silver or gold, from the useless way of life handed down from your fathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb without blemish or spot, the blood of Christ. (WEB)

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 Or don’t you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s. (WEB)

Christ Builds a Growing Church

The prayer thanks God for His church and confesses confidence that Christ will build it. The church is portrayed as growing into maturity while God raises sons and daughters through whom His will can be accomplished on earth.

Matthew 16:18 I also tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my assembly, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. (WEB)

The Word That Searches the Heart

The congregation asks that God’s Word would enlighten them and penetrate the inner person. The Word is presented as God’s instrument for exposing what lies within, separating soul and spirit, and preparing people to receive and obey the truth.

Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is living and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and is able to discern the thoughts and intentions of the heart. (WEB)

The Word of God Produces Lasting Joy and Maturity

Joy Comes Through Receiving the Word

The preacher begins by saying that God’s Word, when received inwardly, becomes joy. This joy is not a temporary reaction to good news, a purchase, or a pleasant circumstance. It is sustained by revelation and by a living relationship with the Word of God.

Jeremiah 15:16 Your words were found, and I ate them. Your words were to me a joy and the rejoicing of my heart, for I am called by your name, Yahweh, God of Armies. (WEB)

Romans 14:17 For God’s Kingdom is not eating and drinking, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. (WEB)

Joy Is Revealed in Trials

The preacher contrasts fading joy with the joy that remains when a believer suffers. The apostles could rejoice even after being beaten because their joy was rooted in God rather than in favorable circumstances.

Acts 5:41 They therefore departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to be dishonored for Jesus’ name. (WEB)

Moving From Milk to Solid Food

The Word of God changes people who accept it and allow it to work in them. The preacher calls the congregation to mature beyond spiritual infancy. Mature believers learn to discern good and evil not by feelings, customs, or public opinion, but through applying the Word of God.

Hebrews 5:12-14 For although by this time you ought to be teachers, you again need to have someone teach you the rudiments of the first principles of the revelations of God. You have come to need milk, and not solid food. For everyone who lives on milk is not experienced in the word of righteousness, for he is a baby. But solid food is for those who are full grown, who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern good and evil. (WEB)

The Announced Theme: A Life Submitted to God

Three Expressions of One Message

The preacher explicitly introduces three closely connected titles: handling one’s personal selfish life, an obedient life as the true sign of a true Christian, and self-sacrifice as the essence of discipleship. Together, they address the same question: will a person live for the soul and ego, or will that person submit to God?

The Soul and the Old Nature

The preacher uses “soul” to describe the human mind, emotions, will, and self-centered old nature when they rule independently of God. This old life obstructs God’s work. A person cannot become the vessel God intends while the ego remains in control.

Becoming a Vessel for Glory

The congregation is asked whether it desires to be a tool in God’s hands through whom He can freely work. Prayer for God’s will is not enough if the soul remains unsurrendered. God does not seek forced submission. He calls His people to yield voluntarily, including in the difficult spheres of life that they have kept under personal control.

God’s Sovereignty and Human Submission

God Has Absolute Power

The preacher recalls God’s sovereignty over creation. God can accomplish His purpose, and no created power can finally resist Him. Creation itself is held together by the power of His Word.

Hebrews 1:3 His Son is the radiance of his glory, the very image of his substance, and upholds all things by the word of his power. When he had by himself made purification for our sins, he sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high. (WEB)

God Works on the Soul So His Life Can Flow

God’s purpose is not merely to demonstrate power from outside a person. He wants the life of His Spirit to flow freely through His children. Repentance brings a person into new life in Christ, but the mind, emotions, heart, and will still require transformation. The soul can obstruct the expression of the life that God has placed within the believer.

Genesis 2:7 Yahweh God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. (WEB)

Ephesians 2:5 Even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ – by grace you have been saved. (WEB)

Colossians 3:3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. (WEB)

Everyday Examples of an Unsubmitted Soul

The preacher gives practical examples. A person may feel joy during worship but be unable to raise hands or dance because of fear of other people’s opinions. A person may sense that God wants them to speak, pray, or act, yet remain silent and tell themselves that someone else will do it. Another person may refuse a humble task because it seems beneath personal honor or pride.

Jesus’ Example of Humble Service

Jesus’ washing of the disciples’ feet is presented as an example that confronts pride. The problem is not that God created the soul, but that sin uses the ego to rule it. Transformation is a process in which every sphere of life is put in order according to God’s thoughts.

John 13:4-5 Rose from supper, and laid aside his outer garments. He took a towel and wrapped a towel around his waist. Then he poured water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him. (WEB)

God Seeks Transformation of Nature, Not Mere External Improvement

Behavior Can Change While the Heart Remains Untouched

The preacher distinguishes outward improvement from a transformed nature. Someone may attend church more faithfully, stop stealing, or stop lying, and these changes should be welcomed. Yet external behavior can also be a mask. God wants more than better conduct. He wants to change the inner nature of a person.

Representatives of Christ on Earth

God is not only preparing believers for heaven. He is forming willing representatives of His glory on earth. Until the soul is being transformed, even prayer, worship, ministry, and service can remain centered on personal ambition, fear, desire, recognition, or comfort.

Whom Does Spiritual Activity Serve?

The preacher warns that sincere dedication and sacrifice can still serve the self when ego occupies the throne of the heart. The crucial question is whether spiritual activity ministers to God or ultimately serves personal desires.

Seeking God’s Presence Rather Than Only His Provision

The Wilderness Test

The preacher turns to Israel in the wilderness. Israel sought God in trouble, but their hearts did not necessarily draw nearer to Him. They wanted relief, food, and provision, yet did not want the demands of God’s presence. This serves as a warning against seeking God only to obtain what He can provide.

Psalm 78:18-25 They tempted God in their heart by asking food according to their desire. Yes, they spoke against God. They said, “Can God prepare a table in the wilderness? Behold, he struck the rock, so that waters gushed out, and streams overflowed. Can he give bread also? Will he provide meat for his people?” Therefore Yahweh heard, and was angry. A fire was kindled against Jacob, anger also went up against Israel, because they didn’t believe in God, and didn’t trust in his salvation. Yet he commanded the skies above, and opened the doors of heaven. He rained down manna on them to eat, and gave them food from the sky. Man ate the bread of angels. He sent them food to the full. (WEB)

Love and Obedience Must Come Before Blessing

The fulfillment of God’s will should matter more than receiving God’s blessings. The preacher does not call blessing evil. Rather, blessing must not be the primary motive for obedience. Love for God and a desire to do what He says should lead, while blessings are received as a gift rather than pursued as the central goal.

Desire, Motive, and the Will of God

Wrong Motives Do Not Produce the Life of God

Desire itself is not denied, but desire reveals the condition of the heart. The preacher warns that people may pursue what they want through envy, conflict, force, or selfish motives. Such methods do not reflect the Spirit of Christ.

James 4:2-3 You lust, and don’t have. You murder and covet, and can’t obtain. You fight and make war. You don’t have, because you don’t ask. You ask, and don’t receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures. (WEB)

The Spirit of Christ Does Not Destroy People to Reach a Goal

The response of the disciples to the Samaritan village is used to show the difference between self-driven ambition and the Spirit of Christ. The disciples wanted judgment when their way was blocked, but Jesus rebuked their spirit. The preacher emphasizes that God’s love has patience and seeks to save rather than destroy.

Luke 9:51-56 It came to pass, when the days were near that he should be taken up, he intently set his face to go to Jerusalem, and sent messengers before his face. They entered into a village of the Samaritans, so as to prepare for him. They didn’t receive him because he was traveling with his face set toward Jerusalem. When his disciples, James and John, saw this, they said, “Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from the sky and destroy them, just as Elijah did?” But he turned and rebuked them, “You don’t know of what kind of spirit you are. For the Son of Man didn’t come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.” They went to another village. (WEB)

When God’s Word Lives Within, Desire Is Aligned

The preacher explains that God’s promise to fulfill the desires of the heart does not mean that every personal wish will be granted. As a person delights in God and His Word remains within, God forms desires that agree with His own will. In that condition, asking is no longer the pursuit of ego, but the expression of God’s life within the believer.

Psalm 37:4 Also delight yourself in Yahweh, and he will give you the desires of your heart. (WEB)

John 15:7 If you remain in me, and my words remain in you, you will ask whatever you desire, and it will be done for you. (WEB)

The Cross Ends Independent Living

Life Is Found by Losing It for Christ

The preacher teaches that abundant life is not found by preserving the self at all costs. It is found through self-denial. A person who clings to personal life more than to God loses the life God intended. The person who is willing to lose life for Christ finds the life that God gives.

Matthew 16:25 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, and whoever will lose his life for my sake will find it. (WEB)

Luke 9:24 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever will lose his life for my sake will save it. (WEB)

John 10:10 The thief only comes to steal, kill, and destroy. I came that they may have life, and may have it abundantly. (WEB)

Taking Up the Cross Daily

The preacher asks how self-denial is practiced and answers with the call to take up the cross and follow Jesus. This is not only a Sunday practice. It is a daily walk at home, among friends, and in every setting. The cross is not merely the place where sins were forgiven. It also brings an end to an independent, egocentric way of thinking so that Christ may be revealed in fullness.

Luke 9:23 He said to all, “If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.” (WEB)

Decisions Made in Fellowship With the Lord

Following Jesus means making decisions with Him. The preacher applies this to employment, money, relationships at work, and the decision whether to leave Latvia for opportunities elsewhere. Personal preference, fear, or the desire for more money must not rule. The believer is called to consult the Lord and submit decisions to His direction.

Relationship Rather Than Religious Pressure

A daily submitted life produces ongoing fellowship with God. Prayer and reading the Word cease to be acts of self-imposed pressure and become ways of maintaining relationship with Him. Because many decisions arise each day, the believer learns to seek God’s mind in every matter.

Fruitfulness Comes Through Death to Self

Crucified With Christ

The preacher returns to the central point: spiritual growth requires the ego to leave the throne. The resurrected life follows crucifixion. This does not happen instantly, but through daily following. As the old life loses its rule, the life of Christ gains expression.

Galatians 2:19-20 For I through the law died to the law, that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. That life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself up for me. (WEB)

The Seed Must Die to Bear Fruit

The image of the grain of wheat brings the sermon to its conclusion. A grain retains life while it remains intact, but it cannot multiply. When it falls into the ground and dies, the life hidden within it is released and bears fruit. In the same way, God’s life in believers is released as the old life and ego give place to Christ.

John 12:24 Most certainly I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains by itself alone. But if it dies, it bears much fruit. (WEB)

Prayer Must Be Followed by Offering

The preacher challenges the congregation that prayer for God’s will must be joined to a willingness to be sent, to go, and to offer oneself. There can be many prayers but too few offerings. Fruitfulness, multiplication, and obedience require a person to respond when God calls.

Isaiah 6:8 I heard the Lord’s voice, saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am. Send me!” (WEB)

Peter’s Two Ways of Living

From Self-Rule to the Lord’s Rule

The final passage is presented as a contrast between two lives. The younger Peter dressed himself and went where he wanted. The mature disciple no longer rules himself in that way. The Lord becomes Master of the life, including the path a person would not naturally choose.

John 21:18 Most certainly I tell you, when you were young, you dressed yourself and walked where you wanted to. But when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you don’t want to go. (WEB)

Final Appeal

The preacher closes with concern for the wider church. A message that speaks only of God’s love while leaving self-rule untouched is incomplete and distorted. The appeal is for the Holy Spirit to reveal these truths, heal the heart with His wisdom, and make every believer a useful tool in God’s hands. Spiritual activity must minister to God, not to the self.