All Of Jesus No More Of Me — Brian Long

The Call to Absolute Surrender

Brothers and sisters, there is a trembling in my soul right now. And there's a trembling because the Lord is speaking so clearly and so powerfully a message that He wants us to hear tonight. What was just sang here in this song, that was a prophetic message, what you just sang.

And the Lord's been doing this throughout this whole camp, where He's got a specific message and He's confirming it. In the prayer meeting, somebody will just say something and He's just confirming it over and over again.

And that's happening almost every single time we meet. And I have a message just burning on my heart that I desperately need the Holy Spirit to speak, to keep me out of the way and speak it clearly. It's a clarion call, it's a trumpet sound.

It just came through that song, brother. God is speaking something to us here. And to me, it was confirmed when our sister was up here talking about, she said this, if you're seeking for greatness, you need to repent.

If you're seeking for greatness, you need to repent. She held up as if this were a glass jar to let it go and break. You're going to see. I thought she surely had stolen some of my sermon notes that I had written, because I had already written some things down.

But it's God saying something so clear to us tonight. Are you ready just to ask God to prepare your heart and open your ears to hear what He wants to say to you? He is speaking. Let's go before Him right now.

Father in Heaven, I pray, Lord God, that nothing would hinder Your message from going forth tonight. This is such a serious message, Lord. This is such a clear message of what You're wanting to say to us tonight.

And there are going to be decisions made tonight. I just know there's going to be decisions made tonight where somebody's life is never going to be the same again. Many of our lives will never be the same again.

I pray You bring us, Lord, to this place of absolute surrender. Not just in words, but there's going to be a reality tonight of absolute surrender that You may truly receive glory, Lord, in us and through us.

Lord, it's a mystery to me how You choose to use just these clay vessels. And so, Lord, the best we know how, we just submit to You. We surrender to You. And we say, Father, have Your own way. You are the potter.

We are the clay. Holy Spirit, come. You're already here. I'm sorry. You're already here. Now just have Your way. Breathe on us. Move through us. Speak through me, I pray, in the name of Jesus. Amen. I have given this message a title.

And the title is, All of Jesus, No More of Me. All of Jesus, No More of Me. There's a song, and I sing it now almost every time that I go somewhere to preach. It's a prayer. It's become one of my favorite songs.

It was written and sung by Pastor Carter Conlon, who is a pastor of Times Square Church in New York City. And it simply says, All of Jesus, None of Me. And it starts out, if I could sing, I'd go ahead and sing it to you.

He says, All my life, there was a truth I longed to see. Someday, you said I'd be free. All my trying led to failure. That's when I heard Him whisper, All of Jesus, None of Me. Oh, the glorious liberation.

Maybe I should have sang it. He goes on to say, The key to our salvation is, All of Jesus, None of Me. All of Jesus, None of Me. It's not only the key to our salvation. It is the key to God getting the most glory out of your life.

And did you realize, that is why we were created. Our greatest purpose in this life is to bring glory to our great God. He is great. And He is greatly to be praised. It is the key to the abundant life in Christ.

Christ Increasing and Self Decreasing

It is the key to the victorious life in Christ. It is the key to everything in the Christian life. All of Jesus, None of Me. Now, John the Baptist said it another way. We're going to just look at a couple scriptures.

But I hope and pray these few scriptures will so burn in our hearts, we won't forget them all night long. They'll be brought to our remembrance. Here's one of them. John chapter 3 and verse 30. This is John the Baptist.

And everything about John the Baptist was pointing to Christ. And he says this short verse in John chapter 3 verse 30. John 3 verse 30. Speaking of the Lord Jesus and pointing to Him. John the Baptist says, He must increase.

But I must decrease. Christ must increase. But I must decrease. The man who proclaimed those words not only proclaimed them, but he lived them. It was a reality in his life. And you remember this is the man that Jesus Himself said of John the Baptist, Assuredly I say to you among those born of women, There is not risen one greater than John the Baptist.

It's one thing for man to testify about man. It's a whole other thing for God to testify about man. It's a whole other thing for God to point out a man. That's something. And Jesus said of this man under the old covenant, There's never one born greater among women.

What was the key to his greatness? The key to his greatness was his nothingness. The key to his greatness was that he didn't want greatness. The key to his greatness is while he could have had a large following, John the Baptist could have had so much that appealed to the self-life.

And yet he rejected it all because he was consumed with the precious Christ that we talked about last night. Christ was truly precious to him. Christ was everything to him. And he was constantly pointing to Christ, pointing people to him.

Behold the Lamb of God, he says, who takes away the sins of the world. I baptize you with water, but there's one coming that will baptize you with the Spirit, with fire. He's always pointing to Jesus.

Christ as the Treasure in Earthen Vessels

He must increase. I must decrease. Now I want you to turn to 2 Corinthians chapter 4. And we're going to read one verse. And you may or may not see how it connects right away, but you surely will as we get into the message.

2 Corinthians chapter 4, verse 7. What does this verse have to do with Christ increasing and me decreasing? With Jesus becoming everything and me becoming nothing. All of Jesus, no more of me. Well, 2 Corinthians chapter 4, let's look at it together.

Verse 7. He says, But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us. We have this treasure in earthen vessels. He's referring to us. We are the earthen vessels, just jars of clay.

That's what we are. We were all made from the ground. God made Adam out of the dust of the ground. We are the earthen vessels. But he's saying, we have this treasure as believers, as children of the living God, blood-bought, born-again believers.

We have this incredible treasure inside these earthen vessels. What is that treasure? Who is that treasure? That treasure is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. What an incredible truth, brothers and sisters.

This is something that even John the Baptist did not have under the old covenant. The Holy Spirit was upon John, but Christ was still living outside of John. Do you realize how privileged we are to live under the new covenant?

Where the Holy Spirit is not just upon us, but Christ has come to live within us. The living God, the Son of the living God wants to come and take up residence in your heart. Incredible when you think about it.

The Spirit of the living God lives in me. If I didn't believe that and I didn't know that, you would have never got me to Australia to preach. It would have scared me to death. If I thought I would have to stand up here and deliver a message on my own.

You're looking at someone who in high school couldn't even give an oral book report. I was scared to death to speak, and besides that I didn't know how, and I stuttered and stammered. But I'm serious, I'm not trying to be humble.

Even coming to Australia, this fear comes to me. The moment I look at myself, I get terrified. But the moment I look at Jesus and He reminds me, it's not about you, it's my power and your dependence. My will and your obedience.

It's Christ in you, the hope of glory. Incredible. If you're not persuaded of that, we need to see just a few scriptures before we go on. Let's go to Romans chapter 8. Romans chapter 8. We need to get some of these truths just branded in our heart before we go any further this evening.

Romans chapter 8, verse 8. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit. If so, be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His.

If you do not belong to Jesus, you've never repented and believed on Him, you don't have the Spirit of Christ living in you. But if you have, you've been born again, you have the Spirit of Christ living in you, according to scripture.

Verse 10. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in you.

The Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwells in you? I thought I heard a praise the Lord. A hallelujah. The Spirit of the living God that raised Christ from the dead lives in you? Lives inside of you?

Incredible that God wants to be that close and He will come that close to live on the inside of a man. Well, look at it. There's more scriptures. 1 Corinthians chapter 3. 1 Corinthians chapter 3, verse 16.

Know ye not that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? You are the temple of God and the Spirit of God dwelleth in you. 1 Corinthians chapter 6, verse 19. What? He says again.

Know ye not? Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which you have of God and you are not your own? You've been bought with a price. The blood of Jesus. And another one now lives in you.

Jesus Christ in the person of the Holy Spirit. So that He says, back to our text in 2 Corinthians 4, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. It's His life and power within us. It's not of us, but in us.

It doesn't come from us. This is the risen, resurrected life and power of Jesus Christ that comes to live in you. That is the treasure. He is the treasure. How much is Christ worth? How much is this treasure worth?

That lives, the one who lives inside of you, this clay vessel. Which is to say, brothers and sisters, that your life and my life is to be the indisputable evidence that Jesus Christ is alive and that He is risen from the dead.

More so than the empty tomb. Thank God for the empty tomb. But did you know God never says, go throughout all of Australia. Put enough money together to buy as many tickets as you can and take every unbeliever that you can find and fly them over to Israel and show them that empty tomb.

So that they'll know Christ is risen and He's alive and so that they'll believe. He never says any of that. Because that's not His plan. His plan is for the lost world to see Christ, the treasure, living in you.

The indisputable evidence that Jesus Christ is risen and alive is the fact that He lives in us and He's to be seen in us. The risen Christ. What an incredible, powerful truth. Especially people who knew you before.

I remember preaching at meetings in New Mexico where there were people that were in that meeting that knew me before. And one of them shouted out, I remember who you were. But what glory it brought to God.

I'm no longer the same. That is not who I am anymore. I'm a new creation in Christ. And Christ lives in me. And He's doing the impossible through me. Hallelujah. It's Christ in us. He is the treasure.

The Self-Life and the Earthen Vessel

He lives. He lives. You ask me how I know He lives. He lives within my heart. But here's the problem, brothers and sisters. Instead of being so taken up with the treasure, the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, the spirit of the living God who lives in us, instead of being focused upon Him and taking up with Him, we get so focused on the earthen vessel.

The outward man. The self-life. And we think about ourselves and we're so concerned about what others think about ourselves. It's all self. Self-focus. Self-thinking. Self-effort. Let me ask you a question.

We had a wonderful meal a while ago. And I heard many say, Oh, this is so good. Isn't this food good? And we were taken up with the food. Was anyone in this room taken up with the plate that the food was upon?

Anybody? How about the cups? Oh, look at this cup. Focus on this cup. No, I want the cold water in the cup. That's what I'm interested in. Give me a drink. Who cares about the cup? Who cares about the plate?

You may be a plate. I may be a cup. You may be a bowl. So what? What about the treasure? He is where our focus is to be. Christ. Listen, the lost world is not waiting to taste the plate. They're waiting to taste and see that the Lord is good.

They want the meal. They want the food that's on the plate. They want the cold, clean water that's in the cup. That's what they need to see. And I tell you this, the lost world has seen enough of the earthen vessel.

They've seen enough of this outward man. And quite frankly, it's disgusting. And it's all through the church where everything is centered on man. Oh, have you come to hear so-and-so preach? Oh, look, isn't he a great man?

Oh, did you hear so-and-so say? And it's all man-centered. What about the church that you come into? And I believe this is one of them. And you leave not with thoughts consumed about the man, but thoughts consumed about the Christ that lived in the man and lived in the woman and was exalted in the house.

You know, not long ago I sat in a meeting in Oklahoma. And it's the first time this has happened to me since I can remember. I sat in this meeting. Never heard this man ever preach before. And as he preached, all of a sudden, I felt tears coming down my face.

I was so gripped by the presence of the Lord and the pure Word of God coming forth. And when I left that, I thought, I don't even know His name. I can't remember that guy's name. But boy, can I remember Jesus.

Boy, were my thoughts consumed with Jesus. That's the way it should be. The treasure shining forth. Where all we can see is the treasure. And we're not taking up with the earthen vessel. You know, I say again, the Lord never said, let's take everybody to Israel to see the empty tomb.

The Light of Christ Shining Through Broken Vessels

But He did say this, you are the salt of the earth and you are the light of the world. A city that is set upon a hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick.

And it gives light to all that are in the house. Let your light so shine, He says, before men that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. Christ is the light of the world. The light of the world lives in you now, Christians.

But something has to happen in order for them to see that light. The self-life has to be broken. The earthen vessel has to be dropped. It has to be forsaken. It has to be crushed. It has to be broken.

And this can be painful. We need brokenness. Without brokenness, they'll never see the light. They see the light of Christ as the self-life dies and as that clay jar is shattered. Now that doesn't mean that God does away with our personality.

There's an outward man and an inner man. There's still a new inner man that the Lord leaves there. You know, sometimes we have this false humility that says, don't look at me, don't look at me. And if I really believed that, I'd put a big curtain up here.

And I'd preach to you behind this curtain, don't look at me, just look at Jesus. He's not talking about that. That kind of false humility. He's talking about placing no confidence in the flesh or the self, but at the same time, God getting glory by using the personality and the person He's made you to be in Him.

You follow me? Why is that so important? Because here's what can happen when you're so taken up with the earthen vessel. I'll tell you what happened to me. When God first called me to preach, I was in my early 20's, and I had a few messages burning on my heart, and by the grace of God, He was really speaking through me.

And I was just preaching, just proclaiming what He put in me. But then, next thing I know, I'm in a church, and He wants you to preach Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night. And I ran out of messages.

I'm thinking, by Monday, what am I going to preach Wednesday? What am I going to preach Sunday morning and Sunday night? So I started listening to tapes. Oh, great preachers. Wonderful preachers. And I remember one of them, I listened to, and you always get criticized, so I remember people saying, you yell too much, or you walk around too much.

So I listened to this brother on tape that really blessed my heart. And then I saw him on video, and you know him, Zach Poonen. I said, wow. This was preaching that was going directly to my heart. If I could only preach like Zach Poonen.

Oh, man. So you know what I did. I listened to the message. I basically wrote out the message. Because I ran out of messages. I wasn't looking to the treasure anymore. I was concerned and so insecure, concerned by the outer man.

So I remember I had this message. It's pathetic, but I'm just going to be honest with you. He doesn't walk around. He stands behind the pulpit. So I'm going to try to stand behind the pulpit. He doesn't shout, so I'm going to try to keep my voice like he does, and still it will go directly to the heart.

So I preached that message, and I'll never forget this. Thank God. There was a babe in Christ. He was a big man, but he was just barely in the Lord. Honest as he could be. And he was so hungry every Sunday.

He'd only been there three or four times. Just recently came to Christ. That Sunday I walked out to shake hands with everybody, and he came out and in essence said, Brian, that was the sorriest sermon I ever heard in my life.

He said, I don't know what in the world you were talking about. And I tell you, I was just deflated. Oh, you know, that's not the only time it happened. But through that, it brought me to my knees. He always said to me, I'll never be Zach Poonen.

God didn't call me to be Zach Poonen. And I loved David Wilkerson, but I couldn't be David Wilkerson. And I could name a list of them. But I can be the only Brian Long that He ever created. Not about me.

I'm talking about the self-life being broken, being so consumed though with Jesus, that you say, Lord, this is all you have to work with. So here I am. Can you work with it? Okay, speak through me. Use me.

Dying to Self and Bearing Fruit

Preach through me, Lord, please. But no longer fixed upon the earthen vessel. The earthen vessel has to be broken. The self-life has to die. Jesus said it this way in John 12. Except a kernel of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone.

But if it die, it brings forth much fruit. You see, you put one grain of wheat on the shelf, you come back next year, and how many grains of wheat do you have? Still one. You come back ten years later, and what do you still have?

Still the old selfish grain of wheat. Not doing anything. Not producing anything. But if that grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, and breaks, the outer shell has to break. The self-life has to break open.

The earthen vessel has to break open. What happens? Life comes forth. You have a plant with many grains of wheat. And they in turn produce many more grains of wheat. And it's the same in us, brothers and sisters.

If you seek to save your life, you will lose it. But if you give your life completely to Jesus, you will really find it. You will know fruit. You will see the glory of God in the light of Christ shining through you like never before.

The Preciousness of the Light

And God doing the impossible through you. Every single one of you is willing to be broken and willing to die. We talked last night about things that were precious. Water. Life. Air. You know what else is extremely precious in life?

Light. What would it be like to live on this earth without the light of the sun? What would it be like to be in darkness all the time? How precious is light? We see how precious it is just when the power goes out for a while.

I know in Oklahoma, you get a lot of tornadoes. Tornado comes through and wipes out the power. And you go without power for a few days. And then all of a sudden, you're sitting in the house and all of a sudden, boop, all the lights come on and everybody's like, yeah, we got electricity!

The lights are on. Light is precious. The other thing that comes to mind is how precious light is. I was working on a ranch one time up on the Colorado line and I was horseback one day and I rode up on this cave.

Unexpectedly, there's this huge cave. I thought, wow, this would be something to explore. Never seen it before. So I got off and crawled in it as far as I could go until I ran out of light and realized there were tunnels going everywhere.

So I thought, after work today, I've got to come back and see what's in this cave. So I told Martha, we had just barely gotten married, I said, Martha, you've got to come with me and see this cave. This is going to be incredible.

Come with me. And so she came with me and we walked to where it was and we started down the cave and crawling through a tunnel and crawling through another tunnel and I had my little flashlight. We got about halfway down the second tunnel and she says, wait a minute.

Is that the only light you have? I said, yeah, that's all we need. That's all we need. She says, I'm not going any further. Because if that light goes out, we'll never get out of here. And we argued for a while and finally, being a good husband that I am, I listened to my wife.

We walked back out of the cave, went all the way back to the house to get another flashlight because she said, I won't go with you unless we have an extra light. So we go back and get an extra flashlight, come back, we start exploring this cave and guess what happens.

God is our witness. My flashlight completely went out. Dead. It would not work. So dark in this cave, you could not see your hand in front of your face. Pitch black darkness, tunnels. How will we ever get out of here?

How precious was that light in her pocket when she turned it on. How precious it was. It was that light that led us out of darkness. You know what the problem is today? If we as the church of Jesus Christ become self-centered, self-focused, seeking greatness for ourselves, we cover up the light.

And we are in a cave of darkness with many, many other earthen vessels who have no light. The Scripture says they are in darkness just like we were in darkness before Christ found us and saved us. They are in darkness.

Satan has blinded their minds to the glorious light of the Gospel of Christ. How will they ever get out of here unless they see the precious light of Christ? And how will they ever see that precious light of Christ unless you and I are broken that the light of Christ will shine forth.

Then we can lead them out of darkness and then we can lead them straight to the feet of our Savior. That they too may have this treasure in earthen vessels. Something has to happen. We have to die. We have to be broken.

Suffering for the Glory of Christ

And if you'll look with me in 2 Corinthians chapter 4, I'm not going to preach very much longer. I'm fixing to come to a close because the message is very simple and clear. But we can say, Lord, I want to be broken.

I want to be broken. Okay, I'm ready to shine for You. What does that mean? We heard much of what it meant through this song. What does it mean? 2 Corinthians chapter 4 just after he says in verse 7, that we have this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellency of the power may be of God and not of us.

Watch this. We are troubled on every side yet not distressed. Why did God allow the Apostle Paul to be troubled on every side? So that the clay jar could be broken and the power of God could shine forth.

The light of Christ could shine forth. So here's my question for you. The invitation is going to be very clear tonight. I'm going to invite those tonight to come to Christ who are serious about absolute surrender and serious about being broken so that Christ will get glory out of your life.

And Christ will shine that others will see this treasure. But here's the first step. Answer this. Not out loud, but to yourself before God. Are you willing to be troubled on every side but knowing you won't be distressed?

We are perplexed but not in despair. Are you willing to be perplexed and not understand everything about God's plan? Are you willing to be perplexed if it's for the glory of God? If it's for the sake of this earthen vessel being broken so that His life can shine forth?

Are you willing to be perplexed but knowing He won't leave you in despair? We are persecuted but not forsaken. Brothers and sisters, are you willing to be persecuted for the cause of Christ? For the sake of the Gospel?

Some of you know what that means. Some of us don't. Are you willing to be persecuted so that this clay jar will be broken and the life of Jesus will shine forth? We are cast down, but we're not destroyed.

What if it means you giving all to Jesus and then suddenly being cast down, yet having this promise, I won't be destroyed. Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus. Are you willing to die that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body?

For we which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus' sake. Are you willing always to be delivered unto death? Like the song said, live or die, I am yours, Jesus. Whatever will bring You the most glory, whatever will cause the light of Christ, of You, Lord Jesus, this treasure, to be seen the brightest in me.

Are you willing to be delivered unto death for Jesus' sake that the life of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh? For some, it means physical death. It did Stephen. That precious brother Stephen who was stoned to death.

But while he was being stoned to death, there was a man watching named Saul of Tarsus. And in the beginning, all Saul of Tarsus saw was an earthen vessel. But after Stephen was stoned to death, the earthen vessel was shattered and the life, the treasure of Christ shone brightly through this man.

And Saul of Tarsus must have been gripped in his heart. He comes to Christ and becomes the Apostle Paul. This is serious. Am I willing to be delivered unto death for Jesus' sake that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh?

So then death worketh in us, he says, but life in you. Are you willing to be broken that Christ and His life would shine through? Are you willing to accept what I just read from His Word? Persecution?

Being perplexed? Being cast down? Dying to your rights? Dying to the right to defend yourself? Taking all your personal ambitions and plans? You have plans. You say, my life is all planned out. Are you willing to take those plans today, tonight, and bring them to this altar and say, Lord, I lay those at Your feet?

Absolute Surrender and the Call to Discipleship

You are my plan. Are you willing to give Him your whole heart? Are you willing to surrender spirit, soul, and body to a great, great God that He may get glory out of your life? I love the story of the little African girl in the tent meeting who loved Jesus with all of her heart.

And they had an offering, and they began to pass an offering plate. And she was so disturbed because she didn't have two pennies to rub together. And she wanted so badly to give Jesus something because He loved her so much.

She loved Him so much in return. And she felt she had nothing to give Him. And as the offering plate was passed down the aisle closer and closer to her, her little heart beating so fast, what can I give my Lord?

What can I give my Lord? And when the offering plate came to her, you know what she did? She put it on the ground, and she stepped inside of it. She said, I don't have money, Lord Jesus, but I give You myself.

That's just not just a nice story. That's the call of a disciple. Are you willing to step into the offering plate as it is and say, Lord, not a mite would I withhold. I'm not just singing, I surrender all.

I mean it. I'm giving You my life. It's no longer mine, but Thine. Can I tell you something? You will enter into life and joy like you've never known. God has created us in such a way as that the more you seek happiness for yourself, the less you will have it.

The Invitation to Lay Down Every Ambition

But the more you seek to glorify God, joy will flood your soul. He is worth it all. Are you willing? Are you willing to forsake all and to surrender to the One who gave His all for you on that cross? If you are, as we have prayer and music, I want you to know what you're doing.

Is it clear, brothers and sisters, what's being proclaimed? Is the invitation clear? Is the appeal clear enough? If you come to this altar tonight, you are saying, all of Jesus, no more of me. I'm coming to a place of absolute surrender.

Lord, I give You all tonight. If you mean that, I would invite you to make that decision tonight. You will never be the same again. Heavenly Father, I pray that Your words would so grip our hearts and Holy Spirit that You would come now and have Your way.

We take very seriously, Lord, the call that You've just given us through song, through testimonies today, and now through the message through Your Word. It's time for us to respond. Lead us, Lord, and give us grace to look to You alone and to respond to You alone.

In Jesus' name, amen.