Latest / Bible Study with Pr. Daniel Batarseh | Verse by Verse Series | Maranatha Bible Church - Chicago / What Does It Mean To Follow Jesus? | Mark 8:34-38 | Pastor Daniel Batarseh (Gospel of Mark Bible Study Series)

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What Does It Mean To Follow Jesus? | Mark 8:34-38 | Pastor Daniel Batarseh (Gospel of Mark Bible Study Series) · Bible Study with Pr. Daniel Batarseh | Verse by Verse Series | Maranatha Bible Church - Chicago

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Mark 834 What does it mean to be a follower of Jesus Christ?
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What does it entail? What does it require?
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What does it demand? That is the question that the
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Lord Jesus is going to answer in this text today, though the
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answer was not a direct response to a question that the disciples
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themselves asked. Instead, Peter and the disciples
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proved their serious lack of understanding concerning the
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sufferings that the Messiah must endure.
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And because of that, they also proved their ignorance in a lot
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of areas as well. And Jesus perceived that Jesus
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understood that. So now at this time he's going
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to take the opportunity to explain that as much as the the
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sufferings of the Messiah are inevitable and determined, there
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is a measure of suffering that the followers of this Messiah
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must also anticipate and expect and prepare for.
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That is what Christ is going to say in these powerful, life
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altering, defining statements about what it means to really
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come after Jesus Christ. What does it mean to be truly
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associated with this King of Glory?
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And it is so vital, so crucial that we understand this because
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there are millions of people today who would confidently
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admit that they are indeed followers of Jesus Christ, that
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they are joined to His Kingdom, that they do belong to him, and
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that they are coming after him, so to speak.
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But do they really? Because I'm afraid that many
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people have misinterpreted their acknowledgements, affirmations,
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maybe even admiration of certain elements of who Jesus Christ is,
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but in reality are not really following him.
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Because regardless of those things, what Jesus makes so
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clear here is that there is a standard that needs to be met in
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order to truly be numbered among his own.
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In other words, the genuineness and the efficacy of your saving
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confession in Jesus Christ is ultimately determined.
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If that confession produces this radical conformity to this kind
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of discipleship. Let me make it plain and simple.
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In these verses, if you cannot say in your heart of hearts,
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Amen, that is of me, this testifies of me, then you have
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every right to question whether or not you are a legitimate
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follower of this Christ. And Jesus really gives it to us
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in a very well known verse. And as well known as it is, I
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think there are even some who misunderstand what Christ has
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said here. Let's read this verse together.
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And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to
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them, if anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and
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take up his cross and follow me. Lord, we ask, please, if you do
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not empower this delivery, if you do not awaken our hearts, we
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will not know the success that you want us to know.
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You will need to help us, Lord, And we ask with humility.
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Please, please, please let not this time together be void of
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your power. Let us hear your voice loud and
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clear. Let us see Jesus only cloak
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anything and anyone else except the Son of God.
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This is our prayer, Father. In Jesus name.
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Amen. If anyone would come after me,
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let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me.
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This is the summary of what it means to be a true follower of
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Jesus Christ. And according to Jesus Christ,
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there are two things that are required in order for you and I
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to truly be identified as one belonging to Him.
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These are the two things. There has to be something that
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you reject, and there must be something that you accept.
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Where do we get that from? It's clear.
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Let him deny himself. Self is the object that we must
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renounce, and 2nd to that and take up his cross and follow me.
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This idea of a cross is the thing that we must be willing to
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receive or accept, that must be clear and and we have the terms
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and conditions. It's right there.
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But we have to also define them. So, OK, these two things are
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required for me to even begin to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.
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I must reject something, and I also must receive something.
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But what does this mean? What does it mean to deny
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myself? Well, if you just hear it in
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isolation, it can mean 100 different things.
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Deny my plans. Deny my dreams.
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Deny my diet. Deny my friends.
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Deny my job? Deny my house?
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Deny what? What are you asking me of, Lord?
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To deny? And I believe the best way to
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understand what it means to deny oneself is to understand 1st and
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to establish what he is asking me to 1st accept.
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If I'm going to understand what it is that I had to reject, I
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must also understand what it means to accept and what it is
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that I'm called to accept. Because here's where we get a
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clear understanding of Christ requirements.
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Here the denying of myself is clearly connected to this
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concept of taking up a cross, so it narrows it down, right?
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You can't separate those two realities.
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I am denying myself for the purpose of adding to myself
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something else. So there's something about
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myself that's getting in the way of taking up this cross.
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And So what Jesus is essentially saying is you must renounce the
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resistance that you might sense when you hear the invitation to
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apply to your life a personal cross.
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Now we're getting somewhere. Now it's becoming a little bit
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more clear and obvious. But here's the problem.
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When you and I hear or even see the symbol of a cross, one's
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understanding of it can range from anything between an empty
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fashion icon to an emblem of the atoning work of Jesus Christ.
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But I can tell you one thing for certain concerning this
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audience, the disciples, and the crowd that was invited to hear
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this teaching as well, That when they heard the idea of a cross,
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there was one thing that came to mind.
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One thing that came to mind. And not only did it come to
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mind, I'm sure it also sent a chill down their spine.
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Take up a cross meant one thing. Death sentence.
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What Jesus is essentially inviting people to do is to die,
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to die. But not just any kind of death.
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Jesus was very specific with the method of death.
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There are different forms of execution at this time.
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The most common among the Jews was stoning.
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You see that all throughout the Old Testament.
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Why did Jesus choose to talk about the crucifixion?
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Because there was something about the components of a Roman
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crucifix that Jesus wanted to bring to their minds and
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parallel it with what it means to be identified with him.
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When somebody was ordained and destined to die in this manner,
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there are many things that made it a very painful experience.
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Apart from the fact that you're going to die.
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One of the things that it includes was public humiliation.
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And so this instrument, called the cross, would be placed upon
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the soldier of the shoulder rather of the criminal, and he
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would make his way on foot to the site in which he would be
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hung. And on that way, you would have
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others, bystanders and observers who would mock you, who would
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slur things at you, who would hurl things at you, who might
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even spit on you. And once you arrived to that
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site, you were stripped naked. And then you would be hung on
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that cross, bruised and exposed, while people watch you until you
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gave your final breath. This was shameful.
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This was not a private experience.
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This was very much public. It was for all to see, and
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invited all others to also make this a much more grueling
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experience than it could have been.
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And one of the reasons why this ill treatment was designed was
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because the Roman Crucifix was reserved for the worst of the
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worst of criminals. There are other punishments for
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different offenses, but when you were called to carry across, it
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was because you did something worthy of such torture.
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You were the lowest of the low. You were the scum of the earth.
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You're a nuisance to society, you with a cross.
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Nobody needs to really know what you did That alone testified
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that you deserve this. And Jesus was misunderstood, was
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misunderstood as being someone who blasphemed God and was
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destined to die such a horrible death.
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And how can you think about the cross?
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How can you think about a cross without associating it with
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suffering? It wasn't a quick death.
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It wasn't a merciful experience. It was designed to make it as
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agonizing as possible. And the primary pain that
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somebody would experience on the cross was that of suffocation.
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The way you would be hung there by nails and by a rope is that
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you would sink, your body weight would sink almost into itself
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and your your lungs would be collapsed.
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There would be pressure on your breathing, and so you would have
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to lift yourself up in order for more oxygen to come in.
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And so you would there be there, not just with pierced limbs, but
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also with a very difficult time to get air in and out.
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And so if you did not die at the desired time, they would break
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your legs, the only support system you had in order to make
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your death quick. But that wasn't ultimately, the
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desire wasn't just for you to die, it was for you to exit this
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world in the most gruesome way you can imagine.
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That's what a cross at this time encompassed, public humiliation,
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levels of discomfort even to the point of death, and even an
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identification that you would not want on your worst enemies.
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And Jesus says, if you want to be my follower, you have to be
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willing to accept such realities as my follower.
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That's what it means to take up your cross.
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To take up your cross is not God's way of saying if you're
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going to follow me, I'm going to make life a little bit more
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difficult for you because, you know, I got to make you tough
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and I can't let you just enjoy your life.
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And so here's some random suffering, Here's some
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difficulty just to keep you straight.
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That's not what the Lord is talking about.
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What he's saying is look here and verse 35.
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Forever would save his life, will lose it.
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But whoever loses his life, for my sake and the Gospels, will
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save it. The shame, the embarrassment,
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the difficulty, the pain is for being associated with the person
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and the cause of Jesus Christ. This is what it means to take up
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your cross, and this is what they understood.
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And to deny yourself, then, is to say joyfully, I'm willing.
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I'm willing, because you are worthy, And not only are you
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worthy, but I am convinced that to experience these things with
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you in my life is far greater than to escape these things.
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If it means that you are not my Lord and my Savior, that is what
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it means to follow Jesus Christ. That is the response of a true
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disciple of Jesus Christ. I am willing, whatever it cost
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to carry this cross, to carry the name of Jesus, to carry the
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message of Jesus, to represent that message.
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So be it. And Jesus modeled.
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He didn't just teach this. He modeled what the way of the
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cross looks like, what a crucified life looks like.
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I told you earlier that I was reading John and I was reading
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it this this week and a statement Jesus made shot out of
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the pages of my Bible and has been the meditation of my heart
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throughout this week. And providentially, it it it
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just shows what Christ even more means by the crucified life.
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Denying yourself and taking up your cross.
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Listen, you have to understand this is serious.
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This is the qualifying factor of being truly in the faith.
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This is what deciphers just somebody who says they follow
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Jesus. Somebody who truly, genuinely
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follows Jesus. This is what changed me.
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This is what changed me. When all my life up to the age
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of 19, I thought I really followed Jesus Christ until I
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saw take up your cross. Well, I've never been told that.
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I was just told repeat a prayer. I was just told if I didn't want
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to go to hell, come here to the front and repeat these
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statements, these acknowledgments.
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Jesus says no, deny yourself and take up your cross.
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And here I am as a college student, looking around, and I
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have a history in the faith. I have family in the faith.
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I have church attendance, But there's no sight of a personal
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cross. Where is my cross?
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Luke says that when you take up your cross, he adds a word
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daily. Take up your cross daily.
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You know what that means? If I'm a true follower of Jesus
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Christ, every single time I open my eyes in the morning, I'm not
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just thinking about the coffee I'm I'm going to drink.
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I'm not thinking about the outfit I'm going to wear.
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I'm looking at the end of my bed to see a cross that I am to
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carry. Does that sound like
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Christianity in our day? It doesn't matter.
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It's the Christianity Jesus wants.
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And he calls the shots turn with me to John 12.
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This, this is what I'm trying to get to.
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I got a little carried away. I'm sorry, in John chapter 12,
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look at verse 23 and Jesus answer them.
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The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.
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Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls
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into the earth and dies, it remains alone.
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But if it dies, it bears much fruit.
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This is Jesus speaking about his own death.
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This is how he's going to be glorified, and he's speaking
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about the fruit that it's going to produce.
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But look at verse 25. Whoever loves his life loses it,
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and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for
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eternal life. If anyone serves me, he must
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follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be.
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Also. If anyone serves me, the Father
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will honor him. So understand the backdrop of
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this is not the verse. Jesus is communicating and
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explaining and teaching about his own death.
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Now you're about to see something so spectacular, and it
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deals with the humanity of Jesus Christ.
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Notice what it says here in verse 27.
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This is what ministered to me in my own reading.
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Now is my soul troubled? Pause.
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Now is my soul troubled. I praise God that the Holy
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Spirit included that in His word.
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You know what This is showing the realness of the humanity of
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Jesus. Here he is speaking about his
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own death, and not only is he speaking at it as A1 animated
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stoic teacher, he's speaking about it and he feels the
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emotions with it. In his humanity, he senses the
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struggle of having to endure the wrath of God, the punishment for
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humanity's sins, and it's causing his heart to be in
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turmoil. I wonder what his face looked
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like. Oh, I wonder how he said it.
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But I praise God that our God came into this world to not just
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experience what we experienced, but to feel what we feel at
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times. Now is my soul troubled?
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But more than that, now I don't just have a high priest who
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sympathizes with my feelings. I don't just have a high priest
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who understands what it's like to consider the severity of
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situations and not to be disconnected with all the
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complexities of circumstances. More than that, he teaches me
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what to do with my feelings, especially when those feelings
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tend to me to steer away from the will of God.
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Now is my soul troubled? And what shall I say?
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Father saved me from this hour, but for this purpose I've come
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to this hour. So what is he saying?
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I'm feeling this turmoil. It's real.
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It's powerful. What should I do?
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Ask God to deliver me from it? It's a rhetorical question.
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Should I ask God to save me? No.
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No. Because this struggle that I'm
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feeling has to do with the will of the Father and me coming into
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this world. This is the very reason why I've
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come into this world, and you and I, this is our example.
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You and I will also sense struggle in the path of
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obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ.
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And here's your model. Notice what he does in verse 28.
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Instead of saying Father, save me from this hour, he says,
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Father, glorify your name, Glorify your name.
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Here's what this means in our walk with the Lord.
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The priority is not emotional or physical comfort.
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It is not temporal satisfactions.
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It's not even you having a certain reputation in the eyes
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of men. Here's what Christ is teaching.
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The way of the Cross is the glory of God being your
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priority. Always, always, always, always,
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Father, glorify your name. That is the constant, perpetual,
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unbroken cry for the true Father of Jesus Christ when all things
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are well and when it gets really difficult to follow Christ,
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which is very difficult to teach on in the Disneyland of the
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world called America. But I'm sure this would hit
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different to those passes in China.
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Father, glorified your name. God's glory is your priority, no
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matter how costly. This is what it means to deny
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yourself to take up your cross. God's glory, your priority, no
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matter how costly. Deny yourself, take up that
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cross and Jesus expands further on that back in Mark 8.
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Not by exhorting more, not by expanding on that initial
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thought. But he does something quite
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fascinating. He gives incentives.
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As you stand at the crossroads and hear that call for all
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people of all generations, it hasn't changed.
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If anyone would come after me, and that's a high cost.
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That's a life altering decision. And so he understands that.
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And he doesn't just leave you with that command now.
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He begins to explain some things to you in order to consider
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this, to joyfully consider it, because he knows in hearing
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that, that there are walls that go up and there are hesitations
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and there are obstacles. And so for the next 4 verses he
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gives, he gives these explanations for you to consider
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a cross. Let's read them together, verse
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35. For whoever would save his life
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will lose it. But whoever loses his life, for
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my sake and the Gospels will save it.
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For what does a profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit
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his soul? For what can a man give in
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return for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of me and
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of my words, and this adulterous and sinful generation of him,
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will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the
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glory of his Father with the holy angels?
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Every single one of those verses is a blow to any fleshly impulse
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or hesitation to deny yourself and to take up a cross in the
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name of Jesus Christ. And let's just group them and in
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three things because you can. You can take the 2 middle verses
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and attach them together. What is Christ saying here in
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verse 35? Initially, what he's actually
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saying is to lose your life really is to save your life.
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To lose your life is really to save it.
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And so you hear this idea of taking up your cross, denying
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yourself, and immediately you curl up.
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Immediately you shrink back because what is self?
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What it what does it mean to live for self?
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Self gratification, self preservation.
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And not only to live for that, but to protect anything that
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would threaten that would threaten that Being your
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ultimate experience in life, those things being heightened
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and matured and nurtured. This is what we shield from in
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our flesh. Anything that would try to
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hijack my pursuit of personal happiness and not true
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happiness, may I add, to save your life is to protect yourself
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from anything that would take that away from you.
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But by doing that, you're really losing your life.
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And the way that actually save your life is to rid yourself of
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that, is to get rid of that is to renounce that, to deny it, to
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disown yourself from it. It's a paradox.
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It's a paradox. And what does that mean?
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To save my life means to lose it.
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And to lose my life is to save it.
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Well, I read it to you in John 1225 and John 1225.
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It's clear whoever loves his life loses it.
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Hold on. If I love my life, I lose my
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life. Yes.
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And whoever hates his life, what's going on here, hates his
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life. Yes, hates his life in this
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world will keep it for eternal life.
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It's about eternal life. When he says save your life,
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what are you losing? If you save your life, if you
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say I don't want this wave across, I want my way, you're
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losing eternal life. And to lose your life to say I'm
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willing, I'm willing to come after you.
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I'm willing to take up my cross. Anything that it costs to be
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associated with you, I say yes to you is to save yourself for
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eternal life. So losing your life really means
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winning life. But there's a secondary
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application. The second application is this,
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that there is a saving of my life that can cause me to lose
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in this life, not in just in the next life, in this life.
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And there is a losing a life that can save life in this life.
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My experience here now. Because here's what people can
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also hear when they hear deny yourself and take up your cross.
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Here's what it means. Translation.
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Endure misery. It's going to get really good
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and it's going to be worth it once you die and you get to
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heaven. So just bite your tongue, put it
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on the southcloth and ashes, try not to disappoint God.
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And then once you get through the gates, you'll say okay, it
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was worth it. Is that what Jesus means here?
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Can I show you that the Bible in fact, says the opposite?
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There's a There's so many ways to explain this.
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One of my favorite is in First Timothy 5.
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Look at First Timothy 5 when Paul's speaking about widows who
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are worthy of financial assistance from the local
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church. First Timothy.
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If you want to know where Timothy is it, it's bundled up
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with all the other epistles that start with the letter T First
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Timothy 5. Look at verse five.
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It says here she who is truly a widow, left all alone, has set
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her hope on God and continues in supplications and prayers night
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and day. Verse 6 But she who is self
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indulgent is dead even while she lives.
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That is so countercultural. If you want to live, you should
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be self indulgent. Acquire more, achieve more,
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Stuff your life with more. Is that not the anthem of what
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it means to live? And here's what the Bible says.
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The self indulgent, those who live just for you to acquire, to
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know, to experience more, more, more, more in this life.
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You're a Walking Dead man. You're a spiritual zombie.
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Oh yeah, you have, you have plans and you have eyes and you
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have full mobility and you have money and you have interactions
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with this world. But here's what the Bible says.
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You're dead while you live. Now if it's true that the self
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indulgent are dead while they live, then the opposite also
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must be true. That those who deny self are
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really living are really living and Jesus.
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Jesus the best example illustrates that in so many
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ways. What about in that spectacular
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conversation that he has with a woman at the well?
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The disciples all go out into the villages to grab food for
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Jesus because he is weary and he is tired.
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And when they come back after this woman hears that he is the
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Messiah. After this woman hears what all
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that she had done was revealed by this amazing man, Rabbi Eat.
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And Jesus says in John 434 my food is to do the will of him
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who sent me to accomplish his work.
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In other words, I already ate, but he didn't really physically
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eat. So what is he saying there?
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Jesus connects, doing the will of God with a universal
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experience known as eating. You probably ate today.
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You're probably wanting me to stop sooner so you can eat.
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Now we all know what it's like to eat, do we not?
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And Jesus says doing the will of God is like the experience and
30:22
the benefits of eating food. It quenches a desire.
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It energizes you. It brings the light into your
30:33
life. It sustains you.
30:37
It strengthens you. It's a real experience only with
30:42
good as a consequence, of course, in moderation.
30:49
And Jesus says what it's like to eat and what happens when you
30:52
eat is what it's like when your life is submitted to the will of
30:54
God. True delight, true strength,
30:58
true sustenance and wholeness and a sense of completeness.
31:04
And listen, this is so significant, so real is that
31:06
experience of walking in the will of God that it even gave
31:11
Jesus the energy to not even want to physically eat.
31:17
It was so fulfilling for Jesus that when the food was presented
31:20
to him didn't really need it. And if that's true, if me doing
31:27
the will of God is capable of me even at times not wanting the
31:31
essential things of life, What about the things in life that
31:33
are not essential? What about the things in life
31:38
that harm me and hurt me, though they tempt me?
31:41
Is there not a blessing, and not just knowing the experience of
31:46
eating, but what it also protects me from?
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And that's exactly what the Lord is saying here.
31:53
There's a fulfillment, a real sense of satisfaction, that
31:56
comes from obeying the will of God.
31:58
Which was what to suspend my own needs and desires for the sake
32:02
of serving somebody else, for, for prioritizing the glory of
32:06
God in this moment. And that is true for you and I.
32:12
You and I can also expect that when he calls us to deny
32:15
ourselves, he's not calling you to a lifelong misery.
32:20
He's calling you to put to death lesser things.
32:25
One evangelist put it this way. It's like jumping into the ocean
32:28
with a backpack or Fanny pack filled with 80 or 100 pounds of
32:32
gold. You're drowning, but you want to
32:35
hold on to the gold. At what cost?
32:37
Your life. And so unlock that thing.
32:41
Cut that thing out so that you can what?
32:42
Live. Truly live.
32:44
And this is what Jesus saying? Renounce it.
32:48
Remove it. Disassociate yourself from it so
32:51
that you would truly know life. You're saving your life for
32:57
what? Inferior pleasures?
32:58
Inferior sense of purpose? Inferior sense of security?
33:01
Inferior sense of true reputation and identification?
33:07
Deny it. See it for what it is, and
33:09
understand that by losing your life, you're really saving your
33:12
life. So you're the disciples in the
33:16
crowd hearing you. OK, but he goes on beyond that,
33:22
and he says here in the next part, for what does a prophet a
33:25
man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?
33:32
What does a prophet a man if he gains the whole world but
33:34
forfeits his soul? Here's the 2nd incentive.
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Here's the 2nd explanation. Not just losing your life really
33:42
means to save it, but your soul is more valuable than gaining
33:47
the whole world the value of the human soul.
33:54
So suppose that you've been granted this opportunity, this
33:59
once, in a multigenerational opportunity, to gain absolutely
34:07
everything, Not partly not to be named among the 100 most rich,
34:11
but to be at the top of the top. You own everything.
34:15
Every product, anything, is accessible to you by the snap of
34:18
the finger. Every piece of land that you
34:20
desire will be yours. Any project that was once
34:25
accomplished, any project that you would want to be realized,
34:28
all of that, is now available to you.
34:31
Suppose you have that opportunity and the other choice
34:36
is to deny yourself and to take up a cross.
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Which one do you think people would choose?
34:46
Just look at how most people are living.
34:51
You know what Jesus is saying. If you choose the first one,
34:55
you're a fool. If pursuing these things at the
35:00
cost of your soul is what you will do with your brief
35:06
existence, you're a fool. You don't understand the value.
35:15
You don't understand what awaits concerning your soul.
35:20
And Jesus, by saying this is saying trust me, at the end of
35:23
it all, whatever suffering you had to endure for my namesake
35:29
and for my gospel sake will be worth it.
35:35
Even if what you had been given a chance to do was a pain free,
35:40
unending prosperity. No problems, no tribulation, no
35:45
issues, was the alternative. You taking up a cross is better
35:52
than you gaining the whole world.
35:56
And when I was meditating on this verse, I thought to myself,
36:00
how quickly will you realize that when all is said and done,
36:05
how quickly I believe the microsecond that you give your
36:13
final breath and you enter into that next World, you'll realize
36:17
it. It will flood your soul.
36:23
And the opposite is true for those who sought to gain the
36:25
whole world but forfeited their soul.
36:29
Can I show you an example of that?
36:31
Remember the rich man in Lazarus and Luke 16?
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I want you to see a detail there that I love.
36:35
And Luke 16, Luke 1619. There was a rich man who was
36:50
clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously
36:53
every day and at his gate was a was laid a poor man named
36:58
Lazarus. This is how we know it's not a
37:00
parable. You don't name people in
37:02
parables. This is a real story that his
37:06
gate was a was laid a poor man named Lazarus covered with sores
37:09
who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man's table,
37:13
just wanted crumbs. Moreover, even the dogs came and
37:18
licked his sores. Isn't it a sad side when we see
37:21
more compassion from animals than from human beings?
37:27
So here's this man at the gate of this rich man's house, and
37:29
these dogs are licking his sores and all he's asking for.
37:32
He's not asking for a seat at the table.
37:34
He's just asking for whatever falls from the table, never gets
37:37
it. So we have this contrast of
37:40
life. You have this rich man, proud,
37:44
arrogant, and as we're going to find out, not a believer, and
37:48
clearly this man, Lazarus, who had a horrible fate in life but
37:51
was indeed a believer. Look at verse 22.
37:55
The poor man died and was carried by the angels to
37:58
Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was
38:00
buried. What stands out to you?
38:04
Both of these people died. Who was carried by angels?
38:11
Lazarus. Did the rich man receive any
38:15
kind of escort? No, he was just dumped into the
38:20
grave. Dumped into Hades.
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You know what that tells me? The moment the moment Lazarus
38:27
died, he was met with heavenly bliss.
38:34
Even the angels personally came to him and brought him to
38:38
Abraham's side. I wonder what went through his
38:41
mind. And here's this man who probably
38:45
received a very honorable funeral.
38:48
He probably even in advance paid for a spectacle in honor of his
38:53
name. And the moment he dies?
38:57
No reception, no warm welcome. Hell, what does it profit a man
39:13
to gain the whole world but forfeit his soul?
39:18
And then he goes on to say, what can a man give in return for his
39:22
soul? That can mean many things.
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I think one of the things it means is that on that day,
39:29
people who have not denied themselves and taken up their
39:32
cross will be so desperate to have their soul preserved for
39:38
eternity that maybe in their desperation they're going to
39:41
make attempts to give something to God, to purchase their soul.
39:48
What a tragic thing to even think about all these people
39:53
with companies and businesses and stocks and shares and
39:58
unimaginable wealth. Trying to convince the judge of
40:02
the earth. What do I need to give to have
40:04
my soul return? What do I need to give?
40:08
It'll be too late. Because God doesn't want your
40:11
stuff. He wants you.
40:12
He wants your heart. He wants your faith.
40:18
He wants your affection. So the disciples and the crowds
40:23
are hearing this one. To lose your life really means
40:25
to save it too. The soul is more valuable.
40:28
As you're contemplating the cost, well, contemplate this.
40:30
Your soul is more important, more valuable, the greatest
40:34
investment you can make regardless, even if you gain the
40:36
whole world to deny Christ. Lastly, Jesus says something
40:47
that should motivate us further. And listen, this should
40:49
strengthen you who have made a decision to take up your cross
40:52
and follow Jesus Christ. Let this strengthen you, verse
40:56
38. For whoever is ashamed of me and
40:59
of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation of him,
41:02
will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the
41:06
glory of his Father with the holy angels?
41:09
So if possessions aren't a problem for people to shun their
41:13
cross, popularity is usually the other thing, being on good terms
41:20
with people. And Jesus knew that.
41:24
And so Jesus says, I'm aware that part of your resistance is
41:28
to be ashamed, to deny me, to not want to be linked with me,
41:33
not just me personally, but even my words.
41:37
But he does something so specific and so strategic.
41:41
He colors the people, He colors the the those that we're trying
41:46
that we're even thinking about winning their approval from.
41:51
He doesn't say your family. He doesn't say your boss.
41:53
He didn't say the wealthy. He doesn't say the intelligent.
41:55
He doesn't say the sophisticated.
41:56
He doesn't say the scientifically intelligent.
41:59
What does he say in this adulterous and sinful
42:02
generation? Why is he doing that?
42:08
I think one for us to realize just how silly it is to even
42:12
consider between the approval of such a people and the King of
42:16
Glory. So hold on.
42:18
You're struggling to follow Jesus Christ wholeheartedly
42:22
because you want to win the praise and the affection of an
42:25
adulterous and sinful generation.
42:31
Here's a here's how I categorize this.
42:34
If there's any other incentive there is to take up your cross
42:37
and follow Jesus, it is this. The alternative to denying self
42:41
is pathetic. The alternative to denying self
42:46
is absolutely pathetic, and I think that should be more true
42:50
in our day of age than anything else.
42:54
They don't have it all together, do they?
42:58
Look what they're talking about. They can't even figure out
43:04
what's real. Never mind what's true.
43:07
Never mind what's objectively right, what's even
43:10
scientifically correct and accurate.
43:13
Those are the people that we're intimidated by.
43:17
Those are the ones that we want to try to swoo and convince that
43:20
we are modern and up to date and developed and progressive.
43:27
Who cares? Who cares?
43:33
Blind guides leading blind people.
43:36
Why would I want to join that line and head down the Cliff?
43:39
It's like I saw the Lord's trying to wake them up.
43:41
Hey, remember in your contemplation of carrying your
43:43
cross, remember who you're actually trying to win an
43:49
adulterous and sinful people. If we just see what sin really
43:56
does, what the fate of sin is really is what the fruit of sin
43:59
is. And Satan is doing an incredible
44:01
job by masquerading it and by making it seem like it is
44:04
enjoyable, making it seem like it is life.
44:06
It is true life and layers it. And so you have young people
44:12
today because I know it. You can't fool me, young person.
44:16
I know it. I know what it's like to sit in
44:18
a meeting like this and go under.
44:19
Sit under a meeting that calls people to give their lives to
44:24
Christ. I'm not sure how much I heard
44:28
about denying yourself. I know what it's like.
44:31
Do you want to follow Jesus? And down deep inside, you know
44:35
what you might be feeling? Yeah, this is right.
44:38
This is stirring my heart. It's pulling on my heartstrings.
44:41
But there's really something out.
44:43
There are things out there that I really want.
44:50
There are people out there that I really want.
44:52
Jesus says they're an adulterous and sinful generation.
44:55
What do you want from them? And in contrast of him, will the
45:02
Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his
45:05
Father and with the holy angels? Here's what it means to
45:08
ultimately take up your cross. You got to make a choice.
45:10
Whose approval am I after this adulterous and sinful
45:15
generation, or the eternal, most beautiful, uncomparable, all
45:20
glorious Son of God? Whose opinion?
45:26
Whose plan, whose worldview, whose standard, whose
45:32
principles? Which one am I going to choose?
45:38
And to take up your cross is to look at that adulterous and
45:41
sinful generation. It says, No matter what you say
45:43
about me, no matter what you want to do with me, I want his
45:48
commendation. So I will follow him, though not
45:53
go with me. Sometimes when people hear the
45:57
call of the gospel, what springs up?
46:02
Look, I'm not interested in making my workplace awkward.
46:05
I'm not interested in creating tension in my marriage with my
46:08
unbelieving spouse, or my cousins or my uncles or my
46:11
siblings. I'm not interested in being
46:13
scorned, just like what a cross does.
46:16
Public humiliation, public scorn.
46:19
I don't think I want to invite that into my life.
46:22
And Jesus says, well, consider that it's coming from this kind
46:26
of people. But also consider that when I
46:31
come in my glory, I will acknowledge you.
46:38
I will acknowledge you. There's a striking verse in John
46:44
1242. Nevertheless, many even of the
46:49
authorities believed in him. But for fear of the Pharisees,
46:54
they did not confess it so that they would not be put out of the
47:00
synagogue. For they loved the glory that
47:04
comes from man more than the glory that comes from God.
47:11
There were people in Jesus's day that were more interested in
47:15
keeping their membership in the synagogue than having their
47:18
names written in the Lambs book of life.
47:23
And perhaps there's some people today who want to keep their
47:27
job. They know that with what's
47:29
happening in the culture, there's going to be a choice you
47:31
have to make to confess your faith.
47:34
I'm not. I'm not sure if I want to do
47:35
that. I need job security, especially
47:37
with all the crazy inflation going on and I just started a
47:40
family. But take up your cross, Deny
47:45
yourself. Let your life be an adventure
47:50
for the glory of Jesus Christ. OK, Let them take it.
47:54
Let them. Let them give you the boot.
47:55
All right, Lord. Now what?
48:01
Who wants to play it safe anyway?
48:05
The safest thing you can do is put your life in the hands of
48:07
him. Have you done this?
48:15
Jesus didn't say if anyone would come after me.
48:16
Let him make sure he wakes up early on Sunday morning and not
48:18
skip church. Jesus didn't even say that.
48:22
If anyone would come after me, let him make sure that he
48:24
disciplines off to at least get 15 minutes in my word and I'm
48:27
counting every minute of it. Jesus didn't say if anyone would
48:33
come after me. Let him sing some songs and do
48:38
some community service. Have some pastors they can
48:43
identify in their lives and surround yourself with more
48:45
Christians and less sinners. Jesus said if anyone would come
48:53
after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me.
49:01
Have you done that? You can do that today.
49:05
You don't have to be like the rich man who realized it too
49:08
late. You can be like Jesus, that as
49:20
you even in suffering feel the turmoil, the price it is to
49:26
honor him in this hostile world. You can still feel full,
49:30
satisfied and obeying the will of God, walking in the will of
49:33
God. And even more than that, say,
49:35
Father, glorify your name to know life now, lest you be
49:38
someone who is living but is really dead.
49:43
And now only will you know a paradox of a life filled with
49:48
promises and pleasures, even if your lot in life is like that
49:53
man who wanted crumbs. Oh, what an entrance he
49:57
received. An entrance unlike what that
49:59
rich man would have ever experienced in his world.
50:05
The call to self denial, my friend, is not a call to a
50:09
cloudy, ascetic, miserable, cold, awkward, weird way of
50:17
living. It's to really live.
50:22
Take off the Fanny pack with all your sins and all your ideas and
50:27
all your self righteousness and all your conditions of what it
50:32
means to be thrown aside. You're drowning.
50:36
Take off the backpack. You're drowning.
50:39
You think you're living, but you're drowning.
50:41
I know that the gold in there is making you a little bit happy.
50:44
I know you think that you can survive by holding on to your
50:47
ideas and your philosophies and your sin and your habits, but
50:51
you can't take it off. And here's what will happen.
50:55
Just like somebody who does remove the hindrance, the very
50:58
instrument of his own death, you will spring up and you will know
51:05
life, real life, in Jesus Christ.
51:12
Believer, if you've made that decision, it's going to be worth
51:16
it. And isn't it already worth it?
51:21
Amen. Let's pray.
51:39
Father, thank you for the unadulterated word of God.
51:46
Thank you that Jesus invitation to death is in fact the way to
51:50
true life. Thank you that your thoughts are
51:54
not like our thoughts. Your ways are not like our ways.
52:00
Lord, for the weary believer who's paying a price for
52:05
carrying your name and for representing the gospel, may
52:09
they know fresh strength. May they have eternities, shore
52:15
and view, and may they be encouraged to know that true joy
52:25
is in the path that they've decided to walk on.
52:30
For the person in here who is at a crossroads, and it's not
52:37
certain if they have truly responded to this call to
52:41
discipleship, may there be no misunderstanding.
52:46
May there be no misinterpretation that to be
52:49
saved is to suffer physically or financially or relationally to
52:54
win your approval. No.
52:56
May they simply understand that by faith in you we should expect
53:01
these things even before we confess faith in you.
53:05
We have to be willing to say, If my faith will cost me this, then
53:09
so be it. And may they understand that
53:13
only when they take up that cross will they know true life.
53:19
May your Holy Spirit do what only he can do.
53:22
And Lord, may we now stand in your presence, rejoicing,
53:27
rejoicing in your truth, because it is for your glory.
53:31
But we thank you that it is also for our good.
53:35
Receive the honor that you deserve.
53:38
In Jesus name. Amen.
53:40
Let's stand together, shall we?