What Does It Mean To Follow Jesus? | Mark 8:34-38 | Pastor Daniel Batarseh (Gospel of Mark Bible Study Series)

Mark 834 What does it mean to be a follower of Jesus Christ?

What does it entail? What does it require?

What does it demand? That is the question that the

Lord Jesus is going to answer in this text today, though the

answer was not a direct response to a question that the disciples

themselves asked. Instead, Peter and the disciples

proved their serious lack of understanding concerning the

sufferings that the Messiah must endure.

And because of that, they also proved their ignorance in a lot

of areas as well. And Jesus perceived that Jesus

understood that. So now at this time he's going

to take the opportunity to explain that as much as the the

sufferings of the Messiah are inevitable and determined, there

is a measure of suffering that the followers of this Messiah

must also anticipate and expect and prepare for.

That is what Christ is going to say in these powerful, life

altering, defining statements about what it means to really

come after Jesus Christ. What does it mean to be truly

associated with this King of Glory?

And it is so vital, so crucial that we understand this because

there are millions of people today who would confidently

admit that they are indeed followers of Jesus Christ, that

they are joined to His Kingdom, that they do belong to him, and

that they are coming after him, so to speak.

But do they really? Because I'm afraid that many

people have misinterpreted their acknowledgements, affirmations,

maybe even admiration of certain elements of who Jesus Christ is,

but in reality are not really following him.

Because regardless of those things, what Jesus makes so

clear here is that there is a standard that needs to be met in

order to truly be numbered among his own.

In other words, the genuineness and the efficacy of your saving

confession in Jesus Christ is ultimately determined.

If that confession produces this radical conformity to this kind

of discipleship. Let me make it plain and simple.

In these verses, if you cannot say in your heart of hearts,

Amen, that is of me, this testifies of me, then you have

every right to question whether or not you are a legitimate

follower of this Christ. And Jesus really gives it to us

in a very well known verse. And as well known as it is, I

think there are even some who misunderstand what Christ has

said here. Let's read this verse together.

And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to

them, if anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and

take up his cross and follow me. Lord, we ask, please, if you do

not empower this delivery, if you do not awaken our hearts, we

will not know the success that you want us to know.

You will need to help us, Lord, And we ask with humility.

Please, please, please let not this time together be void of

your power. Let us hear your voice loud and

clear. Let us see Jesus only cloak

anything and anyone else except the Son of God.

This is our prayer, Father. In Jesus name.

Amen. If anyone would come after me,

let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me.

This is the summary of what it means to be a true follower of

Jesus Christ. And according to Jesus Christ,

there are two things that are required in order for you and I

to truly be identified as one belonging to Him.

These are the two things. There has to be something that

you reject, and there must be something that you accept.

Where do we get that from? It's clear.

Let him deny himself. Self is the object that we must

renounce, and 2nd to that and take up his cross and follow me.

This idea of a cross is the thing that we must be willing to

receive or accept, that must be clear and and we have the terms

and conditions. It's right there.

But we have to also define them. So, OK, these two things are

required for me to even begin to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.

I must reject something, and I also must receive something.

But what does this mean? What does it mean to deny

myself? Well, if you just hear it in

isolation, it can mean 100 different things.

Deny my plans. Deny my dreams.

Deny my diet. Deny my friends.

Deny my job? Deny my house?

Deny what? What are you asking me of, Lord?

To deny? And I believe the best way to

understand what it means to deny oneself is to understand 1st and

to establish what he is asking me to 1st accept.

If I'm going to understand what it is that I had to reject, I

must also understand what it means to accept and what it is

that I'm called to accept. Because here's where we get a

clear understanding of Christ requirements.

Here the denying of myself is clearly connected to this

concept of taking up a cross, so it narrows it down, right?

You can't separate those two realities.

I am denying myself for the purpose of adding to myself

something else. So there's something about

myself that's getting in the way of taking up this cross.

And So what Jesus is essentially saying is you must renounce the

resistance that you might sense when you hear the invitation to

apply to your life a personal cross.

Now we're getting somewhere. Now it's becoming a little bit

more clear and obvious. But here's the problem.

When you and I hear or even see the symbol of a cross, one's

understanding of it can range from anything between an empty

fashion icon to an emblem of the atoning work of Jesus Christ.

But I can tell you one thing for certain concerning this

audience, the disciples, and the crowd that was invited to hear

this teaching as well, That when they heard the idea of a cross,

there was one thing that came to mind.

One thing that came to mind. And not only did it come to

mind, I'm sure it also sent a chill down their spine.

Take up a cross meant one thing. Death sentence.

What Jesus is essentially inviting people to do is to die,

to die. But not just any kind of death.

Jesus was very specific with the method of death.

There are different forms of execution at this time.

The most common among the Jews was stoning.

You see that all throughout the Old Testament.

Why did Jesus choose to talk about the crucifixion?

Because there was something about the components of a Roman

crucifix that Jesus wanted to bring to their minds and

parallel it with what it means to be identified with him.

When somebody was ordained and destined to die in this manner,

there are many things that made it a very painful experience.

Apart from the fact that you're going to die.

One of the things that it includes was public humiliation.

And so this instrument, called the cross, would be placed upon

the soldier of the shoulder rather of the criminal, and he

would make his way on foot to the site in which he would be

hung. And on that way, you would have

others, bystanders and observers who would mock you, who would

slur things at you, who would hurl things at you, who might

even spit on you. And once you arrived to that

site, you were stripped naked. And then you would be hung on

that cross, bruised and exposed, while people watch you until you

gave your final breath. This was shameful.

This was not a private experience.

This was very much public. It was for all to see, and

invited all others to also make this a much more grueling

experience than it could have been.

And one of the reasons why this ill treatment was designed was

because the Roman Crucifix was reserved for the worst of the

worst of criminals. There are other punishments for

different offenses, but when you were called to carry across, it

was because you did something worthy of such torture.

You were the lowest of the low. You were the scum of the earth.

You're a nuisance to society, you with a cross.

Nobody needs to really know what you did That alone testified

that you deserve this. And Jesus was misunderstood, was

misunderstood as being someone who blasphemed God and was

destined to die such a horrible death.

And how can you think about the cross?

How can you think about a cross without associating it with

suffering? It wasn't a quick death.

It wasn't a merciful experience. It was designed to make it as

agonizing as possible. And the primary pain that

somebody would experience on the cross was that of suffocation.

The way you would be hung there by nails and by a rope is that

you would sink, your body weight would sink almost into itself

and your your lungs would be collapsed.

There would be pressure on your breathing, and so you would have

to lift yourself up in order for more oxygen to come in.

And so you would there be there, not just with pierced limbs, but

also with a very difficult time to get air in and out.

And so if you did not die at the desired time, they would break

your legs, the only support system you had in order to make

your death quick. But that wasn't ultimately, the

desire wasn't just for you to die, it was for you to exit this

world in the most gruesome way you can imagine.

That's what a cross at this time encompassed, public humiliation,

levels of discomfort even to the point of death, and even an

identification that you would not want on your worst enemies.

And Jesus says, if you want to be my follower, you have to be

willing to accept such realities as my follower.

That's what it means to take up your cross.

To take up your cross is not God's way of saying if you're

going to follow me, I'm going to make life a little bit more

difficult for you because, you know, I got to make you tough

and I can't let you just enjoy your life.

And so here's some random suffering, Here's some

difficulty just to keep you straight.

That's not what the Lord is talking about.

What he's saying is look here and verse 35.

Forever would save his life, will lose it.

But whoever loses his life, for my sake and the Gospels, will

save it. The shame, the embarrassment,

the difficulty, the pain is for being associated with the person

and the cause of Jesus Christ. This is what it means to take up

your cross, and this is what they understood.

And to deny yourself, then, is to say joyfully, I'm willing.

I'm willing, because you are worthy, And not only are you

worthy, but I am convinced that to experience these things with

you in my life is far greater than to escape these things.

If it means that you are not my Lord and my Savior, that is what

it means to follow Jesus Christ. That is the response of a true

disciple of Jesus Christ. I am willing, whatever it cost

to carry this cross, to carry the name of Jesus, to carry the

message of Jesus, to represent that message.

So be it. And Jesus modeled.

He didn't just teach this. He modeled what the way of the

cross looks like, what a crucified life looks like.

I told you earlier that I was reading John and I was reading

it this this week and a statement Jesus made shot out of

the pages of my Bible and has been the meditation of my heart

throughout this week. And providentially, it it it

just shows what Christ even more means by the crucified life.

Denying yourself and taking up your cross.

Listen, you have to understand this is serious.

This is the qualifying factor of being truly in the faith.

This is what deciphers just somebody who says they follow

Jesus. Somebody who truly, genuinely

follows Jesus. This is what changed me.

This is what changed me. When all my life up to the age

of 19, I thought I really followed Jesus Christ until I

saw take up your cross. Well, I've never been told that.

I was just told repeat a prayer. I was just told if I didn't want

to go to hell, come here to the front and repeat these

statements, these acknowledgments.

Jesus says no, deny yourself and take up your cross.

And here I am as a college student, looking around, and I

have a history in the faith. I have family in the faith.

I have church attendance, But there's no sight of a personal

cross. Where is my cross?

Luke says that when you take up your cross, he adds a word

daily. Take up your cross daily.

You know what that means? If I'm a true follower of Jesus

Christ, every single time I open my eyes in the morning, I'm not

just thinking about the coffee I'm I'm going to drink.

I'm not thinking about the outfit I'm going to wear.

I'm looking at the end of my bed to see a cross that I am to

carry. Does that sound like

Christianity in our day? It doesn't matter.

It's the Christianity Jesus wants.

And he calls the shots turn with me to John 12.

This, this is what I'm trying to get to.

I got a little carried away. I'm sorry, in John chapter 12,

John 12 · chapter mention

look at verse 23 and Jesus answer them.

The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.

Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls

into the earth and dies, it remains alone.

But if it dies, it bears much fruit.

This is Jesus speaking about his own death.

This is how he's going to be glorified, and he's speaking

about the fruit that it's going to produce.

But look at verse 25. Whoever loves his life loses it,

and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for

eternal life. If anyone serves me, he must

follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be.

Also. If anyone serves me, the Father

will honor him. So understand the backdrop of

this is not the verse. Jesus is communicating and

explaining and teaching about his own death.

Now you're about to see something so spectacular, and it

deals with the humanity of Jesus Christ.

Notice what it says here in verse 27.

This is what ministered to me in my own reading.

Now is my soul troubled? Pause.

Now is my soul troubled. I praise God that the Holy

Spirit included that in His word.

You know what This is showing the realness of the humanity of

Jesus. Here he is speaking about his

own death, and not only is he speaking at it as A1 animated

stoic teacher, he's speaking about it and he feels the

emotions with it. In his humanity, he senses the

struggle of having to endure the wrath of God, the punishment for

humanity's sins, and it's causing his heart to be in

turmoil. I wonder what his face looked

like. Oh, I wonder how he said it.

But I praise God that our God came into this world to not just

experience what we experienced, but to feel what we feel at

times. Now is my soul troubled?

But more than that, now I don't just have a high priest who

sympathizes with my feelings. I don't just have a high priest

who understands what it's like to consider the severity of

situations and not to be disconnected with all the

complexities of circumstances. More than that, he teaches me

what to do with my feelings, especially when those feelings

tend to me to steer away from the will of God.

Now is my soul troubled? And what shall I say?

Father saved me from this hour, but for this purpose I've come

to this hour. So what is he saying?

I'm feeling this turmoil. It's real.

It's powerful. What should I do?

Ask God to deliver me from it? It's a rhetorical question.

Should I ask God to save me? No.

No. Because this struggle that I'm

feeling has to do with the will of the Father and me coming into

this world. This is the very reason why I've

come into this world, and you and I, this is our example.

You and I will also sense struggle in the path of

obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ.

And here's your model. Notice what he does in verse 28.

Instead of saying Father, save me from this hour, he says,

Father, glorify your name, Glorify your name.

Here's what this means in our walk with the Lord.

The priority is not emotional or physical comfort.

It is not temporal satisfactions.

It's not even you having a certain reputation in the eyes

of men. Here's what Christ is teaching.

The way of the Cross is the glory of God being your

priority. Always, always, always, always,

Father, glorify your name. That is the constant, perpetual,

unbroken cry for the true Father of Jesus Christ when all things

are well and when it gets really difficult to follow Christ,

which is very difficult to teach on in the Disneyland of the

world called America. But I'm sure this would hit

different to those passes in China.

Father, glorified your name. God's glory is your priority, no

matter how costly. This is what it means to deny

yourself to take up your cross. God's glory, your priority, no

matter how costly. Deny yourself, take up that

cross and Jesus expands further on that back in Mark 8.

Not by exhorting more, not by expanding on that initial

thought. But he does something quite

fascinating. He gives incentives.

As you stand at the crossroads and hear that call for all

people of all generations, it hasn't changed.

If anyone would come after me, and that's a high cost.

That's a life altering decision. And so he understands that.

And he doesn't just leave you with that command now.

He begins to explain some things to you in order to consider

this, to joyfully consider it, because he knows in hearing

that, that there are walls that go up and there are hesitations

and there are obstacles. And so for the next 4 verses he

gives, he gives these explanations for you to consider

a cross. Let's read them together, verse

35. For whoever would save his life

will lose it. But whoever loses his life, for

my sake and the Gospels will save it.

For what does a profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit

his soul? For what can a man give in

return for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of me and

of my words, and this adulterous and sinful generation of him,

will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the

glory of his Father with the holy angels?

Every single one of those verses is a blow to any fleshly impulse

or hesitation to deny yourself and to take up a cross in the

name of Jesus Christ. And let's just group them and in

three things because you can. You can take the 2 middle verses

and attach them together. What is Christ saying here in

verse 35? Initially, what he's actually

saying is to lose your life really is to save your life.

To lose your life is really to save it.

And so you hear this idea of taking up your cross, denying

yourself, and immediately you curl up.

Immediately you shrink back because what is self?

What it what does it mean to live for self?

Self gratification, self preservation.

And not only to live for that, but to protect anything that

would threaten that would threaten that Being your

ultimate experience in life, those things being heightened

and matured and nurtured. This is what we shield from in

our flesh. Anything that would try to

hijack my pursuit of personal happiness and not true

happiness, may I add, to save your life is to protect yourself

from anything that would take that away from you.

But by doing that, you're really losing your life.

And the way that actually save your life is to rid yourself of

that, is to get rid of that is to renounce that, to deny it, to

disown yourself from it. It's a paradox.

It's a paradox. And what does that mean?

To save my life means to lose it.

And to lose my life is to save it.

Well, I read it to you in John 1225 and John 1225.

It's clear whoever loves his life loses it.

Hold on. If I love my life, I lose my

life. Yes.

And whoever hates his life, what's going on here, hates his

life. Yes, hates his life in this

world will keep it for eternal life.

It's about eternal life. When he says save your life,

what are you losing? If you save your life, if you

say I don't want this wave across, I want my way, you're

losing eternal life. And to lose your life to say I'm

willing, I'm willing to come after you.

I'm willing to take up my cross. Anything that it costs to be

associated with you, I say yes to you is to save yourself for

eternal life. So losing your life really means

winning life. But there's a secondary

application. The second application is this,

that there is a saving of my life that can cause me to lose

in this life, not in just in the next life, in this life.

And there is a losing a life that can save life in this life.

My experience here now. Because here's what people can

also hear when they hear deny yourself and take up your cross.

Here's what it means. Translation.

Endure misery. It's going to get really good

and it's going to be worth it once you die and you get to

heaven. So just bite your tongue, put it

on the southcloth and ashes, try not to disappoint God.

And then once you get through the gates, you'll say okay, it

was worth it. Is that what Jesus means here?

Can I show you that the Bible in fact, says the opposite?

There's a There's so many ways to explain this.

One of my favorite is in First Timothy 5.

Look at First Timothy 5 when Paul's speaking about widows who

are worthy of financial assistance from the local

church. First Timothy.

If you want to know where Timothy is it, it's bundled up

with all the other epistles that start with the letter T First

Timothy 5. Look at verse five.

It says here she who is truly a widow, left all alone, has set

her hope on God and continues in supplications and prayers night

and day. Verse 6 But she who is self

indulgent is dead even while she lives.

That is so countercultural. If you want to live, you should

be self indulgent. Acquire more, achieve more,

Stuff your life with more. Is that not the anthem of what

it means to live? And here's what the Bible says.

The self indulgent, those who live just for you to acquire, to

know, to experience more, more, more, more in this life.

You're a Walking Dead man. You're a spiritual zombie.

Oh yeah, you have, you have plans and you have eyes and you

have full mobility and you have money and you have interactions

with this world. But here's what the Bible says.

You're dead while you live. Now if it's true that the self

indulgent are dead while they live, then the opposite also

must be true. That those who deny self are

really living are really living and Jesus.

Jesus the best example illustrates that in so many

ways. What about in that spectacular

conversation that he has with a woman at the well?

The disciples all go out into the villages to grab food for

Jesus because he is weary and he is tired.

And when they come back after this woman hears that he is the

Messiah. After this woman hears what all

that she had done was revealed by this amazing man, Rabbi Eat.

And Jesus says in John 434 my food is to do the will of him

who sent me to accomplish his work.

In other words, I already ate, but he didn't really physically

eat. So what is he saying there?

Jesus connects, doing the will of God with a universal

experience known as eating. You probably ate today.

You're probably wanting me to stop sooner so you can eat.

Now we all know what it's like to eat, do we not?

And Jesus says doing the will of God is like the experience and

the benefits of eating food. It quenches a desire.

It energizes you. It brings the light into your

life. It sustains you.

It strengthens you. It's a real experience only with

good as a consequence, of course, in moderation.

And Jesus says what it's like to eat and what happens when you

eat is what it's like when your life is submitted to the will of

God. True delight, true strength,

true sustenance and wholeness and a sense of completeness.

And listen, this is so significant, so real is that

experience of walking in the will of God that it even gave

Jesus the energy to not even want to physically eat.

It was so fulfilling for Jesus that when the food was presented

to him didn't really need it. And if that's true, if me doing

the will of God is capable of me even at times not wanting the

essential things of life, What about the things in life that

are not essential? What about the things in life

that harm me and hurt me, though they tempt me?

Is there not a blessing, and not just knowing the experience of

eating, but what it also protects me from?

And that's exactly what the Lord is saying here.

There's a fulfillment, a real sense of satisfaction, that

comes from obeying the will of God.

Which was what to suspend my own needs and desires for the sake

of serving somebody else, for, for prioritizing the glory of

God in this moment. And that is true for you and I.

You and I can also expect that when he calls us to deny

ourselves, he's not calling you to a lifelong misery.

He's calling you to put to death lesser things.

One evangelist put it this way. It's like jumping into the ocean

with a backpack or Fanny pack filled with 80 or 100 pounds of

gold. You're drowning, but you want to

hold on to the gold. At what cost?

Your life. And so unlock that thing.

Cut that thing out so that you can what?

Live. Truly live.

And this is what Jesus saying? Renounce it.

Remove it. Disassociate yourself from it so

that you would truly know life. You're saving your life for

what? Inferior pleasures?

Inferior sense of purpose? Inferior sense of security?

Inferior sense of true reputation and identification?

Deny it. See it for what it is, and

understand that by losing your life, you're really saving your

life. So you're the disciples in the

crowd hearing you. OK, but he goes on beyond that,

and he says here in the next part, for what does a prophet a

man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?

What does a prophet a man if he gains the whole world but

forfeits his soul? Here's the 2nd incentive.

Here's the 2nd explanation. Not just losing your life really

means to save it, but your soul is more valuable than gaining

the whole world the value of the human soul.

So suppose that you've been granted this opportunity, this

once, in a multigenerational opportunity, to gain absolutely

everything, Not partly not to be named among the 100 most rich,

but to be at the top of the top. You own everything.

Every product, anything, is accessible to you by the snap of

the finger. Every piece of land that you

desire will be yours. Any project that was once

accomplished, any project that you would want to be realized,

all of that, is now available to you.

Suppose you have that opportunity and the other choice

is to deny yourself and to take up a cross.

Which one do you think people would choose?

Just look at how most people are living.

You know what Jesus is saying. If you choose the first one,

you're a fool. If pursuing these things at the

cost of your soul is what you will do with your brief

existence, you're a fool. You don't understand the value.

You don't understand what awaits concerning your soul.

And Jesus, by saying this is saying trust me, at the end of

it all, whatever suffering you had to endure for my namesake

and for my gospel sake will be worth it.

Even if what you had been given a chance to do was a pain free,

unending prosperity. No problems, no tribulation, no

issues, was the alternative. You taking up a cross is better

than you gaining the whole world.

And when I was meditating on this verse, I thought to myself,

how quickly will you realize that when all is said and done,

how quickly I believe the microsecond that you give your

final breath and you enter into that next World, you'll realize

it. It will flood your soul.

And the opposite is true for those who sought to gain the

whole world but forfeited their soul.

Can I show you an example of that?

Remember the rich man in Lazarus and Luke 16?

I want you to see a detail there that I love.

And Luke 16, Luke 1619. There was a rich man who was

clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously

every day and at his gate was a was laid a poor man named

Lazarus. This is how we know it's not a

parable. You don't name people in

parables. This is a real story that his

gate was a was laid a poor man named Lazarus covered with sores

who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man's table,

just wanted crumbs. Moreover, even the dogs came and

licked his sores. Isn't it a sad side when we see

more compassion from animals than from human beings?

So here's this man at the gate of this rich man's house, and

these dogs are licking his sores and all he's asking for.

He's not asking for a seat at the table.

He's just asking for whatever falls from the table, never gets

it. So we have this contrast of

life. You have this rich man, proud,

arrogant, and as we're going to find out, not a believer, and

clearly this man, Lazarus, who had a horrible fate in life but

was indeed a believer. Look at verse 22.

The poor man died and was carried by the angels to

Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was

buried. What stands out to you?

Both of these people died. Who was carried by angels?

Lazarus. Did the rich man receive any

kind of escort? No, he was just dumped into the

grave. Dumped into Hades.

You know what that tells me? The moment the moment Lazarus

died, he was met with heavenly bliss.

Even the angels personally came to him and brought him to

Abraham's side. I wonder what went through his

mind. And here's this man who probably

received a very honorable funeral.

He probably even in advance paid for a spectacle in honor of his

name. And the moment he dies?

No reception, no warm welcome. Hell, what does it profit a man

to gain the whole world but forfeit his soul?

And then he goes on to say, what can a man give in return for his

soul? That can mean many things.

I think one of the things it means is that on that day,

people who have not denied themselves and taken up their

cross will be so desperate to have their soul preserved for

eternity that maybe in their desperation they're going to

make attempts to give something to God, to purchase their soul.

What a tragic thing to even think about all these people

with companies and businesses and stocks and shares and

unimaginable wealth. Trying to convince the judge of

the earth. What do I need to give to have

my soul return? What do I need to give?

It'll be too late. Because God doesn't want your

stuff. He wants you.

He wants your heart. He wants your faith.

He wants your affection. So the disciples and the crowds

are hearing this one. To lose your life really means

to save it too. The soul is more valuable.

As you're contemplating the cost, well, contemplate this.

Your soul is more important, more valuable, the greatest

investment you can make regardless, even if you gain the

whole world to deny Christ. Lastly, Jesus says something

that should motivate us further. And listen, this should

strengthen you who have made a decision to take up your cross

and follow Jesus Christ. Let this strengthen you, verse

38. For whoever is ashamed of me and

of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation of him,

will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the

glory of his Father with the holy angels?

So if possessions aren't a problem for people to shun their

cross, popularity is usually the other thing, being on good terms

with people. And Jesus knew that.

And so Jesus says, I'm aware that part of your resistance is

to be ashamed, to deny me, to not want to be linked with me,

not just me personally, but even my words.

But he does something so specific and so strategic.

He colors the people, He colors the the those that we're trying

that we're even thinking about winning their approval from.

He doesn't say your family. He doesn't say your boss.

He didn't say the wealthy. He doesn't say the intelligent.

He doesn't say the sophisticated.

He doesn't say the scientifically intelligent.

What does he say in this adulterous and sinful

generation? Why is he doing that?

I think one for us to realize just how silly it is to even

consider between the approval of such a people and the King of

Glory. So hold on.

You're struggling to follow Jesus Christ wholeheartedly

because you want to win the praise and the affection of an

adulterous and sinful generation.

Here's a here's how I categorize this.

If there's any other incentive there is to take up your cross

and follow Jesus, it is this. The alternative to denying self

is pathetic. The alternative to denying self

is absolutely pathetic, and I think that should be more true

in our day of age than anything else.

They don't have it all together, do they?

Look what they're talking about. They can't even figure out

what's real. Never mind what's true.

Never mind what's objectively right, what's even

scientifically correct and accurate.

Those are the people that we're intimidated by.

Those are the ones that we want to try to swoo and convince that

we are modern and up to date and developed and progressive.

Who cares? Who cares?

Blind guides leading blind people.

Why would I want to join that line and head down the Cliff?

It's like I saw the Lord's trying to wake them up.

Hey, remember in your contemplation of carrying your

cross, remember who you're actually trying to win an

adulterous and sinful people. If we just see what sin really

does, what the fate of sin is really is what the fruit of sin

is. And Satan is doing an incredible

job by masquerading it and by making it seem like it is

enjoyable, making it seem like it is life.

It is true life and layers it. And so you have young people

today because I know it. You can't fool me, young person.

I know it. I know what it's like to sit in

a meeting like this and go under.

Sit under a meeting that calls people to give their lives to

Christ. I'm not sure how much I heard

about denying yourself. I know what it's like.

Do you want to follow Jesus? And down deep inside, you know

what you might be feeling? Yeah, this is right.

This is stirring my heart. It's pulling on my heartstrings.

But there's really something out.

There are things out there that I really want.

There are people out there that I really want.

Jesus says they're an adulterous and sinful generation.

What do you want from them? And in contrast of him, will the

Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his

Father and with the holy angels? Here's what it means to

ultimately take up your cross. You got to make a choice.

Whose approval am I after this adulterous and sinful

generation, or the eternal, most beautiful, uncomparable, all

glorious Son of God? Whose opinion?

Whose plan, whose worldview, whose standard, whose

principles? Which one am I going to choose?

And to take up your cross is to look at that adulterous and

sinful generation. It says, No matter what you say

about me, no matter what you want to do with me, I want his

commendation. So I will follow him, though not

go with me. Sometimes when people hear the

call of the gospel, what springs up?

Look, I'm not interested in making my workplace awkward.

I'm not interested in creating tension in my marriage with my

unbelieving spouse, or my cousins or my uncles or my

siblings. I'm not interested in being

scorned, just like what a cross does.

Public humiliation, public scorn.

I don't think I want to invite that into my life.

And Jesus says, well, consider that it's coming from this kind

of people. But also consider that when I

come in my glory, I will acknowledge you.

I will acknowledge you. There's a striking verse in John

1242. Nevertheless, many even of the

authorities believed in him. But for fear of the Pharisees,

they did not confess it so that they would not be put out of the

synagogue. For they loved the glory that

comes from man more than the glory that comes from God.

There were people in Jesus's day that were more interested in

keeping their membership in the synagogue than having their

names written in the Lambs book of life.

And perhaps there's some people today who want to keep their

job. They know that with what's

happening in the culture, there's going to be a choice you

have to make to confess your faith.

I'm not. I'm not sure if I want to do

that. I need job security, especially

with all the crazy inflation going on and I just started a

family. But take up your cross, Deny

yourself. Let your life be an adventure

for the glory of Jesus Christ. OK, Let them take it.

Let them. Let them give you the boot.

All right, Lord. Now what?

Who wants to play it safe anyway?

The safest thing you can do is put your life in the hands of

him. Have you done this?

Jesus didn't say if anyone would come after me.

Let him make sure he wakes up early on Sunday morning and not

skip church. Jesus didn't even say that.

If anyone would come after me, let him make sure that he

disciplines off to at least get 15 minutes in my word and I'm

counting every minute of it. Jesus didn't say if anyone would

come after me. Let him sing some songs and do

some community service. Have some pastors they can

identify in their lives and surround yourself with more

Christians and less sinners. Jesus said if anyone would come

after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me.

Have you done that? You can do that today.

You don't have to be like the rich man who realized it too

late. You can be like Jesus, that as

you even in suffering feel the turmoil, the price it is to

honor him in this hostile world. You can still feel full,

satisfied and obeying the will of God, walking in the will of

God. And even more than that, say,

Father, glorify your name to know life now, lest you be

someone who is living but is really dead.

And now only will you know a paradox of a life filled with

promises and pleasures, even if your lot in life is like that

man who wanted crumbs. Oh, what an entrance he

received. An entrance unlike what that

rich man would have ever experienced in his world.

The call to self denial, my friend, is not a call to a

cloudy, ascetic, miserable, cold, awkward, weird way of

living. It's to really live.

Take off the Fanny pack with all your sins and all your ideas and

all your self righteousness and all your conditions of what it

means to be thrown aside. You're drowning.

Take off the backpack. You're drowning.

You think you're living, but you're drowning.

I know that the gold in there is making you a little bit happy.

I know you think that you can survive by holding on to your

ideas and your philosophies and your sin and your habits, but

you can't take it off. And here's what will happen.

Just like somebody who does remove the hindrance, the very

instrument of his own death, you will spring up and you will know

life, real life, in Jesus Christ.

Believer, if you've made that decision, it's going to be worth

it. And isn't it already worth it?

Amen. Let's pray.

Father, thank you for the unadulterated word of God.

Thank you that Jesus invitation to death is in fact the way to

true life. Thank you that your thoughts are

not like our thoughts. Your ways are not like our ways.

Lord, for the weary believer who's paying a price for

carrying your name and for representing the gospel, may

they know fresh strength. May they have eternities, shore

and view, and may they be encouraged to know that true joy

is in the path that they've decided to walk on.

For the person in here who is at a crossroads, and it's not

certain if they have truly responded to this call to

discipleship, may there be no misunderstanding.

May there be no misinterpretation that to be

saved is to suffer physically or financially or relationally to

win your approval. No.

May they simply understand that by faith in you we should expect

these things even before we confess faith in you.

We have to be willing to say, If my faith will cost me this, then

so be it. And may they understand that

only when they take up that cross will they know true life.

May your Holy Spirit do what only he can do.

And Lord, may we now stand in your presence, rejoicing,

rejoicing in your truth, because it is for your glory.

But we thank you that it is also for our good.

Receive the honor that you deserve.

In Jesus name. Amen.

Let's stand together, shall we?