260 ~ IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN ME ~ Good Friday

We welcome you to the We Are Zion sermon podcast.

We are a church based out of Chennai, India.

We are thrilled that you tuned in today and hope that you will

be refreshed, revived, and energized by what you hear.

Our desire is that you will live life with a renewed sense of

purpose that stems from a vibrant faith in Jesus.

The year 2025 is 1 where we will be positioned by God to possess

our promise. This Good Friday we look at

Jesus, our substitute who took our place on the cross.

It should have been us, but he bore it for all our sakes.

How do you look at the cross today?

Does it bring remembrance of all that Jesus has done for you or

have you become immune and apathetic to it?

High Church, what a joy it is to bring God's word to you on this

very Good Friday. You know, whenever we celebrate

Good Friday, I think the world, those who don't know Jesus,

don't know about what he has done for us sometimes wonder why

we celebrate on this Friday. They say, well, it's such a sad

day, how are you celebrating? But we know that this day marks

God's victory through his Son Jesus over sin and death.

It is such a victorious day. We have every reason to

celebrate and you know, I want to really bring our focus today

to the cross because that is the epicenter of where everything

changed. That is the epicenter of

transformation for us. That's where we actually

experience something so life transformative and life changing

that we have never been the same again.

And I was reading the story about this French policeman

called Arnold Beltram. And he became world famous

because he stood his ground against a terrorist who had

actually stormed into a shop, taken people hostage, killed a

couple of people, had some homemade bombs.

And he was just on the verge of creating a lot of harm.

And Arnaud was the policeman in charge who entered that place.

And actually, when it came to a stand off where the the

terrorists had actually taken a woman cashier as his hostage.

And he was, you know, you know, holding her at gunpoint as a

body shield. And the amazing thing that

Arnaud did, which the whole world heard about through media,

was that he said he would exchange himself for that

hostage. He said, you let her go, you can

hold me as a body shield. And in the ensuing scuffle of

what happened, the the hostage went free.

She was safe. But Arnold Beltrum ended up shot

and stabbed multiple times and didn't make it.

And I wonder if that hostage remembered that.

I'm sure she remembers the day. But whenever she sees a picture

of Arnold Beltrum, I wonder if she wonders.

That should have been me. That should have been me.

He took her place and this is such an inadequate example of

what Jesus did, but it helps us better understand the magnitude

of what Jesus did. When we look at the cross, what

do we think? Is it just a fashion symbol?

Is it just a, is it just this a symbolic thing that we wear

around our necks or carry on our bags or have as a, as a profile

picture? But do we actually understand

all that it symbolises for us? Do we realise that whenever I

look at the cross, I'm saying that should have been me on it.

That cross should have worn me. And so today I've titled my

sermon. It should have been me.

It should have been me. You know, Jesus is sacrifice,

perfect sacrifice on that cross. The way he was harassed,

brutalized, traumatized, attacked, made to suffer in

dignities of all kind, and then paraded through the city of

Jerusalem and then taken to the outskirts and hung on the cross

at Calvary. All of that was actually a

substitute for the sacrificial system that was just steeped in

Jewish culture. You know, they had these Rams

and goats and pigeons, and based on your economic status, you

could go and sacrifice something.

Jesus was the substitute for that sacrificial system.

But if I have to bring it into today, right where we are at

Jesus death on the cross was a substitute for each one of us.

We deserve to be punished for the sins we have committed.

We deserve that indignity for the way we have harboured sin,

for the way we have perpetrated sin against others.

But yet it was Jesus who stood in on our behalf instead of us.

He took the brunt of the punishment.

He offered us mercy. Mercy is the withholding of

punishment. He showed us grace, unmerited

favour. We didn't deserve this favour.

And yet because of this act on the cross, today you and I who

call on Jesus get to call the Father God, our very own ABBA

Father. We now have access to him

because of what Jesus did on the cross.

Isn't it amazing? And today we're going to be

looking at Isaiah 53 to understand better what it looks

like when we say it should have been me.

This is not some self pitying statement, it's a realistic

statement. It's to better understand how

Jesus was a substitution for you and me.

So let's read Isaiah 53 reading from the NIV version.

It says who has believed our message and to whom has the arm

of the Lord been revealed? He grew up before him like a

tender shoe and like a root out of dry ground.

He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in

his appearance that we should desire him.

He was despised and rejected by mankind.

A man of suffering and familiar with pain, like one from whom

people hide their faces. He was despised and we held him

in low esteem. This definition, it starts off

with the arm of the Lord. And generally when the arm of

the Lord is mentioned in Scripture, it indicates power,

it indicates might, it indicates the supernatural elements of who

God is. And yet the lines after that

reveal the very human side of Jesus.

He says he was ordinary, nothing much to look at.

He was despised, He was afflicted, He was rejected.

People didn't actually look at him.

You wouldn't take a second glance at him.

And it's talking about how Jesus is the source of unlikely power.

Who would have thought this man is truly the Messiah?

Well, he called himself that. He attested that He was the one

promised in Isaiah 61, but no one really believed it.

They took the miracles, they took the signs, they took the

healing, but I don't think it sank into them as to the

magnitude of who He really was. Verse 4 Surely he took up our

pain and bore our suffering, Yet we considered Him punished by

God, stricken by Him and afflicted.

But he was pierced for our transgressions.

He was crushed for our iniquities.

The punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his

wounds we are healed. Look at the the usage of the

word our He took up our pain. He was pierced for our

transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities.

The punishment that brought us peace was on Him, and by His

wounds we are healed. Do you see that transference

which is happening there? It was my pain, it was my shame,

it was my suffering, it was my transgression, it was my

iniquity. But He took it up on my behalf

because I couldn't bear it. You wouldn't be able to bear it.

The weight of our sins is so much that we couldn't have borne

it. And so Jesus bore it on himself.

He was the substitute. He was the substitute.

And if you notice that He didn't just step in, He took it up.

It was actually an active taking up of what actually belonged to

us. He took up, crushed, pierced.

Punishment was on him. He actually stepped in and took

everything that we deserved unto Him.

And that's what a substitutionary sacrifice really

looks like. Jesus stepped in.

We could step down from that place.

He bore it all. Verse 6.

We all, like sheep, have gone astray.

Each of us has turned to our own way, and the Lord has laid on

him the iniquity of us all. This is the human condition.

The best of us cannot assume that we won't wander.

Everyone of us are prone to wander.

Everyone of us, every last one of us.

The the default state of our mind is to wander.

The default state of our heart is to wander.

And so He says, because of that inherent condition of all

mankind, He laid on Jesus. The iniquity of all of us was

seven. He was oppressed and afflicted,

yet He did not open His mouth. He was like a lamb led to the

slaughter. And as a sheep before a Shearer

is silent, so He did not open His mouth.

By oppression and judgement He was taken away.

Yet who of His generation protested, For He was cut off

from the land of the living. For the transgression of my

people, He was punished, oppressed, afflicted.

All of these adjectives, right? They indicate heavy pain.

They experience. They're they're expressing to us

an experience of pain and suffering.

And I'm sure you're able to relate to at least one of these.

You're probably gone through pain.

You've probably had a bit of suffering.

Maybe you've been oppressed. Maybe you've felt afflicted.

And here was someone who felt all of that and took it off of

us and laid it on himself. He bore it in silence and with

humility. Isn't that amazing?

Verse 9. He was assigned a grave with the

wicked and with the rich. In his death, though he had done

no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth, yet it was the

Lord's will to crush him and cause him to suffer.

And though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin, he

will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will

of the Lord will prosper in his hand.

This sinless Jesus came as a rabbi was the Messiah, the one

promised. 1 The Saviour of the world was allowed by his

heavenly Father to walk this road of suffering, so that the

joy set before him was that he would gather many children unto

him. We, those of us, have said yes

to Jesus. Those of us have brought him

into our lives, into our hearts are the ones he talks about as

his offspring. So this was the aim of all of

what Good Friday is about. It wasn't for the moment, it

wasn't a short term gain. It wasn't to display Jesus, you

know, humility or sacrifice. Well, all of that was there.

It was for a larger purpose. The purpose was the salvation of

the world, salvation of all who believed.

Verse 11 after he had suffered, He will see the light of life

and be satisfied by his knowledge.

My righteous servant will justify many and he will bear

their iniquities. Look at how he's communicating

what was going to be achieved. He would die, He would suffer,

and yet he would see the light of life.

He's talking about the resurrection and he's saying

that this servant, this righteous servant, Jesus the

righteous servant, will justify many.

All our credits, all our accounts are credited fully.

We are counted as righteous because of what Jesus did.

He will justify us and bear our iniquities.

This is the purpose of what happened on that Friday 2000 odd

years back. This was the purpose, the

justification of all mankind. Because you know, on our own we

cannot justify anything. We can try to justify our

actions, but it will not add up. But Jesus blood shed on that

cross justified everyone. Verse 12.

Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he

will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out

his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors,

for he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the

transgressors. The rewards that Jesus received

was eternal. Did the Son of God receive

rewards? Yes, because it says His name is

higher than every other name and that the name of Jesus, every

knee will bow on heaven and on earth.

This was the exaltation and the glorification which Jesus

received because of the obedience that He had and

displayed. The submission to the Father

exalted and glorified Him to the highest name ever.

And so this is how we, when we look at the the culmination of

this chapter, all of it was lived out on that Friday, that

day when Jesus was crucified, when Jesus was tortured, he was

crucified. He was made a spectacle.

But what was actually happening was this huge substitution was

taking place. He was standing there instead of

you and me. He was standing there instead of

every man, woman and child of that time.

He was standing there as a substitution for everyone who

had gone before him. He was standing there to say, I

have now stepped in. You don't bear the brunt of what

you've done. I will.

And that's the beauty of being a substitute.

You know, none of us can be a substitute for anyone else.

You know, I remember during COVID, all our children were

online and each of them were struggling with different

subjects and being at home watching, I was juggling, you

know, going between 3 systems, making sure all of them were

logged in, all of them were getting there, you know,

finishing up their work. I remember there was a time when

all of them were having tests and one of our children hadn't

prepared for a test. And I remember so desperately

trying to coach the child before the test and but no matter what

I could do, I couldn't substitute for him.

I could see the child needing help, but I couldn't take his

place and answer the questions. I couldn't step up and be for

him what only he could be for himself.

And I realise just as we grow our children up, as we do our

lives as married couples, as we are children of ageing parents,

or whatever your role in life is, I cannot substitute for

anyone else. And I realise with greater

gratitude than ever before that Jesus, what you did for me is

unbelievable. No one can stand in for anyone

else the way Jesus did for me. So if you are today standing in

this place of trying to be a bridge for someone, if you're

trying to be a Redeemer for someone, you cannot, we cannot

redeem anything. You're trying to be someone's

saviour. You cannot because we already

have all of that in Jesus. We have all of that in him.

And I just want to encourage you that when we look at Jesus, we

don't look at him anymore as on the cross.

But when I look at the cross, I remember that it should have

been me on that cross, but it was Jesus instead.

And he stood in for me and achieved for me what I could

never have achieved for myself. And today when you go through

suffering and pain and shame and torment, you probably think,

well, if Jesus took it all on the cross, why am I still going

through it? Well, this is the side effects

of living in a broken world. All of these things will happen

to us. They will touch our lives.

We will walk through it. But it's beautiful because I

believe that so much good comes out of all of the hard stuff.

And that is because of the hands of the Redeemer on us.

I believe that from all our afflictions, God can save us

because He is our Saviour. I believe that he can wash us

clean and make us pure because He is the one who refines us.

He's the one who consecrates us. I believe that from the ailments

we go through, we can experience healing.

I believe that our inner man can be healed from the stuff that

has afflicted us for years because He is our healer.

But the important thing to realise is that when I say it's,

it's all about him. I really need to stop making it

so much about me. It should have been me.

If that is your resonating chorus when you look at the

cross, let us also change the narrative to say it should have

been me. But it isn't.

It wasn't. It was Jesus.

But we need to go to the next stage where we don't make it all

about ourselves. Sometimes we tend to say, oh

wow, this life is so hard. This is written on my forehead.

This is my life. This is what I meant to carry

this hardship, this suffering, this pain.

It seems to follow me around. It seems to have my name on it.

It should have been me, but it wasn't.

And I don't get to make it all about me.

I have to make it all about the one who did it for me.

I need to make it all about Jesus.

I'm not the hero of my story. I'm not a Redeemer of anyone.

I'm not a saviour for anyone. I'm not the atonement for

anyone. I can't be paying the price for

someone else's sins. I cannot even pay the price for

my own sins. And that's when I come to the

one who actually did take my place, the one who substituted

for me. You know, when I make everything

about myself, it's so easy to make our stories about

ourselves. Oh well, I'm self-made this.

I achieved it on my own. The minute we start doing that,

we take the divinity out of the substitution that happened on

the cross. What happened that day was a

divine moment. Jesus was 100% human, but he was

100% God. He was perfect.

And yet in that complete weakness, he submitted and

surrendered himself to what God had allowed.

And so today I want us to look at the cross with fresh eyes.

I want us to look at the cross for what it really is.

Because Jesus very clearly told his disciples way before he got

crucified. He said take up your cross and

follow me, right? This is what he said.

And I want to ask you, what have you been taking up?

Many times it feels heavy. So if we assume it's a cross,

but sometimes sin can feel heavy, guilt can feel heavy,

shame can feel heavy. The labels people have put on us

can feel heavy. The labels we have put on

ourselves can feel heavy. The dysfunction that we have

allowed into our lives can feel heavy.

And maybe it's time that we need to come and lay down some of

these things so that we can actually take up the cross.

I remember last year teaching about how the cross symbolizes

our weighty assignments. The Kingdom assignment that is

marked for everyone of God's children is weighty.

It's heavy. We cannot carry it on our own,

which is why he says, take my yoke upon you, learn from me.

He says he cares for us and he shares the load, which is why we

need Jesus so much because this assignment is all about him.

It's all about him needing us to to help a hurting world.

But I want to bring us back to something more when it comes to

the cross. Every time you look at the

cross, I want you to understand there are certain things that

are implied about this cross because the cross will change

your life. When we keep the cross of Jesus

in in the forefront, it changes so many things.

Many times we we emphasize on the cross and not the the

command that Jesus gave off. He says take up your cross.

When I take up something, I have to lay down something.

What are you willing to lay down?

Are you willing to lay down the baggage that you have assumed

you needed to carry? Are you willing to lay down the

identity that you have assumed for yourself and take up the

cross? But it doesn't end up with end

up with just you taking your cross.

You need to follow Jesus because the one we follow is so much

more important than what we carry.

So the weighty Kingdom assignment is very, very heavy.

But I want us to be challenged today to do 4 things to

understand the cross and take it up for four reasons.

Because when you take the cross up, the first thing is the cross

is a separator. What does that mean?

What does it mean? The cross is a separate?

I want to read from Hebrews chapter 13 verses 11 to 13.

Hebrews 13:11–13

It says the high priest carries the blood of animals into the

most holy place as a sin offering, but the bodies are

burnt outside the camp and so Jesus also suffered outside the

city gate to make the people holy through his own blood.

Let us then go to him outside the camp bearing the disgrace he

bore. The cross is a separator,

meaning there was there is no way if you're carrying your

cross, you will fit in with the crowd.

There is no way when you're living the way Jesus wanted you

to live, the narrow way that you will be able to do the things

that everyone else is doing. You will not be able to attest

to their lifestyle choices. You won't be able to do the

things that they are saying is OK.

It will separate you from the madding crowd.

It will set you apart. The whole of last year our team

was set apart being consecrated and and each of us in our church

experienced a kind of refining so that he actually set us

apart. He actually moved us away from

what was fancy, what was comfortable, what was famous

into what was now seclusion. And was it lonely?

Was it hard? Yes.

So many times when I go for youth retreats, the question is

asked when you know, they know we are Christians.

They don't invite us out for, you know, drinking parties and

things. And you know, all we, we as

youth leaders always have these, you know, bad answers that we

give. But I remember reading this once

before a youth and I asked them, do you really think that Jesus

wants you to be part of the in crowd or would you be OK to let

Jesus suffer outside the gate alone?

Would you be OK in a bit of loneliness?

Because it's interesting. God will arrange for encounters

in those moments of being separated.

God will arrange for you to be nurtured and to be a nurturer

even in those moments of separation.

The cross will bring separation. You know, too many of us are

dying to be included. We want to be part of every

conversation. We want to be part of every

catch up. I want to encourage you that if

your faith, your convictions, your lifestyle cause you to be

evicted, cause you to be excluded, it's OK.

Because the cross is a separator.

Because once you choose to identify with Christ alone, once

you choose to live in a way that glorifies Him, once you choose

the narrow way, you will find that your delight is for the 1.

And so many times you'll find that you're the only one.

And that's OK. That's OK.

Why are we so desperate to be loved by everyone when we were

created for the enjoyment of the One?

God will separate you from certain people in certain

seasons. There are some seasons where the

whole crowd cannot come with you.

He will actually remove certain people from your life so that

you can be faithful to the calling, faithful to the path He

has cut out for you. He could separate you from

certain family members whose views are toxic, whose thoughts

are toxic, whose ideas are not biblical, whose ways would

grieve the Holy Spirit. He may remove those people for a

season, 4 seasons to come. And that's OK.

Because the cross, first of all, is a separator.

The second thing that the cross is, is a connector.

Isn't that, you know, it feels a little more comfortable.

Separator feels hard but connector.

Hebrews 13 verses 15 to 16. It says through Jesus.

Hebrews 13:15–16

Therefore let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of

praise, the fruit of lips that openly profess His name, and do

not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such

sacrifices God is pleased. The cross is a point of the

greatest of joy, greatest of peace and greatest of connection

because others who are carrying the cross of Jesus, others who

are choosing the way of Christ, just connect with you over the

cross. It's amazing because when we

travelled abroad, we went to study with the children and we

were in the US for a year, we were in Australia for a year and

many times we would just be in common areas.

We wouldn't even be in Bible college, we wouldn't even be in

church, but we would just be outside and someone would just

look at us and they would talk to us, find out they're

Christian. And I remember our oldest son

being prophesied to in a, in a, it was in Walmart or Kroger's, I

don't remember. There was this man who just

walked in. He saw children and then he just

pointed Caleb out and said, can I prophecy over him?

He just looked at us. He said, are you guys believers?

We said yes. And he went ahead.

We were in the middle of of a, a shop, of a store, of a grocery

store. The connector was Jesus.

The connector was the cross of Jesus.

And so you may feel excluded, secluded, isolated, because the

cross is a separator. But the beautiful thing is the

cross is a connector. So it will connect you and me to

the people who we need to be widely connected to in this

season. He will connect us to people who

are also carrying the cross, who are also counting the cost, who

are also leaving behind the things that that attach itself

to their flesh and who are pursuing hard with God for God.

It's amazing because thanks to the work of Jesus on the cross,

even every time we have communion, when we celebrate the

table of the Lord, I love that all of us standing at church,

we're about, you know, so many of us from different parts of

the country, different language barriers.

None of it matters when we hold the elements in our hand because

that unites us across every kind of cultural, social, economic

barrier that could ever exist. This unites us.

And so the cross is a connector. The cross is a connector.

I remember when we lived in the US, we had, we lived on, on

campus in the Bible college and just across from our house.

We had Egyptians living there. We had people from north from

South Korea. We had people living from Ghana.

And just to to go out into the lawn, I would take the kids out

and to just gather with them. Lot of them didn't know the same

languages. They were people from South

America, Central America. All we connected over was the

fact that Jesus had brought us here, that Jesus was doing a

work in US, and that we were all going to take his name back into

our countries. That's all.

But I just want to tell you that that connection is actually so

deep. It's so authentic.

And I want to encourage you that the cross is a connector.

It is not only separation, it's also connection.

The third thing about the cross is that's a perfector.

What does that look like? I know that's a bad word.

We all hate the word perfection, but the cross is the perfector.

What does that mean? Hebrews 10 verses 12 to 14 it

Hebrews 10:12–14

says. But when this priest had offered

for all time 1 sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right

hand of God. And since that time he waits for

his enemies to be made his footstool.

For by 1 sacrifice he has made for a perfect forever those who

are being made holy. What an interesting verse.

For by 1 sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are

being made holy. You know, a lot of us like to

talk about how we're perfectionists.

Oh, I'm a perfectionist with how I keep my house or the way I

work or but honestly, you know, it's I feel like that's just a

bit of vanity on our part because anything that we call

perfectionism, anything that we attest as perfect is still

flawed. It isn't God's design.

God's design is so different and only God's design can be

considered perfect. Anything we call perfect becomes

imperfect. And So what is this perfection?

It is a high standard that only God can reach and only Jesus

lived a perfect life. But the beautiful thing is

through situations, through people, through the world,

through the the torment, the suffering, the trials that we go

through, God starts to shape us. He got God starts to mould us

and we become more and more like Jesus, his Son.

We grow in holiness, we grow in holiness and ultimately when we

reach eternity, we have been perfected forever.

The goal is not perfection here. The goal is to grow in holiness.

The goal is to stay pliant in the hands of God so that the

Holy Spirit can shape us into His likeness, into the Son's

likeness. That is the aim.

The perfection that God desires is such a high bar.

If I was to start to consider that, I would give up before I

even began. And which is why the job of

perfection is done by the Holy Spirit, the agent of renewal,

the one who's working on me, who's teaching me how to speak,

who's teaching me how to respond, who's teaching me to

keep quiet, who's teaching me to verbalize.

We are a work in progress. But the cross reminds me.

The cross reminds me that Jesus is the author and perfector of

my faith, not me. So often we see our children

behave a certain way. You know, those of us who are

parents of teenagers, preteens, we see certain things in their,

you know, their, their traits, the way they behave.

And you feel embarrassed. You think, wow, where did that

come from? Where did that trait arrive

from? And we try to shape it

outwardly. We try to control the

circumstances. We try to control the things

they say in response to certain circumstances.

And you find as they get older, you really aren't aren't in

control of anything. We cannot perfect anything.

If you're someone who likes to bake, you probably found this

recipe you like. You keep doing it till you

perfect it. You find that you still are in

pursuit of this for the rest of your life because nothing ever

reaches real perfection. But the cross is a perfecter.

Because the minute I take up my cross, the minute I walk in a

complete surrender to God, the minute I'm walking in obedience

to Him, the Spirit of God comes alongside me.

He who is within me is working all things so that I am being

shaped, I am being made holy. I am being made pure.

He burns the impurities of me through the refiners fire.

He washes me like launderer soap with his word, with his

convicting power and perfects me.

Isn't that amazing? The cross is the perfecter.

Hebrews chapter 10 verses 12 to 14, it says when this priest had

Hebrews 10:12–14

offered for all time 1 sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the

right hand of God. And since that time he waits for

his enemies to be made his footstool.

By 1 sacrifice he is made perfect forever those who are

being made holy. I'm reading it again so that you

understand that under Christ's feet everything has already been

placed. He is sovereign, He is supreme,

but we are still heading there. We are still a work in progress

and as much as He is perfect, he's drawing us in to holiness.

Maybe you feel you're in a season of being disciplined by

God. He is a faithful God even in

discipline. He's righteous.

He is. Just don't shun his discipline

because he's perfecting. Maybe you're going through a sea

feel a season of being ground in a grinder.

You feel like God. The the attack doesn't stop the

the the assignment feels heavier than ever.

But I want to encourage you, the crosses are perfect and God is

not done with you yet. God is not done with you yet.

Starting today, I want you to look at what you're going

through and understand every encounter, every situation,

every problem, every success is a moment by moment training in

holiness. The fourth thing about the

cross, why we must take up our cross and follow him is that the

cross is the equiper verse. Hebrews chapter 13 verses 20 to

Hebrews 13:20–21

21 says, Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of

the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord

Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, equip you with

everything good for doing his will.

And may he work in us what is pleasing to him through Jesus

Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever.

Maybe you sometimes wonder, God. Will I finish well?

Will I do all the things I was created to do?

Will I fall by the wayside? Will I give in to sin?

Will I give in to doubt? Will I lose my faith?

Will I hold on to hope? There's so many things I need to

grapple with. This is the consolation that the

cross is the equiper. When I am carrying the cross of

Jesus, when I have chosen his way, when I've chosen the narrow

path, when I am choosing Jesus again and again, when I keep my

eyes fixed on him, He equips me for the life that He's given me.

He equips me with the ability to do the things I'm required to do

in taking up the cross. We're able to actually live the

life marked out for us. You know, many times we because

we haven't fully joined the narrow way, we haven't entered

through the narrow gate. We think anything goes.

I can live however I want it's not a big deal.

Who cares Everyone lives like this, everyone takes bribes,

everyone's having extramarital affairs.

So why not me? Why do I have to be held to a

higher standard. We disqualify ourselves.

We lower the bar for ourselves, but God is calling us into a

place of carrying this cross on a daily basis.

He doesn't say take up the cross once a month and follow me.

He says take up your cross daily because when I take the cross

for of Jesus today, it strengthens me for today.

It gives me capacity for today. It gives me the ability to think

and process the things I need to do for today.

It enables me to actually accept what God is allowing in my life

to take it and sometimes just make lemonade with the lemons

given. All of that is because he's in

me, willing me, enabling me to do the things I'm created to do.

When we lay down the things you know that we thought was safe,

when we when we give up stuff that's been holding us down,

when we lay down the things that have weighed us down for too

long, you'll actually tend to feel a bit vulnerable and and

exposed. But the beautiful thing is when

Jesus says, lay it all down, what you take up equips you for

the road ahead. You are not left vulnerable.

You are not left alone and isolated.

But God equips you with his presence.

He equips you with his promises. He equips you with your with his

people. You're never alone.

You're never alone. So whatever the season looks

like, I want to just encourage you with this.

The cross has to remind you that it should have been you, but

it's not. It was him.

So don't make it about you, make it about him.

Make it about him what you are walking through.

Make it about him. God, what is it you want me to

do with this situation instead of making it all about yourself?

Will you start to live set apart because it's a separator?

Will you start living more connected to Him and His people?

Would you start living a life that is growing in holiness

because the cross is a perfector?

And will you start moving forward with confidence because

the cross is an equiper, It equips you for all that is

ahead. Sometimes those who follow Jesus

act like it's such a hard thing because, well, you know, our

options are so limited. Can I just encourage you, as

someone who's followed the Lord for about 30 years now, it is

the most freeing life ever. Are we devoid of stress?

No. Are we devoid of problems?

Not at all. But the freedom that we find in

this relationship with Him, the freedom that we have to be the

one He created us to be, the freedom I have to change for His

delight, is unparalleled. It is not a confined life.

The narrow way is actually deceptively narrow.

It's so narrow, we take it, but you find that your life is

infinitely more blessed. And so I want to encourage you

in church today. We're going to be having

communion. And I wanted to read the

Scripture then, but I'm going to read it for you just to give you

a glimpse of what Jesus actually suffered for you and for me.

It should have been us, but it wasn't.

Isaiah 52, verses 12 to 15. See, my servant will act wisely.

Isaiah 52:12–15

He will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted, just as

there were many who were appalled at him.

His appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any human being

and is far marred beyond human likeness.

So He was sprinkling many nations and kings will shut

their mouths because of him. For what they were not told they

will see, and what they've not heard they will understand.

I want you to look at that again.

His appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any human being

and is found marred beyond human likeness.

Maybe you say you have been so badly shaken up.

Maybe you say I've been so deeply marred.

Maybe I've been so traumatized. God is saying that Jesus knows

Jesus stood in for you. Nothing you and I have walked

through on this earth. Nothing, absolutely nothing is

beyond what Jesus endured for us on the cross.

He was the perfect substitute. And look at the confidence we

have. He has sprinkled many nations.

He has shut the mouth of kings. It's not just earthly rulers

he's talking about. He's talking about

principalities and powers have to shut their mouth because of

the blood of the Lamb, which was sprinkled over the earth through

Jesus. Even as we get into a time of

just quietly looking into ourselves and saying, Lord,

where have I become so complacent that I fit in into

the world? Where have I become so caught up

with living how I chose that I forgot that my task, my calling

is to take up the cross daily and follow you?

Where have I made this life about myself, my needs, my

desires, my appetites, instead of what you wanted?

God, could we spend a minute? And even as we just Mull over

that, I'm just going to pray over you.

I'm going to pray that you will begin to experience Jesus and

all His goodness and all His glory.

But today he is no longer marred and beyond recognition.

Today he sits on the throne, the King of all kings, the Judge of

all judges, Ruler of all the earth, Creator of the heavens

and the earth, the one who holds the world's with the word of his

mouth, the one who sends his word and heals, the one who

comes to fight for us. He rides a White Horse.

He is righteous and true. From his mouth comes a sword.

He slays his enemies with the breath of his mouth.

This is the God who sits on the throne.

He's alive. He delights in you and me.

He died for us even before we made a choice to follow him.

That's how great His love for us is.

And God, I just pray that you would enable us.

You would enable us to take up our cross daily and follow you.

God, I pray for those who have rejected the separation that

you're trying to bring. I pray in submission they will

allow you to do what you have to do.

I pray for those, Lord, who are longing for the right connection

at this time. I pray that God, you would bring

into their lives those who are choosing to carry their cross,

that you would surround them with those who you have marked

for them in the season. God, I pray at this time for

those who need the refining of heaven upon their lives.

I pray, O God, that You will begin to do that great and

mighty work within them without them.

I pray that you would strengthen hearts, Lord, through the

sifting, through the shaking, that God, you will preserve

them. And Lord, I just pray right now

for those who feel ill equipped, at a disadvantage, inadequate.

God, I thank you that the cross equips us for all that's ahead.

I thank you that they are not alone.

I thank you that they stand with boldness because you are within

them. We thank you, we love you, We

thank you, Lord, that it should have been us, but it wasn't.

Forgive us when we have made it about ourselves.

Forgive us, Lord, when we have thought this story required me,

the hero in it. Forgive me.

We thank you God, for you are the one that we follow.

Help us God, to just obey and submit and run behind you.

I love you. In your precious name I pray.

Amen. Amen.

God bless you as you head into this weekend.

I just pray that you will keep Jesus at the focus, that you

have two more days to just really lean and ask Jesus, you

know what, I've got the rest of the year to run.

I want to run. Well, God, show me yourself.

Show me your face. I believe it's a great place to

begin. The cross can be a great place

of meditation. Ask God to show you where you

have discounted the cross. Show.

Ask Him to show you where you haven't picked up your cross.

And I pray that this weekend would be one that's full of

victory, full of joy, full of celebration.

God bless you. Thanks for listening to this

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