WEBVTT 00:00:31.789 --> 00:00:40.750 I'll just you to open your Bibles now to Luke chapter 9, and we are going to be looking at verses 23 through 27. 00:00:41.549 --> 00:00:44.509 Luke 9, 23 through 27. 00:00:45.710 --> 00:00:52.349 If someone or something, I'm putting you on notice, I'm putting the world on notice. 00:00:52.590 --> 00:00:59.149 If someone or something were to threaten my wife and children, I would do everything in my power to protect them. 00:00:59.390 --> 00:01:02.109 I would even lay down my life for them. 00:01:02.670 --> 00:01:05.310 That's my duty as a husband and a father. 00:01:05.549 --> 00:01:06.430 It's what a man does. 00:01:06.590 --> 00:01:07.629 That's what I'm supposed to do. 00:01:07.710 --> 00:01:10.109 And I don't think that's a controversial thing to say. 00:01:10.269 --> 00:01:12.509 I don't really think it's an exceptional thing to say. 00:01:12.670 --> 00:01:17.150 I think, I suspect all of the husbands and fathers in the room would say the same thing. 00:01:17.310 --> 00:01:21.390 We would gladly lay down our lives for our people. 00:01:22.750 --> 00:01:27.549 Now, in a way, that's not a difficult thing to say. 00:01:27.789 --> 00:01:35.870 It's a fairly easy thing to say when laying down your life means taking a bullet or stepping in front of a bear or something like that. 00:01:36.509 --> 00:01:46.669 But what if laying down your life meant something less like dying and something more like waking up in the middle of the night to change a diaper? 00:01:48.590 --> 00:01:57.069 Or not taking your dream job in another city because you know it's going to uproot your family and cause unnecessary pain. 00:01:57.629 --> 00:02:05.710 Or turning on your listening ears after a long day at the office when all you want to do is sit on the couch and watch the game. 00:02:06.669 --> 00:02:09.949 See, sacrificing your life is easy. 00:02:10.430 --> 00:02:13.389 Surrendering your life is hard. 00:02:14.030 --> 00:02:19.469 And that's the kind of thing we're going to consider today in our passage of Scripture. 00:02:19.629 --> 00:02:34.349 We're looking at another well-known passage where Jesus says to any and everyone that if we want to be his disciples, if we want to follow him, then we're going to have to deny ourselves and take up our cross, not just once, but daily. 00:02:35.870 --> 00:02:40.109 Jesus calls some to literally lay down their lives, to literally die for him. 00:02:40.429 --> 00:02:50.909 But for the vast majority of us, especially in 21st century Wilson County, he calls us not to sacrifice our lives so much as to surrender them. 00:02:51.549 --> 00:02:53.870 In a way that's much harder. 00:02:54.669 --> 00:03:01.709 Because it requires a radical and comprehensive reorientation of everything that we hold dear. 00:03:01.870 --> 00:03:08.750 If I'm going to follow Jesus, I need to die to my own sense of self-preservation. 00:03:09.069 --> 00:03:13.549 I need to die to my own worldly ideas about wealth. 00:03:13.789 --> 00:03:20.189 I need to die to my own desire to be approved and applauded by the world around me. 00:03:20.349 --> 00:03:24.829 I need to die to myself in order to come alive in Christ. 00:03:25.549 --> 00:03:28.109 That's what Jesus tells us in this passage. 00:03:28.269 --> 00:03:41.150 And the promise is that if we do that, if we deny ourselves, if we take up our cross, if we follow Jesus, then we will share with him in the kingdom of God and glory forever. 00:03:42.030 --> 00:03:47.549 So it's with that in mind that I'll invite you to rise as I read this morning's sermon text. 00:03:47.709 --> 00:03:51.310 Again, this is Luke 9, verses 23 through 27. 00:03:52.829 --> 00:04:01.709 And he said to all, If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. 00:04:02.189 --> 00:04:08.429 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. 00:04:08.750 --> 00:04:14.189 For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? 00:04:14.590 --> 00:04:24.670 For whoever is ashamed of me and my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory, in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. 00:04:25.069 --> 00:04:32.430 But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God. 00:04:32.910 --> 00:04:37.150 The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. 00:04:37.389 --> 00:04:39.150 Father, thank you for your word. 00:04:39.629 --> 00:04:49.870 We are so dependent as always upon your Holy Spirit to shed light on it so that we can read it rightly and apply it in the way that you would have us apply it. 00:04:50.110 --> 00:04:52.830 So send your spirit now to help us, we pray. 00:04:52.990 --> 00:04:54.270 In Jesus' name. 00:04:54.590 --> 00:04:55.230 Amen. 00:04:55.710 --> 00:04:57.069 You may be seated. 00:05:00.189 --> 00:05:03.790 So last week Jesus revealed something significant. 00:05:03.950 --> 00:05:08.750 He revealed that he's not just a prophet, he is the Christ. 00:05:09.710 --> 00:05:12.910 But he's not the Christ that the Jews expected. 00:05:13.390 --> 00:05:19.629 He's not here to conquer all their enemies, at least not in the way that they thought he would. 00:05:19.790 --> 00:05:25.150 The Christ would conquer, truly, but he would conquer by first being conquered himself. 00:05:25.390 --> 00:05:29.550 He would ascend his throne, but only after descending into the grave. 00:05:29.710 --> 00:05:32.590 And that's the bit of the story that the twelve were missing. 00:05:32.750 --> 00:05:35.870 And it's something that they would ultimately have to see to believe. 00:05:50.990 --> 00:05:53.629 And here he doesn't just address the twelve. 00:05:53.790 --> 00:05:57.710 In verse 23, he addresses everyone within earshot. 00:05:57.950 --> 00:06:05.310 If anyone would come after him, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. 00:06:05.470 --> 00:06:06.750 That's what Jesus says. 00:06:06.990 --> 00:06:10.189 That if word at the front of the verse, it's very important. 00:06:10.750 --> 00:06:18.590 If you want to come after Jesus, that is, if you want to be one of his disciples, then this is what you're going to do. 00:06:18.910 --> 00:06:20.670 You're going to deny yourself. 00:06:20.910 --> 00:06:25.390 You're going to take up your cross, not just once, but day after day after death, day. 00:06:25.550 --> 00:06:29.629 That's what following Christ, that's what faith in Christ looks like. 00:06:30.430 --> 00:06:35.950 Now, this is the first time in Luke where Jesus or anybody else has mentioned the gospel. 00:06:36.110 --> 00:06:38.590 Or sorry, not the gospel, the cross. 00:06:38.750 --> 00:06:41.230 This is the first time anyone's mentioned the cross. 00:06:41.390 --> 00:06:43.069 And his audience would have known it. 00:06:43.230 --> 00:06:47.790 He would have known it as Rome's favorite method for executing criminals. 00:06:48.350 --> 00:07:00.750 When someone was sentenced to death in Rome, what they would do is they would take this rough, heavy beam, weighed 75 to 125 pounds, heavy, called a patibulum. 00:07:00.910 --> 00:07:05.390 And they'd take it and they'd place it across the shoulders of the criminal. 00:07:05.550 --> 00:07:09.870 And they would bind the criminal's hands to both sides of the cross. 00:07:10.030 --> 00:07:11.950 And they did that for two reasons. 00:07:12.189 --> 00:07:21.069 One, so that when the crowds kind of pressed in and tried to hit the criminal or threw things at him, he couldn't do anything to defend himself. 00:07:21.150 --> 00:07:22.270 He just had to take it. 00:07:22.510 --> 00:07:34.189 And the second is so that carrying this hundred-pound piece of timber, when the person fell, which they would fall, they had no way of bracing themselves. 00:07:34.830 --> 00:07:39.230 So an added element of pain, an added element of shame. 00:07:39.390 --> 00:07:50.270 And when that person would arrive at the execution site carrying this patibulum, they would use ropes and ladders and crude machinery to hoist him up on the crossbar. 00:07:50.430 --> 00:07:54.350 And they would nail his hands to that crossbar. 00:07:54.510 --> 00:08:02.510 And they'd put a little ledge under his feet and nail his feet to the little ledge so that he could push himself up and breathe. 00:08:02.750 --> 00:08:04.990 Now that sounds merciful, right? 00:08:05.310 --> 00:08:06.830 It wasn't merciful. 00:08:07.069 --> 00:08:15.710 They did it so that they could game the survival instinct of the criminal and not allow them to just hang and asphyxiate quickly. 00:08:15.950 --> 00:08:23.950 They did it so that the person would stand up, breathe longer, and experience a longer and more excruciating death. 00:08:24.189 --> 00:08:29.870 They would die slowly, they would die painfully, they would die shamefully. 00:08:30.670 --> 00:08:32.909 And Jesus' hearers knew this. 00:08:33.309 --> 00:08:40.110 Crucifixions weren't some private thing that happened on death row in a room that only a few people are able to witness. 00:08:40.269 --> 00:08:41.870 They were a public spectacle. 00:08:42.029 --> 00:08:46.590 They were one of the means by which the Romans maintained their power over the people. 00:08:46.830 --> 00:08:51.710 Hey, you mess around, you find out on the cross. 00:08:53.309 --> 00:08:56.110 So consider the scandal of that. 00:08:56.750 --> 00:09:08.189 Jesus is telling them that in order to follow him, they have to take up the pain and the shame of a Roman cross daily. 00:09:09.069 --> 00:09:09.709 Daily. 00:09:10.589 --> 00:09:13.870 So of course, Jesus doesn't mean it in a literal sense. 00:09:14.029 --> 00:09:15.789 He can't be executed more than once. 00:09:15.949 --> 00:09:17.709 It's a one and done kind of deal. 00:09:17.870 --> 00:09:23.789 But what Jesus does mean is that in order to follow him, you have to be willing to die. 00:09:24.349 --> 00:09:35.549 Not just in a physical sense, but socially, culturally, economically, emotionally, psychologically, religiously, in all the ways, you have to be willing to die. 00:09:36.189 --> 00:09:41.629 The world, he's saying, is going to despise you for his sake and everything inside of you. 00:09:41.709 --> 00:09:45.469 It's going to want to renounce Jesus in order to save your own skin. 00:09:45.629 --> 00:09:53.709 But Jesus says that if you want to be his disciple, you're going to push all that down, you're going to set it all aside, and you're going to press on. 00:09:55.469 --> 00:09:56.110 Amen. 00:09:58.029 --> 00:10:00.589 Now that's a heck of an ask, isn't it? 00:10:02.189 --> 00:10:08.349 Jesus isn't inviting us to fill out a form and pledge 10% of our income to join his exclusive club. 00:10:08.589 --> 00:10:11.629 He's asking us to come and die. 00:10:13.230 --> 00:10:19.549 And as the Son of Man, Jesus has every right to ask that of us without any sort of explanation. 00:10:19.789 --> 00:10:23.549 It's our duty, it's our obligation, it's what we owe him. 00:10:24.189 --> 00:10:26.990 But here's the surprising thing about today's passage. 00:10:27.549 --> 00:10:34.349 Jesus doesn't just command us to take up our cross, Jesus gives us reasons. 00:10:34.829 --> 00:10:51.789 Jesus actually appeals to our own sense of self-interest and explains to us why no matter what happens, denying ourselves and following Him will ultimately be better for us than anything else the world has to offer. 00:10:52.110 --> 00:10:59.789 He offers three reasons specifically in verses 24, 25, and 26, each one signaled by that little word for. 00:11:00.269 --> 00:11:06.589 And we're going to consider each of them under three headings preservation, profit, pressure. 00:11:06.829 --> 00:11:09.230 Preservation, profit, pressure. 00:11:09.469 --> 00:11:12.589 And we'll begin with preservation in verse 24. 00:11:13.469 --> 00:11:19.709 There's a tech entrepreneur and venture capitalist out there in the world by the name of Brian Johnson. 00:11:19.870 --> 00:11:21.389 Have you heard of Brian Johnson? 00:11:22.029 --> 00:11:27.309 Brian Johnson's personal mantra is this don't die. 00:11:28.589 --> 00:11:29.629 Don't die. 00:11:29.949 --> 00:11:30.669 It's pretty good. 00:11:30.750 --> 00:11:35.870 It sounds like something that you would say as a response to someone else saying, hold my beer, watch this. 00:11:36.349 --> 00:11:37.389 Don't die. 00:11:37.629 --> 00:11:39.149 Sorry, hold my grape juice. 00:11:39.309 --> 00:11:39.789 Hold. 00:11:42.269 --> 00:11:43.309 Don't die. 00:11:43.870 --> 00:11:54.429 Johnson believes that thanks to AI and medical technology, our generation, or maybe our kids' generation, will be the one that finally conquers death. 00:11:54.909 --> 00:11:59.789 And so he's turned his entire life into a kind of science experiment. 00:12:00.110 --> 00:12:03.870 He's taken plasma infusions from his teenage son. 00:12:04.189 --> 00:12:06.750 He's very strictly regulated his diet. 00:12:06.829 --> 00:12:08.429 He doesn't eat after 11 a.m. 00:12:08.589 --> 00:12:13.069 because he wants digestion to be done by bedtime so that it doesn't interrupt his sleep. 00:12:13.309 --> 00:12:29.389 He takes over a hundred pills and powders every day as supplements, and he adjusts them dynamically based on an analysis of his urine, his stool, his saliva, and who knows what else, his blood. 00:12:29.709 --> 00:12:34.829 Gene therapy, stem cells, sensory deprivation or deprivation. 00:12:35.069 --> 00:12:40.750 Johnson has taken basically every trend in biohacking and he's given it a go. 00:12:40.909 --> 00:12:54.829 He's poured all of his time, all of his energy, a whole lot of his money into making his life this highly structured, highly regulated lab experiment, all so that he could find a way to beat death. 00:12:55.949 --> 00:12:57.309 Let me ask you. 00:12:58.429 --> 00:13:03.469 Johnson may be breathing, but is he truly alive? 00:13:06.269 --> 00:13:09.870 It seems to me that in trying to save his life, he's lost it. 00:13:11.149 --> 00:13:25.469 See, Jesus taps into that paradoxical reality in verse 24, when he says, for whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. 00:13:26.029 --> 00:13:32.349 As Johnson shows and Jesus tells, there's a way to live that falls short of living. 00:13:32.589 --> 00:13:36.269 There's a way to live that will ultimately only end up in death. 00:13:36.429 --> 00:13:43.149 And it's the way that focuses on preserving our lives at any and every cost. 00:13:43.709 --> 00:13:54.349 And it's only when we lay down our lives, when we deny ourselves, when we take up our cross, that we find life in its fullest and truest sense. 00:13:54.509 --> 00:14:00.110 We find a life that actually outstrips death because it does not come from us. 00:14:00.269 --> 00:14:02.990 It does not come from our feeble and frail bodies. 00:14:03.149 --> 00:14:06.349 It comes from the one who is the author of life. 00:14:06.909 --> 00:14:09.309 So what does that mean practically? 00:14:09.709 --> 00:14:16.669 Well, we'll see what Jesus has to say about worldly possessions and status, reputation, that kind of thing in a bit. 00:14:16.829 --> 00:14:25.549 But the first thing we need to see, the first thing we need to say, is that only Jesus can preserve our lives in an eternal sense. 00:14:26.349 --> 00:14:38.829 Healthcare is good, exercise is good, supplements are good, I do all those things myself, and I am not against breakthroughs in medicine, and I don't think Christians should be. 00:14:38.990 --> 00:14:44.750 There's nothing wrong with trying to survive, but the question is, what are we surviving for? 00:14:45.469 --> 00:14:49.709 And what are we willing to sacrifice for the sake of survival? 00:14:49.949 --> 00:14:58.029 Because if our lives are ordered toward anything but Jesus, the cold hard truth is it doesn't matter how long we live. 00:14:58.349 --> 00:15:07.709 The bell will toll for every single one of us, and at that point, the only thing that will matter is whether we follow Jesus or not. 00:15:08.189 --> 00:15:16.349 And so Jesus says to every single one of us, whoever will lose his life for my sake will save it. 00:15:17.549 --> 00:15:26.589 So if you really want to survive, in an ultimate sense, if you really want to make it out of this life alive, then surrender your life to Jesus. 00:15:27.069 --> 00:15:31.309 Die to yourself if you really want to avoid death. 00:15:31.709 --> 00:15:33.709 That's what he's saying to us here. 00:15:34.429 --> 00:15:36.110 So that's preservation. 00:15:36.269 --> 00:15:38.269 Now let's talk about profit. 00:15:38.509 --> 00:15:47.870 In verse 25, Jesus asks a rhetorical question: For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? 00:15:48.269 --> 00:15:55.389 In other words, what use is it if you amass to yourself everything this world has to offer? 00:15:55.549 --> 00:15:58.509 Every good thing, every flashy thing, every exciting thing. 00:15:58.669 --> 00:16:04.269 What good is it if you accrue all of that to yourself but you lose yourself in the process? 00:16:04.909 --> 00:16:15.230 If you can't take it with you when you go, then you should care more about where you're going than what you leave behind. 00:16:15.469 --> 00:16:17.469 That's what Jesus is getting at here. 00:16:17.629 --> 00:16:20.990 And it's something we all desperately need to hear again and again. 00:16:21.230 --> 00:16:25.389 We live in a fundamentally consumerist world. 00:16:25.709 --> 00:16:43.149 Our economy is driven by consumption, and so much in our lives is ordered toward the relentless quest for better and more, a better education for ourselves and our kids, a higher paying job, a bigger house, a nicer car, a better vacation, and so on. 00:16:43.870 --> 00:16:47.949 Don't get me wrong, it's okay to want to improve your station in life. 00:16:48.189 --> 00:16:51.870 A lot of the things I just listed aren't wrong in and of themselves. 00:16:51.949 --> 00:16:54.110 They're not sinful in and of themselves. 00:16:54.509 --> 00:17:01.389 Jesus, he praises the man who invests his master's money and makes a good return on investment. 00:17:02.269 --> 00:17:16.110 That's not inherently wrong, but in the same way we can bend our God-given desire for life and get it all out of whack, so can we distort our God-given ambition. 00:17:16.750 --> 00:17:26.509 We can live in such a way where we stop trying to steward the good gifts that God has given us and instead we start building our lives around them. 00:17:26.750 --> 00:17:33.630 Or, like Paul says in Romans 1.25, we worship and serve the creature rather than the creator who is blessed forever. 00:17:33.870 --> 00:17:34.509 Amen. 00:17:34.990 --> 00:17:38.269 It's the definition of idolatry. 00:17:39.230 --> 00:17:47.230 And the truth is that the things of this world are constantly making promises that they can't keep. 00:17:47.549 --> 00:17:54.269 They're whispering in our ears saying, if you just get more, if you just get enough, you'll be okay. 00:17:55.230 --> 00:17:58.589 And when we listen, we become slaves to the grind. 00:17:59.789 --> 00:18:03.950 But Jesus speaks the truth here that sets us free. 00:18:04.109 --> 00:18:07.789 If you're living for more, then sorry, you're never going to have enough. 00:18:08.029 --> 00:18:11.629 You're never going to feel fulfilled, you're never going to be content. 00:18:11.789 --> 00:18:13.710 You're never going to have rest. 00:18:14.430 --> 00:18:17.950 More and enough will always be out on the horizon. 00:18:18.109 --> 00:18:30.109 But if you deny yourself, if you deny yourself and take up your cross, if you lay it all down at the feet of Jesus and you count him as the prize above all prize, then what are you going to find? 00:18:30.349 --> 00:18:34.509 You're going to find that all of the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in him. 00:18:34.909 --> 00:18:39.950 You're going to find that everything you need for life and godliness is in him. 00:18:40.509 --> 00:18:51.869 Every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, every one of God's promises, everything true, everything beautiful, everything good, all of it is contained in him. 00:18:53.549 --> 00:19:21.069 And so when Satan takes you up in the pinnacle and he promises you all the kingdoms of the world, like he did with Jesus, when your job tempts you to compromise for the sake of a paycheck, when that potential car or mortgage note threatens to imprison you at work, when your desires prompt you to grasp for something that does not belong to you, Jesus steps in and reminds you. 00:19:21.309 --> 00:19:31.950 Jesus steps in and reminds me that all the goodies that this world has to offer will profit us nothing if we forsake the one who is our greatest reward. 00:19:33.710 --> 00:19:37.950 Okay, we've talked about how following Jesus is the only way to preserve our lives. 00:19:38.109 --> 00:19:41.549 We've seen how worldly profit is nothing if we don't have him. 00:19:41.950 --> 00:19:44.109 And now we come to the pressure. 00:19:44.430 --> 00:19:52.750 We come to the pressure that we face as disciples and the promise that Jesus makes to those who follow him all the way to the end. 00:19:52.909 --> 00:20:05.470 In verse 26, Jesus says, For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory, in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. 00:20:06.269 --> 00:20:06.909 Shame. 00:20:08.269 --> 00:20:19.470 This is a really important word here because it has to do with our subjective response to the loss of status we can expect when we take up our cross. 00:20:19.869 --> 00:20:22.349 This is what Jesus has been pushing toward. 00:20:22.509 --> 00:20:30.430 At the end of the day, taking up the cross is not just about undergoing this internal change of philosophy or change of view. 00:20:30.589 --> 00:20:33.230 It's about surrendering your life to Jesus. 00:20:33.470 --> 00:20:38.349 And by definition, that surrender is not the kind of thing that you can keep quiet. 00:20:38.589 --> 00:20:40.990 It's not the kind of thing that you can keep to yourself. 00:20:41.069 --> 00:20:44.349 It's the kind of thing that you see and hear in person. 00:20:45.069 --> 00:20:52.269 And in a fallen world that's rebelled against Jesus, it's the kind of thing that will get you in trouble. 00:20:53.069 --> 00:20:58.509 Now that may not sound like something we have to worry about much here in the buckle of the Bible belt. 00:20:59.230 --> 00:21:04.750 About 80% of people in Wilson County identify as Christian. 00:21:05.230 --> 00:21:15.789 For the vast majority of us, if we were to walk into church tomorrow, or sorry, into work tomorrow and let everyone know that we have decided to follow Jesus, most of them would yawn. 00:21:16.829 --> 00:21:17.389 Big deal. 00:21:17.549 --> 00:21:18.990 Welcome to the club. 00:21:20.349 --> 00:21:22.269 Everyone's already a Christian. 00:21:22.909 --> 00:21:33.149 Except when you look at the numbers, and you see that only about half of those professing Christians attend church with any sort of regularity. 00:21:34.029 --> 00:21:39.470 Half of them deny that the Bible is the inspired and inerrant word of God. 00:21:40.670 --> 00:21:47.230 Almost a third of them deny the deity of Christ and the historicity of the resurrection. 00:21:47.869 --> 00:21:54.589 And so a ton of our neighbors, a ton of our friends, a ton of our coworkers may identify as Christians. 00:21:56.029 --> 00:22:00.430 But taking up your cross is about more than checking a box on a form. 00:22:01.069 --> 00:22:10.589 It's about following the Son of Man and listening to what he has to say in his word and conforming your life with his help to it. 00:22:11.149 --> 00:22:14.109 See, that's when things get sticky. 00:22:14.349 --> 00:22:18.430 That's when the people who yawned at your profession start to wake up. 00:22:18.670 --> 00:22:25.069 When you say things like, I believe every word in the Bible is a word of Jesus, not just the ones printed in red. 00:22:25.950 --> 00:22:31.549 I believe in the supreme dignity of every human life, including the unborn. 00:22:32.670 --> 00:22:38.829 I believe the Bible says that marriage ought to be between one man, one woman for life. 00:22:39.309 --> 00:22:54.909 I believe that men are men and women are women, and the most compassionate way to love those who are struggling with matters of gender and sexual identity is to lovingly shepherd them toward the truth and not away from it. 00:22:55.950 --> 00:23:04.670 See, Jesus is going in a direction that a whole lot of people in our culture, even in Wilson County, Tennessee, don't want him to go. 00:23:05.230 --> 00:23:10.750 And if you try to follow him there, you will experience rejection. 00:23:11.470 --> 00:23:13.869 People will look at you sideways. 00:23:14.109 --> 00:23:18.029 Some of them will even try to put a metaphorical cross on your back. 00:23:18.109 --> 00:23:21.950 And many of those people would label themselves Christian. 00:23:23.549 --> 00:23:25.309 But what does Jesus say? 00:23:26.589 --> 00:23:28.109 Deny yourself. 00:23:28.430 --> 00:23:30.109 Take up that cross. 00:23:30.349 --> 00:23:33.549 Bear the shame, but do not be ashamed. 00:23:34.029 --> 00:23:37.389 Jesus is the way, Jesus is the truth, Jesus is the life. 00:23:37.549 --> 00:23:44.269 And the place where he's leading us is infinitely better than any and any other destination. 00:23:44.670 --> 00:23:53.069 And the warning is if we allow ourselves to be shamed into laying down the cross, then we will not make it all the way home. 00:23:54.109 --> 00:23:58.509 If we are ashamed of him, he will be ashamed of us. 00:23:58.909 --> 00:24:02.750 If we deny him, he will deny us. 00:24:04.269 --> 00:24:06.190 And so we have to choose. 00:24:06.750 --> 00:24:09.069 Who do we want to be rejected by? 00:24:09.710 --> 00:24:13.230 The world or by Jesus? 00:24:15.230 --> 00:24:17.069 It's a stark warning. 00:24:17.389 --> 00:24:18.829 I won't pretend it's not. 00:24:18.909 --> 00:24:24.509 It's a stark warning that Jesus offers anyone who would be his disciple. 00:24:24.990 --> 00:24:27.869 And it ought to put us on our heels. 00:24:28.509 --> 00:24:39.309 But even as we find ourselves in this place, we're like, whoa, Jesus, it's really important that we don't lose sight that there's a promise wrapped up in what he's saying here. 00:24:39.549 --> 00:24:42.190 Because the flip side of this warning is true. 00:24:42.349 --> 00:24:55.149 If we take up our cross, if we follow Jesus to the very end, then when the Son of Man comes in his glory, in the glory of the Father, in the glory of the holy angels, he will not be ashamed of us. 00:24:55.470 --> 00:24:59.950 He will rejoice with us, even with loud singing, Zephaniah 3 says. 00:25:00.269 --> 00:25:03.629 He will welcome us into the place that He has prepared for us. 00:25:03.869 --> 00:25:11.629 And on our way in, He will take that heavy crossbar off our backs and throw it in the pile with all the others. 00:25:12.190 --> 00:25:17.789 When the Son of Man comes in glory, he will be vindicated, and so will we. 00:25:18.109 --> 00:25:28.670 And every hint of rejection that we experienced in this life will melt away and give way to the greatest acceptance any of us could ever hope to hear. 00:25:28.829 --> 00:25:39.069 That is the divine welcome of a heavenly Father who loves us so much that he gave his only begotten Son so that we could eternally be a part of his family. 00:25:40.829 --> 00:25:42.109 I want that. 00:25:43.069 --> 00:25:47.549 And if that means you people think I'm crazy, I don't care what you think. 00:25:48.509 --> 00:25:51.309 That's how Jesus is calling us to live. 00:25:51.950 --> 00:26:01.869 Now, eight days after Jesus said these things to his disciples, he was kind enough to give three of them a glimpse of what that coming glory would look like. 00:26:02.029 --> 00:26:11.789 Just as he promises in verse 27, the kingdom of God appears in the momentarily glorified Christ of the transfiguration. 00:26:12.589 --> 00:26:14.029 We'll get into that next week. 00:26:14.190 --> 00:26:22.509 But the thing that we need to grasp today as we move toward a conclusion is that we are not in the same position they were. 00:26:23.549 --> 00:26:31.230 For them, for the disciples, for the ones who were listening to Jesus as he said these things, Christ's suffering was still in the future. 00:26:31.470 --> 00:26:36.829 And this command to take up their cross was still dwelling in the realm of metaphor. 00:26:37.549 --> 00:26:41.230 But we live on the other side of Jesus' suffering. 00:26:41.470 --> 00:26:48.349 And we know that for him, the cross was not just a metaphor. 00:26:49.069 --> 00:26:55.389 It was the real fate that Jesus faced in our place and for our sins. 00:26:56.750 --> 00:27:01.950 We also know what happened on the third day after he faced that fate. 00:27:02.430 --> 00:27:06.190 Death did not defeat him, it could not hold him. 00:27:06.509 --> 00:27:16.029 He lost his life, he gave up his life in order that he might take it back up again and freely share it with everyone who puts their trust in him. 00:27:16.750 --> 00:27:24.349 Hebrews 12 says that it was for the joy that Jesus despised the shame of the cross. 00:27:24.589 --> 00:27:34.829 And in his resurrection, he experienced the ultimate vindication and he promises to share that vindication with everyone who follows him to the end. 00:27:35.470 --> 00:27:45.309 And so if that cross on your back is feeling extra heavy right now, remember, you're not losing your life. 00:27:45.549 --> 00:27:46.990 You're finding it. 00:27:47.470 --> 00:27:50.109 You're not missing out on all the toys. 00:27:50.509 --> 00:27:53.389 You're laying up your treasure in heaven. 00:27:54.029 --> 00:27:57.389 And you won't always be on the outside. 00:27:57.710 --> 00:28:02.990 You won't always be rejected, ostracized, cast aside. 00:28:03.629 --> 00:28:18.670 On the final day when the Son of Man comes in glory and you stand before the throne of God's judgment, the only person whose opinion ever really mattered will look at you and say, This one's with me. 00:28:20.509 --> 00:28:22.109 That's the encouragement. 00:28:22.430 --> 00:28:26.430 That's the encouragement for those who've taken up their cross. 00:28:26.670 --> 00:28:33.069 But for those who haven't, I want to encourage you to take Jesus' words seriously. 00:28:34.190 --> 00:28:37.309 How tight are you hanging on to your life? 00:28:38.269 --> 00:28:47.789 How much of your identity, how much of your security is bound up with the number on your bank account or the car in your driveway? 00:28:48.829 --> 00:28:51.470 Whose opinion matters to you most? 00:28:53.629 --> 00:28:56.269 Whoever saves his life will lose it. 00:28:56.829 --> 00:29:02.109 What does a profit a man if he gains the whole world but loses or forfeits himself? 00:29:02.829 --> 00:29:07.710 Whoever is ashamed of the son of him will the son of man be ashamed. 00:29:08.909 --> 00:29:10.909 This is hard stuff to hear. 00:29:11.230 --> 00:29:12.909 How could it not be? 00:29:14.190 --> 00:29:22.349 Everything in our culture says that we need to affirm ourselves in every way, and we need to make other people affirm us too. 00:29:23.069 --> 00:29:26.269 But Jesus says, deny yourself. 00:29:27.309 --> 00:29:27.950 Why? 00:29:28.829 --> 00:29:34.349 Because apart from him, our twisted desires will lead us straight into the fire. 00:29:34.909 --> 00:29:42.829 And so to deny ourselves is to deny that very thing that will lead us to eternal destruction. 00:29:42.990 --> 00:29:49.309 To deny ourselves is to listen to Jesus' call and to turn back before we go over the cliff. 00:29:50.269 --> 00:29:57.869 And that may feel like death, but the promise Jesus makes is that it is truly life. 00:29:59.309 --> 00:30:03.629 So you might be wondering, how can I possibly do that? 00:30:04.109 --> 00:30:09.230 The kingdom of God sounds great, but I don't think I can bear the weight of the cross. 00:30:10.109 --> 00:30:12.589 Well, let me let you in on the gospel. 00:30:13.869 --> 00:30:15.149 You can't. 00:30:17.230 --> 00:30:19.869 You can't bear the weight of the cross. 00:30:20.269 --> 00:30:21.549 But guess what? 00:30:22.670 --> 00:30:23.869 Jesus did. 00:30:26.269 --> 00:30:31.549 The cross of Christ is the key that unlocks this passage for all of us. 00:30:31.789 --> 00:30:41.230 The cross is the catalyst that transforms Jesus' words here from an impossible burden to an incredible blessing. 00:30:42.109 --> 00:30:46.430 Because he carried his cross, we can carry ours. 00:30:47.069 --> 00:30:54.269 Not because we're inspired by him, but because that cross is the place where Jesus accomplished salvation. 00:30:54.509 --> 00:30:59.069 The cross is the place where he paid the price for all his people's sins. 00:30:59.230 --> 00:31:06.829 The cross is the place where Jesus redeemed his disciples and earned the right to pour his Holy Spirit out upon us. 00:31:07.389 --> 00:31:14.190 So if you're in Christ, then scripture says that you died with him on the cross. 00:31:14.509 --> 00:31:19.470 And the same spirit that brought him back to life now dwells within you. 00:31:19.629 --> 00:31:25.230 The strength that allowed Jesus to bear his cross is coursing through your veins. 00:31:25.950 --> 00:31:30.349 So turn to Jesus and he will carry you as you bury your cross. 00:31:30.670 --> 00:31:33.470 Deny yourself and Jesus will affirm you. 00:31:33.710 --> 00:31:36.190 Lose your life and Jesus will give you his. 00:31:36.509 --> 00:31:39.230 Acknowledge him and he will embrace you. 00:31:39.549 --> 00:31:48.349 Keep your eyes on Jesus day after day after day, and you will see the kingdom of God. 00:31:49.389 --> 00:31:50.750 That's the promise. 00:31:50.990 --> 00:31:54.269 And Jesus is not in the business of breaking his promises. 00:31:55.230 --> 00:31:56.509 Let's pray. 00:32:01.549 --> 00:32:06.909 Father, it's a hard word that your son would ask us to bear our cross and to follow him. 00:32:07.789 --> 00:32:11.389 We thank you, Lord, that he bore his cross first. 00:32:12.109 --> 00:32:17.149 And because he lived and died for us, we can live and die for him. 00:32:17.950 --> 00:32:25.950 Encourage us, Father, give us the strength that we need to bear up under the pressure that we face every day. 00:32:26.269 --> 00:32:30.430 Remind us that our only profit is to be found in Christ. 00:32:30.909 --> 00:32:37.869 And that if we want to preserve ourselves, then the only way to do that is to trust in the one who is the author of life himself. 00:32:39.149 --> 00:32:56.909 And Lord, for those who have not yet done that, for those who are seeking to preserve their lives by other means, who are seeking profit in worldly places, who are giving in to the pressure to say no to Jesus, I pray, Lord, that by the power of your spirit you would set them free. 00:32:57.629 --> 00:33:00.909 So that in losing their life they would find it. 00:33:01.389 --> 00:33:06.029 In forsaking the world, they would be granted heaven. 00:33:07.789 --> 00:33:13.869 And saying yes to Jesus, they would hear a divine yes from you. 00:33:14.589 --> 00:33:16.750 We pray these things in Jesus' name. 00:33:17.069 --> 00:33:17.710 Amen. 00:33:25.149 --> 00:33:34.589 This is, you know, I've often compared this table to a water station in a marathon. 00:33:35.389 --> 00:33:42.349 Where you stop for just a second, you get replenished, you get refilled, and then you go on running. 00:33:43.149 --> 00:33:44.909 That's what this station is for us. 00:33:45.389 --> 00:33:47.549 That's what this supper is for us. 00:33:47.789 --> 00:33:53.230 Jesus calls us to deny ourselves, to take up our cross, to follow him all the way to the end. 00:33:53.470 --> 00:33:55.549 Well, that's a long journey. 00:33:55.950 --> 00:33:59.950 We get discouraged, we get doubts. 00:34:00.349 --> 00:34:09.470 And Jesus gave us this table to re-encourage us, to reassure us, and to let us know that he will be with us to the very end. 00:34:09.630 --> 00:34:23.550 So if you've put your faith in Jesus, if you've been baptized in the triune name, if you've joined yourself in obedience to the body of Christ where the Bible is taught and proclaimed, then Jesus says, come to this table and get what you need to keep going. 00:34:23.710 --> 00:34:26.909 And he will give you what you need to keep going. 00:34:27.470 --> 00:34:36.430 But if you're not yet on that journey, if you've not yet taken that crossbar upon your back, Jesus says, wait. 00:34:36.829 --> 00:34:39.389 Jesus says, deal with that first. 00:34:39.710 --> 00:34:42.750 Come to Jesus first before you come to his table. 00:34:42.989 --> 00:34:48.269 Surrender your life to Jesus before you ask him to give you what you need for life. 00:34:48.509 --> 00:34:54.509 And if you want to know more about what that looks like, if you want to talk about that, please don't hesitate to come find one of us. 00:34:54.670 --> 00:34:58.670 Or maybe talk to someone in the pew next to you or whoever invited you here today. 00:34:58.989 --> 00:35:05.869 Because that is the most important conversation you can have today, this week, this month, this life. 00:35:06.269 --> 00:35:12.509 Get straight with Jesus so that you can follow him all the way to eternal life with him. 00:35:13.389 --> 00:35:16.269 The I'm going to pray again. 00:35:16.509 --> 00:35:18.829 You'll come forward and receive the elements. 00:35:18.989 --> 00:35:22.429 After everybody's been served, you take them back to your seat and we'll partake together. 00:35:22.590 --> 00:35:24.670 Father, thank you for this meal. 00:35:24.989 --> 00:35:29.389 Thank you that we get to sit together at your table and to be strengthened and encouraged. 00:35:29.710 --> 00:35:42.029 Pray that you would use this bread and this wine to remind us of the communion we have with the risen Christ and the fact that we can bear our cross because He first bore his. 00:35:53.630 --> 00:35:54.269 Amen.