Jesus Gives Everything, Demands Everything (Matthew Sermon 78)

Introduction

“Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all.” I was trying to think about that demand. I have found it, as I go on in my Christian life, to be the most difficult demand of the Christian life. Every single day, I feel the weight of the passage that I’m going to preach today, every day.  I was trying to picture in my mind what it is that Jesus is calling us to.  I began thinking about those fish. I didn’t know that much about them, but you know, the fish that swim upstream all the time because that’s what it feels like to me. And I came across the Alaska King Salmon and the more I learned about their journey, the more incredible it seemed to me. These are fish that are spawned in some stream in Alaska somewhere, some little tributary, and they eventually make their way down that river, and out into the Bering Sea and into the Pacific Ocean, and they swim 2000 miles. Their bodies change a little bit, so they’re able to exist in salt water and they just live there until they come to maturity. Then the time comes, how they know it I don’t know, but the time comes for them to go back home. They begin the most arduous, most incredible natural journey I’ve ever heard of some of those salmon swim 2400 miles upstream the entire way. Giving everything they have and amazingly, and we don’t really know how, they make their way, not back to the original river, not even back to the original tributary, but the little creek where they were originally born, and there they spawn and a week later, they die.  The journey upstream takes 90% of their fat and 50% of their protein from their body. They have nothing left to give by the time that they’re done. That’s the picture that I have in my mind of our text today. That’s an astonishing natural journey, isn’t it? It’s a natural journey. All of the King Salmon make the journey.

Jesus Calls Us to Deny Ourselves

But Jesus in this text is calling on us to make a supernatural journey. It’s one that we cannot make by our own strength and power, not by willpower, not by the power of our mind, not by the power of our might or our own strength or determination, we cannot live this Christian life. It is a supernatural life to which Jesus is calling us. Why is this? Because here in this text, He’s calling on us to deny ourselves, and to take up our cross and to follow him. Each human being on the face of the earth, doesn’t matter what nation or tribe or language or people they’re born into, every single human being is born with a fanatical commitment to themselves. Fanatical. It is the central idolatry of the human race. We will do almost anything to please ourselves. Only good parenting teaches an infant slowly to behave better in public and get along with six billion other people who have the same goal: to please themselves. That kind of parenting goes on all over the world, and somehow, we manage to co-exist. But there it is. The flow, the natural flow of human personality in this matter is an even greater force than the whitewater of those Alaskan rivers that those salmon are swimming against. It’s a constant drive. It is purely natural for every descendant of Adam and Eve, to be fanatically devoted to self, to pursue selfish interest in every conversation, in every food we choose, in every left and right turn we make in the automobile, every website we visit, every movie we watch, the ambitions for our career, the way that we interact with people, it’s there all the time. At every moment.

Here in this text, Jesus is calling on you and me to behave supernaturally, to deny ourselves, to swim upstream against your desire to save yourself, and coddle yourself, and prefer yourself, and love yourself and cherish yourself and feed yourself and nourish yourself, every single moment of your life. He’s calling on you to deny that and to follow him. This, and I say to you, only this kind of life is the life that leads to heaven. Be not deceived, this is the life that leads to heaven, and no other.  Jesus is calling on us to live the kind of life he lived, a life of self-denial; a life that led him to leave his father’s throne, to take on a human body, to take on the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness, and to deny himself even to the point of death, even death on a cross. That’s the life Jesus lived. It is absolutely astonishing to me how much Christ gave for us. I picture him on the cross, I picture him, his blood flowing out of his body, I picture him fulfilling final prophecies, the last few that had to get done, taking that wine vinegar, and dealing with people as his blood is flowing out. As they’re taking his garments and gambling for them, in order to fulfill prophecy so that he might be identified as the savior, fulfillment of prophecy, he breathes out his last and says, “It is finished. There is nothing left to give.” Do you see it? He gave absolutely everything for us, and He did that in order to give absolutely everything to us that we might be completely forgiven of all of our sins, that we might find in God, not a wrath-filled righteous judge who would righteously send us to hell for what we’ve done, but rather a loving Father that we would be adopted into his family. That’s what Jesus came to buy for us, that we might receive the indwelling Holy Spirit, adopted into the family of God, given a worthwhile life of service to him, brothers and sisters in Christ. Then it really gets good. Then we are transformed, we lose our sin nature, and made like him, like him we rise, we receive resurrection bodies, and we live in those bodies forever and ever, free forever from all death, and mourning, and crying, and pain.  This is what He came to give, He gave everything for us to give everything to us.

 Loyalty to God Must Come Before Everything, Even Ourselves

But now in this text He demands everything from us —every moment of your life, every moment of my life, this is what he demands, and anything less than this is less than what he demands. He uses stark language in other places, “If you don’t hate your mother and father and your wife and your children and even your own life, you cannot be my disciple.” He says to the rich young ruler, “You have to sell everything you have and give to the poor and you’ll have treasure in heaven. Then come follow me.” In the parable about the treasure hidden in the field and the parable of the Pearl of Great Price, in both cases they had to sell everything to get it. This is the life that leads to heaven. Look what it says in verse 24 and 25, “And Jesus said to his disciples: If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me, for whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.” This is the relentless call of Christ. Deny, carry, follow and die.

I. The Relentless Call of Christ:  Deny, Carry, Follow, Die

Now, let’s understand the context. Jesus had made an amazing prediction to his disciples. They were not able to hear it, they did not understand it. Verse 21, “From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.” This is the first time he really began to explain all of these things so that they understood.  He was teaching them, from that point on; he was getting them ready. Peter was shocked. I think they all were, but you know Peter, so frequently the spokesman for them all. He vocalizes what I think all of them are feeling, but in a really amazing and shocking way. Look at verse 22, “Peter took him aside,” this is Jesus now, “You’re the only begotten son of God, the word of God, through him all things were made and without him nothing was made that has been made. This is God in the flesh, the son of the living God,” said Peter. He took the Son of the living God aside and began to rebuke him. Is that not shocking to you? It should be.

Do we behave any differently in times of affliction? Do we begin to rebuke God in our prayers and begin to murmur against him? We tend to do it, but here’s Peter, he takes him aside and begins to rebuke him, “Never Lord,” he said, “This shall never happen to you.” Perhaps even more shocking is what happens next. Verse 23, “Jesus turned and said to Peter: Get behind me, Satan.” Now, there’s no question that Jesus loved Peter. There’s no question that Jesus is going to take Peter to Heaven. He has given him a role unlike that of anyone else other of the apostles in building the church. This is an incredible role; He was giving him the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Jesus loved Peter, but here he says to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan. You’re a stumbling block to me, you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.”

Now this is an important principle, our loyalty to God must come above all other relationships. It is true that from time to time, even loved ones can be used by the devil to deter us from a course that God wants us to take. At that point you must deal with it quite vigorously. It’s more important even than the good feelings we have in a pleasant relationship. Satan was using Peter and Jesus says, “You’re a stumbling block to me, that the word is literally bait stick, you’re like bait luring me into a trap. I can’t go in there. I came to die, so get behind me, Satan,” says Jesus to Peter. But then He lists his focus up off of Peter on to his disciples, and really through his words, on to all of us, the whole world, then He said to his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me, for whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.” This is a universal call, it’s not just for Peter and it’s not just for the apostles that were standing around him at that point, it’s for everybody.

What was Peter’s immediate motive? Jesus said, “You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.” I don’t think that Peter was so much concerned about Jesus here, although I’m sure that it was there, but I think he was concerned about his own selfish interests. Peter’s own future was wrapped up in Jesus. Jesus had just conferred on him the keys of the kingdom, whatever that meant, and the keys of a kingdom aren’t worth much if the king is dead, because usually they gather up all of his right-hand men and they arrest them too and put them to death. So, if Jesus is going to be arrested and killed, the future is bleak for Peter too. What good would it be to be the keeper of the keys of a kingdom in which the king is killed? Peter, I think, is motivated at this moment by selfish interests. He wants to save his own life, he wants to save his life physically, and he wants to make it as rich and powerful and pleasureful as possible, that is natural.

Satan’s motive is selfish, he wants to gain everything for himself. Like him, we want to gain everything for ourselves. God’s motives, the things of God, is to put his glory and his kingdom above every other concern. That’s what Jesus meant when He said, “You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.” An aside that’s encouraging is that in the end Peter learned how to do this, in the end he learned how to deny himself. Now he had a tough journey to travel, and the difficulty of that journey is what’s in my heart as I preach this message today. It’s a difficult journey to learn how to deny yourself and take up your cross and follow. Peter hadn’t learned it by the time Jesus died.  That’s why he denied knowing Jesus three times that night, he wanted to save his own life. He wasn’t ready yet.

Afterward, church tradition tells us that he willingly was crucified upside down in fulfillment of the prophecy made in John 21, that he would by his death glorify God. In the end Peter learned, and we can learn too by God’s grace how to deny ourselves and take up our cross and follow, but Peter didn’t know at this point.

What Does It Mean To Take Up Your Cross Daily?

What is this call? Let’s understand it, first of all, deny yourself. Deny yourself. Say no to what you think are your immediate best interests. What it is you want for yourself as you think it’s best, what your flesh is demanding, turn away from it. Secondly, take up your cross. Willingly stoop and pick up a heavy article of death and carry it the rest of your life. Now in the minds of the disciples this wasn’t merely theoretical, it wasn’t a symbol at that point, it was a physical thing, a piece of wood on which people died, they were executed. It is estimated that in the life of Jesus 30,000 people were crucified in Palestine. Think about that. So, when Jesus said, “Take up your cross,” they were picturing some of those condemned prisoners who they had seen dying along the roads.  That’s shocking enough, to picture Jesus up on a cross is shocking, but to be told you have to deny yourself and take up your cross, very very difficult. This must be a metaphor, because we’re told to do it daily. You take up a physical cross, and you go out to its logical end, this is your last day on Earth probably. Physically, you’re going to die. It’s an article of execution. So, this is something that clearly is a metaphor for something, but it’s not to be minimized. It’s not merely some distressing burden in your life, like a physical problem, like cancer or chronic illness, difficult relationship, difficult marriage, difficult parenting situation, financial difficulties, people speak of these things as my cross to bear. That’s not what he’s talking about here. No, it’s much deeper than that. It’s much stronger than that. It has to do with the self, the very self, the flesh.

George Müller was a man used mightily by God to care for, over his lifetime, the daily needs of 10,000 orphans, 10,000 orphans, that’s incredible to me. He was asked the secret of his success in ministry, and he made this statement, “There was a day when I died, utterly died, to George Müller. His opinions, preferences, tastes and will died to the world, its approval or censure, died to the approval or blame even of my brethren and friends, and since then, I have studied only to show myself approved unto God.”  I’ve thought much about that statement. Theologically, what he says is true, if you’re a Christian, that was the day you died by faith in Christ, you’ve been united with Christ in his death. Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God.” It’s a whole different thing. I died that day.  But I also think that it’s somewhat of an inadequate statement in terms of what I’m talking about today. There isn’t a day I died, this call stands over me every single day, every Sunday, every Monday, every Tuesday, every single day, I must die to myself. That is the only secret of success in the Christian life. That’s what George Müller says it means to take up your cross and follow Christ. Follow him wherever he goes, follow in his footsteps, follows his daily life in consecration to the Heavenly Father. He is leading to Calvary, that’s where he’s going, he’s going to the cross, he’s going to death, but he’s not going to stop there. He’s going beyond it to the resurrection and to eternal life beyond, that’s where he’s leading. “Follow me and I’ll take you to heaven. Stop finding your life, stop finding it in earthly achievements and possessions and experiences, stop finding it there. Lose your life here in this world and find it eternally.” That’s the call. It’s for every disciple, not just the apostles, and it’s every day of your life. He says in another place, in Luke 9:23, “Then he said to them all, if anyone would come after me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow me.”

So, what is the cost? Well, picture the King Salmon. How would you like to be a King Salmon? How’d you like to jump a few waterfalls today? Doesn’t it feel like that, swimming against the stream of what you want at every moment? Take those cute little babies home from the hospital. Oh, they’re so sweet. You hold them in your arms, and they look so angelic but at the heart of that person is what I’ve already said, a fanatical commitment to self. Oh, it’s true, isn’t it moms? You know what I’m talking about.  Three in the morning, they don’t care about you at all. As I’ve mentioned before, they’re not asking, “Gee, you know moms had a hard day. I’m going to let her sleep a few more hours till six, and then I might nudge her awake a bit because I have a need.” They’re not thinking like that. If they have a need, they’ll let you know. Fanatical commitment to self. Friends it’s not gone, is it? It’s still in there. That’s what He’s calling on you to stop asking, “What’s in it for me?”  This is an issue of sin. It’s not genocide, or rape or grand theft auto or premeditated murder where we could dispense with it, say, “I’d never do that.” No, this is the sin of selfishness, and that, I believe, is the root of it all.

Richard Baxter in his counseling work, in The Christian Directory said this, “Selfishness is the radical, that is the root positive sin of the soul. Comprehending in seed form and as a primary cause of all other sins.” That’s quite a statement. Selfishness is the cause of all wars, all marital squabbles, all lawsuits, all luxury, all poverty, all addictions, all parenting struggles, all church splits, all vaulting ambition, basically any and every trouble between human beings comes from selfishness. Now consider positively how sweet life would be if there were no selfishness on earth. How sweet your family life would be if none of the members ever thought about their own needs, but only what was beneficial for others. How sweet would life be free from selfishness. Let me tell you something, if you’re a Christian, we’re going there, some day.

We’re going to that world where we will be free from this affliction, free from it forever. We will be lost in wonder and praise toward the only one who deserves that kind of devotion. It’s not ourselves, it’s God. We’ll be free from idolatry, the idolatry of self. That’s where we’re heading. Where did it come from, that is the question. What happened inside the mind of Satan, that first turned him away from worshipping and honoring God? You get an indication in Isaiah 14 prophetically speaking, I think to Satan. “You said in your heart,” listen to these five I wills. “I will ascend to Heaven, I will raise my throne above the stars of God, I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. I will ascend to the tops of the clouds, I will make myself, like the most high.” This created being made by Jesus himself has the audacity in the desert to say to Jesus, “Fall down at my feet and worship me.”

It’s incredible, that’s what he’s like. Vaulting soaring ambition, and we followed suit. We kind of joined in with him in the Garden of Eden. We joined Satan’s rebellion in our devotion to selfishness. That’s where it came from. It’s everywhere. Satan has woven selfishness, into all the worldly appeals with which he destroys human souls. I was looking at a secular magazine, recently, relatively tame, Better Homes and Gardens, I think it was. I’m not speaking against Better Homes and Gardens.  I’m just talking about an ad I saw there. It was for a Cadillac SUV and the caption was, “Seats seven comfortably. One, ideally.”  Ouch, I mean they just openly advertising selfishness these days.  I was intrigued, so I started flipping through and I started seeing some more. There was an ad there for a diamond anniversary ring that a husband, I guess, named Michael could buy for his wife. There were two rings pictured, one above, one below, one was a quarter carat and the other one-and-a-half-carat or maybe half carat and a full carat if you can afford that. Under the half carat the caption was, “Oh Michael, you shouldn’t have.” Under the full carat it just said, “Oh, Michael.”

Okay, so half carat, it wasn’t enough. Another ad mentioned a vacation retreat. “Giving you the luxury, you deserve.” Now, ponder that one friends. Ponder it theologically. What luxury do we deserve? That word “deserve” has become very powerful for me in my Christian life. Like a Godly pass to an answer, “How you doing?” “Better than I deserve.” Didn’t matter what was going on, better than I deserve. What luxury do we deserve? Another ad spoke of a spa where you could shamelessly pamper yourself.  There are some people that can do that. We are surrounded daily in this world by people who are driving and pushing and striving to meet their own selfish needs, who if you let them go first, they’ll say it’s as it should be, and look on you as a weak person to be dominated. But if you don’t let them go first, they’ll become murderous with rage. That’s the world we live in.

But it’s not just out there friends, it’s in here. The church has insufficient sanctification in this matter. We’re not enough like Jesus here. That’s a problem. Again, Richard Baxter said, “Selfishness is the hardest sin in the world to overcome.” Even for the person who seems to have put sin to death the best, if you cross them in their self-interest, or opinion or seem to slight them or have a low esteem of them, what swellings, what hard burnings, what proud impatience, if not schisms or separations will result. Isn’t it true? Don’t you feel it inside, when someone crosses you? It’s still there.  James said, “No man can tame the tongue. It’s a restless evil full of deadly poison.” I say to you, “No man can tame selfishness.” It’s beyond us to do. All of this adds up, in my opinion, to a constant battle, and I call it, “The bitterest battle of your life.”

II. The Paradox of Losing and Finding

Jesus gives us a paradox, the world’s wisdom as we’ve already noted is “grab all you can, look out for number One.” Many people live in this world like snarling junkyard dogs, ravenous, fighting over some half meaty bone. Brothers and sisters, for us, it should not be so, we shouldn’t be living like that rather the Christly wisdom is give all you can. Look at verse 25, “Whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.” This is the life that Jesus lived. 2 Corinthians 8:9, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that though He was rich yet for your sakes, He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich.” Jesus said in another place that, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” It’s a happier thing to give than to receive. It’s the mentality of a servant, and I tell you, it is the most unnatural thing in the world. Jesus gives us this great paradox. The great lie in this world, is that this world is all there is, and if you’re going to be happy, you need to get as much of the good stuff in this world as you can while you live.

Satan pursues his own selfish agenda, every day, and that’s what he’s selling to us and the lie is, if you do it, you’ll be happy. If you’re not happy, you’re not doing it enough, so drink more of it and sooner than later, you’ll get happy at some point. It’s a lie, it’s just a lie, is Satan happy? Is he a happy being? He does what he wants every day, pursues his own selfish agenda every day, an anti-God agenda. He is not happy. Scripture says, “He is filled with rage, because he knows his time is short.” There’s a figure in Daniel 11, the anti-Christ figure, who gets to rule the whole world. He gets to win every battle, he gets to have all the stuff, the gold and the silver in Egypt, he gets it all. Is he happy? No, when someone crosses him, he’s filled with rage and gets his army together and goes to fight him. This is the kind of life, the destination of which most people are heading. That’s where they’re going. I don’t want to go there. It’s not a life of happiness and joy. It’s a paradox.

Sacrifice, the Only Source of Happiness

I was reading recently a Wall Street Journal article May 2nd, 2007 by Jonathan Clements named, “No Satisfaction: Why, what you have is never enough.”  It’s a secular article, “We may have life and liberty,” he writes, “but the pursuit of happiness isn’t going so well. As a country, we are richer than ever, yet surveys show that Americans are no happier than they were 30 years ago. We constantly hanker after fancier cars and fatter paychecks, and initially such things boost our happiness, but the glow of satisfaction quickly fades and we’re yearning for something else.” He gives no solutions in the article, he just diagnoses. He says, “Maybe we were not wired for happiness, maybe we were meant to be miserable or maybe we’re just not good at predicting what really will make us happy.” Those are the two great answers he gives. I tell you, he’s wrong. We were wired for happiness. We were made for pleasure; we were made for joy. In the right hand of God, we find it and that eternally forever more, we were made for that.  I agree with him; we are bad naturally at predicting what will make us happy.  Jesus tells us, “Turn away from all of this. Follow me and I will make you happy.” That’s what He’s telling us here. “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it,” and it wasn’t to mean to save your life. I think it means to spare it, protect it, defend it. Let it not be sacrificed in any way or harmed in any way. To originally guard your life in this sort of way, to be unwilling to sacrifice anything for Jesus. Romans 8:32 however, speaking of the Heavenly Father said, “He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all. How will He not also along with Him, graciously give us all things?” He didn’t spare Jesus, but we spare our lives. Don’t do it. Don’t spare your life. Don’t love your life so much as to shrink from death. John Wesley was visiting a wealthy plantation owner and spent the day riding on horses, looking at a portion of all that this man owned. It was an amazing spread. When he got done, the plantation owner said to John Wesley proudly, “Well, what do you think?” Wesley paused for a moment, looked him in the face and said, “I think it’s going to be hard for you to leave all this.” Now, in what sense does he need to leave it? Well, I don’t know, I don’t know what Jesus would say, Jesus gives different counsel to different people. Maybe Wesley meant even eternally. Jesus says, “Forget it, forget it, turn your back on it. Follow me and you’ll have treasure in Heaven.”

What does it mean then to find your life in Christ? It means to find a right relationship with God, full forgiveness of all sins, a hope that the future life is going to be better than anything we can possibly imagine. Not worrying whether you get paid back here in this world, not worrying whether people notice how good you are or notice that thing you did, doesn’t matter, it’s entrusted to God for a future day. We are to live like that, looking ahead, looking ahead to a glorious day. The person who lives the first way, grabbing selflessly, they’re going to lose it all, in death and then in the second death on Judgment Day. There’s a second death and on Judgment Day, the great reversal happens. People who lived grabbing selfishly, they lose everything, and the people who gave up everything for Christ, they get it all and they get it eternally.

III. Denying Yourself and Taking Up Your Cross Daily:  Case Studies

Now we’ve explained the text, how do we apply it? Dietrich Bonhoeffer said in his classic work, The Cost of Discipleship, when Christ calls him and bids him to come and die. Alright, come and die. In what arena will you die? In what colosseum, in the sands of which colosseum will you pour out your life blood?

The more I started thinking about the arena, I realized it isn’t in one arena, it’s every arena in which I faced myself. Let’s start with initial conversion. I’ll never forget the wrestling within myself about going to that retreat, where I eventually gave my life to Christ.  I didn’t want to go. Christians were weird, and I didn’t go to any of the free Campus Crusade for Christ meetings, so I sure wasn’t going to pay 45 of my own dollars to go on some weekend retreat to spend three days with those people. But deeper than that was the sense that I had that everything would change if I became a Christian.

Oh, yes. Can I speak to you? If you have not committed to Christ, Jesus is calling on you to let it all go. He’s calling on you to a life perhaps of suffering, of struggle, of difficulty, but He offers full forgiveness of sins, He offers eternal life in His presence, He offers sustaining grace through whatever trial He gives you; He offers His presence by His Spirit and then face-to-face fellowship with Him eternally. If you feel that call inside you, yield to it, give yourself to Him, ask Him to save you from your sins. The bitterest thing in my life is that presence inside me that didn’t want to go on that retreat is still there. Still there, when I yielded and went and gave my life to Christ that weekend, that was just the first step in a battle I fight even today against myself, my selfishness. Initial conversion, and then after that comes daily obedience. Oh, good you’ve come to Christ, we’ll see you in Heaven. It doesn’t work like that. That’s just the first day of a step of a life of the cross. Every single Sunday I look at this cross up here, it’s a symbol of the life He’s calling me to live. It enables me to get up and preach because He wants me to do this. Every day I have to get up and obey Him and the things He asks are difficult. He never stops being a king, He never says there’s a part of your life that’s yours, you do what you want there, I’ll get the rest. There’s nothing like that. He gives everything but He demands everything too. There’s not a moment of your day that Jesus doesn’t claim saying, “Mine, it’s mine.” Every day. And then there’s a warfare against sin. Meet your enemy, your enemy is you, it’s your own selfishness, meet it. Every day the Holy Spirit gets you up and puts on your spiritual armor and calls you into battle against yourself, against your selfishness.

Application

Then there’s prayer. The alarm rings, you hit the snooze button once, rings again, it’s time to get up. You know very well that if you don’t get up and have your dedicated focus prayer time, then you won’t get another chance, probably, the rest of the day. Welcome to the battle. You decide to get up, you do the right thing, kneel down, you start to pray. The needs of other people start coming in your mind, and you know what? This selfish being that we’ve talked about doesn’t care. Doesn’t care at all about their struggles, doesn’t care at all about unreached people groups, doesn’t care about the sufferings of somebody who’s going through cancer or whose child is or who’s going through marital struggles, but the new creation self does care. There’s the battle and the Holy Spirit says, “You need to keep praying.” Your flesh doesn’t want to keep praying, you want to get up, you want to move on, have a Bible reading. Maybe you’re reading through the Bible in a year in a consistent pace.  You got to read it and you realize later in the day, like 9:30pm, 10:00pm, 10:30pm. You haven’t done your daily reading.  You’re facing a choice. Relax a little bit, take it easy, watch some TV, surf the net, whatever it is you do — or read the Bible. Welcome to the struggle, deny yourself, take up your cross and follow or don’t read the Bible that day. How about church life. Let’s say you hear an announcement that we’re going out in the streets of Durham to invite people to go to the health fare. Now that’s a Saturday, that’s a plum in the week, Saturday. You’ve got plans and they don’t include doing that. The Lord is tugging on you to do something. I’m not that ministry, some other ministry, being a deacon, leading a woman’s Bible study, being a Bible for Life teacher or a host family for home fellowships or being involved in the host ministry. Something. You can’t serve Christ without denying yourself and taking up your cross, it’s impossible.

What about evangelism? Okay, the Lord’s been laying someone on your heart at the workplace, they’re having marriage problems, you note it, gets put somewhere in your brain. Don’t think much about it until that person comes and sits down in your office, and they want to talk. The Holy Spirit prompts you. Now is the time to speak for Christ, but you don’t want to. It feels a little bit… No, it feels a lot like dying, to open your mouth and say something about Jesus. You’re at the fork in the road again. You have to deny yourself and take up your cross and follow. What about counseling? The Lord’s developing a counseling ministry here. There are people here that set themselves apart to gain biblical knowledge and all that. You cannot counsel without doing this, you can’t, you’ll be too wrapped up in your own thing and say, “Oh that’s nothing. Well, did you hear what happened to me?” That is not good counseling technique friends. They don’t want to hear what’s happening to you. They’re there because they need some help. You’re supposed to rejoice with those who rejoice and mourn with those mourning. You can’t do that without denying yourself and taking up your cross and follow Him. What about marriage? That’s one area we just don’t need to deny ourself and take up our cross. Is that true? “Husbands love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.” Like how much of himself, did He have to give up? We’ve already covered that, all of it. Husbands, you cannot love your wives without denying yourself and wives, same thing. I saw one elderly wife, care for her husband for 12 years at the end of his life, he died when he was 90, he had Parkinson’s disease, and she adjusted his pillows, fed him in bed, bathed him in bed, took care of all kinds of nasty things that needed to be taken care of for 12 years out of love. You can’t do marriage without denying yourself and taking up your cross.

What about parenting?  I’ve already talked about when they first come into the world. It just gets more difficult from there. God gave you grace, parents, to deny yourself. Not just for the middle of the night when they’re sick, but when the time comes to pay for college, and every moment in between. Come home and you’re tired and they have discipleship needs or comforting needs, or some kind of need. One writer I read said, “You know what? What God has done with you and your selfishness? He sent someone into your life who was even more selfish than you are.”  No offense to the children, because we played that role too with our parents.

Money possessions. What about that? Jesus calls on you to give it all, you don’t want to. The world tells you your money is your own to do with as you could see fit, to pleasure yourself with. Jesus says, “It’s mine, give it to me, invest in the kingdom.” You can’t alleviate the sufferings of poor people and advance ministry to unreached people groups, without making a sacrifice, it’s not possible. What about missions? We already heard what Jim Elliot said. “He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.” On January 8, 1956 in the steamy jungle of Ecuador, five men willingly gave up their lives. They could have killed those Auca Indians over there, they had weapons, they had resolved they weren’t there to kill lost people, they would rather die than do that. They laid down their lives that those folks might come to faith in Christ.

What about you?  I just speak personally; this is the hardest struggle of my life. I don’t want to die, I don’t like it, it hurts me, and I don’t want to do it. But I know I need to. I know I need to in order to make progress in those two infinite journeys. I know I need to, and I won’t make a single step of progress internally or externally, without it. What about you?

These are only preliminary, unedited outlines and may differ from Andy’s final message.

Matthew 16:24-25  Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.  ²⁵ For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.

Introduction:  The Trout and the Rock Climber

One of the most awe-inspiring journeys in nature is that of the Alaska King Salmon

Born in some small stream, perhaps a tiny tributary of a larger stream in Alaska, a King Salmon will swim downstream to the Pacific Ocean, actually acclimating to a salt water existence from the fresh water in which they were born.  They swim as far as 2000 miles in the Pacific and Bering Seas as they reach full maturity.

In the summer of their maturity, inner instinct and earth cues guide them back not only to their parent stream, but back to the exact tributary in which they were born.

The journey upstream is an arduous one. The fish batter themselves against rocks while leaping waterfalls. Unlucky ones are eaten by bears and eagles. A great amount of energy is expended in the swim upstream. Salmon in the Yukon River swim up to 2400 miles. Salmon stop eating once they enter fresh water, so their bodies are steadily being depleted of fat. 90 percent of their fat reserves and 50 percent of their protein are consumed in this upstream journey.

After this astonishing journey, the King Salmon reproduce, then die within a week

Who of us has not seen incredible pictures of a King Salmon jumping UPSTREAM against the pounding whitewater of a significant waterfall in northern Alaska?  Truly amazing

The King Salmon defies the overwhelming power of Alaskan whitewater every mile of its journey upstream

BUT YET it is NATURAL… all the salmon do it

In our passage today, Jesus Christ is calling His disciples to follow Him in a SUPERNATURAL journey

The Christian life is truly a supernatural life.  It cannot be lived in the simple strength of human power—not physical power, not willpower, not mental power… no human power is sufficient to follow Christ for one day.

Why is this?  Because Christ calls on us to deny ourselves, take up our cross daily and follow him if we wish to go to heaven.

And each human being is born with a dedication to pleasing self that could best be described as FANATICAL… it is the central idolatry of the human race… we will do almost anything to please ourselves.  Only good parenting teaches an infant gradually to lessen this fanatical commitment to self so that we can somehow fit into a world with 6 billion other people who are also naturally fanatically committed to self

The flow of the personality of a human being is an even greater force of NATURE than whitewater or gravity… it is purely NATURAL for each descendent of Adam and Eve to be fanatically devoted to self… to pursue selfish interests in every conversation, in every food choice, in every turn we make in the automobile, in every choice we make at the mall, in every program we watch on TV, in every e-mail we write, in every single solitary choice we make, SELF is a more powerful force than Alaskan whitewater tumbling down a waterfall,

In today’s text, Jesus Christ is calling on His disciples to swim upstream constantly against your desire to save yourself, feed yourself, please yourself, promote yourself, prefer yourself, choose yourself, coddle yourself, cherish yourself

He’s actually calling on us to be willing to die for Him… to die DAILY in small and large acts of self-sacrifice;  perhaps to die ultimately as a martyr if God wills

This is the supernatural life that leads to heaven

It is the LIFE CHRIST HIMSELF LIVED… and it is life He calls on us to live

It is absolutely astonishing how much Christ gave for us

            As Jesus died on the cross, as His lifeblood was poured out, as His clothes were being gambled over to fulfill prophecy, as He breathed His last… there was absolutely NOTHING HELD BACK…everything He had to give, He gave

It is also absolutely astonishing how much Christ gives TO us

For Jesus did all this in order to win for us inconceivable wealth in eternity, inconceivable wealth in a heavenly Kingdom:  full forgiveness of sins for each one who believes in Him, a new heart, the indwelling Holy Spirit, adoption by the Father, protection from all of Satan’s devices, a resurrection body, and an eternity in the New Heavens and New Earth… a personal place at His table, eternal fellowship with a great multitude of saints from every age of church history and from every nation on earth

Jesus GAVE EVERYTHING FOR US SO HE COULD GIVE EVERYTHING TO US

And that is absolutely amazing

But it is just as amazing what Jesus demands from us… for in the same way as He gave everything for us and gives everything to us, every single day of your Christian life He has stood in front of you and demanded absolutely everything FROM you

Anything less than your very best is less than He demands

He demands absolute full obedience to His commands, absolute full dedication to His cause, absolutely everything you possess, everything you have to give, every moment of your life

And when you give it all, He demands you do it for His glory only, expecting nothing earthly in return

Matthew 16:24-25  Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.  ²⁵ For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.

I. The Relentless Call of Christ:  Deny, Carry, Follow, Die

A. Understanding the Context

1. Jesus’ stunning prediction to His disciples

Vs. 21  From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.

2. Peter’s shocked and shocking reaction to Jesus

Vs. 22  Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!”

3. Jesus’ just as shocking rebuke of Peter

Vs. 23  Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.”

Jesus cherished Peter, loved him, just told him He would give him the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven

But now He directly addresses SATAN working in Peter!!

Satan was laying a trap for Jesus through Peter;  Sometimes a loved one can speak Satan’s words, do Satan’s work in our lives

“Bait stick” is the word… like a trap for Jesus’ soul… luring Him away from the central mission of His life

Jesus dealt with it vigorously!!

4. The Call to all Disciples

In that setting He gives His call… not just to Peter:

Vs. 24-25  Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.  ²⁵ For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.

5. Peter’s Immediate Motive

a. Not so much concern for Jesus… although that was there

b. BUT concern for his own interests… Peter’s own future was wrapped up in Jesus’ earthly kingdom

c. Jesus had just given Peter the keys of the kingdom

d. But what good would a place in the kingdom be if the King himself were dead… usually when the King is killed, his counselors are arrested and killed with him

e. Peter was really motivated by SELFISH INTERESTS

f. He wanted to “save his own life” and make it as rich and pleasurable as possible

Jesus said:  “you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.”

g. Satan’s motive is SELFISH:  to gain everything for himself

h. Man’s motive is the same:  to gain everything for ourselves

i. The “things of God”:  to give everything for God’s glory

j. The ultimate end of Peter’s selfish focus would come the night of Christ’s arrest, when, to save his earthly life he denied Christ three times

6. Christ’s Ultimate Victory in Peter’s Life

Tradition:  He was crucified upside-down in Rome

He conquered his fear, stopped loving his life, and willingly laid it down

B. Understanding the Call

1. Deny yourself

a. Say no to what you think are your immediate best interests

b. Say no to what you want, what your flesh is demanding

c. Turn away from YOU

2. Take up your cross

a. Willingly stoop to pick up the article of death…Carry the cross

b. Not merely theoretical or abstract to Jesus’ disciples

i) Concrete in their minds

ii) Physical article of execution for Rome’s worst enemies

iii) In the rebellion that follow King Herod the Great’s death, 2000 Jews were crucified by the Roman proconsul Varus

iv) Crucifixions on a smaller scale were an almost weekly occurrence

v) Estimated that as many as 30,000 crucifixions occurred in Jesus’ lifetime

c. When Jesus told His disciples for the first time that He would die in Jerusalem, their minds perhaps pictured Him nailed to a cross

d. When Jesus told His disciples repeatedly in John’s Gospel that He would be “lifted up,” He left no doubt concerning the manner of His death

e. BUT when He told them they had to deny themselves and take up their crosses daily, their minds must have reeled

f. What is the cross

i) Not merely some distressing burden in life, like a sore back or cancer or a difficult job or a nagging spouse or a rebellious child

ii) Many people speak of such as such as “My cross to bear”

iii) NO… this is specifically a call to crucify the self… the flesh… the personal interests, personal goals, personal tastes and preferences

George Mueller, used mightily by God to care for the daily needs of 10,000 orphans in his life, when asked the secret of his successful ministry for Christ said this:

“There was a day when I died, utterly died; died to George Mueller, his opinions, preferences, tastes and will– died to the world, its approval or censure– died to the approval or blame even of my brethren and friends– and since then I have studied only to show myself ‘approved unto God.'”

This is what “Deny yourself and take up your cross” means:

To die to what you want, your dreams, aspirations, preferences, pride… your desire for approval from others, your desire for comfort and security in this world, your yearning for love and success and money and pleasure and fun and and and and and….

3. Follow Christ

a. Follow Christ wherever He goes

b. He is leading to a daily life of consecration

c. He is leading to Calvary and to death

d. He is also leading to resurrection and ultimately

e. He is leading to heaven

4. Call given to EVERY disciple, not just the apostles

5. Call stands over EVERY DAY OF YOUR LIFE

Luke 9:23  Then he said to them all: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross DAILY and follow me.

C. Understanding the Cost

1. The Salmon… swimming constantly upstream… against self, against the world

2. Our Fanatical Commitment to Self

a. Every single baby born on the face of the planet is born with this one thing in common:  a fanatical commitment to self-interest

b. This we get from our first father, Adam, who turned away from God to embrace self

c. Every single person grows up and feels the constant pull of ONE CENTRAL QUESTION:  “What’s in it for me??”

d. This is OUR problem… we each feel it every single moment

e. It’s not like genocide or rape or grand theft or premeditated murder, where we have trouble understanding how anyone could be that evil

f. We are well acquainted with this sin… the greatest in the world:  SELFISHNESS

Richard Baxter, The Christian Directory:  “Selfishness is the radical, positive sin of the soul, comprehending in seed form and as a primary cause all other sins…” (p. 868)

selfishness is the cause of all wars, all marital squabbles, all lawsuits, all luxury and all poverty, all addictions, all parenting struggles, all church splits, all vaunting ambition… basically all trouble between human beings

Consider how sweet life would be on this planet if this one root sin could be eradicated… love of self

3. Satan’s Fanatical Commitment to Self

a. Isaiah 14:  Five “I will’s”

Isaiah 14:13-14  You said in your heart, “I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain.  ¹⁴ I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.”

b. Wanting Christ to worship him in the desert

c. During reign of Antichrist, leading the world to worship him

4. The World’s Fanatical Commitment to Self

a.  Satan has woven selfishness into the worldly appeals with which he destroys human souls

b. Reading a secular magazine, noted one ad after another appealing openly to selfishness

§  Cadillac SUV:  “Seats seven comfortably, seats one ideally”

§  Another ad was for a diamond anniversary ring:  ½ carat caption said, “Oh Michael, you shouldn’t have!”  The 1 carat caption said “Oh, Michael!”

§  Another ad vacation resort: surround yourself with the luxury you deserve

§  Another ad spoke of a spa where you could shamelessly pamper yourself

c. Surrounded daily by people who are driving and pushing and striving to meet their own selfish interests… who if you let them go first, will assume it’s the way it should be and who look on you as weak;  but if you cross them, they will look on you with withering rage

5. The Church’s Insufficient Sanctification

a. No eminent saints exist who have finally conquered this sin

b. Even in church, the godliest men and women fight daily battles against selfishness

c. Richard Baxter

“Selfishness is the hardest sin in the world to overcome…. The persons that seem to have put sin to death the best, if you do but cross them in their self-interest or opinion, or seem to slight them or have a low esteem of them, what swellings, what heart-burnings, what bitter censurings, what proud impatience, if not schisms or separations will result.”

d. James said “No man can tame the tongue.”  So also no saint seems able to die perfectly to selfishness

6. All Add Up to a Constant Battle… the Bitterest of Your Life

II. The Paradox of Losing and Finding

A. The World’s “Wisdom”:  Grab All You Can

1. Looking out for number one… it’s implied that you must because no one else is going to do it for you

2. Many people in the world live as though snarling junk yard dogs growling over some rival for a half-chewed meaty bone

3. You’ve got to find your life, live for yourself

Looking out for number one.

B. Christ’s Wisdom:  Give All You Can

Matthew 16:25  For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.

1. Living a life of love… losing your life for God and for others

2. It has to do with a daily outlook… not “What’s in it for me?” but “What can I give today?”

3. This is the way Jesus lived… pouring Himself out for needy people day after day

2 Corinthians 8:9  For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.

4. This is the mentality of a servant, and it is the most unnatural thing in the human experience

C. The Great Paradox

1. The great lie is that this world is all there is, and that living selfishly will make you happy

a. Satan pursues his own selfish agenda every single day, and lives in a constant rage because he knows his time is short

b. The Antichrist figure in Daniel 11 did whatever he wanted… lived and he pleased, and he was filled with rage when someone opposed him

c. Leisure class people in aristocratic societies suffer from all kinds of physical and psychological maladies… even suicide, despite the fact that they have all the world wars to own

Wall Street Journal, May 2, 2007:  Jonathan Clements, “No Satisfaction:  Why What You Have Is Never Enough”

“We may have life and liberty.  But the pursuit of happiness isn’t going so well.  As a country, we are richer than ever.  Yet surveys shows that Americans are no happier than they were 30 years ago…. We constantly hanker after fancier cars and fatter paychecks—and initially such things boost our happiness.  But the glow of satisfaction quickly fades and we’re yearning for something else..”

The article did a good job describing the problem, but had no solutions at all.

Jesus’ statement here is much clearer advice on happiness both now and eternally:

Matthew 16:25  For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.

d. Getting only what you want all the time is one of the most corrupting things that can ever happen to you

e. Even worse is to gain the world and lose your soul on Judgment Day

2. To “save your life” means to cherish it to the point of being unwilling to sacrifice anything for Christ

a. It means to protect it, to hold it in reserve

Romans 8:32  He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all– how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?

The Father did not SPARE His Son

The Son did not save His own life from the cross

But a man who loves his life too much in this world will sacrifice nothing for God or for others… he wants to spare every minute for his own pursuits, every dollar for his own pleasures, every resource ultimately for what he wants

Illus.    “A wealthy plantation owner invited John Wesley to his home.  The two rode their horses all day, seeing just a fraction of all the man owned.  At the end of the day, the plantation owner proudly asked, ‘Well, Mr. Wesley, what do you think?’  After a moment’s silence, Wesley replied, ‘I think you’re going to have a hard time leaving all this.’”

Loving our lives in this world means we have become idolaters… and cannot follow Christ where he is leading

People who live like that will lose everything on judgment day:

Matthew 16:26  What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?

3. BUT people who let go of everything, willing to serve Christ no matter what, end up finding true life

a. To “lose your life” means to accept the path of the cross, serving Christ moment by moment for His glory and the advance of the gospel

b. People who “lose” their life actually find it

c. A rich life of peace in their conscience, knowing their sins are forgiven

d. A rich life of purpose in this world, serving others daily

e. A rich life of hope in the future, knowing they are storing up treasure for judgment day

f. A rich life of confidence in God, knowing that God will give them what they need to live and to serve Him

g. They have found life at last… their search is over!!

D. The Great Reversal

1. Judgment Day will change everything

2. On that day, those who have lived to gain everything will lose everything

3. On that day, those who have lived to lose everything for Christ will gain everything

4. The lowliest servants will become the most exalted Kings

5. Wisdom is to live in light of that reversal

III. Denying Yourself and Taking Up Your Cross Daily:  Case Studies

Dietrich Bonhoffer said in his classic work, The Cost of Discipleship, “When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.”

In how many ways does this call come?  The more I meditated on this the more pervasive this command seemed to be

A. Initial Conversion

1. Rich Young Ruler, “Count the Cost”:  Basic Lesson… you cannot be saved if you don’t understand that Jesus demands it all

2. A true evangelist is not going to lie to you and tell you there’s no cost to following Jesus

a. It isn’t easy or free to follow Christ!!

b. Initial conversion is the first moment of dying to self

3. Nowadays:  “Benefit evangelism”:  “Here’s what you’ll get:  more satisfaction and meaning out of life, a new sense of purpose, strong sense of community, a hopeful attitude, more energy… and you’ll be prepared for eternity to boot!”

4. You know Christ is calling you, but you are afraid what your family will think, afraid of what effect it will have on your life

5. It feels like dying… you want forgiveness, you want eternal life… but it seems to cost

When I decided to go to the CCC retreat where I gave my life to Christ, I felt terrified, like a part of me was dying as I wrestled with the decision on whether to go or not

I realized Jesus would demand it ALL from me… and some vicious enemy of my soul within me HATED the idea of submitting to Christ

The most painful part of my daily Christian life is realizing I am STILL DOING BATTLE with that part of me, and will be until the day I die and am taken into heaven

B. Daily Obedience

1. Christ begins to make demands on you at every moment

2. Demanding that you give everything for Him and for the gospel

3. He never ceases to be a King, and He never gives us a moment off from bearing His yoke upon us

4. Every moment of every day belongs to Him… and the essence of my daily walk is fighting the constant urge to rebel, to go off my own way, to please my own fleshly drives and do my own fleshly thing

5. From the first moment you open your eyes every day until you close them in sleep that night, there is not a moment of the day of which Christ does not say “Mine!!”

C. Warfare Against Sin

1. The essence of our struggle with sin is a struggle against the selfishness of our flesh

2. The struggle to DIE, to put SELF to DEATH is the core of our walk of sanctification

3. Every single day, every moment of the day, the indwelling Spirit leads us into mortal combat with the FLESH and its desires

4. John Owen likened it to wrestling with a cobra… “Be killing sin or sin will be killing you”

5. You cannot make progress in holiness without dying to yourself

D. Prayer

1. Christ leads you to a daily Quiet Time

2. The alarm rings, you groan and your flesh just wants to sleep longer

3. But you know if you don’t deny yourself, die to yourself at this moment, you won’t get another clear time to pray in solitude the rest of the day

4. You kneel down, and go over your prayer list

5. The Holy Spirit brings people to mind… your flesh wants to stop praying, Christ wants you to care about someone else’s salvation, someone else’s marriage, someone else’s health, a church planted in an unreached people group in Asia, etc.

6. The only way you’ll get through that prayer time in a way pleasing to the Lord is to deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Christ

E. Bible Reading

1. Similarly, you commit yourself to reading through the Bible in a year

2. Perhaps on a given day, you haven’t been able to read that day’s portion yet

3. You are tired, you’ve worked hard all day

4. Basically the choice comes down to this:  read the Bible like you should, or watch TV or relax or do what you want until bedtime… you face your flesh one more time and have to put it to death

5. So also for Scripture Memorization… it’s just a discipline, it doesn’t feel like fun, it’s not entertaining or easy… and you can only memorize those verses in one way:

Deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Christ

F. Church Life

1. Saturday morning, there’s an outreach in the community… going door to door to invite people to the Health Fair

2. You have tons to do around the house or in school or with your family

3. Or perhaps you have an opportunity to serve as a deacon or Bible for Life Teacher or by leading a women’s Bible study or hosting a home fellowship or coming to a two hour prayer meeting or serving on the HOST ministry as a greeter or coming to a Saturday work day weeding flower beds and planting new shrubs

4. Or perhaps it has to do with just regular church attendance… you’d rather not on some random Sunday… but the Lord is calling you

Deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Christ

5. Or perhaps it has to do with confronting a sinning brother or sister… it will be a painful encounter but you know God is calling you to speak the truth in love to a person who needs to hear it most

6. Healthy church life is a life of constant commitment, sacrifice and daily taking up the cross and following Christ

G. Counseling

1. It is impossible to counsel someone struggling with sin, hurting in marriage, dealing with addiction, suffering from despair without following Jesus’ command here

2. You must deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Jesus in order to be a good counselor

3. Forget your own troubles and immerse yourself in their griefs

4. Take up THEIR burdens and carry them through a listening ear, earnest counsel, heartfelt prayer

Romans 12:15  Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.

Galatians 6:1-2  Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted.  ² Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.

H. Marriage

Husbands… called on openly to die for their bride like Christ did for His

Ephesians 5:25  Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her

Perhaps in no other area of human relationship is this such a big issue as in marriage

1. Every single day both the husband and the wife have to learn the drill of self-denial… of seeking your own joy in the blessedness of your spouse

2. For one wife of sixty years I knew, it meant sitting by her husband’s bedside, caring for him daily as he had Parkinson’s Disease… lovingly feeding him, adjusting his pillows, bathing him… and forgetting about her own life, desires, agenda

3. Marriage is most successful when the couple learns this basic principle:  Deny yourself daily, take up your cross and follow Jesus

4. It happens when they discuss parenting, finances, important major decisions, minor daily issues… like a wife making her husband’s favorite meal, even though she secretly despises it;  or like a husband getting up in the middle of the night to investigate some noise out in the garage that his terrified wife is certain she heard

5. Finding your joy in the happiness of your spouse… only when self-denial comes does happiness remain

a. The young couple on their wedding day is filled with starry-eyes dreams of bliss and lifelong happiness

b. They soon discover something shocking… it’s not so much that they didn’t truly know their spouse… it’s that they didn’t truly know themselves… namely the depths of their own commitment to selfishness

c. Only by learning to conquer that selfishness can a married couple be truly content

I. Parenting

1. The lessons in self denial only really start taking off when God blesses the married couple with children

2. Some writer put it:  God shows you how selfish you are by sending you someone even more selfish than you are… a newborn!!

3. So it develops over years… sacrifices the parents make to raise their children in the fear and nurture of the Lord

a. They deny themselves in the middle of the night with a sick child

b. They deny themselves years when they make extreme sacrifices to send that child to college

c. In between is a daily pattern of self-denial by the parents for the sake of the children

d. A father comes home tired from work and one of his kids needs some discipline or some loving counsel or some play time… The father must deny himself, take up his cross and follow

e. So also a mother denies herself daily as she cares for her children

f. Without it, there can be no training in godliness

J. Money and Material Possessions

1. Nowhere does Jesus’ teaching cut so deeply as in the are of MONEY

2. Jesus called on the rich young ruler to sell all his possessions and give to the poor

3. The world tells you that your money is YOURS and its primary purpose in your life is to MAKE YOU HAPPY…

4. Christ says the primary purpose of our money is to glorify God by faithfully investing it in His Kingdom…

5. To relieve the needs of the poor, to feed the hungry, to care for the sick, to print Bibles for the lost, to support missions, to give tithes to support the church

6. He tells us that giving now is a way of storing up treasure in heaven for eternity

7. BUT if you do not follow Jesus’ command, Deny yourself, take up your cross, follow… you will spend too much on yourself, on your own temporal pleasures

K. Evangelism

1. You will never lead anyone to Christ without following Christ’s pattern:  deny yourself, take up your cross and follow

2. Workplace:  your co-worker is going through a hard time in his marriage;  he’s unchurched, not a believer, and you’ve never spoken to him about Christ… the Lord lays him on your heart and you begin to pray for him;  next thing you know he is standing in your office talking to you about his troubles… the Lord shows you NOW IS THE TIME… SPEAK UP ABOUT CHRIST… but immediately fear wells up in your heart, it feels like dying… and so it is;

3. Let me say it again:  You will never lead anyone to Christ without following Christ’s pattern:  deny yourself, take up your cross and follow

L. Missions

1. Jim Elliot’s wisdom

2. This is essential to the missionary endeavor:  On January 8, 1956, on a dry Amazonian riverbed in steamy Ecuador,  Jim Elliot, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Pete Fleming laid down their lives to win the Auca people

3. Though these people were violent and territorial, they resolved not to fire their guns at them in self defense, only into the air to scare their attackers… they died willingly, reasoning that they were ready for death but the lost Auca were not ready because they hadn’t trusted Christ yet

4. They came to the jungle to lay down their lives for the lost, and they willingly did that

They gave lives they could not keep to gain a life they could not lose

They gave possessions they could not keep to gain possessions they could not lose

They gave praise from men they could not keep to gain praise from God they could not lose

5. No advance is possible except by people who are willing to die… to die to their own ambitions, to their own comforts, to their own glory, to their own plans… and to give up everything they have to bless some unreached people group