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

Mark eight thirty four. What does it mean to be a follower of Jesus Christ? What does it entail? What does it require? What does it demand?

That is the question that the Lord Jesus is going to answer in this text today, though the answer was not a direct response to a question that the disciples themselves asked. Instead, Peter and the disciples proved their serious lack of understanding concerning the sufferings that the Messiah must endure. And because of that, they also proved their ignorance in a lot of areas as well. And Jesus perceived that. Jesus understood that.

So now, at this time, he's going to take the opportunity to explain that as much as the the sufferings of the Messiah are inevitable and determined, there is a measure of suffering that the followers of this messiah must also anticipate and expect and prepare for. That is what Christ is going to say in these powerful, life altering, defining statements about what it means to really come after Jesus Christ. What does it mean to be truly associated with this king of glory? And it is so vital, so crucial that we understand this because there are millions of people today who would confidently admit that they are indeed followers of Jesus Christ, That they are joined to his kingdom, that they do belong to him, and that they are coming after him, so to speak. But do they really?

Because I'm afraid that many people have misinterpreted their acknowledgments, affirmations, maybe even admiration of certain elements of who Jesus Christ is, but in reality are not really following him. Because regardless of those things, what Jesus makes so clear here is that there is a standard that needs to be met in order to truly be numbered among his own. In other words, the genuineness and the efficacy of your saving confession in Jesus Christ is ultimately determined if that confession produces this radical conformity to this kind of discipleship. Let me make it plain and simple. In these verses, if you cannot say in your heart of hearts, amen, that is of me, this testifies of me, then you have every right to question whether or not you are a legitimate follower of this Christ.

And Jesus really gives it to us in a very well known verse. And as well known as it is, I think there are even some who misunderstand what Christ has said here. Let's read this verse together. And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, if anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. Lord, we ask, please, if you do not empower this delivery, if you do not awaken our hearts, we will not know the success that you want us to know.

You will need to help us, Lord, and we ask with humility, please, please, please, let not this time together be void of your power. Let us hear your voice loud and clear. Let us see Jesus only Cloak anything and anyone else except the son of God. This is our prayer, father. In Jesus' name.

Amen. If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. This is the summary of what it means to be a true follower of Jesus Christ. And according to Jesus Christ, there are two things that are required in order for you and I to truly be identified as one belonging to him. These are the two things.

There has to be something that you reject, and there must be something that you accept. And where do we get that from? It's clear. Let him deny himself. Self is the object that we must renounce, and second to that, and take up his cross and follow me.

This idea of a cross is the thing that we must be willing to receive or accept. That must be clear, and and we have the terms and conditions. It's right there. But we have to also define them. So, okay, these two things are required for me to even begin to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.

I must reject something and I also must receive something. But what does this mean? What does it mean to deny myself? Well, if you just hear it in isolation, it can mean a 100 different things. Deny my plans, deny my dreams, deny my diet, deny my friends, deny my job, deny my house, deny what?

What are you asking me of, Lord, to deny? And I believe the best way to understand what it means to deny oneself is to understand first and to establish what he is asking me to first accept. If I'm gonna understand what it is that I had to reject, I must also understand what it means to accept and what it is that I'm called to accept. Because here's where we get a clear understanding of Christ's requirements here. The denying of myself is clearly connected to this concept of taking up a cross.

So it narrows it down. Right? You can't separate those two realities. I am denying myself for the purpose of adding to myself something else. So there's something about myself that's getting in the way of taking up this cross.

And so what Jesus is essentially saying is, you must renounce the resistance that you might sense when you hear the invitation to apply to your life a personal cross. Now we're getting somewhere. Now it's becoming a little bit more clear and obvious. But here's the problem. When you and I hear or even see the symbol of a cross, one's understanding of it can range from anything between an empty fashion icon to an emblem of the atoning work of Jesus Christ.

But I can tell you one thing for certain concerning this audience. The disciples and the crowd that was invited to hear this teaching as well, that when they heard the idea of a cross, there was one thing that came to mind. One thing that came to mind and not only did it come to mind, I'm sure it also sent a chill down their spine. Take up a cross meant one thing, death sentence. What Jesus is essentially inviting people to do is to die.

To die. But not just any kind of death. Jesus was very specific with the method of death. There are different forms of execution at this time. The most common among the Jews was stoning.

You see that all throughout the Old Testament. Why did Jesus choose to talk about the crucifixion? Because there is something about the components of a Roman crucifix that Jesus wanted to bring to their minds and parallel it with what it means to be identified with him. When somebody was ordained and destined to die in this manner, there are many things that made it a very painful experience apart from the fact that you're going to die. One of the things that it includes was public humiliation.

And so this instrument called a cross would be placed upon the soldier the shoulder rather of the criminal, and he would make his way on foot to the site in which he would be hung. And on that way, you would have others, bystanders and observers, who would mock you, who would slur things at you, who would hurl things at you, who might even spit on you. And once you arrived to that site, you were stripped naked. And then you would be hung on that cross bruised and exposed while people watched you until you gave your final breath. This was shameful.

This was not a private experience. This was very much public. It was for all to see, and it invited all others to also make this a much more grueling experience than it could have been. And one of the reasons why this ill treatment was designed was because the Roman crucifix was reserved for the worse of the worse of criminals. There are other punishments for different offenses, but when you were called to carry a cross, it was because you did something worthy of such torture.

You are the lowest of the low. You are the scum of the earth. You are a nuisance to society. You with a cross, nobody needs to really know what you did. That alone testified that you deserve this.

And Jesus was misunderstood was misunderstood as being someone who blasphemed God and was destined to die such a horrible death. And how can you think about the cross? How can you think about a cross without associating it with suffering? It wasn't a quick death. It wasn't a merciful experience.

It was designed to make it as agonizing as possible. And the primary pain that somebody would experience on the cross was that of suffocation. The way you would be hung there by nails and by a rope is that you would sink. Your body weight would sink almost into itself. And your your lungs would be collapsed.

There would be pressure on your breathing, and so you would have to lift yourself up in order for more oxygen to come in. And so you would there be there not just with pierced limbs, but also with a very difficult time to get air in and out. And so if you did not die at the desired time, they would break your legs, the only support system you had, in order to make your death quick. But that wasn't ultimately the desire. It wasn't just for you to die.

It was for you to exit this world in the most gruesome way you can imagine. That's what a cross at this time encompassed. Public humiliation, levels of discomfort even to the point of death, and even an identification that you would not want on your worst enemies. And Jesus says, if you want to be my follower, you have to be willing to accept such realities as my follower. That's what it means to take up your cross.

To take up your cross is not God's way of saying, if you're gonna follow me, I'm gonna make life a little bit more difficult for you because, you know, I gotta make you tough and I can't let you just enjoy your life. And so here's some random suffering. Here's some difficulty just to keep you straight. That's not what the Lord is talking about. What he's saying is, look here in verse 35.

Whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospels will save it. The shame, the embarrassment, the difficulty, the pain is for being associated with the person and the cause of Jesus Christ. This is what it means to take up your cross. And this is what they understood. And to deny yourself then is to say joyfully, I'm willing.

I'm willing because you are worthy. And not only are you worthy, but I am convinced that to experience these things with you in my life is far greater than to escape these things if it means that you are not my Lord and my savior. That is what it means to follow Jesus Christ. That is the response of a true disciple of Jesus Christ. I am willing, whatever it cost to carry this cross, to carry the name of Jesus, to carry the message of Jesus, to represent that message, so be it.

And Jesus modeled. He didn't just teach us. He modeled what the way of the cross looks like, what a crucified life looks like. I told you earlier that I was reading John, and I was reading it this this week, and a statement Jesus made shot out of the pages of my Bible and has been the meditation of my heart throughout this week. And providentially, it it it just shows what Christ even more means by the crucified life, denying yourself and taking up your cross.

Listen, you have to understand this is serious. This is the qualifying factor of being truly in the faith. This is what deciphers. Just somebody who says they follow Jesus, somebody who truly genuinely follows Jesus. This is what changed me.

This is what changed me when all my life up to the age of 19, I thought I really followed Jesus Christ until I saw take up your cross. Well, I've never been told that. I was just told repeat a prayer. I was just told if I didn't wanna go to hell, come here to the front and repeat these statements, these acknowledgements. Jesus says, no.

Deny yourself and take up your cross. And here I am as a college student looking around and I have a history in the faith, I have family in the faith, I have church attendance, but there's no sight of a personal cross. Where is my cross? Luke says that when you take up your cross, he adds a word daily. Take up your cross daily.

You know what that means? If I'm a true follower of Jesus Christ, every single time I open my eyes in the morning, I'm I'm not just thinking about the coffee I'm I'm gonna drink. I'm not thinking about the outfit I'm gonna wear. I'm looking at the end of my bed to see a cross that I am to carry. Does that sound like Christianity in our day?

It doesn't matter. It's the Christianity Jesus wants, and he calls us shots. Turn with me to John 12. This this is what I'm trying to get to. I got a little carried away.

I'm sorry. In John chapter 12, Look at verse 23. And Jesus answered them, the hour has come for the son of man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone. But if it dies, it bears much fruit.

This is Jesus speaking about his own death. This is how he's going to be glorified, and he's speaking about the fruit that it's going to produce. But look at verse 25. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves me, he must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also.

If anyone serves me, the father will honor him. So understand the backdrop of this is not the verse. Jesus is communicating and explaining and teaching about his own death. Now you're about to see something so spectacular and it deals with the humanity of Jesus Christ. Notice what it says here in verse 27.

This is what ministered to me in my own reading. Now is my soul troubled. Pause. Now is my soul troubled? I praise God that the Holy Spirit included that in his word.

You know what this is showing? The realness of the humanity of Jesus. Here he is speaking about his own death, And not only is he speaking at as a unanimated stoic teacher, he's speaking about it and he feels the emotions with it. In his humanity, he senses the struggle of having to endure the wrath of God, the punishment for humanity sins, and it's causing his heart to be in turmoil. I wonder what his face looked like.

I I wonder how he said it. And I praise God that our God came into this world to not just experience what we experience, but to feel what we feel at times. Now is my soul troubled. But more than that, now I don't just have a high priest who sympathizes with my feelings. I don't just have a high priest who understands what it's like to consider the severity of situations, and not to be disconnected with all the complexities of circumstances.

More than that, he teaches me what to do with my feelings. Especially when those feelings tempt me to steer away from the will of God. Now is my soul troubled and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour? But for this purpose, I've come to this hour.

So what is he saying? I'm feeling this turmoil. It's real. It's powerful. What should I do?

Ask God to deliver me from it? It's a rhetorical question. Should I ask God to save me? No. No.

No. Because this struggle that I'm feeling has to do with the will of the father and me coming into this world. This is the very reason why I've come into this world. And you and I this is our example. You and I will also sense struggle in the path of obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ.

And here's your model. Notice what he does in verse 28. Instead of saying, father, save me from this hour, he says, father, glorify your name. Glorify your name. Here's what this means.

In our walk with the Lord, the priority is not emotional or physical comfort. It is not temporal satisfactions. It's not even you having a certain reputation in the eyes of men. Here's what Christ is teaching. The way of the cross is the glory of God being your priority always.

Always, always, always. Father, glorify your name. That is the constant, perpetual, unbroken cry for the true follower of Jesus Christ when all things are well and when it gets really difficult to follow Christ, which is very difficult to teach on in the Disneyland of the world called America. But I'm sure this would hit different to those pastors in China. Father, glorify your name.

God's glory is your priority no matter how costly. This is what it means to deny yourself and to take up your cross. God's glory, your priority, no matter how costly, deny yourself. Take up that cross. And Jesus expands further on that back in Mark eight, not by exhorting more, not by expanding on that initial thought, but he does something quite fascinating.

He gives incentives. As you stand at the crossroads and hear that call for all people of all generations, it hasn't changed. If anyone would come after me, and that's a high cost. That's a life altering decision, and so he understands that, and And he doesn't just leave you with that command. Now he begins to explain some things to you in order to consider this, to joyfully consider it.

Because he knows in hearing that that there are walls that go up, and there are hesitations and there are obstacles. And so for the next four verses, he gives he gives these explanations for you to consider a cross. Let's read them together. Verse 35. Whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake in the gospels will save it.

For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what can a man give in return for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation of him, will the son of man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his father with the holy angels. Every single one of those verses is a blow to any fleshly impulse or hesitation to deny yourself and to take up a cross in the name of Jesus Christ. And let's just group them in in three things because you can you can take the two middle verses and attach them together.

What is Christ saying here in verse 35 initially? What he's actually saying is to lose your life really is to save your life. To lose your life is really to save it. And so you hear this idea of taking up your cross, denying yourself, and immediately, you curl up. Immediately you shrink back.

Because what is self? What it what does it mean to live for self? Self gratification, self preservation. And not only to live for that, but to protect anything that would threaten. That would threaten that being your ultimate experience in life.

Those things being heightened and matured and nurtured. This is what we shield from in our flesh. Anything that would try to hijack my pursuit of personal happiness and not true happiness, may I add. To save your life is to protect yourself from anything that would take that away from you. But by doing that, you're really losing your life.

And the way to actually save your life is to rid yourself of that, is to get rid of that, is to renounce that, to deny it, to disown yourself from it. It's a paradox. It's a paradox. And what does that mean? To save my life means to lose it and to lose my life is to save it.

Well, I read it to you in John twelve twenty five. In John twelve twenty five, it's clear, whoever loves his life loses it. Hold on. If I love my life, I lose my life? Yes.

And whoever hates his life What's going on here? Hates his life? Yes. Hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. It's about eternal life.

When he says save your life, what are you losing if you save your life? If you say, I don't want this way of the cross, I want my way, you're losing eternal life. And to lose your life, to say, I'm willing. I'm willing to come after you. I'm willing to take up my cross.

Anything that it costs to be associated with you, I say yes to, is to save yourself for eternal life. So losing your life really means winning life. But there's a secondary application. The second application is this, that there is a saving of my life that can cause me to lose in this life, not in just in the next life, in this life. And there is a losing a life that can save life in this life, my experience here now.

Because here's what people can also hear when they hear deny yourself and take up your cross. Here's what it means. Translation, endure misery. It's gonna get really good and it's gonna be worth it once you die and you get to heaven. So just bite your tongue, put on the sackcloth and ashes, try not to disappoint God, and then once you get through the gates, you'll say, okay.

It was worth it. Is that what Jesus means here? Can I show you that the Bible, in fact, says the opposite? There's a there's so many ways to explain this. One of my favorite is in first Timothy five.

Look at first Timothy five when Paul's speaking about widows who are worthy of financial assistance from the local church. First Timothy. If you wanna know where Timothy is, it it's bundled up with all the other epistles that start with the letter t. First Timothy five. Look at verse five.

It says here, she who is truly a widow left all alone has set her hope on God and continues in supplications and prayers night and day. Verse six, but she who is self indulgent is dead even while she lives. That is so countercultural. If you wanna live, you should be self indulgent. Acquire more, achieve more, stuff your life with more.

Is that not the anthem of what it means to live? And here's what the bible says, the self indulgent, those who live just for you to acquire, to know, to experience more, more, more, more in this life, you're a walking dead man. You're a spiritual zombie. Oh, yeah. You have you have plans and you have eyes and you have full mobility and you have money and you have interactions with this world, but here's what the bible says, you're dead while you live.

Now, if it's true that the self indulgent are dead while they live, then the opposite also must be true. That those who deny self are really living. Are really living. And Jesus, Jesus, the best example illustrates that in so many ways. What about in that spectacular conversation that he has with the woman at the well?

The disciples all go out into the villages to grab food for Jesus because he is weary and he is tired. And when they come back after this woman hears that he is the Messiah, after this woman hears what? All that she had done was revealed by this amazing man. Rabbi, eat. And Jesus says in John four thirty four, my food is to do the will of him who sent me to accomplish his work.

In other words, I already ate, But he didn't really physically eat. So what is he saying there? Jesus connects doing the will of God with a universal experience known as eating. You probably ate today. You're probably wanting me to stop sooner so you can eat now.

We all know what it's like to eat. Do we not? And Jesus says, doing the will of God is like the experience and the benefits of eating food. It quenches a desire. It energizes you.

It brings delight into your life. It sustains you. It strengthens you. It's a real experience only with good as a consequence. Of course, in moderation.

And Jesus says, what it's like to eat and what happens when you eat is what it's like when your life is submitted to the will of God. True delight, true strength, true sustenance and wholeness and a sense of completeness. And listen, this is so significant. So real is that experience of walking in the will of God that it even gave Jesus the energy to not even want to physically eat. It was so fulfilling for Jesus that when the food was presented to him, didn't really need it.

And if that's true, if me doing the will of God is capable of me even at times not wanting the essential things of life, what about the things in life that are not essential? What about the things in life that harm me and hurt me though they tempt me? Is there not a blessing in not just knowing the experience of eating, but what it also protects me from? That's exactly what the Lord is saying here. There's a fulfillment, a real sense of satisfaction that comes from obeying the will of God, which was what?

To suspend my own needs and desires for the sake of serving somebody else for for prioritizing the glory of God in this moment. And that is true for you and I. You and I can also expect that when he calls us to deny ourselves, he's not calling you to a lifelong misery. He's calling you to put to death lesser things. One evangelist put it this way, it's like jumping into the ocean with a backpack or a fanny pack filled with 80 or a 100 pounds of gold.

You're drowning, but you wanna hold on to the gold? At what cost? Your life? And so unlock that thing, cut that thing out so that you can what? Live.

Truly live. And this is what Jesus is saying, renounce it, remove it, disassociate yourself from it so that you would truly know life. You're saving your life for what? Inferior pleasures, inferior sense of purpose, inferior sense of security, inferior sense of true reputation and identification. Deny it.

See it for what it is and understand that by losing your life, you're really saving your life. So here the disciples in the crowd hearing you. Okay. But he goes on beyond that and he says here in the next part, for what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world, but forfeits his soul?

Here's the second incentive. Here's the second explanation. Not just losing your life really means to save it, but your soul is more valuable than gaining the whole world. The value of the human soul. So suppose that you've been granted this opportunity, this once in a multi generational opportunity to gain absolutely everything.

Not partly, not to be named among the 100 most rich, but to be at the top of the top. You own everything, every product, anything is accessible to you by the snap of a finger. Every piece of land that you desire will be yours. Any project that was once accomplished, any project that you would want to be realized, all of that is now available to you. Suppose you have that opportunity and the other choice is to deny yourself and to take up a cross.

Which one do you think people would choose? Just look at how most people are living. You know what Jesus is saying? If you choose the first one, you're a fool. If pursuing these things at the cost of your soul is what you will do with your brief existence, you're a fool.

You don't understand the value. You don't understand what awaits concerning your soul. And Jesus, by saying this, is saying trust me at the end of it all, whatever suffering you had to endure for my name's sake and for my gospel's sake will be worth it even if what you had been given a chance to do was a pain free, unending prosperity, no problems, no tribulation, no issues was the alternative. You taking up a cross is better than you gaining the whole world. And when I was meditating on this verse, I thought to myself, how quickly would he realize that when all is said and done?

How quickly? I believe the microsecond that you give your final breath and you enter into that next world, you'll realize it. It will flood your soul. And the opposite is true for those who sought to gain the whole world, but forfeited their soul. Can I show you an example of that?

Remember the rich man in Lazarus in Luke 16? I want you to see a detail there that I love. In Luke 16. Luke sixteen nineteen, there was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate was a was laid a poor man named Lazarus.

This is how we know it's not a parable. You don't name people in parables. This is a real story. And at his gate was a was laid a poor man named Lazarus covered with sores who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man's table. He just wanted crumbs.

Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. Isn't it a sad sight when we see more compassion from animals than from human beings? So here's this man at the gate of this rich man's house and these dogs are licking his sores and all he's asking for he's not asking for a seat at the table, he's just asking for whatever falls from the table, never gets it. So we have this contrast of life. You have this rich man, proud, arrogant, and as we're gonna find out, not a believer and clearly this man Lazarus who had a horrible fate in life, but was indeed a believer.

Look at verse 22. The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried. What stands out to you? Both of these people died.

Who was carried by angels? Lazarus. Did the rich man receive any kind of escort? No. He was just dumped into the grave, dumped into Hades.

You know what that tells me? The moment the moment Lazarus died, he was met with heavenly bliss. Even the angels personally came to him and brought him to Abraham's side. I wonder what went through his mind. And here's this man who probably received a very honorable funeral.

He probably even in advance paid for a spectacle in honor of his name. And the moment he dies, no reception, no warm welcome. Hell. What does it profit a man to gain the whole world but forfeit his soul. And then he goes on to say, what can a man give in return for his soul?

That can mean many things. I think one of the things it means is that on that day, people who have not denied themselves and taken up their cross will be so desperate to have their soul preserved for eternity that maybe in their desperation, they're gonna make attempts to give something to God to purchase their soul. What a tragic thing to even think about. All these people with companies and businesses and stocks and shares and unimaginable wealth trying to convince the judge of the earth, what do I need to give to have my soul returned? What do I need to give?

It'll be too late. God doesn't want your stuff, he wants you. He wants your heart. He wants your faith. He wants your affection.

So the disciples and the crowds are hearing this. One, to lose your life really means to save it. Two, the soul is more valuable as you're contemplating the cost. Well, contemplate this, your soul is more important, more valuable, The greatest investment you can make regardless even if you gain the whole world to deny Christ. Lastly, Jesus says something that should motivate us further.

And listen, this should strengthen you who have made a decision to take up your cross and follow Jesus Christ. Let this strengthen you. Verse 38, for whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the son of man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his father with the holy angels. So if possessions aren't a problem for people to shun their cross, popularity is usually the other thing. Being on good terms with people.

And Jesus knew that. And so Jesus says, I'm aware that part of your resistance is to be ashamed, to deny me, to not want to be linked with me. Not just me personally, but even my words. But he does something so specific and so strategic. He colors the people.

He colors the the those that we're trying that we're even thinking about winning their approval from. He doesn't say your family. He doesn't say your boss. He doesn't say the wealthy. He doesn't say the intelligent.

He doesn't say the sophisticated. He doesn't say the scientifically intelligent. What does he say in this adulterous and sinful generation? Why is he doing that? I think one for us to realize just how silly it is to even consider between the approval of such a people and the king of glory.

So hold on. You're struggling to follow Jesus Christ wholeheartedly because you want to win the praise and the affection of an adulteress and sinful generation? Here's a here's how I categorize this. If there's any other incentive there is to take up your cross and follow Jesus, it is this, the alternative to denying self is pathetic. The alternative to denying self is absolutely pathetic.

And I think that should be more true in our day of age than anything else. They don't have it all together. Do they? Look what they're talking about. They can't even figure out what's real.

Never mind what's true. Never mind what's objectively right. What's even scientifically correct and accurate. Those are the people that we're intimidated by. Those are the ones that we wanna try to swo and convince that we are modern and up to date and developed and progressive, who cares?

Who cares? Blind guides leading blind people. Why would I wanna join that line and head down the cliff? It's like, as though the Lord's trying to wake them up, hey, remember, in your contemplation of carrying your cross, remember who you're actually trying to win an adulteress and sinful people. If we just see what sin really does, what the fate of sinners really is, what the fruit of sin is.

And Satan is doing an incredible job by masquerading it and by making it seem like it is enjoyable, making it seem like it is life, it is true life, and layers it. And so you have young people today because I know it. You can't fool me, young person. I know it. I know what it's like to sit in a meeting like this and go under sit under a a meeting that calls people to give their lives to Christ.

I'm not sure how much I heard about denying yourself. I know what it's like. You wanna follow Jesus? And down deep inside, you know what you might be feeling? Yeah.

This is right. This is stirring my heart. It's pulling on my heartstrings, but there's really something out there. There are things out there that I really want. There are people out there that I really want.

Jesus says they're an adulteress and sinful generation. What do you want from them? And in contrast, of him will the son of man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his father and with the holy angels? Here's what it means to ultimately take up your cross. You gotta make a choice.

Whose approval am I after? This adulterous and sinful generation or the eternal, most beautiful, incomparable, all glorious Son of God? Whose opinion? Whose plan? Whose worldview?

Whose standard? Whose principles? Which one am I gonna choose? To take up your cross is to look at that adulterous and sinful generation that says, no matter what you say about me, no matter what you wanna do with me, I want his commendation. So I will follow him, though none go with me.

Sometimes when people hear the call of the gospel, what springs up? Look, I'm not interested in making my workplace awkward. I'm not interested in creating tension in my marriage with my unbelieving spouse or my cousins or my uncles or my siblings. I'm not interested in being scorned, just like what a cross does. Public humiliation.

Public scorn. I don't think I wanna invite that into my life. And Jesus says, well, consider that it's coming from this kind of people, but also consider that when I come in my glory, I will acknowledge you. I will acknowledge you. There's a striking verse in John twelve forty two.

Nevertheless, many even of the authorities believed in him, but for fear of the Pharisees, they did not confess it so that they would not be put out of the synagogue. For they love the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God. There were people in Jesus' day that were more interested in keeping their membership in the synagogue than having their names written in the Lamb's Book of Life. And perhaps there are some people today who wanna keep their job. They know that with what's happening in the culture, there's gonna be a choice you have to make to confess your faith.

I'm not I'm not sure if I wanna do that. I need job security, especially with all the crazy inflation going on, and I just started a family. Take up your cross. Deny yourself. Let your life be an adventure for the glory of Jesus Christ.

Okay. Let them take it. Let them let them give you the boot. Alright, Lord. Now what?

Who wants to play it safe anyway? The safest thing you can do is put your life in the hands of him. Have you done this? Jesus didn't say, if anyone would come after me, let him make sure he wakes up early on Sunday morning and not skip church. Jesus didn't even say that if anyone would come after me, let him make sure that he distances himself to at least get fifteen minutes of my word and I'm counting every minute of it.

Jesus didn't say if anyone would come after me, let him sing some songs and do some community service, Have some pastors they can identify in their lives and surround yourself with more Christians and less sinners. Jesus said, if anyone would come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. Have you done that? You can do that today. You don't have to be like the rich man who realized it too late.

You can be like Jesus that as you, even in suffering, feel the turmoil, the price it is to honor him in this hostile world, you can still feel full, satisfied in obeying the will of God, walking in the will of God. And even more than that, say father, glorify your name to know life now, lest you be someone who is living but is really dead. And not only will you know a paradox of a life filled with promises and pleasures, Even if your law in life is like that man who wanted crumbs, oh, what an entrance he received. An entrance unlike what that rich man would have ever experienced in his world. The call to self denial, my friend, is not a call to a cloudy, ascetic, miserable, cold, awkward, weird way of living.

It's to really live. Take off the fanny pack with all your sins and all your ideas and all your self righteousness and all your conditions of what it means to be throw it aside. You're drowning. Take off the backpack. You're drowning.

You think you're living, but you're drowning. I know that the gold in there is making you a little bit happy. I know you think that you can survive by holding on to your ideas and your philosophies and your sin and your habits, but you can't. Take it off and here's what will happen. Just like somebody who does remove the hindrance, the very instrument of his own death, you will spring up and you will know life.

Real life in Jesus Christ. Believer, if you've made that decision, Father, thank you for the unadulterated word of God. Thank you that Jesus' invitation to death is in fact the way to true life. Thank you that your thoughts are not like our thoughts. Your ways are not like our ways.

Lord, for the weary believer who's paying a price for carrying your name and for representing the gospel, may they know fresh strength. May they have eternity's shore in view. And may they be encouraged to know that true joy is in the path that they've decided to walk on. For the person in here who is at a crossroads and is not certain if they have truly responded to this call to discipleship. May there be no misunderstanding.

May there be no misinterpretation that to be saved is to suffer physically or financially or relationally to win your approval. No. May they simply understand that by faith in you, we should expect these things. Even before we confess faith in you, we have to be willing to say, if my faith will cost me this, then so be it. And may they understand that only when they take up that cross will they know true life.

May your Holy Spirit do what only he can do. And, Lord, may we now stand in your presence rejoicing rejoicing in your truth because it is for your glory, but we thank you that it is also for our good. Receive the honor that you deserve. In Jesus' name, amen. Let's stand together, shall we?