The Cross After Easter

as we stand tonight and just before we go to the word of the lord and we'll be we'll be reading from the book of luke chapter nine i felt the the lord questioned me tonight during pre-service prayer in do you really believe the word that you will teach tonight do you really want this word to come to pass do you really believe in the commandments that are given or the instructions that is given and i i do i don't just want to go through the motions or or to teach a lesson because i have some knowledge of the verses and knowledge of what god is saying i don't want to just do that but i want to really believe and believe that it can be lived out and desire to to live it out and i want to ask us if we would together just to pray to pray that god would help us to live out his word not only what we're going to read and study tonight but in every time together while we were singing that song i thought well do i do i really want to just love you with all of my heart and my soul and when i think about you lord what does what does that do and what is that impact what impact does it have upon me and so i want us just to pray that we would be receptive to whatever god wants to do and receptive to his will and his word and help us to live it out would you join with me right now and let's pray together now lord i'm thankful for your word and i know that you had great intention when you originally gave this word or when you spoke the words that we will study and that we will read tonight so now lord i am asking for your guidance and your help tonight and let it touch our hearts and speak to us oh god speak to us i pray lord i thank you now i thank you for what you've already done and what you will be doing tonight in this service and your presence that is already here i thank you now and we ask for your goodness and your blessings in jesus name in jesus name amen amen

from the book of luke chapter 9 and beginning with verse 23 and he said to them all if any man will come after me let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me the cross at easter means salvation and deliverance the title tonight the cross after easter that means discipleship and commitment the cross thank god for its power at easter and before easter but thank god for the cross of and the life of discipleship and commitment than we can live his teaching about taking up our cross outlines the requirements that he sees and that he has set for any individual who serves in his kingdom and in his army this taking up the cross is a pretty serious thing and so one might expect that well that's expected of the and the obligation of seasoned veterans who have served you in many years of experience but really it's required of those individuals but it's also for the new recruit who is just entering this great army it's a general call it's a call to all of us to take up his cross god bless you and you may be seated in our study tonight we're we're going to study the just the breakdown of the words and the phrases of this particular saying and this particular verse here it's the 23rd verse of luke chapter 9. if you would like a lesson sheet the ushers can see that you would get one if you just want to lift your hand and they'll make sure that you would get one

he said if any man will commitment and discipleship is a matter of our will in other words a matter of our decision there must be an intentional willingness when it comes to serving god nobody can force us to and really a forced service to anything is really not an effective service or commitment there must be an intentional willingness and uh another way to say that is a voluntary submission to submit voluntarily to in this case what the lord wants of course jesus displayed this trait in his life luke chapter 22 in the garden of gethsemane he said father if you would be willing in other words if this could be your will i want to do your will and so jesus prescribes a will let this cup go from me or pass from me but nevertheless not my will he was submitting voluntarily his will but yours be done jesus in john chapter 10 and verse 18 displayed this voluntary submission he talks about his life he said no man takes my life from me but i lay it down of myself and then he said i have power to lay it down that phrase caught me when i read it in preparation the power to lay it down in other words i am strong enough or i am in control enough to submit some people feel like submission is a lack of strength or a lack of control really submission is being strong enough and having enough power over our own will and our own desires to lay it down before the lord jesus said i have power to lay it down we need power and strength to pick up the cross but so many times our battles is the power to lay down something to say no to something so that we can say yes to something better at the i would close this little segment of the lesson about our will with this question a question about your will is there any agenda you need to turn from in order to posture your heart and life to do god's will any personal agenda that you need to turn from in order to do the will of god so jesus dealt with our will in this what i'm calling the cross call the call to pick up the cross jesus just called for some very basic healthy life traits that makes us successful in any venue of life spiritually naturally in relationships and our emotional well-being

and with the word daily he is calling for consistency god is just calling for simple consistency when he said i want a man or a woman to take up this cross daily consistent people bless every venue they are involved in it's wonderful to be able to depend upon somebody consistently and when we know they are consistent whether it's in employment whether it's parenting pastoring ministry spiritual leadership consistent people bless everything that they are a part of and especially are a blessing to the kingdom of god i am teaching to many people that are in that category right now consistency somebody said consistency thou art a jewel you are valuable it people who are consistent are valuable so he is purposely informing potential believers that his expectations were to daily be lived out we often say this and we know that it is not just a one day a week religion that god wants us to enjoy he wants us to enjoy when we come together on sunday or on together on wednesday but his expectations is for us to be like him and live for him daily to take up his cross daily we are sunday christians we are monday christians we are tuesday wednesday thursday friday saturday sunday we are 24 7 people of god and to be otherwise i won't go into a long uh spiel about that but you know what that looks like and what that tastes like for there to be inconsistency in a life but consistent people bless the kingdom of god and so jesus is calling for our consistent everyday unaltered unstoppable commitment i know people who are consistent and nothing is going to stop that consistency it's unstoppable they have made up their heart they have made up their mind i am going to daily walk with the lord do they have trials do they have temptations do they have and set but there are set before them obstacles oh yes but there is something unstoppable about a consistent commitment year in year out day in day out week in week out situation in situation out consistently and jesus was calling for that here he said let him deny himself and take up his cross daily

he said let him deny himself self-denial there's only one instance when you look at jesus teachings about entering in the kingdom of god there's only one entry way to be found into the kingdom and that is given to us in matthew 8 and 14 jesus said straight is the gate and narrow is the way a narrow great gate is set at the head of this path of light in other words no person with an inflated ego can squeeze through that door self-denial self-mortification is a word that the apostle uses later on in the epistles there must be a self-assessment of our lives a self-denial in order to become a disciple really what jesus is doing is setting out a listing of requirements of what it takes it takes daily it takes at commitment it takes that denial of self that word deny there in verse 23 means to resist or to reject or to refuse the denial of self that does not mean we deny who we are our dna our emotions our appearance our intelligence but it's talking about denying or dethroning ourselves as the lord of our own life to deny ourself is to dethrone our will and set the lord's will on the throne of our life denying ourself of our right to live selfishly with no consideration of any other purpose putting aside our own desires and conveniences and let the lord have his way and will putting aside any selfish ambitions that would rise above the work and the will of god in our life a putting away simply of any pride that might come putting to death self-denial is putting to death any self-importance or self-absorption our self-advancement the promotion of one's self to deny ourselves this isn't an easy task as i describe this you you may think of instances where you have been challenged about any one of those things before praying thy kingdom come we must pray my kingdom go his kingdom to come our kingdom our self-importance our self-absorption our self-advancement must go

and then jesus says take up his cross our master's life was dominated by a cross now when we hear that word automatically we think of our lord at calvary and rightfully so while he has not called us as believers to a physical death he wasn't calling us to that in luke 9 23 in that teaching but he does call us to a life with a cross an identification with his mindset in his lifestyle in other words a life of self-denial and self-death he thought it not robbery to be equal with god but he committed himself to the form of a servant and became subject under the death of the cross paul talked about so this call this cross that he is talking about i have heard it referred to and may have even done it myself mistakenly referring to personal challenges to sicknesses or sacrifices or hardships and there are those but this isn't the cross that jesus was talking about but here he's talking about a lifestyle of identifying with him and sacrificing for his sake and notice this jesus calls it let a man take up his cross in other words he's wanting the disciple to own it and identify with it in other words wanting us to accept that life of self denial take up his cross my cross is is not any sickness or any burden or any trial that i have gone through my cross your cross is that life of self denial having our flesh crucified having our will being subject to his will and every day we have the option as to take up that cross or leave it set or leave it lay down and the lord's call he gave this call on that day and it still resonates today and i believe the reason he gives messages like this one tonight is because it is his heart's plea he is appealing to us this world we know it is so self-absorbed but he is making the call is there are there people are there individuals who will self-deny and lay down their wishes and their will as being subject unto mine jesus said in another way he said seek ye first he did not say that was the only thing that we would be able to seek but he said make sure that you seek the kingdom first let it have first priority seek ye first the kingdom of god and then the lord will add all of those other things they can be added according to his will jesus said it on purpose he said let that man take up his cross the cross is a place of self-denial in this day in jesus day the cross had great significance anybody carrying a cross in first century judea knew that the day was not going to end well for them in other words it meant death for many of course physical death the criminal that was carrying his own cross knew he was a dead man and so he had abandoned all earthly hopes and ambitions because he knew he was on that place on that trail to crucifixion many times and historians tell us this that criminals often only carried one bar or one beam of the cross they didn't carry both beams they only carried one of those beams it wasn't about the weight of that but it was the message in other words it was signifying this is a one way trip that's what the cross meant no turning back no giving up and the lord has been so good to us and has filled us and he has called us as his disciples and what we are waiting for and praying for and working for and the reason we study the word of the lord like we're studying tonight the reason you give yourself to prayer and fasting is because there's no going back there's no turning around listen there are going to be plenty of opportunities especially in the world in which we live to give up or to turn around or to cash in or go back but the lord is calling us to a life of self-denial and the cross to take up the cross and say this is a one-way trip as far as i'm concerned i'm headed for the lord i want to serve him i'm not turning back turning around jesus said in fact he said any man turning back looking back having set his hand to the plow is not fit for the kingdom of god i teach tonight the word of the lord don't even let the thought of turning back it's a one way trip just make that up in your mind and by the grace of god i guarantee you that if we'll make that up in our mind and give that commitment to the lord he is going to help us to go through and overcome whatever may come our way by saying it's a one-way trip we're not guaranteeing ourselves victory we're talking about our commitment that we have and so take up your cross it was in other words just think of yourself like that man in first century judea thought of himself i'm dead i'm a dead man i'm dead to the rest of life i'm dead to worldly hopes and ambitions is what the disciple says you know

jesus was not afraid to put expectations this this verse right here in this setting and it's repeated various times in the gospels but jesus was intentional and intense about setting expectations so often in our world today when expectations are placed it is commonly said you're expecting too much but jesus is intentional and intense really about expectations because he knew that's the only right way to get the right kind of lasting results he knew his ministry needed commitment from his followers and when he was calling followers it's really interesting he didn't try to use the bait and switch he didn't set him up with the miracle and he did many miracles and it drew people because of their own interests but jesus when he made his call for discipleship he started talking about crosses he started talking about commitment he started setting expectations i read about a minister he's written a book called not a fan about discipleship and following the lord and the the book really evolved on an experience that he had a few weeks before easter in fact it got down to where there are a few days before easter and he's trying to come up he's sitting in his sanctuary all alone in the middle of the week and he's trying to come up with he knows he's going to have a great crowd and there's going to be a lot of guests that are going to come on that particular sunday easter sunday and so he said i need something that will wow them i need something that will appeal to them i need something that will appease them i need something that will draw them back and so we got to looking through scripture at how jesus handled it and he came to this particular section of scripture where the lord just on a day when he's got a huge crowd says you got to take up a cross you've got to self-deny you've got to give yourself totally and holy unto my will and deny your will and accept my will so he used straight talk that's how the lord is talking to us in this particular setting and many other places in scripture he just talks very straight to us about here's the expectations here's what is expected from you as a minister of the gospel i can't give anybody in this audience tonight any kind of card out any kind of get out of jail free we've got to do the same thing that jesus did we've got to minister and accept and live those expectations that he has placed upon us and into our lives he talked about that cross and following daily that doesn't seem like a good way to draw a massive crowd or following but jesus made that call for the bearing of the cross it's for all who would follow the lord jesus he addressed it in fact he uses that word all in this in this verse take up my cross daily follow me he says that to them all in the beginning of the verse not just to a select few in fact this take up the cross theme is repeated six different times throughout the gospel it does call the message is this it's an absolute impossibility to be a christian without self-denial it's impossible but it is possible to do the will of god and be what god wants us to be as we sacrifice self the only way to avoid the cross is to follow the world on that broad pathway which jesus explains leads to self-destruction whoever will save his life shall lose it religion without self-denial will not endure judgment that's what jesus was teaching to us jesus gave one of these straight talks and in john chapter 6 and verse 60 and there was no more excellent teacher than jesus and he's the epitome of love and grace but look in john chapter 6 and this this tells us why our humanity and how our humanity struggles with these expectations are these commands of of jesus john 6 and verse 60. many therefore of his disciples when they had heard this said this is a hard saying who can hear it and then jesus asked does this offend you and a few verses later in verse 66 it gives the end result from that time many of his disciples went back don't think about going back there may be hard sayings that self-denial may seem like it is too hard or too far fetched but many of his disciples went back and walked no more with him the master teacher the great man of love but yet when it came down to commitment they could not make the commitment here's what jesus understood about his mission and the kind of people he needed to get the job done until he preached commitment he would never know who was in his audience until he preached and taught commitment you know commitment will tell the story it's a sifter it's a refiner the message of commitment it will bring out the truth and hopefully it will bring out the best in all of us i want to encourage you don't get mad at pastor when he calls us to commitment or anybody else for that matter don't take exception because god is wanting to bring out the best in us and that's what the message of commitment will do it will bring out the truth it will show the true colors but it's intended to bring out the best and when we fail to preach live or teach or expect commitment we are doing hymn and injustice we're doing his mission and in injustice and we're doing ourselves a dis disservice you know this i want to trumpet it tonight commitment builds a person and commitment builds a church without it a life or a church will not be successfully built there's a difference of commitment somebody has said this there's a difference in a crowd and a church i heard the testimonial of a pastor who formally stood for commitment to doctrine holiness and then he forsook the truth of god's word because he was caught in that trap of wanting to appease and build a bigger and a better audience and so he told others who was continuing to stand for the truth he said this he said look you don't realize what you have and in particular he was referring in this case to the united pentecostal church and its stand for truth and commitment he said you don't realize what you have he said i left it and he said i have a congregation of several thousand and he said but whenever i feel directed to teach or preach on commitment he said the next week there are several holes in my congregation and as long as i continue that theme those absences are there he said now when i switch to another theme or a subject they fill back in what he was saying is this commitment is crucial and it is valuable our intention is not to just build a church or crowd but it is to build his church our personal commitment in our life is not to be just known as a christian or a godly christian but to really be known as a follower of jesus christ here's what i have found in the years of experience of teaching and preaching and pastoring i have yet to offend or lose a committed person when i would preach or teach commitment when i teach about giving givers don't get upset or quit when i preach about a daily life of prayer the people who pray don't get upset or quit coming when the preaching is about involvement involved people do not stop attending when we call for commitment there may be the loss of some but at the least we are choosing who we lose the loss is not committed people it is those who may have chosen not to commit jesus we read it he lost people by placing a demand and expectations and he wasn't about losing he was about saving but there are some things that are just non-negotiable there are just some things that are absolutely necessary and the cross life and the life of daily self-denial is part of that and so when demands are placed there may be the loss of some but here's what we can count on we will not lose true disciples don't be hesitant to set expectations in your own life set expectations in your family set expectations in any other venue that you lead or that you example in and so its commitment and self-denial

you know there is a price to discipleship there is a cost to being a part of a church that teaches lives and believes the full gospel it costs to be a part of a church that teaches and models a separated lifestyle from the world it cost apostolic churches expect members to plan their calendars around the house of god and be there faithfully when church and ministry is happening there's a price there's a cost they expect members to dedicate time and talent and treasure to the great mission of jesus christ and the making of decide these expectations are just part of the price of being a part of god's church and buying in to his cross call a price to be paid i made a little listing there of the price for being a disciple of jesus christ it begins with coming out of the world and giving up identification with the world in sin there's there's a price and many of you have experienced that there's a price to separating from that farmer lifestyle it continues as you continue to live a separated life but oh it's going to be worth it one of these days the reward is going to be so worth it i'm not going to stick my head in the sand tonight and say there's no cost yeah there is it's going to cost some it's going to cost some comments it's going to cost some criticism it's going to cost us various things but that separated lifestyle is the lifestyle that jesus christ calls for and then the price continues to be paid when we contact others reach others who need salvation and we begin to invest our lives into their lives and into their spiritual journey

and then jesus made that powerful three-word phrase and follow me and follow me the core idea of christianity is not to just be a church member but to be a christ follower and the christ follower is someone who patterns their life after jesus christ the flesh default that we all deal with and the temptation is to cherry pick what is desirable about jesus's example and his words what i mean by that is we cherry pick when in other words what day we are christians what day we are holy what day we are apostolic we compartmentalize uh life or people do but i said it earlier we are apostolic in belief and in lifestyle whether it's sunday or monday or tuesday we don't go to the flesh default we want to be like him on monday we're going to meet somebody on monday that we would not meet on a sunday and they are going to need to see jesus they are going to need to hear jesus we can't cherry-pick where where we are followers of christ and being like the lord church yes home yes work yes and every other venue nor can we cherry pick how we can't just adopt certain beliefs or commandments and practices and aspects and then reject others but it's all or none all in for the lord i thought today about that old song to be like jesus to be like jesus on earth i long to be like him you know it's wonderful to know who he is it's wonderful to have the revelation of this one god and to know his word and it's wonderful to feel his spirit and to give him worship all of that is important but it's so important to be like jesus i it is possible i want to debunk any myth that tries to tell us we can't be that or we can't do that he's called us to that calling and he wouldn't call us to something that we are not equipped to fulfill to be like him to do what he would do to respond like he would respond yeah it calls for the cross of self-denial it calls for giving ourself totally to him and dethroning of ourself but this world some people most people if they're going to meet jesus are going to meet them through individuals such as you and i would you stand together with me and i'd like for us to close his service by not only singing that song but making it a prayerful commitment and expressing our desire i want to be like him and i just feel like stopping once again say don't be tempted by the thought i could never do that i could never be that he's equipped us he's called us he set us on this mission to be his example and to be the jesus that others are going to meet whatever it is maybe it's the grace of the lord jesus that he wants to flow through show through you to somebody maybe it's the mercy maybe it's the love maybe it's the understanding who know all the great characteristics of the lord but he wants to display those to this world and he's chosen us as his church to be that and do that would you join together to be like jesus to be foreign like jesus foreign you sing it another time it's possible oh i wonder if you just make that commitment right now in your own words would you lift your hands right now across this place oh god we want to be like you lord whatever that entails whatever cross we've got to carry whatever self-denial we have to exactly we're asking for your help tonight lord and we make that commitment as a church and as individuals we want to be like you lord we want to follow that command take up our cross not only tonight but tomorrow and the next day and the next we want to take it up daily and we want to follow after you lord we're asking for your help to fulfill that commitment knowing that others need us to do it and knowing that it's required of us tonight we thank you for your word and your instruction that come in in the name of jesus in the name of jesus