The Cross of Discipleship
Notes
Transcript
24 “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a slave above his master. 25 “It is enough for the disciple that he become like his teacher, and the slave like his master. If they have called the head of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign the members of his household! 26 “Therefore do not fear them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. 27 “What I tell you in the darkness, speak in the light; and what you hear whispered in your ear, proclaim upon the housetops. 28 “Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. 29 “Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. 30 “But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 “So do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows. 32 “Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven. 33 “But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven. 34 “Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 “For I came to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; 36 and a man’s enemies will be the members of his household. 37 “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. 38 “And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. 39 “He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it. 40 “He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me. 41 “He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward; and he who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward. 42 “And whoever in the name of a disciple gives to one of these little ones even a cup of cold water to drink, truly I say to you, he shall not lose his reward.”
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One of the greatest obstacles to any endeavour is fear. It’s that survival instinct in all of us that shows itself from the earliest age. It begins with a hesitation to go down the slide on the playground, but then that fear changes doesn’t it? It only takes a few years and then that survival instinct becomes social as well. What will that person think of me if I say the wrong thing? A little more time passes and that fear isn’t bodily self-preservation or social self-preservation it turns into a financial self-preservation. Any kind of life-change can bring back that financially driven fear, going to school, having kids, moving… so on and so forth.
One might argue that survival instinct and fear is always there it just becomes more sophisticated the older we get.
When Jesus is preparing his disciples for the road ahead, he knows that instinct towards self-preservation is going to be there. He knows that fear is going to undermine their walk of discipleship, and He’s going to address it in all its forms because all of them have the potential to undermine their walk with Christ.
The thing is recognizing a fear isn’t really helpful in and of itself unless it’s replaced by something greater. Jesus is working to relieve the fear the disciples may have with the glory of God so that they can be free to pursue the glory of God in walking with Christ.
Jesus isn’t simply freeing the disciples of the fear so they can be fearless. In our day and age there’s a persistent pursuit of that freedom from fear and anxiety, but so often it’s purposeless. When the glory of God in Christ has its full effect it not only relieves us from our fears it calls us to pursue the advancement of that glory. That’s what we see here. Jesus is relieving the fears of his disciples, but for a purpose! So that they can proclaim the name of Christ, love the person of Christ , and follow Him unto eternal life. - So they can pick up their cross and follow their Lord and Savior.
When the love of Christ is supreme, the fear of man is overcome and the life of discipleship is sustained.
When the love of Christ is supreme, the fear of man is overcome and the life of discipleship is sustained.
Overcoming the fear of man
Words received
Words spoken
Falling unseen
Sustaining the life of discipleship
Confessing Christ
Loving Christ
Following Christ
Overcoming the fear of man
Overcoming the fear of man
Before we even get to overcoming the fear of other’s words, Jesus establishes a foundational principle. Who do we follow? Who do we serve?
24 “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a slave above his master.
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We caught a glimpse of this last week, but just as Jesus is pointing his disciples to the road of resistance that’s before them he turns their eyes to the coming of the Son of Man. The ascension of Christ to be seated at the right hand of the Father and the coming of The Spirit. He redirects their eyes to Himself.
He continues to frame their expectations with relationship to Himself.
After all, who do they follow? Who do they serve? Isn’t it expected for a student to look like the teacher after some time? If the boss is getting his hands dirty it’s a little odd to see the employees sitting around watching isn’t it?
Servants are expected to join their master in the work even when it’s difficult.
It’s plain reasoning, but why is this important?
Right from the beginning we need to ask ourselves: “Who’s teaching me?” “Who am I serving?” If we don’t set our expectations with relation to Our Lord and Savior fear sets in. Why?
If we let the world teach us what to expect of this life, we grow to find our security in the things of this world, and we fear losing those things we’ve been promised.
If we serve the men of this world and their ideas, we begin to establish a kingdom around those we serve and what they’ve promised us. By extension the loss of that kingdom becomes a very real fear that can undermine our life of discipleship.
As we go we need to keep this foundational principle in mind. Jesus is going to systematically call his disciples out of the fear of man and the teaching of the world and into the fear of God consistent with the example of their teacher and Master.
Words received
Words received
25 “It is enough for the disciple that he become like his teacher, and the slave like his master. If they have called the head of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign the members of his household!
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Just like how we need to look to the Lord of the harvest to meet the world’s problems, we need to look to the Lord of the harvest to understand why the world has a problem with us. By just looking at the world, we can become confused and fearful because of what the world says about us. Why are they saying these things about me? Why are they calling me these awful things? Where is this ridicule coming from?
Jesus begins with Himself to explain the world’s ridicule. How have they treated the master? How have they treated the head of the house? They’ve called the righteous son of God the devil. There is no more blatant opposition! There are few words they could say to express, “We oppose you with every fiber of our being.” The world has stated in very clear terms, “They think God is the epitome of evil!”
In retrospect we can recognize the blatant injustices that occurred before the eyes of the disciples as the crowds cried for the crucifixion of their righteous Savior, but the point isn’t to recognize former injustices against Jesus it’s to anticipate future injustices against us.
If I were to underline a few words there, it would be “How much more...” The reasoning moves from what has been done to what will be done - from what the master has received to what will be done to the household.
There’s an intimate relationship between the experience of Christ and the experience of His house. They will both be counted as evil in the eyes of the world.
In this path of discipleship being laid out before the 12 you can start to see the importance of the sermon on the mount and how foundational it was. In knowing what righteousness is in the kingdom these disciples are more equipped to respond to the accusations of evil coming from the world. In knowing what righteousness in the Christ looks like, they can be more equipped to stand firm in the midst of ridicule knowing, I stand on the rock that is Christ.
It’s in Him that these disciples will stand firm and even take comfort. Notice that Jesus addresses the heart as he lays out these expectations. Preparation goes even beyond expectations. Preparation extends to the posture of the heart.
26 “Therefore do not fear them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known.
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At first that seems like an odd reason to not fear the ridicule of the world. What does everything being made known have to do with the ridicule we receive from the world?
When someone accuses you of something, there’s a certain anxiety and fear that’s eager to make the truth clear isn’t there? We don’t want others to believe this false accusation. We want to fight to defend our reputation! We haven’t done anything wrong! … What Jesus is saying here is that even when the world controls the narrative and everyone believes what they say about you, the truth will come out in the end. What is covered will be revealed. The righteousness of the falsely accused will be made known and the evil of the accusers will be exposed for their treachery.
This is a call to faith for us in the life of discipleship. Might we let go of the teaching of the world that tells us we need to maintain our reputation in the eyes of men. We strive to be in favor with all the people. We work to be men and women of good repute, but never at the expense of the gospel. Our faith must be grounded in the fact that one day everything will be exposed before the glory of God. Even now we can look back at Jesus when he stood silent before his accusers. He knew that in the end all would be brought to light in the glory of His resurrection.
Might our faith in God’s final declaration keep us from fear of man’s false accusation.
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Jesus is going to repeat this pattern. He’s going to compare the disciples to Himself and call them not to fear, but now he directs their attention to the words they’re called to speak.
Words spoken
Words spoken
27 “What I tell you in the darkness, speak in the light; and what you hear whispered in your ear, proclaim upon the housetops.
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Just because everything is going to be made known in the end, doesn’t mean we should wait until that day for the good news to be revealed. Today is the day to make the gospel known. Today is the day to take what we have heard from Christ our teacher and Master and make it known to all.
Again Jesus is building on the foundation he’s already laid, but now he’s putting the audience in view.
All the way back in chapter 5 he’s given them a purpose and an identity.
14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; 15 nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. 16 “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.
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Indeed there are those who would see their good works, there are those who would be in favor of the good works of the saints, but there are also those who would resist that light on hill, those who would resist that proclamation from the housetop. We can just follow Peter’s proclamation in Acts chapter 2 and see all those who would glorify God in heaven as fellow saints. Then we turn to chapter 3 and see all those who would resist that very same proclamation.
This resistance can easily inspire a fear that would keep one from speaking if not addressed. That’s what Jesus does here.
28 “Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
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To us in our day it may seem an unlikely connection, but in the context of the disciples and the early church, words can get you killed. Being afraid to speak to many would seem like common sense. It’s the reasoning of the disciples after Jesus is crucified. They go into hiding out of fear. There’s no preaching from the housetops after Jesus went to the cross under the accusation of blasphemy. Stephen was stoned for the words he said. Many in years following would be beaten and persecuted if not killed for their proclamation.
If that’s even a potential reality down the road you can understand why Jesus is preparing them for it here as they get their first taste of ministry independent of the bodily presence of Jesus.
Now at this point we might be tempted to mentally check out because that kind of threat just isn’t even in our imagination, but let’s not pretend there isn’t some cost to our proclamation.
For some of us speaking up about our convictions or sharing the gospel could affect our jobs. Our words could deny us opportunities for advancement. Our words could lead us to a lost relationship.
No matter the age we live in or where we live, our words as Christian come with potential costs. At times that cost was life itself. In our day it may be lesser things, but whichever it is, fear can still keep us from speaking and the same principle applies.
What’s the solution? We can’t miss this. Jesus isn’t simply saying stop fearing. He’s saying they’re fearing the wrong person.
Before we can find comfort, our fear needs to properly oriented. Before we look for reasons not to fear, we need to fear God above all!
Jesus points to the nature of the kingdom of heaven. He points to their souls - that part of us which will endure even beyond death like that of the kingdom of heaven.
Whoever it is that threatens our lives, our jobs, our well-being, our comfort - their threats are empty against the well-being of our souls.
Only God can condemn or save the souls of men. If anyone is to find true comfort in this life they must first reckon with that reality. No matter what man may do to me, in the end I answer to God who is the supreme judge over all His creation.
We come back to that basic principle. Who do we follow? Who do we serve?
We were always intended to serve our God in mind, body, and soul, and one essential part of that service being the fear of God in all His awesome power, glory, and justice. There’s a little tension here that I believe is important for our preparation as disciples, and I want to leave that there for just a moment. Jesus Himself resolves the tension rather quickly, and we’ll get there in a moment.
I believe this is important to dwell on for a moment because what we fear defines what we cling to.
If our fear is of men we will cling to whatever means it takes to preserve the tangible goods of this world. If our fear is of men we will refrain from speaking to preserve ourselves.
If however our fear is rightly oriented and our fear is of God we can only cling to Christ to preserve ourselves. In clinging to Christ our souls will indeed find their security before the perfect, glorious justice of God. In that rightly oriented fear. In that clinging to Christ for the security of our souls - in that we will preach! In that we can gladly let go of the goods of this world even our lives knowing our souls are secure in Him.
Put very simply, is our fear big enough to drive us to someone bigger than ourselves to secure our well-being? Is our fear of God such that we put no faith in ourselves and look to Christ alone for the security of our souls?
In the end the fear of God makes for fearless preachers.
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Jesus doesn’t leave them there. Discipleship is not intended to be a fear driven endeavour.
Falling unseen
Falling unseen
29 “Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. 30 “But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 “So do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows.
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Though God is indeed the almighty and just judge of all His creation He is not indifferent toward His creation. He is certainly not indifferent to His own household as Jesus calls them in verse 25, but first he points to the smallest creatures of His creation.
The emphasis here is on what they’re worth! Two sparrows are sold for a cent. They’re worth hardly a thing, and yet amidst all the sparrows in all of God’s creation not one of them falls without their Creator’s express permission. Not one of them falls unseen or unvalued. Not even a hair on our heads going missing without God noticing.
The fear of falling unseen. That’s a real fear isn’t it?
If I give everything? If I sacrifice my time, my money, my strength, my life… will anyone notice? Will anyone care or is my life and all I have to give simply worthless? Up until this point Jesus has been pointing ahead. In the end everything will be revealed. In the end it’s God who will judge. This eternal perspective is necessary to the life of discipleship, but that doesn’t mean that God is simply waiting for us at the end.
God is not the teacher waiting at the front of the room while we all take the test by ourselves. In most cases the teacher is largely unaware of all of the work and the study and the sacrifice put into preparing for that final exam or that final paper. They only see it when they grade the test. That’s not the God we serve. It’s not as if God is unaware of our sacrifice and our labor until that day we appear before Him.
He’s intimately aware, and not just aware - He shares the burden with us! He went before us! He took the test we could never pass enduring the cross so that we might become children of God. Jesus is inviting these disciples to look to their Father as children with the assurance that He knows and He cares! “You are more valuable than many sparrows!”
Should we ever question our worth. Should we ever question whether God really notices the costs we’ve incurred for the sake of His name.
For us we can say, Has not the Son of God been sent for us? Hasn’t He promised to be with us and share the yoke with us? It may not appear to be words of comfort, but when Jesus asks Saul on the road to Damascus, “Why do you persecute me?” We should take comfort in that! When we incur costs for the sake of the name of Christ, we are not alone. Jesus takes it personally because he’s bearing the same yoke with us.
Our value is that of sons and daughters bought by the blood of Christ. We are surely more valuable than many sparrows and none will fall forsaken.
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When we can overcome the fear of people’s words, the fear to speak, the fear of unseen sacrifice… we can begin effectively engaging in the life of discipleship. We can look to what sustains this life of discipleship.
From beginning to end it’s the person of work of Jesus Christ. It may seem elementary, but it’s so easy to forget.
It’s Christ we confess. It’s Christ who must have our greatest affection, and it’s Christ alone we follow. Should we attend to these our walk as disciples can be sustained.
Sustaining the life of discipleship
Sustaining the life of discipleship
Confessing Christ
Confessing Christ
32 “Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven. 33 “But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven.
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When we view this whole passage together we can see how Jesus’ argument builds on itself. The disciples aren’t called to overcome their fear so that they can simply be heard on the housetops. There’s something in our day that attributes some merit to boldness itself.
“Look at that person and how fearless they are when they speak. All their critics don’t mean a thing to them and they just keep on speaking.”
There’s something attractive to that kind of boldness the resilience in the midst of resistance, but boldness by itself can be plain foolishness without the right message.
What is it that these disciples are to proclaim so boldly from the housetops?
They’re to confess Christ!
There’s a substance to our boldness and it’s nothing in us. It’s the glory of God in the person of Jesus Christ because
it’s He who has made us .
It’s He who saves us.
It’s He who is judge and justifier of the ungodly.
It’s He who goes to the Father on our behalf as our great high priest.
It’s that hope that ought to define the witness of the disciples - the hope that though none receive me or my words, The Great High Priest will take my name before the Father. Our hope is never in our fruit.
As Jesus says in Luke
20 “Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven.”
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Jesus is challenging the prevalent thought of that day that continues to our day.
“If I have influence. If people recognize my name. If people share my quote on social media. If people quote my book. If my name is recognized in the world. I’m succeeding.”
Jesus challenges that idea. Success is not found in who receives you or your message. Success isn’t found in our influence over even our dominion over darkness. Success is found in the substance of our confession. It’s in the content of our confession, that Christ will confess our name before the Father. There is no greater reward!
Should everyone reject us and no one recognize our name before men, and our name is recorded in heaven - our name is on the lips of our Lord and Savior before the Father. That is enough! That is what we strive for.
Now at first glance this passage can be turned into a matter of works righteousness very quickly, and we need be careful.
Jesus has already mentioned those who will come before him on that day pleading Lord, Lord look at all we did in your name, and Jesus will respond, “I never knew you.”
Simply using the name of Jesus in the world does not win us favor with God.
How then should we see this sobering reality that follows. “But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven.”
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What we confess and what we deny before the world reflects the substance of our faith.
We do it all the time. We make certain ordinary confessions with our cars all the time. Just last Tuesday a few of the guys made open confession that chevy was the was to go. We had a few make confessions for their ford. Where does that confession come from, it comes from a belief that they’re reliable, they’re trustworthy. They’re worth other people knowing you can trust this car.
Confessions aren’t simply words. They’re a profession of our belief - an invitation to others to believe.
The same is true of denial. The chevy folks are quick to say Ford stands for fix or repair daily. It becomes apparent there’s little faith in Ford and so follows open denial.
Now whether that be true or not, I’ll let you decide, but we can say for certain one’s confession speaks to their faith.
When Jesus presents this warning I believe we need to go beyond the words. For many well-meaning Christians there’s a fear here that wonders have I ever denied Him? Will I ever deny Him? thinking that such words being spoken will usher in a kind of final judgement. The question we need to be asking is not “have I?” or “will I?” it’s “where is my faith today? Is my faith such that my confession will be sustained - my life of discipleship will be sustained?
One way to tell where our faith is: “What do we confess to people?” What are we quick to speak of? Where do we point people to find their hope?
And of course I’m not speaking of fords and Chevy’s, but how do we address the problem of sin?
When our faith is firmly established in Christ alone to forgive us our sins, we will confess Him to the world.
If we desire to be faithful disciples - faithful confessors of Christ we begin with our faith in Christ alone to save us from the curse of sin.
What does that look like?
Address unbelief!
Bring it to a brother or sister. My faith is weak would you pray for me?
Bring it to the lord in prayer. “Lord I believe, help my unbelief.”
Bring it to the Lord who is merciful. I would be remiss not to mention Peter for just a moment. Peter denied Jesus three times. That was not the end for Peter. Even that sin went to the cross. We serve a merciful Savior who is patient with our unbelief. Take it to him! He is able to use even those of little faith to feed his sheep, and yet only by His grace.
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True discipleship is not only found in our words or our actions, it’s found in our affections.
Loving Christ
Loving Christ
34 “Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 “For I came to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; 36 and a man’s enemies will be the members of his household. 37 “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.
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Generally speaking it’s easier to have enemies with people when there’s distance between us, and when I say distance I don’t just mean geographically though that is true.
We can start there though. How easy is it to have enemies with people when they sit on the other side of the world? It may be a very real enemy, but we can get comfortable with the idea, “our enemies are those guys way over there on the other side of the globe.” If we talked to any of the Jews during Jesus’ day, they may have pointed to Rome on the other side of the Mediterranean sea. They may have pointed to any other Gentile nation. “Those guys over there across the border.”
Geography is one thing, how about cultural distance.
They have different values than we do. They worship false gods. Their culture openly commits crimes unknown to the rest of the world. Surely those are our enemies…
These dynamics have defined war and conflict since the dawn of time, and Jesus challenges that idea in his call to discipleship.
When the kingdom of heaven comes, disciples need to be ready for their enemies to be very very close. No distance. Same house. Same culture. No border, same tradition. Even same family.
And this isn’t a novel idea, Jesus quotes the prophet Micah who’s looking at the people of Israel and saying, “Where are the godly?”
4 The best of them is like a briar, The most upright like a thorn hedge...
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The prevalence of sin even divides households. In the context, Micah has made enemies with his own people because He has proven to be the faithful disciple. His love and His faith does not seek peace with the wicked among him no matter how close they are. His love and his faith is in the God of his salvation.
7 But as for me, I will watch expectantly for the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation. My God will hear me. 8 Do not rejoice over me, O my enemy. Though I fall I will rise; Though I dwell in darkness, the Lord is a light for me.
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Isn’t that what Jesus has spoken of here already? The disciples comfort is the comfort of Micah. The sparrow does not fall apart from God. Neither will the beloved disciple. “Though I fall I will rise, though I dwell in darkness, the LORD is a light for me.”
If I could take this one step further Micah foretells of the advancement of the kingdom of God.
10 Then my enemy will see, And shame will cover her who said to me, “Where is the Lord your God?” My eyes will look on her; At that time she will be trampled down Like mire of the streets. 11 It will be a day for building your walls. On that day will your boundary be extended. 12 It will be a day when they will come to you From Assyria and the cities of Egypt, From Egypt even to the Euphrates, Even from sea to sea and mountain to mountain.
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Those who once were at a distance and counted enemies of God and His people - these enemies will be counted among the citizens of the kingdom. They will find a place within the walls of Jerusalem. Those who once were far off will be brought near.
I’d venture to guess that many of us have at least heard stories of what ministry amongst Muslims looks like. We hear stories of those doing ministry in far off places where all these realities come to bear very quickly. Very often for a Muslim to respond to the gospel they must prepare themselves to be counted an enemy of their family. They’re called not only to faith in Christ, but the love of Christ above all things. A love that exposes them to persecution from their own family should they decide to attend a church as a Christian - confess their faith with other Christians.
Knowing this, believe it or not there are those who try to attempt to separate their faith from their confession. If they keep quiet about their faith they can remain with their families. Some go as far as to encourage converts to pray as Christians in the mosques with everyone else so not to bring division. In truth the love of Christ in us cannot be hidden. There is no separating our faith from our supreme love for Christ. There is no separating our faith from our confession. That’s what discipleship is, and as absurd as this notion should sound on the mission field it’s not unique to the mission field. It happens every day in every part of the world - it just comes with different costs.
For us in our own walk as disciples we need to be aware of the same temptation - the temptation to put the love of Christ second to whoever might be closest to us. For some of us in the room we’re extraordinarily blessed to have parents maybe even grand parents who share our faith with us. They recognize they’re not our chief love. They recognize our primary goal is the satisfaction of Christ and not them. Let’s not take that for granted.
On the other hand, there are those of us who have family who will never understand our priorities, and for some there may not be peace. Jesus’ own brothers didn’t believe him. Mark says his own family tried to keep him quiet believing He lost His senses. When we get a taste of that experience let’s remember that we walk in the footsteps of our Savior. That’s what the path of discipleship looks like for many if not most. Let’s not be surprised when putting Christ first in our hearts may cost us peace with those closest to us.
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The good news is that when we put ourselves in the footsteps of Christ - when we put Christ first in our hearts and proclaim Him in our confession- when we’re willing to pick up that cross, we find life, and I must add it’s through that cross we bring life to others! We sustain the work of discipleship that is making disciples.
Following Christ
Following Christ
38 “And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. 39 “He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it.
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Truly this whole passage culminates in these two verses. Much of what Matthew has been saying in his gospel up to this point is preparing for this moment.
For those who are committed to their own glory - those unwilling to to pick up the shame of the cross - they are not worthy to walk with Christ.
John the Baptist is the first to proclaim it calling all of Israel to lay aside their glory and repent.
As Jesus is led out into the wilderness he’s tempted will all the glory of creation and must choose the way of the cross.
Jesus comes to challenge those who would find their glory in their righteousness. He calls them to admit they deserve the cross.
He challenges those who search for glory as they pray on the street corners and blow trumpets as they give to the poor.
And then he goes to those who many would be shamed to come close to you.
He goes to lepers
He goes to the unclean
He goes to the gentile, the tax collectors, and sinners.
All the while preparing the most plain and ordinary of men to advance the kingdom of heaven.
All in all there are two ways to live.
We can live for glory now and the cross later.
or we can can live for the cross now and glory later.
For those who choose glory now they will live in fear of man every day of their lives trying to preserve their reputation, their lives, and their own worth. All in all that preservation will be for nothing and whatever they called life will be lost. They will face the cross in the end.
For those who choose the cross now - for those who live by faith they will know that their life cannot be taken from them. They will have the assurance of their worth as brothers and sisters of Christ who bought them with His own blood. They will know life today and glory eternal in Christ that no ordinary man can know.
It’s in choosing the cross today and all its costs that we gain Christ and the world get’s to see Christ in us!
For our own sakes, lets’ not despise the cross! Let’s not let the glory of the world deprive us of our walk with Christ, but even more so let’s not let the glory of this world keep us from showing Christ to the world.
I truly believe there is little that undermines the work of discipleship more than the pursuit of our own glory. There is little that undermines the advancement of the gospel more than the pursuit of our own glory.
If Christ the King of all creation deserving of all glory honor, and, praise came not to be served but serve, who are we to seek our glory today? We’re called to serve, we’re called to the cross just like our King, and when we answer that call, when Christ is first in our hearts, when Christ is boldly proclaimed that’s when we come to know life in Him. That’s when the kingdom is advanced, and even our enemies come to find life in Him!
For the sake of His name, for the advancement of the gospel, let’s join our Savior and pick up our cross.
Let’s pray.
