Answering Life's Greatest Question, Part 2

Let's pray together. Father, we are grateful for the true work of Calvary's cross. We are grateful, Lord, that we can celebrate a risen Lord. We're thankful, Lord, that we can celebrate new life in Christ. And we thank you, Lord, that we can just celebrate our Lord in a very significant way on this day. We pray that, Lord, you'd open our eyes, that we would truly see glorious things out of your word, that we might learn to walk in obedience to your beautiful name. We pray in the name of our coming King, Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Amen. Turn with me in your Bible, if you would, to Luke chapter 9. We'll continue our study in Luke's gospel, Luke chapter 9. And to be honest with you, I've been looking forward to this specific passage of scripture for many years. That is, since we started studying the book of Luke way back when. And so it's taken me this long to get to this chapter and to these verses. But I must tell you that I have anticipated them for, for many reasons. Let me give you two of them.

One is because, because of the great apostasy in the church. That's one reason. We've been doing a study on Wednesday nights in the, in the epistle of Jude. The probably, probably the most important study any church can undertake at this time in our church's history. Because Jude tells us in verse number four of his epistle, that there are certain persons who have crept in to the church unnoticed. Those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only master and Lord Jesus Christ.

There are people who have crept into the church and they have turned the grace of God into licentiousness. That is, they, they look at God's grace and treat it as disgrace because they want to live as if there is no master, no Lord, no Christ, no law.

And yet they deny, not necessarily in word, but in works, the only master, Jesus Christ, our Lord. Folks, many people have crept in unnoticed in the church. And apostasy is rampant today. And that is a sign of the end times. That is the greatest sign of the end times before the coming of Messiah. Second Thessalonians chapter two, verse number three tells us that there will come a great apostasy, a great defecting, a great turning away from the true God before the Messiah returns.

And so because of the content of Luke chapter nine, verses 18 down through verse number 26, the content helps us weed out those people who have pretended to be among us, but in reality are only professors of Christianity, but not true possessors of Christ. Another reason that I've looked forward to this study in Luke is simply because of the components of Christianity. We're embarking on a study that is going to separate the wheat from the chaff, wheat from the tares. It's going to separate people.

Some of you might even leave because the words are too hard. They're too difficult. Jesus faced that, didn't he? In John chapter six, the words were too difficult to understand. Who can grasp these things? And they turned and walked away because he talked about the components of Christianity. He talked about the hard sayings of the gospel. The verses we're going to cover are not talked about in most churches today because it would empty most churches today. And yet they are the words of Christ. They are the words he spoke concerning true Christianity.

The other words he spoke concerning the components of those who live a life under the Lordship of Christ and want to follow him and serve him, because that is what Christianity is all about. And I'm sure that there will be those of you who will not stay with us because the words are too difficult to understand, too difficult to grasp. You're not going to want to do what Christ has demanded you do, but it is the true gospel and we need to come to grips with it. And so for years, I have looked forward to this particular passage because it gives us the answer to life's most important question, and that is the identity of the Messiah.

And then it gives us an instruction about the centrality of his mission. If you know the Messiah, you understand his mission. And then it gives us a great application as to the reality of the message of what true Christianity is all about. What we're going to cover today and what we covered two weeks ago before Resurrection Sunday and what we will cover over the next several weeks are the essential, the essential issues in Christianity. This is what makes or breaks a person when it comes to saying, yes, I want to give my life to Christ.

Yes, I want to follow Christ. Yes, I am truly committed to him. This is what makes or breaks them right here. And so we need to study it to understand it. So we will spend weeks looking at this passage of scripture. It is so important. Who is the Messiah? That's the question. Who do people say that I am? I'm reminded of the group that went door to door yesterday and they knocked on the door and the question was, who would you say in your own understanding is Jesus Christ? The answer was, he was the man who invented religion.

Folks, everybody has an answer to the question, who is Jesus Christ? There's only one right answer. There are many answers, but only one right answer. And Luke 9 answers that question for us. It is life's most important question. Who is the Messiah? Who is Jesus Christ? Who is this man? Because once you've asked and answered that question, then you can ask and answer the second question, what must I do to be saved?

But you can't ask the second question until you come to an understanding of the first question, who is Jesus Christ?

Who is the man? Who is the Messiah? Who is that individual? And so we've been looking at Luke 9 and we understand the question because the disciples found themselves with the Lord. So 25 miles north of the Sea of Galilee in a place called Caesarea Philippi, the center where paganism and Judaism began to mix. It was a place of satanic worship, a place where there was a pagan idol erected to a pagan god called Pan. And their satanic worship was rampant. And there Philip the Tetrarch had erected a city in the name of Caesar.

So there were many false gods and many false statues that were erected in the name of false gods that the disciples would be walking in and around when Christ would ask the question, by the way, who do men say that I am? We know what they say about the god Pan. We know what they say about the god Caesar. We know what they say about this one and that one and that one. What do they say about me, the son of man? Who do men say that I am? And we told you that Luke has been driving us to this answer. It is the question asked over and over again in Luke's gospel.

We saw last time that even in the last week of our Lord's life in John chapter 12, the same question was asked, who is this son of man? They're still asking the same question after they've already sung his praises, having entered Jerusalem on a donkey, laid down their garments, put palm branches down, saying praises to his name. They're still asking the same question, who is this man? Because that is life's most important question. Who is Jesus Christ? Who is the Messiah? So we ask these men, who do men say that I am?

And the common answer that we've already studied in Luke chapter 9 verses 1 to 7 was the question that Herod was asking, who is this man? Well, some say you're Elijah. Some say you're J.B., man, you're John the Baptist, risen from the dead. Some say you're one of the prophets. In other words, you're a legend, but you're not the Lord. You're great, but you're not God. You're Elijah, but you're not eternal. You're John the Baptist, but you're not Jehovah. You're one of the prophets, but you're not the prophet.

To the Jews, that was a commendation. I mean, after all, if you're John the Baptist, risen from the dead, you're pretty great. If you're one of the prophets, risen from the dead, you're pretty great. If you're Elijah, having come back, well, you're the forerunner to the Messiah, because Malachi 4 says that Elijah will return before the Messiah comes, so you're really, really, really, really, really great, but you're not God. So Christ says, what's the popular opinion?

What do men say? Who do men say that I am? So they give that answer, and they say, well, but what's your personal opinion? Who do you say that I am? Because you see, this separates you from the majority. This is what makes you different than everybody else, and this was their final exam. I told you last time, there was one question on the final exam, this one, this is it. Who do you say that I am? And Peter comes forth with the answer. You are the Christ of God. You are God's anointed one. You are God's Messiah.

That's who you are, and boy, I tell you that, that was the great truth, wasn't it? That was the revelation of God, and the apostles believed in the revelation of God, because in Matthew's account, in fact, if you've got your Bible, turn with me to Matthew chapter 16.

In Matthew's account, it tells us these words. Peter says, thou art the Christ, the son of the living God. Now, that was important, because Matthew records for us the statement, the living God, because they were in a center where there were dead gods, okay, and there were false gods, and Peter's announcement is that you are the Messiah. You are the son, the weos, the one equal in nature and essence of the living God, Peter. And what did Christ say? Christ says, blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.

In other words, you didn't come up with this idea on your own, Peter. No man comes up with this idea on their own. It is a revelation of God to that person to understand the identity of the Messiah. My Father in heaven has revealed this to you, Simon. And then he says this, and I also say to you that you are Peter Petros, and upon this rock, Petra, I will build my church and the gates of Hades shall not overpower it. Now, look, for those of you who have been with us in Caesarea Philippi, you understand why Christ said that in this location.

He said it here because, Peter, you are Peter Petros, a little pebble, a little stone. But upon this rock, Petra, and at the base of the Mount of Hermon, is all solid rock. It's all solid rock. Upon this rock, Petra, I will build my church. I will build my church on that confession that Jesus Christ is the Son of the living God. The church of Jesus Christ is built on the identity of the Messiah. You enter the church of Christ when you understand who the Messiah truly is and thus submit to the lordship of that master.

That's Christianity. And upon this rock, Petra, I will build my church. It's in Caesarea Philippi, you are either a Roman Catholic or you are a genuine Christian. You can't be both. You're one or the other. Because the Catholic church teaches that the church is built on Peter, but it's not. It's built on the confession of Jesus Christ, our Lord, the Son of the living God. And then he says, and Peter, to you, I give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Keys are that which open the door, right? They give you the authority to open the door, to give you access to heaven.

What is the only access to heaven? Jesus Christ. He's the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes into the father but by me, right? Jesus Christ is that one access to heaven. There's one mediator between God and man, the man, Christ Jesus. He says, Peter, now you have the keys because Peter would be the one who would open the door to the Gentile world. Read the book of Acts. He's the one who opens the door to the Gentile world because they understand now through this confession that Jesus Christ is the Messiah of God, the Messiah of Israel, and can be the Messiah of any man who believes in the identity of Jesus Christ.

That's why he says, whatever you bound in heaven will be bound on earth, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. In other words, you can tell a man, listen, you can tell a man his sins are forgiven based on how he identifies the Messiah. You can tell somebody, yes, you are loose from your sins because you understand who the Messiah is, and therefore you believe in his name. Or you can tell somebody, you have the authority to say, no, you are still bound in your sins because you do not understand who Jesus Christ is.

You don't understand who the Messiah is, his person, his work, therefore you're still bound in your sins. That's what Christ says to Peter in Caesarea Philippi.

Same account in Luke chapter 9. Matthew just gives us more of the details. So that's the question. It centers around the identity of the Messiah. Who do men say that I am? But better yet, who do you say that I am? That's important. Then you move to the instruction. That's point number two.

This is what we haven't covered. The instruction deals with the centrality of his mission. Christ says in Luke chapter 9, these words, but he warned them and instructed them not to tell this to anyone.

Tell what? Matthew tells us. Matthew chapter 16 tells us, verse 20, then he warned the disciples that they should tell no one that he was the Christ or the Messiah. Mark's account in Mark chapter 8 states it this way. And he warned them to tell no one about him. And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed after three days rise again. And he was stating the matter plainly, or in other words, openly, or in other words, this is what you can't conceal.

You must speak about, listen, the centrality of the mission of that Messiah. And that details the necessity of the cross. He must suffer. He must die. It's an absolute necessity. And the Bible says in the book of Matthew, as Matthew records it, from that time, Jesus Christ began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and be raised up on the third day and then it says, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him saying, God forbid it, Lord.

This shall never happen to you. Peter now, Peter has a purpose. And that purpose is not the same purpose as God's purpose. Peter, Peter, sorry, Peter, having already made this great confession, thinking that he is, you know, on the good side of the Lord, he's made this great statement now.

He now feels his oats and says, hey, you know what, Lord, this is not going to happen to you. You're the Messiah. See, the reason Christ said, don't tell anybody I'm the Messiah, I'm the Christ is because they did not understand the identity of Messiah. They thought he'd be some political military ruler. That's why in John chapter six, that in the feeding of the 5,000, they wanted to take him and force him to be their king. Because after all, if he can do this for this many people, he can be our ruler.

He can be our king. Let's make him Jesus, our king. So they didn't understand the identity of the Messiah. So Christ tells them about the centrality of his mission. This is his instruction. You must tell them about the necessity of the cross. You must tell them that the son of man must suffer. He must die. He will rise again. Peter says, wait a minute, Lord, that's not going to happen. That's not going to happen. Forbid it, Lord. Lord, you don't understand your own mission. Lord, you've made a mistake.

You don't get it. And listen to what Jesus says. He turned and said to Peter, get behind me, Satan. You are a stumbling block to me, for you are not studying your mind on God's interest with man's. You can only think about yourself, Peter. You're not thinking about the mission of God. That's a lot like Christians today, right? All they can think about is their own mission, their own plans, their own purposes. And when God's mission doesn't fit into their plans, they think that God has made a mistake.

He said the wrong thing. He didn't say it the right way. And Christ says, get behind me, Satan. Now, remember, Caesarea Philippi is a center of satanic worship. And so, listen, even the best of Christians can be used by Satan to detract you from the true mission that God's called you to accomplish. Did you know that? They can. And Peter was used by Satan because Satan's objective was to keep Christ from what? The cross. That's what the Temptation in the Wilderness was all about way back in Luke chapter four.

That's what the Garden of Gethsemane will be about when Satan begins to come at him at that time as well. He wants to keep him from the cross because Satan knows prophecy. He knows Genesis 315. He knows that's where his head is going to be crushed. He knows that. So, he uses any person in any way possible to sidetrack Christ from the mission, the centrality of his mission, to go to the cross and die. Christ says to Peter, get behind me, Satan.

Be gone. Because you don't have in mind the things of God. You only have in mind the things of man. Now, folks, listen, Jesus would talk about this cross over and over and over again. In Luke chapter nine, same chapter we're in, if you're still there, or maybe you're in Matthew 16, go back to Luke chapter nine, verse 43. They were all amazed at the greatness of God. Why? Well, remember, in Luke nine, they go to the Mount of Transfiguration. Our Lord unveils His flesh, and Peter, James, and John see the glory of the Lord.

And then they come down from the mountain, and there's a man with a son demon-possessed, and the disciples are unable to cast out the demon. Now, remember, they've already been empowered to cast out demons. They've already done that. In Luke chapter nine, they're going to find themselves unable to cast out a demon from a young boy demon-possessed. Christ comes down from the mountain. This man, this father, comes to Christ and says, your disciples were unable to do this. And Christ rebukes them by saying, oh, unbelieving generation, how long shall I be with you, and yet you still not believe?

And he cast the demon out, and the people are all wondering at the greatness of God. So now the roller coaster man is going strong again, and Christ has to bring his men back. Got to bring them back to reality, says these words. But while everyone was marveling at all that he was doing, he said to his disciples, let these words sink into your ears. Listen up, don't miss it. For the son of man is going to be delivered into the hands of men. Mark's account in Mark chapter nine states it this way. And from there they went out and began to go through Galilee, and he was unwilling for anyone to know about it, for he was teaching his disciples and telling them the son of man is to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him.

And when he has been killed, he will rise three days later. So now we understand. He says the exact same thing. He said earlier, Luke, he said the son of man is to be killed. First of all, it was the necessity of the cross.

Now it is the certainty of the cross. This is the way it's going to happen. Believe me, it's going to happen. Let your mind think on these things. You've got to listen.

You have to understand it because the swell is great. The people are already giving glory to God. They think that the Messiah is going to come and deliver them from Roman oppression. Let me draw you back to reality.

I will suffer. I will die, and I will rise again. Now listen to what happens next in Luke nine. But they did not understand the statement, and it was concealed from them so that they might not perceive it. And they were afraid to ask him about this statement. Why were they afraid to ask him? Why were they afraid to ask him? You know why? Because they still had in mind their own purposes. How do we know that? The last time Peter took him aside and rebuked him, Jesus goes into this long discourse that we're going to cover in Luke nine.

If any man come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me. And they didn't want to have nothing to do with that. They don't want him going off on that tangent again. They don't want to hear that sermon again. They're afraid to even say anything. And yet in Mark's account and in Luke's account, it follows with this statement. And an argument arose among them as to which of them might be the greatest. See, that's why they didn't want to ask the question. Who's got time to die?

We're too worried about being great. And that was the argument. In Mark's account, they were on their way to Capernaum, and they were arguing about who was the greatest. And when they come to a house in Capernaum, presumably Peter's house, Christ knows what they were saying. He says, what were you guys talking about on the way? And they wouldn't even tell him. They were afraid to even speak up. And you can imagine the conversation. Peter's already saying, I'm the greatest because I got the greatest confession.

You already heard what I said. And I know I'm the greatest. And James and John, the sons of thunder, they said, wait a minute, Peter, we're on the Mount of Transfiguration as well. We were right there with Jesus. We saw the glory of the Lord. Don't think that you're better than we are. We saw Moses and Elijah on the Mount of Transfiguration too. You're not any better than us, Peter. And so you can imagine what the other men were thinking too. And so there arose this great argument among these men.

And Jesus knows what they're arguing about. He's just spoken about the cross. I'm going to die. And all they can be concerned about is their own personal welfare. It's all about them. They are as narcissistic as we are. It's all about them. That's all you can think about. And so Jesus teaches them about humility in the preceding verses. So he goes from the necessity of the cross to the certainty of the cross, all the way back to Luke chapter 18, to talk about the brutality of the cross. And it says, verse 31, and he took the 12 aside and said to them, behold, we are going up to Jerusalem and all things which are written through the prophets about the son of man will be accomplished for he will be delivered to the Gentiles and will be mocked and mistreated and spit upon.

And after they have scourged him, they will kill him. And the third day he will rise again. Now you have the brutality of the cross. Our Lord wanted them to understand this cross was a necessity. It was a certainty and the brutality of that cross needed to be seen before these men so they would understand what was going to happen. And the Bible says in Luke 18, and they understood none of these things.

And this saying was hidden from them. And they did not comprehend the things that were said. And that's why in Luke's account, what follows is the opening of the eyes of blind Bartimaeus, because there was a man in Jericho who needed to see just like these men needed to see the reality of the cross. Folks, listen, there is one thing that Christ wanted to be remembered for. And it wasn't the miracles he performed or the messages he preached. It was his death. That's why in first Corinthians 11, he says, as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you do proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.

That's why the Lord's supper is a memorial to the death of Christ. Folks, this is the centrality of the mission of the Messiah. Go all the way back to Exodus chapter 3. All the way back to Exodus chapter 3. And God says to Moses, I'm coming down and I'm going to deliver my people.

I've heard their cry. I am going to come down. I'm going to deliver them. I'm going to redeem them because that's who I am. And Moses says, well, who am I going to say sent me? What is your name? He says, you tell him, I am sent you. I am that I am. Those four Hebrew consonants that make it the name of God. The Tetragrammaton. And then he says in Exodus chapter 3, verse number 15, these words, this is my memorial name. This is how I am to be remembered. I am a redeemer and I am a deliverer. Never forget it.

That's why the Jews celebrate Passover. It was commanded by God. You celebrate Passover all the time, every year. Why? Because you can never forget that the Lord God of Israel is a redeemer, is a deliverer, is a savior. The memorial name of God. What Gentiles call Jehovah. What we call Yahweh. Those four Hebrew consonants make up the name, the memorial name of God, that he is a redeemer and that he is a deliverer. And that's why when Christ came and took the third cup at Passover and said, now I am going to transform this cup into the new covenant in my blood.

Because this is how he wanted to be remembered from generation to generation until he comes again. And when he comes again in the millennial kingdom of Christ, this is exactly why we will celebrate the feast of Israel. Because all those feasts pointed as a symbol to the Messiah of Israel. And all during the millennium, those feasts celebrated, celebrate the one who fulfilled every single promise. And when you die and end up going to heaven, you will do what the four living creatures do around the throne of God and they will say what?

Worthy is the lamb that was slain. Folks, this is how he wants to be remembered. The lamb of God used 28 times in the book of Revelation is his memorial name. It's his apocalyptic name. That's how he's going to be remembered. He will always be the lamb that was slain before the foundation of the world. This is the centrality of his mission. This is what it's all about. It's about the death of the Messiah. For without that death, there is no redemption and our Lord is a redeemer. And therefore we must come to grips with the centrality of his mission.

That's why one third of the synoptic gospels and one half of John's gospel deal with the last week of the life of our Lord.

It is a central issue in his mission. He's a redeemer. He's a savior. This is how he must be remembered. But never once did he talk about the necessity of the cross, the certainty of the cross, and the brutality of the cross without mentioning the victory of the cross. I will rise again three days later. That's the victory of the cross. See? But the disciples missed that. They didn't hear it. It's like you go to the doctor and the doctor says, you got cancer. Oh, I got cancer. You don't hear anything else.

I got the C word, man. I got cancer. I'm going to die. You don't hear what else he has to say about what's going to happen next. All they can hear is, oh, my Messiah is going to die. I don't want to hear anything else. Don't tell me. I don't want to hear anything. Don't say anything else, Lord. Don't want to talk about the death thing. So they forgot. Didn't listen.

But I will rise again three days later. They missed that. They didn't want to hear anything about a dead Messiah. And yet it was central to his mission. This was his instruction. This is what it's all about. Shock of all shocks. But it's the absolute truth. Folks, this is absolutely central to understanding Christianity. The identity of the Messiah, the centrality of his mission, the person and work of the Messiah is absolutely essential for anybody to be saved. But then, listen, then comes the reality of the message.

And that is the application to what takes place. When Jesus says these words, if you're still in turn back there with me if you would, please.

Verse 23. And he was saying to them all, if anyone wishes to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it. But whoever loses his life for my sake, he is the one who will save it. For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself or literally his soul? Folks, this is the reality now of the message. This is the application to the identity of the Messiah and the centrality of his mission.

And now comes the reality or the responsibility that we have in light of that message. Folks, this is the gospel. Luke 9 23 is the gospel in one verse. This is the gospel. This is what Christ preached. He preached the cross. He wanted people to understand what it meant to follow him. So much so that at the very end, right before his crucifixion, you can read about it in the gospels, Simon of Cyrene was compelled to come out of the crowd and to carry the cross beam as he would follow the Messiah to Calvary's Calvary's hill.

Because it became a living illustration of what it meant to follow Christ. The cross bearer. Simon of Cyrene had no idea that when he arrived that day in Jerusalem, that he would be compelled to carry that cross. But he was. And that was the living illustration of all that Jesus said for three years. He kept telling them, if any man come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily and follow me. In Luke chapter 14, we'll read about it in weeks to come, months to come, maybe even years to come.

Who knows? Luke chapter 14. It says this, now great multitudes were going along with him and he turned and said to them, if anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. The multitudes were following after him and they were wondering what was going to happen next. And Jesus says, oh, it's so good to have you here.

But understand this is what it's all about. If you want to come after me, you must take up your cross. You must deny yourself and follow me. To follow me is never going to be easy. To follow me is going to be extremely difficult, but this is what it's about. I want you to come. That's why he gives a parable about counting the cost. Here's the cost. It's going to cost you what? Everything you own, everything you have, every relationship you've encountered, even your very own life. And folks, most people just don't want to give those things up.

They don't want to give them up. I told you last time. Why is it people don't want to give it up? Because they value, they value simply this. They value temporary recognition over eternal redemption. We learned about that in John chapter 12. They want the approval of man more than they want the approval of God. They value temporary recognition over eternal redemption. And Jesus says, very simply, men, here are the components of Christianity.

This is what it's all about. You got to follow me. The weeks ahead, we're going to tell you about that. We're going to tell you very simply, as John R. Stott has said, if, if the cross of Christ is not central to your religion, yours is not the Christianity of Christ. Simple as that. If the cross of Christ is not central to your religion, then yours is not the Christianity of the gospel. It's just not. So let me briefly state it this way to you.

Here's your application. Here's the reality of the message. Simply this, very quickly, the cross is universal. If any man, if anyone, it's universal. It's across the board. If you want to follow Christ, the cross you will bear not monthly, not yearly, daily, daily. The cross is universal. The cross is perpetual, continual, daily, moment by moment, day by day, week by week, month by month, year by year. It is something that's perpetual. It's not a one-time occurrence. It's not the initiation fee into the kingdom.

I bear my cross to get into the kingdom and then I'm free. No, you continually bear the cross daily. That's Christianity. That's what it's about. How can we expect our Savior, our Messiah, to give His life away and we give nothing? Can't. That's what the Bible teaches. The cross of Christ is simply the demands are universal. It's for every man. It's continual. It's daily. Number three, I'll let you know, it's brutal.

It is absolutely brutal. Not because, listen carefully, not because of the physical affliction that happens to you outwardly, but because of what happens to you inwardly. It's brutal because of what happens inside you. Remember, the brutality of the cross was not so much the physical sufferings of our Lord, but the suffering He had when He was separated from His Father in heaven for those three hours of darkness on the cross, that inner struggle that He had. That's why the garden of Gethsemane was as strenuous as it was, that He would sweat great drops of blood because of the inner turmoil that would take place in His life.

And the demands of the cross, universal. They're across the board. If any man, if any one, not certain ones, it is continual. It's daily. It's brutal because of what takes place inside of a man, but also it's intentional. It is absolutely intentional as well as volitional. Why? Because our Lord voluntarily left the glories of heaven and came to this earth to die for sinful man. And God doesn't take a cross and strap it to your back and say, okay, now there, you're mine. Don't do that. It's something that the Christian intentionally does because of His great love for the Messiah.

It's intentional, but it's also mortal. It's mortal. Because you have to die to yourself. It's a death to self-importance. It's death to self-satisfaction. It's death to self-absorption. It's death to self-advancement. It's death to self-dependence. The cross of Christ is universal. It is continual. It is brutal. It is intentional. It is mortal, but it is the only life that is beneficial. It is the only life that is beneficial. Because remember the words of Peter over in Luke chapter 18. The rich young ruler had come to Christ, asked the question, good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?

And Christ says, you gotta be willing to give it all up. That's crossbearing. You gotta deny yourself. You gotta want me more than you want the things of the world. He wouldn't want to do that. And Peter says these words, verse 28, behold, we have left our own and followed you. We've left it all and followed you. In other words, it's almost like a question, Lord, we've left it all. What's in it for us? And Christ says these words, truly I say to you, there is no one, no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God, who shall not receive many times as much at this time and in the age to come eternal life.

Life. The beneficial portion of the cross is the fraternity, the fraternity that the cross brings. Unlike any other family, the spiritual family is so much more richer than the natural family. It is. I've seen it over and over again. People who have left it all, who have demonstrated the fact they must leave father, mother, brother, sister. And to feel in this place, Christ Community Church, the fraternity of the family of God and the joy that comes in the many mothers and brothers and fathers and sisters that they have received because they left natural family to be a part of God's wonderful kingdom family.

Now, the Bible speaks very clearly about the peace that God gives you that nobody else can give when you enter his family. And you receive many more times in this life. In this life, he says, what you get here is much more than what you have here when you follow me and give it up all, give it all up for me. And also in the life to come, the eternity you have with me so far outweighs what you have right here. See, that's why people don't want to follow Christ. They value temporal recognition over eternal redemption.

That is the answer to the question, why isn't my family member saved? Why isn't my husband or wife saved? Why isn't my best friend saved? It's because they want something temporal. They want temporal recognition, temporal applause as opposed to eternal redemption. Now, some of you will say, what I'm hearing today I've never heard before. How come I've never heard it in another church before? How come other preachers don't preach like this? How come we haven't heard this before? We can go to another church and feel really good when we go.

We can go to another church and be happy when we leave. We come to Christ Community Church and you talk about a universal cross. You talk about a brutal cross. You talk about a mortal cross. I don't want to hear that. Just like the disciples, I don't want to hear that. I don't want to hear it. A.W. Tozer way back in 1947, I think it was, told us why many years ago. He simply said that in Christianity there are two crosses. The cross of religion and the cross of Christ. He says these words, the cross where Jesus died became also the cross where his apostles died.

The loss, the rejection and the shame belong both to Christ and to all who in very truth are his. The cross that saved them also slays them. And anything short of this is a pseudo faith and not true faith at all. But what are we to say when the great majority of our evangelical leaders walk not as crucified men, but as those who accept the world at its own value, rejecting only its grosser elements? How can we face him who was crucified and slain when we see his followers accepted and praised? Yet they preach the cross and protest loudly that they are true believers.

Are there then two crosses? And did Paul mean one thing and they another? I fear that it is so, that there are two crosses, the old cross and the new. And then he explains it. He says the cross of popular evangelicalism is not the cross of the New Testament. It is rather a new bright ornament upon the bosom of self-assured and carnal Christianity, whose hands are indeed the hands of Abel, but whose voice is the voice of Cain. The old cross slew men. The new cross entertains men. The old cross condemned.

The new cross amuses. The old cross destroyed confidence in the flesh. The new cross encourages confidence in the flesh. The old cross brought tears and blood. The new cross brings laughter. The flesh, smiling and confident, preaches and sings about the cross. Before the cross it bows and toward the cross it points with carefully staged historonics. But upon that cross it will not die and the reproach of that cross it stubbornly refuses to bear. I will know how many smooth arguments can be marshaled in support of the new cross.

Does not the new cross win converts and make many followers and so carry the advantage of numerical success? Should we not adjust ourselves to the changing times? Have we not heard the new slogan, new days, new ways? And who but someone very old and very conservative would insist upon death as he appointed way to life? And who today is interested in a gloomy mysticism that would sentence its flesh to a cross and recommend self-effacing humility as a virtue actually to be practiced by modern Christians?

These are the arguments along with many more flip it still which are brought forward to give an appearance of wisdom to the hallow and meaningless cross of popular Christianity. Doubtless there are many whose eyes are open to the tragedy of our times, but why are they so silent when their testimony is so sorely needed? In the name of Christ men have made void the cross of Christ. Men have fashioned a golden cross with a graving tool and before it they sit down to eat and drink and rise up to play.

In their blindness they have submitted or substituted the work of their own hands for the working of God's power. Perhaps our greatest present need may be the coming of a prophet to dash the stones at the foot of the mountain and call the church out to repentance or to judgment. I propose that this church be that prophet to call people to true repentance, to call them to understand the components of true Christianity. Oh yes, you'll hear something else somewhere else you will, but here you will hear the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

Let's pray. Father we thank you for this day and the opportunity we had to study the truth of the gospel, our prayer. Father our hearts and hearts and eyes would be open to the reality of the message of the cross and we would be those prophets who would stand strong on the truth of Christianity, helping people to understand what the gospel really says about what it means to be a follower of Christ. That's the call to Christ, come and follow me. That's the call of Christianity, to follow the one who is a savior of man.

May we be those people and may we speak loudly concerning the truth of God. In Jesus name we pray, amen.