The Components of Christianity, Part 1

Thank you choir, let's pray together Our most gracious heavenly father what a joy it is for us to study your perfect word We pray Lord that as we have the opportunity to open up the Word of God and to look at the pages of Scripture We would see the truth of the gospel and we would understand the reality of saving grace And father we would come to grips with your identity that we might serve you fully and live a life that brings glory and honor To your name may we understand that the life of Christ is the only life that matters and may we learn to follow Jesus Christ Our Lord and Savior we pray in Jesus name Amen Turn me in your Bible if you would to Luke chapter 9 Luke chapter 9 I've had many many weeks even years to reflect upon this particular passage And coming to this realization that if I had one opportunity to preach one sermon, this would be the passage I would use If I had one opportunity to preach to the world, this would be the sermon If I had one opportunity to go on TV and preach a message This would be the message it would be on this text and this text alone And the reason for that is because this is the core of the message of Jesus This is what Jesus came to present This is the true essence of the gospel These verses consist of the components of true genuine Christianity and so therefore it's imperative that people who want to know what it means to follow Christ understand what that truly means Well to understand that then you must come to understand and come to grips with the message that Jesus would preach Not just on some obscure passage, but all throughout his ministry And I'm afraid that there are many people who miss the fact that all throughout the ministry of Christ This was the central core of his message and this morning.

We're going to help you see that Let me read to you the verses that we're going to cover this week and over the next several weeks as we begin to unfold these beautiful principles that Christ Preached it says this verse 23 of Luke 9 And he was saying to them all if anyone wishes to come after me Let him deny himself and take of 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 the man profited if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?

For whoever is ashamed of me and my words of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the Holy Angels But I say to you truthfully there are some of those standing here who should not taste death until they see the kingdom of God those verses are at the center of the ministry of Jesus they are the core of the message of Jesus those verses are the true Gospel and Therefore we will need to unfold them for you in weeks to come So we might come to grips with the words that Jesus speaks Walter Chantry has written a book called in the shadow of the cross in that book.

He says these words Your master's life was dominated by a cross He has called you also to a life with a cross This clear gospel note is so easy to forget in flabby Western society With a great chorus of custom advertisement and temptation. This world is beckoning you to a life of self-indulgence Your flesh is drawn to that appeal and will fall in with the world's suggestions But the Lord of glory has called you to a life of self-denial to a life of the cross He then says these words It is this most obvious aspect of our Lord's teaching which has been forgotten or ignored by modern evangelism Anxious to bring sinners to life peace and join the Lord Evangelists have failed even to mention that Christ insists upon denial of self at the outset Having failed to pass on our Lord's Requirement and forgetting it themselves evangelists have never questioned whether their converts with self-centered lives Are true followers of Christ Assuming that it is possible for a man to be self-indulgent and yet heaven-bound Bible teachers look for some way to bring egocentric men to a higher spiritual plane Then self-denial is taught as the requirement for a second work of grace But our text will show that unless a man lives a life of self-denial.

He has not received a first work of grace Those who save texts demanding the cross for quote the deeper life have cheated their hearers in evangelism without a cross There is no following Christ without following Christ There is no life at all He's right Jesus says at the outset if any man comes after me he must deny Himself Self-denial is absolutely Essential when it comes to following Christ You can't be self-indulgent and follow Christ you can't be self-absorbed and Follow Christ you can't be about you and follow Christ You just can't because Christianity listen carefully is a ministry of giving not getting But we have presented Christ in such a way that he is like the little genie that that gives us what we want We have heard the message so often that you know, if if you need a better marriage give your life to Christ If you need health give your life to Christ if you need Wealth give your life to Christ because if you rub him properly He will give you what you want If you're sick, it must be because you lack faith if you are in debt It must be because you haven't named it nor have you claimed it And that becomes the message we hear all the time and yet that's not the message of the gospel It involves self-denial at that point the true gospel is Automatically set at odds against the modern gospel You must deny yourself You must take up your cross daily and you must follow me Christianity is a call to follow Christ That's what Christianity is Christians are followers of Christ They follow in his footsteps And the call to saving grace is a fall is a call to following the God Who gives that grace?

You follow him and you serve him and you live for him And yet that doesn't seem to be the message today In fact, if you preach that it's really not a very good market driven kind of message And how does that fit with today's modern evangelical gospel What happened as to why everything turned and and and for years things have been the other way Paul said way back in in 2nd Timothy chapter 3 that in the end Grievous times will come And they'll be characterized by this that men will be lovers of themselves Rather than lovers of God So Paul understood that not only in his day man loved himself But in the growing apostasy that would come over the succeeding generations Men would become more and more in love with themselves And that has now become The impetus behind the seeker friendly movement There was a book written in 1982 A book written by a man that all of us know he's on tv every week His name is robert schuler That book was entitled self-esteem the new reformation In that book he says these words He says it is precisely At this point that classical theology has aired in its insistence that theology be god-centered and not man-centered Mr.

Schuler believes that theology needs to be centered on man and not on god He says these words and I quote This master plan of god is designed around the deepest needs of human beings self-dignity self-respect self-worth and self-esteem In mr. Schuler's mind The pearl of great price is genuine self-respect and self-esteem In this book he says if we follow god's plan As faithfully as we can we will feel good about ourselves And then he says god needs you and me to help create a society of self-esteeming People Is that what we're supposed to be doing helping people feel good about themselves look at themselves and have self-respect and Self-dignity is that what the gospel is all about when jesus said very clearly if a man come after me Let him deny himself and take of his cross and follow me the new reformation Is to wipe out the classic god-centered historic theology and replace it with a man-centered psychological self-esteem without Theology thus making everything in the bible and the gospel work toward helping people feel Better about themselves.

That's the new reformation Further, mr. Schuler says god's ultimate objective is to turn you And me into self-confident persons Excuse me, I thought god's purpose was to conform us to the image of his son And then he says once a person believes He is an unworthy sinner It is doubtful if he can really honestly accept the saving grace God offers in christ Now mr. Schuler Is the person Who set in motion the modern day seeker friendly? movement the number one disciple of robert schuler was bill hybels Who now pastors in willow creek?

church in illinois And that movement has swept the nation A movement that is designed to help people feel good about themselves To be self-confident To realize they have dignity and worth in and of themselves And yet that flies in the face of the message that jesus himself preached about following him That's why we say The modern day gospel has become what you can get Not about what you can give And christianity is all about giving God the father sent his son to give his life away In the giving of his life you now give your life to him In giving your life to him because he gave his life for you.

You now give your life away to others That's the essence of christianity. It's the essence of giving your life away, but modern day Evangelicalism says no christianity is about getting from god getting health getting wealth getting success Getting self-confident getting self-esteem But that's not the gospel that jesus himself preached one author Said this prayer Lord high and holy meek and lowly. Let me learn by paradox that the way down is the way up That to be low is to be high That the broken heart is the healed heart That the contrite spirit is a rejoicing spirit that the repenting soul is the victorious soul that to have nothing is to possess everything That to bear the cross is to wear the crown and to give is to receive Let me find thy light in my darkness thy joy in my sorrow thy grace in my sin Thy riches in my poverty thy glory in my valley thy life in my death Thy life in my death Yes, that's exactly right You see the gospel is not about satisfying me it's about slaying me There's a big difference And people don't come to grips with the reality of what jesus himself has said We want to exalt ourselves But the bible speaks against exalting yourself It speaks of humbling yourself under the mighty hand of god himself We want to honor ourselves The bible speaks about honoring christ and glorifying his name and so you win by losing you live by dying And this is the heart of the message of jesus And I want to show you this morning that this has become the main emphasis of his message all throughout the gospel It's not just a little bit here a little bit there.

This is the essence of his message And yet very few churches preach this message You don't hear it on tv. You don't hear it on the radio. You don't see it in books because they don't sell It But it is the gospel And so let me show you in the bible Where this passage in luke 9 is not just some obscure passage But really the heart and soul of the message of jesus.

So turn back with me if you would to matthew chapter 10 Matthew chapter 10 It will pick up the narrative in verse number 32 it says Everyone therefore who shall confess me before men. I will also confess him before my father who is in heaven But whoever shall deny me before men. I will also deny him before my father who is in heaven Now this becomes very essential to what the message of christ really is That is the message of christ is about confessing him before men If you deny him before men he will deny you before your father who is in heaven this became so axiomatic to the church This became such a core issue in the church That it was one of the faithful sayings that paul spoke of in second timothy chapter 2 verses 11 to 15 And we call in first timothy second timothy and the book of titus.

There are five faithful sayings or five trustworthy sayings Five statements all that the early church believed and held dear to Because they were true and everyone knew them and everyone believed in them And paul would say these words in second timothy 2 Verses 11 to 13 for if and since we did die with him we shall live with him If we endure we shall also reign with him if we deny him He will also deny us if we are faithless he remains faithful for he cannot deny himself That's in essence what jesus said in matthew chapter 10 also in mark chapter 8 also in luke chapter 9 And the point being is that if we are faithless It's not that christ is faithful to us amidst the fact that we are faithless No, that's not what the bible says the bible says if we are faithless christ is faithful not to deny himself And that is he cannot deny what he has said and that is if you deny me I will deny you God is faithful to his word And to a man who is faithless god is faithful to keep his word to deny him before his father was in heaven That was the core belief of the early church.

They held dear to that And they did because of what jesus said in matthew chapter 10 If you confess me before men, I will confess you before my father who is in heaven But if you deny me before men, I will then deny you before my father who is in heaven and then jesus says these words Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth.

I did not come to bring peace but a sword And then he says 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 And a man's enemies will be the members of his household folks, listen People say come to christ and and god will heal your marriage No, come to christ and your house will be divided That's what jesus said He came to bring a sword And the enemies that you will have will be the members of your very house If they don't give their life to christ they become Listen carefully your number one arch enemy Those closest to you So much so that jesus goes on to say that in the end times during the tribulation people During the tribulation time the people that will turn against you will be the members of your house And turn you into the authorities so that you will be executed He goes on to say these words He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me He who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me and he who does not take his cross And follow after me is not worthy of me He who has found his life shall lose it and he who has lost his life for my sake shall find it So again, jesus says the exact same thing now We know that the cross is an instrument of death.

Everybody who heard jesus say that understood those words That a cross was an instrument Of death And to follow christ You have to abandon yourself You have to turn your back on those things That are dear to you. Why? Listen carefully because you value jesus christ More than you value son or daughter brother or sister husband or wife mother-in-law daughter-in-law Anybody else because you value jesus christ above everything Folks that's crucial Because that's the message that jesus why do you think people turned away and didn't want to walk with him anymore?

Because the things he said were too hard to digest for for natural man He didn't they didn't want to be a part of that turn to mark chapter 10 Again not an isolated message of jesus. It was the heart and center of his message mark chapter 10 Verse 17 and as he was studying out on a journey a man ran up to him and knelt before him and began asking him good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? Great question, right? What shall I do to inherit eternal life and jesus said to him? Why do you call me good?

No one is good except god alone Only god is good You can't call me good unless you recognize me as god If you recognize me as god, then you will bow before me and do everything that I say Because men who see christ as god obey him and submit to him and do everything that he says They follow him so jesus says You know the commandments do not murder do not commit adultery do not steal do not bear false witness do not defraud honor your father and mother He said teacher I have kept all these things from my youth Up i've done that Folks this man is self-righteous.

Oh, by the way, that's the worst of all sins self-righteousness Because as long as you are self-righteous, you don't need god's righteousness And he was self-righteous. So jesus said Looking at him felt love for him and said one thing you lack just one You only lack one thing go and sell all you possess and give it to the poor and you shall have treasure in heaven and come Follow me. The essence is you got to follow me but If you don't follow me it's because you're an idolater You value something more than me You value your possessions more than me You must be willing to give everything you have for me or you can't follow me And you know what the bible says it says But at these words his face fell and he went away grieved for he was one who owned much property He was an idolater There was something more important to him than jesus Folks listen You cannot become a christian If there is something you value more than jesus Because that is a thing you will worship That's the thing you will honor And you won't honor christ And christ is seeking true worshipers those who worship him in spirit and in truth And he demands that you bow before him and submit to his authority if you're unwilling to do that You can't get saved You can't become a christian verse 23 And jesus looking around said to his disciples how hard It will be for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of god And The disciples were amazed at his words, but jesus answered again and said to him children How hard is it or it is to enter the kingdom of god?

Jesus says I want to let you know something. It is not easy to become a christian It is not easy to enter the kingdom of god why because you are fighting against yourself Your self-fulfillment human fallenness admires itself And as long as self sits on the throne as long as you value something more than you value christ it is Absolutely hard to enter the kingdom of god you can't get there disciples say Or christ says it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of god Now you read commentaries on that verse and they will take you to israel And those of you who have been to israel with me as we walk off the temple mount our guide will say to us Okay, this little portion here is the eye of the needle that jesus referred to in the book of mark That it's easier for a camel to get through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to get into the kingdom of god And I have to correct him because that is not the truth What jesus said is absolutely true Can a camel get through the eye of a needle the answer is no Nothing can except some little piece of thread Can a rich man into the kingdom of god if as rich as ours god?

No You can't You cannot give your life to christ Unless you realize that jesus christ is the most valuable possession in the world If you value something else more than you value christ You forfeit christianity Because you're not willing to lose your life To gain christ you want to keep your life and jesus says if you keep your life You lose it That's what jesus said Folks, I don't make this stuff up I don't come up with my own theology.

This is what jesus said And so if you go on and you read throughout the scriptures the bible says these words in luke chapter nine Luke chapter 9 verse number 57 And as they were going along the road someone said to him I will follow you wherever you go And jesus said to him the foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests But the son of man has nowhere to lay his head Listen, if you follow me understand you'll have nothing Today's gospel says if you follow jesus, you'll have everything you'll have health you'll have wealth you have success You have prosperity you have a good marriage.

You have obedient kids. Just follow jesus Jesus says if you follow me you have no place to lay your head And so It says in verse 59 and he said to another follow me, but he said permit me first to go and bury my father Why?

Well, he just heard what jesus said to the other guy And so he says well first, let me permit to go and bury my father Why now his father wasn't dead yet?

But when he dies he'll receive the inheritance once he receives the inheritance It makes no difference if the other guy has no place to lay his head At least he'll have a place to lay his head because they'll have money to stay in a hotel or some in some place see And jesus says to him Allow the dead to bury their own dead But as for you go and proclaim everywhere the kingdom of god Another also said I will follow you lord, but first permit me to say goodbye to those at home But jesus said to him no one having put his hand to the plow And looking back is fit for the kingdom of god.

Those are the deterrence to discipleship They're the deterrence to true christianity materialism egotism passivism and sentimentalism They keep you from coming to christ Let me first go home first.

No No, no man having put his hand to the plow and looking back is fit for the kingdom of god ask lot's wife She looked back In fact over in luke chapter 17. It says these words Luke 17 Verse 33 whoever seeks to keep his life shall lose it and whoever loses his life shall preserve it same words But he said in verse 32 the verse before that remember lot's wife why because lot's wife looked back Lot's wife left sodom Physically but didn't leave it mentally emotionally and spiritually her heart was in sodom She couldn't bear that her god would be destroyed And god said don't look back She looked back She looked back And the bible says remember her Because if you want to keep your life You will lose it You have to be willing to lose your life for my sake And then you will have eternal life This is the message of jesus matthew mark luke even in luke chapter 14 Jesus says these words If anyone verse number 26 comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children 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 folks This is the heart of his message over and over and over and over again. He says the exact same thing Even over in john chapter 12 In john's gospel when those greeks had come to philip and said sir We wish to see jesus and philip brought him to andrew and andrew brought him to jesus Jesus says the hour has come for the son of man to be glorified verse 24 Truly truly I say to you unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies it remains by itself alone But if it dies it bears much fruit Excuse me.

He who loves his life Loses it And he who hates his life in this world shall keep it to eternal life If anyone serves me let him follow me and where I am there shall my servant also be If anyone serves me the father will honor him Folks that is the heart of the message One of us did it this way I am convinced That the popular evangelist evangelist evangelistic message of our age actually lures people into a deception It promises a wonderful comfortable plan for your life It obliterates the offense of the cross Though it presents christ listen as the way the truth and the life it says nothing of the small gate or the narrow way Its subject is the love of god But there is no mention of the wrath of god it sees people as deprived not as depraved It is full of love And understanding but there is no mention of a holy god Who hates sin?

No summons to repentance. No warning of judgment. No call for brokenness No expectation of a contrite heart and no reason for deep sorrow over sin It is a message of easy salvation a call for a hasty decision Which is often accompanied by false promises of health happiness and material blessing Oh, the gate is small And the way is narrow that leads to life and few are those that find it How could jesus be? more clear This is the only path his gospel takes It is not an easy road nor a popular one, but it is the only one that leads to eternal glory in quote Folks somebody has to speak the words of jesus Somebody needs to communicate to them the core essence of his message What did he say?

What does it mean to be a christian? In our context in luke chapter 9 We know the story We know how it all began with the question that jesus asked Who do men say that I am? And the apostles would give the popular opinion elijah john the baptist one of the prophets And jesus says you know what forget about that.

Who do you say that I am? Because this is your final exam question. This is the essence of Where you stand with me? Who do you say that I am in christ and peter said thou art the christ the son of the living god You are christ. You are god's messiah. You are god's anointed one You are the son of the living god And we go to matthew's account like we did last week and we tell you that jesus said to simon Oh blessed are you simon? For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you. But my father who is in heaven Has revealed this to you And simon listen upon that statement That I am the christ the son of the living god i'm going to build my church My church will be built on my identity My church will be built on who I am And the gates of hell will not be able to prevail against it Can't happen.

It's not going to happen. And not only that peter I'm going to give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven because your confession is the key to the kingdom Your confession about my messiahship That I am god in flesh is the key to eternity And i'm going to give you those keys so much so that you can tell people whether they're still in their sin Or they've been released from their sin based on what they say about who I am And then jesus said but you know what you can't tell anybody any of that Instead you tell them The son of man must suffer He must die He must suffer greatly Before the rulers of israel and rise again three days later now folks.

This is important Because peter doesn't accept that He will not accept that you know why peter wouldn't accept that Because he said He took christ Away from the men and said May it not be so That's not going to happen to you And what did christ say get thee behind me satan Listen to the words of christ Because you don't have in mind the purposes of god but the purposes Of man Peter had a man-centered theology It was all about him You see he had made this great confession, right? The church of christ is going to be built What's he thinking?

He's thinking power Kingdom authority a chance to rule on the throne And you see what jesus said went against all that And peter had a hard time digesting the fact that wait a minute me following you Is it going to give you give me power and authority and glory and recognition? And jesus says no it's going to give you death I'll give you death And peter said oh lord you got it wrong and christ said to peter you got to get behind me satan Peter you only have an interest your thinking You you have in mind what you want you don't have in mind what god wants Even peter He makes this great confession What yet was confused about the essence of what the gospel truly was all about?

And so christ sets him straight and he goes into the long dissertation which is recorded now in luke chapter 9 verses 23 and following saying the same words see And that's what's led us up to here you you have the question which deals with the identity of the messiah and then you have the instruction which deals with the centrality of his mission and now you have the Application which deals with the reality of that message. It's going to affect you peter You can't come after me unless you deny yourself take up your cross and follow me peter That's the essence of the gospel.

That's what you got to speak plainly That's why he says don't tell anybody this because they have a misunderstanding of who the messiah is Instead tell him this the son of man must suffer He must die and by the way, if you want to follow me, yes, you too will suffer you too Will take up your cross you too must deny yourself because you're going to follow me and that's who I am Folks that's the gospel That's the essence of of christianity And that's the message he says in mark's account this is what you speak openly to people You speak clearly to people you speak plainly to people they need to get this Because if they don't get this part of it, they don't get any part of it See that They got to get the the the central issue of the gospel They got to get the heart of the gospel because they don't get that part.

They don't get any of the gospel That's why it's so important you tell people The truth In other words if you want to follow jesus it's the end of you It's the end of you you don't exist anymore So paul said in galatians 2 20 I am crucified with christ That's why I said for to me to live is christ and to die Is gain That's the way the apostle paul lived Man wants his glory man wants to live a painless life He wants a crown But he doesn't want the cost of the crown He wants the gain, but doesn't want the pain associated with that gain And yet the gospel is about death to self Self admiration self ambition Self indulgence Self interest Folks listen Do you want to give somebody an artificial conversion For the most part that's what we do We hand out artificial conversions Pray a prayer Walk an aisle Sign a card All the while we give them an artificial conversion And we delude them into thinking That they're christians In reality, they're not And that's why jesus said these words He said Enter by the narrow gate For the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction and many are those who enter by it For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life and few are those who find it Folks it's very hard to find the way to christ And it's getting harder to find that way in today's modern evangelicalism It's not easy to find I didn't say that jesus said it the gate is narrow and few there be That find it listen Not only are there few there be that find it the very few that get there are Fewer yet even able to enter it Listen to luke's account luke 13 Jesus says these words He was passing through from one city in place to another verse 22 Teaching and preach and proceeding on the way to jerusalem and someone said to him lord.

Are there just a few who are being saved? He said to them strive to enter agonize agonize mine Strive to enter By the narrow door For many I tell you will seek to enter and will not be able to enter why? Why won't they be able to enter? Because when jesus says if any man Come after me.

He must deny himself take up his cross and follow me They're going to seek to find the way they're going to see or hear the truth about the way And they won't be able to enter why because they will not give up themselves They will not relinquish control Man in his human fallenness believes he is autonomous. He's in charge. He is after his exaltation and his glory And if he's got to give all that up to get into heaven He's not going to do it. Why because he values temporal recognition over eternal redemption.

He values temporal satisfaction over eternal salvation, that's why Jesus says you better strive to enter Because many will come and not be able to enter Because they are not willing to submit themselves to the word of god What does jesus actually say You must be willing to slay all your dreams all your hopes all your ambitions And man because he worships himself just doesn't want to do that Well, then who can be saved right I mean think about who can be saved folks.

You can't be saved unless god calls you as simple as that Unless god breaks the heart and god calls the man and god convicts the man. He won't be saved Because man in his own human fallenness is not going to relinquish himself for anything Unless god strips him of all that he has So That's what i'm going to say Jesus does not want to meet your earthly needs He wants you to abandon them all for him That's the gospel He does not want to meet your earthly needs He wants you to be willing to abandon everything for him that's why he gives over in Luke chapter 14 he gives this parable he says for which one of you when he wants to build the tower does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it otherwise when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish all who observe it begin to ridicule him saying this man began to build and was not able to finish or what king when he sets out to meet another king in battle will not first sit down and take counsel whether he is strong enough with 10,000 men to encounter the one coming against him with 20,000 or else while the other is still far away he sent a delegation and asked terms of peace so therefore no one of you can be my disciple who does not give up all his possessions now giving up your possessions doesn't save you but submission to the Word of God does save you willing to do whatever God says he might not have you give up your family he might not have you give up your possessions he might not have you give up anything but he says you must be willing to do whatever I say if you want to follow me I'm the master I'm the Lord if you recognize me as such you will submit to my words and you will do exactly as I say if you don't see me as Lord and Master you will not come to me on my terms you'll come to me on your terms and that is inadequate enough inadequate to get you in heaven you'll never make it because you must abandon yourself there is no you in Christianity it's all about Christ it's all about Jesus and that's why Jesus says there's only a few being saved one man said to me could it be that at the rapture of the church because Jesus said there are so few being saved that when the rapture occurs the world won't even know because there's so few being saved anyway the Antichrist won't have much to explain away because there's only a few being saved that's what the Bible says the greatest evangelistic explosion will be in the seven year tribulation period we have a record of the Bible and what it says in the book of Revelation that there are multitudes who are saved at that time but we do know from the biblical account that in the church age there's only a few who will be saved oh many will seek but they won't be able to enter and the reason they won't be able to enter is because they are unwilling to deny themselves take up the cross and follow Jesus Christ listen folks unless the Lord works in your heart you won't get saved that's why salvation is a total work of God not a work of man that's why salvation is all about God his glory and how he chooses people and calls them to himself because folks if God calls you listen if God calls you you've recognized you're a sinner you need a savior and you will hold nothing from him or against him you will relinquish it all because you value him more than you value anything else how do we know that's the case?

we know that's the case because that's what Jesus said Jesus had given a a series of parables about the kingdom and told that the kingdom is going to begin because you're going to sow the seed and even upon sowing the seed most of the people who hear the gospel are not going to receive it they're going to reject it some might receive it with joy but they're going to fall by the wayside they're going to be superficial hearers and superficial listeners not true Christians true converted people and Christ explains that parable to his men the parable of the sow and the sow is and then he goes on and gives a parable about the wheat and the tares not only will there be a few who are saved but but during the church age the tares will grow side by side with the wheat and the tares and the wheat look exactly the same you can't tell them apart until the end of the age at the harvest then he gives a parable about the mustard seed how it's small but it grows great and then he gives a parable about the lemon about the influence of the church and then he gives this parable he says this the kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field which a man found and hid and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field why?

because everything he has is nothing compared to the treasure then he says again the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls and upon finding one pearl of great value he went and sold all that he had and bought it the point being is that there's nothing on earth that is more valuable than the kingdom of heaven there is nothing that you possess today that is more valuable than a relationship with the living God and those who come to Christ realize that and that's why they're willing to say you know what that doesn't matter what my family thinks what my boss thinks what anybody else thinks or says about me does not matter because I want Jesus Christ more than anything else because I'm a sinner I'm on my way to hell and I need to be saved from my sin I'll give my life to Jesus and I'll do anything he asks because I love him so that's what Jesus said if any man came after me he'll deny himself because self doesn't matter anymore he'll think of his cross he's going to die for me because he's gonna follow me wherever I go ask yourself is that you?

because that's true genuine Christianity let's pray Father God we thank you for the truth of your word we thank you Lord that we can come and study it and we know Lord that when you call a man you convict a man of sin he comes to you by faith to receive the grace of Almighty God he knows he can't save himself he knows he has nothing to give he cries out be merciful unto me a sinner oh Lord and you save him he has nothing he realizes he is nothing but you are everything and he values you more than life itself because you truly are his only life if there be one today who doesn't know you may today be the day of their salvation may they give their life to Christ today may they say nothing of this world means anything to me but Jesus means everything to me I want Jesus as my Lord and Savior and give their life in obedience to following Jesus Christ we pray in Jesus name Amen