The Components of Christianity, Part 2

song for today's message, knowing that we have been commissioned to proclaim the Word of God. And when God's Word goes forth as spoken, then we know that it will never return empty, because it always accomplishes the purpose that God has for it. Let's pray together. Father, we thank you for the opportunity to once again proclaim the truth of your Word. Our prayer today is that we would open our eyes to the truth of the gospel, that we'd come to grips with the reality of the truth, that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world.

And the gospel you preach is the gospel we should preach. The things that you said are the things that we should say. And I pray, Father, that you'd empower us with your Spirit to speak forth the truth of Almighty God, as we hear it spoken in your Word, in Jesus' name. Amen. Turn with me in your Bible to Luke chapter 9.

Luke chapter 9, as we embark on this very crucial portion of Scripture that opens our eyes to the components of Christianity, that helps us understand the reality of true conversion, that helps us see the gospel, listen, from Jesus' perspective. Not from man's perspective, but from Jesus' perspective. And how it is He presents the gospel. This becomes so crucial to us, because we are to be those who proclaim the truth of the gospel. If we're going to do it the way Jesus did it, and get the same results that Jesus received, then we must follow His words.

This is what He said. Luke 9, verse number 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? 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.

That portion of Scripture is absolutely essential to understand if you're going to be a true preacher of the gospel of Jesus Christ our Lord. You must come to grips with the words that Jesus has said. The Bible says in Romans chapter 1, verse number 16, a very familiar verse.

You know it probably pretty well. You could probably quote it verbatim. For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

Now we believe that. We adhere to that. We know about the power of the gospel. And we are not ashamed of that gospel. That good news, that same news that the shepherd church, excuse me, from the angels there outside of Bethlehem, when they said fear not, be not afraid. Why? For we bring to you good news of great joy. For unto you this day in the city of David there's been born a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. Good news. That's the gospel. Why would anybody ever be ashamed of the gospel, the good news?

It would be like a man who found a cure for cancer. And if he found a cure for cancer, he would make sure that he would share that cure with everybody who had cancer. That they might experience a cure from that dreaded disease. You can be sure if he found a cure he'd hold nothing back from you, would he? For if he did, your cure would be incomplete. Or the man who finds a cure for AIDS, he on the same hand would say to those people who are infected with that disease, listen, I know the cure. Here it is.

Let me give it to you. And hold nothing back. For if he held something back from you, you would still be in that dreadful disease. The same is true about the gospel. I am not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ of the Apostle Paul. Why? For it is the power of God unto salvation. Without that gospel there is no salvation. And yet, and yet we find in modern-day evangelicalism people ashamed of that gospel. So ashamed of that gospel that they will arrange the message in different kinds of terms so as not to offend anybody.

Saying they're not ashamed, but in word and deed they are ashamed, because they want to arrange the words in a different kind of way so people will receive it. Or they will alter the demands of the gospel in such a way so as not to cause people to want to turn away. Yet all the while they have demonstrated that they are ashamed of the gospel. The one thing that will save your eternal soul from hell is the most valuable thing on earth. Why would we ever want to alter the message? Arrange the method by which we proclaim the message.

And even attack those who proclaim the true message of saving grace. And yet that's what's happened in modern evangelicalism. One author said it this way. Local church pastors are among the first to be seduced into using a designer gospel crafted to fit the sinner's desire and carefully tweaked to overcome consumer resistance.

They stylized church meetings to look, sound, feel, and smell like the world in order to remove the sinner's resistance and lure him into the kingdom down an easy and familiar path. The idea is to make Christianity easy to believe. But the unvarnished, untweaked, unmodified, unavoidable truth is that the gospel is actually hard to believe. In fact, if the sinner is left to himself it is absolutely impossible to believe. He's right. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians chapter 1 verse number 18 that the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing.

And so because the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing we now take the cross out of our gospel presentation. We don't talk about sin. We don't talk about hell. We don't talk about judgment. Instead we want to just tweak the gospel a little bit. Because we don't want people to be offended at what they hear. All the while diluting the essence of true evangelism and producing false converts. Because they haven't heard the truth about the saving grace of Jesus Christ as he himself has said it.

Folks, this is a danger that has spread like an epidemic in modern evangelicalism. Somebody needs to speak the truth. And so Jesus gives us what it is we need to say. Folks, we can't afford to be ashamed of the gospel. We can't alter the words of the gospel. We can't arrange them to fit our modern culture so as not to offend people. We must say them as Jesus said them or we present a gospel that in essence is not true but false. And that is a terrible danger. And so let me give you just a couple of ways in which people have altered the gospel message.

Because in reality they are ashamed of the gospel. Oh, they would not say they are ashamed of it but because they've altered the message. Because they have redefined the terms. Then they have demonstrated that they truly are ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ our Lord. Most Americans would say to be saved all you have to do is believe in Jesus. That's it. The question comes is that what Jesus said. Is believing in Jesus enough to save a man from hell? They would say self-denial, cross-bearing, submission, not a part of the saving grace of God.

It's just believing in in who Jesus is and believing in what he did. The question comes is that true? Is that what the Bible says?

Can you believe in Jesus as your Savior but be unwilling to obey him? Most evangelicals would say yes. But that's a false gospel, not a true gospel. The true gospel is what Jesus said. If any man, not certain men, all men, if they come after me then they must deny themselves, take up the cross, and follow me. Because that is the essence of what Christianity is. And people need to to come to grips with the reality of saving faith. Is salvation a call to follow Christ? Or is salvation a set of beliefs about who Christ is?

The heart and soul of the gospel is what Jesus said in Luke 9 verse number 23. If any man, if any man come after me he must deny himself, he must take up his cross, and he must follow me. In other words, some would say this passage of scripture in Luke 9, that is designed for people who are really committed to Jesus. It's not really a gospel invitation. The verses in Luke 9 23 along with the verses in Matthew chapter 10 and in Mark chapter 10 and Matthew chapter 16 and Luke chapter 9 verses 56 and following and Luke chapter 17 and in John chapter 12 and John chapter, those verses are all a call for someone who is already a believer to now really get serious about obeying Jesus.

Making Jesus not the consummate evangelist but Jesus a public speaker who came to call nominal Christians to a deeper life. Is that what Jesus came to do? I don't believe so. The Bible says he came to seek and to save that which was lost.

Jesus isn't a conference speaker to give you a better ideas on how to have a good marriage and better relationships. He's a preacher that tells you how to escape the fires of hell. And yet some will say well this passage in Luke 9 is about discipleship and that is different than Christianity. You can believe in Jesus and be saved and have your quote fire insurance so that you can escape the fires of hell and then maybe somewhere down the line you can make a deeper commitment that says I want to deny myself I'll take up my cross and now I'll get serious about following Jesus.

Really? Well how do you answer the fact that in Matthew chapter 28 Jesus says go into all the world and make disciples.

Doesn't say go into all the world and make believers or make converts. He says go into all the world and make disciples. Baptizing them in the name of the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit and teaching them to observe all that I have commanded them. Does that mean we go out and share Christ with people? They get saved and then hope that one day they want to become a disciple so that eventually we can baptize them and then we can teach them? Is that what the Bible teaches? If you believe that Luke 9 is about discipleship and you separate Christianity from discipleship that's exactly what you're saying.

And yet all the while in the book of Acts as soon as someone gave their life to Christ they were immediately baptized and they were immediately taught the truth. Why? Because if you read the book of Acts the word disciple is a synonym for believer. Acts 6 verse 1, Acts 6 verse 2, Acts 6 verse number 9, Acts 11 verse number 26 and so forth on through the book of Acts. In fact disciples weren't even called Christians until Acts 11. They weren't even called Christians. What were they called? They were called disciples.

They were first called disciples. They were called Christians later on down the road at Antioch in Acts 11, 26. So you see there has been a confused presentation of the gospel and it's no wonder we have all these people in the pews who have no idea about what it means to follow Christ because they've never been told. So we need to tell them the truth. What is Christianity? What is the essence of Christianity? What are the components of Christianity? What does it really mean to follow Jesus? What does it mean to be a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ?

Folks that's what Jesus is saying. He wants us to understand what it means to follow Him. In essence Luke 9 23, listen carefully, is the only verse you need to witness. Only verse you need to share the gospel is Luke 9 23. That's it. You can go to your neighbor knock on the door and say would you like to know what it means to be a follower of Christ? If so I want to give you just one verse. You have to deny yourself, take up a cross, and follow Him. Are you interested? If so I'll speak further. If not it's time to go because you're not interested.

See that's the essence of the gospel. We want to candy-coat it with stories. We do all these little different extra-peripheral things hoping that somehow we can woo them into a prayer, into a decision. When in reality Jesus just laid it out there and said here it is. Want to follow? This is what it's about. And that's why so many people turned away and walked with Him no more because they didn't want that. This is an explosive approach to true evangelism. This is what it is. And we have heard the gospel presented in so many different ways over the years that to hear it from the words of Jesus we have a hard time thinking that will ever work.

I mean if I go around telling people listen you want to get you want to come to Christ? You want to follow Christ? Well deny yourself, take up a cross, and follow Jesus. Who's going to receive that message? So what do we do? We rewrite the message. We rearrange the message or we reinvent a new way to present the message because they're not going to like it the way Jesus said it. So I'm going to do something really unique and help Jesus with how to present the truth because He didn't do such a good job because when it was all said and done He only had about 620 disciples that followed Him when it was all said and done.

Poor Jesus. He just wasn't a very good evangelist was He? So let's do it differently. Let's tell them that God loves them and has a wonderful plan for their life. Let's tell them that and they'll think wow really? How unique. God loves me and has a wonderful plan for my life. Instead of saying no God is going to kill you and He is going to send you to hell unless you repent of your sins today. See we don't want to do that because people are not going to receive that kind of message. So we say it differently than Jesus said it.

Hoping to get a response. Hoping to get a prayer. Hoping to get a signature. Hoping to get a conversion. Hoping to get something that says you know what I can really present the gospel. I'm pretty good at this. And all the while you've given people a false assurance that they understand what it means to be a Christian and they will one day end up in hell because they never heard the truth of the gospel. Isn't that sad? Paul said for I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. Are you? Are you ashamed of it so that you reinvent it?

Rewrite it? Rearrange it in a way that makes it acceptable to man? When the message of the cross is foolishness to them who are perishing? It's foolishness to them. But to those who believe it's the power of God unto salvation. See? Big difference in there. So Jesus gives us the words. He wants us to to understand what it means to to embrace Christ. Towards the last week Christ isn't interested in meeting your needs. He's interested in you abandoning all your wants and needs and embracing him as Lord and Savior.

That's what he's about. And we need to understand exactly what it is he said. The gospel is not about your satisfaction. The gospel is about your sacrifice. That's what it's about. And so we begin to realize what Jesus says is absolutely crucial for people to understand if they're ever going to follow Jesus and be saved.

Folks this becomes the most important sermons you will ever hear. The last two weeks. Today in the next three weeks or four or five. However many takes us to get through. Luke 9, 23, 24, 25, 26. You need to understand it. So we're gonna explain it to you so that you're without excuse. Not only because you've heard it but because you're gonna present it to people exactly how Jesus said it. What a revolutionary idea. Say it the way Jesus said it. We can write books about evangelism. We can go seminars on evangelism.

We can watch videos on evangelism. I got a novel idea. Save your money and just say it the way Jesus said it. Just do it the way Jesus did it. That's all you have to do. It's not that difficult. It only becomes difficult when you try to rethink it and reinterpret it. And reinvent it and rearrange it in a way that's hopefully somebody will accept. The problem with that is is that when they accept your rearranged, reinterpreted, rewritten message you just want to duplicate that same thing over and over again because you got a desired response.

And that's detrimental to someone's soul. So just say it the way Jesus said it. How did he say it? Well, Luke 9 23. If anyone wishes. Remember the demands of the cross are universal? The demands of the cross are universal. If anyone wishes to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me. Three basic phrases. One is self-denial. Two is cross-bearing. And three is follow me. Three components that help you understand true genuine Christianity. Whatever you've heard before, whatever you've read before, if it's outside of that, it's not true.

It's false. And so you need to understand the way Jesus said it. If any man came after me, let him deny himself. First of all, there is a no to self.

Second of all, there's a no to safety. And third of all, there is a yes to submitting completely. Those are the essential components of the gospel, the core of Christianity. There is a no to self. If any man came after me, let him deny himself. That's what Jesus says.

In other words, you disown yourself. It's a word that means you refuse to associate with yourself any longer. That's a unique way of presenting the gospel. You don't want to be in the company of you anymore. You have had it with yourself. You are sick of your depraved self. You are sick of your emptiness, your worthlessness. You're done with you. That's what it means to deny yourself. You are so done with you, you can't wait to be saved. You can't wait to give your life to someone who truly cares.

Jesus Christ our Lord. Self is cast away. Confidence in yourself is obliterated. It's gone. It's coming to an end of yourself. It's a word of desperation. It's like we said last week, Matthew 13, 44 and 45, the parable of the pearl, of great price, the parable of the hidden treasure. You are so desperate. You will give away everything for the one true valuable thing, the gospel of Christ. Now you know that's where salvation begins, with the denial of self. Now, is there an example of that in the Bible?

Yeah, sure there is. Turn to Philippians chapter 3 for a minute. Philippians chapter 3. This is what Paul says, Philippians 3, verse number 3, for we are the true circumcision. In other words, we are the marked ones. We are the ones who are truly marked out by Christ. That's what he says. How are they defined? He says, who worship in the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus. And what's the third phrase?

And put no confidence in the flesh. See that? Who are the marked ones? Who are the circumcision of Christ? Who are the ones who are truly saved? They're the ones who worship God in spirit. They're the ones who want to glorify the name of God. And they're the ones who have absolutely no confidence in themselves, no confidence in the flesh. Why? Because they denied themselves. That's why. And Paul gives an illustration of that. He says, verse 4, although I myself might have confidence, even in the flesh, if anyone else has a mind to put confidence in the flesh, I far more.

If anybody here has, has the right to be confident in their achievements and their accomplishments, it's me, he says. It's me. He says, circumcise the eight day of the nation of Israel. Of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews. As to the law, a Pharisee. As to Zio, he persecuted the church. As to the righteousness which is in the law, found, how? Blameless. But, he says, whatever things were gained to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. In other words, whatever I thought was really good, in comparison to Christ, they were nothing.

They meant nothing. They are nothing. He says, in essence, I am nothing. I am absolutely nothing. I'm zero. I have nothing to offer Christ. He says, verse eight, more than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord, of whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish in order that I may gain Christ. Know what Paul says? He says, listen, everything I did and everything I set out to accomplish, I accomplished. Righteous, that was me.

Zealous, that was me. A keeper of the law, that was me. I did it all. But, you know what? I count all those things as scubilon, excrement, dung, in view of the surpassing greatness of Christ Jesus, my Lord. Paul came to an end of himself. He denied himself. Philippians 3 is what happened on the inside of Paul, when on the Damascus Road in Acts chapter 9, he came face to face with the living God. He was nothing. Christ was everything. That's why he said in Galatians 2, 20, I am crucified with Christ.

I'm dead. My life is dead. That's why in 1 Corinthians 6, what did he say? Know you not that you are no longer your own. You've been bought with a price. Don't you know that you are absolutely nothing now? You've been bought with a price. Your life is Christ's. It's not your own anymore. Colossians 3, he said, I am dead to self. In Galatians 6, he said, I am dead to the world. Folks, that's salvation. That's what it means to give your life to Christ. That's why when we preach the gospel, we preach the law of God.

Because we want people to come to grips with the reality that they can't meet the standard. The standard is what? Perfection, right? It's absolute perfection. For all the sin then comes short of the glory of God. And yet man wants to emphasize the fact that he does meet the standard. That there is some good in him. And the Bible says, no, there is nothing good in you.

Nothing that will make you acceptable to God. Nothing. Yet man insists that there is something good in him, even though the Bible says there's nothing good in him.

So we preach to people the law of God to help them understand they fall short. That's why when Christ talked to that rich young ruler, we mentioned it last week in Mark chapter 10, he says, what must I do to inherit eternal life? He says, well, you got to honor your father and mother. You can't steal. You can't murder. You can't do any of those things. He said, what? I did all those things. I don't do any of those things. I'm good. I meet the standard. Because he saw himself as righteous, self-righteous.

So he preached then the law of God to help them understand that they can't meet the standard. The law of God accentuates the quality and the character of the nature of Christ himself and the beauty of who he is. And we fall short of that beauty. We fall short of that perfect standard. We find ourselves in the brink of death, facing the fires of hell. Cry out for mercy. Oh, God, be merciful unto me, a sinner. I have nothing. I am nothing. What can I do but cry out to God? And lo and behold, he saves that person.

What does the Bible say? The Bible says in Matthew 5, verse number 3, as Christ begins to preach his sermon, amidst all those people who have been physically healed, they were coming by the thousands.

There on that hillside, just in the northern part of Galilee, the Sea of Galilee, Christ would sit down and say these words, blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Who gets into the kingdom? Those who are not just poor, but those who are begging poor. They have nothing. Patokos is the word. There is no bottom of the barrel to scrape because there's absolutely nothing there to pick up. And that's what the Old Testament taught over and over again. Psalm 34, verse number 18, the Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

Psalm 51, verse number 17, the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart, O God, thou will not despise. Isaiah 57, verse number 15, for thus says the high and exalted one who lives forever, whose name is holy, I will dwell in a high and holy place, and also with the contrite and lowly of spirit, in order to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite. Isaiah 66, verse number 2, to this man will I look, to him who is broken and of a contrite heart and who trembles uncontrollably under the authority of my word.

Folks, the Bible is replete with an understanding that God only saves the brokenhearted. God only saves those who have nothing. They have nothing to give, have nothing to offer because they've come to the realization that they are absolutely worthless before God. That's what the Bible teaches. And that's why Jesus said, if any man come after me, he must deny himself. He must be fed up with who he is. He must be willing to disown all that he is. He must be willing to give it all away because what he has means nothing in light of eternity.

That's what it means to give your life to Christ. And that's what Jesus is explaining as he speaks in the truth of Luke 9, 23. The broken sinner wants Christ no matter what. The unbroken sinner will take Christ with his present lifestyle, but the broken sinner will renounce it all for the sake of the saving grace of Jesus Christ our Lord. And that's what Jesus is saying. It's the attitude of the Apostle Paul in Acts 9, Lord, what will thou have me to do? That's salvation. Lord, what do you want me to do?

It's like we had Eduardo and Gloria to our home last night. She was sharing with some of the elders and some of those in the mission team. And she was saying, they're getting ready to make a move after living in the same place for 27 years. In her testimony, she said, you know, when you're a Christian, your life is no longer your own. You just do whatever Jesus says.

See, that's Christianity. You just do whatever Jesus says. She understands self-denial. She understands giving it all away for the sake of the glory of God. She has come to grips with the reality of saving faith. And you know what? Listen carefully. The more you walk with Christ over time, the one characteristic of the believer is that he has a tremendously lower view of himself. When you walk with Christ, having been saved by the grace of God, you have a continuing lower view of who you are because your knowledge of God has increased tenfold, a hundredfold over time.

And you begin to realize I am nothing. And Christ is everything. That's why John the Baptist said, He must increase. I have to decrease. That's the attitude of the believer. One author said it so well about self-denial. He said this, because you're going to ask yourself the question, have I denied myself? Is that me? Do I live a life of self-denial? Have I disowned me? Or is life about me? Listen to what one author said. I don't even know who said it. I found it in my notes one day and I thought, this is good.

Suppose you have been neglected or unforgiven. You sting with the hurt of the insult from such an oversight. But your heart is happy because you have been counted worthy to suffer for Christ. That is what dying to self is all about. When your wishes are crossed, your advice disregarded, and your opinions ridiculed, and yet you refuse to let anger rise in your heart or try to defend yourself, you are practicing dying to self. When you lovingly and patiently stand face to face with folly and spiritual insensitivity and endure it as Jesus did, you have died to yourself.

When you are content with any food, money, clothing, climate, society, solitude, or interruption by the will of God, you have died to self. When you never care to refer to yourself in conversation, record your own good works, or desire commendation from others, you are dying to self. When you can honestly rejoice with a brother who has prospered and had his needs met and never feel any envy, though your needs are greater than and still unmet, you have practiced dying to self. When you can receive correction and reproof from one of less stature than yourself and humbly admit he's right with no resentment or rebellion in your heart, you have died to self.

And then he ends with this quote, are you dead yet? Is that good? You see, having died to self is something that continually happens by practice every day, because the ego always wants to be resurrected, doesn't it? My will always wants to rise over the top again and again and again. And yet the characteristic of the believer is that he has died to himself. He's denied himself. In a second, he takes up his cross.

It's cross bearing. It's the evidence of willing, having, listen, having disowned myself, having realized that I am nothing, to die really makes no difference, does it? No, because your life is hidden in Christ above. And so you have to ask yourself, well, what does it mean to bear my cross? Some people say, well, you know, you know, my leaky faucet is the cross I'm bearing. No, that's not your cross. Oh, my rebellious child is my cross. No, that's not your cross. My cantankerous wife, boy, that's a cross to bear.

No, no, as much as you'd like that to be your cross, that's not your cross. A cross is when you suffer reproach and ridicule and rejection and alienation and isolation in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. When you suffer for his sake, that's cross bearing. And that's something that we need to come to grips with. It speaks of extreme devotion to Christ, extreme devotion. So devoted, I will die for him. Remember the argument that disciples had in Mark chapter 10? Christ had just finished the third scenario.

Remember, there were three scenarios, Mark 8, Mark 9, Mark 10, one speaking of the necessity of the cross, the one in Mark 9 speaking of the certainty of the cross, the one in Mark 10 speaking about the brutality of the cross, each time giving the victory of the cross as he would speak about his impending death. It was in Mark's account that there arose that argument among the 12 about who was going to be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And the Bible says that James and John, the sons of thunder, Matthew's account says it was their mother who came to Jesus and asked to request.

She had not learned yet to die to herself. She was still interested in the opportunity for her boys to sit one on the right hand of God and one on the left hand of God. And the boys were in cahoots with her because they were alongside of her. Jesus, would you grant that one of my boys, James or John, sit one on your right and one on your left? And Jesus says, can you drink from the cup that I myself will drink from?

Or can you be baptized in the baptism in which I am baptized? James and John says, absolutely. Absolutely. You bet we can. And the cup is symbolic in Old Testament of wrath. And to drink of that cup would be to drink in all of that wrath. And baptism would be equivalent to immersion. In other words, are you able to drink of the wrath that I myself will drink? And will you be able to be immersed in the persecution and ridicule that I myself will be immersed in? And James and John said, absolutely.

Really? Really? Because if Pushkin was shoved, they would flee the scene, wouldn't they? Because they were ashamed, embarrassed to be counted with Christ. You see, cross bearing is something that is absolutely essential to the saving experience of a man or a woman. They are willing to die for the one who saved them from death. They are willing to give it all away because Jesus saved them from hell. And they understand that. Listen, a true believer understands that he has been spared by the grace of Almighty God, eternal damnation, and therefore he will do anything for Jesus.

Whatever he asks, he will do. Why? He's not even afraid to die for the one who saved him from death, Jesus Christ our Lord. He's willing to give his life away. And that's why I love what the the hymn writer said when he recorded these words, must Jesus bear the cross alone and all the world go free? No, there's a cross for everyone and there's a cross for me. The consecrated cross I'll bear till death shall set me free and then go home and wear my crown for there's a crown for me. And it was Henry Light who said, Jesus, I and my cross have taken all to leave and follow thee, destitute, despised, forsaken, thou from hence my all shall be.

Perish every fond ambition, all I've sought and hoped or known, yet how rich is my condition, God and heaven are still my own. You see, the believer knows that all he needs is Jesus. That's all he needs. And therefore, having Christ as Lord and Savior, having heaven as my destiny, nothing else really matters. Is that you? I mean, that's what it means to be a Christian. That's what happens when the saving grace of God invades your life. And then it's following me. Oh, by the way, Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15, 31, I die daily.

Daily. There is a death that happens daily. Because Christ said, if any man came after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily. Not just weekly, monthly, yearly, it's daily. Because you suffer for the sake of Jesus Christ, your Lord. And believe me, those disciples, when they heard the words about a cross, they knew exactly what he meant. They knew that a cross meant death, a horrifying death, the worst death anyone could ever experience. And that's why the Romans did it. Because it was the most painful, humiliating death one could ever experience.

And when the disciples heard Jesus say these words, they knew exactly what he meant. They knew exactly that their life would have to die for the sake of Christ. And that's why so many people turned and fled. Oh, listen, you can be a disciple of Jesus, listen carefully, and not be a Christian. But you can't be a Christian without being a disciple of Jesus. Judas was the disciple of Jesus, wasn't he? But he wasn't a Christian. He was a learner, he was a follower of Jesus, but he wasn't a Christian.

Every true Christian is the disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ. But not every disciple is a true believer in Christ. And that's why the Bible says in John 6 that many of the disciples turned and walked away.

Many followers, many learners, many curious, very few committed. Very few committed, but a lot of are curious about Christ. Christ says, He said with this, if any man come after me, let him deny himself, know to self, take up his cross daily, know to safety, and follow me.

Yes, to submission completely. Follow me. And Jesus said, or John said in 1 John 2, 6, if any man says he abides in Christ, let himself walk even as he himself has walked. You see, you're a Christian, walk like Jesus, talk like Jesus, follow in submission to Jesus. John 8, 31, if any man abides in him and he abides in me, you are truly a disciple of mine. You are a true disciple because you live in obedience to me. Christ said in John 15, 14, if you love me, what? Keep my commandments. If you love me, you'll follow me.

Because that's what Christianity is all about. It's a call to follow Christ. What did Christ say to Matthew? Matthew, follow me. What did He say to Peter, James, and John? Fellas, drop your nets, follow me. Christianity is about following Christ, following in His footsteps, serving Him and honoring Him. Folks, this is so crucial, but I got to tell you this. You need to understand this, please. What we've said today, if followed, does not make you somehow acceptable to God. Don't think I'm saying to you or Jesus is saying to you, well, you want to follow me, first, deny yourself.

Second, take up your cross. Third, follow me. That's not what He's saying. This is not chronological. It's not the order that helps you understand, okay, now I can be saved because I've done these things. No, that's not what Jesus is saying. Folks, this is the attitude of someone who has given their life to Christ. Everything here is predicated on one thing, the understanding that Jesus Christ is the Son of the Living God. The context of Matthew, of Luke 9 is very important. Who do men say that I am?

Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God. So everything is predicated on the identity of the one who makes the statement. You understand that this is God in flesh calling you to Him. And when you understand who He is, listen carefully, when you understand who He is, there is nothing you won't do for Him. If there's something you won't do for Him, you have not understood who He is. Let me say that to you again, just in case you missed it.

If there's something you won't do for Him, it's because you don't understand who He is. Because everything is predicated on, yes, Lord, I will follow. Yes, Lord, I will take up my cross and follow. Yes, Lord, I will deny myself because I mean nothing anyways. I'm nothing. You're everything. My life means nothing. Your life means everything. So I can be crucified to myself. I can be crucified to the world. I can die to myself. I can let Christ live in me because He takes up His residence in me. And the life which I now live, I live by the faith of Jesus Christ Himself who empowers me to live for Him.

So please understand that these statements are not chronological, something you do before you're saved. Oh, no. This is all based on a recognition of who He is. That's why the order of Luke 9 is very important, isn't it? And then when you understand that He is Christ's God, then you say, Lord, whatever you want. These are not things you can muster up on your own. Oh, I'm going to pull dirt down and I'm going to deny myself today. Oh, no. No, you love yourself too much to do that. No. Oh, I'm going to bear my cross today.

Yeah, I'm going to bear my cross. No, you can't do that on your own. Oh, no. And follow Christ on your own? No, are you kidding me? Who are you kidding? No, no, no. This only happens because of what Christ is doing in your life. And listen, folks, because I know some of you are saying, you know, if I go around telling people this, this is, I mean, no one's going to give their life to Christ. You know, I'm going to shoot blanks every time I go out and share Christ. Listen, how you say it, if you say the words of Christ, understand this, nobody, absolutely nobody can respond on their own anyway, right?

Nobody comes to Christ because they say to themselves, wow, that is so neat. I've never heard that before. I think I'll give my life to Jesus. Oh, no. If that's what you're hearing, that person doesn't have the foggiest idea what's going on. Why? Because when someone gives their life to Christ, because they've been called by God from eternity past, they will hear the words of Jesus and say, oh, yes. Oh, I am done with me. I want nothing to do about my own ambitions, my own dreams. They mean nothing anymore as compared to Christ.

He wants me to take up my cross. I will do that. He wants me to follow Him. I will do that because if He's going to save me from the fires of hell, the least I can do is give my life away. It's so important if you want to have true conversions that you say things the way Jesus said them. One man said, sometimes we don't present the gospel well enough for the non-elect to reject it. Think about it. Let's pray. Father, we thank You for the truth of Your Word and the opportunity we have to study it.

May we truly come to grips with the reality of the saving grace of Almighty God, the attitude of what happens in the life of a follower of Christ when He says, Lord, based on who You are and all that You've done, my life is Yours. I'd give You more, but I have nothing to give. So take my life and let it be wholly consecrated unto Thee. In Jesus' name, Amen.