Consider the Cross, Part 9B

In our society, we are into loving ourselves. In God's economy, you need to loathe yourself. So, it's very difficult for people today to understand the call to Christianity and the cost involved, but everybody in the world is telling them you've got to love yourself. And God's saying, no, you've got to loathe yourself. You've got to love me, he says. It's not about loving you, it's about loving me. It's about giving your life to me. It's about serving me. You must be willing to serve me no matter what.

You've got to be willing to serve me. No matter what your wife says, no matter what your husband says, you got to be so committed to me that you're going to follow my word and everything I say, no matter what it costs you. That's what Christianity is. That's what Jesus said. This is the invitation He gives to a multitude of people, a great multitude. I'm glad that you're here. It's so good to see you. You're looking good today. Sit down for a moment. Let me tell you a few things.

If you want to follow me, if you want to be a disciple of mine, if you want to be a learner from me, if you want to be a real true believer in Jesus Christ. If any man come after me, here it is. Or you can be my disciple. He didn 't say, maybe you won't make it. He says, just can't do it. Can't do it. A willingness to serve me, number two.

A willingness to stand for me. Not only must you be willing to serve me, no matter what anybody else says, because I am your authority. I am your priority. You have demonstrated your loyalty to me. But you must be willing to stand al for me. Serve only me and stand alone for me. How do I knew that? Know that. Over in Matthew chapter 10, Christ says this: 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. Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 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 own household. He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me. And he who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.

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. That's what Jesus says.

If you confess me before men, I'll confess you before my Father. But if you don't confess me before men, guess what? I will deny you before my Father. You've got to be willing to stand for me. Stand strong for me. Stand alone for me. When everybody else falls, you stand strong. You see, that's not a problem. If you do number one, if you're willing to serve him no matter what the cost, you'll stand for him no matter what the cost.

And you'll stand strong for him. You see, Jesus didn't come to rip you out of your family. Jesus came to call you to commit your life to him. And when you do, your family will turn against you. That's the point. See that? See the difference there? He says, When you stand strong for me and you're committed to me and you're loyal to me, and your passion is set upward and not downward, everybody's going to think you're crazy, and they're going to turn you away, they're going to turn you out. Own enemies will be your own household.

Now, listen, in Luke 24, he's giving this to a great multitude. In Matthew 10, he's telling this to his disciples. Twelve of them, ele of which are believers, one is not, that's Judas. So in Matthew 10, he is reminding them to what they have committed themselves to. In Luke 24, he is spelling out to the multitude the cost of following Christ and what that means. And to call the invitation to the cross says, I am willing to serve Jesus. Only I am willing to stand al for Jesus. And number three, I am willing to suffer for Jesus.

He says this. Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. Can't. Now they understood cross bearing. They understood what it meant to bear a cross. They understood it meant shame. Suffering and death. They knew that. They got a hold of it. And Jesus says, if you are not willing to come after me and carry your cross, in Luke 9, he says, you got to carry it daily.

It's a continual thing. It's not a one-time event. It's a lifelong ambition. That's why Paul said, I am crucified with Christ. I am crucified with Christ. I give my life to Christ. And the Lord says, you got to be willing to carry your own cross. There's no going back. That means you got to crucify your rights. You got to crucify your rep. You got to crucify your riches. You got to crucify your religion. You need to crucify your righteousness. You got to crucify your responsibilities. You got to crucify everything.

You got to put it to death. The cross that you bear comes as a result of your stand for Christ and your service for Christ when you serve him. When you stand for him, the inevitable conclusion is you will suffer for him. That's the way it goes. And so he spelt that out for them very clearly. Now, listen, some of you might be thinking, wow. This is offensive language. I mean, why is it that the Lord would st Following him in such gruesome and graphic terms about hating somebody and carrying a cross and confessing him, or if you don't, he's not going to confess you.

Why would he be so Offens in his evangelistic approach. Remember, Jesus is the supreme evangelist. There's no evangelist greater than Christ because that's why he came. He came to seek and save that which is lost. That's what his whole ministry was about. That was his mission in life. And so now people say, well, if that's the case, why is it he uses this kind of language? The answer is because Jesus is eager. To choose and show that those who are uncommitted Will weed themselves out. You see, our Lord doesn't want half-heart people following him.

Lukewarmness, he does what? He spews out of his mouth. Jesus wants total commitment. See, we live in a day and age where we have settled for mediocrity in everything about our lives. And when Jesus Christ comes and calls man to total commitment, we take offense to that. Well, who can really do that? Who's that committed? Believers are that committed. That's what characterizes them. They understand their commitment to follow Christ. He doesn't want to draw the uncommitted to him, he wants to draw the committed people to him.

That's what he wants to do. He doesn't want half-hearted people being deceived and thinking they are part of the kingdom. He doesn't want people to be deceived. He wants everybody to understand very clearly what following Jesus Christ is all about. So he tells them. I love that song by George Bernard about the old rugged cross. We don't sing it much anymore, but it's so very, very tr. The old rugged cross I will ever be true, or to the old rugged cross I will ever be true. Its shame and reproach gladly bear.

Then he'll call me some day to my home far away, where his glory forever I'll share. That's what it's about. The old rugged cross. I cling to the whole rugged cross. Why? Even though I will bear shame and reproach because of it, I'll gladly bear it. Because I know that one day I will share in his glory. That's Christianity. That's following Christ. The call and its cost. It's a willing to serve him. It's a willing to stand for him. It's a willing to suffer for him. And fourthly, it's a willingness to surrender everything to him.

It says down in verse number 33, so therefore. No one of you can be my disciple who does not give up all his own possessions. Jesus says, You've got to be willing to surrender it all to me.

Surrender it all. We sing the song, I surrender all. We don't sing it often, but we do sing it. And yet, it's what Jesus called for. He says three times, you cannot, you cannot, you cannot be my disciple. If you are unwilling to serve me, if you are unwilling to stand for me, if you are unwilling to suffer for me. If you are unwilling to surrender all that you have to me, you cannot be my disciple. You can't. Now, that's not a way to keep people following you. That's not going to excite the crowd too much.

But it will excite some people. In fact, it says down in verse 1 of chapter 15: Now all the tax gatherers and the sinners were coming near him to listen to him. They wanted to hear. They wanted to commit themselves to him. It's the Pharisees and the scribes, the Sadducees that have a problem with the message. It was the religious people who had a problem with the message. It wasn the tax gatherers and sinners. In Luke chapter 15, he gives that great parable about the lost son, the lost sheep, and the lost coin to help you understand how Jesus responds to those who truly repent of their sins.

But he says, unless you are willing to give up all that you possess, you cannot be my disci. S, you know, it just seems like you got to do a lot of things to get saved. No. No, you don't. Well, you just said you got to serve him, you got to suffer for him, you to stand for him, you to surrender everything to him. Listen, Jesus Christ, when he calls a man, He does a supernatural work. And that man can only come to Christ if God the Father draws him. That's it. These things don't save you. These things are representative of those who are sa.

See that? They represent the true Christian. It doesn't mean that you'll never deny Christ. I mean, Peter was one who denied Christ, but he brought him back, right? In John 21, he commissioned him again. There are times of momentary failure where all of us are not really truly surrendering all that we have to Christ, or we're not really truly serving Him 100%, or we're not really truly suffering for Him. And that's why Paul told Timothy, do not be ashamed or stop being ashamed, Timothy, of the gospel, of me, a prisoner of the gospel, and of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Timothy, don't do that. And he was a pastor of a church. But the habitual nature of our lives is one that seeks to do what Jesus Christ him has said. That's the character of our lives. This is what we want to do. That's why Christ said in Mark chapter 8, in Matthew chapter 16: For what shall a man give? In exch for his soul. What will you give in exchange for your soul? He says that after talking about self-denial and taking up your cross and following after him. What would a man give in exchange for his soul?

I'll tell you what a man will give. He'll give everything he has away because what he wants is Jesus Christ himself. What he wants is what Christ has to offer him: the incomparable riches of Christ. And that's why, when the rich young ruler came and he said, What must I do to be saved? Jesus said, Well, you got to honor your mother and father. You got to love your neighbor. You got to do all those kinds of things. I done that. He said, I did all that. I did all that. And then Jesus said, You got to sell everything that you have, give it away.

He didn't want to do that. You know why? Because Jesus wasn't his God. His money, his riches were his God. And those were the things he wanted more than he wanted Christ. And Paul would say in Philippians chapter 3, everything I counted as gained to me was lost. Was lost in comparison to riches and knowledge of Jesus Christ, my Lord. He says, all those things that I had, everything that I had, and Paul says, I had it all. It was all sc, it was all dung. It was all a big heap of manure. That's all it was.

In comparison to the knowledge of Jesus Christ, my Lord. And those who see themselves as sinners, recognizing their need of a Savior. Are willing to give their life away to obtain the life of Jesus Christ our Lord. That's what they want, they understand that. That is true salvation. Point number four: we must hurry, and that is The consideration and your commitment. Christ gives a parable. He says this. Verse number 28. 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 sends a delegation and asks terms of peace. Christ gives a parable. It's about your consideration. It's about your calculation. It's about you sitting down and counting the cost. He says, here it is. This is what you got to do. Now, before you do that, I want you to consider something. Consider the guy who's building the building. He has to consider whether or not he can finish the building. Consider the man going to battle. He has to consider whether or not he can fight in that battle.

He says, listen, before you make a decision, before you decide what you want to do, consider the co. You know, you have to love Jesus. He just spells it out for you. He doesn't candy coat it. He doesn't gloss it over. He says, This is what it's all about, right here. Boom. All in a nutshell. Now, if that's what you want, great. But consider the cost involved. This guy built him a tower. We don't know what kind of tower it was. Maybe it was a watchtower. Maybe it was a tower to store some of his feed and grain.

We don't know. But which one of you would sit down to build a tower without first of all considering how much it would cost?

Because if a half-built tower does you no good, you become a laughingstock of all those round about you. The first thing you do is, do I have enough money to finish it?

Will I be able to complete the building? And then, number two, the guy going to battle. Does he have enough men to fight? Will he be able to do what he needs to do? Christ is so, so good about saying, Look, consider this. Before you make a commitment, calculate the cost inv. Because the cost is great. But the cost is always worth it. Because to be a follower of Christ is to weigh the cost and find the cost wor it all. Why? Because the prize that you obtain is Jesus Christ himself. That's why Henry Light could say it this way.

He said, Jesus, I, my cross, have taken all to leave. and follow thee, Destitute, despised, forsaken, thou from hence my all shalt 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 That is one who has weighed the cost and real it's worth it all because God and heaven are mine. Everything else is not important, but God is important. And I want Him more than anything else. How about you? Consider the cross of Christ. Play a lot of games in Christianity today.

A lot of games to get people to come to our church. A lot of games to get people to stay in the church. But Jesus was not about games. Jesus was about the truth. And he wanted to make sure people understood the truth. And I can guarantee you one thing. That those who come to Christ Community Church will hear the truth because we want to preach the truth. But very few people ever sit down and consider. The cross. You know, there's several people in this church that have done so. And I appreciate those who, when they share their faith, have people count the cost.

There's a man in our church today, I won't point him out, but he's a man who gave his life to Christ just a couple of months ago. The man who had led him to the Lord through teaching him and instructing him in the ways of God said, I just want to let you know something: that if you give your life to Christ. Satan is not happy with what you're going to do and what you have done. So the cost will be extremely great for you in days ahead. Now, this man, not a prophet nor a son of a prophet, but he knows the truth of God's Holy Word.

This man who gave his life to Christ after coming to our church for a number of months or so. His wife was pregnant. She had a miscarriage. Right after that, he lost his job. And right after that, his wife gave her life to Christ. Because she too would consider the cross, consider the cost in following Jesus. You see, that's what we have to do, right? We think that we come to Jesus, everything's going be great. My marriage will be better. My kids will obey. No, that might happen. But the bottom line.

Is that you've counted the cost and found the cost worth the price. Right? Let me ask you a question.

To give your life away, what are you giving up? Truly, what are you giving up? Your ego, your pride, your arrogance, your own wealth, your own riches, which really is not that much anyway in comparison to what God would give you because of who He is. What are we giving up? What are we gaining? You gain Jesus Christ, our Lord. He becomes the Lord and Savior of your life. He becomes the guardian of your soul. He becomes the master of all that you have. And the great thing about serving Jesus Christ is that He controls it all.

And you submit to Him and follow Him. And say, Lord, I am willing to serve you. I want to serve you, Lord. I've served myself for all my years. I want to serve you and you only. I want my wife to know it. I want my kids to know it. I want my parents to know it. I want everybody to know that I am so committed to you, Lord. So committed to you. That no matter what anybody else says, I will stand for you. I will stand for you. If need be, Lord, I will suffer for you. I will. Whatever it takes, I will suffer for you because, Lord, I'm going to surrender everything to you because what I have really isn't that much anyway, and who you are is everything to me, Lord.

That's my commitment. Christ said, Foll me, and I will make you into something you can't even imagine. Because, as my child, in my kingdom, you become my representative. You become my testimony to a world who needs to know me. When you walk through those doors today and people see you and people hear you, do they know without a shadow of a doubt that you are a child of the King? I trust that they do.