Title: Take Up Your Cross
Contents
Take up your cross (Matthew 16:24, Mark 8:34, Luke 9:23)
[Luke 9:23] And he said to the crowds, If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.
After watching the video, Praise Chapter 365 Shall we bear the cross of my lord?
In Matthew 16:16, Peter made a wonderful confession of faith, saying, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." After hearing that confession, in verses 21-23, the Lord said, "Now you go up to Jerusalem, and the elders, priests and scribes He told them that they must suffer many things and be crucified to death. Then Peter strongly rebuked him, saying, "This must not happen to the Lord." Then the Lord rebuked me, saying, "You are a stumbling block. You do not think about the things of God, but only the things of men. Get behind me, Satan."
Many believers go to church and profess to believe in the Lord, but they do not want to bear the cross with the Lord.
showing the facts.
Not you, but most of the saints come to the church to worship with sincerity, and sometimes weep because of the excitement of the word. They promised to serve only the Lord for the rest of their lives while saying Amen Amen. If it is not reestablished, it becomes a vain faith that cannot save itself.
Today, I pray that all of us will be born again by faith in the cross.
What does that cross mean?
It's our reality.
What is our cross today? You must know the difference between self-sacrifice and the cross.
The cross may refer to my environment and unwanted physical illness that made my faith mature.
[Psalm 119:71] It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I may learn Your statutes.
So the preacher Spurgeon said, "The two wings of a bird are cumbersome to a bird, but without a bird's wings it cannot fly. A ship's mast is also a cumbersome tool for a ship, but without a ship's mast, it cannot sail. Therefore, the cross is very painful, but without the cross, there is no power of God.”
However, such a cross is beneficial only to oneself and is not a cross that pleases the Lord. The cross the Lord wants
It is a cross that we bear not only for ourselves but also for others like the Lord. We may think of self-sacrifice as a cross. Yes. But the purpose of self-sacrifice must be clear.
A younger sibling who gave up on going to school to get his older brother to study, and a younger brother who made his older brother succeed by working in a factory, or Luke selling himself to make his younger brother study, or a parent who earns money to feed their children and send them to an academy This is a sacrifice. Do not think of this as a cross. The cross has a greater purpose than this. It can be said that the cross is the sacrifice through which a soul is saved through me.
George Muller prayed for 40 years to save a friend, and Jeong Eun-sook (Suncheongdong Church Kwonsa), wife of Jindok-gae Evangelism King Park Byeong-seon
Missionaries who prayed for the salvation of souls for more than 10 years in the midst of many hardships and pains, felt pity for the souls of foreigners, and gave up their dreams of youth and career and a peaceful life for them, leaving their beloved homeland to go to Somalia or uncharted territory
For one soul I am suffering now, this is the true cross
John the Baptist took up the cross to prepare the way for Jesus. Jesus died on the cross for all mankind. Stephen James took up the cross while preaching the gospel to his people. It was the cross of death. There is also the cross of suffering.
What is your cross?
Are you poor? Is it a disease? environment? This is not a heavy cross. Maybe this isn't even a cross. Because if you fully believe in the Lord and go out, this will be restored.
The true cross is self-sacrifice to save the soul. Are there such crosses? At least, whether there is suffering of the cross to devote ourselves to the dying souls of our family, Suwon area, Korea, and all mankind. From the individual, the church must bear this cross even if it is difficult and difficult. Why? It is because we must look to the glory of the last day.
A reward is always promised when you participate in the suffering of the cross. The Messianic Kingdom will surely come. We too must share in suffering. Those who share in the sufferings of the cross will surely be rewarded.
There is a famous saying in English "NO CROSS, NO CROWN". There is no crown without the cross. That is why we must suffer for the Lord, be cursed for the Lord, be spied on for the Lord's sake, work hard and sacrifice for the Lord. And we must bear the cross for the soul. Because when the Lord comes again, He will surely reward us.
So, how does the Lord tell us to carry the cross?
1. He says you must deny yourself.
What is true self-denial? Barclay said, "To deny oneself is to affirm God." To follow God's will rather than my own, and to follow the Lord's interests rather than my own.
The Lord said that self-denial is like a grain of wheat that falls to the ground and rots. "Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit." (John 12:24)
For a grain of wheat to fall to the ground, it must first come out of the grain bowl. Jesus came out of that peaceful and glorious throne in heaven and came down to earth. We don't know how worried we are about falling out of our current position.
“Jesus, being in the form of God, did not consider equality with God to be robbery, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, and being made in human form, and being found in human form, humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. "(Philippians 2:6-8) These words are an aspect of Jesus' self-denial.
Can someone who buys a 40-pyong apartment sell their house and move into a 25-pyong apartment to donate to the cause of the Lord's will? It's really difficult. We don't know how much we struggle for fear that our standard of living, our health, our reputation and our popularity will drop. If you try to keep your position, you cannot deny yourself like the Lord.
Even some believers do not even think about going to a small church at all unless they are at the level of a large church. Our beloved members believe that this level has already been passed and give thanks.
The Apostle Paul described the life of self-denial as follows: “I beat my body to subjection, lest after I have preached to others, I myself will be rejected” (1 Corinthians 9:27).
“Destroy the members of the earth, fornication, uncleanness, lust, evil lust, and covetousness, which is idolatry” (Colossians 3:5).
We instinctively have demonic properties.
[John 8:44] You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and cannot stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own. a liar and the father of lies
[Hebrews 12:4] You have struggled with sin and have not yet resisted it to the point of shedding blood.
2. It is to carry the cross every day.
The expression "one's cross" here is not the cross that Jesus carried, but that there is a cross for each person to carry. Matthew 10:38 says, "And he who does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me."
Praise: The cross that my Lord carried, whether we should bear the cross that everyone has, I also have it.
I will go to heaven to wear the crown of the cross that belongs to me. (Hymns 365:1.2)
3, you must take up your cross
Do not try to carry the cross of others, but bear faithfully even your own.
[Matthew 16:24] If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.
[Mark 8:34] If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.
Let's see that there is a pretty widow alone. How much is it every night? Is it lonely? Should I just cross the line to go and comfort her?
The person who cooks will cook, the person who will make money will make money, the person who will study will study, and we must all lose.
[Galatians 6:2] Bear one another's burdens, and thus fulfill the law of Christ.
[Galatians 6:5] Each one shall carry his own burden.
4. We must bear the cross while looking at the blessings that will come after suffering.
[Romans 8:18] I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed in us.
Praise: Why is suffering unique to me? Be grateful while previewing the grace that the Lord will give behind the suffering.
5. Occasionally, take up the cross by force
There is a saying in Korea that even a librarian must suffer when young.
[Matthew 27:32] As he was going out, he met a man from Cyrene named Simon, and he compelled him to go with him to take up the cross of Jesus.
In fact, who likes the cross? Didn't the Lord pray that his sweat would become drops of blood because he didn't want to take up this cross in the Garden of Gethsemane? If it is the Lord's will, I believe that if you force it, you will be blessed. Amen
6. If it is a vaginal cross, let's carry it with joy
[Psalm 37:7] Be still before the LORD and wait patiently; do not complain about him who prospers in his way,
[Acts 2:46] Day after day, we made every effort to gather together in the temple together, and broke bread at home, and ate food with joy and sincerity of heart.
Praise: Let's rejoice, let's be together
Dear brothers and sisters, who are the true disciples of the Lord?
[Matthew 10:38] And he who does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.
[Luke 14:27] Anyone who does not take up his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
Dear brothers and sisters, please remember that the carnal mind makes us enemies with God. Simon Peter had carnal thoughts. This makes us enmity with God. That is why we must cast away our carnal thoughts.
We will all wish to be like Alexander.
As historian Russell Delong said, "Alexander was born in the splendor of a crown, Jesus was born in a manger. Alexander came as the son of a king, but Jesus as the carpenter's son. Alexander was worshiped on the throne Jesus died on the cross as a ridiculed king. Alexander's life was a success, but the life of Jesus was a series of failures. But their steps toward Jerusalem made Jerusalem a different destiny." .
Alexander shed hundreds of thousands of lives to satisfy his desires, but Jesus shed his own blood to save countless lives. Do you know what Jesus meant when he told us to take up the cross?
For the sake of one soul, one life, I will carry that cross without hesitation. Lord, I will carry my cross
The Apostle Paul said that the cross is the power of God and the wisdom of God to us who are being saved. (1 Corinthians I:18 ) Let us now look at the cross once more with a renewed mind. Power and wisdom are hidden in it. Therefore, even with my own problems, there is a way and a secret to living right here.
The Lord speaks to us today as well. “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”
Let's take up our cross and follow the Lord. I pray that you will become saints who long for the day to meet the Lord and carry the cross with joy and follow the Lord.