Will You Take Up Your Cross to Follow Christ?

We need you to teach us. We desire you to teach us. And Lord, we ask you to teach us. Lord, teach us these truths. And Lord, not only teach us the intellectual part and knowing the facts of Scripture, but also how we might apply them to our lives and see your presentation, to see your demands, and to see what it means to follow you and to be unashamed.

Lord, help us to do that as we look at this chapter 16 and finish it up tonight. You’ll help us and we just look to you. Lord, help us to learn more about you in Jesus’ name. Amen. Now remember the context. Before we get to verse 24. Verse 24 is the tail end of a series or a conversation, a series of verses that really began in verse 13 in Caesarea Philippi when Jesus says, Who do men say, the I, the Son of Man, am?

And in that context, the Lord, of course Peter answers, thou art the Christ, Son of the living God. And of course the Lord blesses him for that, blessed art thou. And then he says that he gives them authority over the keys of the kingdom of heaven. We saw that as well. And then he turns straight to that. And of course you had the issue with what we saw this morning with Peter, as the Lord begins to explain that he’s going to go to the cross, Peter begins to rebuke him.

And that’s where the Lord says, Get thee behind me, Satan. And obviously the idea is Peter was not, Peter was, as I said this morning, Peter was interested in the glory, but definitely was not interested in the suffering of Christ. And you can’t blame him from a human perspective, but that was the whole problem, is that it was a human perspective. It was a carnal perspective that was not most concerned with the things of God, but the things of men.

All right, that’s what we’ve seen already. But the Lord brings up suffering in verse 21, specifically not the suffering of the disciples, but the suffering of himself. When he says he would suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and be raised again the third day. So the Lord, as always, anytime the Lord brings up suffering, well, most of the time anyway, when you see that, he brings up himself to begin because our Lord is our example.

There’s nothing that our Lord Jesus calls us to do or endure that he has not first done and endured before us to set an example for us. And so we can always, that’s why the Bible says, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, our eyes should not be set upon our brothers and sisters to our right and to our left, but they should be set to our Lord.

That is one of the keystones of the Christian life, is you have to keep your focus on the Lord Jesus Christ himself. Whether it be things that happen to you or suffering or persecution or interpersonal issues or whatever the case might be, we keep our eyes upon Christ and that’s like the North Star and it keeps us going in the right direction because our eyes are upon him.

Okay, so the Lord is the one that brings up suffering in verse 21, his own suffering. And then on the heels of that, not separate from that, but in the same context. And he begins in verse number 24 and he applies these same truths to the disciples. Notice what he says in verse 24. He says, then said Jesus unto his disciples, if any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

Now we’re okay with the idea of coming after Christ, we’re okay with the idea of denying ourselves to some degree anyway, but when we get to the word cross, that’s like a bad word, especially when you know what that means. The word cross is a very dreadful word in scripture. To be honest with you, for me personally, I don’t like the cross as far as the symbolism of the cross.

I don’t like that. I’ve told you a few of that in our kind of passing conversations. A part of that is having been a missionary and seeing people that venerate images and that kind of thing. And I’ve seen and heard of people doing that. They think there’s power in the symbolism of the cross, like that down there. There’s just none. It’s just a piece of wood that’s cut in a certain pattern.

But the cross of Christ, of course, it reminds us of what our savior has done, but it’s a dreadful symbol. It’s a dreadful symbol of death. And the reason it’s so dreadful is because it is what our sin required. So we understand what it means and that kind of thing, but the cross is a very dark period in history. And so when the Lord says the word cross in verse 24, especially to those who live under Roman rule, that’s like a shutter.

He’s only ever said it one other time. Matthew 10, we saw it this morning. He says it here, right on the heels of what he said. Now, he doesn’t say that he’s gonna be killed by the cross in verse 21. Notice that? He just says he’s gonna be killed. But verse 24, he hints that it’s gonna be on a cross, because he says to follow him, take up his cross and follow Jesus.

So again, in the context of suffering, Peter wants to, he’s looking for the glory. He wants to avoid the pain and suffering, and he has a desire for glory. But just as with our Lord Jesus, just as it is with our Lord Jesus, suffering must come before glory. And that’s a biblical principle that you see throughout the New Testament. Suffering must come before glory. It was true of the Lord Jesus, and it’s true of us.

Suffering is first. Romans 8, 18 says this, “’For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time “’are not worthy to be compared with the glory “’which shall be revealed.’” 1 Peter 4, 13, “’But rejoice inasmuch as ye are partakers “’of Christ’s sufferings, “’that when his glory shall be revealed, “’ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.’” And 2 Timothy 2, 12 says this, “’If we suffer, we shall also reign with him.

“’If we deny him, he also will deny us.’” Now, if you keep that verse in your mind, we’re gonna kind of circle around that verse a little bit, though not directly. And then also verse number 27 in our text here says this, “’For the Son of Man shall come in the glory “’of his Father with his angels, “’and then he shall reward every man according to his works.

“’But there is no Son of Man coming in glory “’until the Son of Man first suffers and dies, “’and then rises, ascends back to his Father, “’and then he returns.’” So it’s embedded through, the Lord Jesus is consistent throughout his ministry that it is necessary that he suffer first. We all know that. That’s a New Testament truth. That’s an Old Testament truth. And so that’s the order.

And this is why the Lord brings it up because he is shaking the disciples out of this idea that they’re gonna somehow get glory without suffering because it’s not gonna happen. It’s not gonna happen.

Now notice what he says in verse 24. Now verse 24, we’re gonna have a little hermeneutical lesson tonight. So if you follow me, maybe we can learn a little principle of hermeneutics. But this context, 24 through 27, really hinges and begins with verse 24. Verse 24 is kind of the foundation verse. And from there, we go into each other verse. So it says, if any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

If any man will come after me. The idea is Jesus is walking in front of us and we’re walking in his steps. Again, the Lord has done everything before us which he calls us to do. And here’s the thing we need to remember. If any man will come after me. Do you know it’s not possible? It’s not possible for you or me or any person to go after the Lord Jesus Christ without these conditions.

And notice what he says. If any man will follow, will come after me. All the rest of the verse are the requirements. All the rest of the verse are the necessary conditions. So it is not possible. There doesn’t exist someone who can follow the Lord Jesus without the things that are explained in verse 24. They are part of coming after him. So there’s a question that we have to put forth.

We have to ask ourselves. Every person has to ask themselves and you’re gonna see a little bit later on. This is a valid question for believing people but also this is a valid question for unbelieving people. This is a question. Are you willing to do what verse 24 says to follow the Lord Jesus Christ? Are you willing to do what the Lord Jesus says to follow the Lord Jesus Christ?

Well, some might say, well, I wanna follow him but only under these conditions. I’m sorry. The Lord Jesus is the Lord of all and he is the one that sets the conditions, not us. And we cannot dictate to him the conditions. And he says, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. This version of so-called Christianity that promises a following Christ without any ridicule, without any scorn or suffering for his name is a false version of Christianity.

That is not a real thing. It doesn’t exist. That kind of discipleship is not discipleship. The only way that this kind of thing, this idea, this version that promises following Christ without trouble or scorn, the only way that happens is by that very version of Christianity that promotes this, so compromising biblical truth that it is no longer offensive to a world at enmity with God. That’s the only way that you can kinda skate around this idea of suffering in the cross.

And we’re gonna get to the cross in just a minute. That’s the only way it’s possible is if you make, is if you and I make the truths of scripture, the Bible truths, the truths of Christ, we water them down so much that the world approves of them. And then and only then will they leave us alone about it. But secretly they will despise us because we have compromised what we have claimed to be the most important thing in our life.

We don’t do ourselves any favors by doing that and we certainly do not do any favors to the Lord Jesus Christ by doing that. Look, this world is an enemy of God. It is not on friendly terms with God of heaven. And if we follow therefore the words of the God of heaven, we are going to make enemies. And we are going to be subjected to people who are not friendly to our God and to our savior.

If we’re gonna be serious about living for the Lord Jesus Christ, we are going to rub people the wrong way. Now we can talk about offending people and how the gospel is offensive. And there is absolutely a way that we can be offensive to people by our nasty attitude or an ungrateful spirit or a complaining spirit. We can be offensive to people and then we can play victim and be like, well, hey, it’s because I’m a Christian.

No, it’s not, it’s because you’re a jerk. But on the other hand, somehow in Christianity, we’ve gotten this idea that if I’m nice and I follow Jesus and I read my Bible and I love him and I try to do his will, then everybody’s gonna like me. Read 24. It’s not there. It’s not there. So that’ll be something we prepare ourselves for. The Lord’s told us well in advance.

If you and I are intent and serious about doing the will of God and about obeying his word and living for him, lock, stock, and barrel, it is going to rub people the wrong way and they are going to respond negatively.

Now, look at the next phrase. It says this, if any man will come after me, let him deny himself, deny himself. Very unpleasant phrase, very unpleasant phrase. Don’t look at the word himself. I want you to change that, at least in your mind, as you try to apply this and put myself, myself. You see, the natural inclinations of myself will have to be denied. We live with this wicked nature that loves ease and loves pleasure and loves a good time and loves to avoid any pain, any suffering, and it loves to indulge itself in sin and in things that are wicked, and that’s our nature.

And sometimes that part of our nature, I mean, how many of you like to sit in your lazy boy and just relax? I mean, that’s part of that nature. That’s not necessarily a sinful manifestation, but that same part can absolutely lead us to sinful things, can it not? It can lead to slothfulness and dereliction of our Christian duty, and you know what I’m saying. So it can cross into that very easily.

So there is gonna be some self-denial, some my self-denial because of our wicked nature. And most things in a believer’s life, as we try to follow the Lord Jesus Christ, most of the things the Lord calls us to are antithetical. They are at opposition to our natural desires. They really are. Getting up in the morning and seeking the Lord when you have things to do, sometimes that doesn’t exactly go the way you wanna go.

Turning away from something on the internet that shouldn’t be on the screen is antithetical to myself, to ourselves. Shutting down the gossip is antithetical when we have just something that’s burning that we have to say. That’s antithetical. It’s against our nature. And you think about a person, but take it a step back. Think about a person who does not know the Lord Jesus Christ. Right now I’m kind of applying it to a believer, but really this is actually more applied to an unbeliever.

Because an unbeliever, one of the first things that an unbeliever has to come to grips with is the fact that he or she, the things that he or she loves the most, sin, that they’re attached to and in love with are the first things that have to go. That’s the doctrine of repentance. When we turn to Jesus by faith, those desires that an unbeliever has are the first thing.

He says, what about that? What about that? And he come face to face with the truth of this, which is, well, what are you gonna do about this? Is there any self denial here? Again, this false version of Christianity that has been promoted says, you know what? We’ll worry about that later. That’s not a big deal. You don’t need to, no, no. And I’ll prove it to you in just a minute, but the Lord says on the front end, what about that?

What about that? That’s what he says to him. You wanna follow me? What about that? And that person who comes to the Lord Jesus Christ, I know it’s true of me and it was true of you. When you came to Christ, I would probably say, especially if you were an adult or like a teenager perhaps, you came to the Lord Jesus Christ, I guarantee you there was something in your life and the Lord was putting his finger on it and saying, right there, what about that?

For some of us, it was religious pride. For some of us, it was alcohol. Some of us, it was some other sin. And we had to come to the Lord Jesus and say, that thing that I love the most, I want the Lord more. I want to be saved more.

Notice what he says in the next verse. Let him deny himself and take up his cross. Now hold your place here and go to Luke chapter nine real quick. I wanna show you this passage. I think it’s, let me see, I’ll write it down. I think it’s nine verse 38, if I’m not mistaken. I thought I had it in my notes, but. Let’s see here.

No, that’s not, oh yeah, here it is, okay. What is it? 23. There we go, thank you brother. All right, Luke nine verse 23. And he said to them all, if any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross, one addition to the other, daily, and follow me. All right, now go back to Matthew 16 if you would.

Take up his cross daily. Taking up the cross is a deliberate act. The Lord does not lay the cross upon us. He calls us to take it up ourselves. He calls us to on a daily basis decide and choose this self-denial. Who is gonna pick up a cross? Remember, when I say cross, don’t think of this, don’t think of this at the top of the steeple. I want you to think of the implement of death upon which our Lord died.

Would anyone, would anyone choose to take up a cross? Would anyone, would anyone choose to take up a cross? Would anyone choose to do that? Like literally, there’s nobody in the society of the Lord Jesus Christ who would in their wildest imagination take up a cross. And yet the Lord calls us to do it voluntarily. Take up the cross. It’s an act of the will. It must be picked up of our own willingness in order to follow Jesus.

It is one of his requirements. Notice what it says. He says, let him deny himself and take up his cross. Notice the Lord did not say my cross. No, he has his own cross upon which he would die for the sins of the world. But we have a cross. This is our cross, our cross. It is a cross that is customized for us. Now let me say something really quick about the cross.

I know in our common vernacular, we use the cross to refer to any kind of suffering that we might, some cross we have to bear. We have a lemon that we have to drive around in, or whatever. We have a bad job, or whatever the case might be. We call that a cross we have to bear. But this isn’t the kind of cross we’re talking about here.

Remember, you gotta keep the context. When the Lord died upon the cross, this wasn’t a natural death. This wasn’t a thing that just everybody would experience at some point or another. So the cross does not include all these natural forms of suffering that we have to suffer, just like an unbeliever has to suffer, whether it be illnesses, or tragedies, or different things like that, setbacks and financial problems, all those things.

All those things are part of the human life, and the Lord’s grace is sufficient for those things, just like it’s sufficient for everything else. But that’s not what we’re talking about when we’re talking about the cross. The cross is something very specific. The cross is referring to that implement upon which Jesus died, and it’s a symbol of ridicule, and scorn, and hatred, and mockery, and shame, and reproach.

And how do we know that? Notice what it says in verse 25, or verse 24. Take up his cross and follow me. When Jesus took the cross up, right? When he was condemned by Pilate, and he was sentenced to death by crucifixion, and he took his cross up, what did he do with that?

When he took it up, what did he do with that? What did he do? Carried it where? From where to where? He carried it from the judgment hall through the city of Jerusalem in public to the place of the skull. That was a public, and as they were going by, again, you gotta remember, this is the context, because this actually happened later.

As the Lord Jesus carries this cross, he’s not alone, there’s two other men carrying crosses as well. As he’s carrying the cross through the city to this place of a skull, a well-known place of execution, people are standing by and watching him. They see him, and what does that provoke? That provokes scorn. That provokes ridicule, reproach, shame. Here’s a criminal. Here’s someone who killed someone. Here’s someone who raped someone.

Here’s someone who is extortion, or is a rebel, who has risen up against the authorities. Here’s someone who deserves to die. Here’s someone who is a friend of no one. Here’s someone who is worthy of death. This is the picture here. And so when the Lord says, we take up our cross, this is a cross of ours. This is not natural kind of suffering. This is special kind of suffering that comes directly from our connection to the Lord Jesus Christ and our desire to follow him.

This is a kind of suffering. The cross is not normal suffering. This is the kind of suffering that we get because we follow Christ, that kind of suffering. 1 Peter 4.16 puts it like this. Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God on his behalf. Now, if you go way back to Matthew, the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew chapter five, remember the Bible talks about how that we would be reproached for the name of Christ, and sometimes we would be persecuted.

There were two categories, remember? Persecution for Christ’s name and persecuted for righteousness sake, right? Persecuted because of our faith in Christ and our connection with him, and also persecution as a result of our desire to follow him. Those are the two categories, and it matches here as well. This is the kind of cross persecution. People persecuted the Lord Jesus Christ and took him to the cross because he said he was the son of God.

But they also persecuted him for the good that he did, that he shined light on their darkness. Now notice the Lord Jesus Christ did not say that we would be crucified with him. Look again at verse 24. If any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. It doesn’t say be crucified with me. I just thought that was an interesting fact.

Now, there are many believers who have been, figuratively speaking, have been crucified with Christ. I’m talking they have died the death of a martyr for the name of Christ. You think of the William Tyndale’s of the world. There have been people like that for sure, but that’s not what the verse says. The verse is speaking of that carrying the cross. He’s talking about the ridicule. You know, I wanna tell you something.

And I think we live in a unique time. We have to get this in our minds. We live, we now in 2025 in Greenville, South Carolina, we live in a unique time in history and we live in a unique society.

We live in a society that is very protective of Christianity, very protective of Christians, do we not? We have almost unimaginable amounts of liberty. That most Christians since the time of Christ have not enjoyed. Most have not enjoyed. And to a large degree, many Christians to this day around the world still do not enjoy. And not only do we live in America where that’s generally preserved. Now, if you lived in the Northeast, you wouldn’t find people so friendly as they are here on the subject of Christianity.

All right, you would find more house here, or California, some places in California, or perhaps Washington State, places where there’s a larger percentage of people kind of hostile to Christianity. But generally speaking, the laws protect us, right? But in many parts of the world, that’s not the case. The Bible’s not written just for us American Christians in 2025, it’s written for everyone. And so what we find, here’s what we find.

We find generally speaking, especially around here, somebody runs for office, if they’re a Republican, they better have some sort of Christianity attached to their name, right? It’s a requirement almost, it’s a requirement. And if they don’t, if there’s some other religion or something like that, there’s a stir, oh, they’re different, you know, hold on. So obviously, that’s not a great deal of persecution. It’s just, I’m just saying we live in a unique time.

We live in a unique country where we have a special open door that is really not common in history at all. And so we don’t often see people being persecuted because they believe in Christ. That’s not something that’s very common. But there is another aspect to it, remember? Persecuted for righteousness sake. That does happen. Here’s why. Because in our society where everybody’s a Christian, everybody’s this form of Christian, so you have Christian, Christian, Christian, Christian, Christian, Christian, Christian, and here you are.

You know the difference? All of these people go to church, all of them say they know Jesus, none of them actually do. They were all born into a Christian part of the country and they think they’re going to heaven and they think they’re saved. All nine of them think they’re saved because they were born in the South. They’re not, they’re not saved. But they have a form of religion.

And here you are. You’re a person who has been born again. You have the Spirit of God in you. Have you ever seen, have you ever seen something that’s white next to something that is bright white?

When you put something that is bright white next to something that is white, it makes the white look dirty. And that’s kind of what you have going on in Greenville. With you. You see, if even in Greenville, no, you’re not going to find a lot of people that, that’s, I mean, that say mean things to you most of the time because you’re a believer. I want to challenge you.

If you’ve not been to downtown Greenville with us, I challenge you to come out and pass out gospel tracts in public. Because it will, it will undo this idea that everybody around us loves us and wants us to be a Christian. They’re not all like that. They’re not all like that. But there’s a lot more of that than maybe in other parts of the world, for sure.

But even you put that aside, if you as a believer are going to live for God with the pedal to the floor, and you are going to be serious, and you’re going to make distinctions between righteousness and unrighteousness, and you’re going to say no to people when they want you to do things that aren’t right, and you’re going to say yes to things when all the pressure is saying no, you shouldn’t, and you’re going to shame people because you can’t participate, and you’re going to be serious about living for God, you are going to know what it’s like to have people unhappy with you, and to have people slander you behind your back, and to have people pass you up for promotions, and to have people look for causes and pretext to get rid of you, and to exclude you from their company, all of which are forms of persecution, you’re going to know what it’s like to be shamed, and for people to treat you differently, and you have no idea why or what happened because you hadn’t even talked to them, you are going to know what that’s like, you’re going to know what it’s like in your family when you have to make those tough decisions.

Now we can say, and this is, and to be honest with you, in Greenville, South Carolina, this is actually I think what it looks like, but it’s real, it will happen, it will happen.

This cross that we carry, this cross that we carry, we will experience the same kind of treatment that our Lord experienced, ridicule, scorn, shame, hatred, slander. Now in Luke chapter nine it says this, it adds the word daily, and that tells us when the Lord says, take up your cross daily, it hints to us that this is not, when the Lord says the cross, he’s not talking about us picking up a piece of wood in a literal sense.

This is something you do every day. That means every day there’s a decision of self-denial, and every day there’s a decision that I’m going to follow Jesus no matter what. If people like it or don’t like it, I’m going to do his will, I’m going to follow him, I’m going to obey him, no matter what.

The truth is you and I don’t have any power to do that, at all, we have none. But there is a matter where the Lord says, take it up. Now once we pick it up, we have no power to carry it, forget it, if the Lord doesn’t help us, it ain’t going to happen, but he does say, pick it up. He does say, pick it up. You see, there’s a mindset, although no one ever says it, it’s not Christian to speak it, but the mindset is very much there.

It says this, I will only follow Jesus if it involves no suffering, no ridicule, no scorn, no slander, and no shame for his name. Those are my conditions, and the Lord says, then you won’t follow.

And so, the Lord says, if you don’t follow Jesus, and the Lord says, then you won’t follow. You won’t follow. Then the Lord says in verse number 24, he says, take up his cross and follow me, following. Our Lord has set the example for us, and we do not suffer alone. First Peter 221, for even here unto where you called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that you should follow his steps.

Now we go into verse 25. Now we’ve covered 24, now notice, if you look at, if you would, at the first word of 25, 26, and 27, look at the first word of those three verses. For whosoever, for what? For the Son of Man. See that? You know what those three words are? They’re conjunctions. Those conjunctions are tying, like a chain, tying what the verses say to what was just said above it.

So it’s creating a link. And this is a hermeneutical principle of context. If you look at the conjunctions and you follow them, and you see how these verses and the principles in the verses are tied together, you can understand the passage as a whole, right? So in other words, 25, 26, and 27 are in a line, are linked together. And here’s what I mean. If any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

For whosoever will save his life shall lose it, and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it, which is to say he’s referring back to the cross carrying, losing one’s life, that’s what he’s talking about. And then he goes and he connects the next verse. For, again, he’s talking about losing your life, saving your life. Notice what he says next. For what is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world and lose, there’s the same word from verse 25, losing one’s life, he says losing one’s soul, and lose his own soul?

Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? Now, when we get to verse 26, rather, we see the Lord is talking about something very important. He’s talking about losing your soul. He’s talking about losing your soul. And by connecting these verses, what you start to see is this whole matter of taking up the cross, denying oneself, following Christ, losing and saving one’s life, gaining the world, is actually properly applied to someone who’s not yet a believer, because their soul is in the balance, you see.

Their soul is in the balance. The word for is what connects all of them. Now, what is this, why does this matter? I wanna show you, go back to one more verse at the end of the message, and then we’ll be done.

You see, if a man lives a life, when we look at the context as a whole, from 24 to 27, if a man lives a life of ease, in which everyone around him approves of him, everyone around him pats him on the back, and everyone around him honors him, but the price of that approval, and the price of that ease is his soul.

He has lost everything. That’s what Jesus is talking about. You see, because the man who says, he wants to gain the whole world, what we’re talking about is we’re talking about a man who is looking, because here’s the way it works in practice. A guy knows a Christian. A lady knows a Christian lady. And they watch him, and they should, they should. They should watch you, they should watch you, and they see your life, and they see the way you live, and it has an effect on them, and maybe you try to witness to them, and share the gospel with them.

What are the things that are going through their head? What are the things that are going through their head? You know what they’re doing, they’re weighing it out. Most of the time, the question of the claims of the gospel has already been decided, right? Most of the time, the claims of the gospel, the truth of the gospel is something that you probably have already proven to them.

They might not say it, but you probably already have. In other words, they believe that you’re the real deal. They believe that what you say about Jesus is probably true. But that’s not the problem. That’s not the problem. The problem is in the first verse in our context. The problem is, they’re not exactly sure if they like the terms.

They’re not exactly sure if they’re interested in denying themselves and their love of sin. They’re not exactly sure of that. They’re not exactly sure if they’re okay with the ridicule that comes with following Jesus. They’re not even a believer yet.

This is where repentance comes in. They’re not sure they wanna go there. They’re not sure that they wanna be treated the way that they have treated you, and the way they see others treat you. They’re not exactly sure if they wanna be numbered with the fuddy-duddy, straight-laced, super conservative crazies that go to the church three times a week and act like a bunch of crazies. They’re not exactly sure they wanna be that kind.

They’re not exactly sure that they want to sacrifice the approval of all their drinking buddies, or if they wanna lose the relationship with their girlfriend or boyfriend, their sinful relationship. These are the thoughts that go through people’s heads as they’re weighing these things out, weighing out the gospel. Oftentimes, people don’t reject Jesus because of some apologetic issue of, well, did you properly give proper citations for the claims you made about, no, it’s not about that.

It’s really a question about this right here. Do I want that ridicule, or do I want ease? Do I want approval? Do I want acceptance, or do I want ridicule?

Do I want my sin, or do I want my soul saved? It really boils down to that, and that’s exactly what Jesus is saying. And the Lord says this, if you gain the whole world, now, I know we often think of that in terms of wealth, and that’s perfectly okay, that’s right, but in the context, he’s not just talking about wealth. He’s talking about the whole world.

Say all of mankind pats you on the back and says, you’re just the greatest thing ever. You’ve gained the whole world. But if you had to sell your soul, if you had, if the price of that approval, so men would not say nasty things about you, and you could live the life of ease and pleasure, if the price of that is your soul, you have lost it all.

Because the Lord Jesus Christ is the one who sets the terms. When a man comes to Christ, he does come to Christ with a heart that says, it’s all. He doesn’t come to Jesus with his terms. He comes to Jesus and accepts the terms that are given to him. I saw a quote I thought was fantastic from Spurgeon. I don’t have it in front of me, so I can’t quote it, but basically he says, he basically says, I’m not begging you to come to Jesus.

As a herald of the king, I’m commanding you in his name on pain of perishing in hellfire to turn to Jesus. You know, that’s how the New Testament presents. You know, the New Testament doesn’t present anybody crawling on their hands and knees, begging people to get saved.

The Lord commands all men everywhere to repent. He commands people. You come to me on my terms or you don’t follow me. And here’s the thing. When you came to Jesus, how did you come to Jesus? Lord, I mean, we’re nothing but just sinful worms is all we are. We came to Jesus and we told him we’ll do whatever, whatever he wants us to do.

And he knows, he’s just laughing at us knowing we can’t do nothing. We can’t do anything at all. But yet we came to him with a heart of repentance like that. And because we came to him on his terms, the door was open.

We didn’t bring our terms to him. And that’s the thing a person is risking. They’re risking their very soul. They’re risking their very soul. Last verse I wanna show you is in Revelation 21.

Revelation 21. Verse seven. He that overcometh shall inherit all things and I will be his God and he shall be my son. Notice this. But the fearful and unbelieving and the abominable and murderers and whoremongers and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars shall have the same fate and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone which is the second death.

Now we can understand sorcerers, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, whoremongers, idolaters and liars. We can understand why they’re in the lake of fire. But the first one is a little bit confusing, is it not? Fearful, fearful.

The fearful are those who are frightened, who are timid. Those who cower at the threats of the disapproval of man. Those who will not come to Jesus, lest they’re ridiculed. Those who dare not stand out because people might say bad things about them. They dare not come to Jesus and be one of those people. I mean the Lord says, those will also have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone.

That’s pretty serious. You know the Bible says the fear of man bringeth a snare. You see these are those who through fear of man’s disapproval choose not to take up the cross. They seek to save their life but end up losing it.

They seek to gain the approval of the world but only get it at the price of their soul. They deny the Lord Jesus Christ for fear of man. The fearful.

And as a result, as we see here, they lose their soul. They lose their soul. Let’s pray together.