Take Up Your Cross & Follow Christ

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Do you want to know Christ in the poem of his resurrection? Or are you longing for a deeper, authentic relationship with him? Do you even have a relationship with him? Welcome to Call to Glory, the cutting edge weekly podcast dedicated to helping you know Christ, the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings. One of the questions believers often ask is how do I know if I'm truly saved or born again? Unfortunately, God has not left us to our own devices or wisdom about this. On the contrary, he has given us clear, practical, and specific guidance, and that's what this series, Walking in the Light, is all about. Because no matter what you may have heard or been taught, this is the standard by which Christ will judge every one of us, you and me, Christian or not, this is the ultimate reality check. So with that said, let's look at one of the threshold requirements for salvation, the new birth, and eternal life. Turn with me to the Gospel of Mark, chapter eight. When he had called the people to himself, with his disciples also, he said to them, Whoever desires to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospels will save it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels. Notice what Christ said we must do in order to be his disciple. Take up your cross, deny yourself, follow him, and lose your life for his and the gospel's sake. Now let me repeat that. In order to be a disciple of Christ, you must take up your own cross, deny yourself, follow him, and lose your life for his and the gospel's sake. Luke's account of this passage raises the bar even higher. Turn with you, please, to chapter nine of the gospel according to Luke. If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. Now here, Christ said in order to be his disciple, we must take up our cross daily and follow him, not when it's convenient or as an optional fast track to the kingdom, but as a consecrated and intentional way of life. In other words, no cross, no salvation, and no eternal life, or as it's been very well said, no cross, no crown. There's no ambiguity here, not one bit. It's the great paradox of true biblical Christianity, and the scripture cannot be broken. Either lose your life for Christ's sake and in return inherit eternal life, or set your heart on the things of this life and risk losing your soul forever. Have you ever stopped to consider just what it would mean to lose or forfeit your soul? Think about it. Both the apostle Peter and the writer of Hebrews said the goal of our faith is the salvation of our soul, not our body or spirit, our soul. And yes, I know Paul spoke of the spirit being saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. Very true. Exactly what that would mean and look like I can't say with any certainty, but this much I do know. Your soul is who you are. Everything that defines you as an individual, so at a minimum, to lose or forfeit your soul means losing everything that makes you who you are. Your unique gifts, talents, abilities, likes, loves, personality, and whatever else defines you as a person, all taken and given to someone else, lost for all eternity. And let's get real. Even if you can somehow lose your soul, yet still be saved as by fire. What good do you think that would be? You see, we're tripartite beings, body, soul, and spirit. Everyone, both the righteous and the wicked, will be physically resurrected in their body, as it is written. Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some do everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting contempt. But Christ further from us when he said, The hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear his voice and come forth. Those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of condemnation. So once again, let's get real. Imagine what it would be like to have a resurrected body, and perhaps even a safe spirit, but no soul. What good do you think that would be? You'd be little more than an empty shell for all eternity. Nothing that ever made you who you were or defined you as a person, no character, personality, gifts, talents, abilities, likes, loves, or anything else that makes life worth living. And if that's not enough to put the fear of God in you, take a moment and consider what it would be like to see the incomparable glory given to God's vessels of honor. Those who by faith took Christ at his word, willingly lay down their lives and faithfully followed him, whatever the cost, compared to the shame and an everlasting contempt of Christ Himself toward those whom the apostle Paul described as vessels of dishonor. Those who professed to let and serve him, but by their words and deeds made themselves his enemies. There's a very good reason why the Bible says there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth at the judgment seat of Christ. Take a moment and think about that. Notice also how Christ equated saving your life, i.e., not taking up your cross and following him, with being ashamed of him in his words. The implication is clear and unmistakable. You see, a crucified Messiah is a real scandal, and so is the crucified life. Not the nice, neat, sanitized Sunday school version of taking up your cross and following Christ, but genuinely losing most, if not everything you've ever hoped for in this life for the sake of Christ and the gospel. It cuts against everything this fallen world esteems and our soul adamic nature desires. Moreover, it is an utter embarrassment and offense to those who love their lives and the things of this world and only see Jesus in terms of what he can do for them. Paul called people like this enemies of the cross of Christ. James went one step further and warned that those who would be friends with the world, including those who live and preach your best life now or some of the crossless quote unquote gospel, make themselves enemies of God. The scriptures leave little doubt as to what their end will be when Christ returns to judge the living and the dead, so with that said, let's look at what it means to deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Christ. There's really no honest way to whitewash or sanitize this. While it certainly can make for beautiful art and very moving religious imagery, make no mistake, the cross is neither a thing of beauty nor is it something to be romanticized. It was a brutal, unmerciful, and terribly cruel instrument of shame, humiliation, agony, torture, and death. Whatever else you might have to say about Millicusman's film, The Passion of the Christ, that is one thing he did get right. Now, of course, most of us in the twenty first century won't have to face or endure real crucifixion, but do not let anyone deceive you. If you choose to take up your cross and follow Christ, it will, for all intents and purposes, be the end of your life as you know it. Perhaps not literally, but most certainly in terms of your dreams, aspirations, hopes, reputation, and most certainly your right self-determination. That was true of Christ. It was true of the apostles, it's been true of every real Christian since the first century, and it will most certainly also be true of you and me. As Christ put it, a disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for a disciple that he be like his teacher and a servant like his master. And if there's any doubt about what Christ meant, the apostle John made it crystal clear when he wrote, By this we know that we are in him. He who says he abides in him ought himself also to walk just as he walked. So for simplicity's sake, I'll break this down into three interrelated aspects of the suffering that marks the life of a genuinely crucified disciple of Christ. Rejection, shame, and ultimately death. Let's begin with the Hebrew prophet Isaiah's description of Christ as the despised and rejected suffering servant of God. Please turn with me to Isaiah chapter 52. Just as many were astonished at you, so his visage was marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men. When was the last time you saw a Christian film production, or for that matter, church sermon that portrayed Christ like that? The disconnect between the attractive, even glamorous Jesus portrayed in popular religious art, television, film, and ministry, and the real Jesus of the Bible should already start becoming evident. How in the world did Christianity get from this to this? Now let's continue into chapter 53. He has no form or comeliness, and when we see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected by men. A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, and we hid, as it were, our faces from him. He was despised, and we did not esteem him. Does this look or sound anything like the popular and trendy, your best life now, Jesus, so passionately worshipped and adored by multitudes of professing believers? For that matter, does this look or sound anything like the strut, swagger, and soft shoe shuffle of shamelessly hip, spew talking preachers, or the loud, worldly, and openly sensual quote unquote worship that characterizes much of modern corporate Christianity, not by a country mile, and no wonder. You see, following a despised, rejected, and crucified Messiah, not to mention enduring the scandal and shame of carrying your own cross, is totally antithetical to everything this world and increasingly much of modern Christianity values, respects, honors, praises, seeks after, and rewards, things such as success, prestige, power, wealth, influence, and physical beauty, what the apostle John described as the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. And as a result, much of modern Christianity has rejected the cross of Christ in favor of a counterfeit Jesus and a crossless quote unquote gospel, which is in fact no gospel at all. My point is this. Modern Christian ministry and culture has been so corrupted by the love of the world and the spirit of Antichrist that the true message of the cross has virtually been lost, and that includes the cost of discipleship. So let me be clear. Taking up your cross and following Christ is not just a catchy religious slogan or ideal. Neither is it only for so-called super saints. It is the normal Christian life and it will cost you everything. According to Christ Himself, it is a threshold requirement for inheriting eternal life, and it is in every respect the antithesis of everything this world esteems and values. And make no mistake, if you choose to take up your cross and faithfully follow him, you will not be loved by the world, or for that matter, the church, but rather despised, rejected, misunderstood, and hated. Let me explain. The Apostle Paul said the message of the cross is the hidden wisdom of God which he ordained before the ages for our glory, which none of the rulers of this age knew, for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. Let that sink in for a moment. He put this into even sharper focus when he wrote, The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God. The fact of the matter is to the world, both those who openly reject Christ as well as those who profess to love him with their lips, but deny him by their actions, the message of the cross is absolute and utter foolishness. There's no way around it. If you are genuinely crucified to the world and the world to you, they will never understand you. They can't. As Paul also said, the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. The fact is, trying to explain this to your unsafe family and friends, even in church, will be like speaking Greek to them. Now at first, they may humor you or condescendingly view this as some new phase you're going through. Some may even genuinely try to understand. Others will simply distance themselves while yet others will, in one way or another, try to persuade you to abandon what they view as legalism or perhaps misguided religious fanaticism. Come on, they'll say, let bygones be bygones. Come back to the fold, and let's all return to being one happy family. Much like Peter, when he tried to dissuade Christ from going to Jerusalem where he knew it was God's will for him to suffer and die before his resurrection and power and glory. But if you remain faithful to the call of Christ at some point, that will change. People will stop calling and instead start whispering behind your back, and nowhere will this be more painfully evident than among your family and friends, especially in church. Your paths will be increasingly divergent, both you and they will know it. Your life will in fact be a testimony against them, and as a result, those who love their lives and the things of this world, Christian or not, will eventually reject and hate you. It's inevitable. Fact is, if you want to follow Christ, you will at some point have to walk alone. Perhaps only for a season, but very possibly longer. Only God knows how long, and he won't tell you. You'll have to take it up your faith, and I promise you that faith will be sorely tested. Add to that the voices of lying spirits mocking, accusing, and tempting you, and you're starting to get a taste of what it means to take up your cross and follow Christ. And why he said many, repeat many, will try to enter into life, but will be unable to. Like the Hebrew prophets, apostles, and Christ Himself, you will be rejected, misunderstood, mocked, and even falsely accused by the very people you love. What's more, God will not permit you to defend or try to vindicate yourself. By faith, you must remain silent and patiently wait for the day that he vindicates you. Until then, what was written about Christ will also be true of you and me. He was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth. He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shears is silent, so he opened not his mouth. And this leads us to the next aspect of taking up your cross and following Christ. Shame and humiliation. Again, as it was written about Christ, it will be true of everyone who chooses to take up his or her cross and follow him. We esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. Now in actual crucifixion, this took on several different aspects. First, the condemned were forced to publicly carry the heavy wooden cross beam, or particularly in Latin, to the execution site. In addition to being made a public spectacle, they were further subjected to the humiliation of being taunted, ridiculed, and spat upon by the crowd. They were then stripped naked, nailed to the cross, and hung in prominent public places where crowds could continue to openly mock and insult them. Think about it. In addition to the physical agony of having your hands and feet nailed to the cross, every vestige of human dignity was mercilessly stripped away. For anyone genuinely seeking to follow after Christ, this means that in addition to your own private suffering, your life may very well be an open book for all the world to see. The good, the bad, and the ugly. All that is, except your own personal baptism of fire. Just as Christ learned obedience by the things he suffered, so it will be with you and me, so take heart. God is dealing with you as a son that the life of Christ may be brought forth in you. Christ again left no doubt about this when he said, Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone. But if it dies, it bears much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Remember, as a believer, Christ has redeemed you from the power of Satan. He paid the price for your ransom with his own blood, and that means he owns you lock, stock, and barrel. As Paul said, you were bought at a price. Therefore, glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's. The fact is, God may use your past mistakes, sins, and failures as an example to others, not only to other people, but also to powers, principalities, rulers, and spiritual hosts of wickedness in heavenly places. King David's sins of adultery and murder and his numerous other moral failures, as well as Peter's denial of Christ and Paul's persecution of the early church are a few well known examples of this. Well, you'd no doubt much rather stay under the radar and quietly work out your own salvation. Well, God may very well have other plans. Remember, as a believer, Christ now owns you, and he may very well put your life on open display for his purposes, and make no mistake. For most of us, that will not be pleasant. Paul understood this when he told Timothy, this is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. However, for this reason I obtain mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show all long suffering as a pattern to those who are going to believe on him for everlasting life. And of course, just as it was with David, Peter, and Paul, there will be those who will never let you or anyone else forget who you were and what you did. They may very well slander and accuse you of being a religious fraud or worse, and nothing you say will ever change their minds. Only you and the Lord will know the truth of the matter, and you won't be allowed to defend yourself. You will have to patiently endure the shame and embarrassment of having your past life exposed and visible as an open book for all the world to see. Make no mistake, it will be a thorn in your flesh, and as the popular saying quite accurately puts it, your cost to bear. Second, the Roman Empire reserved crucifixion for the lowest members of society, such as rebellious slaves, violent criminals, and enemies of the state. It represented in every respect the shame, humiliation, and agony of total and utter defeat. That's how it looked to the Jewish religious establishment when Christ was crucified. That's how it looked to Rome when Peter and Paul were killed as enemies of the state, and that is how it will look to the world when God brings you to your own Calvary. Like Job's friends, there may very well be also be those who view your crucified life as proof positive, you're under God's judgment or perhaps harboring some secret sin. And like Job's wife, there may also be members of your own household who will say in so many words, Do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God and die. They will have no clue that God's hand is heavy upon you, and like many did with Christ, they will look down upon you as a total failure. While they're busy pursuing the things of this world such as wealth, worldly success, material possessions, power, and fame, your heart is quietly set on the kingdom of God and his righteousness. Again, whatever reputation you may have had will very likely be destroyed. They will never understand you, and what's more, there won't be a single thing you can do about it. And that's not all. According to the Torah, anyone who is hanged on a tree is under God's curse. This, of course, makes a crucified Messiah a profound stumbling block to Jewish people. Many of Christ's Jewish brethren didn't understand this when he first came, and it was a source of great anguish for him, as it was for the Apostle Paul. We see this, for example, when Christ wept over Jerusalem, and also in the Apostle John's testimony that he came to his own, and his own did not receive him. For the Apostles and early disciples, that meant the rejection, scorn, ridicule, and hatred of the Jewish community. And it's no different today. So if you're a Jewish believer such as myself, take heed. If you faithfully take up your cross and follow Christ, this will also be true of you. It will mean the rejection, scorn, ridicule, misunderstanding, and hatred of most, if not all, the Jewish community. If you are genuinely crucified to the world and the world to you, your life and the prophetic word of your testimony will in fact be a witness against their religious pride, rebellion, and unbelief, and they will hate you for it. Moreover, don't think that you can do an end run around the scandal and offense of the cross in order to make the gospel more attractive or the message of Christ crucified less offensive to our Jewish brethren, or, as the case may be, to avoid persecution for the cross of Christ. It's impossible. Like Christ and the apostles, they will very likely see you as a loser, religious fraud, or even a traitor to your Jewish brethren. Whatever reputation, standing, and relationship you may have had with the Jewish community will be destroyed so settled in your minds once and for all. If they hate Christ, they will hate you too. If they denounce Paul and the other apostles, they will most certainly do the same to you. We must therefore bear his reproach as we go to meet him outside the camp, and there won't be a single thing you can do about it except entrust yourself to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Like David, and of course Christ himself, you will cry out from the depths of your heart, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me and from the words of my groaning? Oh my God, I cry in the daytime, but you do not hear. And in the night season, and I'm not silent, but you are holy, enthroned in the presence of Israel. Our fathers trusted in you. They trusted, and you delivered them. They cried to you and were delivered. They trusted in you and were not ashamed, but I am a worm and no man, a reproach of men and despised by the people. All those who see me ridicule me, they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, He trusted in the Lord, let him rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him. And this brings us to the third and most frightening aspect of taking up your cross and following Christ. Death. And once again, what was written about Christ will in one way or another also be true of everyone who chooses to take up his or her cross and follow him. He was taken from prison and from judgment, and who will declare his generation? For he was cut off from the land of the living for the transgressions of my people he was stricken. And they made his grave with the wicked, but with the rich at his death. Because he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him. He has put him to grief because he poured out his soul unto death, and he was numbered with the transgressors. If you genuinely desire to follow Christ, you will experience not only your own Gethsemane, but your own personal Calvary too. At some point, you will come to a divinely orchestrated and most holy place where your life, as you knew it, is over. Perhaps not literally, but most certainly in terms of your dreams, aspirations, hopes, reputation, and most certainly your right to self-determination. Where you will be brought so low that like David, you will cry out, I am a worm and no man. And like Christ. Where you will be able to say with all of your heart, Not my will, but thy will be done. Where like both David and Christ, you will also cry out. Many bulls have surrounded me. Strong bulls of Bashan have encircled me. They gape at me with their mouths like a raging and roaring lion. I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart is like wax, it has melted within me. My strength is dried up like a potzer, and my tongue clings to my jaws. You have brought me to the dust of death. For dogs have surrounded me. The congregation of the wicked has enclosed me. They pierced my hands and my feet. I can count all my bones. They look and stare at me. They divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots. And ultimately, like the Apostle Paul, you will know the reality and power of what it means to say, from the depth of your heart, I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Not as a catchy religious cliche, but in the reality and power of the crucified life you now live and walk in, dead to the world, but hidden with Christ and God. And if you faithfully stay the course, overcome by the blood of the Lamb, the word of your testimony, and love not your life unto death, what is now true of Christ will one day also be true of you. Though he was crucified in weakness, yet he lives by the power of God. For we also are weak in him, but we shall live with him by the power of God towards you. If this is your first time tuning in, please be sure to like, share, comment, subscribe, and ring the bell so you can be notified whenever we post new episodes. If you like what you've heard today, please also leave a review wherever you're listening to this podcast. Tell us what you loved about this episode, how it may have helped or encouraged you, or you can simply leave a comment about any other topics you'd love to hear us cover in the future. Finally, remember to always keep your lamps trimmed, lit, and full of oil. Show him and see you next time.