TAKE UP YOUR CROSS

01-29-07

TAKE UP YOUR CROSS

Hello beloved,

I want to start by stating that a horrible lie has slowly crept into the church in America. What is that lie? That your sole purpose is to live a life full of health, wealth and prosperity. Many Christians are slowly being led to believe this lie. Why? That’s simple, because it is the easier road, and because “men of God”, they trust, are preaching it from their pulpits. Many popular TV preachers would say that if you are suffering you are not in the will of God. But, if you study the Word of God, you will find that this is a lie from the pit of Hell. The truth is that every Christian, walking in the perfect will of God, will definitely suffer. He or she might be blessed with health, wealth and prosperity; but this is not a guarantee. Suffering, however, is a guarantee. Beloved, as Christians, we will definitely suffer. Jesus clearly shows us that it is a choice to walk with him, but if we choose that, we must also be willing to choose to suffer with Him.

So, before we look at this section of scripture(Mt. 16:21-28), we need to visit the preceding section of scripture(Mt. 16:13-20). You will find that Peter is praised in front of all of the disciples because he confessed Christ. He said “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” So, he knew Jesus. Now, this is where most of the modern American church makes a big mistake. They will praise you for acknowledging Christ. And they would say that knowing Jesus as the Christ would be sufficient and never tell you the truth of what lies ahead. The truth is, that many preachers today will just get you to confess Christ and then tell you what you need to do to be healthy, wealthy and prosperous. This is not at all what Jesus taught. In fact, you will find the exact opposite being taught in the following verses of scripture.

“21From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.
22Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!”
23Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.”
24Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. 26What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? 27For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done. 28I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”  – Matthew 16:21-28

Jesus starts off by explaining that He must go through many sufferings at the hands of the very people He came to save. He explains that he must be killed, but also says that on the third day He will be raised to life. So what’s up with Peter? He just confessed Jesus to be the Christ. The fact is, Peter did what most of us would do. He only heard the part about suffering and death. At that point, his mind started reeling, his flesh took over and he missed the part about Jesus’ glorious resurrection.

So, the way I see it, Peter either was not paying attention when Jesus said that he would be raised from the dead, or he just didn’t believe it. I don’t know which it was, but I don’t think that is the point being made. It’s obvious that Jesus is pointing out the fact that He is going to suffer and die and then be raised from the dead. And in pointing this out, He wanted His disciples to understand that they had the same calling. Oh, they understood that they were to follow Him. That had been very clear from the beginning. But now they are about to find out exactly what that’s going to cost them. And it was going to cost them everything. As a man i highly respect says “It’s fun to follow Jesus, until you see where He is going.”

In verse 24, Jesus said “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” We read that and say “Oh the cross, yeah I have one hanging from my rear view window.” So many Christians see the cross as a beautiful Christian icon that makes cool looking jewelry. I am not at all saying that there is anything wrong with crosses made into jewelry. The point I am making is that the disciples knew good and well what a cross was. It weighed about 300 pounds and was used to provide the one who carried it with an excruciatingly brutal death. They were suddenly struck with a statement from Jesus implying that, if they wanted to follow Him, they must be willing to suffer and die.

So, then I expected Him to explain to His disciples that if they just send Him a check for twenty shekels, they will be healthy, wealthy and prosperous. To my amazement though, He told them the exact opposite in verses 25 and 26. He explains to them that they must be willing to leave behind everything, even their lives, in order to find eternal life. Many people, today, lose their souls because they get so caught up in worldly things. I was taught, growing up, that the worst thing that could happen to you was to get behind in your bills and have to declare bankruptcy. It is only since I found Christ, that I have seen the truth that none of that stuff really matters when compared to the state of my soul. I’m sure you would all agree with me that we live in a society where most people have little concern for the state of their souls, yet the utmost concern with the state of their bank account. While this is true today, it is not exactly new. Since the beginning, man has always placed the matters of the world above those of eternity. Jesus was speaking directly to their consciences. They knew exactly what He was talking about, and I doubt that it gave them that warm fuzzy feeling. So what on earth was Jesus thinking? It was as if He didn’t realize that He might lose some of His following with that kind of preaching.

But, beloved, Jesus is the Truth and He preaches the truth. He lays out the plan and we decide whether or not to follow it. And His plan is for us to take up our cross and follow Him, no matter the cost. Is there a cost? You better believe it. I doubt you could find anyone in the annals of history that ever took up his cross without great suffering.

The fact is, as Christians we will suffer. We might not actually die a brutal death…but we will suffer. And we might even die a brutal death. As a Christian though, we must be willing to suffer what ever is thrown our way. Why? Because our Lord is worth it. And as Paris Reidhead often quotes from two Moravian missionaries who sold themselves into lifetime slavery: “May the Lamb that was slain receive the reward for His suffering!” They were not focused on the fact that they would suffer the rest of their lives. Nor were they focused on the reward they would receive. They were focused on living a life that was pleasing to their Heavenly Father, that Jesus Christ would receive the reward.

Will we be rewarded for the suffering we go through? Absolutely. Verse 27 says “For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he as done.” We will be rewarded, and I don’t know exactly what those rewards will be, but I do know that the ultimate reward for me will be coming to the end of this life, knowing that I did everything I could to please my Father in Heaven and actually succeeding.

In Christian love,
Adam Tennant