[0:00] I'm going to find Luke chapter 14 this morning. Luke chapter 14. And when you read through your Bible, and by the way, read through your Bible, but as you read the Holy Text, you're going to read some things that are just, they're tough.
[0:31] They're hard to understand. And some things that you feel like you're getting it, you're getting it, you're getting it, and then just, oh. Like, why would he say it that way?
[0:43] And this is one of those cases. There's a spot in here that it just sounds like, that's hard, or I'm not sure I understand that. Sometimes Christ would say things, he said, I'm not come to give peace, or to send peace, but a sword.
[1:01] Sometimes he says he's not come to give peace, but rather division. You think, well, what? You know, unless you really are studying your Bible, and understanding the Lord Jesus Christ, and his ministry, you're really, on the surface, from what you hear in the mainstream Christianity, that doesn't match.
[1:21] Christ wants to send division. Would Jesus Christ really call other people fools, and hypocrites? Would he really say that with his own mouth, you generation of vipers?
[1:36] Is that Jesus? And sometimes he says some things that are tough. Now, in Luke 14, come down to verse number 25, and let's read a few verses here, starting in verse 25.
[1:53] The Bible says, There went great multitudes with him, and he turned and said unto them, If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.
[2:11] And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple. Now, actually, we'll stop there. We'll cut to some of this, the rest of it later.
[2:23] But that's a kind of a tough statement, don't you think? Hate not his father and mother. You don't hate your wife. You don't hate your kids, or your sisters, your family.
[2:34] You don't hate them. You can't follow me. You can't be my disciple. Get out of here. That's a tough thought. Jesus Christ, didn't he tell us to love our enemies?
[2:46] Didn't he say that earlier? So how is it now that we're supposed to hate the people that are close to us? That doesn't make sense. And it doesn't make sense. There must be something more to it. So, a note I have here in my Schofield study Bible, this is the way he kind of sheds light on this, or attempts to.
[3:05] He says, all the terms here that define emotions or affections are comparative. And the idea, what he's going to say here is that, you're supposed to love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, soul, mind, so much that, in comparison, it looks like hatred for everybody and everything else.
[3:27] Now that's, that's, I don't know, that never set well with me to say, so that's what Jesus is really saying? Well, he could have said it differently. I'm supposed to love God so much that my love for others, comparatively, looks like it's hatred.
[3:43] I don't know. He did say earlier, like I said, to love your enemies, to bless them, which, so, now, I'll give you a cross-reference that could back that up, and just for sake of a little quick teaching here, look at back at Genesis 29.
[4:00] So, if you need a cross-reference to think of it, that way, here's your cross-reference. Schofield does not give this cross-reference, but it would back up what he says, if he did.
[4:12] Genesis 29, this is where Jacob serves Laban seven years for Rachel, and ends up getting Leah. And then he, wants Rachel so badly, he serves another seven years to get Rachel.
[4:25] And when he does get Rachel, in verse number 30, it says, he went in also unto Rachel, and he loved also Rachel more than Leah, and served with him yet seven other years.
[4:39] And when the Lord saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb. So, there's, maybe you could say it's a comparative thing, that he's loving the one over the other, therefore, the other one, it's called hatred.
[4:51] Leah even says it in verse 31, the Lord, our Lord saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb, but Rachel was barren, Leah conceived. Later, she says, surely the Lord looked upon my affliction. In verse 33, she says, because the Lord heard that I was hated.
[5:05] So, there's a cross reference, that you could kind of make those comparative things work, if that's an explanation of Luke 14. But is that all Jesus Christ is saying?
[5:19] Is you need to love me so much, that every other relationship in life is just, is less, so much less, that it's hatred, and then you can be my disciple. Turn back to Luke, and I think there's a little more to it, than that.
[5:34] Look at verse 25. Jesus Christ is really, he's, he's trying to draw a line, and he's trying to prepare a people. And remember now, we are in the gospels, the earthly ministry of Jesus Christ.
[5:49] He's, he's not in India, holding a crusade. He's not here in the Americas, revealing doctrine to Joseph Smith, the good Mormon. He is actually, sorry, that was sarcasm, if you didn't catch it.
[6:00] He's actually, training Jewish disciples, to follow him, and preparing them, for their future, and it's going to be ugly. And in verse 25, he says, there came, there went a, there went great multitudes, with him.
[6:17] The crowd is large, following him. In one place in John, I think it's John 6, he says, that you didn't come out to me, because of the work I'm doing here.
[6:28] You came out here, because I fed you. Because you were filled. You want more of that. That's why you're following me. And then he said some hard sayings, in John chapter 6, and at the end of it, many of his disciples, went back, and walked no more with him.
[6:41] They couldn't take the heat. So they left. He ran them off, with his words, purposely. Here's some of these hard words, that he says. And I believe, these multitudes are here, and he turns to them, and says, whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a minute.
[6:54] Following me is not a, it's not a freak show. I'm not a, I'm not a clown, that just entertains you, and feeds you, and heals you. If you're going to follow me, and then he's going to give some tough stuff here.
[7:08] Look over at chapter 21 of Luke. If you're going to follow me, you're going to have to hate your own father and mother, your own spouse, your own children, your own life, your own life, hate your own life.
[7:36] Well, I'm not going to run you through the passages, but there's other places, Jesus Christ, basically tells them, you're going to have to lose your life. You're going to have to be willing to give your life, if you're going to be my disciple.
[7:48] And you're going to have to be willing, to let go of your children. To be my disciple. You're going to have to be willing to let go of your spouse, if that's the case. To be my disciple. Look at Luke chapter 21.
[8:02] And, I think, I'm in the wrong chapter, that's why. Verse 11, 11 and 12. It says, Great earthquakes shall be in diverse places.
[8:13] This is preparing these disciples for a future time of Jacob's trouble. And he's warning them how ugly it's going to get. Great earthquakes shall be in diverse places, and famines and pestilences, and fearful sights, and great signs shall there be from heaven.
[8:28] But before all these, they shall lay their hands on you, and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues, and into prisons, being brought before kings and rulers, for my name's sake.
[8:40] And skip down a little bit later, and look at verse number 16, and remember the context of where we were earlier. And ye shall be betrayed, both by parents, and brethren, and kin's folks, and friends, and some of you, shall they cause to be put to death.
[8:59] And ye shall be hated, of all men, for my name's sake. What the Lord Jesus Christ is telling his disciples, these followers, these multitudes that are behind him, coming after him, saying, hold on, stop right where you are.
[9:15] You need to understand some things. You need to understand, if you're going to follow me, it's going to be tough. Your own family's going to turn on you. They're going to deliver you up, to be crucified.
[9:29] They're going to persecute you, if you keep following me. This is not going to be just, let's hang out, and get fed all the time, and all of our diseases are gone. He did come to them, with these signs, and wonders of the kingdom, and proving his messiahship to them.
[9:45] But before the kingdom, and before the crown, there's a cross. And what he tells his disciples, is you're going to go through it. You're going to have to toe the line.
[9:57] You're going to have a cost, if you're going to follow me. And if you're not willing to pay the cost, you cannot be my disciple. Now back in Luke chapter 14, the life that Jesus Christ, is calling his disciples to live, and warning them about, is a life that is carrying a cross.
[10:19] In verse 27, he said, whosoever does not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.
[10:31] Now the Christian life, in the apostle Paul's ministry, is likened many times, to a soldier, to a battle. Jesus Christ likens it, to getting down into a yoke, and just plowing, and working, and working with him.
[10:43] And here he likens it, to carrying a cross. And I want to preach a message here, on bearing your cross. He said in verse 27, if he doth not bear his cross, it's a person, it's an individual, and you're that individual, this morning.
[11:00] You've got a cross to bear. You have a cross to bear, if you're going to follow Jesus Christ. Now let's pray, and then we'll try to preach this, and hopefully God uses it, in somebody's life.
[11:14] Father, please help us now. This passage is, it's a little intimidating. The words of Christ, I surely don't want to misapply something, to today, or to these people, that does not, is not meant to be directed to them.
[11:32] I don't want to put any pressure, or weight upon them. That would be, against your will, and against your spirit. So please give discernment, help and guide my thoughts, and mind, and words.
[11:44] And Lord, help your people, to have ears to hear, open hearts, to receive, and to be willing, to pick up a cross, and to follow you with their life.
[11:57] I pray that you'll get glory, from individuals lives. We pray this in Christ's name. Amen. So we notice something, I want to point out, in verse 26, the very beginning, he says, if any man come, what's the next word?
[12:13] So you've got to look in your Bible. Verse 26, if any man come, come to me. Comes to me, right? Now the next verse, 27 says, whosoever not bears cross, and come, after me.
[12:28] Thank you, Mark and Greg. Oh, John? I didn't hear you, I've got to speak up, no one else is. Alright, so you see that. You can come to Jesus Christ, and that's great.
[12:43] But there's another step, then there's coming after, that's following. Christ said in Matthew 11, was it Matthew 11? Come unto me, all you that labor, and have you laid.
[12:53] It's a wonderful thing, to come to Jesus Christ, and to lay down the burdens of sin, at the cross, and to take him as your savior, to receive him, and to receive his righteousness, and to receive forgiveness of sins, and your whole past life, all that filth, that you've been involved in, and doing, and the guilt, can just be, just wiped clean.
[13:17] Coming to Calvary is easy. Coming to Calvary is such a thrill, and a blessing, and a relief. But that's the easy part. Coming to me, is a great thing.
[13:31] Come unto me. But then, bearing a cross, and coming after me, or following, is a different thing. And being a disciple, being disciplined, following, submitting, purposely laying your life, down to him, receiving training, growing, that's a different story.
[13:58] How many will come to Calvary, for the free gift, of eternal life, and then stay there? And then when the proposition is, hey, there's a cross here, and it's got your name on it.
[14:13] And Christ says, follow me. Now, in one sense, he calls everybody to follow him. In another sense, he calls certain individuals, to a different life.
[14:27] And he calls them, and puts a burden on their heart, to follow him this way. And in a broad sense, we're all called to obey, and to follow the Lord Jesus Christ. To obey his word, to change who we were, according to the word of God.
[14:41] In another sense, the Lord puts his finger on some people. And he says, you pick up that cross, that one I made for you. Nobody else, that one's for you. You pick it up, and you follow me.
[14:53] Now, I believe a lot of Christians, refuse to pick up that cross. I believe they'll take the salvation, but they won't take up the cross.
[15:06] In Luke chapter 9, verse 23, the Bible says, Christ is speaking, he says, if any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.
[15:21] Let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. I want to say a few things this morning, about bearing your cross. And I hope it'll help you, and I hope you'll give full attention to this.
[15:35] Don't shut me off. Don't say, oh, I'm not doing that. Nope, nope, nope, you're not putting any pressure on me this morning. I'm not going to put any pressure on you. I'm just going to preach what's in this passage, to the best of my weak, frail ability.
[15:49] And if God takes it, and starts putting some pressure on you, then you better listen up. And you better yield to him, because he loves you, more than I love you.
[15:59] And he wants what's best for you, more than I want what's best for you. In a sense, it's kind of the same. I want what he wants for you. I do. But he knows what it is. You don't have to fight him.
[16:10] So don't fight him. Just receive it. Just open your heart right now, and receive it. So the first thing I want to say, in this text here, is to bear your cross, is you first, you have to lay everything else down.
[16:27] In verse 27, he said, whosoever does not bear his cross, and come after me. Skip a little lower in the text, to verse 33. He says, so likewise, whosoever he be of you that, notice it, forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.
[16:46] In order to bear that cross, in order to pick it up, you're going to have to lay everything else. It's going to take two hands, to pick up that cross, figuratively speaking. And you can't come to Calvary, with your, with all these things in your life, and what I'm going to be, and where I'll draw the line, and you can take salvation, that's a freebie.
[17:07] You can receive the gift of eternal life. But when it comes to pick up that cross, follow me. Yeah, but I've, I'm not letting go of this. If I pick that up, I'll have to let go of this.
[17:21] And there stands, most of the born again Christians today, or men that have been called by God, to do something, or women, impressed of God, to serve him, or give their heart to him.
[17:31] And they stand there, with their things, their life, themselves, their family, their joys, their desires, their motives, for whatever pleases them. And they say, but, what a decision.
[17:47] I don't know if I can make that decision, of letting go of this, to pick up that. And Christ says, take up your cross, follow me. I think the biggest reason Christians won't obey God, is because they fear, what they'd have to let go.
[18:04] They're afraid, to let go of some things. And God may ask you, to let go of something. You already in your mind, will have these fears of, oh I couldn't do that, I couldn't do that, I couldn't do that.
[18:16] And he may not ask you, to let go of anything. He may test you, he may not. But to pick that cross up, you'll have to, be willing to, hate your father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, and your own life.
[18:29] And forsake it all, to take up that cross. Forsake all that he hath, it said. It's true that you can't pick up a cross, and carry around your own life also.
[18:46] The Bible says, you cannot serve two masters. So a choice has to be made. Some men have worked hard, they've earned a degree, they've made all the right decisions in life, and here they are.
[19:05] And the Lord says, take up your cross. But Lord, just lay it down, and follow me. And they won't do it.
[19:17] Some have worked hard, for a business, or for a career, or some great achievement, in their life, and they're afraid, God's going to make me give that up. I've worked so hard, I'm so good at it.
[19:29] Some young men, are involved in sports, they've been involved in a specific sport, all their life, and they just, they've succeeded, they've gotten so far, and the Lord says, take up your cross.
[19:41] And they think, but, but that means, I won't be able to do that. And the Lord says, follow me. And now they have a decision to make.
[19:52] Will I lay everything else down? Christians, Christians, I find Christians, in the United States of America, particularly, to be as just, just as carnal, as the world around them.
[20:03] So in love, with so much junk. So in love, with their investments, and their money, and their toys, and the things they've, put together. To ask them to, to lay that aside, for a closer walk, with Jesus Christ, it's, it's almost unreasonable, to them.
[20:24] Before my wife and I, were married, we went to Florida. She knew one thing, I knew one thing, I knew that I was, called to preach, and that I was going to go, to Pensacola Bible Institute, to get trained, for the ministry, and had no idea, what that meant.
[20:40] And so I knew, one thing was, in a couple months, I'm moving to Florida. And I had, asked Carla, if she'd marry me. And at the time, she said yes.
[20:52] And she stuck with it. And so we were, engaged to be married, and we took a trip, I guess it would have been, in that winter, in the February months, to Pensacola, because they were having, a big revival meeting, a bad attitude, Baptist blowout.
[21:08] And we went to go to this, because it just felt like, I wanted to get down there, I wanted to experience, just the scene, and the, and just, just kind of have the Lord, maybe confirm in my heart, this was right, this was what he wanted.
[21:22] And so the two of us, took the trip, and we went to Florida. And we weren't married yet, but we were sitting in the pew, and, Rex Harrison, started singing, the few of you, that know him, you know how, Dr. Uckman used to do it, he used to dim the lights, because this guy, used to play out here, somewhere around this area, he used to play in some of the, I don't know what they were, where the, where did he play, Rich, do you know?
[21:50] Wherever that is, I don't know. He played on a boat, and it wasn't for Jesus. Okay, so, Santa Monica, he was out there, playing, and he could play, and sing.
[22:01] And so he was using his talents for himself, back in the day. So Dr. Uckman would be like, oh, we get this brother up here, and I want him to feel at home, so let's dim the lights a little bit. And it was, it was just a big joke, but, but he did it.
[22:12] And he came up and sang, and he started singing a song, that just, I'd tell Honor, she's in the nursery, she, she was, just bawling.
[22:23] And the song was, whatever it takes, to draw closer to you, Lord, that's what I'm willing to do. And in the song, I have some of the lyrics here.
[22:43] Take the dearest things to me, if that's how it must be, to draw closer to you. Let my disappointments come, lonely days without the sun, if in sorrow, more like you I'll become.
[23:00] I'll trade sunshine for rain, comfort for pain, that's what I'm willing to do. Whatever it takes to draw closer, she just bawled. She thought, she thought in a moment, because we were about to get married, our lives were just really coming together, and she's thinking, am I willing to let him go on in the ministry?
[23:22] And I just fade back to my home? Am I willing to lose him? And she was, the Lord was working on her heart, just testing her, just testing her. Are you willing to lay it all down, to take up your cross?
[23:35] And really, in that moment, she was being tested. Are you willing to lay down your family, your mother, your father, your brothers, all your nieces and nephews, that you all are so close with, are you willing to lay them down, to follow this, who knows what he's going to amount to, guy, down to Florida?
[23:53] And who knows what's going to happen? And 20 years ago, we were in that spot, and here we are in Los Angeles, California. And thankfully, the Lord didn't reveal that to her back then, of where we would end up in 20 years, because nobody knew.
[24:10] But he asks you to pick up your cross. And to do that, you're going to have to lay things down. Some people come to that cross, and they say, there's no money in that cross. There's no money in that cross.
[24:22] I'm not interested. There's no security in that cross, but there is, but not the kind I want. I don't know if there's going to be good health insurance, if I pick that cross up.
[24:33] I don't know where I'll end up. I don't know where he's going to leave me. I don't know if I can trust him, is what you're saying. I don't think there'll be a nice house.
[24:46] I don't think I'll have a big yard, and a nice job, and a comfortable position, if I pick that cross up. I've heard young men say that if I say yes to God, I know he's going to send me to Africa, and I don't want to go.
[25:04] And so they walked away, and they're still miserable today, because they wouldn't pick up that cross. I told you several, maybe several times about an older man that I know, and that I've been friends with for a long time, and he's a good guy, but he told me when I was a teenager, the Lord called me to the mission field, and I was too afraid to go.
[25:26] And here he is, an old man, and he's faithful to church, but in his heart, he knows he just let it go, and he regrets it, and he's so sorry.
[25:39] And if you get talking to him, he starts crying. Nobody else knows it. He doesn't really open up to anybody, but he starts talking about it, he starts bawling, saying, I blew it, I messed up.
[25:50] I think you know the missionary Jim Elliott. He said one time, he is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.
[26:06] You know, God might ask you to be a missionary, and God might call you to pick that cross up and follow him to places you don't even want to be. He might. You might lose your job.
[26:20] You might not drive a fancy car. You might not have great health insurance. You might. But to bear up that cross, you're going to have to lay all of that down.
[26:35] Lay it down, and be willing. Secondly, I want to tell you that to bear that cross, it's going to cost you something. In verse 28 through 30, take a look here in the text again, in Luke 14, it says, For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he hath sufficient to finish it?
[26:58] Lest happily after, he hath laid the foundation, not able to finish it. And all that behold, begin to mock him, saying, this man began to build, and not able to finish. What an embarrassing thing. He didn't count the cost.
[27:09] In verse 31, Or what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth, whether he be able with, consulteth, whether he be able with 10,000 to beat him, that cometh against him with 20,000, or else while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an ambassador, saying, and desireth conditions of peace.
[27:27] So he's counting the cost, whether he's going to win or lose. What his chances are. So, likewise, you got to count the cost. Verse 33, So likewise, whosoever he be of you, that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.
[27:44] It's going to cost you something. It is absolutely going to cost you. Here he uses the word forsaketh. Previously, he talked about hatred. It's the same idea.
[27:56] It's going to cost you something. It might be family. If God would call one to the mission field, you might have to walk away from the family that you've grown up with, that are close with, that you love, you might have to walk away from them.
[28:11] My parents had that battle. My parents, as I was about, I want to say, 19 years old, if I'm right, and my sister would have been about 18, and my older sister would have been 21, the three of us, just out of the house, or sorry, just out of school, not really out of the house yet, one in college, the other one flirting with college, me just being a knucklehead, and they flirt, they feared this.
[28:40] They wrestled with this. How can we leave our kids? They're not really established. They're not really stable in life right now. How can we leave them and go to Poland?
[28:51] And the Lord told my dad, he said, if you leave them in my hands and obey me, I can do a better job of it than you can if you stayed.
[29:02] He said, the Lord impressed upon heart that I need to take up my cross and follow him and allow this to him. And they look now and know you talk to them.
[29:13] Next time they're here, you talk to them. All three of their kids are serving God full time in the ministry. And it's, I don't say it's because of his upbringing because there's other men.
[29:25] I think it's because he made a deal with God because he said, I will follow. And the Lord came behind and did something. It's the Lord.
[29:37] But it cost them. It may cost your family. You know, when God showed up to Jacob in Genesis 31, he said, Jacob, it's time to get out of here.
[29:49] Get away from Laban. Get back to the land. Back to Bethel where I met with you where you vowed that vow. You know that thing? We got to get back on track with that. And so he did. He left. And in that same chapter, as he's leaving and following the Lord, Laban shows up.
[30:03] He says, where are you going? These daughters are my daughters. These children are my children. You're taking them all away from me. He said, no, I'm following what the Lord said for me to do.
[30:16] But family didn't like it. As a matter of fact, in the time when I moved my wife to Florida, as we were just young adults moving away from her family, some of her siblings came up to her on the side and said to her, you better rethink what you're doing.
[30:31] I'm not sure that you know what you're doing here. You're walking away from everybody that loves you, following this guy and he doesn't know what he's doing and where he's going. You better rethink it.
[30:43] They told her to reconsider, even using some of their own sinful past and mistakes that they've made and miseries they've been in, suggesting that that was what she was going to step into. It'll cost you something.
[30:56] It could cost you family. It could cost you a spouse. It's terrible to think it and to say it, but I've ran into them. I've heard stories of them, men that have gotten into the ministry and I don't know, maybe there's details that I don't know, but one thing I know is their wife left them and said, I've had enough of this.
[31:14] I'm not living this life anymore and walked away and it cost them. Sometimes it costs children. God help me if I ever have to choose between my kids and the Lord.
[31:29] but some have had to do it. Some had to give what Christ said their own life also and you wouldn't be the first to give your own life.
[31:45] There's a song in here. I'm going to find it quickly. Faith of Our Fathers. Faith of Our Fathers says that the faith of our fathers in the past that have been through a mess, that same faith is living still in spite of dungeons because they were in dungeons, shackled up in dungeons for Jesus Christ.
[32:07] In spite of fire because they were burned at the stake, alive. In spite of sword because they were killed. They were martyred.
[32:17] Verse 2 says Our fathers, chained in prisons dark, were still in heart and conscience free. How sweet would be, how sweet would be their children's fate if they, like them, could die for thee.
[32:37] What? Does that even resonate with anybody? How sweet would it be if I could be killed for Jesus Christ and my kids could too? That's the verse.
[32:47] That's what we sing. How sweet would be. What? It might cost you something. It might cost you everything. It might cost you your health.
[32:59] It might cost you your plans. It might cost you your family. It might cost you your own life. But it'll cost you something. And nobody wants to hear that. Nobody wants to know that if I pick up that cross, oh look, there's my name on it right there.
[33:14] It is my cross. But it's going to hurt. And somewhere down the road, it's going to hurt worse.
[33:26] Somewhere down the road, I think, it's going to get so heavy. It's going to cost you. I'm warning you. I wonder if it's worth it to you.
[33:37] There's something else I want us to know here and we'll be done in taking up your cross is that it requires submission to Jesus Christ.
[33:49] That's what it requires. That you lay everything down, you count the cost, and in that passage about the yoke, taking his yoke upon you, that's ducking your head down, stooping down under to get into that thing with him.
[34:03] In this case, it's stooping down into the dirt with both hands to pick up a cross. And picking up that cross, it says, this now is my life.
[34:16] This is my life. The cross that Jesus Christ has for me. What I had planned, what I had worked toward, that can all go to the side. Maybe God will weave that back into this cross somehow and use that for his glory.
[34:32] But for the moment, I'm just picking this up. I'm submitted to him. I'm going to bear my cross and follow him. Bearing the cross is about him.
[34:43] Coming after him and being his disciple, it's about him. It's about obedience and submission to Jesus Christ. When you carry that cross, you can't see too far in front of you because you're following him.
[34:58] You don't know where this road's going to go. You're just following him. He's in front of you. You don't know if it's going to get better or get worse. You just, you don't know. All you can do is just believe that as he takes a step, you take a step and you submit to him.
[35:13] There is a little help there in that thought of following him and seeing him is because while he leads the way behind him, you can look on that, that back of the stripes and see the stripes that he bore.
[35:30] They're ever in front of your mind when you follow Jesus Christ and carry that cross. You may not see what's next but you may be able to look unto Jesus.
[35:43] We sing a song, where he leads me, I will follow. Where he leads me, I'll follow, follow all the way. Then you better pick up your cross.
[35:54] In John chapter 12, Jesus Christ said, if any man will serve me, let him follow me. And first you're going to have to pick that thing up. It's got your name on it.
[36:09] I don't know who this is for this morning or where God would use this thought of bearing your cross but I hope that you'll respond to it right. I hope that you'll consider its value.
[36:20] I hope that you'll open your heart to it. God always searches your heart. He's always speaking to you from the inside. He always moves on the inside and just latches on to a thought or a phrase and just implants it inside of you.
[36:36] You know it's from him. You know it's for you. And if he's after you, then I think you know it. Maybe this morning we could say that you have picked up some junk in this life.
[36:50] You've picked up some things. Maybe it's not even horrible but it's not helping. And it's keeping you from turning to the cross. It's keeping you from keeping up.
[37:02] Maybe you've carried that cross for a little bit and along the way tried to say, hold on Christ, hold on. Something distracted you. You decided I'll bend over and pick this up and carry this with me for a little while because there's nothing wrong with it.
[37:18] But it's going to slow you down and he's getting further away and you're getting heavier and what are you going to choose? You'll probably lay the cross down because that's the biggest burden of all so you can keep enjoying what you're enjoying.
[37:34] This requires submission to Jesus Christ. Maybe you know God's called you but you're not willing. Talking like this kind of scares you.
[37:44] Oh, I don't want to face a battle. I don't want to face a mess. I don't want to deal with it. I can tell you from personal experience that if God's leading and God's calling then his way and his will is right and it's the best thing for you whoever you are.
[38:02] Your thoughts leaning to your own understanding is dead wrong and it's going to end you in a mess one day. Trying to figure it out yourself. If God's calling the best thing to say is to the creator to the savior is yes and follow him.
[38:21] I wonder if you've been fighting him on this in your own heart. Maybe you get a little closer to warming up to it but then this cloud of fear comes back in this doubt from the old man creeps back in your flesh and you're afraid to say yes.
[38:37] I want to encourage you this morning to give it up. Give it up and go. Pick up that cross and go. Follow Jesus Christ.
[38:49] Be his disciple. Come after him. Don't just take the free gift of salvation and then enjoy the pleasures of sin. Pick up that cross and start following.
[39:01] kind ofeds of sin. Let's go to prayer. I wish I had as long as well. Let's go to prayer. Let's go to prayer. Let's go to prayer.
[39:18] Let's add in in in in a direction and honor Homestead.