My name is Rudy Gray, and I'm the sorriest member of First Baptist Pickings.
I have done four interims since we've been here.
Then we went through COVID, and when we were isolated,
a couple of our grandkids would spend the night with us on Saturday night,
and we would go upstairs and have family worship.
You might call it the variety hour,
because I would have children's sermons that I'd had over the years,
some of them on flannel graph.
They would sit down, and one would pray, and one would read Scripture,
and I'd play the saxophone.
Yeah, that's funny.
It really is because I'm a perpetual beginner.
After we got through with that, we'd give the sermon,
and we'd have prayer, and then they're good to go.
But those were such special times for us
because the family worship like that, it just meant a lot to us,
especially with our grandkids during that time.
Well, this morning I want to talk to you about something
that's especially important to the church, to a Christian.
Forty years I've prepared messages,
and if you've prepared messages for 40 years,
and somebody calls you and says,
hey, would you preach for me?
Then you say, oh, sure, because, you know,
I've got these filing cabinets full of sermons,
and I just pull out a folder and say,
now that's one of my sweet ones.
That's one of my special ones.
I'll pull that out and preach.
But several weeks ago I developed a brand new sermon.
I never preached it before.
First time I preached it was a few weeks ago
at Mount Moriah Baptist,
and I'm going to be there next Sunday.
Their pastor has COVID.
Seven or eight people in their church have it,
and I'm going to preach to an empty auditorium
with just the praise team,
just me and the praise team
and whoever's operating the camera.
So pray with us about that.
But if you have your Bibles,
turn with me to Mark chapter eight.
When I prepared this message,
three words captured my attention.
I want to say that God gave them to me.
I want to say that God moved on my heart,
but if you find that it's no good,
then you'll know it was all my own doing.
But it was the word follow, point one,
the word follower, point two,
and the word followed, point three.
So I want you to look in Mark chapter eight, verse 34.
And he summoned the crowd with his disciples
and said to them,
if anyone wishes to come after me,
he must deny himself,
take up his cross and follow me.
For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it,
but whoever loses his life for my sake
and the gospels will save it.
For what does it profit a man
to gain the whole world
and forfeit his soul?
In an article entitled,
The Disciple Driven Church,
the writer made this observation.
The church growth movement has failed.
The church planning movement has failed.
The decline in attendance
in evangelical churches continues.
He further observed this.
The church has gone from a movement
that required the total commitment
of its members to the point of death
to one that literally begs
for anyone to enter its doors.
The church in America
is not transforming society,
but culture is transforming us.
The great British theologian,
John R. W. Stott said,
God is not pleased
with superficial discipleship.
And Romans 12, 2 says,
don't be conformed to this world,
but be transformed
by the renewing of your mind.
A disciple is a learner,
a follower,
a lifelong person
committed to Jesus Christ.
And when churches do not make disciples,
we invariably end up
proclaiming a cheap grace.
We cannot do discipleship.
We cannot be disciples
unless we're born again
and we continue to focus
and follow Jesus Christ.
He's our leader.
He's the head of the church.
He's the Lord of our lives.
He's our hope.
He's our God.
And he is the greatest servant leader
that ever lived.
Plato, if you remember,
if you're into the Greek philosophers,
Plato had a disciple
whose name was Aristotle.
And when Rome conquered Greece,
the philosophy of Aristotle,
because Aristotle had disciples,
the philosophy of Aristotle,
which goes back to Plato,
permeated the Roman Empire
so much so
that even though Greece was conquered,
then Rome was Hellenized
by the nation they conquered.
Why?
Because Plato had a disciple
and Aristotle had disciples.
Disciples of Jesus Christ
should be making
a more profound difference
in the world
than the philosophy
of Plato and Aristotle
in the Roman Empire.
We follow the King of Kings
and Lord of Lords.
I want you to look first
at this word
that I mentioned before.
The first point is follow.
It's what every disciple of Jesus
is called to do.
And the word follow,
when we look at the meaning
of the word
and we get into it,
the word follow
means to chase
or pursue.
So we are to chase
and pursue after
Jesus and His truth.
It's something
that requires commitment
and focus
in order to do.
Jesus said,
here's how you do it.
It's not like He said,
do this,
love me,
follow me,
and He didn't tell us how.
He specifically said,
this is what you have to do
to be a follower of mine.
I want you to look in the text.
In Mark 8 and verse 34,
the first one is self-denial.
Absolute and complete commitment.
A life of self-centeredness,
a life of selfishness,
a life of self-focus,
self-fulfillment,
self-interest
is ruled out
in order that we might have a life
that is Christ-focused
and Christ-centric.
Matthew 7 and verse 21,
Jesus said,
not everyone who says to me,
Lord, Lord,
will enter the kingdom of heaven,
but he who does the will of my Father
who is in heaven.
Self-denial.
He said,
you must deny yourself,
but what does that look like?
I mean,
in today's world,
how do we translate that?
What does it look like
to deny ourselves?
I came across a poem
by Bill Britton,
and I want to read it to you.
You got it on the screen?
You got it, okay.
It's a little long.
Can you bear with me?
Maybe.
Okay, here we go.
When you are forgotten
or neglected
or purposely set at naught
and you don't sting
or hurt
with the insult
of the oversight,
but your heart is happy
being counted
worthy to suffer for Christ,
that is,
dying to self.
When your good
is evil spoken of,
when your wishes are crossed,
your advice disregarded,
or your opinions ridiculed,
and you refuse to let anger
rise in your heart
or even to defend yourself,
but take it all in patient,
loving silence,
this is dying to self.
When you lovingly,
patiently bear any disorder,
any regularity,
and impunctuality,
or any annoyance,
when you come face to face
with waste,
folly,
extravagance,
spiritual insensibility,
and endure it
as Jesus endured it,
that's dying to self.
When you are content
with any food,
any offering,
any raiment,
any climate,
any society,
any solitude,
any interruption
by the will of God,
that is dying to self.
When you never refer
to yourself in conversation
or to record
your own good works
or itch after commendation,
when you can truly love
to go unknown,
that is dying to self.
When you can see
your brother or sister
have his or her needs met
and can honestly rejoice
in spirit
and can feel no envy,
no question God,
while your own needs
are far greater
and in more desperate
circumstances,
that is dying to self.
When you can receive
correction and reproof
for one of less stature
than yourself
and can humbly submit
inwardly as well as outwardly,
finding no rebellion
or resentment
rising up within your heart,
that is dying to self.
Jesus said
that we are
to deny
ourselves.
That's what
we do
when we follow Jesus.
We deny ourselves.
The second thing is
to bear the cross.
Notice what he says
in the text.
If anyone wishes
to come after me,
let him deny himself
and take up
his cross.
That's been
misinterpreted a lot.
Some people
will talk about this,
oh, that's my cross
I have to bear.
And they talk about
an illness they have,
a condition they have,
someone they have
to care for
or circumstances
they're in.
That's not the cross.
And then other people say
I'm going to carry
the cross of Jesus.
No, you can't.
That one's already taken
and there was only one person
that could carry that cross.
But what it says,
let him take up
his cross.
And there's no question,
there's no doubt
that in the
New Testament world
when they said cross,
what they meant
was an instrument
of execution.
In other words,
when you take up
your cross,
you are committed
to something
to the point
of death.
And that's what
Jesus meant.
The cross
was an instrument
of capital punishment.
The new
Greek international
commentary
said the phrase
is used literally
of carrying
one's cross
to the place
of execution.
and it's a daily
experience.
Not a one-time
experience,
but every day
we pick up
our cross,
our commitment
to Christ
to the point
of death
and we walk.
Deny ourselves,
take up
our cross
and then follow
Christ.
I'm not a
Greek grammarian
or a Greek scholar
but I own
shelves of books
by people who are.
So when I studied
this passage,
I realized
that this is
a present
tense verb
that's in the
imperative
which means
it is a commandment
to keep on doing,
keep on doing,
keep on doing.
We sing
wherever he leads,
I'll go.
But far too often
we don't mean
a word of it
when we sing it.
We're called
to live the life
of love.
Not a feeling
that rises up
inside of us
not something
the culture
has defined
for us
but love
as exhibited
and explained
in Jesus Christ
and his word.
in fact,
1 John 4, 19
says we love
because he first
loved us.
Follow.
That's what we're
called to do.
Deny ourselves.
Take up our cross
and follow him.
The second thing
is follower.
It is who a disciple is.
If you are a Christian,
if you are born again,
you are a follower
follower of Jesus
and part of that word
disciple means to follow,
means to learn
and follow.
If you and I
and we do
and we for many,
many years
across centuries,
when we have a relationship
with Christ,
we call ourselves what?
Christian.
Thank you.
Christian.
Do you know
the word Christian
is only mentioned
three times in the Bible?
Three times
and in every situation
it seems that it's used
as a term of derision,
little Christ.
Used to put them down.
But the term follower
or disciple
is used nearly 300 times
in the New Testament.
Imagine if you and I
are talking to someone
and they say,
well,
tell me something
about yourself
and you say,
well,
I'm a follower of Jesus.
What do you think
they're going to think?
That you're a nut?
Maybe.
But if you say,
I'm a follower of Jesus
and they have enough
respect for you,
they'll say,
what does that mean?
Then you get to share
the gospel with them.
If you say,
I'm a Christian,
they just kind of like
water off a duck's back.
It just rolls off.
We are followers
of Jesus Christ
and that means four things.
A follower of Jesus Christ
is a person
who is more than a crowd.
More than a crowd.
In Matthew chapter 8
and verse 1,
when he came down
from the mountain,
great multitudes
followed him.
But here's the question.
Were they all disciples?
When he came down
from the mountain,
great multitudes
followed him
and even in Mark 8 here,
he said with the crowd
and his disciples,
once Jesus got his momentum
on this earth,
there was always
a crowd around him.
Were they disciples?
And the answer is no,
they weren't
because they didn't
follow him.
In fact,
they even turned on him.
In Matthew 27
and verse 22,
Pilate said to them,
that is the crowd
of the multitude,
what shall I do
with Jesus
who is called the Christ?
And they all said,
crucify him.
You remember
what many days
removed from that
when he came
into Jerusalem
and the crowds
lined the street
and they praised him
and now
some of the same people
are saying,
crucify him.
A disciple is more
than part of a crowd
and crowd mentality
is a dangerous thing.
Do you remember
1977, 1978,
there was a man
named Jim Jones.
Does anybody
remember that?
He started out
in either Indiana
or Illinois
and he moved
to California
and he started
something called
a People's Temple
and he gained
the support
of local politicians
and even state politicians
and even
some in Congress
and he had
followers,
lots of followers
and they were
brainwashed
and the man
became so enamored
with his own power
that he began
to ask people
to call him
Father.
He implied to them
that he was
God.
He performed
phony miracles.
One that is
noted,
is certified,
is he
purportedly
removed
a cancerous tumor
from somebody's side
behind this sheet
and he had
his assistants
helping him
and what they
found out later
was he took
a bloody chicken
liver
and put it
on the side
of the person
and pulled it
out
and the person
said,
I'm healed
and he held
up the chicken
liver
and threw it
away.
False prophet.
When things
got hot in
California,
he moved
down to
South America
and created
a place
in Guyana
called
Jonestown.
Congressman
Leo Ryan
and some
other people
on the
delegation,
they heard
so many
reports of
abuse,
they flew
down there
to see
what was
going on
and the
result of
that is
the congressman
was killed,
many other
people and
by the end
of the time,
918 people
either were
shot or
committed suicide
including Jones
himself.
He was a
false prophet.
Jonestown
was a false
coalition of
people.
They found
themselves not
following Jesus
but following a
man and they
found themselves
following a
man that was
not only
deluded but
was himself
evil.
But it was
a crowd
and crowd
mentality is
dangerous.
J.
Vernon
McGee and
what I'm
going to read
to you,
he wrote
about 25
or 30
years ago.
He said,
freedom is
not following
a multitude
to do evil.
If we were
to follow
God's precept,
it would put
us out of
the marching,
protesting,
and rioting
business.
Because it's
not the
crowd,
it's
disciples,
it's people
who follow
Jesus and
it's one
by one,
a change
of heart,
a change
of heart,
a change
of heart
that continues
to deny
self and
take up the
cross and
follow him.
It's a
person that's
more than a
crowd.
But a
disciple is
someone who
believes,
not just
reacts.
I've
seen it
in my
ministry
through the
years.
There are
people that
will come
to a
service,
maybe the
music is
just right,
maybe the
preaching is
real strong,
maybe there's
an emotional
appeal,
and somebody
will respond,
and they'll
get all
excited,
and they
burn out
quickly,
and you
don't see
them again.
Matthew
8 and
verse 19,
Scripture
says,
a certain
scribe came
to him and
said,
Teacher,
I will
follow you
wherever you
go.
Now,
if you'll
notice something
in that,
this is a
guy,
Jesus is
walking along
the road,
and there's
a crowd,
and he
comes by
this guy,
and he
says,
Teacher,
I'll follow
you wherever
you go.
Jesus
didn't even
call him.
He
volunteered.
I'll
follow you
wherever you
go.
He reacted.
He wasn't
committed to,
but he was
reacting to
something inside
of himself.
In fact,
Jesus would
tell that
man,
in verse
20,
the foxes
have holes
and the
birds of
the air
have nests,
but the
Son of
Man has
nowhere to
lay his
head.
It was
like Jesus
was saying,
look,
you don't
know what
you're getting
into.
You don't
know what
it means to
follow me.
You've just
volunteered for
something that
you have no
idea what
it's about.
And you
notice something
else about
this when
this person
volunteered.
Jesus didn't
jump up and
down and say,
oh,
goody,
I've got
another one
in my
group.
He didn't
say that.
He said,
you better
watch it.
Do you
know what
you're getting
in for?
I don't
even have a
place to
sleep tonight.
Disciple is
someone who
believes,
not just
reacts.
And then it's
a witness who
realizes dangers
occur.
It's dangerous
to be a
follower of
Jesus.
You will get
your feelings
hurt.
You will be
misunderstood.
You will
be persecuted
for something
that you
didn't even
know you
did.
You will
be lied
about if
you follow
Jesus.
The
disciples
learned this.
They learned
their dangers
in following
Jesus.
Here's one of
the ways they
learned it.
Back in
Matthew chapter
8 and verse
23,
he got into
the boat and
the disciples
followed him.
they did
not know
what was
coming but
a sea
quake
occurred.
A lay
lapse and
it says
and they
were very
afraid.
Here they
are sailing
out on the
sea of
Galilee.
Everything's
going good.
Jesus is
asleep in
the stern
of the
boat.
This
terrible storm
comes up and
some of these
experienced
fishermen are
afraid.
They said
Lord we
perish unless
you help
them.
So they
woke them
up.
Jesus woke
up.
You know
I often
wonder how
could he
sleep through
a storm like
that?
Because he's
God.
He is the
embodiment of
perfect peace.
So he gets
up and he
says to the
wind stop and
he says to the
sea be still and
now they're
sailing on
mirror water and
there's no wind.
It was a
miracle but then
he turned and
he looked to his
disciples and he
said why are
you timid ye
men of little
faith?
They were his
chosen disciples.
They would
grow.
They would
change.
They would
continue being
disciples and
growing and
growing.
until as far
as we know
all of them
died, were
martyred for
their faith, for
following Jesus.
A witness who
realizes this
danger.
But then the
fourth thing is a
believer who is
growing in faith.
You look at the
life of Jesus and
he finally comes to
that place where
he's arrested,
goes to the
mockery of a
trial.
They find him
guilty.
They sentence
him to
execution.
He dies on
the cross.
They thought
they killed
him but it
was a
predetermined
plan of
God that he
died in our
place for our
sins.
Put him in a
grave and he
rose from the
dead and then
he appeared to
the disciples and
then move forward
in the scene and
Peter and some of
the others go out
fishing one morning
and they look just
on the shore and
they see a figure
and Peter realizes
it's Jesus.
And he said it's
the master and he
jumps in the water
and goes to Jesus
and sits there.
Jesus made
breakfast for them
and after breakfast
Jesus asked Simon
Peter three
questions.
I think it makes
a difference in
the Greek because
there are two
different Greek
words in play
here.
Jesus said Simon
do you love me?
And he used that
word agape.
Simon do you love
me?
Simon Peter answered
and said Lord you
know I have great
affection for you.
Jesus said then
take care of my
sheep.
Second time Jesus
said do you love me?
Do you agape me?
Simon Peter said
Lord you know I
have a great
affection for you.
He said well take
care of my sheep.
The third time Jesus
said Peter do you
have a great
affection for me?
And Peter said
Lord you know.
He said then
tend my sheep.
Now after that
Jesus has some
tough news for
Peter.
He told him
Peter this is how
you're going to die.
You're going to die
following me.
This is what they're
going to do to you.
They're going to
crucify you.
You're going to die
following me.
That's hard news.
That's tough news to
get.
What was his future
like?
He knew he was going
to die for Jesus.
He just got some
really bad news.
And then Jesus said
to Peter follow me.
And Peter still
hasn't grown to the
point that he would
grow one day.
He says looking at
John Lord what about
that man?
Doesn't that sound
like us?
There's some bad
things happen to us
and we may pray to
God and say what
about him?
He's worse than I am.
Jesus' answer is
well it's perfect.
Jesus said to Peter
if I want him to
remain until I come
what is that to you?
Follow me.
It's not what's
happening to somebody
else that determines
our relationship with
God.
It's the quality of
our following him
ourselves.
Followers of Jesus.
That's what we're
called to be.
And the last thing I
want you to see is
followed.
If I weren't a
Baptist I'd get
excited about this
verse.
The most forgotten
verse is the
probably in the
whole book of
Psalms.
Certainly in
Psalm 23
verse 6.
Surely or only
goodness and
loving kindness
mercy will follow
me all the days of
my life and I
will dwell in the
house of the Lord
forever.
The older
theologians used
to call this
loving kindness
or goodness and
mercy.
They used to call
that the hounds
of heaven.
And he says
will follow me.
Same emphasis
of the word.
Will chase after
me.
Will hunt me
down.
That's for us who
follow Jesus.
Something's following
us.
And God's put on
our trail
goodness and
mercy.
We don't usually
see it until we
look back but it's
always following
us.
It's a promise we
can believe.
Goodness supplies our
needs.
And loving kindness
or mercy blots out
our sins.
They follow us.
That's comforting.
That's encouraging.
That's helpful to
know that whatever
I'm going through or
whatever I'm facing
whatever turn the
road takes in life
that I'm traveling
behind me following
on my trail pursuing
me chasing after me
is goodness and
mercy.
I asked Brian if he
would sing that song
Angels from the
Realm of Glory this
morning.
You might wonder
why are we singing
a Christmas song and
it's not even
December?
Well I asked him
to.
And the reason I
did is because I
think there's a
story that illustrates
Psalm 23 6 very
good.
There was a man who
lived in the 1800s.
He died in 1864.
His name is a
British journalist
named James
Montgomery.
His parents were
Moravian missionaries.
They died on the
mission field and as a
result he ended up
going from house to
house sometimes
living on the street
sometimes homeless.
At 21 he was a
failure at school.
He kept trying to
keep failing.
At 21 he got a job
at a radical
newspaper.
I think that's what
happened to people
that can't get a job
anywhere else.
They get a job with
the Baptist Courier
or newspaper or
something.
But he got a job at
a radical newspaper
called the Sheffield
Register.
Under pressure the
editor sold the
paper to Montgomery.
He somehow got
enough money together
and bought the
paper.
At 23 he was
fined $100 and
sentenced to three
months in jail for
his writings.
Radical writings.
And they were
radical because they
were so Christian.
At age 25 he was
fined $150 and
sentenced to six
months in prison.
And during those
six months in prison
he started writing a
book.
He called it,
he called his book
Prison Amusements
and had it published.
And when he got
out of prison to
his surprise the
book was a
bestseller.
The newspaper
circulation was the
highest it had ever
been and he had
become a celebrity.
He said I almost
wrote the judge who
sentenced me a
thank you note for
sending me to prison.
He grew stronger and
stronger in his
Christian faith.
By the age of 40
it's written of him
that he was the
leading citizen in
Sheffield.
He was recognized
even though he was
not a preacher.
He was recognized as
a careful student of
the word of God.
And at 45 he wrote
something that was
in 1816 that continues
to live today.
Angels from the
realm of glory.
He wrote that on the
Christmas Eve edition
of the Sheffield
Register.
in James Montgomery's
life as he followed
Jesus and all the
bad things that
happened to him
there were hounds
from heaven that
kept on his trail
and he was blessed.
And he gave us a
song that lives on
until today.
Well the last part of
followed the reality
of hope.
I will dwell in the
house of the Lord
forever.
Or I will dwell in the
family of the Lord
forever.
It's confident assurance.
The reality of hope.
Goodness and mercy will
follow me all the days
of my life.
That's encouraging
enough.
And then I will dwell in
the house of the Lord
forever.
Can I tell you
something?
It doesn't get any
better than that.
That's good.
That's encouraging.
That gives us
confidence.
Charles Spurgeon is my
pastor of history.
And I've been going
through Spurgeon for the
last two years reading
in my devotions.
But Spurgeon said
this.
Question.
When we die.
Then he said.
While I'm here I will
be a child of God at
home with my God.
The whole world will
be his house to me.
And when I ascend into
the upper chamber I
shall not change my
company nor even change
the house.
I'll only go to dwell in
the upper story of the
house of the Lord
forever.
Boy that blessed me when
I read that.
It says I'm in the
house of God now.
I'm in the family of
God now.
And then when I die I'm
just going to go
upstairs.
What a thought.
What a God.
What a great opportunity
to be a follower of
Jesus Christ.
That's the path of
discipleship.
Something follows us.
Goodness and mercy.
Someone has called us
Jesus Christ.
Something has been
explained very vividly
to us.
Deny yourself.
Take up your cross.
Follow him.
Simple isn't it?
But we can't do it
without the power of
his Holy Spirit.
Not just one day.
But every single day.
I want you to bow your
heads with me.
Our musicians are going
to play something for us.
And Roger Smith is going
to come and lead us in
prayer.
But I want you to think
about this.
Think about these words.
Deny myself.
Take up my cross.
Be committed to the point
of death.
And follow Jesus.
Deny myself.
Take up the cross.
Follow Jesus.
Think about those words.
Ask yourself,
am I doing it?
Lord, help me
to do it.
Father, take your word.
Apply it to our heart.
Move us
to see and do
what you want us to be.
help us truly
to be disciples of yours
who deny ourselves
and take up our cross
and follow you.