Let us commence our service this
afternoon by singing together hymn number 888 to the tune Haslingdon
544. No wit nor will of man, or learning
he may boast, no power of reason can draw sinners unto Christ. So falling is nature, such her
flaw, none calmer, except The Father Draw. Hymn 888. Tune Haslingdon
544. ? No gift nor will or power ? ?
Or money he hath earned ? ? Nor power or praise hath ever won
him ? In the time of day or night So
foolishly Just such a fool ? The covenants of the Lord ? ?
His Spirit was his word ? The fairly play we'll play, And cover
all our woes, And share the man of sin. And within the heart of her insane,
We have before her Jesus' feet. The comforter was He, that spring
and toil and strife, ? And with our faith shall be ?
? A stronghold to the heart ? ? The secret of peace ? Lift now these lights, and peace
upon the sacred night. The Spirit will assure and power
of Jesus I. ? Children, peers, poor people
? ? And brothers so fraught ? ? Believers there are many ? were strong in faith, and triumph
over sin as death. So let my path be drawn to Jesus
Christ, my Lord. Welcome to his abode, his person
and his pow'r. Still sweetly dead, Let us read together from the
Holy Word of God in the Gospel according to Luke. and chapter
9. Luke's Gospel chapter 9, we'll commence
our reading at verse 18 and we will read down to verse 45. And it came to pass, as he was
alone praying, his disciples were with him. And he asked them,
saying, Whom say the people that I am? They answering said, John
the Baptist, but some say Elias, and others say that one of the
old prophets is risen again. He said unto them, But whom say
ye that I am? Peter answering said, The Christ
of God. and he straightly charged them
and commanded them to tell no man that thing saying the son
of man must suffer many things and be rejected of the elders
and chief priests and scribes and be slain and be raised the
third day and he said unto them all if any man will come after
me let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow
me. For whosoever will save his life
shall lose it, but whosoever will lose his life for my sake,
the same shall save him. For what is a man advantaged
if he gain the whole world and lose himself or be cast away? For whosoever shall be ashamed
of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of Man be ashamed,
when he shall come in his own glory, and in his father's, and
of the holy angels. But I tell you of a truth, there
be some standing here which shall not taste of death till they
have seen the kingdom of God. And it came to pass, about an
eight days after these sayings, he took Peter, and John, and
James, and went up into a mountain to pray. And as he prayed, the
fashion of his countenance was altered, and his raiment was
white and glistering. And behold, there talked with
him two men, which were Moses and Elias. who appeared in glory
and spake of his decease, which he should accomplish at Jerusalem.
But Peter and they that were with him were heavy with sleep.
And when they were awake, they saw his glory and the two men
that stood with him. And it came to pass, as they
departed from him, Peter said unto Jesus, Master, it is good
for us to be here and let us make three tabernacles, one for
thee, one for Moses and one for Elias, not knowing what he said. While he thus spake there came
a cloud and overshadowed them and they feared as they entered
into the cloud and there came a voice out of the cloud saying
This is my beloved son, hear him. And when the voice was passed,
Jesus was found alone. And they kept it close and told
no man in those days any of those things which they had seen. And
it came to pass that on the next day, when they were come down
from the hill, much people met him. And behold, a man of the
company cried out, saying, Master, I beseech thee, look upon my
son, for he is my only child. And lo, a spirit taketh him,
and he suddenly crieth out, and it teareth him, that he foameth
again, and bruising him, hardly departed from him. And I besought
thy disciples to cast him out, And they could not. And Jesus
answering said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long
shall I be with you and suffer you? Bring thy son hither. And as he was yet to come in,
the devil threw him down and tear him. And Jesus rebuked the
unclean spirit and healed the child and delivered him again
to his father. And they were all amazed at the
mighty power of God. But while they wondered at everyone,
at the things which Jesus did, he said unto his disciples, let
these sayings sink down into your ears. For the Son of Man
shall be delivered into the hands of men. But they understood not
this saying, and it was hid from them. that they perceived it
not, and they feared to ask him of that saying. May the Lord
bless the reading of his own precious word and grant to us
a spirit of real prayer. Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty,
which is an art, an art to come, We do desire to bow before thee.
We desire to approach thee in the attitude of prayer. We come, Lord, as poor citizens.
We have to truly say, as the prophet of old did, from the
crown of the head to the sole of the foot, wounds and bruises
and putrefying sores, There is no soundness in my flesh. And
Lord, we prove that to be so. There is no soundness in my flesh. So we come to confess our sins
and our sinfulness. Truly, Lord, as thy word declares,
we are born in sin. We are shapen in iniquity. We are unclean and unrighteous
altogether. And so we come in that precious
name of Jesus Christ, as we cannot come in our own name, in our
own person, but we come in the name of another, even of Jesus
Christ. And we plead what he has done,
his precious blood, from his sacred sin-atoning sacrifice
on the cross of Calvary, his glorious righteousness, Jesus, thy blood and righteousness,
my beauty are my glorious dress. Lord God, we do pray that we
may be clothed upon with that glorious everlasting robe of
the righteousness of Jesus Christ, to cover our nakedness, and that
we may be washed in that precious, sin-atoning blood of Jesus Christ,
that blood that cleanses from all sin, and that we do pray that we may
be like those disciples that we've read of in thy word and
they saw no man save Jesus only. And may that be the case here
this afternoon in this sanctuary, that we may see no man save Jesus
only. And the dear apostle says, for
I determined to know nothing among men, save Jesus Christ
and him crucified. We pray that thou would grant
us that same determination to plead what Jesus has done,
what he has accomplished, his fulfilling of the law, his obedience
to the holy law, the righteousness of Christ. This is what we come
to plead. And we do pray, most gracious
Lord, that thou wouldst bless us as a church and as a congregation,
that thou wouldst work mightily, powerfully and effectually among
us. We pray that thou wouldst gather precious souls unto Christ
here in this sanctuary. Thou hast done in years gone
by. The ministry of thy servants has been greatly blessed in this
little house of prayer. many, many precious souls have
been gathered to Christ, and that many have been convinced
of sin and been brought to see, if ever my poor soul be saved,
tis Christ must be the way. And we do pray that that work
may carry on, that others also may be gathered, that the glory
and light of the gospel may shine into this village, and the surrounding
villages and hamlets, and that many, many precious souls may
be gathered unto Christ, and may be brought to believe on
the Lord Jesus Christ, and may be brought to lay aside every
weight and the sin that does so easily beset us, and to run
with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus,
the author and finisher of our faith, or do help us to look
to Him, help us to cleave to Him. And those, Lord, that have
those things laid in their heart that Thou wouldst require them
to do, we pray that Thou wouldst make them willing in the day
of Thy power, willing to follow Thee, willing to serve Thee in
their day and in their generations. Lord, we do pray that thou wouldst
graciously send real prosperity among us, fulfil those wonderful
gospel promises. I will bring thy sons from far
and thy daughters from the ends of the earth. Oh, let us see
thy work. Let us see thy power. We pray
that the prodigals may return and thy wonderful work and power
may be seen in this. that they may come in as repentant
sinners, seeking Jesus Christ. As one we read of in scripture,
I will return unto my father's house. All that that may be,
O Lord, the case, we do humbly pray thee. And O Lord, we do
pray that you'll remember our brethren, the deacons, and give
grace, wisdom, and help in all their responsibilities. Remember
each one of our brethren and sisters in church fellowship.
And remember those, O Lord, that would desire to follow Thee,
and graciously draw them by Thy irresistible grace, so that they
must come. Then shall I tell to sinners
round, that what a dear Saviour I have found. I'll point to Thy
redeeming and say, behold the way to God. Hear us, O Lord,
we pray, and may the sovereign power of the Spirit be present
among us. We do humbly pray thee, present
to make willing, present to guide and to direct. We do humbly pray
thee, holy, divine, and blessed Spirit of truth, we pray for
thy heavenly power, We pray for thy divine unction. We pray for
a sealing time. And O Lord, we do pray that thou
in thy precious mercy would remember the little ones and the children.
Remember them with the favour that thou bearest unto thy people.
Visit them with thy salvation. Fulfil that precious word. instead
of thy fathers shall be thy children, whom thou mayest make princes
in all the earth. Oh, do hear us, Lord, we humbly
pray thee for thy great namesake. And we pray that thou wouldst
bless the young friends, bless them with living faith in Jesus
Christ, bless them with grace to follow thee and to serve thee
in their day and in their generation. We pray for them in all the pathway
of life's journey, whether it be in their education or employment
or a partner in life's journey. We pray that Thou wouldst graciously
go before them and that Thou wouldst answer their many petitions
unto Thee. We do humbly pray Thee. Make
a way where there seems no way. O Lord, we do beseech Thee. And,
O Lord, we do pray that thou would remember parents who give
wisdom and grace to bring up their children in the nurture
and admonition of the Lord. And, O Lord, we do pray that
thou, in thy precious mercy, wouldst graciously remember all
in the midst of the journey of life and bring them to living
faith in Jesus Christ. Help them to let all fruitless
searches go, which perplex and tease us, but desiring not to
know but a bleeding Jesus. Oh, do hear us, Lord, we humbly
pray thee, and work mightily and powerfully and effectually
among us. Remember those of us in the evening
time of life's journey, and knowest our needs, our concerns, We pray
that evening time it may be light. We do humbly beseech of thee. Lord, we do pray that thou in
thy great mercy would remember all in trouble and trial and
perplexity, sorrow, sadness, bereavement, help and undertake
for each one and knowest the path of each one. As thy servant
of old declared, he knoweth the way that I take, and when he
hath tried me, I shall come forth as God. O Lord, thou knowest,
we do humbly pray thee, that thou wouldst arise and make bare
thine holy arm in this dark and solemn day in which we live,
and turn back the tides of iniquity. Truly, Lord, we live in very
solemn days, when iniquity abounds on every hand, when the spirit
of Antichrist is seen, O we do pray that thou wouldst hear us
and have mercy upon us and bless us, we do beseech thee. And O
Lord, we do pray that thou wouldst remember all thy servants that
labour in word and doctrine upon the walls of Zion, wherever they
are. We pray that thou wouldst be
with them and bless them and set them free, and grant a spirit
of power, and grant signs to follow the preaching of the word,
and gird them with all sufficient grace, and give them a thus saith
the Lord, we do humbly beseech of thee. And O Lord, we pray
thee, the great Lord of the harvest, to send true labourers into the
harvest. For Lord, the harvest is great,
but the labourers are few, And Lord, instead of a declension
in Zion, may we see a building up. May we see an ingathering. And that, Lord, thou art able
to turn our captivity as the streams in the south. Thou art
able to do it in a moment. So we bow before thee, the sovereign
Lord of heaven, the creator of the heavens and the earth, and
we beseech thee to have mercy upon us. We thank thee for every
mercy, for every favour so freely given. Thy mercies to us each
are new every morning, and great is thy faithfulness. We thank
thee, O Lord, above all for Jesus Christ. Thanks be unto God for
his unspeakable gift. We thank thee for that wonderful
glory of the incarnation of the Son of God, that wonderful glory
of the holy life he lived, of the holy sacrifice he offered.
Lord all is known to them. We do pray that thou wouldst
receive us in the beloved. We thank thee that he died for
our sins and rose again for our justification and that he has
now ascended into heaven and tis he instead of me is seen
when I approach to God. May we have a sacred realisation
of the reality of our great High Priest sitting at the right hand
of the Father, one to intercede and advocate. O most gracious
Lord, fill our hearts with gratitude, with thanksgiving for all the
abundance of thy mercy, and of thy loving kindness, come and
touch one's lips with a live coal from off the heavenly altar. We ask for Jesus Christ's sake. Amen. Let us now sing together hymn
number 282, The tune is Lubeck, 478. "'Tis my happiness below, not
to live without the cross, but the Saviour's power to know,
sanctifying every loss." Hymn 282, tune Lubeck, 478. ? Peace on earth, and mercy mild
? ? And joy in heaven above ? ? God shed His mercy light ? ? Try not to say a pretty word
? ? But if you're afraid to say it ? ? Thine own sake hath promised
me ? ? Thine own desire I've taken ? ? Thine own strength
in place me ? ? Keep me there ? ? Here I'll be
at your doorstep ? ? No one should stand by the way ? I die not in bitter pain, I shall
be a cross away. Amen. Greatly feeling to need the Lord's
gracious help, direct your attention to Luke chapter 9 verse 23. Gospel according to Luke chapter
9 verse 23. And he said to them all, if any
man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his
cross daily and follow me. And he said unto them all. The Lord Jesus Christ, he gives
us a pattern. He preached publicly He preached in the synagogues,
he preached on the hillside, he preached by the seaside, publicly,
to all men. And this is why we have public
places of worship. The gospel is preached unto all
men. Many in days gone by preached
in the open fields and in the greens. villages just like the Lord Jesus Christ
did. So we have this pattern that is set before us of how
we are to preach and these thoughts come from these words and he
said unto them all. It's a divine call that is to
go out freely by the Lord's servants the Lord Jesus Christ, he said,
go ye into all the world, preaching the gospel unto every creature.
You know, it was very common among the Jews, especially the
Pharisees, that they didn't want everyone to know. They wanted
to select who it was that you should preach to. I've had it said to me when I've
been perhaps to a place that is not aligned with us, well
you shouldn't go and preach there. But that word has always been
with me, both in the exercise and in the preaching of the gospel
going into all the world. And there is a scripture that
we're not to as it will hinder the Lord's servants in where
they go to preach the gospel. They're to go into all the world,
wherever the Lord opens a door. They're to go and to preach.
And he said unto them all, if any man will come after me. And
this is the essence of what they are to preach. If any man will
go after me. is to follow Christ, is to be
a disciple of Christ, to follow the Lord Jesus Christ. The apostle,
he says, doesn't he, in Hebrews chapter 12, let us lay aside
every weight. We have many weights, many things
that drag us down. There's a number of places in
the New Testament in particular where the Apostle Paul uses the
illustration of an Olympic runner. Of course the Olympics were going
at the time of the Apostles. And he gives us that illustration
and that really is part of it what we're quoting in the Hebrews. A man that is aiming to win a
race He divests himself of everything superfluous, every weight that
he does not need. He gets rid of it so that he
can run faster, with greater energy and speed, that he might
win the race. And the apostle applies that
principle to the Christian journey. Lay aside every weight and the
sin. We're all sinners. All the disciples
of Christ are sinners. We're all born in sin. We're
all shaped in iniquity. We're all unrighteous altogether.
That's our state and our condition by nature. We're fallen. We've sung together of our hopeless
state and condition in the first hymn we sung, that beautiful
hymn John Berridge, no wit nor will of man nor power of reason
can draw sinners unto Christ. So fall in his nature such a
flaw, none come except the Father draw. Let us lay aside every
weight. What is hindering you here this
afternoon? What's holding you back in the
heavenly journey? Whatever it is, we need to lay
it aside. Let us lay aside every weight
and the sin that does so easily beset us. He's speaking broadly
there of sin that easily besets us. There's another way that it's
put in Holy Scripture, besetting sins. Besetting sins. We all have besetting sins. What
may be a besetting sin to you may not be a besetting sin to
me and vice versa. But each one of us have peculiar
besetting sins. that we're very prone to fall
into. And these besetting sins, they
hinder us in the heavenly journey, they do. And he said unto them all, if
any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up
his cross daily and follow me. any man will come after me. We
need to count the cost. In another context, the Lord
Jesus Christ who says the foxes have holes, the birds of the
air have nests, but the Son of Man has not where to lay his
head. And what he's saying there to
his disciples is that we shouldn't expect an easy ride through this
life. we have to deny self to follow
Christ. Self is very strong isn't it?
Our old nature is very strong and if any man will come after
me these are the words of our Lord Jesus Christ. In the previous
verse he he said the son of man must suffer many things and be
rejected of the elders and chief priests and scribes and be slain
and be raised the third day and it's in this context that he's
speaking and he said to them all if any man will come after
me if they call the master of the house Beelzebub How much
more shall they call you? And they did call Christ Beelzebub. How much more his followers if
we are truly following the Lord Jesus? That one little verse of an old
hymn really referring to the martyrs. Shall I expect to get to heaven
on flowery beds of ease, while others fought to win the prize
and sailed through bloody seas. You see, we shouldn't, friends,
we shouldn't expect a heaven here below and a heaven above. If any man will come after me,
let him deny himself. We have to deny ourselves let
him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me and follow me laying aside for
all those things that hinder you all those things that stop
you you may feel your insufficiency it hangs heavy upon you You may
feel your helplessness, it hangs heavy upon you. But we need to deny ourselves. To deny ourselves. Those things
that hinder us. Real religion costs something. It costs something. And to rightly
follow Christ. we have to lose those things.
It may be things that we really love. It often is things that
our flesh desires. There are many things that our
flesh desires. We have many ambitions, many
things that we want to do, things that perhaps we've mapped out
that we want to do. but to follow the Lord Jesus
Christ. We have to deny ourselves, deny
what is pleasing to our flesh. It's not easy to deny self. Some things cleave very close
to us. But the emphasis here in the
verse before us is and take up his cross daily. Daily. It's a daily thing. You just think of Paul the Apostle. He had a cross, didn't he? He
had a thorn in the flesh. He had a messenger of Satan to
buffet him. And every day, he said, I besought the Lord thrice,
three times, he asked the Lord to remove That thorn in the flesh,
that messenger of Satan that was buffeting him. But the Lord didn't. Maybe you've
got something and you keep asking the Lord to remove it. Look at the Lord's servant Moses. When the Lord commissioned him
to go and deliver the children of Israel from Egyptian bondage. And he said to the Lord, I cannot
go. I have difficult speech. He said, I'm not capable of doing
this. I have a difficult speech. You
know, the Lord actually, if it's right to use the word, the Lord
was really annoyed with him. He said so. Because he resisted. He resisted what the Lord's will
was, what the Lord's purpose was. Instead of looking to see
the grace that the Lord would give, he kept looking at what
he couldn't do. You know, friends, we often do
that. Instead of going in faith and
believing that the Lord could make up and give the things that
he needed, And he is, he's able to do so. He said, Lord, I'm
slow of speech. I can't do this. I mean, it was
a huge thing that the Lord was asking him to do. You know, Paul, when he kept
going and preaching the gospel and traveling from place to place,
it was a very arduous work. It was work that had much opposition. And he said to the Lord that
he would be much better off if he didn't have that thorn in
the flesh. But what did the Lord say to
Paul? My grace, that's the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. My
grace is sufficient for thee. My strength is made perfect in
weakness. Maybe you're saying, I cannot
go. Just like Samuel did when he
was sent to Jesse. I cannot go. He said, how can
I go? How can I go? And maybe that's
where you are. How can I go? I see my beloved friends. That's
how Paul felt. He felt it daily. But here the Lord Jesus he deals
with that. Let him deny himself and take
up his cross daily. You daily feel your need, you
daily feel your insufficiency, you daily feel your helplessness.
You understand something about The hymn writer says, prone to
wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love. Here's
my heart, Lord, take and seal it, seal it from thy courts above. And he said unto them all, if
any man will come after me, let him deny himself. Deny self and that is the hardest
thing that we can do is to deny self And you know the the reason
that paul had to have a messenger of satan to buffet him Was to
bring him to deny self The reason joe had to go into
joe's ditch was to bring him to deny himself He says, doesn't he, towards
the end of the book of Job, Behold, I repent in dust and ashes. And this is the purpose of the
Lord in bringing crucifying things
into your pathway, is to humble us, is to bring
our flesh down, to bring us down to nothing. and then to give us grace to
take up the cross and to follow the Lord Jesus. The Apostle Paul
in the 11th chapter of the first epistle to the Corinthians, he
says, be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ. Followers of me, even as I also
am of Christ. It seems to me there that the
Apostle is saying that you just follow me as far as I follow
Christ, even as I follow the Lord Jesus Christ. If any man
will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross
daily and follow me. You know that cross, that you
have, that humbling thing that you have, like Moses did. It inhibited him, greatly inhibited him, to the point where he felt he
couldn't go. For whosoever will save his life
shall lose it. But whosoever will lose his life
for my sake, the same shall save him. It's like a riddle, isn't it?
And the spiritual journey is like a riddle. Whosoever shall
save his life shall lose it. You have to lose everything for
Christ's sake. We have to be brought by the
Spirit's inward teaching to feel our sinfulness, our wretchedness,
our helplessness, our hopelessness, our insufficiency and the vileness
of our hearts. We have to lose all hope in the
flesh. We do. It's a very crucifying
thing to lose all hope in the flesh. The Apostle says in several
places, doesn't he, I am crucified with Christ, yet I live. To be crucified is something
exceedingly painful. And for us to walk in a path
that is crucifying is something that is really painful, really
trying. Whosoever will save his life
shall lose it. But whosoever shall lose his
life for my sake, the same shall save him, to lose his life for
Christ's sake, to give up all our earthly hopes for Christ's
sake. You know, we often speak very
glowingly of the Puritans. They were godly men. They were
very gracious men. Many of them were, and quite a few of the Puritans were
from wealthy families. The majority of the Puritans
were quite educated at Oxford and Cambridge. Many of them had a Doctor of
Divinity degree. was only people that had the
means to be able to do that that could do it. You might say well
what are you driving at? Well because the Lord called
them by grace either at university or just afterwards and then they
had to go against the Church of England because the Lord called
them by grace and showed them what was wrong in the Church
of England. That is why they were called
Puritans because they wanted to purify the worship of the
Church of England. They wanted to get rid of all
the Roman Catholic errors that were in the Church of England.
And because of that, they became the objects of much criticism
and hatred. I can't remember the exact date,
I think it was 1666. when there were 2,000 ministers
that were ejected out of the Church of England because of
their Puritan leanings. Because they wanted to purify
the work of the Church of England. They were cast out. Whosoever
shall save his life shall lose it and whosoever shall lose his
life for my sake, the same shall save him. Now what I wanted to
say about those Puritans, many of them, they had lands and estates,
large houses, they lost them. The government literally confiscated
them from them because of their religious views. So they had to deny, it cost
them a lot of money. They were very godly men, very
gracious men. John Bunyan was a Puritan that
had very little, in fact no education, no schooling. And yet look how
the Lord used him. And as a preacher, he was arrested
for preaching. And at that time you had to have
a license to preach from the government. And Bunyan said that
it's not right that the government should intervene in church affairs.
So he refused to have a license to preach. And he was put in
prison for 12 years. You see, he had to deny himself.
He didn't have to lose lands, etc. But he lost his freedom,
his liberty. He had to languish in Bedford
prison for 12 years long. I mean, it's true that we have
that what came out of that was the pilgrim's progress. We see
the wonderful goodness of the Lord. Bunyan who when he was
called by grace couldn't even read and write and yet he wrote after his call
by grace the Lord gave him such ability that he wrote the Pilgrim's
Progress and the Holy War. You see the ability that the
Lord gave him when it came absolutely from nothing. but he had to deny himself. And he said unto them all, if
any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up
his cross daily and follow me. Now, the Lord Jesus, you might
say, he gives us a comparison here. For what is a man advantaged
if he gained the whole world and lose himself or be cast away. What is a man advantaged? So
he puts in the scales. He puts the whole world and all
the wealth and riches and honour in one scale and he puts the
human soul in the other scale. What is a man advantaged? If
he gained the whole world and lose his own soul. It's quite a thought, isn't it? For whosoever shall be ashamed
of me, that's of our Lord Jesus Christ, and of my words, ashamed
of Christ, ashamed of the holy scriptures, ashamed of the doctrine
of truth that is found in the holy scriptures. Whosoever shall
be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of Man be
ashamed when he shall come in his own glory and in his Father's
and of the holy angels. To be ashamed of the Lord Jesus
Christ, to be ashamed of the doctrine of truth found in Holy
Scripture. Whosoever shall be ashamed of
me and of my words, of him shall the Son of Man be ashamed, when
he shall come in his own glory and in his Father's and of the
holy angels. But I tell you of a truth, there
be some standing here which shall not taste of death till they
see the kingdom of God. To lay aside all those things,
to put them in the balances of the sanctuary. We read of those
balances in the prophet Daniel. It is said they are weighed in
the balance and found wanting. What if you was to be weighed
in the balance today? Would you be found wanting? Are you walking consistent with
God's holy word? These things, my beloved friends,
the Lord weighs them in his balance. If any man will come after me,
let him deny Himself, you know friends the way the Lord brings
us to deny ourselves Is to see just how lost and wretched we
are and then to see What Jesus Christ is as the Savior of sinners? As that one that is able to save
to the uttermost all that come unto God by him seeing the ever-living
And when you're brought to see that and to feel the preciousness
of Christ, to know something of the fullness of Christ, then
you're made willing to deny self and to follow Him. We have to be made willing to
do that. Thy people shall be willing in
the day of thy power. And the Lord makes his children
willing in the day of his power, the power of his grace, the power
of his love. The power of love is a wonderful
thing. And when that love is shed abroad
in your heart, you're then made willing to leave everything,
to follow the Lord Jesus Christ, to leave everything, to deny
Oh, my beloved friends, these things are very searching. And
he said unto them all, if any man will come after me, let him
deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. You know, to carry a cross, and
talking of this carrying a cross, The Lord Jesus was so weakened, been through the judgment hall.
He stood before the Roman soldiers and was set at nought. Passing through those place where
he was rejected of the elders and of the chief priests and
the scribes. He was despised and rejected of men, a man of
sorrows and acquainted with grief, our Lord Jesus Christ. This is
our example. And walking that path under the tremendous weight of
what was laid on him in the Garden of Gethsemane, which was the
sin of the church, When he was carrying his cross,
he was obviously so weakened, we read, and they compelled one, Simon the Cyrenian, to carry
the cross of Christ. He was so weakened physically
in his human nature that he couldn't carry his own cross. that to
compel someone to carry a form, to take up his cross daily. These
things are painful. Some of these things that we
have to deny, it's like tearing the very skin off your back.
It's so painful, so trying. If any man will come after me,
let him deny himself. and take up his cross and take
up his cross that cross is a painful thing it's really what we keep
coming back to is Paul in his thorn in the flesh that was his
cross that's what he had to carry and he had it every day and as
Christ says here and take up his cross daily that you may
feel you can so do without that cross that you have to carry. Take up his cross daily. It may
be something that is so painful. It may be something that nobody
else knows about. But it's there, that cross. Let him deny himself and take
up his cross daily and follow me and follow me daily. You know, it's when in the midst
of these trying places that we come to, these perplexing things,
the feeling sense of our sinfulness, our weakness, our helplessness,
our insufficiency, our emptiness, our inability. Maybe that is
what is something that really troubles you, your inability.
I can't do this, you say. Just like Moses. Let him deny himself and take
up his cross daily and follow me and follow me. Because in the end is eternal
life. In Christ is eternal life. whosoever
shall be ashamed of me and of my words and of him of him shall
the son of man be ashamed when he shall come in his own glory
and in his father's and of the holy angels what a terrible thing if christ is ashamed of you in
that great day of judgment this is the teaching that is
set before us here We need grace. We need the grace
of our Lord Jesus Christ. There's been a word that has
been very special to me, and he giveth more grace. And the
only way that you're going to run this pathway and to lay aside
these weights is for the Lord to give you grace. And he's promised,
and he giveth more grace. In Jesus Christ, there is an
eternal source of grace for the Lord's people. It's an inexhaustible
source of grace. The Word of God says He is full
of grace and truth. He always has been, He always
will be. There's a fullness in Christ that never diminishes.
Not at all. He's always full. And this is
how you have to go forth. looking unto Jesus, the author
and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before
him endured the cross, despising the shame thereof, and is now
set down at the right hand of the majesty on high. And he said
unto them all, if any man will come after me, let him deny himself
and take up his cross daily and follow me. To follow the Lord
Jesus Christ. You know, Peter had to learn
a very painful lesson, didn't he? At the time of the Lord Jesus
Christ and his passion. And Peter said, when the Lord
said what was going to happen, he said, Lord, I will go with
you even unto death. I will suffer anything. Nothing
will separate you from me. The Lord Jesus said to him, before
the cock crows, thou shalt deny me thrice. Thou shalt deny me
thrice. Peter was determined he was going
to follow the Lord. And sure enough, just as the
Lord Jesus had said to him, he denied him three times. The last
time he denied him, it was with oaths and curses. What was the Lord teaching Peter?
That he couldn't do these things in himself. could only do them as he drew
those rich supplies of grace from our Lord Jesus Christ. Peter
had to learn a lesson there, a very painful lesson, that these
things cannot be done in our own strength. It's only as the
Lord gives grace that we're able to do these things. And he said
to Peter, and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren. strengthen
thy brethren. And he said unto them all, if
any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up
his cross daily and follow me. May the Lord add his blessings. Let us now sing together hymn
971, the tune is Edneston 640. Jesus, we our cross have taken,
all to leave and follow thee, naked, poor, despised, forsaken,
thou from hence our all shalt be. Hymn 971, tune Edmeston 640. The wonder, the sight, the healing,
the saving, the saving, the saving, the saving, O'er the land of the free and
the home of the brave? ? And crown thy good ? ? With brotherhood
from sea to shining sea ? ? And crown thy good with brotherhood from
sea to shining sea ? May trouble and distress us grow
and dry, but still I pray, Now may the grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, the sacred fellowship
of the Holy Spirit, rest upon us now and forevermore. Amen.