It's good to see everybody this
morning, and we thank the Lord for another
opportunity that we have. We got some down at the conference
down in Rocky Mount, Virginia. I'm thankful I've talked to some
of the folks. They've had a good meeting so
far, and for that I'm thankful. I pray that the Lord might be
pleased to bless us today. Bless His Word. Teach us of Himself. Take your Bibles and turn to
Mark chapter 8. Mark chapter 8. I'd like to read
one verse of Scripture. Mark chapter 8, verse 34. And when He had called the people
unto Him with His disciples also, He said unto them, Whosoever
will come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross
and follow Me." Let's pray together. Our Father, we are so thankful
Oh, for the blessedness of being able to assemble ourselves together
in the name of the Lord Jesus. Help us today. Teach us. Lord, we are needy
people, and we don't realize how needy we are. Have mercy. Oh, for Christ's
sake. Amen. Without a doubt, this Scripture is a most arresting Scripture,
arresting revelation, because in it our Lord sets forth the
very heart and the evidence of true discipleship. Not rules in order to establish
discipleship, but the evidence of discipleship. Our Lord is setting forth that
If a man will come after Him, this is what he'll do. Whosoever desires. Whosoever will. Whosoever desires
to find a place with or to be known with the Lord Jesus Christ, let him forget or lose sight
of his own interest, let him deny himself. Let him carry or
raise up or bear his cross, the lot that the Lord has given him,
and follow Christ. Walk in the way. Now we know that salvation is
all of grace. For by grace are you saved through
faith. And that not of yourself, it's
the gift of God. But scriptural language tells
us to buy of Him without money, without price. Though we realize and we believe
that salvation is all of grace and that our works have absolutely
nothing to do with to establish or to maintain our salvation
before Him. The Holy Scriptures declare that
our salvation is going to be proven. Almighty God is going
to show that which He has created, that which He has wrought, He's
going to prove it to us and to others that it's real. And this is the three things
that He sets forth, denying self, taking up a cross, and following
Him. Now, I read that Scripture this
past week, and as I thought on that, I thought, you know, whatever
is being set forth in that passage I want to know, what does that
mean? What does it mean? Denying myself,
taking up my cross, and following Him. I know the Scripture sets
forth in Acts 14.22, we must through much tribulation, much
trial, much proving, much proving, we must through much tribulation,
enter into the kingdom of God. It is the will of our Lord that
we are going to be kept. In the midst of our blessed Savior,
we are going to go through pain and suffering and tribulation,
not because of God's wrath, but because of His love, His affection. Whom the Lord loved and loveth. He chastens. This is the reason we discipline
our children. We love them. We love them. We're
not going to allow them to be the way of themselves. They're
taught. This is the way Almighty God
teaches His people. If any man will come after me,
whosoever, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow
me." Don't be fearful of those words. I know by nature we are. We're thinking, I wonder what
I'm going to go through. I wonder what kind of trials.
If you be without chastisement, you're illegitimate, you're bastards,
you say. What am I going to have to go
through? He that told us that we're going to go through these
things is also the One that said, I'll never leave you. I'll never
forsake you. His strength is made most evident
when we are weak. If you want to know how strong
He is, behold first how weak you really are. Paul the Apostle said in Philippians
4.13, I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. Well, here's a question that
I have for myself. And I'll invite you to ask this
question yourself. Our Lord said, whosoever will
come after me. All right, here's my question
for me. Do I want to come to Christ?
Do I really want to? Some might say, well, sure I
do. I mean, I don't want to go to
hell. Do I really want to come to Him? Do I really want to be
found in Him? Now you say, well, that seems
to me to be the most obvious question. Anybody would answer
that in the affirmative. No. I want you to look at John
1.11. John 1.11. Does a man want to
come to Christ? Well, I can tell you this. Apart
from regenerating grace of God, he does not. John 1.11 says,
He came unto His own, and His own received Him not. Look at John 5, verse 40. He told these Pharisees, he said,
Ye will not come to me that you might have life. You will not
come to me. You will. This is your will.
This is your desire. You don't want to. You know why there are so many
this morning that don't come to Christ? They don't want to. They don't
want to. Here's the first thing that I've
got to understand. If a man wants to come to Christ,
Almighty God must make him willing. Thy people. shall be willing
in the day of His power. I know that some do. Our Lord
said in John 6.37, all that the Father giveth me shall come to
me. Do you know the significance
of that statement? This is what man by nature will do. He'll come to the church. He'll come to baptism. He'll
come to speaking in tongues. He'll come to anything that He
Himself can do until God Almighty gives Him
a new heart. And then He comes to Christ.
Coming to Christ. is to go away from yourself. I know that our Lord has said,
all that the Father giveth me shall come to me. I'm a frail creature and I'm
dying. You say, well, I thought I'm
in good health. Well, you may think you are, but right now,
But I'm telling you, this life is but a vapor. And there is
coming a day in which every man and every woman is going to stand
before God. We're going to die. And in that day, the only thing
that matters is, what do I think of Christ? Nothing else. Nothing else. Do
I want to come to Him? I want you to turn to Luke 14.
Our Lord said this. Our Lord said, Luke 14.25. Now,
you think about these words as our Master spoke. Luke 14.25. 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, children, brethren, sisters,
yea, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. And whosoever doth not bear his
cross and come after Me cannot Be my disciple, for which of
you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth
the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?" Now, you know, that's a pretty
arresting Scripture, isn't it? Whosoever will come after me
and doesn't hate father, mother, children. Now, is our Lord teaching? that it is absolutely a necessity. We're going to have to hate our
parents. Well, you know that he who said this also said, honor
your father and your mother. What is he teaching in this Scripture? Here's the heart of it. If a
man will come to Christ, if a man desires to come to Christ, be
found with Him, associated with Him, trusting Him, anything that
demands allegiance to itself at the expense of allegiance
to Him is going to have to be denied. Whether it's a mother or a wife
or children, sisters, yea, even your own life, Those that Almighty God has given
a new heart, they will take Christ over anybody
else. Anything that would rob, take, steal from Himself is to be denied. Anything. What am I going to
have to give up? By the grace of God, you'll give
it all up for Him. I want you to turn with me to
Job 2. Job chapter 2. That's a good example of this. Here's what I think is just as
good an example as I could find in the book of Job. Job chapter
2, verse 7. All of these things that Job had to endure. You know,
the Lord said Satan came to him, and the Lord said to Satan, Have
you considered My servant Job? A righteous man, just, one that
escheweth evil. And Satan said, Yeah, but the
thing is, you've got a hedge about him and you can't get to
him. You touch him, though, he'll
curse you to your face. The Lord said, you can touch
Him, but you can't kill Him. Listen to this, Job 2.7, So Satan went
forth from the presence of the Lord and smoked Job with sore
balls from the sole of his foot to his crown. He took a potsherd,
a piece of a broken pot, to scrape himself withal, and he sat down
among the ashes. Then said his wife unto him,
Dost thou still retain thine integrity? Curse God, and die. But he said unto her, Thou speakest
as one of the foolish women speaketh." Why? Shall we receive good at
the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? And all this
did not Job sin with his lips. Look at what you are going through.
Do you mean to tell me, Job, that you believe that a loving,
kind, merciful, compassionate God would take our kids and take
our animals and take the lands and take your very health and
cause you to go through all of this? Why don't you just get
it over with and curse God and die and forget it? He said, Woman, you're speaking
as one of the foolish women. Job did not sin with his lips
before God. It is by the miracle of God's
grace that a man maintains integrity before God Almighty. Job was
going to take God's side against any advice to disregard His honor and His
glory and His grace. One that comes to Christ leaves his allegiance to everything else. I heard someone say, does that
mean I'm going to have Give up everything. I'm not going to
have any enjoyment. I'm not going to have any associations.
I'm not going to have any pleasures. No, I'm not going to say you're
not going to have any of that, but I tell you this, if it comes
to a point to where there is something and the Lord knows
how to teach a man or woman what you're going to have to give
up when it comes to following Him, You'll know. And no one else may even remotely
be understanding but you know. Whosoever will come after me
for life, for guidance, for peace before God, let him deny himself. I'll tell you the first denying.
that a man is going to deny, he's going to deny that he himself
is the source of righteousness before God. That's the first
thing he's going to deny. If any man will come after Christ,
he will deny that he himself has the ability to be able to
do something to merit salvation before God. If any man will come
after Christ, He will deny himself. He will deny that he possesses
a free will to do something that God says he can't. He'll deny
himself. I'm struggling Whether or not I want
to say this, I'm going to go ahead and say it, and I pray
the Lord help me out doing the right thing. There's a big deal going on right
now over in Rome. And the Roman Catholic Church
is going through, and they're going to decide, they're going
to look in the records to find out if this sinner had died a
few years ago, they're going to look at the records and find
out if he has done enough good things, if he has enough merits
to be able to be declared a saint. To be declared holy is what that
word means. They're going to look through
the records and they're going to find out if he has enough
credentials to be able to stand before God Almighty and stand
on his own merit. That is heresy. That is heresy. That is absolutely a lie. Do you know what? A saint is
called to be saints, Paul said. There's two things that's absolutely
essential. It must be, number one, a saint,
one who is holy, holy, holy. I'm not talking about the best
that you can be. I'm talking about holy before
God Almighty. That's a saint. The saints, Paul
said, the saints who were at Ephesus. Two things are absolutely
essential. Number one, you must have no
guilt before God's law. God's law must look at you and
say, justified. No guilt. The charges that were
brought before you No credibility to them. No guilt whatsoever. No guilt. But you say, but I'm a sinner.
Yes, sir. Yes, we are. Sinners before God
Almighty. But let me tell you this. You
who are saints, Almighty God sent His only begotten Son And
the Lord Jesus Christ, who came into this world, made sin. He Himself, who knew no sins,
who knew no sin whatsoever, He owned, He took to Himself and
was made what His people are. He was made sin, perfect in Himself,
and owned them. and died as the substitute of
all that Almighty God gave him in electing grace. He took and
bore the wrath, bore the penalty. He took what we deserve under
the judgment of Almighty God and thereby put away the debt
that we owe before God. We have to have no guilt before
God's law. There is therefore now no condemnation
to them who are in Christ Jesus. None whatsoever. None. And the
second thing that you must have is you must have the righteousness
of God. The righteousness of God. He
hath made Him to be sin. who knew no sin, that we might
be made the righteousness of God in Him." That's a saint. That's one made holy. Amazing, amazing, amazing declaration
of truth. A saint. One who has no guilt
before God's law. But you say, what about the sins
that I possess, Almighty God has paid the debt and He pardons
those sins. Those sins have been paid for.
We sin just like every man born in Adam. We're all sinners. But
there's a big difference between God's saints and ones that are
not. The law has been satisfied by
the blood of Christ. He paid the debt. He took it. And He paid it. And just as He
Himself knew no sin, now listen to what I'm about to say. He
who knew no sin, He owned the sin of His people. And He said, My iniquities have
taken hold on Me. I was telling Brother Carl in
the same likeness. Here now, you have two natures
in a believer. One of them, the Scripture declares,
does not sin. Isn't that right, Freddie? That which is born of God sinneth
not. But that which is born of God and sins not, owns or admits
to what his old man does. There is a new man that does
not sin. That which is born of God doesn't
sin, but admits. admits to and owns to. As Paul
said, O wretched man that I am. Was Paul regenerated when he
said that? Yes. O wretched man that I am. And here's Paul the apostle that
had declared under the inspiration of God's Spirit, with my mind
I serve the law of God. I bow to it as being satisfied
by the precious blood of my Savior. I own that the law is good and
holy. I can't keep it. that He did
for me. Same one that says with my mind,
I serve the law of God, but in my flesh I serve the law of sin.
Here's a new man that doesn't sin and owns the fact. Yes, that's me. My old man sins. Not that new man. That's a great
mystery. I know that. But you think about
when our Lord who knew no sin was made sin. And here's a new
man in Christ that doesn't sin. That which is born of God doesn't
sin. The life of Christ does not sin. But I'm a sinner. A saint. Oh, if a man be found
a saint before God, he's made so by the grace of God. The blood
of Christ has put away his guilt. and the righteousness of Christ
has robed him. Oh, I tell you, we struggle with
self, don't we? If any man will come after me,
whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, take up
his cross. I can't read that passage of
Scripture without thinking about our Lord. John 19, 17 says, "...and
he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place
of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha." We read
where our Lord bore the cross ordained for Him by the Father,
resolved to the will of His Father in our redemption. He bore His
cross. submitting himself to the humiliation
of being our substitute, set his face like a flint. Do you remember when Isaac was
going up with his daddy Abraham? Isaac was bearing that wood on
his back. What a picture of our Lord bearing
that cross But for us, taking up our cross, I know that first
of all, we take up our cross associating ourselves with Him.
We take up our cross in associating. As far as this world is concerned,
that's the most ridiculous thing that you'd ever think of. But there's also going to come
a time when whatever lot Almighty God
has chosen for us will bear that. Bearing the cross. Now the first
thing that we've got to understand before a man will bear his cross,
whatever lot, he's going to have to deny himself. denying self,
that order in which is let a man deny himself, take up his cross
and follow me. What is my cross? It's whatever Almighty God is
pleased to send my way. We all believe the gospel of
God's grace. We believe The Lord Jesus Christ
put away our guilt. But there's things that you'll
bear in honor to Him, in Almighty God proving His faithfulness
to you. Your cross may not be my cross.
Let a man take up his cross. Let a man take up denying himself whatever this
world despises and hates concerning the glory of God." You know, this world applauds
and honors and finds great pleasures in things
that don't matter. But for a believer, the things
of this world are fading. The things of this world are
fickle. And they'll bear whatever Almighty
God has sent their way in honor to Him and for our good. Let a man deny himself and take
up his cross and follow Him. That's the last point. Following
the Lord Jesus Christ. The very heart of being a follower
of Christ is to believe Him. Believe Him. Think of the association that
you've had, many of you here, for years and years and years
in this assembly right here. A faithful pastor God raised
up in the mid-fifties. And by the grace of God, he's
still here. Following after Christ. following
after his message, following after his honor. A believer longs to go in the
same way as his Master, the Lord Jesus Christ. His meat was to
do the will of his Father. I know this. I know we struggle. I know we long walk consistently
and we see the inconsistencies in ourselves, but I'll tell you
this, we follow after Him longing to do His will. Lord, what would
you have me to do? Where would you have me to go? Though every believer will admit
that following after Him is plagued with the presence of sins, our
Lord said, hear my voice, I know them and
they follow me. They believe me. They trust me. They hunger and thirst after
Him. That's what it is to follow Christ. Longing to be that which He Himself
alone has made us, disciples. God's people, they'll struggle.
They look at themselves and they say, how can I myself find myself
to be as He is? But as He leads in providence, we look back and we see all the
stuff that we've gone through. It will be a lot easier to look
back and understand and see how He's kept us. He that has called us. He's going to do it. He Himself
will keep His people faithful. His people are precious to Him.
Their desire is to honor Him, honoring the Father. In closing, I want to read something
to you. I read Philippians chapter 2. Philippians 2. Verses 5 to 11. Philippians 2. In following after Christ. The
Apostle Paul. And I got the comments that I'm
going to make to you out of Brother Henry's little commentary. And it was on following Christ.
Following after Christ. Philippians 2.5. Let this mind
be in you. which was also in Christ Jesus. Brother Henry wrote, let that
spirit of humility be seen in you as was in Christ. Now, I do understand we will
never follow after Him as He followed. He followed perfectly.
But we do follow in the midst, in the presence, of that which
constantly wars against our new man, that old man that struggles
still. God's people bow to the Lord
Jesus Christ, who being, verse 6, in the form of God thought
it not robbery to be equal with God. Although being essentially one
with God, Christ did not seek to obtain by force or robbery
as did Satan and Adam. God's honor. The Lord Jesus Christ,
Brother Henry wrote, was God and was with God in the beginning.
And He did not in any showy display exhibit His glory and power. God's people are not looking
to make a name for themselves. The Lord Jesus Christ made Himself
of no reputation. He had one object, the will of
His Father. Oh, when I think after following
after Christ, I think, you know what? I've got so much pride and arrogance. Verse 7, "...who made himself
of no reputation, took upon him the form of a servant, and was
made in the likeness of men." He said, rather, he stripped
himself of all privileges and rightful dignity and became a
man, a carpenter and a friend of sinners. Being found, verse 8, in fashion
as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death,
even the death of the cross. He said he was really a man,
not just in appearance, but in reality. He said he lay nine months in
the womb of a virgin. He knew hunger, thirst, weariness,
grief, pain, death. His real submission was from
the cradle to the cross as our righteousness and our
example. And then verses 9 to 11, Wherefore,
God hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is
above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should
bow, things in heaven, things in earth, things under the earth,
that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to
the glory of God the Father. Almighty God is highly exalted
and rewarded him for his obedience and suffering and therefore us
in him. If any man will come after me,
let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me. Do you know what I come to the
conclusion of today? Lord, help me. Lord, have mercy
on me. Lord, forgive me for my arrogance
and my insensitivity. Lord, forgive me for not looking
unto Him as I ought. We're going to struggle in this
world. And I'm telling you, that's the best place that you'll ever
find yourself to be. Struggling after Him. Hungering
after Him. In this life, we're going to
be plagued with the presence of sin. But thanks be unto God
that He looks upon us in His blessed Son. And in Christ, He
says, well done. May the Lord add His blessing
to our understanding, to the honor of our blessed Savior,
for His sake. Amen.