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then seeing Christ being in a body that will never sin is without doubt the most attractive part of being in heaven. What a glorious thing every believer will experience. Would you turn back to Mark chapter 8 while you're turning? Tonight I'm going to bring a message on 2 Corinthians chapter 4, the entire chapter, and I'm looking forward to preaching it.

And we're going to observe the Lord's table. The Lord has given two ordinances, baptism and the Lord's table. And I love the way Paul said in observing the Lord's table, you show forth His death. until he come. I think that is an amazing thought. When we observe the Lord's table, we're showing forth his death. The death of Jesus Christ was his greatest accomplishment. You can't say that about any other man. Death is simply, he's a sinner, but not the Lord Jesus Christ, what he accomplished by his death.

Mark chapter eight, 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. If you're like me, and I suspect you are, I love the way the scripture says there's no difference, no real difference between any man, woman, we're all sinners, we're all self-righteous, we all just naturally believe in salvation by works. When we hear that statement, if any man will come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me, that seems to be a heavily burdensome command.

Can I do that? Can I deny myself? Can I take up my cross? Can I follow Him? When I hear something like that, the first way I hear it is in a way of salvation by works. What I need to do. I need to deny myself. I need to take up my cross. I need to follow Him.

Now, if we, or if I preach this the way it ought to be preached, and if you hear it, the way you ought to hear, this will be a liberating message. I love the way Paul said in 2 Corinthians 3, 17, now the Lord is that spirit and where the spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. There is freedom.

The command, whosoever will come after me, Let him deny himself. Take up his cross and follow me. Now, if you and I do not obey this command, it will prove he has never done anything for us. Every believer is one who denies himself. who takes up willingly His cross and follows the Lord Jesus Christ, to fail to deny myself, to fail to willingly take up my cross, and to fail to follow Him would mean I know nothing of the salvation of His grace. This is what all who are saved by grace do.

Now in the context of this passage of Scripture, this is very important. This is when the Lord said to his disciples, whom say men that I the Son of Man am. The issue is who is Jesus Christ? That's the only issue. You see, he is either who he said he is, or he is the greatest imposter to ever live. Now I want you to think about that. Jesus Christ, the man the Bible speaks of, he's either who he said he is, the son of God, the creator of the universe, or he's the biggest imposter to ever live, a fake, a phony. There's no in between. Who is Jesus Christ? And he said to his disciples, whom do men say that I, the Son of Man am?

And they put him in some pretty high cotton. They said, well, some say you're Elijah. Some say you're John the Baptist. Some say you're one of the Old Testament prophets, risen from the dead. They put you in some high cotton. Here's a problem like that with that. That's putting Jesus Christ on the same plane as a man. just a sinful man. While they might have meant it as a compliment, it was terribly degrading to the glory of his person. And then he said to his disciples, whom do you say that I am? Not what do men say, who do you personally say that I am? And Matthew 16's account gives us more detail. Peter says, thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. That's who he is. He's God's Christ, the Son of the living God. And the Lord said to Peter, blessed art thou Simon Barjona.

Flesh and blood didn't reveal this to you. You didn't figure this out, but my Father which is in heaven, and I say unto you that thou art Peter. And upon this rock, this confession of me, I'll build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

Now I'm sure at this time, Peter was pretty impressed with what the Lord said about him. Thou art Peter. Put yourself in his place. What if I heard the Lord say, thou art taught. And upon this rock, this confession you've given of me, I'll build my church. I'd think, I know I would. I know Peter did. John didn't say this. Andrew didn't say this. Philip didn't say this. I did. And I'm sure he was feeling pretty good about himself. The Lord has acknowledged me, thou art Peter.

And upon this rock, this confession of me, I'll build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Now, in this same speech, verse 30, and he charged them that they should tell no man of him, that he's the Christ, the son of the living God. And he began to teach them that the son of man must suffer many things. and be rejected of the elders and of the chief priests and the scribes and be killed.

And after three days, rise again." Now, this lets us know they should have been at his tomb waiting for him to walk out three days later. They weren't, but they should have. He told them in no uncertain terms on at least three different occasions, I'm gonna be killed, I'm gonna be taken into a grave. Three days later, I'm gonna be raised from the dead and I'm gonna walk out of that tomb. They should have been there waiting, but they weren't.

Now look at Peter's response. And he spake that saying openly and Peter took him and began to rebuke him. He rebuked the Lord, Lord, this is not gonna be for you. We don't want this to happen to you. Now, when Peter made this statement, he had absolutely no understanding of the glory of the death of Jesus Christ. You see, in Christ's death, he accomplished the full glorification of every attribute of God and the full salvation of every one of his people. When he said, it is finished, my salvation was finished. And Peter didn't see the glory of that. All he saw was, this is gonna mess up my plans of being somebody in the church. You know, you die, what about being the rock upon which you'll build your church?

And look at the way the Lord replied to him. Verse 33, but when he turned about and looked on all his disciples, he rebuked Peter. Peter rebuked him, well, he rebuked Peter and said, get thee behind me, Satan. Do you think that took the wind out of his sails? The Lord Jesus Christ saying to this same one of whom he said, you're Peter, upon this rock, this confession of me, I'll build my church. Now he says to Peter, get thee behind me, Satan. Your mind is under the control of Satan.

You don't savor the things that be of God, but the things that be of men. And when, verse 34, he called the people unto him, with his disciples also, he said unto them, after this statement to Peter, whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. The most important word in this verse is the word me. the personal pronoun, which the Lord used regarding himself. And if I don't understand who is meant by me, I certainly won't understand any of the rest of this verse of scripture. Me, Jesus of Nazareth, the one that was born in Bethlehem, but grew up in Nazareth as a Carpenter's son. His dad was a carpenter. He was a carpenter. The king of the Jews. The son of Mary, the son of David, and the son of God. Now what is meant by the son of God?

It means he is the second person of the blessed Trinity. God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, as a distinct person, face to face with God, and the Word was God. That is who is referred to as Him. Now somebody says, Can you say that God is one God in three distinct persons? God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. That's what the scripture teaches. Throughout the scriptures.

As a matter of fact, Genesis 1.1, in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. God is Elohim, one God in the plural. One God in three distinct persons. It begins that way. It's mysterious. I don't understand it. I can't give an example in life. Well, it's like this. No, he's other. He's not like anything in this creation. He's altogether other.

God. Jesus Christ is God. God manifest in the flesh. Great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. Philip said, show us the Father and we'll be satisfied. Have I been so long time with you and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? He that hath seen me has seen the Father. All you and I will ever see of the Father is the Son. The Son of God equal to the Father because He is God. In Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. He's called the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the Lord.

Did you know He's your Lord? Somebody says, I don't even know Him. How could He be my Lord? I've never seen Him. How could He be my Lord? Well, the scripture says He's the Lord of the dead and the living. If you're dead in sins, He's your Lord. You don't know it. but He's your Lord. If you live, you know He's your Lord. He's the Lord. That means He's the one who's in control, who has all power. He's the Lord of creation. He spake the universe into existence. Scripture says all things were made by Him. Without Him was not anything made that was made. He's Lord of providence. Everything that happens in this life, He's the first cause of it.

Do you like it that way? I do. I'd be afraid to walk out the door if that wasn't the case. He is the first cause of everything. He controls everything. By Him, all things consist. He's before all things, whatever it is, He's before it. And He's most especially the Lord of salvation. That means your eternal destiny is up to Him. Your eternal destiny. Where you're going to spend eternity, whether in heaven or in hell, it's up to Him. You don't have any control. He has all control.

That is what is meant by Him being Lord. Now, I realize people say, well, I don't like that. I do. I do. He's Lord. He's Jesus. Thou shalt call His name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins. He's the Savior. Oh, what a name. He's the Savior. Do you need to be saved? I hate it when people say, I got saved. No, you didn't. That's not the way salvation works. You don't get salvation. He saves you because He's the Savior.

He's the Lord Jesus Christ, God's anointed Messiah. Christ didn't simply as his last name. or even a proper name. It's His title as prophet, God's prophet. The only way I can know who God is is if He brings His Word to me. He is the Word of God. I can't know God apart from the Word, the Lord Jesus Christ. He's God's priest. I can't get to God on my own.

He's gonna have to bring me. And He's not like the Old Testament priests. They brought the blood of a slain animal. He brings His own blood. into the Father's presence. He's God's King. I need Him as my King. I need Him to be the King who rules the world, who's the first cause of everything. The only way I can be saved is by King Jesus, the one whose will is always done. He's God's prophet. He's God's priest. He is God's King. Now, if you and I ever see who He is, We will deny ourselves. We will take up our cross and we will follow Him. Here's the key, Him. Jesus Christ.

Whosoever will come after me. Now the second word I would like for us to consider in this verse is the word Whosoever. Whosoever. Are you in that group? Whosoever. Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Now, whosoever is better than if it was my name.

Here's why. In Gallipolis, Ohio, right now, there is a real estate agent by the name of Todd Nybert. He might have meant him and not me. If it said, if Todd Nybert calls on the name of the Lord, he shall be saved, he might have meant that Todd Nybert and not me. But I'm a whosoever. That means me. Whosoever. Are you in this demographic? Whosoever.

In John chapter three, verse 16, we read that God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Now that precious verse of scripture does not say nor even imply that Christ was given for all men without exception. But it does say this, whosoever believeth on him. Hath, means he's got it. Hath, everlasting life.

Are you a whosoever? Then this command is you. It's you. Whosoever will come after me. And the next word I would like us to dwell on is the word will. Whosoever will, whosoever desires, that's what the word means, that's your desire, that's your want to. Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me." Your will is your desire. It's what you want to do. Now somebody's thinking, does that mean man's free will is involved in salvation? It says, will, whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me.

Listen to me carefully. There is no such thing as free will. It's a philosophical absurdity. I know men use the term a lot, but I hate to burst your bubble, but there's no such thing as free will. Your will is controlled by your nature. God, I say this I hope reverently and with fear, but God doesn't have a free will.

His will is controlled by His nature. He can't see Him. He can't say, well, I'm going to decide to see Him. He can't do that. His will is controlled by His nature, His character, His attributes. He cannot act contrary to His nature. The will is controlled by the nature. That's why the Lord said, you will not come to me that you might have life. It's because of our sinful nature.

As a matter of fact, the scripture says, it's not of him that willeth. Did you hear that? It's not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. That's what the Bible says. Where does that leave free will? There's no such thing. Your will is controlled by your nature. I love the scripture in John chapter one, verses 12 and 13, to as many as received him, to them gave he the power to become the sons of God, even to them which believe on his name, which were born, which were birthed, not of blood, not of the will of man, not of the will of the flesh. When you were conceived, how much did your will have to do with it? Absolutely nothing. When you're born again, how much does your will have to do with it? Absolutely nothing.

Which were born not of blood, not of the will of the flesh, not of the will of man, but of God The belief in free will is the belief in salvation by works. That's all it is. It's believing you have some kind of control in your destiny. And if you let God save you, he'll save you. Why, that's foolishness.

But it does say, whosoever will come after me. Is that your desire right now, to come after the Lord Jesus Christ? whosoever will come after me. You see, God's people, according to Psalm 110, verse three, are made willing. Now, when I deny free will, it doesn't mean our will's not involved in salvation. You see, God gives you new will, a will to come after Him, to follow Him.

I love it when the Lord said to that Man in John chapter five had been crippled for 38 years, waiting there at the pool of Bethesda, waiting for the angel to come down once a year to stir up the water. But he couldn't get there when he was crippled. He was a paralytic. But there he was waiting, and the Lord said to him, wilt thou be made whole?

How about you? Are you willing to be made whole? It's outside of your ability, but it's not outside of His ability to make you whole. Are you willing to be made whole? You know, Paul said in Romans chapter 7, to will is present with me. I would be made whole. That's what I want. To will is present with me. He said to the Philippians, it's God's good pleasure both to will and to do. To will is present with me. It is of God that worketh in you both to will and to do, his good pleasure. Doesn't mean you don't have a will. You've got the will he's given you. And your desire is to be made whole. And I love this.

Whosoever will come after me. What's it mean to come after him? Well, we think, well, we're running, we're going to him. Well, yeah, it means that, but it is quite often translated behind. You won't come behind him. Is that your thought? I want to come behind Him. I don't want to be beside Him. I don't want to be out in front of Him. I want to be behind Him. And I want to stay behind Him so that all God sees when He sees me is His Son.

Whosoever will come behind I think of that woman with the issue of blood. She came up behind the Lord. She didn't come in front of Him. She came behind Him to touch the hem of His garment. She said, if I can just touch the hem of His garment, I'll be made whole. But how did she come? She came behind Him.

Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself. Now, if your desire is to come after him, here's the first thing he says to do, deny yourself. Self is my enemy. Self, myself. I am my greatest problem. I am my greatest enemy. Sinful self, selfish, self-esteem, self-righteous, self-confidence, self-centered, self-absorbed, self-willed, self-indulgent, self-seeking, self-promotion, self-deluded, self-deceived, self-glory, self-love, self-preservation, Salvation.

Let him deny himself. Now let me tell you when you deny yourself. I can tell you exactly when you deny yourself. This is not some kind of vague, hazy, ambiguous command. You deny yourself when you look to Christ alone. That's when you deny yourself. You realize self is your greatest enemy. and you look to Christ alone, you glory only in the cross of Christ, you look to Him only. Self cut out. I'll tell you somebody who denied himself was a thief on the cross. He said, Lord, remember me.

Self's my problem. Self has nothing to do with salvation. The only way I can be saved is if you remember me when you come into your kingdom. My salvation has no connection with self. Self is what plunged me down in the first place. I'm to deny myself. Here's what that looks like. God forbid that I should glory in anything save the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Self is cut out.

Let him deny himself and take up his cross. Now, most people, when they think of taking up their cross, they think, oh, the cross, I've got to bear, my burden in life, my fill in the blank, whatever you might think it is. That's the cross I'm called upon to bear, the burden that the Lord has given me to carry. And you think of some problem or maybe some character flaw in your life, and it's a cross you bear, and it makes you miserable. And I would not deny the reality of these things, but that has absolutely nothing to do with what the Lord is saying. You take up willingly the confession of His cross. Now, I want you and I to understand this.

The cross of Jesus Christ, Christ being nailed to a cross and suffering and dying. That is the whole counsel of God. That is the reason for the creation of this universe. It's God's eternal purpose. Remember, He's called the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Creation came into existence so the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world could come in time and be slain. The cross of Jesus Christ is the only way God can be just and justify the ungodly. The only way God can save you is if Christ bears your sins and puts them away and makes it to where God would be just in justifying you.

Because if you're still in your sin, a judge can't just pardon you. He'd be an unjust judge, wouldn't he? What would we think of a judge who somebody was guilty said, well, I'm going to set you free and put you out in society. Why be an unjust corrupt judge? Now we don't fear a corrupt judge because they could be bought. We fear an absolutely just judge. God is that absolutely just judge.

And he's made the way through the cross of his son to be just to where His justice demands your salvation if Christ died for you. That's the confession of the cross, the God of the cross, the Christ of the cross. 2 Corinthians 5, 21 says, for He, this is what was going on on the cross, for He hath made Him, the Lord Jesus Christ, to be sin. Dwell on that as the Lord enables you. Why was Christ nailed to a cross?

Because God his Father made him to be sin. I don't know what all that means, but I know this much. If I'm saved, it's because my sin became his sin. When he drank that cup in Gethsemane's garden, he was drinking the cup of the sins of his people. I can't make him sin. I never will forget back in the 80s, a preacher that had been caught in a scandal.

And they were bringing this up to him. And he said, now I put those sins under the blood. I put that sin under the blood. I thought, you can do that? No, you can't. You can't just up and go, I'm going to put my sin under the blood. God can, though. And God does. He hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

Now that is the message and the consequence of that message. Take up your cross. If you take up that message, not many folks are gonna like you. they are going to be at disagreement with you. Because you see, in this message, Paul speaks of the offense of the cross. And the cross, the message of the cross, salvation by what Christ accomplished on the cross, is offensive to the natural man. It offends man's sense of pride because it says you don't have anything to be proud about. It offends man's sense of self-righteousness because it says you don't have any self-righteousness.

It offends men's sense of wisdom because it says you can't figure this out. It's up to God to reveal it to you. You'll never figure it out unless God is pleased to reveal it. It offends men's ability because it says you have no ability. It offends men's sense of personal rights because it says you, criminals don't have rights. You don't have any rights because of your sin before God. It offends men's love of fleshly distinctions because it says there's no difference. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. It offends men's, their love to pay because it says it's free. There's nothing you can contribute. Men are offended by the narrowness of the cross. It excludes all other ways but the way. The straight and narrow way.

Now I take this cross willingly, intelligently, lovingly, Like Paul, because I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord, for whom I've suffered the loss of all things and do count it but done, that I may win Christ and be found in Him.

Now, whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, this confession of me. And the last thing he says is, Follow me. I've said this several times over the last couple of years, but let me remind you once again, following Christ does not mean imitating him. Following Christ does not mean imitating him. There's a famous book written by Thomas A. Kempis entitled The Imitation of Christ.

Now, I want to imitate him. You know, Paul said, to will is present with me. I want to imitate him, but I've utterly failed. Somebody says, well, I think I've done an OK job at it. Stand up and let us applaud for you. Nobody will do that, will they? Because you have not imitated the Lord Jesus Christ. The day before yesterday, I was helping Lynn fold a tablecloth, real long tablecloth. And something she always says to me when I try to help her fold is, mirror me. Do exactly as I am doing. Mirror me. And without exception, every time she says mirror me, She says it again, because I'm not marrying her.

I can't. I can't. That's out of my pay grade. I can't. I try. I can't. The imitation of Christ, utter failure. Would that describe you? an utter failure in imitating Him. Following Christ is not imitating Him, nor walking in His steps, although we would do both. But when you follow somebody, you keep your eyes on them. That's all there is to following somebody. Keeping your eyes on them.

If you're in a crowd, I remember the first time I went to Mexico, Walter Groover, bless his heart, love him dearly. He'd take us into downtown Mérida. It was a scary place. And he'd just take off and you'd be lost. You had to keep your eyes on him because he You'd lose him if you didn't keep your eyes directly on him. And I remember, you know, just looking at him because we were in the, it was, I didn't feel very safe there. And I wanted to be with him. He was the missionary in Mexico and he was, off he'd go, keep your eyes on him. Now, what would have happened if I would have looked down at my feet? I would have lost him.

What happens when you look down at your feet to see how well you're doing, to examine your walk? You're not looking to Christ when you do that. Isn't that so? If you're looking at your walk, you're not looking to Christ. If you look to the side and examine somebody else's life and see how you compare to them, see how you're doing, you're not looking to Christ, are you?

You're looking at somebody else. Comparing yourself to somebody else, that's foolishness. That's one worm comparing himself to another worm. That's all that amounts to. You might find somebody you, hey, I look pretty good. Not really. You just think you do.

When you follow somebody, you certainly don't look behind them, behind yourself. I'm looking back to see if I've got evidences to prove to me that I'm saved. As soon as you look behind to look for those, you're not looking to Christ. Hebrews 12, one and two says, seeing were compassed about was so great a cloud of witnesses.

Let us lay aside every weight. And that sin which does so easily beset us, which I have no doubt, that's unbelief. People think, well, I've got my besetting sins, I realize that. But he's talking about unbelief. And let us run with patience the race that's set before us looking unto Jesus.

Looking unto His person, who He is, He's able to save me without my help. That's the kind of Savior I need. One who can save me without my help. When He by Himself, no help from me or you, when He by Himself purged our sins. We look to Him in His life. That's my life before God. That's my righteousness before God. We look to Him in His death. There's my sin payment. There's how my sins are put away. I look to Him in His resurrection when He was raised from the dead. There's my justification.

He was delivered for our offenses, raised again for our justification. I look to Him even now, seated at the right hand of God, representing me as my great high priest and intercessor, and how earnestly we look to Him in His return when He comes back as Lord of lords and King of kings, looking unto Jesus, not looking anywhere else. Not looking at my feet, not looking at you, not looking back for evidences. but looking to Him.

Now I talked about that thief on the cross earlier, just for a moment. There he is, nailed to a cross. And we know the Lord died before him, don't we? Because they came to break the feet of the thieves who were still alive and they saw that Christ was already dead. And there he hangs and he's already heard Christ say to him, this day thou shall be with me in paradise.

And if you would have come up to him and said, do you believe in justification by faith? He would have said, I'd have no idea what you're talking about. Clueless. Well, what makes you think you'll be in heaven? Him. That's the only reason. Him. Let's pray. Lord, in Christ's name, We ask that you would reveal Him to each one of us for His glory and for our eternal good. In Christ's name we pray, amen.

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