We've spent some bit of time
in this passage here in Matthew 16. And I just want to look at
this verse really this morning, verse 24. Then said Jesus unto
his disciples. And the word then is never insignificant. No word at all is in the scripture. But we'll talk about how it was
then that he said this. If any man will come after me,
let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. Three things. It's one act, one
act of faith, but it's a threefold act. Denying yourself and taking up
your cross and following the Lord Jesus Christ. This verse,
as most scripture, has been perverted by religious people. When I say
religious people, I mean all of us by nature. That's what
we are. We're religious by nature, aren't we? People going to worship
something or somebody. But they like to say concerning
this verse, you know, about taking up your cross, Whenever they
suffer some trial or trouble, you've heard people say this,
well, that's just my cross to beggar. People don't suffer trials
on crosses, they die on them. That's the only thing that a
cross is good for. People die on them. And our Lord
makes this very clear in the next verse. He said, whosoever
shall save his life shall lose it. Whosoever will lose his life. That's what's gonna happen. If
you take up the cross you're gonna lose your life But who
so does that for my sake will find it find life If you take
up your cross and follow Christ, you will lose your life How? In what sense? Do we lose our
lives? I? Not in a physical sense, of
course. Religious reprobates throughout
history have called upon their followers to die physically.
Jim Jones probably most notoriously. And they're promised some reward
in the next life for losing their physical earthly life here. But that's not what this is.
Paul said, I am crucified with Christ. He talking about what
our Lord said right here. The Lord just got through saying,
I'm going to suffer many things of the chief priests and elders,
and I must go and die. I must go to the cross and die.
And he said to Peter here, after what Peter said, Peter made a
good confession. Now you're the Christ, the son
of the living God. The gospel begins and ends with
the person of Christ. But Peter didn't understand about
the Lord's work. And so when the Lord said, I've
got to suffer, I've got to die. Peter said, be that far from
the Lord. And the Lord here in effect says, I've got to die,
as I said. And you do too, Peter. You do
too. You see the context here? You're
going to lose your life too. If you're going to find life,
if you're ever going to know what life is, you're going to
lose yours too. But in what sense do we do that? Paul said, I'm
crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live. It's not
a physical death. We're going to die physically.
It's appointed unto men who wants to die. That's not what our Lord
is talking about right here. And Paul said, I am crucified
with Christ. Nevertheless, I live, yet not
I. There was a Paul that was alive
and there was a Paul that was dead. We're going to have to
find out what Paul was talking about if we're going to know
what the Lord was talking about and vice versa. And I'll tell
you what else this is not. This is not some kind of a cooperative
effort from us that supplements the cross work of our Lord Jesus
Christ. It's not about that. Religious
people, again, are in error about that too. They sing that song. It's probably in our hymn book.
Must Jesus bear the cross alone? The answer to that question is
yes. Of course, he must bear it alone.
End of song. Let's just sing the first line
and say yes, and then that's it. Cut. Our losing of our lives
that our Lord is talking about here is not a meritorious work
on our part in any degree whatsoever. It is a certain and direct result. of God's work of free and sovereign
grace in our hearts. And that's in our context. We
don't just make up this stuff. Our doctrine is not different
from what's being preached down the street here because we just
have different opinions. It's because of what God said.
Peter in complete contrast to what everybody else was saying
about the Lord, was just able to make a confession. You're
the Christ. You're the Son of the Living
God. Peter, you know who He is and nobody else does. How does
that happen? The Lord Jesus Christ said, you
didn't figure it out. Nobody taught you that in this
world. Flesh and blood didn't reveal it to you. My Father revealed
that to you. And that's what's got to happen.
And when he does, when you find out who he is, you will deny
yourself and you'll take up your cross and you'll follow him. And I will too. In the new unconditional
covenant of grace, the new ancient covenant. of unconditional grace,
God said, I will and they shall over and over. Let me just read
you part of it. Jeremiah 24 7 and I will give
them in heart to know me. Is that what happened to Peter?
Who do you say I am, Peter? You're the Christ. You're the
son of the living God. How'd that happen? Why do you
say that? And they say all these other things. I will give them
a heart to know me and I will be their God for they shall return
unto me with their whole heart. I'm going to give them a new
heart and I'm going to be their God. Why? Because they're going
to follow me. Do you hear that? Why did He
say I'm going to be their God? Because they're going to follow
me. Why are they going to follow Him? I'll give them a new heart. I'll
give them a heart to know. Once you know Him, you will follow
Him. When He gives us the heart to
do so, we will take up our cross, denying ourselves, and we will
follow the Lord Jesus Christ. That is just the simple, clear
revelation of the Word of God. That's not my opinion as opposed
to somebody else's opinion. That's what God said. You're
going to have to have a new heart. And when you do, you're going
to go to God. You're going to follow Christ.
Our Lord's cross now was another thing altogether. It is His cross. It is the cross
of our Lord Jesus Christ that Paul said we are to glory in
exclusively. God forbid that I should glory
save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. We don't help him
with his cross. We take up our cross. And it's
a completely different cross. It is the same only in the sense
that both mean death. That's why the word cross here
is used by our Lord figuratively. We don't literally take up a
cross. I've seen people do that. Walk up and down the freeway
with a cross over their shoulder. Of course, it had wheels on the
bottom of it. We don't want, we don't want
too bad of a cross, you know. That's nothing. This is spiritual
teaching. This is a spiritual cross that
we take up. We die in a spiritual sense and
we'll, Lord will and see what that means. But his death, oh,
his death. is not like ours. He said, behold,
and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow. I've beheld
as much as my limited sinful eyes can behold, and I'll tell
you this, there's never been any sorrow like his. Never. Never. His death was physical. Peter said, you killed the prince
of life. His death was spiritual. His
death was supernatural. Beyond what natural death ever
could be. His death was ignominious, shameful,
and terrible. He was stripped before the world
and hung on a cross. The Son of God. His death was
vicarious. My death's not. Yours is not. His death was propitious. It
was a sin offering. His death was effectual. His
death was exclusive. Paul said he by himself purged
our sins. And sat down on the right hand
of the majesty on high. Hebrews 1 3. That's what his
death was. So in what sense do we lose our
lives. Let's talk about that a little
bit. First of all, clear revelation from the scripture. We're dead
to the law. We're dead to God's law. Now
think with me. And turn to Galatians 2 as you're
pondering this now. We're dead to the law. Think
about that. What in the world does that mean?
Well, this scripture will help, I believe. Look at Galatians
2. And let me try to be crystal clear. I believe our Lord was talking
about this when he said, you got to take up your cross and
follow me. You're going to have to deny
yourself. Look at Galatians 2.16. Knowing that a man is not justified
by the works of the law. We know that, don't we? by God's
grace, by the gospel message. We know that. You're not going
to be righteous in the sight of God based upon what you do
and don't do. Forget about that. What you do
and don't do has nothing to do with your standing before God.
But by the faith of Jesus Christ, and as we've seen in other places,
that word is faithfulness. That word is talking about We're
not justified by our works, the works of the law, but we're justified
by his works, by his faithfulness to the law, his faithfulness
to God, not ours. Even we have the faith of Jesus
Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might
be justified by the faith of Christ. You're not saying the
same thing that we believe, that's our faith. The faithfulness of
Christ is what we do. We trust in His work, not ours. That's what He's saying here.
We believe not in ourselves. We believe that we're justified
not by what we've done and hadn't done, but by what He's done.
The faith of Christ. And not by the works of the law.
Not by our works. For by the works of the law shall
no flesh be justified, but if While we seek to be justified
by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners. Is therefore
Christ the minister of sin? Is he unjust to justify us, seeing
that we're sinners? No, we're not justified based
on what we've done, but on what he did. For if I build again
the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor.
For I, through the law, am dead to the law that I might live
under God. I'm dead to the law. What do
you mean by that, Paul? Well, it gets a little clearer.
Verse 20, I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live. I'm walking and breathing and
talking to you, writing this letter. Yet not I, not as far
as my standing before God, not as far as, what's he talking
about here? Justification. It's not me that lives before
God justified, but Christ liveth in me. And the life which I now
live in the flesh, as far as my justification before God is
concerned, which is the subject here, I live by the faithfulness
of the Son of God. What do you mean by that? Who
loved me and gave himself for me. His obedience unto death. Him giving Himself for me. That's
His faithfulness. And that's my salvation. And
that's how I live before God. That's why I'm not in hell right
now. That's why I'm walking. Is that what He's saying here?
That's why I'm alive before God right now. And not under the
wrath and condemnation of God, but justified because Christ
loved me and gave Himself for me on that cross. And then listen
to what He said here. I do not frustrate the grace
of God. If righteousness come by the
law, if righteousness can be had by me doing what God said
do and not doing what God said don't do, then why did Christ
die? Christ is dead in vain. Perish
the thought. Perish the thought, God forbid,
that we even think. You see the choices there, the
two ways of justification? The one is a false way. It's
by me keeping the law or Christ dying for me. That's it. And Paul concludes, says here,
that since Christ died for me, I am dead to the law. Let me try to be clear about
this. And this is the teaching of scripture in other places
too, that we don't have time to look at, but you see clearly
there that Paul said, we are dead to the law and it has to
do with Christ dying in our stead. Let me be clear, and if we're
branded heretical antinomians for saying this, then we'll be
in good company, and we'll count ourselves blessed. Believers
are no more responsible to keep God's law than a dead man is
responsible to obey the laws of this land. Is that clear? We are dead to God's law. Dead men don't pay taxes, do
they? Not a penny. And I'll tell you this. Sinners
don't do anything that God requires them to do. Not at all. You've never done anything that
God requires you to do. Never. And aren't ever going
to. No. Not going to. Never have.
Never will. But bless God. And here's the
gospel now. That's true of every sinner.
But here's what's true only of his sheep, his elect, his people.
Dead men are not pursued to pay their taxes. Everybody else will
be. Everybody that's alive will be. You don't have to be dead to
the government if you're not going to be pursued for paying
your taxes. Not only do they not pay them,
they're not required to pay them. They're not responsible to pay
them. And I'll tell you this, God does not expect, require,
nor demand his people to keep his law. You mark it down. Aren't you glad? That's the gospel. He doesn't pursue you. for what
you haven't rendered unto Him. That's His people only now. That's
His sheep exclusively now. Nobody has ever rendered unto
God what's due unto Him. But He doesn't expect you to.
He doesn't look to you for it. He doesn't require you to. All
men by nature, not only does He not require it or demand it
or pursue you for it, He'll never punish you for it. Not if you're
His. Not if you're His sheep. All
men by nature are responsible to perfectly keep God's law.
And in that sense, as Paul said in Ephesians, we are by nature
the children of wrath. Because we haven't done it. We,
even as others, because responsibility to the law for a sinner can only
result in wrath. We're the children of wrath in
that sense. Because if we're responsible to keep God's law,
it's wrath for us. Because we can't keep it. All
have sinned and come short of the glory of God. So by nature,
we're responsible. All men are responsible, but
in Christ, under the new covenant, the covenant of unconditional
grace, we are relieved of that responsibility. You tell everybody I said it.
We are relieved of that responsibility. That responsibility has been
laid upon the shoulders of another. He has laid help upon one who
is mighty. You mean we are not responsible
to keep God's law? That's exactly what I mean. Aren't
you glad? If God holds you responsible
for keeping His law, you're a goner. Lord, if thou shouldest mark
iniquity, who shall stand? He will mark iniquity. But not
in me. You know why? He doesn't see
any in me. You know why? He's not looking to me. Not in
my case. He's looking to my substitute. Christ under the new covenant,
which again is the old ancient eternal covenant of grace in
Christ. Christ is made responsible to
keep the law for us and to pay our sin debt. He's held responsible
by God the Father for us to do what we can't do and to pay for
what we did do. I hope that's clear. God, since
Christ became your surety, is he your surety? Is he your substitute? Is he your representative? Is
he your mediator? Is he your surety? Since Christ
became your surety, God has never looked to you for anything. No. He looks to your surety and
mine. But think about this now, when
our Lord said, take up your cross, deny yourself, take up your cross
and follow me. Was he talking about that? He
couldn't. Surely he couldn't have meant that by what he said
in our text, because this is just an objective truth concerning
salvation. that has nothing to do with our
actions. That's just the way people are saved. It doesn't
have anything to do with us taking anything up. Yes and no. Yes
and no. It is objectively the truth of
salvation. It's how God saves. He saves
without the deeds of the law. He saves, He justifies freely
without the deeds of the law, as Paul said in that passage
we read. But it's also true that we are willingly dead to the
law. What do you mean by that? We
willingly abandon all of our legal efforts to please God,
don't you? Free from the law, oh happy condition. Jesus hath bled and there is
remission. Isn't that what Paul taught in
that passage we just read? You're not justified by your
keeping of the law, but by the death of the Lord Jesus Christ,
the redemption that's in his blood. Jesus hath bled, but I'm
free from the law. Dead to the law. Happy condition. We're willingly that way. We
take that cross up with all of our hearts, don't we? What cross?
Denying ourselves in this sense. Denying our law keeping. Denying
all of... Denying myself. There's no better
way to say it than what he said. Denying yourself. Isn't that
what Paul did in Philippians 3? All of my heritage, he said,
all of my law keeping, all of my religious status is dung. And not only is that objectively
true, but Paul said, I count it so. That's the taking up of
the cross right there. My faith. I count it so. That's true of everybody. but
only the one to whom God has revealed his son and given a
new heart is it counted to be so. I counted, Paul said, I counted,
but he's taken up that crawl. I deny myself, I deny everything
I've ever done that I thought was pleasing to God. I'm not
having my own righteousness. I cast it off with all my heart
and I take up my cross and I press toward the mark for the high
calling of God, the prize of the high calling of God in Christ
Jesus. I deny myself, take up my cross,
knowing that it means the death of me as I am by nature. And I press, I follow him. Is
that what he said? That's exactly what he did there. I take it up knowing that it
means the death of the old me and I do so that I may win Christ. That's why I follow him to the
detriment of self, to the very death of self. And the motivation
is seen here and in our text. Paul said, why are you doing
that Paul? That I may win Christ. What did
our Lord say? Whosoever loseth his life for
my sake, for my sake. Why are you doing it? Why would
you deny yourself? Why would you take up a cross
that you know is death to everything you love, everything you trust,
everything you hold dear by nature? For his sake, I've got to win
Christ. I've got to be found in him.
Whosoever loseth his life for my sake, You don't know what life is yet,
but you will when you lose yours. Hebrews 11, 24. By faith, Moses,
when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's
daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people
of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season. He refused
to be who he was. He denied himself. I'm not the
son of Pharaoh's daughter. I'm not a man of wealth and prosperity
and prestige in this world. I refuse that. I'm not interested
in that. Why? Esteeming the reproach of
Christ, greater riches. You know how to get a dog to
drop something that they won't drop? Give them something better. They'll drop it. They'll drop
that ball for a candy bar every time, won't they? They'll drop
your slipper if you throw them a cookie. Greater riches than
all the treasures in Egypt. The taking up of this cross is
an act of faith. By faith Moses denied himself
for Christ's sake. And faith is the gift of God.
You're the Christ, the son of the living God. My father revealed
that to you. My father gave you that faith
to know who I am. It's the act of faith and faith
is God's gift. Faith is the fruit of his spirit.
Christ is the author and the finisher of our faith. We're
dead to the law willingly by faith for his sake. Number two, we see here in Hebrews
11 where we just read the same motive, Christ himself, Same
motive that our Lord talked about, for my sake. He said, for my
sake, you'll do it. Same motive that Paul talked
about in Philippians 3, that I may win Christ, that I may
be found in Him. Same motive here, because to
be reproached with Christ was better than to have all the so-called
blessings of this life without Him. Same motive. We see a different
aspect of the death itself here in Hebrews 11. We talked about
being dead to the law. Moses here in Hebrews 11 was
dead in a different sense. That Moses who was the son of
Pharaoh's daughter, he was dead for a different reason. We die
to the law, but also we die to sin in the sense of the enjoyment
of it. Now what happened to Moses here?
We die. We die. The old me dies in my
enjoyment of sin. That's what happened to Moses.
He thought the reproach of Christ was better than the enjoyment
of all the sinful pleasures of this world. That's specifically
what is mentioned here. That's what he chose the reproach
of Christ over. He chose to be reproached With
Christ, over what? The pleasures of sin for a season. And you will too, if God reveals
his son to you. All right, now what do we mean? We die in this sense too. This is what Paul was talking
about when he said in 2 Corinthians 5.14, listen now. For the love
of Christ constraineth us. It causes us to do what we wouldn't
otherwise do. If we didn't know the love of
Christ, we wouldn't do this. And here's why we do it. Because
we thus judge that if one died for all, why did he do that? Why did he die for me? Because
I was dead in trespasses and sins. And that he died for all. Here's what we judge. Here's
what Here's how we reckon. That's what that word is there.
We reckon this way. The old me didn't, but the new
me does. I reckon this, that they which
live by his grace, that live unto God in the sense of justification,
as Paul was talking about in that passage we read a while
ago, that live, that are dead to the law and a lie, that those
which live in that sense should not henceforth live under themselves.
but unto him which died for them and rose again. Do you see things
that way too? Paul said that's how we see things.
We judge that way. The old me didn't. In that sense,
the old me's gone. Dead and gone. And also listen,
Galatians 5 24. They that are Christ's have crucified
the flesh. In what sense? With the affections
and lusts crucified, taken up our cross, and pursued Christ
to the death of our flesh in this sense, the affections and
lusts of the flesh. Alright, now I know what you're
thinking. We're going to talk about that in a minute. Look
at Romans 6. Romans 6, verse 6. Knowing this,
that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin
might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin, for
he that is dead is freed from sin. You know that word freed
there means justified. He that is dead. It doesn't mean
we don't sin anymore. It means we're justified from
sin. But it also has something to do with our behavior, because
look at, read the rest of it. Now, if we be dead with Christ,
we believe that we shall also live with him, knowing that Christ,
being raised from the dead, dieth no more. Death hath no more dominion
over him. He laid down his life and he
took it up again. And we're gonna live with him.
We're gonna have eternal life, with and in Christ, because of
Christ. For in that he died, he died unto sin once, but in
that he liveth, He liveth unto God. Likewise, here's the lesson
to us that applies to what we're talking about this morning. Reckon
ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto
God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Now that's what we've been
talking about before. That's the first sense in which
we're dead. We're dead to the law. We're justified from sin,
freed from sin, and willingly so. We don't want our law-keeping,
our so-called righteousness to have anything to do with our
standing before God. But also, verse 12, let not sin
therefore, seeing that you're justified from sin, don't let
sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in the
lusts thereof. There's what we're talking about
now. Don't live for yourself, your old self, the flesh. Neither,
verse 13, yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness
unto sin, but yield yourselves unto God as those that are alive
from the dead. You're dead to sin and alive
unto God, now act like it. That's just simply what he's
saying there, isn't it? As those who are alive unto God,
alive from the dead. and your members as instruments
of righteousness unto God. Oh, that everything that I am
and have might be used for His glory. Do you desire that? If
so, you've taken up your cross. For sin shall not have dominion
over you. You're not going to. You're not
under the law. but under grace. Sin doesn't
have dominion over you, not because you've overcome it, not because
of what you did, but because of what he did, because of his
grace in living and dying for you. What then, shall we sin
because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid. Know ye not that to whom ye yield
yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye
obey? Whose servant are you? Your own? Do you serve in the
flesh? Do you serve in your belly? Or are you serving the Lord?
Whether of sin unto death or of obedience unto righteousness.
Oh, but God be thanked. Thank God. Not good for you. Thank God that you were the servants
of sin. But that old man's crucified.
But you have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which
was delivered you. You heard, like we talked about
this morning, you heard something. Not just with your ears, but
with your heart. God opened your heart and revealed His Son to
you. His Son in you. Paul said, when
it pleased God, He revealed His Son in me. And so he was able
to make the confession that he did. I'm persuaded that He's
able. He's the Son of the Living God.
He's able to keep that which I've committed unto Him. Being
then made free from sin, you became the servants of righteousness.
Bless God. You see what number two here
is? We willingly serving by His grace. And I know now, I know what you're
thinking. As I said, I know what you're thinking. You're thinking,
I'm still a sinner though. Sin's not dead to me. No. No. But the new man is dead to
sin. Dead to sin. Dead to the law.
Crucified. And I'll tell you this, sin in
me is a goner. It's just a matter of time. My
sinful flesh got gonna die. Already nailed. Already hanging
there. Waiting to die. But I'll tell
you what we are. We're not free from the presence
of sin. We know that. That's not what he's teaching
there. Obviously. Read Romans 7. Paul wasn't free
from the presence of sin either. But he said, I'm free. I'm justified
from the law, from sin. We're not free from the presence
of sin, but we are free from the guilt of sin. Justified from
sin, freed from sin, he said there. Verse 7. Romans 6, freed
from sin, that word's justified. Freed from the guilt of sin.
Free from the penalty of sin. You and I will never suffer for
our sins, ever. We're free from the power of
sin. Sin shall not have dominion over you. Who does? The Lord Jesus Christ. Not my
old man, not my flesh. My flesh does not have dominion.
And then thirdly, we die to the law and we die to sin. And thirdly,
we die to self. And I know that sounds like the
same thing as dying to sin, and it is similar, but let me say
this. The first two now are specific examples of dying to self. But
I want us to see this in an all-inclusive sense. We die to self in the
sense of our own works. We die to self in the sense of
living for ourselves. That's what we've talked about
already. And we die to self in every other sense. In every other
sense. Let him deny himself. What do
you mean, Chris? Well, it has to do with the love
of self. It has to do with the trust,
with trusting in ourselves. It has to do with the glory of
self. And I know this about it. It's
death by knowledge. It's death by revelation. Paul said, I was alive without
the law once. He knew the law by memory. He
could have quoted it to you. All the word of God. But not
with a spiritual understanding. But when the law came to him
in spiritual revelation by the preaching of the gospel, he said,
sin revived and I died. When I understood, when I knew
what I didn't know, I died. The me that trusts in himself
is gone. He's gone. It's death by knowledge
and revelation of a person. Listen to this, Christ said in
John 17 3, this is life eternal. And keep in mind now,
he's talking about death in our text, but he's also talking about
life. You're going to die, but you're going to die to find life.
You're going to lose your life to find true life, to find eternal
life, to find life in and with and by Christ. This is life eternal,
that they might know thee, the only true God Jesus Christ whom
thou has seen And in our text he said in order to have that
life Eternal love you got to lose the other got to lose it
It is death that results in life. You can't find true life without
losing what you call life by nature your life How does that
happen? As we said who do you say I am?
It happens by revelation of a person. You see this statement of our
Lord concerning losing his life and finding it in the context
of his question, who do men say that I am? Who do you say that
I am? And then Peter, he said to Peter,
you savor the things that be of men, not the things that be
of God. That old man that savors the
things that be of men, He got to take up a cross now. And you
see how this applies directly to this, to our text. You must
deny yourself. You must not savor the things
that be of me. You must deny yourself. Well,
I've got to fulfill my earthly responsibilities, don't I? The
Lord said, let the dead do that. Isn't that what he said? You follow me. Deny yourself
and take up your cross and follow me. Now when it comes to that,
when it comes to what I just said, you deny yourself, you
let the dead bury their dead and you follow me. When it comes
to that now, if Christ is Elijah or one of the other prophets
to you, then you'll do what you think is right. If He's the Christ,
the Son of the Living God, you'll do what He said. It really is
that simple. You see how the whole context
of this ties together. It's about who He is to you. We are to faithfully fulfill
all of our earthly responsibilities. I acknowledge that. I know that
all things being equal, you should take care of your father and
make sure that he has a decent burial. That's not what the Lord's
teaching there. You're to do all of that unless
and until there is a choice between that and Christ, his honor, his
will, his glory. And there will be, there will
be. Over and over in your life, there
will be that choice. You will be in that place that
that man was. The Lord said, you follow me.
And he said, well, I've got things I've got to take care of. You're going to be there. You
may be sitting there right now in that very place. And in a
sense, we always are. You're making decisions while
you're sitting there. You're going to go out from here
making decisions. How many decisions are you going
to make tomorrow? And I'll tell you what'll determine
Him, who He is to you. Who do you say He is? That will
affect everything you do, everything you think. You've got to deny
yourself and take up your cross and follow Him. That's what'll
happen if you know Him. You know when you'll choose Christ?
When like Moses, by faith, you see Him to be greater. When will you deny yourself and
all that you are, and all that you have, and all that you trust,
and call it done before God? When you see the prize. When
you are able to say with Paul from your heart, by faith, I
must win Him. I must be found in Him. May God give us eyes to see for
His glory and for Christ's sake, let's bow in prayer.