https://youtu.be/gjDTg6KVqhE
Transcription
In this talk, the speaker emphasizes the importance of surrendering everything to Jesus in order to be a true disciple. They explain that discipleship starts when we let go of everything and deny ourselves. They discuss the courage and faith that come from surrendering to God and finding love through beholding His love for us. The speaker encourages listeners to give up their rights and embrace the sentence of death, as this leads to victory and blessings. They also highlight the need to make choices based on eternal perspective rather than immediate gratification. What I have tonight is really just a few practical notes. Before we talk on those practical notes, we'll do a little bit of review and then a few men would like to meditate a little as we're doing the review and just anything that the Lord and I'm jealous that the people of God all have whatever God has, you know, when a mother's especially in the old days, not so much anymore, but they used to pre-chew food for their children. Not because the food wasn't good in its first form, just because maybe the child couldn't chew it yet, wasn't digestible. And I have found so many times that I'll be, maybe I'll be sitting next to a brother and we both are presented with one truth and we read the same book or we hear the same sermon or something and we're both thinking and then when this brother shares what the Lord is showing to him, to me, all of a sudden something clicks for me. It's like the regurgitation in the spirit. God shows one brother how it came to him, it's helpful for everyone. Kimberly testified before, she's like, gosh, she was shocked the whole evening and then I think one time you were like, and then when Jonathan repeated it back, all of a sudden it made sense. So that's what I'm jealous of, there's a reality to that. So let's take a little bit of time, we'll review together and then let's talk about what the Lord has showed us on these particular notes and then we'll just add a few more practical things because we're going to shift gears a little bit soon here. We're getting ready to shift gears and make sure that these truths are gone home and making sense to us, things that we can personalize. What does it mean to deny yourself? Is it only eating one cookie instead of ten? What does it mean to deny yourself? What does it mean to take up your cross as a sentence of death? Just start following Jesus. Jesus says, except, denying oneself is absolute and entire, I wrote here, because if any man come to me and hate not his father, mother, wife, children, brothers and sisters, and his own wife also, whosoever be that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple. See, I think you and I may mistakenly stack discipleship together with sacrifice a little like this, like they're on the same spectrum. So if you surrender a little to Jesus, well then you're kind of a little disciple and when you surrender a lot to Jesus you're kind of a lot disciple and when you surrender everything to Jesus, well you're kind of like one of those everything disciples. But Jesus doesn't say that. He says, except he forsaketh all that he hath, he cannot be. So it's more like this, when you surrender everything, then you start being a disciple. That's where that starts. And we don't think about that like that, right? You kind of think like, oh, I guess if somebody would ask, are you a disciple of Jesus Christ? I don't know. Yes, I hope. But discipleship starts, it starts where we have let go of everything. Amen? But Jesus thought anyway, and I'm going with him. So how much of you does God have? This denial, this colossal letting go, where do we get the courage to come to that place? On a practical note, there might be thoughts that come into your mind, and sometimes it is the enemy, but he's the enemy, and so you think, oh dear, just run away from that thought. Like, what if your wife would die? Well, I don't like that thought. But let me tell you, the right response is not, oh, no, even if the Lord allowed my wife to die, I cannot hardly imagine how I would go on, but I would go on in Jesus. And you answer in faith, if I lose everything, if it costs me everything to walk with Jesus, I will walk in faith, and I will not walk in fear. You do not run from those things. You take them captive to the obedience of Christ. And my dad had a great sharing on this, he would do, but he would walk through, and he would arrest the thoughts. And maybe he'd have one of us on up front demonstrating a good thought or a bad thought, and then you arrest them. And that's a very practical thing. You arrest those thoughts. You do not run from them and go, ah, and run away as a believer. Because as a disciple of Jesus, no matter what happens, on a personal note, I pulled out of the driveway a month or so before Dad passed away, and I don't know, I don't know to this day, who it was that told me it was the Holy Spirit. It seemed like it might have been the Holy Spirit, because it was in such a strange peace. But I believe in that moment the Lord told me that he was going to take my father away from me. And it was the most out of the blue, bizarre thing. I was just meditating, and I turned out of the driveway, looked back at my house, and it just came into my heart. And I thought, no you can't. And there, I had to surrender. And the Lord prepared my heart and gave me courage for what would happen. See, so, are you going to run away screaming? Are you going to embrace? Those things all won't happen, trust me. Many, many, many times, I have been faced with fears and thoughts that I surrender to the Lord, and then, interestingly, faith is born in stillness and surrender. You can't be still until you surrender, so you have to surrender. This is real practical. You want to walk with Jesus, and you want to walk in faith. You need to surrender, then you be still, and then he gives you faith. And so, very many times, if I talk about my wife and my children, maybe they're driving on a snowy road, and that fear wants to come into your mind, Lord, I'll serve you, even if my wife and children take it away from me. And when you come to that place of surrender, you say, but they're not going to today, because you're going to keep them by your power. And the faith springs up out of the surrender. And so, I don't have to explain that simply like that, that's just a little extra something there. We have to come to a place of absolute surrender. Discipleship starts when we let go of everything. Until then, Jesus said you can't be a disciple. Not a thing. Nobody's a disciple and still holding on to things. What is the thing that God, he hasn't touched yet, because he knows he's not allowed to, but he's not allowed to touch it, and you and he both know he's not allowed to touch it. He's not allowed to have that thing. He can have everything else, but he's not allowed to have that. Well, when you let go of that, then you can be a disciple. Doesn't mean God will take it from you. That's not what that means, but faith is born in surrender. So what gives us the courage? That's why I'm saying that. What gives us the courage to face that? Where do you find the faith? Galatians says, faith that works by love. Faith that works by love. Okay, God, you finally just take everything from me. There's no drive to do that. It would still make sense in some sort of eternal mathematics to be like, well, you better surrender to the Lord, because if you don't surrender to the Lord, I've met people in this place, he's just going to take it all from me anyway, and there's this resentment and bitterness, but it's not real surrender. It's not just happy, loving, you're worth it. If to keep you means I let go of everything else, it's okay. Because I'm with you. If I may but win Christ, the Apostle says. Where do you find that love? Faith energized by love. Where do you find the love that energizes the faith that's going to get you with that big cross up to Calvary? Where are we going to find the courage and strength to get us up that hill? Marching one step after the other after the Savior. If only in one moment you needed to come to a place, which there is a moment that you need to come to, but it's a life that is lived in surrender after that. We're going to talk a little bit about the difference of that tonight. But where do we get this love that gets us to the top of Calvary with Jesus? By beholding his love. You love him because he first loved you. You manufacture the love. It doesn't seem reasonable, but when you see his love, all of a sudden his love puts the reasonable in my service. His love for me. Then I can reflect that love back to him and in the reflection of his love to me, I can love him. So on a very practical note, I've got a little feedback. People say, oh, I gave the Lord this particular right. Sister Curie was talking about it. Praise the Lord. You decide to give God your rights. Praise the Lord. You're going to see victory. You're going to see deliverance. Because when you can die with Jesus, there is special things waiting on the other side of the Red Sea. There's singing waiting on the other side of the Red Sea. When you can go down into death with Jesus. Wonderful. That's what it means. Lay down all your rights and take up the sentence of death. The old man deserves to die. He doesn't get to live anymore. Deny yourself, take up your cross. We get the courage to continue in that through the love that he shows to us. What do we do? How do we come by this love? We behold the Lamb of God and we behold his love. We love him because he first loved us. What's your regurgitation? What are the things that the Lord showed you? It's another quote of Jesus. This verse is in Mark 8. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it. But whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel of the saints shall save him. The parable of Jesus spoke of the man who steals his treasure and he sells everything he owns so he can purchase that field. That's how we... He's talking about denying yourself and giving it all to him because I was just thinking about this little drive last couple days. If I make choices based on here and now, what makes me feel good right now, what's going to be for a benefit next week, I'm missing it. It's about, where will I be 100 years from now? What is the condition of my soul going to be 100 years from now? You were talking about the love and you can't do without the understanding, the realization of the love that Jesus Christ demonstrated in giving his life for me. And when I believe that by faith, the attitude that Jesus taught of giving everything, it only happens by receiving it and understanding my savior and understanding what he gave up. As an example of what we need to do to follow him. He gave everything. There's none of us here. I've come close to experiencing the pain that Jesus did and the suffering. Here in America, we don't. We haven't done that. But am I willing to? Am I willing to give up the life that I could have right here? I was thinking about that too the last couple days. The financial things that I just walked away from. My flesh is kind of like, you messed up there. But it's about having that long range vision to see out ahead, not just what's going to benefit me here and now, but what my choices today are going to do for eternity. For my soul and for the souls of my family. And it really is. It's all or nothing. It's not a half-hearted thing. It's all or nothing. And it is because of love. We can understand that even in a marriage relationship. I love you 363 days a year. But the other three days, I kind of want to do my own. That's laughable. Do we ever try to do that with Jesus? Yeah, I'm giving you most everything. I've got to hang on to this. I've been convicted of things that the Lord needs to I need to give to him. And things that I thought I had given to him, but in reality, I've got some work to do. So I praise the Lord for what we've been hearing from the Lord in the last few weeks. Mr. Kausman. The love comes from gratitude. Being thankful. And then some of the rocket fuel there. And so it says, First Thessalonians 5.18, give thanks in all circumstances. For this is the will of God and Christ Jesus for you. Every tough moment. Or you can go to Romans 1. And have the ungrateful moment. The road to depravity. So that they did not honor God or give thanks to him. There's a Romans description as well. Not being grateful for the truth you don't give thanks. But the love to conquer this hill. Measure gratitude by the measure of how much you love and forgive. She was forgiven much, so she loved much. How did Jesus know that she was forgiven? How did he know she was forgiven much? When you and I see this way, it's so helpful to remember that you were purged from your old sins. For you were purged from your sins. Don't forget. Don't get feeling so good about yourself. It's good to feel good in Christ. In places of faith, men like John G. Lake were like, I'm just a worm, I'm a nothing. Don't talk about a child of God like that. There's an importance to coming into his acceptance. But, without him, you are nothing, says Jesus. And remembering that I was washed from my sins. And seeing his love for me at Calvary. That is an empowering, a real empowering. Empowering, empowering. Encouraging, real encouraging is when we see his love for us. One thing from last week that really stuck to me was if I asked someone what's the light that rules the day, they would say the sun. And if I asked them what's the light that rules the night, they'd probably say the moon. But he said it's the sun, because it's the reflection of the sun. I think there's a lot of people that look at Christians and say, oh, they're great. They're wonderful people. But really, it's just because we're gazing at him. That's the challenge, if we're not gazing at him, then we're not going to be reflecting him. With open face, beholding the glory of the Lord, we are changed into that image, Christ said. And we, with open face, behold. This word, behold, it's gotten so casual, it's gotten so poetic sounding, so King James sounding, it literally means to be held. Behold. Be held. Be fixed. Stay. Pay attention. Behold the Lamb of God. Behold the love that the Father has shown to you, that you should be called a child of God. Every morning, wake up, if you're struggling, you're down in the dumps. Think, okay, what are we looking at this morning? We're looking at the love of God in Christ Jesus to an unworthy wretch like me. That's what we're thinking about this morning. And when we think about that as a response of gratitude, it is natural. It is a natural reflection. It's a natural reflection of that light when we, with open face, behold the glory of the Lord. Praise the Lord. Yes. It has no power of itself to light anything whatsoever. Yeah. Yeah. But it's just there, looking at the sun, dutifully. And governed on a snowy night, full moon. It is governing that night. Boss mode night. And you think, this is what God meant. And I hesitate to get into eschatological opinions. Because these things are really important. That stuff is helpful to us. But I really do believe that God, like Jesus thought he was setting up a kingdom. He really did set up a kingdom. He set up a kingdom that would fill the whole earth. And I really do believe that that kingdom is here in and among his people. And that we're not just twiddling our thumbs, waiting for Jesus to set up a kingdom. But that he has set up his kingdom in us and through us. There's all kinds of terrible things happening in the world. It's like saying to the moon, yeah, but it's dark. It doesn't mean you can't shine. It's a reality. We rule. So yes, there's still wickedness happening over there. But God wants to shape you and I, each one of us, so that it's a clear face. So that you can walk into a dark place and completely mob boss the whole situation in the name of Jesus. All the powers of darkness have to dark within radius. Because Jesus Christ is shining through you. And that's a real life thing. Concentrations of power. But then one child of God walks in. Who is with open face, beholding the glory of the Lord. And the whole situation is dramatically changed. Praise the Lord. Yes. Your love to God will not be greater than you measure his love to you. That's important to remember. Yes, we want to love God. Your love to God will not ever be greater than the reflection that you have measured his love to you. When you see you're a chiefest of sinners. Paul says, the chiefest of sinners. And I dare to take the title from him. And we can fight over that. Who's the chiefest of sinners? Why? Because whoever the chiefest of sinners is the one whom Jesus has loved. The chiefest love. That's why he called himself the chiefest of sinners. Because he was loved much by God. So very practically we behold the Lamb of God. How will you deny yourself and take up your cross? How will you follow him? How will you be crucified with Christ? Only by faith. I love that verse. It's literally energized. Energized by love. Yes, I know. I'm still back at imagining Paul coming in Wednesday night. Very dumb. And then here comes Barnabas. It's like, it's okay, guys. But you know what God said? So this is crazy. I didn't get to share this before. I think I have some freedom. Paul, as you mentioned that, Paul coming in. When he was talking to Ananias about Paul. Paul, and Ananias is like, Laura, in case you haven't been paying attention. Paul has been ransacking houses and dragging people off. Just saying. I will obey, but just saying. This is the same guy. Yes, I'm going to show him what things he will see. Okay. God needed a man who he could send into a place Not once. I think it was twice or three times. So if God needs a man to get hit in the head with rocks three times. And somebody who would get shipwrecked for him. And someone who would be ambushed for him. God's looking for this man. Who would do this for me? I need somebody who will go into these environments for me, and most Christians won't. Who do I find? Ah, I found the perfect man. When I find him, he'll see my great love for him. And he'll do anything. Do you see? The reason Paul could get stoned, stand back up. They thought he was dead, so they gathered around him outside the one city. When the believers gathered around him, they're sobbing and everything. Stands back up, and he doesn't run away. Walks right back into the city, and he's just got drug out of. His head's probably shaped like a football. Walks right back into the city, and then he goes from that city to the next. And the very next thing, he goes to encourage them that through much tribulation. Hallelujah. Can you imagine this man with I can't even imagine what he looked like. Looking through these squinty eyes. Big puffed things. Through much tribulation. Go to that city, next city. God needed a man that would love him that much. So he found somebody he could love. And that would see his great love to him, the cheapest of sinners. So there was no price too high to love him in return. You will never love God more than you measure his love to you. I will show him what great things people suffer. It wasn't God trying to get back at Paul. No, he found a man who was guilty of heinous things. You see those screaming women being ripped away from their husbands. You see those children ripped away from their parents. And Paul's. And when Paul was knocked off his horse and redeemed, Paul could hear those cries in his head. And he says, I'll fill up the measure of the sufferings that are left over after Christ. I'll suffer for him. I'll love him. He's loved me so much. I'll love him. I don't care what happens. Praise the Lord. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Praise the Lord. Keep me near the cross. That's what that psalm writer was talking about. John Bunyan, I told you, he said, Pride and self-worship can never take hold in the heart that keeps fresh in memory the scenes of Calvary. And J.W. Tozer, I love this quote. You don't become a missionary by crossing the sea. You become a missionary by seeing the cross. When you see what God did there on Calvary and you see him valuing your soul and then you see him valuing every other soul. Ah, that's where you become a missionary. But you can be selfish here and you can be selfish in Zimbabwe. You can be selfish here and you can be selfish in Kenya. You can be selfish here and you can be selfish anywhere. Or you can be a missionary here and a missionary anywhere and that's it. When love answers love, we have faith. The reasonableness for your selfishness ends at Calvary. And the love of God puts the reasonable in our service. You're slugging along day after day trying to please God. It's not like that when you love him. Because love, love is powerful. Solomon wrote about love, many waters cannot quench love. It has a most vehement flame. Love is capable of things that nothing else is capable of. Nothing. So we see his love and we can reflect that love and we can be crucified with Christ. It can be a real testimony in our lives. I am crucified with Christ. A couple practical things. Anything else that you should say right now? Romans 6.3 If you turn your Bibles here, this is just a little note that I felt like the Holy Spirit wanted us to see here before we change gears and go into kind of a practical obedience mode. Before we summarize what we've learned about the faith of being baptized we are under the heading of Be Baptized. We talked about Believe. We're talking about now Be Baptized. And this is the faith. This is the victory that overcomes the world. It is our faith. You can go to a pool party and you can get dumped and not have any faith. You could just be doing it because maybe it looks like the thing to do. And you and I could do that and be like the Samaritans and be like our poor dear friend Simon who he was baptized but nothing happened. It was because when he was baptized there was no faith. He wasn't trying to be dead with Jesus. He was doing it just because everybody was doing it. I don't know. You didn't have to renounce your own life to be baptized. Not in Samaria anyway. And Philip goes, I don't know what your problem is I've never seen this before. And they work through that. The Lord has answers. And we have answers. We have answers because he tells them to us. It's faith. Being crucified with Christ will always be a faith. My faith. Romans 6 verse 3 there's another little practical thing that's really helpful to guard against the lies of the enemy that can really mess you over in these truths. Get you started on the wrong path and cause a lot of confusion. No you not. Verse 3 says that as many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into, somebody say, whose death is it? His death. You mean we're not baptized into our own death? Oh no. Therefore we are buried with who? Oh with Him. We are buried with Him by baptism into death that like as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so even we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of whose death? His death. We shall also be in the likeness of whose resurrection? His resurrection. Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with Him. With Him. This is very practical and very helpful. 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. And there's a lot more that we could read there. Let me see here. Oh yes, we'll read a little bit more there. Now if we be dead with who? With Christ, right? If indeed we be dead with Christ, verse 8 says we believe that we shall also live with Him. Knowing that Christ being raised from dead dieth no more, death hath no more dominion over Him for in that He died, He died once unto sin once and in that He liveth unto God. Likewise reckon ye yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. We said with Him three times, four times. And there is an important emphasis to be made. Okay, so you want to be crucified with Christ and then you know you need to behold the Lamb of God because that's the only place I'll ever get the courage to actually lay down all my rights and stay. I mean I could think I'm doing it today and I could even mean it well, but tomorrow and what about the next day? And what happens if things don't get better, they get worse? How am I going to keep laying down? Oh, I have to have love and that love is seeing His love. Okay, so we're clear. But something important to notate here that the Scripture is saying to you, don't let the devil get you all by yourself in your crucifixion because brothers and sisters, there's only one kind of crucifixion that counts for anything and it's crucified with Christ. Okay? It might not sound as important to you right now in this moment, but we'll unpack it a little bit. It's so very important that what we do is all with Him. Okay? You are not going to somehow impress God with how you've been suffering so that He will come to you. No, we are going to go to Him and we are going to be crucified with Him. Okay? Very, very important and this is what separates the monks in the monasteries who are clogging themselves, attempting to get God to come to them. Or I'll even say more recent history and more notably to us the Amish and some of these groups who have created for themselves, and I think in a lot of cases very sincerely they mean well, but they have created for themselves a way to attempt to deprive themselves of certain things. Well, you know, we're not going to have milkers. Well, now we do have milkers, but we didn't have milkers when milkers were new, but now we have milkers because milkers aren't new. And we're not going to have this. And they keep changing the rules but they're just, like, on purpose trying to make life hard because they're trying to see if they can get God's attention by making it hard. If we make it hard, and I'm not pinning this on them without just, I've had good long conversations with Amish people and I know no two hearts are the same and I know no two minds are the same and they will probably have different reasons expressed, but there is a thematic expression through this and it is that if we can, if Jesus said to take up your cross, this is what they actually say, Jesus said to take up your cross, so we're taking up our cross by not driving in a vehicle. We're taking up our cross by not going to the bathroom in the house. We go out to there. We're taking up our cross. And they create all these difficulties for themselves because they're trying to get God to come to them. And it's totally backwards. I'm not picking on them, but that's not crucified with Christ. In fact, you can be quite there is an arrogance and a pride that if with a little digging and scratching in the heart, all of a sudden you're like oh, we saw it, didn't we? And it comes out big and bright to be seen and if you ever push in with some of these folks and kind of, you push the scriptures, you sit down and you say all of a sudden there's this, we've been doing this for this long, and all this not dead with Jesus comes out. All this stuff and they're not the only folks like that. There are many places all over the world where people are trying hard. The Buddhist, the monk who sits there in his own feces and burning his own toes and doing all these things. I forget his name. I'm getting confused. Yes, I think I have the right one. Anyway, and he's trying through suffering to somehow close the distance between him and God. Brothers and sisters, that is demonic and it's not going to work. It's not being crucified with Christ. This is why this truth is very important because maybe you've never encountered this issue. Lord bless you, that's wonderful. But I have personally talked with people who have and it matters. You are crucified with him, buried with him. Very important, which means he does the leading. He calls the shots. He decides when and how we die. He's laying down his life and you're just with him. It's kind of like if I go with Mr. Cosby for the day and you're doing something. Let's say you're just working in the clinic and for some reason I was shadowing you because let's say that's something I was learning to do. And then somebody started to get in my face about why and what I was doing. What would I immediately do? Well, I'm just with him. I'm just with him. He told me to do this, he told me to do that. I don't know what he told me to do, but he told me to do something and I'm just with him. That is what it means to be crucified with Christ. You're just with him. When he gets beat in the face and you feel it on your face, you're just with him. That's all. And you spin around and he's silent. Well, you're just with him. You're just silent. You're just with him. You don't make the scenario up. You don't try to impress God with your suffering. You're just with him. It's a wonderful truth. You're just with him. That's all. You don't try to rob God. If anything happens to you as a real live Christian, you need to remember that you are just with him. We'll read scriptures here. When he was, let's see, what does Peter say? When he was reviled, and reviled not again. When you're reviled and the Holy Spirit doesn't revile again, you're just with him. That's all. He didn't revile again. When he suffered, he threatened not. So when you suffer and you're sensitive to the Holy Spirit and you don't sense the Holy Spirit is threatening the person through you, surprise, surprise. But anyway, the Holy Spirit isn't leading you to go, wait till I get my... And you look and the Holy Spirit is just quiet and still and you're just quiet and still. You're not doing anything that fantastic. You're just with him. That's all. You're just with Jesus in his suffering and you are filling up. This is a complicated thing but just the simplicity of it is this. You're just with him. You are filling up the measure of the sufferings of Christ that are still remaining because because Jesus will say one day as you did it unto the least of these my brethren, you did it to me. And when someone beats you in the face, Jesus says I feel it. It was my face. And so when you don't return again with reviling, you're just with him. That's all. It's just, you're just with him. That's very helpful. You're not impressing God with your ability to suffer. You're just responding to his love by being with him. So very practically on this note particularly because we've discovered that this is all, this whole crucifixion thing is with him. We're not doing it apart and then trying to get God to notice that we're suffering for him. No, we suffer with him. We are crucified with him. We are deprived of all our rights with him because he was. Hebrews 13 puts this in a long and a short and I love it. Hebrews 13 chapter 12. Other way, other way. Hebrews 13 verse 12 Wherefore Jesus also, well it says 11 Wherefore Jesus also that he might sanctify the people with his own blood suffered without the gate. Let us go forth therefore unto him. Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp bearing his blood. Without the camp bearing his reproach. Very practically speaking, this is the mode of faith. We just go to him. This is wonderfully helpful to remember in a time of temptation. What am I to do? Oh, I'm so tempted to do the wrong thing Lord Jesus. What do I do? I go to him in that moment. I go to him. Where is he? Oh, he's outside the gate. He's outside the camp wearing reproach. I can be ostracized. I can be outside of the applause. I can be outside of the accolades. I can be outside of even the gratitude. I can be outside of people's favor. I can be cast out and away from all the good things that belong to society and belong to community and belong to family and belong. I can be outside with Jesus wearing reproach. Why? Because that's where he is. So I go to him. Oh, I love it. Wonderful truth. And we'll unpack it a little bit. Because there's only being crucified with him, very practically speaking, you go to him. You go to him by faith. This is faith. Oh God, if I do that, they're going to do this. You just go to him there. He's waiting for you there in that infamy. He's waiting for you there in that suffering. He's waiting for you there. Just go to him. He's waiting. He is in the suffering. He is in the pain. He is there. He is bearing it in his own body on the tree. He is taking it upon himself. Just go to him. So we lay down our rights. We take up the sentence of death. We agree with the condemnation of the old man. That's what it means to deny yourself. But how do we do it? Well, we behold the Lamb of God. And then the next thing we do is we purpose to go to him. I'm with you, Jesus. Even if I lose everything, I'm with you. That's it. I'm just telling you the way it is in my heart. And there's probably better ways to make that verbatim. But I'm with you, Jesus. If they say bad things about me, I'm with you. Jesus said that the servant is not above his Lord, so I'm with you. You go to him in his crucifixion. You go to him in his rejection. You go to him in his humiliation. You go to him in his suffering. You go to him so he's not alone. It's reversed. Instead of you suffering and trying to get God to come to you, he suffered for you and is suffering. Just go to him so he doesn't have to go through it alone. Go outside the camp. Let us go to him. And oh, they're saying bad things about anybody who takes the word of God seriously. Oh, let's go to him. When they're beating him in the face, instead of doing what Peter did and shied away and said I don't know him, just go to him. Just go to him and say I'm with him. And here's another cheek. I'm with him. Go to him in his suffering. Go to him in his pain. Go to him in his surrender. Go to him in his loss. Go to him in his suffocation on the cross. Go to him in his confusion. Go to him as he trusts. Well, he doesn't know what in the world is happening, but he is in that moment trusting his spirit into the hands of his Father. Go to him. We go to him and we are crucified with him. With him. With him. Oh, I pray the Lord, if I'm not saying this clear enough that the Holy Spirit makes it clear in your heart. It's like night and day. Oh, it'll change. Oh, perspective. You just go to him and join him in his suffering. You go to him when they are reviling Christ Jesus followers. When it looks stupid to do what Jesus says to do, just go to him. He's there. Just join him in the suffering. We might read in this light, you might read differently this passage that we've been blessed with several times now, but it says for God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness has shined in our hearts. That's that thing about the love of God shined in our hearts. So now we have something to reflect. He's given us the light, the knowledge, the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, beholding the face of Christ and his love for us. There's light shined in our hearts. And we have this treasure in earth and vessels that the excellency and the power may be of God and not of us. We are troubled on every side with him and not distressed all of a sudden. Oh, well, I could probably be troubled on every side if I was with Christ. Yeah, we we are perplexed with him and thus not in despair. We are persecuted with him, but not forsaken, cast down with him, but never destroyed, always bearing about in the body of the dying in our body, the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. So you're not going to go through something so traumatic, so terrible that Jesus wasn't willing to go through with you. It's whether or not you're going to join him. You join him. You go with him. You stop calling the shots about what you will and will not do. See, this is the beauty of surrender, because when you finally give up control and the old man isn't calling the shots anymore, now you're just with him. And you know what that means? You're never alone. Hallelujah. When you're just with him, you've never gone through anything all by yourself. Ever. Our love and our response to his love, I say in love, as a response to his love, we go to him in his agony. We go to him in his betrayal. We go to him in his humiliation. Do you see humiliation ahead of you in the road? Do you see betrayal? If I keep walking with Jesus, this is going to happen to me. Are you hesitating there? Just go to him. He's waiting there. We go to him in his pain. We go to him in his suffering, so that we can come to him in his crucifixion, because we are crucified with Christ. It's with Christ. I do not suffer to try to get him to come to me. I am crucified with him. I go to him in his loneliness, and I'm lonely with him, and then neither of us are lonely. Praise the Lord. I go to him in his persecution, and then all of a sudden, the pain isn't so sharp anymore, because I'm with him. Any questions on that? And any comments that you brothers have? Is there a way we should say it differently? Is that clear? Is there a question regarding that? Because I'm going to leave that for now, and we'll move to a different practical note here in just a few minutes. But if there's anything on that that isn't clear. Just his righteousness isn't it? Yes, we eat. But it's not our righteousness. But we identify with it. We hear a lot of that today, which is garbage. But we identify with Christ. And it's not ever so special to suffer for Jesus, because he suffered with him. Oh, it's quite special, because you come into a communion that is unbelievable. But we're not that special for suffering with him. He's already suffered for us. We're not that special for going outside the camp. Outside of people's pleasure. Outside of their favor. Just outside. Outside of everybody liking you. But just remember, and this is my favorite illustration. Maybe it's not the best one, but it's mine. It's the one I use in my own heart. When I was little, like this guy's size, there were some long steel slides at some parks. You don't see these very often anymore. But the long ones, yeah. And they had sides like this tall, because they didn't care if kids just fell off back there. It's like, hey, you only do it once. Anyway, you'll be more careful next time. Anyway. But these big long slides. And the little child, Dad, come up to the top with me. And you're looking down what looks like eternity ahead of you. And way down at the end there was Mom waiting for him. And had it only been Mom at the end and no Dad at the top, I'd have never got the courage to go. And had it only been Dad at the top and no Mom at the bottom, I still couldn't have got the courage to go. So I had to be with Dad going to Mom. And then I could do it. Your Heavenly Father has different names. And one of those names is almost a feminine name. And He takes it on Himself for one purpose. He wants you to know that in many ways He is able to help. And so I need you to see that your Heavenly Father is with you, and He's waiting for you. And when you see that, He's with you now when you're seeking peace to go through or not go through with what He's calling you or not calling you to do. He's also waiting for you in that difficulty to come to Him. So you just go to Him. And so for that little mind of mine, it was the courage of Dad speaking to me that it's going to be okay. And it was seeing that I'm going to a safe place. And it was okay. God is both here and He is there. He is waiting for you in the future. He is here with us now. And it's beautiful to me. It helps me. It's an intimidating cross to die on. Just know, He's waiting for me there. He's waiting for me. And what if as you were walking up that hill, you knew Jesus was waiting at the top? Waiting for you. It's wonderful. So you go with His love carrying you, and you go to Him. You don't go off into the darkness to do the rosary 700 times and be ostracized by God and after 13 years of penance you might eventually be able to come back into His presence. No, no, no, no, no. You go to Him. He's waiting for you to come and be with Him in His suffering, to be with Him in His crucifixion so that you too can be crucified with Him and then risen together with Him by the operation of God. And that's the language that the Scripture gives to us for a very important reason. You can't waste anything He says. And very many times I'll go over a Scripture verse and the Lord anoints something particular to it. And maybe a month or a year or a week later I'll go over that same verse and something totally different about the same verse the same truth is all of a sudden lighted to me. And I think I was reading over that whole time. I spent a whole whatever studying that verse and I didn't see that. And He just goes, uh-huh. He didn't waste anything that He said. Everything is beautiful. There's reason for everything. So when He says with Him, He means with Him. Remember that. Okay, the next little note that is important to remember when we want to be crucified with Christ is the spiritual truth. Somebody find Proverbs 23. Elijah, would you find Proverbs 23, 6-7? Proverbs 23, 6-7. And Simeon, would you mind reading for us Matthew 5, verse 27-28. This is a spiritual truth. And Dad, is it convenient for you to find it? 1 John 3, verse 15-16. These verses are going to show us spiritual truth. It's very helpful. When you're ready. Do not eat the bread of a selfish man, or desire his delicacies. For as he thinks within himself, so he is. He says to you, eat and drink, but his heart is not with you. As he thinks in his heart, so he really is. He's saying, eat and drink, but who he really is, is as he thinks in his heart. That's who he really is. Don't eat bread with him. Don't hobnob with him. He invites you over. Don't go. Don't come. Neither desire the dainties that he is able to. While his mouth, and Jesus spoke about this, he said, their lips they honor me, but their heart is far from me. As a man thinks in his heart, so he really is. You have heard that it was said, you shall not commit adultery, but I say to you, that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent, has already committed adultery with her in his heart. Because as a man thinks in his heart, so is he. That's a spiritual truth. And these are the negatives. I'm so delighted to introduce you, if it's the first time, to the positive side of this truth. But we'll cover these negatives to cement it. Dad, you had the first jar. Whosoever hated his brother as a murderer, and he know that no murderer hath eternal life abide in him, hereby proceed we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. Whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his vows of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? Whosoever hateth his brother as a murderer, because as a man thinks in his heart, so is he really. That's who he really is. As he thinks in his heart, so is he. Why is this an important truth? Well, you may have asked in your heart and your mind, and we've been talking about this, when am I going to get to say, I am crucified with Christ? That's a good question. When can you say in faith, I am crucified with him, and I reckon that I am dead unto sin? When can I say, I am crucified with Christ? It is so. Or should we, in false humility, pretend that, no, no. I'll never be able to say that. I'll always be proud, and I'll always be full of myself. Woe is me. And I can never be a disciple of Jesus. You could say lots of spiritual sounding stuff that's not true. You could act like this is some humility to act like we can never really be crucified with Christ. These things, until we get to heaven, are never going to be true in our lives. That's a bunch of malarkey. Praise the Lord it's malarkey. God wants to bring you to a place where you can say, I am crucified with Christ. I really am. I am crucified with Christ. Okay, now Joshua, what does that have to do with this truth that we're talking about? As a man thinkest in his heart, so is he. Well, hang on a little longer and we'll land the plane. But Daniel, Daniel, if you read in chapter one, verse eight, it says a very important little phrase that my dad, I know, I can't remember the pastor who was influential in my dad's life, but then my dad passed this on. He would say this very often in regards to young men and young ladies doing the right thing. He very often used this particular phrase. So Daniel is walking all the way to the land of his captivity, away from the land of his nativity, away from where he was born, away from his parents, away from his family, away from his cousins, if they weren't also in captivity I suppose. And he's walking all the way to Babylon. And he knows something about what will happen when he gets there. And he knows why he was selected. This was one of the first times that they came and took things from Israel, Judah, and he's taken away, and he knows he's taken away to be profitable to the king of this land. He's taken away to be added to the asset of this new kingdom. And he knows how, he knows these things. And there's a little phrase in Daniel, it says, but Daniel purposed in his heart, little phrase, Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat, Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not drink the wine which the king gave him to drink, and therefore he requested the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself. Daniel purposed in his heart. Okay, so we have these things that are a little floating right now. We have, as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he. We have the fact that, well, when can I say I am crucified with Christ? When can I reckon myself dead unto sin? Maybe for until now, it seems like this idea that's sort of out here, and I kind of make it my own. I don't get to say it in faith myself. Well, it is wonderful. As he thinketh in his heart, so is he. Jesus, we read this illustration of Daniel in Jesus' life. He comes to Galilee, to Jordan, unto John, to be baptized with him. John says no. Jesus says yes. He's baptized. Then John says yes. Jesus is baptized, and he comes up out of the water. The Spirit of God descends like a dove, lighting upon him, and then he hears a voice saying, This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased. And then, if you would read in Luke 12, 49, you can turn there if you'd like. Luke 12, verse 49 to 53, just say Jesus is talking about a baptism that he has to be baptized with. And he says, I am come to send fire on the earth, and what will I if it be already kindled? But I have a baptism to be baptized with. Simeon? Was it before or after he'd gone down in the water? It's okay if you don't know the answer. Yeah, it was after. It was after. And this is very important for believers to understand and recognize. We go down into the water just like Jesus did, but it's a promise. We are, as a man is thinking in his heart, so is he. And we are going we purpose in our hearts to go to him no matter what the cost. We purpose in our hearts. And God looks down and says, as a man thinks in his heart, so is he. And so, you don't have to have already gone through the sufferings that Christ endured. You don't already have to have suffered like brother Ewan has suffered. You don't already have to have these great stories of faith. You just need to purpose in your hearts that where he goes, I'll follow, if it costs me anything. You see, brothers and sisters, this baptism that he's describing here in Luke. He says, suppose you think I've come to send peace on the earth. Well, he says, I have a baptism to be baptized with and I'm straight until it is accomplished. I'm restricted. I would like to send fire. Oh, if you could hear that in your heart. The Lord gave that to me early when I was trusting him for more of his Holy Spirit. I saw that even before Jesus could send his Holy Spirit, he was excited to do it. I have come to send fire on the earth and what will I do if it is already kindled? But I have a baptism I have to be baptized with and I'm limited until I do that. I cannot send the Holy Spirit until I do that. Okay, that baptism was his death. His suffering and his death. And in Isaiah, verse 50, in prophesying of this, it says, I gave my back to the smiters and my cheeks to them that plucked out the hair. I hid not my face from shame and spitting. So, if he's not hiding his face from shame and spitting, you just go with him. That's all. And then verse 7 says, for the Lord God will help me and I will not be confounded. Therefore, have I set my face like a flint. Oh, you see, Daniel didn't wait to see those tables loaded with food to decide if he was going to be faithful to God. And you don't wait until they're holding a gun in your face. You purpose in your heart, Jesus, I'm going with you. Jesus, if it costs me everything, I'm just going to be with you. I'm going to you. And Jesus did not wait to see what the suffering would be like that night that he was betrayed to decide that he was going to go all the way. He promised it in baptism and in Gethsemane. He assured his father again, it's not my will, but thine be done. So you do not wait, Christian. You don't have to wait until that great test comes. You don't have to wait to be crucified with Christ. You can purpose in your heart to go to him in shame and in spitting and in everything that will happen. If they pluck out my beard, I'll still go with you, Lord Jesus. And you surrender and commit everything to him. And that's when you and I can say, present tense, I am crucified with Christ. Why? Because as a man purposes in his heart, so is he, God says. And when you and I say, Jesus, I'm dead with you. If it costs me this and this and this and this and this and this, I don't want to lose any of those things. But if it does, I'll have you. If only I can win Christ. And as a man thinks in his heart, so is he. You can be crucified with Christ in faith. When you in faith, faith energized by love, love that you sought, Calvary, you respond in faith and you tell the Lord that if it costs me everything that's dear to me and let him lift him up and say it out loud, if it costs me this and if it costs me that and if it costs me this, Jesus, I'm coming to you. And God says, crucified with Christ. Because as a man thinks in his heart, so is he. You do not have to wait for a grand test of faith to be crucified. You can be crucified now in faith. And I don't recommend waiting until that grand test of faith. No. No, do it now. Count the cost now. It's cheap enough. It's cheap enough. It's cheap enough. Think about all those things that are dear to you and think, no, no, I'm going to have Christ. Nope, even if I lose that, I'm going to have Christ. Purpose in your heart before the trial comes, I'm going to him no matter what it costs me. I'm going to join him if it means joining him in humiliation, if it means joining him in mockery, if it means joining him in suffering, I'm going to him. Purpose in your heart, because as a man thinks in his heart, so is he. Purpose in your heart to be crucified with Christ and you, my friends, are crucified with Christ when by faith you purpose, I'm going with you, Jesus. I'm going with you if it means Calvary. So what are you waiting for? You can purpose today. You can purpose tonight. You can tell the Lord, I'm going all the way no matter what it costs me. I am crucified with Christ. I'm coming to you, Jesus. I purpose right now while the trial of my faith is still ahead of me.
