Friday, June 16, 2017, 5:55 a.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song “My Jesus, I Love Thee.” Speak, Lord,
your words to my heart. I read Luke 9
(Select vv. NASB).
Take Up Your Cross (vv. 22-25)
Jesus
said, “The Son of Man must suffer many
things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be
killed and be raised up on the third day.” And He was saying to them all, “If
anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross
daily and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but
whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it. For what is
a man profited if he gains the whole world, and loses or forfeits himself?”
Jesus Christ, the Son of the
Living God (and God) was rejected by the elders, the chief priests, the scribes
and the Pharisees. They hated him, and they were jealous of him, and they were
threatened by his popularity among the people, for they feared losing their own
positions of power and control.
So, they harassed him at
every turn, continuously questioned his authority and his actions, and made
numerous attempts to try to discredit him. They didn’t like it that he didn’t
follow all their ceremonial laws and customs, which were handed down to them by
the elders. They despised the fact that he healed people on the Sabbath. They
resented his accusations against some of them, that they were hypocrites who
tried to look good on the outside while inside they were full of wickedness. And,
they definitely hated him when he intimated that he was equal with God. So,
eventually they killed him by having him crucified on a cross, as though he was
a criminal.
Yet, it was God’s will that
Jesus should die, because in his death he put our sins to death, and in his
resurrection, he conquered sin and the grave, that we might live. He died that
we might die to sin and live to righteousness. And, Jesus told his followers
that they, too, would be hated, rejected, persecuted and even killed for their
faith in him, and for their testimonies of God’s saving grace, and for the sake
of the gospel of our salvation. In fact, coming to faith in Jesus Christ means
that we are crucified with him in death to sin, and that we are resurrected with
him to newness of life, created to be like God in true righteousness and
holiness (Ro. 6:1-23; Eph. 4:17-24).
“Knowing this, that our old self was crucified
with Him, in order that
our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer
be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin” (Ro.
6:6-7).
So, if we want to believe in
Jesus to be Lord and Savior of our lives, so that we might have eternal life
with him, and so that he might save us from our sins, then we must die with him
to our old lives of living for sin and self (daily). Paul said that if we walk
(conduct our lives) according to our flesh, we will die in our sins, but if by
the Spirit we are putting to death the deeds of the flesh, we will live with
Christ for eternity (See: Ro. 8:1-14). And, Jesus said that if we want to save
our lives, i.e. if we want to hold on to our old lives, we will lose them for
eternity. But, if we lose our lives for His sake, i.e. if we die with Christ to
sin, we will save our lives, i.e. we will have eternal life with God.
So many people today are
telling people that faith in Jesus Christ requires nothing of them – no repentance,
no obedience and no submission to Christ and to his cross, but they are lying
to you, and their lies will send you straight to hell if you believe them.
Believing in Jesus is not just some intellectual assent to who Jesus is (or
was) or some emotional decision we make because we don’t want to end up in
hell, or because we want to have heaven guaranteed to us when we leave this
earth. Faith in Jesus is not just some mere acceptance of his forgiveness of
our sins, either, while we continue living for sin and self. John said that if
we say we have fellowship with God, but we walk (in lifestyle) in darkness
(sin), we are liars. He also said that if we say we know God, but we don’t obey
him, we are liars.
Basically, if we think
salvation and eternal life means we do nothing, then we have it all wrong. Yes,
we are saved by God’s grace, through faith - and not of ourselves, it is the
gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast. But, we are saved TO good
works, which God prepared in advance for us to do (See: Eph. 2:8-10). Jesus
gave his life up for us that we might become the righteousness of God. He died
that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; that we might no longer
live for ourselves, but for him who gave his life up for us. He died, too, that
the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk, not
according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit (2 Co. 5:15, 21; Ro. 8:1-14;
1 Pet. 2:24).
God’s grace is not a free
license to continue in willful sin against God. His grace, which brings
salvation, teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to
live self-controlled, upright and godly lives while we wait for Christ’s soon
return (Tit. 2:11-14). If we continue in sinful lifestyles, in practicing what
our flesh desires, we will die in our sins. Count on it!
Don’t Be Ashamed (v. 26)
“For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, the Son of
Man will be ashamed of him when He comes in His glory, and the glory of the
Father and of the holy angels.”
Part of our death to sin and
self, and living to Christ and to his righteousness, means we consider the will
of God for our lives above and in place of our own selfish will and desires.
Instead of living our lives so that others will like us and think we are
wonderful, we live our lives for God and for his purposes, and for his glory.
We realize that “Lord” is not just a title given to Jesus, but it means he is
now owner-master of our lives, and that we are his bond-servants, here to do
his will. We also realize that the earth is not our home, but heaven is, and so
we are not here to build earthly kingdoms, but we are here to advance God’s
heavenly kingdom. Jesus did not put us on this earth, in other words, for us to
live selfish lives for our own pleasure. We are not here to entertain or to be
entertained continuously. We are here on this earth to serve God, and to live
holy lives pleasing to him, and to tell others about him.
Too many people these days
are describing “the gospel” as though it means nothing more than being “good
deed doers,” which gets us liked by people, not hated. But, anyone can be a
good deed doer. Now, good deeds are certainly a part of what we do, as
followers of Christ, but they are what God has called us to do, and they are
the deeds he prepared in advance for us to do, which includes sharing his
gospel message of death to sin and living to righteousness. And, yes, that
means we will be rejected and hated by some when we tell others about what it
means to be a follower of Jesus. But, if we are ashamed of Jesus and his gospel
in this life, he will be ashamed of us when he comes again one day.
Don’t Look Back
(vv. 57-62)
As they were going along the road, someone said to
Him, “I will follow You wherever You go.” And Jesus said to him, “The foxes
have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere
to lay His head.” And He said to another, “Follow Me.” But he said, “Lord,
permit me first to go and bury my father.” But He said to him, “Allow the dead
to bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim everywhere the kingdom
of God.” Another also said, “I will follow You, Lord; but first permit me to
say good-bye to those at home.” But Jesus said to him, “No one, after putting
his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”
Yes, our salvation is a free
gift, and we do nothing to earn or to deserve it, but that gift, if understood
correctly, is NOT just an escape from hell and the promise of heaven when we
die. Jesus didn’t die that horrible death on a cross, and take upon himself the
sins of the entire world, just so we could be forgiven our sins and have the
hope of heaven when we die. Salvation is not mere forgiveness of sins, but it
is DELIVERANCE from BONDAGE to sin. It is death to sin and living to
righteousness. It is death to self, and it is living to God and doing what
pleases him. We are born again of the Spirit of God, created to be like God IN
TRUE RIGHTEOUSNESS AND HOLINESS. And, holiness means to be separate (set apart,
unlike, different) from the world, because we are becoming LIKE CHRIST.
Jesus made it clear that following
him is no picnic. It isn’t about us and our comfort and enjoyment (pleasure). It
isn’t about what we want to do, or what we think will please God, but it is
total surrender to God and to his will and to his purposes for our lives. It is
going where he sends us, saying what he wants us to say, doing what he says,
and being who he has called us to be. It means leaving homes, families,
friends, and worldly comforts in order to go with God to the regions beyond
with the gospel of our salvation. If we want to be Jesus’ followers, it means
total abandonment to God, i.e. we must forsake all to follow him, and we must yield
ourselves fully to his will and to his ways. We can’t hold on to our old lives
and follow Jesus, too. We have to let go, and let God have his sway in our
lives. And, then we will be fit for the kingdom of God (See also: John 6:35-66;
10:27-30).
My Jesus, I Love Thee
William R. Featherstone / Adoniram J.
Gordon
My Jesus, I love thee, I know thou art
mine;
For thee all the follies of sin I
resign.
My gracious Redeemer, my Savior art
thou;
If ever I loved thee, my Jesus, 'tis
now.
I love thee because thou hast first
loved me,
And purchased my pardon on Calvary's
tree;
I love thee for wearing the thorns on
thy brow;
If ever I loved thee, my Jesus, 'tis
now.
I’ll love Thee in life, I will love
Thee in death,
And praise Thee as long as Thou lendest
me breath;
And say, when the death-dew lies cold
on my brow,
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ‘tis
now.
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