Why is it necessary for me to bear my cross?
Matthew 16:24-25 “Then said Jesus unto His disciples, If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.
For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for My sake shall find it.”
We preach on these verses a lot, because they are the vital working of the life of God within us.
God will never use the corrupt natural self. He will only use the yielded life to the Holy Spirit, the devoted life to Christ, the spiritual life He has placed within us.
All self effort….even though it seems good….must end in flames at the Bema or Judgment seat of Christ. (1 Corinthians 3:12-15)
The cross….our cross is the instrument or means of us following Christ.
There used to be a saying….”Shall I sail on to heaven on flowery beds of ease, while others fought to win the prize and sailed through bloody seas?”
The answer is no. We can not, if we are born again, be without battle or wounds.
Many of these are when we take up our cross and follow Christ. The world will at first mock us….then slander us….then outright hate us….for we are Christ’s and do not follow according to their thoughts. (1Peter 4:4)
The cross pulls us away from our old way of doing things, because it causes us to know the importance of God’s enabling grace. When we first come into the Way of God, we come to may choices….which bring us to choose Christ, over and over again.
(Not for Salvation, but for life…His life in us. We must have it….or die. Sometimes we cry out like Paul,…”Oh, wretched man that I am”….but the cross teaches us to look away from self, to Christ.)
The cross will give clarity to what is important. God gives us HIs Will….and we begin to hesitate….or feel the old resentment rising up so we can have our own way…..
….and praise God, the cross digs deep into our shoulder….and reminds us of what He went through for us….
….showing us that we are resisting HIs Will. This is not just a difference of opinion….this is rebellion….and it calls us to bow our shoulder to Him and to the work.
(I want to say here….that this is a glorious thing. It is hard oftentimes to yield….to give up nursing that grudge, or to speak out for Christ, or to give up our plans for His. But our cross becomes our greatest help, if we let it….for it brings us to the place where we praise the Voice that corrects us….and where we kiss the hand that chastens us! And when He enlivens us again and again in the work…what a blessing and thanksgiving it is!
Christ becomes my life….it is not sometimes, but a constant loving conversation with the Lord Who loves me and leads me.)
The cross of Christ bought our Salvation from sin….but by our cross, we become usable.
Matthew 16:24-25 “Then said Jesus unto His disciples, If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.
For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for My sake shall find it.”
The cross deals with our rebellion and will. We must deny ourselves, take up our cross and carry it to the place we no longer resist the Lord’s Will in anything.
Then, we must by self-denial lose our lives in ourselves….for His sake.
Here shows the importance God places on us loving the Lord. On our devotion to Him, Who gave up His life to save us.
Christ Jesus was raised up from the dead….and by His life being formed in us, we are raised to newness of life.
Romans 6:4 “Therefore we are buried with Him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”
Ephesians 1:19-20, 2:6 “And what is the exceeding greatness of His power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of HIs mighty power,
Which He wrought in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead, and set Him at HIs own right hand in the heavenly places,
And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.”
His life in us…..or our life in ourselves….which will we choose? It is our cross that brings us to the place of usefulness….will we follow our Lord, and deny ourselves, pick up our cross and follow Him, till all that used to say, “This is me”….says, “This is Christ”?
The absolute necessity in the bearing our our cross lies right here. God will not use the corrupt natural self.
Hence the necessity of the cross.
All self effort must end in flame at the Bema or Judgment Seat of Christ.
Are we ready to deny ourselves, pick up our cross and have Him lead us into His life for us?
Preaching, Teaching, and Notes 