(Matthew 16:24-25)…..Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. 25 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.
Come After Me – When Jesus said these words, His disciples probably remembered when He first called them to follow Him, when they had left everything to follow Jesus. They had left family, friends, occupations, everything in their lives in order to follow Jesus. To the rest of the crowd that day, this was a call to the new birth. It was a call to believe on Jesus Christ. It was a call for them to turn their backs on the world to go after Jesus.
A lot of people come to an altar, pray a prayer and profess to know Jesus Christ. True salvation is about a radical commitment to leave the old life behind. To enter into a new and very different life, being made a new creation (Romans 6:3-7) (2 Corinthians 5:17). You can walk the Roman Road of salvation, or take a Journey through John, any other method that people say brings salvation, the fact is – you only get saved when God convicts you of your sins and draws you to Himself (John 6:44). When He draws you and you respond by faith, salvation takes place – (Ephesians 2:8-9).
True salvation, when it happens in your life, will make such a radical change in your life that you will begin to act like a different person, your desires and habits will change, and you will want to follow Him, so where Jesus is, is where you will DESIRE to be.
Deny Himself – To deny one’s self proclaimed righteousness, renouncing all one’s own works of righteousness in the attempt of gaining justification and salvation through works of pride and sinful lust is what is implied here. How is denying ones self manifested in the Scriptures? By Peter – (1 Peter 2:11-12) (1 Peter 4:1-4). By Paul – (Philippians 3:4-14).
Take Up His Cross – This phrase had much meaning for the people in Jesus’ day, people were crucified by the Romans all the time, every person who heard these words knew what He was saying to them. In that day a cross was not a piece of jewelry, or a decoration on a church building. A cross was an instrument of shame, humiliation suffering, torture, and death. When a man took up his cross, he carried the instrument of his own death on his own shoulders. That message has become clouded in our day. He is calling us to die to ourselves, He is calling us to commit to a lifestyle of living death (Galatians 2:20). How is taking up one’s cross manifested in the Scriptures?
1. In the case of the apostles
- What they all endured – (1 Corinthians 4:9-13)
- What Paul in particular endured – (2 Corinthians 11:23-29)
- All the while – rejoicing that one is honored to suffer for Christ
- Read: (Acts 5:40-42)
In our case – it may involve being:
- Ridiculed – (1 Peter 4:4)
- Reviled (spoken evil of) – (Matthew 5:11 (Luke 6:22)
- Reproached – (1 Peter 4:14)
Follow Me (Christ) – This phrase is suggests an ongoing action, Jesus is calling His people to be constant followers of Him. Some people follow on Sunday, but take a different path on Monday. Some people follow the Lord when they need help, but take another path when things get better. That is not what the Lord is looking for. Jesus is calling for His people to make a radical commitment to follow Him all the time. What does this look like in the life of a believer?
- Seeking to become like Him – (Luke 6:40) (Romans 8:29) (Romans 13:14)
- Him being Lord – doing what He says – (Luke 6:46) (Colossians 3:17)
- Observing all He and His apostles commanded – (Matthew 28:20) (Acts 2:41-42)
The reward of all this is seen in (16:25), the question we must ask ourselves, “Is following Jesus and losing your life for the gospel worth it?”