Only So Far — E.A. Johnston

The Cost of Following a Crucified Christ

I once knew a pastor who had experienced glorious revival in his church, where God not only manifested Himself in this man's congregation, but also transformed the life of an entire community. Then something happened in this man's personal life that I can only surmise what occurred, because when I last saw this pastor and visited his church, he turned his church into a nightclub, and he no longer preached serious messages on the gospel, but rather told dirty jokes on the pulpit and used crude bathroom humor before he prayed.

In fact, this man was so disgusting and filthy from the pulpit, I cannot repeat what he said in mixed company. This man and his ministry had become a joke. I believe God will allow us to follow Him as far as we want to follow Him and to go as deep with Him in an intimate walk as we desire, but there is always a cost to following a crucified Christ.

And I have known many men in my life who claimed the name of Christ, but who were only willing to go so far with Christ. The title of my message today, friends, is Only So Far, and my text can be found in the Gospel of Matthew in chapter 16.

You can turn in your Bibles there now, friends. We will be in verses 21 through 25. This is an interesting story which centers around Peter, and if you read the preceding passage about Peter, we see him make an astounding confession of Christ, whereby Jesus had asked, Whom do men say, that I the Son of Man am?

And Peter replies, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Christ commenced Peter for his remark. But interestingly and amazingly, in just a few more sentences, we find Peter placing his foot in his mouth and making a foolish statement to Jesus.

Let me read you our text at this time, and listen, friends, carefully to this amazing passage of scripture. From that time forth began Jesus to show unto his disciples how that he must go unto Jerusalem and suffer many things of the elders, and chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day.

Then Peter took him. Let me pause here, friends. This means that Peter actually grabbed Jesus by the arm and stopped him in his tracks from going further. He yanked Jesus by the arm and stopped him dead in his tracks and rebuked him.

I will now proceed with our passage. And began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord, this shall not be unto thee. But he turned and said to Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan, thou art an offense unto me.

For thou savest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men. 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.

I will stop there. This passage, friends, will teach us a lot about ourselves if we are willing to listen to what it has to say. There are several aspects I'd like to draw out from this striking passage of scripture, and allow me first to list them, and then I will elaborate upon each head as we proceed.

Peter's Conflicting Confession and Rebuke

1. Peter's walk with Jesus was still at a point where he spoke out of both sides of his mouth. 2. Peter's walk with Jesus was still at a point where he was completely ignorant of himself. 3. Peter's walk with Jesus was still at a point where he was only willing to go so far with Christ.

Peter Learns What Is in His Heart

4. Peter's walk with Jesus was still at a point where he had to learn what was inside his heart before he became willing to take up his cross and follow a crucified Christ. Let's start with point number one, friends.

Peter's walk with Jesus was still at a point where he spoke out of both sides of his mouth. Our passage here in Matthew's Gospel confirms this fact, friends. Here we see both Peter's glorious confession of Christ, and then his foolish rebuking of Christ.

Have you known believers who speak out of both sides of their mouths? I will never forget a man who kept taking the Lord's name in vain in his conversation, and then when it was time for me to leave, he said, God bless you.

Blessings and curses out of the same mouth. Have you known people like that? Have you known Christians who speak out of both sides of their mouth? Maybe at home they are one way, and when they are with church friends, they are quite another.

I think that's called a hypocrite. Perhaps you have a family member who behaves one way at church and then quite another way once they are at home. They talk out of both sides of their mouth. Peter did that here.

Peter's Ignorance of His Own Heart

Next we see Peter's walk with Jesus was still at a point where he was completely ignorant of himself. Peter was boastful and full of himself, all the way up to the courtyard of denial, where he boasted that he would die for Christ rather than deny Him, and he went and did just that.

He cowered before a maid. Peter had yet to learn what was inside his deceitful heart. I have known some of the most self-righteous church folk who have yet to learn what is in their hearts. Usually someone like that is a legalist.

They want everybody to walk a straight line according to their rules. They're very self-righteous and like to point out the faults in others, but they're completely blind to their own faults. Peter was like this at this point in his life.

Peter's Self-Preservation Before the Cross

And the heart of my message today, friends, centers around point number three, which states that Peter's walk with Jesus was still at a point where he was only willing to go so far with Christ. He was quite willing to walk with the miracle-making Christ who drew vast crowds to him and great popularity.

Peter liked to hang out with Jesus and relish in that attention. But when Jesus began to speak to his disciples and horde saints and speak of his approaching suffering and death, Peter did not want to follow Jesus there.

He wanted a conquering Messiah Jesus, not a suffering, crucified Christ. You see, friends, Peter knew that as a disciple of Christ, he would have to follow him where he went. And if Jesus went to the cross, then Peter would have to go there too.

And at this point in his walk with Jesus, he was into self-preservation, very like much most of us. We want to protect our skins. We are willing to only go so far with Jesus as long as we don't have to suffer too much or lose too much self-preservation and self-elevation or satanic in origin.

This is why Jesus rebukes Peter and actually calls him Satan. Jesus says that Peter is now an offense unto him because he savors the things of man and not of God. For the past 20 years, I have discipled men in my home.

I have spent years pouring my life into others. And during this time, I have come across many men, I'm afraid to say most of them, who were willing to only go so far with Jesus. They wanted the success of Jesus.

They wanted prosperity Jesus. They wanted healing Jesus. They wanted popular Jesus. But when the rubber met the road in their walk with God, they backed off. They walked away, just like the rich young ruler did, because they learned that if they wanted to go deeper with God, it was going to cost them something, and they backed away.

Much like that pastor I knew who became a clown in the pulpit, he'd obviously backed away from God at some point in his life. And God had left him alone in a state of apostasy, to where if you went to hear this man preach what he said damned you rather than blessed you, he became a curse to his hearers.

Drifting Backward From Christ

I live in a city that is near the ocean, and I often go for walks along the seashore. And I often come across a piece of driftwood floating on the water or washed up upon the sand. That driftwood is entirely useless.

It is good for nothing. If I may so speak, if you are not continually going forward in your walk with Christ, then you will soon drift backward, and if you continue in that state for a length of time, you too will risk becoming like that piece of driftwood, entirely useless to God and his gospel.

I have seen men. I have discipled in past times who went only so far with Jesus, and at the time they were pillars in their church and much respected as Christians, but soon they quit going forward with Jesus and began to drift back, to drift away, and their personal lives ended in adultery and divorce and shame and a ruined testimony for Christ and his kingdom.

Their families were ruined as well. Driftwood, good for nothing. How about you, friend? Are you willing to only go so far with Jesus, so long as it doesn't cost you much, so long as you get to keep your reputation, keep your skin, so to speak?

Peter's Denial and the Revelation of His Heart

You see, Peter was not willing to go to the cross with Christ at this juncture, but God and his mercy allowed Peter to see a perfect view of his imperfect and deceitful heart as he denied his Lord and Savior not only once but three times and with swearing.

And that leads us to our last point, friends, and that is Peter's walk with Jesus was still at a point where he had to learn what was inside his heart before he became willing to take up his cross and follow a crucified Christ.

Peter's Willingness to Follow Christ to Death

There came a time in Peter's life where Jesus told him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdest thyself, and walkest whither thou wouldest. But when thou shalt be old, thou shalt strip forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee and carry thee, whither thou wouldest not.

This spake he, signifying by what death he should glorify God. So the apostle John records in his gospel concerning Peter's own crucifixion and martyrdom for Christ. Tradition has it that when it came time for Peter to die, and he saw the cross awaiting him, he turned to his Roman guards and said, Turn it upside down.

I don't deserve to die like my master. And they crucified Peter upside down. You see, friends, in Matthew's gospel, Jesus spoke very plainly to his followers then and to his followers now, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross, and follow me.

Counting the Cost of Following Jesus

But still, in our churches today, across this land, and across the ocean, and other churches and other lands, there are still followers of Jesus who will only go so far with him, so long as it doesn't cost them too much, only so far.

But Jesus says, There's only one condition to follow in him, only one condition which describes a true follower of him, if any man, that means you, friend, if any man, any woman will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

Let me ask you, friend, have you come to the point in your walk with Jesus where you have had a revelation of your own wicked heart? And have you become willing to take up your cross and follow a crucified Christ, no matter the cost?

Have you counted the cost to follow a crucified Savior? If you have not, go to God now, and seek his face, and ask him for the grace to be given, given to you to follow Christ in the way that Christ wants you to follow him.

Only so far, only so far. When it came time for Jesus to go to the cross, he did not stop ten feet away and tell God no further, I will stop here. No, sir, he willingly went all the way to Calvary, and suffered and bled and died there for my filthy, rotten sins.

He held nothing back from me, how can I hold back anything from him? Let us pray.