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Some of you are familiar with author and speaker Eric metaxas. I Don't agree with my taxes on some things, but I do find him to be a fascinating individual. He has written large biographies on Dietrich Bonhoeffer and William Wilberforce and smaller ones on other Christian men.
Mike Braun recently gave me one of his books titled eight is a atheism dead. He is a man who knows what it is like growing up in an unbelieving environment. My taxes grew up in a Greek Orthodox home and went to Yale.
After graduating he became a Christian not too long after. Recently I heard him talk about his time at Yale. Yale of course is one of the most prestigious schools in the world. In America it is probably only second to Harvard and prestige.
My taxes has often been asked what it was like to go there. People are interested in asking this question because this is where the smart people go and People expect him to say that he had a great experience learning in that environment.
But looking back he does not have a positive view of his time there. What he said when asked about his experience, and I am paraphrasing That the school had no clear direction. Because they took God out of the picture.
Proverbs 1 7 says the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. Fools despise wisdom and instruction. Yale was an environment that focused on learning, but missed the whole point of learning. The whole point of learning is to learn about God in his world.
Once you remove man's chief purpose in the world. Which is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever as the Westminster Catechism says from 19 or from 1646. Once you remove this then you have to remove the main purpose of humans with something else.
In a place like Yale what replaces living for God is living for self. The world becomes man-centered rather than God-centered. What Pataxas said is this was Yale's focus. What the leadership of Yale told the students was to work really hard to get good grades.
So that you can get a good job and be successful. The goal was success, but how do you define success? Colleges like Yale in the world Define success as getting good grades to get a good job to make lots of money and gain prestige in the world.
What Pataxas said is they were pretty much instructed to distract Oneself with work money and prestige and then you die. Death is coming. So you need to distract yourself. Once you take God out of the picture you can no longer ask the deepest and most important questions about life.
It is a life of shallowness. What Pataxas explains is that Institutions like Yale have already decided that life is better without God. So pretend like he's not even there and what they are doing is pursuing a lost cause.
Trying to pursue a life of fulfillment through worldly success. But what scripture explains is that this is the wide path? The way of the world that is opposed to God is the path that most people take.
But this morning as we continue our sermon series through Matthew Jesus is going to call us to a different path. The path he calls people to is the path less travel. This path is indeed the harder one.
What we are going to see is that Jesus does not sugarcoat what it means to follow him. What we will see in this to Sunday sermon is that this difficult path is worth it for everyone who travels down it.
So at this time I encourage you to turn in a Bible with me to Matthew chapter 16. We look at verses 24 through 28 and if you're using a red Bible, it's on page 977. This sermon is titled the glory of the Calvary Road and this sermon will take two Sundays to get through.
And I will begin by reading the text Matthew 16 verses 24 through 28. Then Jesus told his disciples if anyone would come after me let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it.
Whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his father.
And then he will repay each person according to what he has done. Truly I say to you There are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom. Here's our big idea.
Here's what this sermon this text is calling you to do. Travel down the path where true life is found. Travel down the path where true life is found and we'll see three focuses how. But before we jump in let me give you a little recap of where we were one Sunday ago.
Last week we looked at verses 21 through 23 where Jesus told his disciples that he was going to die and rise again. This confused the disciples because they bought into the view that the Messiah did not come into the world to suffer but only to reign.
But Jesus told him that he was going to suffer. Peter as the spokesperson for the disciples told him far be it from you Lord. This shall never happen to you. Then Jesus told Peter get behind me Satan.
For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man. What we pulled from this is that we are to have a mission-focused life just as Jesus did. Throughout his life his eyes were always fixed on the cross.
To have a mission-focused life is to reject having our eyes fixed on this world. We are to live for the world to come and not for the world that is passing away. Every one of us has been given a purpose by God and we are to fulfill the purpose He has for us.
Now this leads us once again to the text that we've already read, but now we will dig deep into. And our focus this morning will be on one verse verse 24. There's much for us to see here. So once again, this is what verse 24 says then Jesus told his disciples.
Anyone would come after me let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. Now as we read verse 24 We need to remember the previous passage as this passage builds off the previous one. We always need to read everything within its context.
Peter's mind was on a life of ease while Jesus was describing his future as a future of suffering. Jesus told Peter and the other disciples that he was going to be brutally murdered on the cross. What the disciples should have understood is that life was about to get more difficult for them.
They are his disciples and if their master is going to die on the cross. Then what does this mean for them? The question is are they going to stay loyal to him in the midst of hostility or are they going to jump ship?
With this background Jesus says to his disciples in verse 24 if anyone would come after me. Let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. As Jesus says this there are more present than just his disciples.
In the parallel account in mark 834 Jesus called a crowd to him as he instructed what it truly means to follow him. What Jesus is saying is that following him is going to be difficult. Jesus is making an invitation.
This is why he says anyone. This is an offer to anyone in the world. It doesn't matter what you look like it doesn't matter what nation you're from. It doesn't matter how wealthy or poor you are. It doesn't matter if you're famous or a nobody.
The offer of following Jesus is to everyone in the world. The question is What will one do when he or she hears this offer from the Jesus of Scripture. I say the Jesus of Scripture. Because people can easily follow a Jesus of their own making.
People say they like Jesus until they actually find out who he really is. There are lots of so-called Christians who despise the biblical Jesus. They despise the one who says he did not come to bring peace but a sword for example.
And Jesus said that of course because following him will bring division. Families will be divided friends will be divided nations will be divided. The Jesus. The world loves is a softer one. That fits a false definition of what is good and right so the question is will people follow the real Jesus the Jesus of Scripture.
We have already seen in Matthew that he said most won't follow him. In Matthew chapter 7 verses 13 and 14 Jesus said enter by the narrow gate for the gate is wide and the way is easy. That leads to destruction and those who enter by it are many.
For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life and those who find it are few. So Jesus makes the offer of following him to everyone, but he knows. Most will pass up this offer. He tells the reason why most will not take this offer to follow him.
What Jesus says is that following him requires something from a person and what it requires is difficult. What Jesus says in verse 24 is that if one will follow him he or she must deny oneself and take up your cross.
Jesus mentions the cross here, and we need to remember what he just told his disciples in verse 21. What he told them is that he is going to die at the hands of the elders the chief priests and the scribes.
In verse 24 he is telling them specifically how he is going to die. He's going to be hung on a cross. This is the second time he has referenced the cross in Matthew. The first time was in chapter 10 verse 38 and he would tell his disciples many more times.
That he's gonna die on the cross. To be hung on a cross is a form of execution. Known as crucifixion. Well, we must understand is that crucifixion was the most brutal form of execution arguably in the history of the world.
Today when people die on death row they receive a lethal injection. Before they know it they're gone. This is not so with executions in ancient times. The Romans wanted to humiliate criminals. They wanted to display these criminals as an example to the rest of the population that if you violate the Roman laws.
This will happen to you. In Matthew chapter 27 verse 38 We read that Jesus was crucified next to two robbers. These were violators of the Roman law and now they were going to be crucified and they were next to Jesus.
Crucifixion forced a long drawn-out death as a man hung on the cross. The only way he would be able to breathe was by pushing himself up. But the problem was they wouldn't. One pushed himself up. He would feel the nails in his hands, which would be excruciating.
Eventually the person would be so exhausted that he would no longer be able to push himself up and he would die from asphyxiation which means a severe lack of oxygen. What Jesus is telling his disciples is that if anyone will follow me he must understand that it is the hard road.
It is the Calvary Road. Calvary is the name of the hill where Jesus was crucified. By communicating his future crucifixion what Jesus is saying is your experience will be like my experience. There will be challenges as his follower in this life and Jesus would tell the disciples.
If the world hates you. Remember it hating me first. That's in John to take up your cross Is to experience hardship and to deny yourself is to say no to your sinful desires. To instead follow what God has for you.
These are the two phrases in this passage. Take up your cross. Deny yourself. Deny yourself is to say No to your sinful self your sinful passions that we all have and to pursue righteousness. And to take up your cross Is to do difficult things to endure opposition.
Because you're a follower of Jesus. Jesus did not believe in false advertisement. He wants people to know that before becoming his follower. You need to understand what you are signing up for. I remember going to a informational meeting for cross-country in high school and he and our coach had a sign-up sheet and.
The sign-up sheet was there to indicate interest in Coming out for the team in the fall. So just because you signed your name didn't mean you were going to be on the team. And so what the coach said was you're not signing your life away.
But you know what when you follow Jesus. You are signing your life away. Do we understand this in the gospel of Luke. Jesus expands on what it means? To ponder following him. He does this in Luke chapter 14 verses 25 through 33.
Let's listen to his words here. Jesus Says if anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters. Yes, and even his own life. He cannot be my disciple.
Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. For which of you desiring to build a tower does not first sit down and count the cost whether he has enough to complete it.
Otherwise when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish all who see it begin to mock saying. This man began to build and was not able to finish. Or what. King going out to encounter another king in war will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with 10 ,000 to meet him who comes against him with 20 ,000 and If not, while the other is a great way off.
He sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace so therefore. Any of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple. Jesus is putting it out there. You need to know what you're signing up for and what you're signing up for is hard.
It means putting your selfish desires behind and pursuing the hard road. Now let me ask you this question when you hear churches Past and present in America present the gospel. Do they do it the way Jesus does it?
We're hearing the way that Jesus does it right here. He doesn't sugarcoat it the way Jesus does it was not my upbringing. When the gospel was presented to me it was all about getting into heaven, which is true but it was communicated that there is a There is only happiness in Following Jesus.
It was not communicated that it's hard. It was pray a prayer. Live life how you want and then you'll go to heaven when you die in evangelism. We don't want to win people to a false experience. It is a glorious truth that to follow Jesus is the most joyful thing you can do.
You experience this joy now and when this life is over there will be fullness of joy forevermore. But what every prospect of Christian and current Christian needs to understand is that there will be challenges as you follow Jesus.
It is a life of full surrender. You need to go wherever he takes you. All you need to do is look at the experience of biblical characters and The experience from those in church history to see the truth of Jesus statement here that following Jesus truly means taking up your cross and denying yourself and True Christians live this way.
In the middle of the 20th century there was a pastor in Germany by the name of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Bonhoeffer wrote a book titled the cost of discipleship. The most famous line in this book is this. When Christ calls a man he bids them come and die.
We should listen to Bonhoeffer's words. Now Bonhoeffer would not be a guy I would endorse on several fronts. He was a conservative somewhat. But we should all respect him. Bonhoeffer lived in a very interesting time.
He lived in Germany during World War two. What a dark place to be. The churches in Germany were so weak that they folded to Hitler instead of standing up against him. Honestly, this might sound familiar to what we have seen in America recently in 2020 the government overstepped their bounds given to them in Romans 13.
The responsibility of the government is to promote good and punish evil, but in some places Governors were harder on churches than they were on businesses. There was a clear point where every church should have started to hold services.
Now I understand that some people needed to stay away because of high risk. But for those not in this category how important it was to gather. Hebrews 10 verses 24 25 tells us to gather. It is not a coincidence that the same churches that push social justice Which is rooted in Marxism.
Also did whatever the godless government government told them. In fact some People marched in Black Lives Matter parades whilst keeping their churches closed down. Can you? Believe that in fact most well-known Christian leaders in America didn't want to speak out against what was happening rather.
They wanted the world to have a positive view of them. They didn't want to receive attacks from the unbelieving world like churches that started to meet did. So instead of speaking out they went along with the world these churches and institutions.
Did not want to confront the evil society. For fear of what might happen to them. You Might say Seth you're misrepresenting some people. I know with confidence that this is true of a number of people look at their actions.
Marching in a Black Lives Matter parade, but not opening your church. Okay, what other conclusion can you draw? From that it's fear of man. It's carrying what the world thinks. Not what God thinks? The last thing I want to do is slander anyone so I only say this based on the clear evidence you must understand and this folding to pressure was Bonhoeffer's experience as people in Germany Folded to Hitler.
Christians there did this they did nothing to stand up against evil evil. Hitler was abusing his authority concentration camps world. Conquering was his goal and Bonhoeffer knew that he needed to do something about it.
Some might debate on whether or not he did it the right way. But he should be universally respected for standing up against Hitler when others would not. Bonhoeffer plotted to assassinate Hitler. And when the secret state police discovered his plot Bonhoeffer was arrested and eventually executed.
His obedience to Christ as he stood against evil led him to an early death. He died at the young age of 39 in 1945. So Dietrich Bonhoeffer is a 20th century martyr. He practiced what he preached. He wrote a book titled the cost of discipleship and he experienced that cost when he was martyred by the Nazis.
To follow Jesus means being courageous. It means standing against opposition no matter what the cost is to you. Now you might be wondering What are some ways? You will take up your cross. For Bonhoeffer met martyrdom.
But for you, what is it now? I don't want to sugarcoat this. It is not out of the realm of possibility that some in this room could be martyred for your faith in Christ. You might say no not in America.
Are we the land of the free. Are we the land where? Christianity influenced this nation unlike any other nation in the world. Those things are true, but that's not the America we live in anymore. The way the world is trending and the way this country is trending is toward more hostility toward Christianity and we're already seeing this.
Christianity helped shaped Western civilization and we have many people in this country who want to tear down. Everything about our history. They want to turn on Christianity when you get down to the bottom of it.
Animosity toward biblical Christians has been there for years. But in the last two years, it is only increased. This is especially true in cities where biblical churches are not seen as positive influences to society like they once were.
Out here in Polk County. We have a small level of hostility. I. They weren't threats, but they did not approve of what I teach or what we're doing here. What they don't approve of is our full commitment to Christ.
They're okay with us worshiping quietly just as long as we don't go after their idols. There's a pastor in Osceola Larry Medrick who has received far worse than I have. He has taken on the transgender issue in schools where young women are put at risk when a male poses as a female.
His fight against this has led to people calling for his resignation and even a private Facebook group being formed. Hoping for his demise. So it is good for you to know that there is some opposition in Polk County.
It is here. Don't think that it's not. But it is a minority. The majority of the opposition to biblical Christianity is in the darkest places and this is in the city. Where secularism reigns out here.
Christianity still has a strong influence, but in urban areas. This is not the case and so many of the churches there will not take a stand. And if they did there would be a threat to shut them down. To be honest with you.
So many of the churches are trying to be pragmatic. How can we survive? In a place like this. Instead of saying you know what we're gonna stand up against evil. It's interesting John MacArthur's church is in a very heavily populated area.
And they have received a ton of opposition. But you know what Christ is building his church there at Grace Community Church in California. This is one example of a Church in a heavy populated area that is taking a stand and God is blessing it.
But so many other churches are trying to be pragmatic. How can. How can we survive in this climate? You know and they do that by let's march in Black Lives Matter parades, that's compromise. That's not denying yourself.
That's not taking a request. That's compromise. Now in other places around the world There is a even more realistic chance of martyrdom. For example in Nigeria there are militant Muslims who desire to take over Christian land and kill anyone who stands in their way.
We don't have that level of threat here, but we should not think that something like that would never happen to us. I Know one Christian in particular who has experienced death threats for standing against the evil in American society.
It does happen and there are some crazy people who would do it as well. Even though severe persecutions is possible most of what you will experience is pushback and tension with others because of your faith in Christ as You follow Jesus you'll be made fun of.
You'll not be at the cool kids table. Your workplace experience will be more difficult because you won't compromise. Some of you have already experienced this right relationships with family and friends will be difficult.
Remember Jesus said he would divide families and this might be your experience. You want to talk about Christ you want to talk about the deep things of God? But nobody wants to talk about that with you.
And others will be even hostile towards you because of your faith in Christ. What you must also understand is that as you follow Christ more closely you have a big bullseye on your back. Satan is watching you and he doesn't like that.
You're following Jesus closely. He wants you to be worldly and you know what if you're worldly. You're useless to Christ. If you want to make yourself useful to Christ, then he is going to send attacks your way.
I see our church this way. There's many years ago 10 12 years ago there was Not a lot of people here and in some of you faithfully stayed around and. And now the Lord is building his church here and and Satan has to pay attention again to what's happening here and that should bring us great joy that God is working in this place and and he has to pay attention to the work that God is doing here.
Denying yourself and taking up your cross that Jesus describes in verse 24 is not just outside of you. So you have Satan you have the world. Denying yourself is also inside of you. You have to fight against your own sinful flesh.
You have certain sins that you fight on a daily basis. But if you weren't a follower of Jesus, you wouldn't fight. You would give in. To give in is easier than to fight. And the Apostle Peter wrote in 1st Peter 2 11 That we are to fight our sinful desires.
He wrote beloved. I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh. Which wage war against your soul as a follower of Christ you are at war. You're at war with the world with Satan and with your own sinful desires.
In this text Jesus wants everyone to understand this what he's telling his disciples and everyone who would follow him. Is that to follow him is like swimming upstream. Think about the St. Croix River.
It's like swimming North on the St. Croix River that is flowing south. Not an easy thing to do and the reason you're swimming upstream is because you're not going where the world is going. You're not going with the flow.
In fact, you're going in their opposite direction and the direction you're taking is more difficult. It is the more joyful path. Yes, but it is the more difficult path. People travel down the wide path because it's easy.
It's comfortable. It feels good and everyone else is doing it. But that's not the experience of one who denies oneself and take up one's cross. Your experience as a Christian in enduring opposition enduring tax from the devil hating the desires of your own heart and Desiring to conform more and more to the will of God is a difficult experience and it's an opposite experience of those in the world.
They don't experience that. This hard road that Jesus describes is a daily experience. In a parallel passage in Luke chapter 9 verse 23. Jesus says let him deny himself and take up his cross daily. Daily in some sense.
Your life is more challenging every single day because you're a follower of Jesus. And if it's not it might be because you're not following Jesus. Isn't this supposed to be the good life? It is. But in this fallen world in this world ruled by Satan in this world where you still have your simple flesh it's hard as You follow Jesus you cannot take a day off from fighting your enemies in this world because your enemies inside and out Will never take a day off.
The hard part is now. It is true that there is joy in this life for the believer, but it is a company with hardship. But once this life is over the hardship is gone. And I will talk about what true life in Christ means more next week, but let me drop this in this morning.
One week ago one of my friends Bob Scott um passed away. Some of you knew Bob he has been to the church before. Bob and his wife Judy have been advocates in this area for Tony and Ida Lepouchi missionaries who we support in Albania.
It is because of Bob that Tony and Ida have so many connections with Christians and churches in this area including ours a Few years back. I did not a rich friendship with Bob. We would get together for coffee to talk about what the Lord is doing in our lives.
And we would talk about what the Lord's doing in Albania and Bob used to always tell me everybody's terminal. He had leukemia for many years. And he knew That all of our days are numbered and so when he looked at his life he said you know what I just know that my days are closer, but All of our days are numbered because all of our days have an end.
But the reason I bring up Bob here is because he is a great example of one who denied himself and took up his cross. He was once the superintendent of schools for the Osceola school district. He was also a longtime teacher.
After retirement he and his wife Judy moved to a home on the shores of Lake Superior in Canada. They wanted a nice quiet retirement now. I'm sure they were not wasting their life while they were there.
I know they were very involved in a local church up there. But Bob read a book titled Waste your life, I know that I have expressed some frustrations with Piper who John Piper wrote this book. But this is a good book.
That he wrote and the point of the book is to make your life count for Christ while you are here. And that message persuaded Bob and Judy to sell their home on the shores of Lake Superior and move back to this area.
They thought they could accomplish more for the Lord here than up in Canada and My howl that was true. Bob built connections with lots of people. He had a great influence in this area for Christ's sake but Bob's influence stretched far beyond this area.
He and his wife took several trips to Albania and they are one of the chief reasons. There is a church in Tirana the capital city in Albania. Tony would tell you that without Bob's encouragement and raising support the church that Tony recently planted there Would not be there think about this legacy.
Think about this influence. Lots of lives are tragedies people just throw their life away. And then there's other lives that are tolerable to continue with the alliteration here, you know, okay. Pretty good could have been better.
And then this lives their triumphs where you look at it and say man, what a great life lived unto the Lord. And you look at Bob's life his life is a triumph and He I am sure has heard the words from the Lord.
Jesus. Well done good and faithful servant. His life is a legacy of wholehearted obedience to Christ in my prayer is that each of us Would have this legacy of going down the path less traveled denying ourselves those sinful Selfish desires and instead taking up your cross and following Jesus.
So we are to travel down the path where true life is found in the first focus. How is through setting a pattern of daily obedience. So this is the first point of this to Sunday sermon and next week We will see points two and three and we will look at how the choices you make have eternal Ramifications Jesus tells us we'll see next week.
What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul. How sobering it'll be to look at that and but how important but so at this time, let's our heads in prayer father in heaven.
What a wonderful God you are. Thank you Lord that you speak through your word every single week as We take part in the preaching ministry here and so my prayer Lord is that Indeed I pray that everyone here listening would Deny oneself and take up one's cross to follow you.
It's the hard path forward. But it's the best path and my prayers that everyone here would understand that and live that out in Jesus name.