Take up your cross daily, Sermon by Pastor John Franklin

Luke 9:23-27 and the Call to Follow Jesus

No, it is a great day, but I do love being up here. I do miss the opportunities I had at Hampton to share God's Word. But guys, I'm going to be a little bit honest with you this morning. I toiled this week over what I was going to share because I knew half the church was going to be gone.

So I'm like, what do I tell the ones that are still here? And I searched through a bunch of my old sermons trying to get inspiration, searched through scripture trying to get inspiration. What am I going to get?

And then I had a little panic moment. I don't know if you guys noticed. I had a little panic moment over there because I use my my tablet with my sermon notes on it because I lose papers and I can save my sermon notes on the cloud and I can pull them up on my phone.

I can pull them up anywhere. And I went to look up scripture because the scripture hit me in my head while I was singing and I opened up my Bible app and all of a sudden my Word document disappeared. And I hit Word.

Normally that last one you're worked on is one on top, right, but because I had been in so many the past week I couldn't, the last one I worked on wasn't on top. I panicked a little bit. I'm gonna have to just talk.

We'll be done in five minutes here. But guys, no, I did struggle. Because what do you tell people about God's Word? So I started thinking, I started praying, and we're going to be in Luke chapter 9. And guys, these words, we hear them so often.

You hear the pastors quote them so often from here, but do we really pay attention to what they mean? So we're going to be in Luke chapter 9 today starting in verse 23. And it says, then he said to them all, and this is Jesus talking, if anyone wants to come with me he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me.

For whoever wants to save his life will lose it. Whoever loses his life because of me will save it. What is a man benefiting if he gains the whole world yet loses or forfeits himself? For whoever is ashamed of me in my words the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory, and that of the Father and of the holy angels.

Let's pray. Father, right now, let us choose to follow you. Father, right now, let us take the cares of this world and just leave them outside the door and let us praise you. Father, right now, let the words of my mouth be the words you wish your people to hear.

In your name, amen. What does it take to follow Jesus? Because I would dare say if I was to ask right now, and I'm not going to do it, I'm going to rhetorically ask, I don't want to answer, how many people in here say they follow Christ, most of us in here would probably raise our hands.

But what does it really take to follow him? And in that first verse I read there are three things Jesus said you have to do to follow me. He says if anyone wants to come with me you must deny yourself, take up your cross daily, and follow me.

So that's what we're going to talk about today. What do those three criteria actually mean to the believer? So let's look at that first one, denying ourselves. It's very clear that you want to be a disciple of Christ, you have to deny yourself, right?

You have to acknowledge there's something greater than you that needs to be in charge. But what does that mean? Well for the lost person, we got a few extra steps, and there may be some lost people in here, so I'm going to go over those first.

If you don't know Christ as your Lord and Savior, now you might need to understand what it means to follow him or to deny yourself for the lost person. And first and foremost that means renouncing the faith that you have in anything else in this world, renouncing the idea that anything else in this world can save you from the damnation you're already condemned to.

You know everybody likes to read John 3 16 where it says God loved the whole world, right? But they forget to read down a couple more verses and says that if you don't know Christ you're already condemned.

So the first thing you have to do to deny yourself is acknowledge the fact you can't do it without him. In John 14 6 it says, Jesus talking, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Now I know it's a common teaching nowadays for them to say, oh it doesn't matter which religion you follow, they all lead to God. Well, both those statements can't be true. So either what man says that all religions lead to God or what Jesus says, no one comes to the Father except through me is true.

You have to acknowledge both those can't be, right? You have to acknowledge the fact that religion can't save you. You can show up in church every single time the doors open, it doesn't matter. There are many people in this world that follow a religion and follow relentlessly all the tenets of that faith, but are still going to stand before God and he's going to say, depart from me you workers of iniquity, I never knew you, right?

Paul said in Romans chapter 3 that no one will be justified in his sights by the works of the law. No one is justified by following the law. All the law did when God gave us Moses was to point out this is sin and you can't do it on your own.

That was the whole purpose of the law. If you do, it wasn't just ten commandments, there were over 620 of them. And then the Pharisees added on top of that. God said don't go this far, so the Pharisees said I don't want you to go this far, we're going to put the line back here.

So now you had God's law to follow, you had man's law to follow, and that's what some religions tell you to do now, right? So religion is not going to save you. Church is not going to save you. First Timothy 2, 5, and 6 says for there is one God and one mediator between God and humanity, Christ Jesus.

I can't pray you into heaven. The pastors can't grab you by the hand and walk you up to Jesus's gate, right? There's one mediator. It doesn't matter if your mama was there. It doesn't matter if you grew up in church.

Growing up in a building doesn't mean you actually follow what God has taught. It just means you showed up. Most importantly, you have to deny that you can get there on your own, right? He saved us not by works of righteousness that we had done, but according to his mercy through the washing of regeneration renewal by the Holy Spirit.

The efforts that you do, it doesn't matter how good, how moral of a person you are without Christ, you're lost. To deny yourself is to acknowledge that fact. You can't earn your way to heaven. I have this co-worker of mine.

He and I used to actually talk about theology at night when I worked the night shift, and unfortunately he's a Muslim, and by their belief, as long as your good works outweigh your bad ones, you'll make it into heaven.

Guys, that's not what scripture teaches us. All our sins are forgiven in the blood of Christ, and without him you still stand condemned. So the first thing to deny yourself is to acknowledge the fact that you can't do it on your own, but then you have to learn to put your trust in Christ alone, right?

Acts 4 .12 says there is salvation in no one else for there's no other name under heaven given to man by which we must be saved. No other name. John 3 .36, the one who believes in the Son has eternal life, but the one who refuses to believe in the Son will not see life.

Instead, the wrath of God remains on him. You have to put your trust in God. You have to put your trust in Christ. Now that's for the non-believers, so theoretically all of you who claim to be a Christian here have already done those first two things, right?

But the things you have to do to deny yourself as well, you have to learn to put Christ first in your life. Not second, third, not when it's convenient, but seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, then all these things will be added unto you.

Don't worry about pursuing fame, don't worry about pursuing money, don't worry about pursuing status, seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness. That's what it means to deny yourself. That's what that true agape love really means, that agape sacrificial love means, to deny what you want and you desire and seek what somebody else does.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Lean not into your own understanding, but in all your ways acknowledge Him, and then He will guide you on the right path, right? And it says He will. We have to learn to put Him first.

We have to learn to seek His will and not ours. You guys, that's hard. It really is. Because sometimes, I want to be selfish. I don't want to get up Saturday morning on my one day off and go help Candace move, but guess what?

We're not going to be Saturday morning at eight freaking o 'clock in the morning on my day off. I'll tell you guys a little side note. Gary, you guys are saying, they came out and helped me, I'm working on a project to try to get a deck built for Casey, and they came out and helped yesterday and Gary worked us like a Hebrew slave.

I tried to tell him we needed to stop. He said, no, we're going to keep working till six, and by golly, Gary kept working till six. But that's what it means to deny yourself, right? You seek to serve others.

You seek to serve Christ. Since we live by the Spirit, Galatians 5 to 25 says, we must also follow the Spirit. We need to be like John said, I must decrease because he must increase, and every day you need to think that thought.

There needs to be less of me and more of him in what I show to the world. We have to deny the desires of our flesh, that extra few hours of sleep, right? That lust of our eyes, that pursuit of materialism.

We have to learn to deny those things. Galatians 5, 16 says, I say then walk by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is against the Spirit, and the Spirit desires what is against the flesh.

These are opposed to each other so that you don't do what you want. You want to deny yourself. Deny what your body says you want to do. Deny what your mind says you want to do, and learn to follow what God wants for you.

We kind of talked about this last week, right? Getting in the race. For I know the plans that I have for you declares the Lord, right? You guys realize that that was said, and I'm sure you guys do because we've said it from this pulpit many times, that that was told to the Israelites when they were getting ready to go into slavery.

Jeremiah 29, 11, everybody likes to quote when things start getting tough. For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, right? Plans for your welfare, not destruction, to give you a future and a hope as they were getting ready to go into slavery.

So we have to learn to deny ourselves. Paul says in Romans, therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that it obeys its desires. All these things of the flesh, Paul says stamp it out. And we see in scripture over and over those lists of things God says to get rid of.

And if you're not actively doing that, you're not denying yourself, you're serving yourself. So Christ says to deny ourselves, and we've kind of belabored this point and kept on. I'm not going to keep on, but then it says to pick up our cross daily.

You guys realize that to follow Christ is a daily choice, because it takes that daily effort to deny yourself, right? Every day when you wake up you have to acknowledge the fact I am going to follow Christ today.

But let's look at the cross. What was the cross? Pick up your cross daily. It was an instrument of death. The Jews actually saw it as a curse. It said in Deuteronomy 21, 22, if anyone is found guilty of an offense deserving the death penalty and is executed and you hang his body on a tree, which is what hanging him on the cross was, you are not to leave the corpse on the tree overnight but to bury him that day.

For anyone hung on a tree is under God's curse. You must not defile the land the Lord your God has given you as inheritance. So when Jesus says to deny yourself, take up your cross, he's saying take up that curse.

Be willing to sacrifice that much. We have to be willing to accept daily what God has laid before us. Those plans and works that he prepared ahead of time. And we have to be willing to walk in those steps every day.

Yeah, it's hard. It might seem easy for me to stand up here and say, but it's it's hard to actually do, because someone cuts you off in traffic and what do you do? Right? Or someone goes gets the last popsicle out of the freezer and you've been outside all day.

I hate it when those girls do that. Just a little. My little adult, I do get me some popsicles. I keep them in the freezer. I love popsicles and when I get home and they don't have them and I knew I just bought some, I get a little hot, I'm just saying.

But guys, we have to be willing to daily say I'm going to follow God. I'm going to deny myself. I'm going to do what he wants me to do rather than what I want to do and willingly accept the cost of being his disciple.

Because that's what picking your cross up is. Accepting that cost because it does cost you if you're truly his disciple. What does it cost to sow? What did Jesus say? You have to be willing to give up to follow me.

Let's read a couple things because it said in verse 25 of our topic passage that what benefit is if a man gains the whole world yet loses it and forfeits himself, right? So one of the passages in Mark 10.

And Jesus is talking, this man comes up to him after he's speaking and says, and he was sitting on his journey and a man ran up and knelt before him and asked, good teacher what must I do to inherit eternal life?

Jesus said to him, why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments. Do not murder. Do not commit adultery. Do not steal. Do not bear false witness. Do not defraud. Honor your father and mother.

And he said to him, teacher all these things I've kept from my youth. And Jesus looked at him, loved him, and said, you lack one thing. Go and sell all that you have and give to the poor and you will have treasures in heaven and come and follow me.

So in that example, the guy said, I did everything religion told me to do. I followed the law. Jesus said, give up everything you own. Give it away to those who need it. Then you can be my disciple. How many of us are willing to do that today?

How many of you willing to sell everything you own to ensure your place with God? Kind of puts it a little different perspective, doesn't it? In Matthew 8, and a scribe came up to him, teacher I will follow you wherever you go.

And Jesus said, foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the son of man has nowhere to lay his head. Another of the disciples said to him, Lord let me first go and bury my father. And Jesus said to him, follow me and leave the dead to bury their own dead.

You want to follow Jesus? He said, don't worry about a house. Put your head down on a rock. Sleep there. Don't worry about those family members, those loved ones who have died. Let them take care of themselves.

You come and follow. Focus on who's still alive. Focus on those that are here. In Luke 14, 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.

Are you willing to turn your back on your family in order to follow Christ? Christian, if this isn't putting it in perspective, I don't know what will. Are you willing to your brother, your mother, your father, turn your back on them and never speak to them again if that's what it takes to follow Christ?

That's what he means by picking up your cross. Be willing to give up anything in this world that is separating you from him. Anything. And if someone who has told a brother, I don't want you in my life anymore.

I'll tell you it's one of the hardest things you can ever do. But at my father's funeral, when my brother who has been a habitual drug user showed up and made efforts to try to get back in with the family, I thought I'll be there to help you, but you're not to be around my family until you're clean.

And he said he wouldn't give it up. So I told him no more. And the next time I saw him, I just saw the shell that was left at his funeral because he had overdosed. Guys, it's hard to turn your back to do what's right for God, but that's the price that Jesus says you have to do.

Anything that's separating you from him, anything's taking your focus off him, you have to be willing to give it up. That's why Paul was able to give up his status, his power, his prestige. Paul was a Jew of the Jews, right?

He told us that. He had everything. He had wealth. He had status. He had power. He'd come up quickly through the ranks, but he gave it all up and counted it as gain. And guys, you can't just say I'm going to do it once.

It's a daily choice. Pick up your cross daily. Every day when you wake up, every day when you pick that head up off that pillow, you have to say today I choose to serve God. Joshua 24 15, and if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve.

Whether the gods of your father served in the region beyond the river or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell, but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. Is that your choice today?

If not, you might need to go back and rethink your selection. Because guys, the beauty of it is, as it says in Psalm, this is the day the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it, right? It doesn't matter what I lose in this world.

What matters is what I gain in the next. And what's great about that verse when you read it tomorrow, what's it going to say? This is the day the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it. That's the choice you make every day.

I'm going to rejoice in the Lord or I'm going to live for myself. So we deny ourselves, we take up our cross, and we follow him. What's it mean to follow him? I get the image when I read that passage of the snow, right?

And you always see the image of the little boy trying to follow in his father's footsteps in the snow. That's what it means to follow me. The infantry's motto is follow me. And it means I'm going to lead from the front, not from the back.

Jesus says to follow me, but to follow him means to obey him. Jesus says in John 14 21, the one who has my command and keeps him is the one who loves me. And the one who loves me will be loved by my father and I'll also love him and will reveal myself to him.

The one who has my commands and keeps them. It's a two-part. Are you truly following God today? You know what he's called you to do. You know what he's asked you to do. You know what he's told you to do.

But are you following him? Are you serving your flesh? He said in John 15 14, you are my friends if you do what I command you to do. If you're living for yourself, you're not following God. John 14 15, if you love me, you will keep my commands.

So to follow him first means you have to obey him. Because I've had those people when I was a company commander that on paper, yeah, they follow you. But I promise you, if I told them walk this way, they're going to intentionally turn around and go this way.

And some of us have our Christian life the exact same way. God says go this way. I'll keep you from evil. I'll keep you safe. Nope, I'm gonna go over here instead. Just because you told me to go that way.

You rebellious and foolish child. Because to follow someone means to obey them, but it also means to trust them. It means to trust that they might know something a little bit more than you know. Right?

Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Right? Lean not into your own understanding. Jesus said in Luke 12 22 to his disciples, he said, Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on.

For your life is more than food, your body is more than clothing. Considering the ravens, they neither sow nor reap. They have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. How much more value are you than the birds?

Are you willing to take that step of faith and trust that God's going to take care of your needs? He says I'll supply all your needs. See the problem is many of us think that needs means everything I want.

Right? I want a new truck. I don't need a new truck. I want a good paying job. All I need is one that'll provide food for my family. Right? I ask this question to my patients all the time. Is there anything you need?

Most of the time they'll say, is there anything you want? And they kind of look at me like, didn't you just ask me? You realize there's a difference in those two questions. God's going to supply your needs.

Paul said in Romans 8 28, We know that all things work together for those who love God and are called according to his purpose. All things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to his purpose.

Is your trust truly there? Do you believe that statement? That means that job you just lost, God planned it for good. That struggle you're going through right now, that argument you just had, God's going to turn it to good if you trust in him.

If you truly seek out his will, those trials in your life that he says to rejoice in, they serve a purpose. Because Paul continued in Romans and he said, right after he said they're called according, those who are called according to purpose, for those he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed in the image of his son.

So that he would work, he would be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called. And those he called, he also justified. And those he justified, he also glorified. You know what's beautiful about those statements?

They're all past tense. Which means he, in God's eye, they're finished. The work is done. So if God said it's finished, trust that it is. When you're going through those trials, look for the lesson he's trying to teach you at that time.

Because that lesson is either for you to learn or for you to share with somebody else. And I'm here to tell you sometimes, sometimes my parent, please show me this lesson because I'm done going through this.

I don't think I can take another one. But we have to have faith that there is a lesson behind it. Because it's part of that sanctified, so that we can be glorified. To follow God means to obey him, to follow him means to trust him, to follow him means to serve him.

So Christian, how do we serve him? Jesus answered in Luke 4, 8, it said, it is written, worship the Lord your God and serve him only. Well we've talked about denying yourself, that's part of the service to him, right?

He told Peter the way to serve him was to feed his sheep. Psalms 100 says to serve the Lord with gladness. Come before him with joyful songs. So part of our service to God is coming before him to worship him.

I remember when I was first at Wyden, well right before I left him, I'd gotten to where, my journey here is amazing. When I first got here, I went and hid in the sound booth so I wouldn't have to talk to anybody.

Mike, you didn't know that, did you? When they were asking for help, I went back there and I volunteered to help just so I wouldn't have to speak to anybody. But again, all things work together for good, so God, while I'm back there I have to pay attention to what's being said, so God made me listen a little bit closer.

And then when I moved out there to down here, I got, because I wanted to truly worship him. But when I sat in the back, all I did was watch everybody instead of paying attention. So I made a point of sitting up at the front row, and I found myself I would actually worship more, because I wasn't worried about those that were behind me.

I focused on what should be before me, and I truly worshiped in those times. And now I have to sit up here during the praise and worship, and it kind of, my ADD kind of kicks in, and I start catching myself scanning the congregation.

And it's amazing how many people during the time we're called to praise God are standing there like that. I know everybody's not called to be a singer, trust me. My wife laughs at me when I sing, and that's okay.

It says make a joyful noise, right? But praise God during that time. Pray during that time. Don't just sit there. Some people I've seen, I've known, avoid coming in at worship time, and they wait till the sermon's getting ready to start.

Have you prepared your heart to serve God? You're standing out there talking and come into the last moment, or you're standing there thinking about what you're going to do for lunch during the sermon, or during the praise time.

You want to serve God, start by worshiping Him. Romans 12 11 says, do not lack diligent, be fervent in spirit, and serve the Lord. Be fervent. Look for ways to serve Him. So what does that service look like?

First Peter 4 8 says, above all, maintain an intense love for each other, since love causes a multitude of sin. You want to serve God, first start off by loving your brothers in this room, and sisters in this room.

Start off there, and then go out and love the world. But the world, hey, it doesn't matter. Go out and love them anyway. Be hospitable to one another without complaining. Oh, man. You want to serve God, be hospitable to somebody.

Look at somebody in there and take them out to lunch. Even if you have to go Dutch because you can't afford it to pay for, just spend some time with them. Talk to your brothers and sisters in Christ. Talk to those that are lost.

Fill that need that they have. That's serving God. As you did to the least of these, so you did unto me. That's what Jesus said. Invest in somebody. Then it continues on, based on the gift each one has received, use it to serve others.

As good managers of the very grace of God, if anyone speaks, it should be as one who speaks God's word. If anyone serves, it should be from the strength God provides, so God may be glorified through Jesus Christ in everything.

You want to serve God? Use the gifts he gave you. Paul said the same thing in Romans. According to the grace given us, we have different gifts. We're not all the same, right? You want sympathy, don't come to me, right?

Go to my wife, don't come to me. But if you want to fix your problem, I'm more than willing to stand there and help you with it. And as long as you're working towards it, I'll be right there with you.

And we'll figure it out together. But if you just want a shoulder to cry on, go talk to Melanie, because our gifts are different. I want to fix things. She wants to hug things. Freaking hippie. If in prophecy, use it according to standard of one faith, and in service and service, if teaching and teaching, and guys teaching doesn't mean standing in front of a classroom.

Teaching means taking somebody by the hand and talking to them, saying, okay, you don't know how to do this. Young lady, you're dressed immodestly. Let me show you. Let me help you. That's teaching. You don't understand the word of God, let me help teach you.

That's teaching. It doesn't have to be standing in front of a classroom. Disciple somebody. In exhorting, in exhortation. I am going to show a hand. Who knows what exhorting is in here? Miss Suzanne. Gwen.

What's exhorting? To encourage someone to the extent that it makes them better. I'll go along with that definition, and both my wife and I can exhort, right? We just do it different. You want? Yes. It's lifting them up so they can serve others, right?

Pushing them out of their comfort zone a little bit, but giving them the idea they can succeed and encouraging them to do so, right? So if you have that gift, why aren't you using it? If you have the way to motivate people, use it.

That's what scripture just says. That's serving God. If giving, give generously. If leading, do it with diligence. If showing mercy, do it with cheerfulness. And God, all these are hard. My mercy score is kind of low.

I'm not, I'm not going to lie, but there's those that have that high mercy score, and what's sad is when I hear, I just don't want to deal with that person anymore. All they do is complain. God's giving you the gift of mercy, and all you, all you're doing now is complaining about somebody complaining to you.

Guys, if God had given you the gift of mercy, use it. Because sometimes all someone needs is that comforting ear, is that shoulder to cry on, because it is that trial that they're going through. It's just tough.

You want to serve God? You want to follow God? Start using what He's given you, and if you're not sure how, find out how. You want wisdom, James says, to ask for it, right? You're not sure how to use the gifts God's given you?

Ask. Ask Him. Ask those that are around that are already serving. Hey, is there a way I can help you? Start off with that. We have an opportunity to serve that was just mentioned today. The block party, the helping hand, these are all service to God, to His people.

And yeah, it takes sacrifice, but we have to be willing to do it. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 9, for the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints, but is also overflowing in many acts of thanksgiving to God.

They will glorify God in your obedience to their confessions of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with others the proof provided by this service. In other words, what he is saying there, the last thing I'm going to be talking about, and musicians can start coming forward.

You want to follow God? You want to serve God? Tell other people about Him. Who have you shared the love of Christ with this week? Who have you spoken to about God and what He's done for you? Scripture says to always be ready to give a defense for the hope that is within you.

That doesn't mean you have to be able to quote scripture. That means you need to be able to tell people what gives you hope. Why do you follow God? What has He done for you personally? You want to serve God?

Start sharing His love with others. And today, if you're struggling with any of these things, whether it's denying yourself, whether it's choosing daily to follow Him, or whether it's the actual act of following Him and serving others, then you need to ask for repentance today, and you need to come forward today and let yourself decrease a little bit.

Don't worry about somebody watching you walk down the aisle. Don't worry about somebody talking about you behind you. Worry about what God's going to do for you and how He's going to bless you through it.

Focus on that, and you come as God leads.