His Cross(luke 9,23)

[Background music: Hymn playing] [Speaker 1] (Singing) You are Alpha and Omega. We worship you our God. You are worthy to be praised. You are Alpha and Omega. We worship you our God. You are worthy to be praised. We give you all the glory. We worship you our God. You are worthy to be praised. Oh, we give you all the glory. We worship you our God. You are worthy to be praised. Our Father, indeed this evening again as we gather together, we give you honor, we give you glory, we give you adoration. We thank you for your mercies, for your love. We thank you as we gather again this morning unto you. We thank you our Father, our Lord and our God as we connect together in the spirit of fellowship, we who are here physically, our brethren joining us online. Lord, we pray that your spirit will work within us, among us in the name of Jesus. [Speaker 2] This message is coming to you from Family Tents Ministry, Equipping Ministry involved in enriching the lives of singles and married through preaching and teaching of God's word, discipleship, family life enrichment, social and community development, and mission aid. Our regular activities are: Discipleship class every Monday, 5:00 PM; Adolescents and Singles Club every first Saturday of every month at 10:00 AM; Marriage Forum second Saturday of every month at 10:00 AM; family life seminars; regular school outreaches and everyday counseling. For further counseling, you can reach us at our location: Life Camp by the First Bridge, Ilere Community, opposite Very Joy Filling Station along Idjere Road, Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria. You can also reach us through our social media handles: familytents@yahoo.co.uk, familytentsministry01@gmail.com, www.familytentsministry.org. Our phone numbers are 080-3386-1136, 070-3361-3848. God bless you all. [Speaker 1] That you will meet us where we need you most in the name of Jesus. Lord, our eyes are on you this evening again. Let nothing prevail against your purposes for our lives in Jesus' name. Thank you eternal Father. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Let's have our seats. Let's take the matter again from where we left it the last time. Last Monday, it was a time of prayer. We took time to pray based on [Romans 5], [Hebrews 11:40], the last two verses, that God has prepared something better that they without us should not be made perfect. And we tried to look at that which is better. We saw that the love of God for us had been there while we were yet sinners. And if it had been there while we were yet sinners, then we can be very, very sure that now that we are children, the love of God is there. And the Bible says, what can separate us from this love? Nothing can. Nothing can separate us. The reason why it is so difficult for anything to separate us is because the love was there while we were yet enemies. While we were yet enemies, the love of God—God loved us while we were yet his enemies. And so now that we are his children, nothing can separate us from this love. Because ordinarily, it should have been when we were sinners that something should separate us from his love. But if while we were sinners, we were disobedient, we were rebellious, he gave his son in that state, then the state where we are now as children, it becomes impossible. Nothing can separate us from this love. And it is understanding of this that is the basis of the cross of Jesus. It is understanding of this love. I want to move from where we left it last week into our focus today. It is the understanding of this love that makes us to take up his yoke, to leave everything—I mean set everything aside for his sake. Now, what am I trying to say? I want to look at—two weeks ago, we looked at [Luke 9:23]. I said we would still come back to expand it. That's what we want to expand today. But you see many times, we don’t understand the basis of "let him deny himself." We don't understand it. And when the Master said, "If anyone wants to be my disciple, let him deny himself," it’s looking like a big thing. It's looking like, ah, this thing. And so to deny self, it's becoming a major barrier to being able to follow Jesus. And the reason why it is being a barrier is because we don’t understand the love of God. I don’t know whether you understand me. Because we don’t understand the depth of his love, it becomes difficult for us. What Apostle Paul was saying in [2 Corinthians 5], look at [2 Corinthians 5:13]. [2 Corinthians 5] from verse 14—no, let's start from 13. It's clearer from verse 13. "If we are beside ourselves, it is for who? It is for who?" [Congregation] God. [Speaker 1] "Or if we are of sound mind, it is for who?" [2 Corinthians 5], we are reading from verse 13. Look at Apostle Paul here. He said, "For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God. If we are of sound mind, it is for you." Now, in verse 14, he said a very important something, that the purpose of God for them—for God is the centrality of their living. God has a work to do: feed my church. So whether they are out of their mind or they are sane, everything about them sum up into the Kingdom of God and the purpose of God. Now, why was life like this? Why? "For the love of Christ compels us." What I’m trying to make us see: the thing that is holding you back from living for God is your ignorance of his love. If you come to understand the depth of his love, it’s that love that will constrain you to live for him. So when you notice that people are finding it difficult to take this set of instructions—it says, "If any man wants to be my disciple, let him deny himself"—the reason why it is becoming so difficult to deny ourselves is because we are ignorant of his love. What is holding you back from living for God is ignorance of his love. It is as simple as that. And that is why I made it a matter of prayer last week. I’m trying to see the matter from there today because it was a matter of prayer last week that, look, God help us understand his love. You need to beg God. As I took you to that place, the Bible says if while we were yet enemies—scarcely will anybody die for a righteous person. He said although it is possible that for a good man, some people may dare to die. They may dare to die. He said but the strangeness about this God's love is that God did not die for a good man. God actually died for his enemies. He now said if giving Jesus reconcile us back to God, God gave his son to make his enemies his children, now that he has made them children, what kind of love will he have for them? So it is the understanding of the fact that nothing can separate you from God's love, understanding of the depth of God's love, that God is not loving me because of what I do or don't do. When I was wicked, this person so much loved me, he came for me to bring me to this place. Then there is nothing I cannot release to him. There will be nothing. Because there was no reason for which he should give me Jesus. So that is what Paul was trying to make us see here. He said, look, if we are beside ourselves—simple translation, he said if we are crazy, it is to bring glory to God. It seems as if, what is wrong with these ones? Why are they so passionate about this thing? Why are they preaching and talking about Jesus? They are killing them, they are still preaching. They are beating them, they are doing everything. What is making a man to keep preaching and singing praise to this God? Is this man not crazy? What is making—are you understanding the point I’m making? If we look as if we are crazy, it is because all our concern is that we just want to give God glory. If it looks as if we have woken up by 4:00 AM, we want to pray to this God. It looks as if, ah, how many hours have you studied the Bible? Ah, why is it that you cannot just tell a single lie? Why is it that you are running away from sin? Why are you living like this? What is making you this different from every other person? It is what? We just want to bring glory to God. And if on the other hand, it looks as if these people, they are sane in their mind, it is because of the church of God. Why? "Because the love of Christ compels us." Now look at it, look at what they are judging. Paul judged thus: that if one died for all, then all died. Do you get what he's trying to say? Let me take it in another translation. Whatever we do, it is because Christ's love controls us. May that be our experience. That's what we want. It says whatever we do, it is because Christ's love controls us. Since we believe that Christ died for everyone, we also believe that we all died to the old life we used to live. Since he died to make us God's children, we also believe that those ways of life that did not make us children of God, we too have died to it. Are you understanding what I'm trying to say? We were once his enemies. We believe that he came to die to make us God's children. Ah, and we too did also to those ways of life that did not make us children of God, we too we have died to it. We too we have died to it. He came to die to bring us out of it. Ah, and he brought us into this one despite that we were enemies. Then we too, what did we do? We also believe that thing that did not make us children of God, we too we have died to it. And that is the reality actually. Until you understand that you died to those things, they will still be attractive to you. You actually died. It's a thing—and I want you to know something that the Bible says here. It says, "we believe." I keep telling people that until you believe, you cannot experience the life of Christ. He says, "we believe." When you believe that I have died to my old life, you are coming—you believe. There is this belief, "I'm coming, I will come to that." When I come to take up his cross, I will come to this matter of "we believe" because people normally think that justification is by works and not by faith. People want to live the life of God with the energy of themselves. They want to try. They want to use some willpower to follow God. They don't understand that it is God that works in us both to will and to do. I will still come to that. But what I'm addressing immediately right now is that he said, "we too believe that we have died to it." He said we also believe that we died to the old life. Verse 15, "and he died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for him who died for them and rose again." And that is why I tell people this hymn in SS&S, yes, SS&S 115: "When I survey the wondrous cross on which the Prince of Glory died, my richest gain I count but loss and pour contempt on all my pride. Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast save in the cross of Christ, my Lord; all the vain things that charm me most, I sacrifice them to His blood. See, from His head, His hands, His feet, sorrow and love flow mingled down; did e’er such love and sorrow meet, or thorns compose so rich a crown? Were the whole realm of nature mine, that were an offering far too small; love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all." You get the point. It demands everything. So when you see me acting as if I'm crazy, when it's becoming difficult for you to set yourself aside for Jesus, the problem is ignorance of his love. That's the bottom line. What you need to beg God is that, God, help me survey the cross. And that is why I tell people that everything about our Christian life is centered where? In his cross. Unless you can survey the cross, you will not understand the love of God. Unless you can survey the cross—I said this last week—you will be the one always afraid: maybe I will not get to heaven, maybe I will fall down by the way. The confidence that look, the love that took me from being a sinner and made me a child, ah, nothing can separate me from that love. Now that I’m a child, I can be so sure that—what you will not be sure was when I was a sinner. But if as a sinner he could give me Jesus, then what is remaining? There is nothing again. So I tell you, what is making—that’s why the Bible says that perfect love casts away fear. People who are afraid—I will not get there, ah, how am I sure God will help me out of this problem? How am I sure that God will deliver me? How am I sure that God will help me? How am I sure—go and check all these people. They are people who don't understand the love of God. And when you check them, they ironically cannot also give their all to God. because they don't understand. And for you to understand the love of God, you must survey the cross. You can't understand God's love until God can help you survey that cross. When God says that look, birth was a mistake, but adoption is deliberate. It was something that somebody was surveying the cross and he came to an understanding: God did not save me by mistake. It was not that God just suddenly got pregnant and saw me. No, this one God deliberately went out to look for me. Ah, can God ever go out to look for me and then get to a point and abandon me again? When there was no reason to go and look for me, he went looking for me. Now that he has made me his child, how can he throw me away? These are things—it is because somebody sat down to do what? To consider his cross. What I'm trying to say this evening to expand [Luke 9:23] is that please, I want you to beg God to help you survey this cross. To understand the implications, the importance, the power, the privileges that the cross bring. We should still come to some expansions because we must first pray. I keep telling people, what your eyes are not open to will just be a head knowledge. Until your eyes are personally opened to it, it becomes a revelation to you. You cannot live by them. People will just be talking about it. They will just be talking, it's true, God loves us, ah, the love of God. But you cannot live it. It’s not a reality to you because it’s just a head knowledge. The love of God, I’m saying that must go beyond academic knowledge. It must become a revelational knowledge to you. And when it’s revelational again, it becomes a living reality. It becomes something that constrains you. If the love of God is not constraining you, then you have not understood that love. And so that is what the Bible makes us to see in [2 Corinthians 5:15]. Now, when we now go—before I move on to [Luke 9:23], I still want to make mention of this [1 Corinthians 2]. Don't forget where we started from. In the first series of the cross, we look at there is a need for us to know what is wisdom and that there are some who have a form of godliness but deny the power. You remember? In the second series of the cross, that was June 13, we considered the Corinthian church about the issue of power. What is the power? What do we mean when we say they deny the power? That’s where we saw that the cross is wisdom of God and it's what? It's power of God. So when they say they deny the power, what we mean is that they don't pay attention to the cross. It is in the cross that the power of God is revealed. It is in the cross that the wisdom of God is revealed. So there are people who have a form of godliness, they are just religious, but they have not encountered the implication of the cross. They don't have a revelation of the cross. So they deny the power. They are just inside the temple, but they are strangers to the God of the temple because they don't understand the cross. Now, that was what we looked at June 13. And so I just want to read further down from where we left the matter in that June 13 series. Now if you look at it—we read from verse 1 to around verse 3. But now I want to read to around verse 11. It says: "And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God." So the cross is not about eloquence. It's not about good English. It's not about fine grammar. And it's not about earthly wisdom. What did Apostle Paul say? He said, "For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified." That is the whole essence of our walk with God. He said that in the second series. Now he says, "I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom." I keep telling people, it's not academic excellence or intellectual prowess that makes good preachers. It is the power of the Holy Spirit. He says "persuasive word of human wisdom, but in what? In the demonstration of the Spirit and of power. That your faith should not be in the wisdom of men." You see people, they can speak very high sounding words about scriptures. But when you ask them to reduce this to everyday living—don't lie, don't steal, don't be easily provoked, love your enemy, do good to them that hate you, be faithful to your wife—they cannot do that. That’s what we mean by this, "your faith should not be based on human wisdom." They can teach and tear down the Bible, but when it comes to living the life of God, they cannot. Those are faiths that are based on men's wisdom but not on the power of God. "However," look at what he said, that's where I'm going for today. "However, we speak wisdom among those who are mature." So there is a wisdom. "Yet not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, which is coming to nothing. But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery." I want to ask you, what is the mystery of God? What is the mystery of God? [Colossians 2], what is the mystery of God? Christ is the mystery of God. Christ is the mystery of God. So we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, as we speak the wisdom of God that is inside Christ. [Colossians 2] tells us that Christ is the mystery of God. We speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, "the hidden wisdom of God, which God ordained before the ages for our glory." So you see that the only thing that can truly glorify us is the wisdom of God. "Now, which none of the rulers of this age knew, for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory." So when we say we speak it in a mystery, that mystery is what? It is the mystery that surrounds the crucifixion of Christ. So we speak the wisdom of God, that wisdom of God is in what? The crucifixion of Christ. The mystery of God is that Christ was crucified. That's the mystery of God. Now look at it, "But as it is written, Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for those who love Him." But what did the Bible say? "But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For no man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him. Even so, no man knows the things of God except the Spirit of God." Now, I want you to look at verse 12 where we are stopping. It says, "Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is from God, for which reason? That we might know the things that have been freely given." So please, certain things have been freely given. God gave us his spirit to know those things which are freely given. The point I'm trying to make you see: that that which God wants to do with us and about us, they are free. They are freely given. All we need to operate them is what? Is what? It says that he gave us his spirit that we may know the things that have been freely given. So why did God give his spirit? It tells you: these things are free, but they cannot be operated until they are known. Is that not true? So the essence of receiving God's spirit is for us to have understanding of what has been freely given, not what we want to give. We need to know what has been freely given for us to be able to operate in this life. We need to know them because if we don't know them, we cannot operate. People are trying to operate. People are trying to live for God. People are trying to do that for God. But they don't understand that first they must know what has been freely given to them. And where were they freely given? Where? On the cross. So people must know what happened at the cross before they can operate. While they don't know it, it's an unfortunate thing. They will have a form of godliness, but what will happen? There will be no power. There will be no power. And so as we come into the matter in [Luke 9], [Luke 9] from verse 18: "And it happened as he was alone praying, that his disciples joined him, and he asked them saying, 'Who do the crowd say that I am?' So they answered and said, 'John the Baptist, but some say Elijah, others say that you are the old prophet, that one of the old prophets has risen again.' Then he said to them, 'But you, who do you say that I am?' Peter answered and said, 'The Christ of God.'" Now Jesus said—and he strictly warned them and commanded them to tell this to no one, saying, "The Son of Man must first suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests, and killed, and be raised the third day." What is he trying to say? What are you understanding from this place? I want you to look at the discussion. Jesus asks his disciples: "Who do the people call me?" They mentioned several things. He said, "Okay, you yourself, what are you calling me?" Then Peter answered and said, "You are Christ." What did Jesus do? He warned them that they should not tell anyone about it. What is it they should not tell anyone? That he is the Christ. I’m going somewhere. Don’t tell anybody that I am the Christ. That is in verse 21. Saying, why was he warning them? He was saying that the Son of Man must first suffer many things, be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, be killed, and then be raised the third day. So what is he trying to say? He is telling you that the relevance of that Christ is useless until the cross. Until he goes through the suffering, he goes through the death and the resurrection, the whole implication of his being Christ will not come into operation. I'm trying for you to understand the matter of his cross. That it is in the cross everything about the Christ becomes operational. It is in the cross. And so he warned them, don't reveal me until the cross. Don't speak about me now. Don't reveal me now. Don't bring me yet to people. Don't tell them I am until I have taken up this cross. And there is a death and there is resurrection. Now immediately he now said that, that’s when he made the statement. Then he said to them all, "If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself." Now, we want to try and look at this statement closely, trying to understand it, trusting the Lord to give us understanding. He says, "If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself." Comma, "And then take up his cross daily, and then follow me." Now Jesus said—he went further in verse 24, "For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. For what profit is it for a man if he gains the whole world and he himself is destroyed or lost?" He went further in verse 26, "For whoever is ashamed of me and my word, of him the Son of Man shall be ashamed when he comes in his own glory and in his Father's and of the holy angels." Now you will notice that immediately Jesus talked about his suffering and his death. After he talked about that, "Don't reveal me until my suffering and my death and my resurrection," now he was now calling for the would-be followers. "If anybody truly wants to follow me, what is the pattern of following me?" The pattern to follow me is "let him deny himself." Now, when he said that, "let him deny himself," comma, "and then take up his cross daily and then follow me." I'm going to speak on "let him deny himself" and then I'm trying to make you see, but thinking about "let him deny himself" and trying to make you see that it was a cumulative statement, that to be able to follow Jesus is not only about denying yourself. It’s about denying yourself, take up the cross, and follow. It’s not "deny yourself and follow me." So I'm going to handle this verse as a cumulative statement. I'm going to handle "let him deny himself" today. We are going to see how "let him deny himself" is connected with "let him take up his cross." So any would-be follower must learn these two things: of denying himself and taking up the cross to be able to follow. If he does not deny himself, taking up the cross will not be possible. If he deny himself and does not take up the cross, following the Master is going to be impossible. And so as we come into the matter in [Luke 9:23], what is the basis of being able to deny ourselves? What is the fundamental basis of being able to do so? Is understanding of the depth of God's love. No man can truly deny himself who does not understand the depth of God's love. Why is it so? Why is it that it is impossible to live for God if you are not constrained by his love? Let's take it in the NLT translation: "Then he said to the crowd, 'If any of you wants to be my follower, you must put aside selfish ambition, shoulder your cross daily and follow me.'" So to deny himself, the NLT says is to put aside selfish ambition. What makes a particular ambition selfish? "Let him deny himself, let him set aside his selfish ambition." If you look at that reading in the NIV: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself." So he’s using that same word "deny." In the Message translation, he said, "Then he told them what they could expect for themselves: 'Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You are not in the driver's seat. I am. Don't run away from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I will show you how.'" I take it in the Amplified translation, trying to expand this matter of "let him deny himself." It says, "And he said to all, 'If anyone wishes to come after me, let him deny himself,'" then in bracket he began to expand it: "Let him disown himself. Let him forget himself. Let him lose sight of himself and his own interest. Let him refuse and give up himself." Now when you look at the center of this matter, you will see something coming out very, very clearly: that to follow Jesus is something we must understand as a yoke. Look at [Matthew 11:28], the popular scripture: "Come to me all ye who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you what? Rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart and you will find rest for your soul." Now you note that in coming to Jesus, Jesus makes something clear. He said, "Take my yoke." Now the matter of the cross of Jesus, after he has said something about his suffering, his death, and his resurrection, Jesus was making something very clear: that people become study that will say he's a follower of Jesus. One fundamental thing about it, that aspect of it, is something that—what the cross is saying is that we are telling ourselves: it doesn't matter what happens, the only thing that is important to me is that Jesus is glorified. The only thing that is important to me, the only thing, it doesn't matter okay, it doesn't matter what I lose, it doesn't matter what—how the whole thing turns. If it’s going to mean that I’m going to die, if it’s going to mean that any high it’s going to turn, I only have one primary concern: Jesus must be glorified. That is the yoke of Jesus. The reason why we are doing that—by the time we come to why he said let him take up the cross, you’ll understand it better. But you see for anybody, what the cross is saying is that we are telling ourselves that look, it doesn't matter how everything will turn. My primary interest is that Jesus—what I do, what I say, the way I act—you know, the things that I finally gain is that through it all, Jesus is glorified. The second implication of this aspect, from what the Lord is saying, it has come a clear understanding that actually you have not profited in life if Jesus is not glorified through your life. The first, the only thing I seek in life is what? That Jesus is glorified through my life. Secondly, I must come to an understanding that actually I have not profited in life if Jesus is not glorified through my life. I've not made any profit. No profit, in any venture, in anything that you do in life, if Jesus is not glorified in that thing, you have not made a profit. You have actually made a loss. These are things that—when it says "let him deny himself," it is coming to an understanding and doing so. Why is it so? Why is it that actually—do you realize that if God had not interrupted your path, you are actually eternally lost? You need to come to this understanding. That look, if not that God came in—if God did not come, actually, eternally you are lost. That is, if Jesus was not introduced, if there was no Jesus factor, you could have made money, you could have married, you could have gotten the certificate, you could have done everything you want to get, but actually you are lost. The only thing that is making your life not to be lost is Jesus. Are you getting the point I'm making at all? So when he says deny yourself, it is coming to this understanding that the only thing that actually gave my life value was Jesus. That was the only thing. From once you remove him, what is remaining? Eternal condemnation. You are lost. You were going nowhere. That was exactly what Jesus was saying. What was he saying? Look at it in another way in [John 15:5]. Oh, may we learn to forget about ourselves. May we learn to forget about our interest. May we learn—may we lose sight of ourselves. May we refuse ourselves. May this thing constrain us to say look, if it is not for Jesus and about Jesus, I'm not interested. In everything that I'm doing, it's about Jesus. My reading is about Jesus. I can't make money outside Jesus. I want to gain skills; it is—whatever we take Jesus out, that thing must be out. That is it. Look at what he said in [John 15]: "I am the true vine and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away and every branch that bears fruit he prunes that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in me." Do you see that? Do what? Abide in me. Don't go outside me. Don't look for anything outside me. Whatever we take you take you outside me, don't go out. If get—getting anything, it must be inside him. It is in him whatever I want to get, it is in him. I don't want to get anything outside him. "Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me and I in him bears much fruit. For without me, you can do what? You can do nothing." And sometimes I try to ask believers, if you look at it ordinarily, is it true that without Jesus man can do nothing? Are there not infidels in your class that are making first class? Are there not infidels, people who does not know God, regard God, unbelievers, atheists, that are presidents of nations? Don't we have them? Are there not engineers, doctors that don't know Jesus? But Jesus said look, you need to understand something about this denying yourself is that without me you can actually do nothing. I'm saying these things in respect to bearing fruit. Of course, the branch cannot bear fruit alone. Once you cut the branch from the tree, it will die. That is the contextual discussion here. But I'm expanding the discussion to say that let's look at our life, look at your life outside Jesus. He says, "For without me you can do nothing." Now I'm trying to look at life now, just life outside Jesus. Ordinarily, is it true that people can do things without Jesus? They are. People are doing a lot of things. Are they not having disciples? Look at terrorism. Is terrorism not having disciples? People that do suicidal bombing, are they not disciples of a particular principle of belief? Are they not having disciples? Look at what you call other religions of the world. Are they not having followers? So are they not being fruitful? So what is it that it is why is it that it is nothing? You see the point I'm trying to draw out about this matter of self-denial is an understanding that you must come to: that you see anything outside Jesus and him glorified is actually nothing to us. It does not add anything to your life. It does not contribute anything to it. Anything that is not flowing from that relationship with Jesus, no matter what that thing is, it is actually what? Nothing. I’m showing another way of looking at what does it profit a man if he gains the world and lose his soul. That actually we cannot profit outside our life being giving glory to Jesus. If your life don't give glory to Jesus, no matter what you think you have gathered, you have attained, no matter what interest you think that you have protected, the truth is that you have protected nothing. Actually, you have lost everything because the only thing that actually gave value to your life was when Jesus was introduced. If not because he loved us and interrupted us, that was the only thing that put value into this life. So if I live that love, what is remaining? Life is useless. My life you forgot that if I had not come, you are eternally lost. You are eternally condemned. You are going nowhere. That was exactly what Jesus was saying. What was he saying? Look at it in another way. If Jesus was not introduced, if there was no Jesus factor, you could have made money, you could have married, you could have gotten the certificate, you could have done everything you want to get, but actually you are lost. The only thing that is making your life not to be lost is Jesus. Are you getting the point I'm making at all? So when he says deny yourself, it is coming to this understanding that actually your physical mundane life will just be a rotting. It's not as if it's going to—are you getting the point I'm making? That is why the Bible was saying that bodily exercise profit little, but godly exercise will profit both in this life and in the life to come. So if you have understanding, it is better to lose every interest and be concerned about Jesus. Every you must forget. Just forget about everything and let us see. Just forget about your interests. He who loses his life for my sake, the person will gain it. But mind you that if you think that you can keep it, it is because you have forgotten that if not for me, the life don't have value in the first place. You forgot that if I had not come, you are eternally lost. You are eternally condemned. That was exactly what Jesus was saying. What was he saying? Look at it. There was no single value in your life. There was no value. What introduced value to your life was Jesus. It is something that you must—you must come to that understanding if you want to follow Jesus. That if not because he loved us and interrupted us, that was the only thing that put value into this life. So if I live that love, what is remaining? It is useless. It is not just gave our life value; it is also that that value that he gave to our life, that value that he gave to our life, is a value that in itself will give us money that is not just ordinary money again. It is going to give us life and life in abundance. It’s now going to give you riches through righteousness. It will give you gain through holiness. Are you understanding me at all? That is why the Bible was saying that bodily exercise profit little. But godly exercise will profit out both here and in the life to come. So if you have understanding, it is better to lose every interest and be concerned about Jesus. Lose every interest! Every you must forget. Just forget about everything and let us see. Just forget about every other thing and let us see. Just forget about everything and let us see. He who loses his life for my sake, the person will gain it. But mind you that if you think that you can keep it, it is because you have forgotten that if not for me, the life don't have value in the first place. Oh, you forgot that if I had not come, you are eternally lost. You are eternally condemned. You are going nowhere. That was exactly what Jesus was saying. What he was saying? Look at it. There was no single value in your life. There was no value. What introduced value to your life was Jesus. It is something that you must—you must come to that understanding if you want to follow Jesus: that if not because he loved us and interrupted us, that was the only thing that put value into this life. So if I live that love, what is remaining? Life is useless. Mind you, the reason why that thing is constraining us, why are you so passionate about this Christ thing? Why are you so passionate about this thing? Is that it is not just gave our life value; it is also that that value that he gave to our life is a value that in itself will give us life and life in abundance. It's not as if it is not going to—are you getting the point I'm making? That is why the Bible was saying that bodily exercise profit little, but godly exercise will profit both in this life and in the life to come. So if you have understanding, it is better to lose every interest and be concerned about Jesus. I want us to go ahead to pray this evening. I want us to just talk to the Lord. "Let him deny himself." I'm just trying to pull on this implication, why you need to forget yourself. Why you need to forget your interest. "Hey, I want to be this, I want to do this, all these things." Come to Jesus! "I want to no, I must get this by all means." You do that contrary to Jesus. You want anyhow let me just do this thing. Look, the reason why you must forget about all of these interests is what we are discussing this evening. The only value, the only good thing in your life is eternal life. Apart from that life, you are eternally condemned. You are a dead man. You are useless. You are a candidate of hellfire. There is no value in your life. You—the Bible says you are an enemy of God. You don't have a place, you don't have a hope. You are hopeless. The only thing that brought hope, it is that Christ, and that is why you must leave every other thing for only Christ. Talk to God this evening. Lord, that I may know the things that are freely given to me. "We have received the Spirit of God so that we may know what has been freely given to us." All these things have been freely given unto us, but it takes understanding to know them. Lord, open my understanding. Open my understanding. Fill me with the knowledge of your will. Help me to understand my identity in you. Help me to see my fullness in you. So that your love can constrain me, that I may survey this cross. That I may see the amazing thing about your cross. That I may live for you. That it may be you. That it may be you and you alone. You are the only value in my life. You are the only thing that made my life—that gave my life a meaning. You, oh God, help me to set aside all other pursuit, all other interest. In everything that I'm doing, it's about Jesus. My reading is about Jesus. I can't make money outside Jesus. I want to gain skill; it is—whatever we take Jesus out, that thing must be out. That is it. Thank you precious Daddy. Thank you precious Daddy. Lord, we give you glory. As we go, we go in your name, and we return next week with testimony in the name of Jesus. Thank you precious Daddy. In Jesus' mighty name we pray. Amen. Let's together share the grace. May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us now and forevermore. Amen. [Background music fades out]