Father I just thank you for your word this morning. God I thank you, that you have given us the greatest gift, his name is the Lord Jesus. He is the King of Kings, He is the Lord of Lords and I thank you Father that in a dark world, in a time and in a place where we live and it seems desolate and empty, yet father for those who know you, those who trust in your name, there is water in the desert. There is hope in the darkness, there is light, and we thank you this day. Thank you Father, thank you for your word. Bless your word and may you lead this time. In Jesus name, amen.
Today, I wanted to talk about what God has called each and every one of us to do today. There is a call today for us to follow Him and I want to talk about what that entails. What is the call to follow God? What is it about, what does it take in order to be a disciple of the most high God?
As I began to really think about this, many of you guys know I love history. I can read a history book like some read the newspaper and I really enjoy history because there's such a richness in things that we learn from it. What happens, you know, when we open up our history books it's interesting, of how lots of men and women are pointed out for their accomplishments. It may be how they contributed to a great cause or for bettering the world. We think of somebody like Martin Luther King Jr. and his impact on civil rights. We can think of Abraham Lincoln and his impact on slavery, and it goes on and on. Even George Washington before he was the president, he was a general that was known for taking an army of soldiers and crossing an icy Delaware River in order to go fight against the British and stand against them in the Revolutionary War. There are incredible things that we can see and the thing that we also must remember when we’re looking at these great men and women of history, is also those who followed them. See Martin Luther King, he had followers who believed in his vision. They believed in his preaching, they believed so much that they were willing to march alongside, and even in the midst of craziness and turmoil, and stick with what he believed in. George Washington, as I said, he had soldiers. Now listen, it was listed that some of these soldiers couldn't even swim, yet, they went with him across these freezing waters because they believed in their leader, and they believed in the cause, and they followed with all of their lives.
What would the world be like today if these followers decided to quit or didn’t take up the cause? The whole world be entirely different. But I want to say today, that the Lord Jesus Christ also is calling men and women to follow him. Hallelujah, and He is calling us as the church today. We know that Jesus had disciples, right? He had men and women who had followed him and carried the message of the gospel. Now listen, they not only impacted their community, their families, and the lives around them, they literally influenced the entire world as we know it. I don't care what they may say, today many may try to say no and deny it and deny the work that they did. I want to say today that the world, the reason that we are here as a church right now, the reason that we are functioning in the world, is because these men and women followed. They followed the Lord and they brought about a great glory in this place.
The same call He gave those disciples, He is calling us right now today church, the doors are open! Will we step in, will we step in to follow the King? God’s looking for a few good men. God’s looking for a few good women. He's looking for a remnant of teenagers that have decided that to follow Jesus is way better than just doing what everybody else is doing, going after popularity. He’s looking for a people that have decided that getting drunk every weekend and forgetting our names, there is something so much better. He’s looking for those that are tired of following the fad of this and the fad of that, and deciding to get serious and say - I am ready to follow the King!
Sadly many times, the story goes where many people do begin to follow Jesus, they hear His call. They decide that they want to follow Him but somewhere along the line they realize for themselves and they believe that the cost is just too high, so they settle for a little bit less. This is when the man or woman might have an experience with God, but fail to ever move on to something bigger and better. They settle and all of a sudden they realize that it requires us to lay down our flesh. They realize that it's gonna require us to surrender. I’ve spoken to countless numbers of people. In all honesty, I've spoken to people that have said - Listen Jeff, I feel that God has had a call over my life. I know that He has called me, I know that He has a plan. But you see, those very same people never move from that one thing. They take it as though it's enough to know that God has called them, but they never do anything with that calling. They settle and they seize and they never pursue the deeper life of God, the deeper life. God is saying today - if you hear me calling you, will you hold back or will you release yourself and surrender so that I may have my will done on Earth as it is in heaven in your life.
Those who hear Him calling, somebody here, you might be hearing Him calling you right now. When you hear the call and respond to follow Him, I'm telling you right now, that salvation hits your soul and something incredible happens. When you realize the sweetness of the gospel, the gospel that redeems us from our sin, for ourselves, from our empty life, and brings us hope of a new life living with God. When you discover that the Lord Jesus Christ, that apart from Him we are nothing but enemies of an Almighty God, that can take out a nation in a moment. When you turn to Him, all of a sudden there's an urging, there's a birthing, there's something in you that says - God I’ve got to follow you, there is nothing else for me, I'm coming Lord!
Is He moving in your heart this day? Do you hear His voice, do you hear Him calling? The gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, I want to say, has stood the test of time and although many men including kings, queens, dictators and movements of people, have tried to destroy it, they’ve tried to silence it, still today it is transforming men, women, and children alike.
See, the Lord Jesus Christ cannot be held down and I want to tell you the same power that the disciples lived in, is the same power that those who decide to follow God, that we walk in it today. We walk influencing our family, we walk influencing our community, our nation, and even this world by the power and glory of following the Almighty God, amen!
Today, the question is, God is calling us, He wants us to follow Him. What does it require for us to follow him?
If you have your Bibles, we’re going to turn to the book of Matthew chapter 16, we’ll be reading from a few verses from 24 to 28, we’re going to break that up a little bit.
As you're turning there, it's really interesting we’re finding Jesus, He's talking to his disciples, to his followers. We realize, when you read the Gospel, there are so many moments where Jesus is teaching them what it's gonna take to follow in the kingdom of God, what it's gonna take to be a Christian. All the time we see Him, He's instructing them - listen, it's not gonna be the way that you think it's gonna be. It's not gonna be your own strength, it's not gonna be your own power, it's gonna be my power. So we’re finding here the perfect example that Jesus gives, He gives us complete instruction of what it takes to follow Him.
So beginning with 24, the first thing that we must do is pick up our cross. Let's read it together; “then Jesus said to the disciples, “whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” And we stop right there because Jesus is saying - do you want to follow me? Do you want to get real in this life? Do you really want to walk this walk with me? Then pick up your cross. It's very rare today, we don't hear much about picking up your cross in Christianity today. But Jesus was loud and clear and He speaks to us in this Scripture. We’ve got to have a right view of the cross, we’ve got to understand what it is. You see, many see Jesus as a poor troubled soul that was just carrying that heavy cross on his back. Yes, He suffered, it was painful, but do not be fooled, He was no weak man. This was no poor sight, the cross is a sign of strength. I want to say that the cross is a sign of power today.
The Lord Jesus was on a pursuit with that cross on his back, not whimsy, not weak. Many preach about the cross and they stop to present it as a softhearted moment of suffering, but it is so much more than that. Jesus had a backbone that carried the weight of the world. He was strong, He wasn't confused, He didn’t second-guess himself and was wondering if this walk was for him anymore halfway down, He wasn't thinking- maybe I made a mistake, He was okay and was secure in his father to the point that He was going to lay down his life for God and to do His will.
So many Christians today go back and forth, undecided if I should be here or there. Undecided if maybe I should follow God today, maybe I shouldn’t. But God is calling us and He’s saying - where are those who are strong in Christ, those who know who their God is and know who they are in their God.
He wasn't going to take the longer route. Jesus wasn't looking to cut corners, He went straight and it's time for us today church, to get straight with our walk with God and begin to pick up the cross. Man loves to take the side route right? The flesh loves to try to discover maybe an easier way; but today, let the Spirit of God touch your life. You see, when the Spirit of God touches a man or woman, He makes you strong, He makes you rise up in faith, not worried about what's gonna happen. But strong to do and to follow and to pick up the cross.
Will you let God touch you this day? Do you hear Him?
It’s preached in so much American Christianity today that you can have Christ, you can have salvation, and leave the cross behind. This type of gospel is a dead gospel. It's a gospel that allows me to stay dead in my sin, to never deny myself, to never have to put aside the worldly pleasures, and just play it safe and get a free ticket to heaven. But this is not the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are called to follow Christ, we are called to pick up our cross, and we may die but we shall also live!
Do you hear the call of God today?
Listen, I remember a time when I was dead. I was tossed back and forth, undecided and weak. Then came the true gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, the one that said- Jeff, you can't remain the same anymore and still have Christ. The one that strengthened my back, that took my weakness and made it strong because I realized the power and the glory of my savior that bore that cross and I said, “Lord, I know you can touch me.” No longer was I gonna be alone and lost and desolate, but the Lord Jesus, I trusted him to lead my flesh to death but hallelujah, resurrect me as a new man!
So we've got to arm ourselves with the same attitude of Christ Jesus when He went to that cross. Understand that attitude, I'm looking at a man who suffered, but He was determined, He wasn't going to turn back. I'm sure He fell down at times, I'm sure He felt the pain and it was tough and His physical strength was low. But listen, His heart was strong and His spirit was stronger and when you’ve got the heart of Christ, when you’ve got the spirit of the living God, it will carry your body through. It will vex that flesh and cause you to rise.
He carried that cross in power and He was about to be the first example of what it means to follow God and lay down our will for the will of the Father, even unto death, so that the power of God will be displayed. This is the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ! Although people try to water it down, we must be like Him and evidence of our salvation is that we too and you too shall rise like the son of God. Thank you Lord!
The attitude of the Christian that has realized and picked up the cross isn't an attitude of wavering and being undecided, it's faithful and strong. It's not based on our circumstance, it's not based on the weather today, and I'm not just talking about when we’re in church, I’m talking about in everything that we do. Many have been compromising of sin, leaving the cross behind. The attitude today is, you know - this is really nice, I don't mind the service but please don't tell me I’m gonna have to change my life, please don't explain to me, how I’m gonna have to surrender something and lay myself down. You see, when you're in the Lord Jesus Christ, you don't need to be convinced. You know that the Lord has called you and you are ready to lay it all down. In other words, do the will that God has called you to do.
When you pick up the cross you become determined, no longer to play games with Satan. When you pick up that cross, you become determined to no longer play games with this world, you're not gonna play games anymore with your thought life and letting it go. You’re not gonna play games anymore with our devotion to God, going back and forth. Praise God, we’ll have every temptation at our feet, but at every moment we can pick up the cross and say - Lord Jesus, here I come and if I can't walk be my crutch, if I can't move then Lord, I trust you to carry me through. But here I come Father!
That is the power of the gospel, that is the power of the cross. You see, the determined Christian is a powerful one. It’s when you know His word, when you pray - Lord God, strengthen me to take hold. You're determined to trust in Him. Watch out, because someone just discovered who they are in the Lord Jesus.
Can you imagine General George Washington stopping as he was crossing those rivers and looking at his army and going - guys, I'm having second thoughts right now. Maybe we should talk to the British. Maybe they’ll cut a deal with us, maybe they'll be fair with us if we just put our guns down for a second. Listen, the lie is, I want to let you know today, the devil will never play fair. It's time to wake up. It's time to see that the cross represents the ability to overcome our flesh and to empower us, to never look back, to never look to the side, and even when we do we say - Father I'm still yet gonna go! But every time we make a deal to get comfortable, every time we stop and allow ourselves to not be desperate for God. Every time we allow ourselves to compromise with the darkness, we will surely but slowly fade away. But today, the Lord Jesus has given us the power to move and to follow. People are afraid of the cross but He is saying - rise up, rise up! People are afraid when they don’t realize who went on that cross. The one who died and rose again, the one who also gives me the power to bear that cross and to do and to follow as God has called me to.
Praise God today that the cross didn't stop and end in death, it ended in a resurrection. Where there's a cross, there's a resurrection!
The phrase “pick up your cross” has literally become like a cuss word today among Christian circles. Don't speak like that, it's not for today. Why is it like that? Because when you bring the cross into the picture, it's gonna cost you something. You see, salvation is free, it is a free gift of the Lord Jesus Christ. But the life of Christ will cost us something. What does it cost you today? Today many preach that we can come to Christ and disregard the call of a deeper life with Him, the call to pick up our cross. A.W. Tozer, one of my favorites, says that one of the serious breakdowns in evangelism today is that it is offered too much for too little. What we mostly do is offer forgiveness, but we need a cleansing. He says that there is no true conversion until a man will take up his cross. The message today is, come on in everybody and just enjoy yourself. Jesus is offering a better you, He’s offering a better time for yourself, just get comfortable, He'll forgive you, He’ll make it all fine, you can get a free ticket to heaven and just kick back and enjoy yourself. No need to turn from your sin, no need to cry out, no need to examine our faith and to see where we are, no need to pick up our cross and follow him. This teaching has left many immature, broken and weak, and even on the pathway to hell.
God is calling us to the true Gospel today!
He's calling us to the true Gospel that does something spectacular in a man or woman. See, when you turn to the Lord Jesus Christ, salvation hits your soul and it will move you. It will move you to pick up the cross. It will move you forward because there is power that comes from trusting in the Lord. Power to obey God and vex that old flesh, power to continue on no matter what. It causes you to follow Him. The Lord who has had mercy on me. He spared my life. What can cost me more than the cost of my sin against the Lord, nothing. Therefore, we pick up our cross, we lay down our way to follow His way. For the Christian, where there’s a cross there’s a resurrection. Hallelujah. Thank you God!
The Christian is someone who has been touched by resurrection power. Resurrection power is that power that will help you overcome the flesh and every wicked desire. Resurrection power hits the Christian and they are no longer the same anymore. This life can't hold them down, the world cannot silence them because the same power that rose the Lord Jesus from the dead is now alive in you and alive in me.
Is there anybody that is in need of a resurrection in their walk today? Is there anybody that is ready to pick up their cross and follow? He says, pick it up and follow me. The cross is powerful! I tell you every time I think of the cross, I’m reminded of our wretchedness. That Jesus would literally bear our sin and every wicked evil deed on His back. You know for many, the cross is offensive, let alone the call to pick it up. Some may say you're crazy, you're a little too fanatical, that's a little too much for me, I mean come on.
But I want you to think with me for a moment. You ever go to a peewee league football game for a child. You go there and I've seen men and women screaming, fighting, losing character, going crazy all for a one hour game that means nothing about anything, but everybody is okay. I declare today that for us, the cross is not offensive, it is the power of God. Because we come to face what we couldn't.
By the cross I’m able to attain to what I would never be able to. It's there that we find salvation. To pick up the cross is to say - I'm going to follow the one that I love, the one who gave himself and I'm going to follow His steps, here I come Lord, I’m going to partake in the cross so that I would also partake in the eternal life that comes only in the Lord Jesus. See, when you pick up the cross you don’t have room to carry anything else. Do you have some burdens today? Is there something, as Pastor was saying, is there some deliverance that is needed today? Well come and pick up the cross because when your hands are filled with the cross, your heart is also filled with his presence and It’s also filled with His spirit.
So as we follow the Lord, we must pick up the cross.
Secondly, we must exchange our lives. Let's look at verses 25 to 26, “for whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? What can anyone give in exchange for their soul?”
I know it sounds crazy already, right? We’re supposed to bear the cross and somehow find life? Yes! This is the true path to real life. Now what kind of life was Jesus talking about here? I thought about this, He said, if you look to save your life. In other words, if you hold onto your life you will lose it. What is this life that we hold on? What is this life that many of us may struggle with? He's talking about the ‘self-life.’ It’s where we strive to keep ourselves at the center, which was never meant to be. Yet today, if we carefully stop and listen. Everything has become about me, everyone strives to be the center, even Christians. Why else would so many self-help books and teachings be such a prized commodity? Why, because everything that adds to that self, everything that adds to our own means is something that we've learned to love. But I want to say today, we don't need self-help, we need self surrender. We need to begin to exchange our life with Jesus.
This is the trick that the world plays. The world plays the trick of saying - hold onto yourself. But I want to tell you that self is the greatest burden that you ever have in light of the freedom that comes in exchanging it for the life of the Lord Jesus. You want to know the greatest burden in life? It's self, it’s me. Why, because self is never satisfied, because self is always looking for more self. But I want to say today, are you ready to exchange that old life for the life of the Lord Jesus Christ? Then come!
Think about what Jesus is saying that we hold on to. The self life ,you see, it moves on every whim. The next diet, the next fad, the next this, the next that. It's tiring, right? It's not as though we don’t have many examples. We turn on the news, we look on the television. We see men and women who seem to have it all for themselves, top of the billboard, making millions. But then before you know it, four or five divorces later, before you know it they’re on a heavy drug.. Before you know it they're taking their own lives because when we hold onto this life, we will lose it! The self life, you see, it loses sense of eternity, but God calls us to recognize eternity is real. The old self blinds me to what is right here and it fools us into believing that this life is everything, but there is so much more. It fools us into thinking that chasing after whatever you want without regard to eternity will never have a price. But the Bible says different, the Bible says that this life is but a breath, this life is but a moment and if we hold onto it, if we strive to keep ourselves at the center, we lose the chance of finding real life, eternal life. A life with God that begins now on this Earth. This is why church, we’ve got to take this life seriously. We’ve gotta take our household seriously. As we’re raising our children, as we’re living with our brothers and sisters - are we concerned with their eternity? Are we concerned with our own eternity? Church it's time to get serious more than ever before as to what we are holding onto and to what we are passing on. Because if we hold onto this life, we will lose it.
Jesus wasn't paraphrasing, He was drawing the line of what this world produces. He was drawing the line of what our sinfulness does, it destroys. But if we choose to follow Him today, if we exchange that old life, if we exchange our life for his life, hallelujah, the Spirit of God can touch you even now! I'm talking about the Spirit that does a work from the inside out. When the Spirit of God touches a man or woman or even a teenager, you wake up and you go - that old self just isn't worth it. Self has got to go and Jesus has got to come.
We have an opportunity today, we have a great opportunity church, to make a great exchange. You know we’re really good at spotting deals right. I know my sisters and my wife and my family members, they’re really good at saving on a good deal when they shop. Nowadays, some examples is there's so many different cell phone companies and internet services that afford us the ability to see the different options. You know right away if it's a good deal or not. There’s so many options you’re like, no that's not good. We know how to do that with earthly things. Jesus here when He's asking, He says “what good is it if you gain the whole world yet forfeit your soul.” What He’s simply saying is, what kind of deal is it that you would gain the whole world but lose yourself, that you would get everything but lose your soul? What good is it to avoid standing for what is right in order to save face but forfeit your soul? What good is it to keep arguing and hold onto your pride in order to feel good and feel right, in order to forfeit humility and now be separated eternally from the Lord Jesus Christ? Is the ability to do whatever you want without accountability, is it really worth a full eternity of being separated and held from the living God? Every single one of us today has to think about this and decide for ourself the answer to this question.
I praise God today that I had a mother who was not willing to lose one soul in the house. If I'm really honest with you, I was the most troublesome one there. Out of all my sisters, I know that I was the handful. But I can say that in all that God has done, that right now I can look back and see that every day my mother had the opportunity to maybe take it a little easy or just be my friend. Maybe she could have just taken a little bit more of an easy route and not push me to do what is right. She could have let things go and just compromise, but at the cost of what? It would've been my soul. But today, hallelujah, I stand as a testimony to what happens when you do not forfeit.
Fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, spouses, what is at hand? We have to truly see what is at hand. This is not a joke, it's serious. We don't just look to have our households just to be at peace, we are looking for our households to be saved! We are looking for eternal life to enter into our children.
If we compromise, if we fall asleep, there is so much that is at stake. The cost is great, it’s deadness and maybe even hell. In reality, if we get real, I know that when we gain the world at first it always seems sweet, it always seems good. I don't doubt that when Adam and Eve first bit of that fruit that Satan had said to bite of, I'm sure it was sweet at first. I don't doubt that before Cain had released his anger against his brother, that after he did it he felt a little good for a moment. But he exchanged his soul, to now be separated from God, out of the land of God forever. I think I can let this thought go, it's satisfying. We can think - I’ll hold back from the standard of God for a moment. I'll not think about keeping myself pure, maybe I'll give myself a break. Why not justify why I should have this thing that I know I shouldn’t have our go where I know in my heart I shouldn't be. When in the end we forfeit our soul.
What do we know right, everything that glitters isn't gold. Not everything that feels good is worth the moment. What benefit do you have if you forfeit your soul to be covered in the demonic, to be covered in the darkness?
So what do we do today church? How do we make this exchange? I'll tell you, you begin with the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. The gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ offers an exchange of this life, for a life of hope and peace. We start with the book of the word of the Lord, this book of power. We start by kneeling before God and crying out and say - Father, will you take me in? Father, I realize my soul is poor and wretched. Are you able to take this old life and give me the true eternal life so that I would walk with you. That I would follow you. The good God that will supply your every need. The God that will carry you through, the God that will not leave you, that will never leave you or forsake you because your heart is set in exchange for His life. To bring out His life in you.
The Spirit of God will give you life, the indestructible life, the same life that Jesus had. I think about Jesus, the Pharisees, they didn't like what He was preaching. They tried to tone him down but what did Jesus do in the life of the power of the Spirit? He kept going! The devil looked at him and tried to offer him all of the world's pleasures, if he would just give his allegiance; but in the power, in the life of God, Jesus said -no, you don't understand what I've got Satan. I got the life of my Father. Even his family would pressure him at times but the Lord Jesus would never sell out and He would always walk in the life of God.
I’m telling you today, every demon and hell may be just saying give up, let go. All the darkness will say it's not worth it, this Christian life is much too hard, you're not gonna make it, you're not gonna be okay, you're missing out. But I want to say, with the life of God we are able to stop and say - greater is He who lives in me then He who is in the world. Will we rise and exchange?
When we exchange our life for the life of the Lord Jesus Christ, we stand in the power of God. This is about transformation, this is about different, this is about no longer being the same and the gospel of Jesus coming alive in our lives. God is so kind and merciful. You can never out give God. He says that if you lose your life for me, you will find it. If you lose your life for me, you will find favor. You see, He offers his Spirit knowing that we are fragile.
The Bible says that God remembers that we are made from dust and in His kindness and in His mercy, He gives us favor. He gives us the Spirit, He gives the Spirit of God to the one that is pleading - father, I want to give you my all but everything that is within me is saying no. God I want to exchange my life but the whole world is pushing against it. But God is able to empower us with the power of the Holy Spirit that will cause us to rise up. The reason that the Holy Spirit is given is not so that I preach better or louder, not so that I improve my life. The spirit is given so that I would overcome that old self, that old life and rise to do the will of the Father.
Will we rise in the power of the Spirit today as we lay down our lives to the King. In this great exchange, in this surrendering of our lives we find, not the self-life, we find the Christ life. We find the Christ life, a life where the Lord Jesus enters in. Where day by day I walk in the glory. From glory to glory I walk more and more and finding Christ revealing himself in me each and every moment, each and every struggle, each and every circumstance, He's revealing himself and growing. It’s where the Lord Jesus now becomes my prayer. The Lord Jesus is now my strength, He is my movement, He is my power, He is my ability to remain because He is strong within.
Will you surrender this day? Will you let go of this life? Will you let go of the old self and come and find real life, everlasting life, eternal life. In order to follow the Lord we must exchange this life for the life of the other, of the Lord Jesus, amen.
Lastly, we know that as we pick up the cross and as we exchange this life, we also must enter His glory.
Let's look at verses 27 and 28. It says, “for the Son of Man is going to come in his Father's glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done. Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”
This verse was very interesting for me. As I was reading it, it made me think, the son of God is going to return in His glory. When I'm reading this I’m thinking He's gonna come with His angels. There’s going to be judgment but there will also be a reward of His glory. I began to think about this. Was Jesus just referring to His second coming, or was He only speaking to the people here because He says some of you are not even gonna die before you see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom. I realize that it’s speaking about both. The Lord Jesus was referring, yes to the second coming, but He was also referring to some who were there that were about to witness the kingdom of God. They were about to see a resurrection, they were going to see death defeated, they were about to see Jesus who would be crucified but also rise again. They were about to see the Son of Man rise up; those who were dead now be resurrected. He was going to lead a train out of the grave and lead those who had trusted Him and follow Him and they were going to rise up just as the Son of Man did.
So what is it that we get from all this? It’s that there is a reward for those who have chosen to follow the Lord. There's a reward of resurrection, power and glory. The same power and glory that rose our Lord Jesus from the dead. Listen, we’re all greatly encouraged to always be expecting the second coming of the Lord Jesus, but it doesn't mean that His kingdom has not already come upon us this day. That His glory is not being poured out and is in our midst, but have you sought to enter into that glory? Have you sought to enter into His presence?
The glory of God is to follow the Lord. Have we been following the Lord? There's a reward for those who were stepping and walking with Him. You know, many ask for His glory to come, many cry out and pray - father, send your glory. But the question is, are we really ready for it? If the Lord Jesus were to come in the fullness of all of His glory, would we recognize Him? Because all the days of our life we've already been pursuing and entering in. If He were to come, would we even recognize Him? Would our children see the Lord Jesus as a foreigner, would our spouses all of a sudden not know that sweet voice. Would our friends or family not recognize the great light? But I tell you today, God has bigger things in store for His church. God wants us to be ready!
God wants us to be prepared church, but preparation does not fall into our laps. We've got to begin to get serious about making some moves and following the Lord, we've got to get serious about His return. We’ve got to get serious about the fact that He is going to one day come back in all of His splendor, in all of His glory. God right now, is moving in our midst. The Holy Spirit is breaking out, the Lord Jesus is breaking out in a spectacular way but He wants to also break in, He wants to break into the heart that is desperately just saying - Lord, let me follow you, let me enter into your glory, let me do your will, let me be one that would carry and do what you have called me to do from the day that I was born.
What is it going to be for us today? The son of God is going to come in His glory. Yes, He’s moving right now, God is pouring out His presence and He's getting ready to take things to a higher level than ever before. I truly believe this with all of my heart. We see the other half of it right now, we see that there is judgment. We look at the world and violence is rising at an alarming rate. We look at the world and nations are in an uproar. The world just seems to be in a craze. Listen, it's not the politics, it's not the economy, it's judgment. But hallelujah, yet for those who come to the Lord Jesus, who choose to follow Him, we will be ready for his outpouring! We will be ready for His kingdom!
God's got a scroll of remembrance. On that scroll is written the names of those who fear Him, those who stopped, those who are entering into His glory to do His will. Those God remembers who carry the glory of His son and He will bless them. He is surely to complete the great work that He began in each one of our lives. We can trust in Him this day.
Will we enter into His glory? Will we enter into His will to do His work?
Lastly, we’re speaking of His glory, what is the glory of the Lord?
We have to go back to the cross for a moment. Jesus, He didn’t only carry the cross but He was nailed to that cross, to do as He was looking on that cross what God had called Him to do. It was on that cross that Jesus was in all of His glory. The glory of God is to do His will and for the joy that was set before Him, Jesus suffered and endured to follow and to do the will of God. That His will, will be done on earth as it is in heaven. To truly come in all of His glory. See, the will of God was completed by the Lord Jesus, that was truly the glory. Jesus was in all His glory fulfilling what God had called him to do. God's will was that all of His children would now be able to come back to God by the blood of Jesus. God's will was that now, the house of the Lord will once again be filled with those who have stepped into their destiny, who have stepped into the family of the one who has called us from the beginning.
The true glory of God is nothing else but doing the will of the father and crucifying the flesh. Is there suffering that we face? Yes, there’s suffering on our flesh when we follow God's will, when we know that we can't take the job that we know that will pay more, but if we take it, we’ll wind up compromising against God. There's suffering in the flesh when everybody else in the world seems to go and live and sleep and do whatever, but we’re going to stop and we’re going to hold and keep ourselves pure. There’s a crucifixion in the flesh when I’ve gotta demonstrate some self-control and I’m looking on my phone and browsing on the internet. But I want to say today, that if you share in His suffering you will also share in His glory!
The Lord Jesus, He was on that cross and I think of that man that was sentenced to death next to him. He looked that man in the face and He said - today you will live with me in paradise. God is saying even today: little one, young one, older one, middle-aged, wherever we may be, if you look trust in me even this day you will live in my glory!
It was on that cross that Jesus demonstrated the power of his God. It was on that cross, that became a reflection that you cannot kill me. I've done the will of God and flesh no longer has power over me. I am in the glory and those who share in the glory of God, those who choose to follow and do the will of God, will be rewarded with the same indestructible life. That we would be the church of God, that we be those that will say -I am in my Father's glory for I have completed what He has called me to do on this earth.
It's time to bring back the glory of God. It's time to get real as Christians. It's time to come back to what it truly means to follow the Lord. It's time to pick up the cross, it’s time to follow the Lord. It's time to let go of all the other things and exchange true life with the living God. It's time for a mother, for a father, to decide today ‘as for me and my household we will serve the Lord, we will follow him.’ Let go and let God begin to do as He has called us to do.
Today, we hear the call. God is calling and saying follow me. Like those many men of history, those women of history, it's time to make our mark, church. It's time to live for God and to live for no other. It's time to let go of that old self, to pick up the cross and to vex the flesh. It's time to step into the power of God and to receive the Spirit who does one thing in our lives, who takes away the darkness of the flesh, allows us to overcome and to serve the King. One thing, to serve God and to do His will.
So today, as you hear, will you come? Will you hear the voice of Jesus? Will you follow His leading?
For some of us today, we may look at our lives and be thinking - you know what, I’ve been that man or woman that knows that God has called me. I've been that teenager, I've heard the voice of the Lord. He's even touched me at a point in my life, but I've been sitting on the fence ever since. I've been here lying dormant, not moving. I figured that was enough. God is saying, will you turn and turn back to me, will you come to the fullness. Will you pick up the cross? Will you come into the deeper life that I’ve called you? To stop standing on edge, but to allow even now the Spirit of God to begin a true walk with Him.
Where at times, yes we will suffer, we will be vexing this flesh, but the Lord Jesus says listen; count the true cost here. It may cost you; but listen, the man or woman who dies with me will also rise with me. Those who lay it down to follow me, you will also rise in my glory. What could be better? There’s others today that I truly believe, some of you are saying - you know what, I've been following the Lord and I've been taking whatever direction God gives me, whatever truth comes. And I’ve been vexing my flesh and I've been pushing it aside and it's not easy, but I’ve been crying out and I said - Father here I am. You may feel like you've died, but Lazarus, he was in four days in the grave and I'm sure it seemed like a long time. Lazarus, today Jesus is on his way and I believe somebody's about to be resurrected, I believe somebody that's been pushing and pulling, that the Lord Jesus is about to do a work, amen.
There may be someone here for the first time you're thinking - wow, this Jesus that I'm hearing about, this Lord, I want to give my life to Him. This may be the first time you're hearing this today. There's one thing you need to know, that the Lord Jesus was crucified and rose again so that you and I would no longer live under the power of the devil. That we would no longer live for ourselves but now be able to live for something bigger, for the Kingdom of the Lord our God.
Will you come to the Lord Jesus today? Will you trust in His name?
Today is the day church. The Lord Jesus, He is the cross. The Lord Jesus is the road of Calvary, He is the movement. The Lord Jesus, He's the one who brings the Spirit in order to have the strong back that He had, He had a backbone. Today is the day that we rise with a backbone and we take that cross and we carry it today. It's time to take that cross and to walk with our families and to call others back to the word of the Lord!
In our weakness, He becomes strong. You’ve got weakness today? Praise the Lord, bring it to the cross. I found that in my weakness I become strong at the cross. You've got some problems in your mind today, you can’t get your mind straight? Then praise the Lord because the cross will give you the mind of Christ. You feel a little bit desolate inside, you feel like you can't break through, that the world has crushed you, that the devil just won't let go, that the sinfulness just seems too heavy? Then come to the cross because every burden will be released and you will be able to take on my burden, which is light. The Lord Jesus says - take on my burden!
Will you come to the cross today! Will you come to the Lord Jesus!
Lord Jesus, you are the hope. I hear you calling me, come! Today would you make an exchange, by faith. By faith, will you make an exchange this day to say - Lord what good is it if I gain this whole world but forfeit my soul. Lord, I desire eternal life and I give you my life right now Father, by faith, knowing, that this is going to be the beginning of something new. This will be the beginning of walking in your kingdom, this will be the beginning of no longer living for the emptiness of self in this life, but Father I can live in your kingdom.
That once again, the world would see Jesus resurrected from the cross. That once again the world can stop and testify to some young teenager here that has been risen from the grave, that is no longer dead in those transgressions, no longer dead in this life and in this world, but risen!
But see, a pure heart is an undivided heart. It is undivided. It is for Christ and Christ alone. Nothing else matters. Yes, there may be other things that we attain in this life. But, chiefly among all of it, the end goal— the end purpose of everything that we have, the end purpose of raising a family, the end purpose of working our jobs, the end purpose of everything— has come because our desire is to bring it all back to the Lord Jesus Christ. It's where it's God and God alone, it's not, “God and…” There are many today that love to try and make a deal with God. “God, I'll follow you if… God, I’ll follow you as long as you give me the girl or the guy… God, I’m with you as long as I can get that job… God, I’m with you as long as this is taken care of…” It’s shown when things begin to happen in our lives.
