If you have a copy of the scriptures, once again, let me invite you to turn to the Gospel of Matthew and to the 10th chapter, Matthew 10, as we're continuing this ongoing exposition through the Gospel of Matthew, going chapter by chapter and verse by verse. And today, we're looking at Matthew 10, verses 32 through 39. Matthew 10, verses 32 through 39. Let me invite you, as you're able, let's stand in honor of the reading and the hearing of God's word. Again, I'm reading from Matthew 10, beginning in verse 32. where Matthew faithfully recorded the words of our Lord. Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my father, which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my father, which is in heaven. Think not that I am come to send peace on earth. I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, and a man's foes shall be they of his own household. He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me, and he that taketh not his cross and followeth after me is not worthy of me. He that findeth his life shall lose it, and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it. May God bless today, once again, the reading and the hearing of his word, and let's join together in prayer. Gracious and loving God, we give thee thanks again for thy word, for the holy men of old who were drawn along, driven along by the Holy Spirit to faithfully record these things. We thank thee for the scriptures that are inspired, that are God-breathed, and that have been preserved. And so today, oh God, we ask for the illumination of the Holy Spirit so that by thy light, we might see light. We ask this in Christ's name, amen. You may be seated. So we are continuing today this ongoing meditation in Matthew chapter 10. And this chapter, with so many words directly from our Lord within it, it's an account of Christ sending out the 12 apostles to minister in his name early in Christ's ministry. I called it the first Great Commission. There's another Great Commission that the Risen Lord will give in Matthew 28 at the very end of the Gospel, the very last words, where he'll tell them to go and teach all nations and to baptize in the name of the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, to observe all the things that he has taught them. But this is the first Great commission is sending the Apostles out and at the core of this teaching at the core of this chapter is discipleship teaching about discipleship discipleship means learning how to live as a follower a student a disciple of Christ. This passage has historical meaning because this is a record of what Christ at a historical point taught the apostles. And these were the men upon whom he would build his church. But it also has a contemporary spiritual meaning. It's a message not just to those original disciples, the apostles, but it's a message that's been current in every generation speaking to those who are followers of Christ. And we're being taught what is the heart, what are the fundamentals of discipleship? What does it mean to follow Christ? It doesn't get any more central than what we find here for what it means to live out the Christian life. In the end, as we will see, this teaching contains a paradox. We could call it the paradox of Christian discipleship. In that, Christ declares that the way to life is actually by means of death. And the way to find is actually in the end to lose. And so in the end, we're going to look at that paradox of what it means to follow after Christ. So come friends, let us reason together as we consider this teaching. As we turn to the passage and we want to exposit it, walk through it, let me suggest we can divide this teaching into three parts. First of all, in verses 32 and 33, I would describe it as Christ's description of two determinative responses to him, two determinative responses. Secondly, then in verses 34 through 36, I would describe the second part as Christ teaches that he comes not to bring peace, but a sword. And then thirdly, verses 37 through 39, I would describe this last part as something I previously alluded to the paradox of Christian discipleship, the paradox of Christian discipleship. So let's walk through these three parts of our texts together. Let's begin looking at verses 32 and 33, which I described as two determinative responses to Christ. Now, we've noted before in this study of the gospel of Matthew and in other teachings that we have given from this pulpit that the Christian faith is not, in many ways, or cannot be described as multifaceted. In the end, the Christian faith, the Christian message, the Christian gospel is actually very simple. There are not many options. There are not many paths that all lead to the top of the mountain and it doesn't matter which path you take because you're all going to get to the same destination in the end. No, that's not the teaching of Christ. There are not many paths. There are not many ways. No, we could say that the Christian faith as taught by our Lord is binary. There are only two ways. It's very simple. Two ways. There's the way of belief and there's the way of unbelief. There's the way of life and there's the way of death. Let me offer two examples. are from the scriptures. The first example comes at the conclusion of the Sermon on the Mount. We looked at this sometime back in this series. If you look at the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5, 6, and 7, you're at the end of the Sermon on the Mount. In Matthew 7, verses 24 through 27, Christ tells a parable about two men. It's not a parable about seven men, 20 men, 10 men, five men. It's about two men because Christianity is binary. There are only two ways. And in that parable, one man is described as being wise. He's the wise builder. And Christ says, he is like one who hears his words and does them. And the wise builder in Christ's parable builds his house on the rock so that when the floods come and when the winds blow, the house stands firm. The other man, because there are only two ways, the other man in Christ's parable is the foolish man, the foolish builder. He, in contrast to the wise man, hears the words of Christ and does not do them. He builds his house on the sand. And when the floods come and when the winds blow, what happens to that house? It falls, it collapses. And Christ says in Matthew 7, 27, and great was the fall of it. There are not many ways. There are only two ways. There's the way of wisdom and the way of folly, the way of foolishness. Second example, before we move back to our text, another scriptural example. This is from teaching recorded by the apostle John. In John 3, verse 36, John says this. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life. And he that believeth not the Son shall not see life. but the wrath of God abideth on him. Did you hear two ways in that? There are only two ways. On one hand, there's the man who believes on the son and has eternal life. On the other hand, there is the man who does not believe in the son and who does not see life, but the wrath of God abides or remains on him. There are not many ways, but only two ways, the way of belief and the way of unbelief. Now, let's move to our passage. And let's move to this first part of it, Matthew 10, verses 32 and 33, because we're gonna see this same pattern of Christ's teaching. And we're gonna begin in verse 32, which sets out the positive. And so in verse 32, we read Christ teaching, whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my father, which is in heaven. Let's meditate on this first way, this first path as it is described here. And we can begin with the word The very first word of the sentence here, whosoever, whosoever, whosoever therefore shall confess me before men. This word, whosoever, tells us about what we could call the universal scope of the gospel. The gospel is not just for some kinds of men, but it is for all kinds of men. It's not just for Jews, but it is also for Gentiles. In fact, it's not just for men. I was talking using the word men, but I was using that inclusively for human beings. It's not just for males, it's for females, not just for men, it's for women. It's not just for masters, it's for servants. It's not just for the educated, it's for the uneducated. It's not for the upper class, just for the upper class, for the lower class. It's for whosoever. And then you'll notice next in verse 32, that Christ speaks about the importance of these whosoevers, the importance of their confessing Christ before men. Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men. When we heard the word confess, we tend to think of it maybe in a legal type of way. You confess to a crime or it means you come clean on something wrong that you've done. But here, the term confess doesn't mean that. The Greek word is homologeo. Here, it really means to declare publicly, to openly acknowledge, Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, whosoever shall declare publicly me before men, whosoever will openly acknowledge me before men. It's from this that we sometimes in our evangelical circles get the language of making a public profession of faith. Have you ever heard that? You really can't find book, chapter and verse for that. It's kind of evangelical speak, but it does have a biblical basis and we're seeing it right here. Making a public profession of faith. Notice that what Christ describes here is not whosoever shall confess me secretly in his heart. Whosoever shall confess me privately and kind of keep it to himself because religion's a private matter and you know, you just need to keep that to yourself. No, it's whosoever therefore shall confess me before men. Christ demands that we take a public stand for him, that we make plain and openly acknowledge him A great passage to lay alongside of this one is the teaching of the apostle Paul in Romans 10. You can turn there. You can just listen to me read part of it, but I'm going to, I want us to look for a second at what Paul said in Romans 10 verses nine through 13. The apostle Paul begins there and he says, that if thou shalt confess, exact same verb, homiligo, if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. Then he says in verse 12, for there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. Verse 13, another whosoever of Romans 10, for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Notice several things here in Paul's exposition. First of all, Paul talks about the importance, just as Christ does, about confession with one's mouth, speaking publicly, identifying publicly one's faith in Christ. It is something that is stated aloud. It's not just whispered in the heart, although it is also believed in the heart that Christ has been raised from the dead, but it's confessed aloud, openly acknowledged. Again, notice that this confession as Paul teaches it is a very simple one that you should confess the Lord Jesus or Jesus is Lord. Jesus is God. And so that's the profession, that's the confession that one makes. And it's also tied to the inward belief and believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead. And then notice also that this confession is made by all kinds of men. There's no difference between Jew and Greek. The same Lord is overall, whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. When and how is such a confession made? I grew up Southern Baptist, and I grew up with altar calls. Sometimes people attend our church and they wonder, why don't you guys have the altar call at the end? And I grew up with that. The preacher would urge you, you would sing so many verses of Just As I Am, and somebody would walk down the aisle eventually, and you would pray the so-called sinner's prayer, And why don't we do that? Because we follow what's called the regulative principle of worship. And that is when we read through the new Testament, we don't see that being described within the new Testament. We don't see altar calls, but we do find places where men and women openly confess their faith in the Lord, in the presence of Christ and in the presence of his disciples. And so because you don't see us have an altar call here, don't think for one second we don't believe in the biblical importance of publicly professing and confessing faith in Christ. We do, it's biblical. I think about the account in John chapter 11, when Martha, Martha says to Christ, yea Lord, I believe that thou art the Christ, the son of God. which should come into the world. That's confessing Christ. She confessed Christ before Christ and before his disciples. And I think especially about the example that's given to us in the book of Acts and Acts chapter eight, the Ethiopian eunuch who was traveling back from Jerusalem. And in Acts 8, Philip is told by the Holy Spirit to come alongside of this man. He's reading the scriptures. He doesn't understand them. Philip says, do you understand what you're reading? He's reading from Isaiah. He's reading from Isaiah 52 and 53, the prophecy of the Messiah. He doesn't understand. He says, how can I understand unless someone helps me? And Philip says, oh, I can help you. And he starts to preach the Lord Jesus to him. And as they travel along, they come to some water. And the eunuch says in Acts 8.36, see here is water, what doth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip responds to him in Acts 8.37, if thou believest with all thine heart thou mayest. And then the Ethiopian eunuch answered and he said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God. That's someone making a public confession. a profession of faith. And when we do our baptisms here, some of you know, we use that same one. We say, do you believe that Jesus Christ is son of God? And many of you here have been baptized here. You said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God. That's your confession of faith. And if you keep reading in Acts 8, Philip then baptizes this man upon his confession of faith. Now looking back, let's look back at verse 32 of Matthew 10. Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. Now there's a kind of an understood if this, then that structure to verse 32. Christ essentially says, if whosoever shall confess me before men, then him will I also confess before my Father in heaven. The consequence or the outcome of confessing Christ before men in this life is that Christ will confess his confidence and trust in the believer before God the Father. The context here seems to be describing what will happen to that disciple who confesses faith in Christ, either at his death and or at the second coming of Christ and at the final resurrection and at the final judgment. If you confess me before men, I will confess you before my Father in heaven. We know that the scriptures teach that one day there will be a day of judgment. It's soberly spoken of in the scriptures in Acts 17 verse 31, when Paul is preaching in Athens, he says to those pagans all around him that God hath appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained. He's talking about Christ. You're going to be judged in the end based on whether or not you confess faith in Christ in this life. The Apostle Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 5, 10, for we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ that everyone may receive the things done in his body. According to that, he hath done, whether it be good or bad. And of course, the greatest good is the confession of faith in Christ. The greatest evil is disowning Christ. Christ says in verse 32, that if we stand with Him in this age before men, if we publicly acknowledge Him, then He will stand with us before the Father. But now Christ will turn and He will somberly offer up to us the terrible alternative. The terrible alternative is given in verse 33. But whosoever, again, there's a universal scope to those who reject. All types of men will reject Christ. Jews and Gentiles, men and women, slave and free, educated, uneducated, wealthy, poor, all types of people. There's a whosoever here too, sadly. but whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father, which is in heaven. You see, there are only two ways. There's a way of wisdom, and there's a way of folly. There's a way of belief, and there's a way of unbelief. There's the way of confessing Christ, and there's the way of denying Christ. The gospel isn't complicated. It's quite simple. Let's not make it harder than it is. There are two ways in life. Let's move to the second part of our text. Looking now at verses 34 through 36 and the focus of this teaching, this core teaching on discipleship is that Christ comes not to bring peace, but a sword. And so, We've heard this stark binary choice, right? Confession of Christ or denial of Christ. And now our Lord proceeds to disabuse even his apostles of some misunderstandings they may have. And these were men who were with Christ, but still they had some misunderstandings. And it begins in verse 34 with the words, think not. We could just pause right there for a moment. What does this tell us? This tells us if the apostles could get confused about Christ and his teachings and what it means to follow him, do you think we can? Of course we can. Christ is a very gentle teacher though, isn't he? But he's, he's constantly correcting us and helping us understand things better. How many times has he said to, to the believer, think not this, but correct it a little bit, calibrate a little bit. And instead think this, And so he's correcting something. So what were the wrong things that the apostles may have been formulating in their minds? Apparently, they may have been thinking that if they follow after Christ, then everything in their life will be peaceful and it will be prosperous. In some ways, the Lord Jesus was addressing here a false teaching that continues to be expressed or promoted even in our own day. This is the teaching that is sometimes known as health, wealth, and prosperity, health, wealth, and prosperity gospel. Solomon said, there's nothing new under the sun. It's not a true gospel. It's a false gospel. And it teaches that if you take the name of Christ, And if you talk like a Christian and try to act like a Christian and so forth, God is obligated to bless you in the here and now with peace. And peace may be freedom from any troubles in your life, freedom from anxiety about finances. You'll have wealth and prosperity. If you just follow Christ, you'll have peace. You don't even have to embrace the worst of the health and wealth gospel. as a spouse by televangelists and so forth. You don't even have to go that far to be misled here. Even well-meaning, otherwise Orthodox evangelicals can sometimes get the wrong-headed notion that being a Christian and confessing Christ, embracing the gospel, is all about getting your life in order. It's kind of a self-help program, you know? I've tried everything else, I'll try a little Jesus. I'll confess faith in him and I've got some problems in my personal life, problems with my family or my marriage. I'll get a little Jesus and I'll have peace because Jesus brings peace, right? The word art at the Christian bookstore said that. I'll just get the sign, I'll hang it up, I'll have peace. Or we think that the gospel is all about helping you avoid bad habits, making you a productive member of society, giving you inward peace. Beautiful Lord Jesus does what he so often does. We've got this ship of our false concepts and he just sends a torpedo. and it hits it and blows it up and sinks it. Listen to what he says in verse 34. Think not that I am come to send peace on earth. I came not to send peace, but a sword. What is Christ saying? Was Christ saying that he's going to build an army and set up a political kingdom and he came to bring the sword like Muhammad did? No, that's not what he's talking about. When he goes to the cross, he said, he tells Pilate, my kingdom is not of this world. He tells his disciples, I could have called a myriad of angels, but I'm, I'm accepting the will of the father for my death on the cross. That's not what he's talking about. He's speaking metaphorically. What he's saying is, And the truth is that knowing Christ can actually cause all kinds of problems in your life. That's the truth. Knowing Christ can cause all kinds of problems in your life. Basically, if you don't want problems in your life, you better leave now. Because knowing Christ will cause problems. Knowing Christ can really tear to pieces What is, for some people, a tranquil and peaceful life. Before coming to Christ, you didn't worry about your sin. What's sin? You're a good person. What do you have to worry about? Before you came to Christ, you didn't worry about how you lived. You probably didn't worry all that much about how you treated others. And maybe you did for some selfish benefit. You scratch their back, they'll scratch yours. You didn't worry about pleasing God. You didn't worry about whether your thoughts, words, and deeds were pleasing to God. You said, that's, that's a fairy tale. That's, that's a sky God up there. You weren't worried about pleasing this God. And then you meet Christ and he brings a sword. He brings a sword to your life. when we were in London visiting the Metropolitan Tabernacle Church. On the Lord's Day afternoon, our whole family went to what they call a doctrine class. And there were young people. It looked like the United Nations. There were people from so many nations that were there, young students, most of them. And the teacher of the class, we were all crammed into this hall place for the meeting. The teacher of the class was one of the assistant pastors at Metropolitan Tabernacle. His name is Ibrahim Og Muhammad. And he was teaching from the 1689 Confession on the Doctrine of Assurance, very ably on that. And I was talking a little bit with him afterwards, and I was just asking him about his background, because you know, his name is Ibrahim Og Muhammad. How did you become an assistant pastor at Metropolitan Tabernacle Church in London? Then he told me how he was born and raised in Mali, in Africa, as a Muslim. We just spoke very briefly about it, but he said, he said, Pastor Riddle, he said, when I was a Muslim, I burned the word of God. He said, I rejoiced in burning copies of the scriptures as a Muslim. But he said, then the word of God burned a hole in my heart. It burned a hole in my heart. and he was converted. A Muslim in Mali was converted. And then he was called to the ministry. It brought a sword to his life. And I didn't hear all the details of it, but the end result was he had to leave his homeland, and now he's living in London and ministering. Did it bring peace to his life? Yeah, it brought the peace that matters. Peace with God. But as worldlings would look at these things, it brought a sword. Now, maybe your experience, my experience will not be that dramatic, but every true Christian worth his salt will experience times when the sword falls upon his life because of his knowing Christ. It may separate you from your family members. It may separate you from friends. may separate you from loved ones. The sword falls. Christ doesn't pull any punches. He doesn't sugarcoat. He tells you, I didn't come to bring peace. I came to bring a sword. And then he especially, he goes on to talk particularly about how the problems that can cause within a family. So look at verse 35. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. If you become a believer, your family members may be unbelievers and they may oppose you. I gave this illustration a couple weeks ago to an Egyptian sister whose dad took a gun to her head when he heard that she had become a believer. I told you about my friend, a South African reform minister's wife, who grew up as a Muslim, and when she was baptized, she had to flee from her home. Well, Christ prophesied this. He prophesied this, look back at verse 21, to the apostles, and the brother shall deliver up the brother to death and the father of the child and the children shall rise up against their parents and cause them to be put to death. And now he sort of reiterates this with the apostles, these Jewish men who, by professing faith in Christ, he knows it's gonna bring a sword within their families. It'll set a man at variance against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. We love the wonderful story of Ruth and Naomi in the book of Ruth about a great relationship between a daughter-in-law and a mother-in-law. Well, Christ can bring a sword and sever that relationship. Christ continues and caps things off in verse 36 when he says, and a man's foes shall be they of his own household. The family should bring us the most comfort and security in the world. Our own household should be the place where we find is a refuge. But sometimes for the cause of Christ, those who are part of our family can become our foes and They can oppose our obedience to Christ. And we've got to be very careful with this because we don't want to be, be made self-made martyrs. I've known some people like this that come into the family union and want to pick a fight with everybody there about, you know, whether they're not Calvinist or something like that. We've got to be careful about this. We shouldn't try to bring this upon ourself. If Christ draws the sword, that's his business. We shouldn't try to put the sword in there ourselves. It's interesting the way Christ is teaching here. There are echoes here of the first commandment. And I don't know how, for example, Jehovah's Witnesses can read through the Bible and say, it doesn't teach the deity of Christ. Because if you think about this passage, what it's related to, I think, most of all, is probably the 10 commandments. What's the first of the 10 commandments? You shall have no God before the one true God. No gods before the one true God. And what is Christ doing? He's essentially taking that first commandment and applying it to himself. Obedience or allegiance to Christ must supersede every human relationship that we have, including some of the most intimate human bonds that we enjoy, like that between a father and son, a mother and a daughter, a mother-in-law and a daughter-in-law. We must obey Christ rather than men. It's wonderful when we can have both of those things. It's wonderful when there's a Christian family and there could be sons and fathers who are also brothers in Christ, when there could be daughters and mothers who are sisters in Christ and daughters-in-law and mothers-in-law who are sisters in Christ. But if we ever have to choose, who do we choose? Christ. Christ above all. Obedience to Christ above all. This takes us to the third part of our passage, verses 37 through 39, and I've labeled it The Paradox of Christian Discipleship, verses 37 through 39. Christ is gonna take on directly again this relationships of family and obedience to him. And again, I call it the paradox of Christian discipleship. One online dictionary defines a paradox as a seemingly absurd or self-contradictory statement or proposition that when investigated or explained may prove to be well-founded or true. And this final teaching is full of paradox. On one hand, the Bible teaches, of course, that it is right for children to honor their parents. That's the fifth commandment. I always tell my kids when we're teaching them the catechism and the 10 commandments, I say, what's mom and dad's favorite commandment? The fifth commandment, honor your father and mother. And the Bible teaches, doesn't it? Psalm 127.3, that children are an heritage of the Lord. And the Bible teaches that fathers are not to exasperate their children. The Bible teaches in Titus 2.4 that older women are to teach younger women how to love their children. But in verse 37, Christ says that if any man loves father or mother more than him, he's not worthy of Christ. If anyone loves a son or a daughter more than Christ, he's not worthy of Christ. Verse 37, he that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me. And he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Wait a second. I thought Christianity was about family values. It is, but it's no one's social program. You see, we don't exist to make families better. Although actually becoming a Christian does make your family better. But what is paramount is knowing Christ and being obedient to Him and loving Him and serving Him. Even something as precious as family can be an idol. And sadly, there are some Christian ministries. I love homeschooling. I've homeschooled and run in those circles for many years. Sometimes family can become an idol. Christianity, true Christianity isn't Mormonism. It's not deifying your family or thinking there's something eternal about your family relationships as family relationships. Christ must have first place above all, even your dear children. Do I love my children? Yes. Would I do anything I possibly could for any one of them? Absolutely. I hope they know that. But I can't love them more than I love Christ. I have to love Christ more. He demands more from me. As one old adage puts it, Christ will be Lord of all, or he will not be Lord at all. He will have first place in our priorities and affections, or he will have no place. In Exodus 34, 14, it teaches us that the God of the Bible is a jealous God. In Isaiah 48, 2, it says he will not give his glory to another. And here is the sobering thing again to consider. Our dearest relationships in the world, our relationships with our dear parents, even our dear children can be an idol. We must desire to please and serve the Lord Jesus more than we desire to please and serve even our closest friends and family. Christ continues then his teaching in verse 38, as he says, and he that taketh not his cross and followeth after me is not worthy of me. This is Christ's invitation to what we could call the cruciform life, the cross-shaped life, the cross-carrying life. Sometimes in Christ's teaching, as it's recorded in the Gospels, this is presented in a positive manner. It's presented this way in Luke chapter 20, actually Luke chapter 13 in verse nine. It's a verse I sometimes quote when we have the Lord's Supper. When Christ said, if any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. That's putting it positively. Here, you'll notice, so it's put negatively. And he that taketh not his cross and followeth after me is not worthy of me. When we read this verse, teachings like this from Christ, whether it's put in a positive way, take up your cross daily and follow me, or negatively, he that doesn't take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me. Those statements of either sort are probably not as shocking to us as they should be. For us, a cross is, you know, something that adorns a Christian meeting house. Or it's a piece of jewelry that even the rock star or the secular athlete has hanging around his neck, or we have hanging around our neck. But when Christ first said these words to those original apostles, the cross wasn't a decoration, it wasn't jewelry. It was a cruel and sadistic form of punishment. It was the death of slaves and criminals. I read a news report from just last week of a body that was excavated near Cambridge in England. And it was of a man who apparently had been crucified by the Romans. And they knew that he'd been crucified because the nails were still embedded in his feet. And so it was funny to think about. I was just there at a place where the Romans were and they were crucifying people in England. It was a horrible, terrible way to die. We wouldn't think of putting the electric chair as a piece of jewelry around her neck, I don't think. Maybe some would be so sick as to do that. But think of the impact of Christ telling his apostles, and they'd probably seen the Romans crucify people, telling his apostles, he that taketh not his cross and followeth after me is not worthy of me. I think I've shared with you before that when I was a child in my home church, we used to sing the old gospel hymn, maybe you know it, I'm sure Carol probably does, Carol Bradley. And the hymn goes like this, must Jesus bear the cross alone and all the world go free? And it continues, no, there's a cross for everyone and there's a cross for me. I don't know if you know that old gospel song. When I was about four or five years old, though, in my church growing up, and we sang that song, must Jesus bear the cross alone and all the world go free? No, there's a cross for everyone. There's a cross for me. I was terrified. I heard that. Because in my four or five year old mind, I was beginning to think that these people in this church we go to who always talk about Jesus dying on the cross, and now we're singing songs about how if you follow him, there's gonna be a cross for you too. I was honestly scared of that, hearing that. I was like, if I believe in Christ, am I gonna have to be crucified too? That's what I was thinking about in my roughly four-year-old mind or so. Am I gonna have to be crucified too? It was only later that I came to understand, of course, that the lyrics of that song are meant spiritually and metaphorically. But on the other hand, they're absolutely right. I do have to take up my cross and follow Christ. I do have to follow him in the way of dying to myself. no matter how shameful it might be. That's what the apostle Paul said in Galatians 2.20. He said, I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. This continues now in verse 39. And this is the real paradox language. Christ says, he that findeth his life shall lose it. And he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it. Consider the testimony of the Apostle Paul in Philippians 3. Looking back on his life, he had been a successful Pharisee. He had risen in his religion above many of his peers. And then on the Damascus road, he had met Christ and He had become a follower of the one that he had preached against, railed against, and persecuted. And Paul reflects on this in Philippians 3, 7, and he said, But what things were gained to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea, doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord. for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and do count them but dung that I may win Christ. You may have heard me say before that the authorized version of most modern translations clean up the language here. I count all things but dung. The Greek word is skebola. Think of the vernacular for excrement. He says, I count all things dung. that I may win Christ. The paradox of Christ, he that findeth his life shall lose it, he that loseeth his life for my sake shall find it. And here, Christ isn't just speaking metaphorically to these apostles in a historical setting. I mean, what has he just said to these same apostles earlier back in verse 28? Fear not them which kill the body. He's talking about to his apostles, You're going to lose your lives. But in losing your lives, you're actually going to find them. Maybe you know about the martyr missionary, Jim Elliott, who died on the mission field, was killed by people to whom he was taking the gospel. And they later found his diary. And he had written within it these words. He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose. He that findeth his life shall lose it, and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it. Well, friends, we've worked through the passage, and let me now, by way of application, return, and I want to revisit briefly the three parts of our text. Let's look back at the first part. The two determinative ways that one can respond to Christ. And this is the part in the sermon where now the application. You come up and join me in the pulpit, metaphorically speaking, and with the help of the Holy Spirit, we apply it to ourselves. Here's the question. Where do you stand with Christ? Have you confessed Christ or have you denied Christ? If you answer, I'm a Christian, I'm a believer, have you done so before men? Has this been something, is it private in your heart? You sort of crossed that line? I want you to consider deeply what Christ says. If you've confessed me before men, have you been obedient to Christ in baptism? Baptism won't save you, but as with the Ethiopian eunuch, it provides a platform, an opportunity for you to make a profession of faith. For us, we feel like baptism is a place where you make a profession of faith. That's why we don't have altar calls. We have baptisms. When you're baptized, we ask you to profess your faith in Christ. Do you believe Jesus is Lord? We ask you to say Jesus is Lord publicly before the body of believers. Do you believe that Jesus Christ is a son of God? We ask you to say with your mouth, yes, I believe that Jesus Christ is a son of God. Have you confessed faith in Christ? Would the Lord beckon you to do so? And have you pondered with sobriety the sad end of those who deny Christ in this life? For Christ Himself teaches that those who deny Him before men, He will deny before the Father. We don't say that with any joy. As one of the old Scottish preachers, Robin Shane said, If we ever preach about hell, we always do so through tears. Think of the second part of the passage. Has Christ come to bring a sword to your life? I want to be careful there, because Christ brings peace, right? He brings peace with God. And he brings the peace that passeth all understanding. so that all of a sudden when you know Christ, you're content no matter what your circumstances. He brings real peace, but outwardly as men see it, he also brings the sword. And maybe the sword needs to fall. Maybe there's some things that need to be disrupted in our lives. Are you, Are you ready and willing to face the sting of opposition, even that which might arise from those closest to you? Whom do you value more? Whom are you trying to please? Are you trying to please a dear parent, a dear child, or are you trying to please the Lord Jesus Christ? Third part of our passage. We could ask this question, drawn out of verse 38. Have you taken up your cross to follow Christ? Have you said, Christ, you've compelled me. I want to be crucified with thee so that I die to myself and I live to thee. It's no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. Have you been crucified with Christ so that you might live for Him? Have you lost all things and count them dung? that you might know the excellency of Christ. Have you lost all that you might find Him? When I was a college student, there was a guy who was a popular sort of contemporary Christian singer. He was a blind guy, can't meet him. Unfortunately, I think he kind of went off the rails into some liberal theology towards the end of his life and career. But I remember there was one song that was popular with students. At least, you know, let's put it popular with some students, some Christian students. But it was a song based on this teaching and it's still with me today. He said, living leads to dying. Dying lets you live. Losing leads to finding. That's all that I can say. No one will find life any other way. That's right. That's what Jesus said. You gotta lose your life to find it. Lose your life to find it. Amen? Let me invite you to stand together. Let's join in prayer. Gracious and loving God, we give thee thanks for this foundational teaching on discipleship. And this isn't something we would have made up. We probably would have made it a bit softer around the edges. And we would not desire to water down what Christ has said. Help us to hear him today as he speaks to us through the inscripturated word. Let the spirit examine us. And let us die more to ourselves, live unto Christ, prize him above all. We ask this in Christ's name, amen.