Turn in your Bibles to John 21. This morning I'm going to read from verse 15. John 21 and verse 15, down through verse 19. So let's stand together and hear God's word. John 21, verses 15 through 19. Remember, this is the gospel of Jesus Christ. So when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me more than these? He said to him, yes, Lord, you know that I love you. He said to him, feed my lambs. He said to him again a second time, Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me? He said to him, yes, Lord, you know that I love you. He said to him, tend my sheep. He said to him a third time, Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me? Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, do you love me? And he said to him, Lord, you know all things. You know that I love you. Jesus said to him, feed my sheep. Most assuredly, I say to you, when you were younger, you girded yourself and walked where you wished. But when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish. This he spoke, signifying by what death he would glorify God. And when he had spoken this, he said to him, follow me." Amen. Please be seated. One thing I like about Peter, Peter is real. Peter's a real guy. And I take it that Peter is fairly honest here. Because as Jesus challenges him as to whether he agapes Jesus two times, his response is, you know Lord, I phileo you, I love you as a friend. And then finally Jesus comes down and says, do you really phileo me? on the third time, and that's the point at which Peter says, you know that I love you. You know that I phileo you. There's something honest about Peter. We're gonna follow Peter's life again this morning, but I want to focus in on verse 19. Towards the end of 19 this morning, after Jesus spoke, of the prophecy concerning Peter's crucifixion. Peter would be crucified. That's what he's saying. Your hands will be stretched out and another will carry you. That means that he will be nailed to a cross or attached to a cross and then be carried on that cross. That's what he's saying. So after giving Peter that prophecy, he turned to Peter and said this very simply, follow me. Now there's something very profound about that instruction, and do remember that this is the place where the gospel started. His first interaction with Jesus began with Jesus turning to Peter and saying, follow me and I will make you fishers of men. So the gospel begins with that instruction, follow me. It ends with the same instruction, Peter, follow me. So the word, the instruction did not change from John chapter 1 to John 21. We're back to the original instruction that Jesus gave to Peter and to the other disciples, and that is that very, very simple word, follow me, follow me. So this morning I'm going to teach on this. I want to understand, and I want you to understand as well, what is this thing that Jesus commands his disciples? I love the simplicity of Jesus's words. There's so much packed into those words. Follow me. What does it mean? It means emulate me. Do what I do. Go where I go. That's what it means. So if you were to walk into Galilee roughly A.D. 30, the question would be simply, where would Jesus be? That's the question. If we are to follow Jesus, where is Jesus going? Where is Jesus going to be? Jesus will be on humble road suffering circle and serving street. If there was something like that, that's where he's going to be. So, you know, if you're going to follow Jesus in AD 30 or in AD 2020, brothers and sisters, it's going to be to walk the humble road, the suffering circle and the serving street. Jesus will be loving to the point of suffering. Jesus will be washing feet, forgiving people, healing, nailing hypocrisy, encouraging faith walks, usually on water, touching lepers, teaching, praying, raising the dead, casting out demons, do what Jesus did, go where Jesus went. That's the simple message. The great thing about this is it defines for us the church of Jesus. We come back to the authenticity of what we are and whether this church or that church is authentic. We're on the search for a worship in spirit and in truth. We're on the search for something authentic because there's so much fakery all around us. So what's nice about this, what's so good about Jesus's instructions is that this is the church. This is the true body of Christ. This is where he is. His body is attached to a head. Does this make sense? A body without a head is dead. So if the body is attached to the head, this is what the body looks like. I'm not in favor of names for churches. I don't think we need names anymore. We can have all of our distinctions. We are the church that baptizes X, Y, and Z, and is this form of church government, et cetera. Friends, not important compared to this. Are we a church of Jesus Christ? Is this a real body of Christ here? Well, do we follow Jesus? Are we washing feet, loving to the point of suffering, forgiving one another, healing, nailing hypocrisy in ourselves first, encouraging faith walks, touching lepers, teaching, praying, raising the dead, and casting out demons? Is that what we're doing? It's simple. It's very simple. If that is who we are, then we are following Jesus. Isn't that simple? So simple. That's it. Now when we say raising the dead, that's pretty important. That means that by the preaching of the gospel, dead men walk. That means there's a resurrection that's going on. That's probably the number one manifestation of a true body, is that there were those who were dead in trespasses and sins, and now they are raised together with Christ. They are alive. They are listening to the Word of God. It's penetrating. They're convicted of their sins. They're drawn to Jesus. They're embracing the bloody cross. They're worshiping Jesus on a Sunday. That's a church. That's a body of Christ. This is the description, the simple description of the church. So I want to dig into this a little bit more. What is it to follow Jesus? So let me draw from some of the references to following Christ in the Gospels briefly. Just read a few of these verses from Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Matthew 20, 34. This is where Jesus approaches the blind men, and it says in verse 34 of Matthew 20, move with compassion. Jesus touched their eyes, and immediately they regained their sight and followed him. Mark 10, 52, another blind man. In Mark 10, 52, Jesus said to him, go, your faith has made you well. Immediately he regained his sight and began following him on the road. Mark 15, 41, when he was in Galilee, there were these women who used to follow him and minister to him, and there were many other women who came with him to Jerusalem. That is as he's approaching his passion and his death. Matthew 4, 18 through 20, now as Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea for they were fishermen. And he said to them, here it is, follow me and I will make you fishers of men. Immediately they left their nets and followed him. Then Matthew nine and verse nine, Jesus went from there. He saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax collector's booth and he said to him, follow me. And he got up and followed him. And then there's the story of the rich young ruler as well. In Luke 18, 22-23, Jesus goes through the commandments with this man, the rich young ruler, and then he said to the guy, here it is, one thing you still lack, sell all that you possess and distribute it to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven, and come, follow me. But when he had heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich. I'd like to ask two questions relating to the following of Jesus. First question is this, why did they follow Jesus? And second question, what does this mean? What do people do who follow Jesus? So these are the two questions we want to look at this morning as we dissect this instructions command, this very simple word. Jesus doesn't give us that many instructions or that many imperatives in the Gospels, but here is an imperative, no question, it's a command. And so the first question to ask is why do they follow Jesus? Well, let me ask you this. The blind man followed Jesus. Why do you think he followed Jesus? Well, if somebody healed your blindness, would you follow him? Let's say you were blind from birth. There's no cure for this blindness. And you had had a lot of sicknesses, you had colds, you had flus, you had other maladies in your life, but one day someone came, rubbed a little mud on your eyes, and gave you your sight back. At that point, brothers and sisters, what would you do? This is the big one. He healed them of this big thing. He fixed the big problem. And so they experienced the compassion of Jesus, the grace, the mercy, and the power of Jesus. And if you have experienced this, if you have experienced the goodness and the grace and the power of the gospel of Jesus in your life, If Jesus has healed you of your blindness, that's going to be a motivation to follow Him. Why would people follow anybody? There's got to be something attractive about the person that you follow. I know there are dads, they're a little frustrated that their teens don't follow them. They don't listen to them, they don't follow, they're not interested in hanging around these dads. And why is that? Your teens don't like you. That's the hard and fast truth of it. You know, if somebody doesn't like to be with you, they don't like you. So, you know, if you're a dad and you're struggling with your children following you, there's a strong possibility they don't like you. And maybe there's something about you. Maybe you don't like them. And maybe they're sensing something like that in their own lives. So why did these blind men follow Jesus? Because they liked Him. That's it. I don't think it's any more complicated than that. You follow Jesus if you like Him, if you want to be with Him. There is certainly a sense of gratitude and love for what Jesus has done. There's a sense of His capacity to save. Certainly He can save, can't He? Do you have problems? Do you have problems? Anybody struggle with something? People tell me that they're struggling. If you struggle with something, You know, if you're concerned about something, if you suffer guilt, if you have a problem with depression, if you understand your sin and the grip that your sin has upon your life and that sort of thing, what do you need? You need a Savior. That's what you need. See, I think everybody knows they need a Savior. Sometimes they forget that they need to be saved from their sins, or they might ignore the fact that there's death coming. But friends, we need to be saved. Jesus came to save us. That's the good news. And here's the other thing, He's able to save. He's so able to save. And you know, we go to the opiates, or we go to food, or you know, a little down, gotta go to the food. A little down, gotta watch a basketball game, or gotta watch a movie, or whatever it is. People do this all the time, but they're just not very good saviors. You gotta step back and say, I just don't think that the government or Hollywood or whoever it is, is really that great at saving me. I've got issues, I've got really deep issues and chocolate's not gonna do it. Isn't that true? In an honest moment, can't we just step back and say, I don't think chocolate is enough for this? Amen. But Jesus is. Jesus is the greatest Savior. He's got a capacity to save. He brings light. He brings sight. People wander around wondering what's wrong. What am I doing in this handbasket and where am I going is, I think, where almost everybody in the world is. They know they're in the handbasket and they know they're going somewhere and it ain't very good. They just have this premonition that this is not a very good situation. This is where people are. But Jesus opens our eyes. Jesus enables us to see our need and himself, the face of Christ, the Savior, the one who is able to save. That's the first answer to the question. The blind men followed Jesus because he gave them their sight and because they liked him. Secondly, they followed him, in the case of the disciples, they followed him because he told them to. So I think we need to include that as well. Jesus commands you, saints. Jesus commands me to follow him. He's giving me a very simple instruction. It's kinda nice because, you know, I don't want it too complicated. I'm not really that smart myself. So it's nice to receive This instruction, it's a very basic instruction, follow me. Isn't that good? Follow me. How many of you wanna follow Jesus? How many of you wanna be with Jesus? Amen. And Jesus says, follow me. It seems like something natural. It seems like something that disciples need to do. We would just follow the teacher. We would follow the one we would emulate, and that is Jesus. So it makes a lot of sense when Jesus gives us this command. Now, let's answer the second and last question this morning concerning this command to follow Jesus. What do people do who follow Jesus? So let's examine this. Let's look at what they do when they follow Jesus. The first thing they do is they leave something behind. When you follow Jesus, you're going to leave something behind. In the case of Peter and John, as they were amending the nets, they got up, left the fishing business, and went with Jesus. Now I'm going to take that to mean that they left a focus on the fishing business behind. They left a focus on tax collecting behind, as in the case of Matthew, and they leave a love of money behind them, and mostly a love of self. The rich young ruler was challenged there in Luke 18 to leave his money behind. That is in a very real sense. Jesus said, I want you to sell everything you have, give all of your money to the poor, and come and follow me. That was the challenge that Jesus made for the rich young ruler because that would be a manifestation of his repentance. He had such a love for materials and such a love for money that Jesus challenged him to leave his money behind. And as I've traveled the world, I tell you one thing. There is one universal. about the entire world. Whether it be in the most impoverished area, Malawi, Africa, or whether it be in the richest place in America, wherever it is, which happens to be probably Douglas County or Elbert County, America, but wherever we go around the world, Nepal's the same way, South Korea's the same way, Mexico's the same way, people love money. Money is the thing. Money's the God. Money is what people serve. Money is the thing they want more than anything else. Doesn't matter if they're poor or rich. Doesn't matter what religion they come from. Doesn't matter what nation. To find a Christian who doesn't love money is extremely rare around the world. And there are Christians who don't love money. They love Jesus more than money. But I'm telling you, just generally speaking, if you walk out into Malawi, walk out into Mexico or Nepal, people love money. It's the first thing my business instructor said. Remember when I was 16 years of age, first class I took in junior college, the first thing he said was, money, money, money, it's all about money. Money is the thing that drives people. Money is the thing that motivates them. Money is the thing they love more than anything else. They talk about it all the time. They serve money. They serve mammon. In fact, the word mammon is very interesting. The word mammon in Greek has two translations. The first is the thing you trust, and the second is money. Isn't that interesting? In other words, money is so aligned in the mind of man as the thing that is trusted, the thing that people look to for their salvation, the thing that matters more than anything else to them. Money is so important that the word mammon in the Greek meant the thing you trust in as well as money. So when Jesus said, you cannot serve God and mammon, you will either love the one, hate the other, or hate the one and love the other. He was speaking of the thing in which we trust, the thing that we serve, the thing we're focused on more than anything else. You cannot trust God and riches. You cannot serve God and riches. So have you left anything to follow Jesus? You have to throw something overboard as you follow Jesus. You have to turn away from that which you served, the thing that you thought was most important if you're going to follow Jesus. You have to throw your love of money over the edge of the boat if you're going to float with Jesus and follow him in the boat. You have to leave Sodom. You have to leave money. You have to leave self, the world, the pride of life, the desire for position, fame, and fortune, the things that drive people, the thing that they consider to be most important in their lives. And these tests are in front of us all the time. What is our priority? What is the thing that matters more than anything else? extremely meticulous about being sure we have movies to watch? Or are we being sure that we make it to work, but we wind up missing church for every other excuse? Again, the question of what's most important in your life is an everyday question. And I think we have to be honest with ourselves, brothers and sisters, is Jesus all that important to us? Are we willing to cast something away, some other priority aside in order for us to be following Jesus, being with Jesus? Again, I'm not condemning anybody for missing church. I realize many are this morning because of sickness, and I realize that. But we need to be honest with ourselves relating to what is most important and significant and the priority of our lives. And I was working for a living until I went into ministry, so I understand that there's this commitment to work. And sometimes I think about work on a Sunday, and it was a struggle for me, because work was important to me. But even on Sunday in ministry, I can be overly concerned with who's here, who's not here. I can be overly concerned with my shepherding of the body, so to speak, and not as concerned with the vertical worship of God. that calls me to my focus, you see. And I experience these tensions in my own life, so I understand that every day I'm faced with, do I toss aside these other concerns in order to be focused upon the worship of God on a Sunday morning? So I'm there with you, brothers and sisters. I understand these tests. Will I leave other things behind? in order to follow Jesus? That's the question that comes back to me all the time. So you have to leave something behind if you follow Jesus. What have you left behind? And that should be obvious to all of us. We have tossed these things overboard in our commitment to following Jesus. Secondly, the second thing we know about people who follow Jesus is that they go where he goes. They heal, they cast out demons, they announce the good news of the kingdom of God everywhere around them. They go where he goes, they do what he does. They engage in compassion. They look for where the kingdom of God is. The kingdom of God is here. The commodities of peace and joy and righteousness are worth more than trillions of dollars. So we want to go into the world and shout the good news to those who are still in chains. This is the passion. This is the thing that we see to be more important than anything else, is that the kingdom of God is here. The gospel of Jesus Christ is a ready offer for everybody around us, so we declare. the ultimate liberty to people in bondage. We tell them the kingdom of God is accessible. It's Romans 10. I love Romans 10. It's nothing where you have to climb up into the heaven to find it or crawl up Mount Pike's Peak on your knees pushing a bean by your nose in order to reach the kingdom of God. It's accessible. It's here. It's right now. The kingdom of God is just a hand breath away from us. It's simply raising your hands and in faith receiving Jesus as Savior. It is right there in front of us. And so we present this to the world, declaring the ultimate joy to those who are caught in the endless cycles of despair, futility, and escape. Declaring the ultimate peace to a world that is so consumed in conflicts. I don't know if any of you understand what it is for people to live in a household that doesn't know Jesus. We have had some personal contact with family life in which there is constant consternation and conflict, usually surrounding money and things like this because that's their God. But I don't know if you understand what it is for the world to be in this constant state of guilt and consternation, and there is no peace, saith my God, for the wicked. Their hearts are in turmoil. There's no resting. There's no peace in their lives. It's manifest in their relationships, and on and on it goes. but we declare that there's ultimate peace to be found in a world of constant consternation and internal and external conflicts. So as we follow Jesus into the world where people are in bondage, people are in conflicts, people are in despair, by the way, despair deaths, suicides, Drug overdoses and alcohol deaths, they call them despair deaths, are up, get this, 400% since 1999. And the fact that people are getting lost on the internet, trying to escape life, trying to escape relationship, et cetera, et cetera, that isolation almost always leads to insanity and some form of suicide or sense of despair. Guys, they're all around us. We have a message. We have a message. We have a message. Isn't that true? What do you got, guys? What do we have? Despair deaths are up 400%. Now what are you gonna do? What do you wanna do? Go where Jesus goes. Where would Jesus go? Go there. He finds these people in bondage and conflicts, depression, despair. He says, the kingdom of God is here. Receive this gospel. So it's not so much WWJD, I like WWJG. I think that's even better. Where would Jesus go? Isn't that something? See, if you're gonna follow him, where is he going? Where is Jesus going? Well, would Jesus go to places in crisis? People in crisis. I know there's not as much crisis around. It's not like we walk out and immediately we run into seven blind men, two dead people, 80 people with leprosy. That's not as common today, maybe because of our medical science has improved and such. I think also there was a tremendous demonic influence upon Israel and the curse of God really upon a nation that was settled in upon the Jews at that time. So there was an increase in diseases and such. A nation in crisis. I think what was happening in Jerusalem, in Judea at the time, was a nation in crisis when Jesus arrived there. And friends, let's go to places in crisis. That's where Jesus goes. Would he go to that run down house over there? You know the house that everybody else stays away from? The darkest, dingiest, most depressed house in your neighborhood. Y'all know which one it is. They haven't painted the house in 60 years. It's all run down. Nobody has a will to continue living in that house. That's where Jesus would go, amen? Amen, brothers and sisters! Jesus would go to that teenager over there, isolated, in despair, on the verge of suicide. See, that's the person at your college that everybody else is staying away from. But that's where Jesus goes. He's going to find the person most tattooed, most despaired, most consumed with the destructive influences of sin. That's where Jesus goes. They would share the news of the kingdom of God, and then the women who followed him, followed him so that they could minister to him and to his disciples. So that's another reason. That's the third reason why they would follow, or the third thing they would do as they followed Him, the women would follow Him so they could minister to Him and to His disciples. And now you say, well, now how do I do that today? Well, obviously, Jesus is always with His body. So if you wanna know where Jesus is, He's with His body. Is the head connected to the body? Generally speaking? Yes, the head is connected to the body. Is the head with the body? Is the head concerned with how his body is treated? Brian, are you concerned with how your body is treated? If somebody takes a baseball bat to your body, is your head a bit concerned about that? Absolutely. Does the head get involved? Yes, it does. The head is very concerned about the treatment of the body. So the women were following Jesus in order to minister to his body and of course to pour out perfume upon him as they did prior to his death and burial. So that's the third thing that those would do who would follow Jesus. They always ministered to his body. They were there to wash his feet with their tears and with perfume. And finally, here's the plainest definition of following Jesus, found in Luke 9. So we're gonna close here. Turn to Luke 9, verse 21. As we really try to analyze what it is to follow Jesus, this passage is the plainest of all, because it is the words of Jesus himself. So let's go to Luke 9, verse 21. and read this, and this has a direct tie-in to what Jesus is telling John and Peter in John 21, 19. Luke 921, Jesus strictly warned and commanded them to tell this to no one saying, the son of man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and be raised the third day. And then he said to them all, if anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. Now I'd like to pick it up in verse 57. Now it happened as they journeyed on the road that someone said to him, Lord, I will follow you wherever you go. And Jesus said to him, foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the son of man has nowhere to lay his head. And then he said to another, follow me. But he said, Lord, let me first go and bury my father. And Jesus said to him, let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God. And another said, Lord, I will follow you, but let me first go and bid them farewell, who are at my house. But Jesus said to him, no one, having put his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God. So this is the test that Jesus gives us. It's an instruction but also a test for all of us. He says, follow me. Now you see there are some here that did not follow him for several reasons. There were three men who didn't follow him. First was a scribe, and then the other two men, the one who wanted to bury his father first, which means that he probably wanted to stay at home for a while before he gets onto the business of declaring the word of the kingdom of God. And then the other one wanted to go home and bid farewell, and Jesus discouraged him there as well, saying, no one having put his hand to the plow, and looking back is fit for the kingdom of God. So what does this mean? This means is that some people immediately follow Jesus, and that's what Peter did. That's what Matthew did. When Jesus said, follow me, they dropped everything and they followed him. And so, as the word follow me comes to you, in the context where you are, Jesus says, drop it and follow me, which is an everyday command for all of us. in various contexts, then what the believer does is he drops everything and he follows Jesus. Immediately. So part of following Jesus is an immediate response, not a half-hearted response. Some hesitate, some look back like Lot's wife, some are indecisive. There's faithlessness there, there's this serving Christ and mammon going on. Some will shrink back from discomfort. The scribe preferred the easy life. He had enjoyed honor. He was not interested in enduring the reproaches, the poverty, the persecutions, and the cross involved. He didn't want to walk among the thorns and march to the cross with constant, uninterrupted afflictions. He rather wanted to fight in the shade. He didn't want to be bothered by sweat or dust. He wanted to engage the battle of drone warfare from his comfortable chair beyond the reach of the weapons of war. But affliction and tribulation are necessary for the entering of the kingdom of heaven. That's what the Apostle Paul told the churches throughout Asia Minor. He said the one message that he brought to all the churches, it's recorded in the book of Acts, is that it will be through much tribulation that we enter the kingdom of heaven. And if you happen to find yourself in America, which is, I would say, is the church of Laodicea, What do you do? Well, what you do is you buy gold. The church in Laodicea thought they were very wealthy, everything was under control, but Jesus told them they were lukewarm, and he said what you need to do is buy gold tried in the fire, which means that if we are in the church in America, the church of Laodicea, the instruction for us, brothers and sisters, is to lean into the affliction. Spend your money to suffer. Buy a ticket to Saudi Arabia and share the gospel on the streets of Saudi Arabia. That's the only cure for the church of Laodicea. That's it. Awaken to the affliction. Walk into the fire. The American churches are filled with thorny ground hearers, stony ground hearers, fair weather fighters, pliables, and Demases, having departed, loving this present world. This is what characterizes the American church. So, but Jesus turns to us and says, if you will follow me, deny yourself, take up your cross daily, and follow Jesus. As we like to say in the morning, remember, it's your keys, your cell phone, your wallet, and one more thing, your cross. Because that's who we are. Every day. Every day, daily, we take up the cross and follow Jesus. Every day. Every day we deny ourselves. We stop loving ourselves instead of loving God. We sign ourselves up for discomforts and not love our own bodies for the sake of Jesus. If the opportunity has presented itself to us, which it will in some form every day, we embrace the suffering, deny ourselves every day, That's the Christian life. Seek the lowest position for yourself. Kids, the smallest piece of cake on the plate. By the way, if I had heard that when I was 10 years old, that would have pierced me through to the very core of my being. How many of you adults still struggle with wanting to get the bigger piece of the cake on the plate? You're not 10 years old, but you're still sort of reaching for the bigger piece. Man, not a single one of you raised your hands. Oh, Joel, you did. Man, a little more honesty, guys. Seeking the lowest position, the seat in the very back of the party. As Thomas Akempis would say, be ready. to lay yourself down on the street and have every citizen in Elizabeth walk over you. Deny yourself. Insult your pride. Every day, take up your cross and follow Jesus. These are tough words, I realize, but they come from the Savior. Follow Jesus. Where's he going? He's going to Jerusalem, and then he's going to Gethsemane, and then he's going to his trial, and then off to Calvary. He says, I will suffer many things. If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me. What was the problem with Peter? Peter ran away from the cross. So he ran away from the cross, denied Jesus, comes back having breakfast with Jesus, admitting that he loves Jesus. He wants to be with Jesus. Jesus tells him, follow me, to what? To crucifixion. Jesus doesn't say, I forgive you. That's assumed. This restoration doesn't involve the words, I forgive you. That's assumed. He's already received them. He's fixed them breakfast, but now what? Let's get to the real issue. Peter, come back. Follow me. You weren't following me to the cross. You refused to follow me to Calvary. I saw you denying me three times. You wouldn't follow me to Calvary. I'm giving you another shot at it. Now follow me, Peter. Follow me all the way. through crucifixion because you will have that opportunity yourself. So what is this cross for us? Let's apply this to ourselves. Jesus takes the big cross, we get the little cross. The cross is persecution and oppression. Certainly suffering, but not necessarily getting a cold or suffering from the flu. It's spiritual pushback that comes when you follow Jesus, testify to the law of God, to righteousness, to the offer of the gospel, that Christ has come to set us free from our sins and from breaking the laws of God. People don't like this. You start to talk this way, people won't like you. That's what he's talking about. Not everybody gets colds. Everybody gets the flu. It's not talking about that. It's talking about persecution, oppression, sometimes satanic oppression. You get involved in ministry and you start teaching the strong words of the gospel, you can bet the next day you're gonna get oppression, demonic oppression that's gonna come to your home, might even affect your marriage and your family. Oh yeah, there's oppression and persecution. It's sometimes daily for Christians. This is the pushback that we get. Every time you say no to the devil, I'm going to love God's people instead of thinking those evil thoughts about them. You're going through that oppressive, tempting, persecuting pushback that the devil is sending your direction. Every time you say no to the devil, I'm gonna stand with my persecuted brother, who's become the off-scouring of humanity. I'm gonna stand with Philip Zodiotes in prison, the guy who's been in prison now for over 365 days in America, for standing up for that which was right. Not very many people speak of Philip, They basically ignore Him. Not very many people stand with the persecuted, which is not what people do. But friends, when you say yes to Jesus and no to the devil, you're standing with the persecuted. And it's also the point at which the world is attacking us. That becomes the cross for today. By the way, the unspoken rule in America is never speak religion. in traveling around the world, I have no trouble speaking to Mexicans, Nepalese, guys from India about the gospel of Jesus. No trouble speaking of God in religion with people from India or Mexico, but you do it in America, you break the silence in your university classroom, you break your silence on that flight from Denver to Dallas, you break the silence, you will be persecuted for it. You break that law. You stomp all over that law. Absolutely, I'm gonna speak about God. I know you're white, I understand that you live in America and so forth and so on, and I'm never persecuted in these other countries like I'm gonna persecute her right now on this flight from Dallas to Denver, but I'm gonna talk about Jesus to you, and I will sign up for the persecution involved with that. Friends, Everybody gets a chance to be persecuted, not just in China, but here as well. The point at which the world will attack you becomes the cross today. The Southern Baptist Convention president, J.D. Greer, two weeks ago, listen to this, he encouraged Christians to just give in and start using the preferred pronouns for people who are transgendering. This is the president of the Southern Baptist, the largest evangelical denomination in America, says, yeah, just go ahead and bow to the idol of Nebuchadnezzar. We will always get our Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego moment. When the microphone is in your face, you're a public school teacher, or you are working in a corporation, and you refuse to use the preferred pronoun of somebody who is offending Almighty God by attempting to change their gender and forcing everybody around them to say amen to it. But you're saying, no, I'm not going to do that. I will not bow to the statute in Nebuchadnezzar. It will be the fiery furnace for me. See, in every society, there's that point at which you will either stand or fall, and that's what's happening to evangelicalism in America right now. And if there is no repentance on the part of this president of the Southern Baptists, if there is a rejection of this cross, he is not a Christian. It's just that simple. when push comes to shove on the areas in which the world is tempting us and persecuting us today, if there is a decided opposition to Jesus and a submission to the world at that point, and there is no repentance, thank God there is repentance for some leaders like Cranmer, who burned his own hand off in the fire because he had signed that betrayal of Jesus. in England in the 16th century. Friends, this is serious stuff. Do you understand me? It is for us to deny ourselves, take up the cross, and follow Jesus. There is a paraphrase of a Luther quote in the German that I like. I went back to review the basic German. It has been modified. I modified it back just a little bit. Listen to this. Martin Luther paraphrased, if I profess with the loudest voice and clearest exposition of every portion of the truth of God, except precisely that little point which the world and the devil are at the point attacking, I am denying Christ. however boldly I may be professing him, wherever the battle rages, there the loyalty of a soldier is proved, and to be steady on all the battlefield besides is mere flight and disgrace if he flinches at that one point. So friends, the world will always press its claims and will choose the point at which to engage the conflict. The question is for us, will we bow to the statue or will we stand and receive the persecution in the name of Jesus? And the reason we don't use the preferred pronoun is because we don't perpetuate lies. We don't endorse the preferred sin of the day. And yes, you could lose your job for it. But friends, this is the point. Be ready to lose your job. Go to work ready to lose your job. Be ready to walk into the fire. Be ready to go to jail. And here's the point. The man bearing the cross is a man on his way to jail. He is on his way to a crucifixion. It's a mindset. We go to jail with the cross on the way to the crucifixion. It's a mindset. That's who we are. We follow Jesus on this track. But here, let me drill into this even more, largely for myself, because here's what I struggle with. I struggle with my attitude towards the cross. Sometimes I'll take that cross because it's just what I have to do, but I don't take it with a willingness and with humility and with the attitude that Jesus took to the cross. So I add this to the application for all of us this morning. Don't fight the cross. Don't complain about it. Don't act as if the cross is an unwelcome and unnatural part of your life. Oh, that we'd look to the cross as Jesus did, looking to Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despised the pain, and now is set down in the right hand of the Father. Looking to Jesus, who embraced the cross with a joy and with a hope and an expectation of what was beyond the cross. So you can't do this without hope. You can't do this with, I'm going to heaven. There is a joy, this is a consummation that awaits us. One of the greatest books ever written is Thomas Akempis' Imitation of Christ. I'm on my fourth or fifth time through it. It is a classic. It is a classic. There's no getting around it. It is as much a classic as Pilgrim's Progress, as well has some problems to it. But I can't deny the force of this book. It shakes me every time I read it. And here's why. Because the life presented in this book is very different than the life I'm used to. And so I'm enamored by it. I want to live the life of Christ. I want to imitate the life of Christ, but it's so different from what I'm used to by nature. Amen, brothers, sisters? It's just so different. Listen to what he says. This is Thomas Akempis. The life presented, or if you look for the rest, for rest, if you look for rest in this world, in this life, how will you attain to everlasting rest? Dispose yourself Not for much rest, but for great patience. Seek true peace, not on earth, but in heaven. Not in men or in other creatures, but in God alone. For love of God, you should undergo all things cheerfully, all labors and sorrows, temptations and trials, anxieties, weaknesses, necessity, injuries, slanders, rebukes, humiliations, confusions, corrections, and contempt. These are the trials of Christ's recruit. These form the heavenly crown. Do you think that you will always have spiritual consolations as you desire? The saints who have gone before us did not always have them. Instead, they had many afflictions, temptations of various kinds, and great desolation, yet they bore them all patiently. They placed their confidence in God rather than in themselves, knowing that the sufferings of this life are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to come. And you, Do you wish to have at once that which others have only obtained after many tears and great labors? So, brothers and sisters, if you are in the presence of the cross of Christ and his blood is dripping on you and his mercies are showered upon you, this all makes sense. To be in the presence of Christ is to enjoy the fellowship of His sufferings. And as I've said many times before, if Jesus is dragging the cross to Calvary, all tortured, blood dripping down His head, the stripes down His back, and you're driving behind in a sports car, honking a horn at Him, you're not following Him. You're not following Him. This is Jesus. Do you love Jesus? Will you follow Jesus? This is the Jesus we're following. This is it. He's the one who went to Calvary. Follow Him. Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote The Cost of Discipleship as well, I think the most important book of the 20th century. because he was so good at characterizing the next 100 years of the Christian faith where evangelicalism, even right now, is splitting right down the center on this issue. This is the very nub of the matter in the modern day Reformation. This is it. And Bonhoeffer hit it dead on. It's the contrast between this powerless, cheap grace and a powerful, costly grace that sustains us all the way to heaven. Listen to what Bonhoeffer says. Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance. Baptism without church discipline, communion without confession, absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate. Costly grace is a treasure hidden in the field for the sake of it a man will go and sell all that he has It's the pearl of great price to buy which the merchant will sell all his goods It is the kingly rule of Christ for whose sake a man will pluck out the eye which causes him to stumble It is the call of Jesus Christ at which the disciple leaves his nets and follows him. I Costly grace is the gospel which must be sought again and again, the gift of which must be asked for, the door at which a man must knock. Such grace is costly because it calls us to follow. It is a grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because it costs a man his life. And it is grace because it gives a man the only true life. It is costly because it condemns sin. Grace because it justifies the sinner. Above all, it is costly because it costs God the life of His Son. You were bought at a price, and what has cost God much cannot be cheap for us. Above all, it is grace because God did not reckon His Son too dear a price to pay for our life, but delivered Him up for us. Costly grace is the incarnation of God. So brothers and sisters, is this your faith? Is this your Christ? Is this who you are following? There he is on the cross, bleeding for sinners. He loved me, he loved you, now he says, love me, feed my lambs, take up my cross, follow me. So we don't need to be talking about me time. the acceptance of the world, the comforts of life. That's not primary for us. It just isn't primary. If there's something to deny in self, a cross to bear, sign me up. Every day, that's what Jesus is saying here. C.T. Studd, I love this statement. If Jesus, the Son of God, gave himself for me, there is nothing I cannot give up for him. Let me put it this way. If Jesus Christ, the Son of God, lived and died and lived again for me, then I will live for him and die for him. I must follow him. I must follow him wherever he goes. And he always goes into the fire. He always walks into suffering. He always chooses the more humble place to serve. He offends the rich and powerful Pharisees, the rich young rulers. He turns to the publicans, the despised Gentiles, the repentant prostitutes. He washes his disciples' feet with water, and then he washes their souls with his own blood. Follow him. One more thing to say, because this always occurs to us, as it occurred to Peter in John 21. Never compare crosses. Let me say that one more time, because the very next thing that happens is Peter says, yeah, yeah, yeah, but what's going to happen to John over here? And Jesus says, if it is my will that he remains until I come, what is that to you? You follow me. So isn't it interesting how immediately we say, yeah, but, but, but, but this person has it easier than I do. This one has a larger cross than I have. I have a bigger cross than they do. There's all this comparison that happens. No, no, we all follow Jesus wherever he leads us, into the specific areas and challenges of our lives that he gives to us, but we're all going to be giving up our lives for him that we will gain a new life, a better life. So some will be crucified on real crosses, some will be crucified slowly over life, some will go quickly, some will go slowly, some will lose their jobs for Jesus, some will lose their health for Jesus. There's no sense in comparing crosses or criticizing a brother in how he's giving up his life for Jesus as God has called him to do it. Remember, John G. Payton said, I'm going to the New Hebrides to minister the gospel to cannibals. And someone says, you go to the New Hebrides, you're going to be eaten by cannibals. He says, if I stay here, I'm eaten by worms. Worms, cannibals, who cares? Please don't be the guy criticizing the person who is laying down their life this way for Jesus versus that way. So that's all Jesus is saying here. We don't compare crosses. Then 25 years later, what do we find Peter doing but rejoicing in the persecutions? We get a share in Christ's sufferings. As we said, beloved, don't think a strange thing concerning the fiery trial which is to try you as though some strange thing happened to you, but rejoice in as much as you partake of Christ's sufferings, that when his glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy. So at the end of the day, Peter wanted to follow Jesus, and he rejoiced to do it. Began to rejoice in the tribulations and the sufferings that he had in fellowship with Christ Now it was remarkable this it was remarkable that Peter followed Jesus to just outside the courtyard where Jesus was tried I happen to believe that Peter did a better job than some of the other disciples He came right to the courtyard looking into the trial itself That's pretty brave Peter came to the courtyard where Jesus was tried, but he couldn't quite make it to the cross. But now he wants to be with Jesus and enjoy the fellowship of his sufferings. And that's how much he liked being in fellowship with Jesus. How about you? Amen. Father, we are drawn to Jesus. We want to be with Him. We want to follow Him. We want to walk into the fire with Him. We will walk into trials. We will receive the persecutions. But it's because we like Him. It's because we want to be with Him. It's because He loved us first and gave Himself for us. And now we love Him and we follow Him. Father, help us. Send Your Spirit to us. Enable us. to do this in the right spirit. Oh, Father, help me to rejoice in trials. Help me to embrace the sufferings and to know that it's in the fire. The fourth man appears, and there I have fellowship with Jesus. Oh, God, help me to understand this. Help us all to understand and experience this great reality of fellowship in the sufferings of Christ. In Jesus' name, amen. And I'd like to go back to the Garden of Gethsemane to better understand the suffering of Jesus. I read this again this week and it struck me in a different way from Matthew 26. Listen to this. This is the suffering of Christ. I think we get a better picture of the suffering of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane than we do on the cross because he reveals a little bit more of his internal struggles that are going on there at the cross, there at the Garden versus on the cross where it was a little bit more public So evidently there were the disciples were witnessing something of the heart of Jesus pouring out in Gethsemane listen to Matthew 26 Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane and said to the disciples sit here while I go and pray over there he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee and he began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed and then he said to them my soul is exceedingly sorrowful even to death Stay here and watch with me." Now don't miss that. He's saying, my soul is exceedingly sorrowful to the point that I think I may die right here, right now. There's an intense suffering that's going on. I think it's emotional, it's physical, it's spiritual. Jesus is suffering big time in the garden there. He went a little further and fell on his face and prayed, saying, Oh, my father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me, nevertheless not as I will, but as you will. Then he came to his disciples and found them sleeping and said to Peter, What? Could you not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. Again, a second time he went away and prayed and said, oh my father, if this cup cannot pass away from me unless I drink it, your will be done. And he came and found them asleep again, for their eyes were heavy. So he left them, went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words. And then he came to his disciples and said to them, Are you still sleeping and resting? Behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners." What is the problem with Peter? This may be something of a root issue. Certainly, Peter had pride issues. But Peter has a root problem here, in the garden. I believe there are moments of intensity, intense sufferings, intense difficulties where people will turn everything off. They just can't face it. They do not have the faith to face the reality of what is going on. I believe there's a lack of faith in Peter here to face it, to face the sufferings of Jesus. There is a shrinking back, there is an avoidance, a denial, a failure to join in to the pain and the suffering, even to pray with him in the garden. We hid, as it were, our faces from him. So brothers and sisters, I want to challenge every one of you today to faith. Do not gloss over the sufferings of Jesus. Face it. Absorb it. Receive it. Meditate upon it. Feel the pain of Christ even a little bit. I think this is where maturation begins. Brother, I think it begins at the cross. In faith, receiving the work of Jesus, what He did for us, this is where it starts. The maturation of being willing to look into the very face of agony of Christ on the cross. We begin to grow in our understanding of Christ, what He did for us, and our lives as well. Jesus suffered while doing the Father's will against all of the oppression of the devil. We've experienced oppression. We have all experienced sorrow and oppression and that force of the evil one on us. Every Christian understands something of that. Imagine the whole demonic world coming down upon Jesus in the garden. But Jesus said, not my will, but yours be done. He followed through on obedience to the Father. Adam failed, Jesus succeeded. And that means all the world to us, because we don't succeed. So it was an intense agony, a deep distress, He looked at that cup and he said, Father, if it be possible, I'd like to pass. And the Father said, No, you're going to drink it to the dregs. You're going to drink the wrath of God. You're going to feel the brunt of the condemnation upon all of these sinners that Christ is saving around the world, including all of us. You're going to feel the brunt of the condemnation. You're going to feel the pain, the agony in the streams that we would have elicited throughout all eternity in hellfire. Jesus is going to feel that upon himself and was feeling it, was receiving it in the garden there. He said, Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. Sin must be dreadful for the Son of God to face such agony. Think of the intensity of his love. Think of the burden he carried as he took the curse upon himself. The infinite price to be paid. The infinite justice offended. And the absolute and complete reconciliation that Jesus made for us with God. So brothers and sisters, let's stand in awe of Jesus in the garden. And on the cross, let's praise him. and let us follow him, we will find ourselves suffering while we pursue the will of God in our lives. We have not suffered, though, under the point of bloodshed, striving against sin like he did. But praise God, he's gone before us and he took the big cross for us. Let's pray, let's pray. Father, as we consider the sufferings of Jesus now, we do so with a sense of fear, certainly wonder and awe as we consider the weight of sin, the intensity of the curse upon Christ, our Savior, our Jesus. Father, we are so thankful and grateful for this great salvation that Jesus suffered, as it were, an eternal agony, an infinite agony for our sins that we would never have to suffer that way. But we only suffer in fellowship with Jesus. Father, we praise you and thank you for the love of Jesus. We can see sheer love pressing through His veins, causing those great drops of blood to press out of His pores onto the ground, each one representing sheer love. for us. And now we love because He first loved us. Amen.