Mark, we'll be in Mark chapter eight today, and starting at verse 34, and we'll, Lord willing, get halfway through this passage that is at the end of chapter eight, and then pick it up again next week. That's the plan. Mark eight ends with one of the most challenging passages, I think, in the gospels. One that as I have studied this over the last week or so have really wrestled with this text. Because of the implications of it and the heavy weight, if you will, but in another sense, the beautiful freedom that is offered as we look at Christ's instructions. And so we'll be looking at the theme of follow me, the cost of discipleship out of Mark 8, 34 through 38. Before we go any farther, let's pray and ask God to bless our time. Father, thank you, Lord, so much for the day. Thank you for a great worship service today. I thank you for the blessing, the privilege of having this opportunity to open the word of God. I pray that you would bless our time, help us to be encouraged, challenged, and edified Lord through your word today. And we pray this in Jesus' name, amen. I'd like to ask you some questions that we'll just be thinking about. You don't need to answer, but if you would please think about these questions with me. I've been asking these questions of myself, and I'd like you to think about them in your own life this morning. Question number one, do you follow Jesus? Do you follow Jesus? Are you a true disciple of Jesus? And what does that word disciple mean to you? Have you given it some thought lately? Our passage today, again, Mark 8, 34 through 38, and in this passage, Jesus calls believers into and teaches what it means to be a true disciple, what it means to follow him as a true disciple. We must remember the context that this passage is in Mark. So if we just go back a few verses, We won't read through them, but if we go back and we kind of scan through what's been happening, Jesus has been having a conversation with the disciples. And he's asked them a question. He asked them, well, who do men say that I am? And they answered, and he said, well, who do you say that I am? And Peter answers for the group, he makes his confession of the Messiah-ship of Jesus. He says, you are the Christ, and Jesus blesses him for that, but then in verse 31, Jesus begins and announces to the disciples for the first time that he would be killed. They haven't heard this teaching before. In fact, I don't know if we touched on it, but in verse 31 it says, he began to teach. The word began is a word of something for the first time, a proto of something, the beginning of something. It's the first time they're hearing this, that their Lord, their Rabbi, their Messiah was going to be killed. And of course, he also predicts his resurrection three days. After three days, he will rise again. Well, Peter and the disciples, they don't know how to handle that. And I don't think we would have known either had we been in their place. So Peter makes, he makes this beautiful confession, but then he blunders and he says, he begins to rebuke Jesus for this, which brings a rebuke from Jesus against Peter for his satanic thinking. Jesus says, get behind me, Satan. The same thing he said to the devil in the wilderness when the devil said, turn the stones into bread. He said, get behind me, Satan. The reason he did that, and we covered this more in depth in previous lessons, but Peter's thinking was not God's thinking. And he spells it out, you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men. Peter was not mindful of the things of God. He was not mindful of the spiritual truth, but he was mindful of the things of men, the natural, physical, and even national view that Messiah was supposed to conquer Rome and set them free. Jesus, of course, has a different plan. And so we're coming out of that whole dialogue when we come into verse 34. So Jesus then seizes the moment. He seizes the moment to teach them something very important, which is the cost of discipleship. He's saying, I want you that believe in me, I want you to grow in your faith. Peter, I know you believe in me, but you're not mindful of the things of God. You're immature in your faith. And now he calls Peter, as well as anyone else who believes in him, to this idea of what it means to be a true disciple, and the cost that comes with that discipleship, because there is a cost to be considered. There's also great rewards, and I would argue those rewards far outweigh the cost But nevertheless, the cost is there. And Jesus makes that clear. So we have a couple points on the outline. The first one is the desire of following. The desire of following. It's the first part of verse 34. So look with me now at Mark 8, and starting in verse 34. When he had called the people to himself, with his disciples also, He said to them, whoever desires to come after me. The phrase come after me is a key phrase to unlocking this passage. This passage here, the passage of taking up the cross and following Jesus, has come under different viewpoints, and there's oftentimes confusion as to what that means. The phrase come after me is one of the keys to unlocking the meaning. To come after Jesus is not the same thing as to come to Jesus. We come to Jesus for the free gift of everlasting life. We come to him for that by putting our faith in him. We see that all through scripture. A couple key texts on this, John 4.10, Jesus is at the well of Sychar, and he's talking to the woman at the well, and he answered and he said to her, if you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, give me a drink, you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water. Given, gift. You can't buy a gift, it's no longer a gift. You can't earn a gift, and then at that point, it's a bribe, if you will, or it's payment. Gifts are free, otherwise they're not gifts. And we come to Jesus for the free gift of everlasting life. Revelation 22.17 is another key text. And the spirit and the bride say, come, parentheses, to Jesus. That's what it's talking about. And let him who hears say, come. And let him who thirsts come. Come where? Come to Jesus. Whoever desires, notice the similar phrasing, but here we're talking about salvation, Jesus' text, we're talking about discipleship. Whoever desires, let him take of the water of life, how? Freely, no cost. Our salvation is free, it's free to us. It costs Jesus everything, but it's free to us. So we come to Jesus for the gift of everlasting life. And as we come into Mark 8, 34 and 35 and continuing down through verse 38 to the end of the chapter, we see a different call. It's a call to come after Jesus. in order to live the Christian life here on earth the way that he wants us to. Jesus is calling people that already believe in him to follow him in a discipleship relationship. So the desire of following, then, is that of pursuing Christ at a deeper level, to grow spiritually in the Lord, to be mindful of the things of God, not the things of men, the thing he just rebuked Peter for, to walk in the Spirit instead of the flesh. Galatians 5.16 is the command. To who? Believers or unbelievers? believers. He's telling Christians, this is part of your sanctification process, is walking in the Spirit. Here's the command, walk in the Spirit. Be under the control of the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. So this verse is an example of a discipleship verse, not a salvation verse. We don't call unbelievers to walk in the Spirit, we call them to believe in Jesus. Christians Now it is our great calling and our privilege to walk. in the Spirit, and it goes right along with the text here in Mark 8 of following Jesus, this walk. Some of the verses that were used in this morning's service, walk in Christ, talking again to Christians. So it's a verse about our condition, not our position. We are positionally justified by the death of Christ, by believing in Jesus. but our condition can change. And so this verse, and I believe the passage that we're studying in Mark today is written to Christians, it's calling us as believers to walk in the power of the Spirit, to walk in Christ instead of walking in our fleshly desires. So we go back to our test. We see that it says, whoever desires, whoever desires, he's offering a choice. So the question I'm asking myself, the question we're asking ourselves, do we as Christians desire to come after Christ? Do we desire to follow him in a deeper, more intimate, more mature discipleship relationship? So the question then comes up, is it possible to be a believer and choose to not follow Jesus? Yes. Why else would the command to be to Christians walk in the Spirit, or to walk in Christ, be in the Bible. We can go from walking with and following Christ to following the flesh and following Christ all in the same day, all in the same hour, or even less. We have the capacity to do that, we have the choice, it's in front of us. Believers, we as believers, there's not a day goes by that we don't in some way sin, unfortunately. We have that sin nature, we have the devil, we have the world all fighting against us, and we give into that. That's why 1st John 1 8 9 is there if we say that we have no sin We deceive ourselves, right? We're just faking it at that point We do sin, but God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins to cleanse us from all unrighteousness So then we get back on the road again I was thinking about the Christian life if you picture it like a highway and the highway is following Jesus the highway the interstate if you will is Being a disciple of Christ and following him and living holy. We were challenged this morning, be holy for I am holy. That's the interstate. There's an exit about every minute on that interstate that has got a big flashing sign, and sometimes the sign says pride or lust or anger or deceitfulness, and it really is tempting to pull off and get on that exit ramp. Thankfully, praise God that there's also an entrance ramp back on, right? To start living for Christ again. Well, this is Jesus' call here in Mark 8 to next level Christianity. It's a call to Christian maturity. That's what we're being called to. We find this in other places in scripture. Not exactly the same, but the same idea. The book of Hebrews, for example, describes a group of immature believers. that were choosing to not follow Jesus as his disciple. They believed in him, but they weren't following after him the way that Christ wants us to. And we see this in Hebrews 5, 12, and 13. Notice what the writer of Hebrews is writing to Christians. Notice what he says to them. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, You need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God. You, Christian, that are living in immaturity, have come to need milk and not solid food, for everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. So the writer of Hebrews is admonishing these believers. He's saying, hey, Christians, You ought to be growing in your faith so that you're replicating yourself in someone else's life. You should be an influence in someone else, and I don't know that it's specifically speaking to those with the gift of teaching here. It's the idea that we are living out and discipling and calling others to walk with us on this journey and encouraging perhaps a younger or a newer Christian to Let's pray together, let's read the word together, let's have a relationship of discipleship together. That's what mature believers ought to be doing. Why would the writer of Hebrews write this to unbelievers? Would he say to an unbeliever, hey, unbeliever that doesn't even believe in Jesus, you ought to be a teacher by now. Never. He would never say that. God would never say that to an unbeliever. So we know this is written to Christians, and he's calling them. Notice how he describes them. milk and not solid food, they need the basics again. Because they're, because of the, it's not that they just need a review, it's that they're not living it out, they're refusing to follow what God has called Christians to do. Notice the word unskilled and the word babe. This is describing immature believers that have not followed Jesus in a dedicated discipleship relationship. And so Jesus is calling us to this. He's calling us to grow in Him. He's calling us to partake of the meat of the Word, the deeper doctrines that are a little bit harder to understand, the meat that we need to build our faith. We come to Christ in faith, right? Everyone awake this morning? We come to Christ in faith, right? Right. Anything else besides faith? Just faith, correct? That's saving faith, but it's in its infancy. It needs to grow. It needs to mature. That's the call here, to grow in our faith, and as we grow and walk with Christ, our faith grows, and we begin to walk by faith in a deeper, more meaningful, truer way. The church at Corinth also struggled to follow Jesus as true disciples, In several ways, if you read 1 Corinthians especially, Paul goes through those different areas and he rebukes them and he encourages them and he tries to get them back on track. Well, one of the areas that they were struggling with is how to take communion, how to take the Lord's Supper. And so they were doing it in a way that Christ never intended it for it to be done. So in 1 Corinthians 11, 28 to 30, Notice Paul says to them, let a man or let a woman, let a person examine himself before they take communion. And so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner, eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. So they were making a party out of this, actually a drunken feast. And the rich people had the big long table with all the food, and the poor people were over in the corner with nothing. And they were making it a status symbol of how to, you know, oh, this is how you take communion. You have to be wealthy. You have to have all these material goods and all this rich food. And they were getting drunk and making a scene. And so this is the problem, they're not discerning. Notice that phrase, not discerning. An immature believer lacks discernment to make wise choices. Notice the results, the repercussions of this. For this reason, many are weak and sick. Many have physical problems. Oh man, I'm just so tired. Oh, I keep getting sick over and over again, is what was happening. notice that they're weak and sick among you and many sleep a euphemism for death at some point God said to the Church at Corinth, all right Christians that believe in Jesus already, enough is enough. I'm just gonna take you home. I'm gonna bring you home. I'm not gonna leave you on this earth anymore because you're refusing to obey. I'm gonna take you home. Not taking away their salvation, we're sealed by the Spirit, right? We're seated in the heavenlies positionally, Ephesians 1 tells us. But he was, he wanted them to understand that God takes our sin seriously. He took it so serious, God made this a matter of life and death. And again, these are believers he's talking to that's so key to understanding. So when we do not desire to follow Jesus, that we don't have the desire to follow an understanding of it, we are choosing to remain immature and fleshly in our Christian life. Do you, and I'm asking myself this question, do I, do you, do we, desire to follow Jesus? Is it something you're pursuing? So that's the desire. And there's our question, do you desire? Mark? Do you happen to know in verse 34, the ancient language text word for come? Do you have that here? The word come. I don't think I do have it in my notes today, but yeah, that's a great question. Mark was asking about the original language word for come there, so. I can't remember if it's later in my notes, it might be. We're gonna look at a few other words, so it possibly is. But do you desire to follow after Jesus? That's the desire of following. Let's look secondly at the demands of following. The demands of following. Jesus gave us three demands that will lead us to come after Jesus. So okay, I get it. I'm supposed to desire to be a true disciple. So what does that mean? What does that look like in my life? Jesus gave three demands that will lead us to come after Jesus. When we're doing these three things, we are following what Jesus calls being a true disciple. So that takes place as we finish out Mark 8, 34. When he had called the people to himself with his disciples also, he said to them, whoever desires to come after me, let him, number one, deny himself, and number two, take up his cross, and number three, follow me. deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. So we're gonna use that as our outline. So if you're following along, letter A, deny self, deny self. We see that right at the beginning. That's the first thing he tells them. He says, I want you, Peter, and disciples, and anyone else who believes in me, I want you to be spiritually minded. I want you to be mindful of the things of God. I want you to be my true disciple and follow after me in a way that I desire. So first of all, we must deny self. The word deny here is a strong word. It means to disown, to renounce, to disregard. It's the same word used to describe Peter's denial of Christ. Jesus predicted that Matthew 26 34 he said to Peter Assuredly, I say to you that this night before the rooster crows you will deny me three times If that interstate was following Jesus Peter saw an exit that said protect yourself not deny yourself, and he took it and three times he denied him. Think about with me about Peter's denial. He was approached repeatedly by the others around the fire there in the courtyard of the home of the high priest, and as he's warming himself by the fire, people are coming up to him and saying, hey, aren't you one of his followers? Aren't you a follower of Jesus? Three times this happened, and repeatedly, Peter absolutely denied it. He denied being a follower, even to the point of calling down curses. Go with me to Mark 14, if you're in Mark 8, just a few pages. Mark 14, verse 66. Now as Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant girls of the high priest came. And when she saw Peter warming himself, she looked at him and said, you also were with Jesus of Nazareth, but he denied it, saying, I neither know nor understand what you are saying. And he went out on the porch and a rooster crowed. And the servant girl saw him again and began to say to those who stood by, now it's not just one, but now she's gathered a crowd. this is one of them but he denied it again and a little later those who stood by said to Peter surely you are one of them for you are a Galilean and your speech shows it and he began to curse and swear I do not know this man of whom you speak a second time the rooster crowed then Peter called to mind the word that Jesus had said to him before the rooster crows twice you will deny me three times and when he thought about it he wept Peter's denial was adamant. It was intense. No one was gonna ever associate him with Jesus in that moment. He wanted nothing to do with that. He completely rebuked it. Now let's take that intensity and reverse the roles. Peter was denying Christ, and he was allowing himself, his flesh, to rule. We need to reverse the rules, but don't lose the intensity. Peter represents us with the choice to deny ourselves in order to follow Jesus. Those gathered in the courtyard represent our flesh. Our flesh is constantly saying, hey, don't you want just to relax? Don't you just want to take the easy road? Clamoring for our indulgence, and we are told here, Jesus is calling us, deny yourself. We are to repeatedly deny with that same intensity that Peter denied Christ, we are to deny our flesh. We are to deny ourself and our own self-interest and our self-indulgences and everything that clamors for our worship. We must do that in order to live as true disciples, in order to live as obedient to God, to be a true disciple of Christ. What was Peter's result at the end? He thought about it and he did what? He wept. Other passages say wept bitterly. That's where our little analogy falls apart because the result of denying self and pursuing Christ is not the bitter fruit of weeping and shame. It is the sweet fruit of the Spirit lived out in our lives. when we deny ourselves. No matter how many times our flesh demands its way, we are to deny it. That same intensity that Peter denied those that thought and accused of being a Christ follower. I think Romans 6, 1 and 2 sums it up as well. What shall we say then? Christians, shall we as Christians continue in sin? Notice the pronoun we. Who's Paul including there? Himself. He knew the weakness. He was the apostle to the Gentiles. He was the great missionary, but he knew his propensity to give into the flesh. And he said, what shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not. God forbid. How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? calling us to discipleship, to deny ourselves. So we must deny self. Secondly, he says, take up your cross. Whoever desires to come after me, back in Mark 8.34, let him deny himself and take up his cross. So when the Romans had a condemned criminal, and they had condemned him to death by crucifixion, the criminal would carry the horizontal piece. We often see images of Jesus with the whole cross. It was probably just the horizontal piece of the cross on which they would be crucified, and they would carry that up to the place of the crucifixion. And so Jesus had just predicted, going back to our text, His appending death, if you remember back in verse 31, he began to teach them, the son of man must be killed. But he didn't tell them the method yet. And now when he gets into verse 34, he kind of gives them a clue. Jesus would literally carry his cross, literally, not long after this. John 19.17. says that he, Jesus, bearing his cross, went out to a place called the place of a skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha. And as we read the parallel text, eventually he became too weak to carry that, so a man was told, ordered to come out of the crowd and carry it for him, but Jesus did bear his cross. He says here in our text, take up your cross. Deny yourself and take up your cross. Jesus wants us as believers to count the cost of following him. One other passage, not parallel to this, but where he reiterates this statement Whoever does not bear his cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. Notice again, come after, not come to. For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it? And just to be clear, are we ever asked to count the cost that we have to pay for eternal life? No. We're never asked to count the cost for our eternal life. We're shown the cost. It's Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection. That's the cost that was paid, specifically the death on the cross. But do we pay for our sins when we put our faith in him? No. Jesus paid it all. All to him I owe. He paid everything. He was the propitiation. He was the satisfaction. I pay nothing for my eternal life. I'm so thankful, because I have nothing to offer. None of us do. So we're never asked to count the cost before you put your faith in Jesus, count the cost of what it's gonna cost you. We're never asked to do that. Eternal life is a gift, again, from God. If it was something that cost us something, would it still be a gift? No. It did cost Jesus everything. so that it would cost us nothing, that's why. Eternal life is a gift from God. It's predicated only on our faith in Jesus, not our works. I believe any other explanation of these texts promotes works-based salvation. We cannot mix the two. And I believe that understanding this part is gonna help us understand the next section of the text that we're gonna get into, Lord willing, next week. because we're gonna look at the dilemma of following, Lord willing, in next week's lesson. We also need to understand what carrying one's cross is not, and I'm gonna get to what it is in a minute, but let's understand what carrying a cross is not, because that phrase gets used a lot, and I think it gives confusion. Many people use that phrase, even in the unbelieving world. You've heard this phrase, right? Well, this is the cross I have to bear, right? and they're talking about some kind of burden of life that they have. Some use this cross to bear to refer to some kind of suffering on earth. Well, this sickness is my cross to bear, or this relationship problem is my cross, or this financial difficulty. Maybe I'm caring for a needy child or an adult child caring for a needy parent, and many of you are in or have been in both of those places. or any other hardship, and they, well, this is just my cross to bear. Can I just kindly say none of those things are what Jesus had in mind when he said, pick up your cross and follow me? These point to a practice that was going on back in the first century and still goes on today called asceticism. Well, I've just got to suffer, and that means I'm a disciple of Jesus if I'm going through this suffering, if I'm carrying this cross. Asceticism is a voluntary abstention from the satisfaction of bodily social needs, including food, drink, sexual activity, sleep, clothes, wealth, social interaction. And the issue isn't that they're like going on a sabbatical or they're taking a break from something so that they can get closer to God. in a sense of, well, I'm going to use that time to study the word and to pray and things. It's that because I'm doing these things, I'm pleasing God and I'm earning my salvation. That's the idea. It's this voluntary pain. And many religious groups have adapted asceticism in order to gain God's favor and achieve eternal life. Some of the reformers came out of these denominational churches because they saw the futility of whipping oneself or crawling on one's knees up upstairs and say, well, this is my cross to bear, and literally putting weights on it and different things to harm their bodies. Why would Jesus call us to this? And by the way, if those other things I mentioned, like sickness and hardship and things, if I don't have those, does that mean I'm not carrying my cross? Going through a physical hardship is carrying the cross. Does that mean I have to physically harm myself in order to carry the cross? I hope not. I don't believe that's true. In fact, I know it's not true. Does that mean I have to go and put myself in a vulnerable position that causes pain on purpose so I can say, now I'm carrying my cross? Is that why Jesus commanded, pick up your cross and follow me, carry your cross, go find a problem? or make a problem in your life so that you can say that you're carrying the cross? Why would he do that? That is the idea of asceticism. In fact, the Bible expressly forbids that thinking, Colossians 2, 20 through 23. Therefore, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why, Christians, as the living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations? Here's the legalism, do not touch, do not taste, do not handle. which all concern things which perish with the using, according to the commandments and doctrines of men." These things, indeed, have an appearance of wisdom. Oh, it kind of makes sense that this hardship I'm putting myself through is carrying my cross, because the cross represents pain and things, and I'm going through pain. That's an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion. False humility, neglect of the body, but notice, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh. Asceticism is not carrying one's cross. The trials that you're going through in life are not carrying your cross. So Brad was pointing out how if we're basing our salvation on this specifically, This idea of that carrying the cross is equal to getting eternal life, it puts all of our eternal security at risk, so to speak, at least in our minds. Because now it's like, well, I've gotta keep carrying this cross in order to stay saved or to prove that I am saved. God gives us eternal security because we are sealed by the Spirit. We don't need to doubt it. And that is because of Christ, not us. So how do we take up our cross? In the minutes that are left, we'll focus on that. Three things I have on the outline. Take up our cross. Number one, death. Death. The cross is a symbol of death. Jesus summons to carry one's cross. It was meant to shock his listeners right now. He was doing this on purpose, and even to horrify them a bit, to get their attention, what? You know, we have, and I don't mean we as in us in this room, but our culture has kind of romanticized the cross. And I love that we have a cross up here in our auditorium because it's empty, right? And it reminds us of why we even meet together. I mean, if that didn't happen, none of this matters. So I'm thankful for the cross and the symbolism of it. And we look at the cross with joy, don't we? Because of what Jesus did there for us. But remember, they're hearing this for the first time, and sometimes we need to hear it for the first time again, if I can say it that way. We need to be reminded of the absolute horror of the cross. It was a, device of execution. And so when we think about the idea of death and how the cross symbolizes death, to carry one's cross then must be to live with the constant willingness to die for the cause of Christ. I'm going to follow, this is what we need to be thinking, I am going to follow Christ in such a way that I am completely denying everything I want to do, everything my flesh wants, and I am going to be willing to lay my life down for Him, all the way to death, and everything in between. Our flesh is constantly fighting against the Spirit, and it rears its ugly head. the idea of selfishness, pride, self-righteousness, anger, lust, we must learn to crucify that flesh. That's why the cross, that symbol of death, says I'm gonna put to death the things that are calling me and pulling me away from Christ, and I'm going to be willing to lay my life down for him, and to do whatever he asks me to do. That's why Paul said in Galatians 2.20, I have been crucified with Christ, It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. The cross, to take up our cross is to be mindful of death. Jot down in your notes, if you're taking them, 2 Corinthians 4, 7 through 12. We're not gonna read it for sake of time, but 2 Corinthians 4, 7 through 12 speaks to this as well. Where Paul talks about how we're persecuted and not forsaken, we're hard pressed but not crushed. Verse 10, I'll just read that. Always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus. That the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. I don't know a better verse to Parallel with take up your cross, carry your cross and follow me. What did Paul say? Carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus. Focusing on that death aspect of dying to self and being willing to die for Christ. Secondly, taking up your cross is a daily discipline. It's a daily discipline. The parallel passage to this one in Luke's gospel Luke 9 23 says then he said to them all if anyone desires to come after me Let him deny himself and take up his cross how often? daily and Follow me carrying one's cross is a daily discipline We wake up in the morning We figuratively shoulder that cross, if you will. That mindset, it all happens up here. It all happens inside the mind. This daily discipline, dying to self daily, sometimes many times a day. It's a high calling. This isn't a, oh, I gotta carry my cross and mope around and look all sad. This is a high calling. It is a privilege. to carry the cross of death to self each and every day. It's really a blessing. It's that sacrificially living our daily lives. It's an expression of worship when we do this. Because we're expressing the thankfulness for what Christ has done. We're reminding ourselves of the cross to go back to the cross every day and remember what Jesus did there. and then allow that to motivate us as an expression of worship to him. To carry the cross is an ongoing progressive attitude of the mind that leads one to actions of the body that refuse the flesh and glorify God. Also, that word daily is yet another indication that this entire passage is a teaching on discipleship not salvation for eternal life. If taking up my cross and following Christ in this context means gaining eternal life, are we saying that we have to get saved every day? No, we better not say that. Once saved, always saved. So Luke adds a little bit more context. for us, to help us understand that we're talking to Christians to help them, to encourage them. Jesus is talking to us as Christians to help us grow in our faith, not calling us to believe on Jesus. This is after we put our faith in him. As we conclude in these last couple of minutes, the last thing, and there's, by the way, there's much more that could be said about taking up our cross, okay, than these three points, but these are, Three main things, so much more can be said. This is not exhaustive study of this topic. I would encourage, if you're interested in digging more, dig deeper, because there's a lot more there. But the last thing I see is delight. The last thing I see for today, I should say, is delight. And I went to Hebrews 12, verse two, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the, what? The joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. The joy, that's his motivation. You remember the Garden of Gethsemane and the anguish, right? But then what did he say? Not my will, but thine be done, or yours be done. And from that point on, when Jesus stands up from that prayer and Judas comes and kisses him with a kiss of betrayal and he's arrested and tried multiple times, Jesus is in complete control of everything that entire time. It's as if that moment in Gethsemane hardened and crystallized his mind and his thinking, not that it needed it because he was God, but on the human side, he was ready to go to the cross and nothing was gonna stop that from happening. He would not let anything deter him from the cross. It was his one focus and he made sure that that's what happened. The last thing is follow me. We'll pick this up next week because we're out of time this morning. But the challenge is here. Are we willing to be true disciples? As Christians, I'm speaking to Christians because I believe this passage is for believers based on all the things we've talked about and all the context, cross-references. Are we willing as Christians to go to the next level in our faith, to look to see how God would have us deny ourself, to take up our cross, to have that mindset of death? and then to follow him. And again, we'll pick this up next week. Father, thank you, Lord, so much for your word. I thank you so much for the implications, Lord. Oh, Lord, this is a heavy passage for us as Christians. It is a high calling. It is a demanding calling. It is a costly calling. But Father, Your son did this for the joy. Father, I pray that you give us that joy. Set that joy before us, Lord, knowing that, yes, in this life, this is going to be difficult, and there's going to be trials, and carrying our cross, Lord, there is pain involved. But Lord, the blessings far outweigh any pain that we experience. So help us to have that joy as we go into this next week, and we pray this in Jesus' name, amen. Thank you guys so much for being here. Have a great day.