Amen. Thank you. You may be seated. I'm continually impressed, and that's the right word. It doesn't take much to impress me, but still, I'm still impressed by how the Lord is allowing us to make this place look very good. And it's okay to say that. If you look around, there's been some painting going on, and it just, it looks fantastic. It just, I don't know, it almost, I hate to say this in a church, but it almost looks classy. Amen, right? God forbid that a Baptist church looks classy. I know a lot of people have this idea that if you're a Bible-believing Baptist, you gotta look like something that rolled out of the 50s or something. Nothing wrong with the 50s, but I do believe it is 2019. I do like air conditioning, which, by the way, if you fan yourself too much, I've been known to turn it down to about 60, so be careful how much, because I like it cool, too. And then I see the new windows the Lord has graciously provided, and then they even put some of these nice curtains that were made in. That's a blessing. Amen. And then I see the organ. I just see God's handiwork all over. And I don't know about you, maybe it's just me, it's probably just me, that bass drum sets it off for me. I mean that makes a hymn service a hymn service. You say, well I don't believe God had drums in the church. Oh shut up. I'm not talking about the bebop and the monkey hop and the bear jiggle. I'm talking about a bass drum, armored Christian soldiers marching on to war. What a blessing. You know why so many Christians are on AWOL? You know why? Because they have no idea what Christian militancy is. It's not about out here picking a fight with their brethren or out here picking a fight with the world. It's in here getting fired up to fight the battle for Jesus Christ. I want to be guilty of that and I tell you what, there's a good place to get fired up right here. I thank God for that. But here in Matthew chapter 16, Lord willing, we will close this out this morning. But here at the end of the chapter, the Lord speaks to His disciples and the multitudes and He's telling them about His kingdom and things pertaining to His second coming. If you remember, the Lord had come unto His own. You know the verse in John chapter 1, He come unto His own, His own received Him not. You know that, so now when He speaks to His people, He's speaking to them in parables. And the kingdom of heaven has gone into a mystery form. And although his audience, if you remember by looking at our text, is completely Jewish. And the doctrinal capacity of the chapter is the Kingdom of Heaven. We understand the doctrinal context of it. We're not going to try to misapply doctrine. But I believe there's a handful of things that you and I can learn from this passage. I believe right here in 24, 25 through 28, There are some very practical things in the passage that can stir our hearts, you say, to do what preacher? To go after the Lord like we've never gone before. I know that many times in my own Christian life I've desired to simply get after it and go after Him. I've desired that I've been stirred up to go out and live for Jesus Christ in a way that I have never yet lived for Him before. figuratively and leave this world behind. Now I know I can't leave the world behind until they put me in that box and that day might come sooner or later. Nobody said amen there, praise the Lord, we'll keep preaching. But many times there always seemed to be something in my life preventing me from going after Jesus Christ. It's like when you're gonna run a race and you just take off out of the gate on a full sprint and about a block into the thing the old grand piano just jumps right on your back. And you crumble to the ground and you're like, why? I had all this desire to go farther for Jesus Christ, but I couldn't do it. I see some things in her passage that might help uncover what's preventing us from simply getting after it and going after Him. And make no mistake about it, Christian, I believe, and you know from experience, the devil doesn't want you to go after Jesus Christ. Matter of fact, He wants you to stay defeated right in the pew. He don't mind if you come to church. He doesn't mind if you clean up and put that smelly stuff on. He doesn't mind if you say amen. He doesn't mind if you're touched by the singing and if you're touched by the preaching as long as you don't get out that door and take it with you and be a changed individual for Jesus Christ. You say, well, I tell you what, boy, we sure had a good time in church, but did it affect you when you walked out the door? That's what I want to get after. I want to go after Him. I don't want to be the same that I was last year. I'm sick and tired of spiritual lethargy, spiritual apathy. I'm tired of being the same wretch that I was two weeks ago. I want to be a changed individual. I'm not talking about some charismatic hocus pocus. I'm talking about someone who goes after Jesus Christ and leaves it all behind. but many of us don't have the liberty to get after it and go after Him. Have you ever wondered why? You ever wonder why you've got all the desire in the world? I remember one time I desired to play the banjo and I can kind of pick and pluck my way through it. But just after a while, I just couldn't do it. And I realized it was because I would not refuse. I wouldn't put enough time into it, not to mention I think my wife wanted to divorce me after beating that thing for four months. But I wasn't willing to put the time into learning the banjo. Now I can fake it pretty good, and I could actually probably convince you that I know how to play a little bit, but truth be told, my son's a whole lot better than I am. But the last thing I want in my Christian life this morning, and I'm trying to be honest with you, is I just don't want to stay where I've always been. I don't want to stay spiritually where I was last week. I'm tired of spiritually coasting, thinking that I'm somewhere spiritually that I'm really not. I don't want to look back at the end of the year and realize that I did not spiritually gain. I don't want that to be my epitaph, that I was the same today that I was last year. And I say this, and you might chuckle, but I've said it before, I'd rather be dead, buried on the backside of Sadler Creek, pushing up dandelions and chickweed, than to not go after God and not have the desire to be more for Jesus Christ. There's only one thing I fear today, and it ain't you. And it ain't your wife. And it ain't my life. There's only one thing I fear, and I'm not trying to just prove to you that I have a big mouth, even you know it. The only thing I fear today is spiritual withdrawal. I'd rather be dead six feet under than to be guilty of spiritual withdrawal and spiritual apathy. I'm tired of low living, I'm tired of this old rotten world that drags me down, and I want to go farther for Him this morning. And I see in our passage that we have the ability through the witness of Scripture to get after it and go after Him. I believe it's found right in the text today. You say, why do you create such a big deal? Because I believe He's worthy of it. As we approach the Holy Scriptures today, which are able to give us understanding, the Bible says, the entrance of thy words giveth light. And I can relate to the second part. It says, it giveth understanding to the simple. And boy, I'm a simple kind of fellow. I believe we can catch a glimpse and get some help and spiritually gain today. And I believe this pathway of going after Jesus Christ is laid out right here in verse 24. This morning, if you'll go after Jesus Christ and simply get after it today, then according to our text, which is completely Jewish, but as we apply it practically, I believe, number one, you and I, we must take the pathway of self-denial. Not the pathway of the Catholic aesthetics that we built 40 foot poles and lived up there and died up there because they were ignorant of the Scriptures. I'm talking about the pathway of self-denial. Do you realize that this juncture in verse 24, at the very first onset of the Scripture in our text today, we are met with a very unsavory truth. I love truth. I believe most of you in here today love the Bible. And you'd say, I love the Bible. Yes, I do. But when it comes to negative truth and unsavory truths that the Holy Spirit reveals about yourself, it's then we become very quiet. You realize just a few verses before, the Lord is rebuking the fire out of Peter and he calls him the devil. He calls him Satan, doesn't he? He sure does. He says, get thee behind me, Satan. Why? Because he was speaking against the very words of God that was gonna take him to Calvary to pay for your sins and mine. And Peter learned a very unsavory truth. Peter's faith was lost in his loyalty. He was so loyal to Jesus Christ he took swords with him from that point wherever he went to the garden and that and chopped off Malchus' ear really aiming for his head but he ducked right and the Lord picked it up put it back on. But you know what Peter had to learn? That it was all about him. And in our scripture today, the first thing I see here is a pathway of self-denial. If you and I are gonna go after Jesus Christ, we must look at this pathway of self-denial and start going down it. And we must learn a very unsavory truth that the reason we don't go after Jesus Christ is because you simply refuse to deny your things the thing that you think you need. The hymn writer Charles Tinley wrote the hymn, Nothing Between, in 1905. In the last verse he writes, Nothing between in many hard trials, Though the whole world against me convene, Watching with prayer and much self-denial. I'll triumph at last, there's nothing between. And in our text today, Jesus said in verse 24, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself. Christian, you can't follow Jesus Christ the way you should today. I'm telling you, I'm serving you notice, because you simply refuse to deny yourself. What gets in the way of following Jesus Christ more than the world, more than the devil himself, more than your wife, more than your children, is that you simply refuse to deny you. Some have said, I'd follow the Lord, but my job. Some say, I'd follow the Lord, but my wife. Some say, I'd follow the Lord, but you know I need my eight hours of sleep. It's really important, or sleeping beauty turns into Dr. Jekyll, or Hyde, or whatever the fire of that thing is. Some say, I'd follow the Lord, but Lord, I need to socialize. And some say, I'd follow the Lord, but you know, my tummy don't feel really good today. There's many reasons why we don't follow the Lord, but they all have a real common denominator, and it's all about you. You can't blame anybody else why you don't follow the Lord, because it's all about you. Man, I either hit a wall or I hit your heart this morning. Down she goes. But the Lord said, let a man deny himself. I got to thinking, Brother Mel, about the caliber and this is so judgmental. I don't even care. The caliber of Christians today is like a brand new Nerf gun at Walmart. It looks pretty. You got the extra bipod. You got the triple barrel heat-seeking shotgun with all the extra rounds. And boy, you're ready for action. And you pull the trigger and it goes... That's the caliber of Christianity. Let's go get them! You say, why? We don't follow Jesus Christ. Our effectiveness is pathetic. We're not effective. Anybody in here want what you got? Come on, somebody say amen. Anybody in this place even remotely want anything you got? Well, nobody wants to hear the truth. I don't know, I'm looking at a pretty full church on 21 South Chambers Road. I know they didn't come to hear me. I ain't that stupid. People hear because they want to hear the truth. Don't you go around here saying people don't want to hear the truth anymore. People here want to hear the truth for thousands of years. I know people are getting waxing cold and things are getting worse and worse. But the Bible still is in print. You still have a copy of it. People still want the truth. But our effectiveness is shot. We won't go after Jesus Christ. We don't get after it because you won't deny yourself. The Lord said, let a man deny himself. Can I remind you what you already know, that this is the hardest thing that you'll ever do. Following Christ begins with a pathway of denial. And the pathway of denial, can I just break it down a little bit more, begins by denying your flesh of things that you think it should have. Man, it's quiet. You want to get the Lord's attention today? You wanna get the Lord's attention on what you believe you're doing for Him? Then go ahead and the next time your flesh says you need something, tell your flesh to take a hike. I double dog dare you. Next time your flesh says you gotta have that, you gotta eat that, you can't live or you're gonna die without that, tell your flesh to drop dead. And usually the Lord might go, hmm, what have we here? Why? Because the Bible's right every time. Bible's right every time. Paul said in Ephesians 5, 29, For no man ever yet hated his own flesh, but nourisheth it, and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the Church. You know what I know by reading the Bible? You do not hate yourself. And it's evident by most of you, pretty doggone healthy today. Amen. Amen. You don't hate yourself. For no man ever yet hateth his own flesh, but you know what I also see in 2 Timothy 3, 2, Paul told you about way up here in 2019, he said, for men shall be lovers of their own selves. You better believe it, the Bible's right every time. And you know what, our opinion don't mean anything at all. You won't deny yourself, you won't deny your flesh, because that book said, it said what, preacher? It said you are in love with you. You are in love with yourself today and most you don't even know it. You know what that is? That's self-love. That's self-worship. My, my, that's exactly what the devil was guilty of. Loving himself, self-worship, then wanting everyone else to worship him. The devil saw the sons of God shouting for joy in Job chapter 42. The devil himself was the song leader in Job 42. Sorry, brother. The devil was the song leader. You didn't know that, did you? You just thought he went down to Georgia. No, he's a song leader. I just seen if y'all awake this morning. The devil had a throne here on the earth and the devil fell in love with himself. Self-love, self-worship. And from there he sought the worship of others also. And the reason you won't deny yourself today and the reason you won't deny your own flesh even on a minuscule level is because you've been infiltrated by satanic deception and you are in love with yourself. Christians wonder all day long, why can't I follow Jesus? Why can't I do better? I know I should do better. I know, preacher, I just need to do better. No, you ain't gonna. Who's kidding who? You can't deny yourself when you're in love with yourself and you're never going to follow Jesus Christ until you learn to tell your flesh to drop dead. Drop dead. Pathway of denial begins by dumping your flesh, Colossians 3, 5. You know it so well, the Bible says, mortified therefore your members which are upon the earth. That means kill them. Put them to death. If you want to follow the Lord, you begin by telling your members to drop dead, not your church members, but these members right here. These. This thing. This thing right here. This thing lies to you all stinking day long. When you wake up in the morning, you remind them that they ain't running the show. Is this too practical this morning? I'm trying to stir you up to do something for Jesus Christ to get after it and go after Him. You plead the blood of Jesus Christ in prayer when you get up because that's about the only thing you should do, amen? Because anything that comes out of your yap when you get up in the morning, it ain't going to be right until you get it under the blood. And then what you do is you take time to put the armor of God on by spending time in the Word, and then you tell all single one of your members to drop dead. You say, hands, drop dead. You can tell me all day long to pick up the things that I like doing, but I ain't gonna do it. I ain't gonna do it. I ain't gonna do it. Drop dead. Oh, be careful, little hands, what you touch. You say, mouth, drop dead and zip it. You can tempt me all day long to cuss. You might get me a couple times, but it ain't happening. Drop dead. You may tempt me as much as you want. You tell your stomach, I ain't hungry a bit. And the stomach says, well, why am I growling? It says, I don't know you're dead. Shut up. I ain't listening to you one bit. You continue. You say, ears, drop dead. No matter how difficult it is, I will only listen to the things that please Jesus Christ today. And when I hear evil, I will despise it. I will throw it out. Even if people say it's the truth, ears, drop dead. trying to stir you up this morning. And what you do, you tell your flesh to drop dead and mortify the members which God gave you. Then you use your members to please God. You see, you have to learn that you're dead to sin once you're saved. And you're not supposed to use your members to sin. But we feel so compelled to because all day long we feed the old man, we feed the old man, we don't feed the new man. So the new man, he's anemic and he's emaciated and the old man is very, well, very much in charge of the show. Concerning the flesh, it's as strong as it gets. You ever realize that no matter how much you eat, you're still not satisfied? Now you can eat too much and you're miserable for a little bit. But with the help of the purple pill and some Toms, you're back in it again. I mean, y'all ate and you're still hungry. The flesh is never satisfied, is it? I'm not just talking about eating. I'm talking about other things. It's never satisfied. The things that you wanted this week that you went ahead and got and you probably shouldn't have, guess what? It ain't going to satisfy you. Because there'll be one more thing you need. One more thing you got to have. One more road of pleasure that you need to be on. The Bible says in Romans 6-11, Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. The pathway of denial begins by dumping your flesh. Can I add this in this morning? That'll be afternoon soon enough. It continues on by you dumping your old spirit. You begin with the flesh and then you dump the old spirit. First Corinthians 620, you know the verse well, it says, For ye are bought with a price, therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's. Is it not true, I'm not a defense attorney, but I've watched Matlock a few times, but is it not true that we are pretty good as independent fundamental Bible-believing Baptists at looking the part And people look at us and they say, wow, he has got his flesh under control. No, he's just wearing a suit. Don't let the suit fool you, amen? Even monkeys can wear suits. But we have a good way of showing others through how we look that we have our flesh under control. But many times we'll have the body under control, but the spirit is absolutely out of control. You know, I'm talking about that old, rude, Rash spirit, that old rebellious spirit that ain't no one going to tell me what to do. That old rotten spirit that if I even suspect that you're going to cheat me out of a dime, I'm getting a quarter back out of you. But we look like Baptists. Amen, but underneath all that facade and all that flesh that's in subjection is a wicked, rotten, vile, satanic spirit of the old man that we refuse to put down and deny. trying to help you this morning expose the layers that prevent us from getting after it and going after Jesus Christ. You do realize that Paul said in Philippians 3, 3, For we are the circumcision which worship God in the spirit and rejoice in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh. If you trust your flesh, you are an idiot. Amen. In Jesus' name. But the pathway includes the denial of your flesh and that old spirit governed by the same old man. You say, preacher, but I'm saved, I'm sanctified, I'm one with Him, I'm heaven bound, but your spirit stinks. If you're going to follow Jesus Christ, you need to deny yourself starting with your flesh and encompass it with your spirit, denying the very things that you should from your spirit. Some Christians I know very personally, they have on the outside no fleshy trouble, but their spirit reeks of death itself. The Lord had to get on the disciples, James and John, they were called the Sons of Thunder, Boanerges, remember? And they go into the village of Samaria, and the Samaritans didn't receive them. They didn't give James, John, Jesus, and the rest the respect that they thought they should have. And you know what James and John say? Shall we call fire down from heaven and consume them? That's a real Baptistic response. You don't believe like I do? Burn them up, Lord! And the Lord says, You know not what spirit ye are of. For the Lord didn't come to kill men, He came to save men's lives. Isn't that how we treat one another? You don't believe like I do? Doubly separated, inspirated and all that stuff. Well, I'm going to pray the Lord gets you. Oh, well, thank you very much. We know what spirit you got in you. And the sad reality is that a good many Christian, no doubt some here today, are so in love with themselves and in love with their own spirit that they refuse to even recognize what spirit you're of. If you're gonna follow Jesus Christ, he said you must deny yourself. Children, can I have your attention this morning? Children, you're under 18, use the children. That means deny your old selfish spirit. Amen. Children, not the old fogies, sorry. We'll get to you in a minute here. Your old selfish, rotten children. Your mean spirit. You know how you call all the old people fat and that? You chuckle. It ain't funny. It's rotten. You listening, children? I'm talking to a preacher that loves you. Loves you enough to tell you the truth. That old selfish, rotten... How dare you talk to my kids? I'll get to you in a minute, pops. That old mean spirit. That old spirit that has to be first. I'm still preaching to the children. Amen. Hang on. We're going to take our time. That old spirit that has to be first. I got to sit in the front seat. And you're like, you know, the fist of cuffs on the way to the front seat. And if you don't get the front seat, your lip sticks so far out, you don't know what to do with it. Oh, you all don't know what I'm talking about, just me. I remember one time I was leaving out the church house, I had been about eight years old, and my sister, we were two years apart, and we were both racing. I know brothers and sisters do that all the time. And I was a little bit faster, because she's wearing a dress, of course. I suppose if I was wearing a dress, I wouldn't be that fast. And if I'd be in the car and I'd get in a ha-ha, I'd call her a retard. Well, the old man would have nothing to do with that. That old man was just sitting in the driver's seat, and he went, whoop! Blew my nose all over the window. You say, what happened? I never called her a retard again. Amen. I'm talking about that mean, vindictive spirit that every child has. Amen. Children, you're going to go after God? You say, why are you preaching to the children? Because you won't. because you've shown them through your own actions that you can't go on for Jesus Christ. Someone ought to tell them. Someone ought to show them. Someone ought to give them the words of God and say, I don't care if you're 5 or you're 15, you can get after it and go after Jesus Christ and have a personal relationship and walk with him like you ain't never had before. But you're going to have to deny that old spirit, that mean spirit, that selfish spirit. How about it, dads? How about you start denying that spirit, that accusatory spirit that destroys any peace in your home, dads? How about it, men? You want to go after Jesus Christ? Maybe you should learn to deny that spirit of lasciviousness and wickedness that every time you can't even look a woman in the eyes. I'm getting real quiet now. Men, you need to learn to deny that haughty spirit. Drop the strut. Quit your fooling around. Quit playing the role. Just like James and John, you know not what spirit you're of. You've got to learn to deny yourself. You deny entrance to those evil spirits. How about it, sister? Maybe you should start denying that competitive spirit you've got amongst one another. Somebody say amen right there. Well, I don't know what he's preaching. Oh, cut it out. Do you breathe air and you're a female? Well, then you have a competitive spirit. Stop it. Well, that's not very nice. I didn't say it was nice, but it's the truth. Wherever you have three women, there's competition. Two women. You deny that entrance of that backbiting spirit? Ladies, come on now. You deny that entrance of that critical spirit? That gossiping spirit that pervades Baptist churches from here to Hawaii? Say, preacher, say it ain't so. I could say it ain't so, but it is so. That wicked spirit, ladies, that when somebody does something that's worthy of praise, all of a sudden you feel uncomfortable. What? That's wicked! That's a wicked spirit and you need to learn to deny it. This ain't very fair. How about that unreasonable nagging spirit, ladies? I'll say it again because men are too wimpy to say amen. How about that unreasonable nagging spirit? I ain't got to go home with her, you do. Well, you don't even pick up your underwear. Your socks are always all over the floor. You try to say something, she's correcting you every 30 seconds. You better get rid of that thing. You better deny that spirit in it. Is it uncomfortable because it's the truth or you just really think I'm that whacked and jacked? Every single one, you've been married more than five years, know exactly what I'm talking about. Well, you know, we're past that. You liar. You ain't either. You ain't past it. You just ignore it is what you do. And if you're going to go after Jesus Christ and get after it, I'm going to tell you what, you're going to have to get rid of some of them wicked, rotten spirits that you're hanging on to right now. Jesus Christ says in our text this morning, we really haven't even got five words into the text yet. We are a mess this morning. If any man will come after me, let him deny himself. That's the pathway of denial. Next, number two, I see the pathway of death. That verse in 24 says, and take up his cross. Matthew 16, 24 lays it out in this order. You travel down the pathway of self-denial first. You can't follow Jesus Christ if you're not willing to deny your own flesh, deny your own rotten spirit. So I don't know why I'm not closer to the Lord. I'll tell you why, because you're too in love with yourself. My hands in the air. The times that I wish I was closer to Jesus Christ, the times that I long for sweet fellowship and can't just seem to get it as close as I could before is the times that the Holy Spirit has revealed to me that you are too much in love with yourself, preacher. Every time your flesh speaks to you, you satisfy it. But every time my Holy Spirit speaks to you, you'd rather quench it. What if we were as apt to satisfy the Holy Spirit as we are our own old spirit? Well, I need myself a monster. The sugar-free kind, you know, no calories and all that stuff. You look on the side of the can, it's all zeros. You're drinking a zero, that means you're a zero when you're done. You're just a zero that's bouncing off the walls. But we're so apt to just... Get a monster, or whatever it is you drink out of, whatever. I can preach this because I drink that stuff. But the Holy Spirit says, oh, taste and see that the Lord is good. Well, Lord, I'll get back with you. Hold that thought. I really want to, but, you know, I got to, I got to go to work, you know. Got to make the bacon. Got to make the donuts. You know all that stuff, right? I have no good news for you today when it comes to taking up your cross. Can I remind you that it costs you absolutely nothing to receive salvation. What a blessing. 100% free. If you're saved, say amen. And if you're not, we'll pray for you. But it costs you absolutely nothing. The unmerited favor of Jesus Christ came and gave himself for your sins, a ransom. He paid the penalty. He did it all, 100% free. But can I serve you notice that to go after him, it will cost you everything. Salvation is free, but living for Jesus Christ will cost you everything you ever thought you had. And here in verse 24, the second part from the pathway of denial is the pathway of death. Jesus says, take up his cross. If you look at John chapter 19, verse 16, you see where that comes through. You realize in your passage that Jesus Christ has not been crucified yet. He's referring to somewhere beyond Calvary. In John 19, verse 16, we see the passage unravel. And the Bible says, Then delivered he him therefore unto them to be crucified. And they took Jesus and led him away. And he bearing his cross, there it is, went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha, where they crucified him and two other with him on either side, one, and Jesus in the midst. You see, Christian, if you're going to follow Jesus Christ, you take the pathway of denial, which leads to a pathway of death. If you'll follow Jesus Christ today, there must eventually be a death. And that death must be your death. Death to self, death to the world, death to your family, death to pleasure, death to anything that stands between you and the Lord. It starts with self-denial and it leads to death. Jesus Christ said, if any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross. Now, when you take the pathway of death this morning, then you're gonna be just like Abraham of old. You're faced with the decision, am I gonna take the very thing which I loved the most, which was Isaac, Am I willing to take that thing up Mount Moriah and sacrifice and kill the very thing I love? Or would I rather disobey God? See, the pathway of death commences in a death. Jesus picked up that cross and we know that Simon had to help him later. But what took place after that is he was crucified. The reason you take up your cross is so that you can die to this world, to your flesh, to yourself, to anything that stands in between you and Jesus Christ. Are you ready to take the pathway of death? Preacher, I'm ready. I'm ready to deny myself. I was going to go to the China buffet, now I think we'll just go to the lodge instead. Less food. Well, okay. Well, help yourself, Sonny. They're a little bit slower. You might think China buffet anyways. But if you're gonna go after Jesus Christ, then the death has to take place. Many Christians, what happens, if you'll bear with me in my folly a little bit, many Christians will get some victory over flesh, over their fleshly sins. And then we get some victories over spiritual things, and lo behold, the Lord drops the cross in their path, and that old Christian stops dead in his tracks, and the Lord drops the cross of separation right in front of you. And Christians by the carload will stop and they'll kind of look at that cross of separation like a calf looking at a new gate. They'll be like, my, my, what is that? And the Lord says, that's your cross, pick it up. And you're like, Lord, that thing is a little bit too heavy for me. And the Lord goes, well, if you go in my strength, I'll carry it for you. Well, I don't know. I don't think it looks too good on me. Don't worry. He said, I took upon me the form of a sermon. I had no reputation. Be all right. I'll carry you through. You cast all your care upon me, and I'll take care of you. And the Christian goes, well, that's real good, but Lord, you know, in the originals, I don't think we're supposed to do that. And a lot of Christians stop right there in front of that cross. They never pick it up. and they stop following after Jesus Christ. They won't pick up that cross. Child of God often gets on following the Lord and then the Lord down the road drops the cross of standing up for Jesus Christ in front of him. And most Christians just stop and look at that thing and say, well, Lord, now what am I supposed to do with that thing right there? And the Lord says, well, pick it up. Okay, Lord, so let me get this straight. I'm supposed to carry that thing right there and I'm supposed to tell others about what you did on it. And the Lord's like, you're catching on pretty quick. And the child of God goes, I'm kind of scared. And the Lord says, so was I. I really don't want to do this. And the Lord says, you know what? Neither did I. But I said, nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done. And the Christian goes, Lord, but I don't think you understand. And the Lord says, I don't think you understand. Eternity depends on you picking up this cross. You see, there's five people down at Walmart today. Three of them will die within the next week. And you've got tracks. And I want to give them one more chance. And the Christian looks at it and he goes, I really appreciate what you did for me, Lord. I'm really thankful for my salvation, thankful one day for a new body, but I can't pick it up today. And the Lord says, okay. See, the Lord is not a Calvinist. He will not make you pick up that cross. But at that very moment when you refuse to pick up the cross that the Lord has put in front of you, he says, and take up his cross, is the moment that you stop following Jesus Christ. Didn't say you weren't saved. Didn't say you weren't going to heaven. Didn't say you wouldn't have a harp and all that stuff either, right? I'm just saying that's the moment you stop following Jesus Christ because He's put a cross in your path, whether it be the cross of separation, the cross of standing up for Jesus Christ, the cross of being a testimony at the workplace, and many of you stop right there and say, Lord, I can't do it, and the Lord says, you're right, you can't, but with my strength, you can. And a lot of Christians go, There's got to be another way I'll see you in a while, Lord. And we stop following after Jesus Christ. This morning I see the pathway of denial, the pathway of death. You know, in Matthew chapter 10, verse 38, Jesus Christ said, and he that taketh not his cross and followeth after me is not worthy of me. Do you realize that through the scriptures, when you're willing to take up the cross that the Lord has in front of you, some of you, the Lord might be putting certain things in your pathway right now that's considered a cross, it might be consecration. You need to consecrate your life. Yes, you're a child of God. Yes, you love him. Yes, you're saved, but you're not really devoted. You're not consecrated to living a life that pleases Jesus Christ. And he's put that cross of consecration in front of you and says, Son, daughter, I want you to consecrate your life to me. You say, what in the world does that even mean? That means I want you to get as close to me as you can possibly do it. Well, you know, I'm glad for salvation, but the whole closeness, devotion thing, it's almost a little bit too religious. And the Lord says, well, let them think what they will, but I'm concerned about your consecration. Are you willing to pick up the cross of consecration this morning? Or is it just Sunday morning religion? Many Christians at that juncture when they refuse to take up their cross stop following Jesus Christ. And the Bible says, He that taketh not his cross and followeth after me is not worthy of me. Verse 24 says, if any man will come after me, we're on the downside here, let him deny himself and take up his cross. Verse 24, the verse ends by the Lord saying simply, follow me. Have you ever wondered why it's been so difficult to follow the Lord at times? Sometimes you're much closer to the Lord maybe than others, but sometimes you feel like He's just three football fields away and you can hardly hear His voice. Could it be because you refuse to enter down the pathway of self-denial and you're giving your flesh everything it ever wanted in a million years and you can't hear anything the Holy Spirit's trying to tell you? Could it be that you're unwilling to go down the pathway of death because you know you're going to have to die to some things to please the Lord? Die to your own desires? Die to your own flesh? Die to your own will and take up His will? The last thing I see here is two words. He says, follow me. I see here in the passage a path of displacement. a path of displacement that follows Jesus Christ. The journey begins today with a pathway of self-denial, leads to a pathway of death, and convenes in a pathway of displacement. Now if you're going to get after it this morning, you're going to have to learn to deny yourself and take up your cross and finally follow Jesus Christ. Matthew 16 25 says, For whosoever will save his life shall lose it, and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. I see here in verse 25 that a man that will go after Jesus Christ, he follows him by losing his life. That's a paradox. That means the way you get up is by going down. That means in the Bible things are done exactly backwards that the world doesn't. For example, you get a better body by wearing the thing out. Amen. You're going to follow Jesus Christ, then you'll have to follow him by losing your life and not saving it. Some of you here today, and I can say this without being critical, but some of you have been saving and hanging on to your life for years. What are you waiting for any longer? Well, you know, hopefully one day I get married. Well, what if you don't? Then what? Then you'll waste the next 30 years looking for Mr. Wonderful. Well, I really want to get married. Okay, well, pray the Lord wants you to get married. What are you saving your life for? The Bible says, He that saveth his life shall. You know the best advice you can give everyone coming out of high school right now, biblical advice? Flush your dreams. Go after Jesus Christ. You know why that bothers some of you? Because you're in love with yourself. Flush it. Say, Lord, Lord, you know you've given me these talents, these proclivities and that so forth and so on, but Lord, I'm flushing all my dreams and giving myself completely over to you. Use me as you see fit in Jesus' name. Flush your dreams. What are you saving your life for? What are you holding on to? Don't you want to go after Him? Well, then you better quit saving it. Just lose your life in Him. go after him, pull out all the stops, take the governor off the thing, my soul, and let her roar. Just go. You go out here today, well, you know, wow, it's going to pass out. Just pass it out. The worst thing you can say is, get out of my face. Don't be a goofball about the thing. Say, look, I just want to give you something to read about my best friend. What are you waiting for? What are you saving it for? C.T. Studd, a missionary to China at the turn of the 19th century. He wrote a very familiar, he actually wrote a song. We only quote the little pieces there. I'll just quote the last few lines. He says, only one life will soon be passed. Only what's done for Christ will last. That's usually where we stop, isn't it? He goes on and says, and when I am dying, how happy I'll be if the lamp of my life has burned out for thee. What are you waiting for? Well, I'm waiting for retirement. Then what? That's the golden years and you know the doctors get all your gold. Stop saving your life. Lose it in Jesus Christ. Well, I got to work. I got to pay bills and work and pay bills, but give it all to Jesus Christ. The pathway of self-denial, then the pathway of death, and the pathway of displacement, and just lose your life in Him. As the organist comes to the piano this morning, there's much more, but I'm going to stop there. I wonder this morning if you're willing to get after it and go after Jesus Christ.