*[[Luk 14:27-33/KJV]]*
27 And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.
28 For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?
29 Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him,
30 Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish.
31 Or what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand?
32 Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage, and desireth conditions of peace.
33 So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.
The message of the modern church is a sound of many voices; one
of the loudest is Jesus died for your sins because God loves you so much He
punished His Son so you could be with Him and His account would be balanced…so trust
Jesus died for you and God loves you and no matter what else happens you get to
go to heaven forever.
The word wicked means
basically twisted like a wicker piece of furniture. This perverse gospel
qualifies as wicked for it braids vague truth with hellish lies. God does love
you, Jesus did die for you and you must trust in these two things but God was
not trying to balance a scale He was taking away the death that Adam had taken
into himself so that we in return could have His life.
Jesus explained before his death that our old man (wineskin)
could not contain new life (wine) but it was necessary that there be a new
wineskin (a new creation in Christ).
In another place He
told us the goods of a strongman could not be spoiled without the strongman
first being bound; so he bound our old man to the cross to die. So He could break every chain, tear down every stronghold, and take away every thought
that would be opposed to His life in and through us.
By this he fulfilled
what was written in Isaiah 53. The word fulfilled is not to take something away
but to bring it to manifestation. Which brings us to the last lie above and the purpose of our text; it very much matters what we do after our conversion. If our conversion is true we have passed from the death of being a self to the shared life of God in us. Our very nature has completely changed and as such how we live our lives is made different.
Jesus gives very different good news. The passing from death
to life will require both His death and ours for we must be crucified with Him
if we are to have life. The word cross was well known as a place that people
meet death the original word was in its generic form a stake or rod coming from
the meaning of something that remained in a certain place. I have broken the
word down to help us understand what the price Jesus told us to count is.
The cross of Christ is a place where the self goes to die
and it is necessary that the self remains dead in that cross. Jesus who had
never been a self but Had always been one with His Father took our self to
death so that when the life of the breath of God was breathed into Him three
days later we would rise with Him in the one life of God .
We see in the rich young ruler a man who was willing to act
as God wanted as long as He received and could be blessed with that which he
desired for himself so he walked away from a true offer of life for his own
self existence. The multitudes that saw the healings and ate the bread and even
heard the teaching wanted to make Jesus king for what they perceived they would
gain from Him but left in droves when He said you must eat of my flesh and
drink of my blood. Why because to do such required that one must lay aside the
self.
If you can’t pay the price of letting the self die in Him
and letting His life live through you. Can you become as a little child whose
only source of providence is his father?
Can you leave at the cross every wisp of self-dependence, self-pride, self-worth,
self-help, self-respect, self-awareness, your goals, your dreams, your desires,
your rights, your possessions, your very existence.
If your answer is no then save your money and your time for
you will be ever learning but never coming to a knowing of God…with a form of
godliness through will worship but denying the complete sovereignty and
omnipotence of God. If you cant die at the cross then He will say depart I never knew you despite
your protest of the things you did in His name….for only the Father works…only
the Father wills, only the Father makes…only the Father lives.
If your answer is yes then God is your life and reward. He
calls you His child and a new creation in Christ; one with Him all He is becomes
yours. You cannot wield Him for your purpose for that is the old man.
I cannot end this without the how. The answer is simple fear
not only believe. We take up this cross daily for Gods life in us must be
desired by us it is never forced. You can repent of dead works of the old man
and still have wrong thinking and wrong motives that cause us to still move in
our flesh but Jesus said you believe in God believe also in me. He has been
given the power over all flesh we can believe in the life that He lives in us.
We come to life by faith…we come to faith by hearing but true hearing happens
as the Spirit leads us into truth…it is an ever increasing faith…so as we trust
Him we have life but He is always conforming us to a more abundant life that we
become a living word and temple and body of His bride…so trust Him and if you
sin He is faithful and just to forgive you…but if your heart condemns you He is
greater than your heart. He has given us the power to become the sons of God…and
a son is that which issues from his Father…so trust him…even if you must add to
your faith patience.
