Deny Yourself, Take Up Your Cross And Follow Me | Bishop Darlingston Johnson

hallelujah amen ready for the word all right well we're going to be talking about something really fun today we're going to talk about having to deny yourself take up your cross [Music] amen following jesus that sounds like fun huh somebody said bishop that doesn't sound like fun at all amen you're going to be talking about self-denial you're going to be talking about the cross well let's have some fun in jesus name open your bibles please to matthew chapter 16. and we're going to be reading from verse 24 to verse 28 matthew 16 verse 24 to verse 28 and this is where jesus says to his disciples and to the crowd if anyone desires to come after me say that if anyone desires to come after me let him do what deny himself and take up his cross and do what follow me for whoever desires to save his life will lose it but who ever loses his life for my sake will find it for what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul or what will a man give in exchange for his soul for the son of man will come in the glory of his father with his angels and then he will reward each according he will do what reward each according to his works verse 28 and surely i say to you there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the son of man come now i want you to see that in verse 27 in verse 27 he said the son of man is going to come with his what angels in the glory of his father now instinctively we think about the second coming but look at verse 27 in verse 27 he says 12 28 he says there's some here who's not going to taste dead till they see the son of man coming which means since we know all of them have died this coming has already taken place the kingdom is already here amen jesus has already come back in the glory of his father now there is still going to be a second coming but what this shows is that the second coming has already begun you didn't hear me it would be climax when he returns in that at the end of the age but the kingdom is already here and jesus is already present in the glory of his father and guess what we can't even now begin to experience that kingdom and that glory you don't need to wait until you die to go to heaven and wait until jesus come to the end of the day jesus said i have already come the kingdom is here some of those people were alive when the kingdom showed up we are born at a time when the kingdom is already present in the world and jesus is already here in the glory of his father say hallelujah you need to know that because that's the context in which he tells you to deny yourself take up your cross and follow him don't separate that from what he just said now if you were to look just before the passage we read you will see that that's the time when when peter said to jesus you are the christ the son of the living god and when peter said that to jesus jesus said wow peter what a revelation you didn't get that on your own god revealed that to you and you can imagine peter phil you know he looked at the other 11. you know my god is giving me that kind of revelation the revelation i'm walking in you guys are not there yet amen well i have become god's spokesman god is speaking through me and so jesus praises him right and then the very next thing jesus begins to talk about the cross about his death and and how he would be buried and peter called jesus he said come come come come now jesus you know you shouldn't be talking about that talking about the cross and death and barrier if you if you stop talking that kind of stuff nobody will want to follow you amen all of a sudden now peter feels he knows enough to rebuke jesus amen you see that often now what happens we got to be careful because when god starts to use us we can get puffed up all of a sudden now we feel we know more than the teacher amen god is using us now until now we're going to start instructing those who god has placed over us in the lord amen so be careful the bible says knowledge puffs up so be careful as god uses you that you don't start to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think and so now this side peter said lord don't don't don't talk about going to the cross now jesus knew that in order to get to the throne to his kingdom he had to go first to the cross the cross wasn't where the journey would end but the cross was a necessary stop on the journey that was leading him to the kingdom now you hear me the devil tried to do that when jesus first began his ministry in the wilderness he said jesus you don't have to go to the cross all you need to do is just bow down and serve me you can skip the cross all together and i give you the kingdoms of this world you know what jesus said to the devil then right get thee behind me satan come on say that uh-huh that's something you and i need to learn how to say that come on say it get you see when anything or anyone or any thought enters your mind that is discouraging you from doing what you know god has called you to do because it will involve hardships or because it might involve sacrifice or because it might involve some level of pain listen to me you ought to say to that thing get thee behind me satan because it's not ultimately about my pleasure it's about his pleasure it's not about my will it's about his will it is not about my glory it's about his glory so do what get thee behind me satan so here is peter god has just used him the next moment now he is basically discouraging jesus from obeying god discouraging jesus from going all the way in doing god's will encouraging jesus to put his self-interest before god's purpose and the bible tells us that even when peter was speaking jesus didn't let him go very far with that jesus turned his back on him get thee behind me come on say that get you stand up a little stand up you got to practice turning your back on the devil one more time get thee behind me amen thank you because you know what the devil will come and he will put thoughts in your mind sometimes the thought will come while you're watching tv and you're seeing some scene on the tv and he's enticing you and a thought will come in your mind what do you need to say get thee behind me satan sometimes that thought is going to come through somebody who may mean well but whatever they're saying is discouraging you from doing what you know god's word has told you to do from doing what you know god's will is for your life what they're saying will be encouraging you to take matters in your own hands to take a shortcut that would would seek to avoid what you know is god's plan god's plan for you and you've got to be able to say get thee behind me satan you've got to be able to turn your back on that thought oh you didn't hear me and say it is written or get behind me you jesus said to peter you do not discern you you speak not from god's perspective you don't have the mind of god on this matter and you're speaking and you're looking at this solely from a man's perspective get thee behind me listen when you're making decisions decisions for your life for your future for your family you need to make those decisions from god's perspective not from man's and when you're making decisions from god's perspective sometimes those decisions will involve suffering sacrifice waiting giving up something that you your flesh wants but you've always got to go with god you've always got to go with god and you got to be able to shut down that thought immediately don't give it time to take root and to bear fruit shut it down the minute you recognize it's not of god turn your back on it shut it down in jesus name now right after jesus turned his back on on on peter he was looking at the other disciples and luke says the crowd and that's when he made this statement he said listen if you're going to come after me and you're going to follow me if you're going to be my disciple you're going to have to deny yourself take up your cross and follow me you're going to have to do what deny yourself take up your cross and follow me now that that that that can seem and it does seem to a lot of people as very hard and very harsh it seems and can't seem to a lot of people as as a as a harsh requirement from a difficult and stern master and for that reason some people don't embrace that they don't have fun with this but but i want to to give you a perspective to help you if you're one of those who may be resisting this let me give you a perspective remember i told you that the context in which this is said includes jesus declaration that he was going to come with his angels and with the glory of his in the glory of his father and he was going to reward his people according to their works meaning i'm going to reward those who belong to me amen you need to understand this is not a harsh command that he's making to make life difficult this is actually an invitation he's offering people to follow him into a kingdom where they can share where he can share his glory his honor and power with them this is an invitation to follow me into this kingdom where you can begin to walk in my glory my honor and my power i want to give you something i want to take you to a place carry you on a journey that you could never go by yourself i want to bring you to a place spiritually where daily you get to walk in and live in my kingdom and walk in my power ensure my glory that's where i want to bring you hallelujah so this is the offer of a generous god a good god a loving god who looks at people and says man i got something better for you you're living for this world and you're trying to gain this world and you think that the world is the best thing ever i've got something so much greater so much better so much gooder for you but hear me in order to enter that kingdom in order to walk in this power this glory and honor that nothing the world has can compare to you have to be willing to do what deny yourself and take up your cross and follow me now again this is not to make it difficult this is just what has to happen in order for you to enter live in and walk in that glory honor and power there has to be an exchange of this life that you currently have with with with with his life let me see if we can illustrate this even better if you wanted to live in the ocean live underwater for the rest of your life could you no why because you are not created for that environment you can live very comfortably on earth because the way you created earth and with oxygen all that stuff you created for this environment you're not created to live underwater fish can live underwater naturally that's how they're created so if you ever wanted to live underwater something would have to be changed some they would have to come up with some type of method to change you so that you're able to to function without the oxygen that you're currently breathing here on earth you know one day they're talking about colonizing the moon well the reason why they don't have any colonists there is because we are not fit the way we're created we cannot live in that environment if we were ever to live on moon and make and the moon becomes a colony where men can live comfortably there has to be a change in transformation either the environment up there has to be changed or something in you will have to be changed for you to be able to live on the moon in order to live in the kingdom you can't live in the kingdom and walk in the glory of honor etc the way you are when you come to christ there has to be a change amen that all self which the bible calls the old man that that that self-centered self that selfish self that sinful self that fallen self that is corrupted from head to toe that self that lives only for itself cannot live in the kingdom it's not fit for the kingdom the kingdom is not built for that type of life that type of life lives for self and for self-pleasing is incapable of walking in glory and honor and power and that is where jesus wants you to live that's what jesus wants me to live jesus wants us to live in the kingdom so we need the type of light that is fit for the kingdom jesus wants us to walk in glory honor and power so he has to do something with us and in us in order to qualify us prepare us for that kind of living amen if i just took you and threw you in the ocean you're gonna die if you if you don't get out as soon as possible if he just took us and put us in the kingdom without dealing with us and preparing us for the life of the kingdom we could not survive so jesus says to you listen i want to give you something far greater than what the world has to offer you i want you to live in my kingdom i'm a great king i want to share my kingdom with you and i want to share my glory i want to share my power i want to share my honor with you in the kingdom i want you to live with me in the kingdom i want you to partake of the glory honor and power of my kingdom all right but to do that you've got to be willing to let me do something in you and with you to prepare you qualify you and equip you for this new kind of living and this new type of light that i have designed you for now when you understand the purpose hopefully you will be more open to the idea of denying yourself taking up your cross and following him let's respond to this wonderful offer from the king let's raise our hands and take about 30 15 seconds and just thank him for this wonderful wonderful plan that he has for you and for me hallelujah amen now let's look at the instruction uh more specifically let him do what deny himself take up his cross and follow me really that's one command it's it's they're all tied to each other you can only follow him if you are willing to take up the cross and you will only take up the cross if you deny yourself you deny yourself enables you to take out the cross which enables you to follow him it's really one command but we're going to look at it in three parts so that we can hopefully at the end of the day understand the command more clearly right we know the purpose and what is the purpose he wants me to do what live in the kingdom and daily walk in glory honor and power amen and literally to grow in that experience but for that to happen the first thing that i must be willing to do is what deny myself say that deny now that doesn't sound like anything the world is saying to us and it's not it doesn't sound like what many christians are saying to themselves or saying to one another we don't hear from the world deny yourself and we don't hear from many churches deny yourself what we hear is indulge yourself please yourself love yourself don't deny yourself now next week lord willing i will approach this from a different perspective uh and i believe [Music] that perspective will give us some additional insights about applying this truth on a daily basis but i am approaching it this day from the perspective of a call to discipleship there's a way to look at it in terms of salvation but i'm looking at it today in terms of a call to discipleship and what we're saying is you are saved by grace through faith you are saved by grace through what faith you're not saved by works but now that you are saved by grace through faith if you want to grow as a disciple and experience on a daily basis the manifestation of god's will in and through you as a powerful instrument that god can use to bless the world then there are certain things you must do and one of the things that you must do now that you're saved so that you grow into spiritual maturity as a devoted disciple of jesus who can manifest his glory his power and his honor then you must be willing to do what deny your self now notice he said deny yourself he didn't say deny yourself things there's a difference he didn't say deny yourself things he said deny your self during the lent season there's some christians around the world who doing that that week or something you know will deny themselves certain things that they will indulge in the rest of the year but for this short period we won't do this we won't do that we want to eat certain things for this period they're practicing self-denial and there's some who take this instruction of jesus to the extreme and interpret it to me i must deny myself anything that's luxury deny myself anything that's real nice so if i'm going to buy a pair of shoes i can't buy a very good one if i if i'm going to wear a dress i got to buy it from kmart uh i if i if i'm going to ride a car if i must have a car it needs to be an older model you know or some people withdraw from society altogether what they're doing is they're taking this scripture where jesus said deny yourself and they're turning it into self-denial and they're thinking that what jesus is saying deny yourself anything that is nice or good so the cheaper the clothes the cheaper the things you have the more holy you are that leads to religion and legalism that's not what jesus is talking about now we are to be good stewards of what god gives us so we have a responsibility to manage the resources that god gives us in a way that demonstrates my goodness that the kingdom has priority in our lives amen so so what as he blesses me i do have a responsibility to manage my resources time and finances and help and strength all of the things that we take for granted which the lord gives us i have a responsibility as a steward to manage those things in a way that reflects that the kingdom is my number one priority and that means there will be times when i must specifically and i will and i should specifically deny myself certain things for the sole purpose of exalting christ or getting his job his work done so it's possible there are times i can afford this but i choose not to do this because i want to take that money and i wanted to invest it in the kingdom that is fine that is great but don't don't now extend that to me that what god what jesus is saying here never never enjoy the riches of god's blessings am i making it clear he said deny yourself not deny yourself things so what does it mean to deny yourself in short it is to say no to self rule self-government self-will bless rule flesh government flesh will it is to say to that self that you bring to jesus you're no longer in charge it's to say that that flesh you're no longer in charge it is to refuse to allow the flesh to have the right to rule over you are you listen to me it is to not say it is to do what do not self-rule in order to replace it with his rule you see if i'm going to live in the kingdom there is a king who rules of that kingdom who is willing to share his glory his honor and power with me but he's still king and so if i'm going to live in that kingdom then i've got to be willing to deny self-rule self-government i've got to be willing to say jesus you now are in charge you are the king you are the one ruling and i humbly choose to give up my throne so that you alone can sit on the throne of my heart hallelujah oh that was weak let's say amen amen say no to run your life as you please saying no to having the right to determine what your your ambitions your fleshly ambitions fleshly plans bless your goals and pleasures will be to be willing to turn that completely over to him and to be able to say not my will from now on i'm letting go of all of these things in exchange for your life and your will i'm letting it all go now that is that is that is scary amen why would you want to let go of your person your own personal ambitions your own personal plans just let it all go why would you be willing to let go of self-rule and just allow someone else to take over and run your life the thought of it is scary you mean i'm gonna just let someone else be in charge of my destiny i'm just gonna let someone else decide where i go where i live what i do with my life that is no easy request hallelujah and you won't be willing to do it not fully until you become convinced that this self-life is not worth saving i may be going further than i should go but for me to give just so you know you come and run my life you tell me what to do you determine my destiny you go ahead and determine how i would spend my time my money where i would live you how can i give up the right to rule and to make my own decisions to run my life i've i i i i can i will only do that if i am convinced somehow that this sub-rule this self-life that i have it's not worth saving and there's something far better in quality than this and that's the problem most people are not convinced that's why the sinner doesn't receive christ and that's why many christians don't grow in the spiritual maturity they never become devoted followers of christ that are walking daily in honor glory and power because they are not convinced as they art that this self-rule self-life self-centered selfish life is not worth saving that they can actually exchange it for something far greater far superior far better they think that if i give this up i'm going to end up with nothing for myself i will become a nobody and the thought scares them so even though they believe in jesus enough to have received him as savior very few are willing to so completely entrust themselves and their lives and their future and their destiny into their hands and as a result they're never able to grow into the mature sons and daughters god has called us to be may god free us from the fear of losing our lives to him be the revelation of where he wants to take us he's so real to us that we're able to say to that life that we've been holding on to you know what i'm letting you go i'm i'm i'm deny i'm letting you go i'm releasing you completely because i've got my eyes on someone and something else and the only one who can take me there is jesus are you hearing me so deny yourself take up your cross do what take up your cross and fair price will say i'm out of time and so i will stop there and next week we'll deal with taking up your cross and follow him there's a whole lot more i have to say but if i start i would get in trouble with with with some folks here they're already looking at me with a so we'll continue next week but i'm leaving you with this i've just told you why this is so important because of what jesus is offering you so don't see this as the harsh commands of someone who is making these demands in order to oppress you no see this as an invitation from christ to you to live in his kingdom and to walk daily in his glory his power and honor beginning now because the kingdom is already here but it will be climax when he returns and see this denial of self as necessary amen because you've got to be willing to give get rid of that lesser life in order to receive this greater life let me say this now and i'll conclude now i'll continue this next week but when you give your life and you go to the cross and you you you you let it go completely and let him be the one who is running your life when you die so to speak to that old man that old man you allow that old man to be crucified put to death once and for all you may feel you've lost something but jesus said no you haven't he said if you lose your life for my sake you will actually find it in other words the life that you are really looking for you will find it when you let go of this life that you're clinging on to and as long as you cling on to this light he says you will never find that light that you're really desiring but if you can get to the place where you're willing to trust him enough because it takes trust that's why you live this life by faith if you get to a place where you're willing to trust him enough trust his love trust his goodness trust his power trust his wisdom enough to you know what release your life totally into his hands you may feel you've lost it but jesus said no that is when you actually will discover the life that you were meant to live and here's a good example when you take a seed and you plant the seed in the ground you may think when you look at it that is dead and it's buried it's abandoned is by itself that's how it looks that's how it appears that's what it seems like but the truth is when you put a seed in the ground you don't lose it you free it to become what it was created to be you literally free it to manifest its greatest glory you free it to do its greatest good you hear me you you free it to make the greatest difference you free it to become all that it has the potential to be and none of that happens until you let it go and let it drop into the ground and let it appear to die brother and sister don't be afraid of losing your life for christ's sake do not be afraid of letting go of your own plans your own ambitions for your own efforts to save your life to be somebody don't be afraid to say to god not my will your will be done we'll get more practical next week but let's bow our heads father i pray that this word that you have given us to speak will take root in our lives and produce food for your glory i pray that those who have heard this word will allow this word to bring about transformation in their minds in their attitudes that they will understand that jesus is not trying to take something away from them he's actually seeking to give them far more than they could ever ever ever obtain on their own i pray that faith will arise in their hearts and that they will trust jesus enough to surrender completely to his will in all things in jesus name now if you have not yet received christ you can begin putting this message into action right now right where you are the first thing you need to do is to say to jesus that you cannot save yourself admit to jesus that you are a sinner and you're guilty and that he only can save you and right where you are press prayer simple prayer say jesus christ come into my life i receive you as my savior and my lord i believe that your blood was shed for me thank you jesus amen and amen if you prayed that prayer for your first time before the 10th time we want to help you now grow in this relationship with jesus contact us use the information on the screen and contact us in jesus name now listen if you're watching wherever you are help us get these services and this message to as many people as possible please share the video amen it's going to be reposted share it so that as many people as possible can hear what jesus wants them to hear and their lives can be transformed in jesus name amen god bless you

Channel: Bishop Darlingston Johnson

Views: 985

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: Deny Yourself, Pick Up Your Cross And Follow Me, HIMU, Harvesters Olney, Harvest Intercontinental Ministries Unlimited

Id: s5x-lVAKNIs

Length: 40min 3sec (2403 seconds)

Published: Sun Feb 21 2021