Introduction to Following Christ By John McCallum

I should express my thanks to you for inviting me to come.
And I do indeed come to that pleasure and privilege.
And I hope indeed that there's no one come especially to hear me.
But we do look forward to meeting one another.
We come from many different backgrounds and there's probably much that we would not agree with.
In a way we do things and so on but what unites us is far more important.
Now the subject that has been appointed to me is this passage dealing in Matthew chapter 16 verses 24 and 25
dealing with following Christ.
And of course we have this particular topic because serving the King begins
and indeed it continues with the following after Christ.
Now I'm going to read in Matthew chapter 16, I'll begin to read it verse 21 to save time.
And I'm reading in the old authorized version so we'll read from verse 21 in Matthew chapter 16.
From that time Jesus, from that time forth Jesus began to show unto his disciples
how that he must go into Jerusalem and suffer many things of the elders
and chief priests and scribes and be killed and be raised again the third day.
Then Peter took him and began to rebuke him saying be it far from thee Lord this shall not be unto thee.
But he turned and said unto Peter get thee behind me satan thou an offense unto me
for thou savourest not or mind is not thinks not the things that be of God but those that be of men.
Then said Jesus unto his disciples if any man will come after me let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me
for whosoever will save his life shall lose it and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it
for what is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul
or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul
for the son of man shall come in the glory of his father with his angels
and then he shall reward every man according to his works.
Verily or truly I say unto you there be some standing here which shall not taste of death
till they see the son of man coming in his kingdom.
Now the verses that are going to concern us or concern me as I come to speak to you
verses 24 and 25 these emphasis upon the taking up the cross and following after Christ
and it's important for us to remember the context in which these words were spoken
we must never take scripture in isolation or out of context because we can easily have a wrong impression
and it's important therefore for us to remember what our Lord is saying
specifically he is speaking in response to what Peter has said to him
and what he has said to Peter in the previous verses
the Lord Jesus Christ has told his disciples that he must go and suffer
at the hands of the scribes and the leaders of the Jewish nation
and that he must be put to death and that he must rise again the third day
and the Apostle Peter found that to be a hard thing
he found it hard to understand and he certainly found it hard to accept
and he would rebuke Christ and say to the Lord that this would never come to him
now as you read the Gospels you perhaps have noticed how frequently
several places were told of how the Apostle Peter argued with Christ
and in effect told Christ that he was wrong
you remember for example in the upper room when the Lord would come and wash the disciples feet
again it's Peter he said to the Lord you're not going to wash my feet
and there are other places too when Christ told his disciples that they were all going to forsake him
you remember again Peter argued and contradicted Christ
and he said all others may in fact abandon you or leave you but I will follow you even unto death
and again we have this tendency in the Apostle Peter to contradict
and to argue with the Lord Jesus Christ
and it's in that very context that Peter once again expressing words in contradiction of what Christ has said
that Christ gives to us here these terms of discipleship
and it seems to me that the Lord is emphasizing something very important
when he says unless we take up our cross and follow him we cannot be his disciples in effect
what he is saying is that we must be very clear as to what it is that is involved when we become Christians
there are many people and they desire in a measure to begin to follow after Christ
and then they find that following Christ is not just exactly as they had imagined it to be
in other words they thought it was something different than the reality
in the same way as Peter thought the mission of Christ was something different to what it in reality was
and that is the import therefore of our Lord Jesus Christ emphasizing these words in verses 24 and 25
let's read them again, then Jesus said unto his disciples
now we have here then the emphasis upon following after Christ
now what I propose to do in the four sessions that have been appointed to me
is to make some introductory general remarks on this particular occasion
and then look further at following Christ
and then make some observations in the third session about denying ourselves
and then finally again making some observations about what is meant by taking up the cross
now I don't pretend that what I'm going to say is exhaustive
one could preach a great many sermons in these verses
because they are absolutely redling with meaning and the application
and so I will simply be highlighting some of the more obvious things
but we want to emphasize these things for our encouragement
and if perhaps there are some here who are not Christians
and who are interested perhaps in becoming Christians and wondering what is involved
then we hope that what we have to say shall be of some value to you in that regard
and those of you who are Christians and who have been perhaps many years Christians
it's good for us also to be reminded because we do tend to forget and we do tend to decline
and so these words are relevant for us whether we are believers or unbelievers
the Lord is giving to us the terms of discipleship in terms of following after him
and that is where all service to the King begins and indeed continues
well the first thing I want to emphasize as we come to consider these verses this morning
I want to emphasize the invitation that we find in these verses
because our Lord surely here is reminding us of that general invitation
which he gives to men to come and to be his disciples
and he gives that invitation in the same terms that he speaks about in these verses
following after him. You remember in the fourth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew
in verse 19 where we're told there of how the Lord was passing by
and he saw Peter and Andrew and James and John
and on each occasion he invited them to come and to be his disciples
and the terms were exactly as they are here follow after me
and so being a Christian can be summarized in a sense in that we are those who follow after the Lord Jesus Christ
and I say that there is an invitation here also because
in the eleventh chapter of the Gospel of Matthew
at the end of the chapter you remember how our Lord Jesus Christ speaks
of that invitation come unto me he says all ye that lay there under heavy laden
and I will give you rest take my yoke upon you learn of me
for I am meek and lowly in heart and you shall find rest unto your souls
my yoke is easy and my burden is light and so I'm emphasizing this invitation
because it seems to me that our Lord Jesus Christ never debarred anyone from coming to him
he never debarred anyone from entering into the kingdom or into salvation
who had an inkling or a desire so to do
his arms were open wide he encouraged men to come
indeed he invited with not just an invitation in technical and theological terms
but in the humane terms of his compassion he invited men to come
because he knows that men are weary and they are heavy laden
and sin is a great burden that is upon every human life
and to a greater or lesser extent we all feel that burden
some feel it more than others and some are more concerned than others
to be rid of this burden but the burden is there and we are all weary
and we are all heavy laden with this terrible problem of guilt and sin
and our Lord Jesus Christ comes to us and he invites us to come to him
and he will give to us rest for our soul
and that seems to me the same kind of thing, follow me
but he's explaining to us what is meant by following him
when he gives this invitation to follow him he means that we follow him now
and I want to emphasize that because there is one of the most dangerous tendencies of all in every human heart
and that is that we are going to put off following Christ until some more convenient season
until perhaps we've had our fill of the pleasures of sin and the prosperity of the world
and perhaps when we're old and life is practically done or we're on our dust bed
or perhaps when life becomes filled with adversity and sorrow
then we'll consider a following Christ
and there are, you know, in the history of this world
the record of many men who have never followed Christ
but in their writings they have expressed an interest so to do
in their young manhood and so on
and Augustine, you remember, the great early theologian
in his confessions when he describes how he became a Christian
and what he was like before he became a Christian, how he lived the Christian life after
and remember how he reminds us how for years he put off a following after Christ
he wanted salvation, he wanted peace, he wanted repentance, but not yet
and why I'm emphasizing that is because the history of the world is full of examples of men and women
and they had a good intention to follow Christ
but death came and they still were not following Christ
they never followed him, they never took that step
and they never seized on that opportunity and that moment
they never came when it was the time to come
they never sought the Lord as it were in the words of scripture while he was to be found
and what I'm saying therefore is this
when our Lord Jesus Christ says, if any man will follow me
he means follow me now
these are the terms now
and the terms are not going to be different tomorrow
they're not going to be easy
he is not going to change them or make for us a special case
we must embrace these terms now
because there is no other way to serve the King
there is no other way to begin to serve Christ
until that moment that we begin for ourselves to follow him
in the terms of these verses that we have as our text
and he means therefore that we follow him when we hear the invitation
when the Holy Spirit is striving with our hearts
when we hear the Gospel, when we hear the voice of Christ
that is the time to follow Christ
most people who become Christians
become Christians through contact with Christian people
that is the general mode by which people become followers of Christ
now you may say well that's obvious
it is obvious but it's the fact of the matter
and I'm emphasizing it because there are places in this world
where men and women and boys and girls are not being given the opportunity to follow Christ
but in this building this morning
you are in such a place
and you are exposed to such an opportunity
where it is highly conducive
for you to become a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ
you're in a place where prayer is want to be made
you are in the place where Jesus Christ has met
because where two or three are gathered in his name
there he is in the midst
you're in a place where there is the open scripture
where there is the preaching of the Gospel
that is how God saves his people
this is not just another gathering of the human kind
an ordinary event
it is a spiritual occasion
where God is speaking to us
and where the opportunities of salvation are being pressed upon us
in a way that they are not pressed upon us
in other places and in other times
and so therefore I would emphasize this aspect
that the Lord is saying to us
to those who will hear
that we're to follow him
we're to follow him now
not tomorrow
not another year
but now when we hear his voice
we are to harden not our heart
and we're to follow him also intelligently
Our Lord Jesus Christ never deceived people
as to what was involved
in seeking first the kingdom of God
you remember that occasion when there was a certain individual
and he came to Christ
and he said well I would follow you wherever you go
but let me first of all go and bury my father
and remember how the Lord replied that
let the dead bury the dead
you come and you follow after me
let me first of all go and say goodbye to my family
said someone else on another occasion
and the Lord again reminded
you come and you follow me
and you preach the kingdom of God
in other words the Lord is saying
that we must understand that in following him
we may have to suppress certain things that we regard as natural
things that the world would regard as normative and healthy
and there is a sense in which if we're going to be followers of Christ
we must live in a manner that the world would regard as a crippled kind of a life
a life in which we do not have ourselves at the centre
I'll touch upon that on another occasion
the principle you remember that if your right eye offends you, pluck it out
if your right hand offends you, cut it off
if your right foot offends you, cut it off
that kind of crippled a life that men would see as something unbecoming perhaps
not living life to the full
and our Lord Jesus Christ is saying that if we're going to be his disciples
we must come to him with a knowledge of what is involved
and that it includes self-denial
and it includes taking up the cross and following after him
so we must respond to this invitation to follow him willingly
we must do it now and we must do it intelligently
he invites us to come
now notice also the exclusiveness of these terms, this invitation
the Lord is saying if any man will come after me
and here we have our Lord Jesus Christ emphasizing something that is brought out again and again and again in the scripture
and is increasingly denied by many religious teachers of our day
and that is the absolute exclusiveness of the Lord Jesus Christ to be the saviour of the world
in the Old Testament we have the same emphasis made, you remember
where God reminds his people and indeed the nations of the world
that there is no other God
all the gods of the nations, their idols done
which the blinded nations fear
but our God, says the Psalmist, he is the God who does things
he is the God who made the heavens and the earth
he saves people, he saved a nation
he fought their battles, he supplied their needs
he is a God who does things with his mighty and his outstretched arm
and when we come into the New Testament we find the same emphasis precisely
but it is embodied and it is focused upon the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ
he is Emmanuel, he is God with us
he has come into this world to save his people from their sins
and there is no other name given under heaven amongst men whereby we must be saved
and when Christ is saying to us, follow me
he is not saying to us, follow me as one who is simply an option
follow me as one who is simply another one professing to be the way, the truth and the life
he is saying follow me because it is absolutely incumbent upon us to follow him
if we do not follow Christ we will never enter the kingdom of heaven
when he speaks to us in these terms, he is speaking to us for our good
and I am saying we as a Christian community, we need to recover this and remember that
because there are many, even today you know, on this Easter Sunday on the radio and on the television
there will be men and they will be extolling Jesus and they will be speaking about Jesus
and they will be speaking about his death and they will be speaking about his resurrection
and some of them will not believe in his resurrection
and some of them will speak in such a way as to give their hearers the impression
that Jesus is just another religious leader, one of some, one of many
he is the way for me, but then the Muslims have their way and the Buddhists have their way
and the Hindus have their way, Jesus is the way for me
but it is not the way for everyone and I have heard men in the name of Christ
who are eminent men in the professing church of the Lord Jesus Christ
men who have the ears of the nation in a way that we do not have the ears of the nation
and they speak of our Lord Jesus Christ in a way that he never spoke of himself
that he never spoke of himself or that the New Testament never speaks about him
they speak of him as one who is, yes if you wish to follow Christ follow him
if you wish to follow the Buddha then follow him, it's all the same
but it's not all the same, our Lord Jesus Christ
when he says follow me, he is asking us to leave our idols down
he is asking us to leave and to start listening to those other religious teachers
who would teach something different to what he teaches, whose way would be different
and whose terms would be different, he is asking us to come away from them
and come to me and I'll give you light and I'll give you life
and I'll give you something that is of eternal dimension
he is saying to us follow me exclusively
he is one who has come to be the way and the truth and the light
so we have this invitation from the one who is described as the God-man
God with us and when he speaks to us, as he speaks to us in these words
this is not just a Jew speaking, this is the incarnate Son of God speaking
with all the authority with which God speaks and he speaks of those things that he does know
there's something else I would emphasise as well in this before I pass on to
time is running away with us, time just goes
there's something else I want to emphasise, we're still dealing with this invitation
and it is this, the invitation to follow Christ, following Christ is not an end in itself
it is a means to an end, repentance and faith and justification
all these things are not the end in themselves and I'm emphasising that because
so often there are some people, many occasions, you find some people in the Christian church
and if you ask them about spiritual things they will point to an experience that they had
perhaps several years ago when they came forward and they became members in the Christian church
and you will find perhaps on a close examination that they haven't grown very much in grace
under the knowledge of Christ, they perhaps haven't done very much for the Lord
perhaps they're not attending very casually or occasionally attending their local Christian assembly
perhaps they don't engage in private and public prayer and Bible study and so on
in other words they're not really following after Christ
and perhaps they have been misunderstanding what following Christ means
they have thought that a profession and some kind of Christian conversion experience was the end of the matter
it was an end in itself, I've become converted, but that's not the end of the matter
any more than a newborn baby born into this world, that's not the end of the matter
we're all very glad when we see a newborn child with all his organs and all his potential and all his livelihood
but supposing that little child didn't grow, supposing a year later he was still a little baby
just as he came from the womb and then when he should be going to school he's still a little baby
something's wrong, in other words the birth is just a means to an end
the end is the manhood, the womanhood, the maturity, the fully developed man or woman
that is the end in view, that's the purpose of the birth
and it's the same in the Christian life, to be converted is not the Christian life
that's the beginning of the Christian life, that's just start number one
and there's a great many things involved in the Christian life
apart from beginning or that initial step of following after the Lord Jesus Christ
so he gives us an invitation to come, to follow him, to begin following him and to keep on
when he says follow me he means keep on day by day because as we shall see on another occasion
taking up the cross according to Luke's Gospel is a day by day experience
taking up our cross daily and following after our Lord Jesus Christ
he gives to us here an invitation to follow after him
that's the first thing that I want to emphasise, I'm going to have to press on a bit
the second thing I want to emphasise this morning from these words
is that our Lord Jesus Christ gives to us a description of what is meant by following him
if any man will come after me let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me
now when we think of following Christ we are to think of it in biblical terms
in the Bible, the Bible is the most intriguing and the most instructive book
it's a big book and it teaches many things about many things
and it doesn't explain everything in one verse or in one passage
and one of the great ways of understanding scripture is that we must examine scripture in the light of other scripture
if we're having difficulty understanding a text of the Bible then don't worry over much about that
pray and keep on reading the Bible and you will find that there will be other portions of scripture
which will shed light upon this particular passage that you find to be somewhat difficult to understand
and we must always interpret an obscure passage of scripture in the light of easier passages of scripture
never build a doctrine, there is no Christian doctrine built upon any obscure text
and that is what the sects and the cults tend to do
they will take you to some obscure passage in Daniel or Ezekiel
and they will frighten good and godly Christians because they're taking some obscure portion
and they're making a major doctrine out of that obscure portion
the Bible is not meant to be understood in that way
now you might say, well why are you speaking about it? I'm speaking about it for this reason
we don't have all that is involved in following after Christ in this text
we've got to go to other portions, we've got indeed to go to the Old Testament
go to the book of Psalms and read through the Psalms
and there you have a description of what the spiritual life is all about
we need to go to the Epistles to find what is involved in following after the Lord Jesus Christ
Paul and the other apostles, they explain to us the details of how Christian wives and Christian husbands
and Christian children and parents and bond and free and masters and servants and so on
how we follow after Christ in these particular occasions
so we don't have all that is involved in following after Christ in this particular passage that we have as our text this morning
but there's something I want to emphasize that is not mentioned in this particular text
and that's why I've been speaking about these things
and it is this, the idea of following after Christ is the idea of walking
the idea of working about, the idea of working amongst men
to follow Christ means in a sense to do what Christ did
and when we read the Gospels we find him working about amongst men
sometimes amongst his friends, sometimes amongst his enemies
but always consistent in his character and in his message and in his dealings with men
and it is to that kind of walking about kind of life that our Lord Jesus Christ invites us
when he says come and follow me
serving the King does not mean that we retire from the life of society
it doesn't mean that we have a kind of closet mentality
it doesn't mean private meditation
it doesn't mean some exclusive secretism
and spiritual experiences that we have in the closet
now all these are good because we must go into our closet
there is a great deal more to the Christian life than simply the public demonstration
and the walking about, there is a private and there is a spiritual aspect
which we can share with no one but God in this world
and that is involved in following after Christ
and we find that he did that very thing
he went away into the desert to pray
he went away into the mountains to pray
he spent whole nights alone with God in prayer
he went away from the society of men
in order to speak and to hear his Father in heaven
and so must we do these things
he tells us that part of the Christian life is that we go into our closet
we close the door, we keep even our nearest and dearest
and we go and we speak to God about the things that are concerned to our soul
but by and large the Christian life is walking about
and this is what I want to emphasize
it is the beginning of a new kind of life
doing new kinds of things and going to different places
places that we would never have dreamed of going
before we became Christian
and we stopped going to places and we stopped doing things
and we stopped saying things that we did before we became Christian
I want to illustrate this with, if I may, with a most interesting episode
that we find in the Gospel of Matthew
in chapter 14
you remember how the disciples were in the boat
and the great storm arose
and then Jesus came, about midnight we're told
and he came to them walking upon the waves
and remember how at first they were afraid
and then they saw that it was Christ
he spoke to them, you remember
and Peter, again Peter, he was a natural born leader
he was a spokesman, Peter
and he said, Lord if it is you then bid me to come to you in the water
and you remember how Jesus said, come, come Peter
and walk in the water and Peter climbed out of the boat
and Peter walked in the water
now I'm not saying that that kind of thing
in its literal replication or repetition
is ever going to be part of our experience
but I'm saying that whilst that was an historical event
it was also in a sense a parable in action
because it shows us something of the new life that is in Christ
because Peter was doing something when Christ invited him to come
not only that he had never done before
but he was doing something that he could not have done before
and we have no record that he was ever able to do it again
the point is the Christian life is not just a life that we endure
or that we pursue in our own strength
within our natural ability
it's not just that we begin to follow this Jesus, this teacher
as opposed to following some other teacher
on a purely human ability and the understanding
there is a supernaturalism in the Christian life
and we are being asked to do things that quite frankly, naturally we can't do
we are being asked to be holy
and to follow Christ
we must be holy, we must be conformed to the image of our Lord Jesus Christ
but who can be holy?
I can't be holy, I love sin, I drink sin down like water
I'm like you, I'm a man in the flesh
we've got feet of clay and the lusts of the flesh
always lusting against the Spirit of God within us
and to mortify the flesh
how can we begin to mortify the flesh?
how can we begin to have that renewed mind?
how can we begin to pray without ceasing?
what natural man can pray without ceasing?
who, without the Spirit of God, can possibly even begin to worship God who is a spirit?
and who is to be worshipped in spirit and in truth?
in other words, to live the Christian life
when Christ says, follow me
he is not asking us to do something in our own ability
he is asking us to do and to be something for which he will give us the strength
and there will be a mighty dynamism
and when he says, follow me, we will find to our amazement that we do follow him
and when he asks us to be his spokesman in the world
we will find to our amazement that we are unable to speak a word in ceasing
and when he asks us to pray and when he asks us to turn the other cheek
we will find with this new power within our hearts
that we will have an inclination and a desire to turn the other cheek
because our nature is renewed
and I want to emphasize that
the Christian life is a walking about after Christ
it is a public thing in which we have much to do in this world to serve the King
but no man ever goes a-waring at his own charges
and God is no man's daughter
and the Apostle Paul, you remember, how he describes this very thing that I'm trying to speak to you about
I'm trying to pack in a lot of things here
because I don't normally preach to my congregation like that
sometimes I do
when I think they need it
the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians chapter 15 verse 10
he reminds us there of how he was the last of the Apostles
and by the way, let me just mention something about 1 Corinthians chapter 15
the Apostle Paul was the last one to see Christ
we're living in a day, you know, when there are those who are saying that they've seen Christ
well, I think that some of them who say those things
they might be sincere, some of them might be insincere
but they're all wrong
no one has seen Christ
Paul tells us, last of all, he appeared unto me
now I know that the Apostle John on the island of Patmos
around the year 95 or 96 A.D. had a vision of Christ
but John had already seen Christ
what I'm saying is that the Apostle Paul was the last one
in the sequence of those who saw Christ after his resurrection
last of all he appeared unto me
and everyone down the ages who had said
I've seen Christ, they have been mistaken
whether sincerely or insincerely we don't know
but they have made a mistake, no one has seen Christ
but the point that I want to come to about the Apostle Paul is saying
he says, I'm an Apostle too because I've seen Christ
and I work harder, I work, I work harder than all the other Apostles
and if you read the Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles
you'll find all that Paul was enabled to do
and indeed what he was enabled to endure for the sake of the Gospel
and yet, immediately he puts in a disclaimer, yet not I
but the grace of God which was with me
in other words, Paul says, it wasn't me
when he went to Corinth and planted churches at Philippi planting churches
in Asia Minor, Paul is saying, it's not me
it's the grace of God that was with me
and yet it was Paul, it was his words, it was his body that was there
it was his desire to go, it was his choice
and yet not me, but the grace of God which is with me
now what I'm saying is when Christ gives a description
of following after him, he speaks of a life
that is lived before men
and it is lived not in our own strength
if you try to live the Christian life in your own strength
let me tell you now, you can't do it
there's no one, this is a spiritual thing
it is union with Christ and it is outside the ability
of the heart of man
and if you and I would follow Christ
we must have Christ within us and being formed within us
well as I say, we walk amongst men
sometimes amongst his friends
sometimes amongst his enemies
but it matters not
if we're amongst the people of God then gladly
we join with them in following after the Lord
but if we're not amongst the people of God but amongst the enemies of God
then we still follow after the Lord
we don't film ourselves or change our message
we don't change our heart you see
those who follow after Christ
they follow him knowing perfectly well what is involved
and that there are going to be hard things to endure
as well as good things to enjoy
we speak for him before men
we are in the scriptures, we are described as those who are the sons of God
those who are saints, good soldiers
all of them are servants
if any man will follow after me
if any man will be my servant he says
let him follow me
and where I am there will my servant be
John chapter 12 you remember verse 26 teaches us that
and so our Lord Jesus Christ gives a description
our life is to be modelled in his life
he is our example
don't be afraid to have Christ as our example
sometimes in the Christian faith
in our rebellion, in our reaction rather
against say for example Roman Catholicism
or some of the sects or some of the liberals
who emphasize the example of Christ
we in the evangelical church
we tend to react against that
and therefore Christ as an example is not in the forefront
but he is our example
be he followers of me as I am of Christ says the apostle
and Peter tells the same thing
Christ has left us an example that we should follow in his footsteps
and that includes suffering, ignominy
and has to do with the cross
remember bearing out our sins in his own body
up to the tree
and so there are many, there are many, many things
that we could say
but the description is of walking about amongst men
publicly, a spectacle to men, to the world
and to angels says Paul 1 Corinthians 4 verse 9
we are a spectacle, men see us
Christ expects men to see us
and he expects them to see our light
let your light so shine before men
that they may see your good works
and glorify your Father which is in heaven
there are many other things we would want to say about that
but I must press on
Don, when will I finish? It's 10 past 11
10 minutes
you're very generous
well we have first of all then this invitation to come
and it's a bona fide invitation
and there's a great encouragement attached to that invitation
you remember in John 6, the sixth chapter
those that come unto me
I will never cast them out
there are many people in this world
and they don't want you to come to them
and if you came to them they would turn your way
if you knocked at their door they would slam the door in your face
and if you phoned them up they would slam down the phone
they don't want to speak to you, you're too insignificant
and they wouldn't welcome us, they don't want us to come near them
but here is one who does want us to come near
and when we come with all our vileness and all our filthiness
he's not appalled by us, he's not surprised
he has come to save sinners
he knows what we're like in our hearts
he knows us better than we know ourselves
he knows how filthy and debauched
and how depraved we are
and indeed how diseased and deformed we are in sin
that's the biblical language for sin
it's a loathsome evil thing and Christ knows that
and yet he wants us to come with our deformities
I find it a most interesting thing in the scriptures
that in the gospel record, you remember how we're told
they came to him with all their diseases
not just choice diseases
I mean there are some diseases which are quite respectable
and they're quite pleasant and our natural finer feelings
they sometimes are quite in sympathy with some diseases
there are other diseases and they're loathsome
and we feel sick at the sight and at the stench of them
filthy and nobody wants to go near
they came to him with all their diseases
and all the cripples
and they had diseases that are unimaginable to us
and they didn't look good and they didn't smell good
and Christ healed them all
and that is a picture of the sheer magnitude of his generosity
those who come to me, I will never cast them out
now you say, why are you saying that?
I say it because in my own past experience
and Don would tell you the same and so would the other ministers here
and other elders and all of us I suppose
we sometimes meet people and they think that they're too bad to come to Christ
they've done this thing or they've done
do you know that that is a lie of the devil?
the devil says to you that you're too bad to come to Christ
where do you find that in scripture?
there is nobody too bad to come to Christ
and don't you stay away from Christ
because you've done such terrible things
he knows what you've done
and those who come to me, I will never cast them out
that invitation and in the description
the third thing I want to emphasize this morning is this
we have here an explanation of this following after Christ
for whosoever will save his life shall lose it
and whosoever will lose his life
for my sake shall find it
does it matter, supposing you say
well that preacher is saying some interesting things
or perhaps you're saying you're saying very uninteresting things
I don't know
but does it make any difference
does it make a difference if you follow Christ or not?
well our Lord Jesus Christ here
says it makes all the difference in the world
and all the difference in eternity
it's a matter of saving or losing your soul
of losing or saving your life
he goes on in verse 26 to speak about the soul
for the man profited if he shall gain the whole world
and lose his own soul
of what shall a man give in exchange for his soul
now this word soul in the Bible
is one of the most difficult words to understand
I don't know what a soul is
I know that I have a soul and I know that I am a soul
and the Bible speaks of the soul in terms of the life of man generally
it speaks of the soul sometimes in terms of the spiritual part of man
it sometimes speaks of the man, a soul
just as he is, life in the body or life in the spirit
man became a living soul
when God breathed into him the breath of life
the point is that whether we regard this as specifically spiritual
or whether we regard it in terms of the totality of our existence
it matters not
I'm not concerned at this point to press the exact meaning of soul
and life because they are interchangeable
the point is this if you would follow Christ you will never perish
and if you do not follow Christ you will perish
if you follow Christ you enter into heaven
if you do not follow Christ you enter into hell and you die according to the scripture
and when our Lord Jesus Christ speaks here of following him
and taking up this cross he says it matters
eternally
for whosoever will save his life
and refuse the death that is implied in the cross
that individual is going to lose his life
and whosoever is willing to die
and will lose his life for my sake he is going to find life
life that is more abundant
life that is greater and better than anything we have ever experienced
or ever imagined
life that is life indeed
that's the way our Lord Jesus Christ explains it
and I want to emphasize something in this regard
it is in the New Testament, it is in the Gospels
it is from the lips of Christ
that we as Christians have been able to understand
most clearly about the doctrine of hell and a lost eternity
you do not find the doctrine of a lost eternity
described with the same clarity
and spoken with the same urgency
in the Old Testament prophets, not even Moses
perhaps the greatest of all the Old Testament prophets, not even Moses
describes hell, a lost eternity as Christ does
none of the apostles do
Paul doesn't even in his epistle he doesn't
it is in the Gospels from the lips of gentle Jesus
meek and mild
that we find the words
speaking of a place that is outer darkness
where the worm never dies and the fire is never quenched
a place that is weeping and wailing and gnashing of peace
that fire he describes in Luke chapter 16
where the rich man was in hell in the flames
we wouldn't know very much about hell if Christ hadn't explained it to us
we would know it was a dark and a gloomy place
and a place to be feared and avoided
but we wouldn't know what it was like
and he has come to speak truth
and he says if you take up your cross and follow me
hell will never be your portion
you will save your life
and if you do not follow me
and if you think that this Gospel is bunk and that Christ is to be twice as you
then you'll die in your sin
and you may gain the world and your eye may
behold all things and you may be master of all that your eye beholds
but you'll die in your sin and what then
what profit
supposing you do have every pleasure
and supposing every carnal desire is fulfilled
and every pleasure is there just for the asking
life comes to an end and what then
he who loses his life for my sake shall find it
and he'll find it now the moment he begins to follow me
he'll find that my yoke is easy and my burden is light
and yes there are hard things as a cross but there's also grace
and there are bitter things but there are also sweet things in the Gospel
I wouldn't be a non-Christian for anything in the world
and if there are non-Christians here this morning
I tell you now I wouldn't be in your shoes
because I know what it's like and every Christian here knows what it's like to be in your shoes
and we wouldn't want to go back to that
because there is something better in following this King
you see what is important to us
there's a question of value
what will a man do in exchange for his soul
how precious is your soul to you
well some of you regard your soul as precious indeed and some of you perhaps don't
but I'll tell you something
God regards your soul as precious
and God knows what you're worth
and God knows what a soul is
and God knows what a soul needs
and God knows what a soul needs to be happy
and what a soul experiences when it's cut off from God
and how unhappy and how in despair and in destruction
the end of all hope
without God and without hope
that's the picture
and that's the explanation as to why we must begin to follow Christ
the Christian faith is a rescue mission
I like that expression John Stott uses it
others do too perhaps
it's a rescue mission
to rescue the sick from their sickness
and the dead from their deadness
and the blind from their blindness
and the wicked from their wickedness
to rescue us
from him who has the power of death the devil in town
it's a rescue follow me
the issues are momentous
and Christ has come to seek and to save that which is lost
and we embrace him by faith
and we begin to follow him
and that's the new life that's the new adventure
walking out on the way
and finding that Christ holds us up
it was when Peter looked away your memory sunk and fell down
and had to be rescued again
that's the picture often of ourselves
serving the king
begins with following after Christ
he invites us to do so
he describes to us what's involved
and he explains to us why it must be so
because we either are saved or we perish
as we follow him or follow him now
now I'll stop at that point
I think I've been long enough John
I thank you for your attention