The Cost of Following Jesus
Download MP3Now it happened that as he was praying alone, the disciples were with him. And he asked them, who do the crowd say that I am? And they answered, John the Baptist, but others say, Elijah, and the others, that one of the prophets of old has risen. Then he said to them, but who do you say that I am? And Peter answered, the Christ of God.
Speaker 1:And he strictly charged and commanded them to tell this to no one, saying, the son of man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and scribes and be killed, and on the 3rd day be raised. And he said to all, if anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed, when he comes in his glory, and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.
Speaker 1:But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God. And as they were going along the road, someone said to him, I will follow you wherever you go. And Jesus said to him, foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the son of man has nowhere to lay his head. To another, he said, follow me. But he said, Lord, let me first go and bury my father.
Speaker 1:And Jesus said to him, leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and
Jeffrey Heine:proclaim the kingdom of God.
Speaker 1:Yet another, But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God. Yet another, I will follow you, Lord. But let me first say farewell to those at my Jesus said to him, no one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God. The word of the Lord.
Joel Brooks:Thanks be to God. Pray with me. Our father, Lord Jesus' spirit. Lord, I sense that there are embers out here. Perhaps there were fires that have grown cold over time.
Joel Brooks:I pray that through your spirit, you would
Jeffrey Heine:blow.
Joel Brooks:Lord, you would breathe back life into us, passion into us. Lord, as Sam was reading your word, I realized that I do not have the credentials, and I do not have the resume to preach the message that I'm about to preach. So, Lord, we're in desperate need for you to communicate these truths. What we're about to look at is so radical, so absurd that apart from your spirit it will go right over our heads. It will hit deaf ears.
Joel Brooks:It will hit dull minds, and we will leave absolutely unchanged. Lord, may the words hit us. I pray that my words would fall to the ground and blow away and not be remembered anymore. But Lord, let your words remain, and may they change us. And I pray this in the strong name of Jesus.
Joel Brooks:Amen. Girls love telling engagement stories. Lauren's version of our engagement is about 30 minutes long. Mine's about a minute. Let me give you a bare bones account.
Joel Brooks:And some of you already know this of how Lauren and I got engaged. It was somewhat of a spur of the moment thing. I had, just got back from Northern Ireland. I mean, we dated for 6 years. It wasn't that spur of the moment.
Joel Brooks:But the actual day when I was doing it was somewhat spur of the moment. I already had the ring, and I just thought, well, I'm going to do it now. Right when I got back after being gone for the summer, and, what I did is I tied the ring in back of the scrapbook I had for Northern Ireland. And I thought this would be fun. We'll look at all the pictures, and then the back had a picture me, a picture of her, then picture of us together.
Joel Brooks:Said we look better together than apart, and, with the ring there. I know all all that. And so I called up Lorne and asked, can I come over there and, just show you some of the pictures, you know, get back haven't seen you in a long time? And she said, yeah. I said, is your family there?
Joel Brooks:Because I wanted to make sure I talked to her dad. And she says, yeah, everybody's here. I was like, your dad's there? I was like, yeah. Good.
Joel Brooks:It'd be good to see him too. And so I drove to her house and her dad was not there, which is a problem because I really wanted to talk to her dad. And, so she sits down, it's like, let's look at the scrapbook. And I said, Well first, here's my journal. Read my journal.
Joel Brooks:I'm buying time. And what I didn't realize was what a terrible mistake this was because in the journal, I talk about a girl. She's 11. I didn't say that. I just said, there's a girl that I've really come to love that I've met on this trip and just, wow, I just, you know, all these things.
Joel Brooks:We've we've formed this bond and all of this. And so Lauren reads this, and she thinks I'm breaking up with her. She is convinced that I have formed some Northern Island relationship. I'm breaking up with her. Plus, I'm so nervous.
Joel Brooks:I'm just really, really nervous, and I keep looking outside the window, and mister Caswell still has not come. She has now started the scrapbook. She is reading through it. Mister Caswell still has not come. She is getting near the end of the pages where the ring is.
Joel Brooks:I need to ask him. Finally, he pulls in. So I run into the carport. He gets out and said, mister Caswell, I need to ask you one quick question. He goes, what?
Joel Brooks:Can I marry your daughter? He goes, well, yeah. You know, I really can't think of any better. That's fine. Thank you.
Joel Brooks:And I went right in. Right as Lauren was getting to that page, and, I had to ask her a couple of times before she said, yes. I think the shock I hope it was just the shock. Let me read to you another engagement story that's somewhat different. A lot different than mine.
Joel Brooks:This is a letter from Adonarom Judson to his future wife's father, asking for her hand in marriage. Sir, I ask whether you can consent to part with your daughter early next spring, To see her no more in this world. Whether you can consent to her departure, and her subjection to the hardships and sufferings of missionary life. Whether you can consent to every kind of want and distress, to degradation, insult, pers persecution, and perhaps a violent death. Can you consent to all of this for the sake of him who left his heavenly home, and died for her and for you?
Joel Brooks:Can you consent to all of this in hope of soon meeting your daughter in the world of glory? I would have loved to see mister Caswell's reaction if I had said, would you please give me Lauren to possibly have a violent death in our marriage? It wouldn't have gone over well. Well, in 18/13, at the age of 24, Adinaram Judson and his wife, Anne, they packed the little that they had and they went to Burma. The journey itself was a 114 days.
Joel Brooks:The place they were going was extremely hostile to the gospel. They had 3 children there. The first child died at birth. Their second child died at 17 months. After their 3rd child, Anne got very sick, a matter of fact, she got so sick she could no longer nurse her child, and so she would take her 3rd born into the streets, asking other mothers if they could nurse her own child.
Joel Brooks:Soon, Anne died. 8 weeks later, the 3rd child died. They knew the risk. They accepted them willingly. Realizing that the call in their lives was greater than any suffering.
Joel Brooks:Adoniram, he he married again. He had several more children. He had another wife. Stayed in Burma for over 30 years. The fruits of he and his family's labor are absolutely extraordinary.
Joel Brooks:Just let me let me read a a couple of things. There are over 37 100 churches now that trace their beginnings back to Adoniram and his family. There are over 2,000,000 people who attend these churches because of their sacrifice. Let me give you another example. In 18/39, John Williams and James Harris, they left for the New Hebrides Islands to share the gospel with a another hostile and unreached people group.
Joel Brooks:And so they landed on November 20th. They died on November 20th, just minutes after landing. 3 years later, more missionaries came and they lasted 7 whole months before they had to flee for their lives. 5 years later after that, more missionaries came, many of them were killed, but they kept coming year after year after year. They kept coming, and the fruit of their labor is now 85% of the 190,000 people on these islands called Jesus their Lord and their savior.
Joel Brooks:You know, many missionaries, they used to actually pack their belongings in a pine box as they headed out into the mission field. Realizing that they are likely packing in the very thing that they might soon be buried in. And they knew the cost. They knew it. They knew the cost, but they knew the cost of staying was so much greater than the cost of going.
Joel Brooks:God had called them and they simply had to follow Jesus to where he had called them. They had to. To not follow Jesus, to not follow Him where He has called you, is the biggest travesty one could ever have in this life. Now, we are looking at perhaps the hardest sayings of Jesus in the Bible tonight. Jesus gets very honest.
Joel Brooks:He shoots very straight. He tells his disciples what following him is going to look like. And I can guarantee you it is not what they had in mind. This is our 3rd week in Luke chapter 9. It's a hinge chapter, in the book of Luke, meaning things really turn here.
Joel Brooks:There's gonna be a different pace, a different direction, after Peter's confession. And you're gonna find this in Mark and in Matthew and in Luke also. Once Peter confesses, he acknowledges that Jesus is the Christ, things change rapidly after that. Jesus's teaching becomes more extreme. People begin leaving him.
Joel Brooks:The height of Jesus's ministry is right before Peter's confession. After that, it's like people are leaving the Titanic. I think verse 53 sums it up very well. When it says, the people did not receive him because his face was set toward Jerusalem. So after Peter's confession, saying this is, I am the Messiah.
Joel Brooks:And he agreed with this. He's like, yes, you are right, Peter. I am the Messiah, but I am a suffering Messiah. And everybody wanted this victorious, liberator to come. And he says, No, I am a suffering Messiah.
Joel Brooks:And people start leaving. And Jesus says, Will you follow me to the cross? Will you follow me to Jerusalem? Now, Jesus, as I've been studying this for a couple weeks, it just, you know, He would have made a terrible contemporary pastor. Terrible.
Joel Brooks:I mean, think how hard pastors really try to get people to come to their church. They do everything they can to try to get people through their doors. And Jesus, gosh, not not here. He's actually really hard to figure out because, you know, just a couple chapters earlier, he he crosses the the lake and he goes to that demoniac person and he heals him and calls a person who was evil and wasn't even looking for him. Here, you're gonna have all these people who want to follow Jesus and he says, uh-uh.
Joel Brooks:No. No. In verse 57, someone comes to Jesus and says, I will follow you wherever you go. Now, I can say as a pastor, I dream of people saying this. Dream of this.
Joel Brooks:People are like, you know, I will follow Jesus wherever. I will do anything. Joel, tell me tell me what to do. How can I get involved? Dude, tell me.
Joel Brooks:I dream of people like this. And Jesus treats this person by saying this. He goes, foxes have holes, birds have nests, but the son of man has nowhere to lay his head. And now you need to understand in this day, theological students lived with their teachers. They lived with their teachers.
Joel Brooks:And so, this person is is asking Jesus if he can live with him. He sees Jesus as a teacher. And Jesus says, well if if you want to do that, understand for 1, I don't have a home. I don't have any of these creature comforts. You're going to be homeless.
Joel Brooks:And so you need to know what you're signing up for. I'm not a teacher, and you're not signing up for a class. Okay? To follow Jesus means much more than gathering together, hearing good teaching, taking great notes, and hoping that it will somehow change your heart. That is not what is meant by following Jesus.
Joel Brooks:Now, Jesus might use that to call you to follow him, but that in itself is not following Jesus. And so if your Christian life can be summed up as one that goes and listens to good teaching, one that takes really good notes, hoping you have your heart changed, realize that that in itself is not following Jesus. Realize this, Jesus is more than a teacher. You are more than a student. And always remember that any time you come to Jesus, what he demands of you is going to be far greater than what you expected.
Joel Brooks:Far greater. But what he gives you is going to be far greater than you ever dreamed. He will both demand more and he will give you more than you bargained for when he came to him. Think of Jesus as a teacher, you're gonna make demands of Him like He's a teacher. But see Jesus as a king, He will both demand of you things that a king can demand, and he will both give you things that the King of Kings can give you.
Joel Brooks:Now, the next person that Jesus encounters, Jesus actually approaches this person. Jesus initiates a conversation this time. And, he tells the man, ask him, follow me. And the man says, well, first allow me to go and bury my father. To which Jesus says, no.
Joel Brooks:You can't go and bury your father. You need to realize just first of all that the man's father is probably not dead here, otherwise he wouldn't be walking with Jesus talking if his father had just died. And what he's saying is, let me go back home and take care of my father until he dies. And we don't even know if his father is sick at this point. And Jesus says, no.
Joel Brooks:No. Your commitment to me is greater than any commitment that you have at home. It is greater than any family commitment. You must follow me. You must leave your family.
Joel Brooks:Another person approached Jesus and said, I will follow you anywhere, but first, let me say goodbye to those at home. And once again, this seems like a reasonable request to say goodbye. But Jesus looking at this person, he sees a potential danger in that request. A potential danger. And so he warns this person.
Joel Brooks:Says, hey, no one who decides to follow me and looks back is worthy of me. Basically, he's alluding to lot's wife. He says, you know, I'm gonna deliver you. I'm gonna call you, but don't look back at your old life. And in all these things, you see this urgency.
Joel Brooks:This cost of following Jesus that has largely been lost. Somewhere it's been lost in the, the multitude of comfortable worship services that we have. This urgency and this calling has been lost. We we treat following Jesus like changing political parties. It's a big decision.
Joel Brooks:A lot of thought goes into it. It's a kind of a change of values. Jesus says, no, it's nothing like that. This is total commitment. And Jesus doesn't say to follow him as total obedience because we're gonna fall.
Joel Brooks:We're gonna fall and he's gonna restore us and we're gonna fall and he's gonna restore us. But it is total commitment to follow Jesus. Now, earlier in chapter 9, he tells his disciples what following him looks like. And to say that they were shocked would be a gross understatement. They were much more than shocked at Jesus's words.
Joel Brooks:It was so radical. It was, it was off their radar. They, they did not have the ability to comprehend the words that were coming out of Jesus's mouth. They miss it. Look at verse 23.
Joel Brooks:And he said to all, so it's to his disciples and to everybody around there, and he said to all, if anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. So to follow Jesus is to pick up a cross. To follow Jesus is a call to die. Now, many of you are probably familiar with Dietrich Bonhoeffer, one of the, greatest theologians that Germany has produced. And during the war, he wrote a book called, The Cost of Discipleship.
Joel Brooks:Actually, that's his English title in in German. It's really to follow after. That's the book title, To Follow After. It's about following Jesus. And Bonhoeffer wrote, when Jesus calls us, he bids us to come and to die.
Joel Brooks:And that's exactly what happened to Bonhoeffer. He was martyred during the war. I realize when looking at the cross, this is it's hard to comprehend because the cross has become so divorced from its meaning. I mean, we we we have crosses on everything, bumper stickers, t shirts, you know, churches, jewelry. We've kind of glamorize this, this cross and so we've lost what it really means.
Joel Brooks:But the disciples, they knew exactly what a cross meant. Jesus knew what a cross meant. You know, when Jesus was 11 years old, historians, they tell us that about 4 miles outside of Nazareth, there was another village, and Nazareth is Jesus's hometown. And this, this little city had a rebellion against Rome. And Rome cracked down hard on them, sent many soldiers there, they arrested 2,000 men and crucified all 2,000 of them, and lined them up on the road.
Joel Brooks:Just 4 miles from where Jesus was when he was age 11. Jesus would have seen that. He would have gotten a very up close account of exactly what crucifixion is, as he saw thousands of people suffering in agony. He knew exactly what awaited him. And so he's not speaking out of ignorance here when he says, if any man wishes to come after me, deny himself, take up his cross.
Joel Brooks:He knew exactly what a cross was. And he says, you're gonna follow me, but the only way you're gonna follow me is if you pick up a cross. And the moment you pick up a cross, there is only one outcome. You know, you carried your own cross through execution, and the moment you pick it up, there's only one outcome and that's a humiliating death. Just let those words sink in.
Joel Brooks:A cross, Following Jesus means carrying a cross. And you need to understand that a cross means much more than death, much more. And you need to understand exactly what it means in order to get a grip on exactly what Jesus is calling you to carry and to do. He is not saying, Hey, disciples, y'all need to be willing to die for me. They'll need to be willing to die.
Joel Brooks:He's not saying that that is not what carrying a cross means. Crucifixion is a certain type of death. It's a shameful death. It's a humiliating death. It is a death where the people mock you.
Joel Brooks:That's what crucifixion is. You have to understand that the disciples, they were not scared to die for Jesus. They weren't scared to die for Him. You find in John chapter 11, Jesus, He, He's going to Bethany where he was hated, where there were enemies who wanted to kill him. He says, I'm going to Bethany.
Joel Brooks:And Thomas stands up and says, let's all go with him that we may die with him. And all the disciples get up and they go with Jesus expecting to die. You see, Peter, when Jesus is arrested, he gets on a sword and he tries to take on everybody. Peter didn't expect to make it through that. You have all these soldiers coming and a little fisherman gonna take them on.
Joel Brooks:No, he expects to die in a blaze of glory. Die fighting for his king. But then Jesus looks at him and says, Peter, put away your sword. And Jesus lets the people arrest him. And when Peter sees Jesus arrested, being led off to be crucified, it blows his mind.
Joel Brooks:That that's what you mean? That's what it's gonna look like to follow you? You want me to go through crucifixion? You want me to be humiliated? You want me to be mocked?
Joel Brooks:You want me to display that the world has won? And that's why when a little girl says, do you know Jesus? He's like, no. Absolutely not. They weren't scared to die from, but they were scared of the cross.
Joel Brooks:First century Palestine was a shame culture, shame and honor culture. Honor means everything. And one could not ask of any greater thing to have in this life than to have their name honored among their people. You need to understand that crucifixion was designed to dishonor one's name. This was designed for.
Joel Brooks:It's different than death by the gallows. It's different than death by the sword. When one was crucified, you were stripped of your clothes. You were nailed up on display in this undignified manner. For days, it was a slow death while people went by and mocked you.
Joel Brooks:All of your possessions gone, given to the state. The very clothes that you had would be auctioned off. Your name will be put over your head to be shamed. So that everybody who goes by, you're not just naming, you're not just dying, your name is dying with you. All your family honor gone at that moment.
Joel Brooks:It was devastating. And this is why Jesus, right after he says, you know, take up your cross,
Jeffrey Heine:He said, whoever is ashamed of
Joel Brooks:me in my words. Of him, the son of man will be ashamed when he comes in glory because the cross is all about shame. It's all about dishonor. It's not just about death. You have to realize that this is totally lost on the disciples.
Joel Brooks:I'm really glad verse 46 is in the bible. Makes me feel good about myself for about a minute. Verse 46 says this, An argument arose among them as to which of them was the greatest. This comes after the second time Jesus just said, Hey, I'm going to be killed. I'm going to Jerusalem.
Joel Brooks:I'm going to be killed. You were to follow me to this. They go, uh-huh. Uh-huh. Hey.
Joel Brooks:You know what? I'm better than you. I'm the greatest. And Jesus doesn't want us here, you know, and Luke doesn't want us here to point fingers at the disciples. He wants us to identify with the disciples.
Joel Brooks:That is how huge in our heart our need for greatness is. And I was reminded of this, actually today I went running right before I came over here to just kind of think through the message. So I'm thinking through the messages. I'm running and I had a horrible run. I went running at the JCC in the nature trail and it was, I was, I'm out in the woods and at 22 minutes I died.
Joel Brooks:I mean, I was like, I've absolutely got to stop. I cannot go another step. And then 2 old women walk out in front of me. And I so, I just kept on going. Just kept on going.
Joel Brooks:I've actually picked up the pace. Went by 2 old women. Why? Because I don't want to be shamed in front of 2 old women that I don't know and will never see again. But that is my need for honor.
Joel Brooks:It's huge, and I'm thinking about this while this goes on. 2 little old ladies aren't gonna mock me. Now, maybe you can understand why Jesus gave those 3 people who wanted to follow him, maybe you can understand now why, why he gave them such a hard time because they needed to know what was going to happen. Now, the first person wanted a classroom and Jesus said, no classroom, but here's a cross. He says, I have, Jesus told this man, essentially, I have no status.
Joel Brooks:I have no credentials. I don't have the things that you want. I don't have wealth. I don't have political influence. I don't even have a home.
Joel Brooks:That's what it means to follow me. You know, Jesus will only give us what will never fade. So we should ask for nothing else. The other 2 women, or 2 men, they couldn't leave their family. It'd be shameful for them to do so.
Joel Brooks:I'm sure that the second man was a really good son, probably had a good father, father who loved him, a father who I'm sure spoke highly of him. And if he leaves his dad, his dad is not going to understand. Just won't understand, won't get it. He's gonna think, I, I don't understand what you're doing. I mean, you had so much potential.
Joel Brooks:I mean, you're such a good son. Don't just throw your life away doing this. Come on. Don't that I mean, you had such promise. Why do it such a foolish thing?
Joel Brooks:Do you hate me now? Did I do something wrong? Are you judging me? Are you judging the way I live? Is that is that why you're gonna leave?
Joel Brooks:The son knows that if he he leaves his father, he's gonna be completely misunderstood. His father will be ashamed of him. Following Jesus means we will be misunderstood. We will be dishonored. We will be thought foolish.
Joel Brooks:It means you'll lose whatever status you had, whatever you wanted to attain. Jesus said that we are to deny ourselves, and take up cross daily. This is a everyday thing of taking up your cross and denying yourself. Now, don't make the mistake of thinking of the cross as just being suffering. It's a it's a that's a real common theology, you know, Even in pagan circles, you hear the phrase, we all have our crosses to bear.
Joel Brooks:You know, and and by that, that that mean, like, you know, you're you maybe you're going through a death in the family or or maybe you've got cancer or something like that, and that's your cross to bear. Do not make the mistake of thinking that the cross Jesus is talking about is just suffering. Now, as Christians, when suffering comes, we embrace it. But Jesus here, when he says, pick up your cross, this is something you pursue, not something that just happens to you. You don't just wait for suffering to come.
Joel Brooks:You don't just wait for these hardships. You do not just wait to be mocked. He says, you pick it up and you follow me. You don't just this is a conscious choice. Something that you will do and you're supposed to do every day.
Joel Brooks:Not just wait for it to happen to you, but for you to pick it up and carry it and follow Jesus. There's also another danger for us Christians, especially in the buckle of the Bible belt when thinking of crosses because we can strip the cross of its shame. I mean, probably in this room here, we value the shame of the cross. We value it. We we value giving to the poor, we value humility, we value sacrifice.
Joel Brooks:If somebody were to get up here and say, Hey, I'm selling everything and I'm, you know, going to Burma, we we'd probably applaud and say, that's great, we value those things. And we should. It's only outside of the Christian community that there is the shame involved, which is where we need to be living our lives, which is where we need to be carrying our crosses. We're to carry our cross, not just in the church, but in the world where it is reviled. We're we're to be the the people that maybe pursue a job with a lower salary, but yet, the ability to have more relationships with hurt people.
Joel Brooks:We need to be that kind of person. We need to be a people who choose to live where the social fabric needs us. Not where there's a place with no need. We need to be a people who pursues emotionally needy people, not just people who are just going to build us up and pump us up and make us feel better. We're to be so generous with our money towards a people who don't deserve it in the world's eyes, That the world thinks we're insane.
Joel Brooks:We are to be friends with those who have no status and no influence. And so the world just scratches their heads. We're to share our faith with our neighbor, who very well might not understand and might say, hey, you're just judging me. We may have to be willing to be misunderstood. We're to bless people who are gonna drag our name through the mud.
Joel Brooks:When somebody uses their power and their position to take something that is ours, we're actually to offer them more. We are to be humiliated and mocked. We are to daily pick up our cross in the world. That's what it means to follow Jesus. Realize once again the demands that Jesus makes of you.
Joel Brooks:I guarantee you, is greater than what you expected when he came to him. But, who he is and what he gives you is gonna far surpass anything you imagined. My hope is that God will give us eyes to see the life that we are forfeiting when we don't follow him. Who or what are you following? Are you trying to save your life, trying to do all the things that make for a good life, trying to save yourself?
Joel Brooks:Are you trying to live a respectable life, A life without cost, a life without sacrifice, a life without the cross. And please don't make the mistake that I'm saying God is calling you to a dutiful, sacrificial, and joyless life, because nothing could be further from the truth. To follow Jesus, to follow him, it means to live a life in his presence. It means you're with him, you're abiding with him, you're always with his presence. And the psalmist tells us that in his presence there is fullness of joy.
Joel Brooks:This is a life of joy that we are pursuing. If you are not experiencing joy in your relationship with the Lord, perhaps it's because you have a crossless life. Perhaps some of you have heard of a woman named Karen Watson. She felt God calling her to follow him, and to pick up her cross, and to do so. And and this led her to go to El Salvador, to Mexico, Macedonia, and Kosovo, and finally in Iraq where she was setting up water purification.
Joel Brooks:On March 15, 2004, in Mosul, she was killed by a drive by shooting. Now, she left a note for her pastor before she left to go to Iraq that he should read in the event of her death. I'm just gonna read you a part of it. Says, Dear pastor, you should only be opening this letter in the event of my death. When God calls, there are no regrets.
Joel Brooks:I tried to share my heart with you as much as possible, my heart for the nations. I wasn't called to a place. I was called to him. To obey was my objective. To suffer was expected.
Joel Brooks:His glory, my reward. His glory, my reward. I was called not to comfort or to success, but to obedience. There is no joy outside of knowing Jesus and serving him. I love you and my church family In his care, Karen.
Joel Brooks:She had no regrets about it. She considered the cost, but she knew the cost was far greater in not going. And she knew of the incredible joy that came with the sacrifice. There's a false teaching going around that says Jesus died on the cross so that you don't have to. It's absolutely false.
Joel Brooks:Jesus died on the cross to make atonement for your sins. He died on the cross to appease the wrath of God. He did not die on a cross so that you would not have to die on a cross. He calls you to the cross. Whether it means poverty, whether it means shame, whether it means danger or even death.
Joel Brooks:Realize that you have been given one very short life. The book of Ecclesiastes calls it a vapor. You're like a vapor that's here 1 minute, gone the next, a very short life. What are you going to do with that life? Are you going to play it safe?
Joel Brooks:Try to live a safe, respectable, yet joyless life? Are you going to lose your life for Jesus that you might find it? I hope, my I pray that we will commit to follow Jesus no matter the cost. Pray with me. Lord, whether we live or whether we die, we are yours.
Joel Brooks:Lord, I pray the same prayer that David Livingston prayed when he was in Africa. God, send me anywhere. Only go with me. Lay any burden on me. Only sustain me, And sever any tie in my heart, except the tie that binds my heart to yours.
Joel Brooks:Lead us in the way of the cross, Jesus. It's the only way you'll be known through the, through our lives in this world. And we pray this in the name of our King, Jesus Christ.
