Take Up Your Cross and Die to Self

Summary

The preacher opens from Matthew 16:24, where Jesus tells His disciples that anyone who wants to follow Him must deny himself, take up his cross, and come after Him. He explains that the cross of Christ carries many meanings - new birth, peace, hope, and the love God showed us. Because of that cross we are no longer slaves to sin; once orphans, we now have a heavenly Father.

But the cross also stands for death, so the message turns, surprisingly, to our own funeral. Drawing on Ecclesiastes - that it is better to sit in the house of mourning than in the house of feasting - he says each of us carries two natures, flesh and spirit, that war against each other. The old, self-centered nature, which wants to be the center of everything, cannot truly love, forgive, or give itself for others, so it must die.

Pointing to Philippians 2 and Romans 6, he holds up Christ as the pattern: equal with God, yet He emptied Himself, took the form of a servant, and obeyed even to death on a cross. Golgotha was a place of shame, and following Jesus there is never popular - like Moses brought low to a shepherd's life, or the disciples who loved the mountaintop but scattered at the cross, and Peter who denied his Lord. Still, Christ calls each of us to take up the cross and follow Him.

Key Points

• To follow Jesus you must deny yourself, take up your cross, and walk after Him.
• The cross of Christ brings new birth, peace, hope, healing, and freedom from sin.
• We carry two natures - flesh and spirit - and they are constantly at war.
• The old, self-centered nature cannot love, forgive, or serve, so it must be crucified with Christ.
• Christ is our example: He left heaven's glory, became a servant, and obeyed even unto death.
• Dying to self leads through a place of shame, often through being misunderstood and alone.
• Even the closest disciples scattered at the cross, yet Jesus still calls us to follow Him there.