Hi Dears Praise The Lord.......... Crosswalk Reading: Luke 18:18-23If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself,and take up his cross daily and follow Me (Lk 9:23) These words of Jesus set the supreme condition for discipleship. All the four Gospels record them. Actually in Matthew and Luke this saying of Jesus is found twice (Mt 10:38; 16:24; Mk 8:34; Lk 9:23; 14:27; Jn 12:25).Many people come to Jesus; but very few come after Him. Come to Me was Christs message to the unsaved; Come after Me was His message to those who joined Him. Coming to Jesus means enjoying privileges, primarily; but going after Him involves enduring problems, essentially. When we come to Jesus we receive forgiveness of sins; when we go after Him, we must renounce our sinful self.The percentage of backsliders is high these days because the call to come to Jesus is proclaimed repeatedly whereas the challenge to go after him is presented rarely. There are numerous sermons to describe what we can get, but very few to prescribe what we must give up! According to Matthew Henry (1662-1714) the great Bible Commentator, the first lesson in Christs school is self-denial. Theres no other way to live a Christian life than by continual death to self. This was the example shown by Jesus—He denied Himself of the place of unending happiness and became a Man of Sorrows. (Isa 53:3)He denied Himself of the heavenly company and became a Friend of Sinners. (Mt 11:19)He denied Himself of the eternal glory of the godhead and became a rejected stone. (1 Pet 2:7)He denied Himself of being served to continually by the armies of heaven and became a humble slave. (Phil 2:7,8)He denied Himself of being worshipped day and night by angels and became a laughing stock before men. (Mt 27:39)The Holy Son of God was charged as demon-possessed and an agent of Beelzebub. (Jn 7:20; 8:52; Lk 11:15)Saying yes to the cross and no to self is true discipleship. It is more difficult to say yes to the cross than to say no to self. A true disciple is one who does both.I take, O Cross, thy shadow for my abiding place;Content to let the world go by, to know no gain nor loss;My sinful self my only shame, my glory all the Cross!(Elizabeth C. Clephane, 1830-1869) Author, PR:Stanley(from,http//stanleyonbible)
Posted on: Sat, 15 Mar 2014 07:02:28 +0000
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