THE COST OF FOLLOWING JESUS CHRIST

LIVE FOR YOU, DIE FOR YOU

Bible Reading : Luk 9:22-26 Saying,The Son of man must suffer many things,

and be rejected of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be slain, and be raised the third day.

And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.

For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it.

For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away?

For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father's, and of the holy angels.

Introduction

IF YOU WILL COME AFTER ME

ei tis thelei - If any man be willing to come.

To have a sincere desire to belong to Christ

If any of the people that are not my disciples, be, with conviction, minded to come to me, and if you that are, be in like manner minded to adhere to me, it is upon these terms, these and no other; you must follow me in sufferings as well as in other things, and therefore when you sit down to count the cost, reckon upon it.”

1. DENY YOURSELF

Php. 2:5-9 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:

We must deny ourselves absolutely, we must not admire our own shadow, nor gratify our own humour; we must not lean to our own understanding, nor seek our own things, nor be our own end.

To renounce self-dependence, and selfish pursuits

We must deny ourselves comparatively; we must deny ourselves for Christ, and his will and glory, and the service of his interest in the world; we must deny ourselves for our brethren, and for their good; and we must deny ourselves for ourselves, deny the appetites of the body for the benefit of the soul.

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2. TAKE UP YOUR CROSS DAILY

Mat 10:38 And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.

Mat 11:28-30 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

To do our duty every day even at the cost of the most painful

death We must live a life of

self-denial, mortification, and despise of the world; we must not indulge our ease and appetite, for then it will be hard to bear toil, and weariness, and want, for Christ. We are daily subject to affliction, and we must accommodate ourselves to it, and acquiesce in the will of God in it, and must learn to endure hardship.

Cheerfully receive, and patiently bear, every affliction and evil, however shameful and painful it may be, which is appointed for him, and he is called unto; which is his peculiar cross, as every Christian has his own; to which he should quietly submit, and carry, with an entire resignation to the will of God, in imitation of his Lord:

3. FOLLOW ME

Gal 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

Gal 5:24 And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.

Rom 8:13 For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.

Col 3:5 Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:

To imitate Jesus, and do and suffer all in his spirit

Suffering saints must look unto Jesus, and take from him both direction and encouragement in suffering. Do we bear the cross? We therein follow Christ, who bears it before us, bears it for us, and so bears it from us. He bore the heavy end of the cross, the end that had the curse upon it, that was a heavy end, and so made the other light and easy for us.

Or, we may take it in general, we must follow Christ in all instances of holiness and obedience. Note, The disciples of Christ must study to imitate their Master, and conform themselves in every thing to his example, and continue in well-doing, whatever crosses lie in their way. To do well and to suffer ill, is to follow Christ.

THE BLESSINGS WE MISS

THE BLESSINGS WE MISS

THE BLESSINGS WE MISS

THE BLESSINGS WE MISS

THE BLESSINGS WE MISS

THE BLESSINGS WE MISS

THE BLESSINGS WE MISS

DAILY EARLY PRAYER

Lord, reign in me today. Live your life in me. I reject to be loved, to be respected, to be

appreciated, to be accepted, to be prized, to be acknowledged, to be valued…

I give up my happiness, my comfort, my success in life, my wishes, my dreams, my goals, my expectations…

Take control of my thoughts, my feelings, my will, my behavior, my attitude, my habits, my actions…

I give it to you my strength, my time, my money, my talents…

I put at your feet my weaknesses, my failures, my frustrations, my worries, my fears, my struggle, limitations…

I give to you my pain, my sadness, my loneliness, my anguish, my insecurity, my desperation, my deficiency, my suffering…