Matthew 16;24-27
Intro: I recently ran across a quote from Richard Wurmbrand, a preacher who spent many years in prison under Rumanian communists because of his testimony for Jesus. Wurmbrand says he was trying to explain systematic theology to a Russian preacher of the underground church – a man who had never even seen a whole NT. So, he began telling him the teaching about the Godhead, the Fall, salvation, the church, and other subjects of theology. He listened attentively, and then he asked a most surprising question: “Have those who thought out these theological systems and wrote them down in such perfect order ever carried a cross?” He went on. “A man cannot think systematically even when he has a bad toothache. How can a man who is carrying a cross think systematically?” He pointed out that Jesus wasn’t overly systematic as He died on the cross. And he ended by saying, “I have the impression that you were only repeating, without much conviction, what others have taught you.”
I hope, today, as we talk about losing your life, that the impression I leave will be a different one. I’m convinced we need to hear this, and I want us to learn from what Jesus said.
Matthew 16:24-27
Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. 26 What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? 27 For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father's glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done.
So, you wanna follow Jesus? You sure? What if I told you it means you might have to give up some things?
Yeah, deny myself some things. I can handle that.
That’s what the season of Lent, leading up to Easter time, is all about. Some people, in an effort to demonstrate their allegiance to Jesus, deny themselves of something. “What are you giving up for Lent?” someone will ask. I have given up boiled cabbage and beets for Lent.
So, if anyone is of a mind to follow Jesus, he has to be willing to deny himself some things.
That’s OK. I’ve been doing that and having that done for me for my whole life! It started with my parents. They said I couldn’t have some things. They weren’t made of money, there were starving children in India, and just because the neighbor kids had it didn’t mean I had to. So, I found that I could be denied of things. I have also learned that my income limits my ability to have things. Although there are plenty of banks who would love to offer me credit, at some point, they’re going to say that’s the limit and deny me of things. Then there’s the government. They say I can’t have certain things too. But it’s not just what’s imposed on me. It’s also what I choose to deny myself – I didn’t take a 3rd dessert at lunch yesterday. I didn’t feel like getting up yesterday morning, but I denied myself more time in bed. Through the years I have denied myself a lot of things. I’m a parent, after all. Hey, I can deny myself things.
Wait, that’s not what it says, is it? Go back to the text. What did Jesus say?
"If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”
Deny myself. Remember how Peter denied Jesus? “Aren’t you one of His?” “No, I don’t even know the man!”
Deny myself. It doesn’t mean I’ll just do without. It means I don’t even recognize me.
Deny myself means I say no to me – to my hopes and plans and ambitions, my likes and dislikes, to everything I hold dear, all for the sake of following after Jesus.
To show just how complete discipleship is, Jesus adds that you have to take up your cross and follow Him. Luke includes the word “daily” at this point.
Capital punishment isn’t practiced as openly today as it was 1-200 years ago. It’s also not nearly as swift. Typically, a person may spend years on death row before they’re executed. And right up until the last minute, there’s always the possibility of a delay or pardon of some kind. I’ve read that in 1st century Rome, for the person who was condemned to die on a cross, there was a similar potential for a pardon, until they took up their cross. That was the point of no return. The guilty person would have the cross-piece – the patibulum – laid across his shoulders, and from there he had no worldly hope whatsoever. Then he would begin the long walk to the place where he would be hung on that cross until he died.
The people Jesus spoke to that day had probably watched this more than once. They knew what Jesus meant when He said you have to deny yourself and take up your cross and follow Him. I imagine that watching someone carrying his cross up a hill and then dying on it would help us to appreciate just serious this is. This is what Jesus was looking forward to in just weeks.
Peter needed to understand; the rest of the disciples needed to understand; you and I need to understand: if we desire to follow Jesus, without any exceptions, we have to be ready to follow His example of sacrifice to the place of greatest self-sacrifice, the greatest abandoning of all that is treasured and dear, letting go of not just what we hold dear in life, but life itself, just like He did.
Jesus was saying, “If you’re not ready to go where I’m going, you’re no ready to follow Me.”
This isn’t the first time Jesus said something hard. There was an occasion in John 6 when His words reduced His congregation to just the 12 disciples. But His goal isn’t to send you packing. His goal is to have us understand how much He wants us to be fully committed disciples. So, to help us do this thing, to help us put it into action, He gives us 3 helps in the next 3 verses. They provide our outline today…
I. Lose the Right Thing
Matthew 16:25
For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.
Do you notice something about this verse? No matter who you are, no matter what choice you make, you’re going to lose something. You can either attempt to save your life, and you will lose it, or you can lose your life for Jesus and find real life.
To this point in human history, as far as I know, every man-made attempt to save this body forever hasn’t worked. People have their heads frozen in cryogenic laboratories in the hopes that one day they’ll find a way to revive them and bring them back into a world where people don’t die. I’m sorry it’s that way. My life has been touched by the loss of some people who are very dear to me. They died. I’m separate from them. But there was nothing anyone could do that would insure those dear ones would never die.
James asks
James 4:14 (NIV)
…What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.
Jesus asked in the sermon on the mount: Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Answer: none of us.
So, what we’re talking about here isn’t if you’re going to lose your life, but when, and how, and for Whom? Paul said in II Co 5:14 that, since Jesus died for all, all died.
I titled this message “Your So-Called Life.” That’s because, every time I refer to it as “your life,” that’s a wrong assumption. It’s not your life. Your life already isn’t your own. The Scriptures say that you are not your own. You have been bought with a price. That’s helpful to know.
Galatians 2:20 (NIV)
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Ill - William Borden chose not to care about the wealth of his family he would have inherited. His heart was set to do whatever the Lord wanted him to do. Many of his friends thought he was a fool when he left to become a missionary in Asia. He made it overseas, but it wasn’t long before he contracted a serious illness and died. In the back of his Bible he had written a short phrase about his convictions: It read, "No reserve, no retreat, no regrets." Wasted life? Borden didn’t think so.
Ill - When we plant seeds in the ground, we don’t mope around and grieve over the way those seeds are gone, do we? Think about it – you’ll never see them again. They’re destined to decompose in the ground and never be seen again – at least not as a seed. I suppose you could take a bunch of those seeds and grind them into flour to make bread, or make them into ham and beans or popcorn. But you’d still be losing them, wouldn’t you? So, what’s the best way to lose something like that?
Jesus looked ahead to Jerusalem and the fact that He was going to be tortured to death there and He said,
John 12:23-26 (NIV)
Jesus replied, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. 25 The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.
When it comes to our very lives, what the world calls “loss,” Jesus calls fulfilling our purpose.
II. Be a Good Judge of Value
v26 What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?
Jesus invites His listeners to envision 2 places here. The 1st is an execution: take up your cross. The 2nd is a little easier on the stomach – a marketplace. Notice the language – gain, forfeit, give, exchange. These are all words of commerce.
This time, to help us with the challenges of dying to ourselves, Jesus wants us to consider what is truly valuable in life – and understand we’re not just speaking about this life here now, but about our eternal lives.
When you go into Wal Mart, you’re thinking about what matters to you - what do you value? If something is worth more to you than the money in your pocket, you might trade what you have for what you want instead. When it comes to your life, your eternal life in particular, Jesus wants you to be a good judge of what is a good value.
When was the last time you thanked God for your life? We need to be in the habit of appreciating what precious gift our life and very existence is. God didn’t need to create us, but He did. He took a blop of mud and shaped it into a human body, and blew life into it. And man became a living soul. We’re unique from all creation. God made man in His image and He gave him His very breath. That’s what makes human life precious above the rest of creation. God made it so. You didn’t start that life. You didn’t start your own life. For that reason alone, we ought to regularly thank God for the life each of us has. It’s a precious gift.
What is your life worth to you? Would it be worth it to gain the world and give up your soul?
Ill - Malcolm Forbes is the man remembered for coining the phrase “he who dies with the most toys wins.” That was the wisdom of Malcolm Forbes. In fact, that was his ambition. That’s why he collected scores of motorcycles. That’s why he would pay over a million dollars for a Faberge egg. That’s why he owned castles, hot air balloons and countless other toys that he can no longer play with. He had taken a tour through Egypt in 1984. After viewing the tomb of King Tut, Forbes seemed to be in a reflective mood. He turned to one of his associates and asked with all sincerity, “Do you think I’ll be remembered after I die?” Why is it that history records the lives of so many who were very savvy with money but were poor judges of what’s really valuable?
God wants us to remember that the human soul is of immeasurable value. That’s why He says through Peter…
1 Peter 1:18-19 (NASB)
knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, 19 but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.
What can a man give in exchange for his soul? Judas Iscariot thought it was worth 30 pieces of silver.
Some years back there was a movie called “Indecent Proposal.” I didn’t see it, but I understand the story consisted of a man who offered a woman $1 mil. to have sexual relations with him. That was the indecent proposal. As a follow-up to that movie, an interviewer was conducting some on-the-street interviews to get peoples’ opinion of the idea of such a proposal. He stopped and asked one young lady if he were to offer her $1 mil would she agree to the same proposal. Without much thought she said, “Yeah, for $1 mil, why not? Sure.” Then he asked if her answer would be the same if it was for $¾ a mil. She thought a little longer and said yeah, she’d still do that. Then he said, “Well how about for $20?” She got indignant, “Well, no! What kind of a girl do you think I am?” she said. He said, “Well, we’ve already established that. Now we just have to settle on a price.”
The point is that no amount of money is worth selling your soul, is it? Still, day after day, people affix their price. Jesus tells us to consider that there is no price to account for your life – not that man can pay. Nothing you have is of greater value to you. Nothing you can hold in your hand, nothing for which you can write a check, nothing that can be marketed, exchanged, or tagged is worth the value of your life of which God has made you steward. If we truly realize it and believe it, then we’ll protect that life in every way we can. That means we’ll lose it in Jesus Christ, so that it can be ours forever.
Not only would it help us to remember the value of our life, it’s also helpful to remember that it’s not our own in the first place.
*Ill - Seriously, the economy has sent a lot of us reeling. I mean, it would be nice if every time I got up to speak someone in the crowd would just pop up and give me $20 just because.
(At this point, by pre-arrangement, someone jumps up and says, “Here!” and gives me a $20 bill. I thank him/her. Then, I ask, “Why was it so easy for you to just jump up and give me $20 like that?” The correct answer is, “Because you gave it to me just a while ago.”)
You see, when we understand that we’re going to lose our life no matter what, and even before that our life isn’t our own anyway, it becomes a whole lot easier to hand it back to God, doesn’t it?
Here’s the 3rd help.
III. Keep Track of Time
v.27 For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father's glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done.
Take up your cross. Follow Him. Daily. Why? Why follow Jesus to Jerusalem and His death? Because there is a stark contrast between the earthly life of the suffering servant Jesus and the future state of the triumphant Jesus Who will come in glory to judge the earth. And if we follow Jesus in His death, we can anticipate we’ll be participants in His future glory.
I’m talking about Heaven. I love to talk about Heaven, because it’s a real place, where I’m really going to one day live forever, and I want as many people as possible along with me. Heaven is a reality of the future that helps us deal with the harsh realities of the present world. Paul put it this way,
Romans 8:18 (NASB)
…I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.
I understand that Jesus wants us daily to weigh the value of following Him, and, as we do, to bear in mind that this time we have here is limited, temporary, and hardly a dot on the great line that is our eternity.
Colossians 3:1-4 (NIV)
Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
Take your view of Heaven, tainted by cartoons and stories and pathetic misconceptions, and get back into God’s word. Learn again or for the first time that it’s a real place – the place where God dwells. Be reminded that it’s a place being prepared. Read again about its capital, the New Jerusalem from God. Ponder the place where there will be no night and where there will be nations and wealth, precious minerals and metals, food and water, and the Lord’s people together with Him forever.
Jesus, for the joy that was set before Him, endured the cross. He wants you to share that joy with Him, and He wants you to keep that joy in front of your eyes too.
Conclusion:
He was a rough, dirty sailor with a foul mouth and an appetite for rotten living. He hated life and life hated him. He was captain of a slaveship. Someone placed in his hands a copy of Thomas À Kempis' book The Imitation of Christ.
His life changed. He abandoned the slave trade – even supported its end in England. He became a well-known preacher and hymn writer.
In his later years, he was asked his opinion on some subject and he said, "When I was young I was sure of many things; there are only two things of which I am sure now: one is, that I am a miserable sinner; and the other, that Jesus Christ is an all-sufficient Savior." His name was John Newton, and he is the one who wrote the words “Amazing grace! How sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now am found.”
In the church of London of which he was the preacher, there is still an epitaph which John Newton wrote for himself. It reads: "Sacred to the memory of John Newton, once a libertine and blasphemer and slave of slaves in Africa, but renewed, purified, pardoned, and appointed to preach that Gospel which he had labored to destroy!"
John Newton became “found” when he finally let go of his life and gave it over to Jesus Christ. That’s because he finally denied himself, and took up his cross, and followed Him. That’s what Jesus is calling you to do today.
Rather than write that off and say, “that’s just another difficult saying of Jesus” this morning, let me ask you, is your life apart from Jesus really that easy? Aren’t you tired? Aren’t you ready to have your life hidden in Him?
