Must Jesus Bear The Cross Alone?
Robert A. Glass
Must Jesus bear the alone,
And all the world go free?
No, there’s a cross for everyone
And there’s a cross for me.
(Matt 16:24) “Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.”
1. Will come after Me...
2. Deny himself
3. Take up his cross
4. Follow me
A. Jesus said “Come after me” (John 14:6) “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” This is a conscious decision to turn the leadership of our lives over to God. (Jeremiah 10:23) “O LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.
B. “Deny himself” (Matt 6:33) “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” (Heb 12:1) “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,” Paul writes in (Philippians 3:7-8) “But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. (8) Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but loss, that I may win Christ. Deny self, lay aside EVERY WEIGHT, count all for loss and seek God FIRST!
C. “Take up his cross” - (Galatians 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. Of ALL the forms of execution devised by man, NONE were as extreme as crucifixion. A man was stripped, shamelessly flogged and beaten, many men died in scourging, never living to the extreme horrors of crucifixion. Nailed naked, by railroad spikes to a 6” x 6” x 6’ long BEAM! One Nail for each arm and a LONGER, LARGER nail for the feet. Would we be willing to endure that, today. We carry our cross when we let our LIGHT SHINE for CHRIST. (Matt 5:16) Crucifixion was a cruel, shameful and Painful way to die. “To breathe in, you push down on the nail in your feet, to breathe out, you hang on the nails in your hands. Over and over this up/down cycle continued, until our crucified Lord was too weakened from pain, systemic shock, and loss of blood, and He cried out “IT IS FINISHED” (John 19:30) and died.
D. “Follow Me”. There are 18 Passages in the NT where “follow Me” is found. If Jesus asked His disciples and Apostles to follow Him, Should we expect any less? Paul clarified the “follow me” in, (1 Corinthians 14:1) “Follow after charity, and desire spiritual gifts.” (2 Timothy 2:22) “Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart. (1 Peter 1:22) “Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:” (1 Timothy 1:5) Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned:
E. When you “call on The Lord”, you pray, from a pure heart. To FOLLOW THE LORD, we need a PURE HEART. The end of the commandment is Love from a pure Heart. (Vs-5) To bear the cross with Christ you must have a pure heart.
F. PICK UP YOUR SPIRITUAL STETHOSCOPE. Now check your OWN spiritual heart. “Is Thy Heart Right With God?” Well, is it? Are you bearing the cross of Christ? Or are you not even a Christian at all?
If you’ve examined your own heart and there is trouble in your heart, sin in your camp, You can make it right, right now. The Plan of Salvation is simple.
We have to hear the word of God and understand what is being taught. (Romans 10:17), “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” So it’s not just hearing, but it’s hearing the word of God.
We have to believe what we have heard. These are not just words; they are the footsteps of Jesus and the plan of salvation. Jesus said, (John 8:24) “For if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.” Belief in Christ is essential. There is NO other way.
We must repent of our sins. Jesus said in “(Luke 13:3) “I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.” Unless we repent, we perish. That is the consequence of SIN.
We must confess that Jesus is the Christ, The only begotten son of God. Jesus said in (Matt10:32) “Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. (33) But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.
We must be baptized. “(Mark 16:16) He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. The eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? (Galatians 3:27) “For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” (Romans 6:4) "Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. (Eph 4:5) There is One Lord, one faith, one baptism. (Col 2:12) Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. (1 Peter 3:21) “The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:”
Perhaps you’re a member of the Church and you’ve dropped the cross you were carrying? If you will come now, we will pray with you and for you, for forgiveness of your sins. (Jas 5:16) “Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”
There’s No Condemnation in obeying the gospel. There’s forgiveness, but no one will judge you or condemn you.
Come now as we stand and sing.
