Take Up A Cross—Only If You Are NUTS
3/17/2002 Jeremiah 15:18-21 Matthew 16:21-28
Earlier this year, we went to the Beyond All Limits Conference for pastors in Florida, and heard a message by Leanord Sweet entitled NUTS Passion. NUTS Passion meant Never Underestimating The Spirit Passion. His message touched our lives, and we brought it back to the church. We then launched our theme of being NUTS for Christ in 2002.
We will be doing a NUTS message, each month. With Easter coming at the end of this month, our NUTS MESSAGE for this month deals with the cross. It’s not possible to have a resurrection on Sunday morning, without suffering on the cross on Good Friday.
Jesus made a bold declaration to anyone who wants to be his disciple. He said, “if any want to come after me, they must deny themselves and take up their crosses and follow me.” What kind of crosses did Jesus have in mind.
The story has been told of a man who constantly complained about the size of the cross he had been called to bear. He was convinced he had it more difficult in life than anybody. Nobody had gone through the things in life that he had experienced. If only he could talk to God face to face about this situation. His complaining was so extensive it began to get on heaven’s nerves.
Finally an angel came down and took the man to heaven where crosses were assigned. He told the man, “Look, all you do is complain about the size of your cross. I’m going to take you into the room of crosses and you choose which one you want to bear.” The man finally got a smile on his face. When he went into the room, he saw crosses of all sizes. Some seemed as tall as four and five story buildings.
As he went through the room, he finally noticed two crosses, one was about three feet high and the other was four feet. He yelled out, “that’s the cross that I want1”, as he pointed to the small cross that was about four feet tall.” He didn’t want to seem too immature by getting the smallest one.”
The angel said, “what, are you sure that’s the cross you want.” The man replied, “look, you don’t know what I’ve been through. I’m not carrying any of these large crosses.” The angel said, “well the only reason I asked the question of whether you were you sure that particular cross is the one you wanted, is because that’s the cross you had before you got here.”
For years, many people have misunderstood what it is to take up their cross. It does not mean pinning a piece of jewelry on our clothes, our necklace or our ears. Our cross is not the boss on our job who gives us a hard time, a child that’s involved with drugs, a prison sentence that we are living out, an incurable disease that we have, or a problem in our lives that we would like to get rid of. Many times you will here people say of something that’s come into their lives, “well I guess this is just my cross to bear.”
When we hear the word cross, we usually think of something that’s decorative or somewhat attractive in its design. It’s often pleasing to look at because that’s how crosses today are made. In the first century, when people heard the word cross, they immediately thought of pain, suffering, and death.
The cross was an instrument of death. After a criminal was found guilty by the Roman Government, the person would be forced to carry his own cross to the place of crucifixion. Carrying the cross was a public admission that you were wrong and Rome was right, and now you’re in submission to the government. People knew what it was like to leave a city and see people hanging on a cross in great suffering eagerly waiting for death to come.
You recall in our last NUTS Passion Sermon, we stated that you cannot be normal if you want to follow Christ. To bring Jesus’ words into today’s language, Jesus would be saying, “If any wants to come after me, let them deny themselves and sit down in their own private electric chairs to be zapped as needed and follow me.” Most of us would say, “you’d have to be NUTS to voluntarily sit in electric chair, with the electricity turned on. Suppose I get shocked.” Well are we going to sit where God tells us to sit, or make up our rules as we go along.
One of the great misunderstandings we have, is that if we do what God wants us to do, everything will work out in life just as we want it to. There was no doubt in the prophet Jeremiah’s life that God had called him and gave him a message to give to the people. Jeremiah had it figured out, when I do the right thing by obeying God, the people will do the right thing and obey God.
Nothing was further from the truth. Some men got together and planned an assassination attempt on Jeremiah’s life. Jeremiah said, “Lord you tricked me. I did what you said, and now these people are trying to kill me.” Do you see why we have to be NUTS to follow God. There is no way for us to understand all God is doing. We can make our situation worse by being obedient to God. We simply do it, and never underestimate the Spirit’s ability to work in a given situation.
There is a difference between going to Kindergarten and entering the 12th grade. Now education is the goal of them both. What would happen if someone enjoyed Kindergarten so much, the person refused to leave at the end of the year, and came back year after year.
Now you’d say that’s a nut of a different kind. We know that growth is necessary in the physical world. The same is true in the spiritual world. Our prayer for this year is to grow deeper in Christ in 2002 and to move beyond the grade we’re in to the next level.
Now there is a difference between salvation and discipleship. Salvation is open to all those who will come by faith, but discipleship is for believers willing to pay a price. There are too many Christians who are content with being in Kindergarten year after year. They are not willing to change their lives in order to grow in Christ.
They are stuck on convenience and comfort, and honestly believe following Jesus is all about them. “What are my wants, and my needs is their predominant way of thinking” Once they start to mature, they will discover following Jesus, is really all about Jesus and His claim upon our lives.
Jesus asked the disciples one day, “who do people say that I am?” The disciples said, “some think you’re John The Baptist risen from the dead, some think you’re Jeremiah the prophet, Some think you are Elijah, others think you’re one of the prophets.” Jesus then asked, “But what about you, who do you say I am.” Peter told him, “You are the Christ, The Son Of The Living God.”
Jesus told Peter, “Peter you got it right, but only because the Father has revealed it to you.” Now that they really knew who he was, Jesus attempted to take them to the next level of the cross. Jesus started telling the disciples, “I’m on my way to Jerusalem. When I get there, I will be beaten and I will be killed, and on the third day raised to life.”
Peter took Jesus aside and began to give a lecture on why this would never happen to Jesus. “Jesus don’t talk like that. You’re the Son Of The Living God. It would be a great injustice. You don’t have to put up with that. We don’t have to go to Jerusalem. There are plenty of other places we can go to and continue to have a wonderful time in this life. You deserve a lot more than this. You would have to be nuts to go to Jerusalem and surrender to those hypocritical religious leaders. Look at all these people who are willing to stand with you.”
Whenever we are faced with obeying God in sticky situations and God is attempting to move us to the next level, Satan will come to us with excellent reasons for why we do not have to be obedient and should not put forth the effort to move higher. He tells us we deserve the best in life. He tells us, God expects us to have a good time and to be happy. He tells us, we have a right to not have to put ups with such and such. He tells us there will be plenty of time in the future to do the right things. He tells us, it is possible to have a crown without having any suffering.”
Jesus made the statement once, “I have not come to do my will, but to do the will of the Father who sent me.” The whole purpose in Jesus coming to earth was to go and be nailed and murdered on a cross. You see each time we do something wrong and disobey God, the holiness of God demands that we be pushed further away from his presence. The further we are from God, the closer we are to hell which is the punishment for disobeying a righteous and holy God.
The only way to pay for sin, is by death and the shedding of blood. In the Old Testament, they sacrificed animals to cover their sin. The animals blood covered their sin to keep God from destroying the nation, but it never removed their sin. Finally it got to the point, that because of the tremendous increase in sin, not even the animal’s blood could cover it. Yet God loved us so much, God would not simply wipe us out and give us the fate we deserved.
Instead God sent His Son Jesus Christ, to shed his blood, for only the pure and sinless blood of God could remove our sins. Jesus knew that going to the cross was going to be more painful than anything he could imagine because it would mean separation from God while all the penalty for all sin from every person who had lived and ever would live would be demanded of him. His blood and his blood alone was the answer for the world.
On the night before he was crucified, Jesus was in such agony, he prayed, “Father if there is another way this can be done, then please do it, but not my will, your will be done.” As Jesus prayed, the sweat dropping from his head was filled with his own blood.” More blood flowed from the beating with the whip and the crown of thorns on his head. At first his blood was spilled in drops from the nails. But then as Jesus hung on the cross, a soldier jabbed a sword into his side and out flowed the blood that makes eternal life possible.
What got Jesus through the cross, was not thinking about what he was going through, but what was going to happen on the other side of the cross experience. It tells us in Hebrews 12:2” Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
Jesus saw where he wanted to end up. That’s why he voluntarily chose to pick up His cross and go to calvary. His goal was not to hang on the cross on Good Friday. His goal was to be seated at the right hand of throne of God. People had told him, you’re nuts to stay on that cross. Get down and save yourself. Jesus was probably thinking, yes I’m NUTS and I’m determined to BE NUTS. Sure I can call 80,000 angels at my side, but I’d rather please my Father and never underestimate the Spirit’ power in what’s going on here.
Now let’s look at our text again, Matthew 16:24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If any would come after me, they must deny themelves and take up their crosses and follow me. The first thing we should notice is that Jesus said if any would come after me. Coming to Christ is a voluntary act of our will. Nobody can make us come to Jesus. Nobody can keep us away from coming to Jesus.
Sure our parents or our spouse can make us come to church, but that’s not making us coming to Jesus. We never come to Jesus as a group. When we stand before God, nobody is going to be standing with us. It will be a one to one session. This is the only in Christianity when it will be all about you.
God has chosen us to be His children, but we have to decide whether or not we will have him as our parent. We are not born God’s children, but rather we are adopted into the family of God.
Ephes. 1:4-7 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5he predestined us to be adopted as his sonsand daughters through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will-- 6to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. 7In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace .” The blood which Jesus shed on the cross will not do us a bit of good, if we do not choose to follow him. It’s like having a million dollars in the bank, but choosing to never write a check on it because we would rather get our money somewhere else.
The second thing Jesus said, is that we must deny ourselves and take up our crosses. Here goes the part of being NUTS. Jesus is saying, “if you want to be my follower, you cannot have everything you want to have, and you cannot do everything you want to do no matter how happy or good you think it might make you feel.” Are you still interested? There is nothing easy about being a Christian if you’re serious about it. Most people are not strong enough to do it. Anybody can be a church goer, but not everybody is going to be willing to pay the price to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.
To deny yourself does not simply mean I don’t do these things anymore. It also means, making yourself available to do what God is calling you to do. It’s not possible for us to go from denying ourselves, to following Jesus. There is that stage of picking up our cross first. To pick up the cross is just as voluntary as denying yourself.
Denying yourself does not always include pain. When you deny yourself drugs, your body benefits? When you deny yourself, the temptation to steal, you stay out of jail. When you deny yourself sex, you avoid pregnancy, Aids, child support payments, a life of poverty and a whole lot of other things. You don’t have to be among the NUTS to see the benefit in denying yourself. This is the kindergarten, first grade level of Christianity
But this idea of taking up a cross, and voluntarily suffering pain today for a long term gain requires people who are willing to be NUTS. The cross is moving on to higher level. The cross is always going to involve some pain in our lives. It will always involve some element of hurt. It’s not going to be something that we look forward to, or jump with joy at the prospect of going through.
When we pray, “Lord, use me to win one person to you this year for Christ, and Lord I want to go deeper in 2002.” Do we realize we’re saying, “Yes Lord, I’m willing to go to the cross.” The only way for Jesus Christ to bring salvation to the world was through his suffering on the cross.
There are going to be hardships we are going to have to endure in order for God to bring salvation to those around us. A lot of it is going to have to do with the attitudes we display when trials come into our lives. Especially those that are unfair. Nothing could have been more unfair, than for Jesus to have picked up his cross and died for you or for me.. To take up our cross means eliminating the belief that our lives are some how going to be fair.
It’s a given your teacher is not fair, your boss is not fair, your spouse is not fair, your children are not fair, your parents are not fair, your friends are not fair. Tell your neighbor, “if somebody is treating you unfairly, you’re in a position to go NUTS, and take up your cross.
Look at the word of God says in 1 Peter 2:19-20 . For it is commendable if a person bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because he is conscious of God. But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God.” To take up our cross is always a voluntary positive act on our behalf. This is exactly what Jesus did on the cross.
It’s important to realize that Jesus never told the disciples anything about the suffering he was going to go through and the cross they were expected to carry, until they were convinced that Jesus was the Son Of the Living God. It is only after we have settled our relationship with Jesus Christ, that He begins to introduce the cross into our lives.
We cannot move beyond Kindergarten faith, without a cross in our lives. It is sheer nonsense to ask to grow deeper in God or to be used by God without expecting there to be some sufferings and inconveniences in our lives. The same God who willed a cross in the life of Jesus, wills a cross for anyone who would come follow after Jesus.
Whether or not we are willing to take up our cross depends a lot on what we believe about what’s on the other side of death. If we believe, the really good things in life and the fun things in life are what we presently see around us, that’s what we will spend our lives chasing.
If we believe, that what really matters in life is how and where we spend eternity, we will take up our cross as often as required not only for our sake, but for the good of those we love. You see, Jesus picked up his cross, not to be able to say “look what I did, am I not a nice person.” He picked up his cross, knowing that nothing he could have gain by bypassing the cross, was worth the reward of having been to the cross.
Picking up our cross is not a one time event. We are called to do it everyday. The next time you want to do something that God says not to do. Pick up your cross. The next time you don’t feel like doing, what it is clear God wants you to do, pick up your cross. Who is truly going to be able to do this daily? Only those who have made up their minds to be NUTS. Following Jesus is a costly thing. It does cost us our lives. But we never know the tremendous good God is going to bring into our lives, by us taking up our cross so that we can follow Jesus.
People are giving their lives for so many things that ultimately do not really matter. Why not choose to give your one life to something that will count for all eternity. Make it worth it.
Jesus even throws in a bonus promise. Like us the disciples were thinking, well Lord if I take up my cross, it might seem like I’m having to leave everything just to follow you. Peter even said, “Lord we have left everything to follow you.”
But Jesus’ bonus verse in Mark 10:29-30 "I tell you the truth," Jesus replied, "no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields--and with them, persecutions) and in the age to come, eternal life.
You can make the decision to hold on to what you have, but realize in the end you will lose it all. Or you can to be among the NUTS and take up your cross for a whole new level of living.
3. Picking Up The Cross Not A One Time Event
4. I Don’t Want To---I Don’t Feel Like It
5. Only The NUTS Are Willing
6. People Giving Up Their One Life Needlessly
7. Why Not Make It Count
8. Jesus Throws In A Bonus
Mark 10:29-30 "I tell you the truth," Jesus replied, "no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel 30will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields--and with them, persecutions) and in the age to come, eternal life.
9. What’s Going To Be Your Final Answer
If you take a cross today, you are to give it the card to someone who is not a Christian or someone who is not involved in the life of a church. You are inviting them to come to church on Easter Sunday morning. You are committing to pray for that person each day between now and Easter. Please do not come forward to take a cross simply to appear religious or because of peer pressure. Come and take a cross and a card only if you are committed to trying to win someone to Christ. You are to keep the cross for yourself as a daily reminder, and give the card to the person.
The card is a picture with 3 crosses on it. It says, “When Christ was on the Cross, You were on His mind.” In smaller print it says, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us Romans 5:8.
Sermon Outline Take Up A Cross-Only If You’re Nuts
3/17/2002 Jeremiah 15:18-21 Matthew 16:21-28
A: Beyond All Limits Conference & Leonard Sweet
1. Nuts And The Cross For Easter
If Any Want To Come After Me, They Must Deny Themselves And Take Up Their Crosses & Follow Me.
2. The Man With Too Big Of A Cross
3. The Angel Brings Relief
B. What Is The Meaning Of The Cross
1. Jewelry & Decorations
2. Boss, Child, Prison, Disease, Sickness
3. “It’s Just My Cross To Bear”
4. Today—Pleasing Yesterday—Death
5. Roman Government & The Cross
C. Can’t Me Normal And Follow Jesus Christ
1. Call From Jesus To Come To Electric Chair
2. Who Determines Our Seat
3. Prophet Jerimiah—Deceived Or Not By God
4. We Can Do Right, But Wait
D. Preparing To Go To A Higher Level
1. Kindergarten—High School—No Repeat
2. Physical & Spiritual Analogy
3. Salvation Vs Discipleship
4. It’s Not All About Me After All
E. Who Really Is Jesus
1. Jeremiah, John The Baptist, Elijah. Etc.
2. Son Of The Living God
3. Next Level Of The Cross
4. The Cross Is Not For Jesus Because…..
5. Satan Wants You To Stay Put—God Next Level
6. No Crown Without Suffering
7. Jesus—I Did Not Come To Do My Will
F. Is The Blood Really That Important
1. Sin Pushes Away From God’s Holiness To Hell
2. Purpose Of Animal Sacrifice In Old Testament
3. Covering Sin Vs Removing Sin
4. God’s Great Love For Us
5. Christ Coming With The Pure Blood Of God
6. Through Suffering Came Salvation
G. The Agony Of Jesus’ Cross
1. Father If It Be Possible Then Let
2. Sweat & Blood In The Garden
3. The Whip, The Thorns, The Nails
4. The Soldiers Spear
5. Getting Through The Cross
Hebrews 12:2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
6. Looking At The End To Get Through
7. Goal Was Not Good Friday—But Seat Above
8. Nuts To Stay On Cross—NUTS To Come Down
H. If Any Want To Come After Me, They Must Deny Themselves And Take Up Their Crosses & Follow Me.
1. Coming To Christ Is Voluntary
2. None Can Compel—None Can Forbid
3. Coming To Church Not The Same
4. One To One Encounter With God
5. It Will All Be About Me Me
6. God Chose Us—Will We Choose Him
Ephes. 1:4-7 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5he predestined us to be adopted as his sons and daughters through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will-- 6to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. 7In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace
7. The Money In The Bank Is No Good Without A
Check Writer
I Denying Ourselves & Taking Up Crosses
1. If You Want To Be Mine—The Answer Is No
2. Nothing Easy About Being A Disciple
3. The Price Makes All The Difference
4. Being Made Available.
5. Denial Does Not Always Include Pain
6. Denial—Kindergarten Level
J. The Taking Up Of The Cross
1. Voluntary Pain For Long Term Gain
2. Always A Price To Pay---It’s Not Fair
1 Peter 2:19-20 For it is commendable if a person bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because he is conscious of God. 20But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God.
3. Best Position To Be In To Become NUTS
4. The Cross Comes After Relationship Established
5. Cross Takes Beyond Kindergarten Faith
6. Can’t Truly Be Used Without The Cross
K. Picking Up A Cross Depends On What We Believe
1. Are All The Real Goodies On This Side Of Death
2. Jesus Counted The Cost And Chose The Cross
