Luke 9: 23: “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.” There are three things involved in this scripture: if any man will come after Jesus, let him:
1. Deny himself,
2. Take up his cross on daily basis.
3. Follow Jesus.
There is a song that says, “I have decided to follow Jesus. No turning back, no turning back. The Cross before me, the world behind me. No turning back, no turning back. Though none goes with me, yet I will follow. No turning back, no turning back.”
One could say that one of the greatest empires ever witnessed was the Roman. In the image of Daniel, it stood for iron. All the military set ups we have now came from the Romans. The house of senate and the house of representatives originated from the Romans. When the Roman soldiers fought, it was with devastating wickedness.
It was the Romans who invented the cross for condemned criminals. It was like our Bar-beach shows, in those days when robbers were tied to the stake and shot dead. When the Romans wanted to crucify somebody on the cross, they did not do so at the centre of the town. No, it was an abomination. They took the person outside the city. In the days of Jesus, there was a place where this kind of thing was carried out in Judea. It was at Golgotha, the Calvary. They took people there and executed them. Anybody who had been condemned to die on the cross had to carry his own cross there. The soldiers would just escort the person with horsewhip. They would never touch the cross themselves. When they led the person out, his family members knew that it was finished. In fact, once death was pronounced, the only person one could appeal to was Caesar. Once Caesar said, “Kill him,” that was it. His voice was like the voice of a god. Immediately a person was nailed to the cross, it was the duty of the soldiers to stay and ensure that he eventually died. Sometimes, when one did not die in time they would break his bone.
Death on the cross was painful and sorrowful. On the cross, the whole body was suspended and pressure was upon the lungs, the heart and other body organs. It was difficult for the victim to breathe because his lungs were compressed. It was a very painful and slow death.
The cross is a very powerful symbol, the central message of Christianity. It was the altar on which the once-and-for-all sacrifice was made by Jesus. It has no mercy for anyone. It does not negotiate with anybody. It has no time for your argument or your religion. No one has gone to the cross and come down alive. It is 100 per cent successful at killing.
One song says, “I have decided to follow Him.” If you want to follow Him, He says, you must first deny yourself. When you have done that, you are going to die on that cross. The cross is not a kind of decoration. You are wasting your time when you hang a cross on your neck, or when you put a big one in your house. The cross is very rough and very deadly but it is very effective in its operation. It is a sign of God’s heartbreak over a world that has gone astray. It is an instrument of death. That is why most obituaries carry its sign. Anyone who has visited a cemetery would see that the tombs have crosses on them. The cross is an instrument of death and a symbol of death. It is a symbol of sacrifice. To take up the cross is to allow yourself to be a living sacrifice unto the Lord. There is no way you will be nailed to the cross and blood will not come out.
Just like the problem of man started with a tree in the Garden of Eden, the solution to the problem of man, too, took place on a tree, on the Cross of Calvary. On that Cross God made Himself medicine and drank it. So, the cross is the terminating point of our adamic nature. It is the end of all the corruption of self. When you want to start a new life in God, the cross is the starting point. The gateway to enjoying life in the heavenlies is the cross. The deep secret is that the cross releases power to anyone who gets there.
Many of us are crying for power. We say, “O Lord, empower me. I want to do mighty things for You.” The Lord is saying, “Okay, I am ready to empower you. Come now, get on the cross and die there.” You now say, “But Lord, I don’t want to die yet.” He says, “Then you don’t need the power. You are not yet qualified.”
The cross is that battleground where satan and his kingdom are effectively challenged. It symbolizes rejection once a person is put on it. The Bible says that cursed is everyone that hangs on a tree. So, it is considered an abomination when somebody dies on the cross. The cross symbolizes suffering and humiliation, but at the same time it symbolizes victory. If you call yourself a Christian, no matter how many times you come to church or what name you bear, you are not a disciple or a follower of Christ until you deny yourself and take up your cross, go up that cross and die there.
A Christian who has not gone to the cross is like a person who calls himself a student but has never been to school. A Christian who has not gone to the cross and die there is like one who calls himself a soldier but is yet to join the army. He is like a salesman with no customer. He is like a blind man who is buying spectacles. He is like the author of a book without readers. He is like a footballer who does not belong to a football team. Many strange things happened on the day Jesus died on the cross, unlike the day He was born and the day of His resurrection. All the angels and the hosts of heaven ran away. They did not appear there. The cross is not an easy place to be. That is why God will not take it easy with any Christian who is not born again, sanctified, Spirit-filled and reads the Bible. Nor will He take it easy with any Christian who backslides.
When Jesus was on the cross there was a strange gathering of people who had different views, feelings and agenda. Many did not know what they were doing there. Many did not understand that the greatest event in history was being displayed before their eyes. That was why prophet Jeremiah lamented: “Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by? What you are looking at, you do not understand. Is it nothing to you? Don’t you know the fellow on that cross? That is the Son of God. Is it nothing to you?” Of course, they did not know. They were just passing by. It is the same thing today. Many so-called Christians do not know why they are Christians. They do not know what they are doing.
Do you think that you are in the house of God or the ministry where you are by chance? No. there is an agenda, a spiritual programme you should follow. That is why God brought you there.
That day that Jesus was on the cross, the Pharisees were there. They were always quoting the Bible. They knew the Bible inside out. They were straightforward people. Everyone of them in those days memorized the major part of the Old Testament. You would discover that anytime the Pharisees were debating with Jesus, they did not carry the Bible, they quoted it off hand. They wanted Jesus dead and worked hard to achieve it, because they hated the way He talked with authority. They hated His popularity and did not like the signs and wonders He was performing. They were not happy with the way He sometimes interpreted their laws. He made nonsense of their own interpretation. On the one hand the Pharisees were very good men. At least they fasted thrice a week, paid their tithes correctly and went to the synagogues regularly. That is, they did better than a lot of present-day Christians are doing. Just as the Pharisees gathered at the cross, we have a lot of Pharisees in the house of the Lord today. They know everything. They know who is quoting the right scriptures. They know the deep theology of the Bible. They know hermeneutics, eschatology, etc but all these have no impact on their lives.
In that gathering near the cross of Jesus, there were priests. Majority of them belonged to the group called the Sadducees. They did not believe in miracles, signs, wonders or spirits. They were there watching Jesus on the cross. Priests who were supposed to be serving God were also there. Also there watching were those who bought Jesus from Judas. They represented those merchandising the things of God. There are many like them in the house of God today, traders by the cross. If during a church service, all you are thinking about is how you can sell you wares after prayers, you are a trader by the cross.
There was a Simon of Cyrene, who went to Jerusalem just to worship. This black man, who was seeking God, was there when Jesus was tired and they forced him to carry Jesus’ cross that he did not plan to carry. He had to arrive at Golgotha and also watched the execution of Jesus. He did not know what good God did to his life and that of his family. He did not know that from that day the anointing of priesthood flowed into his family. I believe that as you read this magazine and pray well, you will break away from the crowd and become a partaker of the power of the cross.
There were those who merely passed by the cross of Jesus. The Bible says, “All they that saw Him laughed Him to scorn.” They shot out their lips and said, “You trusted in God, let that God deliver you.” They mocked Him, spat at Him and went away. And there were those who kept shouting, “Crucify Him, crucify Him.” They were the same people who had shouted, “Hosannah, hosannah” before. These were the double-tongued.
I have a friend who is a preacher and an older man in the Lord. One day, he was at the pulpit of a church where holiness was preached and said, “From today, no more holiness in this church. Let’s practice it inside. So, beginning from next Sunday, if you are a sister and you have trousers, wear it to church. Go and get all your earrings and all the things you have thrown away. Wear them and come. Fanatical mentality must go. Just come the way you are.” The sisters did not know that the man set an examination for them. The following Sunday, even the fat women wore trousers to church and those who had thrown away their earrings brought them back. It now became clear to the man of God that they never really threw those things away. They just kept them aside, and when he said, ‘wear them,’ they brought them back. The man stood on the pulpit and cried. Why did he cry? He cried because they were not like the sons of Rechab. The sons of Rechab were Israeli priests. One prophet of God at that time went to them and said, “Thus saith the Lord, Take wine and begin to drink.” They said, “Prophet, we respect you, but Rechab, our father, told us that we should not drink wine. Though, we respect you, we cannot drink it.” The prophet said, “Thus saith the Lord.” They said no. Immediately the prophet got home, God said, “Did you see how the sons of Rechab honoured me? So, tell them that forever in their generation, there will be a priest in their family to stand before me.”
The double-tongued brothers and sisters were there at the cross too, looking at the Son of man. They were there with their hypocrisy. The centurion too, was there on his own assignment. He was there to supervise the crucifixion. He was not the one who sentenced Jesus to death. He was only carrying out the punishment. When he saw what was happening, this pagan, unbeliever said, “Verily this is the Son of God.” He admitted it even though he was an unbeliever. We must pray that the Lord does not replace us. A pagan centurion saw what the Jews did not see.
By the cross, too, were thieves. One thief talked rubbish: “This man, are you not Jesus? Come on, do something.” The other thief said, “Don’t insult Him” and straightaway he gained paradise that day without doing water baptism. Jesus’ mother, too, was there, watching with sorrow in her heart. There were also other women there. They were crying, but Jesus had told them before, “Don’t cry for me. Cry for yourselves and your children.” The frightened disciples were there too, watching. So, all kinds of people were there, watching. Depending on their feelings, they were either blessed or cursed.
The last group of people who were there were the soldiers. They gambled by the cross. Luke 23: 34: “Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them for they know not what they do and they parted his raiment and cast lots.” As Jesus hung on the cross dying, the soldiers cast lots for His clothes. They were gambling with the cross on sight. I want you to understand that only Christians who choose to stay on the cross are the only Christians who have genuine authority over the devil. By staying on the cross they are delivered from all self-seeking and self-promoting programmes.
Satan knew that the cross was a dangerous place to go. So, he tried to negotiate with Jesus and offered Him a crossless victory. As often as the devil made that offer, Jesus rejected it. In fact, the totality of the temptation of Jesus by satan was to offer Him victory without suffering, or elevation without humiliation. Jesus saw it. Again Peter told Jesus, “You can’t die on the cross. Far be it from you.” Jesus faced him and said, “Get thee behind me, satan.” But when the Son of man got to the cross, the priest said, “Come down if you are able to.” They wanted Him out of the cross because He was feeling the heat already.
SATAN’S DEFEAT
It was on the cross that satan was finally defeated. It was on the cross that he was completely undone. It was on the cross that satan was cast out of his seat of authority. Do you want to reign over your circumstances? The throne is at the cross. Christ reigns today because He went to the cross and died there. Paul said, “I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless, I live. But the life I live now, I live by the grace of the Son of God who died and shed His blood for me.” He was trying to say that the old Paul was dead, and that the new Paul was the one they were seeing. The old Paul, the fornicator, the prostitute, the one who used to get angry and keep malice, was dead and it was the new Paul walking about. Since it was the new Paul walking about, there was no herbalist that could harm him. It was the old Paul they could harm and not the new one. So, immediately you decide to crucify the flesh on the cross, satan will cry out to you to feel sorry for the flesh. This is satanic deception and demonic sympathy. Allow the flesh to kill the flesh in your life. Don’t feel sorry for the flesh at all. Unfortunately, not many that come to the cross actually live a crucified life. Many are just gambling at the foot of the cross. Many, instead of making their restitution, are busy gambling at the foot of the cross.
Many years ago, a choirmaster put a choirgirl in the family way. The girl was a daughter of an Alhaji. This was a small church of 100 to 150 persons. That day, our pastor was already preaching when the Alhaji entered the church. After the service, the Alhaji mocked: “Born again, when Saidatu was coming for your vigils, I warned her. Now, this is the result of the vigils.” The pastor was perturbed. All of us could not raise our heads because what he was saying was true. For a choirmaster who embarrassed the house of God like that, he was gambling at the cross all the time he was coming to sing in the church. Sometime ago, some people abroad said, “If you need a good wife, the place to go is Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries. But if you want a prostitute you go to other places." So, they come to the house of God not to meet God but to keenly and carefully search for women. They are gamblers in the house of God.
When you begin to sympathise with your flesh, you are a gambler at the cross. When you are pampering yourself, you are a gambler at the cross. When there are spiritual things to do and you are always taking the easy way out, you are gambling at the cross. When you are making all kinds of efforts to excuse the flesh: instead of crying out saying, “My eyes, receive deliverance; don’t let me go to hell fire,” you are saying, “Well, I have the right to use my eyes the way I like,” you are gambling at the cross. When you begin to exercise self-pity you are gambling at the cross. When you believe that people have wronged you and you say, “Well, I will retaliate; I will deal with them; I will punish them; they don’t know me yet; all of us have our rascality but we just hide it when we come here,” you are a gambler at the cross. If your focus in the church is business, you are a gambler. When you submit to resentment, you are a gambler. When you waste time gossiping or backbiting, you are a gambler. If you bear malice, you are a gambler. Our Lord Jesus says that if somebody offends you, go straight to the person and say, “Excuse me, this is what you did. I am not happy about it.” This is how the children of God should behave.
When you refuse to accept blame for what you have done wrong, you are a gambler at the cross. When you take offence because somebody has insulted you, you are a gambler at the cross. The big truth is that most of those who wear big crosses over their necks have never been to the foot of the cross.
THE PLACE OF POWER
There is only one place of power, and that is the cross. It was at the cross that Jesus overcame all the powers of darkness. The only time satan cannot touch you is when you are on that cross. The only part of your nature that satan cannot touch is the part which has been crucified and which remains on the cross. Ask yourself today if your thoughts are crucified. Is your sex life crucified? Is your attitude to money crucified? Is your temperament crucified? Is your appetite crucified? The only time a believer can be defeated is when he is not crucified. Satan will always defeat a believer who is not crucified at the cross, who is not really dead like Jesus said. You need to pray to that level where you will receive heavenly visitation and the enemies will say, “Yes, the real you is dead, the new one is the one we are seeing now.”
Many years ago, a brother boarded a commercial bus and mistakenly stepped on somebody. The person gave him a terrible slap. The people in the bus were surprised and they asked the brother to slap the man back. He told them that he could not because his hands had been crucified. They were surprised again and they told him that they could not find any nails on his hands, there was no cross and his hands were normal. They urged him to retaliate. He said no. So, they asked him, “Where is the cross? Which cross are you talking about? He replied, “The cross of Jesus Christ.” They hissed and called him a madman. But his attitude showed what we call crucifixion.
Many people need to have their mouths nailed to the cross so that they can stop misusing them. Stop talking rubbish. Stop talking what you do not know about. When you want to talk, talk Jesus. When you want to preach, preach Jesus. Don’t preach pride, don’t preach envy, preach Jesus. Some of us need to have our hands nailed to the cross. Some of us need to have our legs nailed to the cross. Some need their hearts to be nailed to the cross. That is the place of power.
The songwriter says, “The cross before me, the world behind me. No turning back, no turning back.” When you are crucified and dead on the cross, you will be detached from all the rat race that people are running now. You will be detached from the spiritual arrogance that is all over the place now. You will be detached from all the bad spiritual experiences that you have had. The decision is ours. We have a choice in the matter. That is why we need to really pray hard.
I don’t want to gamble away my time in the house of God. I don’t want to be a gambler at the cross. I want to experience the power of the cross in my life. Enough of spiritual weakness! Enough of being a spiritual Lilliputian! Enough of complaints of being irritated continuously!
A certain man prayed three prayer points that changed his life:
a. Lord, save me from myself.
b. Lord, let me be lost in thee.
c. Lord, let self die and let Christ live in me.
He prayed these three prayer points everyday for three months. By the time he finished, he had a revelation of somebody lowered into a grave in a coffin. He looked at the face of the person being buried and it was his. He looked at the face of the man doing the burial and it was shining like fire. He could not behold the face. The person was dressed in white. He was an angel of God. He covered the grave and wrote boldly on it: “Herein lies the body of so, so person. The man was now qualified to receive the power of God. He prayed those three prayer points for three months.
Beloved, you and I need to pray. Where do you belong amongst the congregation that surrounded the cross of Jesus? Do you belong to the traders, priests, Pharisees, the frightened ones or those who took bribe to hang Him? Do you belong to those who said, “Surely, this is the Son of God. I must climb the cross and die there so that I can satisfy my God and fulfil my destiny.” Will you be able to declare like those carrying the cross and waving bye-bye to Mr. Flesh? Have you got to the level where you can boldly declare: “That person you know that used to get angry is dead, the one you see now is the new one.” Once you get there, you don’t need to pray for power. It will move into your life. For example, no matter how powerful a witch might have been, she could not get up one day and decide to drink the blood of Elijah. That would have amounted to her drinking fire.
If you discover that you are under constant attack by the powers of darkness, the first place to look is inward. Check if there is any area that has not died properly on the cross. That uncrucified area of your life is where the enemy will be harassing your life. You need to be honest with yourself. Those who love themselves cry to the Lord for a change. When Jesus was asked to come down from the cross, He did not listen. When they told Elijah to come down from the mountain, he did not listen. He said, “I refuse to come down. But if I be a man of God, let fire answer this your request.” And it was so.
PRAYER POINTS
1. Any power that wants to pull me down from my mountain of power, die, in the name of Jesus.
2. Arrows of backsliding, backfire, in Jesus’ name.
3. Every ladder of darkness in my body, I kill you today, in the name of Jesus.
4. Every ladder of darkness in my life, die, in the name of Jesus.
5. Every ladder of darkness in my destiny, die, in the name of Jesus.
6. Magnet of affliction, release me and die, in Jesus’ name.
