Discipleship - Taking Up the Cross

Discipleship - Taking Up the Cross

Lk. 9:23-25

Intro.

A. Thomas Shepherd (minister in the Church of England) wrote the words of “Must Jesus Bear the Cross Alone?” in 1693. His original words were: “Shall Simon bear the cross alone, and other saints be free?” but “hymn tinkerers” changed it to “must Jesus bear the cross alone...” (The music to which it is sung today was written by George N. Allen in time of Abraham Lincoln; 1809-1875.)

B. Five passages mention taking up the cross (Mt. 10:38 “And he who does not take up his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me”; 16:24 “Then Jesus said to His disciples, If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me”; Mk. 8:34 “And when He had called the people to Him, with His disciples also, He said to them, Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me”; Lk. 9:23; 14:27

C. Today the cross is accepted as a symbol of love and sacrifice (worn around the neck, seen on buildings); in that day was a horrible means of capital punishment. (Romans would not even mention a cross in polite society; Roman citizens exempt from crucifixion.) It was a shameful thing (Heb. 12:2 “Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (despise - regard as nothing; treat with contempt; shame - disgrace). (Spartacus led slave rebellion in Rome, c. 71 B.C. After some success, the Roman army defeated them and 6,000 were captured and crucified along one of the roads leading to Rome.) Christians of the first century would have understood cross-bearing.

Body:

A. Uses of the word cross:

1. The stake itself (Mt. 27:32).

a. “An upright stake on which malefactors were hanged for execution” (Vine).

b. They were in different forms: (1) Latin cross (cross-piece shorter, part of upright beam above it), (2) Tau (beam on top of post), (3) St. Andrew’s (equal lengths - x), (4) Greek cross (equal length - like +).

c. Evidence seems to favor the Tau (upright post - stipes, fixed in the ground; the cross-piece, patibulum).

d. We are not talking about taking up a cross-piece with a wheel and walking around a road. (That has nothing to do with taking up our cross.)

2. The crucifixion suffered (1 Cor. 1:17,18,23).

3. The doctrine of atonement (Gal. 6:14; Col. 1:20).

a. There is a spiritual crucifixion (Gal. 2:20; Rom. 6:4-6).

b. The message of atonement (1 Cor. 1:18,21-23).

c. We are not talking about the cross in this sense.

4. Metaphorically (figure of speech containing an implied comparison) for distress, persecution or burden-bearing (Mt. 10:34-39). (This is the use we will be discussing.)

B. It is not:

1. Suffering that is inseparable from this life - such as illness, loss of job, or loss of friends through death.  We would have those without being disciples of Christ (denying self, taking up the cross and following). We cannot escape those things.

2. Trouble brought on ourselves - because of lack of tact or cantankerous ways. Diotrephes had critics - not from denying self and taking up his cross (from denying others and throwing two by fours! 3 Jn. 9,10). (He gave other people crosses.)

C. Demands of cross-bearing:

1. Self-denial (Lk. 9:18,23; directed to disciples - though applies to non-believers!)

a. A disciple of Jesus must voluntarily deny self (no one can do it for me).

b. Must begin with the end in mind - “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for a disciple that he be like his teacher, and a servant like his master...” (Mt. 10:24,25).

1) The mind of Christ (Phil. 2:5-8) - a demonstration of denial of selfish ambition (v. 3). “No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father” (Jn. 10:18). We do not have power to “take it again” but we do have power to “lay it down” - and we must.

c. Jesus said; “narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life; and there are few who find it” (Mt. 7:14). No one with an inflated ego can squeeze through the gate. Self - must be crossed out!

d. A church may grow numerically, when this is not emphasized, (you can attend when you please, give if you please, live as you please) but they are not disciples of the Lord. Cheap grace is not true grace - the kingdom is “like treasure hidden in a field...sells all that he has and buys that field” (Mt. 13:44); like “pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it” (v. 46).

2. Choosing to bear the pain (Mt. 10:34-39).

a. The sword could be avoided and he could have “peace at home” by turning back on Jesus. (Many have chosen peace over cross-bearing.)

b. The disciple could stop the persecution and enjoy pleasures - by stopping the obedience. (Man worked in coal mine - quit ugly talk, drinking, etc., got ridicule, finally called “preacher”; he quit). Woman in Louisville - husband told her to choose between him and the church - he was converted!

c. “I counted the dollars while God counted crosses./ I counted gains while He counted loses!/ I counted my worth by the things gained in store./ But he sized me up by the scars that I bore./ I coveted honors and sought for degrees;/ He wept as He counted the hours on my knees.’ And I never knew ‘til one day at a grave,/ How vain are these things that we spend life to save!” (via 7700 Illustrations)

3. Perpetual - “take up his cross daily” (Lk. 9:23).

a. Self-denial is not an initiation fee, once paid - forever forgotten. Must continue to deny self - apostles had problem with this (Mt. 18:1-3; Mk. 9:33-36).

b. It is not just a door to be entered, but a path to follow daily.

c. It involves time, money, convenience - a lifetime commitment (Ps. 119:105,112).

d. Follow the example of Jesus (1 Pet. 2:20-23).

4. Bearing the shame.

a. Cross was not a beautiful polished gold or silver ornament; it was a rough piece of wood designed to hurt.

b. It resulted in beatings (Acts 5:40), stoning (Acts 7:57,58). (Paul endured much opposition, but it was temporary. 2 Cor. 11:24-28)

c. The purpose of a cross was death - slow but certain (Heb. 12:2 “looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith...”) Today - cruel and unusual punishment (the electric chair mal-functioned and criminal was not killed immediately - Fl. changed to lethal injection - nice death!) The cross was not a “nice death.”

Concl.

A. We do not have to look for a cross, but if we persist in obeying God it will find us.

B. It is a universal demand - all who follow Christ must deny self and take up the cross. Only way to avoid it is to follow the devil’s self-seeking path (Lk. 9:24).

C. Jesus emptied Himself of self - took up His cross (a literal burden) and bore it to His death. Peter - for a while chose to deny Christ (which had serious consequences, Mt. 26:69-75).

D. Pain brings gain (Jas. 1:2,3). Irritation produces pearls. Bearing trials (for doing right) increases our tolerance for pain. If remove the irritation (grain of sand in the oyster), the final result will be failure. Be grateful for the crosses and a pearl will appear!