Cross-Bearing

It says, if any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. Sometimes we think of a cross as maybe the death of a loved one or a health problem. That’s not the cross He is speaking about here. The cross He is speaking about here is a daily cross of denying our self. It is something that for us to nail self to.

There’s three things that Paul said needs to be nailed to that cross. I’d like to just elaborate for a moment on this cross bearing. Because again, this is another message that is getting lost today. Paul said in Romans 6:6, that, first of all, we have to nail sin to the cross. In Galatians 2:20, Paul said we have to put self on the cross. In Galatians 6:14, he said we have to crucify the world on the cross. Sin, self and the world.

Why? It’s because Jesus wants the focus to be on Him and not on sin, self or the world. When we put sin, self and the world on the cross, we are an open vessel for Him to work and to express Himself, for He is our life. He is a part of our life.

How do we do that? Through faith, through prayer, through a close relationship with Christ, we focus on Him and ask Him, could Thou please put self on the cross and nail him solid? Could Thou please put this part of the world that wants to be a part of my life, nail it to the cross?

Is the cross that we carry heavy enough? Today there’s materials that are light and easy to carry – like Styrofoam. It looks good. It looks like we are walking the right way. But you try to nail something to it and it just falls off. So it has to be the cross of Christ. It is something that is heavy. We have to recognize there is self-denial. That there is a cost associated with following Christ. It is putting aside sin, self and the world on a daily basis. But Christ will help us. It is a beautiful thing when He’s in control. That’s when the peace comes. That’s the cross that we come to when we repent.

--Sermon Excerpt: Elder Bro. J.S.