Deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Jesus.
Matthew 16:21-28 21 From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests, and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.22 Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!”23 Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 25 For whoever wants to save their life[f] will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. 26 What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? 27 For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done.28 “Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”
Titus 2:11-1411 For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, 12 teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, 13 looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.
1) The concern of God should be prioritized. Deuteronomy 32:18 Of the Rock who begot you, you are unmindful, And have forgotten the God who fathered you. Loving God is having no other will/concern except His which we get to know by abiding in HIM. (John 15, Romans 12:1-2)
2) Beware of self-preservation –Peter could not stand Jesus being crucified. The drive to self-preserve comes from carnality. "The carnal mind is enmity against God"—Romans 8:7 Spurgeon calls the mind of the flesh – “the natural mind, that soul which we inherit from our fathers, that which was born within us when our bodies were fashioned by God. The fleshly mind, the lusts, the passions of the soul; it is this which has gone astray from God and become enmity against Him.
3) The Grace of God teaches us to say no to ungodliness . GRACE is a strong platform that shows us how to direct our souls (mind, will and emotions) to obey God- We are the temple of the Holy Spirit , we exist for HIM and in HIM. Grace enables us and empowers us to do what God is requiring of us. Grace and peace be multiplied to you !
4) A disciple is one who follows, Jesus is saying to us that if we want to follow Him, we must deny ourselves – we are getting converted from one system of thought to another, before encountering Jesus we existed to serve ourselves and were after the pride of life, the lust of the eyes and the lust of the flesh. We had a different identity before Jesus , we were children of wrath according to Ephesians 2:1-3 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. – Now we have been raised with Christ and given a new nature by Grace through Faith and daily we make a choice to say no to ungodliness.
5) The Word of God is the instrument which the Holy Spirit uses in regenerating us. Jesus is SAYING – and we yield to what He is saying – The Spirit gives life , the flesh counts for nothing , The words He has spoken to us are spirit and they are life! A new nature is being imparted to us and it requires total termination of the life we had before we were found by the LORD where we were lost.
I would also like to highlight something really beautiful I discovered in my reflection and study of this WORD. Peter comes full circle from the moment in Matthew 16- we find the LORD addressing him in Luke 22:31 saying 31 “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat. 32 But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”
The beauty of the certainty of the FINISHED WORK of CHRIST in presenting us holy and without blame is staggering1 Peter 5:8-11 Be well balanced and always alert, because your enemy, the devil, roams around incessantly, like a roaring lion looking for its prey to devour. 9 Take a decisive stand against him and resist his every attack with strong, vigorous faith. For you know that your believing brothers and sisters around the world are experiencing the same kinds of troubles you endure. 10 And then, after your brief suffering, the God of all loving grace, who has called you to share in His eternal glory in Christ, will personally and powerfully restore you and make you stronger than ever. Yes, He will set you firmly in place and build you up. 11 And He Has all the power needed to do this —forever! Amen.
We see a bold Peter that is instructing us on how to deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow the LORD. His inaccurate lens through which he saw suffering has been corrected and we pray that as we embrace the LORD by His spirit we will be transformed, embrace denying self through the thoughts we choose to muse on, the attitude we portray and the decisions we make.
