Handout # 9 Wednesday Night Bible Class April 20, 2011 Dr. Derrick J. Hughes, Pastor The Fundamentals of Spiritual Growth SACRIFICE

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1 Handout # 9 Wednesday Night Bible Class April 20, 2011 Dr. Derrick J. Hughes, Pastor The Fundamentals of Spiritual Growth SACRIFICE Sacrificing 23 And he said to all, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. 25 For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? (Luke 9:23-25) Take up his cross (9:23). Crucifixion was a common way in which the Romans executed slaves and lower class people. In the cities of Palestine, condemned men were frequently seen carrying heavy wooden crossbeams to the place of execution. The disciples knew that a man carrying a crossbeam was going to suffer and die. SACRIFICE AND OFFERING Physical elements the worshiper brings to the Deity to express devotion, thanksgiving, or the need for forgiveness.

2 2 If anyone would come after me: Is a choice (a choice that was pre-ordained the elect) and a privilege. So if you have made a commitment to follow Jesus then be serious about doing it. Take up his cross: Must Jesus bear the cross alone, And all the world go free? No, there s a cross for everyone, And there s a cross for me. George Allen (1844) Cross bearers When we confess Christ, we embrace his dying on the cross for us. But we also accept the reality of a cross for ourselves. The Necessity of the Cross Apparently using no transition, Jesus next informed his disciples they too would have to carry a cross: "Then he said to them all: 'If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me'. This call to a crucified life demands a willingness to pour out one's life for Christ. The biography The Shadow of the Almighty records a beautiful prayer uttered by Jim Elliot: Father, take my life, yea, my blood if Thou wilt, and consume it with Thine enveloping fire. I would not save it, for it is not mine to save. Have it, Lord, have it all. Pour out my life as an oblation for the world. Blood is only of value as it flows before Thine altar. Living for Christ requires self-denial. This begins when we voluntarily abdicate the throne of our lives when we

3 3 radically renounce self-centeredness. A crucified Savior is not well served by self-pleasing, self-indulging people. We have to deny ourselves of: Ungodly Pleasures - Sprit Pride - Humility Power Dependency on God Possessions Eternal treasures What are our crosses? They are not simply trials or hardships. Some think of a nutty boss or an unfair teacher or a bossy mother-in-law as a "cross." But they are not. Neither can we properly call an illness or a handicap a cross. A cross results from specifically walking in Christ's steps, embracing his life. It comes from bearing disdain because we are following the narrow way of Jesus Christ, "the way and the truth and the life". John 14:6 Jesus told him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. It comes from living out the business and sexual ethics of Christ in the marketplace, the community, the family, the world. It comes from standing true in difficult circumstances for the sake of the gospel. Our crosses come from and are proportionate to our dedication to Christ. Difficulties do not indicate crossbearing, though difficulties for Christ's sake do. Do we have any difficulties because we are closely following Christ? The Logic of the Cross The necessity of the cross leads us to its logic: "For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it" (Luke 9:24). How dissonant this sounds

4 4 in today's Christian culture. As James Davidson Hunter pointed out in his landmark study Evangelicalism: The Coming Generation, fascination with the self and with our own ways of seeing things has become a well-established cultural feature of evangelicalism. Self-focus is part of the modern evangelical identity! This is why increasing numbers of Christians care little about the glory of God or reaching out to a lost world. For them Christianity exists to enhance their lives, their marriages, their bank accounts, their prestige. But to bear a cross, to pay a price for standing for Christ no thanks. But Jesus' words reveal the only way to life. To hug self is ruinous. But if we give ourselves to him, he will give us life and make us the persons we were meant to be. Losers are keepers. Jesus went on to say, "What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?" (Luke 9:25). To exalt the bank account or professional prestige or impressive possessions over the life of the soul is tragic folly. "If anyone is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God." (Luke 9:26, 27) Who do you say Jesus is? Is he a fraud? Is he only a prophet? Is he merely a great moral teacher? Or is he the Messiah, God's Son, the Savior and King? Is the church and God thing reality or a made up story? How do you really feel about this faith in Jesus stuff? If you confess him as Christ, you must cling to his bloody cross as your only hope, and you must take up your own

5 5 cross as you deny yourself and follow him. Do you do this? If so, you have made a good confession. What do you still need to give up? What is your strategy for sacrifice? Jesus carried a cross to illuminate the Father and to save the lost. It was not about being mistreated; talked about or suffering wrong. It was about His life for the lives of others to reach the Father. There is room for you! What are you doing so that others may reach the Father? There is room at the cross for you!