Title: Church Following Jesus
In Mat 16:24, Jesus told His disciples the ways and secrets to follow Him. I pray in the name of the Lord that the church and believers will follow only Jesus.
- The church that denies himself
What is the identity of ‘himself’? This is referring to the old self. So, what does ‘old self’ mean?
- It means a man is from the earth (1 Cor 15:47-49)
The Bible says that the first man, Adam, came from the earth. So, as descendants of Adam, although we were born in the image of those on earth, we will eventually be transformed to the image of those in heaven. Therefore, the old self means a man is from the earth.
- It means a man born of the flesh (Gen 6:3; Jhn 3:6)
After the Fall, Adam left God’s spirit and became flesh. And it says that what comes from flesh is flesh. Therefore, the old self means a man born of the flesh (Rom 8:5; 1 Cor 15:50). And because those who belong to the flesh only do the things of the flesh, they cannot please God and cannot inherit the kingdom of God.
- It means a man who has sinned (Rom 6:6)
It says that our old self was crucified with Jesus so that the body of sin might be destroyed, and we would not be slaves to sin. In other words, the old self means a body of sin, a person who is a slave to sin (Eph 2:1-3). Ultimately, sinful humans are children of wrath who do not obey God but follow the customs of the world and live according to the desires of the flesh.
In summary, ‘self’ refers to an atheistic and a humanistic, does not believe in God, arrogant and thinks he is everything, stubborn and speaks as he pleases, and is rebellious person who idolizes himself.
So, what does ‘self-denial’ mean?
It means crucifying the old self and his actions to the cross. Because the only thing that can put an end to all human sins and all lusts is the cross of Jesus Christ (Gal 2:20).
Now we live by faith that Jesus Christ has solved all our old self, death, and carnal desires through the cross of salvation. We must believe in the forgiveness and grace of Jesus.
The church should be a cemetery where the old self should be buried. You and I must learn how to bury ourselves when we come to this church. There should be no such thing as ‘I’. When you hold on to the cross and move forward, there will be a miracle, power, and prosperity. I pray in the name of the Lord that all believers who deny themselves and move forward will have this kind of blessing.
- The church that takes up its cross
What is ‘its cross’ to take up? It means a sign of self-salvation experience. In other words, we must experience the cross of Jesus Christ becoming our cross.
Then, do you know the cross of Jesus? We must know the cross of Jesus to make it our cross. To put it very simply, Jesus leaving the place of God and coming to this earth is expressed as the humiliation of Christ. In other words, He lowered Himself (Philippians 2:5-8). Then, He was resurrected, ascended into heaven to the right hand of the throne of God. This is called the exaltation of Christ (Philippians 2:9-11).
The entire process of humiliation of Christ is the cross. Of course, the Passion Week, the last seven days of Jesus’ public life and the scene of Him hanging on the cross are the essence of the cross, but we must know that God becoming human is already a cross. How much suffering is involved in this humiliation of Christ?
When Jesus came to this earth, there were 22,000 religious leaders, but no one recognized Jesus. He was born in a manger because there was no room in the inn. King Herod tried to kill Jesus because he was afraid that his throne would be taken away. And did you ever think of Jesus being forced to flee to Egypt as soon as He was born? (Matt 2:13-15) Why did He suffer such misery? Isn’t that to complete the work of redemption for me and you?
Jesus began His public ministry, but the religious leaders came forward and accused him of being a heretic. He was cursed and criticized so much that even his younger brothers could not believe in Him and were being sarcastic about Him (Jhn 7:4-5).
Also, Jesus chose 12 disciples and went with them for three years, eating and sleeping with them and teaching them the Word. But who betrayed Jesus in the end? It was the very disciple of Jesus (Matt 26:14-16).
Roman soldiers put a towel over Jesus’ face and beat him like a boxer. And they mocked Jesus to tell the name of the beater. When the crown of thorns is placed on the head, the head is torn and blood flows profusely. When they whipped Jesus because a whip is attached to fish bone or a steel, the flesh of Jesus fell off. He walked up to Golgotha carrying a cross that weighed about 130kg. When nailing a nail to the cross, they step on Jesus’ hands and feet with their shoes and drive in the rough nails. When He was hung on the cross, He could not even wear underwear. He hung on the cross with all his shame as a man on display, looking miserable and unable to do anything (Matt 26:67-68).
Why did He go through all this pain? There is only one reason, that is to save you and me. Dear all, you like eternal life, right? To give you the eternal life, our Jesus endured all this humiliation and suffering, that is, the cross (Jhn 6:54).
Dear believers, this cross must now become our cross. That is carrying one’s cross. We should know that Jesus suffered this much for me, He went through this many difficulties, and He shed much tears, then we could confess “I will endure suffering for the Lord, the hardships, and I will shed tears.”
Dear believers, next week is already Palm Sunday. How much have we denied ourselves this season of Lent? How far have we carried our cross? I would like to ask you, in the name of the Lord, to deny ourselves for the remaining time and walk forward carrying our crosses. When that happens, I believe that a work of blessing will occur in which God recognizes the Lord’s Covenant Church as a church that follow Jesus.
Please, note that there will be a special Passion Week services starting March 25th. I ask you once again to attend, receive grace, and become new and transformed believers who follow Jesus.
The Lord's Covenant Church Malaysia 