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Sermon
The Gospel of Matthew

Take Up Your Cross

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March 8, 2026
Matthew 16:21-28
Steven Lee
Pastor for Preaching & Vision

Sanctification & Growth

The Death of Christ (The Cross)

Faith

Transcript

0:15It's a joy now to come to God's word. Would you join me as we pray and ask the Lord for help, father in heaven? Hallelujah. Praise be to your name. And so as we now look at your word, would you get praise for the name of Jesus? Open our eyes and give us eyes to see wondrous things here in this text so that we would follow you all the days of our life. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.

0:56Greatness requires sacrifice. If you watched the Winter Olympics, uh, gold medal Olympic athlete sacrifices free time and junk food and late nights to be at their physical peak, unless you do curling, then you can kind of just roll outta bed. But all the other sports require lots and lots of sacrifice. Uh, a concert violinist sacrifices other interests to obsessively practice their craft or an entrepreneur foregoes years and months of salary in order to reinvest it into the business. Even parents sacrifice time and energy and personal ambitions in order to invest that into their children and families.

1:57We are daily confronted with the question, what are we willing to give up in order to gain something else? What are you willing to give up in order to gain something else? Is that something else worth it? Choosing to be healthy means sacrificing comfort and ease and overeating. And that last donut has your name on it and yet you forego it. Choosing one romantic relationship means saying farewell to all the other possibilities. Choosing to save for the future means sacrificing some short term spending. What we sacrifice reveals what we want. What we give up reveals what we truly value, and that is exactly what Jesus has in view in our texts this morning.

2:50Here in Matthew 16, we've been making our way through Matthew's gospel and Jesus makes clear that to follow him means foregoing all other things, all other masters. To be a disciple requires sacrificing one's own pursuits. And so for Jesus and for his disciples, greatness will require sacrifice. This is the first of four times where Jesus will tell his disciples of his imminent death and resurrection. And we, we just saw in last week's passage that the disciples know, especially Peter, he knows that Jesus is the Christ and yet he doesn't know what this actually means. He's ignorant of how Jesus is going to accomplish his mission.

3:45And so what we'll discover as we move through this text is that the Messiah must suffer and die and so must his disciples. The the Messiah must suffer and so must his disciples. Without the cross, there is no crown. Without suffering, there is no glory. And yet these truths were entirely foreign and unthinkable to the disciples And, and so what our text does this morning is it's trying to correct these faulty assumptions that you can follow Jesus, make him your savior, but not have him as your Lord. Just do whatever you want, live however you want, no submission, no obedience. You don't have to follow him entirely, just follow him a little bit.

4:36So what we're gonna do is walk through our passage in three main parts. Uh, we're gonna see Jesus' death predicted verse 21. Then we'll see these dueling rebukes. Peter is going to rebuke Jesus. Jesus is going to rebuke Peter in verses 22 and 23. And then we'll see discipleship defined in verses 24 to 28. So first death predicted, look with me down in verse 21, if you do have a Bible, I encourage you to open it and so you can follow along. From that time, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed.

5:20And on the third day be raised. What we see that phrase, that opening phrase from that time. And we saw the same phrase back in Matthew chapter four, verse 17. And so if we step back for a moment, we see that Jesus has been preaching about the kingdom and it's kind of building towards the climactic confession of Peter that we saw last week. And then from this time forward, it's sort of descending towards the cross. And so Jesus explains the necessity of his death and resurrection. He uses the word must there he must suffer, he must die. And now this isn't the first time that Jesus has sort of referenced or alluded to his suffering and death.

6:05Back in Matthew chapter nine, verse 15, he says that the guests are going to mourn when the bride groom is taken away. And his disciples are probably looking at him a little bit like, what? What are you talking about again? In Matthew 10, verse 38, Jesus says, his disciples must take up their cross and follow me. And again, his disciples were probably bewildered. But from this point forward, Jesus is going to get much more explicit about his death and resurrection. He wants his disciples to hear it from his mouth so that after the resurrection they'll know that this was not an accident, but it's actually Jesus fulfilling his divine mission.

6:54Now Jesus says he's gonna suffer. Look down at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the scribes. Why does he mention those three groups, the teachers of the law, those in charge of the temple, the influential heads of the families? Well, these three groups would've formed the Sanhedrin. And so this would've been the broad leadership of the nation of Israel. Think supreme court, senate and theological council all kind of rolled up into one. So the leaders of the nation of Israel are going to kill the long awaited Jewish Messiah. What? That's what the disciples are thinking. That doesn't make sense.

7:39This idea would've been shocking and absurd. Not only must Jesus suffer at the hands of Israel's leaders, but he must be killed. This is just complete crazy talk in the minds of the disciples. Lest we get too hard on Peter, we can begin to climb in to say, we just said that you are the long awaited Jewish Messiah, the one that we've been waiting for for thousands and thousands of years and and you say that Israel's gonna kill you, the leaders of Israel. This doesn't make sense. The Jews had this deep seated belief that the Messiah would come in power and rule and reign and dispose of all their enemies and restore Israel to greatness.

8:28And so the idea that's very common to us was very foreign to them. This suffering savior, this crucified king are like oil and water. The two shall not mix. It's utterly incompatible in their minds. Now Jesus says on the third day he will be raised and this becomes this key truth as part of sort of the summary of the gospel. And Jesus had already referenced this back in Matthew 12. He spoke of Jonah who would be in the heart of the earth for three days. The son of man would be in the heart of the earth. Later in Matthew 27, verse 63, even Jesus' enemies are recalling and they say, we remember how that imposter referring to Jesus while he was still alive said, after three days I will rise.

9:24So it becomes this key confession of the early church. It's quoted in one Corinthians 15, four. It's part of the apostles creed. It's part of the ene creed. So the question for us is why is it important that Jesus was raised on the third day? Was it? Isn't it just important that he was raised? Why is it important that he was raised on the third day? Well, Jesus is showing his disciples that this is the fulfillment of God's divine plan. And in fact, the fulfillment of the scriptures. Now, if I say it's the fulfillment of the scriptures, you might be saying, well, what Old Testament passage refers to the Messiah dying and rising again in three days?

10:07Well, there isn't a specific passage, but what we get in the Old Testament is a pattern of third day deliverances. And I just want us to see this because it sort of highlights the cohesiveness and the richness of the scriptures. So in the Exodus, in Exodus 1911, it says that God comes down to the people on Mount Sinai on the third day and then in Second Kings chapter 20, this is verses five and six, the Lord comes to Isaiah who speaks to Hezekiah and he says, behold, I will heal you in the third day. You shall go up to the house of the Lord and I will add 15 years to your life. Or you can go to Hosea chapter six verse two, and it says, after two days, he will revive us On the third day he will raise us up that we may live before him.

11:05So there's not a specific passage that's saying exactly this is what's going to happen. But there's this pattern throughout the Old Testament of third day Deliverances that anticipate Jesus deliverance on the third day. It highlights the cohesiveness and the richness of the scripture. So Jesus predicts his death and his resurrection of what must happen. He's trying to connect the dots for Peter and the rest of the disciples. You call me the Christ, let me show you what the Christ must do and and they're not tracking with him. So now we get to verse 22 and 23, look with me there. And Peter took Jesus aside and began to rebuke him saying, far be it from you Lord, this shall never happen to you.

11:57But Jesus turned and said to Peter, get behind me Satan, you are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man, imagine if you were in that room, you, you could cut the tension with a knife. Peter emphatically rebukes Jesus. This is the opposite of what they expected when Peter said, you are the Christ Peter's rebuke far be it from you is an expression that could be translated never Lord or God have mercy on you. Or God forbid it it. It's sort of like saying, how dare you talk that way and and combined with this shall never happen to you, makes very clear Peter no holds barred is rebuking Jesus.

12:49Now I think he tried to do so respectfully. If you look, it says Peter took Jesus aside and began to rebuke him. So he tried to do it privately, but as he began, Jesus cut him off very quickly as forceful rebuke is met with an even more forceful counter rebuke, get behind me, Satan. I don't know if there are more difficult and harsh words that could come from the mouth of Jesus for one of his disciples to hear.

13:22How does one recover from this? It says that Jesus turned. It could be that he turned to face Peter. It could also mean that he turned his back to Peter and then said, get behind me. It's a blunt reminder of how the disciples were to relate to their masters. In those days, disciples would walk behind their masters in order to observe and see all that they did. So the question for us is what does it mean for Jesus to call Peter Satan? What does it mean to call him Satan? Well, I don't think it means that Peter is demon possessed or demon oppressed. He just said back in chapter 16, verse 17, the Father has shown you that I am the Christ.

14:10I don't think it means that he's channeling Satan or controlled by Satan, but rather Peter's words reveal the attitude that is just like that of Satan. And so if you go back with me, rewind all the way back to Matthew chapter four. There we see the temptation of Jesus and the third temptation. The devil takes Jesus up to a mountain and shows him all the kingdoms of the world. And he says, look at all this. You can have all of it, all authority in heaven and on earth. I will give to you. All you have to do is bow down to little old me, fall down and worship me. This is Matthew four, eight and nine.

14:55So Satan is tempting Jesus to get greatness without suffering, press the easy button. This is way better than going to the cross. Jesus, way more pleasant. And yet Jesus knows that there is no shortcut to the salvation of sinners. It's all a lie. Satan can't give that without a sacrificial death. There is no salvation. And Satan attempts to pull Jesus off course. Don't go to the cross, go the easy way. Take the shortcut and and Jesus saying, Peter, you're doing the same thing. You're just like Satan trying to pull me off course, but this is my divine mission. It's to lay down my life as a sacrifice.

15:44You're rejecting the path of suffering and death. Note it. It's very noteworthy. Look, in verse 23, he says, you're a hindrance. Depending on what Bible version, it might say that he's a stumbling block. And so it, it's quite ironic that Peter the rock, the foundational rock that the church is going to be built on, all of a sudden it becomes this stumbling stone that Jesus would otherwise trip over. And so he says, get behind me. He's a moral stumbling block that's undermining God's glorious plan of redemption. He's being earthly minded rather than heavenly minded once again, which we saw back in verses eight to 12 of chapter 16.

16:28The problem is that Peter does not understand what it truly means to be a disciple of Jesus, which is now what leads us to verses 24 to 28. You can kind of see how these all flow and fit together. Verse 24, here we get discipleship defined. Jesus told his disciples, if anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. So in light of Peter's ignorance and misunderstanding, Jesus teaches on what it looks like to be a disciple. Following Jesus requires self-denial and even a willingness to die following Jesus requires self-denial and even a willingness to die, the Messiah suffers and so will his disciples.

17:24Jesus employs this shocking metaphor, take up your cross. So at that time, the cross was not this fashion statement, it wasn't a symbol for the Christian faith, but it was this instrument of execution in the Roman world. It would've been common for convicted criminals, convicted of some of the most heinous crimes in the Roman Empire to either carry the cross beam or the entire cross itself to their place of execution. And Jesus is saying, to follow me requires that level of commitment. Now, just contrast this for a moment with how the world often portrays what it looks like to follow Jesus. I remember I used to go to a church where the pastor would often say, give Jesus a try.

18:12Give Jesus a try. Like at communion, he'd be like, give Jesus a try. And it always bugged me. And I think I knew what he was trying to do. He was trying to make Jesus more accessible and he was trying to invite people to belong before they believed and and yet he made discipleship following Jesus sound like a sample at Costco, like just try a little bit. If you don't like it, put it back. It's all right. This is not at all how Jesus talks about following him. Discipleship is not like trying on a pair of jeans, but a complete and total reorientation of your life in submission to Christ. If you're here this morning and you say that I am a follower of Jesus, I'm a disciple, I'm a Christian, I'm covered by the blood of Jesus, it means that you have entirely reoriented your life in total submission to Jesus.

19:16And if you've not done that, I don't know if you're a follower of Christ, Jesus says to the rich young man, sell all that you have and follow me. It's not that everyone has to do that, but he knew that young man's primary idol and he said, sell it all. And that man was unwilling count the cost before you begin. Now look with me at verse 25, you you'll notice verse 25, 26, and 27 all start with the word for uh, this provides the grounds for Jesus defining discipleship. In verse 24, he's clarifying what it means to take up your cross. So verse 25, for whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

20:04Jesus is clarifying that if our priority is to save our physical lives at all costs, we will forfeit eternal life. We'll forfeit our souls. There's these two meanings of life and soul throughout the passage, even older translations might use soul at places where life is used. And if we renounce Jesus to escape persecution, we will lose our souls. We will lose more than our physical lives. But if we lose our lives for the sake of Christ remaining loyal to him, putting him before all other things, we will inherit far more than this world has to offer. Jesus is making crystal clear the paradox of discipleship to follow Jesus is to lose your life in order to gain so much more.

20:59Now look at verse 26. He raises these two rhetorical questions for what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul? Now, Jesus is moving out of the theoretical into the very specifics. He says, if you could gain all that this world could offer so money, power, fame, security, but in the process you actually forfeit your life, your very soul, would you make that deal of of what gain is that? Well, no, it it's like saying, if I, I would gift you the most beautiful, the biggest diamond ring in all of the world, the sparkliest one worth thousands, millions of dollars.

21:43The best one. All you have to give in exchange for it is your two ring fingers. We just cut 'em off in exchange. Would you take that deal? I hope not. It's like saying I I, I can give you the finest food in all the world. Private chef will cook, cook you all of your meals around the clock. All you have to give in exchange is your tongue that that's what Jesus is saying. It would be foolish to receive all the money in exchange for losing your very life, your family. Or the second question, what shall a man give in return for his soul? What can you do to buy back your soul? How much would you give for that?

22:25Well, you, we would give all that we could afford, but the reality is it's impossible. Psalm 49, 7, Psalm 49, 7 says, truly no man can ransom another or give to God the price of his life. In other words, when final judgment comes, it's gonna be decisive. No one can say, well I I had this large sum of money. Let me go get a redo uh on things. Now look with me at verse 27. The third four here for the son of man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his father. And then he will replay each person according to what he has done. Again, Jesus is using this title, son of Man, which is both kind of oh, normal guy and exalted Lord from Daniel seven verses 13 and 14.

23:22And in Daniel seven, the son of man is gonna ride in on the clouds and he's gonna establish his glory and dominion. And the ancient of days is gonna give him all authority and all peoples and nations and languages will serve him. And in verse 27 here, I think that is exactly what Jesus is referring to, that the son of man speaking of himself is going to come with angels and he's going to repay. So he's gonna give judgment or reward. And it fits the very imagery of Daniel seven because in Daniel seven verses nine and 10, it describes the ancient of days seated on his throne surrounded by thousands of angels.

24:04And what does it say at that point? It says the court sat in judgment and the books were opened. So the very context of Daniel seven 13 and 14 is this courtroom scene where the son of man comes. Jesus comes to the ancient of days in this courtroom and the ancient of days says, Jesus, you take center stage. You are now the judge of all humanity. That is what's going on in Daniel seven when he receives dominion and glory and a kingdom, he's appointed the supreme judge of all mankind. And so the picture here is that reward and judgment are imminent. So how does this work in the flow of what Jesus has been saying about discipleship?

24:52He's saying, if you lose your life for my sake, you will gain and yet to reinforce this, to encourage you, judgment and reward are coming. No one is going to get shortchanged. If you deny Christ, you will undergo judgment. And if you confess Christ, you will be rewarded. And that reality, judgment and reward is imminent. It's coming. Now look with me at verse 28. This is the most bewildering verse of this whole passage. Truly I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the son of man coming in his kingdom. That the primary question that commentators will ask is, what does it mean for the son of man to come in his kingdom?

25:43And it sounds like it's going to happen in the disciples lifetime because some standing here will not taste deaf. Now, there are some liberal scholars who would say that Jesus thought his second coming what was going to be really soon and he got it wrong. And so the disciples actually died and it never happened. That is not what we believe it could refer to. If we're talking about things within the disciples lifetime, it could refer to the transfiguration, Jesus' death and resurrection, the ascension, Christ's work through the church in Acts, the destruction of the temple in AD 70. It could be the second coming, which would be unlikely or some combination of the above.

26:27So lots of different options and commentators are all over the place. I'm not gonna survey the arguments. I'm gonna tell you what I think. Now before I do remember back in Matthew chapter 10, verse 23, we saw this exact same phrase. Let me read it for you. Jesus said, I say to you, he's talking to his disciples after he sent them out the 72 to go to the various cities of Israel. He says, I say to you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before. The Son of man comes very similar language. And one of the things we said when we looked at that passage is we ought to think of the coming of the Son of man in various stages rather than a singular event.

27:17And so one Co one commentator says, the coming of the son of man is thus not a description of a particular historical event, but a evocative language to depict the eventual vindication and sovereign authority of Jesus. And so this means that that language, the coming of the Son of man can refer to various stages in the outworking of Jesus mission. And if you remember in Matthew 10 23, we saw that coming of the Son of man as referring to the destruction of the temple in AD 70. But here in Matthew 1628, I think Jesus is referring to something near term that is sort of foreshadowing or previewing or highlighting what is to come.

28:08And that is the transfiguration. Now, if you look in your Bible, chapter 17, if you have one of those handy dandy bibles, have a little header. It says Transfiguration. And in all three gospels, Matthew, mark, and Luke, the transfiguration immediately follows Jesus' statement that some will not die until they see the son of man coming. And if you look at Matthew chapter 17 verse one, look there it says, and after six days, Jesus took with him Peter, James, and John. So a very unusual specific time marker that we've not really seen very much throughout Matthew. And I think when it says some standing here, Jesus is referring to not all the disciples, but just those three.

28:57So we'll look at the transfiguration more next week, but let's just try to understand what is going on in the transfiguration. Well, it's this mountaintop vision of Jesus in his heavenly glory. He shines like the sun. So this transfiguration is a preview of coming attractions. It's a sneak peek when Jesus is enthroned as king. And then we could ask the question, well, when is Jesus enthroned as king? Is it just at the second coming? Well, I don't think so. Uh, I think we could say that at his resurrection, he's now beginning to be enthroned as king. In Matthew 28, what does Jesus say? All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

29:47And then he sends his disciples out with the great commission. It sounds like Daniel seven 13 and 14 has just taken place all authority, dominion authority. Glory has been given to Jesus in that very moment. We could also say that at Pentecost, when Christ reigns by his spirit, we we often call the Book of Acts, the Acts of the apostles. But we could say this is the acts of Jesus Christ through the Spirit in and through his disciples. So Jesus is still working. That's the whole point of the book of Acts. That's why so often it says, and the Spirit did this and that and the other because Jesus is working through his spirit.

30:29We could also say that judgment comes in the destruction of the temple in AD 70, or we anticipate his second coming where in Revelation we get the full language of this one who rides in on a white horse whose face shines as bright as can be, who whose clothes look like they've been bleached white. The point is this, Peter, even though you suffer, even though you're killed, excuse me, Peter, even though I will suffer, this is Jesus speaking, I will suffer, I will be killed. Things you don't yet have a category for you will also need to take up your cross and suffer. And some of you will see me come in glory of my kingdom to reassure you that I am indeed the Messiah and the Christ you.

31:23You can imagine the rollercoaster Peter has been on, the Father has just revealed to him, this is the Christ, the Son of the living God. He confesses it and he's like, I know what's going on now. And then Jesus says, I'm gonna die. And he's like, whoa, wait. Record, scratch. I have no idea what you're talking about. The Messiah can't die. And he's like, then you can't be the Messiah. And then Jesus is saying, no, no, no, I am the Messiah. I must die and you're gonna get a glimpse of me in all of my glory so that as you walk towards the cross, you're gonna keep thinking back. I saw him in all of his stunning glory on that mountain.

32:04And so that's still to come, still to come. So our passage makes clear the Messiah must suffer and so must his disciples. This Messiah must suffer and so must his disciples. And I know that there are some here this morning who are not yet following Jesus. And this text beckons you to count the cost and to come to Jesus, count the cost and come to Jesus. Jesus doesn't lower the bar to say, let me make it as easy as possible. But he's saying, deny yourself and even be willing to suffer and die for me. Why? Because Jesus must be our sole priority and our sole allegiance, greatest priority and sole allegiance.

32:56So those who follow Jesus must be willing to die, not just physical death, but die to their own ideas and preferences and wisdom and plans in exchange for submission and obedience to Christ. And yet the glorious paradox of the Christian life is that this is not drudgery, but it's an invitation into what is truly the blessed life. It's a invitation to relinquish what you cannot keep in order to gain what you cannot lose. For whoever would save his life will lose it. But whoever loses his life, for my sake will find it. This is Jesus logic. He clarifies what it means to deny yourself and to take up your cross.

33:41He appeals to natural human instinct towards self preservation and life. We all want joy. We all want happiness. We all want comfort and pleasure. And Jesus is saying, don't set your sights so low that you merely wanna escape physical suffering in this life. Lift your eyes and behold the deeper joys, the fuller satisfactions that are found in living for Jesus, which will result in a heavenly reward being in God's presence. His smile upon you and you will be granted life eternal. He's saying, don't just settle for what's down here. Lift your eyes. I'm offering you in the path of self denial, even death, potentially martyrdom a better life.

34:30Follow me and gain the entire world. There is no loss in following Jesus. It's all game. Jesus does not want us to be miserable and gloomy and depressed like ior. This is an invitation to true life and happiness. Yes, there's a path of suffering and pain, but look at Jesus' own life. What came after the suffering and death? Glorious exaltation. He receives power and honor and glory, and the angels of heaven continually praise him for his greatness. And that's what we will do for all eternity. Praise him for all eternity. And so in the path of following Jesus, it's all game everlasting life. Eternal joy being in his presence, hearing the words that we all long to hear, well done, good and faithful servant.

35:41So come to Jesus, you will never regret it. I wanna briefly look at three applications. That was a first. I have three more. The first is learn from Peter's failures. Peter May be my favorite apostle because he just is so relatable and always gets it wrong. And so we're to learn from Peter's example. Beware of thinking we know better than Jesus. Beware of seeking glory without dying to self. Beware of having your mind set on the things of earth rather than the things of heaven. Beware of embodying the very attitude of Satan. And we can do this in a thousand ways. We want holiness without fighting sin.

36:31We think if we just pray, Lord, take it away without actually doing the work of fighting and and denying ourself. We want blessings without obedience and submission. We want glory and exaltation without suffering. We want to taste more of his grace. And yet we say, when suffering comes, take it away, Lord. Rather than saying, help me endure. Jesus is calling us to die to ourself and take up our cross and follow him. And this could be in a multitude of ways. It could be in regular tithing and generosity. It could be sacrificial love, forgiving someone who's wronged you, reconciliation, confessing of sin, receiving criticism and rebuke in a thousand ways that we resist the pathway of suffering and pain.

37:18And yet, Jesus is so patient with Peter and he's so patient with us this morning, if we get it wrong a thousand ways, even having the attitude of Satan himself, he restores us and he's patient with us. The second application, take up your cross daily in faithful obedience. Second Timothy three 12 reminds us that all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, not may, will. And Peter himself writes in his letter, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you as though something strange were happening to you by the end of his life. When he is writing that letter, he's learned the lesson.

38:01Suffering is normal. Don't be surprised when fiery trials come or John says, do not be surprised, brother, that the world hates you. So persecution and suffering are a normal part of the Christian life. Some of us need to hear this and to let it land on us. Afresh, persecution and suffering are a normal part of the Christian life. If you'll know the parallel passage in Luke's gospel, Luke 9 23 says this, listen, if you can notice the difference, if anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. What Luke draws out is that discipleship is not just this one time commitment or this future thing.

38:49Like, okay, if I'm ever found in the Middle East and someone has captured me and they have a knife to my neck and they say, confess or deny Christ, or We'll cut off your head, then I'll be ready in that moment. Well, the the, yeah, we wanna be ready in that moment. But that is not solely what Jesus is talking about. Pick up his cross daily. It's this ongoing dying to self. And this is not just confessing Christ. If we have a sword to our neck, it's the daily serving of an aging parent with sacrificial love when you would much rather do something else. It's, it's in enduring the sideways looks at work or school for being a Christian, like a real Christian that actually believes the Bible.

39:36It's the regular practice of raising children to treasure Christ in the midst of a wicked and twisted generation. It's the daily saying no to lustful images because the peer in heart shall see God. It's not complaining or grumbling when we're afflicted with chronic pain. And it would be so easy to grumble that we have been dealt a bad hand from the Lord. It's the willingness to stand up for Jesus in our workplaces, in our schools. When it's considered socially unacceptable or incredibly awkward. Jesus is calling us to this daily dying of self in the quiet and ordinary obedience of our lives. We are to walk this out by faith wherever the Lord has placed us, this is an invitation to behold more of his glory to taste and see that the Lord is good.

40:39How do we taste and see that the Lord is good? When we endure suffering joyfully and we say God's grace sustained me through that trial. Third and final, let future glory motivate. Present faithfulness, future glory, motivate, present faithfulness. I think that's what Jesus was doing when he said the son of man will come in glory. He's trying to say, look, there's future reward. There's future judgment that's coming. And so now be faithful right now. David Livingston, uh, missionary to Africa, not the pastor that used to pastor around here. The missionary to Africa, said this to a group of students when they were asking him about all the sacrifices he made on the mission field.

41:23And this is what he said, people talk of the sacrifice I have made in spending so much of my life in Africa away with the word in such a view. And with such a thought. It is emphatically no sacrifice. Say rather, it is a privilege. Anxiety, sickness, suffering, danger may make us pause and cause the spirit to waver and the soul to sink. But let this only be for a moment. All these are nothing when compared with the glory which shall be revealed in. And for us, I never made a sacrifice. How can David Livington say that? Because in following Jesus, everything is gain. So the Messiah must suffer, so must his disciples, and yet it leads to everlasting gain being in his presence.

42:23And we will never, we will say, we never made a sacrifice. Let's pray. Father, oh, that we would be those who are eager and willing to pick up our cross and to follow you, deny ourselves. And so this morning. Now for some who have never done that, oh, we pray that they would surrender, bend the knee and follow you and make you Lord. And for each one of us, help us to walk in the ways of obedience. Pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.

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Sermon Text

Matthew 16:21-28

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