PARABLES OF THE TALENTS AND
THE POUNDS
SUMMARY: cont.
TAKING UP YOUR CROSS DAILY
What did Jesus mean
when He said,
"if any man will
come after me,
let him deny
himself ,
and take up his
cross daily and follow me"
(Luk. 9:23).
The Greek word
for deny is aparneomai.
It means to deny utterly, to disown.
To deny oneself is to disregard one's
own welfare,
putting the things of God first.
The problem is that we care too much for
our own life here on earth.
We care too much about our welfare and
our comfort.
The victory in Christ is not that everything
goes smoothly,
but that even in rough waters we have
the peace and the joy of the Lord.
To take up your cross
daily, is to know always,
that we are crucified, and dead to our
own welfare;
and dead to this world's offerings.
We follow Him, in instructions,
given to those who knew what it meant,
to be crucified with Him.
To follow Him, is to trust in His Word,
and continue in His teachings, the Scriptures
rightly divided.
It is allowing the Word of God, to be
manifested in our behavior,
from doctrine to life, from teaching to
reality.
Many misunderstand
the saying of Jesus, and feel
(we should not go by our feelings)
that taking up one's own cross is to die
to self,
to the world and to SIN every day.
It is not something we must DO by trying
to crucify ourselves.
It is not doing. It is knowing.
It is knowing in my heart that it was already
done and that I am dead,
for I was nailed to the cross with Him
approximately 2,000 years ago.
He meant for us to remember always
(daily) that we are dead.
Lest
we forget that He died for us,
which is salvation, He instituted the
Lord's
Supper.
Lest we forget that
we died with Him, which is sanctification,
He instituted Baptism.
Not only must we know it in our minds,
but we must understand the significance
of it in our hearts,
and rest on it completely. While
it is true that sanctification
is also included in salvation, as we are
sanctified once and for all,
it is also distinct and progressive in
our daily lives.
We are saved for
heaven eternally.
We are also being saved from the
power and dominion of the corruptness
of this world,
and from the power and dominion of Sin
that is in us.
The reality of this is only true, not by
trying to resist the lust that may come,
but of knowing our death with Him.
The lure of this world has no attraction
to one that is dead.
The progressive separation,
comes only by the progressive learning.
Learn the Word of God, and in particular,
learning more and more of the depth of
the work of the Cross of Christ,
and to know in depth the Grace of God.
The Cross of Christ was
our starting point in salvation,
and it continues to be our starting point
in sanctification.
His blood that was shed on the cross,
saved us from the penalty of sins,
for He died for us.
His Cross delivers us from the power of
Sin, for we died with Him.
Although
in
some ways, we learn from our daily experience,
our experiences must be related to the
Cross.
It is the Cross that gives us light in
our experiences in truth.
We cannot build a doctrine from our experiences
alone.
It is relative to the Cross. The
Cross gave us the revelation of our true self,
as sinners,
and the Cross gives us the truth of ourselves.
of our inability to cope with Satan,
SIN and from the lust of this world.
It is the Cross of Christ that is the power
of God unto Salvation,
and it is also the power of God unto sanctification.
On Calvary,
there were only 3 crosses.
One thief died on the left of Jesus,
and the other died on the right of Jesus.
Where is your cross?
Our cross is the same cross that Jesus
died on,
for we were crucified with Him.
Therefore, taking up my cross is taking
up His Cross,
for I was crucified with Him. When
I took His Cross as mine,
I had salvation.
When I continue to
take His Cross as mine,
I am growing in sanctification.
But in reality, I have takin His Cross
in my heart by faith,
and believing, that He died for me,
It is not I, who is carrying His Cross,
but it is His Cross or Jesus,
that is carrying me and my cross (which
is His Cross)for me,
for it is He who died for me.
His Cross carried me in salvation,
and now His cross contiues to carry me
in sanctification.
Too many forget the cross,
or takes it for granted after they are
saved.
You must learn and understand the deeper
meaning
of the operation of the cross in you life.
In the
Gospel of Matthew, Mark and Luke,
we read that a man named Simon of Cyrene,
is compelled to carry the Cross for Jesus,
on the way to Calvary
(Mt. 27:32; Mk. 15:21; Lk. 23:26).
But in the Gospel of John, 19:17,
who is carrying the Cross?
Jesus!
Why is there a difference.
In the first 3 Gospels, Jesus
is protrayed as man.
In Matthews as The King of the Jews.
In Mark as the Perfect Servant,
and in Luke as the Perfect Man.
In John however,
Jesus has come to
us as the Eternal God.
If you know Jesus only
as a man, you will carry your own cross,
and it is very heavy and burdensome in
this life.
So many are struggling to live the Christian
life.
It is not only hard to live the Christian
life, but impossible.
Give up!
You cannot do it.
Get to know Jesus as God, and you will
realize,
it is He who is bearing the Cross for
you.
But you say, I do know that Jesus is God!
Yes,
but you must know Him as your God!
The Apostle Paul
says,
"Henceforth know
we no man after the flesh;
yea though we
have known Christ after the flesh,
yet now henceforth know we him no more
(after the flesh).
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he
is a new creature,
old things are passed away; behold all
things are become new
(2Co. 5:16-17).
Jesus says in Mat. 11:28-30;
"Come unto me,
all ye that labour and are heavy laden,
and I will give
you rest.
Take my yoke
upon you, and learn of me;
for I am meek
and lowly in heart:
and ye shall
find rest unto your souls.
For my yoke is
easy, and my burden is light."
What is the yoke?
It is His Cross.
It was there that we were crucified with
Him.
He said it is easy, because He is carrying
it for you.
You that are laboring are carrying your
own cross,
and it is heavy, tiring.
You who emphasizes works, are doing the
same thing.
It's tiring, burdensome,
and surely after a while complaints will
come, as Martha did.
What does a Cross signify?
It signifies death.
The Cross of Christ signifies Christ's
death,
and my cross signifies my death.
When I take His Cross as my own in my heart,
I know He died for me; that is salvation.
When I take up my cross in my heart,
I know I died with Him; that is sanctification.
When I know I am crucified, I have taken
up my cross in my heart.
When I know I am dead, I have taken up
my cross in my heart.
But I have no cross of my own.
Thus, taking up my cross is really making
His Cross mine,
through a deeper knowledge and understanding,
of the meaning of His Cross and of the
Grace of God.
Taking
up
my cross is not trying,
but knowing and acknowledging that I am
dead.
If I am trying to take up my cross,
I am not dead but a struggle is going
on.
Knowing that you are dead,
is a revelation that God must give you
in your heart.
It will not be revealed to you,
until you realize the deeper meaning of
the Cross of Christ,
and all that He has accomplished on the
Cross.
On the Cross,
Christ said;
"It is finished."
This is what you must
see, and know in your heart,
that Christ has done it all.
You saw this in salvation and believed
and was saved.
You must also see this in sanctification.
When you truly see this,
the resurrection of Christ becomes real
in your life,
and the full Gospel becomes yours.
The death, burial, and the resurrection
of the Lord,
become real in your life and knowing this
reality,
you have entered into His Rest.
Some are trying to
enter into His Rest.
You enter in when you believe and know
in your heart that it is finished.
The Israelites could not enter in because
of unbelief
(Heb. 3:19).
You have entered in when you know in your
heart,
the deeper meaning of the Cross,
and that you are crucified with Him.
You will see Him seated at the right hand
of God,
and know in your heart that Christ ,
through His Spirit now resides in you,
that you can walk by faith.
To
be saved is simply to believe in our heart,
what the Lord had done on the cross.
We believe that He was crucified for our
sins,
and God raised Him from the dead by the
power of His Spirit.
We believe that in resurrection,
and He sat down on the right hand of God.
We cannot add even a fraction of an ounce
of works,
to what Jesus did for our salvation,
but believe in Him and in His Word,
for we are saved by grace through faith.
We cannot add anything
for sanctification also,
but to continue to believe in Him and
in His Word.
As we grow in grace and knowledge of Him,
that the life of Jesus, the power of His
Word grows more deeply in us.
It was through Him that we are saved,
and it is through Him we are sanctified,
and live the victorious life. This
then display the attributes,
the character of Christ,
that the fruit of the Spirit is produced,
that others may partake of Christ and
of God.
God did His part as he did
it by grace,
and our part is to rest
and we do it by faith.
The unbelievers have
difficulty in understanding,
how anyone can be save without doing good,
or being good,
or doing something on their part.
It is also difficult for the person,
after he or she is saved,
to understand that they do not have to
do anything for God.
It is done for salvation,
and it is done for sanctification,
and appropriated to me, only by His grace
through faith.
Everything is by grace
through faith,
through the deeper knowledge of His love
for us,
that was displayed on the Cross.
The more we know of His love for us,
the more our faith in Him grows
(Gal. 5:6).
It is the wonderful
Gospel,
that the Christian emphatically declares
to the unbelievers,
"you do not have to do anything for salvation,
because Jesus has done it all, and you
are save by faith in Him."
I cannot, must not, shall not, do absolutely
anything for salvation,
for He has done it all and it is finished.
But it is sad to hear them
say to Christians,
"now that we are saved, we must do this
and do that for God."
I’ve read and heard
Christian preachers say;
“go to God and ask Him what He wants you
to do for Him.”
In the Gospel of John, the Jews asked
Jesus,
“What shall we
do that we might work the works of God.”
Jesus replied,
“this is the
work of God that you believe on Him whom He has sent.”
The church at Ephesus in Rev.
2:1-6 were working hard,
but He says to them, to repent, and do
the first works.
The first works is to believe.
They are not doing the first works,
because they have forgotten their first
love,
which is the love of God for them,
that was shown on the Cross of Calvary.
It is God that did the works and it is
God that is still working.
If the mayor or
governor wrote you a letter,
and instructed you to prepare a place,
for he is coming to speak to the people.
And told you to make some posters, cater
some food,
and let the town people know the time
and place, etc.
You call him on the phone and asked him;
Sir, what do you want me to do?
What do you think his reply would be?
Didn't you get my letter?
God has given us the complete Word
of God.
To go to Him and ask Him what do you want
me to do,
is not reading and understanding the Scripture.
2 Tim 3:16-17;
"All
scripture is given by inspiration of God,
and is profitable
for doctrine, for reproof, for correction,
for instruction
in righteousness:
That the man
of God may be perfect,
throughly furnished
unto all good works."
We are saved by faith and
we live by faith.
If salvation by faith is resting
on Him,
than sanctification is also by faith,
and resting on Him.
Sanctification is knowing more and
more of the operation of the Cross,
that the reality of the power of the Word
of God becomes real in our live.
To be sanctified more
completely,
is to understand the deeper meaning of
the Cross.
To know our crucifixion with Him,
and all that Jesus had done to release
us,
from the power of SIN.
We must go through and understand the
Cross first,
before the resurrected life of Christ
becomes real in our lives.
If I am dead, I can do nothing.
When I try to do something for God, I
fall again into
(Rom. 7:15-24):
"the
good that I know I should do, I do not,
but the evil
that I don't want to do, I do,
it is no more
I that do it but SIN that dwelleth in me...etc."
I have uncrucified
myself, that is,
I do not know the death of myself on the
Cross with Him.
I am struggling again, for I am alive,
and my emotions are aroused,
and I am concerned about how I feel about
things, or about a situation.
I am trying to please God, and do God's
will by the principle of works.
I must not try to do anything for God,
but rest upon Him, His Word.
When I truly realize
I am dead,
I cannot and will not try to do anything
for God,
but know that it is all done, and I am
in His Rest.
If you are trying, you have not seen the
finished work of Christ in your heart.
If you are struggling, it is because you
are still trying,
and have not entered into His Rest.
When you see and know that you are dead,
you can do nothing.
Jesus said,
"without me you can do nothing"
(Joh 15:5).
When you know you are
in His Rest,
the resurrected Christ, through His Spirit,
will have the liberty to do the work in
you, and through you,
according to His will and for His Glory
(2Cor. 3:17-18).
Many have this struggle, because they think
being a Christian,
they must now do something for God,
or that God requires him to do something.
Is it law or grace, is it works or faith,
is it trying or trusting, it cannot be
both.
Many are entering into
the Sabbath day and resting physically.
Christians are resting on the Lord’s day
physically,
but their emotions are not at rest when
trials comes.
It is not a DAY nor is it our physical
REST.
CHRIST is our REST and it is OUR SOUL that
is resting.
To rest is to trust with your whole heart
in Christ,
to trust the Word of God.
No matter what the circumstances,
you rest upon the promises of His Word,
even unto death.
It does not matter what happens to you.
All that matters is Christ is glorified,
whether by life or by death for I am already
crucified and dead (Phi. 1:20).
Someone
said,
"I know we don't do anything,
but that does not mean we sit around and
don't do anything."
We must understand and differentiate between
the soul,
and the spirit and the body
(1Thes. 5:23).
As far as I am concerned, I am at rest
and not doing anything.
Others see me working, they see my physical
body moving,
but from my point of view, I am at rest.
My heart is at rest, trusting in His Word.
My soul is crucified, and my flesh (my
desires) is idle,
and I am living by faith in Christ, in
His Word.
Others must see Christ working in and
through the person,
and praise God and not the man.
The Scriptures say that
only the Word of God
is able to divide the soul and the spirit
(Heb. 4:12).
We must study the
Word of God,
and only through His Word can we understand,
and know the different behavior of the
soul, and the spirit
and who is in control within the body.
Is it the soul or is it the spirit?
Are you control by your emotions (flesh),
or by your mind (spirit) filled
with the Word of God rightly divided?
Not doing anything means
the soul is at rest.
It is the emotional part of your soul
that is at rest.
You still have emotions, but it does not
control your mind, your spirit.
You do not do things of God by how you
feel.
The Word of God controls
your mind and your heart,
and your soul is filled with the emotions
of love, joy, mercy, peace, etc.
This wonderful emotion, is the result
of knowing more of the Word of God,
more of Jesus and knowing more deeply
the love of God,
the great love that God has for you and
me.
When the soul is at
rest,
you do not go by your feelings but by
faith.
Doubts, fears, anxieties are common to
us as humans,
but they should not have complete control
of our lives,
to the point of dominating our lives.
When you believe that
it is all done in Christ,
the soul is at rest and the Holy Spirit
can work in you,
and through you,
for you have yielded (peristemi,
stand beside) your body
(Rom. 12:1).
The person is now active
physically in the things of God,
because it is the Word of God and the
Holy Spirit,
who is the power through grace,
and faith is the channel by which these
things are real in our lives.
When we see the body active and
busy,
the question is who is moving the body?
Is it by the energy of the flesh,
or is it the spirit of the person that
is filled with the Word of God,
and led by the power of the Holy Spirit?
If it
is the energy of the flesh, the soul will soon tire,
the emotions will arise,
and the person will soon become discouraged
and disgruntled.
Complaints will surely follow as Martha
did.
These complaints are not only towards
the Christians,
but we will complain toward the unbelievers
at work,
and in other areas and our behavior will
not be a testimony to them.
Trying
to push a car to do 100 miles an hour is futile,
if the car is not equipped with the horse
power to go that fast.
No matter how hard you push, the gas pedal
the car cannot do it.
It is the car's internal makeup that is
important.
Trying to do God's work, when we are not
filled with the Word of God,
in understanding, will end in futility
also.
It is God who worketh in you and through
you
(Phil. 2:13).