Gtcotr/ws120821
This evening I am going to be preaching from the Bible my mom and dad gave me on December 8, 1971. December the 8th, of 1971 was on a Wednesday, and it was my 17th birthday. It took a few years for me to appreciate that gift. Now, 50 years ago to the day my mom and dad gave this Bible to me, it is another Wednesday, but I am a much different man today than I was in 1971.
In a very successful effort to connect with my memories and the hopes my mom and dad had for me when they decided what to get me for my 17th birthday, I decided to review all the things I wrote in that Bible during that first decade after receiving it. One of the recurring themes I found during those critical years of my discipleship was the realization that God wanted to use me for His to help Him do what He wanted to do instead of me using Him to help me do what I wanted to do.
So, allow me to read from a well-marked passage in that Bible. This is The Message God gave me 50 years ago. I guess you might say it’s a 50 year-old message that’s still fresh for us today.
Matthew 16 KJV
24 ¶ Then Jesus said to His
disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take
up his cross, and follow Me.
25 “For whoever desires to
save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find
it.
26 “For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?
Deny himself
·
Sinful
self
·
Righteous
self
·
Selfish
self
o Don’t deny Jesus His
Lordship … (Luke 9:26 “ashamed”)
o Deny yourself to sit on the throne
Take up his cross
·
Cheerful
and patient endurance of shame and pain for the cause of Christ.
· Paul’s example in Jerusalem, (Acts 21:31ff).
Follow Jesus
·
Be
like Jesus …
·
It’s
all about others
·
The
Bible is not a candy store and God is not a spiritual Santa Clause
·
We
should know and feel God’s love and also make sure we understand that the
blessings of God are conditional.
