Matthew 16:24-27

The Reality of the Gospel

Perhaps one of the strangest mix-ups in human history is the distortion of the Gospel of Christ. How so? For one, something so clear and so straightforward is messed with. The Gospel is no foggy matter, and the reasoning behind its importance is quite obvious. "All have sinned..." The second, and perhaps larger, confusion about the distortion of the Gospel is that of its importance. Humanity, being so evidently in error and sin, has distorted or rejected the only Salvation from sin. Sin is not just a clearly see-able thing in which we can be ignorant of while completing the tasks the temptation of sin requires of us. We are not ignorant of a great deal of our sins. The issue is that we, humanity, try to justify the sins, thus making it only greater sin before God. Christ said concerning the scribes and Pharisees, "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense you make long prayers; therefore you will receive greater condemnation." (Mat. 23:14.) Those who misuse righteousness are those who will actually have a greater condemnation in hell than their followers. 
But alas, this small text here makes clear the need, and the clarity, of the Gospel. 

The Foundation of the Gospel (vs 24)
"Then Jesus said to His disciples, 'If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.'"

Verse 24 of this text I would like to break down a bit more than the rest, as it opens up the foundation on which the Gospel is set. 
The first phrase to notice in this first is "If anyone..." 
This is very clear. There are many who like to distort this, either in a very light minded fashion, or in a very Calvinistic sort of sense.  The first being that Jesus came and chose to die for everyone, so that all can go to Heaven. Their usage of the word "all" however, is a very extreme distortion. We know for certain that, based on the context of both the Old and New Testaments, not all go to Heaven. Not all who name the name of Christ will be saved (Mat. 7:21-23), in the sense of saying a specific prayer, or doing a certain "good work" apart from giving one's life over to Christ. However, we also have another distortion, one of which may very well be often overlooked. That being a sort of extreme Calvinistic sort of distortion of the text, not directly speaking heresy, but making this text either too hard, or too unbelievable for the common unbeliever. They like to say, "By "anyone", it actually only means the elect." True, but that is not the point of the text, nor is that our outlook on life. It is a fact that God has chosen who will and will not be saved (Rom. 8:29). However, from the perspective of people, that is now how we see things in terms of salvation. It is a  wonderful fall back point (the place we fall back to when doubts and fears may arise), but it is not the main focal point. For us, if anyone wishes to be saved, they must come to Christ. There must be no closed sort of view here. No one on this earth is apart from the salvation of the Gospel until they die. Even Hitler could very well have been saved. That is not for us to judge, but Christ alone. 
Saul of Tarsus is, perhaps, one of my favorite examples of salvation. He, who was most likely far worse than Hitler, was saved, and became the twelfth apostle of Christ. How could he have been worse than Hitler? According to Galatians 1:13, he assaulted the church "beyond measure", that is to say, far beyond comparison. To measure would require something of which to compare it to, and because his attacks against Christ were so brutal and evil, there was simply nothing to compare it to. Paul himself said this. But, he was saved on the road to Damascus (on his way to persecute only more Christians), and became one of the better known apostles. (In terms of how much he had written that we have in our Bibles.) So the point of all this to ask the obvious question, "Who is beyond salvation on this earth?" No human being, no matter how evil, is beyond salvation until death. "For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; for 'Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.'"

However, this does not in fact mean that all are saved. Salvation is open to all, but it is not given to all. "for 'Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.'" Only those who "take up their cross" will be saved. More will be dealt with on this later, however. 
The second phrase to look at here is "...wishes to come after Me..."
Most people these days, as it seems, expect that Jesus is waiting for me to come to Him. They take the idea of Him "knocking at the door" as though He is just going to sit there, begging me to come to Him. On the contrary, perhaps it is better for the sake of the example to say that He is going door-to-door (not that I advocate that type of sharing the Gospel) knocking, giving the option of salvation, and then moving on to the next. People will either sit on the couch, growing ever fatter in their sin and arrogance, or they will truly follow Him. He is not, in a sense, waiting for us to come to Him. If we are "elect", we will come to Him. But Christ is not subjected to us, but we to Him. "Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.” (Acts 17:30-31.) It must also be pointed out that Christ is, in a perfect sense, waiting for all the elect. "For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery—so that you will not be wise in your own estimation—that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in..." (Rom. 11:25.) That last phrase there is speaking of the entirety of the elect coming to Salvation. Christ will come when all His elect have been saved. Once they are all saved, there will be no salvation for the world, as they will not want it. "The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance." (cf. Luke 21:24.)
The third phrase I'll look at is "...he must deny himself..."
To deny one's self is a bit of a mixed bag to most people, perhaps, when they hear of it. The first issue is... what does it mean? How can I deny myself? Deny my own being? Not exactly. To deny one's self is to deny the selfish, fleshly, anti-God desires and temptations that so often attack us. Or rather, to deny the old man any room within our being. Paul makes the battle itself quite clear in Romans 7:18-24: 
"For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?"
The old, sinful nature certainly dwells in these bodies. But who are we? Who is this that wishes to do good? Paul makes this quite clear in verse 25, saying "Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin." Thanks to the mercy of God, through the work of Christ, we are no longer "slaves to sin." So what does it then to mean to deny one's self? Even to the "well seasoned Christian", the denial of self is an ever constant battle. This is no shock to any true Christian, as this battle begins the instant one is saved. In fact, to write this post, I am denying the fleshly desire to lay down on the couch and sleep. It is rather warm in here (the living room), and I am not entirely in the mood to finish this part of this post. But alas, I do not do this for myself, nor even entirely for the readers (as few as they are). I do this for God, and to do thus is to deny myself, as my flesh (the old man) wants nothing to do with God. 
Now, perhaps another encouraging aspect of the denial of self is its possibly. It isn't impossible. In fact, there is always a way to escape a temptation. (Read 1 Cor. 10:13.) There is always a back door. It is also, however, another aspect of defeating self, when it comes to taking that door. 
It is also a need that one not give the temptation any room in our thinking. Christ's response to this was quite direct: Scripture. This is always a solution to any temptation, as it is the Word of God, not by mystical power, but by the fact that it is the complete opposite to sin. 
And lastly, this is to remove any arrogance. Before any man or woman is saved (no matter the age), they believe life is about them, one way or another. The will of God is not what they want, as they don't even truly care to see what that will is. Christ made the reality quite clear in Mat. 7:21, saying "Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter." There are many who claimed to be saved, yet their desire is not the will of God, but their own. If they truly sought the will of God, they wouldn't look to visions, mystical voices or any of that sort of thing, as they are not solid Truth. Many claim to have the truth, but so very few have the Reality that is found in God's Word (the Bible) alone. Christ Himself quoted Scripture. (Mat. 4:4, 7, 10.) And His will was not based upon His own desires, but as He made clear in John 6:38, "For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me." 
The last phrase of this verse is "...and take up his cross and follow Me." 
The gist of the first verse is this: Anyone who wishes to come after Christ must deny themselves and take up their cross so that he can follow Christ. The last part is no easy part either. To take up one's cross is not a physical sort of task (as in, taking up a real wooden cross and, say, carrying it across a nation). This is the taking up of the suffering of Christ. The life of a Christian not only will have suffering, but it must have suffering. If any man went through life without a single speck of suffering, one could easily call into question his faith. Suffering must come, as it is a part of who we are in Christ. "You will be hated by all because of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved." (Mat. 10:22.) In fact, Paul makes it clear in Philip. 1:29-30 that we will suffer the same things as he did. "For to you it has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake, experiencing the same conflict which you saw in me, and now hear to be in me." That is not saying that we must suffer constant physical brutality to our mortal bodies while we are on this earth. The apostles did not merely suffer physical pain, but also other sorts of pain. For example, the apostle Paul seemed to have a great deal of emotional pain when the churches he was writing to would slip up. With the Corinthians, Galatians and the like, he was often troubled by their error. Plus, in the life of the Christian, many who formerly loved us will suddenly turn on us. Many will give in around us during our lives, and will give up the Faith and turn to vain speculations and sin. To take up the cross is to take up a life of pain and suffering. This will certainly not be your "best life now" nor will this make every day life any easier. Plus, the title of Christian is no mere title. It is binding one's self to the name of Christ, thus being one who lives as He did, heeding His words and works. This is no mere religion nor a simple system of works and sayings, but the giving of one's life to God. That is, seeking His praise and glory in all things, and doing all according to His Word. Thus comes the title of Christian. This does not mean, however, that the life of a Christian will be utterly devoid of joy and happiness. But it will be of a different sort of joy, not the fluffy, all ignorant joy, but the joy in seeing the complete control of God, despite the evil all around, and the anticipation of the coming of Christ. There is, in fact, much joy. But there is also much suffering. Neither can be forgotten. The change of life that is the moment of salvation is also a changing of the meaning to the words "joy" and "suffering." And Scripture makes both of these very clear. 



The Man of God vs The Man of the World (vs 25)
"For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it."

The general theme of verse 25 here is quite a bit deeper than most probably realize when they read this text. Most probably assume it simply means something along the lines of, "Whoever lives to save themselves will die, and whoever dies for Me will live forever." However, it goes beyond just death. 
The Amplified Version translates this text as "For whoever is bent on saving his [temporal] life [his comfort and security here] shall lose it [eternal life]; and whoever loses his life [his comfort and security here] for My sake shall find it [life everlasting]." So here we have two groups of people, the first being the world (sinful, arrogant, God-hating) and the second being the children of God. 
The first group is very broad. It includes all mankind who is without Christ. And by that, I mean murderers, liars, those who give to charities, those in political power, false preachers, monks, accountants... anyone who is without Christ. Not to say that all of these are naturally without Christ. Obviously, there have most likely been plenty of accountants, political figures, people who give to charities and even monks (such as Martin Luther) who were saved through Christ. The point here is that anyone (and that pretty much means anyone, be they man, women, evil or determined as "good" by society) without Christ is doomed. These truly live for themselves. They do not deny themselves, but rather, they seek to "find themselves." They desire to write their own destiny, and hate the idea of actually being truly helpless without Christ. "All have sinned..." is fairly clear, is it not? These fear the judgment of God (that being hell) but not God Himself. They fear losing their lives, thus some even "say the prayer" but they neglect to give the entirety of their lives over to God through Christ. Because anyone who is truly saved through Christ would have the Spirit within them, and anyone with the Spirit within them would do as Christ did, and do all for the glory of God, not themselves. "But they do!" some may say. On the contrary, many claim to, but it is still by their own terms. "I'll do this for God, and that, and a little of this..." The error with that thinking is that it is more likely to be aligned with their own desires. That is to say, they regard little the Word of God (His commands) and regard highly their supposed ability to do good things. They wouldn't give to a charity because generosity is commanded in Scripture. They'd do so because it feels right to them. Why give to the needy? Why humility? Why respect? Why honor authorities? Why obey parents? Because it feels right? "May it never be!" We do thus because we are commanded to by God. A clear reading of the Scripture clearly demands humility before God. And that is more than likely to be something that doesn't just come naturally 24/7. Mankind, in and of himself (men and women alike) is totally and entirely evil and selfish. Romans 1 and Romans 3 make this very clear, and the comparison God gives in passages like the ending of the book of Job (38-on) and in Isaiah, He makes it clear that no many can come even a speck of an inch close. Those of the world live to live. That is, they live their lives to the fullest, as they say, and do all they can for their own glory. Yet the many tombs and graves prove that, no matter how hard they try, they are forgotten eventually on this earth. But nothing of the world is forgotten by the Almighty. These who live for themselves are those who will face the judgment of God Almighty, and will thus spend their eternity in hell, which is not eternal life, but eternal judgment. These want to be saved from something, but not to Someone. 
The second group is the children of God- those saved by the blood of Christ.These "take up" their cross. In this verse, this is one of the most straightforward realities of giving up one's life for the name of Christ. It is, in essence, losing your life. That is to say, handing one's life completely and utterly over to God. Not that we sacrifice ourselves literally, as some believe, but that our entire focus in life is on the will of God. How do we find His will? The Scripture. His written Word. Not mystical signs and wonders, as many like to claim are the true "word." In fact, these lies, such as being "slain in the Spirit" and "speaking in tongues" are, in ways, denying this passage in Scripture. They want to see signs that prove their "faith", which really then contradicts the very meaning to faith. These don't want to take up a cross- they want God to mystically hold it up for them. And thus comes another aspect to taking up one's cross (giving your life to God through Christ): the complete willingness to give up all comfort and joy. In Hebrews, the writer commended them for accepting "joyfully the seizure of your property, knowing that you have for yourselves a better possession and a lasting one." (Heb. 10:34.) There are two types of sacrifice in this area: the first is the purposefully giving up one's possessions. For example, when King David went to build an alter and sacrifice to the Lord, he didn't simply use his royal authority and take the land to build the alter. When the owner even freely offered it to him, he replied, "No, but I will surely buy it for the full price; for I will not take what is yours for the LORD, or offer a burnt offering which costs me nothing." (1 Ch. 21:24.) Yet these days, you commonly see televangelists asking for the money of others as a "seed" that they then sow to God. (People must give their own money to the church on their own convictions, not on the word of the very one they are giving it to, otherwise it is no more a true sacrifice to God than man jumping off a building for nothing.) A Christian must not only be a constant learner of the Truth, but also a constant applier of the Truth. Without the Truth, these false teachers will easily take their minds. And thus, the reality of taking up one's cross is twisted. It no longer means what Scripture says, but rather, they say it means to literally take up a cross and travel the United States. Because the true cross is a stumbling block.
All that we have belongs to God. 

The Temporal verses the Eternal (vs. 26)
"For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?"

It does no one any good to withhold the Truth of Scripture. The fear of offense and hate isn’t something that should be a factor in our thinking when we share the pure Gospel of Christ. Different Truths in Scripture we may have to avoid at first, but the Gospel itself must never be watered down, toned down or even slightly ignored. As will be dealt with soon, the coming of Christ is at hand. His judgment is sure, and it will overthrow the earth.
So as Christ asks here, what good would it do anyone to gain the whole world and still lose his eternal soul in hell? To “gain the world” does not mean to rule it entirely. To gain the world, really, is to gain all one could want. To “have everything.” What if one gained all they could ever want, and yet, still be destined for eternal hell? And yet, so many actually choose hell. Not in that they say, “I want to go to hell!” (though some actually do, or get close to it) but that these live for what is present, not future. These fear death, because it is the end of their temporal pleasures. It is facing what they have done before the judgment of Christ, and realizing their error too late. In the UK, they have buses that go around now and then that say things such as (paraphrasing), “There probably isn’t a God, so live your life.” It is the whole concept of “Your Best Life Now” and “Enjoying Everyday Life.” That’s all the world has- today. That’s it. They forfeit their souls for meaningless comforts, knowing full well their doom, and yet denying it at every turn. These are those who live for their temporal comforts and joys. These are those who will lose their life, as Christ said in the previous verse.
So what is worth giving our eternal soul to? Most give them over to, again, temporal things. Food, fads, systems, governments, people, idols, etc. Everyone in that camp has given themselves over to sin. They have ignored or flat-out denied the salvation through Christ, and care nothing for the fact that they “missed the mark” of perfection before God. “Nobody’s perfect” they say, and they claim right there that “Nobody can be.” On the contrary, we are commanded to be perfect. Christ said that earlier in Matthew 5:48. “Therefore you are to be perfect, as your Heavenly Father is perfect.” But how can we be perfect? One often hears professing Christians say things like “I’m a wretched sinner!” Really? If we are “only a sinner, saved by grace” then we haven’t actually been saved. If one had cancer, and they had a surgery that completely cured them, would they still go around telling people “I have cancer, but I don’t”? Scripture makes it clear that we must hit the mark, not miss it (as is the definition of sin [missing the mark]). And thus comes Christ. For non-believers, this is a new Truth. Whether or not they deny this Truth is an entirely different question (because many have seen the Truth, but few acknowledge it as such). But for a believer, this must be a constant reminder of where we were. Not are, but where we came from. “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.” (Gal. 2:20.) To ignore the Truth and live for the world (any path that isn’t following Christ) will gain one visible results now. They will see the fruits of their self-reliant faith now, and will be happy now. But they have no true hope. They will suffer later. But if one takes up their cross and follows Christ, they will suffer here on earth. There is no such thing as a Christian who does not suffer for the Faith. It is clearly seen through Scripture that it must happen. Not to say there isn’t joy. But the definition of “joy” dramatically changes. And the fullest of joy will come later, not now. But that will be an eternal joy, not a temporal one as the world has. 

 The Reason to Repent (vs. 27)

"For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and will then repay every man according to his deeds."

Neither living for the world nor living for Christ will change this reality: He is coming. The New Testament makes this very clear (and perhaps one day I should write a post on eschatology). Some whom Paul had written to were worried that they had missed the coming of Christ. It is one of the tactics of the false teachers, to make Christians believe they have missed His coming. But alas, He is coming, and the “signs of the times” are very clear. For the sinner, the ones who rejected Christ, they must take heed to Mat. 3:2, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (See also Mat. 4:17, Mark 1:15, Luke 13:3.) The Christian must look to Rev. 3:11, "I am coming quickly; hold fast what you have, so that no one will take your crown." As Paul warned the Galatians in Gal. 5:1, the false teachers will try to get the Christian to subject themselves once again to a "yoke of slavery." They are trying to steal our crown, which is not a crown of gold and silver alone, but this is a crown of righteousness, as Paul told Timothy in 2 Tim. 4:8. That is, they are trying to take our righteousness which is found in Christ and get us to try and earn our own supposed righteousness. Our true crowns will be cast before God, as He is the only One worthy of praise. But these false "righteous works" will be burned up. Thus the need to repent, take up one's cross, and live for the will of God alone. 

Christ is coming at a time when no one knows. The saved and the unsaved do not know when He is coming. "But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone." (Mat. 24:36.) The saved know He is coming, but they do not know the day nor the hour, so they expect Him at any moment. (See Mat. 24:43; 25:13.) The unsaved may or may not know He is coming (satan knows), but they really don't try to care. For them, He will come as a thief in the night (1 Thess. 5:2) and they will be caught off guard. And all will be judged according to their works. The unsaved will stand before Christ by themselves, holding merely their works, based on only their "good intentions." And they will receive such a rebuke. The saved, however, will stand before Christ with the righteousness of Christ. Their works will be tried, and all that is found in faith in Christ will be eternal. (See 1 Pet. 1:3-9.) "For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ." (Gal. 1:10.) “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’" (Matthew 7:21-23.) 

“Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming. But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. For this reason you also must be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will. Who then is the faithful and sensible slave whom his master put in charge of his household to give them their food at the proper time? Blessed is that slave whom his master finds so doing when he comes. Truly I say to you that he will put him in charge of all his possessions. But if that evil slave says in his heart, ‘My master is not coming for a long time,’ and begins to beat his fellow slaves and eat and drink with drunkards; the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour which he does not know, and will cut him in pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." - Matthew 24:42-51.