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To be a Christian, as we know, is to be a disciple, a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, it is crucial for us to know who Jesus is; that will inform how we follow him and will determine whether we are true disciples of the Lord or not. Knowing who Jesus is, in this sense of discipleship, is not just the possession of intellectual information, but the consistent application of this revealed truth to our lives. To know who Jesus is involves the faithful living out of the truth about who Jesus is, with all of its implications for us.

And this is what we see in the passage that we read just now. Jesus begins by asking the disciples, “Whom do men say that I am?” A variety of responses are given—a whole list of misconceptions. In verse 28, we hear John the Baptist, Elias, or Elijah, one of the prophets. There's a focus here on carnal things; there's a focus on man, human prophets—John the Baptist, Elijah, or one of the other human prophets. All are missing the point that the Lord Jesus is not just another human prophet; he is the prophet of prophets, the Son of God himself, incarnate in the flesh. They have missed the infinitely greater Prophet, Christ, by their carnal focus on man.

Then Jesus asks the disciples, the Twelve, “But whom say ye that I am?” Peter gives a good confession. Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Messiah.” Peter correctly identifies who Jesus is; of course, this has been revealed by the Father, as we read in the Gospel of Matthew. But Peter declares this blessed truth about who Jesus is: “You are the Christ.” But is that enough? Is it enough merely to say or to know intellectually, “Yes, you are the Messiah”?

The Lord goes on to explain to his disciples just what it means that he is the Christ and what it is that he came to do. He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected of the elders and of the chief priests and scribes, and be killed; and after three days, rise again. This is what he came to do; this is the plan of God. This is what the Messiah must do. The Son of Man must suffer many things; there’s no option. This is the plan and will of God.

And here we see Peter falter in the proper application of the truth that he has just confessed. He falters in really understanding and embracing the implications for himself of who Jesus is—the Christ, the Son of Man. Peter doesn’t like what the Lord is explaining and teaching the disciples. In verse 31, he doesn’t like this truth about the Christ. “The Son of Man must suffer many things, be rejected, be killed.” That’s not what I mean when I say, “You are the Christ.” Peter took it upon himself even to rebuke the Lord. In verse 32, Peter took him and began to rebuke him.

You see the sad and tragic irony here. We might say this is well-intentioned on Peter's part. Perhaps he thought it was not honoring to Christ to suffer, to be killed. He’s thinking, perhaps, of the Son of Man described in the Book of Daniel, chapter 7. The Son of Man receives his kingdom from the Ancient of Days. The Christ isn’t supposed to be rejected, to be killed, to suffer. “You are supposed to reign! This is not what I mean when I say, ‘You are the Christ.’”

The irony here: Peter has just confessed Jesus as the Messiah, and now he takes it upon himself to rebuke the Lord Jesus, saying to Jesus, “You are Lord, but I know better than you. You are Lord; now listen to me. I will tell you what it means that you are the Christ.” Peter should have known better. Jesus is Lord; he has just confessed Jesus is the Christ. They are his disciples; they follow him. He doesn’t follow them. He knows the Father’s will; they must submit to him. They must receive instruction from him, not take it upon themselves to teach him.

We should recognize, I think, in light of the context, that Peter is thinking of himself more than Christ. He objected to a suffering Messiah because he did not want to be the disciple of a suffering Messiah. He did not want to suffer. He was looking forward to a reigning and ruling Messiah because, as the disciple—even the chief disciple—of a ruling Messiah, he would have a high position. He was thinking carnally, and in his own way, Peter was thinking just as carnally as those who said, “This is John the Baptist; this is Elijah; this is one of the prophets.” Peter also, even though he said with his lips, “You are the Christ,” was thinking carnally in his heart. He saw only an earthly Christ, earthly glory for himself as the disciple of an earthly Christ. But God’s plan is infinitely greater than Peter’s narrow idea.

And we see here also that, in thinking this way and in speaking this way, rebuking the Lord, Peter really had fallen prey to the wiles of the devil. In verse 33, the Lord rebukes Peter, saying, “Get thee behind me, Satan.” This is strong language. The Lord doesn’t use that word, that name, lightly. “Get thee behind me, Satan.” It’s very strong language; it’s a very strong warning and rebuke. It is a warning for us also because, again, the truth about who Jesus is is already a central focus of the devil’s attacks. There are many false conceptions, many deceptions, many heresies, many wrong teachings about the person and work of Christ. There are many who pervert and distort the truth about who Jesus is. There are many who say he is man but not God, or God but not man, or many other permutations and combinations contrary to the truth revealed in the Word of God. The devil is trying very hard to promote all these false Christs so that he can deceive and blind the people and keep them from salvation.

But if the enemy can’t get us here—if he can’t get us at the doctrine of Christ—then he will try to get us, as it were, at the next stage. He will try to prevent us from really appropriating and applying the true doctrine of Christ. He will try to drive a wedge, if you like, between our confession and our conversation. He will try to drive a wedge between our doctrine and our discipleship, so that with the mouth we confess what is true propositionally, but we do not live out that truth. We do not embrace that truth and its implications for us. Like Peter here, we confess that Jesus is Lord, but we fail to submit to his will. We confess that Jesus is the Christ who came to suffer and die for our sake, but we are unwilling to suffer for his sake, and we shun any suffering that we are called upon to undertake for the Lord’s name. That’s what happened to Peter here. With the mouth, he said, “You are the Christ,” but the moment it became evident that he would have to suffer, he said, “Lord, no! That’s not the way things are.” He rebuked the Lord.

And so, in order to thwart and overcome this attack of the devil, we must learn here what the Lord teaches his disciples. It is meant for all of us. In verse 34, he called the people unto him, with his disciples also, and said unto them, “It is something for all to learn. All who would be disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ must know this.” The Lord teaches us what it really means to be a follower of Christ, what it really means, in terms of the practical reality of our lives, to follow Christ. The Lord lays out the requirements for a true disciple of Christ, and then he gives reasons to exhort us in true discipleship. Finally, a reminder of what is really at stake. That’s what we want to focus on this morning: the requirements of a true disciple, reasons to exhort us, to encourage us to be a true disciple, and then a reminder of what is really at stake, so that we will not allow ourselves to be deceived or blinded or turned away from this truth and the faithful appropriation of this truth.

So first of all, the requirements of a true disciple. These requirements are an outworking of the implications of who Jesus is. If he is Lord and Christ, then this is what it means to follow him. These are the requirements, and they are universal requirements. “Whosoever will come after me,” these requirements apply to everyone who would follow Christ. They are ongoing requirements. This is the character of the whole Christian life. “Whosoever will come after me”—this is the requirement for the whole Christian life, not just at the beginning, not as one stage from which we graduate and move on, but this is the entirety of the Christian life. It consists of this: the requirement, first of all, to deny self. “Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself.” That’s really another way of saying that we must savor the things of God rather than the things of man or the things of self. Peter is rebuked again in verse 33: “Get thee behind me, Satan; for thou savest not the things that be of God, but the things that be of men.” Peter was thinking carnally. Peter was thinking selfishly. He was not denying himself at that point.

And so, when the Lord says, "Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself," there is another way of saying, "You must put aside the things that be of men and savor the things that be of God." You must choose and prize and treasure and delight in the things that be of God: God's will, God's plan, God's purpose—not your own, not your own desires, not your own convenience, not your own ambition.

To deny self is not talking about physical needs. It is not "deny self" as though we need to live an ascetic lifestyle: deny yourself the pleasure of three meals a day; eat only one meal; eat only bread; drink only water; live in a cave. That is not the self-denial that is spoken of here, because all these things can be done to the glory of God.

This kind of self-denial can be practiced full of the savor of the things that be of men. We’ve seen this happen at many points in the history of the church. Think only of the Pharisees—they denied themselves in this sense; they fasted twice in the week. Remember, as the Lord represents that Pharisee in the parable praying loudly, boasting, "I fast twice in the week."

"Twice a week I fast—that’s more than you!" But was that really self-denial? No! That was self-glory, that was self-promotion. To fast and then boast about it is hardly self-denial in the sense that the Lord means.

In fact, the Apostle Paul also condemns these things. If you look at Colossians chapter 2, the Apostle here is speaking of those who invent these arbitrary rules and restrictions as a kind of extra level of piety: "Touch not; taste not; handle not." Paul says these things all are to perish with the using. They are after the commandments and doctrines of men. This is not the will of God; these are not the things that be of God. These are the things that be of men, which have indeed a show of wisdom in appearance, but this is not true worship of God.

This is what is described here as will worship. This is worship according to man's will; these are doctrines of men, commandments of men. This is not the will of God obeyed in our worship. This is our own invention. They have a show of wisdom, but it is in will worship, not in the worship of God. They have a show of humility and neglecting of the body. There is no honor in it, and it does not deny the flesh; it satisfies the flesh. Because just like the Pharisees, those who practice these things boast about it. They pretend they have gone above and beyond God's requirements. "God, you said I must do this; I've done even more!"

This is not what the Lord means when He gives this requirement of self-denial.

Christian self-denial is about God, not self. It is something deeper and more sincere. This self-denial that the Lord is speaking of here is a genuine putting aside of our own desires, our own pleasures, our own convenience—a conscious choice of the things that be of God. It means we put aside all boasting in our own works, all reliance on our own works.

It is what the Apostle Paul describes in Philippians chapter 3. Here, Paul says, "Though I might also have confidence in the flesh, if any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more: circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee; concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. But what things were gained to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea, doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ."

That is the self-denial the Lord is speaking of here—to make self low, to put aside all glory in self, all boasting in self. It is not me; it is not anything that I have done; it is the Lord. Paul denies himself and puts aside all these things for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord.

This kind of self-denial is required if we are to come to Christ for salvation at all, but then it must continue. It must continue throughout the Christian life. We live the whole Christian life looking to Him, not to ourselves, not glorying in this self-denial. It means we put aside all reliance on our own strength, but we trust in the Lord and His enabling.

We find His grace sufficient for all things, for all our needs, for all our lives, from day to day. We put aside all desire for our own prestige. We say, "He must increase, and I must decrease."

Every day we live in that way: "He must increase; I must decrease." We put as our great object Christ—His glory, His calling for me. That’s self-denial—to make that the center of our lives. It’s not about what I want, but what the Lord wants. We are constantly asking that question: "Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?" That’s self-denial.

But so often, that is not our practice. That is not our habit. That is not our posture. We do not wake up in the morning thinking, asking, praying, "Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?" We wake up in the morning and make a list of all the things that we want to do without ever consulting the Lord, without ever seeking and submitting to His will.

Those are the things that be of men, not the things that be of God. We are not to savor those things. If we do not deny ourselves in this way, we cannot really be following the Lord. We may say it, but the devil has driven a wedge between our doctrine and our discipleship.

We can answer the question, "Who is Christ?" We can get an A when we submit that paper. But when we submit our lives to the Lord for His judgment, what will He say? Am I really the Lord of your life? Then why have you lived in this way?

"If any man will be a follower of Christ—whosoever will come after me—let him deny himself."

The second requirement: "Let him deny himself and take up his cross."

That refers to the practice of making the condemned man carry his own cross on the way to crucifixion. You read in John chapter 19—you don't have to turn there, but just listen. In John chapter 19, verse 17, we read that Jesus, bearing His cross, went forth into a place called the place of a skull, where He was crucified.

He was bearing His cross, and that was the custom: a condemned man, on the way to the place where he would be crucified, would bear his cross. He would have to carry at least one beam of the cross. But for the Christian, this image is used, but it is transformed.

"Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross." But it is not something onerous anymore. It is not something grudging and reluctant that we do. We are not like condemned men on the way to our demise.

We take up the cross, but now it is something joyful, something willing. It is not something imposed on us that we don’t want. The picture of a man going to his death is retained; we die to self, we die to the world, we are crucified with Christ. Yet we live! The picture is retained, but it is transformed because ours is a willing sacrifice, drawn by the mercies of God.

We present our bodies a living sacrifice to do His will. We die to self, we die to the world, we live to Christ, and we take up the cross gladly. We have been bought by the blood of Christ; we belong to Him, redeemed by that precious blood from our vain conversation. Now we are bought with a price; we are not our own, and we gladly accept all the consequences of union with Christ.

That’s the cross. The requirement to take up the cross is the requirement to bear willingly and joyfully all the sufferings and trials of the Christian life in this world—all the consequences of being a follower of Christ in this world that hates Christ and rejects Him.

To take up the cross is to be willing to be identified with Christ, even though it means reproach for us, even though it means suffering and tribulation for us, even though it means persecution for us. We take up the cross; we take it up willingly and joyfully.

We must be prepared for that: "Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross." There is a cross! We must not neglect that reality. We must be prepared for it and willing to bear it gladly.

We must be willing to bear it personally: "Let him deny himself and take up his cross." There’s a cross for you; there’s a cross for me. In the way that we walk, following the Lord, there will be sufferings and trials for you; there will be sufferings and trials for me.

And our calling is each to take up his cross, not for me to compare with you, not for me to say to the Lord, "It's unfair! My cross is heavier than his! How come I have to bear this cross, and he just has to bear this lighter cross? How come I have to suffer like this, and so-and-so doesn't have to suffer so much?"

You're not called to make such comparisons. As we read earlier on, as Peter again said to the Lord, "What will this man do?" Jesus said, "That is not your concern. If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? Follow thou me."

Each one of us—this is the requirement: take up your own cross and follow the Lord. Deny yourself, take up your own cross, and follow the Lord. This is what every disciple of Christ must be willing to do consistently throughout the course of our lives in this world. This is what it means to be a Christian.

We have to be clear-sighted about this. We have to count the cost, as the Lord Himself reminds us. We have to know what it means to be a follower of Christ. We have to know what we’re getting into, as it were. This means also, when we preach the gospel to others, when we tell people about the Lord, when we call on them to be disciples of the Lord Jesus—to put their trust in Him, to repent of their sins, to follow Him as Lord and Savior—we cannot hide this from them.

We cannot give the impression that the Christian life in this world is all easy and rosy. God has a good plan for you? Yes! But that good plan may involve a great deal of suffering. That good plan involves bearing the cross. We must present the kingdom rightly. It is glorious; it is wonderful. But it involves, in this life, suffering, rejection, persecution. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all.

Take up the cross! The Lord helps us; the Lord enables us. His grace is sufficient for us day by day. We have strength from Him to bear our cross. But there is a cross!

And then finally, "Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me." That’s the third requirement.

Of course, there’s not a strict chronology here. It’s not as though first we deny ourselves, and then we pick up the cross, and only then we start following Christ. They all go together. The point here is really that we cannot follow Christ without denying self, without being willing to bear the cross. Nor is self-denial in any way meaningful if it is not done in the way of following Christ.

I think that’s an important point that we must remember. Self-denial is no virtue by itself; in fact, it’s meaningless by itself. You can only deny self if someone has taken the place of self, if there is a Lord in my heart that has dethroned self and rules and reigns there. There can be no self-denial if I am not submitting to the Lord Jesus as Lord and Savior.

There are many religions that teach some form of what is called self-denial, ascetic lifestyle, and so on. All of that is in vain if it is not following Christ, if it is not in submission to the lordship of Christ. It’s not true self-denial at all.

And again, there are other philosophies of life that teach a kind of cross-bearing, being very stoic about facing the trials of life. All of that also is in vain if it is not done for Christ and in Christ.

Deny self, take up the cross, and follow me, Jesus said. That is the Christian life. That is a comprehensive description of the Christian life. That is a standard against which we can measure our own lives. Am I a Christian? Am I denying myself, taking up my cross, and following Christ?

We should examine ourselves in light of this. Again, it is a universal standard and requirement. Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. To be a Christian is to be following Christ, and to be following Christ is to be denying self and taking up our own cross daily—willingly, joyfully, submissively.

We should examine ourselves in light of these requirements. Of course, all this is impossible for the natural man. Without the powerful work of God in regeneration, we will not and cannot deny ourselves. There is a need for the new birth. You must be born again!

It is not as though we do these things in our own power, to our own merit. It’s not as though we can say on that day, "Lord, look at me! I denied myself; I took up my cross; I followed you! Am I not worthy?" No! We will never be able to say that. It is the Lord’s work in us from beginning to end. To Him is the glory—all the glory from our salvation.

There is a need for the new birth; without that, we cannot see; we cannot enter the kingdom of God. But there is also responsibility for us, hence this teaching, these requirements, hence this rebuke of Peter: "Thou savest not the things that be of God, but the things that be of men."

And so these further reasons are given to spur us on and to cause us to see these issues clearly. The Lord gives us these reasons to encourage us, to exalt us, because when we hear these requirements, to the carnal mind, it seems rather distasteful.

Remember the time when the Lord was teaching, and someone came to Him and said, "Lord, I will follow you wherever you go." And Jesus said to him, "The foxes have holes, the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man hath not where to lay His head."

To the carnal mind, that sounds distasteful. This man was thinking, "Lord, I will follow you wherever you go." But the moment he learned what it meant, all of a sudden, he’s not so enthusiastic anymore.

To the carnal mind, it’s not very pleasant to deny self, to take up the cross. We might say, "If this is what it means to follow Christ, then why should I do it? Why should I deny myself and take up this cross? Is there any profit in following Christ?"

But the one who rejects Christ because of such carnal thinking, the one who flees from duty to take up the cross, to deny self—the one who seeks ease and pleasure, thinking to preserve his life and his comfort in this world—will he actually obtain that? Will he attain that end? No!

For whosoever will save his life shall lose it. This is the Lord reminding us. Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. If you don't want to do that; if you think it’ll be easier for you; if you think you will save your life by ignoring this cross—you think you will have an easy way of it, an easier time of it—don't be fooled.

Whosoever will save his life shall lose it. In the end, you will not gain. You’re really not saving your life at all; you’re destroying your life. If you turn away from the Lord; if you say, "I don’t want to deny myself; I don’t want to take up this cross," that’s not saving your life; that’s destroying it. You will lose it; you will waste it away for vanity.

Vanity of vanities, say the preacher, all is vanity and vexation of spirit. Apart from the Lord, if we are not following Christ, there is nothing but vanity and judgment and condemnation. There is no profit, ultimately, to follow the world at the expense of our souls. So, while it is important for us to count the cost of following Christ, we must also not forget to count the cost of not following Christ.

Whosoever will save his life shall lose it. That is what we must weigh in the balance—not just the cross and suffering, persecution, affliction on one hand, and then just happiness and ease and comfort on the other. It is life and death that is what is at stake: eternal life and eternal death. Whosoever will save his life shall lose it forever, but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospels—deny self, take up the cross—the same shall save it, save it forever. The one who gives up his life, the living sacrifice, yielded, surrendered to the Lord, it’s not losing; it’s gaining.

Don’t think of following Christ as some low and worthless pursuit. Don’t think of it as something that you have to stoop to; you have to give up better things in order to settle for following Christ. No, it is the greatest and the highest of callings. It leads to the best and most glorious end that we could ever imagine—more than we could imagine. It is not lost to follow Christ; it is gain. It is not lost to deny self, to lose self; it is gain.

Remember again what the Apostle Paul said: I count all these things but dung that I may win Christ. I suffer the loss of all things for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord. If I can be a disciple of Christ, I will endure anything. I will give up anything that hinders and stands in the way. I will lose it all and have lost nothing because I will gain Christ. That’s the attitude that we must have—enduringly, consistently throughout the Christian life.

Again, Paul says, **I count these things but dung—**all the old prestige, all the old trust in self, all the old boasting in my works, all the works of the law, all the things that I tried to do to earn my own righteousness—all of self. Paul says, I count it but dung. And what do you do with dung? We know it, don’t we? It’s very easy now: you press a button and flush it away. And you don’t want it back, do you? You don’t want it to come back; you want it gone. It’s dung.

But how easily these things come back to us! It should be dung; it should be gone from our lives. It’s so easy to come back—self comes back so easily. We need this reminder: Whosoever will save his life shall lose it. But whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospels, the same shall save it.

There’s no profit to follow the world, to seek self at the expense of our souls. On the contrary, what shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul? Think of those examples in Scripture of people who sought the world and obtained it and lost. Think of Solomon. Think of how much he had—king of Israel, immensely wealthy, enormously prosperous, admired, looked up to by kings of all nations, sought after for his wisdom.

What profit was it for him in the end when he disobeyed the Lord, walked in disobedience, and allowed his heart to be turned away from the one living and true God? Was it profit for Solomon in the end? What does he tell us? Vanity of vanities, all is vanity. Fear God and keep His commandments; this is the whole duty of man.

Think of Lot. He wanted the world—pitched his tent towards Sodom. He lived in Sodom; he sat in the gate of Sodom—an important man in the city. Was it profit for him in the end? How did he end up? He sought the world, yes; he was saved, a just man. What a wretched life! What a wretched testimony! We don’t want that for ourselves. We don’t want that for our children. We want to see—and we want them to see—that it is gain to follow the Lord, wherever He leads, however dark the path may be for the moment.

It is gain to follow the Lord; it is life. What shall a man give in exchange for his soul? We can lose everything and have lost nothing because we live in the Lord. This is very clear to us, isn’t it? When it is asked here, What shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul? We know the answer. It’s a rhetorical question—a question of course; there is no profit if you lose your soul. The world cannot make up for losing your soul.

What shall a man give in exchange for his soul? We know that nothing—there’s nothing that is more precious than our souls. We wouldn’t give up anything, so we say. But again, what about our discipleship? Is there a wedge between our doctrine and our discipleship? Do we say, “Oh, I know it is no profit for me to gain the whole world if I lose my own soul,” but is that how we live? So many so easily choose the world instead of choosing the Lord. Is that not a choice that we make so often, day after day? We know it in our heads, yet as Paul says, How to perform that which is good I find not.

We make the mistake so often, don’t we? We choose the world; we trade away our souls effectively. It’s only the Lord who keeps us. But again, we have this responsibility. This is a calling for us to live consistently with our doctrine. If we say that Jesus is Lord, if we say that He is more precious than silver or gold—if He’s more precious than all the world—Jesus is all the world to me, we sing. But do we?

This is a call for us to examine ourselves and to be consistent in following the Lord. Deny self, take up the cross, follow Me, Jesus says. It will be gain to you. Everlasting reward—you will not lose out. Sometimes we are so focused on avoiding the cross that we reject the crown. We accept an inferior crown that will turn out to be nothing more than a mirage—all the things that we do to avoid suffering, to avoid losing the things of the world.

But let us submit to the Lord, take up the cross. Don’t shun it; it is profitable for us. If we are following the Lord, we are not losing; we are gaining. Really, this is a matter of eternal consequence. So the reminder, right at the end—what is at stake? How we live in this world has implications for our eternal reward. It reveals the condition of our souls, and this comes into focus with this reminder:

Verse 38: Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him also shall the Son of Man be ashamed when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.

This is meant to exalt us; it’s meant to warn us, to caution us. It’s meant to cause us to examine ourselves diligently. Those who are ashamed of Christ’s words are those who are unwilling to live them out consistently—those who are unwilling to follow Him according to His own requirements.

Those who are ashamed of Christ and His words are those who say, “I don’t want to deny myself; I don’t want this cross.” They are unwilling to be identified with Him because of the suffering that it would cause them. That was what Peter fell into, right here. That’s why he rebuked the Lord. “No, you’re not going to suffer. I’m not going to suffer.” He’s unwilling to be identified with Christ. Later on, as we know tragically, he denies the Lord three times—again unwilling to be identified with Christ, ashamed of Christ and His words.

It’s not that we are better than Peter; we are no better than he. This is a warning and a reminder for us. So often we are more concerned with aligning ourselves with this adulterous and sinful generation so that we are not mocked, so that we are not persecuted, so that we don’t suffer—rather than aligning ourselves with the Lord and His words.

But let us remember that there’s Christ, who must be rejected and suffer many things and be killed, and after three days rise again. This same Christ, who is now mocked and despised, whose followers are now persecuted and reviled—this same Christ will appear in glory. He will come in the glory of His Father with the holy angels. He comes with clouds, and every eye shall see Him, they also which pierced Him, and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of Him.

On that day, again, same consequence—the same eternal stakes. On that day, what good will the world’s approval be when the Lord says, I never knew you? What good will it be if we spend our whole lives being praised by all the world if, on that day, the Lord says, **You are not one of mine. Stand on my left hand, depart

into everlasting fire.** What profit will it have been to have spent all our lives to gain the adulation of the world, to have displeased the Lord?

We must live with that end in view. This is the Christ that we follow. He comes to suffer and to die, but He is risen. He’s coming again to reign. Let us follow Him now in light of these things. Otherwise, He says here, Whosoever therefore will be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him also shall the Son of Man be ashamed when He cometh in the glory of His Father.

The Christian life is a calling to follow the Lord Jesus Christ. It is a high calling; it is an infinite privilege given to us, who are unworthy, only by the grace of God. It’s not something to take lightly. To name the name of Christ is a weighty thing; it is to speak the name of the King of kings and Lord of lords. It is to claim Him as our own. To call myself a Christian means something—something of eternal significance and consequence. It is no light and trivial thing; that name is above every name.

We dare not take it on our lips frivolously. To savor the things of men more than the things of God is to displease Him; it is to sin against Him; it is to make ourselves instruments of the enemy. We must beware because we can easily be used to cause others to stumble. Peter is warned here very strongly because others will look to him and follow his example.

So it is with us. Surely we do not want to displease the Lord; we don’t want Him to be ashamed of us. We want to please Him and serve Him. So let us remember who He is truly and let us make that doctrine the hinge of our discipleship and allow no disconnect—no wedge to be driven between our confession of who Jesus is and our lives of following Him.

This is especially important as we come to observe the Lord’s Supper, this sacrament. It’s a means of grace that we might be reminded precisely who the Lord is and what He has done—that we might consecrate ourselves anew to follow Him, to serve Him, to deny self and take up the cross and follow Him joyfully. May the Lord help us in this.

Let’s pray. Our gracious Father in Heaven, indeed we thank and praise You for the Lord Jesus Christ—our Savior, Son of God and Son of Man. He came to suffer and to die; He is risen and seated at Your right hand. He is coming again gloriously with the clouds of heaven, with the holy angels, to rule and to reign forever and ever. What a privilege it is to confess Him now as Lord and to wait for Him in joyful anticipation. We pray You would help each one of us, by Your Word and by Your Spirit. Work in us; cause us to see the Lord Jesus as He truly is, and move us day by day to deny self, take up our cross, and follow Him. We do all this by faith, trusting in Your promise, looking for an eternal and blessed reward that You will give to us only by Your grace and mercy. We do all these things trusting by faith that all the world is worth nothing, but this is a passing world. It is Your kingdom, the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ, that will endure forever. We pray You would help us to live faithfully, diligently, in light of these things. Comfort and strengthen every heart and equip us to follow the Lord. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.