The Crucified Life (Galatians Part 13)

Church houses online, let's stand to our feet. We're gonna boast in Jesus this morning. It's by His grace through faith that we're saved, amen? So sing with us, let's declare together this morning all that He's done, He's worthy. It's all because of you, because of you. I will not boast. Not by strength and not by might. Just the cross of Jesus Christ. I will not boast in anything. Lord, You saved me, saved me. Lord, You saved me. Your grace rewrote the story of my life. Lord, You gave me love and joy and peace. You've been so kind. You sustained me. I'll testify of all You've brought me through. So amazing, my future is secure. It's all because of You, because of You. I will not boast in anything. My hope alone in Christ my King. It's not by strength and not by might. Just the cross of Jesus Christ. I will not boast in anything. It's only by grace. By grace through faith I have been saved. By grace through faith I have been saved. It's only by grace through faith I have been saved. By grace through faith I'll never be the same. By grace through faith I have been saved.

It's only by grace through faith I'll never be the same. I will not boast in anything. My hope alone in Christ. It's not by strength and not by might. Just the cross of Jesus Christ. I will not boast in anything. Oh, I will not boast in anything. No, I will not boast in anything. Oh, it's only by grace. Come on, Heathburg. Come on, let's sing that one more time again. Let's make our boast in Jesus. We sing. I will not boast in anything. Because my hope alone in Christ my King. It's not by strength and not by might. Just the cross of Jesus Christ. I will not boast in anything. Thank you, Jesus. Jesus, it's all because of you. You've done exceedingly, abundantly more than all we can ask, think, or imagine. We give you all the credit, all the glory, all the recognition this morning for who you are and all that you've done. We thank you for so much more. Thank you, Jesus. reason if you didn't give me a song and i would be dead in my sinning wandering around in the dust but you wrapped me up in perfect love it would have been enough but you didn't more yes you did so much more and i can't deny i'm still asking why my king left this room for me but you didn't more so much more

i can't comprehend it doesn't make sense or you saved a wretch like me but you didn't more so much more i wouldn't know where i'm going if you didn't guide every step i would have no hope for any if you didn't call me afraid and i would have no foundation the life built upon the sand but you set my feet upon a rock and it would have been enough but you did more so much more so much and i can't deny i can't deny i'm still asking why my king left this room i can't comprehend it doesn't make sense why you saved a wretch like me but you didn't more so much more if you gave your life what a sacrifice it would have been enough but you didn't more if you rose again conquered if you set me free won my victory it would have been enough if you gave your life if you gave your life what a sacrifice it would have been enough but you didn't more if you rose again conquered death and sin it would have been enough but you didn't more if you saved my soul made my heart your own it would have been enough but you didn't more if you set me free won my victory it would have been enough but you didn't more so much more and i can't deny i can't deny i'm still asking why my king left this room but you didn't more

so much more i can't comprehend i can't comprehend it doesn't make sense why you saved a wretch like me but you didn't more so much more i can't deny so much more you didn't more so much more you didn't more ♪ So much more ♪ Yes it is, Jesus ♪ Thank you, Jesus Are you thankful this morning that God not only secured our eternity, but that he offers us hope and life and peace and his presence and joy and security and all these things right now today. Are you thankful for that today? That he did so much more than secure our eternity. I'm so grateful for who Jesus is and all that he has done. And as we've studied this book of Galatians and we've learned these truths about who we are in Christ and about his rightful place in our life, we just thought it would be great for you to take a moment right now and go before the Lord and ask God, is there a place in my life where you need to be magnified? Is there a place in my heart where I've tried to step into the spotlight or I've held on to my own hopes or my own dreams or my own fears more than I've magnified the power and the glory and the truth of Christ and who he is and his word?

So we're gonna continue to sing in just a moment, but will you go before the Lord right now? And when you ask him that question, we wanna declare the truth that he needs to be magnified and glorified and lifted up in our lives. And we need to humble ourselves before him today. So let's just offer our hearts to him in this moment and then we'll continue to sing. And let's sing this together. ♪ Christ be magnified from the altar of my life ♪ ♪ Christ be magnified in me ♪ ♪ When creation suddenly articulate ♪ ♪ With a thousand tongues to lift one cry ♪ ♪ Then from north to south and east to west ♪ ♪ We'd hear Christ be magnified ♪ Yes we would. Come on, sing with us. ♪ Were the whole earth echoing his eminence ♪ ♪ His name would burst from steel and steel ♪ ♪ Flowing us to the mountaintops ♪ ♪ We'd hear Christ be magnified ♪ All we sing is him. Come on, lift your voices in this place. We sing. ♪ Oh, Christ be magnified ♪ ♪ Let his praise arise ♪ ♪ Christ be magnified in me ♪ ♪ Oh, Christ be magnified from the altar of my life ♪ ♪ Christ be magnified in me ♪

Yes, we sing. ♪ When every creature finds its inmost breath ♪ ♪ And every human heart its native cry ♪ ♪ Oh, anyone in rapture hear the praise ♪ ♪ To the same Christ be magnified ♪ ♪ Oh, we magnify Jesus, come on, let's sing. ♪ ♪ Oh, Christ be magnified ♪ ♪ Let his praise arise, Christ be magnified in me ♪ ♪ Be magnified in me ♪ ♪ Behold Christ be magnified ♪ ♪ In the altar of my life ♪ ♪ Christ be magnified in me ♪ ♪ Be magnified, be magnified in me ♪ Come on, let's lift our hands together as we declare this. Come on, lift your hands with me. ♪ I won't bow to others ♪ ♪ I'll stand strong and worship you ♪ ♪ If it puts me in the fire ♪ ♪ I'll rejoice cause you're there too, come on ♪ ♪ But I'll hold me for my fears ♪ ♪ I'll hold fast to what is true ♪ ♪ If the cross brings transformation ♪ ♪ I'll be crucified with you ♪ ♪ Cause death is just a doorway into resurrection life ♪ ♪ If I join you in your suffering ♪ ♪ Then I'll join you when you cry ♪ ♪ When you are turning for me ♪ ♪ With all the angels there who say ♪ ♪ My heart will still be singing, my soul will be saved ♪ ♪ Oh, Christ be magnified, let his praise arise ♪

♪ Christ be magnified in me ♪ ♪ Oh, Christ be magnified, from the altar of my life ♪ ♪ Christ be magnified in me ♪ ♪ Oh, Christ be magnified, let his praise arise ♪ ♪ Christ be magnified in me ♪ ♪ Oh, Christ be magnified, from the altar of my life ♪ ♪ Christ be magnified in me ♪ Come on, give him a shout of praise in this place. ♪♪ Amen, thank you, Jesus. Thank you so much for singing and worshiping. Take a moment, greet someone next to you, and we'll continue on with our service. ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Church, would you give Jesus the biggest shout you got right now? He is so worthy, all of me for all of him. We're gonna finish up our verse-by-verse study through Galatians today, Galatians chapter 6. And if there's one thing you've learned, I hope it's this, that Jesus plus nothing equals everything. That when Jesus on the cross said, it is finished, the work was really done.

He gave his life for you and me. All of our sin, our stain, our blame, it was all placed on him. And when you put your faith in him, you're forgiven of your sin, and God instantly gives you a home in heaven. And there's nothing you can add to what Jesus has done. The moment you add anything you've got to do to the gospel, it's no longer the gospel. And that, you see, is why Paul picks up a pen. He begins writing this letter to the Galatians. The time was January the 23rd, 1999. The place was India. Missionary Graham Staines from Australia. had been ministering the gospel in leper colonies for some 35 years at the time. He'd gone to India to be a living proof of a living God, specifically to the untouchables, the castaways from Hindu society. Many Hindus had come to faith in Jesus in 35 years, and many lepers saw the love of God. In January the 23rd, 1999, Graham and his two sons had gone to a faraway city to minister the gospel, an outreach event. They were on their way back home late that night. It was very, very late. He was very tired. He pulled over to the side of the road to get some sleep, to take a little nap before he went on. And sometime late in the night, he and his two sons were awakened. Their car was on fire. And of course, they tried to get out of the car, but they were beaten back in with clubs and hatchets and axes.

There was a mob surrounding the car. It was a radical, militant Hindu sect. They knew who Graham was. They wanted him dead. And that night, January the 23rd, 1999, Graham and his two sons burned alive, died. I remember hearing that story sometime in 99. It was very formative in my life at the time. I was considering my own call to the ministry when I heard Graham's story. Initially, I thought to myself, what an absolute tragedy. How many of you would agree, an absolute tragedy? I mean, here was a man and his family. All he'd ever done was just love people others said couldn't be loved. I thought, what a tragedy. The more I pondered his story, the more I began to realize, in the mind of God, that's actually not a tragedy. You see, to God, it is no tragedy when someone gives their life for others. No, to God, he did not die a life tragedy. He lived triumphantly. I mean, he gave his life away. And I want you to know, to God, that is not a tragedy. Not the sight of heaven, we see a tragedy, but to God, it was a triumph. Because the reality, to God, the greatest tragedy is not the one who gives his life for others. The greatest tragedy, to God, is the one who lives their life solely for themself. Solely for oneself. The way the average American, even the way the average Christian lives, solely for oneself, squandering our life, wasting our opportunities to make a difference in time and eternity. To God, that is the greater tragedy. And I share that story because today, the Apostle Paul is going to sign off this letter unlike any other letter as he signs off.

He's going to remind us in this letter, as he ends this letter to the Galatians, that there's a high cost to follow Christ. That there's a cross that we have to carry. And we want a crossless Christianity in modern American society. But the cross has always been central to Christianity. Not just the cross on which Jesus died for us, but there's a cross on which we must die for him too. He says these words in Galatians 6 and verse 11, Paul says, see with what large letters I have written to you with my own hand. Now that's very interesting here because most of the time, Paul didn't personally write his letters. He would dictate them word for word to a type of secretary known as an amanuensis. And the reason he didn't personally write his letters is we know that he was clinically blind. He probably had glaucoma, maybe a cataract. But he hears something so urgent, in this case, that he picks up pen and paper. He does not wait for the amanuensis to get to his location. He picks up pen and paper. He starts writing this letter with such urgency because it's about gospel clarity. And there's false teachers in Galatia that's undermining the gospel. False teachers come to undermine Paul and the message and they're messing with the message and they're actually teaching these new Christians in Galatia that Jesus plus circumcision equals everything. They were teaching that to be a Christian, you had to go through the Hebrew rite of circumcision. And Paul is living with such urgency, he takes up a pen. He starts writing himself and he wants them to see that he's written this letter with his own hand. That's how important this message has been. He's writing with large letters because he can't see, he's blind. He goes on, he says this, as many as desire to make a good showing in the flesh, speaking

of these false teachers, these would compel you to be circumcised only that they may not suffer persecution for the cause of Christ, cross of Christ. Paul says, hey, these false teachers, listen, they're just trying to avoid persecution. Because in the early days, if you were a Jew and you understood that Jesus as the Jewish Messiah has fulfilled all the law for you, so you don't have to go through. He wrote him circumcision, you can now live freely under the new covenant of grace. Listen, the persecution was hot, and the hostility was a reality. He goes on, he says this, for not even those who are circumcised keep the law, I bet you hypocrites, but they desire to have you circumcised that they may boast in your flesh. Religious legalism by nature, it's all about control, it's about power, and that's what these false teachers are hoping to do, control the people, to have power over the people. That's the nature of all false teachers. But God forbid, he says, that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. He says, for in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything but a new creation. He said, guys, it don't matter if you do, it don't matter if you don't, all that matters is Jesus. It's Jesus that makes us new, nothing that you do. He goes on, he says, and as many as walk according to this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God.

Now watch what he says. From now on, let no one trouble me, for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus. Paul's basically, what he's saying here, look, I'm done answering my critics, I'm done getting on Instagram and seeing who canceled me, I don't care what you guys say about me, I don't care how many Facebook followers I have, cancel me if you want to, I'm done talking about this, I will let my scars speak for themselves. Paul was saying, I bear the marks of the Lord Jesus. He bears the scars of the persecution of the Lord Jesus. He's saying to all of his critics and all these false teachers, you wanna talk about scars? You show me your scars, I'll show you mine, and we'll see who the real Christian is here. I want you to notice what's going on here. The Apostle Paul bore the scars of persecution that came from serving Christ. He's appealing now to the marks and the scars on his own body that gives him the credibility to be heard. In these early days, you bore the marks of persecution, and the Apostle Paul writes about this specifically in 2 Corinthians chapter 11. Five times he had been scourged, 39 times, the legal limit. Five times his back was laid open. He bore the scars of the Lord Jesus. He said three times, I was beaten with rods. Once he was stoned to the point of death, every bone in his body broken.

See, this is a man that literally suffered for the testimony of Christ. He bore the scars on his body for the testimony of Christ. His story is amazing because this same Paul, the Apostle, was once Saul the Pharisee. And if you know anything about his story, this is a man that persecuted early Christians, but he himself is now persecuted as a Christian. Here is a man that presided over the stoning of the first ever Christian martyr, a man by the name of Stephen. You can read about this in the book of Acts. It tells us that a Stephen was being stoned. The men stoning Stephen laid their clothes at the feet of a young Pharisee by the name of Paul. You see, it was Saul the Pharisee who was a rising star of Jewish society. He was an up-and-comer personally. He had this great family pedigree. He came from money. He was wealthy. He'd been to the finest seminaries. He had his PhD as a Pharisee of Pharisees. Oh, he was a cosmopolitan man, but listen carefully. Something happened to change him as he was on the road to Damascus in Acts chapter nine. He had papers in hand, arrest warrants, and he was going there to arrest Christians, imprison them, and murder them, and persecute them, but something happened to him that will forever change him.

He saw with his own eyes the resurrected Christ. And I would suggest there's only one thing that could have changed him from being a persecutor of Christianity to himself bearing the scars of Christianity is what he saw with his own eyes. He knew Jesus had died, but then with his own eyes, he saw him fully alive. And church, this is the reason we can say that Jesus is worthy of it all. He is worth whatever the cost, because 2,000 years ago, the sinless Son of God came like the sons of men. He died for our sin, but three days later, he rose again. He's alive today. He is worthy of our life. He's worthy of the scars. Here's a man, Saul, that's now become the Apostle Paul. He sees the resurrected Christ. He sees the scars in the Son of God, and he says to himself, listen, he bore the scars of my sin. He's worthy that I would bear some scars for him. He now is appealing to his own scars. These false teachers, you wanna talk about who's a Christian and who's not? not, I'll let my scars speak for themselves. You want to talk about circumcision? That means nothing. Show me your scars. I got scars. And that was the nature of early Christianity. Listen very carefully. The real evidence of who's a real Christian is someone who's willing to suffer for Christ. That's what Paul is now saying. You want to talk about

the evidence of who a real Christian is? Circumcision, uncircumcision. Oh, let's talk about suffering. Are you willing to suffer for Christ? These false teachers have been trying to duck. They've been trying to avoid persecution. Oh, they want to be applauded. They want to be celebrated. Paul, he says, will the real Christians please stand up? Show me your scars. I'll show you mine. This word scar or mark in the English translation, it's the Greek word stigmata. Paul says, I have the stigmata of Christ on my body. Stigmata, from which we get the word stigma. He's saying, I carry the stigma of being a Christ follower. I've been stigmatized everywhere I go. I carry the stigma of the cross. I carry the stigma of Christ on my own body. You recognize you carried a stigma in the early days of Christianity. Oh, it was not mainstream. They did not have home-field advantage. They were hated. They were persecuted. They carried the stigma of Christ, the stigma of the gospel. Do you understand we live at a time where you're going to have to carry the stigma of Christ if you're going to live openly as a Christian? No, we're no longer mainstream like we once were. No, not what you and I believe. True biblical Christianity is becoming increasingly an anomaly in our society. Do you understand there are times you're going to carry the stigma. You're going to be stigmatized as a Christian. That's what Paul is now saying. Will the real Christians please stand up? The days are over of just blending in, going along, trying to get along. No, we're not called to blend in. We're called to stand up, speak up, and shine in a world of darkness. You understand it's always been the nature of Christianity. The ancient pagans saw the scars of the early Christians, and check this out, they were changed by what they saw. See, Paul's story is only one of tens of thousands of stories, most of which have been forgotten to time in the first 300 years of Christianity. The early Christians were bloodied. They were bruised. They were crucified. They were fed to the lions in the Roman Colosseum. They were beheaded. They were boycotted. Thousands and tens of thousands and thousands of Christians, but check this out, the ancient pagan world saw the scars of those early Christians, and they were changed by what they saw. I would suggest we live in a world that is still watching. The world is still watching, but they're not being changed by what they see in you and me because they don't see any scars. When you read about the early accounts of these early Christians, you could beat them, you could behead them, you could imprison them, you could crucify them, you could torture them, but you just

couldn't stop them. It's amazing. Rodney Stark is his name. As far as I know, he's not a Christian. He's not a believer. He's a sociologist by training. He actually wrote a book called The Rise of Christianity, and in this book, The Rise of Christianity, he documents the spread of Christianity in the early days of church history sociologically. Check it out. He's not a believer. He's not trying to prove anything. He's simply saying that against all odds, almost unexplainably, Christianity spread through the ancient world like fire through dry timber. Now, compare that with most religious movements. It's no mystery as to why Islam spread. Muhammad killed his enemies. It's no mystery as to why early Islam spread quickly. They would put you to the sword wherever the Muslim army went. They'd put the sword to your neck and say, convert. People converted. They don't want to die. It's not a mystery when Muhammad said, kill your enemies. Here's the mystery. Our leaders said, love your enemies. The early Christians didn't take life. The early Christians gave their lives. The early Christians didn't spill other people's blood. They spilled their own blood. According to Rodney Stark, this was not a top-down driven movement. It was a grass roots movement of individual Christians being willing to give their lives for the cause of Christ, to bear the scars, to bear the mark, to bear the stigma. His name was Tertullian. He was a pagan born in North Africa, Carthage. As an ancient pagan, he converted to Christianity about 195 A.D. He was a member of the Aristocracy. He would actually write a lot. That's why we know so much about him. He was an early church historian, early church theologian. About the time of his conversion, here's what he wrote to one Roman official regarding Christian persecution. He said these words, the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church. He was telling this Roman governor who was persecuting Christians, hey, do you understand that when you persecute Christians and you spill their blood, it's simply like throwing gas on a fire. It's like throwing fuel on a fire. The more you kill them, the more they multiply. You see, the ancient world saw people that were willing to die even though they could live. All they had to do to live was go into the Temple of Caesar like all other Roman citizens or anyone else living in the Roman Empire, and by law, once a year, you had to go into the Temple of Caesar. You had to take a pinch of incense from off the

altar to Caesar. You had to throw that incense on the altar of Caesar, and you had to say, Hail Caesar, Caesar is Lord. All they had to do once a year was simply say, Hail Caesar, Caesar is Lord, and they could have lived, yet they chose to die instead. And the reason why is those early Christians knew in a world of many gods, there's only one true and living God. In this world where many claim to be Lord, there's one true and living Lord. He is King of kings, and he is Lord of lords, and they would bow to none other. They would bow to none other. And over and over again, they were bloodied, beheaded, crucified, killed, murdered, martyred, boycotted. You see, the Romans hated Christians not because they worshipped Jesus. They worshipped many gods. Historically, they would add any God to the gods of the Roman pantheon, no problem. The problem for early Christians is not that they worshipped Jesus, it's that they would only worship Jesus. And the blood of the martyrs was the seat of the church. These ancient pagans were changed by what they saw when they saw the scars. They thought there has to be something to this. This must be true. Why would people willingly die and lay down their life when they could have chosen to live? Maybe it's true what they say. Maybe Jesus of Nazareth really did die. Maybe he really was resurrected alive. And that began to spread over and over again for 300 years. The blood of the martyrs was the seat of the church. Chris and I got to go to Rome this year for the first time, kind of a bucket list item we always wanted to do. And we took a trip to Rome where there's so much Christian history. Now, we went somewhere a lot of people don't go to, even when they go to Rome. Of course, everybody goes to the Vatican, everybody goes to the Colosseum. That was awesome. But one of my favorite days was taking a trip to the Roman catacombs. The Roman catacombs, 400 miles of tunnels hand dug underneath the ground, only a fraction of which has been excavated. And it's the Roman catacombs where the Jews and the ancient Christians would bury their dead. The catacombs were forgotten for centuries, only rediscovered in the 1800s. When archaeologists went into the Roman catacombs, what they found told a grisly tale. They found skeletons that had been burned with fire. They found bones that had been broken, ribs that had been

shattered, skulls that had been severed from off their heads. Told a grisly tale of Christian persecution. Now, you weren't supposed to take pictures in the catacombs. They made that clear up front. I have to admit, I've never shared this openly until today. I broke the rules. Honestly, I don't regret it. So when our guide had us in that one room, and you come in, and he motions to something over here, and everybody turns their head over there. I did one of these. I pulled out my phone and went, nobody ever knew. Here's what I took a picture of. This was the real tomb of a young lady named Cecilia. This is where she was laid. Now, there's a lot of legend around this martyr, Cecilia. The legend says that a Roman executioner tried three times to cut off her head and failed three times, and so she died days later of the wound. I find that hard to believe. These Roman executioners were very efficient. But what we do know for sure about this young lady, Cecilia, is that she was martyred around 230 AD. She was born a member of the Roman aristocracy, a very, very wealthy family. But she came to faith in Jesus. She turned to Christianity and away from paganism. And just like we talk about finding our one, some of us take it seriously, some of us don't. I wish we all did. Back in the early days of Christianity, everyone found their one. That's what Rodney Stark was saying. Everyone found someone who needed Jesus. I mean, one person was multiplied over and over again. One changed life, changes other lives. And this is what happened with Cecilia. She found her one at 17 years of age. It was her fiance. He too was a member of Roman aristocracy. He turned from his paganism and turned to faith in Jesus. He then found his one. It was his brother. He leads his brother to the Lord.

He turns from paganism and becomes a Christian. Now, everything would have been okay except their day came to go into the temple of Caesar and once again take that pinch of incense and offer it to Caesar and say, Hail Caesar, Caesar is Lord. But when they refused, all three of them were put to the sword. Died a martyr's death. And here's where this young lady was laid. These are real stories of real people. And this is why we have the faith 2,000 years later. Apart from which the faith would have been lost generations ago. The gospel would have been lost to the darkness. And the light of the world would have been vanished. And banished. Now, I want you to understand, listen carefully. While we are not all called to die a martyr's death, we are all called to live a martyr's life. Church, listen. We're not all called to die a martyr's death, but we're all called to live a martyr's life. No, we're not all called to burn alive in a car for our faith in Jesus. No, no, no, we're not all gonna be put to the sword like thousands before us. No, we're not all called to die a martyr's death, but we're all called to live a martyr's life. I'm talking about a life of suffering and sacrifice.

That's always been the call on the Christian life. Following Jesus has always demanded that we carry a cross. Now listen, Paul talked often about this cross. He wrote about it to the Galatians. What did he say? Galatians 2.20, I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live. It's the paradox of the Christian life. I've died, yet I'm fully alive. And listen carefully, to the degree you have died, only then will you be fully alive. The reason some of you feel like you're living in such mediocrity spiritually, and God never moves in your life personally, is you're still trying to hang on to your life instead of letting go of your life. But if you would lay down your life and let go of your life, you're gonna start living out in the power of the resurrected Christ. That's the A life, that's the abundant life that we talk so much about. It's what Jesus taught. Paul didn't get that by himself. He just knew the words of Jesus. He was walking this out. Jesus in Luke 9.23, if anyone wants to come after me, let him deny himself, let him take up his cross daily, and follow me. Now, you see the problem? We don't wanna deny ourselves anything.

We want all the world has to offer, with all of its trinkets and all of its trivial delights, this Disneyland society we live in, that is fading fast, in decay, and we're trading the good things of life for the greater things, the God things. Now, listen carefully. In Jesus' day, a cross was not something you wore. It was not a piece of jewelry. When he said, take up your cross, he wasn't implying you should wear a cross as a thing of beauty. No, the early followers knew exactly what he was saying, because it was not a thing of beauty. It was something that was bloody. It was brutal. It was ugly. It was a place of excruciation. It was a place of crucifixion. If you took up your cross, you were carrying it to your own death. You see what Jesus is teaching. To follow him is gonna cost you your life. You're gonna lay down your life to follow him. Yet, this is why we have this powerless, anemic, watered-down brand of Christianity, unlike the Christianity you read about in the book of Acts. What is the difference? I'll tell you what the difference is. They took Jesus seriously.

The cross was literal, as well as a metaphor. Literally, for some of them, they would be crucified like Jesus. But all of them, metaphorically, they would lay down their life for Jesus. And that's why they're willing to bear the scars of Jesus. Yet, we have a faith that's more dainty than dangerous, more life-enhancing than life-denying. I'm telling you, it's more cozy than costly, more fashion than passion. And this has always been how you live the abundant life in Christ. It's the cross to bear the scars, whatever the cost. Listen, the cross, what is it? It's more than a commitment. Complete consecration. See, our modern vernacular that we use in Christianity is not even biblically accurate. Nowhere in Scripture does Jesus ever ask for a commitment. Yeah, you hear this all the time. Make a commitment to Christ. No, no, no, no. That's not what you do. Nowhere in Scripture does Jesus say, I want you to make a commitment. He does not wanna be another commitment in an already over-committed life, right? There's the problem. We're already over-committed. Now we're gonna add Jesus to one of our commitments.

The problem with commitments is they come and go. They ebb and flow. The nature of a commitment is you stop being committed when the commitment cost gets too high. That's why I have watched, in 26 years of pastoral ministry, I have watched so many people come and go. They made a commitment. They might have even gotten baptized. They might have started serving, but eventually the commitment gets too high. They stop following Jesus because we were never meant to make a commitment. Commitments come and go. The things you're committed to today, you will not be committed to five years from now. The things you're committed five years ago, you're not committed to today. Think about that. And this is why so many people start to follow Jesus and then stop following Jesus. He never asked to make a commitment. He said, take up a cross, and that has to do with a word we seldom use today called consecration. What is consecration? The Old Testament priests would take an offering of the ancient Hebrew worshiper, they would put it on the altar, and then they would consecrate it.

You know what would happen after they consecrated? They would kill it. That's what consecration means. Now you know what Paul has in view in Romans 12 in verse one when he says, I beg you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice. See, in the mind of this ancient Hebrew worshiper, there's only a dead sacrifice. What is this living sacrifice? I'm crucified, yet I live. I'm dead, yet I'm alive. I'm dead to self and alive in Christ. A living sacrifice, consecrated. Taking up my cross, denying myself to follow him. See, you're consecrated to whatever it is you're willing to die for. That's the nature of consecration. And church, listen, every person here, every person there, at Crossroads, Blue Springs, Independence, Johnson County, Tipton Correctional Center, Northland Campus, church houses, every person here in Lee's Summit, we are all consecrated to something. Whatever you sweat for the most, whatever you serve the most, is that what you're consecrated to the most. Some of us are consecrated to our cars. Some of us are consecrated to our jobs. Some are consecrated to their houses.

Some are consecrated to their lawns. Some are consecrated to their golf games. Some are consecrated to their hobbies. Yeah, we're consecrated to all the wrong things, the lesser things, instead of God's things, the greater things, the eternal things. That which you are willing to die for is that which you're willing to be consecrated to. Listen, I'm committed to a lot of things, church. I have a lot of commitments on my life, but I'm willing to die for only a few things. I've got a short list of things. I'm willing to lay down my life without hesitation. I would die in an instant for my family, fully consecrated. I would die in an instant for our church, and God knows I have, and he knows if I'm lying. And I would die for the cause of Christ. I don't want to. I'd rather live a martyr's life than die a martyr's death. But I'm prepared to. How about you? See, we want a Christianity without a cross. We want the cross on which Jesus died, just not the cross on which we die. We don't want to bear any scars. I don't want to carry that stigma where I go to work, the stigma, stigmata, the scars. I want you to take a little inventory. What are the marks of the consecrated life, the crucified life?

Just take inventory, would you? That's all I ask you to do today. Little introspection. Number one, a consecrated life. The crucified, it's a dangerous faith. It's not a safe faith. There's no such thing as a safe faith. A faith that isn't risky is not faith. A faith that is safe is not faith. You were meant to be a danger to the enemy, do you understand? As a child of God, filled with the Spirit of God, alive with the Word of God, you're a threat to the enemy. And that means you're called to live dangerously. Listen very carefully. Courage is not the absence of fear, it is the absence of fear. Listen, I know about fear. I tried to run from the call of God 26 years ago. I was fearful of failure. I didn't want to look stupid. That was my worst fear. I don't want to live as a failure. I ran from the call of God, trying to preserve myself, save myself. I got over my fear when I got over myself. That's how you get over your fear. Self has to be crucified. Get out of the way and watch what the spirit of God

does in you and through you. He'll take over and you'll live a fearless kind of life. We're sending three families this fall from Abundant Life to the nations. It's part of our vision, part of our A-Life vision, from our neighbors to the nations. I can't even tell you, one, who they are. I can't even tell you where they're going. I'll tell you why, because where they're going is hostile to the gospel. You can't just show up and say, hey, I'm a Christian missionary. No, no, not where they're going. No, no, they're not wanted as Christians. Why are they going? Because Jesus said go. Some people say, well, it's dangerous. So? It's always been dangerous. If Paul was worried about danger, he wouldn't have gone on the second missionary journey. Just read when he went through the first missionary journey. I mean, we have these weak, anemic prayers. How many times do we pray, God, give us safety? God, keep us safe? Look at the book of Acts. Read all the prayers in the book of Acts. Not one time did any of them pray for safety. I'll tell you what they prayed for. They prayed for boldness.

Holy Spirit, boldness, that a door of utterance be opened unto them. Acts 1a, Jesus said, you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit's come upon you. For what reason? To be a witness for me in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, to the ends of the earth. We're too fearful to share the gospel with our neighbor. What will they say? Too fearful to invite a coworker to revive. I don't want to stigmatize. You know what the mark of the spirit-filled life is? Acts 1a, it's boldness. I'm telling you guys, I have to do this every day. Take up my cross every day. Every time I come to preach, in my flesh, I'd be worried about what you think about me. I'd be fearful, because I'm just a person. What do I do? I take up the cross again. I die again, and when I die again, the spirit of God's released, and guess what? I don't care what you think anymore about me. I don't care. This is the nature of the type of consecration I'm talking about. You're dead. Dead people don't care what other people say. And only when I'm alive do I care. I need to die.

It's true of us all. Number two is this. It's a suffering faith. Jesus said, I have not come to be served, but to serve, and give my life a ransom for many. For whom are you giving your life a ransom for? See, the nature of a consecrated faith, it's a suffering faith. You're willing to suffer. I mean, I might have to, what, Thursday evenings? We're launching a service Thursday night? I might have to sacrifice my Thursday evening? Yeah, I had to get through that, too, because Pastor Phil likes having Thursday nights at home, in my recliner. I'm not going to now. I'm not going to now. We're about to launch the Northland Campus of Abundant Life, and guess what we're going to do? We're going to be launching it in Liberty Middle School. Guess what that means? It means for the first time in years, we're going to be setting up chairs, and we're going to be taking down chairs. Guess what? For the first 15 years of our church, before we moved into this building, we were setting up chairs, and we were tearing down chairs. I'm kind of glad we're going to be setting up chairs again, Northland.

I think it's good for us. I do. I think it's really easy for a church to get a soft faith. We need a suffering faith. Let me ask you, how do you respond to times of suffering? Because we're all going to suffer in life. Life is hard. We live in a broken world, cursed by sin. Bad things are going to happen to all men, all women. Somebody you love is going to die. Somebody you cared about is going to betray you. You're going to bear a lot of suffering and sadness in life. What do you do? What do you say? God, if you really loved me, you wouldn't have let that happen to me. Man, how many times have I heard that? God, if you really loved me. Listen carefully. Real faith cannot be ruined by suffering. It's refined by suffering. If suffering could ruin your faith, cause you to lose your faith, you didn't have real faith. You had religion. Real faith can't be ruined in the fire. It's only refined in the fire. Now, number three is this, sacrificing faith. It calls you to sacrifice.

It's our core value of generosity. And I'm talking about our core values. Remember the A Life to Salvation journey. The goal is all of us together taking our next steps over two years time in all six of our core values. Where suffering will cause you to serve. Having a dangerous faith will make you live evangelistically. Sacrificing faith, man, I'm gonna live generously. I wanna give my dollars to destinies. Chris and I are giving tens of thousands of our own dollars to these A Life initiatives. Now I'm not boasting, because lots of you are too. We're sacrificing financially. We're sacrificing something, because we think there is something greater that we're giving to. We're investing it not in the things of time, but in eternity. Why are we doing what we do? Living the way we live, giving the way we give. Can I just remind us that heaven is real, but hell is too. Hell is too. And we've forgotten that hell is real. It's not a metaphor. False teachers everywhere trying to say heaven's real. Hell's not.

Hell's just a metaphor. Jesus talked four times more about hell than he did about heaven. Mark 9, 44, hell is where the worm does not die and the fire is not quenched. We're talking about eternity here. And people at this moment are hanging over hell by nothing but a thread, a breath. One heartbeat away. That's why we do hard things in abundant life. That's why we break new ground and new places to reach new people far from God. That's the book of Acts kind of Christianity. That's what drove Paul to Galatia mid-445 A.D. That's what drove him on the second missionary journey when he could've stayed home and said it's enough. I've done my part. That's what drove him on the third missionary journey, eventually ending up in Rome, where he too would bow to a Roman executioner. I fought the good fight. I finished my race. I've kept the faith. Life lived generously, sacrificially. Until you're willing to die for Christ, you'll never fully live for him. You'll always hold back a little. And we will all stand before Jesus one day soon, soon and very soon. And I do not want to say, God, I wish I woulda,

if I just could do that over. Let's leave it all on the field. Number four, it's a holy faith. It's a life of worship, our core value of worship. You're a worshiper 24-7, 365, not just something you do on Sunday. As a worshiper, it's a life of holiness. It's a call to holiness. Romans 12, one, a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable act of worship. Listen carefully. It is impossible to think of a holy Christ with a band of unholy followers. Yet the modern church is full of sin. Not just somebody else's church, I mean our church. Let's just be honest. One of the distinguishing characteristics would distinguish the early Christians from the pagans around them. One of the distinguishing characteristics was they had a radically different sexual ethic. Now we got Christians waving the rainbow flag. As if Jesus died a brutal, bloody, ugly death to affirm our sin and celebrate our lifestyles. When he, in fact, died a brutal, bloody, ugly death to forgive us our sin and change our lifestyles. Listen carefully. For churches like ours, that's not the sin. For some, here it is.

For some, it is. But for churches like ours mostly, heterosexual Christian men looking at pornography. It's easy to inventory somebody else's sin. How about our sin? Infidelity, adultery, sleeping with your girlfriend when you're not married is still a sin. It still is offensive to the living God who is holy. And we think we get the exception. Well, Jesus loves me anyway. His love is not a license. What are you doing? If your faith is not sanctifying you, making you more holy, making you more like him. You need to take some inventory of your faith. Possible you just got religion. The crucified life is the only way to live, the abundant life. The A life, Paul's gonna give you the secret right here. Galatians 6, 14, but God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ by whom the world has been crucified to me and I to the world. Here's what Paul said, the world is dead to me and I'm dead to the world. This world is not my home, I am just passing through, my treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the world. This world is dead to me, I'm dead to the world. Don't care what the world does,

because it's dead and I'm dead too. I'm alive to Christ. That's the fearless, abundant kind of life. And the day is coming, we're gonna stand in the great locker room. This great celebration. We're gonna stand in front of Jesus, the game is gonna be over. And I've been in the locker room celebration where I rode the pine, I rode the bench, I never got in the game and my team won and it is not the same. No, I've been in the locker room when my team won and I've got blood all over my face and I've got a jersey that is streaked with blood and sweat and mud, that is how I wanna live when I enter heaven. I want a jersey that is streaked with blood and sweat and mud. I want to bear the scars of Christ and hear those words, well done, good and faithful servant. You left it all in the field. That's a beautiful bride, abundant life. Jesus wants a bride. The church that suffered, that is scarred. The church has been through some battles and endured, that's a beautiful bride. Jesus, I pray we could be that kind of bride at Abundant Life, that we could choose the scars. And I'm gonna come off this platform,

I'm gonna consecrate myself again as I have over and over again on my knees at every campus, at every church house. I invite you to do that there in whatever manner you want. Get on your knees, come to the altar, do it where you sit, but we're not gonna move on until we together have a chance to build an altar. In Jesus' name, amen. Would you stand as you pray, as you come before the Lord today. We're gonna lift our voices, glorify him, worship. So you lift your voices, you sing with us. Come before the Lord, this time, dedicate your life to him. ♪ You are worthy of it all ♪ ♪ You are worthy of it all ♪ ♪ For from you are all things, and to you are all things ♪ ♪ You deserve the glory ♪ Come on, sing it again. ♪ You are worthy of it all ♪ ♪ You are worthy of it all ♪ So worthy, Lord. ♪ For from you are all things, and to you are all things ♪ ♪ You deserve the glory ♪ ♪ Worthy is your name, Jesus ♪ ♪ You deserve the praise, worthy is your name ♪ ♪ Worthy is your name, Jesus ♪ ♪ You deserve the praise, worthy is your name ♪ ♪ Worthy is your name, Jesus ♪ ♪ You deserve the praise, worthy is your name ♪ ♪ Worthy is your name, Jesus ♪

♪ You deserve the praise, worthy is your name ♪ Come on, let me hear you. Jesus. In all hail, King Jesus. Give Him all the glory today. In all hail, the Lord of heaven and earth. In all hail, King Jesus. In all hail, the Savior of the world. In all hail, King Jesus. In all hail, the Lord of heaven and earth. In all hail, King Jesus. In all hail, because He's worthy of it all. You are worthy of it all. We tell Him today. You are worthy of it all. For from you are all things, and to you are all things. You deserve the glory. Come on, lift your voice and sing it out. You are worthy of it all. You are Jesus. You are worthy of it all. For from you are all things, and to you are all things. You deserve the glory.