Matthew 17:24-27 (NIV)

24 After Jesus and his disciples arrived in Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma tax came to Peter and asked, “Doesn’t your teacher pay the temple tax ?”

25 “Yes, he does,” he replied.

When Peter came into the house, Jesus was the first to speak. “What do you think, Simon?” he asked. “From whom do the kings of the earth collect duty and taxes–from their own sons or from others?”

26 “From others,” Peter answered.

“Then the sons are exempt,” Jesus said to him.

27 “But so that we may not offend them, go to the lake and throw out your line. Take the first fish you catch; open its mouth and you will find a four-drachma coin. Take it and give it to them for my tax and yours.”

We get the privilege to live for Christ!

• There are two crosses that you need to know about.
  • The first cross, is the cross that our Lord & Savior carried.
  • The second cross, is the cross you get the privilege to carry.

Galatians 6:14 (NIV)

May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.

Boasting = the act of publicly displaying or proclaiming one’s satisfaction with one’s own or another’s achievements in a showy way, designed to impress. In the Bible, this word also has a more positive connotation… “to glory in”

2 Corinthians 10:17 (ESV)

“Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

Romans 5:11 (ESV)

More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

Romans 5:3 (ESV)

Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance,

Luke 9:23-25 (ESV)

And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?

Are you carrying the cross God has assigned to you?

• There are three things we must do to go with Jesus.
  • CROSS EXAMINATION — Deny your will for God’s Will
  • CROSS ACTION — Take up your cross
  • CROSS ROAD — Follow Him in His path for you.

#1) CROSS EXAMINATION

• Self-examine if you are willing to carry the cross God asked you to carry.

Isaiah 26:8 (NLT)

LORD, we show our trust in you by obeying your laws; our heart’s desire is to glorify your name.

Are you willing to give up your dream to follow His dream for you?

Philippians 3:7-11 (NLT)

7 I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. 8 Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ9 and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith. 10 I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death,11 so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead!

Matthew 23:1-3 (NLT)

Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, “The teachers of religious law and the Pharisees are the official interpreters of the law of Moses. So practice and obey whatever they tell you, but don’t follow their example. For they don’t practice what they teach.

#2) CROSS FIT

• Take up your cross.

The cross is an instrument of transformation.

Galatians 5:24-25 (NLT)

Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives.

2 Corinthians 3:2-6 (ESV)

2 You yourselves are our letter of recommendation, written on our hearts, to be known and read by all. 3 And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.

4 Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God. 5 Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, 6 who has made us sufficient to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

2 Corinthians 10:18 (ESV)

For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends.

#3) CROSS ROAD

• Follow Him in the path He has for you.

2 Corinthians 12:8-10 NLT

Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Are you willing to do the hard work, and go to difficult places?

Acts 20:24 (NLT)

But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus—the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God.

When you carry your cross, nothing matters but to finish your assignment.

CONCLUSION

Matthew 9:37 (NLT)

He said to his disciples, “The harvest is great, but the workers are few.

Can you imagine if Jesus had not Deny Himself?

Can you imagine if Jesus had not picked up the cross?

Can you imagine if Jesus had not followed the long road to Golgotha?

Christianity is a call to a glorious, joyous, abundant life filled with seasons of suffering that helps us become more like Jesus.

You are more like Christ when you love, forgive, serve, and suffer for His Name’s sake.

• My prayer is that, through the love of God in us, we can edify one another with our spiritual gifts while we continue to bear our cross, leaving a mark on the earth for eternity.

Ephesians 2:8-10 (ESV)

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

• Don’t waste your life trying to gain earthly things that won’t last forever. Surrender it to God and you can make a mark here on earth for eternity.