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Will You Take Up Your Cross to Follow Christ?
The Kingdom of Heaven is at Hand—The Book of Matthew · Pastor Adam Wood · Matthew 16:24–28 · November 2, 2025
Transcript:
All right, thank you for being here. We will go right to Matthew 20, chapter 16 rather, Matthew 16 and verse number 24 tonight. Matthew 16 and verse 24. Matthew 16 and verse 24. All right, let's read verses 24 to 28. Then said Jesus unto his disciples, if any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it, and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. For what is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels, and then he shall reward every man according to his works. Verily I say unto you, there be some standing here which shall not taste of death till they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom. Let's pray together. Our Lord, once again we come to your Word, Lord, with of course needy. We need you to teach us. We desire you to teach us. And Lord, we ask you to teach us. Lord, teach us these truths. And Lord, not only teach us the intellectual part and knowing the facts of Scripture, but also how we might apply them to our lives and see your presentation, to see your demands, and to see what it means to follow you and to be unashamed. Lord, help us to do that as we look at this chapter 16 and finish it up tonight. You'll help us and we just look to you. Lord, help us to learn more about you in Jesus' name. Amen. Now remember the context. Before we get to verse 24. Verse 24 is the tail end of a series or a conversation, a series of verses that really began in verse 13 in Caesarea Philippi when Jesus says, Who do men say, the I, the Son of Man, am? And in that context, the Lord, of course Peter answers, thou art the Christ, Son of the living God. And of course the Lord blesses him for that, blessed art thou. And then he says that he gives them authority over the keys of the kingdom of heaven. We saw that as well. And then he turns straight to that. And of course you had the issue with what we saw this morning with Peter, as the Lord begins to explain that he's going to go to the cross, Peter begins to rebuke him. And that's where the Lord says, Get thee behind me, Satan. And obviously the idea is Peter was not, Peter was, as I said this morning, Peter was interested in the glory, but definitely was not interested in the suffering of Christ. And you can't blame him from a human perspective, but that was the whole problem, is that it was a human perspective. It was a carnal perspective that was not most concerned with the things of God, but the things of men. All right, that's what we've seen already. But the Lord brings up suffering in verse 21, specifically not the suffering of the disciples, but the suffering of himself. When he says he would suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and be raised again the third day. So the Lord, as always, anytime the Lord brings up suffering, well, most of the time anyway, when you see that, he brings up himself to begin because our Lord is our example. There's nothing that our Lord Jesus calls us to do or endure that he has not first done and endured before us to set an example for us. And so we can always, that's why the Bible says, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, our eyes should not be set upon our brothers and sisters to our right and to our left, but they should be set to our Lord. That is one of the keystones of the Christian life, is you have to keep your focus on the Lord Jesus Christ himself. Whether it be things that happen to you or suffering or persecution or interpersonal issues or whatever the case might be, we keep our eyes upon Christ and that's like the North Star and it keeps us going in the right direction because our eyes are upon him. Okay, so the Lord is the one that brings up suffering in verse 21, his own suffering. And then on the heels of that, not separate from that, but in the same context. And he begins in verse number 24 and he applies these same truths to the disciples. Notice what he says in verse 24. He says, then said Jesus unto his disciples, if any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. Now we're okay with the idea of coming after Christ, we're okay with the idea of denying ourselves to some degree anyway, but when we get to the word cross, that's like a bad word, especially when you know what that means. The word cross is a very dreadful word in scripture. To be honest with you, for me personally, I don't like the cross as far as the symbolism of the cross. I don't like that. I've told you a few of that in our kind of passing conversations. A part of that is having been a missionary and seeing people that venerate images and that kind of thing. And I've seen and heard of people doing that. They think there's power in the symbolism of the cross, like that down there. There's just none. It's just a piece of wood that's cut in a certain pattern. But the cross of Christ, of course, it reminds us of what our savior has done, but it's a dreadful symbol. It's a dreadful symbol of death. And the reason it's so dreadful is because it is what our sin required. So we understand what it means and that kind of thing, but the cross is a very dark period in history. And so when the Lord says the word cross in verse 24, especially to those who live under Roman rule, that's like a shutter. He's only ever said it one other time. Matthew 10, we saw it this morning. He says it here, right on the heels of what he said. Now, he doesn't say that he's gonna be killed by the cross in verse 21. Notice that? He just says he's gonna be killed. But verse 24, he hints that it's gonna be on a cross, because he says to follow him, take up his cross and follow Jesus. So again, in the context of suffering, Peter wants to, he's looking for the glory. He wants to avoid the pain and suffering, and he has a desire for glory. But just as with our Lord Jesus, just as it is with our Lord Jesus, suffering must come before glory. And that's a biblical principle that you see throughout the New Testament. Suffering must come before glory. It was true of the Lord Jesus, and it's true of us. Suffering is first. Romans 8, 18 says this, "'For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time "'are not worthy to be compared with the glory "'which shall be revealed.'" 1 Peter 4, 13, "'But rejoice inasmuch as ye are partakers "'of Christ's sufferings, "'that when his glory shall be revealed, "'ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.'" And 2 Timothy 2, 12 says this, "'If we suffer, we shall also reign with him. "'If we deny him, he also will deny us.'" Now, if you keep that verse in your mind, we're gonna kind of circle around that verse a little bit, though not directly. And then also verse number 27 in our text here says this, "'For the Son of Man shall come in the glory "'of his Father with his angels, "'and then he shall reward every man according to his works. "'But there is no Son of Man coming in glory "'until the Son of Man first suffers and dies, "'and then rises, ascends back to his Father, "'and then he returns.'" So it's embedded through, the Lord Jesus is consistent throughout his ministry that it is necessary that he suffer first. We all know that. That's a New Testament truth. That's an Old Testament truth. And so that's the order. And this is why the Lord brings it up because he is shaking the disciples out of this idea that they're gonna somehow get glory without suffering because it's not gonna happen. It's not gonna happen. Now notice what he says in verse 24. Now verse 24, we're gonna have a little hermeneutical lesson tonight. So if you follow me, maybe we can learn a little principle of hermeneutics. But this context, 24 thro...
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The Kingdom of Heaven is at Hand—The Book of Matthew · Pastor Adam Wood · Matthew 16:24–28 · November 2, 2025
Transcript:
All right, thank you for being here. We will go right to Matthew 20, chapter 16 rather, Matthew 16 and verse number 24 tonight. Matthew 16 and verse 24. Matthew 16 and verse 24. All right, let's read verses 24 to 28. Then said Jesus unto his disciples, if any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it, and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. For what is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels, and then he shall reward every man according to his works. Verily I say unto you, there be some standing here which shall not taste of death till they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom. Let's pray together. Our Lord, once again we come to your Word, Lord, with of course needy. We need you to teach us. We desire you to teach us. And Lord, we ask you to teach us. Lord, teach us these truths. And Lord, not only teach us the intellectual part and knowing the facts of Scripture, but also how we might apply them to our lives and see your presentation, to see your demands, and to see what it means to follow you and to be unashamed. Lord, help us to do that as we look at this chapter 16 and finish it up tonight. You'll help us and we just look to you. Lord, help us to learn more about you in Jesus' name. Amen. Now remember the context. Before we get to verse 24. Verse 24 is the tail end of a series or a conversation, a series of verses that really began in verse 13 in Caesarea Philippi when Jesus says, Who do men say, the I, the Son of Man, am? And in that context, the Lord, of course Peter answers, thou art the Christ, Son of the living God. And of course the Lord blesses him for that, blessed art thou. And then he says that he gives them authority over the keys of the kingdom of heaven. We saw that as well. And then he turns straight to that. And of course you had the issue with what we saw this morning with Peter, as the Lord begins to explain that he's going to go to the cross, Peter begins to rebuke him. And that's where the Lord says, Get thee behind me, Satan. And obviously the idea is Peter was not, Peter was, as I said this morning, Peter was interested in the glory, but definitely was not interested in the suffering of Christ. And you can't blame him from a human perspective, but that was the whole problem, is that it was a human perspective. It was a carnal perspective that was not most concerned with the things of God, but the things of men. All right, that's what we've seen already. But the Lord brings up suffering in verse 21, specifically not the suffering of the disciples, but the suffering of himself. When he says he would suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and be raised again the third day. So the Lord, as always, anytime the Lord brings up suffering, well, most of the time anyway, when you see that, he brings up himself to begin because our Lord is our example. There's nothing that our Lord Jesus calls us to do or endure that he has not first done and endured before us to set an example for us. And so we can always, that's why the Bible says, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, our eyes should not be set upon our brothers and sisters to our right and to our left, but they should be set to our Lord. That is one of the keystones of the Christian life, is you have to keep your focus on the Lord Jesus Christ himself. Whether it be things that happen to you or suffering or persecution or interpersonal issues or whatever the case might be, we keep our eyes upon Christ and that's like the North Star and it keeps us going in the right direction because our eyes are upon him. Okay, so the Lord is the one that brings up suffering in verse 21, his own suffering. And then on the heels of that, not separate from that, but in the same context. And he begins in verse number 24 and he applies these same truths to the disciples. Notice what he says in verse 24. He says, then said Jesus unto his disciples, if any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. Now we're okay with the idea of coming after Christ, we're okay with the idea of denying ourselves to some degree anyway, but when we get to the word cross, that's like a bad word, especially when you know what that means. The word cross is a very dreadful word in scripture. To be honest with you, for me personally, I don't like the cross as far as the symbolism of the cross. I don't like that. I've told you a few of that in our kind of passing conversations. A part of that is having been a missionary and seeing people that venerate images and that kind of thing. And I've seen and heard of people doing that. They think there's power in the symbolism of the cross, like that down there. There's just none. It's just a piece of wood that's cut in a certain pattern. But the cross of Christ, of course, it reminds us of what our savior has done, but it's a dreadful symbol. It's a dreadful symbol of death. And the reason it's so dreadful is because it is what our sin required. So we understand what it means and that kind of thing, but the cross is a very dark period in history. And so when the Lord says the word cross in verse 24, especially to those who live under Roman rule, that's like a shutter. He's only ever said it one other time. Matthew 10, we saw it this morning. He says it here, right on the heels of what he said. Now, he doesn't say that he's gonna be killed by the cross in verse 21. Notice that? He just says he's gonna be killed. But verse 24, he hints that it's gonna be on a cross, because he says to follow him, take up his cross and follow Jesus. So again, in the context of suffering, Peter wants to, he's looking for the glory. He wants to avoid the pain and suffering, and he has a desire for glory. But just as with our Lord Jesus, just as it is with our Lord Jesus, suffering must come before glory. And that's a biblical principle that you see throughout the New Testament. Suffering must come before glory. It was true of the Lord Jesus, and it's true of us. Suffering is first. Romans 8, 18 says this, "'For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time "'are not worthy to be compared with the glory "'which shall be revealed.'" 1 Peter 4, 13, "'But rejoice inasmuch as ye are partakers "'of Christ's sufferings, "'that when his glory shall be revealed, "'ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.'" And 2 Timothy 2, 12 says this, "'If we suffer, we shall also reign with him. "'If we deny him, he also will deny us.'" Now, if you keep that verse in your mind, we're gonna kind of circle around that verse a little bit, though not directly. And then also verse number 27 in our text here says this, "'For the Son of Man shall come in the glory "'of his Father with his angels, "'and then he shall reward every man according to his works. "'But there is no Son of Man coming in glory "'until the Son of Man first suffers and dies, "'and then rises, ascends back to his Father, "'and then he returns.'" So it's embedded through, the Lord Jesus is consistent throughout his ministry that it is necessary that he suffer first. We all know that. That's a New Testament truth. That's an Old Testament truth. And so that's the order. And this is why the Lord brings it up because he is shaking the disciples out of this idea that they're gonna somehow get glory without suffering because it's not gonna happen. It's not gonna happen. Now notice what he says in verse 24. Now verse 24, we're gonna have a little hermeneutical lesson tonight. So if you follow me, maybe we can learn a little principle of hermeneutics. But this context, 24 thro...