Dying to Live | Sunday, March 8, 2026

Amen. Praise the Lord. Thank you, Anthony. Good morning, Cross Connection. You guys can have a seat. It is good to be reminded in those lyrics of that song that the Lord has good plans for us. Sometimes it's hard for us to see that, especially if we find ourselves going through a difficult trial.

The song referenced the desert and the garden, which we think of as contrasting things. The desert is the place we definitely don't want to be in, while the garden is where we wish we were, the paradise, the idea of a garden. Yet, it was in the garden of Gethsemane that Jesus, under passion, suffered. The scripture refers to it as a word that we have changed the idea or the concept of. He was suffering there in the garden, reminding us that wherever we are, the Lord is with us. He can remind us in the midst of those things that He has good plans.

I think of Jeremiah chapter 29, one of those great verses that many of you have memorized, where the Lord reminds His people, "I know the plans I have for you, plans of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope." The context of that is very important because it was while the children of Israel were headed into Babylon as exiles. Their nation had been destroyed, and they were being carried away by Nebuchadnezzar. God promises them in the midst of that, even though this looks like the worst possible thing that could ever happen, that they are going to be in Babylon for 70 years. He says, "I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you, to give you a future and a hope." That's good to be reminded of. I think that framing can be really helpful for us, even just the lyric of that song this morning.

Well, it's interesting to come here on a time change Sunday and see that it's a little sparse this morning. Some of our dear friends didn't make it; they didn't get the memo about the time change. Does it feel like it came too soon for you guys? Oh my gosh, I was not prepared when my watch started buzzing on my wrist this morning. I opened my eyes, and it was dark. I thought, "What on earth is going on?" I had one of those moments where you're trying to figure out, "Where am I? What is happening? Why am I being woken up while it's still dark outside?" Then I realized, oh no, it's time change Sunday. I woke up so confused. Thank Jesus for a hot shower and a hot cup of coffee. I feel like I'm at least 72% ready to face the day.

The time change is a perpetual reminder to me of the ineffectiveness and ineptitude of the United States Congress.

Did you realize that 75% of Americans say, "Let's get rid of this thing"? And yet, we can't get rid of this thing twice a year. We have to be subjected to the torture and the pain. Can you tell I'm a little bothered by this this morning? Oh man.

Well, we have a doozy of a passage before us this morning. I mentioned the last several weeks that we've been in the Gospel of Luke, chapter nine. We are in a very important transition in the Gospel of Luke. Luke is the longest of the four gospels by word count, and here at Luke chapter nine, we reach the transition of the long path towards Calvary. When I say the long path towards Calvary, I mean the long path towards the cross. The tone of Jesus and the mood of Jesus change here in Luke chapter nine, and His interaction with His disciples changes as well.

In Luke chapter nine, verse one, it says that Jesus called the twelve disciples to Himself. The use of the word "disciples" is really important. He gave them power and authority—power over demons and diseases—and He sent them out to preach. Then, ten verses later, in Luke chapter nine, verse ten, it says, "And when the apostles returned." The change of the word from "disciple" to "apostle" is significant in this passage, and the way that Jesus interacts with His followers changes here. His focus shifts.

We will see in Luke's Gospel that it says He set His face like flint towards Jerusalem. This idiom means that nothing was going to deter Him from His purpose. In the text we will look at this morning, we will see the purpose of Jesus reaffirmed. The move from disciples to apostles is key, and I am convinced that this move is what God wants to do in every single one of our lives as well.

It is an essential step to move us from disciples—who can be defined as interested followers. I would say that by the mere fact that you're here this morning and that you made it through the time change indicates that you're an interested follower of Jesus. At the very least, that's what you are. You could clearly identify that there is a spectrum of discipleship. It would be right to say that you are all on the spectrum this morning.

When I say there is a spectrum to discipleship, some of you here today are just beginning your interest in Christ. You are in the initial phases of being interested in the teachings.

And the way of Christ is a journey of growth and understanding. Some of you have been walking with Christ for a much longer period of time, so you have seen more and know more. You are a little bit further along in your walk, but you are still a learner, still a disciple. Christ wants to move us from being students and interested followers to becoming apostles—those who engage in His work and recognize that God has placed a call on each of us, just as He places a call upon missionaries or vocational ministers.

The challenge with the call of God is that there is a temptation for each of us, especially if we are sitting in church, to think that the call of God is only for the ministerial class—those who have been prepared for professional vocational work or those who heed the call and go on the mission field. The reality is that God has placed His call upon every single one of us. He wants us to become interested followers, but He also wants to move us along to the point where we recognize that He has a purpose and plan for us to be His ambassadors, lights shining in a dark place.

I am convinced that God has strategically placed every single one of you in important positions of influence. You may not feel that this is the case, but there are people in your life who are watching you—in your workplace, within your family, in your neighborhood, or on a school campus. God has placed you there on purpose to be a light to those who are in darkness. Hopefully, we will reach a point where we begin to recognize and realize this, and we hear the call.

I love the great passage in Isaiah chapter six, which marks a transitional point in the life of the prophet Isaiah. Early in his life, he saw a vision of the heavenly temple. As he sees this vision, he realizes his own sinfulness and confesses it, saying, "I am a man of unclean lips." In the presence of glory, he sees himself as he truly is and confesses his sin. Immediately, an angel takes a coal from off the altar and purges his sin. After this happens, he hears the voice of one saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for me?"

I want to suggest to you that the voice of God calling was there all along, but Isaiah did not hear it until he had that realization of his sinfulness and confessed it. Once he was cleansed and his sin was atoned for, he was able to hear the call that had been ongoing for a long time. Whom shall I send?

I send? Who will go for me? For some reason, we're compelled by a new desire to say, "Here, my Lord, send me." I think that change is the point at which God changes our desires and gives us new desires. This is an indication that God is working in you—a new desire to serve and follow Him.

When you come to that point where you recognize and hear the call and purpose of God for your life, each of you individually, that is the point at which things get real, shall we say. In this text, things get real. If you would take out your Bibles, if you don't have a Bible, you can raise your hand, and an usher will bring you one. We'll also put the text up on the screen.

We are in the Gospel of Luke, so turn to about the middle of your Bible and start turning to the right. If you would stand with me, you'll find Matthew, Mark, Luke—Luke chapter nine. The text before us today is one of the most well-known sayings of Jesus, and I would suggest it is one of the most radical sayings of Jesus.

Luke 9:23 states, "Then He said to them all, 'If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world and is himself destroyed or lost? For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His own glory and in His Father's and of the holy angels. But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the kingdom of God.'"

Father, as we stand here this morning with the Scriptures open before us, I pray that You would open our eyes, our ears, and our hearts, that we would see and understand what it is that You are seeking to speak to each of us individually. Holy Spirit, soften our hearts in such a way that the seed of the Word of God would go in deep, put down a deep taproot, and begin to spring forth unto life and fruit.

God, make our lives to bear much fruit for Your glory. Help us to see, as we consider this text, maybe just a little bit more of the work that You are desiring to do in us, but also through us, making us lights shining in a dark world. We are increasingly aware of the darkness of the world that we live in.

And sometimes it feels like it's even darker. So, God, would You help us to redeem the time because the days are evil? We pray this today in Jesus' name. And all those that agreed said, Amen. You may be seated.

The ancient Greeks, 2,600 years ago, had a series of philosophical precepts. Obviously, ancient Greece is known for the different schools of philosophy, such as the Epicureans and the Stoics. Stoicism has had some kind of resurgence in the last decade in our culture. They had a series of precepts that helped shape the ethos and character of that burgeoning civilization, which is, in many ways, foundational for our own civilization here two millennia later.

Among these sayings, three maxims were especially influential. All of these are found inscribed at the ruins of the Temple in Delphi. The first one is "Know thyself." You might have heard that one before. It frames or establishes the foundation of the philosophical thought that established the West.

The second maxim is "Nothing in excess," which is fascinating because, if you ever study the Greeks, they were excessive. However, they wanted to remind themselves to know thyself and to keep it on the down low at least a little bit, kind of suppressing those tendencies. The Epicureans, on the other hand, knew nothing of that.

The third maxim is "Surety brings ruin." It's a good thing to think about. How certain are you? How sure are you? Be careful and have a humble estimation of yourself. Know thyself, nothing in excess, and surety brings ruin.

Now, contrast those with the modern maxims of 21st-century America. What are the sayings that establish the character of our culture in 2026? Think about things like "Find yourself," "Be yourself," and "Express yourself." I don't know if you noticed, but "self" is at the center of this.

But that was just as true 2,500 years ago: Know thyself. Self was at the center. When you look at humanity post-fall, post-Genesis chapter three, that is the inclination of us all—to put self at the center. Or to say it another way, to put self on the throne. We live in a culture that accentuates that tendency and stokes the fires of that inclination. Express yourself, find yourself, be yourself. Whether you live in the sixth century BC in Greece or the 21st century in California, self is at the center of man's mind. This is not just cultural; it is something about our very nature. It has been observed by many. I remember reading in a devotional from Billy Graham many years ago that self-preservation is the first law of nature.

A side note on this: one of the frightening realities of artificial intelligence is that, because these systems have been trained on human data, they also have an inclination toward self-preservation. That's concerning. We see it in some of the tests that have been run by a number of companies as they test their own models. Self-preservation is wired in. Where did it learn that? From us. Because self-preservation is the first law of nature.

I would say that the second law of human nature seems to be self-exaltation, not just self-preservation. Unfortunately, self-preservation is counter to the teaching of Christ, as we see in this passage. Jesus says something that is shocking because it is counter-cultural and counter-natural. His words here are radical, as He calls us to denial of self.

It is worth noting that Jesus said a lot of radical things. This is why I find it interesting when I talk with someone who is not yet really a student of Christ or a student of the Scriptures, and they say something like, "Well, yeah, I think Jesus is kind of a cool guy. I like Jesus." I often ask, "What do you like about Jesus?" They might respond, "Well, He was really a good moral teacher." I then ask, "What are some of the moral teachings that He said?" Often, they respond with a blank stare, like the spinning beach ball you see on a Macintosh computer when it's trying to find something in memory.

What is it that you find good about His teaching? Well, He was radical in some of the things He said. Here's a radical one: Love your enemies. That's radical. Do good to those who hate you. That's radical.

Here's another radical saying from Jesus: it is more blessed to give than to receive. That's radical. One of the awesome things about the radical sayings of Jesus is that the more you draw near to Him and get to know what He says, the more you realize that those radical things are actually true. It is more blessed to give than to receive.

Here's another radical one: if your foot causes you to sin or your hand causes you to sin, cut it off, for it would be better for you to enter into the kingdom lame than to be cast into the hellfires for eternity. That's radical. In this passage, we have what might be the pinnacle of the radical sayings of Christ. It is radical to our flesh because hardwired into our nature is self-preservation, and built into us by our culture is self-exaltation.

Jesus comes along and says, if you're going to follow Me, you need to deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Me daily. That is counter-cultural and counter-natural. It goes against everything in my flesh. My flesh says absolutely not.

What seems to be almost incredibly radical, as you begin to understand it, loses its radicality, if you will. You start to realize that there is some important truth here. As Jesus is moving His disciples from interested followers and learners to apostles, His ambassadors—those sent with a message—He commands them with these three commands: deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Me.

Jesus calls us not to self-expression or self-actualization, but to self-denial and surrender. Could anything be further from what is natural and what is cultural, whether it was 2,500 years ago in Greece or here in 2026 in the United States of America and California? I don't think there's anything more counter-cultural or counter-natural than this.

When you think about it, who builds a movement by saying to people, "Follow Me and die"? That is radical. What kind of leader says, "Come and die"? But in essence, that's what Christ's call is here in this passage. It is a call to a wholesale denial and death to self. Throughout our life,

Our very nature has pushed us to put self first. That's our inclination always. We have sayings for it in our culture: "I'm the captain of my own ship," "I'm the master of my own destiny," "I'm the Lord of my life." I occupy the throne of who I am; my wants, my desires, my needs, my ambitions, and my loves are at the forefront.

I would suggest to you that our culture, emphasizing the "be yourself, find yourself, express yourself" mindset, is one of the reasons we see a decline in birth rates. Why? Because the most selfless thing you could do is have children. All of a sudden, you're not living for yourself; you're living for them. Have you seen these videos that have been circulating on social media in the last couple of years? People talk about how glorious it is to not have kids because they get to sleep in and do whatever they want. It's great that they've found themselves, but they might want to take into consideration what Jesus says in this text. You might gain the whole world, but you could lose something far more significant than you realize.

We put ourselves first by nature and by culture. If you don't believe that, consider this: who is the first person you look for in a group photo? You judge the goodness of a group photo based on one person. Everybody else can look horrible, but as long as you look good, it's the best picture ever. If you happen to look bad, then it's the worst picture ever. You might say, "Wow, this is such a good picture," but if Tommy has his eyes closed, you might think, "I don't care about Tommy; I look great."

Jesus says, "If anyone"—you might want to underline that in your Bible—"desires to come after me." First things first: if Christ is going to be Savior, then He must be Lord. If Christ is Lord, that means I'm not. There is a new occupant on the throne of my life, and that is a radical transformation. This is what Jesus is calling us to. Our flesh repudiates this, and our culture finds it offensive and ridiculous. You mean to tell me that you're going to filter your decisions, your path, your life?

Through the framework of what does God want in this situation versus what do you want to do, that's what Christ calls us to. That's the Christian life. It feels like a death; it feels like the worst possible death because it's yourself dying, and that is horrible.

It's important to note that this call that Jesus gives is not a call only to the twelve. Notice what it says. He said to them all, in verse twenty-three, "If anyone..." The "anyone" and the "all" are really important to this passage because Jesus is not speaking to just the twelve—Peter, James, John, Bartholomew, Thomas, and so forth. He is not speaking to some elite class of super-spiritual disciples. In fact, when you get to know these guys, you realize that's the case. He is not giving this to just the ones who are especially serious or the super-spiritual. He says to them all; this is everyone in earshot when Jesus said this, and not just those in earshot, but every single person who reads this after the fact over the last two thousand years.

Point number one, if you're taking notes: the invitation of Christ is open to all, but the cost is non-negotiable. You can kind of feel the impulse here in this little timeshare discussion with Jesus when he says, "Hey, you want to be my disciple? You have to deny yourself, take up your cross, follow me."

You can imagine yourself sitting down and saying, "Now, Jesus, you could grow this movement so much better if you toned that down just a little bit. Maybe say there should be a trial period, you know, like 180 days, six months—try it out, see if it works for you." You know, you can buy a mattress today and try it for ninety days and send it back if you don't like it. But this is much bigger than a mattress. You're calling me to follow you, to give up everything.

And maybe you could say, "You know, try it out for a little while and see if this works." But Jesus says, "No, that's not how we're going to do this. Here's the call: deny yourself, take up your cross daily." We'll get to that in a moment. This is a huge call. If anyone desires to come after me, the invitation...

is open to all. Deny yourself, take up your cross daily, and follow me. The cost is nonnegotiable. Three distinct and definite actions of obedience that Jesus gives to his potential followers are essential. If you want to be among my followers, this is what it requires: three imperatives, three commands.

The first one is to deny yourself. This word "deny" is the same word that is connected to Peter's threefold denial of Jesus on the night of his trial. You may not remember the story, but Jesus is betrayed by Judas Iscariot and is led away to the house of the high priest to stand trial, where ultimately he would be condemned to die, a moment we will remember in just about four weeks at Easter, specifically on Good Friday.

As he is being led away from the Garden of Gethsemane to the house of Caiaphas, the high priest, Peter, one of his disciples, follows at a distance to see what is happening. He finds his way into the court of the house of Caiaphas. Three times he is asked, "Aren't you one of his disciples?" and three times he denies it emphatically, saying, "I do not know the man," with one instance even involving cursing. Jesus had told him, "Peter, before the rooster crows, before sunrise, you will deny me three times." Peter had insisted, "Far be it from me! I would never do that. I would die with you." Yet, in that moment of pressure, he finds himself saying, "I do not know him."

The same word is used here. Jesus is saying that you need to regard your flesh with the same disdain. My old nature is something I am no longer associated with. Paul would say in Second Corinthians 5 that if anyone is in Christ, they are a new creation; all the old things have passed away. In Galatians 2, he states, "I have been crucified with Christ; I no longer live." He emphasizes that you are to reckon your old self as dead in Romans 6:11. In Ephesians 4, he instructs us to put off the old man, which is corrupt in nature and former conduct.

Jesus says you must regard your old self as no longer you. "I am not that now." This is interesting because we live in a culture that says you need to figure out your identity. We have many people who are confused about their identities and come up with all kinds of strange identities. Let me tell you, you have seen a lot of unusual identities around you here in San Diego County. What does Jesus call us to? He says that when you come to me, that dies.

You're no longer a goth Christian or a something-hyphenated Christian. It's none of that. You are Christ's possession, no longer your own. That seems like a radical death, but that's what it is. Jesus is not mincing words about this; He says it requires the total abandonment of self to come and follow Him. If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross.

Now, the cross is an interesting thing. In 2026, we use it as a metaphor for various burdens. We might say, "Oh, it's so terrible; I have to get up so early for work. But it's my cross to bear." We use it as a metaphor for some great burden. We even wear it as jewelry. There are probably many of you here this morning wearing a cross right now as jewelry.

In the first century, however, it was not a metaphor, nor was it some beautiful gold or silver jewelry to hang around your neck. It was an instrument of death, and the worst kind of death. It was a horrible experience to die on a cross, naked. The last shameful experience before you die is hanging there, exposed for all to see. The horror of the cross is the agony of the death it brings. A.W. Tozer, a great Christian man, used to say that there was one thing you knew about a man carrying a cross outside of the city in the first century: he was not coming back. This is death—radical, horrible death.

Now, the hard part is that Luke is the only one who adds a small word that really challenges us daily. This account is recorded in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, the three synoptic gospels. Jesus says, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him take up his cross and follow Me." But in Luke, he adds the word "daily." Why does he say "daily"? He says it because, while it is a definitive action to crucify—"I have been crucified with Christ"—it is also a definitive daily reality. This flesh, for some reason, seems to wake up every day after I put it to death yesterday. I mean, didn't we just do this yesterday? Yes, and it woke up first thing this morning when my watch was buzzing on my wrist, and I thought, "Oh, it's dark. I don't want to get up."

Listen, pastors have this thought too.

Pastor Mark can preach this morning. He's always got a message prepared. He'd take this, and Nick is there, and Jason is there. We have all kinds of people who can preach. Garrett's got a message prepared as well. I could just bring the youth ministry over there and stay here in bed because it's warm. My flesh wakes up first.

If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. What does it mean to follow Christ? At the very least, it means that I need to emulate and imitate Him; He becomes the pattern for me. There's a challenge in that. If Jesus is the pattern that I am to imitate and emulate, it means I need to know Him.

There is only one way to get to know Christ: to understand Him as He has revealed Himself in the Scriptures and to spend time in His presence through prayer and worship. Even that alone is difficult. It's not easy. It involves more than just casually listening to a message preached on a Sunday morning. At the very least, you should fact-check me to see if I am teaching what the Scriptures say. Go through and see line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little, there a little. Find out who Jesus is.

If you're going to have Him as your Lord and Master, if you're going to follow Him, it means that you need to learn His pattern of life and become acquainted with Him. The only way to do that is through the Bible; it's through the Scriptures.

But the obvious question to this heavy series of commands in Luke 9:23 is: why? Why should I do this? Why should I deny myself when my nature says to take care of myself and my culture says to exalt myself? Why should I do that, which my flesh repudiates and the culture finds ridiculous?

What does Jesus say? In verse 24, He states, "For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it." Here, we find this fascinating gain-loss inversion of the gospel. Why go through the pain of self-denial and death? Why do what my flesh says no to? Jesus appeals to my desire for reward, which is a fascinating thing because you see, you would...

Assume that my desire for reward would be the furthest thing from Jesus's thought. And yet, in many places in the Gospels, Jesus appeals to my desire for reward. Let me give you an example. I think it's in Luke 14; it might be Luke 17. Eventually, we'll get there. Jesus says, when you throw a party, invite the lame and the blind and the ill. That would be a lame party. I was like, I don't want to invite those people. Why? Why would I do that? He says, and you will be rewarded in the age to come. He's appealing to my desire for reward to do the things that are hard to do.

Yes, and he does that here. He says, I'm calling you to do something that is counter-natural and counter-cultural. It goes against everything in you. The obvious question for you to ask is, why would I do that? That makes no sense. And he says, well, here's why you should do that. If you desire to save your life and to retain whatever all your flesh desires and all the things that you could ever gain and prosper from in this life, you will lose it.

Just a little side note: that is important information. Ten out of ten people die. Now, we're living in a culture right now that is trying to do everything it can to extend life. I don't know if you've seen all this stuff— all the research in epigenetics, immunotherapy, and all these different things. Let's extend life! There are all kinds of people saying that, you know, in the next hundred years, we're going to extend life. You could see 150; you could see 200 years old.

Listen, if you read the Bible, literally the first 11 chapters say that there were people back at the beginning who lived 900 years. Methuselah lived 969 years, but guess what? He died. If you live 200 years, you will die. That means everything that you could possibly amass to yourself in this life— the fame, the power, the fortune, whatever it may be— will be gone. It is all utterly temporary.

So go for it! Live it up, gain everything you possibly can, and run the race on the hedonic treadmill. The amazing thing about the race on the hedonic treadmill is that the speed keeps going up and the elevation keeps increasing. Have you ever been at the gym and seen all those people on the treadmill running in place? And you think, I wonder how fast I could go. Let's try it.

Don't you ever see the videos where people fall off that thing? That looks devastating. You start pushing the button, thinking, "Let's see how fast we can go." Okay, we're going to lift up the speed. Number 10, number 11, let's increase the elevation. And now it's about to give me a heart attack for what I have to do to get that thing.

The remarkable thing is that the people in our culture who have attained the things we find ourselves speeding after to try to gain all tell us the same thing. They say, "I got that thing, and it was the most depressing thing ever." Because now I had it, and I was not very happy. What next? I think of Michael Phelps after he won, what, some ungodly amount of gold medals. I could probably not even lift those medals, and he went through a devastating depression. So many people have experienced that.

I'll never forget my friend Joey Buran, a professional surfer. Years ago, I helped him move from Vista, California, to Orange County. We were piling all his stuff into a U-Haul truck, and we had to drive over to his mom's house in Vista. We went into the spare bedroom and started getting things out from underneath the bed. Out came the Pipeline Masters trophy, the pinnacle of surfing success. He won it, and it was under a bed at his mom's house collecting dust. Why? Because the things that I so long for and desire, in comparison to Christ, are, as Paul says in Philippians 3, rubbish, trash. Those things that I count as gain to myself, I willingly consider them trash that I might gain Him and be found in Him.

Joey said, "I'll never forget when I got that trophy. I had worked so hard to get it. You're standing up on the platform, and they give you the trophy, and there's champagne all over the place." Then, all of a sudden, this crazy storm and rain came within 15 minutes, and everybody left. He was sitting drenched on the beach, thinking, "Well, now what?" It was that very event, the loss of that game, that ultimately brought him to faith. The realization that that which he strove for was ultimately meaningless. It's what Solomon in Ecclesiastes refers to as vanity of vanities, soap bubbles. I finally got it.

Dissolved in your head, where did it go? Jesus said that is all the gain in this life. Even if you lived 500 years with all of the gain in this life, it will be lost. I love the way that Solomon sums it up in Ecclesiastes. What is it worth if you gain all of this stuff and you get the greatest kingdom? When you die, it's going to be handed off to a fool, and they'll squander it. Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.

Every person in our culture today who is striving to gain and maintain whatever profits this world has for them will come to the realization at some point in the future: vanity of vanities. May it not be too late when they realize that none of those things are coming with you. Jesus says, "Whoever desires to save his life will inevitably lose it. But whoever loses his life for my sake, the short-term pain of the loss now is far better. He will save it."

If you willingly lay down your life for the sake of Christ, you will find salvation. In denying yourself, taking up your cross, and following Christ, you will find the path to everlasting life.

Point number two: the non-negotiable cost is high. Denial and death are required, but the return is incalculable. Do not miss this: the cost of not doing so, the denial and the death to win Christ, is ultimately far higher. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world and is himself destroyed or lost? The ultimate end is destruction and loss.

What real profit is it if you gain everything that is ultimately temporal and fading? It seems like a terribly bad bet to invest everything you have in this temporal earthly life. That is not to say that you cannot have good things or live a good life, whatever it may be. Even Paul talks about the fact that we can enjoy the things that God has given to us, but we should ultimately recognize that those things are not God.

Those things are not chief, and they are not all that they measure up to be. In comparison to Him, they are nothing. Yet many go down the broad path to destruction, seeking after those things, thinking that in them is their salvation. In those things, there is no salvation. If you refuse to deny yourself and to lay hold of Christ, you are missing the true path to life.

Yourself is a rejection of Christ; it establishes Him as worth less than this thing. He is worthless in comparison. In doing that, there is a rejection of Him. What does He say about that? Verse 26 states, "For whoever is ashamed of me and my words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His own glory and in His Father's and of the holy angels."

Point number three: the shame and cost of denying Christ will be far greater when He returns. You see those words in verse 26, "when He comes." It's good to keep in mind that Jesus will come again. I know, just as I believe it was Peter who said, there will be mockers in the last days who say, "Where's the sign of His coming?" Two thousand years ago, Jesus said, "I will come again." Here we are, two thousand years later, sitting in sunny Southern California, and it's easy to say, "Well, where is the sign of His coming?"

I challenge you: He will come again for you. Whether we see Him corporately come again on the clouds with great glory, or you have your own private meeting with Him one day, He will come again for you. What a shame it would be to stand before the Lord of glory and say, "Well, I regarded the pleasures, power, and prestige of this world to be worth more than You. You, in my estimation, are worthless."

Whoever is ashamed of me, of him I will be ashamed in that day when He comes. Note that Isaiah said in Isaiah 40 and again in Isaiah 62, "When He comes, His reward will be with Him," but only for those who have claimed Him as their reward and say that the things of this world are worthless by comparison.

As Jesus is finishing this saying, He says to His disciples and all those who were hearing, in Luke 9:27, "But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the kingdom of God." That seems like a cryptic, strange riddle. What on earth do you mean?

Look at the very next verses. Now it came to pass about eight days after these sayings, after He said, "If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me." It came about eight days after that, a week and a day later.

He took Peter, John, and James and went up on a mountain to pray. Peter, John, and James were the same three that he took with him into the bedroom at Jairus's house when he raised Jairus's daughter from the dead. They were also the same three that he took with him to pray when he was in the Garden of Gethsemane. Now, he takes them on the mountain that we call the Mount of Transfiguration.

There has been much said about the fact that Jesus always had Peter, James, and John near. Some people say that Peter, James, and John were his favorites, while others argue that they were the ones he had to keep an eye on. If Jesus were here today, he would have Tater, Miles, and Mark with him everywhere he went. He would say, "I have to keep my eye on you. You three are nothing but trouble." That's why he put us all in the same church, so he can keep his eye on us. He would say, "I'm going to keep you all together so that I don't lose sight of you." Right, John? Right. Yes, thank you very much.

Where was I? He took Peter, James, and John and went up on a mountaintop to pray. As he prayed, the appearance of Jesus's face was altered, and his robe became white and glistening. Behold, two men talked with him there—Moses and Elijah, the representatives of the law and the prophets—who appeared in glory and spoke of his decease, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.

What did they talk with Jesus about? They spoke of his decease. But Peter, you have to love him, and those with him were heavy with sleep. I rejoice in that. When they were fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. Then it happened, as they were parting, as Moses and Elijah were leaving, Peter said to Jesus, "Master, it is good for us to be here. Let us make three tabernacles, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah," not knowing what he said.

While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were fearful as they entered the cloud. A voice came out of the cloud saying, "This is my beloved Son; hear him." When the voice had ceased, Jesus was found alone. But Peter, James, and John kept quiet and told no one in those days any of the things that they had seen.

This is certainly one of the most glorious revelations of the gospel. Can you imagine what it would have been like to be there with Peter, James, and John?

As Jesus was transfigured, it was as if the veil of this world was removed, and they saw Him for who He truly was. They beheld His glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. That's what John later wrote when he penned the Gospel. Later, when Peter wrote one of the letters, he said, "We beheld His glory when we saw Him on the mountaintop." They saw Jesus for who He truly was; they saw His true innate glory revealed. It must have been awesome, far greater than what Moses saw on Mount Sinai when he was put in the cleft of the rock. Jesus's figure was transfigured before them, and Moses and Elijah were there.

There are so many things in this passage to unpack. I don't have a lot of time, so I just want to highlight a few things that stand out. First, I already mentioned it, but He took Peter, John, and James and went up on a mountain to pray. That was the purpose. While they were supposed to be praying, notice it says He prayed and they slept. It means so much to me that Peter, James, and John, the big three, in the two instances when Jesus took them to pray with Him, fell asleep. It reminds me of those great words from Alistair Begg: "The best of men are men at best." They would be with Jesus later in the Garden of Gethsemane while He prayed, and they would fall asleep three different times. Here they are sleeping when they should be praying.

Second, don't miss that Moses and Elijah were the ones who came and spoke to Jesus. Why is this important? As I said, they are the representatives of the law. Moses received the law and gave it to humanity, to the people of Israel, on Mount Sinai. Elijah is the first of the prophets referenced as you begin to study Old Testament history in Samuel and Kings. These two are the representatives of the law and the prophets, and the law and the prophets find their fulfillment in Christ; they point to Jesus. It is natural that they would be the ones speaking with Jesus on this mountain of transfiguration.

Also interesting is that both of these individuals had wonderful mountaintop experiences on the same mountain called Horeb or Sinai, the mountain of God. I had such a glorious...

I had the privilege a few years ago to go there and to climb to the cave that is regarded as Elijah's cave. It was absolutely amazing. There, they saw the Lord and heard His voice. Now, here on another mountain, they are with Christ. What are they talking with Him about? They are discussing His decease that would soon be accomplished, as if it has a purpose. It's not an accident; it's the reason that He came.

The word "decease" here is really interesting because in the Greek, it is the word "exodus." Moses is talking to Jesus about His exodus that is about to happen in Jerusalem. Moses had an exodus, and what was that exodus? It was the redeeming of an enslaved people who were under the bondage of death and slavery out of Egypt, a picture and type of the world, unto the promised land. What has Jesus accomplished in His exodus? Something far greater: a release from the slavery to the bondage of sin, unto the glory of the kingdom. So, they spoke with Him about His exodus.

The third thing to see in this text is Peter, as he wakes from his stupor. He sees this amazing sight and wipes the sleep out of his eyes, saying, "What in the world? I thought it was just Peter, James, and John and I that came up here." That's not John. That's not James. Who is that? That's Moses and Elijah speaking with Jesus. Peter speaks up before he knows what he is saying. Be careful with that one; I'm sure we've never done that except like yesterday.

As Moses and Elijah are leaving, it is a beautiful picture because the law and the prophets have stepped aside. Christ is better; He is exalted and glorified. The text does not say that Moses and Elijah were glorified; it says that His glory was there, and they were talking with Him. But as they are leaving, it is as if Peter is saying, "No, Mo, don't go! Eli, stick around! We'll make you a tabernacle. We'll make you guys three tabernacles: one for you, Jesus, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." I mean, it's very selfless of him. He’s going to sleep outside; you guys have a tent. Let's stay here on this mountaintop. Don't leave. Stay.

As he spoke, the cloud of the glory of God overshadowed them and brought great fear. Then God speaks: "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."

Pleased. Hear Him. Those two words, "Hear Him." We're basically like Peter. Shut up. Hear Him.

When the cloud left, Moses and Elijah were gone, and there was Jesus only, because He's better. Peter, in that moment, was seeing the glory of Christ, along with the law and the prophets. The inclination in that moment was to stay there, to remain on that mountaintop in the presence of glory. That would have been your inclination too—to stay there in the presence of glory.

But what Peter was seeing in that moment was the glory of Christ that the law and the prophets looked to. However, it was the future glory of Christ that could not fully come until they left that mountaintop and went up another mountain called Calvary. The cross had to come first.

You see, we want the gain without the loss. We want the glory without the cross. We want the exaltation without the denial. But point number four: the glory and gain of the kingdom are impossible without the cross.

And so, Jesus took them down off of that mountain. Before that glory could come, He would have to climb another mountain carrying His cross. He says to you and He says to me, "If you want the glory, the glory shall be revealed. Deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, the same will save it."

There's only one path to glory. The challenge is that our flesh, as we look at that, thinks, "I can't possibly do that. It's too much. It's too great." But as you begin to follow Him by faith, He works in you to will and to do His good pleasure. You discover, just like Paul did in Philippians chapter three, that the things that were gained to me, I counted them as trash.

That I may lay hold of Him, that I may win Christ because He is far better. Better. The things of this world are worthless compared to His inestimable worth. Oh, that we learn that now and not when we stand in His presence. We come to the realization that He was greater than all these other things we gave ourselves for. Oh, that we learn it now.

Let's stand. We'll close in prayer. Lord, thank You for this challenging, radical teaching. I pray, God, that You would help us to weigh it well this morning. And God, that we wouldn't immediately forget these things that we've considered in the text today. May Your word challenge us, that we would hear You say, "Come, follow Me."

But we wouldn't, like the rich young ruler, go away sad because we have so much prestige, power, and possession. Instead, may we recognize that You are far better. God, help us to come to that realization. Help us to follow You by faith and, Lord, to rely upon Your grace and Your strength to enable us to do so. For we ask this in Jesus' name, and all those that agreed said.