Three Nevers We Must Never Forget, Part 2

As a modern culture, we're conditioned to pursue our own satisfaction above all else. Our times are marked by fierce individualism, meaning no one takes higher priority than oneself. Today on Insight for Living, Chuck Swindoll is teaching from Matthew 16. In this passage, we read about an encounter between Jesus and His disciples, during which Jesus says, If any of you wants to be My follower, you must turn from your own selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow Me.

Chuck titled today's message, Three Nevers We Must Never Forget. The deepest part of your being is your soul. There are secrets there. There is reality there as it relates to your life.

There are no masks. It is that which God sees. And as He looks within us today and He sees our souls, can you honestly say, this soul belongs to Jesus. I've given my life to Him. I've trusted Him. I believe in Him.

If not, perfect time to do that as we bow for prayer. We begin by hearing of your attributes, Father, immortal, invisible, the only one truly wise, enlightened, accessible, hid from our eyes. We acknowledge, Lord, you alone deserve the word awesome.

You alone. There is none other. There is no other God but you. And there is, therefore, no other Savior but your Son, in whom we have found a deep sense of satisfaction to the point we can actually sing over and over, it is well with my soul.

Things are well there. For those who could not say that, I pray today that you will invade, connect, pierce beyond all resistance, and bring that soul into submission onto the knees, bowing in full acceptance of your Son's death on our behalf. And we acknowledge, Lord, that you remain King of Kings.

Lord, over all who would call themselves Lord, you, our God, reigns. And we bow without reluctance or resistance before you. Thank you for the freedom we enjoy for those who fought for it and whose remains lie under a white cross this day.

I gratefully offer every family who suffered through those wars and every brave woman and man who wore the uniform and fought the fight and did it well. Now, Father, we acknowledge that every good and perfect gift is from above. We wouldn't even have breath in our lungs if it weren't for your grace, nor would we have our occupation or a savings account or anything by way of possessions. But because of your grace, we're able to say we're able to give. And we thank you for the privilege. And we do so now with joy and generosity in the name of our Savior, who brings us nearer, nearer to God, nearer we could not be, for in the person of your Son, we are as near as He. In His name we pray, and in His name we give. And everyone said, Amen. And now the message from Chuck that he titled, Three Nevers We Must Never Forget. Jesus believes it is time to move into, well, the absolute unexpected.

From then on, he began to tell his disciples plainly that it was necessary for him to go to Jerusalem and that I will suffer many terrible things at the hands of elders and leading priests and the teachers of religious law, right? Horizontal thinking. We've seen that before. We've watched them argue with you. We've seen them criticize you. You've stood toe to toe as they've assaulted you verbally. And then he goes one step further, look at what it says, and then I will be killed.

Peter took him aside and began to reprimand him. Brings us to the first never. We must never think that just because something is unexpected, it's unacceptable. You see, it's unexpected because we operate from the human viewpoint, as we're going to read in just a moment.

These things happen, and when the human viewpoint kicks in, we resist him. You see, Peter's not angry. He's flabbergasted. He's surprised.

And as a result, I can just see him as he puts his arm around Jesus' shoulder. Heaven forbid, Lord, this will never happen to you. You know what that is? That's saying, this is what I never want to happen to you.

Horizontal thinking. In fact, Jesus doesn't mince words, does he? He turned to Peter and said, get away from me, Satan.

Back off. How dare you speak to me like this? You sound just like the one who tempted me in the wilderness before my ministry even began offering me all these things that the world would offer if I would simply bow down before him.

Get away from me. You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God's. Thinking straight is the result of God's working in our hearts so that as a result of that, we begin to live like we should.

Brings me to the second never, I hope you will never forget. We must never think that the Lord should alter his plan to fit our preference. Regardless of how long we have walked with the Lord, he has every right to call every shot, to move us wherever he pleases at whatever time is in his plan.

One response is not to reprimand him, it's to obey. It's to follow. And now Jesus moves into that. Notice Peter is silent so he turns and says to the other disciples at verse 24. Jesus said to his disciples, you want to be a follower of mine? You must take up your own cross. Peter rebuked me, reprimanded me for telling you of the cross I will be bearing. I'm telling you it's yours as well.

I don't know if you can go much further in vertical thinking than that. Living for Christ is really explained in one word and that's dying. The best servants are those who have died to themselves. The fight is over.

The resistance is finished. I'm telling you that you must bear your own cross. You know we turned the cross into something very attractive. There are beautiful necklaces I've seen. There are symbols on Bible covers. There are chrome crosses that go on cars. I even have seen crosses on lapels. They're not decorative pieces of jewelry.

They're places of death. I've never seen an electric chair on a lapel. I've never seen a hypodermic needle full of lethal solution. Never seen a rifle for a firing squad. Never. I've seen crosses as if this is a fun thing to wear.

Nothing fun about it. You take up your cross, you are saying, I die willingly to his plan for me, to his will for my life. I take up my cross. Look at this.

Look at this. Turning from my selfish ways, I take up my cross and I follow him. I follow him. I never lead him.

I never even hint on the way he should be leading me. I listen real closely. I come to terms with what he's saying. Then I adapt accordingly.

How unlike any of us. In fact, he says this. Look, if you're going to hang on to something, you're going to lose it. And if you really, really want to save something, you give it up. Nobody ever said it better than the martyred missionary, Jim Elliott. He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose. That isn't just a nice little bit of poetic verse. It's true. The fools are those who hang on. The one who adds to his license plate the frame. The one who dies with the most toys wins.

When I see that, I always want to paint a little thing at the bottom that says, you fool. In fact, you, by giving up your life, you take on the real, real life. Third thing never to forget. We must never think that being a close follower of Jesus can happen without self-denial.

Yeah, that's right. There's that big word, self-denial. I've waited all this time to use the word because it's everywhere, and I'm up to here with it. Narcissism. Another way of putting it, entitlement. And I'm telling you, it's not just among millennials. It's not just among the kids growing up. It's among middle-aged. It's among older people who want my way. Don't get in the way of that. It's all about me.

Me. I smiled when I read Hugh Gallagher's answer to question 3A on his college application to get into New York University. The question 3A is an essay question, meaning take time and answer it, spell it out.

Here it is. In order for the administrative staff of New York University to get to know you, the applicant, better, we ask that you answer the following question. Are there any significant experiences you have had or accomplishments you have realized that have helped you to define you as a person?

Everybody got the question? We got it. Help us know who you really are. Hang on.

This is an answer like I've never read in my – I would love to have been a member of the admissions committee that read his answer. Hang on. I'm a dynamic figure, often seen scaling walls and crushing ice. I've been known to remodel train stations on my lunch breaks, making things more heat efficient.

I translate for Cuban refugees. I write award-winning operas. I manage time efficiently. Occasionally, I tread water for three days in a row.

I cook 30-minute brownies in 20 minutes. I'm an expert in stucco. I'm a veteran in love and an outlaw in Peru. I play bluegrass cello.

I was scouted by the Mets. I am the subject of numerous documentaries. When I'm bored, I build large suspension bridges. I am an abstract artist, a concrete analyst, and a ruthless bookie. I don't perspire.

Children, trust me. I can hurl tennis rackets at small moving objects with deadly accuracy. I once read Paradise Lost, Moby Dick, and David Copperfield in one day and still had time to refurbish an entire dining room that evening. I know the exact location of every food item in the supermarket. I sleep once a week.

When I do sleep, I sleep in a chair. While on vacation in Canada, I successfully negotiated with a group of terrorists who had seized a small bakery. The laws of physics do not apply to me.

Page two. I balance, I weave, I dodge, I frolic, and all of my bills are paid. I have won both fights in San Juan, done cliff diving competitions in Sri Lanka, and spelling bees at the Kremlin. I've played Hamlet, I've performed open heart surgery, and I've spoken with Elvis. But I've not yet gone to college.

Really? What would have been your answer? Would you have dared said, I'm learning to die every day. I've learned the value of giving up my will. I've learned how important it is to say no to what I want and yes to what my master wants.

As a matter of fact, I am in the process of losing my life. I'd walk life's way with an easy tread. I'd travel for pleasures and comfort led. Until one day in a quiet place, I met the master face to face. My towers built to the blue of the sky.

I'd enter to win this life's mad race when I met the master face to face. I met him and knew him and I blushed to see his eyes full of sorrow were fixed upon me. I faltered and fell on his feet that day while my castles melted and vanished away.

Melted and vanished in their place. Nothing else could I see but my master's face. My thoughts are now for the souls of men.

I've lost my life to find it again ever since that day in a quiet place when I met the master face to face. Three nevers I hope you never forget. Never think that just because something is unexpected, it's unacceptable. Never think that the Lord should alter his plan to fit your preference.

It isn't about you. And never think that being a close follower of Jesus can happen without self-denial. And by the way, would you teach your children that and if you missed, would you teach your grandkids? Freeman concludes his great book on Robert E. Lee with a moving story that I've always loved.

I've sometimes turned to it again just to be sure I read it correctly. The great confederate general had come to the end. Still beloved by those in the south. A mother of a little baby stepped out of her house that had been pretty much destroyed by the union. Trees burned, crops burned, walking out toward the general who had come to grieve with her over the loss of her two sons. Or as I recall, a son and a husband.

Holding the baby in her arms with tears, she held the baby out to the general and Lee took the child. I love this. Looked into his face and said simply, teach him that he must deny himself. Teach him that. Let's bow our heads.

Teach him that he must deny himself. These are not popular words to hear in our day where the narcissist gets to the front of the line and the one who lives for what he is going to get or she is going to get often gets. Jesus is telling us not how to be popular, but how to be a follower of his. If you've never submitted to the cross, before you think of bearing your own cross, I suggest you come to the cross and release your will to his.

His will is that you take the Son of God as your own personal Lord and Savior, that you trust in him now. Put that off no longer. Remember the unexpected? You may not be alive a week from now where you would hear this again.

Do it now. And if you have met the Lord and you're still strutting, still fighting for your way, still looking for your name in the lights, still expecting to be seen or pleased, you're next. May God teach you to deny yourself, whatever it takes.

And by the way, he never runs out of ways to do that. If we can help you in any way, we exist for that reason. Thank you, Father, for connecting with us, because given our own way, we'd never live right. We'd never think straight. We'd be so busy filling out application forms to impress others.

We'd even lie to look good. So I pray that you will deliver us from looking good or desiring to be seen or heard or quoted. May we find great, great joy in following your son Jesus to wherever he leads, wherever, whenever. Now to him who is able to guard you from stumbling and present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding great joy. To the only wise God, our savior, be glory, majesty, dominion, power forever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever.

And all God's people sin. Amen. Amen. Denying self is not something that comes naturally to us. Our human inclination is to chase our selfish desires with little regard to how we impact others. You're listening to a message from Chuck Swindoll, and this is Insight for Living. To learn more about this ministry or to see what resources are available for today's topic, please visit us online at insightworld.org. Well, how do we take our next steps in becoming more like Jesus? Well, if there's one book in Chuck's collection that's been known to liberate readers from narcissistic living, it's the one I'll recommend to you right now called The Grace Awakening. Too many people have allowed their selfish desires to sabotage their most cherished relationships with family and even with God. Well, we believe the biblical principles in The Grace Awakening, if applied, will guide you toward a God-centered lifestyle, fully focused on the one who calls us to follow him.

To purchase a copy of The Grace Awakening, go to insight.org slash offer or give us a phone call. If you're listening in the U.S., dial 1-800-772-8888. And then as God prompts you to give a donation, please follow his lead. It's your voluntary donations that make it possible for us to provide these daily visits with Chuck. To give a gift today, call us.

Once again, if you're listening in the U.S., dial 1-800-772-8888. Rest assured, your gifts are truly making a difference. Recently, we heard from a widow who left an affirming note. Responding to a particular message about the struggles within many homes, she said, Chuck, thank you for this rare and beautiful comfort to my 75-year-old heart. I'm a devoted Christian widow living all alone.

Even though I've been rejected by my own children, I've come to terms with my life. And your message about the family was sweet refreshment to my soul. Well, it's your donation that allows us to reach grateful listeners like this one. So please, if you're listening in the United States, call 1-800-772-8888.

Or you can also give a donation online at insight.org. You've heard him teach about the Holy Land, using word pictures to make us feel like we're actually strolling through the Old City. Learning about Jerusalem is fascinating for sure, but seeing the land of Israel with your own eyes is life-changing.

In fact, it's absolutely magnificent. And now you can see Israel with Chuck Swindoll and the gracious hosts and experts assembled by Insight for Living Ministries. Join us on an unforgettable 12-day tour, March 6th through 17th, 2022. At special sites along the way, I will teach from God's Word, we'll worship at the Mount of Beatitudes, and share the Lord's Table at the Garden Tomb. In fact, we'll sail the Sea of Galilee together, and we'll visit places where Jesus walked and taught.

To learn more, call 1-888-447-0444. Just imagine walking along those sacred sites and seeing the Bible come to life before your very eyes. Mark your calendar for March 6th through 17th, 2022, and make your reservation by calling 1-888-447-0444, or go to insight.org slash events. Insight for Living Ministries Tour to Israel is paid for and made possible by only those who choose to attend. I'm Dave Spiker inviting you to join us again Tuesday when Chuck Swindoll describes a terrifying glimpse of glory right here on Insight for Living. The preceding message, Three Nevers We Must Never Forget, was copyrighted in 2016 and 2021, and the sound recording was copyrighted in 2021 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use is strictly prohibited.