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The Daily Word of Righteousness
Survival and Fruitfulness in the Last Days, #13
Saying, The Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be slain, and be raised the third day. And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it. For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away? For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father's, and of the holy angels. (Luke 9:22-26)
The penalty for saving our life is to lose it, to lose ourselves, to be cast away. Even though we have gained the whole world we have lost everything of value to us. If in the process of attempting to save our life we worship the Beast or his image or receive the mark of his name, we put ourselves in danger of everlasting torment.
Every true saint must finally face his or her own Gethsemane. The final cross looms before us. We struggle with the angel until our name is changed from Jacob, the supplanter, to Israel, the struggler with God. We writhe on the cross as Adam cries out in death throes. But then comes the peace and holiness of God.
To avoid our Gethsemanes is to lose the Glory of God.
We must never deny Christ before men. Whatever burning cross is involved, we must never, never deny Christ before men. Sometimes we will be rejected by our family or by our fellow workers if we confess Christ and behave as a Christian. But if we deny Christ and are ashamed of Him, then He will deny us and be ashamed of us at His appearing.
Confessing Christ when it causes persecution is a form of losing our life. Can we deny Christ and still be saved? Must we lose our life in order to be saved?
In that day, he which shall be upon the housetop, and his stuff in the house, let him not come down to take it away: and he that is in the field, let him likewise not return back. Remember Lot's wife. Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it. (Luke 17:30-33)
Losing our life for Christ's sake means being always ready to surrender our possessions. It is not possible to enter the Kingdom while we are clinging to our personal wealth.
Lot's wife left her heart in Sodom with her house, her sons-in law, her neighbors. Where her heart was, there was her treasure. Not a great sin, we might say. But Mrs. Lot perished with the wicked. She lost her life because she attempted to save it.
The day may come when the Spirit of God warns us to flee. We must be ready always to obey the Lord. The slightest hesitation (after we are certain it is the Lord who is speaking) may result in our destruction. "Remember Lot's wife"!
To be continued.