January 14, 2026

First or all, Jesus is telling us that if anyone will come after Him, so He's making this personal.  You can put your name in there.  "If _____________ comes after me. 

If any man comes after me, let him do what?  Deny himself. 

This is what you have to do.  You're going to have to deny yourself

What does that mean?  It means the following: 

You have to say no to your will.

You have to say no to running your own life.

You have to say no to your dreams. 

You have to say no to your goals.

You have to say no to all of your aspirations. 

You have to say no to all of it if you want to follow him. 

This is what Christ is asking us to do.  We need to turn all of our lives over to His will and deliberately put Christ first in every aspect of our lives. life. We are to live out His will for our lives. 

Do I do what I want to do? My will?  No

Do I follow my dreams and plans?  My will?  No.  

And so, we are denying or turning over everything to him.

and we are putting Christ first in every aspect of our lives.  He comes first.

Those plans you have for your life.  You have to deny them. 

Those dreams you have for your life.  You have to deny them. 

Is there a part of your life child of God, that is not turned over to him?

Is there any part?  

in the next part of the verse, Jesus says "...and take up his cross daily..." 

So, first, I deny myself my will and turn everything over to Him.

And then Christ tells us that we need to take up our cross daily.

Crosses in the first century meant something totally different than they do today.  For instance, they wouldn't have had a cross in a church or a temple in the first century. 

They would have never worn a cross necklace.  Never. Not in the first century.

In those days, the cross meant that someone was dying.  The cross was for someone who was getting ready to die. So, the cross was not celebrated. Nothing of the sort because when you saw someone carrying that bar across his shoulders, that crossbow, you knew one thing. He was going to die. And he was not coming back.

And that's what Christ's getting to here.  He's telling us that we need to die to self. We have a new Master.  We have been bought with the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ,

and that old man, he isn't to come back. We are to live for His will, for His honor, and for His

glory. 

And can I say this? Every day you're going to have to take up your cross. 

He tells us here in Luke 9:23 that we are to take up our cross how often? Daily. 

There are things that come into your life on a daily basis, and when they do, you're going to have to take up the cross daily.  Every single day.  Every day you're going to have to

deny yourself., and you're going to have to take up your cross. 

And then the final part of the verse.   What are we to do next?  Follow Him. 

This is written in the Greek in a tense that means you're not quitting; you just keep following and keep following and keep following.  It doesn't matter what is coming your way or what you are going through. You keep following. You keep on following.

No matter what comes your way, you keep following.

No matter what heartache comes you your way, you keep following.

No matter what pain you're going through, you keep following.

No quitting.  No giving up. You keep following. 

"...If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me."  

I close with the words of an old hymn.

 I can hear my Savior calling,
I can hear my Savior calling,
I can hear my Savior calling,
"Take thy cross and follow, follow Me." 

Where He leads me, I will follow,
where He leads me, I will follow,
where He leads me, I will follow,
I'll go with Him, with Him all the way. 

These are three of the things you're going to have to do.

1. Deny yourself.

2. Take up your cross daily.

3. Follow Him.

That's what Christ expected from his disciples, and that's what He expects from us.

Take your cross and follow.