Let's Get Back to the Cross

[Falla39]

If some have lost their way and never went to "Jerusalem" (Pentecost) then maybe they should go back to the Cross and go from there. Go to "Jerusalem", and wait/tarry until you receive the Promise of the Father (Spirit) and be empowered by the Spirit of THE LIVING GOD!!! The Comforter which is the HOLY GHOST, will then will begin to lead and guide you into all truth!

Jesus had to endure something, the Apostles had to do something! What makes us think we don't have to do
our part!

Falla39

[Falla39]

Bump!

[Falla39]

GOD SO loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son as a sinless sacrifice.
Jesus knew when the work of the Cross was finished. After the Father (Spirit) raised
him from the dead, he appeared unto Mary Magdelene and the disciples, and others.
He taught his apostles and told them what to do after he left them and ascended.

They obeyed and were equipped for service. After we have been to "Jerusalem", and
received the Promise of the Father,(repented, been baptized in Jesus Name and been
empowered by the Holy Ghost, we should also be available for service. I believe when
we pass from this life, we too shall sit in the throne of HIS Glory. Heirs of GOD, and joint
heirs with Jesus, if we have been willing, obedient and faithful.

Falla39

[Falla39]

This morning I am remembering an old song (Jessie B. Pounds, pub. 1906). My
late grandmother and parents used to sing it. It rings in my ears today!

THE WAY OF THE CROSS LEADS HOME

I must needs go home by the way of the cross,
There’s no other way but this;
I shall ne’er get sight of the Gates of Light,
If the way of the cross I miss.

Refrain:
The way of the cross leads home,
The way of the cross leads home;
It is sweet to know, as I onward go,
The way of the cross leads home.

I must needs go on in the blood-sprinkled way,
The path that the Savior trod,
If I ever climb to the heights sublime,
Where the soul is at home with God.

Then I bid farewell to the way of the world,
To walk in it nevermore;
For my Lord says, “Come,” and I seek my home,
Where He waits at the open door.

Falla39

[yuanyelss]

It is shame this thread is not in the top of the list. It should now be at least 1,000 hits. I think, on the contrary, we want to know who left the flock, backslid, and have this man other than their spouses terrible things....

[mfblume]

I believe that if we correlate John 10 with Matthew 7, we find the SHEEPFOLD into which the sheep enter is the KINGDOM RIGHT NOW. Jesus is the door of the sheep. Not the door of the goats and donkeys. lol . And His SHEEP hear HIS VOICE and follow Him. HIS VOICE speaks the message of the cross, which those whom he never knew refused to hear and could not enter the Kingdom. He KNOWS HIS SHEEP, though. So to enter the Kingdom is to be a sheep WHOM HE KNOWS. And entering the Kingdom is entering the Sheepfold.

Sheep are meek sacrificial animals. They speak of people who are LIVING SACRIFICES because they carry their crosses of self denial.

Those who call Jesus "LORD" but do not do the things He said are not sheep. He said He never knew them and they are workers of iniquity. To carry the cross is to destroy the iniquity in our lives every day. That is why those whom he never knew are NOT SHEEP, although they know His name.

2 Tim 2:19 says THE FOUNDATION of God stands sure. That is the rock upon which the wise men build their houses. The wise man is the person who hears HIS WORD AND DOES IT. The sheep HEAR HIS VOICE AND FOLLOW HIM. Following Him is carrying the cross.

THE LORD KNOWS THOSE WHO ARE HIS. And let everyone that nameth the name of Christ DEPART FROM INIQUITY. If we do not carry our crosses in order to depart from iniquity, we will depart him as workers of iniquity.

THE CROSS IS WHAT IT'S ALL ABOUT!!!!!

[mfblume]

TAKING THE CROSS TO A WHOLE NEW LEVEL.

The Lord blessed me with an awesome thought this past week.

Jesus suffered on the cross wrongfully. He was innocent and sinless, but died as an evildoer.

Paul caught that and took carrying his cross to a whole new level.

2 Timothy 2:9-10 KJV Wherein I suffer trouble, as an evil doer, even unto bonds; but the word of God is not bound. (10) Therefore I endure all things for the elect's sakes, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.

That sounds a lot like Jesus!

Hebrews 12:2 KJV Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Paul knew that dying THAT kind of death to self would reward one with HIS KIND OF RESURRECTION.

2 Timothy 2:11-12 KJV It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him: (12) If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us:

Paul made statements that boggle the minds of scholars 2000 years later:

Romans 9:3 KJV For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh:

But Paul caught a level of carrying the cross as Jesus did that many never attain.

1 Corinthians 6:7 KJV Now therefore there is utterly a fault among you, because ye go to law one with another. Why do ye not rather take wrong? why do ye not rather suffer yourselves to be defrauded?

Colossians 1:24 KJV Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the church:

THAT level of carrying the cross is when you are innocently suffering for wrongs you never committed, and do so in order to see others blessed.

We are so worried about our reputations if we accept blame for things we did not do, but read what Paul said about Jesus...

Philippians 2:5-9 KJV Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: (6) Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: (7) But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: (8) And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. (9) Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:

After 1 Cor 10 speaks of thinking of pleasing others BEFORE YOURSELF, no wonder Paul made the statement:

1 Corinthians 11:1 KJV Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.

Who will take the cross TO THAT LEVEL? Whoever will, we know this: They will have awesome power of resurrection life on their lives as that self denial will draw the Spirit of glory to them like a magnet!

1 Peter 4:13-14 KJV 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. (14) If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified.

[mfblume]

The cross came to the forefront in a whole new way AGAIN for me while studying Genesis 11 and 12. In Gen 11, the people directed themselves to the PLAINS of Shinar. Desert and sand and FLAT. And said they'd build themselves a city, make themselves a name and a tower. Gen. 12 contrasts with that SHARPLY and shows God calling Abram to LEAVE that same region, and go where HE wanted him to go. What a contrast from people deciding where they should live! Then God said HE WOULD make Abram a great name. Again a contrast from people making themselves a name to God making Abram a great name. And of course we know Abraham looked for a city who builder and maker IS GOD, not himself like the Chaldeans sought to make themselves a city.

And it says Abram obeyed God. What a contrast! People running their lives and a man amongst them all following God instead of his own ways. NO WONDER IT SAYS ABRAM WALKED BY FAITH! It takes incredible faith to carry the cross of self denial to the extent you do not make yourself anything, but follow what God wants for you instead.

Many people cannot give God the control of their lives because they DO NOT HAVE ENOUGH FAITH that it will be okay. The ultimate form of self denial and carrying the cross is LETTING JESUS BE LORD OF YOUR LIFE -- He tells you where to go, He makes your name great.

Except the Lord build the house, they labour in VAIN (PRIDE - SELF GLORY) that build.
Psalm 127:1.

And instead of a flat SANDY FOUNDATION in Shinar, on a PLAIN, the city God eventually provided for Israel was JERUSALEM on 7 mountains! FOUNDATIONS. MOUNTAINS of rock in contrast to a PLAIN of sand.

The wise man built on the rock and the fool built on sand. Guess whose house stands?

In Revelation, John was taken in the Spirit to a WILDERNESS to see the whore and to a HIGH MOUNTAIN to see the Bride, the NEW Jerusalem. the NEW Jerusalem had foundations, plural. 12 of them! And the Church is built on the foundation of not what they will do for themselves, but the apostles doctrine -- apostles and prophets and Christ the chief cornerstone. THE CROSS is in the very FOUNDATION of the BRIDE!

[mfblume]

I recently read a wonderful thought in a Christian book about what carrying the cross entails. We usually consider the cross to be taking trials and biting our tongues when we feel like slapping someone back with an insult after being given one, etc. But this writer noted that the cross we are meant to carry is the cross Jesus actually died on two thousand years ago. We died with Him. And carrying the cross means we cannot use any self energy in order to serve God and please God. Self has the craving and tendency to add to the work of the cross and make itself more pleasing to God in our behaviour.

When we are justified from sin the moment we are saved, we know God did all the work through the cross. God looks at the blood and is satisfied. NOTHING else satisfies Him no matter how much we think doing good works will help the cross satisfy God. Only the BLOOD. And this is the same when it comes to sanctification and seeing our behaviour become more righteous. SELF is tempted to try to make our behaviour better, and churches even cater to it! They tell people the key to better behaviour is more commitment and dedication. No. the key is to rest in the work of the cross and the power of the Spirit to cause us to keep his statutes. Self effort is only flesh begetting more flesh. In order to walk righteously we need far more than flesh can ever offer. We need the power of the Holy Ghost. And we cannot yield to the temptation of the flesh to empower us to serve God correctly any more than we could see our flesh justify us.

Can we see how the cross means we died with Christ to anything we might consider from the flesh to help us in an way? Carrying the cross, therefore, involves refusing to allow self to help us improve our walks with God and simply relying on the cross that brought peace between us and God for God to be able to empower us by His Spirit.

[Charnock]

Excellent! I have been wrestling with this topic since January, and it's fascinating and life-changing.