This sermon emphasizes the importance of embracing the cross of Christ, highlighting the necessity of self-denial, taking up one's cross, and following Jesus. It addresses the tendency to avoid the cross, the offense it brings, and the need to prioritize spiritual matters over earthly concerns. The speaker warns against being enemies of the cross and encourages a deep commitment to following Christ despite societal pressures and temptations.

Amen. Please be seated my friends. You know that many translations are taking place in various places. But those that do not belong, can't speak those languages, don't sit near those groups. Now let us turn to the word of God at Matthew and the 10th chapter. Matthew 10. Maybe you remember what you heard yesterday from Matthew 5. Be you therefore perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect. Now the 10th chapter please. And verse 36. And a man's foes shall be they of his own household. He that loveth father or mother more than me, is not worthy of me. And he that loveth son or daughter more than me, is not worthy of me. He that taketh not his cross and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. He that findeth his own life, his life, shall lose it. And he that loseth his life for my sake, shall find it. He that receiveth you, receiveth me. And he that receiveth me, receiveth him that sent me. He that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet, shall receive a prophet's reward. And he that receiveth a righteous man in the name of a righteous man, shall receive a righteous man's reward. And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water, only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward. And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water, only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward. Now my friends, the theme of our evening's meeting is the counterfeit cross. Now people have made the cross just a religious symbol or a sentimental symbol. Some people wear a golden cross, but the cross was never golden, never. It was a cruel instrument of savage execution. So the actual Roman cross was not something beautiful. It was a prolonged, agonizing death. Full of bloodshed and gore. Now, you know, we don't like the cross. Our natural inclination is to run from the cross. But the Lord Jesus said, he that followeth me, let him take up his cross. He that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. So the Lord expected his disciples to bear and to share in his cross, although our part is by no means an atoning part. To him that overcometh will he give a crown, which fadeth not away, a crown of righteousness. Now my friends, before you receive that crown, you have to bear the cross. And you know, today's Christianity is so devised that it neatly bypasses the cross. And we think we are all very good Christians. Now Jesus said, without taking up your cross and following him, you are not worthy of him. In other words, he expects all his disciples to bear the cross. And he also defined what is the attitude, what is the mental frame which you will get when you take up the cross. So the next verse tells us, he that findeth his life shall lose it. That is, he who runs away from the cross will lose his life. He that loseth his life for my sake shall find it. So Jesus says, embracing the cross is the way to find your life. Completely at the opposite scale or end of our thinking. Oh, maybe on Good Friday we think of the cross. But it has no bearing upon our present day living. So we live as we like, saying, I am saving my life, I am acquiring this, I am acquiring that. And success is measured today by affluence. So, if you are a man with a few million, then you are supposed to have done pretty well. But if you follow a path where you are not likely to gather some millions, everybody counts you, including your parents, count you to be a fool. Oh, see the way my son is wasting his life. See the way my daughter is losing her opportunities, her life. So, what does Jesus say? He that loseth his life for my sake shall save it, find it. How amazing! Losing, can it be living? Losing, can it be winning? That is what the cross does. So, when you look on the surface, oh, the cross looks terrible. How can I ever bear the cross? How can I lose this and lose that? But remember this. Jesus said, he is not worthy of me that who will not bear his cross and follow me. What would make you and me worthy of Jesus? Can I ever be worthy of Jesus? Can I ever be worthy of his holy name? Can I ever be worthy of the prize which he paid for my sinful soul upon the cross? Listen friends, I do not know if ever in my life I will be worthy of my precious Lord. Don't let anybody think that my labors or whatever I am doing makes me worthy of Jesus. Don't let anybody think that my labors or whatever I am doing makes me worthy of Jesus. He that taketh not up his cross and followeth me is not worthy of me. He that taketh not up his cross and followeth me is not worthy of me. Do you think you are bearing that cross which Jesus wants you to bear? Do you think you are bearing that cross which Jesus wants you to bear? There is something very definite and unique which Jesus has for every one of us. As a matter of fact, there is a very light hearted attitude in life today. Just have a good time is people's whole motto. Today I heard of a family and when I heard of the death of one of the young men, I said to one of our brothers, why did he die? How did he die? He said he died of AIDS. He lived a bad life. And then he added his father also died of AIDS. I felt very sad, very sad. Perhaps those are two AIDS deaths of people who have been in our meetings. I expect AIDS to be healed. And we have been seeing a few cases being healed. I have no hesitation when I pray for AIDS patients. I am fully aware that there is no medical cure for them. And I do not ask by what cause they acquired it. There are various causes. But, you see the kind of life that people are living today. When there are many advocates for distributing condoms to high school students. And there are other protagonists, champions who say even a 13 year old when she needs an abortion, need not tell her parents or get parental consent. We are living in a world where sin has become very palatable and delectable. The cross is the very opposite of this. And the mental attitude of most people is have a good time. In fact, recently a new kind of greeting has come into vogue. It was not there as some years ago. I do not know what its origin is, whether it originated in Hollywood or Bollywood or some gutter wood. Anyway, have fun. Have fun. That is, if a man is going on a journey, have fun. You know, a cab man was driving me in Singapore. And he said to me, how do you find the Singapore girls? I had to tell him, I have been a traveler all these years. But I have kept myself clean. Or Jesus kept me clean. Listen my friends. What kind of world do we have today? A gutter. And people are dredging the gutter. And the ones who dredge the gutter best are called celebrities. How terrible. Against this, we have the cross of Jesus. Now the Lord Jesus Christ added to this in the 16th chapter. 24 and 25. Matthew 16, 24 and 25. Then said Jesus unto his disciples. If any man will come after me, let him deny himself. Take up his cross and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it. And whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. Now you must always see in what context did Jesus say these words. Because he was essentially repeating himself. It was soon after he rebuked Peter. Peter took the liberty of rebuking the Lord when the Lord said that ahead of him was the cross. When Jesus said that ahead of him was the cross and he should follow it. Peter said that he should not do that. 21st verse. Matthew 16. From that time forth began Jesus to show unto his disciples. How he must go unto Jerusalem and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes. And be killed and be raised again the third day. Then Peter took him and began to rebuke him. Saying be it far from your Lord. They shall not be unto you. Then Peter took him and began to rebuke him. What did Jesus do? He turned and said to Peter. Get you behind me Satan. Thou art an offence to me. For thou savourest not the things that be of God but those that be of men. That is our present condition. We know what the newspapers say. We know what the educationists say. We know what the politicians say. But we don't know what God says. So ignorant of God's holy word. And even if we do know something of God's word. We don't savour it. We don't understand it. Thou savourest not the things that be of God. But those that be of men. Look at that. The turn of fashion. The change in different modish new inventions. Some people are very aware of it. They will tell you this is old fashion. This collar is old fashion. Something else is outmoded. They understand the savour of the things of man. They don't savour the things of eternity. In other words, they savour what there is in the shops, in the clothiers. But what is right ahead of them, eternity, they do not understand. You see how lopsided that is. They don't understand what is ahead. What is awaiting their future of their families. Blinded people. Satan has blinded their eyes. You know, we like to find a counterfeit cross. A cross without self-denial. A cross without self-denial. Now suppose someone said to me. And had convinced me. Well, just give way to all that you want to do. Have fun. You know friends. How many people I would have wrecked. How many lives. I would have left a trail of sorrows and tears and disasters. Simply by giving way to my own pleasures. Not that anybody needed to tutor me. There was no need for anybody to set a bad example before me. That was me. And Jesus says. Except a man denying himself. Well, Peter apparently wanted the Lord Jesus Christ to be around with him. I do not know if they were convinced that politically Jesus Christ was going to rule over the land. Whatever it is. He saw in this prediction of Jesus. Something completely which he could not go with. Completely against his thinking. Can you imagine Peter taking Jesus and saying. No, you are not going to have that. But that is exactly what he did. And the Lord Jesus replied. Get thee behind me Satan. Satan does not want you to bear the cross. Satan may say come on have a good time. But you know that you are not having a very fine time anyway. You know some people are just oppressed by their own actions. The outcome of their own choices. Are too heavy for them to bear. What you sow you reap. And what is it that people sow. They generally sow the advice of their friends. What a terrible thing. I am glad some of my friends never attempted to give me any of their wonderful advice. If they did it was immediately thrown out of the window. So there was no way by which they made me sow their evil thoughts. But how much pain it gives me. When I see parents sowing evil thoughts. Parents turning children away from the cross. You want your child to live? Jesus tells us how. He that loses his life shall save it. But he that saves his life shall lose it. See many people think. Oh we are saving ourselves. We are going to make a big success of our lives. I want to tell you. There is no success outside of the cross. Whatever success you may think you have acquired. Will turn into ashes. Do you know the phrase from Isaiah? He feedeth on ashes. You will feed on ashes. You know I can tell anybody. You know if my lodging place. You know I lodge in several places. But anyway my room or bedroom or whatever. If it burns down. I don't care. Give me my bible. Let the other things go. My dear friends. There is no real fulfillment without the cross. And the devil's device is to keep you from the cross. This is a hard way. This is a narrow way. This is a tough route to take. You better find an alternative. My friend do you think you will find a better alternative. Than the perfect will of God. To the perfect will of God. No. There is no better way. Now in the early church. You know the covenant that God had made with Abraham. When God said this shall be the mark of this covenant. Circumcision. So turn to Galatians 5. Galatians 5. And therefore people leaned heavily on this Abrahamic covenant. Now. We are told in the sixth chapter. Fifth chapter. Eleventh verse. Five eleventh. And I brethren if I yet preach circumcision. Why do I yet suffer persecution. Then is the offense of the cross ceased. Do you see. The offense we want somehow. You know bearing the cross we find to be very hard. Let me tell you. I have borne the cross. Doing God's will. From the days of my youth. Did I find bearing the cross hard. Let me tell you. For my burden is light. My yoke is easy and my burden light. Said Jesus. Jesus said my burden is light and my burden light. So. Did I find it to be different. No. Don't think I am some super saint. I am not. But. What Jesus said is true. Many years ago. There was a boy. A Hindu boy. Who saw this vision. In one of the revivals that broke out. And the Lord spoke to him. And this is what he said. Bear the cross. For the cross will bear you. How true that is. We think we are bearing the cross. No. On the other hand. The cross. Begins to bear you. The burdens are lifted at Calvary. Here. The people of Jewish origin. When they came to the church. When they were converted. They wanted to cling on to circumcision. Because. If they trusted only the cross. Oh my. There would be an offense to the whole community. Today. You know there are some governments in India. Which have legislated against. God himself. Let them legislate against idols. That will pass muster. But. When you legislate against the living God. You are doomed to fail. And you are inviting your own destruction. So. When somebody says. No conversion. What does it mean? All right. No superficial. Change of religion. No. Inducements offered. To turn people away from. Hinduism. Well there are some people. Who are guilty of. Offering some inducements. Maybe. Maybe. If I never met them. I would call them a bunch of. Evil people. But. Who can stop God. From changing the hearts of sinners. God. Who can. Legislate against. The handy work of God. No one. If anybody. In the height of their folly. Attempts it. The end of their lives. Will show the real. Story. I'm not cursing anybody. But I am only stating a. Historic fact. My business is to bless. Those very people. That God will open their eyes. To see the cross. But. This. Religious observance. Of circumcision. Was held in such. Regard and esteem. That nothing should. Dislodge it. Now comes the covenant. Through the blood. Now comes the covenant. Through Jesus. And. It appeared to be very hard. For some people to choose. Are we going to renounce. All our formal practices. Including circumcision. In. Are we going to embrace. Only the cross. This cross brings with it. An offense. People are going to despise us. So how we will have both. We cannot completely. Put all our. Legs in the cross. Here is St. Paul speaking. To such people. Now if you turn. To the sixth chapter. Twelve and fourteen. If. As many as desire. To make a fair show. In the flesh. They constrain you. To be circumcised. Only less they should suffer. Persecution. For the cross of Christ. As many as desire. To make a fair show. They constrain you. To be circumcised. Only less they should suffer. Do you see this. To save. Escape. Persecution. For the cross of Christ. To be circumcised. What is the kind of persecution. That people normally face. Sometimes, naturally, you're beaten. My grandfather was tied to a tree and beaten. You know, there are worse persecutions that people have suffered, but one of those very painful things is social ostracism. When society says, no, we won't have anything to do with this person, we like to be big people before the eyes of others. My dear people, that is a very real temptation, to back down and acknowledge that we have sinned. Even confession, oh, it is an offense to many people, oh, you're humiliating yourself. You are not that bad. Listen, what does the Bible say? The heart is desperately wicked and deceitful above all things. And the devil tells you and society tells you, you're not so bad. You don't need to confess anything to anybody, you're fine. You know, some people have held it against us that we teach people to go, put things right, confess, come through, come straight. They think, oh, it's not necessary. My dear friend, it's only natural justice. You have hurt somebody, you have broken somebody's heart. A wife or a husband, you need to ask pardon. There should be no hesitation there. There should be no quibbling there. Now, anything that bypasses the cross, oh, seems highly acceptable. See, how many times people tell you, okay, if you want to follow Jesus, do so. But why do you want to be baptized? Why do you want to go to the church? Fine, go. But, you don't need to follow Jesus 100%. Oh, you can do these things also. You can worship our family deities. You can join us in our observances. Well, well, well, that is where the cross divides. The offense of the cross cannot be discarded. There is an offense. Some people hate Jesus without a cause. I say to people, why do you hate Jesus? What did he do against you? He sent men who loved you, served you, and they established the first educational colleges or schools and hospitals and leprosariums. They buried their sons and daughters. Which religion has produced such people? They bore the cross, and the cross led them into those glorious exploits. What is so big about acquiring a lot of money? Nothing. It is a form of madness. How much money can I use? You want me to go to your shops and keep buying this and that and wasting my time? Or do you want me to go trying out all the fine dishes in the restaurants? So that I should die early? My dear friends, how much does a man need anyway? It is amazing when you have a contented heart. But the Bible tells me that in the last days, perilous times will come. And men will be lovers of their own selves. The next quality mentioned is covetous. So, your self can never be satisfied. So you covet this, you covet that. You know friends, when I see the way some people are acquiring big degrees, I am only sorry for them because they don't have that mental maturity to handle those big paying jobs. You know, when you don't have the mental maturity to be a medical doctor, what will you do? You put a lot of suffering upon your patients. You will treat them like a mechanic treats some of these machines which he repairs. Because you have a covetous heart. When you have a covetous heart, you can't be a proper doctor. When you have a covetous heart, you can't be a proper engineer. When you have a covetous heart, you can't be a proper husband. When you have a covetous heart, you can't be a proper mother. Then what do you want to be? A danger to yourself and to those around you. When you run from the cross, you are going to lose yourself. You are going to lose the best in life. You are going to lose your family. The way of the cross leads home. There is no way that leads home but the way of the cross. My dear people, Escaping or bypassing or negating or counterfeiting the cross. What a dreadful thing. Just think of this. If as a fellowship, a church or a fellowship, wherever you are in the world. Just think that you are veering a few degrees away from the cross. My father used to say, One day, a sudden storm overtook him as he was praying on an open beach. And the rain began beating into his face so hard. So, what did he do? He started running away from the waves. And he just veered a little so that the rain did not beat full in his face. Just a little angle. And then after a while, he opened his eyes. And what did he see? He was running right into the waves. Just a little angle. A little deflection. And it brought him round in a circle back into the waves. Do you know, my friends? Are you avoiding the cross? There is no way, there is no way in which by avoiding the cross you can be happy. Last of all, please turn to Philippians 3. Philippians 3. And the 18th verse. For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ. For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ. He is weeping. Whose end is destruction. Whose God is their belly. Whose glory is in their shame. Whose glory is in their shame. Who mind earthly things. You know the concerns that weigh heavily upon people's minds? They are not eternal concerns. You know, I find it very, very hard to relate to anybody whose concerns are just earthly. I just don't find anything common. Who mind earthly things. That's all. Eternity does not figure at all. The cross does not figure in their thinking. But my friends, this very night, let us turn from our willful ways. And embrace the cross. Because the cross will bear you home. Let us pray. Let us tell God.