Confidence in times of trial

Jehovah is my helper; I will not be afraid.​—Heb. 13:6.

“The person who knows God best will trust him the most in time of test.”

How true! To face persecution successfully, we must love Jehovah and trust in him completely.

36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”+37 He said to him: “‘You must love Jehovah your God with your whole heart and with your whole soul and with your whole mind.’+38 This is the greatest and first commandment. 39 (Matt. 22:36-38)

11 Look! We consider happy* those who have endured.+ You have heard of the endurance of Job+ and have seen the outcome Jehovah* gave,+ that Jehovah* is very tender in affection* and merciful.+ (Jas. 5:11)

Read the Bible daily with the goal of drawing closer to Jehovah.

8 Draw close to God, and he will draw close to you.+ Cleanse your hands, you sinners,+ and purify your hearts,+ you indecisive ones. 9  (Jas. 4:8)

As you read, focus on Jehovah’s tender qualities. Feel his love and affection expressed in the things he says and does.

  6 Jehovah was passing before him and declaring: “Jehovah, Jehovah, a God merciful+ and compassionate,*+ slow to anger+ and abundant in loyal love*+ and truth,*+ (Ex. 34:6)

Some may struggle to believe that God loves them because they have never been shown love. If you face that challenge, try making a list each day of ways that Jehovah has shown mercy and kindness to you.

38 But he was merciful;+ He would forgive* their error and not bring them to ruin.+ He often held back his anger+ Instead of stirring up all his wrath.39 For he remembered that they were flesh,+ A wind that blows past and does not return.* (Ps. 78:38, 39)

32 Since he did not even spare his own Son but handed him over for us all,+ will he not also, along with him, kindly give us all other things? (Rom. 8:32)

As you consider your own experiences and meditate on what you have read in God’s Word, you will likely be able to list many things that Jehovah has done for you. The more you appreciate what Jehovah does, the stronger your bond with him will be.​

116 I love Jehovah Because he hears* my voice, my pleas for help.+  2 For he inclines his ear* to me,+ And I will call on him as long as I live.* — Ps. 116:1, 2.

w19.07 2-3 ¶4-5

Matthew 24:9-14 – The Nazarene’s Commentary: The Answer: Part Two – The Acts of the Apostles Foretold

Matthew 24:9-14 – The Acts of the Apostles Foretold

|| Mark 13:9-13; Luke 21:12-19

MT24:9 {MK13:9 “But, (LK21:12 before all these things[1]) you look after yourselves:[2] they will turn you over to Sanhedrins[3] (LK21:12 and synagogues[4] and prisons) to be beaten and flayed. And you will stand before kings and governors[5] on my account (LK21:12 and on account of my name[6]) as a testimony to them.”} “They will hand you over to oppression[7] and kill you[8] and you will be hated by all nations for my name. MT24:10 And then many will stumble[9] and they will betray one another and hate one another. {MK13:12 Brother, relatives, and friends will hand you over to death. Children will turn against parents and put them to death.} MT24:11 Many false prophets will rise[10] and mislead many. MT24:12 Because of increasing lawlessness[11] the love of many will cool.[12] MT24:13 But the one who endures completely[13] will be saved. {LK21:18 Not a hair of your head will perish. LK21:19 By your endurance you will acquire your souls.[14]} MT24:14 And this good news of the Kingdom will be preached[15] {MK13:10 first} in the whole inhabited earth for a testimony to all the nations. And then The End[16] will come. {MK13:11 And when they lead you away to hand you over do not worry beforehand. (LK21:14 Do not premeditate a defense[17] regarding what you will say.) The holy Pneuma will speak for you. LK21:15 I shall give you a mouth of wisdom so all those lying about you will not be able to resist or contradict.}

*

[1] Before all these things: Jesus foretells the very events recorded in the Book of Acts. These are the things the Apostles will experience before “the end” of Jerusalem and her Temple in the year 70 CE.

[2] You look after yourselves: The Apostles asking the question.

[3] Sanhedrins: Note the occurrences of “you” (meaning the disciples or Apostles) and now this word “Sanhedrin.” This proves Jesus has in mind the experience of his own Jewish followers as these finally occurred in the Book of Acts (Acts chs 2-8). He is discussing those events prior to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD when any such “Sanhedrins” ceased to exist.

[4] Synagogues: Note Jesus still has his Jewish disciples in mind. See this fulfillment in Acts chs 4, 5, 16, 22-26 (John 16:1, 2).

[5] Before kings and governors: Again this foretold experience of the disciples can be read in Acts chs 4-7, 22-26.

[6] My name: There is a singular “name” for which Christians are hated. Note this is not the Father’s name here, that is Yahweh, or Jehovah. It is rather the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene (Acts 3:6; 4:10; 24:5; 1 Peter 4:14). A word search on “name” will show it pertains to “Jesus” almost always, and seldom the Father.

[7] Oppression: The Greek THLIPSIN root meaning is squeeze or press and so oppression. It may mean persecution or personal tribulation as an external or internal pressure. (See DNTT Volume 2, page 807: “press, squeeze, crush.”) The word is later used by the Nazarene when referring to “great oppression.” (Matthew 24:21) Compare Genesis 3:15; Romans 16:20.

[8] Kill you: This begins with the first martyr Stephen in Acts chs 7, 8.

[9] Many will stumble: Jesus foretells the stumbling of many during those decades leading up to the year 70. However, such stumbling has occurred throughout the centuries right to the present as a result of those false prophets and their predictions that “The Time Is At Hand!”

[10] Many false prophets will rise: See the writings of Josephus on the rise of false prophets preceding the destruction of Jerusalem. They may be false prophets because they proclaim “the appointed time is near” and point to various dates for the Return of Christ. These are dates foretold but which do not materialize in the manner predicted.

[11] Lawlessness: This lawlessness may be inside the Church itself as Jesus uses this word in his parable of the Wheat and Tares (Zizania) at Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43. Paul uses the word to describe the apostate “man of lawlessness” at 2 Thessalonians 2:3-12. Surely, this “lawlessness” includes false predictions claiming, “The Time Is At Hand.”

[12] The love of many will cool: Jesus counsels the Angelic Presbyter of Ephesus on this at Revelation 2:1-3. There “love” is highly associated with “works” and these must be foremost those of faith and charity as 1 John 3:23 shows.

[13] Endures completely: Or, to the end. This word “end” (TELOS) is without the Greek article and cannot be the same as “the end” elsewhere in Jesus’ answer. This is the “end” of the Christian race of endurance for each of these Apostles (Luke 21:19; Revelation 2:10).

[14] You will acquire your souls: Your future immortal life as a spiritual person or soul in heaven (1 Corinthians 15:45-52; Acts 2:27, 31).

[15] The Kingdom will be preached: Compare Colossians 1:23 and Acts 2:5. Before the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 the Kingdom Gospel had been preached throughout the known Roman world and to representatives of all the nations. This particular preaching campaign is that of the early disciples leading up to “the end” of Jerusalem.

[16] The End: The SYNTELEIAS the disciples had in mind with the destruction “the end” of the Jewish Temple Age. Here Jesus uses TELOS. Note this is the last occurrence of the word “end” and it is not used again later when the Nazarene’s focus turns to his own Arrival or Parousia.

[17] Do not premeditate a defense: Peter, Stephen and Paul are good examples of these defenses in the Book of Acts.

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Preceding

Signs of the last days when difficult times will come

Matthew 7:13-23 – The Nazarene’s Commentary: The True Disciple #3 Matthew 7:21-23 The ones Jesus never knew

Matthew 7:15-20 – The Nazarene’s Commentary: The True Disciple #2 False prophets and fruitage

Matthew 13:47-50 – The Nazarene’s Commentary: Parable of the Dragnet

Matthew 24 about temples or Houses of God and the end of the age

Matthew 24:1-2 – The Nazarene’s Commentary: Desolation, Oppression and the Parousia – The Setting

Matthew 24:3 – The Nazarene’s Commentary: Desolation, Oppression and the Parousia – The Apostles’ Question

Matthew 24:4-8 – The Nazarene’s Commentary: The Answer: Part One – Beware Being Misled

Matthew 24 about temples or Houses of God and the end of the age

Today we start with a chapter where Jesus, after he has been discoursing all day in the courts of the temple, went out from the temple, going on his way to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples coming to him to show him the buildings of the temple. (Matthew 21:23; 24:3)

The apostle Mark let us know that the disciples particularly pointed out the stones of the temple, as well as the buildings.

“In that temple,”

says Josephus, the Jewish historian,

“were several stones which were forty-five cubits in length, five in height, and sixth in breadth”;

that is, more than seventy feet long, ten wide, and eight high. These stones, of such enormous size, were principally used in building the high wall on the east side, from the base to the top of the mountain. They were also, it is said, beautifully painted with variegated colours.

The Temple was renowned for its beauty and was considered to be one of the wonders of the world. It is written in the Talmud,

‘Whoever has not seen Herod’s Temple has never yet seen a beautiful building.’ (SB I,944).

We find the disciples on the Mount of Olives where they question the Nazarene in particular about his own future coming, the time of the desolation of God’s temple and its destruction and the sign of its advent and the end of the world (verses 1-3). They do not understand Jesus his predictions and cannot believe that the temple should be destroyed in their time. – The one by Herod I in 20 BCE. The new construction of the temple that was started was only really completed seven years before it was destroyed.

We are coming closer to the imprisonment of Christ. The writing here can well be talking about the last private school before their final gathering at the upper room. Jesus comes to talk once more about a future time, namely of the last things, and extends to the end of the world, modelled on the impending end of the Jewish Republic. But this private school is still somewhat linked to the previous lesson. – Jesus went out, as he said, and away from the temple,
in which he made the previous speech, of which the last words were that their house should be left deserted to them. Thus, these words refer back to chapter 23:38, where is mentioned that the House shall be left abandoned.

We shall find a discourse that foretells in the outset the destruction of Jerusalem (e. g., v. 15-21, v. 34); and in the conclusion certainly foretells the final coming of the son of man, with the gathering of all nations, the general judgment of mankind and the resulting permanent state of the good and the bad, (Matthew 25:31-46) in a way substantially equivalent to the predictive descriptions afterwards given by the apostles.

The question of the disciples in verse 3 was obviously misguided, because it attracts the response from Jesus

“Take heed that no man deceive you”.

which echoes the words of God to Zedekiah (Jeremiah 37:9) where he was anticipating a deliverance from the Chaldeans. – When the Romans were surrounding Jerusalem there would have been Jews who encouraged the people, falsely, saying that the Romans would not over throw the city.

Did the disciples think that the coming of Jesus, and the end of the world was to be very soon? Jesus goes to great lengths to let them in gently on the fact that the “time of the gentiles” was to come in the intervening period. (v. 6, 8, 14).

Today still many may wonder what an unfolding end with beginnings of birth pains and those rumors of wars may imply. They should remember it shall only be when the Good News of the kingdom shall be proclaimed in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.

In this last of the five major sermons, Jesus focuses on prophetic and apocalyptic themes of judgment and the end times. The disciples have been listening to the prophetic judgment Jesus has issued on the religious leaders. They have images of collapsing temple buildings, of prophets pursued from town to town, of floggings, and of blood-soaked garments. They can imagine themselves blood-soaked. They wonder when this all will happen, and what it means.

Their master teacher Jeshua answers them to be careful that no one leads them astray, which we should take at heart also! We too must be be aware of it for many will come in Jesus name, doing as if they are the Messiah or the one who can bring people to salvation. Jesus warns for all those people, preachers and so called prophets who, by their talking and frigtening people will lead many astray. (Matthew 24:4-5,11)

You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but should not directly be alarmed, for this must happen but it is not yet the end. In Scriptures many signs of times to come are notated. In the Book of books is written that nation will rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. But all these things are only the beginning of birth pains, it is to say the start of a generation which shall come to see more. (Matthew 24:4-8)

In Scriptures is told that God provides time for man to listen to His Words, and as such, first all over the world, shall the Good News being preached, before the worst battle commences. And we should know that those who preach the Good News and worship the Only One True God, Who is One (and not two or three), shall be mocked and laughed at, and even worse being hand over to persecution and being killed. They that pronounce the Name of the Only One True God  and the true name of the Messiah, Christ (Jeshua the Messiah) will be hated by all the nations because of Jesus and his Father’s name’s sake. (Matthew 24:9-14)

We shall have to face it that many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one other. All that leading astray might happen because of people prefering to listen to false prophets and human dogma‘s instead of listening to the the Word of God and the believe in the Biblical dogma‘s. It shall all happen also because lawlessness will multiply and the love of many will grow cold, by their selfishness.
Though we might have hope, because those who endures to the end will be saved. They that take time to listen to this Good News of the kingdom which shall be proclaimed in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, shall recognise the signs when there will be great trouble such as has not happened since the beginning of the world, the end will come. We must hear and listen to the words of Jesus Christ, know and believe that for the sake of the chosen, those days will be cut short.(Matthew 24:10-14, 21-22)

Even when false messiahs and false prophets will rise up and show great signs and wonders so as to lead astray, if possible, even the chosen, we should be alert and keep tot he writings of Scripture and the call of God and His master teacher, because that last one told us beforehand. (Matthew 24:24-25)

We should know that it shall be with the coming of the Son of Man, being as lightning comes from the east and flashes as far as the west, that we should come to see the signs clearly. Because immediately after the trouble of those days, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light and the stars will fall from heaven and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
That is when the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky. (Matthew 24:26-28, 29-30)
At that time all the tribes of the land will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. He will send out his angels with a great shofar, and those heavenly messengers will gather his beloved faithful elect from the four corners of creation, from one end of heaven to the other. (Matthew 24:30-31)

This 24th chapter concludes with a parable of a fig tree. We too should learn from that parable from the fig tree. (Matthew 24:32-33)
Jesus tells them that story because he wants to warn that generation which will not pass away until all these things happen. Though it will pass away, Jeshua’s words will never pass away. (Matthew 24:34-35) But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven nor the Son, except the Father alone, because only Jehovah God is the Only God above all gods Who knows everything. (Matthew 24:36)

Afterwards Jesus also reminds his disciples of those days before the flood, when people enjoyed all the best things of life and were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark. We may not forget that at that time they did not understand until the flood came and swept them all away, but then it was too late. So shall it be at the coming of the Son of Man. (Matthew 24:37-39) Then many shal be at work as well, but also find some one taken and the other one left. (Matthew 24:40-41) Therefore we all have to stay alert; for like Jesus and his disciples did not know the time of the end, we do not know what day our Lord is coming. (Matthew 24:42) But know this, that if the master of the house had known what time the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and not let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. (Matthew 24:43-44)

The chapter ends by talking about the “Faithful Servant“, a subject that can also confuse or despair many, or use some to present their leaders as that only reliable servant.
Jesus questions

“ “Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time?” (Mt 24:45 NIV)

and then continues with telling that the faithful and wise servant, has to be some one who takes good care of that household to give them the necessary things at the proper time (Matthew 24:45-46)

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Preceding

Matthew 11:20-24 Encouragement for John and Reproach for cities 5 Reproached Cities a Lesson for Judgment Day

Matthew 12:33-37 – The Nazarene’s Commentary: Judgment Day

Matthew 13:36-43 – The Nazarene’s Commentary: Parable of the Zizania in the Field Explained

Matthew 13:47-50 – The Nazarene’s Commentary: Parable of the Dragnet

Matthew 16 Calvin’s view

Matthew 16 Asking for signs from heaven

Matthew 16:1-4 – The Nazarene’s Commentary: The Signs of the Times

Signs of the last days when difficult times will come

Matthew 23:37-39 – The Nazarene’s Commentary: Jerusalem, Jerusalem – Your House Is Abandoned!

Next:

Matthew 24:1-2 – The Nazarene’s Commentary: Desolation, Oppression and the Parousia – The Setting

Photo from the blog of Aaron Richert, pastor of The Church at North Pole in North Pole, Alaska. From the article: Is Matthew 24 about the Rapture?

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Additional reading

1. Looking into the Future
2. Prophecies over coming days
3. Signs of the Last Days
4. Sign of the Times and the Last Days #1 The Son of man revealing
5. Sign of the Times and the Last Days #2 Wars, natural disasters, famine and false Messiahs
6. Signs of the times – “An object of scorn and ridicule”
7. The Rapture Wars
8. Jesus … will come in the same way as you saw him go
9. Memorizing wonderfully 35 When the son returns it shall be As it came to pass in the days of Noah
10. Be not afraid of those trials which God may see fit to send upon thee
11. From pain to purpose

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The ice in the photo above reminded Tekoa Manning of judgment that often is described using hail. Mexico’s second-largest city, Guadalajara, has an Arabic name meaning ‘valley of stones and also, a valley of streams.’ – Photo from Obadiah’s Cave article Comfortably Numb

Related

1. Give Your Precious Time To God
2. The Events of 70 AD do not Fulfill End Times Prophecies Jesus prophesied that the Great Tribulation will be the most severe time in world history. It will surpass all other times of crisis. Some seek to minimize this prophecy by reducing it to symbolism or by seeing it as being totally fulfilled in 70 AD.
   The Great Tribulation will be so severe that God shortens it to three and a half years to keep the entire human race from being physically killed (Matthew 24:21-22). One million people died in 70 AD and in World War II, 50 million died.
3. This is Not the Way It’s Supposed To Be
4. Abundant Fruit (Matthew 24: 6, 11)
5. Famine
6. Storm Clouds
7. Stars Falling From the Sky: Figurative Language
8. Day 159: There will be wars
9. A Rising Called For!
10. Fear Not!
11. Be alert
12. Comfortably Numb
13. Trouble Such as Never Was before
14. “This Generation” Shall Not Pass Away “Until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled”
15. What Did Jesus Mean When He Said “This Generation Won’t Pass Away”?
16. The darker it gets
17. The Olivet Discourse: For Israelis Only?
18. The Olivet Discourse: 02 – The Destruction of the Temple Foretold
19. The Last Days Acceleration of Time
20. Study Guide for Matthew 24: (Matthew 24:1-2) Jesus predicts the destruction of the temple. (Mat 24:3) Jesus’ prediction brings up two questions. (Matthew 24:4-8) Jesus describes general world conditions during the period between His Ascension and the time immediately preceding His second coming. (Matthew 24:9-14) Jesus describes what His disciples must expect during the time between His Ascension and Second Coming. (Matthew 24:15) The sign: the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel.
21. 71. Yet when we understand the importance and what is said about this event – the abomination of desolation – we must give priority to this event, even more than the easiest interpretation of Matthew 24:34.

• • • It is the critical sign mentioned in Matthew 24.
    • It is the warning to flee mentioned in Matthew 24.
    • It is the sign of the consummation of all things in Daniel 9:27.
    • It is the sign foreshadowed by Antiochus Epiphanies in Daniel 11:31.
    • It is the precise marker of days to the end in Daniel 12:11.
    • It is the revelation of the man of sinin 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4.
      • It is the image of the beast in Revelation 13:14-15.

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1. Explaining Matthew 24
2. Matthew 24:1 // Reboot – The end of times
3. Matthew 24:3 And Olivet’s Structure
4. AND when you SEE these THINGS BEGIN
5. Apocalypse Talks: Temporary Temples – Matthew 24:1-8
6. Apocalypse Talks: The Fall Is Approaching – Matthew 24:9-14
7. Apocalypse Talks: Mitigating Disaster – Matthew 24:15-22
8. Apocalypse Talks: The Bigger Picture
9. Apocalypse Talks: The Mean Time
10. Armageddon, Part 3: Are there ‘signs’ that the end is coming?
11. 11.24.19 Matthew 24 Part I
12. 11.24.19 Matthew 24 Part II
13. 11.24.19 Matthew 24 Part III
14. 11.24.19 Matthew 24 Part IV
15. 11.24.19 Matthew 24 Part V
16. Matthew 24:12,13
17. Matthew 24:14
18. Matthew 24:23,24
19. Matthew 24:36-44 Sunday School Lessons and Activities
20. Matthew 24 and the Fig Tree Matthew 24:32-33
21. Three things that must happen before Jesus returns – Matthew 23:37-39; Matthew 24:14; 2 Thessalonians 2:3
22. End Times Q&A
23. Christ’s Coming Again to Judge
24. Timing of Christ’s second coming
25. Don’t Be Deceived (about the Coming of Christ)
26. The Parable of the Fig Tree
27. Mark 11 – Fig Tree
28. The Fig Tree Growing in a Vineyard
29. Being a good servant – talk-notes for 27th Oct 2019
30. Called or Chosen?
31. Paul Explains the Second Coming
32. Hope in the Second-Coming
33. We MUST Let our Light Shine!
34. Faith That Is Fruitful For God

Calvin’s view on taking up the cross

24. Then Jesus said to his disciples.

As Christ saw that Peter had a dread of the cross, and that all the rest were affected in the same way, he enters into a general discourse about bearing the cross, and does not limit his address to the twelve apostles, but lays down the same law for all the godly. {1 } We have already met with a statement nearly similar, (#Mt 10:38). {2 } But in that passage the apostles were only reminded of the persecution which awaited them, as soon as they should begin to discharge their office; while a general instruction is here conveyed, and the initiatory lessons, so to speak, inculcated on all who profess to believe the Gospel.

If any man will come after me.

These words are used for the express purpose of refuting the false views of Peter {3 } Presenting himself to every one as an example of self-denial and of patience, he first shows that it was necessary for him to endure what Peter reckoned to be inconsistent with his character, and next invites every member of his body to imitate him. The words must be explained in this manner:

“If any man would be my disciple, let him follow me by denying himself and taking up his cross, or, let him conform himself to my example.”

The meaning is, that none can be reckoned to be the disciples of Christ unless they are true imitators of him, and are willing to pursue the same course.

He lays down a brief rule for our imitation, in order to make us acquainted with the chief points in which he wishes us to resemble him. It consists of two parts, self-denial and a voluntary bearing of the cross. Let him deny himself. This self-denial is very extensive, and implies that we ought to give up our natural inclinations, and part with all the affections of the flesh, and thus give our consent to be reduced to nothing, provided that God lives and reigns in us. We know with what blind love men naturally regard themselves, how much they are devoted to themselves, how highly they estimate themselves. But if we desire to enter into the school of Christ, we must begin with that folly to which Paul (#1Co 3:18) exhorts us, becoming fools, that we may be wise; and next we must control and subdue all our affections.

And let him take up his cross. He lays down this injunction, because, though there are common miseries to which the life of men is indiscriminately subjected, yet as God trains his people in a peculiar manner, in order that they may be conformed to the image of his Son, we need not wonder that this rule is strictly addressed to them. It may be added that, though God lays both on good and bad men the burden of the cross, yet unless they willingly bend their shoulders to it, they are not said to bear the cross; for a wild and refractory horse cannot be said to admit his rider, though he carries him. The patience of the saints, therefore, consists in bearing willingly the cross which has been laid on them. {4 } Luke adds the word daily  —  let him take up his cross Daily  —  which is very emphatic; for Christ’s meaning is, that there will be no end to our warfare till we leave the world. Let it be the uninterrupted exercise of the godly, that when many afflictions have run their course, they may be prepared to endure fresh afflictions.

– John Calvin

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Preceding

Matthew 10:24-31 – The Nazarene’s Commentary: Do Not Fear – Preach!

Matthew 10:32-39 – The Nazarene’s Commentary: I Came to Cause Division

Matthew 12:46-50 – The Nazarene’s Commentary: The True Family of Messiah

Matthew 16 Asking for signs from heaven

Matthew 16 Calvin’s view

Matthew 16 Spurgeon’s view

Matthew 16:1-4 – The Nazarene’s Commentary: The Signs of the Times

Matthew 16:5-12 – The Nazarene’s Commentary: Watch Out for the Leaven of False Teaching

Matthew 16:13-20 – The Nazarene’s Commentary: Building a Hades-Proof Congregation

Matthew 16:21-23 – The Nazarene’s Commentary: Think God’s Thoughts

Matthew 16:24-28 – The Nazarene’s Commentary: A Disciple Must Disown Self

Demanding signs or denying yourself

To follow Christ

Every one who would be Jesus his follower must sacrifice himself

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Additional reading

1. Looking for True Spirituality 1 Intro
2. To find ways of Godly understanding
3. A great man does not lose his self-possession when he is afflicted
4. The blessing of a broken leg

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Related

1. The Unvarnished Truth Matthew 10:34-39
2. Self Denial, and the Road to Greatness
3. Growing in fortitude
4. What Would Jesus Do
5. Self-Denial — Is it a requirement of following Jesus the Messiah?
6. Denying ourselves – the key to true and lasting joy!
7. The Discipline of Self-Denial