Our text today is Matthew chapter 16, verse 24 through 26, the new living translation of the scriptures.

Then Jesus said to his disciples, if any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way,

take up your cross and follow me if you try to hang on to

your life you will lose it but if you give up your life from my sake you will save

it and what you do and what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own

soul? Is anything worth more than your soul? And I'm speaking for just a few moments from the

subject, dying to live.

Dying to live.

Hallelujah.

You may be seated.

Jesus is teaching us here a very vital principle about dying to live.

You have to, the principle here is that you have to give up in order to go up.

Sacrifice is often understood as giving up something good in order to get something better.

And unless you give up the lower life, that's what Jesus is referring to, unless you give up the lower life, you can't receive the higher life.

And the thing that deceives so many people is that while they've got money coming in,

and while you're living in a nice crib and got a nice ride, you assume that it doesn't get any better than this. And because you can take

trips and eat in nice restaurants and take photos of your food.

We assume that we have arrived and are living the good life, but Jesus says that unless

you are willing to give up that life, you can't get this one.

And we think that we are living the high life when we are doing well, while money is flowing,

while we're feeling good, and we've got youth and energy and vitality and popularity and

reputation and all of these things.

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