One Who Does Not Count His Life Dear for the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ

Acts 15:25-26 “It seemed good unto us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men unto you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, Men that have hazarded their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Acts 21:13 “Then Paul answered, What mean ye to weep and to break mine heart? for I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”

To lay down one’s life for the gospel may mean actually offering up one’s life for the gospel in a dangerous mission field. However, in our daily lives, enduring, bearing the cross, and dying to ourselves for the glory of the name of Jesus can also be a way of laying down our lives for Jesus.

Luke 9:23-24 “23And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. 24For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it.”

Each person has received different talents, so each has different duties and different things that he or she is able to do. However, the faith that we all must have in common is this: just as Jesus sacrificed Himself for us, we also must now have the faith to boldly die to ourselves for the glory of the name of Jesus.

1 Corinthians 15:31 “I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.”

2 Corinthians 4:10-11 “10Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. 11For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.”

The faith by which we can die daily for the glory of the name of Jesus!! This is the faith that Jesus acknowledged in the Canaanite woman as “great faith.”

Matthew 15:21-28 “21Then Jesus went thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon. 22And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil. 23But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us. 24But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 25Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me. 26But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it to dogs. 27And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table. 28Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.”

*Prayer)

Jesus, please help our unbelief, and grant us, in the name of Jesus, the great faith by which we can die to ourselves for the glory of Jesus. We have prayed in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.