The View From the Cross

The following was submitted by a member of our Wintonbury family, Mary Ann Burnham:

When the Forty Days of Worship began several weeks ago, I was involved in a study with my mentor of "The Bondage Breaker" by Neil Anderson.  We had actually began the study in late winter but detoured to another activity for a season.  The day that the Forty Days began we sat down to review Chapter 2 in "The Bondage Breaker".  When I reached the last part of the chapter, I was deeply convicted by the words I read.  I also felt a strong sense that I should share the ideas of Neil Anderson as he interpreted the message from Matthew 16.  If you have read this book or others by Neil Anderson, you already know of his passion to help believers be free in Christ.  I have taken the liberty to compact the most convicting of his words from pages 38 to 42 (paperback edition). The underlined words are my emphasis.  I would encourage anyone who has access to "The Bondage Breaker" to read the chapter in its entirety.

"If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.  For whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake shall find it.  For what will a man be profited if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?  For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angles, and will then recompense every man according to his deeds."  Matthew 16:24-27

Neil Anderson's comment:  "This passage [above] is the central message of all four Gospels.  I call the absence of understanding this message 'the great omission.' In writing Rivers of Revival (Regal Books) with Dr. Elmer Towns, I came to the conclusion that self-sufficiency is the number one dam that is holding back the rivers of revival.  We are trying to do God's work in our way with our resources, and we can't.  The following six guidelines from Jesus' statement constitute the view from the cross.  They are the foundational guidelines for those who want to be free from the bondage of the world system and the devil who inspires it.  Stay within the light of the cross, and you will successfully find your way in this dark world.”

Anderson’s Six Guidelines condensed & paraphrased by Mary Ann:

1.  Deny Yourself

Denying yourself is not the same as self-denial.  The ultimate purpose of self-denial is self-promotion.  To deny ourselves is to deny self-rule.  The flesh scrambles to the throne and struggles to be God.  Until we deny ourselves that which was never meant to be ours - the role of being God in our lives - we will never be at peace with ourselves or with God, and we will never be free.  We were not designed to function independent of God, nor was our soul designed to function as master.  When you deny yourself, you invite God to take the throne of your life.

2.  Pick Up Your Cross Daily

The cross we are to pick up on a daily basis is not our own cross but Christ's cross.  His cross provides forgiveness from what we have done and deliverance from what we were. We are forgiven because He died in our place; we are delivered because we died with Him. We are both justified and positionally sanctified as a result of the cross.  To pick up the cross daily means to acknowledge every day that we belong to God.

3.  Follow Christ

Seeking to overcome self by self-effort is a hopeless struggle.  Self will never cast out self, because an independent self, which is motivated by the flesh, still wants to be god.  We must follow Christ by being led by the Holy Spirit: down the path of death to the old nature we had in Adam, into the new nature we now have in Christ.  This may sound like a dismal path to walk, but I assure you that it is not.  It is a tremendous experience to be known by the Great Shepherd and to follow Him as His sheep.  Only when we are dependent on Him and intent on following Christ are we complete and free to prove that the will of God is good, acceptable and perfect (Romans 12:2).

4.  Sacrifice the Lower life to Gain the Higher Life

If you want to save your natural life (that is, find your identity and sense of worth in positions, titles, accomplishments and possessions, and seek only worldly well-being), you will lose it.  At best you can only possess these things of temporal value for a few years (alas, these things tend to possess US), only to lose everything for eternity. In all your efforts to possess these earthly treasures, you will fail to gain all that can be yours in Christ. But shoot for the next world, and God will throw in the benefits of knowing Him now.

5.  Sacrifice the Pleasure of Things to Gain the Pleasure of Life

What material possession, what amount of money, what position or title would you exchange for love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control?  For some reason we want to be happy as animals rather than be blessed as children of God.  The fruit of the spirit is possible only as we abide in Christ. Jesus discussed this very conflict with two of His closest friends, Martha and Mary.  Martha was "worried and bothered about so many things", while Mary centered her attention on Jesus and His words.  Martha's tendency was to love things and use people but Jesus indicated that Mary had chosen "the good part" by loving people and using things.  We have won a degree of victory over self when we have learned to love God and others.

6. Sacrifice the Temporal to Gain the Eternal

The greatest sign of spiritual maturity is the ability to postpone rewards.  It is far better to know that we are the children of God than to gain something in this world which we will eventually lose.  Even if following Christ results in hardships in this life, He will make it right in eternity.  The message of this fallen world is to inflate the ego while denying God the opportunity to take His rightful place as Lord.  Let us instead choose God's work His way.

Praying that your journey during these 40 days takes you to a new understanding of God and His will.

~Mary Ann Burnham

Mary Ann, a retired school teacher and avid quilter, is an active part of Wintonbury, serving in various ministries including teaching Sunday School and leading the Quilter's Group.