MATTHEW 27:32 “BEARING YOUR CROSS”
A) As we gather tonight in this auditorium, we all come from different backgrounds!
* We all have different levels of education – Social orders – Training for jobs – Lot of differences
I’m saying in our lives.
* But then there’s a few things that all of us have in common ... And one of the things that we all
have in common is, every last one of us knows what it’s like to bear a burden.
B) What is a burden? ... Webster: Something that is carried; Load; Something oppressive or
worrisome; the bearing of a load!
* The Greek word is “baros” (bar’-os) and means “weight.” ... So all of us in here tonight knows
what it’s like to carry a load.
* And if we’re not careful, we’ll allow those burdens to discourage us.
* As long as ___________’s been sick, it would be awful easy to just give up and get discouraged,
and when we do, it will allow the devil to rob us of our testimony.
C) But I found some help right here in this man from Cyrene this week!
* Now, he’s 800 miles from home ... Many people believe that he was a black man because Cyrene
is in the Northern coasts of Africa in the city of Libya.
* I believe he was a Jew that had settled in a Roman colony and came back to Jerusalem to worship
at the Feast of the Passover.
* That sets better in my mind, an African 800 miles from home for nothing. (There for a purpose)
D) And as he enters Jerusalem, this crowd bursts out the gate, hollering “Crucify Him!”
* And probably out of nowhere, the Roman Centurion, looked up at the crowd and the first person
he saw was Simon, and he said, “You, pick up His cross and carry it.”
* And Simon found himself under a great load – A big burden.
E) I believe that if you had of talked to him, 10 minutes prior to that, he would have told you that
things were fine in his life!
* I mean, you don’t travel 800 miles from home if your wife is sick.
* I believe he had money in his pocket being 800 miles from home ... I believe everything was
going good at home ... Not a care in the world.
* And here out of nowhere, he finds himself with a great burden laid upon him.
F) If you’re here tonight and you’re burden free, you ought to get on this altar and thank God
for that ... But before daylight in the morning your phone may ring .......
* There may be a knock on your door, and you’re gonna find yourself carrying a great load.
* A few years ago, we had a deacon’s meeting on Saturday night – Fish Camp .......
* 7:00 that following Sunday morning, I got a phone call – David Wisham. (Bill Neely)
G) Out of nowhere ... Things going great ... Then it happens ... And we all need to know how to
handle it, or the devil will get us discouraged to the point that we want to give up!
* Let me give you a few things tonight I think that will help us.
(1) THE LORD LIMITS THE LOAD!
A) Don’t forget 3 died on Calvary that day, but I find Simon carrying only one cross … Why
didn’t that Centurion make him carry all three of them?
* You say, “Well, that’s easy Preacher ... That Roman soldier had sense enough to know that he
couldn’t carry three crosses.”
* Well if that soldier knew that Simon wasn’t able to and had sense enough to know that he
couldn’t carry that great of a load .......
* Don’t you know that our God in heaven knows how much you can carry?
B) I’m saying tonight that God limits the load!
* Most bridges that you cross have a load limit sign .......
* Don’t you know that if those people who engineered those bridges and knows how much weight
that they can carry, the One that engineered me knows how much I can bear.
* What a blessing it is to know that our Lord knows how much we can carry.
C) Two little boys was helping one of them’s daddy get wood .......
* That father was being kind to the little visitor by not putting much wood on him ... But he was
really loading his son down.
* And when he turned to get some more, that visitor said to his friend, “Tell him you can’t carry no
more ... That’s all you can carry.”
* He said, “This is not the first time I helped daddy get wood ... My daddy knows how much I can
make it to the house with ... He knows exactly how much I can make it home with.”
* And when those burdens come, and the load gets heavy ... Ain’t you glad that our God knows
how much we can make it to the house with? ... By the way, I will make it to the house
D) Now get this straight in your mind ... A lot of people think that Simon bore Jesus’ cross!
* John 19:17 “And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a .......”
* Jesus didn’t step aside ... They wanted to embarrass Jesus ... The Romans prided themselves on
their strength ... So they thought they would get Jesus down.
E) They had Him up all night, spitting on Him, beating Him, cussing Him ... But He’s still
walking come morning!
* When Simon saw that crowd come out and Jesus bearing that cross, I’ll tell you what he didn’t
see ... He didn’t see somebody that looked like they were sick.
* Scholars say that Jesus was approximately 6 foot 2 inches and weighed about 200 pounds.
* Jesus was very much of a man ... He wasn’t a sissy or a wimp.
F) When Simon picked up the back of that cross, where did that shift the weight?
* Every bit of the weight is on Jesus ... They thought they would put Him to His knees.
* But He’s still walking. * Not only does the Lord limit the load .......
(2) THE LORD LEADS THE WAY!
A) Simon is about 800 miles from home, but right now he is about 7 feet from Jesus!
* That’s the closest he had ever been to the Lord.
B) The closest I’ve ever been to the Lord is when I was carrying a load, bearing a burden!
* Simon has never been that close before ... But not only that, but he is also lined up with Jesus.
* You just let some burden come, you’ll get lined up with Jesus.
* There is also Jesus’ footprints ... And he had to be thinking, everywhere I’m going, He’s already
been there.
C) Not only that but he’s stepping in the blood!
* He’s getting blood all over him ... I’M COVERED BY THE BLOOD.
(3) THE LORD GETS LIFTED UP!
A) When they got to the top of the hill, nothing is ever said anymore about Simon – He’s gone!
* If I can carry my burden like a child of God ought to, He’ll get lifted up.
* John 12:32 “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.”
CLOSE
A) Let me say it again, before the sun comes up in the morning, you may get a phone call!
* Somebody may knock on your door ... You’re gonna find yourself underneath a load like you’ve
never had before.
* I had no idea that Saturday night at the fish camp would be our last meal with brother David.
* It never dawned on us that Brother Bill would go to heaven in the middle of a service.
B) The Lord limits your load ... The Lord leads the way ... The Lord gets lifted up!
