THE CALVARY MINISTRY ONLINE The Gospel From Calvary TUESDAY 7TH JULY, 2026 THE CROSS BEFORE THE CROWN ✝️📖👑 📜```TEXT: MATTHEW 16:21-27```📜 🔑📖```KEY VERSE:``` "Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me" (MATTHEW 16:24). Jesus had just been confessed as the Christ, the Son of the living God. Immediately after, He began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, suffer, be killed, and rise again. Peter rebuked Him: “This shall not be unto thee.” But Jesus saw Satan in that suggestion. The way of glory runs through the Cross. There is no crown without the cross, no resurrection without crucifixion. Three truths about the path of the Cross: One, Jesus embraced His cross first. “From that time forth began Jesus to shew… how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer.” He set His face toward Calvary for you. Salvation was never an accident — it was a mission. Two, we must take up our cross daily. “Let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” The cross is not jewelry; it’s surrender. It means saying no to self so we can say yes to Christ. Three, losing is winning in the Kingdom. “For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.” What you cling to, you lose. What you surrender to Jesus, you keep forever. Are you trying to follow Christ without a cross? Wanting the crown but refusing the cost? Check your direction today. Peter tried to protect Jesus from the Cross and almost became a stumbling block. Don’t let comfort keep you from calling. The road to glory still goes through Golgotha. But remember: He walks it with you, and resurrection is coming. ✍🏽```THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:``` You can’t follow a crucified Savior and stay uncrossed yourself. 📜```THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:``` *JOB 22-24*📜