FOLLOWING JESUS

Text: Mt 28:19; Lk 9:23-25

19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:

23 And 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. 24 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it. 25 For what is a man advantaged , if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away?

Intro:

• Learning is about our head. Following is about our heart.
• Learning is about our knowledge. Following is about our devotion.

1. Denying Self

• Denying self is simply putting
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  first, not
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  first. If you want to follow Jesus, Jesus has to be first.

• It means we come to grips with the Lordship and sovereignty of Jesus Christ. How do we recognize His sovereignty? By denying ourselves.

• We must serve Him for who He is –

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  . (cf. John 12:26)

• Denying self not only means serving Jesus, but serving

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  . As a matter of fact, when we serve others we do serve Jesus.

• As you do unto the least of these you’ve done it unto me.

• In conjunction with the thought of denying self is forsaking all. (cf. Lk. 14:33)

• There has to be a daily forsaking of all we possess to God, not sell all, not give all away, not live as a pauper, simply to place everything at the feet of Jesus.
• To say to Jesus, “Nothing will hold me back from following You. Wherever you lead, I’ll follow.”

2. Bearing The Cross

• What does it mean to bear the cross?
• Note that the bible never talks about bearing crosses. The cross is never mentioned in plural or with the indefinite article “a.” We’re not commanded to take up “a” cross, but the cross, His cross.

• Note also that in our text the cross is linked to a verb in the active voice and not the passive. It is not a cross that is

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  upon us, but a cross which must be “
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  up”! The cross stands for definite realities which embody and express the leading characteristics of Christ’s agony.

• What does it mean to bear the cross?

  1) Being

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  of the world (John 15:18-20)

  • The cross stands for hatred; the world’s hatred of Christ.

  • The world’s hatred was ultimately manifested in the cross.

  • The world will hate us as Christians in proportion to our following Christ, just in proportion as our lives are being lived as His life was lived, just in proportion as we have come out from the world and are in fellowship with Him, so will the world hate us.

  2) Being

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  (cf. Rom 12:1)

  • The cross stands for voluntary sacrifice and surrender.
  • Christ has left us an example that we should follow His steps. The obedience of Christ should be the obedience of the Christian—voluntary, not compulsory—voluntary, continuous, faithful, without any reserve, unto death.

  • The cross then stands for obedience, consecration, surrender, a life placed at the disposal of God. “If any man will come after Me, let him take up his cross and follow Me” and “Whosoever doth not bear his cross and come after Me, cannot be My disciple.”

  • Discipleship is about following Christ. He bore the cross; we must bear the cross.

  • He voluntarily laid himself before God. We too should voluntarily lay ourselves on the altar.

  3) Being “spent” (1 John 3:16)

  • The cross stands for
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    and
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    .

  • We are called unto fellowship with Christ, so our lives are to be lived by the same principles that His was lived by—obedience to God, sacrifice for others. He died that we might live, and we have to die that we may live. (cf. Lk 9:24)

  • “For whosoever will save his life shall lose it”: that means every Christian because Christ was speaking there to disciples.

  • Every Christian who has lived a self-centered life, considering his own comforts, his own peace of mind, his own welfare, his own advantages and benefits, that “life” is going to be lost,
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    —living for the lesser things of life.

  • But “whosoever will lose his life for My sake” (i.e. whosoever has not lived his life considering his own wellbeing, his own interests, his own profit, his own advancement, but has sacrificed that life, has spent it in the service of others for Christ’s sake), he shall find life (i.e. the

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    meaning of life, the life that God wants you to live, the life that will bring reward in the judgment).

  • Following Jesus is about denying self and bearing the cross. And note that this is to be a disciplined pursuit in our lives.

  • Note that Jesus uses the word “

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    .” This is not some haphazard thing. It is disciplined. It’s rolling out of bed and hitting the track or the gym daily, not weekly, monthly, every now and then, daily.

  • Following Jesus is about the heart – devotion – zeal.