All In Pt 3: "Follow Me"
All In • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 18 viewsKnowing Jesus can happen in a single moment, with a single prayer... but following Jesus happens over a lifetime. Jesus uses His words strategically throughout His ministry, calling people from all different backgrounds and lifestyles to... Follow Him! But... What happens when we do?
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There is no doubt that Jesus has given us some difficult commands in His Word… Amen?
We have been exploring what is probably one of His most debated and controversial ones…
Especially when we consider the parallel passages…
There is no doubt… Jesus calls us to “give up”… to “die to”… our “old” lives.... and to dedicate ourselves to living the “new life” that He gives us in the Kingdom…
Look at what He says to us:
“Unless you hate mother, father, wife, children, brother and sister, you cannot follow me” (Luke 14:26)
“Sell everything, give it to the poor, and follow me” (Mt 19:21; Luke 18:22)
“Let the dead bury the dead, you follow me.” (Mt 8:22)
“Look at the fields! They are ripe! Pray for the Father to send you!” (Jn 4:35)
There is no denying — Jesus demands that we leave our old life, and dedicate ourselves completely to His Kingdom!
Jesus expects us to go “All In”!
But… “What does that look like?”
What does it look like to be “ALL IN”?
That is the question we have been seeking to answer as we’ve explore Jesus’s words in Matthew 16.
Mt. 16:24 is where Jesus gives us a 3-step formula to knowing and following Him…
These 3 empirical commands define what a “True Follower” looks like…
These are the 3 “musts” that reveal what it looks like to be “sold out”… or “All In” for Christ…
Look at Mt 16:24
24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.
We MUST “Deny ourselves”…
We MUST deny everything that has made us who we were before Him… All of our ambitions… All of our desires… All of our ideologies of success… of happiness… of discipleship… even of what it means to serve the Kingdom… (consider Luke’s parallel passage here)
We MUST “take up our cross”…
Taking up our cross means embracing FULLY and COMPLETELY what it means to “Deny ourselves”…
“Taking up our cross” means putting to death ALL of our selfish ambition… ALL of our Greed… ALL of our desires… our wants… ALL of those things that cause us to mistreat and/or ignore those less fortunate than us… those who don’t “fit our mold”… Those things that make us “apathetic” to others…
It means putting to death ALL of those things that separate us from each other, AND from Him!
Then Jesus tells us the third thing....
The third command is the culmination of the first two…
“FOLLOW ME”
Speaking of Mt 16:24, Holman states: “the disciples are being challenged to follow Jesus to Jerusalem, and then on to their own ‘crosses’.”
Let’s read Jesus’s words again (only this time insert your name in the verse…)
Matthew 16:24 (NIV)
24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “[If _____] wants to be my disciple [then ____] must deny [him/herself] and take up [his/her] cross and follow me.
Are you getting the emphasis?
We have to choose to deny ourselves… We have to willingly choose to take up our cross and carry it… Then… We have to “follow Him”!
To follow Jesus means that we have to KNOW Him.
Think about that…
There is a difference between knowing OF someone and KNOWING them!
(Sports team/player ill. — fans know their stats… their schedule… how well they’re doing [or not doing]… BUT… they don’t really KNOW them… )
Our Christian walk can be the same way… We can know about Jesus, but never actually KNOW Him!
(That’s where I was for a long time, and I didn’t even know it…)
It’s all about relationship!
That’s what FOLLOWING Him is!
We are meant to be as close to Jesus as possible.
We are meant to follow Him so closely… so completely… that we cannot help but come to KNOW Him!
We should be walking so closely with Jesus… seeking to know Him so completely that when people look at us, they cannot tell the difference between us and Him!!! (you are who you associate with.)
So… What happens when we choose to follow Him that completely?
I want you to think about something for a minute…
We ALL follow… or take after someone or something… It could be a parent, a sibling, an athlete, a musician…
It is someone that we watch throughout life… a “hero”… someone we look up to… who we try to emulate…
We develop our identity through the ideologies and example of our “heroes”…
This is why Jesus tells us that we must be “born again”… (Facebook meme — “I was born this way… great! That’s why Jesus said you must be born again!”)
Being “born again” means that our “old life”… that identity we have developed… that is modeled after our “heroes”… is gone… fini… caput…
We are a “New Creation”!
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
When we are “born again”… When we trade our “old life”… our “old identity”… for new life in Christ… by choosing to follow Him completely…
He Gives Us a New Identity.
17 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give that person a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to the one who receives it.
Look back at verse 13…
13 I know where you live—where Satan has his throne. Yet you remain true to my name. You did not renounce your faith in me, not even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was put to death in your city—where Satan lives.
Jesus KNOWS where we live! He knows what we are dealing with… He knows our sin… our struggles… our hardships… and He promises to see us through… (But… there is a requirement…)
Do you see what the requirement is?
We MUST commit ourselves to Him!
Who is it that you look up to? Who is it that you model your life and your walk with Christ after? Who is it that you say “I want to be like them!”?
You see… As we emulate that person — no matter how good they are — we can end up pursuing the wrong things…
Our identity can often be found in the things of this world… The things we spend money on, and the things we invest our time in....
Most of the time, these aren’t bad....
BUT… When they become our identity, they can be!
Being “Born Again” means turning away from those things and “modeling” our life after Christ!
That means allowing the Holy Spirit to come in and reshape your priorities and your life as a whole.
It means dying to our old lives… our old selves… the identities we have created for ourselves… and learning to live the life of Christ!
That is what Jesus calls us to do!
18 As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen.
19 “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.”
20 At once they left their nets and followed him.
We could spend all day on these few verses… But… i want us to see two things here:
What were Peter and Andrew were doing when Jesus called them?
They were fishing!
They fished for a living.
It was their trade!
It was the thing that brought them a steady income… it was their ability to provide for themselves and their families…
Peter and Andrew were in the act of providing for their families when Jesus said: “Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people.”
And Jesus didn’t stop with them… Look at verse 21.
21 Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them,
All four of these men left their livelihood to follow Jesus, the instant He called them!
Roger Hahn states: “This abrupt call to discipleship represents the radical demand of the Kingdom of God: to let go of all human sources of security and all human aspirations and to embrace wholehearted obedience to God.”
He goes on to say: “The disciples illustrate what it looks like to be ‘ALL IN’.”
The book of Acts records all of the amazing things that the disciples went on to do…
Peter preaches and people get saved… He prays and people are healed…
Peter went from “Peter, the fisherman who decided to follow Jesus” to “Peter, the follower of Jesus, who fishes.”
Do you see the difference?
Peter’s identity became wrapped up in Christ!
Now listen… Being “ALL IN” does not remove your passion.
(Some people believe that is what coming to Christ means — that you lose yourself)
Jesus wants to use what you already do… what you’re already good at… to change the world!
Jesus wants to repurpose us… to salvage our lives… and use us in amazing and powerful ways!
But… even with this new found identity, we still fall short sometimes, don’t we?
It’s OK! That’s why Jesus died on the Cross for our sin…
We sometimes mess up. (Peter did!)
The good news is, When we follow Jesus completely, He makes ALL our wrongs right again in the eyes of God.
Look at Peter’s story…
31 When he was gone, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man is glorified and God is glorified in him.
32 If God is glorified in him, God will glorify the Son in himself, and will glorify him at once.
33 “My children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: Where I am going, you cannot come.
34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.
35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
36 Simon Peter asked him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus replied, “Where I am going, you cannot follow now, but you will follow later.”
37 Peter asked, “Lord, why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.”
38 Then Jesus answered, “Will you really lay down your life for me? Very truly I tell you, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times!
Can you imagine the scene?
Peter is feeling pretty confident… He has left everything to follow Jesus… So, when Jesus tells them that He is leaving, and that they can’t follow Him…
He proudly proclaims his dedication…
37 Peter asked, “Lord, why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.”
Look at Jesus’s response:
38 Then Jesus answered, “Will you really lay down your life for me? Very truly I tell you, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times!
I am not convinced that Peter even really believed Jesus’s words to him…
After all, we know the rest of the story… Peter denies that he has even ever met Jesus 3 times that night!
I have often wondered: “Would the same thing happen to me?”
Thank God that the moments we fall short like Peter are not the end of the story!
After Jesus was raised from the dead, He finds Peter and the others … Fishing again!
15 When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” “Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”
16 Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.”
17 The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my sheep.
Three times Peter denied even knowing Jesus… And three times Jesus asked Peter if he loved Him…
Look at this… (reread verse 15)
Each time Peter said “Yes!” Jesus gave Peter a calling!
Jesus is calling Peter to Truly Dedicate his life… to go “ALL IN”…
I didn’t realize it at the time, but that is what He was doing with me… (story of going to the altar)
Church… God is not in Heaven waiting… with His arms crossed… demanding that we turn toward Him!
He is like a parent… waiting for their child on Christmas morning… excited about what is coming… eager to see their reaction when they open their gift!
We have been given the greatest gift ever given!
When we decide to turn and face Him… When we accept His gift of Grace… When we commit ourselves to following Him… When we go “ALL IN”… He redeems us!!!
When we completely surrender our lives to God…
He Makes Us Whole!
I have often asked myself, “Where would I be without Jesus?”
You know what… I don’t want to know the answer to that question!!!!
I was chasing after and following things that CAN NOT fulfill me like Jesus can!!!
You have heard it said that there is a God-shaped hole in each of our hearts.
We try so hard to fill it with all kinds of things that are not God…
None of those things will satisfy us!
Following Jesus is the ONLY THING that can truly make us whole.
That’s why the Apostle Paul prayed:
23 May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
God desires to sanctify us… to make us Holy in every possible way.
When we decide to follow Jesus with all our heart… When we decide to go “ALL IN”… God WILL step into every area of our lives and make us whole!
He will go into every dark place… bringing His light… bringing healing… NOT SHAME!
He will visit every hidden thing and bring it to the surface… so we can deal with it and it can be removed from our lives…
God will go ALL IN for us, when we go ALL IN for Him!
He leaves the choice to us!
God will not force His way into our lives!
20 Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.
God desires a relationship with us… But not a partial one…
He wants ALL of us, not just SOME of us…
Not just PART of our lives… Not just the PIECES of our heart that we feel comfortable giving Him… HE WANTS IT ALL!!!
That’s why we call it going ALL IN for Jesus!
If we leave a part of our life out… our priorities will be divided… Our understanding of Lordship will be divided…
We MUST completely surrender to Jesus, and willingly follow Him, NO MATTER WHAT!!!
… through every trial and every circumstance in our life…
To be “ALL IN” means that we FULLY identify with Christ.
Where are you in your walk with Christ?
Maybe you’re where I was 20 years ago…
Maybe you’ve never fully committed your life to Christ…
Maybe you’ve never been invited to go “ALL IN” on the journey…
I invite you to do that today… Don’t wait!
There is nothing more amazing and more fulfilling than the “ALL IN” journey with Christ!
I invite you… right here… right now… to go “ALL IN”… to give it all to God… holding nothing back…
Jesus calls us to give it ALL to Him… to stand with Him… and to say “It’s ALL yours. You can have it all. I trust you completely… use my life… use my resources… use my skills… as You see fit.”
Will you stand with me today and make that commitment?
Will you pray that prayer with me today?
Let’s pray.