Self Denial

Introduction

There is a difference between being a fan of Jesus and being a follower of Jesus. A fan of Jesus is one that says, “Jesus is such a great example. Jesus is such a great teacher. I just love Him so much!” A follower of Jesus is sold out to Jesus completely. He or she says, “Jesus I will follow you no matter what!” The follower of Jesus lives out Matthew 16:24

Matthew 16:24 NIV84

24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

Or Mark 8:34

Mark 8:34 NIV84

34 Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

Or Luke 9:23

Luke 9:23 NIV84

23 Then he said to them all: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.

Three Gospel renditions. Three verses almost word for word identical. One is for the disciples only. Two are for the crowd along with the disciples. One says to take up His cross daily. All say that the true follower will deny himself which means herself too, and follow Jesus. So are you a fan of Jesus or are you a follower? Perhaps a litmus test for this comes about first in how you respond.

Respond

When I was a freshman in college, I had to take a course on logic. The course was built around the premise of two words. One word was “if” and the other word was “then.” The logic was if something happened then the result would be this. It is a statement of a hypothesis followed by a conclusion. For example, you might think, if it snows, then I will need to shovel the sidewalk. We need to come to the point in our lives in which we must respond the logic that Jesus gives. “If you will follow me, then you must deny yourself and take up your cross.” We all must come to a moment of decision.

Moment of Decision

Have you decided to follow Jesus by taking up your cross? A moment of decision could determine lots. It could determine your eternity. It could determine your life. It could determine much for those around you. It is a simple yes or no question. No, I will not or yes I will. Jesus said in Matthew 10:38

Matthew 10:38 NIV84

38 and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.

In that moment of decision when we say yes, a magnitude of declaring takes place.

Magnitude of Declaring

Luke 15:7 NIV84

7 I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.

When you and I declare we will follow Jesus, all heaven rejoices. If we are truly repentant, we will deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow Him. Not only will heaven rejoice, but we are making a declaration of magnitude that is strong and sure. The best decision we can ever make is to follow Jesus. Mark 10:21 says that if we follow Jesus, there will be treasures for us in heaven.

Mark 10:21 NIV84

21 Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

There’s a magnitude of declaration in heaven because of our decision and there is a magnitude of declaration for us to enjoy when we get to heaven. But, there is also a measure of determination.

Measure of Determination

The measure of determination is self-denial. This is when we say death to self. One writer said it this way, “Death to self is not so much a prerequisite of discipleship to Jesus as it is a continuing characteristic of it!”

Matthew 10:39 NIV84

39 Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

Is your true allegiance to self, the world or to Jesus?

When we decide to follow Jesus, we are renouncing self and the world.

Renounce

To renounce something, means to give up or put aside voluntarily.

Turn from Self

It means we turn from self. Luke 9:23 which we quoted earlier says in the New Living Translation something that is pertinent here.

Luke 9:23 NLT

23 Then he said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me.

The phrase “you must give up your own way” means that we are turning away from ourselves. See, many people want to follow Jesus but they want to do it on their own terms. True turning from self means we follow Jesus on His terms. For me, I had to turn from my stubbornness.

Turn from Stubborn

Have you turned from your own stubbornness? The Bible is full of people that were stubborn and set on their own ways. Jeremiah 5:23 labels these folks as stubborn, rebellious, turned aside and gone away.

Jeremiah 5:23 NIV84

23 But these people have stubborn and rebellious hearts; they have turned aside and gone away.

That person does not sound close to God the Father does it? We must turn from our stubbornness and trust what Jesus is telling us to do. We must turn away from sin.

Turn from Sin

Another word that means to turn away from sin is called repentance. We don’t talk about this much anymore, but we must come to the point where we do.

Acts 3:19 NIV84

19 Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord,

By repenting, we turn from sin and turn to God. We renounce the old ways and move towards what God has intended for us!

2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV84

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!

Because the old has gone, we realign ourselves with what Jesus has called us to be and do.

Realign

The promise of God is an everlasting covenant.

Jeremiah 32:40 NIV84

40 I will make an everlasting covenant with them: I will never stop doing good to them, and I will inspire them to fear me, so that they will never turn away from me.

This is a gift! Ephesians 2:8-9

Ephesians 2:8–9 NIV84

8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.

As we realign our hearts and minds to the things of God, we must remember a few things. His way is always best.

The Way of Jesus

The way of Jesus is first to accept Him as your Lord and Savior.

So what exactly is the way of Jesus? You have heard these verses multiple times, John 14:6

John 14:6 NIV84

6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Romans 10:9–10 NIV84

9 That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.

John 1:12 NIV84

12 Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—

When you accept the way of Jesus, you will want to walk with Jesus.

The Walk with Jesus

The Apostle Paul knew something about walking with Jesus. He knew that it meant leaving a former life and moving toward a new way of living.

Romans 6:17 NIV84

17 But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted.

When you walk with Jesus, you wholeheartedly follow Him. You give up self interest. You die to the sin of disobedience. Failure to follow Christ in daily obedience reveals Christ is not Lord.

I have had conversations with people in the past that said, “If I give in and live a life of obedience, I will have to give up so much. My life will become boring.” Nothing could be further from the truth!

The Wow in Jesus

There is a constant state of WOW in Jesus! When we deny ourselves and follow Jesus, we will see things in ways we have never seen or known before. I have friends that are sold out for Jesus to the point where they are in awe about the way that Jesus provides for their needs. Philippians 4:19

Philippians 4:19 NIV84

19 And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.

We are invited to respond to the call of Jesus. We are to renounce sin and how it entangles us and realign ourselves to the way of Christ. Lastly, we need to REMAIN in Him!

Remain

Part of the invitation is to take up our respective crosses. This is not an invitation to see what we can go through and get by. Rather it is part of the infinite wisdom of God for you and I to identify with Christ in His rejection, shame, suffering and death. We will also share in

1 Peter 5:1 NIV84

1 To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder, a witness of Christ’s sufferings and one who also will share in the glory to be revealed:

1 Peter 5:10 NIV84

10 And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.

When we remain in Him, we will refuse to wander.

Refuse to Wander

Psalm 119:10 NIV84

10 I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands.

Jesus commanded His disciples to follow Him. Matthew 4:19

Matthew 4:19 NIV84

19 “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.”

We are to follow Him in duty and we are to follow Him to glory. We are to come after Him as a sheep follows a shepherd. We will rise to His ways.

Rise to His Ways

We are to aim for the glory of God! We are to be led in full by the Spirit. Romans 8:14

Romans 8:14 NLT

14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.

See, life is full of choices:

Deny Yourself Live for Yourself

Take Up Your Cross Ignore the cross

Follow Christ Follow the world

Forsake the World Gain the world

Keep your soul Lose your soul

Share His Reward Lose His Reward

Matthew 16:24 NIV84

24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

One of the rules of Bible Study is to always look at a verse in context. So look at the verses following:

Matthew 16:25–27 NIV84

25 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. 26 What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? 27 For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done.

Denying self, taking up one’s cross and following Jesus has eternal ramifications. It should move us to reverently worship our Lord.

Reverently Worship

He has paid the price for all of our sins. The very least we can do is to thank Him through our worship. When you realize all Christ has done for you, nothing else but following Him matters.

Philippians 3:7–10 NIV84

7 But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8 What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. 10 I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,

The question remains,

Are you a fan of Jesus or are you a follower of Jesus?