Gaining by Losing

Introduction

Who are you following?

Believe it or not, everyone of us in this room is a disciple of something or someone.

We are all following someone’s teachings, advice, and practices, because we believe that this person or this thing will give us identity, purpose, belonging, and abundant life.

We are all searching for meaning and we are seeking to find ourselves. . . the question is, where are we looking to find life. . . once more. . . who are we following?

At Westwood, we want each of you to follow Jesus because we believe he is only source and giver of abundant life.

But to follow Jesus, ironically, he says that to gain abundant life, we must actually lose our lives and follow him.

According to Jesus, we must lose ourselves in order to find ourselves.

Tonight, we are going to learn from Luke 9:23-27 what is required of us if we are to follow Jesus. . . and here is the key point we must understand:

To find life, we must, for Christ’s sake, lose our lives and follow Jesus.

Context of the passage:

Before our text:

v. 18-20: Peter confesses Jesus to be the Messiah.

v. 21-22: Jesus warns them not to tell this to anyone. Stresses the necessity of his suffering, rejection, death, and resurrection.

After our text:

v. 28-36: Jesus is transfigured in his glorious state before Peter, James, and John. Moses and Elijah confirm Jesus’s new Exodus and “departure” from this world after his death and resurrection when he will ascend back to heaven in glory.

The place where this passage lies between these two sections demonstrates that disciples of Christ must first suffer before experiencing glory. Paul said to the Romans, “If we suffer with him, we will also reign with him” (Romans 8:17).

Following Jesus implies that a cross comes before a crown.

The Cost of Discipleship (v. 23)

Luke 9:23 ESV

23 And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.

Before understanding the requirements of following Jesus, we must first ask ourselves if we even desire to follow Jesus.

“would”- expresses a wish, want, or strong desire.

Jesus assumes that the disciples desire to follow him.

Do we desire to follow Jesus?

What do we truly desire?

These next three statements are commands from Christ and requirements of discipleship. . . in other words. . . they are not optional.

Luke 14:27 ESV

27 Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.

If we are to be Jesus’s disciples, we must do three things.

1. We Must Deny Ourselves.

To deny yourself means to disown and repudiate your own way of life. . . Your wants, your plans, your goals, your dreams.

To deny yourself means to be completely selfless in all that you say and do.

If we are to deny ourselves, we must place God’s will and ways above our own.

To deny yourself means to lose yourself and the understanding of reality and what you think is best.

Think about what the disciples denied and left to follow Jesus.

Their occupation, livelihood, and inheritance.

Their family and social status.

Are we willing to lose everything we know our our lives to follow Jesus?

2. We Must Die to Ourselves Daily.

Jesus calls all who follow him to take up their cross daily.

In the first century, the cross was a form of excruciating suffering and death.

Those who bore the cross were condemned criminals and had to bear the heavy wooden beam up a large hill to Golgotha (about 600 yards).

As they bore this 100 pound beam on their shoulders, they would walk the length of six football fields, on an incline, through a crowd who rejected, ridiculed, and repudiated them.

Jesus makes clear that if we are to follow him, we must prepare for immense suffering, labor, persecution, ridicule, rejection from all, and death.

Since the cross is a form of execution, Paul connects being crucified with Christ as a picture of dying to one’s old life and sinful flesh.

Galatians 2:20 ESV

20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

So, to take up our cross means to die to ourselves.

Not only should we deny our fleshly wants and desires, but we should nail them to the cross and put them to death.

Don’t miss that Jesus says we must take up our cross daily.

Following Jesus by dying to ourselves is not a one-time decision but a daily lifestyle.

We must daily place our lives on the cross and suffer for Jesus, dying to our Kingdom and instead living for his Kingdom.

3. We must Submit Ourselves to Jesus.

Jesus clarifies that we don’t just deny ourselves and take up our cross to follow someone else. . . but we do this to follow Jesus.

“Follow” communicates behaving in accordance with someone or their instructions.

The word implies obedience. It is also in the present imperative, indicating that following Jesus must be continual.

So, to follow Jesus means to obey him and his words.

We cannot follow Jesus and obey his ways and his words if we don’t first deny and die to ourselves and our ways.

Where was Jesus going when he told the disciples if they want to come after him, they must follow him?

He was headed to the cross. . . he was walking to his suffering. . . he was traveling to his death.

Finding Yourself by Losing Yourself

If we do these three things, Jesus promises that we will find abundant and eternal life. But if we choose to instead deny Jesus and live for ourselves, we will ultimately lose our lives for eternity.

Luke 9:24–26 ESV

24 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. 25 For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? 26 For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.

Luke uses the same word “would” (θελω) that is used in verse 23. Those that desire and wish to save their lives on earth will ultimately lose it in the end.

Life “ψυχη” is the soul or inner life of someone’s earthly and transcendent existence.

If someone wants to preserve their life and ways and refuses deny themselves, they will ultimately lose their very soul that they were trying to save and preserve.

The word “lose” is used often to communicate eternal destruction and what will happen in the final judgment.

In contrast, Those who choose to deny themselves, take up their cross daily, and follow Jesus and do this “for his sake” will save it. . . meaning they will find eternal and abundant life both now on earth and for eternity.

Jesus shows how foolish it would be to try to save one’s way of life on this earth in verse 25. For even if we “gain the whole world”. . . meaning all the possessions, fame, status, and success of our lives, how will it profit us if it results in losing our life for eternity?

In his song, Confessions, Lecrae says, “He gained the whole world but lost the only thing he owned, cause everything else is just a temporary loan.”

Paul counted all worldly treasures and successes as loss in comparison to knowing Christ.

Philippians 3:7–9 ESV

7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order 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 comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—

There are only two things that are eternal: the word of God and the souls of humans. . . we must invest our lives in these things. . . if not. . . we are wasting our lives.

What are you investing your life in right now?

Jesus says in verse 26 that if we refused to deny ourselves and try to save our lives, we are essentially denying him. . . and if we are ashamed of him and his words, he will be ashamed of us when he comes in glory.

If we are ashamed of him and his words, we will lose our lives in the final judgment.

When we are ashamed of Jesus and his message it is often because we want the temporary glory of acceptance from our friends and others in the world.

Yet, if we do this, we will lose the opportunity to enjoy the eternal glory of the Son of Man.

Ultimately, we will lose our lives for eternity because we tried to save them for temporary glory.

How could we be ashamed of someone who died in our place?

The Blessing For Those Who Follow Jesus (v. 27)

Luke 9:27 ESV

27 But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God.”

Jesus uses the word “but” to show the contrast between the Son of Man being ashamed of those who reject him and his words when he comes in his glory with some of the disciples who will soon see his glory in the transfiguration.

Peter had just confessed that Jesus was the Christ (v. 18-20). He was not ashamed of Jesus or his words. Jesus then makes a promise to the disciples that they will see his glory and the kingdom of God because if they remain unashamed of him and his word.

This is the blessing of following Jesus. Those who deny themselves, take up their cross daily, and follow Jesus by not being ashamed of him or his words will save their life and experience the glories of the Kingdom of God with the King for eternity.

Following Jesus means embracing the cross, but it also means receiving a crown. . . a crown that will not perish, but persist throughout eternity.

Response

I think following Jesus all boils down to this question: what do we truly want?

We do not have the ability to deny ourselves, crucify our flesh daily, or follow Jesus if we do not first desire him.

If we do not love Jesus and see the value and worth of following him, we will never give up our way of life because we believe it is better.

We need a greater desire and love for Jesus to help us overcome the desire to live for ourselves. . . and this can only happen by divine grace.

It is only through becoming overwhelmed with the love that God has demonstrated to us through Christ in his death for our sins on the cross that will give us the ability to deny ourselves, take up our cross daily, and follow Jesus.

Paul says in Romans 2 that it is God’s kindness that leads us to repentance.

When we see the glory and the splendor of Christ in the gospel, we will repent and confess our sins to God of how foolish we have been to lose ourselves and give ourselves to lesser things.

When we see how great and glorious Christ is, we will lose ourselves and give up everything to follow him. . . because he is the treasure!

Eminem in his famous song, “lose yourself” said. . . If you had one shot, one opportunity, to seize everything you ever wanted in one moment, would you capture it, or just let it slip?

For Eminem, he was right that to capture his shot at musical glory, he had to “lose himself” in the music and the moment. He had to give up everything else so he could gain what he believed would give him abundant life.

But, even though his methods were right, he sought to find life in the wrong source. . . something that was temporary. . . because eventually, the music is going to stop.

Everybody is willing to lose themselves in order to find themselves. The question is what are you losing yourself in and will it last for eternity?

It all boils down to what we want. We’re willing to deny ourselves because we want to get stronger, we are willing to deny ourselves to be the best athlete we can be, we are willing to deny ourselves to get that relationship that we want, we are willing to deny ourselves to save up money to get that thing that we want to buy.

We are all willing to deny ourselves gain something that we think we give us identity purpose, and belonging. But the only thing they can give us identity, meaning, and belonging that will last for eternity is Jesus Christ.

We must not lose ourselves in the things of this world because we’re only gonna forfeit our soul for eternity.

Instead, we must deny ourselves and lose ourselves in Christ so we can truly find ourselves in an eternal and joyous relationship with Jesus.

So, you’ve got one shot, one moment, one life, to seize everything you ever wanted, will you capture it, right now, by denying yourself, taking up your cross, and following Jesus, or will you let it slip?

Let’s Pray