Deny Self to Gain Christ
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Welcome to the visitors
Welcome Kate being back
Gibril driving 2 hours to get here
Also thank Kat on the drums
Luke 9:18 (NKJV)
And it happened, as He was alone praying, that His disciples joined Him, and He asked them, saying, “Who do the crowds say that I am?”
So they answered and said, “John the Baptist, but some say Elijah; and others say that one of the old prophets has risen again.”
He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered and said, “The Christ of God.”
There is finally a moment for privacy for prayer and teaching.
This is right after Jesus fed the 5,000 he’s finally getting the opportunity to engage God and teach.
This conversation is uninterrupted just Jesus and His disciples.
So Jesus often taught by asking questions.
Who do the crowds say that I am?
Thats a great questions for Christians today!
Who do the crowds say that Jesus is?
And do the crowds shape your thinking about who Jesus is?
Has my thinking been framed by the crowd or do I know Christ on my own?
Am i persuaded about Christ from my own walk with Him or do I live vicariously through someone else’s faith?
The knowledge of Christ is always a personal discovery, not the passing on of a report learnt from other people.
Notice the characters the people thought Jesus was. John the Baptist, Elijah some other prophets.
These men where highly esteemed and respectable. They had an elevated view on Jesus.
You will hear that today, you ask a muslim who is Jesus they’re will be an elevated view. They see him as a great teacher or someone in touch with Gods will.
But they where far from the reality of who Jesus is and who He claims to be.
Prophets have come throughout the centries but only One is called The Christ! Gods Anointed.
And He strictly warned and commanded them to tell this to no one,
saying, “The Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.”
So once they discovered who Jesus is! Now Jesus had explain to them the reality of what He’s come to do.
They established He’s not a mere prophet, He’s not just a good teacher. But He indeed is The Christ!
They are going to have to learn what this discovery means.
vs 22 First He establishes Who He was then He gives the gospel to them in very clear terms! Then He speaks to them about the cost of discipleship.! The mission!
Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.
Once you are born again you are a disciple! Full stop!
In American culture we push this idea that Christianity has two tiers. We say You have the believers who are going to heaven but maybe they come to church once a month and they are good people.
But we say a disciple are those who want to be in the ministry and those who go to seminary school.
But news flash! We all are disciples regardless of your involvement in the church you are a disciple if you are born again!
To bear the cross is the entire passion of Jesus on our behalf. - (Jerome One of the writers of the vulgate w/ is the latin scriptures )
And to bear our cross is our entire passion given to Him!
When we are born again we are baptized into His death and resurrection.
But we shouldn’t fear this but we should have joy!
We all admire self denial in others but when it comes to ourselves its not so appealing!
But I think self- denial has been skud over the centuries.
C.S. Lewis said that self-denial in and of itself isn’t a virtue.
Because self-denial that is focused on self is actually self centered. And it falls on its head.
“If my motivation is to retrain from something , and say I can’t do this or that.” This isn’t self denial it just enhances one sense of self.
In fact denying ones pleasures just to say we did would be the apex of arrogance!
What Jesus calls self denial is a great deal of difference then maybe how we see self- denial.
There is something called asceticism.
Asceticism
Ascetics they would do simulated crucifixions and say they were denying themselves.
They would where clothing made out of hair weird stuff lol
An ascetic lives a life of rigorous self denial.
There was a man name Father Athanasius Anthony he was the founder of Monasticism (this is where we get the idea of monks and nuns). He never changed his vest or washed his feet.
Simeon Stylites spent the last 36 years of his life on top of a fifty foot pillar.
St. Ignatius said as a spiritual exercise one should open up the widow in foul weather in order to identify with the sufferings of Christ.
The Scottish preacher Alexander McClaren said, “Any asceticism is a great deal more to men’s taste than abandoning self. They would rather stick hooks in their backs and do the swinging poojah than give up their sins and yield up their wills.”
I like what C.S. Lewis said, “There’s no way one should throw out a good bottle or Port and the cigars! We don’t need to suffer without purpose.”
When Jesus is asking for self denial He is saying, say no to self and yes to God!!
He is saying deny yourself and follow me.!
“The only righteous role of self denial are eliminating options that are preventing you from saying yes to God.”
When my will conflicts with his will, self denial makes following His will possible.
Self denial opens the door to following Christ.
Without self denial that door remains shut!
I want you to interview the person sitting close to you. And ask them,
Table Talk: What has been your Greatest sacrifice as a Christian?
The greatest self- denial is giving up control.
Giving up the right to control my future. To direct the way my life should go! This is very difficult for sure.
You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting.
Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.
Lord is there self in the way of me finding Christ.
Sometimes in discipleship your ministering and trying to get them to look pass themselves and see Christ.
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,
not of works, lest anyone should boast.
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
We are not saved by our works, but we are His workmanship!
We have been saved unto good works like we are made for this we were created to produce good works unto Christ.
We are Christ workmanship that he has prepared before hand that we should walk in them. God has prepared. This is a grace orientation.
Versus 8-9 speaks about the mode of salvation versus 10 speaks about the result of salvation.
What does it mean that we are His workmanship?
Ephesians 2:10 . “We are his workmanship.” The Greek word is poiema from which we get our word poem.
We are Gods poem to express His creativity His artistic ability. His beauty and majesty to this world.
You ever think about the eloquence of a poem. Theres layers of it.
Our Lord’s conception of discipleship is not that we work for God, but that God works through us; he uses us as he likes; he allots our work where he chooses.
Oswald Chambers (Lecturer and Missionary)
By limiting this passage to just salvation from hell and from our sin we are ultimately limiting Gods grace.
Grace provides divine enablement for all of life, for the entire journey.
Gods grace is limited when I think my salvation just saves me from hell.
