Jesus and Discipleship
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Luke 9:23-27
Jesus has just fed 5,000 men and asked His disciples Whom say ye that I am?
And He had just revealed to them that he would need to be put to death and raised the third day.
Now really these verses truly are a part of this conversation.
Jesus revealed to His disciples that there is a cost to following Him…but there is also a benefit!
This is still true today.
Jesus often spoke about counting the cost.
In Luke 14:28 Jesus said,
28 For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?
We do this all the time—whether it’s a house, a car, or even deciding to send a child to college.
We look at the price tag before we commit.
Jesus is reminding His disciples, and us, that following Him has a cost—but unlike any earthly investment, it has eternal reward.
Vance Havner: “Salvation is free, but discipleship will cost you everything you have.”
The question is not whether following Christ costs something—it always does.
The question is whether you are willing to pay the price.”
Are you content with a Christianity that costs you nothing, or do you want to know the joy of following Christ at any cost?
Let’s look first at the…
I. Cost of Discipleship
I. Cost of Discipleship
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?
The choice is yours, of course… There really should not be a choice…you are His.
But nevertheless God gives us the choice…”if any man will come after me…”
It’s up to you.
But if you really are going to come after Him you care going to need to do some things.
A. Deny Yourself
A. Deny Yourself
What does it mean to deny yourself?
First of all it’s important to understand that this is not self-denial.
Self-denial is when you give something up—sweets for a diet, or money for a charity.
Denying self is much deeper.
It means saying “no” to the rule of self and “yes” to the rule of Christ.
You are not your own.
It is putting Christ a the center instead of yourself.
20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
It means surrendering control to God.
You are no longer the ultimate authority in your life.
Your desires, your ambitions, your preferences come second to the will of God.
Jesus was the perfect model of this in the Garden of Gethsemane,
42 Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.
It means a daily dying to selfishness.
Teh verb in Luke 9:23 (deny) shows an ongoing action.
It is a daily, regular occurrence.
Every day, we choose to die to pride, greed, lust, bitterness, selfish ambition—and instead live for Christ.
5 Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:
It means embracing your new identity.
Your identity is now in Christ.
Not your own accomplishments or your own pride.
You no longer live for your own glory—but for His!
3 For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.
Denying yourself is giving the wheel of your life to Christ.
But he doesn’t stop there…not only are we to deny ourselves…but we are to…
B. Take Up His Cross
B. Take Up His Cross
Daily die to self
Daily take up your cross.
This is a call to being willing to suffer for Christ.
It’s a picture of death itself…to self.
The cross was not a piece of jewelry, it was an instrument of death.
Jesus was saying be ready to die for me, especially dying to self.
24 And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
It could also mean being willing to suffer harm for Christ.
The cross is a humbling experience.
Are you willing to suffer rejection, mockery or even persecution because you belong to Christ?
Again this is a daily decision.
“Take up his cross daily.”
it’s a conscious choice to identify with Christ, no matter the cost.
12 Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.
In the Roman world, when a man picked up his cross, he wasn’t coming back.
He was on a one-way journey to death.
Everyone who saw him knew his life was over.
Jesus is saying, “If you follow Me, it’s a one-way journey.
No turning back.
No clinging to self.
You are Mine.”
Discipleship is a call to deny yourself
it is a call to pick up your cross…and it is a call to…
C. Follow Christ
C. Follow Christ
This is a conscience decision to make Jesus the leader.
You are not going according to your plans, you are yielding to God’s plans.
You are not asking God to come along yoru journey with you…you are following Him where he wants you to go.
That is what this whole series is about: Follow His Steps.
We listen to what He wants and we obey.
27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
A.W. Tozer once said, “The man who would truly know God must give time to Him. He must follow Him.”
One afternoon a father and his little boy were walking down a quiet country road.
The sun was shining behind them, and the boy noticed how long their shadows stretched out in front.
As they walked, the father’s strides left clear footprints in the dust.
The little boy laughed and began trying to step exactly where his father had stepped.
Of course, his legs were shorter, so sometimes he stumbled or stretched too far, but he kept his eyes fixed on his father’s feet.
When his dad stepped to the right, he did too.
When his dad stepped to the left, he copied.
Every so often, he would slip, but he always looked back up at his father and tried again.
That’s really what discipleship looks like.
Jesus says, “Follow me.”
He doesn’t just tell us the way—He walks it Himself and leaves the footprints.
Our calling isn’t to run ahead, or blaze our own trail, but to keep our eyes fixed on Him and walk in His steps.
Peter said,
21 For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps:
We are to follow Christ’s example…his foot steps.
Are you watching Christ’s footprints in your daily walk?
Or are you trying to carve your own path?
The safest, surest way through life is simply to follow where He has already walked.
As I said, it is your choice!
But be aware that there is cost for denying this command.
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?
But there is an even more serious cost…
II. Cost of Denial
II. Cost of Denial
26 For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father’s, and of the holy angels.
If you are not willing to deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Him, Jesus is equating this to denying Him…being ashamed of Him.
Why such strong language for just wanting to your own thing?
Because after all Christ has done for you:
Coming to earth in the likeness of HIs own creation.
Living and dying for us
Raising up on the third day
Providing justification and purification from sin
Giving us grace for salvation and for life
interceding for us before the Father
and so much more
if we are not willing to give our lives to Christ… this is very self-centered.
So He equates this to three things:
A. Being Ashamed of Christ
A. Being Ashamed of Christ
You are unwilling to identify with Christ because of fear, pride, or a desire for acceptance.
It’s shrinking back form openly confessing Him as Savior and Lord when the moment requires it.
This is why Paul clearly proclaimed:
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
He tells us our testimony of Christ is the power that God uses to save anyone who sees and believes.
That is powerful!
It is why he told Timothy:
8 Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God;
Don’t be ashamed of Christ, or his preachers.
A young man had just started a new job in a large office.
On his first week, during lunch break, several coworkers were joking about church and mocking the Bible.
One of them said, “People who believe that stuff are weak and can’t think for themselves.”
The young man was a Christian, raised in church, and he felt a knot in his stomach.
He knew he should say something—maybe even just speak up and say, “I’m a believer,” or offer a gentle word in defense of Christ.
But he looked around the table.
Everyone was laughing.
He didn’t want to be labeled the “religious guy” and risk being excluded.
So he kept quiet.
He smiled weakly, bowed his head over his sandwich, and said nothing.
Inside, he felt convicted. Later that night in his prayer time, he thought of Jesus’ words: “Whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his glory.”
It wasn’t that he had denied Christ with his lips—but by his silence, he had failed to stand with Him.
That’s what it looks like to be ashamed of Christ. It may not be a courtroom or persecution—it may be the lunch table, the classroom, or the family gathering.
The question is, when the moment comes, will we speak up for Christ or shrink back in silence?
But He goes beyond just being ashamed of Christ…he also speaks of…
B. Being Ashamed of the Confession
B. Being Ashamed of the Confession
That is the Words of Christ
“Whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words…”
That is being embarrassed by the Bible.
to shrink back from the clear teaching of Scripture because it’s unpopular or countercultural.
When society mocks the truth of God’s Word about creation, morality, marriage, gender, salvation, or sanctity of life many Christians feel pressure to soften or hide what the Bible actually says.
Instead of boldly saying, “Thus saith the Lord…” they hedge, excuse or just stay silent.
46 I will speak of thy testimonies also before kings, And will not be ashamed.
Yes we are to speak the truth in love but we are still to speak the truth!
Being ashamed of God’s Word also means choosing human opinion over God’s Truth.
“well times have changed!”
“Don’t be old-fashioned, pastor.”
I’m only as old-fashioned as God is.
Society changes
Culture changes
Opinion changes
Whims change
But God never changes!
8 Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.
19 God is not a man, that he should lie; Neither the son of man, that he should repent: Hath he said, and shall he not do it? Or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?
God never changes—neither should we about what God’s Word says!
Because if we do…he gives us a very sobering warning…
C. Being Ashamed before Christ
C. Being Ashamed before Christ
“…of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father’s, and of the holy angels.”
What a powerful statement!
If we are ashamed of Christ, we will feel the shame of Christ’s rejection.
This does not mean a true believer can lose salvation.
The Bible is clear: once we are in Christ, we are secure forever.
John 10:28 says,
28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
What Christ is saying is that those who live ashamed of Him reveal they may have never truly belonged to Him in the first place.
A real Christian may stumble like Peter did when he denied the Lord, but genuine faith will always lead to repentance and restoration.
Judas, on the other hand, showed his heart of unbelief by turning away completely.
The difference is not that Peter lost salvation and got it back, but that Peter’s faith was real while Judas’s was false.
So when Jesus says He will be ashamed before the Father and the angels, He is speaking of those who have only a false profession
True disciples may falter, but they will never finally fall, because Christ holds them fast.
Romans 10:11 says,
11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
III. Compensation of Devotion
III. Compensation of Devotion
27 But I tell you of a truth, there be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the kingdom of God.
Jesus never speaks of the cost of following Him without also pointing to the reward.
In verse 27 He promises that some standing there would not taste death until they saw the kingdom of God.
This is the balance—discipleship is costly, but it is also gloriously rewarding.
A. Delay of Death
A. Delay of Death
Jesus said, “There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death…”
That phrase meant that certain disciples would be spared from death long enough to see a preview of His glory.
Within days, Peter, James, and John stood on the Mount of Transfiguration and saw Christ shining in heavenly splendor.
This reminds us that God sustains the lives of His children until His purposes for them are complete.
Psalm 31:15 says,
15 My times are in thy hand: Deliver me from the hand of mine enemies, and from them that persecute me.
No one dies early in God’s plan, and no one lingers beyond His appointed time.
For the believer, life and death are never accidents—they are appointments.
B. See the Kingdom
B. See the Kingdom
Jesus said they would see the kingdom of God.
That happened on the mountain, where His majesty shone brighter than the sun and His voice thundered with authority.
The disciples saw a glimpse of the coming reign of Christ.
This was not the full kingdom yet, but a preview of His glory.
2 Peter 1:16–17 says,
16 For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty.
17 For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
Peter never forgot that sight.
It gave him courage to endure persecution and remain faithful until death.
One glimpse of glory is enough to strengthen a lifetime of service.
In the days of explorers, sailors would spend years at sea facing storms, hunger, and fear.
But sometimes, after months of hardship, the first sight of land brought shouts of joy across the ship.
That glimpse of the shore made every trial worth it.
So it is with discipleship—when we see the glory of Christ, even in part, it reminds us that the cost is nothing compared to the reward.
The world laughs at sacrifice, but Jesus promises glory.
Are you living for this fading world, or for the eternal kingdom?
If you pay the price to follow Christ, you will one day share in His glory.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Jesus makes it clear that following Him is not casual, it is costly.
The cost of discipleship is denying self, taking up the cross, and following Christ wherever He leads.
The cost of denial is shrinking back from Christ, being ashamed of His Word, and facing His shame when He comes again.
But the compensation of devotion is seeing His glory and sharing in His kingdom.
One day the sacrifice will be over, but the reward will last forever.
The question is not whether following Christ costs something—it always does.
The question is whether you believe the reward of Christ is worth the price.
In 1857, a young missionary named Allen Gardiner set sail to bring the gospel to the natives of Tierra del Fuego at the southern tip of South America.
The journey was harsh, supplies were scarce, and eventually his whole team died of starvation and exposure.
When rescuers finally reached the site, they found Gardiner’s body lying beside his journal.
On the very last page, written in a trembling hand, were these words from Psalm 34:10: “The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing.”
And in his final entry he wrote, “I am overwhelmed with a sense of the goodness of God.”
Even at the cost of his life, Gardiner believed Christ was worth it.
That’s the spirit of Luke 9:23–27.
The cost is great, but the reward is greater.
Jim Elliot, who also gave his life on the mission field, once wrote, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”
Christian, don’t live for what you cannot keep—your pride, your plans, your possessions.
Live for what you cannot lose—the glory of Christ and His kingdom.
The world will laugh at sacrifice, but Jesus will reward faithfulness.
Will you deny yourself, take up your cross daily, and follow Him?
