Untitled Sermon (22)

The Requirements of Commitment

Matthew 16:24

Then Jesus said to His disciples, If anyone wants to follow after Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me.”

When you read in the Synoptic Gospels—Matthew, Mark, and Luke you will quickly discover just before Jesus talks about the desire to follow Him—He first talks about His own suffering.

In verse 21—Matthew says from that time on Jesus began to point out to His disciples that it was necessary for Him to go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders, chief priests, and scribes, be killed and be raised the third day.

Umm, Isaiah said He was despised and rejected by men. A Man of suffering who knew what sickness was. He was like Someone people turned away from, He was despised, and we didn’t value Him.

Yet He Himself bore our sicknesses and He carried our pains, but we in turn regarded Him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted.

Here it is: But He was wounded for our transgressions He was bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace was upon Him and with His stripes we are healed.

Yeah, Matthew says from that time on Jesus began to point out it was necessary—it is required that I go to Jerusalem and suffer many things—in order for the Savior to Save us—the Savior had to Suffer and then immediately goes into what is required of us to follow Him.

Leading up to the desire to follow Him—the mind of Christ is revealed and I hear Paul saying—Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus—Umm, we have a responsibility—as followers of Jesus Christ to arm ourselves with the mind of Christ—Jesus is our example of sticking to God’s plan, God’s will in spite of what He requires of us.

And I just heard you thinking, what is the mind of Christ and I’m so glad you asked cause I been waiting all the week to tell the mind of Christ means to die to self—to deny yourself means to give up sin—Jesus is the ultimate example of self-denial—suffering in the flesh. Jesus is our example of a pure and righteous life and He was persecuted for it.

I want us to really grasp the fact that Jesus suffered for us—loves us so much that He gave up His life so save us from a burning hell—that’s love. That is the mind of Christ—and He began to point out to His disciples that it was necessary to go to Jerusalem and suffer many things, and then immediately picks up in verse 24 about the necessary requirements.

Did you get that? Jesus said it was necessary that He suffer many things—it was a requirement—Jesus had to die—blood had to be shed—He would give His life and right after talking about His own suffering and death He confronts His disciples with an unsettling revelation—true discipleship must entail a readiness to accept a path of self-denial and even martyrdom.

Umm, the subject has already been touched on in chapter 10, yet now with Jesus’ announcement it is no longer theoretical and with that thought in mind Jesus moves to inform what is required to commit to following Him.

1st Requirement is Radical Commitment

First I want us to notice in each of the Synoptics Jesus begins with the word, “If”—one of the biggest words in the english language.

And notice He says, “If anyone”, It is an open invitation to anyone who is willing to meet the requirements. And notice also, Jesus says the same thing in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. He does not relax the requirements and I bring this up cause I know many of us look for second opinions—when one person doesn’t say what we want—we seek out a second opinion, but Matthew, Mark, and Luke record Jesus’ words exactly the same. There are no special exemptions. Anyone includes everyone who desires to come after Him, but there is a cost to consider.

And let me slide this in cause I’m a bargain shopper—I don’t want to pay full price. When I go in a store I look for my cousin Clearance—last name Rack. Cause I’m looking for a deal—Umm, a hook up but Jesus doesn’t offer discounts on discipleship. There are no Black Friday deals—no WalMart Roll backs and no Kmart blue light special—the required cost is Radical Commitment.

This means giving a total, unwavering, often sacrificial dedication to following after Jesus. It is placing Jesus above all else—it is wholehearted devotion—total surrender. Radical Commitment often requires giving up personal comfort and self-interest.

Look what Jesus says: If anyone wants to follow after Me, Let him deny himself.

The first requirement might be the most difficult because we live in selfie culture. We are all about self—look on just about any Social Media or camera roll and you gon’ find some selfies—we are selfie crazy—all about self.

And a whole lot of preaching today sounds like self-help seminars—how to live your best life—10 steps to success—cause we make everything about us and where it’s about us—self-denial sounds foreign.

Jesus presents a spiritual challenge. Deny means to say an emphatic No to self, which involves an uncompromising rivalry between self and Jesus—where choosing one necessarily means opposing the other.

When we decide based on our own desires we are saying “No” to Jesus and where we yield to His will and way—we say “No” to self.

And let me say this too—cause self-denial is not about self-rejection or self-loathing. We are all of infinite value—Jesus loves each of us so much that He died for us. Self-denial is important in discipleship and we need to understand it is not self-rejection, but rather denying everything rooted in the old life—deny and reject the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life.

It is a Radical Commitment. 

Secondly, it is a Costly Commitment.

Umm, one of my favorite sitcoms from the 90’s is Martin. In one of the episodes Martin had some plumbing issues—they called a plumber. Martin explains the issue and kept asking about the cost—the plumber responds a couple times saying: I don’t know, may cost you a little—may cost you a lot, but it will cost you.

And right after Jesus saying Self-Denial is required He mentions another requirement and it is a costly commitment of taking up your cross. And when you read over in Luke’s Gospel he says take up your cross daily—not when I feel like it, but everyday, the cost of being a disciple is choosing to take up my cross.

Notice again, Jesus begins by saying If anyone wants to come after Me…and I think I need to point this out cause a whole lot of folk in church pews have taken, “If you want” and made it part of their theology. Many have applied if I want to to how committed they are to Jesus.

Yeah, and we Baptist—If I want to is part of our theology. I’ll pray, If I want to. I only read my Bible, If I want to—I’ll on attend study time, If I want to and a whole lot of folk only come to church If I want to.

See how I slipped that in there, you didn’t even see that coming—but it’s a shame as much as the Lord has done—all the doors He has opened, the ways He’s made—all the times He provided when we was short—came down from glory just to save us and  you talking bout If I want to.

Jesus is not talking about wanting to based on you feeling like it—He is saying if you have counted the cost. Umm, in order to highlight the cost of discipleship Jesus said to the Scribe…you remember the scribe came up to Jesus and said I will follow You wherever You go.

And Jesus simply responded foxes have holes, birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.

To the rich young ruler who ran up, and knelt down before Jesus asking, Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life. Jesus said you know the commandments, Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not bear false witness, do not defraud, honor your mother and father—he said I have kept all these from my youth—then Jesus said you lack one thing—sell all you have and give tot he poor and you will have treasure in heaven—then come follow Me, but he went away grieving because he had too much to give it up—he went away grieving because in his eyes that was too high of a cost.

I want us to notice also that Jesus does not tell us to take up His cross—He says take up your cross and our cross is not simply about suffering or a reflection of the agony of Jesus’ crucifixion. That was Jesus’ cross—when Jesus took up His cross that symbolizes His full commitment to do the will of His Father.

So, taking up our cross means choosing as Jesus exemplified to do what God wills for our lives. Each and every day the Lord allows us to wake up we have to decide to do God’s will. Everyday we have to make a decision to keep close to Him, and everyday we ought to follow so close that we are covered in the dust from His sandals.

In Jesus’ day students would follow their Rabbi so closely they would be covered in the dust and the imagery is total commitment to learning and imitating Jesus’ way of life, His teaching and His character.

Umm, perhaps you have seen every now and then someone walking through town, or on 27 with a large cross. Umm, and it’s nothing wrong with it—it’s nice, but that ain’t what Jesus is talking about when He says take up your cross. It is not about parading around dragging a cross—rather it is us waking up and daily choosing to live in His will.

My last five minutes: I told us it’s a radical commitment, a costly commitment. Lastly, It is a Lifelong Commitment.

Look what He says: If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me.

I love how Jesus teaches. Jesus has a way of teaching that allows us to visualize what He is saying—He is a Master Teacher, and on occasion Jesus would employ imagery in teaching. 

Jesus uses figurative language which involves talking about one thing in terms of another. In fact, the beginning of the chapter Jesus uses bread to warn about the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees. 

Jesus taught in Parables using vivid images like a Shepherd seeking lost sheep—a woman searching for her lost coin, and a father patiently waiting for His son’s return.

Imagery is interesting as it relates to this verse because the disciples would have had vivid knowledge of someone bearing a cross. When Jesus says take up your cross that would evoke images of ones they have seen carrying a cross. They would have seen ones who had been condemned to death on a cross—So, when Jesus says to them—you must take up your cross—it is an image of a one way trip, because if you bear a cross up the mountain—you don’t come back down.

It is a reminder that for the rest of their lives it is about death to self—killing the flesh. It is a life-long commitment—it is a forward walk where our life becomes His.

We are no longer our own—we were bought with a price. It is a lifelong commitment—following Jesus is not a two way street—it is one way. You don’t sign up for special times or when it’s convenient—Umm, don’t just show up cause you on the program—count the cost cause you will not feel the same way you did when you first said yes.

Every now and again in church you hear I’m on the battlefield for my Lord I promised Him that I will serve Him till I die, I am on the battlefield for my Lord.

Giving our life in service of the Lord and to the Lord we have to keep in the forefront of our minds Who we are serving and Why we are serving—cause when you know your why your what makes sense…Keep your why in focus—because He gave His life for me, was buried, but He rose again the third day and one of these blessed days He is coming back so we ought to be showing how grateful we are to Him by doing what He told us to do. It is a lifelong commitment—a life sentence…we sing, I promised Him that I will serve Him till I die, but how many are living out those words.