Follow Me

Scripture

Luke 9:23–27 (KJV 1900)

23And 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.

24For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it.

25For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away?

26For 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.

27But I tell you of a truth, there be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the kingdom of God.

Intro

Do what’s right for you.

Pursue your dreams.

Believe in yourself.

You do you!

You be you!

While we might expect these kinds of mantras from those who don’t follow Christ, many best-selling books written for the Christian market espouse similar teaching. One very popular author makes this statement, “Trust your good little heart.” Another well-known author who professes to be a Christian, goes even further: “Maybe Eve was never meant to be our warning. Maybe she was meant to be our model. Own your wanting. Eat the apple.” BTW, her most recent book has sold over 1 million copies.

In essence, she’s saying sin is no longer what’s wrong with the world but rather, it’s our unrealized desires. This must be corrected because it is blatantly unbiblical. This is the dogma of Disney, not the doctrine of a devoted disciple. Or to say it stronger, these are lies from the pit of Hell.

As I meditated on this verse, I remembered another quote from Dietrich Bonhoeffer: “Salvation is free, but discipleship will cost you your life.” BTW, we posted a link to his book called, “The Cost of Discipleship” on Sermon Extras. As we’ve been learning in our Discipleship Matters series, every believer is called to lovingly follow Jesus and intentionally help others follow Him.

As we unpack this passage, we’ll begin by considering the call to follow Jesus. Then, we’ll contemplate four conditions of discipleship.

1. Desire

2. Denial

3. Death

4. Devotion

Sermon Points

One Call to All

We see Jesus’ call in the first part of verse 23: “And He said to all…” Before settling into our text, let’s set the context. In verses 10-17, we read Jesus withdrew with His disciples, but when the crowds figured out where He was, they followed Him. After teaching and healing all day, the disciples asked Jesus to send the crowd away so they could find lodging and food. Instead, Jesus surprised everyone when He fed five thousand hungry men with a bit of bread and a couple fish.

After this, Jesus turned to the disciples in verses 18-20 and asked, “Who do you say I am?” Peter spoke up quickly and declared, “The Christ of God.” They weren’t prepared for what Jesus said next: “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.”

After this intense teaching time, which according to Mark 8:33 included a public rebuke of Peter, Jesus called the crowd and the twelve together. The tense for the word, “said” can be translated as, “was saying over and over.” Apparently, what Jesus was about to declare about discipleship was repeatedly emphasized. The word “all” indicates the “whole,” meaning it’s intended for the curious crowd and the committed core. Mark 8:34 fills in some details: “And calling the crowd to Him with His disciples, He said to them.”

Salvation is free, but discipleship will cost you your life.

Some of the most profound truths come in small words. Grammatically speaking, “if” introduces a conditional clause, meaning there are conditions or circumstances upon which certain consequences follow.

“If” is one of the first words a child begins to associate with logical thinking and conditional results. Parents reinforce this from an early age, “Bobby, if you eat your carrots, then you can have some ice cream.” The carrots are quickly consumed so the ice cream can be enjoyed.

As one grows, the “ifs” come fast and furiously and we figure out we have a responsibility to do something.

• “If you finish your homework, you may go out and play.”

• “If you complete your chores, you may use the car this weekend.”

• “If you take this medicine, it should relieve your symptoms.”

• “If you service your car regularly, it will last much longer.”

While I didn’t take the time to count each one, the word “if” appears nearly 1600 times in the Bible. Almost half of the 574 occurrences in the New Testament are found in the four gospels. The word “if” reminds us of our responsibility to respond and not be passive. As we’ve said before, you will never coast into Christlikeness. Here are just a few examples from Jesus.

• Mark 4:23: “If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.”

• John 7:37: “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink.”

• John 8:31: “If you continue in my Word, then you are truly disciples of mine.”

• John 14:15: “If you love me, keep my commandments.”

“If” means we have a choice in the matter of whether or not we’ll make our discipleship matter.

1. Desire. The first condition is a person must desire to be a disciple – “If anyone would come after me…” The heart of the matter is a matter of the heart. The phrase, “would come” is the idea of intentionality and involves an act of the will. This can be translated as “desire or wish.” Someone said we become what we desire.

In order to walk with Jesus, first you must want to walk with Jesus. The New King James renders it like this: “Whoever desires to come after me.” The New American Standard puts it like this: “If anyone wishes…” And the New Living Translation says this: “If any of you wants to be my follower…”

2. Denial. The first condition is to settle your desire. The second condition is to deny self: “…let him deny himself…” The phrase, “let him” puts the responsibility on each of us; this must be intentional because it’s not automatic. I appreciate the candor of one believer when he said, “Honestly, I don’t want to forsake myself. I like me. And I don’t want to be told that the one I like the most, I have to forsake…yet Jesus says that I have to deny or forsake the one person I like best.”

Everything within us screams against surrendering in this way. To “deny” implies a “firm refusal.” This is the same word which describes Peter denying Jesus. One Bible Dictionary defines denial this way: “to disown and renounce self and to subjugate all works, interests and enjoyments.”

Closing

Salvation is free, but discipleship will cost you your life.

Action Steps

I close with three questions.

1. What have you learned about intentional discipleship? I asked this question during our staff team time on Tuesday. Here are some of the responses.

• To be intentional and look outward

• Equipping parents to disciple their children

• Pass on what others have poured into my life.

• Look at every day and every opportunity to choose to be a disciple.

• Be accountable to God.

• Parents are responsible to disciple their children; the church’s role is to support and be a resource

• Denying yourself opens doors to everything else.

2. Is there someone you will share this with? Think of someone right now and do so this week. BTW, if you’ve been stirred to have someone disciple you or you’re ready to disciple someone else,

3. Have you denied yourself and surrendered to the Savior? Shortly before Robert E. Lee died, he was asked by a young mother to bless her baby. He took the baby in his arms, looked at him and then at the mother, and said these unforgettable words, “Teach him to deny himself. That is all.”

• Do you desire the Savior above everything else?

• Are you ready to deny yourself?

Don’t delay; do it today.