Following Jesus
Notes
Transcript
Matthew 16:24-27
What do you think of when you hear the phrase “Following Jesus?”
Some think of going to church-
Some think of being kind and loving
Some think of repeating a prayer/ being baptized
In this section Jesus explains to us what it means to follow Him.
In verse 21 Jesus explains what He must do for us. This is a divine mandate. This is the eternal plan of the Father for the salvation of His people.
He must go to Jerusalem- the city of the Temple, the place of sacrifice.
He must suffer- at the hands of man and that Father
He must die- the wages of sin is death
There is no rescuing Jesus from this. Anyone who seeks to do so is found to be in league with Satan (23).
After explaining what He will do for the disciples He then explains what He expects of them.
1. The Expectations of Jesus (24).
His expectations do not apply only to the disciples. Notice He says if “any man”.
There is no difference between a Christian and a disciple.
There is not one way for a Christian and another way for a disciple.
Men have invented this doctrine to explain the sinful lives of people who identify as Christians.
There is no difference between “Coming after Jesus” and “Coming unto Jesus”.
This is the way Jesus preached to people.
Luke 14:25-33 “Cannot be my disciple”
Rich young ruler- simple question “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Sell what you have and give the money to the poor.
A. Deny yourself.
Deny your sinful lusts. Stop living a sinful lifestyle.
The word used is the same word used to describe Peter when he denied Jesus.
Peter completely separated himself from Jesus. He said “I know not the man!”
Peter did not deny self so he denied Christ! That’s what happens when we refuse to deny self.
Our culture tells us to indulge in ourselves. We hear of:
Self esteem
Self help
Self made
Self respect
Self worth
But we seldom hear the words of Jesus “Deny yourself”
Why is there adultery? Because people do not deny themselves
Why is their drunkenness? Because people do not deny themselves
Why is there sexual immorality? Because people do not deny themselves?
Christ is not telling us to deny everything, He is telling us to deny sinful things.
Why do so few mention repentance? Because we know so few will repent if we do! This is not a game! We must be honest!
Christ would have us lose our identity and be swallowed up in Him!
How do you identify? We are called to identify as a Christian!
B. Take up your cross.
A symbol of suffering and death.
Carried by the crucified.
We start the Christian journey with a cross on our back:
Willing to suffer for Christ
Willing to carry a heavy load
We love Christ more than we love:
Comfort
Life
You’ll probably never have the opportunity to die for Christ.
Everyday you have the opportunity to live for Christ.
There may be a cross around your neck, but is there one on your back? That’s the one that matters!
Must Jesus bear the cross alone
And all the world go free?
No, there’s a cross for everyone,
And there’s a cross for me.
The consecrated cross I’ll bear
Till death shall set me free,
And then go home my crown to wear,
For there’s a crown for me.
We all want the crown, but there is no crown without a cross!
If you give up every time times get tough you’re not bearing the cross!
If you give in every time you’re tempted you’re not bearing the cross!
C. Follow Jesus.
1. Obey Him- Jesus calls the shots.
We have heard of “bucket lists” -things we want to do before we die.
What about what God wants us to do before we die?
If I spend my life doing all I want to do, I’ll never have time to do what God has called me to do!
2. Imitate Him- 1 John 2:6 says “He that saith he abideth in Him ought himself also to walk even as He walked”.
Salvation isn’t something that just happened. It’s something that’s happening!
We are being saved!
Sanctification, following Jesus is proof that we have:
Denied self
Taken up our cross
Let me say it this way:
If you have repented, you are continuing to repent. A life of repentance follows those who have truly repented.
You may think that sounds like a lot of expectations. It is.
Illust.- Xerxes discovered Mordecai had saved his life and had not been recognized for that. That wicked king threw and extravagant parade for Mordecai.
Christ has done more than saved our life. He has saved our souls. If Mordecai deserved a parade for saving the life of a wicked king how much more does Christ deserve for saving the souls of wicked men and women? These expectations are not too high!
2. His explanation (25-26).
A. A simple truth.
You can live your life your own way and lose your soul eternally.
You can live your life Jesus way and keep your soul eternally.
You can keep your life for yourself. You lose everything.
You can lose your life to Christ. You gain everything.
There used to be a show called “Let’s Make a Deal”.
A contestant would have something in his hand, like $500.
Then there were three doors. You didn’t know what was behind them but you could keep the $500 or trade it for what was behind a door.
Sometimes what was behind the door was valuable.
Sometimes what was behind the door was useless.
You never knew. It was a gamble.
Life is not a gamble. Jesus is telling you what is behind the door:
Forgiveness
Grace
Eternal; life
Joy
Jesus Himself
You give up what is in your hand, your life, and you get all of that. It’s that simple.
B. A searching question.
1) What does it profit a person if they gain the whole world and lose their own soul?
The things you gain in this world are not forever.
When a soul is lost it is lost forever.
If you could gain the world, own it all, you could only have it for a short time. When you die you have nothing.
Death is a big thief. It takes everything.
All you have when you die is your soul. If you lose that you are in trouble.
2) What will a person give in exchange for their soul?
Have you ever had to face the consequences of your sin and then asked yourself the question “Was it worth it?”
I’ve had to do that a few times in my life.
I’ve woke up on the cold hard floor of a jail cell and said “Man that wasn’t worth it.”
It’s never worth it.
Could you imagine waking up in hell and asking yourself that question?
No one in hell thinks it was worth it. No one in hell thinks they got a good deal.
3. His compensation (27).
A. The return of Christ.
He shall come! It’s going to happen!
He shall come in glory! Terrifying and Awe inspiring!
Some will say Hallelujah!
Some will say Help!
Some will lift up their hands!
Some will hide their faces!
The coming of Christ is imminent. It could happen at any moment. Salvation is a pressing need.
B. The Rewards of Christ.
Some are rewarded for their sinful works.
All debts have to be paid.
Time has expired.
God told us the wages of sin is death.
Some have run up a bill for a long time.
Listen friend, if you do not listen to what Jesus says you will have to pay for every single sin you have ever committed. Trust me, you don’t even remember half the sins you have committed.
Some are rewarded for their good works.
How do we know we have good works? Look back at verse 24. Have we:
Denied self
Taken up our cross
Followed Jesus
We are called to turn from a life of sin and to Christ. Faith in Christ, that’s the work that matters. We’re not saved by works. We’re saved by grace through faith.
But the proof that God has saved us is we have:
Denied self
Taken up our cross
Follow Jesus.
We have great rewards waiting on us.
The joy we experience in heaven is far greater than joy we could find in any sin we could experience on earth.
Ask the prodigal!
He would say “I’m glad I lost everything. I lost everything but thank God I didn’t lose my soul!”
When we deny ourselves we have done the greatest thing we can do.
When we deny Christ we have done the worst thing we can do.
We will be rewarded according to who we deny: Self or Christ.
I love the way Warren Wiersbe summarizes this section. He says we have two choices:
deny yourself or live for yourself
take up your cross or ignore the cross
follow Christ or follow the world
lose your life for His sake or save your life for your own sake
forsake the world or gain the world
keep your soul or lose your soul
share His reward and glory or lose His reward and glory