The cost of Discipleship
Vinny Lam
Saturday Nights at Selah
Luke 9:23-27
Last week, Tony was helping us to answered life most easy, yet, a challenging question of all time. Who is Jesus? With Tony, we discovered the fact that Jesus is the Christ of God, the long awaited Messiah, the One that lived, suffered and died for our sins and the sins of the whole world and live forevermore. As we’re moving along the passage in the Gospel of Luke tonight, let us find out together what does it take to follow Christ. What significant is it when we committed and follow Jesus Christ whole heartedly. What is the requirement for discipleship. What does Jesus mean when He said: “picking up your cross daily,” and what does God expecting us to do as a follower of His Christ which we acknowledging and loved.
The first point I want to share with you is denying self is the fundamental of discipleship. Let read with me in Luke, chapter 9 from verse 23 to 27. After the confessing of Jesus that He is the Christ, the Lord was talking about His suffering and death. And rebuking Peter, the Lord introducing the Kingdom which the Father have in stored since the foundation of the world. “ Now if you want to be a part of this kingdom, if you want to come after Me, you got to deny yourself, take up your cross daily, and follow Me.” These are the requirements of discipleship.
After the you having a personal encounter with the Lord, your life is never be the same again. 2 Corinthians 5:17. Behold all thing become new. You guys remember in this book of Luke 19:1-10, after Zacchaeus the tax collector encounter with the Lord, he went out and pay back fourfold to anyone which he took from them by fault accusation, in another word, taken illegally. Now, in that day, tax collectors are being despised by the Jews. They are Jewish hired by the Romans to collecting tax from their own people. The Romans have certain tax bracket and these tax collector is collect more than the requirement to keep for themselves. But, he was change after that. He lived not for himself but for the people. He disregard himself by denying it. If he wouldn’t denying himself, he will remain the same and the meeting with Jesus is just another dinner. That is the result of the new birth. And the Lord honor him by saying: “This day is salvation come to this house, forasmuch as he also is a son of Abraham”. But for us today, how can this applying to us? Denying oneself means different things in different contexts. To parent, it means not just seeking one's own desires, but serving the child in their best interests in terms of the investment of time and energy. To a spouse, it means not just asking what can be done for you, but considering how one can be help to his or her partner. To a neighbor, it means considering how one can be of service and show concern in the affair of life. To a co-worker at work, it may mean not seeing how you can advance the responsibilities you have to undertake, but how you can be of service to them. Most importantly to God, it means seeking His will and spending time before Him so He can lead and guide us in the way we should go. Discipleship means being a learner, a follower, an apprentice if you will. It means that our attention is turned to how we can follow Jesus not how we can make Him follow us.
But then, you some might argue . Why would I want to be a disciple? I am a Christian, I go to Church, why would I like to have a deeper walk with the Lord? I pray and God forgive. Can I just get saved and go to Heaven? Leave me alone, I believe and baptize already. If the Object of salvation is just going to Heaven, then the Lord wouldn’t say that you need to pick up the cross daily, deny yourself and follow Him. Self have to be denied. "Now if you want to be a part of this kingdom, if you want to come after Me, you got to deny yourself, take up your cross daily, and follow Me." These are the requirements of discipleship. "If any man will come after Me." And they remain today for the requirements for discipleship, there is a denying of self, for the kingdom of God is not selfishness. It is not self-centeredness. The kingdom of God is not man-centered; it is God-centered. And a man whose life is centered in God cannot be centered in himself. However, because it is centered in God, it will have as that proof the desire to give, and to help fellow man, because that is God's desire. And as I submit to God, God will lead me in giving myself, and of myself to others. So you must deny yourself and take up your cross daily. The taking up of the cross involves the total submission of your will to God.
This means that we are seeking His Kingdom, not our own. Materialism and the pursuit of power, independence, and security and probably the biggest obstacles to spiritual advancement. Everything in out culture from commercials to our education pushes us in the direction of advancing our standing of living more comfort. To pick up a cross means walking against the grain of cultural values, so that our own expectations and needs take a back seat to God's call. Some things we may have seen as ours by natural right may need to be renounced because they represent a subtle form of idolatry. The Spirit guides us into seeing things differently than we did before. Bearing a cross may mean leaving behind dreams created for us long ago by a citizenship we have now left behind. And when you start living to please God, you'll find a very satisfying, fulfilling life.
And that will lead us to the second point of this message. Real life begin when we submitting ourselves completely to God. Since our former life is gone and the new life begin, we need to submit, totally surrender to the Lord in order to live and maintain the newness of life which we received from God. So, our new life is when we are totally surrender our life to God. Let look at this illustration with me, Jesus in the garden prayed, "Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me." Referring to the cross. "Nevertheless," He said, "not My will, Thy will be done." And if I take up my cross, what I am doing is saying, "Father, not my will, Thy will be done in my life." It is the submitting of myself totally to the will of the Father. Why would I want to submit myself to God? Isn’t God is love and He is not love me for who I am? I can do what I want to, and it seem ok. Other Christians are doing it, I can do it too. God forgive right? What about my ambition? My dream? Hey, the Bible say Don’t JUDGE! "If any man will come after Me." There is a denying of self, for the kingdom of God is not selfishness. It is not self-centeredness. The kingdom of God is not man-centered; it is God-centered. And a man whose life is centered in God cannot be centered in himself.
Another aspect is following Jesus Christ. Now the rationale is next given by Jesus. These are the requirements, you want to be a disciple, but here is the rationale. "If you seek to save your life, you're only going to lose it. If you try to set your own destiny, if you follow your own ambitions, if you live to fulfill your own desires, you're just going to lose your life. If you try to save it, you're going to lose it, but if you will lose your life for My sake, you'll find what living is all about." Real life is found when you lose your life for Christ's sake. You lose your life in Him. When you submit yourself totally to Him. You really discover the real meaning and purpose of life itself. Why are you here? Why did God create you? Why did God place you here? In order that you might go out and fulfill all your desires, and follow after your ambitions? No way! In order that you might find all of the pleasure that you can, and live for pleasure? No way! If you live for pleasure, you're dead while you still live. The man who seeks to find his own pleasure and his own way in life is only losing it. But the man who will seek to bring pleasure to God is the man who has discovered life and it's meaning and it's purpose.
Further rationale: what is a man's advantage if he would gain the whole world? Now you say, "My ambition is to be wealthy; my ambition is to have goods." Hey, wait a minute, what if you attain it, what if you achieve it, what if you gained the whole world? What advantage is it if you lose your own soul? Or you are cast out from the kingdom of God? "Or whosoever shall be ashamed of Me and My words, of him will the Son of man be ashamed when He shall come in His own glory, and in His Father's, and of the holy angles." He is coming again, in His glory, the glory of the Father with the holy angels. That's the kingdom of God.
"You say I am the Messiah of God, right, but you don't understand it. Keep it under your hat for a while, until you come to a more complete understanding of what that means." It doesn't mean the immediate establishing of the kingdom and of the throne of God upon the earth. It means there is going to be some hard times. And there is going to be some suffering. There is going to be rejection. There is going to be the cross. There is going to be the resurrection. And then there is going to be the service, the work of bringing others into the kingdom, which will come to pass as men deny themselves, and take up their cross, and follow Him. But there is a glorious reward. If you are faithful in serving Him, not ashamed of Him, then He will not be ashamed of you, but you will share in the glory, in that day when He comes in His glory, and that of the Father's, to establish God's kingdom. My brothers and sisters, that is our new, real life. By submitting your life to the Lord, that’s when your real life began.
Our walk with God is not something that takes place on automatic pilot. For many, Christianity is merely a guaranteed ticket to heaven. But Jesus never envisioned the faith as a one stop shop experience. This section on following Jesus makes clear just how demanding discipleship is. It requires a whole new way of thinking and of orienting oneself to life. The path of following Jesus requires spiritual labor, the bearing of a cross daily. Jesus underscores the fact that to carry a cross one must deny the self. Agendas change when one comes after Jesus, since he has already marked out the path.
So discipleship required a renewal of the mind(Rom.12:1-2) and a commitment of the heart to that renewal. It will mean intense involvement with God's Word and with other believers who are dedicated to growing in their faith. A disciple is never stagnant and never has the spiritual life in a mode where God cannot challenge him or her to a deeper walk. Jesus has noted, it is a offering of the self in service to the Son of Man.
Finally, Jesus saved us for discipleship. His goal was to make a people eager to be His people (titus 2:11-14) The idea of a ticket to heaven was never His goal; that is at best a byproduct. There is more salvation than heaven. He saved us to change us, to make us different in the world than we were before we came to know Him. That is why the spiritual person is called to follow Him where He leads. In His leading, He transforms us to be more like Him. So discipleship is a full-time job, not a weekend hobby. As a lifestyle and commitment, it never takes a holiday. That is why Jesus says we should bear our cross daily.
The first point I want to share with you is denying self is the fundamental of discipleship. Let read with me in Luke, chapter 9 from verse 23 to 27. After the confessing of Jesus that He is the Christ, the Lord was talking about His suffering and death. And rebuking Peter, the Lord introducing the Kingdom which the Father have in stored since the foundation of the world. “ Now if you want to be a part of this kingdom, if you want to come after Me, you got to deny yourself, take up your cross daily, and follow Me.” These are the requirements of discipleship.
After the you having a personal encounter with the Lord, your life is never be the same again. 2 Corinthians 5:17. Behold all thing become new. You guys remember in this book of Luke 19:1-10, after Zacchaeus the tax collector encounter with the Lord, he went out and pay back fourfold to anyone which he took from them by fault accusation, in another word, taken illegally. Now, in that day, tax collectors are being despised by the Jews. They are Jewish hired by the Romans to collecting tax from their own people. The Romans have certain tax bracket and these tax collector is collect more than the requirement to keep for themselves. But, he was change after that. He lived not for himself but for the people. He disregard himself by denying it. If he wouldn’t denying himself, he will remain the same and the meeting with Jesus is just another dinner. That is the result of the new birth. And the Lord honor him by saying: “This day is salvation come to this house, forasmuch as he also is a son of Abraham”. But for us today, how can this applying to us? Denying oneself means different things in different contexts. To parent, it means not just seeking one's own desires, but serving the child in their best interests in terms of the investment of time and energy. To a spouse, it means not just asking what can be done for you, but considering how one can be help to his or her partner. To a neighbor, it means considering how one can be of service and show concern in the affair of life. To a co-worker at work, it may mean not seeing how you can advance the responsibilities you have to undertake, but how you can be of service to them. Most importantly to God, it means seeking His will and spending time before Him so He can lead and guide us in the way we should go. Discipleship means being a learner, a follower, an apprentice if you will. It means that our attention is turned to how we can follow Jesus not how we can make Him follow us.
But then, you some might argue . Why would I want to be a disciple? I am a Christian, I go to Church, why would I like to have a deeper walk with the Lord? I pray and God forgive. Can I just get saved and go to Heaven? Leave me alone, I believe and baptize already. If the Object of salvation is just going to Heaven, then the Lord wouldn’t say that you need to pick up the cross daily, deny yourself and follow Him. Self have to be denied. "Now if you want to be a part of this kingdom, if you want to come after Me, you got to deny yourself, take up your cross daily, and follow Me." These are the requirements of discipleship. "If any man will come after Me." And they remain today for the requirements for discipleship, there is a denying of self, for the kingdom of God is not selfishness. It is not self-centeredness. The kingdom of God is not man-centered; it is God-centered. And a man whose life is centered in God cannot be centered in himself. However, because it is centered in God, it will have as that proof the desire to give, and to help fellow man, because that is God's desire. And as I submit to God, God will lead me in giving myself, and of myself to others. So you must deny yourself and take up your cross daily. The taking up of the cross involves the total submission of your will to God.
This means that we are seeking His Kingdom, not our own. Materialism and the pursuit of power, independence, and security and probably the biggest obstacles to spiritual advancement. Everything in out culture from commercials to our education pushes us in the direction of advancing our standing of living more comfort. To pick up a cross means walking against the grain of cultural values, so that our own expectations and needs take a back seat to God's call. Some things we may have seen as ours by natural right may need to be renounced because they represent a subtle form of idolatry. The Spirit guides us into seeing things differently than we did before. Bearing a cross may mean leaving behind dreams created for us long ago by a citizenship we have now left behind. And when you start living to please God, you'll find a very satisfying, fulfilling life.
And that will lead us to the second point of this message. Real life begin when we submitting ourselves completely to God. Since our former life is gone and the new life begin, we need to submit, totally surrender to the Lord in order to live and maintain the newness of life which we received from God. So, our new life is when we are totally surrender our life to God. Let look at this illustration with me, Jesus in the garden prayed, "Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me." Referring to the cross. "Nevertheless," He said, "not My will, Thy will be done." And if I take up my cross, what I am doing is saying, "Father, not my will, Thy will be done in my life." It is the submitting of myself totally to the will of the Father. Why would I want to submit myself to God? Isn’t God is love and He is not love me for who I am? I can do what I want to, and it seem ok. Other Christians are doing it, I can do it too. God forgive right? What about my ambition? My dream? Hey, the Bible say Don’t JUDGE! "If any man will come after Me." There is a denying of self, for the kingdom of God is not selfishness. It is not self-centeredness. The kingdom of God is not man-centered; it is God-centered. And a man whose life is centered in God cannot be centered in himself.
Another aspect is following Jesus Christ. Now the rationale is next given by Jesus. These are the requirements, you want to be a disciple, but here is the rationale. "If you seek to save your life, you're only going to lose it. If you try to set your own destiny, if you follow your own ambitions, if you live to fulfill your own desires, you're just going to lose your life. If you try to save it, you're going to lose it, but if you will lose your life for My sake, you'll find what living is all about." Real life is found when you lose your life for Christ's sake. You lose your life in Him. When you submit yourself totally to Him. You really discover the real meaning and purpose of life itself. Why are you here? Why did God create you? Why did God place you here? In order that you might go out and fulfill all your desires, and follow after your ambitions? No way! In order that you might find all of the pleasure that you can, and live for pleasure? No way! If you live for pleasure, you're dead while you still live. The man who seeks to find his own pleasure and his own way in life is only losing it. But the man who will seek to bring pleasure to God is the man who has discovered life and it's meaning and it's purpose.
Further rationale: what is a man's advantage if he would gain the whole world? Now you say, "My ambition is to be wealthy; my ambition is to have goods." Hey, wait a minute, what if you attain it, what if you achieve it, what if you gained the whole world? What advantage is it if you lose your own soul? Or you are cast out from the kingdom of God? "Or whosoever shall be ashamed of Me and My words, of him will the Son of man be ashamed when He shall come in His own glory, and in His Father's, and of the holy angles." He is coming again, in His glory, the glory of the Father with the holy angels. That's the kingdom of God.
"You say I am the Messiah of God, right, but you don't understand it. Keep it under your hat for a while, until you come to a more complete understanding of what that means." It doesn't mean the immediate establishing of the kingdom and of the throne of God upon the earth. It means there is going to be some hard times. And there is going to be some suffering. There is going to be rejection. There is going to be the cross. There is going to be the resurrection. And then there is going to be the service, the work of bringing others into the kingdom, which will come to pass as men deny themselves, and take up their cross, and follow Him. But there is a glorious reward. If you are faithful in serving Him, not ashamed of Him, then He will not be ashamed of you, but you will share in the glory, in that day when He comes in His glory, and that of the Father's, to establish God's kingdom. My brothers and sisters, that is our new, real life. By submitting your life to the Lord, that’s when your real life began.
Our walk with God is not something that takes place on automatic pilot. For many, Christianity is merely a guaranteed ticket to heaven. But Jesus never envisioned the faith as a one stop shop experience. This section on following Jesus makes clear just how demanding discipleship is. It requires a whole new way of thinking and of orienting oneself to life. The path of following Jesus requires spiritual labor, the bearing of a cross daily. Jesus underscores the fact that to carry a cross one must deny the self. Agendas change when one comes after Jesus, since he has already marked out the path.
So discipleship required a renewal of the mind(Rom.12:1-2) and a commitment of the heart to that renewal. It will mean intense involvement with God's Word and with other believers who are dedicated to growing in their faith. A disciple is never stagnant and never has the spiritual life in a mode where God cannot challenge him or her to a deeper walk. Jesus has noted, it is a offering of the self in service to the Son of Man.
Finally, Jesus saved us for discipleship. His goal was to make a people eager to be His people (titus 2:11-14) The idea of a ticket to heaven was never His goal; that is at best a byproduct. There is more salvation than heaven. He saved us to change us, to make us different in the world than we were before we came to know Him. That is why the spiritual person is called to follow Him where He leads. In His leading, He transforms us to be more like Him. So discipleship is a full-time job, not a weekend hobby. As a lifestyle and commitment, it never takes a holiday. That is why Jesus says we should bear our cross daily.
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