Discipleship 1

Luke 9:23  Discipleship 1

Albert Mohler wrote: "The secular spirit—treating religion as a mere hobby—redefines essential Christian beliefs in subtle ways. Sociologist Christian Smith has described this reality as "Moralistic Therapeutic Deism," which is now believed by many who consider themselves faithful Christians. Moralistic Therapeutic Deism consists of believing in some god who exists and created the world; a god who wants people to be simply congenial and kind; and that the goal of life is happiness and self-fulfillment. Perhaps most devastating is the general belief that good works secure a person's place in heaven.

The secular temptation confuses beliefs with emotions, suggesting that all that matters is feelings and fulfillment. As the society has become more secular, even faithful church members unwittingly adopt strange and unbiblical ways of thinking and believing. Furthermore, the ambient theological liberalism around us has made inroads into many churches. Secularization exerts upon the church both passive and active pressure. The pressure is passive in that as society turns away from any semblance of a biblical morality, churches sacrifice confessional conviction on the altar of cultural relevance. But the pressure is also active in that it often makes explicit demands on the church to surrender its essential theological claims. In the last century, the demand was to abandon doctrines such as the virgin birth and the bodily resurrection in order to be considered intellectually respectable. In our times, the pressure often takes the form of demands to abandon a biblical, sexual morality in order to be considered morally acceptable.

There is no external threat—even in a secular age—that can truly threaten the gospel of Christ, nor the eternal promises that Christ has made to his church. Indeed, Jesus' promise to his disciples in Matthew 16:18 is this: "On this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." Not even death will truly threaten the promises of God in the gospel of Christ. The great threat we face is not to the church's existence, but to its faithfulness. Nothing in the cosmos, not even the gale and torrent of a secular tide will negate the promise of Christ for his church. But the church's faithfulness is always at stake, and that is particularly true in a secular age. We must be aware, discerning, and careful in our thinking, our preaching, and how we raise our children. If people can be secularized within our churches, they can also be secularized while living in our homes—if we are not marked by conviction and faithfulness..."

 

 

It is with this in view that I am going to present a series of short talks on our basic essential commitments to discipleship.

What does it mean to be a disciple?

The Lord Jesus said,

Luke 9:23 Then He said to them all, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.24 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.25 For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost?26 For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His own glory, and in His Father's, and of the holy angels.

Your Conviction of the Lordship of Christ

18 And it happened, as He was alone praying, that His disciples joined Him, and He asked them, saying, "Who do the crowds say that I am?" 19 So they answered and said, "John the Baptist, but some say Elijah; and others say that one of the old prophets has risen again." 20 He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?"  Peter answered and said, "The Christ of God."  21 And He strictly warned and commanded them to tell this to no one,22 saying, "The Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day."

It was at Caesarea Philippi that the Lord Jesus asked this question. In a situation where they were gazing over the magnificent Roman building, the Temples to the Roman gods, the cave that was thought to be the home of the god Pan the mouth-way to the underworld, that seemed to be cut into an impregnable rock face that represented the nations and their religions and their pluralistic secular beliefs.  The Lord Jesus challeneged the depths of their beliefs in Him. Did they have the conviction that He truly was the Messiah, the Christ of God?

In our pluralistic multicultural society do you believe that He is who He said He was? He claimed to be the Messiah, the incarnate Son of God, Immanuel, God with us, our only Saviour and our One true Lord. Robert Browning presses the point: "What think ye of Christ, friend, when all's done and said, Like you this Christianity or not?" "What think ye of Christ is the question. Neutral you cannot be!"

C.S. Lewis focused the issue sharply: "A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said wouldn't be a great moral teacher. He'd either be a lunatic-on the level of a man who says he is a poached egg-or else he'd be the devil of hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is the son of God, or else a madman or something worse. Christianity, if false is of no importance and if true, of infinite importance. The one thing it cannot be is moderately important."

The true biblical Jesus-the robust, challenging Jesus, is more than just a comforter. He also confronts us, and He will not accept second place in our lives. He calls us to the exhilarating adventure of dynamic discipleship. Though He meets us as we are with incredible grace, He loves us too much to leave us as we've been.

Your Commitment To The Lord.

Luke 9:23 Then He said to them all, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.24 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.25 For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost?26 For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His own glory, and in His Father's, and of the holy angels.

Do you desire to come after Him? Desire…. We have many desires.. but the Lord is asking you to respond to the conviction that  He is the Only Saviour and Lord. And If He is, then every other desire must fall before this one desire. You will deny yourself every other desire to follow Him. Whatever your ambitions are, whatever your goals may be, every desire is denied and made secondary to this one desire, to know Him and to follow Him.

And this one desire shall not be a passing fad!  It will be a daily thing every day for the rest of your life!  And not only a daily thing, it will be a costly thing.

To recognize Jesus as Lord is to accept the truthfulness and absolute necessity of his message for salvation.

Such confidence that his teachings are true naturally leads to obedience. The greatest inconsistency is to call Jesus "Lord" while disregarding his instructions. With penetrating conviction Jesus asks, "Why do ye call me Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?" (Luke 6:46).

Acknowledging Jesus as Lord involves being a disciple who accepts and lives by Jesus' teaching, not just a pupil who is intrigued with his thought. Only those who accept Jesus the teacher as Lord by living according to his teaching experience the liberating freedom that life based on truth brings (John 8:31,32).

"Lord" is not merely a pious-sounding phrase for worship, but an attitude of commitment for daily living. Thus believers are to serve the Lord as slaves (Rom. 12:11). Granting Christ this complete control over one's life is not something optional in the Christian life. Making him Lord does not make a believer a super-spiritual person. It is not going the extra mile. Normal Christian living treats him as Lord. Anything less is sin. He is Lord because he purchased us by his death. That is an objective fact. Responding to him as Lord is a lifelong relationship. Progressively throughout life Christ makes new claims upon our obedience by which we reconfirm our submission to his authority over us. It is taking  up His cross as a follower of Him.

Denying yourself is saying No to self.  Taking the cross is saying yes to God!

Your Consecration to the Lord.

Saying Yes to God!

The meaning is so simple it has often been missed. A person carrying a cross had only one destination: Death. It was always a one-way trip. For you to take up your cross doesn't mean you carry a cross in your pocket or wear one around your neck. It doesn't mean you carry around a large wooden cross as some have done. Other people think their "cross to bear" is some kind of physical ailment. I've heard people complain about their ingrown toenail or migraine headache and say, "But I guess it's just my cross that I'll just have to bear." Jesus isn't talking about ingrown toenails or migraines. He is talking about dying.

No matter what the obstacle may be, no matter how tough others may make it for you, you will follow the Lord Jesus even to dishonour and death.

Taking  up the cross is saying Yes to whatever God has for you ahead.

Boice says "Cross-bearing involves prayer and Bible study. These take time and must be chosen and pursued, rather than other pastimes that we might humanly prefer. Cross-bearing involves the items Jesus listed in Matthew 25:31–46—feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, receiving the stranger, clothing the naked, caring for the sick, and visiting the one who is in prison. These are not easy things to do. They involve denying oneself time, money, and convenience. At times these efforts seem utterly fruitless, because the gifts are abused, and the one giving them is slighted even by the one he helps. We are to continue in this anyway. Doing so is saying yes to Jesus. Cross-bearing involves witnessing. It means putting oneself out for the sake of the ones God sends into our lives.

Essentially, cross-bearing means accepting whatever God has given us or made us and then offering it back to Him, which is "your reasonable service" (Romans 12:1 KJV).

It is saying yes to the Lord!

Your Confession of the Lord

26 For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when He comes in His glory and that of the Father and the holy angels.

1 Summoning the Twelve, He gave them power and authority over all the demons, and power to heal diseases. 2 Then He sent them to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. 3 "Take nothing for the road," He told them, "no walking stick, no traveling bag, no bread, no money; and don't take an extra shirt. 4 Whatever house you enter, stay there and leave from there. 5 If they do not welcome you, when you leave that town, shake off the dust from your feet as a testimony against them." 6 So they went out and traveled from village to village, proclaiming the good news and healing everywhere.

The goal is just one thing: bringing others into the Kingdom of God.

He is talking about speaking  up for the Lord you love. It is not about being arrogant or rude. Shaking off the dust is not a thing about treating others rudely. It is about recognizing that if someone doesn't want to hear the gospel from you further..  move along..Gid has plenty who need to hear the gospel.

2 Cor 5:11  Knowing, then, the fear of the Lord, we persuade people.
14 For Christ's love compels us, since we have reached this conclusion: if One died for all, then all died.  15 And He died for all so that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for the One who died for them and was raised.

19 that is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed the message of reconciliation to us.  20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ; certain that God is appealing through us, we plead on Christ's behalf, "Be reconciled to God."  That is who you are. It doesn't matter whether you are paid to do it or you are good for nothing.. this is your heart's desire. To confess to others this Saviour.

Boice writes "Jesus is the model for our self-denial. He is the image of cross-bearing.

Seeing this was the turning point in the life of Count Zinzendorf, the founder of the Moravian fellowships. In a little chapel near his estates in Europe there was a remarkable picture of Jesus Christ. The artist was a true child of God, and he had painted love for Christ and the love of Christ into his portrait as few have done either before or since. Underneath it were the lines, "All this I did for thee; what hast thou done for me?"

One day Zinzendorf entered the chapel and was arrested by the portrait. He recognized the love of Christ that had been painted into the face of the Master. He saw the pierced hands, the bleeding forehead, the wounded side. He read the couplet, "All this I did for thee; what hast thou done for me?" Gradually a new revelation of the claim of Christ on his life came upon him. He was unable to move. Hours passed. As the day waned the lingering rays of sunlight fell upon the bowed form of the young nobleman who was now weeping out his devotion to Him whose love had conquered his heart. Zinzendorf left that chapel a changed man. He went to work through the Moravians, whose missionary interests and Christlike service have encircled the globe.

That is what moves a person to follow after Jesus in the path of denial. It is what moves one to be a Christian in the first place—not the promise of rewards (though there are rewards) or an escape from hell (though following Christ does mean deliverance from hell). We are moved by the love of Jesus, for which He endured the cross.

People won by that love will never cease following after Jesus.

They will be Committed to Him. They will be Consecrated to Him. They will be Confessing Him.

Are you a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ?

 

Memorise  Luke 9:23 Then He said to them all, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.

 

 

CTW  https://youtu.be/FNjIgS9FIK8