(Text and Audio)
May 4th, 2025
Luke 9:20–22 (ESV)
20 Then he said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” And Peter answered, “The Christ of God.”
21 And he strictly charged 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 on the third day be raised.”
What is a disciple?
Discipleship is the process of devoting oneself to a teacher to learn from and become more like them.
[It refers not] only to the transfer of information but also to the transformation of one’s lifestyle in order to be more like one’s teacher.
Luke 9:23–25 (ESV)
23 And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.
24 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.
25 For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?
Do you want to follow Jesus?
Deny yourself. Take up a cross – daily. Follow Jesus.
Have you given much thought to what that will require of you?
Deny yourself
not simply denying certain things but denying personal control of one’s life
Matthew 6:31–33 (ESV)
31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’
32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.
33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
Ephesians 2:3 (ESV)
3 … we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind…
When we are called to new life, when we are born of the Spirit; Christ is our king. He owns us. We no longer have control of our lives.
If you retain ownership, if you retain control; then you have not been born of the Spirit.
Another way to consider this is to spend some time in the book of Ecclesiastes. See all that Solomon journals that a man or woman might desire and pursue. See what he says about the end of it all. See that apart from God, there is only a miserable end.
Christ tells us to deny what we would grasp and seek to control.
Take up a cross – daily
This sounds serious.
This sounds suicidal.
This is not so much a call to martyrdom (though that did happen a lot in history and still does) but rather a call to look at your life in a particular way.
It’s really an extension of self-denial.
First, Jesus is calling his disciples to prepare for execution by crucifixion – the worst way to die.
It was such a horrible way to die, that the Apostle Paul could not be executed by that means – he was a Roman citizen.
In other words, following Jesus is a serious, even deadly calling.
Second, despite that, it is metaphorical.
Third, since a condemned man would carry his own cross to the place of execution, “Let the disciples take up the position of the man who is already condemned to death. Hence the saying refers not so much to literal martyrdom as to the attitude of self-denial which regards its life in this world as already finished.”
Fourth, how would you live if the Dr told you that a brain aneurism was going to take you out in a week?
He said, “I was in my early 40s with a lot of life before me
When a moment came that stopped me on a dime
I spent most of the next days looking at the X-rays
Talkin’ ’bout the options and talkin’ ’bout sweet times”
I asked him when it sank in
That this might really be the real end
How’s it hit ya when you get that kind of news?
Man, whatcha do?
Craig Wiseman / James Timothy Nichols
That’s what we’re talking about. “The attitude of self-denial which regards its life in this world as already finished”
And I loved deeper and I spoke sweeter
And I gave forgiveness I’d been denyin'”
And he said, “Some day I hope you get the chance
To live like you were dyin'”
He said, “I was finally the husband that most the time I wasn’t
And I became a friend a friend would like to have
Well I, I finally read the good book
And I took a good long hard look
At what I’d do if I could do it all again
And then”
“I went skydiving, I went Rocky Mountain climbing
I went two point seven seconds on a bull named Fu Man Chu
And I loved deeper, and I spoke sweeter
And I gave forgiveness I’d been denyin’ “
And he said, “Some day I hope you get the chance
To live like you were dyin'”
Craig Wiseman / James Timothy Nichols
Follow Jesus
Don’t sit and ponder “what if’s”
Don’t dawdle.
It’s not a theory.
It’s a life.
It’s a believer’s life.
Deny yourself
Take up a cross – daily
Follow Jesus.