SPEAKER_00 0:05

Amen. Amen. Well, we've been going through a series on discipleship since about the middle of June. We've gone over topics like the Great Commission. We explored uh what did what did Jesus mean when he said to go out into the world and make disciples of all nations, teaching them to do all that I have commanded you to do. We've talked about how disciples abide in God's word, how disciples bear fruit through Jesus Christ. And then we've also talked about the new commandment that Jesus gave to his disciples, to love one another as I have loved you. And the topic that Zav gave me this week was to talk about the cost of discipleship. Is there a cost to following Jesus? So the main text we'll be looking at today is in Matthew chapter 16. But I wanted to start about talking about what does it mean to follow Jesus? To people who were present and alive when Jesus was walking through the streets of Israel, circa 30 AD, it was much more clear what it meant to follow Jesus. To be someone's disciple meant to live their life completely. It meant to walk in their shoes, to listen to their teaching and do everything that they did. It meant to be an apprentice under them. And so when Jesus said things, like he says in Luke 14, 33, in the same way, therefore, every one of you who does not give up all that he has cannot be my disciple. He was not threatening people. He wasn't trying to stop people from being his disciple. He was simply explaining the reality to them. If you wanted to literally follow Jesus throughout all of Judea, you would have to give up all that you had. You could not keep your job, you could not keep your house, you could not stay where you were and follow Jesus because Jesus was going this way. If you really wanted to be with Jesus, you had to give up everything that you had and just follow him and just actually be with him. Well, 2,000 years later, here we are, and Jesus is still calling disciples, he's still calling people to himself. But what does it mean for us? What is the cost of discipleship for me and you, us who aren't physically following Jesus throughout Israel, but trying to follow him here in this life? What does it mean for us to follow Jesus? So we're gonna look at Matthew chapter 16. We'll be mainly looking at verses 21 through 25, but I'm gonna give you a little bit of background on what we're jumping into. It's a famous uh passage. It's this moment where Jesus is sitting with his disciples and he asks them a question. He says, Who do men say that I am? What do people say about me? And his disciples think about it and they go, Well, some people say you're Elijah, some people say you're another one of the prophets, some people say you're John the Baptist raised from the dead. And Jesus says, Okay. And then he says, Who do you say that I am? And Peter, being bold, is the first one to answer. And he says, You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God. And Jesus blesses him and he says, Blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah, for flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. So Jesus acknowledges his identity that he is the Messiah, and the Messiah, the anointed one, the Christ, was this very specific role in the Old Testament. It was the fulfillment of all the prophecies given to the people of Israel. That there would be someone raised up on David's throne that would liberate the Jewish people, that he would reign in God's stead and bring peace to the earth, and Jesus says, Yes, I'm that person, I'm that guy. And the disciples get really excited. They're like, dude, we found him, we won. But then in the passage we're going to go through now, Jesus explains what kind of Messiah he's going to be, and it doesn't fit the disciples' expectations for him. Starting in verse 21 of Matthew chapter 16. From then on, Jesus began to point out to his disciples that it was necessary for him to go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders, chief priests, and scribes, be killed and be raised the third day. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. Oh no, Lord, this will never happen to you. And Jesus turned and told Peter, Get behind me, Satan. You are a hindrance to me because you're not thinking about God's concerns, but human concerns. And then in that context, Jesus says this statement about discipleship. He says, You're not thinking about the things of God, you're thinking about the things of man. But here's what you have to do if you want to be my disciple. Verse 24. Then Jesus said to his disciples, If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of me will find it. See, Jesus is counteracting Peter's thinking. Peter is thinking about the things of man, not the things of God. And Jesus says, if you want to be my disciple, if you want to follow me, if you want to walk in my footsteps, you have to go where I'm going. And the life that I am living, Jesus says, is going to be the life of the cross. See, the cross is not just the way that Jesus vicariously redeemed us from sin and death and damnation, it is that. See, Jesus' mission, his ministry, his life wasn't to fulfill himself, it was actually to deny himself and pour out his life for the sake of others. The Apostle Paul points out the same thing in Philippians chapter 2, which Pastor Zav actually talked about last week if you were here for it. He used this passage to talk about Christian love. And there's a reason that Christian love and self-denial are very interrelated. To the world, love is simply this emotion that bubbles up from inside of you and pours over, and sometimes I love things and sometimes I don't. But the Christian idea of love is willing the good of another person above our own good. The Christian idea of love is putting the good of another person above our own. And Paul is talking here to the church at Philippi in Philippians chapter 2, and he's encouraging them to live this way, to put others above themselves. But he doesn't just say, hey, do it because it's a good idea, do it because it'll make life better. He says, You should do this. And here's the ultimate example, Jesus Christ. So Philippians chapter 2, starting in verse 3, Paul says this. He says, Do nothing out of selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility. Consider others as more important than yourselves. Everyone should look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. Adopt the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus, who, existing in the form of God, did not consider a quality with God as something to be exploited. Instead, he emptied himself by assuming the form of a servant, taking on the likeness of humanity. And when he had come as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even to death on a cross. For this reason, God highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name. So Paul says, Do nothing out of selfish ambition or conceit, but esteem others as more important than yourselves. You should look out not only for your own interests, but also for the interests of others. And this is a perfect example of the kind of self-denial Jesus is talking about. See, self-denial in the Bible is not abuse of the body. It's not saying, hey, I really like to hang out with people. I enjoy my friends, so I should get rid of my friends because I actually want to be serious about Jesus, so I need to deny myself. Or I actually feel hungry today, so I should probably fast instead because I need to deny myself and I need to make sure that I'm not living according to my desires. The Bible is very clear there are different kinds of desires. There's evil desires that come from our fallen nature and our flesh, and the kind of desires that God gives us to keep us alive is a gift, right? Uh we we need to eat because it sustains our body. Hunger is actually a gift from God so that we keep ourselves alive. This feeling, this desire for community is a good thing and a gift from God. Yet there are also many desires that Christ calls us to lay down, to put aside. And Paul gives Jesus as the ultimate example of this. Jesus, who this passage is describing, he was in the highest position possible. He was one with the Father. He still is God, but he was God. He was in the highest position possible. Yet, though he had this position, he didn't use this position to fulfill himself. He didn't use it to make his life better, he didn't use it for his own glory or his own gain. He did not consider quality of God as something to be exploited or used for his own gain, but instead he emptied himself by assuming the form of a servant. And when he had come as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even to death on a cross. He went from the highest position possible to the lowest position possible. There was no more shameful death than a death on a cross. But Christ did this for us. And Jesus Christ is not only our Savior, but also our example. And the way that He loved us and the way that He lived is the model that we are called to live out. So just as Jesus lived his life under the cross, denying Himself, not seeking His own gain, so too we are called to live under the cross of Christ and be like Him. So Jesus says this. So Jesus explains this self-denial in the next passage. He says, Whoever wants to save his life will lose it. See, when we try to hold on to and cling to our life, in the end it actually slips away from us. What is our life? It's an interesting question. So often we conflate it with our status, our success, how well things are going. When something really bad happens to you, what do you say? You say, My life is over. Your life may not be over, but it might feel like it's over. But Jesus says, if you strive to build your own kingdom, it will fall away. Jesus is calling us to give up and abandon the project of building our own kingdom, of making our life happen. He says, give up. Give up. Give your life to me, make my kingdom happen. Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these other things will be added unto you. Give up on your life and find it in Jesus Christ. And so often, even sin itself is this attempt to save our lives. You can think of lying. It is this attempt to manage our image and control the world around us and change the way that we appear in order to save our lives, to make things go how we think they should go. You can think of covetousness, where we feel like if we just had this possession or this position or this experience, then we would finally experience life. We would finally be fulfilled. We would finally get what we want. Yet as soon as we try to grasp it, it slips out of our hands. You can think of anger, which is another attempt to set the world right. It's an attempt to bring justice with our own hands. Yet in the end, it will profit us nothing. Jesus is calling us to deny these desires and to entrust our life to Him. Romans chapter 8, in verses 12 and 13, the Apostle Paul describes the same thing. He says, So then, brothers and sisters, we are not obligated to the flesh to live according to the flesh, because if you live according to the flesh, you're going to die. But if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. Paul is saying the same thing as Jesus. If we live simply for the things that we desire, the things that our body wants, if we live primarily, if we are our own God, then in the end we will perish. But if by the Spirit, and that is the Spirit of God, we put to death the deeds of the body, we will live. And that's good news. It's by the Spirit of God that we do this. It's by His help and grace and strength that we're able to walk this road. It's by His Spirit that we're able to put aside our own desires and entrust them to Him. Self-denial can be something as simple as being patient and listening to someone. When you've had one of the longest days of your life and they have no idea and they just start laying their problems on you. In that moment, you can choose to die to yourself. You lay aside your own needs just like Jesus Christ and listen to this person and be present with them. Self-denial looks like serving your family. It looks like being the person who takes out the trash when no one else wants to. It can be these small little things, but these are these small deaths to self. Or it can be big. It can be the moment when we finally give up and give our sin to God. We say, I won't rely on sin anymore to save my life. I won't try to find my own pleasure. I won't try to keep myself safe. Instead, I'll entrust myself completely to God. He'll be the one who keeps me safe. He'll be the one who gives me gifts in my life. I won't try to take them with my own hands. That is a death to self and a reliance on God. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it. But then Jesus says, Whoever loses his life because of me will find it. The Apostle Paul talks about this in Philippians chapter 3. He talks about his own experience of what he thought his life was. And then he discovered what it truly is. He lists all his accomplishments. In Philippians chapter 3, he talks about how he was circumcised the eighth day. He was born of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews, a Pharisee of Pharisees. He was perfect regarding the law. He was one of the most accomplished teachers in all of Israel. He was a Roman citizen, a rare status. He had all of these achievements. But he says in verse 7 of Philippians chapter 3, but everything that was a gain to me, I have considered to be a loss because of Christ. More than that, I also consider everything to be a loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Jesus Christ, my Lord. Because of him I have suffered the loss of all things and consider them as dung, so that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own from the law, but one that is through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith. My goal is to know him, and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings, being conformed to his death, assuming that I will somehow reach the resurrection from among the dead. Paul gave up his life. Everything that he thought his life consisted in, he said it didn't matter to me anymore. I considered it all loss, and I suffered the loss of everything, but I gained the most precious thing of all time, Jesus. He says, Now my goal is to know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings. There is a fellowship in suffering with Jesus. See, Jesus is walking the road of the cross. He lived a life suffering for the sake of others, and he calls us to walk in the same road as him. But on that road we get the sweetest fellowship, we get to walk it with Jesus. In Romans chapter 8 again, Paul talks about this kind of suffering. He says in verse 17 of Romans chapter 8, and if we are children, also heirs, heirs of God and co-heirs of Christ, if indeed we suffer with him, so that we may also be glorified with him. And for those who choose to be disciples of Jesus, a disciple is not greater than their master. If they hated me, they will hate you also. If Jesus suffered, we will also suffer, and we will suffer uniquely. Everyone who lives on this earth will suffer, everyone will experience loss and pain and tribulation, but those who choose to follow Jesus will experience a unique kind of suffering that they would not have to go through if they didn't choose to follow Jesus. But Paul says this in verse 18 of Romans chapter 8. He says, But I consider, for I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is going to be revealed to us. He says, Yes, there's suffering. There will be suffering, you will die to yourself, but the kind of death, the kind of suffering that you experience is nothing compared to the glory that will be revealed in us and to us. And that's the final promise. The promise is that for those who choose to deny themselves, pick up their cross and follow Jesus, they will find life on the other side of the cross, just like Jesus did. Just like Jesus humbled himself, he was obedient to the point of death, even to death on a cross. And for this reason, God highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name. God lifted him up after he humbled himself, and so too he promises that for us, those who choose to follow Jesus and humble ourselves like him and become like him, he too will one day raise us up with him. So these are the two promises that Jesus gives to those who choose to suffer with him and walk with him, those who choose to be his disciple and become like him. We get the fellowship of Jesus in this life and his life with us. See, the world has to go through life alone. Ultimately, every human being is utterly alone, apart from God. Yet we get to walk with the one who said, Lo, I am with you always, even until the end of the age. We get to walk with the one who suffered for us, a man of sorrows who knows what suffering and sadness is. He walks through us through all with us through all the pain. And we not only get to walk through life with him, but we also get his life inside of us. Paul says this in Galatians chapter 2, verse 20. He says, I've been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life that I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. He says, I was crucified with Jesus. My life was over. The moment I took up my cross, the moment I started to follow Jesus, my life was over, but Christ's life began inside of me. And the life that I now live, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. And we get to say the same thing. Our old life is over, but the new life of Jesus is inside of us, and we get to live in his love. But finally, we also get to enjoy Jesus for all of eternity. God offers us the greatest exchange where we get to give up these tiny temporary things. We give up money, we might give up status, we might give up success, but ultimately all these things will be taken from us, anyways. We came into this world with nothing, and it is certain that we will leave it also with nothing. Yet God, in his great grace and generosity, gives us this offer. He says, if you give me your temporary tokens and trinkets, these small things, these small little deaths, then one day he will reward us for all of eternity. We give up temporary things and get an eternal reward, and one day we will stand before Jesus, the one who is crucified for us, and he will say to us, Well done, good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your master, and we will get to be with him. Where we finally belong, we'll get to enjoy what the apostle Paul talks about when he quotes the book of Isaiah, the things that eye has not seen, nor ear has heard, nor is it entered into the heart of man, the things that God has prepared for those who love him. So I want to encourage you today that no matter how long you've been following Jesus, whether for a long time or maybe this is the beginning of your journey, that Christ is calling you to follow him more closely. He's calling you to walk the road of the cross with him, to deny yourself, to give up on the project of building your own life and join him on the project of building God's kingdom. And in that suffering, you will never be alone. He'll be with you through every heartache, through every trouble. And after this life is over, you will enjoy all eternity with him, never regretting the things that you gave up on his behalf. And so I felt like I kind of just wanted to close by singing this really simple song with you guys. Um, it's an old hymn, and it's called I Have Decided to Follow Jesus. And I feel like it was written for this passage. And the lyrics are I have decided to follow Jesus, no turning back. The world behind me, the cross before me, no turning back. Though none go with me, still I will follow, no turning back. And I just want to sing that together as a family so we can all acknowledge that we together are those who are carrying our cross and trusting God to give us his life and put his life inside of us. And dear Heavenly Father, I thank you for every single person here. I thank you that you have called us to yourself, that you have made us for yourself, God. I pray that you just reveal to each person what it is you're calling them to do. Would you show them what it means to die to themselves and to live to you? Only you can teach us, only you can guide us, only you can lead us. And I pray for every person here, Lord, as we carry our cross together as one family in Christ Jesus, would you give us life, Lord? As we experience pain and loss and heartbreak through life, would you be the one standing alongside us, holding us up, supporting us through your grace, through the Holy Spirit. And I just pray that you would fill our minds with you, that we would live our lives this week in the hope and expectation that one day all of these things on this earth will be put behind us and we will spend an eternity with you. Would you remind our hearts and souls of that? It's through Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.