Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him
deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his
life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.
(Matt 16:24-25 KJV)
Why do only a few people follow Christ for a lifetime?
Why do some appear to follow for a time and then fall away?
What prevents us from following Jesus wholeheartedly?
Why do many of us prefer to build on the sand rather than the rock?
As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, "I will follow
you wherever you go." Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of
the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head."
It can't be that we don't know about Him. With all the technology available
today, the archaeological research confirming the people and places of the
Bible, the immense volumes of writings of believers explaining their faith, and
the exegetical study of the words of the Bible - it's as if we know so much,
yet believe so little.
He said to another man, "Follow me." But the man replied,
"Lord, first let me go and bury my father." Jesus said to him,
"Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of
God."
Still another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back
and say good-by to my family." Jesus replied, "No one who puts his
hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God." (Luke 9:57-62)
The difficulty does not appear to be WHAT we know, but rather DOING what we
know.
What keeps us from following Jesus wholeheartedly?
We want security: home, job, marriage, family. We want personal pleasure
and comfort: an easy life, no conflict, to get along with everyone (compromise).
We want earthly rewards: prosperity, popularity, friendships, leisure time.
This man said in Luke 9:57-62, he first wanted to bury his father. It's
likely the father was not yet dead and the man wanted to wait until he died. Our
priorities do not place Jesus at the top. Some have one foot in heaven and one
foot in this life. They cannot let go of the things of this earth.
They say, "Let me take care of important family matters first."
"Let me take care of my financial situation first."
"Show me a miracle"
"Heal me."
We must be willing to abandon everything else that has given us security
and not allow anything to distract us from the calling He has made in our
lives.
As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother
Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. "Come, follow
me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men." At once
they left their nets and followed him.
When he had gone a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother
John in a boat, preparing their nets. Without delay he called them, and they
left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him. (Mark 1:16-20)
Simon and Andrew left their sole livelihood, their job to respond to Jesus'
call. James and John left their job and their father to follow Jesus.
Once again Jesus went out beside the lake. A large crowd came to him, and
he began to teach them. As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting
at the tax collector's booth. "Follow me," Jesus told him, and Levi
got up and followed him.
While Jesus was having dinner at Levi's house, many tax collectors and
"sinners" were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many
who followed him. When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him
eating with the "sinners" and tax collectors, they asked his
disciples: "Why does he eat with tax collectors and 'sinners'?" On
hearing this, Jesus said to them, "It is not the healthy who need a
doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."
(Mark 2:13-17)
Levi, renamed Matthew by Jesus, gave up his job as a tax-collector which
likely included great wealth and power.
The Pharisees were uncomfortable with Jesus' life-style and attitude that
allowed Him to be willing to associate with those whom the Pharisees had judged
as evil people, those who did not follow the Mosaic law: tax collectors,
adulterers, robbers and the like.
Many churches tend to treat people like this by rejecting them or demanding
they change first. Other churches expect the convert to demonstrate "signs
and wonders" proving their allegiance to Christ.
Then, there is the double standard within some Christian churches.
Christian leaders point their finger at cults and cult leaders and accuse them
of deceiving their members.
Perhaps we need to examine our own history as Christians believers. How
many Christians today are guilty of the same sins? Too often our Christianity
is in our mouths and not in our minds. Often the outsider can see through our
facades; he calls it hypocrisy. He has heard the stories of Christian churches
that have been divided by anger and hatred. He knows about the deacon who left
his wife to run away with the church organist. He knows how some of the Sunday
morning faithful spend Saturday night.
The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to
him, "Follow me." Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of
Bethsaida. Philip found Nathanael and told him, "We have found the one
Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote--Jesus of
Nazareth, the son of Joseph."
"Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?" Nathanael asked.
"Come and see," said Philip. (John 1:43-47)
The first thing Philip did after he followed Jesus was he told someone
else: evangelism. Nathanael response was at first skepticism. What about Christ
stirs skepticism today? What stereotypes about Christ prevent people from
trusting Him today? We must set aside all our preconceived ideas about Christ
and allow Him to fill our hearts and minds with the true Spirit.
Many today respond to Jesus with a lack of commitment. They believe with
their mind, but not their heart. They are skeptical about who He is. They are
not willing to give up themselves to follow him. They are willing to follow
some of His commands, but not willing to sacrifice their own needs. They may
hold on to parents, siblings, or children.
"If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his
wife and children, his brothers and sisters ... he cannot be my disciple." (Luke 14.26)
"If anyone comes to me and does not hate ... -- yes, even his own life
-- he cannot be my disciple." (Luke 14.26)
Whose goals and aspirations direct your daily living? God's or your own
carnal, self-centered desires?
There is a flow of obedience in our lives - a flow that springs from the
motives of the heart.
What does it mean then, to follow Christ?
What does it mean then, to follow Christ?
Clearly, we must step out of our comfort zone. We're not to be sitting in
church but reaching out to the lost and the needy. We're to be telling others
about the Savior! It's a life of evangelism and sacrifice of self.
"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in
the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to
observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end
of the age" (Matt. 28:19-20)
Expect resistance
We are told in Scripture that men will reject three things:
God created the world, which at first was covered with water (which means
that its surface was cool at the beginning, not a molten blob as evolutionists
teach).
God once judged this world with a global, cataclysmic flood at the time of
Noah.
God is going to judge this world again, but the next time it will be by
fire.
First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come,
scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say, "Where is
this `coming' he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as
it has since the beginning of creation." But they deliberately forget that
long ago by God's word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of
water and by water. By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and
destroyed. By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for
fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men. (2 Peter 3:3-7)
The scoffers skepticism is based upon their evil desires, which lead them
to prefer a view of the future in which there is no divine judgment. The
scoffers maintain that everything in the world goes on without divine
intervention.
Notice that the emphasis here is on a deliberate rejection, or as some
translations put it, a "willing ignorance." Thus, it is a deliberate
action on a person's part not to believe. People refuse to believe these things
even when presented with evidence -people simply do not want to be convinced.
Ignoring the flood as a divine intervention was not an oversight; it was
deliberate.
We read in Romans 1:20 that there is enough evidence to convince everyone
that God is Creator, so much so that we are condemned if we do not believe.
Furthermore, Romans 1:18 tells us that men "suppress the truth in
unrighteousness."
It is not a matter of lack of evidence to convince people that the Bible is
true; the problem is that they do not want to believe the Bible. The reason for
this is obvious. If people believed in the God of the Bible, they would have to
acknowledge His authority and obey the rules He has laid down.
What does Christ expect you to give up to follow Him?
What are you willing to give up in order to follow Christ?
What does Jesus ask all of us to do?
Yes, becoming a Christian and deciding to follow Christ has costs and some
of them can prove difficult for us. Some of us may start to fear and perhaps
lose heart when the costs show up in our life. But before we lose heart lets
look at what scripture tells us about "taking heart" and how God will
help us handle each cost and what it buys for us.
Cost #1. We are to forfeit the world and its pleasures… but take heart in (Matthew 6:33)
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will
be given to you as well. (Matthews 6:33)
Cost #2. We will be persecuted by the world for following Christ ... but take
heart in (John 15:19 & Philippians 3:20)
If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you
do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why
the world hates you. (John 15:19)
But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there,
the Lord Jesus Christ, (Philippians 3:20)
Cost #3. We will suffer in order that our faith might grow ... but take
heart in (1 Peter 1:6-7)
These have come so that your faith--of greater worth than gold, which
perishes even though refined by fire--may be proved genuine and may result in
praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. (1 Peter 1:6-7)
Cost #4. We will suffer to bring Glory to Christ. .. but take heart in (2
Corinthians 4:15-17)
All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and
more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God. Therefore
we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are
being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving
for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. (2 Corinthians 4:15-17)
Cost #5. We will be attacked by Satan… but take heart in (2 Timothy 4:18)
The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to
his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory for ever and ever. Amen. (2 Timothy 4:18)
Cost #6. When we sin, it will be revealed and we will be disciplined… but
take heart in (Hebrews 12:5-6)
And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as
sons: "My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline, and do not lose
heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he
punishes everyone he accepts as a son." (Hebrews 12:5-6)
So in summary recognize the costs of following Jesus but take heart and do
not be afraid of them for the benefits far outweigh the costs. Remember the
thing man really needs to fear is being found not following Christ.
Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son
will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him." (John 3:36)
