07/10/2011 Sermon notes...
When I was a child one of the games we seemed to play a lot was called “follow the leader.” It was a fun game that I am sure that many of you are familiar with. Not to be confused with the game “Simon Says” in this game the leader actually did first what the followers would mimic. If you did not follow the leader you were out. The purpose of the game was to do exactly like the leader did even if it was something you did not enjoy doing. I was never really good at the game because I lacked the ability to pay attention to detail. When the leader jumped on his right foot I would jump on my left or something like that. This game for children almost exactly represents the call to Christianity. Yes it is a call to admit our sinfulness and to believe in the Lordship of Christ and also to make this known to all those around. But how is it lived out? The answer is easy, the action is difficult.
Here in this text Jesus calls us to “follow the leader” and gives us the rules and consequences of the lifestyle as well as the rewards in eternity. It is often said that a good leader leads by example. I read a story about Alexander the Great leading his men into battle, after fighting for several days without food and water the men begin to grumble and tire out. When water was brought to Alexander the Great he refused it in the presence of his men so that they would know that he was going through the same things that they were. After this display of leadership the men gained a second wind and fought like they were immortal. It is great to know that we follow a leader that has gone before us and experienced the temptations and trials that we also face. A good leader is also truthful with his followers; one thing we can say about Jesus is that he never offered a nice comfortable life in exchange for our following. Listen to this quote by Garibaldi, a great Italian patriot; “Soldiers, all our efforts against superior forces have been unavailing. I have nothing to offer you but hunger and thirst, hardship and death; but I call on all who love their country to join with me” can you imagine the people that responded to this call?
After confessing that Jesus was the Christ Peter makes the mistake of misunderstanding the purpose of Jesus, and what this confession would cost him in the end. So many of us are in the same position, we follow Christ for our need of Heaven only to live out our life the way we want to on earth. But for those that truly want to follow the leader Jesus gives us 3 main prices to pay.
1. Following Christ will cost us our wants and desires. 8:35
In verses 34 and 35 Jesus uses the word “desires” two times. He says that we must have a “desire” follow him 1st and then a “desire” for His plan. The word “desire” here carries the meaning of a strong want of something. When I was 12 years old I wanted a bow more than anything in this world. I wanted a bow mainly because two of my friends at school had one. I talked about it all the time to mom and dad, I looked at pictures of them in the Bass Pro magazines, I dreamed about shooting it and the arrows that I would have with it. I guess you could say that I had a desire for this bow, a constant though about it and how I would get it. When I turned 12 years old I remember thinking this is it, I am going to get that bow for my birthday. My mom handed me a card instead, I though oh boy $10….but when I opened the card a cut out of the bow fell to the ground and a note saying the bow had been ordered. I was the happiest boy in NC.
This is the “desire” that Christ is using here. He wants us to have this same child-like desire to follow after Him. But this desire to follow Him will in turn cost us the “stuff” that may seem more important to us. Now we don’t need to misunderstand what Jesus is saying here. He is not saying that He wants us to be miserable and unhappy; in fact He says quite the opposite in Matthew 7
“Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him?”
A call to follow Christ means that we give up our desires and wants in search for the desires of God. It is a call to pick up a cross, a devise used to execute a criminal and carry it. David Platt says “a man carrying a cross is on his way to death; his plans for his future are over.” Jesus is calling us to pick up our cross, to carry it as we follow Him. The Holy Spirit will supply us strength and encouragement as we walk with our cross. Our desires, our plans, our future now revolves around the global glory of Christ. Our old life is over and our life in Christ has just begun. JC Ryle says “If we will not carry the cross, we shall never wear the crown.” The motivation behind it all is the advancement of the Kingdom, to win as many souls into heaven as we can. That is why Jesus says “for my sake and the gospel.” It is a call to death, for some physical death for others material death but through that death others including ourselves will live. This following will not only cost us what we want but also what we already have.
2. Following Christ will cost us our gains. 8:36-37
This is the part where we usually tune out. This is the part where some of us even turn back, but I urge you in the name of Christ to surrender all to Him. This is not a demand of Christ and His church but a step of obedience and a sign of dependence. We are reminded here of the rich young man who wanted to do all kinds of good deeds, but what he had was his and was not going to give that up even if it cost him his soul. We can look at this story and see the point in it but most of us are no different, what we have is ours we earned it so we will decide how to spend it. Jesus is simply saying you can acquire all the riches this world has but in the end they will not matter at all. Everything that we gain in this world will stay in this world, but what we do with what we have gained will have Kingdom impact if uses under the desires of Christ. The American dream is a call to pursue after happiness and the world around us tells us that happiness is found only in the gains that we have, but is this truth? I mean it’s not the money that makes us evil, it is the desires that we have for our money that makes us evil. With our money we can build an orphanage or plant a church or engage an unreached people group (these are desires of God) or we can use that same money to spend on ourselves building up our kingdom instead of His. This is the cost of following this Leader. He lost it all for us to gain it all. We strive daily to increase our money our stuff so that we can as Dave Ramsey says “impress people that don’t even like us.” We honestly desire to make much of ourselves even if it makes little of Him. We all need to come under the conviction that what we have he has given, this is not a call for you to give more even though I think we all should. It is a call to stop striving to gain more for our glory but gain more for His.
There is still one more price to be paid, it is the price of pride, the and ego.
3. Following Christ will cost us our pride and ego. 8:38
We often misread this verse thinking that if someone comes up to us and ask us if we know Christ then we will not say no. This would mean that we are ashamed of Him. I wish it were that easy, I mean think about how many times you have been in a hostile situation where someone says “Do you know this Jesus?” It is way more than that for us in America, for us and everyone else it means if we are not ashamed of following Christ then our lifestyle should reflect that of a follower. Jesus knows that this world is sinful and if we live by this world we are ultimately ashamed of what He stands for and says. Often times we think people are crazy for giving up too much money or time for the Kingdom, as if there is a greater purpose in this life. When you and I chose to live missionlly and purposefully we will endure crazy looks and questions. When we as a church decide that we are not going to sit back and watch big churches fulfill the Great Commission but we are going to give and pray and go others will think we are crazy. But it is a sacrifice that I am willing to take, if we have to do without pizza parties so that hungry kids hear the gospel and get fed so be it. What is you desire church?
Jesus said that the Kingdom was at hand, and in verse one of chapter nine he claims that some will actually see the Kingdom starting before they die. In Acts 2 the church starts and so does the building of the Kingdom. John caught a glorious view of the Kingdom in Revelation and saw “every tribe tongue and nation represented.” Christ right now is gathering His elect and He is saying to us “ if you want to follow me, deny yourself and depend on me.” These are the followers that will be serious in Kingdom advancement, these are the followers that will not be slowed down by the powers of self want and big egos, these are the followers that will bring global glory to the Righteous King!
