Randall Caselman
Bella Vista Church of Christ
2/1/98 am
Discipleship - A Life Of The Cross
Reading — Luke 14.25-33
Recently our pulpit lessons have been looking at Jesus in contrast to others. Today, we contrast Jesus’ preaching to that of modern day preaching. Today we hear a lot of preaching about a gospel of health, wealth and prosperity. It goes something like this, if you follow Jesus, you will have
- Good health,
- Money in the bank
- And everything you do will be successful.
Jesus, on the other hand insisted that Christianity comes with a cross. Jesus taught that while there are joys in Christian service beyond description:
- No guilt through the forgiveness of sins,
- A peace that passes human understanding,
- A confidence that all things work out to our benefit,
- And a hope of heaven.
He also taught that there will be suffering, struggles and trouble to be endured. In fact in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, there would be blessings, joy, happiness for those who were persecuted for their righteousness... For their cross bearing. In our reading Jesus says, discipleship is taking up our cross and following Him. Perhaps the song we sing says it best:
“Must Jesus bear the cross alone,
And all the world go free?
No, there’s a cross for everyone,
And there’s a cross for me.”
You see, Jesus taught a balanced gospel. He wanted us to understand the genuine joys of Christianity with a cross. Yet at the same time understand that there must be: A personal commitment to, and a cost of Discipleship.
During His three and a half year ministry, folk followed Him for various reasons:
- Some followed Him out of curiosity.
- Some followed Him for the loaves and the fishes.
- Some followed Him to catch Him in what they considered false teachings.
- Some followed Jesus because they understood Him to be the Messiah of an earthly kingdom.
Detecting their incorrect motives, Jesus says, whoever does not take up his cross and follow me, cannot be my disciple.
Questions!
- Do we want to be a disciple of Jesus this morning?
- What do these strange words of Jesus say to those of us who want to follow Him?
- What does it mean to take up the cross and follow Jesus?
- Just what is the cost of discipleship?
FIRST, WE MUST DIE, WE MUST UNDERSTAND THAT THE CROSS IS AN INSTRUMENT OF DEATH.
The Romans didn’t put a man on a cross to:
- Discipline him,
- Punish him,
- To teach him a lesson,
- To rehabilitate him,
But to what?... Kill him. They expected him to die. The cross was an instrument of execution by Crucifixion. Whenever people saw a man carrying a cross, they expected that man to die.
Today we have a lot of mistaken ideas as to what it means to take up our cross and follow after Jesus. Some of us think that Jesus was talking about His own cross. We think that in some way Jesus was telling us that we are to bear HIS cross. But, here in Luke 14, Jesus is not speaking of His own crucifixion... But ours! Jesus is not speaking of His death... But our death!
Some think of cross bearing as suffering that must be endured.
We’ve all said, well there’s nothing I can do about this, its just my cross to bear. We see the cross as pain, suffering and trouble. Church, in our text, Jesus is not speaking of suffering. He is not calling us to an endurance of persecution and abuse. Remember a cross is something that we die on... Not just something we suffer on.
The most common thought is that a cross is symbolic of service rendered.
We read this passage and see the cross as Christian service, working for Jesus in His Kingdom. True, we must have a sense of duty, but this is not what Jesus is speaking of here in Luke 14. Look at the wording closely with me... Note verse 27, He says, anyone who does not carry, does not take up HIS cross and follow Me cannot be my disciple. Jesus is insisting that the cross we take up is our own. Listen to Him, If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters--yes, even his own life--he cannot be my disciple. Church, we don’t take up, carry the cross as a service to Jesus or anyone else. The cross we bear is our own.
Well, what does Jesus mean when He says to us, we must:
- Take up,
- Carry,
- Bear, the cross? He is saying that we must DIE before we can be His disciple. Bonhoffer wrote, when Christ calls, He calls us to come and DIE.
Paul even tells us when this dying occurs... It is in New Testament baptism.
Listen closely as I read from Romans chapter six. What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning, so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin. In verse 10-11 of this same chapter Paul writes, The death He died, (speaking of Jesus) He died to sin once for all; but the life He lives, He lives to God... Watch it now!... In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires.
Church, we will never be a disciple, one WHO follows Christ. We will never be a Christian, one WHO belongs to Christ until we die.
- Die to sin.
- Die to self.
- Die to the world.
Paul tells us in Roman six that our discipleship begins in a grave. Romans 6.3 says, we are baptized into HIS DEATH. Romans 6.4 says we are baptized into DEATH... Verse four is speaking of our own death;
- Crucifixion of the old man.
- And a resurrection to a new life.
Baptism, being born again, is a death. Baptism, being born again is taking up the cross of Jesus... Crosses are for dying.
Not only do we die to sin in the act of New Testament baptism, we must continue to die daily in our Christian walk.
Let me take you to Galatians 2.20. Listen as I read, I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. First Corinthians 15.31 has Paul saying, I die daily.
- I have been crucified with Christ... That’s BAPTISM, Romans chapter 6.
- I no longer live, but Christ lives in me... That’s dying daily... 1 Corinthians 15.
Church, New Testament baptism is not all there is to taking up the cross of Jesus. It is not enough to die once in the act of baptism. We must die daily in the way we live. Paul is saying, my life is no longer mine:
- I give it to Jesus daily.
- I am under His control.
- He commands, I obey.
- He directs, I respond.
- He calls, I answer.
- His interests are my interests.
- His agenda is my agenda.
One of our real problems today is that we are not willing to die daily. Do you know:
- Why some of us are struggling with our Christianity today?
- Why some of us are not as happy and content as we could be?
Because we’re trying to follow Jesus, and at the same time have our own way. We’re not willing to allow Jesus total and absolute control. We’re not willing to crown Him LORD and King over ever facet of our lives. We are not dead yet.
No wonder Paul admonished the Philippian church and us, here this morning, let the mind, the heart, be in you that was in Christ... Not considering His own interest and equality with God something to be held on to... He emptied Himself, taking on the very nature of a servant, and submitting to death, even the death on a cross. Are we willing to DIE... Are we willing to DIE. Listen to the truths expressed in this poem:
“In every heart there is a throne,
And there is a cross.
If Christ is on the throne,
Then self is on the cross.
But if self is on the throne,
Then Christ is on the cross.”
No wonder the Hebrews writer spoke to us about crucifying the Lord again and again... Crucifying Him afresh. That is exactly what we do: When we don’t enthrone Him; when we don’t grant Him LORDSHIP over our lives daily. Indeed, discipleship involves a cross.
SECONDLY, DISCIPLESHIP INVOLVES PERSONAL COMMITMENT.
You see, there is a difference between being a disciple and being a pretender.
- Pretenders are those who just go through the motions.
- Pretenders do some of the things disciples do,
But they are not really disciples.
Think about it a moment:
- When it comes to friendship... Do we want friends that are committed to us... Or those who are just pretending.
- When it comes to soldiering... Are we satisfied with those who are just willing to march in the ranks... Or do we want those who are willing to fight the battles.
Church, discipleship is:
- A genuine FRIENDSHIP to Jesus
- And a willingness to fight in & for His cause.
Note, if you will verse 25 of our text, large crowds were traveling with Jesus. Traveling with Jesus is two words in the English, one word in the Greek. The Greek means simply: To accompany, to go for a stroll together, out for a casual walk. The idea in the Greek is that few in this multitude were “cross bearing disciples.”
Jesus knew this, so He said what He did about taking up the cross. You see, these people were not really disciples:
- They were just tagging along.
- They were pretenders.
- They were following Him for all the wrong reasons.
Church, there is a world of difference between being a disciple and being a pretender. The question becomes!... Are we just out for a stroll with Jesus or are we genuine disciples?
Well, what is the cost of this personal commitment?
What is the cost of discipleship?
Jesus gives us the answer. There are three groups of people who cannot be disciples. Do you see them?
FIRST, DISCIPLESHIP DEMANDS AN UNRIVALED LOVE.
If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters--yes, even his own life--he cannot be my disciple. Discipleship demands an unrivaled love for Jesus.
I love a lot of women... I really do... I love a lot of women in this audience. But not one of you are a rival to Georgia. She has no rival... and hasn’t had since we were teenagers. If I had to make a choice between you and her... I choose her. Jesus is saying that when you compare love and commitment to family and your love and commitment to Me.... That love for family must look like HATE. Genuine discipleship means that Jesus must come before:
- Father,
- Mother,
- Spouse,
- Children,
- Brothers and sisters.
Our love for God must be first and foremost. Love God with all your heart, mind, body, and soul. Thou shall have no others before me.
SECONDLY, DISCIPLESHIP DEMANDS AN UNCEASING DEATH TO THIS WORLD.
Anyone who does not... Take up his cross... Carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. Jesus is saying that discipleship demands DYING DAILY.
Typically what we want to do is to compartmentalize our lives.
- We take six days a week for self and give Him Sunday.
- We take 90% of our salary and give Him 10%.
- We renounce and repent of all those sins, but build a hedge around and justify our favorite one.
- We love the brethren and behave ourselves in the company of Christians, but act like the world when we are not in their company.
- Our discipleship is like a Sunday-go-to-meeting coat... We put it on and take it off as by our own whims.
But genuine discipleship... Christianity with a cross... Demands we die to this world and place everything, everything under the LORDSHIP OF JESUS.
- Our money,
- Our time,
- Our talent,
- Our energy,
- Our emotions,
- Our desires,
- Our entertainment choices,
- Our friendships... Those we spend time with,
- Our dress code,
- Our business and golf playing ethics,
You see, it boils down to who is on the throne... And who is on the cross. Our personal world must be totally committed to Him.
THIRDLY, DISCIPLESHIP DEMANDS UNRESERVED DEVOTION.
Note verse 33, Any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple. No, Jesus is not saying that we must sign over everything we have to the church. He is saying that His Kingdom must come first in our lives. Jesus put it in these words in the Sermon on the Mount, Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness.
The bottom line is this, our loyalty to Christ, must come before: Family, Friends, Career, Education, Sports, Hobbies, or anything else. Jesus is saying that unless we are willing to grant Him this unreserved devotion, we cannot be His disciple.
Let’s review the lesson one more time this morning: Jesus tells us that discipleship is not easy nor painless. In fact it is costly... Sometimes very costly. We must be willing to give Him our all:
- All we have,
- All we are,
- All we want to be.
Genuine discipleship demands:
- A cross,
- A commitment,
- And a cost.
He goes on to say that those who are not willing to:
- Love Him with an unrivaled love,
- Die unceasingly to this world,
- And give our unreserved devotion to Him,
Cannot... CANNOT be His disciple.
Jesus never promised that discipleship would be easy or painless. He did promise it would be worth it all.
The invitation this morning is for us to take up the cross of Jesus:
- Become a child of God by faith, repentance and New Testament baptism.
- Perhaps we all need to renew our personal commitment to die daily.
Whatever your need, say yes to Jesus. Will you?
(Edited from a sermon by Bobby Dockery, Fayetteville, AR)
