Luke 9:23 Then He said to them all, “If anyone wants to come with Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Me. HCSB
What does this actually mean?
Practically speaking, how do we live for God instead of for ourselves? What does is really mean "day to day" to "die to self"?
And how do we even do this?!
This is a hard teaching!
John 6:60-61 Therefore, when many of His disciples heard this, they said, “This teaching is hard! Who can accept it?” Jesus, knowing in Himself that His disciples were complaining about this, asked them, “Does this offend you? ...The Spirit is the One who gives life. The flesh doesn’t help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life. HCSB
John 6:66 From that moment many of His disciples turned back and no longer accompanied Him. HCSB
Two Choices
The Garden of Eden offered two choices:
- Tree of Life - Divine Life rules our hearts
- Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil - The "self-life" rules the heart and results in death.
We chose poorly in the Garden...
and each of us has inherited
the nature of the "self-life" that rules our hearts. Christ offered a way to reboot - to choose
the Tree of Life again. Yeshua said so directly.
Do you remember when He started His ministry? He was in the synagogue and opened the scroll
of Isaiah and read this:
Isaiah 61:1-3 The Spirit of the Lord God is on Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and freedom to the prisoners; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.... HCSB
Luke 4:20-21 He then rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. And the eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fixed on Him. He began by saying to them, “Today as you listen, this Scripture has been fulfilled.” HCSB
Jesus was laying out His ministry and His mission to his brethren. He stopped before the phrase "the day of our God's vengeance", because that is part of His second visit to earth.... Those in the synagogue didn't respond very well, and by the end of His sermon they were trying to murder Him. So, the battle between our self-life and God's offer of life is real - it's tangible. It's literally life and death. And Yeshua offers us a chance to reboot and start over.
Before you realize you must reboot, you first have to realize there is a problem. We have to realize we are living the self-life. The self-life is nothing but ugly ashes. But we don't want to look upon our self-life because the truth hurts. We prefer beautiful lies. We pretend we will never grow old and die; that we will be accountable for the injuries we inflict on others, or that by choosing self-life means we are rejecting God. We are good at lying to ourselves and others.
Most of us were the younger brother at one point in our lives. Paul lays it out for us. No one is righteous outside of God. Read Romans 1 and it shows you the world of the pagans. These are people who have openly chosen the self-life in many forms. They are outside of the church and do not even pretend to follow Christ. In the parable of the Prodigal son this is the younger brother.
But what about the older brother? Most of us in the church identify with the older brother. Is that a good thing? It depends.
Does the older son love the Father more than the younger son?
Following the story, we see that the older son stayed with the Father and worked hard in his fields. But was his service to his Father sincere?
How did the older brother react when the younger brother received forgiveness? Did he rejoice when grace was given that was not deserved?
Did the older brother think with all his work and faithfulness he deserved something the younger brother did not deserve? Who deserves forgiveness and salvation?
OK then, if the older brother's service did not earn him any special favor (like a party thrown in his honor by the Father), what did the Father really want from the older son?
Does the Father get the response from the older son that he wanted?
No. Instead, the older brother now prosecutes the younger brother - he is the attorney, the jury and the judge, condemning his younger brother, and feeling sorry for himself.
When we are jealous of others or estranged with our spiritual brothers or think ourselves better than others it damages our relationships. We can't have real fellowship with those we feel are beneath us -- even with those who truly repent and have come back into the church.
If we have this attitude, we cannot enjoy fellowship with the Father either.
We are standing outside the house pouting while the Father is inside the house rejoicing with those who truly repent and love the Father.
Look at biblical history of this problem of alienation.
So, are we supposed to overlook sin and just "get along" with everyone? Never! This isn't about overlooking sin. In fact, it's about looking into our own hearts and rooting out pride, jealousy, undeserved anger. Then, we can go and pluck the speck out of our neighbor's eye.
That's our first principle. God sees what is in the heart; who we really are.
This is about recognizing what God truly wants from us. To love Him and love our neighbors. We aren't any better than they are. The Father loves His children equally. We just happened to be blessed with salvation.
If we give off the odor that we are superior and exalted in some way, that pushes seekers away from God. What made Yeshua so angry with the Pharisees? They made it impossible to approach God with so many rules and the need for outward perfection. What ends up happening is that God finds another way to receive His children into His presence, and we find ourselves outside the house!
Legalism and pride go hand in hand and are very toxic, dangerous sins. It is the Devil's favorite lie. "You deserve the best." "You are a great spiritual leader! You are so wonderful!" God reminds us to daily take up our cross and kill the self-life. We aren't the path to salvation, Yeshua is, and we have to get out of the way so others see Him and not us. If it is about "us" then it's not about God.
This sermon is for me most of all.
That is the only way to attract others to do the same. This is our calling, to make disciples of the entire world. When you mentor another to become a disciple of Christ, you are passing the gift to another. We are to make successors. I don't know who said this:
Remember Barnabas? He was willing to diminish as Paul increased. Everyone should strive to be a Barnabas. Who knows, you may encourage a "Paul" someday.
Before you realize you must reboot, you first have to realize there is a problem. We have to realize we are living the self-life. The self-life is nothing but ugly ashes. But we don't want to look upon our self-life because the truth hurts. We prefer beautiful lies. We pretend we will never grow old and die; that we will be accountable for the injuries we inflict on others, or that by choosing self-life means we are rejecting God. We are good at lying to ourselves and others.
Jeremiah 17:9 The heart is more deceitful than anything else, and incurable—who can understand it? HCSB
Lessons from the "Prodigal Son"
From the Parable of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15:11-32 we see can learn a great deal about ourselves and how we should react to a lost world. There are three main characters in this story: The Father, the older brother and the younger brother.Most of us were the younger brother at one point in our lives. Paul lays it out for us. No one is righteous outside of God. Read Romans 1 and it shows you the world of the pagans. These are people who have openly chosen the self-life in many forms. They are outside of the church and do not even pretend to follow Christ. In the parable of the Prodigal son this is the younger brother.
But what about the older brother? Most of us in the church identify with the older brother. Is that a good thing? It depends.
Does the older son love the Father more than the younger son?
Following the story, we see that the older son stayed with the Father and worked hard in his fields. But was his service to his Father sincere?
Revelation 3:1 " I know your works; you have a reputation for being alive, but you are dead." HCSBAs "older brothers" is our Christian service dead or alive? How can we find out? Pressures in our daily lives often reveal our true intentions. Some people explode under pressure. But others have mastered suppression. They appear calm and in control. But God sees the heart.
1 Samuel 16:7 "Man does not see what the Lord sees, for man sees what is visible, but the Lord sees the heart.” HCSB
Insights about the Older Brother
I confess to you I am the older brother. I see the mischief of the younger brother and get irritated. While the younger brother was abroad, did the older brother wish he would come home? Did the older brother set out to find his younger brother and bring him back?How did the older brother react when the younger brother received forgiveness? Did he rejoice when grace was given that was not deserved?
Did the older brother think with all his work and faithfulness he deserved something the younger brother did not deserve? Who deserves forgiveness and salvation?
OK then, if the older brother's service did not earn him any special favor (like a party thrown in his honor by the Father), what did the Father really want from the older son?
What does Christ want from the Church?
Let's go back to the parable. When the Father comes out of the house to speak to the older brother what do you think He says? Notice He comes out of the house for both brothers in this story. He pleads with the older brother. He wants to share in the rejoicing of a saved life. The Father wanted to share in the joy of salvation.Does the Father get the response from the older son that he wanted?
No. Instead, the older brother now prosecutes the younger brother - he is the attorney, the jury and the judge, condemning his younger brother, and feeling sorry for himself.
When we are jealous of others or estranged with our spiritual brothers or think ourselves better than others it damages our relationships. We can't have real fellowship with those we feel are beneath us -- even with those who truly repent and have come back into the church.
If we have this attitude, we cannot enjoy fellowship with the Father either.
We are standing outside the house pouting while the Father is inside the house rejoicing with those who truly repent and love the Father.
Look at biblical history of this problem of alienation.
- Cain and Abel.
- Esau and Isaac.
- Joseph and his 11 brothers,
- David and Saul.
So, are we supposed to overlook sin and just "get along" with everyone? Never! This isn't about overlooking sin. In fact, it's about looking into our own hearts and rooting out pride, jealousy, undeserved anger. Then, we can go and pluck the speck out of our neighbor's eye.
That's our first principle. God sees what is in the heart; who we really are.
This is about recognizing what God truly wants from us. To love Him and love our neighbors. We aren't any better than they are. The Father loves His children equally. We just happened to be blessed with salvation.
If we give off the odor that we are superior and exalted in some way, that pushes seekers away from God. What made Yeshua so angry with the Pharisees? They made it impossible to approach God with so many rules and the need for outward perfection. What ends up happening is that God finds another way to receive His children into His presence, and we find ourselves outside the house!
Legalism and pride go hand in hand and are very toxic, dangerous sins. It is the Devil's favorite lie. "You deserve the best." "You are a great spiritual leader! You are so wonderful!" God reminds us to daily take up our cross and kill the self-life. We aren't the path to salvation, Yeshua is, and we have to get out of the way so others see Him and not us. If it is about "us" then it's not about God.
This sermon is for me most of all.
What are Spiritual Leaders Called to Do?
If you are a spiritual leader what are you to do? If we focus on getting credit, others cannot grow under us. If we try to be indispensable to God, thinking God cannot achieve His goals without our help, watch out!That is the only way to attract others to do the same. This is our calling, to make disciples of the entire world. When you mentor another to become a disciple of Christ, you are passing the gift to another. We are to make successors. I don't know who said this:
"Success without a successor is failure".But it is true. So this is our calling: We are called to make successors to carry on the Great Commission.
Remember Barnabas? He was willing to diminish as Paul increased. Everyone should strive to be a Barnabas. Who knows, you may encourage a "Paul" someday.
_____________________
Scripture citations are from: Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB) © 2009 Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville TN
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