Title: Beyond the Cross
Theme: To show the importance of true discipleship.
Text: Matthew 28:18-20
Mat 28:18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
Introduction
Jesus makes an interesting closing statement in Matthew. These words are often called the “Great Commission”. It is as if Christ is giving the last bit of final advice to the disciples and to the church.
What is also interesting is that he didn’t say, “Go into all the world and make new converts”. What is the difference? Well he is talking about discipleship. This word here “teach” in the Greek literally means “make disciples”. This is important. When we give our life to Christ we must understand that there is more beyond the cross.
Jesus is telling us to 1) if we are a new convert “go beyond the cross” 2) if we have new converts “take them beyond the cross”. Beyond the cross is true discipleship. This is where we find purpose and joy in Christ. Joy in Christ is more than just salvation. You see this will only hold our attention for so long. Knowing that we will miss hell through receiving Christ is only a part of being a Christian. We must go beyond this to truly have joy in Christ.
To me true joy is when I find purpose and reason. One of the things I hate the most is to go grocery shopping. I just can’t stand it. Usually I will keep the kids in the car while my wife goes in. One of the main reasons is that when we go together usually we get the buggy and she grocery shops. So I feel like a sad puppy following around its owner. There is no purpose, I feel, for me to be there. I tell my wife and sometimes she will give me her assignment. Now this works good, unless you go shopping at Wal-Mart Supercenter. Then I could walk around for days and not find her again.
You see there is something to this purpose. There is something to finding meaning and purpose in this Christian walk. We need to be purpose driven people. If we don’t know now we need to find out why the Lord has called us to be a part of his kingdom.
We will talk about purpose in a later message. Hopefully we will go through a campaign about finding purpose in Christ. But right now I want to talk to you about this word disciple.
The word disciple is used 27 times throughout the NT. It basically means “a learner or a pupil”. When we first see the Word disciple in the NT we think of the original 12 who followed Christ. They became his pupils. They began to “sit at his feet” and learn. A disciple is a learner.
Three hindrances to making disciples
The problem with the church is that many times we never give new believers a chance to learn. There are said to be three hindrances to making disciples 1) impatience 2) distorted goals 3) lost of first love. First we have a tendency to lose patience with people. Many times when someone becomes a Christian we say in our mind, well we’ll see. Surly we have seen many who have not continued to follow Christ. But I believe the failure to continue is many times more the churches fault with its failure to disciple than the new converts. We get impatient.
Second in our own church we have our priorities out of order. I told you how the Lord dealt with me on this when we had to borrow a baptism pool. He reminded me that I have no plan of baptizing new converts. How weak my faith must be that I can’t see new people won to Christ. Oh we all talk about it but it is time that we started walking the talk. Acting like it making preparation for people to be won to his kingdom. Making preparations to make disciples.
Finally we lose that first love. That initial joy that comes to the new convert. This is the joy of the Lord that comes when we become a new believer. I heard one man talking to a new convert who was real excited. He started talking about witnessing and discipling. The old veteran believer said, “Don’t worry you will grow out of that”.
Now let me quickly give you the Seven Steps to discipleship. You will notice that it is a process. It is not an overnight procedure but a life long commitment.
7 Steps to discipleship.
For the first three we go to Luke 9:23
And he said to [them] all, If any [man] will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. (Luke 9:23 AV)
train
1) “deny self”
It is important that we see we have a vital role in God’s kingdom. You see you learn from a watch that even the smallest part is important. You take a computer for instance. You have diodes and parts that are as small as the head of a needle but let just one go bad and you will see how vital it is.
To be a disciple we must deny self for the greater cause and a greater reason. Understanding that denying self does not mean demoting self. He is not saying that we will be less but he actually says when we put others first we will become greater than the first. “The first shall be last and the last shall be first”.
For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it. For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away? (Luke 9:24-25)
One paraphrase reads CEV “ If any of you want to be my followers, you must forget about yourself. You must take up your cross each day and follow me. If you want to save your life, you will destroy it. But if you gift up your life for me, you will save it. What will you gain, if you own the world but destroy yourself or waste you life.”
2) “take up your cross”
Second he tells us to “take up your cross”. And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple. (Luke 14:27 AV) This is more than a cross around the neck. It is sad that this trend has become so popular. It used to represent a sense of devotion to Christ now it has become a status symbol. Only a part of the wardrobe. Some even wear it to ward off evil spirits.
Yet “take up your cross” literally means you will be bear the burden of following Christ. He is saying here “Don’t run from suffering but embrace it for the sake of Christ”. Will there be trials yes. Will there be pains yes. Will there be persecution, we could only hope so. You see anything not worth fighting for is not worth serving.
And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. (Matthew 10:38 AV)
3) “follow me”
Follow me means to make Christ our business and every thing else an opportunity to advance his kingdom. Many people see Christ as a part of their lives. I often use the illustration of the wheel. For some Christ is a spoke in that wheel. He goes along with family, work, recreation, etc. Yet to be a true disciple Christ must become the center of the wheel. Everything must surround him. Usually we have the most problems when we don’t let Christ be apart of that circumstance or activity.
4) Discipline.
If any [man] come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. (Luke 14:26 AV)
This is a powerful statement here. This word hate here does not mean to dislike. Actually it means to like less. In other words Christ is saying that, “if we love our father, mother, wife, children, brothers, sisters or even our own life more than him we cannot be his disciple.”
Again the priority is putting Christ supreme in our lives. Which leads to obedience. We must learn to obey the voice of God no matter what sacrifices might be made.
5) Love God and Others
The fifth step of discipleship is to “love God and others”. Jesus said in John 13:34 “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.” Then he goes on to say in verse 35“By this shall all [men] know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” (John 13:35 AV)
Love is the characteristic that separates disciples. It is what is truly shown. This is how people will recognize that we are disciples that we love one another.
6) Forsake all.
The disciples were often pictured as one who forsook all for the kingdom purposes. For many this does not mean giving up their careers as much as giving their careers to Christ. For others, such as myself, it meant giving up all of my future plans to do Christ’s will.
7) Continue in His word.
The final step to discipleship is to “Continue in His Word”. In other words we stay with this Word. Remember this is how Christ denied Satan, “by the Word of God”. If we keep this word in our heart then there will be no room for anything else.
Conclusion
Where are you with Christ? Are you a disciple? What areas has Christ dealt with you here?
I am originally from what I call the Aiken area. Actually I am from a small place called the valley. A town called Langley, SC. Yet Aiken is only known for a few things. Its claim to fame has to be its horses.
Probably second most is a man by the name of William Perry. If you are a football fan then you have heard of the refrigerator. He played defense and “some” offense for the Chicago Bears. Well he is from and lives in Aiken. He built a big house in Aiken. I used to ride by it when I was traveling home. Oh I wouldn’t go by it to star gaze I always wondered if he finished it. William Perry started building it a long time ago but he ran out of money. So it was years before it was finished. He forgot to count the cost.
Discipleship means counting the cost.
Future
