It is possible to be a follower of Jesus without being a disciple; to be a camp follower without being a soldier of the king; to be a hanger-on in some great work without pulling one’s weight. Someone was talking to a great scholar about a younger man. He said, “So and so tells me that he was one of your students.” The scholar answered, “He may have attended my lectures, but he was not one of my students.” There is a world of difference between attending lectures and being a student. It is one of the supreme handicaps of the church that in the church there are so many distant followers of Jesus and so few real disciples.—William Barclay
COMMITMENT
IF ANY MAN WILL COME AFTER ME… MATTHEW 16:24a
In the world that we live in today, commitment is a rare commodity. Commitment means that you will cling to something and refuse to let go of if it, no matter the cost. Too often, though, in our soft and pampered lifestyles, we have no idea what real commitment means. We get too comfortable in our easy chairs with our remotes, when we are called to a mission that could cost us our lives. Have we REALLY calculated the cost it takes to be a disciple?
READ LUKE 14:27-28
The word "count" literally means pebble. It is used in reference to a one-on-one count. “Well this tower is going to take 229,487 bricks. And it’s going to take 37,329 pieces of steel. Do we have that much on hand.” THAT is the kind of measuring that Jesus calls for when we are calculating what it will take to keep our commitments.
Can I finish the course: Can I follow Christ to the end? Can I be a faithful husband or wife for life? Am I willing to pay the price to godly parenting? If I am unwilling, I have no business making the commitment in the first place.—James MacDonald in Seven Things to Change Your Family
CRUCIFY
LET HIM DENY HIMSELF... MATTHEW 16:24b
Once we have calculated the cost of commitment in following Christ, we are instructed to kill our old man, and crucify our old ways of living and thinking.
Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. Romans 6:6
Not only are we to understand that we are kill off our old ways of living and thinking, but we are told how to do it. Paul told us in Romans 12 to “present our bodies a living sacrifice” and to “not be conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your minds.”
This all sounds well and good, but why is this so important?
A little hobby of mine is collecting old Coca-Cola memorabilia. One of my prized possessions is this old bottle from around 1910 to 1920. It was made at the Charleston Bottling Works in Charleston, WV.
Many of you will doubtlessly remember when soda came in a glass bottle like this, not in plastic bottles like today. When you bought just one, or a carton of bottles, you were required to pay a 10 cent deposit. Then when you brought the bottle back, you either got your deposit back, or it went toward the next carton of bottles.
The idea was that the bottling company was just loaning the bottle to you. You did not own the bottle, you owned the soda.
In just the same manner, if you have committed yourself to Christ, you no longer belong to yourself, for the Bible tells us:
Ye are not your own…For ye are bought with a price... 1 Corinthians 6:19-20
To whom do you belong? Are you acting like it? Are you crucifying your own lusts and desires to bring glory to the King?
CARRY
TAKE UP HIS CROSS… MATTHEW 16:24c
The first thing that we must understand about carrying is that every disciple WILL have a cross to carry. It is impossible to expect to be a true disciple and be free of trials, tribulations and troubles. And when you start to TRULY follow Christ and follow him, you can expect them to multiply, because the devil will be there to try to stop you.
Second, we must understand that the imagery here is of a Roman crucifixion. The Roman soldiers would fix a cross beam for the convicted felon to carry on his journey to death. Every disciple must take up his own cross that God has wisely made just for us on our journey through life, until we die. We are not to bear someone else’s cross, for it is made not for us. While we can “bear one another’s burdens,” we must carry our own cross.
Archbishop Tillotson said, “He that cannot take up the resolution to live a saint, has a demonstration within himself, that he is never likely to die a martyr.” If you were put on trial for being a disciple, would there be enough evidence to convict you?
CONTINUE
FOLLOW ME… MATTHEW 16:24d
In this portion, we are not only encouraged to commit, but to continue, or to endure.
It is interesting to note that we like to praise and compliment Job on being patient or faithful. The truth is, he was not at all patient, and his faith was really starting to waiver at the end. Do you know what God commended Job for? “We count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job…” James 5:11. The word for the verb patience (hupomeno) here is the root for the word for endure (hupomone). Strong’s Dictionary describe hupomone as steadfastness, constancy, endurance.
In short, we many times talk and think of Job being a man who was quiet in his plight and did not get upset. Rather, he was a man who never quit on God, or gave up on Him. This is a picture of how we should follow after Christ as His disciples.
CLOSING
Abraham Clark was a patriot who signed the Declaration of Independence. When he signed that rebellious document, he knew and understood that it could mean his own death.
One night, a British officer announced, “We have captured your sons!” He was staggered at the news. The officer continued, “Your sons are prisoners of the Crown—locked away in the prison ship the Jersey. They will surely die there unless you repent of this foolish rebellion against the king!” Presenting Clark with a rolled up letter, the officer promised, “Sign this paper. Admit you were wrong, Mr. Clark, and your sons will go free.”
Abraham Clark’s mind was awash with thought burning at him. His sons were prisoners! They were innocent; they had done no wrong! He was the one who took the stand, made the rebellious act and defied the king. But not his sons.
“Shoot me!” he declared. “I’m the one you want! Shoot me and let my sons go free.”
“No, your sons will remain our prisoners until you sign this paper.” The British officer thrust the letter in his face. “This rebellion is a lost cause. You backwoods colonists can never stand against the power of the British Empire. Don’t be a fool,” he sneered. “Your sons’ lives—their freedom—is at stake.”
Suddenly, Clark knew what he must choose. It was for freedom’s sake that he took this stand for independence, so his sons could live free from tyranny and oppression, even if, in the end, they would die free. He refused to sign the letter, and the young officer could not persuade him to do so.—Michael Tait and Toby Mac in Living Under God.
Are we as determined about our discipleship as Abraham Clark was about freedom. Have we committed to counting the cost of discipleship? Are we crucifying our old ways for the cause of discipleship? Are we carrying our own cross set before us? Are we continuing on to endure the rigors of discipleship?
