The Abrogation of Self
2 Timothy 2:1-5
Luke 14:26
Introduction: There is a marked difference between a believer and a disciple, between being a Spirit-sealed Christian and a Spirit-filled Christian. There is likewise considerable difference between being a citizen of Heaven and being a soldier of the Kingdom. In each case the difference is the same. The distinguishing mark of the disciple, the Spirit-filled Christian, and the soldier of the Kingdom is the abrogation of self.
I. Self is the Center of the Problem
A. Every church conflict, every personal spiritual struggle, every sin has “I” at the center.
B. We live in an “Age of Self” evidenced and fed by the slogans and phrases that glorify personal choice above all other values: have it your way; do your own thing; self-determination, self-knowledge, self-esteem, self-help, do-it-yourself. The standard of belief today has become the individual, not the teaching of the church and the Word of God. Many Christians are best described as “Burger King Believer’s” or "Cafeteria Christians" who pick and choose what they will believe and practice. Leadership is spurned as “followers don't want to be led”. – Adapted from an article by Steven V. Roberts, "Leading the Faithful in an Age of Dissent," U.S. News and World Report, August 23, 1993, p. 6.
C. Isaiah 14:12-14 “How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart: 'I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.'”
D. James 1:13-14 “Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am tempted by God"; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. 14 But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. 15 Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.”
E. The sin of idolatry that plagues the modern world is a "me first" attitude that gives God the leftovers in thought and life. – W. Werning
F. One thousand church attendees were asked the question, "Why does the church exist?" Eighty-nine percent said that the church's purpose was “to take care of MY family's and MY spiritual needs.” Only eleven percent said that the purpose of the church was “to win the world for Jesus Christ.” – Spirit of Revival & Awakening, June 1999, p. 27-28.
II. Christ calls us to self denial
A. Luke 9:23 “…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.”
B. If you’re living for self, you’re not following Jesus.
C. "Some of us are so full of ourselves," says a writer in the Canadian Baptist, "and our busy servings, that we cannot see Christ in all His beauty. Some years ago, when I was away on a preaching appointment, my wife and little daughter stayed at the home of a friend. On the bedroom wall, just over the head of the bed in which they slept, there was a picture of the Lord Jesus, which was reflected in the large mirror of the dressing table standing in the bay of the bedroom window. When my little daughter woke on her first morning there, she saw the picture reflected in the mirror while she still lay in bed, and exclaimed, "Oh, Mummy, I can see Jesus through the mirror!" Then she quickly kneeled up to take a better look, but in so doing brought her own body between the picture and the mirror, so that instead of seeing the picture of Jesus reflected, she now saw herself. So she lay down again, and again she saw the picture of Jesus. She was up and down several times after that with her eyes fixed on the mirror, Then she said, "Mummy, when I can't see myself, I can see Jesus; but every time I see myself, I don't see Him." How true it is that when self fills the vision we do not see Jesus! " - Sunday School Times
D. Luke 14:26, 33 “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… So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.”
III. Understand what self denial is not.
A. It is not a self-imposed legalism
1. Romans 10:2-3 “For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.”
2. Mark 7:13 “Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye.”
B. Denying oneself is not to be equated with losing one's uniqueness or becoming of no value.
• There have been great people in each generation who modeled self-denial as they made significant contribution to humankind. One such man was General Robert E. Lee, commander-in-chief of the Confederate troops during the Civil War. Few eagles soared higher during these darkest days of our nation's history than General Lee. In Northern Virginia, probably on his last visit there. A young mother brought her baby to him to be blessed. He took the infant in his arms and looked at it and then at her and slowly said, "Teach him he must deny himself." - copied
C. Self-denial is not self deprivation. Sacrificing whether it is a favorite food or pastime is not a means of sanctification.
IV. Understand the truth of self denial
A. Self denial is the abrogation of self
1. German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who was executed by the Nazis because of his testimony, made this statement: "When Christ calls a man, He bids him come and die." To follow Jesus no matter what the cost -- that's the way of the cross. - copied
2. Galatians 2:20 “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”
B. Getting self out of the way to let Christ have His way
1. The word “deny” is the same word used of Peter’s denials of Jesus. It means to repudiate, renounce, or disown. Jesus wasn’t talking about denying yourself some little pleasure, like giving up chocolate for Lent. He was talking about a complete way of life involving a renunciation of living for your own selfish interests and an embracing of living for the sake of Christ and the gospel. - copied
2. Ephesians 4:22-24 “That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; and be renewed in the spirit of your mind; and that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.
C. This involves putting aside personal pride
1. Just like sin, I is the center of pride.
2. Psalm 10:4 “The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts.”
3. Proverbs 16:5 “Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD.
D. Putting aside personal prejudices and preferences
1. Luke 11:2 …He said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth.
2. Luke 22:42 “...Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.”
3. Sometimes we pray "Thy will be changed" rather than "Thy will be done." (Kent Crockett, The 911 Handbook, Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 2003, 126)
E. Putting aside personal pleasures
1. 2 Timothy 3:1-5 “But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power.”
2. 2 Timothy 2:4 “No man that wars entangles himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.
3. God's grace is not license to live as we please — it is liberty to please God.
