Sermon Brief
Date Written: October 21, 2010
Date Preached: October 24, 2010
Where Preached: Oak Park Baptist Church (AM)
Sermon Details:
Series Title: Reaching Our Community – TRUE Fellowship – Sermon 4
Sermon Title: Denial – The ACT of TRUE fellowship
Sermon Text: Matthew 16:24-26 [ESV]
24 Then Jesus told his disciples, "If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. 25 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. 26 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?
Introduction:
We live in a society today that teaches us that NOTHING is out of our grasp, and that we should NEVER say that we can’t have something or deny ourselves any pleasure or treat!
We see this in the commercials we watch on TV and in advertisements for vacation resorts… we even see it in Walmart commercials… it goes something like this… “Go ahead! Buy it! YOU DESERVE IT!” In fact, I would say that true denial of self wants or self perceived needs is one of the most hated things in our society today!
However, on the other hand there are many in this world that are willing to deny themselves anything…if it means that they can look better, lose weight, climb higher, achieve position and power… in other words if it benefits them, its ok for them to deny themselves of things.
However for the most part, denial of self is something we don’t talk about too much, we don’t WANT to talk about and we avoid like the plague. After all, who wants to deny themselves of anything that they can achieve or receive? Right?
You have heard me say this before, and I can tell you that you will hear me say it again and again… “There are many things in this world that we can have or partake of that are NOT bad things, in fact they could even be considered GOOD things… but as Christians we are not here to partake of the good, but we must always strive to partake of the BEST!”
Jesus spoke to His disciples right after He had shared with them about His identity and His mission and destiny here on this world… He had confirmed to them that He WAS the Messiah, and He told them that He was destined to die, that He would be rejected by the religious leaders and put to death, but on the 3rd day that He would raise from the dead!
The disciples did not understand what Jesus was saying when He laid out HIS mission and destiny so it is easy to understand how they could have missed what He was laying out as their mission and destiny as His followers! Jesus tells these disciples that there mission and destiny is to deny themselves, to take up their cross on a daily basis and follow Him.
The term Luke uses here describing ‘to follow Him’ is the Greek word, ah-koll-eh-theh-oh, which means, to follow one who precedes… Jesus was setting the standard and they were to FOLLOW in His footsteps! But when we look at this passage we need to understand that Jesus was not simply speaking to His disciples around Him on that day… but this message is for a much broader audience!
We find this made evident in v.24 when Jesus says:
24 Then Jesus told his disciples, "If anyone would come after Me…
This takes a command given to the 12 Apostles and those other disciples that followed Jesus during His earthly life… and spreads that command to any and everyone who accepts Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior! If you want to follow Jesus… if you desire to be a disciple of Jesus… here is what you are called to do!
But as we look at this passage, I want us to focus in on one particular phrase… and that is –deny himself- Just what is Jesus saying when He tells us to deny ourself to become one of His disciples?
Now Scripture is very adamant about what Jesus is teaching here in this verse and it is made evident all throughout the Bible… and we will get to what it says here in a few minutes, but before we do that I want us to look at what self denial means to the world around us and how many believers become confused and misled by the enemy when it comes to this ‘self-denial’ principle!
Self – Denial – Denying self for YOURSELF! Egocentric Self-centered
24 Then Jesus told his disciples, "If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.
Now when you hear the phrase, ‘deny yourself’… what is it that you think about? Denying ourselves is NOT something many of us can do very well. But many of you may think this is a America problem, but I believe it hits far closer to home than just that…
There was a study done on all the religious denominations in America… that study done by the University of Purdue in 2006 revealed that Baptists are more likely than people in other denominations and other religious groups to be obese.
As Southern Baptists we are an affluent and very comfortable lot… we have far more than we ever need, and desire even more! It shows in our waistlines and it shows in other areas of our lives as well!
We simply do NOT deny ourselves ANYTHING! When a pastor or lay leader in the church calls for prayer and fasting, the first thought that goes thru MOST heads in the pews is… - Well I can’t do that! I have to eat SOMETHING! I can’t do that but the preacher can -
However, in the same breath, I know many of us have denied ourselves many things to get what WE wanted. Let me explain what I mean:
Have you ever been on a diet? Tightened your budget to save for a special purchase? Or worked longer hours and more days to gain favor for that promotion? I am sure we all have been down one of those roads or a road similar to that…
There are many examples I can look to where we are WILLING to deny ourselves and deny others so that WE can profit… so that WE can benefit…
And although these things are not evil within themselves, when we place them ahead of our families and in front of our spiritual priorities… we can quickly see that they are NOT what God intended… they are NOT what Jesus was speaking about when He said… - he must deny himself –
We can quickly jump to doing something that will be considered by the world as denying ourselves… when it involves BENEFIT and PROFIT to ME! To our self-centered egotistical human spirit!
Preacher I work hard! I sacrifice for my family… and I truly believe you when you say that! However, human nature has proven time and time again, that when we sacrifice or deny ourselves, it is USUALLY… more than likely done for OUR benefit 1st!
But I believe you when you say that you work and sacrifice and deny YOURSELF for your family… or even other people. That leads me to my 2nd point!
Self – Denial – Denying self for OTHERS! Egocentric Philanthropic
24 Then Jesus told his disciples, "If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.
Again we go back to what Jesus says in v.24 and we find that denial is the 1st step to becoming a believer… to becoming a disciple for Jesus. But the question still begs itself… for whom are we denying ourselves?
We have established the fact that many, if not MOST of us, either refuse to deny ourselves of anything, but if we choose TO deny ourselves of something, it is a strategic decision on our part because we believe that denial will benefit us in some way… a diet to lose weight, tightening the budget for that new purchase, longer hrs at work to get that prized promotion…
But I have found that there are people in this world… and NOT all of these people are believers… but there are people in this world who are willing to deny themselves for the sake of OTHERS!
We see the soup kitchens filled with volunteers, we have experienced almost 10,000 volunteers give up their time off, their summer vacations, their Spring breaks, and their Fall breaks to come to New Orleans to work and help people they don’t even know…
We see people submit themselves to many things on the behalf of others… to help and benefit others. But ultimately, this comes back to those who are denying themselves… and their desire to - feel good about themselves - … their desire to make a difference in THEIR life…
And as callous as this may seem to say, many if not all of us deny ourselves for others, because it either makes us look good, or it makes us FEEL good about ourselves!
Again, doing things for others is NOT a bad thing, but I want to stress to you that this is NOT what Jesus was speaking about in this passage of Scripture. Let me explain!
Look at Luke 9:25 which is a parallel verse… in other words it is the same thing, but as reported by Luke instead of Matthew! In v.25 Luke says this:
25 For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?
In other words, if you deny yourself and gain the attention and admiration of the whole world, but NOT God, it is all for nothing! We can do good work after good work… we can volunteer our time till we are blue in the face… we can give of ourselves to cause after cause, but if it is NOT for the cause of Christ it is NOT of any eternal significance.
There are wonderful things we can do for others and these are not bad things, but we cannot be distracted and fooled into thinking this is ultimately what Jesus was speaking about here in this passage!
As Christians we are called to good works and doing for others, but this is not what brings us INTO Christianity… good works are the result of our Christianity! Good works do not lead us INTO a discipleship relationship with Jesus… they merely reveal it!
Doing things for our friends, sacrificing for family and making great sacrifices for those we do NOT know are all great things, but they are still not what Jesus is speaking about here in this passage…
Ok preacher WHAT does Jesus mean when He says that we are to DENY ourselves in this passage… tell me! Well… I am so glad that you asked! To do this we need to look over the passage one more time:
24 Then Jesus told his disciples, "If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. 25 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. 26 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?
Self – Denial – Denying self for Christ! Christocentric- TRUE Self denying
To fully understand what Jesus means in this particular passage we have to understand the entire context of this passage and how it relates to this chapter and to what Matthew was trying to say in his entire Gospel…
First let’s look at the entire work of the Gospel of Matthew… what does it say, why was it written? Well the 1st 3 Gospels we encounter in the NT are called the Synoptic Gospels and are basically all written about the life of Jesus while here on earth. They tell the story from three different perspectives…
Matthew tells the story from the perspective of a Jewish man, seeing the Messiah from a Jewish perspective. He tells of this man named Jesus who came to this world on a mission to reveal the love of God and ultimately to save the world from sin and eternal damnation.
Jesus had just denounced the teachings of the Pharisees and Sadducees and had taken His disciples aside and asked them the question of – Who do you say that I am? And this is where we find Peter’s great confession of faith in Jesus as Messiah. Peter had proclaimed that Jesus was the ONE that they were called to follow…the ONE the nation of Israel had been waiting for… the ONE whom God had sent to lead them…
Jesus then acknowledges to Peter that his answer was right… but that God had revealed this to him that he had not figured this out on his own! AND if they wanted to be TRUE followers of the Messiah… if they wanted to be TRUE disciples of the ONE God had sent… then they needed to… DENY themselves, take up their cross and Follow Him! This morning I am only going to share with you what the first step of denying yourself means…
Jesus was telling those men He had chosen to mentor and teach that if they were to be TRUE followers, they needed to fully surrender themselves to Him! The term used here for ‘deny’ himself is the Greek word…ah-par-neh-oh-my which means to fully lose one’s self… to fully give one’s self over to another! It is a term of surrender! It is a TOTAL YIELDING on one’s life to another!
When we deny ourselves to please ourselves, we yield to a certain thing for a season… but it is for self fulfillment…
When we deny ourselves to help others, we yield and surrender ourselves or part of ourselves to a cause or a specific need for a time… but ultimately this is for self fulfillment as well…to make us look good to others or feel good about ourselves!
However, when we deny ourselves for Jesus, we are called yield ourselves TOTALLY and completely… to fully surrender our lives to Him, not for a season, but for eternity!
Jesus is calling us to give our all, give our lives, give our EVERYTHING to Him! We cannot serve Him, when we hold back part of who we are…
I know that this is a hard teaching… I understand how this goes against ALL of what the world tells us… against all of what our own inner feelings and desires tell us…
Giving up control and preeminence in our lives is NOT an easy thing to do, but Jesus tells us that if we are to be His follower… this is what we MUST do! We can do it NO other way! We cannot be a disciple of Christ with a half-hearted effort or commitment… we cannot be His followers if we are NOT willing to surrender all to Him!
So preacher, what does surrender ALL to Jesus mean? It means that in every part of your life, from the minutest detail to the largest situation… from our relationships to our careers to what we do each and every day… ALL must be focused on 1st serving Jesus and not pleasing our selfish desires!
In Matthew 6:33 Jesus says, “Seek FIRST the kingdom of God and His righteousness…” Seeking Jesus FIRST in all we do has to become a way of life, a pattern by which we live! We must live first for Jesus in all we do, we must speak first for Jesus in all we say, in our actions we must act first for Jesus! Whatever we are doing or saying, the premise must be that it is FIRST done FOR Jesus!
This is the reason that the Apostle Paul used the greeting, “I Paul, an apostle and bond-slave of Jesus Christ!” Paul understood that he had to surrender ALL of who he was to Jesus! Paul was on the fast track… he had the inside track to the High Priesthood of Israel… a very powerful and prestigious position!
But to follow Jesus, Paul surrendered ALL of who he was before he met Christ… to follow Jesus! Paul yielded any power, prestige or position to the PRESENCE of Jesus in His life! Paul is a great example for us to follow when it comes to full surrender to Jesus!
Paul urges the Roman believers that this is not only something he should do and could do, but it was a calling for ALL believers! I really like the way the NLT puts Rom 12:1-2 from Paul:
1 And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind He will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship Him. 2 Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.
In other words… FULL and COMPLETE surrender of who you are to the Lordship of Jesus Christ in your life… allowing God to transform you into the person He desires you to be! Do you want to please God? This is how you can do it!
Jesus says to deny yourself… can you truly say to God and to others around you that you have truly denied yourself for Jesus! I am sure that you could point out where you have on occasion, denied yourself FOR yourself to benefit yourself… diet, saving $$ or long hrs on the job…
I am sure you can point out where for a season you have denied yourself for the sake of others… and for the benefit of others, but in reality and in your heart you were seeking to please yourself, even if that praise only came from within yourself!
But this morning can you truly tell Jesus that you have FULLY and TOTALLY surrendered your heart, soul, body and mind to Him! We are called to yield in submission to Jesus… if we want to follow Him…we must lay down who we are and take up who He is… are you a TRUE follower of Christ this morning?
But preacher what does this have to do with our church? Well I want you to know that a church of believers can only move forward when it is fully surrendered and yielded to Jesus in its actions and missions! If you are not fully surrendered, you are hindering the fellowship of this church, you are hindering the growth and ministry of this body of believers.
If you want to experience TRUE and RICH fellowship that only comes from God, then you will have to surrender to Him today!
Conclusion:
It is the 1st step to knowing and experiencing Christ in your life… the step of denying yourself! You cannot know Christ as Lord without first turning away from the selfish interests of your own heart.
This morning as Steven comes to lead us in our hymn of invitation, I am going to call on our body of believers to ONCE again… step out… come to this altar this morning and SURRENDER to Him! Clear the air with God, repent of your self-centered actions, thoughts and desires. Submit and surrender to the leading of God in your life! Until you fully submit and surrender, you will NOT be able to serve Him as He wants you to serve…
This morning if you are here and do NOT have a relationship with Jesus, today you have heard some touch and hard teaching about Jesus. Many of you may have heard that all you have to do is walk the aisle and say a prayer with the preacher… but the fact of the matter is this…
If you want to be a follower of Jesus! If you want to be a disciple of Jesus in this world today, the 1st step you are going to have to make is DENY yourself… turn away from yourself… turn away from your selfish desire and turn TO Jesus… facing Him, trusting Him and surrendering FULLY to His Lordship in your life… yielding all of yourself, you love and all your dreams TO Him! Are you ready for that today?
Come as Bro Steven comes to lead us in our hymn of invitation…
