“FOLLOW JESUS” Luke 9:23-27
FBCF – 4/6/25
Jon Daniels
INTRO – Following Jesus is a daily decision.
Every day, there’s a real enemy to face & real battles to fight. Every day, there will be temptations to resist. Every day, you & I must decide if we are going to glorify God w/ our lives or not. Every day, we must decide if we are going to live for ourselves or live for Jesus. Every day, there will be decisions to make that will impact your life & the lives of so many others. Think about these questions: “Will I…”
- …honor my husband or wife as I’m called to do? ...honor my parents? …bring my children up in the fear & admonition of the Lord?
- …conduct my business w/ Godliness & integrity? ...be a hard worker or will I be lazy & slothful?...live a greedy life or a contented life?
- …show compassion to those who are in need?
- …truly love others no matter who they are? …lift people up or tear people down? When I’m at school, will I resist the temptation to gossip about others & intentionally try to hurt them?
- …live a life of humility or pridefulness?
- …control my tongue? My temper?
- …guard my eyes & my mind from immoral & ungodly images on the Internet, in the movies I watch, & on social media? …flee sexual temptation of any type that comes my way? …protect my marriage bed? …protect my virginity?
- …use the financial resources that God has given me to support the work of the Church & advance the K’dom of God?
- …actively look for opportunities to tell others about Jesus, or will I look the other way? …intentionally seek someone to disciple?
William Plumer – theologian 1800’s – “The daily business of the Christian is to resist the devil, deny himself, overcome the world, crucify the flesh with its affections & lusts, imitate Christ, walk w/ God.”
EXPLANATION – Luke 9:23-27 (Dee Dee/Brody – p. 867)
Luke – 3rd of the 4 Gospels. Been called the most beautiful book ever written - the longest of the 3 & the most detailed (Luke was a physician). Writing from his Gentile perspective (only NT writer who was a Gentile), Luke gives us a beautiful picture of our compassionate Savior who was not turned off by the poor & needy outcasts of the world who were all around Him. In fact, they were the primary focus of His ministry. We see this clearly in Ch. 9 where the crowds of thousands of people came to Him to hear Him teach & to have Him heal them. Then He fed them in the miracle of feeding of the 5000. THAT’S our Savior who calls us to come to Him to be saved & follow Him for the rest of our lives!
APPLICATION – If you are a Christian, following Jesus is not optional.
I think sometimes we think it is optional. We definitely live like it’s optional sometimes. Tend to separate our salvation experience from the daily walk of following Jesus. If you prayed a prayer at some point in your life but are choosing not to follow Jesus, probably means that you did not truly get saved when you prayed that prayer.
- “Oftentimes people say a salvation prayer and remain satisfied with this first step. If they’re asked, “Do you know God?” most will say they do. But there’s a vast difference between knowing facts about God and personally relating to Him.” (Charles Stanley devotional)
- “Fire insurance” salvation is not true salvation. Pray a little prayer b/c you think that means you won’t go to hell but then live a life that shows no indication that you belong to Christ is clear evidence that you truly do not know Christ & have never been truly saved.
o Christ-followers will still sin, but they hate their sin & hate it when they sin. Question: Do YOU hate your sin?
o Christ-followers will still give in to temptation, but are miserable when they do. Question: Are YOU miserable when you give in to temptation?
o They will still be defeated in battle sometimes, but they will quickly get back up & into the fight…still stumble & fall in the race sometimes but will quickly confess & repent & get back in the race…still lose their focus sometimes but will quickly get their eyes back on Jesus. Question: Are YOU quick to confess your sin, quick to repent of your sin, quick to get back in the fight, back in the race, & get your eyes back on Jesus?
When you follow Jesus, you bear fruit. “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5)
- To abide – to reside, stay, live, lodge, tarry, dwell – to take up permanent residence – make yourself at home – Idea of fellowship & communion.
- So, if you have called on the name of Jesus to be saved; …confessed Him as Lord of your life; …are believing in Him – His death, burial, & resurrection; if you are residing, staying, living, & dwelling in Jesus; & if He is residing, staying, living, & dwelling in you & has taken up permanent residence in you, then He makes it abundantly clear that you WILL bear much fruit as you follow Him.
- We are not saved BY producing fruit w/ our lives, but we WILL be producing fruit w/ our lives when we ARE saved & following Jesus.
3 ASPECTS OF FOLLOWING JESUS (v. 23):
ABSOLUTE SURRENDER – “let him deny himself”
DNow back in early March – “Total Surrender.” Students: Been about a month. How are you doing w/ living a life of surrender since DNow? Are you still totally surrendering to Jesus? DNow not just a fun weekend w/ all your friends – Total Surrender is the life that you are called to live until you die. All of us must wave the white flag of absolute surrender of ourselves to the Lord Jesus Christ.
If you desire to truly follow Jesus as His disciple, you must place His glory ahead of your own. You must realize that following Him doesn’t mean just denying certain things in your life – like fasting from social media for a week or not drinking sweet tea for a month. Following Jesus means denying & relinquishing personal control of your entire life.
Jesus’ teaching of self-denial cuts against the grain of everything our society teaches us & everything our sinful nature says to us. One of first words that a child learns is, “Mine!” And they never say it quietly. Elisabeth Eliot: “A Christian home should be a place of peace, and there can be no peace where there is no self-denial.” Sadly, many of us still live that way, constantly crying out “Mine” when faced w/ the demands of the Christian life.
- My children are mine…my money is mine…my future is mine…my career plans are mine…my retirement years are mine…my life is mine!
And there stands Jesus, who knows everything about us, who loves us w/ an everlasting love, whose plans for us are good plans to prosper us & give us a future & give us hope, saying, “If you want to follow me, you must deny yourself. Surrender yourself to me & you’ll have life more abundant that you can possibly imagine!”
VOLUNTARY SACRIFICE – “take up his cross daily”
Taking up your cross isn’t about the inconveniences in your life – your toothache, obnoxious coworker, broken dishwasher – “Oh, that’s just my cross to bear.” In Jesus’ day, carrying a cross wasn’t just something that annoyed you or temporarily burdened you. It was a symbol of humiliation & excruciation. No one willingly “took up” a cross – it was placed upon them & would lead to their death. That’s why Jesus’ call was such a radical call!
Jesus’ call to us is the call to willingly & voluntarily take up our cross. It is a call to die – to die to self so that we might live for Him. That is the only way we can truly follow Jesus.
In Jesus’ day, many followed Jesus b/c they wanted a free meal, or they wanted to see Him do some miracles, or b/c they thought He was going to set them free from the oppressive Roman rule. But when He said, “You’ve got to take up your cross,” – “Wait a minute! That’s not what I signed up for! That’s not what I was expecting! I can’t get that serious! I’ve got a life to live & carrying a cross would definitely hinder my ability to live that life! This isn’t for me unless you can come off that crazy cross-bearing stuff!”
Same is true of us today: “Wait a minute! I just want to make sure I’m not going to hell. That’s all I’m really concerned about. I just want to be a ‘normal’ church member, who comes to 1 worship service a week, drops a little $ in the offering plate, shakes a few hands & goes on about my business the rest of the week. I don’t want to be one of those Jesus Freaks or anything like that. I’ve got some big plans I’m working on, & this talk about sacrifice doesn’t fit into my plans…I’m enjoying my retirement & this talk of sacrifice would mess that up…I’ve got my future laid out w/ my college major & my scholarships & my career track & this talk of sacrifice could derail all of that.”
I guess that’s why Jesus said, “For the gate is narrow & the way is hard that leads to life, & those who find it are few.” (Matthew 7:14).
PURSUE YOUR SAVIOR – “follow me”
Our Lord is not asking us to do something that He hasn’t already done – Philippians 2:5-11
- “Deny yourself” – He “emptied Himself by taking the form of a servant, being bornin the likeness of man”cal call!
- “Take up your cross” – “becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross”
- “Follow me” – He followed the will, the plan, & the purpose that His Father set out for Him.
So, here’s what we can know: When we choose to follow Jesus, we can rest in the knowledge that He’s already been down this road before – He already knows what we are going to experience – He’s going to be w/ us every step of the way.
Frank Sinatra – 1945 – “You’ll Never Walk Alone” – Nice sentiment, but no guarantee that that will ALWAYS be true. Don't depend on people!
But w/ Jesus, you will TRULY NEVER WALK ALONE as you follow Him!
