Title: Follow me

Bible reading: Luke 9:18-27

Baptist Hymal; BH 41, 426, 423
Objective: Jesus is calling us today to follow Him
(Pray first)
Good Morning Church. It is a privilege to be here this morning. I want to thank
the Pastor and the Church on behalf of the youth for giving us the opportunity
to make use of the pulpit of the church this week.
Our theme for the youth week is Follow me and our key verse is Luke 9:23
This is the topic for the sermon this morning
Follow me
Luke 9:23, NIV
Then he said to them all if anyone would come after me, he must
deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me
I will be looking at 4 Subtopics today;
-Who exactly is a Christian disciple?
-The cross and its significance
-The words of Christ
-The implications of Jesus words for the disciple

Who is a Christian disciple?

Dictionary of NIV terms; a disciple is a follower or a student, especially one
who believes what the teacher teaches. Anyone who believes in Jesus is his
disciple
Cambridge online dictionary; a person who believes in the ideas and
principles of someone famous and tries to live the way that person does or
did
A disciple of Christ can be summarized as one who has committed all
of his or her life to learning from Him how to live, what to believe, and how to
glorify the Master in his or her daily walk.
It was the practice during the time of Jesus earthly ministry for jewish
teachers to have disciples who followed after them and imbibed their
teachings, beliefs and practices, and displayed other features of their master.
They were regarded as a holy people because they were learning the law.
This made it very easy to associate a disciple with a particular master.
John the Baptist, the Pharisees, Moses and even Jesus had people with them
who were regarded as their disciples; their followers.
When Jesus called on his disciples to deny themselves, take up their
cross daily and follow him, he was calling on them to make a choice; me or
the world. He wasnt looking for people who we humanly considered qualified
for the job, rather he was looking for those who were not qualified i.e. Those
who are not perfect

1Cor 1:27b
God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.
This is an important choice a called disciple of God has to make. Unlike
an institution where one simply graduates once they have the basic facts to
cope with, here you never graduate. Its a lifetime commitment.
So what do you need to be a disciple of Christ, I hope youre asking;
-you need to be born again first
John 3:5-6
5 Jesus answered, Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the
kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh
gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.
Thats all; be born again, be born anew in Christ and how? Receive him into
your life as your savior and Lord. Allow for the baptism of the Holy Spirit to
make you anew in Christ and put to death your old ways
According to the book of
2 Cor 5:17, NIV
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the
new has come
This decision to follow is a lifelong decision. Are you an actual follower
of Christ or are you simply a churchgoer?
The Cross and its significance
The cross serves as the center of Christ. If you think about it, its
actually what the church preaches; The death and resurrection of Christ.
Without the cross and its significance there really is no Christian faith.
What really is this cross of Christ? Its the atoning sacrifice that Christ
made on the cross of Calvary to atone for the sin of humankind. This is seen
in John 3:16 the popular verse;
John 3:16
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son that
whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life
What he accomplished for us on the cross of Calvary qualifies him to
be our Master and Lord. He deserves our commitment; that we follow him
with all our heart and might. He deserves our complete loyalty; He is worthy
of our allegiance as His disciples.
The early church testified only to the cross even Paul preached only
Christ and his crucifixion seen in 1 Cor 1:22-24

1 Cor 1:22-24
22 Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, 23 but
we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to
Gentiles, 24 but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ
the power of God and the wisdom of God.
This has been the message of the church passed on from generation to
generation. Without the death and resurrection of Christ, there would be no
forgiveness of sin. 1 Cor 15:12-14, 17-19 explains this perfectly

1 Cor 15:12-14, 17-19

12

But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can

some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?

13

If there is no

resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised.

14

And if

Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your
faith.
17

And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still

in your sins.

18

Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost.

19

If

only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be
pitied.
This tells us that without the cross we would still be sinners
That is the significance of the cross; His death and resurrection bore the
redemption of our sins
The words of Christ
Lets look at the verbs in Luke 9:23
Then he said to them all if anyone would come after me, he must
DENY HIMSELF and TAKE UP HIS CROSS DAILY and FOLLOW ME
DENY SELF
What does this mean?
Deny is the same word used regarding peters denials of Jesus. It
means to disown or renounce. When told to deny yourself, Jesus wasnt
saying you should deprive yourself of pleasure rather He was saying that you
should renounce living for your own selfish interest and rather embrace living
for Christ.
You are called to a lifetime of Christian dedication and to serve as an
example to people around you. It is a call to discipleship. It means
abandoning your worldly habits and following Christ without looking back as
seen in Luke 9; 61-62

Luke 9; 61-62
61 Still another said, I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say
goodbye to my family.
62 Jesus replied, No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is
fit for service in the kingdom of God.
When you choose to follow Him, you are deciding to not look back.
Most of us are tempted to begin to ask if we can compromise. There
should be a way we could meet half-way. I should be able to live for Jesus part
of the time, but live for myself too?...Jesus answers this in verse 24;
Luke 9:24
For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his
life for me will save it.
If you want to save your life to live to fufill your own interests, you will lose it.
But if you want to lose your life for the sake of Christ you will save it both now
and for eternity.
Col 2:6
6 So then, just as you received (choose) Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to
live (walk) in him
Once you choose Him, you choose to walk with Him
Some of us see self-denial as going without. We believe to deny self
means to have a daily habit of denying ourselves of our appetite and desires.
Thinking that the more we deny ourselves of our own needs the holier we will
be. -> A holier than thou attitude
The problem with this interpretation is that it promotes religiosity
rather than living for Christ. You become insecure and start to ask yourself
Have I denied myself of enough? I should deny myself some more just to
be on the safe side
Jesus died so you may be free of sin. You died with Christ
Galatians 2:20 says this plainly
20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives
in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved
me and gave himself for me.

Did you know that? You actually died with Christ on that cross
And Paul repeats it;
To the Christians in Colossae You died in Christ Col 2:20
To the believers in Rome We died with Christ Rom 6:8

To the Corinthians We died 2 Cor 5:14

When you got baptized, you were baptized into His death Rom6:3. Your old
self no longer lives, rather Christ now lives in you.
2 Cor 5:15
15 And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for
themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.
Following him means deciding to walk with the light as seen in John 8:12
John 8: 12
When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, I am the light of the world.
Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light
of life.
Following him doesnt promise you a life free from worries, far from that; you
would be tried and tested by persecution and suffering. But He promises in
Jeremiah 17: 8 that if you follow him and put all your trust in him and not the
worldly things;
Jeremiah 17: 8
You will be like a tree planted by the water
that sends out its roots by the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes;
its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought
and never fails to bear fruit
In simpler terms, when those trials and persecution comes, you stand firm
because Jesus already paid the price for your freedom.
Trust Jesus and not your flesh
TAKE UP YOUR CROSS DAILY
Sadly most of see taking up our cross daily as an unavoidable trial that you
must passively submit to. Its not. Rather it is a daily thing that we should
actively choose to embrace.
In Jesus time, the cross wasnt seen as implement of suffering. It was seen as
an instrument of slow execution. Anyone who was seen carrying a cross to be
crucified was considered a dead man. A man bearing his cross would have
practically given all hope and interest in things of the world. He was aware
that he would be leaving earth soon and was dead to self.
Taking up your cross is not something you accomplish in an emotional
moment of spiritual dedication. You dont suddenly reach a spiritual
mountaintop where you can say youre finally done and no longer need to
carry your cross No. Its a daily process. There are no shortcuts sadly.

An athlete doesnt work out for a few days and decides hes ready to
compete. It takes weeks, months and even years to get into shape and even
then He doesnt sit back after and decide not to work out anymore. He would
lose his muscles. So would we. The minute you decide to stop bearing that
cross you gradually lose your spiritual strength.
This main verse of today is repeated in 3 different books and only once was it
said to perform this act daily
Matt 16:24 take up his cross and follow me
Mark 8:34 take up his cross and follow me
Luke 9:23 take up his cross daily and follow me
Why daily? We are to value the finished work of Christ DAILY. You should thank
Christ for the cross everyday. He died so you can live. It is not something you
should take for granted. Everyday you are making a choice; will I walk after
the flesh or after the spirit?
We need to put selfish desires to death daily to follow Jesus.
FOLLOW ME
This is a call. It refers to a continuous process of walking behind Jesus, going
where He goes and doing what He does. It means not doing YOUR OWN thing
but completely submitting yourself to Jesus commands and doing HIS thing.
Obedience to this call should always be connected to the personal
relationship we enjoy with Jesus. To those the disobedient people who did
things in His name He says in Matt 7: 23
Matt 7:23
Then I will tell plainly I never knew you, Away from me, you evildoers!
But to the obedient He promises in John14:21, 23
John14:21, 23
21 Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me.
He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and
show myself to him."
23 Jesus replied, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father
will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.
There should always be a link between our obedience to follow and our
personal love for Jesus
The implications of Jesus words for the disciple
These two words come with 2 implications
First of which is, commitment to Christs person;

You cant claim to follow someone you dont know personally. He

becomes a stranger and youre really not supposed to follow a stranger. You
need a personal daily relationship with him and that requires a commitment
from you. He is identified as the Son of God and Saviour of the world. Its
much more then what he taught or did but who he really is.
Jesus offered himself. That is the price he paid. Do you love him? Are
you sincerely committed to him? Does your lifestyle reflect your commitment
and love?
We all need a thorough examination of our lives because its one thing to say
we follow Jesus and its another to show we follow Jesus.
Secondly the words imply obedience to Him;
Unlike disciples under rabbis who themselves graduate to become
masters. Christs disciples never graduate. We are always under Christ till we
meet at His feet.
The Great commission that Christ gave to the Church in Matt 28: 18-20
tells us what is required of us.
Matt 28: 18-20
Then Jesus came to them and said, All authority in heaven and on earth has
been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the
Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have
commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the
age.
It is obedience to this commission that is essential for the growth of a true
disciple. You need to make others followers of Christ as He commanded in
order to be spiritually healthy. Are we obeying this command?
Decide today to be a follower of Christ
In Conclusion;
Today has been an invitation to follow Christ. Probably youve never made a
decision to follow Christ before . What is your life worth right now? Imagine
what it will be worth if you leave all to follow Christ today.
Or have you given your life to Christ but you are not living for him. You can
decide to rededicate your life to Him right now. The decision is yours. And as
a fellow disciple in Christ, I invite you to follow him from this day.
Lets bow our head in prayer