This For That: I will…

The Standard

Matt 16:24-27

24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 25 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.

Taking up the cross was a metaphor for willingly embracing the challenges, hardships, and sacrifices that come with following Christ. It meant surrendering personal ambitions, desires, and worldly comforts for the sake of the Gospel.

In contemporary terms, Jesus might say something like, “Be willing to endure societal disapproval, face opposition, and relinquish your personal agenda for the sake of advancing the Kingdom of God.”

Matt 16:24-27

26 What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?

 

27 For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done.

HE WILL REWARD EACH ACCORDING TO…

 

3 People — 3 questions

First Person…

Luke 9:57-62 NLT

”As they were walking along, someone said to Jesus, “I will follow you wherever you go.” But Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens to live in, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place even to lay his head.”

THE DEAL BREAKER

 

Jesus points to a place that will threaten the man’s and and simply asks…

 

WHAT ABOUT ?

“It’s much easier to talk about following Jesus when you are making statements rather than commitments.”

Kyle Idleman, Not a Fan: Becoming a Completely Committed Follower of Jesus

 

STATEMENTS

VS.

COMMITMENTS

GOD + _____________

Where is the one place you find it most difficult to follow Jesus?

Where are you asking me to go?

Saying Yes to Jesus means saying no to…

Wherever is a way of Life.

Second Person…

He said to another person, “Come, follow me.” The man agreed, but he said, “Lord, first let me return home and bury my father.” But Jesus told him, “Let the spiritually dead bury their own dead! Your duty is to go and preach about the Kingdom of God.”

Luke 9:57-62 NLT

 

WHEN IS THE RIGHT TIME?

He wants to follow Jesus, but now isn’t a time.

 

What about now?

 

What are your excuses?

 

Matthew 4:18-22(NIV)

18 As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 19 “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” 20 At once they left their nets and followed him.

 

21 Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, 22 and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

 

Is your answer always maybe tomorrow?

Hebrews 3:15-19 (NIV)

15 …“Today, if you hear his voice,

    do not harden your hearts

    as you did in the rebellion.”

16 Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt?

Jesus says, why not now?

 

THIRD PERSON…

Luke 9:57-62 NLT

Another said, “Yes, Lord, I will follow you, but first let me say good-bye to my family.” But Jesus told him, “Anyone who puts a hand to the plow and then looks back is not fit for the Kingdom of God.”“

BUT FIRST…

Jesus knows that this man’s request where His heart truly lies.

 

WHAT ARE YOU ASKING ME TO DO?

 

Luke 9:62 THE MESSAGE

62 Jesus said, “No procrastination. No backward looks. You can’t put God’s kingdom off till tomorrow. Seize the day.”

What about that?

What areas are you unwilling to surrender?

Jesus is so adamant about followers surrendering everything because the reality is this: the one thing we are most reluctant to give up is the one that has the most potential to become a substitute for him.

They cast in metal a bull calf at Horeb
and worshiped the statue they’d made.
They traded the Glory
    for a cheap piece of sculpture—a grass-chewing bull!
They forgot God, their very own Savior, who turned things around…

Psalm 106:19-22

 

What have you exchanged?

 

What is competing for your allegiance?

“He is no fool, who gives what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose.”

JIM ELLIOTT

 

What would your life look like if you committed today to follow Jesus completely?

FOLLOWER OR FAN?

John 6:60-69

New International Version

60 On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?”

61 Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, “Does this offend you? 62 Then what if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! 63 The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life.

64 Yet there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. 65 He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them.”

66 From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.

67 “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve.

68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.”

 

PETER – There is no other good option.

NO EXCUSES.

We will go . 

 you call. 

We will do  you ask.

Today, I commit to follow Jesus wherever He leads, whenever He calls, and by doing whatever He asks.