A Song When Facing Danger
Psalms 16
October 28, 2016

Well I’m aware that every sermon I preach
That you all commit it to memory and that there’s never a need to cover a text twice because you all just have it and are ready to move on.

However, tonight I’m going to take a little page from the apostle Paul who said:
Philippians 3:1 “Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things again is no trouble to me, and it is a safeguard for you.”

Or a page from Peter who said:
2 Peter 1:12 “Therefore, I will always be ready to remind you of these things, even though you already know them, and have been established in the truth which is present with you.”

Tonight we’re going to do that.
This past April was Easter Sunday
And on that Sunday we studied this Psalm as our text.

Tonight we’re going to study it again.

And in one sense that is a little difficult, for some would say that one could just preach it from a different angle,
But the reality is that this goes against
Everything we believe about how to handle the word.

While each text may have a myriad of applications,
It only has one interpretation.
This text, as with all texts, means one thing.

So tonight I’m not going to give you anything new,
But we are going to work through this text
And see if we can’t expound a little more in a few different areas.

When we’re finished maybe you can take what you learned at Easter
And what you learn tonight and enhance your understanding of this Psalm

If I could remind you of THE BASIC GIST
Of what we talked about on Easter it was this.

Namely, that this was not so much a Psalm of David
As it is a Psalm of Jesus.

• Certainly David wrote it
• And certainly he wrote it during a specific incident in his life,
• And certainly it had real application to him at the time,
• AND WE WANT TO LOOK AT THAT.

But there is also a sense in which the Holy Spirit used David here
To write a prophetic word that was absolutely beyond David.
David writes of a scenario here that could in no way be applied to David.

If you will remember back to Easter.
• We even talked about how until the resurrection of Jesus this Psalm must have been a PECULIAR one to the apostles,
• And yet after the resurrection it made perfect sense and in fact became one of the preferred preaching texts of the apostles.

The mysterious statement of the Psalm is found in verse 10.
(10) “For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol; Nor will You allow Your Holy One to undergo decay.”

And if you will remember even the apostles admitted
That there appeared to be a real interpretive problem
With that statement.

What was the problem?
If David was talking about himself (as he appears to be doing) then he was wrong.

Let me remind you again of the sermons of Peter and Paul:
Acts 2:27-29 “BECAUSE YOU WILL NOT ABANDON MY SOUL TO HADES, NOR ALLOW YOUR HOLY ONE TO UNDERGO DECAY. ‘YOU HAVE MADE KNOWN TO ME THE WAYS OF LIFE; YOU WILL MAKE ME FULL OF GLADNESS WITH YOUR PRESENCE.’ “Brethren, I may confidently say to you regarding the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.”

And then Paul:
Acts 13:35-36 “Therefore He also says in another Psalm, ‘YOU WILL NOT ALLOW YOUR HOLY ONE TO UNDERGO DECAY.’ “For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep, and was laid among his fathers and underwent decay;”

Both of those men honestly acknowledged that
There is no way that this Psalm was fulfilled in the life of David.

David could not have been talking about himself there.

But if you’ll remember, Jesus did the apostles AN ENORMOUS FAVOR:

First on the road to Emmaus we read:
Luke 24:25-27 “And He said to them, “O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! “Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?” Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures.”

• Wow, what a sermon that must have been.
• Talk about one I wish was recorded.
• That was Jesus preaching Jesus using the Old Testament as His source.

And then we read:
Luke 24:44-45 “Now He said to them, “These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures,”

I tend to think that after those encounters
Passages like Psalms 16:10 instantly became clear.

It was no longer a mystery.
This Psalm wasn’t about David, this Psalm is about Jesus.

And that’s exactly what Peter and Paul went on to say in their sermons.
Acts 2:29-32 “Brethren, I may confidently say to you regarding the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. “And so, because he was a prophet and knew that GOD HAD SWORN TO HIM WITH AN OATH TO SEAT one OF HIS DESCENDANTS ON HIS THRONE, he looked ahead and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that HE WAS NEITHER ABANDONED TO HADES, NOR DID His flesh SUFFER DECAY. “This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses.”

And then Paul:
Acts 13:36-39 “For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep, and was laid among his fathers and underwent decay; but He whom God raised did not undergo decay. “Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through Him forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and through Him everyone who believes is freed from all things, from which you could not be freed through the Law of Moses.”

So obviously the apostles were in agreement that
This Psalm is about the suffering of the Lord.

And if you made any notes back on Easter we even outlined a little for you how to see that.
• GETHSEMANE (1-3)
• GABBITHA (4)
• GOLGOTHA (5-6)
• GRAVESIDE (7-10)
• GLORY (11)

And you can easily outline this Psalm as all about
The suffering which Jesus faced, and that is accurate to do so.

• He cried to God in the garden and yet trusted the plan of God anyway, even
refusing to take Pilate’s offer of help.
• He bore God’s wrath upon the cross with an eye to the reward of His suffering
• And because He was righteous He did not undergo decay but rose again and
ascended to glory.

And we talked about that on Easter Sunday,
If you want to cover it again, go on the website and listen to it there.

BUT TONIGHT I WANT TO TAKE THE NEXT STEP
And see what that reality means for us.

Part of our study of the Psalms has been
To learn our expected response in life’s circumstances.

We have many times called the book of the Psalms
“God’s Inspired Hymn Book”

This is what we are called to sing in our various circumstances.

And so tonight, realizing that this Psalm is about Jesus,
We read it again, only this time we read it
Regarding how we face suffering with Jesus’ example as our guide

In fact, let me put it to you a little differently.

We know the Psalm is about Jesus.
And by the way, so did David.

Let me read again what Peter said:
Acts 2:30-31 “And so, because he was a prophet and knew that GOD HAD SWORN TO HIM WITH AN OATH TO SEAT one OF HIS DESCENDANTS ON HIS THRONE, he looked ahead and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that HE WAS NEITHER ABANDONED TO HADES, NOR DID His flesh SUFFER DECAY.”

According to Peter, when David faced this trial,
He looked ahead and sang of the victory of our Lord.
And our Lord’s example gave David hope to face his own trial.

Tonight that’s what we’re going to do.
We’re going to talk about how we use the suffering and resurrection of Christ as a means of strength when we face dangerous situations.

So let’s work our way through this Psalm as David sung it
And look to the example that David looked to
And cling to the hope that David found.

We’ll break it down into 5 points.
#1 HIS CRY
Psalms 16:1

It’s simple to see.
“Preserve me, O God, for I take refuge in You.”
There is such richness just in that statement.

Now you may ask based on our intro: So is this David’s cry or Jesus’ cry? And the answer is “Yes”.

It is the cry of our Lord while in the garden,
But it is also the cry of David,
Who is following the example of his Lord.

David runs to the Lord as the One in whom He hides.
• And how many times have talked about this as being a reference to the necessity of our being “in Christ Jesus”?

So do you see how the application works here for us?

THIS PSALM IS ABOUT JESUS,
But when we are “in Christ Jesus” it becomes a Psalm we sing as well.

THAT’S WHERE DAVID IS.

What is more, we know that David is facing a difficult and dangerous situation.

How dangerous is it?
Well, verse 10 David says “You will not abandon my soul to Sheol;”

• David has at least faced the reality that this danger could lead to death.
• David is confident that God won’t leave it there,
• But he has at least faced the possibility that it could come.

And hopefully after our study this morning you are now aware of that same possibility in your life.

After all, we just saw this morning that
Our calling to follow Christ is a calling that demands self-denial,
daily suffering, and even a sacrificial destination.

Luke 9:23 “And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.”

If we believe what Jesus said this morning then we must acknowledge that this may indeed someday be a song that we will sing.

DANGER IS REAL

Jesus said:
Matthew 10:16 “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves.”

I know many times our prayer is that
God will spare us from all dangerous and scary situations,
But the reality is that Jesus already revealed that they are coming.

John 17:14-15 “I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. “I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one.”

Jesus makes it pretty clear that
He is well aware that He is leaving us in a dangerous situation.
And while He did pray that we would be kept from the evil one,
He still specifically left us in this dangerous world.

So hopefully you see the relevance to learning a Psalm like this.
We may sing this someday ourselves!

Well, David is facing that type of situation.
• He is facing danger, possibly lethal danger,
• And in order to face it correctly he draws upon the song Jesus would sing
during the days of His suffering.

What a great song to sing!

And he says, “Preserve me, O God”

I certainly believe that protection is a part of this prayer,
But in reality it is more than that.

There is a difference between protection and preservation.
David doesn’t just want to be kept out of danger,
He wants to be preserved through it.

Don’t let the danger cause me to fall or to stumble.

The word “preserve” in the Hebrew is the same word used of Adam keeping the garden.

Genesis 2:15 “Then the LORD God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it.”

It is used of the Angel guarding the Garden of Eden

Genesis 3:24 “So He drove the man out; and at the east of the garden of Eden He stationed the cherubim and the flaming sword which turned every direction to guard the way to the tree of life.”

It is clearly more than just protection,
It is to look after and keep and preserve
And not to let it get ruined or defiled.

This is the cry.
• It’s not just about being in danger, but more about the negative effects that danger my cause in my walk.
• Don’t let the danger make me stumble.
• David prays “Keep me, O God”

Was that not also the prayer of Jesus we just read?
John 17:15 “I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one.”

Also in:
John 17:11 “I am no longer in the world; and yet they themselves are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep them in Your name, the name which You have given Me, that they may be one even as We are.”

This is David’s cry, that God would keep Him in Christ,
For in Christ his victory is found.

His Cry
#2 HIS CONFESSION
Psalms 16:2-4

Be sure and notice the verb tense in verse 2.
“I said to the LORD, “You are my Lord; I have no good besides You.”

This was a past confession.
In short, I already made this commitment.

Many a man makes a commitment in an air conditioned church building,
But it is in the fire of affliction that the commitment is really tested.

Here David faces a dangerous situation
And foremost on his mind is that he had made a commitment to God
To never forsake regardless of how bad things got.

David had already committed to God.
“You are my Lord”
• He had confessed Him as his sovereign king.
• And he had done so because he realized “I have no good besides You”

That’s really the confession of every person who has come to salvation.

We come poor in spirit recognizing our total need for Christ,
So we confess Him as Lord, taking refuge in Him,
And trusting that He alone can supply our good.

David had made that confession too.
And not just a confession of Christ as Lord,
But David had ALSO made a commitment to Christ’s people.

(3) “As for the saints who are in the earth, they are the majestic ones in whom is all my delight.”

David had submitted his life to God,
And David had committed himself to God’s people.

And no matter how hard things got, David committed not to leave.
(4) “The sorrows of those who have bartered for another god will be multiplied; I shall not pour out their drink offerings of blood, Nor will I take their names upon my lips.”

“bartered” there is literally “hastened to”

David says, I have seen those people
Who quickly run to another god when things get tough,
But I’m not doing that.

“I shall not pour out their drink offerings of blood, Nor will I take their names upon my lips.”

David had sung, “Though none go with me, I still will follow” and he was sticking with it.

Regardless of the danger,
• I remember that I committed to You.
• I am not going to turn back.
• I am not going to turn away.
• I am not going to take the easy rode.

And as we said, while this is David’s statement,
It is ULTIMATELY A PICTURE OF CHRIST’S RESOLVE.

• We hear Him praying in the garden, “Not My will, but Yours be done.”
• We are reminded of His resolve before Pilate, not to plead for his intervention.
• We recognize that He would not deny no matter the danger

1 Peter 2:23 “and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously;”

David here is echoing the resolve of Christ.
God, I made a commitment to You, and I plan on keeping it.

His Cry, His Confession
#3 HIS CONTENTMENT
Psalms 16:5-6

Now you notice a verb shift again.
Now we are in PRESENT tense.

“The LORD is the portion of my inheritance and my cup; You support my lot. The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places; Indeed, my heritage is beautiful to me.”

And bear in mind that this is A STATEMENT MADE IN THE FIRE, not in a position of comfort.
• We can all sing this on payday
• We can all sing this while enjoying a sunset on a mountain golf course
• David is singing this while he is in the midst of danger.
• It is a testimony to the sufficiency of the Lord.

That even though David faces the reality of losing his life,
He can still express that loss is gain.

Because the LORD is his portion.
The LORD fills his cup.

And if you remember that famous 23rd Psalm from David.
Psalms 23:5 “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You have anointed my head with oil; My cup overflows.”

He goes on to say that “The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places; Indeed, my heritage is beautiful to me.”

Now again, first and foremost this is APPLIED TO CHRIST,
Who was able to scorn the shame of the cross for the joy set before Him.

Hebrews 12:2 “fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Christ could look to the joy, not only of the glory of heaven,
But also the joy of the bride He had purchased.

Ephesians 5:25-27 “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless.”

And as Christ faced His suffering,
He looked past the hardship to the prize and rejoiced in it.

In Christ, David is doing the same.
• He sees that regardless of the hostility in this world,
• And regardless of what may arise,
• He knows that his inheritance in Christ is totally worth it.

• In Christ inheritance is glorious
• In Christ his cup runs over
• In Christ his lot (destiny) is secure
• In Christ his boundary lines are bountiful
• In Christ his heritage is beautiful

And can we take a moment and acknowledge that this should ever be the attitude of the redeemed?
• We are those who have confessed Christ
• And we are those who must not back away from that commitment even in times of danger.

And one of the chief ways to do this
Is to maintain our focus on what is ours in Christ.

In a simple sense we read:
Luke 9:24 “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it.”

At the very least we get salvation.
We get life and life abundant and life eternal

Paul told us:
2 Corinthians 4:17-18 “For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”

Even to the Romans he spoke of this glory saying:
Romans 8:18 “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.”

And even when Paul faced death himself he said:
2 Timothy 4:6-8 “For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.”

Even when facing dangerous situations
Knowing that outcome might even be death,
We take refuge in Christ and know that
Our inheritance remains more than worth it.

Even though we face dangers, we are not being cheated by God.

David knows this,
And it is tremendous perspective for the believer when facing danger.

We sing: Christ has a beautiful inheritance and I am in Christ!
Ephesians 2:4-7 “But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”

This is the source of our contentment.

His Cry, His Confession, His Contentment
#4 HIS COMMITMENT
Psalms 16:7

I love this simple statement from David.

And notice here the TENSE has now shifted to the FUTURE.
• Because David knows he is in Christ
• Because David knows he has made a confession of Christ
• Because David knows his inheritance in Christ is worth it

David declares, “I will bless the LORD who has counseled me; Indeed, my mind instructs me in the night.”

If you will recall, the “night” is a reference to the time of suffering.

Even in Christ’s case we pick up on this clue.

He would say:
John 9:4 “We must work the works of Him who sent Me as long as it is day; night is coming when no one can work.”

John 12:36 “While you have the Light, believe in the Light, so that you may become sons of Light.”

And then after Jesus announced that the one taking the morsel would be the one to betray Him, we read:
John 13:30 “So after receiving the morsel he went out immediately; and it was night.”

So verse 7 speaks to us of Christ’s death
And yet His commitment in the midst of it.

And David here, aware of Christ’s commitment, makes his own.

He says “my mind instructs me”

I like that statement because the word for “mind” there is actually the word for “kidneys” or “bowels”, it was actually the seat of emotion.

Do you want to know what David decided to sing there as he faced death?
“It is well with my soul”

• David, in Christ, had decided not to deny the Lord
• David, in Christ, had decided not to defect from the Lord
• David, in Christ, had committed himself to “bless the LORD”

• He remembered his confession
• He focused on the inheritance in contentment
• And He made a commitment to the Lord, even in the midst of the danger.

But there is one more point, and this is the reason it all works.

His Cry, His Confession, His Contentment, His Commitment
#5 HIS COMFORT
Psalms 16:8-11

Now listen to what David is saying.
David is NOT saying that I know God won’t let me undergo decay.

David says, “You will not abandon my soul to Sheol; nor will You allow Your Holy One to undergo decay.”

David DOESN’T say, “nor will You allow ME to undergo decay”
David references the Holy One.

And I again remind you of what Peter said:
Acts 2:30-31 “And so, because he was a prophet and knew that GOD HAD SWORN TO HIM WITH AN OATH TO SEAT one OF HIS DESCENDANTS ON HIS THRONE, he looked ahead and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that HE WAS NEITHER ABANDONED TO HADES, NOR DID His flesh SUFFER DECAY.”

David “looked ahead and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ”

And this gaze into the future was the source of David’s comfort even as he faced death.

Look at verse 8
“I have set the LORD continually before me; because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad and my glory rejoices; My flesh will also dwell securely.”

Why would you say that David?
Because David was taking refuge in Christ and David knew that God would not leave Christ in the grave!

In effect David said, “I know I’m safe because I’m with Him!”

In fact, look at his CONFIDENCE.
(11) “You will make know to me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.”

David wasn’t counting on doing any of this himself.
• He was just going to follow the path of Christ.
• He was just going to reap the benefits of the presence of Christ.
• He was just going to eat from Christ’s right hand.

SO HERE’S WHAT HAPPENED
• David, while facing death, simply looked ahead to the song that Jesus would sing as He faced death.
• And as Jesus overcame, walked into death, and stepped out the other side, David saw the value of taking refuge in Him.
• And David sang His song as a reminder of the victory that he would win in Christ.
• He sang the song of Christ’s victory because he was in Christ and that victory would be his as well.

WE ALSO SING THIS SONG.
• Now, unlike David we don’t look ahead and speak of the resurrection,
• WE INSTEAD LOOK BACK and speak of the resurrection.

We know that God did not allow Christ to undergo decay.
And we also take our refuge in Him and enjoy the victory as well.

We sing:
“Because He lives, I can face tomorrow. Because He lives, all fear is gone. Because I know He holds the future, and life is worth the living just because He lives.”

We could even add a verse that
“Death is no longer terrifying just because He lives”

Psalms 16 is the song we sing when we face dangerous situations.
• Not because David sang it, but because Christ sang it.
• And we are in Christ.

It is most definitely a song worth singing.

The Jesus We Follow
Luke 9:23
October 28, 2018

You are familiar that we are now in a segment in Luke’s gospel
Which we have called “Messianic Misconceptions”

They now know that He is the Messiah, but because they have a distorted doctrine on the Messiah they don’t yet fully understand what Jesus came to do.

Jesus started correcting those misconceptions in verse 21
When He emphatically warned His disciples
NOT to go out and preach that He is the King.

Jesus knew that this message would only further cause the people
To seek Him as the source of their happiness and political deliverance
And provision and healing.

INSTEAD Jesus revealed to the 12 exactly what the message would be that they would preach.

Luke 9:22 “saying, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed and be raised up on the third day.”

They were told not to preach about Him being the King
But where to preach His suffering, rejection, death, and resurrection.

BUT JESUS WAS HARDLY DONE.

SEE THERE IS A REASON
We preach a suffering and rejected and dying and rising Jesus.

AND THAT REASON IS BECAUSE THIS IS ALSO
WHERE THOSE WHO FOLLOW JESUS WILL BE ASKED TO GO.

AND THAT IS WHAT JESUS IS ABOUT TO REVEAL.

If you remember from Matthew’s gospel,
After Jesus made this statement about His necessary suffering and rejection and death and resurrection it did not immediately set well with the 12.

Matthew 16:22-23 “Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You.” But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s.”

That only further solidifies the point that
• Even the 12 weren’t looking for a Jesus who could save them from sin.
• Even they wanted a Jesus that would give them their “Best Life Now”.

And since they had signed up to follow Jesus,
All of this talk about suffering and dying really needed to be corrected.
So Peter took it upon Himself to rebuke Jesus.
To which Jesus called him Satan and told Peter “you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s.”

Peter wanted Jesus for selfish reasons, not legitimate ones.

And so it was yet another misconception that Jesus must set straight.
Jesus must reveal to His disciples what is required in order to follow Him.

• I have referenced these verses more times than I can count.
• I refer to them continually while counseling people in my office.

And yet, I told Carrie this week,
I’m not sure that any of us actually grasp what Jesus said here.
IN SHORT, WE NEED THIS REMINDER

This is the very heart of what it means to be Christian.
This is as direct a statement as you will ever see regarding what Jesus demands of His followers.

And if I may clarify.
• He doesn’t say anything about walking an aisle…
• He doesn’t say anything about signing a card…
• He doesn’t say anything about giving up a couple of hours a week to go to
church…

The requirements that Jesus set forth are for more intense than that.

And yet, these are Christ’s requirements.
• This is not what I think a Christian should be…
• This is not what FBC Spur has decided a Christian should be…
• THIS IS WHAT JESUS SAYS A CHRISTIAN MUST BE

YOU HAVE TO GET THAT.

After looking at “The Jesus We Preach”
Now we want to look at “The Jesus We Follow”

And before I give you the actual criteria let me first make sure
You understand who Jesus is addressing here.

(23) “And He was saying to them all”
• Who is this message for? “all”
• In fact even the next statement begins with “If anyone…”

This is the criteria for “all” people.
If “anyone” wants to be a Christian, this is what is demanded.
Can we see that?

I don’t want you reading this passage and passing it off as though
Jesus is just talking about those who really want to be fanatical here.
Sometimes I think people think there are DIFFERENT LEVELS OF CHRISTIANITY that you can choose to sign up for.
Like, you walk the aisle and on the card they give you there are options.

1) Full blown, self-sacrificing, wholly devoted, in the ministry, Jesus fanatic
• And if you take that option then your whole life is gonna be about Jesus.
• You’re gonna serve Him, you’re gonna tell people about Him,
• You’re probably gonna be in the ministry,
• You may end up living on the mission field.

And if you choose option 1 then rest assured you’ll get a bigger reward in heaven.

But if option 1 sounds like too much, consider option 2:
2) A definite Christian, who attends church regularly, and who lives a moral life, but does so without any real sacrifice involved.
• We’ll ask you to give, but only if it’s convenient,
• We’ll ask you to serve, but only if you have time,
• We’ll ask you to witness, but most likely only to close friends and family
members.

The reward package isn’t as good as option 1,
But you still get a golden, silver-lined mansion at the end.

Others opt for option 3:
3) Your saved and you’re going to heaven, but sporadic church attendance is plenty.
• This option doesn’t require any real devotion to God’s people.
• You’ll never be asked to teach or to witness or to counsel anyone.
• And even the moral requirements are minimal, just don’t do anything really bad
like kill someone.
• If asked, tell people you are a Christian,
• Be sure and “like” religious posts on Facebook and that’s really all we need.

You’ll go to heaven, but when you get there
You won’t be involved in all the singing and serving and stuff,
You’ll just have to spend your days fishing and golfing up there.

It’s like we think that when Jesus gave this mandate for His followers that He wasn’t talking to everyone, just the fanatics.

So let me ask you again, who is Jesus talking to here?
“all”; “anyone”

In short, He is talking to me and He is talking to you.
And let me show you what Jesus requires of anyone and everyone
Who wants to be saved by Him.

3 things.
#1 SELF-DENIAL
Luke 9:23a

“If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself,”

Notice also the word “must” here.
• It is the same word Jesus used in verse 22 about how He “must suffer many things and be rejected…and be killed and be raised”

This isn’t optional, this is mandatory for all would-be followers.
“he must deny himself”

“deny” is an interesting word.
ARNEOMAI (ar-nay-o-my) in the Greek, and it is a strong term.

It is used of Peter’s adamant denial of Jesus.
Matthew 26:70-72 “But he denied it before them all, saying, “I do not know what you are talking about.” When he had gone out to the gateway, another servant-girl saw him and said to those who were there, “This man was with Jesus of Nazareth.” And again he denied it with an oath, “I do not know the man.”

In Acts 3 it is translated “disowned”
Acts 3:13-14 “The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified His servant Jesus, the one whom you delivered and disowned in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release Him. “But you disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked for a murderer to be granted to you,”

And Jesus says that the first criteria of being one of His followers
Is that you do that to yourself.
“he must deny himself” “he must [disown] himself”

What does that mean actually?

Well there are 2 main ways in which you need to understand this.
1) IT MEANS TO DENY ALL RELIANCE UPON YOUR GOOD WORKS AS ACCEPTABLE TO GOD.

There are many people who place their eternal hope
On the fact that they have done enough good to get to heaven.

Remember the Pharisee?
Luke 18:11-12 “The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. ‘I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’”

• That Pharisee was basically laying out his resume of all that he had done to deserve God’s favor.
• That man had no doubt spent hours praying and hours fasting and over the years given a large amount of money.
• And he trusted that in the end that it would be enough to merit going to heaven.

Of course Jesus taught us:
Matthew 5:20 “For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.”

And in order to follow Jesus all of those efforts,
All of those merits must be denied. They must be disowned.

AND PLEASE UNDERSTAND.
It’s not that Jesus won’t take people who have done religious works, it’s that people who trust in their religious works won’t take Jesus.

They don’t think the need Him.
• They’ve got their baptismal certificate…
• They’ve got their IRS giving statement…
• They’ve got their Disciple Now T-shirt…
• They’ve got that Bible with all the notes in it…

And the high cost of following that Jesus is going to require
Seems too high for people who don’t really need Him.

Surely their good works are enough to get them access to God,
And so they don’t see the need for Jesus
Or the suffering required in following Him.

That is why it is necessary to become “poor in spirit”
Before you’ll be saved.
You must realize how utterly invaluable your works are.

And they must be disowned.
They must be trashed.

This was the point behind Paul’s testimony.
Philippians 3:5-6 “circumcised the eighth day, of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the Law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to the righteousness which is in the Law, found blameless.”

We might even add his statement to the Galatians:
Galatians 1:14 “and I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries among my countrymen, being more extremely zealous for my ancestral traditions.”

But Paul had to realize how utterly invaluable all of those things were.
Philippians 3:7-8 “But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ,”

Paul counted all his religious works as “rubbish”

We must as well.
Take all your ribbons, take all your certificates, take all your plaques
And throw them in the trash.
Become a beggar.

Monte Walsh “I ain’t spittin’ on my whole life.”

Well, that’s exactly what has to happen for a person to follow Jesus.
But it’s not just the good works that must be denied.
2) IT ALSO MEANS TO DENY ALL DESIRES OF THE FLESH

If I can put it clearly then let me say it like this.

If you choose to follow Jesus
Then you should at the very least understand
That you are no longer in control of your future.

If you are going to put yourself in service to Christ
This means that you quit calling all the shots.

Take those college plans you have,
• And disown them, your education is now up to Christ.
Take that retirement you have and the plans you’ve made
• And disown them, you’re now in service to Christ.
Take that bucket with that list of all the things you plan on doing before you die,
• Burn the list and throw away the bucket.

You are surrendering it all to Christ.
The flesh no longer gets to call the shots in your life, Christ does.

Go ahead and look at the end of this chapter.
Luke 9:57-62 “As they were going along the road, someone said to Him, “I will follow You wherever You go.” And Jesus said to him, “The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” And He said to another, “Follow Me.” But he said, “Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father.” But He said to him, “Allow the dead to bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim everywhere the kingdom of God.” Another also said, “I will follow You, Lord; but first permit me to say good-bye to those at home.” But Jesus said to him, “No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”

Do you see Jesus there demand self-denial from all those men?
• The first Jesus told him he’d have to deny his worldly comforts to follow.
• The second Jesus told him he’d have to give up his inheritance to follow.
• The third Jesus told him he’d have to give up his reputation and the approval
of his family and friends to follow.

Let it go, deny yourself.

This is precisely what the followers of Jesus in the New Testament did.

Remember Peter and Andrew?
Matthew 4:18-20 “Now as Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon who was called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. And He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Immediately they left their nets and followed Him.”
(they got a new occupation)

Later Peter even recounted:
Matthew 19:27 “Then Peter said to Him, “Behold, we have left everything and followed You; what then will there be for us?”

Do you remember James and John?
Matthew 4:21-22 “Going on from there He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and He called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.”

They didn’t just leave their boat, they left their father.
The family fishing business was about to no longer be “Zebedee and Sons Fishing”.

Do you remember Matthew?
Luke 5:27-28 “After that He went out and noticed a tax collector named Levi sitting in the tax booth, and He said to him, “Follow Me.” And he left everything behind, and got up and began to follow Him.”

Matthew left his job as a tax collector.

But the point is everyone that followed Jesus had to deny themselves.
• For one it was a fishing business
• For one it was a tax booth
• For one it was their father
• Later Jesus will ask the Rich Young Ruler to give up all his possessions.

It’s not some specific thing that you must leave to follow Jesus.
It’s that you must deny everything that keeps you from following.

YOU CANNOT KEEP YOUR OLD LIFE AND FOLLOW JESUS.
The path that gratifies the flesh and the path that Jesus walks
Are too very different paths.

Denying yourself is a universal mandate for all who want Jesus.

Followers of Jesus aren’t those who seek the world, they are those who crucify the world
Galatians 6:14 “But may it never be that I would boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.”

Followers of Jesus aren’t those who live to please the flesh, followers of Jesus crucify the flesh
Galatians 5:24 “Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”

THEY JUST LEFT IT ALL TO FOLLOW JESUS.
• They denied any goodness which they held on to as a means of pleasing God
• And they denied any worldly lust that would hinder them from following Christ.

And Jesus says that this “must” happen.

The first requirement to following Jesus is Self-Denial
#2 SUFFERING DAILY
Luke 9:23b
“and take up his cross daily”

I’m aware that in our day this has become somewhat of a metaphorical statement.
• Someone gets sick and they say, “It’s just the cross I have to bear”
• Someone has a hard job and says, “It’s just the cross I have to bear”

I understand what they are saying, and their point isn’t necessarily wrong.

But that’s NOT what Jesus was talking about.
• The “cross” wasn’t a metaphor in Jesus’ day.
• The “cross” was an instrument of horrific, humiliating, excruciatingly painful
death.
• The “cross” was the preferred method of execution for anyone who dared to
rise up against Rome.

In somewhat similar fashion today Jesus would have to say something like
“Take up his electric chair” or “Take up his lethal injection”

To take up the cross was a picture of bearing scorn and reproach and suffering and ultimately death.

THE CROSS TODAY IS ADMIRED
• Is a preferred piece of art in most houses
• And is probably the most crafted symbol in jewelry

BUT IN JESUS’ DAY IT WAS HIDEOUS.
• People didn’t even say the word “cross” because it was so shameful.
• People were crucified naked and hung up along the roads for all to see.
• It was vile it was gruesome it was detestable

And Jesus here says that anyone who wants to follow Him must “take up his cross”
• You are about to take upon yourself shame
• You are about to take upon yourself scorn
• You are about to take upon yourself the promise of death

WHY DOES HE SAY THAT?

Because Jesus’ life is a life of exclusion and reproach and suffering and death, and if you follow Him, that will be your life too.

• You are about to follow a Jesus who condemns this world.
• You are about to proclaim a message that condemns this world.
• You are about to stand in opposition to the god of this world and his fallen world system

Do not expect to be applauded for it.

John 15:18-20 “If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. “If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you. “Remember the word that I said to you, ‘ A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also.”

John 16:1-3 “These things I have spoken to you so that you may be kept from stumbling. “They will make you outcasts from the synagogue, but an hour is coming for everyone who kills you to think that he is offering service to God. “These things they will do because they have not known the Father or Me.”

John 16:33 “These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”

• This world is going to point
• This world is going to snarl
• This world is going to laugh
• This world is going to mock

Some of you in secular work places know this scorn,
These youth who have determined to follow Christ feel this in the school.
IT IS THE REPROACH OF THE CROSS WHICH YOU FEEL

Luke also records the word “daily”
“take up his cross daily”

• When they mock you today, do it again tomorrow.
• When they scorn you today, do it again tomorrow.
• When they hate you today, do it again tomorrow.

Following Jesus is not a one-time event.
It is a lifetime commitment.

THIS IS WHAT JESUS REQUIRES.

In fact, listen to Paul rebuke the Corinthians for their failure to grasp this.

He speaks very sarcastically here
1 Corinthians 4:8-16 “You are already filled, you have already become rich, you have become kings without us; and indeed, I wish that you had become kings so that we also might reign with you. For, I think, God has exhibited us apostles last of all, as men condemned to death; because we have become a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men. We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are prudent in Christ; we are weak, but you are strong; you are distinguished, but we are without honor. To this present hour we are both hungry and thirsty, and are poorly clothed, and are roughly treated, and are homeless; and we toil, working with our own hands; when we are reviled, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure; when we are slandered, we try to conciliate; we have become as the scum of the world, the dregs of all things, even until now. I do not write these things to shame you, but to admonish you as my beloved children. For if you were to have countless tutors in Christ, yet you would not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. Therefore I exhort you, be imitators of me.”

Paul points out that those who truly follow Christ are scorned,
Yet somehow the Corinthians are being honored in the world.
DO THEY NOT SEE THE PROBLEM WITH THIS?

Do we remember what Jesus said earlier in Luke’s gospel?
Luke 6:22-23 “Blessed are you when men hate you, and ostracize you, and insult you, and scorn your name as evil, for the sake of the Son of Man. “Be glad in that day and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven. For in the same way their fathers used to treat the prophets.”

And
Luke 6:26 “Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for their fathers used to treat the false prophets in the same way.”

You need to understand what Jesus requires to follow Him.

It will be COSTLY because you have to deny yourself.
You can also expect CONFLICT because the world will not rejoice in what you do.

You will be walking with a cross on your back.
• Your message will be the message that the world hates, not the one they want to hear.
• You will be preaching about a world so sinful that the only manner in which it could be redeemed is if God crushed His own Son on a cross.
• You will be preaching about a salvation that is only found in Jesus and not through their good deeds or man-made religions.

Don’t expect the world to applaud.
You will be expected to face CONFLICT and suffering.

Listen to Paul admonish Timothy
2 Timothy 1:8 “Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord or of me His prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God,”

Again:
2 Timothy 2:3 “Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.”

Again:
2 Timothy 4:5 “But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.”

This is a call to Self-Denial and it is a call to Daily Suffering.
• You will be a swimmer traveling upstream and against the flow
• You will be a voice of righteousness to a world that loves sin
• You will be a pebble in the shoe, a cog in the gears, a hurdle, and a restraint to a world that wants to push forth the machine of immorality.

• You’ll frustrate them with your refusal to sacrifice worship for worldly events
• You’ll annoy them with your refusal to go along with worldly endeavors
• You’ll irritate them with your stand against their immorality
• You’ll infuriate them with your insistence that they repent
• You’ll alienate them with your call for them to trust in Jesus Christ

And you will suffer as a result
You’ll lose friends – You’ll lose jobs – You’ll lose invitations
• In Jesus day they LOST access to the synagogue…
• The people of the book of Hebrews LOST their property…
• Many in the book of Acts had to FLEE their homes and their cities…
• Some even LOST their lives…

But this is the call, this is the requirement, if you want Christ.
You cannot just be this happy little friend of the world
And follow Jesus at the same time.

If you think you are, then you are deceiving yourself.
I don’t know what you call it, but it’s not following Jesus.

The call of Jesus is a call to Self-Denial and a call to Suffering Daily
#3 A SACRIFICIAL DESTINATION
Luke 9:23c

“and follow Me”

You would do very good at this point to ask the question: “Where?”
And then you’d do good to answer it.

When Jesus took up the cross, where did He go?
• First to the World to be rejected
• Then to Golgotha to be crucified
• Then to the Grave to be buried
• Then to Glory to be exalted forever

When Jesus says “follow Me”
Be sure you understand where He is asking you to go.
• It is certainly the path to life
• It is certainly the path to heaven
• But before that it is the path that leads to death.

MAKE NO MISTAKE, WHEN JESUS APPROACHES FOLLOWERS, HE IS RECRUITING THEM TO THEIR DEATH.

Jesus plainly told Peter:
John 21:18-19 “Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to gird yourself and walk wherever you wished; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will gird you, and bring you where you do not wish to go.” Now this He said, signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He said to him, “Follow Me!”

Paul said:
Acts 20:22-23 “And now, behold, bound by the Spirit, I am on my way to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit solemnly testifies to me in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions await me.”

We see the death of James in Acts we see the death of Stephen there as well.

In fact, you’re familiar with Acts 1:8
Acts 1:8 “but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”

The word for “witnesses” there is MARTYS (mar-toos)
It’s where we get our word for martyr.

Jesus said “you shall be My martyrs”

Do you understand what Jesus is saying here?

His invitation to follow Him was an invitation to follow Him to His death.
• This is a call that is COSTLY
• This is a call to CONFLICT
• This is a call bringing CONDEMNATION

This is the calling and the requirement for “all”.
This is the requirement for “anyone [who] wishes to come after Me”

I KNOW WE LIVE IN A DAY OF THE ALTAR CALL
Where people are lured down the aisle
With all kinds of pretty promises of blessing and ease and fulfillment.

But those altar calls resemble nothing of the invitation of Jesus.
• Jesus invited His followers to leave their lives behind for good, not just
their pews for a moment.
• Jesus invited His followers to embrace daily suffering, not just to be patted
on the back for choosing to receive Christ.
• Jesus invited His followers to a life that passed through death on the way
to glory.

Jesus said that He must suffer and be rejected and be killed and be raised.
This the Jesus we preach and it is the same Jesus that we follow.

When you sign up to follow Jesus, you are signing up:
• To say good-bye to all your previous plans and treasures,
• To put yourself at enmity with the world,
• And to go forth embracing death.

I’m sorry if that’s not how it was first pitched to you.
But make no mistake this is how Jesus offered it.

We must evaluate our lives.
We must renew our commitments.
We must get serious about what it is we are called to do.

This morning we are taking the Lord’s Supper,
And in that I want to remind you that part of taking this Lord’s Supper is a proclamation of our commitment to His death.

Consider what the apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthians.
1 Corinthians 11:26 “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.”

It is absolutely central to the Christian faith that our Lord suffered and was rejected and was killed.
• We believe that
• We preach that
• We follow that

And every time we partake of the Lord’s Supper
We remember that and pledge again our commitment to it.

That is the Jesus we proclaim AND that is the Jesus that we follow.

Jesus told us plainly.
“If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.”

To partake in the Lord’s Supper is NOT an empty ceremony of remembrance,
• It is moment to remember the sacrifice of Christ.
• It is a moment to rejoice in the sacrifice of Christ.
• It is a moment to confess again my need for the sacrifice of Christ.
• It is a moment to renew my commitment to follow this crucified Christ.

Do not partake lightly.

Tanya Park has a bachelor’s degree in Social Work and is the Area Director of a Christian based foster care and adoption agency called A World For Children. Tanya and her husband Scott live in Amarillo and have two children; a daughter, Tristen, who is 16 years old and a son, Charley, who is 5 years old.  Tanya has served as a member of the worship band at Trinity Baptist Church for the past eight years. Tanya has a heart to worship the Lord through guitar, bass guitar and her voice.

Andrea McConnell, from Amarillo, Texas will be leading our worship. Andrea has a heart to worship the Lord in spirit and truth and lead God’s people to His throne. She has a passion for seeing women of all ages grow in the knowledge of Christ and serve Him faithfully. With a Bachelor’s degree in Music Education from LSU and a Master’s in Christian Education from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, she spends her day homeschooling her two daughters and loves being a mom to, Emma (14) and Abby (11). She also currently teaches two days a week with two homeschool co-op groups.
Andrea is a minister’s wife and has been married to her soul-mate, Troy, for 17 years. She has past experience in public education and women’s ministry. She has led worship for women’s ministry events for over 10 years. Most importantly, her one desire is to be a servant of her Savior and see Jesus Christ high and lifted up.