Sermon Brief
Date Written: October 29, 2010
Date Preached: October 31, 2010
Where Preached: Oak Park Baptist Church (AM)
Sermon Details:
Series Title: Reaching Our Community – TRUE Fellowship – Sermon 5
Sermon Title: Courage – The FUEL of TRUE Fellowship
Sermon Text: Luke 9:23-25 [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.
Introduction:
Courage! What is the definition of courage…
Webster’s tells us that courage is the ability to face danger, difficulty, uncertainty, or pain without being debilitated by fear or deflected from a chosen course of action!
When we think about courage, we think about those who are willing to serve our country… I can remember the day I stepped into that processing center on December 16, 1982 and I had raised my right hand and I repeated an oath…
I, Robert A Stults, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God.
I don’t claim to be a man of great courage, but I can tell you that I believed in that oath and was willing to fulfill it at any moment, regardless of the outcome! That oath let others know I was serious about loving and protecting my country.
It lets others know that you are willing to do whatever it takes to defend this country. In basic training the thought and concept of giving our life for our country was reinforced and driven home.
Even to this day, I believe that I would put on my uniform (if I could fit into it…) and I would fight for this country…why? Is it because I am the bravest man in the room? NO that is NOT why; it is because I have a deep and abiding love for my country. I love our way of life and the freedoms we enjoy and would fight and die if needed to protect them!
I can remember another time when ‘courage’ was on the line for me as a man. Michelle and I were eloping and starting a life together at ripe old age of 19. I can remember as we stood in the pastor’s office the evening of Oct 28, 1981 at FBC of Butler, AL.
I stood there with Michelle, both of us scared out of our heads, but we did not waver! Was it because we were the bravest or the most courageous… probably not… it was because we had an abiding and deep love for one another and we knew that regardless of what came our way, we would do what it takes to protect that love and this relationship! This past Thursday, Oct 28th we celebrated our 29th wedding anniversary!
Along with the vows I spoke on that night I have ALWAYS believed it was my solemn duty to protect and shelter Michelle and my family… with my very life if it was necessary. Regardless of what happens to me, I WILL protect my wife and family. Does this make be brave? No it does not… it makes me committed to my wife and the relationship God has provided!
Now you may ask what do those things have in common… or how do they apply to our message today? I would say that both of these actions on my part had 2 very basic things in common, first there was a firm commitment to the oath or vow I was making! The 2nd thing is that I believed in my heart that that oath of enlistment and that vow of marriage… I believed that they are not conditional vows, but I have always seen them as firm and solemn commitments to be lived out by my actions!
But a commitment that is NOT grounded in something is a empty promise that will FAIL. For someone to live up to the unconditional commitment of serving your country or making a marriage work… One must possess something that carries them forward into the difficult times when that service and commitment seem unbearable! That something I speak about is a love that fuels the needed courage or boldness to keep one’s commitment!
Let me try to explain what I mean… I love my wife, and because I love my wife my actions toward her are intentional and regardless of the situation, I will be strong and courageous in my actions of love toward her.
Again, I love my country and the nation of my birth. My love for this country is intentional regardless of who is in charge, regardless of the situation and I will remain strong and courageous in my actions of love toward my country!
This brings me to the passage for this morning. [read passage here]
23 And he said to all, "If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me. 24 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. 25 For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?
When we look at this passage we find that Jesus is laying out a pattern of behavior that any FOLLOWER must apply to their life… IF you want to be a follower of Jesus, this is what you HAVE to do… and like the vows and oath of enlistment… we are called into a commitment that must be fueled by something… our love for Christ has to fuel our commitment and that love is made evident to those around us in this world by the courage and commitment we have in our service to Him.
Just as serving our country and loving our spouse carries with it a need for strong and courageous living… there is a DEFINITE requirement set forth here by Jesus for our intentional and direct actions on behalf of the One we love…Jesus!
You see this pattern Jesus advocates for His disciples is the same pattern God called Him to abide by while here on earth, AND it is the same pattern that ALL believers are intended to follow!
When we follow the disciples through the book of Acts and throughout the NT we find that only one of the original disciples died a natural death, all the others were martyred for the faith. Their commitment was fueled by their love for Christ and their love for Christ was made evident by their courage under fire and full and total commitment to Jesus in their lives! Regardless of what happened to them…
These men and women showed great courage and strength in their service to Jesus! Were these men and women the bravest people in the land? Probably not, we saw how the disciples withered and ran when Jesus was arrested and then we see how Peter folded under the threat of death on his life…
But after they come to know Christ as Savior in that upper room and the Holy Spirit fills their lives… They live a life of dedicated commitment fueled by their love for Christ! They uphold their commitment to the Gospel of Christ… regardless of what happens!
Last week we looked at the 1st command of this pattern and that 1st command was that we are all called to DENY ourselves! We saw that self denial was NOT about what WE could get out of it, but that you must deny yourself for the sake of Christ! Just as Jesus denied Himself in obedience to God’s calling and mission for His life.
We are called to exhibit a full and complete surrender to Jesus… that surrender TO Jesus is a denial of ourselves and our desires! We are called to give our lives over to Him.
But Jesus did not stop there simply with surrender; the 2nd command in this pattern of behavior for the believer is that we must also be willing to ‘take up OUR cross’!
Now there are MANY of us who wonder just what that statement means!
Most people see the phrase –take up your cross- to mean…
bearing a heavy load,
some physical or emotional burden to bear,
financial hardship,
painful life situations,
enduring someone who you deem as insufferable or even
just living in this evil and dark world.
These viewpoints place a meaning to this phrase that Jesus did not intend. This is NOT what Jesus was speaking about…
In this passage Jesus was speaking very plainly…and His speech was directed AT His disciples…and what Jesus was speaking about was bearing a cross of literal death. The same cross He had just told them He would have to bear…
Jesus was NOT indicating some hardship they would have to endure…but the emphasis here is their willingness to take up the cross of literal death for cause of Christ! We need to remember that Jesus had just predicted His own death, so as Jesus was willing to take up the cross of Calvary, so to should His disciples be willing to take up a cross of death for God.
When we look at the language used in this phrase we can see that it was also the same term that was used by the Roman soldier when he commands Simon of Cyrene to pick up Jesus’ cross and carry it to Calvary. It is speaking directly to bearing the cross of death… to the point of death!
Jesus understood that He was about to have to LITERALLY bear a cross and die for the sin of the world. He also wanted all who were to follow Him to understand that they would also have to be willing to face the same thing… and face it with the same willing and submissive attitude in their heart.
So how can we do this? What does it take for us to ‘take up the cross’ and ‘follow Him’? I believe it takes 2 things… commitment and courage!
Commitment/Dedication for Christ!
24 Then Jesus told his disciples, "If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.
I don’t know of anyone who is willing to die for ANYTHING unless there is first an unwavering dedication or commitment to that certain thing or person.
In a marriage, we first dedicate ourselves to our spouse and within that dedication and commitment we pledge to them on our wedding day… we have to be committed to them for the marriage to work!
In the same way when we sign up to defend our nation in the military, there are many reasons that people do it… education, travel and an opportunity to learn a skill or trade to take with them in life… but the underlying requirement for any soldier or airman or sailor is an unbending dedication and commitment to their country! With that commitment and dedication comes the requirement and call for all soldiers, sailors and airmen to DIE if needed in defense of this country…
So I want us to understand that our service to Christ is the same! We cannot serve Him without a dedicated and committed heart! We are called to commit all of who we are to Him… to the very point of death if needed. But this is where the 2nd part of this commitment comes in… this is where the commitment is proven! And that is the courage and boldness to stay true to your commitment to Christ!
Courage/Boldness for Christ!
24 Then Jesus told his disciples, "If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.
The mere fact that Jesus is calling us to die is a fact that terrifies most believers. I believe this is why we as a church… that religious denominations in general have gravitated away from what the Bible ACTUALLY calls us to…
We have left what Scripture says and we have gone to a more sanitized and more user friendly version that says we are NOT called to die, but that we could be called at some time or another to endure some hardship or trouble for Jesus.
But the fact of the matter is that as a disciple of Jesus… as a follower of Christ… He is calling you to DIE! Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s book “The Cost of Discipleship” tells us what God requires according to the Bible and Dietrich says, “When Christ calls a man, He bids him come and die." To give ALL of who he is and be willing to die for the cause and sake of Christ!
Those of us in this room who are married would not have a second thought about giving our life for our spouse… a robber comes into our home and threatens our family…we will jump right into action without question… and without reservation!!
When we take that vow of marriage we understand that our life is NO longer our own and that we are willing to lay down our life for the one we have chosen to live with and abide with for a lifetime!
Likewise to all of those who have served our country in the military. When you enlist, you enlist with the full understanding that you are being called by your country to come and DIE… to defend her at all cost!
Do we SEEK death or pray that we encounter death in any form when we get married or when we join the military? NO! Absolutely not! We desire to live because that is how we were created… to live! But in these cases even though our programming is to LIVE… we are willing to sacrifice ourselves for something greater! Our spouse! Our country!
Now when we look at the calling of the believer to be a disciple of Jesus, we need to understand that when Christ calls us… He calls us to give our life! Christ calls us to be willing to die for Him! Jesus even tells us in this passage this morning that IF we try to save our lives… that we will lose it, but if we lose our lives for HIS sake… our lives are saved!
What this means is that when we are called as disciples, we are called to give ALL of who we are and we are willing to lay down our lives for the cause of Christ!
This is a hard teaching and many simply cannot wrap their minds around it… and for good reason! Our willingness to lay down our lives for Christ is not something that comes naturally! It is only through our commitment to Him that we can be strong and courageous… it is only thru our love and dedication to Him that we can exhibit the boldness needed under fire!
That courage and that boldness needed are not something we can produce, but they are instilled within us by the Holy Spirit that indwells our heart and soul. The early church experienced this infusion of boldness in their ministry…
In Acts 2, Peter boldly denounces the crowd for crucifying Jesus and calls them to repentance…
In Acts 3 Peter again boldly declares that Jesus was falsely accused and put to death and calls the people to repentance…
In Acts 4 Peter is commanded by the religious leaders to stop preaching and teaching in Jesus name. Peter denounces this command and tells the religious leaders that he must obey God’s command over theirs…
In Acts 4 the religious leaders saw the boldness and courage of the disciples and realized it was because they had been with Jesus…
In Acts 4 the disciples prayed a prayer… NOT for protection from the religious leaders but for the boldness and courage to continue being obedient in sharing Jesus to others. God honored their courage and boldness by infusing them with even more of the same…
In Acts 5 again the religious leaders demand that they stop teaching in Jesus name, and again Peter steps up and says that it is God they must obey and not man, declaring that God who raised Jesus from the dead… the same Jesus YOU crucified… BOLDNESS was a critical part of the growth of the fellowship in the early church
Finally later in chapter 5 we see that the apostles were flogged and beaten by the religious leaders and again chastised NOT to teach or preach in the name of Jesus… to which the disciples left rejoicing that they had been deemed worthy of suffering for the sake of Christ!
Now I don’t know about you but that is a definition of courage to me… they knew what was going to happen, they understood the consequences of their actions and yet they still had the courage to submit and surrender their life to Christ…they were willing to ‘take up the cross’ and ‘follow Jesus’ they understood what it meant and they were still willing… this is because they were fully submitted and in service to Jesus!
They understood the calling of Christ was a NOT a calling to a longer life here in this world or a more comfortable life… but to a calling to die for the cause of Christ… a call to be willing to die for the sake of Christ.
Conclusion:
The old man hobbled along being prodded by the rough-shod soldiers who had little sympathy for him. Pushing him up the ramp to the platform where a single pole had been erected. The soldiers tied him to the pole and stepped down from the platform.
The governor of the province rose and declared, “"Take the oath and I [will] let you go, revile Christ,"… the old man looked heavenward and then back down at the governor and said: "For 86 yrs have I been His servant, and He has done me no wrong, and how can I blaspheme my King who saved me?"
This man had served God for 86 yrs and now was facing death. The man’s name was Polycarp, the Bishop of Smyrna… the date was sometime around the year 155 AD and here was a man who understood the calling of Christ!
Tradition teaches us that Polycarp was a disciple of the Apostle John and that Polycarp had been witness to the teachings of one who had been in the presence of Jesus. Polycarp was taught by John and I am sure that if that was the case, Polycarp also saw in the eyes of John and understood HIS conviction and commitment… understood HIS willingness to give of his life for Christ…which he had!
Polycarp was dedicated to serving the Savior who had delivered him from sin…
Polycarp was committed to serving the Lord who demanded obedience and surrender…
Polycarp understood that a calling from Christ was a calling to come and die…
TOTAL surrender and unwavering trust are the way of the disciple.
To be a soldier for your country, you have to be willing take the command of your superior and walk into to death… To be a good husband or wife, you need to be willing to…at whatever the cost… give your life for your spouse!
To be the disciple Jesus wants you to be, you MUST be willing… to surrender your life to Him! You must be willing to totally commit to whatever He desires and to wherever He sends you… You must be willing to take up the cross of death for the cause of Christ!
Now there are not many of us here today that God is going to require us to give our lives for His sake…at least not physically. You may never be called to sacrifice your life and die for the cause of Christ! But Jesus says here that if you are to be His disciple…you must be willing to do it!
So preacher how does this apply to me in my life? Do I have to go out and find a cause where I can give my life… where I can sacrifice and die for Jesus? NO… that is NOT what Jesus is saying! Jesus is calling ALL who would follow Him to take up the cross of death… to surrender their lives to Him and for Him!
We must be willing to go so far as death in our commitment and dedication to Christ. We must be brave and courageous in our service to Him knowing that this is our duty and sacrifice FOR Him. There will be times when certain believers among us will be called upon to give their life… but for most of us the giving of our life will be simply the total surrender of our self to HIM… surrender to the Lordship of Christ in our lives!
Is He Lord of your life today? Are you willing to surrender ALL to Him today? Have you committed your everything to Him? Have you laid down your life and committed to Christ and His calling?
Don’t answer these questions in a flippant or nonchalant manner… a commitment to God… a surrender of the heart and soul to Him is a serious and deeply solemn thing… If you cannot say that you have fully surrendered to Christ… Jesus says you cannot be His disciple!
In the church today there is a lot of ‘easy believeism’ where we tell people all they have to do is believe… but we don’t stress the meaning of that belief… the meaning and the commitment required FOR that belief!
True fellowship can only be experience by the people of God who have fully surrendered and have given themselves over to Him. Its not about what others do or don’t do… its not about your good works… its about your faith in Him and your willingness to surrender TOTALLY and COMPLETELY to Christ… to take up the cross of death and march bravely toward the enemy regardless of the cost!
Do you want to experience true fellowship in the body of Christ? SURRENDER!
Do you want to know the joy and peace that only Christ can bring? Take up the cross of death and commit to Christ to the death!
As Steven comes to lead us, I call on ALL Oak Park members to come and make that commitment to God… come in view of all here to show to the world and to the enemy… I stand with Christ and I stand with Him NO MATTER the cost! Are you willing to step out and stand for Christ today? Come as we begin to sing…
