Jesus said if any man will come after me, and that is the word behind. And here is the decision-making process. When somebody surrenders to Jesus Christ, they are surrendering to come behind Him. Every single person has a calling to come behind Jesus. That's it!
If any man will come behind me, and there are three things, or principles I would like to share with you.
Principle number 1: Let him deny himself.
Now the word deny, ARNEOMAI, means to reject. This is what it means in the Greek. But first I'll tell you what it doesn't mean.
It doesn't mean that you are to deny yourself an ice cream cone after church or after bible study. It means to reject yourself, period!
The next phrase says, "and take up his cross." And some think that means whatever hardships I go through today. But that's not what it means.
You see, according to Romans Chapter 6, when Jesus died on the cross, He died my death. Therefore I have died, and every day my flesh is nailed to the cross and I'm to carry that cross.
And thirdly He says "follow me." Do you see what He's saying here?
He is saying "Follow me," meaning that the position is behind Him.
A good text would be Galatians 2:20, where Paul says I have been crucified in Christ, and the life that I now live, he says I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.
You see, he has died. I don't live any more. I don't do what I want to do because I don't live, I died. Paul says I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. And the life that I now live, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me.
He just said it all in one verse. Reject yourself!
I have had a conviction for a long time that our struggle every day in life is more against God than it is against Satan. Why? Because our flesh is continually trying to get down off that cross, and trying to get away from the struggles of life.
Great word - thanks brother Jesse. As a matter of interest, I noticed that there are two separate Greek words used for "after" (as in "come AFTER me") & "follow". In Hindi & Urdu, they use the one word, which is essentially, to "come behind". And in an example of a person being guided on an unknown path to his destination: rather than him walking beside the guide, he would normally walk closely behind him as he just might lose sight of his guide in the midst of the crowd.
This speaks to us of the 'crowd' of attractions, distractions, & voices all around us and if we're to follow our Master without losing sight of him in that crowd, we need to be right behind Him, focussed on Him & following in His Steps. Many can lose their way when they take their eyes off Him & it becomes all the more difficult to get onto the right path, with maybe some pain & heartache along the way. But when the guide sees that his fellow-traveller has become lost, he calls out to him - and how welcome is that voice offering help & direction. Just a few thoughts that came to mind after reading your comment.
I think it's important to always keep in mind that our proper position is always behind Christ. We are to follow Him. That is a believers top priority, just as in Luke 9:51-56 where we see the priority of Jesus when it was time for Him to go to the cross, He steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem! The word steadfastly means a fixed established position. When it was time to go and die, He was fixed to go to Jerusalem. You couldn't get Him off track. This is probably where Paul got his ministry. In Philippians, when he strives for the high calling in Christ Jesus, he has got one thing in mind, one direction in where he heads, and that is the mission for which Christ has sent him for.
Even if a Christian doesn't know what special ministry, or kind of ministry, or even what area God will have you work in, you only have one thing to be fixed on, and that is to grow in the grace and knowledge of your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Following behind Christ should be our established fixed position. And just as Jesus had His eyes fixed toward Jerusalem, so should our eyes be fixed on Christ.
I think we spend a lot of time trying to do things our way, trying to get down off that cross. It's like our motors are always running. When I see a picture of a sailboat, it always ministers to my heart. It reminds me that it's time to turn the motor off, hoist up the sail, and go wherever the wind takes you. That to me is what it means to follow Christ!
Jesse Scripture in Romans 7:14-25 Paul by revelation gave a really good summation that we all deal with, thank God there's a day coming when we will be released from this body of death.
Jesus said if any man will come after me, and that is the word behind. And here is the decision-making process. When somebody surrenders to Jesus Christ, they are surrendering to come behind Him. Every single person has a calling to come behind Jesus. That's it!
If any man will come behind me, and there are three things, or principles I would like to share with you.
Principle number 1: Let him deny himself.
Now the word deny, ARNEOMAI, means to reject. This is what it means in the Greek. But first I'll tell you what it doesn't mean.
It doesn't mean that you are to deny yourself an ice cream cone after church or after bible study. It means to reject yourself, period!
The next phrase says, "and take up his cross." And some think that means whatever hardships I go through today. But that's not what it means.
You see, according to Romans Chapter 6, when Jesus died on the cross, He died my death. Therefore I have died, and every day my flesh is nailed to the cross and I'm to carry that cross.
And thirdly He says "follow me." Do you see what He's saying here?
He is saying "Follow me," meaning that the position is behind Him.
A good text would be Galatians 2:20, where Paul says I have been crucified in Christ, and the life that I now live, he says I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.
You see, he has died. I don't live any more. I don't do what I want to do because I don't live, I died. Paul says I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. And the life that I now live, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me.
He just said it all in one verse. Reject yourself!
I have had a conviction for a long time that our struggle every day in life is more against God than it is against Satan. Why? Because our flesh is continually trying to get down off that cross, and trying to get away from the struggles of life.
This speaks to us of the 'crowd' of attractions, distractions, & voices all around us and if we're to follow our Master without losing sight of him in that crowd, we need to be right behind Him, focussed on Him & following in His Steps. Many can lose their way when they take their eyes off Him & it becomes all the more difficult to get onto the right path, with maybe some pain & heartache along the way. But when the guide sees that his fellow-traveller has become lost, he calls out to him - and how welcome is that voice offering help & direction. Just a few thoughts that came to mind after reading your comment.
That is a beautiful analogy!
I think it's important to always keep in mind that our proper position is always behind Christ. We are to follow Him. That is a believers top priority, just as in Luke 9:51-56 where we see the priority of Jesus when it was time for Him to go to the cross, He steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem! The word steadfastly means a fixed established position. When it was time to go and die, He was fixed to go to Jerusalem. You couldn't get Him off track. This is probably where Paul got his ministry. In Philippians, when he strives for the high calling in Christ Jesus, he has got one thing in mind, one direction in where he heads, and that is the mission for which Christ has sent him for.
Even if a Christian doesn't know what special ministry, or kind of ministry, or even what area God will have you work in, you only have one thing to be fixed on, and that is to grow in the grace and knowledge of your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Following behind Christ should be our established fixed position. And just as Jesus had His eyes fixed toward Jerusalem, so should our eyes be fixed on Christ.
Thanks for giving that more light!!
God bless.
I think we spend a lot of time trying to do things our way, trying to get down off that cross. It's like our motors are always running. When I see a picture of a sailboat, it always ministers to my heart. It reminds me that it's time to turn the motor off, hoist up the sail, and go wherever the wind takes you. That to me is what it means to follow Christ!
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