On the 17th of March, 2010, a SEAL team 6 squadron of
special operators were attempting to take out an enemy that was barricaded
inside a compound in Afghanistan. Among the special operators involved in the
mission was Adam Brown, a man that had overcome tremendous obstacles in his
life such as drug addiction as the result of accepting Jesus as his Savior. In
the years following his conversion, he had continued an uphill battle against
all sorts of difficulties and physical impairments in order to eventually be
accepted as a member of one of the most elite fighting forces in the
world. And he did so while
maintaining his testimony as one who had been redeemed by the power of Christ
to save. On this particular night,
the U.S. Forces mission was in grave danger of being compromised. They were engaging the enemy in a fire
fight, and a number of their team had become pinned down by very heavy fire
from the enemy compound. In an effort to protect his men, Adam Brown left the
safety of his position and charged
the enemy to gain a better vantage point, drawing fire away from his pinned
down comrades and placing himself in the direct line of fire. His selfless
action relieved the attack on his men, but unfortunately the action resulted in
Adam being struck by enemy fire. One other member of his team was
also wounded, but Adam’s heroic action saved the rest of his team. However, tragically, Adam Brown
paid the ultimate sacrifice as the result of his wounds. He left behind a wife and two young
children. There is a book written
about Adam called Fearless, that will be coming out in the near future as a
movie. The producers say that they
will not diminish the Christian testimony that Adam had. I hope that it will be a way to expand
Adam’s impact for the Lord to millions of people as the Lord continues to use
his life as a witness for the gospel.
We rightly hold up such men as Adam Brown as the finest
examples of heroism. Jesus Himself
said that “greater love has no man than this, than a man lays down his life for
his friends.” We often talk about
our Christianity in terms of God loving us, and our love for God. But I wonder how far are we willing to
take that kind of love? Christ
loved us so much that He was willing to become the ultimate sacrifice for
us. But the question I put to you
today is are you willing to lay down your life because of your love for Christ?
So I have entitled today’s message as The Ultimate
Sacrifice. And this message should
be viewed in the context of the passage immediately before in which the rich
young ruler was unwilling to sacrifice his riches and possessions which defined
his life in order to follow Christ and enter into eternal life. And in response to that tragic response
to the gospel, in vs. 28 Peter says, "Behold, we have left
everything and followed You." And Matthew records that Peter adds to that
statement, “what then shall there be for us?”
Jesus answers in vs. 29 that “Truly I say to you, there is
no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the
sake of the kingdom of God, who will not receive many times as much at this
time and in the age to come, eternal life.” In other words, there will be an eternal reward for those
that are willing to make earthly sacrifices for the sake of the kingdom of
God.
Now in that context of sacrifice, Jesus takes the 12
disciples apart from the crowd and tells them that He is going to give Himself
as the ultimate sacrifice. He says
in vs. 31, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all things which are
written through the prophets about the Son of Man will be accomplished. For He will be handed over to the
Gentiles, and will be mocked and mistreated and spit upon, and after they have scourged Him, they
will kill Him; and the third day He will rise again.”
But the disciples don’t understand what He is talking
about. Vs. 34 “But the disciples
understood none of these things, and the meaning of this statement was hidden
from them, and they did not comprehend the things that were said.” Luke says the same thing three
different ways I think to emphasize the utter lack of comprehension concerning
the purpose and plan of the Messiah.
He says they couldn’t understand it, they couldn’t see it, and they
couldn’t comprehend it. In other
words, they didn’t have a clue what He was talking about.
Now the problem wasn’t that Jesus wasn’t making Himself
clear, the problem was that what Jesus was saying didn’t mesh with their
theology. They had their Messianic
theology all worked out. All Jews
knew what the rabbis taught concerning the coming of the Messiah. Their theology taught that when the
Messiah comes, He would be a king in the line of David, and He would take back
the throne of Israel. He was going
to conquer all the enemies of Israel.
He would bring prosperity and blessing back to the Jews. They believed that Israel would then
take it’s place as the reigning nation of the world and all the other nations
would come bow down to them.
The thing is, they had so many scriptures that seemed to
back up that theology that I cannot even begin to show them to you this
morning. We don’t have time. But practically half of the Psalms
speak of this King who will crush all their enemies and rule over the world and
bring peace to Israel. I’ll just
give you an example from Isaiah and you can follow this on your own if you are
so inclined. Isaiah 9:6-7 “For a child will be born to us, a son will be given
to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be
called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. 7
There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, On the
throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with
justice and righteousness from then on and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of
hosts will accomplish this.”
So the disciples have a big problem with what Jesus is
saying. That’s why Luke says it
three different ways that they couldn’t understand it. Their theology didn’t allow for a
suffering Savior. They believed in
a conquering king. And so Jesus
announcing that He was going to be arrested and killed must mean that He is not
really the Messiah. And that is a real
problem for them, because they have left their homes, their families and their
jobs in order to follow Him, in hope that when He comes into His kingdom, they
will sit on thrones on his right hand and left hand and judge the nations with
Him. They think that they have too
much invested in this guy to see Him get killed off.
The problem is that they don’t include all the scriptural
prophecies in their theology, because they have a theology that they
particularly like and they don’t fit the template. They like their prosperity and blessing theology just
fine. But no one likes the
suffering and dying theology. So
all the scriptures that talked about suffering and dying they somehow had
spiritualized or just out right ignored for the sake of their theology.
Folks, I hope you are getting the picture here. I hope you are catching the
analogy. Because the modern church
today has it’s own pet theology as well.
And the God of the Bible doesn’t really always mesh with our
theology. The Christian experience
that we like to promote and believe in is often at odds with the Christian
experience that is taught in the Bible.
I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news. But I’m just telling you what the Bible says. I’m telling you what Jesus says. And I’m afraid that the truth of the
gospel has run afoul of a lot of so called evangelical Christian’s
theology. So the dilemma that a
lot of people have is do we continue to worship our pet view of God, the God
that we think is going to work everything out for us so that we never have to get
sick, we never have to suffer, we never lose our possessions, we never go
bankrupt, we never get persecuted… or do we pick up our cross and follow Jesus
Christ to the cross?
Do I need to remind you of the words of Jesus in Luke 9:23-24 “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. 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.”
Now Jesus references that the prophets spoke of the
sufferings that were prescribed for Him.
And I just want to share a couple of them with you, just so you know
what He was talking about. I told
you while ago that many references are found in the Psalms that speak of the
Messiah being a conquering King.
But we have to be careful not to cherry pick our way through the
scriptures, claiming the ones we like and discarding the ones we don’t. The Jews should have considered for
instance Psalm 22 which speaks of the sufferings of Christ. Psalm 22:1-2 “My God, my God, why have You
forsaken me? Far from my deliverance are the words of my groaning. O my God, I cry by day, but You do not
answer; And by night, but I have no rest.” It goes on to say in vs. 14 “I am poured out like water, And
all my bones are out of joint; My heart is like wax; It is melted within me. My strength is dried up like a potsherd,
And my tongue cleaves to my jaws; And You lay me in the dust of death. For dogs
have surrounded me; A band of evildoers has encompassed me; They pierced my
hands and my feet. I can count all
my bones. They look, they stare at me; They divide my garments among them, And for my clothing they
cast lots.” All of that would be
fulfilled at the cross.
Or perhaps they should have not only considered Isaiah 9,
but also Isaiah 53; 3, “He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows
and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face He was
despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our
sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and
afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed
for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His
scourging we are healed.”
Now why was Jesus taking them aside to tell them that He
must suffer and die? I believe it
was because Jesus was on His way to the cross. He was deliberately, methodically going according to the
plan predetermined in eternity past, that He would offer Himself as a sacrifice
for the sins of the world. He
would be the substitute for those that would trust in Him for the forgiveness
of their sins. This was the plan
of God from eternity past.
On the day of Pentecost after Jesus’ resurrection, Peter would make that
exact point in his message. In Acts
2:23 he says, “this Man, delivered
over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross
by the hands of godless men and put Him to death.”
Perhaps what the disciples fail to realize is that the
earthly ministry of Jesus Christ is coming to a close. He is on His way to Jerusalem. It is the Passover season and people
are joining them from the various regions and there is this huge entourage of
the multitude that will sweep into Jerusalem with Jesus riding on a donkey’s
colt and they will call out “Hosanna, to the Son of David; BLESSED IS HE WHO
COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD; Hosanna in the highest!” It’s going to seem like to the disciples
that Jesus is on His way to receiving the kingdom, He is about to be coronated,
and yet within a few days that very crowd that called out “Hosanna!” will cry
out, “away with Him, crucify Him!”
They do not realize that He is about to hand over the
dispensation of His kingdom, the stewardship of His kingdom to them. That He will be crucified and buried,
and in three days He will rise from the grave and a few weeks from then He will
ascend to His Father in Heaven.
They don’t understand that He will entrust the kingdom to them, and that
they will have to suffer the same hardships that He suffered. As the apostle Paul said in Phil. 3:10
“that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of
His sufferings, being conformed to His death.”
Jesus knew that they would indeed join with Him in the
fellowship of His sufferings.
Peter would be hanged upside down on a cross. James would die at Passover as well just 11 years later than
Jesus. Andrew would be
crucified. Matthew was killed by
the sword. James the son of
Alpheus was thrown from the temple and then clubbed until he died. Thomas was
killed with a spear. Matthias, who
took the place of Judas was beheaded as was the apostle Paul.
I’m sure that some of you sitting here today are thinking,
yeah, but that was the apostles.
They were specially picked out by Christ for that role and they will get
special recognition in heaven. But
that is not for us. They did that
so that we could live the victorious life of blessing and health and wealth.
I’m afraid that this false thinking has overtaken even the elect. I’m afraid that we have forgotten that
we are all called to be disciples.
And that we are called in the great commission to make disciples. I’m afraid that we are short selling
Christianity today as a pie in the sky and eat it here too type of religion
that requires no sacrifice on our part, no suffering. We are told it’s all
supposed to be joy and peace here on earth.
I would just like to briefly remind you of what Jesus had to
say about discipleship. He said in
Matt. 10:24 "A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a slave above his
master.” In Matt. 10:34-38 "Do not think that I came to bring
peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 "For I
came to SET A MAN AGAINST HIS FATHER, AND A DAUGHTER AGAINST HER MOTHER, AND A
DAUGHTER-IN-LAW AGAINST HER MOTHER-IN-LAW; 36 and A MAN'S ENEMIES WILL BE THE
MEMBERS OF HIS HOUSEHOLD. 37 "He who loves father or mother more than Me
is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy
of Me. 38 "And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not
worthy of Me.”
He taught His disciples in Luke 14 that must count the cost
if they were to enter the kingdom of God.
He said in Luke 14:33 “So then, none of you can be My disciple who does
not give up all his own possessions.”
He said in Matt. 10:22 "You will be hated by all because of My
name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved.”
Listen, I am afraid that we have short sold the gospel of
Jesus Christ. We have told
everyone that it doesn’t cost us anything to come to Christ when Jesus Himself
says that it will cost you your life.
It will cost you your family.
It may cost you your home.
It may cost you your possessions, your riches. I will guarantee you one thing it will cost; it will cost you your idols. Whatever it is that you are holding
onto. Whatever it is that you are
not willing to renounce for the sake of the kingdom.
But you say, wait a minute! What I am holding onto isn’t a sin. It’s not something that the Bible says
is a sin. Well, there is no law
against being rich is there? Yet,
because the rich young ruler was not willing to obey Christ and sell everything
and follow Him, he revealed it was an idol. He put his riches above following Christ. And he went away sad because he knew
that because he made his possessions his god that disqualified him from the
kingdom of heaven.
Listen, Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice for us that we
might make the ultimate sacrifice for Him. What is that, you ask?
It is surrendering your soul, your life, your ambitions, everything
surrendered to the authority, the Lordship of Jesus Christ. That is what discipleship
requires. Everything.
Jesus makes it clear in Mark 8 that salvation requires
complete trust and faith in Christ.
Not just a feeling, but acting on that faith by surrendering everything
to follow Him. Surrendering your
will, your life, your all for Him.
That is the only way to receive eternal life and become a disciple. And discipleship is a daily process of
crucifixion, of crucifying your life for His life lived in you. [Mar 8:34-37
NASB] 34 And He summoned the crowd with His disciples, and said to them,
"If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his
cross and follow Me. 35 "For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it,
but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel's will save it. 36
"For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his
soul? 37 "For what will a man give in exchange for his soul?”
Now let’s look in closing at a simple illustration that Luke
gives of a person who exemplifies leaving everything to become a disciple and
gain eternal life. As Jesus is
heading towards Jericho on His way to Jerusalem, there is a blind beggar
sitting by the road. Mark tells us
this man was named Bartimeaus.
Undoubtedly he was a fixture in the community. He probably had his spot by the gate that he sat at and
begged everyday. A blind man in
that day had very little other resources, there would have been no welfare
system. He was helpless, living on
the street and begging. All he had
would have been the cloak on his back that served as his coat and his bed. And the blind man heard the commotion,
he heard the crowd following Jesus and he asked someone what was going on. And they told him that Jesus of
Nazareth was passing by. And this
blind man hearing that springs into action. He begins crying out to Jesus in a loud voice.
Now this blind beggar illustrates the exemplary components
of what it means to become a disciple of Christ. First of all, notice that this man is desperate. He realizes that he has no other hope.
There is no possible cure for his blindness. Jesus is the only hope he has. So he yells as loudly as he can. And when they tell him to shut up he just screams all the
louder. He is absolutely
desperate. That marks the kind of
desperation that is required for those seeking eternal life.
Secondly, he is a beggar. That is a direct illustration of the principle Jesus
presented in the Sermon on the Mount;
He said blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of
God. The word used there actually
references the act of begging. Of
being helpless, hopeless, totally dependent on the kindness and mercy of
someone else. So desperation and
recognizing that you are spiritually bankrupt, a beggar.
Thirdly, He says, “Jesus, Son of David.” He has his theology right. They told him it was Jesus of Nazareth,
but he calls out “Jesus Son of David.”
It’s a Messianic title. He
calls Jesus his King. And then He
calls Him “Lord.” Kyrios. It is a word for deity, but it also
means Master, Sovereign, Possessor of All Things. This guy knows that Jesus is the Son of God and is
willing to surrender everything to Him.
Fourthly, he says, “have mercy on me.” This is an indication that he comes in
repentance. He comes asking for mercy.
Mercy is not getting what you deserve. He is asking Christ to be merciful. To not give him what he deserves as a
result of his sinfulness.
And fifthly, he recognizes that he was blind. When Jesus asks him what do you want Me
to do for you? He answers, “I want
to regain my sight.” He knows he
is blind. Now that may seem
obvious, but the fact is that most people are not saved because they don’t
recognize that they are lost. I
said last week that though it was sad that the rich young ruler went away from
Jesus without being saved, yet at least it was good that he went away having
been confronted with the fact that he was a sinner. Listen, you have to realize that you are a sinner before you
can be saved. You have to know
that you are lost. And when you
come to that realization and in desperation come to Jesus as your only hope of
salvation, and call on Him in faith and repentance than He will save you. This man not only recognizes that
he is blind, but he recognizes
that Jesus is the source of life.
So when Jesus hears him calling to Him He calls Bartimaeus
to be brought to him. And the
blind beggar throws off his cloak, gets up from the gate where he has been
sitting for years and comes to Jesus.
Jesus says to him in vs. 42, “Receive your sight; your faith
has made you well.” Actually, the
translators don’t do this justice.
Literally it is your faith has saved you. The Greek word is sozo, it means saved. Listen, Jesus didn’t need people’s
faith to heal them. Jesus healed
demoniacs, dead people (He brought them back to life). He healed people with faith and without
faith. He says that your faith has
saved you. You may not need faith
to be healed but you need faith to be saved, don’t you? Eph. 2:8 “For by grace you have been saved
through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.” [Heb 11:6
NASB] 6 And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to
God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.
And then look quickly at the conclusion of this man’s
salvation. Luke 18:43 “Immediately he regained his sight and began following
Him, glorifying God; and when all the people saw it, they gave praise to God.” This blind beggar becomes saved, and
then immediately he becomes a disciple.
He leaves everything and begins to follow Jesus. He has no interest in
going back to the squalor of the beggar’s corner by the gate. He doesn’t put back on the filthy rag
that was his cloak. He is given
sight and wants nothing more to do with the kind of life that he had
before. He knows there is nothing
of value there. He realizes that Jesus is the source of life and therefore
follows Him completely, leaving behind everything that once defined his
existence. And what was done in
his life by the transforming power of Jesus Christ causes people to glorify
God. That’s the power of
discipleship. That’s the result of
following Christ.
Maybe you are asking, Well, Roy, what does it mean to follow
Christ? How is that done on a
practical level? The purpose of our salvation is to make us like Christ. To be molded in His image. [Rom 8:29
NASB] 29 “For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed
to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many
brethren.” God gives us the Spirit
of Christ to live in our redeemed earthly bodies, that we might have the power
to become conformed to His image, that Christ may live in us. It is dying to ourselves, so that the
Holy Spirit may live through our bodies.
On a practical level that means being obedient to His word;
walking in accordance with the Holy Spirit who leads us by the word of God. What He tells us to do in His word we
do. Eph 2:10 “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good
works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.” And Romans 12: reminds us that even as
Christ laid down His life for the kingdom, so God requires of disciples that we
also lay down our lives for the kingdom.
Rom 12:1 “Therefore I urge
you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy
sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.” And that process can be painful as we
join in the fellowship of His sufferings.
Paul goes on to say in 2Tim. 2:3-5 “Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.
4 No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday
life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier. 5 Also if
anyone competes as an athlete, he does not win the prize unless he competes
according to the rules.”
Listen, there is a prize, a reward for those that suffer
with Christ, that leave everything to follow Him. Jesus told the disciples back in our text in Luke 18, “Truly
I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents
or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who will not receive many
times as much at this time and in the age to come, eternal life.” I hope that you will seek the eternal
reward that God has prepared for those that love him above all else. I pray that your eyes may receive
sight, so that having seen Jesus, you realize that He is the prize worth
surrendering everything to follow.
No comments:
Post a Comment