Luke 9:23-27
23 And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. 24 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it. 25 For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away? 26 For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father’s, and of the holy angels. 27 But I tell you of a truth, there be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the kingdom of God. KJV
In a day and age when so much Christian preaching and teaching is available, how can we know which is beneficial for spiritual growth? There are Christian book stores almost in every town and they are all filled with recently written books about the Christian religion. We now have Christian television channels that claim devotion to promoting the Gospel through preaching, teaching and singing on the airways via satellites. Then of course there's the fact that many of the teachings are contrary to one another and to the scriptures. So now we can see some of the dilemma that Christianity faces today.
So how can we discern the good from the bad? Well many measure a teaching or sermon message by the way it makes them feel or whether it was a positive or negative conveyance. Then there are some who will check it by referencing the scriptures but fail to study and understand what the scriptures themselves proclaim. But here is another factor to consider, is the spoken message the only part to be concerned with? Meaning, is the message that is being presented uninfluenced by the attitude, character and life style of the conveyor? I think most have heard that "a picture is worth a thousand words" or that "actions speak louder than words". Well I think they are and we would be gullible to think that the message is uninfluenced by the speaker's character and life style.
Now we come to the scripture Luke 9:23-27 where Jesus is telling everyone the requisite for following Him and becoming His disciple. It is two fold, first deny yourself and secondly take up your cross and one must do this daily. Now these are Jesus' own words here so I don't think we can omit them or change their meaning and still be a disciple of Jesus. The greek word in this text is aparneomai and it means "to deny utterly or to disown" according to Strong's Greek Dictionary. So then the first part is to completely deny yourself, to disown yourself and allow Jesus to take ownership.
Secondly, there is the command to take up your cross, the greek word is stauros meaning "cross or an exposure to death" according to Stong's Greek Dictionary. Death by the cross was not immediate or painless but rather a very agonizing and painful death. The more one fights against the cross the more painful and lasting it becomes, the more quickly one yields the less painful a more quickly death occurs.
The obedience to these requisites will be apparent in the life of Christ's disciples. In Matthew 10:38 Jesus said, " If you refuse to take up your cross and follow me, you are not worthy of being mine." So if someone's lifestyle and character indicate the the lack of self denial and the cross is it possible that they are following Jesus as His disciple? According to Jesus the answer is no. The new testament is full of warnings about false teachers and false prophets, Jesus warned us and so did Paul, James, Peter, John and Jude. Where do you suppose these false teachers come from?
Acts 20:28-30
28 “And now beware! Be sure that you feed and shepherd God’s flock—his church, purchased with his blood—over whom the Holy Spirit has appointed you as elders.* 29 I know full well that false teachers, like vicious wolves, will come in among you after I leave, not sparing the flock. 30 Even some of you will distort the truth in order to draw a following. NLT
2 Peter 2:1-3
1 But there were also false prophets in Israel, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will cleverly teach their destructive heresies about God and even turn against their Master who bought them. Theirs will be a swift and terrible end. 2 Many will follow their evil teaching and shameful immorality. And because of them, Christ and his true way will be slandered. 3 In their greed they will make up clever lies to get hold of your money. But God condemned them long ago, and their destruction is on the way. NLT
Seems to me they come from among us and not from other religions. Peter also said that many will follow them so just because they have a large church or following isn't justification that there message is true. Paul said to the beievers in Galatia, "You are already following a different way that pretends to be the Good News but is not the Good News at all. You are being fooled by those who twist and change the truth concerning Christ." In Matthew chapter 7 Jesus said, “Not all people who sound religious are really godly. They may refer to me as ‘Lord,’ but they still won’t enter the Kingdom of Heaven. The decisive issue is whether they obey my Father in heaven. On judgment day many will tell me, ‘Lord, Lord, we prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.’ But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Go away; the things you did were unauthorized.* ’
I have found that of all the books I have read, the books that are good and beneficial for spiritual growth, are those which the authors were not rich in material wealth but rather had endured severe struggles in this life. Like Paul they not only know the Lord Jesus but they know what it is to suffer with the Lord Jesus. If there is no evidence of denying self and shouldering the cross on a daily basis then it is not Jesus who is being followed and if they are not following Jesus then realistically they can not teach or help you or I to follow Jesus.
May God help us all not to be a gullible people but rather those who test and prove the messenger as well as the message.
23 And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. 24 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it. 25 For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away? 26 For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father’s, and of the holy angels. 27 But I tell you of a truth, there be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the kingdom of God. KJV
In a day and age when so much Christian preaching and teaching is available, how can we know which is beneficial for spiritual growth? There are Christian book stores almost in every town and they are all filled with recently written books about the Christian religion. We now have Christian television channels that claim devotion to promoting the Gospel through preaching, teaching and singing on the airways via satellites. Then of course there's the fact that many of the teachings are contrary to one another and to the scriptures. So now we can see some of the dilemma that Christianity faces today.
So how can we discern the good from the bad? Well many measure a teaching or sermon message by the way it makes them feel or whether it was a positive or negative conveyance. Then there are some who will check it by referencing the scriptures but fail to study and understand what the scriptures themselves proclaim. But here is another factor to consider, is the spoken message the only part to be concerned with? Meaning, is the message that is being presented uninfluenced by the attitude, character and life style of the conveyor? I think most have heard that "a picture is worth a thousand words" or that "actions speak louder than words". Well I think they are and we would be gullible to think that the message is uninfluenced by the speaker's character and life style.
Now we come to the scripture Luke 9:23-27 where Jesus is telling everyone the requisite for following Him and becoming His disciple. It is two fold, first deny yourself and secondly take up your cross and one must do this daily. Now these are Jesus' own words here so I don't think we can omit them or change their meaning and still be a disciple of Jesus. The greek word in this text is aparneomai and it means "to deny utterly or to disown" according to Strong's Greek Dictionary. So then the first part is to completely deny yourself, to disown yourself and allow Jesus to take ownership.
Secondly, there is the command to take up your cross, the greek word is stauros meaning "cross or an exposure to death" according to Stong's Greek Dictionary. Death by the cross was not immediate or painless but rather a very agonizing and painful death. The more one fights against the cross the more painful and lasting it becomes, the more quickly one yields the less painful a more quickly death occurs.
The obedience to these requisites will be apparent in the life of Christ's disciples. In Matthew 10:38 Jesus said, " If you refuse to take up your cross and follow me, you are not worthy of being mine." So if someone's lifestyle and character indicate the the lack of self denial and the cross is it possible that they are following Jesus as His disciple? According to Jesus the answer is no. The new testament is full of warnings about false teachers and false prophets, Jesus warned us and so did Paul, James, Peter, John and Jude. Where do you suppose these false teachers come from?
Acts 20:28-30
28 “And now beware! Be sure that you feed and shepherd God’s flock—his church, purchased with his blood—over whom the Holy Spirit has appointed you as elders.* 29 I know full well that false teachers, like vicious wolves, will come in among you after I leave, not sparing the flock. 30 Even some of you will distort the truth in order to draw a following. NLT
2 Peter 2:1-3
1 But there were also false prophets in Israel, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will cleverly teach their destructive heresies about God and even turn against their Master who bought them. Theirs will be a swift and terrible end. 2 Many will follow their evil teaching and shameful immorality. And because of them, Christ and his true way will be slandered. 3 In their greed they will make up clever lies to get hold of your money. But God condemned them long ago, and their destruction is on the way. NLT
Seems to me they come from among us and not from other religions. Peter also said that many will follow them so just because they have a large church or following isn't justification that there message is true. Paul said to the beievers in Galatia, "You are already following a different way that pretends to be the Good News but is not the Good News at all. You are being fooled by those who twist and change the truth concerning Christ." In Matthew chapter 7 Jesus said, “Not all people who sound religious are really godly. They may refer to me as ‘Lord,’ but they still won’t enter the Kingdom of Heaven. The decisive issue is whether they obey my Father in heaven. On judgment day many will tell me, ‘Lord, Lord, we prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.’ But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Go away; the things you did were unauthorized.* ’
I have found that of all the books I have read, the books that are good and beneficial for spiritual growth, are those which the authors were not rich in material wealth but rather had endured severe struggles in this life. Like Paul they not only know the Lord Jesus but they know what it is to suffer with the Lord Jesus. If there is no evidence of denying self and shouldering the cross on a daily basis then it is not Jesus who is being followed and if they are not following Jesus then realistically they can not teach or help you or I to follow Jesus.
May God help us all not to be a gullible people but rather those who test and prove the messenger as well as the message.
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