“Then He said to them all (the people and His disciples: Mark 8:34), “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. ²⁴ For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.”

Luke 9:23-24

There are not one million ways available to becoming a victorious disciple. The only ways available towards becoming a victorious disciple is given to us in verse 23 of the Scripture we read above, and they are: (1) Desire to follow after Christ, (2) Denying of oneself (3) Taking up one’s cross daily and; (4) Following Christ (What does it mean to follow Christ).

1) Desire to Follow After Christ

The Starting point to becoming a victorious disciple is in the desire to follow after Christ. Not many people that knew Jesus in His days actually did become His Disciples. A larger number of the Pharisees and the Sadducees never did. Apart from Joseph Arimathea and Nicodemus who were secretly Jesus’ disciples, many of their other colleagues never were His disciples. Discipleship begins in true followership, and not just knowing or having an idea of who Christ is. A disciple is a man or a woman who follows wholeheartedly and not halfheartedly. Our desire or motive to follow Christ should be on the basis of who He is. In Matthew 19:27-29, the Bible says:

“Then Peter answered and said to Him, “See, we have left all and followed You (Meaning: WE HAVE LEFT OUR BUSINESS, OUR CAREER, OUR AMBITION, OUR FAMILY, OUR FRIENDS et cetera). Therefore, what shall we have?” Now, you would notice here that the question of WHAT SHALL WE HAVE come after they had followed. If you read Matthew 4:18-22, the Bible didn’t record that there was some kind of bargaining between Jesus and the people that He called to be His disciples.

“And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. ¹⁹ Then He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” ²⁰ They immediately left their nets and followed Him. ²¹ 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. He called them, ²² and immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.”

So, the disciples left everything first before they started thinking about “WHAT SHALL WE HAVE.” So, becoming a victorious disciple begins from the desire to follow after Christ wholeheartedly, not because of the bread, but because of the WORK. There is a work to be done and that work should be the motivation for following and nothing else.

See Jesus’ response to Peter’s question: “So Jesus said to them, “Assuredly I say to you, that in the regeneration, when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. ²⁹ And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My name’s sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life.”

2) Denying of Oneself/Self-Denial

“And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. “

Galatians 5:24

 

The second way towards becoming a victorious disciple is in denying oneself or self-denial. Self-denial is perhaps one of the most difficult things to do and it is an all-encompassing subject matter that cuts across many divides.

Self-Denial Means: You Have Put Under or Suppress Everything That Has to Do with Self Gratification. It Means to Discipline Oneself Just for The Sake of Pleasing the Master. Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 9:27: “But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.” Also in Philippians 3:7-8, the same apostle Paul wrote: “But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. ⁸ Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ.”

Self-denial also means you have surrendered your own life and you have picked the life of Christ. So, everything that has to do with Me, Myself and I, is completely gone. Everything that has to do with pleasure or carnality is absolutely gone. Colossians 3:3-5 says: “For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. ⁴ When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. ⁵ Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.”

There are times you need to deny yourself as well for the sake of yourself or for the sake of others around you. There are times for example that I would feel like taking a chilled bottle of coke but I would restrain myself from doing so simply because of health consideration. There are times you would not do certain things as well because it simply would not go down well with the people around you.

Romans 14:19-21 says:

“Therefore, let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may edify another. ²⁰ Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All things indeed are pure, but it is evil for the man who eats with offense. ²¹ It is good neither to eat meat nor drink wine nor do anything by which your brother stumbles or is offended or is made weak.”

1 Corinthians 9:19-23 says:

“For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win the more; ²⁰ and to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews; to those who are under the law, as under the law, that I might win those who are under the law; ²¹ to those who are without law, as without law (not being without law toward God, but under law toward Christ), that I might win those who are without law; ²² to the weak I became as weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. ²³ Now this I do for the gospel’s sake, that I may be partaker of it with you.”

(3) Taking Up One’s Cross Daily

“And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.”

Luke 14:27

The third way towards becoming a victorious disciple is in Taking Up One’s Cross Daily. Sometimes, being a disciple of Christ does not come on the bed of roses. The early disciples can testify to the fact that following Christ does not happen on the bed of roses. The cross that Jesus was talking about here isn’t you having a physical cross that you daily carry on your head and walk about with. Taking up one’s cross daily as used by Jesus here is a Metaphor! The cross for Jesus was not something that was easy to bear. The cross for Jesus represented a painful but worthwhile experience.

The road to becoming a victorious disciple sometimes is not laced with gold or diamond, it could sometimes be rough or discouraging to thread. The apostle Paul gave his own experience and I want us to see it.

“Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? So am I. ²³ Are they ministers of Christ? —I speak as a fool—I am more: in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequently, in deaths often. ²⁴ From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one. ²⁵ Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep; ²⁶ in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; ²⁷ in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fasting often, in cold and nakedness— ²⁸ besides the other things, what comes upon me daily: my deep concern for all the churches.”

2 Corinthians 11:22-28

So, take up your cross daily sometimes mean that going through stuff that could threaten your own very existence and still, you are following Christ. You know, it is easy to follow Christ when things are going on smoothly and rosy for you. What about when the other side is the case? Would you still be willing to follow Christ? Would you still be willing to take up your cross daily? Becoming a victorious disciple requires that you take up your cross daily and following the Master.

(4) Following Christ

“Now great multitudes went with Him. And He turned and said to them, ²⁶ “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.”

Luke 14:25-26

The fourth way towards becoming a victorious disciple is in Following Christ! This is somewhat different from the desire to follow Christ. Now, this verse of the Bible encompasses all that we have been saying since the beginning of this message. Following Christ is indeed a serious subject matter and Jesus at no point in time hid what it entails to be His true disciples.

What does following Christ mean? Following Christ simply means following in His steps. 1 Peter 2:21 says: “For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps.”

Following Christ also means keeping and doing His commandments. 1 John 2:3-6 says: “Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. ⁴ He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. ⁵ But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. ⁶ He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.”

I believe you have learnt something!

Thanks for the gift of your time, Obayomi Abiola Benjamin!
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