Becoming a Disciple of Jesus - Stephanie Ike Okafor

Culture is after do you. Jesus says deny you. I think it's so significant how Jesus starts this.

He doesn't say you know what, if you're going to be my disciple then you follow me and deny yourself. No, because if you don't know how to deny yourself and take up your cross you will negotiate with his standards. Let's go to the scripture, Matthew 16:24.

And the verse says, "Then Jesus said to his disciples, if anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me." I'm would encourage you to take notes because I often say this, whenever you're listening to a minister teach, write down the verses. In your own time, sit with the Lord and read those verses because there are things that the Holy Spirit will begin to unpack to you that you may not even hear from the minister, but it would go further than where we started because we're all operating by the same spirit. Right?

And so write these verses down. Now, as you're doing that, my message today is really centered on becoming a disciple. When the Lord Jesus is talking to his disciples and he tells them that you if you're going to come after me, you're going to deny yourself, take up your cross and follow me.

That word follow me literally translates and speaks to to become my disciple. Now, this will seem very interesting because Jesus is talking to his disciple. And he's telling them what it means to be a disciple.

And so what is going on here? They're already disciples, Jesus. This message is not for unbelievers.

This is a message to believers. And so to understand this, I think a a a a a an example, you know, that was sharing earlier is like a doctor. When First of all, the first service had no doctors in the room.

Are there any doctors in the room? Or everybody wants to be by the beach. All right.

>> [laughter] >> I'm sure somebody somewhere just said, "Hey, right here." But when the when an individual goes to medical school, when they graduate, they earn the title of becoming a doctor. But they have to go through residency. Because during residency, they're being trained, they're being supervised, and they're mastering, they're putting into practice what they learned in medical school.

Unless they complete their residency, they cannot go independent. So you can't just be a pediatrician because you went to medical school. You have to go through residency.

And so when you look at the idea of a doctor, it goes from identity to maturity. Because residency is what equips them to actually step into the capacity of what they studied for. And so when Jesus is talking to the disciples, the moment the disciples said yes to follow him, they stepped into identity.

But if they're going to fulfill the totality, the capacity of what it truly means to be a disciple, they must go through the journey of formation. They have to mature into the identity they have received. And so Jesus is speaking to them about how to truly walk with him as his disciples.

Now, what is so fascinating in this scripture is how it begins. Because Jesus says No, first of all, the scripture rather says, "Then Jesus said to his disciples." So, there's something that happened previously that led to the moment of why Jesus brings this up. So, prior to this moment Peter has a revelation.

Jesus has asked the disciples, "Who do men say that I am?" And they're all sharing. And then he says, "But who do you say that I am?" Because when it came to who the men say that I am, it was all wrong. Jesus says, "Okay, now who do you say that I am?" Peter says, "You are Christ, the son of the living God." Jesus tells him, "Wow, Peter.

Flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my father who is in heaven." Peter is having a moment. If you've studied about Peter, he is a very interesting fellow. Very extreme personality, that guy.

So, Peter is like, "Whoa. My thoughts are anointed. The moment I think something, it is the Lord who put it there." And you're going to see this arrogance in just a little bit.

Because shortly after, Jesus is talking to his disciples. And he's telling them, "I must go to You know, he's going to go to Jerusalem, and that he's going to suffer many things in Jerusalem, and he will be killed, and that he would be raised up on the third day." Peter has a thought. Peter realized, "The last time I had a thought, the father actually was the one speaking to me." So, in his arrogance, he [snorts] rebukes Jesus.

Look at Look at this scripture. It is the funniest thing. Peter rebukes him and says, "No, no, no, no, no.

That would not happen to you." And while he's doing this, you know, I love Jesus Whenever you you see conversations with Jesus in the Bible, pay attention to it. It is the most fascinating thing. Because we have we have this idea that while Peter is rebuking Jesus, Jesus is looking somewhere else.

It's just like, "Peter, are you finished or are you done?" Because the scripture in Matthew 16:13 I mean, 23 tells us, "But he turned." So, when Peter is done rebuking Jesus that Jesus, "No, you're not going to die. What this Jesus, I know you're you're the son of the living God and all that stuff. But right now, you need to listen to wisdom.

I am speaking from the Father." Right? And the Bible says, Peter I mean, Jesus turns and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan." Just because you can hear the voice of God does not make you immune to being influenced by the voice of Satan. That is why as believers, you must test the word.

You In order for you to accurately know the voice of God, you must know him in the Bible first. Because then you can test it to his character. You can test it to his nature.

But Peter just felt immune. But Jesus says, "Get behind me, Satan. You are an offense to me." And then Jesus doesn't leave it there.

He reveals to Peter how Satan got access to him. He says, "For you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men." In other words, Jesus is revealing to Peter, Peter, you are putting your interests above the interests of the Father. Your expectation of me, because remember the disciples followed Jesus for many reasons.

They would follow him. Yes, they would have glimpses and moments of revelation, but really they were they they had their own thing of like, oh, when are you going to come and overtake, you know, the um the Roman Empire. They kept believing that his kingdom was going to be established in a different way.

And so, Peter, your expectation of Jesus is clouding your judgment. So, he's revealing to Peter how Satan got access. Because how Satan got access is the same reason he fell.

He put his interest above the interest of the Lord. He believed his throne should be more powerful by the than the throne of God. And he fell.

Pride was found in his heart, and he fell. Anytime we think that our interests are more important, it is the effect and the result of pride. So, when Satan sees that in humanity, he has a place.

You've given him a foothold. You've opened the door or the window just a little bit for him to slide in. Because when your desire is louder than the voice and the will of God, the enemy will continue speaking.

And you will call it Here's the problem. We would often call it the Lord. But it is the voice of your desire.

So, he reveals to Peter, this is how Satan creeped in. And he uses this moment as an opportunity to actually teach them. He says, before we go any further, let me now teach you what it means and what is required for you to step into maturity of truly being my disciple.

And Jesus begins by let him deny himself. Because you cannot be my disciple if the priority of your life is self. Your self-interest, self-preservation.

Whenever someone says something about you, you're so quick to want to defend yourself. It is a seed of self-preservation. Jesus is revealing to them if you're really going to walk this thing out, you have to know what it means to deny yourself.

Now, remember he is speaking. This is a a mirror of what the voice of the Lord is saying to believers. Who empowers you to do this?

The Holy Spirit. Now, here is where we often get it wrong. Just because you got saved, does not mean your appetites changed overnight.

There were things you did while you were in darkness that you enjoyed. There were things you did that you have the memories of. There were things you did that formed your behaviors and formed your identity and formed what you are attracted to.

Those appetites don't go away overnight. But you are now empowered by the Holy Spirit to say no. Outside of the spirit of the Lord, you are a slave.

That's what the Bible talks about being a slave to sin. But when you come in Christ, you are now empowered by his spirit to overcome sin. The problem is we don't understand how to resist.

Oftentimes we feel like, you know what, Lord, just take the appetite away from me. He said, "No, I gave you the power to overcome it. My grace is efficient for you.

You have been empowered to over- I will not take it away because you have been empowered by my spirit to overcome. And you have to understand this because often times we make too many excuses and we don't realize that that does not stand in the courts of heaven. It only delays your becoming.

In order for you to become the fullness of who God has called you to be, there is always things in your life, there are seasons in life you will go through of things you must overcome. There are things that your flesh would love, but you must say no. Even Jesus would reveal this to us that even when he was about to journey to be crucified, that in the garden of Gethsemane, he walked in one way and walked out another.

He walked in saying, "If this cup can pass, but when he understood in the place of prayer where he's empowered by the spirit of the Lord, he says, "But not my will, but yours be done." Your will is not always the will of the Lord, but in denying yourself, you surrender your will to the will of the Father. And this has always been from the very beginning. In the garden of Eden, we see this very thing.

That if you are going to become, you must overcome. You see, I remember always asking the Lord to teach me about what actually took place in the garden because I was really confused. I said, "Well, why didn't Adam and Eve just eat the tree of life first?

What? I mean, closed. Why did they first?

The whole time they were there, just tree of life, wow, must be nice. Until the Lord began to teach me that it was not natural. The tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil were spiritual trees.

And let's look at it in the scripture. So, Genesis 1:29 says this, "And God said, see, I have given you every herb that yields seed, which is on the face of the earth. And every tree whose fruit is whose fruit yields seed, to you it shall be for food.

Every tree means every tree. If the Lord says I've given you every tree whose fruit yields seed, that it is for food, it means every tree. So, then it removes the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil as fruit trees.

We grew up believing it was an apple tree. But then the Lord is making it clear to us these were not fruit trees. These trees were spiritual.

And the seed of the tree was not about the seed in the fruit. It was about the nature it would produce in you. So, the tree of life would produce the nature of life.

Jesus would say of himself that he is the way, the truth and the life. From the garden, we see the decision to either come into the place of oneness with Jesus or the way of death. So, the Lord would even say to Adam, "In the day that you eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, in that day you shall surely die." So, the nature it produces is death.

And that was the nature it produced when man ate of it. Because in the beginning, the Bible tells us that God created man in his image and after his likeness. But when man fell, when you study it in the Bible, when Adam and Eve had children, it says that they were born in the image and in the likeness of Adam.

Because that was now the fallen nature. The nature had shifted. And the only person that restored the nature was Jesus.

When you are in Jesus, you are restored back to the nature and the likeness of God. >> [applause] >> But then, here is the thing. Why didn't they still eat of the tree of life first?

And then the Lord began to teach me through the scripture. Because before they could have the desire to eat of that tree, they must first overcome the appetites of the flesh. If you don't overcome, you cannot desire life.

If I cannot overcome my weakness because of my love for God, then I've not started on my journey truly with the Lord. And so, even when the serpent came to Eve, it was not a setup for disaster. The Lord had already prepared them the same way he has equipped you.

Let's look at what happened with them. First of all, even in the scripture, let's go to 1 Corinthians 10 chapter verse 13. It says, "No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man.

There is something you desire in your flesh. But God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it. When you are a believer, sin is not your only option.

Jesus modeled for us the kind of life we can live when we yield to the Holy Spirit. And so even when it came to Adam and Eve, the Lord prepared a way for them because he had revealed to Adam something so significant. Now, let's look at it together.

In Genesis 2:19, the Bible says, "Out of the ground, the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air." So, every animal he created, what does it say? He brings it to Adam to see what he would call them. Whenever the eyes of the Lord are on something, pay attention to why.

This was not just random that it was just a casual exercise so they don't get bored, right? He says, "And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name." So, the animals were already named by God. And a name is so is is bigger than just saying, "Oh, that's a lion, that's a bear, that's a snake." A name reveals identity and function.

And it was not until Adam named all the animals that verse 20 tells us, "But for Adam, there was not found a helper comparable to him." Because when Adam would name the giraffe, he's like, "Wow, I understand your function. I understand your identity. You can't be my, you know, my spouse." And guess what else Adam named?

The snake, the serpent. So, he understood its place. He understood that the serpent is beneath him.

This was the way of escape. The serpent is not a teacher. The serpent is not one that would bring new information or revelation to you about God.

The serpent is beneath you. So, there are many things that had to happen in a certain way. Even when the serpent came to Eve, because remember, it was not that the devil himself came to Eve.

The Bible says it was the serpent, the that was very cunning, a creature that the Lord God had made. The serpent was only under the influence of Satan. But, when the serpent came to Eve, the Bible tells us that Adam was with her.

That is so critical to know. Because Satan, you have to know that Satan is on God's leash. If it's not something that the Lord approved, it's something that your ignorance allowed.

Or your disobedience gave him room to do. That's why he's not in hell right now. Satan has not crossed any boundaries.

You know the angels that are chained? The ones that crossed that crossed boundaries. The ones that actually looked at the women and saw they were beautiful and had intimacy with them, those angels are chained.

Then why is Satan roaming free? Because he's actually within his legal rights. If it's not something that the Lord allowed him to do, it's something you gave him access for.

So, Satan comes to Eve or on you know, the serpent under the influence of Satan comes to Eve, but Adam is there. Because in the scripture you would notice that whenever the Lord is holding children you know when when maybe there's something that a child is doing, who does the Lord blame? The father.

When there is something that the household is doing you know out of order, who does the Lord blame? The father. Don't allow culture to make you forget that there is a very pivotal role that men are called to play in families.

You are the priest of your home. When God chose Abraham, he said concerning Abraham, he will command his children and his household. It was a covering over the home.

He will command them in the things of the Lord. You don't see in the scripture where God will put the responsibility on the woman concerning the home when it came to spiritual matters. So Adam had a responsibility to educate Eve.

We're not going to eat of that fruit. But the whole time he's there and silent. That's why the Bible says Eve was deceived but Adam was not.

Let's look at it. In 1 Timothy 2:14 and Adam was not deceived. Right there in the word.

But the woman being deceived fell into transgression. If Adam was not deceived, what does that mean? He willfully disobeyed.

If Adam was not deceived he chose self over the word of God. And because he could not deny self. Satan overcame him.

You cannot overcome on You cannot become rather until you overcome the appetite of self. Then the Bible will call Jesus the second Adam. And Jesus would also have to go through this very thing.

Adam was in the garden of Eden and Jesus would be in the wilderness. After Jesus is baptized, glorious moment. Some The spirit of the Lord comes upon him like a dove.

The Father speaks, "This is my son in whom I am well pleased." People are hearing it. They're like, "Wow." Jesus is out of hiding from the carpenter's boy to Wow, this is the son of God. You would think after that it's a feast.

Angels are showing up, you know. But no. The Bible says, "The spirit of the Lord leads him to the wilderness to be tempted by Satan." Because if Jesus is going to fully step into the fullness of what he's called to walk out on earth as a man, he must overcome the temptations of the flesh.

One of the the first temptation was a basic need. The Bible says he was hungry. He was just fasting for 40 days.

And Satan now says, "Hey, you're hungry. Turn these stones into bread." But Jesus knew to do that would put his appetite as priority over the will of the Father. You must deny self if you're going to truly follow God.

Adam missed it. Jesus did it. And the Lord has given us the same spirit that allowed him to overcome.

His Holy Spirit. You may have the appetite. The appetite does not condemn you.

Your decision is what defines you. You may have the feeling. The feeling is not what condemns you.

It's what you do because of the feeling. That postures you either in life or in death. And then it continues.

Jesus then says, "And he has to take up his cross." You see, when Jesus is saying take up his cross, when we hear take up your cross, it's not as weighty as what it meant to them. They knew. In our In our age, I mean, the cross like we we understand, you know, the cross to some degree, right?

But it's also a fashion statement. You know, we have we have jewelry and all these things. But when they heard take up your cross, the cross only served one thing, death.

The cross was an instrument for death. It represented the place people go to die. And Jesus is saying, "You have to take up your cross.

You have to bear your cross. It has to always be with you if you're going to walk this thing out." The Apostle Paul explained this when he uses the language of I die daily. This is not one time.

How often have we seen people who are faithful and fell off? Why? Because you were faithful in taking up your cross in 2016, in 2017, and you got too confident and arrogant and then life hit you.

And you lost your way. And you were being discipled by the world and not Christ and then you just drifted. And then we want to start just, you know what, this whole thing like God, I just don't understand you.

I'm just going to do me. And culture will support that. Culture is after do you.

Jesus says deny you. So, if you're going to take up your cross, it is the understanding that every day I have to have the consciousness of putting the flesh to death. You don't educate your flesh.

You don't disciple your flesh. You kill it. That's when when it rises up in you, you kill it.

When that bitterness rises up in you, when unforgiveness rises up in you, rather than meditating on what they did, begin to pray for the person. BECAUSE WHEN YOU STAY IN THE PLACE OF PRAYER, it is hard to still hold on to that bitterness in the moment. Train yourself to create graves for your flesh.

When someone does something to you and you know, you see, you can try to deceive others or yourself sometimes, but in your heart, if you're still with yourself just a little bit, you know the motive behind calling your girlfriend or your best friend or whoever is just to find someone to agree with your pain. It's to find someone to say, "Yeah, you know, I've been wondering about that person, you You I something about it is gossip. It's That's just what it is.

It's causing suspicion and division amongst people. If you feel it, kill it. Talk to the Lord about it.

Because if your conversation with another is going to keep you in your flesh, kill it. Don't make room for it. If you know that something is keeping you in a place of envy and jealousy, kill it.

If anytime you're scrolling and what you feel is envy, get off social media. Take up your cross. Change your algorithm.

For 1 week, just look at puppies. So, the algorithm keeps showing you puppies, right? A flower bed or something.

Farm me. You can't educate your flesh. You have to crucify it.

You take up your cross daily. And Jesus is showing us You see, because I think it's so significant how Jesus starts this. He doesn't say, "You know what?

If you're going to be my disciple, then you follow me and deny yourself." No, because if you don't know how to deny yourself and take up your cross, you will negotiate with his standards. You can't truly follow him. You say, "Well, Jesus, I love you, but I have my own sexual preferences." "Jesus, I love you, but you know what?

I'm just a Virgo. This is just how we are." I don't remember a Virgo dying for your sins. >> [cheering] [applause] >> You are not created in the image of a Pisces.

So, there's no room for negotiation. If it doesn't look like Jesus, it is not you. If it doesn't reflect Jesus, it's not your personality.

You see, something I began to learn from the Lord which which changed so much for me. So many times we think we're just so unique. Your decisions are a result of something.

The Bible says, as a man thinks, so is he. It starts in the mind. And if you don't realize that every day a kingdom of darkness is at war to shape how you think.

That is why there's something known as like propaganda in media. When a nation wants to shift laws, when a nation is looking for a way to change how people think about another race, they use the media. They said, "You know what?

If we inject this in the in the films, if we change this back in the days when they would have like comics in the newspapers, if we put these types of illustrations about these types of people, then we can make them believe this and their attitude towards them will shift. And then we can create laws to follow." What you might think is unique to you is how another is training you to think. I'm good.

So, the Bible says guard your heart. Then when it comes to the mind, it says take every thought captive. What is it telling you?

Your thoughts are not just original to you. Many of it was planted. Many of it was suggested.

And if you don't know how to take a thought captive, you just water it. Meanwhile, the seed is against you. The seed of that thought is against your life.

And the seed of that thought is what is informing your decisions today. If you don't know how to take it captive, that's why when you get saved, the Bible talks about be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Because if you think staying in sin, you can make an excuse for staying in sin, it is deception.

It's actually the revealing that you are still walking in darkness. Deny yourself. We deny ourselves not always because we stopped craving that thing, but salvation taught us that that thing that I crave is the way of death.

And denial is the way of life. And Jesus, I love you more than that. And when we start to walk in that path, the spirit of the Lord continues to help us to the point where truly we begin to hate it.

But we don't always start hating it. Unforgiveness feels nice. It makes you feel like you're in control.

You're in charge. I will never It's actually weakness. Because it actually means that you are a puppet.

And the enemy is the one pulling the strings. Anger feels amazing. But it's weakness.

Deny yourself. Humble yourself. I sense that in this room there are people you need to forgive.

You're holding on to it so strong because you think it makes you tough. No. It's actually killing you.

Because it's keeping you on the path of death. Deny yourself. Take up your cross.

Yes, it's humbling. But so was our Lord Jesus. He took on the lowest position.

He took on In everything he took on the place of a servant. Take up your cross. This is what equips you to follow him.

Would you stand with me? Let us pray. Thank you, Lord.

Thank you, Jesus. If you know the spirit of the Lord was speaking to you and ministering to you. And there were things that the Lord started bringing to the surface in your life.

You see, here you know, the self Let me be honest with you. Sometimes we even make it so spiritual. It doesn't always look like the sin people recognize.

Sometimes it looks like gluttony. Sometimes it looks like the rejection of the thing that the Lord is saying you should do because you haven't gotten over yourself yet. You're so aware of your weaknesses and your flaws.

And the Lord is saying deny yourself. I'm someone who I love makeup, I love glam, and all of the above. I remember one time I went to minister in Jamaica.

And the Lord said, "Let no one touch your face." And I understood what the Lord was saying because you cannot speak to a people to come out of pleasure. And you don't know how to kill yours. There were things he had to deal with in me.

And daily, I'm not just preaching to you. This message speaks to me, too. The Lord will always call you higher.

So that the enemy does not get a foothold. One of the things that is killing our generation today is just lack of proper stewardship of the body. What we are eating is killing us.

Because we don't know what it means to deny self. I have an appetite for it, I eat it. And then I really like it, I have two or three.

No. If we're going to really walk this then not with the Lord, the Bible says that make your whole soul spirit, your whole spirit, your whole soul, and body presented as blameless before the Lord. It's not just what happens in your spirit, not just what happens in your soul, but also in your body.

Let us be good stewards over the life that God has given us. Let us be good stewards over the spirit of the Lord that is within us. What have you done with the Holy Spirit?

How have you given him access to transform your life? Let's rise up in this. So, if you know the Lord is ministering to you, just lift up your hand.

We're going to pray. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Lord.

Heavenly Father, I thank you. Because what has started as a message will continue as a conviction in the hearts of and minds of your sons and daughters. That you will begin to reveal to them the areas of their life where they could be in service to self and not you.

The areas of their life where they have put the priority of their life, their weaknesses, rather than your will. Lord, I pray that even for those that are running from your call because they are more focused on where they are weak, rather than in your will where they will find strength. I pray, oh heavenly Father, that in all the things we will deny ourselves.

We will take [music] up our cross and follow you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

Amen. Amen. Now, the most important part of this message, if you have not given your life to Jesus, if you want to make him Lord over your life, would you just lift up your hand?

You just don't want information about him. You just don't want to make up your own rules about him, but you want him to be master and Lord over your life. If that is you, just wherever you are, just lift up your hand and we're going to pray.

I see you back there. Can we celebrate what God is doing? I see you over there.

Thank you, Jesus. I see you. And all together, let's just pray this prayer.

Heavenly Father, thank you. Lord Jesus, I acknowledge you as my Lord and my savior. I present myself [music] to you as a living sacrifice.

Come into my life and [music] make it your home. Spirit of the living God, teach me, transform me. I thank you, Lord, that on the cross you put to death [music] sin.

And when you were raised up, I was raised up with you, free and victorious. Now, Holy Spirit, help me to be an overcomer. Help me to walk this out with the Lord.

Help me to become a disciple of Jesus. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

Amen. >> [bell]