Deny and Take Up, Then Follow
Jesus’ way is the low way. Jesus keeps choosing sacrifice, humility, generosity, meekness, restraint, and finally the cross. As we wrapped up our sermon series, The Way Up Is Down, Jamey Codding examined how Paul calls the Philippian church to that same upside down life in a culture built on self exaltation, because in Jesus’ economy, the way up is down.
The call to go low touches relationships first. Philippians 2:3 says selfish ambition and conceit have no place among people who count others more significant than themselves. Humility frees believers to serve, to release wrongs, and to pursue a love that grows not only in sincerity but also in knowledge and wisdom rooted in Christ.
Key Takeaways
– The way up is down
Christ does not redefine greatness as better branding, stronger influence, or getting ahead. Christ reveals greatness through the downward path of service, restraint, and costly love. Humility is not passivity or low self esteem. Humility is seeing Jesus as worthy of the highest place and others as worthy of real care.
– Refusing self denial denies Jesus
Mark 8:34 does not offer a softened version of discipleship. Jesus calls for a break with the old self that insists on comfort, control, and personal preference. The refusal to surrender can look spiritual on the surface, even while lips honor Christ and the heart stays distant. Christ asks for more than religious agreement; he asks for the throne.
– The cross is daily resignation
Luke’s daily cross confronts the idea that surrender was settled once and for all in the past. Jesus calls his people to lay down agendas, fears, self reliance, and the need to be affirmed again and again. The cross feels costly because self preservation runs deep. Christ meets that death to self with restored life now and eternal life forever.
– Jesus must increase, self must decrease
John the Baptist receives his ministry as something given from heaven, not something to protect. John’s joy becomes complete when attention shifts to Christ, even as his own influence shrinks. This posture breaks rivalry, comparison, and the hunger for recognition. Christ becomes visible when personal greatness is no longer the goal.
– The Spirit reveals what must be laid down
God does not ask His people to manufacture transformation through willpower. The Spirit searches hardened places and identifies where self has tightened its grip. Submission makes room for the cross to do its full work. Christ remakes a life as control is surrendered in concrete, honest obedience.
Reflection Questions
- Where is selfish ambition, conceit, or the need to be right most likely to show up in your relationships right now? What would it look like to take a lower place and genuinely consider that person’s interests this week?
- Is there a wrong, disappointment, or offense you are still holding tightly in a relationship? What might releasing it to Jesus look like without pretending that the hurt was unimportant?
- When circumstances feel uncertain, what do you most often try to use for security—control, money, accomplishments, approval, or something else? How could Christ’s sufficiency reshape one specific anxious thought this week?
- Is there a pattern from the old self that still tries to direct your choices—people-pleasing, self-protection, bitterness, self-sufficiency, or a recurring sin? What would it mean to stop treating that pattern as familiar and instead put on the new life Christ gives?
- Growth often comes as self decreases, while stagnation can reveal that self is increasing. What recent situation has exposed a hidden desire to control, be affirmed, or preserve yourself? How might you bring that honestly before Jesus and lay it down?
Watch the Message
Worship Songs from September 6
- “I Thank God”
- “The Blood”
- “King Of My Heart”
- “The Lord Is With Me”
- “Center”
Listen to the songs we play on Sundays by clicking the image below to access our Spotify playlist!
