Self Denial Crucial To Biblical Discipleship (The Starting Principle of Discipleship) by John MacArthur (Free MP3)

All things considered, certainly it is no small condemnation of us to behold what an ardent zeal the holy martyrs had in the past, especially in comparison with the nonchalance we demonstrate. For as soon as a poor man of that time got so much as a little taste of the true knowledge of God, he did not hesitate to expose himself to the danger involved in confessing his faith. He would have preferred to be burned alive than to go so far as to commit some outward act of idolatry. - John Calvin

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. - Luke 9:23 (KJV)

Self Denial Crucial To Biblical Discipleship (The Starting Principle of Discipleship) by John MacArthur (Free Online Text and PDF)

"And one thing strikes you at the very outset and that is coming after Jesus involves self-denial. That's clearly the first thing that's said. "If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself". The gospel is a call for self-denial. It is not a call for self-fulfillment. And that puts the true gospel in opposition to the contemporary evangelical gospel which is a gospel of self-fulfillment, self-help. ... The psychological, man-centered evangelicals tell you that Jesus gives you peace and Jesus gives you joy and Jesus makes you a better salesman and Jesus helps you hit more home runs. Jesus really wants to make you feel better about yourself and wants to elevate your self-image and wants to put an end to your negative thinking. ... Go back to the tenth chapter of Matthew, for a moment. Matthew chapter 10 in verse 34 Jesus has been in the prior verses talking about confessing Him, of course confessing Him as Lord and Savior, verse 32, "Everyone who confesses Me before men, I'll confess before My Father who is in heaven." So He's talking about confessing Christ as Lord. And then in verse 34 He says this, "Do not think that I come...I came to bring peace on the earth, I didn't come to bring peace but a sword. I came to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. Men's enemies will be the members of his household." First thing, come to Christ it may make your family worse, not better. It may send a rift into your family the likes of which you have never heretofore experienced. But that's the way it is because if you give your life to Jesus Christ, there will be an impassable gulf between you and the people in your family who don't. Verse 37 says, "So he who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me, he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me." If you're not willing to pay the price of a permanent rift in your family unless those people come to Christ, if you're not willing to pay the price of greater trauma in your family, greater conflict in your family, greater suffering in your family, then you're not even worthy to be My disciple. Verse 38 He says, "He who doesn't take his cross," the cross was associated with one thing, one thing alone, a cross was an instrument of death, it was an instrument of execution. Jesus goes even beyond this, if you're not willing to have conflict in your family, you're not worthy to be My disciple. If you're not willing to have conflict with the world to the degree that it could cost you your life, then you're not worthy of Me. Verse 39, "He who has found his life shall lose it, he who has lost his life for My sake shall find it." It's about losing your life. It's not a man-centered theology, it's a Christ-centered theology that says I give everything to Christ no matter what it costs me." - John MacArthur (from this powerful sermon)

Pray much for self-denial. Prayer sets God to work, Psalm 10:17. Some pray for assurance but lack self-denial, as if God would set seal to a blank. Let this be your grand request, a self-denying frame of heart. Self-denial does not grow in nature, it is a fruit of the Spirit. Beg God that he will plant this heavenly flower in your soul. Say 'Lord, whatever Thou deniest me, deny me not self-denial. Let me rather lack great parts, nay, let me rather lack the comforts of the Spirit than self-denial." There may be going to heaven without comfort, but there is no going there without self-denial. - Thomas Watson, The Duty of Self-Denial and Ten Other Sermons, pp. 36-37. Many resources by Thomas Watson are on the Puritan Hard Drive.

The Gospel According To Jesus & the Lord's Call To Repentance and Self Denial (Lordship Salvation) by John MacArthur (12 Free MP3s)

The sermon above is the last sermon in this series. This series of sermon does an excellent job explaining the Lordship of Christ, the nature of saving faith, the cost of discipleship, the sovereignty of God in salvation and much more.

When you lovingly and patiently bear any disorder, any irregularity, or any annoyance, when you can stand face to face with waste, folly, extravagance, spiritual insensibility, and endure it as Jesus endured it -- that is dying to self. When your good is evil spoken of, when your wishes are crossed, your advice disregarded, your opinions ridiculed and you refuse to let anger rise in your heart, or even defend yourself, but take it all in patient loving silence -- that is dying to self." - John MacArthur

The Duty of Self-Denial by Thomas Watson (Free Online Text)

And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. - Matthew 10:38 (KJV)

The Gospel According to Jesus: What Is Authentic Faith? by John MacArthur (Hardcover at Amazon)

Regeneration and Self-Denial (You Can't Understand the Later Unless You Understand the Former) - 2006 Founders Midwest Conference by Paul Washer (Free MP3)

Regeneration and Self-Denial (You Can't Understand the Later Unless You Understand the Former) - 2006 Founders Midwest Conference by Paul Washer (Free Video)

Regeneration and Self-Denial (You Can't Understand the Later Unless You Understand the Former) - 2006 Founders Midwest Conference by Paul Washer (Free PDF)

I offer myself unto Christ the Lord, as an object proper for all His offices to be exercised upon: I choose Him as my prophet for instruction, illumination, and direction. I embrace Him as my great priest, to be washed and justified by His blood and righteousness. I embrace Him as my king to reign and rule within me. I take a whole Christ with all His laws, and all His crosses and afflictions. I will live to Him; I will die to Him; I will quit with all I have in the world for His cause and truth. - Ebenezer Erskine on the Puritan Hard Drive

A Treatise On Self-Denial by Richard Baxter (Book on the Puritan Hard Drive)

Cutting Off Your Personal Idols by Michael Bruce (Free MP3), Soul Idolatry Excludes Men Out of Heaven by David Clarkson (PDF, Printed Book) & More

Self-Denial Defined: Suppressing the Intellect, Will, and Inclinations Opposed to God by Wilhelmus a Brakel (Free MP3)

Death to Self, The Gate to Life: Ultimate Surrender and the Peace that Passes Understanding by L.R. Shelton, Jr. (Free MP3)

God's Anatomy Upon Man's Heart, All Things Are Naked and Open Unto the Eyes of God (Free MP3)

Denying Self (1 of 2) by Jeff Pollard (Free MP3)

Denying Self (2 of 2) by Jeff Pollard (Free MP3)

The Self-Esteem Movement & Humanist Psychology Exposed & Refuted, Free Christian MP3s, Books, etc.

If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us. - 2 Timothy 2:12 (KJV)

The Sin Of Unbelief Rebuked, In Unbelievers & Believers Alike, & Overcoming Unbelief by Greg Price (Free MP3)

REPENTANCE BY THOMAS WATSON AND OTHER PURITANS AND REFORMERS (Free MP3s, BOOKS, VIDEOS, etc.)

Killing Remaining Sin, Mortification, Holiness & Hell By Dr. Joel Beeke, John Owen, John Calvin, Jonathan Edwards and Others (Free MP3s)

A Treatise of Sin: Deceitfulness of the Heart Unmasked, Chapter 21, Self-Examination by Anthony Burgess (Free MP3)

A holy self-denying, cross-bearing life, is not the drudgery of a slave, but the filial, loving obedience of a child; it springs from love to the person, and gratitude for the work of Jesus; and is the blessed effect of the spirit of adoption in the heart. - Octavius Winslow

Free Christian Resources On The Dangers of Psychology and Psychiatry by Dr. Voddie Baucham, Dr. John MacArthur, Dr. Richard Ganz, Dr. Reg Barrow, et al.

A Treatise on Self-Denial by Thomas Manton (.mobi)