The cost of discipleship is not a deterrent when weighed against the immense gain of God's approval and companionship. Discipleship is open to all ages, sexes, races, educational backgrounds, health statuses, and locations, as these human distinctions do not apply to God's call. True discipleship requires walking in the light by allowing God to search us, daily cleansing by the Word, selflessness, right motives such as a hunger for truth and God's glory, and steadfastness in faith and action. The conditions for discipleship involve forsaking loved ones in comparison to God, surrendering all possessions by recognizing stewardship, turning away from personal plans to embrace God's will, and total confidence in the Lord, even to the point of death. Growing in discipleship involves cultivating close communion with Christ through trust, time, and meditation, obeying every truth learned, learning God's immediate purpose, and anticipating the great rewards of God's approval, eternal companionship, and future kingdom responsibilities.
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The cost of discipleship, if what we have already studied doesn't frighten you away, this one is liable to. I heard Mr. Leonard Sheldrake say one time, it costs a great deal to be a Christian. He said, I want to make another statement. It doesn't cost anything to be a Christian. It costs if you count this world to be anything, because you can't have both worlds. But when you think how much you get, how much the Lord gives you, if you live an all-out life for him, it really hasn't cost you anything at all.
And the cost of discipleship, while there are some very severe conditions, really the gain. Just his approval and his companionship more than makes up for anything that it may have cost you here. Section one, the high standards of discipleship. One, certain standards do not apply. There are more than this. Let me give you a half a dozen of them. A, age. You don't have to be twenty-one and you're not ineligible when you pass forty or fifty.
Discipleship is for all ages. Be sex. There are some things restricted to men. There are some things which only women are permitted to do. Nowhere in the Bible does God ever say that men are an example to the angels. But this privilege is given to women. in wearing or covering on their head in the meeting of the church, they have the privilege of being an object lesson to the angel. That's a very high privilege. God allowed a woman to bring his beloved son into this world, and he allowed no man to have anything, any part in it.
Men are permitted to teach in public, in the church, and women are not. But when it comes to discipleship, There are no barriers as to sex. C. Race and color or color. E. Don't you put any restrictions where God doesn't. D. Education. If God has given you a good education, this is a tool that you ought to sanctify and consecrate to him. If he hasn't given it to you, don't let it worry you. E. State of health. Some of the greatest disciples I've ever met were in wheelchairs or in a sick bed as invalids.
And finally, F. Location. Don't waste your life thinking I could serve the Lord so much better if I lived someplace else. If I could just get out of this job and get a better job. If I weren't married to this man or woman, you're wasting your time, you're spinning your wheels. Location has nothing to do with discipleship. Now you can add greatly to this list, but these standards do not apply. Number two, here are some standards that God has set. Number two, walking in the light. What does it mean to walk in the light?
allowing God to search us by his word. First John one, five and six, God is light and in him is no darkness at all. And he says, if you say that you have fellowship with God and walk in darkness, you lie and do not the truth. It is impossible to walk with God and walk and see it, live and see it. You must walk in the light. This doesn't mean that you're sinless. It means simply that you come out into the light and let God reveal the things that are wrong. Be being cleansed daily by the water of the Word.
Do you remember when the Lord washed Peter's feet? Peter said, no, you can't wash my feet. And the Lord said, if I don't wash you, you have no part with me. Now, he didn't say he didn't have any part in him. You belong to the Lord if you've accepted him as your Savior, but you're not going to have any part with him. You're not going to be his disciple unless you allow him to cleanse you daily by the water of the Word. Ephesians five, twenty-six speaks of this. Here's another high standard. Number three, selflessness. Not selfishness, but selfless.
We're not very selfless. We're mostly selfish. A, selfishness is at the root of all sin. You can't think of a sin that the human race is capable of committing that isn't based on selfishness. Murder is to get somebody out of my way. Stealing is to get something for myself. sexual sins are all based on selfishness. B, it is totally unlike our Lord.
Romans fifteen, one to three, even Christ pleased not himself. There is no example quite like that of our blessed Lord. He was totally selfless. One of the best examples I know of this, at the close of the eighth chapter of John, they were about to cast stones at the Lord Jesus, and he escaped and passed through and left hurriedly. And the first verse of the ninth chapter, John says, as he passed by, he saw a man blind from his birth.
Now what would you do if people were after you with rocks? Would you be looking for blind people who needed help? Or would you be thinking of the closest exit? See, this is the total selflessness of our Blessed Lord. Number four, right motives. You'll find a number of different motives. A, not curiosity. In John, eighteen and thirty-eight. Pilot said, what is truth? And then he never waited for an answer.
He turned right around and left the Lord Jesus and went back out to talk to the people. Now, if you're going to be a disciple and you really want to learn from the Lord Jesus, mere curiosity will never keep you in the schoolroom. B, Hunger for truth. Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled. See, genuine desire for the glory of God. What did Paul say in Philippians one?
This is my earnest expectation and hope that Christ may be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death. What do you want more than anything else? This will determine whether or not you will be a true disciple. And D, love for God, His people, and the unsaved. There is no motive quite like the motive of love. I think the fruit of the Spirit, which we usually think of as nine graces, In Galatians five, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, so on.
I think that possibly because love is mentioned first, that God puts it first. When he mentions the things which he hates, he puts pride first. When he mentions the fruit of the Spirit, he puts love first. In fact, some of them said, the fruit of the Spirit is love, and then it is seen in all of these other ways. All of these other things are manifestations of love. Love for God, for His people, and for the unsaved. Number five, steadfastness. Do you know the greatest curse in Christian work today? It's the undependability of Christians.
They go steady by jerks like a frog walking. Mm-hmm. Alph Gibbs, an old friend of mine who's gone home to heaven now, used to say, there are three kinds of Christians, workers, shirkers, and jerkers. And this business of doing it today and off tomorrow and back on the job again, nothing is more exasperating for the rest of the Lord's people. They can't depend on you. They don't know whether you're going to teach the Sunday school next Sunday or whether that's going to be your off day. steadfastness. This is the way our blessed Lord was. This is the way he wants us to be. Let me give you six words that describe steadfastness under different conditions.
A decision. And I've given Ruth as an example of this. Ruth said to her mother-in-law, don't ask me to leave you. Where you go, I'm going to go. Where you die, I'm going to die. Your God shall be my God. Your people will be my people. That's a decision. And then B, intentness. In the first chapter of Acts, after the Lord went to heaven, it says the disciples were gazing up into heaven. And the angels had to call them back to earth and say to them, why stand you gazing up into heaven?
This same Jesus, which is taken up into heaven, shall so come in like manner as you have seen him go into heaven. They were intent on this. They had their eyes on him, and they just couldn't look anywhere else. And see confidence. Hold fast the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end. Hebrews three, fourteen. If you have confidence in God and confidence in His word, you'll have the stick to it in this that you need. And these continuance, first Corinthians, fifteen, fifty-eight, be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord.
A man who used to preach up in Canada said to me one time, there are two kinds of Christians, the kind that are always abounding. And then the kind that are always bounding from here to there. He said, I'd like to be the abounding kind. Continuous. Eith faithfulness. Beholding the steadfastness of your faith. Paul said, Colossians two five. Much wonderful to find faithful Christians. Paul said to Timothy, The things you've learned of me commit thou to faithful brethren, who shall be able to teach others also.
And finally, e-resistance. First Peter five, nine, he said, About the devil, whom resist, steadfast in the faith. So you've got to be against something as well as for something. You've got to learn to say no as well as yes. If you're going to be a true disciple, just say no to the wrong things and yes to the right ones. Section two, the conditions of discipleship. Now these are very difficult. Let's look at them. One, forsaking loved ones.
Now the word hate here bothers a lot of people. The man come after me and hate not his father and mother and all of his relatives. He cannot be my disciple. Remember that in the scriptures, the word hate is used in a comparative sense. God said, Jacob have I loved and Esau have I hated. Now God doesn't hate anyone, but we would use the word today. Jacob have I loved, Esau have I loved less. I put Esau second to Jacob. And that's exactly what God is asking you to do. He's asking you to put your relatives second to himself.
A. The dearest. Luke fourteen twenty-six lists those who are closest to you. The dearest. B. The most dear or the more loved one. Matthew ten thirty seven he says if you don't love me more than these you are not worthy of me if you're single and you're thinking of getting married I think you ought to tell the girl you're going to marry that she's going to be first in your life next to the Lord Jesus He's got to come first.
And see, putting the family first is really me first. In Luke nine, a young man said to the Lord Jesus, I will follow thee, but suffer me first to go home and bid goodbye to those at my house. suffer me first, another one said, to go bury my father. Now, his father wasn't dead, because if he was, he would have been buried. The Jews buried the same day that they died. What he meant was, let me go home and stay until my father dies, and I can take care of his funeral, and then I'll follow you.
The Lord said, no, thanks. If you're going to take care of everything else first, then it's really you who are first. That's the way the man worded it. He said, suffer me first to do all of these things. If God is just going to get the leavings, no wonder the communists say what they do. They say communism will outlast Christianity and will win over it because communists devote everything we have to our ideal while Christians support their God with the leftovers. Now that's a terrible accusation, but I'm afraid it's a true one.
We get our money and we see all of the things that we want and all the bills that we want to pay and we say, well, we got this much left over. We plan our time and we say, well, we've got this much left over. We have our vacation and we say, well, I came home a day early because I wanted to do something for old Mrs. Jones. everything is leftovers it can't be that way number two this is the second condition surrendering up all possessions Luke fourteen thirteen says he that forsaken not all that he had cannot be my disciple now somebody's going to say that's a little bit unreasonable Well, remember the verse I gave you.
It's enough for the disciple to be his master. A. Because your master was poor. When the man said, I'm going to follow you, Lord, he said, the son of man hath not where to lay his head. If you're going to follow me, you're going to have to be poor. Because your master was poor. B. Because covetousness is idolatry. It isn't that it's apt to be. The Bible says it is. Why is covetousness idolatry? It's because we're not satisfied with God.
We've got to have something else. And see, because we are only stewards. Now you see, surrendering up your possessions doesn't mean getting rid of them. It simply means turning them over to their true owner. We'll have more of this when we study stewardship. If you're only a steward, you have no problem about possessions. The Lord may allow you to continue to hold them, just as undoubtedly David did when Jonathan stripped himself of all that he had, including his money belt, to give it to David.
There's nothing to indicate that David took those things. Jonathan was willing for him to have them. And in many cases, it was much better for Jonathan to go ahead and wear them and go ahead and use them, but use them for David now, and not for self. Number three, turning away from personal plans. Matthew ten thirty nine says, He that findeth his life shall lose it. He that looseth it for my sake shall find it. What are your plans? Surrender them to the Lord. A. Your own life.
Luke fourteen twenty six. He that hatheth not all of these things and his own life cannot be my disciples. Your life must not be so precious that you live for self. And B, it involves risk. Philippians two tells about a young man named Epaphroditus who actually risked his life in order to make up to Paul what other Christians had failed to do for him. Do you think you ought to risk your life? Sure, for a good cause, for a right purpose. And what better purpose is there than honoring the Lord Jesus himself?
See, it may mean death. John twelve, twenty-four, the corn of wheat that fell into the ground and died. If you're going to be his servant, it may mean death. It did for Stephen and as for thousands of others since he. It is meaning death for many dear Christians. behind the various curtains today, and many in the mission fields. D, it leads to keeping. It leads to keeping. If you lose your life, if you give up your life, you will keep it unto eternal life.
That's what he said in John twelve, twenty-five. No wonder the unsaved give up when you try to study the Bible. How in the world can you keep your life by giving it away? Well, that's the only way you can keep it. What you keep you lose. What you give up for the Lord's sake, you keep for eternity. Eve, the cross, means death to the old man. Now, don't say that the old nature is dead. Don't say that the flesh is dead. You're just kidding yourself if you think it is. But our old man means the old way of living. All that I was was a man in Adam.
That comes when the end to the cross. Some people say, well, I guess that's my cross, meaning I have indigestion, or I have a crippled leg, or an ill-tempered mother. Nonsense. That isn't your cross at all. The cross is exactly what it was to Christ. Anybody who picks up his cross is headed for death. And the Lord says, if you want to be my disciple, take up your cross and follow me. It's the end of your old life. It's putting everything in his hands. Now, number four, total confidence in the Lord. A, enough to take up his cross.
and follow him you've got to have confidence in him you've got to trust him enough to take up his cross and follow him be enough to continue in his word john eight thirty one says if you continue in my word then there are you disciples indeed to continue in his word when it seems to be cutting too close enough to continue in his word and see Enough to love all whom he loves. By this shall all men know that you are my disciple when you have loved one for another. John, thirteen, thirty-five. Now section three, growing in discipleship.
Did I miss one? See, enough to love all whom he loves. John, thirteen, thirty-five. Section three, growing in discipleship. One, cultivate close communion with Christ. Three things I might suggest that will enable you to have closer communion with the Lord Jesus. A, by an attitude of trustful dependence. You remember how John leaned on Jesus' bosom? Was he the only one welcome there?
No. He just believed that he was welcome there. An attitude of trustful dependence. Be by spending time alone with him. Where I am, there shall my servant be also. Now, if you're going to try to find time, don't waste your time trying to find time. You'll have to make time. Nobody has enough time today. The devil has got us on this rat race. And unless you eliminate some things which are less important, you will not have time alone with Him. And see by meditation on the Word of God.
Somebody has called this the lost heart meditation. Well, First Timothy four says, meditate on these things. Give thyself wholly to them. The old preacher down in the hills of the southeast said, The trouble with my people is they ain't never a thug of thought. And that's what's the matter of many Christians today. They don't take time to meditate. They don't take time to go over the Word of God. Chew it over. Number two, obey every truth you learn.
A. cease from evil be learn to do well now these verses follow each other in this order in Isaiah chapter one a cease from evil and be learn to do well if you're not willing to give up a wrong thing don't expect God to teach you a right thing see All truth is practical truth. Some people say, well, I like practical truth. Well, it's all practical. Everything the Lord teaches us has got handles on it.
It's all usable. Three, learn the immediate purpose of God for you. Now, you might put a line under that word immediate. Learn the immediate purpose of God for you. The present purpose. What did God want you to do today? A. We know His ultimate purpose for us. Ephesians two and seven. That in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace. I know what's ahead a thousand years from now. I have no problem about that at all. But I don't know what's ahead today.
That's what I have to find out. B. We may be too concerned with our future plans. If you read John, verse thirteen, thirty-seven, you see that Peter was very concerned about why he couldn't follow the Lord when he died. Why can't I follow you now? And the Lord said, You're so willing to follow me, and here you're about to deny me. And he did, too, very shortly after that. Some Christians are always going to do something next year for the Lord.
Students are going to do great things after they get out of college. You aren't witnessing for the Lord now. You won't witness for him after you get out of school. People are going to get their family raised, and then they're going to use their time for the Lord after that. But it doesn't happen that way. See, we must patiently and trustingly wait. There will be times when you won't know what God wants you to do. And that's a time when you have to wait. You're going to be his disciple. He has a perfect right not to tell you what he wants you to do, just as much as to tell you. And then the finish, number four, great rewards for discipleship.
One, God's present approval. If you want to get a good degree, here's one. Here's one, AUG, approved unto God. You can get that degree if you want it. Two, present and eternal companionship with our Lord. Three, rewards at the judgment seat of Christ. These consist of A, crowns, B, authority. and see positions of trust in the coming kingdom.