Lindsted, Robert: Discipleship-06 ~ The Tests And Costs Of Discipleship-2

That it's stern. And I'm sure that probably some of you are aware that this past Sunday, as we were looking at, at the test and the cost of discipleship in the first three points, someone got up and walked out. I don't know who they are. I wish I did. I'd, I'd love to visit with them. But I'm quite sure that as I observe the look on their face, and they begin to see that one of the tests of discipleship, and, and I believe it applies to today, that we saw in Luke fourteen is they begin to look at it, they just said, not for me. And this fellow got up, and he took his wife, and they left. And I thought, you know, that's, that's a shame, isn't it? And then I began to think of the Lord Jesus, you know, and, and often he would preach, and often he would say things, and when it was all done, a multitude was fed, and a handful of disciples remained. But thank God for the disciples. You know, you can either get discouraged with the multitude, or you can be encouraged by the disciples, and the Lord Jesus was always encouraged by the disciples. So I trust that that might be our condition tonight, that we might really look at God's word, and we might see that this word that was spoken by Christ nineteen hundred years ago applies to us today. Isn't that wonderful to know that God has preserved for us a written word to tell how we can live? And I don't mind telling you at the very beginning of tonight's lesson, I would not have the nerve to write to you the things that we're going to look at tonight. I just wouldn't have the nerve to do it. And I'm so glad that Christ did, because I really believe this is the thing that brings the light to the heart of God. We want to look at two new passages tonight. We need to back up and, and look at the three tests of discipleship that we looked at before, but let's begin by looking at Matthew chapter ten. Matthew chapter ten. We want to read two passages of scripture. Matthew chapter ten, beginning in verse twenty four. the disciple is not above his teacher, nor the servant above his lord. It is enough for the disciple that he be like his teacher and the servant like his lord. Look at verse thirty seven, He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me, and he that taketh not his cross and followeth after me is not worthy of me. He that findeth his life shall lose it, and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it. I want you to notice that, that these are really the similar passage, the verses that we read in Luke's Gospel chapter fourteen. But there's something I noticed in here, and that is, in verse thirty nine there is an added thought. He that findeth his life shall lose it, and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it. Matthew's gospel, chapter sixteen. I've chosen to read those verses in Matthew's gospel because I want you to see that even though they are given to us in Matthew chapter ten, just a few chapters later, again he will say this in verse twenty four. Then Jesus said unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it, and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. For what is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels, and then shall he reward every man according to his work. You know, so often we use verse twenty six in connection with the gospel, don't we? What should the profit of man if he gained the whole world and lose his own soul? The real truth is that verse is given to those that are believers. Now, I've used it in the gospel, and I'll probably continue to do so, but I just want you to know that that verse, as much as we like to quote it, really applies to those that are believers. There are two new tests of discipleship that we want to look at tonight. One of those has to do with verse twenty four, deny himself. The other one is just those that are willing to lose their life for his sake. These are stern tests. Altogether, I see that there's at least five tests of discipleship. Luke 14, the passage that we looked at this past lesson, remember he began by saying this: when a great multitude came to him, he made this statement: if any man come to me and hate not his father and mother, his wife, his children, his brothers, yea, even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. What, what goes through your mind as you hear that? And I guess the thing that goes through my mind is this, I see how stern and how serious this matter of discipleship is. I am convinced that what he was looking for were people that were going to follow him regardless of any circumstance in life. And the test that he gives of discipleship has to do with our love. He said, if a person really is to be my disciple, his love for me must burn warm. Now, he is not saying, I'm convinced that he's not saying to be consistent with the entire word of God, he's not saying don't love your wife because the Bible says in Ephesians five that we are to love our wife. I'm convinced that we have plenty of examples in scripture to show that we are to love our children. But he is saying this, that our relationship and our love for God and for his word and for the things eternal must be so warm that all other relationships are cold by comparison. What a test. Do you remember what he said to Peter in John twenty one? Peter had just denied him. Peter had had just made a bold statement about how the others might deny you, but but I never will. And when Christ comes back and greets Peter on the Sea of Galilee, and he and he gives Peter instructions that they give Peter the biggest catch of fish that he ever had, one hundred and fifty three great fish, the question that he asks Peter is this, Peter, do you love me? That was the question. And what he's really asking Peter, Peter, are you willing to be my disciple? For three years, I've, I've taught you, I've trained you. We walked together, we ate together, we, we... Do you love me? You know, of all the things for him to ask Peter, I can think of a dozen other questions that I would have asked. Peter, are you sorry that you denied me? Peter, do you know that you lied three times? Peter, do you realize that, that, you know, there there's a dozen good messages that he could have given Peter, but they were all summed up in this. Peter, lovest thou me? And then there was a point to those three questions. Not only was there a play on the word love, but there was a point to it because in the conclusion, when finally Peter acknowledges, I really don't love you as I ought to. I'm fond of you. And he uses the word, I, I have an earthly love for you. Then here's the statement he makes. He says this, then follow me. What Christ wanted from Peter was not a dynamic preacher. Now he got that, but that's not, that's not what he wanted from Peter. What he wanted from Peter was one who would follow him. Lovest thou me? Then Peter, follow me. And Peter said, what about John? The Lord says, it doesn't matter. Maybe John will never die. Doesn't, that won't affect you at all. What? Follow me. The first test of discipleship is this love. Do you know what happens if we love him? There's not another question that comes up. If you really love him, it sorts through all the pri- you ever wonder why there are so few rules in the New Testament? Don't you love it? People tell me all the time, well, why didn't he say exactly when we're supposed to do this and when we don't have to do this? And I said, OK, go back and read Leviticus and tell me how much fun that is. You know, they give you a case for if you have leprosy in your little toe, your big toe, your uncle's toe, your aunt's toe, and you know that's not fun, is it? I mean, it takes a Philadelphia lawyer to figure out the simplest case. So you come to the New Testament, and it's principles. It's not law, it's principles, and it's marvelous. Now, I agree, if you want to, you can, you can get by on the minimum. But isn't it lovely when you fall in love, and what you do is you say, you know what, I, I don't want to get by on the minimum. You see, if a, if a guy really loves a girl, if a husband really loves a wife, and you know that she likes roses, what do you do? You say, all right, how many do you want? Boy, the price of roses are going up. How many do you want? No, come on, tell me. I mean, you know, if I come in with four, you probably want five. Tell how many you want. Do you want red ones or pink ones? And so he comes and he gives her ro- and that really thrills her heart, doesn't it? Now, if he really loves her, what is he gonna do? He's gonna go to the flower shop, and he's gonna buy just as many roses as he can afford. And she comes home and she's thrilled with two or twenty. See, the point is, he loves her. Most of us, if, if the Lord were to tell us to jump, you know what we'd do? Well, how high do I have to jump? Isn't it fun when you see somebody and they just start jumping? He said, well, how high you put? He says, I don't know, but here goes, and he looks like a pogo stick. I said, there is more delight in the heart of God when he sees someone do that than in all the reasoning that we think we're so clever in doing. What's the difference? The difference is love. And the first test of discipleship is this: we must love him. Not with an earthly love, but with a love reflecting his love, and that was a marvelous love, wasn't it? Next, the cross. He said this. He said, whosoever does not bear his cross, meaning the cross of Christ, can and come after me, cannot be my disciple. I, I look at that test and I say, wow, if the first one was stern, this one is incredible. The cross of Christ, I believe the world looks at that as, as the area where there's the most humility associated with Christ. And he said, if you're really a disciple, you'll anchor right in the cross. We will come back to the cross, meeting after meeting after meeting after meeting. Listen, Paul said this, I've only got one thing to glory in. It's the cross of Christ. That's really, say, if we glory in that, how many people have you told about the cross of Christ this week? And if you haven't, you know what? You're not glorying in the cross. A disciple glories in the cross of Christ. Somehow he's going to be able to work that into his life every single week. Paul said this, I'm crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live. When the world crucified Jesus, they thought they were done with him, didn't they? W- were they done with him? My dear friend, that was the beginning. That wasn't the end. It said that the soldiers came to sit down to watch the end. It was the beginning. My dear friend, we need to be crucified in this whole world, don't we? We saw that the death of crucifixion was, was such a cruel, distorted death that it, that it disfigured Christ. I'm convinced that Christ suffered more than any man has ever suffered. And he was distorted on the cross. His futures were distorted. Y- you look at him and say, couldn't he be a man? That's how distorted he was. And Paul said this, the world is crucified to me. It's distorted to me, and I'm distorted to the world. And so we break off our relationship, and I love Christ. He says, I bear in my body the marks of Christ. He was a disciple, wasn't he? Do you? You know what will happen? I really believe that, that if we glory in the cross, then I believe that there will be persecution for those who speak of the cross. Want to know why there's no persecution today? I'll tell you what, we don't glory in the cross. What we try to do, we try to convince people that, that they ought to become a Christian because if they become a Christian, everything's going to go great. And the message of the Bible is this: when you become a Christian, you identify with the cross. Except you bear his cross and come after him, you cannot be his disciple. Test number 2. Test number three. it's equally stern, maybe more so. He says this in verse thirty three of chapter fourteen. so likewise, whosoever he is of you that forsaketh not all that he has cannot be my disciple. And we look at that verse and we say, surely he doesn't intend for us to, to see that as applicable in the eighties. I mean, after all, that might be all right for these, these twelve men walking around the hillside. You know, they can give up their sleeping bag if they want to, but, but not us. What does it mean? Well, here's what it doesn't mean. It doesn't mean this, that he's willing to give up all, because the word willing's not there, as much as we'd like for it to be there, because it would be very easy for us to be sit comfortably in our nice homes and say, I'm willing. Are you really? I am. I'm willing. Don't I look willing? And for some reason, we can't make it out to a midweek meeting. We're really willing, aren't we? It doesn't say this. Forsook some, or most, or ninety nine percent of what they had. The test of discipleship was this, whosoever forsaketh not all that they have cannot be my disciple. My dear friend, that's stern, and I don't blame people for walking out, especially when they're not converted. But those are the words of Christ, aren't they? Every disciple that you read of following Christ, Mark one, Luke five, you'll find this, they forsook all and followed Christ. I don't think he's changed in nineteen hundred years his criteria for discipleship. What does it mean? We saw that it doesn't mean to throw it away. We saw it means to use it for him. The key there was to use it. The Lord was not against the boat that Peter had if Peter was willing to use it. And he gave Peter the offer. He said, Peter, let me stand on your boat and preach. He didn't say, Peter, get rid of your boat. He said, Peter, use your boat. Not for yourself, but for the glory of God. My dear friend, I believe that we live in a day and a time when God has entrusted to, to people who are believers in America more to be accountable for than any other people at any other time. Let's not throw it away. Let's use it for his honor and glory. That's the test of discipleship. A disciple is one who puts his hand on his education, his home, his health, his family, and say, God, they're yours. That they don't belong to me. They're yours. Even the breath I breathe, it's your air, it's not my air, and I give it to you. It is yours to use. You direct me as I use it. What a test of discipleship. I want us to spend some time tonight looking at three examples of people that forsook all. The reason I'm, I'm using so many examples here is because I really struggle with this particular test, if I'm honest with you. And then we want to look at the other two tests, denying of self, and the last one, losing your life. My dear friend, the tests get harder, not e- the questions get harder, not, not simpler. Forsaking all, what does it mean? Turn, if you will, to John's Gospel, chapter eleven, and let's look at an example of a person that I believe caught the tenor of this. John chapter eleven, and really we want to, we want to look at the scenario of John eleven and twelve. I know it's a familiar story. We're tempted to say when we come to a story like this, I, I know that story. Th- there's not a single thing new you're going to tell me about that story, and you're probably right. But I simply want us to look at this story in the light of the verse of discipleship and show you how that a person here caught a glimpse of Christ, and my, did it affect her life. John eleven, uh it talks about, verse one, now a certain man was sick named Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. You see, really, there are two— there were two Bethanys. Actually, there, there were three, one of a slightly different name, and there were 2 Lazarus that we know of, one in Luke sixteen and this one. Now, some people think they're the same, I'm convinced they're different. So by saying the Lazarus that had a sister of Mary and Martha, it turns down which Bethany and which Lazarus. And then it begins to say how that on one occasion the Lord was dealing with his disciples, talking to the disciples, and there came a man. Verse three, therefore his sister said unto the Lord, saying, Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick. Now notice it doesn't use the name there, does it? Evidently, Lazarus was such a close friend of the Lord Jesus that when this guy came and said, say, your friend is sick, he knew exactly who he was talking about. Oh, that had to be Lazarus. When Jesus heard that, he said, this sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified by it. Now, Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. You remember the story, don't you? And he delays for a period of time in such a way that in the meantime, Lazarus dies. Now, if you look at the Gospels, I'm convinced that probably among the closest friends that Christ had on the earth, other than his disciples, probably was Lazarus. He spent a lot of time in that home. It was a nice place to stay because Martha was a good cook. You could go in there with, with twelve disciples and always get a good meal. There was good fellowship. You could visit with Lazarus. There was, there was a person who was very interested in hearing every word you said. Her name was Mary. And so when Lazarus got sick, because they had watched the Lord Jesus use their own home in this way a number of times, they quickly sent for Jesus. Let's just say, the one whom you love is sick. Now, what do you think they're expecting? I think they're expecting a healed brother out of the deal, aren't they? They said, Lazarus, he'll come a few minutes, the fever will be gone. And the Bible says this, verse six, when he heard therefore that he was sick, he abode two days still in the same place where he was. Do you get the pattern? When he hears he's sick, he stalls for two more days. Now, I want you to relax at the beginning of the story because it's going to end up all right. Here's why. You see, what you really need to do is, is to realize what he's going to do. And he says in verse four, this sickness is not unto death, but it's for the glory of God. However it ends up, it's not going to end up in death. It doesn't look that way for a while, does it? But it, he promises it won't end up that way. The other thing that's important to do is to take, put your finger over verse five. Now, I'm not recommending this as a good way to read the Bible, but, but read verse four, skip verse five, and read verse six. When Jesus heard that, he said, this sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of Man might be glorified by it. When he had heard, therefore, that he was sick, he abode 2 days still in the same place where he was. Doesn't that sound tragic? He gets an urgent message, and he stalls. Now, what have we left out? Verse five. Now, Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. Keep in mind that he loves them. Boy, that's important in the whole story, isn't it? I like to think that Lazarus was such a good friend that on one occasion he said to Jesus, you know, sometime if you ever need somebody to help you, I'd like to volunteer. I can just see the Lord Jesus saying, you know, Lasse, I've got something in mind, and and I I I do, I need a volunteer. You're sure? Yeah. Whatever you want, I'm available. Anything, if you name it, you got it. All right, I've got something in mind, and one of these days I'm going to use you to help me out. All right? And, and he goes his way, and maybe Lazarus forgot it, maybe he never told Mary and Martha about it. And one day the Lord Jesus decides to give his disciples an illustration of resurrection. And so he allows Lazarus to run a high fever and to get sick, and a message comes, and he stalls. The disciples are shocked. Why would he stall when his best friend is sick? And then, after this period of time, after he talks to them, he says in verse twelve, then said his disciples, Lord, if he sleeps, he should do well. He says, you know, we're going to go and see Lazarus because he's asleep. I said, well, if he's sleeping and he's running a fever, he's doing all right. That's a good sign. Then he said plainly, look at verse fourteen, Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead. Now, I told my wife one time, I think this would make a lovely sympathy card. Look at, look at the end of verse fourteen, the beginning of verse fifteen. Here it is. Lazarus is dead, and I'm glad. Wouldn't that be a good one? But that's what it says. For your sakes, that I was not there to the intent that you may believe, nevertheless, let us go to him. Can't you see th- this story? To the disciples, it looks like it's getting out of control. Verse sixteen, here's Thomas. Boy, you'll like him. Thomas, who's called Didymus. Thomas called Twin. He says unto his fellow disciples, let us also go that we may die with him. You know, they're going to have to go through Samaria, and they say, Israel, c- could we get there any other way? And he says, no, we're going through Samaria. Thomas says, come on, you guys, there's no sense to argue. When he's made up his mind to go, let's just go. We'll all be buried with Lazarus. I mean, we might as well. Isn't it an optimistic group he's traveling with? And when he gets there, verse nineteen, and many of the Jews came to Martha and Mary to comfort them concerning their brother. Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, he's en route, went and met him, but Mary said of the house, I just want to confess to you that I think we have two mad women on our hands. Martha says, I'm going to give him a piece of my mind. He's eaten at my table, he brought in those disciples, they all ate, and he doesn't have the nerve to come and help me out. And she goes to tell him off. Mary says, I'm not even going to go meet him, I'll just stay here. He's going to see me at this point, he's going to come to the house. So, verse twenty one, then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if thou hadest been here, my brother had not died. Do you think she said that smiling? I think she's mad as a wet hen. That's an expression from Missouri. I mean, she's, she's so mad she's steaming. Lord, if you would have been here, my brother would not have died. Verse twenty three, Jesus said unto her, Thy brother shall rise again. Martha said unto him, I know he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day. Isn't that something? And then Jesus says, I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. And then he makes a request. He says, all right, where's Mary? And so the message goes out, Mary, Jesus wants to talk to you. And so Mary leaves the house, and when she comes, the very first thing that she's gonna say, in verse thirty two, Lord, if thou hadest been here, my brother had not died. And I don't think she was smiling when she said it. Now, what takes place is incredible. Jesus weeps. Isn't that incredible? The creator of the universe, is he crying for Lazarus? Lazarus is the only one safe in the whole drama. I think he's crying for Mary and Martha. He's crying for all the people around him. And the Jews say, oh, look how much he loves Lazarus. No, he wasn't concerned about Lazarus. Lazarus was all right. And then he says this. He says, verse thirty nine, take away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith on him, Lord, by this time he stinketh, for he has been dead four days. Notice the phrase, by now he's beginning to decay. The Jews believed that for three days, the soul of a person hovered over the body, hoping to get back in, and at the 4th day, he left, and he was dead, dead, because decay began to set in. And he said, by this time he smelled. Several years ago at a camp, we had a dog, and this dog would swim in the river, and and it would come back at mealtime and lay right outside the window, and the dog didn't smell very pleasant after swimming in the river, and we renamed that dog Lazarus. He thinketh. Martha said, hey, if you wanted to be at the funeral, you should have been here four days ago. If you think we're going to roll back a stone and let everybody gasp at the smell of, of, of decay, you're wrong. Now let me ask you this. Could the Lord Jesus have rolled back the stone? The answer is yes. Matter of fact, he could have flipped that stone in the air, diced it up into little cubes, and stacked them perpendicular toward heaven. But he said, why should I do something that man can do himself out of obedience? You see, man can move a stone, but he cannot raise people from the dead. And struggle against struggle. Isn't it wonderful to know that they removed the stone? And, and the Lord Jesus shouts. There's only several times in the Bible that you'll find him shouting. One is on the cross. It is finished. One is here, and he cries, Lazarus, come forth. Someone said if he wouldn't have put Lazarus there, all the dead people would have come forth. And here comes Lazarus, and he, and he comes out, and he's bound, verse forty four, from head to foot in grave clothes, his face is bound, and and they are so excited about what has happened that Jesus said, would would you loose him? I mean, you know, poor Lazarus is alive, and and he needs to to circulate a little bit. It's an incredible story, isn't it? Now, I want you to see that really the rest of the story takes place in in chapter twelve. verse one, uh Then Jesus, six days before the Passover, came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, who had been dead. Some, by the way, think he fainted, but the Bible's pretty clear about that, isn't it? Whom he raised from the dead. There they made him a supper. Martha first, she's back to her old routine. But Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table with him. He fellowshiped. Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair, and the house was filled with the odor of the ointment. Then said one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, who should betray him, why was not this ointment sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor? What a statement. Here is Mary, and she takes a small fortune, and she takes that fortune and she pours it on the feet of Christ. Why? Three hundred denarii. A man's wages for a day was a denarii. This represents one year's salary in savings. Let's say you make twenty thousand a year. Can you imagine how long it would take you to save up twenty thousand dollars, and you go and you buy a, a bottle of perfume for twenty thousand dollars, and you come in and you smash it on the floor. Come on, would you do that? Now notice what it says. Verse six, this he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief and had the bag and bore what was put in it. Then said Jesus, let her alone, for the day of my burial has he kept this. Get it? I really believe that all the way back in John eleven, she had this expensive perfume, and her brother died, and he's smelling, and she doesn't put it on him. You want to know why? She was saving it for something, and she saved it for Jesus. Isn't that wonderful? My dear friend, I believe that the order that came forth in that room could never be replaced by, by anything higher than what Mary did. Mary, I believe, knew what it was to forsake all and follow Christ. And from this point on, it appears that, that not even all the disciples understood the mission and the plan of Christ, but Mary. Mary was alive for what was going on, and God called it to, to the attention of her people. He said, whoever the gospel goes forth, they will tell the story of her. And I don't mind telling you that, that I look at the life of Mary, I look at her deed on that occasion, and I'm envious of that. I say, God, somehow let me take my life and crash it at his feet, that in some way there might be something that will bring honor and glory to Christ. You know, that was an incredible testimony, wasn't it? Mary. Mary, you will find this, she was the last one at the cross, wasn't she? And she was the first one at the tomb because she knew what it was to forsake all. When she could have used that perfume on her brother, she saved it for Christ. What about us? I believe it's so tempting today to, to listen to the commercials, and those commercials are all directed toward us. You deserve a break today, and, and, and everything is directed, listen, you, you've got it coming. You, you need a car just a little nicer. After all, you've earned it. You deserve it. You... I'll tell you, it goes contrary, contrary to the teaching of discipleship, doesn't it? And we're fed this, and after a while we begin to believe it. Oh, aren't you glad that Mary, Mary wasn't swept away with even the advice of others? She had a room full of critics, but it didn't matter. She had her eyes on Christ. My dear friend, I'm convinced that if we become disciples of Christ and forsake all, we're going to have critics. There are going to be people that say, you've gone too far. This is ridiculous. You can't take it literal. Well, Mary did, and Christ commended her. And I'll tell you in a coming day, wouldn't you like to have her reward? Well, I'll tell you what, I think he'll reward anyone who is willing to do what Mary did. Look at another one, First Samuel eighteen. This is a grand story. First Samuel chapter eighteen. And I'm going to read just a part of the story that will, that will help you to recount what has happened earlier. First Samuel eighteen verse one. and it came to pass when he had ceased speaking unto Saul that the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul, and Saul took him that day and would not let him go no more to his father's house. Then Jonathan and David made a covenant because he loved him as his own soul. And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was upon him and gave it to David, and his garments, even to his sword and to his bow and his belt. What a story. You remember the story how that, that on one occasion, the brothers of David were in, lined up like there was going to be a battle. And when David came there to bring some supplies to them, David says, where's the battle? I said, well, right now there there's there's kind of a peace treaty going on. Oh, I I thought we were in the battle. He says, well, you see, the trouble is the Philistines have issued a challenge. They have a champion, they have a giant. And every time they come to fight, they say, all right, pick out someone to come and fight the giant, and whoever wins in that battle, the others will be captured. And David says, well, that's easy picking for somebody. I mean, if, if that big fool's got the nerve to, to defy the army of the living God, anyone ought to be willing to fight him. I said, David, you haven't seen him. So about that time, Goliath makes his little speech, and, and, and David says, doesn't look so tough to me. I said, David, you're nuts. David says, just depends on what end of the binoculars you're looking at. I mean, you know, if you got him on this way, he doesn't look so big. All the rest of them had him this way, and he looked huge. And so David says, I wouldn't be afraid to fight him. Boy, you only had to say that one time. They telephoned the White House, and they got Saul on the phone and said, hey, we, we found someone who was fighting. Saul said, man, that's so. Bring him in here. And they bring in this kid, David. Saul says, I'm, I'm a little disappointed. I, I mean, I thought we had someone from, uh, you know, the, the NFL willing to take him on. You know, we'll get a linebacker and we'll go after this, this guy Goliath. You know, we got a kid. Uh, David, where's your resume? David says, well, I, I killed a lion and I killed a bear and did both of those with my bare hands. That's a pretty good resume, don't you think? Saul is so afraid of Goliath, but he says, go out there, kid, and fight him. Isn't that amazing? Now, there's another person that's shaking. Not only is Saul shaking, but if Saul doesn't fight Goliath, guess who's got to fight him then? Yeah, Jonathan. Jonathan, he's praying for, for someone to come along. And so David goes out there, and remember with a sling, he defeats that giant. It's an incredible, it's an incredible story. And then he takes the giant's sword, and he cuts off his head, and he brings back that ugly head to Saul, and he presents the head to Saul. Saul is amazed. Jonathan falls in love. And Jonathan, at that point, he says to David, he says, listen, I realize that really you ought to be king instead of me. And so he symbolizes that, he takes his robe off and he gives it to David. He says, David, you're the next king, and I know it. Well, that's, that's a pretty bold statement, isn't it? He then takes his sword and his, his bow and his belt, and he takes them off and he gives them to David. He says, David, he said, if you're ever in a battle, he says, I'm going to fight for you. You're not going to fight for with me, I'm going to fight for you. Everything Jonathan had, he gave to David, with the exception of one thing. Jonathan is an example of someone who forsakes ninety nine percent but keeps back one thing. You know what it was he forgot to give to David? His shoes. Notice that? His shoes. Otherwise, the entire outfit of a warrior he gave, but he kept his shoes. And the story is told how that, that these two, indeed close friends, that they continue on, and, and the hatred of Saul for Jonathan begins to grow because people begin to say, listen, Saul's killed thousands, David is killed ten thousands. Saul becomes jealous and begins to plot how he could kill David. And Jonathan takes the side of David. But the tragedy is this, there came a time, chapter twenty, verse forty two, when David and Jonathan met, and Jonathan said, David, it's no longer safe for us to meet together. If my father finds you, he'll kill you. And it says this, the Lord be between me and thee and between my seat and thy seat forever. And he arose and departed, and Jonathan went into the city. Is that a tragedy? Remember the shoes he didn't give? He's got to make a decision. I'm either going to follow dad and be king, or I'm going to follow David, and I'm going to be a rebel. And made his decision, and Jonathan goes back to the city, and he goes back to the palace. Verse one of chapter twenty two, David therefore departed from there and escaped to the cave of Dullum. Now, if you had to choose between a cave and a palace, what would you choose? Well, I don't mind telling you that the palace was carpeted, and I don't mind telling you that in the palace, all the bedrooms have posture-feeding mattresses, color TV, and running water. And I don't know why Jonathan didn't go with David. He loved him, so he said. But I really believe that somewhere along the line, he did not forsake all. He gave his robe, he gave his sword, but he didn't give his shoes. And there's a tragedy there. The tragedy is this, war would break out, and Saul and his sons would go to fight, and in that battle, Saul would be killed, and his sons would be killed, and among the sons that were killed is Jonathan. Because Jonathan did not forsake all, he lost his life. What a tragedy, when he could have followed David. I wonder about us. You know, we need to see that that Christ is our champion, isn't he? He's our David. And right now, I'll tell you, to follow Christ, it looks like we're living in Cave of Dawn, doesn't it? But there's going to come a day when he's going to be the King of kings and the Lord of lords, and everyone is going to know it. And I'll tell you, at that point in time, I think he's going to go back to those that were with him in Cave of Dolom, and he's going to bless them and reward them, and I want to be among those. Listen. In First Chronicles chapter eleven and twelve, it begins to list all the mighty men of David. And as you read through that list, guess what? There's a name missing. Jonathan's not there. That's sad. Jonathan's not there. He loved David, but when it came down to the test, he went back to the palace and to the luxury of it, and David went down to the cave, and it cost him his life. My dear friend, if, if he should have done that for David, what should we do for the Lord Jesus? The test of discipleship, whosoever will not forsake all and follow me cannot be my disciple. Then we want to look at those verses now quickly in Matthew chapter sixteen. You probably noticed that we're only doing two of those three examples, but time is getting away, and we want to finish the test of discipleship tonight, and so let's look at these. Matthew chapter sixteen, verse twenty four. Look at these statements. How marvelous they are. These statements continue on. These statements, I believe, would please the Lord Jesus if we were to follow them. Jesus said unto his disciples, if anyone will come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. Now we understand that those are instructions for a disciple. We've seen that that's the mark of a disciple to follow him. We've seen that's the test of a disciple to take up his cross. But here's one that has been added. Let him deny himself. What does it mean to deny himself? Denial of self is different than self-denial. Let me repeat that. Denial of self is different than self-denial. Self-denial means this, that we come to certain foods and we, we restrain from eating them. Nothing's tougher than being on a diet and then having two boys that have healthy appetite. I mean, they finish supper, and then they have a snack, and then they have dessert, and then they chase that down with another snack, and, you know, um, it's incredible, isn't it? Every time they open that refrigerator, it smells good. And there are times on on my diet that I'm so hungry I I could eat the podium, but I'm afraid the the varnish would have calories, and so you can't do that. And so we begin to think that maybe what it's in is self-denial, that that we will refrain from certain foods and and from certain pleasures and from certain possessions, and that is not what it means. Aren't you relieved? You can eat that butterscotch sundae. What he's talking about here is denial of self. It's completely different. It is saying this, it is having this attitude that I don't have any right. They've been surrendered to Christ. That's what it's saying. It is saying that a person says, I don't have any authority. I'm willing to submit myself totally to Christ. My dear friend, that is so foreign to our thinking today, that as we read it, we say, he surely doesn't require that. I think it is a statement of the lordship of Christ. I believe that it ties in exactly with Matthew chapter ten verse twenty four. The disciple is not above his master, the servant is not above his lord, but we want to live that way, don't we? How did Christ live? He lived doing the will of his father. He lived a simple life. I think, I think we would do well to follow him. George Mueller said this, it ill becomes the servant to seek to be rich and great and honored in this world, where his lord was poor and despised. I think he's right. But isn't it amazing that we spend most of our time trying to, to make a name for ourselves, or trying to get riches for ourselves, or trying to be comfortable, when our master, when our Lord set an example. This, this thirty years, whatever it might be, until you can help us to see that to live it for you is the grandest way of all to live. And then he says this, for whosoever will save his life shall lose it. Now, if there was ever a paradox in all the Bible, there it is. If you want to save your life, the way you save your life is you lose it. Does that make sense? It doesn't to the world. It only does if you're a believer, and it only does if you understand, I believe, what he's saying in this passage. He's talking about taking our life and not throwing it away, but literally to lay it down as a sacrifice. You see, the world likes to root for the underdog, but they hate a loser. Have you noticed that? I think whenever they see an underdog, they they kind of root for the underdog, but when the underdog loses, they kind of step back a little bit, you know, they, you know. And the world looks at the Lord Jesus, and you know what they say? He was a loser. He was crucified. And so they kind of root for him, especially at Christmas time and Easter. I tell you what, they don't want to be identified with, not even believers want to be identified with him. Look at us. Whosoever will save his life shall lose it. And whosoever will lose his life, listen to this, for my sake shall find it. I believe this has got to be one of the greatest principles put forth to those that are believers in all of the Bible. How do you make your life count? Lose it for his name's sake. Isn't that incredible? My dear friend, that is so opposite to the thinking of the world. If you think the Sermon on the Mount is contrary to the thinking of today, then read this verse. You see, we believe that the best way, the way to make the most out of life, i- is to grab all the dust that you can get. And he says, no, if you want to save your life, then you lose it for my sake. You, you lay it down. You give your life up for me, and you'll win. Several years ago, we were living in Cincinnati, and there was a man there, his company had season baseball tickets, and he didn't like baseball. Can you believe anyone in America that doesn't like baseball? And those people soon became our best friends. And so they, they gave us those tickets. And we didn't go every night, but about every other night, you know, we, we... And one time, a man on Cincinnati, George Colver, pitched a no-hitter. It was incredible. He pitched again three days later, and it just so happened that my father and mother were coming to Cincinnati to visit, and I, I was so excited about this, I talked my mother into going to a baseball game. She'll never go again. But I mean, it was a double exciting thing. Matter of fact, it was George Culver night, and they gave George Culver all kinds of things because of this no Guinness. They even presented him with a cow. He got on the cow and he rode it around the bases, and, and I mean, there was a party before the ball game like you've never seen, and then the ball game began. I said, Dad, watch this. I mean, this guy just pitched a no-hitter three days ago. Watch. And, and the, the rules are that the visitor team is up first. George Clover wound up, threw a ball toward the plate, and the guy slapped it. And the kid said, hey, you can't pitch a no-hitter every time out. A, a one-hitter's not bad. I mean, really, is it? So he wound up again, he pitched to the second batter, he knocked it to the other field. And I said, look, it's still a shutout. Yeah, runners on second and third, but it's a shutout, and that's not so bad. A no-hitter followed by a shutout, you can't, you just can't come out every game and pitch a no-hitter. Five batters and four runs later. It was a tragedy. Right behind us there was a lady, and all during the ceremony she kept saying, George, George! Driving you nuts. E- every time George would sneeze, she'd yell, George. And five batters and four runs later, this same lady behind us, she goes, Pull the bum out! He can't hit. And I thought, boy, is that the same? It was hard to believe. Three days earlier, no hitter. Three days later, he's a bum. You know what? That's just the way the world treats people, isn't it? Well, I, I don't care how high you rise in the world, you'll lose your life if that's all you got. Do you wanna, do you wanna find your life? Then you give it to him. How did Christ make his life count? How did Christ bring life to a dying world? He gave his life. How do you gain? Here's how you gain. You lose your life for Christ. Remember what Paul said in, in Philippians three? What an illustration. Let me read these, these verses to you. But what things were gained to me, those I counted lost for Christ. Paul said, I, I was an accountant. I had profits and I had losses. And he said, I was going through life and I was talking of all kinds of profits. But he said, there came a time, verse eight, yea, doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things that I, and I do count them but dung that I may win or my gain Christ. Paul said, when I became converted, he said, suddenly everything changed. Those things that I thought were gain, he said, suddenly he says those were the loss. And the gain, he said, I found out this. It was to lose my life in Christ. Look, the illustration of Stephen and John are in Acts eight. Stephen, did, did he follow Christ? Was he a disciple? And there he is, and, and he speaks words of truth, and they stone him, and they say, Stephen, unless you be quiet, we'll, we'll take your life. Stephen volunteers his life. He, he lays his life down. My dear friend, Stephen was not a loser. He was a winner. Stephen did not lose his life. He, he found his life. And I watch people today, and my dear friend, we're going to lose our lives for something, aren't we? And, and I watch Christians, and, and they will spend a lifetime studying the mating habits of a fruit fly. It may get it published in a journal, but it's not worth a hoot in eternity. Others studying the, the drifting habits of Daniel and Paul, and they'll spend forty years doing it. I think it's disgusting. And you can have a PhD and all the other things tied under your name, and I'll tell you what, if that's all you got, you don't have much. I, I believe today, more than anything else, God simply wants disciples. People that will look at this test and say, all right, I'll do it. What if tomorrow your boss came to you and said, all right, I'm going to give you a raise. I'm going to give you a raise of thirty thousand dollars more a year. Could you use it? Oh boy, you said, that's just what my wife was hoping for. And I'm going to pay you that thirty thousand extra dollars a year for fifty more years, and I've decided I'll give it to you in advance. Here's the check for a million and a half dollars. But there's a catch. I want you just to work two more hours every day, five days a week for the next fifty years. Now, I know what you do. You, you just do a quick calculation, and you'd find out that, that he's paying you sixty dollars an hour. And that looks pretty good, doesn't it? But you see, the trouble is, in eternity, a billion, a billion years into eternity, you look back and, and some of those hours, you may never recover. You may never recover. And a billion years into eternity, instead of paying you sixty dollars an hour, he's paid you one and a half cent a year. And I don't think that's worth it to you. My dear friend, I really believe that right now is a time that if we're going to follow him, we ought to follow him. If we're going to be disciples, we ought to be disciples. Listen, Longfellow takes a worthless sheet of paper, he writes a poem on it, and they sell it for six thousand dollars thirty years ago. They call it Gene. You, you watch Rockefeller, he signs his name to a little piece of paper. It's worth a million dollars, they call it banking. Then you, you watch Uncle Sam, and, and he puts a, an eagle on the back of a gold coin, and, and it's worth five hundred dollars, they call it money. A craftsman, he takes a, a piece of wood worth five dollars, he carves it, he sells it for five hundred. they call that skill. An artist, he takes a fifty-cent cent canvas, he, he puts a few splotches of paint on it, he sells it for a thousand, oh, they call that art. But I tell you that that's nothing compared to what Christ does. You know what he does? He takes a worthless, sinful life, he washes it with the blood of Christ, he puts the Spirit of God in it, and he called that discipleship. My dear friend, I, I think it's the greatest transaction that can ever take place, and I believe that- that we are so taken up with- with being great and making a- a big name and- and making a big splash and a big sale, that we've forgotten what he really wants, or disciples. How do you do on the test of discipleship? Are you really a disciple? I want to close tonight by reading a little poem that we did in our past lesson. It goes like this. I counted dollars while God counted crosses. I counted gains while he counted losses. I counted my worth by the things in store, but he sized me up by the scars that I bore. I coveted honors and software degrees. He wept as he counted the hours on my knees. And I never knew till one day at a grave how vain are those things that we spend life to save. Disciples. So simple. And yet, look around, and how many real disciples do you see? Do you know what Christianity really needs today? Disciples. Do you know what God would use to send revival to to this country, to this city? Disciples. He didn't use great men. He didn't use mighty men, but he always used disciples. Lord, make us disciples. Shall we pray? O God our Father, we confess to you tonight that as we look at the test of discipleship, how miserably we fail. Father, it's a stern test. For it's a test that as we look at the lifestyle of today, it's so contrary to the way we think. Father, some of us, some of us have been waiting years that we might find the big break, the big opportunity, the chance of a lifetime. But our Father, tonight we're convinced that you're more interested in us submitting ourselves to you than than anything that we could give back. Father, we don't want to be wasteful, and so we don't want to throw our lives away. With eternity in view, dear God, tonight, we pray that we might know what it is to love him, that we might know what it is to bear his cross, and that we might know what it is to forsake all. Not our Father to throw it away, but to use it, our homes, our time, our jobs, our health. Father, you've given us these things not to waste, but to use for eternity. Father, tonight, convict us of how we're using our time, our homes, our jobs, our wealth. Father, we read that, that we're to deny self. Not our Father just abstain from, from overeating or, or whatever, but Father, to surrender to you. We pray that. Father, we don't pray that there will be a group of people that will have a, a name that will attract a great crowd, but Father, we pray that we might be a people that are faithful to you and know what it is to, to really surrender to the lordship of Christ. We desire that. And then our Father, we look at this statement, that if we're to find our life, we've got to lose it for your sake. Oh God, we we pray that whatever plans, whatever desires we have tonight, that that they might be crushed at your feet. Not our will, but your will. Father, not that it will make us lazy, not that it will make us complacent or sit back, but Father, it may make us work harder than we've ever worked before. Father, we want to make our life count for eternity, not just for time. So, dear God, tonight we pray that, that you might search the heart of every one of us. Help us to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things should be added unto us. Father, we want that, we desire that. So, dear God, tonight we, we surrender ourselves into your hands to take us, to use us, to crush us, to mold us as you see fit, that we might be disciples that would be pleasing to you. In Jesus' name we pray.