I want to call your attention
to several verses here this evening, three or four in particular,
but I want to talk to you in regard to this subject, what
is a disciple? This text here says, If any man
come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife,
and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life
also, he cannot be my disciple. He cannot be my disciple. What
is a disciple? Am I one of his disciples? It's doubly important for me
to know what a disciple is, because I've said that I have been called
to go and to make disciples of all nations. And what's involved
in making a disciple? Well, I can't know the answer,
and neither can you, until we know what a disciple is. Let's try to find out what a
disciple is here this evening. The text says, if any man come
to me, and there are certain stipulations laid down here,
if any man come to me and hate not his father, and his mother,
and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, and even his own
life, he cannot be my disciple." Now, I think that the meaning
of this verse here has been misunderstood by a whole lot of people. And
I hope that I have the right interpretation, some light that
I might somehow by the help of God pass on to you that you might
understand. I don't think that he meant us
to understand that it would be our duty for us to hate our kinsmen. I don't think that's what it
means. I know that some people think, and it's evidenced by
their lives, that it's essential or it's an essential part of
Christianity for them to quarrel and fight with their kinsmen
and their neighbors and their friends. Evidently, they believe
that our Lord is teaching us to quarrel with our friends and
quarrel with our neighbors and quarrel with our relatives. because
that's what they do the biggest part of the time. They figure
that that's an essential part of Christianity, but that's not
what it is. The meaning of this verse is
that his disciples must so love their Lord, the Lord Jesus Christ,
that in comparison with the love he bears to others, that love
is scarcely worth talking about or mentioning. He must love the
Lord Jesus Christ in that proportion. Now, I'm sure that he doesn't
mean that he wanted me to hate my father,
my earthly father. If any man come unto me and hate
not his father, he doesn't want me to hate his father. He doesn't
want you to hate his father. your father in any sense of the
word. We're told, as a matter of fact,
we're told to love and to honor and to respect our fathers and
our mothers. We're told to honor our fathers
and our mothers. To hate our father and our mother
would be contrary to the fifth commandment. So I'm sure that
it's not that. I think it's impossible for a
man to be a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ if he hates anybody. I think it's impossible, impossible
for any man to be a true disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ if he
hates anybody, much less his father and his mother, his brother,
his sister, or even himself. The religion of the Lord Jesus
Christ is all love, and any hatred that is in our hearts, any bias
or prejudice towards anybody must be expelled immediately. We cannot hate people and profess
to be disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ. Shall a man not love
his wife? Certainly a man is to love his
wife. Is to love his wife. Our Lord said, even like Christ
loved the church and gave himself for it. You show me a man that
doesn't love his wife, and I'll show you a man that's not a Christian.
A man can't be a Christian that doesn't love his wife. He can't
be on the borderline. You can't be indifferent. You can't be indifferent in regard
to your wife. Either love her or what? Either
love her or despise her. And if you're a Christian, this
despising and this hatred must be expelled from the heart. It's
got to be. It's got to be. Someone said,
well, he loves his wife too much. I don't believe it. I don't believe
it. I don't believe that a man can
love his wife too much. Now, I'm not talking about setting
her up on some pedal and worshipping her or bowing down to her. I
don't think men do that. But someone said, well, he loves
his wife too much because he bestows gracious acts of generosity
and love upon her. He makes life easy for her. He
loves her. He's gentle with her. He's kind
with her. He's forbearing with her. He's
long-suffering. He loves his wife too much. Not
so. Not so. You can't love your wife
too much. Husbands, love your wives. Ain't no way out of that. Ain't
no way out of that. Don't quarrel with me about that
now. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ loved the Church
and gave himself for her. See what I'm talking about? Shall not a man love his wife? No man can hate his children
and be a Christian. I'm telling you what this verse
means. No man can hate his children and be a Christian, despise his
children, run off from his children, hate
them. Does not the Bible say that a
man who does not provide for his own is worse than an infidel? That's what it says. And included
in there is love. There has been a built-in, God-given
instinct of love in the parent's heart that was put there by God
to his children. That's all they are to it. And
a man cannot hate his children and be a disciple of the Lord
Jesus Christ. He cannot be. As a matter of
fact, let me say it again. A man cannot hate anybody and
be a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ. There's no room in the
religion of the Lord Jesus Christ for a man hating somebody. You
may disagree with somebody, but you can't hate him. You may be offended by what someone
does, but you can't hate him. And be a disciple of the Lord
Jesus Christ, because the religion of the Lord Jesus Christ is love. Well, it's a clear proof to me
that a man is no Christian who does not love his father, or
his mother, or his brother, or his sister, and his children.
If he doesn't love his intimate family, he is no Christian. If
he doesn't love everybody, he's no Christian. I'm not talking
about... There's a difference, I believe,
between a love that flows from from the heart of an intimate
family than it is a general love for men and women and children
that you are not personally acquainted with. I think there is a difference
there. I can't explain that, but I think there is a difference.
I really do. I think that the church of the
Lord Jesus Christ is, in a sense, compared to the family. As a
matter of fact, the Bible talks about the family of God. That
the church is like unto a family. And we cannot hate a member of
the family. We may not agree with them. As I said, we may sometimes be
offended by what they said, or maybe something that they do. But we have no license. We have
no license to vent and spew our hatred towards them. That hatred must be expelled
from our very bosom. We are not to hate anybody. Well,
now, I believe, brethren, that this verse here, if any man come
to me and hate not father, mother, wife, and children, and brethren,
and sisters, yea, even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.
It means, and it's to be taken only in a comparative sense and
not literally. And this cannot be possibly used
or taken out of its context to be applied in a literal sense. It cannot be. As a matter of
fact, if we're to take it in a literal sense, what in the
world? I guess we'll fold our tents
and quit. What are you going to do about
this part of it over where it says that a man is to hate his
own life? Hate his own life. What's the
next step after that? I'll tell you what the next step
is. Suicide. Put the gun to your temple and
shoot your brains out. That's the next step, and I'm
positive, I guarantee you, that the Bible doesn't teach self-destruction. It doesn't teach that. I don't
know. Someone said, well, can a man
be forgiven who commits suicide? I don't know. I don't know. But
I'll tell you this, he's on shaky ground. He's on shaky ground.
I'll tell you why. Because he's taken another life,
which is not his own. That's not his life to take.
That life, the life is the life of God. God gives that life. God said, I give life and I take
life. And no man's got a right to take
his own life. It's not his own. It belongs
to God. And so, if we would follow this
literal interpretation, as some would have us to believe, that
we are to quarrel with our friends, and quarrel with our neighbors,
and quarrel with mother and father, and quarrel with just anybody
that comes along that disagrees with us, well, then the first
thing you know, we'd have to quarrel with ourselves, and we'd
have to do away with ourselves. That is what it means. It means,
brethren, is to be taken only in a comparative sense, and not
literally. Not literally. Hate your own
life. Number one, then, it means this.
It means that He, the Lord Jesus Christ, is to be loved better
and more than all His relations. Now, you are to love your husband. but not more than Christ. You're to love your children,
but not more than Christ. You're to love your own life,
but not more than Christ. You're to love your friends.
You're to love the heathens. You're to love everybody, but
not more than Christ. Not more than Christ. If a man
is to be a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ, one of the brands
that's on him, is that he loves his wife, he loves his family,
but not more, not more than the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what
it means. Well, you probably never have
to choose between the Lord and your loved ones. Probably never
have to. Some have. In days gone by, there
has been many who have had to make the choice. They've had
to stand up and be counted. Which side are you on? Manifest
your love and faithfulness and steadfastness to me by standing
up and be counted." Many have. I hope that we never have to,
and probably we won't. But I'll tell you, I read about
a martyr one time who was to die for Jesus' sake. He was to
die because of his steadfastness in the deity and the lordship
of God's Christ. And they had him in prison. And the day that he was to be,
the sentence of burning at the stake was to be executed. They
took him down to the public squire, wherever it was they burnt him. And they couldn't break him. They had failed to move him from
his steadfastness. regard to his love for the Lord
Jesus Christ, but they decided that they'd make one last attempt
to get him to renounce that which he said he believed and was willing
to give his life for, make him recant. Well, they brought his
wife down there, and they had him tied to the post, and they
had the wood piled up, and he knew that he was going to be
burnt. But they brought his wife down, and he had eleven children. They brought his wife and eleven
children down there. And his wife got down at his
knees and hugged his knees, and cried, and cried, and wept, and
told him, said, ìDonít be such a willful man.î Said, ìI need
you, I need you.î And she wept, and she cried, and she pulled,
and she tugged. at this man's heartstrings. And
his eleven children done likewise. They pulled and they tugged and
they said, Father, Father, renounce this which you believe. Recant,
Father, for my sake, for my sake. Every one of those children had
been coaxed and had been coached by someone before they got there.
And they all made the same plea. And they cried, and they pulled
at their father's knees. Father, for my sake, for my sake,
live for my sake, Father. Live for our family's sake, Father. This good man, this good man,
he hadn't counted on such a severe trial as this. And boy, this
got down to where I live. This really got down there where
it is. I'll tell you now, we can say
a whole lot what we'll do and what we won't do. But brethren,
if we ever get in some men's shoes and we still remain steadfast
and faithful, it'll be by the intervening grace of Almighty
God. It'll not be because of our strength
or our self-determination. We'll just fold. We'll fold and
wilt. Just like leaves yield to the
rushing wind. That's the way we'll be. So don't
be so strong. Now say what you do. By the grace
of God you know what you do. By the grace of God. But listen,
this was a trial that the good man had not expected. But he
said this to these crying children, this tear-stained wife, who he
loved, and he gathered them all around and silenced them. And he said, God knows. God being
my witness, He knows I love you. Why? And I love these eleven
children dearly. But he said, I love him better.
That's what he said. That's what he said. You see
the drift of the text? You see the direction of the
text? Where it's going? It's love him better. Love him
better. That's what he said. He said,
I must give you all up. God knows in my heart I love
you. And I'm sure that that man's throat was full. I'm sure that
he was choked. I'm sure he had a hard time getting
that out. But he said, God knows I love
you. God knows I'd rather part with my right arm than have this
take place that's taking place right now. But he said, compared
to Jesus Christ, and his gospel. He said, I've got to give you
up. I've got to give you up for Christ's sake. It's Christ first. That's what this is teaching.
It's Christ first in everything which concerns my soul. I call no man on the face of
God's green earth, Father. Call no man, Father. Father. That which concerns my soul in
that relationship. in that relationship. It's Christ
first. It's Him first. Well, at all costs, whatever
it costs, a man who will be a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ must
follow Him wherever He leads. That's what it means. Secondly,
it means to love Him better. than your own life. Love Him
better than life itself. That is, lay down your life if
called upon to do so. Lay down your life if necessary. Knowing some individuals that
have got off into questionable things, questionable occupations,
Some have approached them in regard to what they were doing, telling them that what you're
doing is questionable and what you're doing seems to be a stumbling
block. It seems to be something that
prohibits you from joining in the worship services at a regular
schedule seems to prohibit you. And their argument was always
something like this. Well, you know, preacher, you
know that I must live. Now, when people say that, you
know I've got to live. I've got to live. That's supposed
to end the argument right there. You're supposed to tuck your
tail between your legs and say no more. You know I've got to
live. Well, I don't know that at all.
I don't know that you've got to live. I don't see any necessity
for you and I to live, do you? Do you know of any necessity
why you and I should live and ought to live in light of everything
else? There is a necessity for us to
be true to Him, but I know of no other necessity that says
that we ought to live. Some people, I'm afraid, are wedded to this world and wedded
to life. I think to be a true disciple
of the Lord Jesus Christ, it means to love Him better than
life itself. Some folks talk like the worst
thing that can happen to a man is to die. They say, well, I'll
tell you, he got all boogered up, but well, he's not dead. He's not dead. Well, what we're
saying is this. What we're saying is the worst
thing that can happen to anybody is to die. Well, he got his arm
cut off, or he got both eyes put out, or he's full of cancer,
but they're still living. They're still living. We're thankful
for that. I don't know whether I'm thankful for that or not.
I don't know. I may be forced to look at this
in a different way sometime, but I don't think, I don't think
that the worst thing that can happen to a man is to die. I
don't believe that. You'll never convince me of that.
I believe to die is gain. Say, but I've got to live. No,
sir, you've got to die. Tell me you've got to live, you've
got to die. And if you die in Christ, what do you forfeit? I die. You gain what? You gain perfect peace. You don't
have perfect peace now. Perfect peace casts out all fear. Perfect love casts out all fear.
You haven't got perfect love or perfect peace either one.
Even though we have a perfect sacrifice, we still don't have
perfect peace. We're haunted and tormented time
and time again. Am I His or am I no? I'll tell
you, when you die, Gerald, you've got perfect peace if you're in
Christ. Perfect peace. Carl read it, Revelation 21. No tears there. He'll dry our
tears. He'll wipe away our tears. Perfect
joy. Perfect peace. Perfect comfort
and perfect happiness. Don't tell me you've got perfect
happiness. You've got some afflictions. You haven't got all these things.
Perfect forgiveness of sin. Perfect righteousness. You've
got all of that. Don't tell me that a man has
got to live. No, sir. To die. To die is gain. It means, brethren, it means
to love Him better than life itself. And when you think about men
like Walter Groover, men that we knew and know personally, who have been called by God to
go yonder to heathen countries, to give up, to give up all of
the niceties and all the pleasures and the pleasantries, to give
them all up and go where heathens are, go where men could care
less about God and His Christ and the gospel, and go there,
and to be subjected to sicknesses and sufferings and swamps and
fevers, and to be deprived of that which you and I take for
granted. He must go! He must go and he
must stay! Life is not easy for brave men
like Walter Gruber, Milton Howard, and these others. Life is not
easy for his dear wife. Life is not easy for his dear
children. Life is not easy. But why do
they go? Why do they go? Do they go in
order to gain a place to preach or to have a semblance of respectability
to be recognized? Certainly not. If a man was going
to gain respectability, he wouldn't go to the Yucatan, would he?
He'd go to Hawaii. I'm going to be a missionary
to Hawaii. I'm going to be a missionary
to Puerto Rico, be a missionary to some civilization, but not
a missionary to those Indians in the Yucatan that are wedded
to some idolatry interwoven with Catholicism. Why do they go? Because they love Him more than
their own life. That's the reason they go. That's
the reason old Walter is down there right now, because he loves
him, the Lord Jesus Christ and his gospel, and the souls of
men, more than he loves his own life. Partly it means that Christ
is to be loved better than everything. Everything! If this were the
choice that was set before us this evening, right now, The
whole world, or Christ. There's many right here, under
the sound of my voice, who would not wait for the decision, but
they'd raise their hand and say, it's Christ. Give me Christ,
or else I die. Give me Christ, you can have
the world. You can have the world in all
of its recognition. You can have it all, all of its
glory. You can have all those success
stories. Have it all. Give me Christ. Give me Christ. That's what it
means to be a disciple. It means to love Him better than
everything. Love Him more than this world. Paul summed it up. This is what
he said. He said, Christ Jesus, or Christ,
is my all and in all. That's what he said. Well, that's
what the text means. It means He's my Lord. And I'm
to love Him more than everything. Turn with me real quick to John
8. John 8 and verse 31. And look
at that, just a minute here. John 8 and 31. This is what it
means to be a disciple. Verse 31, "...then said Jesus
to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then
are ye my disciples indeed." Many in the day of our Lord Jesus
Christ said they believed in Him. That's what they said. But
when persecution and opposition came their way or fell heavy
upon them, they proved by what they did that they were really
not his disciples. You see, when you enter into
the army of the Lord Jesus Christ, you enter into the army of our
Lord for life. That's what that word continue
means. If you continue in my word, when you are enlisted in
God's army, it's for life. It's not for two years. It's
not for the duration. It's not for six years. It's
not twenty years in retirement, or thirty years in retirement
with full pay. No, sir. When you enlist in the
army of the Lord Jesus Christ, it's enlisting for the rest of
your life, if you live to be a hundred. Once you're in the army, there's
no turning back. That is if you're a true disciple.
If you're a true disciple. Well, ladies and gentlemen, now
what he says, if the Jews said, Jesus said to the Jews, which
said, I'm sure, they believed on him, and he said this to them,
"'If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed.'"
The continuance in his word was what? Was proof of their relationship
to him. Continuance in His Word did not
make them disciples, but was proof that they were His disciples. Well, the very way of confessing
the Lord Jesus Christ in the New Testament speaks of just
what I have been saying here, to be baptized, in the name of
the Trinity, to be baptized in the name of the Father and the
Son and the Holy Ghost. It means that we are first buried,
and then we rise again, and that burial, having once taken place,
can never be canceled. Never be canceled. Now, whatever
happens, it's a fact that's accomplished. Now, the act of baptism can never
cease to be a fact. He who has been buried with Christ
may at the time have been a hypocrite and a deceiver, but notwithstanding
his deception and his hypocrisy, he has passed through the outward
form of that ordinance And he can never clear himself if he
lives to be 150 of the responsibility. He cannot do it. It will be to
his everlasting disgrace if he proves to be a reprobate. Continuance
is proof of discipleship. It needs to be told. We need this
to be preached to us. We need to study it. We need
to come to grips with it. Continuance. Continuance. Every day. Every week. Every month. Every year. A lifetime. A lifetime. I used to preach to some people,
some old people. And they always told me this.
They said, well, we're getting old. We're going to turn it over
to the young people. You know, as if I served my time. I served
my time. I paid my dues. I've been going
down there and listening to that preacher preach two and three
times a week for 25 years. I've served my time. I've given
thousands of dollars in 25 years. I've served my time. Now let
the young people go and we'll stand on them. Oh no. Oh no. You're staying at home. You're
staying at home. Your attitude only proves one
thing. And it's this. You're not His
disciple. That's what it proves. Continuance
in His Word. Forever. Forever. There's no getting off. There's
no getting off for a rest. Well, I'll just get off and rest
a while, will you? Will you? There's no getting
off. No getting off on this train.
This is the glory train. No getting off. Continuance. Continuance in His Word. We continue
to believe His Word. Now, there's all kinds of fancy
doctrines that creep up every now and then. Anything to divert,
to get us off, draw us aside. But we continue. Those that are
true disciples continue to believe the Word. They try the Spirit. whether it be of God or not.
They're not just so easily deceived. They're the elect of God. If
it were possible, the elect would be deceived, but it's not possible.
They continue to believe the Word. Someone comes along and
says, well, baptism doesn't mean immersion anymore. We changed
that. They don't believe that. They
believe the Word. Someone comes along and says, well, there's
no such thing as sovereign free grace. They say, we don't believe
that. Grace, the grace of God is in the Word. Someone comes
along and says, well, Jesus Christ is not God. They don't believe
that. They continue in the Word, in the Word. It's continuance
in His Word. Continue to believe His Word. It's continuance in obedience
to His Word. They don't get offended when
they read where it says, or when the preacher quotes or reads
from the book of Hebrews where it says that we ought not to
forsake the assembling of ourselves together as the manner that some
do. They don't get upset. They don't
get upset. They say, well, thank you, preacher.
Thank the Lord that God told the preacher to say that so I
could I could bow to it. I've been thinking about maybe
I ought to stay at home. Oh, it's continuance in obedience. Obedience. I'll tell you this
morning, he learned obedience in suffering. And brother, if
he learned obedience in suffering, you and I are going to learn
some obedience. Obedience to the Word of God.
Obedience to God Himself. Continuance in His Word even
when we are afflicted. I oft times like to think of
this old verse of scripture from the book of Job that says, though
he slay me, yet will I trust him. Though he kill me, though
he mar my countenance that my visage appears to be inhuman,
yet will I trust him. That's what old Job said. Though
he kills me, though he slays me, yet I'm going to trust him.
Though my family is taken from me, All taken from me, every
one of them. My recognition, my seat at the
town's gate, my membership on the town council, and that recognition
and all of that, that's been taken away from me. It's been
taken away from me. Why it's taken away from me?
She told me to curse God and die. Everything's been taken. I'm a pauper, used to have some
money, but haven't got any now. All that's been taken away from
me. Curse God and die! I've got boils all over me. Boils from the bottom of my feet
to the top of my head. There's boils all over me, and
the corruption and pollution just oozes out, and I take a
pot shirt and scrape that dried corruption off. Yet, though He
slay me, yet will I trust Him. Continuance in His Word. Continuance in obedience. Continuance
in His Word, even when we're afflicted. Then over in John
chapter 13, look over there with me. John chapter 13 and verse
35. Well, I'll read verse 34 because
it goes along with it. A new commandment, I give unto
you. That you love one another, how? How do we love one another? As
I have loved you, how did He love us? He loved us when we
were enemies. You mean to tell me I have to
love someone who disagrees with me? Bless God, you've got to. You've got to. You mean I've
got to love somebody who who expresses and manifests such
a terrible attitude towards me. It just kind of puts me down.
Every time I come around, he insults me and puts me... Why? Well, it says, you love one another. I've loved you. You also love
one another. Now listen to this. By this,
by this, by our love one to another, how many men shall know that
you are my disciples? All men. Know that you are my
disciples by this plan, by this mark, by this evidence. That
you do what? That you love one another even
as I loved you. By this shall all men know that
ye are my... We are talking about being disciples.
What is a disciple? That you are my disciples if
you have loved one to another. Good men and bad men can't help
seeing this mark. They can't help seeing it. How can we do this? How can we
really manifest the love that's in our hearts toward our brethren
and our sisters? One way is by considering their
needs and by considering their wants and their desires. That's
one way. the individual who's my brother
or my sister. Consider his needs. Consider
his wants. Consider what he's got to have.
You say, well, if someone will bring it to my attention, it's
your business. It's your business to look into
these things and find out. And not to be nosy, not to be
nosy, but it's your business to find out. Don't wait until
someone says, well, if they bring it to my attention, then I'll
do it. You're to consider the individual
to such a degree that you find out that you know, you inquire. How? I'll tell you, by considering
our brethren and our sisters' needs and their wants. In another
way, which is a way that we seldom see this grace manifested in
the lives of Christian people. That is, to rejoice in each other's
happiness. Don't be jealous. Don't be jealous
of your brother's success. Don't. Don't do that. I guess
that the greatest group of men in the world today that are guilty
of this terrible sin of not rejoicing in another man's success is preachers. They're the crookedest men alive.
They're the envious men alive. If they can hear you preach and
find out that you do a better job than they do, they'll write
you off. I'll not have that fellow come
preach my church. Oh, no. Put you down. Put you
down. Well, if I had the opportunity
that he had, I'd do as good as he would. See, that's the way
they are. put you down, tear you down. They won't rejoice
in your labor and your success. They will not do it. Brethren,
we need to rejoice in each other's happiness. If God has blessed
you, I need to rejoice with you. I need to rejoice and thank God
that He has blessed you. And if you are poor, I need to
get right down with you, and if I can help you, help you.
And if I can't, rejoice that God has not made you as poor
as somebody else. We need to rejoice in good things
that come to the people of God who are our brothers and our
sisters and the members of our family. Oh, let's not be jealous. Let's rejoice. Let's not be afraid. Let's not be afraid to say he
or she is a better sister or a better brother than I am. Let's
not be afraid to say that. Or if you're going to covet anything
or be envious of anything, be envious of their holy deportment
and character, and the charity and the love that's in their
hearts. Envy that. Envy that. On John 15 and 18,
I'll quit. John 15 and 8, listen to what
this says. It says, "...herein is my Father
glorified, that ye bear much fruit, so shall ye be my disciples." What does that mean? Well, I
think I know what fruit-bearing is, but let me just say that
I believe included in the fruit of the Spirit is this, doing
service for the Lord Jesus Christ. Enjoy it. People enjoy hearing
the gospel preached. There are some folks who come
here from time to time that enjoy. They tell me, they say, Preacher,
I enjoy hearing you preach the gospel. I enjoy it. I'm so glad
I was here. I heard that. That was good.
I enjoy it. But they never lift a finger
for the cause of the Lord Jesus Christ. I wonder why they come.
Ornaments! We don't need any ornaments.
We don't need any ornaments. We need men and women who will
do something for the cause of God and the claims of the Lord
Jesus Christ. That's what we need. We need
men and women who will get involved. We need men and women who will
say, is there not a cause? Cause? It's not my cause. Folks say, well, I won't do it
because maybe the preacher will get, he'll get exalted a little
bit. He'll get puffed up a little
bit and we'll just roar at him. It's not my cause. It's not my
cause. It's His cause. It's His cause. Herein is my Father glorified
that you bear much fruit, that you do something for Him. You
do something for Him. I don't care how little it is.
I don't care if it's sweeping the street. I don't care if it's
just whispering a word in some man's ear in regard to his relationship
of his soul to God. I don't care what it is. Do something,
anything, but do something for the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, I'll tell you this, the Apostle
Paul said, If a man don't work, he don't eat. That's what he
said. He said, if a man won't work,
don't give him no food. And I think the same thing applies
to this. Don't be an ornament. Don't be
a hearer all the time. Be a hearer, not a doer. Don't
say, well, I enjoy it. I love to hear the gospel preached.
I love to hear the preacher preach it and this thing minister. I
love to hear it, but yet never do any service to Christ. Don't
be just a hearer of the Word, but be a doer of the Word. What
can I do, preacher? What can I do? There are many
things you know what you can do. You don't have to ask me.
If you have to ask me, you've got a problem. You know what
to do. You know what to do. You know what this is all about?
It's about the glory of God. You can go talk to somebody.
You can invite somebody. You can go to somebody's house
and say, listen, I'd like for you to come hear our preacher.
You can go visit some sick church member. You can go to them and
open your Bible up and say, well, can I read a few verses of Scripture
to you, sister, and pray with you here today? Can I do that?
There are some old people that are hiding away because of loneliness. And they say in their soul, no
man cared for my soul. Tell me it ain't something to
do. You can do it. You can do it. Doing service. If any man be my disciple. That's
what I'm talking about. What is a disciple? Before I
can get involved in what's involved in making a disciple, I need
to know what a disciple is. I've been trying to leave Jesus
Christ speak from His Word here this evening to tell us what
a disciple is. If it don't work, you don't need
it. Oh, we got to bear some fruit. Got to bear some fruit. Discipleship
or fruit bearing will be proved by one thing here. It says in John chapter 15 and verse
number 8, he said, let me read some more to you. Herein is my Father glorified,
that ye bear much fruit, so shall ye be my disciples. As the Father
hath loved me, so have I loved you. Continue in my love, if
ye keep my commandments, and go on down here. There's something I wanted you
to see there, if I can find it. I looked at it a little bit ago,
but I don't see what I want to say right now. But anyhow, you
get the drift. You get the drift of it. You
see what I'm trying to say here. What we need to do then, brethren,
is there's missionaries, Brother Walter Gruber and Brother Milton
Howard. There's Brother Bill Clark. There's other good brethren that
need help. They need support. They need
our prayer. our prayers. Oh, there's a lot
of things that we can do. A lot of things. Let's live at
His feet, the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ, and confess our
sins. And in closing, let me say this
now. It costs something to be a true
disciple. It costs. I'll tell you what
it'll cost. To be a mere nominal Christian
and go to church is cheap and easy work. It doesn't take much
there. That's what most people do. But
to hear His voice, and to follow Him, and to believe in Him, and
to trust in His Word, and to confess Him requires much self-denial. And if any man be His disciple,
he's going to have to be involved in much self-denial. And I'll tell you what it will
cost us. It'll cost us our sins. It'll cost us our sins. It'll
cost us our self-righteousness. It'll cost us our ease in Zion. It'll cost us our worldliness. All must be given up for Christ's
sake if any man would be his disciple. That's what it means. Four verses of Scripture that
tells us what it means to be a disciple. Am I one of His disciples? Am I? You ask yourself the question. Am I one of His disciples? Do
I love my brethren? I love them. Do you love them
more than Him? You love your wife. I love her.
But do you love her more than Him? Well, all right. The Lord bless you. this to our
understanding here this evening, use it for His glory and for
His honor. And may it be instructive to the
sense that we might grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord
Jesus Christ and be more useful for Him. Let's not just sit back
and wait to die. Let's do something. Let's do
something. Let's move out by faith. trusting
God, doing something for the cause and claims of the Lord
Jesus.