Now, this morning, we are going
to be all over the Bible. So I hope you have either a good
knowledge of the book order, the order of the books, or at
least some bookmarks. We are going to be discussing,
talking about what it is to follow Christ, to follow Him. The words translated as we see
them, follow me, in the Greek, where Jesus said, follow me.
It means to be on the same way with someone, to accompany someone. Now, what does it mean to follow
Christ? Who follows? Who follows Christ? What type of person follows Christ? Turn to Luke chapter 5. Now, in the book of Luke, he
discusses here Levi. This is in Luke chapter five,
verse 27. Levi is Matthew. Levi is also
Matthew. It says after this, Jesus went
out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his
tax booth. Follow me, Jesus said to him,
and Levi got up, left everything and followed him. Now, the who? the who about who
follows him. Well, it's this type of person.
Now, the Lord Jesus will find you just as you are. It's not
like there is this imaginary line. Hovering wherever you want
to say in the spiritual realm and we just have to do works
or whatever and get ourselves get our hands up above that line
and then he'll see us. He finds you where you are, as
you are, and He finds you low. Now, some in this religious world
believe wrongly that their profession, whether as a preacher or even
the church secretary, it doesn't matter, that their profession
lifts them several rungs higher up that spiritual ladder to God.
They don't say it. You can just kind of see it. That's an idea born of vanity.
And I know this because I feel that if I were a preacher, and
I don't think I am one, but I feel that if I were a preacher or
minister of music, that I would believe, if God left me alone, that I
was closer to Him than to all those unwashed people out in
the pews. You know, some people just think
that they have this station, this calling, and it brings them
closer to God. It is an easy thing to believe
that an office in the church grants you a little bit more
favor with God, but it does not. The people standing behind this
pulpit whenever they do are just people standing behind this pulpit,
that's it. Because God does not look upon
the outward man. Now, Jesus act of calling Matthew
a man thoroughly hated by the Jews. That refutes that concept of
looking at the outward man. When scriptures say that God
doesn't look on the outward man, that includes the man's job. Do you construct buildings? He'll
find you. Do you heal people with medicine?
He'll find you. Do you raise the kids and take
care of the home? He'll find you. If you're his,
he'll find you. Do you collect taxes from your
neighbors, your own people? for the ones who conquered your
nation and rule your lands harshly, which is Levi. He'll find you. He'll find you. And when he does find you, emulate
Matthew. Get up, leave everything and
follow the Lord Jesus Christ. It's set here as an example.
That's just what he did. Jesus said, follow me. And so
he got up. I don't know if he loved his
job. The Jews hated people that did that because the Romans came
in and made tax collectors out of other Jews and said, here,
you go collect taxes from these people, your people. And those people were so thoroughly
despised by other Jews. So I don't know if he had love
for his job or not, but he got up and he followed Christ. Now, what happens after you start
following Jesus Christ and what becomes your desire? For that,
we go to Matthew, chapter four. Matthew, chapter four, first
book of the New Testament. Verses 18 through 19. It says, as Jesus was walking
beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, called
Peter, and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into
the lake for they were fishermen. Come, follow me, Jesus said,
and I will make you fishers of men. At once they left their
nets and followed him. Now the Greek for follow is a
little bit different. In this one, it just means come
here, come here, follow. Now, your occupation in this
life will change after you are called. Before Christ found you,
your job was earthly. It was here. You worked for money, for your
stomach and for your heart's desire, whatever that may be. After he found you, your job
became heavenly, became spiritual. Did you know that your new job
is to witness to others? To find lost souls, to proclaim
your hope boldly and as clearly as you can, even if you're Moses
and you say you can't do it, he'll give you the words. And your new job is to give God
the glory. You still work at your old job.
Because this old flesh still needs money, still needs to eat,
and still enjoys some of the pleasures that are here that
God gives us. But we're just sojourning here.
We're just strangers in this land. But that occupation, that old
one, is no longer your prime focus. or is not holding as much
importance. You already do this new job by
virtue of you even coming here. Not only do you gain knowledge
of the doctrines of God, you're encouraging one another by being
here. If you're not here, the people that gather here miss
out, including yourself. If you're not here, you don't
hear the Word. And if you're not here, other people aren't
encouraged by you. Now, I can think of a lot of
things more pleasurable to do in this world than to come here. I remember when I was young,
I did not want to come here. And I would devise all manner
of things not to. And some of them worked. But I no longer want to be a
part of this world. I don't want that to be my prime
focus. I don't want that to be where my desire is. I come here
to fellowship whenever I can. There's, we call it Bible study
at Sunday school, whatever, there's that, you get to hear the gospel.
There's the sermon afterward, you get to hear the gospel. My
church has meetings on Wednesday night, we get to hear the gospel. The world can't help you. The
world can't heal you. And the world cannot bring you
peace, and it cannot bring you rest. Here can. Here is where you get
those things. The early Christians in Acts
2, it says they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and
to the fellowship. We are rightly compared to sheep.
We are gregarious creatures. We're sociable or social and
live in flocks because alone sheep are vulnerable to attack.
Sheep are scared, but in the flock, they follow the shepherd. who protects them and gives them
encouragement. I'm not talking about you're
sick, you miss services. I'm not talking about that. Just
the regular meetings of worship, the gathering together of the
saints should not be regularly missed. This is where the food
is. This is where the drink is that
fills you. It's the only you can find it
in the Bible, but the public worship is very important. And
when you start following Christ, that's where your desire will
be. And when you become a follower
of Christ, you will be useful to His ministry. You will. Turn to John chapter 1. John
chapter 1. We are His tools. And he will
use us as he sees fit. Starting in verse 43, it says, the next day, Jesus
decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him,
follow me. Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town
of Bethsaida. Philip found Nathanael and told him, we have found the
one Moses wrote about in the law and about whom the prophets
also wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. Nazareth,
you can hear it in his voice, Nazareth, Nazareth, can anything
good come from there? Nathanael asked. Come and see,
said Philip. When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching,
he said to him, here is a true Israelite in whom there is nothing
false. How do you know me? Nathanael asked. Jesus answered,
I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip
called you. Then Nathanael declared, Rabbi,
you are the son of God. You are the king of Israel. Now, Philip follows Christ. And then he finds Nathanael.
He was a follower before he found Nathanael, who was another follower. And after Jesus finds you, you
being his tool, may find other of his sheep. He may use you
to do that. That's why you always be prepared
as much as you can. And even if you don't have the
words, like Moses and his self-proclaimed failing tongue, you can say,
I don't have the answers to all your questions, but you come,
you come to church, come and listen. They have, there's some answers
here. Notice also what Jesus says in
Nathanael when he answers, I saw you while you were still under
the fig tree before Philip called you. Now, based on chronological
events, Jesus called Philip first, yet Jesus knew Nathanael even
before he called Philip. And when Philip found Nathaniel
and then he became a follower of Christ, that wasn't cause
and effect at work. It was predestination. I love
what Tim James said about predestination. He said every time he hears someone
say, you know, I just don't believe in predestination. Tim James
wants to go. He said that right on time. But it says in Jeremiah, before
I formed you in the womb, I knew you. He knew Nathanael just the same
as he knew Philip. He knows all of his followers
by name and he will send one after another until they're all
found. You must also be vigilant as
a follower of Jesus Christ and stay focused on the gospel. Turn
to John 21. John chapter 21. It is a difficult thing to not
be distracted in this gospel. John chapter 21, starting in
verse 20. It says, Peter turned and saw that
the disciple whom Jesus loved was following them. Now, this
was the one who had leaned back against Jesus at the supper and
had said, Lord, who is going to betray you? And when Peter
saw him, he asked, Lord, what about him? Jesus answered, if I want him
to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must
follow me. Now that means follow him and
don't be distracted. We are apt to envy and to confrontation
and to judging and to petty quarreling even among the brethren. We just
are. That's the old flesh. That's
the old man. In this case, Peter becomes distracted because he
believes that this other disciple is receiving special treatment.
Christ replies, what is that to you? You must follow me. This is what you must do. Don't
worry about this. Now, I don't believe, and others
say likewise, that Jesus says that this other disciple will
live until the rapture. The reply is for Peter's benefit. He could have said, you know,
what is it to you that I turn him into a bird? It doesn't matter.
You must follow me. But it is for our benefit that
we should not be distracted by God's supposed special treatment
of his other sheep. None of us makes the same amount
of money in our jobs. Does that make you envious? What is that to you? You must
follow Christ. Now, we would probably react
to the same way, perhaps if we were around during the time of
Adam and all those people back then. And we heard that God would
be taking Enoch. What if he had announced it? He said, this man is not going
to die. I'm going to take him. Well, what about him? What is that to you? You must
follow me. And I know I'm saying it to you
right now, I'm saying it to me. It is very easy to become distracted,
so we must be vigilant. And followers of Jesus Christ
should not fill their hearts with the riches and desires this
world has to offer, nor put any trust in them. Turn to Mark,
turn to the book of Mark, chapter 10. Mark, chapter 10. Starting in verse 17. It says, as Jesus started on
his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before
him. Good teacher. He asked, what must I do to inherit
eternal life? Why do you call me good? Jesus
answered. No one is good except God alone. You know, the commandments do
not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false
testimony, do not defraud, honor your father and mother. Teacher,
he declared, all these I have kept. I was a boy. Jesus looked at him and loved
him. One thing you lack, he said,
go sell everything you have and give to the poor and you will
have treasure in heaven. Then come follow me. At this,
the man's face fell. He went away sad because he had
great wealth. To follow him might mean to lose your riches
or it will become a stumbling block to you. To some, he gives
the grace to manage riches and not to let it consume them. But to many, he doesn't. Now,
riches in this passage can mean anything that you have stocked
up in this world in which, you know, has value and in which
you place your trust. or it has a special place in
your heart, a special value. God requires your complete trust
in him. Not your own riches, which, by
the way, he gave you. He is a jealous God and he will
not share the glory with anyone or anything. And let me read
to you from Luke to see how God takes care of His people. This is what He does for us,
even if we don't acknowledge it. It says, Then He said to them,
Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.
There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various
places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven. But
before all this, they will lay hands on you and persecute you. They will deliver you to synagogues
and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors,
and all on account of my name. This will result in your being
witnesses to them. But make up your mind not to
worry beforehand how you will defend yourselves. For I will
give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will
be able to resist or contradict. You will be betrayed even by
parents, brothers, relatives and friends, and they will put
some of you to death. All men will hate you because
of me, but not a hair of your head. will perish. By standing firm, you will gain
life. In these passages, Christ says
that we may lose some things for his name's sake. We may lose
our health. We may lose our comforts. A lot
of people complain when they lose a comfort. We may lose our
freedom. We may lose family or friends
or our very lives for the sake of Jesus' name. You don't hear about that in
this country. People aren't usually killed for what they believe,
but in other countries they still are. Yet the more beautiful promise
is what we will not lose, wisdom from God. We won't lose it. or testimony, and not one hair
of our heads will be unaccounted for. We are protected. Scriptures
don't say, but what do you think Job felt when the Lord answered
him out of the whirlwind? I don't even know what it looks
like. They say whirlwind. I don't know if we have a word
for it. Job had lost his family, his possessions. He'd been in
sackcloth and ashes for days. He'd lost his comforts and his
riches. So pretty much anything the world
counts as valuable was gone to Job. He was sitting in despair,
reasoning to himself that God was enacting justice on him for
some sin he just couldn't recall at the moment. It must have been
because God is just, is what he reasoned. But I like to think or imagine
if I were Job and I felt forsaken of God at that very moment, what
a relief it would be to hear God's voice and not be destroyed
right then and there where I stood. There are people that don't get
that privilege. You may lose some things here
for His name's sake, but you, O Beloved of God, are protected." Now, when someone becomes a follower
of Jesus Christ, he goes from serving himself to serving others. We find this in John chapter
12. John chapter 12 and verse 26. This is Jesus speaking here.
It says, whoever serves me must follow me. I like that. It's a neat form
of progression. If you're going to serve me,
you're going to follow me. And where I am, my servant also will
be. My father will honor the one
who serves me. To follow him, then, is to serve. Now, you serve Christ. You try
to emulate as best you can what he has done and what he has said.
But see how even Paul, the great Paul, introduces himself. He says,
Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ. And Peter says, Peter, a servant
and an apostle of Jesus Christ. We don't say servant anymore
much, but back then there were servants, people that waited
upon someone else to do their will. That's what we're doing.
That's what we're doing if we're followers. Jesus washed the disciples'
feet as a picture of following Him. And the task of following
Him cannot be likened to climbing the corporate ladder or garnering
a job in middle management. The Pharisees and the scribes
of Jesus' day, they saw their occupations as equal to kings,
although they may not have said it publicly. They thought they
had this high station. They're supposed to be servants. Following Jesus instills that
attitude of a servant. And I'm not saying get down and
wash everybody's feet. To me, that's kind of gross.
It's the attitude. It's the attitude. You want to
help one another and you want to emulate Christ as much as
possible. And when you become a follower
of Jesus, don't let your heart regret anything that you may
have lost because of it. Turn to Luke. Turn to the book
of Luke again. Chapter nine. I told you I was going to be
moving around. Chapter 9 and verse 61. Jesus is answering some people
who have been asking him some questions. And we come to the
last one here that they record and it says, still another said,
I will follow you, Lord, but first let me go back and say
goodbye to my family. Jesus replied no one who puts
his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the
kingdom of God Now following him It says you do it without
desire for your past life Your past ways or your material possessions
your friends or family you may have lost to follow him now think
about that That sounds really sad especially the friends and
family. But just think about it. Would
you ever want to leave the riches in Christ to gain that after
having experienced the riches of Christ? Because there are some people
in this world who will not be your friend if this is what you
profess. Well, that's That's their problem,
not yours. But that's what it means. Be
on your guard against the desire to go back to the past. A lot
of people, they will equate this to the time when Lot and his
wife and his daughters were fleeing Sodom and Gomorrah. And his wife
looked back and they turned her into a pillar
of salt. That was there for a picture.
Don't look back. There's nothing there that you need. You need
to follow. He has everything. Everything
you'll need. So be on your guard. You don't
want to go back. Not to that endless toiling under
the law. Not even a bit of it. not for
the continual meaningless ceremonies that you had in your old religion,
and not for the pursuit of other men's approving words." That
gets a lot of people. There were Jews in Jesus' day. I remember the mother and father
of the man who was healed. The Pharisees brought the mother
and father in for questioning because they just couldn't get
anything out of the son that they wanted to hear. And they
said, what say you? And they said. He's of age, he's
an adult, you ask him. They didn't want to say they
wanted the proving words. But our past provides no rest
from what really ails us. I don't want you to lose friends
or family or riches or whatever comforts we got here, but you
might. You might. And following Jesus is not easy.
Some of you already know. Let me read to you from Jeremiah.
Oh, what a burdened man he was. A man who was, I wouldn't say
depressed, not like we know it, but he was constantly anxious. He wasn't downtrodden, but he
had a lot of fear and didn't seem always a lot of joy. But
I read from Jeremiah 17, verse 16, it says, this is Jeremiah
speaking, I have not run away. from being your shepherd. You
know, I have not desired the day of despair. What passes my
lips is open before you. And it takes a little bit of
studying in that verse to find out what he's talking about.
Other translations say instead of day of despair, the day of
woe or a woeful day. You might remember what Jeremiah
did. He was God's prophet in a time
when there were not many followers. And he was always. He was the
mouthpiece of God and what came out of his mouth, no one ever
enjoyed. And judging only by these words
from Jeremiah, does it sound easy to do that? Because that's
what we essentially tell everybody else who follows a works religion. You're toiling after something
that's just going to bring you faster into hell. You're doing
wicked things. Jeremiah says here that he hasn't
abandoned God's calling as the prophet to the people, but he
also admits he does not desire announcing God's judgment to
Israel. And that's just our burden. Imagine
if we were given equal time on television with all those other
religious personalities. And instead of telling people
what they wanted to hear, which is what people do, we explained
how people's conduct was dishonest, that their hearts were wicked,
that they had no hope of salvation based on their choice of church,
their jobs, their ancestral ties. In our flesh, I don't think any
of us would want to do that. Some people relish the fight.
I'm not one of them. But it would be our testimony
as followers of him because he uses us as tools to further his
gospel, and it might not be convenient or comfortable. Now, how does a follower know
who to follow? That's found in John chapter
10 as well. John chapter 10. verses 24 through 27. It says here, the Jews gathered
around him saying, how long will you keep us in suspense? If you
are the Christ, tell us plainly. Well, Jesus answered, I did tell
you, but you do not believe the miracles I do in my father's
name speak for me, but you do not believe because you are not
my sheep. My sheep listen to my voice. I know them and they follow me. Now his sheep follow him when
and because they hear his voice. I'm not talking about a voice
out of the clouds. When you or I listen to a gospel
preacher, we are hearing God's voice at that time. We know if
the gospel is being preached because the gospel sounds like
our God's voice. In Luke 24, Jesus appears to
two disciples after he has risen from the dead. You remember that
little bit of story. He walks with them for a while
on the road and it says that he explained to them what was
said in all the scriptures concerning himself. After he leaves them
and their eyes are opened, they say, were not our hearts burning
within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the
scriptures to us? Now, I know that's what I feel
when I hear the gospel. Your heart burns within you and
in a minute we'll see why. But that is God's voice. Jesus
came to do his father's will and when he talked. It was what
his father wanted him to say. And then when we preach and we
preach out of here and Jesus meets with us. It's what God
wants to say at that point in time. For us. Now, a follower of Jesus Christ
must also deny himself. That sounds kind of strange.
Turn to Luke chapter 9. You must deny yourself. Not deny that you exist. Not
deny that you have feelings and thoughts. But in Luke chapter 9 and verse
23, It says, then he, that is Jesus,
said to them all, if anyone would come after me, he must deny himself
and take up his cross daily and follow me. Now, when Jesus bore
his own cross, it was to die. I don't know how big those things
were, but I know they were tall and they were sturdy. But He
bore that cross and He's saying here that we die daily unto ourselves. When we submit to Him, we take
on His name and therefore deny ourselves to take up His righteousness. Not our own. We deny that part
of ourselves. We don't want anything of it.
It's black. It's a stain. It brings us down. Now, my wife and I were talking
about this one time. We have a county fair parade
annually. And as it is, that area of southeast
Missouri is religious as well. We decided, you know, you see
those people walking down and they have those crosses fashioned
out of PVC pipe. And they got little wheels on
the back of them and they marching down the road. Well, when we
talked about this, we decided that our real cross, the cross
he's talking about here, it's not made out of PVC. It does
not have wheels. And when I saw what I call a
religious atrocity, it's detestable what they do. And people are
clapping when they're coming down the street. I can tell you
that my initial reaction was not godly. It was not good. I wanted to show them the very
verse in the Bible where it says that those teachers of the law
who pray loudly in public to be seen of men have received
their reward in full. Because that's all you get. But when Christ says to take
up the cross and follow him, he doesn't mean to pick up a
physical cross But this figurative or spiritual one, I don't know
the best word for it. And I don't even know if we would
call it a burden. But it's considered by the world a burden to be a
follower of this. Have you ever heard someone say,
well, I'm going to... I've actually heard people say
this. They say so-and-so is going to do a lot of partying over
the summer before he starts seminary. had to get it out of the way
because after they start, they're not supposed to do it. My first reaction to those hypocrites
in the parade should have been discernment. You can discern
what is good and bad because that's what you've been told.
You know what's good and bad. The judge has said what is good
and bad. You discern what is good and bad. Should have been discernment
because those people were so clearly lost. I should have tried to find a
way to edify myself and my wife to give thanks that God showed
mercy to us. Even if we were the only sheep
at that parade, he showed mercy to someone. And secondly, that
figurative cross, it's not easy as Jeremiah has verified. This cross doesn't have wheels,
it's not hollowed out. But it's how you follow Jesus
Christ. And it's not a burden I would
want cast away. In actuality, Jesus said, my
burden is light. My burden is light, it's not
heavy. But no, our two natures will never get along because
that old man fights up to the very end. But thanks be to God
that the nature he gives us doesn't falter, but endures all the way
to heaven. And finally, what is the end
result for one of Jesus Christ's followers? That's found in Revelations
14. A lot is said in Revelations
14 that I have no earthly idea what it means, but there are
some parts that are plain enough that can be understood. Revelations 14, starting in verse
1, It says, Then I looked, and there before me was the Lamb
standing on Mount Sion, and with Him 144,000 who had His name
and His Father's name written on their foreheads. And I heard
a sound from heaven like the roar of rushing waters, and like
a loud peal of thunder. The sound I heard was like that
of harpists playing their harps. And they sang a new song before
the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders.
No one could learn the song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed
from the earth. These are those who did not defile
themselves with women, for they kept themselves pure. They follow
the lamb wherever he goes. They were purchased from among
men and offered as first fruits to God and the Lamb. No lie was
found in their mouths. They were blameless. Usually
these are likened to the saints, the people who are saved. That's
the way I take it. Notice it says no lie was found
in their mouths, they were blameless. The only people like that are
those found in Christ. Now, believers are following
the lamb. That's the end result. They started
here in history. And they'll continue on in heaven,
following, praising. And I like that. His father's
name is written on their foreheads. I know it might be a little bit
brutal to say it's a branding, but right across here. His people. And you know, then you know. And what is the activity of a
follower in the end? It is to sing his praises before
the throne. And no one can learn that song
but the ones who are redeemed from the earth. No one else knows
it. Now, this, in my opinion, is
what burns in a believer's heart. When a believer hears that song
coming from the pulpit, not talking music, I'm talking this word,
that song learned from God, That's the only place you learned it.
And given only to those who are redeemed. They're the only ones
who are going to repeat it. When you hear that song, when
a believer hears that song, his heart burns. Because it sounds
like denying ourselves. Because it sounds like praise
for the Lamb, doesn't it? Because it sounds like the shepherd's
voice. And don't we rejoice to hear
the shepherd's voice. Over Christmas, we had to go
to another church while we were visiting with my mother-in-law.
And I found it so funny, it was the exact same verses this preacher
preached on when we were there a year back. It turns out they're
part of a A government, a church government that tells you, tells
each preacher what to preach on a given day. But anyway, he
preached on the same thing. And I caught this time, like
I had caught last time, a little bit of gospel. It was right out
of Luke. It was Anna and it was Simeon,
those two people who got to see the Lord's salvation, Mary bringing
Christ. He didn't talk much about that.
He talked about Anna and Simeon. But I found that so funny. But
guess what? My heart did not burn when I
was there. And I looked around and it was
a decent sized church. And I thought, why are they here? I would have stayed home. What
a waste of my time. I could go to a history class
and learn about Anna and Simeon. I come here to hear God's word.
Because no one else is saying it. So your heart burns within you.
And I hope and pray that whenever you meet here in the name of
Jesus Christ, that your hearts will burn within you, because
then you know. You know what you've heard. And
you know whom you follow. And I don't have to tell you
that it's a privilege to do this. It's nice to have a building.
Believe me, I know the church I attend now didn't always have
a building. They met in a storefront. Drew might have told you this.
They met in a storefront. They met in one of the members
homes for a while. But they met. They met. May God grant his people
ears to hear this and open hearts. Let's close in prayer. Heavenly Father, we pray that
you would meet with us and we pray again that you would always
meet with us. We do follow you, but not It
is not of our devising ways to do it. You have shown us how
to follow you. You've shown us that public worship
is important. It is edifying. It is encouraging.
You've shown us we must deny ourselves. We don't bring anything
of ourselves to you to gain any favor. You have already found
favor with God. And that's all the favor we need. Lord, keep us and protect us
as only you can. You can protect us as you did
Job, even though he lost much in this world. His life was never
forfeit, could not touch his heart. Lord, we ask for those that are
undergoing trial or temptation, bring them back. Bring them back
quickly, mercifully, and as you always do, patiently. Because
we are prone to wander, prone to stumble. We have these old,
ragged, filthy bodies that drag us where we do not want to go. And Lord, those who travel today,
may you be merciful to them. Lord, keep your sheep safe. We
know of some. You know of all of them. You
know every one of their names. And we ask these things in Jesus'
name. Amen.