We will now rise above, while
I endure the rainfall. We will stand now as one, faith
and faith strong. I've got a special message for
you tonight. I'm going to whisper it, and
it's me searching for the old man. The title of the message tonight,
discipleship. Discipleship, that's the subject
our Lord is dealing with in the last version of chapter nine. There's three things we're going to see
here, and three examples to use. Three principles to deal with. First, we're going to see the
cost of discipleship. And it came to pass that as they went in the way,
a certain man said unto him, Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever
thou goest. You know, the word man in Italian
would be a female. It would be a man or a woman. I believe this person represents
the average person who makes their decision in which they
decide to follow exactly what they're still saying. And nearly everyone at some point
does get some sort of relief due to annual marriages, personal
tragedy, troubles in the home, something. And we've got that
now in every phone call I've received a year, people in trouble. And quite often they say they
won't come, and I always try to convince them that everybody
will leave, that it is Christ's gospel, and that they need to
hear the gospel, and say, oh, God, yeah, I'm coming. But salvation is not something
that's supposed to be signed. Holy preachers are always telling
people to give their heart to Jesus. That's not the point of salvation,
is it? When Ezekiel, I'll tell you about
this a time ago, when Ezekiel, I think it's chapter 36, he says,
A new heart also will I give you. I'll take you if you say
I will, but all the way through there, he's telling what he's
going to do. I haven't decided, it doesn't
work. That way he comes out and decides to do something. And so Christ must first give
us a good heart. He must do something for us. This fellow, If you'd have heard him say this,
he would have sounded pretty arrogant. He would have sounded
funny, whatever he did. And that's, that's the reality
of this today. People who decide to be Jesus
can be very bullish up in the table. When you ask them about
their salvation, they'll tell you, oh, no, I'm just going to
be in sin in my life, you're going to see that. That's exactly what they're trying
to say. None of the apostles decided
to talk to Jesus. Not one of them. Not one of them. He was looking for me. Now he made him. Made him willing
to talk to me. All right. Here's the talk. Our
Lord said the first good cat, what are you talking about? The
first good cat. Foxes, that's old. Birds of the
air, haven't they? But some man had not, or nowhere,
studied that. You don't follow that? He went to go out into the solitary
wilderness to do it. What he's saying here is it's
not an easy path. The path is, you can go on the
path, it's really easy. It's really a way of transgressing
poverty. He goes, he's the first in line,
but what I'm saying here, what I'm saying is, we can plant a wall. You can carry a wall around it. It's a tribulation of the government. It's a crime of the government.
And he said, we'll see how long you do pollinate. He decided to pollinate. Quite often, like I said, people
get religion in a couple, they get some sort of conviction and
a funeral or a sickness or something, and it only lasts... conviction,
it comes out of sorrow. It only lasts until the sun is
shining. And even so, Those who walk in
religion and everything goes smooth, everything's going real
smooth, but they usually turn back when they're up, when they're
going to get drunk. It's the same way in marriage. Because this is marriage. This
is marriage. I know you do. about marriage,
you know, we had the same practice from the start out. I was just
going to be all, you know, very big money. I'll start, I'll start. I really, well, The Lord, though, you know, He
is merciful and He doesn't call the unbelievers to go through
deadly trials first, but they would be with Him. Many seek
religion to remove their troubles, to remove their troubles. And things come to the end of
the troubles. And the true disciples, real troubles, disappear. The real disciples didn't have
any troubles before. The ones whom Christ chooses
and seeks and makes His own, they didn't have trouble before. They were doing
just fine without Christ. They weren't seeking Him. And
then Christ calls them to discipleship again, and then the troubles
start. Did you attest to that? You never had trouble with men
before? Oh, you had typical problems
with the clergy. Hey, but you never had trouble
with sin. That's the first trouble the
believer gets into, sin with sin. With men, never had that
trouble before. You had trouble with the house? Trouble with the mouth, trouble
with the tongue, trouble with the words, and so forth. But
the principal cause, and the principal trouble is persecution.
Persecution is the principal cause of sin. The principal cause. Look at verse 1 and 3. Back there,
verse 1 and 3. You remember this? He said, then,
any man that will come after me, it's me, your actor, that
is prepared to have trouble. It could be religion. No, it
might be suicide. Satan will kill a person that calls for refuge. He said, if
you come after me, it's me, your actor, and you're going to have
to die with me, with myself. They've got a cross. He has a
cross. Follow him. He says, you don't need to follow
somebody. You hear me? Not even one person
can hear me. Follow them. Well, here's the problem. Every one
of them follows me. I'm in solitary. He said that.
Solitary. There's a little friend who wants
to follow one of you. There's no longer trouble. There's no longer trouble. They'll
shut it to you. Friends who once opened their
doors to you, opened your company, shut their doors to you. You'll
be a stranger. You'll read that and you'll be
a stranger and an alien. You'll be an alien. It could be worse. You could be a creature. But you will, you will be agonized
just for being a true believer. I'm not saying it could be worse.
You're going to have to talk to a preacher. You're not going
to say, I have AIDS. You're not going to show me. But, you know, once you were
an alien to the truth, Paul said, alien to the commonwealth of
Israel, stranger to the government, probably, but not at all. Now, you've got a citizen, a
household of faithful saints. Once you were a friend to the
world, and a stranger to the truth, man but God, but man. You're a friend of the truth,
of the church, and of God. Yes, a friend of God, isn't that
what you say? A friend of God, and a stranger,
an enemy. They channel water. They channel
water. The machine emits the code and
moves. Right? So there's a, there's
a, there's a cause, and our Lord gave that. The parable of sitting
down in Canada College, you know, where a man intends to build
a building that's not very fancy. It's in Canada College. You can
get a sandwich in there. You want to know where it is?
He said, New York. It's in Canada College. So with
this, though, the side of the problem is different. The other
side of the problem is different. And here's the good thing about
people arguing this because they like soccer and drugs. And I'm
so thankful that this is working. You go to this, and what are
you going to decide? What are you going to decide? Play it on. What are
you going to decide? Is that right? Whatever you decide. How many things in your life
have you decided officially? How many things have you decided
that you were going to resolve to after two years of education? Sixty. How many things have you
decided that you were resolving to on Thursday? And it wasn't
any time at all that you resolved on Monday. Here's the good thing
about Sovereign is that He's decided for us. He's decided for us, and
He's chosen our inheritance for us. He made His will and made
His power. We can't understand it. The disciples didn't decide it
for Him. They followed Him. He said, follow me. And they
did. So He didn't offer up a choice. And so then when it was time
to leave Him, All of those that he didn't call,
he said, they said, these are our saints,
and they left. And he turned to his disciples and said, what
about you? Did you go? And they said, no, we're here
to preach the Lord's message. See, isn't
that good? Don't you like sodomizing? I don't know about you people,
but one way or the other, because you decide one way, you decide
another. That's the way it happens. It happens. But it can't stop
us. If I decide to talk to Jesus,
and, oh, man, I love Jesus, or, you know, I'm not loving Him. If I love Him, of course, He's perfect,
isn't He? So it's a cost. It's a cost. No one needs to tell us what
the cost is. It just makes up my mind. What
am I going to do? All right, here's the priority
of the science machine. And really, if you stop thinking
about it, there's no cost involved. Anything you give love, you really
use it. All right, verse fifty-nine. Now here's another
fellow, or woman. She said, I'm a nun. Follow me. But, she said, but what? But
suffer me first, and go and marry my father. Now, first fell on the side.
This fell on the other side. The last fell on the other side.
Now, well, this fellow said, wait a minute, let me first go
bury my father. I personally want you to know
this, dear, but first let me tell you this. Christ didn't invite this
fellow to talk. He annexed him. The kings don't ask anything.
They don't give any attention. They do nothing. They just remain.
The king said, follow me. The Word of God is not off you. The Word of Christ said it. It's
not off you. Just remain. I understand that it's not an
indication, but whatever you decide, you're free to come under. Well, sir, I'm sure you should
have gone through the manuals if you didn't care for it. Follow me." He said, didn't he?
He said, follow me. It's a command. It's not an invitation
to be accepted or rejected. He's on the stage. He's not up
for acceptation or rejection. We are. We are. It's not often to be
considered that a command is being obeyed. He says, follow
me. Now, probably, you say the money
doesn't matter at all. That's not the point. You know,
we did it for the purpose of Christ. We made that playground. But the point is, whatever the
price is, it's coming in. All right, that's the reason
the word ended all the way through the song, because the song won't
end. Now listen to the word again. The law. The law. Okay, I love that. The law. See, he's talking about
the first five books of Moses. Why not believe what other books
have been, you know, on and on. The law. He's involved, isn't he? Now,
he's involved, isn't he? Oh, amazing, all right. And when
the gospel is preached, it's not an invitation, because we
don't give an invitation to the gospel. We don't believe we're
given an invitation. We get convinced. Ten, five,
six, seven, eight, nine, ten, five, six, seven, eight, nine,
ten, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, five, six, seven, eight, nine,
ten, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, five, six, seven,
eight, nine, ten, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, five,
six, seven, eight, nine, ten, five, six, seven, eight, nine,
ten, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, five, six, seven,
eight, nine, ten, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, five, six,
seven, eight, nine, ten, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten,
five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, five,
six, seven, No. No. The man was immediate. Immediate. Okay, well, here's
his excuse. He said, first, let me. He said,
first, let me go bury my father. This
is the first time he's given me some cover in the past. But, uh, he said, we can't. He said, uh, But the Lord said in verse 16,
let's look at the next part. God said unto him, let them live,
and bury their dead. Job out preached the kingdom
of God. You know the Lord is not telling his man, you cannot
attend to God's kingdom. He's simply not saying
that. He is intending to do it. He said, if you last long, Everyone
who went to ceased to be a funeral and became a feast, a celebration. But, you know, he's
not telling this young man, this woman, to not bury their dead
parents. But what this fellow is saying
here is, I've got to go tend to my dying father. That's what he's saying, she's
saying. I've got to go tend to my dying
mother, my dying father, my dying parents. And that's the legitimate
responsibility. It is. That's what the universe
wants to do. But it's nothing. The second
point is product. It's nothing. And it's a no-go. Not even here
or there. Here or there. It's a no-go process. In that no-go process, any man
loves his father, loves his son-in-law more than they can believe themselves. Everything. Legitimate responsibility
must make a backseat job. It's not, I'll give you a job
and then I'll find you a job. I've heard that once, I've heard
it a thousand times. People take a job somewhere and
then they start trying to find a job. That's not the way it's
done. I've already, if I, if you're
one person's spirit, Okay? You know, there's one verse here
that's so cool and so fresh, that I just started to sing the
part of it. The King of God in the West has
commanded me to listen to the promise. Thank you. I always thank you for that.
See, the cost is seeking the gospel. The city
of Mary didn't have any names. It was a park. That's the cost. But the promise is a good job
and a good home. The gospel, man, kept the bread,
didn't give the grain to the old city. You gotta live in prayer. That's what you live on, prayer.
You can't live on prayer. You live in prayer first. He
always does. He always does. That's what he
said. That's what I consider to be
the commandment. See, he heard it. He knew about
it. He taught it. We need it. God's not going to
let us fall, and He's not going to let us all die and suffer.
That's what He's saying to you, to me. All this is dead stuff. Everything about this world is
dead stuff. That's what I'm going to call the world. The world
is hanging. Hanging still. Hanging in place. That's why everything in this
world is dead and dying. Dying you die. You know that. Everything in this world is perishable.
You see, neither bread nor wine. I always say in the attitude. The attitude. For those of you
that have heard me, you're going to think, I don't perish, it's
the people. And you know our Lord and his life's objective. Our Lord used to pray for us. as the real test of something. That's where the brotherhood
comes from. That's where, this is where the
true discipleship comes from, family, of the Spirit. Nearly everyone, family comes
from it. We're going to get everyone.
Just these people who do their priorities, you know, all family,
something God knows, God loves. Family first. Family based on God's name. Family,
God, all of it. God, really. Do you remember what our Lord
said to us when He said, when He gave His blood? Do you believe
He loved Mary? Do you believe He loved His mother that
long? Do you? No son has ever loved a mother
like you. Never! Not even a fraction of
the way he loved that mother. He loved her with all his heart
and soul. There's never been a son more
pleasing and loving and considerate and kind and careful of his duties. Never! He cared, didn't he, Ben? He loved her. Compared to his
love, Sidney and I, we don't love our mothers at all. So when
he came here, and he was about the things of God. Worship. What
are you doing? Worshiping with his people. And his brethren, you ready to
love your brethren, Sidney? They came to him and wanted to
remove him from prayer. When you tell a story, I don't
have to know that. I need one of my patients. I need that brotherly love of
a patient. I need one of his patients. Who are my brethren? Well, my
brother, this night, he's in the deltas. Why don't you know
he's in the deltas with me? There's my
brother. You ever met him? If you want
to know if your desire is free, it's a political statement. You
see, who comes first, Christ or sin? Christ or sin, yes. And I would not. hurt any more
feelings, be too hard on anyone I understand, because of our
family, because I don't beat two at a time. It's all different.
So we're not rational professionals.
If you're a man who doesn't see,
what is it? You're illiterate. All right, let me tell you something.
We work here about three hours a week. That's it. There's 168 hours a week. They just want
you folks to get out. You know what would happen to
you? Where are you going? Southern
Oregon. We're here to visit. We're in my town. Why? You can't
go. You can go any other day. I'll go today. And I'm visiting today with Prince
Albert of Chicago. And this is the thing. This is
the thing. Three hours. Three hours. I don't
understand. Three hours. The family's coming back. And there's never a time, never
a better time for you with a significant family than right now. If they live out of town, you
don't have the opportunity. They should do that. They should come see you. They're going to see you. You
want to visit? You can figure out how to get home. And Christ calls this man's father the head. He's not the head yet. He calls his family. He doesn't
just call his father that. He calls his old family that.
The dead, he calls his fellow old friends the dead. They're
all dead. Let the dead bury the dead, he
said. Let them do what dead people
do. Everything in this world, everyone
in this world, they had to die. Christ died. For he who lived, Paul said,
is Christ. And what he did in life was Christ. Christ is life. Life is eternal. 541. Worship of Christ is an
eternal, lifelong thing. And it starts here. And in today's, that is your
family, friends, whoever it may be, is dead to God, has no interest
in God, has no interest in Christ, has no interest in the gospel.
Let them die. Don't satanism. Let them die. Tell them Abraham, the red Abraham,
if you will, is a veteran. But he managed his father's house
there. Sent him back to his uncle. His personal attachment at the
time was to his father. Now, how he entered, he didn't
have a house. He didn't have a career. He probably
had food. He probably had a couple of kitchens
on the mountain, or whatever, a river. The garden is planted, and the
lady is about to come in. And, uh, you have to help. Because,
uh, I don't know where he's going to go. He lives in Brussels. And so does I. Hey, Graham, what'd
he say? Did you hear what he said to
his father-in-law? Mother-in-law? Come now with us. Where did he
go? I'm not sure where he is. I don't know. You know what? I don't know where he is. I don't know either. How is he? I don't know. So this will be a constant, a
constant relationship. Yes, it is. All right. You say, if you say, oh, if you
lose your father and your mother, you'll still need to try, and
I'm telling you, you'll still need more of a father and a mother
than you've been able to. All right, here's the last thing.
Do you know why we are taught to put the Romans down to their
face? Romans down to their face. Do you know how we become Christ?
Christ? It's all Christ. It's all Christ. Look at him. On the day of the
first time, for whom he did foreknow, he also did predestination, and
bore him the image of his son. Verse thirty, for whom he did
predestination, he saw him, and saw him just as he just had your
eyes. Verse thirty-two, he just stared
on his own son, delivering him up for his own. That's why I'm
very happy. Christ, who is in the midst of
all of this, God, the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, the Holy
Spirit, the Son of God, the Father, the Holy Spirit, the Son of God,
the Father, the Holy Spirit, the Son of God, the Father, the Holy
Spirit, the Son of God, the Father, the Holy Spirit, the Son of God, the Father,
the Holy Spirit, the Son of God, the Father, the Holy Spirit,
the Son of God, the Father, the Holy Spirit, the Son of God, the Father, the
Holy Spirit, the Son of God, the Father, the Holy Spirit, the Son of God,
the Father, the Holy Spirit, the Son of God, the Father, the Holy Spirit, the Son of God, the Father, the
Holy Spirit, the Son of God, the Father, the Holy Spirit, the Son of God, the Father,
the Holy Spirit, the Son of God, the Father, the Holy Spirit,
the Son of God, the Father, The Holy Spirit is holy, holy, holy. That's what makes us divine.
Over here, humans are not, not the human will, but the Savior. The service of God, the love
of Christ, and the time to change the spirit, when we leave the
church. Romans 12, verse 1, says, And
I seek you, therefore, brethren, by the mercy of the Father, and
by the power of the Holy Spirit. That's why we got older. That's
the reason. First, the reason. The reason
was, he was carrying on his uncle's guns. That's what we say. The
facts of the day. So here's the lifestyle. It's normal. That's a good sign.
He's got the knives, that's the reason he's gone. That's why
I wish I was there. Well, probably the best thing
to tell you is, So that's what he tells us on top of it. Verse sixty-one, another says
to him, Lord, I will come to thee and love thee. Secondly and thirdly, since we
have been in a fair way with your opponents at my house, Now,
this may be similar, and it may be different. Verse sixty-two,
our Lord has revealed this to us from yesterday, verse sixty.
O Lamb, have You turned Your hand to the flock, and looked
back, and said, Lord, I'll follow you, but let
me first go get a pair of gloves and go to the mall. I'll just
hand you the file and go back. Now, here's a man, like I said,
here's a woman who decides to get married. She seems to have
an interest in us. I'm sorry, I'll do it. Can I
see this? Okay, I got it. See, it's different. I'm worried about my friends
and family and all my acquaintances and acquaintances of older. I
don't have anybody to talk to. I don't... look... at kids. If y'all see one of
these, and... I will. I will. Just later. I'm sorry for kids like Mary. This is how it works in the wrong case. Now, there's a single insert,
I understand, that someone wants to cut it and so on and so forth. But this kind of, you know, these
draw in and out and draw in and out and draw in and out. See, when
you follow something, And then you hear in the verse, you say,
I know that, and I ask you, and I ask you, and I ask you, and
I ask you, and I ask you, and I ask you, and I ask you, and I ask you, and I ask
you, and I ask you, and I ask you, and I ask you, and I ask
you, and I ask you, and I ask you, and I ask you, and I ask
you, and I ask you, and I ask you, and I ask you, and I ask you, and I ask
you, and I ask you, and I ask you, and I ask you, and I ask
you, and I ask you, and I ask you, and I ask you, and I ask you, and I ask
you, and I ask you, and I ask you, and I ask you, and I ask
you, and I ask you, and I ask you, and I ask you, and I ask
you, and I ask you, and I ask you, and I ask you Without love, there's no life,
no commitment. Without commitment, there's no
life. So, to go back to the beginning,
you've got to love, and you've got to love yourself, and you've
got to love yourself in every way. And I always wanted to use
this illustration of fire. Does anybody have any glass? That's it. Have a drink. That's money down
there. You can use your money there.
All litters? All litters? I'll explain that
in a minute. I've done it before. I've been drinking all day, and
nobody can have it, so I play out. He is a child of God, a child
of God, a child of God, a child of God, a child of God, a child
of God, a child of God, a child of God, a child of God. And I really wanted to be able
to go back and see all those figures and some of the graphs
there. I mean, I contacted some of them
and pulled those off the list. He said to him, he said, if you
write that little script, we haven't even worked yet. We've never passed. Oh, they're
in office. Nobody can imagine the rough
life you're going to have. Nobody can imagine that. Now, that's
just plain dumb talk. Too much of that crap, doesn't
it? That's so smart. But I suppose, I'll show you
the time, where I was, that day, and I'm bawling, and I get all
over it, and I don't want to do it, but I just want to do
it, and I don't want to spend my living to do this. Hard work requires a little bit
of tenacity, and a clown like me, I was caught with a serious He was behind a box. The boxer
was behind a 12-gill boxer. And if you can imagine what he
was doing, he couldn't fly a 12-gill boxer, he couldn't do it. Now,
he's got you right there. Now, he's quite strong, he's
a daredevil, all sorts of things like that. He's just good. Can you imagine? There is the
power to you. This thing's salvation. And Scripture says, look right
on it. So if I turn off the right hand
and the left, you look right on it. But you gotta be sinful. Because you follow a certain
thing. If I'm turning right and I'm
turning left, I'm still on this thing. If you've learned to do it, what's
there to look back on? Someone's learned it. And he doesn't stray on it. He
takes it over to the next one. He goes to the next one. The
trial is a trial in your heart, in your life. What do you do
if you don't return to trial? You don't return to trial. Old
sayings, don't you get tired of them, turn it over. Turn it around. Don't you get
tired of them? It's plowing. God has plowed
by the heart, by the lot, very, very often, plantings, waters. It's a long business. It's from
plowing to reaping and all that. It's a simple business. And I don't want to. I don't
care. I want to get shot. I don't want to be shot. I don't
want to die. I don't want to die. I don't want to die. I don't
want to die. I don't want to die. I don't want to die. I don't
want to die. I don't want to die. I don't want to die. I don't
want to die. I don't want to die. I don't want to die. I don't
want to die. I don't want to die. I don't want to die. I don't
want to die. I don't want to die. I don't want to die. I don't
want to die. I don't want to die. I don't want to die. I don't
want to die. I don't want to die. I don't want to die. I don't
want to die. I don't want to die. I don't
want to die. I don't want to die. I don Looking back, what
that is is longing for the past. Looking through the past. It's stated in verse fourteen. That is a sense of strength. Nobody can say that there's strength.
You can feel it. That is the first point. Let's see if we have time. Truly,
if they had been mindful of that country, it would have been a
good thing. If they'd been mindful of it,
they'd start thinking. They'd start thinking. I've lost my faith in God. He lives all over the place. I have lost my faith in God. I've lost all my connections,
all my... I don't want to walk in the mountains. There's a mountain, there's a
hill over it, that you have an opportunity to climb, and there's
a mountain right there. Now, that is our faith. That is Him, which was not obtained
because of doubt, but because of trust, and trust in Jesus. And by looking back, how beautiful. How beautiful. So these are the files that we
need. Is that it? Can I put it in?
Okay. You ever thought about how to,
uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh,
uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh,
uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh,
uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh,
uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh,
uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh,
uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh You can have salt water on your property,
but no one can have it. They have no grants, and anything
at all grows, anywhere here at all. There is no logical certain
method of growing it. Methods. that works solace, solace, solace. Thank you. I'm so glad to sit
down with you. We'll be back. I want to be the salt of this
earth and not the pillar of this earth. That's the way we want
it. If we sin, the salt and dust will save us from sin. And I
have committed to meet the community of God, to be with them, and
to call them. that we have to keep the Christian
soccer team. There are a series of letters
and writings and vouchers that are supposed to come to you. That's one of those soccer teams
called Chosen. All the Chosen are in the present,
but they've been passed. Those have been passed. If we read the vouchers, we'll
know that we need our names back. with us, with our name on the
side of the table in the evening. There's my name, Sarah. And we are best as a friend and
as a pillar together. Unmindful of it, in that world,
it wouldn't work in a better country. It's a city, but it's
a building, and it's our foundation, and we build it by good God.
More than anything here in New York County, we love you. And
if you know our country, we ask that you be our country. Live
with us always. We love you. I love you. I love
you. Thank you.