Matthew chapter 10 verses 24 and 25. The Lord Jesus is sending his disciples out into the world to preach the gospel. He has warned them of the trouble they may expect, but he gives this word of instruction. The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master and the servant as his Lord.

Am I a disciple? That's the question I have been studiously meditating upon for the past few weeks. And that's the question I want us to consider today. Let each one examine himself. Am I a disciple?

But before answering the question, we must understand what a disciple is in the New Testament sense of the word. I recognize that for the most part in our day, preachers and theologians make a great difference between Christianity and discipleship. They tell us that a Christian is one who believes in Jesus and the disciple is a Christian who truly follows Jesus. But the New Testament makes no such distinction. You will not find that distinction made anywhere in the word of God.

The word disciple means learner or follower. A disciple is a person who comes under the discipline of his master, voluntarily, and learns of and follows his master. A disciple of Christ, a Christian, is one who voluntarily submits to the rule and discipline of Christ, learning of Christ, and following Christ all the days of his life. So in the New Testament, the words Christian and disciple are used interchangeably. They're not two different categories of people. They're the same folks. In fact, in the New Testament, the word disciple is used far more often than the word Christian to describe the people of God. You will find that the saints were called disciples long before they were called Christians at Antioch.

So all believers, all who are truly saved by God's grace, are disciples. They are men and women who look to Christ, learn of Christ, and follow Christ in faith. Now I recognize also that as in the days of old, so it is now. There are some who merely profess to be the disciples of Christ. In John chapter six, you remember our Lord was preaching. And after he got done preaching, some of the folks who heard him said, these are hard things. These things are tough on the flesh. And in verse 66, we read that from that time, many of his disciples turned and walked no more with him.

That is, many who profess to be followers of Christ. Many who profess to be men and women who believe Christ. Many who profess that Jesus Christ is Lord because they got something by it. Because they got the bread, the loaves, and the fishes. Because they saw the miracles. Because they were stirred emotionally. They profess to be His disciples. In the spur of a moment of emotionalism, they said, we'll take Jesus and we'll follow Him. And then when the rubber hit the road, they said, no, we won't have him. And they turned and walked no more with him.

As in days of old, so it is now, there are some who are nothing but the disciples of men. They follow men. Lindsay was teaching this morning in Acts 20. The apostle Paul gave warnings that there'll be some teachers will rise up among you, drawing away disciples after themselves. Folks who listen to, are impressed by, and follow men.

Now, Paul is speaking specifically of false prophets. And as silly and absurd as it seems, men who otherwise have good sense, just that otherwise have good sense. But many women who, I'm talking about businessmen, well-educated folks, folks who otherwise have good sense, when it comes to religion are absolute nuts. They will believe and swallow and follow anything other than the gospel because they're impressed with the person.

We were watching last night on television, A gal had forked over thousands of dollars. I forgot whether it was on the news or one of those other things that just happened to be on when we were sitting around talking. Forked over thousands of dollars for some gal who was going to help her through her troubles, you know. And other folks followed right along behind her. Just get away! Throw it away! For somebody's going to call up some old woman who lived 400 years ago and take care of everything.

Brother Donnie Bell said one time, said if a fella got up and preached that hell's an ice house and the devil's a groundhog, somebody would holler amen, give him $10, send him on his way. Folks just, they follow men. They're impressed with men and they're enamored with men.

But many times, many times, many women make professions of faith and become attached to men who truly are the servants of God, but the faith is on man and not in the Savior. Now you listen carefully to me. You listen carefully to me. I appreciate loyalty and faithfulness All of those things. I appreciate it. I can't begin to describe to you how much I appreciate loyalty and faithfulness and friends who stick with you through thick and thin. But don't you become a disciple of Don. Don't you do it. Don't you let your faith stand in Don's words. We must be disciples of Christ. And if I'm his disciple, I want you to be his disciple. I want you to follow him, not follow me.

And then there are some who, like Joseph of Arimathea, are secret disciples. The scripture tells us in John 19, Joseph of Arimathea, he was one of the Lord's disciples, but not publicly. He didn't openly confess the Lord. until time came for the Lord Jesus to be taken down from the cross. Now, I recognize there are some folks who for one reason or another, though they truly trust Christ, for one reason or another, for a time at least, do not publicly confess Christ. They fear their own insufficiency. Perhaps they fear their own consecration to him. Perhaps they fear making a mockery of him and of his name and of his gospel. I don't know what the reason is. But let me speak to you, if there are any here today, who trust Christ, who believe Christ, but you haven't yet publicly identified with Christ in believer's baptism and associated yourself with the people of God, I call on you now to do so. For secret disciples are always suspect disciples. Joseph of Arimathea kept his mouth shut far too long. And you who believe Christ are commanded of him to confess him in believer's baptism. So I call on you to do so.

But then turn over to John chapter 8. John chapter 8. Listen to what our Lord says. There are some who are just professed disciples, some who are the disciples of men, some who are secret disciples. But in John chapter 8, our Lord speaks of some folks who are disciples indeed. And that's what I'm talking about. He says in verse 31, then said Jesus unto those Jews which believed on him, if ye continue, that is you persevere, you abide in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed. True disciples, those disciples who continue in his word, Those disciples who love one another, those disciples who abide in him, they are true disciples, disciples indeed. If I am a disciple of Christ, he is my master and he is my teacher.

Now, when we talk about the Lord Jesus as a master or teacher, when we think about him in that regard, Do not imagine that he is a master who suggests that this is what he wants you to do and then leaves it for you to decide whether or not you're going to do it. Do not imagine that he is a teacher who gives the lesson and says, now I hope you get your lessons. I hope you study well and understand what I'm talking about. Oh no. The Lord Jesus is a master. who graciously, effectually inclines the hearts of his disciples to follow him. That means, Lindsay Campbell, if you're his disciple, he'll see to it you follow him. He'll see to it. He'll see to it. That's the kind of master he is. He'll see to it that you want to. He'll see to it that you do. He is the teacher who bends over his pupils and makes certain that they get the lesson that he's teaching them, so that he effectively teaches us.

Look in Titus chapter 2, Titus the second chapter, and listen to what Paul says. In verse 11 it says, The grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men. That is the gospel of God's grace we're preaching right now. It's appeared to everybody. The Word goes out to the masses and the Word goes out indiscriminately to men. We did all men come to the Savior. But the Word and the grace of God has come to us not just in appearance but effectually. Look at the next line, verse 12. teaching us. Now that word teaching does not mean, as I said, just giving out the lesson. The word is educating us. The grace of God has appeared to all men, but it's educated us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should be soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world. So our Lord Jesus is a teacher who makes certain that his disciples learn of him.

Now this discipleship is a lifelong process of learning and following Christ. I ask the question, am I a disciple? And some may say, well, Don, you've been preaching for 25 years. Surely you know whether or not you're a disciple. You've been professing faith in Christ all this time. Surely, surely you've got this thing settled. It's an issue that was settled a long time ago and an issue that was settled this morning and an issue that will have to be settled tomorrow. It's a life-long issue. It's a life-long business. This thing of faith in Christ is not an event in life. It is not an event in life. It is not something we did. Faith in Christ is an attitude of life. It is the kind of life we now live. The just shall live by faith. And this thing of discipleship, it is not something we did 25, 30 years ago. It is something that's going on right now. Right now.

When we think of Christ as a master and teacher and his people as disciples, try to imagine a man who was raised in a country where they drive on the left side of the road. Everybody drives on the left side of the road. Man gets his license and he drives on the left side of the road. Been driving on the left side of the road for years. And then one day he's going to go into another country and he crosses the border and immediately he's in another country where suddenly he's required to drive on the right side of the road. Well, he's got to unlearn all his old habits. And he's got to learn new habits. And the kicker is he's got to do it in busy traffic. He's got to learn right now. And that's what disciples are, men and women. who right here in the busy traffic of humanity, in the busy traffic of life in this world, are learning to walk with Jesus Christ in obedience. That's what it's all about. Discipleship.

Now this discipleship involves five things. I'll give them to you and you can jot them down. It doesn't matter what order you take them in. But discipleship involves a decision. It involves a discipline. It involves a doctrine, it involves a discernment, and it involves a devotion. Let's look at them briefly one at a time, and I pray that God the Holy Spirit will be our teacher.

First, to be a disciple of Christ, I must be identified with him by a decision, a deliberate, voluntary decision. I realize that Arminian free will works religion, makes the whole of salvation to hang upon the will and decision of the sinner. Consequently, many who believe the gospel of God's grace, can they hesitate and shy away from pressing sinners to make a decision? And that's wrong. I am calling for you here today. Will you listen to me? I'm calling for you right now, right where you sit. to make a decision. I'm calling for you to make a decision this moment with regard to your eternal soul and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, Paul said. He said, I realize we're going to all appear before the judgment seat of Christ one of these days. You and me. We're going to stand before God to be judged, knowing therefore the terror of the Lord. We persuade man. We use reason and understanding and experience and plead with you from the scriptures on the basis of Jesus Christ, glorious person and worth, be reconciled to God. We're persuading. I'm persuading you now to make a decision. And the decision is discipleship. I'm not calling for you simply to decide whether you want to be saved and go to heaven when you die. Everybody does. I never met anybody in my life who wants to go to hell. Never have. Everybody I ever met in my life, one of these days, I'm going to get things straightened up with God. One of these days, I'm going to get on the right road. One of these days, I'm going to make things right with God. Well, I'm not calling on you to decide whether or not you want to go to heaven. I know you do. I'm calling on you to surrender to the rule of Jesus Christ. That's the issue. That's the issue.

As a young man, when God began to deal with my soul in such a way that I was aware of it, I knew what the issue was. And my rebellion was not caused because I did not want to be saved. That wasn't it. My rebellion, my obstinate unbelief, my determination not to bow to Jesus Christ was simply the fact that I was not willing to give over the rule of my life to Jesus Christ, the Son of God. But that's what it's all about. That's what it is. That's what discipleship is.

The liberal German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer who was executed in a Nazi prison camp in the 40s. Many, because of his execution and his dying in a Nazi prison camp, seemed to think Bonhoeffer was a remarkable servant of God. He was a liberal. He didn't believe in inspiration, the virgin birth, any of those things. But every now and then, even heretics say something good. Bonhoeffer was exactly right when he said, The offer of salvation without discipleship is cheap grace. And I'm not offering cheap grace. I'm offering free grace, but it ain't cheap. I'm calling for every one of us to make a decision right now, an informed, intelligent, rational decision regarding ourselves and God.

You remember when Joshua stood before the children of Israel? He's an old man now, and he's in the close of his life, and he says to the children of Israel who have been wavering back and forth all his days, he's watched them go from idolatry to the worship of God, from the worship of God to idolatry, in and out, up and down, just as fickle as they could be, just as fickle as shifting sand. He said, now, fellas, the time has come to make a decision. You gonna serve God or you gonna serve Baal? You gonna serve God or God's on that side of the river over there? He said, as for me and my house, I've made a decision. We will serve the Lord. How about you?

Now, it's a humbling decision because it is a decision that requires the confession of sin and faith in a substitute. You'll never be Christ's disciple. until you open your heart to God and confess your sin. Dwayne, that confession of sin is not saying I sold a watermelon when I was a boy. That's not it. The confession of sin is not sitting down and enlisting your sin and saying, this is what I've done wrong. The confession of sin is not going to a priest and whispering in a confessional booth, I've had some bad thoughts. That's not what it is. The confession of sin is not coming down the church aisle at the end of Just As I Am and shaking hands with a preacher and whispering in his ear or saying to the congregation, I've stole this or I've done that. That's not the confession of sin. To confess sin is before God's omniscient eye. Open your heart and quit trying to hide what you are. Have you ever confessed your sin to God? That's the beginning of it.

Now, if we confess our sin, he's faithful and just through the blood of Jesus Christ to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Not only is this a humbling decision, it's a costly decision. Turn to Mark chapter eight, Mark the eighth chapter. The Lord Jesus is speaking again. I'm calling for us to give up our lives to the rule of the Son of God, absolutely and forever. Mark 8 verse 34, when he called to them, when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, this is what he said, whosoever will come after me, Let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.

Boy, there have been books written and sermons preached and songs sung and stories told about what it is to take up your cross and follow Jesus. Well, quit imagining foolishness and read the next verse. This is what it is to follow him. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it. But whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall say that." That simply means to follow Christ is to sit down and count the cost and say, now, all right, this is what it's going to cost me. Everything. That means I don't have control over anything. That means I don't retain rule over anything. Christ is my Lord. He calls all the shots. He makes all the decisions. He determines everything. He determines what I do with what I have in my hands. What I do with what I have in the bank. What I do with what I experience day by day. He determines. who I marry. He determines where I live. He determines where I work. He determines what I do with my paycheck. He determines what I buy and what I give. He calls the shots. He determines everything he'll do with my daughter or my wife, your husband, your son, mom, dad. He determines everything. He's the rule

But it must be a free, voluntary, willing decision. Got to be. If there'd be first a willing heart, it's accepted. You see, God will have no unwilling servants. I'm calling on you right now to give up your life to the rule of Christ if you want to. If you want to. If you don't want to, I'm not going to trick you into it. I'm not going to. That's the reason I don't chase ambulances, as most preachers do. Somebody gets in trouble, gets sick, has difficulty. Preacher's right there, boy, you got to get things right with God. Well, anybody will, scared to death he's going to die. Any fool make a profession of faith. No. I want Bobby Estes understanding that Jesus Christ demands surrender of everything to follow him because he's worthy of being followed. That's what I'm talking about.

I come to you and say to you as Rebecca's brothers did to her concerning Isaac and his servant, will thou go with this man? Will you go with Jesus Christ or will you not? And I'll leave it with you. Will you? You can make a decision. Every one of us here will make a decision right now. I don't have any question about it. I'm just confident. Nobody sitting here is not hearing me. You will make a decision, a conscious, intelligent, deliberate decision. You're going to decide right now whether or not you'll follow Christ.

God demands a willing heart. He said, my son, give me that heart. If you have a willing heart to follow Christ, then understand this, God gave you that heart. For it is written, thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power. And as I've already hinted, it's a decision we'll have to make every day. This is an issue that must be settled now. Will I follow Christ or no?

But Lincoln made a good point this morning. He said it's easy to be a Christian here. You'll have to make a decision tomorrow when you get to the office. same thing all over again. Because you're going to be confronted with fresh trials and fresh temptations. You're going to be confronted with allurements of this kind and of that. You're going to be with opposition and difficulty, temptation and and the care of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the pleasures of sin and all of these things bombarding you continually. You'll have to make a decision continually. Will I follow Christ or not? Will I follow him or not?

When Joshua said, as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. That was a decision he made that day. But he had been serving the Lord for a long, long, long, long time. He had been walking with him for a long time, but there in his old age, as he addressed Israel one last time, he said, this decision I now make, as for me and my house, come what will, we will follow the Lord. What's your decision? Are you listening to me now? What's your decision? Will you wait for a more convenient season and perish under the wrath of God? Or will you bow to Jesus Christ and say, Lord, what would you have me to do?

Secondly, discipleship is a discipline. To be Christ's disciple is to be brought under his rule, his dominion, and his discipline. It is to learn obedience as he learned obedience by the things which he suffered. In Matthew chapter 10 when our Lord sent his disciples out and he made this statement, the disciple is not above his master nor the servant above his Lord. It is enough that the disciple be as his master and the servant as his Lord. The whole context is talking about suffering and sorrow and trials and temptations. And what he's saying is, as I suffered in this world, And as I learned obedience, experimentally learned obedience by the things which I suffered, so must you.

" Turn to Hebrews chapter 5. Hebrews chapter 5. You see, our Lord Jesus, as a man, learned obedience. and learned it by sorrow. Verse eight, though he were a son, yet, and you might want to read parenthetically, as the son of man, yet as our savior, yet as our substitute, yet as our mediator and representative, learned he obedience. Being God the Son, he could never become in any way less than equality with the Father. But as a man, he learned to obey by the things which he suffered.

Ken Wymer and I were talking this morning, and I made the statement, it's easy enough to learn doctrine. We can get that down. Search the scriptures or get the doctrine. But man is such a creature that we will never learn obedience except by suffering. Never do it. Never do it.

Someone wrote, Jesus promised his disciples three things. that they would be completely fearless, absurdly happy, and in constant trouble. Well, I'm not so sure about completely fearless and absurdly happy, but I do know about this. They will be in constant trouble. In the world, you shall have tribulation. Our Lord told us to expect persecution, hatred, and slander from men for his sake. Look in chapter 10 of Matthew. Matthew 10, verse 16. He said, Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves. That's a warning. That's a warning. Now you're going out there and you're going to be dealing with ravenous wolves continually.

He says in verse 17, Beware of men, for they will deliver you up to the councils and they will scourge you in their synagogues. They'll beat you in their churches. He says in verse 22, And you shall be hated of all men for my namesake. Verse 25. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his household? They're going to slander you if they slandered me. Verse 34. Think not that I'm come to send peace on earth. I didn't come to send peace, but a sword. For I'm come to set a man at variance against his father and the daughter against her mother and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law and a man's foes. shall be the folks he lives with.

But in the midst of that, when our Lord told us to expect persecution, he promised us grace, grace in the midst of trials, grace sufficient to sustain us and sufficient to direct us. In verse 19, when they shall deliver you up, take no thought how or what you shall speak. for it shall be given you in that same hour what you shall speak. He says, I'll give you the grace to answer your slanderers and your accusers. Don't you worry about that. When Peter and John were called before the Sanhedrin in Acts chapter four, the Lord gave them utterance and oh, how they spoke. And when you find yourself confronted with enemies to you and enemies to the gospel, Hold your tongue and wait. Hold your tongue, be patient. Don't lose your temper. But with calm, calculated reason, speak for the Spirit of God, what it puts in your heart. Speak honestly, speak plainly.

Now learn these two things about the discipline of our Lord. Everything we suffer in this world Everything. Everything. Everything that breaks your heart. Everything that just seems to wear away at your life. Every heartache. Every trial. We suffer by the gift of God's grace. Everything. unto you, Paul says, it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake.

Somebody says, well, how can you say God brought that sorrow? How can you say God brought that difficulty? How can you say God brought this thing upon this family? How can you say God did this? That's, that's, if I were God, I wouldn't do that.

That's because you don't see like God sees. You don't think like God thinks. And Buddy Darty was raising his daughters I've never been there when it happened, but I suspect occasionally you had to bend them over your knee and brought some tears to their eyes, and you caused some pain. And some neighbor might come by and hear the daughter screaming and hollering and crying, and they say, oh, what a cruel daddy. He's seeking to raise his daughters for their good, that they might obey him, so they learn obedience. Is that right? That's what your father's doing with you. That's what he's doing with us.

And everything that believers are made to suffer in this world is designed by God to do them good. No suffering for the present is joyful but grievous. Oh, but after it's over, when God gets done, everything you suffer, child of God, will render to you the peaceable fruit of righteousness. That's what the book says. That's what the book says.

William Cowper, who knew something about suffering. I think I've got these lines right. I wrote them down right before I started to preach. He said,

trials make the promise sweet.
Trials give new life to prayer.
Trials bring me to his feet,
lay me low and keep me there.
Did I meet no trials here,
no chastisements by the way?
Might I not with reason fear
I should prove a castaway?
Strangers may escape the rot,
sunk in earthly vain delight,
but the true born child of God
may not, must not if he might.

Thirdly, discipleship involves a doctrine. A disciple of Christ is a person who has been and is being indoctrinated by Christ. All who are born of God are taught of God, and that which they are taught of God is the doctrine of Christ.

In the scriptures, we are repeatedly told that those who heard our Lord preach and teach were astonished at his doctrine. When he got done with the Sermon on the Mount, the Scripture says folks who heard him were astonished at his doctrine. In Matthew 22, when he got through instructing the scribes and the Pharisees, those hypocrites, and his disciples, folks were astonished at his doctrine.

When our Lord was upon the earth, wherever he went, there was a division among the people. because of his doctrine. The Jews had him arrested and crucified because of his doctrine. It was his doctrine that enraged him. In Matthew, or in John 18 verse 19, after he was arrested in Gethsemane, the Jews had him standing before their council and they asked him of his doctrine. That was the issue.

Things haven't changed at all. I recognize men and women have all of my life as a preacher, spoken, deriding words, he's a doctrinal preacher. He's a doctrinal preacher. I make no apologies. That's not by accident. I study at teaching you doctrine. I labor at teaching you doctrine.

No man who is God's servant fails to instruct people in the doctrine of Jesus Christ. And the doctrine of Christ is that which provokes the wrath of men against the disciples of Christ. The cause of offense and division in the religious world is the doctrine of Christ. What is that doctrine?

Now, notice that when the scripture speaks of the doctrine, his doctrine, the doctrine of Christ, it's always in the singular. You ever notice that? It never says his doctrine. It never says the doctrines of Christ, it says his doctrine, the doctrine of Christ. Because there is a uniformity about the gospel of Christ. A uniformity about the things essentially taught by our Lord which will not allow for any article of the faith as he taught it to be rejected. So that to reject part of the doctrine of Christ is to reject all of the doctrine of Christ. To deny part of the doctrine of Christ is to deny all of the doctrine of Christ.

But what is that doctrine which distinguishes the disciples of Christ from all other religious people? Now, I'm not going to turn to the scriptures. Let me just state these things, and you look up the scriptures I give to you, will you? Just jot them down, look them up. I'm going to tell you exactly what Jesus Christ taught, which caused men to nail into the cursed tree. Exactly what he taught.

In Matthew 20 verse 15, our Savior taught the total absolute sovereignty of God. He says, it is not right for me to do with my own what I will. That means I can do with you whatever I will and you got nothing to say about it. Well, what does that leave for man's will? I'm not concerned about man's will, I'm concerned about God's glory. What does that do for me? I'm not concerned about how you react to it. I'm concerned for God's glory. The Son of God said, I'll do with my own what I will. Matthew 20, verse 15.

Our Lord taught plainly the depravity and the inability of man, even of the human will. He said in John 6, 44, no man can come to me. No man can come to that. That means you don't have the ability to get up out of your grave and come to life. You don't have the ability to get up out of your unbelief and come to faith. You do not have the ability to get up out of your sin and come to righteousness. No man's got that ability. Only God can give you that ability. And if God gives it, you're coming. That's what he said, John 6, 44.

Our Lord taught his disciples the glorious gospel doctrine of free and unconditional election. It was one of the first things he taught, and one of the last things he taught, and one of the things he taught continually. In Matthew 22, 14, he said, many are called. That's what I'm doing. I'm preaching to you. Our Lord is a man preached. He said, many are called. Why doesn't everybody believe? Many are called, but why doesn't everybody come to the Savior? Many are called, but why aren't all people saved? Because few are chosen. That's what he said.

Our Lord looked at his disciples and he said, now, fellas, remember, this is one of his last statements. He said, remember, you haven't chosen me. No, you never would. Left to yourselves, you never could. You haven't chosen me, but I've chosen you. and ordained you, I placed you where I wanted you, that you should go and bring forth much fruit and that your fruit should remain. That's in John 15 verse 16.

Our Lord Jesus taught plainly and clearly the doctrine of particular effectual redemption, limited atonement, if you will. He said the Son of Man came not to minister, not to be ministered unto, but to minister and to give his life a ransom for many. Not for everybody, but for many. He said, I am the good shepherd, the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. John 10 verse 11. John 10 verse 15, he said, I lay down my life for the sheep. The shepherd gave his life for the elect sheep the father had given him because he came into the world to save his people from their sins. And he did it.

Our Lord Jesus taught the glorious gospel doctrine of irresistible grace. That is, grace coming to sinners by the power of God the Holy Spirit, that when it comes, breaks down and destroys the will of the sinner to resist. Grace that makes you willing in the day of his power. Grace that causes you to come to Christ.

Oh, thank God he would not. He would not let me have my way. Thank God he would not leave me to my free will. Thank God he did not leave me in my spiritual death. Thank God he did not leave me to my own choice and my own decision in this thing, but rather the Spirit of God has won.

John 3 verse 8. blows where it listens, and you hear the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, nor whither it goeth, so is every one that's born of the Spirit. So then, it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. Romans 9, verse 16.

Our Lord Jesus taught plainly the certain perseverance of all the saints. He said in John 10, 28, I give unto them eternal life and they'll never perish. They shall never perish.

And our Lord, in that same 10th chapter of John, declared the equality of the divine persons in the Holy Trinity. And the Jews understood it. The Lord saw they picked up stones and were going to kill him. He said, why are you stoning me? For which of these works are you going to kill me? And they said, we're not killing you because of anything you did, but because you, being a man, had made yourself equal with God. And that's what he did. He said, I'm God. I and the Father are one.

And our Lord taught the resurrection of the dead. He said, I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth on me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. He that liveth and believeth on me shall never die. Do you believe this? He's on the resurrection. He's coming again one of these days and there's going to be a resurrection of the just and of the unjust by the power of Jesus Christ. John 5 verse 28. That's the doctrine of Christ.

Now, every disciple of Jesus Christ has decided to follow him, lives under his discipline and joyfully embraces his doctrine. But there is more. A disciple is a person who possesses the mind of Christ. One who has a discernment in spiritual things that only God can give.

Look at Luke chapter 6. Luke chapter 6. The Apostle Paul said, we have the mind of Christ. That is, we discern things spiritually. We discern things, we see things, we judge things like he does.

A disciple is not one who has merely learned the doctrine of Christ, but one who is learning to live the life of Christ. Discipleship is not knowing What Christ taught, but rather it is living as he lived. Disciples are copycats. They're followers of God.

Listen to what our Lord says in Luke 6 verse 35. Love your enemies. Do good and lend, hoping for nothing in return, hoping for nothing again. And your reward shall be great, and you shall be the children of the highest, for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil.

Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful. Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you shall be forgiven. Give, and it shall be given unto you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, shall men give unto your bosom. For with the same measure that you meet, with all shall it be measured to you again.

They spake a parable unto them. Can the blind lead the blind? Shall they not both fall into the ditch? The disciple is not above his master, but everyone that is perfect, that is, everyone that is perfectly taught, shall be as his master.

And why beholdest thou the mote that's in thy brother's eye, but perceivest not the beam that's in thine own eye? Either how canst thou say to thy brother, Brother, let me pull out the mote that's in thine eye, when thou beholdest not the beam that's in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to pull out the mote that is in thy brother's eye.

In particular, our Lord is teaching us as his disciples to follow his example and to do to others exactly what we would have them to do to us. He says, love your enemies and do good to those people who do not deserve anything good from you. Lend without usury, hoping for nothing again. And your reward will be great in heaven for your father is kind.

He says in verse 36, be merciful. Children of God, be merciful. Oh, be merciful with each other. Be merciful to men, quit being severe and quit being hard, quit being mean, be merciful.

He says in verse 37, judge cautiously. That word judge not, it doesn't mean don't exercise judgment, that's nonsense. It means make all judgment cautiously. Weigh the facts. and the circumstances. As you get older, you realize that one terrible sign of immaturity that we all have been through is hasty judgment, rash judgment, destructive criticism. Don't judge hastily. Don't be too quick to cast your opinion about this fellow or that. Don't do that. That's a sign of immaturity, childishness.

Our Lord says, judge leniently, that is, condemn not. It simply means be lenient. Let your judgment always be tempered with grace. God teach me that.

He says in verse 38, be generous. Be generous in your judgment, be generous in your forgiveness, and be generous in your giving. Give of your heart and your hands, and exactly as you measure out to men, shall it be measured back to you again. Give and it shall be given to you, shaken down, pressed down, running together and shaken together, running over, it'll be given to you. in all your dealings with other people, remember these things. Remember the condescending goodness of Christ to you, the disciples not above his master. If Jesus Christ can be so gracious to us, we'll be gracious to each other. Remember your own faults and failures. While you're looking at the splinter in that fellow's eye, Why don't you pay attention to the two by four in your eye? Don't be so quick to point out the little faults this fellow has, but rather be quick to recognize your own faults.

And understand this, every man stands or falls not before you and me, but before Christ his master. I'm not Lindsey Campbell's Lord. I didn't redeem him. I didn't save him. And I'll not attempt to judge him. He stands or falls before Christ. And so it is with every one of you. Every one.

Discipleship involves identification with Christ by personal decision, in the discipline of grace, in the doctrine of the gospel, and in spiritual discernment. And it involves one other thing. Turn to John 13. I'll wrap this up. I hope the message is profitable to you. Discipleship involves devotion and identification with Christ in his devotion. Our Lord and master throughout his life and ministry on this earth constantly demonstrated his devotion to the will of God. His devotion to the salvation of his people and his devotion to the glory of God. What an example he is.

But I want particularly for us to notice his devotion to his disciples. Which he calls for us to imitate. Look at verse 15. You know the story. Our Lord is about to observe the Last Supper. Just observed the Last Supper with his disciples. He instituted the Lord's Supper. He took a towel and girded himself. and washed his disciples' feet. And in verse 15, he says, I've given you an example that you should do as I have done to you. Verily, verily, I say unto you, the servant is not greater than his Lord, neither he that sent than he that sent him.

This was an act of utter selflessness. Now, remember, our Lord Jesus had on his mind Gethsemane, and everything was going to take place there. He had on his mind all that he would suffer of the wrath of God when it was made to be sin for us under Calvary. In the preceding chapter, he said, now is my soul exceeding sorrowful unto death. But having loved his own, he loved them unto the end, and he knew that his disciples were about to undergo their greatest trial and difficulty. He knew every one of them were about to forsake him. Every one of them. He knew every one of them would soon be in a position where their faith would be shaken. Every one of them would be in a position where Satan would tempt them and their hearts would need the comfort and assurance of his steadfast love and grace and care for them.

And so he pushed aside his thoughts of far greater trouble and suffering. And in anticipation of their need, he did this work. And he said, now this is what it symbolizes. I've washed you, but your feet, they're going to need to be washed again and again and again. And the disciples didn't understand it. Peter especially didn't understand it. And the Lord said, you're going to understand it in just a little while. But just hang on now, you're going to understand.

And the picture is this. Our Lord Jesus, instead of being overcome with his own sorrows, tended to their sorrows. Oh, how easy it is for us to be taken up with ourselves. Taken up with our sorrows. Oh, nobody, nobody knows what I'm going through. And sit back and suck our thumbs and nurse our wounds and ignore everybody else. Or to be taken up with our successes. Oh, look what I am, look what I've done. And ignore everybody else. Instead of being self-centered, and indifferent to others, let us imitate our Savior and serve others selflessly.

This was an act of great self-abasement. Do you know whose job it was to wash a man's feet? If I came to visit Bob and Sally Ponce, I walked over to their house down that dusty, dirty road and got into their house. Back in those days, Bob would have a house servant. He'd have a slave. And that slave wouldn't even have to be told. He'd just go get a bucket of water or a basin of water and a towel. He set it down there. He said, I set it down there, Mr. Porter, let me wash your feet. And he washed my feet. And the master performed the work of a slave for those who ought willingly to slave for him. That's what love does. That's what devotion does.

I'm married to a woman. who slaves for me. Not because I insist on it. I'm too blooming proud to insist on it. She didn't want to do it. I'd get along without it. That's not a compliment to me. That's just fact. She spent 25 years slaving for me. Oh, she loves me. I appreciate it. But that's what devotion is.

And if we ever become devoted to one another and to the cause of Christ, we will slave for one another and the cause of Christ. This kind of love and service is true discipleship. Loving Christ and loving his people is the same thing. Serving Christ and serving his people is the same thing.

And I send you home with this word from the apostle, and I give it as my own. The apostle Paul, when he was in prison at Rome, he said,

what things were gained to me, those I've counted but loss for Christ. Yea, doubtless, and I count all things but loss. for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord for whom I've suffered the loss of all things and do count them but done that I may win Christ and be found in him not having my own righteousness which is of the law but that which is through the faith of Jesus Christ the righteousness of God by faith that I may know him in the power of his resurrection and in the fellowship of his sufferings being made conformable unto his death.

That's what discipleship is. That's what discipleship is. It is identification with Christ by personal decision, by the discipline of grace, by the faith and doctrine of the gospel by spiritual discernment and by willing, wholehearted devotion to him and his. That's discipleship.

I call you now to take up your cross and follow him. as disciples of the Son of God. Amen.