We're glad to have Drew and Melinda
Dietz with us and Angus Fisher from Australia who's going to
be preaching for us this Wednesday night. Turn back to Luke chapter 9.
I've entitled this message, Follow Verse 57 of Luke chapter 9. 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. Now on the surface, that sounds
good, doesn't it? We ought to follow Christ. whether so ever he goest. The life of faith can be summarized
by this, following, following the Lord Jesus Christ. You see,
following Christ is the mark of the sheep. The Lord said,
you believe not to his detractors. You believe not because you're
not my sheep. As I said, he didn't say, He
didn't say, you're not my sheep because you don't believe. He
said, you believe not because you're not of my sheep. As I
said unto you, my sheep hear my voice. I know them. And they follow me. When John the Baptist was preaching,
he said, behold, the Lamb of God And we read that those who
heard him, heard him speak and followed Jesus. That's what John
wanted, isn't it? And if there's any true preaching
going on and any true response going on, what's going to happen
is men and women are going to follow the Lord Jesus Christ. John 1.43, we read where Jesus
would go forth into Galilee and find Philip. I love thinking
about that. That's what you're just saying about. He found me.
Not I found him. I love to think of the Lord going
out. He knew who Philip was. Philip had never seen him. Philip
didn't know him. But he went out and found Philip. Oh, Lord,
come and find me. He went out and found Philip
and said, follow me. Don't you love those words from
him? Follow me. If you're a believer, that's
what you want to do. You want to follow the Lord Jesus
Christ. When the Lord made himself known
to Peter and Andrew, Peter's response was, depart from me,
for I'm a sinful man, oh Lord. You don't want to have anything
to do with anybody like me. I understand Peter's response,
don't you? Depart from me, Lord. Now it wasn't because he didn't
want to be around the Lord, but he couldn't understand why the
Lord would ever want to be around him. Depart from me. I'm a sinful
man, oh Lord. And the Lord's reply was, fear
not. From henceforth thou shalt catch men. And when they brought
their ships to land, they forsook all and followed him. I want to be one of those people,
don't you? I want to be a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. The
Lord passed by Matthew, the publican, sitting in the place he did business,
the receipt of customs. And he said, follow me. What irresistible grace was in
that command. Matthew rose up, forsook all
and followed the Lord Jesus Christ. And you know, I think it's very
interesting. There is not one instance in scripture where Christ
said to someone, follow me. and they didn't do it. You see,
when he says, follow me, you obey his command. If you're not
following him, it's because he never told you to. Because everybody
he says, follow me, they follow on. Let me show you a passage
of scripture in Mark chapter 10, if you'll turn there. The only instance where someone
might say, well, did he follow him? Let's look at it. Mark chapter 10, verse 17. And when he was gone
forth into the way, there came one running. He was very earnest
and excited. And he kneeled to him and asked
him, good master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal
life? And Jesus said unto him, Why
callest thou me good? There's none good, but one, that
is God. Now, why did the Lord say that?
Because the Lord knew this man was coming to him as a man. I'm
a good man. I'd like to reach your level
of goodness. What good thing can I do that
I can reach your level of goodness? And the Lord corrected him because
he knew he was just coming to him as a man. And Jesus said
unto him, verse 18, why callest thou me good? There is none good,
but one that is God. Thou knowest the commandments.
Do not commit adultery, do not kill, do not steal, do not bear
fellows witness, defraud not, honor thy father and thy mother.
He met him where he came on what he could do. And he answered
and said unto him, Master, all these have I observed from my
youth. Then Jesus beholding him, what's
it say? He loved him. He loved him. Now I have no doubt
that this man was somebody who the Lord ended up saving because
it says he loved him. We don't read where he looked
at the Pharisees when they would make statements like this and
he loved them. But here, this man, as a matter of fact, some
people believe, and some people can argue that this man was the
apostle Paul as a rich young ruler. Then Jesus, beholding
him, loved him and said unto him, one thing thou lackest,
go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast and give to the poor. You
see, this man didn't realize he was eating up with covetousness.
And thou shalt have treasure in heaven and come take up the
cross and follow me. And he was sad at that saying
and went away grieved for he had great possessions. But I believe because the Lord
said he loved him, he ended up following the Lord Jesus Christ.
You know, every time the Lord loves somebody, he causes them
to follow him. The Lord said, if any man will
come after me, Let him deny himself. Take up his cross, his confession
of me and follow me. The Lord said in John 12, 26,
if any man serve me, let him follow me. Oh, my soul, I want
to do that. Where I am, there also my servant
shall be, which is where All who follow him want to be with
him. If any man serve me, the Lord
said, him shall my father honor. Now, someone may be thinking,
how can I follow him if I can't see him? You got to see someone
to be able to follow him. Well, in Matthew 9, 27, we read
of two blind men that followed him. Don't you love thinking
about these two blind men groping along, trying to follow the Lord
Jesus Christ? How'd they follow him? They heard
his voice. They heard his word. Now that's
how you'll follow the Lord Jesus Christ by hearing his word. They followed his voice. I love when the Lord said to
blind Bartimaeus, after he'd given him sight, he said, go
that way. You're set free. Go that way. Thy faith hath made thee whole.
And the scripture says he followed Jesus in the way that was his
way. That's my way. Go your way. Here's
what my way is. I want to follow Jesus in the
way. Luke 9 11 says the people, when
they knew followed him. And when you know, you'll follow
him. Turn with me for a moment to
John chapter 21. I love this passage of Scripture. This is after the Lord had asked
Peter three times, Simon, Peter, do you love me? Feed my sheep. Simon, do you love me? Yea, Lord,
you know I love you. Feed my sheep. Simon, do you
love me? The third time, Lord, you know all things. You know
that I love you. He appealed to the omniscience
of Christ. Feed my sheep. Verse 18, verily, verily, I say
unto you that when you were young, You gird yourself and walk whither
thou wouldest. But when thou shalt be old, thou
shalt stretch forth thy hand, and another shall gird thee and
carry thee whither thou wouldest not. This spake he signifying
by what death he should glorify God. And church tradition has
it, I know it's not in the Bible, but tradition has it that he
was crucified upside down. He felt himself unworthy to be
crucified in the same way as the Lord. But did you notice
the language there? By what death he glorified God. And when he had spoken this,
he said unto him, follow me. That's his only instruction.
Follow me. Then Peter turning about, seeth
the disciple whom Jesus loved following, which also leaned
on his breast at supper and said, Lord, which is he that betrayeth
thee? John was the one who said that.
Peter, seeing him, saith to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man
do? You've told me what's going to
happen to me. I'm going to be killed. What about him? Jesus saith unto him, If I will
that he tarry till I come, what's that to thee? What business is
that of yours? Follow thou me. Now, I love thinking about this.
You know, what the Lord tells you to do is none of my business. I'm simply to follow Him. What
the Lord tells me to do is none of your business. You're simply
to follow Him. And if we're following Him together,
we're doing the same thing, aren't we? Our calling is to follow Him. What's a faithful dog do? It
follows its master. Wherever its master goes, it
follows its master. Caleb, the faithful dog that
followed his master. Our calling is to follow him. Now, what do you do when you
follow directions? If somebody gives you directions
as to how to get somewhere, what do you do? You follow the directions. You do what the directions say
to do. When they say go right, you go
right. When they say proceed a mile, you go a mile. If you
don't do what the directions say to do, you won't get to the
destination. Now, in following the Lord Jesus
Christ, He said, now listen to these words, He said, I am the
way. No man cometh to the Father,
but by The only way I can get to the
Father is by Him. Wherefore He is able to save
them to the uttermost that come to God by Him. Now, I know the
only way I'm going to get into God's presence is for me to be
in Him and for Him to bring me into God's presence. But you
know what I'm saying all along the way? Lord, I come only by
Him. Hear me for Christ's sake. No
other reason, no man comes to the Father but by me. When you follow someone, how
do you do it? It's very simple. You keep your
eyes on them. You keep your eyes on them. When
you're following somebody on the road, you go to a destination.
I always hate it when somebody's following me and they get way
back behind because I'm not real good about trying to, I just
zip along and where did they go? If you want to follow me,
follow me closely. Stay close. Follow. Don't, don't,
don't lag behind. But if you follow somebody, what
do you do? You keep your eyes on them. You don't look down at your feet.
You don't look to the right or to the left. You don't look behind
you. When you follow someone, you keep your eyes on them. Now,
this is a very simple thing. I wish I could say this as simply
as it ought to be said, but in following the Lord Jesus Christ,
I'm looking to him. I see him. I don't see him physically,
but I see who he is. He's God. He's man. He's the
God man, and he is able to save me. Do you believe that? Do you believe that he is able
to save you? I look to his life right now. I'm looking to his life, his
obedience as my personal obedience before God. Well, what about
your sin? I'm looking to His death as my
sin payment, as washing away my sin, and His resurrection
as my justification before God. And right now, the only reason
I persevere, the only reason I continue in the faith, the
only reason I love Him right now is because He causes me to
and He intercedes for me as my great high priest. I'm looking
to him. That's what it is to follow the
Lord Jesus Christ. You keep your eyes on him. We
seek him, we submit ourselves to him, and we trust him. Now, as I said, upon the surface,
what this fella seems said seems like a good thing. I will. I
will follow thee, whithersoever thou goest. That seems like a
noble thing to say. But did you notice the Lord's
response to it in Luke chapter 9? Verse 57, it came to pass that
as they went in the way, a certain man said unto him, Lord, I will
follow thee whether so ever thou goest. And Jesus said unto him,
foxes have holes to go raise their children in and sleep in.
That's their homes. birds of the air have nests,
they have place to go to, but the son of man hath not where
to lay his head." You know, you're going to go to a home tonight,
you're going to get a warm bed. The Lord didn't have a place
like that. That was his reply to this man. Now, let me tell you the first
thing that was wrong with what this man said. Anything, now
you listen to me real carefully, anything that begins with an
I will is going to go wrong. Anything that begins with an
I will, it's going to go wrong. It's based on human resolve.
It's based upon the human will and that in itself is evil. Turn
with me for a moment to James chapter four. James chapter four, verse 13,
go to now you that say today or tomorrow, we will go into
such a city and continue there a year and buy and sell and get
gain. This is what we're going to do.
We will, we will. Verse 14, whereas, you know,
no watch will be on the morrow for what is your life? It's even
a vapor that appear for a little time and then vanish at the way
for that you ought to say, if the Lord will, We shall live
and do this or do that. But now you rejoice in your boastings. I will. You rejoice in your boastings
and all such rejoicing is evil. That's what the Lord says. Your
religion based upon personal resolve is always going to go
bad. And you know, we don't read where
the Lord ever told this man to follow him. This man came up
to the Lord and said, Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou
goest. We don't read where the Lord ever said to him, follow
thou me. You see anything that is initiated
by the flesh will never get past the flesh. That which is born
of the flesh is flesh and it can never rise above its nature. If this man had any understanding
of who he was, You know he'd say, Lord, cause me to follow
thee. Cause me, by invincible and irresistible
grace, cause me to follow thee. Very much like, can you imagine
that leper coming up into the Lord's presence and saying, Lord,
I will that you make me clean. Why such a statement would have
been an utter presumption, wouldn't it? To come into the Lord's presence
like that? No. He said, Lord, if you will, you
can make me clean. I'm helpless in and of myself
and I want to be clean. And I know I can't clean myself.
I can't be cleansed. Lord, if you will, you can make
me clean. Cause me to be clean. Now the Lord's response to this
man. It gives us some idea that this man had a bad motive in
the way he initiated this. Look in Matthew's account in
Matthew chapter 8. Same thing in Matthew chapter
8. Verse 16. And when the even was
come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils,
and he cast out the spirits with his word, and he healed all that
were sick. Now, can you imagine how impressive
this was? that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken by Isaiah, the
prophet, saying himself, took our infirmities and bear our
sicknesses. Now, when Jesus saw great multitudes about him, he
gave commandment to depart unto the other side. And a certain
scribe came and he had witnessed all this. A certain scribe came
after seeing how the Lord healed the sick. And I said, I guess
he could have thought he's going to be the king. I need to get
in on the ground floor of this. I can be greatly benefited by
being with him. And so this scribe, a religious
man, the scribe came and said, master, I will follow thee whether
so ever thou goest. I mean, of course I will look,
look at the benefit involved with that. And Jesus saith unto
him, the foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests,
but the son of man hath not where. to lay his head. Now, the Lord
said, I don't have a place to lay my
head. If you're looking to follow me because of what kind of benefits
you could get out of it materially or socially, I don't even have
a place to lay my head. Now, if I follow the Lord Jesus
Christ, or if I'm following the Lord Jesus Christ for personal
gain, I'm not following him at all. You see, he's to be followed
because of who he is. He's to be worshiped for who
he is. And the essence of sin is I will. That's the essence of sin. Lord,
I will follow thee. Whether so ever thou goest. That's
the essence of sin. It's the essence of presumption.
It's the essence of not knowing who God is and not knowing who
you are. If you know who you are, you wouldn't really talk
like that. You'd say, Lord, would you cause
me to follow thee. Now, I didn't know this until
this week. You know that scripture where
it says in Titus chapter 2, a heretic after the first and second admonition
reject knowing that such is subverted. And when I think of a heretic,
I think of someone who holds false doctrine. And indeed, a
heretic does hold false doctrine. But you know what the word means?
Self-willed. A choosing. Someone who's self-willed. I'm going to have, I'm going
to do this. I'm going to do that. What's
the essence of holiness? Not my will, but thine be done. Look down in verse 62 of Luke
chapter nine. And another also said, Lord,
I will follow thee, but. Now there's a word that can't
come in that statement. There's no, I will follow thee,
but. That speaks of insincerity. That's not a real desire to follow
the Lord Jesus Christ. I will follow thee, but let me
first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house. Now, this is another man who
initiated things. Lord, I will, but let me first. Now, the first man was an example
of self-righteousness, self-confidence, and self-deceit. The same language
that Peter used before the fall. You remember when the Lord said,
one of you shall betray me? And you know, every one of the
disciples said, is it I? Is it I? That all went to God
that that would be our language. Is it I? And then he told Peter
specifically, you're going to betray me. You know what Peter
said? I'll never do that. The rest
of this bunch might, but not me. I'll never do that. And you know what he did. This
first man represented that, but this second man represents insincerity,
compromise, and procrastination. Let me first. I'll follow thee,
but first let me do this. Let me do that. I'll follow you.
That's my intention. I will follow thee, but let me first. Now, nothing is to come before
following Christ and look at the Lord's reply to him. And
Jesus said unto him, no man having put his hand to the plow and
looking back is fit for the kingdom of God. He uses the example of
a plowman. You're not fit to be a plowman
if you look back. Now, what all does that mean? Well, I'll trust Christ, but
I first need to say goodbye. I'll trust Christ, but I first
need to get this straightened out and start doing this and
stop doing that. Then I'll trust Christ. I need
to experience that or experience that. Then I'll trust Christ.
Now, you can't plow, a straight plow looking back at you. I mean,
if you're plowing a furrow, it is impossible to plow a straight
furrow looking back to an experience, to your starting point, to anything. The only way you can plow a straight
furrow is to set your head, your eyes on a fixed point and go
straight toward that point. And that's what it is to follow
the Lord Jesus Christ. Like you're plowing a furrow. looking straight ahead at that
fixed point. You know, if you're plowing a
furrow, what would happen if you looked at your feet? Would you
get to the end? Would it be straight? If you
were looking, if you're just thinking about your walk and
your conversation, would it be straight? No, not at all. What if you were looking at the
side at other people plowing? Are you straight? No, you're
not to look at other folks. You certainly don't look behind
you. You just end up going around backwards, looking back to some
experience. Well, I was saved when this happened, when I believed
this. Forget the experience. Look straight ahead to the Lord
Jesus Christ. No man looking back is fit for
the kingdom of God. You don't look to doing it in
the future. After you first do anything,
that demonstrates way too high an opinion of yourself that you're
going to do it and too much presumption. You don't know what's going to
happen tomorrow. You just don't know. Boast not thyself of tomorrow,
for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth. That man once
again initiated this, but let's look at the man that I hope I
am. Verse 59. Now here, the Lord
initiated it. Don't you want the Lord to say
to you, follow me? You know, I want the Lord to say that to
me. I want him to say by his spirit, by his grace, through
the preaching of the gospel, follow me. Because every person
he says, follow me, they follow him. Lord, say it to me. I think
of what Peter said. Peter said, bid me come to thee
on the water. Peter's an example of, you remember
when he got out of the boat and he, I admire his faith so much. He said, Lord, if it be thou
bid me come to thee on the water. And he got out of the boat and
he came down. And you know, anytime you come
toward Christ, it's always going to be coming down. He came down
out of the boat and he walked on the water to go toward the
Lord Jesus Christ. Can you imagine how That must
have been, I mean, he was a man. And there he was walking on the
water, going toward the Lord Jesus Christ with his eyes on
Christ. And then what happened? He looked
at the wind boisterous. And he began to sing. And then he prayed my favorite
prayer. It's a prayer I pray every day,
I hope. Lord, save me. Archari said, Lord, save me. Lord, save me. I need you to
save me. And the Lord reached forth his
hand and got hold of him and pulled him back up on top of
the water and said, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst
thou doubt? Now the Lord initiated this.
Verse 59, and he said unto another, follow me. But he said, Lord,
suffer me first to go and bury my father. Now in this man's
response, I see the weakness of the flesh. He still had this
thing called the flesh, and he said, Lord, suffer me first and
go bury my father. Now, there's different views
as to what that means. Some means he's having a funeral
today, and just let me go to his funeral, and everything will
be fine. Then I'll come and follow you. And others think that that
meant, well, let me wait till he dies. Let me take care of
him. He's an old man, and he needs my help, and I can't forsake
him. Let me take care of him till
he dies. Then I'll come and follow you. Now, how did the Lord respond
to that? Suffer me first to go and bury
my father. Verse 60, Jesus said unto him,
let the dead bury their dead. Now, the implication is, is you
have life. You let dead men do what dead
men do. Now, this man was weak, no doubt. The spirit, our Lord said, is
willing, but the flesh is weak. And he was wanting to go and
bury his father, and we understand that. You know, if my dad was
going to have a funeral today, I hope you don't, dad. I mean,
everything's okay, but if you're going to go to a funeral, I want to
attend it. But yet, the Lord says, you let the dead do what
dead men do. You know, when I was thinking
about that, when I thought about that statement, our job is not
to do what dead men can do. Dead men can do. You know, there
are social agencies that take care of all that. things that
dead men can do. We're to do only what living
men can do. He said, go thou and preach the
kingdom of God. Only a living man can preach
the kingdom of God. Now, the dead men, they can do
all kinds of other stuff. They can bury their dead. They can
have welfare programs and social agencies to help each other and
to make this world a better place. And that's a good thing. Dead
men can do that. But you go and preach The kingdom
of God. That means you preach the king
of the kingdom. The king of kings and the Lord
of lords. And you preach his kingdom. I
love Romans 14, 17. The kingdom of God is not meat
and drink. It's not do's and don'ts. It's
not men's manmade rules and regulations. It's not laws. The kingdom of
God is not meat and drink. Here's what it is. Righteousness. The righteousness of Jesus Christ
is my righteousness before God. I have His righteousness. My sin became His sin. That's what happened on the cross.
My sin became His sin. And just as truly as my sin became
His sin, He died for it. That's how truly it became His.
The only reason for death is sin. My sin became His sin. But just as truly as my sin became
His sin, His righteousness, His perfect obedience becomes my
righteousness before God. Now that thrills my soul. Righteousness. And you know what
comes from righteousness? Peace. If the only righteousness I have
is the righteousness of Jesus Christ, I feel such peace. If everything that God requires
of me, he looks to Christ for. I feel such peace. God is at peace with me because
I have righteousness. And what comes next? The kingdom
of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness and peace and
joy in the Holy Ghost. The peace that comes or the joy
that comes from believing He is my righteousness and He is
my peace. Now that's the kingdom of God.
Somebody believes that, they're followers of the Lord Jesus Christ
and they will follow Him. Now, when the Lord says, follow
me, He's not giving us a choice. Aren't you glad? He's not giving
us a choice. And thank God, when He says,
follow me, He will not let us not follow Him. He will put this
in our hearts, as we read in the Song of Solomon, draw us. And we will run after Thee. You and I read that verse of
scripture, no man can come to me, except the Father which has
sent me, draw and I'll raise him up at the last day. You know
what I say? Lord, draw me. Draw me. Draw me to thyself. He drew me and I followed on,
charmed to confess the voice divine. Now, let me tell you
something that's really great about the sheep following the
shepherd, following the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what I want
to be. I mean, I want that to be the one description of me.
I want to be a follower, an out-and-out follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. The shepherd has two sheepdogs
called goodness and mercy. David said, surely goodness and
mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. You see, the
shepherd has two sheepdogs. His goodness. That's his capacity
to save sinners. His mercy. And these two sheepdogs
cause us to follow the Lord Jesus Christ. And I know this. I need these sheepdogs, don't
you? Surely goodness and mercy shall
follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the
house of the Lord forever. So when I read these passages
of scripture, where the Lord says, follow me, I don't have
this. I'll follow thee whithersoever
thou goest. And this cocky arrogance and self-sufficiency. No, no. I say, Lord, cause me. by irresistible and invincible
and overpowering and over-conquering grace caused me to follow thee. And I know that no one who's
ever asked him to do that, he said no to. May you and I be
followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. Let's pray together.