Luke chapter 9, turning this
morning to Luke chapter 9. I want to bring the message from
verse 57 down to verse 62 in Luke chapter 9. There is a statement
made by two of these three followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, and
I'm going to use that for a title for the message. Notice verse
59, he said unto another, follow me, but this man said, he said,
Lord, suffer me first, me first, underscore those two words, me
first, excuse me, to go and bury my father. And the Lord said
unto him, let the dead bury their dead, but go thou and preach
the kingdom of God. And another also said, Lord,
I will follow thee, but let me first, me first, go and bid them
farewell, which are at home, at my house. And the Lord said,
no man, having put his hand to the plow and looking back, is
fit for the kingdom of God. So the title of the message is
kind of unusual, but it's here in the text, me first, me first. Now this is the natural mind
and the carnal mind and the sinful thoughts about self, man's self. Left to ourselves and left to
our own carnal thinking, our own sinful thoughts, it's always
me first, isn't it? Me first. rather than the Lord
Jesus Christ, all the glory, all the preeminence, and all
the honor. You see, to the believer, Christ
is all and in all. To the believer, it's Christ.
Always. Only. Always. It's Christ first. But to the natural man, it's
always me first. In the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ, He must have all the preeminence and all the glory
alone. In Him dwells all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily, and we're complete in Him. You see, saving
faith, the faith of God's elect, truly desires in our heart to
give Him all the honor and glory alone. As Paul said, God forbid
that we should glory or rejoice save or accept in the Lord Jesus
Christ. Saving faith delights to follow
Him. Remember we read in John 10,
my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me. and I give unto them eternal
life." Saving faith delights to follow the Lord Jesus Christ.
You see, He is the Lord our shepherd who leads us. He is a good shepherd
who laid down His life for His sheep. He is the great shepherd
of the sheep. He is our great God. and he is
the chief shepherd that will come again." You see we look
to the Lord Jesus Christ for all directions. He's the captain
of our salvation. He says, I am the way. You see he gives us directions
and when he does he points to himself. He said, I am the way. Now, In natural and carnal things,
I am very, very poor about following directions. All of you have those
GPS things in your car or on your phone or something. And
I'll put in a certain city, I'm going to this place. And that
GPS tells you to turn here and turn there and follow these directions.
And you get to this destination. Well, you can ask my wife. I
always think I know better. When it said, turn this way,
I said, well, I just think I'll go that way. And I think I'm
smarter than that GPS. Oftentimes, I've ended up in
a vacant lot because I think I know a little bit more than
the GPS does. That's okay to make a mistake
in following that GPS. But it is a deadly mistake to
follow your own carnal thoughts because the Lord Jesus Christ
said, I am the way. Don't vary. Follow Him. He'll never lead you wrong. He
said, I'm the way, I'm the truth, I'm the life. No one comes to
the Father but by and through Me. You see, the life of faith
is following the Lord Jesus Christ. Four times in the Word of God
it says, "...the just shall live by faith." Saving faith that
the gift of God is alive and real and causes us to look to
the Lord Jesus Christ always, looking unto Him, coming unto
Him. That is the life of faith. That
is the faith of God's elect. While on the other hand, phony
faith, False faith is more interested in me first. Me first. A me first theology is nothing
more than serving the idol of your own heart. It is nothing
more than self-righteousness as that Pharisee prayed, Lord,
me first. Me first. I'm thankful," he said,
that Pharisee, that I'm not like him. Me first. Me first. You see, phony and false faith,
when presented with trials and heartaches and many problems,
that phony and false faith will soon disappear like the morning
fog. That which is born in the storm
usually dies in the calm. The point being here is you cannot
serve Christ with a divided heart. He requires a total surrender,
total submission, and total commitment to Him. As Paul said, I know
whom I have believed. Turn to Matthew chapter 6. Let
me show you this. Hold your place there. In Luke
9, I know whom I have believed, you find Matthew 6, and I am
persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed
unto him against that day. You see, saving faith has committed
all of our salvation to the doing and dying and faithfulness of
the Lord Jesus Christ. In Matthew 6, 24, no man can
serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and
love the other or else he will hold to the one and despise the
other. You cannot serve God and me first. Me first. It's not compatible. It's all Christ or nothing. It's
Christ in all of salvation or no Christ at all. Now the Lord
Jesus Christ, back to our story here in Luke 9, the Lord Jesus
Christ is marching toward that hour appointed from all eternity,
the hour of His glorious atonement for the sin of His people. As
it says there in verse 51 of Luke 9, and it came to pass when
the time was come that He should be received up Why was he received
up? Because he accomplished our salvation. He purged our sin with his own
blood by himself. He steadfastly set his faith
to go toward Jerusalem. It says down here in verse 53,
as he was going on his way to Jerusalem, when he was going
through the area known as Samaria, he went into a certain village,
and they would not receive him. And it says, the Lord simply
left them to themselves, and he went, verse 56, the Son of
Man is not come to destroy men's life, but to save them. And they
went to another village. When they would not receive Him,
He just simply passed them by, left them to themselves, and
went on another way. And my thought is this, what
great punishment to be left to yourself, me first. I don't want
me first. I want God always only. He is God my Savior. Now, verse
57. As they went that way, it says
there, and it came to pass that as they went in the way, that
is, they left that village and went to another village, as they
went in the way, a certain man said unto him, I will follow
thee wherever you go. I'm going to follow you wherever
that leads. I'm going to follow, follow you. Now the way it came to pass that
as they went in the way, now that caught my attention. The
way the Lord of glory had appointed, they went in the way. Him being
delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of
God. He was in the way, being the way, accomplishing the way
of salvation by Himself. We read in Psalm 37, The steps
of a good man are ordered of the Lord, and he delighteth in
His way. And certainly that is true of
the Lord Jesus Christ, is it not? His steps were ordered of
the Lord. He went in the way that God had
ordained for him, and he delighted in the way of the Lord. It says
in Psalm 40, the Lord Jesus speaking, I delight to do thy will, O God,
thy law is within my heart. He said, I delight to be in the
way and to accomplish the way of salvation. And it came to
pass, that is the Lord as he marches toward the cross to accomplish
our salvation, to establish righteousness for us, it came to pass that
he meets these three men while he was in the way, and we know
that he just didn't bump into them accidentally, did he? He crossed their path on purpose,
on purpose, the sovereign purpose of God, and he meets these men. Now, here's the first one. Here's
the first one found in verse 57. The first man says, and I
call these three would-be believers or wannabe, would-be believers. The first man said that the Lord
on purpose crossed his path. The first man said, I will follow
thee wheresoever you go. Now in reading Matthew 8 verse
20, This man is called a scribe there in Matthew 8. A scribe
was one who was a student of scripture, one who did write
out the word of God for others to read, that is they would write
out and copy scripture for others to read. This man boldly volunteers
to be a servant of the Lord and he does so without being called.
Maybe seeing the fame and the crowds the Lord was drawing,
maybe he wanted to get in on the fame, get in on the fortune. By joining himself to him, to
the Lord, maybe he thinks this will promise him much ease, honor,
wealth, and maybe an easy life. You know, it's kind of hard being
a scribe. Now, this Jesus thing, maybe that's the new way. Maybe
I'll get in on that. Maybe that will be easier. Maybe
that will make me some money. Maybe things will be more popular. Now, the words that caught my
attention here, what this man says here with bold presumption,
he said, I will. I will. And the Lord says, will
you now? I will. He rashly presumed to
follow the Lord without being called. He rashly presumed to
follow the Lord without counting the cost. He boasted that he
would follow the Lord without being called. We know that salvation
is not by my will, our will. We know that salvation is by
His will. It's not of him that runneth,
nor of him that willeth, but of God that showeth mercy." This
man presumed, rashly presumed, he said, this is what I will
do. Really? The Lord knowing his
heart and his carnal thoughts says this, the man says, I will
follow you wherever you go. And the Lord said, I'm going
like a fox into a hole. I'm going like a bird into a
nest. The foxes have holes and the
birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man, the Son of
Man, now think about this, hath not where anywhere to lay his
head. Here is a man from Galilee, Jesus
of Nazareth, the creator of the whole universe, who owns all
things, said that he was a homeless man. I have nowhere to lay down
my head. No five-star hotels for this
scribe to Latch on to the Lord Jesus Christ for maybe some special
perks or benefits. The Lord said, if you follow
me, we're going to be camping out in the ground like a fox
and living like a bird. Must be a tough way. The Son
of Man has nowhere to lay his head. Now think about this. The
Son of Man became the Son of God. This is God Almighty. I am a Father of One. The Lord
said, you've seen me, you've seen my Father. The Son of God
became the Son of Man, the Word was made flesh and dwelt among
us, in order that the sons of men might be called sons of God
by His grace alone. Behold what manner of love the
Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called sons
of God. You see, the Lord impoverished
Himself with our humanity. Hold your place there in Luke
9, and turn to 2 Corinthians 8, 9. 2 Corinthians 8, 9. The Lord of glory impoverished
Himself with our humanity to accomplish our salvation. That's
why He came. That's why He bare our sin in
His own body on the tree. In 2 Corinthians 8 and 9, For
ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he
was rich, Yet for your sakes he became poor, that you through
his poverty might be made rich." You see, we've been made heirs
of God and joint heirs with the Lord Jesus Christ. There is great
honor and great blessings in being a believer of the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ and following the Lord Jesus Christ.
But in this life, and often times, we as believers will be called
to endure hardship and trials because of the gospel. We as believers have been given
grace to persevere and endure to the end. The Apostle writes
this from prison, 2 Timothy 2, Thou therefore endure hardness
as a good soldier of the Lord Jesus Christ." We are content
for the faith once delivered unto the saints of God. The apostles of the Lord Jesus
Christ certainly did have, did they have ease and plenty? The apostles of the Lord Jesus
Christ. They had heartaches, all being
persecuted, hated, and put to death for the gospel of the Lord
Jesus Christ. They did follow Him wheresoever
He went. And by the Lord's grace, He gave
them grace and mercy for every trial. Let me show you some of
those things. Find 2 Corinthians 11. The Apostle
Paul was one specially chosen of God to be a preacher of the
gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And certainly you would think
that he would have an easy pathway, a clear road, green light, blue
skies, but notice what he says here in 2 Corinthians 11 verse
24. The Jews five times received
I 40 stripes, save one. Five times. Three times I was
beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. They drug
him out of the city as a dead man. Three times I suffered shipwreck. Night and day have I been in
the deep, in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils
of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in trouble, periled
by heathen, in perils in the city, in the wilderness, in the
sea, and in trouble among False brethren, weariness, painfulness,
watching, often, hungry, thirst, fasting, cold, nakedness. Wow! Paul, the Apostle of God, the
Lord does not promise us a life without trial, but he does promise
grace for the trial. Turn one page, 2 Corinthians
11, 2 Corinthians 12, rather. The Lord promises grace for the
trial. Verse 7. 2 Corinthians 12 verse
7. Lest I should be exalted above
measure to the abundance of the revelation that was given to
me of thorn in the flesh, The messenger of Satan debuffed at
me, lest I should be exalted above measure. For this thing
I have sought the Lord three times, that it might depart from
me. And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee, for my
strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly, therefore, I rather
glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest
upon me. Verse 10. Therefore I take pleasure
in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessity, in persecution,
in distress, for Christ's sake, for when I'm weak, that's when
I'm strong." You see, saving faith perseveres in the trial. That's why the Lord says that
trials are precious. The Lord said in John 16, these
words have I spoken unto you, that in me you might have peace.
In this world you shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer,
I have overcome." He's given us the victory through our Lord
Jesus Christ. We don't read another word about
this man that he did follow the Lord. I'm sure he was discouraged
and walked away because he was acting upon his own fallen sinful
will. He wasn't made willing in the
day of God's power. Now here's a second man, the
second would-be follower, found in verse 59. And he said unto another, follow
me. Now this man received the call,
follow me. But he said, Lord, let me first
go and bury my father. Now what's the Lord going to
say to that? Verse 60, now this is the one who has all wisdom,
all knowledge, all power. The Lord said to him, let the
dead bury their dead, but you go and you preach the kingdom
of God. Now evidently this man was called
not only to faith, not only to Christ in faith, but was called
to preach the gospel. Now, this second man was told
by the Lord to follow him. What a gracious word given to
any sinner by the Lord, follow me. Follow me. We've seen this
before. Turn back to Luke chapter 5. Luke chapter 5. When the Lord
walked in front of the table of a tax collector, a republican
named Levi, who was also known as Matthew, verse 27, sitting
at the receipt of custom, he said unto him, follow me. Now
notice, there's no, but me first, is there? Follow me. And he left
all, rose up, and followed the Lord. I'll show you another example. Turn to Matthew chapter 4. Matthew
chapter 4. When the Lord called Peter and
Andrew, James and John, their answer wasn't, but me first.
Notice, in Matthew chapter 4, Verse 18, the Lord Jesus walking
by the sea of Galilee saw two brethren, Simon called Peter,
Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea for they were fishers.
And he said to them, follow me and I'll make you fishers of
men. And they straightway left their nets. They left their livelihood. They made their living by fishing
and followed him. Verse 21, And going on from thence
he saw two other brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John
his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their necks.
And he called them. It wasn't, but me first, let
me finish these nets. They immediately left the ship
and their father and followed him. That is a response of saving
faith following the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, this man in our
story, look back in Luke 9 verse 59, he said, me first, let me
go and bury my father. This man began to make excuses. Let me go home and take care
of my family, or my father, or bury my father." Some of the
writers think this man's meaning was, my father is old and elderly. Let me go home and take care
of my father until he dies, and then I'll serve you. Me first. Put off until I'm ready to serve
you. And notice the Lord's sharp rebuke. Verse 60, let the dead bury their
dead. You go and preach the gospel
of the kingdom of God. Let the dead bury the dead. Now, there is nothing wrong or
sinful with burying our parents or others, nothing wrong with
that. I attended the funeral of both my father and both my
mother when they died. Nothing wrong or sinful of taking
care of our parents, taking care of our families. As a matter
of fact, the scripture says the man who does not take care of
his family, let him be known as an infidel, as an unbeliever. But here's what he's teaching
here. The believer's priority and foremost desire is to serve
the Lord Jesus Christ at all times, at all costs. That's what he's teaching. Unbelievers
will say, well, this is unreasonable. And it is to them, but not to
the Lord's people. Not at all. Look at in the same
chapter, you remember in Luke 9, 23, Luke 9, 23, "...if any
man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and let him take
up his cross daily, and follow Me." That's not unreasonable
for a believer to forsake all and follow the Lord Jesus Christ. Now he gives the instruction
evidently this man was called not only to faith in Christ or
to Christ in faith, but this man was also called to preach
the gospel. Go and preach the gospel of the
kingdom of God. And that's what the gospel is
all about. The gospel of God concerning the Lord Jesus Christ
is all about the King in His kingdom. And when we go and preach
the gospel, we preach Christ as King, as Lord of all things. He is Lord of lords, and He is
King of kings. We preach not ourselves, but
the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul said, I charge you before
God, To preach Christ. Preach Him, Christ, and Him crucified. You see, the believer's attitude
is not one of, let me take care of my business first, and then
I'll take care of the Lord's business. The believer's attitude
is not me first, it's Christ, Christ, Christ. The gospel first,
Christ first, worship first, supporting the gospel first,
promoting the gospel first, honoring Christ first, believing the gospel
first. This is always foremost and primary
and the chief and principal purpose of every believer's life, following
the Lord Jesus Christ. It's not me first. It's Christ. Christ. One old preacher said
this, when Christ says to a man, follow me, he must not that even
the tenderest relationship detain him, or proper duties to stand
in the way of the highest duty to serve the Lord Jesus Christ. And this doubly applies to those
who are called to preach the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's not me first, it's Christ,
Christ, Christ, always Him. Now, here's the third man. would be follower. And another,
verse 61, and another also said, Lord, I will, I will follow Thee,
but let me first, let me first go and bid them farewell, which
are at my house, which are at home at my house. And the Lord said to him, No
man, having put his hand to the plow, And looking back, has been
fitted, has been fitted for the kingdom of God. This man, like
the first, said, I will, I will, I will. Reminded me what the
leper said to the Lord Jesus Christ when he came to him. You
remember what he said? Lord, if you will, You can make
me whole. You see, there's a big difference
between I will and the Lord's will. Of His own will beget he
us with the word of truth. He said, Lord, I will follow
you, but me first. Me first. Let me go home and
take care of business. Let me go back. Now notice the
reference there on verse 61, 1 Kings 19, 20. You see that? Now do you know what that refers
to? Remember the story when we went through 1 Kings? When Elijah
called Elisha into the ministry, he said the same thing. Let me
first go home and take care of my family. Bid my mother and
father goodbye. He said the same thing, but we
know the rest of his story. Elisha became a faithful prophet
of God, and we know that by reading the Word of God in 2 Kings, where
it's all about the working of God through Elijah. Generally
speaking, those who look back want to go back, do they not? Remember in the story of the
Lord delivering Lot and his family out of Sodom, before he rang
down fire on that city, and he instructed them to come out of
that city, and he said, remember what he said? Don't look back. Well, the angel of the Lord brought
them out of that city, and the Lord began to ring down fire,
and Lot's wife, she looked back and the Lord turned
her into a pillar of salt. She came out of Sodom, but her
heart was still there. And when she looked back, judgment
fell. You see, salvation is not looking
back. Don't look back to an experience.
Don't look back to a feeling. Don't look back to anything.
Salvation is looking to Him, the Lord Jesus Christ. Notice
what our Lord said here. No man having put his hand to
the plow and looking back. Looking back. That's a continual
state of looking somewhere other than the Lord Jesus Christ. Looking back. This is always
looking back. It's a continual state of looking
somewhere other than Christ and Him crucified. You see, saving
faith is always looking to the Lord Jesus Christ. Let me see
if I can show you that in Scripture. I think I can make good on that.
Find Hebrews 12. Hebrews 12. Saving faith is always
looking to the Lord Jesus Christ, never looking anywhere else.
The Lord said in Isaiah 45, He said, Look unto Me, and be ye
saved, all the ends of the earth. I am God, and there is no other.
Hebrews chapter 12, look at verse 1. Wherefore, seeing we are encompassed
about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every
weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us
run with patience the race that is set before us. I was watching
a track meet yesterday. It was an international track
meet. And I loved to watch track because
I was, in the spring of the year when I was in school, I would
run track. I was on the track team. And one of the things that
you do when you run in a race, you press toward the goal, the
mark, the finish line. One of the things that I was
always instructed by my coach was to never look back. You can't run and look back. You've got to press toward the
mark of the prize of the high calling of God in Christ. Let
us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking,
see that word, looking unto the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the
author, the finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set
before him, he endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set
down on the right hand of the throne of God." One other scripture,
find Philippians, the book of Philippians chapter 3. The Apostle
Paul said, I count all things lost, dung, ruined, that I may
win Christ. Not looking back, in Philippians
chapter 3, look at verse 13, I count not myself to have apprehended,
but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind,
and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press
toward the mark of the prize of the high calling of God in
Christ Jesus." We don't look back. Paul didn't look back to
the time when he was a Pharisee. Look back to the time when he
thought he kept the law. He counted all things lost, dung,
and ruined, that he may win Christ and be found in Him. Those who do look back are those
who are looking back. Those who do look back and those
who are looking back have not been fitted, as he says there,
have not been fitted for the kingdom of God. Have not been
fitted for the kingdom of God. They've not been made fit. Now,
what's he talking about here? Let me see if I can show you
this. Find Colossians chapter one. Colossians chapter one. Look at verse 12. I'm almost
through, stay with me. Colossians chapter one, verse
12. Give me thanks unto the Father who hath made us meet to be partakers
of the inheritance of the saints in light, in Christ, who hath
delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated
us into the kingdom of His dear Son." Verse 12 again, "...giving
thanks unto the Father, who hath made us meet." And the word there
is fit. He has fitted us to be partakers
of the inheritance of the saints in Christ. If any man be in Christ,
he is a new creature. He has made us fit. And fitted
us. to follow the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now, closing statement. May God give us grace. And what
he's talking about here is persevering in the faith. We're not of them
who draw back. but to those who persevere. We're not of them that draw back
unto our condemnation, but those who persevere. We're not of them
that draw back unto perdition, but of them that believe to the
saving of the soul." You see, saving faith is always looking
to Him, coming to Him, and believing Him. No wonder that faith is
called precious. Simon Peter, a servant and an
apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious
faith with us through the righteousness of God our Savior, Jesus Christ. So our message is not one of
me first, is it? It's Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ. In all things, Christ is all
and in all.