He Cannot be My Disciple

Now let's turn back to Luke 14. This is a solemn scripture. It's so full of truth and so
applicable to this day that As I read it, as I prepared the
message to bring to you tonight, it seems that the words were
spoken just for today. That's how current the words
of our Lord are, especially in this parable right here. Now
look at verse 25, if you will. And there went great multitudes
with him, and he turned and said to them, These parables were spoken at
a time when great crowds were following our Lord. Great multitudes,
it said, went after him. Now, the Master never measured
his success by numbers. He never measured his success
or his failure by numbers. When he was thrown by vast multitudes,
he was not elated. And when he was forsaken by the
crowd, he was not depressed, so he did not say, I've failed
because no one's here, or I've succeeded because there are a
lot of people here. In fact, the same crowd that would cry,
Hosanna, Hosanna, would cry later, crucify him, crucify him. The
same crowd that would cry now, hail him that cometh in the name
of the Lord. Hail the King of the Jews. would
cry later, ìWe have no king but Caesar.î Turn to a scripture
over in John, Chapter 2. In the second chapter of John,
verse 23, ìAnd when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover, in
the feast day, many believed in his name when they saw the
miracles which he did. But Jesus did not commit himself
unto them, because he knew all men.î And needed not that any
should testify of man, he knew what was in man. So as I said
to you, every time I speak on one of these parables, find out
the occasion. Find out the occasion. Find out
to whom the Lord is speaking. And here he is surrounded by
a multitude, followed by great multitudes of people. And these
two parables, these two stories, were spoken, not only at a time
when great multitudes followed him, but they were spoken to
separate real disciples from nominal professors. These words were spoken to separate
the genuine from the counterfeit. These words were spoken to separate
the precious gold from the wood, hay, and stubble. And when you
read these words, which I read a moment ago, it would seem that
the Lord, and this is the idea that some people get when we
talk in this vein, it would seem that the Lord was discouraging
rather than encouraging men to become his disciples. It would
seem that the Lord is repelling people instead of inviting people,
but that's not the case at all. What he is doing is what we ought
to do. And that is, he's presenting
salvation in its true character. And he's preventing men from
being swayed emotionally by their feelings. And he's acquainting
the people with what to expect if they do come to him. And then
he's trying to get across to them the heartbreak, the future
heartbreak of a false profession. Now we're in something today
that might be called a religious revival. There are great multitudes
who are following a person whom they call Jesus. There are great
persons and great crowds and great organizations who are naming
the name of Christ and professing to be his disciple, just exactly
like this scripture here. Great multitudes followed him,
great multitudes. And our Lord turned, and this
is what he said to them. Now look at verse 26. Let's look
at these verses carefully. Now you get the background, don't
you? Great multitudes are following. I think it applies to this day.
There are huge multitudes and great persons and big names and
athletic stars and entertainers and all these people who are
naming the name Jesus. And these great crowds are following
after him. He never measured success by
the multitudes, by numbers. And our Lord never, our Lord
Jesus Christ, when everybody left him, he didn't feel that
he had failed. He was not elated when they were there and he was
not depressed after they left. And what he's saying here, and
I want you to understand this, it would seem that he is discouraging
Disciples, but it's not that way at all. It would seem he's
repelling the people rather than inviting them But that's not
it. That's not what we do what he did what he's doing is what
we ought to do and that is As EW Johnson said don't cover the
hook with something sweet and let the fella bite it and find
out there's something sharp in there Discover that it's not
all sweetness and not all tenderness, but we're hiding and With our
sermons, we're hiding the barb. We're hiding the sharp edge.
We're hiding the sacrifice, and the humiliation, and the suffering,
and those things. And he finds out what it is too
late. He reaches and grabs all of that beauty you present him,
and it's too late. He's hooked. He's dead. And this
is what our Lord's doing. He's defining salvation. Now
listen to him. If any man come to me, And hate
not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, brethren,
and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. And whosoever doth not bear his
cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple. Verse 33, so
likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that
he hath, he cannot be my disciple. Now true discipleship, I'm not
talking about a profession of faith. I'm not talking about
church membership. I'm not talking about a claim
to salvation. I'm talking about true discipleship. True salvation is costly. It's costly. Our Lord said this
in verse 28, which of you, and he gave this picture, which of
you intending to build a tower? This is a mansion, a fine home. Which of you intending to build
a fine home, a mansion, a place to spend the rest of your days,
a place to live always, this is where I'm going to make my
home, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he
have sufficient to finish it. And then down in verse 31, what
king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down
first and consulteth whether he's able with his 10,000 troops
to meet this man coming against him with 20,000 troops. True
discipleship is costly. And we're not treating the sinner
right, we're not being true to the souls of men, and we're not
being true to God's word, we're not being true to the gospel,
if we don't let people know this. Now, we've got to exercise great
care here. Now, let's be real careful. First
of all, salvation is the free gift of God. The Scripture says
it's not by works of righteousness, which we've done, but according
to his mercy he has saved us. The Scripture says the wages
of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life. It's
a gift. It's a free gift. Romans 3 24
says freely justified we're justified freely by his grace through the
redemption that is in Christ Jesus Paul said in Ephesians
2 for by grace are you saved through faith and that not of
yourself? It's the gift of God salvation
is a free gift of God. Let that be recorded Let that
be remembered Salvation is free. You couldn't buy it if you work
from here throughout eternity. I You couldn't buy it if you
slaved, if you did the best you could, if you gave all that you
had, if you gave your body to be burned, if you sold your goods
and bestowed them upon the poor. You couldn't buy salvation in
any way. It's a free gift of God. Let
that be established. Yet, for all that, if a man will
be a Christian, it'll cost him something. Now, let's see if
we can illustrate. Salvation's a free gift. God found us in
the pit. Unable to move, unable to help
ourselves, the scripture says, without hope, without help, without
God, and our wits end. We cried unto the Lord in our
trouble, and he saved us out of our distresses. It's the free
gift of God. In justification, in regeneration,
in redemption, the sinner is utterly, totally, completely
passive. He contributes nothing to his
regeneration, nothing to his justification, nothing to his
salvation, nothing to his redemption, nothing whatsoever. It's the
free gift of God. Yet, if a man will be a Christian,
it'll cost him something. That's what Christ is saying
right here. If a man does not hate his mother, father, brother,
sister, his own life, he cannot be my disciple. That's cost.
If a man does not take his cross and come after me, he cannot
be my disciple. That's cost. So likewise, whosoever
be of you, he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath,
he cannot be my disciple. That's cost. Let's illustrate
it. Here's a blind man sitting by
the wayside. His name's Bartimaeus. Been blind
all his life. He's a beggar. Never seen the
light of day. Sitting in total darkness. The
Lord comes back. Bartimaeus holds up those sightless
eyes and those pleading hands and he says, Jesus, thou son
of David, have mercy on me. The Lord stops and says, what
do you want me to do for you? He says, Lord, that I might see. All right, there's nothing. If
Christ gives him sight, there's nothing. that that man pays for. It's the free gift of our Lord.
He's in darkness, Christ gives him light. He's blind, Christ
gives him sight. It's a free gift. Totally free
gift. You see that? But, once his eyes are opened, it's
going to cost him. For example, he'll no longer
be permitted to sit there in bed. no more. The only reason he could sit
there and beg was the fact he is a blind man. Now then, he's
got to assume the responsibility of those who have eyes, a responsibility
he's never had before. Now he's got to get out and work
and earn his living, something he's never had to do before.
He's got a new responsibility. Secondly, traffic will no longer
stop to permit him to walk across the road. There was a day when
blind Bartimaeus could come to a road and just walk right on
in front of a horse and buggy and it stopped. It won't stop
now. He has responsibility. He can
now see he's accountable for where he walks and what he does. Bartimaeus has been sitting in
darkness and he's never looked upon the suffering of others.
He's never really looked upon his own ragged condition. He could have been completely
in rags and didn't know the difference. He sees the difference now. A
man sitting right beside him could have had a seizure and
died. He would have never known it.
He was in his own little blind, dark world. That man could fall
right beside him, it had no effect on him whatsoever. He never picked
up a morning newspaper and read about any of the sufferings in
China, or Africa, or Asia, or anywhere else. He was in his
darkened world. Now, he reads about those things. He sees those things. Things
that never concerned him, things over which he never grieved,
his own condition and the condition of others. Now then, These things
become his concern. He's got new responsibilities,
new burdens, new grief, costing him something. Signs which once
said, do not walk on the grass, had no meaning for him at all. He walked right on a cross, nobody
said a word, he never said a word, but now it says, stop, Bartimaeus,
he better stop. He may now be called upon to
serve in military duty. While he sat there in his blindness,
he would never be sent overseas. He would never have to fight
for his country. He'd never have to defend his
flag. He's subject now to going out to fight for his country.
His sight cost him nothing. Christ gave it to him. It cost
him nothing. It was the free gift of the Lord
Jesus Christ. But after he got it, it cost
him. You see what I'm saying? Another
illustration. Suppose a small-town peanut farmer
wants to be President of the United States. He can't buy that
office. There's no way in this world
he can buy it. It must be bestowed upon him.
It must be given to him by the decision of the people of the
United States. They vote him in. They elect
him. It costs him nothing. Oh, I know you could bring in
the cost of the campaign, but actually that office is given.
That office is given by the decision of the people. They give it to
them. They bestow it upon them. You could pay so much and still
not get it, depending upon the decision of the people. It cost
him nothing. There's no way he could buy it.
But once he has it, it'll cost him. First of all, the enemies
of the country are now his enemies. They hate him personally. They
never hated him before. Everywhere he goes and everything
he does and everything he says will be examined, criticized. They'll seek his downfall. They'll
seek his failure. Some even may seek his life. He has a responsibility that
he didn't have before. Stay up all night. to be faithful,
true, honest, diligent in the service of his country and to
his people. Something he never had before.
He's now a prince, he's now a king, where solemn duty is above personal
desire. Solemn duty is before family
ties. Solemn duty is before previous
friendships, if he's a good king. His loyalty must be to the Constitution. The office costs him nothing,
but once he got it, it cost him. And this is what we're preaching.
This is what our Lord is teaching right here. This is what he's
saying in these parables. This thing of salvation, this
thing of eternal life, is the free gift of God. It's bestowed
upon a man not by his decision, but by a decision that was made
in the counsels of God Almighty. He said, I will have mercy upon
whom I will have mercy. I will be gracious to whom I
will be gracious. This gift of salvation is given
to a sinner by the sacrifice, by the sin offering, by the substitutionary
work, by the blood of his son, Jesus Christ. It's a free gift
of God. It costs me absolutely nothing. But if I'm going to claim this
gift, if I'm going to enjoy this gift, if I'm going to partake
of this gift, if I'm going to get my spiritual sight, if I'm
going to be elevated from the dunghill to sit among the princes,
it's going to cost me something in that position. If I'm not willing to sit down
and count the cost, then that's what we need to get across to
this generation. It's more than just standing
up and saying, I believe in Jesus, and then six months later deciding
you don't. It's more than walking down the
aisle and joining the church and deciding a year later you
made a mistake. It's more than saying to this world, Jesus Christ
is going to be my savior. I'm going to live for him and
serve him and honor him till I die. I'm going to build my
eternal home right here. This is going to be my eternal
home. This is my full intention. This is my goal and this is my
objective. We lay the foundation and then
six months later everybody walks by and the foundation's standing
there and the weeds have grown up and the leaves have blown
over it and they punch one another and say, I thought he was going
to build him an eternal home on that foundation. Well, he
just didn't have the stuff to finish it. But he's some kind
of fool, isn't he? A man doesn't start a house commercially
and business world and the material world. A man doesn't start a
house until he sits down with his wife and with his banker
and with his home federal man or whoever it is and says, do
we have enough to finish this? He's some kind of fool if he
doesn't do that. Well, he's a man some kind of
fool then who rushes into a spiritual decision, who rushes into this
thing of claiming to build for himself an eternal home in God's
grace. That's exactly what the Lord
is saying here. And those who are thinking of following Christ,
those who are thinking of building an eternal mansion, those who
are thinking of building an eternal dwelling place, ought to be warned
to sit down first and see if they've got the stuff to pay
the cost. There is a cost involved. And if he hasn't, if he starts
the foundation of this elaborate home and he's not able to finish
it, he's going to find himself, look at this verse here, in verse
29, lest happily after he's laid the foundation and is not able
to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him, mock him,
mock him, mock him. First of all, he'll be mocked
and laughed at by the world. Say, Joe, where's your faith? Didn't you join the church about
a year ago? Where's your faith? You don't
go anymore? No, I don't go anymore. What happened, Joe? Where's your
faith? They like that, you know. Didn't you used to be a preacher?
Didn't you used to be a deacon? Well, I'll tell you, some folks
wonder why I don't encourage people to be preachers, encourage
them to be deacons, encourage them to be elders, encourage
them to be Sunday school teachers. I don't want them, one of these
days, to have to face this mocking and jeering and laughing of this
world out there. I didn't think there's anything
to that religion stuff. You've proved it for me, Joe.
And the Lord is mocked, not only is old Joe mocked, but the Lord's
mocked. And the church is mocked, and
the man has become the enemy of Jesus Christ. It's a tragedy. And yet these preachers go out
and urge them to come forward and urge them to make their decision.
Make it now! Make it now! Before it's too
late make it now come down now join the church and be baptized
and and you young people volunteer for full-time service volunteer
to be a missionary volunteer to be a preacher volunteer God's
not looking for volunteers God calling his shepherds calling
his people You're just preparing that man for a You're preparing
him for grief and agony and heartache. You're preparing him for the
mocking of this world. Not only will the world mock
him, but the demons will mock him. He will be an object of
demon mockery. Let me show you that in Acts
19, when he starts to try to exercise some spiritual power. Let me show you what happens.
Let me show you this, Acts 19. Now turn to this. Well, these
days when he says he'll just get a hold of the Lord in prayer,
or he'll exercise some spiritual power, or he'll pray, or he'll
teach, or he'll take some authority, or he'll preach, or he'll do
these things. Let's see what happens. He's
going to engage hell in combat. And that's what we do when we
take God's Word and preach. We engage in hell in combat.
That's what we do when we're on our knees in prayer. We engage
in hell in combat. That's what we do when we try
to serve God. We're engaging hell in combat
That's what this thing is. It's a battle between God and
evil good and evil righteousness and evil All right. Look at verse
13 of acts 19 certain of the vagabond jews exorcist Took upon
them to call over them which had evil spirits the name of
the lord jesus They were going about it, right weren't they?
We're going to use the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, We adjure
you by Jesus, whom Paul preached. There were seven sons of one
Siva, he was a Jew, and chief of the priests, which did so.
Now you listen to this. And the evil spirit answered
and said, Jesus I know, I know him. I know who you are. That's what they said to the
Lord. We know who you are. You're the son of God. And Paul I know. They knew Paul. They knew Paul
in hell. They knew Paul. Paul was a distinguished son
of God, and they knew him in hell. Paul was a servant of God. Paul was called of God. Paul
was anointed of God. They knew him in hell. But who
are you? We don't know you. Your name's
not on our list. And the man in whom the evil
spirit was leaped on them, and overcame them, and prevailed
against them. So they fled out of the house
naked and wounded, mocked by the demons. Look at them go. I try to point this out to, I'm
not real old myself yet, but I'm old enough to know some things,
and I try to point this out church meeting and a preacher gets up
and says, well, I'm going to resign, take a little handful
and go over here and build a church. You better sit down and count
the cost. Now you're engaging hell in combat. You're daring
to do what these men did in Acts 19. You're daring to challenge
the devil. You're daring to challenge this world. You're daring to
challenge his kingdom. You're daring to speak for God.
You're daring to use the name of the Lord Jesus. By the authority
of the Son of God, I command you to hear me as an ambassador
of Christ. Satan come out and Satan says,
I know Jesus now and I know Paul, but I don't know you. And he
jumps on him and beats the stuffings out of him. And he gets all fouled up, and
the folks that followed him gets all upset, and they lose their
homes, and they lose their friends, and they lose their jobs, and
they lose everything, and the preacher gets his briefcase and
catches a train and goes to another county, and there they are. Whipped,
mocked, mocked by the demons. See how serious it is? We're
going to build this and do this and do that. We're going to do
this in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, you can use
that name. Paul could use it with effect.
Paul could use it with success because the demons knew him. Mocked by the demons. I'll tell
you somewhere else he'll be mocked. He'll be mocked in his own heart.
He'd be mocked in his own heart. Because his heart won't let him,
his pride won't let him back off. He justifies himself. He's departed from Christ, but
he justifies his departure. This is what happened. I'm not
talking about now or next week or next month. I'm talking about
later on. He's made that profession. He's settled in the church. He
has a head work, not a heart work. And after a while he gets
weary trying to do within his own power and strength what it
takes the power of the Holy Spirit to do. He's trying to live a
Christian life without Christ, he gets weary of it, but his
heart will mock him. and will not let him turn loose
of that false profession. And nobody can tell him anything
he doesn't already know, and nobody can show him any doctrine
that he hadn't already heard, and Christ said he's like salt
that has lost its seasoning power, its savor, and it's good for
nothing anymore to anybody. It's not good for the church,
and it's not good for the world. And that poor man, he's no good
in the church, and he's no good in the world. You see what I'm
saying? He left the worldly crowd and went into the church and
made a profession of religion. It was just a profession. And
he had nothing, and he found it out. And he couldn't go back
there, and he can't stay here, and he's not good for anything.
Except to be cast out into the field, fit for the burden. That's
all he's good for. Mocked, mocked, mocked by the
world, mocked by the demon, mocked by his own heart and conscience.
And then tragedy of tragedies one day mocked at the judgment.
Our Lord said in Hebrews chapter 6, that fellow's in this state,
it's impossible to renew him to repentance. He's departed
from a God, not an unknown God, but a God at least in his head
he knew. And then we find him mocked at
the judgment. And he stands there at the judgment,
he said, Now Lord, I did thee, I preached, and I cast out demons,
and I did many wonderful work, I never knew you. Look at him, he claims to know
the Lord, and the Lord says he doesn't know him. Who is this
fellow? The angels stand around, thousands
and thousands of them, and the people stand around. Here this
fellow is standing there. But Lord, wait a minute now.
Hold on here. I preach. Don't you know I preach?
I don't know you. Now Lord, I did many wonderful
works. Now Lord, I was in the church
all my life. Well, I wasn't the best member,
but I was a member. And Lord, I cast out demons.
Don't you remember now that fellow? It was a drunkard and we talked
him into religion. He quit drinking. We cast the
demons of drink and the demons of lust and the demons of drug.
We did some wonderful work. I don't know you. But we built
some fine hospitals and schools and churches. I don't know you. Now you tell me. Now you tell
me. that it's not right to do what
we're trying to do. And that has warned me, warned
me. I have a man comes to a woman
and says, our spiritual inclinations, wonderful, hope it's the Lord. I have spiritual appetites. I have spiritual concern. I'm
a sinner. I need help. Christ is our very
present help in time of trouble. But I'm such a sinner. Christ
saved sinners. He died for sinners. Well, I
believe I'll join up. Hold it. Now you sit down and count the
cost. This thing of salvation is a committal to Christ. This
thing of salvation is a lifetime surrender to Christ. This thing
of salvation, it costs you. I thought you said it's free.
It is free, but it's going to cost you, bud. It's going to
cost you tomorrow, next month, next year, and the next year.
I don't know whether you're willing to pay that price or not. And
you sit down. And I'll tell you this, if God's
calling him today, he'll be calling him tomorrow. If it's the Holy
Spirit who's disturbing him today, it'll be the Holy Spirit that's
disturbing him tomorrow. Yes, it will. Well, what is the
cost of discipleship? Well, let's look back here at
the text and see. Let's see what we're supposed to prepare people
for. The modern preacher says, just believe on Jesus. I know
that. That's half a truth. That is
the truth, but that's not all of it. What is the cost of discipleship? Well, let's look at verse 26.
Now watch this. If any man come to me and hate
not his father and mother and wife and children and brethren
and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. In other words, if you would
be his disciple, you've got to love him more than any person
in this world and all the persons in this world put together. Now,
J.C. Riles said this, Preacher, that
scripture there, hate, does that mean we're to hate our parents,
our mothers and fathers? Those are precious words, aren't
they? Mother, father, wife, Precious words. Children, precious words. Well now, Scripture is never
to be interpreted in such a manner as to make it contradict any
other Scripture. We're to love people. So this
doesn't mean we're to hate people. This Scripture doesn't contradict
the Scripture that says, Love thine enemy. Bless him that curse
you and pray for them that despitefully use you. This is what our Lord
is saying. He's saying that when the claims
of our relatives, father, mother, brother, sister, husband, wife,
children, he's saying that when their claims, when their claims
on us, and when their influence over us come into collision with
the claims of Christ, when they come in collision with the claims
of Christ, Those people, whether it's mother, father, brother,
sister, husband, wife, or child, if their claims on us and their
influence over us comes in collision with the claims of Jesus Christ,
they're to be treated as if they were our enemies. That's right. They're to be treated just that
way, as if we didn't even know them. Because they are the enemies
of Christ, and being the enemies of Christ, they're mine. That's what David said. You want
to look at it, Psalm 139. Let's see what David said. Psalm
139, verse 20. It may not ever come in your
experience. It may not. I hope it doesn't. I never did
have that problem. My mother and father at least
claimed to love Christ. My wife claims to love Christ. We have no conflict over the
gospel. But when those, whoever they are, If their claims and
their influence comes into a collision course with the claims of the
Son of God, they are to be treated as your enemies. Now David said
in Psalms 139 verse 20, they speak against thee, the living
God, wickedly. Thine enemies take thy name in
vain. Do not I hate them, O Lord, that
hate thee? Am I not grieved with those that
rise up against thee? I hate them with perfect hatred.
I count them my enemies. If they're Christ's enemies,
they're my enemies. And it doesn't matter how they spell their name,
whether they're named Mahan or Jones, they're my enemies, if
they're the enemies of the Son of God. At cost, that's expensive,
isn't it? But he said you can't be his
disciple if that's not your attitude. That's cost. Blind man got his
sight, found out his enemy was sleeping right next to him, didn't
know it. And then it cost him. He had
to say goodbye. All right, secondly, if we would
be his disciples, self has got to be hated. This is a greater
battle many times, and his own life also. If any man come to me, let him
hate his mother, father, brother, sister, and his own life also. Now this, there's some people,
J.C. Rouse said there are many people
who find it easier to give up relatives and friends and loved
ones and the comforts of home than to give up S.E.L.F. Your greatest enemy doesn't live
next door, he lives right here. That's what people say up in
the mountains, right here. That's right. This is our greatest
enemy. This is our greatest enemy and our most difficult treasure
to part with. Myself. Myself. Job had a hard
time with it. I will not surrender my righteousness,
he said. I will not surrender my integrity. I will not surrender my uprightness. God took it out of him one day.
And old Job wound up saying, Oh God, I've heard of you by
the hearing of the ear. And that's how most people have
There, that's about the only encounter they've had with God
they've heard of Him with the hearing of the ear. But he said,
now I've seen the Lord. Now what'd he say? I've seen
the Lord! I heard about Him! I heard about Him! I read about
Him in the books, and I heard about Him in the doctrines, and
I heard about Him here and there, but now I've seen Him! I hate
seeing! Now I wonder how he'd say it.
I've seen him, and I hate the Philistines, and I hate the Amalekites,
and I hate the Hittites, and I hate the Amorites." No sir.
He said, I hate myself. I abhor myself. And then 99% of the church members
in Our generation has got the victory over booze, and they
got the victory over cards, and they got the victory over the
dance hall, and they got the victory over this, that, and
the other, but they're the most selfish Self-righteous, self-centered,
self-defensive people in this world. They never have got that
old proud, arrogant, haughty, number one, slain yet. And that's
what our Lord is saying right here. You can't be my disciple. You can't be my disciple till
you hate your own life. Till you're nothing, nothing. And then the third thing. You
talk about cost. This would turn a lot of those
folks around, starting back up the aisle that these evangelists
have started down the aisle. If somebody brave enough, with
courage enough, say, hold it right there! Let's see what this
is going to cost you. Thirdly, if we would be his disciples,
look at verse 27, "...whosoever does not bear his cross, and
come after me." Now I hear people all the time talking about, that
cross is one leg shorter than the other one, or my children
are rebels, or my husband crippled and can't work and we have to
live on beans and cornbread. I'm going to tell you that ain't
the cross, because this cross is one you take up. Now look
at Matthew 10, 38. This is one This is not one that's
thrust upon you. This is not one that is thrust
upon you, but this is one you take up. That's not the right
scripture. Our Lord said, He that taketh
not up his cross. and followeth after me." In the
book of Matthew, our Lord said, He that taketh not up his cross
and followeth after me cannot be my disciple. We take it up
willingly, deliberately, on purpose. Now then, what does the cross?
All right, let's see what this cross is. Let's see what the
scriptural cross is. It's not what most folks think. I've heard people say, people
living alone, you know. And you go in and say, well,
it's tough to live alone. Well, that's my cross. I beg
your pardon. I beg your pardon. There's some
unbelievers that are living alone, too. There's some folks that
hate God living alone. That's not their cross. Somebody
else is blind. They say, well, that's my cross.
I beg your pardon. You didn't take that up. You
had your way. You'd lay it down, too. You'd see. A man walks with
a limb, got a cane, well, that's my cross, I beg your pardon.
If you could get well, you would, wouldn't you? Well, that's not
something you take up. This is something you take up on purpose. All right, watch it now, let
me show you. The cross was a Roman punishment whereby criminals
were put to death. And the cross meant, that's what
it meant, that's the cross. Cursed is everyone that hangeth
on a tree. and to cross me in all kinds
of shame, reproach, humiliation, affliction, and even death. All
right, watch this. Now, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 6 things
I want to show you right here. You be patient, we'll learn something
together here. The cross of Christ, first of
all, was identification with us in our shame. He took up His
cross, that awful, awful emblem of shame. And he put it on his
back and identified him with the shameful, the filthy, guilty,
you and me. That cross on which he carried,
on which he hung, identified him with us. All right, when
we take up the cross, we take up that same cross by which he set an example. And
that cross is identification with him in his reproach. Let us go unto Him, bearing His
reproach. You know what it says, Hebrews?
Outside the camp, bearing His reproach. That's the cross. Take it up. He took up my reproach
one day. That old cross. Look at that.
There goes the King, bearing my reproach. And now,
I willingly, I'm going to reach down and take up the reproach,
the offense, the shame of being identified. As Paul said, I'm
not ashamed of Christ, though he was crucified. I willingly
take up that reproach. Whether I preach in the presidential
lounge of the White House or in the penitentiary at Lucasville,
it's that same cross. Don't doctor your message. Take
up his reproach. That's the cross. The cross of
Christ meant death to his will as a person. His will. He prayed, not my will, but thy
will be done. And you and I, when we take up
our cross, it's death to our will. Now, brother, don't tell
me that that will of yours is totally dead. It's not. It must
be slain daily. I will. I will. This is what
I will. When we take up the cross, we
surrender our wills to God's will. When our Lord stretched
forth His hands and they nailed Him on that cross, He had no
will. It was their will He was doing.
It was the Father's will He was doing. You see what I'm saying? He submitted himself. Do with
me what you will. I've got no resistance. I'm submissive. And then thirdly, the cross of
Christ meant being alone and forsaken by all. Forsaken by
His disciples, forsaken by those people that followed after Him,
forsaken by all of His so-called friends, forsaken by the Heavenly
Father. He hung on His cross! His cross! Alone! There wasn't anybody else
on there with him. He was by himself on that cross.
And I'll tell you this thing, our cross is one that nobody
can share with us. That's right. Imagine no matter
how much you love Cecil, there ain't no room on his cross for
you. No sir, and no room on your cross for him. Ain't nobody can
go with you. Our Lord walked the wine press.
God's wrath alone, and you'll walk it alone too. You'll walk
the trial, you'll walk the judgment, you'll walk this valley of decision,
you'll walk it alone. No room for anybody else. You
stand around and wait on somebody else, you're in trouble. Ain't
room for one person on the cross, just room for one. I know husband
and wife go through some trying experiences together, but remember
Lot's wife, he knew the Lord and she didn't. He knew the Lord
and she didn't. So this cross, it can't be shared. It can't be shared. You better
do something about this now. I believe in this close friendship
and fellowship and love in a home and those things and bring children
and husbands and wives, but you be careful you're not letting
somebody carry the ball for you now. You better be careful that
you're not letting somebody make your decisions for you. You be
careful that you're not being influenced by someone else, as
much as you love them. There ain't room on that cross
but for one person. You're going to die alone. You're
going to submit alone. You're going to deal with God
alone. You're going to be judged alone. You're going to submit
to Christ alone. That's right. Enter into your
closet alone and shut the door. You're going to hell alone, I'll
tell you that. if you don't know Christ. And then this cross,
now listen to me, this cross of Christ meant guilt, judgment. He opened not his mouth. They
said, Guilty! He opened not his mouth. Crucified! He opened not his mouth. That cross means admission of
guilt, worthy of death. And I'll tell you that's what
I'm going to do. I'm going to reach down and take up this cross.
And I'm going to say to the whole world, this is what I deserve.
Reproach, that's what I deserve. Shame, ridicule, go on, laugh
at me, that's all right, I deserve to be laughed at. Point your
finger in mockery, that's all right, that's what I deserve.
I'm a rebel, I'm a traitor, I've sinned against God's love, I've
broken His law. Our Lord was led as a sheep before
her shearer's dome, so he opened not his mouth. Led to the slaughter
in silence. Guilty. Guilty. And we take up this cross and
follow our Lord. What we're saying, let every
mouth be stopped and all the world become guilty. I'm guilty. And I'm taking my cross. I deserve
it. Because I'm guilty. And in the
cross of Christ, was the cross of substitution. The cross of
substitution. That's what it meant. He took
my place. He was wounded for my transgressions, bruised for
my iniquities. The chastisement of my peace
was upon him. Our cross is the gospel of substitution. I take it up. It's ordinances,
it's offenses, it's judgments, it's power. Cross. That's what I believe. And then
last of all, the cross of Christ meant death. Death. And when we take up the cross,
it means death to this world. This world has no claim on me
now, I'm His. I've been slain. God forbid that
I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto
the world. And our Lord said, if you're
not willing to take up your cross and follow after me, you cannot
be my disciple. Are you willing? It costs. It doesn't cost you a thing to
be saved. That's not what I'm saying. It
costs you after you're saved. It doesn't cost you a thing to
have your eyes open. What it does, it costs you when
you've got the responsibility of sight. You turn around and go back,
and Christ said, you're not fit for, you don't mean anything
to the world or the church, either one. You're out there in limbo
somewhere. You're fit for nothing. At least that old drunk can make
his companions laugh. At least that believer can make
his companions rejoice. That drunk believer can't make
anybody do anything. And then last of all, he says
in verse, in verse 33, so likewise whosoever he be of you that forsaketh
not all that he hath. I like what Bishop Riles said
about this and I'll close with this statement here. No man can
truly come to Christ who has not said in his heart, my Lord,
I give thee my soul, I give thee my talents, I give thee my goods,
I give thee my house, I give thee my possessions, I give thee
my wife, I give thee my children, I give thee all that I have. I henceforth possess them only
as thy steward. They are not mine, they are yours. I have nothing that is not thine. If it please thee to leave it
with me, I'll praise thy name If it please thee to take it
away from me, I'll praise thy name." That's what he means by forsaking
all that you have. That doesn't mean pack your bags
tomorrow, quit your job, and get on a train, take off for
the mission field. That's not what he means at all.
As far as he is concerned, these things are forsaken. They're
his. They've been committed to him. They've been surrendered
to him. They're not mine. I possess them
as his steward. Listen to this great old hymn.
I think it's real good. I found it in one of the old
books. Give me thy spirit, O my God,
then I can well all trials meet. Deny myself and all my pride
and wash the weakest servant's feet. Give me thy spirit, O my
God, and then shall I in thy footsteps trace and show to those
who read the word that I'm indeed redeemed by grace. Give me thy
spirit, O my God, then through my few remaining days I'll yield
obedience to thy will and as I go I'll sing thy praise. For
it is my desire with God to walk and with his children to pray
and talk. Although I persecuted thee, Jesus,
my Lord, suffered death for me. And tis my desire above the rest
to lean my head on Jesus' breast, to be baptized like Christ my
King, and yield to Him everything. Let's join in prayer. Our Father, we feel so unworthy
of the least of Thy mercies. It is thy grace that sought us.
It is thy grace that bought us. It is thy grace through Christ
that redeemed us. It is thy grace that keeps us.
Without money, without price, we have come to the fountain.
We have come and received milk and honey without price. And yet thou hast warned us,
our Lord Jesus Christ hath told us. You shall be hated of all
men for my sake. He that loveth father, mother,
and more than me is not worthy of me. Grant, O Lord, that Christ
shall be first in our heart. And whosoever hateth not his
own life, may it please thee to give us
the grace to crucify self. to be willing to be nothing for
Christ's sake, to decrease that he may increase, to consider
his glory and not our feelings, the glory of his kingdom and
not our goals and intentions, the greater glory of the Lord
Jesus Christ and not our praise and our recognition. I'd rather
be a doorkeeper in the house of the Lord than to dwell as
the king in the tents of the wicked. Lord, may these not be
just words but the deep concern of our hearts. Help us to understand what you
mean by the cross. We feel that we know what it
doesn't mean. But, O Lord, that we might understand
what it does mean, not in doctrine but in spirit. And, Lord, all
that we have, and we have been blessed above all people, these treasures that you've given
us, we know they're temporary. They're clay idols. May they
not be idols. All shall pass away and all shall
melt and be destroyed. Thy word liveth forever. Teach
us the true value of things in their relationship with the
Lord Jesus Christ, in our relationship with him. We pray for the services on the
Lord's Day that we can have a word from Thee. We pray that this
message will be blessed to my heart and the hearts of those
who are Thine own. Help us as we teach the Bible
classes Sunday to glorify the name of our Lord. In His name
we pray. Amen.

He Cannot be My Disciple

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He Cannot be My Disciple

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