"Follow Me": Becoming Jesus' Disciple

Introduction:

Jesus called people to follow Him and become His disciples -

Mark 1:17 NASB95

17 And Jesus said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men.”

The Lord viewed discipleship as a lifelong commitment that disciples should not enter into lightly -

Luke 14:27–30 NASB95

27 “Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. 28 “For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it? 29 “Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who observe it begin to ridicule him, 30 saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’

Disciples were first called Christians; not Christians then called disciples -

Acts 11:26 NASB95

26 and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. And for an entire year they met with the church and taught considerable numbers; and the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.

Sometimes we have a shallow view of what it means to be a disciple/Christian. We think it means coming to church, singing a few songs, taking the Lord’s Supper each week, giving a little bit of money, maybe coming back on Sunday night or Wednesday night, etc.

All of that is part of being a disciple, but there is more to it than than. In fact, Jesus does not mention any of those things that we often associate with being a faithful disciple.

However, He does give us some indication of what being a disciple is all about and what disciples should be like.

Let’s study and discipleship!

Become

Discipleship is not primarily about rank, it is about becoming like our master -

Matthew 10:24–25 NASB95

24 “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a slave above his master. 25 “It is enough for the disciple that he become like his teacher, and the slave like his master. If they have called the head of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign the members of his household!

We certainly will never outrank Jesus - v. 24

Disciples are not called to outrank one another through competition.

Disciples are expected to become something they were not; it is about development, transformation, and conformation to the teacher - v. 25; ;

Romans 8:29 NASB95

29 For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;

2 Corinthians 5:21 NASB95

21 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

Disciples should expect the same treatment that people gave the master teacher -

Beelzebul was viewed as the prince of the demons - v. 25;

Rejection of Jesus and slander were some of the ways Jesus was treated.

Do we expect we’ll be treated much better? If we do, we should’t.

Discipleship is not a life of acceptance, being mainstream, and popularity. Discipleship is a call to become like Jesus, ready to suffer as He suffered; ready for rejection as He was rejected.

Proclaim

Although being a disciple will cause us to face rejection, that rejection does not become a reason to be a coward -

Matthew 10:26–27 NASB95

26 “Therefore do not fear them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. 27 “What I tell you in the darkness, speak in the light; and what you hear whispered in your ear, proclaim upon the housetops.

The admonition: “Therefore do not fear them...” - v. 26

The reason that they are not to be feared is because there is something that they do not know, something that has been concealed from them.

Their rejection of you is out of fear and the unknown.

The only way to face rejection is by resolve to proclaim the word of God -

God’s message is meant to be shared with others

The word of God is not intended to be held in private; it is to be made public.

We don’t huddle up together to keep God’s word in our “holy huddle;” we are supposed to speak God’s word aloud to whoever we can tell!

Disciples are supposed to go into the world and make other disciples - ;

Fear

While the Lord expects His disciples to not fear those who may cause us harm, or who may reject us, there is still a level of fear that we should have -

Matthew 10:28 NASB95

28 “Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

God is the One who has power over our soul and body and He is able to send us to hell -

Discipleship requires a level of fear for God which will lead to our resolve and commitment to obeying Him -

Obedience is an expression of fear for the Lord who will judge us.

The God we resolve and commit ourselves to obey knows the smallest thing about us, things we don’t even know about ourselves. We are of great value to God, so we have nothing to fear from our enemies -

Discipleship is not about fearing those who may do us harm; if that becomes our concentration, then we will start thinking about how to preserve our life and wellbeing.

Discipleship is not about saving our life; if we begin thinking about our own personal welfare then compromise becomes a greater temptation.

If we are obedient to Him then we ultimately have nothing to fear -

Matthew 10:31 NASB95

31 “So do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows.

Confess

What we must realize about discipleship is that it is about a public devotion and commitment we make to following Jesus Christ -

Matthew 10:32–33 NASB95

32 “Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven. 33 “But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven.

Christians are to proclaim the message -

Proclaiming the message will do us no good if we do not openly confess our faith and openly testify of Jesus before others -

Our confession is for salvation -

The good confession is to be made before witnesses -

1 Timothy 6:12–14 NASB95

12 Fight the good fight of faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. 13 I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who testified the good confession before Pontius Pilate, 14 that you keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ,

Those witnesses serve as a reminder of our public faith and commitment we have made to living for Christ. They hold us accountable.

However, disciples will be faced with times where our confession and commitment will be tested. Will we deny Jesus or will we confess Him?

If we deny Him, He will deny us -

If we overcome the trial of our faith, then He will confess us before God -

Disciples openly and publicly confess Jesus Christ before other people and based upon that confession Jesus will not deny us before God in heaven.

Divide

We should realize that discipleship does not always conform to our expectations -

We think of peace better than strife

We think of family as better than “others”

We think the most natural thing in the world is harmony among our families which will all go to church and be disciples as well.

If that is our expectation and understanding of discipleship then we are in for a rude awakening.

Jesus did not come to bring peace on earth; He brought a sword, the instrument of warfare -

Peace sends a message that the war is over; the battle is won.

Discipleship is not a message of the battle is over—it’s time for us to enter the battle -

Peace brings unity, but war brings division; each person picks a side and represents their side. In our spiritual warfare, the dividing lines may look more like a civil war -

Family members may be antagonistic to the cause of Christ and unwilling to follow the Lord Jesus.

The battle is meant to be fought! Disciples are called to arms and action. Serve the Lord well and serve Him with all your might.

When we proclaim the gospel and are unwilling to compromise truth, following and confessing Jesus at all costs, and becoming like Him—our friends and family may not understand it and they may become our enemies.

Preaching the message of repentance and reconciliation with God should bring joy to the ears of people, but sadly it will breed hostility and contempt in many cases.

If that is the case, disciples must be prepared. Sometimes separation and division is necessary. You don’t fraternize with the enemy. You must never feel comfortable.

The good soldier will not entangle himself with the affairs of everyday life back home while he is in the war -

We must be ready to defend our loyalty to Christ and remain committed to the Lord Jesus, not take the sides of our families when they go AWOL.

Worth

Jesus’ final word about discipleship in this context is about those who would desert the call to discipleship and be found “not worthy”

Those who love father or mother, son or daughter more than Christ is not worthy of Christ

Those who do not take up their cross and follow Jesus are not worthy of Him

Jesus took up His cross, motivated by love -

Sometimes people may abandon Christ’s cross because they love someone else more than Christ!

We often look for easy discipleship that requires no sacrifice and no commitment.

If we want Christ without the cross, the church without commitment, or salvation without obedience—then it is not Christ that we are following.

Being a disciple of Jesus is by taking up His cross; we do this when we are crucified with Christ -

Some may read this and think that this is not some great loss because they can never be “worthy” of Christ.

Can we ever be found worthy? The apostle Paul told churches to live in a manner that is consistent and “worthy” of the gospel - ;

So, yes, we can be “worthy” of Christ and His gospel—when we live in a devoted way to Him and His cause.

Worth means: pertaining to being correspondingly fitting or appropriate... [William Arndt, Frederick W. Danker, et al., A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 93.]

pert. to being correspondingly fitting or appropriate, worthy, fit, deserving of pers.

Jesus is saying it is inappropriate for anyone who might claim to be His follower to:

William Arndt, Frederick W. Danker, et al., A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 93.

Love someone more than Him - v. 37

Not take up the cross - v. 38

Save his life - v. 39

Disciples are worthy of fellowship with Jesus and obtaining salvation and eternal life when they:

Love Jesus in a way that is expressed through devotion, commitment, confession, proclamation, loyalty, and becoming like Christ.

Love demands action and loyalty to Jesus.

This is what disciples offer to our Savior.

Conclusion:

Part 1: the call to discipleship involves us becoming more and more like Jesus. Our mission is to work to be transformed into the image of Christ and invite others to become like Christ. When we do that, the Lord will save us and we do not have to live with fear of others or fear of the judgment of God in hell.

Part 2: being Jesus’ disciples involves a firm resolve, commitment, and decision to be faithful to Jesus and serve Him. That will look like those who share the gospel with others, worship the Lord regularly and consistently, and living in a way that is consistent with what the gospel teaches.

You can become a disciple today! -

Matthew 28:19–20 NASB95

19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

You can become His disciple by taking up His cross and being crucified with the Messiah -

Romans 6:3–6 NASB95

3 Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? 4 Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, 6 knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin;