Designed For Discipleship

Obedience and Discipleship Luke 9:57–62 (KJV) 57 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. 58 And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head. 59 And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. 60 Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God. 61 And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house. 62 And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God. It does not take much of a man to be a disciple, but it takes all of him that there is. Our Lord said, “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father” (Matthew 7:21). One requirement which Jesus Christ laid down for disciples was that of obedience — absolute, unquestioned, implicit obedience. Apart from obedience, one has no right to call himself a disciple of Jesus Christ. To illustrate this, our Lord told a parable which is recorded in the twenty-first chapter of Matthew beginning at verse 28. A certain man had two sons. He came to the first and said, “Son, go work today in my vineyard.” The father gave a command to the son, revealing his will to the son. There was no doubt about the instruction and there was no confusion in the command that was given. The father’s will was for the son to go to work in his vineyard. The son recognized a responsibility to this revelation of the will of the father, for he said, “I will not,” but afterward he repented and went. Then the father came to the second son with the same command and he answered, “I go, sir,” and went not. The one at first disclaimed obedience but then obeyed the will of the father and went and labored. The other promised obedience but was disobedient and did not fulfill the command of the father. After having told the story, Christ asked the question: “Whether of the twain did the will of his father? They said unto him, the first.” • It was not profession that demonstrated relationship to the will of the father, it was the act of obedience. One was an obedient son in spite of his profession; the other was a disobedient son in spite of his profession. • It is not the words on one’s lips that make him a disciple of Jesus Christ; it is obedience to the revelation of the will of God that makes one a disciple of Jesus Christ. • In exploring the New Testament teaching on discipleship, we would like to deal with this subject of discipleship and obedience. 1. The word disciple is used in several different senses in the New Testament. a. First of all it is used of those who were simply curious about our Lord’s teaching. i. Seeing the miracles that He did as He ministered in Galilee, they knew that behind His miracle was an explanation and interpretation. Curious as to what He would say, they came to listen to Him teach. They were what we would call students, learners, or those who came to be taught. b. Then in the second place we found that there were those called disciples who were convinced of the truth of what Christ had to say. They listened to His words and they realized that these expressions were not of human wisdom; and they were convinced that He was from God and spoke the truth of God. c. In a third sense, however, the disciples were those who, after they were convinced of the truth of the word, completely committed themselves to the Person who had taught them. i. If one stops short of this total, complete commitment to the Person of Jesus Christ, he is not a disciple of Jesus Christ. ii. He may be numbered among the curious, or he may even have progressed to the place where he is convinced of the truth of what Christ had to say or of what God’s Word says, but until he completely commits himself to the Person whose word he has come to believe, he is not a disciple in the full New Testament sense of the word. iii. A lady once came to Dwight Pentecost after he had presented this truth. She said, “After hearing your sermon I don’t believe there are many disciples.” Then she continued, “I don’t know even whether you are a disciple.” iv. I trust that the Spirit of God will bring that same searching of heart to each one of us as we examine our relationship to the Person of Jesus Christ in the light of the demands of the Word of God. 2. How hypocritical it is to profess to be a disciple and have a life characterized by disobedience. a. While one is in the place of disobedience, he is not in the place of discipleship, for the Bible demands absolute obedience to the Word of God and the authority of Jesus Christ as a necessary prerequisite to discipleship. b. In Luke 9:23 our Lord taught, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.” i. Let him deny himself. The word translated deny is a very strong word in the original text which literally might be translated say no to oneself. ii. Within each one of us a contest is going on. It is a contest for mastery, contest for the right to rule. iii. When Jesus Christ redeems a man through His death, that man becomes the purchased possession of Jesus Christ. iv. Since we belong to Jesus Christ by purchase, He has an absolute right to dominate and to control. v. That is why the Apostle Paul chose to introduce himself as the bondslave of Jesus Christ. vi. He viewed himself as one who had been purchased by another and had become the property of another. c. A bondservant rightly has no will of his own. He is not given the prerogative of debating the commands that come from his master; he is not responsible to determine the course of his conduct. That is the right and the responsibility of the one who is his master. i. But bondslaves are by nature rebels. And we are rebels against the authority of Christ; we delight to superimpose our will against the will of Christ and to sit in judgment upon that which is the revelation of the will of God for us. a. In so doing, we leave the place of obedience, the place of submission, the place of discipleship. “If any man will come after me [that is, become my disciple in truth and in deed]; let him deny himself [set aside any rights to his own person, to his own mind, to his own will, to his own counsel], and follow me [identify himself with the rejected one, and follow where he leads and directs in perfect obedience].” b. When Christ summoned Peter, James, John and Andrew to be disciples, it meant they must forsake their nets and their boats, and the lucrative fishing business in which they were engaged. They forsook their former lives immediately to become disciples. c. When Christ called Matthew, it meant that he had to forsake the tax-collector’s office with the remuneration and the responsibility that went with it. The day Christ called Matthew to become His disciple, Matthew forsook all and followed Him. d. When Christ called Philip, the evangelist, according to the Book of Acts he was engaged in a very fruitful ministry in Samaria. It meant that he forsook Samaria and the ministry in which he was engaged to go down into the desert place alone. Philip left Samaria. e. When Christ called Paul to be a disciple, it meant he had to give up the privileges and prerogatives of being one of the hierarchy in Jerusalem. But until he was willing to forsake all he could not be a disciple. d. The same ninth chapter of the gospel of Luke that lays down the requirement: let a man deny himself and follow Me in perfect obedience, gives us a number of illustrations of those who refuse to obey. i. Look at the tests that were put before individuals who were being called to be disciples of Jesus Christ. ii. We see how men offered excuse after excuse and found reason after reason why they should not submit their wills to the will of Christ and walk in perfect obedience before Him. iii. Mr. I Will - What is given in verses 51–62 was designed to illustrate the principle that Christ laid down in Luke 9:23. Here are individuals who were called to become disciples, who were invited to commit themselves totally to the Person of Jesus Christ, believe His word and obey His will. But for one reason or another they turned from that complete commitment to the Person of Christ, doubted the word of Christ and rejected the will of Christ himself as a disciple of Christ: “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.” a. It appears as though the Lord has made one disciple, because this man did not wait to be summoned — he came and offered himself. b. Yet our Lord, who knows what is in the heart of man, knew that that which motivated this man in his offer of himself as a disciple was not complete commitment and obedience to the Person of Christ. c. This man was motivated by materialistic desires. The Old Testament made it very clear that, when Messiah comes to reign, He will reign in peace and righteousness; men will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruninghooks. His reign will be a reign of great prosperity and an abundant provision for the material needs for all who are subjects of His kingdom. d. One who anticipated entrance into the kingdom could anticipate entrance into material prosperity and blessing. e. This man, focusing attention on that which the Old Testament promised of Messiah’s provision for His people, said, “I want to become a disciple of Christ so that I now might enter into the material benefits that He will provide for those who are His.” f. He was not motivated by a love for the Person of Christ. Nor was he motivated by a desire to submit his will to the will of Christ. He was greedy and selfish and materialistic in coming to offer himself as a disciple of Christ. g. This man, again, is convinced of the truth of the word but he is not committed to the Person of Christ; he is committed to the pursuit of material wealth. When Christ revealed to him that the “Foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head,” the man turned away in disillusionment and discouragement. h. The time of blessing can come to this earth only after the time of Christ’s enthronement as King of kings and Lord of lords. God does not promise material rewards to those who become His and who give themselves completely to the Person of Christ. i. He may turn a man’s material prosperity into poverty that God might teach him the lesson of the sufficiency of Jesus Christ. God might strip away what a man has to show a man where his love actually was so that a man might become a disciple of Christ. We have no promise that our bank accounts will automatically double when we commit ourselves to Him. Christ reminded this man that, as He walked the length and breadth of that land, He had no home to call His own, He was dependent on those who had been moved by His ministry to support His material needs (a group of women from Galilee supplied Him from their material substance). This man was tested as to his submission to the will of Christ, and he turned away, for he wanted the material benefits apart from the submission of his will to the will of Christ. iv. Mr. Me First Christ summoned another in verse 59, and said, “Follow me.” This was a call as clear as that which came to Peter or Andrew by Galilee’s shores, or to the Apostle Paul on the Damascus Road. The man, knowing what was involved, said, “Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God.” a. Unless we understand this in its setting, we cannot see or understand our Lord’s answer to this man. How perfectly reasonable for a man to request to be permitted to go and do the functions of the eldest son in seeing to his father’s burial. b. How unreasonable it seems to demand that this man not do what was expected of the firstborn son. But as we understand the setting, the father had not yet died. He was still hale and hearty. The young man knew that, when his father did die, he would come into his inheritance; and, when he came into his inheritance, he would have that which could sustain him as a disciple of Jesus Christ. c. What had Christ just said to the one who came and offered himself? He said, “ … Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but I have nowhere to lay my head.” d. So, when Christ invited this man to follow Him, a mental process began to go on in his mind: My father has an inheritance to leave to me and, when my father leaves that inheritance, I will be self-sustaining. Now, since Christ does not have material provisions to make for me, it would be wisest for me if I did not become a disciple until I can support myself; and, after I am independent, then I will become a disciple, completely committed to the Person of Jesus Christ. e. What was this man’s problem? He would not or could not trust the Person of Christ to meet his needs as a disciple. The man was self-sufficient, independent, and he did not want to be obligated to Christ. Therefore, he would rather postpone the decision and the commitment to Christ until he did not have to depend upon Christ. f. This is one of the major temptations of the age in which we live. Pride demands that we be self-sufficient. Self-sufficiency demands that we can make and pay our own way — that we be dependent on no one. A man’s desire to be able to take care of himself often keeps that man from committing himself completely and totally to the Person of Jesus Christ. He refuses to be brought to the place of dependence. Until he is willing to depend on Christ, he cannot be a disciple of Jesus Christ. v. Mr. I Will - A third man came to Christ in verse 61 and said, “Lord, I will follow thee, but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home in my house. And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” a. This man came and offered himself, but first he asked to be excused from immediate discipleship because the home ties had not been broken. The fact that these home ties exist suggests to us that this man recognized the authority of a father that took precedence over the authority of Christ. b. According to the oriental custom, as long as the father lived, the father was the head of the home. No matter how old the sons became, they were under the authority of their father until the father’s death. When this man asked to be permitted to go and bid farewell to them that were at his house, he was saying, “I recognize your authority but the authority of my father takes precedence over your authority and I can’t do anything for you until I get my father’s permission.” c. This was a recognition of an authority other than the authority of Jesus Christ. Until a man is willing to recognize the absolute authority of Jesus Christ in his life, he is not and cannot be a disciple of Christ. When we turn to the fourteenth chapter of the gospel of Luke, we find some illustrations of that which the Lord has been teaching in the ninth chapter given to us very briefly in our Lord’s parable. In verse 16 we read, “A certain man made a great supper, and bade many: And sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready. And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must need go and see it; I pray thee have me excused.” His business stood between him and the Lord Jesus. “Another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them: I pray thee have me excused.” Material considerations kept him from the Lord Jesus. “Another said, I have married a wife, therefore I can not come.” Excuse follows excuse. Christ demanded absolute submission to His authority, complete devotion to His Person, confidence in His word, trust in His provision, and men excused themselves because they would not commit, could not trust, and did not believe. The Spirit of God does and right now is looking down into your lives. He is putting a finger on an area of known disobedience. While that known disobedience is there, you have no right to call yourself a disciple, for our Lord demands absolute obedience to His word, to His will as revealed in the Word of God, as a prerequisite to discipleship. When did the servant have the right to give orders to his master? When did the bondslave have a right to question the commands of his Lord? By what right do you who know Jesus Christ as a personal Savior sit in judgment on the Word of God and the will of God when God demands absolute obedience to it? When David found himself in rebellion against the Word of God, there was only one thing he could do. We read of it in Psalm 51 and Psalm 32. He came to confess his disobedience, his rebellion, his lawlessness to God and to place himself in submission to the authority of the Scriptures and to the authority of God. If you find yourself in some area of your life in disobedience to the will and Word of God, David’s example should set your course. Let the Word of God reveal, then let the commands of the Word of God be your guide. Recognize that Jesus Christ who saved you has the right to be Master and Lord. This is a prerequisite to discipleship. 1