Discipleship: Its Terms, Tests and Rewards: Seven Things That Characterize a Disciple Indeed
Stanley Bruce Anstey
Table of Contents
Discipleship
Two Calls of the Lord
My purpose this afternoon is to speak on the subject of discipleship—its terms, its tests, and its rewards. Let’s begin by turning to Matthew 11:28, “Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Then turn on to chapter 16, and verse 24, “Then said Jesus unto His disciples, If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.”
We have in these two verses two calls of our Lord Jesus Christ. One is to come “unto” Him to be saved, and the other is to come “after” Him in the path of discipleship. I put these two verses side by side, because it shows that coming to Christ and following after Him in the path of faith are connected.
It has been often said that all Christians are going to have a happy ending to their life, because their pathway ends in glory. However, while all Christians will have a happy ending, sad to say, not all have a happy life! The cause of this is because they are not willing to be a disciple of the Lord Jesus. They think that it’s enough to respond to the Lord’s first call to come to Him for salvation. They are content to know that their sins are forgiven, and that they’re on their way to heaven, but they neglect to truly come after Him in the path of faith, surrendering their lives to His Lordship. Hence, they lose in not letting the Lord make something beautiful out of their lives—something that will be for His glory, and their own happiness.
The first call that the Lord gave is to “all” (Matt. 11:28), because the Lord wants all (everybody) to come and begin a relationship with Him. He wants to put your sins away and give you peace in your conscience and joy in your heart, and that comes only from knowing that all is right between your soul and God. If you do not know the Lord Jesus as your Saviour, He is calling you right now to come and begin a relationship with Him as your Saviour and your Lord.
The second call is the burden of my address this afternoon—the call that the Lord gave to His disciples to come “after” Him in the path (Matt. 16:24). Notice: it is a call, not to come to Him, but a call to come after Him. Following Christ in the path of faith, which the Word of God marks out, is where lasting joy in the Christian life is experienced. There is an initial joy in coming to the Lord and getting saved, but to have a lasting and sustained joy in one’s life requires following Him in the path of discipleship daily.
Now notice that in this call in Matthew 16, the Lord said, “If any man will come after Me ... .” This shows that discipleship is an individual thing, and also a voluntary thing. I can’t be a disciple of Jesus for you, and you can’t be one for me. Each one of us must have his own exercise about this. In Matthew 16, the Lord tested His disciples by laying out certain conditions that discipleship would involve. And this shows that it is not something that is to be taken up lightly. A true disciple must “deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow” Him.
Two Kinds of Disciples
Now we might ask, “What exactly is a disciple?” Simply put, a disciple of Christ is a professed follower of the teachings of the Lord Jesus. John’s gospel indicates that there were actually two kinds of disciples that followed the Lord in His earthly ministry. There were those who were “disciples” (John 6:60), and there were those who were “disciples indeed” (John 8:31). Some were following the Lord merely for outward reasons, and it became evident when they were tested. Others were following Him because they had faith, and believed that He was truly the Messiah.
In the sixth chapter of John’s gospel, the Lord tested the mass of His disciples with some very probing words of ministry that ultimately separated the true ones from those who were mere followers. It says, “From that time many of His disciples went back, and walked no more with Him. Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away? Then Simon Peter answered Him, Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life. And we believe and are sure that Thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.” (John 6:66-69)
Is Discipleship For Everyone?
Another thing we could ask, “Is discipleship for everyone?” Indeed some have the idea that discipleship belongs to gifted, ministering brethren (so-called “labouring brothers”), but the rest of us ordinary, rank and file Christians need not concern ourselves with it. But there is no truth to that—discipleship truly is for ALL Christians. In fact, it is the only safe and happy path for us through this world! Those who neglect discipleship in their lives will eventually run into trouble in some way; they will likely veer off the path sooner or later. Hence, we can’t afford not to take up with true discipleship in our Christian lives!
The Terms of Discipleship
Now let’s turn to Luke 14 to see some of the terms of discipleship in more detail. The Lord speaks of at least four conditions here, and then in John’s gospel we’ll get three more. These are what will distinguish a true disciple indeed from one who is only a disciple outwardly.
Luke 14:25-35 says, “And there went great multitudes with Him: and He turned, and said unto them, 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. And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after Me, cannot be My disciple. For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him, saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish. Or what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand? Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage, and desireth conditions of peace. So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be My disciple. Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be seasoned? It is neither fit for the land, nor yet for the dunghill; but men cast it out. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.”
In this passage the Lord makes it very clear that true discipleship will not be on our terms, but on His terms! This one underlying point pervades His whole message to the multitudes. These are His conditions for His disciples.
Now notice, if a person chooses not to take up with these terms, the Lord says, “ ... he cannot be My disciple” (vss. 26, 33). The Lord doesn’t say, “ ... he cannot be saved,” because the subject here is not the salvation of our souls from the penalty of our sins, but discipleship.
There was a great multitude following Him that day, and they were listening to His teaching. But most of them were following Him because they were intrigued by His miracles, and did not have faith. These terms that the Lord put before the multitude would distinguish those who were true disciples from those who were merely following Him for ulterior reasons. Let’s let them test the reality of our commitment to Him too!
A Supreme Love For Lord That Would Give Him the First Claim in Our Lives
The Lord brings out the first great condition of discipleship in verse 26. “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.” There must be a supreme love and devotion to the Lord that would result in giving Him the first claim in our lives! The point here is that our love for the Lord Jesus must have priority over all other things—even persons who are dear to us. There must be a supreme love for the Master—a love so intense that it transcends all other loves or interests that we may have.
He says that we are to treat all other things and relationships with hatred in comparison to His claims over us! Now the Lord couldn’t possibly be using the word “hate” in the literal sense because His teachings elsewhere plainly state that we are not to hate our fellow man. In fact, we are implored to “love one another” (John 13:34; Rom. 13:8). He was using the word “hate,” here, by way of contrast, to show how, comparatively speaking, He must have priority over everything else in our lives.
Now let me ask you, Is this something that characterizes your life? Do you have a supreme love for the Lord Jesus Christ that transcends everything else? I would do well to ask myself those questions! If you’re going to come after Him in the path as one of His disciples indeed, that’s what is required. Right at the beginning He lays this condition out before the multitude of would be disciples. The point is this—Christ must be first in everything!
He names a number of things that would come pretty close to our hearts—father, mother, wife, children—all of which must give way to His claims. Then He says, “yea, and his own life also.” This refers to the pursuit of our own personal interests in life. Most people have an interest or a hobby in their life, but the Lord is saying that He must come first in regard to those things too! He must have first claim over everything—whether it is persons or things! Hating one’s own life is not referring to hating the sins of our old pre-conversion life (though we certainly need to do that). Our life is to be hated in the sense that all other pursuits and ambitions that we might have, normally, must be put aside on account of the claims of Christ. In essence this is what the Lord implied when He said, “If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself” (Matt. 16:24). It will take self-denial. Simply put, those who want to retain the right to pursue their own interests in their lives will not make good disciples!
The setting aside of your own life to obtain an object couldn’t be seen more clearly than in the athletes that are training for the Olympic Games. These athletes devote their lives to the goal of obtaining the prize of an Olympic medal. By choice they make enormous sacrifices to reach their goal. What has to be sacrificed is other interests and pursuits in their lives, because they will interfere with their goal. They pretty much have to put everything else on the back burner. Their training regimes demand the cutting off of all extra-curricular activities—even things such as the food they’d normally like to eat have to be sacrificed. They have to, as Matthew 16:25 says, “lose” their lives to reach that goal. The many things that their friends partake in—parties and such—they have to be careful not to indulge in, lest it take the edge off their performance. They basically have to eat, sleep, and train, with that one goal in mind. And as I say, they do all this by choice! It takes years of sacrifice! It’s incredibly sad though, because they do it all for some earthly prize and glory that will fade away, but it does illustrate the idea of what is involved in sacrificing one’s life. For us, the sacrifices we make for the kingdom of God are not for some fleeting glory among men, but for the glory of God!
We are not saying that the Lord doesn’t want us to enjoy life. He’s not saying that you have to give up natural things—recreation, etc.—things that God has given to us richly to enjoy (1 Tim. 6:17). The point is, that in comparison to the claims Christ has over us, these things that might be an interest to us are to be treated with disdain.
Now, are we up to this? Are we prepared to give the Lord priority over all other persons and interests that we might have in our lives? That’s the first of the Lord’s terms for true discipleship.
Willingness to be Identified With Christ In His Rejection
The Lord went on and said, “Whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after Me, cannot be My disciple.” The cross is what the world gave to the Lord Jesus. It speaks of ultimate rejection. Now the Lord is not saying that His disciples are to bear His cross, as some hymns put it. No, only He could do that, but each one of us who takes up with following Him will have a cross to bear. In other words, we can expect to get the same treatment from the world that the Lord Jesus got! If we are one of His disciples, there will be rejection for us to bear as there was for Him. He said, “If the world hate you, ye know that it hated Me before it hated you” (John 15:18). And again, “If they have persecuted Me, they will also persecute you” (John 15:20).
The person that takes up with following Christ must understand this at the outset—we are following a rejected Saviour, and we have to be willing to accept the path of rejection. It is normal Christianity to suffer reproach and rejection (Heb. 13:13; 2 Tim. 2:3). We can’t get away from it—if we are faithful—it’s part of being one of His disciples. For it says, “Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution” (2 Tim. 3:12). What we are saying is that it’s not popular to be a Christian! If anyone has the idea that following Christ is going to be an easy thing or a popular thing, they are clearly mistaken. If you think that you can maintain your connections with the worldly people that you go to school with, or work with, and be well thought of (and we all like to be well thought of!), you need to get this point firmly in your mind—Christ is a rejected Saviour; and if you follow Him, you won’t be popular! You can’t be on good terms with such people and be a faithful and true disciple of the Lord Jesus. It just won’t work.
This needs to be emphasized in the call of the gospel, so that when people get saved, they don’t have some distorted view of the Christian life. Sometimes the gospel is presented like a fire escape from a burning building. A person is glad to take the fire escape from hell by believing on the Lord Jesus Christ, but often repentance and the claims of Christ are not pressed upon them. Consequently, many want to go on with their life as they did before they received Him as their Saviour. They have not considered that by getting saved they have identified themselves with a rejected Saviour. It creates difficulties and problems in the path later. Sometimes, such people are quite disillusioned when they encounter rejection. Indeed, some think that by coming to Christ and getting saved, that the Lord is going to rake their lives into a nice bed of roses, so to speak. They think that things will be comfortable and easy thereafter. That seems to have been Mary’s misunderstanding. When the Lord, in resurrection, spoke to her, she mistook Him for “the gardener” (John 20:15). That is, someone Who would fix up everything in her life and make it all pretty and nice. But the Lord is not the gardener; He is our Saviour, our Guide, our Helper, and our Friend, Who will be with us in the difficulties of the way. He has never promised to take away all the troubles in life, but He will help us in them. While the path of following Christ is not an easy path, it is a happy path, if we keep close to Him.
Now friends, what we are saying is that in following Christ we are going to have a “cross” to bear—which speaks of rejection. Are we ready for it? You are not going to be popular. You will get the reproach of the world. If, in some way, you maintain popularity with the world, as a Christian, then I’d say that you’ve compromised the principles of discipleship somewhere.
A Commitment to the Cause of Christ That is Life-long
The next condition of discipleship is found in verses 28-30. It has to do with building “a tower”—and the importance of finishing what was started! Discipleship is a life-long commitment! The point here is that the builder must “count the cost” when undertaking such a task so as to be sure that he will be able to finish it. The Lord uses this as an illustration of the Christian’s personal testimony in this world as one of His disciples. We are all in the process of building our own personal testimony. When we get saved, it’s like laying a foundation, and when we go on for the Lord, it’s like building up the tower. And when we finish our course in this world by having either the Lord come for us, or we’re called home through death, it’s like finishing what we have set out to build.
Likewise, when it comes to being a disciple of the Lord Jesus, we also must “count the cost” of the sacrifice involved, and have a commitment that would go the distance of our lifetime. Otherwise we are going to leave behind us a testimony of failure—and that, ultimately, comes back on the Lord! The Lord does not want us to have our lives turn out to be a monument of failure—like the man who ended up with a half-built tower. It says of him that, “all that behold it begin to mock.” This shows that when God’s people fail, it gives the world an opportunity to point the finger. Another verse says, “The Name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you” (Rom. 2:24). We don’t want to give an occasion for the world to mock the Christian testimony.
But we know that happens to some disciples: They take up with following Christ, and at some point in their lives their commitment falls by the way. They’ll have their excuses, of course, but the bottom line is that they did not sit down and “count the cost” of following a rejected Saviour. And when the going got rough, they capitulated. When they got saved there was a commitment to Christ—and that’s good, but it was not a commitment that would go the distance of their lifetime. I’m not criticizing them; we could all fall by the way. My point is that there needs to be a sober consideration of the difficulties in the path when we make our commitment to follow the Lord. This commitment is not like the Nazarite (Num. 6) who could devote a certain part of his life to the service of God, and then afterward return to his normal life. Our commitment must be for the duration of our lives. A true disciple of the Lord Jesus is in for the long haul!
Now, if you think that it’s too hard to be a disciple, I would say that you haven’t properly considered the power and grace of God. He will supply the power for us to life the Christian life. The same “power” that raised the Lord Jesus from the dead is “to us-ward who believe” (Eph. 1:19).
Grace and discipleship go hand in hand. The desire to be a true disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ springs out of what grace has wrought in the heart of the believer. His heart responds to the love and grace shown to him, by what Christ has done on the cross. The logic of our redemption leads us down a one-way street to the ultimate surrender of our lives to the cause of Christ in this world. That is normal Christianity! It doesn’t cost us anything to be a Christian, but it does cost something to be a true disciple. But as I say, it’s the only safe and happy path.
What happens if we don’t count the cost properly, and we leave off building our tower? Those who have watched us take up with the Christian path will mock us (maybe behind our backs)! That’s what the Lord is saying here. They might say, “There he was carrying a Bible around, but now look at him; he’s given it up! I guess it didn’t work for him!” Ultimately, it comes back on the Lord as a bad testimony. That means that we have to be careful when we begin the Christian path that there is a sober commitment to go the distance.
Many start well, but don’t go on. And it’s sad. I’m sure it grieves the Lord. Paul told Timothy, “Continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them” (2 Tim. 3:14). The Christian life is a race—an endurance race; it’s not a sprint (Heb. 12:1-3). We must be cast upon the Lord to carry us through all the days of our lives, for without Him we can do nothing (John 15:5).
A True Estimate of the Enemy’s Power
Now let’s look at another condition for discipleship that the Lord laid down in verses 31 and 32. He uses another illustration. He says that if we are going to be one of His disciples, we’ll have to be like a “king, going to make war against another king” who has twice the strength! That king would have to be good and sure that he knew what he was doing—waging a wise battle. The point here is that we need to have a true estimate of the powers of the enemy (the devil) that we are going against. There is a danger of underestimating the power of the enemy, and the deceptiveness of the flesh. We, in ourselves, are no match for this enemy. He is more powerful than we think. It points, again, to the fact that this path is not going to be a cake-walk. If we are full of self-confidence and think that we’re able to face the enemy on our own strength, we’re going to fall. We need to remember that we are in an enemy’s land, and the conflict is greater than we can handle by ourselves. But thankfully, “greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world” (1 John 4:4). We have the Lord on our side—Who is stronger than the enemy.
Having a healthy respect for the enemy’s power will cast us on the Lord in dependence, where we’ll be kept. “The beloved of the LORD shall dwell in safety by Him; and the LORD shall cover him all the day long” (Deut. 33:12). “The Name of the LORD is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe” (Prov. 18:10). Dependence is so very important in the path of discipleship. If we keep close to Him, then we’ll be overcomers in our Christian lives.
But I’m afraid that we just don’t realize how powerful the enemy is! Note what happens in verse 32; the king who didn’t properly consider the other king’s power and the conflict that he was getting into, at the moment of truth, had to sue for “conditions of peace.” To make peace with your enemy is to compromise and concede defeat. That’s certainly not something we want to do! Yet there are many Christians who have done just that. In some way or another they have compromised principles and have sold out to the enemy. What a sad thing it is that a Christian would make peace with the enemy of his or her soul!
Too many times I hear the story of some young self-confident Christian, determined to live the Christian life for the glory of God—but not realizing the power and subtlety of the enemy—make some declaration that they’re going to really do the right thing for Christ. They would go into places where Christians ought not to be found to try and show people the love of God. Then later, we hear that they couldn’t stand up to the influences that surrounded them, were overcome, and then ended up compromising. The problem was not with their motives—they really meant to live and testify for Christ—but they underestimated the power of the enemy.
These casualties in battle ought to be a warning to us to never underestimate the power of the enemy, and to keep close to the Lord in dependence. We need to have it set before us at the beginning of our Christian lives—there is a real enemy out there who has had incredible success with unwary Christians. The Lord concludes by saying, “Whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be My disciple” (Luke 14:33). If we don’t whole-heartedly forsake all other things for the Lord we will not be able to stand in the day of battle. God will give us the grace to overcome, but only if we keep close to the Lord.
Continuing in the Word
Now for another condition of discipleship let’s turn to John’s gospel, chapter eight, and verse 31. “Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on Him, If ye continue in My Word, then are ye My disciples indeed.” Here the Lord states that a true disciple continues in His Word. In other words, he is uncompromising in doctrine.
A true disciple of the Lord Jesus has a love for the Word of God. He has an insatiable appetite for it. He submits to its authority and practises what he has learned in it. It’s pure joy to him.
Seven Reasons a True Disciple Reads His Bible
Let me give you seven reasons why a true disciple reads his Bible:
1. The disciple of the Lord reads his Bible to learn more about Christ. “Search the Scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of Me.” (John 5:39; Luke 24:25-27, 44). Christ is the theme of all Scripture. When God wrote the Scriptures He had His Son before Him! He has ordained it that if we are going to get the blessing out of the Scriptures, then we need to have that same Person before us when we read! If we have the Lord Jesus Christ before our souls when we read the Scriptures, we are really going to get something out of them!
2. The disciple of the Lord Jesus reads his Bible to get light and guidance in the pathway, whereby he is kept from the paths of the destroyer (Psa. 17:4; Psa. 19:7; Psa. 119:105, 130; 2 Kings 6:8-12; 2 Tim. 3:15).
3. The disciple reads the Scriptures to grow spiritually in the grace of God, whereby the character of Christ is formed in him (1 Peter 2:2; 2 Cor. 3:18).
4. The disciple reads the Bible to learn of his spiritual blessings, which are his in Christ, whereupon he is built up and established in the most holy faith (Acts 20:32; Rom. 16:25-26; Jude 20).
5. The disciple reads the Scriptures to receive comfort, strength and joy in time of trial and sorrow (Rom. 15:4; Psa. 119:28, 49-50; Psa. 1:2-3).
6. He reads to cleanse his soul from defilement and sin by the washing of the water of the Word; and if need be, to produce repentance, confession, and restoration to the Lord. The Scriptures have that way of cleansing the soul in a practical way (Psa. 119:9; Eph. 5:26; Psa. 19:7).
7. He reads to learn of future events, whereby he is instructed in God’s purpose to glorify His Son in two spheres in “the world to come:” in heaven and on earth (2 Pet. 1:19-21; Rev. 1:1-3; Eph. 1:10).
The Word of God truly tests the reality of our profession of being Jesus’ disciples. Many, when put to the test of walking in the truth that has been shown to them, have not answered to it. It could be in simple things having to do with ecclesiastical order (church order), or in practical everyday Christian living. But whatever it may be, if we are not walking in the truth that we know, then we are not continuing in His Word.
As I said, a true disciple of the Lord Jesus is uncompromising in doctrine. Sad to say, many Christians today are not concerned with doctrine. Some think that God is not so concerned about what we believe, but about how we live. They think that if we all love one another and get along together that that is more important. However, we find in Acts 2:42, that doctrine is given pre-eminence over fellowship, in that it comes first in the things that we are to continue in. “And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.” Doctrine is to be the basis of our fellowship. C. H. Brown used to say that God cares about what you believe, because you cannot live right unless you believe right! Doctrine is important because it forms our walk. Why do I not go with the Baptist’s? In a word—doctrine. A true disciple pays attention to doctrine. One who is not grounded in the truth will be “tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine” (Eph. 4:14). A person who is swept about by the shifting opinions of men—religious or otherwise—will not be much of a disciple of the Lord Jesus.
A Fervent Love For Our Brethren
Now, let’s turn to John 13:34-35. “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are My disciples, if ye have love one to another.” The point here is that a true disciple loves his brethren. The apostle John said, “Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.” (1 John 4:7). And again, “Every one that loveth Him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of Him.” (1 John 5:1).
This condition is pretty simple on the surface, but being put to the test, it’s sometimes hard to practise—especially if we have a cantankerous brother or sister to deal with! A true disciple is determined to love his brother regardless of how unloving that brother or sister may be. The word for “love” here, in the Greek, is agapao, which is the love of a settled disposition—the result of a decision. It is not phileo love, which is an affectionate love of intense emotion. To love in the agapao sense, means that we are to love one another as God loves, Who set His love upon us—even when we were quite unlovable. A true disciple of the Lord Jesus will love his brother even if that person does not behave well. If there were more of that kind of love in the Church today, there would not be such a poor testimony rendered to the world.
The tendency with those of us who have been privileged to be gathered to the Lord’s Name, apart from all man-made church order (Matt. 18:20), is that our love can get narrowed in toward only those with whom we walk. A true disciple, however, loves all of his brethren (Eph. 1:15), even though he may not be able to walk with all his brethren.
The Lord said, “By this shall all men know that ye are My disciples, if ye have love one to another.” Sad to say, the world doesn’t see very much of this. Much of the divided condition of things in the Christian profession today is the result of people—Christians—not truly loving one another, and consequently, not getting along together. People will leave a certain Christian fellowship for another one because they feel that they were not loved there, and so on. If the church, as a whole, walked in true discipleship—loving one another as Christ has loved us, then there would never be Christ-dishonouring divisions. The three great things that have hindered the Church from walking as it should are: ignorance, in-subjection, and indifference. Note, they all begin with the letter “I.” There has been an incredible ignorance of the principles of the Word, and insubjection to what little is known in the Word, and much indifference to the claims of Christ.
May God give us to love our brethren as Christ loves us.
A Life of Prayer & Communion Which Results in Bearing Fruit For God’s Glory
Let’s turn on to John 15:7-8, “If ye abide in Me, and My words in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. Herein is My Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be My disciples.” Here, we find that true disciples of the Lord Jesus live in communion with Him, and it results in bearing fruit in their lives. He says, “If ye abide in Me ... ” That speaks of communion. To “abide” in the Lord Jesus is to live in practical habitual nearness of heart to Him. Then He says, “And My words abide in you ... ” That speaks of intelligence as to the mind of God, because our intelligence is formed through the knowledge of His Word. When there are these two things with us, our prayer requests will be in tune with Him, and those things that we ask for “shall be done” for us.
Now, our communion with the Lord will need maintenance. What I mean by this is that if we get out of communion by allowing some sin in our lives, however small, we need to confess it to the Lord to be restored to communion. This is what is called “keeping short accounts with God.” We don’t want to let sins pile up in our lives, because we could get away off track in a very short time. A true disciple desires to be in communion with his Lord at all times, and if something should interrupt that, he feels out of sorts with Him until he gets it straightened out. He does that by judging whatever it is that has come in that has spoiled his joy in the Lord, and confessing it to Him. First John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
There are two results of living in communion with the Lord given here in John 15; firstly, our prayer requests are granted, and also, we bear fruit to the glory of the Father. Fruit-bearing is the reproduction of the moral features of Christ in the believer. However, we will only produce that fruit if we abide in Him. This world has cast Christ out, but it is the intention of God that Christ should still be seen here—in His people! As His disciples manifest the character of Christ before the world, God will be glorified in it. This is quite a thought—we can actually bring glory to God by letting the character of Christ come out in us!
In 2 Corinthians 3:2-3, the apostle Paul tells us that the Spirit of God is seeking to write Christ on our hearts—impressing us with His loveliness. With Christ being in our heart’s affections, His character will come out in our lives. In the measure in which we are occupied with Christ, that moral conformity to Him takes place. “We all, looking on the glory of the Lord, with unveiled face, are transformed according to the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Lord the Spirit” (2 Cor. 3:18 – J. N. Darby Translation). What a privilege it is to represent Christ here in this world as His “epistle,” “known and read of all men!”
Summary of Terms of Discipleship
Now to look back over these points having to do with true discipleship, we must be prepared to:
1. Give the Lord the first claim in our lives.
2. Be willing to accept the path of rejection.
3. Make a life-long commitment.
4. Have a true estimate of the powers of the enemy.
5. Continue uncompromisingly in His Word.
6. Love our brethren fervently.
7. Have a life of prayer and communion.
These terms and conditions of discipleship show us that God is looking for faithful men and women, not necessarily gifted or eloquent persons. The Lord said, “He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much” (Luke 16:10). Paul said, “It is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful” (1 Cor. 4:2). And again, in Second Timothy 2:2, “The things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men.” In discipleship, the Lord is not asking about our ability, or our inability, but of our availability! The great question is: Will we make ourselves available to the Lord to use as He sees fit? Are we willing to be one of His disciples indeed?
The Tests of Discipleship
In looking through the four gospels we’ll find that there were at least six or seven instances where people either volunteered to follow the Lord, or, He directly called them to follow Him in the path of discipleship. As I’ve been saying, everyone that takes the path of following the Lord is going to be tested as to the reality of their faith. And that’s exactly what we find with those people whom the Lord called. The circumstances surrounding each call were different, but each call presented a unique individual test as to whether the called one would give the Lord the first claim in his life or not. The things that they were tested with are the same things that we will be tested with as His disciples. Let’s look at a few of them in the gospel of Luke.
Peter & Andrew: Tests in the Realm of Business.
Let’s turn to Luke 5:1-6, “And it came to pass, that, as the people pressed upon Him to hear the Word of God, He stood by the lake of Gennesaret, and saw two ships standing by the lake: but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets. And He entered into one of the ships, which was Simon’s, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land. And He sat down, and taught the people out of the ship. Now when He had left speaking, He said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught. And Simon answering said unto Him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at Thy word I will let down the net. And when they had this done, they enclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net break.” Then in verse 10, “Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men.” He said to them, “Follow Me” (Matt. 4:19).
The sphere of business (our employment) is a very practical concern for all of us because we all have to make a living in this world. The Lord tested Peter and Andrew in this sphere to see whether His claims over them would have the priority—even in this important area of their lives.
I have often thought that if the Lord had called Peter after they had fished all night and had taken nothing, that he probably would have been glad to let go of his fishing business and follow Him. But the Lord didn’t call them then. Peter and Andrew had been having a hard time in business, and it wouldn’t have tested the reality of their commitment to follow Him when they left things while they weren’t going well. No, the Lord waited until Peter and Andrew had had the biggest day ever in business. He waited until their business was booming, and then called them to discipleship!
I’ve read you the story; the Lord allowed them to get the biggest catch of fish that they ever had. Think of the money they could have made down at the fish market that day with the haul that they had taken in! But it was right at that time that the Lord called them to follow Him! What were Peter and Andrew going to do? Would they stay and make more money than they ever had, or were they going to “forsake all” and follow the Lord? The test was definitely on! And it was quite a test; because, as we were saying, prior to this they were really struggling in business. But it says, “When they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed Him” (Luke 5:11). People must have thought they were crazy! Why would anybody want to leave his business then! But the grace of God had worked in their hearts, and they let it all go to follow the Lord.
Now this is not teaching us that we have to leave our employment to be true disciples of the Lord Jesus. Some may be called to that, but the point is whether we will give the claims of Christ priority over our business? Am I willing to put the Lord Jesus and His claims before my job and making money in this world? We are going to be tested on this very point!
There are many that allow their business or job to get the upper hand in their life, and they become captive to it! The enemy of your soul is not interested in you following the Lord, and he is going to do all he can to make sure that this happens to you. It reminds me of what happened to some of the children of Israel in the wilderness. It says that the Canaanites that dwelled in the wilderness took some of them captive (Num. 21:1-3). The word Canaanite, means “the trafficker,” or, “the merchantman.” In the land, the Canaanite would speak of trafficking in divine things, but in the wilderness it would answer to trafficking in material things. Whatever the case, the Canaanite was an enemy, and some of the children of Israel were taken captive by that enemy. And friends, we have to look out for the merchantman too! Our adversary, the devil, is trying to get us so wrapped up in our business or job that we are of no practical use in the kingdom of God. He uses the plausible argument that we, after all, have to work in this world to provide for our families. In fact, it says that if we don’t provide for our families, we are worse than an infidel (1 Tim. 5:8). But Christ must come first!
Levi (Matthew): Tests in Regard to Having a Position in This World.
Let’s turn a little further on in this chapter to verse 27. “And after these things He went forth, and saw a publican, named Levi, sitting at the receipt of custom: and he said unto him, Follow Me. And he left all, rose up, and followed Him.” (Luke 5:27-28) Here we have another disciple called, and again, connected with this call is a test. Levi had a high position in this world. It was a position that the Jews hated, but nevertheless, it was a position that provided Levi wealth and distinction. The test here, was whether he would give up such a station in life to be a disciple of the lowly Jesus. Most of us are not in that place to ever be faced with such a challenge, but there are some that do have such a place in life—and to them it would be quite a test. Fame and distinction are very hard things to give up for those who have it. Nevertheless, if they are going to be disciples of the Lord Jesus, such aspirations will have to give way to the claims of Christ.
Now again, the Lord is not teaching us that if we have a good paying job that we must give it up, but that if we occupy a place of distinction in this world—a place among men in some way—be it socially, or politically, or in the commercial world, or whatever, we must not let it interfere with our following the Lord. As I say, to most people, this would be quite a challenge.
When the Lord called Levi, the test was on. Would he give up that high position that he had in the world? Would he leave it to follow the Lord? It says, “He left all, rose up and followed Him.” Again, God gave him the grace to answer the call.
A Certain Unnamed Man: Tests to Do With Rejection.
Let’s turn to Luke 9:57-58. “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. 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.” At the end of this 9th chapter we have three applicants, so to speak, for discipleship. First, we have a man that promised to follow the Lord in the path of discipleship, and it sounded very good on the surface. But the Lord saw that he hadn’t counted the cost involved. Therefore, the Lord indicated to him that the Jews did not want Him—that He was rejected. “He came unto His own, and His own received Him not” (John 1:11). Apart from a few places, He was not received in people’s homes, and consequently, had no place to lay His head! It’s inconceivable, but true. It says at the end of the 8th chapter of John’s gospel, “And every man went to his own house. Jesus went unto the mount of Olives” (John 7:53 – 8:1). It was as if the Lord was saying to that man, “Do you really know what it means to follow Me?”
To follow Him involves more than just not having the comforts and conveniences of life; it means we will be rejected by the world. It seems that this man hadn’t considered that. It appears to have been a thing of impulse with him; he hadn’t really weighed the cost. The fact that we do not hear of this person any more after this incident, suggests that he was not willing for the hardships and rejection involved with such a path. If so, he clearly was not a disciple indeed.
Now, we are going to be faced with this test too. But God will give us the grace to walk in that path anyway. There is a joy of following Christ in discipleship that is known only to those who walk in it.
Another Unnamed Man: Tests in Regard to the Lord’s Priority Over Everything Else in Our Life.
Then in verses 59-60 it says: “And He said unto another, Follow Me. But he 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.” Here we have another man who was called to discipleship. But he comes forward and puts a condition upon his following the Lord. He said; Let me bury my father first. This does not mean that this man’s father was dead, and that he needed to go and bury him. What he was meaning was that he had to take care of his father until he died. After that he would be free to be a disciple of Jesus. It was a noble thing to do for his father, but it would hinder him from following the Lord. The problem with this man is that he wanted to be a disciple of the Lord Jesus on his own terms. He was putting his own life before the Lord’s call. Note the words, “ ... me first,” which is a contradiction of the whole thought of discipleship. The test for him was whether he would put the Lord’s claims first over his own life and responsibilities. It is perfectly right and proper to show respect for a dying father, but even that must not rival Christ.
When the Lord said, “Let the dead bury the dead,” He was indicating that the spiritually dead could bury the physically dead, but only a true believer can serve God in His kingdom.
The point here, is that other claims that may be on our lives—however noble—must take second place to the claims of Christ. We must not allow anything to take precedence over the Lord’s call to follow Him.
Another Unnamed Person: Tests in Regard to Family & Friends.
Then in verses 61-62, “And another also said, Lord, I will follow Thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at 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.” Here we have a man who volunteered to be Jesus’ disciple, but he also placed a condition on it. He wanted to first go and say goodbye to his family and friends. On the surface, this doesn’t look so bad, but it was a double-minded thing. True disciples are not half-hearted followers who are controlled by sentimentality.
Now someone might say, “But it was only common courtesy!” Yes, but the point here is that even the common civilities of life are wrong if they are placed before prompt obedience to the Lord. All other loves and loyalties must be secondary. Moreover, the fact that his family and friends had that kind of a pull on him indicated that he was probably not whole-heartedly committed. He didn’t seem to have the kind of commitment that would go the distance. The Lord saw it as being double-minded, so, He told him that if a person puts his hand to the plough of discipleship, he can’t look back, for in doing so he might get drawn back. “Truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned” (Heb. 11:15). (The expression about not being “fit for the kingdom of God” does not refer to the salvation of our souls, but to discipleship. It is not a question of entrance into the kingdom, but of service in it.)
Now, we’re going to be tested on this too. There have been many who have been stumbled by their family and friends. The expression goes, “Blood is thicker than water,” but the Lord will be sure to test that in His disciples. We’ve seen people hindered because of family activities that conflicted with the Lord’s things. We’ve seen people go off into divisions among brethren because of their family. If others in their family are going that way they don’t want to be left out; and so they follow their family—even into paths of unrighteousness. The decisions that people make are often affected by what their family thinks; but Jesus’ disciples must be governed by Him alone! May God give us the grace to do His will, and not to let family and friends affect our judgment and our commitment to the Lord.
The Rich Young Ruler: Tests in Regard to Our Possessions.
Let’s turn on to chapter 18:18-23. “And a certain ruler asked Him, saying, Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou Me good? None is good, save One, that is, God. Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother. And he said, All these have I kept from my youth up. Now when Jesus heard these things, He said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow Me. And when he heard this, he was very sorrowful: for he was very rich.” This rich young man was called to follow the Lord, but his love for his possessions and riches hindered him.
He came to the Lord looking for “eternal life” in the millennial sense of it. He wanted to live on earth forever with all his riches. He, apparently, was having a good time with all that he had, and he wanted it to continue forever. He had no thought of having eternal life in the Christian sense—to have and enjoy a relationship with the Father and the Son (John 17:3). The Lord tested him by quoting the second table of commandments—that which pertained to man’s responsibility toward his fellow man. But note, the Lord broke off quoting the commandments before the last (10th) one—“Thou shalt not covet.” He left it for the man’s conscience to be exercised about, for it was exactly his problem. He thought that he had kept them all, but this last one he surely hadn’t! He lacked love for his neighbour. And the Lord exposed it by telling him to go and sell what he had and give it to the poor. But it was something that he couldn’t do, because he loved his possessions more than his neighbour. He had great possessions, but really, his possessions had him! They had a hold on him, and he couldn’t get free.
This does not mean that we have to get rid of everything we own to be a disciple of the Lord Jesus. It may mean to literally part with things—things that we have that might be a hindrance to us, but more particularly, it’s referring to the giving of those things that we possess over to the Lordship of Christ. We “sell” it in the sense of turning it all over to Him. There is a transfer of the ownership of our possessions to the Lord to direct as He pleases. Being Lord over it, He puts it in our hands to manage for Him as His stewards. In that sense, we “leave all,” but we still have it in our hands to direct for Him. All our possessions in this world should be looked upon in that way. So I don’t believe that the Lord is teaching us that we have to get rid of everything we own to follow Him as a true disciple. There is, rather, a transfer of ownership of those things to Him. Mr. Gevedan expressed it perfectly when I asked him where he lived. He said, “The Lord has a house in Kentucky, and I’m living in it!”
The challenge for us is whether we are going to retain what we have for ourselves to direct for our own interests, or are we going to turn it over to Him to be used for His glory. You can be sure that we are going to be tested on it. Our possessions—many of them are creature comforts—nice cars and houses, appliances, etc., must be used for Him. If those things become objects to us, and the focus of our life is to use those things for our own interests, then we will definitely be hindered from going after the Lord as His disciples.
The Rewards of Discipleship
Let’s turn to Mark 10:28-30. “Then Peter began to say unto Him, Lo, we have left all, and have followed Thee. And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for My sake, and the gospel’s, but he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life.” We see from this, that there are both present and future rewards for discipleship. There are things that we will receive “now in this time,” and things which we will be rewarded with in “the world to come.”
It is interesting that some critical translations do not include “or wife,” because there lacks sufficient MSS support for it. It is doubtful that the Lord would encourage one to leave his wife to serve Him. The Scriptural way is to bring your wife along with you in the service of the Lord. Paul said, “Have we not power to lead about a sister, a wife?” (1 Cor. 9:5).
At any rate, these rewards are given for our encouragement. The point is abundantly obvious; the person who becomes a disciple of the Lord Jesus is the gainer! We gain now and in the world to come. However, the profit in being a disciple of the Lord Jesus will not appeal to the man of the world who calculates everything chiefly in a monetary way.
Companionship With Christ
Let’s go first to John’s gospel, chapter 12:25-26. “He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. If any man serve Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there shall also My servant be: if any man serve Me, him will My Father honour.” We have two present rewards in these verses. The first one is companionship with the Lord Jesus! Who can estimate the gain of such a privilege? To go through this life in fellowship and communion with the Lord Jesus is the greatest privilege one could have! (John 14:21) Time spent in sweet fellowship with Him is better than anything else. To have Him as our companion is a wonderful reward! The Lord said to Abram, “I am thy Shield, and thy exceeding great reward” (Gen. 15:1).
Fellowship with the Lord is better than anything this world can offer. There is an inner satisfaction and peace that nothing else can give. The Psalmist could say, “A day in Thy courts is better than a thousand” (Psa. 84:10). You say, “A thousand what?” A thousand days spent elsewhere! I wouldn’t trade places with anyone in this world, no matter who they were, if I couldn’t walk in fellowship and communion with the Lord Jesus.
A Sense of the Father’s Approval
At the end of the 26th verse it says, “Him will My Father honour.” This is another reward. The Father would grant us a sense of His approval. To have that gives us not to need or want the approval of the world. To walk through this world with a sense of the Father’s love and approval is what the Lord enjoyed in His life (John 1:14), and He wants us to know and enjoy it too (John 14:23).
As you can see, these first two rewards are present things. They answer to what the Lord said, “Whosoever will lose his life for My sake shall find it” (Matt. 16:25). Having communion with Lord Jesus and the approval of the Father, you truly “find” the essence of life! Paul referred to it when he exhorted Timothy to “lay hold of what is really life” (1 Tim. 6:19 – J. N. Darby Translation). People think that they are really living when they go after the things of the world, but to really live is to walk in fellowship with God. A life of fellowship and communion with divine Persons—the Father and the Son—is a wonderful privilege that surpasses everything else!
Treasure in Heaven
Now the next two rewards are future. Without turning to it, I would refer you back to the story of the rich young ruler. The Lord said to him, “And thou shalt have treasure in heaven” (Luke 18:22). By following Christ in the time of His rejection, as one of His disciples, we lay up treasure in heaven for ourselves (Matt. 6:20-21). That’s the best investment you could make! The Lord has a book of remembrance there, and He is recording everything that we do for Him (Mal. 3:16). By living as a true disciple of Christ, and serving Him as such, we are sending our treasure on before us. There will be the Lord’s approbation; “Well done, thou good and faithful servant ... enter thou into the joy of thy Lord” (Matt. 25:21). One of our treasures in that day will be to enter into His joy—to enjoy what He enjoys in our glorified state. That’s treasure in heaven! We can enter into that now, but then it will be in all its fullness, without distraction.
Kingdom Rewards
In Matthew 16:27, the Lord links discipleship with His coming and the rewards He shall give. “For the Son of Man shall come in the glory of His Father with His angels; and then He shall reward every man according to his works.” This is a very broad verse that includes the giving of a reward to the believer as well as to the lost and unbelieving! His coming (the appearing) will begin the time of reward for all. The believer, we know, will receive his reward at the judgment seat, which will take place just after the Rapture. Not only will there will be the Lord’s approbation, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant” (Matt. 25:21), but there will also be actual rewards given in the way of places of honour in the kingdom. They will be ascribed to those who have been faithful now in this world (Matt. 24:45-47).
These things are set before for us as an encouragement to step into true discipleship, and prove its blessing. May God give us the grace to give the Lord His rightful place in our lives, and prove the blessing of it.