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 11:2828Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. (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. 11:2828Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. (Matthew 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. 16:2424Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. (Matthew 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 6:6060Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it? (John 6:60)), and there were those who were “disciples indeed” (John 8:3131Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my 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 6:66-6966From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him. 67Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away? 68Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. 69And 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!