All right, well, I have nothing to say this morning, which you didn't want to hear me anyway, but Jesus has a lot to say, so turn to Luke chapter 14. We're going to try to figure out together what he had to say. I have learned that in history, sermons were not a part of church meetings until the third or fourth century after Jesus was here. It was when Greek rhetoric, which was a popular pastime, was sucked into the church. Prior to that, they didn't have sermons. They had discussion teaching. You can't do that in a huge church. You can do it in a smaller one. So we're going to try to do it. We want to get a lot of people involved. So once you've answered a question, hold back for a few minutes before you answer another one. So we're going to try to figure this out together. Luke chapter 14. Jesus tasked the apostles with making disciples. That's the Great Commission. He didn't tell them to evangelize. He didn't tell them to start churches. He told them to make disciples. Of course, to do that, you have to evangelize and churches will be planted, but the end game, to make disciples. And that's what he's going to talk about today, the demands of discipleship. I hope today we're all believers. Are we all disciples? while you be the judge. Let me warn you, this is not a comfortable study. I'm going to ask a question before you read it so your mind will be in gear and not in neutral. We want you to try to find the answer to the question as we read it. Jesus gives three examples of people who cannot be a disciple. I'm looking for the three types of people, the three examples of people who cannot be a disciple. So I'm going to ask Dwayne, if you feel up to it, to read it, and he doesn't have to answer it, though. The rest of us are going to answer it. So, Dwayne, it's one paragraph. It's Luke 14, 25 to 33. Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them, If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, even his own life, cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, this man began to build, not able to finish. or what king going out to encounter another king in war will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with 10,000 to meet him who comes against him with 20,000. And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. So therefore, any of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my son. So tell me, who cannot be a disciple of Jesus? What's one person who cannot be a disciple? Okay, if he does not renounce all that he has. Give me another example of somebody who cannot be a disciple. Does not hate. So we've got hating and renouncing, and what's the other example of somebody who cannot be a disciple? does not carry or take up his own cross. So that's the three examples that he gives. So we're going to talk about that. The occasion for these shocking statements is found in verse 25. So let's reread verse 25. Tell me what might have prompted him to say these hard things. So verse 25, now great crowds accompanied him and he turned to them and said, What's on the board? Why do you think he chose this particular time to say these things? Okay, so you have great crowds following along. Maybe they thought they were disciples in the classical Greek sense of learners, that's what it means, but now he's upping the ante. Wait, what he's saying is, You guys just don't get it, do you?" And bang, he says this. Now, according to a Gallup poll, something like 80% of Americans claim to be Christians. But when they ask them basic, basic questions about the gospel and the persons of Jesus, based on their answers, it looks like more like about maybe 10% of Americans are Christians. And this is the same kind of problem we got here. Kelly. that weed out all the people who do not want to be here. And he made stipulations very specific and hard, similar to an army or a special forces group, how it says, you're going to hate your mother and father. You're going to leave everything behind. It's going to be miserable. You're not going to carry on the cross. That's very similar to what a lot of special operating groups do for you out there. That's what it is. So he's clearing up misunderstandings. So the first example, again, is in verse 26, and that involves hate. So let's look at it again. If anyone comes to me and does not hate father, mother, wife, children, brothers, sisters, and even his own life, Kaler, he cannot be my disciple. Let's talk about what it literally means to hate someone. General Eisenhower during World War II wrote a letter to his wife and he said, quote, God, I hate Germans. Now he meant that literally. Talk to me about literal hate, define it. I wish you were dead. I wish the Germans were dead. At one point he says, I'm sorry we didn't kill more of them. It's the opposite of love. It means to detest, to abhor, to reject. And in classical Greek, it was a permanent and deep-seated hostility toward others. Well, how could we determine whether he meant hate literally or not? How should we go about trying to ferret that out? Okay, you look at other scriptures. And that's a principle. We let scripture interpret scripture. And Michael, what were you saying? I heard something. And we would want to do a semantic study of the range of language uses there. So let's start with scripture interpret scripture. So many other places were commanded to love as God is loving. For example, 1 John 4, 20, if anyone says, I love God and hates his brother, he is a liar. For he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. Now let's talk about semantic ranges of words. This Greek word here is myseo. We'll get a word misanthrope from that. And although it can mean literally hate, I bet Parker knows what else it can mean. We don't have all those verses memorized. Well, I know that Rachel does, but the rest of us don't. You know, he's on to something there. So we look at this range of meanings. Genesis. Jacob loved Rachel more than Leah. And when the Lord saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb. So let's let that scripture interpret the other scripture. He loved one more than the other. She was hated. Well, it just means second place. She wasn't first. So if two men are courting Carrie, Let's say you've got Carter is courting Carrie and then Joe, from another church, he's courting Carrie and she likes them both so much. They're just wonderful guys. But at the end of the day, she finally, with great, great anguish, picks Carter over Joe, who's a great guy. What does the Bible mean? That she loved Carter. She hated Joe! You see? Now that's within the semantic range of meanings of that word that Jesus picked. Now this is a Hebrewism, Jesus spoke in Greek, but he's thinking in Hebrew, and in Hebrew thought, that's the idea. So when we let scripture interpret scripture, we know he doesn't literally mean hate. When Jesus said this on another occasion, he said it a different way. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me. Whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. That's the idea. I think I told you there was a guy who came to his pastor and he said he loved his wife too much because he loved his wife more than he loved God. but were commanded to love our wives as Christ loved the church. I guarantee you he did not love his wife more than Christ loved the church. His problem was not that he loved his wife too much, what was his problem? He didn't love God enough. And so this is what Jesus is saying. He can't play second fiddle. He's got to carry the lead. If you're going to be a disciple, he's got to be number one in priority and in claims above everybody else in your life. Your spouse, your kids, your parents, your siblings, everybody. If he's not number one, you cannot be a disciple. Just that simple. Argue with me, Michael. I know, I know, you weren't gonna, I was just... Right, and Paul writes to Timothy, no one who wants to be a soldier entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life. So we're back to Kahler's example, you want to be in special forces, man, they're coming first. Now, first Jason, then Leif. That's a great example. That's too common an example. All over India, Christians are kicked out of Hindu and Muslim homes. That's right. And that's what an idol is, isn't it? We don't make idols out of stone with faces. We make those kind of idols. And that's what Jesus is trying to do a wake-up call right here with these crowds. Let's see, Dwayne. The sadder part is that even as believers that are really seeking to mature may not have come to the realization that they have preferred child over Christ. Right, that's right. Because it seems like it can just be a mental ascension until it comes to a point of having to make a choice in the sense that believers discover what side of the fence How hard is that? We were watching a war movie about the Nazi invasion of Norway, and it's the first loss the Nazis suffered because the British and the French counterattacked. But there was this woman who, of course, sided with Norwegians, and she was hiding the British guys that were there in the town. And the Nazis were looking for them, and they were making it harder on everybody. And then her child got sick and was going to die, and she took it to the Nazi doctors who were too busy treating soldiers. And she said, I know who the British are. And they treated the child. See, her child was more important to her than Norway. Now, that's a terrible choice. But Jesus has got to even be ahead of your children. That's tough. Later on in Luke, I think it was around here, later on in Luke, where he's talking about serving money. And he says, you will hate one. No servant can serve two masters, for he will either or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God in money. In other words, is your family your master, or is God your master? Right. So that's the choice that we all have to make. OK, if you're going to be a disciple, what it says, then he says, such a person can not be my disciple. What does can mean? Ability. Well, it means ability. If Jesus is not number one ahead of your family, you do not have the ability, in other words, you have inability to be a disciple. Harshly stated, that's it. He's gotta have first place. Colossians 118, Jesus is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything, everything, he might be, what's that word? So, the next verse, verse 27, is where the cross comes in. Okay, the second example. Let's reread that one. 27, whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. So why is it the Romans would force condemned criminals to carry their own crosses? It shamed them, so that's part of the punishment. They beat them about to death before they made them carry it, so it made it more miserable. And what's another reason they did it? Okay, public spectacle. This is a deterrent to everybody else. They did that to strike fear into the hearts of these subjugated nations. They didn't crucify Roman citizens. They didn't crucify non-citizens. And so that's why they did it. So if you saw a guy, and it was a very common sight, thousands of people crucified. So if you saw a guy carrying a cross, you know He was about to die, no doubt about it. So why would Jesus take this horrible, terrible thing and compare it to being a disciple? Because you got to die to your own self. That's right. What does it look like to die to yourself? Well, you're going to be a spectacle because you're going to be different than everybody else. Let's talk about being a spectacle. Jesus said, if the world hates you, know that it hated me before it hated you. If you're really a disciple, you're going to be liable to all kind of ridicule from the world. I mean, we want to be accepted by our peers, don't we? And that's part of that shame part of the cross bearing. But OK, what else is it going to look like? Go back to the elite SEAL team in the Navy. What does it look like for them to die to themselves? Okay, a rigorous training instead of, and they're gonna do all kind of uncomfortable things, instead of doing what they wanna do. See, I don't know, in China, the church is full of single women. Any of you single guys wanna step up to the plate? We'll see what we can arrange. But anyway, the great temptation for these Christian women, there's nobody to marry. So what's the temptation? I'll marry an unbeliever. What did Jesus say? Don't marry unbelievers. That is death to self. I knew a Christian banker, honest, honest, honest. He worked for this bank and there was some crooked stuff going on. And he called attention to that. He was an inspector. He said, this is wrong. And the guy over him said, look the other way. And he said, this is wrong. And the guy ahead of him said, look the other way. And the co-worker said, shh, be quiet. He said, this is wrong. And guess who they fired? Him. You could lose your job by doing what's right. If the company wants you to lie about something, especially if you're in sales, or at least it could hurt sales, right? That's part of death to self. That's right. That's right. I know a fella, he was in all those woke kind of classes, and he would speak up for what the Bible says. And he never got promoted, and never got promoted, and never got promoted. And all these young guys get promoted. And they told him, finally, flat out, because, well, you're not a team player. Because of these classes where he would say, no, that's not right. It's hard to speak up. It's hard to go to the city council meetings when they're trying to say, you pretend it's okay to be transgender and say, no, that's wrong. That's hard to do. All right, so dying to self. Have you been keeping up with what's going on in India with all those Christians they're killing? So there's evidently 200 tribes fighting, right? But both of them are attacking the Christians. How many have been killed so far, do you know? Okay, I've heard at least 100 Christians. Why do they kill them? Because they're Christians. You know, you join the Navy SEAL team, you might just be saying goodbye to your life. And if you become a Christian, you might be killed literally just because you're Christian. It has happened over and over and over. I think in Nigeria, the hot spot right now for killing Christians. Yeah. Kayla? There was a really horrendous attack in Nigeria. It was associated with ISIS. That's terrible, yeah. Okay, so Jesus said the same thing a different way, another place. If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself. and take up his cross. Galatians 5.24, those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. And in John's gospel, it says, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone. But if it dies, it bears much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates, there's that word, hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. So to be a disciple, you gotta hate, you gotta carry a cross, you gotta die to self, as Jeff started out saying. All right, now, now he's gonna give an example, kind of a weird example. So I'm gonna ask a weird person to read that. Whoever's weird here today. Now, somebody read for me 29 and 30. Jesus, no, just 28, sorry, 28. There's a question in verse 28. Read it and let's answer the question. Somebody read 28. For which of you desiring to build a tower does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? What is the answer to the question? No one. No one would build a tower without first sitting down to count the cost. Now why might he have mentioned building a tower instead of a house? That is a good insight. It's far more expensive and it's also back to being weird. How many of you here have ever built a tower? Maybe an antenna tower, but a tower tower. That's outstanding. It's unusual to build a tower, right? If you're a disciple, of course, you're gonna stick out like a sore thumb if you really are a disciple. It's gonna set you apart from the crowd. Now, in 29 and 30, we already know you're gonna have a cost estimate. Well, now he says why you should do that in case you missed it. And I guess a lot of us will miss it or he wouldn't have said that. So, Luke, over there, are you pretty good at languages? Would you read the English verse 29 and 30 for us? I'm gonna walk over here so you can pick it up on the microphone. Okay, go ahead and read that. Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, this man began to build and was not able to finish. So what's the reason Jesus gave, besides not being, you want to be sure he got enough money, but what's another reason he gave? You're gonna look stupid. Yeah, that's it. Answers in Genesis announced they were going to build a life-size replica of the Ark. And it was in all the news. And of course, everybody thought, how stupid is that to do? But imagine if halfway through it, they just flat out ran out of money. And that thing has been sitting there for 10 years, half built. What a mocking spectacle that would become from the world. And so what does that say to me about being a disciple? Why must I be careful about being a disciple based on this example? Okay, that's right. You're gonna bring reproach on the name of Christ for making a big deal. You're a disciple. You're a follower of Jesus. You're gonna do what Jesus said, and you start out, and everybody knows it, especially your family, and then... You fizzle out. That's bad. He says, before you become a disciple, you must sit down, that's the word, you must sit down and study what's involved. It's got to be a well thought through conviction. There's no room for emotionalism. Now, I used to go to this church, and every Sunday we had an altar call. And we'd sing about 20 or 30 times. Just as I am without one prayer. I had all 30 memorized. And we'd sing it over. And the organ's playing. And some people crying. And they'd use an emotion. Emotion. Come on down to Jesus. We got the counselors. The blessers will wait for you. Just come on down. And they even some of these churches will place the counselors in the crowd and instruct them at various times to get up, like they're walking the aisle too, to make it easy for lost people to come forward. Well, let me say, that's the polar opposite of what Jesus wants. You see that? There is no sentimentality here. There is no emotionalism here. This is cold, hard calculus. So that's what he wants. It's interesting, isn't it? So Jesus wants you to know, if you're a disciple, it's going to affect how you spend your money. It's going to hit you where it hurts. It's going to affect how you spend your time. It's going to affect your ambitions. It's going to affect your relationships. your habits, your hobbies, your profession. He said, you better think about it, see if you've got enough commitment to be a disciple. It's a carefully studied decision. See, now those were three examples, okay? So that becomes a requirement, this becomes a requirement, well then the third requirement would be what? What's the third requirement? Okay, you must, I'm gonna put count, less words, the cost. So there we go, that's the third thing that you must do to be a disciple, count the cost. Now, he's not through with this. Now he's gonna give another example about a king in a battle. And somehow this king's gotta count the cost, but it's different from the guy building the tower. Who's got the Bible open? Looks like Robert Pettit does. Robert, read 31 and 32. Now what we're looking for is how this is different from the tower guy, even though they're similar, they're different. Well, what king going out to encounter another king in war will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with 10,000 to meet him who comes against him with 20,000? And if not, while the others get a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. all that he has cannot be my decision. they both say you've got to count the cost. that's the point of both of them but what's the difference in situation between the tower builder and the king? building versus battle. the king is being invaded. now I don't know who started the war but point is he's about to have to go to battle with another king with twice as many men. and people are going to die and it could be him and he's got to really sit down and figure, can I win this thing with so few people? so he's under a lot more pressure than the tower builder, he's free to build, free not to build. look at Dwayne, how many towers have he built? well he decided not to, no pressure to build a tower, that's fine, but when you're in war, okay, here it comes, this is Pearl Harbor coming on him here. so what does the king do if he decides I can't win this thing? Well, he sues for peace, and he basically, he surrenders, and he's given up all he has, so that's why Jesus concludes. Here's his application. Therefore, any of you who does not renounce all that he has, like the king did, doesn't have the ability to be my disciple. So if you want to look at it this way, Jesus didn't say it, but I'll imagine it. Some people don't want to be disciples, like build a tower. That's too costly. I'd rather not be a disciple. Thank you very much. I'd just be a Christian. Why am I going to be a disciple? But the king illustration is, you're the king with 10,000. God's the king with 20,000. And here comes God, and he's after you. Your arms are too short in the box of God. You're going to lose. So it's going to cost you to be a disciple. It's going to cost you a whole lot more not to be a disciple, if you want to look at it that way. But anyhow, count the cost. Now, let's talk about giving up everything we have in verse 33. The terms of peace with discipleship are total unconditional surrender. You've got to renounce everything. Does this mean, literally, that we've got to take a vow of poverty like the monks do and own nothing? Okay, so we're talking about an attitude. He might ask you to give up everything. It's likely, so don't hold on. Better hold on to it. Lightly. Thank you. All right, so we're dealing with an attitude here. Jesus said another place, no servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and He said mammon, we say money, money. So this is back, it's almost in this hate category again. You gotta hate the money too. Now we know there are rich people. Rich Christians referred to it in other parts of the New Testament. It's not a sin to have money, but you gotta be willing to let go of it. You gotta be willing, God, what do you want me to do with this thing you've entrusted to me? Because to whom much is given, much will be required. Amen. Yeah, that's a good example. Yes, sir. No, but that's right. So guys, strategically think about that. Well, let's say you're working. What career you take, it shouldn't be just about money. Well, you want to provide for your families, I know that, but if you've got options, is there a career that allows you more time to work with people, administer to people, than another where you're just perhaps isolated in a cubicle working with numbers? Ask questions like that. I hate to use myself as an example, but when I had my business, I hired a manager after about 10 years to run it into the ground for me instead of me doing it myself. But that allowed me free time for ministry. What I paid him to serve you was a hidden cost. You never saw, did you? And as I said, it cost me money to go to this church. Most preachers get paid to go, you know? Or the time I spent in my office talking on the phone, counseling people, or studying the Bible was time I wasn't spent strategizing the next corporate move and how to increase market share. My stockholders would have said I'm a crummy businessman. Happily, I didn't have any stockholders but me. So these are the kind of questions you need to ask, though, is what I'm saying. Now, if you're working for the man, you do your job, you got your paycheck, but still, what are you spending your money on? I'm not saying you should or should not buy the boat, but just pray about, is this what God wants me to do with it? How can I best advance the kingdom? That's all. Jesus said, store up treasures in heaven, not on earth. You can have treasures here. You can't take it with you. But you can send it on ahead, if you give it away to the Kingdom Word. Okay, just think about these things. So three, number three really becomes number four, doesn't it? So you've got to put Jesus first, you've got to die to yourself, you've got to sit down and think about it and count the cost, and you've got to basically renounce everything. You're taking a vow of poverty, but he might let you keep some of it to use for what? Yes, sir. This decision's made, isn't it? Okay, this is four ways of saying the same thing. Total commitment. That's it. What about, don't worry about that. What about, don't worry about that. Let's focus on this. That'll come, we'll worry about that another time. Okay, keep it focused. There you go. Next he has some things to say about salt. There's a question in verse 34. Who's got a Bible out? Robert, Robert on the back row, chap man. Read verse 34 and somebody else answer the question for Robert. Salt is good, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall the salt to this be restored? Okay, even if you've never had saltless salt, what answer does he expect to that question? You cannot do it. Now, who here has had an experience with saltless salt? Well, me too. I don't have any idea what he's talking about, but I read in a book that, you know, the Dead Sea is pretty salty and nothing can live in it. It's dead. And the Jews did mine salt. There were salt deposits around the Dead Sea, but a lot of times, evidently, it got corrupted by a lot of these chemicals that are in the Dead Sea. And so it looked like salt, but it either changed its composition or something happened. Anyway, it lost its saltiness. And I guess that's what he's talking about. It's just like saying it rained yesterday, it's been chemically altered, you're done with it. That's probably what he's talking about. But what's it no good for according to verse, well, let's see, did we read 35 yet? Let's read 35. What did they do with tasteless salt? Look at verse 35. It is of no use either for the soil or the manure pile. It is thrown away. He who has ears, let him hear. What'd they do with it? Why don't you put it in the soil? Why can't you put it in the soil? It'll kill everything. Why don't you put it in the poop pile? your fertilizer will become sterilizer. Yeah. This stuff's like, it's radioactive. In another place, what did Jesus say they did with his salt? They threw it in the road. You walk on it. My grandparents used to heat their house with coal, and they had these clinkers, I think they called them, when it was done. And that stuff's poisonous. It's not like wood ash. And what'd they do with it? They'd throw it in the driveway. Had a dirt driveway, throw it in the driveway. And it would crunch when you walk on it, kind of like gravel. That's what they did with this stuff. That's got something to do with being a disciple. Help me out here. What's this salt stuff got to do with being a disciple? Connect the dots. Yes. Salta is a preservative. And? And? And? What's it got to do with being a disciple? What's it got to do with being a disciple? Okay, so we are to be preservatives in society, we're to be changers, we make things flavorful, that's good salt. Why does he talk about bad salt? Not bad salt, but bad salt. It's good for nothing. If you make a big deal about being a disciple and you fizzle out, you're one of those guys that quits, you're worse than if you never were a disciple. you're unfit for service. God's going to shelve you, unfit for service. In fact, you're radioactive. They can't even put you in a manure pile. You're really worse than an unbeliever. False advertising. So you take that preacher, Josh Harris. Boy, he was a celebrity preacher. He was a big deal. And then he announced, oh, he was wrong about Jesus. He don't believe in him anymore. Well, he lost his saltiness. and he's radioactive. How many people's faith were hurt by what he did? You know what he's good for? Thrown out. So another place Jesus said, you are the salt of the earth. If the salt has become tasteless, how will it be made salty again? It won't. It is good for nothing except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. That's a pretty severe warning. Luke 962, no one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom. So what they used to do when they were plowing with horses and you had these huge fields, the guy with the plow, he'd look at a tree way in the distance and he wouldn't take his eye off of it, he'd just plow toward that tree. And when he finally got there, you look back, it'd be a perfectly straight line. But if he's looking around like this, that's what the line does. So if you're a disciple and you put your hand to the plow, you're gonna plow a straight line, but you start looking around, you look back like Lot's wife, she turned into salt, didn't she? Well, okay, forget that example. It wasn't good salt, that's right. It was tasteless salt. All right, now, you know, I think God might even kill people like this. John said, if anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask and God will give him life. To those who commit sins that do lead to death, there is a sin that leads to death. I don't ask that one should pray for that. I don't know what he's talking about, but it don't sound good, all right? And then in 1 Corinthians, remember, the Lord's Supper that Ben's going to talk about in a minute, God was killing some of them because of what they were doing. And anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. So will God kill you early? It looks like it. Well, then, and finally, verse 35, at the end of it, Jesus starts talking about people's ears. He who has ears to hear, let him hear. Why does he talk about people's ears? What's the point? Spiritual things are spiritually discerned, and the natural man does not understand the things of the Spirit of God, and he cannot understand them if they're spiritually appraised. Jesus said you can't see the kingdom of God unless you've been born again. So, do you have ears? To hear? Thank you, brother. That's right. So that's what he's saying. His sheep hear his voice. Are you listening? In conclusion, I have some troubling questions. Why does Jesus here, why is he putting so much emphasis on the cost of discipleship? It's expensive, you need to know it, and it's not free. Your salvation is free. This isn't. You look troubled, Jace. Would you like to say anything? I had a course in marketing. They talked about truth and advertising. It's a law. Truth and advertising. I remember they had this fake billboard and it says, drink cuckoo cola. Doesn't really taste very good, but it's cheap. So, about truth and evangelism. Now you see the problem with the prosperity preacher. It's false advertising. All right, you see the cost of being a disciple right here. In John 8, 31, Jesus said, if you abide in my word, then you are truly disciples of mine. So all this presupposes, of course, you are abiding in his word so that you can obey his word. I was talking to Eugene. I said, what's your blueprint for what church ought to look like? He came to learn how we do church. He said, well, the number one thing is, We pray and we pray and we pray and we seek God's face. And we want the Holy Spirit's presence. And you want God to reveal himself to us. But then he said, but it's not just prayer, because Jesus said, he who has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be, I will reveal myself to him. And he says the way to have a revelation of Jesus is to obey what he taught. Now, by the way, if a human church leader made these demands of you, he's a cult leader. Jim Jones. No human should say something like this. But because Jesus is God, he's got the authority to say that. He's the only one that can say something like that or should say something like that. There's a guy named Stephen Cole. He's a pretty good Bible teacher. He was teaching this passage, and he had these questions. He said, Is Jesus the Lord of your plans, your thoughts, and of all that you do? Is He? Or could you selfishly be clinging to your plans, to your way, instead of seeking to please Him in all things, beginning with every thought that you entertain? Is He Lord of your finances and possessions? Are you faithful in managing these things for His purposes? You know, Jesus said, if you can't be trusted with material riches, who's going to entrust you with spiritual riches? You need to take that course, financial peace. If your finances are in shambles, God's not going to reveal spiritual truth to you. That's what Jesus said. Do you give generously and faithfully to his work? Or could the love of money be choking out the word in your life? If you don't hate your own life and carry your cross daily, you are not his disciple. All right, here's the most obnoxious question I'm going to ask all day. Is it possible to be a Christian and not be a disciple, as he's defined it here? Is it possible to have your sins forgiven and not be a disciple? What we're talking about is can you take Jesus as Savior now and take him as Lord later? Can you actually live like the devil and still expect to show up in heaven? We're saved by faith. But faith without works won't save you. See, this is the paradox. We're saved by grace. It's absolutely free. But once God gets hold of you, You change, you see? Now, he's telling this on the front end to show what it looks like. So, I mean, like some of those people in Corinth here were doing bad things. Were they disciples? I don't know, God killed them. There are false, and I guess if you really are a disciple and you blow it, Well, they are so-called brothers, but we're not perfect. But look, one time I went hunting, my dad and I went hunting, and he had these white bird dogs. We were through hunting, and we came back to the car, and right at the last minute, they found this open latrine that the hunters had built. And they came out of it, and they were black dogs. And they didn't smell good. And it was dark, and it was time to go home, and we had a mess. But imagine a spring all of a sudden from deep in the earth pops up in the middle of that latrine. Well, it won't happen overnight, but eventually all that poop's gonna be pumped out and gone, and it's gonna be pure spring water. Well, we're black with sin, but when the Holy Spirit gets in us, he starts working. Now, some people change quicker than others, so I guess this being a disciple is a process. I mean, none of us are perfect, but Man, this is the DNA of a Christian. When I ask, can you be a Christian and not be a disciple, a whole bunch of y'all are going, I think he's painting a picture of what true Christianity looks like. Now, I think we see so many. Christians who aren't this, disciples, because they're in churches that don't teach the word. So, I mean, a lot of us have had children, they've got life in them, you feed them, they grow. But you gotta train them to make them decent citizens. You can't just let them go. I need to have a talk with some of y'all after we're done. But it's with disciples. You've got people genuinely born again, but if that person's in a church, I mean, a church that doesn't teach the Bible, they've got zeal and no knowledge, and they don't look like this. But supposedly, if you get people under teaching of what Jesus said to do, they're going to change. And if they don't change, now the goats start being obvious, separate from the sheep. So this is challenging today. I hope if you're a Christian, this renews your zeal. If this doesn't describe you, come see us during the Lord's Supper. We'll talk. But no articles, no organ music, no fake counselor Christians walking the aisle. It's just this cold, hard calculation here. All right, last thought from Joel, I hope. So there's a very short trip from discipleship to legalism. And by grace we're saved. Amen. Thank you. I completely agree. You got a comment? Go ahead. I think just very quickly that one distinction is when we're born again, we have a consciousness of God. And even though it may not be full bloom, it ought to always be there. And when you talk to people who are even young in their faith, if that spark of life the Spirit gives is not there, it's not there. They may have said things, they may have done some things in church life, but as you're talking to them, there's that sense that the Holy Spirit is done in them that ought to be very clear. That's a good point. Amen. Well, I don't like that Jesus said this, but I mean, he said it. We've got to deal with it. He said it. and it's weighty stuff. As Adrian Rogers said, if your faith won't get you to church on Sunday, I doubt it'll get you to heaven. Now, you're not saved by going to church on Sunday, are you? But that's just the fruit that comes from the root, and this is fruit. This message was produced by the New Testament Reformation Fellowship, reforming today's church with New Testament church practices. Permission is hereby granted for you to reproduce this message. You can find us on the web at www.ntrf.org. May God bless you as you seek to follow Him in complete obedience to His Word. May your faith in the Lord Jesus be strengthened and your daily walk with Him deepened. Oh.