What are the marks of the true disciple? Find out today on Changed by Grace. Welcome to Changed by Grace, I'm Pastor Steve Hereford. We are looking today at Matthew chapter 16. In verse 24, Jesus gives the first and foremost element in following Him. He says, if anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross. What does that exactly mean? Well, let's find out as we look at God's Word. I want to look tonight at those characteristics that mark a genuine disciple. When we're talking about false teachers, Jesus said in Matthew 7, 16, you will know them by their fruits. And if we can know a false teacher by the fruit of their lives, then we can know a true one by the same test. The same is true of genuine believers. We can apply that same test. James said in James 2.18, someone will say you have faith and I have works, show me your faith without your works and I will show you my faith by my works. The truth is no one can show their faith without works, but you can show your faith by your works. And because there are certain characteristics that mark all genuine believers, in fact there are three of them I want us to look at tonight, each of them will deal with something or someone they have to forsake. And so as we look at this tonight, I want to first ask you to turn to Matthew chapter 16. Matthew chapter 16. And as we look at these marks of true discipleship, the first one would be this, a true disciple forsakes his life. A true disciple forsakes his life. This is where it all begins. You hear those terms, disciple, discipling, discipleship. In fact, the training hour that occurs at five o'clock on Sunday afternoon is called what? Discipleship training. And the point of that time is to train those who are already saved. We talk about making disciples, we're talking about something entirely different. We're talking about evangelism. We're talking about leading people to Christ. Discipleship begins at salvation. When you become a Christian, you become a disciple of Jesus Christ. The term disciple, the term Christian, both of these are used synonymously. One refers to following Jesus Christ. It comes from methetes, which means to be a learner. Debbie Vine says that a disciple was not only a pupil, but an adherent, a follower. Hence, they are spoken of as imitators of their teacher. In the book of Acts, the term disciple or disciples is used 32 times to speak of a follower of Jesus Christ. We find it first appearing in Acts 115 to refer to the 120 who were in the upper room. That would include both the 12 and the other followers of Christ. In Acts chapter 6, we find it referring to the believers who are at Jerusalem. And we find the terms that are used in that chapter, the word disciple used two times, the multitude of disciples in that phrase used. Brethren. All of this is referring to believers. Acts 9, verse 1, Luke records that Saul was still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord. Acts 9, 19, after he was converted and he received his sight, it said that he spent some days with the disciples at Damascus. And so we need to understand when we're talking about making disciples, what are we talking about? Because that phrase is used in Matthew 28. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. And there that word mafetuo is used, the verb, to disciple, to make disciples. Now, I'm tempted to say something about that, but I may save it because there is a message I want to do specifically on that passage. But let me just suffice it to say this. A lot of times we think about the Great Commission and we say, well, the Great Commission is to go. I'm not against going. No, some say that the Great Commission is to teach. I'm not against teaching, you know that. But see, the whole issue is, The idea of making disciples in that passage is making converts. It's coming to someone who has never received Jesus Christ and leading them to Jesus Christ. Going, baptizing, and teaching are how you do that. In fact, in the literal Greek rendering of that verse, it says, as you are going. make disciples. I'm not talking about necessarily meeting on a Monday night. It's nothing against meeting on a Monday night or any other night of the week to go do that. The Bible doesn't prohibit that. In fact, the first church did it every day. But when you understand as you are going, that is lifestyle evangelism. That's everyday evangelism. That's talking about Christ all the time. And not just waiting until you're asked, or not just waiting until there's some kind of a function where you can go and do that. So as you're going in your daily functions of life, make disciples. And you do that by going, baptizing, and teaching. You don't make a disciple by going, baptizing, and teaching, but that is the process. The command is to make disciples. Now we know, again, in the term disciple, that at one point he's either talking to a believer, someone who has come into Christ, or he's talking to someone who has yet to come into Christ. For example, Acts 14.21, Luke tells us that Paul and Barnabas went to Derbe, and they preached, and it says, and when they had preached the gospel to that city and made many disciples. So again, making many converts. Let me give you this definition. Someone shared this with me some years back and I haven't kind of gotten away from it, so I'll share it with you. It says, a true disciple is one who has entered into a spiritual growth process which began when he placed his trust in Jesus Christ. And now he pursues the lifelong aspiration to learn about the Lord Jesus and to live under his authority. That's, in essence, mathetes. That's, in essence, being a learner. I am a learner of Christ. But there had to be a beginning point where God woke me up and saved me and made me a disciple. It's nothing more, nothing less. It's a process of growth that begins with a commitment to Jesus Christ. Now, let me talk about that commitment. It demands a total commitment. Would you agree with that? Following Jesus Christ demands a total, not a partial. People today are okay with partial commitments until those commitments cost them something. When someone says that they are going to commit something to them, but then they get a partial commitment or no commitment out of it, then they go and define what commitment is. But when it comes on their part, they change the definitions, don't they? Well, it calls for a death of self, and that's the first thing I want you to see. Go over to Matthew 16. Here in Matthew chapter 16, this is the section of Scripture. If you remember this morning, I mentioned where Peter said that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, and Jesus told him that flesh and blood did not reveal this to him, but his Father, my Father who is in heaven. Well, in this same passage, he talks about here what it means to become a disciple. He says, look at verse 24. Then he said to his disciples, if anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul, or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?" That's very important. It's very important that we understand what that means. Because we want to make sure we get it right. First he says that you need to deny. The word deny means to disown, disregard, reject, renounce. I think all those terms help us out there, don't you think? We need to disown. We need to refuse to associate with. That means that you're coming to Christ because you refuse to any longer associate with the person that you are. You're sick of yourself. You're sick of your sin. And with desperation, you willingly yield up that empty life you no longer want to associate with. You lose your life to gain it. And until you do, you won't gain it. Death of self means it's the end of you. It's the end of your dreams. It's the end of your hopes, your ambitions, your goals. The gospel is not about self-fulfillment. It's about self-denial. Jesus says in verse 25, whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. Secondly, he says to take up your cross. That referred to taking up the instrument of death. The cross referred to death. You know, in Galilee, there had been a recent insurrection that was led by Judas of Galilee. He gathered a band of men together to overthrow the Romans, but the Romans crushed him in his insurrection. As a result, the Roman general, Varius, he decided to teach the Jews a lesson, so he crucified over 2,000 Jews. Then he put their crosses all along the roads of Galilee so everyone would see them. And also every Jew that was crucified would carry the cross beam for their own execution on his back. So when Jesus is talking to them about carrying their cross, they knew exactly what he was talking about because they had a modern-day example. You and I hear something like that, and we don't have any context to relate it to. For some people, they think that the cross is their mother-in-law. They think the cross is their car. They think the cross is a leaky roof. the Miami Dolphins, or snow, right? They think the cross is snow. But see, the whole issue is it's an instrument of death. And see, it goes right with denying yourself because you're disowning yourself and you're putting yourself off. You're dying. And yes, it's metaphorical. I tell people this all the time. I say, listen, Jesus is not advocating suicide. He's not advocating that you go out and kill yourself. That'd be a horrible thing if you weren't a Christian, you went out and accomplished that, right? Suicide is sin, self-murder, murder's sin, right? Look at the third one. He says, and follow me, and follow me. Now I don't want Joe to hurt anymore tonight, and I know that I've said this before, and I'm sure he's probably said it too, when we say make a decision for Christ, right? We've used that, right? The sad thing, though, I can't find it in Scripture anywhere for us to say that, can you? Because Jesus didn't say make a decision for me, he said, follow me, right? Let me prove that. And these verses are on your handout, so you can just follow along with them. I'll just run really quick through them. He told Peter and Andrew in Matthew 4, 18, he said, follow me, remember that? Walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and Andrew his brother, casting a net in the sea, for they were fishermen. Then he said to them, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. He said to a disciple who wanted to go back and get his father's inheritance in Matthew 8, 21 and 22, he told him, follow me and let the dead bury their own dead. Remember that? Over in Matthew 9, 9, as he passed on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office. And he said to him, follow me. And he arose and followed him. In Matthew 19, 21, he saw a rich young ruler who came to him. You remember asking what good thing could he do to inherit eternal life? He had everything. But one thing he knew he didn't have was eternal life. Jesus told him, if you want to be perfect, go sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. And come what? Follow me. Jesus said to Philip, John 1.43, it says, the following day Jesus wanted to go to Galilee and he found Philip and he said to him, follow me. Over in John 10.27, he says, my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they what? Follow me. Think there's a message there somewhere? we're called to follow him. But you see how when he says that, there's something that's gotta get out of the way to follow him. And it's us, ourselves, we gotta get out of the way. Because who do we usually follow? Ourselves, our sin. What we love, what we desire, and remember, it's supposed to be a death of you. And this is where people usually bail. You remember when Jesus said to eat my flesh and drink my blood? That was a hard saying. And many, it says many, of the disciples followed him no more. They stopped following him. See, because you have to understand this, that following Christ could cost you your life here on earth. It cost Stephen his life, first Christian martyr, found in Acts chapter 7. And you remember, he rehearsed to them all about their history. It tells us that they cried out with a loud voice, they stopped their ears, they ran at him with one accord, they cast him out of the city, and they stoned him. They killed him. Over in Acts chapter 12, the first two verses, James, the brother of John, was martyred for his faith in Jesus. It says, and now about that time, Herod the king stretched out his hand to harass some from the church, and then he killed the brother of John with the sword. Why? Because of their faith in Christ. All of the disciples suffered for Christ by giving their lives, except for John, the apostle. He was exiled to the Penal Island. They sent prisoners there. Patmos. Let me read to you about some of the disciples. This comes from the Fox's Book of Martyrs. You've heard of that, right? Philip. was born in Bethsaida in Galilee. He was the first called by the name of disciple. He labored diligently in upper Asia, suffered martyrdom at Hierapolis in Phrygia. He was scourged, thrown into prison. Afterwards, he was crucified. This occurred in AD 54. Matthew, whose occupation was that of a toll gatherer, was born at Nazareth. He wrote his gospel in Hebrew, which was afterwards translated in Greek by James the Less. The scene of his labors was Parthia in Ethiopia, in which latter country he suffered martyrdom, being slain with a hell bird in the city of Nabda." That's AD 60. James the Less, at the age of 94, he was beaten, stolen by the Jews, and finally had his brains dashed out with a Fuller's club. Matthias, of whom less is known than most of the other disciples, was elected to fill the vacant place of Judas. He was stoned at Jerusalem and then beheaded. Andrew was the brother of Peter. He preached the gospel to many Asiatic nations, but on his arrival at Indessa, he was taken and crucified on a cross, the two ends of which were fixed transversely in the ground, hence the deviation of the term St. Andrew's Cross. You've heard that. Mark was dragged to pieces by the people of Alexandria at the great solemnity of Serapis, their idol, ending his life under their merciless hands. Peter, Drom said that he was crucified, his head being down and his feet upward, himself so requiring because he said he was unworthy to be crucified after the same form and manner as his Lord was. Paul the Apostle, who was before called Saul, after the great travail and unspeakable labors in promoting the gospel of Christ, suffered also in this first persecution under Nero. Abdias declared that under his execution, Nero sent two of his esquires, Phrygia and Parthemius, to bring him word of his death. They coming to Paul, instructing the people, desired him to pray for them, that they might believe, who told them that shortly after they should believe and be baptized at his sepulcher. This done, the soldiers came and led him out of the city to the place of execution, where he, after his prayers made, gave his neck to the sword." You remember Paul said he was ready to give his life for Christ. Jude, the brother of James, commonly called Thaddeus, was crucified at Endesa in AD 72. Bartholomew preached in several countries, having translated the Gospel of Matthew into the language of India. He propagated it in the country. He was at length cruelly beaten and then crucified by the impatient idolaters. Thomas, called Didymus, preached the Gospel in Parthia, in India, where, exciting the rage of the pagan priests, he was martyred by being thrust through with a spear. Luke the Evangelist was the author of the gospel which goes under his name. He traveled with Paul through various countries, and as it is supposed, had been hanged on an olive tree by the idolatrous priest of Greece. See, all these gave their life for Christ. Simon, surname Zealot, preached the gospel in Africa, even in Britain, in which later country he was crucified, AD 74. John, from Ephesus, he ordered to be sent to Rome where it is affirmed he was cast into a cauldron of boiling oil. He escaped by miracle without injury. Domitian afterward banished him to the Isle of Patmos where he wrote the book of Revelation. Nerva, the successor of Domitian, recalled him. He was the only apostle who escaped a violent death. What about Barnabas? Barnabas was a Cyprus, but of Jewish descent. His death is supposed to have taken place in AD 73. And countless other followers of Jesus have given their lives for that commitment to Christ. We've all heard of Jim Elliot, the Alka Indian martyr. He wrote in his diary this, God, I pray thee, light these idle sticks of my life that I may burn for thee. Consume my life, my God, for it is thine. I seek not a long life, but a full one like you, Lord Jesus. And of course, he gave his life. Alka Indian put a spear through him. They were trying to reach these unpeopled tribes in Ecuador. But see, the first thing we need to understand in following Jesus Christ, there has to be the willingness to carry that very instrument of death. Let me read to you this commitment that Jonathan Edwards wrote. And ask yourself, can you say the same thing of your own life? He says, and I quote, I claim no right to myself, No right to this understanding, this will, these affections that are in me. Neither do I have any right to this body or its members, no right to its tongue, to these hands, feet, ears, or eyes. I've given myself clear way and not retained anything of my own. I have been to God this morning and told Him I've given myself wholly to Him. I've given every power so that for the future I claim no right to myself in any respect. I have expressly promised him, for by his grace I will not fail. I take him as my whole portion in felicity, looking upon nothing else as any part of my happiness. His law is the constant rule of my obedience. I will fight with all my might against the world, the flesh, and the devil to the end of my life. I will adhere to the faith of the gospel, however hazardous and difficult the profession and practice may be. I pray God for the sake of others to look upon this self-dedication and receive me as His own. Henceforth, I'm not to act in any respect as my own. I shall act as my own if I ever make use of any of my powers to do anything that is not to the glory of God or to fail to make the glorying of Him my whole and entire business. If I murmur in the least at afflictions, if I am in any way uncharitable, if I revenge my own case, if I do anything purely to please myself or omit anything because it is a great denial, if I trust to myself, if I take any praise for any good which Christ does by me, or if I am in any way proud, I shall act as my own and not God's. I purpose to be absolutely His. I don't know about you, but that's the kind of commitment I want to have. Problem is, is that I, like you, can't get past my own sin, can't get past my own will. It's like Paul said in Romans chapter 7, the things you want to do, you don't do. Things you don't want to do, you end up doing, right? A true disciple forsakes his life to come to Christ, and his life is bound up in a continual forsaking of his life. It's a constant, is it not? We die daily. Let me give you the second thing about a true disciple. A true disciple forsakes his possessions. He forsakes his possessions. Now understand this, we are not saved by selling or giving away all that we have, but by doing whatever Jesus asks, right? You know, I was sharing with you last week about one of my students as we were texting and I was telling him to give away his Xbox. And then I went to his iPhone, I said, just give it away. And he thought it was funny. He thought Mr. Herford's lost it. Give away my Xbox? What would my parents think? Give away my iPhone? Then he started asking me if I wanted it. Well, if you gotta give it away and give it to me, then give it to me. I'll give it to somebody else. He never got the point. I told him to read this passage I want you to turn to now. It's over in Matthew 19. I said, go to Matthew 19 and begin reading at verse 16, because this is essentially what Jesus told this man. He didn't have an iPhone, but I tell you what, if he was living today, he'd have many iPhones, right? Many Xboxes or whatever else the world has to offer. But look there at Matthew 16. This is a classic example of doing whatever Jesus asked. Says verse 16, now behold, one came and said to him, good teacher, what good things shall I do that I may have eternal life? So he said to him, why do you call me good? No one is good but one, that is God, but if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments. He said to him, which ones? Jesus said, you should not murder, you should not commit adultery, you should not steal, you should not bear false witness, honor your father and your mother, and you shall love your neighbor as yourself. That's six of the 10 commandments. The young man said to him, get this, obviously he was forsaking the ninth commandment when he says this, all these things I have kept from my youth. You know which one I'm talking about? Lying. He's lying. You and I would be lying if we said something like that, right? Even as a Christian. What do I still lack? So Jesus said, if you want to be perfect, go sell what you have and give to the poor and you have treasure in heaven and come follow me. Now here's the problem. This man was rich. But you understand this, Jesus is dealing with him right there at his point of need. What occupied his heart? What was the God of his life? Riches. Nothing wrong with having them. But you do bring upon yourself a lot of trouble. A lot of trouble comes with riches, because you find yourself trusting in that. And I've never had them, so I don't have to worry about it. You with me on that? That's just one temptation I don't think I'll ever have to deal with. But it says in verse 22, when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. He had many possessions. Now the disciples, you have to understand them, they're observing this, they're listening to this. And so Jesus says to them, surely I say to you that it's hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. And again I say to you, it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. When his disciples heard this, they were exceedingly amazed and said, who then can be saved? But Jesus, looking at them, said, With men this is impossible, with God all things are possible. Then Peter answered and said to him, See, we have left all and followed you, therefore what shall we have? Jesus said to them, Surely I say to you that in the regeneration, when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory, You who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses, or brothers, or sisters, or fathers, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive a..." What? "...hundredfold and inherit everlasting life." Have you denied yourself, taken up your cross, and followed Jesus Christ? In Matthew chapter 16 and verse 24, that's exactly what Jesus says, are the marks of a true disciple. And that's the title of our study today, and it's made available by CD or MP3. If you'd like to request your copy by CD, then give us a call at 904-651-3351. To request your copy by MP3, visit our website at www.mp3.org. www.changedbygrace.org. There at our website you'll find many messages pertaining to this subject on the Christian life. Again to contact us visit our website at www.changedbygrace.org or call us at 904-651-3351. I'm Pastor Steve Hereford.