CONDITIONS OF DISCIPLESHIP

Text: Luke 14:25-33.

Delivered on: August 10, 2008. Streetsboro.

Introduction.

1. Disciple = One who follows the teachings of another.

   1. Not simply one who knows the teachings of another.

   2. But one who is an active follower of a particular teacher.

   3. John 8:31. Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed.

2. Only disciples of Christ can be free from sin and its consequences. John 8:32. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

3. We are told to go and make disciples of all nations. Matthew 28:19-20. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.

4. While it is the desire of God for all people to be disciples of Jesus Christ, in order for one to be a disciple of Jesus, he or she must meet certain conditions that Jesus set forth.

5. Therefore, today let us consider the CONDITIONS OF DISCIPLESHIP.

6. Luke 14:25-33. Now great multitudes went with Him. And He turned and said to them, ²⁶ “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. ²⁷ And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. ²⁸ For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it— ²⁹ lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, ³⁰ saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish’? ³¹ Or what king, going to make war against another king, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? ³² Or else, while the other is still a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks conditions of peace. ³³ So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.

Body.

1. IN ORDER TO BE A DISCIPLE OF CHRIST… ONE MUST HAVE A CORRECT VIEW OF OTHER PEOPLE. Luke 14:26. “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.

   1. First let us make sure that we understand what Jesus is saying here.

      1. Jesus is not saying that we should hate our parents in the way that we use the word “hate” today.

      2. The main meaning of the word “hate” is to detest and have malicious thoughts toward another.

      3. That is not the meaning here.

      4. Here is simply means to have a preference for one thing over another.

      5. We can know this because we are also told to hate our own lives.

         1. Obviously, Jesus does not expect us to hate our lives in the sense of detesting our lives.

         2. Matthew 22:39. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’

         3. He means that we love God more than we love our life.

      6. So in our passage, Jesus is saying that our supreme love and loyalty must be toward God and not man.

   2. We often neglect to realize how much influence others have on us.

      1. Solomon allowed his wives to pull him away from God. 1 Kings 11:1-8. But King Solomon loved many foreign women, as well as the daughter of Pharaoh: women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites— ² from the nations of whom the LORD had said to the children of Israel, “You shall not intermarry with them, nor they with you. Surely they will turn away your hearts after their gods.” Solomon clung to these in love. ³ And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart. ⁴ For it was so, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned his heart after other gods; and his heart was not loyal to the LORD his God, as was the heart of his father David. ⁵ For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. ⁶ Solomon did evil in the sight of the LORD, and did not fully follow the LORD, as did his father David. ⁷ Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, on the hill that is east of Jerusalem, and for Molech the abomination of the people of Ammon. ⁸ And he did likewise for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.

      2. Rehoboam was led to disaster by listening to the wrong advice. 1 Kings 12:3-14. Then Jeroboam and the whole assembly of Israel came and spoke to Rehoboam, saying, ⁴ “Your father made our yoke heavy; now therefore, lighten the burdensome service of your father, and his heavy yoke which he put on us, and we will serve you.” ⁵ So he said to them, “Depart for three days, then come back to me.” And the people departed. ⁶ Then King Rehoboam consulted the elders who stood before his father Solomon while he still lived, and he said, “How do you advise me to answer these people?” ⁷ And they spoke to him, saying, “If you will be a servant to these people today, and serve them, and answer them, and speak good words to them, then they will be your servants forever.” ⁸ But he rejected the advice which the elders had given him, and consulted the young men who had grown up with him, who stood before him. ⁹ And he said to them, “What advice do you give? How should we answer this people who have spoken to me, saying, ‘Lighten the yoke which your father put on us’?” ¹⁰ Then the young men who had grown up with him spoke to him, saying, “Thus you should speak to this people who have spoken to you, saying, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but you make it lighter on us’—thus you shall say to them: ‘My little finger shall be thicker than my father’s waist! ¹¹ And now, whereas my father put a heavy yoke on you, I will add to your yoke; my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scourges!’” ¹² So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam the third day, as the king had directed, saying, “Come back to me the third day.” ¹³ Then the king answered the people roughly, and rejected the advice which the elders had given him; ¹⁴ and he spoke to them according to the advice of the young men, saying, “My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke; my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scourges!”

      3. We are warned many times about the influence of others.

         1. 1 Corinthians 15:33. Do not be deceived: “Evil company corrupts good habits.”

         2. 2 Corinthians 6:14-15. Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? ¹⁵ And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever?

         3. How many times have we seen Christians pulled away from the Lord because they allowed the influence of family or friends to cause them to fall?

         4. When we love others more than we love God, there is always a danger of being pulled away from God.

      4. God must be our first love! Even more than our brothers and sisters in Christ.

   3. Therefore, the correct view of other people is to love them but to realize that our supreme loyalty and love belongs to God.

2. IN ORDER TO BE A DISCIPLE OF CHRIST… ONE MUST HAVE A CORRECT VIEW OF HIS OWN PERSON. Luke 14:26b-27. …yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. ²⁷ And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.

   1. Jesus says several things here about how we are to view our own lives.

      1. We are to hate (love less) our life.

      2. We are to bear our cross.

      3. Notice also Luke 9:23-26. Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. ²⁴ For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. ²⁵ For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost? ²⁶ For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His own glory, and in His Father’s, and of the holy angels.

         1. We are to deny ourselves.

         2. Our cross bearing is to be daily.

         3. We are to lose our life for Christ’s sake.

   2. To summarize, we are to give our lives up to Christ.

      1. Many believe that “bearing our cross” simply refers to bearing our burdens for Christ.

      2. I am convinced that it means more than that.

      3. When Jesus bore His cross, He was bearing the instrument of His death.

      4. By bearing our cross daily, we are giving our lives over to Christ for His use. Up to and including even giving up our lives physically if necessary.

      5. We dare not be ashamed of Him. If we are, He will be ashamed of us.

      6. Notice the following passages:

         1. Galatians 2:20. I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

         2. Romans 12:1. I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.

         3. 1 Corinthians 15:31. I affirm, by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.

         4. Revelation 2:10. Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.

   3. “Whoever loses his life will save it.”

      1. If we desire to save our life (Keep it for ourselves. Not willing to give it up.) we will lose it ultimately in the fires of Hell.

      2. If we are willing to give up our life here on earth, we will find eternal life.

      3. A short time of serving God here on earth will gain a person eternal life.

      4. Nothing that this world has to offer can compare to that promise!

3. IN ORDER TO BE A DISCIPLE OF CHRIST… ONE MUST HAVE A CORRECT VIEW OF HIS POSSESSIONS. Luke 14:33. So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.

   1. We must be willing to forsake not only family, and self, but all that we have.

   2. This includes our possessions.

   3. We cannot allow our possessions to be more precious to us than God. That is idolatry. Colossians 3:5. Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.

   4. When you are wealthy (as most of us are) it can be very difficult not to love your possessions. Matthew 19:16-22. Now behold, one came and said to Him, “Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?” ¹⁷ 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.” ¹⁸ He said to Him, “Which ones?” Jesus said, “ ‘You shall not murder,’ ‘You shall not commit adultery,’ ‘You shall not steal,’ ‘You shall not bear false witness,’ ¹⁹ ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” ²⁰ The young man said to Him, “All these things I have kept from my youth. What do I still lack?” ²¹ Jesus said to 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, follow Me.” ²² But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

      1. Only one thing stood between this young man and eternal life.

      2. His riches.

      3. Jesus knew that his riches were his true love.

   5. 1 John 2:15-17. Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. ¹⁶ For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. ¹⁷ And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.

   6. Which do we love more??? Our riches or the Lord???

Conclusion.

1. Jesus wants you to be His disciple.

2. But there are conditions to be met.

3. You must love Him more than people, self, and possessions.

4. Count the cost!

5. If you are willing to do that, then why not become a disciple today through obedience to the Gospel of Christ.