True Discipleship

When Jesus came into the coasts of Cæsarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God....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.   —Matthew 16:13–16, 24

The events referred to in this portion of Scripture are vitally related to each other. The truth here falls naturally into three parts. In the first section, verses 13–20, Christ asks His pointed question and the disciples give the testimony of the people concerning Him. They were prepared then, as many of our scholars and critics are today, to give Jesus a place among the great men of the past, even among the greatest. They even admitted that he was one of the greatest of all great men. But that is not sufficient. He asked them, “Whom do you say that I the Son of man am?”

Then Peter made his great confession. It moved the heart of our Master as nothing else ever did move Him when He was on Earth. He was glad that these men had come to see that He was the only begotten Son of God, for that is essential to salvation. I would not like you to think I am narrowminded (yet it would not make a bit of difference whether you did or not), but I have come to see that a man is not a Christian at all who doubts the deity of Jesus Christ. It seems to me that is the point in these Scriptures.

You will observe that there is nothing more startling in the confession that Peter made on that occasion than in the confession made by Nathaniel at the beginning of Christ’s ministry. Nathaniel voiced practically the same truth which we find recorded in the first chapters of John’s Gospel. Jesus said of him, “Behold an Israelite in whom there is no guile.”

“How do you know me?” asked Nathaniel.

Jesus replied, “I knew thee when thou wast under the fig tree.”

Then Nathaniel made his wonderful confession: “Thou art the Son of God; Thou art the King of Israel.”

The Voice Of The People

Why was Peter’s testimony more moving? Simply because Nathaniel’s confession was personal and private while Peter was speaking for the whole company. It is the testimony of the church, and when the church has given up that testimony she ceases to be a church.

The man who can make that confession is surely born again. “Blessed art thou Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood hath not revealed this unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.” Are you able to say from your heart this morning, “Thou are the Christ, the Son of the living God”? If so, God has revealed this great fact to you.

I am glad that for forty-two years there has never been the shadow of a doubt in my mind or heart concerning the deity of Jesus. I got a vision of Him as I stood on a street corner and I have never doubted His deity or His word since. The natural man cannot receive these things, says Paul. We sometimes think that because men are great scholars they ought to know all these things. But a man may be a scholar without spiritual insight and without a changed heart.

Peter was a man of spiritual insight. He saw that Jesus was the Son of the living God, and that is the one essential to genuine Christianity.

The Whole Truth

In the second section, verses 21-23, Christ informs His disciples that He is not only the Son of God and the King of Israel, the true Messiah which the Jewish prophets had predicted would come, but that He was to be a suffering Messiah. He revealed to them that He must enter into His glory through the door of the cross. There was a bit of rebellion against that. Human nature always rebels against sacrifice. But He told them that this was the way into His glory. I want you to read that section, friends, and notice the accuracy of His statements. He tells where He is going—to die; who is going to kill Him; and what is going to happen afterwards.

“I must go to Jerusalem,” He said. “The scribes and elders and priests and Pharisees will kill me. On the third day I will rise again.”

Who is the Man who said, “I will rise again the third day”?  Who is the One who invites, “Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest”? Who is this Man who says, “The water that I shall give you will be in you a well of water springing up unto life everlasting?” If He is not God, then He is a terrible deceiver. Would Shakespeare or Plato or Emerson say anything like that? If so, they must be prepared to meet the full force of the world’s ridicule and contempt. “Never man spake like this man.”

But who among us that knows anything about the teaching of Jesus and the life of Jesus—and especially who has trusted Him in times of sorrow and trouble—doubts His right to offer men rest and peace?

Oh, the peace that Jesus gives,
Peace I never knew before;
And the way has brighter grown,
Since I learned to trust Him more.

He is always the same, and He is the same to everybody. He is not partial. “He is no respecter of persons.” The difference is in the attitude we take toward Him.

Life’s Pattern

But He announced another great law, practically this: The cross on which I am to suffer and die is not only to be your hope; it is to be your pattern. My feet will mark out the pathway for the disciple. Cross-bearing, self-denial (or denial of self) are absolutely essential to true discipleship. That is the great statement of Jesus Christ and there is no escaping it, friends.

He has given us four marks of discipleship. I cannot dwell upon each, but you will find three of them in John’s Gospel, chapters 8, 13, and 15. Let me read these verses. “Then said Jesus to those who should believe on Him, If ye continue in my word then are ye my disciples indeed.”

In John 13 we read, “A new commandment give I 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.”

The third is in John 15: “Herein is my Father glorified that ye bear much fruit, so shall ye be my disciples.”

Then the fourth is denial of self, the one we are dwelling upon this morning.

Are You His Disciples?

The first mark of true discipleship is a steadfast loyalty to the truth and an ever increasing knowledge of those things which make for spiritual freedom. “If ye continue in my words, then are ye my disciples. And ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.” There is no bondage in Christianity, beloved friends. Christ frees us from our sins. When we get our first vision of Him on the cross we are freed and that freedom increases all along the way.

The second indication of true discipleship is love for the brethren,—love for God’s people everywhere. That love was one of the first evidences that I was born again. Do you know that I thoroughly disliked Christians before I became one? I might be very polite to them, but I really did not care to get any too near to them. If I happened to get in some place where saved people were talking about the Lord and the Bible I wished that they would go home or go to church or Sunday school or go somewhere! But after I became His child one of the first evidences in my own life of that new nature was a strange love for God’s house and God’s people.

The third mark is fruit bearing. “Herein is my Father glorified that ye bear much fruit.” I will not dwell on that more than to say that if God uses you in leading other men to Himself it is surely an evidence that there has been a change in your heart. It might be worth our while to take these marks of true discipleship and look them squarely in the face and ask ourselves the question, “Am I His disciple?”

It is plainly stated in this Book that many have been deceived as to their salvation. They make a profession and may even have been doing some preaching and church work, yet He will say of them, “I never knew you.”

“But, Lord,” they will cry, “did we not prophesy in Thy name? Did we not cast out devils in Thy name? We were divine healers. We were spiritualist healers. We did many mighty works.”

“I never knew you,” he will reply.

Why not? Because they never knew Him. You must know Him as “The Christ the Son of the living God.” If you doubt that, you may cast out demons and heal the sick and yet be lost. “Why do you speak so strongly?” you ask. Because I am stirred to the depths of my heart with the hypocrisy of the people who profess to be Christians. Anything will go these days if you call yourself a Christian.

The fourth mark is the one that He looks for most of all—self-denial, or the denial of self. Businessmen practice self denial to make money and athletes for game. It is denial of self that Christ calls for. It means keeping self on the cross in the place of death; refusing to give self the first place in your life.

Three Common Words

There are three words in this Book that include in their meaning all the trials, troubles, difficulties, etc., that may come to a Christian. The meanings of these words are often confused. They are not synonymous terms. One word is “burden,” another is “thorn,” and the last is “cross.” People talk about their burden as though it is the cross. The cross is a vastly different thing. Jesus had His burden when He was in Nazareth. He had to meet the common difficulties and carry the common load that all men have to carry in life, long before He came to the cross. He lived with a poor family. He worked hard for daily bread. Every man has a burden. That is what Paul says. “Every man must bear his own burden.” We have to do so whether we want to or not.

The thorn is a peculiar something—I was going to say a sacred something. It is secret anyway. It is something that you do not care to talk about. You never tell folks what it is. People say, “why did not Paul tell us what that thorn was?” Why do you not tell what yours is? It may be something in our family history or in our own life. It may be some physical weakness. I think it was a weakness with Paul. It might have been his bad eyes. Perhaps when they stoned him and left him to die outside of Lystra they nearly destroyed his sight for he says, “I bear you record that you would have taken out your own eyes and given them to me.” This may have been his infirmity. Paul prayed again and again that his thorn might be removed, but it was never taken from him. The answer to his prayer was, “My grace is sufficient for thee.” I am glad God said that. My thorn remains, but I hear Him say, “My grace is sufficient for thee.”

“The cross.” This is not the burden. It is not the thorn. You cannot refuse the burden or the thorn; these are not optional. You must have them whether you want them or not. But you can refuse the cross. And that is the tragedy of some of our lives. You pity self, pamper self, and you refuse the cross. “If any man will be my disciple let him denyhimself.” If you are going to take up that cross you must say no to self.

The Meaning Of Discipleship

Beloved friends, you must say no to self if you are going to become His disciple. There are some pleasures that may be right enough in themselves, but you must turn from them and say, “No, I will take the cross.”

Here is a definition of the word “disciple” which I got this week from the Bible encyclopedia: “The true disciple is one who believes the teaching of Jesus, rests on the sacrifice of Jesus, imbibes the spirit of Jesus, and imitates the example of Jesus.” That is a high standard, isn’t it? May God make us true disciples. If you are to be a disciple you must give up—take up—and keep up.

I heard of a little girl who got her arm caught in a vase and began to cry furiously. Her parents did not want to break the vase for it was expensive, and they were afraid of cutting her if they did. Finally her father said, “Dear, can’t you straighten out your fingers a little more?”

“Why, no,” she said, “I will lose the nickel if I do!”

That is the matter with some of us—we are grasping the nickel. Let go. “If any man will be my disciple he must take up the cross.” Identify yourself with Christ and follow Him.

“If a man would be my disciple,” not simply a member of the church, not simply a convert, “let him deny himself daily.” Listen brother, that makes the Christian life easy. If you try to live the Christian life on any other principle you make a mistake. When men let go, take up and keep up, the way is delightful in the service of the Lord.