Being a Disciple...

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From listening to believers I have come to the conclusion that Christian people in America regard being a disciple as something different from being just a Christian person. This concept reveals how low the standard is today as regards to what it means to be a true Christian.

(8/15/2010) A Christian is a disciple of Christ. A disciple of Christ is a Christian. The terms are absolutely synonymous. There is no basis whatever for viewing a disciple as some sort of superior Christian.

And when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. So for a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught great numbers of people. The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch. (Acts11:26)

"The disciples were called Christians." I seriously doubt that at that time there was another group of believers who were called Christians but who were not disciples. How do you feel about this?

If such is the case, then at what point in church history were there believers in Christ who were not disciples? But let us think for a moment about what a disciple is.

And he said, "The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life." Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels." (Luke 9:22-26) We can insert the term "Christian" and be perfectly consistent with Bible usage.

"If anyone would be a Christian, he must deny himself."

What does it mean to deny ourselves? It means to make the Lord Jesus the focus of our lives. When what Christ wants is pleasant for us, then we follow His leadershipl When what Christ wants is very unpleasant for us, then we pray for wisdom and strength and obey Christ. Always! There is no exception to this for the individual who wants to be a Christian, a disciple.

"If anyone would be a Christian he must take up his cross daily and follow me."

What is our cross? It is some aspect of our life that is not pleasing to us. It may be that what we want we cannot have, without disobeying Christ. It may be that we are required to remain in a situation we detest, but we cannot leave without disobeying Christ.

For the true Christian, there is no exception to this. If he does step out of the Lord's will, then Christ may, out of His love, bring much trouble on His disciple. If the disciple repents and returns to the discipline required of him, then the Lord will forgive him and he is to press forward in Christ.

The true Christian follows Christ daily. His whole life is centered on finding the Lord's will for him each day, and praying for wisdom and strength so he can do it perfectly. This is the true Christian walk. There do not seem to be a great many church members who take up their cross and follow Christ each day; but these, and these alone, are the Christians. The rest are only church members. They are not "in Christ" and they will not die "in Christ," and therefore will not be raised to meet Him in the air when He appears.

"If any person wants to save his or her life, he or she will lose it."

How is it that if a person seeks to save his life he will lose it. Christ has called us to turn away from our own life and to live according to His will for us. If we choose instead to follow our own path, we will lose our inheritance as a child of God and come to an unpleasant end. We sought to grasp what we desired, and in doing so we lost everything.

"If any person loses his or her life for Christ, he or she will save it."

If instead of following our own desires we live each day in the Lord's will, then all that will bring righteousness, love, joy, and peace to us will be given to us. By turning away from our own path, we gained everything of value. This Adam and Eve did not do, and reaped misery.

I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. (John 12:24-25)

If you live in your own pleasures, you will live and die alone. If you lose your life in Christ you will have an inheritance of people.

"What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?"

Most of us look to the world for our survival, security, and comfort. We may yield to the lusts and passions of our flesh and soul. We may strive to be preeminent, to gain power and fame, or wealth. We may want to "be somebody."

But what if in the pursuit of our own goals we lose our very personality, our uniqueness as an individual? This is what it means, you know. We lose our soul, that gift from God that makes it possible for us to be in His image. Then what are we? A soulless spirit adrift in the boundless universe, along with all the other spirits who forfeited their soul.

To lose our uniqueness as a personality is indeed a fearful prospect!

"If anyone is ashamed of Christ and His words, Christ will be ashamed of him when He comes in His glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels."

The day shall come when Christ appears to this world. Then those who have served Him faithfully will rejoice exceedingly when they see Christ in the fullness of God's Glory, accompanied by the mightiest angels of Heaven. But we do not see Him as yet.

I am 85 years of age. I have lived in America all my life. I never thought I would see the day when it was a shame to speak of Christ. But it is true now.

According to a report in the media, it is alleged that a man who had worked as a counselor for a number of years spoke comfort to a dying patient by saying "Place your trust in God," or something to this effect. It was reported that he was fired for saying this.

Perhaps we do not know the whole story, but it is well known that people, young and old, who profess Christ publicly may face scorn or even arrest. And this in America! While growing up and serving in the United States Marine Corps, I would not have believed that I would live to see the day that to hold up the name of Christ would be considered a disgraceful act.

That day is here now. What does the Lord tell us? He tells us that if we are ashamed of Him and His Words, He will be ashamed of us when He returns in His glory. I don't want Christ to be ashamed of me, and I am sure you do not want Him to be ashamed of you in that day.

So we see that the standard of discipleship is the same standard that must be met by any person who desires to be a genuine Christian. Those who today are maintaining that a disciple is some sort of super-Christian are reflecting the abysmal depths to which our standards have fallen in America in the present century.

You can hear the morning sermon at morning. http://www.wor.org/audio/audio.htm

You can hear the evening sermon at evening. http://www.wor.org/audio/audio.htm

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