Two Simple Words: Follow Me

In this message from Matthew 4:18–22, David Platt urges us to consider Jesus’ costly call of discipleship. 

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Chapters

• 0:00 The Question: What Is a Disciple?
• 2:48 Casual, Convinced, Committed
• 7:06 Optional Discipleship Is a Church Problem
• 12:30 Calling the First Disciples
• 16:50 The Kingdom Always Costs
• 23:20 Treasure Worth Everything
• 27:40 Riches, Loss, and Eternal Gain
• 32:10 Deny Yourself, Take Up Your Cross
• 36:40 Leaving Comfort, Career, and Possessions
• 43:30 Family, Safety, and Self on the Altar
• 49:50 Hold Loosely to Everything, Cling to Christ
• 55:30 Saved For God’s Glory, Not Just From Sin
• 1:00:20 Live for the Honor of the King

Transcript

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You are listening to David Platt Messages, a weekly podcast with sermons and messages from pastor, author, and teacher David Platt.

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What is a disciple? What is a disciple? This is going to launch us in the next six weeks of what it means to make disciples. We got to know what a disciple is. When you look in the New Testament, you see the word disciple mentioned about 269 times. Just by way of contrast, comparison, you see the word Christian mentioned three times. Disciple is mentioned over and over and over again. What is a disciple? Now, when the New Testament talks about disciples, it talks about disciples in different ways. I want you to see three main categories. First of all, when the New Testament, you see the New Testament talking about disciples, sometimes it's referring to a casual listener, a casual listener. People who are in the crowds following Jesus, listening to what he is saying, a casual listener. Then you take a step deeper and you see some people referred to as disciples more along the lines of being convinced listeners. And by that I mean they're not just casually listening. There's some buy-in there. Okay, I believe what this guy is saying. I'm embracing what he's saying. I'm convinced he is who he says he is. And so you've got convinced listeners. And then you've got a deeper level. Beyond that, not just casual or convinced listeners, but you've got a committed lifelong learner and follower described as a disciple in the New Testament. What's interesting is that it in the New Testament, when we see all these references to disciples, the greatest number of people that are called disciples fall into one of those first two categories. Either casual listeners or convinced listeners, thousands of people that would follow Christ, many that had some buy-in. But when you take that third step and you get to committed lifelong learners and followers, the group gets really, really small. For example, in Acts chapter 1, verse 15, all it says is that after Jesus had left this life on earth, ascended into heaven, there's only 120 people that are left. Now, thousands of people had followed him during his life here, but only 120 people that are actually doing what he told them to do, committed lifelong learners and followers. Now, that's the picture in the New Testament. Let's take a step back. Let me ask you a question. Where do you think the largest number of people in the church, particularly in the Western world, fall into when it comes to these categories? I'm guessing the first two. That I can say with pretty good confidence that the majority, the multitudes, even who might call themselves Christians, when it comes to this word disciples, would probably be classified as either casual listeners who, okay, I can go along with this Jesus and a church thing. Or probably even more so, particularly in our culture here in the Southeast, convinced listeners. A lot of people in our church culture that have buy-in. Yeah, I believe Jesus who is who he says he is. I believe this is true, and are content to go on living the Christian life as a convinced listener. But when you get to this idea of a committed lifelong learner and follower, do you take a step much deeper? And the number gets a lot smaller. And I believe we've created a situation where we've created discipleship to be optional in the church. What it means to follow Jesus really truly at its core, the deep foundations of what that means. That's relegated for the super Christian disciple, disciple making. That's only a few over here. And we've made it possible. We've created an atmosphere where it is okay to become a Christian but not a disciple. We've relegated discipleship, really following Christ in radical devotion over here. And it's possible to be a Christian and have absolutely no progress in or toward discipleship in our lives. And I think that's a problem biblically. And I'm convinced when it comes to the need in the church today, because that picture is reflected in the stagnancy and spiritual weakness of the church across the Western world. I'm convinced that the need in the church today is not more money, it's not more power, it's not more prestige, it's not even more people, it's not more education, it's not more political influence. I believe the greatest need in the church today is more men and women and students who have believed in Jesus Christ, embraced him to rise up and be the disciples that the scripture teaches us to be. Listen to this. He said the greatest issue facing the world today, with all its heartbreaking needs, is whether those who by profession or culture are identified as Christians, if they will become disciples, students, apprentices, practitioners of Jesus Christ, steadily learning from him how to live the life of the kingdom of heaven into every corner of human existence. Will they break out of the churches to be his church, to be his mighty force for good on earth, drawing the churches after them toward the eternal purposes of God and on its own scale, there is no greater issue facing the individual human being, Christian or not. And what I want to say to you this morning, based on the authority of the Word of God, is I want to be a part of the church that is impacting the world with the goodness of Christ for the glory of Christ. I want to be a part of a body of believers that is not casual and convinced in our approach to Jesus, but we are committed lifelong learners and followers of Him who are embracing Him and making Him known in Birmingham and all the world. Now, before we get there, we need to take a look at what that means and to consider what it costs to be a disciple of Jesus. Come with me to Matthew chapter 4. Look at verse 18. This is a passage that I'm guessing is familiar to many of us. I pray that God will give us fresh eyes this morning to see and understand the mammoth truths that are located in this passage. Look at verse 18. As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. Come follow me, Jesus said, and I will make you fishers of men. At once they left their nets and followed him. Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James, son of Zebedee, and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him. Now, Jesus comes on the scene here. Now, this is probably not the first time these guys have met Jesus. A lot of people think that John 1 gives us the initial picture of these guys being introduced to Jesus. This may have been a second or third occurrence where they interacted with him. But Jesus comes to them and he says two words, follow me. Literally, come after me. And in those two words, we begin to unpack what it means to be a disciple of Christ. What does it mean to follow Jesus first of all? It means radical abandonment for the glory of Christ. Radical abandonment for the glory of Christ. Now, in order to see that, we need to look at the context that Matthew chapter 4, 18 and following comes in. So back up with me to verse 12. And I want you to read with me there what leads up to this picture of Jesus initiating this followship with these guys. Matthew chapter 4, verse 12 says, When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he returned to Galilee. Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum, which is by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naptali, to fulfill what was said through the prophet Isaiah. From that time on, Jesus began to preach, repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near. Now what we've got to realize is this is the very beginning of Jesus' ministry. Beginning of this chapter, he's tempted, resists temptation, and then he starts his public ministry. And from the very beginning, one message resounds from his mouth. Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near. That phrase is used, not just the whole phrase, but especially the kingdom of God or the kingdom of heaven, is repeated over and over and over again throughout the book of Matthew. And what it is, it's not a kingdom as in a place. It pictures the rule and the reign and the dominion and the authority of God. Now, where do you get radical abandonment for the glory of Christ from there? Well, what I want you to see is that over and over again, as the kingdom is mentioned, it is always accompanied by great cost, by great abandonment and sacrifice for the king. I want you to see that. Let me take you on a little tour. Turn one chapter over to Matthew chapter five. Maybe circle a few different times in the book of Matthew where you see the word kingdom. And I want you to see the abandonment, the sacrifice that it's associated with. Look in Matthew chapter 5, verse 3. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the what? Kingdom of heaven. So, in order to have the kingdom of heaven, in order to inherit the kingdom of heaven, you've got to be poor in spirit. Look down at verse 10. Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the what? Kingdom of heaven. If you want the kingdom of heaven, you're persecuted because of righteousness. That's a sacrifice. There's a cost there. Well, it continues on. Look over in Matthew chapter 13. And we're skipping over tons and tons of instances where kingdom is mentioned. But look with me at Matthew chapter 13. Look at verse 44 with me. This is a couple parables that Jesus uses to talk about how we can inherit the kingdom, what we would do, what we would give to be a part of this kingdom, to experience the glory of this kingdom. Look at chapter 13, verse 44. It says, The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy, he went and sold all he had and bought that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it. Do you see the picture there in that parable? The kingdom is worth selling everything you've got in order to get it. Leaving everything behind. Let me show you a practical picture of that. Go over to Matthew chapter 19. You mean literally give everything, everything up, leave everything behind, abandon everything to have the kingdom? Well, look at Matthew chapter 19, verse 21. This is a story known as the rich young ruler, the rich young man. It's a man who had great wealth, many possessions, comes up to Jesus, says, How can I inherit the kingdom? How can I have eternal life? What does Jesus say in verse 21? If you want to be perfect, go sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come follow me. Give away everything you've got. And the young man heard this and he went away sad because he had great wealth. This is a huge passage for us. All of us in this room, incredibly wealthy compared to the rest of the world. Jesus said to his disciples, I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the what? Kingdom of heaven. Again, I tell 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 God. When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished. They said, Who can be saved then? Jesus looked at them and said, With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible. And Peter answered him, We have left everything to follow you. What then will there be for us? We've abandoned everything. So Jesus said to them, I tell you the truth, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone, listen to this, who has left houses or brothers or sisters, or father, or mother, or children, or fields, who leaves everything for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. Many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first. Do you see the cost of the kingdom here? Let me show you one other gospel. Look over in Luke chapter 9. Look at Luke chapter 9. Want you to look with me at verse 23. Unpacking what it would mean to abandon everything for the kingdom, the glory of Christ. Look at this. Luke chapter 9, verse 23. Jesus has got people following him. And so what does he say in verse 23? It says, 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, in my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory. And the glory of the Father and the holy angels. Listen to verse 27. I tell you the truth. Some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the what? Kingdom of God. You come after me, you deny yourself, take up your cross, follow me, you lose your life for the kingdom. Some of you will not taste death until you enter the kingdom of God. Same chapter over in verse 57. Some guys come up to Jesus, they are eager to be his disciples. We want to follow you. Look at verse 57. They were walking along the road, and a man said to Jesus, I will follow you wherever you go. Here's a prospective disciple. What does Jesus say? Jesus replied, There's no rich carleton on this road. Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests. The Son of Man has no place to lay his head, no shelter. That which you consider indispensable, you sacrifice for the kingdom. He said to another man, Follow me. And the man replied, Lord, first let me go and bury my father, let me take care of my family. Jesus said to him, Let the dead bury their own dead. You go and proclaim the what? The kingdom of God. Verse 61. Another said, I'll follow you, Lord, but first let me go back and just say goodbye to my family, the people that I love. And Jesus replied, No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God. Abandoning family. Even in time of need, right there. Let the dead bury their own dead. Abandoning comfort and shelter. Let me show you one more. Look at Luke chapter 14. Luke chapter 14. I want you to see, look with me in verse 25. This is the context. In verse 15, he just begins to talk about the kingdom of God. And he comes to verse 25. Let these words soak in. Large crowds, all these casual and convinced, maybe even listeners, were traveling with Jesus. And turning to them, he said, If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters, yes, even his own life. He cannot be my disciple. And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. Are you getting a glimpse here of what it means to follow Jesus? To be a disciple of Jesus. Anyone who does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters, even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. What does that mean? Well, come back to Matthew 4. We've got this picture. Think of how all of that was being played out in their lives. Look at the cost. You've got a list of things there in your notes. What Jesus is teaching us here is that it has his disciple, we leave behind all things. We leave behind all things. And it takes place in various ways in this little passage in Matthew chapter 4. Think about what these guys were leaving behind. First of all, we leave behind our comfort. All that was familiar to them, all that was comfortable to them, all that was natural for them, they're now leaving behind. We leave behind our comfort. We leave behind our careers. These guys were completely leaving behind their profession as fishermen. It was a radical reorientation of their entire way of life. What would that look like for you to leave behind your entire way of living for a completely different way of living because of simply being a disciple of Christ? They left behind their careers. Third, their possessions. It's at this point that we have this over-exaggerated picture of the socioeconomic level of the disciples. Many times we think of them as very poor, and they certainly weren't elite and incredibly wealthy, but they did have a very solid business as fishermen, had property, had boats, able to do this, had what they needed to carry out that business. They weren't well off, but at the same time, they were not the peasants of their day either. They had a lot to lose when it came to leaving their nets behind. So they've got a lot to show us in a 280 world today. You can't be a disciple of Jesus and love your house and love your car. You can't be a disciple of Jesus and love your possessions, your TV, your stereo system. You can't be a disciple of Jesus and hold on to any possession in this world. Our comfort, our careers, our possessions, our position. And this is one of those areas where we've got to understand that in this day, people would attach themselves to rabbis in order to promote their position. You would find a great teacher and you'd go learn from him so that you could become like him and then move on to a greater teacher, move on to a greater place. And so this was a way that you gain more social status. You climb the ladder. Does that sound familiar? Jesus says, You come to me, you don't climb the ladder, you take steps down. It's not about position here. Son of man doesn't even have a la place to lay his head. We take we we we abandon our comfort, our careers, our possessions, our position, our family. Man, this is heavy. These guys left their father, Zebedee. We know from other clues in the gospels as well as tradition that many of these disciples had wives. Now, did Jesus call them to leave their wives and never see them again? No. But he did call them. I think we see much evidence throughout the New Testament of these guys spending even large times away from their family as they follow Jesus. Their devotion to Jesus would supersede even the closest family relationship there is. Our family, our friends, those who they know best, our safety. Our safety. It's not a good thing when the rabbi, the teacher, says, I send you out like sheep among wolves. That's not an encouraging thing. As you go, guys, Matthew 10, all men, just want you to know, all men will hate you because of me. They're starting to look at each other, are we sure we should have signed up for this thing? And he continues on, if they persecute me, they're gonna persecute you too. That's not good news when you see Jesus going to a cross. Their safety was completely abandoned. There's no regard for their safety. As a disciple of Jesus Christ, please don't mess it with me this morning. Going to the darkest places of the inner city and the most dangerous places of the world is not a question. Is it safe? It's no longer a concern for a disciple of Jesus. Why? Because it's an abandonment we leave behind ourselves. Anyone want to come after me? He must deny himself, even his own life. Luke 14. Everything in our culture is about promoting self, protecting self, preserving self, taking care of self. And Jesus comes on the scene and he says, slay yourself. You die, you give your life. This was a countercultural message in Matthew chapter 4, and it is a countercultural message 2,000 years later, that you leave behind all things. What would happen? What would happen? If if one of us in this room did exactly what we see happen in Matthew chapter 4 today, what would happen if you did that? Think about it. If in a matter of an instant you leave behind your entire profession, your whole career of what your life is about. You leave behind your family for extended periods of time. You leave behind all your possessions, you let them completely go and you begin to follow. Nothing. House, home, car, nothing. People would think you're crazy. People would think you've lost it. Religious fanatic, even your family would think you don't care about them. And I know that. Because in small ways, I've seen it. I travel to student conferences, college conferences, and Christian students praying about making the gospel known in other countries and other contexts in the world. And the number one thing they say is, How can I tell my Christian parents that I want to go over there? They don't want me to go. They want me to continue and get more education and get a nice job and have a nice home and family and establish myself. And they want what's best for me, they say, when what is best for me according to scripture is that I deny myself, I take up my cross and I follow me. How do I reconcile that? Being a disciple of Jesus is a radical abandonment of all of these things. Now, some of you are thinking, Dave, you lost your lid. I don't know what happened over the holidays. But what do you mean? Abandon all of these things, our careers, our possessions, our position, our family, our safety, ourselves? What do you mean? Wow, think about it practically. How does this look practically? Think what this means is. And he may not call you to leave your profession this week, what you've built your whole life revolving around doing. Or to say, my family is going to be in the background of my devotion to Jesus and the ways that these disciples did. But what he is showing us here, what this means is that all of those things in our lives we hold so loosely to. So loosely. And we grip, we cling to so tightly the person of Jesus Christ and the glory of the kingdom of God, and we live for that. And if that means we let go of these things, we're glad to do it because we are embracing Christ with all of our hearts. That is radical abandonment for the glory of Christ. What if he did call you to do some of these things specifically? What if he did? And then think about it on another level. How does this look practically? Remember the kingdom of God, his rule, his reign. What happens when we take every facet of our lives, all these things, and we bring them under his rule, and under his reign, it radically changes the way our lives look. Our comfort is now under his reign, and if he chooses to give us comfort, then God be glorified in that. But if he takes it away and gives us suffering, God be glorified in the suffering we experience. Our comfort, our careers, my whole life as an accountant or as a teacher, as a lawyer, as a doctor, is now brought under the rule and the reign of God. And I live as a doctor to make his kingdom and his glory known in every single day, eight to four of an eight to five of my job, whatever it may be. Your career now comes under his rule and his reign. And it's not about making more money and it's not about being the most successful, it's about exalting the glory of God in that workplace. Our possessions, what happens when we don't live like the rest of our culture to get, we live to give our possessions for the kingdom of God? Our position, our family. What happens when Jesus is the supreme affection in our lives? It changes the way we love our wives, it changes the way we love our husbands, it changes the way we lead our families, when his kingdom is evident in our homes. All of these things are friends, our safety. When we stop saying, we stop saying I can't do that because it's not safe. And we start saying, God, whatever you will have me do, whether in my life or in my death, glorify your name and your kingdom. And some of you are sitting here thinking, Why would I want to do that? Let's be honest, Dave. I may not say it out loud, but I'm at least thinking. I can be a Christian, forgiven of all my sins, because of what Jesus did on the cross for me, and live here on this earth with eternal security. And I can live and enjoy the pleasures of this life, and then because I've been saved and forgiven of my sins, I know I'm guaranteed to enjoy the pleasures of eternal life. So why would I want to take this step to go from being a casual or convinced listener to being a committed lifelong learner and follower? Why would I want to abandon all these things? Why would I want to go so radical? Haven't you heard, Dave? Christians aren't expected to be radical. They're not perfect, they're just forgiven, right? I don't buy it. I don't buy it because it's not biblical. We are not just forgiven. Yes, praise the Lord. Praise God. My salvation is completely dependent on the work of Jesus Christ on a cross. And there is nothing, absolutely nothing I can do to earn my salvation or merit salvation. He does that all for me. It is free and it is gracious. But the very purpose of my salvation, the very essence and purpose of Christianity is not to save me, not just to save me from my sins. Do you catch that? The purpose of your salvation is not to save you from your sins. That is an American gospel, and it is a diluted gospel. The purpose of our salvation is not to save us from our sins. We have created a Christianity and a gospel that centers around us, where everything is made to be on my achieving forgiveness of sins through Christ. And so when Jesus died on the cross, he died just for me. And while I in no way want to take away from the extremely personal nature of God's mercy and loving grace for every single one of you in this room, I do want to say to you this morning that when Jesus died on the cross, he did not die just for you. He died, Luke 24, 47 through 49, so that repentance and forgiveness of sins would be preached in all nations, so the kingdom of God would be proclaimed among the whole earth. That's why he saved us from our sins. To make his glory and his grace and his majesty and his mercy known throughout Birmingham and the world. That's why he saved us. We are not just forgiven. We are part of a purpose to magnify the glory and the kingdom of God. So we leave behind all things and we live for one thing. What do we live for? We live for the honor of the King. That is the thing that drives us. That's what we wake up in the morning and we say, God, make the glory of the king known through me. I live for the honor of the King. And we've got to see this. We've got to see this. This is a radically different way to look at Christianity. I've got the contrast there, and some might think I'm being a little too stereotypical here, overstating the case, but I don't think I am. American Christianity, I believe at its core, is radically self-centered. Or everything centers around us. And I'm convinced if we begin to look at scripture and what it means to follow Christ, we will discover that biblical disciple making is radically God-centered. Because now the purpose of our salvation is not just us. The purpose of our salvation is to show the grace and mercy of Christ to all the people around us to reproduce that in people's lives throughout Birmingham and the entire world. He is our motivation, he is our goal. Everything revolves around him. You will not see in the gospel, in the New Testament for that matter. You'll not see a people who are satisfied to receive forgiveness at Jesus' expense and go on living in a casual acquaintance with him. It's not biblical. Radical abandonment for the glory of Christ. Alright, diving in deep. Let's go another step. Not only radical abandonment for the glory of Christ, but radical second, radical dependence on the grace of Christ. Now here's where it gets really good. Here's where it gets really good. When you get to Matthew chapter 4, verse 18, it says Jesus was walking along the Sea of Galilee, and he happened upon these guys, these four guys. And we see him call them to himself, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. What we're seeing there is a process, a process that he's about to take these guys through for the rest of their life, a journey that he's about to take them on. And the process that's initiated here in Matthew chapter 4, verse 18, has a lot to teach us about the process he does in our lives. I want you to think about it in three steps or three levels. First of all, Jesus in Matthew chapter 4 and in our lives, he takes the initiative to choose us. He takes the initiative to choose us. Now, this is this is so very different from the way things worked in that day. What you had was a rabbi who was well respected, and potential disciples would come to him and ask to be taught by him, ask to be to be under his tutelage, his learning. And so you would go, if you were a student, you would go and seek out a rabbi who would help you most advance yourself. You would seek that out. What we're seeing here is not these guys coming to Jesus, we're seeing Jesus going to these guys. The teacher is initiating the relationship. It's what we see all throughout Scripture: God choosing his partners: Abraham, Noah, Moses, David, the prophets, even Israel, the nation of people of God itself, chosen to be a royal priesthood, a kingdom of priests, partners with God. And the disciples, you see this in Matthew 4, you get to John chapter 15. What does he say? You did not choose me. I what? Chose you. I chose you and I appointed you. And what we're seeing here is a radical picture of the grace of Jesus Christ and initiating the relationship with these guys. And I want to remind you. I want to remind you that not one of us in this room is able to be a follower of Christ apart from the initiative and grace of a gracious God who reached out his hand into your life and into my life. Not one of us deserves to be here this morning. We are here because he has chosen to pour out his grace on us. Now, before you let those words, he chose you. Get you a little big headed. I want to bring it back in for you for a second, alright? It's at this point where many sermons I've heard on Matthew chapter 4 and many commentaries I've read on Matthew chapter 4 begin to talk about how Jesus chose these disciples, or these fishermen to be his disciples because of all the qualifications that fishermen have. They have this perspective or that perspective. They're used to doing this or that, and that would be good for his kingdom. And so they start talking about all the characteristics of fishermen and how that's good for them to be disciples. But if we go there, then we miss the whole point of this passage. Jesus did not initiate this conversation with these guys, this relationship with these guys, because of anything they brought to the table. He actually initiated the conversation because they brought absolutely nothing to the table. They weren't the sharpest tools in the shed. Let's think about it. Galileans, the social rednecks of the day, is literally the way this picture plays out. These are the commoners, the nobodies, the guys from out in the country that people just don't spend a lot of time around. They certainly weren't the elite. Many teachers would draw the elite to them of noble birth. These guys don't feel that qualification, even spiritually. These guys are not that sharp spiritually. They're pretty arrogant, pretty narrow-minded. For a worldwide mission, these guys are pretty ethnocentric, focused on the Jewish people, constantly bickering with each other. You almost see them as a burden throughout the disciples, throughout the gospels, to Jesus. But Jesus didn't call them because of what they brought to the table. He took the weakest and the lowliest and those who nobody would have expected, and he chose them. And his plan hasn't changed. So how does that make you feel? Is that encouraging to us this morning? 1 Corinthians 1, Paul says, God has chosen you, the foolish things of the world. Hmm, okay. He's chosen the weak things of the world. Is he talking about us? He's chosen, he literally says the things that are not, like you're not even there. That's not a compliment in 1 Corinthians 1. And so I'm not, I may not even be building you up by telling you that God chose you. You're in here actually because of your weakness. Because of the very few things you bring to the table. One of the favorite guys that I've studied in the past in the second century, uh, he lived in the second century. I didn't study then, but this guy, he was a critic of Christianity, and I want you to hear what he said. This is one of my favorite quotes from him. He's a critic, he criticized Christianity, atheist. He said, if any man is ignorant, if any man is wanting in sense and culture, if anybody is a fool, let him become boldly to become a Christian. We see them in their own houses, wool dresses, cobblers, the worst, the vulgarest, the most uneducated persons. They are like a swarm of bats or ants creeping out of their nests, or frogs holding a symposium around a swamp, or worms convening in mud. That's what he thought of Christians. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the worm convention this morning. Not one of us is in here because of what we bring to the table. We are in here because of our weakness, and that puts us all on the same plane, and we have a God who delights in showing his power and our weakness, his strength when we are weak. And that's good news. That makes us completely dependent on his grace. Not one of us is qualified, not one of these guys was qualified. So what does he say to them? Follow me and I will what? I will make you. He doesn't say, follow me and go be fishers of men. That's not what he says. He says, I will make you fishers of men. These guys were anything but passionate about the kingdom of God at this point. They didn't have any clue what the kingdom involved. But Jesus would go through a process with them where he not only takes the grace, takes the initiative to choose us, but he provides the power to use us. And he would impart compassion and gentleness and humility. He would give them these things, he would enable them to proclaim the kingdom. It was his work in them. Now, why was it designed that way? Why did Jesus do that? He takes the initiative to choose us and provides the power to use us so that he gets the glory through us. So that he gets the glory through us. And this is the great thing. When you look at the disciples' lives, from Matthew chapter 4 to Acts chapter 1 and 2, in the beginning of the New Testament church, there is a process whereby these guys go from being completely unfit for the kingdom to being powerful in the kingdom of God. Proclaiming the gospel with great power. Peter. From the guy he was, the guy with a foot-shaped mouth. He comes to Acts chapter, somebody will get that later on today. He comes to Acts chapter 2 and he stands up and he preaches the first Christian sermon, and 3,000 people plus are saved. Church grew by over 2,500% in one day. Through that man. John. Always wanting to debate who's going to be the greatest. Jesus takes him. And he writes these books that we have in the New Testament that are leading people to Christ 2,000 years later. And all the other guys, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, Andrew, James, and how they scattered out to literally turn the world upside down. Acts chapter 17, verse 6. That's what these guys did their whole lives. This process was a testimony to his glory. Jesus designed it so that in the end, only his power could be the answer for why they were used like that. And this is good news for us. Here's why. I am convinced that across this room, there are men and women, students, who the adversary has convinced you that you have too many shortcomings and too many weaknesses, too many failings to be used mightily for the kingdom of God. And they render you useless. Maybe not useless, but at least not as useful as some other people in the church. And I want to remind you that if that's what you believe, it is a lie straight from the devil. Because the beauty of the truth of God's word is that it is our shortcomings and our weaknesses and the things that we're not good at that are actually the exact tool that God uses to show his power and his glory and his strength most clearly through you. And so we rejoice in our weaknesses the New Testament says. That's weird. Why do we rejoice in our weakness? Because when I am weak, he is strong. And so God takes us and it uses us to show his glory through us. What this means is. What this means is, from this point on, we're gonna draw a line in the sand. From this point on, it is not permissible for anyone from the church at Brook Hills to ever say the statement I cannot impact nations for the glory of Christ. Putting the line down. We can't say it anymore. That it would never be said when we gather together, I cannot impact nations for the glory of Christ. Because here's the deal that statement sounds humble and it sounds self-effacing. I can't do it. But at the core, that is a prideful statement because what you have said is I deny the power of Christ in me to accomplish his purpose for me. And we're gonna stop denying the power of Christ, and we're gonna start experiencing the power of Christ for the purpose of Christ. And we're gonna say, you've taken the initiative to choose us, provide the power to use us, and God get the glory through us. Our prayer, my prayer. God, make us a trophy of your grace. Make us a trophy of your grace. That's the prayer for my life. I want my life to be a trophy of his grace. People look at my life and say, only God could take that and produce that. And I want this church, I want our church to be a trophy of his grace. To where there's no question a few years from now. When people say, if God can take that group and do that through that, then he can definitely do it in your life. So that his glory might spread. Okay, we're gonna fly through some of the stuff on the back here. You don't have to get out your lunch. We're gonna fly through some of this. Okay, here we go. Radical abandonment for the glory of Christ and radical dependence on the grace of Christ. Third, following Jesus, discipleship at its core is radical adherence to the person of Christ. Jesus says, follow me. We've got to see how personal this is. In light of the context of that day, what you would do with a rabbi or a teacher is you would go and you would sit and you would learn information, you would learn dogmas and rules, procedures and regulations, teachings, and then you would follow those teachings. So you would constantly listen and then try to do those things. That's not what Jesus is doing here. What I want you to see, we're gonna fly through these, the essence of Jesus' method. First of all, Jesus is gonna, okay, Jesus is gonna train all these guys. How's he gonna do it? Well, first of all, no formal school. There's not gonna be a formal school to train these guys. If I'm gonna train guys to impact the world, he says, no formal school. Second, no seminaries. You don't see seminaries anywhere in the New Testament. So that means that you can't say, well, if I had a seminary education, then I could do more things. Absolutely not. Now I'm not against seminaries, employed by one, but no seminaries. Third, no membership classes. No membership classes. Now, this is not against starting point, membership class at Brook Hills, but no time where you signed up as a member in this discipleship group. No highly organized procedures or formulas. We don't see that anywhere. Don't miss it. Jesus was his own school and curriculum, his person. And as a follower of his, you didn't just go listen to his teachings. You don't just go and listen to the laws and dogmas that you need to follow now and rabbinical law. Instead, you give yourself to a relationship with him and you stick to his person. You adhere to him, you associate with him. It's not information being disseminated, it is a relationship with individuals being poured out, Jesus investing his life into others' lives. It's not a list of rules you need to follow, it's a picture of walking with Christ. And this is huge. Because even in the way we think about learning and discipleship, we often think of a classroom and learning teachings. Now I go out and do them. But at the core, that's not what Jesus is modeling for us here. And it's not what disciple making is about. Disciple making centers, not around a classroom or a seminary or religious rules and procedures that we follow. Disciple making revolves around the person of Jesus Christ and our relationships with each other. Implications, two implications. Don't miss them. First of all, we are free. Ladies and gentlemen, we are free from legalistic ritualism. We do not come in here this morning to get a bunch of rules and laws to follow and go out and do them this week and then come back next week and try to do some more. And more and more and more and more. We walk with Christ. Now that doesn't mean we ignore his commands. No, but what we do is we come in here this morning and we delight, we lift our hearts to the person of Christ. We lift our lives to him and we say, God, Jesus, I walk with you, enable me to obey your commands. And then his message, if you love me, you obey my commands, begins to make sense. Not earn my love, but experience my love as you walk with me. We are free from legalistic ritualism, and we all know how easy it is for our Christianity to quickly deteriorate into legalism. It's following, doing the drill, and misses the whole point. We're free from legalistic ritualism, and second, we are focused on building individuals, not an institution. We are focused on building individuals, not an institution. Jesus comes on the scene and he says, I'm not setting up an organization here. He's got scholars, even the scholars who think the most time, about three years of public ministry. Out of three years, he says, I'm not going to set up one organization. He said, I'm not setting up an organization, I'm setting up relationships. And so I've got a feeling if he were here today, he would scream out to us, don't give the world an organization. Give the world relationships in line of all the needs in the world, and in line of all the needs in Birmingham and the mass needs of a lost and dying world. Don't give an organization, an institution to them. Give yourselves. Don't build up programs and procedures, and certainly don't spend all your time fighting in the church over programs and procedures. Give the world the person of Christ displayed in your personal relationships with them. Now we're starting to get at what disciple making is all about. Can I say to you this morning that as the pastor of this church, I do not live for the institutional survival of the church of Brookhills. We don't live for the institutional survival of the church of Brooke Hills. I live, we live for the individuals in this room. And the individuals outside of this room who don't know about the glory of Christ. And men and women in the entire world. That's who we live for. And that changes our Christianity. Radical adherence to the person of Christ. Fourth, radical trust in the authority of Christ. Radical trust in the authority of Christ, following Jesus. If we had time, I'd go over to Luke chapter 5 at this point. But let me just give you a synopsis of what happens there. It's the parallel account that Luke gives us of this occurrence, many scholars believe, in Matthew chapter 4. These fishermen have been fishing all night and they've caught nothing. And so they come in in the morning, got nothing to show for it. Jesus comes up and he says, Why don't you let your nets out and catch some fish? Thanks, genius, but we've already tried that and it didn't work. There's no fish out there. We're just going to pack up our nets and move on. Jesus says, Let out your nets. So they go back out. All of a sudden, fish filtering the nets. They got to bring another boat over to bring enough, bring all the all the fish in. And they realized something in that moment that would transform their relationship with Jesus. They realized Jesus knew a lot more about fishing than they did. Because he created the fish and the water and the fishermen. He could be trusted with his authority and his dominion and his power. Now, fast forward 2,000 years, I'm guessing the majority of us in this room are not fishermen by trade occupationally. We have many different occupations represented around this room. I wonder if Jesus was here today, he might not ask us, why don't you respect me more in your area of work? And your area of study and your expertise. Because here's what we do we relegate Jesus over to the side here. We disassociate him from intellectual capacity and we put him over here in the religious and the spiritual realm. But when it comes to managing a business, when it comes to creating a network of computers, when it comes to leading a classroom, when it comes to handling litigation, or when it comes to selling stocks, we're on our own. But it's not the case. It's not the case. Jesus has all authority. This is something I'd love for us to explore in the future some more. But suffice to say, at this point, in the New Testament church, these early Christians, Colossians 2, verse 9 said, We believe in Christ there is all wisdom and all knowledge. So he can be entrusted with everything everything in our lives. And your notes there, he is master of every domain in our lives. He is the master in every domain in our lives. And this is where the kingdom of God and the mission of God to make disciples of all nations will begin to take hold when people of all kinds of different occupations in this room and all kinds of different family situations and social situations and economic situations begin to let Jesus be king at the center of every domain in our lives. He knows. He knows what we need to do, how we need to lead, how we need to work to glorify his name. Not just to business, at home. Guys, he understands your wives better than you do. That's good news. Women, he understands your husbands completely. Believe it or not, he is powerful enough to understand them. He understands your children, students, kids, believe it or not, the God of the universe does understand what's going on in your parents' minds, lives. He has all authority. If he is master of every domain in our lives, then he must be Lord of every detail in our lives. And this is where following Jesus begins to infuse our day-to-day life. And it's not just a Sunday or a spiritual, even a quiet time thing over here. What it is, it's a reality in every second of our day. Radical trust in the authority of Christ. Finally, radical obedience to the mission of Christ. Radical obedience to the mission of Christ. Now, the mission, we know. Follow me, and I will make you what? Fishers of men. Okay, we got Matthew 4.19 probably memorized this morning, so mark that one off, okay? Fishers of men, that's the mission here. Now, what I want you to see is how unconventional this plan is. Think about it. The unconventional plan of Jesus. If he's got three years to create a worldwide movement for the glory, the kingdom of God, three years, how's he gonna do it? Get together a PR specialist and some other folks and draw together the largest crowd, start doing some conventions, get this thing as wide and as far as quickly as possible, bring all the multitudes together. But that's not what Jesus did. He would have multitudes, masses of people following him. And he'd turn around and say, By the way, unless you hate your mother and father, you can't follow me. And they're all gone. Just like that. The disciples looking at each other, what was that about? Next time they get a crowd following him, James turns to John. He's probably gonna say the hate your father, mother thing. They're gonna be gone. Now, is that because Jesus didn't have compassion or care for the masses, the multitudes? No. But the genius of his strategy and his life and discipleship was he would pour his life into a few men, who would pour their lives into a few, who would impact eventually the masses for the glory of Christ. 2,000 years later. Jesus knew what he was doing. And that's why, that is why when we get a hold of disciple making all across this room and we begin to follow Jesus' example and do what he has shown us how to do as we studied over the next few weeks, when we begin to do that, then we can say, I'm impacting nations for his glory. We can be a part of impacting the masses for his glory by doing what? By making disciples. Man, this is too good not to be a part of. And so these guys were unhesitant in their response. Matthew 4.19, 20, 21, 22, at once they got up and followed him. Immediately it says later on in the passage. Same word in the Greek, different translation here, but what we've got is immediately, right then, they got up and they followed him. These guys, they they lacked a lot of things. But one thing they had was obedience. Their hearts were fired and emblazoned for Jesus, and their minds were gripped with a mission to establish a kingdom on earth that Jesus of Nazareth would be the king of. And that mission compelled them. It gripped their entire destiny in life. It drove them. And I'm confessed that in the church today we have stopped. We stopped. And we left this mission over there. And I want to challenge us to rise up and at once immediately take hold of this mission. The ultimate question for the church is this Will we obey his plan? Will we obey his plan? That's the ultimate question. This is the good news. It's good news for the pastor who has now pastored a grand total of six months. He's trying to figure out what this looks like. This is good news because we don't have to come up with a new strategy or new plan or a new method throughout the years, throughout the centuries, year after year, century after century. The church comes up with new strategies, new plans, new methods. Let's sacrifice them all to the method Jesus has given us. And let's say we're not going to come up with a new plan or a new program. We're going to give ourselves the plan that we already know Jesus has promised by his own very character to bless. He will bless the church that is giving itself to make disciples of all nations, guaranteed based on the word of God. So I say we obey the plan that's been revealed to us and expect his blessing. Take him at his word and see him show his glory through his plan. What's the plan? How do you do this? Well, you follow him. And as you follow him, you say to others, follow me. Don't mess in. Christianity just went to a whole new level in our understanding right there. Because now following Christ is not about my life and what's going on in me. Now my relationship with Christ, I'm accountable for showing others to it. I'm accountable for leading others to see his goodness and his glory and his grace and his mercy. Christianity is now shifting from being self-centered to other-centered for the glory of being God-centered. And that's a huge statement. That we are supposed to say, don't miss it, that we're supposed to be able to say to people in the community around us in Birmingham, follow me. Follow me, and you will be following Christ. That's exactly what the New Testament teaches us. 1 Corinthians chapter 11, verse 1. Paul says, Imitate me, follow me as I follow Christ. And I believe it is high time for the church to raise up and stop shirking the responsibility we have to show the glory of Jesus Christ to the people around us, to show his goodness and his grace and his mercy and his care and his compassion and his word. It is time for us to rise up and take responsibility for the reason for which we have been saved. Follow me as I follow Christ. Well, there it is. It comes down to the question will we follow Jesus? I want to I want to challenge you this morning to consider two things. First of all, to consider very seriously the cost of discipleship. Radical abandonment to his glory, radical dependence on his grace, adherence to his person, radical trust in his authority, and radical obedience to his mission. Your life is not your own anymore. You've surrendered every right to determine the direction of your life. That is a great cost. But lest we focus completely on the cost of discipleship, I want to challenge you also to consider the cost that I think is much greater, and that's the cost of non-discipleship. What do you mean non-discipleship? I want to challenge you to consider the cost. What if we don't give ourselves to following Christ so that others follow us? What if we don't give ourselves to making disciples of all nations? What if we sit back at the church at Brook Hills for the next 10 or 20 years and coast and live out the American dream and enjoy the pleasures of this world? Maybe even grow as a church, but leave the mission on the side with our eternity secure. What if we take that route? Well, there's a cost there for us. And the cost for us is we will miss out on the peace and the grace and the power and the mercy that God desires to show in us. God desires for us to experience. We will miss out on his very presence. Matthew chapter 28, verse 20. We'll miss out big time on the abundance that Jesus came to give us. But not just us. The cost is also for our community. And if we coast out and ignore the mission, then the city of Birmingham gets a great institution called the Church of Archills that people come to once a week. But that has little to no real effect on the social, spiritual conditions of people living throughout Birmingham, Alabama. And they miss out on seeing his glory. Thousands miss out on coming to know his grace. Not just for us and not just for our community. But consider the cost of non-discipleship for the world. If we coast, the next year 47 million more children are born into unreached people groups that have no knowledge of the gospel. And the next year, 47 million more. And the next year, 47 million more, and the next year 47 million more. And while hundreds of millions of people in the world go on without having even heard the name of Jesus, we sit here thousands of miles away and have our comfortable services, business as usual, Sunday after Sunday. Yes, the cost of discipleship is great, but I am deeply convinced that the cost of non-discipleship is much greater. So which will we pay?

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