Following Jesus: The True Disciple of Jesus Christ

Good morning, First Baptist Church at Leominster. I hope you're all doing well. Our scripture reading this morning is Luke chapter nine, verses 18 to 26. Luke nine, 18 to 26. Now it happened that as he was praying alone, the disciples were with him.

And he asked them, who do the crowds say that I am? And they answered, John the Baptist. But others say, Elijah. And others say that one of the prophets of old has risen. Then he said to them, but who do you say that I am?

And Peter answered, the Christ of God. And he strictly charged and commanded them to tell this to no one, saying, the son of man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and scribes and be killed and on the third day be raised.

And he said to all, if anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. But for whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.

For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? For whoever is ashamed of me and my words, of him will the son of man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the father and of the holy angels.

Let's pray. Our heavenly father, we are so thankful that you are a faithful God. We're thankful that you are a sovereign God, that you are an omnipotent God. And Lord, we are so thankful that you are our God.

And we're grateful, Lord, to be here this morning to open up your word. We're grateful to hear Pastor Lars preach and teach what the word has to say. And Lord, this is an important topic this morning, so we pray that we would have ears to hear, that we would have eyes to see.

We pray, Lord, that we would be attentive to what the word of God says and that the spirit would teach us exactly what we need to do in order to glorify and honor you. Lord, we thank you for this morning.

In Jesus' name, amen.

The Problem of Nominal Christianity

Last Lord's Day, we address the very important subject of nominal Christianity. It's a sad fact that there may be multitudes of professing Christians who claim they are believers but show themselves to be Christians in name only.

Their lives do not reflect what the word of God declares of those who know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior savingly. They're deceived in their presumption that they have salvation. Jesus said, there are many in this spiritual state.

Well, it's our responsibility, as the Lord enables us, to undeceive them, to teach and declare to them the message of true salvation, the nature of Christian living that characterizes true Christians, so that they might come to see their need for true salvation that they think wrongly they currently possess.

In this way, perhaps the Lord will have mercy and call those Christians in name only to come to him in truth for salvation from their sin. And this is the great burden of my heart, to awaken people to true salvation.

Now, in setting forth this subject last week, we showed that though the scriptures teach that we're justified by God through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone, the life of one who has saving faith is a very difficult life to live.

It's not an easy matter to live in this fallen world as Christians. The way of the Christian life can only be realized through intense, persistent striving, as our Lord Jesus taught his hearers. And this is what we pressed upon you last week.

He said, strive to enter the narrow door for many I tell you will seek to enter and will not be able. That's Luke 13, 24. The life of the true Christian is one of trial and trouble, of testing and temptation.

As our Lord Jesus taught the large crowds gathered before him, he declared, enter by the narrow gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction. And there are many who go in by it, because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life.

And there are few who find it. Those are our Lord's words toward the end of his sermon on the mount. And so we may ask again ourselves, we may ask you, is your life as a true Christian involved in striving and fighting, resisting, enduring, overcoming that which is distressing and threatening as you follow this course onto your promised inheritance?

Because this is the nature of the Christian life. We had sought to give evidence last week, an emphasis of the scriptures to the challenging and demanding life that's before the true Christian, that he must live if he's to overcome and stand before God as a saved man or a saved woman.

But we also stress that the Christian life is impossible to live apart from the grace of God that the Holy Spirit gives his people. Living the Christian life takes power, takes spiritual power. Only those who are born again can live the Christian life according to the word of God, because they have the grace of God operating within them.

Palm Sunday and the Triumphal Entry of Jesus

Now today, I would like us to consider in more detail the nature of this life that the scripture set forth as true Christianity. What is it that distinguishes a true Christian from a nominal Christian, from one who is just a Christian in name only?

And the answer is that nature and manner that a person follows Jesus Christ in life. That's how you tell who a true Christian is and who is not. How does he follow Jesus Christ in this life? In short, a true Christian is a true disciple of Jesus Christ.

A disciple of Christ is a Christian. A Christian is a disciple of Christ. And so we want to consider this matter today and we'll do so as we consider our Lord's triumphal entrance into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday.

And so let's consider the gospel accounts of our Lord Jesus entering Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. Today, of course, being one week before Easter Sunday, is Palm Sunday, which commemorates the triumphal entry of our Lord Jesus into Jerusalem.

This event signaled the onset of his last week of ministry culminating in his crucifixion, burial, and resurrection. The triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem is recorded in all four gospels. It signaled the arrival of the son of David, the Messiah, who would soon be coronated as the promised king of Israel.

And each of the gospel accounts record in slightly different words, the welcome of Jesus by the people of Jerusalem. And so let's consider briefly the different descriptions and depictions of these gospels by the gospel writers of our Lord's triumphal entry on that Palm Sunday.

The account in Matthew declared that the entrance of Jesus into Jerusalem on a donkey was a fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy, specifically Zechariah 9, verse 9, in which we read of the promised king of Israel.

And so in Matthew 19, four and five, we read, all this was done that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken by the prophet saying, tell the daughter of Zion, behold, your king is coming to you, lowly and sitting on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey.

Matthew emphasized that the entrance of Jesus into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday was the arrival of a king. And then Matthew recorded the voice of the people welcoming Jesus on this occasion. In Matthew 19, nine, then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out saying, Hosanna to the son of David.

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, Hosanna in the highest. The people saw the arrival and entrance of Jesus into Jerusalem as the coming king, who is the promised son of David, who is about to commence his reign over the promised kingdom of God.

The same account, according to Luke and his gospel, gives a similar but slightly different emphasis of the crowd welcoming Jesus. And so in Luke 9, 37 and 38, we read, then as he was now drawing near the descent to the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples and that's unique to Luke, he describes the crowd as disciples, began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works they had seen, saying, blessed is the king.

Just as Matthew did, Luke emphasizes Jesus as the arrival of the king who comes in the name of the Lord. Peace in heaven and glory in the highest. And so Luke emphasizes it was principally his disciples that welcomed his arrival as the promised king whom the father had sent to them.

And then the account of the gospel of Mark reads this way. And many spread their clothes on the road. Others cut down leafy branches from the trees and spread them on the road. And then those who went before and those who followed cried out, saying, Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

Blessed is the kingdom of our father David that comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest. And so Mark also declared that Jesus was the promised son of King David who had arrived to establish his reign over the restored kingdom of Israel.

And lastly, we read of the account in John's gospel. Here is his description, a depiction of this triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. The next day, a great multitude that had come to the feast when they had heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him and cried out, Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

The king of Israel is declared by John. And then Jesus, when he had found a young donkey, sat on it as it is written, fear not daughter of Zion. Behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey's coal.

His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written about him, that they had done these things to him. And then we read these words in John's gospel, which are unique to this gospel, not found in the synoptics of Matthew, Mark and Luke.

Jesus said, most assuredly I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone. But if it dies, it produces much grain. He who loves his life will lose it. He who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.

If anyone serves me, let him follow me. And where I am there, my servant will be also. If anyone serves me, him, my father will honor. So these four accounts set forth the truth that on that Palm Sunday, Jesus, the promised Messiah, the son of David had arrived to Jerusalem where he would be coronated the king over the promised kingdom of David.

God had promised this kingdom throughout the Old Testament scriptures, having given great emphasis to it throughout the prophets. The people of Israel had long anticipated the establishment of the kingdom.

They were looking forward to the kingdom and they knew that in Jesus, that kingdom had now arrived. And so it was on this occasion that the disciples of Jesus and the people of Jerusalem recognized and acknowledged that the promised event had arrived.

Jesus of Nazareth was the promised son of David who would begin his reign as king. He entered Jerusalem as the promised Messiah, the promised king of Israel. However, after our Lord's triumphal entrance as the son of David, it did not appear to anyone that in the subsequent days that Jesus acted in a manner that they had anticipated of their promised king.

Yes, Jesus performed some miracles during those days. He continued to proclaim the word of God faithfully and thus fulfilling his calling and his commission by his father. But the week ended in his betrayal, his arrest, his trials, his crucifixion and burial.

Upon his crucifixion, even his disciples were sorely disappointed, for they had thought that he was the promised one, but he had died. Two of them expressed their discouragement and disillusionment. They said to Jesus whom they did not recognize on the day of his resurrection, well, we were hoping that it was he who is going to redeem Israel.

No one had then understood that God had actually glorified his son upon his cross that would qualify him to assume his regal throne in heaven as king of kings and Lord of lords. No one understood. Now, it's not surprising that those Jewish disciples had initially thought that their expectations had gone unrealized and that their hopes had been dashed.

We can understand that. They were deeply distraught when he died upon his cross, even though our Lord Jesus had repeatedly told his disciples that's what would happen to him upon his arrival to Jerusalem.

Consider these statements of our Lord to his disciples, instructing and preparing them for what they would witness when they arrived there. We read in Matthew 16, 21, from that time, Jesus began to show to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and be raised the third day.

In Matthew 17, 12, Jesus had declared to them, so also the son of man will certainly suffer at their hands. In Matthew 20, 18 and 19, we read Jesus's words. Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem and the son of man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes and they will condemn him to death and deliver him to the Gentiles to mock and to scourge and to crucify and the third day he will rise again.

And then in Luke 17, 25, Jesus said of himself, but first he, referring to himself, must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. But in spite of our Lord's repeated and clear instruction to his disciples, his death brought them a sense of defeat and disillusionment because they thought their hopes and their desires had been unfulfilled.

He entered Jerusalem as a king, but by the end of the week, it appeared to them he was not king. And so no, it's not surprising that ignorance and error characterized them in those days. Of course, their errant perceptions of the manner in which he would ascend his throne and the nature of his kingdom over which he reigned underwent a total transition upon our Lord's resurrection.

And as they came to understand through his post-resurrection instruction and particularly with the gift of the Holy Spirit given to them on the day of Pentecost, they came to see that he had indeed been glorified in his death on the cross and that in his resurrection and ascension, his enthronement in heaven over the kingdom of God had been realized.

Jesus Christ is Lord. And this was the message they went out into the world proclaiming. And so it's understandable that they struggled, they were confused, and they were in error for a time, a brief time.

The Present Reign of Christ and the Davidic Kingdom

However, and let me speak candidly here, it is quite a surprising and frankly, rather alarming reality that many, many Christians continue to have aberrant views of what transpired through the Passion Week that resulted in our Lord's crucifixion and his resurrection and his enthronement.

For there are numbers of Christians who continue to deny that Jesus Christ was enthroned as the son of David over the promised kingdom of Israel. In spite of the many clear descriptions and proclamations of the impending enthronement of Jesus as the son of David, reigning over the promised kingdom of God, there are many Christians, really due to the influence of dispensational teaching to which they've been subjected, who believe that though Jesus had presented himself as the promised son of David, the king of Israel, Jesus had actually failed to ascend that throne of his father, David.

They believe that because of the Jews' rejection of Jesus as their king, that the reign of Jesus Christ as the son of David failed to take place. They teach that Jesus will not be seated on the throne of David until his second coming.

Then he will be enthroned, they say, on a literal throne of David in Jerusalem at the onset of a future 1 ,000-year Davidic kingdom on earth. Here are some statements that reflect their errant views of the Davidic kingdom.

John R. Rice was an evangelist in the first part of the 20th century. He wrote, the Jews rejected Christ as their king and the kingdom was postponed. In other words, this church age, we do not see the kingdom of David.

We don't see the kingdom of Israel. That doesn't take place until the second coming. It was postponed. Another declared, God made the attempt to set up his kingdom on earth, but the Jews rejected it, and so the kingdom has been withdrawn until the second coming.

Here's another statement to this position. Jesus was set aside as king at his baptism, and then he validated his messianic claims by his authoritative teaching, signs, and miracles. The nation refused to respond in faith and obedience to Jesus's claims and ministry, and lost the blessings that could have been theirs.

Remember that blessings can be lost by disobedience without invalidating the promises of the unconditional covenant. The Davidic kingdom was not inaugurated, and Jesus did not begin to rule. I find that nearly blasphemous in the light of what the scriptures teach.

The same writer describes his understanding of a future earthly Davidic kingdom of Israel. This aspect of the kingdom of God is yet future, and as the name implies, will last for 1 ,000 years. This facet of the kingdom will fulfill the great, eternal, unconditional covenants of the Old Testament, particularly the Davidic covenant, and then he cites 2 Samuel 7.

As was discussed in previous chapters, this kingdom will be on earth, where Jesus Christ will physically, literally rule after his second coming. This aspect of the kingdom of God is sometimes called the messianic kingdom, since the ruler will be the Messiah.

This is the kingdom that John the Baptist declared that was at hand, and this is the kingdom that was offered to the nation of Israel by both John the Baptist and Jesus. It was this aspect of the kingdom that was rejected by the nation when they spurned the Lord Jesus, but in the future time of the tribulation, Israel will once again be offered this kingdom.

At that time, they will accept it, and Jesus will rule on the throne of David, I would argue this is terrible error. They believe and teach that the kingdom that God promised to the son of David would not be inaugurated unless and until unbelieving Jews chose to accept it, but the apostles declared forthrightly that in spite of the rejection of Jesus by the Jews, God the Father enthroned Jesus as King of Kings.

And Lord of Lords.

When Jesus Christ returns, there will be a full manifestation of the kingdom, but it will be of that kingdom over which he now reigns, which was inaugurated when he rose from the dead and was seated on his father's throne in heaven.

The apostle Paul, or pardon me, the apostle Peter declared this truth on the day of Pentecost, that God had enthroned Jesus, the son of David, as both Lord and Christ, that is, Messiah. Here's Acts 2 .22 and following.

Men of Israel, hear these words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, signs, which God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves also know him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified and put to death whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death because it was not possible that he should be held by it, for David says concerning him.

Peter's quoting now Old Testament scripture. Quoting King David, I foresaw the Lord always before my face for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken, and therefore my heart rejoiced and my tongue was glad and moreover my flesh also will rest in hope for you will not leave my soul in Hades, the abode of the dead, nor will you allow your holy one to see corruption, his body would not undergo decay even though he died.

You've made known to me the ways of life, you will make me full of joy in your presence. Then Peter made the application. Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, his tomb is with us to this day, and therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, that is a descendant of David, according to the flesh he would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne, he for saying this spoke concerning the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption, this Jesus God is raised up of which we're all witnesses, and therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he poured out this which you now see in here, for David did not ascend into the heavens, he says himself, the Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand till I make your enemies your footstool, and therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly God has made this Jesus whom you crucify both Lord and Christ.

That's a declaration that God made Jesus King, Lord, the promised Messiah, regardless of his rejection by Israel, and the idea in the teaching that somehow the kingdom is not gonna be established until the Jews accept him, is just contrary to what the Holy Scriptures teach.

Peter declared that the crucified but risen Jesus was the promised son of David who is now the enthroned king over the kingdom of God, and yet this false teaching persists, in fact it's believed and understood by well intention, by the way, and I would add godly Christians, but they haven't been taught rightly about this, and so here's another comment that reflects the errant view that the Davidic kingdom is somehow a future reality only after the second coming of Jesus Christ.

Jesus is not sitting on his throne now, but he will sit on the throne of David at his second coming, not in the rapture of the saints when we go up in the air to meet him, but after our honeymoon in heaven when Jesus comes visibly, boldly, and literally with all his holy angels to reign on this earth, in other words, seven years after the rapture, he's saying, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory.

Certainly that kingdom is in the future and not the present. Do not be discouraged, dear Christian, for all God has promised he will do, and the savior shall have that kingdom that rightfully belongs to him and shall reign on the throne of David on the earth.

Here's another claim that the kingdom that Jesus will rule over was offered to Israel but was postponed because of Israel's unbelief and rejection of their messiah. Now let us review. Jesus came to Israel as her messiah, but he taught such lofty spiritual principles that he was rejected by the Jewish leaders.

This meant that the kingdom of Old Testament prophecy could not be established at this time. As this unbelief moved toward its climax, Jesus began to prepare his disciples for his crucifixion, his resurrection, and the church age.

Then he died on the cross to pay for our sins, rose again to break death's power. Someday he will return to bring in the postponed kingdom and to reign over the earth in glory. That's a denial of the present authority and rule of King Jesus in heaven.

Jesus is Lord of lords and King of kings. And so these writers are not only wrong as to when the Lord Jesus began his reign as the promised son of David, but they are also wrong in the manner in which Jesus attains his throne.

They teach that Jesus failed to become king at his first coming because he suffered and died on his cross, but that he will become king at his second coming because then he will come with power to overthrow and destroy those who would attempt to prevent his kingly rule occurring.

But this is wholly wrong. It's not Christ coming on a white horse, conquering his enemies that entitles and enables him to rule as the promised king, but it was through his denial of self, his absolute submission and compliance to obey his father, even under the death of the cross, that qualified him and opened for him the throne that his father had set before him.

As is set forth repeatedly in John's gospel, the glorification of Jesus Christ, that is the exaltation of Jesus Christ as king was due to his being lifted up on the cross. Jesus himself declared with respect to his cross, now is the judgment of the world.

Now the ruler, in other words, the devil, now the ruler of this world will be cast out and I, if I'm lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to himself. He was glorified on the cross and that being lifted up on the cross was the beginning of a movement that took him right up to the very throne of God and he was seated at the right hand of the father and he rules from that throne even on to this day.

But these writers, these many, well, again, well-intentioned Christians deny this. They see the kingdom of David as a literal physical kingdom belonging to ethnic Jews only at a future time and it is a denial of the present rule and reign of Jesus Christ.

And so let us understand and affirm this very important biblical teaching. Christ's denial of self in service to his father was the path to glorification. The Holy Scriptures teach clearly and repeatedly that it was due to our Lord's denial of himself, his desire and willingness to obey his father, although it resulted in his death, which qualified him to be seated upon his throne.

These well-meaning Christians who deny our Lord's present reign over the promised Davidic kingdom teach, whereas in his first coming, he came to die to redeem his people from their sin, when he comes again, he will come to reign.

And in doing so, they essentially say that the manner in which Jesus taught and lived that resulted in his crucifixion failed to achieve for him his kingly authority. He suffered and died. It's only when he comes again in power that he will then forcefully enter into his reign.

But this is a denial of the most basic of biblical principles that it was through our Lord's humble obedience onto his father, unto death, that qualified him to become king of kings and Lord of lords.

It was not through the conquering power of the sword that he comes into his reign, but through his denial of himself, his suffering and dying upon his cross. It was for this reason that the father raised him and gave him a name above every name.

When our Lord Jesus entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, he did so as the faithful servant of God, his father. The Lord Jesus did not seek to further his own name, to secure his own advancement, to gain the popular support of the people or the Jewish leadership in order to acquire his throne.

Jesus did nothing to acquire, achieve the exaltation of himself, to be popularly proclaimed as king. Every word that he spoke, every action he took was designed to honor his father and to direct the people to do the same.

On the day after Palm Sunday, Jesus entered the temple and overthrew the money changers. That's not gonna get a popular response from the people or the Jewish leaders. He charged the people in the temple for desecrating his father's house.

Throughout the week, the Lord confronted those who opposed him, who sought to discredit his teaching before the people. In all that he did, he did as the faithful servant.

Of the Lord.

And when he was alone with his disciples, he said to them, for who is the greater, one who reclines at table or one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at table, but I am among you as one who serves, Luke 22, 27.

His behavior and his teaching led to and resulted in his arrest, trial and crucifixion. But that is what actually led to and resulted in God the Father exalting him and enthroning him in heaven. It was due to our Lord's denial of self, his willingness to serve his father and all others, rather than serving himself, that led to and resulted in his coronation as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

We read of this in Isaiah 53, the fourth servant song of the prophecy of Isaiah, in which Jesus is set forth as the faithful servant of the Lord. We read, yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him. That's God the Father, of course, bruising Christ upon the cross, killing him, as it were, by crucifixion.

He has put him to grief. When you make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. He shall see the labor of his soul and be satisfied, and by his knowledge, my righteous servant shall justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities.

Look at verse 12, it speaks, therefore, as a consequence of this obedient servant dying in order to redeem his people, therefore, as a result of this, God the Father declares, I will divide him a portion with the great.

He shall divide the spoiled with the strong, because he poured out his soul unto death, and he was numbered with the transgressors, and he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

It was through our Lord's active and passive obedience unto his Father, who directed him to die upon his cross in order to redeem his people, that Jesus became qualified to become Lord over all. When Adam and Eve first sinned in the Garden of Eden, it was because of a supreme act of selfishness on their part, they chose to serve themselves rather than God.

Adam served himself above serving God and his wife. In contrast to that first Adam, the last Adam, Jesus Christ, merited our salvation through his own faithful submission and obedience to his Father's will, choosing not to serve himself, but to serve his Father unto death, in order to save from death the ones that the Father had given him.

Jesus Christ did not live for himself, but for his Father and for his people the Father sent him to redeem. But importantly, and this is where it comes down to an application for you and me as Christians, we need to understand thirdly, that Christ's path to his glorification is the path of true disciples of Jesus Christ.

Just as he lived, we are to live. We are to follow him, Jesus said, in the way that he lived. And so as our Lord Jesus taught the Jewish crowds in the temple in Jerusalem, even as he also engaged and refuted the Jewish leaders who had attempted to discredit him before the people, we read that many believed on him.

We read in John 8, 30, as he spoke these words, many believed in him. We might assume that, well, these people became true Christians because they believed. They'd become justified before God through faith alone in Christ.

But although that may have been true for some of them, it was not necessarily true of all of them. For then Jesus told these believers that they must prove themselves to be true disciples. And so we read in verse 31 of John 8, then Jesus said to those Jews who believed him, if you abide in my word, you are my disciples indeed.

They would prove themselves to be the disciples of Jesus Christ by abiding or continuing in his word. Or to say it another way, the only way these believers could legitimately show themselves to be Jesus' true disciples was if they continued to hear, believe, and do his words, to order their lives according to his will.

In this way, they would demonstrate that they were his disciples indeed. Now, it's important for us to understand that although these people had believed on him, only those who were truly his disciples would receive salvation from their sin.

All true believers in Jesus Christ are true disciples of Jesus Christ. Again, we read in verse 31, Jesus said to those Jews who believed him, if you abide in my word, you are my disciples indeed. In Luke 9, 23 and following, Jesus declared that salvation belonged only to his disciples.

Pastor Jason read this passage earlier. Then he, Jesus, said to them all, if anyone desires to come after me, that is to follow me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me. And then he speaks about salvation is contingent on whether you do this or not.

For whosoever desires to save his life will lose it. But whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world and himself is destroyed or lost? 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.

According to the Bible, to be a Christian is to be a true disciple of Jesus Christ. To be a true disciple is to be a Christian. A disciple of Jesus Christ is not an especially dedicated believer, as so many people think, one who's really sold out for the Lord, no.

A true disciple of Jesus Christ is a true Christian. Becoming a disciple of Jesus Christ is not the result of progressive sanctification,.

Growing in the Lord.

Rather, becoming a disciple occurs decisively at the outset of the Christian life. That's what it is to become a Christian, you become a disciple of Jesus Christ. The commitment to be a disciple of Christ is concurrent with saving faith itself.

They are inseparable. And so the life of a true disciple of Jesus Christ is the way of life for the true believer, the one who has salvation through Jesus Christ. All who claim to have faith, all who claim to believe on Jesus, but if they're not demonstrating they are true disciples of Jesus Christ, they do not possess or manifest saving faith.

They will not inherit salvation. Their faith is dead, being alone, as James wrote. So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead, James 2 .17. The Reformed pastor and writer, James Montgomery Boyce, who passed away in the year 2000, he wrote about this matter in a very good book.

He's now with the Lord. In his ministry, he served faithfully the 10th Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia. He published over 50 books, and he was a model leader among Reformed pastors throughout the English-speaking world in the latter quarter of the 20th century.

And he wrote these words about the nature of true saving faith and its relationship to discipleship. There is a fatal defect in the life of Christ's church in the 20th century, a lack of true discipleship.

Discipleship means forsaking everything to follow Christ. But for many of today's supposed Christians, perhaps the majority, it is the case that while there's much talk about Christ and even much furious activity, there is actually very little following of Christ himself.

And that means in some circles, there's very little genuine Christianity. Many who fervently call him Lord, Lord, are not Christians. A reference to Matthew 7, 21. There are several reasons that the situation I've described is common in today's church.

The first is a defective theology that has crept over us like a deadening fog. This theology separates faith from discipleship and grace from obedience. It teaches that Jesus can be received as one's Savior without being received as one's Lord.

Discipleship is not a supposed second step of Christianity, as if one first became a believer in Jesus and then if he chooses a disciple. From the beginning, discipleship is involved in what it means to be a Christian.