Discipleship Hymn (Compilation) Feat. a.w. Tozer, Stephen Olford, Major Ian Thomas — Compilations

The Crowd and the Individual Call to Discipleship

God has laid upon me, very forcibly, a message which I must bring to you this morning entitled The Demand of Discipleship. And I want to remind you that when our Lord Jesus spoke these words, a great multitude was moving with him down the streets of Jerusalem.

But I want to, in my Saviour's name, to turn to the crowd, the crowd that are surging along with Jesus, because it's the popular thing to do, it's the Sunday morning thing to do. I want to stop here this morning and challenge you as an individual within the crowd and ask you whether you've got the courage this morning and ask you whether you've got, listen, the deep insight of the Holy Ghost this morning to step out of line with the surging crowd of people, to step out of line and stand with him and say, Lord Jesus, as from this morning, cost what it will, I'm a disciple for thee.

No Rival: Christ’s Preeminence Above Every Competing Allegiance

Ladies and gentlemen, here is the first demand of discipleship. Listen to it carefully. Jesus says, No rival, no rival in your life for me. No rival in your life to Jesus Christ. For God has declared and decreed that he shall have preeminence in all things.

God has exalted him above every name that is named, beyond dominion, beyond powers, beyond principalities. He has put him at the highest place in the universe. And God says, I'll give my son no lesser place than the throne of men and women's lives in an unrivaled place.

I'm asking you, is that where Jesus Christ is in your life today? Never mind whether you've made a decision for Christ at any other time. Never mind if you call yourself a Christian. I want to go radically, fundamentally to the very base of Christian experience today and ask you, is Jesus Christ unrivaled in your life?

No rival in the life for Jesus Christ. Jesus says in the second place that the demand of discipleship means, listen carefully, no refusal in the life for Jesus Christ. No refusal in the life for Jesus Christ.

No Refusal: Bearing the Cross and Surrendering the Old Life

Listen to the word. It comes from the Savior's lips. Whosoever doth not bear his cross and come after me, he cannot be my disciple. This is the cross in your life. And the cross sells an eternal yes to all the will of God.

The cross means for you and me this morning, listen carefully, no refusal, no refusal to recognize that you have died, that you have died to the principle of the old life. Up until now your life has been, listen carefully, not Christ but I.

Not Christ but I. Not Christ but I. But this morning if you're going through with him, you're going to sing as you leave this place, not I but Christ. Not I but Christ. Christ all in all. In everything in your life.

Is your life no refusal to the life of Jesus Christ? For you see, my friends, the Christian life is an eternal no to Stephen Olsen and an eternal yes to Jesus Christ. Yes to the will of God. Listen. No rival in the life for Jesus Christ.

No refusal in the life for Jesus Christ. When Jesus Christ said demands of discipleship, he said no refusal, no rival, but something more than that, no retreat, no retreat, no retreat. If you're prepared for no rival and no refusal, I demand also no retreat.

No Retreat: Forsaking All and Following Christ Forever

For following the Lord Jesus Christ means, listen carefully, no going back, no going back. It means forsaking all. Go with him. It means burning the bridges behind you. It means never looking back again.

It means going on and on and on. Not for a day, not for a week, not for a month, not for a year, but forever. And I'm putting it to you this morning, my friends. Are you prepared for those demands? My dear friend here, listen to me very carefully.

The demands of discipleship, the demands of discipleship, they're addressed to the individual in the crowd. Just sitting here on this great Sunday morning in a great multitude, Jesus steps into the crowd and he hits the individual and he says, if any man, are you prepared to stand out today?

Are you prepared to stand out today and say, cost what those demands will, no rival, no refusal, no retreat. Cost what it will, I'm ready, Lord. May I remind you that Jesus hung there at Calvary's cross and went all the way for you.

Consecration at the Cross and Complete Surrender

He held back nothing. Will you look up into his face and say these words this morning? Will you make them your prayer? Listen, listen. Dear Lord, in full surrender at thy feet, I make my consecration vow complete.

My life I yield to thee. Henceforward there shall be no rival, no refusal, no retreat.

Dying to Self for the Resurrection Life of Christ

Unless you're prepared to let go of what you are, you will never become what God intended you to be. I want to ask you this very simple question. The moment a grain of wheat has gone to the ground and has admitted its need of dying, how much control does it have over the future?

How far can a grain of wheat that goes into the ground and dies shape its future end? From the moment that it is prepared to die, it has absolutely no say at any time about... I want you to know this.

So long as you intend to plan your own program, insist on your own blueprint, shape your own end, you'll never know the spontaneous life of Jesus Christ, quickening resurrection impact on the world around you.

But you'll never reproduce life. Only God restores life. If only you'll be prepared for his life to be released in reckless abandon, but complete un... I call to you because I do not know... works which God hath before ordained that we... who wasn't prepared for that quality of Christianity.

This is normal Christianity. This isn't fanaticism. My invitation to you tonight is to die... of his living in peace.

Always remember this. Jesus Christ is enough. He is not Christ plus somebody else, Christ and somebody else. Jesus Christ is all in all.