The Unconverted “Believer” (7): The True Disciple of Jesus Christ

Pastor Jason will come and read for us in our New Testament, Acts chapter 10.

Last week we read of the Apostle Paul's conversion and of course that was in preparation for the

Lord breaking out into the world, taking the gospel to the Gentiles. And Acts chapter 10 records really the initial going forth of the gospel to a

Roman, a centurion, a Gentile, and his household. And Peter, being a devout

Jewish man, had trouble about this, resisted it.

God had to prove it to him in quite a remarkable way. For even to go into a

Gentile's house was forbidden in their minds. And yet even as the chapter opens, we find

Simon staying in a tanner's house, you know, in a place where death was. Already there was some movement on his part.

But here we see the Gentiles coming to faith in Christ through the proclamation of the gospel by the

Apostle Peter. Acts chapter 10. Acts chapter 10.

At Caesarea, there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion of what was known as the

Italian cohort, a devout man who feared God with all his household, gave alms generously to the people, and prayed continually to God.

About the ninth hour of the day, he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God come in and say to him,

Cornelius. And he stared at him in terror and said, what is it, Lord? And he said to him, your prayers and your alms have ascended as a memorial before God.

And now send men to Joppa and bring one Simon who is called Peter. He is lodging with one

Simon, a tanner, whose house is by the sea. When the angel who spoke to him had departed, he called two of his servants and a devout soldier from among those who attended him.

And having related everything to them, he sent them to Joppa. The next day as they were on their journey and approaching the city,

Peter went up on the housetop about the sixth hour to pray. And he became hungry and wanted something to eat.

But while they were preparing it, he fell into a trance and saw the heavens opened and something like a great sheet descending, being led down by its four corners upon the earth.

In it were all kinds of animals and reptiles and birds of the air. And there came a voice to him, rise,

Peter, kill and eat. But Peter said, by no means, Lord, for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean.

And the voice came to him again a second time, what God has made clean, do not call common.

This happened three times and the thing was taken up at once to heaven. Now while Peter was inwardly perplexed as to what the vision that he had seen might mean, behold, the men who were sent by Cornelius, having made inquiry for Simon's house, stood at the gate and called out to ask whether Simon who was called

Peter was lodging there. And while Peter was pondering the vision, the spirit said to him, behold, three men are looking for you, rise and go down and accompany them without hesitation, for I have sent them.

And Peter went down to the men and said, I am the one you were looking for, what is the reason for your coming?

And they said, Cornelius, a centurion, an upright and God -fearing man who was well -spoken of by the whole

Jewish nation was directed by a holy angel to send for you to come to his house and to hear what you have to say.

So he invited them in to be his guests. The next day he arose and went away with them and some of the brothers from Joppa accompanied him.

And on the following day they entered Caesarea. Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends.

When Peter entered, Cornelius met him and fell down at his feet and worshiped him. But Peter lifted him up and said, stand up,

I too am a man. And as he talked with him, he went in and found many persons gathered.

And he said to them, you yourselves know how unlawful it is for a Jew to associate with or to visit anyone of another nation.

But God has shown me that I should not call any person common or unclean. So when

I was sent for, I came without objection. I ask then, why you sent for me?

And Cornelius said, four days ago about this hour, I was praying in my house at the ninth hour.

And behold, a man stood before me in bright clothing and said, Cornelius, your prayer has been heard and your alms have been remembered before God.

Send therefore to Joppa and ask for Simon who is called Peter. He is lodging in the house of Simon a

Tanner by the sea. So I sent for you at once and you have been kind enough to come. Now, therefore, we are all here in the presence of God to hear all that you have been commanded by the

Lord. So Peter opened his mouth and said, truly I understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation, anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.

As for the word that he sent to Israel, preaching good news of peace through Jesus Christ, he is

Lord of all. You yourselves know what happened throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism that John proclaimed, how

God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil for God was with him.

And we are witnesses of all that he did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree, but God raised him up on the third day and made him to appear, not to all the people, but to us who had been chosen by God as witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.

And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead.

To him, all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.

While Peter was still saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word. And the believers among the circumcised who had come with Peter were amazed because the gift of the

Holy Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles. For they were hearing them speaking in tongues and extolling

God. Then Peter declared, can anyone withhold water from baptizing these people who have received the

Holy Spirit just as we have? And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.

Then they asked him to remain for some days. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, our salvation is truly an amazing gift.

And we thank you for it. We thank you for the life of Christ, for his death, for his resurrection, for his ascension.

We thank the Lord for how you have worked in the church and for how you have saved us.

And Lord, we're grateful to be here this morning as we lift up your name through song and through praise and through the sermon and through teaching.

We pray, Lord, that you would guide us and direct us as we listen to your words. We pray that you would sink them deep into our hearts and that we would live them out, that we would practice them and that we would be obedient.

So we thank you, Lord, for this time. We pray that we would be focused and that you would direct our attention to what the word of God states.

Thank you, Lord, in Jesus' name, amen. Amen. A most blessed

Christian author of the 20th century was Arthur Pinck. He was not popular really while living, but he died in 1952 and thereafter, his books became very widely read and published.

He always sought to exalt the glory of God in all of his writings. And Pinck's life's purpose might be stated in this way, to humble the pride of man, to exalt the grace of God in salvation and to promote real holiness in heart and life.

That would have been a good statement that he would have claimed for himself.

He sought to set forth the true nature and way of salvation against much prevalent error.

And that would have been about, you know, again, from about 1930 to 1952, 1920 to 1952.

Those were difficult, dark times in the English speaking world regarding the faith.

He wrote these words of his desire and effort. Now it is the duty of God's servants, pastors, to provide help, to exercise souls on this extremely important matter, being salvation, to expose the lies of these false prophets to make plain the way of salvation.

And this is best done by defining and showing the relation of good works onto salvation.

For it is at this point more than any other that the emissaries of Satan have fatally deceived souls.

The principle errors which have been advanced thereon may be summed up under these two heads, salvation by works and salvation without works.

The first of these two errors, of course, is taught by Roman Catholicism, and we live in Roman Catholic country.

Rome teaches that through one's good works, produced by grace, the sinner earns

God's favor and secures his own salvation by the merit of those works produced by grace.

And this, of course, is contrary to the teaching of the Holy Scriptures, the word of God. The second error, however, that a sinner can have salvation without works is really the popular teaching of a vast number of evangelicals,

Bible believers, they would say. They've been taught that salvation may be attained if they only believe the truth regarding who

Jesus Christ is and what he did through his life, his death on his cross for sinners, and his resurrection from the dead.

You believe those things and you can be saved. They teach that faith alone is necessary for salvation, not good works.

Might sound good on the surface. Good works are desirable, they would say, but they are not essential to the obtaining of salvation.

And so just as Arthur Pink sought to dispel and correct this false understanding, as we'll explain further, so we as well.

Although we are not saved by our works, obviously, we will not be saved apart from our works.

Although good works are not the grounds of our salvation, Christ's works are. They are essential to salvation.

And so addressing today's passage that we'll be turning to shortly, underscore this biblical truth.

Now the last time we were considering this important subject two weeks ago, or the unconverted believer, we spoke about the conversion event itself and the life that characterizes the narrow path that leads on to eternal life.

Jesus taught his disciples the way of salvation in Matthew 7, enter by the narrow gate, that's a command, why?

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.

That's eternal life, it leads to it. And there are a few who find it. And we pointed out how entering the narrow gate is a metaphor of the conversion of a guilty sinner becoming a true

Christian. And then the difficult way that is followed after entering that gate depicts the kind of life that leads the

Christian on to eternal life. And so our Lord not only described the rather obscure and difficult gate of entrance, but he also spoke of the difficulty of the way and the relative fewness of people who choose that course in life.

It's a small gate to enter, it's a narrow and difficult path that leads to life.

And this is in contrast, Jesus said, to the great number of the people of the world who will never find or pursue this way onto eternal life.

Well, today we wanna turn to Matthew 16 and we'll consider verses 21 through 28, in which we read our

Lord setting forth in greater detail the nature of this difficult way that leads to life.

The one who enters the narrow gate of repentance from sin and faith in Jesus Christ sets out upon his lifelong journey to gain eternal life.

And it's set forth here in Matthew 16 as that of a true disciple of Jesus Christ.

But before we begin this specific passage, we wanna consider, let's first provide the setting for our Lord's words in Matthew 16.

The Galilean ministry of Jesus was drawn to a close and so the Lord and his disciples were about ready to travel to Jerusalem, leaving

Galilee. And there in Jerusalem, he was destined to suffer many things from the elders, chief priests and scribes and be killed.

But there of course, he would also on the third day be raised. When Jesus first called his disciples to follow him, they did not understand his true identity.

That he was the Messiah. He referred to himself to them as the son of man. They didn't know what that meant.

Jesus did not disclose to them his true identity as the promised Messiah lest they project their errant

Jewish perceptions of the kind of Messiah they thought God would send to remove their transgression from having broken the law and to inaugurate the promised kingdom of David.

He didn't reveal himself to be the Messiah directly to them. Over the course of his ministry,

Jesus revealed to them the true nature of his mission. And it was just prior to the event recorded in our passage of Matthew 16, that his followers came to fully comprehend and confess his true identity.

Jesus of Nazareth is the promised Messiah. Jesus had asked them, who do men say that I am the son of man am?

And after several responses, he then asked them, but who do you say that I am? And Peter responded, probably on behalf of all of the disciples there.

You are the Christ, the son of the living God. And it was then that Jesus said to Peter, blessed are you

Simon son of Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my father who is in heaven.

And I also say to you that you are Peter and on this rock, I will build my church and the gates of Haiti shall not prevail against it.

And I'll give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven.

Whatever you lose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Now that's Matthew 16, 17 to 19.

But then Jesus prohibited them from making his identity known.

We read, then he commanded his disciples that they should tell no one that he was Jesus the

Christ. It is then however, that Jesus began to teach them clearly and forthrightly of his approaching suffering, his death and his resurrection that would take place in Jerusalem.

Upon imparting this information to them, he then set before them their responsibility to commit themselves fully and wholly to live for him.

He assured them that though the way would prove to be difficult for them, the outcome of their life of discipleship to him would be glorious.

It would result in the salvation of their souls. We might say that this is one of the clearest passages of Holy Scripture in which we are taught what it is to become and to live as true disciples of Jesus Christ.

We also might say that the Lord Jesus set forth here more fully the nature of the difficult way that we considered last time, the difficult way that leads to life.

It is the way of his disciple of Jesus Christ. And so with that in mind, let's now read

Matthew 16, 21 through 28. 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.

And Peter took him aside, began to rebuke him saying, far be it from you,

Lord, this shall not happen to you. But he, Jesus turned and said to Peter, get behind me,

Satan, you are an offense to me, for you're not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.

And Jesus said to his disciples, if anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself and take up this cross and follow me.

For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul?

Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man will come in the glory of his

Father with his angels, and then he will reward each according to his works.

Assuredly, I say to you, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.

And there's debate about the meaning of that last statement. It may be a reference to his transfiguration, maybe not.

Now, in our attempt to set forth the true nature of conversion and the way of salvation that the word of God reveals to us, we've also sought to give reasons why there are so many nominal

Christians in evangelical churches, those who wrongly believe that they have salvation.

Our Lord Jesus declared that in the day of judgment, there will be many, many who think themselves to be true

Christians, only then to hear the pronouncement, I never knew you, depart from me, you who practice lawlessness.

They will be excluded from his presence, sentenced to everlasting damnation for having lived lives of lawlessness.

It's difficult to imagine witnessing so many shocked and horror -struck souls who are excluded from the blessing of eternal life as they are consigned to the blackness of darkness forever.

And it's our desire and intention that no one here or no one within the sphere of influence of this church's ministry discover themselves to be among the lost on that great day of judgment.

We do not want that to happen to you and we'll do everything the Lord enables us to do to prevent that from happening.

That's why we speak clearly and boldly about these matters. We desire that every one of you will hear the words of the

Lord on that day, come you blessed of my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

Surely we want to hear those words on the day of judgment. We've shown that there are presently in churches and there will be on that day, many who are

Christian in name only, nominal Christians, because the true nature of salvation is not clearly and widely taught and the content of the biblical gospel is not fully proclaimed in our opinion.

And so all too often the gospel, so -called gospel that's proclaimed is simply this. If you simply believe who

Jesus Christ is in truth, that he is the son of God and God the son who lived a sinless life, but who died on the cross as a substitute for sinners, but that he rose again the third day, then you will be eternally saved.

Just believe that, it's all there is. And so it is commonly asserted, you need not do anything but believe.

After all, we're not saved by works, but by faith alone. But we would argue that that is a distortion of the way of salvation.

Again, we read in Matthew 16, 21, that Jesus would suffer and die, then be raised, but then he told his disciples that they too must follow him in the same way as he was going before them.

Jesus said, if anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

Those are things you must do. Now, if you have saving faith, you will do those things. It will lead you to do those things, but you must do those things.

And he reasons in verse 25, for whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

For what's the profit of man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul? We're talking about eternal salvation here hanging in the balance.

Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For the son of man will come in the glory of his father with his angels, and he'll reward each one according to his works.

And so we have emphasized, and we do so again, salvation is not to be understood as a one -time decision to believe on Jesus.

For although the scriptures do describe in places that true believers have been saved, past tense, in many more instances, salvation is set forth as a promise of future deliverance from condemnation on the day of judgment.

Paul wrote, now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. The Bible repeatedly talks about believers being heirs of salvation, something we're yet to inherit.

Biblical salvation is assured to them who show forth a lifelong commitment of faith to believe upon and to follow in obedience to the

Lord Jesus Christ. It's the difficult way that leads on to salvation, eternal life.

Our Lord not only informed his disciples of what was before him, but he also told them what was before them if they desired salvation.

J .C. Ryle wrote about this. In order to see the connection of these verses, we must remember the mistaken impressions of our

Lord's disciples as to the purpose of his coming into the world. Like Peter, they could not bear the idea of the crucifixion.

They thought that Jesus had come to set up an earthly kingdom. They did not see that he must need suffer and die.

They dreamed of worldly honors and temporal rewards in their master's service. They did not understand that true

Christians, like Christ, must be made perfect through sufferings. Difficult way.

Our Lord corrects their misapprehensions in words of peculiar solemnity, which we shall do well to lay up in our hearts.

Let's work through these words of our Lord carefully. So the meaning of our

Lord's instruction, first in verse 24. Jesus said, if anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

If anyone desires to come after me. This language describes the true desire of anyone who desires to become a true disciple of Jesus Christ.

It is his heart's desire to know Christ, to be his follower. It suggests a deliberate choice with a holy resolve to begin and to continue this course of life, as Matthew Henry once wrote.

Here is the law of discipleship laid down and the terms fixed upon which we may have the honor and the benefit of it.

He said this to his disciples, not only that they might instruct others concerning it, but that by this rule, they might examine their own security, observe what it is to be a disciple of Christ.

It is to come after him. And so this is the language of discipleship.

To become a disciple of Jesus Christ is to come after him. It is to follow the same course that he had traveled through life onto his cross.

It is a life of faith and obedience to the will of God. Jesus tells us that the one who desires salvation will be that one who desires to come after him.

He asks his people to do nothing that he has not done before them. Revelation 14 describes

Christians. These are the ones who follow the lamb wherever he goes. These were redeemed from among men, being firstfruits to God and to the lamb, and in their mouth was found no deceit, for they are without fault before the throne of God.

True Christians are true disciples, and they follow the lamb. Charles Spurgeon wrote of these words of our

Lord, as our Lord to fulfill his destiny must sacrifice himself, so also must everyone who would be his follower.

We sacrifice ourselves unto him. To come after Jesus is to stay close to him and to walk in the way that he lived and the way he died.

Again, Matthew Henry. A disciple of Christ comes after him as a sheep after the shepherd, the servant after his master, the soldiers after their captain.

He is one that aims at the same end that Christ aimed at, the glory of God, the glory of heaven, and the one that walks in the same way that he walked in as led by his spirit, treads in his steps, submits to his conduct, and follows the lamb whithersoever he goes.

Well, Jesus then said of the one who desires to come after him, let him deny himself. What is it to deny oneself?

Well, it is to subordinate one's own desires, comforts, and one's own will in order to do the will of God in Christ.

The disciple of Christ is committed to doing God's will foremost, rather than serving himself in his sin.

He denies himself. He has sinful desires, as everyone has sinful desires, we all do, but through the grace of God, he is no longer driven to order his thinking or living according to those desires, but rather he purposes to live according to the will of God.

He denies himself. Not my will, but thy will be done, O Lord.

And this is why Jesus could say, for whoever does the will of God is my brother, my sister, and my mother.

They're the people of God. And the scriptures declare elsewhere, the world is passing away and the lost of it, but he who does the will of God abides forever.

He who does the will of God is the Christian. True Christians are true disciples of Jesus Christ who desire and are committed to doing the will of God from the heart.

That is a desire and purpose to order their thinking and their living according to the word of God, the

Holy Bible. And so true Christians, that is true disciples, do not live lives governed by selfishness.

There is no longer the selfish insistence, I'm gonna do what I wanna do when

I wanna do it and only what I decide is best for me. That is not the words of a

Christian. Not words of a Christian who's thinking rightly, perhaps, but that's not the wording of a

Christian. For the Christian has denied himself in this way of thinking. His desire is now,

I wanna do what pleases God first and foremost, not what pleases me. That's his heart's desire.

But really that doesn't describe his attitude fully. Rather, he could say, I wanna do what pleases

God first and foremost because that is what now pleases me first and foremost, to do his will from the heart.

And so it's the desire of a renewed heart by the Spirit of God that thinks and feels that way. But then

Jesus gave further instruction to the would -be disciple and take up his cross.

This, of course, has reference to the crucifixion. Just as Jesus was willing to take up his cross and so carry it to the place of execution, so his disciples must be willing also to lay down their lives, if necessary, in order to live as his true disciples.

As one wrote, to do thus in following Jesus signifies open allegiance to Jesus, the crucified one.

Take up your cross. Such allegiance will expose one to the hostility of the world and entail the risk of losing one's life as he lost his.

In many places in the world, that's what happens when you stand up for Christ. Well, this intimates that our resolve as his disciples is to submit to the will of God through Jesus Christ without reservation or qualification.

Now, we all struggle with this, we all fail with this, but when we were converted, the argument ended, who's

Lord? He's Lord and any failure of me to conform or submit is a problem on my side because he is

Lord. And even if it entails difficulty and hardship, suffering and loss, we must be true and faithful to what he's called us to say and do.

Just as Jesus' purpose to obey his father wholly and fully, although he knew that it would result in his suffering many things from the elders, chief priests and scribes and be killed, so too, his disciples must similarly order their lives.

Take up your cross. His disciples, those who would have salvation, must also be willing to suffer and die in following him, if they desire to be raised with him.

They must make up their minds to persecution and affliction, if they intended to be his servants, they must be content to lose their lives, if they would have their souls saved.

J .C. Ryle. And then our Lord declared that those who desired to be his disciples not only were to take up their cross, but they were also to follow him.

Jesus said, follow me. So again, our Lord was telling them to do what he himself was willing to do and was about to do.

We are to follow him. We are to tread the same path that he blazed before us. It had led him to the physical city of Jerusalem, where he would suffer and die, but he did so in order to rise and to enter into the new

Jerusalem, the eternal city wherein he and his people would live forever. And we are to follow him in this same course.

Book of Hebrews lays out this whole matter of our pilgrimage following Jesus, the trailblazer, the author and finisher of our faith, the course of life that we are to take.

But after our Lord's instruction in verse 24, he then lays out three reasons why you should follow his instruction immediately without hesitation or reservation.

The Lord gives reasons for obeying his instruction. He first declared that the soul salvation was contingent on this positive response to him.

Verse 25, if the one refused or failed to do what Jesus told him to do, he would lose his soul.

But if he obeyed Jesus' instruction, his soul would be saved. Then secondly, he should do what

Jesus told him to do, for there could be no greater tragedy or calamity than to lose his own soul.

That's what happens if you fail or refuse to do so. And then third, there would be a day when

Jesus Christ would judge all humanity according to their works, the outcome of which will either be their salvation or damnation, verse 27.

So here again are verses 25 through 27, and there are reasons for obeying his instruction.

To deny yourself, take up your cross and follow him. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul?

Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man will come in the glory of his

Father with his angels, and then he will reward each according to his works. Assuredly, I say to you, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the

Son of Man coming in his kingdom. So let's consider briefly each of these assertions.

First, you should desire and commit to be a disciple of Jesus Christ, why? Because becoming his disciple would determine whether your life will be forfeited or found.

Talk about eternal life. Jesus said in verse 25, for whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

The natural desire for self -preservation should be sufficient reason to become a disciple of Jesus Christ.

To fail or to refuse to become a disciple will result in losing one's life. He made it very clear, that's the consequence.

And here, saving one's life is obtaining entrance into eternal life, and losing one's life is being consigned to eternal damnation.

You follow one course, there's life. Follow the other course, there's loss of life, damnation.

And so when Jesus said, for whoever desires to save his life will lose it, he was describing the one who insists on being the

Lord of his own life. The one who desires to save his life is the one who insists not to do the will of God in his life, but to continue in his pursuit to do as he desires as he wills, disregarding the will of God as set forth in the

Holy Scriptures. I'm gonna do what pleases me, what I want to do, and I don't care who says otherwise.

He'll lose his life. That is, at the end of his physical life, he'll be prohibited from entering into eternal life with the

Lord and his people. And when Jesus said, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it, he was speaking of the one who becomes his disciple, who ceases to order his life according to his own sinful desires, but purposes to order his life under the authority of Jesus Christ.

That person will discover and experience true life in giving up his life, he gains life. That's a paradox, isn't it?

Let any clear thinking man or woman consider the great gain that's obtained through abandoning one's sinful self -will and submitting to living under the authority of Jesus Christ.

Again, this whole passage is not talking about the content of your faith, it's talking about the nature of the way you're living.

It matters how you live, not just what you believe. And let that same person consider the great loss that will result in refusal or failure to become and live as a disciple of Jesus Christ.

Everything impinges on this. Coming after him, denying yourself, taking up your cross and following him.

That is what a true believer, a true Christian does. Obviously, it was the

Holy Spirit, the work of grace in the soul that moves him to desire and want to do that and enable him to do that.

He gives a second reason, because there's nothing more important and valuable to you than the eternal well -being of your soul.

Jesus said, for what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul, or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?

Envision, if you care, the day of judgment, when the damned soul is sent away by the Lord, having been condemned to everlasting misery.

Go up to that person on his way into hell and ask what he would be willing to give in exchange for the eternal damnation of his soul.

He would eagerly, without hesitation, if he could do so, give the entire world to escape the eternal wrath of God.

And yet people in this life will spend their whole lives pursuing just a small piece of this world that they might possess and enjoy for a brevity of time, but then they'll lose everything and they'll go to their just reward.

John Calvin wrote of the value of the soul suggested by our Lord's words. The word soul is here used in the strictest sense.

Christ reminds them that the soul of man was not created merely to enjoy the world for a few days, but to obtain at length its immortality in heaven.

What carelessness and what brutal stupidity is this, that men are so strongly attached to the world and so much occupied with its affairs as not to consider why they were born and that God gave them an immortal soul in order that when the course of the earthly life was finished, they might live eternally in heaven.

And indeed it is universally acknowledged that the soul is of a higher value than all the riches and enjoyments of the world, but yet men are so blinded by carnal or fleshly views that they knowingly and willingly abandon their souls to destruction, that the world may not fascinate us by its allurements, let us remember the surpassing worth of our soul, for if this be seriously considered, it will easily dispel the vain imaginations of earthly happiness.

Matthew Henry drew a number of lessons from these words of our Lord. We're not gonna read it for the sake of time and detail, but just consider first, every man has a soul of his own.

Secondly, it's possible for the soul to be lost and there's danger of it. The danger of your soul being lost forever.

Thirdly, if the soul be lost, it's of the sinner's own choosing. What do you desire?

Fourthly, one soul is worth more than all the world. Fifthly, the winning of the world is often the losing of the soul.

I wouldn't trade my life for one minute with the most powerful, richest man in this world.

Not for a minute. And sixth, the loss of the soul is so great a loss that the gain of the whole world will not countervail it.

In other words, they make it up. He that loses his soul, though it be to gain the world, makes a very bad bargain for himself and will sit down at last as an unspeakable loser.

Your soul is worth more than all the world. And then the

Lord gives a third reason you should desire and commit to live as a disciple because Jesus Christ will judge the people of the world according to their works.

Jesus said, for the Son of Man will come in the glory of his Father with his angels and then he will reward each according to his works.

And so how you live will one day be judged by the Lord Jesus sitting upon the throne of his glory.

His judgment according to works will not take place for only one group of people, those who will be dead.

This is a general judgment of all mankind on the last day. Jesus was talking to his disciples standing before him.

And Paul wrote, for we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ that each one may receive the things done and the body according to what he has done, whether good or bad.

Matthew Henry, again, to quote him, note, if once the soul be lost, it is lost forever.

There is no counter price that can be paid or will be accepted. It is a loss that can never be repaired, never be retrieved.

If after that great price which Christ laid down to redeem our souls and to restore us to the possession of them, they be so neglected for the world that they come to be lost, the new mortgage will never be taken off.

There remains no more sacrifice for sins, no price for souls, but the equity of redemption is eternally precluded or lost.

Therefore, it is good to be wise in time and do well for ourselves. And so the

Lord gave clear instruction and then he gave three really good reasons why we ought to respond in this way.

Now let's consider, just for a few minutes, the implications of our Lord's words.

First, saving faith is demonstrated in living as a disciple to Jesus Christ, our

Lord. Some time ago, it was a little over a year ago, I referred to the words of Reformed pastor and writer

James Montgomery Boyce. He's with the Lord now, but he served faithfully in a Presbyterian church, 10th

Presbyterian church in Philadelphia. He published over 50 books and he wrote these words.

There is a fatal defect in the life of Christ's church in the 20th century. A lack of true discipleship.

We're gonna talk about this before long, but we talk generally about discipling other Christians. That's really not a biblical use.

We make disciples of people. That is, that's when they're converted. When we talk about discipling others, we're really teaching them and training them in the faith.

But to make a disciple is to see them converted from being lost to being a believing, submitted follower of Jesus Christ.

There's a fatal defect in the life of Christ's church, 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 agreed with our assessment, it is the case that while there is much talk about Christ, 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, Matthew seven. There are several reasons that the situation

I've described is common in today's church. The first is a defective theology that is crept over 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 in 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. Is faith minus commitment a true biblical faith? If faith without works is dead, how much truer is it that faith without commitment is dead?

True faith involves these elements, knowledge, heart response, commitment, without which faith is no different from the ascent of the demons who believe and shudder.

And we'll point out, we're commanded to make disciples of all nations. We're not commanded to make believers of all nations.

We want true believers, disciples. If we're talking people into believing on Jesus, but they're not becoming disciples, we're playing the false prophet.

We're telling them they have peace, peace when there is no peace. A second point we may glean from this, and this is the point

I really wanna stress today. There are many things we must do besides faith in order to obtain our salvation.

I realize just saying that kind of slaps you in the face from what we're so commonly taught in evangelicalism.

First of all, it's to understand salvation as a future prospect, not just a past obtaining.

More often than not, we talk, I was saved. I was saved in the second week of January, 1972. I am saved.

That's all there is to it. It's done, it's over. I'm secure, I'm saved. But, and although the

Bible talks about that, salvation is most frequently set forth as a future prospect at the end of life, receiving the outcome or the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls, according to 1

Peter 1. Earlier, we quoted Arthur Pink, who declared that the two great errors in today's proclamation of biblical salvation are the teaching of salvation by works, and secondly, salvation without works.

And it's popularly, but wrongly believed that since we're justified through faith alone, all that we need to do is believe on Jesus Christ and we'll be saved.

That's all you have to do, because we're justified by grace through faith alone. And we would affirm that. We preached that a couple of weeks ago, just to make sure when we got to this point, nobody could justly accuse us of teaching something contrary.

We understand and advocate strongly the biblical teaching of justification by God's grace alone, through faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone.

But justification is just one aspect of salvation. There are many things that we must do to inherit salvation.

Don't misunderstand, we're saved by grace through faith, that without works, but saving faith works.

Saving faith must be evidenced by works, or it's not saving faith. And on the last day, when the

Lord Jesus judges you and me, a judgment of which the outcome is either salvation or damnation, is not our faith that will be assessed, it will be the works that our faith produced.

No, those works are not meritorious, that's the heresy of Rome. But our works will be and must be evident in our lives, or we will be proven by our works to have actually been hypocrites, void of saving faith, although we claim to be true believers.

Now we've urged in the past, and I wish every one of us would take some time and read this sermon by Jonathan Edwards, preached actually in September of 1740, which was right at the outset, breaking forth of the great awakening that took place here in New England.

There was another awakening early in 34, 35, and then it died out, but then with Whitefield and Edwards, 1740, it came blazing, a third of the people of the colonies were converted soundly to Christ.

And he gave this message, and it's on our website, it's titled, The Manner in Which the Salvation of the

Soul is to be Sought. What must you do to be saved?

He set forth this important aspect of salvation that is lost in much of evangelicalism.

He gave this message on Genesis 6, 2, which reads, thus did Noah, according to all that God commanded him, so did he.

And so typical of Puritan preaching of the time, Edwards first made a few general observations about Noah and the effort he made to build this ark.

And then he stated the doctrine of, or the major teaching of the passage that God was communicating through his text.

And so he wrote these words. Concerning these words, again, thus did

Noah, according to all that God commanded him, so did he. According to these words,

I would observe three things. First, what it was that God commanded Noah to which these words refer.

It was a building of an ark, according to the particular direction of God against the time when the flood of water should come, and the laying up of food for himself, his family, the other animals, which were to be preserved in the ark.

We have the particular commands which God gave him, respecting this affair, from the 14th verse, make thee an ark of gopher wood.

Secondly, we may observe the special design of the work which God had enjoined upon Noah.

It was to save himself and his family when the rest of the world would be drowned.

See verses 17 and 18. And thirdly, we may observe Noah's obedience. He obeyed

God. Thus did Noah, and his obedience was thorough and universal. According to all that God commanded him, so did he.

He not only began, but he went through his work, which God commanded him to undertake for his salvation from the flood.

To this obedience, the apostle refers to Hebrews 11, 7. By faith,

Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his house.

And then Edwards set forth the doctrine of the passage. And this would get me thrown out of most churches.

We should be willing to engage in and go through great undertakings in order to our own salvation.

Well, after explaining some of the great effort and dedication that Noah gave to building the ark of the saving of his family through God's worldwide judgment of the flood,

Edwards addressed more fully the doctrine of the three propositions. And so he wrote,

I shall particularly handle this doctrine under three following propositions. Proposition one, there is a work or business which men must enter upon and accomplish in order to their salvation.

Notice salvation is held out as a future prospect. It's not a doubt for true believers, it's a certainty.

But there's a work to do. Think Pilgrim's Progress. You gotta get out of the city of destruction.

You gotta get to the celestial city. There's something you have to do. You just can't stay there in the city of destruction.

Oh, I believe on Jesus. He died for my sins, I'm saved. You got a life to live and it's a life of discipleship.

That's what faith is. A life of obedience, following after Jesus. There's a work that must be done.

Men have no reason to expect to be saved in idleness or to go to heaven in a way of doing nothing. No, in order to it, there is a great work which must not only be begun but finished.

Proposition one. Proposition two. This work or business which must be done to the order set to the salvation of men is a great undertaking.

It's a difficult way. And third proposition. Men should be willing to enter upon and go through this undertaking, though it be great, seeing it is for their own salvation.

And then Edwards gave an extended explanation of each of these propositions under the heading of the first proposition only he addressed this matter.

Well, whenever you introduce works like this, you gotta explain yourself and he did. What is this work or business which must be undertaken and accomplished in order to the salvation of men?

Answer, it is the work of seeking salvation in a way of constant observance of all the duty to which

God directs in his word. If we would be saved, we must seek salvation. For although men do not obtain heaven of themselves, in other words, through their own effort, they do not go thither accidentally or without intention or endeavors of their own.

God in his word that directed men to seek their salvation as they would hope to obtain it. There is a race that is set before them, which they must run.

And in that race come on victors in order to the winning of their prize. The scriptures have told us what particular duties must be performed by us in order to our salvation is not sufficient that men seek their salvation on in the observance of some of those duties, but they must be observed universally.

The work we have to do is not an obedience only to some, but to all the commands of God, a compliance with every institution of worship, a diligent use of all the appointed means of grace, a doing of all duty towards God and towards man.

It's not sufficient that men have some respect to all the commands of God, that they may be said to seek their salvation in some sort of observance of all the commands, but they must be devoted to it.

Noah wasn't gonna be saved if he built half an ark. He had to complete it.

They must not make this a business by and by or a thing in which they are negligent and careless or which they do with a slack hand, but it must be by their great business being attended to as their great concern.

They must not only seek but strive. They must do what their hand findeth to do with their might as men thoroughly engage in their minds and influence set forward by great desire and strong resolution.

They must act as those that see so much of the importance of religion above all other things that everything must be as an occasional affair.

Nothing must stand in competition with its duties. This must be the one thing that they do, as Paul expressed, this one thing

I do. It must be the business to which they must make all other affairs give place, to which they are ready to make other things a sacrifice.

They must be ready to part with pleasures and honors of state and life and to sell all that they may successfully accomplish this business.

And so that's what it is to live as a disciple. Jesus Christ is Lord. Now we fail and fall every day, obviously, but our desire and movement is to follow after our

Savior and our Lord. He's put it in our heart. That's what we want.

And we just lament when we don't do it as diligently as we might.

And then we want to cite one more section of this message. It's very important that I cover this lest there be misunderstanding.

Edwards explained why God would have us expend such great effort in order to obtain our salvation. Why is this necessary?

Why are all these works essential? And so inquiry too. Why is it needful that men should undertake to go through such a work in order to their salvation?

Answer one, not to merit salvation or to recommend them to the saving mercy of God.

Men are not saved on account of any work of theirs, and yet they are not saved without works.

If we merely consider what it is for which or on account of which men are saved, no work at all in men is necessary to their salvation.

In this respect, they're saved wholly without any work of theirs, Titus 3 .5, not by works of righteousness, which we have done, but according to his mercy, he saved us by the washing of regeneration, the renewing of the

Holy Ghost. We must indeed be saved on the account of works, but not our own. It's on account of the works which

Christ hath done for us. Works are the fixed price of eternal life. It's fixed by an eternal, unalterable rule of righteousness.

But since the fall, there's no hope of our doing these works without salvation offered freely, without money and without price.

So these works are necessary and essential, but in no way should we perceive them to be meritorious.

That's the error of Rome. We repudiate that. With any reasons, though it be not needful that we do anything to merit salvation, which

Christ has fully merited for all who believe in him, yet God, for his wise and holy ends, hath appointed that we should come to final salvation in no other way but that of good works done by us.

God did not save Noah on account of the labor and expense he was at building the ark.

Noah's salvation from the flood was an instance of the free and distinguishing mercy of God. Nor did

God stand in need of Noah's care or cost or labor to build an ark. The same power which created the world, which brought the flood of waters upon the earth, could have made the ark in an instant without any care or cost to Noah or any of the labor of those workmen who were employed for so long a time.

Yet God was pleased to a point that Noah should be saved in this way. So God hath appointed that men should not be saved without his undertaking and doing this work of which

I've been speaking, and therefore we are commanded to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling. There are many wise ends to be answered by the establishment of such a work as prerequisite to salvation.

The glory of God requires it. For although God stand in no need of anything that men do to recommend them to a saving mercy, yet it would reflect much on the glory of God's wisdom and holiness to bestow salvation on men in such a way as tends to encourage him in sloth and weakness.

Or in any other way than that which leads to promote diligence and holiness.

Man was made capable of action with many powers of both body and mind fitting for him.

He was made for business and not idleness, and the main business for which he was made was that of religion,

Christianity. Therefore it becomes the wisdom of God to bestow salvation and happiness on man in such a way as tends most to promote his end in this respect and to stir him up to a diligent use of his faculties and talents.

It becomes the wisdom of God so to order it that things of great value and importance should not be obtained without great labor and diligence.

Much human learning, great moral accomplishments are not to be obtained without care and labor. It is wisely so ordered in order to maintain in man a due sense of the value of those things which are excellent.

If great things were in common, easily obtained, it would have a tendency to cause men to slight and undervalue them.

That's the result of easy believism. They undervalue these things.

Men commonly despise those things which are cheap. Give out money wholesale and see how much appreciation comes from it.

You work for what you eat and you value it. That's just the nature of the human condition.

Although the work of obedience performed by men be not necessary in order to merit salvation, yet it is necessary in order to their being prepared for it.

Men cannot be prepared for salvation without seeking it in such a way as hath been described.

This is necessary in order that they have a proper sense of their own necessities, unworthiness, and in order that they be prepared and disposed to prize salvation when it's bestowed and be properly thankful to God for it.

The requisition of so great a work and order to our salvation is no way inconsistent with the freedom of the offer of salvation as after all it is both offered and bestowed without any respect to our work as a price or meritorious cause of our salvation as I've already explained.

And besides salvation bestowed in this way is better for us, more for our advantage and happiness both in this and the future world than if it were given without this requisition.

So God has appointed us to live a certain way. This is a life of faith and it showed forth in discipleship to Jesus.

We deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow him. To fail to do so is to forfeit your soul.

And we must live in this way because he's coming one day and he's gonna judge us according to works, how we did.

Whether our life was governed by faith or not. Or do we just stand there and claim we believe and yet our whole lives say something else.

This is how nominal Christianity is permitted and encouraged.

As long as you believe it doesn't matter how you live after all you're saved by Christ's works not yours.

Sounds on the surface to be rather reasonable. That's not what the scriptures say. We're saved by grace through faith alone.

You're not saved by your works, you're his work. Ephesians 2, eight and nine.

But he created you on two good works which he ordained that you walk in them.

Every true Christian saved by grace through faith alone walks in that course. He has a course before us and it's laid out in the scriptures.

And if you believe Jesus, he's the Lord, then you do this. You wanna do it, he's put that desire in your heart.

And we don't do it in order to merit salvation, that's not possible, that's foolish to even think so.

But it's the way he would have us. And he's assured us, guaranteed us, he will see to it that we carry on and we will succeed.

Christian in Pilgrim's Progress didn't know he would make it. But Bunyan always puts in the idea,

God's gonna see him through to the end even though he didn't know it. He didn't know the lines were chained and they couldn't really get at him.

He didn't remember he had a key in his bosom to get him out of the castle of despondency, from giant despair, but he would see to it, the

Lord would see to it that his people make it. And that is the life of faith.

And so let's close with this in mind, take action now. All right, you believe, that's good.

Do something about it. Know his mood with godly fear. Purpose now to put away sin and to follow

Christ without reservation. Know hesitancy, this is what I purpose to do.

Know his mood with godly fear. Once God revealed to Noah his impending judgment of the world, his provision for Noah and his family to escape it, the matter became central to Noah's thinking and life.

He gave himself and his life over to this matter. I gotta get this ark built. And he pressed that fact upon his wife and his children.

God had warned him, he warned his wife and children. His entire family thereafter lived with this great event of the impending judgment of God and the flood upon their minds.

And Noah put forth great energy and effort to secure his own salvation and that of his family. The scriptures tell us that it's the same for us.

Edwards talks in his sermon about every blow of Noah and the hammer on the ark was a testimony to all the unrighteous mocking him and declaring him to be a fool for building such an ark.

It was a witness to that generation of their damnation and the judgment of God coming.

By the way, I printed out a dozen copies or Barbara did for us, a dozen copies of Edwards' sermon.

They're stapled, sitting on my desk. You help yourself if you want one. Or if you wanna email me,

I'll be happy to send you a copy. Noah put forth great energy and effort to secure his salvation.

It was to faith, Hebrews 11 tells us. In Hebrews 11, seven, he moved with fear to the building of the ark, to the saving of his household.

Faith requires repentance, it requires obedience, it requires reading and learning, listening and doing.

You have a cross to bear, a reproach to endure, a journey to travel, a race to run, a battle to win, a fight to win, a war to win.

God would save Noah from his judgment, but he would do so through a long, arduous process of building an ark and so it is with us.

We read in Hebrews, Noah became an heir of righteousness. Again, he was declared righteous or would be on the day of judgment through faith.

He'll one day receive the reward or the inheritance that are given to those who live righteously, a life of faith.

And so on the great day of judgment, he'll stand in the righteousness of Jesus Christ alone, the righteousness that he inherited through faith alone.

Why did he live righteously? Because he believed that God was gonna do what he said he was gonna do.

I'm sending a flood of judgment and God has said he's gonna send a flood of judgment of fire upon this world.

This world is coming to an end, maybe sooner than later and we need to be prepared for when the

Lord Jesus comes and he's gonna judge us according to our works. What kind of works has your faith in Jesus generated?

Is there enough in your life to prove you are a Christian? If you were drugged before a court, well, it's all gonna come out on that day.

And so close with this, what is it that God has told you to do in his word that you have failed or refused to do?

You must repent of your sins. Do it, do it now. You must deny yourself and submit your mind and will to the

Lord Jesus. If you truly believe him to be the Lord and only savior of mankind, and if you have true concern for your soul, the eternal salvation of your soul, you'll do so.

The Lord Jesus couldn't have been more clear, more straightforward. True salvation, true faith, saving faith is a faith shown forth in true discipleship to Jesus Christ.

May the Lord help us to be faithful in that message and may the Lord grant us grace that each of us would respond in faithfulness and obedience as we believe what

God's word has said. He'll enable us to do so. He has promised that he will do so in and to us.

Amen? Let's pray. Thank you, Father, for your word. Help us, our

God, we pray. Lord, we lose sight. The world encroaches its values, its ways upon us.

Our own fallen heart, our God, often draws us away. And then the devil, of course, the tempter, the accuser.

We have many foes, our God, that we must fight and overcome. We fail, our

God, we wander off the narrow path at times, but you bring us back. Help us, our

God, to be responsive to you in repentance and faith. Help us to go forth from this church this morning, our

God, with a fresh resolve. As you enable us, our God, by your grace, to live for you, not just to have a faith that says we believe, but a life that shows forth that we believe in you.