Introduction: A disciple of Jesus Christ is someone who has believed in Jesus Christ and is following Him closely as seen in the Gospel’s. A disciple is one who believes and follows the doctrines of Jesus Christ. As you can see, there is a difference between a believer of Jesus Christ and a follower of Jesus Christ. There are many believers but there are few disciples of Jesus Christ. Jesus had 70 disciples which he sent out by 2, he had 12 that were close to him, and 3 who were the closest.
A Disciple of Jesus Christ Must:
- Believe on Jesus Christ– John 8:30-32 “Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him”. These Jews first believed in Jesus Christ and then Jesus told them that they needed to continue in his word if they were to become his disciples.
- There are two spiritual families in the world- the devils family and the family of God. You are born into the family of the devil and in order to become a part of God’s family, you must believe on Him. John 1:12-13 “But as many as received him”.
- Continue in His Word– John 8:30-32 “continue in my word”. To continue in the word of God is to do what the Bible says to do. There are many Christians today that have a testimony of being saved but they live contrary to the word of God.
- Christians today fail to pray, read their Bible, go to church, or follow the commands Christ gave in his word. Such people are not disciples of Jesus Christ.
- James 1:22 “But be ye does of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves”. We have this King James Bible and we need to do what it says.
- Deny Himself– Matthew 16:24 “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me”. To deny himself is restrain this flesh from doing what it wants to do, go where it wants to go, say what it wants to say, etc. It means to disown, disregard, forsake renounce, do without. There are somethings you have to say no to (deny self). You have to let Christ rule in our hearts and don’t let this flesh take over. The places you go, the things you see, the conversations you’re a part of, etc.
- Bear the Cross– Matthew 16:24-25 “For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it”. A disciple of Jesus Christ must die to self. He is to put his will, ambitions, desires, wants, to death. And to let Christ do His will in our lives. Romans 6:11-13 “dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God” Romans 12:1 “that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, accept unto God”. Galatians 2:20 “I am crucified with Christ”. People quit their careers to go to mission field, quit their careers to serve God, change from secular college to go go Bible college.
- Bear Fruit– John 15:8 “Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples”. We are not fruit inspectors. You should be looking at others and seeing how much fruit they are producing. However, a Disciple of Jesus Christ must bear fruit. He bears fruit by abiding in Christ- John 15:1, 4-5. The evidence is found in- Galatians 5:22-23 “Love, Joy, Peace, Long-suffering, Gentleness, Goodness, Faith, Meekness, Temperance”.
- Hate Others– Luke 14:26-27 “hate father, mother, wife, children, breather, sisters, and his own life also”. After salvation, you choose to be a disciple of Jesus Christ or be an average Christian, just live life.
- Here, to hate is to love less than Jesus Christ. Genesis 29:30-31 Jacob loved both Rachel and Leah, but he loved Rachel more than Leah, in vs 31 this lesser love for Leah is called “hate”.
- The Love for Jesus Christ will seem as if there is hate for the others.
- Forsake All– Luke 15:33 “forsaken all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple”. (To forsake is to quit, leave entirely, abandon) James and John forsook their careers as fishermen and became fishers of men- Luke 5:11Philippians 3:7-8 Paul counted everything as dung to follow Jesus Christ.
- Love Others– John 13:34-35 “By this shall men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another”. This is the spiritual and supernatural love of Jesus himself that dwells within the life of the believer.
- I John 4:7-8 “Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that liveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that liveth not knoweth not God; for God is love”.
Conclusion: Being a disciple of Jesus Christ is more than salvation, it is a close walk with Jesus Christ. These things spoken of today are the true test of a disciple of Jesus Christ.
Anchor Baptist Church 