F I R ST TIME SPENDING TIME WITH GOD S OME PRACT I CAL SU G G EST I O N S

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1 who would soon be on the Nav i gator staff, had been in a head-on co l l ision. Teed was killed i ns t a n tly and his fia ncee died within the hou r. One of the fe l l ows w rote that while at V. P.I. Teed had led men t0 Christ. Amo ng t hem, five we re dedicated, traine d, e f fe c t ive men of the Cross who, acco rd i ng to this person, would be w i l l i ng at a mo me n t s no t i ce to die for the cau se of Chris t. D r. Mc Koy an old man, a disc iple to the end. Teed Radin a you ng man, a disc iple ea r ly in life. T h ree ma r ks of a disc iple me n t i o ned in Marks of a Disc i p l e a re : In fact, the re s no better time to b e co me a disc iple than right now. But deep down in our hearts t ha t s whe re real bu s i ness is done with God we must determine t hat by God s grace and with the he lp of the Ho ly Spirit, we will be true fo l l owers of Je sus Chris t. Le t s ask ou r se lves, Am I a true d isc ip l e? Am I willing to be openly identified with the person of Je sus Chris t? Am I se e k i ng t0 be obedient to t he Wo rd of Christ in my eve r yday l i fe? Am I bea r i ng fruit in the wo r k of Christ by way of Chris tl i ke cha r- acter and by influ e nc i ng the live s of othe r s? I want to be a disc ip l e. I want to have the se ma r ks and cha r ac t e r istics in my life. The only thing I d l i ke to do beyo nd that is to he lp make disc iples and to get them to he lp make others. Tha t s wha t Je sus wants done, Go the re fo re a nd make disc iples of all na t i o ns. F I R ST TIME SPENDING TIME WITH GOD S OME PRACT I CAL SU G G EST I O N S 1. Use A.C.T. S. fo r ma t. 2. P r ay through (Ps. 34:1-10 & L B), fou nd in pac ke t. 3. Use sheet in pac ket Pray i ng for No n - C h r is t ia ns. 4. Read Ma r ks of a Disc iple and pray back to God any areas you have been co nvicted ab out. (fou nd in pac ke t ) 5. Read Purpose in Life and evaluate befo re God areas of need or set new goals befo re God that may he lp you reach God s pu r p o se for you in life. (fou nd in pac ke t ) 6. P r ay for you r se l f. Ps. 62:8 7. P r a ise God. Ps. 103 pray throu g h. 8. P r ay for family, gove r n ment, friends, enemies, etc. 9. P r ay ab out deve l o p i ng ho l i ness in your life. 10. P r ay ab out the Wheel, the bala nced Chris t ian life. 11. P r ay back your ve r se s. 12. P r ay for one ano t he r. 13. Read Isa iah 43 as though God we re sp eak i ng to you perso nal ly.

2 P l ease keep a sc hedule as to time spent in praye r. (As per Book 2) P R AYING FOR NON-CHRIST I A N S I ns t r u c t i o ns: Look up the Sc r ip t u re re fe re nce and pray back to God the thoughts and truths in the se ve r se s. As ind iv i d u al no n - C h r is t ia ns co me to mind pray sp e c i f i cal ly for the m. 1. WHY PRAY FOR NON-CHRIST I A N S? a) They are sp i r i t u al ly blind (2 Co r. 4:3,4) b) They are co nd e m ned by sin (Rom 6:23) c) They are under Sa t a n s co n t rol (1 John 5:19) d) They have no hope in eternity (John 3:36) MOT I VATION TO PRAY 2. RESU LTS OF PRAYING FOR NON-CHRIST I A N S a) They co me to know the truth and are set free from sin in the pro cess (1 Tim 2:3, 4, John 8:30-36) b) Their lives beco me fruitful (Lu ke 13:6-9) c) The Lo rd opens their sp i r i t u al eyes to see (2 Co r. 4:3,4; Lu ke 4:18) 1. PRAY AG A I N ST SATAN (He is the real ene my ) a) 1 Peter 5:8,9 b) Rev. 12:10 2. CLAIM DELIVERANCE FROM SATA N a) Ja mes 4:7-1 0 b) Psalm 102: c) Psalm 79 : 1 1 P R I N C I P L ES OF PRAY E R 3. ASK GOD FOR CO N V I CTION OF SIN IN THESE PROBLEM AREAS a) Alco hol and sex (Ho sea 4:11, 14b; 5:4) b) Self sa t is f action and pride (Ho sea 5:5) c) Disho ne s ty (Jer 9:5-6) d) The oppre s s i ng, crush i ng effects of sub m i t t i ng to peer pre s su re (Ho sea 5:11) 4. PROM I S ES TO CLAIM a) God will give fruit (Ezek 36:37, 38) b) God will open blind eyes (Psa 146:8) c) God will deliver from Sin (Isa iah 61:1) d) God will sp eak to no n - C h r is t ia ns (Job 33:14-1 8) 5. REMEMBER a) God is the Master of Break t h rough (Micah 2:13; 2 Sam 5:20) b) God is sove reign even over no n - C h r is t ia ns (Deu 32:39-43; Dan 4:35) c) All fruit co mes from God al o ne (Ho sea 14:8) d) Be patient. Fruit always takes time, but it will ce r t a i nly co me (Hab bakuk 2:3) him, so I said, Now I wo n t fe e l l i ke I paid you unless I put it in your ha nd. No s s i r, he said, put it on the post. So I said, OK. And I put it on the post. When the milkman reac hed out to take the c ha ng e, I just laid my ha nd on top of his. And he jerked it away. T hen he said, Later on, one of G o d s se r vants by the na me of B i l ly Su nday ca me to our tow n a nd he told how Je sus Christ died on the Cross to take away ma n s sin and his enmity of heart towa rd h is fe l l ow man. As I hea rd that, I real ized that I needed this, and I wal ked the sawdust trail. And you k now, God took the hate out of my heart for the white man, He pu t l ove the re. Ap pa re n tly a few days la t e r, u nk nown to him, the milkma n went to hear Billy Su nday. He went fo r wa rd in the me e t i ng, re ce ived Christ, and a couple days later pulled up in front of Ja me s E mory Bond s little place. Wi t h t ears strea m i ng down his face, he ap o l o g Ized for the way he had t reated him. And this dear old b lack man said, I have loved him, a nd he has loved me ever since. Now tha t s what disc ip l e sh ip mea ns. The re is a mark of a disc i- p l e. Bea r i ng fruit in the work of C h r ist. By this shall all men know t hat ye are My disc iples, if ye have l ove one to ano t he r. When we begin to see mo re disc iples sp r i n- kled arou nd Ame r i ca and arou nd t he world, what a diffe re nce it will make! Real genuine disc iples who will turn the world upside dow n. T he re are ma ny al ready and we ought to be pray i ng for the m. But not only is the re the fruit of C h r is tl i ke cha r ac t e r, but also the fruit of the Spirit in the lives of o t hers. Je sus said, Ye have no t c ho sen Me, but I have cho sen you, a nd orda i ned you, that ye shou l d go and bring forth fruit, and tha t your fruit should re main (Jo h n 1 5 : 1 6). Go and bring forth fruit. Pau l w rote to the Ro ma ns of his desire, T hat I might have so me fruit a mo ng you also (Ro ma ns 1:13). I t h i nk he meant lives influ e nce d for Chris t. O nce while I was think i ng ab out this, two events took place t hat drove the truth ho me to me. O ne was so me t h i ng I read ab ou t D r. Charles F. Mc Koy of Oys t e r B ay, Lo ng Isla nd. After 50 years of fruitful ministry as a pastor and eva ng e l ist, this 71-yea r-old bac helor began looking arou nd for a re t i re ment ho me. A bishop fro m I nd ia ca me to his church to plead for mis s i o nary he lp for Ind ia. Dr. Mc Koy prayed ea r ne s tly that God might lay it on the heart of so meo ne in the co ng re gation to re sp o nd to this call to go to Ind ia. After the third me s sage the bishop turned to Dr. Mc Koy and sa i d, I don t think God is looking fo r so me o ne in the co ng re gation. I t h i nk he is looking for the man in t he pu lp i t. D r. Mc Koy could ha rd ly b e l i eve his ears. He said, Bisho p, a re you losing your mind? I m 71, I ve never been ove r seas; I ve never been on the ocean. The t hought of fly i ng terrifies me. Bu t soon a new mis s i o nary was on his way to Ind ia, green and seas i c k, but on his way at age 71. Fi f t e e n years later Dr. Mc Koy died. B e t ween the ages of 71 and 86 he had gone arou nd the world nine or ten times winning people t0 C h r ist in Ind ia and Ho ng Ko ng, in t he opium dens and in the mo s t d i f f i cult places. He was a real disc iple in old age also. And I think o ne reason it struck me was that I was read i ng in Psalm 92: 14, They still bring forth fruit in old ag e, t hey are ever full of sap and g re e n, Your life can be fruitful to t he very end. T he sa me week, we re ce ive d wo rd from Vi rg i n ia that a you ng fe l l ow na med Teed Radin, 23 years of ag e, a graduate of Vi rg i n ia Po lytechnic Ins t i t u t e, 2 11

3 t he su p re me ev i d e nce that we are real disc iples or Spirit-filled. Bu t t he real ev i d e nce is shown in ou r c ha r acter love, joy, peace, longsu f fe r i ng, gentl e ness, goodne s s, faith, me e k ness, temp e r a nce. We re co ns i d e r i ng he re the cha r- acter of a disc ip l e. I ve hea rd it said that the Ap o s tle Paul befo re he was co n- verted, would pray so me t h i ng like t h is every day, God, I tha nk You t hat I am not a Gentile, that I am not a slave and that I am not a wo ma n. But look at how God c ha nged his attitude. In his first letter he wro t e, The re is ne i t he r Jew nor Greek, the re is ne i t he r b o nd nor fre e, the re is ne i t he r male nor fe male: for ye are all one in Christ Je sus (G ala t ia ns 3:28). He re is ev i d e nce of the fruit of the Spirit in the way of cha r ac t e r. T h is is what it mea ns to be a d isc iple of Je sus Christ. It i nc ludes one s whole al t i t u d e, ou t- look, cha r acter and re la t i o nsh ip to o t he r s. By this shall all men know tha t you are My disc iples, if you ca n work great mirac l e s? No. By this shall all men know that ye are My d isc iples, if ye have love one to a no t he r (John 13:35). W hen Je sus tal ked ab out His m i n istry and what He ca me to do, He quoted from Isa iah 61:1,3, The Spirit of the Lo rd God is upon Me : b e cau se the Lo rd hath ano i n t e d Me to preach good tidings unto t he meek: He hath sent Me t0 b i nd up the bro ke nhearted, to p ro c laim lib e r ty to the cap t ive s, a nd the opening of the prison to t hem that are bou nd to give unto t hem beau ty for ashes, the oil of j oy for mou r n i ng, the ga r ment of p r a ise for the spirit of heav i ne s s. Take this world in which we l ive with all of its glitter, its tinse l a nd its e ne rgy. Strip all of this away, and how would you cha r act e r ize the real world und e r nea t h? B ro ke n -hearted, cap t ive, bou nd, a nx i ous, sad, depre s sed. A disc iple is one who gets i nvo lved in that kind of wo r l d, who is bea r i ng fruit in the work of C h r ist. He shows the fruit of the Spirit in a Chris tl i ke cha r acter l ove, joy, peace, longsu f fe r i ng, g e n tl e ness, goodness, faith, me e k ness, temp e r a nce, How we need that in the world in which we l ive! THE GREAT EST IS LOV E W hat did Je sus say was the g reatest identifying mark of all in a disc ip l e? Love. By this shall al l men know that ye are My disc i- ples If you do what? If ye have l ove one to ano t he r. O ne of the greatest illu s t r a- t i o ns of this that I have seen was on the telev ision sp e c ial Ja me s E mory Bond. It was an entire one hour interview with a black ma n who was an ex -truck drive r. He was in his seventies at the time of t he interview. Ap pa re n tly he live d in Bal t i mo re. One night he wa t c hed a pa nel discussion with so me of the city leaders, mayo r, chief of police and others on telev ision. They discu s sed the race a nd juvenile delinq u e ncy pro b- l e ms in Bal t i mo re. As he wa t c he d, h is heart was real ly move d. T he next day he went dow n- t own to the telev ision station. He wanted to talk to so me b o d y b e cau se he had been s0 moved by t heir discussion. He said he knew t he answe r, but he didn t know whom to tell. At the station they had the good se nse not only to i n t e r v i ew him, but also to videot ape it. All you saw was this greyha i red gentl e man as he answe re d q u e s t i o ns co m i ng from off ca m- e r a. He said, amo ng other things, t hat when he was a you ng fe l l ow g row i ng up on the edge of B al t i mo re, the white boys wou l d t h row ro c ks at him as he was on h is way to sc hool. He began to hate white people. As a you ng man he started wo r k i ng as a truck d r ive r. One mo r n i ng when he saw t he milk truck go by, he thou g h t b oy n i ce it would be if he cou l d have a little milk befo re he went to work in the mo r n i ng. He stopped the milkman, who was a white man, one day and asked him if he would leave him a quart of milk. lie said. No, I don t d e l iver milk to nigg e r s. So, Bond said, I called up the milk co mpa ny, and I asked the man I tal ked with if this was true, t hat they didn t give milk to blac k p e o p l e. He said, No, tha t s no t right. We do deliver milk to blac k p e o p l e, and we ll see that he delivers the milk. So, he said, t he milk ca me, a quart each mo r n i ng. Seve r al we e ks went by and I real ized tha t he was n t leav i ng me a bill, and I wanted to pay for it. So I stopped him one mo r n i ng and said, I wa n t you to give me a bill so I an pay for this. And the milkman said, I d o n t take mo ney from nigg e r s. So I said, Well, I ve got to pay you, you ve just got to let me pay you. We l l, the milkman said, t e l l you what you do. You put the mo ney on the fe nce post. Ja mes Emory Bond said, I t hought I d have a little fun with While it is true that we ca me into the world with no t h i ng, it is not true that we leave with no t h i ng. We leave with the re co rd of our lives as we have written it. He re s the best part. We can write a good sc r ipt tha t will please both the Lo rd and us now and fo reve r. T he co m i ng year lies befo re us like a book yet to be written. The re are 12 chapters with 365 pages. We will write the sc r ipt by our ac t i o ns and reac t i o ns t owa rd the events that will co me to pas s. Hav i ng written two books, I know that one must e s t ab l ish a clear pu r p o se befo re writing or the re sults will be disco n nected ramb l i ng that is use l e s s. P U R P OSE IN LIFE * * L i kew ise, we must pre - d e t e r m i ne our pu r p o se in life a nd then tie all things into that pu r p o se in order to get desirable re sults. May I encou r age you to make the eternal pu r p o se s of God your eve r yday pu r p o se. In other wo rds, eve r yday decis i o ns would be made on the bas is of how God s pu r p o ses would be affe c t e d. I mag i ne what would happen to North Ame r i ca if the m u l t iplied millions who say they are born aga i n had a co m mon und e r s t a nd i ng and co m m i t ment to t he pu r p o ses of God. Needless to say, we would se e t he greatest sp i r i t u al break t h rough of the ce n t u r y. Well, we ca n not start with millions, but we can start with you and me. * Doug Ha r t ma n / D oug Su t he r la nd 10 3

4 Marks of a Disciple Lorne C. Sanny And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth. Go ye the re fo re, and teach all nations, bap t izing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Ho ly Ghost: Teac h i ng them to observe all things wha tsoever I have comma nded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the wo r l d. (Matthew 28:18-20). Go ye therefore and teach all nations, or as another translation puts it, Go therefore and make disc iples of all nations. Jesus came to this earth to be an exa mp l e. He ca me he re to show us the Father, He ca me he re to take our sins in His own body on the cross and He ca me to destroy the works of the devil. And while He went ab out His ministry, al o ng the way He also gathered up people to follow Him called disciples. Jesus was popular. And the re went great multitudes with Him (Luke 14:25). Yet He told them, If any man come to Me, and hate not his father and mother and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple (Luke 14:26,27). He also said, So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be My disciple (Luke 14:33). He turned to the crowds that we re fo l l ow i ng Him and thre e times He said to them, cannot be My discip l e, cannot be My 4 disciple, cannot be My disc ip l e. It s as if He said, I am not l o o k i ng for crowds; I m looking for disciples. Columnist Walter Lippmann once said, There are only two kinds of people in the world that real ly count today, and they are the dedicated Christians and the d e d i cated co m m u n ists. And Time magaz i ne reported that t he Fre nch co m m u n ist Ro g e r G a r audy fe e ls that the re are o nly two major fo rces in the world today co m m u n ism and Christianity. And I d say, Right where you live, Your neighborhood. Whe re you go to school. I find that God usually leads you to the next step after you take this one. Tha t s where you start. I m not speaking of going to the mission field becau se you re so sick and tired of the office you can t stand it, or becau se the boss has bugged you for two years and any cha nge would be an improvement. I m speaking of obedience to the Wo rd of Christ, wherever it may lead and when the going is tough. That s a mark of a discip l e. After Moses died, Joshua had the job of taking three million people into the Promised Land. That included women, children a nd livestock. God gave him some instructions. You d think the Lo rd would say, Now, look, here s how you d ha ndle this problem, here s how you do this, here s how you do that. But, no. He said, Joshua, one thing above all else is going to take a lot of cou r age and it s not leading all these people and facing all the enemies that are in the la nd. That isn t what s going to take courage. But, O nly be thou strong and very cou r ag e ous, that thou maye s t observe to do according to all the law (Joshua 1:7). You may think it doesn t take cou r age to be obedient to the Word of God. But I wonder how obedient we really are to the Word. We live in a Chris t - re j e c ti ng world, and anyo ne who is going to live in obedience to this Book is going to come into co nflict with it. That s how you re co gnize a discip l e. He does mo re than hear the Word. He puts into practice what he s hea rd. T he Navigators are kind of rabid on this subject. Year after year you ll hear us beat certain drums all the time. One is that we need to come to know the Bible and apply it. That s why we publish Bible study courses and Scripture memory programs. We need to make up our minds that God helping us with the power of the Ho ly Spirit, we are going to be obedient to the Word of Christ. That s a mark of a discip l e, He seeks to fo l l ow the Bible and do what it says. FRUITFUL FOR CHRIST So a disciple is one who is openly identified with the person of Christ. Se co nd, he is obedient to the Wo rd of Christ. And third, he is bearing fruit in the work of Christ. By this My father is glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples (John 15:8). Now it se e ms to me that the re are two kinds of fruit here. First, the fruit of cha r acter, the fruit of the Spirit love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentl e ness, goodness, faith, me e k ness, temp e r a nce (Galatians 5:22,23). And second, there s fruit by way of influencing the lives of others for Christ. Ye have not cho sen Me, but I have cho sen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit shou l d re main (John 15:16). I real ly threw a curve ball to my Sunday Sc hool class one Sunday morning. I intended to. We we re t al k i ng ab ou t Je sus se nd i ng out the 12 two by t wo. He gave t hem au t ho r i ty over unc l ean spirits. They went out and preac hed that men shou l d repent. They cas t out demons and anointed with oil ma ny that we re sick and healed them. Then I asked, Do you think Judas did t h is? Do you think Ju das went out and preached to people to repent? Do you think Judas cast ou t demons and healed the sick? Some feel they can prove that Ju das was never saved. Le t s assu me they re right. Did Judas then preach that people shou l d repent? Did he cast out demons? Did he heal the sick? Could he have? Look at Jesus words: On that day many will say to Me, Lo rd, Lo rd, did we not prophesy in Your name, and cast out demons in Your name and do many mighty works in Your na me? And then will decla re to them, I never knew you; depart from Me, you ev i l d oers! (Ma t t hew 7:22,23). My point was that we get so carried away with the spectacular that we think the sp e c t acular is 9

5 (John 14:21). What does tha t mea n? It mea ns Je sus will make H i mself real to him. To who m? To t he one who has His Wo rd and keeps it. So a disc iple does mo re tha n a t t e nd me e t i ngs. He does mo re t han take notes. (He does tha t, i nc i d e n t al ly, in my opinion, t hough I don t have any Sc r ip t u re to prove that.) But he finds ou t what the Bible says and does it. Su p p o se he s going throu g h P roverbs in his mo r n i ng quiet t i me, and he co mes to Prove r b s 3:9,10, Ho nour the Lo rd with thy sub s t a nce, and with the first fruits of all thine inc rease: So shall thy ba r ns be filled with plenty, and t hy pre s ses that burst out with new wine. E a r ly in my ma r r iag e, a C h r is t ian doctor in Sea t tle sa i d, Now let me make a su gg e s t i o n ab out ha nd l i ng your family f i na nces. Ho nor the Lo rd with your sub s t a nce, and with the first fruits of all your inc rease. Se t aside mo ney for the Lo rd befo re you pay the rent. Befo re you bu y t he food. Even when you think you don t have enough mo ney left to pay the rent and to buy the food. You watch. God will see to it t hat you have mo ney for the re n t a nd for the fo o d. Now will He or wo n t He? We l l, t he Wo rd pro m ised that He would, and He did. A friend of mine was looking over the family bills and they l o o ked pre t ty big. He and his wife p r ayed and decided that the first t h i ng they ought t0 do to get ou t of debt was to inc rease their givi ng. And they are out of debt. T hey proved that God can fulfill H is Wo rd. A no t her illustration of the truth that a disc iple must be obedient to the Wo rd of Christ is in t he se wo rds of Je sus, The re fo re if t hou bring thy gift to the al t a r, a nd the re re me mb e rest that thy b ro t her hath ought aga i nst the e ; l eave the re thy gift befo re the al t a r, and go thy way; first be re c- o nciled to thy bro t he r, and the n co me and offer thy gift (Ma t t hew 5 : 23, 2 4 ). W hen was the last time you went and made so me t h i ng right with so me o ne else? When did you admit to your wife or your child ren that that fit of temper was s i n? It s amaz i ng to me when couples say that ne i t her one has eve r asked fo rg ive ness of the othe r. If you don t find so me times whe n you ve got to make so me things right, you re ab out ready for heaven right now. A disc iple has a co n- sc i e nce void of offe nse towa rd God and man Le t s go back to; Go the re fo re and make disc ip l e s of all na t i o ns. I don t know why it is that so me people think the day of mis s i o ns is ove r. In one re ce n t yea r, ind e p e ndent mis s i o ns in A me r i ca, not the deno m i na t i o nal, just ind e p e ndent mis s i o ns, ne e d- ed 4,000 mis s i o nary ca nd i da t e s t hat they didn t get. Have you eve r co ns i d e red the possib i l i ty tha t o b e d i e nce to the Wo rd of Chris t might mean leav i ng your bu s i- ne s s? Bob Potter ow ned a su p e r ma r- ket down in Ok laho ma City. If he a nd his wife had n t sold it and g o ne into the Lo rd s work, may b e God would have used so me o ne e lse. But ma ny people have been b l e s sed by the ministry of Bob Potter through The Nav i ga t o r s. T he Nav i gators could use double our number of re p re se n t a t ive s right now But don t ap p ly. We d o n t take ap p l i ca t i o ns. Ma ny t i mes as I ve gone arou nd with the B i l ly Graham Cr u sades, you ng fe l l ows have co me up and sa i d, M r. Sa n ny, do you know of any o p e n i ngs in Chris t ian wo r k? Ye p, I do. T hey d ask, Whe re? A nd I know that amo ng the C h r is t ia ns, the ones who real ly count are the disc iples. As a f r i e nd of mine, a Chris t ian lead e r, said, Lo r ne, you don t find ma ny d isc iples. But when you find one, t he re s al most no limit to wha t God can do through him. How do you re co g n ize a disc i- p l e? What does he look like? W hat are his cha r ac t e r is t i c s? Are you a disc ip l e? Am I a disc ip l e? I have studied seven or eight pas sages in the Sc r ip t u re hav i ng to do with the cha r ac t e r istics of a d isc ip l e. They can co nve n i e n tly be boiled down to three ma r ks of d isc ip l e sh ip. When you see the se t h re e, you have a disc ip l e. IDENTIFIED WITH CHRIST T he first mark of a disc iple is t hat he is so me o ne who is identified with the person of Je su s C h r ist so me o ne who will openly admit that he belongs to Chris t. Now wha t ever else you may think ab out bap t ism, it is a public ident i f i cation with Je sus Christ. Whe n you are bap t ized, you are say i ng I t ake my stand with, I am on the side of, I belong to Je sus Chris t. A friend of mine told me of a Jew ish man he led to Christ in Dal las. A few we e ks later my f r i e nd told ano t her Jew ish man, a no n - C h r is t ian, ab out the first one. I m me d ia t e ly the se co nd ma n asked, Has he been bap t ize d yet? When my friend said, No, he has n t, he replied, Well, he l l never las t. It was la t e r, when the first Jew was bap t ized that his f a m i ly cut him off. He had mad e open identification with Je su s C h r is t. If thou shalt co n fess with thy mouth the Lo rd Je sus, and shal l b e l i eve in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, t hou shalt be saved, For with the heart man believeth unto righte ou s ness; and with the mou t h co n fession is made unto salvation (Ro ma ns 10:9,10). An open i d e n t i f i cation with Je sus Chris t, Je sus pro m ised, Who so eve r t he re fo re shall co n fess Me befo re men, him will I co n fess also b e fo re My Fa t her which is in heaven (Ma t t hew 10:32). A friend told me that when he went with Billy Graham, who was to sp eak to 500 men at the Jew ish Rotary Club of New York City, he wo nd e red what in the world M r. Graham would sp eak on to a Jew ish club. When the time ca me, B i l ly stood up and sp o ke on C h r ist, the Fu l f i l l ment of the Ol d Te s t a ment Pro p he c i e s. At the c l o se they gave him a stand i ng ovation. He had identified himse l f u nasha me d ly with Je sus Chris t. On one occasion Je sus aske d t he disc iples, Who do you say t hat I am? Peter answe red, You a re the Christ (Mark 8:29). It se e ms eve r yt h i ng in His minis t r y led up to this. But the thing that strikes me is t hat t h e n He began to teach the m t hat the Son of man must su f fe r ma ny things, and be rejected of t he elders, and of the chief priests, a nd sc r ibes, and be killed, and after three days rise again (Ma r k 8:31). A little la t e r, He called the multitude and His disc iples to Him and said, Who so ever will co me after Me, let him deny h i mse l f, and take up his cross, and fo l l ow Me W ho so ever the re fo re shall be asha med of Me and of My wo rds in this ad u l t e rous and sinful generation, of him also shall the Son of man be asha me d, when He co meth in the glory of H is Fa t her with the ho ly ang e ls ( Mark 8:34,38). So me years ago when I was with the Billy Graham team in a c r u sad e, a bu s i ne s s man ca me fo r- wa rd one night and re ce ive d C h r ist. The fo l l ow i ng Su nday night he went to a church that he so me t i mes attended. After the se r v i ce he wal ked up to one of the l ead i ng elders in this church and told him, I was at the Billy G r aham me e t i ng last week out at t he ball park. I went fo r wa rd and re ce ived Chris t. I hea rd ab out it and I am d e l i g h t e d, the elder re p l i e d. T hen the bu s i ne s s man aske d t he elder, How long have you and I been as so c iated in bu s i ne s s? Ab out 23 years, I think. Have you known Christ as your Sav i our all tho se yea r s? the man asked the elder. Yes, I have, he answe re d. Well, I don t re me mber you r ever sp eak i ng to me ab out Chris t d u r i ng tho se yea r s, the man sa i d. T he elder hung his head, and the man continued, I have thou g h t h i g h ly of you. In fact, I thought so h i g h ly of you that I felt if anyo ne could be as fine a man as you and N OT be a Chris t ian, then I didn t have to be a Chris t ian eithe r. T h is elder had lived a good life b e fo re his friend, but he had no t t aken the added step of openly i d e n t i f y i ng with the One who e nabled him to live that kind of l i fe. He re was a fine man, but he did not have this first mark of a d isc iple of Je sus Chris t. W hen Je sus asks you to deny you r se l f, take up your cross da i ly a nd fo l l ow Him. 8 5

6 What do you think it means? Whatever else it means, I think it mea ns to be identified with Christ, not only when it s popular but when it s unpopular. Not only when it s the thing to do but when it seems as if it s not the thing to do. I like the way the New English Bible puts Revelation 1:9. John writes, I was on the isla nd called Patmos because I had preac he d God s Wo rd and borne my testimony to Jesus. I once talked to the Chief of Po l i ce of Stockholm, who was a Christian and discovered he had been a delegate to Panmunjom back when the Korean truce was first signed. He had interviewed some of the Chine se soldiers as to whe t her or not they wanted to be repatriated. He told me about a soldier who came through one day and gave his testimony to the interro ga t o r s co nce r n i ng his faith in Jesus Christ. There in the Red Chinese army was a disciple. A friend of mine traveling by train from Finla nd t0 Moscow tried to smuggle in three suitcase full of Bibles. But the Russian colonel at the border took rather unkindly to this idea. In fact, he was a little upset. My friend Jack asked him, Well, what arc you so worried ab out? Why do you get so upset about some o ne bring i ng a Bible into your country? It s a fairy story, nothing but fairy tales, the colonel replied. D o n t you have fairy story books in Russia? Jack asked. Oh, yes. WelL what s the matter with 6 another one? Ay, said the colonel, if they believe that Bible, then they won t believe in communism. So after warning him not to preach and scaring him a little bit, Jack says they let him go on his way. A few hours later a couple of conductors ca me by and began to engage Jack and his friends in conversation and to sell them on the merits of co m m u n ism. It wasn t long befo re Jack wou l d n t stand it any longer. He began to preach back to them. After he d preached to them for a little while, one of the conductors pointed to another conductor at the other end of the car and said, Now, he s one of yours. That conductor, he s one of your kind. Later Jack talked to this co n- ductor. Sure enough, he was a born-again Christian. They asked him if he had a Bible. He replied, No, the last Bible in our town was ow ned by my grandmother. She tore it up into se g ments and distributed it to Christians around the town so it couldn t be confiscated all at once. They asked if he d like a Bible. ( T he colonel had confiscated only two of the suitcases of Bibles they had with them.) When they handed him a Bible, he wept and kissed it. Then he wrapped it in newspaper to take it off the train so it wouldn t be taken away from him. I believe the striking thing about this story is that not only was there a Christian conductor on that train, but the other co nductors knew he was a Christian. There was a disciple, identifying himself with the person of Jesus Christ. Do you take an opportunity to admit that you are a follower of Jesus Christ? Why not determine that at the first opportunity this week you will quietly, graciously, but openly identify you r self with Jesus Christ? I believe this is a mark of a disciple. One morning I spoke to the SWAP (Sal e s men With A Purpose) Club in Colorado Springs. They call in various speakers to tell how selling applies to their business. I spoke on how it applies to the Gospel. In the pro cess, I ex p la i ned the Gosp e l. After I had sp o ken, they i n t ro d u ced the gu e s t s. One of them was a friend of mine, Will Perkins, a Plymouth dealer. It was his first time there. When he was i n t ro d u ced he stood and sa i d. G e n tl e men, two years ago I heard a presentation similar to the one you heard this noon. I bought it, and it has cha nged my life. Then he sat down. I thou g h t to myself, how many Christians would have taken that littl e o p p o r t u n i ty to identify the mselves with the person of Jesus Christ? OBEDIENT TO THE WORD A disciple is not only a believer who is visibly identified with the person of Christ, he is also obedient to the Word of Christ to the Scriptures. Go therefore a nd make disciples of all na t i o ns t eac h i ng them to observe all that I have commanded you. Teac h i ng them to observe all t hat I have co m ma nded you. Jesus said, If ye continue in My Word, then are ye My disciples indeed (John 8:31). If you observe it and ap p ly it to your life, then you are My disciple. Lu ke re cords what happened one day when a crowd of people listened to the Lo rd Jesus preach. One woman in the crowd was probably middle-aged or a little beyond (I m interpreting he re). As she listened to Jesus, something welled up within her. Pe r haps she had a son who was waywa rd, and as she looked at the Lo rd Jesus, she wished her son were like Him. Or maybe she had never had a son and had always wanted to have one. Anyway she sp o ke up she sort of burst out and said, Happy is the woman who was Your mother (Luke 11:27). Jesus answer to her was significant. He said, Yea rather, blessed are they [or happy are they] that hear the Word of God, and keep it (Luke 11:28). That s real happiness. That s real blesse d ness to hear what God has to say and to do it. I enj oyed read i ng a book by the late Sam Sho e make r, Extraordinary Living for Ordinary Men. In it he says that Christians who are half-committed are hal f - happy. But t0 be real ly hap py you need to go all the way in commitment. And this means to be obedient to the Wo rd of Christ. Ob e d i e nce is nece s sary also for stability. The greatest sermon ever preac hed was the Sermon on the Mount. And notice how Jesus concluded it. He said, Therefore who so ever hea reth the se sayings of Mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his hou se upon a rock: and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that hou se; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And everyone that heareth these sayings of Mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his hou se upon the sa nd: And the rain d e scended, and the floods came, a nd the winds blew, and beat upon that hou se; and it fell: and great was the fall of it (Ma t t hew 7:24-27). W hat made the diffe re nce b e t ween the wise man and the foolish man? It wasn t knowl e d g e, becau se they both hea rd the same sermon. They went to the same confe re nce; they had the same knowledge. They both heard the Word. Not only that, they had the sa me circums t a nces. It says that t he rain desce nded, the floods came, the winds blew and beat upon the hou se of the wise man. The rain descended, the floods came, the winds blew and beat upon the house of the fo o l ish man. The circumstances were the sa me. One couldn t say, Well, you don t know how tough it is whe re I co me from Well, you don t know what kind of a family life I ve got. You don t know how I suffer down at wo r k. It wasn t their circumstances that made the difference. One thing made the difference between wisdom and fo o l ish ness. One obeyed the Word; the other one did not. Jesus said, He that hath My co m ma nd ments, and ke e p e t h them, he it is that loveth Me: and he that loveth Me shall be loved of My Father, and I will love him, and will manifest Myself unto him 7