Called to True Discipleship
A Sermon on Luke 14:25-35
Scripture
25¶ And there went great multitudes with him: and he turned, and said unto them, 26If 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. 27 …
Sermon Description
What does it mean to be a Christian? The Bible tells that being a Christian is far more than going to church, being moral, and working to make society a better place. In this sermon on Luke 4:25–35 titled “Called to True Discipleship,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones shares that while all these things have a place in the Christians life, they are still not what Christianity is ultimately about. Many people pursue all these things, yet they do not know Christ Jesus as the perfect Son of God who has come to fulfill all that is spoken in the Old Testament. This is because they are not truly His disciples. They do the works of salvation without the repentance that brings salvation. There were many people like this in Jesus’s day who followed Jesus because they were going along with the crowd. Those who are truly disciples of Jesus Christ are willing to lose health, wealth, reputation, and family for the sake of the kingdom of God. They count the cost and are prepared to surrender even their own lives for the sake of the gospel. They follow Christ’s example and instruction to take up their cross daily. This is the heart of salvation. Only those who truly believe in the gospel are able to do this, for they have been given strength through Christ and the Holy Spirit.
Sermon Breakdown
- Christianity calls us to make a choice. We must choose to follow Christ or not.
- The choice to follow Christ is the most radical and profound decision we can make. It requires surrendering our entire lives to Him.
- We must accept Christ's teachings in their entirety. We cannot pick and choose what we want to believe.
- We must follow Christ's way of living. We must live holy and righteous lives that are pleasing to God.
- We must follow Christ no matter the cost. We must be willing to sacrifice everything for Him, even our own lives.
- We have two options in life: follow the natural way of the world or follow Christ. The natural way leads to destruction, but following Christ leads to eternal life.
- We should follow Christ because of who He is, what He has done for us, and where He is leading us. He is the Son of God, He died to save us from our sins, and He is leading us to heaven.
- We must consider the end result of both ways of living. The natural way leads to judgment and destruction. Following Christ leads to eternal glory in heaven.
- We must make the deliberate choice to follow Christ. We must count the cost and understand what we are choosing. Following Christ means forsaking all else.
Other Sermons
Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981) was a Welsh evangelical minister who preached and taught in the Reformed tradition. His principal ministry was at Westminster Chapel, in central London, from 1939-1968, where he delivered multi-year expositions on books of the bible such as Romans, Ephesians and the Gospel of John. In addition to the MLJ Trust’s collection of 1,600 of these sermons in audio format, most of these great sermon series are available in book form (including a 14 volume collection of the Romans sermons), as are other series such as "Spiritual Depression", "Studies in the Sermon on the Mount" and "Great Biblical Doctrines". He is considered by many evangelical leaders today to be an authority on biblical truth and the sufficiency of Scripture.