When we talk about following Jesus, it takes us in two directions—not two different directions, but two complementary directions. The first element of following Jesus means following Him in the sense of living as He lived—of learning Who Jesus was, how He lived, how He reacted to various circumstances, what His personality was. John said it this way in 1 John 2, and verse 6: “…he that saith he abideth in Him…” (now, that’s a claim to be a disciple, you see). “…he that saith he abideth in Him ought himself also to walk even as He walked.” Now, I think sometimes we believe it’s a modern-day expression to say, “You’ve not only got to talk the talk, you’ve got to walk the walk.” But John had it two thousand years ago in that very passage!

But the second element here of following Jesus is not just following His example of life, but following what He teaches in His Word—be receptive, submissive and obedient to it. We’re well familiar with John 8, verse 32, “…ye shall know the Truth, and the Truth shall make you free.” But I think we would have the fuller meaning of that 32^nd verse if we kept the 31^st verse with it. John says, “Jesus therefore said to those Jews that had believed Him, If ye abide in My Word, (then) are ye truly My disciples; 32 and ye shall know the Truth, and the Truth shall make you free.”

Does not Jesus admit in verse 31 that there are such things as pretending disciples? False disciples? He said, “Here is what true discipleship involves. It’s abiding in My Word; and ye shall know the Truth, and the Truth shall make you free.”

When we think of these two areas, that of following Jesus as He lived, that of following Jesus by obeying His Word, we can observe instantly that there are many, again, who claim to be His disciples and who may even know much about Jesus and His Word, who are not willing, then, to take that step to put in to practice the things that they have learned about Him. So, one though may read of the life of Jesus and see what kind of man He was, the ultimate servant of mankind that He was, there are still many, even among the Lord’s people, who have not learned the Message of service. They want to be served all of the time. They do not think of serving others.

I suppose in every place where I’ve lived through the years and did local work, something, at least similar to this, occurred. I would learn of someone who had gone to the hospital. I would get there as soon as I could. I must confess—I’ll interrupt right here—that I was not around when the Lord passed out the “sixth sense.” You know, preachers are supposed to know, even before the family does, that somebody is going to the hospital. But I was just absent the day that talent was passed out. But I would get there as soon as I could and be greeted with hostility when I walked in the room. “Why did you take so long to get here? Where have you been?” And inevitably, it would be some brother or sister, or member of their family, who hadn’t thought about visiting anybody in the hospital for fifteen years! But, brother—others better serve them! That’s not following Jesus, brethren. That’s following self.

There are those who look at our Lord and see the boldness with which He lived His life, and with which He spoke. And they somehow cannot harmonize that boldness with, at the same time, the kindness that balanced His life. And all they want to see is the kind part. They don’t see the bold part, where He could, on occasion, stab the hearts of those evil men in His generation. But we need to have the same balance in our lives.

On and on we could go, talking about the Lord, and the kind of man He was, and how we must learn those things, and try to emulate them. But when it comes to His Word, there are many who do not want to follow what His Word teaches. Oh, there are many who will follow His Word, even in the world at large out there—until it gets up to a certain point, like “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; he that believeth not shall be damned.” And they quit following Jesus right there. No sir, that’s not for them. But the Lord said that about baptism in the same breath He said it about faith—[“believeth” + “baptized” = “saved”].

There are those who have been willing to follow Him into baptism—what He teaches in His Word about it. But when they’ve come up out of the baptistery, they have not liked what Jesus said about “giving as they have been prospered.” Or they have not agreed with what Jesus teaches in His Word on marriage, divorce and remarriage. They want it their way instead of His Way. Or, they do not even want others to obey what the Lord has taught, in some respects. They don’t want elders to lead the church in withdrawing from unruly members, when it is necessary. And they will not participate in what the Lord teaches through His Word to do on such things.

Brethren, we cannot pick and choose out of the teachings of Christ what we want to do. It’s NOT a cafeteria where you go down the line and get what you want, and leave the rest of it there. That’s NOT the way we can approach the Bible and be disciples! We’ve got to take the WHOLE THING, or we don’t take any of it. “If any man would come after ME…—the way that I live, the things that I teach—THEN he can be My disciple.” That’s what He’s telling us.

But, He says something further: “…if any man will come after Me, let him DENY HIMSELF….” Now, what does that mean? Does it mean, “I’d like to have that nice, four-bedroom, split-level house, but I’m going to settle for just a three-bedroom house”? Does it mean, “I’d like that $40,000 automobile or truck, but I’m going to take that cheapie that costs only $25,000”? Just what does it mean, “DENY SELF”? It doesn’t mean those things, though there are some ways, some circumstances, in which it could involve those things. The Lord’s going far, far DEEPER than just denying ourselves OF some things. That’s not what He said. He said, “Deny SELF.”