The answer is actually much simpler—all you have to do is follow the Leader. In this message, Dr. Stanley outlines exactly how to walk in the footsteps of Jesus, beginning with surrendering your life and mirroring His life of prayer, service, and sacrifice.
Dr. Charles Stanley: If I should
ask you, simple question,
are you a follower of Jesus?
How would you answer that?
Are you a follower of Jesus?
Well, if I ask that to some
people they would say, do you
mean do I believe in God?
No, I just said are you
a follower of Jesus?
Or they might respond,
well I know about Him.
That’s not the question.
And oftentimes they would say,
well, I do attend church.
That’s not the question, either.
Or they might say, when I go to
church every once in a while,
they observe Communion
and I participate in that.
No, I asked you if you were
a follower of Jesus.
Well, I give to good causes.
That’s not the question.
Well, I think I’m a
pretty good person.
I didn’t ask you that.
I try to live a good life.
I don’t drink or run around
on my wife.
I didn’t ask you that.
I pray when I feel like
I have a need of it.
Didn’t ask you, I asked you if
you were a follower of Jesus?
It’s amazing how many people
have different answers and then,
I do consider myself
a religious person.
I didn’t ask you that either.
Well, my parents were
very religious.
And I didn’t ask
you that either.
And the truth is, all of those
answers, any one of them or all
of them together, would not
equal whether you’re a follower
of Jesus or not.
And many people think if certain
activities are true in their
life, certain experiences,
then they must be
a follower of Jesus.
They must be a Christian.
Not necessarily so.
And so, I want you to turn if
you will to Matthew chapter four
and look at this
eighteenth verse.
Are you a follower of Jesus?
Listen to what
the Scripture says.
The eighteenth verse of Matthew
four, “Now as Jesus was walking
by the Sea of Galilee, He saw
two brothers, Simon who was
called Peter, and Andrew, his
brother, casting a net into the
sea; for they were fishermen.
And He,” that is Jesus, “said to
them, ‘Follow Me, and I will
make you fishers of men.’
And they immediately left their
nets and began to follow Jesus.”
Where does Jesus Christ
fit into your life?
And so, when I think about that,
that’s going to be the title
of this message,
“Following Jesus.”
So, what I’d like to do in this
message, I’d like to give you
the activities, the experiences
of a true follower of Jesus
so that you can decide
whether you are or not.
Because there are certain things
that are absolutely essential
to a follower of Jesus.
Many people think they are, many
people are not sure, many people
know they’re not.
And many people truly are
followers of Jesus.
So, the purpose of this message
is simply to clarify that.
So, I hope you have a pen and a
pencil or a piece of paper and I
want you to write this down
because when somebody says,
Are you a follower of Jesus?
You can say, Yes, specifically
if you know how to say yes.
And I want you to examine your
heart and ask yourself the
question, Not that do you go
to church, not if you’ve been
baptized, not if you’ve taken
Communion, not if you’ve done
all these things but am I
a true follower of Jesus.
So, what does a true follower
of Jesus look like?
What does it sound like?
What are the evidences?
What are the experiences of
a true follower of Jesus?
So, I trust that you’ll write
them down.
Now, to be a follower of Jesus,
step number one, you must be
born again.
John three, three says, “Truly,
truly, I say to you, unless
one is born again he cannot
see the kingdom of God.”
Or enter the kingdom of God.
So, the first basic step of
being a follower of Jesus
is being born again.
So forget the church baptism
and all that stuff, it’s
being born again.
Which is a matter of confessing
your sins, surrendering your
life to Christ, accepting His
forgiveness of your life,
and beginning to
walk in His ways.
First of all, being born again.
Have you ever been born again?
Jesus could not have made it
more clear when He said being
born again.
Not just being better, not just
improving, being born again as
a result of your confession,
repentance, and surrender
of your life to Christ as
Savior and Lord.
Step number one,
did you get that?
Say amen.
Step number two, and that is
if you’re a follower of Jesus,
you’re going to be
a person who prays.
Listen, to what He says an
example of Jesus in Luke six
verse twelve, “It was at that
time that He went off to the
mountain to pray, and He spent
the whole night in
prayer to God.”
Well, somebody says,
well, I pray.
Well, how often do you pray?
Well, once in a while.
No, if you’re really a follower
of Jesus, prayer is a major
part of your life.
In fact, how do you start the
day off living in this world
without talking to God?
And how do you go to sleep at
night with perfect security
without talking to God?
How do you face the issues
in life without prayer?
That is, prayer should be a
habit and not only a habit but
a very important
part of our life.
Prayer about what?
Pray about everything.
And Jesus prayed
about many things.
But what I want you
to notice is this.
He–watch this, this is
the Son of God.
He began His day alone with God.
How many times have I mentioned
that to you about starting the
day with prayer, and
getting alone, and having
your quiet time?
If you’re going to be a follower
of Jesus, a follower does what
the leader does, right?
So, first of all you’re born
again, and secondly, you’re
going to make prayer a very,
very, vital habit in your life.
So, I would ask you
this question.
Most of you consider yourselves
followers of Jesus where does
prayer fit in your daily life?
Is it something you do
when you get in trouble?
When you have a need?
When you get sick?
If you think about it?
Or you almost had an accident
and you thank God?
But prayer, “Pray without
ceasing,” the Scripture says.
Jesus began His day, not just in
this verse but other verses
began His day alone talking to
the Lord and of course the
disciples they
couldn’t stand it.
They had to find Him
and interrupt Him.
But prayer is a second
very vital part.
Thirdly, if you really and truly
are a follower of Jesus,
you’re going to listen to Him.
In Matthew chapter seventeen
verse five, listen to what the
Scripture says, “While he was
still speaking, a bright cloud
overshadowed them, and behold,
a voice out of the cloud said,
‘This is My beloved Son, with
whom I am well-pleased;
listen to Him!'”
That’s the Scripture, and I
believe one of the greatest
weaknesses among believers,
is failing to listen to God.
And if we’re just really honest,
how many people here get up in
the morning and, you look at the
clock, and you say I better
get busy?
You get busy doing things
that are absolutely essential
in order for you to fulfill your
responsibility for the day.
But I wonder how many of you
really and truly begin the day
talking to the Father, asking
Him to give you direction, to
protect you, to watch over you,
care for you, enable you to be
obedient to Him whatever goes on
in your life, make you sensitive
to people around you who need
Christ, who’re going through
difficulty, hardship, and pain?
Where does prayer really
fit in your life?
Lost people pray.
Does it make any difference?
Not really.
God’s not listening to people
who live in rebellion
toward Him.
God is the Sovereign God of this
universe, Lord, Master over
all things, who requires our
obedience, surrender, and our
acknowledgment of His rule
as God in this society
and in this world.
How many of us are
listening to Him?
When is the last time you got
on your knees or you got by
yourself in your particular
place to pray and just said,
Lord, today I’m not going
tell You anything.
I just want to
listen to You.
Well, you say, well, I’ve
listened to God and He
didn’t say a thing.
You know why?
Your attitude wasn’t right.
The sovereign God of the
universe who loved you enough
to send Jesus to die for your
sins is always available to hear
the prayers of His children
who come to Him in sincerity.
It doesn’t mean we have to come
to Him all confessed up, because
sometimes we come to Him in
order to confess and repent
of our sin whatever it might be.
But a follower of Jesus is a
person who prays and a person
who listens to God as well
as talk to God.
So, I would ask you
the question.
Have you been born again?
What place does prayer have in
your life, and how often do you
take time to listen to Him, or
do you all–do all the talking?
And many people pray like this.
Lord, I’m coming to you
today for my needs.
You know all my needs and I’m
trusting You to protect me,
watch over me, and care for me,
and You know what I’d like
to have.
You know the things in life on
my prayer list, and I’m going
to trust You to take care of me
today in Jesus’s name.
Amen.
That is all about me,
myself, and I.
Not all about–or any of all
about worshipping Holy God
who deserves our allegiance
and obedience to walk
faithfully before Him.
Number four, if I’m going to be
a follower of Jesus I must
believe Him.
This simple verse, “For God so
loved the world, that He gave
His only begotten Son, that
whoever believes in Him,
will not perish, but
have everlasting life.”
Trusting Him, faith in Him, John
three sixteen, for example, that
verse is absolutely essential
in order for us to follow Him.
If I don’t believe Him I’m not
going to do what He says.
If I don’t believe Him,
I’m not going to obey Him.
If I don’t believe Him I’m not
going to walk in His ways.
If I don’t believe Him, I’m
going to live my life centered
around what I want, when I want
it, whatever that might be.
Can you honestly and truly say,
I live by faith?
I trust God for my needs.
I trust God for my difficulties,
hardship, pain.
I trust God when I’m in a
sense of facing temptation.
What part does faith have in
my daily life in a practical
kind of life?
I don’t mean praying,
well, I went to church.
That doesn’t mean you
have faith.
Evidence that you have faith is
when you find yourself crying
out to God, believing Him for
something that you know that you
can’t do without Him.
And Jesus made faith a priority
of His life because that’s
who He was, and prayer
was a part of that.
So, if a person says to you, Are
you a follower of Jesus, I don’t
know what you would have said,
but you could say, Well,
I’ve trusted Christ as my
Savior, prayer’s a vital part of
my life, I’m listening to Him,
whatever He wants to say, and
I’m trusting Him for whatever
He says in my life.
All–watch this, all of that
is just a simple,
vital part of being
a follower of Jesus.
If you were going to eliminate
any one of those, which one
would you eliminate?
Not any of them.
So, number five, if I’m a
follower of Jesus I’m going
to obey Him.
I’m going to obey Him.
John eight twelve says, “I am
the Light of the world; he who
follows Me will not walk in
darkness, but will have
the Light of life.”
That is who follows Me.
Who obeys Me.
If I’m really and truly a
follower of Jesus, obedience is
absolutely essential and besides
that, it’s a desire of my heart.
If I understand who Jesus is,
I would be absolutely foolish
not to obey Him.
The Bible says, “The wages
of sin is,” what?
That’s pretty weak.
“The wages of sin is, what?
congregation: Death.
Dr. Stanley: Death, right.
Why do I want to sin against
God, if I know that ultimately
there’s going to be death?
Not just physical death.
It could be death to my true
ability to love somebody.
It could be death to my
opportunity from God to be
blessed financially because
I’m disobeying Him financially.
And we could go
right down the line.
Obedience is absolutely
essential to being a
follower of Jesus.
And you say, well why do you
spend all that time with that?
Let me ask you a question.
Why did you spend most of those
early hours and days of your
children’s lives saying, now,
here’s what you must do.
He–I want you to grow up to be
and you were teaching your
children to do what?
To obey you.
Because you wanted them to
grow up and be the best
they could be.
If you follow Jesus,
you obey Him.
If you don’t obey Him, you
thank Him for sending you
enough heartache, and troubles,
and trials to correct your sense
of misdirection in life.
Obedience to Him is
absolutely essential.
And people don’t like to talk
about obeying God.
They want to talk about
how good God is.
Well, sure God’s good and you
know one of the reasons
He’s so good?
It’s because He teaches us to
obey Him who is the source
of every good thing
that comes our way.
Now I hope you’re writing these
down, and I’m trusting you,
when you–before you go to bed
tonight to check yourself out.
In fact, it’d be a good idea if
you had this list right by your
bed, so you would say, okay
Lord, I know I’m a follower of
You, so I know I’m born again,
I’m praying and listening.
In other words,
check yourself out.
A true follower of
Jesus Christ is going to do
every single one of these.
So far, we’re right, correct?
Amen.
That’s pretty weak, but
you’ll wake up in a minute.
You’re going to obey Him.
And then you’re
going to love Him.
If you’re going to follow Him
you’re going to love Him.
Listen to Mark twelve, thirty.
“You shall love the Lord your
God with all your heart, with
all your soul, and with
all your mind, and with
all your strength.”
Look at that.
“Love the Lord your God
with all your heart.”
Not a divided heart, half in
the world and half with God.
All your heart with
all your soul.
That is, all your very being,
your whole personality, and
He says with all your mind.
That is if I love, watch this,
if I love God with all of my
mind, I’m going to be careful
what I place in my mind, what I
think about, who I think about,
and the kind of thoughts I have.
If I’m a true follower of Jesus
and love Him with all my heart,
soul, and my mind, I’m going
to be very careful what I place
in my mind.
You–listen, you cannot love the
Lord your God with all your
heart and sit and watch
something on television that
absolutely messes up your mind,
challenges your sense of
obedience, challenges your sense
of purity in your heart.
No, if you really and truly love
Him and we come to this whole
issue of loving Him, that love
is going to affect what I think,
the way I think, where I go,
what I say, what I do.
Loving is going to affect
every aspect of our life.
So, when I think about people
saying, oh yes, I’m a believer.
I’m a follower of Jesus.
And yet they’ve not even thought
about how their activities
indicate whether they’re
a follower or not.
Now think about this.
This is a full course in living
the Christian life in one
thirty minute period.
And most people will live their
life and never be able to tell
you what’s involved in living
a Christian life.
They went to church, they got
saved, they got their name
on the roll.
They’re members of the church.
Nobody says to them, now when
you come to church you
bring a Bible.
So, I’m not going to ask you
to hold yours up because
99.9 percent of you have one.
There is not a single person who
can go to church and remember
everything the pastor said or
even the essentials that he
said and never write anything
down and walk away.
How many of these points,
there’re nine of them,
by the way.
How many of these points
would you remember if you
did not write them down?
Not many, because when you
leave here, you’re going
to eat, right?
And that’s gonna change
your whole perspective
on your environment.
We’re talking about true
followers of Jesus are
so wrapped up in who He is, and
what He’s like, and who He is
within us, and what He’s doing
within us, that we don’t sit
in church and never take a note.
You can’t remember that much.
I can’t remember that much,
that’s why I have a few notes.
Because I don’t want you
to miss anything.
When you walk out of this
service, you should be able
to know in your heart, you have
heard exactly what is involved
in being a follower of Jesus.
Then share Him.
That is, tell somebody
else about Him.
Listen to what He said in
Matthew twenty-eight, nineteen,
you know these verses.
“Go therefore and make disciples
of all the nations.”
That is, spread the Word, get
the truth of the Word of God
to all the nations.
The people who love us,
the people who hate us.
And I think about how that
verse is taking place today
all over the world.
There’re people who risk their
lives twenty-four hours a day
to get the simple truth of
the gospel to the people
around them.
Jesus sent His disciples into
a world of hatred, bitterness,
animosity, and death.
But it is our responsibility
to get the Word out.
So, that means I’m to tell
somebody, but let me ask
you a question.
When is the last time you
deliberately, willfully,
singled out somebody that you
knew really and truly needed to
know about the Lord, Jesus,
needed to be saved; when’s the
last time you said
something to them?
Maybe just a little something.
Inviting them to–anything in
order to get them to the place
that they’re saved and
begin to follow Jesus.
He said that to His disciples,
but He meant for us
all to do that.
Go into all the world
and preach the gospel?
Yes.
But we’re to tell them how,
one-on-one.
They didn’t have television,
radio, or microphones, or
anything, but they transformed
the world of their day.
And today we have the privilege
of penetrating every single
piece of earth upon
which you and I live.
We have the ability and the
capacity to get it there.
But here’s the truth.
I’m not too sure how authentic
I would be if I were not
interested in somebody.
It’s one thing to say everybody,
what about somebody?
Everybody knows somebody that
you say something to, at least
spark their attention about
their relationship to God.
That’s what a true follower of
Jesus, in other words, we follow
Jesus not blind, but we follow
Jesus sensitive to people around
us who are not following Him.
Who desperately need Him, every
single one of us knows somebody
today who needs Christ
in their life.
A true, watch this, a true
follower doesn’t shut their ears
or their eyes, or shut down
their feelings.
We’re sensitive to somebody else
around us, who so desperately
needs Him.
Then of course,
number eight, serve Him.
If I’m a true follower of Jesus,
I’m going to serve Him
in some fashion.
Listen to what the Scripture
says in John twelve, twenty-six.
“If anyone serves Me,
the Father will honor him.”
That is crystal clear.
“If anyone serves Me,
the Father will honor him.”
You want to
be blessed by God?
That’s the shortest–one of the
shortest promises in the Word,
listen, “If anyone serves Me,
the Father will honor him.”
All of us have the capacity to
serve the Lord in some fashion.
Well, how do you
serve the Lord?
By serving somebody
else in some way.
There’re many, many ways
to serve the Lord.
But the issue here, I think,
is that He wants us to give
ourselves away to others.
Think about this, is
that not what He did?
He came into the world,
thirty years He lived,
those working years
as a carpenter.
And then those last years He
spent preaching the gospel,
sharing the truth, and dying
on a cross for you and me.
What was He doing?
He was serving the Father.
And every time you and I do
something that is godly,
that’s wise, that’s helpful.
Even what we say or what we do.
What do we do?
We’re serving Him.
So, that’s what
true believers do.
Followers of Jesus
are not self-centered.
Followers of Jesus look around
them, followers of Jesus are
able to hurt where the people
are hurting; followers of Jesus
are able to discern when someone
around them is hurting,
and nobody else seems
to care or understand.
Followers of Jesus are willing
to serve others by giving to
them, by encouraging them in
some fashion, by presenting
them with the truth of the
gospel, or presenting them with
the truth of the gospel when
they don’t want to hear it.
Followers of Jesus
make a difference.
And then of course, this
is one we don’t like.
Followers of Jesus suffer
for Him, are willing
to suffer for Him.
Philippians one, twenty-nine’s
a great verse.
“For you it has been granted
for Christ’s sake, not only
to believe in Him, but also
to suffer for His sake.”
Now, you say, Well, I don’t
know why I have to suffer
to be a Christian.
You may not ever have to suffer
to be a Christian, but if
I’m going to follow Jesus,
I’m probably going to suffer
in some way.
You say, well pastors
don’t suffer.
You haven’t lived in our shoes,
and other people–well, yeah, if
you follow Jesus, you’re going
to suffer, watch, you’re going
to suffer rejection by some,
you may suffer financially,
you may suffer job wise, you
may suffer in relationships.
If you’re a true follower of
Jesus, some people don’t want
you in their circle.
You know why they
don’t want you?
You make them feel
uncomfortable.
Because there’s something about
your personality that doesn’t
fit who they are.
They love the world, you don’t.
You don’t drink what they
drink, go where they go,
dress like they dress.
And so, there’s something
about you that you don’t fit.
But the Scripture says
we’re to suffer for Him.
That is, we’re to be where we
need to be whether we’re
accepted or not.
We’re to do what we need to do
whether they like it or not.
We’re to share the truth of the
gospel when it’s acceptable,
or when it’s rejected.
True followers of Jesus.
Now think about this
for a moment.
Now I want you to–don’t look at
your paper, I want you to look
at me, and I want you to listen.
A true follower of Jesus and
see, see how you respond
emotionally, immediately,
just in an instant.
Are you born again?
Do you pray regularly?
Do you listen to Him?
Do you believe Him?
Do you obey Him?
Do you love Him?
Do you share Him?
Do you serve Him?
Do you suffer for Him?
Simple nine Scriptures,
simple nine phrases
of how to walk and to do what?
To follow Jesus.
That’s not too hard for anybody.
And if I were a father, and my
pastor had told me this, I’d get
this down, and I’d first–one of
the first things I would do with
my children, I’d say, well
we have a new lesson.
Don’t give it all to them at
one time, just one at a time.
Today we’re going to talk about
being born again.
You made another–wait another
week before you get to number
two, or number two tomorrow.
Or sit down and go
through the whole thing.
People don’t understand,
oftentimes, the simplicity
of what God has said to us.
What we’re required to do.
What should be true of us,
because there’s not a single one
of these things we can say,
Well, I believe in most of
those, but this obedience
business, or this sharing,
or this suffering hmmmm-mm-mm,
this suffering doesn’t fit me.
Yes, it does.
These are nine simple
attributes, activities,
expressions, experiences that
would be true for every single,
true, genuine, follower of
Jesus, and if not, which one
would you leave out?
Not a one.
Now, if you’ve written those
down, which I trust that you
have, put ‘um by the bedside at
your house, and but tonight
‘fore you go to bed,
just look over them.
You don’t have to say everything
I’ve said, just born again,
pray, listen, believe,
obey, love Him.
Watch this, when you–right
before sleep, go over something
like this, and you go to sleep
with that in your mind, that’s
the last thing you’re thinking
about, all night long your mind
is working that truth into
your thought processes.
When you wake up in the morning,
if you simply went over all
those today and you simply said,
Lord, I want to be a follower of
Jesus today, thank You that
I’m born again, and pray
and so forth, go
right down the list.
It will not take you very long,
you’ll know them all by heart.
Because your mind has been
programmed to think the way God
wants you to think.
And what happens?
God transforms our life without
even realizing what’s happening.
And that’s my prayer for you.
Do not keep this to yourself.
It’s very simple, very plain.
Who in here did not understand
this, anybody?
That’s right, because the
gospel’s not to be complicated,
it is to be heard,
believed, acted upon.
This simple message will
transform your life if you will
read it before you go to sleep,
read it when you wake up.
Here’s what’ll happen.
Before very, very long, you’ll
find yourself automatically
saying something to other
people, and you’ll bring up
one of these.
And before long
here’s what’ll happen.
You’ll be preaching to people,
and they won’t even know
what you’re doing.
So, now you’re here this morning
and maybe you just dropped in
as a visitor, or maybe you’ve
been coming several Sundays,
but you’ve never
been born again.
You’ve never trusted
Jesus Christ as Savior
and surrendered
your life to Him.
That’s step number one, and I
would encourage you, because
you see, the rest of
this doesn’t count.
Waa-mmm-mmm-mmm, forget
the rest of them until you deal
with the first one.
Because everything else is
a step upon the first one.
And if you are willing to ask
the Lord Jesus Christ to forgive
you of your sins, and you’re
surrendering your life to Him
today, and you want to build
upon this foundation of your
faith in Christ, He’s willing
to forgive you of your sins.
And He’s willing to start with
you today, living the most
awesome life you
could ever imagine.
Amen?
Amen.
Let’s stand if you will.
Father, how grateful we are that
in all of Your infinite wisdom,
You’ve made truth simple enough
for all of us to understand in
order that we could walk in
obedience to Your will.
Etch these truths into all
of our minds and our hearts.
Father, I’ve prayed that You’ll
bring to every single person’s
memory tonight, before they turn
off the last light, to read
these over, and to ask You to
work them into their heart.
And after they turn on the
light tomorrow morning,
to read them again.
And Lord, that You would bring
them to their mind one of them,
or all of them during the day
as they meet other people.
Listening to their heartaches,
and problems, and burdens.
We’re followers, Lord.
We want to be true, genuine,
life-changing followers
of Jesus.
And we thank You for that
in Christ’s name, amen.