All of the apostles were insulted by the enemies of their Master. They were called to seal their doctrines with their blood and nobly did they bear the trial.

• Matthew suffered martyrdom by being slain with a sword at a distant city of Ethiopia.
• Mark expired at Alexandria, after being cruelly dragged through the streets of that city.
• Luke was hanged upon an olive tree in the classic land of Greece.
• John was put in a caldron of boiling oil, but escaped death in a miraculous manner, and was afterward banished to Patmos.
• Peter was crucified at Rome with his head downward.
• James, the Greater, was beheaded at Jerusalem,
• James, the Less, was thrown from a lofty pinnacle of the temple, and then beaten to death with a fuller’s club.
• Bartholomew was flayed alive.
• Andrew was bound to a cross, whence he preached to his persecutors until he died.
• Thomas was run through the body with a lance at Coromandel in the East Indies.
• Jude was shot to death with arrows.
• Matthias was first stoned and then beheaded.
• Barnabas of the Gentiles was stoned to death at Salonica.
• Paul, after various tortures and persecutions, was at length beheaded at Rome by the Emperor Nero.

Such was the fate of the apostles, according to traditional statements. ¹ What is it about these kinds of men? What traits do these disciples of Jesus possess that they would be willing to follow Jesus to the end?

Real Disciples are People of Priority.

ILLUSTRATION: Seeing What Happens
How would you feel if you got on an airplane which was headed to New York but the pilot just gets on the intercom after being airborne 20 minutes and says ‘Well folks the plane is leveling off at an altitude of 30,000 feet. By the way I know this flight is booked to go to New York but I thought we would just fly around and see the countryside.  We will land whenever we are low on fuel.  I really can’t say where we will end up.  We’ll just see what happens.”

• You wouldn’t want to be on a plane like that but you know people run their lives in this way.
• They run their marriages like this.
• They raise their kids with no goal no direction and no priorities.  Just drift along from day to day.
• They live life with the attitude that wherever I end up will be fine with me.
• Real disciples are not drifters.
• They are people who have their priorities right.

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• Establishing your priorities means you have come to some decisions about your life.
• And so your life is not aimless wandering around.
• And your life is not about ‘Wherever we end up is fine…”
• You have settled some things.

You have to decide what your highest priorities are and have the courage – pleasantly, smilingly, nonapologetically – to say ‘no’ to other things. And the way to do that is by having a bigger ‘yes’ burning inside. – Stephen Covey

• You have settled the family issue and you have answered Jesus question,
• “Am I more important to you than any human person on planet earth including your family?”
• Now in this second area, Jesus wants to know again, “Is what I have for you to do more important to you than any other thing which might be available for you to do?” “And are you willing to pursue My plan your whole life, and with all your life.”
• Christianity is not a Sunday morning religion
• It is hungering after God every day, all the time.
• It’s pursuing God continually, with your whole life.
• So the question has to be asked…
• What am I doing with my time on planet earth?
• Real disciples are people who have answered that question and are wrapped up in pursuing and doing God’s will.

• They spend their time…
  • Finding it.
  • Following it.
• The will of God is most important to them.
• It is always on their mind.
• It is always in their conversation.
• It is a permanent part of the fabric of their decision making.
• And the Lord blesses them because they are this way.

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2 Chron. 16:9 (NIV)
9 For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him

The Family Issue and the Cross Issue are Related

Now, these issues in Luke are related.
We shared this verse last week.
Here it is again.
Look at the ‘will of God’ reference that Jesus makes.

Matthew 12:46–50 (ESV)
46 While he was still speaking to the people, behold, his mother and his brothers stood outside, asking to speak to him. 48 But he replied to the man who told him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” 49 And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 50 For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”

• So, you can see how these two things, family and the will of God are interconnected.
• Jesus wove them together.

Two Types of ‘Carrying the Cross’ Believers

• Now again just like last week, there is the idea of two camps, of two types of believers; those who are actively pursuing and following God’s plan and those who aren’t.
• The Lord said something to Brother Kenneth Hagin along this line.

ILLUSTRATION: Follow the Plan Closely
The Lord spoke to me and said, “I bless all of My people as far as I can. But the reason there is not the move of God and the depth of the flow of the Spirit, and the fullness of the manifestation of the Holy Ghost today is because men do not take time to hear from Me. And they do not take time to follow My plan set forth in the scriptures. The more closely you follow My plan, the more My power will be in demonstration and in manifestation.”

• Many times the reason people are in financial difficulties is because they have the wrong plan!
• They became impulsive and they did not take the time to find out the plan.
• Many times we make our plans and then ask God to bless them.
• It is better to get God’s plan because it’s already BLESSED!
• God pays for His stuff.

Jer. 29:11 (KJV)
11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

• The only plans which prosper are Gods plans.
• How am I going to get Gods plan?
• I am going to have to spend time hearing Him.
• I am going to have to spend time waiting on Him.
• I am going to have to make sure I do not override the inward witness.
• I have to do this in small things. In everyday things.

Obedience in Small Things are about Three Areas

• They contain…
• Specific Leading for the moment.  – (You get direction for that small area)
• Tests to see if you will listen. –  (Leadings in small areas can be a test to see if you will listen.)
• Doorways to greater anointing’s and effectiveness. – (Sometimes when you pass a test, a new door opens).
• Do not despise small leadings.
• You can get them every day.

Zechariah 4:10 (NIV)
10 “Who dares despise the day of small things, since the seven eyes of the Lord that range throughout the earth will rejoice when they see the chosen capstone in the hand of Zerubbabel?”

• If you are not growing.
• If you plateaued.
• If you are stagnant.
• If you are stuck in the rut, look right at this area.
• Whatever you are involved in ask yourself, ‘Is this God’s will for me?’
• Ask yourself ‘Is this God’s plan?’
• How am I going to know?
• Did you notice these words “…they do not take the time to follow My plan…”

Disciples Spend a Great Amount of Time Waiting on Gods Direction

Disciples spend a lot of time on this issue.

• They spend a lot of time waiting.
• They spend a lot of time checking their spirits.
• It is a constant thing.
• Some people have a problem with waiting.

2 Kings 6:33 (NASB)
33 While he was still talking with them, behold, the messenger came down to him and he said, “Behold, this evil is from the LORD; why should I wait for the LORD any longer?”

• King Aram saw no benefit in waiting on the Lord.
• Instead of waiting for direction, he hauled off into action.
• You will either do things for the Lord by inspiration or perspiration.
• Actually, you use both, but you have to get the order right.
• Inspiration first, then you put legs to it.

1 Samuel 3:1–10 (ESV)
1 Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord in the presence of Eli. And the word of the Lord was rare in those days; there was no frequent vision. 2 At that time Eli, whose eyesight had begun to grow dim so that he could not see, was lying down in his own place. 3 The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was. 4 Then the Lord called Samuel, and he said, “Here I am!” 5 and ran to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call; lie down again.” So he went and lay down. 6 And the Lord called again, “Samuel!” and Samuel arose and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call, my son; lie down again.” 7 Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, and the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him. 8 And the Lord called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” Then Eli perceived that the Lord was calling the boy. 9 Therefore Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down, and if he calls you, you shall say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant hears.’ ” So Samuel went and lay down in his place. 10 And the Lord came and stood, calling as at other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant hears.”

• Notice the phrase in verse 10 for it is this point we are trying to make in a nutshell. “Speak, for your servant hears.”
• Just drop the word servant and insert the word disciple and you are there.
• “Speak for your disciple hears.”

Hearing Involves Waiting

• Could it be one reason we are not hearing from God is simply because we are not waiting around long enough to hear Him?
• Are we praying but not listening?
• We should pray and then go into wait mode.
• It’s a training piece.
• This is an area where we need to train and discipline ourselves.
• Hearing from heaven takes time.
• You can’t rush it.
• You have to be willing to spend the time.
• People say “I don’t have time.”
• If you think you don’t have time, ask yourself a question?
• Do you have time to miss God?
• Do you have time to clean up the mess you are going to create by missing Him?
• And once, you confront yourself with these questions, you will realize that it seems we say we do not have time to do it right, but we have time to do it wrong.
• So because of this realization, you should now come to the conclusion that waiting on God is not a time issue but rather a discipline and routine issue.
• We need to train ourselves along this line.
• We do not have the habit established. We need to train ourselves to wait.
• Have you ever missed God financially?
• How did that work for you?
• How long did it take to recover from some of those misses?

Some People in Bible Days Understood about “Waiting On God”

• Did you know there were people in O.T. Bible times who so valued waiting on God that they gave their children names that meant “wait on God?”
• Here are two examples:

Genesis 46:14 (ESV)
14 The sons of Zebulun: Sered, Elon, and Jahleel.

• JAHLEEL (Jah’ lih ehl) – Personal name meaning, “God shows Himself to be friendly” or “he waits for God.”
• He was a son of Zebulun and grandson of Jacob (Gen. 46:14) who became a clan leader in tribe of Zebulun (Num. 26:26).

Nehemiah 1:1 (ESV)
1 The words of Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah. Now it happened in the month of Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in Susa the citadel,

• HACALIAH (Hak uh li’ uh) – Personal name meaning, “wait confidently on Yahweh.”
• He was the father of Nehemiah.

The Children of Israel, in a Forced Way, Understood about Waiting on God.

• That’s all they did for 40 years in the wilderness!!!
• It is an outstanding illustration on waiting on God’s direction.
• The children of Israel were in a constant waiting mode in the wilderness.  They waited for the cloud or the pillar of fire to appear before they moved.

Numbers 9:15–23 (KJV)
15 And on the day that the tabernacle was reared up the cloud covered the tabernacle, namely, the tent of the testimony: and at even there was upon the tabernacle as it were the appearance of fire, until the morning. 16 So it was alway: the cloud covered it by day, and the appearance of fire by night. 17 And when the cloud was taken up from the tabernacle, then after that the children of Israel journeyed: and in the place where the cloud abode, there the children of Israel pitched their tents. 18 At the commandment of the Lord the children of Israel journeyed, and at the commandment of the Lord they pitched: as long as the cloud abode upon the tabernacle they rested in their tents. 19 And when the cloud tarried long upon the tabernacle many days, then the children of Israel kept the charge of the Lord, and journeyed not. 20 And so it was, when the cloud was a few days upon the tabernacle; according to the commandment of the Lord they abode in their tents, and according to the commandment of the Lord they journeyed. 21 And so it was, when the cloud abode from even unto the morning, and that the cloud was taken up in the morning, then they journeyed: whether it was by day or by night that the cloud was taken up, they journeyed. 22 Or whether it were two days, or a month, or a year, that the cloud tarried upon the tabernacle, remaining thereon, the children of Israel abode in their tents, and journeyed not: but when it was taken up, they journeyed. 23 At the commandment of the Lord they rested in the tents, and at the commandment of the Lord they journeyed: they kept the charge of the Lord, at the commandment of the Lord by the hand of Moses.

• Look at the detail in this account.
• Look at the amount of verbiage to make this point.
• They did not move – ‘THEY WAITED’ until the cloud moved.
• You should wait until you get direction.
• Whether it is two days, a month or a year, you wait.
• Impatience does not produce the voice of the Lord speaking to you.

Call to Action:

Calmness, understanding, and strength, are never the companions of hurry. They are the companions of those who wait and get clear direction. If you cannot make the ‘carrying the cross’ commitment, Jesus said you simply CANNOT be His disciple. Heaven is looking for a few good disciples, can you help?

Question: Have you had some life changing ‘waiting on God’ moments in your life which you would feel comfortable sharing with us. What was the result of this encounter? Would you please leave it in the comments section below?

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