Six Things Jesus Calls His Disciples To – Part 4

Last blog we looked at the call Jesus gives us to not fear the world. As promised we will now see the three reasons Jesus gave in Matthew chapter 10 for His disciples to not be afraid of the world and what it can do to us.

First of we need not fear the world because Jesus has promised that He will one day make everything right. He tells us that even though right now the dark and evil things we see going on all about us are hard to understand eventually we will see clearly His response. In Matthew 10:26-27 Jesus says, "So have no fear of them, for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. What I tell you in the dark, say in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops.”

We need to not worry ourselves about what the world says right now with all its lies and deception but instead look to His return as Paul instructs in 1 Corinthians 4:5, “Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive his commendation from God.” We must view things from God’s perspective not from our own. And as Matthew 10:27 says, “What I tell you in the dark, say in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops.” We must proclaim the entire message of scripture. We all memorize John 3:16 but we must not forget the verses that follow, John 3:17-18, “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.” God has this under control.

The second reason not to fear the world is that His eternity is of far greater matter than now and God’s power is eternal, man’s is temporal. Look at Matthew 10:28, “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” Neither man nor Satan can cast our souls into eternal damnation. There is a popular myth that hell is Satan’s dominion, it is not. Satan will not rule hell, God does, just as He is sovereign over all things.

In actuality the Christian’s fear of God is not a fear defined as one of terror but should instead be understood as reverence and awe in the mighty power of our God who is worthy of all praise and honor. Because of what Christ did by going to the cross, Christians need not fear hell because it is not our eternal destination. However out of respect for God’s right and power to cast souls into eternal damnation, Christians should come before God in the strictest sense of reverence. And since the only thing separating a disciple of Christ from a condemned non-believer is the blood of Christ, our attitude must always be one of tremendous thankfulness for the grace we have been given. The bottom line here is that our soul must be valued far more than our body. As Jim Elliot said, “He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”

The third and final reason Jesus gives that tells us why a disciple should not fear the world comes in Matthew 10:29-31, “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.”

This verse is easy to understand but we must believe it with every fiber of our being. God knows every single tiny little detail about all of His creation. And as Jesus says, if a little bird cannot fall without God knowing then we can trust He is watching over us and will not let anything happen to us that He has not allowed. God is sovereign people. So many Christians just do not grasp this concept. We may not understand why or how He operates but that does not mean we cannot trust Him. It is called faith and it is the most important thing we must have in our lives. Hebrews 11:6 is clear, “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”

Disciples do you believe God’s Word? If you do then you can live in this world without fear. If you struggle with faith and fear then read His Word constantly. Romans 10:17, “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.”

Keep seeking Him through His Word, through prayer, and through worship. Until next time God bless you.

Six Things Jesus Calls His Disciples To – Part 3

 
The second element of the disciple of Jesus is that a true disciple fears not the world, for the worst thing that anyone or anything in this world can do to him is to kill him. To those who follow Christ and learn who God really is, it becomes clear that our eternity is of much greater importance than our earthly life. I like to call this the eternal perspective versus the worldly perspective.

Jesus explains this in Matthew 10:26-31
"So have no fear of them, for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. What I tell you in the dark, say in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops. And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.”

Let us break this scripture reading down a little. First Jesus tells us what not to fear. He says do not fear “them” and in this reading the "them" He speaks of is better understood by looking at verse 28. Here Jesus is explicit, “do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.” That means we should not fear man. Proverbs 29:25 warns us of this and calls it a trap. “The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD is safe.” How true this is. People who are afraid often lived trapped lives afraid to ever step out in faith and try something new. There is a great axiom that says we either fear God or we fear man. Christians so often struggle in this. At the risk of sounding critical here I know so many Christians who are afraid to pray out loud. They will say they don’t pray as well as others. First of all prayer is simply talking to God and scripture in no way suggests we need fancy words to pray and actually Jesus spoke against that in Matthew 23:13 as He scolded the Pharisees for “making long prayers just for show.” (That doesn’t mean we cannot pray long prayers-it means it’s about the heart of the prayers.) So we should not be worried what other people think of our “ability” to pray and not let that stop us from praying.

 1 John 2:15-17 is another way of viewing this matter and we should look at it as we examine our own faith to verify it is real and lines up with what God desires from us. “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.” If we truly want to follow Jesus we must stop worrying about the world and not only stop fearing the physical harm it might inflict upon us, but also stop worrying about what the world thinks of us.

Jesus doesn’t just put out this “do not fear the world” thing and then leave us stranded to fend for ourselves. In this reading from Matthew 10 He gives us three reasons to not be afraid. Next blog we will look at those three reasons which are that God will one day vindicate us for what the world does to us. Secondly, we are instructed to replace our fear of the world with a veneration of Him. Lastly, Jesus provides us comfort by telling us how much God values His children and thus like any good father would, He will protect us.

Please pray today for the Holy Spirit to help you find strength and faith to not be afraid. God Bless all of you.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Six Things Jesus Calls His Disciples To

 

In the Gospel of Matthew we find Jesus teaching us some of the things He expects of His disciples. Each and every Christian is a disciple for that is the Great Commission Jesus gave in Matthew 28:18-20 saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.”Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

Jesus defines discipleship in Matthew 10:24-42. In this reading we find 6 things that He expects of those who call Him Lord and choose to follow Him. John MacArthur says this in his commentary on Matthew, ^1. “The true disciple of Jesus Christ emulates His Master; he fears God rather than the world; he confesses the Lord; he forsakes family; he follows his call; and he receives a reward.

Today let us look at the first element of discipleship which is that a disciple emulates his master. The scripture reference here is Matthew 10:24-25:
"A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a slave above his master.
"It is enough for the disciple that he become like his teacher, and the slave like his master. If they have called the head of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign the members of his household!

Verse 24 seems simple enough and makes sense. Most of us understand this because as children we attended school and until at least our teenage years we probably respected the knowledge of our teachers and believed they were above us in knowledge. Once we become employees somewhere, though we are not slaves, the principle remains the same. Our employer and our immediate supervisor exercise a certain amount of control over us. In our relationship with Jesus it is necessary that we exhibit the most obvious principle of discipleship, that of submission. Jesus does not mince words on this and there are many examples in scripture of His calling us to obey His commands and that our salvation assurance is based upon that being true. I point out just one and it is a simple but clear directive on obedience. In John 14:15 Jesus says, "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.”

The second part of our call to emulate Christ comes in Matthew 10:25 where Jesus says “It is enough for the student to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master.” The reason we must learn from our teacher is so that we become just like Him. This is a lifelong process and we see that in Luke 6:40 “A student is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher.” We should be training to be like Jesus. Of course that does not ever mean we will be equal with Jesus for He is God, but it means we can become just like Him in terms of love. To become like our master as slaves is really fascinating for no one has ever been a servant like Jesus who gave up everything for us.

So to sum all this up we simply must be seeking to know Christ so well that we become like Him and then when the world sees us they will see Jesus. We must become avid students of Jesus and the best way to learn from him is to read His Word. Colossians 3:16 is a beautiful description of how we can use this command to encourage each other as we walk this journey.
“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.”

So live today as a disciple. Even though we may fail often as we dwell in the classroom of Christ, we can live in the assured hope of His return when all things will be made right including us. I leave you with the great words of 1 John 3:2, “Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.”

Next time we will look at the disciple and what it means to fear God.

^1. MacArthur New Testament Commentary, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary – Matthew 8-15.

 

Being A Disciple

This week our church wrapped up a series called Not A Fan which is based on the book by the same name written by Pastor Kyle Idelman. Basically this study and book focus on the idea that many who claim the name of Jesus are really not committed followers but instead are mere fans of Him. Kyle stays completely within the context of scripture as he teaches on how to know whether we are just a fan or if we are actually a follower of Jesus. The book is great way to change the way we live out our faith and to follow the command of 2 Corinthians 13:5 which instructs us to “Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you fail the test?”

Why is this important you might ask? I go to church, I give my money, I serve once a week in my local ministry, and I have a little fish sign on the back of my car you probably are saying. I will let Jesus answer this question for you as He clearly states the answer in Matthew 7:21-23,  "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.'”

That is not Kyle Idelman nor is that Mike Wood speaking. That is a direct quote right from the mouth of Jesus Christ and it is a solemn warning that every single Christian should read and ponder every day of their lives. Our eternal destination is serious business. And Jesus is serious about what He expects out of those who claim to be His disciples.

Though most of us call ourselves Christians I think if we look at what Jesus wants us to really be is a disciple. After His resurrection and not long before He ascended back into heaven Jesus gave what we call the Great Commission in Matthew 28:19-20 instructing us to "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

What Jesus wants are disciples. So what is a disciple? A lot of people think the 12 Apostles were the only disciples and the names are interchangeable. In one sense all Christians are apostles because the word simply means sent ones or a messenger sent forth with orders. The word disciple in its simplest form means one is a pupil or a student but Biblically it speaks of being a student of Jesus who follows Him and not only listens to His teachings but also makes it his life goal to become like Him. So every single true Christian is a disciple who follows Christ with the purpose of becoming just like Him.

I am taking a look right now in my personal study on what being a disciple really means in my life and in my next several blogs I hope to share a little more insight into what Jesus expects of His disciples. I look forward to sharing more next time. I hope God blesses you today.

How Not to Sink in the Middle of a Storm

Have you ever wondered why it seems that so many of us Christians still struggle with sin and failures in our Christian walk? It should not be so. Each and every single true Christian has the same power that raised Christ from the dead living inside them. The promises of the Holy Spirit are many and one is that we are being changed from the inside out in a work theologians describe as sanctification. Romans 8:5-11 is a clear example of the work of the Spirit in those who are born again.

Yet our lives continue to be marked by failures that show up in our fears, our sins, and in our bent to live just as the world lives. My own life is a constant battle to defeat sin and to live as the Bible calls me to live. So what happens to us? Why do we start out so well and then drift away back into our old selves?

I believe the answer can be found in the Gospel of Matthew, verses 22-33. This is the story of the disciples crossing the sea after Jesus sent them ahead as He went off to pray. In the very dark of the night in the midst of a terrible storm the disciples found themselves fearful as the waves threatened their very lives. If that wasn’t scary enough, suddenly they see a figure they thought to be a ghost walking on the water. The figure of course is Jesus who calls out to them saying, "Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid." Peter responds by asking Jesus to prove it is He by telling Jesus to command him to come out there to Jesus. Of course Jesus tells Him to come on out and Peter, as usual, does so without a thought. In that moment Peter becomes only the second man to ever walk on water until something happens that I cannot help but think reminds me of a funny scene from an old TV show. Peter is doing find until he takes his eyes off of Jesus and seeing the wind he realizes his fear of the storm and begins to sink. You have to admire Peter for having the courage to step out in faith even though that courage is short-lived. But Peter also knows what to do when he begins to sink, he cries out to Jesus to save him and of course Jesus does. But Jesus does take this opportunity to rebuke Peter for his lack of faith and his doubt.

If we look closely at this story we see that the spiritual lesson is as much for us as it was for Peter and the other disciples. First of all we see here that even when the storms of life overtake us, we can trust that Jesus is there even if at first we do not see Him. After Jesus rose and came to the disciples He promised this as found in Matthew 2, “…I am with you always, even to the end of the age." That promise came on the end of the command of the Great Commission and both the commandment and the promise are to us as well.

Secondly take note that Jesus has the power to stop the storm anytime He wishes. This doesn’t just mean He controls the weather, though careful exegesis of scripture does teach this, it also means Jesus has the power to bring a halt to the metaphorical storms of our lives as well. Again if we look at the entirety of scripture we learn that God uses trials and afflictions in our lives to grow us and prepare us for eternity. In my many years of studying God’s Word I have learned that a proper understanding of the sovereignty of God is essential to growing one’s faith.

But the greatest lesson we can take away from this story is the key to all of our issues and struggles. Peter was walking on water with no problem until he took his eyes off of Jesus. As soon as he lost that focus he saw the wind and became afraid of what could happen if Jesus did not reach out and save him. You see that is the lesson Jesus wants all of us to learn. We can trust Him. We can believe the promises He has given us. It has been said there are over 200 promises that Jesus made in the New Testament and a good many of them are conditional. The condition is that we must have faith in Jesus which would include believing that every single one of those promises is true. Jesus rebuked Peter after pulling him from the water by saying, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?”

So the way to stay sure we don’t lose out faith is to not look at the storm we are in but to look at Jesus. Are you afraid of something? Keep your eyes on Jesus. Are you lonely? Keep your eyes on Jesus. Are you struggling with an addiction? Keep your eyes on Jesus. Whatever sin you are wrestling with if you keep your eye on Jesus then you will not commit that sin. Are you worried? Keep your eyes on Jesus. He has promised to be there.

Keeping our eyes on Jesus is not easy. Satan will throw every possible distraction at us. He will tempt us with fear, worry, drugs, sex, money, food, and everything possible because he knows if are focused on Jesus then we will be victorious. In order to keep our eyes on Jesus we must do a few things to help us stay focused. First of all surround ourselves with the body of Christ so we are mutually encouraging each other. Secondly we must daily feed ourselves the Word of God. Romans 10:17 tells us that “…faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the Word of Christ.” Thirdly we must discipline ourselves to “pray without ceasing” as we read in 1 Thessalonians 5:17. If we do these things then we will grow in faith and be empowered by the spirit of God as we keep our eyes on Jesus. Then victory over every sin and every failure can be ours.

Trusting God In All Things

Every day it seems like this world is getting worse. A simple perusal of our local news reveals a world filled with murder, robbery, child abuse and neglect. The world news reveals war and political upheaval. Bad things happen every single day. There is world hunger and children are dying in countries where even the water they drink kills them. Being a Christian does not isolate us from the often devastating things that happen in life. Cancer, divorce, addiction and financial struggles affect us as well. Even when we seem to be in a season of blessings it seems like someone around us is suffering through a storm. No wonder so many of us suffer from depression and joy plays hide and seek with us.

 So what do we do? What can we do? Well the answer really is quite simple. The answer is not found in anti-depressants or in psychology. The answer quite simply is found in God’s Word. This morning as I struggled to drag myself out of bed to start another week, I did what I do every morning. I pray. Today my morning prayers were listless and tired just like me.

God’s response this morning was a simple reminder of one of the few Bible verses I actually have memorized. Romans 8:28 “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”

Wherever you are today and whatever circumstances you are in, the truth of that scripture is the answer. Notice a few things that this verse says. Obviously the main point is that whatever we are going through today God is going to work it out for good. That should be enough to sustain us.

But notice that it says that God causes this. This means we don’t have to be trying to figure out what to do in our need. Not that we don’t need to do anything at all, but the point is that our response to our situation is to trust God, to have faith in this promise. That is good news because this means whether our situation is messed up because we messed up, or because someone else messed up, or things just are what they are, God is going to do what He promises. What we need to do is to go to God in prayer and say “God help me. You promise to work this out to good and right now I cannot see how that is possible.” This is part of what Jesus meant when He said in Matthew 18:2 that we must become like little children. We need to stop thinking we or someone else can solve our problems or fulfill our needs and be completely dependent on Him.

But maybe the most neglected part of all of God’s promises is missed in one word found in Romans 8:28 and that is the word all. You do not need to be a Greek scholar to understand what this word means in this verse. It means all. It means that God is going to work out every single thing to the good. This includes but not limited to the following list:

Our sin. Other’s sin. Illness. Death. The loss of a child. Divorce. War. This means that even when I have messed up completely God can and will use it to bring things together for good. Yes, this verse is talking to you. But there is a caveat here. This promise is only for “those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” Do you love God? If you do then you have been called. Today is the day to answer that call. Jesus does not turn away those who cry out to Him as we see in John 6:35 “Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.

We must believe in Him and that what He says is truth. Today no matter what you face the words of Romans 8:28 are true. We must keep our eyes on Jesus. Read His Word. Pray to Him. Worship and praise Him no matter how tough things get. Some days it’s all that keeps me going. But it is enough. God bless all you.