The True Meaning of Discipleship - Part 2

 

 

"²⁴ "A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a slave above his master. ²⁵ 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!

²⁶ "Therefore do not fear them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. ²⁷ What I tell you in the darkness, speak in the light; and what you hear whispered in your ear, proclaim upon the housetops. ²⁸ Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. ²⁹ Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. ³⁰ But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. ³¹ So do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows.

³² "Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven. ³³ But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven.

³⁴ "Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. ³⁵ For I came to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; ³⁶ and a man’s enemies will be the members of his household.

^{37 "}He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. ³⁸ And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. ³⁹ He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it."

 

^40"He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me. ⁴¹ He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward; and he who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward. ⁴² And whoever in the name of a disciple gives to one of these little ones even a cup of cold water to drink, truly I say to you, he shall not lose his reward."

 Matthew 10:24-42

 

Good Morning my beloved,

 
We welcome you to worship in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is my honor and great privilege to have you here with us today and share God's Word. We are especially grateful for those of you who have been sharing the ministry website, and social media platforms with all of your family and friends. Your faithfulness and commitment to share God's Word with others. We have seen a dramatic increase of people from all around the world, who are responding to God's Word, with more and more coming to Christ. May God richly bless you for your efforts. I want to let each of you know how grateful I am for you.

 

If you have recently received Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, please write or text to let us know so that we can pray for you. Also, let us know if you would allow us to share your story. Each one of us have been blessed with a unique testimony. We'd love to hear from you. 

As we look at the world today, it is often difficult to that God is still on the throne and that He is still in control, it looks as though wickedness and evil are winning that battle between right and wrong. I believe that God is still very near today. We have the opportunity to embrace Him, to participate in His Kingdom, to be a part of it every day. Living in this fallen world, we often get distracted from the daily opportunities to catch the glimpse of God and His kingdom, we fail to realize, that in spite of what's happening, He is right here beside us.

 

I see far too many Christians getting caught up in the world, cheap and easy grace, and the shining distractions of the world. Our natural tendency is to get caught up in political matters, social causes, networking and connecting for personal gain and advancement opportunities rather than being caught up in the things of God and His Kingdom. Churches and Christians tend to be more focused on pleasing the world than pleasing the God we claim to serve. 

 

In the Church there will always be religious phonies, counterfeit Christians, tares among the wheat. Those who name the name of Christ but do not uphold His teachings. They outwardly appear to be good, moral followers of Christ, while speaking perverse things from the pulpits, they are the agents of Satan. The deny the authenticity and authority of Scripture, therefore, denying the true nature of God. Certainly, one of the biggest offenses against God one can make, to deny what His Word says , that "All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work." 

They wear a religious mask to church, "holding to a form of godliness, teaching a doctrine that does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ. And rather than actually accepting Christ into their heart, they have denied His authority. In other words, they have a saved appearance without having a saved heart. They have abandoned God, no longer convicted by sin, but celebrating it, not living a life of repentance; more concerned about the approval of men that the approval of God. In spite of what they may believe, they will someday stand before the God they have denied, the One who ultimately determine a person’s final destination, to give an account for the way we lived. 

Though we must confront their error, rather than to judge and condemn them, we must pray for the Holy Spirit to convict them. God doesn't require much in a man to become a Christian, but He does require all of him.

Let us pray

 

Heavenly Father,

 

Father, thank You for Your Word, the clarity of Your teaching. Lord, may these truths penetrate deep into our hearts and prepare us for what lies ahead. We pray that You would make us faithful to boldly speak the Truth, committed to pleasing You, knowing that some will be offended, some will squirm and others will walk away unchanged. We pray that You would touch every heart Father, let no one walk away without coming to Christ as Lord and Savior. We pray for those who are teaching a false doctrine, burden the hearts and disturb their peace, let them have no rest until they reach full repentance. And if they refuse, strike down their platform, that the congregations not be lead astray, far from You. May it all be for Your glory and Christ's sake.

In His precious name we ask and pray

Amen

Today's Message: The True Meaning of Discipleship - Part 2

 

Matthew 16:18 "I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it."

 

Satan may not be able to destroy the church, but he certainly has demoralized its leaders, diverted Christ's Church from its mission; to deliver His soul-saving message of authentic salvation, by enticing so-called followers of Christ, with worldly pleasures and it's leadership with sin affirming, corrupted ungodly sermonettes.

 

We can be certain that the church will survive this satanic attack, try as he will, Satan cannot overpower God's bold and courageous pastors, who are willing to stand against the ungodly, unbiblical teaching that is echoing from pulpits today.

 

It is not the calling of God's people to reshape His message, sugar-coat His words so that they’re pleasing and easy to hear. But to study, articulate and deliver the accurate and relevant Word of God. No, they must not be compromised for any generation, and if a pastor is indeed compromising the Truth, I believe he should question whether or not he has in fact, been called by God or is self-appointed minister of false doctrine. 

 

I believe we are in the midst of a spiritual famine in the Church of Christ. and God is crying out, "Repent, return to Me and I will be gracious, merciful and compassionate to forgive you." The children of God must turn away from the worldly banquet, on which they've been feasting and return to Him with a spiritual appetite of hunger for the Truth and a thirst for righteousness.

 

Christ's Church must return to its biblical purpose for existence, and stop manifesting evil, serving the prince of the power of the air. By God's grace, it is not too late to return the church to it's intended purpose, a place of worship of the One True Living God.

 

Before we examine our verses for today, verses twenty-nine through thirty-three, I want to again share the entire portion of Scripture which encompasses verses twenty-four to verse forty-two. Obviously, we will not be able to cover all of these in a single message, so we'll take them a few verses at a time, which I believe is very helpful, in order to gain a much deeper understanding of the text. 

Open your Bibles with me if you would to the tenth chapter in the Gospel of Matthew. Matthew 10:24-42. I invite you to follow along with me as I read, while we open our hearts for what the Spirit of God is saying to us. Matthew chapter 10, verses 24 through 42.

 

"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!

"Therefore do not fear them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. What I tell you in the darkness, speak in the light; and what you hear whispered in your ear, proclaim upon the housetops. Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows.

"Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven.

"Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I came to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man’s enemies will be the members of his household.

"He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it.

"He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me. He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward; and he who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward. And whoever in the name of a disciple gives to one of these little ones even a cup of cold water to drink, truly I say to you, he shall not lose his reward."

 

As we discussed in our last message, the primary goal of discipleship is to become more and more like our Lord Jesus Christ. We are called to be given over to His will,  His values, His priorities and to have His commitments for His purposed for His Kingdom. That's what true discipleship is all about; being like Christ. Scripture makes it clear that those who call themselves Christians are commanded to live by the Word of God. This is a very rich, profound teaching from our Lord.

In Matthew 7:21, Jesus made in abundantly clear, that "Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter." God despises Christians who are not committed to living a godly life. Having one foot in hell and one foot in eternity, is never be an option for the true believer.

 

Jesus said in Matthew 6:24 "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other."  It is terribly disturbing that there are many within the church today who claim to be a Christ follower but are still living for the world rather than the Kingdom of God. 

I John 2:15 makes it clear, "Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him."

 

Now, let's look at Matthew 10, verses 29-33. ^"Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows.

^"Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven."

Beginning with verse 29, "Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father."

I believe most everyone today knows what sparrow is, they are those little brown and grey birds that hover around our houses, building nests and searching for food. In Jesus' day, sparrows could be bought two for a penny. As odd as it may seem to all of us today, in that day they were actually bought for hors d'oeuvres. In Luke's gospel, he says you could get five for two pennies, if you bought four, they’d just throw one in for free.

And yet Jesus tells us "Not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father." If God watches over and takes care of these little sparrows, how much more will He watch over and take care of you, who is worth so much more to Him? God's care, though not stated, is implied. There is nothing, not even in the most insignificant moments of our life that Our Heavenly Father does not know about, to the extent of providential care. That's the point.

He goes on to say in verse 30, " But the very hairs of your head are all numbered."

It's interesting to note, that the average person has approximately 140,000 hairs on their head, it is comprehensible to me that God actually identifies every hair on your head. He knows the exact number, or the lack there of for some of you. I mean if there's not a lot of them to count. But there are some people who have a full thick head of hair, can you imagine knowing the exact number? God does! 

If God is concerned about sparrows, and He is concerned about knowing the number of hairs of your head, certainly we have nothing to fear. We don’t have to fear the persecution, we don’t have to fear the hatred, and we don’t have to fear the rejection. I could go on and on. The point is no matter what situation we're facing, God can sustain us. I don't believe that one can call themselves a Christian and be skeptical of God's power and providence, He means what He says. Jesus is assuring us that there is One Who is always watching over us and He places great value upon each and every one.We are precious in the eyes of our Heavenly Father. Not only is God more powerful and authoritative than those who can only kill the body, He cares for those who serve Christ. Everything and everyone in this universe is under God’s sovereign control.Satan is often working to convince God's people they can't trust Him or they are unworthy of His provision, Satan is the father of lies, the author of confusion. God can be trusted, even in the smallest details of our lives. There is nothing so insignificant that God is unaware of it or involved in.

Look at verse 31, "So do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows."

Many have no doubt that God controls greater matters, then they question that His care extends to such small details as the concerns of individual man. God is not only aware of everything that happens, He cares. If you question how valuable you are to Him, I encourage you to remember this; He loves and cares so much, He sent His only Son to die for you! He is worthy to be praised with a holy and righteous awareness of who He is. I cannot stress this enough. We often use language broadly concerning God.

After all, Jesus has just told them in the previous verses, He's sending them out as sheep in the midst of wolves, that they’ll be hated by everybody, obviously they’re going to be afraid. Psychologically, we don’t really want to do something that we fear, we don’t want to be hated, we don't want to be persecuted and we certainly don’t want to be killed for our faith. We all want to be liked and highly thought of by people. I believe that's why so many today tend to completely avoid confrontive ministry. They're more concerned about self-preservation than they are serving the Lord. 

If  you're not willing to get yourself out of the way, to pay the price no matter the cost, you're probably not a Christian. If you love the world, you're not of God. You have to be courageous, willing to boldly follow through with that which the Word of God calls us to do. Confront sin and error. That's the evidence of truly being a disciples of Christ. In being like Christ means we can expect to be treated like Christ. We can't be afraid we might lose our reputation and pull back our testimony just keep our mouth shut to keep from being confrontive. We cannot be afraid to speak the truth; God's Truth! 

Jesus is telling us, when the time of hesitation comes, "So don't be afraid." Do not let not your heart be troubled. Speak the Truth and do not fear. Ironically, we're not afraid, well, most of of aren't, to let other Christians know what we think or believe. In recent years, I've heard some very strong, rather ungodly chatter in many church discussions. Yet, we're afraid to confront someone who is headed to eternal hell and tell them the truth and offer them a way out. That's when many Christians become paralyzed with fear. We should be far more concerned about snatching the lost and dying out of the fire, than demanding to have our own way regarding a minor church issue, they're sitting in my families pew or worship music. I must say, it just makes no sense to me. The fact is, the more you stand for what's right, the more the world is going to hate you. Those who stand up for Christ in spite of their troubles have eternal value and will receive great rewards.

In Matthew 5, in His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said "Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you."

Verse 32, "Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven."

When it comes time that we must make the decision, to stand for Christ or stand for the world, the true disciple will be willing to confess Jesus Christ before men. He'll stand for the Lord. If you know and believe you have the protection of God,  if you believe God's promise for vindication, you will confess Jesus Christ without fear. In order to be a true Christian, you have to confess Christ. You have to believe that in the end, God lift up His people. What could possibly be more reasonable for a true disciple of Christ than to boldly and fearlessly confess Jesus before men. I mean if you're a Christian, you have not only to believe in Christ, but to profess that faith. 

I do not believe there is any excuse for shrinking back, certainly not the fear of men. Confession before men means more than talking out loud to people about Jesus. You confess with your life as you live out that confession. The walk and the talk have to go together, you have to make that statement a way of life. That is part of a cause and effect relationship with Jesus. The only thing worthy of fear is the fear of not confessing Christ before men. To confess Christ before men is a statement of identification. This goes for times when you’re standing in front of a bunch of other Christians, in front of a group of people who are neutral and when you’re standing in front of an angry hostile group of people. A true Christian confesses Christ. This emphasizes the public confession, you can't a secret Christian. That's basic.

In Romans 1, Paul said "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.."

And in Romans 10, "that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation."

If you're not willing to do that, your profession of faith is a lie and you're not saved. There must be this verification of faith. The Bible says it’s going to cost us something to be a Christian. If we belong to Christ, we will be willing to confess Him, no matter how hostile the environment around us gets. That's how you know you're a true Christian. I believe this is a good place for us to examine ourselves and ask the question "What will I do in the middle of a persecution?" Are you willing to stand up and confess Jesus Christ?  The only acceptable answer is, "Yes, I confess Christ no matter what you do to me!" If you're not willing to that, you better examine your heart. There may be a temporary lapse, but it's temporary. Peter had a lapse and he turned around and boldly confessed Christ. If you affirm your loyalty to Him, on the day of judgment, He will say "This belongs to Me." What a magnificent promise.

That brings us to verse 33, "But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven."

This could speak of a lot of people; those who blaspheme His name, those who openly deny Him, those who rejected Him, people who deny Jesus in that way. Sure, you can deny Him by your words, but I don't believe that the issue He's talking about here. He's talking about those who deny Him by their absolute silence. Those who deny Him by their actions, the way they live their lives, the way they talk. Those who live like everybody else lives. I mean I've heard some professed Christians who have pretty filthy mouths. He will deny that He even knows them.`

The people in Matthew 7, "Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’"

If your life is a denial of Him, if it does not affirm your confession of Jesus Christ as both Lord and Savior, He will deny you before the Father. "I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness," because that’s how He will respond. What terrifying words, for those who believe they've lived a life "good enough."

 

In Closing..

I am deeply concerned about people who say they’re Christians, but their words, attitudes and actions do not reflect Christ. They’re not like Christ. I have to wonder, if I don’t see Christ being reflected in their lives, will Christ see it. There's more to being a Christian than just saying the words. When you became a Christian, you did not just buy fire insurance. You affirmed the Lordship of Christ, and that means that a life of obedience to His commands. Not just the parts you like that don't interfere with your worldly, self-fulfilling lifestyle. We must confess Christ not only with our lips before men and with the way we live our lives.

 

May it be so..

And now may the Lord bless you and keep you;

the Lord make His face shine upon you,

And be gracious to you;

The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.

Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen 

 

 

 

 

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