"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."
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 our last message we learned that there very well may be dangers, hatred, and rejection
that Christians face as they faithfully live for Jesus and proclaim the
Gospel. After drawing us picture concerning the persecution we will face in service and ministry, Jesus now offers us words of comfort, challenge, and encouragement. Before we examine our verses for today, I want to share the entire portion of Scripture encompasses a much large section, from verse 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, to gain a much deeper understanding of the text.
Let us pray
Heavenly Father,
In His name we ask and pray
Amen
Today's Message: The True Meaning of Discipleship
I believe that this section of Scripture is one of the most definitive on the subject of discipleship Jesus ever uttered on not only the cost, but what true discipleship involves. This is in stark contrast to the illustration we often see today, with the primary focus on bringing people to Jesus Christ, even if it means compromising the Truth. Compromising with the world has never been our mission! Since in the beginning, our mission is to preach the Truth, exposing sin and offering salvation through our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
"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!
Let's begin by looking at verse 24, "A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a slave above his master." "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."
I believe this is a very important message for the church today, that is attempting to usurp the Authority of Christ's Headship over His Church. Jesus is clearly reminding us of our place as His disciples. I believe one of the greatest missions of the church is the fulfillment of discipleship. Producing faithful, mature disciples with the ability to then, reproduce themselves. Producing and reproductive disciples. All of the teaching and preaching is to bring people to the point of maturity in the faith. I believe that is the essence of conversion, identifying yourself as one who is willing to learn from Jesus Christ and all that He commanded. Our inextricably linked to His. And, I believe that should go without saying, that requires obedience, just as our Lord was obedient to His Fathers will.
There is far more involved in becoming a Christian than just meeting Jesus and believing in Him as Savior for the purpose of salvation and going to heaven, though salvation certainly is a part of that. When you became a Christian, you did not just buy fire insurance. It is acknowledging and affirming His Lordship, submitting to His authority in our lives.
Listen as I read Hebrews chapter 5, verses 8 and 9 "Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered. And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation..."
God has called me to preach and teach the Word, to build up His Church, and bring them to maturity in Christ. I am held accountable to Him to fulfill that and to do my best to serve Him and please Him as much as is possible in the power of the Holy Spirit. I'll be the first to acknowledge, I occasionally struggle with accomplishing that mission, because my own weakness. It is the driving force behind everything I say and do and I am fully committed to that end. I strongly believe that the Church and the leadership must be fully committed to teaching what the Bible says and doing what the Bible says to do.
If you are preaching the Gospel in any
other terms, disobeying the teachings of Christ, it is questionable
whether you’re a preacher of the Word at all. You are to learn and do all things whatsoever He has commanded you. Never once did Jesus I love you so much, I'm willing to overlook your sin. He said your sins have been forgiven, go and sin no more. Sin is the reason Jesus was willing to die in your place and pay the price for your sin. Not so you could continue in it, but so that you could be forgiven and turn from it.
What Jesus is teaching here goes well beyond the twelve, it encompasses all who would ever follow Him. Jesus’ message is very clear. I believe the biggest reason so many Christians do not understand what Jesus is teaching, is because their eyes are blinded to the Truth. If Jesus Christ is your teacher, and you sit under His teaching, then you’re only going to learn and do what He tells you. There's no other way to interpret verse 24, "A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a slave above his master." By very definition, Christ is our Master and we are His slaves. The basic principle of discipleship is to submit yourselves to the Lordship of Christ. Christ sovereignly chooses us as His servant and we choose to be a disciple to learn. We are to be subjugated by the word of Christ so that we become like Him.
Verse 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!"
I believe this is a very powerful statement. One you can really gauge your own Christian life by. If we look at the way the sinful word treated Christ, how in the world can we expect to treated any other way? The more like Christ we become, the more we can expect to treated by the world the same way they treated Him. They hated Him, they despised Him. If you're not facing any opposition, if there's no persecution in your life, if the world loves you, you may well want to question whether or not you're like Christ at all.
If you unwilling to come to Christ on those terms, than you really haven't come to Him at all. Jesus is not asking something of us which He Himself had not already experienced. "It is enough for the disciple that he become like his teacher." For the true disciple, it's enough just to be like Christ. True discipleship seeks nothing more than to be like Christ. You're not going to expect to be treated better than our Lord. That's not discipleship, that's your own selfish pride and ego. Let the disciple be satisfied in becoming like his teacher, that's what He's saying. I don’t ask to be famous, I don't ask to be well thought of or accepted by the world, I aspire to be like Christ, preaching and teaching the Truth, no matter the cost.
In verse 26, He says "Therefore do not fear them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known."
That’s an interesting statement, isn't it? Jesus, knowing fully what temptations there would be, forbids the natural fear of persecutors, because what is covered will be revealed, and what is hidden will be made known. The verb used for fear is the word "phobéō," means to avoid, withdraw or flee from. The word "for" looks forward. When hate, slander, scourging, or persecution comes, don’t be afraid. Look forward to the reward that awaits you. The courage and faithfulness of the righteous will be revealed. In the meantime, we must not refrain from our labor because our motives are mistaken and our character is fiercely assailed. Christians will be persecuted, while the wicked prosper. It’s all going to change because someday God is going to uncover everything and all things will be made right. The enemies of Christ cannot prevent your vindication.
Verse 27, "What I tell you in the darkness, speak in the light; and what you hear whispered in your ear, proclaim upon the housetops." What Jesus is saying, is what I'm telling you in secret, I want you to tell the whole world. They were to openly and boldly proclaim with no restrictions, because there are no secrets in Christianity. I have had a number of people tell me "You’ve got to find a different approach, a more gentle way of preaching. You come on very strong!"
Listen, if you don't tell people the truth, and that is unless they're saved, they're going to go to hell forever and be tortured and tormented for all of eternity, with the love of God in your heart, you have to tell people the truth. If you only say what they want to hear, what makes them feel better about their sin, they have absolutely no reason to come to Christ! We can’t be standing around in church, telling each other what wonderful Christians we are. We have to proclaim the truth to the unsaved, the deceived and the lost. We cannot sugarcoat our message because of the rejection or resistance we might face. We have to give it straight. It is very serious when the church starts eliminating part of the message as not to offend anyone, you're not doing anyone any favors in the long term when they're just going to end up in hell. You can’t be afraid to speak the truth. Today it seems like nothing is being hidden except the Truth. I believe it is shameful to deceive those who are perishing. We need to pray that God will enable us to speak openly for Jesus.
That brings us to verse 28, where we'll wrap it up for today. "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."
In the world's thinking, killing the body is the most horrible prospect, they think that by putting Christ's messengers to death, they solved their problem. They don't understand that God is ultimately in charge of the physical life and the spiritual life as well. The worst the world can do is kill our body, and that isn’t the real us. This body is only temporal, it isn’t a big deal if they it, they cannot kill the soul. Only God can do that! Satan doesn't have the keys to death and hell, in fact, he's going to be tormented there himself. And he's looking to take as many with him as he can. Don’t fear men; fear God. The One who has power to do more than our enemies has also numbered the hairs of our head. The fear of man only makes us cowards.We have nothing to fear in this life. Nothing but God.
In Closing..
I believe that if Christians really feared God, they would speak the Truth, on His behalf. To do otherwise is to fear men more than God. Only God determines the destination of our souls, if you're going to fear anyone, fear Him. There are many today that think when you go to hell, you get totally annihilated. You will not be destroyed to annihilation, that's not what "destroy both the body and soul in hell" means. It literally means you are punished with everlasting destruction. Hell is the final place of never ending punishment of the ungodly. The Greek verb "apóllymi," comes from two words, "apó," which means "away from," which intensifies "ollymi," which means "to destroy." Those in hell will be permanently be away from the presence of God, tormented and tortured for all of time and eternity. Rest assured, even the unsaved will be resurrected, and given eternal bodies which will dwell in that fire.
Oh what a warning this is. People today seek to hide themselves from the truth that hell is a real place. If you have not accepted Christ as your Lord and Savior, I strongly encourage you to do so today. The first step is to acknowledge that you are a sinner in need of a Savior and that you need forgiveness. Confess that you believe that Christ died on the cross to take the punishment that you deserve for your sins and that on the third day, He was raised from the dead. Ask Him to forgive you of your sins, ask Him to come into your heart and life as your Lord and Savior. Then, thank Him for His amazing grace and glorify Him in and through your life.
Read your Bible and study His Word, obey His commands. Follow Him, at any cost. Then boldly proclaim to others what a mighty work He has done in your life.
He will reward us for our faithfulness and He will punish those who reject the Gospel.
May it be so..
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen
Copyright © 2019-2022 All Rights Reserved