Cost of a Disciple
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Sending out the 12
full dependency on God’s provision
into persecution
amongst the wolves
have no fear in the midst of persecution
Not Peace but a Sword
Not Peace but a Sword
God is love…Jesus loved everyone and died for them. We know these statements are true, but in todays society those truths get twisted. People have used these statements to give them license to do whatever they want to do and live how ever they want to live. Whether it’s claiming to be a “christian” but still being wrapped up on materialism, or maybe it’s being addicted to alcohol, or secretly having a drug addiction, or maybe it’s an addiction to sexual immorality, or lying, or idolatry, maybe you even entertain things that are of the world but you don’t even realize their ties to the spiritual realm.
Whatever we are still allowing to remain in our lives that is not of the Lord we are called to get rid.
22 to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
What is it that convinces us we need to do that? I just quoted a bible verse. To the rest of the world that carries no weight. It’s just an old book that is behind the times and irrelevant to their lives. They’ve rejected its truth.
So many in this world, and sometimes many within the body of christ look at life and say, I’m going to do things my own way, whether I believe in Jesus or not.
I want to remind you that just believing in his existence doesn't’ make you born again. There’s only one thing that makes you born again. Hearing the Word of God and Believing the Word of God. Once you believe, you have new spiritual rebirth.
23 since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God;
17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
So, why do I point all this out?
Jesus is the Word. He came into this world to bring the kingdom of heaven to earth. The message of the Sermon on the Mount could easily be seen as a message of peace. He came, fulfilled the law, bringing the ultimate sacrifice out of Love. But according to verse 34 of chapter 10, he didn’t come to bring peace but a sword.
On the surface that sounds like a total contradiction to what we know of Jesus, but one thing we might not think of much is how divisive even the name of Jesus is. You ask someone in town or in your family what they believe about Jesus and you will get all kinds of reactions, from belief to indifference, to hatred. It’s hard for us to understand or imagine why because most of us have accepted Christ as our savior. We understand the truth.
That’s what Jesus is getting at. The truth divides.
34 “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.
A sword cuts. What we read here is the “WORD” saying that he’s bringing the “SWORD”. The word of God is described as the sword of the spirit in Ephesians 6.
12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
Jesus came as the “Word” to bring the Word/sword. What does that mean for our lives in regards to relationships. Look what these next few verses say.
35 For I have come 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 person’s enemies will be those of his own household.
Now, here Jesus is quoting Micah 7:6.
6 for the son treats the father with contempt,
the daughter rises up against her mother,
the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;
a man’s enemies are the men of his own house.
In this passage God is confronting his children, the people of Israel, through the prophet Micah that because of their rampant sin and selfishness, personal relationships had crumbled among God’s people.
He’s saying that it is this same rampant sin and selfishness that when confronted with the SWORD, personal relationships will crumble, because of the Truth that is brought. The truth of who Jesus is and what that means for this sinful world.
Many christians have had to break ties with family because they are born again. Many husbands have turned against their spouses or children against their parents because of their new found faith. Even a parent who is a believer who takes a stand on the truth of scripture can have a child that rejects that truth and they turn on them.
The message of the gospel could be the most attractive unifying message if it didn’t involve sinners surrendering to the Lord through repentance.
As we learned in the beatitudes, when we encounter the truth of who we are spiritually it should lead us to mourn over our sin. It’s intended to be sorrow that leads to repentance as stated in 2 Corinthians 7:10.
10 For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.
There’s the dividing line. When the truth is rejected and leads to grief that produces death, death turns against life.
The best examples f this are Judas and Peter.
A Pure Heart
A Pure Heart
What Jesus is expecting from a disciple of Christ is for them to have a pure heart.
Matthew 5:8
8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
We are not talking about an image of purity or ceremonial purity, but of inner moral purity.
The idea is of a single, undivided heart — those who are utterly sincere and not divided in their devotion and commitment to God.
That is what Jesus is saying to his disciples now before he sends them into the wolves. Some of those wolves will be our own family. Someone of those wolves will be those we love the most.
What Jesus is asking us to do is to love Him the most, more than anything or anyone else in the world.
37 Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
He’s not saying don’t love your father and mother. That would go against the truth of His word. He’s saying that we are suppose to love HIM MORE! Same goes for our sons and daughters. This is especially hard for many parents because, in their words, not mine, “they are my whole world! They are my rock! They are what keeps me going!”
First of all, I believe that while I understand where those feelings can come from, this is a very unhealthy view of our children. It’s also a harmful weight to put on them. Like your whole world revolves around their lives, their successes, their failures, their ability to BE THERE FOR YOU? That is not love, that is codependency.
Your life has meaning no matter what they do. Their lives have value and purpose no matter how they preform or succeed! What they choose. Do the bad things effect you? Absolutely, but they shouldn’t destroy you. They should break your heart as it breaks the heart of God, but your value, and purpose come from the Lord. He wants to be your whole world. He is our ROCK! He wants to be the source of what keeps us going!
Jesus is looking for our undivided heart to love Him more than anything! Be devoted to HIM more than anyone. Even when that means standing on the truth of his word and your family rejects you because you stand on his word.
Now, Jesus mentions here a person that is not worthy of him. Look at what the next verse says about who isn’t worthy of Him.
38 And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.
This is the first mention of the “cross” in the gospel of Matthew. At this point the disciples didn’t even know that he was going to be crucified. He’s literally telling them that anyone who doesn’t take up this devise of torture and death for himself and follow HIM is not worthy of Him. Deserving of Him. He’s telling these 12 disciples and by association every disciple after that who follow Jesus, you must die to self. Pick up your cross, crucify self on it so it will die and follow Him, loving him with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. When your flesh and selfish desires are nailed to a cross, all that can produce from you is what God does in you and through you! A life that is crucified daily is one surrendered to Him. Surrendered to see HIS will be done in their life. A will surrendered to pleasing him and proclaiming him.
“Bearing the cross, we are to follow after Jesus: to bear a cross without following Christ is a poor affair. A Christian who shuns the cross is no Christian; but a cross-bearer who does not follow Jesus equally misses the mark.” (Spurgeon)
39 Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
Simply put, if you live your life for all the wrong reasons, setting your eyes on all the wrong goals, you will lose your life. Not just death this side of eternity, but for eternity. BUT, whoever dies to self, and loses the life he might want to live here on this earth, will find it secure in eternity!
look at what Nathan told King David in 2 Samuel 12.
And I gave you your master’s house and your master’s wives into your arms and gave you the house of Israel and of Judah. And if this were too little, I would add to you as much more.
Jesus brought the sword in to divide true from false. From Believer to lost. So, what is the encouragement from this? We find it in te last words of verse 39 but also in Micah 7:7-8
7 But as for me, I will look to the Lord;
I will wait for the God of my salvation;
my God will hear me.
8 Rejoice not over me, O my enemy;
when I fall, I shall rise;
when I sit in darkness,
the Lord will be a light to me.
Will you, disciple of Christ, lose your life?
Let’s pray