This Is Us WK-3

This message is designed to move the stagnate Christian into active faith. Often Christians accept forgiveness of sins, yet fail to walk in the obedience of discipleship. Throughout the New Testament church, we do not find tolerance for Sunday only Christianity. Instead what we find is that members of the New Testament church were so active that they attracted on-lookers where were nervous of them. That didn’t stop growth, but it did keep those who were curious but uncommitted from becoming members of The Way.

Discipleship must come at a cost – meaning – you recognize that what God is granting you is desirable, necessary, and worth giving up your life for. Unfortunately, too often we view discipleship as a system, a course, a program or study. But this is not the Biblical view. The Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible defines a disciple as:

Disciple. Someone who follows another person or another way of life and who submits himself to the discipline (teaching) of that leader or way.

Elwell, Walter A., and Barry J. Beitzel. “Discerning of Spirits.” In Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible, 1:629. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1988.

The word disciple in the Greek is Mathetes – meaning Learner, pupil, student, apprentice. It is where we get the English word Math from. If you are a schoolteacher in this room, I’m sure you would agree that Mathematics is taught with the understanding that those learning will apply this truth, exercise their knowledge and put to practice what is being learned.

See, the entire foundation of discipleship is built upon the expectation that the disciple will learn, grow, and practice what is taught.

And I Will Make You

Last week we introduced Matthew 4:19

Matthew 4:19 NASB95

19 And He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.”

This is an invitation to discipleship – and the discipleship invitation is an invitation into a whole new life. A life of faith, a life of meaning, a life with purpose, a life of authority of sin and darkness, a life of love.

Living Faith, we must break up with traditional Christianity that accepts Sunday only Christianity, private faith, and spectator worship. To be a Christian is to be a disciples, to be a disciple is to be pupil of Gods word, to be a pupil implies – I’m learning this with intent of applying it to my life and doing what it says.

With that in mind – let’s look again at Matthew 4:19

Matthew 4:19 NASB95

19 And He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.”

Last week we examined “Follow Me” – Today let’s examine “I Will Make You…”

Gods “I will make” follow His covenant promise:

Abraham

Genesis 12:2 - And I will make you a great nation,

Genesis 17:6 - and I will make nations of you

Genesis 17:20 - and I will make him a great nation

Moses

Numbers 14:12 - and I will make you into a nation greater and mightier than they.

David

2 Samuel 7:9 - and I will make you a great name

1 Chronicles 17:8 - and I will make you a name

Israel

Isaiah 58:14 - And I will make you ride on the heights of the earth

Jeremiah 17:4 - I will make you a servant to your enemies

Jeremiah 34:17 - I will make you a terror

Jeremiah 51:25 - I will make you a burnt out mountain

Ezekiel 26:20 - I will make you dwell in the lower parts of the earth

Haggai 2:23 - I will make you like a signet ring

Zechariah 9:13 - - I will make you like a warriors sword

I want to challenge you today to consider this question carefully. What does God want to make me into? This would be a great prayer. God what are you making me into? Because God has entered into a covenant with you, meaning - just like Abraham, Moses, David and Israel, God is making you into something great.

Covenants always require leaving something old to pick up something new

• Abraham left Ur - Genesis 12:1–4

• Moses left Jethro and Midian - Exodus 3:1–10

• David left the Shepherds field - 1 Samuel 16:11–13

• Israel left Egypt - Exodus 12:31–42

• Andrew and Peter left their nets to follow - Matthew 4:18–20

• James and John left their boat and father to follow - Matthew 4:21–22

• Matthew left the tax booth – Matthew 9:9

• Paul left his life as a Pharisee - Acts 9:1–22

• The Rich Young Ruler refused to leave - Matthew 19:21–22

See, every time God says I will make you – He always includes “leave”. Leave your old life, leave your old ways, leave your old loves and follow me! No one follows Jesus accidently, we don’t drift into development, or stumble into transformation. Did Peter know the full picture the day he left his nets? Did he know that he would deny Christ, that later he would preach and see thousands believe and be saved? Abraham didn’t see the nation before leaving Ur. Moses didn’t see the Red Sea parting. Did Paul know that he would start churches, equip Timothy, write half the New Testament and give us college courses for days? They only saw the invitation, the “Follow me…” The uncomfortable truth for most of us is this: we love the invitation yet resist the leaving. We long for transformation, yet don’t want the disruption to our daily comforts that discipleship requires.

You cannot carry your nets and follow Jesus.

You cannot hold the tax booth and hold the cross.

You cannot stay in Egypt and enter promise.

Here is the truth, you don’t know what is on the other side of your “yes” – but if you will choose to leave your old life and become a disciple you put your future in God’s hands. So the question is not, “Do you believe?” The question is, “What have you left behind to follow the cause of Christ?”

Because the proof of discipleship is not attendance, It is departure. And the beauty of it all? Everything they left behind was small compared to what they became.

Acts 20:24 NASB95

24 “But I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, so that I may finish my course and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God.

The seasons of development for the disciples.

• Season of watching and learning from Jesus

• Season of expression – Jesus sends out the 12 and then the 70

• Season of testing – asking; will we risk our lives for this?

• Season walking in the calling – post the Acts 2 explosion of church

Most Christians never get past the watching and learning season.

Steps to moving beyond

Recognize who God is

Matthew 16:15–16 NASB95

15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

Before discipleship becomes behavior, it becomes revelation. Peter’s confession was not academic. It was surrender. The moment you recognize who Jesus truly is, neutrality ends. If He is the Christ, you do not negotiate. You submit.

During my years here at LFC working as a the head of production, I enjoyed working with men and women who didn’t know much about live sound. Because I knew that this meant they would want to learn; they would look to me for training and leadership. Now, something shifted when I entered that field professionally. My boss was a highly sought out mastering engineer working for many famous recording artists. I didn’t enter that space as teacher, but a learner.

Great discipleship doesn’t begin with activity; it begins with clarity. Disciples recognize who’s in the room.

• If Jesus is teacher only — you observe.

• If Jesus is prophet only — you admire.

• But if Jesus is Lord — you surrender.

Leave your old life behind

Matthew 4:20 NASB95

20 Immediately they left their nets and followed Him.

• Abraham left Ur.

• The disciples left their livelihood.

• Matthew left the tax booth.

God cannot build the new if you cling to the old. Because obedience is not partial relocation. It is decisive departure. What you refuse to leave will limit what God can make.

• Old friendships that constantly pull you back into old patterns

1 Corinthians 15:33 — “Bad company corrupts good morals.”

• Entertainment habits that shape your desires more than Scripture does

Philippians 4:8 — “Whatever is true… honorable… pure… dwell on these things.”

• Financial control that refuses obedience in tithing

Malachi 3:10 — “Bring the whole tithe…”

Matthew 6:21 — “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

• Secret sin that is managed instead of mortified

Colossians 3:5 — “Put to death what is earthly in you…”

• Pride that refuses accountability

Proverbs 11:14 — “In abundance of counselors there is victory.”

• Comfort that resists inconvenience

Luke 9:23 — “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself…”

• Reputation that fears being misunderstood

Galatians 1:10 — “If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ.”

• Bitterness that refuses forgiveness

Ephesians 4:31–32 — “Be kind… forgiving one another…”

• A private faith that never becomes public

Romans 10:9–10

We want God to make us bold —

but we won’t leave fear.

We want God to make us generous —

but we won’t leave control.

We want God to make us holy —

but we won’t leave indulgence.

We want God to make us influential —

but we won’t leave comfort.

Gravitate to Jesus

Mark 3:13–14 NASB95

13 And He went up on the mountain and summoned those whom He Himself wanted, and they came to Him. 14 And He appointed twelve, so that they would be with Him and that He could send them out to preach,

We talked about this last week – Authority flows from intimacy. Discipleship is not first about doing for Jesus — it is about being with Jesus

Become a life-long learner

In the book of Matthew, following chapter four and the call to “follow me”, Jesus takes these new disciples on a learning journey. Matthew 5 through Matthew 7 is a series of sermons where Jesus addresses:

• The culture of the Kingdom. we call that the beatitudes, or the :Blesseds” of Jesus

• What does it mean to be a disciple – you are the light, you are the salt.

• He address relationships – divorce, offense, lying, adultery, ager…

• Generosity

• How to pray

• Fasting

• Anxiety

• Judging others and authority in Gods Kingdom

• How to enter heaven

• The fruit of ministry

I have talked to too many people, it makes me sad, who just do not want to learn anymore.

Listen, does it not say something about Christianity that out of Gods divine ability to do anything – the orchestrator of the universe, He gave us a Bible to read and not movie to watch, a podcast to listen to, a YouTube channel to follow?

Believe me, I know how hard reading is. I’m dyslexic and have a wandering eye- I’ve gone through years of physical therapy with my eyes and reading is not the easiest thing I do. But I can’t draw near to God and be absent from His Holy Word. So I developed a love for reading, and with it came a love for learning. And you can learn to love learning and reading too. Listen, there is nothing in the world that you cannot learn from reading. Literally, the universe is book away – so go home, cozy up in a corner and read – and fall in love with learning again. It will change the way you approach God, leadership, relationships. Your boss will thank you!

Exercise faith

send the 12 and the 70 – Matthew 10, Luke 10

He did not wait until they were flawless. He sent them while they were forming.

Because growth happens in motion.

Faith is not a feeling. It is a step, and trust is built by risk.

• You grow in knowledge through learning

• You grow in power through faith

• You grow in authority through intimacy

Remain open to feedback

Luke 10:20 NASB95

20 “Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven.”

In Luke 10, after Jesus sent out the 70 disciples to preach the Kingdom, and heal the sick; They returned celebrating power, but Jesus redirected their perspective. Don’t look at Satan, look at Me!

Church, do you know where feedback comes from? People. God placed you in a church so that you could receive feedback and correction from fellow believers, most specifically your church leaders. I’m going say, I hear way too much “God told me…”. Now listen, I know God speaks still today – and we must develop an ear to hear Gods voice. But if you are touting “God told me” and:

• It doesn’t line up with Scripture

• Your church leaders are not witnessing it

• Your parents, even unbelieving parents are not on board

• Your life group leaders, a team lead, a peer in your life is telling you something else

This means you should listen to that feedback – you may need to receive some correction. I’ll end this point with this. There are four levels of feedback.

1. Resistant to feedback

2. Indifferent to feedback

3. Open to feedback

4. Seeking out feedback

Let’s be a church that aspires to be in level four and seeking it out. It is a whole lot easier to accept correction when you are the one soliciting it.

Trust God with everything

Acts 4:18–20 NASB95

18 And when they had summoned them, they commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. 19 But Peter and John answered and said to them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge; 20 for we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.”

This is the final stage — bold accountability. Not bold because of personality. Bold because of conviction. These disciples were not bold because they had a fearless personality; but because they had a fearless conviction. Discipleship matures into unwavering allegiance. When pressure rises, true discipleship is revealed. When obedience becomes costly, discipleship becomes visible.

Closing

To be a Christian is to be a disciple. Living Faith — we must break up with spectator Christianity. This is not a Sunday hobby. This is a covenant life. Jesus did not say, “Follow Me and attend.” He said, “Follow Me and I will make you.”

And here is the tension: He cannot make what we refuse to follow.

So, we are a church – that never stops growing!