Why Are We Here? (4)

Doxology:

This is my Bible. It is God’s Holy Word. It is a lamp unto my feet, a light unto my path, and I will hide its words within my heart, that I might not sin against God. Amen!

Scripture Reference:

Context

We are back to our series, “Working On A Building”

1 Corinthians 3:9–11 NKJV

9 For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building. 10 According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. 11 For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

We have been asking ourselves this question, “Why Are We Here?”

This place, the church building… why are we here? What is the purpose of coming to this place, of belonging to this place?

We have said that this place exists for evangelism. This place exists to preach and teach the Gospel of Jesus Christ for the purpose of seeing lost souls saved.

We have seen that we come here to give God proper praise and worship… Praise (Hands lifted) and worship (head bowed low). And we should be doing both in every service… Amen!

We have also seen that we come here to have true, genuine fellowship. To love one another deeply and to be united with one another through the Holy Spirit of God for a common goal.

But there’s still more.

Today, I want to show you another reason for why we are here, and that is for the reason of discipleship, for spiritual formation and growth.

Let’s Pray!!!

Content

I have been reading through a new book, and in the introduction to the book, the author asks a very stirring question:

“When you hear the word disciple, do you think of yourself?”

Man...what a question. For a lot of people, the answer would be, “Well, when I hear the word disciple, I think of the 12, or of the 70, or of the 120, but...no, I really don’t think of myself.”

We call ourselves Christians, but we rarely refer to ourselves as disciples. But do you know that this mindset is contrary to the Word of God?

The word Christian is only used 3 times in the whole Bible, but the word Disciple is used 275 times. In Jesus’ day, they were known as Disciples.

Acts 11:26 NKJV

26 … And the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.

The first time we see the word Christian mentioned in the Scriptures is in Acts 11:26. We find out that they were in Antioch when it happened, and the term was made up to make fun of, or degrade, those who were followers of Christ. It was a derogatory term used to call all of the “Disciples”… “Christians”.

The term “Christian” therefore, literally means “Christ Follower”.

The term “Disciple” literally means “Follower”.

So if a Christian is a “Christ Follower”, it also means that a Christian is a “Christ Disciple” or “Disciple of Christ”. The two terms are inseparable.

Every Christian, by definition, is to be a Disciple of Christ… A Christ Follower.

Disciple => Follower

Christian => Christ Follower

Christian => Christ Disciple or Disciple of Christ

Now it makes sense that Jesus’s introductory statement to all of the disciples whom He called was, “Come, Follow Me!”

This is a foreign concept to us. In our modern culture we have this upside down and backwards. We look at the progression as:

First you must be a Christian. Then, you become a Disciple.

But in the Bible, one had to first be a Disciple, before they could earn the title of Christian, or Christ follower.

Somehow along the way, we have come to the understanding that being a Christian is to merely make a public profession of faith. A Christian is no longer defined by being a follower, it is defined as simply being a believer. But notice what the Scriptures say:

1 Peter 2:21 NKJV

21 For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps:

Jesus suffered for us… and then He called unto us… that we should follow His steps.

The picture here is that of a Father and son in the snow. The Father walks through the snow, leaving behind footprints as he goes. The son attempts to follow in His steps without making any tracks of his own. The goal is to get where you are going without leaving any trace behind that you were ever even there.

And that is one of the reasons that this place exists… and why we are here. This place is to exist as a training grounds. Each week we come here, we are to learn what it means to be a follower of Christ, to walk in His steps. This is called discipleship. Discipleship is the act of training disciples, or as we like to say it nowadays, to raise up, or train up disciples for Christ.

But we must remember what that means. It is not just about having an intellectual belief in God. If that is all we see it as, then all we will do as a result is train up our brains. We will have Bible study on top of Bible Study. We will teach doctrine. We will teach what we believe and why we believe it. We will do Bible trivia. We will do whatever we can to teach and train the brain to believe in Christ. And all of that is good… it has its place.

But that is not all Jesus did. He tested them on their obedience to follow Him, even when they did not understand what was going on.

Would they follow Him, even when it didn’t make sense?

Would they follow Him, even when it seemed counterproductive?

Would they follow Him, even when it seemed like it made it no difference?

Would they follow Him, even when it made them look crazy?

Would they follow Him, even when what they were being asked to do was counter-cultural?

Were they truly “Disciples” … “Followers” of His.

Now I am going to be very real with you this morning because I wouldn’t be much of a Pastor if I wasn’t, and you deserve the truth!

Everybody ok with that? Good!!!

Because of where we live, it is a very difficult thing for us to fully comprehend the Scriptures. I mean that.

I’m not saying that we can’t mentally process, or intellectually understand what is being said in the Scriptures. We have some of the best preaching this world has ever seen going on right now, and even if you disagree with that statement and you are more of a fan of the preachers of old like Charles Spurgeon, we have all of that too logged into commentaries as well. We have access to more knowledge of the Bible than we have ever had as a Church before.

What I mean is this:

Most of us have never truly been confronted because of our faith.

Most of us have never truly been on the outs because of our faith.

Most of us have never truly been persecuted because of our faith.

Most of us have never truly known anyone personally who was killed because of their faith.

We’ve read stories of things that take place around the world, but we are far removed from those things.

We read verses like John 3.16

John 3:16 NKJV

16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

Romans 10:9–10 NKJV

9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

We read these verses, and what we see in order for someone to be a Christian, is that they simply must believe. And doctrinally speaking, that is absolutely correct.

But if we take just a moment to consider what that meant to them, it helps us to understand what it should mean to us.

They lived in a time to where being a Christian, was a matter of life or death. Jesus was hated by the religious leaders of their day so much that they murdered Him, and then swore to do the same to all of those who claimed to be followers of Him.

We all know how that Jesus was crucified. But let me show you what happened to His followers even after He ascended to the Father:

Acts 6:8–7:1 NKJV

8 And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and signs among the people. 9 Then there arose some from what is called the Synagogue of the Freedmen (Cyrenians, Alexandrians, and those from Cilicia and Asia), disputing with Stephen. 10 And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spoke. 11 Then they secretly induced men to say, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.” 12 And they stirred up the people, the elders, and the scribes; and they came upon him, seized him, and brought him to the council. 13 They also set up false witnesses who said, “This man does not cease to speak blasphemous words against this holy place and the law; 14 for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs which Moses delivered to us.” 15 And all who sat in the council, looking steadfastly at him, saw his face as the face of an angel. 1 Then the high priest said, “Are these things so?”

***Stephen is given the opportunity to speak for himself to the high priest, so he uses this opportunity to preach to them. He shares with them the Gospel of Christ, starting all the way back at the beginning.

Acts 7:54–8:3 NKJV

54 When they heard these things they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed at him with their teeth. 55 But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, 56 and said, “Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!” 57 Then they cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and ran at him with one accord; 58 and they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59 And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60 Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not charge them with this sin.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep. 1 Now Saul was consenting to his death. At that time a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. 2 And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him. 3 As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering every house, and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison.

Acts 9:1–2 NKJV

1 Then Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest 2 and asked letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus, so that if he found any who were of the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.

Even after Jesus was physically gone from this world, the persecution against Him continued on. It got passed on to those who claimed to be His followers, His disciples.

To claim to be a follower of Christ was to put yourself on the chopping block. It was to sign your death warrant. It was to be banned from the synagogue and the market place, which was the two most important places on earth for these people.

So to believe and confess Jesus as the Christ came at a much higher cost than it does for us. They knew what the cost of being a follower of Christ meant, so they would never make the claim that they were now disciples of Jesus unless they were fully convinced that He was truly worth the cost.

Luke 9:57–62 NKJV

57 Now it happened as they journeyed on the road, that someone said to Him, “Lord, I will follow You wherever You go.” 58 And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” 59 Then He said to another, “Follow Me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” 60 Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God.” 61 And another also said, “Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house.” 62 But Jesus said to him, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”

Luke 14:26–33 NKJV

26 “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. 27 And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. 28 For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it— 29 lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, 30 saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ 31 Or what king, going to make war against another king, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? 32 Or else, while the other is still a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks conditions of peace. 33 So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.

I mean, I don’t know about you, but it seems like Jesus is setting the bar pretty high for hose who say they want to be followers of His.

Here is what Jesus is saying:

John 15:20 NKJV

20 Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you…

Jesus knew what it meant for these people to fully surrender as followers of His. He did not say these things to be mean, or even to dissuade them from coming to faith in Him. He said these things because He knew what it would cost them. He knew how difficult the journey would be for them. He wanted them to fully understand exactly what it would cost them if they chose Him.

To truly be a follower of Christ is to be on the difficult road. In fact, to choose Jesus is to choose the most difficult path. It is to constantly go against the grain. It is to constantly stand alone. It is to constantly be the odd one out.

It is easy to lash out in anger when we don’t get our way, but it so difficult to do it Jesus’s way and exercise self-control.

It is easy to hold a grudge against someone who has done you wrong, but it is difficult to walk in Jesus’s steps and forgive someone who doesn’t even deserve it.

It is easy to give the flesh everything it wants, but it is difficult to walk in His steps and deny the flesh what it desires through fasting.

It is easy to be like everyone else, but it is difficult to walk in His steps and remove yourself from conversations that are not Christ honoring.

Being a Christian is to be a Christ Follower, and being a Christ Follower comes at a cost.

Time of Worship

As we come to a close, remember that this is our time to worship. This is our time to bow low before our Heavenly Father and bare our hearts to Him.

As we enter this time of worship today, I ask you:

Have you ever truly been a follower of Christ, or have you only claimed His name in title only?

Has your walk with the Lord ever cost you anything? If not, I think its time you have nice long heart to heart with the Lord concerning your faith.

Are you currently being transformed by Christ? Is there something in your life that God is currently working on you to overcome?

This is your time. This is your moment.

Who is ready to truly surrender to Christ?

Who is ready to fully embrace what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ?

Right here… right now. Do it. Don’t wait. Commit. Don’t even give the devil time to make you doubt what you know needs to be done. Just come. Right now.

Come to Jesus!