Fulfill Your Destiny - Follow The Leader
Fulfill Your Destiny – Follow the Leader
GREETING Praise the Lord, Church! Appreciate: Deb, Praise Team, Men, DVCC.
[Introduction]
Please stand with me in reverence as we read the Word of God.
I’ll be reading from the New American Standard Bible, from the book of Matthew, Chapter 20, verses 24-28.
Let’s Pray.
I don’t know about you, but I hate getting lost. Don’t you? I mean I hate driving somewhere, when I don’t know exactly where I’m going, or how to get there.
And yeah, I do the man-thing: I refuse to admit when I’m lost. But, as long as no one says anything to me, I can do a pretty good job of hiding my frustration.
But all it takes is one innocent comment to expose the evils of my heart. “What a beautiful day!”
I hate the sun. It’s always shinning, trying to make everything all bright, like I need to see where I’m going! I wish it would just get lost.
I admit, get frustrated! Because, when I’m lost I feel an overwhelming sense of helplessness, I feel vulnerable. I feel completely Out-Of-Control.
Is it just me? You feelin’ me? Wives, you know what I’m talking about.
You know when your husband is lost, and you have this urge to ask that “One Question”, the one you know is going to drive him crazy.
You know He doesn’t want you to ask it. And both of you know, that if you do ask, he’s going to lie.
But you just can’t hold it in, so using your sweetest voice, you ask, “Honey, are you lost?” “NO, I’M NOT LOST!”
Don’t you hate being lost? Well, I wonder, are there times, in your life, when you feel lost?
Ever feel, in life as if you’ve lost all sense of direction? Ever feel as if your life has no purpose? What do you do?
Maybe you feel as if you are stuck in a rut. And no one seems to have the right answers to help get out.
Like the Jack-in-the-box commercial where a car on the side of the road has flipped on its side and a husband a wife are looking over it.
And Jack pulls us and says, “What’s the problem?” And they reply, “We’re stuck in a rut.” So, Jack tells them about his new breakfast biscuit.
Then a tow truck pulls up and the driver asks “What’s the problem?” And Jack responds, “Oh, they’re just stuck in the rut.” Then the driver asks, “Did you tell them about you new breakfast.” Jack says, “Yeah, I took care of it.”
No one seems to have the right answers! Don’t you hate being lost? Don’t you hate being stuck in a rut. What do you do? How do you find your way?
A few years ago my family and I decided take a vacation to Florida, we decided to drive to Disney World. I had never driven that far before, so I joined Triple A, and asked for what I think they call a “Trip Tic.”
Man, They gave me a road map straight to Mickey’s front door. I had maps for every state we would cross into. And still there were times when I was unsure of the right direction and we got lost.
Life can be that way, sometimes. I don’t know about you, but I find that it is always easier to reach a new destination when I am following someone who knows the way.
When you feel lost in life, it’s critical to know that Jesus knows the way. Jesus is the way! And He beckons us to FOLLOW HIM.
When selecting His disciples, Jesus used these words…
MAR 1:17 “And Jesus said to them, FOLLOW ME, and I will make you fishers of men.”
Concerning those who claim to know Him, Jesus said,
JOH 10:27 “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they FOLLOW ME…”
Concerning those who desire to serve Him, Jesus said,
JOH 12:26 “If anyone serves Me, he must FOLLOW ME; and where I am, there My servant will be also...”
Concerning those who are His closes disciples, Jesus says,
LUK 9:23 “And He was saying to them all, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and FOLLOW ME.”
We are all on a journey. Everyone has a destiny to fulfill.
By Destiny I mean a God-ordained Purpose in life.
ROM 8:29-30 “For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.”
God has predestined us to become conformed to the image of His Son. God has pre-determined your destiny.
When I hear the word DESTINY, I immediately think of SELF-HELP and PROSPERITY teachers.
Those wolves, who take advantage of unhappy, un-contented people, using distorted doctrines, and false promises of a better destiny, to rob them.
And so, because I don’t want to be identified with them, I tend not to use the same verbiage that they use.
But, I would submit to you this morning, that there is a destiny for you to fulfill. God pre-destiny-ed - He has a predetermined will for your life.
The problem is you will never fulfill your destiny through human efforts. When you are lost in life, or stuck in a rut you need someone to help lead you out.
And Jesus is saying, “FOLLOW ME.” If you are going to discover and fulfill your God-given destiny, you must FOLLOW THE JESUS.
So, I want to preach this morning from the title, “FULFILL YOUR DESTINY - FOLLOW THE LEADER.”
To fulfill your Destiny, you must Follow the Leader’s example of SUBMISSION.
MAT 20:22-23 But Jesus answered, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink?” They said to Him, “We are able.” He said to them, “My cup you shall drink; but to sit on My right and on My left, this is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by My Father.”
His CUP is a symbol of His complete SUBMISSION to the will of God.
Creflo Dollar said, “Your words shape your destiny. That is way it is vitally important that you choose your words carefully.”
Wouldn’t that be nice? To be able to speak forth your destiny. Listen, it’s not always easy to submit to God.
We want to have a say in our future. We have dreams, and ambitions, and aspirations. We think we know what’s best for us.
And it’s difficult when you discover that what you planned for your life, is not what God has planned.
It’s not always easy to submit. And so it would be nice, just to speak forth the destiny that you desire.
However, your destiny is not about speaking forth a life of prosperity, your destiny is about submitting your will to God’s will.
Jesus’ was the Son of God. He had the power to speak forth His destiny. And Yet, in His humanity, He found His destiny in a CUP that He didn’t want to drink.
The CUP represents the fact that Jesus had to drink all of God’s wrath. To drink the cup means to go through a very difficult situation.
When we say today, “That’s not my cup of tea.” We are saying that not something that I chose to go through.
The fact that most trophies are shaped like a cup, represents that the winner had to swallow a lot, had to go through a lot in order to become the victor.
The wrath of God filled Jesus’ CUP of Submission and that was His God appointed DESTINY.
ISA 53:10 “But the Lord was pleased To crush Him, putting Him to grief; If He would render Himself as a guilt offering...”
It was not easy thing for Jesus to submit to God’s will and fulfill His destiny.
Look at Mark 14:36
In His humanity, Jesus did not determine His own destiny. His WILL was wrapped up in the WILL of God.
Likewise, it is not up to you or I to determine our destiny. You cannot speak your destiny into existence.
It’s already been Predetermined by God. Jeremiah 1:5.
Only God determines your destiny. So, you must follow the Leader. Jesus was an example of complete submission to the will of the Father.
The bottom line is we must SUBMIT our Will to the Will of God.
To fulfill your Destiny, you must also Follow the Leader’s example of SERVITUDE.
MAT 20:24-28a And hearing this, the ten became indignant with the two brothers. But Jesus called them to Himself and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. It is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave; just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve ...”
Our destiny is not about Personal Greatness, our destiny is discovered when we serve God by serving others.
There is something in man that longs to be Great. We like POSITION and POWER, we enjoy being Served, rather than Serving. We always want to be first, we want the best seat.
My kids always fought over the front seat. The one who first shouted SHOT-GUN get to ride in the front seat. My son came back from bootcamp , and still He and Kris were shouting shotgun. Kris was ready to take on this high trained Marine, this lethal weapon for the Position of front seat.
There something in most of us that always wants to ride in the front seat.
Joel Osteen said, “God wants us to prosper financially, to have plenty of money, to fulfill the destiny He has laid out for us.”
Worldly Greatness is about Personal Power, Popularity, Prosperity and Pride. But Jesus paints a Contrast – “…it is not this way among you…”
If you notice, Jesus did not rebuke the disciples for wanting to be great. Because it’s not a sin to be great.
The problem is the path that we choose to Greatness. I would submit to you today, that we must Follow the Leader. Jesus said…
“…whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant…”
Humility is the key to Greatness. A simple definition of humility is “the willingness to give up some of your RIGHTS for the right cause.”
Let’s look at our Leader. There was no One who gave up more of His RIGHTS for the RIGHT cause.
Although He never gave up being God, We do know…
He gave up His RIGHT to worldly Comfort and Security –
MAT 8:20 “…The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”
Are you willing to Follow the Leader? He gave up His RIGHT to feel Accepted –
JOH 1:11 “He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him.”
Are you willing to Follow the Leader? He gave up His RIGHT to Act as God –
PHI 2:6 “…who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped…”
Are you willing to Follow the Leader? He gave up His RIGHT to Call Down angels to Destroy His accusers…
MAT 26:53 “Or do you think that I cannot appeal to My Father, and He will at once put at My disposal more than twelve legions of angels?”
Are you willing to Follow the Leader? He gave up His RIGHT to Fight and Defend Himself against His executioners…
JOH 18:36 “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting, that I might not be delivered up to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm.”
Are you willing to Follow the Leader? He gave up His RIGHT to back out of God’s Redemptive plan…
MAT 26:39 “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as Thou wilt.”
Are you willing to Follow the Leader? Are you willing to give up some of your RIGHTS, for the RIGHT cause?
Jesus gave up His RIGHTS for you. Are you willing to Follow His example and give up some of your RIGHTS?
Are you willing to give up some of your RIGHTS of Comfort and Security – so that you can bless others.
Are you willing to give up some of your RIGHTS of acceptance by the world, so that you can truly be SALT and LIGHT?
Are you willing to give up some of your RIGHTS of always defend yourself, so that you can be a PEACEMAKER for God?
Listen to me, worldly greatness is about who RULES; Kingdom Greatness is about who SERVES.
If you want to be GREAT in the KINGDOM of God, you must become a SERVANT.
“For the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve.”
True greatness is not how many people serve you, It’s about how many people you serve.
Our Lord Himself is our greatest example when it comes to serving others. In all His splendor, majesty, glory, and power, He served humanity.
JOH 13:4-5 “…rose from supper, and laid aside His garments; and taking a towel, He girded Himself about. Then He poured water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded.”
His TOWEL is a symbol of His commitment to SERVITUDE.
There was no more menial task, no lower duty, no baser act than to wash the feet of another. And yet Jesus did it!
The very same Jesus, who raised the dead laid aside His garment wrapped a towel around his waist and washed the disciples feet.
This same Jesus, who turned water to wine, healed the sick, calmed the storm, walk across water, cast out demons, made the blind to see, and the lame to walk this same Jesus…
Took the towel and washed dirty, grimy, filthy feet!
Are you ready to decrease, that He might increase? Are you ready to Follow the Leader?
Don’t miss this beautiful picture of HUMILITY…
JOH 13:4-5 “…rose from supper, and laid aside His garments; and taking a towel, He girded Himself about. Then He poured water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded.”
He laid aside His garment –the outer garment, or His robe. The Robe was a symbol of one’s Position and Power.
This wasn’t the first time Jesus laid aside His Position and Power…
PHI 2:6-7a “…who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself…
He did not hold on to His equality with God. He laid aside His Glory, He laid aside His RIGHT to act as God. He laid aside His POSITION and POWER…
He EMPTIED Himself of His own will and become completely RECEPTIVE to the will of the Father.
JOH 13:4-5 “…rose from supper, and laid aside His garments; and taking a towel, He girded Himself about. Then He poured water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded.”
He took off His robe, and put on a towel. The LEADER, became the SERVANT. God became a Man.
PHI 2:7b-8 “…taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
His towel is a symbol of His commitment to servitude. And Scripture says…
PHI 2:5 “Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus…”
God wants us to have this same attitude. He want us to empty ourselves of our own Will, our own Power and Position, He wants us to Follow the Leader.
The TOWEL is a symbol of our complete obedience to do God’s will.
The TOWEL is a symbol of our commitment to advance God’s KINGDOM and not our own.
The TOWEL is a symbol of your identity in Christ. You belong to Him. You are a bond-servant.
And the only way you will humble yourself to this extent is when you know who you are in Christ.
Because then you are not worried about protecting your destiny. When you know that your destiny is secure in Christ, it frees you to serve with complete Humility.
For the believer, the towel should remind us of our Call and Commitment to serve one another.
Our Destiny is to SERVE God, by SERVING others.
The bottom line is you must develop a SERVANT’S heart.
To fulfill your Destiny, you must Follow the Leader’s example of SACRIFICE.
MAT 20:28 “… just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”
Our Destiny is not about securing a SAFE and SECURE future, our Destiny is about LOSING our lives so that the Life of Christ can be manifested in us.
Jesus had a destiny to fulfill.
MAT 20:17-18a “And as Jesus was about to go up to Jerusalem, He took the twelve disciples aside by themselves, and on the way He said to them, ‘Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem…’”
The road that Jesus travelled to fulfill His destiny first took Him up to Jerusalem.
In our pursuit to reach Disney World, we took Interstate 40, and this route took us through a small town, called Groom, Texas.
And as we drove down Interstate 40 passing through Groom, Texas we came across a towering, 19 story high white cross.
I’ll never forget looking up at that enormous cross. You cannot travel down Interstate 40, through Groom, Texas without going past that Cross.
Likewise, as Jesus was pursuing His Destiny, He, too, came face to face with the Cross.
The Scripture says that He took His disciples with Him and said to them…
MAT 20:18-19 “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem; and the Son of Man will be delivered to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn Him to death, and will deliver Him to the Gentiles to mock and scourge and crucify Him, and on the third day He will be raised up.”
Jesus had a destiny to fulfill. Likewise, you have a destiny to fulfill. And in order to do so you must first go up to Jerusalem and pass Calvary’s Cross.
One of the reasons our trip was so enjoyable is that my children didn’t bombard me with that age old backseat question, “Are we there yet?” Otherwise, I might have been tempted to take a short cut.
Some of us can be in such a hurry to fulfill our DESTINY, that we want to take a short-cut.
But, I’m here to tell you that there are no short-cuts when it comes to fulfilling the destiny God has planned for you.
Everyone, must first travel past the CROSS. No one can avoid the Cross. Everyone must go up to Jerusalem. Everyone must go pass the Cross of Calvary.
Jesus said He came “…to give His life as a ransom for many.”
In our quest to FOLLOW THE LEADER, we cannot avoid the cross.
There was a time when preaching about the cross could be heard in most churches on just about any given Sunday.
Today, the church has all but removed the cross from it’s teaching. If it wasn’t for Easter Sunday, in some churches, you could go all year without hearing the message of the cross.
In our “want to feel good” culture, the CROSS has become an offense. People today, no longer understand the significance of the Cross.
It’s meaning has been reinterpreted to FIT our culture.
But the Scripture says....
1CO 1:18 “For the word of the cross is to those who are perishing foolishness, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”
The message of the Cross is the Power of God, but for the sake of filling our pews, and stuffing our churches with uncommitted people the Word of the CROSS has been reinterpreted.
We now have two crosses. An Old Cross and a New Cross.
The Old Cross is too messy, too bloody, it is too cruel, and way too demanding. So it had to be reinterpreted into a kinder, gentler, CROSS.
Many in the Church today, want TO FOLLOW THE LEADER, but they want to avoid the Old Cross.
But you cannot Follow Jesus, and avoid the OLD CROSS.
MAT 20:28 “… just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”
One writer said, The Old Cross is a symbol of death.
It stands for the abrupt, and violent end of a human life.
Listen, when the man in Roman times, took up his cross and started down the road he had already said good-by to his family and friends.
He had already said goodbye to the life he once lived, and had already counted everything as loss.
He knew he was not coming back. His life was over. There was no going back. He knew he was going out to have his life ended.
The cross did not COMPROMISE, it did not NEGOTIATE, it did not PLEA BARGAIN, it spared nothing; it put the whole man to death, completely, once and for all.
The CROSS did not try to keep on good terms with its victim. When it had finished its work, the man was no more.
Our CULTURE today, has no place for this kind of CROSS, so it had to been reinterpreted.
Where the Old Cross once preached of death to self, death to self-will and death to self-rule.
It has been replaced with a New Cross which preaches PROSPERITY - it’s about “Your Best Life Now.”
Where the Old Cross preached a message of SUBMISSION to the will of God…
The New Cross preaches about “REPOSITIONING YOURSELF”, it’s been reinterpreted into a SELF-HELP cross.
The Old Cross preached a message of being crucified with Christ…
The New Cross is now a watered-down message of Personal Happiness, Personal Satisfaction, and Personal Fulfillment.
Listen, I understand why people today refuse to travel pass by the Cross. Because one repentant look upon that Cross will SLAY you dead.
But Church, we need that OLD CROSS! It is still RELEVANT today. There’s beauty in the Old CROSS. There’s POWER in the Old CROSS.
With all of it’s death, there’s NEW LIFE in the splinters of the Old CROSS.
The MESSAGE of the Old CROSS, reminds me just how much God loves me.
Maybe you are wondering how to stay consistent in your walk with God - the answer is by embracing the Old Cross.
Let’s be honest, Sometimes it get very difficult to follow the Leader. Sometimes in our flesh We don’t want to follow, We lose our desire to follow – so what do you do?
You go back to the Old Cross. You look once again upon the Old Cross. And you remember…
You remember His death for you.
You remember the price He paid for you.
You remember the blows He took for you.
You remember the blood He shed for you.
You remember the agony in the garden it was all for you
When you meditate on the Old Cross, How can it not affect you?
John Piper said, “preach the gospel to yourself. The more you focus on the cross the more you fall in love with God. The more you preach the gospel story to yourself how He came and died and all that He went through, the more you desire God.”
The Old CROSS tells us that we are FORGIVEN
The Old CROSS reminds us that we have a home in GLORY. Our destiny begins at the Cross.
When you decide to die.
When you decide to give up living for yourself. When you decide to embrace the OLD CROSS - you will find NEW LIFE.
You will discover that your Destiny is to Die, So that Christ can live His life in and through you.
The Bottom line is we must offer ourselves as Living Sacrifices…
ROM 12:1 “I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.”
[Conclusion]
So the next time you feel lost in life, the next time you forget that God has a destiny for you to fulfill.
Remember that His destiny is for you to be like Christ. Are you ready to follow the Leader.
Recall His cup, and remember that your destiny is to submit your will to His.
Recall His towel, and remember that your destiny is to serve Him by serving others.
Recall His cross, and remember that your destiny is to die to self, that He might live through you.
Remember Jesus, and fulfill your destiny, by following the Leader.