Authentic: Discipleship
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Introduction
Introduction
JUNIOR CHURCH DISMISSED
This morning I’m speaking on a topic I feel very passionate about and that may come through during the message.
We are going to look at Authentic Discipleship. What does it mean to be a disciple? Are we ourselves disciples? What are we doing about making disciples?
Discipleship is the mission of the church. I know, I tell you the great commission is the mission but what is the great commission? To see people saved, baptized, and taught to go do the same thing. It’s to make disciples, followers of Christ.
It’s important for us to understand that Christ never called us to be Christians. He never said we should be his Christians, He calls us to be His disciples. Then He told us what a disciple was. A Disciple is a follower.
Jesus had many people following Him around when He was teaching and performing miracles.
But He wasn’t enamored by the crowds. He was known to tell them to go away. He was happy to minister to them but crowds were not his focus. He wanted real disciples.
In we see an instance where Jesus had healed many people and performed miracles. Then the next day they were gone. They weren’t there to follow Christ, they were there for what Christ could do for them.
Jesus turns to the 12 men he has called out to be his disciples and says
From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him. Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away?
There is clearly a difference between the crowd and the disciples.
Crowds are easy to get. Chili cook offs, Mum festivals, car shows, etc. Are all ways to get a crowd. And I’m praying for next week at our open house, I pray we have a good crowd. I pray many are here and get to be exposed to the message of the gospel.
But that is just the beginning of their journey.
Being a disciple of Christ has with it certain requirements. Today we will look and see what those are and ask ourselves the question…am I a fan of Christ or a follower.
If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple. For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him, Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish. Or what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand? Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage, and desireth conditions of peace. So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.
PRAY
There is a three fold criteria for being a disciple that is laid out in the passage and we will look at all three of them today.
The first requirement is A love for the Master
I. A Devotion to the Savior
I. A Devotion to the Savior
If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.
If we are going to be a follower of Christ, we are going to be have to love, we have to be devoted to Him.
The Crowd had self seeking motives for being with Christ. Jesus gave them a simple statement to challenge them to examine themselves. He said “If you’re going to follow me, you must love me.”
He is not a taskmaster, we are not under the law, He is our savior and desires first our love.
It’s our love for God that goes first before a man leaves his wife, it’s our love for God that goes first before we stop serving. When we stop walking with the Lord, we are putting ourselves on a path towards destruction.
So Jesus began the conversation about real discipleship, real followers with a criteria of love.
What type of devotion though? This type of love. Let’s examine it in comparison.
A. In Comparison
A. In Comparison
The Word hate is used in comparison to the love we should have for Christ. We are to hate our mothers and fathers…in comparison to our love for Him.
Matthew wrote of the same account in
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
See we are not to hate them in a literal sense but in comparison to our love for Christ, our love for them could look like hate. We follow Christ at all costs.
Paul had such a desire to know and follow Jesus he wrote
That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;
Phil
He wanted to know the power, he wanted the sufferings, so that he could be conformed to the image of Christ.
He understood the love of Christ. Let’s next examine it in comprehension
B. In Comprehension
B. In Comprehension
Eric Liddell, a christian olympian and missionary, wrote
As Christians, I challenge you. Have a great aim. Have a high standard. Make Jesus your ideal…make Him an ideal not merely to be admired but also to be followed.
The committed disciple of Jesus seeks to know Him above anything else. Jesus becomes the first priority in life, and all other aspects of live become secondary to Him.
We can never have the depth of love for Christ that He deserves until we know who HE is. Jesus said “If any man come to me...”
It’s when we comprehend who jesus is that we understand why He is worthy of our utmost love and devotion. He is the Son of God. He went to the cross. He rose for us. And if we have trusted Him as savior, he has given us eternal life. He is worthy of our love. he is worthy of our devotion.
Once we understand our salvation is secured in Him through the gospel We have to begin learning who He is and what He asks of us.
We are not under the law but Jesus does put requirements on being a disciple on being a follower of His. We don’t do it because we have to…we do it because we have the privilege to.
The next criteria placed on being a disciple is that of service.
II. Service to the Savior
II. Service to the Savior
True love and true devotion labors. When we love our savior we are willing to labor for the savior.
And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.
I once read about two men walking down the sidewalk when they passed a sign in a store window that read, “NO HELP WANTED.” Bob looked at his friend and said “You should apply - you’d be great at that!”
Too often we’re trying to figure out how to get out of work rather than looking for opportunities to serve. Yet Jesus declared that if we are going to be real disciples we must be involved in serving Him.
Paul’s life after his salvation is marked by denial of self. He wrote in 2 Corinthians why.
For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.
The reasoning of a follower of Christ works like this “Christ died for me to pay for my sin. I would be separated from God and on my way to Hell were it not for His grace. What can I do to return thanks to Him? How can I do more for Him than I’m already doing?”
Paul was willing to labor for Christ that he continued to do so even when those he served did not appreciate his sacrifice.
And I will very gladly spend and be spent for you; though the more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved.
Why was Paul wiling to do this? Why was he willing to expend himself when the love would not be returned? because he wasn’t doing it for them. He was serving and living for Christ.
What does that service look like? How did Jesus define the service of real discipleship?
A. Bear the Cross
A. Bear the Cross
I’ve said it often already, we bear little persecution in America. We have a tendency to call normal discomforts “persecution.”
Everyone has pain and sufferings but the Cross is not a reference to to every general type of suffering.
To bear the cross means to bear the life that comes with following Jesus.
When we are committed followers of Christ there will come burdens directly related to your love and service to the Lord.
One author said
There is a great difference between realizing ‘On that Cross He was crucified for me,’ and ‘On that Cross I am crucified with Him.’
The first aspect brings us deliverance from sins condemnation, the other, from sin’s power.
Christ died so we would be delivered from the overt and obvious sins we commit but also to deliver us from ourselves and from the sins that center on self-love, selfishness, willfulness, pride, and personal agenda. All of it dies at the cross.
There are four Aspects of bearing the cross
1. Denial of Self
1. Denial of Self
We are quick to reach for and protect what we percieve to be our “rights” or what belongs to us. But Paul wasn’t this way.
Paul wrote
I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
Many are willing to be called Christians in an environment where there is persecution, no call to sacrifice, no denial of self. Yet they are not identifying with Christ through being a disciple that is abiding by the call of their Savior.
2. Denial of Self-will
2. Denial of Self-will
A follower of Christ, a disciple will surrender their will and their plans to their master.
Yes, I’m saying Christians should change their week to week and day to lives for Christ. It should not be a focus on how much time can I spend with my buddies, how much overtime can I get, how many sports programs can I get my little superstar to, the life of a follower of Christ should have more of a focus on Jesus than on anything else and our schedules should reflect it.
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
The mercy God shows to us should compel us to deny our will and surrender wholly to Him.
Charles Spurgeon wrote
I have no concentrated all my prayers into one, and that one prayer is this, that I may die to self, and live whole to Him.
There is a story about a chicken and a hen walking by a church that had a sign up that read “Eggs and ham will be served>”
The hen clucked happily “Well isn’t that nice?” “We get to help the church.”
“That’s fine for you” the pig replied “You’ll be making a contribution. I’ll be making a sacrifice!”
Is our service, our love, our devotion to the Lord merely a contribution, giving Him only the extras of our resources? Or have you fully committed yourself in a complete package-a sacrifice?
The third aspect of baring our cross is the expectation of persecution
3. Expectation of Persecution
3. Expectation of Persecution
Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.
Is it any wander that not many wanted to hang around when Jesus explained the criteria for authentic discipleship?
Following Christ is more than receiving eternal live, present joy and peace. Following Christ requires a willingness to suffer for him.
“Margaret Wilson, from Galloway, Scotland, was executed as an eighteen-year-old girl on May 11, 1685. Her crime? She would not declare King Charles II to be the head of the church. Her death sentence was to be carried out by drowning. The morning of her execution, a stake was driven into the Solway, an inlet of the Irish Sea, while the tide was out. Margaret was tied to this stake to await the return of the tide which would drown her.”
“As the tide came in, villagers watched, eager to rescue Margaret should she be willing to recant. But as the water rose toward Margaret’s chin, she sang a hymn and quoted verses from about the love of Christ.
Just as the tide would have drowned her, a soldier waded out into the water, untied her, and lifted her above the waves. “Just pray for the king and take the oath that he is the head of the church,” he commanded.
“I wish the salvation of all men and the damnation of none,” she said through numb lips that were blue with cold.
“Dear Margaret,” one of the bystanders pleaded, “say ‘God save the king.’”
“God save him, if he will, for it is his salvation I desire,” she responded.
The soldier gave her one more opportunity to pledge her allegiance to the king as the head of the church, but she refused. “I will not; I am one of Christ’s children! Let me go.”
The soldier thrust her back into the water where she drowned.
The testimony of Christians such as Margaret Wilson should cause us to blush at our unwillingness to completely surrender to Christ.”
For you taking up your cross may not mean giving your life as a martyr, but it should mean being willing to carry- to even put on yourself- whatever burden may be required to serve the Lord fully.
Excerpt From: Paul Chappell. “Real Church Curriculum (Teacher Edition).” Apple Books. https://books.apple.com/us/book/real-church-curriculum-teacher-edition/id619923135
Then there is an Expectation of Suffering
Excerpt From: Paul Chappell. “Real Church Curriculum (Teacher Edition).” Apple Books. https://books.apple.com/us/book/real-church-curriculum-teacher-edition/id619923135
Excerpt From: Paul Chappell. “Real Church Curriculum (Teacher Edition).” Apple Books. https://books.apple.com/us/book/real-church-curriculum-teacher-edition/id619923135
4. Expectation of Suffering
4. Expectation of Suffering
Jesus never pulled punches. He was direct and straightforward about what being a follower of His entailed.
The Apostle Peter wrote
Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.
It is only when we maintain eternal perspective that the suffering we endure for the sake of the Gospel is something in which we can rejoice.
Martin Luther has said
A religion that gives nothing, costs nothing, and suffers nothing, is worth nothing.”
We prove our love and devotion for Christ when we are willing to suffering for Him.
As disciples we are called to a level of commitment that would bear the cross and live wholly for Him. He called His disciples to follow Him fully.
He said (letter B. )
B. Come After Me
B. Come After Me
This phrase is from the Greek word “erchomai” which means to come; to go, to follow one.
It’s a present tense verb indicating that disciples are required to follow Christ continually.
This is the practice of a follower of Christ of a disciple.
It’s been said that salvation is the miracle of a moment but discipleship is the process of a lifetime.
That must come through a daily decision to pursue after Christ.
We must pursue Christ more than we pursued our spouse. We must choose to make time for Him. What does our lives look like when we are pursuing Christ? How can we daily pursue Him?
1. Pursue Jesus through studying His Word
1. Pursue Jesus through studying His Word
Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
Throughout the NT we have examples of the disciples love for the Word of God.
These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.
2. Come to Jesus Daily in prayer
2. Come to Jesus Daily in prayer
If the president said you could call him anytime and he will listen to you, you would take advantage of every opportunity.
We have the creator of the universe at our disposal and we only reach out when things are tough.
3. Come to Jesus in local church worship
3. Come to Jesus in local church worship
We are not here just so you can get free childcare, free a/c, and free heat. We meet to worship and learn from His Word.
4. Come to Jesus through Obeying His Word
4. Come to Jesus through Obeying His Word
Studying and memorizing scripture is great and should be done at all ages but if you are not obeying the word of God you are wasting your time.
Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls. But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
5. Come to Jesus bringing new believers
5. Come to Jesus bringing new believers
The ultimate goal of discipleship, in my opinion, is this right here.
We are to be disciples that make disciples.
We are to be followers of Christ that seek those who need the gospel and tell them about the one who can change their life.
15 volunteers
4 supplies-bullhorn, root beer, pill bottle, loud speaker
Christianity explodes because of multiplication not addition.
We all have to do our part. There are literally souls hanging in the balance.
There are lives that can be changed and affected by the gospel of Jesus Christ and it is our responsibility, it is our right, it is our privilege, and it is our highest honor to tell others about the gospel and see them saved.
Then we must take them from babes in Christ to believers who are empowered with the gospel to do the same for others.
Jesus said “Follow me and I will make you fishers of men”
If we are following Him we should be fishers of Men.
Are you following Him? Are you out fishing?
Authentic Discipleship requires devotion, authentic discipleship requires service, Authentic discipleship requires Surrender.
III. Surrender for the Savior
III. Surrender for the Savior
So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.
What do we surrender?
A. Surrender our Position
A. Surrender our Position
We are no longer the boss of our lives if we are following Jesus.
We cannot retain ownership and be a disciple of Christ. A disciple submits to his master, desiring nothing more than to do the master’s will.
He doesn’t rationalize the masters will to be conformed to his. A disciple doesn’t reason or negotiate with the master. He surrenders.
Jesus willingly endured the pain and humiliation of the cross. He was ridiculed, beaten, and killed- all for the people who were ridiculing, beating, and killing him.
And our commitment to the Lord can be so shallow that we resign our service at the slightest offence or provocation. Authentic discipleship comes from a heart of real commitment and real surrender.
Maybe we should consider adopting C.T. Studd’s motto as our own
If Jesus Christ is God and died for me, then no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for Him.”
We must surrender our position and we must surrender our Lives.
B. Surrender our Lives
B. Surrender our Lives
It must not be enough that we surrender our actions to the Lord. We should surrender our very lives. All that we are. D. L. Moody, a man who is said to have shaken two continents with the Gospel said
Let God have your life; He can do more with it can you can.
Surrendering your life to Christ is to give it more purpose than you have ever had. Surrendering your life to Jesus is telling the God of the universe to take the clump of dust that we are and use it for His glory.
Conclusion
Conclusion
The word Christian was first given to disciples at Antioch. It is a term used to describe the believers that were there. It is supposed to mean Christ like. it is christlikeness as determined by the world.
My question for you this morning is not “are you a Christian” it is “Are you a disciple?” Are you devoted? Are you serving? Are you surrendered?
As the Piano plays this morning I’d like to ask you to stand. We are entering our time to respond to the message you’ve just heard. With every head bowed and every eye closed I invite you to talk to God for the next few moments.
Maybe your here and don’t know Jesus. You don’t know if your saved. You don’t know for sure if you are going to Heaven.
Being saved is as simple as believing Jesus Christ died for your sins.
If you are here this morning and don’t know for sure that your going to Heaven…would you raise your hand? May I pray for you? I won’t embarrass you or call you out. I just want to pray for you.
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Gospel is power of God unto salvation
(For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)
Would you trust Jesus this morning? If you decided to be saved and put your faith in Christ…would you let me know. Would you raise your hand?
Christians....Jesus said “whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple”
Have you put your cross down? have you not loved Jesus as He desires to be loved?
How many of you could say this morning, I’m a Christian but I’ve not been a disciple. I’ve not been a follower. Would you confess that to the Lord by raising your hand today? Saying God…I’ve not been the disciple I should have been but I want.
Those with hands up make a decision right now that will make you more of a disciple. How can you love more? How can you serve more? How can surrender more? What areas did the Holy Spirit speak to you about? Respond now.
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