A Faithful Follower...
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Introduction
Introduction
The direction you take, determines your destination.
This reality means that our choice of direction is vital.
There is, however, a second element to this reality.
When you follow someone, it is their direction that determines your destination.
Therefore, who you follow is also vital.
LET’S PRAY
Father, we want to be faithful followers. Our good shepherd is leading us, help us Lord as we seek to follow Him. Today, we will learn from your word the benefits of being a faithful follower. May we put what we learn into practice. Use me Lord as your instrument to communicate the truth of your Word to your people. May Christ be glorified in the preaching of the Word today and may the saints be equipped to do the work of the ministry. We pray these things in Jesus name, Amen.
In Hat Creek, CA, near the town where I grew up, there are lava beds. Miles and miles of volcanic rock.
One of our favorite things to do when we were younger was to hike out in these lava beds.
We found some very cool things. We found caves, a fresh water spring, and a tall rock formation we named castlegate.
The only problem getting to these locations was the fact that after you reached the spring, there was no clear path to castlegate.
The result was that we took a different route almost every time.
Sometimes the path we chose took us off the mark and we would have to course correct.
Other times we picked a good direction and could get to castlegate fairly easily.
The other issues was that some of us liked to choose the easy path, and others like to just charge, crash, and hack through the bushes.
So your trip out to castlegate depended on which path you chose or who you were following.
As we mentioned earlier, the direction you take determines your destination as does who you choose to follow.
Today we consider just the end of Psalm 23 verse 3.
This passage deals with both our direction and destination.
“He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.”
This short passage of Scripture spells out three benefits of being a faithful follower.
Purpose and meaning in life come from being faithful follower of Jesus.
The question before all of us today is “will I faithfully follow Jesus?”
Benefit #1…
1. A Faithful Follower Has Direction
1. A Faithful Follower Has Direction
3 He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake.
We will just focus on three words for now.
- He leads me
I’m going to say something that will sound really basic, but its really important.
For the Shepherd to be your leader you must follow Him.
Why is this important?
Claiming the Lord as your Shepherd does you no good if you do not follow Him.
The first thing this requires is salvation.
You cannot follow the Good Shepherd if you are not one of His sheep.
The promises in Psalm 23 are reserved for the sheep of the good shepherd.
How do you become one of His sheep?
Go with me to John 10:1-5, 7-11.
John 10:1-5, 7-11
Jesus calls His sheep and they answer.
They know His voice.
He is the door!
When we enter by Him we are Saved.
He gave His life for the sheep.
What does this have to do with salvation?
You can’t follow the Shepherd if you do not know Him.
You come to know the Shepherd by grace through faith.
We are born with a problem, that problem is sin.
Romans 3:23
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
We have all sinned, we fall short of the glory of God, and the penalty for sin is death.
Romans 6:23
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
This is where the story changes.
In Christ Jesus our Lord, we have eternal life.
This eternal life is the gift of God!
What do I do to receive the gift?
I take it.
Ephesians 2:8-9
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,
9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.
We do not work for a gift. We do not earn it.
A gift is given!
God, in His grace, gives salvation to all who place their faith in Jesus Christ!
That is how you become a sheep of the Good Shepherd.
David writes that the Lord leads us on a path.
You cannot follow the shepherd until you are one of His sheep.
Once you are, you follow Him on the path He has chosen.
A path implies a destination.
We are not on a path to nowhere.
We have a destination.
That fact that we are being led implies that our leader knows the destination, we do not.
Our direction is determined by the one we follow.
Jesus knows our destination and we follow Him.
Whenever we find ourselves without purpose in life it is because we have ceased following our leader.
Lack of direction is caused by lack of fellowship.
We break fellowship with Jesus and we lose our direction.
What breaks fellowship? Sin.
Deal with sin and follow the Shepherd.
If we want direction. If we want purpose. If we want meaning in this life. We follow the Good Shepherd.
The Good Shepherd has given us a map for life.
It’s called the Bible.
If we don’t read the map, we don’t know where we are going.
To go the right direction, follow the right leader.
Christ is leading. Are we following?
#376 “I Have Decided To Follow Jesus”
Decide to follow Jesus.
Don’t turn back.
There are three benefits to being a faithful follower.
Benefit #1: A faithful follower has direction.
Benefit #2…
2. A Faithful Follower Gains Purity
2. A Faithful Follower Gains Purity
3 He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake.
Consider with me the next few words.
- in the paths of righteousness.
Here there is an implication.
There are paths of righteousness and paths of unrighteousness.
When we follow Christ, He leads us in the right path.
Failure to follow Christ results in an an unrighteous path.
Jesus never leads us into sin. He doesn’t lead us into compromise.
Jesus leads us beside still waters and into green pastures!
Jesus leads us into restoration!
Now, we will learn in the rest of this Psalm that He also leads through valleys, through death, and into the presence of our enemies.
These two ideas presented in the Psalm lead to some conclusions.
The path of Jesus may take us difficult places, but it will never lead us into sin.
The path of righteousness promises the presence of Jesus.
No matter where the path leads, when we follow Him we will walk in righteousness.
This walk of righteousness is described for us in Psalm 1. Go there with me please.
Psalm 1
This is the path of righteousness.
It ignores ungodly council, avoids sinful paths, and does not sit with people who scorn others.
The righteous path delights in God’s Word and meditates in it.
The righteous path brings stability, and bears fruit. The righteous path enjoys prosperity.
The ungodly path faces instability, insecurity, and isolation.
The Lord knows the way of the righteous, but they way of the ungodly shall perish.
Which path are we on?
Are we walking in righteousness?
Or in unrighteousness.
The righteous path leads us into growth, purity, and holiness.
The unrighteous path leads to spiritual sickness, perversion, and selfishness.
Purity comes as we faithfully walk the righteous path.
To gain purity, stay on the righteous path.
The righteous path is a path of cleansing.
God’s Word outlines the righteous path and cleanses us as we meditate on its truth.
#438 “Cleanse Me” (vv. 1, 3)
We surrender to the Lord. We invite Him to take our lives, to make of us what He desires.
That is what it looks like to be a faithful follower.
To be a faithful follower of Jesus Christ involves sacrifice and trial.
Yet, there is benefit.
Benefit #1: A faithful follower has direction.
Benefit #2: A faithful follower gains purity.
Benefit #3…
3. A Faithful Follower Brings Glory
3. A Faithful Follower Brings Glory
3 He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake.
We want to focus now on the final four words of the verse.
- for His name’s sake
This is about purpose.
We don’t walk a path leading to nowhere!
We walk a path laid out for us by the God of all eternity!
When we reach the end of the path laid out for us we will stand before our Redeemer!
He leads us in paths of righteousness.
Christ makes us righteous positionally and gives us the Holy Spirit who helps us to be righteous practically.
All this is for His names sake.
The sanctification of the believer is about the glory of God.
This sanctification requires that we follow Him down the paths He leads us on.
All other paths lead to unrighteousness.
The point here is the reason behind God’s actions.
There are two ideas behind this phrase.
The first is this:
God acts for the purpose of His glory.
What does this mean?
When Scripture refers to God’s name it is a reference to who He is. It is his reputation and everything about Him.
God leads us in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.
For His glory.
There are many passages of Scripture that identify this reality. Let’s briefly look at 2.
Psalm 46:10; Isaiah 33:10
10 Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!
10 “Now I will rise,” says the Lord; “Now I will be exalted, Now I will lift Myself up.
In both of these passages God declares that He will be exalted.
This is His purpose.
There is a second idea behind this phrase “for His name’s sake.”
God’s activity is consistent with His nature.
The idea here is that God does all these things for His children because of Who He is.
He leads us in the paths of righteousness because that is who He is!
He cannot lead us anywhere else!
He provides our needs, He restores, He strengthens, protects, and comforts all because it is in His nature to do so.
This is where our knowledge of what Scripture teaches is so vital!
1 John 4 tells us that God is love.
Romans 2 declares that the goodness of God leads us to repentance.
Elsewhere we learn that He is just and righteous and holy.
What God does flows out of Who God is.
God is glorified as He works in us and He is glorified as He works through us.
We live, move, and function for the glory of God.
As we faithfully follow Christ the glory of God will be the natural outflow of our lives.
To glorify God, be a faithful follower.
God is worthy of all glory.
Revelation 4:11; 5:12
11 “You are worthy, O Lord, To receive glory and honor and power; For You created all things, And by Your will they exist and were created.”
12 saying with a loud voice: “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain To receive power and riches and wisdom, And strength and honor and glory and blessing!”
We follow Christ and we glorify Him because He is worthy.
“Is He Worthy”
Turn with me to 1 Corinthians 11:23-32
This is a time for believers to remember the price that was paid. To be reminded of the penalty of sin. Taking part of communion does not save you. This is simply a way for us to be reminded of what Christ has done. If you know the Lord as savior this morning, please join us in bread and juice as we remember Jesus Christ. These are only symbols, they represent the body and blood of our Savior. Examination – verses 26-32
OBSERVANCE OF COMMUNION
OBSERVANCE OF COMMUNION
1 Corinthians 11:23-32
The Bread (His Body) vv. 23-24 #372 “Living For Jesus” (chorus only)
The Cup (His Blood) v. 25 #525 “I Will Praise Him” (chorus only)
Conclusion
Conclusion
We have been called by God to be faithful followers of Jesus.
As we follow Him, the direction He takes us will be the path of righteousness.
He gives us direction, meaning, and purpose for our lives.
As we follow Him, we grow in purity and holiness.
We walk the path of righteousness, we follow His direction, He brings purity to our lives, and in all these things, God gets all the glory.
Before I ask us to make a commitment I have three questions for us to ask ourselves.
Jesus is leading, am I following?
Am I walking the path of righteousness?
Does my life intentionally bring glory to God?
Personal: I cannot be effective for Christ if i do not have direction and purpose. These come as we follow Jesus. The path we are to follow is found in God’s Word. Commit to following the path laid out in Scripture.
Relationships: Whenever we stray from God’s path we end up heading into unrighteousness. Spiritual healthiness is found on the path of righteousness. When we are not healthy, we drag all those around us down as well. To be a good friend, sibling, or child, we must follow Jesus.
Parenting: The direction Christ gives us provides a goal to work towards. If we do not have a goal in our parenting, training will be very difficult. We must also remember that our children were given to us for the glory of God. Our desire and aim must be to parent for the glory of God. What does that mean? It means discipline, structure, rules, and responsibility.
Marriage: A marriage is a partnership. You are a team put together by God to accomplish a goal. You cannot work together if you have no direction. What ministry does God want you to accomplish as a couple? Pray about it and get busy doing it.
COMMITMENT:
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Follow Jesus.
Walk the righteous path.
Bring glory to God.