9-5-21 Follow Me

We’re going to start a new series today (yes, we’re out of the gospel of Mark for the time being) about what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. I think now is a good time for this series because God is doing something new - it’s a new season and the Lord has been powerfully at work in all of us. Autumn, over the last two weeks, spoke about the fear of the Lord and how, because Jesus is higher than and over all powers and principalities, we can walk in His authority over the works of darkness and evil that would come against God’s will and purpose for our lives. The main text last week was Ephesians 1:19-21 NLT “I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power 20 that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms. 21 Now he is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else—not only in this world but also in the world to come.” In context, Paul is praying that you and I would have a daily experience that shares in Christ’s victory.1 So our day to day lives should be marked by Jesus' victory over anything that is evil, harmful, or otherwise bad for our eternal, spiritual health. In other words, the complete vanquishing of all of the powers of darkness by Jesus has allowed us to operate in this life the same way Jesus operated when He was on the earth. Of course, there are a lot of different aspects to how Jesus walked when He was on the earth. We will talk through them over the course of this series. But the process of following Jesus in order to act like He acted, walk like He walked, and do what He did in our daily lives is what I want us to start thinking about. 1 Hayford, Jack W., editor. The Hayford Bible Handbook, P381. Nashville, TN, Thomas Nelson, 1995. A Disciple’s Call | 1 Most of us already understand that we should try to be like Jesus, but often we find it difficult to know (first) exactly what Jesus was doing and (second) how exactly He did it. And so the intention with this series is to give us more practical tools and insight into how to be more like Jesus. Let’s pray before we get started. Father in Heaven, thank you for this time we have together; thank you for sending Jesus to earth so that we could experience His new life, His love, grace, forgiveness, mercy, and empowerment. Thank you, Jesus, that You have been seated at the place of honor at God’s right hand, that You intercede for each one of us daily, and that You are high above all rulers, powers, and authorities. I ask You to help us experience Your victory over the world, the flesh, and the devil in our lives, and I ask You to fill us with Your Holy Spirit so that we might do Your works. Help us better understand the incredible greatness of Your power that works in our lives, and give us soft, listening hearts to respond to Your call. Bless each person here I ask, and speak to us what You want to say, in Jesus’ Name, amen. The first thing that needs to be addressed when we’re trying to follow Jesus has to do with terminology; we need to figure out what a disciple actually is. The word ‘disciple’ might be out of general usage today (in other words if you’re not in a church crowd, you probably won’t hear it a lot). But the word refers to a person who is doing their best to follow Jesus. It doesn’t mean that someone is only learning intellectually from Jesus’ teaching, but it involves acting like Him. It means a person thinks long and hard about what Jesus says so that they can put effort into being like Him and doing what He did. Becoming a follower of Jesus has to do with both thought and practical, hands-on effort; a disciple, at the core, is someone who imitates the person they are following in thoughts, attitudes, and actions. A Disciple’s Call | 2 A disciple is a learner, a person who follows both the teaching and the teacher.2 If a person only follows the teaching, but not the teacher, it results in empty religion and a lot of head knowledge. If a person tries to follow Jesus but continually ignores what He says, it often results in weak, powerless, ignorant, stifled Christianity. We need both because we’re whole people - we have intelligent minds that are able to think through things, but we also have physical bodies with which we actually have to do day-to-day life. And so a disciple, or a follower of Christ, is someone who is following God and trying to conform to His way of life. Jesus said, John 12:26 AMP “If anyone serves Me, he must [continue to faithfully] follow Me [without hesitation, holding steadfastly to Me, conforming to My example in living and, if need be, suffering or perhaps dying because of faith in Me]; and wherever I am [in heaven’s glory], there will My servant be also. If anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.” In other words, in order to be more like Jesus, the goal is to allow the Holy Spirit to change us so that who we are inside, in our hearts, is more like Jesus; who we are inside becomes exactly like who Jesus is inside. When I say “exactly like Jesus,” I mean like Him in quality of life, relationship with God and type, not in a ‘carbon copy-we all have the same personality’ way; I hope that makes sense to you. To say that a little differently, to follow Jesus and live in the fullness of the life He has for us, we are attempting to be totally and entirely focused on Christ so we can become more like Him each day. We want to obey and conform ourselves to the image of Christ. But we can only do that when we have an inner transformation or a total change of heart.3 2 Hayford, Jack W., editor. The Hayford Bible Handbook, P593. Nashville, TN, Thomas Nelson, 1995. Willard, Dallas. Renovation of the Heart: Putting on the Character of Christ, P30. Colorado Springs, CO, NavPress, 2002. Scribd, https://www.scribd.com/read/235005649/Renovation-of-the-Heart-Putting-On-the-Character-of-Christ. 3 A Disciple’s Call | 3 Changing a heart is hard work. And you know, we are incapable of changing our own hearts. We need help. And that is the work of the Holy Spirit. John 14:26 NKJV But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. The Holy Spirit teaches us like Jesus would teach us if He were still walking around on earth. He also transforms our hearts as we put effort into our relationship with God, coming to Jesus in faith and practicing doing what He asks us to do. Part of the reason why the Holy Spirit is the only One who can fully change our hearts is because most of the time, we don’t even know or comprehend what is actually in our hearts. Jeremiah 17:9 NLT “The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?” Because our hearts can deceive us, the Holy Spirit has to tell us what’s in there so we can work on changing those areas by imitating Jesus and the way He operated. Our hearts can only change to be more like Jesus through intentional interaction with the grace of God in Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. That was a wordy theological phrase, I know. Let me say it again - our hearts can only change to be more like Jesus through intentional interaction with the grace of God in Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. To say that in a different way, that means that we intentionally make time to talk to God and to listen to Him. We intentionally think about Jesus, what He’s saying to us through His word, and put effort into doing what He says; trying to act like He acted in complete obedience to God. John 6:38 ICB “I came down from heaven to do what God wants me to do. I did not come to do what I want to do.” A Disciple’s Call | 4 To sum it up, we focus on Jesus and on doing what He says. As we do that, we’ll see ourselves start and continue to conform to the image of God in Christ people will see Jesus in us, because we’ll look like Him! And Paul talks about how there is a plan for us as far as our growth in looking more like Jesus. Romans 8:29 NKJV “For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.” There is a lot we could unpack here - but when it comes to what a disciple, or follower of Christ is, this verse means that God predestined you to have a change of heart so that you can be like Jesus. Let’s not get hung up on big words - predestined here means that God has a plan. In other words, God gives us a way how we can be like Jesus. Remember, we need to know what we’re trying to do, (be like Jesus) and we need to know how God wants us to go about doing it. You know, the ‘how’ we go about doing something is very important. You may have heard the saying ‘where there’s a will, there’s a way.” Just so you know, that’s not in the Bible, and it really isn’t true. Of course, having the will, or wanting to do something is very important. If you don’t want to be like Christ then you won’t try. And if you don’t try, then of course it won’t happen. But we need to try in the right way. We need to understand exactly what we need to do and how we’re supposed to do it.4 We do get to choose which God we want to follow in this life. And there are a lot of them. Gods of money, power, lust, whatever. We can choose which God we want to follow, but we don’t get to choose how to follow Him. We don’t get to choose how to become more like Jesus - God decides how He wants to be worshiped. God decides what is acceptable to Him and what isn’t as far as the way we are supposed to operate as His followers. 4 Willard, Dallas. Renovation of the Heart: Putting on the Character of Christ, P12. Colorado Springs, CO, NavPress, 2002. Scribd, https://www.scribd.com/read/235005649/Renovation-of-the-Heart-Putting-On-the-Character-of-Christ. A Disciple’s Call | 5 Cain tried to follow God on his own terms, not God’s. It didn’t work out for him, though; he ended up getting mad and murdering his brother. God knew what was going to happen, and He tried to warn Cain that he wasn’t doing things God way and it would get Him into trouble. Genesis 4:7 AMP If you do well [believing Me and doing what is acceptable and pleasing to Me], will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well [but ignore My instruction], sin crouches at your door; its desire is for you [to overpower you], but you must master it.” In other words, if you worship God and follow Him in the right way, His way, you’ll do great! It will go well! But if you don’t, it won’t. Pretty simple. And the whole idea of being a disciple of Christ, of following Jesus, of trying to be more like Him actually has to do with us accepting His invitation to leave our annoying, burdensome ways of heavy work and labor—especially the “religious” ones of following all of the rules perfectly—and step into heart-training with Him. Let me say that again because I want to hear it again; the whole idea of being a disciple of Christ, of following Jesus, of trying to be more like Him actually has to do with us accepting His invitation to leave our annoying, burdensome ways of heavy work and labor—especially the “religious” ones of following all of the rules perfectly—and step into heart-training with Him. It’s NOT about rules and regulations; it’s about gentleness, lowliness, and soul-rest at the core of who we are. It is a way of inner heart transformation that proves the way Jesus operates in obedience to God really is a way of life that is easy and light. Now, it’s not without persecution, of course, but that’s another topic. My point is that we don’t ever need to live our lives in personal or spiritual defeat. Because of Jesus, a life of victory over both sin and circumstance is now available to us. A Disciple’s Call | 6 I want to add (and this is important) that ultimately, a changed heart, becoming more like Jesus, or being able to walk like Jesus walked and do what Jesus did is a gift of grace. It’s something the Holy Spirit does in us as we grow more in love with Jesus. And this is very important, because if we forget the fact that growth in Jesus is a gift from God, we tend to start striving, or working in the wrong way and at the wrong things. And if we’re working in the wrong way, we won’t be transforming our hearts, we actually run the risk of hardening them! As we put effort into our relationship with Jesus, He gives us the gift of a changed heart. 1 Timothy 4:14-15 NKJV “Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the eldership. 15 Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all.” Paul is writing to Timothy about some specific gifts in this passage; we don’t know exactly what gift in Timothy that Paul is referring to - but some gifts we’ve all been given if we’re saved include a spirit that is alive to God by the blood of Jesus, the ability to freely access the throne room of God with boldness, and the infilling of the Holy Spirit so we can be empowered to grow. We have those gifts available to us; let’s not neglect them, but let’s grow in following Jesus! And, as Paul says, our progress is going to be obvious to everyone. If you look around this room right now (and don’t point fingers), if you’re honest, I bet you can think of multiple ways each person has grown in their walk with Jesus. Knowing each of you, I guarantee I instantly can come up with multiple ways I’ve seen you grow in the Lord. But let’s not stop - let’s continue to press into Jesus and continue to grow. And so a disciple is someone who is choosing to follow Jesus with the intention of becoming more like Him. A Disciple’s Call | 7 And you need to know that God is not as concerned with who you are right now as much as He is concerned about who you’re becoming. I’ll say it again God is not as concerned with who you are now as He is with who you’re becoming. Why? Because being a Christian literally means we want to be a “little Christ.” Not in the sense of pantomime or power trips, but in the sense of character, compassion, and consistency. Character has to do with integrity of heart, of perseverance in righteousness (that’s a big word that means we do things the right way with a right heart motive), and of holding on to God’s moral compass instead of our own. Why do we want to grow our character? Because it produces hope inside of us. Romans 5:3-4 NKJV And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; 4 and perseverance, character; and character, hope.” So growth in character helps us hold to the promises of God and look to Him as the source for meeting every need. Compassion has to do with empathy, kindness, and how we relate to other people. 1 Peter 3:8 NKJV “Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another; love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous.” In other words, let's be unified in this thing - let’s be kind and loving towards each other. That’s the expectation for how christians treat each other; with compassion and love. And consistency has to do with something being the same day by day, no matter what happens. In the same way, the goal is that as our hearts are transformed to look like the heart of Jesus, we’ll have consistent, godly responses to the circumstances we face in life. That’s not to say that we set rules up and always respond the same; it means we respond to things the way the heart of Christ would respond, and everyone around us knows we’re going to do that - even if the response isn’t always predictable. A Disciple’s Call | 8 There’s a big difference between being predictable and doing what God says. God might tell us to do things or respond to life situations very differently week to week or year to year, but those responses will be consistent in that they are focused on loving God and loving people - the first and second commandments, if you remember those. James 2:12 AMP “Speak and act [consistently] as people who are going to be judged by the law of liberty [that moral law that frees obedient Christians from the bondage of sin].” And this word 'consistency' is very interesting. According to Webster’s dictionary, it means that something is marked by harmony, regularity, and free from variation and contradiction.5 To apply that to our Christian walk, it means that as we stay in harmony with Jesus each day, we don’t find any contradictions between our new, godly nature in Christ and the way we’re operating. Old patterns of the fleshy nature get broken off. Now, getting to this point completely is a process (and none of us have arrived), so don’t be discouraged when you struggle; but eventually, there will be less and less contradiction between you and how you operate and Jesus and how He operates because the two of you will be so closely connected in harmonious relationship! Another definition of consistency is ‘something marked by agreement.’ As we grow in agreement with God - agreeing with His view of how we should operate, His view of what our relationships, our work, our recreation should look like - as we agree with God’s view of what is best for us, we’ll find ourselves growing in how consistently we make good choices. By good choices, I mean choices that are in the best interests of our long-term, eternal good, choices that glorify God and minister the love of God to people. 5 “Consistent.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/consistent. Accessed 3 Sep. 2021. A Disciple’s Call | 9 Amos 3:3 NKJV “Can two walk together, unless they are agreed?” I’m telling you right now, the answer to this question is a firm NO. You can’t walk with Jesus unless you’re willing to agree with Him. And just so you know, Jesus’ opinion is always the right opinion. If we’re in disagreement with Jesus (or with the scripture He wrote), it’s not Jesus who is wrong. That probably doesn’t need to be said to you all, I know - but sometimes we can operate that way. It sounds something like this - I love you, Jesus, but I disagree with Your plan for how I’m supposed to manage my money. I think You’re great, Lord, but I disagree with you on how I should handle dating and relationships. I want to follow You, but I disagree with you on the ‘serving others and laying down my life for them’ thing. You’re great and all Lord, but there are some areas of my life that are off limits because I know we’re not going to see eye-to-eye. I want to worship my own way in that area. Please know, loved one, that Jesus' goal is not to be controlling and manipulative. If you remember our scripture from James 2, our new law, or the way we’re supposed to operate as followers of Jesus is in liberty - we are free! And earlier in James, he says, James 1:25 AMP But he who looks carefully into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and faithfully abides by it, not having become a [careless] listener who forgets but an active doer [who obeys], he will be blessed and favored by God in what he does [in his life of obedience]. Jesus doesn’t want to control you and micromanage you. He wants to free you from bondage to things that hurt you! John 8:34 NKJV Jesus answered them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin.” Our obedience to God’s word frees us from our heavy heart burdens! It frees us from wrong, corrupt thinking! And it also shows that we are paying attention to what Jesus says as His followers. A Disciple’s Call | 10 The perfect law of liberty is referring to the way we operate as believers under the new law of love - you know; love your neighbor as yourself? Romans 13:9 NKJV For the commandments say, “You must not commit adultery. You must not murder. You must not steal. You must not covet.” These—and other such commandments—are summed up in this one commandment: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Now this ‘law of love’ as we call it, is compared to the old way of doing this (in the Old Testament) which is a harsh master; no one can follow all of those rules! And this brings me back to my ultimate point that in order to follow Jesus fully, we need the Holy Spirit to change our hearts so we can love in the way Jesus loves. Love, we hear, is patient and kind. Because we know this, we often try (in our own power) to be more loving by acting more patient and kind. Except a behavior modification approach always fails us in about two seconds. We should always do the best we can in action, of course; but we won’t make any lasting progress in being patient and kind until we get better at love itself—the genuine heart readiness and longing to be in total connection with Jesus and to secure the good of other people. Until we make progress in our hearts, our patience and kindness will just be shallow and short-lived. It is love itself—not loving behavior, or even the wish or intention to love—that has the power that “bears all things [regardless of what comes], believes all things [looking for the best in each one], hopes all things [remaining steadfast during difficult times], endures all things [without weakening]. 1 Corinthians 13:7 AMP. Merely trying to change our behavior (not our heart) to try to act lovingly will just lead to despair and to the ultimate defeat of love. It will end up making us angry and leave us feeling hopeless.6 6 Willard, Dallas. Renovation of the Heart: Putting on the Character of Christ, P33. Colorado Springs, CO, NavPress, 2002. Scribd, https://www.scribd.com/read/235005649/Renovation-of-the-Heart-Putting-On-the-Character-of-Christ. A Disciple’s Call | 11 And so, as we begin to close, I just want to say that the call to each one of us is to follow Jesus Christ. It’s very obvious, I know. Matthew 4:19 AMP And He said to them, “Follow Me [as My disciples, accepting Me as your Master and Teacher and walking the same path of life that I walk], and I will make you fishers of men.” Jesus is calling you and me with these exact same words right now, here, today that He said to the disciples then. And if you’re here and you’ve never accepted Jesus as Your Lord and Savior, that is available to you. If that’s you, don’t leave here today without talking to someone about your desire to become a disciple of Jesus, to receive His new life, His salvation, and His power for living. And if you’ve walked with Jesus for a long time (and I know that’s a lot of us), the call to follow Jesus, to be someone who learns at His feet and follows in His ways is still the same. And for those of us in that boat, I just want us to take a moment today to simply reaffirm our deep desire to follow after the Savior, to obey our Lord, to walk in the ways of the Master and to serve Him with all of our hearts. Because you see, whom God calls, He equips. That means that any time you come to Jesus and reaffirm your love for Him and Your intention to follow Him, He’ll show up and give you a fresh infilling of His Spirit and begin changing your heart. You just have to come to Him and ask. Pastor Autumn will come and exhort today; but before she does I want to pray. After I pray, I want us to sing the song ‘Majesty’ together again. This song is totally accurate when it talks about how God’s power and kingdom authority flows from the throne room of God down to us. That’s how a change of heart is possible! The ability and power to follow Jesus fully comes flowing down like rainwater into our hearts from God Himself as we worship Him and commit ourselves to Him! And as we worship Jesus and give ourselves to Him, all of the cares of this world fade away as we gaze into the light of His face. Let’s pray and worship. A Disciple’s Call | 12