Carlos Cuellar | Follow Me: The Cost of Following Jesus Christ

once again father please be with us as we open your word and look at what it means to follow you and what it costs help us to apply your word in our lives to do your will and trust you for all your honor and glory in jesus name amen i wanted to mention that the following um message uh came as a result of reading two books that i really enjoyed a lot uh the first one is 12 ordinary men by john macarthur sorry there went that and the second one is follow me by john by david platt they both kind of uh have a continuing message and a message that flows very naturally and so um here goes the mess the title of the message is follow me the cost of following jesus christ when jesus walked along the shore of the sea of galilee he called to four fishermen come follow me and i will make you fishers of men these four fishermen were peter andrew james and john and they immediately dropped their nets and followed him their lives and indeed the whole world were never the same all of the twelve apostles chosen by jesus were ordinary down to earth approachable characters that we can identify with their faults and weaknesses as well as their triumphs and endearing features are written down in some of the most fascinating accounts of the bible yet with all their faults and character flaws as remarkably ordinary as they were these men carried on a ministry after the ascension of jesus christ that left an indelible impact on the world their ministry continues to influence us even today god graciously empowered and used these men to inaugurate the spread of the gospel message and to turn the world upside down the propagation of the gospel and the founding of the church hinged entirely on twelve men whose most outstanding characteristic was their ordinariness they were very ordinary and jesus knew all their faults long before he chose them these few uneducated ordinary men whose backgrounds were in mundane tasks and earthly occupations had little more than 18 months training for the monumental task to which their lord assigned to them these simple and uneducated men are living proof that god's strength is made perfect in weakness first corinthians chapter 1 verses 24 to 29 states but to those who are called both jews and greeks we preach christ as the power of god and the wisdom of god for the foolishness of god is wiser than men and the weaknesses of god is stronger than men for observe your calling brothers among you not many of you were wise according to worldly standards not many of you were powerful not many were of noble birth but god but god chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise god chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong god chose what is low and despised in the world even things that are not to bring to nothing things that are so that no human should boast in the presence of god but christ knew what he was doing from his divine perspective the ultimate success of the strategy actually depended entirely on the holy spirit working in those men to accomplish his sovereign will it was a mission that could not fail or be derailed that's why it was a work for which god alone deserves praise and glory those men were merely instruments in his hands and they all paid a very high price for following the lord jesus christ here is their story and what all of us can learn from their lives simon peter he was the one that the lord appeared to him in the middle of the sea of galilee and called him to come to him he suddenly got out of the boat and started walking and did okay until he realized hey wait a minute this is water and i'm not a great swimmer and and he took his eyes off the lord and he started to sink that's the peter we're talking about this is the peter that was fishing all night and caught nothing and when he came to shore the lord said let's get in the boat and let's go out and fish and peter being a professional fisherman didn't was wondering what this was do you know what what you're saying i was fishing all night but he goes out and the lord says cast your net to the right side of the boat and he does so he obeys and all of a sudden there's so much fish that he had to call another boat to come help to bring all the fish in that's the peter we're talking about he was the peter that cut off the servant of the high priest's ear in the garden of gethsemane malthus he was he was impulsive he was very strong and willed that's the peter we're talking about and just hours later the same peter denied the lord three times and ran off all the records of the early church history indicate that peter was crucified the ancient church historian eusebius cites the testimony of clement an early church father who says that before peter was crucified he was forced to watch the crucifixion of his own wife as he watched her being led to her death clement says peter called to her by name saying remember the lord when it was peter's turn to die he pleaded to be crucified upside down because he wasn't worthy he wasn't worthy to die as his lord had died and thus he was nailed to a cross head downward peter's life could be summed up in the final words of his second epistle quote grow in grace and in the knowledge of our lord and savior jesus christ end of quote next we see andrew peter's brother he was the apostle that loved to introduce people to the lord he was originally a disciple of john the baptist and when he saw the lord being baptized he recognized that this was the messiah and he ran to tell his brother peter about it the bible does not record what happened to andrew after pentecost whatever role he played in the early church history he remained behind the scenes tradition says that he took the gospel north he was ultimately crucified in ikea which is in southern greece near athens one account says he led the wife of a provincial roman governor to christ and that infuriated her husband he demanded that his wife recant her devotion to christ jesus and she refused to so the governor had andrew lashed to an x-shaped cross in order to prolong his sufferings by most accounts he hung on that cross for two days preaching to anyone who happened to pass by to turn to christ for salvation he remained faithful and still committed to bringing people to christ right to the end next we have james the elder brother of john the sons of zebedee zebedee was a was a levi levite and he was important enough to employ many in his fishing business james was a man of intense fervor intensity and passion that's why he and his brother john were known as the sons of thunder the death of james is recorded in acts 12 verses 1 to 3. now about that time herod agrippa the first the king stretched out his hand to harass some from the church then he killed james the brother of john with a sword meaning that he was beheaded james is the only apostle whose death is actually recorded in scripture his passion now under the holy spirit's control had been so instrumental in the spread of the truth of the gospel that had aroused the wrath of herod jesus had previously reminded james john and their mother salome that suffering is the prelude to glory passion along with patience and long-suffering and being surrendered to the control of the holy spirit is a powerful instrument in the hands of god john the younger brother of james and the only apostle who was an eyewitness to christ's crucifixion was the disciple whom jesus loved he also wrote a good part of the new testament the gospel of john the first second and third letter of john and revelation john became the pastor of the church the apostle paul had founded in ephesus from there during a great persecution of the church under the roman emperor domitian john was banished to a prison community on the small island of patmos off the coast of modern day turkey he lived in a cave there and it was there that he received and recorded the apocalyptic visions described in the book of revelation throughout his latter years john never complained about his sufferings anywhere in his epistles or in the book of revelation john died by most accounts around 98 a.d and was the only apostle to die a natural death john had learned to look beyond his earthly sufferings in anticipation of the heavenly glory philip philip along with nathanael also known as bartholomew and thomas were fishermen from galilee philip is the first one whom jesus physically sought out and the first one to whom jesus actually said follow me philip's first response upon meeting jesus was to find his friend nathanael and tell him about the messiah showing us that friendships provide the most fertile soil for evangelism philip was apparently the apostolic administrator arranging meals and logistics his thoughts were pessimistic analytical pragmatic and materialistic and he could easily feel overwhelmed by the impossible such as when there was the feeding of the five thousand one of the supreme essentials of leadership is a sense of vision and this is especially true for anyone whose master is christ tradition tells us that philip was greatly used in the spread of the early church and was first was among the first of the apostles to suffer martyrdom by most accounts he was put to death by stoning at heliopolis which was east of ephesus in the present western or present-day western turkey he died eight years after the martyrdom of james before his death multitudes came to christ under his faithful preaching nathanael also known as bartholomew came from a small town of cana in galilee the place where jesus performed his first miracle turning water into wine being human he had certain prejudices can anything good come out of nazareth when they told him about christ but cana wasn't such a prestigious town either both canaan and nazareth were rough towns where culture was largely unrefined and uneducated here again we see that god takes pleasure in using the common weak and lowly things of this world to confound the wise and powerful jesus's first words upon seeing nathanael were a powerful commendation of nathaniel's character jesus said behold an israelite indeed in whom there is no deceit john 1 47 nathanael was no hypocrite his love for god and his desire to see the messiah messiah were genuine his heart was sincere and without guile meaning he was not conniving but trustworthy and truthful early church records suggest that he ministered in persia which is modern day iran and india and took the gospel as far as armenia there is no reliable record of how he died one tradition says he was tied up in a sack and cast into the sea another tradition says he was crucified but by all accounts he was martyred like all the apostles except john nathanael was faithful from beginning to the end next we have matthew also known as levi he was a tax collector or publican when jesus called him while he sat in his tax booth jesus said to him follow me and leaving everything he rose and followed him that's found in luke chapter 5 verses 27-32 tax collectors like matthew were intensely hated considered by jews to be traitors and the most despicable people in israel before jesus called him that math that matthew could be part of the same company of 12 apostles is a testimony to the life-changing power and grace of christ he is an example of what we call irresistible grace when jesus calls you come you drop everything and you come when matthew was called to follow jesus he understood in that command of a promise of forgiveness of his sin his heart had long hungered for such forgiveness and that is why he rose without hesitation and devoted the rest of his life to following christ we know that matthew wrote his gospel with a jewish audience in mind and was primarily concerned with presenting jesus as the long-promised messiah and king of the jews tradition says he ministered to the jews both in israel and abroad for many years before being martyred for his faith there is no reliable record of how he was put to death but the earliest traditions indicate that he was burned at the stake thus this man who walked away from a lucrative career without ever giving it a second thought remained willing to give his all for christ to the very end thomas thomas was a somewhat negative person he was an anxious person who worried and was a pessimist and a doubter despite this thomas was devoted to christ and he he may have been the equal of john in this regard but in his doubts he refused to believe in the resurrection of christ until he personally touched and felt the wounds of christ after finally getting the opportunity to see and touch his lord doubting thomas made what was probably the greatest statement ever to come from the lips of the apostles my lord and my god and in that moment he was transformed into a great evangelist here there is considerable amount of ancient testimony that suggests thomas carried the gospel as far as india the strongest traditions say he was martyred for his faith by being run through with a spear the one thing all these men except judas had in common was a willingness to acknowledge their own sinfulness and to look for to christ for grace jesus met them with grace mercy and forgiveness and transformed their lives into lives that would glorify him jesus does that for all who truly repent of their sins and put their trust their full trust in him james son of alphys was not the kind of person who stands out he was utterly obscure and lacked in prominence this is james the less not the other james that was the brother of john there is some evidence that james took the gospel to syria and persia accounts of his death differ some say he was stoned others say he was beaten to death and still others say he was crucified in no case the scripture gives us a full biography because the emphasis keeps the focus on christ and the power of his words simon the zealot perhaps had a combative fierce and zealous temperament he was at one time a member of the political party known as the zealots a group of well-known and widely feared outlaws who hated the romans the roman occupation of israel and tax collectors these outlaws advanced their nationalistic agenda primarily through terrorism a sabotage assassination and other various acts of violence one faction of the zealots was known as the sikari literally dagger men because of their small curved blades which they concealed beneath their robes which they used to murder their political opponents the zealots were hoping for a messiah who would lead them in overthrowing the hated romans they were expecting a military leader this blind hatred of rome ultimately provoked the complete destruction of jerusalem in 70 a.d by the general titus several early sources say that after the destruction of jerusalem simon took the gospel north and preached in the british isles like so many others simon simply disappears from the biblical record there is no reliable record of what happened to him but by all accounts he was killed for preaching the gospel this man who was once willing to kill and be killed for a political agenda found a more fruitful cause for which to give his life spreading the good news of salvation abroad his story is yet another powerful testimony to the life-changing power and grace of christ judas son of james whose surname was thaddeus meaning breast child or mama's boy both names suggest he had a tender child hide like heart most of the early tradition regarding thaddeus suggests that a few years after pentecost he took the gospel northeast to edessa a royal city in mesopotamia that's iraq where he healed abgar the king of edessa the the traditional apostolic symbol of judas thaddeus is a club because tradition says he was clubbed to death for his faith he was faithful to the end and further proves how god uses perfectly ordinary people in remarkable ways and then we finally come to judas iscariot judas ended up being the most notorious and universally scorned of all the disciples a traitor of the worst kind he is the most colossal failure in all of human history he committed the most horrible heinous act of any individual ever judas betrayed the perfect sinless holy son of god for a handful of money his dark story is a poignant example of the depths to which the human heart is capable of sinking he spent nearly three years with christ think about that he spent nearly three years with christ but for all that time his heart was growing only harder and more hateful judah stands as a warning about the evil potential of spiritual carelessness squandered opportunity sinful lusts and hardness of heart here was a man who drew as close to the savior as it is humanly possible to be he enjoyed every privilege christ afforded he was intimately familiar with everything that jesus taught yet he remained in unbelief died a gruesome death and went to a hopeless eternity the tragic life of judas iscariot reminds us that it is possible to be near christ and associate with him closely but superficially and yet become utterly hardened in sin it was obvious that that judas was not attracted or devoted to christ on a spiritual level he only followed jesus out of a desire for selfish gain worldly ambition avarice and greed he was not interested in the kingdom for salvation's sake or for christ's sake he was interested only in what he could get out of it wealth power and prestige were what fueled his ambitions his role of betrayal was ordained before the foundation of the world and even prophesied in the old testament psalm 41 9 states even my own familiar friend in whom i trusted who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me zechariah chapter 11 verses 12 and 13 states they wait out for my wages thirty pieces of silver and the lord said to me quote throw it to the potter that princely price they set on me so i took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the lord for the potter end of quote judas iscariot's ultimate failure is a refusal to humble himself repent believe in and follow christ no matter what the cost i also want to point out two other new testament saints that followed christ no matter what the cost first is stephen who in acts chapter 6 verse 5 was chosen as a deacon to help in the serving of food to the widows of the hellenistic jews not only did he model the grace and mercy of the lord by serving but he quickly became a bold evangelist that's acts chapter 6 verses 8 to 15. in verse 8 stephen preaches and performs many signs and wonders but after stirring up some of the people in verse 11 he is falsely accused of blasphemy a serious charge that is punishable by death stephen is arrested and brought before the council where in acts 7 he addresses them with a history from abraham moses david and solomon even indicting the jewish leaders of rejecting god just as their ancestors had done in the old testament those ancestors persecuted and killed god's prophets for speaking the truth as the leaders become more enraged stephen being full of the holy spirit gazed intently into heaven and saw the glory of god and jesus standing at the right hand of god and stephen said quote behold i see the heavens opened up and the son of man standing at the right hand of god the leaders rushed him drove stephen out of the city and stoned him stephen is yet another example of an another ordinary person being used mightily by god to speak the truth no matter what the consequences would be imagine jesus stood up to receive stephen into eternal glory that is not seen anywhere else in scripture jesus is usually sitting at the right hand of god but here he stands up to receive stephen it states in acts chapter 7 verse 58 that the people taking part in the stoning of stephen quote laid aside their robes at the feet of a young man named saul saul in his words in his own words quote had put confidence in the flesh being circumcised on the eighth day of the nation of israel the tribe of benjamin a hebrew of hebrews as to the law of pharisee as to zeal a persecutor of the church as in the righteousness which is in the law found blameless that's in philippians 3 4-6 acts chapter 8 verses 1-3 further talks about saul quote ravaging the church entering house after house and dragging off men and women and he would put them in prison to await punishment in acts 9 1-2 we see saul going to the high priest asking for letters from him to the synagogues at damascus in order to find christians and take them bound back to jerusalem for their punishment on that road to damascus the lord caused saul to fall off his horse and we see a series of events that led quickly to the conversion of paul from being a zealous persecutor of the church to becoming the premier evangelist to jews and gentiles alike he made four great missionary journeys taking the good news of salvation from israel to modern day turkey macedonia all over greece and eventually to rome itself of course being a faithful follower of christ and bold proclaimer of the gospel paul faced fierce opposition constant threats and intense persecution in second corinthians 11 23-33 paul details some of his trials and tribulations quote are they servants of christ i speak as if insane i more so in far more labors and far more imprisonments beaten times without number often in danger of death five times i received from the jews 39 lashes three times i was beaten with rods once i was stoned three times i was shipwrecked a night and day i have spent in the deep i have spent i have been on frequent journeys and dangers from rivers dangers from robbers dangers from my countrymen dangers from gentiles dangers in the cities danger in the wilderness dangers on the sea dangerous among false brethren i have been in labor and hardship through many sleepless nights in hunger and thirst often without food in cold and exposure apart from such external things there was the daily pressure on me of concern for all the churches who is weak without my being weak who is led into sin without my intense concern if i have to boast i will boast of what pertains to my weaknesses the lord and father of the lord jesus christ he who is blessed forever knows that i'm not lying in damascus the ethnic under art are aridas the king was guarding the city in order to seize me and i was let down in a basket through a window in the wall and so escaped his hands constantly on the run constantly in danger from time of from the time of his conversion paul became fully aware of the cost of following christ he was equally aware of the things he lost for the sake of obeying the lord in philippians 3 verses 7 to 11 paul states quote but whatever things were gained to me those things i have counted as loss for the sake of christ more than that i count all things to be lost in view of the surpassing value of knowing jesus christ my lord for whom i have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish so that i may gain christ and be found in him not having a righteousness of my own derived from the law but that which is through faith in christ the righteousness which comes from god on the basis of faith that i may know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings being conformed to his death in order that i may attain the resurrection from the dead paul had his priorities in line of those of his lord and had his hope firmly in being with christ for all eternity this is a quote for our citizenship is in heaven from which we also eagerly await for a savior the lord jesus christ that's what he wrote in philippians 3 20. paul was eventually taken a prisoner to rome where he continued writing his last letters while chained in prison in his last inspire inspired letter to timothy his son in the faith paul wrote quote for i am already being poured out as a drink offering and the time of my departure has come i have fought the good fight i have finished the race i have kept the faith in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness with the lord the righteous judge will award to me on that day and not only to me but to all who have loved his appearing that comes from ii timothy chapter 4 verses 6 to 8. according to tradition paul was not released from the second roman imprisonment but suffered the martyrdom he had foreseen due to the fact that he was a roman citizen paul was beheaded instead of being crucified paul's life as an apostle to the gentiles illustrates what it means to faithfully follow christ and now we switch gears to follow me what did jesus really mean when he said follow me what is the call what does it cost and what is a life of following jesus entail these questions deserve after all careful consideration ultimately the call to follow jesus is a call to die to die to ourselves and to the things of this world luke 9 23 states quote if anyone would come after me this lord speaking if anyone would come after me let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me luke 14 33 states quote so therefore any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple end of quote but at the same time jesus's call is a call to live to experience unbridled joy as we follow jesus wherever he leads us in this world but what does it mean for us to follow jesus today first it means dealing with our most fundamental problem before god our problem as people is not simply that we have made some bad decisions in our lives our problem is not that we've just messed up in this world our problem is that we are all at the very core of our being rebels against god this rebellion is what the bible calls sin and it keeps us from god just as when adam and eve sinned they were taken apart from god they were banished from the garden they couldn't be in the same presence as a holy god but god again those beautiful words but god sent jesus to live the life we could not live that is a life without sin and to die the death that we as sinners deserve to die we have already seen that even one sin before an infinitely holy and eternal god warns infinite and eternal punishment and this is why jesus came this is why jesus came to endure the holy wrath of god that we deserved as sinners second corinthians chapter 5 verse 21 states god made him who knew no sin to be sin for us that we might become the righteousness of god in him romans 5 6-8 states while we were yet weak in due time christ died for the ungodly rarely for a righteous man will one die yet perhaps for a good man some would even dare to die but god demonstrates his own love towards us that while we were yet sinners christ died for us almost 700 years before the birth of our savior the old testament prophet isaiah wrote quote but he was wounded for our transgressions he was bruised for our iniquities the chastisement of our peace was upon him and by his stripes we are healed all of us like sheep have gone astray each one of us has turned to his own way but the lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all he took our sin and took it to the cross he nailed our sins to that cross that's isaiah 53 4-5 the startling reality of scripture is clear we are sinners in the words just stated by isaiah we are all like sheep having gone astray paul says in romans 3 23 all have sinned and fall short of the glory of god all means all meanwhile god is holy possessing righteous wrath toward sin and sinners alike yet god is also merciful possessing holy love towards sinners so how can god show both righteous wrath and holy love toward sinners at the same time that's a very good question this is the climactic question of the bible and the answer is the cross of christ at the cross of christ god shows the full expression of both his wrath and his love as jesus is stricken smitten afflicted wounded crushed and chastised for the sake of all of us sinners does god hate sinners absolutely look at the cross jesus is enduring the punishment that was meant for us and to back that up i looked up psalm 5 4-5 for you are not a god who delights in wickedness evil may not dwell with you the boastful shall not stand before your eyes you hate all evildoers psalm 11 5 states the lord tests the righteous but his soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence malachi 1 verses 2 and 3 state this stark statement yet i have loved jacob but esau i have hated does the lord does the does god love sinners absolutely on the other hand look at the cross jesus is saving us from the punishment we justly deserved this is exactly what jesus came to do the bible announces his coming saying quote he will save his people from their sins end of quote when john the baptist first sees jesus john shouts look the lamb of god who takes away the sin of the world imagery of god washing away his people's sin fills the scriptures though your sins are like scarlet god says in isaiah 1 18 they shall be white as snow in psalm 51 david prays wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin this is the same king david that took somebody else's wife and then had the guy killed in battle so that he would not find out that his wife was already pregnant and yet he asked for forgiveness he repents of a terrible sin and the lord forgave him we have to come in repentance and the lord will forgive titus ver uh chapter 3 verses 3 to 7 states when the kindness and love of god our savior appeared he saved us not because of righteous things we had done but because of his mercy he saved us through the washing of rebirth you have to be born again like he told nathanael you have to be born you have to you have to be born again the clear message of the bible is that there is nothing we can do there is nothing we can do to make our hearts clean before a holy god christ did it on the cross and we didn't deserve it but he did it because he loved us so much this is why the bible teaches that faith alone in christ alone is the only way of salvation from sin faith is the anti-work it's the realization that there's nothing nothing you and i can do to but to put trust in what has been done for you and i in the life death and resurrection of our savior jesus christ amen faith is a realization that god's pleasure in you will never be based upon your performance for him instead god's pleasure in you will always be based upon christ's performance for you amen so how does a person become a follower of jesus how does this salvation become a reality in someone's life the very first words out of jesus mouth and his ministry is clear repent that was the first words that came out of jesus mouth it's the same word that john the baptist proclaims in preparation for jesus's coming in the book of acts in response to the questions by the crowds what shall we do peter looks them straight in the eyes and says repent even in the old testament psalm 51 is king david's psalm of repentance for the heinous crimes he had committed repentance is a rich biblical term that signifies an elemental transformation in somebody's mind heart and life when people repent they turn from walking in one direction to running in the opposite direction from that point forward they think differently believe differently feel differently love differently and live differently when jesus said repent he was speaking to people who were rebelling against god in their sin and relying on themselves for salvation jesus's predominantly jewish audience believed that their family heritage social status knowledge of specific rules and obedience to certain regulations were sufficient to make them right before god jesus's call to repentance then was a summons for them to renounce sin and all dependence on self for salvation only by turning from their sin and themselves and toward jesus could they be saved in john chapter 14 verse 6 jesus boldly states i am the way the truth and the life no one comes to the father except through me in acts 4 12 peter tells his fellow jews there is no salvation in any other for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved when you come to jesus in repentance he not only forgives you of your sin but he also fills you with his spirit in ezekiel 36 verses 26 to 27 god promised his people i will give you a new heart a new spirit i will put within you and i will take away the heart of stone out of your flesh and i will give you a heart of flesh i will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes and you will keep my judgments and do them and this is the heart of jesus is called to follow him when you become a christian when you follow jesus you die to everything you were before including the sin that was keeping you from god and jesus becomes your life to quote paul in galatians 2 20 i have been crucified with christ it is no longer i who live but christ who lives in me and the life i now live in the flesh i live by faith in the son of god who loved me and gave himself for me this is the stunning message of christianity jesus died for you so that he that so that he might live in you jesus doesn't merely improve your old nature he imparts to you an entirely new nature one that is completely united with his everything that belongs to him becomes yours his love becomes your love his joy becomes your joy his mind becomes your mind his desires become your desires his will becomes your will his purpose becomes your purpose his power becomes your power the christian life thus becomes nothing less than the outliving of the indwelling christ this is the essence of what it means to be a christian a follower of christ so what is the cost of following christ letting go of sin and dying to ourselves is costly when jesus approached those four fishermen by the sea he beckoned them to leave behind their professions possessions dreams ambitions family friends safety and security he bid them to abandon everything in matthew 16 24 jesus states if anyone is going to follow me he must deny himself in a world where everything revolves around self protect yourself promote yourself preserve yourself entertain yourself comfort yourself take care of yourself take care of number one jesus said die to self die to self and that's exactly what happened as i have previously pointed out these four fishermen along with the rest of the apostles including paul stephen and many of the early christians paid a very high price for following jesus yet they believed following jesus was worth the cost in jesus these men found someone worth losing everything for in christ they encountered a love that surpassed comprehension a satisfaction that superseded circumstances and a purpose that transcended every other possible pursuit in this world they eagerly willingly and gladly lost their lives in order to know follow obey and proclaim him what a difference two thousand years later makes many have grown cold and have fallen away from their first love many have fallen victim to the world and its enticements churches churches are filled with people who seem content to have casual association with christ and give nominal adherence to christianity yeah everybody's a christian i've seen things i've seen posts on on facebook everybody goes to heaven all dogs go to heaven all soldiers go to heaven everybody's going to heaven because they don't know their scriptures paul in the second letter to timothy chapter 3 gave us this dire and sobering warning know this in the last day and the last days perilous times will come men will become lovers of themselves lovers of money boastful proud blasphemers disobedient to parents unthankful unholy without natural affection truth breakers slanderers unrestrained fierce despisers of those who are good traitors reckless conceited lovers of pleasures more than lovers of god having the form of godliness but denying its power that's what we have today in today's churches the american church is a sad place they have the form of godliness but they deny its power yep god save us all god have mercy on us all the apostle john also warns us in his first letter chapter 2 verses 15 to 17 do not love the world or the things in the world if anyone loves the world the love of the father is not in him for all that is in the world the lust of the flesh the lust of the eyes and the pride of life is not of the father but is of the world the world and its desires are passing away they're all passing away we're just here we're just a vaper we're just here for a short time some shorter than others but the one who does the will of god lives forever following christ is difficult and full of challenges he beckons us down a hard road where we will encounter pain pressure tribulation and persecution the way of jesus is hard to follow and it is hated by many jesus said they hated me they're going to hate you jesus and his word confronts and often contradicts the deeply held assumptions beliefs convictions of our lives our families our friends and our culture but always remember that to believe in and follow jesus is to experience an eternal pleasure that far outweighs and outlasts the temporal pleasures of this world in romans chapter 8 verse 18 paul encourages us with these words for i consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed to us those who choose to follow jesus gladly leave behind the trinkets this world offers because they have found surpassing treasure in christ in matthew chapter 6 verses 19 to 21 which is part of the uh great sermon of the lord the sermon on the mount the apostle states do not store up for yourselves is christ speaking do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal but shore up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor true or rust destroy and where thieves do not break in or steal for where your treasure is there your heart will be also and this is easy to find out where do you spend your time where do you spend your money that will tell you who your god is and where your treasure is think about that because that's what the lord is saying here to be a follower of christ also means to be part of a body of believers as men and women die to themselves and live in christ god brings them together as brothers and sisters in a family of faith this community this community of christians worships with one another regularly serves one another selflessly guards one another graciously and cares for one another compassionately in such a community we find ourselves living to see each other stand firm in the lord this reality is central to understanding the beauty of biblical christ-centered community in the church followers of jesus belong to one another and care for one another in such a way that they take responsibility for one another's good in acts 242 the early church observed four activities they continued steadfastly in the apostles teaching and fellowship and the breaking of the bread which we had this morning and in prayers being a member of a church means realizing that we are responsible to use our spiritual gifts and every one of us has at least one that the lord has given us and you can find out by just asking people what do you think what do you think is my gift and helping our brothers and sisters to grow as followers of christ in ephesians 4 11 and 12 paul states he gave to some as apostles prophets evangelists pastors and teachers for the equipping of the saints for the work of service and for the building up of the body of christ we desperately need each other in the daily fight to faithfully follow christ in a hostile world that's full of sin in addition believers devote themselves to the church because they desire god's glory in the world lastly the followers of jesus don't just love and serve each other and other christians in the church they also sacrificially lead people in their communities and all around the world to experience new life in christ from the very beginning jesus summoned his apostles to an all-consuming mission of spreading the good news of salvation in the last chapter of the book of matthew chapter 28 verse 18 to 20 jesus issues the great commission it's the great command to all his elect people all authority in heaven and on earth have been given to me go therefore make disciples of all nations make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the father and of the son and the holy spirit teaching them to observe all that i have commanded you and behold i am with you always to the end of the age he's with us today and to the end he's always been with us he's god he's everywhere as jesus transformed the minds of his disciples they became convicted that people needed to hear the gospel they loved people enough to share the gospel with them even though it cost them everything they had jesus had transformed their very purpose for living every disciple was sacrificially committed to making disciples and the trajectory of their lives was never the same so we need to be praying each and every day that the lord lead us to share the good news of salvation with family friends neighbors co-workers fellow students and anyone we come across daily even on a plane sitting next to us in closing number one follow christ means dying to self and repenting of our sins secondly following christ is not easy and comes at a great cost thirdly we need to be an active part of the local body of believers and be able to support and serve our fellow christians fourthly we must study the scriptures on a daily basis so that we clearly understand what the good news of salvation is and be able to defend it fifthly we need to be prepared to share the gospel with whoever the lord brings in our path philippians 1 21 paul states for me to live is christ and to die is gain i want to leave you with these uh beautiful quotes that are just timely charles thomas stud as tudd an english missionary to china india and africa said only one life it will soon be passed only what's done for christ will last jim elliott and this is not too long ago jim elliot an american missionary and one of five people killed in an attempt to evangelize the hurani people of ecuador famously said before he died on john and this was on january 8 1956 he is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain to gain that which he cannot lose james 1 12 states blessed is a man who remains steadfast under trial for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life which god has promised to those who love him let's pray thank you lord for teaching us about the ordinary men you chose to help us understand what it means to believe in you trust you and follow you at any cost give us a passion for your word your holiness and your righteousness and your work here on earth in jesus name we pray amen

Channel: Grace Community Church Laredo

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Id: oXmC5zWnXow

Length: 56min 26sec (3386 seconds)

Published: Sun Jul 04 2021