Kingdom Disciples Episode 3

welcome to session three of our study kingdom disciples heavens representatives on earth in this session we're going to study the commitment of discipleship because there's a lot of confusion concerning the requirements for salvation to go to heaven and the requirements for discipleship to bring heaven to earth while the two are connected they're not identical going to heaven being converted is faith alone in Christ alone and his promise of eternal life to all those who trust him forward but the commitment of discipleship to deny yourself and take up your cross and follow him is the requirement God makes to bring heaven down to history to your light experience and when you understand why God asks for that commitment and what the benefits are of that commitment in spite of the challenges with that commitment I think you'll be motivated to make that commitment especially when you discover how your confession of Christ will make all the difference in the world in schools you can take courses for credit credit means that it's been recognized you've taken the course you've done the work and you get the grade and that's how we progress through our educational system but it is also possible in college to audit courses now a person who audits of course what they're saying is I want the information without the requirements I don't want to take any tests I don't want to do any homework I don't want to have to read any books but I like the subject matter and therefore I want to get the information without any of the requirements of the responsibility a lot of Christians on at church they want the information so they'll go listen to the sermons on my radio broadcast they want the data but without the requirement they want the information but without the cost in order to get the grade and recognition for their involvement and their investment when you come to Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins and the gift of eternal life what we typically refer to as salvation being born again being converted the Bible makes it clear that that is free we're justified freely by His grace Romans 3 says by grace that you say through faith not of your works it is the gift of God - eight and nine so that no man can boast salvation is free and to put something in front of it or to require something after it in order to be converted is to confuse the Gospel message a person is saved for eternity by faith alone in Christ alone and this promise to give eternal life to all who trust in him alone for it it's free but when the Bible talks about discipleship it talks about a cost it talks about a price to be paid you can't audit being a disciple that incurs responsibility that incurs your involvement you're saved because of what Christ did but you're a disciple because you cooperate with Christ by what you do you're saved by faith apart from works Paul makes that clear in Romans 4 but you become a disciple by a faith that does work James - many people get confused about that they reject that works is dead and they think they're talking about becoming a Christian James says my brother he's talking to people already saved but James is saying is that faith without that which should accompany it that is the work will keep your faith dormant or dead your faith won't work your Christianity won't work for you in Chapter one of James verses 19 to 21 he says my beloved brethren because he's talking to Christians receive the word implanted which is able to save your soul but if you're already a brother and you're already saved he's not tell about going to heaven he says the word is all in you the word save needs to be delivered when you're not saved delivered from eternal separation from God but when you are saved it means God delivering you in history and so faith without works is dead refers to your discipleship not to your eternal salvation and that's where a lot of people confuse passages that that'll really talk about discipleship and then make it talk about salvation so you're confused about what the gospel is when you talk to an unbeliever and you make requirements that the gospel does not make that's an important distinction and understanding kingdom disciples because if you had to do all of these things that God requires for you to be a disciple then you could never know you were saved at the moment you got saved because you haven't had time you have to do all these things okay so the first thing is to be clear that discipleship while connected to conversion being born-again in salvation has a distinction one is free one has a cost to it he talks about this cost this commitment if you will in Luke 14 Jesus says in verse 26 these words if anyone comes to me and does not hate his father or mother wife children brothers and sisters yay even his own life he cannot be my disciple whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple he's not saying they can't get saved we don't tell non-christians you gotta hate your mother brother father brother sister hate your own life to get saved to go to heaven no he's talking about discipleship cannot be my disciple because the Siple ship requires a commitment when you go into the Army Navy Marines Air Force you go in for free but once you in it requires a commitment there's no price to get in but there is a price to fully be prepared for what you've gotten into so it is with discipleship and commitment God now saves you and leaves you on earth doesn't take you to heaven the moment you converted because you are now his official representative on earth like an ambassador is a representative in another land on behalf of our nation to represent the authority of the kingdom of heaven amidst the chaos and confusion of men and so he says going back to the concept of first there must be a decision to be made or you can't be part of this elite group called disciples you could be a citizen of heaven but not a representative official of heaven because you're not willing to be fully committed your love for Jesus Christ and commitment to him he says must transcend your commitment and love for every other relationship in your life he names them father mother wife children brothers sisters that's your whole family we explained I hadn't made a commitment to family over God and the price had to be paid for the consequences of sin when he says you aren't you hate them when God commands people to love you to love their children and love their mates what does he mean he means the gap between love for him and love for them will often feel like hate when you have to choose him over them there's many a Christian who has been rejected by family because of their faith now we don't feel that as much in America where there's been a Christian veneer over the culture but you go to some cultures and you will see people being put out of homes you go to some states and you'll find people getting physically abused and it even costing them their life when they go public for Jesus Christ as long as they're in their secret closet and nobody knows that they're saved with them but once their decisions in that song by emotions he's talking about decisions because biblical love is a decision first whether or not sits accompany by an emotion so he says your decisions must trump the decisions of other people in your life when they conflict with them that's why Jesus says in Matthew 10 that he brought a sword because he knew that when you choose him over other people particularly people you care about it can split things it can split things so being a disciple is no small thing but it comes with whopping reward because now you have access to authority that you did not previously have even though you are a believer he says your decisions must trump your relationships when they contradict me so what do you need to do bro first of all you said you come to him you come there so you want to be saved you want to go to heaven but now you at the commitment and the cost level first of all your decisions related to your human relationships then he says you must carry a cross Luke 9:23 says you must carry your cross daily so obviously you can't physically die daily so he's not talking about physical death you remember when Jesus Christ was on his way to Calvary he carried the crossbar of his cross they were proclaiming him to be guilty of a crime against Caesar declaring he was a king treason that's why Pilate had written there the accusation King of the Jews he's declaring himself to be his own king he's carrying his cross that carrying of the cross led to a rejection by the Jewish people Palm Sunday they're saying Hosanna next Friday they're saying crucify you between Palm Sunday and next Friday was carrying a cross that public display shifted sentiment about it along with the influence of the leaders of that day if you want to be a disciple a kingdom disciple with authority being transferred to you you must be willing to carry it says your own cross now not his cross only he could carry his cross paying for the sins of the whole world but your cross now what is your cross your cross as a kingdom disciple is the price tag that comes with your public identification with him once you publicly identify with him you're no longer a secret agent Christian you're no longer a spiritual CIA representative you're no longer a covert operative everybody else is coming out the closet you decide to come out to you now become a public representative that will produce a reaction and all of it is not positive the more secular our culture becomes the more postmodern it becomes the more Christianity as it is rejected is assaulted is dismissed you hear it in the media it's ridiculed prayer is being put out pushed to the side when you take your stand as a representative Jesus Christ taking it appropriately taking it lovingly but taking it clearly you now are carrying a cross cuz you've now been identified with Jesus Christ that starts with the baptism but now you are known as a Christian so the question of a disciple is on your job if you were accused of being a visible verbal follower of Christ would you be found innocent of all charges or would they say you were guilty because it is clear you're a Christian they don't have to guess they don't have to debate you've made it clear that your stand is with Jesus Christ to carry a cross is to carry the identification of who you are they asked me to come pray at the city hall meeting some years ago by the mayor to open up the council meeting so I told him that I'd be glad to come and pray then I got a letter back they said when you play pray when you pray please don't mention Jesus Christ please don't mention Jesus Christ cuz we have people of different religious backgrounds and we don't want to offend anybody keep it generic okay well I went down there and they introduced me I said let us pray that's that Heavenly Father the councilman's invited me to pray to you today I can only assume that they want me to communicate and reach you with this prayer and you have already declared that there is only one mediator between God and man and that is the man Christ Jesus so in order for me to reach you with what they've asked me to do I come to you in his name first of all I thank you for giving the City Council life because without life they could not represent us and according to your word everything that was created was created by Christ Jesus so I thank Jesus Christ for them being able to be here today I thank you for creating government because government was created by you according to what you told the Apostle Paul who was converted by Jesus on the Damascus Road if there are any if there's anyone here who does not know your son the Lord Jesus Christ I pray that you would make the good news of the gospel of forgiveness of sins clear to them in Jesus name Amen so the statement is clear if you don't want to hear by Jesus don't invite me to be a kingdom disciple means that you wisely lovingly and appropriately make it clear that you are a Christian and a Christian is not a person who merely believes in God devil believes in God I mean you know people who hate Jesus believe in God know all authority is given to him in heaven and on earth it is your willingness to be connected with Jesus that makes you a disciple and every day you put on this crossbar at home at work in community and you make it inextricably clear appropriately I am a disciple of Jesus Christ because sometimes you need disciple to even explain Christian because everybody thinks they're Christian and that has become a generic term a visible verbal follower of Christ and a kingdom disciple at that that is who is progressively learning to live all of life under the lordship of Jesus Christ now what this means is that there must be willing Mis on your part in mind to publicly confess him we're all familiar with Romans 10:9 and 10 he says if you will confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead you'll be saved that that scripture about salvation in Romans that we regularly use well let me give you a thought that may be a little different than you've had about that verse according to that verse you must do two things to be safe confess with your mouth and believe in your heart the problem is when the Bible tells you what you must do to be saved they tell you must do one thing to be saved Paul told the Philippian jailer and acts 16 believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved he never mentions confess all through the book of John these things are written that you might believe that he is the son of God that you might have life in his name in chapter 20 of Saint John in other words confession is not made a condition of salvation only faith in Jesus Christ is made a condition of being born again being saved I'd like to suggest to you that when Paul says in Romans 10:9 about kaberi he's not talking about how to get to heaven the word saved means to be delivered the Bible uses the word saved in three different tenses salvation passed from the penalty of sin being born again converted salvation future from the presence of sin when we get to heaven glorification but the Bible regularly uses saved from the power of sin sanctification like James chapter 1 receive the word implanted which is able to save your soul even though you're already believers you're already my beloved brethren I'd like to suggest that confession is related to your deliverance in history not your deliverance in eternity that's why the following verse says when you believe in your heart you receive righteousness just by believing you're already saved he goes on in Romans 10:9 and 10 says but with the mouth confession with your public declaration and identification deliverance comes so that whoever going down to verse 13 called on the name of the Lord will be saved or delivered but when you look at the phrase throughout the new test calling on the name of the Lord that's not sin is calling on the name of the Lord those are Christians calling on the name of the Lord they're calling for God to intervene in a situation on earth so what are you saying is if you will identify with me not not God generic not even the Holy Spirit but me the second member of the Trinity because I will be with you always even until the end of the earth in fact he writes the word I twice in Matthew 28 I even I it's called the ego Eimi construction it's the intensification of I I the second member of the Trinity because I've been the one giving all the authority I will be with you always and when you publicly identify with me then you are now a kingdom representative officially I am now comfortable with your representative me because you don't forget me when it's convenient to do so you don't forget me when you leave Church you are identified with me wherever you go as a result I will be your deliverer in history I will save or rescue now that happens in a lot of different ways sometimes he rescues us from things sometimes he rescues us out of things sometimes he changes us in things but all of those are forms of rescue that God brings about because you are not only a Christian going to heaven you're a Kingdom disciple who has heaven joining you on earth and if people understood that they get a greater power and presence or experience of Jesus they have all of Jesus but the experience of Jesus operating we they become a kingdom disciple then they will experience God at a whole nother level a great illustration of this is Matthew 16 in Matthew chapter 16 Peter has been congratulated by Jesus because he said thou art the Christ the Son of the Living God he has X he has demonstrated faith in Jesus but then Jesus is explaining in verse 21 oh you've got to go to Jerusalem how he's got to suffer and how he's got to die and rise on the third day he's explaining that but my friend Peter shows up Peter what peppermint socks the way he loved to keep his foot in his mouth and on this occasion Peter took Jesus aside he said you come in come in I got to talk to you because you are confused and begin to rebuke him so Peter is telling Jesus Jesus is wrong and he's telling in strong language he rebukes him you're gonna be saying that you ought to be talking like that not only does he rebuked Jesus he rebukes Jesus in the name of God he says God forbid it god I'm rebuke in you in God's name like rebuking somebody else in Jesus name I'm rebuking you and your daddy's knee this shall never happened to you but you just said is wrong they're calling Jesus a liar or uninformed probably not a good thing he says you're totally wrong Jesus says to Peter who's already saved get behind me devil get behind me Satan you are a stumbling block a stumbling block is something that gets in the way you are a stumbling block to me for you are not setting your mind on God's interest but man's you know the thing about this is Peter meant well Peter was trying to help Jesus out while working for the devil in that Noah and when Peter was working for the devil not knowing he was working for the devil because his mind disagreed with Jesus you set your mind or man's thinking so watch this when you think like man that agrees with Jesus you just joined the devil so it isn't just that you disagreeing with other folk you just you just now assisted Hell in blocking heaven and how many times do we and do Christians get in God's Way stumbling block meaning well but disagreeing with God he says your mind is in the wrong place you are a stumbling block and right after that guess what he says verse 24 if anyone wishes to come after me he must deny himself take up his cross and follow me the same commitment to discipleship so what am I saying I'm saying if you want to see more of heaven in history once you become converted you must now go public lovingly or appropriately and commit all of you your relationships your career your world we'll talk more about this and our following sessions to come but you must go all the way in fully being committed to Jesus Christ on all levels so that when that commitment comes you will see what it's like to be all-in you know if you are the kind of football fan that I am or that you know other people to be you know what it looks like when a football fan is all-in in every football game there's only 17 minutes of contact in other words actual hitting there's only 17 minutes that 17 minutes of contact is part of a one-hour game every football game is 1 hour in length but it's only 17 minutes in contact but that 1 hour game is part of a three-hour experience if you watch football you're gonna be sitting there for 3 hours to watch one hour to see 17 minutes if you go to the game that's two more hours fighting through traffic parking walking to the stadium so you will have spent five hours to sit for three hours to see one hour to watch seventy minutes but then you got to go home that's a couple more hours working through the parking lot going through the traffic to get back home so now you spent seven hours to sit for three hours to look at one hour in order to see 17 minutes of above but not only will you get old folk be turning on NFL Network SportsCenter ESPN to watch clips of what they just spent seven hours to see 17 minutes but the next day they gonna talk about what happened at the game yesterday they gonna review the stats fantasy football and even talk about what's coming up next week now if you can spend all of that time and even pay your tithes to get in it if you could spend all of our time for 17 minutes of contact because you believe your team is worthy of that commitment I just want to ask what is your team done for you lately but for the king of kings and Lord of lords substitute for our sins risen from the dead I'm saying to you if you ever grab hold of representing him like you represents your favorite team you'll be representing something who can do a lot for you in time like he's done for you in eternity you

Channel: Rosedale Baptist Church

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Length: 31min 12sec (1872 seconds)

Published: Sat Oct 27 2018