ARE YOU A DISCIPLE? ARE YOU THE CHURCH? THE COST OF DISCIPLESHIP!
((( COST OF DISCIPLESHIP ))) ARE YOU A DISCIPLE?
BECOMING A TRUE DISCIPLE OF JESUS CHRIST WILL COST YOU EVERYTHING.
– YOU WILL LOSE MOST ALL OF YOUR FRIENDS.
– YOU WILL LOSE FAMILY MEMBERS (ALL NON-TRUE CHRISTIANS AND THE PROFESSING CHRISTIANS THAT ARE NOT WALKING HOLY WILL REALLY BE OFFENDED).
– YOU MAY LOSE SOME JOBS.
– YOU MIGHT GO TO PRISON.
– YOU MIGHT GET BEAT UP.& EVEN LOSE YOUR LIFE (MARTYRED)
– YOU MIGHT GET SPAT UPON.
– YOU WILL DEFINITELY BE HATED.
– YOU WILL BE VERY UNPOPULAR.
– YOU’LL BE SEEN AS EVIL.
– EXCOMMUNICATED FROM CHURCHES.
– YOUR KIDS WILL TURN AGAINST YOU.
– YOUR PARENTS WILL TURN AGAINST YOU.
– YOU’LL BE PERSECUTED.
2Co 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
JESUS SAID,
IF YOU’RE NOT WILLING TO FORSAKE “” ALL “” THAT YOU HAVE, YOU CANNOT BE MY DISCIPLE. LUKE 14:33.
JESUS IS NOT CALLING ANYONE TO REPEAT A SINNERS PRAYER. WHAT HE WANTS IS YOUR WHOLE LIFE. TO DENY YOURSELF, AND COMPLETELY SURRENDER.
MATTHEW 19:29 “ And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name’s sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.”
JESUS SAID “COUNT THE COST” LUKE 14:28.
LET’S FIRST REVIEW WHAT THE MODERN “CHURCH” LOOKS LIKE.
Rom 16:5 “Likewise greet the church that is in their HOUSE. Salute my wellbeloved Epaenetus, who is the firstfruits of Achaia unto Christ.”
1Co 16:19 “The churches of Asia salute you. Aquila and Priscilla salute you much in the Lord, with the church that is in their HOUSE”
Col 4:15 Salute the brethren which are in Laodicea, and Nymphas, and the church which is in his HOUSE.
So many are concerned with building “churches” aka BUILDINGS! They have 50, 100 or even 5,000 “members” and they feel connected in a special way and they call that “unity”. In this situation, you should have MULTIPLE house churches (maybe 10-20 people each) and they would literally KNOW each other and be a part of each others life on a daily basis. In America, a fellowship of ten is a large fellowship and a fellowship of 20 or more practically a mega-church.
The level of community and connection when you support one another in a real way, unity is redefined as how it should be biblically. In a large “100 member” congregation they feel a unity around a charismatic leader, identify with a huge choir and such things. But in all honesty, they don’t know each other, confess and forsake sins, truly repent, (so they are not even Christians) or even KNOW of the true issues a person may have. They love identifying with a location, a leader, and a large group. But the interesting thing about all of this is that while God loves and desires unity, it is an ancillary(extra) benefit from loving & OBEYING Jesus and each other and not a goal in itself.
The great commission is NOT to gather and be happy. But to GO to the lost and MAKE DISCIPLES. No mention of unity anywhere. We love unity. We TRULY know each other and stand together. A church building and congregation in the traditional model reverses the Great Commission to COME, and it calls the last. Jesus commanded the Saints to GO (evangelize) to the lost. By using house church models, you implement the Luke 10 evangelism Jesus trained his people to use. They WENT OUT of the “4 walls” (the building), they did not call me to COME. Even Jesus moved around all the time. The Church was a vital and living thing that covered the entire known world in 200 years and DID NOT BUILD EVEN ONE BUILDING. Now we spend all of our resources building and furnishing something Jesus never commanded us to build, finance or attend.
This is the same all over the world and I will be honest, we should not try to change the traditional church. It is an institution and institutions resist change. Most everyone has fully embraced the “building is the church” Western model of Christianity down to the fancy music, buildings and all the dressing up for a “church”. They love this model and it is perfect for having the “super star” successful leader so many love. So many love to adore a leader and identify with them and the Western model of the church is the perfect platform for a location centric, leader focused, professional/elite oriented and centered institution.
The early church was not institutional but organic. It grew in many directions, sought the lost, went into all the world and was to EQUIP the Saints for the work of the ministry. Not for the church to fund an “awesome” Sunday “event” but rather met to equip the Church to GO, and do the evangelism and work of the ministry. It is easier to introduce the Jesus to the Lost than to try to change Christian institutions to a more biblical model.
BIG QUESTION… Are you a Disciple?
I wanted to encourage you to make sure we are all walking with Jesus as HE wants us to; as true disciples.
1Jn 2:6 “He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he(JESUS) walked.”
1st, start off reading Luke 14 which is a personal call to discipleship from Jesus. Please remember brethren, EVERY member of your fellowship/church must be a disciple who MAKES disciples, lest they perish eternally. If they are not, you need to reorganize your life and teachings to make sure they are. Again, everyone in your church/fellowship must be a disciple, making disciples. The Gospel Call (the Great Commission) is to become a disciple and make disciples who make disciples, and so on. Sorry for being repetitive, but it’s incredibly important to count the true cost, to pick up our cross and follow Jesus, truly follow Him. Be edified and I pray you read and study below carefully.
Luke 14:1-35 (for sake of time, we will read verses 25-33)
You Can’t Make a Disciple If You Are Not A Disciple
You cannot make a disciple if you are not a disciple. If you are not a disciple, then you are something Jesus did not call men to become and something He never sent men out to make. Jesus gets to set the criteria as to what a disciple is. We do not care what the dictionary or the lexicon says a disciple is. We are addressing what Jesus says a disciple is. Theologians don’t get to define discipleship, your pastor does not and neither do you and I. Jesus called men to become disciples repeatedly. Here is how He calls disciples and defines disciples.
The Cost of Discipleship
Luk 14:25 And there went great multitudes with him: and he turned, and said unto them,
Luk 14:26 If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.
Luk 14:27 And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.
Luk 14:28 For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?
Luk 14:29 Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him,
Luk 14:30 Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish.
Luk 14:31 Or what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand?
Luk 14:32 Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage, and desireth conditions of peace.
Luk 14:33 So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.
Jesus not only came to make disciples but He also commanded disciples to go on and make more disciples. See the Great Commission. It is His method of expanding the Kingdom of God. But I really like the wording of the verse listed here. “whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath…”. FORSAKE.
Forsake
FORSA’KE, v.t. pret. forsook; pp. forsaken. See Seek .]
1. To quit or leave entirely; to desert; to abandon; to depart from. Friends and flatterers forsake us in adversity.
Forsake the foolish, and live. Prov 9.
2. To abandon; to renounce; to reject.
Cease from anger, and forsake wrath. Psa 37.
3. To leave; to withdraw from; to fail. In anger, the color forsakes the cheeks. In severe trials, let not fortitude forsake you.
4. In scripture, God forsakes his people, when he withdraws his aid, or the light of his countenance.
Not a word we hear in modern Christianity. We blasphemously hear “live your best life now”, “worship God and receive earthly blessings” (house, car, motorcycle, etc). I have a question. Have you formally renounced or abandoned your claim, your right to ALL but Christ. Have you renounced your right to your own possessions, your own life and chosen Jesus and Him alone?
A Christian is a DISCIPLE MAKER! That is the GREAT COMMISSION SPOKEN of in the Bible.
The Great Commission
Mat 28:16 Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them.
Mat 28:17 And when they saw him, they worshipped him: but some doubted.
Mat 28:18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
Mat 28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
Mat 28:20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
You cannot make a disciple if you are not a disciple yourself and if you are not a disciple, you will end up in hell. Many “believers” read of giving up everything for Jesus but they believe Jesus did not really mean all that “give up everything, and hate the world stuff”. Seems He really just wanted me to be willing to be “really committed”, and not to actually live out that commitment. You must understand that you need to “renounce” EVERYTHING. Jesus wants your total allegiance. You have to abandon the rhetoric of Western (mainstream) Christianity which does “church” once or twice a week and that’s all. You need to follow Jesus in order to heed the call to become a disciple and make disciples myself. This is God’s Master Plan.
HOW DO I KNOW I AM A DISCIPLE? DO WHAT JESUS DID!
1Jn 2:3 And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.
1Jn 2:4 He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
1Jn 2:5 But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.
1Jn 2:6 He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.
Most of “Christianity” are not disciples and will not make it to Heaven. They are “just” believers. Some are bible teachers, pastors, construction workers, mothers and other professionals that think the transfer of information is making a disciple. We think the people we share with are disciples. But neither them, nor most everyone in professing “Christianity”, have ever been given the call to become a disciple, nor chosen to pay the price of discipleship. Not formally anyway. Of course, we do transfer information in making disciples, but that is only part of the process. A True Christian has DISCIPLES. You can be and have disciples too, and I pray that is your intention. I pray this exhortation wakes up those that need to be awaken and I assure you, it’s God’s intention for you.
First in Luke 14 we see how He defines a disciple & we see the actual CALL to discipleship. He is not asking people to “get saved” & believe in the price He paid on The Cross, nor is He begging them to become a Christian. He does not even promise them heaven! No, He is calling them to give up EVERYTHING and come and follow Him. He promises life now and it is called eternal life.
Most everyone is taught one of two things. Either everyone that is saved is a disciple, or, a person becomes a real disciple through study and prayer and a lifetime of slowly growing closer to Jesus. This is the lie of “progressive sanctification”. Then, in some “super spiritual” state, some can somehow become so mature they are a disciple. There are other heretical definitions and most don’t even think that being a disciple is important. Jesus surely did but our classroom, chalkboard definitions, powerpoint presentations and sermons are not the methods He used. Why don’t we look at what Jesus did? It’s commanded we walk like HIM as we read just above! Why don’t we study the one that actually gave us the mission and made disciples that turned the world upside down, instead of some “bible teacher” that has never actually made a disciple, that has made a disciple. Why don’t we look at Jesus first, before we do anything.
Question: Why do we call Him LORD and do not do what He commands or follow His methods?
Luke 6:46 “And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?”
His first words after repent ye for the Kingdom of God is at hand, are these: Follow Me.
Mat 4:17 “From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
Jesus Calls the First Disciples
Mat 4:18 And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers.
Mat 4:19 And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.
Why don’t WE answer the call to discipleship and call others to do the same? I would like to ask you to make a very IMPORTANT realization. And that is that you have most likely never been told of the call to discipleship and thus have never heeded it. Like me, you need to come to a place to confess an obvious truth and repent. No one has ever called you to BE a disciple and you NEED to be one to make it to Heaven. Thus, you have never chosen to become one. You think you want to be one. You love Jesus. You want to follow Him. But you have been told you can’t or it is not important or that verses talking about grace and works somehow mystically erased everything the King of Kings commanded us to do. I decided to become a disciple and you must choose to be one too or the consequence is an eternal hell.
The false “sinners prayer” or a set of orthodox beliefs in order to go to heaven and be “saved” are seen nowhere in scripture & were never practiced by Jesus or the Apostles. As a result, unlike Jesus, we can’t accomplish God’s plans using man’s methods. We use the culturally attractive, best practices of the latest fad to get the “unchurched” to come to our meetings, to occasionally listen in to a sermon while being entertained by lights, loud worldly sounding music they call “worship” and a warm fuzzy message on how great we are or can be if we would just “get saved”. This was not Jesus’ way. Our warm and fuzzy call to the lost so they can go to heaven and have their “best life now”, must be replaced with the call to surrender everything, to suffer and take up your cross and follow Him. Jesus made a call and it was to come and die that you may live. No wonder people in the church will compromise on sin and fall to the whims of the world.
James 4:4 “Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.”
Rev 3:16 “So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.”
The CARNAL MIND makes one an enemy of God.
Romans 8:7 “Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.”
The false church calls “converts” to a nice easy and better life full of all the world has to offer with the added bonus of eternity at the end and some really cool people to hang with in church till then. This is called the “Emergent Church Movement”. Contrast that to Jesus call to give up and renounce everything. For three centuries the church suffered in torture, refused to renounce their Lord and paid the ultimate price. They were known for living holy lives, feeding the poor and their love for the “least of these” their brethren. This is the fruit of a people called to discipleship.
Luke 14, and other text repeatedly make calls of TOTAL COMMITMENT. You must give up ALL and come and follow Him. It is hard to be confused when Jesus lays down the requirements and relates to us to hate or choose Him over every relationship in our life, take up an instrument of death and yes, give up everything, including ourselves and follow Him.
He does this in Luke and again in Matthew 10:37 Not Peace, but a Sword:
Mat 10:34 Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.
Mat 10:35 For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.
Mat 10:36 And a man’s foes(ENEMIES) shall be they of his own household.
Mat 10:37 He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
Mat 10:38 And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.
Mat 10:39 He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.
And of course most “Christians” never dropped their nets. Andrew and Peter literally dropped their nets to follow Jesus. Matthew got up from the tax collectors table and walked away. Zachias seems to remain in his profession and reordered his priorities to the Kingdom of God. But let’s be honest, many of us have fashioned our lives around our careers or other interests to such an extent they would need to be, almost literally, blown up and started over again, to follow Jesus. As a heathen business owner I spent 80 hours a week working. I spent the vast majority of my time, focusing on my career, sleeping and living my “best life now” the “Amerikan Dream. My spare time was mostly spent entertaining my flesh and others or trying to replace purpose with “fun”. Now that I am in Christ and obeying HIM, He has a bigger plan and I am accountable to follow Him, not my self made plans. I had to rearrange my business plans BIG TIME and I will tell you there is no joy like serving the King of Kings. No adventure like obeying His will and commands. You can have “PERFECT PEACE” if you truly become and make disciples.
Isaiah 26:3 “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.”
Psa 4:7 “The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them.”
The Apostle John wrote under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit:
1 John 2:15-16 “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.”
The instructions below are not to the rich young ruler, but to men that were already following Jesus and NOT rich. Be not like the foolish man already mentioned, who laid up the produce of his fields, without permitting the poor to partake of God’s bounty: turn the fruits of your fields (which are beyond what you need for your own support) into money, and give it in alms; and the treasure thus laid out, shall be as laid up for yourselves and families in heaven.
Luke 12:
Luk 12:32 “Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.
Luk 12:33 Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth.
Luk 12:34 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”
If your career or “life” has you consumed so much that you don’t have enough energy to read your bible for more than a few minutes and pray before bed, attend church a couple of times a week and visit your Facebook buddies and cheer each other’s “Christian” post while bemoaning the descent of mankind, then you have a life designed to be something other than an disciple. Again, then you are something Jesus never called men to be and never sent men out to make and will end up in hellfire. One man Jesus called, said let me go bury my father. What did JESUS say?
The Cost of Following Jesus
Mat 8:18 Now when Jesus saw great multitudes about him, he gave commandment to depart unto the other side.
Mat 8:19 And a certain scribe came, and said unto him, Master, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest.
Mat 8:20 And Jesus saith unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.
Mat 8:21 And another of his disciples said unto him, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father.
Mat 8:22 But Jesus said unto him, Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead.
Jesus wants to “upset” your life. He actually does want you to renounce your former goals and direction and take on Kingdom goals and His mission.
Want to get into Heaven? You must drop the “nets of this world” (your dreams, desires, the desires of your family, etc) to take on the yoke of your Master. You cannot serve God and mammon. It is impossible.
In 2 Corinthians 9:7-8 Paul tells us that God is able to bless us abundantly IF WE GIVE OUT OF OUR HEART AS HE DID so that we can have all we NEED and have enough left over for “every good work”.
2Co 9:7 Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.
2Co 9:8 And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work:
Jesus was telling His disciples how to live this life of discipleship. Give it ALL and you will be taken care off.
Jesus tells a parable that is a fact of life. The story of the soils. Seed falls on many different types of “hearts” in the lesson. The seed falling among some ground refers to someone who hears the word, receives it with enthusiasm, but the worries of this life and the lure of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful. Mt 13:22.
Mat 13:22 “He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.”
We imagine we are immune. We are not!
1Co 10:12 “Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.”
2Th 2:3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
Don’t forget, the rich young ruler walked away sad. Because he had much. I hope you don’t. Will you drop your nets in this life and become fishers of men? Don’t quit your job. But, it could come to that for some of you. A career decision you made before you surrendered everything to Jesus, was likely a decision that reflects a different set of loyalties than those required to be and make a disciple. You can’t have two masters.
I am going to ask you to count the cost, but you can’t even count the cost if you don’t know what it is. Now you do. When Jesus laid down Luke 9, 14 and Matthew 10, He did so to people that had heard the Gospel of the Kingdom. They heard that they should lay up NO treasure on the earth. Learned that how they treated the least of these would impact eternity. They understood the radical cost of loving even their enemies. You can’t make a disciple unless you are one. You must obey “all that I have commanded you” so says Jesus, not just the things that make you comfortable. Following Jesus is the ULTIMATE SACRIFICE with an ULTIMATE AND ETERNAL REWARD. My dear brothers and sisters, He commanded some radical things.
The early church obeyed Him and turned the world upside down. You cannot teach others to obey what you don’t even believe needs obeying. You cannot teach others to obey, if you don’t obey. Like I said, you cannot make a disciple if you are not a disciple.
I hope you are not turning away, like the rich young ruler. You can’t love this world and follow the Lord. Pray and question everything you thought you knew about being and making disciples. If you are not one, I pray you make that decision soon. You may not have tomorrow. To Jesus be all the glory. AMEN
Visit the entire teaching series here https://goo.gl/uydfmM rebuking the “Main St” Emergent Church that includes “99%” of the “churches” today! Come out of this false teaching before you burn forever! 2nd Peter 2
Jesus had the following messages to CHURCHES (5 of 7 churches were warned as they were in sin heading to hellfire). “I know thy works…” Click here https://goo.gl/cAEkxL.
If you are not obeying Jesus in all things proving repentance by your works and are in one of these abominable circuses, please truly repent (confess & forsake all sin) with godly sorrow & child-like faith, humble yourself, and go to “The Way to The Cross” study here https://goo.gl/Qetm4H.
A HIGHLY RECOMMEND book for Christians to read to help understand how the OT was a foreshadow of the NT and how harmonious they truly are https://goo.gl/ESgx7z
Then read What is Biblical Perfection https://goo.gl/vepJ4P.
The lie of Imputed Righteousness https://goo.gl/2CAkyB
God does not hear sinners https://goo.gl/wNFLZv
Jesus is NOT a friend of sinners https://goo.gl/tdbd8A
The “Romans 7 Wretch” and “saved in sin” lie https://goo.gl/rC5Ha2
A Christian has NO “filthy rags”! https://goo.gl/15VNZe
What is “tithing”? https://goo.gl/hJvsTF
“Paid Pastors”? https://goo.gl/JxJYoj
Rebuking the Seventh Day Adventist Cult https://goo.gl/MjTWvQ
Rebuking the Jehovah’s Witnesses Cult https://goo.gl/H8wpdp
Rebuking the Mormon Cult https://goo.gl/3s5Ye8
CCM (Contemporary “Christian” Music) study here https://goo.gl/nmx3Gq
A challenging study breaking down how a true Christian is to worship God in the New Testament Church. Complete study here https://goo.gl/3uApDx.