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23 Nov:    Which Type of Follower Are You?

“And we all, who with unveiled faces reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into His image with ever-increasing glory…”—2 Corinthians 3:18

Last week we looked at the lineage of Jesus and determined that the recording of Christ’s ancestry showed the faithfulness of God regarding His promises and the willingness of God to show compassion and forgiveness thus allowing God to use each and every one of us in His kingdom. This validates the message Paul gives to us in 2 Cor 5:20 “Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God was making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.”     This passage tells us that if we have, like the Prodigal Son, came to our senses, repented and returned to God we can be the messengers/ambassadors of God’s message of hope, truth and salvation.

For today’s lesson I want follow up on the idea of being God’s ambassadors. What do ambassadors do? They go out into the foreign lands and represent God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit. And Jesus spoke quite clearly this role that we have in Luke 9.

Luke 9:57-62 “⁵⁷As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” ⁵⁸And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” ⁵⁹To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” ⁶⁰And Jesus1 said to him, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” ⁶¹Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” ⁶²Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”

Before I jump into this passage, I want to bring a different one forward: Luke 6:46ff “Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord’, and do not do what I say. Everyone who come to Me and hears My words and acts on them, I will show you whom he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid a foundation on the rock which survived the coming flood. The one who has heard and not acted accordingly I like a man who builds his house on the sand which collapses when the flood comes.”   The summary of this passage is that those who hear and act properly will be saved and those who hear but disregard and go their own way will suffer condemnation. James’ declaration that faith without works is dead also substantiates this. So as we examine out chosen passage today we need to ask ourselves how this applies to me and what should I do with it.

Luke 9:  “⁵⁷As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” ⁵⁸And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.”     What is the point in these verses?  The obvious statement is that Jesus does not have anyplace that He can call ‘home’. But the question that follows is to ask why is this? Why does Jesus not have a permanent place to lay His head. The answer is because His calling or the mission His Father gave Him does not allow for this ‘blessing’ to be His. And what does that have to do with you and I? 

Luke 6:40 “A pupil is not above his teacher; but everyone, after he has been fully trained, will be like his teacher.”    If you and I want to be like OUR teacher, then we must be willing to also respond to God’s calling in our lives. We also must be willing to forgo certain creature comforts at times. Is it not possible that this is what Christ is referring to when He tells us that we must be willing to pick up our cross and follow Him?

Now I don’t know of any ‘burning bush’ experience that you may have had but I   DO   KNOW   that according to the first passage we looked at in 2 Cor that we have been called to be ambassador’s in our family, with our friends, in our jobs, and in all our social interactions during the course of our living our lives. Peter reinforces this:  1 Peter 2:20, 21 “…. But if when you do what is right and suffer for it - you patiently endure it, this finds favor with God. For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps.”      So the bedrock teaching here is that if we are going to be a follower of Christ – we must be willing to accept some suffering and/or deprivation for the sake of sharing the Gospel of Salvation.

Luke 9: ⁵⁹To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” ⁶⁰And Jesus1 said to him, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”    Now I don’t seriously think that Jesus is referring to some zombie type situation. One commentator suggested that in a literal sense Jesus might have been saying that those spiritually dead individuals who are all wrapped up in things of this world – they will always prefer to put this world’s responsibilities first before submitting to God’s will.

Do you remember the passage in Matthew where Jesus is telling His apostles about the coming days where He will be arrested, tried, convicted, flogged, crucified and dies and what does Peter do? He calls Jesus aside and tells Him that he will never let this happen?  And what is Jesus’ response. He to Peter, ‘Get behind Me Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interest but mans.” (Mtt 16:21,22)   Do you know why I think Jesus gets so upset at Peter?  Remember the scripture in Hebrews which says that Jesus was tempted in all manner like us. You know why Jesus may have had so much difficulty in Gethsemane? I think Jesus knew His power, His capability, and – not WANTING to die in the fashion that has been planned, had the temptation within Him to avoid God’s plan and go to plan B. Whatever that might have been. So when Peter steps up and declares that he would faithfully follow Jesus anywhere, even die for him. Then maybe for a moment, maybe just the briefest of moments Jesus like the idea better regarding resisting the Jewish leaders plan of the crucifixion.

So, what is the bedrock teaching here? We must make sure that we are putting our responsibilities to God, being His ambassador, first in our lives. We need to make sure that we are not allowing our perceived responsibilities in this world to take precedence over our opportunities in God’s kingdom.

Luke 9:  ⁶¹Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” ⁶²Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”     This reminds me of one of the many times when the Israelites would grumble and complain about the wilderness they were in – even though this was God’s path for them out of Egypt, bondage and slavery:  Ex 16:2,3 “The whole congregation of the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses Aaron in the wilderness. The sons of Israel said to the, ‘Would that we had died by the Lord’s hand in the land of Egypt, when we say by the pots of meat, when we ate bread to the full . . . . “    We need to realize that God may at times call us down a path that separates us from our families, friends, jobs and other worldly pleasures. There may be times when we are going to be called to travel in a wilderness and if we, like the Israelites see a better place and are tempted to leave God’s leadership, then like them we too will lose the blessings of a land flowing with milk and honey, the abundant life Christ promises us. The bedrock teaching here is that not even family should get in the way of our being the ambassador that God wants us to be. What is the First Great Commandment: Mtt 37 “And Jesus said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind (your will). This is the great and foremost commandment.”

The parable of the Sower reinforces these very ideas:  Sower explained: Mtt 13:18ff “….²⁰ The one sown with seed on the rocky places, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; ²¹ yet he has no firm root in himself, but is only temporary, and when affliction or persecution occurs because of the word, immediately he falls away. ²² And the one sown with seed among the thorns, this is the one who hears the word, and the anxiety of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. ²³ But the one sown with seed on the good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces, some a hundred, some sixty, and some thirty times as much.”

So the bedrock question is – who are you? Which of these situations give you the most difficulty?                 Luke 6:40 “A pupil is not above his teacher; but everyone, after he has been fully trained, will be like his teacher.”  

 

Are you fully trained? Are you attempting to make it so?  Is your life being lived as closely as you can so that you daily are taking up your cross and following Him, without reservation or exception?

 

 

16 Nov:         Why Do We Trust in the Lord?

 

Heb 13:5 “…. for He Himself has said, “I will never leave you; nor will I ever forsake you.”

1 Peter 5:7  “Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.”

“Footprints in the Sand” poem illustrates His care

2 Tim 3:16,17 tells us that ALL Scripture is inspired by God in order to train us, correct us and make us able to be ready for every good work. When I was reading 2 Tim. in preparation for today’s lesson I wondered why we need God’s Word to be ready for doing good work?       I think the reason is that sometimes when we have an opportunity to do some good work or good deed we might want to pass on that. Kinda’ like when the Pharisee and Scribe passed by on the other side but the Good Samaritan stopped and helped.

So, looking through God’s inspired Word I found these passages:

1 Cor 10:11 “These things happened to them (punishment) as examples and were written down as warnings (encouragement) for us, on whom the culmination of the ages has come.”  I added the word encouragement because I was thinking of Shadrach and Daniel when they were persecuted for their godly lives and God sustained and protected them. This is an encouragement that God watches over us    and    a warning that evil may at times come to us as we serve God. We need to realize that God actually expects us to walk the walk as well as talk the talk. And when we do walk the walk there may be consequences that we have to trust God to get us through them.  I think that is what Jesus was alluding to when He told us we must take up our cross and follow Him.

Rom 15:4 “For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.” Here is that word ‘encouragement’ again but it is preceded with ‘endurance’. Just like with Shadrach, before God’s blessings there first appeared suffering and we need to “ENDURE” in our faith to reach God’s blessings. The “Footprints in the Sand” poem speaks of the Lord carrying the dreamer. But why is He carrying the man? Because the man was going through some tough times, and that is when the Lord lifted him up.  Last week’s lesson on the ‘faithful servants’ spoke heavily to that – persevering faithfully and obediently until Jesus returns to collect His faithful children.

John 20:30,31 “Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not recorded in this book; but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.” “Believing” is the word used here with the understanding that our belief will cause a reaction. James tells us that faith without works did dead. And Jesus was referring to our obedience when He said that all people will know we are His disciples because of our love for one another and our obedience to His commandments. 

I wrote out this next paragraph to make sure I get it right:

I thought it might be encouraging and a reminder for us (as we just read)  to look at some of the moments in history when God worked with His creation to bring blessings into their lives and subsequently know that this is the same God, who is the same yesterday, today, and forever”  (Heb 13:8) who is with us as well.      

1). The first Scripture that I want to look at is the recording of the Lord’s found in in Matthew 1 and Luke 3. Matthew records Jesus’ legal lineage with Joseph while Luke records the biological lineage from Mary.    The lineage of Christ is a central theme in the Bible, tracing the genealogy of Jesus Christ through both the Old and New Testaments. Now why is the lineage of the Lord important to you and I???

A).  Jesus’s Lineage:  shows the fulfillment of prophesies   and   establishes Jesus as the legitimate heir of the promises made to Abraham and David.  It is a testament to God's faithfulness in fulfilling His promises. The lineage of Christ is a profound testament to the fulfillment of God's redemptive plan, as foretold by the prophets. In other words, in the same way we see the fulfillment of the Messiah promises   we can have faith in the resurrection promise and the promise of eternity for those who accept Christ as their Savior and Lord. These past fulfillments give us faith in future fulfillments.

B).  The genealogies also highlight the inclusion of Gentiles    and     sinners in Jesus' ancestry, such as Rahab and Ruth, underscoring the grace and redemption available to all through Christ.   We should realized that just as God was willing to use less than perfect people to bring about His will and accomplish His plan in the past, He can and He will want to use us to bring about His plans today.    1 Cor 6:9-11 “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, . . . nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”   1 Peter 2:9,10 “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”    We need to see that in the same way God drafted “unexpected” people into His plans He will also desire us to be available for Him to use in accomplishing His will and His kingdom.

So, while we may read through, or skip through, the lineage of Christ we need to realize that this is recorded with a purpose. What can we deduce from this? One, is the faithfulness of God with regard to His promises. Therefore, we can have faith that just as God brought about the fulfillment of His promise to Abraham and mankind – so He will fulfill His promises to us. 

Secondly, we can also conclude, as we read about the lives of these individuals, that God worked in their lives with a purpose. We can therefore read confidently the words of Rom 8:28 that tells us that God works to bring good into our lives through all the circumstances that we encounter.

Thirdly, as we go back and look at the lives of those in line for producing Jesus as the Messiah, we can see how God worked with compassion, forgiveness, protection and blessings. Since God is the same today, tomorrow and forever – we can trust that same God to work in similar ways in our live.

For our second consideration I want to fast forward to a time near the end or Jesus’ life when He is warning His disciple of  what is going to happen to Him:  Mtt 16:21,22 “From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day. Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him … But Jesus said to Peter, ‘Get behind Me Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but mans.”     Luke 22:31-34 “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.’ But Peter said to Him, ‘Lord, with You, I am ready to go both to prison and to death!’ But Jesus said, ‘I say to you, Peter, the rooster will not crow today until you have denied three times that you know Me.’”  In these two situations we see Peter being less than what God wants from him. But we know from the day of Pentecost forward that Peter becomes one of God’s most outspoken and effective evangelists for God’s kingdom.  So, what can we derive from these passages? One, God is forgiving, understanding and compassionate with His children, even when, or maybe especially when, we become like the Prodigal Son and wander from God’s path. Like the parable of the Lost Sheep, we know God will reach out to us and restore us to His kingdom. Secondly, we can know that God has a plan for our lives and that He has not left us to our own devices and abilities. That is what Rom 8:28 tries to tell us.  And who do you think it is that brings this promise into fulfilment? It is the same God who has fulfilled all the other promises that we read in Scripture.   Consider also: Phil 4:6,7, 11-13 “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. … I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. ¹² I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. ¹³ I can do all this through him who gives me strength.”  Like the man learned in the
Footprints” Poem, and like the apostles in the boat floundering in the storm with Jesus asleep - we should have certainty and faith within our hearts that God will never leave us.

What did Jesus tell His apostles moments before He ascended back to His Father? Mtt 28:20b “…. Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

SUMMARY:       if you are having struggles and difficulties then like the man who wants to build his house to prepare for the coming storms - we also need to dig down to the bedrock, which is Jesus Christ, and lean and trust in Him. Just as we can see in the life of Christ, blessings and trials, struggles and blessings, death and resurrection, we need to have the same trust in God that Christ had. We need to know that Jesus was telling the truth that there is a home in heaven waiting for us if we remain faithful.