This morning's service by sitting some of the 75
Jordan's Story Banks. That's song number 75.
This morning's service by sitting some of the 75
Jordan's Story Banks. That's song number 75.
This morning's service by sitting some of the 75
Jordan's Story Banks. That's song number 75.
This morning's service by sitting some of the 75
Jordan's Story Banks. That's song number 75.
This morning's service by sitting some of the 75
Jordan's Story Banks. That's song number 75.
This morning's service by sitting some of the 75
Jordan's Story Banks. That's song number 75.
This morning's service by sitting some of the 75
Jordan's Story Banks. That's song number 75.
Amen. Thank you, brother.
The song number 37.
So you have an itinerary there for each of the events.
The sign-up sheet got made. I'm going to go home and open up
my computer, and it's going to be the first document I see,
but it's not here because I failed to print it.
So sometimes you get going and you think you did something
and you didn't, but the sign-up sheet will be out this next
service on Thursday and next Sunday, so you'll have plenty
of time to sign up if you'd like to attend.
Also on the back, today is the deadline for our Bible
memory passage in Genesis chapter 1 verses 26 through 28.
So all the children and teens, if you recite that word
perfect to a non-relative, you can help yourself to three
cookies and a glass of milk.
Sorry, moms and dads, I know they're getting doughnuts,
which is not typical.
Every single service they're getting doughnuts and cookies,
but I guess I'm going to make a great-grandparent one day
because I'm just going to get your kids all sugared up,
and then I'm just going to send them home with you.
But that is available for those that recite the passage.
Now, we're going to actually do something a little different
for the next memory passage, and this will be due next Sunday
because this is a fairly easy one.
So that is the deadline there next Sunday,
but this is basically the six days of creation.
So if you can just kind of give us, it doesn't have to be
exactly like this, but it's got to be correct, okay?
Now, let me say this to the adults, okay?
If you don't know the six days of creation,
you're going to want to memorize this because a young child
may approach you and say, hey, I would like you to test me
on getting this correct.
And this isn't a Bible verse that you can just turn to.
You have to actually know what they are, okay?
So it would behoove you to know these if you don't know that
so you don't get, you know, outwitted by a child.
So anyway, these are always good things to know,
the basics, the Bible, okay?
And then, of course, also below that, if you look there,
it says double bonus.
So this is just extra credit bonus points
for any of the young people that want to do this.
If you can name the four rivers that flowed from Eden, okay?
It's kind of, I know it's kind of obscure, okay?
But if you can do that, then you can have double
the amount of reward.
I'm trying to get rid of the cookies, okay?
That's what I'm trying to do.
I bought, you know, a lot of cookies back there
and I thought they would go a lot quicker than they went,
all right?
So we'll see how it goes today.
But an opportunity to, you know, get a cavity.
Your dentist is going to love this church.
But, you know, that's what's on the menu this week there, okay?
So a couple opportunities.
Also, there's some Tempe events.
So the church in Tempe has some things going on this week.
Of course, there's the wedding taking place on Friday,
February 9th.
That is at 2 p.m.
And there will be cake and punch served after that.
And also there's a small town soul winning trip to Eloi,
Arizona on the 24th.
I'm kind of up in the air whether I'm going to be making
that myself.
I'm kind of kicking that around.
But if anybody would like to go, you're more than welcome
to do that.
That will do it for announcements.
Let's go ahead and sing one more song before we get into the
preaching this morning.
146, shelter in the time of storm.
146.
46, shelter in the time of storm.
47, shelter in the time of storm.
48, shelter in the time of storm.
49, shelter in the time of storm.
50, shelter in the time of storm.
51, shelter in the time of storm.
52, shelter in the time of storm.
53, shelter in the time of storm.
54, shelter in the time of storm.
53, shelter in the time of storm.
54, shelter in the time of storm.
55, shelter in the time of storm.
56, shelter in the time of storm.
57, shelter in the time of storm.
58, shelter in the time of storm.
59, shelter in the time of storm.
60, shelter in the time of storm.
61, shelter in the time of storm.
62, shelter in the time of storm.
63, shelter in the time of storm.
64, shelter in the time of storm.
65, shelter in the time of storm.
66, shelter in the time of storm.
67, shelter in the time of storm.
68, shelter in the time of storm.
69, shelter in the time of storm.
70, shelter in the time of storm.
Chapter three, as always, we'll read the entire chapter.
Please follow along silently as Brother Gabriel
reads to us from Mark chapter three.
Mark chapter three, verse one of the Bible reads.
And he entered again into the synagogue.
And there was a man in there which had a withered hand.
And he watched him, whether he would heal him on the Saturday,
or they might accuse him.
And he saith unto the man which had the withered hand,
stand forth.
And he saith unto them, is it lawful to do good on the
Saturdays, or to do evil, to save life or to kill?
But they held their peace.
And when he had looked round about on them with anger,
being grieved for the hardness of their hearts,
he saith unto the man, stretch forth thy hand.
And he stretched it out.
And his hand was restored whole as the other.
And the Pharisees went forth, and straightway took counsel
with the Herodians against him, how they might destroy them.
But Jesus withdrew himself with his disciples to the sea,
with a great multitude from Galilee,
all of them from Judea, and from Jerusalem,
and from the new man, and from beyond Jordan.
And they about tired and silent, with a great multitude,
when they had heard of the great things he did,
came unto him.
And he spake to his disciples that a small ship should wait
on him because of the multitude, lest they should throng him.
For he had healed many, and so much they pressed upon him,
for to touch him, as many as had plagues,
and unclean spirits, when they saw him,
and fell down before him, and cried, saying,
Thou art the Son of God.
And he straightly charged them, that they should not
make him know.
And he goeth up unto him now, and called unto him,
whom he would, when they came unto him.
And he ordaineth well, that they should be with him,
and that he might send them forth to preach,
and to have power of your sicknesses,
and to cast out devils, and sign them with surname Peter,
and James, the son of Zebed, and John, the brother of James,
with a surname of Lanagius, which
is the sons of Dundee, and Angie, and Philip,
and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James,
the son of Althaus.
But that is the sign of the Canaanite,
and Judas Iscariot, which also betrayed him.
And they went in to an house, and the multitude
coming together with him, so that they
could mouth so much deep breath.
And when his friends heard him, they
went out to lay hold of him, for they said,
He is the sign of himself.
And the scribe, which came down from Jerusalem,
said, He hath Beelzebub, and by the prince of the devils,
casteth he out kept him.
And he called unto him, and said unto him,
and said unto him in the parables, how can Satan
cast out Satan?
And if a kingdom be divided against itself,
that kingdom cannot stand.
And if a house be divided against itself,
that house cannot stand.
And if Satan rise up against Satan and be divided,
he cannot stand, but hath men.
No man can enter into a strong man's house
and spoil his goods, except he will first bind his strongmen,
and then he will spoil his house.
Verily I say unto you, all sin shall
be forgiven to the sons of men, and blasphemous,
or whatsoever they shall blaspheme.
For he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost
hath never forgiven this.
It was in danger of eternal damnation,
because they said, he hath no king spirit.
The king, and his brethren, and his mother,
and standing with thou, sent unto them, calling them,
and the multitude, and said unto them, and they said unto them,
behold thy mother, thy brethren, and thou seeketh me.
And he answered them, saying, who is my man, or my brother?
He looked round about men, which said about him,
and said, behold my mother, my brethren,
for whose service shall do the will of God,
for whom thy name is my brother, and my sister, and my mother,
and my father.
Would you pray for us?
Blessed be thy name, O Lord.
And put it in the precious word of this church,
and pray for all that's here.
And I pray that you would just build
a brotherhood of the Holy Spirit, and preach to us,
and help us to listen.
In Jesus' name.
Amen.
So this morning, I will obviously,
if you haven't figured it out yet,
be continuing on in the Book of Mark.
We've been going through the Book of Mark,
not really chapter by chapter, but more of a verse
study, really kind of taking our time,
and going through these chapters,
and a little more slowly than we might
in your typical Bible study.
And this morning, I'm going to just look at
verses really 13 and 14.
And what we have here is when the 12 disciples
are being called, and ordained, and sent forth to preach,
it says there in verse 13,
And he goeth up into a mountain,
and calleth unto him whom he would,
and they came unto him.
And he ordained 12 that they should be with him,
that he might send them forth to preach,
and to have power to heal sicknesses,
and to cast out devils.
And Simon he surnamed Peter,
and James the son of Zebedee,
and John the brother of James,
he surnamed Boanerges, which is the sons of thunder.
And Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew,
and Matthew, and Thomas, and James,
the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddeus,
and Simon the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot,
which also betrayed him, and they went into in house.
So really, you have the 12 disciples being named here,
but I really want to just focus in on verses 13 and 14,
and just make some application about
what it means to be a disciple, okay?
There's a difference between being saved,
being a believer, being somebody who is a child of God,
and actually being a disciple of Christ.
There's a very, I believe, clear distinction
made in the gospels by Christ himself between the two,
and it's important that we, as God's people today,
as New Testament Bible believers,
understand that this difference still exists,
that not everybody that professes Christ
is necessarily going to be a disciple of Christ.
Being a disciple means that you're going to be
under the tutelage of Christ,
you're going to be a pupil of Christ,
you're going to walk a little more closely to Christ
and do those things which are commanded you of Christ,
whereas others will not.
And those that do not, choose not to do those things,
would not be considered disciples,
although they are still saved, okay?
We understand, again, salvation is by grace through faith,
not of works, lest any man should boast
that it's a free gift, that we don't have to work
or earn our way to heaven, okay?
But if we want to live a life that is pleasing unto God,
if we want God's blessing on our life,
then we must do those things which are commanded of us,
and there's quite a bit that is commanded of us as disciples.
Now, I'm only going to look at, really,
just two things about discipleship this morning.
It's not going to be an exhaustive list
when it comes to all the many details
that we could preach about discipleship, okay?
There's many things we could say
about discipleship this morning,
but I'm just going to lift a couple things
out of this passage and make application this morning.
The first thing I want to point out,
it says in verse 13,
and he goeth up into a mountain.
It's an interesting detail.
You know, why are we getting the geography?
Why are we getting this detail
that Jesus specifically went up into a mountain?
Does it matter where he stood?
Does it matter if he preached down in the plain?
Does it matter if he preached up in the mountain?
You know, what does the elevation have to do with it?
Well, you know, everything that's in the scripture
is there for a reason.
I believe often it gives us details
into the chronology of scripture.
We can kind of piece things together,
but also it opens up the Bible for application,
and the application I would like to make this morning
is that going up into a mountain is hard, okay?
Now, probably everyone,
I'm sure I haven't upset anybody by saying that.
Everyone would probably agree with me.
That if you try to climb a steep slope,
it's not easy, right?
We have several such slopes in our region, right?
We have all these different mountains around us,
and some of them are very difficult climbs.
We think about what's the one right back here?
I'm trying, was it Tumamoc?
I want to say Tillamook, okay?
But that's a cheese.
That's an ice cream, right?
So you can tell how I'm spending my time, right?
But it's Tumamoc, not Tillamook, okay?
Don't tell people you're going to climb Tillamook, right?
You're going to think you're in the frozen, you know,
the freezer section at Walmart, okay?
It's Tumamoc.
You know, we've walked as a church.
Several of us have gone up there.
That's a tough walk, and it's a few miles.
I think it's about three miles out and back,
and it's a steep climb, isn't it?
The point is, and you say, wow,
I came to church and I learned
that going up a grade is difficult, all right?
But there's application here,
that this is where Jesus went when he called his disciples,
meaning that not everybody is going to have the fortitude,
not everybody is going to have the character,
not everyone is going to have the discipline
or the desire even to make that climb to discipleship,
to be one of the 12.
Jesus is going up in elevation.
He's going to a place that's a little bit more difficult
to get to, and then he's calling unto him whom he would,
and the men that he's calling are the type of people
he knew that would be willing to make that climb, okay?
Discipleship is not easy, and we have to remember
at this point, he's being followed by great multitudes.
Many people know about Jesus.
We looked at it last week, earlier in the chapter,
when they're coming from Tyre and Sidon
and the regions beyond Jordan.
People are coming from all around the area.
They're thronging Jesus.
I mean, he's getting to the point
where he can't even preach publicly in some places
because he's just being overrun by the masses of people,
and that's great.
That's that ministry that we're here to do
to preach the gospel to every creature,
but when it comes to discipleship,
it's a very select few of people
that Jesus chooses to make his disciples,
and in order to do that, he goes up into a mountain
because he knows that though the masses
are nice and comfortable down on the plain,
though the masses, they love the healing.
They love the preaching.
They love all the miracles that he's doing.
Not everyone's going to like the idea
of having to put some effort into the Christian life
in order to be blessed by God,
in order to be a disciple,
so he goes up into a mountain,
and he calleth unto him whom he would,
and they came unto him.
I would suggest this morning,
or rather, I would just tell you
that going up into a mountain,
this tells us that a disciple is an advanced believer, okay?
It's not that only believers are disciples.
It's just that not every believer is a disciple.
The disciple, the one who's willing to make that climb,
is the advanced believer, the one who wants to go
beyond just salvation in their Christian life.
Many, not everyone is willing to climb that mountain.
You know, that's one thing I've noticed
being in ministry and throughout my Christian life,
and other people, and I've seen it in myself too,
that there's times where we just would rather say,
you know, that's not for me.
I understand that's what the Bible says.
I understand that's what God commands.
I understand this is thus saith the Lord,
but, you know, it's just not for me,
and when we're doing that, what we're saying is,
you know, I don't want to be that advanced believer.
I don't want to follow Christ
as closely as some other people would,
and when you start to look at it that way,
that's when we start to really narrow the field
of who is a disciple and who isn't.
It's a very narrow field.
Another example of this is when Moses went into the mountain.
Remember that?
When he went up there 40 days and 40 nights,
and he was given the law.
It was written with the finger of God.
You know, there was one guy that got to go up there
all the way and got to see that glory.
You know, I believe that was because
Moses had a certain character.
There was a reason why God chose a man like Moses
because he had the character to do what needed to be done.
Notice also there in verse 13,
he goeth up into a mountain.
He said, if you want to be my disciple,
you're going to have to put some effort into it.
You're going to have to want to go beyond
just what the typical believer is willing to do.
You're actually going to have to put some effort
into this thing to get to where I am at this elevation.
He goeth up into a mountain,
and he calleth unto him whom he would,
and they came unto him.
They came unto him.
Discipleship, folks, takes effort.
You know, that's why not everybody wants to do it.
We as human beings, we're just geared
to follow the path of least resistance.
We just want to, you know, swim downstream.
You know, we don't want to be that salmon, right,
that swims upstream.
I know I'm living in a place
that really doesn't know much about aquatic life, okay?
But where I'm from, you know,
we would have the salmon come into the Great Lakes,
and then they would come into the inlets,
the different bays,
and then they would actually start swimming up,
you know, the different streams and lakes,
even tiny little, you know, just small creeks
that would flow into the bay would have salmon
going up to lay their eggs, right?
So, you know, there's an illustration for you.
You know, what do you want to be in the Christian life?
You want to just be that bottom-feeding carp
that just kind of wades down the river
and eventually just kind of rots?
Or do you want to be the mighty salmon, you know,
who swims against the current,
who goes upstream, you know, and lays eggs, right?
Now, again, I'm being figurative, okay?
But actually produces something, right?
It's the one that's going against the current
that goes upstream that goes against the resistance
and actually accomplishes something,
leaves something behind, right?
You know, it's kind of a silly illustration.
I'll give you that.
But, you know, we can make an application.
Those of us that desire to go upstream,
to be disciples, to go up the mountain,
we will leave something behind.
It's not in vain.
And we'll see here in a minute,
a lot of it has to do with preaching the gospel, okay?
That's what we're going to leave behind.
That's the legacy, salvation, people getting saved,
people getting pulled out of hell.
That's part of discipleship.
But they came unto him where he was.
That tells us that discipleship takes effort.
Go to Luke chapter 14.
Luke chapter 14, a very familiar parable,
but we'll read it again, Luke chapter number 14.
Not everyone is going to be a disciple in the Christian life.
It's for the advanced believer.
It's for the one who has the desire.
It's for the one that's willing to put
in the effort that's necessary.
Luke 14, if you look at verse 25,
and there went great multitudes with him,
and he turned and said unto them,
if any man come to me and hate not his father
and his mother and wife and children
and brethren and sisters,
yea, in his own life also he cannot be my disciple.
So Jesus, you know, doesn't sound to me
like he's very seeker sensitive, does he?
He's got this great multitude.
He says, well, let me just turn around
and thin the crowd a little bit.
And he says, if you're not willing to hate everybody else,
I mean, what relationship did he miss?
In your own life also, if you're not willing
to hate all those things, you can't be my disciple.
And obviously, you know, we don't have
to literally hate people.
But our love for Christ ought to be so great
that any other love just pales in comparison.
And I've explained this elsewhere in other sermons as well.
Obviously, he's speaking to a particular group
of people when he's on the earth.
During Christ's earthly ministry,
you had three years to be a part of it.
That's it.
If you want to follow Christ literally at this time,
you're gonna have to forsake all these other relationships.
You have to go.
Jesus reiterates that several times in the gospels.
He tells some people, hey, let the dead bury the dead.
And one says to him, let me go first and bury my father.
And he says, let the dead bury the dead.
I'm only here for three years.
If you want to follow me, now's the time.
And I've mentioned also that that's not really,
we're probably never gonna be called to that, obviously,
because we're not gonna follow Christ literally on earth,
like his literal ministry on earth.
In fact, many of us probably won't be called
to sacrifice much.
Look at verse 27.
And whosoever doth not bear his cross and come after me,
he cannot be my disciple.
Look, not everyone's cross is going to have to be
to forsake all these other relationships.
Obviously, in that time and place,
that was a necessity.
That was obligatory.
That was non-optional.
That wasn't something you could say,
well, yeah, maybe I will, maybe I won't.
No, if you wanted to literally follow Christ
and witness those miracles firsthand,
you had to be willing to forsake all these relationships.
That was their cross.
But today, we have our own cross, don't we?
I'm not gonna take the time to go through
and maybe identify every single cross
that you might potentially have to bear
in order to be a disciple of Christ.
You probably know what it is.
It might be running through your mind right now.
That's your cross.
We all have a cross to bear if we want to follow Christ.
Discipleship takes sacrifice.
It doesn't come easy.
You gotta go up the mountain.
You gotta bear the cross.
And yours alone to bear.
Whosoever did not bear his cross to come after me,
he cannot be my disciple.
It's not like Jesus is trying to build a crowd.
He's got his multitude, and he's like, all right,
let me just turn around and give you a hard saying.
Then he gives this example.
He gives this illustration, this parable.
He says in verse 28,
For which of you, intending to build a tower,
sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost,
whether he hath sufficient to finish it?
Lest, happily, after he hath laid the foundation,
he is not able to finish it,
all that behold him begin to mock him,
saying, This man began to build,
and was not able to finish.
So they're making fun of this guy
because he didn't sit down and do what?
Count the cost.
And this is all in the context of discipleship.
Look, if you really want to follow Christ,
if you actually really want to be a disciple of Jesus Christ,
count the cost.
It will cost you something.
Isn't that the context here?
Isn't that what he's saying?
You better figure out that this isn't going to be easy.
This is going to cost you something to follow me.
And you know what?
It might cost us relationships.
People might find out, Oh, you go to that church?
And say, I don't want anything to do with you
if you go to that church.
Oh, you listen to that preacher?
Well, I don't want anything to do with you
if you listen to that preacher.
Well, that's what you believe?
Well, I don't want anything to do with you
if you believe that.
You know, I wouldn't be the only person in the room
with that testimony, I'm sure.
You know, but that is the cost.
Look, I'm not saying it has to be that way.
I'm just saying it might be.
There's potential.
I mean, the Bible, I don't know if you've noticed,
is kind of a divisive book.
It kind of draws a line in the sand, doesn't it?
There's not a lot of gray area in the Bible.
It's thus saith the Lord.
And I don't know if you've noticed this,
the world isn't exactly embracing scripture today.
This isn't exactly, you know, a Christian nation
that we're living in on the whole.
I know there's a lot of people out there
that claim the name of Christ
and would identify as a Christian
because after all, well, they're not Muslim.
Are you a Christian?
Well, I'm not a Muslim.
You know, that's what it takes to be a Christian today,
just not be something else, right?
But even amongst Christians today,
they're not exactly throwing their arms around the scripture
and holding this up as their banner
and saying this is what I believe.
So it might cost you something to be a disciple.
In fact, I guarantee you will.
And that's the warning that Jesus is giving us.
He gives us another example where what king
going to war against another king
sitteth not down first and consulteth
whether he be able with 10,000 to meet him,
that cometh against him were with 20,000,
or else while the other is yet a great way off,
he sendeth him passage and desireth conditions of peace.
Say, are you really sure that this has anything
to do with discipleship?
I mean, what does, do you really think this,
you think Jesus is really trying to apply this
to following Christ, to being a disciple?
Well, look at verse 33.
So likewise, meaning in the same manner
as the two examples that I just gave you,
whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath
cannot be my disciple.
Discipleship is for the advanced believer.
It's for people who want it.
It's for people that are willing to go into Christ
wherever he is and forsake all else.
And really, this morning, again, talking about discipleship,
I really just want to, using the text where we are in Mark,
just give you really two terms of discipleship this morning.
And if you would go back to Mark,
go back to Mark chapter number three where we were.
It says again in verse 13,
And he goeth up into a mountain,
and he called unto him whom he would.
And they came unto him, and he ordained 12
that they should be with him,
that he might send them forth to preach.
There's two conditions here.
There's two purposes behind discipleship.
He ordains the 12.
He ordained 12.
They came unto him, but he ordained them.
Let me point this out about discipleship before I give you
the two terms or obligations in this text.
Jesus determines the terms, not us.
He ordained them.
He said, you can be my disciple.
You came to where I am.
Here's how it's going to be.
They didn't get up the mountain and say, okay, Jesus,
I'll be a disciple.
Here's my contract, and I want you to read this carefully.
Pay attention to fine print.
I put some clauses in here that I'm hoping that you will
observe and respect.
I'm coming to you on my terms.
When it comes to discipleship,
we come to God, and it's on his terms.
He determines what discipleship looks like.
We don't get to decide that.
Again, we could do a whole series on discipleship.
But we're just going to look at the text here and say,
what are the two terms that Jesus has for discipleship?
What's the purpose that he has for these 12 men that had
the character and the fortitude to climb up the mountain
to be where he is, who wanted to go above the masses,
be more than just a believer, but be a follower,
a disciple of Christ?
What were the things that Jesus had prepared for them?
Really, it's just two things here, Bible reading and prayer.
Bible reading, well, actually, it's three things.
Bible reading and prayer, we'll just call that first thing
devotions, okay?
That's the first one, Bible reading and prayer.
It's a two for one in that one.
Because notice in the text, it says he ordained 12 that
they should what?
Be with him.
They came up there so that they could be with him.
You know what one of the great things about discipleship
is?
You have a closer relationship with Christ than people
who are not.
I'm not saying God loves you more.
I'm not saying that God values you more or that you're
more important than people who choose not to be
disciples.
God still loves them.
God died for them.
They are still God's children.
We should never look down on anybody that maybe isn't
wanting to follow Christ in the way that we are as his
disciples.
But the fact is, is that when you're a disciple of
Christ, you're closer to Christ.
I mean, just the text gives us the physical proximity.
He's up in the mountain.
It's only 12 other guys that are up there with him.
The multitude's way down there.
They're doing this.
Oh, is that Jesus?
Is that him up there?
I really love Jesus.
He's way up there.
The disciples, the ones that have the character, they're
right there.
They can reach out and handle him.
They can reach out and touch him.
They're closer to God than the others.
This is Bible reading and prayer.
Obviously, we're not going to get into physical
proximity of the Lord today.
But we can have the spiritual closeness with God
through Bible reading and prayer.
And I know these are things, especially Bible reading,
that I don't want to use the word harp, but that's
probably how some people in the room feel that I'm
harping, that I'm nagging, that I'm pestering.
But I'm really just trying to exhort and encourage
and maybe rebuke a little bit when it comes to this
topic of Bible reading.
I ring this bell often for a reason because this is
how you get close to God is through Bible reading.
This is how God is going to speak to you.
This is very important to understand because there's
a lot of bizarre teaching out there today as to how
God talks to us.
If you would, go to John chapter number eight.
Again, keep something in Mark.
We'll be there again this morning.
But go to John chapter number eight.
Again, there's bizarre teaching out there.
I don't know how many times I've heard it in my
Christian life, well, God told me.
Who's ever heard somebody say, well, God told me?
And then they don't quote a Bible verse.
They don't say, well, God told me in the book of
chapter and verse.
God told me something they just thought up.
And you kind of scratch your head.
You wonder why that is.
And, you know, sometimes, I'm not saying in every
case, but sometimes I've kind of wondered if maybe
that person's got a little bit of a psychological
problem of some kind.
Maybe they're suffering from delusions of religious
grandeur, which is a thing.
Well, God talks to me, you know.
Well, God talks to me, too, but it's right here.
But if I say that, then all I'm saying is that God's
saying the same thing to me that he's saying to all
of you.
And really, I'm not so special anymore, am I?
Because what's so special about that?
I mean, other than the fact that it's God talking to
us, that's pretty special.
But if he's saying the same thing to me that he's
saying to you through his word, then, you know,
it's a level playing ground.
But what I can get up and say, well, you know, I am
a man of God here, and I'm a little bit more
spiritual than everybody else, and God speaks to me
in a way that he doesn't speak to the rest of you.
And that's out there, folks.
And the people that sincerely, that respect that
person enough to believe that, what they start to do
is going, well, why doesn't God talk to me the way he
talks to him?
And they start to think less of themselves.
They say, well, I must not be that important.
I must not be that special.
No, the problem is is the guy that's saying that is
wrong.
That's not how God speaks to you.
Okay, well, he's saying prove it.
Look at John 8, verse 30.
As he spake these words, many believed on him.
Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him,
if ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples
indeed, and ye shall know the truth, and the truth
shall make you free.
We know the truth through his word.
We are his disciples through his word.
Go over to Hebrews chapter number 1.
Hebrews chapter number 1.
Look, God, what more, as the song says, what more can
he say than to you he hath said?
Unto you, unto whom Jesus hath fled.
I know I'm getting that wrong.
But the verse, and it's okay to get the lyrics of him
wrong, okay?
It's not scripture, usually, right?
But what more does God need to say than in 1,189
chapters?
Why do we need to put more words into God's mouth?
I mean, it's borderline.
I mean, some people would just say it is blasphemous
to sit there and say, you know, to go out on a marquee
on the road in front of your church, go out on the
church's marquee and write, you know, put a quote up
and then go, God, when it's not even a Bible verse.
I'd be very careful about putting words into God's
mouth in any way, shape, or form.
Well, God told me, well, did he really, though?
Or did you, you know, eat a bad ham sandwich or
something?
Did you stay up too late?
You know, or do you just not understand how God
actually speaks to us, which is through his word?
Hebrews chapter 1, verse 1.
God, who at sundry times and in diverse manners spake
in times past unto the fathers by the prophets.
In diverse manners through many different people,
through many different prophets, God spoke spake in
times past.
He spoke by the prophets.
That's how God spoke with man.
That's how he used to communicate.
Through the prophets in times past, right?
Half in these last days, that's the days we're living
in, spoken unto us by his son.
God has communicated his message to us through Jesus
Christ and through his word.
That's why if we continue in his word, then we're his
disciples.
If we continue in his word, then we shall know the
truth.
If we continue in his word, then he has spoken in the
Bible.
Go over to 2 Peter chapter 1.
I'm going to take the time to look at these.
This is important.
Because I don't ever want somebody in this church to
feel like they're on the outs with God, like somebody
else has the corner on communicating with God that
they're kind of excluded from.
Like that's just for a special class of people or
something.
We can all come boldly to the throne of grace to find
mercy and help in time of need.
He's my high priest.
He's your high priest.
We all have access to the same throne.
We can go and make our prayers and supplications
known unto him.
And look, God will respond through this book.
You're in 2 Peter 1.
Look at verse 19.
We have also a more sure word of prophecy where until
you do well that you take heed unto a light that
shineth in a dark place.
What a great illustration of the Bible, that word of
prophecy.
It's a light that is shining in a dark place, a
spiritually bleak, dark world.
We have this wonderful light to guide us and to lead
us called the Bible, this word of prophecy.
As unto a light that shineth in a dark place until the
day dawn and the day star arise in your hearts,
knowing this first that no prophecy of the Scripture
is of any private interpretation.
But the prophecy came not in old time by the will of
men, but holy men of God spake as they were moved by
the Holy Ghost.
Go over to John chapter 16.
John chapter 16.
I should add to keep something there in John.
John chapter number 16.
Look, Jesus ordained 12.
12 men to be his disciples who had the character, who
had the desire to be his disciples that were willing
to go up in that mountain.
And he ordained that they should be with him.
Meaning they should be spending time with God.
Look, if you're not spending time with God, you're not
a disciple.
You're not.
How do you sit there and say, I'm a disciple?
When you don't pray, when you don't read your Bible,
when you don't give God any time.
I mean, that's what a disciple does.
They follow closely.
They sit at the feet of their instructor, and they
have the discipline to be a disciple.
We can't call ourselves disciples if we're not
reading and not praying.
The first term is that they should be with him, spending
time with him.
How do we do that today?
By reading our Bibles and praying.
Look at John chapter 16, verse 13.
Howbeit when he, the spirit of truth, is come, he will
guide you into all truth, for he shall not speak of
himself.
Meaning he's not saying that, and he's talking about
the Holy Spirit here.
He's not saying that the Holy Spirit isn't going to
talk about the Holy Spirit because the Bible talks
about the Holy Spirit.
But he's saying the things that the Holy Spirit aren't
going to be things that he just makes up.
It's going to be the things that he's going to be
reiterating what God has already said.
This is the ministry of the Holy Spirit.
This is why it's important to read your Bible, to
memorize Bible.
To know the scriptures, because that's what God is
going to bring to remembrance.
That's the way he says, and he goes on and says,
for he shall speak not of himself, but whatsoever he
shall hear, that shall he speak, for he will show you
things to come.
And he will bring to remembrance whatsoever things
I have told you, is what Jesus said.
The Holy Spirit would bring to remembrance whatsoever
things I have told you.
Not new things.
He's not going to speak of himself.
It's not going to come from him.
He's going to be the one that's bringing these things
to remembrance, but it's going to be the things that
Christ has spoken.
You know, when we're trying to make a decision, when
we're praying, when we're communicating with God, and
a scripture pops into our mind, that's God talking to
you.
And when you're reading your Bible, and a verse just
hits you, and it's just exactly what you needed to
hear, it convicts you, it encourages you, it draws you
closer to God, that's how God speaks to you.
That's the power of the word of God.
It's a book unlike any other book.
It's a spiritual book.
It's the literal word of God.
That's what it is.
And God speaks to us through his word.
Those are the things that God is going to bring to
remembrance, the things that he's already spoken in
this book.
That's why he said, saying to them through thy truth,
thy word is truth.
So that's the first term of discipleship that we see in
the text.
Again, we're not going over all the minuscule details of
discipleship this morning.
If you want to go back to Mark, back to Mark 3, we'll
look at the second term.
So what's the first term?
He says you have to come to where I am, and once you're
here, you're with me.
If you want to be a disciple this morning, you're going
to have to put some effort into it.
You're going to have to climb that proverbial mountain.
And look, I get it, sometimes Bible reading can be a bit
of a mountain to climb.
It takes discipline to subdue the flesh.
We get up, we're in a hurry, we just want to run out the
door and get to work on time.
We slept in.
We still need to make sure we're squeezing in that 15,
20 minutes of Bible reading.
Get some prayer in there.
Maybe it's listening to the audio Bible on your commute.
And sometimes people, they bring this up when it comes to
Bible reading.
Does listening to the Bible count?
Well, it does if your alternative is nothing at all.
What's the alternative?
Well, reading.
Well, that's not always the case.
Some people, it's either reading or nothing.
Well, how about listening to it on your commute?
I mean, get it in somewhere.
Get your Bible reading in.
It doesn't take a lot to get through the Bible one time
in a year.
And don't do it just because, you know, I've got to go to
church with a deacon and he's going to harp at us about
Bible reading.
This is how God speaks to us.
I don't know how to make it any more important than that.
I mean, how more can I, what more do I need to say to
emphasize the importance of Bible reading?
It's literally how God speaks to his disciples.
I mean, did we not just see that?
He's going to bring to remembrance those things which I
have spoken unto you.
He has spoken unto us in these last days by his son.
So that's the first one.
You know, and you praying, that's you talking back to
God, okay?
The second term for these men is that it says there in
verse 14, and he ordained 12 that they should be with
him, right?
And that he might send them forth to preach.
So the two terms are you're going to be with me, you're
going to spend time with me.
We're going to have fellowship.
They're doing it literally in his presence.
Today we do that through Bible reading, through prayer.
But the second term is that they're going to be sent
forth to preach.
It's not just hang out with Jesus and do nothing.
It's hang out with me, learn some things, and then go
out there and tell other people.
And that's why we emphasize soul winning so much in this
church, because the Bible emphasizes soul winning.
The Bible emphasizes the preaching of the gospel to the
lost quite a bit.
I don't know how to, you know, I don't know how to put
a number on that for you.
You know, I haven't figured out the percentages.
I don't know what the ratio is, but anyone who's read
their Bible knows that it talks about it a lot.
Go to, go to Mark 16.
Let's jump to the end of the book.
I know we're going chapter by chapter, verse by verse
of the book of Mark.
So spoiler alert, okay, for anyone that hasn't read the
book of Mark, I'm about to give, I'm going to give away
the ending, okay?
You know, spoiler alert, Jesus dies, right?
They bury him and then he resurrects from the dead.
Okay, I'm sure everybody knows that.
But at the end of the book, you know, his parting words
before he sends unto the Father, you know, he gives a
commandment to his disciples.
He says in Mark 16, verse 14, afterward he appeared on
the 11 as they sat at meat and abraded them with their
unbelief and hardness of heart because they believed
not them which had seen him after he was risen.
Verse 15, and he said unto them, go ye into all the world
and preach the gospel to every creature, period.
So he's going to tell the church what to do.
Like, I'm going to leave.
Here's what I want you to do.
Christ's parting commandment.
And this wasn't a new concept to them.
This is something that he did.
After, you know, in Mark, you know, where he's ordaining
the 12, he eventually sends them forth two by two into
every city and place whether he himself would come to
preach the gospel.
You know, they go out and preach and then they return
to him, okay?
So this isn't like a new concept to the disciples at
this time, but he's saying, this is what you're here to
do.
This is the ministry that I'm leaving to you.
This is the ministry of reconciliation that he has
committed unto us.
He's made us ambassadors for Christ on earth, okay?
Nobody else can preach the gospel, folks.
The Muslims aren't preaching it.
The Mormons aren't preaching it.
Jehovah Witnesses aren't preaching it.
They've got another Jesus.
They've got another gospel which is not another.
It's a false gospel.
It's a false Christ.
When you're denying the deity of Christ, you're denying
the blood atonement of Christ, you're not a Christian,
you're not preaching the gospel.
Who can preach the gospel?
God's people, those that have believed the gospel.
Nobody else will do it.
That's why he came to his disciples and said this.
He didn't go to just, you know, you know, just a bunch
of unsaved people and say, hey, go preach the gospel.
It wouldn't work, okay?
They don't even believe it.
Jump down to verse 19 of Mark 16.
So then after he had Lord spoke in him, he was received
up to the hand of him and he went and sat on the right
hand of God.
And I know I pointed this out more than once behind
this pulpit.
But I'll point it out again.
I mean, get the picture here.
This is what he's saying as he's ascending into heaven,
right?
If you wanted to get someone's attention, levitating
is a good way of doing it, right?
I wish I could do it.
You know, maybe we should rig something up here.
Or if all of a sudden I can just, this is up, you know,
and you might go, well, he's on a wire.
Yeah, but you'd still pay more attention.
You know, if I was just swinging up here, you know,
like, well, I preached in a full body harness, right?
No one would be nodding off.
Nobody would be looking at their phone.
Everyone, I'd have your, you know, full attention.
We should probably try it.
We've got the clearance here, okay?
I've got a little work to do on my end before we get there.
What if I just stood on the pulpit and started preaching?
Right?
So he's doing this, there's like this physical thing
that Jesus is doing where he's like ascending.
That's how I picture it, right?
He's like literally ascending up into heaven
as he's saying, go ye into all the world
and preach the gospel to every creature.
Because he's emphasizing it, right?
It's not like Jesus just kind of mildly, you know,
just said that over a meal, you know,
just in the middle of a conversation.
Oh, yeah, by the way, before I forget,
don't forget to preach the gospel to every creature.
Anyway, John, what were you saying?
You know, then later he goes and just goes up into heaven.
No, he's ascending under the right hand of the throne of God.
And while he's, you know, just floating up,
he's going to all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.
Why? Because he wants their full attention.
He wants them to hear this.
He wants them to understand this is what you're here to do,
to preach the gospel.
Now, who's he saying this to?
Disciples.
He didn't get all the masses together again.
He didn't go and get a whole bunch of people,
all the people that were thronging him
and asking for the healing and asking for the bread
and wanting to see a miracle.
People that were grateful for his ministry.
He didn't get all of them and say this to them.
He said this to his disciples.
Very small group of people. Why?
Because those are the only ones that are going to do it.
Because, you know, you'll waste your breath on people that don't want to do it.
And this is, you know, this is just a reality of ministry.
There's some people that will just never do what they're supposed to do.
You know, that's just human nature.
There's some people, it doesn't matter how much you point it out,
soul winning, soul winning, swollen, preaching, preaching the gospel,
reached a loss, reached a loss.
They'll just say, well, you know, I'm just too busy.
I'm too tired. I don't have time. Maybe later.
And it's like, well, you know, it seems like it's kind of an important thing in the Christian life.
That's probably why Christ chose to tell it to his disciples and not just anybody.
He sent them forth to preach.
That's soul winning, folks. I don't know else to say it.
He that win his souls is wise.
And I love how this ends here in verse 19 of Mark 16.
So then after that, the Lord had spoken to them.
He was received up into heaven and sat on the right hand of God
and then went forth. Excuse me.
And they went forth and preached the Lord working with them.
When we go out and preach the gospel, we go out there and we knock these doors
and we ask people if they're 100 percent sure if they die today, they go to heaven
and offer, give them opportunity to hear a clear presentation of the gospel.
We're not alone.
You know, yesterday, hopefully this doesn't discourage people from participating
in the east side blitz that we're doing over the next couple of weeks.
But yesterday we went out for several hours.
You know how many salvations we got?
You know, but that says more about this area than it does us, does it?
You know, and I'm not look, we still someone's still got to go preach the gospel.
There were seeds planted.
But, you know, and you say, well, did you get all did you get all down in the mouth about it?
Did you get all downtrodden? Were you all disappointed?
Did you say, well, that's the point, throw your hands up?
No, I had a good time.
I mean, finding that Chicago style, you know, Philly cheesesteak and hot dog place was, you know, that helped a lot.
Good news and bad news, folks, the Hawaiian barbecue didn't work out.
I'm not taking it turns out it was a bar serving Hawaiian barbecue.
Can't tell that on Google.
You know, then you get there and like, I'm not going to explain these charges to pastor.
You know, what what's this, you know, a hundred dollar tab at a bar?
It was barbecue, I swear.
I got witnesses, you know, like a bunch of fundamental Baptist walking.
Like I said, well, I'll go look. I'll just go look.
And I went like this. I said, no.
You know, because it smelled like booze and it was it was a bar.
That was the bad news.
The good news is we found Big D's, right, formerly known as Luke's.
And he's got the real Vienna sausages. He's got, you know, the non GMO beef.
I mean, I had a Philly cheesesteak like like it was like you dropped on the table.
It was like a fud. I was like, that's my kind of food because, you know, some of these Philly cheese places, they really skimp.
You know, it's like there's like a like a half inch or two inches of bread on either end and just no meat in it.
It's like, what's this? You know, anyways, what were we talking about?
Oh, yeah. The East Side soul winning blitz. Right.
So that helped. You know, even without that meal, you know, let's say we ended up just going to like, you know, eating kale or something.
We just went to Panda, ate a bowl of super greens and white rice.
You know, I still would feel I would be a little disappointed in the meal. Be honest.
But it wouldn't affect my mood out soul winning.
You know, because I'm not going out there and I'm going out and they expect expectation that people are going to get saved.
But I also understand that, you know, the world is growing colder and colder towards the things of God,
that people are comfortable and uninterested in the things of God,
that there's going to be whole neighborhoods that we knock where no one's interested, doesn't want to hear it.
But the good news is, is that when I'm out there obeying the command as God's disciple, he's working with me.
He's working with me. And he's saying, hey, let's just knock these doors and get these done so I can get you on to the next place.
And that's why I don't worry about, you know, some people get so hung up on you.
Well, you know, what about this? Well, this person's got, you know, a locked gate and barbed wire and pit bulls in there.
How are we going to reach him? It's like, we're not. You know, God's working with me.
If he knew that, I mean, he wants that person to hear the gospel, but he knows whether or not that person's even open to hearing it.
He would have left the gate open and, you know, put the dogs to sleep or something. I don't know.
Like God can engineer circumstances. God can make it happen. I've seen it. I've heard people testify that.
I mean, we had a guy who was going to church here for a while.
He found our invite and the only reason we were able to do it is because that one day he forgot to lock his gate behind him.
So I always close and lock the gate. But that day I left it open and that was the one day we were there to leave the invite.
And he came to church for a while. I believe he's living up in Phoenix somewhere now.
So I'm just saying that. I'm using it as an example. God is working with us when we're out there.
So if people get saved or not, it's like, well, God knew that. He's working with me. I'm still his disciple.
I'm still reading my Bible. I'm still praying. I'm still making fellowship with God. I'm still preaching the gospel.
I'm still doing what I'm supposed to be doing as God's child.
But it's not an optional activity for disciples, soul winning.
Because you guys are doing that. Good for you. Right?
They'll never go. They'll never want to go preach the gospel for them.
And he ordains them that they should be with him. And then he sends them forth to preach.
The discipleship this morning. I'll just remind us, and if you would, go to 1 Timothy. I'm almost done.
I'll just remind us, you know, we saw this in Mark, but also in Matthew, when the disciples are called,
Jesus says something very specific to Peter and to Andrew, his brother.
When he's walking by the sea of Galilee in Mark Matthew chapter four, excuse me,
he saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishers.
This was their job. And he saith unto them, Follow me, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.
He didn't say, follow me, and you might turn into a fisher of men.
If you decide, that's your thing. If you decide that you're into that.
That's your gift. No, he said, if you follow me, you will be a fisher of men. I will make you one.
If we're a disciple, if we're following Christ, we will preach the gospel.
And not just because we want to, or feel we're not doing it, and if we're not doing it, we're not disciples.
We can't say we are. We can say we're saved. We can say, I believe the gospel, that God loves me.
Yes, you can say all that, but you can't say you're a disciple if you're not doing these things.
If you're not preaching, you're not a disciple. Period.
I mean, it's really clear in the scripture. You know, it's not a matter of people don't get it.
They just don't understand. It's like, no, because you go and preach the gospel to every preacher.
Well, what did he mean by that? It meant as you live your life. It's a bunch of nonsense.
It's a highly ... parish, you know, you just preaching occasionally as you live your life to your close relatives or something is not going to get every man saved, which is the will of God.
He is not willing that any should perish. Do you see what I'm saying? Think about it.
If God wants the gospel preached to every preacher, wouldn't just, you know, then saying, well, just preach to the few people that you know as you go.
Wouldn't that be highly ineffective when trying to accomplish that goal of preaching the gospel to every preacher?
It's highly inefficient, highly ineffective. So that can't be what that means as you go, as you live life.
No, it means make it a priority in life to preach the gospel, participate in soul winning, go out there and do it.
The more people that did it, the more that we would get done. So it's not a matter of getting it.
Because I have, I've scratched my head. I thought, why is it just some people just won't do it?
No matter how much I breathe down their necks or how much of a fire I try to light underneath of them.
They're just, they just don't do it. They do not understand, do they not get it?
Nope. You know what it is? It's a matter of priority. What's important to them?
And you can't say that you're a disciple when preaching the gospel is not a priority.
Because it's a priority for God. That's what he ordained his disciples to do.
Well, I'm a disciple of Christ, but I don't preach the gospel because it's not that important to me.
Words that a disciple would never say. Look at 1 Timothy chapter number two, verse three.
This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who have all men to be saved, all men.
And come unto the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, one meteor between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,
who gave himself a ransom for all to be testified in due time. Sounds like God wants everyone to get saved.
But Jesus isn't going to come down here and preach the gospel, folks.
Well, I mean, what did he do then? You know, why is he putting it on us?
Well, you know, he is the one that came down here and lived a perfect life and suffered and bled and died and rose again.
And now he's just saying, look, he's saying, will you just go tell people?
Will you just get together with your fellow church members who hopefully you can stand to be around for a few hours?
Have some fellowship and go eat some good food and preach the gospel. Will you do that for me?
Will you be my disciple and at least just go preach the gospel?
And look, I'm not saying me. I'm saying him. That's what he's saying.
Because I don't want people to ever get the idea that, you know, I'm emphasizing soul winning
or going out and preaching the gospel because I'm trying to build a church.
But that's not I'm not you know, we're not doing this to build the church. God is going to build the church.
I just trust him for that. And if he says it's only going to be this big, so be it.
And he says, you know, in time it's going to be two or three times as big. So be it.
I'll be honest. Lately, I'm kind of liking the size that it is. I'm just thinking, no, you know, I could I could handle this.
Phone doesn't ring that often. And look, I don't get the impression that you're bothering me.
You're never bothering me if you call. But I understand more people, more problems, because that's just part of being in ministry.
So it's kind of nice the size for me. You know, but then again, it's not about me, is it?
It's not about any one of us. It's about reaching. We want more people, obviously, so that we can do more work.
But let me just go on the record, be perfectly clear once more. We're not preaching the gospel to build the church.
We're going out on the highways and hedges that his house may be full in heaven.
OK, go to First Timothy chapter number four, First Timothy chapter number four.
You know, soul winning is not a church building tactic. That's not my philosophy.
Are there things that we could do to help encourage people to come? Yes, I get that.
But that's not the driving force behind preaching the gospel and soul winning, the door to door evangelism that we do here.
We do that because that's what we were sent to do, because that's what a disciple does. That's how you get people saved.
That's why we had two hundred ten salvations last year, record number of salvations because of disciples,
because of a small group of people who just faithfully, week in, week out, were just faithful when they didn't feel like it,
when it was hot, when they had other things to do, when they were busy, decided, you know what, I'm just going to be a disciple.
I'm going to go out and preach the gospel. That's how that many people got saved last year.
That's how it's going to happen this year and the year after that and the year after that and the year after that.
It's not a tactic to build a church. It's a rescue mission. That's what it is.
We're going out and plucking firebrands out of the fire. We are saving people from hell.
And if they never darken the door, if they never drop a dime in the plate, that's fine with me.
Because that's not why we're in it and that's not why we're doing it.
Look at First Timothy chapter number four, verse 10.
For therefore we both labor and suffer reproach because we trust in living God,
who is the savior of all men, especially of those that believe.
Why do we labor? Why do we suffer reproach even?
Because we trust in the living God who have all men to be saved.
That's what compels a disciple because they have a heart after God's own heart.
Because they have the same mission and priority that God does to save people from hell.
You know, I think sometimes people just won't do it. They'll just never be a disciple
because they just sit back and they think about what it's going to cost them and they should.
That's what we saw in Matthew. Count the cost of discipleship because there is one.
It is going to cost you some time. It is going to cost you some sweat.
It is going to cost you some Bible reading. It is going to cost you some prayer.
It is going to cost you some things to be a disciple. Yes, it's going to cost you something.
But, you know, some people they get just hung up on what it's going to cost them so then they go,
Well, it's just too much. I don't want to pay that.
You know, if that's you, here's what I would challenge you to do.
Rather than just sitting there wondering what's going to cost you,
consider what's going to cost somebody else if you don't go.
Consider what's going to cost somebody else if you don't go.
The price somebody else is going to have to pay because you don't want to pay the cost of being a disciple.
Now that's compelling.
You know, if you start to really meditate on that, you'll get over yourself.
You'll stop making excuses.
You'll stop being lazy about preaching the gospel.
When you start to think, Well, if I don't go, if I don't preach the gospel,
what will happen to the people that would get saved if someone came to their door?
We're not Calvinists here.
I'm not some Baptist who's like some kind of Calvinist in a cloak just going to lightly veil Calvinism.
Well, you know, if God wants those people to get saved, they will.
Well, I think we just read a couple of verses where God just said
He's not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.
When He said that, He wants all men to come to the knowledge of the truth who have all men to be saved.
So there we just blew your Calvinism right out of the water with the Bible.
God doesn't pick and choose people to get saved. He wants everyone to get saved.
Whosoever believeth in Him.
He gave Himself a ransom for all to be testified in due time.
There's one meter to a God-man, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all.
Not some. Not the elect.
So don't let this Calvinistic philosophy, this theology creep in and spoil you on soul winning.
And give you this attitude of, Well, you know, if God wants them to get saved, they just will.
Somebody. He'll get someone over there.
You know what? That someone just might be you.
That someone might just be you.
And if we just sit back and all we think about when it comes to disciples is, Well, it's just going to cost me this.
It's going to cost me that.
And we just think about everything that's going to cost you to be a disciple.
Think about what it's going to cost somebody else if you don't go.
You know, maybe we should come back tonight and just turn out the lights and I'll scream our heads off so we can get a picture of what hell's like.
You know, that's a sobering thought.
That's what's going to cost people if we don't go.
We're not trying to build a church. We're trying to keep people out of the torment and fiery eternal damnation of hell and God's wrath.
That's my motive.
I want you to go to one more place.
Go to Proverbs 15. This is a verse I think about often.
This is, we have to learn to see things this way.
The way God sees them.
You know, why is God so big on sending out the disciples?
Because he knows that if people don't get saved, where they're going.
Look at Proverbs 15, verse 11.
Hell and destruction are before the Lord.
You know, hell and destruction aren't just some place that God forgot about.
The Bible says that the people that are there are tormented in the presence of the lamb and in his angels.
Hell isn't just, you know, separation from God.
The Bible says God's there, like they're tormented in his presence.
That the coals, the fires of hell are kindled with his mouth.
That God, the Bible says that he prepared that place for the devil and his angels.
God made hell. He created it.
He stokes the flames of hell. He's a holy and righteous God.
And hell and destruction are before the eyes of the Lord.
But notice how the verse ends.
How much more than the hearts of the children of men.
God looks down and he sees men, he sees the children of men,
just going headlong, cascading like a waterfall of souls,
just pouring over into eternity, into the depths of hell,
and says, somebody go reach them.
Where are my disciples? Who's going to go pull these people out of hell?
And I know, you know, there's just this torrent of souls that are going to go by into hell,
and all we're trying to do is just grab a few on their way over.
We're just trying to throw out the lifeline to those that'll, you know, cling to it.
And not everyone's going to.
In fact, Jesus said, few there are that be saved.
Broad is the way, and wise the gate, which leadeth unto destruction,
and many there be which go in there at.
So, you know, should we just, is that him being pessimistic?
Should we just throw up our hands and say, well, you know, what can you do?
Well, maybe I can get a few.
Maybe I can get 30, maybe I can get 60, maybe I can get 100.
Maybe over the course of my lifetime I can get 1,000 souls out of hell.
And maybe I'd do that if I'd be willing to pay the cost of discipleship.
Maybe I'd be willing to pay that cost if I'd stop thinking about what it costs me,
and start thinking about what it's going to cost those people if we don't go.
Let's close in a word of prayer.
Dear Lord, again, thank you for the great opportunity that we have to be laborers together with you,
and Lord, to see you move and work in the hearts of people, Lord,
as we open up the word of God and preach them the gospel,
and to see souls get saved for eternity, to have that free gift,
to be sold, or seriously, to be sealed with the Holy Spirit until the day of their redemption,
Lord, I have great privilege to be an ambassador of Christ.
Lord, I thank you for the people in this church that have shouldered up under that burden
to preach the gospel to every creature, and Lord, I pray it help us to never grow weary in well-doing.
We ask these things in Christ's name. Amen.
We'll go ahead and sing one more song before we go.
We ask that we live on the road with the Lord.
We ask that we run out of time.
We ask that we stand on the road with the Lord.
Till Jesus come to our land.
Thank you for watching!