- All right, good morning, everyone.
Welcome to First Words Baptist Church.
Let's all find our seats.
Find a seat, grab a song book,
turn to song number 421.
Song number 421, the first Noel.
Let's all stand together for this first song,
if you're able.
421, strong on that first verse.
♪ The ♪
- It's another day.
I ask that you please bless this service,
bless every aspect of it, please.
Bless the singing that'd be pleasing to your ears,
that prepare our hearts for the preaching.
Most importantly, Lord,
please fill Pasadena with your spirit.
Preach as a sermon unto us
and give us your spirit in the congregation as well, Lord,
that we may take things to heart and leave your changed.
In Jesus' name we pray, amen.
You may be seated.
Please turn your song books to song number 422.
Just one page over.
Song number 422, "Thou Didst Leave Thy Throne."
422, all together, nice and strong in that first verse.
♪ Thou didst leave thy throne ♪
Welcome to First Works Baptist Church.
Just a few announcements here.
Before the kids come up actually,
but not before we sing our next song,
but the kids are gonna be coming up soon.
They did a fantastic job yesterday
for the Christmas program.
And so they're gonna be singing all of their songs
this morning, right after the announcements.
Of course, we welcome you to come back
to our Sunday evening service at 5 p.m.
And then we have our Thursday night Bible study
at seven o'clock with the exception of this week.
We're gonna be having our Christmas Eve service on Wednesday.
You see the so many times and teams listed there
in the middle, the list of expecting mothers,
if you can keep them in prayer.
And then we have the stats there for salvations
and baptisms for the month of November.
And praise God that we reached our 2000 goal this year.
We've actually exceeded it.
So praise God for that.
On the right hand side is the upcoming church events.
Tonight we have the Lord's Supper.
We're gonna be observing the Lord's Supper tonight
for our service.
And as we did on Easter Sunday,
we will be having the Lord's Supper
and there will be no preaching.
It'll just be the observance of the Lord's Supper
and then we'll be dismissing thereafter.
And so keep that in mind.
We have the Christmas Eve service,
as I mentioned, this Wednesday, December 24th.
New Year's Eve service on the 31st,
but next Sunday is gonna be somewhat of our vision service.
And so that morning,
we're gonna be handing out some materials for the new year,
talking about some goals that we want to accomplish
and achieve.
And so make sure you don't miss out on that.
And then we have a men's prayer meeting on Friday,
January 2nd, meeting at the building at 7 p.m.
And dinner will be provided.
So just keep that in mind.
Please make sure you silence your phones
during the preaching,
so as to not be a distraction during the service.
And at this time, they're gonna come,
the men are gonna come remove the pulpit
and the kids are gonna get ready to sing.
- Let's hear your song, Christmas Day.
- Verse.
- The entire chapter together,
as I'm beginning in verse number one, the Bible reads.
The end of the Sabbath has began to dawn
toward the first day of the week.
Came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulcher.
Behold, there was a great earthquake,
for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven,
came and rolled back the stone from the door
and sat upon it.
Countens was like lightning and his raiment white as snow.
For fear of him, the keepers did shake
and became his dead men.
And the angel answered and said unto the women,
fear not ye, for I know that ye seek Jesus,
which was crucified.
He is not here, for he is risen, as he said.
Come, see the place where the Lord lay.
And go quickly, and tell his disciples
that he is risen from the dead.
Behold, he goeth before you into Galilee.
There shall ye see him, lo, I have told you.
And they departed quickly from the sepulcher
with fear and great joy, and did run
to bring his disciples' word.
As they went to tell his disciples,
behold, Jesus met them, saying, all hail.
And they came and held him by the feet, and worshiped him.
Then said Jesus unto them, be not afraid.
Go, tell my brethren that they go into Galilee,
and there shall they see me.
Now when they were going, behold, some of the watch
came into the city and showed unto the chief priests
all the things that were done.
When they were assembled with the elders
and had taken counsel, they gave large money unto the soldiers,
saying, say ye, his disciples came by night
and stole him away while we slept.
And if this come to the governor's ears,
we will persuade him and secure you.
So they took the money and did as they were taught.
And this saying is commonly reported among the Jews
until this day.
Then the 11 disciples went away into Galilee,
into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them.
And when they saw him, they worshiped him.
But some doubted.
And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying,
all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost,
teaching them to observe all things
whatsoever I have commanded you.
Lo, I am with you all the way,
even as the end of the world.
Amen.
Pray, dear Lord God, thank you for this opportunity
to be in your house.
I ask that you would meet with us here now this morning.
Please bless Pastor Mina with the Holy Spirit
as he preaches, and in Jesus' name we pray, amen.
Amen.
Okay, we're in Matthew chapter 28 this morning.
Look down in your Bibles at verse 18.
It says, "And Jesus came and spake unto them,
saying, all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
"Go ye therefore and teach all nations,
"baptizing them in the name of the Father
"and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost,
"teaching them to observe all things,
"whatever I've commanded you,
"and lo, I am with you always,
"even unto the end of the world.
"Amen."
And the title of my sermon this morning
is Real Discipleship, Real Discipleship.
I wanna talk about the concept of Biblical discipleship,
real discipleship,
and give you what the Bible actually says
what this looks like.
Now, if we're to define what discipleship is,
we can say this discipleship is essentially the process
by which a saved individual is taught, disciplined,
and conformed to the image of Christ.
But not just that,
they're taught, disciplined, conformed to the image of Christ
and they're laboring to reproduce the same faith
and obedience in others, right?
In plain terms, discipleship is following Jesus Christ
and training others to do the same.
And it's of my persuasion that our goal should be
as a church to be a discipleship machine, right?
That we should seek to discipline others,
help others to be disciplined in the Christian faith,
teach others to observe all things
whatsoever Jesus Christ has commanded us
and to help them also to reproduce themselves,
to win others to Christ and to disciple them as well.
Now, unfortunately, a lot of churches
claim to do discipleship, but actually don't, right?
This is something that churches will promote
a lot of the times.
And one of the major culprits of this type of promotion
are mega churches, where they'll assert that they often,
they'll often assert that they do discipleship.
But when you actually read the fine print, right?
When you actually look at what they do,
when you actually look at what they teach,
they're simply reproducing a soft, weak,
biblically shallow, pseudo-Christian,
lame, soft, feminine type of Christian disciple as themselves.
So quite frankly, you know, they are offering discipleship.
They are, right?
They are reproducing themselves.
And so if people say, well, you're saying
we're not doing, no, you are doing discipleship.
We know that you are.
The problem is you're reproducing yourself.
And the problem with yourself is that
you're not necessarily a biblically sound Christian.
You're not reflecting what the Bible actually says
a Christian should look like.
And so that's a major problem.
You know, they're definitely reproducing themselves,
but they're not necessarily reproducing
disciples of Jesus Christ.
You know, when we produce disciples,
we wanna make sure that people are as close to the Bible
as we can possibly get them, right?
And so that's what I wanna talk about this morning
is what real discipleship looks like.
Now you're in Matthew 28.
I got six points for you this morning.
So we'll be out by about 1 p.m. or so.
At least you'll be really nice and hungry
by the time we get out.
And so, no, I'm just kidding.
We're not going to 1 p.m.
We're going to just 12, 30 or so.
I'm joking, all right?
Six points this morning.
Point number one, real discipleship requires,
listen to this, real conversion.
Real discipleship requires real conversion.
You know the problem with a lot of churches is,
is they want to promote discipleship,
talk about discipleship.
They want to talk about how to be a follower
of Jesus Christ, but they're off on salvation.
They don't even check on people when they come to church.
You know, sometimes people come to our church,
they visit our church,
and there's instances where people get offended
when we ask them, "Hey, are you 100% sure
that if you die today that you'd go to heaven?"
But folks, you should not be offended at that.
That means that the person who's asking you
actually loves you.
They want you to know beyond a shadow of a doubt
that if you were to die today that you'd go to heaven.
You know, a biblically sound church will try to make sure
that you know beyond a shadow of a doubt
that you're saved, that you have eternal life, okay?
It's crazy to think that there's churches out there
that would be offended if someone were to walk up to them
and ask them if they're saved or not.
How could you ask me that?
I'm a disciple of Jesus Christ.
I've been going to church my whole life.
I've been baptized.
I've gone to church.
My dad was a pastor.
I'm sorry, we're in that.
Have you said you believed on the Lord Jesus Christ?
You know, all of those answers are basically showing me
that you're not saved, right?
Because a testimony that you're saved would be,
I have believed on the Lord Jesus Christ
exclusively to be saved.
And I know I can't lose my salvation.
It's not of works.
It should not be an offensive question.
It's only offensive to those who think that they're saved,
but they're actually not.
And in order for us to begin the discipleship process
with someone, it starts with salvation.
It doesn't start with helping them to read the Bible
every single day for 365 days.
It doesn't start with teaching them
how to go evangelize and so on.
It doesn't start with church attendance.
It starts with salvation, right?
Real discipleship requires real conversion.
And obviously, we don't know beyond a shadow of a doubt
that everyone is saved here.
As far as I know, they are,
only because of the fact that we've asked them.
We've preached the gospel unto them.
They've called upon the name of the Lord.
And at the end of the day,
we don't know everyone's heart,
but we have faith in the word of God
that if we help people to call upon the name of the Lord,
they believe that it's by the death,
barren resurrection of Jesus Christ exclusively
that they can't lose their salvation.
That person saved.
If a person says, no, it's by repenting of your sin,
then you know, according to the Bible,
you've drawn that line and you're not saved, okay?
Oh, it's by works, not saved.
Oh, it's by baptism, not saved.
Well, what makes you think that you can be the arbiter
of whether someone is saved or not?
The Bible.
The Bible tells us what are some of the qualifications
of a person being saved, right?
What does it mean when a person is actually saved,
that they're justified in the eyes of God?
The Bible is replete with passages teaching us
what we're to look for in order to identify a saved person.
Okay?
Real discipleship requires real conversion.
Look at Matthew 28 and verse 19.
It says, "Go ye therefore,"
and I want you to notice this, "and teach all nations."
Now, in these modern versions of the Bible, okay,
that doesn't say that.
In the modern versions, it says to go therefore
and make disciples of all nations.
So this is why a lot of churches
will often mix in discipleship with salvation.
They often think that they're one in the same or something.
Well, in order for you to be saved,
you have to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.
No, in order for you to be a disciple, you have to be saved.
In order for you to be a disciple of Jesus Christ,
you have to be justified.
And it doesn't say make disciples of all nations,
it says to teach all nations.
Now, how do we know that this is referring to salvation?
Well, because the Bible, in the book of Acts, for example,
gives us examples of people who got saved,
and then what happened thereafter?
They were baptized.
Showing us that baptism comes after salvation, right?
Someone calls upon the name of the Lord in faith,
and what do they do?
They get baptized in the name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.
Not in the name of Jesus, because Jesus literally said here
to baptize in the name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, right?
So we see here that salvation comes before baptism.
So public service announcement.
If you were baptized before you got saved,
then you just got wet.
You just took a warm bath, a quick warm bath.
It doesn't count, because the biblical model here
is that you get saved first, and then you get baptized.
And your baptism is the public profession of your faith
in Jesus Christ, understand?
And it's the first step of obedience.
It's the first thing that God commands you to do
after salvation is to identify with Jesus Christ
through baptism, identifying in his death,
burial, and resurrection, you understand?
Now, if you say, well, I got baptized when I was a kid.
I got baptized earlier.
Yeah, but if you just got saved, that baptism
is null and void according to the Bible,
because you have to get baptized after salvation.
That is how it works.
And I get it.
Sometimes people think that they're saved.
They realize, oh man, I'm not, because the Bible clearly
says X, Y, and Z, and then they'll say, well,
I was baptized already.
I'm kind of embarrassed to get baptized again.
Why would you be ashamed of just obeying the word of God?
Who cares?
If you just got saved as a 25-year-old, as a 30-year-old,
as a 40-year-old, as an 80-year-old,
get baptized thereafter.
Well, I've been coming here for so long,
and I just don't know how it would look.
You know how it would look?
We would say, wow, this person is obeying the word of God.
This person is a disciple of Jesus Christ.
Why? 'Cause they're obeying the Lord
and believe it's baptism.
And let me just remind you,
we're called Baptists for a reason, right?
Not because we believe in baptismal regeneration,
because that's a false doctrine.
It's because we baptize our converts, that's why, okay?
And we baptize those who have believed
in the Lord Jesus Christ.
And so when it says teach all nations,
it's referring to teaching them the gospel.
How do we know that this isn't referring
to teaching them to observe all things?
Because later on, the very last verse says,
and teaching them to observe all things,
whatsoever I've commanded you.
Clearly making a distinction between the teaching
in the first part and the teaching in the second.
The teaching in the second is obviously
referring to discipling them in the word of God,
in the Christian faith, whereas the first aspect
is referring to teaching them the gospel,
because we have thereafter, baptism being mentioned.
What am I saying?
I'm saying that real discipleship
requires real conversion.
And quite frankly, this is the most important aspect
of our discipleship process, or just ministry period,
is to make sure that someone is saved.
We don't wanna just assume that you're saved, right?
We don't wanna say, well, they look like a Christian,
they talk like a Christian,
they go to church like a Christian,
they claim to be a Christian,
I'm just gonna assume that they are a Christian,
I'm gonna assume that they are saved.
That would be wrong on our part to assume that, right?
Because the Bible says, by thy words,
thou shall be justified,
and by thy words, thou shall be condemned.
Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh,
and so we need to know what you believe.
Don't be offended at that.
And if anything, if you are saved,
we're gonna help you refine how to communicate that, right?
Because here's the thing, folks,
is if you come to our church and ask if you're saved,
and you say, well, you know, I gave my life to the Lord,
wrong answer, that's not a concept in the Bible,
especially for salvation.
Salvation is not that you gave your life to the Lord,
salvation is that the Lord gave his life for you, amen?
Salvation is not that we gave our life to the Lord, why?
'Cause we have to give our lives to the Lord
every single day, and you know what?
Sometimes we don't do that.
And most of the time, these churches that promote
giving your life to the Lord to be saved
don't really give their lives to the Lord.
Because if you love me, keep my commandments, right?
Because the Bible says, "I beseech you therefore,
brethren, by the mercies of God,
that you present your bodies in living sacrifice,
wholly acceptable to God, which is a reasonable service.
Be not conformed to this world,
but be transformed by the renewing of your mind."
And what is the Bible teaching us?
It's teaching us that to live for God
is something that has to be done on a daily basis.
You have to die daily in order to be a disciple
of Jesus Christ.
But to be saved, it takes one moment.
You're just like, oh, I'm a sinner deserving of hell.
Jesus Christ died on the cross to pay for my sins,
past, present, future.
He resurrected on the third day
and salvation cannot be lost.
If I call upon the name of the Lord in faith right now,
I can be saved.
You do it, you get saved, and it's settled.
You are saved, E.D.
Done for, right?
Real discipleship requires real conversion.
Go to Acts chapter 19, if you would.
Acts chapter 19.
As you're turning there,
I'm gonna read to you from 1 Corinthians chapter four,
you're going to Acts chapter 19.
1 Corinthians chapter four, verse 15 says,
for though you have 10,000 instructors in Christ,
yet have ye not many fathers,
for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you
through the gospel, the Bible says.
And what it's telling us here is that, you know,
a lot of people have instructors in Christ.
A lot of people have people who teach them the Bible,
but it's important for us to find people,
to convert them, to begat them through the gospel.
In other words, to help them to be born again
through the scriptures.
Now let's look at an example of this
in Acts chapter 19, verse one.
It says here, and it came to pass,
that while Apollos was at Corinth,
Paul having passed through the upper coast
came to Ephesus and finding certain disciples.
He said to them, have you received the Holy Ghost
since he believed?
And they said to him, we have not so much as heard
whether there be any Holy Ghost.
Now what do we have here?
We have a case of false conversion.
Why?
Because these guys don't even know who the Holy Ghost is.
Now the Holy Spirit is part of the Trinity.
And what does he do in this event of salvation?
Well, once you call upon the name of the Lord to be saved,
he indwells you permanently, right?
The Bible says in Ephesians 1.13,
"In whom you also trusted after that you
heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation,
in whom also after that you believed,
you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise."
And the Bible tells us in Ephesians chapter four
that you're sealed unto the day of redemption.
Not until you sin, not until you backslide,
not until you get out of church.
He says he's there until the day of redemption,
and until you go to heaven.
And this coincides with the promise that says
I will never leave thee nor forsake thee, right?
Showing us that God is within us until we get to glory, okay?
And so he plays an important role in our salvation.
In fact, you know, Titus 3.5 says,
not by works of righteousness, which we have done,
but according to his mercy, he saved us
by the washing of regeneration
and renewing of the Holy Ghost.
So the Holy Spirit at the moment of salvation
brings your spirit to life.
Why?
Because according to the Bible, prior to salvation,
your soul, your spirit was dead and trespasses in sin.
And when you believe on the Lord,
the Holy Spirit comes and brings your spirit back to life.
Now you have that new man
and you have the Holy Spirit of God dwelling within you.
Okay?
And so if someone comes to our church and says,
"What Holy Ghost?"
I'm a disciple of Jesus Christ, but what Holy Ghost?
We would say, "Oh, this person's not saved."
What do you mean, what Holy Ghost?
You know?
So these guys, you know, they're like,
we've not so much heard as whether there be any Holy Ghost.
Take a verse three, and he said unto them,
"Unto what then were ye baptized?"
And they said, "Unto John's baptism."
So he's like, "Well, why did you guys even get baptized?"
And he's like, "Well, we were baptized
through John the Baptist's baptism."
Now, John the Baptist was preaching a right gospel.
We know that for a fact, okay?
And so it's not John's fault.
It's just that the law of number says
that when you preach the gospel,
many people will get saved and many people won't,
or they think they'll get saved, but they actually don't.
They don't really understand the message.
It kind of goes over their head
or they just go along to get along.
We can't really blame John the Baptist for this, right?
It's just the law of numbers is bound to happen.
So they say we were baptized into John's baptism.
Look at verse four.
Then said Paul, John barely baptized
with the baptism of repentance,
saying unto the people that they should believe on him,
which should come after him, that is on Christ Jesus.
So what is the baptism of John?
What is the baptism of repentance that he was preaching?
He's basically saying what we're saying,
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
So he's like, well, John said that you have to believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ to be saved.
That's John's baptism, okay?
When they heard this,
they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus,
meaning that they believed on him.
And when Paul had laid his hands on them,
the Holy Ghost came on them and they spake with tongues
and prophesied and all the men were about 12.
So here we have an example of 12 men
who thought they were saved.
They called themselves disciples,
but they weren't really saved, they're false converts.
Now notice I didn't say, well, well, well,
we're of John the Baptist.
I gave my life to Jesus.
I listened to John himself.
John is Jesus' cousin.
That's his forerunner.
He is the prophet of the Lord to make the path straight.
What gives you the right to question my salvation?
No, they're like, oh, I guess we're not saved,
so now we're gonna get saved, right?
And let me just say this, salvation requires humility.
What does that mean?
It means you gotta admit that you're wrong.
But you know what, better to admit that you're wrong
and get saved than to become prideful
and argue your point that you're right and go to hell.
So just, and all of us need to have come to a point
of humility in our lives if we're gonna come
to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.
We have to recognize, I'm not saved, I can't save myself,
I was wrong, this is what the Bible says,
I thought I was saved, but clearly,
according to the scriptures, I am not,
but I wanna call upon the name of the Lord today
to be saved, okay?
Point that I'm making here is that in order for you
to be a disciple of Jesus Christ, you have to be converted.
And what does conversion mean?
It doesn't mean a 12-step program.
It means you have to get saved, okay?
And if we're gonna be a discipleship church,
that means that we have to check on people's salvation, okay?
And that means that you, as a disciple,
should also check on people's salvation, amen?
That means your cousin, your brother, sister,
auntie who says that they're saved,
you might wanna go check on them, just go ask them.
You say, "Well, I don't know how that's gonna look."
It's gonna look like you actually care for their souls
and that you don't assume that they're saved
just because they say they are, right?
And so it's important for us to recognize this.
And look, folks, you know,
there's a lot of people out there
who think that they're saved and they're not,
and they think they're saved because of the works that they do.
I mean, isn't that the example that we have
in Matthew chapter seven?
You know, "Lord, Lord, have not I prophesied in thy name,
and in thy name have cast out devils,
and in thy name have done many wonderful works,
and then I will profess with them, I never knew you.
Depart from me, ye that work iniquity."
Isn't it interesting that this guy thought
he can get it to heaven by his good works?
And it's not like he did anything bad.
He was preaching, he was doing exorcisms,
and just in general doing many wonderful works.
But throughout that entire dissertation
of him justifying himself,
never once did he said,
"Have not I believed on the Lord Jesus Christ?"
He listed his works, my friends.
And so it's important for us to check on people's salvation.
And I hope that I just sow a seed in your mind right now
to start being mindful of the people
that you associate with
and start thinking about their souls.
Oh, I just know that he's a Christian though,
'cause he grew up in church.
Does growing up in church make you a Christian?
Does growing up in church make you saved?
Well, I just, I know he's a Christian
'cause he just talks like a Christian.
Does talking like one make you a safe person?
Folks, it's important for us to actually get down
to the nitty and gritty of discipleship
and actually check on people's salvation
by asking them,
what do you believe a person has to do to be safe?
And look, here is a very safe, non-intrusive way
to ask them to communicate what they believe about salvation.
If I was your brother, if I was your sister,
what would you tell me I have to do to be saved?
That's what I often ask people at the door.
'Cause then it kind of gets them to realize like,
hmm, what would I tell someone that I really love
how to be saved?
And that answer, the answer they give you
is a revelation of what they actually believe
it takes to get to heaven, okay?
Go with me if you want to Ephesians chapter four,
Ephesians chapter four, Ephesians chapter number four.
And look folks, as churches, Christian churches,
we ought to speak of salvation in a very confident manner,
a very open and confident manner.
You know, I'm saved, why?
'Cause I believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Well, that's very prideful of you.
No, the prideful person is the person who thinks
they're saved because of their own works.
That's an arrogant prideful person right there.
The person who trusts Jesus Christ as their savior
for salvation is a person who's humble
because they recognize they need someone to save them
and they can't do it on their own, okay?
And so let's move on here.
We're talking about real discipleship
requires real conversion.
And let me just finish off this point by saying this.
If you don't know beyond a shadow of a doubt
that you're saved, you need to get saved today.
Don't let your pride get in the way.
Don't let your church history get in the way.
Don't let the fact that you've been in the ministry
for this long.
If you're visiting with us today,
someone is gonna come up to you and ask you
if you know beyond a shadow of a doubt, if you're saved.
Don't be offended.
Recognize that people love you.
They want you to know beyond a shadow of a doubt.
And give the answer.
And by the way, if you believe in the wrong answer,
now you're like, okay, now I need to change my answer,
then tell people that you've changed the answer.
You say, now I changed what I believe.
I know I was actually wrong and this is what the Bible says
and I wanna believe this, this is what I wanna believe.
I have some questions though.
And there's nothing wrong with asking questions, by the way.
By the way, let me just say this.
Churches should be always open
to answering the members' questions.
We shouldn't have churches where pastors just scour away
and they just run away into their little offices
'cause they're afraid to answer questions.
You know, the members can answer the questions,
the pastor can answer questions,
and you should be able to ask anything that you want
regarding the Bible and have a church or a pastor
that is able to give you an answer from the word of God.
Especially in matters like this,
when it comes to salvation.
If you go to a church where the pastor's like,
well, that's a very controversial question there.
Can you lose your salvation?
Oh, you know, hey, yeah, that's an interest.
That's a really good question.
What do you mean that's a really good question?
Answer it, you're a pastor.
What are you doing?
Oh, you know, you know, I thought about that.
Oh, that's, you know, there's a lot of verses
that seem to indicate that maybe you can, maybe you can't.
You need to sit down and not be a pastor.
What are you doing giving those kinds of answers like that?
You know, these things have written unto you
that believe on the name of Jesus Christ,
that you may know that you have eternal life
and that you may believe on the name of the Son of God.
Run screaming in the opposite direction
if you attend a church where the pastor is not confident
on the subject of salvation
and confident on the subject of eternal security.
Good question, I've always thought about that.
What?
Real discipleship requires real conversion,
but also, let me say this,
real discipleship requires real Bible content.
We're not talking about booklets here
and a bookstore that offers a five-step program
and all this stuff or whatever.
We're talking about actual Bible content
that teaches you the word of God, okay?
Now, I often get asked this,
what's your discipleship program like?
I say, well, I disciple people for three hours a week.
Called church, right?
Sunday morning, Sunday night, Thursday night is three.
And by the way, that's actually a modest number.
It's, you know, 'cause I typically go
like an hour and a half sometimes,
sometimes an hour and 15, okay?
And so, you know, three hours is a modest
conservative number, but I give at least three hours
of discipleship every single week.
And you know, I'll cover more Bible content
in one sermon than the little book by whoever, okay?
And so, you know, we need to get back to Bible preaching.
Bible-filled, scripture-filled sermons
that are actually telling you what the Bible says.
Not a bunch of illustrations, not a bunch of stories,
not interludes that include praying for Israel
or what's going on in God, you know, who cares?
Let's talk about the Bible.
We're in God's house.
Let's listen to the word of God.
Let's learn something new from the Bible.
Let's get a biblical perspective.
Let's have our minds renewed
and changed by the word of God, right?
Not a 15-minute sermonette, 30-minute sermonette,
one verse, close the Bible.
I mean, they don't even carry Bible sometimes.
Whatever verse is on the screen
and just move on from there.
We need to saturate sermons with scripture.
And people need to learn how to navigate
through the scriptures as well.
That's why we encourage you in our church
to get yourself a Bible in your lap.
Don't use the Bible on your phone.
Use a physical Bible so you can learn
how to navigate through the scriptures.
So you can learn how to find Zephaniah
and Habakkuk and Jonah.
That's what discipleship is.
Look at Ephesians chapter four, verse 17.
He says, "This I say therefore in testifying the Lord
that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk
in the vanity of their mind,
having the understanding darken,
being alienated from the life of God
through the ignorance that is in them
because of the blindness of their heart,
who being past feeling have given themselves
over unto lasciviousness to work all uncleanness
with greediness.
So he's saying, don't be this way.
Don't be like the Gentiles.
And of course, he's referring to unsafe people.
Don't emulate the way that they are.
You are a Christian, you are a believer,
you should be different.
And he says in verse 20, I want you to notice this,
but ye have not so learned Christ.
He's like, if you're living like that,
you didn't learn that from Jesus.
You didn't learn that from Jesus Christ.
And I want you to notice verse 21,
if so be that ye have heard him
or have been taught by him as the truth is in Jesus.
He said, you didn't learn this from Jesus.
Of course, if you've even heard any preaching about Jesus,
if you've heard any Bible content about Jesus,
what does it say?
You know, when you actually learn
what the Bible actually says, it's gonna change your life.
And it's gonna make you more like Jesus Christ.
So when you have a church that is contrary
in their behavior to the Bible,
when you have a church that's filled with feminists
and effeminate people and liberal ideologies
and all manner of false doctrine,
and they claim to preach Jesus,
they're preaching another Jesus.
Because ye have not so learned Christ, if so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him.
Because you know what? A church that preaches the Bible produces Bible-believing Christians.
Go to 2 Corinthians chapter 11.
2 Corinthians chapter 11.
And this is why the apostle Paul tells Timothy, "Preach the word, be instant in season, out of season.
Reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering and doctrine."
Well, you know, I just think you're kind of crass, you know, you just...
I always feel like you're gonna cuss or something, you're just, you're always angry, you're just, you're just always mad.
Well, because the Bible tells me to reprove and rebuke.
And we have to exhort, of course.
And anybody who's been in our church for any length of time can tell you, "I exhort the congregation."
But it's very much important to correct bad behavior, bad thinking, false doctrine, right?
And it tells us in Second Timothy, you don't have to turn there, that it's important for us to preach the Bible.
Why? Because the time will come when they will not endorse sound doctrine.
And so, you know, there's gonna come a time when people don't want to hear the truth.
They wanna come to church and get their ears tickled and just, you know, have a good time
and leave with a clear conscience and everything's fine and dandy and God loves you, the devil
loves you, hell loves you, everything's just great, but, you know, that's not right.
You need to be told the truth, okay?
Look at 2 Corinthians chapter 11.
Well, you know, Pastor, it's just, it's not what you say.
How you say it?
Just yell too much.
You just, you just, you just kind of like, ah, a little too much.
And you know what, Pastor?
It's not what you say, but you know, you're kind of rude though sometimes.
And you know what?
I am for sure guilty as charged, but let me give you a scripture that, that, uh, uh, backs
me up on that though.
Okay.
Let's start off in verse three.
He says, but I fear second Corinthians 11 verse three, but I fearless by any means as
the serpent beguiled the Eve through a subtlety.
So your mind should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive
another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel which ye have not accepted,
ye might well bear with him.
Now what is he doing?
He's insulting them.
He's like, if someone preaches a different Jesus, a different gospel, they come with
a different spirit, you'll tolerate it.
He's basically calling them a bunch of compromisers.
He's like, you would put up with it, because you're not sound, you're not grounded.
You'll actually tolerate it, you'll put up with it, you'll accept it, and obviously we
know that he's insulting them because it's a church that he's addressing here, and he's
basically saying you can't tell the difference between the real Jesus and the fake one.
That's what he's saying, right?
You can't tell the difference between a false gospel and the real gospel.
You can't tell the difference between the Holy Spirit and a fake spirit.
You might well bear with him.
"For I suppose I was not a whip behind the very chiefest apostles," and I want you to
notice verse six, "but though I be rude in speech, yet not in knowledge.
We have been thoroughly made manifest among you in all things."
Oh, that's so rude.
Yeah, I am rude in speech, but not in knowledge.
You can say that, well, how I said it was rude, but you can't deny what the Bible is
actually saying now.
And you know what?
Sometimes we need to be rude in our preaching in order to get your attention, in order to
help you to make a distinction between Bible preaching and whatever is out there.
You know, the soft-soaked preaching that can't quote scripture, that can't tell you what
the Bible actually says, that isn't confident when they're preaching, it's just fluff is
what it is.
It's this liberal church, mega church type atmosphere that hopes to attract you with
the purple lights and the smoke, but can't attract you with the word of God because they
can't preach it.
Because they can't bring themselves to be rude.
But you know what?
Hard preaching is rude.
I mean, how do you, how are you not rude?
How do you, how do you reprove and rebuke without being rude?
Don't do that.
Don't fornicate.
You know, don't support Israel.
Be gay, you know, don't be feminine.
How do you do that?
Don't laugh at me, exactly.
You would literally just point and laugh at me and think it's just an absolute joke.
Though I be rude in speech, yet not in knowledge.
And you know what?
I'd rather be rude and have the knowledge of God and communicate that to you because
at least you know I'm telling you the truth.
And we go through the scriptures here so you can see, right?
Go to Jeremiah chapter 23.
We'll come back to the New Testament in a bit.
Jeremiah chapter 23, what am I saying?
Real discipleship requires real conversion.
You got to be saved in order to start your journey.
You have to be actually saved, but you know what?
Real conversion requires real Bible content.
It requires real preaching.
It requires sermons that are saturated with scripture and it requires for the pastor to
actually address what's going on in the world in light of the Bible, right?
To help people to have a biblical perspective, not to avoid issues, but actually address
them to actually take a side, right?
Why?
Because he says that the church is the house of God, the pillar and ground of truth.
And so if you need to know where to stand on a particular cultural issue, you need to
come to the house of God and find out, right?
Look at Jeremiah chapter 23, and then we're going to come back to the New Testament.
Look at verse 31, he says, "Behold," this is God speaking here, "I am against the prophets,
saith the Lord, that use their tongues and say, 'He saith.'"
You know, like ones that say, you know, God says he's a Zionist, he's against prophets
like that.
"He saith, 'Behold, I am against them that prophesy false dreams, saith the Lord, and
do tell them and cause my people to err by their lies.'"
So, first and foremost, he's saying here, if you're at a church where the pastor says
he had a dream and through that dream he's going to teach you something about the Bible,
it's time to get up and walk out and just say, "I'm out of here.
Too many onions on your burger.
The Bible says you're a false prophet."
No pastor should get up, you know, this is why I told you maybe a dream that I had,
you know, just for entertainment sake, but not so I can say, you know, this is what the
Lord told me.
And by the way, let's get out of this culture, this atmosphere of God told me, unless of
course you're quoting the Bible.
We need to get away from this culture and this shallow atmosphere of saying God told
me or really book chapter and verse on that because you know how God speaks to us is through
the Bible.
For far too many times pastors have gotten up and said God told me and they teach false
doctrine.
They're speaking in God's stead and what they dreamt or what they claim God spoke to them
about doesn't match up with the scriptures and it causes people to uplift their dreams
and their interpretation over what the Bible actually says.
Forget the dreams.
Let's stick with what the Bible says because what if a dream that they had actually matches
up with the Bible?
Well, great.
Then you just go with the Bible because God already said it.
I guess we don't need a dream now, do we?
You don't believe in dreams?
Yeah.
I believe in dreams.
I've had dreams all the time.
I know that I have them.
I don't believe in using dreams to interpret the scriptures, though.
And I don't have scriptural dreams, by the way.
My dreams are purple elephants and, you know, being able to fly, or someone's chasing me
and I can't run fast enough, or I'm fighting and I can't fight.
You know what I'm talking about?
You know what I'm talking about.
My dreams are not spiritual, okay?
They're just weird.
He says, "I'm against them that prophesy false dreams, sayeth the Lord, and do tell
them, and cause my people to err by their lies," and I want you to notice this, "and
by their lightness."
You say, "Why do you call it hard preaching?"
Because it's the opposite of what that is.
Hard preaching gives the hard truths.
Lightness is light.
God loves you.
You know that already, though.
Why am I going to get up and tell you that God loves you if you're saved and you already
know that?
Now, look, we need seasons where we're reminded of that, though, for sure, right?
You're going through a hard time, maybe you're questioning God's love.
You need to be told, "Hey, you know that the Lord loves you, and circumstances don't
change that," okay?
Just because you're going through a hard time doesn't mean God doesn't love you.
And we need messages like that, but not every single Sunday, though.
We already know that.
The lightness preaching is the preaching that just doesn't want to offend you, but you
know what?
Sometimes it's my prerogative to just try to offend you so you can change, so you can
be better.
Being correct, it helps us to be better.
He says that they err by their lies and by their lightness, yet I sent them not, nor
commanded them.
Therefore they shall not profit this people at all, saith the Lord.
And when this people or the prophets or a priest shall ask thee, saying, "What is the
burden of the Lord?"
Thou shalt then say unto them, "What burden?
I will even forsake you, saith the Lord."
So what is he saying?
He's saying, you know, when people ask you like, "Oh, you know, what's the good word
today?"
And they don't even want it.
They're basically asking, "What is the burden of the Lord?
What is the word of God?"
But they're asking insincerely.
They don't really want to know what the Bible says.
They go to church claiming to believe the Bible, but they would hate to hear Leviticus
2013, though.
What's God's position on sodomy?
You really want to know?
Let's just start off with Leviticus 2013.
If a man also lie with mankind as he does with a woman, they have committed an abomination,
they shall surely be put to death.
Their blood should be upon them.
How about that?
How about the fact that the Bible institutes the death penalty for sodomites?
You like that burden?
What is he saying?
He's saying you're asking for the truth, but you're not really ready for the truth, huh?
You don't really want the truth now, do you?
What does the Bible say about sodomy?
How about we go to Genesis 19?
How about I just talk about the fact that God just destroyed an entire city of sodomites
and just burned them to a crisp?
That's what you call the burden of the Lord.
Right?
Oh, what does God say about marriage?
What's the good word about marriage?
Submit to your husband.
How about that?
Respect your husband.
Submit to your husband.
Don't nag your husband.
You like that burden?
Be careful what you ask for.
Obey your husband.
Reverence your husband.
Ephesians 5.
As unto Christ, the Bible says.
Yeah, you didn't really want that now, did you?
What is the Bible telling us here?
It's telling us that there's people who claim to want to know what the Bible says, but they're
not ready.
They actually don't want to know what the Bible says.
And I like the answer.
What burden?
I will even forsake you, sayeth the Lord.
You like that?
There's no burden.
I'm just going to forsake you.
He says, as for the prophet, the priest, and the people that shall say the burden of the
Lord, I will even punish that man and his house.
Go to Matthew 16, if you would, Matthew chapter 16, Matthew chapter 16.
Look, in order for you to be a disciple of Jesus Christ, you need to hear the hard truths.
Can we just stop being offended at everything?
Can we stop this culture of just being offended every time the Bible is preached?
Every time a controversy, can you stop making excuses for the controversial passages of
the Bible?
Can we stop with the cultural context?
You weren't there.
Were you 2,000 years old?
What are you?
You're not there.
The Bible gives us the cultural context.
Can we stop getting offended?
Can we stop with, "Well, I don't agree with that."
Why are you even in church then?
You should come to church expecting to hear the Bible preached.
All the Bible, the entire council of God, the very controversial passages of scripture.
And look, folks, you should go to a church where all the scripture is preached, right?
Not just sticking to the book of Proverbs and the book of John.
Not just Psalm 23, "The Lord is my shepherd."
We know that.
We already know that part.
Can we stop being offended at everything?
We need to develop an atmosphere and a generation of Christians that just accepts what the
Bible says and just loves it.
"Thou hatest all workers of iniquity," showing us that God hates certain people.
Refute that.
"Oh, you know, I don't really like that part."
The Bible?
You don't like the Bible?
That's what the Bible says.
I mean, David literally says, "Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee, and not I grieve
with them that rise up against thee.
I hate them with perfect hatred.
I count them my enemies."
Amen.
What's the issue there?
Well, doesn't the Bible say that we should love our enemies?
Of course.
Of course we're to love our enemies.
David's talking about God's enemies.
And in fact, God specifically said, "Shouldest thou help the ungodly and love them that hate
the Lord, therefore wrath is upon thee from before the Lord."
Can you accept the fact that God actually hates certain people?
Isn't that what the Bible says?
Do we believe the Bible or not, folks?
This is discipleship.
Discipleship is telling you what other pastors are afraid to tell you.
You won't find that in the discipleship booklet now, will you?
You won't find that in a 12-step program in some churches.
You know why?
Because they're afraid of offending people.
"How great peace have they which love thy law, and nothing shall offend them."
My job as a pastor in the discipleship program is to help you and your mind conform to what
the Bible says and not make excuses for it.
I'd be like, "Well, I read one commentator say, 'Well, we have the commentator, the greatest
commentator in the world.
It's called the Holy Spirit.'"
Pretty simple.
But you know what?
This soft-soaked lukewarm Christianity has produced Christians who just get offended
at everything.
Just can't say anything controversial.
I'm not talking about here.
I'm talking about in other churches.
They produce people who just can't take the truth.
Not even the most basics of truths.
What am I talking about?
Real discipleship requires real conversion.
Real discipleship requires real Bible content, meaning real Bible preaching.
And here's point number three.
Real discipleship requires real comrades.
I'm not a communist here.
I'm just using the C's, you know?
What do I mean by that?
You actually need some solid brothers and sisters in Christ.
And when I mean solid, I mean like sincere brothers and sisters in Christ.
I mean like they're not fake.
I mean like, you know, you can be honest with them and they can be honest with you.
I mean you guys can kind of roast each other and it'll be all good.
I mean brothers and sisters in Christ that will actually tell you the truth and be like
a really good friend to you and not just, "Hey brother."
Just having these superficial conversations at church, like a list of five questions you
guys go through and then you just move on from there.
We need some like legitimate relationships in our lives, right?
We need actual fellowship.
Where we are around people that tell us what we need to hear, not what we want to hear.
You don't have to turn there yet.
You're in Matthew, Acts 2 42 says, "And they continue steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine
and fellowship and in breaking the bread and in prayers."
First John 1 3 says, "That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also
may have fellowship with us.
And truly our fellowship is with the father and with his son, Jesus Christ."
Proverbs 27 17 says this, "Iron sharpeneth iron."
What is it saying?
"So a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend."
Now what does this mean?
It means, in its literal context by the way, when it says that iron sharpeneth iron, so
a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend, the countenance is how you look, right?
It's your facial expression, what it's referring to.
Now we often use this to say like, oh, you know, we encourage one another, right?
Iron sharpeneth iron.
And it's a good application, but the immediate interpretation is not that.
He says a man sharpeneth the countenance of his face, meaning like, why do you look so
sad?
Like why you got that face on like that?
Like bro, you need a smile.
Why?
Why do you look all mean?
Why do you look so emotional?
Like fix your face, bro.
That's what it means.
You sharpen the countenance of their face.
Like, hey, you know, you look like you're just miserable.
Why?
Like, could you really say that to someone?
Yeah.
If you, if they recognize that you're sincere and you love them, I say that to guys in my
church all the time.
Like bro, you need to like wipe that look off your face.
You look miserable.
What's the problem?
Yeah.
Where's the joy of the Lord, right?
You came to church like that, want us to ask you what's wrong, a little fish handshake
and everything.
Sharpen your thigh and say, "Hey man, come up a little."
You need to strengthen that handshake a little bit, smile a little more.
People think like you're sad or something.
What's going on?
And if you are, talk to me, bro.
If you need to talk, we can talk.
You need to talk.
You know?
Because you're in God's house.
You're saved.
We're about to go sowning afterwards, we're going to go have a meal, like what's going
on?
Well, you know, basically like, hey, why are you wearing your emotions on your sleeve?
The same, right?
I don't know.
Would God really do something like that?
Why hast thou countenance fallen, is what he told Cain.
Translation.
What's wrong with your face?
That's what it means.
We can do one or the other.
You know?
We can do the countenance part or we can say what's wrong with your face.
They mean the same thing.
And you know what?
You say, well, I don't know if I'm ready for that type of relationship.
Well, here's the thing, again, in order to be better, in order to improve our conduct,
our conversation, our behavior, we have to be corrected.
And you know what?
If people have to walk on eggshells around you all the time, that's a bad indicator.
That's an indicator that you are not strong in the Lord and in the power of his might.
And you know what?
We need to be strong Christians.
And a strong Christian doesn't get bitter at the person that corrected them.
They recognize, you know what?
There's some legitimacy to that.
Thank you for telling me that.
Thank you for telling me I've got a booger on my face.
Thank you for telling me I've got spinach on my teeth.
I shouldn't be eating spinach anyways.
You know, thank you for telling me, you know, that my collar needs to get fixed or something.
You know, they take the correction.
Why?
Because iron sharpeneth iron.
You look sharp today, right?
Well, that's kind of like rough.
You know, is that really necessary?
Well, you know what the Bible says?
Open rebuke, listen to me, is better than secret love.
He says, faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.
And the wounds isn't really, you know, we're not talking about like actually wounding someone.
Although sometimes, you know what I mean?
It's saying like sometimes we have to wound our brothers and sisters in Christ in order
to improve them, to help them to be better.
And you know what, don't we want our kids to be tough?
Don't we want our kids to grow up and be tough emotionally, spiritually, mentally, physically?
Well, it's going to require that type of atmosphere.
No constellation prizes, no just like, oh, you know, it's okay, Peabody, you know, it
requires a little tough love.
This generation needs to go through a spiritual metal slide from the nineties on a hot summer
day.
You want to know what I'm talking about?
Zoomers have no idea what I'm talking about.
Zoomers consider that abuse.
Look at Matthew 16 verse 20, "Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no
man that he was Jesus the Christ.
From that time forth began Jesus to show unto his disciples how that he must go into Jerusalem
and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and be raised
again the third day.
Then Peter took him and began to rebuke him saying be afar from the Lord this shall not
be unto thee but he but he turned and said unto Peter oh Peter I'm sorry I apologize
for that I was too much for you get thee behind me Satan are an offense unto me for
thou sabers not the things that be of God but those that be of men I mean Peter just
got cooked by the Lord he just absolutely cooked Peter insulted him said he was Satan
he says you're you're you're offending me it's the equivalent be like you know the
fact that you look like that is offending me the fact that you just look miserable you're
just angry you want everyone to know that you're emotional that's offensive to me it
looks like the Lord wasn't walking on eggshells when it came to his disciples now was he I
mean he literally said get behind me Satan thou are an offense unto me and he's saying
thou savers not the things to be of God what is he saying you're not spiritual you're being
carnal that's called tough love right there right we need a little more of that I'm not
saying go around call each other the same by the way but you know what I'm saying is
you know the Lord didn't walk on eggshells with his disciples and I'm not saying we should
go around insulting each other just for the sake of doing so it needs to merit it obviously
and you obviously need to confirm your love towards your brothers and sisters in Christ
as well right and they better know that you love them you know make sure you you dap afterwards
you know what I mean give a give a bro hug or whatever and and confirm that love go to
Matthew chapter 4 the point that I'm making here though is that we don't have enough of
this in churches we don't have enough of this going on in churches churches are very soft
soft-soaked just limp-wristed everyone walking on eggshells everyone gets offended at everything
and let me say this this is why let me explain something to you this is why churches these
mega churches are filled with women you know why dudes don't like to go to church because
I wouldn't want to go to church like that either where the pastor is just kind of you know
he's just catering to women guys don't want to go to church like that they want to come
to church where there's a gym in the back where dudes are hitting PR's with kilo plates
amen they want to go to a church where there's bros who love the Lord who are preaching the
gospel who are real not effeminate they're strong in the Lord and the power of his might
they want to go to a church where the pastor is being honest with them preaching the word
of God to them preaching about the biblical roles they're tired of these churches where
the pastor is just like always seems to be signing with the wife always seem to be signing
with the women of the church these churches are filled with women and look we want women
to come to our church don't you know don't don't run screaming or something like that
ladies but you know women want a church like this too you know why because it offers security
and women like it when men take charge and they're not just just capitulating to every
whim of the women in the church and then the sermons are geared towards the women and don't
leave your spouse or you can leave your spouse or whatever and all this feminist nonsense
is being promoted by the pulpits guys are tired of that I'd be tired of that if I was
going to church like that like hey can I get a sermon on sin you know can you can you stop
you know making it seem as though like she's in charge of me or something like that right
men want to go to a church where the pastor's on the man's side and make no mistake about
it I am on the husband's side for a fact when I step outside this is what I'm telling you
look I'm on the man's side because that's the biblical model you want a happy marriage
obey your husband yeah of course love your wife as Christ loved the church absolutely
but obey your husband don't insult your husband don't put your husband down don't nag your
husband you want a happy husband it's not happy wife happy life that doesn't exist
you know how we have a happy life as a Christian happy Jesus happy Lord happy husband happy
life I know it doesn't rhyme but who cares it rolls off the tongue for me make your husband
meals please your husband serve your husband you want a happy marriage and a happy life
you please your husband that's what you do you say why are there so many males in here
because of preaching like this why are there so many alpha males in here because of preaching
like this this is real discipleship here and look I want males who come to our church that
may be soft but they toughen up when they get here because we put them through the wringer
right and we've had males like that they come to our church they're really soft emotionally
they are undisciplined they don't have jobs they're just kind of children and then they
come to our church and they toughen up they get jobs to become disciplined and start reading
their bibles every day start going soul winning they become men when I was a child I thought
as a child and then it says that when you became a man you put away childish things
that's what happens in this church why because it's real discipleship going on here you
know what your kids need that type of leadership your sons need that type of leadership your
families need that type of leadership you're in Matthew 4 real discipleship requires real
conversion real discipleship requires real Bible content real discipleship requires real
comrades not fake ones and real discipleship requires real commission what I mean by that
you know discipleship should produce soul winners right it's not enough it's just like
well I'm a follower of Jesus Christ do you win souls to Christ well no not really then
you're not a real disciple then according to the Bible hate to break it to you because
according to the Bible a follower of Jesus Christ is someone who learns how to preach
the gospel to someone else and get other people saved look at Matthew chapter 4 if you would
Matthew chapter 4 verse 17 says from that time Jesus began to preach and to say repent
for the kingdom of heaven is at hand 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 and he
saved unto them follow me and I will make you fishers of men so here it's telling us that
the byproduct the result of following the Lord Jesus Christ is you end up fishing for men you
end up getting people saved what the Bible says and you know you need to go to a church where they
teach you how to evangelize how to go soul winning and they're producing the numbers and you know
we've had people like oh I don't think it's right to count numbers why why what do you mean are you
the kind of person who just goes to the gym and doesn't count what gains you've made or what we
need to track numbers in order to track success that's how it works how are you going to lose
weight if you don't know how many calories you're taking in how are you going to lose how do you
even know if you're losing weight if you're not stepping on the scale or measuring your waist
success is measured my friends and you know what in order for us to know if we're succeeding in the
area of preaching the gospel we need to know how many people are getting saved how many soul
winners are going out and our our church we do our best to disciple people on how to preach the
gospel and thank god we've had a lot of new soul owners this year going out and winning their first
souls to christ you know just within the last couple of months i mean we've had brand new
people who got saved in our church and went to the mission field and got people saved teenagers
who have done that i mean that's awesome that's discipleship yeah but how many of those people
have gone and say well why don't you go and you tell me and you show me show me how it's done
yeah but how many of those people do they have a church to go to hopefully i wouldn't want people
to go to church for sure but even if they didn't should we just not go over there and preach the
gospel to them so are you saying that if there's no church for them to attend there in the mission
field we should not preach the gospel to them we should just let them go to hell see the logic
folks we have new converts in our church who are like ready to preach the gospel
i mean we have a lady in our church who found me through instagram and my anti-israel content
i don't know if you know that i'm against israel you know i'm not there is no seven
thousand in my bank okay you know probably never will be but you know she found us through that
and then she came she heard the hard truths and she developed some comrades as well who gave her
the hard truths as well and she just kept coming she kept coming kept hearing the word of god
kept learning you know and she came during some really hard sermons and you know what then she
went out with a group of our people to go out and preach the gospel she got her first soul saved
and then this last week she got another soul saved she got the soul winning bug he said what
do you call that discipleship well we're not really about soul winning we're more about discipleship
than you're not about discipleship there soul winning has to be included in that because part
of being a disciple of jesus christ is that jesus christ came to seek and to save that which is
lost and let me ask you a hard question do you know how to preach the gospel if you don't it's
okay you can learn but i'm going to give you the hard question do you know how to open your mouth
boldly to make known the mysteries of the gospel every christian has that responsibility to do so
can i drop a bible on your lap and say i'm lost get me saved can you do that if the answer is no
you need to start learning how to preach the gospel you know why because you run into people
all day every day you have co-workers you have friends you have family members you have moms
you have dads you have you have aunts and uncles you have lost people around you all the time
and you know what they need you to give them the gospel they need to have you with the bible in
hand to show them can i just show you real quick how you can be saved today and just or you can
just memorize the verses you know you can literally just memorize the verses and just spit scripture
and just show them from the bible how to be saved that's your responsibility you're not going to
hear that at a mega church you're not going to hear that at a liberal fund center that's a fact
why because the pastor is not preaching the gospel to people he's not going out there on
a weekly basis to get people saved that's a fact so how are you going to learn to do so
folks real discipleship requires a real commission meaning let's send you out to go and preach the
gospel now look i'm not saying that after the service we're just going to send you immediately
out and you're just you're just on your own figure it out what we do is like we send you
with someone and you're a silent partner for a while it's like an apprentice job right where
you just see how it's done you watch how the how the pros do it how the seasoned christians do it
they preach the gospel you learn the passages we give you a bible you can put your tabs in it
and and all the references that you need you learn how to preach the gospel and then we start you
off little by little knocking the door introduce yourself introduce the church ask the question
then hand it off to the soul winner we kind of wean you on to it and it works so how do you know
because we literally have brand new soul winners in our church who were taken from not being a
preacher of the gospel to now like a bona fide full-blown soul winner who can preach the gospel
at any given moment that's real discipleship i don't count discipleship if there's no soul
winning involved because real discipleship produces soul winners go to second timothy chapter 2 second
timothy chapter 2 we're almost done i got about five more points left let me breeze over this
these last two points here real discipleship requires requiring commitment now look folks
we're just not going to beg you to come back we're going to encourage you but we're not going to beg
you and you know what we want to produce disciples and part of being a disciple of jesus christ
is that we can't hold your hand all the way through we teach you we try to love you we do
our best to be a blessing to you but you need to commit you need to commit second timothy chapter
2 verse 2 verse 1 says this thou therefore my son be strong in the grace that is in christ jesus
and the things that thou has heard among me um heard of me among many witnesses the same commit
thou listen to this to faithful men who shall be able to teach others also so the apostle paul is
telling timothy hey you need to teach someone who actually wants it now look here's the thing is
that you know we get a lot of people save where we're out preaching the gospel and out sowning
but i'll be honest with you we do not collect visitor info from out there we do know no follow
up like i don't promote follow-up when people get saved we don't promote that at all and i'm not
against it when people do i think it's great but the funny thing is we don't promote it but we
still get visitors from sowning so even though we don't promote hey get down their information try
to get them into church they still come to church anyways they end up getting involved getting
baptized anyways because i think it's just god blessing us but i will say this people who do
come to our church we do try to encourage them to keep coming back we try to put a bible in their
hand try to befriend them and disciple them and encourage them and i think one of the best ways
to encourage someone who comes to your church is just answer whatever questions they have right
because a lot of people have questions and they're not getting answers out there i think it's always
good for people to say just ask me anything you want and i'll do my best to answer according to
the scripture like i'm not going to avoid any topic you ask me anything i'll give you the answer
that's what people need but you know it requires like a level of commitment from you though okay
now let me give you an example of this go to luke chapter 9 if you would luke chapter 9
we require real commitment from you you know what that means if you start coming to the church
you're gonna have someone say why don't you come tonight when you come when you start coming sunday
we're like why don't you come on thursday well i got i work on that day what time you get off
well you know i just kind of get off kind of late what time i'll pick you up and you're right i give
you right we have people like that just like persistent people because we're trying to get
you to commit see here's the thing here's here's the thing about mega churches no accountability
slip in slip out no one notices you you just kind of go in go out no one really cares no one cares
if you're going to hell no one cares if you read the bible no one cares if you go to church no
one really cares no one really cares if you're growing in your faith no one cares if you ever
preach the gospel just as long as you're there every once in a while you're good to go i mean
you know what that's not how it should be we should require a commitment why don't you go so many
goes home hey get baptized why don't you get baptized there's so many people well god commands
it you want to do it we got robes you know like the guy i got saved out here in front of my office
not the muslim guy but the guy who was out you know i preached the gospel to him and i said
well god commands you to be baptized and this is like on a tuesday or wednesday or something like
that you know we don't have church service i was like god commands you to be baptized you want to
be baptized he's like right now i'm like yeah right now we got robes and stuff you want to do
let's do it he's like all right let's do it and it was me brother yalises and that guy we just
brought him over here empty auditorium just baptize him right then and there why not you say well i
don't want to be that intrusive i mean we have to be follow me get baptized start serving god
and look we would be doing you a disservice if we did not require that because you're going to
remember this in the millennial reign you're going to remember this in heaven and you're going to be
thankful that someone was compelling you to serve god compelling you to get baptized compelling you
to go soul winning compelling you to get saved amen look at luke 957 and it came to pass as they
went in the way a certain man said unto him lord i will follow thee where the servant that goes
this guy has follower of jesus christ on his bio disciple of jesus on his instagram you know uh he
has abe cristas on his you know on his instagram and everything and jesus said to him foxes have
holes and the birds of the air have nests but the son of man hath not where to lay his head you
really want to go with me he's like almost discouraging him from going right i'll go wherever
you go i don't have a place to sleep that's what he's telling him verse 59 he said into another
follow me but he said lord suffer me first to go and bury my father jesus said unto him let the
dead bury their dead but go thou and preach the gospel preach the kingdom of god and another also
said lord i will follow thee but let me first go bid them farewell which are at my home at my house
jesus said unto him no man having put his hand to the plow and looking back is fit for the kingdom
of god you know what he's doing is requiring commitment because if you're going to follow me
you got to do it right now you got to do it right now now obviously he's doing it because he had a
three and a half year ministry he didn't have time for people he didn't have time to coddle people
during those three and a half years he needed commitment but you know what we can take the
spirit of this and still apply today and say you need to commit start making church a priority
again not something you do every once in a while something you do consistently every single sunday
make your bible reading something that you commit to every single day the new year's around here's
your new year's resolution read the bible every single day pray every single day go to church
every single week start learning how to preach the gospel commit that's what real discipleship is
christianity is not something you just dip your toes in every once in a while just jump all in
all right here's my last point i'm done go to axe chapter 14 axe chapter 14 real discipleship
requires real confirmation now we do do a sense of like assemblance and follow-up in our church
where we try to follow up on you and you know try to make sure that you know that you were missed
and we do keep track like i keep track as best as i can we have systems in place i'm always you know
i notice when you're not here and i you know i'm praying for you and i think upon you and i do my
best to just make sure that you're continuing in the things of god but when the bible talks about
confirmation it's not necessarily that type of follow-up confirmation is making strong
christians by explaining to them that they're going to go through hard times okay look at
Acts chapter 14 verse 19 and there came thither certain jews from Antioch and Iconium who persuaded
the people having stoned paul drew him out of the city supposing he had been dead how be it as the
disciples stood round about him he rose up and came into the city and the next day he departed
with Barnabas to Derby and when he had when they had preached the gospel to that city and had taught
many they returned again to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch confirming the the souls of the
disciples and exhorting them to continue in the faith and that we must through much tribulation
enter into the kingdom of God what is he saying the apostle Paul after getting stoned goes and
preaches and he tells his converts hey we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom
of God in other words you see what happened to me it might happen to you but continue in the grace
of God he's not like hey don't let them see me because they might they might get scared from
serving God no he's just like hey you see this I'm going to confirm me right now we must through much
tribulation into the kingdom of God and you know what we have to do that we have to tell you we
can't hide the fact that you are going to go through a hard time you will be persecuted you
will suffer difficulty look folks our church was bombed literally bombed back in 2021 by the side
of my community they threw an IED you can look it up on google if maybe some of you have already
googled me you can google it we were literally bombed by the lgbtq they threw a glitter bomb
inside the building they bombed the building and you say why would you tell us that oh because
it might happen again you never know well you're scared would you be scared we must do much
tribulation enter into the kingdom of god well i just fear for my safety well he that saved
his life shall lose it so who's ever lose it this life for my sake the same shall keep it
i'm still here folks we must do much tribulation enter into the kingdom of god that's a fact that's
what the bible teaches you know what i'm doing i'm confirming you i'm trying to get you grounded in
the faith and not lie to you and i'll tell you once you become a christian everything will be
hanky dory a bed of roses no your family might hate you your friends might hate you you might get
liberals are for sure gonna hate you democrats are for sure gonna hate you you know that's just how
life is and i'm seeking to confirm you in the faith by doing so that's real discipleship not
keeping you from evil just recognizing hey you know what you're going to experience the evil day
one day and you know what you better stay in church when it happens you better keep serving
god when the pressure is on when the stuff hits the fan you better remain in the things of god
because that's god's will for your life you better be tough if thou faint in the day of adversity
thy strength is small the bible says that is real discipleship let's pray father we thank you so
much for your word and i pray that lord you'd help us to be disciples of jesus christ we all
fall short lord and that's why we need to renew our commitments every day to get back on the
altar and be a living sacrifice help us to do so may you bless our evening service in jesus name
amen please turn your song books to song number 429 song number 429 mark the herald angels sing
429 strong on that first verse tell us your name peter have you trusted jesus as your savior
okay upon your public profession i'm going to baptize you in the name of the father and of the
son and of the holy spirit going to cross your arms over your chest buried in the likeness of
his death raised to walk in the news of life congratulations don't worry about getting anything
away let's pray we'll be dismissed father we thank you again for a great service thank you for all
those who came i pray that you'd help us as your people to be disciples of jesus christ i pray we
would not soon forget the message this we heard this morning we love you we thank you pray this
this seems in Jesus name amen you are