Amen. Okay, we're in John chapter 8, and I just want to look at a few verses in John 8,
it's just three verses there in the middle of it. It's from verse 30, so John chapter 8 and verse 30,
and we see this, it says, 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 you my disciples indeed,
and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. And the title of my sermon
this morning is how to be a disciple, how to be a disciple. I'd like to pray before we get going
with the message. Father, thank you for this, well this day Lord, thank you for the people
that have made it here to hear your word preached, Lord, that you know something that is
part of being a disciple. Lord, help me to preach what it means to be a disciple, what it
doesn't mean, you know, what is and isn't a disciple. Lord, help me just preach this
message clearly and accurately and boldly and to inspire people to want to serve you,
to want to live for you, Lord, those that already are doing so, to want to continue doing that as
well. In Jesus' name, pray all of this. Amen. Okay, so something that is confused by many
claiming to be Christians is the difference between a believer and a disciple. The difference
between being saved from hell and being an actual disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ. See,
there are actually two separate things. Keep a finger here and turn to Acts chapter 16.
So turn to Acts chapter 16, it's the next book after the Gospel of John, Acts 16.
So being saved is one thing, being a disciple is another thing. Now you can't be a true
disciple without being saved, but you could be saved without being a disciple. In Acts 16,
Paul and Silas were in prison in Philippi, they sing praises to God. Verse 26 says,
and suddenly there was a great earthquake so that the foundations of the prison were shaken
and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone's bands were loosed. And the keeper
of the prison, awaking out of his sleep and seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his
sword and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled. But Paul
cried with a loud voice saying, do thyself no harm for we are all here. So basically the
prison guard, he thinks everyone has escaped and that his job, his life is basically over.
Okay. So, you know, sometimes it takes a low time, a time of humility to be open to the
Gospel. Sometimes for many people, it takes that point in life where you're feeling maybe low,
you're not feeling quite surprised for where the humility is there and you're more likely to
get saved. It said in verse 29, then he called for a light and sprang in and came trembling
and fell down before Paul and Silas and brought them out and said, sirs, what must I do to be
saved? So did he say, follow Jesus? Is that what he said there? Did he say,
did he say live for God? Did he say make him Lord of your life? Did he say be a disciple?
No, he didn't. He said in verse 31, it says, and they said, this is what they said, believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved and thy house. They said, believe
and thou shalt be saved. He said, believe or put your trust in, have your faith in the Lord
Jesus Christ and now might be saved if you continue in his word. Did they say that might
be saved? They didn't, did they? They said thou shalt be saved. That's 100%. That means
you are saved. You're saved if you put your faith, your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ,
that's it. Salvation done. That's why Paul said in Romans 4, 5, but to him that worketh
not. So he does no good works, no good deeds, he does nothing good at all, but believeth
on him that trusteth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.
He said that if you only believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, God looks down and sees a righteous
person justified solely by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. He looks down to see Jesus
Christ's righteousness. That's why in John 6, 47, Jesus Christ said, verily, verily,
I say unto you, he that believeth on me hath everlasting life. It's as simple as
that. Salvation is simple. Salvation is a gift. So back in John chapter 8, there
are Jews there that are now saved. They have believed on the Lord Jesus Christ. They're
going to heaven. John 8 says in verse 30, as he spake these words, many believed on him.
These people have just got saved. They've believed on the Lord Jesus Christ. They've
put their trust in him. They've heard the words of God. They've listened to his words.
That's what it takes to be saved. Many of you here, in fact, anyone here that's saved
will have had to have heard the words of God to then put their trust in the Lord Jesus
Christ's salvation. They've believed on him. Then verse 31 says, then said Jesus to those
Jews which believed on him. So who's he talking to? He's talking to people that have got saved.
Remember, we've just seen in Acts 16, 31, and they said, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ,
and thou shalt be saved. So these people are saved. They've believed on him. He said,
if ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed. He's talking to people that
are saved that have believed on him. He said that if they want to now be his disciple,
if they want to also learn from him, they want to be taught, they want to be trained,
then they need to do something. They need to continue in his word. Okay, it's pretty simple.
And if you here who are saved from hell, you here that now know that you're going to heaven,
want to go on to be a disciple, you want to go on to learn, you want to go on to follow the
Lord Jesus Christ as well as go to heaven, you need to continue in his word. Okay, they're
two separate things. Now you might say, well, why would I want to be a disciple? Because some
people might think, well, I'm going to heaven. What's the point now? That was easy. Going to
heaven is easy. That's it. Why would I want to do anything else? I'm already going there. What's
the point? I'm going to give you some reasons I thought about when I made these notes.
For example, one reason is you're going to follow someone in life. Okay, we're sheep,
we're followers. People like to think they're not, we're all followers. We follow someone in
life. You might as well follow the most perfect person you can. You might as well follow the
Lord Jesus Christ. Okay, why not follow someone who's absolutely perfect, who is completely
sinless, who will lead you into all truth. But here's another reason. You know, there is nothing
more fulfilling than following the Lord Jesus Christ. There's nothing better, there's nothing
better in life than being a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ. Yeah, it's amazing to be saved.
It's great to know deep in your heart that you're going to heaven. But you know, following
Jesus, following the Lord Jesus Christ, it is such a blessing, it's such an honour, it's such
a great thing to do, it's such a fulfilling life. Better than anything else in life.
There's nothing more worthwhile than following the Lord Jesus Christ. Is there anything more
worthwhile than following God in the flesh? But also you can go on to change your loved
one's lives. So if you choose to be a disciple, you should then be able to get those in your life
saved. You should learn how to preach the gospel. You'll learn how to, and you know with
loved ones, sometimes not as simple as, well I'll just show them, I'll just give them a video
that Pastor Taverner did, for example. Or I'll just show them what I was shown. You know,
sometimes loved ones, it takes a bit longer. Sometimes it takes a while. Sometimes it takes
them seeing you living for God for them to eventually take you seriously and then listen
to what you've got to say and listen to you show them what the word of God says about
salvation. You know, he'll reward you as well. Did you know that you can earn extra
rewards in heaven? So go to heaven. Go to heaven is free. That's a free gift paid for by the blood
of Christ. But you can earn rewards up there. See heaven's not the same for everyone. Some
people will go up there to many rewards. To go up there to see all these people they've
got saved over years, all the fruits, all that's come from the work they've done,
and then others will go up to heaven having received the free gift. And yeah,
amen, great, they're in heaven, they're not in hell, but they could have done so much
more. It's a short life and we have this short life to live and do great things in.
We can earn rewards. We can also avoid the punishment of God. Did you know that God
commands us to follow him? God commands us to do many things for him. There are many commands
in the Bible and when you say no and you just break those commands, what do you think God's
going to do? Do you think your father's going to be happy? He's not happy.
But how about, here's one other reason it's the right thing to do. Did I tell you to turn
to Romans 12? Turn to Romans 12. Following Jesus is the right thing to do. It's what
God wants us to do. If you were in the book of Acts, it's the next book, the book
of Romans. The next book after Acts is Romans and it's Romans chapter 12 and verse
one. Romans 12 one says this, I beseech you brethren, sorry, I beseech you therefore
brethren by the mercies of God that you present your bodies a living sacrifice,
holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. It's our reasonable service.
Yeah, you're saved. If you've put your faith in Jesus Christ, your sins have been washed
away by the blood of Christ, you're going to heaven. But do you know what? He did a lot for
you. He died for you. He died for every single one of us here. It's our reasonable service
to go on to follow and live for the Lord, isn't it? To go on to be a disciple is a
reasonable service. It's a reasonable service to present our bodies a living sacrifice,
holy and acceptable unto God. If you go back to the Gospel of John in chapter eight,
we're going to keep going there so you can keep a finger in John eight. I want you to remember
these these verses well from now on forever. I want you to because you know why and I'll tell
you why I want you to remember these verses is because there are wicked people everywhere.
They're all surrounding us right now. All these different buildings have fake churches,
false churches, false religions telling you that you're only saved if you're a disciple.
But the Bible does not say that. They're liars. The Bible says if you continue in my word,
then are you my disciples indeed to those that have believed on him. Some will teach you that
if you're saved you'll automatically go on to do all these great works. That's not what the
Bible says. The Bible said that Jesus said to those Jews which believed on him, if you continue
in my word, then are you my disciples indeed and you shall know the truth and the truth
shall make you free. True wisdom, true knowledge comes from God. It comes from the word of God
and it will free you from the web of lies. It will free you in life. It will free you from
the daily burdens of sin. It will free you from the reliance on the world. The word of God
will free you from all that rubbish, tying you down, pulling you down in life, destroying your life.
But salvation comes from faith in Christ. He said if you continue in my word, then are you my
disciples indeed. Verse 32 said and you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.
So how to be a disciple? Well, continue in his word. Clearly, right? Continue in his word.
But this is a big book, isn't it? It's a pretty big book. This is quite a big thick book as well,
right? And I know some look smaller, they've just got thinner pages. It's a big book,
okay? So where do you start? Where do you start in this book to continue in his word?
Where do you begin to continue his word? Where do you begin to continue to do as he tells you?
Well, turn to Matthew chapter 28. The title is How to be a Disciple,
and Matthew being the first book of the New Testament. So if you're in John, you go back
past Luke, past Mark to Matthew. How to be a disciple? Number one, point number one,
get baptised, get baptised. In Matthew chapter 28, so this is the first of the Gospels.
It's ended with the Great Commission, and the Great Commission is this from verse 18. We're
going to read. It says in Matthew 28 and verse 18, 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,
baptising 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, and lo, I am with you always,
even unto the end of the world. Amen. So if you're saved, God wants you to be baptised,
okay? Clear as day. If you're saved, God wants you to get baptised. Now just to make
it clear, just to remind you in case anyone has ever wondered, baptism doesn't save you,
okay? You don't get saved by baptism. Again, there'll be churches, when I say churches,
fake false churches in some of these buildings right next door to us right now,
telling you that you have to be baptised to go to heaven. That's not what the Bible says,
okay? The Bible says believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved,
okay? He didn't say believe and get baptised. You should get baptised. You should get
baptised. But it doesn't save you. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ saves you. But baptism
is the first thing that he wants you to do after getting saved. He wants you to be baptised.
It's a statement. It's both a picture of the death, burial and resurrection of Christ,
and it's a picture of your dying to sin, or the eternal account of sin, and being raised
a new life in Christ. It's the answer of a good conscience towards God. It's saying,
yes, I want to do what you tell me to do, but it does not save you, okay? But it's
something he wants you to do after salvation. Turn to Acts chapter 8.
Turn to Acts chapter 8. You're basically saying to God, I'm here.
I want to do as you tell me to do, God, so I'm going to get baptised.
So baptism is, first off, it's the answer of a good conscience towards God. It's saying,
yep, I want to do as you tell me to do. But what if you've already been baptised? So
maybe some of you have been baptised previously. Some maybe have been sprinkled with water by a
priest or something, or a vicar. Some maybe have been dunked in water by another church
before they believed on the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, in Acts 8, in Acts 8, we're going to have
a look here. If you were unsaved, okay, then it was no different to any other time you got
wet, okay? If you were unsaved when you got baptised, it's no different to having a bath.
It's no different to jumping into the lake, or into a swimming pool, or into anything like
that, or even into a dirty puddle. It's no different at all, okay? Baptism, if you weren't
saved, if you didn't trust Christ as your Saviour, is a waste of time.
In Acts 8, Philip the evangelist, he preaches the Gospel to this Ethiopian eunuch here. It says
in verse 36, and as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water, and a eunuch
said, see, here is water, what doth hinder me to be baptised? So he's saying, what would stop
me being baptised? That's what hinder means. What's going to stop me? What's going to
prevent me from being baptised? And Philip said, if, if thou believeth with all thine heart
thou mayest, and he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
So he said, if, if you believe, he believed the Gospel, okay? That's what he's saying here,
I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, he's believing the whole Gospel. He's the
Son of God who came and died for your sins, was resurrected, he's paid for all your sins,
okay? He believed the Gospel, that was the prerequisite, that was what was required.
Believing with all thine heart. So if you believe, if you've just put your faith in the Lord Jesus
Christ, you believe, then you're able to get baptised. If you're not saved, then there's no
point getting baptised. He believed the Gospel. Verse 38 says, and he commanded the chariot to
stand still, and they went down both into the water, notice that? Philip didn't come up with
a little bit of water on his fingers and just sprinkle it over the eunuch, they both went
into the water, both Philip and the eunuch, and he baptised him. So it wasn't a sprinkling,
it was an immersion, a full immersion in water, picturing the death, burial and resurrection
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And when they were come out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord
called to wave Philip that the eunuch saw him no more, and he went on his way, rejoicing,
he was celebrating. Getting saved is a time to rejoice. If you're really saved, if you
really believe in your heart that you're going to heaven no matter what because you've put your
faith in Christ, that was a time to celebrate, wasn't it? When that day that that happened,
that was a time to rejoice. But getting baptised is also a time to rejoice. It's a
great thing to do, even more than therefore getting saved, and I'm not saying it's,
obviously getting saved is the most important thing, but after that you're now saying,
I'm here to serve you. You're saying I'm here to continue in your word, I'm here to serve
you. And what a great thing, what a great thing to celebrate as well, isn't it? What an
amazing thing to be able to say, I'm now getting ready to serve the Lord Jesus Christ and to be
one of his few, one of his few disciples. Turn to Joshua chapter one, Joshua chapter one,
okay, so that's back in the Old Testament, it's the sixth book, after the book of Deuteronomy
you've got the book of Joshua, Joshua chapter one. While you go though, I'm going to read
verse 31 of John 8 again, which said, 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. The title is how to be a disciple. Number one,
get baptised, get baptised. Number two, read the Bible, read the Bible.
In Joshua chapter one, okay, Moses has died and Joshua is preparing to do a great work for God.
He said this to him, and look, if you're getting baptised and you want to be a disciple,
you're preparing to do a great work for God. Okay, you should be willing, you should be in
your heart saying, I want to live for you God, I want to work for you God, I want to do stuff
for you God, you gave your life for me, I want to do something for you. Well, this is
what Joshua is preparing to do here, it says in verse six, that it says that this is what God
said to him, be strong and of a good courage, for unto this people shalt thou divide for an
inheritance a land which I swear unto their fathers to give them. Only be thou strong and
very courageous that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law which Moses my servant
commanded thee. Turn not from it to the right hand or to the left that thou mayest prosper
whithersoever thou goest. So he said, Joshua, you need to be strong and courageous,
he said you need to be brave, to follow me properly, to do everything I tell you.
How do you know how to do everything that God tells you? Well verse eight says this book of
the law shall not depart out of thy mouth but thou shalt meditate therein day and night.
He said meditate therein day and night that thou mayest observe to do according to all that
is written therein for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous and then thou shalt have
good success. So you need to read it every day and every night, okay? Wake up and read it
before you go to bed, read it. It's pretty simple isn't it? Read your bible, read it in the
morning, read it in the evening. When you get up in the morning read your bible, when you go
to bed in the evening read the bible. Now if you're sitting there going yeah but I don't
actually have a bible. Bibles are hard to get here. A good English, a King James bible
is maybe not so easy to get but you know what you can get it on an app on your phone.
You know even though I have many bibles I generally wake up, lift up my phone and read
my bible app first thing in the morning. That way I don't have to put lights on or anything
else where my eyes are still like this I could just start reading the bible, okay? And that
way I know where I'm at, I'm not you know if I flick through I don't lose it or anything
I have it but you can read it off an app. If you don't have an app talk to us afterwards
and we'll send you a nice free app that you can download on your phone, you can have the
whole bible and you can read it. If you don't have a phone you can hopefully persuade
a family member to let you download a bible app on their phone. Find a time when you're
able to use that and read it. If you've got time read it lots, if you don't you know
even if you just read 15 minutes a day, three chapters a day, every day you would have
read the whole bible pretty much in a year if you went maybe four chapters on the really
short ones. You know it only takes a year to read through the bible. Now here's the thing,
do you know that how few people, how few people really sadly get saved? The bible actually says
straight is the gate and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life, that's heaven,
and few there be that find it. Do you know how many fewer people actually read their bible?
Do you know how many few Christians actually read their bible? Should I tell you how few?
Hardly any. Do you know even people that serve, that go to church, that soul win even,
and go out and preach the gospel, even then many of them don't actually daily read their bible
because the flesh doesn't want to, because the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.
You need to get in a routine with that, you need to get disciplined with that,
and you need to make sure I'm going to read my bible at this time every single day.
And you know what, he said meditate there in day and night. Read it at night as well,
read it before you go to bed. It's a great thing to have on your mind in the
morning, having your mind in the evening. He said thou shalt meditate therein day and night.
How can you continue in his word if you don't know his word? How can you be a disciple
if you don't know the word? We were laughing outside, they had one of these false churches
and it quoted, it said 1 John 4 10 was it? And then it didn't even have the bible verse,
it then just said love, love God wasn't it? Let God love you. Nothing to do with the gospel,
nothing to do with what actually that verse was about, just let God love you.
They don't even know what the bible says, they don't even care what the bible says
because they're too busy trying to tell you that not only they know what the bible,
only they know how to go to heaven, only they know what you should do and what you shouldn't
do, only they know however much they're trying to rip you off and con you and everything else.
These churches all around here are wicked, they're liars and they're damning people
to hell and do you know why people are getting down there? Because they don't know what the bible
says, because they're not reading the bible. The word of God is here, it's easy to access,
we could get it on an app, you can find a way of getting the word of God,
it's more important than anything else in the world that you continue in the word of God,
then shall you be free.
He said to Joshua, he said you need to be strong and courageous and he said
with that, meditate therein day and night, so how can you know such a big book if you don't
read it through regularly? Look, don't just read it through once, don't think well one day
I'll read through the whole bible, read it through time and time again, just keep
reading your bible, keep reading it, keep reading it, keep reading it and you'll just keep
learning more and more and more. He said in verse 9, have not I commanded thee,
be strong and of a good courage, be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed, for the Lord thy God
is with thee whithersoever thou goest. But if he's with you, you want to be close enough
to him, close enough to hear him, don't you? God's with you, but how do we hear him?
Through the word of God, he's here, that's how he talks to you, listen to him, God's
talking to you, he's there, he's saying just listen to me, I've got a lot to say,
I've got 1189 chapters worth to say to you, just listen, listen to me, open it up and read it,
read my word, listen to me. And by the way it's not a bad thing, like I said most people don't
read it but it's a great thing when you do, it's such a strange thing. Verse 7 says only
be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law,
which Moses my servant commanded thee, turn not from it to the right hand or to the left,
that thou mayest prosper. That means things will go well for you, whithersoever thou goest,
he said wherever you go. This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth,
but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to
all that is written therein, for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous and then
thou shalt have good success. He said if you do that, if you read it day and night,
if it doesn't depart out of your mouth, if you meditate in, if you observe to do according to
all that is written, you try your best to do what God tells you to do, then your way
shall be prosperous, then you'll have a good life, then you'll be more content in life,
then you'll have success in life. Okay and that could be in various ways and by the way for
those because all you'll hear probably around here sadly it's just the way it is in this
region of the world is then you'll get rich, then you'll get rich, no that's not necessarily
going to be a blessing okay because riches are a snare, they're a trap, they ruin your life
okay that's not necessarily what he's talking about but he'll give you what you need and
what you need to be able to be content in life ultimately, to be able to live, to be prosperous,
to be able to live at least a good life, to be able to have success in your Christian life.
It's not a hardship okay, we benefit so much from the word, so much, this Bible has taught me
so much over the years and many many people here could say the same, the more you read it
the more you learn. Turn to Psalm chapter one, Psalm one, so the book of Psalms is right in
the middle of your Bible, it's before the book of Proverbs, it's a book of Psalms and we're going
to look from Psalm one, Psalm one. We benefit from the wisdom, we benefit from the assurance
of our faith in it, we benefit from the instruction, we get so much benefit from the
word of God. Psalm one says it like this in verse one, blessed is the man that walketh
not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat
of the scornful, but his delight, so he loves it, his delight is in the law of the Lord
and in his Lord doth he meditate, how often, day and night, day and night. So the blessed man,
someone who's blessed in life, who's happy in life, delights in God's word and meditates in it
day and night. You'd be amazed how many people that you think they must be happy, look at
everything they have, look at their big house, look at their riches, look at their cars, look
at this, look at that, they're not happy, they're not. You talk to them, they're never happy,
they're always unhappy because they want more and more and more, it's never enough.
The blessed man is a man that delights in the law of the Lord and in his Lord doth he
meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, says verse 3,
that bringeth forth his fruit in his season, his leaf, so he's saying a tree that's by water,
a happy tree, a tree that's got enough to nourish it, to grow. His leaf also shall not wither
so the leaf won't die and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper, whatsoever he does will prosper
if he's loving the law and he's meditating in it day and night. Being a disciple isn't a hardship,
it's a blessing and it means reading the Bible every day. Turn to Philippians chapter 4,
the book of Philippians chapter 4, this is after the book of Ephesians before,
sorry, after the book of Ephesians, sorry, is the book of Philippians.
Turn, it's in your New Testament obviously, turn to Philippians 4 where I'm going to read
John 8 31 when you read that. John 8 31 32 says, 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. The title is how to be a disciple. Number one, get baptised.
Number two, read the Bible and number three, pray to God. Pray to God. You need to pray
to the Lord, pray to God. In Philippians 4, Paul told the Philippians how to get through
the worries, the cares of life, there's a lot of worries in life. Whether you're saved or not,
you're going to have cares, you're going to have trouble, you're going to have problems,
you're going to have worries, that's life. He said in verse 6, be careful for nothing.
He said don't be full of care for anything, don't be worried, don't be scared.
But in everything, he said in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving,
let your requests be made known unto God. He said to stop worrying about things and instead
bring it to God, ask God, pray to God for things. What sort of things should we bring to
God? Everything, everything, bring it all to God. Bring it all to him, bring all of your concerns,
your issues, your problems, your troubles, bring it all to God.
Ask, humbly entreat or plead, okay, he said here, he said in everything by prayer and
supplication, so humble entreatment, you ask, you're pleading, you're saying please God,
thank him too and be confident that if it's in his perfect will, if he thinks it's going
to be good for you, it will happen. And that's ultimately what we want, we want God's will
in our life because he knows what's best for us, he knows what's around the corner,
he knows what will benefit us and he knows what will destroy us.
It said in verse 7, and the peace of God, that's peace, which passeth all understanding
shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. So when you're passing it onto him,
when you're taking it to the Lord in prayer, you can have peace in even the hardest times.
How often should you pray? Well turn to Daniel chapter 6, turn to Daniel chapter 6.
So you've got a bit sort of after the book of Psalms, eventually you've got the major
prophets, so you're going to have, you're going to go from Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel,
then after that you've got Daniel, Daniel chapter 6. Now there's no limit and it's good
to be in prayer as often as needed and I believe, look, that a good habit though is to have some
structured prayer as well, so we should pray regularly, we should pray at many times in life,
we should be in a state of regularly and ready to pray at all times, but I do believe
some structured prayer is good as well. In Daniel 6 they've made a law that no one can
pray to God for 30 days, okay, but Daniel doesn't let anything get in the way of his prayer
time. Look at Daniel 6 and verse 10, Daniel 6 10, so it's against the law to pray but Daniel's
not fussed says, now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, this is a law, he went into
his house and his windows being opened in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his
knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God as he did a four-time.
So that's a good habit to make aside for giving thanks for your food and being in prayer
throughout the day is to maybe have some set times in the day, three times a good benchmark
isn't it, pray in the morning, pray before you go to bed at night and make a time in a day
where you get down on your knees and pray as well, get on your knees and pray, you know,
getting on your knees and praying is a good thing to do, it's a good reminder that you're
praying to the Almighty God, it helps to humble you, it helps to put God in his right position,
get on your knees and pray to God. A disciple continues in his word and his word says you
don't have to turn to 1 Thessalonians 5-17, pray without ceasing, don't stop your prayer life,
don't stop yourself from praying, when times are hard, when you've done something bad you think
oh I can't come to God now, pray to him, if we confess our sins, he's faithful and just
to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness, if you go to him in
prayer he will forgive you of those sins throughout life, now don't get me wrong, you're
going to heaven if you put your faith in Christ but your daily walk with God should be one of
coming to him, confessing sins that you've done in the day so that you don't get as
much punishment in a day from God, so you're not pulled apart, you don't feel distance from
God, keep praying, keep your prayer life, never stop praying to God. God wants us to pray,
turn to Hebrews chapter 10, Hebrews 10, it's a book of Hebrews in the New Testament,
towards the back of the New Testament, just before the book of James and then after that is
Peter, you've got before that the book of Hebrews, while you go there I'm reading John 8 31 which
said, 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,
the title is how to be a disciple, number one get baptised, number two read the Bible,
number three pray to God and number four go to church, number four you should go to church but
I'm going to give you some caveats here, look at Hebrews 10 it says in verse 23,
let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering for he is faithful that promised
and one way that we don't waver, waver is to basically be weak, to be a bit
soft, a bit blown about okay, one way that we don't waver, we don't fail as a disciple is
by being plugged into church, to be part of a church and it's not just for ourselves,
so being in church isn't just for you and I know you know many people get confused about
this they think well you know well if I don't go to church oh well it's only me that suffers,
well no being in church is for other people as well it says in verse 24 of Hebrews 10
and verse 24 and let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works,
so we should think about each other by being in church not forsaking the assembling of ourselves
together, so we shouldn't not go to church, we shouldn't not assemble as the manner of
some is which some people do but exhorting one another that means encouraging one another
and so much the more as you see the day approaching, so a big part of church is to
provoke one another unto love and to good works, a big part of when we come together as a church
is to encourage others to go and do good things, when you see other people in the church going
out and preaching the gospel, reading their bibles, being in church it encourages you to do the
same, if there was one person turning up to our church that one person would probably stop
coming as well, that's just the way it is, we need that encouragement, we need that from each
other, well we're told not to forsake it, we're told to encourage each other, however
do you think that the inspired author of Hebrews here means assembling with a load of unsaved
people that call themselves Christians, anyone thinks think that's what he means, did he mean
just go and find anywhere that calls itself a church as long as it's got a big banner saying
church go there, do you think that's what he meant, he didn't mean that did he, he said ourselves
okay, he said not forsaking the assembling of ourselves and that's what a legitimate
church is, it's an assembly, it's a called out assembly of believers, people that have their
faith and trust in Christ alone for salvation, that's what a legitimate church is,
it's a called out assembly of believers, now keep a finger here in
turn of first Timothy chapter three, because there's more required for that church to be a
legitimate church, so it's not just that they're saved, although that's number one okay, number
one look, if there aren't saved people there, it definitely isn't a church and let me tell you
again, because you can hear some of that in the background, you can hear the worldly music, let
me tell you again, those people, those Jehovah's witnesses, those Pentecostals, those apostolic
mission whatever they are, those grace assembly guys, those fake evangelicals, all these guys,
all these churches out there are not churches, they're not churches okay, they don't even have
anyone saved in them, they all believe you've got to be good to go to heaven, they're not churches,
a church is a called out assembly of believers, people that are saved, that believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ, otherwise it's not a church, otherwise it's no different really let's be
honest to the mosque, it's no different to the synagogue, it's no different to the Muslim,
sorry to the Buddhist temple, they're all false, they're all telling you, you've got to be good
enough to go to heaven, a church is an assembly of believers and that's what we shouldn't forsake
and in 1 Timothy 3 though, we see some other criteria, 1 Timothy 3 15, now Paul wrote this to
the legitimate, the legitimate, the real pastor Timothy, he said this, but if I tarry long that
thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the
church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth, so the church is a house of God which
by default is therefore the pillar and ground of the truth, if it's a house of God it's going
to be the pillar and ground of the truth, so is it a church if they teach and preach a false
gospel, anyone think that's the church? No, is it a church if they tell you that you've got to
give up all your sins to go to heaven? No, because it's impossible, it's a lie, they're
damning you to hell, is it a church if they tell you that you've got to at least give up
some of your sins to go to heaven? No, it's a false gospel, they're liars, whether they hold
a bible, whether they wear a suit, whether they call themselves pastor or bishop or prophet
shepherd or any of that junk, it's not a church if they're not preaching the gospel.
Is it a church if they teach and preach from a fake bible, is that a church? Is it a church
if they preach and teach from some random bible, the latest one that's come out, oh well this one
looks good enough, well I like this one because it makes me look a bit better, let's go with
this one, is that a church? It's not a church, it's a pillar and ground of the truth and if
they're English speaking they need to have a King James bible and if they're not English
speaking they need to have the closest thing in translation to a King James bible.
Is it a church if they don't go out and proclaim the truth to the lost?
Is it a church if they don't go and show people how to go to heaven? It's not a church,
what's the whole point in a church? To get other people saved, it's not a social club. Now it can,
it's a good social club, it is also a social club but its purpose is not to be social,
its purpose is not for us to just come and feel so happy, yeah it's good to have fellowship,
fellowship's great, coming along and enjoying singing to God is great, worshiping God is great
but the ultimate number one reason of a church is to do the ministry of God which is to go
out and preach the gospel to the lost, so if they don't do that it's not a church.
Is it a church if someone claims all of that, so is it a church if they claim to believe the
King James bible, they claim to believe the gospel, they claim to want, they claim to even
go out and preach to the lost but they just suddenly just called themselves a church,
they just suddenly called themselves a pastor, they've just decided that they're an ordained
minister because they ordained themselves, is that a church? It's not a church,
it goes from faith to faith, the church begets another church, it always comes from a church as we
see in the bible, men of God have their hands being laid on them by other men of God
to become a church, they don't just make themselves a church, is it a church if they've,
whether or not they've been ordained or not, they don't meet the clear biblical qualifications
to be a pastor, it's not a church, it's not a church, they're biblical qualifications,
1 Timothy 3 where we are has just given a list of qualifications,
Titus chapter 1, if they don't meet that, it ain't a church,
it's not as though there's a lack of people wanting churches around, there are people that want
churches, okay, and want legitimate churches even around, the lack is of biblically qualified men,
okay, so the labourers are few, so when someone just decides to just make themselves a
church, that ain't okay, that's not normal, there's a reason someone would have to self-ordain,
look, us as pastors, we'd love to find people to lead a church, why would someone have to
make themselves a church, why would someone have to ordain themselves as an evangelist or
a pastor or something else, why is no church willing to ordain them, why is no church willing
to plant them, I'll tell you why, because there's a problem with them because they don't
meet the qualifications in one way or another, so it's not a church, so with all of that in mind,
I'm not aware of a legitimate church around here, now that's not to say there isn't,
I don't know if there's some independent fundamental baptist churches around or something
like that, I don't know, okay, I don't know of any around here, so you've got a bit of a
problem here in Malawi, okay, anyone who watches this in the future as well, you know, some of
the people that maybe couldn't make it that we, you know, we preached to some schools a bit,
quite away from Chinsupur and stuff, but we've got their details, we'll post this sermon to them,
so of course, look, I don't know if there's a legitimate church, so what do you guys do,
what do you guys do here in Luangri, you don't just turn up at the nearest false prophet
and say well at least I'm at somewhere that calls itself a church, you don't do that,
don't do that, please don't do that, to fill your heads with false doctrine,
to sow seeds of doubt in you so that you're a bit unsure and not confident about proclaiming
the gospel to others, to make you just completely off with all other sorts of doctrines,
to try and dissuade you from preaching the gospel, to dissuade you from living for God,
to encourage you into other sorts of wickedness, don't do that, back in Hebrews 10 we're told
this in verse 26, for if we sin willfully after that we've received the knowledge of the truth,
there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment
and fiery indignation which shall devour the adversaries, now what that's talking about
is the punishment of God, when we know what we're meant to do, and this is talking about
going to church, we know that we're meant to not forsake the assembly of ourselves together,
as a manner of some is, we know that we're told that we should be coming together with other
believers, if we go and sin willfully and that would apply just as much to going to a fake
church, to going to a false church, to going to a false prophet, well then God's going to
whoop you bad in life, okay, and God's going to punish you, he's going to chastise you,
because you're basically rejecting, you're saying yeah I know what you said, you're rejecting
the word and you're going well I'm just going to go down to the false prophet and hang around
and feel good about myself because at least I go to some sort of place called a church on a Sunday,
God does it like that, that's going to be punishment, and of course with that,
self-ordaining, self-leading, it's all willful sin okay, if you don't have a legitimate church
then there's nothing to forsake right now and you need to be patient and do the best you can,
so if there isn't a legitimate church in the long way, you need to be patient, you can
still be a part of us from afar, you can still learn from our preaching, you can follow our
services, you can follow our live streams if you have enough data for that, if you don't,
you're at least able to download our audio, you can listen to the audio of our sermons
on our website, you can follow, you can learn, you can grow from afar as well,
but that's better, that's more in God's will than turning up down at the false church,
you turn up at a fake church, you're completely out of God's will, that's bad discipleship right,
okay, now we want to help you grow from afar okay, we want to also, we want to start a great
work here, so don't forsake the next time we're here either, so if you're here and you're
thinking I want to get baptized, I want to live for God, I want to be discipled, you need to be
patient and you need to understand that yeah look, we plan to come here again, when we come here
again make sure you're here again and learn more and be and if and if you're still going strong
there's more chance of a church here in the future, don't forsake the online teaching that
we give you, don't just go well I can't be bothered with all of that, don't forsake it,
try your best to follow it, to listen, look we live in a day and age where even just an audio
sermon shouldn't be too hard for most people to be able to access one way or another,
don't forsake it, don't forsake the great commission either and that's what we're going to
look at now, turn to 2 Corinthians 5, John 8 31 32 said, then said Jesus to those Jews which
believed on him, if you continue in my word then are you my disciples indeed and you shall
know the truth and the truth shall make you free, so we've in in the new testament you've
got the four gospels, you've then got the book of acts, the book of romans, you got first
corinthians and then second corinthians in the new testament and we're turning to second
corinthians chapter 5, the title is how to be a disciple, number one get baptised,
number two read the bible, number three pray to god, number four go to church, number five
start soul winning, start soul winning, in second corinthians 5 the apostle Paul makes it clear,
he makes it clear whose job it is to win souls for Christ,
okay he makes it clear whose job it is to win souls for Christ, says in verse 17,
therefore if any man be in Christ he is a new creature, old things are passed away, behold
all things are become new, so if you're saved, if you've put your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ
and you're a new creature, you're a new soul winning creature and all things though of God
who has reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ has given to us the ministry of reconciliation,
so he's given it to us, those that are reconciled to God by Jesus Christ have been given the
ministry of reconciliation, reconciling means making peace, making peace, so if someone is
not talking, someone has a problem, there's an issue, there's a divide between two people,
reconciling would be to make peace, well the ministry of reconciliation is the job of making
peace between people and God and how is that done? Through the Lord Jesus Christ,
through the gospel, through faith in Jesus Christ, we're forgiven of our sins, the enmity,
the problem we have with God is taken away by the blood of Christ and our faith in that,
okay so that's what our job is, is to then go out and show other people,
he's given it to us, he's given us that job
and we do that with the word of God, we do that with our King James Bibles, okay so we go out with
the King James Bible and we reconcile people to God, verse 19 says to wit that God was in
Christ reconciling the world unto himself not imputing their trespasses unto them, so again
their sins are taken away by the blood of Christ and have committed unto us the word
of reconciliation, so he's committed unto us, that's our job, if you're saved your job
is to get other people saved, now then we are ambassadors for Christ as though God did beseech
you by us, we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled unto God, that's our job okay,
that's what we go out and do as ambassadors, we pray, we ask people to be reconciled to God
through faith in Christ, for he has made him to be sin for us who knew no sin,
that we might be made the righteousness of God in him, so if you're saved,
your job is to get other people saved, that's your job, that's part of continuing in his word,
a big part of being a disciple is to get other people saved,
yeah that's our job, that's one of the, probably that is the most important job isn't it,
if you're saved the most important job, the first works, the first love, the great commission
is to go out and get other people saved and we would love to teach you guys how to effectively
win souls, so those of you that are here, those of you that maybe listen to this over the next
few weeks or so, we would love to teach you how to do the same, we would love to teach you
how to get not just your loved ones saved, not just your family, your friends saved,
but all people around here say this is such a receptive place to the gospel,
you know people want to hear the gospel, they want to get saved, they want to go to heaven
here, they want to know they're going to heaven, all you need is a bit of training and we'll
teach you how to do it exactly how we do it, it's not difficult, it's just taking the word of
God and methodically just showing people the truths they need to see from easy to explain verses
that show how easy it is to go to heaven and we'll love to show you the same and we can do
that from afar, we haven't, I've just finished a series on our YouTube channel, it will also be
on our website, it's nearly, in fact it will be uploaded the last couple when I get back to
England but it will be on our YouTube channel as well called How to Win Souls and we'll upload
the audio of that onto our WhatsApp chat full of you guys and it's just going to show you
in eight one hour sermons, so it'll take eight hours to become, I believe at the end of eight
hours you would be very proficient hopefully and able to go out and show someone easily how
to get saved, show your family, show your friends, show other people, it's not difficult,
it's taking the word of God and explaining the word of God to people and showing them
what they need to understand and believe to be able to go to heaven,
so we would like to train you with that, we would love to get you preaching the gospel
to then come out and eventually train heaps of soul winners here but you know what, for you guys
here now, if you've got a friend, if you've got someone else that believes or you could
show someone else, meet up with your friend and go out soul winning, learn how to preach the
gospel, ask people with a Bible, we'll leave some of our invites here as well and just ask them
do they want to know how they can be sure they're going to heaven, it's pretty simple
and if someone wants to know, show them, show them what the Bible says, show them some verses
from the Bible and show them how to go to heaven and we can make a difference in Malawi,
couldn't we, we start with the long way, we could go all over the nation but it needs people
here to be willing to serve God and do what he wants you to do because that's how people get
saved, again it's not about turning up at churches, it's not about well I'll get saved
if I turn over my life, no, you get saved by someone with the Bible coming and showing you
how to get saved, that's how it's always been, that's how it always will be,
people get saved by someone preaching them the word of God
and back in the chapter before, in chapter four of second Corinthians, so second Corinthians in
chapter four and verse three said but if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost,
you know if we don't preach the gospel it's hid to people and they're going to hell,
it's down to us, you look around you go but there's not many of us,
how do we make a difference, you know what it's always been like that,
it's always been by the few, I would prefer to have a few people here that are willing to go on
to serve God than a load of people that are just here for other reasons, I prefer to have
a few people here that are ready to get baptised, to go on to learn, to grow to be a disciple,
then have a thousand people in here who aren't even interested in doing anything for God and
just here for a sing-along and here to make themselves feel good or for some freebies or
something but you know what God does great things by the few, he always does great things
by the few, in fact when there's too many people he whittles them down to do great things
by the few, it's down to all of us preaching to the lost and because there's only one place
that they're going okay and it's a part of continuing in his word, it's a part of being
disciples, he told his disciples in mark 16 15, you don't have to turn there and he said
unto them go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature, part of being
a disciple is going out and preaching the gospel, turn to first Peter one okay this is the last one
John 8 31 to 32 said then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him if you continue in
my word then are you my disciples indeed and you shall know the truth and the truth shall make
you free, the title is how to be a disciple, number one get baptised, number two read the
bible, number three pray to God, number four go to church, number five start soul winning,
and number six be holy, be holy, in first Peter one Peter said this to the saved, he said this
to believers, so he's talking to believers, people that are saved, wherefore in verse 13
of first Peter one first Peter one of first Peter towards the back of your bibles after the book
of James you got first Peter one wherefore gird up the loins of your mind be sober and hope to
the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ,
so he said think straight be sober and that would include not boozing but also being sensible
being serious in this instance as well as obedient children not fashioning yourselves according
to the form of lust in your ignorance so he said put away all of those past sins
but as he which has called you is holy so be ye holy in all manner of conversation that
means in all manner of behaviour just as God is holy be holy did he say when you go to church
just be holy when people are watching no be holy in all your conversation all your behaviour
everything you do should be holy he wants you to be holy why because it is written be ye holy
for I am holy because God told us to basically God told you to be holy because he's holy
and he wants us representing him to be holy did he mean walk around trying to look and sound
as holy as possible is that what he meant that's not what he meant being a fake isn't holy
it's the opposite okay it's unholy so being a fake trying to look and sound as holy as you can
for people that are listening to think you're holy is being unholy that's not holy he said
of these types that try to give the the outward appearance of holiness and by the way
they're everywhere we were just watching them coming in droves walking in like this trying to
look all holy they're rejecting the word of God there's nothing holy about them they're
what the bible calls holier than thou's and he said of those types of people you don't have
to turn there but he said in Isaiah 65 5 which say stand by thyself come not near to me
for I am holier than thou they think they're better than you these are a smoke in my nose
God said a fire that burneth all the day he finds these people that think they're so holy
that want to show their holiness to others he thinks there are smoke in his nose they annoy him
they're an irritation okay they they they irritate God it's not about other people it's
about getting sin out of our lives to cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter
okay so we want to get the sin out of our lives cleanse the inside and then there should
eventually be probably a more outward appearance of holiness but not fake holiness
not holier than thou holiness not how can I appear to be holy that shouldn't be what's
coming through your heart and through your mind what it should be is trying to clean up your life
turn to first Corinthians five because where would be the obvious places to get holy
what's the obvious places to get holy in life if you're a new believer or maybe you're you've
been saved a while but maybe you're you're new to being a disciple or maybe you're not maybe
you're just a disciple and maybe you need some reminding on this well first Corinthians five is the
obvious place to start because how about just the sins that would get you kicked out of a
legitimate church so I don't know if you're aware of this because again most of us and
us included have had so much exposure to fake churches and around here there are fake churches
everywhere false churches and you know what with false churches is they don't kick people
out very often usually they some of the cults like the Jehovah's Witnesses behind us they don't
even let people leave you can't leave okay whereas a real church a legitimate church
there are things that make people get kicked out removed from church did you know that
and there are sins that God says they're not people that he wants in his church now
just to explain here you're saved if you put your faith in Christ but going to church serving
God is a privilege and it's not a privilege that we for example if some say for example
someone was saved here and they stumbled in here and they walked in like this this morning
they were drunk they were completely wrecked and they stole hello and they would we would we
want them in our church service they're going to ruin the church service well the bible has
certain sins which disqualify you from church now if you're saved and you repent you you you
change your mind about that sin God wants you to come back in okay if you get right with
God and you give up that sin you try and get out of that sin then then we we forgive
people and we try and bring them back into church but there are certain sins which God says
you ain't welcome in church for you need to get right why because the bible says a little
leaven leaveneth the whole lung that means a little bit of yeast what makes bread what makes
you know bread rise a little bit is all that's needed and the bible gives a picture it's a
picture of sin with leaven a little bit of sin ruins the whole church so there are certain
things which God says you're not welcome get right first let's have a look at these quickly
before we finish okay because this is a good place to start if you want to be able to be part
of a church in the future if you want to be a disciple God says to be holy well let's start
with the things which will get you kicked out of church he said in first Corinthians five
i wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators yet not all together
with the fornicators of this world or with the covetous or extortioners or with idolaters
for them must you needs go out of the world so he said this isn't about the unsaved
he's not saying i don't want you to be around unsaved people no we need to be around
the safe because we need to get them saved but he's saying if you're saved he wants you
to be holy and not a bad influence on others in the church he said but now i've written unto
you not to keep company if any man that is called a brother that means someone that's a
brother and we would include a sister in Christ a believer be a fornicator or covetous
or an idolater or a railer or a drunkard or an extortioner with such a one no not to eat
that means do not company do not fellowship with them for what have i to do to judge them also
that are without do not you judge them that are within but them that are without god judges
therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person god said get rid of them they
could to be kicked out of a church so let's make sure that you guys can get right in these
areas of life he said to kick out those those types of people in verse 11 okay so let's see
these are good play this is a good place to start to make sure that you're able to be a good
disciple is to get these sins out of your life number one fornicators that's someone that's
basically living with someone having a physical relationship with someone outside of marriage
before they get married the bible says those people aren't welcome in a proper church
so if you're living in fornication god says get right get married or stop living in
fornication it's pretty simple you said fornicators get out
and you go well why well you want kids to just grow up and think that's okay and see
respected people in the church living in fornication fornication ruins lives wrecks
live it lives it causes disease it causes all sorts of problems it ruins lives he said
fornicators no he said the covetous what's it what does it mean to be covetous well i'm
going to explain to you what covetousness is these are people that have an inordinate desire
an obsession with money usually now it applies to other things stuff houses cars you name it
but ultimately it usually comes down to money because it's a love of money that is the root
of all evil covetousness is people that are just they just basically obsess that it's it's
a form of idolatry they're putting money here and god here there they have an inordinate
desire for getting stuff now that would therefore result in things like thieving people who
thief a covetous and sadly you've got a lot of thieves around okay people that are just trying
to get money out of any which way they can more more money now don't get me wrong we
need money to survive we need money to live we need to work to survive if any man should not
work neither should he eat but there are people that then money becomes a god in their life
these people he doesn't want in a church because again it poisons the rest of the church
idolaters these are people that make an idol a god out of something and that would include
money but it could be other things there are people that bow down and worship for example
in the catholic church they worship mary mary's just another person she's become an idol
she's become a goddess in their minds that's that's idolatry that if someone's doing that
they're not welcome in a proper church but other forms of idolatry as well as worshiping images and
statues and pictures and things like that is worshiping a false jesus a false version of
god coming to a proper church one day and then on the weekend on the in the evening service
going to the false church which represents a different jesus who says you've got to give
up all your sins to go to heaven or says you can lose your salvation that's it's a fake
jesus it's an idol it's idolatry you're making a false god he said railers railers are people
that that bear false witness they're liars they make up lies about people and often it's you
know to try and poison a church against not always a man of god who's leading the church
could be against other people as well they're false witnesses they pretend things have happened
that haven't they claim things have happened that haven't they're liars okay and people that
have proven to be railers in a church again get kicked out of a church drunkards and you know
just like england england is the same the uk is the same in malawi i see a lot of drunkards
around at night time the liquor stores are full full of people in there getting drunk
okay now what's a drunkard is it someone that just cannot get through a day without
drinking a day no drunken is someone that that drinks regularly or gets drunk when they drink
and that's a lot of people in this nation same as in most nations in the world the bible says to
kick out drunkards so if you're here and you want to be a disciple for god get get the booze
out of your life the bible says not to even look upon it says look not there upon the wine
when it is red when it gives its color in a cup when it moves itself right he said don't even
look at alcoholic beverages don't even look at it let alone drink it it's poison it ruins your life
wrecks your life in our church in england if i find someone's a boozer
i kick them out of church we don't want them in church unless they can get rid of the alcohol
get it out of their lives and and show us that and show what seems to be a genuine change
of mind about that then we would then therefore forgive them and bring them back in why because
it will ruin the church he said extortioners now there's a different types of extortioners
there are those that threaten you to get money out of you there are those which try and con you
there are those which maybe come into a church and try and tell you well you're going to have
to give us this amount of money or we're going to close the building we're going to do this
do that there are people that maybe try and worm their way into a church to get money out
of you one way or another but here's another form of extortion is trying to blag money out
of you and trying to pretend that they just could never they can't survive without it and
there are people that will come into churches like this and try and get what they can oh well
i just i just can't afford to eat today but they can really they're lying that's extortion
they're extorting money and the bible says those people aren't welcome now if someone is
cannot feed themselves we would we we want to help people in life don't we but we need to
work out we need to make sure we're helping people are not just just uh funding extortion
he said in first peter one because it is written be ye holy for i am holy
go back to john chapter eight okay go back to john chapter eight the title today was how to be
a disciple okay and those were six points of how to be a disciple how to live for god how to
please god how to live according to how he wants you to live and go on to therefore be able
to serve him to be part of a church to be able in the future to be able to go out and preach
the gospel and not have all the cares of this world ruining that the title was how to be a
disciple number one get baptized and after this service we're going to baptize you number two
read the bible number three pray to god number four go to church number five start soul winning
and number six be holy be holy get the sin out of your life try and start to live for
god and start with those big sins first make sure you don't have those in your life
on that we're going to finish up now in a word of prayer
heavenly father thank you for your word lord thank you that you just make it so clear how
you want us to live lord that you also make it so clear that how you want us to live and
how to go to heaven are two different things they're separate things you said to to those
that believed on you if they continue in your word then are they your disciples indeed
that believing is what's what gets us saved but being a disciple is something that you want us
to do but sadly so few do lord so few people that get saved go on to be a disciple but
we want to keep trying to make disciples because then we can get more people saved so
lord we pray that uh the people here that have heard your word will go on to want to serve
you will go on to want to live for you we'll start with baptism and go on to be a part of
the afternoon service and then be inspired to just to just put you first in their lives
and try and live a life serving you and and what a glorious life that is what a privilege
that is lord help us all to just respect that all of us here who are trying to do that lord
to just be inspired to go on to better things for you and help us to all return
for the four o'clock service in jesus name we pray amen