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To receive god's blessing and we're not going to end up serving mammon rather than god You understand he goes on to say in verse 26 for what is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world And lose his own soul Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul for the son of man shall come in the glory of his father With his angels and then he shall reward every man according to his works Now the next thing I want to mention regarding this particular point is that to be a disciple it requires payment But you know what what you get in return is great though And it's always more than what you pay So you think about the most costly thing? That you have sacrificed as being a christian. The reward is far greater exponentially greater and in the in the uh, the In the short term it may seem as though like oh man, you know, i've kind of lost everything but you know what losing everything pales in comparison To the reward that you will receive from jesus christ for that sacrifice that you made Okay pales in comparison Go back to go to luke chapter 9 if you would go back to the book of luke and go to luke chapter 9 Let's look at another example of this And then by the way in uh luke chapter 14 It talks about the fact that there's certain people who don't count the cost Right, they begin to build they have the intention to build they have the intention to serve the lord But then they don't really think about how much it's going to cost to serve jesus christ to be a disciple You know what happens to these people and christians who want to go all in but they don't consider the cost they end up getting offended Some persecution comes a trial comes a sermon comes And it's just like oh, this is offensive. I never want to come back ever again Well, that's funny you were building you intended to build and now the project is unfinished Yeah And the bible actually says well Let's read luke 9 first and then we'll go back to luke 14. Look at nine luke chapter 9 verse 57 It says and it came to pass that as they went in the way a certain man said and said lord I will follow thee with whatsoever thou goest. I'll put jesus in my bio I'll put christian mama I'll put believer I'll put god first You know, whatever it is lord out wherever you go I will go right Verse 58 jesus said and said foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests But the son of man hath not where to lay his head Now that that's a good verse for all the prosperity preachers out there Who want to say that if you serve god, you will always be rich. Nothing will ever have bad happen to you You'll always be healthy. Jesus didn't even not only did jesus not have a mansion He didn't have a place to lay his head period He says the foxes are being taken better care of than myself This is the birds of the air. They have nests foxes have holes. I don't even know where i'm going to sleep tonight I wonder if the guy kept god first in his bio after that Verse 59 says and he said into another Follow me and he said lord suffer me first to go and bury my father Jesus sent him let the dead bury their dead but go down preach the kingdom of god now that seems a little harsh, right? People like man, he can't even participate in a funeral Of his own father, but you know You do have to take into account that the ministry of jesus christ during this time was only three and a half years He only had so much time to accomplish what he needed to do. He didn't have time for like half in half out disciples It's like look you this is a once in a lifetime opportunity You know, jesus christ is here in the first century And he's god in the flesh the word of god is made flesh he's dwelling among you he's asking you to follow him He's telling you to follow him, you know drop everything because you're never going to get this opportunity again Now thankfully he doesn't require that of us To you know, just like not participate in the funerals of our of our loved ones But you can still see the spirit of devotion there the attitude of devotion that he still requires, right? It says in verse 61 another also said lord I will follow them But let me first go bid them farewell which are at my home at my house Jesus said it's him no man having put his hand to the plow looking back Is fit for the kingdom of god now that fit for the kingdom of god doesn't mean like you're not worthy of the kingdom of god fit means, you know, you think of the term fit is in regards to Someone who exercises someone who is physically fit. Well, he's basically saying this person is not spiritually fit For the kingdom of god, he's not putting his hands to the plow He's constantly looking back at the world constantly looking back in his family constantly looking back on what he used to have God expects for us to put our hands to the plow and just never look back Hey, remember lot's wife, right? And so we see there the discipleship does cost them to go back to luke 14 luke chapter 14 Verse In verse 28 it says for which of you intending To build a tower sit it not down first and count at the cost whether you have sufficient to finish it And may I remind everyone here that every christian has sufficient to finish He provides everything necessary to finish It's just referring to the fact that are you willing to give up? That which you have in order to finish Less happily after he had to lay the foundation And is not able to finish it all that behold to begin to mock him Saying this man began to build and was not able to finish Now, let me just say this regarding being a christian and being a disciple of jesus christ You know because sometimes people get saved and they get really Zealous over the things of god they become very radicalized, which is great And then they start expressing their views and what the bible says to their family and friends That's great, but you better make sure you stick it out though Because one of the worst things you can do is be that person And then three months from now you just fall out of the way and you're no longer committed You know what people are going to do. They're going to mock you And in fact, you're you you become an embarrassment to christianity You become a reproach to jesus christ because this man began to build and was not able to finish What's all that stuff you were saying before? It's all that talk About going to church and sin this and sin that and bible this and bible that you're not even in church anymore It's important for us to realize that when we begin to build we are determined that we're going to finish And that's why it's important for christians to learn to maintain Their christianity even when it's hard It's easy to maintain christianity when everything's going good when you're feeling good. Everything's going great god's hands on you. You're being blessed It's another thing when things are being turned upside down and it's not as easy as it was when you first got into the thing Determined to finish regardless and you know when you're building on the christian life You know when you're going through a hard time, you don't have to build with rapidity anymore. You can just build a lot slower You know take it slow, but don't quit Unless you become a reproach Okay, the point that i'm making here is the fact that if you're going to be a disciple of jesus christ it requires sacrifice There's a payment that's that's to be made. It's going to cost you something God expects for you To be willing to pay that price whatever that may be in order to be a disciple But the second thing I want to I want to point out here and it kind of goes along with the first one It not only includes a payment but also includes persecution Now this is big Persecution is a big part of the christian life for someone who is devoted to the lord. Jesus christ. Okay, what is persecution? punishment harassment oppression of a severe nature You know, uh christianity does create friction And this is one of the reasons why christians choose not to be a disciple of jesus christ And in fact, this is one of the reasons why churches and pastors Choose not to be disciples of jesus christ. Why because of the persecution And sometimes people think well persecution only happens to the pastor. It only happens to those who are you know on the You know the payroll of the church or something like that someone who's doing it full time. No, it's actually for everyone Okay It's for everyone the element of persecution Turns people off to the idea of being the disciple of jesus christ go to matthew chapter 10 matthew chapter 10 I'm going to read to you from second timothy chapter three verse 10 It says but that was fully known my doctrine manner of life purpose faith long-suffering charity patience persecutions Afflictions which came to me at aniok and iconium and lystra What persecutions I endured but out of them all the lord delivered me listen to this Ye and all that will live godly in christ. Jesus Shall suffer persecution Let me say that again. Ye all that will live godly in christ. Jesus Might suffer persecution Shall suffer persecution So let's let's let's uh, let's ask a couple questions here If you don't suffer persecution Is the bible implying that you're not living godly and the answer is yes Because it says anyone who lives godly in christ. Jesus the result of that The byproduct of living a godly life, which is a life of a disciple is that you're gonna suffer persecution I'm not saying you're gonna die. I'm not saying your hands are gonna get chopped off I'm not saying you're gonna get beat up, but you will experience a level of persecution in your life You will experience a level of friction in your life from others whether family members or just complete total strangers He said well, you know what? You know easy. I don't have family Not married don't have kids You know, I don't really have any moving close to me. So I'm i'm in the clear. Well, no because if you're soul winning you're gonna get persecuted too And anyone who's done any amount of soul winning for any length of time you've ran into doors where people have persecuted you They reviled you they cuss you out They slammed a door in your face. They mock you I mean soul winning is one of the most humbling experiences when someone just kind of cuts you off midway mid sentence And just closes the door on you I don't know. I don't even know I don't know if you know what i'm talking about, you know because you go up there like hi i'm from they're just like boom no, thanks, and you're just like That's a little embarrassing Well, that's never happened to me. Well, then you just try dropping them. Amen Because you will experience that and it's a very humbling experience No, I don't want to join your cult all loud and what do you say like, okay. Thank you Thank you And then you just move on and then it's even worse especially if you have like a soul winning partner because you look at each other and your face is all red and you're all embarrassed and That's called persecution as well So even if you don't suffer persecution from your family members from people that you know You know you you work remotely so you don't even suffer persecution at work or something If you consistently so win you will have some level of persecution Fact Matthew 10 verse 17. Let's look at a couple verses here regarding persecution Verse 17, by the way, matthew 10 is a very explicit chapter on persecution dealing with the end times But it's very much applicable to us today I like what jesus says in the beginning in verse 17, but beware of men Which men just anyone? For they will deliver you up to councils and they will scourge you in their synagogues And ye shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake for a testimony against them and the gentiles But when they deliver you up take no thought how or what you shall speak for it shall be given you in that same hour What you shall speak for does not ye that speak but the spirit of your father which speaketh in you? And the brother shall deliver a brother to death That's called persecution The father the child the children shall rise up against their parents and cause them to be put to death I mean, this is a very extreme case of persecution To the point where your loved ones are willing to have you die be executed because you're a christian And you shall be hate listen to this ye shall be hated Of all men for my name's sake but he that endured to the end shall be saved So it's telling us here that you will be hated This is contrary to the narrative of most churches that if you become a christian, everyone's gonna like you And if people don't like you then there's something wrong with your testimony Something wrong with your christianity people should like you you're driving people away from christ wrong the bible. Jesus said That people will hate you And if i'm gonna be like jesus, well jesus was crucified I mean, it's crazy to think that people think well you and once you become a christian It's just everything is just roses and daisies. There's no friction. No conflict. What do you mean? They killed jesus Why don't you people are like jesus i'm trying but you know, i'm not godly enough to get crucified Jesus was crucified. He was scourged. He was beaten many of his disciples were beaten. They were persecuted heavily physically I mean some of them were killed So, you know, it'll help these people to actually crack open the bible and read it And look at what happened to the disciples when they lived godly they said well that's in the first century Things are not like that anymore Uh, yes it is Now obviously we're living in a day and age where maybe people aren't christians aren't being killed in the united states But christians are being persecuted in the united states at various levels I mean our church was physically targeted and bombed a couple years ago. That's called persecution They put an i.e.d in the building and blew it up because they didn't like what I was preaching that's called persecution You know our friends at in texas At steadfast baptist church. They were persecuted to the point where they had to be kicked out of their building They were moving from building to building to building We've had friends who've been protested By I can't remember how many pastoring men is that but he had? hundreds of protesters out there Just you know reproaching him reviling him We've had issues like that. And you know what? That's not something that's just that's not unique That comes with the territory And i'm not saying that your house is going to get bombed But you should suffer some level of persecution for being a christian and i'm not saying you should go look for the persecution either It's just like all right, i'm gonna be the biggest jerk I can be Because I need to rack up this persecution if i'm gonna be a disciple No, just live godly and it'll just come to you That's just literally how it works. Okay You know just be a light And uh, you'll attract all kinds of bugs Okay But just mark it down though. You will be hated though And you know, that's hard for some people because sometimes people are just people pleasers They want people to just like them and i'm not saying the whole world's gonna hate you Because you will have people who admire you who love you who respect you But at the end of the day there will be people throughout your life who not just don't like you they actually hate you for what you believe And don't be the christian is just like oh man. I just I don't like that feeling you should just rejoice leap for joy, amen For so persecuted they the prophets He says in verse 23 and when they shall persecute you in this city flee into another, you know Like if they persecute you in omani come to orange county For verily I say unto you he shall not have gone over the cities of israel to the son of man become The disciples not above his master nor the servant above his lord. I like that in other words It's interesting that christians out here want to think that oh, you know If they just live a godly christian life, everyone's going to love them. Oh, are you saying that you're better than jesus then? Because that's not how I work with jesus christ It is enough for the disciple to be as his master and the servant as his lord Look look down at your bibles verse 25 if they have called the master of the house beelzebub How much more shall they call them of his household? He's basically saying if they're calling jesus the devil What kind of names do you think they're going to conjure up for you who is part of his household? You know and and you know what part of being a christian is just getting name called all the time People just railing on you Cussing you out blaspheming you reviling you Calling you a devil calling you every name under heaven because you're part of the household of god The point that i'm making here is that if you want to be a disciple You can't expect everyone to love you and like you for your faith A lot of people will a lot of people will respect you but you know what it comes with its share of persecution And hatred, you know what and and you know, some of you in here might even think like yeah I know, you know, i'm getting persecuted by my family My family's completely shunned me They've completely left me. They can't stand who I am I don't have any contact with my family or they cut me from their company because i'm a christian That's the price you got to pay though to be a disciple of jesus christ And so being a disciple and I don't want to be doom and gloom here I'm, just being realistic but just know this if god before us Who can be against us Soulless yourself and realizing that if people hate you it's okay Haters make you famous. Amen But it's okay because of the fact that god is for you And if the lord loves you he's for you. His hand is on you He's blessing you then what more do you really need? And you know what we're called to be disciples not politicians Politicians Politicians say whatever they need to say in order to please anyone everyone You know republicans supporting abortion Just to support the liberal republicans They'll say anything it takes to make people happy with them. Sorry christianity doesn't work that way We don't just say whatever it takes to make people happy. We try to get people on god's program And you know what? They're not going to like it. So be it A disciple of jesus christ doesn't Compromise and change the message and just kind of you know tiptoes around the tulip pussyfoots around the message Just to please people if they don't like it. They don't like it. But you know what if you Explain what your beliefs are to certain people. They're gonna love it The admiration that you crave will come from someone who's actually looking for the truth Okay And so god is for you Go go to first peter chapter four first peter chapter four Hey young people your classmates will mock you Family will separate you from their company Spouses may reject you There may be divisions between children and parents And there will come a time where our lives will be at stake plain and simple And you know this idea that all well, I hold to the position that one day all of christians are just going to permeate society We're just going to permeate all governments and businesses And we're just going to make this place of this world just a better place That's a fantasy. It's never going to happen So, how do you know because the bible says that the antichrist will make war with the saints and overcome them And let me just explain to you what that means. He's going to kill you He's going to kill christians. They're going to be persecuted Christians in the end times will be public enemy number one Public enemy number one christians And that's a sermon for a different day. Look at first peter chapter 4 verse 12 beloved thinking not strange concerning the fiery trial Which shall try you as though some strange thing happened to you but rejoice In as much as ye are partakers of christ's sufferings that when his glory shall be revealed Ye may be glad also with exceeding joy if ye be reproached for the name of christ Happy are ye for the spirit of glory and of god rests upon you on their part He is evil spoken of but on your part he is glorified But let none of you suffer as a murderer or as a thief or as an evildoer or as a busybody in other men's matters Yet if any man suffers a christian let him not be ashamed but let him glorify god on this behalf So the bible says it's actually a happy thing when you get persecuted Okay, so when you're knocking on doors and people are cussing you out saying hail satan and blah blah this, you know It'd be like well cool, you know, I got persecuted. That's another reward for me You know your family calls you uh an extremist And oh man, you've changed Just kind of like inwardly rejoice over that Like well, I guess i'm i'm doing a good job then If your friends are like, well, you're not cool anymore because you don't hang out with us on fridays You don't do what we used to do. It's like christianity has changed you or something. That's a good thing You Know and here's the thing obviously if you have opportunities to talk to people about the bible talk about the bible to your family And friends let me just say this a lot of times when you do it's going to create friction Over the last 17 years of being a christian, you know, I pretty much there's there's a couple family members That still keep in contact with me, but a lot don't I don't have to chase people away from my life The bible does it for me And it's not like all right gather around everyone let me just let me tell you about the reprobate doctrine real quick Okay, gather on everyone gather around I want to tell you what my views are on sodomites It's just one of those things where they want to know What you believe they'll ask you and they kind of just kind of egg you on They want to egg you on and I don't want to get ahead of myself, but you know what don't be ashamed of the bible either Well, yeah, you know the bible does say that but you know, but what that's what the bible says I'd rather walk away hated but respected Than liked and disrespected And so when family and friends ask me about the faith i'm just like yeah, this is what I believe and I don't flinch don't flinch Don't stutter Don't flinch just say this is what I believe. Yep, and you should too Pure pressure them into believing it. Amen The point that i'm making here is that you can't have this expectation that you're you could be a disciple of jesus christ and have No persecution whatsoever. And look one day we'll come where someone in our church is going to get beat up for their faith Possibly out soloing don't let that don't let that deter you from going out soloing though Don't don't Rank it and wuss out and you know not want to go preach the gospel because you're afraid you might get beat up It might come to that I mean during that persecution time even when we're here we're out in santa and my family and I were surrounded by a group of guys They were being you know, they're threatening and they're they're getting aggressive with me and i'm thinking like I got my family with me You're really gonna do this in front of i'm not even gangsters do that Gangsters at least wait till you're like by yourself You know and they're like surrounding me as if they're gonna jump me and i'm just like well, this is it I guess you know But it's gonna happen now nothing happened at that point because we just like walked away But at the end of the day, you know one day it will happen though one day you will suffer a physical Altercation or harassment at the hand of someone because that's that's the world we're living in. That's where we're heading towards. It's gonna happen Go to john chapter eight john chapter eight The title of the sermon is the qualifications of a disciple It requires payment But it also includes persecution Number three it also includes perseverance in the word Look what it says in john chapter 8 and verse number 30 It says as he spake these words john 8 verse 30 as he spake these words many believed on him Then said jesus to those jews which believed on him if ye continue in my word then are ye my disciples indeed Meaning a disciple Has the bible as his centerpiece? It's what dictates his life And notice he's he didn't say if you continue in this devotional book If you continue in the verse of the day If you continue in the commentary If you continue in this lexicon If you continue in this podcast that talks about the bible Then are you my disciples disciples indeed? No in my word He said well, they didn't have the bible Then well, yeah, they did have the old testament. The bible is obviously being written at this time completed It's not completed yet at this time, but we do have the bible though So we can take this commandment as a literal commandment to continue in this because we have all 66 books of the bible Now most christians just mark it down because this is an important point Most christians only read the bible when they have to reference it You say what do you mean, you know, most christians believe the bible people are saying they believe the bible they love the bible But they only crack open the bible when someone you know approaches them with the bible question or something Oh, yeah, where's that in the bible? Let me see and you know, they they're going through their uh Bible app and looking through that that's probably the only time to actually look through the bible Is when they're confronted about something about their beliefs? A question about the bible or they're just kind of they just feel like reading the bible That's not behavior of a disciple Because what is the disciple again? It's a disciplined one. It's someone who reads the bible Consistently, even if they don't feel like doing it And let me just say this we don't always feel like reading the bible Don't be a holier than thou hyper spiritual person as if you just always have a full tank of gas that wants to read the bible Every single day it doesn't exist Because you still have the flesh Yay, even myself also who's a pastor been saved for 17 years You know what? There's times when I don't feel like reading the bible like so what do you do not read the bible? No, I still read it because I want to be a disciplined one Continuing in his word essentially means that you're a lifelong student of the bible And how can you become a lifelong student of the bible by reading the bible every single day? Okay Now this would include church attendance, would it not? How so well because the local church is the institution that god is sanctioned for the word of god to be expounded onto them And the bible says in titus 1 3 but he hath in due times manifested his word through preaching So it's not just a matter of reading the bible every single day Which by the way, everyone should have the goal of reading through the bible at least once a year Okay, every christian should Just like a bare basic You should read the bible Once every year, okay, and you say well i'm not there right now then start today and finish next september Like well, I kind of like the january to december thing. Well, you know what you should like it's just a lifelong thing Just reading the bible just lifelong Okay Well, you know, I just you know that new year's resolution. We'll do a september resolution Because you can't afford not reading the bible consistently from here on out to december or till january or something Just because you want to start in january start today, man Start reading the bible today Start continuing in his word today But when you come to church, you're also getting biblical principles reinforced You're putting you're positioning yourself to intake more bible content and that's what a disciple does So obviously coming to church is like one of those things that are just included in being a disciple So, you know these parachurch ministries out there that claim to be disciples of jesus christ, but they don't even go to church That's it's false Because that bare minimum christians disciples should be in church The bible says take heed into thyself and unto the doctrine continue in them for in doing so thou shalt both save thyself And them that hear thee referring to church This also includes living your life in accordance to the bible Marriage you make decisions in your marriage based upon the bible You make decisions about your child rearing based upon the bible You work at your job or your work ethic is based upon the bible Not based upon david goggins's principles Not based upon whatever, you know, uh gurus out there. What does the bible say? And i'm not saying these things don't have biblical principles attached to them because I know people are offended at that because you probably listen to that But you know, maybe you go to god before the physicians though You know bait you base your relationships off of the bible You base how you handle money Based off of what the bible says about it It's almost as if like, you know, the bible kind of runs your life You're like, yeah, that's a little much. Yeah, it's it's like that's for disciples It's not a casual reading of the bible Let's just let me just do the proverb not of the date of the month Go to mark chapter eight if you would mark chapter eight mark chapter number eight And this is a challenge for everyone here That you know because in this church this size, there's someone who just stopped reading the their bibles. That's just fact You know i'm not saying you don't love the bible. It's just that's just how it is sometimes You know life gets busy, especially if you're married you have children you're working You have a lot of responsibilities You know things can just pile up and then you one thing that kind of goes out the window is your bible reading That's just how it is. So this is your reminder your wake-up call get back in the bible today Get back in the bible tomorrow morning start making it a part of your daily life something that you do every single day And it doesn't you know because sometimes people have this You know idea that like oh man, I have to read the bible. That means like how much should I read though? Well, just start with like one chapter if you're not a Christian or a Christian Well, just start with like one chapter if you're not accustomed to reading a lot And one chapter is not a lot or if you just want to you know determine by time increments You could just say read a bible for like 10 to 15 minutes You're on social media for way longer than that You know you read fake news more fake news longer than that So continuing in his word not only requires church attendance reading the bible consuming bible content But it also just includes taking a stand for the bible and not being ashamed of it Okay, look what it says in mark 838 whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me And of my words and this adulterous and sinful generation Of him shall the son of man be ashamed when he cometh in the glory of his father with the holy angels That is a powerful passage right there What does it mean to be ashamed like you make excuses for the bible? Because you're embarrassed over the fact that the bible says some controversial stuff And so when you're when you're confronted with that, it's just like you make excuses for the bible Why well, you know the cultural context or whatever Or you know, yeah, it says that yeah, it's kind of crazy, huh? Like don't be ashamed of the bible Someone confronts you with a controversial passage. Here's what I do. Yeah, that's like my favorite part So Why because there's going to be a time folks and I know it's hard for some people to believe I know they know it And they believe it but it's hard for them to understand. We will stand before jesus christ one day We are going to see him face to face one day and I do not want him to be ashamed of me I mean think about how that's going to look what he's saying. He goes i'm going to be ashamed of you He doesn't say like i'm not going to save you Right because this has nothing to do with salvation He's saying when he comes he's gonna he's gonna kind of be like disappointed in you. I don't want jesus to be disappointed in me I want him to look at me and say this guy loved my word to the very end He was never ashamed of me He never made excuses for the bible for my word or you know made apologies for it or whatever Or try to take things out of context to make the culture fit the bible or whatever it is. No, he was he loved the bible Don't be ashamed of the bible You know if the bible if someone comes to you and says does the bible teach the death penalty? Oh, yeah Do you want me to give you some examples? Does the bible really teach the death penalty for gay people this is what you say? No, it doesn't It doesn't God's for happy people living being happy is not a crime it teaches the death penalty for sodomites You know and you know, um, I was talking to a neighbor of mine And he's a christian and he saved and you know, we're talking about the bible a little bit And he was just talking about some of the challenges that he experiences at a public school that he works at He started using this term transgender And so I just kindly said yeah, we actually use the term transvestite And he was you know a little he kind of bristled that a little bit Bristled that a little bit it's more it's transgender right? I'm like no because you can't change your gender I said a trans and I explained the etymology of the word transvestite and he was like I didn't know that but you know why that is is because when you stop using certain words, they lose their meaning people just Forget what they mean And you know what christians should not be offended at the word transvestite Okay And we should not be offended the bible teaches that trans being a transvestite is an abomination in the eyes of god Well, you know that's old testament I'm glad you know where verses in the bible are Thank you for explaining that to me But nowhere in the you know, jesus didn't die to make cross-dressing A thing now if you if you if you think like jesus died on the cross So that people could be a cross dressers. That means that jesus died on the cross to make bestiality a thing, too sodomy a thing too incest a thing, too They're not going to agree to that So don't be ashamed of what the bible says You know, obviously if you have opportunities talk about the bible talk about the controversial things of the bible. Why not? You don't have to impose it on people But if the opportunity presents itself and let me just say this there's a lot of people out there Who want to hear the truth because they've been saturated with such snowflake narratives and opinions by christians They're just kind of sick and tired of all the cotton candy preaching They need someone to actually tell the truth Of what the bible actually says and not be ashamed of it too many people are confronted or talk to christians who are ashamed of The bible, you know what people are kind of tired of that Be someone who's and it doesn't require a whole lot of boldness To just say that's what the bible says leviticus 2013. They should be put to death Oh, wow christian believes the bible How what a unicorn You you'll be surprised some people are like i'm not surprised you believe that because you're a christian right so you should believe What they're surprised that are the are the pussyfooters of this world Who tiptoe around the tulips and make excuses for what the bible say? Jesus is going to be ashamed of them at his coming Okay So to be a disciple of jesus christ requires for you to continue in his word And the more you continue in his word The more you know the bible the more you're able to provide answers the more you're able to lead people to righteousness The more wisdom and knowledge you have the more boldness you get You become a disciple of jesus christ go to john 15 if you would john chapter 15 We're talking about the qualifications of a disciple number four is that it includes production And More specifically i'm referring to soul winning in order to be a disciple a follower of jesus christ, bro You actually have to do some soul winning Lifelong soul Now this is now a lot of christians agree with my previous point, you know about the bible This is one that they're kind of sketchy on sometimes Is the soul-winning part And most christians listen to me most christians have more of a casual approach to preaching the gospel nowadays You know, they when the opportunity presents itself, you know, do you do you go soul-winning when the opportunity presents itself? To friends and family, you know co-workers sometimes lunch break or whatever which which is great if it were true So But let me just say this this type of approach does not guarantee that you're going to be preaching the gospel consistently Because what if you approach bible reading the same way? Do you read the bible when the opportunity presents itself? right You know when someone asks a question or when I feel like doing it or if the bible just happens to be there I'll read it or something. You're never going to read it It's just never going to happen Because at the end of the day we carry our bibles everywhere we go Even if you don't have a physical one you have your phone right Like in order for you to read your bible consistently every single day. You have to have a plan Right, you need a place you need a time and a place and a plan of what you're going to read By the way, let me just say this don't just read the bible like this like, all right Let's see what i'm going to read today All right. There we go I'll just start There you know Have like a systematic plan of how are you going to read the bible? That's what a disciple does. He's disciplined and he keeps track of what he's reading He or she is reading and everyone does it differently. You can have a log a paper log or something and you're marketing your bible That's great. As long as you're keeping track of what you're reading I use the the app the reading plan and it's great You just and I kind of I like it because I like to check boxes, you know And it's just like yeah, you know, just like all right But it helps me keep track of it Keep track of your bible reading If you don't have a plan, you're never going to read it. What are you going to do? Wait for inspiration to strike? That's what christians typically do Like i'm going to read psalm 23 today But how many times you're going to read it though? You have to read the whole bible and you know what? You have to discipline yourself to read parts of the bible that may not be as exciting to you right now Okay But you know what the same goes with soul winning What if you approach so in the way you approach your bible reading which is if the opportunity presents itself? It's never going to happen folks And I will say this is that if you consistently if you have a time and a place to go soul winning Then operate more opportunities actually present themselves to you thereafter Okay Most people who just say I just do it when opportunity presents itself don't really have a whole lot of opportunities But if you're always so winning you actually get a lot of opportunities, you know Why because to whomsoever much is given or not. That's not the first i'm thinking about. Uh, what's the first i'm thinking about stewardship? What oh, yeah, he that is faithful and little shall be faithful and much good thing people can hear and know the bible Meaning that if you're being a good steward Of your soul winning time going out weekly Multiple times a week or whatever it is, then you know what god says Oh, this person is actually a good steward of the gospel. I'm gonna give him more chances to preach the gospel Elsewhere because I know he he or she preaches the gospel He provides more opportunities outside of your regular soul winning time to preach the gospel, okay Soul winning is a spiritual activity That's just as important as reading your bible praying or church attendance And you know what? We are first works baptist church meaning that we emphasize the first works and the first works is preaching the gospel getting people saved Okay, you need a scheduled time when this is done to guarantee you are doing it consistently And you know what a lot of churches out there don't provide this A lot of churches out there don't even have a pastor who does it Some somebody don't even have a pastor who know how to do it It's like some of the members know more about sowing than the pastor himself But here we actually have consistent bio consistent soul winning times Where you can go and we have a unique way of doing things here where we have so many in between services Kind of you know as a matter of convenience for you now that you're here since you're here Go out and preach the gospel for about an hour And get it done and then you can check it off your list. I went soloing this week or whatever That guarantees you that you will be a disciple of jesus christ because of the fact that the bible says listen to me The bible tell jesus said this, okay That if you're going to be a follower of jesus he's going to make you a fisher of men So if you follow jesus the natural result of that is that you become a fisher of men So if you're not fishing for men meaning soul winning Does that mean that you're not following jesus? Yes, that means you're not following jesus Pretty simple The byproduct of following the lord jesus christ is that you become a soul winner and I know this is new for you for a lot of people because maybe they've never done it and it's just you know, it's It's kind of daunting at first but the truth is is that In our church you go out as a silent partner You see other people persecuted you see other people being mocked and see how other people how they do it And then you end up catching the bug And you're like, you know what? I want to try this and then you start winning people to christ yourself Look at john 15 verse 1. I am the true vine My father is the husbandman every branch in me that beareth not fruit He taketh away and every branch that beareth fruit. He purges it that it may bring forth more fruit Now you're clean through the word, which i've spoken unto you Abide in me and I in you as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself except that abide in the vine No more can ye accept ye abide in me I am the vine here the branches he that abideth in me and I in him the same bringeth forth much fruit for without me He can do nothing Skip down to verse number seven If you abide in me and my words abide in you You should ask what you will and shall be done unto you herein is my father glorified that ye bear much fruit So shall ye be my disciples Now this is not referring to the fruit of the holy spirit So, how do you know because the fruit is of the holy spirit? He's the one that's producing that whereas here it's talking about the fact that the person actually begins to bear fruit And it's referred that fruit is referring to people skip down to verse 16 Here's the proof ye have not chosen me But i've chosen you and ordained you that you should go and bring forth fruit and that your fruit should remain That whatsoever you shall ask of the father in my name He may give it you meaning that god has ordained for you to go and preach the gospel And when you get people saved guess what they remain Meaning they remain saved eternal security The point that i'm making here is the fact that in order to be a disciple of jesus christ You have to consistently go out so many. Okay, and you know what can't call yourself a follower of jesus christ if you don't Now obviously people have different schedules, especially moms they go through seasons You know where they have children they have babies, but you know what? Luckily as a church We'll we will make a soul winning time for you if need be Like if your schedule doesn't fit any of what we going on here. Just let me know We'll create a midnight soul if you want or after you put the baby to sleep or if that's what you want, whatever you got Maybe we'll make it happen Because obviously it's difficult sometimes there's certain seasons where it can't be done because maybe a lady just had a baby But at the end of the day if you need a specific allotted amount of time To be dedicated to so many we'll make it happen for you or if you want to make it happen for yourself. That's fine, too The point that i'm making is you need to go out solely This is a gospel preaching church and I don't just mean that i'm preaching the gospel I mean everyone here should be a formidable soul winner at one time or another Okay To be a disciple of jesus christ requires that And you cannot call yourself a follower of jesus and you cannot call yourself a disciple if you're not doing so Jesus saith unto them follow me and I will make you fishers Of men first corinthians 9 16 says for though I preach the gospel I have nothing to glory of for necessities laid upon me. Yea woe is unto me if I preach not The gospel and look once you learn how to go soul winning Then you have all of this this these these uh tools under your belt And now when the opportunities do present themselves At lunch break and someone comes to you or you hear someone talking about some biblical topic You can actually interject With the gospel. I mean we have people in our church who are in our church They're saved now because they were having some sort of biblical conversation with someone and someone else in our church Basically interrupted them started talking to them got them saved now they're in our church But you know that person who did that go soul winning every single week though And it could be that this, you know When you go out consistently soul winning the reason you provide it with more opportunities because you're more conscious of it You're thinking about souls all the time and you're always looking for the opportunities but what i'm the point that i'm making here is that In order to be a follower of jesus christ, like you you need to be telling people about jesus Right, and i'm not just saying like jesus loves you Okay, well I do that on my social media, you know, I tell them that jesus loves them You know, that's great, but that's not enough for salvation. Sorry It's not let me just give you the hard truth that does nothing for a person's eternal soul Because most people already know that Most people know that jesus loves them They need to they need to know the gospel. They need someone to come to them in a systematic manner explain to them their condition Explain to them the penalty of sin explain to them the sacrifice of jesus christ his resurrection Explain to them what believe on the lord jesus christ means explain to them that they can never lose their salvation And explain to them how they can call upon the name of the lord at this moment to be safe They need someone to do that They need you to do that And I know it's it's a major thing for introverts, but you know what? This is the price of discipleship though It's for you to be a soul winner and i'm peer pressuring you into doing it right now. Yes But obviously everyone grows at their own pace So we don't just throw you at the door like the first day or something and just like all right You're on your own and but team leaders don't do that I don't think anybody does that but just in case you know, you knock on the door and like This person has something to tell you That's wrong That's wrong Okay, but you know There's certain team leaders that have systematic ways of teaching people how to so when they teach them how to do introductions first And once they get through that introduction then they hand it off They kind of get warmed up a little bit and then they add more points and after a while They're just like a full-fledged soul winner They kind of wean them on to soul winning and preaching the gospel learn that Be a disciple be a soul winner Learn how to get people saved And then lastly it requires proof. You don't have to turn there The bible says in john 13 34 a new commandment I given to you that you love one another as I have loved you That you also love one another by this shall all men know that you're my disciples if you have loved one to another So what is the last requirement of discipleship loving the brethren? And luckily the bible teaches us that god teaches us how to love so that's not really hard But obviously this includes fellowship and includes spending time with other disciples Okay, it includes spending time with other followers of the lord. Jesus christ and having Communion and fellowship with other believers. What's the sermon today? These are just the qualifications of a disciple Let's not use this term flippantly and think that every christian is a disciple of jesus christ. That's not 100 true Okay, there's certain things that come with it And you know if you don't abide by these five things that the bible highlights according to the bible united disciples You said what if i'm doing four out of five though? You're on your way And great but you know what just cover all five Be a disciplined one Be a person who makes jesus christ the bible the centerpiece of your life and Seek to be a lifelong student a pupil of jesus. Amen. Let's pray father. We thank you so much for your word And thank you for the clear instructions of the bible. Help us as your people lord strive to be Uh disciples followers of you lord That we would uh sit at your feet and hear your word lord walk with you daily Pray unto you daily Preach the gospel weekly attend church weekly lord Help us to deny ourselves lord and also recognize that There's going to be instances in our life where we have to choose between you and a person and may we always make the right choice And we have to choose between you and a job you and a person You and an activity may we always select the lord jesus christ And may there be no question about it and lord us those of us with families may we as fathers and husbands Uh seek to be disciples To exemplify that before our little ones so that they would grow also to become disciples of jesus christ And have that same level of commitment and devotion to you And I pray that you bless us as we go on our way. Thank you so much for all that you've done We love you. We thank you pray these things in jesus name. Amen Please turn your song books to song number three hundred and seven