A True Disciple

Introduction
I’ve been preaching through Jesus Sermon on the Mount from Matthew chapters 5-7.  These are the key precepts of Jesus’ message, revealing His core values for  His followers

My sermons for the last three weeks have been quite challenging.  I assure you, I would rather preach cheerful sermons.  But the texts from Jesus Sermon on the Mount have required I speak some harsh truths.

• Matthew 7:13-14 revealed the highway to hell is broad because many people follow it, but the pathway to life is very narrow and only a few ever find it.
• Last week I preached about telling true prophets from false prophets based on their fruit. We are called to bear love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control.
• My message today is just as challenging (maybe even disturbing). It comes from Matthew 7:21-23.

Matthew 7:21-23
²¹ “Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter. ²² On judgment day many will say to me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.’ ²³ But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s laws.’

A True Disciple
In these 3 verses, Jesus warns about a terrible reality many people will face on judgment day.  He says many people who thought they were following Jesus and going to Heaven will be shocked to find out Jesus never knew them, and they are turned away from Heaven. 

And that’s disturbing, because it makes you question: “Am I one of those who will be horrified to find out Jesus never knew me?  Will I be one of the unfortunate souls turned away when Jesus says:  Get away from me, you who break God’s laws.”

This brings us back again to the concerns raised in Matthew 7:13-14.  “The gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it.” 

Friends, the Message of Christ is very serious.  And we need to take it seriously.  So many dabble in religion as if it was an after thought of life.  They go to church whenever we feel like it.  If they pray, it is only when they are desperate and need something.  God is only an after thought if He is a thought at all.  Everyone has more important things to chase after than God.  

Friends, our relationship with God is the most important thing!  It will literally determine where you spend eternity--whether you will spend it in heaven with God or in Hell eternally separated from God. 

“I never knew you…”
Jesus warns one of the claims the damned will say on judgment day is, “We prophesied in your name…”   In other words, they said all the right things.  Maybe they even spoke on behalf of Lord Jesus—sharing His Word with others.  Others who are damned will claim, “We cast out demons in your name and did miracles in your name…”  These too will be cast into hell.  Why?

Jesus gives the answer in simple terms.  “I never knew you.”  Entrance into the Kingdom of Heaven starts with a real relationship—a relationship with Jesus.  It’s not about what you know.  It’s Who you know.  Jesus left the glory of Heaven to come to our broken world to be with us.  That’s the definition of one of His names we often sing about at Christmas is Emanuel; it means "God with us." 

Jesus did ministry with 12 Disciples.  He could have done it alone.  He didn’t need help.  But Jesus chose to work with 12 people to have relationships with them.  Furthermore, Jesus ate with sinners, prostitutes, tax collectors, and other notorious sinners.  Jesus interacted with people.  He got to know people and built relationships.  Relationship is the most important thing to Jesus.  That’s how He knows people and saves people and heals people.

 

And that’s what Jesus wants with you—a relationship, to know you.  It’s what God has always wanted from the very beginning when He created us—a relationship.  But, because of sin, we turn away from God.  We chase after our own selfish ambitions instead of a relationship with God.

Matthew 11:28
Jesus came to invite us back.  He said:  “Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”  (Mt 11:28)

 

Jesus wants a real relationship with you—one where you talk every day and walk together, eat together, live together, serve together laugh and cry together.  Part of that relationship may include prophesying in His name and casting out demons and doing miracles in His name.  But it’s the relationship that’s really important.

 

It starts with a choice. Jesus wants a relationship with everyone. Some may think Jesus wouldn't want a relationship with you. Maybe you feel like you're not good enough or you've done something terrible and Jesus wouldn't want to be around you. But Jesus showed He loved everyone. He never shied away from anyone, no matter how bad they sinned.  Rich, poor, sinners, saints--Jesus loved them all and He still does today. There's nothing you have done or could ever do that would keep Jesus from wanting a personal relationship with you.

 

He stands at the door of your heart knocking.  But you have to open the door and let Him in.  And once Jesus comes onto your heart, you've got to walk with Him every day.  Are you spending time with Jesus every day in a real, personal relationship?  Some ways you can do that are through:

• Prayer and Bible study, which are the heart of a relationship with Jesus.  Through prayer and Bible study we talk to Jesus and hear from Jesus.  We learn who He is and how He wants us to live.
• Worship and Fellowship with Other Christians.  Just like Jesus called 12 Disciples to follow Him as a group, Jesus calls us to follow Him in a group with other believers.  We fellowship and and worship as a Church (which is a community of faith).  We have a relationship with each other adn with Jesus, together.
• Serving.  Jesus came to serve, not to be served.  His followers serve alongside Jesus--giving ourselves to make more Disciples who also have a relationship with Jesus.  Jesus doesn't need our help, but graciously invites us to work alongside Him.  Serving together is part of how we relate with Jesus and each other. 

Matthew 7:21
The other key part of Jesus warning is in His statement in verse 21, which says, “Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter.”  This statement connects to all the lessons we’ve studied from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount

(as well as everything Jesus taught in the Gospels and through His servants in the Bible).  Jesus tells us in the Bible how we are to live.  These are His teachings.  The Bible is the will of His Father in Heaven.  Are we living it?

 

God is gracious.  He understands we often misunderstand. We may read one thing in the Bible and totally misunderstand what Jesus wants us to do.  We may do the wrong thing.  But most people aren't even reading it to try and figure it out.  Most people aren't even trying.  Do you think willfully ignoring Jesus’ teachings in the Bible is “doing the will of God?”  Of course not.  It’s no wonder there will be so many people on Judgment Day crying,  “Lord! Lord!” and Jesus will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s laws.’

Walking with Jesus and Doing God’s Will Go Together
Something else important needs to be said.  It’s this: Walking with Jesus and doing God’s will go together.  You really can’t separate them.  

You would think prophesying, casting out demons, and doing miracles in Jesus name must be “doing God’s will.”  Right?   Yet Jesus said many will tell Him they did all these very things in His name and Jesus will reply:  “I never knew you.”  Why is  that?  Maybe because Jesus didn’t tell them to do those things. 

Walking with Jesus means staying in tune with His daily instructions.  If He didn’t tell you to prophesy, don’t do it.  If He didn’t tell you to cast out a demon, don’t do it.  If He didn’t tell you to do a miracle, don’t do it.  Just because something sounds holy and impressive, doesn't mean Jesus told you to do it.  But do whatever He tells you to do--even if it's simple and unimpressive.

And if you truly have an intimate relationship with Jesus, the Holy Spirit will lead you to do everything Jesus wants you to do.  A true relationship with Jesus leads you to live for Him.  As you walk with Jesus, you become more accustomed to hearing His voice through the Holy Spirit.  And the Holy Spirit directs us exactly how to obey Jesus if we are listening.  Are you listening? 

Conclusion
Jesus words are unsettling today in His Sermon on the Mount.  “Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven.  Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter.” 

It’s troubling.  It’s unsettling.  But that’s good. 
Because maybe it will motivate us to take our relationship with Jesus seriously.

Let me conclude with a summary of some practical things you can do to ensure you’re traveling on the pathway to eternal life and not blindly following the highway to hell.  

• Ask Jesus to save you – decide to follow Him as Lord and start walking with Him. This is the very first step.  If you haven't already done so, please do this right now.
• Pray and read your Bible – these are the heart of our relationship with Jesus. They are how we talk to and hear God.
• Immerse yourself in Christian fellowship and worship.  If we are truly following Jesus, our most important social group will be other followers of Jesus.  We need each other.  
• Listen to how the Holy Spirit is leading you to live and do it.  Practice following the Spirit's guidance every day as He:
• leads your to forgive people who wrong you, just as Jesus forgave you,
• teaches you to be kind and compassionate
• enables you to be honest and ethical
• prompts you to be a witness who share how Jesus is changing your life
• calls you to serve.  God gives each one of us special gift so we can build up His church. Use them for the glory of God.

Prayer

"Lord Jesus, forgive us for the ways we have pushed You aside in favor of other things.  Thank You for inviting us to have a relationship with You so that we can know You and be known by You.  Help us to walk with You each day as we pray and study Your Word.  Surround us with Your people, so our fellowship and worship will honor You and build up our faith.  Lea us to know and obey God's law and live for You every day.  We ask these things in Your most holy name.  Amen."

Wanted: Faith - Dead or Alive?

Copyright April 7, 2015by Chris Mullis
James 2:1-17

Introduction

What is faith?  A nun who works for a local home health care agency was out making her rounds when she ran out of gas. As luck would have it there was a station just down the street. She walked to the station to borrow a can with enough gas to start the car and drive to the station for a fill up. The attendant regretfully told her that the only can he owned had just been loaned out, but if she could wait he was sure it would be back shortly.

Since the nun was on the way to see a patient she decided not to wait and walked back to her car. After looking through her car for something to carry to the station to fill with gas, she spotted a bedpan she was taking to the patient. Always resourceful, she carried it to the station, filled it with gasoline, and carried it back to her car.

As she was pouring the gas into the tank of her car two men walked by. One of them turned to the other and said: "Now that is what I call faith!"
            I want to talk about faith today.  Listen to what God’s Word says about faith in James 2:1-17.

James 2:1-17

¹My dear brothers and sisters, how can you claim to have faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ if you favor some people over others?

² For example, suppose someone comes into your meeting dressed in fancy clothes and expensive jewelry, and another comes in who is poor and dressed in dirty clothes. ³ If you give special attention and a good seat to the rich person, but you say to the poor one, “You can stand over there, or else sit on the floor”—well, ⁴ doesn’t this discrimination show that your judgments are guided by evil motives?

⁵ Listen to me, dear brothers and sisters. Hasn’t God chosen the poor in this world to be rich in faith? Aren’t they the ones who will inherit the Kingdom he promised to those who love him? ⁶ But you dishonor the poor! Isn’t it the rich who oppress you and drag you into court? ⁷ Aren’t they the ones who slander Jesus Christ, whose noble name you bear?

⁸ Yes indeed, it is good when you obey the royal law as found in the Scriptures: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” ⁹ But if you favor some people over others, you are committing a sin. You are guilty of breaking the law.

¹⁰ For the person who keeps all of the laws except one is as guilty as a person who has broken all of God’s laws. ¹¹ For the same God who said, “You must not commit adultery,” also said, “You must not murder.” So if you murder someone but do not commit adultery, you have still broken the law.

¹² So whatever you say or whatever you do, remember that you will be judged by the law that sets you free. ¹³ There will be no mercy for those who have not shown mercy to others. But if you have been merciful, God will be merciful when he judges you.

¹⁴ What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? ¹⁵ Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, ¹⁶ and you say, “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well”—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do?

¹⁷ So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless.

Salvation is by Faith Alone

            As most of you know, I live way up in “North” Cohutta—way out in the country almost to Tennessee.  It is especially beautiful this time of year.  It takes me about 20 minutes to get home from the church, but I don’t mind.  It’s beautiful, stress relieving drive.  The other day, I was driving home, enjoying the greenery and flowers that are beginning to spring forth.  The sun was getting low, painting the sky a glorious orange yellow.  The sky was clear, the weather was mild, and I had the sunroof open so I could enjoy it all.  Just about that time it hit me—the rotten stench of a dead animal on the side of the road.  It entered in through the sunroof, swirled around the interior of my car, and found its way up my nostrils.

            Somewhere, along the roadside lay the rotting carcass of an animal.  Once it had been a living, breathing organism—perhaps a raccoon or a possum, a rabbit or a squirrel.  But now, it was just a dead, stinking corpse.  There’s a big difference between something that’s dead and something that’s alive.  The same is true of faith. 

We Christians like to talk about faith.  It is the hallmark of our religion.  In his letter to the Romans, the Apostle Paul systematically described God’s plan for salvation.He started by describing humanity’s condition—that we have all sinned and fallen short of God’s glory (3:23) and that the consequences of our sins is physical and spiritual death (6:23).

 I once had a Muslim friend who I shared the gospel with.  He got hung up on this idea that everyone has sinned.  He didn’t see himself as a sinner.  “Chris,” he would say, “I never hurt anyone.  I don’t steal; I don’t murder.  I won’t even kill a spider if it gets into my house.” 

“But Nadeem,” I used to say, “surely you realize that you’re not perfect.  You tell little white lies or get jealous or say something that intentionally offends somebody.  Even if you only sin a little, you have fallen short of God’s glory.”

Sometimes we Christians are like Nadeem.  We try so hard to be “good.”  Sometimes we begin to think we really are “good.”  We come to church every Sunday; we give our time and money.  We do all these “good” things.  But all it takes to make you a sinner is one violation of God’s law.  For in our scripture lesson, James plainly says, “For the person who keeps all of the laws except one is as guilty as a person who has broken all of God’s laws.” (James 2:10)

Even something as simple as looking down on a poor person or showing favoritism or loosing your temper or being jealous or gossiping makes you guilty before God and the consequence of even these little sins is still death.

Luckily, Paul goes on to describe God’s plan for saving humanity from this inevitable death through the gift of Jesus Christ, who died on the cross for each of our sins.  In Romans 10:4, Paul says that all who believe in Christ are made right with God.

The theological term for this doctrine is justification by faith.  From time to time, Christians stray from this doctrine.  We begin to think we can earn God’s favor by doing good things.  But we can never do enough to work our way into God’s Kingdom.  Ephesians 2:8-9 reminds us, “⁸God saved you by his special favor when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. ⁹Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.”

In many ways, this doctrine of justification by faith is very liberating.  It means that we no longer have to feel guilty when we mess up and fall down in our Christian walk—for God’s forgiveness cleanses us of our sins (Acts 13:38).  It means we don’t have to worry about whether or not we have been good enough to earn salvation—for we can’t earn salvation; it’s a free gift that cannot be earned.  It means that being a real Christian is not about following all the rules and being a good person.  No, we are Christians because we are saved by God’s grace when we believe in Jesus Christ. 

Living Faith

On the other hand, this doctrine of Justification by faith has led many Christians to be lazy or worse—to cling to a faith that is as dead as the road-kill we pass on our Georgia highways.  I know people who can explain in great detail exactly how God achieved salvation through Christ.  They can quote you scripture that neatly lays out the intricate details of sin and salvation and can even relate back to Old Testament prophecies.  But you know what, that doesn’t mean a hill of beans if you aren’t living what you believe.

I love how James put it in 2:19-20, ¹⁹Do you still think it’s enough just to believe that there is one God? Well, even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror! ²⁰Fool! When will you ever learn that faith that does not result in good deeds is useless?

What an eerie and powerful image.  I imagine the wretched demons down in the depths of hell trembling and shaking.  They know all about God’s plan to save humanity through Jesus Christ.  They know all about the doctrine of justification by faith (I’m sure they could even explain it better than our most prestigious theologians).  They also know who God is and who His son Jesus Christ is.  They tremble in fear and dread the day of the Lord because they have rejected Him as their Lord and they know their punishment is coming.

Yes we are saved by faith, but not a dead, complacent, do-nothing faith.  The faith that saves us is powerful and alive.  It changes who we are and how we act and even how we think.  

We cannot cheapen faith.  A person who has faith in God, trusts in God.  A person who has faith surrenders his life to God.  A person who has faith gives up everything and turns to God and says, “I am Yours!  Do with me what you will.  Show me how You want me to live; send me where You want me to go; tell me what You want me to say and I will do it.”   

You say you believe.  Well show me what you believe.  “Well, I know that I’m a sinner and Jesus died on the cross for me…”  No, I didn’t say tell me what you believe.  I said show me. 

Do you really believe that Jesus is the Son of God? That he really did die on a cross for your sins and for the sins of the whole world?  Do you really believe that he came back to life and is alive now? And that he’s going to return on judgment day?  Well, if you believe all that, then that ought to lead you to do something?  Does your faith lead to action?  Or is your faith dead—like the twisted carcass of an animal lying on the side of the road?

These are difficult times for our world.  The last thing we need is a bunch of Christians walking around clinging to a dead, complacent, do-nothing faith.  What we need are Christians who are willing to stand up and live their lives for Christ.  What we need are Christians who proudly proclaim their faith in Christ, not just with their mouths, but also with their actions and with their money and with their votes and with their sacrificial service to their community. 

Look, right here in this community we have the opportunity.  We have children who need to be taught the basics of the faith, the basics of Christianity, the basics of the Bible.  Public schools aren’t allowed to do it.  The government can’t do it.  The TV, the radio, the movies, the video games sure aren’t gonna do it.  If the Church doesn’t teach them something of lasting value, then nobody will. 

I shudder to think of this nation in 20 or 30 years if the Church fails to teach the children of this generation, the future of our nation, what living for Christ is all about.  I tremble to think of what this community will be like in 10-15 years if we don’t teach our children what being a Christian is all about.

But we have a chance to make sure the future is bright.  In Matthew 5:13, Jesus said, “You are the salt of the earth…”  Have you ever thought about what that means?  To be the salt of the earth?  Think about the qualities of salt.  Salt can be used as a preservative.  Before the modern use of refrigeration, people used salt to cure meat and keep it from spoiling.  You can still buy salt-cured ham in the grocery store.  (I made some of my own salt-cured ham last week.)  In the same way, Christians who truly have a living faith have a preserving influence on society.  Our commitment to love and holy living keeps the world from slipping into total godlessness.  Can you imagine how fast our country would slip into moral chaos if our Christian influence was suddenly and completely removed?  But that’s not going to happen, because I believe in you.  And I believe your living faith is going to compel you to do something to make the world a better place.

But that can only happen if your faith is alive.  Is your faith dead or alive?  Let us pray…

Dear Father, revive within us a living faith that we may live a life of love and service to others.  May our lives be pleasing to You and bring goodness to our communities. May our Christian faith add flavor to life just as salt adds flavor to food.  And may You receive all the honor and glory for it all.  Amen.