Discipleship, Jesus’s Way

Pastor Rod Thompson

Midland SDA Church

November 23, 2019

Story of Dad teaching me how to fish and how it is different depending on the fish you are trying to catch. 

Question: What does it mean to be a disciple?

Dictionary definition = Disciple – One who professes to receive instruction from another.  One who follows or believes in the doctrine of another

But we are not so much interested in what the dictionary says what a disciple is, we want to know what the bible says – don’t we?

Read Matthew 4:18-19

Notice the title                (Four fishermen called as disciples).  How did Jesus call them?

Come and I will make you fishers of men

These men were fishermen.  They had been in that trade, presumably, all of their lives.  But Jesus said to them come with me and I will teach you to catch men.

So, in one sense to be a disciple is to be a fisher of men. 

Read John 8:31

Here we see Jesus telling us that if we are going to be His disciple then we must abide in Him.

So, what does It mean to abide in Him?

Read John 15: 1-4

A continuous abiding in a living connection with Christ is essential for growth and fruitfulness.  Occasional attention to matters of religion is not sufficient.  Riding high on a wave of religious fervor one day, only to fall low into a period of neglect the next, does not promote spiritual strength.  To abide in Christ means that the soul must be in daily, constant communion with Jesus Christ and must live His life

Gal 2:20     I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. 

It is not possible for one branch to depend on another for its vitality; each must maintain its own personal relationship to the vine.  Each member must bear its own fruit.

Did you notice that Jesus said, we must bear fruit?  And if we don’t, we will be cut off. And those that do bear fruit He prunes.

Tell story of my grape vines and how I pruned them, and they became more productive. 

Read Luke 14: 25-33

First of all I want you to notice that the use of the word hate in this context is not what we would consider in the usual sense.  But He is simply using a typical Oriental hyperbole meaning to love less.

This fact stands out clearly in the parallel passage where Jesus says,

Matthew 10:37              He who loves father or mother, brother or sister, more than me is not worthy of me.

Jesus also said in Matthew 6:33      Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you

In other words, whoever has personal interests that take precedence over loyalty to Christ and devotion to His service will find it impossible to meet His requirements. 

The service of Jesus calls for the entire and permanent renunciation of self.

In the days of Jesus when you saw someone caring a cross, you knew what that meant.  They were going to their death.  And Jesus says we must bear (pick up) our cross and come after Him, or we cannot be His disciple.

So that’s the first of four principles that Jesus lays out in this passage of Luke 14 concerning discipleship?

First notice that discipleship involves cross bearing.

Second, we see that the cost of discipleship should be counted.  The cost of discipleship is the complete and permanent renunciation of personal ambitions and of worldly interests.  He who is not willing to go all the way may as well not even start. 

Third, personal ambitions and worldly possessions must be laid on the altar of sacrifice

In other words, discipleship involves the complete placing on the altar all that a person has in their life – plans, ambitions, friends, relatives, possessions, riches – anything and everything that might interfere with service for the kingdom of heaven.

And number four, the spirit of sacrifice must be maintained permanently.  There must be that continual living connection with Him. 

Read Matthew 10: 24-25

As a disciple of Jesus, we will never be above Him or greater than Him.  But He is calling us to be like Him.  Have His love, mercy, grace, compassion for others.

This is discipleship Jesus way. 

In Luke 15 you have the story of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and lost son. 

Explain the story of the prodigal son

When we look at this story of the prodigal son we usually focus on the youngest son.  After all he is the prodigal, he is the one who left the fathers house.  He had become weary of the restraint of his father’s house.  He thought that his liberty was restricted. 

His fathers love and care were misinterpreted, and he determined to follow the dictates of his own inclination.  He acknowledges no obligation to his father and expresses no gratitude; yet he claims the privilege of a child in sharing his father’s goods.

The inheritance that he would receive at his father’s death he desires to receive now.  And he takes it and immediately leaves and is able to do whatever he wants.

He flatters himself that the desire of his heart is reached. 

Romans 1:22                Professing to be wise, they became fools

This is the history of the young man in the parable.  The wealth that he selfishly claimed from his father he squanders.

But you know the story.  There is a famine in the land, and he spends everything he has.  He ends up working for a pig farmer (for a Jew that is abut as low as you can go).  And he realizes the workers on his father’s land have it better than he does.

So, he sets out to turn to the father.  This is the place that all of us need to get to.  Where we realize that God’s plan for our life is better than our own.  And we run to Him to repent.

But I want you to notice the love of the Father.

Read Luke 15: 20

Christ’s Object Lessons P203

But while he is yet "a great way off" the father discerns his form. Love is of quick sight. Not even the degradation of the years of sin can conceal the son from the father's eyes. He "had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck" in a long, clinging, tender embrace.    The father will permit no contemptuous eye to mock at his son's misery and tatters. He takes from his own shoulders the broad, rich mantle, and wraps it around the son’s wasted form, and the youth sobs out his repentance, saying, "Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son." The father holds him close to his side, and brings him home. No opportunity is given him to ask a servant's place. He is a son, who shall be honored with the best the house affords, and whom the waiting men and women shall respect and serve. 

The father said to his servants, "Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet; and bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat and be merry; for this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry." 

In his restless youth the prodigal looked upon his father as stern and severe. How different his conception of him now! So those who are deceived by Satan look upon God as hard and exacting. They regard Him as watching to denounce and condemn, as unwilling to receive the sinner so long as there is a legal excuse for not helping him. His law they regard as a restriction upon men's happiness, a burdensome yoke from which they are glad to escape. But he whose eyes have been opened by the love of Christ will behold God as full of compassion. He does not appear as a tyrannical, relentless being, but as a father longing to embrace his repenting son. The sinner will exclaim with the Psalmist, "Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear Him." Psalm 103:13.  {COL 204.2}

We look at this story and we see the one who was lost but is now found.  He has found his way home. But brothers and sisters there is more to this story.  There is the love of a father who watches and waits for his erring children to come back to him.  He see’s them from far off and runs to them and receives them unto himself. 

But then there’s the story of the older brother. 

This elder brother has not been sharing in his father's anxiety and watching for the one that was lost. He shares not, therefore, in the father's joy at the wanderer's return. The sounds of rejoicing kindle no gladness in his heart. He inquires of a servant the reason of the festivity, and the answer excites his jealousy. He will not go in to welcome his lost brother. The favor shown the prodigal he regards as an insult to himself. 

Read Luke 15: 28-30

When the father comes out to remonstrate with him, the pride and malignity of his nature are revealed. He dwells upon his own life in his father's house as a round of unrequited service, and then places in mean contrast the favor shown to the son just returned. He makes it plain that his own service has been that of a servant rather than a son.

When he should have found an abiding joy in his father's presence, his mind has rested upon the profit to accrue from his circumspect life. His words show that it is for this he has foregone the pleasures of sin. Now if this brother is to share in the father's gifts, the elder son counts that he himself has been wronged. He grudges his brother the favor shown him. He plainly shows that had he been in the father's place, he would not have received the prodigal. He does not even acknowledge him as a brother, but coldly speaks of him as "thy son."

But notice what the father says,

Read Luke 15: 31-32

Let me ask you a question

Did the older brother come to see that though his brother had done wickedly, he was still his brother?

I want you to think about that for a minute.  Did the elder brother repent of his jealousy and hard heartedness?  Concerning this Jesus was silent.  Why?

The parable is still enacting, and it rests with His hearers to determine what the outcome will be.

You see, it’s up to you and me

Think about this story for a minute.  In this story you have two sons who didn’t know the heart and love of the father.

The father was ready to embrace

The father pursued both sons

One son came to his senses, returned, and accepted the fathers love

But the other son rejected his brother and misinterpreted his fathers love and he would not even recognize him as his brother

So, what is the lesson here?

If we do not love our brother (those who are lost in the world) then God is not our father.  (love for lost souls)

If we don’t love our brother then we are not Jesus disciples

Desire of Ages P641

Love to man is the earthward manifestation of the love of God. It was to implant this love, to make us children of one family, that the King of glory became one with us. And when His parting words are fulfilled, "Love one another, as I have loved you" (John 15:12); when we love the world as He has loved it, then for us His mission is accomplished. We are fitted for heaven; for we have heaven in our hearts.

John 13: 34-35    A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.  By this all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another

Does that mean that we only love those who are in the church?  No!  We love our brothers and sisters who are in the pig pen of slavery and addiction and we reach out to them with the love of God.

Read Luke 6: 32-36

Signs of the Times, November 28, 1892

Christ calls upon each of his followers to represent his goodness, his mercy, and his love to the world, as he has represented the love of the Father. He has made those who believe in him as their personal Saviour, partakers of the divine nature, that they should not perish, but have everlasting life; and those who are saved by his grace are to reveal his power to others, that others may be saved through their instrumentality. All who are truly converted are commissioned of God to be light bearers to the world.  {ST, November 28, 1892 par. 3} 

So, what is the biblical definition of discipleship?  What Is discipleship, Jesus way?

A disciple is a daily surrendered follower of Jesus that understands the character of the Father and embraces His love and extends it to others. 

A disciple is one who abides in Christ

A disciple is one who places God and His kingdom as first priority in their life

A disciple is one who dies to self

A disciple is one who has a love for their lost brothers and sisters

A disciple is one who is always with the father and all that He has is there’s.

A disciple is a fisher of men and they take the time to learn the various techniques required to catch those who don’t even realize that they are lost.

Is it the desire of your heart to be a disciple, Jesus way?