What Are You Living For? pt 2
What are you living for? • Sermon • Submitted
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· 17 viewsIn the "Great Commission," Jesus lays out His model for believer's lives, and for the church, but we have been doing it wrong!
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What are you living for?
What are you living for?
I confess.... I have struggled with this message. I have been wrestling with it all week..... Not in understanding it…not in hearing God’s voice…But, in writing it.... And I am not alone...
Spurgeon, almost 160 years ago, struggled with the same thing:
“While I was meditating in private upon this text I felt myself carried away by its power. I was quite unable calmly to consider its terms, or to investigate its argument. The command with which the text concludes repeated itself again, and again, and again in my ears, till I found it impossible to study, for my thoughts were running hither and thither, asking a thousand questions,...”
till I found it impossible to study, for my thoughts were running hither and thither, asking a thousand questions,
Spurgeon, C. H. “The Missionaries’ Charge and Charta.” The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons. Vol. 7. London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1861. 281. Print....”
Spurgeon, C. H. “The Missionaries’ Charge and Charta.” The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons. Vol. 7. London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1861. 281. Print.
Spurgeon struggled with the message of this text, how it would be preached, how it would be received and how it would be carried out....
I am struggling with the same… But, I find myself praying with him:
“Oh that his message may not fall upon deaf ears, or be heard by stolid souls!”
(Traditional church vs Non-traditional)
Spurgeon, C. H. “The Missionaries’ Charge and Charta.” The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons. Vol. 7. London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1861. 281. Print.
We have been doing Church wrong!
We have been failing in our mission.... Actually, I should say that we have failed!
You see....The model of Church that both Spurgeon, and us have been following, the model that has developed over the last almost 2000 years is not a biblical model...
I confess, I have struggled with this message. I have been wrestling with it all week..... And I am not alone...
Spurgeon, almost 160 years ago, struggled with the same thing:
“While I was meditating in private upon this text I felt myself carried away by its power. I was quite unable calmly to consider its terms, or to investigate its argument. The command with which the text concludes repeated itself again, and again, and again in my ears,...”
Spurgeon, C. H. “The Missionaries’ Charge and Charta.” The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons. Vol. 7. London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1861. 281. Print.
The model of Church that both Spurgeon, and us are dealing with, the model that has developed over the last almost 2000 years is not a biblical model...
That Church model is built off of worldly ideas, and “sound business practices,” instead of sound Biblical practices, and it has led us down a road away from the mission of God and into our own ideas....
Think about it.... We elect church boards, who hire pastors, and then expect them to do all the work of the church.
Warren Weirsbe puts it this way:
The Bible Exposition Commentary Chapter Twenty-Six: The King’s Victory (Matthew 28)
In most churches, the congregation pays the pastor to preach, win the lost, and build up the saved—while the church members function as cheerleaders (if they are enthusiastic) or spectators. The “converts” are won, baptized, and given the right hand of fellowship, then they join the other spectators.
Where in the Bible does it say that this is how it is supposed to be?! It doesn’t!
Christ has a plan for His Church, and it involves all who would be His Disciples.
Remember .
The New Revised Standard Version Chapter 9
If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 35 For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it.
What does all this have to do with the question: What are you living for? Everything!
What we are living for determines what the Church will be…
M.P.— We were not called to be “spectator” Christians, or to be pastoral “cheerleaders.” We were called to be “participants” in Christ’s mission.
Look at .
The Great Commission.... Christ’s final words to His disciples before ascending to Heaven...
Who were they spoken to? (the Eleven)
Why did Jesus only speak these words to them? (did you catch it?)
They were the only ones who went to the mountain. There were many disciples with them in Jerusalem, but they were the only ones who listened and obeyed.... So...
Jesus speaks to them, but His words are meant for all His disciples. They carry the same requirement for us that they did for the disciples so long ago. Why? Because....
This is Christ’s model for building His Church. You see…it’s not about evangelism (as we know it), it is about discipleship.
The disciples were to be disciples who recruit, equip, and create disciples who recruit, equip, and create disciples.....
.
The New Revised Standard Version The First Converts
So those who welcomed his message were baptized, and that day about three thousand persons were added. 42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.
The disciples made disciples, and what was the result? “Their numbers were added to DAILY...”
This is why Paul commanded Timothy:
The New Revised Standard Version A Good Soldier of Christ Jesus
You then, my child, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus; 2 and what you have heard from me through many witnesses entrust to faithful people who will be able to teach others as well.
The church does not grow by adding to its numbers, but by building disciples.....
So, what is a disciple?
Apprentice is probably a better word to use here. Apprentices have faith in their masters, they follow them, pledge themselves to them, observe them, learn from them, and then they teach others. Apprentices were identified with and by their masters.
One commentator defines disciples as: “those who believe in Christ, as an expression of their faith are baptized, remain in fellowship with other Christians, learn from, grow in, and teach obedience to what Christ commands.
The Greek word here is matheteuo — which means “to be a committed student.”
Apprentices left everything in order to become lifelong students of the master
In other words, a disciple is a lifelong learner.
Look back at .
The New Revised Standard Version Chapter 9
If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 35 For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it.
The Cross we bear is the same cross Christ bore… Our mission is the same as His.
Jesus outlined His mission when He read from the scroll of Isaiah:
The New Revised Standard Version The Rejection of Jesus at Nazareth
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free,
19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
In He tells us:
The New Revised Standard Version Jesus Calls Levi
I have come to call not the righteous but sinners to repentance.”
I have come to call not the righteous but sinners to repentance.”
For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.”
The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1989. Print.
Luke
If we are following Him, then we MUST also embrace this mission. If we are not reaching out, sharing Christ’s gospel, and teaching others, then I dare say, we are not following Christ.
Brothers and Sisters, understand — “The Church does not exist to serve itself, it exists to reach out and serve others with the message and love of Christ.”
“The only way a local church can “be fruitful and multiply” (instead of growing by “additions”) is [through] systematic discipleship. This is the responsibility of every believer, and not just a small group who have been “called to go.”
Wiersbe, Warren W. The Bible Exposition Commentary. Vol. 1. Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1996. Print.
We have a message to share....
…a message of hope
…of love
…of mercy
…of grace
…of freedom
We have a message to share.... and it is a powerful message!
Look at
The New Revised Standard Version The Commissioning of the Disciples
“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
Christ has proven His authority…over and over again...
…over demons (Geresene Demoniac)
…over illnesses (the bleeding woman)
…over spiritual purity (lepers)
…over death (Lazarus)
There is story after story in scripture of Jesus’s work in all of these areas and more.....to prove one single point.
There is nowhere in this universe that His Grace does not extend.
The New Revised Standard Version The Commissioning of the Disciples
“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
Look what He says right after that:
The New Revised Standard Version The Commissioning of the Disciples
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations,
Christ commands us ALL to “Go”.... NO EXCEPTIONS!!!
We are to be about His work.... There is both command, promise, and reminder in these words.
His command is to “Go,” to join in His mission, to find satisfaction in it, to find peace within it....
(My “work” experience) I never found peace and satisfaction until I gave in to God’s call on my life.
The promise is “Presence.” Look at the last verse:
The New Revised Standard Version The Commissioning of the Disciples
And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Christ was with us before we came to Him.... He is with us now....and He will be with us in the end. These words are His promise to empower and equip us for the work He has for us....
,
The New Revised Standard Version The Promise of the Holy Spirit
While staying with them, he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for the promise of the Father. “This,” he said, “is what you have heard from me; 5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
The New Revised Standard Version The Ascension of Jesus
8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
We have received the Holy Spirt in order to be His witnesses.
What has Christ done in your life?
Let me tell you.... We cannot be Christ’s witnesses if we do not remember what He has done for us.
We must take time to reflect…to be reminded of who we were, and of who we are.... not to be condemned and beaten down, but to be empowered and reminded....
Let me ask you this — What made Paul such a powerful apostle? How was he able to impact the world so soundly for the gospel of Christ?
Because he never forgot who he was, and what Christ had done for him...
The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the foremost.
What has Christ done in your life?
You have a story to tell… and that story will change someone’s life. Are you willing to share it?
the Psalmist declares:
Sing to the Lord, bless his name;
tell of his salvation from day to day.
Declare his glory among the nations,
his marvelous works among all the peoples.
Do you want to see this church grow strong? Do you want to see this community impacted by the Love of Christ? Do you want to see people empowered to break the chains of bondage, poverty, addiction,…that is infecting this county?
Then “Go…and make disciples...”
The Kingdom will not grow, if we do not serve it.
It is not the sole responsibility of the Pastor…or the Bible Study teacher…or our parents…or anyone else....
It is our responsibility. It is our calling. It is our mission.
.
Mt.
Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few;
What are you living for? The kingdom, or yourself?