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Luke 9:61-62
Please accept our invitation to worship with us every Sunday morning at 9:30. We think you will be pleased and find the answer to your spiritual needs. In our current study we have learned there is danger in being a rash or reckless disciple as in verses 57, 58. We also learned there is a difference between being ready and being real in service to Christ. Today we look at a man who deals with the most serious and dangerous consequences of following Christ. Look first at
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- THE MAN’S NEGATIVE VIEW OF DISCIPLESHIP. There are two revelations here that tell us this man is neither rash, ready, nor respectable toward Christ or His ministry. Notice first his allegiance to Christ is both insincere an conditional. This man says what so many weak and insincere “Christians” say to Christ when they say, “I’ll follow You, but first let me…” Such an attitude is why so many Christians have trouble in their walk with Christ from the get-go! They want the best God has to offer without doing much to change their life from being like it was before they were saved. From a theological viewpoint that means people want salvation without sanctification. Whenever we say to God “but first let me” we are telling Him our allegiance and commitment to Him is secondary to US! The man’s mistake was that he wanted to return and consult with his family about following Christ. Another way of saying it is he wasn’t ready to leave the world behind. He wanted to do like so many people today and “blend” the world into following Christ. That just can’t be done! Now consider
- THE MASTER’S NEGATIVE VIEW OF DISCIPLESHIP! The NIV adds the words “for service in.” It is the only version of 16 of the most reliable translations of the Greek text that does so. Those words help us understand the whole purpose of discipleship. Read Mark 10:42-45. Jesus is saying that discipleship equals service. By the very fact we are Christians we are now members and messengers of The Kingdom of God and that is always through our service to Christ. Christ’s statement about looking back is a solemn warning that one can’t follow Christ looking back and longing for the life of sin from which they were saved. I wonder if Jesus’ response to this man would have been different had the man said, “Master let me go get my family and bring them to You so they can follow You as well.” If a person is lost and experiences the grace and mercy of God’s salvation, wouldn’t it be right for them to want their entire family to experience that same grace and mercy? Here are three reasons we should not teach someone to “plow” with one hand on the plow while looking back at life before salvation. 1 = we break the first commandment by putting ourselves before God. When we say “but let me” we are establishing ourselves as higher than God. Is that what we want to teach others. 2 = We teach a person they can “serve two masters.” We don’t need to teach confusion, there’s enough of that available from the lost. 3 = We are teaching that it is okay to deny the doctrine of sanctification. Christians have a tendency to think separation means don’t be involved in violent crimes. Separation as God teaches it total separation from all ungodliness all the time. We need to be teaching our disciples true, pure, Biblical doctrine that will draw them into the Word purifying their hearts and lives so they begin to disciple others themselves.
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