THE ROAD TO CHRISTIAN DISCIPLESHIP

#1 · January 20, 2009, 8:19 am

Quote from Forum Archives on January 20, 2009, 8:19 am
Posted by: bhfbc <bhfbc@...>
THE ROAD TO CHRISTIAN DISCIPLESHIP

January 11, 2009

TEXT: James 1:19-27

Gideons International is the ministry that distributes Bibles and New Testaments to hotels, motels, prisoners, students, military personnel, and other groups and individuals. There work is well known and well respected around the world. They work to get Bibles into the hands of as many people as possible, of course, because they are convinced of the power of the Word of God. They are certainly right, as the testimony of one despondent man clearly indicates.

Elliott Osowitt was raised in a strict Jewish home where the name of Jesus Christ was not even allowed to be spoken. Even though his family attended synagogue every Friday night and Saturday morning, Elliott had no idea that he could have a personal relationship with God. Eventually, Elliott wandered far away from the teachings that he had been taught. He was a classic prodigal son.

Elliott met and married Polly at a young age. They had two daughters. Sadly, though, he was not a good husband or father. According to his testimony, he traveled a great deal of the time with a touring company out of England. The purpose of these tours was to provide any and every sort of pleasure that the clientele could afford. Directly put, Elliott led an immoral life. In this environment, their daughters grew. One had two daughters of her own, but Polly became responsible for their care when their mother was sent to prison. To compound their struggle and suffering, Polly developed breast cancer. She underwent surgery and chemotherapy while raising her two granddaughters. In spite of these dire circumstances, Elliott continued traveling and living his highly immoral lifestyle.

On Christmas Eve of 1996, Elliott returned home and was told by Polly to leave for good. Even though he spent so much time away from home and engaged in a lifestyle that was completely counterproductive to family life, this demand devastated Elliott. Realizing how far out of control his life had become, he decided to go to a motel and commit suicide. In his room, he noticed an opened Gideon Bible on top of the television. In anger, he knocked it off the TV and tried to kick it underneath the bed. However, the bed frame was solid, and the Bible could not go under the bed. There it lay on the floor, still open. Elliott picked it up. Elliott ended up spending the next three days in that room reading Gods Word. On Sunday, he attended church with his wife and was saved. Although there was a long road ahead, Pollys fully recovered from cancer and Elliott went on to serve as a pastor in 2000. (From a pamphlet published by Gideons International, 2006)

There are a lot of good reasons for sharing this testimony. There is not anyone here today who would not like to see everyone in spiritual crisis experience such a successful turnaround. Testimonies like this remind us that it does happen. My purpose this morning for recounting Elliotts testimony is because it illustrates what it takes to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. The road to Christian discipleship consists of three basic steps. Elliott had to take those steps, as all of us must, in order to become and grow as a disciple of Christ. The road to Christian discipleship requires that we: (1) receive the Word of God; (2) believe the Word of God; and (3) do the Word of God. Receive, believe, and do.

Receiving the Word of God means that we are somehow exposed to the revealed God. Some hear the Word of God as it is being read in church, at a revival, by a friend or family member, or some other means. Some read the Bible themselves by choice or, as in Elliotts case, out of desperation. The important point here is that any prospective disciple receives the Word of God. In Matthew 11, Jesus was speaking about John the Baptist and his role in the fulfillment of prophesy. We read from verses 13 and 14, For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John. And if you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come. Then in verse 15, we receive this suggestion: He who has ears, let him hear. Those who heard Jesus that day, and those who hear or read it in our day, receive the Word of God.

When Paul, who was still called Saul at that time, and Barnabas were on Cyprus, they received a summons from the proconsul a government official named Sergius Paulus. We find this in Acts 13:4-12. Specifically, in verse 7, we are told, The proconsul, an intelligent man, sent for Barnabas and Saul because he wanted to hear the word of God. The first step on the road to Christian discipleship is to receive the Word of God.

Taking that first step on the road to Christian discipleship is necessary, but we still have to take that second step before anything can happen. At first, Elliott tried to not receive the Word of God as he kicked the Bible around the room. But he ended up reading it. What he chose to do next was critical. He had to believe the Word of God. In Elliotts case, that didnt happen until he attended church the following Sunday. Regardless of when it takes place, the second step on the road to Christian discipleship is to believe the Word of God. Romans 3:23 tells us plainly that, all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God Then in Romans 10:9, we learn that if you confess with your mouth, Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. This is what we must believe. Anyone can receive this from the Word of God and not believe it. Elliott could have received this message and not believed it. Without belief, we are no longer on the road to Christian discipleship.

Everyone needs to notice something very important about belief in Romans 10:9-10. Please listen to me on this, because it clears up some of the confusion we sometimes have concerning eternal security - that is, never losing our salvation and works righteousness. There are two components to belief expressed here: mind and heart; or, intellect and emotion. I can believe something intellectually and not be what I believe. My crude example is that I am intellectually aware of communism. I believe in communism intellectually, but I am not a communist. Similarly, a person can intellectually believe in Christ and not be a Christian. So Paul writes in verse 10, For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified At the same time, an emotional belief is not complete either. We can often make choices, even commitments, with our emotions alone and not be intellectually committed. This is how dishonest con schemes usually work. Someone skillfully plays on someones emotions and gets him or her to hand over the money without thinking the matter through. So a person can emotionally believe in Christ for the moment and not be a Christian. So Paul writes in verse 10, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. So from our mind our mouth confesses that Jesus is Lord, and from our heart we believe that God raised him from the dead. God knows our mind and our heart when we make a commitment to Him. Christian belief consists of both components. The second step on the road to Christian discipleship, and a crucial step it is, is to believe the Word of God.

Once a person becomes a born-again Christian, there remains one more step on the road to Christian discipleship. It is a simple enough step, although we tend to make it hard. The third step on the road to Christian discipleship is to do the Word of God. James 1:22 lets us know this plainly enough: Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Of course, the first doing after receiving the Word is believing. But we have already covered that, so lets move on.

Christian discipleship is not a spectator sport. We are not supposed to be a member of a Christian faith community and let everyone else do everything. In the time period that the New Testament events were happening, a disciple was a student who attempted to take on every aspect of the teachers life. This included not only the teaching itself, but also the character and characteristics of the teacher. If at all possible, the student became exactly like the teacher.

Now, this would probably be a bit weird to us today. Any school teacher who notices a student trying to copy him or her this closely might very well send that student to see the counselor. But in our day, a teacher typically specializes in one area of the learning spectrum. We have math teachers and language teachers and science teachers and so on. In Jesus day, teachers tended to be philosophers who attracted students by their philosophy. They tried to teach about life. So it was natural for their students to be disciples who tried to copy everything they could about their teacher.

The difference between the philosophers and Jesus is significant. The philosophers taught about life, but Jesus is life. I am the way and the truth and the life. John 14:6. Christian disciples can certainly not be Jesus. We have a difficult enough time being like Jesus. But we are all to do what the Word says.

Doing the Word of God may take us down different trails, but we are still on the same road. This is where spiritual gifts come into play as all disciples evaluate what part they are to do in order for the entire body to best function. As a result of his experience, Elliott Osowitt went on to become a pastor. Not everyone is going to do that. We can be certain that Elliott took other steps of obedience as a Christian disciple as well. What is more important than the particulars in his life is that he took the third step on the road to Christian discipleship by doing the Word of God.

Guess what? In one sense, this now brings us full circle on the road to Christian discipleship. What is the first step on that road? Receive the Word of God. Yes, the Christian disciple has already received and believed. Otherwise, he or she would not be a Christian disciple. But someone else out there needs to take that first step on the road to Christian discipleship. There is a man or a woman or a child out there who needs to receive the Word of God. They need to hear or read the Word of God. All of us who are now doing the Word become the very people who bring the Word to the ones who need to receive it. Whether its a Gideon Bible placed in a motel room; a sermon preached in a church, on the radio, or on television; a personal visit and witness in someones home; or some other avenue, Christian disciples deliver the Word of God so that another person can receive it and take that first step on the road to Christian discipleship. What a great way to help a person get started on the road to Christian discipleship and what a great way to serve the Lord. Receive the Word, believe the Word, do the Word. Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Cant go wrong with that.

Rev. Charles A. Layne

First Baptist Church

PO Box 515

179 W. Broadway

Bunker Hill, IN 46914

765-689-7987

bhfbc@bhfirstbaptist.com

www.bhfirstbaptist.com
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Posted by: bhfbc <bhfbc@...>

January 11, 2009

TEXT: James 1:19-27

Gideons International is the ministry that distributes Bibles and New Testaments to hotels, motels, prisoners, students, military personnel, and other groups and individuals. There work is well known and well respected around the world. They work to get Bibles into the hands of as many people as possible, of course, because they are convinced of the power of the Word of God. They are certainly right, as the testimony of one despondent man clearly indicates.

Elliott Osowitt was raised in a strict Jewish home where the name of Jesus Christ was not even allowed to be spoken. Even though his family attended synagogue every Friday night and Saturday morning, Elliott had no idea that he could have a personal relationship with God. Eventually, Elliott wandered far away from the teachings that he had been taught. He was a classic prodigal son.

Elliott met and married Polly at a young age. They had two daughters. Sadly, though, he was not a good husband or father. According to his testimony, he traveled a great deal of the time with a touring company out of England. The purpose of these tours was to provide any and every sort of pleasure that the clientele could afford. Directly put, Elliott led an immoral life. In this environment, their daughters grew. One had two daughters of her own, but Polly became responsible for their care when their mother was sent to prison. To compound their struggle and suffering, Polly developed breast cancer. She underwent surgery and chemotherapy while raising her two granddaughters. In spite of these dire circumstances, Elliott continued traveling and living his highly immoral lifestyle.

On Christmas Eve of 1996, Elliott returned home and was told by Polly to leave for good. Even though he spent so much time away from home and engaged in a lifestyle that was completely counterproductive to family life, this demand devastated Elliott. Realizing how far out of control his life had become, he decided to go to a motel and commit suicide. In his room, he noticed an opened Gideon Bible on top of the television. In anger, he knocked it off the TV and tried to kick it underneath the bed. However, the bed frame was solid, and the Bible could not go under the bed. There it lay on the floor, still open. Elliott picked it up. Elliott ended up spending the next three days in that room reading Gods Word. On Sunday, he attended church with his wife and was saved. Although there was a long road ahead, Pollys fully recovered from cancer and Elliott went on to serve as a pastor in 2000. (From a pamphlet published by Gideons International, 2006)

There are a lot of good reasons for sharing this testimony. There is not anyone here today who would not like to see everyone in spiritual crisis experience such a successful turnaround. Testimonies like this remind us that it does happen. My purpose this morning for recounting Elliotts testimony is because it illustrates what it takes to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. The road to Christian discipleship consists of three basic steps. Elliott had to take those steps, as all of us must, in order to become and grow as a disciple of Christ. The road to Christian discipleship requires that we: (1) receive the Word of God; (2) believe the Word of God; and (3) do the Word of God. Receive, believe, and do.

Receiving the Word of God means that we are somehow exposed to the revealed God. Some hear the Word of God as it is being read in church, at a revival, by a friend or family member, or some other means. Some read the Bible themselves by choice or, as in Elliotts case, out of desperation. The important point here is that any prospective disciple receives the Word of God. In Matthew 11, Jesus was speaking about John the Baptist and his role in the fulfillment of prophesy. We read from verses 13 and 14, For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John. And if you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come. Then in verse 15, we receive this suggestion: He who has ears, let him hear. Those who heard Jesus that day, and those who hear or read it in our day, receive the Word of God.

When Paul, who was still called Saul at that time, and Barnabas were on Cyprus, they received a summons from the proconsul a government official named Sergius Paulus. We find this in Acts 13:4-12. Specifically, in verse 7, we are told, The proconsul, an intelligent man, sent for Barnabas and Saul because he wanted to hear the word of God. The first step on the road to Christian discipleship is to receive the Word of God.

Taking that first step on the road to Christian discipleship is necessary, but we still have to take that second step before anything can happen. At first, Elliott tried to not receive the Word of God as he kicked the Bible around the room. But he ended up reading it. What he chose to do next was critical. He had to believe the Word of God. In Elliotts case, that didnt happen until he attended church the following Sunday. Regardless of when it takes place, the second step on the road to Christian discipleship is to believe the Word of God. Romans 3:23 tells us plainly that, all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God Then in Romans 10:9, we learn that if you confess with your mouth, Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. This is what we must believe. Anyone can receive this from the Word of God and not believe it. Elliott could have received this message and not believed it. Without belief, we are no longer on the road to Christian discipleship.

Everyone needs to notice something very important about belief in Romans 10:9-10. Please listen to me on this, because it clears up some of the confusion we sometimes have concerning eternal security - that is, never losing our salvation and works righteousness. There are two components to belief expressed here: mind and heart; or, intellect and emotion. I can believe something intellectually and not be what I believe. My crude example is that I am intellectually aware of communism. I believe in communism intellectually, but I am not a communist. Similarly, a person can intellectually believe in Christ and not be a Christian. So Paul writes in verse 10, For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified At the same time, an emotional belief is not complete either. We can often make choices, even commitments, with our emotions alone and not be intellectually committed. This is how dishonest con schemes usually work. Someone skillfully plays on someones emotions and gets him or her to hand over the money without thinking the matter through. So a person can emotionally believe in Christ for the moment and not be a Christian. So Paul writes in verse 10, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. So from our mind our mouth confesses that Jesus is Lord, and from our heart we believe that God raised him from the dead. God knows our mind and our heart when we make a commitment to Him. Christian belief consists of both components. The second step on the road to Christian discipleship, and a crucial step it is, is to believe the Word of God.

Once a person becomes a born-again Christian, there remains one more step on the road to Christian discipleship. It is a simple enough step, although we tend to make it hard. The third step on the road to Christian discipleship is to do the Word of God. James 1:22 lets us know this plainly enough: Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Of course, the first doing after receiving the Word is believing. But we have already covered that, so lets move on.

Christian discipleship is not a spectator sport. We are not supposed to be a member of a Christian faith community and let everyone else do everything. In the time period that the New Testament events were happening, a disciple was a student who attempted to take on every aspect of the teachers life. This included not only the teaching itself, but also the character and characteristics of the teacher. If at all possible, the student became exactly like the teacher.

Now, this would probably be a bit weird to us today. Any school teacher who notices a student trying to copy him or her this closely might very well send that student to see the counselor. But in our day, a teacher typically specializes in one area of the learning spectrum. We have math teachers and language teachers and science teachers and so on. In Jesus day, teachers tended to be philosophers who attracted students by their philosophy. They tried to teach about life. So it was natural for their students to be disciples who tried to copy everything they could about their teacher.

The difference between the philosophers and Jesus is significant. The philosophers taught about life, but Jesus is life. I am the way and the truth and the life. John 14:6. Christian disciples can certainly not be Jesus. We have a difficult enough time being like Jesus. But we are all to do what the Word says.

Doing the Word of God may take us down different trails, but we are still on the same road. This is where spiritual gifts come into play as all disciples evaluate what part they are to do in order for the entire body to best function. As a result of his experience, Elliott Osowitt went on to become a pastor. Not everyone is going to do that. We can be certain that Elliott took other steps of obedience as a Christian disciple as well. What is more important than the particulars in his life is that he took the third step on the road to Christian discipleship by doing the Word of God.

Guess what? In one sense, this now brings us full circle on the road to Christian discipleship. What is the first step on that road? Receive the Word of God. Yes, the Christian disciple has already received and believed. Otherwise, he or she would not be a Christian disciple. But someone else out there needs to take that first step on the road to Christian discipleship. There is a man or a woman or a child out there who needs to receive the Word of God. They need to hear or read the Word of God. All of us who are now doing the Word become the very people who bring the Word to the ones who need to receive it. Whether its a Gideon Bible placed in a motel room; a sermon preached in a church, on the radio, or on television; a personal visit and witness in someones home; or some other avenue, Christian disciples deliver the Word of God so that another person can receive it and take that first step on the road to Christian discipleship. What a great way to help a person get started on the road to Christian discipleship and what a great way to serve the Lord. Receive the Word, believe the Word, do the Word. Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Cant go wrong with that.

Rev. Charles A. Layne

First Baptist Church

PO Box 515

179 W. Broadway

Bunker Hill, IN 46914

765-689-7987

bhfbc@bhfirstbaptist.com

http://www.bhfirstbaptist.com

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