First Baptist Church Litchfield
November 3, 2024

      • 1 John 4:14ESV

  • To God Be The Glory
  • Knowing You
  • All I Have Is Christ

      • Galatians 2:20ESV

  • Yet Not I But Through Christ In Me

      • Romans 8:38–39ESV

  • Sovereign One

  • What kind of Savior is Jesus?

    He is a loving, sacrificial, and redeeming Savior. He is a cleansing, forgiving, and compassionate Savior. A humble Savior, He did not see equality with God as something to cling to but chose to become a servant. He is obedient, even to the point of a death on the cross that He did not deserve. He’s a risen and eternal Savior who secures all whom the Father draws to Himself through the Son for eternity. Jesus is fully committed to saving you from God’s wrath. His commitment is evident in His leaving His heavenly home, humbling Himself to take on human flesh, being born into poverty, and growing into a perfectly righteous man who walked in our darkness, shared our sorrows, and identified with our weaknesses to serve us and give His life as a ransom. Despite being perfect, He was despised and rejected by those He came to save, crushed for our iniquities. What kind of Savior is Jesus? He is our perfect Savior.
    Knowing Jesus is our perfect Savior who has completely dedicated his life and ministry to glorifying the Father by saving sinners like you and I, the question we must ask this morning is,

    What kind of disciple are you?

    Are you an “all in disciple” or a “one foot on the dock one foot on the boat disciple?” Are you a “single minded heart united loyal love” kind of disciple or are you “nominal-in name only disciple?”
    In Matthew 8:18–22, Jesus encounters two individuals who express a desire to follow Him. Through their responses, He reveals the true nature of discipleship, emphasizing the commitment and sacrifice required to be His follower.
    This morning I want you to reflect on the depth of your commitment to Christ. I want to encourage you to consider what you are willing to sacrifice for your faith and prompt you to examine your priorities in light of Jesus' call to discipleship.
    True discipleship involves a willingness to forsake worldly comforts and attachments for the sake of following Christ, illustrating that the path of discipleship is not always what it seems at first glance.

    True discipleship requires deliberate commitment and self-sacrifice as we respond to Christ’s call, prioritizing our relationship with Him over earthly concerns.

    In our text this morning, we Jesus three commitments unfold in true discipleship.

    True Discipleship Surrenders to Jesus Redirecting Your Plans

    Matthew 8:18 ESV
    18 Now when Jesus saw a crowd around him, he gave orders to go over to the other side.
    He’s speaking to a group of disciples who are traveling with him, including the twelve he has chosen. Jesus sees the crowd and makes an executive decision to go a different direction. The text does not tell us why he does this, nor is Matthew obligated to tell us why Jesus chose to go a different direction. That is Jesus’ prerogative.
    From the setting we could possibly infer a couple of reasons. First, Jesus was never about being a celebrity Rabbi. He was not in the business of drawing a crowd to put on a show. He has come to seek and save His elect. He has come for the outcast like the lepers, the centurion’s servant, even Peter’s mother-in-law. He has come to make true disciples.
    Secondly, if you look at verse 23, Jesus sends his disciples into the Sea of Galilee to reveal himself more to his disciples, in order to strengthen their faith. At that moment, it was not so much about quantity of disciples as it was about the quality of disciple Jesus was seeking. Either way, Jesus seems to pivot to go a different direction, and he expects his disciples to do the same.
    It is not uncommon to have Jesus move his disciples from going one direction to another. In Acts 16, Paul and Silas were heading toward Asia to passionately preach the gospel. Watch how Jesus redirects their path.
    Acts 16:6–10 ESV
    6 And they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. 7 And when they had come up to Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them. 8 So, passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas. 9 And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing there, urging him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” 10 And when Paul had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go on into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.
    The plans Paul and Silas had to preach the gospel in Asia and Bithynia were good plans. They were joyfully advancing the gospel by making much of Jesus to an unreached people group. They were going to the ends of the earth for the sake of Christ. So, it was not that their plans were bad or unbiblical or lacked the Great Commission spirit. It simply boils down to Jesus wanting them to go a different direction. The question is, will Paul and Silas surrender their plans unto the Lord?
    Sarah was the kind of person who had her life meticulously planned out—every detail from her career to her dream wedding to how many children she would have, was laid out. But God had other plans. When she lost her job, she felt devastated, yet being unemployed led her to a new role in ministry that she never even considered. In retrospect, she saw how God’s redirection was, in fact, His blessing.
    True disciples surrender to Jesus’ right to redirect your life and ministry where he pleases. B.B. Mckinney wrote the hymn “Wherever He Leads, I’ll God.” He captures the spirit of the truth of surrendering to Jesus’ will for your life, whether it is calling you to one ministry or redirecting you to another for his name sake. McKinney sings,

    “Take up thy cross and follow me I heard my Master say "I gave my life to ransom thee Surrender your all today"

    “He drew me closer to His side I sought His will to know And in that will, I now abide Wherever He leads, I'll go”

    “Wherever He leads, I'll go Wherever He leads, I'll go I'll follow my Christ who loves me so Wherever He leads, I'll go”

    True Discipleship Embraces Material Insecurity for the Great Commission

    Matthew 8:19–20 ESV
    19 And a scribe came up and said to him, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” 20 And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.”
    In verse 19, the scribe is a religious leader. He calls Jesus teacher. It is worth noting, in the five other passages in Matthew those who call him ‘teacher’ are not disciples. The scribe seems to show a willingness to follow Jesus, and even says I will follow you wherever you go. Jesus does not respond positively to the scribe. He does not say, “Man, that is great faith.” Instead, Jesus cryptically says, “following me will cost you your personal comfort.”
    A Scribe’s life in Jesus’ day was comfortable. He was seen as a religious scholar, and he lived a posh lifestyle. Being connected to a notable Rabbi’s only increased your opportunity for advancement in Jewish culture. Jesus takes issues with this man’s motives.
    Jesus corrects the scribes understanding of who he is. The scribe called him teacher. Jesus referred to himself as the Son of Man. Jesus was not merely an exotic Jewish Rabbi with supernatural gifting. He is the Messiah who comes from heaven on an earthly mission to save sinners and eventually restore heaven and earth.
    The title “Son of Man” is what Daniel uses to describe the promised Messiah, specifically Daniel 7:13-14
    Daniel 7:13–14 ESV
    13 “I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. 14 And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.
    Walter Elwell notes, Jesus repeatedly quoted parts of this text in teaching about his second coming (Mt 16:27; 19:28; 24:30; 25:31; 26:64). Clearly, Jesus understood this passage as a prophetic portrayal of his own person: his incarnation, ascension, and inheritance of the kingdom of God. When Jesus calls himself the Son of Man, it is a reference to him being the fully God and fully man, God’s only begotten Son.
    Jesus goes on to explain to the scribe, the Son of God, the Messiah, is not here to enjoy a large palace with many servants feasting on the best foods and wines in Israel. No, the Son of Man does not have a place to lay his head. He is transient. Homeless. He did not come to be served but to serve (Mark 10:45), and Jesus expects his disciples to live the same lifestyle he lived; one that did not depend on or prioritize the material security of this world.
    Having a wealthy income, living in a large home, going on extravagant vacations, driving luxury cars, were not Jesus’ priority while he was in this world. Keep in mind,
    2 Corinthians 8:9 ESV
    9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.
    He forsook personal comfort at great sacrifice in order to help others enjoy his rich eternal inheritance, and he calls his disciples to embrace the same kind of missions-minded commitment.
    I remember the first time I was introduced to this idea as a young Christian. As many of you know, I am heavily influenced by John Piper. I was fortunate to live in Minnesota, just 2.5 hours, from the church he served. I as able to attend pastor’s conferences pretty regularly. At one conference, John Piper spoke on having a missions-minded perspective on your income. He posited that just because you make $100,000 a year does not mean you need to live on $100,000 a year. What if you lived on $75,000, and invested $25,000 into missions? What if you lived on $50,000, and invested the rest in missions and ministry? What if you did not take the job that paid more so you could stay and serve in your church, where you are desperately needed?
    John Piper not only cast this vision before us, but he lived it. He has written over 70 books in his life. It is estimated that his net worth would be over $7 million dollars. Dr. Denny Burke wrote a blog in 2012, “Why John Piper is Not a Millionaire” Burke writes,
    “John Piper preached a sermon yesterday on giving that I hope everyone will listen to. It is the only time I have ever heard him talk with specificity about how he spends his own money. He acknowledges the risk of sharing his own story but rightly concludes it is worth the risk to share.
    Piper says that he gives away all of the copyrights to the books that he writes to the Desiring God Foundation. So he gets none of the royalties from his books. Why does he do this? Because he knows he would be a millionaire if he didn’t, and he doesn’t trust his own heart with those kinds of riches. For Piper, the issue is not how much money you make but how much you keep. He is apparently keeping very little.
    This is one of the reasons why Piper is a hero to me. I know that Piper is just a regular guy; he’s human and sinful like the rest of us. Still, he’s a regular guy who fights with all his might to pursue his joy in God. May God help me to do the same.”(https://www.dennyburk.com/why-john-piper-isnt-a-millionaire/)
    Can you imagine what the church could do if we proved to belong to Jesus by embracing a life that does not depend on material security? Just so we are clear, material security is the idea of living to secure our well-being with our wealth. We store up lots is treasure on earth. Ok fine. That does not mean you need to keep them. Is it possible God has given them to you so you can use them for His kingdom to store up treasures in heaven?

    True Discipleship Prioritizes the Jesus as Lord over familial loyalties

    Matthew 8:21–22 ESV
    21 Another of the disciples said to him, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” 22 And Jesus said to him, “Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead.”
    Jesus makes a radical assertion in verses 21-22. To follow Jesus is to have a single minded heart united loyal love for him first and foremost.
    In verse 21, another of the disciples speaks to Jesus. Keep the term disciple loosely in the context. Just like the guy before him, his commitment to Jesus is at a surface level. Something else is competing for his heart.
    There is a big question we must answer if we are going to squeeze everything we can out of this text.

    Had the man’s father already died, or is he speaking in a future sense?

    There are some, like Leon Morris, who argue, if he had already died, the son would have been taken up with funeral arrangements and would not have been discussing discipleship with Jesus. Probably he was asking permission to be excused from further responsibilities until his father had actually passed away. This is a possible rendering of the text. The one issue that comes to mind, however, is had the man’s father still been alive, the lesson Jesus was trying to drive home would not have landed as hard as he wants it to land.
    The kind of commitment Jesus is calling for from he disciples is so radical that it supersedes familial bonds. In the kingdom of God, blood is not thicker than water. Jesus says things like,
    Luke 14:26 ESV
    26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.
    To literally hate your family would’ve violated the Law, so literal hatred cannot be what Jesus means. The real meaning of this text involves the priority of love. Ones love for Jesus must come before any loyalty to family. For Jesus to call James and John away from tending their father’s nets to follow him might have looked like hatred to James and John’s father (Mark 1:16-20), but it was single minded heart united loyal love to Jesus.
    You are not longer dead in your trespasses and sins, nor are you a resident in the kingdom of darkness. There is not need for you, who have been made alive with Christ, to burry the dead. Let the spiritually dead burry their own.
    Jesus has bought you with his blood, put you under a new covenant, adopted you as brothers and sisters, given you a new family. Jesus says those who do the will of God are his brothers and sisters. Therefore, your love and allegiance first belong to him. To do his will is your first priority, even if it looks like plan B to you. Follow me, Jesus says to the man.
    I think the man’s father had died, but I don’t think Jesus was forbidding the son from going to the funeral. As D.A. Carson wisely notes, Jesus was not so much forbidding the man to attend the funeral as he was dealing with what he saw as a reservation in the man’s commitment, an insincere or qualified response to Jesus’ lordship.”
    Follow me is Jesus call for you to make him the supreme Lord of your life. He is the Lord over and above your family ties.
    On November 22, 2024, Angel Studios is releasing the movie Bonhoeffer. It is a depiction of the life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Bonhoeffer was first and foremost a true disciple of Jesus. He was a theologian and pastor in Nazi Germany. He stood up to the Nazi’s at great cost. It cost him his official pastorate in the state Lutheran Church. He lost some friends and family members. He was imprisoned away from those whom he loved. He was eventually hanged at the gallows just before World War II ended.
    In 1937, he had written book called “The Cost of Discipleship.” The book is very quotable, but one simple quote stands alone:

    “When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.” ― Deitrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship

    Die to yourself. Die to your earthly loyalties. Die to worldly securities. Die to your volition. Heed Jesus’ words, Follow Me.

    What kind of disciple are you?

    Are you a disciple in name only, or is Jesus truly Lord? Is Jesus Lord of the direction or redirection of your life? Is Jesus Lord over the money you not only make, but the money you keep? Is Jesus Lord over all your relationships, especially the ones you are most loyal? Are you a disciple who follows Jesus?

      • Matthew 8:18–22ESV

      • Matthew 8:18ESV

      • Acts 16:6–10ESV

      • Matthew 8:19–20ESV

      • Daniel 7:13–14ESV

      • 2 Corinthians 8:9ESV

      • Matthew 8:21–22ESV

      • Luke 14:26ESV

  • Empowered by the Spirit, Guided by the Word
First Baptist Church Litchfield
pastorjason.fbcl@gmail.com
217-324-4232
http://www.firstbaptistlitchfield.org/
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