Jesus Discipled His Disciples

Hello, this is Matt Slick from the Matt Slick Live Podcast, where I defend the Christian faith and lay out our foundations of the truth of God's Word. Your chosen Truth Network Podcast is starting in just a few seconds. Enjoy it, share it, but most of all, thank you for listening and for choosing the Truth Podcast Network. Welcome to Truth Talk Live. All right, let's talk. A daily program powered by the Truth Network.

This is kind of a great thing, and I'll tell you why. Where pop culture, current events, and theology all come together. And now, here's today's Truth Talk Live host.

Welcome to Truth Talk Live. I am Duane Carson, your host today, and also the founder of Date the Word Ministry. And to start our Truth Talk Live show today, I want us here on May the 8th, 5-8, to take a quick moment and look at a few verses that go with 5-8, because folks, there are some great Bible verses for May the 8th. And I'm looking at my Date the Word app, John, and I'm going to go to it where it says verses for any date, May the 8th, and I'm going to pull it up, and it says Romans 5-8.

But God demonstrated his own love toward us, and while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. That's got to be one of the greatest verses. John 3-16, Romans 5-8, 1 Peter 5-8, public service announcement. We need to be on alert. It says, be sober, be alert, because your adversary, your enemy, the devil, prowls about, walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.

What a warning, be on alert, the devil is looking to devour you. And then, Psalms 5-8, lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness, because of my enemies, make your way straight before my eyes. Matthew 5-8, blessed are the pure at heart, for they shall seek God. And then 2 Corinthians 5-8, we are confident, yes, well pleased, rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.

What a precious promise of what happens when a Christian dies, to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. These are some verses for May the 8th, 5-8, and you can find them on the Date the Word app, and we're so glad you've joined us today. It's not just May the 8th, it is Wednesday, May the 8th, and when it's Wednesday on Truth Talk Live, we dedicate this program to what's called Wednesday in the Word. And Wednesday in the Word is a Bible study that takes place with a group of men here in North Carolina, this area, as we meet for breakfast at a local Dario's, and we enjoy physical food, but more importantly, incredible spiritual food, as Stu Epperson, Jr. provides tremendous insight from God's Word. And presently, we're studying the Book of Mark, and today we come to Mark 8. We're going to be looking at verses 11 through 21, where, here the title for today, Jesus Disciples His Disciples. And with me today, I've got John Perry. John has a ministry called Baller Nation. John, welcome to Truth Talk Live. Well, it's great to have me, and it's exciting to dive into the Word together and to really dive into who Jesus is, and why did Jesus have to disciple his disciples?

That is a crazy question. Yeah. You know, when Jesus was out looking for disciples, Matthew 4, he said to his disciples, Follow me. And then he said, And I will make you fishers of men.

So he didn't just say, Follow me for whatever we're going to be doing. He had a purpose, he had a purpose, and so he had to go to work discipling his disciples so that they could then, after he left, take the Gospel and turn the world upside down. But he had to disciple them.

And so what we're going to see today in Mark 8 is he is going to be discipling them. And one of the great truths that are going to come from this Bible study is that discipling, even the disciples, is difficult. They don't always get it.

No, they don't. John, I bet you've had some people, you've discipled, they don't get it. I've got people, maybe we'll talk about that in a little bit after we read these scriptures. But Jesus, as he's discipling, finds his disciples not understanding.

And I'm going to go ahead and give away the last verse, and I'm going to have you read for us here in just a second. But he said, How is it you do not understand? Jesus discipled his disciples with the understanding that they would not always understand.

And he was going to have to help them. And as we think about the big picture today, I want listeners, maybe you've got a story about how you went through a difficult time understanding, but the Lord helped you. Maybe another believer came alongside and just kept sharing with you, and they helped you. And a question that maybe you could help others with by answering this is, When were your eyes and ears open to something God wanted you to learn? Sometimes it's hard to get spiritual truth in. So as we think about the disciples today, and how it was hard for Jesus to get spiritual truth into them, but then little by little their eyes did come open.

When were your eyes and ears open to something God wanted you to learn? This is a call-in show. Our number is 1-866-34-87884.

That's 1-866-34-TRUTH. And so you can give us a call and talk to us about lessons you've learned. Have the Lord's been patient with you?

And your eyes were open, your ears were open to understand. Now, John, read for us Mark 8 verses 11 through 21. Again, this is Mark 8, 11 through 21. Then the Pharisees came out and began to dispute with Him, seeking from Him a sign from heaven, testing Him. But He sighed deeply for His Spirit and said, Why does this generation seek a sign?

Assurely I say to you, no sign shall be given to this generation. And He left them, and getting into the boat again, departed to the other side. Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, and they did not have more than one loaf with them in the boat. And then He charged them, saying, Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, of the leaven of the Pharisees, and the leaven of Herod. And they resounded among themselves, saying, It is because we have no bread. But Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, Why do you reason?

Because you have no bread. And do you yet perceive, nor understand in your heart, and still harden, having eyes? John, we're going to come right back to finish that as we go to a break.

Welcome back. We had to go to a break, and John was reading the Scriptures. And John, you had been reading about how the Pharisees had come in to have a little bit of an argument with Jesus.

They were testing Him. And then Jesus, He's like, I'm not having any of this. I've got to move on.

You guys are not teachable. And now as Jesus gets in the boat, He's moving on. His disciples have forgotten to take bread. And they're like, What do we do?

And that's where I want you to pick up. Let's go back to verse 15. And from 15 down to 21, Jesus now is discipling His disciples.

Then he charged them, saying, Take heed, beware of the leaven of Pharisees and the leaven of Herod. And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have no bread. And Jesus, but Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, Why do you reason?

Because you have no bread. Do you not yet perceive nor understand in your heart still hardened? Having eyes do you not see?

Having ears do you not hear? Do you not remember when I broke the five loaves of the five thousand? And how many baskets full of fragments do you take up? They said to him, they said to him, 12.

Also, when I broke the seven of the five thousand, how many large baskets full of fragments did you take up? He said to them, seven. And he said to them, How is it, how is it you do not understand?

Wow, he's discipling his disciples, and they're not getting it. And today we're talking about this component of how God does keep working with us, even when we don't get it, to help us to get it. And we've got a caller, Bucksman from Ohio is online, and I want to hear from Mr. Bucksman.

How are you? Oh, it's always great talking to you, Pastor Carson, and hello, Brother John, thank you for coming into Truth Talk Live. I want to share this story with you guys. I was at a political rally a couple weeks ago, and I took my recording equipment to interview people coming out of the rally for the Busman Report, and the fellow that I went there ended up leaving and leaving me at the event, having me to have to walk past, you know, two miles to get to my car. Anyway, the reason he left is because I was talking to this man, he didn't know this, but I was talking to this man who walked up to me, you guys, and said, Would you please disciple me and show me Jesus Christ in the scriptures? I didn't know this man who walked up to me. And my friend had already left, so I tried to text him saying, Hey, I'm talking to a man about Jesus Christ who just walked up to me, I don't know who he is. But turns out he was from Seattle. And his name was Alec.

And anyway, I ended up, we ended up switching information. And I will tell you what, John and Pastor Carson, I walked two miles, almost floating after I left this man who walked up to me in random asking me to disciple him. And I am not kidding you, you guys, I walked two miles to my car, just enjoy. And I thought, this is what Philip must have felt like after speaking to the Ethiopian eunuch, explaining Isaiah to him.

I don't remember too much about the walk, you guys. But I got to the car and I was just so filled with with this sense of contentment and joy that this man wanted me to disciple him that I've never met before in my life, who lived in Seattle, Washington, gave me a telephone number to call him so I could disciple him. So God himself showed me, I believe, what happened to Philip when the Bible says he was translated from the Ethiopian to that other country. I wouldn't be surprised, guys, that that kind of joy overwhelmed Philip and how the Holy Spirit interpreted us for us to read in the 21st century was the word translated, Philip, to that other country.

I want to share that with you guys. So now I have a way of looking at that scripture differently. Yeah, that is such a great story, how God brings someone into your life and you now get to pour into them. I'm going to tell a story I wouldn't plan to do, but this week I had to go to the doctor's office, had a little checkup, and the doctor that's working with me is a Christian, and we've already had a couple of really good conversations. And so here's what happens to me, Bucksman, after he finishes the checkup, he looked at me and said, I need to ask you a question. And it's a spiritual question, and we've got a couple of minutes before I have to move my next patient, but I need to know, tell me some things about how you discipled other people.

What were some tools you used? And the bottom line is, I share with him 2 Timothy 3.10 about how that's a guide for us on discipleship, because Paul said, Timothy, you followed my doctrine and my conduct and my faith and my love and my endurance, and these are things we're disciple people on. And Bucksman, I hear you, I left the doctor's office while I had to have shots and blood drawn and all those negative things. I left so excited because I had a chance to be involved in discipleship, and it's just a great feeling being able to talk to others about the Lord Jesus Christ. Bucksman, thank you for your call. You are welcome.

Love you guys. Bye-bye. So as we think about Jesus discipling his disciples, we do want to bring it back to the fact that he's going to get a teachable moment, John, because of the Pharisees. Now the Pharisees are not happy with Jesus.

Not at all. They want to find things out on him to accuse him. That verse said they came to test him. They came to accuse him, and they wanted a sign, and they didn't want a sign for belief.

They've already had signs. Jesus has already been raising people from the dead. He's healed people.

He's walked on water. He's multiplied food for them, and yet they want a sign. Well, Jesus said, I'm not cast in my pearls before swine.

I'm not doing it. And he left them. What a statement in Mark 8 13.

It says he left them. But then he says to his disciples when he gets in the boat with them, verse 6, watch and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees. Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod. Now, John, leaven, when you hear leaven in the Bible, what's the first thing that comes to your mind? The first thing that comes to mind is bread, and really the bread of life, which is OK, which is Jesus.

Well, and to get bread to rise, you got to put yeast in it. Right. But in the Old Testament, leaven is viewed as sin. And so when we come back, we're going to talk about what is the leaven of the Pharisees and of Herod and of the Sadducees, because he talks about that in Matthew six, 16, six. We'll be right back. This is Truth Talk Live. Truth Talk Live. You're listening to the Truth Network and truthnetwork.com.

Well, welcome back to Truth Talk Live. We are now in Mark chapter eight and verse 15. Jesus has said, Take heed, beware.

John, what do you think he's trying to convey here? Beware of false teachers, of sin. Beware of sin. John, when Jesus says, Take heed, beware.

I looked it up. That's about a dozen times in scripture. We're going to find a double warning. So that means we need to be paying attention. Now comes this question. I see the leaven of the Pharisees. I see the leaven of Herod.

What in the world is he talking about? And we just had Adrian Rogers on during the break. And I had a chance to hear Adrian Rogers bring the sermon on of all verses. Mark eight, 15.

And he also tied in it. Matthew 16, verse six. There are three things, three leavens that you and I need to be aware of, to take heed of. The leaven of the Pharisees, the leaven of the Sadducees, and the leaven of Herod.

And Dr. Rogers explained it this way. The leaven of the Pharisees is legalism. They were bound by rules. They thought one could be kept righteous, made righteous by doing rules, keeping the rules, or not breaking the rules would be another way of saying it. And Jesus said, This is legalism. This is a leaven that keeps a person away from who really does give them the righteousness that they need. I can't be righteous enough.

You can't be righteous enough. But the Pharisees had a viewpoint of rules. And then you have the Sadducees.

And that's liberalism. They didn't believe in the resurrection. They didn't believe in angels. They thought that you could pick and choose scriptures and do what you wanted to do. They had kind of a rights mindset that then leads to how Herod lived.

Herod, Dr. Rogers used the word, he lived a life of licentiousness, a worldliness, that I'm going to do whatever pleasures me. And these are three things we're not to be about. We're not to be about legalism. We're not to be about liberalism. We're not to be about worldliness. We're to be watching out for these things, because our lives are about a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. It's not about rules.

It's not about rights. It's about following Him and doing what's pleasing in His sight. Now, John, Jesus has told his disciples, beware of this. And then they start kind of looking at each other like, what is he talking about? Have you ever been discipling someone and they kind of gave you that look of, what are you talking about?

Yeah, I've had the privilege of coaching college basketball for three years at Carolina University. And I see it in those guys. You talk to somebody, you talk to that kid, you disciple that kid, and you're excited, because you want the best for these kids. And look, discipleship's messy. Discipleship, you get down in the dirt. Maybe they're struggling with addictions, or struggling with whatever they're struggling with, and you're down in the dirt.

And really, sometimes you're saying, hey, I think you should show up on time, or you should wash your clothes, or do anything, and any of those things. And you keep drilling it into them. And it's like, why are you not getting it?

Why are these kids not getting it? And really, a lot of times it's how they were raised or whatever, but a lot of times it's fun. But as Buck just was saying, he met a guy and he's discipling him. And I think that's kind of the glorious part of discipleship, is you get to disciple somebody who might be a counterpart, and you're saying, oh wow, this person really is listening, and we're both ironing sharpens iron.

But then you have the flip side of that, where you have guys who you really, you have to run after them. And I think that's tricky. Well, what I like about this passage is how Jesus, when he begins to perceive, they're thinking about physical bread. We need to be thinking about spiritual things. Jesus will now start asking questions. And this morning, Stu brought out that these were gentle rebukes.

These were teachable moments. He wasn't jumping down their throat, but he is going to ask them nine questions to really force them to start thinking, how am I receiving what he's teaching? The questions kind of go like this. Why are you discussing that you don't have any bread? Why has that become part of this question? I've been talking to you about the Pharisees and Herod, a lifestyle that we don't want, and you're not focused on the right thing. Don't you understand or comprehend? And he's putting pressure on them.

Guys, I need you to start thinking. Is your heart hardened? Oh, wow. Now there's a question, John. Are you just not wanting to learn? Sometimes, you know, you're discipling someone, and you have to bring out something that they're doing that is not right. You're having to point out a sin.

Some people don't want to give up their sin. Well, Jesus, is your heart hardened? Read that next one, number four, there. Well, Jesus, is your heart hardened?

Read that next one, number four, there. Do you have eyes and not see? Do you have eyes and not see? You got eyes, guys. You're seeing what I'm doing, and you're not paying attention.

Do you have ears and not hear? One of his big questions, and this is where I want to camp for just a second. He said, do you not remember? You know, we are very quick to be forgetful of what God has done in the past.

And Jesus just goes right to the heart of the matter here. Guys, you're wondering, do we not have enough bread? If there's a loaf of bread here, don't you remember, I took just a few loaves, and we fed 5,000, and we had leftovers. We fed 4,000.

We had leftovers. I'm not sure you're remembering. And to our listeners right now, as you think about how has Jesus discipled you?

Has it been times where he brought up to you? Are you not remembering? We talk about this a lot at Thanksgiving, because we want to remember to give thanks. And I'll use a little phrase around Thanksgiving, remember to remember.

Don't forget to not forget. Well, how much, I mean, it's incredible that these disciples are, they're with Jesus, and they're forgetting. How much more do we forget? We're not even with Jesus. We're, and they're with Jesus. That is just phenomenal to be, that they're sitting and spending time with the physical Jesus, and they're still not getting it.

How much more do we not? Well, as he is discipling them, he is being patient with them. I know these questions can all be a little provoking, but I love the fact that he is giving them an opportunity to think about where they're at, where they need to be getting. And as you just said about this component, discipleship can be messy. I'm in a situation right now where a person has gone through just some, they're in the process of some major grief. They've had just a horrible tragedy take place in their family. And this person is saying to me, I just don't know if God cares.

So what am I supposed to do right now? Well, I'm putting scripture back to her in a way that's gentle and reminding her that the Lord is her shepherd. I'm reminding her that goodness and mercy follows her, and that I'm asking the Lord in my prayers to be the shepherd who brings good things to her life so that she can see that he does care. But you know, when you're going through grief, Jacob went through grief, Genesis 42, and he said, all things are against me. And I think about this family right now who's lost a loved one.

So much pain. But is God for me? You think about the poem of the footprints. Jesus carries you in that lowest moment. But there are times when we're going on our journey with God, we wonder, and he does, it gets real messy, and I can't push her away and say, how come you can't just trust God? No, she needs someone to help her right now walk through that difficult, dark valley. And this passage tells me, because Jesus could have said, guys, I am so tired of you.

But he didn't. I forget you because you forget. I'm going to be with, listen, guys, I need you to be able to come along and start understanding this. Because there's more to it than physical bread. There's spiritual bread, spiritual life that I need you to be getting. There's things I need you to be aware of and not let it become part of your life. I don't want you to be involved in legalism. I don't want you involved in liberalism.

I want you to be involved in a relationship with me that brings life. John, we're headed to a break. And when we come back, we're gonna talk a little bit more about Jesus discipling disciples.

And then I'm going to share a very special story, a personal story as we head toward Mother's Day this weekend. Truth Talk Live. You're listening to the Truth Network and truthnetwork.com. Welcome back to Truth Talk Live.

We're so glad that you've joined us here on May the 8th, 5-8. Again, we think about Romans 5-8. But God demonstrated his love toward us and while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. And you know, of all the truth that we can share over the airways, John, it's that God loved us so much that he sent his only begotten Son, his beloved Son, and he died for us. He gave his life so that we could have life. He was crucified in our place, buried, and then he rose again. And on this Truth Talk Live, May the 8th, I just want to remind you that Christ died for you. And if you need to talk to someone, you call a pastor, you call here and say, I want to be saved. Do not put off accepting the Lord Jesus another moment. Today is the day of salvation. That's the truth of truth.

And today we've been Wednesday in the Word as part of our show. And from Mark Chapter 8, the Pharisees are messing with Jesus and says, listen, I'm not dealing with it. You've got signs. I have given you what you need to know, but they're not going to follow him. So he moves on and now he starts discipling his disciples.

And I hope I don't stick with you. Jesus discipled his disciples and he started teaching them and he said, beware, take heed. And there's things that we don't want in our lives and legalism and liberalism and worldliness is something we don't want in our lives. But part of that discipleship, John, that you and I've been talking about today is it can be really messy. And sometimes we have our people and now I'm going to be honest, people discipling me would say this, but it seems I have spiritual amnesia. John, you ever have spiritual amnesia? Yeah, I've had it throughout my life and we really have to remember, right? We have to remember. We have to go back to remembering or else we will forget.

We're so forgetful. We're so easy to forget the promises that God has for us. There's something about the way we live of what have you done for me lately, rather than I just can't believe how much he has done. Counting those multitudes of blessings. And then as the difficulties do come, as there are, what will God do now?

Well, what has he already done? If he took care of me in the past, he's going to take care of me in the present. That's part of discipleship is helping people day after day, stay focused on God will take care of you. He will provide for you. Look at the birds.

He takes care of them. John, I want to get personal for just a moment here on this episode of Truth Talk Live. It's May the 8th and today becomes a very special day for me. 35 years ago, 1989, I can tell you a whole lot about this day. It was a Monday and I graduated with my master's degree from Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary. And we had an incredible graduation that day.

Dr. W.A. Criswell was the speaker and I had served for a couple years at his church. I've been an intern for a year there at First Dallas and I love Dr. Criswell. I loved his preaching and for him to be my graduation speaker was incredible. And as Dr. Criswell spoke that day, he gave an invitation, as he always did.

And the invitation was to the graduates. If we would live for the Lord, stay into our feet. And we did. We're going to live for the Lord. We're going to serve the Lord. We're going to serve the Lord.

We're going to make a difference for the Lord. And then he asked the parents if they would stand and say to their graduate, I support you as you go and live and serve the Lord. Well, of all the things, my mom was at that graduation and she was sitting in front of me in the section where I stood up.

I'm looking forward. She stood up. She looks back and we see each other. Well, what I did not know, John, is that that would be the last time I saw my mother alive. This was May the 8th, Monday, Sunday morning, May the 14th. I get a phone call and my mom has graduated to heaven. It's Mother's Day. And my Mother's Day was started with the words that my mom has passed away. She's in heaven. She's in glory.

But it was an incredible reminder to me about the brevity of life. And I'm pausing here on this Truth Talk Live right now just to be very genuine and say to every listener out there, Sunday is Mother's Day. John, Sunday is Mother's Day. St. Nick, you better know this. Sunday is Mother's Day.

And you've still got time. We referenced Adrian Rogers a little bit ago. Dr. Rogers has some unique ways of saying things.

And I'm going to say this statement to you. He said, dead noses smell no roses. And I couldn't help but as I heard that statement, think about around my mom's casket were a number of roses. She couldn't smell them. Now, John, I do have a great story that years earlier, after I got my life right with the Lord, I bought my mom roses for Mother's Day. And she got to smell those.

But I just want to give a challenge out there. Mother's Day is coming. And folks, do something special for your mom who has done a multitude of special things for you. Now, just before we wrap up this show, we've got Jamal. And Jamal, we've been talking about Jesus' disciples' disciples.

So see there? Hey, Jamal, how are you? I'm doing fine, Dr. Carson. Thanks for taking my call.

Perry, good to hear you on the radio, brother. So just to chime in on what you guys are talking about, how forgetful we can be. We had a brother at Wednesday in the Word today saying, well, you know, you had, you know, guys asking for miracles, and they forgot about yesterday's miracles and so on and so forth. And when you have a miracle that tends to be commonplace, well, it's been said that miracle no longer is a miracle.

It's just a regular occurrence. We, in this existence, on this life and planet Earth, we can look at life in general. We can look at our blessings, and we can just have this malaise over us. We can just get used to just the miracle of this existence, the miracle of life. So when it says in the Bible, well, if man doesn't want to cry out to my existence, well, I have the rocks and hills cry out my existence. Meaning he's pointing towards creation, pointing towards life. What other plans do we plant?

What other, you know, spherical ball in this universe has what we have? Nothing at all, period. So we can't marvel at just life here on this existence and that we're alive during this time, that we have Jesus that is our Lord and Savior.

We can't marvel in that. As a matter of fact, I'll ask any one of our listeners to take one of their blessings away and say that they won't complain about that. Take that car, that house, that business, that paycheck away.

Take your relationships away. Take that breath that you just took away and say that you're not blessed. So when you count your blessings, you realize that you are very blessed and that miracles happen every day.

Every day. Amen to that. Thank you, Jamal. This is the day the Lord has made.

I will rejoice and be glad in it. Every day is filled with his goodness and his grace. And I love Psalms 23. Surely goodness and mercy follow me all the day long. And when you think about God's mercy lamentations, if it wasn't for his mercy, we would be consumed.

So the fact that today we're not consumed tells us God has been merciful to us, and I can thank him for his great mercy to my life. John, as we think about, again, doing discipleship to our listeners, give them encouragement not to give up on the disciple that has become messy. Yeah, I think to not give up is to be persistent. I think we have to be persistent in our discipleship, and we can't give up, and we have to be people who are willing to, like we have said, get down in the mess. And I just challenge you to be present in that person's life or that brother or that sister or that co-worker or whoever that might be that you're trying to disciple, that you would just be present. And not in a rude way, not in an overbearing way, but like you said, you send these Bible verses to this person who's hurting and who's lost somebody.

You just subtly give them reminders of who God is in their lives and that you're there for them no matter what. You know, maybe one of the most important things that has been said here is what you just said about being present. Jesus was with his disciples.

As they didn't understand, he was with them. And that's how discipleship works. We have to be with people, and as they're going through those tough moments, that's when they need you the most. And hey folks, thank you for being here today listening. It's Truth Talk Live. Jesus disciples his disciples.

Let us be discipling disciple makers. Thank you for listening today. Have a great day, evening, and remember Mother's Day is this Sunday. Do something special for your mom.