The Disciplines of a Disciple | Applying and Sharing God's Truths

You're listening to A New Beginning with Greg Laurie, a podcast made possible by Harvest Partners, helping people everywhere know God.

Visit our website and learn more about Harvest Partners at harvest.org. We'll be sending His Word into our lives and then export it to others. Everything I need to know about God and life itself is found in the Bible. And as disciples, we are to learn it first and then we are to share it with others. Christian disciples are in the import-export business.

No, it's not Persian rugs or spices from India. It's truth from heaven. God's Word gives us everything we need to know to grow as committed followers of the Lord. And today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie points out that it's up to us to import those truths into our lives and then look for opportunities to export those principles into the lives of those in our circle of influence.

These are disciplines of discipleship. Quick question. How many of you want to hear God speak to you today from His Word? Raise up your hand. Okay, good.

That's most of you. Well, it really comes down to how you listen. How you listen. You know, there's different ways to listen. You can listen passively. You can really not listen at all. Or you can listen intently. You need to listen as though your life depends upon it because it does.

Because what we're looking at is from God Himself. Let's say you were going to be a skydiver. How many of you have ever gone skydiving? Raise your hand up.

Well, I'm impressed by that actually. I've never gone skydiving. I don't plan on going. Now, if my plane was on fire and there was a chute, I would go skydiving, okay?

But apart from that, I don't envision that happening. But I think if I was going to go skydiving, I would listen very carefully to my instructor, right? Like how to use the chute. Where is the ripcord? When do I pull the ripcord? Why would I listen to him carefully?

Because my life depends on it. In fact, I did hear a story of a guy who went skydiving. For the first time, he jumped out of the plane. Five seconds later, he pulls the ripcord. Nothing happens. He starts to panic. He pulls it harder. Still nothing happens. Then he remembers that he has another chute, a backup chute.

He pulls that ripcord and still nothing happens. Suddenly, he looks down and much to his shock, he sees another guy in the air, except this guy's going up as the skydiver is going down. So the skydiver yells to the guy, hey, do you know anything about skydiving? And the guy yells back, no, do you know anything about lighting gas stoves? You listen.

Listen to your instructor because your life depends on it. Well here is what the Bible tells us now about discipleship. That is our series. Discipleship. The road less taken. Let's review what we have already learned.

And if you are writing notes you may have missed one of these points so you might want to jot them down. Five things we have already learned about what it means to be a disciple. Number one. The disciple of Jesus Christ loves God more than anyone or anything else. That is based on Luke 14. Where Jesus said, if you want to be my disciple you must hate your father, mother, wife, brother, sister, and your own life. And we pointed out to you that the Lord is not telling us to literally hate someone but to love Him more.

Where our love for God would be so strong our love for someone else would be like hatred in comparison. So point number one. Love God more than anyone or anything else.

Number two. The disciple of Jesus Christ takes up their cross daily. Emphasis on that word daily and follows Christ. And we learned that what that means is you die to yourself. You put God first.

Number three. The disciple of Jesus has turned the title deed of their life over to Christ. The title deed or the pink slip if you will. Jesus said there in Luke 14, if you want to be my disciple you must forsake all that you have. It does not mean we have to take a vow of poverty to be a believer or a disciple. But that phrase forsake all that you have means surrender your claim to. Or simply acknowledge everything you have comes to you from God. Hence the point turn the pink slip or the title deed of your life over to God.

Number four. A disciple impacts our culture. Jesus pointed out that we are the salt of the earth. And in the first century salt was used to stop the spread of corruption or the rotting process.

You would rub it into the meat to preserve it. And salt stimulates thirst. In the same way as a follower of Christ we speak out against evil and we speak up for Christ. Hopefully living a life that is so godly it causes others to have a thirst to know him. And fifth and lastly a disciple brings forth spiritual fruit. Because scripture tells us here in Will They Know You're My Disciples that you bring forth much fruit. Alright with that in mind let's talk now about the things that a disciple does to stay strong spiritually. That's why I've called this message The Disciplines of a Disciple. In fact the word disciple comes from the root word discipline.

They're rooted together. But we don't like discipline right. That's hard. You know we want it fast. We want it now.

We don't like to wait for anything anymore. You want to get a book or some item of clothing or whatever it is you want. Why go down to the mall. Just order it on Amazon.com.

And if you're a prime member you might even get same day delivery. You want to watch a movie. Why go to a theater now.

Download it on iTunes or maybe watch it on Netflix. Or you know you want to find the news. You don't have to wait for the news to come on at six o'clock in the evening like the old days. Just go to Twitter. Find out right now what's going on.

Get the news feed from that. Or if you want to find some information out. Gone are the days of the Encyclopedia Britannica. How many of you remember those. Some of them you used to be able to buy them. They'd come to your house sometimes. A very impressive set of books.

I got a set years ago. Even the title. The Encyclopedia Britannica.

You just sounded intelligent telling people about it. Here is my set of the Encyclopedia Britannica. Have you read them. No I've never read them but they look nice don't they. And the problem was when you did get around to reading them they were already dated. Right.

Hard backed books already dated. Now we just Google information. Not that it's always accurate. Because anyone can pretty much say anything and it's not vetted in many cases.

But we like to get things quickly. So when we hear of following Christ and taking up crosses and disciplining ourselves and slowing down and meditating in God's Word. That is like alien information. But yet God says be still and know that I am God. So what I am going to share with you now is an absolute essential for being a disciple. If you are going to be a real disciple of Jesus you need to slow down and learn to listen.

Bringing me to my sixth point. A disciple will carefully read study and live according to God's Word. A disciple will carefully read study and live according to God's Word.

What is that based on. Jesus said in John 8 31. He said these things to those who believed in him. If you continue in my word you are my disciples and he will know the truth and the truth will set you free.

You know sometimes that verse is taken out of context. You know man the truth is set you free and here is the truth. And we will use it to describe all kinds of truths and quotes that we might pass on.

But this is very specific here. This is not just any truth. This is specific absolute truth found exclusively in scripture.

The context is reading studying knowing and living scripture. That truth will set you free. This is the only absolute truth. The truth we find in the Bible because God says thy word is truth. Jesus says I am the way what? The truth and the life.

This is the only absolute truth we can be certain of in life. And when I understand what God says about life it sets me free. For instance you might think oh God doesn't love me and he would never forgive me of my sin. Okay check out the truth in the Bible which says if you will confess your sin he is faithful and just to forgive you your sin and cleanse you from all unrighteousness.

Oh no I have messed up. I am condemned. God won't hear my prayers. Hey open up the Bible and read the truth man. Romans 8 1. There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. I continue in the truth.

In a moment Pastor Greg points out we should either be being discipled by someone or we should be discipling someone else. It's an important part of God's plan. More on that in a moment. Hey everyone I want you to know about our app called Harvest Plus. Think of it as a Harvest version of Netflix.

We have all of our resources in one place. We have our movies like Steve McQueen The Salvation of an American Icon. Johnny Cash The Redemption of an American Icon. A Rush of Hope and much more. Then we have our television program, daily devotions and much more.

So go and download the Harvest Plus app. Well today Pastor Greg is sharing those things genuine disciples do by way of a message called The Disciplines of a Disciple. Everything I need to know about God and life itself is found in the Bible. How many of you believe that? It's true. Everything you need to know. You don't need extra biblical books or special revelations from people.

No. Everything you need to know about God is found right here in this book that you hold in your hands. And as disciples we are to learn it first and then we are to share it with others. Let's again review the Great Commission in Matthew 28. Jesus says, So I am learning and I am teaching. As I have said as a follower of Jesus I should either be being discipled by someone or I should be discipling someone else passing this truth on.

Paul writes about that in Colossians 1.28. He says, Listen to this. You cannot take people any further than you yourself have come. You can't take people any further than you yourself have come. And here is a problem.

We are aware of that. And you know maybe we are not as far down the road as we ought to be as followers of Jesus. In my first message I pointed out that some who have known the Lord for 10 years, 20 years are still kind of like big spiritual babies. They haven't learned to feed themselves spiritually.

They haven't become mature as they ought to. But listen. You ought to be so mature in your faith that you could say to someone, Follow my example.

You say, No Greg you are wrong. We should never ask people to follow our example. We should just tell them to follow Jesus.

That is a cop out. You should be living a godly life in such a way where you could say as the apostle Paul said, Imitate me as I imitate Christ. 1 Corinthians 11.1 Be imitators of me. Follow my example.

And listen. If you like it or not people are looking at you as a visible representative of Jesus Christ. And they are making evaluations about God according to the way that you live. That is a lot of pressure. I don't like that.

Well they are doing it. So deal with it. That is what being a disciple is.

We accept that. I mean what if the church was filled with people just like you? What if everybody else in the church was just like you are? What if everyone in the church read the Bible as faithfully as you read the Bible? Would we be a Bible studying church? What if everybody in the church worshiped God just like you do? Would we be a worshiping church? What if everybody in the church give us their finances as faithfully as you do? Would we have a church that supported? What if everybody in the church shared the gospel as often as you do. What would it be like? What if others were just like you?

What if they walk like you and talk like you and dress like you? I heard about a guy that wanted to get married in the worst way. So he found a girl he was in love with. He took her home to meet his parents and his mother didn't like her. So he went out and found another girl, brought her home. Still, the mother didn't like her.

So then he went out and found a girl that looked like his mother, talked like his mother, dressed like his mother, in every way this girl was like his mother, but his father didn't like her. So this is. So this is. So this is. So this is. So this is. So this is. So this is.

So being a disciple is walking with Jesus in such a way that you can just say to someone else, follow my example. Well, Craig, we mess up. I know we mess up. We all do. I do. You do.

But that doesn't excuse us from being an example. Now listen. He says, if you continue in my word, then are you my disciples. This is translated elsewhere. If you abide in my word. You're saying, well, what does this mean? Well, Jesus says in John 15, if you abide in me and my words abide in you, it will ask what you will and it shall be done unto you.

What does that mean? The word abide means, think of a tree, planting your roots deeply into Christ, soaking up the nutrients, growing each and every day, staying in a given place, staying in fellowship with Him. If you continue in my word, then are you my disciples. If you abide in my word, another word for it. Or Jesus says, if you abide in me and my word abides in you, then you'll ask for whatever you want and it'll be done.

And I'll tell you why. Because you'll start praying for what God wants you to pray for. That's the objective of prayer. Not getting God to do what I want Him to do. It's getting me to do what God wants to do.

If you continue in my word, then you are my disciples. That means you study it. That means you memorize it. And ultimately it means it affects your thinking and ultimately your living. And everything that you do, I love how someone describes that man that walks with him and it says, his delight is in the word of God and in it does he meditate day and night. The word meditate means to ponder. Actually in the root it means to chew.

Chew your food, chew. Think it over. See I think sometimes we read the Bible with no comprehension. We see it as a religious duty.

We do it mechanically. You read three chapters, read three chapters. What were they about?

I have no idea. But I read three chapters. And I can prove it. Yeah but if it doesn't affect your life, if you don't even understand what you read, you'd be better off reading three verses. I mean I'd rather you read one chapter of the Bible slowly, carefully, with contemplation, asking the Lord how it applies to your life than read 10 chapters so you have bragging rights. It's possible to read the Bible out of pure duty and not remember anything. Sort of like Dorian finding Nemo.

Remember she was always forgetting. Or maybe you might read the Bible like some self-help book. Positive principles.

What's much more than that? I need to understand that this is the very word of God. And I read it that way. I am now reading the words of God. I am reading the autobiography of God. And I believe that this book will speak to me.

I love what Martin Luther said in his paraphrase. He says the Bible is alive. It has hands, it takes hold of me.

It has feet, it chases after me. It's alive and it's powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword. So that we must approach it like that. Pastor Greg Laurie with great insights today on a new beginning about the importance of the word of God in discipleship. And he'll have an additional thought from today's study before we go. God's word is really God's letter to us.

His love letter. He sent his only begotten son to pay for our sins. Jesus gave his life so we can live. Have you ever come to the point of accepting that sacrifice on your behalf? Pastor Greg, coming to the Lord is easy to do, right?

It's an invitation open to everyone. That's right. The Bible says whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved. So think of it this way. Maybe you're out in a riptide in the ocean and you can't get your footing and you're in trouble and you see a lifeguard. Call out for help and the lifeguard will rescue you.

The same is true spiritually. You're drowning in your sin. You need help. Jesus will save you. He will rescue you. But you must call out to him.

And you know how you do that? You do it in prayer. So let me just lead you in a simple prayer. And you can pray this prayer after me. You can pray it out loud if you like. And this is where you are calling out to Jesus to save you.

Just pray this. Lord Jesus, I know I'm a sinner. And I know you are the Savior who died on the cross for my sin and rose again from the dead. Now Lord, I turn from my sin and I put my faith in you. Be my Savior, my Lord. Be my God and my friend. I choose to follow you from this moment forward. In Jesus' name I pray.

Amen. Hey, if you just prayed that prayer, I want you to know that Christ himself has come to live inside of you. And I have a resource I want to send you. It's called the New Believer's Bible. So the New Believer's Bible is the New Testament in the New Living Translation with hundreds of notes that I wrote that will encourage you in this commitment you are making to follow Christ. There's some other materials included as well in what we call the New Believer's Growth Pack. But let me get this New Believer's Bible into your hands as quickly as possible.

Here's Dave to tell you more. Yeah, we'll be glad to send it all your way free of any charge if you prayed along with Pastor Greg today. Just ask for the New Believer's Bible when you call 1-800-821-3300.

You can reach us anytime 24-7 at 1-800-821-3300. Or go online to harvest.org and click Know God. You know, Pastor Greg, a while back you brought us a message called What I Would Tell My Younger Self. It was a great study.

I really enjoyed it, full of practical life insights. So if you went back and talked to your younger self, a teenage Greg who was all about drawing cartoons back then, which do you think young Greg would find hardest to believe? That he was going to grow up and become a pastor and an author? Or that while he's a pastor and an author, he'd still be drawing cartoons? Yeah, I think it would be hard for young Greg to believe that he'd be a pastor and an author.

And here's why. He was such a poor student. He didn't like to read. He liked to watch television, specifically watch cartoons.

He liked to goof off and joke in class, in fact disrupt the class, and be sent to the principal's office repeatedly. So he would not believe that he would end up being a teacher of sorts. But I am a Bible teacher, and I've learned to love study and preparation. But I really thought as a kid, I will be a cartoonist one day.

I was certain that this would happen. And then when I began my ministry, I realized, well, that's not going to happen. I'm not going to be a cartoonist. So we'll just move on from that dream of my childhood and just do what God's called me to do. And then not too long ago, I was talking with someone who was involved with an animation studio. And I was very interested in that. We began to chat about it. And then I said, boy, I've always wanted to animate my cartoon characters. And she said, well, we should do that. And we began to explore it.

And next thing you knew, we were engaged in creating these animated adventures. You know, the Bible says in Psalm 37, 4, delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Sometimes you have a dream. Sometimes you have a vision of your future that happens very early in life that is not realized until much later. Think of young Joseph. He had his amazing dream of how God was going to elevate him and use him.

And it seemed like the most unlikely thing when he was sitting in a prison cell after being falsely accused by the wife of Potiphar. But God was in control. And ultimately, that dream that God had placed in Joseph's heart was fully realized. And maybe you have a dream like that.

And maybe the Lord will open that door for you later. He certainly did for me. So the adventures of Ben Born Again and Yellow Dog are now in development. We have multiple episodes, and we're working on new ones. In fact, Dave, we're even working on a Christmas special.

And I've really had fun doing that one in particular. So this is something that we're doing to reach the younger generation, to reach your kids, to reach your grandkids. You know, you might say, hey kids, let's sit down and watch a sermon. I don't know how interested they'll be in that.

But if you say, hey kids, let's watch a cartoon, I think you might find they're interested. It's a great way to build a bridge. And if this is something you think is worth doing, if this is something you'd like to be a part of, then you can support us financially. And as my way of saying thanks, I want to send you a brand new booklet that we've just done. It's called the Ben Born Again New Believers Growth Book.

Now, we've had a version of this in the past that has literally reached thousands and thousands of people. But we decided to rebuild it from scratch. New artwork, more content added to it. I think it's fantastic and I think you're going to love it. And it'll be something your kids will love and your grandkids will love too. So, please be generous and support us as we seek to reach this next generation. And as our way of thanking you, we'll send you the Ben Born Again New Believers Growth Book. So, thank you.

Yeah, I want to get in touch today. It's a valuable resource. It's a great tool to help a young person learn the basics of the Christian faith.

It's fun, it's understandable, and entertaining. Get in touch with your investment and be sure to ask for the Ben Born Again New Believers Growth Book. You can call us at 1-800-821-3300. That's a 24-7 phone number. Again, 1-800-821-3300.

Or go online to harvest.org. Well, next time, more insight on the important role of God's Word in the discipleship process. Today, Pastor Greg has been talking about how disciples need to be alert and ready to receive God's Word. And he closes with this thought. You know, I think the best way to illustrate it is sort of like the role of a pitcher and a catcher in a baseball game. Like this. This is a baseball. And if I'm the pitcher and I'm going to throw this, the catcher has to pay attention. Right?

Because if I throw this hard, if I'm a really good pitcher, this could get up to a speed of 100 miles per hour. Right? So you have to be paying attention. Because if you aren't paying attention, you're going to miss it. So I'm going to say, here it comes. You know? And if you're not looking, see you weren't looking. That was a whiffle ball.

No one will be harmed in that. This one is a little harder. This one is harder. And it's coming. So you better be paying attention. Oh.

Oh now we're injuring people. Ok. One more time. Here it comes. Catch it. It's coming.

Very good. Ok. Don't throw it back. I want you to keep it.

You keep it. I think our little boy back there wants it. Do you want that? Do you want the ball? Give it to the little boy behind you. He wants it. Look at him. There you go. Ok listen. You just woke up. Why? Because I was throwing things at you.

And you didn't want to be injured. But no. The role of a pitcher and a catcher.

They work together. And so when the Word of God comes your way, how do you listen? See it makes all the difference. If you're distracted, you're looking around, your head might come off. But if you're paying attention, you've got that big old padded glove and you've got that cage in front of your face. You catch it. That's how you have to come ready to hear the Word of God.