Make Disciples - Part Five: Who Will Tell Me the Truth?

This is the Truth Network. Today, four previous episodes plus today make disciples.

You know it's where we concentrate on this process that is God's idea for building the kingdom on the inside of each one of us so that then we are able to communicate His kingdom well to the rest of the world. If you're joining us for the first time, we invite you to follow along, not only today but going forward. This is podcast number 105.

105 episodes. We are so grateful for the opportunity to spend this time with you. And again, the podcast is brought to you by Shirley Weaver Ministries. If you're loving the content and you want to support us, check out today's show notes for more information, or you can go directly over to acleartrumpet.org forward slash give.

Again, that's acleartrumpet dash correction, acleartrumpet.org forward slash give. That's sort of a mouthful, isn't it? Well, again, if you're new, so glad you're here.

If you're with us regularly, so glad you're here. The earlier episodes make disciples, four of them. Today is number five. Why do we need this information? Because as believers, we are either making disciples or we are being mentored, you might say being discipled.

And just a quick review. In part one, we asked the question, how does God reveal His plan for me? We talked about God's Word and His presence, His presence in our lives. What that means is He speaks to us concerning the plan that He has for each one.

Episode two, the question, where do I belong? And we looked at God placing us, arranging divine connections, divinely orchestrated. Part three, when will God answer?

Specifically our prayer, of course. The Word is sure. God will give you the desires of your heart combined with His perfect timing. That's the challenge to realize His timing doesn't mean He's saying no.

His timing is His timing. So valuable to know about that. Fourth episode, what critical things are missing in my life? And we looked at things like a recognition of the generation that is ahead of us, the one coming after us, the structure of authority that that provides.

We looked at simple matters like health, maintaining good health, also the Holy Spirit presence in our lives, the power of faith, and the skill that God will give us through the agent of His Holy Spirit to pray effectively. And today, our question, who will tell me the truth? Who will tell me the truth? More and more, each succeeding generation asked that question. I need some answers here.

Can someone please just answer me? Don't go off on me with a sermon, please, or a lecture. Just simply, briefly explain to me the answer to my question. I hear it.

I'm sure you are recognizing that that is the case. And we've all been there, so that helps as well. We'll look at four things today.

This is not everything, but four things that are really important answers to very important questions. First of all, religion or faith? Religion or faith? You know, we need to pull the stops, and we need to fully explain biblical truth. Sometimes you have to do that strongly for the point to communicate, maybe even bluntly if necessary, because honestly, religion and faith are not necessarily the same thing.

Simply put, two expressions come to mind. Old-time religion. Old-time religion. Well, the emphasis is old. And by old, we mean not vibrant, growing more dim. And if there is value in old-time religion, which certainly there is value in terms of value, the things that are valued, the faith, the confidence, the history with God, but not at the expense of acknowledging the increasing revelation and understanding that God gives to each succeeding generation.

The word is clear. Knowledge increases. Understanding increases. And if we plateau off, if we stop at a point, we become part of sort of a landscape that is not flexible and is actually resistant to the moving and the fresh speaking of the Holy Spirit, giving us new things, new ideas.

It is old. And for all of the value, again, we want to emphasize that for all of the value that's there, it becomes rigid, not pliable to the Lord. That old-time religion can become the enemy of the new thing that God is revealing. And isn't it great that the energy that we have in our 20s and our 30s and our 40s, you know, in those decades of our lives, we are so fully vibrant and so open to the things that God would speak that might be new. So not to completely discredit old-time religion, we want to hang on to the faith of our fathers, their holy faith. Emphasis here, holy. That means we are growing more like Him.

Now, that is the goal. And we can invest a lot of time spinning our wheels and going nowhere if we insist upon being part of the old structure, not open to the new things that God is saying. So if you ask me, why is religion so unattractive to me?

I would answer you because religion is unattractive to God Himself. Christianity is not a religion. It is a closely connected, vibrant, teeming-with-life relationship with Almighty God, His Son, and His Holy Spirit, where you are filled with the eternal plan for your life that God has for you uniquely. That is Christianity. Is it free of obstacles, problems, or pain?

It is not free of those things. In fact, the life of the believer many times attracts persecution. The enemy is the agent. By enemy, I mean Satan is agent of persecution. And so we live in relationship with our Father, who is in heaven.

We live in relationship with Him. He leads us and guides us. But in those times of difficulty, persecution or otherwise, He is the keeping power of our lives.

And no pain, no obstacle, no work of the enemy is greater than His plan for your life. That is the arrangement that God intended. Religion is filled with rules, regulations, requirements that are man-made.

There is bondage related to those. And the enemy, again, his name is Satan, thrives on the resulting... Oh, the only word that comes to me is despair, created from that religious structure. So to answer the question, are faith and religion the same? Not necessarily, although there is an overlap. But again, simply, simply put, Christianity is not a religion.

It is a relationship. Second question, what about Satan's role? And how about his role in my life? John 10 verse 10, the thief comes only to steal and to kill and to destroy.

Well, what does that mean? Well, that means that until Christ returned, until Jesus returns again, Satan will do everything he can to thwart the believer's efforts. If salvation is receiving the love of God, and it is, the influence of Satan is the opposite. Satan battles your mind.

He is against your mind, provoking things that you stored in your heart. So the better news, also in verse 10 of John 10, of John 10, Jesus said, but I have come that they may have life and have it to the full. I have come that they may have life and have it to the full.

Again, this is what we're saying about faith. True Bible faith is full of life. Jesus came that you would have life and life and have it to the full.

You know, not halfway, not somewhat, but fullness of life. There's a verse in First Thessalonians chapter two, and this is number 18. This is the Apostle Paul, a New Testament example, where he specifically says to the believers in this case, listen, I wanted to come to you. Now this is the Apostle Paul speaking. I wanted to come to you.

My desire was to see you face to face. Indeed, Paul says, I tried again and again, but Satan obstructed. Satan obstructed me. The point being, everything the enemy plans is to thwart the goodness of God being received by you, because it is flowing.

Receiving it is your part. He wants to thwart that. He wants to thwart that. The enemy wants to thwart and to obstruct any way that he can, battling your mind, provoking you to think things that are contrary to God's plan for you. That answers the question, what is Satan's role? And what is Satan's role in my life? He comes to steal and to kill and to destroy. That is not God. The Lord does not initiate destruction. He comes that you would have life and have it to the full.

Next question, next question, what is this about the second coming of Christ? I mean, is that for real? Is it true? And really, how can that be? You know, explain that to me.

So that's the question. What is this about the second coming of Christ? Basically, the plan all along from before the foundation of the world was for Jesus, the Son of God, to become our Savior, but also to return again and to receive his church unto himself. 1 Thessalonians 4 verses 13 through 18 is the passage that will help so much with the understanding here. Basically, we're speaking of resurrection, the resurrection, you know, the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.

We know that that's the case. Also, there is a resurrection of the believer. Verse 14 says this, for since we believe that Jesus died and was raised to life again, we also believe that when Jesus returns, when Jesus returns, the Lord himself, verse 16, will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God. So hey, you know, if you're a believer, you can't miss it. It's pretty dramatic.

It's between, it's actually a private matter. The rest of the world will not see it, will not be aware of it, basically, until it happens. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, the Lord Jesus himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, and the voice of the archangel. So the archangel, so the shout of the Lord, and the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God.

So lots of activity there in verse 17. And we who remain will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever.

And here's the best verse of all, verse 18. So encourage each other with these words. Encourage each other with these words.

So we're encouraged. This is the blessed hope. It's not just the hope of the church. It is the blessed hope of the church.

And you and I have this promise. So if you're questioned as a new as a new believer, or even as an unbeliever, what is this hoopla? And what is this myth about Jesus coming again?

It is not a myth. Throughout the Bible, God speaks many, many times of this second coming. Actually, the fact is, there is more spoken about the second coming of Christ than of the first coming of Christ. So we believe, based on God's Word, this promise is out there in the future. Some believe it's very close. Others do not agree. Bottom line, Jesus has said, this is the way it will be, and this is where we put our faith, and this is what we believe. First Thessalonians 4, 13 through 18.

And this question, and this is an important one, because it can be confusing. Does God judge me? Does God judge me? Well, the answer is no, because judgment implies condemnation, and God does not do that. He does not condemn you, me, or anyone else, really. Satan is behind all condemnation, and really, aligned with Satan, we condemn our own condemnation. We condemn ourselves.

We are thereby condemned with Satan when we are aligned with him. So you see even more why this relationship with Almighty God is so appealing and so freeing. So is what God has in store for me judgment? And the answer is the coming of the Son of God as Savior is all about delivering us from the condemnation of judgment, but the Bible does teach us that there is an accountability of our lives before God that we should be ready to give and understand. And just in a basic way, on a daily basis, we are accountable before the Lord as his children, as those who belong to him because of the indwelling Spirit of God at the point of salvation.

So we are ready to give an account to him of our lives. Two verses are really important. 2 Corinthians 5, 10. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one of us may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. And this is just to say that the judgment seat of Christ is for the believer. This has nothing to do with those who are outside of the kingdom of God. There is a judgment for the rest of the world. That judgment is the great white throne judgment as a believer.

That is not anything you will experience, but for the believer, the one who has made Jesus Lord, invited him into their heart, we appear before the judgment seat of Christ. This is a private meeting with him at some point, and we give an account, good and bad, where we are before the Lord about those things. And, you know, with that knowledge, with that knowledge, for me personally, the stimulation produced is my reverence of him and my understanding that that is important to him. My daily life, the way I pursue my daily bread, is so important to him, not just an eternal question, but in the sense of right now, eternity right this minute is important to him, the way we lived our lives with what we had we had to work with. You know, it's not a difficult reach here to understand a loving father saying to those that he has given everything to, I want to know that you realize my moving in your life, in your heart, and in the things that concern you to bring about a lifestyle, behavior, choices, and decisions that reflect and honor me, that reverence me, and not something else, not self, or selfishness, or greed, or the absence of generosity, and you could go on and on. Another verse, Romans 14 10, why do you pass judgment on others? That's the question at the beginning of the verse. Why are you so busy judging others?

And boy, he read our hearts, didn't he? Because we do. Because we do. We judge other people.

He's saying, why do you do that in light of this fact? We all will stand before the judgment seat of God. We all will stand before him, one way or the other, as a believer at the judgment seat, or as an unbeliever at the great white throne judgment.

Either way, everybody's going to stand before him. It's a good thing. It's a good thing to know that the Lord himself cares that much about us.

And there's so much more to this one principle. To answer the question, does God judge me in the sense of condemnation? No. But in the sense of asking you, do you realize how much I love you? And I have a plan for your life. And it's flowing and teaming with life.

And I will provide for you. Do you realize that? And do you live your life as though you know that? That is the assessment that is made. You know, as a disciple of Jesus Christ, we have access to, these are tools for our faith, we have access to this kind of truth, truth where you are surrounded by, potentially surrounded by, mature believers to answer your questions completely, taking time with you so that you understand and have the answer that you can incorporate into the development of your own faith at your own level in order that we grow up into maturity and then think about it. At this judgment seat we've just spoken of, we give the account of the good. The good. We did make mistakes along the way. We didn't do it perfectly. But Father, you blessed me in this way, in this way, in this way.

See, we're giving an account. And right now, right this minute, we're living our lives ready, prepared. And the scripture says, we say, come Lord Jesus. We are anticipating His return, looking forward to His return, the blessed hope of the church.

However, until then, we are very busy. We are very busy occupying until He comes, filling up every day with the release of our faith, the activity of our faith and the determination to do all the will of God. We understand that Satan is active and wants to occupy our thoughts and to thwart our efforts and to obstruct us. However, we also know that God's plan is greater. So we're not moved or intimidated by Satan. And as we said at the very beginning, our faith is vibrant, full of hope and expectation. We are not religious in the sense of being bogged down, mired down in that old time religion that does not reflect the vibrant faith of our fathers, that holy faith. You know, there's a difference. Old time religion over here, faith of our fathers over here.

There's a difference. I choose the bold, consequential powerhouse of the faith of our fathers, that holy faith. We will be true. We will be true.

I bless you today. Listen, we have one more, one more day to focus on Make Disciples. That will be our next episode. We look forward to having you with us. I look forward to having you with me. And don't forget, check out our show notes, some valuable links there, information, resources for you, as well as how to support the show. Let us hear from you. You can email at info at acleartrumpet.org, subject line, podcast question, podcast question.

We'll see you next time. Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed this episode and you'd like to help support this podcast, please share it with others. Post about it on social media or leave a rating and review. Don't forget to check out the show notes or visit acleartrumpet.org where you can subscribe to Shirley's email list. Download the ministry app and purchase your very own copy of Shirley's 365 Day Devotional, Running With Horses. Thanks again, and we'll see you next time.