Today on The Verdict with Pastor John Monroe. The lifeline of following Jesus is a life of obedience.
So I ask you today, brother and sister, you who profess the name of Jesus Christ, are you prepared to follow Jesus wherever he leads? Welcome to The Verdict with Pastor John Monroe. Cultural Christianity is all about being comfortable and convenient. You can make a profession of faith without actual obedience or commitment. But we're going to find that authentic Christianity requires a conscious decision to follow Christ.
And Jesus tells us that choice comes with a cost. Let's join Pastor John Monroe as he introduces today's lesson from the book of Matthew titled, Follow Me. Central to authentic Christianity is the person of our Lord Jesus. and central to our individual faith is our relationship with the person of Jesus Christ. Many people identify themselves as Christians but are not following Jesus.
In our study of Matthew we are learning that to follow Jesus certainly means to learn what he taught but we must also live what he taught. After all if we say that we believe in Jesus why would we not obey him If Jesus is God, as indeed he is, he has all authority, and therefore we are not only to listen to his words, but to practice instant obedience. Today in Matthew chapter 8, we will understand that following Jesus carries a cost and involves a choice. cultural christianity convenient christianity comfortable christianity wants salvation without sacrifice conversion without commitment a decision for jesus without obedience to jesus it wants faith without repentance it wants heaven without hell but we want to be authentic followers of Jesus Christ. And being an authentic follower of Jesus means that we not only confess Jesus with our lips, but with our hearts and with our very lives.
Following Jesus involves learning from Jesus, listening to Jesus. But being an authentic follower of Jesus, while it involves learning from Jesus, it also involves living for Jesus. It must make a difference.
Now, in our study of Matthew, we come to Matthew chapter 8. And I ask you, if you have your Bible, to turn there. Matthew chapter 8. And we're looking at this morning at verses 18 through 27. I've called this message, follow me.
Follow me.
Now, in our study of Matthew, this is not the first time we've heard these words. You may recall back in Matthew chapter 4, Jesus calls the fishermen by the Sea of Galilee, and he says to them, follow me and I will make you fishers of men. And in our passage today, there are three occurrences of this word to follow. We are to follow Jesus. This is what being a Christian is.
This is authentic Christianity, following Jesus. And so if you look at your Bible, in verse 19 of Matthew chapter 8, we have this scribe who comes to Jesus and says, I will follow you wherever you go. And then in verse 22, Jesus says to another man, follow me and leave the dead to bury their own dead. And then in verse 23, and when he got into the boat, His disciples followed him. Matthew wants us to know what it means to follow Jesus.
What are the implications of being a follower of Jesus?
Now, as I've been studying Matthew now over these months, I've been very encouraged to know that the mission of Calvary Church is biblically based. Our mission is to be and make authentic followers of Jesus Christ. And this is what Matthew is saying. That you and I would be authentic followers of Jesus Christ and introduce others to this magnificent Savior. And so we're going to study these passages.
There are three paragraphs. First of all, we'll see that following Jesus involves counting the cost. Then it involves making a choice and finally facing a crisis. First of all then, counting the cost, verses 18, 19, and 20. Here's the word of God to us.
If you don't listen to me, that's okay, but do listen to the word of God. Matthew chapter 8, verse 18.
Now when Jesus saw a crowd around him, he gave orders to go to the other side. and the scribe came up to him and said, teacher, I will follow you wherever you go. 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. You see, what a strange response to a man who says he wants to follow Jesus wherever he goes. Counting the cost.
The call of Jesus to you this morning is, follow me. Do you hear him? He's calling you. Follow me.
And we're to learn today that the cost of following Jesus Christ is total. No, this is not salvation by works. Salvation is all of grace accomplished perfectly through our Lord Jesus Christ who dies for our sins is buried and is raised again But now that we following Jesus if this is going to be the radical life that Jesus Christ calls us to we've got to understand that as we follow Jesus, we are to be 100% committed. He's calling to you to follow him. And following Jesus, we're learning, is the very opposite of following our own desires.
What do people do in our culture? They follow the cultural trend. They follow their own sinful desires. They follow their dreams. They follow what they want to do.
And so we make ourselves the very center of our world. And Jesus is saying, absolutely not. If you're going to follow me, there's going to be a radical change, a radical reorientation. And now you are going to follow me. And as you do that, I guarantee, some of you know this, there's a cost.
ancient greek said be wise know yourself ancient romans said be strong discipline yourself religion says be good conform yourself hedonism says be sensuous enjoy yourself education says be resourceful expand yourself psychology says be confident assert yourself materialism says be wealthy, please yourself. Pride says be superior, promote yourself. Asceticism says be lowly, suppress yourself. Humanism says be capable, believe in yourself. Legalism says be pious, limit yourself.
New Age thought says realize yourself. But Jesus says deny yourself. Did you get that. And Mark, when Jesus is asked, the question about following him, he says, those who follow me, Mark 8 verse 34, if anyone would follow me, is there anyone here today in the sanctuary, anyone watching a live stream who says, I am going to follow Jesus? Anyone?
get a few half-hearted hands up this is a most enthusiastic crowd this morning remember it's total commitment not half-hearted if you want to follow Jesus first thing that Jesus says is you must deny self take up your cross and follow me that's costly isn't it to deny yourself what does it mean to deny yourself it means no to self and yes to Jesus. And so here's a scribe in our passage. Verse 19, comes to Jesus. It speaks to Jesus.
Now who are the scribes? They are the educated teachers of the Old Testament scripture. This man is well educated. He knows his Bible. He's a scribe, educated.
And he says something on the face of it which is very impressive. Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go. Incidentally, he calls Jesus teacher. Remember the leper? and the centurion, what did they call Jesus?
Lord. Great word, kuros. Here it's teacher. Perhaps we don't want to read too much about this, but of course Jesus knew his heart. Notice again, they don't call Jesus Jesus.
Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go. You say, now that is exactly what Jesus wants. Here is a scribe educated in the Old Testament scripture. There's something attractive about Jesus. And Mr.
Scribe comes to Jesus and says, now I will follow you wherever you go. We would burst out into applause if someone said that. But notice Jesus' answer. Isn't it decidedly non-seeker friendly? You see, Jesus wouldn't make a very good contemporary preacher, would he?
No. Because in so much of our cultural Christianity, we dumb down the message, we make it so easy, we nuance the message, and take out the hard sayings of Jesus in order to have crowds. Jesus is the opposite. Jesus is not interested in the crowds. It's not after numbers.
How many conversions did you have today, Jesus?
Well, actual fact, I've made it very, very difficult. Because there was this scribe who said, I'll follow you wherever you go. And Jesus is saying, well, just wait a minute. Hold it right there. The foxes have holes.
The birds of the air have nests. But the Son of Man, a reference to himself, has nowhere to lay his head. You want to follow Jesus wherever he goes? Just count the cost. Don't be too quick, Mr.
Scribe. You need to renounce your personal desires. There must be a denial of self. Remember, Jesus is Lord. I know we like just to call Jesus, Jesus, but he is, can I remind you, King Jesus.
He is the Lord Jesus Christ. And if he's Lord, that means he has all authority over every aspect of life. Matthew, at the end of the gospel, is going to quote our Lord Jesus Christ and saying, all authority in heaven and on earth is given to me. He's Lord over the whole universe. He's God.
He's Lord. Therefore, if you're going to follow him, you have to obey him. You've got to lay aside your own dreams, your own desires, your own prejudices, your own things that you want to do and bring them to the feet of the Lord Jesus. Yes, he may grant you these desires, but he may have plans for you that you've absolutely no idea about. You're going to follow him.
And so the center of your life is not your comfort, is not your dreams, not anything that you own, the center of your life now is Jesus. It's very basic, isn't it? You understand that? What are the great stumbling blocks in your life in following Jesus? I'll tell you what they are.
They are the same in my life. Two great stumbling blocks as you and I follow Jesus. Love of self It all about me What I want what I think my opinion myself my comfort Love of self and love of sin. Of course, love of self is a sin, but love of sin. Which means you don't want anyone telling you what to do.
The life then of following Jesus, this is costly, is a life of obedience.
So I ask you today, brother and sister you who profess the name of Jesus Christ are you prepared to follow Jesus wherever he leads don't answer too quickly please not asking for a show of hands I'm asking for you you prepare to follow him wherever he leads and irrespective of the cost count the cost perhaps the scribe had heard about the healing of the leper perhaps he'd heard that the Lord was so powerful that he just spoke the word and the centurion's servant was healed and he thought it must be very exciting to be with this man I heard he just touched the hand of Peter's mother-in-law and she had this fever and the fever left her it must be wonderful to be around this this man, I'm going to follow him and Jesus is saying wait your personal desires your ambitions are all subject to me you like being in control of your life don't you I do it I like to drive I like to be behind the steering wheel I don't enjoy it so much to be a passenger I like driving the faster the better within the speed limits of course I enjoy that I like being in control you like being in control of your life in fact some of you want to control other people's lives but when you follow Jesus you're handing total control over to him. You're renouncing the right to do things your way. That is costly. At least for me it is. I think it is for you to say all of my life is in the hands of the Lord.
And I'm going to follow him. I'm going to do what he wants, irrespective of where he leads us. I remember 14 years ago when we came here, Goodney said, well, this is our last stay. We're not going to move anywhere else. And she was saying it somewhat jokingly, and I said, well, as the Spirit may lead.
I mean that, right? I'm happy in Charlotte, but if Jesus led me elsewhere, wouldn't you expect me to go? You're happy living here, wherever it is, doing what you're doing, working, whatever it is. But if Jesus led you to do something else, I hope you would do it, but that is costly, isn't it? Yes, salvation is all of grace.
Yes, following Jesus is a life of joy, a life of peace, a life of blessing. After following Jesus for many, many years, I would never, ever, ever exchange it for any other way of life, but it's costly. Count the cost. But secondly, there's a making, a choice. Verse 21, another of the disciples said to him, Lord, curious good so far Lord you're calling Jesus Lord that's good and that's a good the next few words Lord let me first I don't think so don't think you can call Jesus Lord and then say let me first go and bury my father and Jesus said to him you think this is harsh follow me and leave the dead to bury their own dead.
In following Jesus, a decisive choice is needed. If the scribe is too quick to say he's going to follow Jesus, this man, this disciple, however features his discipleship was, this man is too slow. Notice what he says. Lord, let me first go and bury my father. Yes, I want to follow you, Jesus.
but there's other things I want to do first. Do you identify with this man? I do. Yeah, yeah. I think a man's quite sincere.
I'll follow you, Jesus, but not now. I've got something to do. You say, well, this is, the man's father has died. He's got to deal with a funeral. No, that's not the point.
In that culture, when someone died, they were buried that day. And so the very fact this man is talking, Jesus means his father hasn't died yet. If his father had died that day, he would be at the burial. No, what an effect he's saying. I'm going to follow you, Jesus, but first I've got to go home.
I've got to care for my family. I've got some family arrangements to take care of. I'll do that and then I'll come and follow you. And Jesus says, no, no, no. Follow me.
Let the dead bury their dead. Let the spiritually dead bury the physically dead. I want to follow you don't you identify with this I want to follow you Lord but not now when it comes right down to it is following Jesus your first your most important priority you really can't say to Jesus Lord me first me first that's what the little boy says isn't it That's what the teenager says. That's what the older man says. I want to be first.
Me first. I'll do what I want. I've got things to do, Lord. I'm very sincere. And then I'll come and follow you.
And Jesus is saying, no, no, follow me. The point is, no.
So in following Jesus, a choice is often to be made. Jesus is certainly not advocating dishonoring our parents. He is the writer of the Ten Commandments. He's the interpreter of the Ten Commandments. He says, honor your father and mother that your days may be long in the land.
Absolutely. Yes, we are to do that. There are things in life which are legitimate, including our family responsibilities. Yes that true But still the choice has to be made And it a difficult choice Is Jesus number one in your life Is he your first love? Is he your top priority?
Yes, when my mother was alive, I loved her, I cared for her. But the Bible tells me, I am, who am I to love first? my mother, my wife my grandkids possibly my grandkids they're so lovable my grandfather, I love my grandkids no who am I to love first? you know the answer Jesus has asked the question what's the greatest of the commandments and the prophets? what's the Bible all about?
this is it, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and love your neighbor as yourself your first love your first priority nothing can compete with that is your love for God you're married you know that right? husband his priority is to love his wife no one else no other woman is to compete with that no, he's to love his wife she's first in that human relationship but greater than that is your love for Jesus. You doubt that? Matthew 10, verse 37, here it is. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me.
And whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. There it is. You'll always have seemingly good excuses for not following Jesus. Life is full of opportunities. Make the right choice.
Is following Jesus number one in your life? Is there any competition with that? Is your career more important? Your family, how easy it is to make our family our idol and to worship our family or to worship your success or to worship your own hobby and passions rather than loving Christ. Over the years, I've had the privilege of meeting with many men and women, most of them young, young men and young women who've met with me privately and talked to me about their life.
And many of them have said something like this. You know, I want to get involved in ministry. I want to serve the Lord. Maybe I want to serve in youth ministry. I want to be a coach at Champ.
I want to teach Sunday school. I really would like one day to be an elder. Perhaps some have said, I want to be a missionary. Many have said, I'm thinking of going to seminary. I think I'm going into full-time ministry.
What do you think?
Now, in a vast majority of cases, these men and women are very sincere when they come to me. But over the years, I've noticed something that often when you boil it all down, they're saying, I want to serve Jesus. I want to follow Jesus. I want my life to make a difference for the kingdom of God. But, well, I've got to finish that degree, you know.
I'm just newly married. I couldn't go out to the mission field until my children were older. I've got this to take care of. In this business situation, once I get my business put together, and once it's organized, then I can serve God. Once I'm retired, when I'm retired, then I'm going to serve the Lord.
But they're really saying, but not now. This is The Verdict, featuring the Bible teaching of Pastor John Monroe. There's still more to hear when John returns in just a moment, so stay with us. From matters of truth and identity to the subjects of love and grace, our world seems more confused than ever. But to find truth and certainty about who we are and find peace, we must turn our attention away from the world and look to the Word of God.
To help you do that, John wrote a booklet titled Eternal Security, Finding Certainty in a Chaotic World. Through this special resource, John shares his personal testimony along with a careful examination of Scripture to offer us clarity on matters of eternity. Get your copy today by visiting our website at theverdict.org. While you're there, consider making an investment in this Bible teaching ministry. Whether it's $5, $50, or more, your gift today helps cover the cost of sharing these gospel messages to listeners around the world.
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Now, here's Pastor John Monroe.
Well, what's your verdict? If you identify yourself as a Christian, can you honestly say that you're following Jesus in a personal and authentic way? It's very easy to be like the people we met today who came to Jesus but did not count the cost or make the choice to follow Jesus. I'm praying that you will hear what Jesus is saying and obey. This is authentic Christianity.
What a difference it will make in your life and to those around you. Join me next time as we continue to follow Jesus Thanks for joining us today on The Verdict I'm Michelle Davies Today's program with Pastor John Monroe was produced and sponsored by Calvary Church in Charlotte, North Carolina
