Understanding the Kingdom of God (Pt 10) : The One Thing: Choosing Discipleship Over Distraction in Your Journey with Jesus

And other people said to the cat of this morning, number one, to speak something first you have to surrender other things to actually feel like you.

When Jesus said and if you do not care that your are we saying because you will never graduate from the place where God I he sells the world to write somebody what we understand, what we understand, what knowingly means for our lives,

we will bring you all into a relationship with Jesus simply you don't endure everywhere, limit or contain themselves to a saving faith in Jesus fire insurance.

I want to put faith in Jesus and tithe and make sure that everything's taken care of.

But it doesn't mean I want to yield everything I have to him.

And we've got to move our people from a saving faith to a relational faith, because a relational faith becomes a revelational faith.

And I want to tell you, from the day you get saved until you close your eyes for the last time and see the King, the one thing Jesus is after always is your heart.

He never stops going after your heart.

I heard someone say the other day that those of us with the gift of discernment should maybe use the gift of discernment to discern our own hearts first before we're discerning everybody else's.

Go to God and say, lord, where am I?

And in his book, your God is too small, JB Phillips put his finger on the problem.

He writes this in his book.

When Christians talk about Jesus, they struggle because they have a tiny Christ, a puny Christ, who doesn't compare well with others in this modern world.

My University of Southern California students have occasionally asked, why are you a disciple of Jesus?

My answer has been to ask, who else did you have in mind?

And I mean this seriously.

They wanted to talk about Buddha, Gandhi, even their favorite musician or politician.

None of them can compare to Christ on close examination.

The reality is that everyone's following somebody, but people are typically not thinking about what is guiding their lives.

You know, the problem is, if you haven't surrendered and you're not giving yourself over to know the greatness of Christ, there are other things that are influencing you.

And questions you could ask would be like this, who am I really following?

Please don't think you're clever enough to come up with a bright, original idea on your own.

We're all the products of the world we live in.

Everything we've learned, we've learned from others.

Apparently even your DNA is telling you stuff all the time.

Who do I look up to?

Who are my role models?

Which leads to number three.

And we End.

Not only is it one thing, number one, not only number two is the question, why do I be a disciple?

But it comes down to number three.

If you want to enter the kingdom of God, Jesus says you have to choose to be a disciple.

It has to be a choice that you make.

What's your personal response when someone asks you, are you a disciple of Jesus?

I reckon so many Christians have made a conscious decision not to be a disciple.

It costs too much.

So I'm a churchgoer, I go to church, but I'm not necessarily a disciple.

And God in His gentleness and his grace, won't force this decision on you, no matter how good it is for you.

But one thing he wants is this, to be a disciple of Jesus.

Can I define it for you in one sentence?

To be a disciple of Jesus means learning from him how to lead our lives.

If he was in our lives, in our stead leading it.

So if I stood aside and asked Jesus to come into my life, and I'm not going to lead my life anymore from this morning, I want him to be able to lead my life, how would he lead my life?

Under the direct leading of the Holy Spirit in my job, relationships, health, my status, how would he do it?

Because when you're choosing to be disciple, you're choosing to give the steering wheel over to Jesus and it's a continuing relationship with through which all dimensions of our lives come to love God.

You don't keep things off on the side.

It's the greatest opportunity.

You learn how to handle the normal, everyday, ordinary events of the day as Jesus would remember those little things.

What would Jesus do?

Well, what would he do?

Discipleship towards Jesus is not miserable.

Everything he's commanded us to do is for our good.

It brings a good return from us and from the parable of the treasure in the field and from the parable of the pearl of great price.

Jesus is telling you nothing you give up will compare to what you gain.

You gain so much that what you give up is nothing.

Only when you're a disciple.

When you're not a disciple yet.

Then you think I don't know about this.

And there are books on the cost of discipleship.

You know what I think?

I think someone needs to write a book called the Cost of non Discipleship.

It's going to cost you to follow Jesus.

It's going to cost you to follow Jesus.

Can I tell you, you can never ever measure the cost of following Jesus compared to the cost of not following Him.

If you don't follow Jesus, you run the likelihood of your life being dominated by the world you live in.

How many people learn hatred, resentment, affliction, anger.

Someone oppresses you, someone hurts you, you don't know how to deal with it.

There's such a rise in therapists.

I cannot think of a greater job.

You sit and give absolutely no solutions.

And you let people come and just talk and charge them 1,600 rand an hour.

Let them talk, pocket it and say, I'll see you next week.

And they leave feeling I've got that off my chest.

Great job living in this world, never reaching your full potential, never reaching your gifting, looking at the lives of others.

And we do that.

We watch TV and we look at people who just said, hey, I set out into the great blue yonder and I just made my life count.

And, and there's a bit in us that.

Was I perhaps made for more?

When you don't live in the kingdom, you live in that constant space.

Am I doing enough?

What's going to happen when I see God?

Have I achieved my potential?

Am I using my gifts?

How many people could have been reached through my life?

Those kind of questions, never ever knowing from your heart whether you're pleasing the Lord, whether you're doing his will.

Is the Lord even with me?

If I died today, would anyone come to my memorial?

Never knowing deep in our hearts whether we're pleasing the Lord.

Can I tell you this?

You're also marginalized in your thinking.

I'm dissatisfied with life.

I need more.

I don't like my car, my house, my job.

I don't like this.

I'm dissatisfied.

I deserve better.

Surely I need more.

Looking for fulfillment, purpose in all the wrong places.

Join a club that takes you away from church, do this, do that, and all we're trying to do.

If you're not a disciple, you got to fill that space.

The cost of non discipleship is heavy because others are always determining for you.

But discipleship allows you to live a life full of love and joy and hope and peace and confidence, meaning and purpose with God.

Can I say this?

When you surrender your life as a disciple of Jesus, your life finally has meaning.

You find a peace that settles into you.

For me, this world finally makes sense.

And Jesus says this to you.

I want you to come into my life.

Jesus says to you, I want you to come into my kingdom.

I want you to come into my will.

And all you do is you say, you know, Lord, there's one thing, and this is the one thing I choose.

I choose to come to you on your terms.

I'll just throw out quickly five little consequences of living in the Kingdom of God.

The first one is to exalt yourself, is to be reduced.

So when you humble yourself, God lifts you up first point.

God lifts you up and there's nothing like having his hand upon you.

Number two, we are children of God.

Which means he gives a place for you, he carves out a space for you in this life.

And the one to come where you belong.

And you can go anywhere you like and do anything you like, go to whatever board meetings you like.

There's nothing like walking back in the front door of your home and knowing this, I'm home, I'm safe.

A friend of mine just traveled to America and I went through, I don't know, six different in three weeks.

Went to six different cities, did a whole lot of stuff.

He said there was nothing better than arriving back in South Africa at passport control and you're back in the homeland.

You find a place when you're in the kingdom.

Number three.

Bless you.

Living in the kingdom, you do not allow little things to distract you.

You just don't allow little things to distract you.

And they're there and they knock on the door and they're coming, but you don't allow them to distract you.

You live free of distraction.

And believe me, every time your phone rings, there's a distraction.

Have you ever noticed someone wants an appointment with you?

They ask can they please see you.

They wait a couple of hours, a couple of days, a couple of weeks, they finally get to see you.

But our habit is the moment the phone rings, someone who's never made an appointment gets first attention.

Have you noticed?

Sorry, I do it too.

The little things get in the way.

And when you live in the kingdom, you help it find its place.

Number four, the greatest opportunity requires that every single day you choose Jesus above something else.

Every single day, you choose him first.

And number five, bear in mind that the cost of non discipleship will always be so much more than the cost of discipleship you're offered.

On one hand, I've come to give you life and life to the full.

And there is one who comes to steal, to kill and to destroy.

And every time you make a decision, you're making a decision based on one of those two.

And all Jesus says to a tax collector minding his own business is Matthew, that's your name?

Yes.

Follow me and be my disciples.

You know what that guy did?

He got up from his wealth, he got up from his status he got up from his job security, he stood up and he followed.

And within that day, sufficient change happened in his life that all he did was go find his friends and have a feast and say, you've got to meet Jesus.

Stand with me.

For the rest of us, would you mind closing your eyes as well?

Again, just.

I just want you to think, we're not going to steal your wallet.

You know, Jesus deals with us with language, like, there's just this one thing.

You know, life makes so much sense when you're not fighting him for his will to be done in and through your life.

I really felt in preparing this sermon that there are so many distractions, and those distractions can stop us from walking into effective life that God wants us to walk in.

And I'm just thinking how Matthew's story would have ended if he had said, no, not today.

Do you mind if I think about this next week?

And because he was good with writing and sums and stuff, he writes the fullest of the gospels that you and I have, 28 chapters of the life of Jesus Matthew put together.

God used to him not only in his life and his ministry, but we have a whole gospel because that guy said, yes.

And countless lives through the centuries have been changed.

And I want to pray right now that there are some guys and girls in this room, that there are distractions, there are things that are in the way, and God just wants to use your life to benefit his kingdom.

And there are things you're holding onto.

And he says, by comparison.

I'll say it again, by comparison.

I want you to hate those things in comparison with your love for me.

In other words, when those things call or I call, which voice do you answer?

I'm not going to call you to the front, but if you know there are adjustments that you need to make in this, just agree in prayer with me now.

Father, we come to you in the name of Jesus.

And where there are these distractions, and sometimes they're good ones, but they keep us from walking in.

Just obeying your spirit day by day with what you've called us to be.

And so we come to you this morning and we ask you, Lord, to align us back with your word that our love for you far outweighs our commitment to and love for other things.

Do the adjustment in our hearts now that the kingdom benefits through the way we live, and may our environment around us change because of what you've done.

Do that surgery in us this morning, cut off the dead stuff.

And will you tell us what to say?

Yes to.

Because that's what we want to obey.

Help us.

We pray in Jesus name and God's people said amen.

Thank you so much for being a part of our meeting today.

Can I just ask two things?

The first is if today the message has in any way been useful to you, would you mind just maybe liking it or putting perhaps a statement down or a comment down that we can know how the ministry has helped you,

Maybe a thumbs up, maybe you can subscribe to the channel, do whatever, just so we can know what impact this message may be having on you.

And secondly, you may be someone who's saying, greg, I hear you.

And this hope that Jesus has for us can come into my heart and it can change me.

But the reality is that I don't even know if I know Jesus.

I want to say two things to you right away.

The first is he's near you right now.

The Bible says if you believe in your heart that he is the Lord and if you confess him with your mouth, you will be saved.

Which means you just need to where you are.

Turn to the Lord Jesus Christ even now and just say, lord, here I am.

I recognize who you are.

I confess my sin to you.

I acknowledge you as Jesus Christ, the Lord of all, the Son of the living God.

And I want to follow you.

I want to become a disciple of yours.

I want to give my life to you, Lord.

And you can pray that prayer right now between you and the Lord.

Secondly, you can get hold of us.

We could either send you some material, we can put you in touch with a really good church near you.

If you live in our area, you can come to us, you can follow us on YouTube.

But it is good to get connected into the family of God, to get connected into a local church that your life changes being surrounded with the family of God.

Please stay in touch.

God bless you.