Discipleship focused | Elder Peng Hoe

You're listening to a message to go from AXT church.

We hope this message will light up your team.

Today. We are at discipleship focus. Okay, disciple discipleship focus

is our value number five today. And I want to

start off by saying this is actually in your book.

It is not a program. A lot of times when

we think of discipleship, we naturally naturally think up a

program or think up a system, which is not wrong.

Programs and systems are there to help us facilitate, but ultimately,

discipleship is about relationships. We've got to look at it

from a relational point of view. That's why here in

X we always call discipleship or we have a term

for it. It's called the huddle. Okay, the huddle system

is known as relational discipleship. That means it's very hard

to decide anyone you don't have a relationship with as

a parent, if I don't have a relationship with my children,

it's very hard to discipline them, it's very had to

teach them. And it's because there is a redly a

relationship and you know that relationship even with the ones

that are living with you. And I want to say

leeching off you. But no, they don't lich off us

are dependent on us as parents. Okay, sorry dependent Okay,

they're dependent on you. But yet, if you don't put

in effort to build a relationship those things, you can

also become strangers. That's the reality of it. When I

do pre marriage counseling, I will tell couples to be

that you can some days wake up look at the

person next to you and like, oh, who's this. If

there is no relationship built, sometimes we can be strangers

even at home. And so really, relationships something that's very

very important for us to remember and realize, and discipleship

is relational. It's a relationship. It's walking with someone, is

committing to them, is investing into their lives, spending time

with them. All this, we hope leads to a person

who is transformed and change in their life. You see,

discipleship's goal is not merely to save people, but it's

to help sons and daughters of Christ mature in their

walk and their faith. So maturity is something that is very,

very very important in our faith because once upon a time,

we were all young, we were all little babies, we

were all drinking milk, and the scripture actually paints that

picture in the journey of discipleship. Once upon a time,

we can only drink milk because we can only digest.

A baby can only digest milk, and so when you're new,

when you're young, naturally feed your child. That's why when

we disciple as well, disciple slowly, as we build each

other up. Eventually we've got to introduce solids. That's how

it works as well. And then from solids then you

will realize that then you are ready to disciple others.

And so that is the journey of discipleship all of us.

When we raise our children, we don't raise our children

up to do nothing one. We raise them up so

eventually they can start their own families and then they

can disciple their own children. Is an ongoing thing. It's

been happening for generations. Actually, if all of you are

looking at me perplex what's he talking about. But it's

been happening. And this is the exact reason why we

are here today as a church, because discipleship was never forgotten.

Focus is so important because the church can always be

distracted by a lot of knights and good things, and

discipleship is what actually keeps us headed, keeps us anchored

to the most important thing, and the most important thing

for us actually as believers is the constant growth and transformation.

When I thought about word faithful last week, I told

the church in Ampang and in break Fields, I told them, look,

when we read the Bible, don't just read it for information.

A lot of times we like to read God's word

or the more information I get, men, I'm going to

be able to use it. I'm going to be able

to defend God's word. Then I'm going to be able

to even attack other people, very very dangerous and as

when we have so much information and you don't use it. Well, Ultimately,

God's word is not just merely for information. It is

for transformation. So we've got to always look at that

and be reminded about that. Okay, our lives actually can

be changed and transformed. And that's why in Romans chapter

twelve it says that starts it starts here. Let God

take over, Let the Spirit take over your mind so

that it can start to change. It doesn't conform to

just what we see, because we are all beings that

really we like our censors to be tickled. We like

our sensors to be stimulated, and that's how we get

each other's attention. But the reality is beyond just sensationalism.

We've got to make sure that we are grounded in

our faith, very very important, and so why is discipleship important? Therefore, Well,

the command that Jesus gave us before he left, we

look at it as the great commission, or sometimes we

recognize it as the last command that Jesus gave to us.

And that's why as believers here in Acts, we always

say that Jesus' last command becomes our first priority, very

very important. And it comes from Matthew Chap Twenty eight

Versus ninety eighteen to twenty, and he says this, Jesus

came and told his disciples, I have been given all

authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore go and make

disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name

of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

It doesn't stop there. It says, teach these new disciples

to obey all the commands I have given you, and

be sure of this, I'm with you always, even to

the end of the age. I know it can seem

very frightening something as the thought of going out as

a witness, to go and make disciples as a witness. Actually,

what we are supposed to do, and this is even

a warning in the scriptures, is we're not supposed to

share something that is not true in scriptures. Don't add

to it, don't alter it, don't take away, don't amend it,

don't try to be funny with don't just stick to

the facts. Don't say anything that is not true, because

withinesses must simply tell what they have seen and what

they have heard and what they have experienced, and they

have to pass it on to others as it is

factual to them. Who will believe our reports, Who will

believe what we have to say, who will listen to us?

Who will be convinced unless God is actually really working

in their lives. So we need God in all that

we do. We have a part to play, We have

a part to share what we have seen, but really

everything that you can share, everything that you can try

to convince other people if one work until God is

with us, and God is the one that is constantly

backing us. And so unless the Lord is working in

the lives of every individual confirming his word, nothing will happen,

and so in order to spread the word, it is

so important that we ourselves are clothed with the power

from on Hi. That's what it means. Don't just take

it as okay, I need to study hard, and if

I study the Word, well, I'm going to be able

to win every debate that comes my way. You may

win debates, you may sound more convincing, but you will

never see lives change unless God is in the picture.

Because it is God that is able to save and

change us. That's the reality of it. And that's why

it's so important that we need to be spirit filled

and centered in Christ so that we can share and

witness the Kingdom of Heaven here on earth, because it

is ultimately King Jesus that we worship, and he is

not just King, he is also the Word, the Word

made faithful. Okay, I've just summed up the past four

weeks into one statement, So I hope we'll be able

to see this as we now look into discipleship focus.

I'm going to tell some stories from the scriptures, and

I hope we can be able to just catch some things. Okay,

I'm going to refer now to Luke Chapter nine Versus

one to nine. Okay, if you have your scriptures, go

ahead and you can turn to it. If not, it's

also on the screen. I'm reading from the NLT, and

this is an account of Jesus sending out the disciples

into ministry, okay, telling them, okay, guys, time to go.

He just booted them out to a certain next tent.

And he says, when Jesus had called the twelve together,

he gave them power and authority to drive out all

demons and to kill diseases. And he sent them out

to proclaim the Kingdom of God and to heal the sick.

He told them take nothing for the journey, no staff,

no back, no break, no money, no extra shit. Whatever

house you enter, stay there until you leave that town.

If the people do not welcome you, leave their town

and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony

against them. So they set out and went from village

to village, proclaiming the good news and healing people everywhere. Today,

what we have with us is the Word of God.

We have the Gospels of Jesus Christ telling us the

good news. As a matter of fact, do you realize

that it's simple, It's straightforward it's an account of what

happened in the life of our Lord and Savior. There's

nothing there that you find that talks about feelings and emotions,

and there's no description of that such. They are just

facts of what was done and what was said. That's

why when you read the scriptures, it is it is

an account. Jesus went out to the mountain, he prayed.

Now after that, yeah, Jesus on the cross, Okay, he

hung on the cross. For us, it is just stating

factual accounts of a historical event that took place. But

I acknowledge we cannot help but have very deep feelings

when we read these accounts. And that's why sometimes I

remember when the Passion of Christ was first film. Wow,

it really really stirred a lot of people's emotions. Actually

by actually, when you just read the scriptures, is factual.

There's nothing embellished. It's not it's not nothing is added,

nothing is taken away. It is ads. It is an account,

a faithful account of facts, and that is very very

important because the truth is we may not know, we

cannot tell what pains Jesus had to bear, but the

fact is we believe it was for us that he

went to the cross, he suffered on the cross, and

he died for us. If we read Luke chapter nine,

you will realize that Jesus what he did just now,

he sent his disciples out two by two as recorded

in Mark. Here he doesn't say two by two, but

usually the wisdom in sending people out for ministry is

send them out in past, okay, so that they don't

be alone and isolated. And then Jesus gave them power

and authority for the ministry in hand. And the truth

is the Lord always wants to give. But are we

ever in the position to receive? Is the question that

we have to ask. What are the challenges of being

a disciple of Jesus. See God says, guys, go, I'm

going to give you power and authority. Of course, they

could have looked at him and say, I don't want

to go. Why I'm scared? Know how I know I

got power and authority. See, they had to step out

in faith before they actually realized that they indeed have

God's power and authority in their lives. Okay, So to

explain a little bit more on discipleship, I want to

highlight a couple of individuals and how they reacted to

the facts that was before them, because you see, when

Jesus went on the cross, it will elicit a response

or a reaction from people, depends on various people. It

will either cause you to want to go towards the

cross or it will cause you to want to walk

away from it. And at some point, the Holy Spirit

is going to tell us, when we're reading about these people,

when we know about these people, where would we have

stood on that day? Which group do we truly identify with?

Because the reality is, I don't think anyone of us

would have had the courage to say on that there,

I'm a follower of Jesus and therefore you can put

me on the cross as well. The only people other

than Jesus on the cross on that day were not

there because they willingly wanted to be there. They were

there because they did something naughty, and they were there,

And that is the truth. Jesus is there on the

cross alone, and most of us are actually somewhere else,

somewhere else in the crowd. Even though the charges against

Jesus false, even though he was slandered upon everything, all

these lives were created by the devil. But yet none

of us would have volunteered ourselves. That's the reality. So

let's look at two people right now. I want to

look at Pontius Pilot and I want to look at Herod.

Two people. Okay, and then with that I hope to

help you see why sometimes it's difficult to be a

disciple a follower of Jesus. Pilot or Pontius Pilot, as

he is known, is an interesting contradiction. He was a

man who wanted to do what is right, who knew

what he ought to do, but somehow he couldn't bring

himself to do it. Why did this man who was

a person who was in power. He had power, he

had authority. In fact, actually the life of Jesus, or

the death of Jesus was in his hands. But he

failed to do the right thing. And actually the answer

is quite simple. He had a pass and he was

constantly blackmailed by that pass. The crowd was blackmailing him. Okay,

who is Pontius Pilot. He was like a Roman governor

of the province. And of course, on the way up

to power, he made some mistakes here and then, okay,

some of these accounts of the mistakes that he made,

you won't be able to find it in the scriptures

and in the Gospel. But if you read historical events

about Pontius Pilot and what he did, then you will

realize why is he in that situation. One of the

things that Pilot did was when he first marched into Jerusalem,

he went straight into the temple, and then he carried

the Roman eagle, which is a symbol of the Roman Empire.

He carried it straight into the temple, which, of course,

naturally what it created was it created strife and people

started rioting, because for the Jews, any form of symbolism

is idolatry, and so it was very very insulting when

he did that, and so the people riot. When the

people riot, naturally, as someone in authority, what do you do.

You quell the riot. And when you quell the riot

usually it leads to bloodshed and so that's what he did.

He actually stopped the people from writing, but it led

to bloodsheds. So it was the start of he's ready

on shaky ground. That means not everyone's favorite person. And

then the second mistake of blunder that he made was

he really wanted to try to improve Jerusalem's water supply. Again,

I'm not making this up. You can study the historical

records is somewhere there. And he wanted to build aquad ducks.

Aquad ducks are those structures that actually channel water into

the city, which actually you go to different parts of

Europe and the Middle East you can still see today.

But to finance the building of these equa ducks is very,

very expensive. What our friend did was he took money

from the treasury in the temple and channel it. And

of course when it was discovered, another riot broke out

and the people were angry with him. And so basically

these two mistakes somehow found its way back to the

Roman Empire, and one t Spilert was actually he was

at this stage where the Roman Empire themselves were giving

him and ultimatum. One more mistake and you are out

of your job, because if the people start rioting again

and then you have to quell the riot, which usually

leads to bloodshed, it's going to create a lot a

lot of problems. And of course the crowd they really

knew he was also at that stage, so what did

they do. They constantly threatened him, you don't give us

what we want, we will report you to Caesar. We'll

report you to Caesar. After that, we start another riot.

Another riot starts, and you are finished. So Pontius Pilot

became someone because of his past. He became a coward.

He didn't dare to stand up for what is right,

even though he had the choice, the chance, and the

authority to let Jesus go. And that is how he

is remembered forever. He had a good wife, a wife

who tried to talk some sense into him by saying, hey, dear,

if you put this man to that, you're going to

get into a lot more trouble actually, But he ignored

her because he's succumbed to the pressure around him. And

that's why today, when we say the Apostle's Creed, we

only mentioned two other humans' names in the Apostle's Creed.

You'll remember that. You realize that one is the person

who brought Jesus to life, he was conceived of Mary.

And then the other is the one who told Jesus away,

who killed Jesus, and his name is Ponteous Pilot. He

suffered under Ponteous Pilot, and that is what the world

remembers Pilot as. And Pilot didn't stop that what he

did after that was he was like, oh, I need

to quickly pass the buck. And who he passed the

buck to, he passed it to Herod, and so over

to Herod Jesus went, and Herod is slightly different. This

was a man who loves his senses to be stimulated. Okay,

he's someone that, all right, I like sensational things, I

like shore, I like entertainment. And he wanted to see

Jesus do a miracle, to see amazing things happen. And

so Herod was prepared to see all this, but he

sure as well wasn't prepared to believe. He was prepared

to have all his senses tickled, but he wasn't prepared

to have his faith stirred from within. He was prepared

to have things in this world, but not prepared to

think about things after. So we know that he was

a man who actually lived purely for material things. And

Jesus was sent over to Herod by pilot. Actually, and

Herod is so worthy. He's actually someone who is very

wealthly that when Jesus stood before Herod, you know what

he did. He did nothing, He said nothing. He was

absolutely silent, and that is a sad fact, actually, because

you will realize this. If you are very tied up

with the things of this world, and you are tied

up with what this world has to offer, you won't

hear anything from Jesus. He can't talk to a person

who only wants the sensation of exciting things. Sometimes that's

what we are looking for. We're looking for hype, we

are looking for what's in and that's not how Jesus

is going to speak to us. And so it would

not be possible for us to be followers of Jesus

if we lack the conviction to stand on the truth

of his word, which is what Hilt lack. He lacked

the conviction, he didn't have the courage, or if we

just love this world too much. You find that if

you love this world too much, is hard actually to

be a follower of Jesus. And why do I say this? Well,

in fact, actually, Jesus goes on to say in a

few chapters after this, after what I just read. Just now,

now let's go to Luke chapter fourteen. Okay, you're saying

you're seeing the picture. I hope you see the picture

that I'm trying to pain. Luke chapter fourteen, verses twenty

six to twenty eight says this, if you want to

be my disciple, you must, by comparison, hate everyone else. Oh, man, Jesus,

why why your father, your wife, your children, brothers and sisters, Yes,

even your own life. Otherwise you cannot be my disciple.

And if you do not carry your own cross and

follow me, you cannot be my disciple. But don't begin

until you counter costs. You see, at that point of time,

there were great crowds following Jesus. Why because again he

did a lot of remarkable things, sensational things. But yet

Jesus did not feel that this was necessarily a success.

Do you think Jesus went around, my man, look at

all these people following me? Why because he knew that

the crowds men that though the quantity of his followers

has increased, the quality is going down. And this is

the problem with mass, this is the problem with a lot.

The more people that are, the less responsible individuals feel

leaving things to others. Isn't that what crowd mentality is?

Let others do it, let others decide. And you see,

Jesus can do far more for a few who are

prepared to go all the way than a crowd of

followers who are not really serious. Do you realize that

this world was turned right side up because of twelve disciples.

It's a small group, but they were disciples and they

were followers. Many in the great crowd were following Jesus

for what they could get out of him. After all,

they had high hopes. They were looking at him, as

I mentioned this before, a political savior, not just a

miracle worker, which he was also which they were glad

to receive their healing, but also as someone who will

come and save us from this wretched Roman empire. And

Jesus turn around and said something to them that actually

sends all of them back home, if not most of

them back home. He says he would rather have one

person coming after him who has counted the cost and

is prepared to go all the way, than to have

a great crowd coming for superficial and selfish reasons. And

time and again Jesus actually lost a lot of followers

by warning them of what the Christian life would mean.

You think about it. Think of the rich young ruler

who came to Jesus and he said, Jesus, I want

to follow you. I want eternal life. And Jesus could

have easily say that, well, we could definitely do with

someone like you on our team, because this is the

a team. You are rich, you are young, and all

you need to do is make your pledgures and fund

the ministry. Come on in, I'm glad to have you.

You could have said that, but he said, Jesus told him,

go away, get rid of all your money first, then

come and follow me. And the man ran away, and

Jesus actually saw him walking away. Sadly, why because it

was recorded in the scriptures that he was a man

with great possession. And so the sad truth is that

if you do not count the cost of being a Christian,

will you, it's going to be hard to travel far.

Why because as soon as the quality requirement starts to

kick in, you will stop traveling and you will be

of no further use to the Lord, because we will

find it hard to carry on unless we have counted

the cost. A lot of us don't count the cost.

We just in today's terms, we just wagonly ramble, and

then when the going gets tough. That's why we can

easily give it up. You see, Jesus did not just

stop there He goes on to mention two things which

hurt very deeply, and what causes to want to argue him,

want sure, want to argue him on the first thing

he says is this, whoever comes after me and does

not hate his mother, his father, his wife, his children,

his brother, his sister cannot be my disciple. Wow, how

la Jesus? Why why do you have to say things

like that? You're losing the popularity contests, for sure, and

many people wish he never said those things. But before

we come to conclusions, before we start to imagine the

worst of God, I want you to know this. The

word hate or hatred consists of an action and a

choice rather than emotions and malice. Okay, Why do I

say that? Why do I say that? Because, for example, okay,

in the scripture, when it's said Jacob I loved Esau

I hated, he's not referring to his emotions or feelings

towards the brothers. Sometimes we are so wrapped up in

feelings in this age of ours that we can't read

the word hatred without feeling it. That means you see

hate like oh, that means, oh God, why are you

so bad? What you hate is all because he Harry.

Is it because he never shaved? I don't know, no science.

We start thinking like that, But what it actually means

is Jacob I chose, he saw I turned away from

And that is what the word hatred means. Like I said,

is a choice and an action, not an emotion. And

Mally's malice is ill in ten. That means I hate

this flur, I wish this flur die. It's not that.

It's more I chose Jacob and he saw I had

to turn away from him, and that is what it means.

And you know, the text is saying this. If ever

the claims of Christ and the claims of those who

are near you start to conflict, then the love for

Christ has to come first. We have to turn to

Christ and turn away from our nearest and dearest. For

you see, sometimes those who are near us to us

are also the greatest resistance in our spiritual life. I

know when I say this, like, huh, sure not? You

think about it, Simon Peter. Do you think Simon Peter

was close to Jesus. He was one of Jesus's closest friends.

In fact, no, that was John, okay, but both of

them Okay, Simon Peter, uh John, John was I wanted

to say that you take care of my mother. That

was to John. But Simon Peter was the one that

was given the mandate to sort of like pastor the

church after Jesus left. He was the one that's always

sitd next. It was part of the in his inner circle, James,

Peter and John. In fact, Peter came first, I believe

in order of priority, closest friend, and then one point,

it's also Jesus's greatest enemy. Do you realize that because

he kept telling Jesus, Jesus, you are never going to

go to the cross, whatever else you do, I'm not

going to let anyone kill you. And what did Jesus

say to him? Get behind me, Satan, and he said

it as strongly as dead. And Jesus was at that

moment turning away from Peter because my father in Heaven

has called me this way, and if you call me

the other way, I must therefore turn my back away

from you. And that is a part of the cost

of being a disciple. The very nearest and dearest relationship

to you may have to go if Christ's calls. But

notice I say this, may have to it doesn't follow

that straight away you become a follower Jesus, you won't

cut links with all your family members. I'm not asking

you to do that. I don't think the scripture is

asking you to do. That is when there is a conflict.

It's when you realize when there is a demand, which

is different. There comes a point where Jesus says, I

must be first. That means I must be the absolute

priority in your life. That's what following Jesus really means.

Do you see that? The second part of the cause

is even more frightening. Not just father and mother, brothers, sister, husband, wife.

The second part of it is this no hate yourself

as well, turn your back on yourself. That mays wake

up the morning, see the mirror, tooray away. Almost almost

like that. Why when people read this portion of scriptures,

they it's one of those scriptures that even preachers hate

to preach and share it. But because it sounds like,

oh so bad Jesus, you bad naught. But he says

the second condition is to hate yourself, to turn your

back on yourself. Now, I suppose in this day and

age where we're leaving, the pressure is on earth to

be always fulfilled right. Satisfy yourself first and foremost, make

decisions that will bring the best out of me, out

of myself in doubts in myself. We are all guilty

of it because it is a very self centered society

that we are living in today. But if you read

the teaching of Jesus and you find that Christianity usually

leads us to a cross. Right, never let us to

a cushion if we wear a nice cushion, So far

on our you're wearing a sofar, nor most of you

wear a cross. I see a few of our sisters

wearing crosses. Kara. If you have a sofar there, I

don't know whether you'll put it around your neck or not.

So far and teddy bear, but you see, Christianity, never

let us to a sofa, to a cushion, let us

to a cross. It's not a bit of roses that

was on Jesus that he was lying on. It was

actually a crown of thorns. And so he says, if

you want to be my disciple, then tick up your

own cross. And the truth is a cross kills you.

A cross is actually an instrument of torture and execution.

It's not the addition, symbol like how we sometimes think

of it, it was actually something that leads you to death.

And that is ultimately what Jesus is telling us to do,

his saying I want you to tick up death to yourself.

It is the one thing that we find so difficult

to do, to die daily to ourselves. And that is

why when I teach about water baptism, I teach people

that you are saying goodbye to yourself. It's your funeral

service to have taken up your own cross and to

say from now on, I don't care whether my ambitions

are achieved or not. I am day to my selfish desires.

I am on the cross, and I've been crucified with Christ.

Do we even see it that way? Because many around

the world, when they go to the waters of baptism,

they are saying not just goodbye to themselves. They're saying

goodbye to their families. They're saying goodbye to their society.

They're saying goodbye. In fact, it is their society saying

goodbye to them, because a lot of them lose their

lives even for going through the waters of baptism. But

that is what we are taught to do. Part of discipleship,

go there for and make disciples, baptizing them. It goes

hand in hand in that sense. And so to be

baptized into Christ is to be dead and buried. And

from now on it doesn't matter whether my ambitions are

achieved or not. Lord, I want to be able to

follow you. And so Jesus turned and he said these

two things to the whole crowd. Now, he said, whoever

of you does not forsake all that he has cannot

be my disciple. If you don't forsake your loved ones,

if you don't forsake your own life, you cannot be

my disciples and followers. And can you see that there

is a huge difference between being in a crowd that

is listening to Jesus and becoming one of his disciples.

How many disciples of Jesus are here even in the

congregation or are we just part of the crowd? How

do we identify ourselves? You see, when the crowd begins

to follow Jesus, it is so easy to follow along

with others without counting the cost. It can happen when

there is a crowd getting excited about Jesus. I want

to sing songs, know he but how easy it is

to join them because it sounds exciting and good and

you are one of the crowd without sitting down and saying,

what is it going to cause me? Because the time

to count the cause is actually beforehand, not afterward. A

lot of times we count the cost afterward, and then

we realize, oh, my goodness, I don't think I want this,

and we give it up. But you see, the life

of a believer and a follower of Christ is a battle.

It's like a battle, and the Christian life is a

battle against enemies. The day you become a believer, you

have made a lot of enemies. Particularly you have made

Satan your enemy. And sometimes we think Satan is foolish Bodor,

he's a go block there, won't go block. I used

to have a men's teacher who used to scholars, you

go block or he was a legend. He was a legend.

I still remember. His name was mister Lowe. God rest

his soul. I don't know why he used today, but

he was the one that helped me get C three

for my ed mets when I feel a Mets all

my life, seriously, because he was strict and then he

used to make me stand on the chair and pull

my ear from four from four. You know he's like,

stand on the chair. Huh serious? Well after that, I

remember my formulas with him. But no, sorry, I digress.

But it's not if we think Satan is foolish, we

can take advantage of him. Think again, he's smart, and

he's willing, and he has caused us to be so

distracted so many times that sometimes we fall. Say. I

want us to realize this Salvation is free, but it's

not cheap. Salvation is free. You can't do anything to

earn it, but it's not cheap. It costs you nothing

to begin the Christian life, but it will couset you

everything to continue it. That's the truth. So this is

why Jesus set the standard high and taught people to

count the costs to an individual. He said, if any

man would follow me, let him take up his cross.

Just one who does this will be more used to

him than the whole crowd. Do you know those who

really picked up their cross? The earliest twelve disciples, all

of them went to the cross, all of them had

a cross of their own. In fact, it was recorded

that all of them except John died brutal deaths. Not

even died of old age. They died brutal deaths, some

of them worse than how Jesus died. Some historical records

show that some of them were crucified upside down. I

can't even imagine being crucified right set up, let alone

being crucified upside down. And so one person completely for

the Lord, he can do so much more. And that's

why baptism is part of this, because in being baptized,

you have counted the cost. And that's why I teach

it as it is count the cost. I know sometimes

we are always looking for the easiest, most comfortable way

to get baptized when the timing is right. No, it's

not just when the timing is right when everyone is

for me. No, it's am I convicted to declare my

faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. You're leaving behind a

self centered life that is not prepared to build or

to battle for the Lord. Because when you say I

want to go through the waters of baptism, you are

essentially saying, Lord, I'm saying goodbye to myself. Amen, what

is the focus of discipleship? Therefore, next question, and you

can see that I'm forstfeiting the question into answer. But

let me read John chapter eight, verses that you one

to thirty two. To the Jews who had believed him,

Jesus said, if you hold on to my teaching, you

are my disciples, then you will know the truth, and

the truth will set you free. You see, disciples, they

are identified as those who hold on to the teachings

of Christ. There is that important. But teach them to

obey the commandments. And if you hold on to the

teachings of Christ, you will know the truth in life,

and this truth will set you free. Jesus says, if

I'm telling the truth, why don't you believe me? It

was almost pleading with them in verse forty six of John,

A obey my truth, and I will make you free,

really free. You know the song that we are singing,

Son of Suffering, that's the truth. It's a factual truth

of what happened. And when you realize that truth and

you understand it, that is the freedom that it will

bring to your life. What is real freedom, It is

the freedom to do good, Because nobody was free to

do good once upon a time. All of us were

tainted by sin in our lives. Once upon a time,

none of us have the option to do good, because

no matter how much good we do, we will not

be able to be good enough. That is the truth.

But when Jesus Christ went to the cross, what he

did was he gave us now an option. Once upon

a time we had no option, because all of us

were destined for death, because the scripture tells us that

the penalty of sin is death. It tells us that

the power of sin at work in our life is death.

It tells us that whenever the presence of sin remains

in our lives, it leads to death. And so all

of us were destined for death, were destined for an

eternity without God. But when Jesus went to the cross,

he opened away that was now and there is now

the option to choose to do what is right. Because

once upon a time we were all slaves of sin.

But true freedom is being free to one to be good,

to be free to be the person that God intended

us to be. And so Jesus said, if you obey

what I say, you will know the truth by experience,

because the truth will set you free. It works believe

that Jesus is who he said he is, and you

will find that he can make you free. If Jesus

is not who he said he was, then he can't

be our savior and we must. Therefore, it's so important

for us to always focus on the goodness of God

because I find sometimes we are at this stage where

something bad happens to us and God, why are you

so bad one? But God is not bad? God? Why

are you so evil? But God is not evil? Bad

and evil things did happen to him in this world

caused by Satan and man, but that does not make

his nature bad or evil. Focus on the goodness of

God and that truth is self will set you free.

That is one of the reasons why I can read

the account of the Crucifixion and the Resurrection over and

over again, and it's a factual account and it can

do nothing but to set me free. That's why when

we sing a song like sun or Suffering, it blows

our mind because why would a God, a good God,

go through so many bad things just for our sake?

Remember that the goodness of God, and I pray that

will always remain the focus of your discipleship journey. Amen.

And finally, is this, how do we express discipleship here

in X I mentioned we have something called the huddles.

It's called relational discipleship, very very important. But if I

just want to look at scripture, if you study the

scripture and you ask, what is the evidence of a disciple?

Evidence of a disciple? Okay, let's read John chapter thirteen

Versus thirty five. He says this, your love for one

another will prove to the world that you are my disciples. Short,

simple and sweet, because towards the end Jesus had to

sort of very lovingly and tenderly inform his disciples, Okay,

my children, I won't be with you much longer. I'm

going to leave you. You'll want to be where I

am going to, but you can't come now, and therefore

we must say goodbye to one another. And I'm sure

all the disciples were like, huh, what talking you? Where

are you going? Tim guy? Well, you're not bringing me along?

Why can't I go? I'm sure they had and I

can almost imagine Jesus trying his not actually is they

have to try life. It's just being himself. No, it's

like telling them gently, reassuring them. He says, this, No,

my greatest and most ultimate concern is that after I

have gone, eleven of you that time eleven because one

flur when someone else ready eleven of you must remain together.

Remain together. You see, they had all stayed together because

they had Jesus with them. But if Jesus have left

them any time during the three years that they were

with him, do you know what they would have split up.

It was Jesus's physical presence that kept them together, kept

their disciples together. Why I see that because these are

a bunch of jokers, they're also mixed. Their temperaments were

also different. They came from different backgrounds. Without Jesus' presence

in their lives, they would have killed each other. They

already wanted to kill each other most times. They were

a comp even the inner circles. So compare a who

gets to sit next to you in heaven? No if

it has to be me, No, it has to be mean.

They're really fighting that. So Jesus said that I've got

one important thing to say to you, my children, after

I've gone. I want you to stick together love one another.

And that became a new commandment. You realize that because

this is a special love, Jesus' followers are to have.

It is not talking about love God. Love God with

all your heart, mind and soul. You find that it's

one of the ten commandments. It's not even love your

neighbor and the world, but it's basically your attitude to

your fellow Christians, and it is a commandment. You realize

that That is why some people call it. They call

it the eleven commandment, added to the ten that is

already there. One of the two of the ten is

love God, love your neighbor. Doesn't say love the Christians.

But this is the leventh commandment. Because people think that

love sometimes can't be commanded, that it's something that you

feel or you want. You love. I must feel and

feel feel your way into it. I asked any married couple.

I don't think you felt your way into the vowels

way because when you read the vowels, it will hit

you on in good times, in bad times, sickness, in

health okay, that one's still okay for ritual or poor

that was susa. If my husband no money, they still

want to say, yes, I'll follow there. You realize it

is nothing to do with feelings and emotions. I will

is the response. I will. It is intention and that's

why it can be commanded. And so Jesus said, love

one another. I command you. The kind of love Jesus

is talking about can be commanded. He's not talking about

sentimental feelings. He's not talking about a only when you

feel it, you do it. No, he's talking about loyalty.

Not when I feel it, but I will a lot

of times we are like when I feel like, yeah,

I'll do it. You know science we tell our children

wash the toilet. When I feel like it, I'll do it,

or do I or don't feel like doing it today,

I want to do it later. It's different from I will.

And you see, God expects all Christians to love one another,

and so Jesus commands it because it is the one

thing that will convince the world that we belong to him. See,

the jewser they have a badge. Their badge is circumcision

and keeping the Sabbath. You you know that if you

read the scriptures, that's how they identify themselves. Of course,

they don't go around showing I'm circumcised live okay, bad,

bad bad, But they will say I'm circumcised, and therefore

I'm a Jew. I observe the Sabbath, and therefore I'm

a Jew. But for Christians, the betch is not what

you do or what you don't do on Sunday. No,

it's not that you go to church or you read

the Bible. That's not your betch. The batch of being

a Christian is that you love Christians. It's the only

sign he gave us that will convince the world that

Christ is our lord. We are to love one another

as Christ loved us. How did Jesus love them? Let's

be practical, and I'm almost done. You see, Jesus never

criticize them to anyone else. You don't see Jesus going

gossiping about other people. So if you talk about Christians

to the world and criticize them to other people, that's

not love. Don't do that. We have to learn as well,

all of us, because we are all at fault of that.

You see, Jesus was loyal to them to the very end.

He was so loyal. He rebuked them in love. He

told them they are false to their faith. He never

told their false to anyone else but straight to their face.

That's love, because his love was patient for three years. No,

he tried to teach them things which even at the

end of three years are I think a lot of

them didn't learn. How many of your think that disciples

all passed passed with flying colors? Excellent Jesus like, hey,

we all did well. No, they didn't learn. But Jesus

did not write them off. He didn't say, kayla, this

bunch motau cannot say, I will go and look for

another bunch. Nod not write them off. You know, not

writing them off is what is not judging. I've taught

this before. Do not judge others simply just means don't

write people off. Don't say that they cannot already can

cannot say. That's not what we are supposed to do.

And Jesus never did that. So as Christians, therefore, don't

move from church to church. Really ask yourself this, am

I loyal to my fellow Christians. I think it's something

that we need to because if Jesus kept moving from

one crowd to another crowd, we will not have the

twelve that turned this world right side up. Didn't need

the crowd, he needed twelve. There was a replacement, okay,

after Judas died, but it was this twelve together with

those who were empowered the one hundred and twenty in the

upper room, and that they says, three thousand were safe,

and discipleship begin one hundred and twenty to three thousand people,

and we are where we are today. The Christian faith

continues because they hung on just as Jesus hung on,

so as Jesus has loved. You be loyal to one another,

and people will know that you belong to me, says Christ.

Does that not make sense? It makes sense. I know

it's not easy, but that is the reality of it.

The band can come up. I'm almost done. John chapter fifteen,

verse eight says this, when you produce much fruit, you

are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father.

You see, if we remain in Christ, and Christ is

our vine, then you will produce fruit. Christ must be

the main vine in our lives. That's why it says

abide in me. A bide means remain in me, and

you will produce fruit. What kind of fruit will you produce?

You will produce fruit for God and fruit for people.

God's holiness is working in our lives, and that's why

He's doing something in each and every one of us,

producing the fruit of the spirit. Love, joy based and

don't remember everything. Faithfulness, self control. Yeah, you can remember

the song, Okay, sing the song they teach you in excids, generness, meanness. Ah.

But you know, God is developing that fruit in all

of us. That's what holiness is. Holiness is basically a

process that is sanctifying each and every one of us,

so that ultimately we will be a fruit of righteousness,

that My love may remain in you and that joy,

your joy may be complete. Do you know if we

remain in Christ, he will finish the good work that

He has started and begin in us. You will produce

fruit for God, but you will also produce the fruit

of Christian service in winning others because you realize this.

Within a grape, okay, a vine is a grape tree. Okay,

it's a great plum. I know we don't really identify

with it because we don't see grapesea in Malaysia. But

every grape okay, I know, we don't really identify with it.

So so because today we eat seedless grapes most of the time.

My grapes usually I have got a seed inside. What

does a seed do? A seed has the ability to

reprot dews. So the fruit of Christian service is this.

Within the seed, there are powers of the vine's reproduction,

and so the fruit is therefore not only pleasant to

be eaten. That means not just we are fruit for God.

When people come into contact with us, they see love, joy, peace, gentleness, faithfulness, makeness,

self control, and all those things in us. But it

is also capable of reproducing itself. That is what discipleship is.

Go therefore and make disciples of every nation, tongue and tribe,

baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son,

and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey my commandments,

and I will be with them. End.

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this week is going to be a good week.

I hit for you.

God bless