Jesus Followers with Pastor John Witte

Welcome to the MetaCurch Podcast.

My name's Clayton.

I'm the pastor here at MetaCurch.

And my hope is that today's podcast finds you at the perfect time in your life that God uses it to inspire and enlighten you.

I hope that you enjoy today's message.

Thank you for that.

It's uh great to be at MetaCurch with you.

Uh we now know Clayton is a liar.

Uh most of what he knows about preaching, he did not learn from me.

He's way better at it than I am.

So be prepared to be underwhelmed today.

One of the terms we use to identify ourselves as is Jesus followers.

Last week, 41 of you stepped out in public and declared yourself a Jesus follower.

How about that, huh?

Awesome.

And of course, we know that in a crowd this size, not everyone is a Jesus follower.

Some of you aren't even sure that you believe in him or that you want to follow him.

And you might have a whole lot of different reasons for that, and that's fine.

But regardless of how you see yourself in relation to Jesus, I want to use my time today to try to clarify what it means to follow Jesus and why you might want to do that.

In one of Jesus' more interesting conversations recorded for us by Matthew, the first gospel in the Christian scriptures, a wealthy young man asked him this question: Good teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?

Now, usually men aren't young and wealthy at the same time.

We're either young or we're wealthy.

I remember on one of our first dates, uh Linda and I uh at Baylor, I took her to one of the nicest restaurants in Waco.

But we never went inside.

We sat out in the lobby and ate the free popcorn and played cards.

Because I knew that as much as that might underwhelm her, it would be even worse if we went inside and actually ordered because I couldn't afford to pay for anything on the menu.

I don't know why she chose me, but somehow I impressed her that day, I guess.

It must have been my looks.

I don't know, maybe it was my physique, probably something like that.

But uh I was decidedly not wealthy.

And some of you ladies are sitting next to a man and you remember him when he was young, and it was like, oh, he was so good looking, and you hoped one day he'd be wealthy, and now he's old and he's not all that good looking anymore, and he's still not wealthy, right?

Well, that's the norm.

You're either young or you're wealthy.

When a man is both young and wealthy, it says something about him.

Either he was born into money, or he's one of those guys who makes things happen.

And the nature of this young man's question made it appear that he was one of those guys who knew how and was comfortable with making things happen.

What good deed must I do to have eternal life?

Now, before we go on, let's clarify what eternal life is.

Eternal life is life from God.

It's the only kind of life that he gives.

God in his nature is eternal.

He has always existed.

He has never been limited by time in any way.

And everything that God does is eternal in nature.

Whenever he created you, he created you to be eternal in nature.

When he created this earth, he intended it to be eternal in nature.

When he created the universe at the Big Bang, he intended it to be eternal in nature.

God is eternal, and eternal life is the only kind of life God can give.

We've lost it, but in order to regain it, we regain it through what the New Testament calls salvation.

And salvation in the New Testament has three aspects to it.

The first aspect is called justification, it means to be delivered from the penalty of sin.

When you put your faith in Jesus Christ as your Savior and you receive Him as your Savior, in that moment in time, God declares you not guilty.

And he frees you from the penalty of sin and he welcomes you into a relationship with him.

The second aspect of salvation is called sanctification.

It means to be delivered from the power of sin.

And if you struggle with a certain addiction or you struggle with anger or something else in your life that is constantly before your face, you know the power of sin in a person's life and how destructive it can be.

When you and I follow Jesus so that we think like him and we act like him, we take on his character and his characteristics, and in that process, as the Word of God and the Spirit of God work in our lives, we are in a process freed from the power of sin.

The third aspect is called glorification.

It means to be delivered from the presence of sin.

When you die, if you have been justified, if you have believed in Jesus and received him as your Savior, then you will spend eternity in a world free from sin.

We call that heaven.

And so the goal of life is to experience God for eternity, both in the fullest capacity possible and in the closest intimacy possible with Him.

And that experience of eternal life will be based upon your experience of sanctification or the degree to which you have followed Jesus.

Which means the more fully you follow him and become like him, the richer your experience of eternity will be.

The Apostle Peter, who followed Jesus, thought that and was influenced completely by him, encouraged in his second letter to he encouraged us to make every effort, to make an all-out effort, to use all diligence to follow Jesus and to take on his character in our life and to become like him.

And he had a reason for that.

He said, if you do, an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly, that word means richly, into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Y'all, when this young, wealthy, pious Jewish man asked Jesus about having eternal life, he assumed that he was justified.

He appeared to be incredibly willing to be sanctified because he wanted the richest experience of glorification in eternity that was possible.

You know, one of the best things about his question was that this rich young man understood that life is not just about these 70 years on earth.

Everyone lives for eternity.

When God made you and breathed his life into you and gave you your soul, he gave you a life that is going to last forever.

So to have eternal life doesn't just mean or reference the length of life.

Every human being is going to live after death in eternity, but it is to have the kind of life that only God gives.

Some will spend eternity in heaven with him, some will spend eternity apart from him in hell.

But since eternity is forever, this young man who shows tremendous understanding, wanted to have the richest, best possible experience of it that he could have.

It was a brilliant question on his part.

It was the right question.

And it was a question that you and I would do well to ask.

Because life's not just about how much money we make or how much respect others have for us or how much sex you have or how many fun vacations you go on or where you retire or where you go to school.

And even though these things do have value, the best life now is a life that thoroughly prepares you for the next life.

Not simply 70 to 80 years on this globe, but seven trillion years and beyond in eternity.

But most of us never give eternity a thought.

I'd wager quite a bit of money that for the huge percentage of us that woke up this morning, the first thought on our mind when we woke up was not, What will my experience of eternity be?

That would be a mistake, but it was a mistake that this young man did not make.

So Jesus answered his question with a question.

And this is something that Jewish teachers would often do.

Look what Jesus said.

He said, Why do you call me good?

There is only one who is good.

That is God.

With this question, Jesus introduced the fact that a rich experience in eternal, in eternity, doesn't start with what you do.

It starts with what you believe.

And more precisely, it starts with what you believe about Jesus.

And even more precisely than that, it starts with whether or not you believe he is God.

It's as if Jesus were saying to this young man, Do you really think I'm good?

Because if you do, then you'll know that I'm God, and then you'll trust my answer to your very important question.

Faith in Jesus means that we have tremendous confidence in him, and faith determines whether or not we follow him.

But of course, Jesus knew this young man better than he knew himself, and he knew that the young man didn't trust him.

Nevertheless, he answered the question that he asked.

And I just want to pause here to say that God usually answers the questions you and I ask.

If we ask the wrong question and we still get the right answer to it, it doesn't help us much.

But if we learn to ask the right questions and get the right answer to the right questions, then there's a chance we'll experience eternal life.

So Jesus answered the question he asked.

Told him what he had to do.

Look what he said.

He said, If you enter life, if you would enter life, keep the commandments.

That's what you have to do.

The young man responded, Which ones?

And Jesus said, You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not bear false witness, honor your father and mother, and you shall love your neighbor as yourself.

You guys recognize these commands.

These are the commands mostly from the second half of the Ten Commandments.

Plus, he added in there, honor your father and mother, and then he added the summary of the Old Testament prophets: love your neighbor as yourself.

Amazingly, the young man replied to Jesus, All these I have kept.

What do I still lack?

Just tell me, Jesus.

Just tell me, I'll do it.

Now we can debate whether or not the young man was telling the truth about his moral and relational status, but one thing isn't debatable.

This young man thought he was about as close to perfect as you could get.

So Jesus tracked with him.

And this is what he said.

He said, Well, if you would be perfect, go sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven and come, follow me.

The word perfect translates the Greek word teleos.

We get our word telescope from it.

You can kind of hear the similarity.

It carries the idea of reaching out to the end, of meeting the highest standard.

This wealthy young man's whole life had been a life about reaching the highest standard.

He was never going to do anything halfway.

If this young man could excel, he was going to excel at it.

And he wanted to excel in this life in order that he might have treasure in heaven.

He had it on earth, he wanted it in heaven.

So Jesus said, Come follow me, and you'll have the best, richest, fullest life possible.

And you'll have the richest experience of eternity possible.

And although Jesus didn't say it, he implied, you should do this because I'm good.

Just because of the advice of this good teacher.

Turns out he didn't really think Jesus was all that good after all.

Following Jesus starts with faith in Jesus, with extreme confidence in him.

And without that, you and I we just won't follow.

Well, Peter, including Matthew and the other disciples, watched all of this happen.

They were like bystanders.

They were just sitting over here watching this whole conversation that you and I have just described.

And Peter, like maybe you're doing right now, began to think, what does this mean for me?

And so Peter asked Jesus the obvious question.

He said, See, we have left everything and followed you.

What then will we have?

And I just love Peter.

Peter just cut through all the bull.

I mean, he just cut through it.

He got right down to the basics.

Jesus, I'm following you.

What am I gonna get for it?

Is it worth it really to follow you?

Also love Jesus' answer.

Because he didn't reprimand Peter, saying, Oh, Peter, you shouldn't be asking what you're gonna get.

You should just follow me because you love me.

Well, you should follow him if you love him.

But Jesus didn't reprimand him.

He didn't even tell Peter that he was asking the wrong question.

He simply answered Peter's question just like he answered this young wealthy man's question.

He answered him straight up, and this is what he said.

He said, Truly I say to you, in the new world, when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

Now there's way more in this verse than we're gonna unpack today, but in a nutshell, Jesus said, When I return again at my second coming and establish my kingdom and government on earth, you guys who have left everything to follow me will have a special place in my government.

But he didn't stop with Peter and the 12.

He went on in the very next verse to speak to everyone.

That would be you and me today, who follows him.

He said this, and everyone who has left houses, or brothers, or sisters, or father, or mother, or children, or lands for my name's sake will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life.

Y'all Jesus made it as plain as he possibly could.

Whatever you invest to follow him will be returned to you a hundredfold.

And that is simply astounding.

We don't use hundredfold language anymore, but here's what it means you take a hundred and you multiply it times a hundred, and that comes to ten thousand percent.

If you're into investing, if you make eight percent, you're pretty happy.

If you make twelve, you're like really happy.

If you make eighteen, you're telling your friends about it.

Jesus said, if you will invest your life following me in eternity, you will make 10,000 percent return.

And just to be clear, that's like taking a hundred dollars, which I know most of you had because you blew it on dinner and drinks last night.

And you take a hundred dollars and it becomes a million dollars.

Now, y'all, if you could take a hundred, you'd quit going out to eat so much, and every Friday night you'd invest that hundred and make another million and another million and another million.

We would do it.

You'd be crazy not to.

Jesus said, Whoever follows me, your investment will return 10,000 percent in eternity.

And anyone, if we believed, if we thought that Jesus knew what he was talking about, anyone would make an investment like that.

This young man was great at making money.

He was young and wealthy.

He definitely understood what Jesus was saying.

So why did he walk away?

Well, clearly, he wasn't sure Jesus was good.

And he was even less certain that he was God.

So instead of following Jesus, he simply faded away into the background.

Will you fade or follow?

Well, before you say, Oh yeah, I'm following, I'm following.

We ought to be sure we know what that means.

The word follow in the New Testament, it's the Greek word akaluth.

It's used 90 times in the New Testament.

It literally meant to move behind someone in the same direction to go after them.

We get that.

It was commonly used for following someone as a disciple.

If you've been in church much, you've probably heard that term before.

Following Jesus as a disciple.

Sometimes we call it disciple ship.

The word disciple is the Greek word masetes, it was used 261 times in.

The New Testament.

And it meant it referred to a person who engages in learning as a pupil or an apprentice.

And it also came to be used for a person who was constantly associated with a teacher or a rabbi in order to become an adherent of that teacher's particular point of view.

Now, when we study the New Testament and we put the word follow and the word disciple together, we see that the word was used in three different ways in the New Testament.

And I want us to use the balance of our time this morning today, going over these three words.

We see that Jesus followers are of three kinds.

There are the curious, the convinced, and the committed.

Curious Jesus followers were those who made up the crowd.

It seems that Jesus was rarely, if ever, alone.

Mark tells us that Jesus could no longer openly enter a town, but was out in desolate places, and people were coming to him from every quarter.

I like to say that Jesus was something akin to a rock star.

There were massive crowds following him.

Even out in rural areas where there wasn't electricity, there was nothing out there.

They still followed after him.

These massive crowds, they wanted to see Jesus.

Something was happening around him.

Wherever Jesus went, cool stuff happened.

There was a movement taking place, and they wanted to be a part of it.

They wanted to get in on it.

They wanted to see it.

They wanted to get from Jesus whatever they could get from him.

Some of you are curious followers.

You're following Jesus, you're a part of the crowd, but you're mainly in it for what you can get out of it.

My marriage is bad.

Maybe Jesus can help.

My children are messed up.

I wonder if he could straighten them out.

You know, I just I've been feeling depressed for a long time.

Maybe Jesus could function as my therapist.

My finances are upside down.

I'm addicted and I can't seem to get beyond it.

Something about my life isn't right.

Maybe Jesus can help.

You know what?

I've got good news.

Jesus can help.

The New Testament tells us that Jesus is the Son of God.

It tells us in Hebrews chapter 1, verse 2 that he's the agent of creation.

Hebrews 1:2

I'm telling you, if Jesus can speak the Big Bang into existence and it happens, he can help you with your life.

He can help.

But I've got even more good news.

If you're one of the curious crowd, Jesus loved the curious crowd.

Matthew said when he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them because they were harassed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd.

If you're one of the curious Jesus followers, he loves you.

He has compassion for you.

He cares about your life.

If you're in it primarily for what you can get out of it, there's a lot that he wants to give.

Beginning with the gift of eternal life so that you can be justified, freed from the penalty of sin.

That's why he died on the cross for you.

I mean, he loves you.

But of course, there's a lot more on offer than just what you can get from Jesus in this life.

And that brings us to the second kind of Jesus follower.

The convinced Jesus follower were those who wanted to learn from him.

Jesus was a phenomenal teacher.

He made people think things that they'd never thought before.

He helped them understand life and how it works.

He made sense of their work and their money and their relationships and their religion.

He made sense of the things that kept them up at night.

Of course, there's no doubt about the potential value of learning, right?

I mean, this is true in any area of life.

The more you learn about something, the better you potentially get at it.

The more you learn about money, the better you get at your finances.

The more you learn about relationships, the better you get at your marriage.

The more you learn about how to raise your children, the better job you do of that.

The more you learn about conflict resolution, the less conflict you have in your life.

The more you learn about woodworking, barbecuing, the better brisket you make.

I mean, we're all for that.

All learning increases the potential for life improvement.

One of my favorite quotes by one of my favorite pastors is this if you follow Jesus, your life will get better, and you'll get better at life.

It's true.

All learning, convinced followers of Jesus, they learn from him, they follow the Jesus way.

Some of you are convinced that Jesus' way is better.

And the reason you're convinced is that you lived decades of your life without Jesus.

And you remember what it was like before you came to know him.

And your life today is better.

Your relationships are better, your marriage is better, your money is better, your attitude every day is filled with possibility.

It's better.

And that, to be honest, that's why we meet together at Meta to learn.

So I'm guessing that a bunch of you are curious followers.

You're in it for what you can get out of it.

Quite a few of you are convinced, but there's a third category.

Committed Jesus followers completely organize their lives around him.

Now, y'all, this was typical of the rabbi-disciple relationship in Jewish cultures.

Disciples would follow their rabbi through the dusty trails of Israel.

They literally said they would get the dust of their rabbi all over them as their rabbi walked along and would, you know, kind of hit his feet like we do when we walk.

Dust would come up, and the disciples would follow so close to their teacher that that dust would get all over them.

They went where he went, they ate what he ate, they slept where he slept, they were treated the way he was treated.

His experience of life became their experience of life.

This kind of Jesus follower completely organized their lives around Jesus.

This is what Peter meant when he said, Jesus, we have left everything and followed you.

What will we get?

Jesus, for the committed follower, becomes the dominant influencer in that person's life.

No matter where they are, at church, at work, at a ball game, on vacation, on a hunting trip, on the golf course, at a restaurant, at college, on a date, in a meeting, no matter their role, their title, their occupation, their position, Jesus trumped everything else.

Every other person, every other consideration.

They were always Jesus' followers, first, foremost, and only.

They didn't just follow Jesus if it was convenient.

They weren't just looking for what they could get from him.

They weren't just hoping to learn something else about life.

They were fully devoted followers of Christ.

Jesus defined them always, everywhere, with everyone in every situation.

They completely organize their lives around Jesus.

If it sounds extreme, it's because it is extreme.

So why would anyone do that?

We'll go back to Jesus' conversation with the rich young man.

Why do you call me good?

There is only one who is good.

Peter and the twelve believed that Jesus was God.

They believed he was Israel's Messiah and the Savior of the world.

They believed in him for eternal life, and they followed him fully in this life.

They'd met Jesus, and now they wanted to move with him.

But why not just follow Jesus hanging out around the edges when it's convenient and suits your purposes?

Why not just get a little here and a little there?

Why not take what you like and ignore what you don't?

Why not learn just enough to make your life better?

Why let Jesus do something as extreme as completely organize your life?

I mean, it's crazy.

No wonder the rich young man walked away.

Maybe Jesus was just asking too much.

Maybe Jesus didn't know.

Maybe that promise to turn a hundred dollars into a million dollars was just a bunch of BS.

Maybe Jesus was just trying to swindle this guy out of the hard-earned money he'd already made.

Maybe Jesus wasn't good.

Maybe.

But if he was good, then he's God.

And if Jesus is God, then you and I need to pay attention to everything he says, including one more thing that I haven't told you yet.

And it could really affect your decision about whether or not to follow him.

After Jesus told Peter and the others that following him would result in riches in heaven, ten thousand percent, he said this.

But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.

Do not miss what Jesus said or what it meant.

In the next life, after you die, a major reversal will take place.

The first will be a last, and the last will be first.

Reversal captures the core of the Jesus way, and Jesus referred to it again and again in his teaching.

In one of the great New Testament passages, the Apostle Paul referred to this reversal in Philippians chapter 2, when he noted that Jesus, although he was God in heaven, left heaven and came to this earth and became a man, and then died, and not only died, but died the worst possible death imaginable at that time in history.

Philippians 2 · chapter mention

He died on a cross, crucified by the Romans.

But then the Apostle Paul wrote these words about Jesus.

Therefore, God also has highly exalted him and given him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

The way up is down.

If you want to be first, be last.

If you want to be great, be the least.

The rich young man, as far as Peter and anyone else was concerned, was living a first place life.

He had it all.

He apparently had great relationships, he had a lot of money, he was pious, he was God-honoring, he had kept the commandments, he had obeyed the prophets, they would have said he was blessed by God, and probably all of us would have agreed with that.

But if he sold all his possessions and gave them to the poor and followed Jesus, he'd go from first to what?

He'd be left with nothing.

I mean, that would just be crazy.

I mean, Jesus, you just turn our minds upside down.

You turn our world upside down just like you offered to do with this young man.

And to be honest, it can be hard to believe.

So Lord, I pray for us today that during this moment of worship, that whatever your spirit is saying to us from your word, I pray that we would respond.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

Thanks so much for listening to the message today.

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