Disciples Want to Follow Their Teacher

Scripture: Matthew 14:28

Peter said to Him, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.”

Insights: On Sunday I preached a very long introduction about the process one would go through to become a disciple of a rabbi.  One of the primary realities of one who had been chosen to be a disciple of a rabbi was to follow his rabbi.  In today’s verse we see this being expressed in Peter’s statement to Jesus.  Let me set the scene briefly: Jesus has earlier that day feed the 5,000 and then sent His disciples on ahead while He sent the crowd away.  Jesus then went up the mountain to pray and at some point in the middle of the night He comes to them, in the midst of a storm, walking on the water.  When the disciples see Jesus they think He is a ghost.  Jesus, however, speaks to them and comforts their hearts.  It is at this point that Peter says, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.”  This characteristic to follow the rabbi is crucial for one to be a disciple.  It reveals a humble belief and trust in his rabbi to have his best interest at heart.  When it comes down to it, this point is what is really at stake in our relationship with the Lord.  It is a faith and trust issue.  Do we really trust the Lord enough to follow Him or do we believe we know what is best?  Beloved, let me promise you that following the Lord is always best.  Follow Him this day!

Questions:

1.  Would you classify yourself as one who truly wants to follow after Jesus?

2.  If you were not able to answer in the affirmative, what is preventing you from following after the Lord?

Prayer: Father, I really want to follow after You.  You are the only One who can bring about life and save me from my sinfulness.  May my life bring You glory.  Amen.

Our Purpose is Found in Jesus

Scripture: Matthew 9:16-17

But no one puts a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for the patch pulls away from the garment, and a worse tear results. Nor do people put new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the wineskins burst, and the wine pours out and the wineskins are ruined; but they put new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved.”

Insights: As a preacher there are times you recognize while you are preaching that you are butchering a point or a passage.  That unfortunate reality happened with this final point of the sermon Sunday.  In today’s verses we see two illustrations expressing the same point.  You are looking at the Old Covenant and the New Covenant.  The Old Covenant was wrapped up with people trying to fulfill the Law in their own power.  The New Covenant freed people of such bondage and helped them to understand the Holy Spirit within them empowered them to live a victorious life of obedience before our Lord God.  Here then is the point I was attempting to communicate Sunday: The Old Covenant was not capable of containing the truth of the New Covenant.  In other words, obedience to the Law was not going to be able to confine the Spirit’s freedom given to one who is born again in Jesus Christ.  Now, if I had not already messed that part up, I really dropped the ball when I tried to tie this final point into the results of fasting.  Because we are living under the New Covenant we now have our purpose in Jesus as well.  We are supposed to go and evangelize a world and tell them about the saving grace of God through the work of His Son Jesus on the cross of Calvary.  So, here is how everything this week fits together.  We find our pleasure in Jesus and we pursue that pleasure by displaying our passion through fasting.  While we are fasting we are growing in our relationship with the Lord Jesus and feel His compulsion to spread His good news to a lost world.  This message becomes our purpose for still being here and not with the Lord in eternity.  The more we fulfill our purpose, the more we experience pleasure in Jesus and the more we experience pleasure in Jesus the more passionate we become about our faith.  This cycle continues on and on and on.  Hopefully, I did a better job of explaining this final point in written form than I did in verbal form.  May you be blessed this week and I will see you Sunday.

Questions:

1.  Does your life clearly communicate what your purpose is?

2.  Are you just going through the motions and faking your passion?

Prayer: Father, I want my purpose to be found in You and You alone.  Stir my pleasure so that I pursue my passion in order to fulfill my purpose of telling others about Jesus Christ my Lord and Savior.  Amen.

Our Passion is Found in Jesus

Scripture: Matthew 9:15b

But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.

Insights: In the second half of verse fifteen we see the definitive reality that believers in Jesus are supposed to be fasting.  I think, however, we miss the reason for this necessity of fasting at times.  The reason the disciples are fasting is because they have discovered, as we learned yesterday, that their pleasure is found in Jesus. The pleasure is what we personally receive out of the relationship.  The fasting is our part of the equation and it shows our passion for that pleasure we find in Jesus.  Remember as we discussed fasting on Monday, in Jesus’ day it was literally a forsaking of food for a time.  What the one fasting was literally saying in their heart is I want the Lord God more than I want life itself.  That kind of devotion can only be summed up with the word passion.  Jesus ought to be the object of our passion.  We ought to desire Him more than anything else in this world.  He is more important than relationships.  He is more important than hobbies and activities of pleasure.  He is more important than objects we possess.  He is more important than food; and as such, more important than life itself.  I personally want to get to the place in my walk with Jesus that I am literally consulting Him before every conversation, action, motive and habit in my life.  I want Him to be the all consuming fire within me that dictates everything I do and say.  I want my life to be characterized as one full of passion for Jesus.  It is my belief that fasting will help in that process.  Beloved, may you find your passion in Jesus and may it consume you.

Questions:

1.  In what do you experience passion?

2.  Have you ever been so consumed with someone or something that that person or object was all about which you could think?

Prayer: Father, passion is an item missing in many peoples lives; and like many of the things this week, all too often true of myself as well.  Lord, place within me a passion for Jesus.  Let me want Him more than anything else in the world.  Be pleased with my pursuit of Your Son.  Amen.

Our Pleasure is Found in Jesus

Scripture: Matthew 9:15a

And Jesus said to them, “The attendants of the bridegroom cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them, can they?

Insights: In today’s half of verse fifteen and the remainder of the passage we find three results of our fasting.  In other words, fasting drives us to these three outcomes.  The first one will be discussed today and that is: we find our pleasure in Jesus.  Jesus uses a wedding illustration of a bridegroom.  He asks a rhetorical question that has an obvious answer of no.  In this illustration Jesus is the bridegroom and He is with his disciples.  The reason the disciples are incapable of mourning is because Jesus is with them.  Here is the point we need to understand from this passage.  Our pleasure is found in Jesus.  As the disciples were with Jesus, they did not need to fast because they were right there with Him.  They were fully satisfied with the presence of Jesus in a very literal sense of the word.  But as we continue to read this verse tomorrow we are going to see the attendants of the bridegroom will fast once he is gone.  Again, we must ask ourselves, why?  The answer is simply because they know their complete pleasure is found in Jesus.  Now this type of thinking makes me wonder where we are as a church.  We are to truly find our pleasure and satisfaction in Jesus, but all too often I see people who are disillusioned with Him.  More often than not this disillusion is a result of the church not acting like the body of Christ in which Jesus told us we were a part.  On other occasions it is because the person is not truly walking with the Lord, but still wants all of the benefits without the relationship.  Either way, the end result is these types of people are not finding their pleasure in Jesus.  It is our job as fellow brothers and sisters in the Lord to point these individuals back to Jesus and help them find their joy in Him.  Beloved, it is my hearts desire as you seek out the Lord’s will for our church that you find you pleasure in Jesus overflowing to the full.  Be blessed in the Lord today.

Questions:

1.  In what do you find pleasure?

2.  Have you ever experienced the total satisfaction and enjoyment found in Jesus?

Prayer: Father, I do not understand myself some times.  Having experienced Your amazing love, why would I ever desire to find pleasure in the sinful trappings of this world, yet I do.  Forgive me for this rebellious heart and grow me in Your grace to where my full dependence and desire is for You.  Amen.

Ought We to Fast?

Scripture: Matthew 9:14

Then the disciples of John came to Him, asking, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?”

Insights: We have finally made it to the New Testament on Sunday mornings.  As a church we are praying and contemplating the possibility of adding a full time associate pastor and a part time ministry assistant to our staff here at FBCBG.  In this vein of thought, therefore, it was appropriate to preach on this passage in Matthew chapter nine as a way of gaining clarity and confirmation as to whether this decision is the right decision, right now.  We at FBCBG want to walk in the center of the Lord’s will and we need His guidance continually.  In today’s verse Jesus is asked why His disciples do not fast when it is part of the practice of other religious individuals.  This question opens up the door to us to ask the same question, ought we to fast?  If we give an affirmative answer, and I think it is an affirmative answer based on the rest of the verses we will read this week, then we must ask when ought we to fast?  The list could be long, but let me list three times.  One, when you are facing a decision like the one we as a church are facing.  Two, when you are in the middle of spiritual battle.  Daniel is a good example of this kind of fasting.  Three, when you desire to strengthen your spiritual disciplines.  What ought we to fast is another good question we can ask of ourselves as well.  Fasting, in the biblical sense, is literally the abstinence of food.  We even use a term in our daily lives that pertains to this abstinence from food.  That word is breakfast.  It literally was used to describe the breaking of the fast from the day before.  With modern medicine, however, it is unwise for some to practice a complete food fast.  What then are some alternatives?  One may choose to fast a specific meal for a period of time.  One may choose to fast from a specific type of food or beverage.  Typically, this kind of specific food or beverage is something that has gained mastery over you like coffee, chocolate or ice cream.  There is still another type of fast that I would highly recommend, especially in the modern day in which we live, and that is a technology fast.  For a length of time stay off of the internet, except for work specifically related to your employment.  Continue this technology fast with the purging of television and movie watching.  Add one more to this technology fast and eliminate the listening to the radio, iPods, etc.  You would be amazed at how much of your time is consumed with technology.  The point, Beloved, is we ought to fast and the previous information is some basic guidelines about fasting.  God bless you as you fast and seek the Lord.

Questions:

1.  Are you currently needing direction, fighting a spiritual battle or practicing the spiritual disciplines that make us stronger in Jesus?

2.  Have you contemplated the possibility of fasting as one of the tools God has provided in our arsenal?

Prayer: Father, all too often I try to fight this spiritual battle on my own and continually fall short time and time again.  Lord strengthen my heart to incorporate fasting into my life patterns and let me walk in such a fashion that it brings You glory and me clarity.  Amen.

God Sends Curses

Scripture: Malachi 4:6b

so that I will not come and smite the land with a curse.”

Insights: Yesterday I mentioned the second reason God desires us to love our children was found in the last part of verse six.  The second reason is because God does not wish to send a curse upon the land.  Unfortunately, I personally believe America is under a curse for this very injustice of parents refusal to love their child(ren).  Sunday I gave the following statistics about the fatherless generation.  These statistics came from three article titled, The Fatherless Generation, Statistics on Fatherless Children in America, and Prison Statistics.  Here is some of that research: 63% of youth suicides are from fatherless homes - 5X the average.  90% of all homeless and runaway children are from fatherless homes - 32X the average.  85% of all children who show behavior disorders come from fatherless homes - 20X the average.  80% of rapists come from fatherless homes - 14X the average.  71% of all high school dropouts come from fatherless homes - 9X the average.  75% of all adolescent patients in chemical abuse centers come from fatherless homes - 10X the average.  Children living in a 2 parent home, but who have a poor relationship with their father are 68% more likely to smoke, drink or use drugs.  Young men who grow up in homes without fathers are twice as likely to end up in jail as those who come from traditional two-parent families.  If the young man lives in a neighborhood with a high concentration of single-parent families the odds triple.  78% of the nation’s jail and prison inmates grew up in a fatherless household.  Beloved, I think you can see from this research that our land is indeed under a curse because of the lack of love for our child(ren).  I, however, concluded the sermon with this: we are not without hope.  The Lord God who has sent these great warnings can heal this nation.  The choice is ours, but it all hinges on our return to the Father and His ways.  If we, especially His children, will return to Him, which is what the book of Malachi is all about, then He will heal us and restore to us His love and blessing.  It is my prayer that this restoration begins right now and that it starts here at FBCBG.  To God be the glory!

Questions:

1.  Do you recognize the curse that America us presently under?

2.  In what ways are you able to serve to break this horrific cycle?

Prayer: Father, forgive us for our rebellion.  Please be merciful to us and restore our hearts to You.  At the same time I pray this, do what is ever necessary to turn people to You and if that means a season of curses, then Lord let them do their job quickly.  Amen.

You are to Love Your Children

Scripture: Malachi 4:6a

He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers,

Insights: In the fist part of verse six we see the second primary purpose of parents and that is to love your child(ren).  We live in a society that has increasingly lost its love.  I use that phraseology because we first lost our love for the Lord and it has increased to our lose of love for humanity.  It is my opinion that the Lord knew this to be true of people and it is for this reason He admonishes us in this first half of the verse to love our children.  One of the reasons for this earthly love between parents and their child(ren) is because if it is done properly, it helps the child(ren) recognize the Father’s love for them as they grow older.  The second reason the Lord desires for parents to love their child(ren) is because of the last part of verse six, which we will look at tomorrow.  Beloved, let me encourage you to truly love your child(ren).  One of the things that boggles my mind is people who claimed they wanted children until they got them.  Then every bit of their attitude points to the fact that the children are an inconvenience.  God forgive us if we ever get to that kind of attitude.  Let us truly love our kids and may they one day see the love of God for themselves.  Hopefully, our love for them will have been a catalyst for their recognition of God’s love.

Questions:

1.  Are you loving your child(ren)?

2.  In what ways to you express this love to them specifically?

Prayer: Father, don’t let me take for granted the seriousness of loving my child(ren).  Let me, by Your mercy, display affection to them as You have done for me.  Let my love for them point them to the Love You have for them as well and let Your love transform their lives.  Amen.