May 21, 2023

An Eye-Bugging, Vein-Popping Sermon You’ve Got to Hear!  - BTS 21 May 23

Introduction - I was going to call this short, introductory sermon “Getting to know Jesus.”  It sounded about as interesting as an old pillow.  I feel that the information I am sharing in this teaching is critical, so vital to our growth as Christians that I had to give it a more attractive title.  Let me dive right in:

Philippians 3:8-11… I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, 9 and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, 10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and  the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; 11 in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.  NAS

Being a Christian involves some strenuous things, the first of which is the loss of all things.  Much popular teaching today never addresses this fundamental fact.  Pastors really give the impression that you can have it all: a home in heaven at the end of your earthly life, wealth and comfort all the days you are here on earth, the esteem and compliments of people saved or unsaved, an earthly life devoid of anything unpleasant, etc.  

John 6:53-54 So Jesus said again, “I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you cannot have eternal life within you. 54 But anyone who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise that person at the last day. NLT

This was an eye-popping statement to everyone present.  After Jesus said this, many of His disciples stopped following Him.  He even turned to the twelve original disciples and asked them if they were going to leave also.  Peter replied that Jesus alone had the words of life, so they would not leave.  In the weeks ahead, I will be introducing some of the simple commands Jesus gave to us, His followers.  We must be careful not to have the attitude of the defecting disciples if we hear something which seems offensive because we don’t understand it.  

There are two major categories of experience through which we get to know Jesus:  1) the power of His resurrection and 2) the fellowship of His sufferings.  Most preaching has to do with the first category.  The overlooked and misunderstood one is the second.  This prompts an obvious question:  What is included in the things we lose or what we must suffer?  What things did Jesus suffer? Here’s a starter list:

Embarrassment, ridicule, and rejection - These were the early sufferings which Jesus experienced in His earthly ministry.  We modern Christians don’t do or say much out in the world, so we do not yet experience much strenuous opposition from worldly people.  As far as the devil is concerned, Christian churches are preoccupied with getting blessings, not advancing Jesus’ kingdom., so they are not a threat.  If we are afraid of anything, it is other Christians and what they will think of us.  We are afraid of simple things like: what will people think of me if I can’t speak well?  What will they think when they discover I don’t know much about the faith?  What will they think when my faults and sins become apparent?  What if I can’t give anything? etc.  

One of the first specific assignments given to us by Jesus in the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20) is to baptize and teach. This is why we emphasize teaching in our small groups.  This is one of the early steps in the forming of a disciple.  No one is forced to teach.  Overcoming the fear of teaching is going to be a necessary step in your progress toward being a disciple.  The church in built is three stages:  First, a person becomes a believer.  This is simple and much more automatic than we have thought.  Second, a person becomes a disciple.  He learns to teach others what it means to believe and baptizes them, and he teaches and leads them into the baptism in the Holy Spirit.  Third, the disciple becomes a functioning part of a church, his first small community of disciples.  

Conclusion - So what is one of the early things we give up or suffer?  The answer is: our perceived right to be completely private and therefore comfortably unknown is the first to go.  We’ll talk about more of the things we give up in the weeks ahead!