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I'm concerned
that no one stands before the Lord on the Day
of Judgment, and finds out that the Lord never
considered him to be a genuine follower of Messiah.
Wouldn't it be terrible to appear before the Lord,
having thought that you were a religious person,
and expecting to enter Heaven, and hear the Son
of God say these horrifying words: "I'm sorry,
I don't want you in my presence, or to share in
My eternal Kingdom. You are not worthy of Me.
Depart from Me. Go to the Lake of Fire, from which
there is no escape."
What does
it mean be a genuine Christian? A Messianic Jew?
He must have faith in God and Messiah. He must
trust. He must believe. But, genuine faith, true
belief that saves is more than merely giving mental
assent to the truth about God and Messiah. The
demons believe in this way, but they tremble,
knowing the punishment that is still coming to
them. We must be a disciple. One who learns from
his teacher; one who follows where his Rabbi leads
him. A disciple goes where and when the Master
calls and he does what the Master tells him to
do. He has no other higher priorities - not family,
not business, not wealth - nothing.
Yeshua
said to Peter and Andrew, "Follow Me" and they
left their family and their work and followed
Him. Yeshua saw Matthew at work, collecting taxes,
and said to him, "Follow Me", and Matthew left
his job and followed Him.
Yeshua
told the rich young man who was interested in
obtaining eternal life, to sell all his possessions,
and come follow Him, but the man was unwilling,
and refused to follow Rabbi Yeshua, because he
had his own interests, his own goals, his own
agenda, his own priorities that were more important
to him.
If we
are saved, we will be a genuine disciple, which
means that we will follow Messiah. We will go
where He asks us to go. We will do what He asks
us to do. What has He asked us to do? He asks
us to share His burden. He asks us to share His
mission: as the Father has sent Me, so I have
sent you. We must share His mission. We must go
and declare the Good News about the Kingdom of
God, telling men and women to turn to God and
do things His ways, and enter in salvation and
eternal life.
In Matthew
10 Yeshua makes crystal clear what it means to
be a disciple: Yeshua summoned His twelve disciples
and gave them authority over unclean spirits,
to cast them out, and to heal every kind of disease
and every kind of sickness. The Twelve Disciples
were special men, chosen by Messiah, who traveled
with Rabbi Yeshua, and learned from Him, and served
Him over a period of several years. As they followed
and learned and served, Yeshua entrusted them
with more and more spiritual power and authority.
The disciples were entrusted with special power
to bring both physical healing and spiritual healing
- to heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the
lepers, cast out demons. This special empowerment
showed that they were sent by God. It showed that
their message of spiritual salvation was true.
The same
spiritual measure of authority and the power to
do miracles that they were given should not be
expected from every Believer. Even in the first
century, those that God enabled to do miracles
were a relatively small number. That doesn't mean
that the Lord can't use us to do a miracle or
pray for a miracle. He can, and so we should pray
and do what He has entrusted us to do.
Now the
names of the twelve apostles - emissaries, special
men who represent God and Messiah, and are sent
by God and Messiah to us - are these: The first,
Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother;
and James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother;
Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the
tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and
Thaddaeus; Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot,
the one who betrayed Him. Most of these men had
ordinary occupations. None of them were scribes
and members of the religious parties who were
trained theologians. Yeshua started with ordinary
men who were willing to learn their theology from
Him. He took these ordinary men, and transformed
them into something extraordinary. And that's
good news for us, since most of us are ordinary
men and women. But God can use the ordinary, who
are willing to draw close to Messiah, to do the
extraordinary!
A disciple
must understand that the whole world is lost,
and the Message of Salvation must go to the lost:
These twelve Yeshua sent out after instructing
them: "Do not go in the way of the Gentiles, and
do not enter any city of the Samaritans; but rather
go to the lost sheep of the House of Israel."
This was their immediate mission. They were to
limit their activity to the Jewish people, and
not go to the Gentiles. The truth would eventually
go to the Gentiles, and some of these very men
would bring the saving message to the Gentiles,
but not now. For now, they were to go to the ones
who Rabbi Yeshua said were the lost sheep of the
House of Israel. If the house of Israel, God's
Chosen Nation and Holy People, were like lost
sheep, who had foolishly strayed from God, the
Good Shepherd, and were lost, and far from Him,
and in need of salvation, how much more lost were
the pagan Gentiles? The whole world is lost -
the Jewish world, the Gentile world, and we must
bring them the message that will enable them to
be saved.
A disciple
must understand and declare the sovereignty of
God - that God is the King, and has the rule to
rule us and give us commands that we are to obey:
And as you go, preach, saying, "The Kingdom of
Heaven is at hand." God, the High King of the
universe, and the High King must be acknowledged,
honored and obeyed. The Son of the High King,
King Yeshua, must be acknowledged, honored and
obeyed. You must live in the world as though the
High King was ruling on His throne in Heaven right
now - which He is. And you must live in the world
as if King Yeshua was ruling from the throne of
David on Earth, in Jerusalem - which He will!
A disciple
must be free from the love of money. Freely you
received, freely give. Don't charge for your services.
Do not acquire gold, or silver, or copper for
your money belts, or a bag for your journey, or
even two coats, or sandals, or a staff; for the
worker is worthy of his support. The disciples
were to travel light, and depend on God to provide
for their needs. This was said to the Twelve Disciples,
but it applies to all of us. We must be free from
the love of money, and the desire to accumulate
more and more things. We want to travel light
through this world.
A disciple
must warn people about the coming Judgment: And
whatever city or village you enter, inquire who
is worthy in it, and stay at his house until you
leave that city. As you enter the house, give
it your greeting. If the house is worthy, give
it your blessing of peace. But if it is not worthy,
take back your blessing of peace. Whoever does
not receive you, nor heed your words, as you go
out of that house or that city, shake the dust
off your feet. Truly I say to you, it will be
more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah
in the Day of Judgment than for that city. To
whom much is given, much is required. Rejection
of the Message about the Messiah is more wicked,
more perverse, more damnable than the horrific
perverse sins that were going on in Sodom and
Gomorrah! We must tell people to turn to God and
Messiah. We must state it clearly. And if they
won't listen, we must warn them about what is
in store for them - the reality of the Day of
Judgment, and Hell. That is our duty to God, and
our responsibility to our fellow human beings.
A disciple
must expect opposition: Behold, I send you out
as sheep in the midst of wolves. What happens
to sheep among wolves? They are attacked, and
bitten and ripped to pieces and eaten by the wolves,
who are stronger than they are. This world is
not a nice place for the sons and daughters of
God. It's enemy territory. It's dangerous for
us. It's important that we understand that life
for a child of light living in the midst of world
of great darkness, life for a follower of God
who dwells in a world that lies under the power
of the Satanic Tyrant, will not be easy. Expect
opposition. Expect persecution. Expect that from
time to time we will be insulted, persecuted attacked,
and some of us might be killed. We are not promised
a long and easy and comfortable life in this world.
So be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves.
The world is tough. It's dangerous. So be smart.
Be wise. Use your intelligence to outwit and outmaneuver
those who oppose you, but do so in a way that
won't harm them. Play by God's rules, which include
loving your enemies, and trying to do what is
best for them, trying to redeem them, turning
them to God and Messiah and salvation.
A disciple
must expect opposition from entrenched political
and religious authorities: But beware of men,
for they will hand you over to the courts and
whip you in their synagogues. Those of us who
grew up in religious traditions not firmly based
on the truth, like within the Jewish community,
must expect opposition from the rabbis and Jewish
community leaders. Those who come from an Islamic
or Hindu or Catholic background must expect opposition
from the religious leaders of those religions.
And you will even be brought before governors
and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them
and to the Gentiles. God will use the opposition
from religious and political leaders who oppose
us to proclaim the Message! He will use our arrests,
and trials, and punishments to further the Message.
The Church in China is a good example of how God
will use political opposition. The Church in China
has been terribly persecuted by the communist
political authorities since the communists took
over in 1948, but in that time it has grown from
one million, to over 70 million Christians today!
But when they hand you over, do not worry about
how or what you are to say; for it will be given
you in that hour what you are to say. For it is
not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father
who speaks in you.
A disciple
must expect opposition from family: Brother will
betray brother to death, and a father his child;
and children will rise up against parents and
cause them to be put to death. Following God and
Messiah means God and Messiah come ahead of family.
Faithfulness to your Creator and Redeemer comes
before all earthly relationships. And, we can
expect opposition from our non-believing family
members, and we must endure it, and remain faithful
to God in the midst of it.
Messiah
repeats for emphasis that a disciple must expect
opposition from everyone: You will be hated by
all because of My name - because of Me, because
of who I am, and because of your identification
with Me - but it is the one who has endured to
the end who will be saved. You must endure to
the end! It's crucial that you end your journey
through life well, serving God, being faithful,
enduring, following, even to the bitter end. A
lot of people start off well, but don't end well.
They give up along the way. The way you end is
more important than the way you begin. Frankly,
I'm not very impressed with people praying "prayers
of salvation" or praying "the sinner's prayer."
Let's see if they are part of a good community
of the faithful three months later, six months
later, having been baptized, serving the Lord,
growing in their knowledge of God, enduring some
persecution.
A disciple
must not let opposition discourage him. But whenever
they persecute you in one city, quit and give
because it's too hard? No, there are other opportunities.
Flee to the next; for truly I say to you, you
will not finish going through the cities of Israel
until the Son of Man comes. You witness to someone
at work and they get offended and insult you?
Speak to someone else.
A disciple
must not think he deserves better treatment than
the One he is learning from: A disciple is not
above his Rabbi, nor a slave above his master.
It is enough for the disciple that he becomes
like his teacher and the slave like his master.
If they have called the head of the house Ba'alzibbul
- the Lord of the Flies, Satan, whose presence
and activity is associated with death and corruption,
like maggots and flies feeding on a dead carcass,
how much more will they malign the members of
his household! If the Righteous One, Yeshua our
wonderful Rabbi, who is perfect, who perfectly
kept the Torah, and loved God with His whole heart,
and lived true Judaism, if He was despised and
forsaken by men, unesteemed and afflicted, opposed,
persecuted, arrested, humiliated, beaten, whipped,
given a cross to carry to the place of His execution,
and then crucified, can His disciples, who are
not perfect, not like the perfectly Righteous
One, who are flawed, who sin, who err, who make
mistakes, can we expect better treatment than
our wonderful and good and righteous and perfect
Rabbi?
A disciple
must not let opposition discourage him from carrying
out his mission. He must be fearless. He must
not give in to intimidation: Therefore do not
fear them, for there is nothing concealed that
will not be revealed, or hidden that will not
be known. "The truth must emerge; the gospel and
its outworkings in the disciples may not now be
visible to all, but nothing will remain hidden
forever. And if the truth will emerge at the End,
how wise to declare it fully and boldly now" (D.A.
Carson). Don't wait until you get to Heaven to
declare the Good News to others. There is no need
to declare it then! Declare it now, in this world
of spiritual darkness and deadly confusion.
Messiah
continues: What I tell you in the darkness, speak
in the light; and what you hear whispered in your
ear, proclaim upon the housetops. Don't keep quiet!
Don't keep this eternal-life-saving-message to
yourself! Be bold! Be courageous! Speak up loudly
and publicly! Don't be intimidated by threats
of loss or violence! Your duty to declare the
truth is more important! Do not fear those who
kill the body but are unable to kill the soul;
but rather fear Him - God, who is able to destroy
both soul and body in Hell. Don't fear human beings,
who may be able to end your life in this world.
It only makes sense to fear God, who if He is
displeased with you, and He will be displeased
with you if you compromise to live an easy, comfortable
life, may destroy your entire life - body and
soul, with the Second Death, in the Lake of Fire,
from which there is no escape.
A disciple
should know that if you are faithful to God, and
faithful to your mission, the Lord will take care
of you: Are not two sparrows sold for a cent?
And yet not one of them will fall to the ground
apart from your Father. But the very hairs of
your head are all numbered. God knows you intimately
and perfectly. He knows all about you, and your
needs, and every aspect of your life, and what
is right for your life. So do not fear; you are
more valuable than many sparrows. Of the millions
of sparrows, not one dies without the all-knowing
God's knowledge and permission. Not one dies apart
from the will of God. Not one dies apart from
completing its purpose. Not one dies before its
time. If that is true of birds, then how much
true is that for the human being, made in God's
image, who is doing the will of God? You get fired
from work because you get too zealous? There are
other jobs. God will provide. You get arrested
for preaching the Good News? The Lord will take
care of you! You get executed for believing the
truth? It was the Lord's time for you, and His
plan for your life, and now you will enter into
a fuller and greater life in eternity! You are
victorious! You are more than a conqueror!
A disciple
should know that our willingness to confess Him
or deny Him will affect our eternal destiny: Therefore
everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also
confess him before My Father who is in Heaven.
But whoever denies Me before men, I will also
deny him before My Father who is in Heaven. If
you want to live forever, you must publicly identify
yourself with the One who gives eternal life.
If you don't publicly identify yourself with the
eternal Savior in front of weak, sinful human
beings who live in this Earth, which will be destroyed,
the Savior will not identify with you in front
of His righteous, powerful and eternal Father,
who dwells in the everlasting Heavens. It only
makes sense to confess Messiah publicly here on
Earth, and to continue to publicly confess Him
and never deny Him!
A disciple
should understand the Messiah's mission: It's
not to bring peace to sinful human beings who
won't turn away from their sins and refuse to
submit to the King of kings; to lie to them and
tell them that all is well, when things are far
from well with them. What a disservice that would
be! No, Messiah came to confront human beings
with the truth, to rouse them from their deadly
lethargy, and they don't like it! We don't like
to be confronted with the truth about God and
our need to turn to Him, and serve Him. Do not
think that I came to bring peace on the Earth;
I did not come to bring peace, but a sword - conflict
and warfare. It's not good to be at peace if your
sense of peace is based on a lie - that you are
OK, when you not in a right relationship with
God, when the reality is you are headed to Hell.
Most of
us love our families, and we want to be at peace
with them, but our love is not the truest love
if we don't tell them about the truth about their
real situation, and the truth about the Savior.
We must upset our families with the truth, that
they need Messiah! That they are in the gravest
danger if they don't turn to God and Messiah and
righteousness! Messiah continues: For I came to
set a man against his father, and a daughter against
her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her
mother-in-law; and a man's enemies will be the
members of his household. We must tell the members
of our families about the Savior! We must not
keep quiet, even if it causes conflict. We must
not compromise even for the sake of family peace.
And yet,
so many fail this charge because they put their
love of family and their desire for peace above
their duty to God. But Messiah tells us, "He who
loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy
of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than
Me is not worthy of Me." Sadly, I have known many
who won't stand up to their family, their husband
or wife, their son or daughter, their father or
mother, their sister or brother. They compromise,
they keep quiet, and as a result they never fully
follow the Lord. Most of them accomplish very
little for God, and many fall away from the Faith.
Those who are not faithful to be a witness to
their family who they are a part of, and connected
to, aren't faithful as a witness to those outside
of their family.
And what
about those corrupt teachers who tell us that
the non-believing members of our Jewish families
who don't embrace the Savior are OK? That they
have a relationship with God, that they will experience
the mediation of the Savior while rejecting the
Savior? They remind me of the vile false prophets
of old who declared a message of peace when there
is no peace.
A disciple
must be willing to give up his own agenda, his
own priorities and goals, and be willing to adopt
the Lord's goals, the Lord's mission, the Lord's
vision, the Lord's agenda, even if it means personal
sacrifice, being humiliated, suffering and dying:
And he who does not take his cross and follow
after Me is not worthy of Me. He who has found
his life will lose it, and he who has lost his
life for My sake will find it. "Follow Me", the
Lord said to His disciples. And where did the
Lord go? Where did He ask His disciples to follow?
Sometime He led them into danger. At times He
led them into conflict with Pharisees, the Sadducees,
the Herodians, the Sanhedrin. He Himself was arrested,
tortured, and put to death. In order to faithfully
follow the Lord, are you willing to follow Him,
if it means picking up a cross, which means that
you have been arrested, tried and for to carry
your cross and headed to your execution? Most
of the apostles died a martyr's death, but this
word is not limited to the apostles. Anyone who
is not willing to follow Messiah into danger,
and face humiliation and suffering and death is
not worthy of the One who gives life. The life
of a disciple is not about his dreams, His desires,
his goals, his plans, his aspirations, but about
the Lord's agenda, the Lord's mission, the Lord's
burden, the Lord's vision. How would you like
to appear before Him and the Judgment, and hear
these words, "I did so much for you. I sacrificed
so much for you. Yet you were unwilling to do
much for Me. I meant so little to you? You are
not worthy of Me."
A disciple
who is faithful carries much authority, because
he represents God and Messiah in this world: He
who receives you receives Me, and he who receives
Me receives Him who sent Me. God sent His Son
on a mission. The Son represented and revealed
the Father and brought humanity the message of
salvation. The Son likewise sends us on a mission.
We are the Lord's ambassadors, His emissaries,
His representatives to this world. We represent
and reveal the Son, who represents and reveals
the Father. We bring humanity the message of salvation.
When someone receives and welcomes and embraces
a disciple because that person knows he is a disciple
of Yeshua, it is equivalent to receiving and welcoming
and embracing the Savior Himself. What an incredible
honor, what an amazing privilege, to represent
Messiah and God!
A disciple
who is faithful will get a great reward that will
more than compensate for his difficulties and
suffering here on Earth: He who receives a prophet
in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's
reward. Israel's prophets almost always spoke
out against a faithless majority, and were hated
for it. A faithful prophet will receive a great
reward, because it isn't easy to be faithful and
speak out in such a situation. And, if we welcome
that prophet, and identify with him because he
is a true prophet, because he speaks for God,
we too can be greatly rewarded. How nice to know
that we don't all need to be prophets to receive
a prophet's reward! Disciples of Messiah are like
the prophets of old, speaking God's message to
a faithless majority. We will be greatly rewarded,
as will those who welcome us. And that makes all
of our difficulties and trials in this life worth
it!
And he
who receives a righteous man in the name of a
righteous man shall receive a righteous man's
reward. When a society grows dark and evil, and
a righteous man continues to live the right way,
and speaks out against the sins of that society,
and receives persecution for it, he will get a
great reward because it's not easy to do. And
those who publicly identify with him and help
him, will likewise get a great reward. Disciples
are like that righteous man, and will be greatly
rewarded, as will those who welcome us. And that
makes all of our difficulties and trials in this
life worth it!
And whoever
in the name of a disciple gives to one of these
little ones even a cup of cold water to drink,
truly I say to you, he shall not lose his reward.
All those who are genuine disciples of the holy
God, and faithfully live in an anti-God, anti-Christian
world, will receive a great reward. And all those
who receive them and their message of salvation
that they bring, will also get a great reward!
And that makes all of our difficulties and trials
in this life worth it!
Are you
a genuine Christian? A genuine Messianic Jew?
Or are you just a "believer" who gives mere mental
assent to the truths of the Faith, like the demons
do, but who tremble, knowing the punishment that
is in store for them? Or are you a disciple? Are
you like Philip, who, when Messiah said, "Follow
Me," followed Him and kept following Him, no matter
what the cost? Or are you like the rich young
man who was interested in obtaining eternal life,
but when Messiah told him to sell all his possession,
and come follow, the man was unwilling, and refused
to follow, because the man had his own interests,
his own goals, his own agenda, his own priorities?
Will you
be like the scribe, a man who copied the Scriptures,
and therefore knew the Word of God better than
most, who promised Yeshua, "Rabbi, I will follow
You wherever You go." But Yeshua responded, telling
him that following Messiah wouldn't be easy or
comfortable. "Foxes have holes and birds have
nests, but I don't have a home" and if you follow
Me, there will be times when you won't either.
Are you still willing to follow Me?
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