WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:09.679 We are carrying on our vision and values series that we started a couple weeks ago. 00:00:09.679 --> 00:00:17.199 And our vision statement once again is this, to be a healthy city center church in and 00:00:17.199 --> 00:00:25.120 for Edinburgh committed to the gospel of Jesus Christ in worship, discipleship, community 00:00:25.120 --> 00:00:26.560 and mission. 00:00:26.560 --> 00:00:29.640 And we've talked about what it means to be a city center church committed to the gospel 00:00:29.640 --> 00:00:31.800 for Edinburgh in week one. 00:00:31.800 --> 00:00:36.079 We talked about worship Derek let us in talking through worship last week. 00:00:36.079 --> 00:00:39.640 And so this week we think about discipleship. 00:00:39.640 --> 00:00:44.439 And we're back in the book of Acts again, as we have been the past two weeks. 00:00:44.439 --> 00:00:48.400 And there are other names out there for discipleship. 00:00:48.400 --> 00:00:53.679 Spiritual formation is the word that's in our new statement of vision and values, which 00:00:53.679 --> 00:00:58.880 means that the Holy Spirit works to change our spirit from the inside out. 00:00:58.880 --> 00:01:03.800 There are other phrases that people use the Bibles where the sanctification. 00:01:03.800 --> 00:01:09.040 But the very simple way to talk about discipleship is just to say that discipleship means following 00:01:09.040 --> 00:01:14.000 Jesus, following Jesus day in and day out. 00:01:14.000 --> 00:01:20.840 And the reason that discipleship has got to be in our vision is because of Matthew 28. 00:01:20.840 --> 00:01:26.280 Matthew 28 is the great commission and the great commission of Jesus gives us our marching 00:01:26.280 --> 00:01:27.280 orders. 00:01:27.280 --> 00:01:30.120 And it says to the church, this is the mission of the church. 00:01:30.120 --> 00:01:36.920 Go and make disciples, baptizing them in the name of Father, Son and Spirit and teaching 00:01:36.920 --> 00:01:40.320 them to obey all that Jesus ever commanded. 00:01:40.320 --> 00:01:46.000 And that last bit we met, we're committed here to making disciples, but also to teaching 00:01:46.000 --> 00:01:51.719 the disciples everything that Jesus ever commanded to learning to do all that Jesus commanded. 00:01:51.719 --> 00:01:57.439 And that little bit at the end of the great commission is the idea of discipleship. 00:01:57.439 --> 00:02:02.920 And so Saint C's vision is to make disciples and then for us all together as a family to 00:02:02.920 --> 00:02:05.560 be disciples, to follow Jesus. 00:02:05.560 --> 00:02:07.200 So it's very simple. 00:02:07.200 --> 00:02:14.360 But Acts 9, when you dig into Acts 9, the conversion of Saul gives you a lot of insight, lessons 00:02:14.360 --> 00:02:20.759 into what it means to both become a disciple and then also be a disciple. 00:02:20.759 --> 00:02:22.919 And you've got to have both. 00:02:22.919 --> 00:02:26.799 You've got to become a disciple in order to be a disciple and you've got to stand on the 00:02:26.799 --> 00:02:29.799 ground of becoming in order to be. 00:02:29.799 --> 00:02:32.759 And so we're going to look at those two things this morning, becoming a disciple and being 00:02:32.759 --> 00:02:34.919 a disciple from Acts 9. 00:02:34.919 --> 00:02:35.919 So let's do that. 00:02:35.919 --> 00:02:36.919 First, becoming a disciple. 00:02:36.919 --> 00:02:44.359 There's all sorts of conditions in this passage for what it looks like to become a disciple. 00:02:44.360 --> 00:02:51.240 And the first we see Saul in this story, also known as Paul, the great apostle. 00:02:51.240 --> 00:02:52.480 And this is his conversion. 00:02:52.480 --> 00:02:58.640 It's the most famous coming to Christ story probably that's ever been written. 00:02:58.640 --> 00:03:05.840 And it starts with a really stark contrast because every text almost up till now in the 00:03:05.840 --> 00:03:12.200 book of Acts has been very positive and been about the fruit of ministry, even when they 00:03:12.199 --> 00:03:16.439 murdered Stephen, a couple of chapters before this. 00:03:16.439 --> 00:03:21.399 Stephen's death, the first martyr meant that the gospel spread everywhere and tons of people 00:03:21.399 --> 00:03:22.399 came to faith. 00:03:22.399 --> 00:03:26.639 And so it's been a very positive story about the fruit of ministry so far. 00:03:26.639 --> 00:03:31.799 And then you turn to chapter 9 and the text says, yet Saul. 00:03:31.799 --> 00:03:37.639 And this is the moment of contrast in the book of Acts where things for just a moment 00:03:37.639 --> 00:03:40.719 seem to go desperately south. 00:03:40.719 --> 00:03:50.280 And we've got Saul here who is a Pharisee, who is zealous in his religious fervor, and 00:03:50.280 --> 00:03:57.280 who is a prosecutor and judge sent by the Pharisees to condemn the church of the Christians, 00:03:57.280 --> 00:04:00.079 the way, the followers of Jesus. 00:04:00.079 --> 00:04:04.199 And if you look at the very beginning of the passage, it says that he was breathing threats 00:04:04.199 --> 00:04:05.840 and murder. 00:04:05.840 --> 00:04:12.039 And the verb there for breathing is actually a verb that's normally used in Greek to refer 00:04:12.039 --> 00:04:20.360 to animals, animals that are breathing, foaming at the mouth, slobbering over the prey that 00:04:20.360 --> 00:04:22.079 they're about to consume. 00:04:22.079 --> 00:04:27.639 And John Calvin here says that the Bible Luke uses a word for Paul that makes him sound 00:04:27.639 --> 00:04:33.439 like a rabid wolf, wanting to consume the people who follow Jesus Christ. 00:04:33.439 --> 00:04:39.719 He's foaming at the mouth and hatred for Christ's people, for anybody who would follow Jesus 00:04:39.719 --> 00:04:41.800 and for Jesus himself. 00:04:41.800 --> 00:04:48.519 In chapter 8 verse 3, it says that Saul went out and began to destroy the church, which 00:04:48.519 --> 00:04:55.319 is a verb there for pulling apart the foundation from the bottom, actually breaking up a foundation 00:04:55.319 --> 00:05:00.800 of a building, meaning he wanted to destroy everybody from the ground up, including to 00:05:00.800 --> 00:05:04.319 defame the name of Jesus. 00:05:04.319 --> 00:05:09.400 And that brings us to the first lesson of discipleship, the first condition, the first 00:05:09.400 --> 00:05:12.000 thing to know about discipleship. 00:05:12.000 --> 00:05:21.080 Because chapter 9 says, by the end of chapter 9, Saul is proclaiming the gospel of Jesus 00:05:21.080 --> 00:05:25.840 Christ in the synagogue to the point that he gets run out. 00:05:25.839 --> 00:05:33.479 And that means that Saul is the most unlikely convert to Jesus Christ that's ever lived. 00:05:33.479 --> 00:05:39.679 And the first condition, the first lesson of becoming a disciple is that nobody, no 00:05:39.679 --> 00:05:46.919 matter who, is without the hope of the grace of Jesus Christ. 00:05:46.919 --> 00:05:53.839 You know, actually there's no such thing as a likely or unlikely disciple at all. 00:05:53.839 --> 00:05:58.879 As Romans 3.23 tells us that every single one of us has sinned and fallen short of 00:05:58.879 --> 00:06:01.479 the glory of God completely. 00:06:01.479 --> 00:06:06.560 And that there's actually an equality between Saul and every single one of us, no matter 00:06:06.560 --> 00:06:08.479 what we've done or haven't done in our lives. 00:06:08.479 --> 00:06:12.519 There's an equality of deadness before the Lord. 00:06:12.519 --> 00:06:17.279 And that means there's no such thing as being a likely or an unlikely convert. 00:06:17.279 --> 00:06:19.159 This is what John Stott says. 00:06:19.159 --> 00:06:22.199 He writes, one thing is certain in Paul's conversion. 00:06:22.199 --> 00:06:29.519 We do not initially seek God unless God first comes and seeks after us. 00:06:29.519 --> 00:06:35.719 The Bible says that in our natural state no one seeks after God and that is categorical. 00:06:35.719 --> 00:06:40.519 Paul's conversion means that every single one of your family members and every single 00:06:40.519 --> 00:06:45.039 one of your friends and every single one of your colleagues and every single person that's 00:06:45.040 --> 00:06:54.680 here today is both too far gone in their sin to bring themselves up on their own and never 00:06:54.680 --> 00:07:00.520 too far gone to receive the grace of Jesus Christ into salvation at the very same time. 00:07:00.520 --> 00:07:03.400 And so that's the first thing about becoming a disciple that we have to see. 00:07:03.400 --> 00:07:04.759 Now the second thing is this. 00:07:04.759 --> 00:07:11.360 To actually become a disciple you've got to be encountered by the light. 00:07:11.360 --> 00:07:18.280 And we see that in verse three, in verse three the light comes to Paul, hits Paul actually, 00:07:18.280 --> 00:07:20.840 we're told and he's knocked over. 00:07:20.840 --> 00:07:24.400 It says that he physically falls when the light comes to hit him. 00:07:24.400 --> 00:07:28.439 Now it's very likely that he's riding on a horse and so he falls off of this horse and 00:07:28.439 --> 00:07:32.319 if not he falls off of his feet and hits the ground. 00:07:32.319 --> 00:07:33.520 Now the question is why? 00:07:33.520 --> 00:07:40.120 Why is it that when this light confronts him he literally physically gets knocked over? 00:07:40.120 --> 00:07:46.720 It's because the physical reality is a manifestation of what's going on spiritually in his heart 00:07:46.720 --> 00:07:48.840 at the moment. 00:07:48.840 --> 00:07:54.920 He when the light confronts him in his heart he spiritually and physically gets knocked 00:07:54.920 --> 00:07:59.040 over and that's because of the second condition. 00:07:59.040 --> 00:08:06.240 See becoming a disciple means actually being knocked over, being knocked back, having the 00:08:06.240 --> 00:08:12.840 rug pulled out from underneath you by a truth that you did not expect. 00:08:12.840 --> 00:08:19.360 By being encountered by a truth that you could have never made up on your own. 00:08:19.360 --> 00:08:23.319 By being encountered by God in the way that God reveals himself. 00:08:23.319 --> 00:08:32.039 Now you see, let me explain this because Paul thought that Jesus Christ was the ultimate 00:08:32.039 --> 00:08:37.719 pretender because what Saul expected was a Messiah that would come into the world and 00:08:37.719 --> 00:08:44.279 would march straight to Rome and displace Caesar off of his throne and establish Israel 00:08:44.279 --> 00:08:47.000 as the true power of the land. 00:08:47.000 --> 00:08:53.480 And so Saul thinks that he's being zealous that he's actually condemning the heretics, 00:08:53.480 --> 00:09:00.399 that he's chasing after the pretender and then when Christ comes to him here the Messiah 00:09:00.399 --> 00:09:03.720 comes to him and says, the light hits him. 00:09:03.720 --> 00:09:10.720 He realizes that Jesus is saying, I am the Messiah that is beyond your preferences. 00:09:10.720 --> 00:09:17.480 I am not the God that you had created according to the things you expected me to be like. 00:09:17.480 --> 00:09:22.319 And so being a disciple actually means being encountered by the God that you could have 00:09:22.319 --> 00:09:23.959 never made up. 00:09:23.959 --> 00:09:29.879 By the God that you can't, by the real God, by the truth and it has to knock you back. 00:09:29.879 --> 00:09:34.000 It has to knock you off of your feet. 00:09:34.000 --> 00:09:35.080 There's an example of this. 00:09:35.080 --> 00:09:41.279 Many pastors have pointed this out in the past but when you talk to people in an international 00:09:41.279 --> 00:09:46.240 community like ours is here, there's people from all over the world in our church and 00:09:46.240 --> 00:09:47.879 in this city. 00:09:47.879 --> 00:09:53.279 But when you talk to people who are maybe exploring Christianity that come from different 00:09:53.279 --> 00:09:59.120 parts of the world, oftentimes, oftentimes, not always, but oftentimes people from places 00:09:59.120 --> 00:10:05.279 like Edinburgh, from Western Europe, from the United States, from Canada are very, very 00:10:05.279 --> 00:10:11.560 happy to hear a Christianity, to hear about a God in Christianity that says that God, 00:10:11.560 --> 00:10:16.240 Jesus will accept you no matter what you've done. 00:10:16.240 --> 00:10:21.440 They're very happy to hear about a God who would accept anybody no matter their lifestyle, 00:10:21.440 --> 00:10:23.519 no matter what they've done in the past. 00:10:23.519 --> 00:10:28.360 But then very often if you talk to somebody from other cultures, maybe more traditional 00:10:28.360 --> 00:10:34.320 cultures, cultures from the Middle East or other places, they're very happy. 00:10:34.320 --> 00:10:40.560 They understand when you say that God is a God of wrath who brings justice upon people 00:10:40.560 --> 00:10:47.000 who have done wrong things and they're not as okay with the fact that Jesus Christ comes 00:10:47.000 --> 00:10:50.399 into the world to accept anybody no matter what they've done. 00:10:50.399 --> 00:10:52.480 And you see what that means. 00:10:52.480 --> 00:10:58.159 It means that Romans 1.18 is true, that every single human being that's ever lived views 00:10:58.159 --> 00:11:03.519 God through the lens of their own culture and their own personal preferences and the 00:11:03.519 --> 00:11:05.360 way that they want God to be. 00:11:05.360 --> 00:11:10.480 And what the condition of discipleship is that we've got to be encountered by the truth 00:11:10.480 --> 00:11:17.759 as the truth has revealed himself truly in the middle of history by the real Christ. 00:11:17.759 --> 00:11:27.079 And this is so important because it's so important that God is not as we want him to be. 00:11:27.080 --> 00:11:31.600 It's very important that that's the case because it's very important to face the real 00:11:31.600 --> 00:11:39.759 God because if God was just a God that you could understand, if God, if you liked everything 00:11:39.759 --> 00:11:44.680 that you read about when you read about the living God, then God would be nothing but 00:11:44.680 --> 00:11:47.639 a construct of your own heart. 00:11:47.639 --> 00:11:49.920 He wouldn't be beyond your preferences. 00:11:49.920 --> 00:11:54.440 And so we've got to expect that when we come and see God as he truly revealed himself that 00:11:54.440 --> 00:11:58.120 there will be things that we can't understand and there will be things that maybe at first 00:11:58.120 --> 00:12:03.080 we can't even, we struggle with and we don't even like because the true God has got to 00:12:03.080 --> 00:12:09.200 be the God that's beyond our personal culture and our preferences and greater than our individual 00:12:09.200 --> 00:12:10.200 hearts. 00:12:10.200 --> 00:12:15.440 And so the second condition of discipleship, becoming a disciple, is to be encountered 00:12:15.440 --> 00:12:16.840 by the light. 00:12:16.840 --> 00:12:21.520 Anybody can become a disciple because of the power of the grace of Jesus Christ and at 00:12:21.519 --> 00:12:25.919 the same time we've got to be encountered by the God who is greater than our preferences. 00:12:25.919 --> 00:12:28.960 Now the third thing of four is this. 00:12:28.960 --> 00:12:34.039 That means then we've got to also plunge into darkness. 00:12:34.039 --> 00:12:38.159 When we're encountered by the light to become a disciple, you've got to plunge into the 00:12:38.159 --> 00:12:39.799 darkness. 00:12:39.799 --> 00:12:40.799 We see that here. 00:12:40.799 --> 00:12:46.399 Saul hears Jesus say, why are you persecuting me? 00:12:46.399 --> 00:12:54.120 And Saul realizes in that moment that he is religious, he's religious and at the same 00:12:54.120 --> 00:12:57.559 time an enemy of God. 00:12:57.559 --> 00:13:04.600 And in response to that, he knows, I'm in the darkness and he realizes that he's been 00:13:04.600 --> 00:13:07.600 exposed by the light. 00:13:07.600 --> 00:13:18.200 And that means that disciples must come poor in spirit as Jesus puts it, that we do not 00:13:18.200 --> 00:13:23.200 have the resources in ourselves to deal with the great problems that we face. 00:13:23.200 --> 00:13:28.800 And in fact, in verse eight, physically, again physically, what's going on physically in 00:13:28.800 --> 00:13:33.440 Paul is a manifestation of what's going on spiritually. 00:13:33.440 --> 00:13:40.160 And in verse eight, Paul actually becomes blind and he cannot eat, he cannot drink, he becomes 00:13:40.160 --> 00:13:42.960 helpless and he becomes lifeless. 00:13:42.960 --> 00:13:43.960 Why? 00:13:43.960 --> 00:13:50.080 Because being a disciple means admitting and owning our helplessness before we can ever 00:13:50.080 --> 00:13:52.360 attend to our need. 00:13:52.360 --> 00:13:56.440 And here is every single one of our needs today. 00:13:56.440 --> 00:13:59.800 We all have three great, great needs. 00:13:59.800 --> 00:14:02.160 And this is what they are. 00:14:02.159 --> 00:14:07.399 We need forgiveness from our past today. 00:14:07.399 --> 00:14:13.439 And we need freedom from the judgment that we deserve today. 00:14:13.439 --> 00:14:19.799 And we need the hope of communion with the God we were made to be with. 00:14:19.799 --> 00:14:23.159 And we've got to realize that we're in darkness. 00:14:23.159 --> 00:14:24.319 We've got to plunge in the darkness. 00:14:24.319 --> 00:14:25.319 We're blind. 00:14:25.319 --> 00:14:28.600 We can't, we cannot do anything about the great need that we have. 00:14:28.600 --> 00:14:35.840 And so forth and finally, that means that we've got to turn and grasp a new identity. 00:14:35.840 --> 00:14:43.159 Paul it says here, Saul was blind and lifeless in the house of Judas for three days. 00:14:43.159 --> 00:14:44.720 Did you catch that when we read it? 00:14:44.720 --> 00:14:52.840 That he was, that he went blind and lifeless into the house of Judas for three days. 00:14:52.840 --> 00:14:54.879 Now why? 00:14:54.879 --> 00:15:03.799 And it's because Saul needed three days as a dead man, buried, lifeless, unable to eat, 00:15:03.799 --> 00:15:11.399 unable to drink, unable to see in order to know the one that he had been united to. 00:15:11.399 --> 00:15:18.439 You see, in the three days that Saul is buried in lifelessness, he's awakening to the fact 00:15:18.440 --> 00:15:25.560 that he was already buried in the one that's come to him as the light. 00:15:25.560 --> 00:15:28.280 And you know, what's going on in those three days? 00:15:28.280 --> 00:15:33.920 I think that he's awakening to what he will later write, I have already been crucified 00:15:33.920 --> 00:15:38.120 with Christ and buried with Christ and therefore raised with Christ. 00:15:38.120 --> 00:15:41.800 Therefore it's no longer I who live, but Christ who's living in me now. 00:15:41.799 --> 00:15:49.719 And you see, the great condition of discipleship is knowing, turning and saying, I am united 00:15:49.719 --> 00:15:51.839 to Jesus Christ forever. 00:15:51.839 --> 00:15:57.199 And that means that we say discipleship is to follow Jesus, but let me up the ante on 00:15:57.199 --> 00:15:58.199 it. 00:15:58.199 --> 00:16:04.799 It's not just to follow Jesus, it's to actually know that you are united to Jesus forever. 00:16:04.799 --> 00:16:05.799 And what does that mean? 00:16:05.799 --> 00:16:13.919 It means that whatever is true today of Jesus Christ is true of you now and always. 00:16:13.919 --> 00:16:16.279 And remember the three great needs that we have. 00:16:16.279 --> 00:16:19.479 We have a great need for forgiveness from our past. 00:16:19.479 --> 00:16:23.799 And today if you're united to him as a disciple, it means that you've already died to your 00:16:23.799 --> 00:16:26.359 sins in his cross. 00:16:26.359 --> 00:16:30.759 And you've got a great need for freedom from the great and wrathful judgment of God that 00:16:30.759 --> 00:16:32.599 we deserve. 00:16:32.600 --> 00:16:36.720 But if you're united to him, then God has already said to you in your burial, which 00:16:36.720 --> 00:16:40.560 is his burial, that you are not guilty. 00:16:40.560 --> 00:16:46.639 And if you're united to him today in his resurrection, God says to you that you will commune with 00:16:46.639 --> 00:16:51.519 the God you were made for forever and there's no getting out from underneath it. 00:16:51.519 --> 00:17:01.000 Now, we can't say anything today about following Jesus actively, which we're coming to now. 00:17:01.000 --> 00:17:02.440 Becoming a disciple being a disciple. 00:17:02.440 --> 00:17:08.039 We can't say anything about being a disciple without first becoming one, but even more 00:17:08.039 --> 00:17:09.279 than that. 00:17:09.279 --> 00:17:17.640 We can't say anything this morning about being a disciple if our identity is not fully rooted 00:17:17.640 --> 00:17:21.039 in the fact of Jesus Christ's life, death and resurrection. 00:17:21.039 --> 00:17:26.160 And that we're perpetually coming back to that and standing on that ground. 00:17:26.160 --> 00:17:28.519 And so we're going to come back to this in just a moment. 00:17:28.519 --> 00:17:31.400 But what should you do today? 00:17:31.400 --> 00:17:36.519 Peter tells us at the beginning of Acts, if you're exploring Christianity today, there's 00:17:36.519 --> 00:17:37.519 a command. 00:17:37.519 --> 00:17:40.440 It's called the obedience of faith. 00:17:40.440 --> 00:17:44.200 And if you're a Christian today, there's a command and it's called the obedience of 00:17:44.200 --> 00:17:45.200 faith. 00:17:45.200 --> 00:17:52.040 And here it is from Peter and Peter says, repent and believe for the forgiveness of your sins. 00:17:52.040 --> 00:17:57.759 Today, Sunday is the day of repentance and faith and repentance and faith are two sides 00:17:57.759 --> 00:17:59.519 of the same coin. 00:17:59.519 --> 00:18:05.440 And this, you see, repentance is the acknowledgement that I do not have the resources in my own 00:18:05.440 --> 00:18:13.480 heart to understand, seek after or fulfill the great need I have before the light. 00:18:13.480 --> 00:18:14.480 That's repentance. 00:18:14.480 --> 00:18:17.799 And then in faith, well, faith is this. 00:18:17.799 --> 00:18:24.879 In Acts 2, Peter says, you, all the crowd who was there for Pentecost, you crucified 00:18:24.879 --> 00:18:27.839 Christ. 00:18:27.839 --> 00:18:33.679 And you see true repentance and faith is saying, it's not just that I'm sorry for my sin, it's 00:18:33.679 --> 00:18:37.359 that I crucified Jesus Christ. 00:18:37.359 --> 00:18:40.399 I put Him on the cross. 00:18:40.399 --> 00:18:46.759 And then in faith, I turned to Him like a weary traveler and hang my arms over His shoulders 00:18:46.759 --> 00:18:49.599 and rest on Him. 00:18:49.599 --> 00:18:51.599 And that's becoming a disciple. 00:18:51.599 --> 00:18:56.039 And there's no talk of discipleship unless we're there. 00:18:56.039 --> 00:18:57.039 And so that's an invitation. 00:18:57.039 --> 00:19:03.960 Now secondly, and briefly, becoming a disciple then means transformation. 00:19:03.960 --> 00:19:08.519 It means following Jesus to learn everything from the Master. 00:19:08.519 --> 00:19:10.240 Now this is really important. 00:19:10.240 --> 00:19:16.200 Dietrich Bonhoeffer in the middle 20th century, early 20th century, the famous German pastor 00:19:16.200 --> 00:19:18.559 and theologian. 00:19:18.559 --> 00:19:24.680 In the face of the rise of the Third Reich and Hitler and Nazism, Bonhoeffer looked out 00:19:24.680 --> 00:19:32.160 and he was so concerned that the church in Germany had not stood up against all that 00:19:32.160 --> 00:19:34.880 Hitler came to do and say. 00:19:34.880 --> 00:19:39.720 And he wrote a book later on called The Cost of Discipleship where he reflected on that 00:19:39.720 --> 00:19:41.560 problem. 00:19:41.560 --> 00:19:43.840 And he coined a very famous phrase. 00:19:43.840 --> 00:19:47.640 He talked about the danger of cheap grace. 00:19:47.640 --> 00:19:48.920 And this is what he says about it. 00:19:48.920 --> 00:19:54.800 Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance. 00:19:54.800 --> 00:19:59.440 Cheap grace is grace without discipleship. 00:19:59.440 --> 00:20:05.960 Cheap grace is grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ Himself in His example. 00:20:05.960 --> 00:20:12.279 In other words, cheap grace is saying, I'm forgiven but I don't want the cost of following 00:20:12.279 --> 00:20:15.440 Jesus for all of my days. 00:20:15.440 --> 00:20:17.320 And another theologian puts it like this. 00:20:17.319 --> 00:20:22.000 Calvation is a free gift of God's grace earned by the work of Jesus Christ alone. 00:20:22.000 --> 00:20:30.079 There's nothing you can do to get it but trust in Him and this free gift will cost you everything. 00:20:30.079 --> 00:20:35.159 And so there's no sales pitch in Christianity, not at all. 00:20:35.159 --> 00:20:40.679 Because Jesus Christ has done a great work to deal with our need, our need of forgiveness, 00:20:40.679 --> 00:20:42.200 judgment, and communion with God. 00:20:42.200 --> 00:20:43.519 And then he comes and says, follow me. 00:20:43.519 --> 00:20:46.039 And that following is very costly. 00:20:46.039 --> 00:20:51.559 It will cost your time, your talent, and your treasure from top to bottom to be a true disciple. 00:20:51.559 --> 00:20:58.399 Now let me just rattle off to you four aspects of discipleship from this passage briefly. 00:20:58.399 --> 00:21:02.720 The first one we see here, and every one of these needs a sermon, but I won't give one. 00:21:02.720 --> 00:21:05.920 I won't give a sermon on each of them. 00:21:05.920 --> 00:21:09.759 True discipleship means abiding communion. 00:21:09.759 --> 00:21:16.559 Saul is encountered by the light and he's blinded and then God in the middle of the 00:21:16.559 --> 00:21:22.720 passage raises up another disciple, Ananias, to come into aid Saul. 00:21:22.720 --> 00:21:27.680 And Alberto Valdez, a commentator, this is what he says about this. 00:21:27.680 --> 00:21:34.160 In the vision the Lord tells Ananias, arise and go to the street called straight, the 00:21:34.160 --> 00:21:36.319 principal thoroughfare of Damascus. 00:21:36.319 --> 00:21:42.079 Once on straight street Ananias would seek the house of Judas, which is a place where 00:21:42.079 --> 00:21:45.039 they were gathering for worship. 00:21:45.039 --> 00:21:47.839 Then he would ask for one called Saul of Tarsus. 00:21:47.839 --> 00:21:51.879 And Luke reveals what Saul had done for the past three days. 00:21:51.879 --> 00:21:55.240 He says he prayed for three days. 00:21:55.240 --> 00:22:02.279 God had taken Saul from a wayward and misguided path to straight street and into the house 00:22:02.279 --> 00:22:09.039 of praise and for three days he did nothing but communed with the living God. 00:22:09.039 --> 00:22:16.879 Discipleship following Jesus first, groundwork, means seeking and abiding living communion 00:22:16.879 --> 00:22:19.240 with God in your daily life. 00:22:19.240 --> 00:22:25.000 And I know that's basic and simple, but let me say that we are all up and down. 00:22:25.000 --> 00:22:30.559 If you're a Christian today, you know probably if you're like me that you're up and down 00:22:30.559 --> 00:22:32.480 with communion with God. 00:22:32.480 --> 00:22:39.480 And as one pastor put it, we are spiritually bipolar when it comes to our abiding communion 00:22:39.480 --> 00:22:41.679 with the living God. 00:22:41.679 --> 00:22:48.279 And in order to move forward on this, you've actually got to go back to becoming a disciple 00:22:48.279 --> 00:22:56.399 again and look at the cross of Jesus Christ and know that Jesus Christ finds you as such 00:22:56.400 --> 00:23:03.920 an object of love that he would come into the world and die for you. 00:23:03.920 --> 00:23:10.200 That's so important because you cannot be motivated to commune with God by your guilt. 00:23:10.200 --> 00:23:11.640 It won't work. 00:23:11.640 --> 00:23:21.400 Instead, you've got to be changed by seeing how much the Lord loves you in order to get 00:23:21.400 --> 00:23:28.759 back on the horse and walk with the living God this week. 00:23:28.759 --> 00:23:35.160 Discipleship goes nowhere unless you're seeking a living relationship with Christ, not based 00:23:35.160 --> 00:23:40.000 on your need to be accepted, but because you already are. 00:23:40.000 --> 00:23:41.000 That's absolutely fundamental. 00:23:41.000 --> 00:23:47.160 And so many of us today will say with me, you know, I struggle here to have an abiding 00:23:47.160 --> 00:23:50.640 daily relationship and communion with the living God. 00:23:50.640 --> 00:23:55.200 And let me say to you, of course, because you're still a sinner and there is therefore 00:23:55.200 --> 00:23:58.160 now no condemnation for you because you are in Christ Jesus. 00:23:58.160 --> 00:24:01.680 And secondly, a challenge. 00:24:01.680 --> 00:24:03.080 Are you, let me ask you this. 00:24:03.080 --> 00:24:11.200 Are you focusing more on the goods of Christianity, the community, which is a great good forgiveness, 00:24:11.200 --> 00:24:19.920 which is a great good, but missing that you've been saved to commune with the beauty of Jesus 00:24:19.920 --> 00:24:22.800 Christ himself? 00:24:22.800 --> 00:24:26.960 Do you want the community without the man? 00:24:26.960 --> 00:24:32.240 Do you want him run back to him and seek his face today? 00:24:32.240 --> 00:24:38.080 That's the key, actually, to growing in an abiding relationship is seeking the face of 00:24:38.080 --> 00:24:39.880 Jesus Christ himself. 00:24:39.880 --> 00:24:40.880 All right. 00:24:40.880 --> 00:24:45.960 Secondly, it means holistic transformation. 00:24:45.960 --> 00:24:50.960 It means not only abiding communion, but also growing out of that holistic transformation. 00:24:50.960 --> 00:24:58.480 Now I say holistic transformation here because true discipleship is not just a change in 00:24:58.480 --> 00:25:01.120 external behavior. 00:25:01.120 --> 00:25:08.680 And a lot of times in the public, in society, people know Christians as being ones, people 00:25:08.680 --> 00:25:13.680 know Christians by what they don't do and by what they reject. 00:25:13.680 --> 00:25:17.640 And actually what the New Testament brings us back to over and over again is that deep 00:25:17.640 --> 00:25:26.160 change is change of who you are from the inside out, from your heart unto your actions and 00:25:26.160 --> 00:25:27.400 not the other way around. 00:25:27.400 --> 00:25:30.279 Now just two verses here. 00:25:30.279 --> 00:25:34.039 Verse 17, it says that they were filled with the Holy Spirit. 00:25:34.039 --> 00:25:38.759 And in verse 31, we didn't read that, but it says the church was continually walking 00:25:38.759 --> 00:25:40.600 in the fear of the Lord. 00:25:40.599 --> 00:25:46.319 And you see that, that is the passive and active aspect of transformation. 00:25:46.319 --> 00:25:48.319 True disciples are filled with the Holy Spirit. 00:25:48.319 --> 00:25:51.559 God is doing the work in you all the time. 00:25:51.559 --> 00:25:55.799 And you're also walking in the fear of the Lord actively. 00:25:55.799 --> 00:26:02.639 And in those two things, you're slowly, a slow burn change in your heart to wanting God over 00:26:02.639 --> 00:26:06.639 the course of your life more than the things of this world. 00:26:06.640 --> 00:26:11.440 And it's both passive first, but also active at the very same time. 00:26:11.440 --> 00:26:20.360 And so today, again, you say like me, I don't know how much I've actually changed since 00:26:20.360 --> 00:26:21.840 I've come to believe on Jesus. 00:26:21.840 --> 00:26:25.480 I don't really know how much I've grown. 00:26:25.480 --> 00:26:30.000 And let me say again, step one, go back to point one, becoming a disciple. 00:26:30.000 --> 00:26:33.759 There is no condemnation for you who are in Christ Jesus. 00:26:33.759 --> 00:26:39.879 You are an object of love that Christ came to die for, but then resolved to do what John 00:26:39.879 --> 00:26:44.799 Owen called us to do, kill your sin, lest it be killing you. 00:26:44.799 --> 00:26:52.039 In other words, we've got today to go back to our first love once more and to love God 00:26:52.039 --> 00:26:57.359 because he is lovely, not because he's useful. 00:26:57.359 --> 00:27:01.640 You see, and this is the key to transformation and we'll move on. 00:27:01.640 --> 00:27:09.120 But whenever you're tempted, if your desire to no longer sin is merely a desire based 00:27:09.120 --> 00:27:15.680 on the consequences of that sin, the people you might hurt, getting caught, things that 00:27:15.680 --> 00:27:20.120 it might, the trouble it might create for you in your life, then you can never change long 00:27:20.120 --> 00:27:21.400 term. 00:27:21.400 --> 00:27:24.160 Your change will only ever be short term. 00:27:24.160 --> 00:27:29.280 But if when temptation comes, you want God, not because he's useful, but because he's 00:27:29.280 --> 00:27:30.280 lovely. 00:27:30.279 --> 00:27:35.000 You say, I don't want to sin, I want to push this away, I want to kill this sin because 00:27:35.000 --> 00:27:39.359 I don't want to grieve the God who loved me so much that he would come for me in the 00:27:39.359 --> 00:27:41.279 middle of history. 00:27:41.279 --> 00:27:44.160 That's actually the secret to deep change. 00:27:44.160 --> 00:27:49.440 It's actually wanting God more than the consequences. 00:27:49.440 --> 00:27:53.200 It's seeing him as lovely before he's ever useful. 00:27:53.200 --> 00:27:55.119 And that's the secret to deep change. 00:27:55.119 --> 00:27:58.519 Now thirdly and fourth, I'm just going to rattle these off because our time is running 00:27:58.519 --> 00:27:59.519 out. 00:27:59.519 --> 00:28:04.960 Third, discipleship means instrumentalization. 00:28:04.960 --> 00:28:05.960 Very practical here. 00:28:05.960 --> 00:28:12.519 Ananias in verse 13 says, Saul is going to arrest me. 00:28:12.519 --> 00:28:18.440 The Lord speaks to Ananias and Ananias turns and says to God, have you heard about Saul? 00:28:18.440 --> 00:28:22.920 He's been murdering all the Christians and you want me to go find him. 00:28:22.920 --> 00:28:30.240 And God says, get up and go, and Ananias gets up and he goes. 00:28:30.240 --> 00:28:32.640 And he's scared, but he goes. 00:28:32.640 --> 00:28:38.800 And he says, Saul is going to be a great instrument in my hand, and I'm going to wield him to 00:28:38.800 --> 00:28:41.680 all the peoples of Europe. 00:28:41.680 --> 00:28:47.480 And you look at Ananias, you look at Saul, and we learn this, that discipleship means 00:28:47.480 --> 00:28:48.480 instrumentalization. 00:28:48.480 --> 00:28:56.039 In other words, it means having a willingness and heart to be used, to be spent, to be an 00:28:56.039 --> 00:29:02.559 instrument in the Redeemer's hand, to spend your time, your talents, your treasures for 00:29:02.559 --> 00:29:06.680 the sake of the kingdom of God, and to be tired, to be afraid and to be tired in the 00:29:06.680 --> 00:29:08.440 midst of it. 00:29:08.440 --> 00:29:11.839 It's a willingness to take risks for the kingdom of God. 00:29:11.839 --> 00:29:12.839 And we see that here. 00:29:12.839 --> 00:29:16.799 Paul's life is such a great example of the cost of discipleship. 00:29:16.799 --> 00:29:20.119 There was nothing cheap grace about it. 00:29:20.119 --> 00:29:21.119 It cost him everything. 00:29:21.119 --> 00:29:22.319 There was a willingness to be spent. 00:29:22.319 --> 00:29:26.919 Now, fourthly and finally, discipleship means embrace. 00:29:26.919 --> 00:29:32.639 Ananias also in verse 13, remember, God says, Ananias, go find Paul. 00:29:32.639 --> 00:29:38.159 He says, that's the guy who merges Christians, but he gets up and he goes. 00:29:38.159 --> 00:29:44.319 And the first word that comes out of Ananias' mouth when he gets to the house of Judas, 00:29:44.319 --> 00:29:51.079 they open the door, there's Saul and Ananias says, brother. 00:29:51.079 --> 00:29:59.159 And that means that if Jesus Christ is your Messiah today, no matter what wrongs you've 00:29:59.159 --> 00:30:06.799 done to other people within the family of God, you are adopted into the household of 00:30:06.799 --> 00:30:10.240 faith and there's nothing you can do about it. 00:30:10.240 --> 00:30:11.240 You come today. 00:30:11.240 --> 00:30:13.319 It's one thing to say, I go to church. 00:30:13.319 --> 00:30:19.720 If you're a Christian, you are in the church, period, whether you like it or not, whether 00:30:19.720 --> 00:30:24.039 you go or not, you're in the church, you're stuck in because you're united to Jesus' 00:30:24.039 --> 00:30:27.720 body and that's what Saul immediately becomes brother. 00:30:27.720 --> 00:30:29.519 He becomes a brother. 00:30:29.519 --> 00:30:34.319 And let me just say today that actually discipleship, so much of God's plan for our discipleship 00:30:34.319 --> 00:30:39.359 is dependent upon full immersion into the family of God. 00:30:39.359 --> 00:30:46.759 And so today, if you've been around for a little while and you're not fully stuck in 00:30:46.759 --> 00:30:51.799 here to this church or you're visiting today and you're not fully stuck in to your church, 00:30:51.799 --> 00:31:02.479 there as much as you can be in person when you can and if you can, giving, serving, knowing, 00:31:02.479 --> 00:31:08.879 being hospitable, spending yourself, then you're actually missing one of the most significant 00:31:08.880 --> 00:31:12.320 aspects of what it means to grow as a disciple of Jesus Christ. 00:31:12.320 --> 00:31:16.320 So let's close and take stock. 00:31:16.320 --> 00:31:20.680 And let me just ask you a question about each of these very quickly. 00:31:20.680 --> 00:31:23.240 Take stock, these diagnostic questions. 00:31:23.240 --> 00:31:24.240 Ask them of yourself. 00:31:24.240 --> 00:31:29.120 I'm asking them of myself and let's be honest about where we are here. 00:31:29.120 --> 00:31:37.600 When it comes to abiding communion, do I love Christ because he is altogether lovely? 00:31:37.599 --> 00:31:40.759 And so do I seek him in my daily life. 00:31:40.759 --> 00:31:47.000 And when it comes to holistic transformation, do I fight my sins, the sins that keep coming 00:31:47.000 --> 00:31:54.199 to get me because I love to honor the Lord who's come for me? 00:31:54.199 --> 00:31:59.079 And so am I putting pieces in place in my life to push away the sins, to kill the sins 00:31:59.079 --> 00:32:01.319 that keep killing me? 00:32:01.319 --> 00:32:07.359 Third, in instrumentalization, am I willing to go anywhere that God may call me? 00:32:07.359 --> 00:32:14.240 Do I have that willingness in my heart to be spent, to give my time, my talent, my treasure? 00:32:14.240 --> 00:32:19.799 And fourth, in the embrace of God's people, am I stuck into the community of Jesus Christ 00:32:19.799 --> 00:32:25.119 that God has put me in in this season, giving, serving, showing hospitality because God is 00:32:25.119 --> 00:32:26.839 worth it? 00:32:26.839 --> 00:32:35.599 Now the last word, all disciples, every disciple of Jesus Christ, true disciples find themselves 00:32:35.599 --> 00:32:41.119 in a season where we are not walking in the fear of the Lord. 00:32:41.119 --> 00:32:42.879 And we're not growing. 00:32:42.879 --> 00:32:48.279 And let me say that Jesus today comes to you. 00:32:48.279 --> 00:32:51.359 Hear the call to worship one more time. 00:32:51.359 --> 00:32:58.199 Jesus comes and says, come to me, all you who are weary and burdened by these questions. 00:32:58.199 --> 00:33:05.199 And know that the condition of you being accepted into the kingdom of God is not how well you 00:33:05.200 --> 00:33:07.559 could answer them. 00:33:07.559 --> 00:33:11.440 But because Jesus Christ has come and said, rest in me. 00:33:11.440 --> 00:33:12.440 That's the whole point. 00:33:12.440 --> 00:33:14.680 He came to you. 00:33:14.680 --> 00:33:15.920 He came to you. 00:33:15.920 --> 00:33:17.519 You never came to Him. 00:33:17.519 --> 00:33:21.160 He came to get you in the middle of history. 00:33:21.160 --> 00:33:25.880 And so today He's saying, no matter where you are in this, come back to me and stand on 00:33:25.880 --> 00:33:27.200 the ground of grace. 00:33:27.200 --> 00:33:28.200 It's the whole point. 00:33:28.200 --> 00:33:31.840 He came for the sick and He wants you to come to Him once more. 00:33:31.839 --> 00:33:38.079 And so standing in grace, we can resolve today that on Monday, Monday is a great day because 00:33:38.079 --> 00:33:39.480 it's a new work week. 00:33:39.480 --> 00:33:45.839 It's a great day to start and say, I am resolved to learn all that Jesus commanded. 00:33:45.839 --> 00:33:48.599 So let's pray and ask for these hearts. 00:33:48.599 --> 00:33:56.439 Father, we long to be disciples that do not stand on a cheap grace. 00:33:56.440 --> 00:34:02.279 And so we ask, Father, that the Holy Spirit would be at work among us to work in our hearts, 00:34:02.279 --> 00:34:08.360 that we would desire all that you command and we would be given the power to do it. 00:34:08.360 --> 00:34:15.519 So we ask, Lord, for the deep change in our hearts that would turn us away from our daily 00:34:15.519 --> 00:34:19.639 sins and towards following Jesus all the way. 00:34:19.639 --> 00:34:25.039 And so we ask this, standing on grace above all else in Jesus' name. 00:34:25.039 --> 00:34:26.039 Amen. 00:34:26.039 --> 00:34:27.039 Amen.