Skip to content Road Man Part 2 with Kenny Luck Apr 7 · 49 min ...more
Support this leader Liking this video? Support this ministry.
Support this leader
Liking this video? Support this ministry.
Give
Support this leader Liking this video? Support this ministry.
Comments No comments yet. Start the conversation.
56K followers
Since 2000 Every Man Ministries has been activating men worldwide to live out their truest identity in Christ through its discipleship resources, live events, and steaming platform.
56K followers
The Cost of the Jesus Road 0:00 Gonna wanna hold 2 spots, 1 in Luke 9 and 1 in Matthew 7. Those are 2 key texts for today's study. And also, I wanna encourage you to download the notes0:11 because, they have all the scriptures there. They're gonna be on the screen, but the downloaded notes allows you to, after the the live stream, get with the passages and dissect it yourself and0:23 even teach it and give it away. If you're joining us for the first time, we are in part 2 of a series called Roadman, and the headline for this series is that every man is traveling the0:35 road of this life on his road to God. Right? There's the road of life. It involves people, circumstances, victories, defeats, losses, and we wanna travel that road of0:47 life with Jesus until we get to the end of the road, and the end of the road means simply there's gonna be a transition to the next life. Right? And today, we're gonna0:59 look at the Jesus road. When Jesus was was walking on earth, he was inviting. He was walking and inviting, walking along the road of this life, advancing the kingdom of God,1:10 inviting men to follow him. And we're gonna look at some passages where Jesus invites men in his own words, but then he also warns men1:23 of the realities of what it means to walk the Jesus Road. And to get you thinking in the right direction, I wanna ask you a question. Have you ever heard the term taking the1:34 path of least resistance? Taking the path of least resistance, that's when you make an intentional decision to go for that course of action that avoids confrontation.1:48 It avoids discomfort of any kind or personal tension, and it also tries to avoid, my favorite, emotional drama. Right?2:00 It's where you kind of say to yourself when faced with a choice, hey, I'm gonna take the easiest way to keep this train moving forward, even when that way2:12 is not the most beneficial or even the best way. There's that, little lawyer inside that says, hey, don't don't rock the boat, man. Right? Let's let's2:24 sleeping dogs lie. Easier is better. Right? And and that may be true, in other dimensions of life, but it's not true in your2:36 journey with God and your journey to God. In fact, Jesus said, willful suffering and voluntary sacrifice was in his forecast2:49 on our journey to God. And this is the road of commitment. Let's be honest. It's a road of commitment that very few men are willing to take, and perhaps nobody is3:00 willing to take in the moment who's traveling this Jesus road with you. They'll choose the path of least resistance, and in3:12 choosing that, some things break out. Right? They might have to disguise the truth. They might have to deceive themselves. In choosing the path of least resistance, they might have to dilute3:25 their own witness or diminish their light, which Jesus wants them to shine, but God's man, by contrast, has learned that3:37 the narrow road that he is asked to travel by god produces a few things. First thing it produces is spiritual integrity. The second thing it produces is a3:49 sure blessing. The third thing it produces is less regret. Listen. In the end, right, those are the blessings of the narrow road. Right? Might not be the most popular road,4:00 but it's the narrow road. And God says, that's where we develop integrity. That's where you find true blessing. That's where in the end, you're gonna have less regret. You see, God4:12 says easier isn't always better, but godliness, while costly, right, at times will always result in4:24 blessing. And so in today's session, you know, that that the question in between the lines is, so what will it be, man of God? Will it be the path of least resistance4:37 where there's potential to dilute your witness, disguise the truth, or even diminish the light that God wants you to shine, or the path of maximum4:49 obedience to Christ on the Jesus road. You see, only 1 path, Jesus says, leads to life. And to get us started, we're gonna take a look in the gospels at a5:01 situation where Jesus addresses, he invites, and then he addresses the realities of the path of following him. And and just to add some context, there were so many5:12 miracles connected to Jesus's ministry that kind of following him, you know, may have seemed more glamorous than it was. I mean, there's a lot of5:24 sizzle. There was signs, wonders, miracles, healings, crowds, right? But here's the thing, when Jesus invited a man to follow him, he never sugarcoated5:36 the truth. And the truth is, then, and today, is that the majority of people are not willing to pay the price to win the5:48 prize of eternal life and eternal impact. And I want you to listen in this gospel passage from Luke 9. To Jesus, talk to6:00 men about the reality versus maybe their fantasy or expectation of what it means to follow him. We pick it up in Luke 9 verse6:12 57. As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, I will follow you wherever you go. Jesus replied, foxes have dens and birds have nests,6:24 but the son of man has no place to lay his head. He said to another man, follow me. But he replied, Lord, first let me go and bury my father.6:36 Jesus said, 'Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.' Still another said, 'I will follow you Lord, but first6:48 let me go back and say goodbye to my family. Jesus replied, no 1 who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit6:59 for service in the kingdom of God. And so in that short passage, you kinda, if you were listening, you see Jesus talk about the reality of7:11 what it means to hit the road and follow him, versus maybe men's expectations of what it is. So let's unpack this a little bit, and let's look at 3 things that7:23 life on the road with Jesus involves. And the first thing it involves is costs you are expected to count. Right? There are costs of following Jesus that7:35 he expects you to to count. That's why when the man said, I'll follow you wherever you go, Jesus replies, hey, foxes have homes, birds have7:47 homes, but the son of man, he's got no home. The reality of following Jesus was that he was going to be on the move.7:59 There was going to be, a pace of following him, and you had to keep up. And there was a cost of following that had to to do with the reality8:11 versus the the fantasy or false expectation. And the follower was expected to kind of pay that price. The second thing that we see is that life on the road with Jesus involves8:23 conflicts of priority you are expected to endure. Right? Conflicts you are expected to endure. What kind of conflicts? Conflicts of priority.8:35 And whereas costs you are expected to count, that checks your expectation. Conflicts you are expected to endure. That that will challenge your priorities.8:47 Right? The man, said to Jesus after he invited him to follow him, said, Lord, first let me go and bury my father. And Jesus said, let the the dead bury their own dead,8:59 but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God. Right? Where Jesus is essentially saying, you know, I know that's important, but I'm more important. And that's9:10 that feels like, Christ when he says that. Right? Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, all your strength. Seek first, the kingdom of God, where Jesus has9:22 priority even over Earth's highest priorities. The third thing we see about life on the road in Jesus is that it involves commitments you are9:34 expected to keep. So there are costs you are expected to count, conflicts you are expected to endure, and commitments you are expected to keep. Commitments that have to do with what?9:46 Commitment of strength and focus. You know, that last charge and example that Jesus has used Jesus uses in this Luke passage where the man says, I'll follow you, Lord, but first let me go back and say goodbye to my9:57 family. Jesus says, no 1. Alright? That's pretty pretty clear. Who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for10:09 service in the kingdom of God. Now in that culture, in a in a first century culture, the agrarian life, the farming life was well known. Right? And so10:20 Jesus pulls out for this guy a farming analogy, and and he he creates this picture of the farmer with his hands on the plow, and10:33 a farmer has to look forward. He can't look back. He always has to have his focus going forward. So there's10:45 that challenge of he's gotta focus his strength. He's gotta focus his vision, he's gotta keep looking forward versus looking back. We might even say in today's, lexicon,10:57 checking the rear view mirror all the time, kinda wondering what's going on in the life that we left as we're trying to move with Jesus on the road going11:09 forward. And Jesus makes it really clear. He's just like, just like a farmer can't look back, neither can you. You know, I've been following the Lord for 39 years and, man, this just totally11:21 describes both, the challenge, and the joy of following Jesus. He is truly on the move. God is on the move. God's on the move right now in your life.11:33 God's on the move in your community. God's on the move. The kingdom of God is advancing forcefully. And Jesus said in the gospels, and forceful men lay hold of it. I mean, it's like grabbing the tail of the11:45 whale. Right? He's gonna change you. He's gonna change your life. He's gonna change your priorities. Change how you see life. Change how you see people. I mean, this thing is a class 5 rapid with Jesus. It's called the11:56 Kingdom of God, and it's advancing forcefully. Think about that word. Forcefully. And forceful men lay hold of it. Woah. Right? So of course,12:07 Jesus is honest. There's our expectation of what life traveling with Jesus on the road of life will be like. But then there's the reality, and the reality is that12:19 Jesus doesn't sugarcoat it. He said, there are costs you are expected to count, conflicts you are expected to endure. And commitments you are expected to keep in the12:31 moment. Right? You will make decisions, right, with your ultimate destination in mind. The kingdom of God. That's the filter. It's12:43 Jesus. It's he's the king, and it's his kingdom that we're going forward. And that's really going to test your whole life structure. Right?12:55 So Jesus makes it very clear. We're gonna move to that passage in Matthew 7 where, again, Jesus doesn't sugarcoat, he doesn't confront, he doesn't comfort,Enter the Narrow Gate 13:08 but he does challenge. Listen to what Jesus says about salvation and the destination. He says this, enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the13:19 road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow is the road that leads to life.13:31 Listen. And only a few find it. Wow. You know, I I was thinking about the the high school assembly where the branches of the military come in, you know, there's navy,13:43 there's army, there's air force, there's marines. And the navy guy goes and gives a a 10 minute pitch, and then the army guy goes, he gives a 10 minute pitch. The air force guy gives a 10 minute pitch. The marine guy13:54 steps up to the front. He's just like, hey, there's only a few of you that have what it takes to be a marine, and I'll be over there. Thank you very much. And of course, the longest line was the14:06 line to investigate how to become a marine. Now this statement by Jesus, but small is the gate and narrow is the road that leads to life and only a few find I hope it hits you that same14:17 way. It's a challenge. Jesus isn't, saying no 1 can follow me. He's not comforting us, though, with respect to what that's gonna14:29 be like. He's he's challenging us, that this this life, salvation is an exclusive thing. It's through Jesus alone. That's the narrow14:41 gate. There aren't many roads that lead to Rome, at least not according to Jesus. There's 1 way. He says, I'm the way. He's the gate. He's a narrow gate. That path that goes like14:53 this, it goes like this. You wanna get to God? You gotta trust in Jesus Christ, in his person, in his work. Right? And and then there's this other choice where15:05 it's the popular 1. It's it's the 1 that that caters to man. It's the 1 that lets him keep the way he lives and have a path to God. And it's a false it's a false15:17 fountain that people like that are drinking from. So that's salvation, but you know, the road with Jesus after salvation, it's the same thing. Right? It's a15:29 narrow road. Right? The road doesn't stop when you get through the the the gate. It just continues to be narrow. It's full of costs and conflicts, priorities, and commitments.15:41 Right? And it's at odds with this broad road that culture is on. There's Christ's road, and there's culture's road. And he's drawing a contrast15:53 between the 2. There's the many, and there's the few. Right? Man of God, you're a part of the few. That's why you're watching or listening to this podcast from wherever you are. Right? You're a part of the16:05 few because there's that eternal part of you, there's that commitment to Jesus that's ready to pay the cost, willing to endure the conflicts. And you're ready to keep the commitment that you made. But it is a16:17 challenge. Amen? It it takes daily refocusing and resetting, and that's why I'm so glad you're here on the men's global livestream. Jesus made this a theme.16:29 He was very upfront, very famous passage from Luke 9. Jesus says this, then he said to them all, whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves, take up16:40 their cross daily, and follow me. And so here we are in Luke 9. Earlier on in the gospels, Jesus's invitation sounds like this, come and16:52 see. And then he'd ratchet it up. He would say, alright. Come and commit. And then ultimately, when the crowds began to dwindle as the invitation17:05 got more serious, Jesus would give this invitation, come and die. When you say pick up your cross daily, that's an that's an instrument of execution. Right? That means that17:16 something's gonna die. Right? And in the spiritual road with Jesus, your old self is put to death, so that the new self can rise. Old desires put to death, new desires17:28 for God come into play. Old lifestyle gets put to death, new lifestyle in Christ. Old character habits and attitudes die, new character comes and new habits come that reflect17:40 Christ likeness. Right? So Jesus, in traveling the road with him, the invitation is open to all. But he's upfront that it's come and see,17:52 then over time, come and commit. We'll get notched up. The pressure will get notched up. Then ultimately, he'll just say, alright. Come and die. Everybody listening to this video podcast on the18:04 men's global livestream, you're in 1 of those places right now. Right? Maybe you're on the front end of your relationship with Christ, and you tuned in, and you're like, man, this is really cool. Well, just know that18:14 anybody can be saved if they enter through the narrow gate and commit their lives to Christ. Maybe that's you. And you responded to Jesus saying, hey. Come and see. Right? And now Christ is in your life.18:25 But as you begin to walk this road, the Jesus road, he will ask for increasing commitment. He will say, come and commit. And then he will get to a place with you where18:37 he'll require of you your whole life. It's like, no, it's it's it's everything. Jesus gave his whole life, and so you would expect Jesus to demand18:50 our whole life and our commitment to him. So Jesus says, write this down, the narrow gate leads to a hard road. Right? The narrow gate leads to a hard road.19:02 The narrow gate of salvation leads to a hard road where there's costs, right, that we're expected to count. There's conflicts that we're expected to endure, and there's commitments that we are19:14 expected to keep. And so going back to my initial, sort of metaphor, right, the path of least resistance, in the spiritual life, easier is not19:25 always better on the Jesus Road. Popular is not always the path. In fact, rarely is the cultural path the Christ path.19:37 Right? Jesus said you're in the world. You're not of it. Right? So let's examine now the Jesus Road. That's just kind of a setup that's hearing19:49 directly from the mouth of Christ about the realities of following him. And now we're gonna look at what the Jesus Road. We're gonna unpack it even at a deeper level,Crucify Flesh, Live by Faith 20:01 of what it involves. And the first thing that, the Jesus Road involves is it's a road of crucifying the flesh. K? Write that down. Versus what?20:13 Satisfying the flesh. Right? The Jesus road is a road of crucifying the flesh versus what? A road of satisfying the flesh. Listen to20:25 what is at stake from God's word on this whole theme of listening and being driven by the flesh versus being led by the spirit. Alright? It says this,20:37 therefore brothers and sisters, we have an obligation, but it's not to the flesh to live according to it. For if you live according to the flesh,20:48 you will die. But if by the spirit, you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live. Right? So there you go. You got21:01 obligated to the flesh, you will die. But if by the spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live. You will die, you will live. You will die, you will live. I think every man listening to21:13 this sound of my voice right now. It's like, I wanna live. Right? But so many times, our impulses, our appetites, our addictions, our21:25 wants, our passions, our desires, right, there's just no breaks. And we just take our foot off the brake and press the gas on the21:36 flesh. Right? And we want what we want when we want it. We indulge our appetites. We indulge our addictions. We indulge our thoughts. We indulge our flesh.21:48 And we give in to the impulse. Right? Versus what? Holy Spirit discipline and self control. Now I want you to see22:00 how crucifying the flesh is connected to maturity, and satisfying the flesh is synonymous with immaturity. Right? So you got a little toddler,22:13 and we sort of expect toddlers to want what they want, what they want it, throw temper tantrums, fall down, do the do the toddler flop, flip around, throw, you know, get upset, you know, when22:25 you deny their flesh. Right? They get emotional, they get angry. Right? That's a toddler. Right? Driven by impulse,22:36 controlled by their appetites, and by their flesh. Right? A man, on the other hand, as the toddler grows up with increasing age, is supposed to come22:48 increasing levels of self control. Here's the problem. When you have a grown man with man sized responsibilities, but23:00 with toddler like character when it comes to impulses and appetites, that's destruction. K? That's immaturity back here and23:12 immaturity up here. You know, that doesn't fit. And that's where the Bible is so honest. Right? If you don't get your flesh under control, if you don't get your impulses23:24 under control, what happens is the flesh says, hey, make a good thing the ultimate thing. Right? And then it becomes an addiction, an obsession,23:37 an impulse driven life. The spirit of God says, thank God for the good things, but keep the ultimate thing, God. And that's what we call self23:48 control. Right? Where God is God. God is first. God is over my flesh. The Holy Spirit is over my flesh. I'm filled, led by, controlled by the24:00 Holy Spirit on a daily basis. And then I can experience freedom. Listen to what it says in Galatians 5 16. So I say, walk by the Spirit24:12 and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. The images of 2 people walking together in partnership, in communication. Right? Just24:24 imagine, you know, like a SEAL team or a group of army rangers, you know, they're in communication. They're they're in close communication, close contact. They're advancing. Right? Because they have to ingress on a24:35 target and they want victory. Right? Just imagine your your partner, your battle buddy is the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit is dropping thoughts, is dropping impressions, is is speaking to24:47 you through the word of God, providing leadership through, the Word, and is letting you know, hey, this shows love for God. This shows love for people. Alright? You got it? Come this24:59 way. Walk by the Spirit. Listen. It's a picture of close partnership. Right? But in contrast to that, there's the flesh, and the flesh wants to be gratified now. Don't no thought25:11 process. It's like stimulus response. Right? That's not walking in the spirit. That's walking by impulse and self gratification. But you know that you're25:22 walking by the spirit when there's a stimulus alright, and you're pulled, but then there is this this cognitive process, this spiritual process where you're just like, okay, I gotta assess25:34 that impulse. Does this impulse show love for God? Does it show love for people? There's an assessment. It's a no. The Holy Spirit is saying no. And then you're gonna walk with the spirit25:46 versus be driven by the flesh. So the Jesus road, involves a road of crucifying the flesh25:58 versus what? Satisfying the flesh. How do you do that? You walk in the spirit. Secondly, the Jesus Road, involves living by faith. Right? It's a road of living by faith,26:11 versus what? Living by sight. Alright? Write that down. The Jesus road is a road of living by faith versus what? Living by sight. As you can see, we're teaching26:22 by contrast. Well, let's go right to the words of Jesus in John chapter 20 where he says this, then Jesus told him, because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed26:35 are those who have not seen and yet have believed. Right? Faith and belief. What does that involve? Right? It involves commitment without26:47 knowing. That's faith. Right? We do it every day. Right? We We get in the car. We turn over the engine. We're strongly persuaded that we're gonna get from 0.1 to point b, but we don't know before the26:59 fact. Right? Somebody along the way might be texting, or drunk driving, or do road rage. We don't know. But we're strongly persuaded, mostly27:10 because we've driven from 0.1 to point b so many times that we're gonna get there. But you do it in faith, brother. You don't do it in fact, because you can't know if you're gonna get there. Same thing when you get on27:22 the plane. Right? You don't know if you're gonna land. You're strongly persuaded you're gonna land, but you can't know. Right? You're trusting the physics, the plane, the mechanics, the guys in the cockpit. Hopefully27:34 they're trained well. That's all faith brother. That's all faith. You're committing before knowing. You go to the doctor, you take medicine. Right? You just pop it in your mouth by faith. Right? You don't know anything27:46 about the bioengineering of that drug. You are totally trusting the dude in the white coat that he's trained, he knows what he's talking about, he's properly diagnosing you, and that he's sending you to the pharmacy to27:55 pick up that medication that you're popping in your mouth completely by faith. Right? Not by sight. You don't know before the fact that that's happening.28:07 Right? So we can only be strongly persuaded, and Jesus says to Thomas, hey, you know what? You believe because you've seen. Listen to the next audience.28:19 Blessed are those, you and me, right, who have not seen and yet have believed. We're traveling the Jesus road when we're traveling it by faith, not by sight.28:32 Alright? Talks about this in first Peter, chapter 1, verses 8 and 9. It says this, though you, man of God, have not seen him, you love28:44 him. And even though you do not see him now, you believe in him, and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your28:55 faith, the salvation of your souls. There's a lot there, but it just reinforces Jesus's point. I've never seen Jesus physically. Have I encountered him through the29:07 Holy Spirit? Hundred and 50 percent. That's how I got saved. That's how I came into the faith. Back on July second, 19 82. I had an encounter with the resurrected29:19 Christ in my room at 6 7 8 8 Hanover Drive. It was insane. Right? I was seeking the Lord. I said, Jesus, if you're real, I wanna see you. I was calling out to God, and he came,29:31 and he manifested his power and presence. Did I see his physical body? No, I did not. But, you know, from that day forward, even though I haven't seen him, I love him. I'd be willing to give my life for him.29:43 Right? I believe in him. And along this Jesus road for 39 years, I have been filled with so much joy because of that love and belief in him. What29:55 I love about this passage from first Peter is it says that I'm filled with joy, for you are receiving, circle that word in your notes, the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls. That word30:07 receiving is in the present active indicative. What it means is that you've received it and you keep on receiving. You receive and you keep on receiving because you love and believe in him, believe in30:19 him, you're gonna get refilled with joy, and you receive that salvation initially filled with joy. Why? Because you said, God, I'm gonna love you. I'm gonna believe in you. Right? And you got filled with joy. And then30:30 you hit another crossroads, and you're like, God, I love you. I'm gonna commit to you. I'm gonna believe in you. And then you get filled with joy again. So it's you receive and keep on receiving the end result, listen,30:42 of your faith. Right? When you commit based, right, on the person and work of Christ and the promise that he gives us. Right? The salvation of30:54 your soul. You see, here's the thing about salvation fellas. It's not a then and there thing. And that's the way most people think. It's like, oh, salvation is when I die and I go to heaven. No. Salvation starts the31:04 moment that you give to life your Christ. He saves you and he keeps on saving you. You receive him and you keep on receiving his joy. Okay?31:17 So the Jesus Road is a road of crucifying versus satisfying the flesh, living by faith, and not by versus31:28 living by sight. Third, the Jesus Road is a road of embracing hardship and growing. K. Write that down. The Jesus road is a road of embracing hardshipShow more In this video 0:00 The Cost of the Jesus Road13:02 Enter the Narrow Gate19:54 Crucify Flesh, Live by Faith31:35 Embrace Hardship, Shine as Light
Comments
Keep it kind. Comments are public.