Skip to content Radical Discipleship Sep 8 · 44 min ...more
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Rev. Paul Jeyachandran leads the Intentional Disciple Making Church (IDMC) Movement, which is all about calling churches back to its disciplemaking roots. Visit us at idmcmovement.com
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0:09 Shall we give the Lord a Clap Offering Church? It is a joy and a privilege to study the word of God together. Today, I wanna talk about radical discipleship. You know, God has given us grace to study0:21 throughout this year. And in this lesson, we wanna touch on Mark chapter 10 verses 17 to 31. Radical discipleship. And as he was setting out on0:33 his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life? And0:45 Jesus said to him, why do you call me good? No 1 is good except God alone. You know the commandments. Do not murder. Do not commit adultery. Do0:56 not steal. Do not bear false witness. Do not defraud. Honor your father and mother. And he said to him, teacher, all these I have kept from1:08 my youth. And Jesus looking at him, loved him and said to him, you lack 1 thing. Go sell all that you have and give to the1:20 poor, and you will have treasure in heaven and come follow me. Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful for he had1:31 great possessions. And Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, how difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God. And the1:43 disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said to them, children, how difficult it is to enter the kingdom of God. It is easier for a camel to go1:55 through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God. And they were exceedingly astonished and said to him, then who can2:07 be saved? Jesus looked at them and said, with man it is impossible, but not with God, for all things are possible with God.2:19 Peter began to say to him, see, we have left everything and followed you. And Jesus said, truly I say to you, there is no 1 who has2:31 left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands for my sake and for the gospel, who2:42 will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands with2:54 persecutions, and in the age to come, eternal life. Verse 31, But many who are first will be last, and the last first.3:07 This is a long passage of scripture, but I wanted to take time to read it for you so that you understand the entire context. Now let's unpack this. There are3:19 2 errors that we need to avoid when trying to interpret this text. 1, don't universalize this command. The second 1, don't3:31 trivialize the content. Let me say that. The reason why we shouldn't universalize the command. We can't take this passage of scripture3:43 and create a doctrine that anyone who follows Christ should sell everything they have and come and follow him wholeheartedly. Like that.3:55 Or in other words, we shouldn't say that Christ will ask everyone to do the same thing he asked this person. On the other hand, we cannot go to the other extreme4:07 to trivialize the content. We cannot trivialize by saying Christ will never say this to anyone. Can you see the 2 extremes? 1 is Christ will say this to everyone. The other4:18 extreme is Christ will never say this to anyone. I want you to listen to me carefully. It is not about selling the possessions, giving to the poor, coming follow him. That's4:30 not the whole point of this text. The point of this text is, does Christ really have the right to tell us,4:42 the right to ask us to give up everything and follow him? I'm absolutely sure he has and I'm sure you will agree with me. So this text is about the4:53 allegiance of one's heart. And this is the radical discipleship that we want to cultivate in our lives. Authentic discipleship to Jesus.5:05 And this is the radical discipleship we are also calling others to come on that journey where Christ Jesus is king, master, lord over their lives. And he has access5:17 to every aspect of one's life. Hallelujah. I want us to pay attention to 9 key things that I find in this text. Number 1, a radical5:29 approach. Look at verse 21 once again. It says, looking at him, Jesus loved him and said to him, you lack 1 thing, go sell all that you have, give to the5:40 poor, and you will have treasure in heaven, and come follow me. There was something about the call of Jesus to salvation. See, many times5:52 when you hear the salvation altar call, it usually is just come. Jesus will make your dreams come true. Are you living with no hope? Come to Jesus. He will give you hope6:04 and he will fulfill all the dreams in your life. It is very man centered and very carnal in its orientation. Whereas when Jesus calls someone to salvation,6:15 Jesus' call to salvation demands total surrender. See, you and I, we need to understand salvation cannot be earned. Salvation is never6:27 a matter of just external reformation. Salvation is always a matter of internal transformation. What do I mean by that? Listen,6:39 even if you sell everything you have, even if you give away all your wealth to feed the poverty, the poor in the world, I want you to listen to me carefully, yet6:51 with your good works, you cannot buy salvation. So then why would Jesus say this to this man? In another context of scripture, the man is described as the rich7:02 young ruler, celebrated among the community. He's a noble man. Everybody loves him. Everybody knows him. And this is the key. Jesus says to this man, sell everything and come follow me. And7:14 yet, the bible says, this man is unwilling. Isn't it? So what was the issue? The issue is not go sell everything. The issue was a matter of the heart.7:26 Jesus wanted to ask him whether he's willing to come and submit his will to Jesus as Lord and Master over his life. So7:38 the issue here is not about money, the issue is about the heart. See, many times when people come to faith in Christ, they want to consult7:49 Jesus. You know, people would say, I want Jesus to be the co captain of my life. See, Jesus doesn't want to be the co captain. He doesn't want to be the co8:01 pilot. He doesn't want to be the adviser. He actually wants to be the Lord over your life. He wants to take over every aspect of your life. So in this passage of scripture, this young man8:13 comes to Jesus acknowledging Jesus as a good teacher. In other words, he acknowledges Jesus as a respectable teacher. But Jesus is not merely a respectable teacher. Jesus8:25 is the sovereign Lord. Jesus doesn't just want to be your financial advisor. Jesus wants to be your financial Lord. Jesus doesn't want just to be your marriage counselor.8:37 He wants to be the Lord of your marriage. Listen carefully. What Jesus is calling us to, it's an absolute surrender. And the surrender is all about the allegiance of our heart.8:49 See, if you have been watching the series that we are on right now in this life group lessons, you would understand that we place a lot of importance on9:00 repentance and turning to God. Repenting of our ways and turning to God. And can I give you 4 things to write down? It's not in my notes, take this down. Repentance is seen in 49:12 areas. 1, it is seen in the change of attitude. It is seen in the change of actions. It is seen in the change of our affections. And it's9:24 also seen in the change of our allegiance. All 4 a's so that you can remember. It is a change of our attitude, it's a change of our actions, it is a change of our heart's9:35 affection, what we love. And then whom we call as Lord and Master, allegiance. So I want you to listen to me. In this context, there is a9:47 beautiful context here actually, in Mark chapter 10 where we find this scripture. In verses 17 to verse 31, that's what we read, but the context in verse 13 to verse 16 I want you to read.9:59 Look at this. And they were bringing children to him that he might touch them and the disciples rebuked them. But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, let the children come to me. Do not hinder them for10:11 to such belongs the kingdom of God. Jesus says, do not hinder the children from coming to me because the children will inherit the kingdom of God. And he says, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a10:22 child shall not enter it. And he took them in his arms and blessed them and laying his hands on them. I love this picture of Jesus taking all the children in his arms and blessing10:34 them. And he says, if you want to really walk in the kingdom of God, you should be childlike. What does it mean to be childlike? You know, I have 2 boys.10:46 When they were young toddlers, I used to play with them a lot. And 1 of the games I played with them is they would stand in the bed, and I would stretch forth my hand and say, jump. And they would jump to10:57 me. They used to do it when they were children. But as they were growing up, they started to think. And they said, nope. I want you to listen to me carefully. For a11:09 young child, jumping into the arms of the father is this, he's my hero. He will catch me. There's no doubt in their heart that the father will not catch them. There's no doubt. He is able. He's capable. He will do11:21 it. But as they grow older, they start to reason. And now, there's doubts. There's questions. So they don't have the absolute trust. Listen. What was Jesus highlighting in the scripture is,11:34 you are like children. God is like father. Wouldn't you come to the father? And if the father asks you to sell everything and come into the kingdom and follow him, wouldn't you do it? A child would do it.11:46 But if you don't, it's because you're not childlike in your faith. See, a father can provide much more than what we have right now. That's what this young man didn't understand. So it's11:58 a radical approach to salvation because Jesus' call to salvation demands total surrender. He doesn't want to be just your merely a respectable teacher. He wants to be the12:10 sovereign Lord. Secondly, it's a radical affection. The bible says in verse 21, Jesus looking at him loved him. I want you to circle that. What Jesus is demanding from12:21 this man is a demand placed upon him because of love. I want you to catch this. Jesus calls us to a life of absolute surrender because he loves us.12:34 It is not because he wants to hurt us, harm us. It is actually he wants to give us the joy and the privilege and the pleasure of knowing him intimately.12:46 See, there is a pleasure in surrendering to God. Only if you have surrendered to him areas of your life, you will know it. There is a pleasure in sacrificing for God. When you12:58 truly come and empty your lives before him, when you empty whatever he asks you to place in his hands, and you're willingly willingly give it to him, that's when you recognize there's a pleasure of God.13:10 Look at another context in Luke chapter 12. Jesus said it like this in verse 32. Fear not little flock, for it is your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. And then in verse 33, he says, sell13:22 your possessions and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with money backs that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. I want you13:34 to catch this. Sell all you have, give to the poor, so that you can store treasure in heaven. Who will be willing to do that? We will not be willing13:46 to do that because our hearts are gripped with fear. What if I don't have any provision? What if I don't have any need? What if I have what if I have many needs and I can't meet it? Can I humbly say this?13:58 Verse 32 comes as a promise right there. What's the promise? The promise in verse 32 is fear not little flock for it is your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. 3 pictures of God. You are a14:09 flock, he's a shepherd. You are a child, he's a father. You are the subject, you are a citizen, he's the king. He's the 1 who owns the kingdom. And the bible says,14:21 God is our shepherd who protects us. God is our father who delights in us. And God is our king who14:33 provides for us. A king provides for his people. A father delights in protecting and nurturing and developing their children and giving good gifts to their children. And the bible says your shepherd protects14:45 you. So a king provides, a father delights, and a shepherd provides and protects. So I want you to listen to me carefully. The reason why he's inviting this young man is because there is14:56 a radical affection. He loves him. Thirdly, there's a radical command. The Bible says in verse 21, you lack 1 thing. And then he goes on to list 5 key15:09 verbs here. 5 key action statements. I want you to catch this. 1, go, sell, give, come, follow. Go,15:20 sell, give, come, follow. In 1 verse. 5 commands. See, Jesus gives commands, not considerations.15:33 It was a very direct command. There's no doubt about what Jesus was saying. See, many times people when they read this, they may think Jesus maybe was checking15:45 if this man was willing. You know in the Old Testament, God said to Abraham, Abraham sacrifice your son, but God really did not want Isaac to die or Abraham to kill Isaac,15:56 sacrifice Isaac. He was just testing him. So in this case, maybe God was just testing him whether he was willing. No. No. No. No. No. The Bible is very clear here. It was a16:08 command. It was a direct command. Go do this and come follow me. As followers of Christ, we do not consider options. As followers of Christ, we16:20 obey. 1 of the things that you and I, we need to wrestle with is, is this a literal command? If it is a literal command, would Jesus ask you to do this? Sometimes16:31 we struggle. We want a Jesus that blesses us, not a Jesus that asks us to empty our bank accounts or to give our lives in total surrender or areas of our lives where we put it at the16:43 altar. But you know what? Jesus claims that. The reason why he demands this is because your life and my life belongs to him. 1 of the things that16:55 has been a practice of mine now for many, many decades is this. I go before the Lord each and every year. Lord, here is my life. It is a blank17:07 check. Whatever is in my plate that is not meant to be, I want you to remove it. Because sometimes we may put things in our plate that he never earmarked for us.17:19 Or sometimes, we are asked to put certain things on our plate and we don't want because our plate are so full. So I go before the Lord and I say, Lord, what is it in the season ahead? What do you want me to remove17:31 and what you want me to put back? What do you want me to put it into my put it into my plate? I don't want to be driven by a carnal ambition or my own perceived vision for my life. I want17:42 you to speak and direct my life. So a blank check. And when you do this, God is delighted. He speaks and he directs your steps. The Bible says he17:54 delights in directing his children. Hallelujah. So the fourth thing here is a radical reward. Verse 21. You will have treasure in heaven. I want you to18:06 catch this picture. Jesus doesn't just want to strip us of our pleasure, Jesus wants to satisfy us with his treasure. You and I, we need to understand Jesus is not a18:18 killjoy. He's not there to try and see, okay, let me take take take whatever I can from you. But what Jesus is asking us to do is to live life in a radical18:30 manner by accumulating treasures in heaven. I want you to ask yourself this question. Why would someone sacrifice everything for18:42 the kingdom of God? Because the people of God are called to live a life of stewardship, called to live a life of sacrifice for his kingdom's sake. But why would you do that? You would do that because you lay18:54 hold of something that others don't see. Look at this in Matthew chapter 13 and verse 44. The Bible says, the kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field which a man found and covered up. Then in19:05 his joy, he goes and sells all that he has and he buys that field. Why would he sell everything he has and buy that19:17 field? The Bible says because he saw something that others fail to see. I want you to listen to me carefully. When you and I see something,19:29 you can't unsee it. When you have seen the treasure that is in heaven, when you have seen the joy and what God has prepared for you, this world won't be the19:41 1 that you would fall in love with. Listen carefully. You learn to lift things with with loosely, holding things loosely. Whether you have much, whether you have little, you hold things loosely.19:53 Why? Because you want to accumulate treasures in heaven. That's the key. Here he says, in his joy, he sells everything. In his joy. That joy is unspeakable. Maybe his friends call him20:05 foolish. You know if you sell a property in Sydney right now, you can't buy back? Why? Because prices are increasing. What a a fool. Why would you sell? Why would you do this? Can I humbly say this? He20:17 sees something beyond. And therefore, he lays hold of that which cannot be taken from him. So I want you to ask yourself this question. Do you have a secular thinking or a kingdom thinking?20:29 Secular thinking says, all that the world has to offer, these are my trinkets. These are my treasures. I have to lay hold of them and hold them tight. But a kingdom person says, no, my20:40 treasures are in heaven. And heaven only 1 thing is valuable, the souls of men. Hallelujah. So what philosophy do you embrace? Do you embrace our short term treasures20:52 we can't keep because 1 day we're gonna leave behind everything or our long term treasures we can't lose? What are you embracing? So I pray in the name of21:04 Jesus that we will always be kingdom people who store treasures in heaven. There are only 4 things that are celebrated in heaven. The word of God, the kingdom of God,21:15 God himself, and the souls of men. So I pray that we will lay hold of things that are eternal and celebrated in heaven. Hallelujah. The fifth 1 I learned from here is the radical21:27 loss. In Mark chapter 10 and verse 22, after Jesus gave him that 5 commands, look at how this man responds. The bible says disheartened by the saying, he went away21:39 sorrowful for he had great possessions or great possessions had him. He was disheartened. He went away sorrowful.21:51 This is why I want you to learn this principle. The love of possessions will rob us of the joy in God. You know, the moment you compare your life with somebody else,22:03 you lose the joy of God. The moment you compare yourself with someone who has more than what you have, you will lose your joy in life. In other words, the moment you love22:14 possessions, you will be robbed. You will be robbed of the joy in God. Now this is the key. The reason why this man walked away22:25 disheartened, walked away sorrowful. I want you to capture this picture. His eyes were blind. His face was sad, and his hands were full.22:37 The reason his eyes were blind and his face was sad is because his hands were full. And whatever was filling his hand was 1 that was occupying22:49 his heart. Listen to me carefully. By the grace of God, I enjoy a good Indian meal like biryani. Now, if someone had23:01 cooked a feast for me and put in front of me a wonderful Indian dish and all these Indian dishes. Now imagine, I had23:13 already eaten McDonald's and KFC and filled my stomach. And I come in here and there's a precious banquet.23:25 No matter how good the food is, how delicious it is, how rich it is, I'll still not be hungry enough to eat it. That's the truth. You and I, God is inviting us23:36 into his banquet, and yet we can't enjoy it. Why? Because we have already enjoyed the junk food. The junk is in our heart, in our hands. That's what the Bible says here. He doesn't23:48 hunger for the things of God. He doesn't hunger for God himself. He doesn't hunger what God can provide for him because his hands are full. Therefore, his eyes are blind and his face24:00 is sad. Number 6. There is a radical warning here. Verse 25 says, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.24:12 3 times in this text Jesus says, it is difficult for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God. It is difficult for a wealthy person to enter the kingdom of God. Now you may sit there and think,24:24 oh, I don't Thank God I'm not rich. I'm not wealthy. But according to United Nations, everyone who lives in a western world, you are considered rich.24:36 If you have a roof over your head and food on your table and you're not worried about where you will sleep tonight and where you will eat tomorrow, you are rich.24:47 You are wealthy. And the Bible says here, a wealthy person, it'll be so difficult for them to enter into the kingdom of God. Why? I24:59 want you to catch this principle. We desperately need to realize the deadly nature of our possessions. In other words, we can't allow the possessions to possess us. The moment the possessions25:11 occupy the allegiance of our heart, we may be wandering away. See, in Jesus' picture, possessions are not25:23 blessings. Possessions are actually barriers. See, the world looks at someone who's blessed and say, oh, this person is blessed because he bought a house. This person is blessed because he's got a upgrade in his life.25:35 This person is blessed because he's got a promotion and an income pay rise and all that. He's he's got multiple possessions. Listen. Possessions are not really blessings. Possessions could be barriers. That's the25:47 picture Jesus wants you to catch. Why? Because if you allow these possessions to possess your heart, they're gonna take you away from the things of God. What is the New25:58 Testament's stance on prosperity? I want you to go with me to first Timothy chapter 6 and verse 17 to verse 19. Let's read it together. 3, 2, 1. As for the rich in this present age, charge them not26:10 to be haughty. Circle that word, not to be haughty. In other words, when you have possessions, possessions produce pride. Not to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches,26:23 but on God who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. See, our God is not a killjoy. He actually provides for you to enjoy. But at the same time, what he26:35 has given for you to enjoy, he also gives it to you for to employ. To employ for his glory. Look at this. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to26:46 share. Thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future so that they may take hold of that which is truly life. Love that scripture. It says, if you really26:58 wanna be rich, be rich in God. Be rich towards God. Be rich in storing treasures in heaven. But what he has given you on earth, enjoy it. Because27:10 even that too is a gift from Ecclesiastes. But that which you enjoy, not just consume you, but you should actually use it to27:22 sow into others. Sow into the kingdom of God. Sow it 2 things. Resources are given to you to enjoy, at the same time for you to employ for the kingdom glory, for27:34 the glory of God, and for the good of his kingdom. Hallelujah. So a couple of things I want you to catch from here. Possessions produce pride. Not only that, riches causes us to become self confident. Riches causes us to27:45 be self sufficient. And riches sometimes cause us to be self centered. And when we are self centered, we ignore the plight of people around us. We ignore the27:57 promptings of the Holy Spirit to be a blessing. We ignore the things of God. We don't long for it. We don't hunger for it. So that's why you and I, we need to pay attention to this. You do have a28:09 choice and the choice is this. A life of selfish luxury that forsakes the kingdom or a life of selfless love for the sake of the kingdom. Which 1 would you choose?28:21 Number 7, a radical gift. Mark chapter 10 verse 26 and 27 says, and they, the disciples, were exceedingly astonished and said to him, then who28:33 can be saved? What 1000000 dollar question. If the rich can't enter the kingdom of God, then who can be saved? The reason why they asked is because many of the disciples were actually rich.28:45 They came from families that owned businesses. They came from families that had servants. In other words, in those days, they were well off. And that's why they asked this question. They were28:57 exceedingly astonished and said, who then can be saved? And the answer to that was in verse 27, Jesus says, Jesus looked at them and said, with man it is impossible, but not with29:09 God, for all things are possible with God. I want you to listen to me carefully. Salvation is utterly impossible for anyone apart from the grace of God. You29:20 cannot earn salvation. God gives salvation to us. It's a grace gift that you receive. God does not sell us salvation. God does not trade us salvation.29:33 God gives salvation. You and I, we need to come before God and to receive. What is impossible with man is possible with God. And it was made possible because Jesus,29:45 God's only son, lived the life that you and I could never live, but died the death that you and I deserved. And when he died, all our sin, all the judgment of29:57 God was poured upon him. And the Bible says he gave his life as a ransom to save us from our sins. His blood cleanses us. And today, we are blood bought30:09 saints. Hallelujah. So if you believe in Jesus, you are saved. If you believe and confess that Jesus is Lord, salvation is yours. Hallelujah. The promise30:21 of an eternal life with our heavenly father. Hallelujah. Thank you, Jesus. The eighth 1 that I want you to capture is a radical freedom. Peter began to say to30:32 him, see, we have left everything and followed you. See Peter, when Jesus invited him to go on that journey, Peter30:44 left his business. Peter left his employment. Peter came after Jesus. He went after Jesus. And now Peter asked this million dollar question, we have30:56 left everything and followed you. I want you to listen to me. There is a radical freedom that we can experience when we truly come before Jesus. Jesus'31:08 call to us is to come and live life with no attachment to the things of this world. See, he is a God who blesses you, but yet in your life, you live like this31:20 with no nothing to grab, but you're willing to live like this. And that's the radical freedom Peter is talking about here. He says, Jesus frees us from our bondage to31:32 ourselves and our possessions. We have everything, yet we have nothing. We have everything so that we can enjoy. At the same time, we live31:43 with nothing. In other words, we are ready to give up. We are ready to place it in in Jesus' hands. We're ready to surrender all when he calls.31:55 And if you can live like that, that's a radical freedom. That's the life of a believer. That we are free to go wherever he calls, and we are free to give whatever he32:06 asks. Imagine that kind of freedom. You know, in my personal journey with the Lord, the Lord had brought me to a place to live like this. And every now and32:18 then, he had asked me to do this, to empty. And the the path that I that I thank the Lord is because he has brought me to that place to recognize. At the32:30 end of the day, the greatest treasure I can have in this side of heaven is God's presence. God's presence with me. God's hand upon my life. If I can have him, I will32:42 have everything. I don't need other things. I just need him. And if you can come to that place to recognize, that's what he's saying, the bondage to be to be to be free from ourselves. Free from the32:54 bondage to ourselves and to the possessions. Then you can go where he calls you to go. You can do what he calls you to do. See, there are people who give excuses why they can't serve the Lord.33:06 They give excuses. Oh, the Lord has just blessed me with a job, and the job demands a lot of time, so I don't have time to give to the Lord. Oh, God has blessed me with a family. Now my family requires all my33:18 attention. I don't have time to serve the Lord. Oh, I've been asking the Lord and the Lord had blessed me and now I'm I've built this beautiful house. It's a big house. I have to clean every week. I have to do a lot of33:29 work. You know, I don't have time for anything else. Oh, I have I God has placed in my heart and and and, you know, I wanna do something for God. I wanna go somewhere, do something, but I can't. You know why? I have a33:41 pet at home I have to look after. I can't leave it. We all have excuses because we have so much attachments in this world. Things that hold onto us.33:53 What Jesus is saying is, there is a freedom when we come to him that we can live life like this. That we can live life like this. If he requires us to give something up, would you be34:05 willing? Does he have the right to ask you? That's the question of the heart. That's the matter of allegiance that Jesus is talking about. Number 9, a radical family. Look at this in34:17 verse 29. This is what Jesus says. Truly, I say to you, there is no 1 who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or34:28 lands for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands with34:40 persecutions, and in the age to come, eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first. Listen to me carefully. Peter says,34:52 Jesus, I've left everything, and I've followed you. What do I get? Jesus replies by by saying, no 1 who has left35:04 anything for the sake of the gospel, for the sake of Christ's call upon their life, they will receive now in this time. In other words, now in the earthly life, as35:16 well as in the age to come, eternal life. What will they have? Whatever Christ has invited them to surrender, they will have more of it.35:28 I want you to listen to me carefully. For the sake of the gospel, sometimes people are ostracized from their community. For the sake of the gospel, because they believed in Christ, some people have35:40 been thrown out of their family, cut off from the family will, an inheritance. They lost their lands. They lost their houses. They lost their brothers and sisters because they believed in Christ.35:53 But you know what Christ says? In this earthly life, I will give you brothers and sisters, mothers, houses, lands. I will give you all that. Why? Because36:04 he's inviting them into the family of God. See, 1 of the beautiful things I want you to catch about this statement is this. When Jesus comes to us36:16 and he invites us to go on a journey with him, he wants us to immediately obey him. That immediately, in the book of Mark, you read the36:28 whole book of Mark, you will find this word immediately. Immediately. Immediately can mean 2 things. 1, immediately means an urgency. Immediately,36:40 you run away. You immediately, you ran towards that after hearing that. That's an immediately sense of urgency. But there's another meaning for that word immediately. It is a36:51 joyful abandonment. You are so enthralled by the command. You're so enthralled by the privilege that's bestowed upon you.37:04 The invitation that Christ gives to you, you're so enthralled that you say, I joyfully abandon everything else. Nothing else makes sense. Only following Christ and doing his37:15 will matters. That joyful abandonment. When my children were young, they played basketball in the neighborhood. Imagine they are playing 2 by 2. And37:27 suddenly, Michael Jordan comes in, And he says, David, I wanna play with you. And then Steph Curry comes and says, Adam, I wanna play together with you. Can we team37:39 up and do it? What do you think my boys will say? Oh, no. No. No. We enjoy playing just with our friends. You carry on. We love you guys. We adore you. We go all the way to US to watch NBA37:51 games. But we don't wanna play with you. We will play with our No. They will readily abandon anything that they are doing, and there will be a joyful abandonment, and they will follow them.38:03 The same thing. You gotta understand the God of the universe is the 1 who is inviting you out this journey of discipleship. He's the 1 who's saying, I made the universe. I control the universe.38:14 Everything exists for my glory and for my kingdom's sake. I'm inviting you to have front row seats to see what I would do. I'm inviting you to have a partnership with me in extending my kingdom.38:26 Jesus is inviting you on that journey. What would you say? Would your heart have that joyful abandonment? And that is what Jesus is encouraging.38:38 The reason why many people don't want to do that joyful abandonment is because if I give up lands and houses and mothers and sisters and brothers, what would I get? You will get much38:50 more in this earthly lifetime and in eternity. Why? Because he ignites you with his family. Years ago, I was called out of India. I left the family that I39:02 deeply love. My father, my mother, my sister. I left them in India and pursued the call of God, and in obedience came to this country. And in this country, I've been now39:14 21 years. And in this 21 years, I look back and I say, father, you have been faithful. Why? You have given me mothers. There are many mothers in the39:25 church that God has provided for me. There are many brothers and sisters in Christ that I have, not only in our church, but all over the world, that God has given me. Hallelujah.Show more
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Paul Jeyachandran
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