James 4:7-10 – Rejoice Now – Cry Later or Cry Now – Rejoice Later
(Seven Rules for Personal Revival)
James 4:7-10 – Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.
YOUR PART
GOD’S PART
Submit to God – Proverbs 3:5-6 – Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.
He will direct your paths.
Resist the devil – James 4:7 – Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you
The devil must go in the name of Jesus.
Draw near to God – James 4:8 – Draw near to God and He will draw near to you
He will draw near to you.
Cleanse your hands – James 4:8 – Cleanse your hands
He will bless the work of your hands. Deuteronomy 28:12
Purify your hearts – Psalm 51:10 – Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
He will cleanse and restore – Psalm 51:17 – The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart—These, O God, You will not despise.
Lament, mourn, weep – James 4:9 – Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom.
For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. 1 Corinthians 4:17
Humble yourself – 1 Peter 5:6 – Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time,
He will exalt you – in His time.
THEREFORE…
James 1:21-22 – Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
THEN…
2 Chronicles 7:14 – If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
Hebrews 4:11-16 – Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience. For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account. Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
What a privilege to enter into the very presence of God. To bring our petitions, our cares, worries, concerns to him. What a comfort to know that he understands our weaknesses because he experienced them also, but without giving in to them. We enter that rest via the veil – the flesh/body of Christ.
Sin is the greatest hindrance to prayer. Sin separates us from Christ. Sin is defeated through the blood of Jesus. Being set free from sin through his blood allows us to enter into his presence.
The throne of grace is that special place where we can become one with our Lord. After confession of sins – sins of omission (things we should have done but did not) and commission (things we should not have done but did) we can enjoy fulness of joy, peace of mind. We can have satisfaction knowing that our relationship with the Lord is one that cannot be compared to any other relationship we might have experienced.
His grace is enough to satisfy your soul, to make you whole and complete. His grace is the soothing ointment from above that will meet all your cares and needs.
1 John 5:12 – He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.
He came to give us life
1 John 1:1-2 – That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life—the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us—
He came to fill us with joy
1 John 1:4 – And these things we write to you that your joy may be full.
He was there “from the beginning
John 1:1-2, 14 – In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
Disciples saw His miracles! They were witnesses! They knew!
2 Peter 1:16 – For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty.
He is real
Luke 24:39 – Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have.
He came to do away with our sin, to forgive us, to set us free, to bring us joy, to free us from bondage, to heal our bodies and much-much more.
But the main point was to forgive our sins
1 John 3:5 – And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin.
We are responsible for our sins – Not like Flip Wilson who said, “The devil made me do it.”
1 John 3:8 – He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.
Matthew 13:38-40 – The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one. The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels. Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age. The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness,and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!
He came to this earth for one purpose – to die on Calvary. By His death we know love because He gave His life for us, we should give our lives for one another following His example
1 John 3:16 – By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
He died for the ungodly – that’s you – that’s me
John 3:16 – For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
1 John 3:16 – By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
He was the propitiation (mercy seat), the one and only, the total and final ultimate sacrifice
1 John 4:9-10 – In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
Disciples saw, and testified to what He has done for us
1 John 4:14 – And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world.
Jesus is our only source!
1 John 5:12 – He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.
Fad diets are the rage of the land. Fitness centers all across our country are the in place to be. Exercise and workout programs abound and yet we eat, eat, eat and our waistlines keep on telling us we need to change. We simply cannot, for the most part, stop the continued trend of stuffing our face.
Here is a sample of one diet crazed day:
Breakfast
One cup of coffee – black
One piece of whole wheat toast – dry – no butter, no jelly
½ grapefruit without sweetener
Lunch
Two small raw carrots
One glass of iced tea without sugar
One water cress sandwich on bran toast – no mayonnaise or other spread, you know just bland disgusting stuff to fill the vast expanse of our targeted area.
Afternoon snack – 2:00 PM
One Oreo cookie
Approximately 30 minutes later
The rest of the bag of Oreo cookies
One extra-large helping of rocky road ice cream with an over-sized helping of marshmallow sauce added
Washed down by a large vanilla milkshake
Two slices of cold left-over pizza
A helping of cherry cheesecake
Two Babe Ruth candy bars
Followed by a large Pepsi
Oh, the sin of that one lonely Oreo cookie!
That is sometimes a close example of our spiritual life also. In 2 Samuel 11 we find the story of King David’s great slip from godly living. In that story, David looks out from his castle onto the roof of a distant building where he sees the beautiful Bathsheba bathing and desire takes hold of his heart. David goes on to commit adultery after that one look, then on to plotting the murder of Bathsheba’s husband. All that after one momentary glance, but a glance that consumed him and became his mortal downfall.
Nathan the prophet came and told David a little story about a rich man taking a poor man’s only lamb and David became enraged. Nathan responded, “You are the man.” David owned up to his being responsible and did the right thing. He confessed his sin, made things right. But like us, the memory of past sin sometimes lasts forever. In fact, even knowing our sins are forgiven, the thought of failure burns a scar on our memory that often pains us and wears us down. And Satan makes sure that you remember.
Galatians, chapter 5, has something to say about the lust of the flesh and enumerates several, eighteen to be exact, although this is not an all-inclusive list of sins that separate us from God. At the close of this brief passage it states, “those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” Galatians 5:21. That is a warning. But at the beginning of that passage is the hope for all of us in verse 16 where it simply tells us to “Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.”
Now, back to the Oreo cookies. Did you know that there are on the market more than a dozen different kinds of Oreo cookies? Of course, there is the original kind of chocolate with white crème filling….you know the kind we who are over the hill grew up on back in the dark ages. They were the kind all the guys in junior high used to get the entire chocolate cookie all over their teeth and then smile real big at the girls and try to gross them out. Oh, for the good old days. Now there is the same chocolate kind with double stuff filling, chocolate crème, golden crème, sugar free, spring yellow crème, reduced fat, peanut butter crème, and on and on.
You know, there was a time when the demarcation of right and wrong was a whole lot simpler than today. Like the one choice of Oreo cookies we had back when some of us grew up. Now the young people are confronted with so much more that appeals to their generation. If one type does not appeal to you, another will. Satan’s variety pack is up and running. We did not have the internet or MTV or Victoria’s Secret commercials bombarding us a generation ago.
It’s all out there…words we only saw scrawled on bathroom walls a generation or two ago are the regular language of kids in kindergarten. Sin is there and it is dangerous. It blasts at us from all directions.
But thank God, we are not alone in our battle to overcome temptation.
Hebrews 4:15 – For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.
And when we blow it – when we eat that one Oreo cookie – we have someone to turn to.
1 John 2:1 – My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
1 John 3:1 – Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.
Your position in Christ covers your sin, your failure, your weakness, your frality.
John 1:6-13 – There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
There is no better position in life than to be God’s child. He does not have grandchildren or stepchildren. Wow! A child of God! What does that entail?
We have been given a new family. No longer part of that family of anger, exasperation, irritation, and crossness.
Ephesians 2:1-3 – And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.
We now belong to the household of God. We have a family who will love us and encourage us. While there is much that is imperfect in today’s church (because it is made up of imperfect people), it is the church family that is there in times of difficulty. It is in the church family that we find community.
Ephesians 2:11-13 – Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh—who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands— that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God.
We have rights and privileges as part of the new family.
The joy of knowing our sins are forgiven and we have peace with God.
1 John 1:9 – If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
2. We have, through Jesus, power to overcome the tempations and attacks of Satan.
James 4:7 – Submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you
.We have the Word of God.
1 Thessalonians 2:13 – For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when you received the word of God which you heard of us, you received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually works also in you that believe.
We have the Holy Spirit, Christ in us.
Acts 2:38 – Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
We have the privilege of being used of God to bless others.
1 Peter 2:9 – But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.
Two years ago I painted a scene of the three crosses on Calvary with the city of Jersualem in the distance. My church has made bookmarks with this painting. Several have offered to buy it, but for right now it hangs in my living room where my wife and I enjoy it.
The three crosses were empty the day after Jesus was crucified and I see the bright sun shining on the crosses reminding us that Jesus is the light of the world.
1 John 2:1-2 – My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous. He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins—and not only our sins but the sins of all the world.
John indicates a follower of Jesus should not sin. However, he uses that word “if” again to indicate we may sin and points us to Jesus as our help when we do.
But what is sin?
Throughout the history of the church there have been, and still are, lists of what is sin. Different words have been used.
Transgression
Disobedience
Missing the mark
Overstepping the law
Rebellion
Not meeting God’s standard
Sin, whatever it is, is a serious issue.
Romans 6:23 – For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Hebrews 9:22 – And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission for sins.
Thankfully Jesus made a way for us to find forgiveness. How do we do that? Through repentance. Repentance is more than saying “I’m sorry.” It includes:
Confession of sin
Forsaking of sin
Turning to God.
Psalm 38:18 – For I will declare my iniquity; I will be in anguish over my sin.
Luke 18:13 – And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’
Luke 15:21 – And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight and am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
As we turn from sin and to God, we accept by faith His forgiveness.
Know that faith works
Agree that fasith works
Agree that “it’s for me”
What is faith? It includes both intellectual agreement and trust. Intellectual agreement is believing something to be true. Trust is actually relying on the fact that the something is true. Often a chair has been used to illustrate this. Intellectual agreement is recognizing that a chair is a chair and agreeing that it is designed to support a person who sits on it. Trust is actually sitting in the chair.
Job 19:25 – I know that my Redeemer lives.
There are, just like sin, many different words used to describe this redemption by Jesus Christ.
Propitiation – God’s demand that punishment for sin be satisfied
Adoption – made a part of the family of God
Redemption – price paid as a ransom
Justification – declared righteous with God because of shed blood of Jesus
Reconciliation – restored to fellowship with God
Substitution – we deserved death, but Christ died for us
Sacrifice (mediator) – one who gives what is necessary to bring God and man together.
The first espitle of John is full of “if” statements. They all require action on our part. God has already done His part by sending His son as the redeemer for all mankind. “If” we believe. “if” we respond.
Check out some of these “if” statements and take a moment to see if you have responded to the action required.
1 John 1:6 – If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.
1 John 1:7 – But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.
1 John 1:8 – If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
1 John 1:9 – If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
1 John 1:10 – If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.
John makes it clear that walking with Jesus requires our obedience.
1 John 2:3 – Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments.
1 John 2:15 – Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
John’s “if” statements show that our relationship with God does not depend on what others do or do not do. “if” our heart is true, God receives us.
1 John 3:20 – For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things.
1 John 3:21 – Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God.
As we have accepted the love of God and His forgiveness, we must love. No debate, no waffling – we must.
1 John 4:11-12 – Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us.
1 John 4:20 – If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?
Confidence in Him who gave us new life will be the witness within that in all things His plans/design will be made know. As we understand His will we can go with confidence before with our needs.
1 John 5:9 – If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater; for this is the witness of God which He has testified of His Son.
1 John 5:14-16 – Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.
Doing a study of 1 John, I read the epistle over day after day in different versions of the Bible.
I was struck by how often the word “know” was repeated throughout the five chapters. “Know” is listed 32 times in the New King James Version. “Knows” is listed three times and “known” is listed four times.
Another phrase, “from the beginning” is listed nine times. The phrase, “We write” is listed one time. Another phrase, “I write” is listed seven times, and “I have written,” five times. There are nineteen “if” statements and thirteen times John writes about “commandments.”
These repeated phrases tell us one thing. That is: By word and by written truth John has passed along to us “from the beginning” these truths. This is not anything new he is exhorting to us. Not a new doctrine, not a new idea. We are not about to receive a new revelation to move us to the next level, a phrase a lot of the TV evangelists use all the time. It is simply the same gospel truth that our Lord and Savior conveyed to his disciples from the very beginning. It is the same truth the Old Testament prophets also preached.
You might ask, what are these truths that are being given again to us in this letter from John? Obviously, we have not all understood it or he would not have to preach it to us again. Sooner or later if we hear the same thing that God is trying to speak to us, we may get it. Maybe! Duh!
The whole of this book, five chapters and all 104 verses is that we would learn the joy of being in fellowship with our Lord and Savior. That cannot happen if we fail to walk in the way He has told us. To walk holy and blameless, which is our “reasonable service.’
Romans 12:2 – And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
What hinders us from walking in the way He has told us to walk? John tells us we often take our eyes off God’s Word and listen to what the world/our culture tells us. He gives us warnings.
1 John 1:4-9 – And these things we write to you that your joy may be full. This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
1 John 2:1-7 – My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world. Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked. Brethren, I write no new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which you heard from the beginning.
1 John 2:15-17 – Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.
A big part of walking in the right way, according to John, is to stay based in the love of God.
1John 3:1-3 – Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.
1 John 3:11 – For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another,
1John 3:16 – By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
1 John 4:7-11 – Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
1 John 5:19-20 – We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one. And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.
An old Christian hymn has the lines, “I will follow Thee My Lord, follow every passing day. My tomorrows are all known to Thee My Lord, I will follow you today.” Another hymn has the line, “I traveled down a lonely road, and no one seemed to care. The burden on my weary back had bowed me to despair. I oft complained to Jesus how folks were treating me, and then I heard Him say so tenderly. My feet were also weary as I traveled Calvary’s road. The cross became so heavy, I fell beneath the load. Be faithful weary pilgrim, the morning I can see. Just take My hand and follow close to Me.”
The call of the disciples
Matthew 4:18-22 – And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. Then He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” They immediately left their nets and followed Him. Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets. He called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.
Matthew 8:18-23 – And when Jesus saw great multitudes about Him, He gave a command to depart to the other side. Then a certain scribe came and said to Him, “Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go.” And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” Then another of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” But Jesus said to him, “Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”
Matthew 9:9-13 – As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, “Follow Me.” So, he arose and followed Him. Now it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in the house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples. And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, “Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” When Jesus heard that, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”
There are many stories to discuss, but here is the one I want you to focus on:
In the first story, Jesus called Peter and Andrew to leave their life’s occupation, their means of support and follow Him. He instructed James and John to similarly abandon their lifelong occupations, their sources of income, and their father in order to follow Him.
In the second story, Jesus saw two disciples who were eager to follow Him. Jesus told them both that they would have nothing if they followed Him. The second one He told basically to not let anything, even the death of a loved one, prevent him from following Jesus.
In the last three scripture portions Jesus called Matthew, also known as Levi, the tax collector, to leave his very lucrative occupation and his sinner friends and follow Him.
Your occupation, location, and social standing do not matter. Jesus is calling for you to follow Him. You may need to leave your job, family, friends, grief, and sin behind. Make no mistake. Jesus calls to each of us and He wants nothing else but for us to follow Him. He calls all of us to follow Him in a closer daily walk with Him.
The Universal Call – What is Required?
Mark 8:34-37 – When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. 35 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. 36 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? 37 Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?
Luke 9:61-62 – And another also said, “Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house.” But Jesus said to him, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”
Jesus is calling us to follow Him, but more than just follow Him. He is calling us to a life separate from the world and wholly His. This means more than saying “yes” to God and “no” to sin today and then going our way and forgetting all our promises to Him. He is calling us to more than being baptized or joining the church or just sitting in the pew.
He calls us to deny ourselves, take up our cross DAILY and follow Him.
He says that unless we forsake all, unless we forsake family, occupation, cares of the world personal desires, rid ourselves of everything, take up our cross daily, deny ourselves and follow Him, we are not worthy of Him.
This is a big thing He is asking. Or is it? All He is asking is for us to put Him first in our life. To put Him before riches, family, things of this world. Is that too much to ask if we are to be His disciples, especially after what He did for us on the cross.
Revelations 3:20 – Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.
Biblical Truths 