Radical Commitment: The True Essence of Discipleship

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you can't build a church with people who whose only interest is to have their sins forgiven and to go to heaven when they die there are lots of christians like that i don't know whether it's right even to call them christians because we read in acts 11 that is the disciples who are called christians first the word christian came in relation to people who are disciples [00:01:06]

discipleship requires a continuous self-examination, akin to regular health check-ups, to ensure spiritual vitality. in luke 14, jesus outlines the three conditions of discipleship, emphasizing the importance of prioritizing him above all else, including family and self. this commitment is not about numbers or popularity, as jesus demonstrated by often speaking hard truths that reduced his followers. [00:03:26]

so there's so much of counterfeit and fake just like in currency in christendom you see only something valuable is counterfeited nobody counterfeits brown paper or toilet paper or something like that what's counterfeited gold diamonds true disciples those are the things counterfeited so and i believe discipleship christian disciple is more valuable than all the golden diamonds in the world [00:04:15]

i tell you honestly i i check up myself even though i preach this message for 46 years now i still do check out myself i say lord do i fulfill these three conditions today it's like checking your blood pressure and your blood sugar and your cholesterol levels those are the three things people want to check well here are three things you need to check if you want to see if you're spiritually healthy [00:05:33]

see there's a big difference between jesus as a preacher and today's preachers he was not at all interested in saying things that would keep the crowd happy or saying things that would increase the numbers not at all in fact he was complete opposite of today's preachers because jesus was always reducing the numbers to say these words to a crowd will definitely reduce the number [00:06:07]

salt is good but if salt has become tasteless with water will it be seasoned so he's talking about discipleship in all the previous verses and he says disciple a disciple is like salt that has not lost its taste and he mentions the possibility of salt looking like salt the color is the same but when you add it in the food it makes no difference it's lost its taste [00:08:44]

and so he says if you've lost that taste of being a true disciple of jesus look at the word jesus uses it verse 35 it is useless would you be offended if somebody told you that you're a useless christian sitting in nccf useless to god useless to the church it's a strong word jesus used words like this he called his disciple [00:11:22]

blessed is the man whom the lord rebukes because i don't know whether you know this word in revelation chapter 3 and verse 19 remember it all your life how do i know jesus loves me those whom i love i rebuke when i was when i became a christian first way back 60 years ago if you had asked me how do you know jesus loves you [00:12:58]

i know he loves me i still believe that but i have something more to say i've come to know the lord deeper you ask me how do you know jesus loves you he rebukes me he corrects me when i read his word or even during the day through something on the other i hear a spirit rebuking me in my conscience that is a wrong attitude you have towards that person [00:13:50]

i've seen christians who are so happy when somebody appreciates them praises them when you sort of cool off when somebody rebukes them or corrects them you know that verse in the psalms which says let the righteous smite me it's like anointing oil upon my head you want people to some godly man to come and pour oil on your head and anoint you [00:14:46]

i've certainly learned to love the lord's rebukes because it has always made the rest of that verse says those whom i love i rebuke and discipline not just rebuke in some way i've known numerous times in my life where he's disciplined me see finished i finished with gross sins and all long long ago it's the little little things that he rebukes and disciplines me for [00:15:40]

if you find the lord rebuking you first little little things you went off the track by one degree you didn't turn 90 degrees away from following the lord just one degree off dead center and if you find the lord rebuking you because you turned one degree off center in some area i tell you you're a blessed man you're a blessed woman [00:16:17]

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