Follow Me

Text: Luke 9:57 thru 62

Prayer:

This morning we have Good News.

God is still on the Throne. Jesus is seated at His right hand, ever interceding on our behalf.

Jesus will soon return to earth to declare His righteousness and take us to our new home in heaven.

What a wonderful place that will be for His people?

Did you know that God that is moving and doing things right now to prepare His Kingdom for you and I?

We may tire and grow weary with all of the responsibilities of this life, but God never stops preparing His Kingdom for His people.

This is His plan of restoration.

He also has a plan of redemption.

We found last week that the primary reason why He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to this earth was to give His life as a ransom for many. Jesus died for us.

While Jesus was here, He did accomplish many other things, as well. Jesus discipled the men who followed Him. There were 12 men, 11 of which would be responsible for changing the world.

These men followed Jesus for 3 and ½ years.

Even though Jesus knew that one of His 12 disciples would betray Him, He loved and taught each man as much as they would let Him. Afterwards, they took the Gospel of Christ to the entire world.

I propose to you that Jesus has still not changed His way of doing things in the lives of His people.

Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever.

He has chosen you to FOLLOW HIM, learn of His Good News, and to ultimately take His Gospel to all the world.

In this morning’s text, there were three men in Whom He was speaking with.

I believe Jesus knew these 3 men as well as He knew:

· His other disciples of the New Testament

· You and I living today

Although we are not certain who these three men were, it is possible that one of them may have (eventually) been the replacement for Judas Iscariot.

Jesus has always concerned Himself with preparing His people and His Kingdom for eternity.

It is for this reason that God operates in exactness and specifics, and not in generalities.

He destined 12 men to change the world just as He has destined you and I to change the world.

I want us to look closely at these men and the challenge confronting them. Let us first look at the man in verse 57. There is an account given in Matthew, also. In Matthew 8, this first man was identified as a scribe. And perhaps the other two men were scribes as well.

Being a scribe meant you knew the Word of God as it is written. This is because that is all scribes did.

They were the printers of that time. They read and wrote the Word of God for a living. Day in and day out.

In the case of this first man, I can see a man of impulse. He was probably much like many people in our day:

· He wanted to do what was right.

· He was on the fringes of being a real part of things.

· He wanted to get in on the new excitement.

· He wanted to get on the ground floor of this opportunity for a new government that would overthrow the powerful Roman government.

· Perhaps he wanted other people to think more highly of him. A better standing in the community.

· He did not fully understand the commitment that was needed to allow Jesus to be the Lord and Master of his life.

Question: What were this man’s real motives?

And, what are our motives today?

To answer these questions we need to consider

Heb 4:12

For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

This verse tells us that Jesus knows everything about us.

Consider this:

Jesus is the discerner of our thoughts and the intentions of our hearts. He word also tells us that:

· Pure motives will exalt God

· Impure motives will ultimately exalt man.

With the first man (in verse 57), Jesus sensed somehow:

· This man was interested in self gain.

· This man was impulsive

The Lord has not called us to follow Him out of impulse, but rather out of obedience to His voice.

Nevertheless, Jesus has grace for everyone.

Jesus was kind to this man. Jesus wanted to help him, so He gave him the Word of God for instruction.

Jesus many times has to deal with our insincerity and lack of wisdom and understanding. He knows our weaknesses when He calls us to FOLLOW HIM.