“The Case for Following Jesus” By Parrish Lee November 4th,
2012 Matthew
7:13-14
…narrow is the way, which leadeth unto
life, and few there be that find it.
I have to confess, when I first
started preparing this message, I wanted to talk about Joash, who only
did
right when a certain priest was around (2 Kings 11:2).
I wanted to talk about presenting your body a
living sacrifice before the Lord (Romans 12:1-2).
But, after much prayer and seeking God… Part
I: Many Things to
Follow
I want to talk a little about
following today. One
definition of the
word follow means to come after or behind something.
One definition means to reach for something,
and yet one more definition means to come alongside of something. Having said that, I want
to mention that
there are so many things in this world that we could follow: we could follow society’s
ideals—whether they
be science, art, sport, politic; or we could follow more personable
subjects
like our ancestry, someone else’s ancestry, or even someone else’s
ideals; or
we could follow ourselves (most people are quite good at that), or any
combination of them all. But
He whom I suggest
in this little talk today is that we follow none other than the Lord
Jesus
Christ.
Now, there are reasons that people follow
things, generally along the lines of, “I want to go where they go,
that’s why I
follow them,” and that, of course, has to do with a destination, or, “I
want to
get what they get, that’s why I follow them,” and that, of course, has
to deal
with a reward of some sort, and even, “Their way is better than my way,
that’s
why I follow them.”
The Lord had a statement for any
that would follow Him: John
14:6
…I am the
way, the truth, and the life: no
man cometh unto the Father, but by Me.
And
so our Lord tells us of the destination, and that which could lead to a
reward. Part
2: Why Follow Jesus?
But,
Brother Parrish, you might say, how do I know He really cares about me? How do I know He cares
about what I
want? How do I know
He cares about how I
feel? And, plus,
I’m not perfect; sometimes
I have a little too much of me going on.
Sometimes I feel a little rebellious, a little
lustful, a little lazy,
and sometimes I don’t feel like following anybody.
How do I know He won’t get fed up and kick me
to the curb? I want
me some guarantees
in this. That’s
when we have to say
thank God for His Word, for the scripture says we have not an high
priest which
cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all
points
tempted like as we are, yet without sin (Hebrews 4:15).
But we wouldn’t be the first to ask what do
we get out of this deal. Mark
10:28-30
…he shall
receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses and
brethren…
Peter
laid it out there: OK,
Lord, we have
left everything behind, and now we follow You.
The Lord heard their hearts’ cry told him, “I know
everything you’ve
sacrificed and turned away from, and you will receive so much more of
what I
have got to give you, with persecution, AND ETERNAL LIFE. This is why He came in the
flesh; not for the
animals and plants, not to prove He was smarter than everyone, not to
see he
look on people’s faces when he would do a miracle, but for you and me,
our
mothers and our fathers, our brothers and sisters, our sons and
daughters,
friends and enemies, for he sick and the lame, and the rich and the
poor. For God so loved the
world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in
him
should not perish, but have everlasting life (John 3:16). I’m telling you He is some
kind of good. Think
of some of the good things He has done
for us; count them out, I tell you; it will make you want to shout, and
just
think what it would be like if He didn’t come through…
If it had not been for the Lord on my side,
where would I be; where would I be?
Sidebar: Some
people keep complaining about their situation,
completely ignoring and refusing the fact that God brought them all the
way to
today, and the sky is the limit—what God wants to do with you—and their
complains go from: I
never finished my
education, I never married who I wanted, I never got the job that I
wanted, the
promotion that I wanted, the house, the car I wanted (there is so much
I want
to say about that)—the Bible says that this
is the day which the LORD hath made ;
we will rejoice and be glad in it
(Psalms 118:24). God
has given us so
many more reasons to rejoice than to complain, that we have
to say, this is the day.
Not yesterday is the day—yes, he wants you to
remember where He’s
brought you from, and, yes, He wants you to be thankful for every
blessing He
has poured on us like rain, but He wants us to live in today. All those things we didn’t
get? That’s
yesterday. He wants
us to have vision,
and, yes, He wants us to have hope, and, yes, He wants us to look
forward to
what He’s promised us—but he wants us to live in today.
He wants you to rejoice today; He wants you
to praise today; He wants us to look to Him, to believe in Him, to
repent to
Him, and to love Him, today. Others
might say, that’s all well and good, but, when I get my degree, or when
I get a
little older, when I feel good, when I get things right, when the
church starts
treating me right, then I’ll do that rejoicing before the Lord. That’s our tomorrow—that’s
why He said this is the day which
the Lord has made
because He wants us to rejoice in today.
“Well, hey, Brother Parrish, I don’t know about all
of that. From the
way you talk, I would think I can
get everything I want.” Only
in Jesus,
saints, I can get the things I want in
the Lord. Thank
God we don’t get
everything we want. If
we got everything
we want, we would make a mess out of all of it, but thank God we get
everything
we need. I’ll tell
you another thing to
be glad about: We
don’t get everything we
deserve. I can bear
witness to that song
that says, if it had not been for Jesus on my side, where would I be?
But,
let’s get back to why follow Jesus. Luke
12:31-32
…it is your
Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom.
His
good pleasure to give you the Kingdom… and what’s in that Kingdom? Need
some
peace? It’s in there. What
about
comfort? It’s in there. A
healing? It’s in
there. What about a
way out of no way? It’s
in there. It’s
better than that tomato paste on TV where
they said taste it, it’s in there.
Psalms
34:8 O taste and see that the
LORD is
good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him. Part
3: Where Has God
Called Us To?
And
made us to sit in heavenly places.
Some
of us don’t even know that’s where He’s called us to sit, and if we
don’t know
where He’s called us to be, we most likely won’t be sitting where He’s
called
us to be—especially if we’re talking about heavenly places. Were you ever supposed to
be somewhere and
have someone ask you, “Where were you?
I
saved a seat for you.” Well,
God has
saved a seat for us in heavenly places with Christ Jesus. Hallelujah!
No, He’s not taking about being arrogant; He’s not
talking about being
prideful… We know a
few of the things
that are in heaven: The
angels (the good
ones, anyway), they’re in heaven, peace, joy unspeakable, love
unfeigned,
comfort from the Lord, and greatest of them all:
the
presence of the Lord!
That’s where God has called us to sit, in
Christ Jesus. So we
don’t want not to be
there. 1
Peter 2:9 …ye
are a chosen generation, a
royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people…
‘Chosen’
here means favorite, or elect. ‘Royal’
here means kingly, or like that of a king.
‘Peculiar’ here means apart from something, against
something, obtained,
purchased, saved from something and for something.
To make this personal, point to yourself, and
say, “I am a chosen generation; I am a royal priesthood; I am a holy
nation; I
am a peculiar people; I have to show forth praises of Him who hath
called me
out of darkness into His marvelous light. 1
Corinthians 2:9-10 …
Eye
hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have
entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for
them that
love him…
Sermon notes by Pete Shepherd |
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