Category: Saturday Study

Saturday Study

The Spiritual Discipline of Discipleship (6-10-17)

Today’s study is a big one and so important for us to understand. So set aside some quality time and let’s dig into The Great Commission of our Lord and his call to make disciples.

Matthew 28:18-20

And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

If you are a Christian, someone who has died to yourself and repented of your sin and trusted your life to Jesus Christ alone for new and eternal life, then this is your Master’s command on your life.

Jesus has saved us to a glorious eternal feast in His glory; whereby, “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away”  Revelation 21:4.  But in the meantime, He has charged us to go and make disciples of all nations.

So, while discipleship is a spiritual discipline that we must faithfully practice, it is more than that; it is the specific work Christ has charged us to do as the church.

1. All Authority

Jesus begins by saying, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.”

The first step to disciple making is to be a disciple yourself. The first step to being a disciple of Jesus is to die to yourself and live for Him in all you do. 1 Cor. 6:19-20 says, “You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your life.:

The first thing we must do is submit our entire lives to God; He must be our authority if we are to be His faithful disciples.

Is there any part of your life that you hold the reigns on, even though it might contradict what Jesus commands or teaches in His word?  Does Jesus truly have the authority in all matters of your life?

We are not disciples of Christ if we are not totally surrender to Him and ready to follow Him in all things.

Paul understands and says this so well in Galatians 2:20: “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

What does it mean to be totally under the authority of Jesus? 

What does it mean to die to self and live to Christ?

When surrounded by a crowd of eager followers, Jesus turned to them and remarked, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.” –Luke 14:26-27

The Scriptures teach if you are reborn, your life is a life of surrender to self.

It is obedience and submission to the authority of Jesus.

So the first step is to truly count the cost. 

2. Count the Cost

Jesus spoke often and specifically to the cost of following Him.  He wants people to truly count the cost to being a disciple of Christ.   For example, consider what Jesus said to the scribe who came and said, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” Jesus frankly told this apparent volunteer for service that it would not be easy: “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head” (Matt. 8: 19– 20; Luke 9: 57– 58).

Another disciple wanted to be excused from his immediate obligation of obedience so that he might go and care for his aged father, but Jesus would allow no delay. Saying, “Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead… But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God” (Matt. 8: 21– 22; Luke 9: 59–60). Another man indicated that he would follow Jesus, but on his own terms. He wanted to first bid farewell to his family, perhaps anticipating a merry good time doing it. But Jesus put it to him straight: “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God” (Luke 9: 62).

The point is clear: the disciple does not go to the disciple maker and lay out his own terms for discipleship, as this lacks the very submission that Christ demands for His faithful followers.  Therefore, every person must count the cost. “For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? (Luke 14: 28). Not to do so was tantamount to inviting ridicule later from the world. The same would be true of a king in war who did not consider the cost of victory before hostilities began. To sum it up bluntly, Jesus said, “Therefore whosoever he be of you that renounced not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14: 33; see Mark 10: 21; Matt. 19: 21; Luke 18: 22).

3. Go Therefore

Next Jesus says in this Great Commission, “Go therefore” (Matthew 28:19).

This is not speaking of going to a specific location but is speaking of “an investment outside of yourself, an investment into others.”  It means you cannot stay.  You cannot keep to yourself.  My authority is for a purpose that I am going to put to work in and through you.  It’s not to terminate on you.  It is something that involves you investing outside of yourself.

“Go therefore” means get up; it means go out. One of the very real realities of our sin is that we only live our lives for ourselves.  When you are struggling with your sin you want to be SELFISH. You don’t want to GO. You want to stay–stay where you are comfortable. Stay at home on the couch and just consume and be entertained or work longer hours so you can consume more stuff.

It is so easy to make the Christian life about “what you get” and not about “what you give.”

WE NEED TO REALLY UNDERSTAND THIS.

Why are we called to go. Why do we move outside ourselves with our time and money and lives and not just stay in and serve ourselves?    Because of “therefore.”  It’s not just GO; it’s “GO therefore.”

The “therefore” ties the going, the investing, to what was just said:

Jesus has been given all authority in heaven and on earth… go therefore!

When we get who Christ is, who we are in Christ, and what He is doing in the here and now in the world, we will not STAY.

We will not keep to ourselves and make our paycheck and buy our groceries and do what we want to do!   Instead, we will go (invest into others); we will live with a life-changing confidence in the authority of the One who sent us.  We will invest and make the most of our days that He gives us to go in His authority.

4. Make Disciples

Matthew 28:18-19 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples…”

If we are going to make disciples, we need to know what a disciple is.

The standard definition of “disciple” (noun) is someone who adheres to the teachings of another.

It is a follower or a learner.

• In the work world, it is an apprentice.
• In the MC world, it is a probate.
• In Jedi training, it is a Padawan.

A “disciple” is someone who adheres to the teachings of another.

Applied to Jesus, a disciple is someone who is trained to be like Christ.

This is what the word “Christian” means!   A Christian is “a little Christ.”

Or, you might say, as others have put it in the past, disciples of Jesus are themselves “little Christ.”

It was said of old, “The Church exists for nothing else but to draw men into Christ, to make them little Christ. If they are not doing that, all the cathedrals, clergy, missions, sermons… are simply a waste of time.”

Making disciples of Jesus is the responsibility of Christians who submit to Christ’s Commission.

Making disciples involves training in God’s word, calling people to become those who learn from Christ, teaching people what Christ has commanded and to obey all He has commanded, teaching them to obey in the context of church life, and summoning the church to command all nations to follow Jesus and become little Christ, and as a result, glorify God and fulfill Jesus’ Commission.

-Being Discipled

If we are going to “make disciples,” we must first be discipled.

Jesus didn’t show up on the scene and say to a bunch of fishermen, “Go make disciples.”

They didn’t know Christ yet, so how could they teach others to be like Him?

They hadn’t yet been trained by Christ and His word, so how could they teach others His word?

What Jesus did say to them is “Follow me.”  “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men” Matt 4:19.

I am going to teach you–to disciple you–to do a different kind of fishing: a fishing that will change men and their families, not just for a season but for eternity.  Not just for their own good but for the eternal GLORY OF GOD!

CHURCH: Being discipled today is just what it was for those fishermen.  It’s the journey of a trained and matured follower of Christ discipling another, teaching him, helping him mature in Christ.

Colossians 1:28 Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ.

Being discipled starts with your hunger to not stay where you are in your faith journey.

There is a hunger and humility you must have to grow, study, change, and mature.

The first disciples were hungry and willing to do what was needed to reprioritize their lives to be discipled by Jesus.

Is this a description of your life?  Is this a marker of your Christian faith?

Do you claim the title “Christian” because you are saved and you attend church, or are you truly a “Little Christ” in that you are making prioritized adjustments in your life to be discipled into Christ likeness?

Is your belonging to Christ or following Christ more of a life-long idea or ideal, or is it a clear and focused daily reality?  Do your friends and family see you and your daily investment to be discipled and to make disciples of Jesus?

Hear it this way:  Hungry, teachable, faithful followers of Christ will be continual learners from Jesus as they sit under the preaching of God’s word and discipleship in such a way that they become doers of it.

James 1:22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves

No matter how long you have been a believer, the question for many of you is this:

Have you truly been discipled? 

I mean trained in the word and mentored in how to be a fully devoted follower of Christ.

More than that, have you been trained how to be a disciple maker of others?

The life of a Christian is a life of ongoing faith, repentance, ministry, and mission.

It is being equipped, deployed, and sent to contribute to the mission of God in this world, which is to make disciples whom Christ has redeemed from every nation, building Christ’s church among all peoples, and calling them into the fullness of the kingdom of God.

Discipleship (Disciple making)

What does it mean to “make disciples”?

I want you to think about this: in your life, who do you know who is a disciple maker?

I mean someone who has really devoted themselves to training, mentoring, teaching, and modeling the Christian life in such a way that it points that student, that learner, that person (that disciple) to Jesus.

The result of this kind of discipleship is someone who is truly growing in Christ, maturing in Christ, becoming more Christ like, obedient to Christ, and all about Christ.

Here is my loving point in all this.  If we take seriously Jesus’ words about what it looks like to sacrificially follow Him and to make disciples, when you think of the church and those in it, you should be able to identify far more Christians who are “making disciples” than you currently can.

Paul shows us this at work when he wrote to the Philippians:

Philippians 4:9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

This leads us to the meat of what discipleship is: It is training!  It is teaching.

Again, the definition of “disciple” is someone who adheres to the teachings of another.

It is a follower or a learner.  So a critical part of discipleship is teaching.

Jesus endorses this in His commissioning of the church.  Look with me at verse 20 of Matthew 28:

Matthew 28:20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.

Disciples are made through the ministry of the word entrusted to the church, including preaching, teaching, evangelism, and counseling.

The word teaches, reproves, corrects, and trains in righteousness (2 Tim. 3:16-17).

The word makes disciples, and Christ makes disciples through the word.

2 Timothy 3:16-17 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work

Is that not a picture of discipleship?

So discipleship will include instruction, study, and digging into God’s word and truths.

It is the process of conforming our minds to God’s will and way. This is how we are shaped.

Let me remind you that the goal is to make disciples of Christ–NOT disciples of you!

In 1 Corinthians 11:1-3, Paul encourages the church to follow his example, as he follows the example of Christ.

You can say with Paul, “Watch me as I follow Christ.”  Christ is the One we want to be like.

Christ is still the One we are learning to be like. He is the One we ultimately follow and belong to!

5. Of All Nations

Matthew 28:18-20 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations…”

The goal is to multiply the church and send out qualified and readied disciple makers.  To send someone not ready into the battlefield is not a manner worthy of God.  The sending is not just the packing of a bag and the giving of supplies; it is the preparation and training to know what to do with those supplies.

Again, we must send readied “disciple makers,” not just evangelists.  Too many missions efforts are only about evangelism. But to simply evangelize and then leave is to leave a newborn baby on the side of the road with no one to be its family and nurture and train and grow that new life in Christ.

Jesus Commission on us to “make disciples of all nations” means our disciple making eventually has a global reach.   If we are not putting boots on the ground to make disciples, we are missing the point of our Commission and God’s plan to have His name known and praised among the nations.

The goal in our discipleship is to be able to send readied disciple makers to go to the ends of the earth to plant churches and make disciples there.  It is not enough to just be conformable here and send some money to those who are willing to go overseas.

“There is a big difference between a church that ‘has’ missionaries (on the back of their bulletin or as a line item in their budget) and a church that ‘sends’ missionaries.”  -John Piper

We must do both!  We cannot do just one.

-If we send but don’t support, we have cut them off and ceased to be the church to them.

-If we support but don’t send, we have stopped the work of discipleship and duplication to pay others to do this work for us.

We all are called to the MISSIONAL work of disciple making.

You are a part of global missions if you are a part of making disciples.

The true role of the modern-day church is not what we have made it to be:            

Great music, comfortable church venues, exciting events and attractive activities.

            Great preaching that stimulates the mind and stirs the heart. 

            Helpful counseling and authentic fellowship with others.

All that is worth nothing if we are not following Christ to take up our cross and GO; giving ourselves to others in testifying of our faith, baptizing those new believers, training them up, teaching them the whole counsel of God, and helping them mature in Christ unto disciple making of others.

This is what it means to be a Christian: a disciple of Christ.

So, I ask you today:

What do you need to do to get on board?   

What do you need to repent of to make time and energy and room to do this very thing God has saved you and called you to do?

Who do you need to get with to dig in?

Remember, “Be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves” (James 1:22).

Let us practice the spiritual discipline of disciple making for the glory of God and the good of those He still intends to save worldwide.

By His grace and for His glory,

Pastor Joshua Kirstine

Disciples Church

Saturday Study

The Spiritual Discipline of Hospitality (6-3-17)

This week’s spiritual discipline falls right in line with many of the others we have already seen in that our life in Christ is one of sacrificial living.  We are not building our own kingdom but the Lord’s kingdom.  What we have and can do is not ours but the Lord’s, and we are called to be good stewards of it all.  So, one of the calls on our lives as Christians is to be generous with our time and stuff.  This includes the area of showing hospitality to those God puts in our path.

Hospitality can be done in a number of ways.  It can be going out of your way to offer up a drink to someone who is thirsty or giving someone a place to have shelter or a place to lay their head.  Hospitality means we labor to keep the things God gives us clean and organized.  True hospitality is not just opening your door to someone; it is preparing your home or a space for them.  All of this is good stewardship.  We manage well the things God has entrusted to us so that we can be hospitable and God-honoring with them.

“Let brotherly love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares” (Heb. 13:1–2).

In Hebrews 13:1, we are told to continue to love fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. But as we love other believers, we are to also be sure to show love and hospitality to strangers, too.  Our investment can not only be in the church where we are comfortable with our blood-bought family but must address one of the main reasons God has us here on earth and on mission:  to be a witness of the gospel to those who are lost in sin.

We must see these people as strangers and orphans who are desperate for the saving grace of Jesus and the eternal family of God.  We are an extension of God’s love and grace as we sacrificially make room and time for those who need it.    Like many other verses, we are told we may be entertaining angels and unaware of it.  This is a way of reminding us that God is with us, and all that we do is to be unto Him.

1 Cor. 10:31 says, “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”

We saw this happen in Genesis 18 with the appearance of angels to Abraham near the oaks of Mamre. Abraham was hospitable and was blessed with news of Isaac’s birth. If we are not hospitable to those in need, we might be denying angels and the blessings that God can grant to us through them.

In our reading in Matthew 25:34-46 this week, we heard Jesus say that when we are showing love and grace and hospitality to the down trodden and the least of these, we are ultimately showing love to God.  This is a hard thing to love the least of people.  WHY?  Because they may not smell good or value things the same way we do; they may have convictions and priorities that are very opposite of ours and could in general just be bad stewards of their own lives that caused them to be in a hard place.  It is easy to have a religious view of people that says, “I worked hard for what I have and am not going to throw it away on you just because you are so quick to throw your own life away.”  We have to remember that we were one of “the least of these” before we were saved by Christ.  We had no ability to save ourselves.   We must see “the least of these” as lost in sin and desperate for Jesus, and that is where we can make a difference.  We can show them Jesus in our sacrificial living and generous hospitality.  This is something we do even when it is hard or for someone we just don’t care for.  There is no better example of this than Jesus teaching about the Good Samaritan in Luke 10:29-37.

Read it again: Luke 10:29-37

A little background for the context of this story.  After the Assyrians captured Samaria (the capital of the Northern kingdom of Israel)] in 722–21 BC, they deported all the Israelites of substance and settled the land with foreigners, who intermarried with the surviving Israelites and adhered to some form of their ancient religion (2 Kings 17–18). After the exile of the Southern kingdom in Babylon, Jews, returning to their homeland, viewed the Samaritans not only as the children of political rebels but as racial half-breeds whose religion was tainted by various unacceptable elements.

In the Jews’ eyes, they were ceremonially unclean, they were racially impure, and they were religiously heretical; therefore, they were avoided.  In fact, the Jews hated the Samaritans and the Samaritans hated the Jews, so Jesus’ use of a Samaritan as the example of a good neighbor would have been striking to His original audience.

Christ told the parable of the good Samaritan in response to a lawyer who wanted to know how to inherit eternal life (Luke 10:25).  In the Savior’s conversation with the lawyer about loving God and neighbor, Jesus told the story of the good Samaritan in order to illustrate who our neighbors are and how we should treat them (Luke 10:29–37). A Samaritan would never have been expected to help a Jew. But a priest and a Levite would have been likely candidates to help the man. Therefore, the failure of the priest and Levite would have been particularly scandalous. But the Samaritan’s care for the injured Jew shows that we are not to limit the love and hospitability we are called in Christ to share with others to those who are just like us.

Finally, a little clarity for one kind of person to whom we are not to show hospitality.  The Bible makes it clear that if a person professes faith in Jesus Christ but is not walking according to that faith, is in a season of unrepentant sin, has been biblically confronted and still shows no true repentance, then we are to establish dis-fellowship with them.  WHY? Because their testimony betrays Christ and His gospel.  We cannot and should not endorse false testimony.  So, if a brother claims Jesus but is known for false testimony or unrepentant sin, we are to have nothing to do with him.  This is what we read in

2 John 1:10-11: “If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house or give him any greeting, 11 for whoever greets him takes part in his wicked works.”

We see this in other verses like:

2 Thessalonians 3:14-15 If anyone does not obey what we say in this letter, take note of that person, and have nothing to do with him, that he may be ashamed. ¹⁵ Do not regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother.

Romans 16:17-18 I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. ¹⁸ For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive.

Galatians 1:8-9 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. ⁹ As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.

Understand that this is not mean or judgmental in a fleshly way. It is biblical. It says, “I love you enough to call you to repentance and to not fellowship with you until you do.” We see biblical love and grace in that God uses it as the means to draw back a true believer who is in sin for glorious reconciliation and sanctification. That’s loving and gracious. God uses it to show a deceived person–a falsely testifying person–they are not actually united to Christ, and, if God wills, the Holy Spirit will convict that person and bring about true salvation–true unity to Christ. That is loving and gracious. God uses it to help protect His people from approving, tolerating, and/or falling into sin. This is loving and gracious.

So, in closing, take some inventory:

How are you at showing hospitality to others?   Do you look for ways to give away or make time to be a blessing to others?

Do you keep your house clean in preparation to be hospitable to those who have a need?

Do you have a place for someone to lay their head or a little food/drink to give away to those who have needs?
It is one thing to say, “Sure I will be hospitable when the need arises,” and it is another to be prepared to actually practice this spiritual discipline.  Go to your church or ministry leaders and ask how you can be more involved in opening yourself up to the needs of others.  Let’s be proactive in showing hospitability, and let’s be careful to not harbor the false testimony of those who are in unrepentant sin and thereby distort the testimony of the true gospel of Jesus Christ.

By His grace and for His glory,

Pastor Joshua Kirstine

Disciples Church

Saturday Study

The Spiritual Discipline of Fellowship (5-27-17)

In one of the greatest Epic stories of all time, J.R.R. Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings,” we meet two friends, Sam and Frodo, on a great quest. After journeying for some time, Sam turns and asks Frodo, “I wonder what sort of tale we have fallen into?” Sam assumes there is a story, that there is something larger going on, and that all their experiences might be adding up to something more than first thought. Have you ever wondered what sort of story you have “fallen into?”

It’s not hard to see that life is a story.  See, it doesn’t come at us like a math problem.  It comes at us scene by scene. Life unfolds more like a drama, as each day has a beginning and end. There are all sorts of characters and all sorts of settings. Sometimes it feels like a tragedy, sometimes like a comedy, and most of the time like a drama or soap opera.

Just think about the way we do life:

When we get news that a friend was in a car accident we first ask, “Are they ok?”  But as quick as we can get to it, we want to know the story! We ask, “What happened?”   In other words, “Tell me the story!”

If life is a story, what is the plot?  Who is telling the story?

Many stories begin with the popular phrase, “Once upon a time…”

Have you ever wondered why so many tales begin with that phrase? Well, it’s because that’s the way the story of our very existence begins!

“In the beginning…”  Doesn’t that remind you of “once upon a time”?

The Bible uses this language twice. The most popular one is in Genesis: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”

But we can’t start there if we want to understand “THE” Story. Genesis reveals accounts far into The Story!

Genesis is the beginning of the story of this life: the events here on Earth!

To get to the Big Story, the “once upon an eternity,” we have to go to the Gospel of John chapter 1:

John 1:1-4 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was with God in the beginning. 3Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4In him was life, and that life was the light of men.

What John is doing here is reaching back and bringing a glimpse for us to see the time before all time. He is describing a divine fellowship…an intimacy.

The perfect, complete, all-powerful existence of the Holy Trinity. The Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The eternal life of GOD!

Picture it: God has always existed and enjoyed the perfect harmony and relationship of the Trinity.  Out of this amazing relationship, we are created.

John is telling us that our origins are relational; What it means to be human at its core is to be relational.

-Aren’t most of your best memories ones that involve others?

-Aren’t your biggest tragedies also ones that involve others?

We are relational at our core, because we are made in the echo of the intimacy of the Trinity. Genesis says, “Let us make man in OUR image!”    One of the deepest of all human longings is the longing to be chosen, to be invited into relationship!

It is in deep, meaningful relationship that our Creator has designed us to experience and share His attribute: of love.  The Bible says, “God is love.”

Jesus Himself proved relationship is everything in this life when He proclaimed what we now call “The Great Commandment” in Matthew 22:37-40:

37Jesus said: ” ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38This is the first and greatest commandment. 39And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

It is in relationship that we are to selflessly love.

It is in relationship that we are designed to do life and share our deepest hurts and cheer our greatest victories.

The Spiritual discipline of fellowship is one of the most core practices God has blessed us with. The question is do you truly practice fellowship?  Do you make time to spend quality time with brothers and sisters in the Lord?

What we have to see is that we are saved into an everlasting fellowship in Christ and His body.  But it wasn’t always that way.   At the Fall, Adam and Eve experienced one of the most damaging consequences of their sin:

Genesis 3:7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.

The first thing that sin did was divide them. They covered themselves and hid themselves.  What was unashamed and honest and united and loving became judgment, divisive, solo and selfish.

In our sin, we don’t like many people; some just don’t like any people. Why? Because they bother us, because we judge them; they hurt us if we let them close, and we don’t like them upsetting our flow.  These are the selfish realities of our sin.

But the good news is God changes that in us in salvation and then helps us mature in it in sanctification.

When God saves us, He adopts us from our separated, orphaned sate.  He makes us part of His eternal family.

Eph. 1:5 His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into His own family by bringing us to Himself through Jesus Christ.

Eph. 2:19 …You are members of God’s very own family… and you belong in God’s household with every other Christian.

Rom. 12:5 In Christ we who are many form one Body, and each member belongs to all the others.

These are glorious realities of the fellowship we now have in Christ.  He is restoring what broke apart at the Fall of mankind.  He is restoring our fellowship just like the Trinity has always enjoyed from eternity past.

It is our sin that causes us to separate and pull away from others, to be judgmental and self-conscious.

Isolating yourself is not healthy spiritually, mentally, or physically, and it is certainly not the way to thrive in our Christian life

Luke 8:19-21 Then He pointed to His disciples and said, “These are my mother and brothers.  Anyone who does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother!”

Your connection to the body of Christ is eternally more important than to your own family!  Why?

Your physical family can be broken and lost!  God’s family is guaranteed forever.

Does this mean we are not to love and give high priority to our family?  NO!

God gave them to you and you to them for special reasons, but hear what Jesus is saying: you are designed for and should value highly your part in God’s family!

Prov. 27:17 People learn from one another, just as iron sharpens iron.

Gal. 6:2 Share each other’s troubles and problems.

1 Thessalonians 5:9-10  For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. 10He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him.

He died for us so that we may live together with Him.

Heb. 10:25 Let us not give up the habit of meeting together.  Instead, let us encourage one another…

When we live and grow together as a family, we are committed to one another.  We want to fellowship with each other often.

It is not an, “If I get to it,” but instead it is, “ This is my priority.”

So how do we practice fellowship well?

In Acts 2:41-47, we have a great picture of this happening.

Acts 2:41 Those who believed what Peter said were baptized and added to the church–about three thousand in all.

1. They believe in gospel- In other words, they were saved and adopted into His family.
2. They were committed to a local church. They were baptized and added to the church.

Acts 2:42 They joined with the other believers and devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, sharing in the Lord’s Supper and in prayer.

1. They were committed to weekly corporate worship.  This gathering of the saints is truly a special thing that can be the highlight of our week.

Acts 2:44-46 And all the believers met together constantly and shared everything they had. ⁴⁵They sold their possessions and shared the proceeds with those in need. ⁴⁶They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity-

1. They spent everyday life together and served together, eating, singing, and praying.  This is fellowship. This is the Body of Christ doing life in Christ together.

Acts 2:47 all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their group those who were being saved.

1. God blessed them and multiplied them with more saved family.

You were formed for God’s family!   Let’s make it a true habit to be doing life together.

By His grace and for His glory,

Pastor Joshua Kirstine

Disciples Church

Saturday Study

The Spiritual Discipline of Sabbath (5-20-17)

The command to practice Sabbath has been one of much misunderstanding throughout human history. Two ways this has shown to be the case is people outright deny or ignore the command of God to faithfully keep and practice Sabbath, or others embrace a Sabbath idea but load it with extra-biblical and unbiblical, burdensome requirements.

What the Sabbath is not:

1. Sabbath is not simply about a day off from responsibilities for us to act like the lord of our own lives with no regard for God’s design for Sabbath. Sabbath is a blessing to you, but it is not about you. If we treat it like another holiday or day off, we are not honoring Sabbath as God has commanded. (Anything that we make only about us or the horizontal and not ultimately for God and His glory is idolatry and sin and selfishness at work. So, the goal is to honor God with our lives and to be sure our Sabbath is ultimately about honoring and worshiping Him.)
2. Sabbath is not a day of unpleasant burdens from God. Sabbath is commanded to us, but it is not a bad thing. If we truly love Jesus, then Sabbath, as He has designed it, is an awesome and blessed thing.

What is Sabbath?  Perhaps Sabbath can be summarized this way:

The purpose of the moral law of Sabbath is to provide us a special day of worship to God, physical and mental rest and refreshment, and fellowship with other believers. 

Why Sabbath? 

We need Sabbath. God designed man to rest in Him. Sabbath rest in God is a beautiful reality that God has given. And for the saints, it will be experienced for all eternity.

Additionally, because of the fall of mankind, our sinful tendency is to produce–to earn–our identity, to prove ourselves, and to make something of ourselves. But Sabbath a way given to us by God to rest in who God is and His promises.

The practice of Sabbath is one way God ordains we make war with our (work, prove, earn) sinful struggle.

We rest in Christ from our labor, and it helps us cut ties with our sinful self-sufficiency. Since we are united to Christ as Christians, we grow in our understanding of God. Through the Scriptures, He shows us Himself, His ways, His accomplishments, His purposes, and His glory. This is good for our souls.

Sabbath is a part of the moral law, and it is communicated in the Ten Commandments.

The Ten Commandments are a summary and expression of the Universal Moral Law. And that’s why we can look back now–in our day– to the moral elements of the Ten Commandments and see God’s revealed will for us, even as we now live in the New Covenant. While the ceremonial and civil law was finished and fulfilled in Christ, the Moral law remains on all people.

God does not add things into the Moral Law or take away things.  The Moral Law is what it is because it is based on an unchanging God, so the Universal Moral Law always exists, with the same moral requirements.

Exodus 20:8-11 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. ⁹ Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, ¹⁰ but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. ¹¹ For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.”

In this passage, the moral requirement of Sabbath is given.

In creation, God instituted and modeled the Sabbath ordinance for mankind.

In this point, we need to first establish something–an important related bit of theology that you need to know for various reasons.  In the creation, there were specific things that God instituted for mankind.

These things are often called “Creation Ordinances” and/or “Creation Mandates.”

There are several creation ordinances, but to name a few, some of these include:

Marriage – Marriage is instituted at creation as the unique covenantal bond between one man and one woman. This does not mean that marriage is for all people, but those who are not gifted with singleness are to be married in the way that God instituted in creation.

Work – In creation, God instituted and instructed the necessity and goodness of God-honoring labor. This includes the task of having dominion over the rest of creation.

Sabbath – In creation, God instituted and modeled the Sabbath ordinance for mankind. As we have seen, Sabbath is grounded in the Universal Moral Law; therefore, it is eternal and unchanging law over mankind, but we see that in creation God instituted and modeled the Sabbath ordinance.

The important thing you understand is that:

• Creation ordinances are commanded to be rightly honored by all men and women.
• Creation ordinances continue in force into this present day.

The Sabbath ordinance for mankind has three key texts that show us this.

First, Genesis 2:1-3 says, “Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. ² And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. ³ So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.”

Why did God create creation over 6 days? Have you ever wondered that? God is omnipotent. The all-powerful God could have created everything in one moment, so why six days? Well, it wasn’t for no reason. He did it this way not so much for Himself; He did it for us. It should be obvious that He did it for a deliberate purpose, as is true of all things that He does.

Our text says that He rested on the seventh day. Surely He didn’t need rest; He was not tired or weary, and this rest wasn’t sleep or a timeout from His sovereign sustaining of all things. So what does that mean? Well, by resting, God was declaring that His work of creation was completed.

Then the text says that God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, or some translations say He “sanctified” it. What does this mean? Making it holy means that He set it apart; He designated it for something particular. And what does “blessed” mean? God’s blessing affects a thing; it is effectual. When God blesses something, He makes it receive good or be the source of good for others. So, in blessing one day in seven, He is making it a source of good, a source of blessing. For whom? Obviously not for Himself, as He doesn’t receive anything from creation He didn’t create Himself. Rather, in the blessing of one day in seven and making it holy, God is instituting Sabbath in this creation for mankind and in this way, one day in seven days. God is setting the example that the moral law of Sabbath is to be honored in this way in this creation.

The second:

Exodus 20:8-11 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. ⁹ Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, ¹⁰ but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates.”

Here we have the 4^th commandment being laid out in the Old Covenant. We saw the Sabbath reality already in the creation account, and now we see it again in the Ten Commandments. Sabbath is a moral law issue, affirmed by the fact that it is part of the Ten Commandments as we see here. Notice also here in the Ten Commandments we see the one in seven pattern reinforced that God set forth in the creation ordinance.

Third:

Mark 2:27 And [Jesus] said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.”

– Jesus is referring back to the creation account.  It was instituted for man (for mankind), and it is a creation ordinance.

Sabbath was upheld and clarified by Jesus.

In some of our reading this week, you saw some of the arguments that the Pharisees had with Jesus about the Sabbath when He was walking this earth before the Cross.  And sometimes people misunderstand what was happening in those encounters. So let’s look at this for clarity and to see our point here that Sabbath was upheld and clarified by Jesus.

As you know, the Pharisees were out to get Jesus; they were desiring to catch Him in some act or teaching that put Him in disobedience to God’s law, their law, or the law of the land. So, more than once, they tried to claim that Jesus was wrong in regards to the Sabbath. We see this for example in:

Mark 2:23-27 & Mark 3:1-6

The Pharisees accuse Jesus of breaking the Sabbath. In these accounts, we see His disciples picking grain to eat as they walked through a field, and we see Jesus heal someone in need.

What we must understand is that neither Jesus nor His disciples were violating the moral command of the Sabbath in these things. Jesus was not excusing violations to the true Sabbath law. He’s asserting that He and His disciples have not violated it.

The problem for the Pharisees lay with the extra-biblical and unbiblical additional traditions that prevented someone from picking and eating grain as they walked through a field or the healing someone in need. So, Jesus uses this Pharisee challenge to teach what true Sabbath observance looks like. In this, Jesus wasn’t changing moral Sabbath requirements; He was teaching what true Sabbath observance looked like, and He condemned their false add-on requirements. Some wrongly think that Jesus was loosening or changing Sabbath laws, but that is not correct. Remember His words in verses 27 and 28: “Jesus said to them, ‘The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. ²⁸ So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.’”  In this, Jesus is declaring His divinity and His Lordship as He upholds the moral Sabbath command and helps inform how it was to be honored, correcting those who were adding extra requirements to it.

In fact, in the gospel books, we see Jesus teach several important clarities that benefit us to know well about Sabbath honoring. For example, in calling back to David eating the bread of the Presence in the house of God, Jesus is teaching that acts of necessity are permitted on the Sabbath.

This means that a stay-at-home mom, for example, may do the work of cooking a meal on the Sabbath if it’s reasonable in the time and effort it requires, because this is an act of necessity.

Another example of one of these points of clarity is in Matthew 12. There Jesus uses the example of the Old Covenant priests, and His point in  is that religious devotion, religious work, and worship is permitted on Sabbath.

So, godly pastors and other church staff are not in sin for “working” on the Sabbath, because these are permissible acts of piety.

Another example of one of these points of clarity is that acts of mercy are prohibited on the Sabbath. Contrary to the Pharisee’s argument, it is glorifying to God to do acts of mercy to others on the Sabbath. We see this in Jesus healing others on the Sabbath.

Therefore, if you have a friend in real need and a solid opportunity to do good to them on the Sabbath, do not decline that opportunity based on it being your Sabbath day; rather, where wise and helpful, do acts of mercy.

These points of clarity may seem like common sense to us, and it surely is easy to see that the Pharisees had evil intentions in challenging these things, but with all the confusion around this topic throughout history, these are actually very helpful points for us to see and know.

So, there is much to be gathered from Jesus’ teachings on Sabbath. I hope you see Him upholding and clarifying the Moral Law of Sabbath.

There is an already, not yet reality to Sabbath.

We have seen that in this first creation, mankind gets the command and blessing of Sabbath. And, as believers in the New Covenant, we get the “already” aspect of this; namely, we get to enjoy and worship God because of the finished work of Christ. Look at:

2 Corinthians 1:20 (NIV1984) For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God.

We “already” get to experience fellowship with God, and we “already” get to enjoy union with Jesus by grace through faith, not on the basis of our works.

But there is a “not yet” reality Scripture speaks to as well. As we all know, we are still in this broken creation. We are “not yet” on the new earth; we are “not yet” in the final rest God has planned for the elect. So, we get to look forward to this even better rest awaiting us. The Sabbath we will enjoy in the new creation will be the final and best Sabbath experience we can have. In Hebrews 4, we are told that “there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God (v.9),” and we are called to “strive to enter that rest (v.11).” As God’s people–God’s elect–we get to look forward to that “not yet” Sabbath experience with eagerness, and we trust in the finished work of Christ as our basis for being given that rest.

In all of this, we have, once again, another way of seeing that Sabbath is a part of the unchanging, eternal, Universal Moral Law. Sabbath wasn’t abolished after the Old Covenant, and it doesn’t get abolished by the new creation. No, Sabbath is an eternal reality, and we will be empowered by God to keep and enjoy Sabbath perfectly in the new creation. What a great blessing and clarity.

The key is keeping the weekly practice of Sabbath.

Old Covenant positive law (aspects of the law that are for a certain people in a certain time) is not required in the New Covenant. Therefore, the day is not required to be the last day of the week any longer. This explains one reason why New Covenant Christian churches know they are not required to gather for corporate worship service on Saturday.  But this doesn’t mean the Sabbath is done away with; it just means the day is not important any longer but the weekly practice is.

Based on the testimony of Scripture, there is not a specific day of the week chosen for New Covenant Sabbath observation.  Because the church gathers for corporate worship on Sunday, many make that the day they prioritize their Sabbath practice.

The only priority we take away from the moral law obligation and creation ordinance pattern is you must Sabbath one day in seven to be obeying this command.

APPLICATION:

• A day off to focus up

The Sabbath day is to have a special focus by us on God. We know that all of life is to be lived for the glory and worship of God, but Sabbath is designed to give us a break from the normal pace of life to be even more focused on worshiping and enjoying God.

How does this look? This can include spending additional time in the Bible, spending additional time in prayer, spending additional time in study of sound doctrine from trusted Bible teachers, spending additional time singing songs of praise, spending additional time in fellowship with other Christians, and spending additional time in service to others as ministries of mercy to them.

Because of this, it is often most wise to Sabbath on Sunday because of the scheduled gathering of Christians for what we often call “church.” This Sunday gathering includes these things, so it’s plain to see why Sabbathing on Sunday is recommended.

The day is given for this purpose. Spend your day enjoying God, focused on Him in a particular way that is set above how you do that on other days of the week. He deserves our worship and has called us to this Sabbath day to get to do it in a unique way.

• God has particularly appointed that this one day in seven be a Sabbath to be rested upon by each person for the benefit of them.

We have the blessing of slowing down from work and the other demands of life to enjoy a day of rest. This is a great gift from God to us! God is specifically calling each of us to stop the work labor we do on other days and rest from it. Depending on your work, this may be the day you need to rest your body from the normal demand your work puts on it, and it also may be the day you need to rest your mind from the normal demand your work puts on it. It is both these things for everyone, but when your job stresses a particular part of you, Sabbath gets to give you the rest you need, especially there.

In closing, Like all other spiritual disciplines, we must fight to make this happen.

For some of us, new habits need to be formed. For others, major changes need to be implemented. We can’t let our worldly desire for big houses, nice cars, big bank accounts, and other STUFF keep us from honoring the Sabbath. We must make efforts to have jobs or get jobs that don’t put God’s command for Sabbath in the back seat for the pursuit of something temporary. This will be a real struggle for many people. So, we do this together. If your work prevents you from honoring Sabbath rightly, then talk with spiritually mature people; ask them for guidance in things like: helping you rework finances, helping you be equipped to talk to your employer, or helping you consider other job opportunities that don’t get in the way of obeying God on Sabbath.

Sabbath is not to be looked upon as a terrible duty but as a sacred privilege. It affords us a special opportunity for profitable and joyous exercises. It displays God’s glory, and it blesses us.

By His grace and for His glory,

Pastor Joshua Kirstine

Disciples Church

Saturday Study

The Spiritual Discipline of Fasting (5-13-17)

The spiritual discipline of fasting is one that many modern day Christians do not know much about or do not do much with.  We are a have-it-now culture that is not patient and is not quick to go without.  We love what we love and love lots of it. But this is not a lesson on moderation or regulation but on intentional surrender unto exaltation.

Let’s define fasting before we move much further.  Fasting is voluntarily going without a good thing that God allows or has provided for a determined time for the sake of some spiritual purpose.

When thinking of fasting, many people only think of going without food, but a fast can be a voluntary going without any good thing. There is not a singular way that the Bible prescribes us to fast.   Because we can’t fast air or shouldn’t ever fast water, food is naturally a good thing to set aside in part or whole as it affects us without hurting us.

Fasting is something many Christians rarely or if ever practice even though God made it clear that we should.  Jesus doesn’t say “if,” but “when you fast” (Matthew 6:16). And he doesn’t say his followers might fast, but “they will” (Matthew 9:15).  So, now that we are clear that it is indeed a spiritual discipline, we should talk about what it is and what it isn’t and then some practical ways to make fasting a regular spiritual discipline of our life.

What it is:  Fasting is a mode of surrender during a time of request

In Old Testament passages like Isaiah 58 and Ezra 8:21-23, we see the people of God fasting as a way to focus on bringing their request to the Lord in prayer.  When the people of God were serious about a need that they were to put before the Lord, they would clear the deck and strip back normal things for the sake of prayer and focus on God.  For example, when you fast from food and you feel the hunger pains, you are reminded of your dependence on God. You are reminded to pray and pray hard.

What it isn’t: Fasting is not a potency power pack to convince God to do something

I have heard people turn fasting into a manipulation to put God in their debt.  By fasting you are not attaching more power to your prayer life and/or some kind of obligation on God to do what you ask him.  We never put God in our debt or put him to the test by our works.   As we study the Old Testament on these topics we must remember that the old covenant God made with his people was fulfilled in Christ and we who are now in Christ live under the new covenant.

What it is:  Fasting is a hunger for God

The first thing Jesus did after his ministry formally began was to get away from the normalcy of life and fast from food for 40 days and nights in Matthew 4.  In this, we can see fasting as a template of simplicity and stripping away the activities and happenings of life in order to focus on the Lord all the more.  In this, fasting is a form of clearing the table of life from distractions and normal enjoyments to have a time of greater focus on the Lord. It is a way to say, “God is better than…” as good and God-honoring as that thing is… “God is better.”   There are a lot of days where we seem to be satisfied in the basic provisions and happenings of this life.  Fasting is a way to disrupt that flow and routine to remind your mind and soul that God is better.  As the Psalmist says in…

Psalm 63:1–5

O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you;

my flesh faints for you,
as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.

So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory.

Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you.

So I will bless you as long as I live;
in your name I will lift up my hands.

My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food.

Do you hear the holistic desperation David has for God above all else?  Many days we don’t feel this way about God and we should.  Fasting is a way to reconnect ourselves to this reality.   That we would better hunger for God over any other thing.

What it is:  Fasting is a great way to focus on the leadership of God

In Acts 14:19-23, we see the early church leadership committing themselves to fasting as a part of the very important appointing and ordaining church elders. In this, we see that fasting is a good practice when faced with big decisions of life.  Stripping back other things to better focus on God’s written word and submit to God in prayer is a practical help to us along the road of life.  There is so much noise in our modern world and there are so many things coming at us that clearing the deck to seek God is a great way to be still and know that He is God.

What it is not:  Fasting is not something we do for prideful gain

In Matt. 6:16-18, we are given examples of those who fast in order to be recognized and respected by others. This is a self-seeking aim for practicing this spiritual discipline. It is not for spiritual edification or sacrificial living or worship to God.  Jesus says that the recognition they seek is their reward.  But for those who fast humbly and truly to honor and grow in the Lord will receive a reward of far greater value- namely God himself. God who is the prize.  Our sin causes us to say, “look at me… look at how spiritual I am”, but this pride and showmanship is the opposite goal of what fasting is intended to produce.  Fasting instead says, “I want to look at God to focus on him and enjoy Him.”  Fasting is a humble action by which we seek God to reign in our lives. It is a setting aside of self and not a puffing up of self.  David said, “I humbled my soul with fasting” [Psalm 35:13].

A few clarities and practical applications:

First, going without something like food, haphazardly is not fasting, it is just going hungry.   Fasting is only fasting when it is an intentional spiritual discipline with the aim of spiritual edification and spiritual purpose.

Second, fasting is something you can start slow and in smaller bites. You don’t need to start by fasting for a week from food.  Start by fasting for a day from food or by fasting from TV for a day.  Use that time to make time to be with the Lord in His word and in prayer.

Third, fasting is something you can do alone or in a group.  For all the reasons above, fasting can be very fruitful alone or with a group of brothers in Christ.

Finally, like all other spiritual disciplines, it will not happen on its own. You have to make time to do it.  When you fast, don’t just go without, but reach out to God and enjoy Him for all that He is.   So, when are you planning your next fast?  From what will you fast?   What will you do to get time with God when you fast?  Will you do it alone or with others?   I am praying for you as you hopefully begin or improve the spiritual discipline of fasting.

By His grace and for His glory,

Pastor Joshua Kirstine

Disciples Church