Wednesday Night Prayer Meeting Message July 17, 2019
Title: Being a Believer or Being a Disciple.
Scripture text: Luke 14:25-28.
First, I want to thank Pastor Lang for allowing me to fill in for him in his absence.
I also want to thank Brother Brown for handling all the details that usually goes with the Wednesday night meeting.
The question before us tonight is are we, you and I, a believer or a disciple of Jesus.
Before we can answer that question, we must establish the difference between the two; believer and disciple.
A believe is a person that has accepted Jesus as their Savior. They truly believe in what Jesus has done for them on the cross and have gained eternal life.
They also are known as Christians, Saints and children of God among other names.
A disciple is somewhat different. All disciples are believers but not all believers are disciples as we will shortly see.
A disciple is known also as a learner, a student, a follower, a servant and an imitator.
If I asked how many here tonight are believers, we would no doubt all raise our hand.
And if I asked what it cost you to be a believer, again no doubt most if not all would say, “It didn’t cost me anything. But it cost my Savior everything.”
Salvation is free. It is a gift.
Ephesians 2:8 says “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.”
Furthermore, Romans 6:23 says “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” It is a gift and it is free, pure, simple and settled.
The problem is many people in churches today want eternal life because it is preferred over eternal death; they prefer heaven above hell. Jesus is very gracious in giving them their desire.
Then we have the people that want the title of Christian without the lifestyle of being a true Christian.
They want to be saved but seem to say to Jesus, “Now that I am saved, don’t bother me.”
Some want heaven without church, Jesus will allow that even though it is not what He designed for the believer. In other words, you don’t have to go to church to be saved.
Then we have some believers that want fellowship with other believers but not with the Lord.
Some want to appear righteous without living righteously.
They want the help from the Lord without committing their lives to Him.
This is like wanting the well of water without digging the well.
Open your bibles to Luke 14 and go to verse 25.
My text tonight is short, only four verses long, but it is packed with so much meaning.
The context is found in verses 15-24. It is about a very wealthy man that made a great supper and invited many people. We find that they all began to make excuse why they were not able to attend.
Jesus then instructed His servants to go out into the highways, streets and hedges and bring in the poor, the maimed, the halt and the blind and compel them to come to his great supper.
Then we come to the text of the message; (Read verses 25-28).
My question tonight is this; Are you a believer or a disciple?
I know I am preaching to the choir tonight. Most of you are in my Adult Bible Study Class on Sunday morning and are the faithful in serving the Lord.
Actually, this is a question that should be asked on Sunday morning.
According to Jesus and our text, to be a disciple will cost something, in many instances it will cost a lot.
1. First, Jesus says it may cost you your family (re-read verse 26). Where Jesus says that a disciple must hate their father, mother, wife, children and brothers and sisters, He is not speaking of hate in the same way as to hate sin, the world and the Devil.
Matthew 10:37 (“He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me).” Jesus is saying that “He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.”
That ought to get a lot of Christians away from the ball diamonds on mid-week service nights, but it probably won’t.
We are told elsewhere that we are to honor our parents, love our wives and raise our children in the nurture of the Lord. That does not sound like we are to hate them. No, our scripture reading means in comparison to our love for the Lord.
What this is saying that if it comes down to choosing between family, friends, neighbors, and even your livelihood and Jesus; to become a disciple, you must choose Jesus.
2. Second, we see that we must choose Jesus over even our very lives (read verse 26 “and his own life ).” Many in other countries that are being persecuted are making that decision. They choose Jesus over their very own lives. Christian doctors, nurses and other care givers are losing their jobs because they believe in the sanctity of life. Others have lost jobs because of their biblical and Christian principles.
Some people in persecuted countries, which we pray for, will walk miles to go to church. In our country many Christians will not drive ten minutes to church, and that is often in a heated or air-conditioned car.
3. Read verse 27. When Jesus says that a person must bear his cross and follow Him, He is saying that the Roman soldiers demanded that a condemned person carry his cross at least a part of the way to his death, to show in a public display, that Rome was right and he was wrong. It was an act to humiliate the person. Jesus was telling His followers that they must make a public display of their devotion to Jesus, even to death if need be to show that the Lord is right and we are or were wrong.
To be disciples then, one must be ready for ridicule, the shame of the cross, the rejection of the world and the suffering of persecution, all the while loving and praying for those that despitefully use them.
Jesus said that if a person was not of the mind to lay aside his family, their own life and be ready to face the shame, ridicule and persecution of the cross, they cannot, cannot, cannot be His disciple.
Now, I am going to show some differences between being a believer and being a disciple and you decide which you are.
Believers are those that are redeemed that sought to escape the judgment of God: John 3:16-19 “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. (17) For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world: but that the world through Min might be saved. (18) He that believeth on Him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. (19) And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.”
Disciples are believers that seek to be servants of Jesus.
Believers have called upon Jesus to gain salvation; disciples are called upon by Jesus to work for Him.
Believers fill pews, disciples have filled their lives, hearts and souls with the fruit of the Spirit.
Believers have asked, “What must I do to be saved?” (The Philippian jailer) Disciples have asked “What will thou have me to do?” (Paul at his conversion).
Believers have relied on Christ for salvation, disciples have relied on Christ for service.
Believers go to church for the Lord, disciples go to war for Him.
2 Corinthians 10:4; “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds.
1 Timothy 1:18; “This charge I commit unto thee son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before on thee, that thou by them mightiest war a good warfare.”
2 Timothy 2:3-4). “Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.”
Believers have bought in to the Lord and disciples have sold out to Him.
Believers are secure in the Lord; a disciple is at risk. In 2 Corinthians 11:23-28, Paul lists many dangers, perils, sufferings and pain that he went through to serve the Lord Jesus.
Believers have peace with God, disciples have the peace of God shown by their joy as well.
Believers want to make the Lord his or her servant, “what can He do for me?” I don’t recall anyone in the bible asking Jesus what they could do for Him. If anyone can find a place, see me after the service.
This is evident in how they pray. It’s all about me and mine. My needs, my wants. Lord bless so and so.” None of this is wrong and is scriptural but when it is the only focus in prayer it is lacking. I would love to have a prayer night that only focused on the Lord. Worshipping and praising Him as not only the Creator God but also our Redeemer. Thanking Him for His mercy, kindness and provisions.
A disciple makes Jesus preeminent in his or her life. He must increase, I must decrease.
A believer has given his or her soul to the Lord, disciples have given their heart to the Lord.
Believers read their bibles; a disciple is read by the world. They are a letter (epistle) written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God. 2 Corinthians 3:2 “Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God: not in tables of stone, but in fleshly tables of the heart.”
A person can be a carnal Christian, backslidden Christian or a baby in Christ, but these terms do not fit a disciple.
Disciples have a desire to learn and grow. They have grown past the milk and want strong meat.
Disciples serve without consideration for self, only for their Lord. Luke 6:40 tells us that the disciple is not above his master (didaskolos- teacher).
Discipleship will force people off the fence, they can no longer halt between two opinions, the world view and the biblical view; politically correct and biblically correct; the values of the world and the values of the Lord.
Believers often have their worldly heroes that they look up to and try to imitate, disciples have their hall of faith in Hebrews 11, to look up to and to try to emulate.
Many believers have laid up treasures here on earth; disciples have laid up their treasures in heaven where neither moths or rust corrupt and where thieves do not break through nor steal.
We have a lot of believers in church but few disciples.
If all believers were disciples, our attendance on Sunday night and Wednesday night would be mostly the same as on Sunday morning.
We would have our bible study classes full.
We would have more people willing to do something for the Lord and for the church.
We would have offerings that would allow us to operate in more areas. We would be sacrificial givers and not just tithers, or occasional givers.
We would have more outreach programs. We need more than two nursing home ministries and a once in a while service at Indianapolis men’s mission.
We would have more workers for the ministries of the church. They would be using their Spiritual gifts, natural talents and learned abilities for the Lord.
Our times of corporate prayer, Saturday mornings men prayer, Sunday morning women’s prayer, our ladies bible study, our monthly men’s prayer breakfast would have more coming.
People that are saved, believers, would want to join themselves to the church in membership and be committed to it. It is amazing how many Sunday morning attenders are not members of this church.
Christians would want to take young people and new Christians and mentor them.
We would have a burden for the lost in Muncie.
We would be witnessing more and seeing more people being saved and baptized.
We would have a heartfelt burden for our teens.
We have seen our youth group dwindle down to as little as three young people on some nights.
Some of our past youths have forsaken the church. The world has a lot of influence. Maybe we haven’t prayed often enough, hard enough or long enough for them in the past or for our teen workers. Lord, help us to not make the same mistake.
If we want to see our church grow, if we want to see our church succeed, then we need to be not only believers but disciples.
How can we become disciples of Jesus and not only believers, or what does it take to be a disciple of Jesus?
1. Give your total heart to the Lord. If He has that, He has it all, and then you will be a disciple. Seek His face in your desire to become a disciple.
2. Never say no to the Lord. Whatever He bids you to do, whatever He puts on your heart, find a way to do it.
3. Step out on faith. This is often quite nerve wracking but it will be satisfying when you do it.
4. Make Jesus the top priority in your life.
One last question, If Jesus came right now in front of you and asked if you are a believer in Him or His disciple what would you say, what could you say?