Discipleship is more than a class it is a lifestyle. for 13 weeks we will cover 12 major themes of the gospel. Theme 1 "The Love Of God"
Luke 24:32 And they said to one another, "Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?"
Discipleship is to become a student of Jesus Christ. He becomes the master teacher and we become the disciple with an eager open heart to learn. Setting at Jesus feet will bring us to our hearts burning within us; Jesus will open our eyes to comprehend His Word!
Disciples: Students of Jesus Christ who have a heart to follow Jesus at all cost
Matthew 28:18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 "teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen.
After Jesus resurrection He declared all authority has been given to Him both in heaven and on earth. We are the disciples of the One who has promised to always be with us, even to the end of the age! The one with all authority commands us to go and make disciples of all the nation. We must immersed the believer in the teaching of Jesus, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit! Men have sinned against the Father, Jesus came as the remedy of the sin, and the Holy Spirit is the gift to every believer!
Luke 14:26 "If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. 27 "And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. 28 "For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it; 29 "lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, 30 "saying, 'This man began to build and was not able to finish.‘ 31 "Or what king, going to make war against another king, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? 32 "Or else, while the other is still a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks conditions of peace. 33 "So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple. 34 "Salt is good; but if the salt has lost its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? 35 "It is neither fit for the land nor for the dunghill, but men throw it out. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!“
Jesus set the standard high! D o you see in this passage how Jesus repeats those who cannot be His disciples. We must love Jesus first and most, nothing can come before Jesus! If He is not first you cannot be His disciple! Jesus words not mine! Will you pick up the cross and follow Him? Will you count the cost? Will you come and surrender under the conditions that Jesus has laid out? This is what it takes to be His disciple. He who has an ear to hear, let him hear!!
THEME 1 THE LOVE OF GO D
John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
Jesus did not come just to save us from our sin! God desires to save you from your sin and for you to have everlasting life! Not future tense but now live with abundant life.
1 John 4:9 In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him.
The love of God was manifested that we might live through Jesus! The intent of God is for you and I to live! Not the mundane but the everlasting and abundant life.
1 John 4:10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
Here is the bible definition of love. Not that we loved God; but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. This is such a powerful scripture! We must understand the greatness of the love of God toward us. When Jesus came to earth, His earthly ministry was started after the Father spoke from heaven and declared this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. We need to receive the truth to the degree with which the Father loves us! Before we can love we must have the revelation we are loved.
1 John 4:11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us. 13 By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit.
We can’t love others without the revelation of the depth of the love of God toward us! He loved us so much He spent the most valuable asset of heaven; the beloved Son! His love toward us is the motive for our love for others. If the believer has love for one another it evidences His love perfected in us.
Ephesians 3:17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height; 19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
We need strengthened in our inner man so we might know the love of God. We become strong when we are rooted and grounded in the love God has for us! Not the intellectual knowing but the intimacy between Jesus and the believer “knowing”! To know the love of God is to be filled with the fullness of God.
1John 4:14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world. 15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.
Jesus is indeed the Savior of the world! Those steeped in false doctrine deny verse 15; the truth of verse 15 is clear, whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God! What a powerful truth. Life is found exclusively in Jesus Christ alone!
1John 4:16 And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him. 17 Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. 19 We love Him because He first loved us.
It is not that you have loved God; it is that God has loved you. Knowing and believing the love that God has for us enables us to live in His benefits. God is love and we can abide in His love. The love that has been perfected among us is our knowing and believing the love God has for us. Knowing and believing His love cast out all fear. Notice verse 17. The love that God has for us has been so perfected we can have boldness on the day of judgment! What?? Love is so perfected we can have boldness on the day of judgment, because as Jesus is, so are we in this world. This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. You believer are beloved by God! No need for fear His love for us is perfect; we love Him because He first loved us.
1 Corinthians 13:1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. 2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.
Operating in this love is imperative! Our accomplishment are nothing if done outside of His love operating through us!
1 Corinthians 13: 4 Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; 5 does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; 6 does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 8 Love never fails. …
Loves operation is identified well here in 1 Corinthians 13. Love suffers long, is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked thinks no evil. … the promise of love is that it cannot fail!!
Colossians 3:12 Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; 13 bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. 14 But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection.
The love of God in our hearts brings constraints to our actions. Love is the bond of perfection causing us to operate in mercy, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering, and forgiveness!
Ephesians 1:2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, 5 having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He has made us accepted in the Beloved.
The Father’s love is so great He blessed us with every spiritual blessing in Christ! He chose us with His good pleasure and made us accepted in the Beloved!
John 15:10 "If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love. 11 "These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full. 12 "This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13 "Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends.
Receiving the Father’s love empowers us to walk in His commandments. Jesus commanded us to love one another like Jesus loved us! It is not within the human realm to love like that. It is because we have a supernatural birth of the Spirit that we can love like that. Quit behaving like mere men; walk in love because you are a newly created being in Christ Jesus.
John 13:34 "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35 "By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."
True discipleship is demonstrated and will be recognized by the love we have one for another! Let the Father’s love compel you!
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