Peace and grace in the love of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Luke 9:57-62 is about the Cost of Discipleship.
Luke 9:57
9:57. Now it happened as they journeyed on the road, that someone said to Him, "Lord, I will follow You wherever You go."
"Lord, I will follow You wherever You go" is the following of body to the head.
Our following to Christ must be increased up to the one of body to the head.
If we only follow Jesus as a father, there is a lost child. If we follow Him as a teacher, we will not follow Him after we finish the lesson. If we follow Him as the shepherd, there is a lost sheep. But, the peak of our following is the one of body to the head, because the body cannot be separated from the head.
The practice of the following of body to the head is we must be active in the ministry of the building of perfect body of Christ. We place Jesus as the Head, so we will not be separated from Him forever.
Do not enter the false building of the body of Christ!
Be careful, there are two kinds of the fellowship as follows:
The terms to minister the building of the body of Christ are as follows:
God blesses us.
Luke 9:57-62 is about the Cost of Discipleship.
Luke 9:57
9:57. Now it happened as they journeyed on the road, that someone said to Him, "Lord, I will follow You wherever You go."
"Lord, I will follow You wherever You go" is the following of body to the head.
Our following to Christ must be increased up to the one of body to the head.
If we only follow Jesus as a father, there is a lost child. If we follow Him as a teacher, we will not follow Him after we finish the lesson. If we follow Him as the shepherd, there is a lost sheep. But, the peak of our following is the one of body to the head, because the body cannot be separated from the head.
The practice of the following of body to the head is we must be active in the ministry of the building of perfect body of Christ. We place Jesus as the Head, so we will not be separated from Him forever.
Do not enter the false building of the body of Christ!
Be careful, there are two kinds of the fellowship as follows:
- The true fellowship of the body of Christ.
John 15:1, 5
15:1. "I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.
15:5. "I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.
The true fellowship is based on the true vine, namely Jesus or the true teaching word.
We, as the branches, must abide in the true vine or the word that is sharper than any two-edged sword.
The sign of entering the true fellowship is we live in holiness (the branches are pruned) and faithfulness (the branches abide in the true vine). The holiness encourages us to be faithful to God.
John 15:2-3
15:2. "Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.
15:3. "You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.
If we live in holiness and faithfulness although we are the small branches, sooner or later we will yield sweet fruits. God will take care of us ('My Father is the vinedresser') until we reach the true fellowship. - The fellowship without the true vine or the true teaching word.
John 15:6
15:6. "If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.
This is the plot or conspiracy to be against the true fellowship. Without the true vine, the branch will become dry and useless soon.
Consequently, it will be burned and destroyed forever.
The characteristic of the fellowship without the true vine is the dry mouth, namely lying or gossip.
The terms to minister the building of the body of Christ are as follows:
- One must become the royal priesthood.
1 Peter 2:5
2:5. you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
We must become the priests and kings. The process is we must receive God's call and election.- We are called out of darkness into His marvelous light.
1 Peter 2:9
2:9. But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;
We are justified and saved, starting from believing Jesus, repenting, entering water and spirit baptism. We live in righteousness. - We are chosen by God.
Exodus 28:1
28:1. "Now take Aaron your brother, and his sons with him, from among the children of Israel, that he may minister to Me as priest, Aaron and Aaron's sons: Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.
Exodus 29:1
29:1. "And this is what you shall do to them to hallowthem for ministering to Me as priests: Take one young bull and two rams without blemish,
Being chosen means from among the people in the world, one is taken to be purified.
To be purified, we must be in the holy place, namely perseverance in committing three kinds of main service.
Leviticus 21:12
21:12. 'nor shall he go out of the sanctuary, nor profane the sanctuary of his God; for the consecration of the anointing oil of his God is upon him: I am the LORD.
We are anointed by Holy Spirit so we receive the gifts of Holy Spirit to minister God according to the ministry that God gives to us. We also minister in order and regularity. We honor God's presence among us.
- We are called out of darkness into His marvelous light.
- Walking worthy of the calling.
Ephesians 4:1-3
4:1. I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called,
4:2. with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love,
4:3. endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.- Lowliness. It means the ability to confess our sin honestly to God and others. If we are forgiven, do not sin anymore.
If we do not confess our sin, it will become the burden that makes us labor and become heavy burden up to perishing.
Philippians 2:3
2:3. Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.
Lowliness also means the ability to recognize others' superiority. - Gentleness. It means the ability to receive the teaching word no matter how hard it is and the ability to forgive others' sins and forget it, and receive others in their weakness and superiority.
Matthew 11:28-30
11:28. "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
11:29. "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
11:30. "For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."
If we have the lowliness and gentleness, we will experience relief and serenity, so all things become easy and light. - Longsuffering in suffering and waiting the time of God.
We must give thanks in suffering. We are not desperate or disappointed and do not grumble and leave God.
We keep ministering to God faithfully and fervently.
John 7:6
7:6. Then Jesus said to them, "My time has not yet come, but your time is always ready.
For us, there is always the time to keep silent, trust and commit ourselves to God. We moan and groan to God, we worship Him, so He will stretch out His merciful hand to us.
All problems will be finished in due time. All things become beautiful in due time.
We are perfect when Jesus comes a second time.
- Lowliness. It means the ability to confess our sin honestly to God and others. If we are forgiven, do not sin anymore.
God blesses us.