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Part 6
by Samuel E. Ward
What It Means to Be a Dedicated Disciple of Jesus Christ
Introduction
A. Ittai the Gittite Offers an Example of Dedication to a King's Cause.
(2 Sam 15:19-21 NIV) The king said to Ittai the Gittite, "Why should you come along with us? Go back and stay with King Absalom. You are a foreigner, an exile from your homeland. {20} You came only yesterday. And today shall I make you wander about with us, when I do not know where I am going? Go back, and take your countrymen. May kindness and faithfulness be with you." {21} But Ittai replied to the king, "As surely as the LORD lives, and as my lord the king lives, wherever my lord the king may be, whether it means life or death, there will your servant be."
B. Jesus' Words in Luke 14 Insist on the Dedication of All His Disciples.
(Luke 14:31-33 NIV) "Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? {32} If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. {33} In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.
C. Paul's Letter to the Philippians Contains a Testimony to His Own Dedication to Jesus.
(Phil 3:4-9 NIV) though I myself have reasons for such confidence. If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: {5} circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; {6} as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless. {7} But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ.
{8} What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ {9} and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ--the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.
D. Complete Dedication to Christ Is the Most Reasonable Choice a Christian Can Make Among All Options.
(Rom 12:1-2 NIV) Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship. {2} Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Andrew Murray has written,
Surrender to the Lord is something that for the Christian always obtains newer and deeper significance. When this takes place, he comes to understand how this surrender involves nothing less than a complete and undivided consecration to live only, always, wholly for Jesus.
--Andrew Murray, New Life: Words of God for Young Disciples, "Undivided Consecration."
Murray makes the following analogy:
As entirely as the temple was dedicated to the service of God alone, so that every one knew that it existed only for that purpose; as entirely as the offering on the altar could be used only according to the command of God, and no one had a right to dispose of one portion of it otherwise than God had said: so entirely do you belong to your Lord, and so undivided must your consecration to Him be.
I. The Dedication of a Christian Must Be a Personal Commitment to Jesus for All the Right Reasons
There can be no one we love more, desire more, or who can give us greater joy. We must serve Him because He is our Friend, King, Redeemer, and God. We are not distant subjects or casual acquaintances. We are not bound out of fear but affection. We do not have a number; we have a name which Jesus knows. We do not have a mere membership into a global club, we have a personal relationship with the Ruler Who has committed Himself to our eternal salvation and also cares and involves Himself in our daily lives.
A. Our Love for Jesus Must Move Us to Obey Him.
(John 14:21 NIV) Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him."
B. Our Friendship With Jesus Must Move Us to Partner with His Purpose.
(John 15:14 NIV) You are my friends if you do what I command.
C. Our Friendship with Jesus Moves Him to Reveal the Father and His Will to Us.
(John 15:15 NIV) I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.
D. Our Love for Jesus Must Move Us to "Feed" and Care for His "Sheep."
(John 21:17 NIV) The third time he said to him, "Simon son of John, do you love me?" Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, "Do you love me?" He said, "Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you." Jesus said, "Feed my sheep.
E. A Rightly Motivated Commitment to Jesus Produces an Eagerness to Serve Him.
(Gal 2:10 NIV) All they asked was that we should continue to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do.
II. The Dedication of a Christian Must Be Publicly Evident (No Secret Disciples)
A. God Desires that His People Publicly Acknowledge Him as Their God and Serve Him Only.
1. In order that the glory He manifests among His people might surpass all others
(Exo 33:14-17 NIV) The LORD [said to Moses], "My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest." {15} Then Moses said to him, "If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. {16} How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?" {17} And the LORD said to Moses, "I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name."
2. In order that there be no confusion over Who is God among His people.
(Josh 24:15 NIV) But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD."
B. God Desires that His People Gather Publicly as His Church for the Sake of One Another.
1. This is where we become known as those who love one another.
(John 13:35 NIV) By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."
It should be that to be known as a Christian is to be known as one who loves.
2. This is where we love as Christ loved by giving ourselves to each other in love.
(John 15:12 NIV) My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.
If one neglects being a part of a local body of believers, one thing they are not doing is showing love to the body. If anything, it shows indifference if not dislike for God's people. That is why when a person says they do not have to go to church in order to worship God, they are only showing either their ignorance or apathy toward God.
(Heb 10:25 NIV) Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
3. This is where we supply what others need and receive what we need to make the body of Christ whole.
(1 Cor 12:20-21 NIV) As it is, there are many parts, but one body. {21} The eye cannot say to the hand, "I don't need you!" And the head cannot say to the feet, "I don't need you!"
4. This is where we grow and maintain our spiritual health.
(Eph 4:11-16 NIV) It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, {12} to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up {13} until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. {14} Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. {15} Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. {16} From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.
5. This is where we influence others to consider a relationship with God and His people.
(Ruth 1:16 NIV) But Ruth replied, "Don't urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God.
III. The Dedication of a Christian Must Include Separation from Sin and the World
It is with deep spiritual insight that Andrew Murray exhorts Christians to "Know that the world is under the power of the Evil One. Ask not how much of it you can retain without being lost. Ask not always what is sin and what is lawful. Even of that which is lawful, the Christian must oftentimes make a willing renunciation, in order to be able to live wholly for his God."
It is not unusual to find some Christians who instead of being drawn to the center of a relationship with God, the seek the outer boundaries where they are either one step away from worldly affections or even straddling the line, half in and half out.
A. Know That God Is Not Moving Off-Center from His Holiness.
(Psa 101:4 NIV) Men of perverse heart shall be far from me; I will have nothing to do with evil.
B. Be Aware that It Is the Believer's Responsibility to Keep to the Center of God's Holiness.
1. God demanded holiness within Israel
(Lev 20:7-8 NIV) "'Consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am the LORD your God. {8} Keep my decrees and follow them. I am the LORD, who makes you holy.
2. Christ demands holiness within His Church
(1 Pet 1:15-17 NIV) But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; {16} for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy." {17} Since you call on a Father who judges each man's work impartially, live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear.
(Eph 5:8-12 NIV) For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light {9} (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) {10} and find out what pleases the Lord. {11} Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. {12} For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret.
3. It is holiness that makes us suitable for use by God for honorable service.
(2 Tim 2:20-22 NIV) In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for noble purposes and some for ignoble. {21} If a man cleanses himself from the latter, he will be an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work. {22} Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
Conclusion:
This type of dedication is within every believer's reach. This is so not because it is so easy but rather because of the presence and power of God to perform it in us. Otherwise it is impossible. Because of His grace, He wants to fulfill all the purposes of discipleship in those who would choose to commit themselves to such a walk with Him and thus glorify Him.
