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Series Code: SCS
Program Code: SCS000007
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00:32 Chapter 7: The Test Of Discipleship.
00:37 Hello and welcome to Steps to Christ in Song. 00:40 Today we're going to be looking at 00:42 the test of discipleship. 00:43 I was once asked by a young man, 00:45 do you think I'm ready to be baptized. 00:48 And so I asked him the question well, 00:50 why do you want to be baptized? 00:52 He said well, you know my family go to church, 00:55 my grandparents go to church and so I said well 00:58 why do you want to be baptized. 01:00 He said well, I'm a Christian, 01:04 and so I said but how do you know you're a Christian? 01:07 And he said because I go to church 01:09 and my family goes to church. 01:11 And that was the only answer he could give me. 01:13 And so I came to realize that this young man 01:16 really didn't have a relationship 01:17 with Jesus Christ. 01:18 And so we started having Bible studies 01:20 and after a few months, 01:21 he came to realize that he needed to surrender 01:24 his heart to Jesus Christ. 01:25 and after a year and half of Bible studies 01:28 this young man fell in love with Christ 01:31 and he surrendered his life to Jesus Christ 01:33 and he was Baptized and he became 01:35 a very solid disciple of Jesus Christ. 01:39 In fact I believe that his faith in Christ 01:41 was even stronger then his parents. 01:44 But, before I go a little bit too far 01:46 into this subject of the test of discipleship, 01:48 I'm gonna ask that Kevin lead us 01:50 in the word of prayer. Kevin, can you do that. 01:52 Yes. Okay, let's pray. 01:55 Lord, please bless us, help us to surrender all, 02:01 please guide us as we discuss 02:02 the test of discipleship. 02:04 Help us to raise your Kingdom. 02:06 In your name Amen. Amen. 02:10 Many have asked the question, 02:11 how can I know if I'm right with God. 02:14 Bible says in Second Corinthians 5:17 02:17 that if any man be in Christ, 02:19 he is a new creature; old things are passed away; 02:22 behold all things have become new. 02:25 If we're right with God, there will be a change 02:28 in our lives and God will take center stage. 02:31 Although we may not be perfect 02:33 our affections will be on guard 02:35 and the trend of our lives will reveal more 02:37 and more the character of Christ. 02:57 All to Jesus I surrender All to Him I freely give 03:12 I will ever love and trust him 03:19 In his presence daily live 03:26 I surrender all I surrender all 03:40 All to Thee, my blessed Savior 03:47 I surrender all, All to Jesus I surrender, 04:03 Make me, Savior, wholly Thine; 04:10 Let me feel Thy Holy Spirit, 04:17 Truly know that Thou art mine. 04:24 I surrender all I surrender all 04:38 All to Thee, my blessed Savior 04:45 I surrender all 05:58 All to Jesus I surrender, 06:06 Now I feel the sacred flame. 06:15 Oh, the joy of full salvation! 06:23 Glory, glory to His name! 06:31 I surrender all I surrender all 06:47 All to Thee, my blessed Savior 06:57 I surrender all 07:08 All to Thee, my blessed Savior 07:20 I surrender all 07:40 Johnny, you grew you up in a Christian home, 07:43 so your life was fully surrendered to Jesus 07:45 right from day one. Well, not really 07:49 because I didn't know Christ. Okay. 07:50 And so I couldn't be fully surrendered to him. 07:53 It kind of reminds me 07:54 I do a lot of training with horses, 07:56 I love horses and it really reminds me 07:59 of working with the horse. 08:01 You know when you first get a horse, 08:02 the horse is green, they don't know, 08:03 they don't know what a halter is or bridle, 08:05 they don't like the saddle on their back 08:07 and so it takes a while to get them used to that. 08:09 Umm! Umm! And so you put a blanket 08:11 on their back and you let that sit for a little bit, 08:13 before you put the saddle on 08:15 and that was kind of with me, 08:16 you know God would bring stuff into my life, 08:18 and it took me a little bit to 08:19 get used to it sometimes 08:21 and then just like a horse there 08:22 came a stubborn streak in my life. 08:25 And I chose not to do 08:27 what I've been trained to do. 08:28 But, thankfully the Lord worked with me 08:31 and carefully and tenderly and patiently 08:35 and he brought me out of that. 08:38 Just like a good trainer does with his horse. 08:40 He continues to love the horse, 08:41 no matter what he does. Yeah. 08:43 And he brought me out of that and put me in a 08:46 good surroundings where I was able 08:47 to have good friends and pointed me to Christ 08:50 and now I do have that abiding with Christ, 08:53 that loving relationship with him. 08:55 And all it takes is a little bit of pressure 08:57 and I do what he asked me to do. 08:58 Yeah, A lot of people when they think 09:01 of the rules and regulations that they have to follow 09:05 Well, it's kind of like a horse. You know when a horse is green 09:08 and you can't ride him, what's the point of having 09:10 a horse. It's only when the horse is trained 09:13 and he does what the master asks him to do. 09:15 That's when the horse is useful, that's when it's a good horse. 09:19 And it's the same thing with us, there are rules and regulations 09:22 they are for our good, they are for our benefit, 09:24 so that we can have that relationship with Christ. 09:27 Really been test of discipleship 09:29 is really finding that place where we 09:31 completely surrender to God and we are obedient 09:34 to his will. So, Ellen in your life 09:37 you probably identify a lot with what Johnny said? 09:39 Yeah. From the beginning was it a surrender 09:43 to Jesus Christ in your life? 09:44 No, not from the beginning, 09:47 I had a hard time surrendering to Christ 09:50 and having that desire because it was it, 09:53 seemed like a big sacrifice 09:55 and it wasn't one that I was ready to take 09:57 but I know that the Holy Spirit was working 10:00 on my heart every step of the way. 10:02 And I can't really pinpoint an exact time, 10:05 but it was near the end of my 11th grade year 10:08 that I could really see the Holy Spirit 10:11 changing my heart. Umm! Umm! 10:13 And there is a youth conference called Acts 10:16 for Christ that the school went to and 10:19 there was one meeting that I want to 10:21 by Pastor Ivor Myers and he was talking 10:25 about the media and he made a altar call 10:29 to surrender movies and video games 10:33 and I really felt the Holy Spirit 10:36 you know telling me Ellen you need to stand up 10:38 for this one, its for you. 10:40 And I was like, I don't want to I have stood up 10:43 for so many altar calls and each one 10:45 I haven't followed through with it 10:47 and I haven't actually done them and it made me 10:51 feel like a failure like you know, 10:52 and I just didn't want to stand up for anymore. 10:54 But I was like you know Ellen, 10:58 you really need to do this and I made it a purpose 11:00 in my heart that I was going to 11:02 follow through on this one. 11:03 And you know after I made that decision, 11:06 the Holy Spirit totally and completely took away 11:09 that desire to watch movies. 11:10 That's amazing. And it truly was amazing 11:13 because I did it so much before and 11:17 I was and he did that with every area of my life. 11:22 You know I had a problem with being lazy 11:25 and he took away that desire of being lazy. 11:27 He changed me and like after that 11:30 I want to be more helpful and I wanted to 11:32 actually do something, I didn't enjoy 11:33 just sitting around you know doing nothing. 11:36 And I wanted to be kind to people and you know 11:39 I'd watch more what I said and he just totally 11:42 transformed my life and 11:46 it's you know the Holy Spirit really truly does do 11:49 a work deep inside you. 11:50 Yeah and it's a change, now you are exchanging 11:55 one thing; now you had time 11:56 what did you do with that time. 11:58 Well, I spend more time talking to God, 12:00 definitely through when I was working and it was 12:04 a big encouragement you know 12:05 when temptations came, 12:07 I was able to withstand them because 12:10 he was there to help me and I could call on him 12:13 and but you know I didn't spend that time 12:15 with him and my, if I didn't have the devotional 12:18 life or a prayer life he wouldn't be able to help me 12:21 and that devotions and prayer are definitely 12:26 a very important part of a spiritual life, 12:29 yeah, if you want to be strong. 12:31 Right, like your anchor 12:32 told you. Umm! Umm! Definitely. 12:34 Oh! praise the Lord, thank you 12:35 for sharing that, yeah, awesome. 12:38 You know when we truly accept Christ 12:41 as our personal savior. 12:42 There is this mysterious change that 12:44 takes place in our hearts. 12:46 For example, we become 12:48 attracted to the goodness that, 12:50 that was once so undesirable 12:52 and the evil that once led us 12:53 now become so distasteful 12:55 and we hate it with a passion. 12:57 This change is often gradual 12:59 and it is the fulfillment of the promise that 13:01 we see in Ezekiel chapter 36 verse 26 13:04 and I love this promise. 13:06 Our Lord is so precious it says 13:08 and I will give you a new heart with new 13:10 and right desires and a new spirit will I put on you; 13:13 I will take away your stony heart of sin 13:16 and give you a new obedient heart today and forever. 13:22 My prayer for you and I, 13:26 is that we would just come to our savior 13:28 and say Lord, I am a sinner 13:31 and I am so sinful and I have a heart of stone. 13:34 Please Father, give me a new and obedient heart. 14:06 Since I started for the Kingdom, 14:14 Since my life He controls, 14:23 Since I gave my heart to Jesus, 14:31 The longer I serve Him, The sweeter He grows. 14:41 The longer I serve Him, the sweeter He grows, 14:49 The more that I love Him, more love He bestows; 14:58 Each day is like heaven, my heart overflows, 15:07 The longer I serve Him, the sweeter He grows. 15:58 Ev'ry need He is supplying, 16:05 Plenteous grace He bestows; 16:13 Ev'ry day my way gets brighter, 16:20 The longer I serve Him, The sweeter He grows. 16:30 The longer I serve Him, the sweeter He grows, 16:38 The more that I love Him, more love He bestows; 16:46 Each day is like heaven, my heart overflows, 16:55 The longer I serve Him, the sweeter He grows. 17:08 The sweeter He grows. 17:36 I just love that song, it is so true, 17:38 the longer we serve Him, the sweeter He does become to us. 17:41 How does that work Craig, how does our service 17:45 of him become sweeter as the days go by. 17:48 You know I think it's really an issue of the heart, 17:51 an issue of the heart, when we love God 17:55 from our heart. Yeah, 17:56 it's a sweet experience. 17:58 I remember when I was a kid my dad is a minister, 18:00 I remember telling him once, 18:01 I wish I weren't born a Christian, 18:03 I wish I weren't born into a home where knowing 18:05 the Bible and the Ten Commandments was there, 18:07 because it's so restricting 18:09 and that's so sad but that was my, 18:12 yeah, my perception, I've heard others say this. 18:15 Yeah. There is one experience in my life 18:17 though where I really saw 18:20 a heart change too that brings this point clear. 18:23 My mother was a nurse and my father a pastor 18:26 like I said and we went as a family 18:29 to mission service when I was 13 18:31 and got way off half way around the world 18:35 and somehow as a young teenager 18:40 and a proud American, I just didn't connect 18:42 with the people there, yeah, 18:44 and my parents saw that and were concerned 18:47 because they're serving with all their hearts 18:48 and they were just certain little things 18:51 that indicated that you know 18:52 I just didn't really connect. 18:55 And I remember them coming and 18:57 pleading with me to you have a change of heart 18:59 and asking me to, you know consider doing more 19:03 and so on and it just didn't happen you know, 19:06 and then was an experience though 19:09 where after sometime my mother invited me, 19:13 just a typical thing that you know Craig Lee come 19:15 and drive the car for me and we got to go 19:19 way out in the bush and help this family. 19:21 There was a man who is dying of TB 19:22 and I wanna go check up on him 19:23 and she is a nurse you know and so 19:26 I love to drive and we went way out in the bush 19:29 and found this little family out there 19:32 and I noted everything and she went in to check 19:34 on the patient and she came back out of the hut 19:37 and she was crying and she said well before 19:40 we go lets gather the family around well lets pray. 19:42 And I'm thinking you know this is serious 19:45 you know, he is gonna die soon 19:47 and mom asked me to pray and so I prayed 19:50 and when I was done praying, 19:54 I'll never forget I opened my eyes 19:56 and we're kneeling there in a circle, 19:58 my mom sees the lady of the house there, 20:00 just in a T-shirt and it was a pretty chilly morning 20:02 and without even giving a second thought 20:05 she just took her sweater off 20:06 and put it on her and said here you know 20:09 you need a sweater you're cold. 20:11 These are very poor people. Yeah, 20:13 but you know to me you know 20:16 we had bundles of clothing, we could give to people 20:19 you know we could have brought lots of clothing 20:22 but my mom didn't think of that, this is a sweater 20:23 I had seen her wear all my life at the church 20:25 and at special occasions yeah. 20:27 And she didn't even think about it, 20:28 she just gave it to her and that simple act 20:31 of love to someone who obviously 20:34 she considered a total equal, 20:36 yeah, really broke my heart. 20:37 I remember tears coming in my eyes 20:39 as a young man and my heart 20:41 was changed that was it, 20:43 I just realized, I saw through you know 20:46 this simple loving act for my mother just broke 20:49 my heart and from then on I was a missionary, 20:51 not a mission kid. Wow! Wow! 20:54 Praise the Lord, thanks for sharing that, it's awesome. 20:58 This miraculous change that God desires 21:01 to bring into my life isn't always an easy one. 21:04 I have a stubborn fallen nature 21:06 that doesn't easily give up. 21:08 But, true faith will lead me to consistently 21:10 submit my will to God's 21:12 Will until the two become one. 21:14 As this process takes place 21:16 I'll come closer to Christ. 21:18 And the closer I come the more sinful 21:20 I'll appear in my own eyes. 21:22 This is because my vision will become clear 21:25 and my sinfulness will be seen in contrast 21:28 to Christ's perfection. 21:30 Take courage, this is a sign 21:32 that Satan's deceptions are loosing their power 21:35 and if you're tempted to get discouraged just claim 21:38 the promise found in Romans 5:6 through 8 21:41 that says when we were utterly helpless 21:44 Christ came at just the right time 21:46 and died for sinners. Now most people would 21:49 not be willing to die for an upright person 21:52 though someone might perhaps be willing to die 21:54 for a person who's especially good, 21:57 but God showed his great love for us 22:00 by sending Christ to die for us, 22:02 while we were still sinners. 22:04 Isn't it good to know that God is on your side. 22:25 O Lord, we pray "Thy will be done" or 22:31 "Master, here am I." 22:37 We pray You'd do a mighty work 22:43 That to the flesh we'd die. 22:49 And when the answer comes to us 22:56 In form of trial and test, 23:02 We fail to see Your loving hand, 23:08 Refining fire is best. 23:17 God's refining fire, God's refining fire, 23:32 May it purge me now and make of me what You require. 23:44 O Lord, feed the fire, Your refining fire. 23:58 Now as gold and silver must be tried, 24:05 Lord, may my heart be purified. 24:11 Lord, send Your great refining fire. 24:29 That I may stand when You appear, 24:35 Abide till Your return. 24:41 O place the fire perfectly That 24:47 all the dross be burned. 24:54 Whether furnace of affliction, Lord, 25:00 Or unfulfilled desire, 25:06 Bring forth a vessel pure and 25:12 tried By Your refining fire. 25:21 God's refining fire, God's refining fire, 25:36 May it purge me now and make 25:41 of me what You require. 25:49 O Lord, feed the fire, Your refining fire. 26:03 Now as gold and silver must be tried, 26:09 Lord, may my heart be purified. 26:16 Lord, send Your great refining fire. 26:30 God's refining fire, God's refining fire. 27:01 In that song I really like the line we pray 27:05 that you'd do a mighty work that to the flesh 27:08 we'd die. That's my prayer, I want die to self 27:12 and stand the test of discipleship. 27:14 Amen. You know that test, 27:17 you know we think of that word test 27:18 it kind of makes us feel a bit anxious. 27:21 But, that final test will come when Jesus returns, 27:25 he talks about it in Matthew chapter 7 27:27 when he says that there will be many 27:29 who will come to me in that day and say Lord, Lord, 27:32 we did this in your name, we did that in your name 27:35 and he says get away from me, I never knew you. 27:38 That is a frightening thought, 27:41 that people can think that they are Christians 27:45 but they actually don't know Christ 27:47 and that they can be turned away, 27:49 thinking they've been doing things for him 27:51 but they're actually not his disciples. 27:54 Let's pray to him right now and ask him to come 27:57 into our hearts so that we can know for sure 27:59 that we are following him as our savior, 28:03 lets pray. Heavenly Father, 28:06 we pray Lord that you will abide in our hearts 28:09 and that we will surrender our lives to you 28:11 and that we will love you, love to think of you 28:15 and that are our fondest thoughts will be of you, 28:18 in Jesus name we pray. Amen, Amen. 28:23 Steps to Christ in Song is a 13 part series 28:26 from Fountain View Productions designed to be an easy 28:29 non-threatening way to show the good news about 28:31 Jesus Christ with friends, relatives and co-workers. 28:35 Order your copies now by calling 1-877-490-4141 28:41 or visit us online at www.fountainviewproductions.com. 28:47 Steps to Christ in Song is also available 28:50 at your local ABC Christian Book Store. |
Revised 2014-12-17