In today’s sermon, Pastor Babij closes the series examining the last four characteristics of an authentic Christ-like discipleship. The last four are:
- Forgiving others
- Withstanding temptation
- Being humble
- Confessing Christ to all people
Pastor Babij examines humility in detail and contrasts it with pride. He details how pride is the root of all sin and how pride is fought by comparing oneself to the humble Christ. Pastor Babij concludes by reminding believers that the purpose of evangelism is to make disciples, not just converts.
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all right let’s take our Bibles this morning and turn to mark this is the last of it Mark chapter 1 actually we’re we’re going to look at several chapters in Mark just kind of summing up uh the eight characteristics of authentic Christlike disciples and so that’s what I’ve been looking at over these weeks and of course u in considering these characteristics remember that the holy spirit is developing your character and he’s developing your character in order for you to be a disciple that is maturing and growing and developing in the attitudes and the behaviors that we ought to have as Believers and so that’s what we have been looking at now now remember these are not all the characteristics the holy spirit is developing in you there are more but these are the ones that Rise Up from the gospel of Mark and so we have looked at so far four of them the first being the unconditional surrendering to God’s will that means that of obedience secondly the character of authentic disciples is uncompromising faith thirdly an uncommon desire to put to pray unto the Lord and to put him first in all things and then fourth an uncanny awareness to watch over or guard your own heart as a Believer one thing you did not do before now you are considering it as the scripture begins to cleanse you and push out all the garbage in your mind and replace it with God’s word now today this Lord’s day I want to consider the fifth the 6th the seventh and the eighth of the characteristics of authentic christ-like disciples before I do that let’s have a word of prayer Lord this morning I do thank you that we’re even to that we’re even able to know these things what a privilege it is for us to know what you want for us and I pray Lord as we consider these characteristics I pray you would take them allow us to examine oursel by them to see how we measure up to see if we’re pressing on and moving forward and I pray Lord as we do that um you would encourage us um or Lord you may have to rebuke us and I pray Lord whatever the case may be that we would be sensitive to your will and want to put ourselves in your hands so you can take hold of us us that we can cooperate with your spirit and that you can produce in us a christlikeness that is growing and moving forward and I pray this in your name amen the fifth characteristic of authentic disciples is this forgiving others forgiving others Mark chapter 1 in verse number four it says John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness preaching a baptism of repentance for the Forgiveness of sins and then in verse 5 it said all the country of Judea was going out to him and all the people of Jerusalem and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River confessing their sins now it’s very clear here that the promise of forgiveness goes with the confessing of sins that’s what you want forgiven and the root meaning of actually remission or forgiveness of sins is a sending away a dismissal of those sins it speaks of a cancellation of sin without demanding the deserved punishment that would go along with that sin such forgiveness of sins is based on the vicarious sacrifice of Christ on the cross in other words the sins are taken from The Sinner and are sent away so far so far away that even God will not find them on the day of judgment as it says in Psalms as far as the East is from the West like the like writing that is blotted out like casting it into the depth of the sea so it can never be found again see these are sweet words that come to us as poor Sinners they are sweet to us the humiliation of Jesus would accomplish something great and that that is that jesus’ great Mission as the son of man was that he had the authority to remit sin he had the authority to forgive sin see Jesus had come to bring us to make our own this remission Jesus would fulfill all of what is symbolized in the Old Testament sacrificial system by which a lamb was slaughtered and burnt on the altar as an offering before God to represent atonement for sin or the covering of sin the lamb was the substitute so when John the baptizer here called Jesus the Lamb of God he was saying that Jesus would be the substitute who will make a real and a final atonement for sinners now once the sacrifice was offered and the sin was covered or removed or atoned for then God’s Wrath against the sin had been appeased or satisfied the sinner’s guilt was expirated that means to be wiped out and God was propitiated that means to be satisfied with respect to Sinners that God’s disposition towards the sinner is changed from that of Wrath to that of forgiveness that of peace that of friendship so so then Sinners are forgiven and the broken relationship between the Sinner and the holy God is restored a Believer and follower of Christ has received forgiving atonement for sins and because of that they are urged as a disciple to do something the disciple is to live out a key communicable attribute of God and what is that forgiving others that’s what we’re called to do not as easy as it sounds see scripture urgently exhorts followers of Christ to forgive others and where it comes out in scripture is in Mark 11 and if you notice in 11 there’s two things linked there in probably the most intimate thing we can do as Believers and that’s to pray the disciple is to Bear the necessary characteristic of forgiveness if he does not forgive others he is met with a warning concerning God’s withheld forgiveness now it says in verse number 25 of Mark 11 whenever you stand praying forgive and then you have this conditional word if you have anything anything against anyone so that your father in Heaven who who is in heaven will also forgive you your transgressions so in in other words if you have anything against anyone then you need to consider that it doesn’t have to be someone close to you it doesn’t have to be someone in your family it could be someone that has offended you somewhere along the line the Bible is saying here listen in verse 26 but if you do not forgive neither will your father who is in heaven forgive your transgressions see the disciples attitude is in prayer is to have a forgiving attitude forgiving power cannot flow into our lives if we refuse to forgive others so this becomes a motivator for believers to keep short accounts our forgiving others then of their offenses and sins is intimately connected with our coming into the presence of God In Prayer can’t make it to Heaven your prayers andless you forgive others so in other words we ought to forgive because God in Christ has forgiven you now if we slow down for a moment we must come to admit that holding resentment in the heart the opposite of forgiving will eventually turn into a deep-seated grudge the consequences of holding a grudge are really spiritually unhealthy and unproductive now what is a grudge a grudge is really Revenge turned inward revenge is an outward attempt to even the score in getting even with another we only hurt ourselves spiritually emotionally and even physically a grudge also grows like a cancer a grudge pours its corrosive bitterness into our entire mindset before you know it we’ve grieved the holy spirit of God opening the door to bitterness anger gossip slander and Malice and the Very person who gives us the power to overcome sin and to be forgiving the Holy Spirit himself is grieved where it says in in Ephesians do not grieve the holy spirit of God by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you along with all malice that’s what we’re to do with it also a grudge generates really guilt U it refuses to forgive it would really if you refuse to forgive you would really inhibit your ability your ability to serve uh God and sense God’s forgiveness toward you the sin of of not forgiving others actually clouds Fellowship ship with the Lord because you’re walking actually in darkness and not the light it tells us in first John in 1 John 1 if we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness we lie and do not practice the truth but if we walk in the light as he himself is in the light we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus his son cleanses us from all sin if we say that we have no sin we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us if we confess our sins he’s faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness if we say that we have not sinned we make him a liar and his word is not in Us in other words a grudge is clearly a sin and it’s it a it is a kind of a settled type of sin that kind of rests there in your heart until you take care of it and we know that a grudge really zaps our energy it takes a great amount of unconscious energy to maintain a grudge but mostly and most importantly a grudge usurps God’s rightful role only God has the right to hold another accountable for sin see vengeance is his exclusive domain Paul tells tells us in Roman never take your own Revenge beloved but leave room for the wrath of God for it is written vengance is mine I will repay says the Lord so so when we refuse to forgive another person we actually put ourselves into a realm in which we are ill equipped to handle as if we can actually hold another under charges for their sins forgiveness really allows us to turn this account over to the ultimate collector of trespasses and debts the one who can actually cancel it and forgive it of course what is the solution to taking care of a grudge very clear from scripture right there in Ephesians 4:32 you know the passage be kind one to another tenderhearted forgiving each other just as God in Christ also has forgiven you why do we actually forgive people what’s the motive is that God’s forgiven me of everything so if God has forgiven me then I should be very forgiving uh to all people a sixth characteristic of authentic disciples is with standing Temptation now I like you to take your Bibles and turn back to Mark chapter 9 withstanding Temptation the warning is for the disciples to be concerned about remaining corruption in your own heart a remaining corruption that can actually lead you away from the right path Lead You Away by the remaining passions and lusts that are still there in your heart that haven’t been fully cleaned up yet or the word of God has not transformed them as of yet see the disciple of Christ is to know how to withstand temptation but it starts really in our own heart because we’re LED away Temptations are normal we’re all going to get tempted right everybody gets tempted all the time your whole life you’re going to be tempted all right the Temptation is not necessarily the problem the problem is your own heart because we’re LED Away by our passions and our lust that’s already there in our heart what do we do with them well in the section we’re going to read here this passage really before us is hyperbole that means it’s not to be taken literally even though the three statements are hyperbolic the if if term in the passage makes them probable in other words it is possible for these things to happen given the right circumstance or given the right Temptation that feeds your particular passion or desire that you kind of give into in other words it’s possible for these things to happen given the right circumstances serious disciples are to take care these things do not become a reality well I just want to mention two things from the passage the first thing is this so how is it that if temptation is normal for all of us what are we going to do when we’re tempted well the first thing we have to think in our minds is this sin has to be robustly withstood it’s not something you can play with it is definitely fire if you take fire in your bosom you will be burned if you play with temptation if you entertain Temptation you will fall into it and of course when you fall into sin the wages of sin are always destructive in some way or another so look look at the passage in mark 9:43 it says first of all if your hand causes you to stumble cut it off now remember hyper hyperbole here but there is a sense that the hand is symbolic of what we do the bad use of Deeds it says there if your hand causes you to stumble cut it off it is better for you to enter life crippled than having your two hands go into hell into the unquenched Able Fire so a second thing it says in verse number 45 if your foot causes you to stumble the foot is symbolic of where we go the improper places individuals allow themselves to go if your foot caused you to stumble again cut it off why it is better this is the better to the worse argument it is better for you to do that than for you to enter life lame or to enter life lame than having your two feet to be cast into hell so again in verse number 47 if your eyes cause you to stumble the eye is the is symbolic of what we look at that causes sin the lusts which are stimulated from with without aroused by sight of things that are forbidden to us what do we do with that if your eyes cause you to stumble throw it out or pluck it out it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than having two eyes to be cast into hell where the worm does not die and the fire is not quenched so in all these cases Jesus is telling his disciples it’s better to lose a precious body part or whatever is treasured by you than to spend an eternity in Hell In other words you end up loving sin more than you love God himself and not are not willing to put it off not willing to deal with sin in a robust way but actually enjoy being tempted enjoy being led into sin and sinful Behavior by the use of these particular body parts because it’s these body parts that are the instruments that bring us into a place where we sin it was like what Paul said in Romans uh chapter 6 that listen once you become Believers then you need to deal with your sin in a certain way and of course he says in Romans 6 what shall I S say then are you to continue in sin that Grace may increase he says may it never be how shall we who died to sin live in it all right then he says in verse number 12 therefore do not let sin re in your IM mortal body so that you obey its lusts and do not go on presenting your members the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness but present yourself to God as those alive from the dead and your members as instruments of righteousness to God for sin shall not be Master over you for you are not under law but under grace in other words we are to consider this as Believers that sin needs to be dealt with robustly but if you notice sin is to be dealt with radically and swiftly it mentions cut it off throw it out pluck it out see these merely uh to merely cut off the hand the foot or to pluck out the eye would not cut out the sinful heart with its passions and desires they still remain they need still need to be transformed so it is your evil heart and will that abuses these bodily members to make them instruments of lusts and Passions that Center within you so sin is to be dealt with radically and swiftly just as a surgeon does not hesitate to cut off garous hand a garous hand or a foot to save a life so evil and destructive practices must be sacrificed to mature in Christ and then ultimately to save the soul anything which is which causes a person to fall into sin should be removed immediately in a person’s life the violent rejection of Temptation is necessary for to be victorious over sin so the admonition for you and I is right now every precaution needs to be made to cut off everything in our lives that leads us to sin don’t give any way to sin cut it off put obstacles in your place get rid of it run from it do whatever you have to do to make sure that you don’t sin that way another admonition is make sure you escape the fires of hell and make sure you lead others to escape that horrible place so you and they can enter the kingdom of God and so a Christian and as a Christian as a disciple we’re to tell unconverted Sinners that God is angry with them and that the sword of his wrath already hangs over their guilty heads and unless they repent of their sins and trust in Jesus alone to save them they will forever experience the wrath of God in eternal torment there’s a passage of scripture in Hebrews chapter 10 that really describes this particular person verse 26-31 it says that if for if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth there is no longer there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins but it this is what remains but a terrifying expectation of judgment the fury of fire that will consume the ad adversaries and then he says this it is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of a living God see this is what disciples understand they understand that it was our sin nailed Jesus Christ to the Lord so then when they become believers they take their sin very seriously where before they didn’t but also they can thank the Lord for allowing them to hear the words of Hope and salvation and that his Divine Mercy rescued them from this petition that they were on the road to and all those who trust in Jesus alone for eternal life will be rescued from that predition the seventh characteristic of authentic disciples is this being humble now I don’t have a particular passage of scripture in mark because when I think about it well I thought about it I said all of Mark is about the humility of Christ so all of the Gospel of Mark exemplifies humility Jesus Christ came not to serve not to be served but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many so to follow Jesus around and to watch how he lived life and how we he responded to others in every instance of the Gospel of Mark you would view the picture of humil and remember the source material that Mark uses for the gospel of Mark comes from Peter and we know Peter was the first person to put his foot in his mouth before anybody else right he did exemplify humility in the beginning but Peter writes about humility more than any other Apostle in fact Peter learned humility so well that he says this in his epistle in 1 Peter 3:8 to sum up all of you be harmonious sympathetic have brotherly kindness to one another and a humble Spirit be humble in spirit and Jesus ultimate Act of humility is when he submitted himself to the death of the Cross and of course Philippians brings that out where it says being found in the appearance of a man he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death even death on the cross the opposite of being humble is being prideful and pride is all of our problems we all have a problem with pride it says in Proverbs 18:12 Before Destruction the heart of man is huy or prideful boastful lifts himself up but humility goes before honor and humility is to make oneself low to put yourself under something not exalt yourself but to actually make yourself low and of course you can’t get lower than a slave and a servant right and that’s what we’re to be slaves are the greatest in the kingdom of God and I believe the reason why is because they EX exemplify the character and humility of Christ more than any other person that could be described in any circumstance on earth a slave doesn’t have anything a SL a slave submits to his master but in this case Jesus Christ is a good Master you can submit to a good Master a kind Master a gracious Master a humble Master a masters who whose humility puts your humility to shame every time but I have to ask this question what’s pride pride is by definition is really thinking more highly of ourselves than we ought to think it is an inaccurate overestimation of our accomplishments it is a Corruption of the essential selflove God expects us to have pride is seen in the deification of self it’s seen in our independence of God it’s seen in contempt for others it’s seen in competitiveness Proverbs Chapter 6 you should turn there in your Bibles right in the smack in the middle of your Bible Proverbs Chapter 6 this passage of scripture says how God thinks of what God thinks of being prideful and it says In this passage in Proverbs 6 pride has a disdainful look notice what it says says in verse 16 of Proverbs 6 there are six things which the Lord hates yes seven which are an Abomination to him verse 17 the first thing listed is hoty eyes know that is pride of course and a lying tongue and hands that shed innocent blood hoty eyes though eyes that are lifted up in arrogance display an attitude of the heart a person going their own way in total disregard for God and refusal to consider their own short life and their own creatur to have an attitude like this puts God against them what a that’s not smart that’s a foolish posture to take in fact it was Peter again who said this he said you young men and of course pride has its own particular seat in the heart of young people why is it that when somebody gets the sophomore year they know everything how is it your children haven’t lived life yet they know everything and they can tell you how it really is how is it see you know what that is that’s really Pride they don’t see it as is pride and and we don’t often identify those things as Pride but a person is really going their own way when they think like that this is what Peter says you younger men likewise be subject to your elders and all of you clothe yourself with humility toward one another for God is opposed to the proud and gives grace to the humble see that’s the posture we want to have one of humility the attitude of pride has a disregard for human rights and divine laws and has an excessive conceit of and regard for one’s own person if I went through Proverbs that wisdom book and I were to read you some passag of scriptures on Pride it would sound like this pride is condemned repeatedly as Sin Proverbs 21 huy eyes and a proud heart the lamp of the wicked is sin it leads to disgrace and dishonor Proverbs 11:2 when pride comes then comes dishonor it leads to the loss of one’s possessions Proverbs 15:25 the Lord will tear down the house of The Proud it leads to one’s downfall you all heard that one Proverbs 16:18 Pride goes Before Destruction and a hotty spirit before stumbling also Pride fuels quarrels and strife in relationships Proverbs 28:25 an arrogant man stirs up Strife pride is also boastful where it says in Proverbs 27:2 let another praise you and not your own mouth a stranger and not your own lips and the results Pride results in punishment Proverbs 165 everyone who is proud in heart is an Abomination to the Lord assuredly he will not be unpunished so we must not forget that the this particular sin originated in the heart of Lucifer the anointed cherub of God in heaven Lucifer’s heart was lifted up with pride against God Almighty and as a result he fell from that position for it tells us in Isaiah but you said in your heart I will Ascend to heaven and I will raise my throne above above the stars of God I will sit on the mountain Mount of assembly in The Recess of the north I will Ascend above the heights of the clouds I will make myself like the most high God see the fundamental sin of Pride was caused that uh that caused Lucifer’s downfall that in which he wanted to establish his own Throne instead of guarding the Throne of God which was his to protect his his desire for to Dethrone the almighty was clear the essence of his sin was that he wanted to be independent of God and that’s part of what pride is pride is the self-sufficiency of a selfish spirit that desires to live unrestrained by anyone else so Satan fell through Pride Adam and Eve fell through pride and of course implicated the whole human race in their ruin you and I fell through pride and as a result pride is everywhere you look and it is the fundamental sin that lies at the root of every other sin that is the desire to master our own lives and to live independent of God and pride it knows No Boundaries it dwells Among The Young and the old it dwells among the rich and the poor wherever people live East or West you will find their pride it is a sin common among all peoples of the earth and consequently no sin is more hated and abhorent to God see God has a holy hatred toward pride and arrogance toward conceit and haughtiness pride is a sin that really Blends well with all other sins but worse than blending well with our vices it Blends well with our virtues and that’s where the destruction comes virtues like what success people want to be successful don’t they well this is the very tool that Satan could use to get you as a mature as as really we all mature in Christ likeness you no longer get easily dragged away into outward sin and even inner sins like wrong thoughts and attitudes and words you are more conscious of and regular in dealing with them but this is where Satan will tempt you to to flatter you and remind you how much you know the Bible and how well you your knowledge has grown you are spiritually minded how far you have come how much farther you have come than all the others around you see he’ll deceive you to think you’re pretty successful in your Christian walk he will get you to believe that that you believe it’s true so what is he what is he attempting to do he’s attempting in a very subtle way to cultivate in your heart Pride because he knows if he does that then you put yourself in a place where God is actually against you and opposed to you and not gracious to you at that particular point until that sin is actually taken care of so Pride because once we achieved success uh once we achieve success we tend to take credit for it we tend to get cocky we tend to get condescending we tend to over or under excuse me others we tend to dismiss others as morons and Stooges he says to you you made it you’re smarter than everyone else you got one you’re one step ahead ahead of everybody else in the in your walk with Christ see and the more successful you are the greater there is a temptation to Pride so are you successful watch out for pride instead pursue humility see we should identify pride in our own heart before anybody else does but there’s a another way that Satan wants to tempt us to Pride and that’s knowledge we’re all to grow in our knowledge and wisdom of Christ that’s that’s a noble thing that’s a virtuous thing to do that’s a thing that we the spirit of God is leading us to do if Pride lives in our heart though the more you know the more stupid everyone else seems to be it it’s easy forget that everything you know you once had to learn yourself intellectual arrogance really shows no pity to the unlearned so displays no patience or longsuffering with the common people if you have a gift of a good mind great however a sharp mind is closely accompanied by the tendency to Pride pride is the Dark Side of knowledge whether one has a book knowledge or a street knowledge that person can easily become a know-it-all it says in Corinthians 81 knowledge makes arrogant but love edifies so those who truly pursue knowledge eventually discover that they they they eventually discover the little they know and how much more you need to know I think anybody who goes to higher education comes away saying I touched about that much of what there is to know in the world and even when it comes to the Christian Life you can hear the Bible preached for year decades and decades and still you still have not come to the place where you ought to be so if you are knowledgeable watch out for Pride there’s another way he does it and it’s by wealth Prestige influence position power possessions that accompany wealth also naturally promote Pride people for the most part tend to idolize wealthy people they listen intently to every word they speak we are Anan in in the United States by wealth by fine clothing by expensive automobiles by exquisitly manicured homes of the Rich and Famous maybe we’re like tevia in the Fiddler on the Roof where he asked would it change some vast eternal plan if I were a wealthy man maybe you asked that same question well without just watch out for Pride it’s an occupational hazard of wealth and the desire for wealth you don’t have to be you can sin to want to be rich and not be rich at all just to desire the pursuit of wealth can make you prideful so the Disciples of Jesus Christ cannot condone with God hates when the disciple is prideful they are imitating the character of their old father Satan himself so here’s the great problem with pride God hates it God is against everyone who is prideful even James clearly says to us but he gives greater Grace therefore it says God is opposed to the proud but gives grace to the humble see God reserves special wrath for Pride because in Pride a person discards gratitude to God and assumes that they themselves have accomplished something on their own success a person becomes their own Creator their own sustainer of life that’s what we have done in in our society we have we have thrown out God and we’re sustaining our own deal a nation can only lasts so long before it all crumbles in because we’ll depend on government to save us the military to save us or wealth to save us or whatever else our education to save us and none of it’s going to save us and the reason why is because we’re not humble we are prideful see God urges us to put off pride and what’s the cure to Pride perception self- knowledge self- knowledge is not easy to come by because we are all all of us really are possessed with our own favor humility is realized when we see ourselves as we truly are and that is we are conscious of our own unworthy that’s it right there if we have a perception perception of our own unworthiness then you know what we will see the plank in our own eye before we see the Splinter in our brother’s eye when we realize the facts about ourselves as they really are all grounds of Pride are demolished also there is pride is really cured by chastening a preventive against a loathsome sin of pride in his children God lovingly disciplines his kids through discipline God delivers us from the ascendancy of Pride and then there are I talked about already there’s mortification mortification is a cure for Pride we cut down the weeds growing in our hearts before they spread and multiply like Paul said in Romans for if you are living according to the flesh you must die but if by the spirit you are putting to death the Deeds of the body you will live and of course another way is by comparison We compare ourselves among others and come off fairly well in comparison to someone else who’s less able than us but let us compare ourselves with the perfect Christ and if we are honest we will be overwhelmed by our shabbiness and our vess and our the dirtiness of our own character all just by looking at Christ and then of course there would be the contemplation contemplation of Christ the cancer of remaining Pride can only be removed by beholding the glory of Christ Pride seems to shrivel up and and wither away in light of the humil that we see in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in a huge way so in other words this is one thing that has to be completely removed from the disciples life character and behavior I don’t know about you but what happens when you notice Pride do you get this joyful feeling in your heart that this person is confident and cocky and condescending no you kind of get a sick feeling in your heart hoping somehow you can maybe help this person see that that attitude is not the right one if you are a True Believer in Jesus Christ that must go and it must go quickly and swiftly and sometimes we have to help young people with their pride that’s why the young person what submits to the elders right those who are older than them for what reason so they can handle this prideful thing that’s going on in their heart until they do that they can if they think they know it all they’re already in trouble and here’s the last characteristic of authentic disciples the last one confessing Christ to all Humanity isn’t that where the whole gospel’s about in Mark chapter 5 verse number 19 it tells us there and remember when we Mark 5:19 remember what the con converted demon possessed man asked Jesus when he came to Faith and how Jesus answered him look at it says in verse number 18 of Mark 5 and he was getting into the boat Jesus the man who had been demon possessed was imploring him that he might accompany him verse number 19 and he did not let him but he said to him go home to your people and report to them the great things the Lord has done for you and how he had mercy on you see that’s it that’s going to be a characteristic of a disciple even a brand new disciple go tell your family go tell your friends go tell your people that you work with let us spare no pains in laboring to PE bring people to the knowledge of Jesus Christ that they may be saved we ought to be alert to the fact that we’re we’re God’s ambassadors we’re we’re God’s evangelists we are to tell them and then invite them that’s what we’re to do I like when we that one dispatches that we we saw from the dispatches from the front the guy said what what’s your what’s your mission he says I pray I meet people and I tell them about Jesus Jesus that’s it that’s that’s a simple thing to remember that’s what we’re ought to be doing everything we do ought to have that in the formula the Gospel of Jesus Christ must be declared but the unbeliever must also be invited to receive the gift of Salvation one of the definitions of evangelism is this communicating the good news of Jesus Christ to unbelievers with the intent of inviting them to repent of their sins to have faith in Jesus Christ as the first step in discipleship and spiritual maturity but I want you to notice the emphasis in that definition the first step the goal of evangelism is not to make a list of converts but to have sons and daughters in the Lord who have been brought to maturity the goal or result of evangelism is not converted iions but discipleship Christ commands Believers to make disciples of all Nations not just converts and what’s the primary reason for this command well Mark that’s how Mark ended uh and Mark ended it in Mark chapter 16 he simply says this and he said to them Mark 16:15 go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation he who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned so it’s not the great suggestion It’s the Great Commission that’s what it is so see it’s the command of God that’s the primary reason also it’s the terrible fate of of men although it’s true that the main reason for evangelism is the command of God it is also true the horrors of Eternal punishment in hell in the Lake of Fire cannot be ignored as a significant motivation for evangelism people are all around us are dying and going into a lost eternity are we conscious of that are we aware of that are we we putting oursel into that equation so we’re doing something about it and not just praying about it we ought to be praying for souls to be saved but we ought to be telling them the truth of the Gospel see Jesus tells the story of the rich man and the beggar in Luke chapter 16 while the rich man lived in luxury the beggar lived in misery and poverty the rich man had no concern about his Destiny but that changed dramatically in that parable when he died and went to hell see hell is described by the Lord as a place where there is conscious torment and irreversible separation from God it is a place in other words to be avoided the scriptures teach that hell will be a place in the place of the Lake of Fire and from that place There Is No Escape for all eternity see Eternal punishment is a reality and a very serious matter so that means it’s necessary to be about the business of evangelism because people will be separated from God in the place of Torment forever if they do not have the opportunity to hear the gospel and respond in faith now they may they may become a Believer they may hear the gospel but they won’t hear it from you they got to hear the people around you I may never get to meet the people around you the people you work with the people in your family but you do you go to family events you talk to people at work you have neighbors that you interact with have you ever told them about Jesus Christ whatever the what whatever the Fallout is don’t worry about that you just give it out God takes care of the rest you can’t save them but you can give the message that will produce salvation in their their heart see that’s what we’re we’re to do so there’s another reason is that people have a deep need look around you people are needy today especially they are spiritually needy see the Apostle Paul received the vision from a man from Macedonia in the book of Acts begging him to come there to help them for what reason for the message of Salvation how can I be right with God I want to know how to be right with God we don’t know how to be right with God we’re just going by what we know to do and it’s not enough to make us right with God see the Lost in the world are looking for something to satisfy their deep inward longings look look where people are going today to to satisfy what’s going on in their heart they’re pursuing every single Avenue possible because they’re not happy they’re not fulfilled all the stuff around them just not doing it the nice cars and the big paychecks and the Beautiful home to them and it ends up being just a lot of work see they’re hurting inside they’re longing but they don’t know what they’re longing for CNN’s not going to tell them and Fox News is not going to tell them either none of the nudes Outlets is going to tell them they have to hear it from you they have to hear it from me see they need the message of God brought to them daily they hear the bad news of this world system and they long to hear some good news and the Christians are the only ones who give it according to Ephesians chapter 2 the unsaved person is separated from God disobedient to God living in Hopeless despair living under the burden of sin and he needs and or she needs to be liberated by the Gospel of Jesus Christ but they just don’t know that you didn’t know it before you came I didn’t know it I tell people when I became a Believer I wasn’t looking for God I was doing all right I was having fun but God was looking for me and when he arrested me in my tracks I know one thing one thing I I realized at that point I was never satisfied in my life in my heart until I trusted Christ and then I felt satisfied and that that never has waned as and as the word of God feeds that satisfaction comes in Christ so that means one of the main motives for evangelism is love to Jesus Christ that’s the main one that’s in 2 Corinthians 5 see Believers in Jesus Christ are his ambassadors sent to Proclaim his message of reconciliation you don’t have to reconcile friends but you surely have to reconcile enemies and what people don’t know is that they’re enemies of God they don’t think they are they think they are some way being blessed by God but no they’re enemies of God see so all Sinners are enemies of God until they believe in Christ but the it says there in Corinthians that Christ’s love compels them to what to speak to be ambassadors compel he compels people to give witness to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ so that when the love of Christ and the joy of Salvation when they are experienced the desire is for others to experience the same thing don’t you want to see others get saved have you ever shared the gospel where you actually seen somebody get saved and then follow the lord as a disciple those are rare times but I tell you what when you you see that it just excites you and it gives you such a joy to be a believer to be able to see Christ transform another heart another life so Christ holds Believers to the task and puts pressure in their life which produces results and the results are going to be salvation of the lost everything is changed and different because Christ loved you savingly and he loved me savingly everything is different from that point on so that means this and I’ll close jesus’ disciples are to be characterized by these eight characteristics and more which the holy spirit of God is developing in your character in order for you to as a disciple to serve God and then to serve others all right these are developing you to serve God and then to serve others because as you develop in Christlike attitudes and behavior you become more a more effective servant why because you’re growing in surrendering to God’s will you’re growing in uncom uncompromising faith in God you’re growing in a desire to want to pray to the Lord more than ever have and how much it’s needed in your relationship you’re growing in an awareness to guard your own heart because you know in your heart is a lot of junk yet you’re growing in forgiving others because Christ forgave you you’re growing in withstanding Temptation because you know that Temptation will just lead you to a crippled walk and you won’t be able to serve Christ you’re growing in humility and then you’re growing in confessing Christ to all Humanity those are the characteristics that well how are you doing in those anyway if you ask yourself listen look in the mirror say self how how am I doing in these characteristics where am I falling short where have I fallen off the you know the fence on one of these and then regroup right be honest with yourself regroup and then get back to uh putting these things in place and then cooperating with the spirit of God because he wants these characteristics in all of our lives so my prayer is that all of us here today will be developing and practicing these Christlike attitudes and behaviors so that I’m going to say it again we can serve God God and others for his glory amen let’s pray boy that was a weak amen I don’t I don’t know if I’m going to let that one slide and all God’s people said what amen all right I don’t know what happened there maybe you’re under such deep conviction that you couldn’t you couldn’t speak okay let’s pray Lord thank you so much Lord your word is is just so incredible the gospel of Mark has has been so transforming to me um Lord it it just humbles us right down to where we should be but Lord that’s a good place to be because when we’re there Lord we are available to you we are listening to you we are self- awared not only do we know who you are but we know who we are and we also know Lord the power of sin and Temptation and we know Lord also the manipulation of the enemy who wants to drag us down and ruin our testimony so I pray Lord this morning that these characteristics would truly be developing in our heart every day of our life until you take us from here or you come back so I pray Lord you would glorify your life through our life let us speak for you so others may hear the gospel of Christ to be saved and I pray this in jesus’ name amen amen