We find the Lord’s beginning message to all people to be very offensive today. Jesus does not try to build relationships, or slowly win a hearing of the community, but instead loudly attacks their foolish assumption that they are good people, living good lives, and accepted by God just the way they are.
“From that time Jesus began to preach, crying out, ‘Repent ( change your mind for the better, heartily amend your ways, with abhorrence of your past sins), for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’” Matt 4:17 (AMP)
As He continues crying out and commanding the people to, “change your mind for the better, heartily amend your ways, with abhorrence of your past sins,” he confronts and demands a response.
And before you make an excuse that things are different today, try this testimony of God’s word to the apostle Paul. ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you. I will deliver you from the Jewish people, as well as from the Gentiles, to whom I now send you, to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me’ Acts 26:15-18 NKJV.
Culturally, Gentiles, the Romans and Greeks, were consumed with a sinful and immoral life, but Paul’s approach to them was exactly the same as Jesus, when He ministered to the Jews. Paul made this very clear, “I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, but declared first to those in Damascus and in Jerusalem, and throughout all the region of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent, turn to God, and do works befitting repentance” Acts 26:19-20 NKJV.
As Christ and those who heeded His message continued this confrontational preaching, they would invite individuals to become followers of this gospel and some did, and many refused. Christ labeled those who heeded and repented as His disciples, and those who refused were rejected by God. The line between a disciple and the current generation was black and white, repentant disciples or perverse sinners.
Christ and his repented disciples continued demanding the general population to repent, and focused their friendship and love toward their new brothers.
For example, Peter a leading disciple publicly declared to a crowd of people in the streets of Jerusalem, “‘Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.’ Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, ‘Men and brethren, what shall we do?’ Then Peter said to them, ‘Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.’ And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, ‘Be saved from this perverse generation.’ Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common…” Acts 2:36-44 NKJV.
And again the same demands were made to the Greek culturally ingrained heathen across the Roman controlled world. Paul publicly confronted the people of the city of Athens, Greece about their disobedience to God by worshiping idols and false gods.
“God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things. And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said,
‘For we are also His offspring.’
Therefore, since we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man’s devising. Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.”
“And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked, while others said, “We will hear you again on this matter.” So Paul departed from among them. However, some men joined him and believed” Acts 17:24-34 NKJV.
The church is a group of people who follow Jesus, his disciples, who have turned their backs on ruling their own lives, and instead, give Jesus Christ their allegiance by obeying His commands, as their sovereign lord, and joining the other disciples in a new way of life and relationship. Christ invited men to be his disciples, and defined what that meant right up front.
“As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s office; and He said to him, Be My disciple [side with My party and follow Me]. And he rose and followed Him.”.
Now to make the rules clear and to make sure everyone knew what He was expecting “Jesus said to His disciples, ‘If anyone desires to be My disciple, let him deny himself [disregard, lose sight of, and forget himself and his own interests] and take up his cross and follow Me [cleave steadfastly to Me, conform wholly to My example in living and, if need be, in dying, also]. For whoever is bent on saving his [temporal] life [his comfort and security here] shall lose it [eternal life]; and whoever loses his life [his comfort and security here] for My sake shall find it [life everlasting]. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life [his blessed life in the kingdom of God]? Or what would a man give as an exchange for his [blessed] life [in the kingdom of God]? For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory (majesty, splendor) of His Father with His angels, and then He will render account and reward every man in accordance with what he has done.” Matthew 16:24-27 AMP
Make no mistake, a Christian is a disciple that makes a sound choice, by following Jesus in a full blown reversal of a life of self-centered sin, and instead makes Christ’s will the priority of His life. Without repentance, there is no eternal life. You cannot be called a disciple while you are seeking to know the truth, visiting church services, or even by becoming a preacher. There is no substitute for true and total repentance.
Christ privately taught His disciples on a mountain and gave them powerful commands to live by. Then he boldly stated, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’”
“Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.” Matthew 7:21-27 NKJV
If you will not make this choice, change your mind, and turn from the life of self-will and lawlessness, throwing your faith on Christ’s payment for your sin, and following Him as a disciple, there is no other hope for you. The rest of the commands of Christ have nothing for you, so do not read the rest. This is the make or break command from Christ to you.
Too harsh? Matthew labeled the people that physically followed Jesus around the countryside, but were not disciples, as “the multitudes”. Not seekers, busters, genXers, or anything special, but grouped them together as a multitude of hard hearted rebellious people.
We know they were not disciples, because Jesus stopped preaching repentance to them over and over again, and started to tell them simple stories called parables. He did not do this to help them understand the truth.
“…the disciples came and said to Him, ‘Why do You speak to them in parables?’ He answered and said to them, ‘Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries (secrets) of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.” Matthew 13:10-13 NKJV
He further explained, “In them indeed is the process of fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah, which says: ‘You shall indeed hear and hear but never grasp and understand; and you shall indeed look and look but never see and perceive. For this nation’s heart has grown gross (fat and dull), and their ears heavy and difficult of hearing, and their eyes they have tightly closed, lest they see and perceive with their eyes, and hear and comprehend the sense with their ears, and grasp and understand with their heart, and turn and I should heal them.’” Matthew 13:14-15 AMP
The “and turn” is the key here, the multitudes were following Jesus, but had not repented, and were not disciples of Jesus. Jesus did not disciple these people, nor treat them as His disciples. After He explained His reason for speaking to the multitudes a different message than He taught them, he immediately explained the parable to them, not the crowd.
Therefore, please understand the only thing God demands and wants of you, is to REPENT! Only in repentance will God respond to you and heal you.
As James suggests, “You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.”
“Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, ‘The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously’? But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: ‘God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.’”
“Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.” James 4:2-10 NKJV
