Title Discipleship / Philippians 2:5-11
Bright Path to Heaven (4) - Discipleship
Philippians 2:5-11
5) Have this mind in you, which was also in Christ Jesus 6) Although he was in the form of God, he did not consider equality with God to be robbery 7) Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, and became in the likeness of men, 8) a man. Being found in the form of a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of a cross. 9) For this reason God highly exalted him and bestowed upon him the name that is above every name, 10) that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11) at the name of every mouth give Jesus Christ. He confessed to the glory of God the Father.
1. Are you a disciple?
"Juan, you're not in the business of building a church, what you're doing is business."
"Juan, you're not growing, you think the church grew because the number of members increased from 200 to 600, but that's not growing, it's getting fat."
"Juan, two years ago we had 200 spiritual babies and now we only have 600."
"Juan, you're not a church, you're just the director of an orphanage."
Dear saints, Are you a member? Are you a disciple of the Lord?
Members fulfill their basic obligations by attending and paying dues, and if they do not violate the rules of the meeting, they will retain their membership. The association then grants various privileges to the member. Children of God are privileged. Even if you commit a sin, you will receive the grace of forgiveness proclaimed by the congregation. He believes that the name of a member recognizes him as worthy enough to receive that grace. Everyone! Are you like this too? I sincerely hope it is not.
The disciple follows the master. obey the master. The disciple devotes himself to the society while following the teacher's teachings. In particular, in the teachings given by the Master, he gains vitality. So he tries not to leave his master. This is what Peter said to Jesus.
"Simon Peter answered, "Lord, to whom shall we go?" (John 6:68)
2. The price the disciple has to pay
German martyr Dietrich von Hooper used the peculiar term "cheap grace" in his book The Cost of Discipleship. He denounced the biggest problem of the church at the time with this term. He even said, "Cheap grace is the enemy that kills our church today." If we look for some "cheap graces" through his writings, they are as follows.
Cheap grace means grace as a doctrine, principle, or institution.
Cheap grace is justification of sin without justification of the sinner.
Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without the requirement of repentance, baptism without discipline, the sacrament without confession of sins, and pardon without personal repentance.
Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without the living and incarnate Christ Jesus.
(Book pp. 45-47 above)
Jesus clearly asked his disciples.
"Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. Whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." ( Matthew 16:24-25)
“When a great crowd had gone with them, Jesus turned and said to them, “If anyone who comes to me does not hate his father and mother, wife and wife, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot become my disciple; You will not be a disciple” (Luke 14:25-27).
Apostle Paul said
“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; from now on there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that day, and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing. ." (2 Timothy 4:7-8)
It is clear that these words were the way of the cross, which was the way of the cross, where he had to deny himself and sacrifice himself. It was never "cheap grace". Paul had a consistent request from his followers.
“Be imitators of me, just as I am imitators of Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1).
Today's text is the image of Christ that the Apostle Paul imitated.
“For he, being in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as robbery, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in human form, and being found in human form, humbled himself and became obedient to death, even death on a cross. ." (Phil 2:6-8)
Jesus is the Lord of humility who humbled himself. And he obeyed God the Father. So he became a human and came to this world. He even gave himself up on the cross to the point of death. To imitate this is to be a disciple of Jesus. This path is discipleship.
When we do not follow this path, we are lowering God's holy grace into cheap grace. Those who remain in cheap grace are called spiritual children in the Bible. Hebrews pointed out:
“For everyone who feeds on milk is a child and has never experienced the word of righteousness, but solid food belongs to those who have grown up. They use their understanding, and are trained to discern good and evil” (Hebrews 5:13-14).
“And we will all become one in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God, until we reach the stature of the stature of the stature of Christ. lest they be driven and tossed by the winds of God, but speaking the truth in love, you may grow up into him in all things, who is the head, which is Christ" (Ephesians 4:13-15).
3. Training is required.
Saints! Our church should grow, not a fat church. Let's each walk the path of discipleship so that we do not become members who only occupy a place in the church. For that to happen, training is essential. It's not just the mind.
Once upon a time, a book called “No Possession” by Monk Beop touched the hearts of many young people. Regardless of religion, it was often used as a gift for young people. It was a "best book" to the extent that if you didn't read that book, you could be considered an educated person. But most of the people who have read the book do not live a life of no-owning. The reason is that they did not receive the training of non-possession.
Just thinking about it is not enough. It is not just about empathy or emotion. It takes training from small actions.
There is no one who will not be moved by the beauty of Jesus' heart. However, living with the heart of Jesus in small things is the way of discipleship and the power of godliness. The apostle Paul strongly exhorted his disciple Timothy.
"Abandon the vain and vain myths, and only practice the attaining of godliness. Physical exercise has little benefit, but godliness is beneficial in all things, and there are promises for this life and for the life to come. . . . Let progress be made visible to all” (Ti 4:7,8,15).
That's right. Instead of going to church with myths, traditions and customs, let's focus on ourselves and look at how much we have grown now. Let's make humility, obedience and sacrifice our life motto. Let us boast that the genuine qualities of our Beomeo church members are humility, obedience, and sacrifice. Because these three are the discipleship of Jesus.