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Luke 9:57-62
And when they were on the way, a certain man said to Jesus, I will come after you wherever you go. And Jesus said to him, Foxes have holes and the birds of the air have resting-places, but the Son of man has nowhere to put his head.And Jesus said to another man, Come and follow me. But the man said, Lord, let me first go and give the last honours to my father. But Jesus said to him, Let the dead take care of their dead; it is for you to go and give news of the kingdom of God.
And another man said, I will come and follow you, Lord, but first let me say a last good-day to those who are at my house. But Jesus said, No man, having put his hand to the plough and looking back, is good enough for the kingdom of God.
(Bible in Basic English)
Seven Stumbling Blocks between Human Beings and Faith in Jesus Christ:
What will I do about faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Some have decided to put their life in Jesus' care.
But there are still some who have not yet taken the step of trusting Jesus Christ at all. They say what that man said to Jesus:
And another man said, I will come with you, Lord, but. . .
BUT is a little hesitation which can turn our life in the direction of God or the direction of destruction.
The Basics
And another man said, I will come with you, Lord, but first let me say a last good-day to those who are at my house. But Jesus said, No man, having put his hand to the plough and looking back, is good enough for the kingdom of God.
The Lord Jesus could see the lurking weakness and indecision which, when he arrived home, would keep him there, concerned only with that which was immediately in front of him and making him forgetful of his promise to Christ.
Therefore the Master said, "No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is good enough for the kingdom of God."
That man gives us a picture of people who, from one cause or another, have "buts" which prevent them from following Christ.
Tonight we want to consider some of these hesitations/buts and suggest reasons why we can lay them aside and trust the Lord Jesus Christ.
First of all, a few words about the meaning of following Christ. It is all summed up in two words, Trust and Obedience.
Following Christ means that I trust myself entirely to Christ as my Saviour. I recognize and admit that I am a sinner and that I am utterly helpless to purify my own life. I come to the Lord Jesus for HIS pardon and cleansing.
Following Christ means, then, that I obey Him implicitly as my Master and Lord. Being my Master means that He has authority to direct my life and that I allow Him to reign over and control the whole of my life in every single area.
This is following Christ-Trust and Obedience. Not one only, but the two, inseparably connected.
If I say I trust Christ, but I don't obey Him, then I am making a mockery of my faith. On the other hand, if I try to obey the commands of Christ without first putting my life in His hands, then I am saying that I can work for my own salvation, which isn't possible.
Read about Today's Stumbling Block here:
The second BUT we come across is: Lord I will follow You , but. . .
There are so Many Hypocrites in the Churches!Unfortunately this is so, and this is certainly a valid objection. There are people today who are greatly hindered by the inconsistencies in the lives of many professing Christians.
Therefore, if you and I say we know the Lord as Saviour but are putting any stumbling blocks in the way of someone around us, those awful words of Christ come home to us, "Better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea" (Matt. 18:6).
And yet, while all that may be true, consider this:
Whoever heard of a person rejecting all money because he found a few counterfeit notes?
Whoever heard of a person giving up his political opinions simply because the political leaders may do some questionable things?
Then why should you decline the invitation to follow Christ because of the inconsistencies of a few of his professed followers? There have been hypocrites in the church since the time of Judas, and there doubtless will be some to the end, and there doubtless will be some to the end, and if you wait until they are all out, you will never reap the benefits of salvation for yourself.
Still more, let me say that for every hypocrite inside the church you will find fifty outside. No doubt, at our very best, Christians are a poor lot and full of hypocrisy, inconsistency. May God pardon us and change us. Yet, considering all Christians, with all our faults thrown in, we represent an average greatly above that found in any similar number of people outside the Christian Church.
No, the "hypocrite" argument will not hold water; there is no need for hypocrites to prevent you from following Christ. Thank God there will be no hypocrites in Heaven, and nobody will be able to say up there, "Lord, I wanted to go in, but there were some hypocrites."
We are not called to focus on other human beings, but to trust in God.
Therefore, to anyone who says, Lord I will follow You, but there are too many hypocrites in the church, the Lord Jesus says this:
Take your focus off other human beings. Come, Follow Me and I will work in you until you reflect My glory.
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