What is Missing? (Part 1)
Four Things

 

What happens when you bake a cake without the essential ingredients designed to make that cake magnificent?

Even if you are the most renowned cake baker in your country: Missing the Essential Ingredients will make your cake less appetizing, than one made by a first time 7 year old girl using a Betty Crocker’s cake mix with all the right ingredients.

[What is true about making cakes is equally as true about making disciples, building churches, and launching ministries that are designed to change the World, to turn worldly culture and turn our whole society upside down.]. Acts 17:6

When you remove ‘the essential ingridents’, you make a cake greatly inferior to the one made by the 7 year old girl, generally speaking.

 

 

What Key Components are Missing?

If You attend a modern evangelical church, chances are good that several key components of the gospel are missing from your gospel education, and consequently, your gospel living experience.

[There is a common trend in the modern church, to dumb down the gospel, or to accessorize the gospel with false teachings of prosperity and cultism: As well as false ideas about true worship and true service to God. There is a tendency to dumb down the work of discipleship, dumb down the ministry of the church, dumb down and lower the standards of church leadership, and what it means to be an example to the body of Christ.

Modern church leadership especially seems to dumb down what it means to sacrifice, what it means to suffer persecution, what it means to endure under great pressure (trials, tribulations, and afflictions), and what it takes to overcome trials and tribulations, and every wicked enemy attack, even torture, the confiscation of our homes, our businesses, our wives, children, animals, and goods.

These were very real threats that many experienced in the early church, and still do today and some parts of the world (not to mention being beheaded, eaten by lions, and burned at the stake), and yet they overcame their trials, even through martyrdom, and the shedding of their own blood.

And guess what:  That was seen as success in the eyes of the church, not failure. The apostles rejoiced when they were beaten before the Sanhedrin, and they considered it a privilege to be counted worthy to suffer for the name of Christ (Acts 5:41). 

 

 

Yet, I find the early church testimony, value system, and teaching, conspicuously absent from the modern church pulpit.

I also find the example and the walk, and the mindset that is able to clearly communicate the cost of sacrifice in the midst of the cost of discipleship, also conspicuously missing from the modern church fellowship. More on this later.] 

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Please note: this is not a new concern. James, Paul, Peter and Jesus were all specifically concerned about this problem from the very beginning.

As you will notice from reading chapters 2 and 3 in the book of Revelation, only two churches out of seven get an exceptionally good report card. And they were the two poorest and most persecuted churches: Smyrna, and Philadelphia. The other five churches had mixed reviews, Two of them it could be said, got a failing grade: Sardis and Laodicea. And guess what:  The two churches with the failing grade reports were the most prosperous churches, the most materially wealthy, and possibly intellectually gifted, and financially stable, and the most accepted in socially normal.  But none of these points rated high on God’s report card.

 

Man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart:

But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.

1 Samuel 16:7

Funny thing: these two low-grade churches (Sardis and Laodicea), both thought they were doing really well (in other words, they were self-deluded), but they were not doing well according to God’s perspective: You can read it for yourself in Revelation chaptesr 2 and 3.

 

 

Have you ever failed a self examination test?

In Revelation chapters two and three, Jesus commands five churches to repent seven times. In every case, Jesus warns the five churches about what will happen if they choose not to repent. And in every case, what will happen would be devastating to anyone in that church. Including joining the goats, and spending eternity in the lake of fire with the devil and his rebellious angels. (Matthew 25:41, 46) To be purely honest, it is hard to imagine any stronger words of warning anywhere in this world. But: the Scriptures predict that billions of people will suffer needlessly and endlessly, simply because I chose not to do the self examination that requires of every person who wants to spend eternity with him in his presence. In his home. In his family. Those who fail to do the proper self examination from God’s perspective, are the ones who will suffer the greatest loss a man or woman can suffer in this lifetime, or in the one to come.

In the above scenario: What happens when we are not careful and good at doing self evaluation accurately?

[That really is the mainpoint of this message. It’s the primary take away. If the reader gets nothing more than that: This is vitally and eternally important to practice God’s Heavenly Perspective of Self Evaluation, then the reader is truly tracking with the biblical pattern being presented here.

If a man should gain all the degrees: all the doctorates, all the certificates, all the intellectual awards, given by man, all the highest Nobel prizes, and most honorary celebrations, that a man can obtain, but he fails in this one precept, to do the self examination that God requires, all of his accomplishments will be worth zero in the life to come. The truth of the matter is, such a man could be the head of a worldwide church, or the CEO of the largest mission in the world, but on the day that matters most, the day he is examined by the holy one and found wanting, on that day, there will be great weeping, and great sorrow, and gnashing of teeth, because he failed to pass the one test that God had prepared for him.]

The fact of the matter is, the church is warned continuously throughout the entire New Testament about not doing excellent self examination accurately. Why is that? Because failure to do excellent self examination results in a recipe of disaster for the local church, the local church leadership, and the local church flock that is not getting the quality of life, the quality of faith, the quality of teaching, and the quality of examples, and the quality of spiritual experiences necessary to grow into the full measure, stature, and image of Christ. (Ephesians 4:13)

It’s not good to not be challenged spiritually to grow into the full measure and likeness of Christ, as we should be. That is the natural, and supernatural growth pattern of the believer in Christ, following the path of life laid out by our Messiah and his disciples.

 

We all know, and can attest that men are basically selfish, basically lazy, and often try to do the absolute minimum they can in order to get a passing grade. Many do not want to be bothered with any extra duties outside of their own personal choices, and personal ambitions. Most often there is a dollar sign attached to any commitment or labor they endeavor.

To be perfectly honest, the world is filled with such people. Religious organizations around the world are filled with such people. So many are in it for the luxury, the fame, the reputation, the comfort, the ease, the absence of real labor, and real work.

They live off the labors of others. They feed themselves with riches, and honor.  They write sermons that entertain, and tickle men’s ears, and keep them coming to fill their coffers. They promise rewards and blessings and money, and favor. They write books, that make them popular, that keep men seeking man-made solutions, that keep men from the cross. They keep men eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, but starve them from the tree of life.

They know not the cross. Therefore, they live not the cross, nor can they teach others about the cross, and therefore they despise it. The one thing God requires: they despise. They hype up the emotions, but offer no lasting spiritual food. They live like parasites, sucking the system, dry of true life and true vitality. They offer a fake experience. A fake salvation.

They manipulate, men and women to follow them. In order to avoid the cross, they promise prosperity, comfort, healing, and social acceptance. They offer acceptance and favor without transformation of life. They live like a Ponzi scheme, feeding off the pyramid below them.according to their own perspective. but again they avoid the cross and seek personal fame and pleasure. And promise the same to those who follow them. But this is not the gospel of Jesus Christ. And this is not the way of salvation. And they are not examples of our savior. Nor of the true leaders of God’s holy church.get from other men, and other women, and the honor, but none of these things are of any value in the life to come. They are like garbage, manure, and close smeared with human feces.

 

All the apostles, disciples, deacons, and servants of the early church fully understood that the accomplishments of man, meant nothing to the kingdom of heaven, and in fact we’re in opposition quite frequently to the goals values in precepts of Christ. (see Philippians 3:7–8)

All that is to say that, those who are seeking the accomplishments of men, that are leading the church of God, and standing in positions of authority and power, but lead the church astray, because they themselves have not entered into sufficient self examination. They are like a cancer infecting the body of Christ.

As a result, the body of Christ is in starvation mode, and is desperate need for living examples of Christ. She needs humble servant, not masters. those who walk fearlessly before men. Of those who take on the yolk of Jesus. Who carry their cross, and suffer persecution regularly, and even severely, and are not trying to play Kate, V, political, and social educational mindset of men who have failed the test to serve God in all righteousness, holiness, and truth.

As a result, have been starved from mature, teaching, mature, examples, and mature challenges to walk as Christ walked the church becomes weak, frail, easily deceived, prone to wander away from the pillars of faith, obedience, trust, and it gets easily entangled in the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life, the very things Jesus came to deliver us from.

 

 

Is telling the truth, loving or judgmental?

I should say here that I have had friends that have been exceptionally upset with me for pointing out the problems in the modern church. They have accused me of being a critical, unloving, and judgmental of the church. (But I find it interesting that in their same breath, they can often be critical, unloving, judgmental and dismissive towards me, while accusing me of being thosse things.) But my perspective has always been, and I hope it will always be (even though I fall short) to tell the truth in love, no matter who it hurts. That’s how I see, Jesus operated. That’s how Paul operated. And that’s how you and I should operate. We should never spare our feelings in order to deny the truth. That simply is a recipe for disaster both spiritually and eternally. 

In my own defense, I must say that telling the truth is the most loving thing you can do.

If you’re walking by a house and you can see smoke and fire pouring out of the basement windows, and you know that upstairs people are asleep in their beds, oblivious of the raging fire below them—the most evil thing you could do is: to not speak out the Truth, so loudly and boldly, so as to rescue those who would otherwise likely be consumed by the flames, because you chose not to speak the truth.

 

 

 

A bad recipe:  Makes a bad cake

When the church is missing the most important and critical ingredients in their spiritual cake making business, the end result is a cake product that looks nothing like what it was originally intended to be. (And this is the clear concern of Jesus and all the Gospel Writers.)

In just a bit, we’re going to look at four missing ingredients (we can call them values) that were highly regarded as essential elements in the formation, and maturation, of the early church, but today they are almost nonexistent, not valued, not pursued, not explained, nor well exampled in modern church leadership.

 

The fact that these elements are missing in the modern church, creates a grievous disconnection, and a dishonoring of what the early church stood for, and the values it upheld to the Entire Body of Christ and the world in its day.

 

That fact that these elements are missing, also points to the reason the modern church is not as fruitful, as effective, or as near glorious as the early church was. It also points to the reason, our society is so depraved and immoral, because the salt and the light are missing from the Church. Therefore rather than the church influencing and correcting the world, and its immorality, idolatry, and disobedience to God: The world is invading the Church and influencing it, more and more, to be more complacent, and more welcoming of the immorality, the idolatry, the witchcraft, the sexual perversion, the adultery, the infidelity, and allowing the spirit of evil to rule and rain in the midst of the people. 

If the church in Paul’s day could overturn and transform the bulk of the Roman Empire in the first 200 years of it’s existence, with far less resources, far less technical capabilities, far less dangerous transportation, and thousands of modern benefits, how is it that the modern church is so ineffective with all the modern events of our civilization, we aren’t half as effective in our mission to bring God’s kingdom from heaven to earth as they were in the first century.

 

 

Sacrifice & Suffering: Key missing ingredients in the modern pulpit?

 

Jesus said:

Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. 
And they straightway left their nets, and followed him.

Matthew 4:19-20 (KJV)

 

Please note:. The primary reason that Jesus and his apostles and disciples were persecuted was because they claimed that Jesus was the son of God. That message in itself greatly infuriates, the prince of power of the air. In other words, the devil or Satan or Lucifer or the father of lies if you will.

 

Now anyone who picks up the cross, and carries the same message with the same unyielding, truth and strength will eventually come under persecution. In fact, that is a guarantee from Jesus and the gospel writers. It is a known fact. It is an essential ingredient and element that needs to be possessed and honored in every man, woman and child who takes on the yolk of Christ. Takes on the message of the gospel. Takes on the challenge to bring the word of life to those who are dying. To bring the light of God to those who are in darkness.

 

Never does it say that people will love you when you bring the message of condemnation. The fact is all men are condemned who do not believe and the one and only true son of God. They are condemned to death. And because they are flesh, and because they hate the truth, and because they belong to the kingdom of darkness, men do not yield to the message of light. Men do not easily succumb to the humility of Christ. Men who are led and operate under the spirit of this age will predictably become violent, angry, violent, and speak abusively against those who proclaim the message of salvation. That is just par for the course.

 

Nobody gets into the kingdom without taking up the cross.

 

Therefore, when Jesus himself called his disciples to be fishers of men just as he himself was a fisher of men, he called them into an intimate and dangerous relationship with himself. Dangerous not in terms of eternal life. But dangerous in terms of the comforts of this world, and the luxuries of this world.

 

 

 

 

Then Jesus said:

And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.

He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.

Matthew 10:38-39 (KJV)

Paul said:

Be ye followers of me,
even as I also am of Christ.

1 Corinthians 11:1 (KJV) 

 

Then Paul said,

If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;

Who now [I] rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind [what is lacking] of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church:

Colossians 1:23-24 (KJV) 23

Paul clearly understood that his job was not just to repeat the teachings of Christ, like a parrot, but that He was called to be a living example, as Romans 12:1-3, states to become a LIVING SACRIFICE. And Paul passed on that as a pattern to follow, not just a doctrine or intellectual construct to be believed.

 

Paul continued to drive home the point, of the call to suffer with Christ, because Paul understood:

The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:  
And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ;
if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together [with Him].

Romans 8:16-17 (KJV)

 

Paul continued to make point, that we are suffer with Christ, to partake in the Felllowship of Christ’s Sufferings

That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection,
and the fellowship of his sufferings,
being made conformable unto his death;
If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.

Philippians 3:10-11 (KJV)

 

 

Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk, so as ye have us for an ensample. (For many walk, of whom I have told you  

 

Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus
shall suffer persecution. 

2 Timothy 3:10-12 (KJV)

 

What happens when we remove God’s Great Examples and Patterns?

What happens if we subtly remove the above encouragments and literal commands that are designed to shape us into becoming full fledged followers of Christ, even as Paul learned to become a full fledged follower of Christ.

Personally, I have literally witnessed conversations with Church Leaders, and others that:

• They don’t believe that the teachings of Paul are legitamate scriptures,and don’t agree with the rest of scripture. (HUH???).
• They believe that ignoring Paul’s teachings, and just sticking with Jesus’s teachings would solve a lot of problems. 

 

Can you see that all of us (not just our leaders) are called by God to:

• Put the same ingredients into our cake baking, that Paul put into His cake baking.

[Take Note: Paul was not warning the brethren above, about leaders/examples of those outside the church, who were Enemies of the Cross, but those inside the Church: false shepherds/leaders, who themselves had not yet surrenedered to the cross of Christ, had not subdued their carnal nature, and had not yet become examples to the flock, regarding what it meant to be a self sacrificing example of a follower of Christ, who had not yet become a living sacrifice, and a reflection of the Work of Christ.

Instead of being examples of Living beliefs that demanded the disciplines and actions of true witnesses of Christ, These new kinds of Teachers were promoting intellectual beliefs, that demanded no real disciplines, no controlling of the flesh, no full submission to Christ, the Cross, the Great Commission, or any of the things listed in the indictments of the goats. See Matt. 25:35-46, below is a short excerpt:]

Matthew 25:41-43 (KJV) 41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand,
Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:

• 1. For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat:
  2. I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:
  3. I was a stranger, and ye took me not in:
  4. [I was] naked, and ye clothed me not:
  5. [I was] sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. 

“But thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, charity, patience, 11 Persecutions, afflictions, which came unto me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra; what persecutions I endured: but out of them all the Lord delivered me.”

 Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus
shall suffer persecution. 

2 Timothy 3:10-12 (KJV)

 

The reason for these missing ingredients can be manifold, but the fact that you most likely do have missing elements from your gospel training being proclaimed in the pulpit of nearly all evangelical churches can be pretty quickly confirmed and verified.

 

 

Here is a simple test:

 

How many of your spiritual shepherds (for example: your pastors, bishops, elders, deacons, spiritual mentors, discipleship leaders, bible teachers, and professors):

“Bear on their bodies “the marks” of Jesus?”

(Galatians 6:17)

 

What happens when we ignore the Masters Values?

And then replace them with our own values?

We make a cake that’s not fit to be eaten. Now remember, all of these words, and these concepts, and these teachings, do not originate in the hearts and minds of men, but of God. They all come from God’s Eternal Unchanging Perspective. So when we are not seeing things right, and not walking in alignment with the scriptures, mentally, emotionally, spiritually, or physically, that may be caused by our not seeing things (these things’) from God’s Perspective, and we will need a point of view change before going forward. (See: 7 Hurdles)

Is that why Jesus says to the church In Laodicea, “I will spew [spit/spue] you out of my mouth.” (Rev. 3:16)

 

What values important to Christ have been neglected?

Jesus (a.k.a. Yeshua),The Master, Lord, King, Savior, and Judge of the Church:
Gave the Church His explicit teachings filled with His:

• Essential Values,
• Heavenly Principles/Warnings, and
• Kingdom Priorities,

These were designed to equip the church to thoroughly accomplish His:

• Kingdom Objectives,
• God Ordained Goals, and
• Eternal Accomplishments

All of these things were designed to bring the rule and reign of Christ from heaven to earth, through the vehicle of Man’s Will, being aligned and executed perfectly with God’s Will, not through force, but through the free will, and free exercised faith of every individual believer, walking in Unity, Love, Honor, Devotion, and Intimacy with the King of Heaven, fully committed to fulfilling the Prayer Jesus taught His followers to pray, In Spirit and in Truth, for such are the worshippers that the Father is Seeking:

Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done
In earth, as it is in heaven.

Matthew 6:10 (KJV)

 

Jesus, Peter, Paul are clear about what is going to happen in the near future:

Should we not be just as clear?

Jesus, Peter, and Paul, all agree: a Fervent Heat is coming. It will burn up all our carnal works, dreams, visions, pursuits, and worldly accomplishments, that are not designed to bring glory to God from the Root to the Fruit.

 

But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.  

Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved,

What manner of persons ought ye to be
in all holy conversation and godliness?

 

Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.

2 Peter 3:10-13 (KJV) 

 

 

 

Jesus wants all His Children [His true followers, in Spirit and Truth] to be prepared:

 

Jesus taught Paul that all of his followers, that a fire would be coming, and it would burn up everything that was not based on his eternal, permanent, divine authority, and will. Everything else will be burned up.

 

Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try [or test] every man’s work of what sort it is. 14 If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.

1 Corinthians 3:13-14 (KJV)

 

Those who cling to temporary pleasures, temporary positions, temporary worldly vices, goals and lifestyles will likely perish in the fire with those things. Everything devoted to destruction will be burned up, along with those who deceived themselves and devoted themselves to that which didn’t include God’s kingdom objectives, and eternal values.

Jesus has thoroughly warned his children that he is going to separate the sheep from the goats, the wise from the foolish virgins, and the faithful stewards from the unfaithful. He is going to reward the loyal servants of his house with incredible honor, glory, blessings, favor, joy, and eternal bliss.

Not so for the tares among the wheat, they will be gathered into bundles to be burned, but the wheat will be gathered up in barns and stored safely.

 

Our job description is to “Abide in Christ” and “Prepare ourselves” for his coming, as a bride shall prepare herself for the Groom.

 

But when making our spiritual cake, below our for common INGEDIENTS that were at one time top priority concerns in the early church, but now in today’s modern church, the same ingredient that he at the modern church has

But those who chose not to follow in his footsteps, to learn his ways, to walk in his life, to reflect his nature, to abide in his spirit, and to magnify his heart: will not receive the inheritance prepared for the righteous.

 

In other words, the foolish, the lethargic, the lazy, the preoccupied, the idols, the worldly, the adulterous, the self-seeking,.

 

Below is a list of Scriptures relating to suffering, persecution, sacrifice, and bearing the marks of Jesus. 

A. Suffering

1. Matthew 5:10-12 – “Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.”
2. Romans 8:17 – “And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.”
3. 2 Corinthians 1:5 – “For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ.”
4. 2 Corinthians 4:10-11 – “Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.”
5. Philippians 1:29 – “For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake.”
6. 2 Timothy 2:12 – “If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us.”
7. 1 Peter 4:12-13 – “Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.”
8. Romans 5:3-5 – “And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.”
9. 1 Peter 2:19-21 – “For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully. For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God. For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps.”
10. James 5:10-11 – “Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience. Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.”

B. Persecution

1. Matthew 5:11-12 – “Blessed are ye when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.”
2. John 15:20 – “Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.”
3. 2 Timothy 3:12 – “Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.”
4. Matthew 10:22 – “And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.”
5. Acts 14:22 – “Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.”
6. Romans 8:36 – “As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”
7. 1 Peter 4:14 – “If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified.”
8. Luke 21:12-13 – “But before all these, they shall lay their hands on you, and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues, and into prisons, being brought before kings and rulers for my name’s sake. And it shall turn to you for a testimony.”

C. Sacrifice

1. Romans 12:1 – “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.”
2. Matthew 16:24 – “Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.”
3. Luke 9:23 – “And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.”
4. Philippians 3:7-8 – “But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ.”
5. Galatians 2:20 – “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”
6. Mark 8:34 – “And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.”
7. 2 Corinthians 5:15 – “And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.”
8. Matthew 19:29 – “And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name’s sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.”
9. Luke 14:33 – “So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.”

D. Bearing the Marks of Jesus

1. Galatians 6:17 – “From henceforth let no man trouble me: for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus.”
2. Philippians 3:10 – “That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death.”
3. Romans 8:17 – “And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.”
4. Colossians 1:24 – “Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church.”
5. 2 Corinthians 4:10 – “Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.”

These verses collectively capture the themes of suffering, persecution, sacrifice, and bearing the marks of Christ in one’s life. Many of these passages emphasize that suffering for Christ is an integral part of discipleship, and that enduring such trials leads to spiritual growth, greater intimacy with Christ, and eternal rewards. The marks of Jesus in believers are often seen as signs of their participation in His sufferings and sacrifice.

 

In conclusion:

In light of such concerns above, how are we to respond to the message of Jesus and the apostles? How are we to respond to the message? Jesus gave to the seven churches in revelation? How will be to respond to the messages from Matthew chapter 25 called the believer to self examination? How are we to respond to the call to suffer for the name of Christ? How are you supposed to respond to the challenge to share the gospel even where it is not appreciated? How are we to break free from church leadership that is complacent, lazy, self interested, pleasure, centered, and doesn’t share the ministry of suffering for the name, as a high honor and great privilege?

 

The primary concern here: is that we do a deep and thorough searching of our souls. We are called to self examination from God’s perspective. If we rate ourselves according to man’s perspective, and man standards, chances are that we will look good to ourselves and others.

But when we compare ourselves to God’s standards and God’s perspective, we will always come up short, and there will always be the need to create space to grow and mature in Christ. And yes, that is all part of the adventure. We are constantly going forward if we are walking with Christ, forward and faith, forward in trust, forward in integrity, forward in sacrifice, forward in service, forward in giving, and loving, and Cari, and believing.

The good news is there is no limit to the growth we can experience.

The bad news is, if we fail to closely and accurately, examine ourselves, the chances are good that we will be self deceived, self-deluded, self-directed, and suffer losses when it comes to the day we stand before God and have to give an account of every word, every deed, and every work of labor and service that God ordained for us to do, but we did not complete, because we were too busy doing our own thing apart from God.