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"The Delights of Discipleship" by Neal Pollard · Cumberland Trace Church of Christ (Formerly Lehman Ave Church of Christ)

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  Typically, on the third Sunday night of each month this year, we are having our monthly
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  singing and we have done that different ways since the beginning of the year.
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  This year, this month is what we might call more of the old-fashioned song style approach
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  in which we're going to have various men to lead a song.
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  The other part of that is how many of us recall growing up is that folks can submit their
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  requests for that.
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  Our 21st century way of doing that is we're going to ask you to email a song request to
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  either mrneilpollard at gmail.com or to the church email, which I think is ctc.office.
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  Is that sound?
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  Yes, you'll find it somewhere.
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  I'll make sure we get that in there.
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  Look on the bullets and do a little bit of investigating.
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  If you really want a song request, you'll find that, but I believe it's on the bulletin.
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  Just let us know or you can just come up to us and write it and hand it in or put it in
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  my box or Hiram's box and we'll make sure that those are available.
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  We'll have that compiled list to Randy and then he'll have those songs and our song leaders
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  we're asking to, if at all possible, to choose one of your song requests as we lead in the
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  song service next week.
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  There's absolutely no life that we could live any better than the Christian life.
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  I know that the media and entertainment world don't think so as you find yourself watching
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  increasingly hedonistic and lascivious television commercials or you have the stomach or the
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  audacity to follow the storylines of the TV sitcoms and dramas.
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  They are preaching against belief in God and Christ in at least two ways.
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  First by glorifying sin and second by attacking the integrity, intelligence of anybody with
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  moral scruples in biblical faith.
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  And because we live in a culture where a couple of generations have not been going to church
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  anywhere faithfully, if at all, we have raised some generations that have blindly accepted
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  Hollywood's preaching without taking the time to question it or the alternative that Tinseltown
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  so boldly offers.
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  We are bombarded with the doctrine of evolution to explain how we got here.
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  The doctrine of humanism, that man is God, and materialism, that things are God, to explain
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  our purpose.
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  And the doctrine of Epicureanism, which Paul defines for us in 1 Corinthians 15, 32, let
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  us eat and drink for tomorrow we die to explain our destiny.
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  We have been told that we have come from amoeba, that we're nothing more than animals and we're
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  simply going to wind up as part of the dirt.
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  Is there any wonder, then, that in a world filled with people who are seeking fulfillment
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  and contentment on such terms, that we find ourselves surrounded by increasingly miserable
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  and aimless and fearful and depressed people?
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  Did you see what Miller read a moment ago in Isaiah 62, verse 1 through 3?
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  He was talking about something that God foresaw over 700 years before Christ was born.
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  He was speaking about a name that would be worn by all nations.
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  It would be a new and a glorious name, which the name of our God would call.
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  And as we search through history, there is no other name that would fit than the name
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  that we get to wear if we follow Christ according to his word.
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  And that's the name Christian.
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  What's a remarkable thing to me is that as you study in your New Testament, as much as
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  that word Christian is on the lips of people in religion and in the culture throughout
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  the world, that it's one of the minor designations for a follower of Jesus in the New Testament.
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  Did you realize that of all the ways that we are called, the word disciple is found
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  many times, dozens of times in the New Testament.
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  We are identified in various means by what we do, that we are workers, as we saw in the
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  vineyard.
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  We are citizens in the kingdom, and the New Testament speaks of us in this way, that we
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  are to be bearing fruit as members of the vine.
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  We are followers of the way.
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  We are priests in God's temple.
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  We find ourselves as individual members of the body of Christ and on and on, but only
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  three times in the New Testament do we read the word Christian.
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  The very first time we read the word Christian is in Acts chapter 11 and verse 26.
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  There we see that Ananias found Saul and brought him to Antioch, and he continued there with
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  him for a year, and they taught much people, and the disciples were called Christians first
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  in Antioch, Acts 11 and verse 26.
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  Saul's name is going to be changed.
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  He's there with Barnabas on the first missionary journey, and later on we're going to find
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  him in prison for preaching Christ, and as he finds himself testifying before one after
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  the other of world religious leaders all over the world, he says this to Herod Agrippa
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  that he stands before.
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  Herod Agrippa responds after Paul's passionate preaching, and he says, almost or in a short
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  time you would persuade me to be a Christian.
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  The third time it's used is in Peter's writings.
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  Peter's writing to the church as it's being persecuted, and as he tries to encourage them,
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  he says this in 1 Peter chapter 4 and verse 16, if anyone suffers as a Christian, let
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  him not feel ashamed, but in this name let him glorify God.
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  Just three times we find that word, and yet even though we learn what it means to be a
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  Christian by studying not only the New Testament as a whole, but seeing how the Old Testament
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  is pointing us ahead to the Christian life, in those three verses we get some introductory
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  help in thinking about how wonderful the Christian life is.
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  In Acts chapter 11 and verse 26 we're reminded that a Christian is a disciple.
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  A disciple is one who is taught, and when we think about this word or this word concept,
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  a Christian is one who is following the teaching of Christ.
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  I say this with all kindness, but there are folks that we meet every day, if we were to
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  ask them, are you a Christian?
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  They would say yes.
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  But if we were to investigate fully, we would understand that they have not been fully taught.
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  They know some of what the Lord expects of them in order to be a Christian.
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  Perhaps they have been told that if they'll receive Jesus in their heart by faith, at
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  that moment they become a Christian.
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  And what has to happen in such an instance is they need to be more fully taught.
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  And so we're reminded as we read Acts 11 and verse 26 that a Christian is one who is
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  led, instructed in the way that the Lord would have him to go.
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  When we get to Acts chapter 26 and verse 28, we are reminded that becoming a Christian
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  involves so often persuasion.
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  You know, when we go into the mission field and we have the opportunity to teach there,
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  it's a fertile field and sometimes we'll find quick responses to obeying the gospel, but
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  very few have been the occasions where you can just come up to somebody and tell them
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  the plan of salvation, and in response to that they say, sounds good to me, I'll become
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  a Christian.
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  It doesn't work that way.
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  So often we've got to exchange and reason together, Isaiah 1 and verse 18.
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  There are arguments that maybe there's pushback, there is rationalization, there are questions
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  to be asked and answered.
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  There's a process of persuasion.
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  To become a Christian, we have to be persuaded that it is the best life, it is the alternative,
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  that there's no life like the Christian life.
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  And then you think about Peter's words in 1 Peter 4 and verse 16 that reminds us that
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  we may have to suffer some sacrifice in order to be a Christian.
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  I know that there are places all over the world when Hyrum and Brittany and the family
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  went to Nigeria.
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  They were in a safer part of the country, but there are parts of Nigeria where one may
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  take their life into their own hands by becoming a Christian.
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  And there are certainly places across the world like that right now.
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  And while we don't face that here in the United States, I dare say that when we come into
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  Christ some of us had to pay some kind of price.
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  It changed some relationships, maybe with our family, maybe with our co-workers, or
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  maybe it has hurt us in some way in striving to live the Christian life.
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  And even though there is sacrifice and difficulty sometimes in living the Christian life, there
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  is still no greater life to live.
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  There's no better life than the life of living the Christian life.
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  If I had to do it all over again, I still would have come forward.
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  I remember that Sunday night when I came forward and my dad had preached on Hebrews chapter
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  11 on the requirements of biblical faith.
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  We had a song leader named Bobby Jones and he led the song, Lord, I'm Coming Home.
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  I responded with another young lady who came forward.
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  She was a teenager.
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  I was a good bit younger than that.
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  And as I came forward, I remember.
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  I remember how I felt that evening.
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  Even though I've fallen short too many times since that night, my faith and love in the
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  one that saved me from my sins grows deeper and deeper every day.
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  I have a very simple objection in what I believe will be a relatively brief sermon.
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  And that is I want you, if you are living the faithful Christian life, to leave here
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  tonight not arrogantly ever, but with your head held high.
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  Because you live in a world that tells you that you have made the worst of all possible
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  choices.
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  The very fact that you are assembled here tonight at a six o'clock hour and there's
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  so many things going on, it's beautiful weather, and there's so much to divert us, but you're
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  here.
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  They say that this is the worst life possible.
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  I want to try to persuade you for a few moments that we are living the very best life possible
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  if you're a faithful Christian.
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  If there happens to be someone here tonight who's not yet made that wonderful decision,
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  I want to, I pray, persuade you to make that decision.
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  To live the very best life there is on this earth.
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  And if you are, if it's possible that you're not living a faithful Christian life, if sin
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  has overtaken your life, and you're no longer walking in the light, but you find yourself
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  having now walked in darkness, and you need to be restored, I hope this will be an encouragement
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  to you.
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  I want to give just a few reasons why I believe that this is the greatest life that we can
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  live.
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  Reason number one is because our sins are forgiven.
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  That's why this is the greatest life that there is.
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  I believe that everybody in the root of themselves understands that they have a sin problem.
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  They understand that they have something bigger than themselves that they cannot solve.
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  And they're looking for some solution, some way to get out of the misery and to find happiness.
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  They don't realize that the burden that's weighing them down is the reality of sin.
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  Even as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God will impute righteousness
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  without work, saying, how blessed is the man whose iniquity is forgiven, whose sin is covered.
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  Blessed is the man whose sins God will not remember.
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  Does this blessedness come upon the circumcision only, and not upon the uncircumcision also?
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  For we say that faith was reckoned to Abraham for righteousness, Romans chapter 4 verse
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  6 through verse 9.
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  And Paul's point in this context is to show us that we are saved by faith and not by a
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  system of works.
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  And in this context, it's the works of the old law.
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  But according to Paul, in this context, when we obey Jesus, three similar things occur.
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  Number one, our iniquity is forgiven.
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  Number two, our sin is covered.
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  And number three, our sin is not counted against us.
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  That means that we don't have to pay the penalty that sin demands.
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  We don't have to own up to the record of our sins.
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  In other words, in the court of heaven, we don't have to say guilty because through Christ
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  we can say not guilty.
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  And we don't have to face God remembering those sins.
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  Have you ever felt like that even if somebody promised you that they had, that if you hurt
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  or violated somebody, betrayed them in some way, that you weren't forgiven?
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  One of the worst feelings in the world is to feel like you've not been forgiven.
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  But the Bible's point to tell us is that if we will admit our lostness, we can be forgiven.
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  God will not forgive us of sins that we refuse to admit exist.
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  And when we admit our lostness, we will long for the forgiveness that's only found in Him.
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  And so listen to what Scripture says to us.
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  In 1 John 2 and verse 12, My little children, these things I write unto you, because your
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  sins have been forgiven you for His name's sake.
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  Acts 13 and verse 38 says, Part of the good news is that be it known unto you that through
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  His name is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins.
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  How wonderful to know that by God's grace our sins are forgiven.
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  In whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches
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  of His grace.
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  Ephesians chapter 1 and verse 7.
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  When God forgives sins, they stay forgiven.
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  We don't have to go around wringing our hands or in wallowing in guilt.
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  The Christian life is the best life there is because in Christ our sins are forgiven.
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  Number two, there's no life like the Christian life because our joy does not come from sinful
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  pleasure.
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  You know, when you think about some of the things that are portrayed in the media and
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  the entertainment world, it seems to me that any sin that there is is glorified and the
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  only miserable people out there are that man and woman who are in that monogamous marriage
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  relationship and they're striving to make it work.
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  Those are the folks to be pitied, but everybody else is to be gloried, whatever the sin is.
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  It turns out to be an irony to those who swallow that line.
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  Spiritually speaking, how many in pursuit of what the world says is the high life have
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  made themselves spiritual low lives?
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  Because in living the Christian life, I realize that my joy comes in truly higher places.
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  Can you imagine how they felt in Peter's audience when Peter writes them?
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  They're suffering just for wearing the name Christian.
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  And Peter says, Wherein you greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, you are
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  in heaviness through manifold temptations, knowing this, that the trial of your faith
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  being much more precious than of gold, though it be tried with fire, may be found unto praise
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  and honor and glory at the appearing of Christ, whom having not seen you love, in whom though
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  now you see not yet believing, you rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory, receiving
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  the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.
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  First Peter 1 verse 6 through 9.
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  And the world by itself can't understand such a state of being that I can have joy, I can
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  be happy, even with my problems beating down on me and people beating up on me.
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  That doesn't mean that Christianity is a tears free product, but here's what it does mean.
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  It means that those who sow in tears shall reap in joy, Psalm 126 in verse 5.
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  I'm excited to be teaching through the book of Acts this quarter, what a rich study that
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  it is.
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  And remember we said this morning that there are a lot of different ways that we can study
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  every Bible book, and we're studying the challenges that the church has always faced,
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  but another way you can approach Acts is by seeing what happened when people became Christians
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  in the book of Acts.
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  It's uncanny.
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  But you don't have to go back to read Luke's inspired writings to see that, just think
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  back to the last few times that there have been baptisms in this building.
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  When we've all been assembled and together, not that long ago, I remember it on a Sunday
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  morning that we had a baptism.
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  Do you remember?
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  It's just like it was so often in the book of Acts.
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  Philip goes and he preaches in the city of Samaria, and as he's taking the gospel to
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  the Samaritans, we read in Acts chapter 8 and verse 8 that when they became Christians
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  there was much joy in the city.
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  How often is it the case that when a Christian is present in the workplace, in the school,
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  in the neighborhood, that it changes everything?
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  That light and that salt makes such a difference to the people there, and there's not just
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  joy felt by the one who becomes a Christian, there is joy by the folks who are around them.
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  The impact of the Christian life.
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  And then you remember that Philip leaves the crowd and he goes and he preaches to that
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  Ethiopian eunuch in Acts chapter 8 and verse 39, and after he has taught him the gospel
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  and he's baptized, we read in Acts 8, 39 that the eunuch went on his way rejoicing.
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  It was the natural consequence of becoming a Christian.
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  In Acts 13 and verse 52, the longest sermon that's recorded by Paul in the New Testament,
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  preaching to the saints at Iconium, we read that they were filled not only with the Holy
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  Spirit but they were filled with joy, Acts 13, 52.
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  And then do you remember that Jerusalem meeting in Acts chapter 15?
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  Paul and Barnabas had just gotten back from the first missionary journey, and as they
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  report to the saints in Jerusalem, they tell them that the Gentiles are hearing the gospel
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  and they're becoming Christians, and we read that there was joy that was felt when they
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  heard that other people had become Christians.
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  That hasn't changed.
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  Think back to the last baptism that you were present for.
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  Do you remember the person who was baptized?
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  Do you remember the smile, the joy that was on their face?
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  Maybe even tears of joy, and maybe you thought to look around if we're in the welcome circle,
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  and maybe you saw the faces of others who were present, and you saw that same joy, and
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  maybe even tears of joy, even though it had been years and maybe even decades since they
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  had made that decision, and I want you to notice it was not due to lust or greed or
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  power or money, this guilt-free joy they had.
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  We have available to us in Christ, and that's why the Christian life is like no other life.
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  We can have fulfillment and joy and peace, and we don't need sin in order to have that
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  happen.
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  But then also, the Christian life is the greatest life because our life is, we have a deeper
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  purpose in life.
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  Being a Christian gives us a deeper purpose in life.
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  Paul says in 2 Timothy chapter 3 and verse 10, you know all about my purpose.
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  And what is our purpose?
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  In Romans chapter 8 and verse 28, Paul says that our purpose is God's purpose for us.
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  We know that all things work together for them that love God and them who are called
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  according to his purpose.
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  And then I'm reminded in Ephesians chapter 3 verse 9 through verse 11 that God's purpose
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  was purposed in his mind from eternity before he ever made you and me out of the dust of
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  the ground.
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  Long before time, God had in his mind that the church was going to be established and
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  his purpose was going to be carried out through the church.
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  So that means if you're a member of the church, you could not have a more profound purpose
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  than you do.
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  And so I learned that my purpose in life is God's purpose.
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  And I learned that I only carry out my purpose as a member of his church.
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  And so someone who comes along and says, me and God got our own thing going on, I don't
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  need the church.
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  Jesus, yes.
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  The church, no.
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  That denies the very purpose of God.
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  We fulfill our purpose as members of his church.
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  And so I'm not just, my purpose in life is not just a slave to earn a decent retirement.
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  I'm not here to just try to give my kids a better life than I had.
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  And I'm not here just to see how much fun and enjoyment I can have in this life.
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  As long as we live in this body, there is so much important work for us to do.
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  We have got to raise our children to be able to live as well-adjusted adults in this world.
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  And we need to provide for our own.
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  First Timothy 5 and verse 8 says, if anyone provides not for his own, he is worse than
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  an unbeliever and has denied the faith.
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  And it's legitimate for us, within its bounds, to enjoy the beauty and blessings that God
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  has created on this earth.
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  The problem comes when any one of these things or a combination of these things becomes our
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  central purpose.
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  Paul says, if you then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ
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  sits at the right hand of God.
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  Set your affections on things above and not on things of the earth, Colossians 3 verse
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  1 and 2.
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  As I prepare my children for adulthood, I've got to make greater preparations for their
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  eternity.
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  And as I earned my living in this world, I need to invest in the things that last eternally.
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  And as I see to my own happiness, I need to be interested in the needs of others, Philippians
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  2 and verse 4.
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  And so I want the purpose of Paul.
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  I mean, Paul is not saying this from an ivory tower of academia.
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  He is saying this from behind prison bars when he says, for to me to live is Christ
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  and to die is gain.
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  If I'm to go on living in the body, that will mean fruitful labor for me, but what shall
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  I choose?
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  No, for I desire to depart and to be with Christ, which is better by far, but it's more
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  necessary for you that I remain in the body, Philippians 1, 21 through 24.
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  We may be important in this world.
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  We may be vital to our community.
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  We may be making a big impact in the history books of this world, but if we're not a Christian,
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  that's for nothing.
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  There is no greater life than the Christian life because our lives have a deeper purpose.
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  If we're not living on the surface of life, we understand why we're here and what we're
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  to be doing.
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  But then, fourth, there's no life like the Christian life because in the Christian life,
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  my problems have no permanent hold over me.
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  I already know from the Bible I'm going to have problems.
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  Job was right when he said, man that is born of woman is a few days and full of trouble,
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  Job chapter 14 and verse 1.
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  They may be intense in nature.
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  They may be terminal in duration.
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  The difference is if you're a Christian, no problem is bigger than the Lord.
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  Paul says in 2 Corinthians chapter 4 and verse 8, we are hard pressed on every side, but
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  not crushed, perplexed, but not in despair, persecuted, but not abandoned, struck down,
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  but not destroyed, always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that
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  the life of Jesus may be revealed in our bodies.
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  Some who came into this auditorium tonight came in carrying some huge burdens.
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  In fact, you may be carrying burdens that'd be hard for many of us to fathom, and perhaps
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  it hurts really, really bad, but here's your confidence if you're a Christian.
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  No matter how severe that pain is, you won't feel the pain of it in heaven.
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  No matter how long you have to carry it through this life, it may be like Paul, that you've
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  got to carry that thorn or whatever it is all the way to the grave, but the thing is
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  you get to bury it in the grave.
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  It will only last at its longest through this life.
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  I love Paul's high watermark of assurance in Romans chapter 8 when he asks us who shall
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  separate us from the love of Christ, and then he goes through a litany of things, and at
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  the end of it he's saying, knowing all these things were made more than conquerors through
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  him that loved us, and we can have a persuasion that nothing can separate us from the love
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  of God which is in Christ Jesus, Romans 8, 35 through 39.
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  There is no life like the Christian life because our problems do not have a permanent hold
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  over us.
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  And finally, there's no life like the Christian life because with the Christian life our future
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  is secure.
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  Man, the longer I live, the more I realize that the future just seems more and more uncertain.
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  I mean there is so much in the media world that's just trying to make its living on this
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  idea that things are so volatile and out of control, and really when we look at the world
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  stage how quickly things can change, and we don't know what things are going to be like.
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  I heard it said that if you're a millennial, I'm sorry, this is somebody that was a comedian
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  actually that said this, that said no wonder millennials are so distrustful.
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  They came of age and awareness on 9-11, and then they graduated during the economic crash.
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  And so really every major milestone is some kind of catastrophe, and maybe you understand
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  better than others how uncertain the world is.
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  Aren't you glad that there's more to look forward to in life than Social Security and
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  Medicare, 401k and retirement?
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  If growing old and the aches and pains that accompanied it were the only thing that we
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  had to look forward to, it'd be hard to face another day.
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  Paul said if in this life only we have hope in Christ Jesus, we are of all people most
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  to be pitied, but now is Christ risen from the dead and become the firstfruits of them
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  that sleep.
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  What does your future hold?
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  The Bible says we really don't know.
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  Boast not yourself of tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth.
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  Proverbs 27 and verse 1.
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  There's an old song that says, I don't know about tomorrow, I just live from day to day.
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  I don't borrow from its sunshine, for its sky as may turn to grey.
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  I don't worry or the future, for I know what Jesus said, and today I walk beside him, for
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  he knows what is ahead.
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  Many things about tomorrow I don't seem to understand, but I know who holds the future,
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  and I know who holds my hand.
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  Too often, more than we want to, we have to stand by the bedside of death.
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  Some of our dear family members here have done that this week.
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  How many of us have done it this year?
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  And I'm talking about even if the one that you're saying goodbye to, an earthly goodbye,
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  is a faithful Christian, it is a hard place to be.
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  Anxiety fills the air, faces are wet with tears, heartache is in the air.
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  Death is not only the great unknown, it's the great equalizer.
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  You know what doesn't matter when you go to die?
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  Doesn't matter what color you are.
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  It doesn't matter what your portfolio is.
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  Doesn't matter how many degrees that you earn in this life.
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  It doesn't matter how well known you are in this world.
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  You go to die, the only thing that matters is, am I a Christian?
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  It impacts your look into the future, and your every tomorrow.
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  But if you're a Christian, do you see just a little sample platter of all the blessings
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  in heavenly places in Ephesians 1 and verse 3?
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  That first of all, your greatest problem has been taken care of.
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  If you have acted in faith in Jesus Christ, and repented of sins and been baptized, you're
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  forgiven.
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  Your sins are washed away.
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  When God looks at you, he sees the blood of his Son.
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  And you know, guilt being what it is, how wonderful to know that we don't have to carry
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  that guilt.
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  And secondly, look, nobody should be having more fun and more enjoyment out of life than
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  a Christian.
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  And what makes it better is that we don't have to rely on sin and immorality in order
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  to achieve it.
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  And whatever we accomplish in this life is secondary to the things we do in living the
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  Christian life.
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  It gives us the depth of purpose that we were meant to have.
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  And our problems, even though we're going to continue to accumulate them as long as
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  we're in this body, they don't have a permanent grip on us.
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  They have to let go when we die.
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  And our future, no matter what happens on this earth, our future is secure.
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  Because our future, my future may include a trip to the nursing home, but after that
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  it is a room in my father's house.
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  I'm not living for the golden years, I want to walk on that golden street.
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  And this is what's possible.
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  And what God has brought his Son into this world to give us, to be able to have.
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  Again, that should not make us arrogant or look down on another human being.
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  It should make us so driven to want to share that, so that others that we love and we know
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  can have it.
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  It means if we don't have it, that can change.
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  All it requires is for us to be obedient to our Father's plan of salvation.
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  And in doing that, we can live the Christian life.
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  And if we're not faithful, and we've turned away from the Father, we can come back home.
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  And he longs to welcome us and to restore us to sonship or daughtership.
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  Maybe that's a need that you have tonight.
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  If you do, we want to encourage you to come, even right now as we stand and sing.