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40 Episodes with Jesus: Following Jesus (E3)
26 Plays7 months ago
Brandon and Chris continue their journey through 40 Days With Jesus, exploring what it truly means to follow Christ. Join them for a heartfelt discussion on the sacrifice, commitment, and joy of walking in faith and living faithfully for Jesus 168 hours of every week.
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Transcript
Introduction to Faith 168 and 2025 Journey
00:00:21
brandon g b
Welcome to the Faith 168
Recap of Jesus' Baptism and Temptation
00:00:23
brandon g b
podcast, everybody. We hope everybody is doing well and that you had a Merry Christmas. And, uh, well, by the time you're going to listen to this, it'll be a new year, actually.
00:00:36
brandon g b
So I hope everybody's had a good new year.
00:00:36
Christian McKenzie
Yeah.
00:00:38
brandon g b
We are so excited to embark on 2025 with all of you. And part of what we're going to be doing in the Faith 168 podcast is looking at the life, ministry, teachings and miracles of Jesus.
00:00:54
brandon g b
And we are doing that in 40 episodes, doing sort of a speed run on the life of Christ and looking at,
00:00:55
Christian McKenzie
Yes.
Humor and Lessons from Elisha's Baldness Story
00:01:02
brandon g b
you know, the most pivotal moments of his life in ministry.
00:01:05
brandon g b
And we have thus far covered his baptism and temptation and gleaned all the wonderful lessons there. And today we're going to talk about Jesus calling people to follow Him and discuss what it means to truly follow Christ.
00:01:22
brandon g b
And by the way, I noticed that I totally skipped over you, Chris, and, uh, didn't introduce us at all. But, uh, everybody knows who we are though, you know?
00:01:30
Christian McKenzie
Oh,
00:01:34
brandon g b
Uh, but how are you?
00:01:34
Christian McKenzie
yeah. My glare off my head probably caught their attention by now. So yeah, I'm doing pretty good.
00:01:39
brandon g b
There you go. Yeah. I'm, I'm catching up.
00:01:42
Christian McKenzie
Yeah.
00:01:42
brandon g b
Yeah. I was going to say, I'm catching up with you on the glare. So everybody asked me.
00:01:46
Christian McKenzie
Yeah. Well, you you might as well just go ahead and submit. I can grow hair. I'm not just bald, but I realized about where your hair is going away.
00:01:59
brandon g b
Yeah.
00:01:59
Christian McKenzie
That's where my hair was going away. And so I just said, do you know what?
00:02:01
brandon g b
Yeah.
00:02:04
Christian McKenzie
What do I gotta prove in life? I'm gonna go bald.
00:02:07
brandon g b
yeah
00:02:07
Christian McKenzie
And I even like to quote the scripture out of, oh, what is it? It's in 1 Kings, isn't it? Or is it 2 Kings where Elisha is walking the Bethel and all the kids come out and they're making fun of them and they go up baldy, die baldy.
00:02:19
brandon g b
Oh yeah. Hey Baldy.
00:02:23
Christian McKenzie
And then he says, I'm gonna curse you in the name of the Lord. And that she-bear comes out and mauls them.
00:02:29
brandon g b
Yeah.
00:02:30
Christian McKenzie
Oh,
00:02:30
brandon g b
See, people don't know what they're doing, man. When they, when they mess with bald folks, you know, there could be any bears standing nearby.
00:02:35
Christian McKenzie
yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And we're already mad that we lost our hair. So don't, don't test us. We'll, we'll call, we'll call the bears out.
00:02:42
brandon g b
Yeah, for sure.
00:02:45
Christian McKenzie
So with yeah, we'll keep the beard.
00:02:46
brandon g b
Yeah. I don't know if I'm ready for the lifestyle though, man. You might have to teach me the ropes. You know, I don't have a leather jacket or motorcycle.
00:02:51
Christian McKenzie
Don't lose the beard. Yeah.
00:02:53
brandon g b
Well, that's the problem.
00:02:53
Christian McKenzie
I don't either.
00:02:54
brandon g b
ah People are like, man, how long you been growing that awesome beard? That's the only compliment I ever get, you know?
00:02:58
Christian McKenzie
Mm.
00:02:59
brandon g b
And I'm like, well, it's been a long time, but it really backfired because it's just migrated. You know, I had great hair when I
00:03:05
Christian McKenzie
Yeah.
Jesus' Call to Discipleship
00:03:06
brandon g b
didn't have a beard.
00:03:06
brandon g b
So yeah.
00:03:08
Christian McKenzie
that's That's what happens. You grow out the beard and your hair just starts to kind of recede down to the face.
00:03:14
brandon g b
Yeah. Some people can pull it off though. Some people have long luscious hair and a great beard too, but some of us have not been so blessed, you know, but, uh, speaking of people with.
00:03:19
Christian McKenzie
Yeah. Yeah.
00:03:24
brandon g b
Lots of hair, probably, and beards. ah There were those that Jesus called to follow him in his earthly ministry. At the very outset, actually, you know, Jesus hadn't done a whole lot when he launched his public ministry. And already he was calling people to follow him because that's what he came to earth to do, to save souls, convert them, forgive their sins and call them to a life of discipleship and following him.
00:03:53
brandon g b
all throughout earth and into eternity. And so what we're going to look at today is just one instance of Jesus calling people to follow him in Matthew chapter four verse 19.
00:03:56
Christian McKenzie
Yes.
00:04:04
brandon g b
But there is a lot to unpack here, a lot. that this passage teaches us about following Christ. And we want to make sure we unpack it with you today because there's a lot of misconceptions about what it means to follow Jesus.
00:04:17
brandon g b
And man, if there's one thing we want to get right, it's what does it mean to follow Christ?
00:04:22
Christian McKenzie
Yeah.
00:04:24
brandon g b
So let me read that for us. ah What we have here is Jesus walking by the Sea of Galilee and he sees two brothers, ah Peter, who's called Simon in Matthew four and Andrew.
00:04:35
brandon g b
And they're just doing their regular thing, you know, casting
Fishing for People vs Traditional Fishing
00:04:38
brandon g b
their nets into the sea and, uh, fishing a little bit. And verse 19 says, uh, follow me and I'll make you fishers of men.
00:04:49
Christian McKenzie
no
00:04:50
brandon g b
So what do you think he's getting at there? What do you think he means by follow me?
00:04:56
Christian McKenzie
Well, you're doing one thing. I'm doing another thing. You follow me and I'm going to give you a completely weight a completely new way of doing what you're doing. You're looking for fish that are going to feed you for a day. I'm going to teach you how to fish and build up an eternal kingdom.
00:05:18
Christian McKenzie
And so that's that's one thing about following. It means that you're going, you're not going the right direction at that moment. Follow me, you're going to be going in the right direction.
00:05:31
brandon g b
Absolutely. Very good insights there. You know, I think it's interesting here in this passage that Jesus did not call these men to follow a set of teachings, although he would give them many teachings down the road and he didn't do what we might do, which is invite them to synagogue services with him.
00:05:44
Christian McKenzie
Right.
00:05:51
brandon g b
He didn't say, come on guys, join me next Saturday. I'll save a seat for you. You know, we got a big show, great service planned, you know, He ordered these men to follow Him, to follow the literal Person of Christ as He walked on earth, which would certainly entail to say what He said, do what He did, think what He thought, and go everywhere He went.
00:05:59
Christian McKenzie
Right.
00:06:02
Christian McKenzie
Right.
00:06:15
Christian McKenzie
Yeah.
00:06:16
brandon g b
And as you said, you know, He was calling them to a brand new way of life.
00:06:19
Christian McKenzie
Mm-hmm.
00:06:21
brandon g b
He meets them in their current way of life. They're just doing their ordinary thing. They're fishing. They're trying to make a living. And Christ
Challenges of Following Christ
00:06:30
brandon g b
redefines this for him and says, follow me.
00:06:33
brandon g b
And from now on, you're going to fish for men.
00:06:36
Christian McKenzie
right
00:06:37
brandon g b
What does that mean to fish for men? That's kind of strange.
00:06:39
Christian McKenzie
Well, yeah.
00:06:40
brandon g b
If you hadn't thought about it.
00:06:44
Christian McKenzie
Well, Rob raw brought this up one time to me. I was preaching. I was doing a revival and where he was pastor of at that time. And I was talking about how Satan sometimes baits us and tempts us. He puts our desires in front of us. He puts what we want in front of us knowing that if we're focused on our evil desires, we're not gonna focus on the good will of God. But he brought something up interesting about that fishing there. He said, it's interesting because Jesus calls us to be fishers of men. But what I said about that, he said what Chris said about that,
00:07:32
Christian McKenzie
is is very spot on about Satan. He fishes the way we understand fishing. But if you looked at the Rufellas, these Jewish guys that were out fishing, they went to the spot where the fish were.
00:07:47
brandon g b
right Yeah.
00:07:48
Christian McKenzie
They didn't entice the fish to come to them. They they tossed out nets where where the fish were and they went to the fish. They didn't wait for the fish to come to them.
00:07:57
brandon g b
Hmm.
00:07:59
Christian McKenzie
And that's the two different types of fishing. And they were used to to getting their boats ready. They were used to saying, where are the fish today? They might've talked to other fishermen and said, where are the hotspots and things like that.
00:08:12
Christian McKenzie
And I think that's a big part in our calling is that we don't wait for people to come to us.
00:08:19
brandon g b
Right.
00:08:19
Christian McKenzie
And that's when he would walk to the people. And so if you were physically, literally following him, You were following him as he was going to where the people were that needed to hear the good news, that needed to hear the gospel, repent and leave for the kingdom of God is at hand.
00:08:30
brandon g b
Yeah.
00:08:34
brandon g b
yeah
00:08:38
Christian McKenzie
And when you follow him, you're you're going to be a fisher of men. You're going to go to the people that desperately need the saving grace of God, and you're going to preach the gospel to them that they may hear it and that they may repent and that they may put their faith in Jesus.
00:09:02
brandon g b
Yeah, that's literally what Christ was doing here. He comes to these men and doesn't wait for them to come to him.
00:09:05
Christian McKenzie
no
00:09:08
brandon g b
And he, he extends that call and invitation to follow him. And he's saying, look, that's exactly what I'm asking you to do. What I'm commanding you to do is go to other people and call them to follow me.
00:09:16
Christian McKenzie
Right.
00:09:20
Christian McKenzie
right
00:09:20
brandon g b
Um, and I mean, this is literally, sorry, if there's a lot of background noise, everybody. Uh, my dogs are out here with us and my Jack Russell cannot get comfortable tonight.
00:09:30
Christian McKenzie
ah
00:09:33
brandon g b
She is. I don't know if you're hearing that scratching or not.
00:09:34
Christian McKenzie
yeah They're the mascots of the Faith 168 podcast, so they have to be present, right?
00:09:39
brandon g b
Yeah. I'm telling you. Yeah. She is scratching up a storm over here trying to get comfortable. So anyway, uh, sorry about that background noise that's bothering anybody, but, um, really speaking of noise, there would have been a lot of noise, uh, when Jesus called these disciples to
00:09:45
Christian McKenzie
of
00:09:56
brandon g b
To follow him would have been splashing water squirm and fish and probably wouldn't have smelled too great either. Um, but yeah, this is an integral part of following Christ is doing what he did in this moment, which is going to those who need salvation and compelling them with the message of the gospel to come to Christ instead of, you know, waiting for him to jump in the boat.
00:10:02
Christian McKenzie
Yeah.
00:10:19
brandon g b
or like you said with Satan enticing them with something um because neither of those two things are part of the kingdom work that Christ is calling us to do.
00:10:20
Christian McKenzie
Yeah.
00:10:29
brandon g b
He's calling us to go out to where they are.
00:10:29
Christian McKenzie
Yeah. Yeah, well, and and we've got this idea too, I think, especially in in the church of the United States that we've fallen into that if we can just get them to a church, if we can just get people to church, that's what's gonna change them. And that's not true because you can walk into a church and you can hear a good sermon, but a sermon really is impersonal. It's not a real true connection to a person. If someone walks in and hears me preach,
00:11:02
Christian McKenzie
they'll hear the words, but you know who am I to them? And it might resonate with them, but there was there wasn't much of a relationship there between me and that person.
00:11:15
Christian McKenzie
And so most of the time they're not going to hear that unless someone else has been working with them
Misconceptions About Church and Evangelism
00:11:22
Christian McKenzie
and wants them to hear that sermon and it has a personal connection with them and it's kind of working on them in that way.
00:11:28
Christian McKenzie
But the church doesn't grow by waiting
00:11:30
brandon g b
Mm hmm.
00:11:32
Christian McKenzie
in these church pews for someone to finally get the church. The church grows when we go out and invite people to repent and believe.
00:11:43
Christian McKenzie
And when they do that, that's how the church grows. And they're already a part of the church before they step foot in a church building when they repent and believe, but then they're going to get active, not just be a guest and show up and sit in a pew one day, but they're going to get active when they truly believe in a local
00:11:50
brandon g b
Right. Yeah.
00:12:02
Christian McKenzie
church and so we've got to get back to that idea of what it means to follow Jesus. We don't follow Jesus to church on Sunday.
00:12:08
brandon g b
Right.
00:12:12
Christian McKenzie
We follow Jesus to the people all around us throughout the week and share the gospel with them and that's not a
The Cost of Following Christ
00:12:20
Christian McKenzie
pastor's job. That's a Christian's job of which we pastors are a part of that of course but that's everybody's calling and church on Sunday is really just to build up the Christians
00:12:22
brandon g b
Yeah, absolutely. Yeah.
00:12:29
brandon g b
Hmm.
00:12:32
Christian McKenzie
and send them out to do that. Not that non-Christians can't be there, not that non-Christians can't benefit anything from showing up to church on Sunday. And by all means, if the least you could do is get someone to church, do it.
00:12:46
Christian McKenzie
But there's gonna be a greater ministry when you do what Jesus did. Go out to them, reach them, connect to them, share with them the truth.
00:12:52
brandon g b
Yeah.
00:12:57
Christian McKenzie
And then, let me tell you, they'll be active.
00:13:01
brandon g b
Oh yeah.
00:13:02
Christian McKenzie
when they submit.
00:13:02
brandon g b
That's exactly what Jesus did too. You know, he didn't just. Religate his time with the disciples to synagogue services on Saturdays. You know, he took them with him everywhere, you know, on the boat across the sea of Galilee to conduct miracles, to feed the multitudes.
00:13:12
Christian McKenzie
Right.
00:13:22
brandon g b
to preach, even to pray in the gloomy garden of Gethsemane. And so he was intentional about you know spending much time with these disciples to pour into them.
00:13:27
Christian McKenzie
Right.
00:13:34
brandon g b
And again, that's that's one of the examples we have to follow from Christ, is a lot of this following Jesus and discipleship happens
00:13:34
Christian McKenzie
Mm-hmm. Yeah.
00:13:44
brandon g b
outside of the church, not to say the church isn't important.
00:13:46
Christian McKenzie
yeah
00:13:48
brandon g b
It's very, very important. You know, like you were saying, that's where we meet with the Lord. That's where we hear the preaching of his word. That's where we offer him worship. But as you said, that's really supposed to charge us up for the week ahead for I'm going to drop it here 168 hours a week.
00:14:01
Christian McKenzie
Right.
00:14:04
brandon g b
You know, um,
00:14:04
Christian McKenzie
yeah
00:14:07
brandon g b
But, uh, let's talk about what it means to follow Jesus even more. Let's dig into it, um, in a little more detail. So obviously we learn some of what it means to follow Christ from these early encounters, right?
00:14:21
brandon g b
Where he says to follow me and I'll make you fishers of men, you know, go out and get others, bring them into the kingdom as I enable you. But there's some other passages on following Christ, such as Luke nine, verse 23, that
00:14:28
Christian McKenzie
right
00:14:34
brandon g b
also sheds light on the nature of following our savior. And I thought it'd be good for us to chat about this for a little bit because when we look at this verse, it it draws a line in the sand between those who genuinely followed Christ during his life and those who ceased following him or wouldn't follow him at all. And here's what he said. We all know this verse, Luke 9 23, if any anyone would come after me,
00:15:04
brandon g b
which obviously entails following him. Let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.
00:15:12
Christian McKenzie
Yeah.
00:15:13
brandon g b
So what are some thoughts you have on that, Chris? What is Jesus saying in that text about following him that maybe we don't see necessarily from like Matthew 4.19, where he says, just simply follow me and doesn't really elaborate on it much, except to say, I'll make you fish as a man.
00:15:34
Christian McKenzie
yeah Well, I think there's two things to really look at there is of course what he says to follow him. You have to deny yourself and you have to take up your cross. To deny yourself means to understand that you are likely going in a completely opposite direction of Jesus and he is the right direction. You're going to have to switch paths. You're going to have to turn completely around and deny the path that you were taking to follow Him. And, you know, we go through that scripture. In fact, you and I were just talking about this earlier on our own time where Jesus says, I am the way, the truth, and the life. And so there are many paths set before us in this world that that we can follow, but
00:16:24
Christian McKenzie
There's only one path that leads us to eternal life in Christ. There's only one path that leads us to the Father, and and that is Jesus. And outside of following Jesus, we are we can travel a multitude of paths, but they're all going in the wrong direction, and they all have the same eternal destination, and that's an eternity separated from God and hell. And so you have to turn away from the path that you're on.
00:16:55
Christian McKenzie
You have to turn away from your evil desire. You have to turn away from your sin that has ensnared you, and you have to follow Jesus. And then he says, take up your cross and follow me.
00:17:09
brandon g b
Mm hmm.
00:17:11
Christian McKenzie
And that's a crazy statement to make at that time, because this is before Jesus died on the cross.
00:17:11
brandon g b
Yeah, it is.
00:17:17
Christian McKenzie
And so we have there a revelation to of what he's about to do. He's not naive to the fact that he's going to the cross.
00:17:25
brandon g b
Mm hmm.
00:17:27
Christian McKenzie
He knew before he even came down to this world in the flesh he was going to be crucified for us.
00:17:32
brandon g b
Sure.
00:17:35
Christian McKenzie
But he says take up your cross and that's not a popular thing at that time because the cross was not the same symbol that we think of it today.
00:17:46
Christian McKenzie
I wear this because it's a symbol of hope
00:17:48
brandon g b
Yeah.
00:17:49
Christian McKenzie
It's a symbol of life because on this cross, that's that's where my life truly began, eternal life, because Jesus died for me and gave me the opportunity in that moment to put my faith in him and follow him into everlasting life. So it's a symbol now to me of life. But at that moment when he spoke it, that was the symbol of a criminal.
00:18:18
brandon g b
yeah
00:18:19
Christian McKenzie
That was the symbol of death. And you if you were associated with crucifixion, say, you know you know you had a uncle or a cousin or brother or sister that was crucified, that was a blight on your family because you know whoever you were related to that was on that cross was a criminal deserving of death.
00:18:35
brandon g b
Yeah. Yeah.
00:18:42
Christian McKenzie
And that's something that you see with the world that that happens at that moment. that when you follow Christ, you're turning away from your evil desires. And now in the eyes of the world, you're going to be hated.
00:18:59
brandon g b
Yeah.
00:19:00
Christian McKenzie
You're be persecuted and you're gonna be seen as a criminal. And that's what happened to many of the people in the first century church.
00:19:10
brandon g b
Right.
00:19:10
Christian McKenzie
They were persecuted, they were imprisoned. Some of them were crucified, some of them were or had their heads cut off. and you know They were Solomon too. You can read the ah scripture of people that that followed God and followed Christ throughout the centuries and the tortures that they went through. And and we're sitting pretty pretty here in the United States right now, but you know there's there's even persecutions that we go through to this day, not near what we've seen in scripture, but we also see
00:19:43
Christian McKenzie
I think another understanding in that same thing of the cross. And I like what Galatians 2.20 says, where it says, I have been crucified with Christ and it's no longer me who lives, but Christ lives through me.
00:19:54
brandon g b
Mm hmm.
00:19:57
Christian McKenzie
And the life that I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. And so we might be seen as a criminal in the eyes of the world, someone dirty and someone unwanted and whatever, but we also see something going back to that understanding of denying. I'm denying myself in such a way that it's like I died on the cross with Christ and that there's nothing of me left. And now the life that I live here in the flesh, I don't live by my desires or what I wanna do because I'm dead, I'm gone. I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.
00:20:42
brandon g b
yeah Yeah, like you say, it's a symbol. It was a symbol in Christ's day of sacrifice and cost. And Jesus was clearly explaining through this call to people to follow him that it's, it's going to cost you. You know, you you can't continue your way of life and blaze your own trail and do things the way you want to do them. If you're going to follow me, in fact,
00:21:11
brandon g b
Here's how serious it might be. You might follow me all the way to death because the death that I'm headed to is going to be on a cross and I'm commanding you to take up the same kind of cross. So that's pretty powerful.
00:21:20
Christian McKenzie
yeah
00:21:21
brandon g b
But, you know, I like how you bring up that, you know, the, the symbol of the cross has changed over the years. Um, and it's a good thing and a bad thing. I think like it's a good thing because it shows God's grace and sovereignty that he took a punishment tool.
00:21:39
brandon g b
an instrument of death and purchase our salvation with it through Christ's blood being spilled so that it's now a symbol of hope.
00:21:40
Christian McKenzie
yeah Right.
00:21:49
brandon g b
But at the same time, I think a lot of the seriousness and brutality of the cross is lost through our beautification of it.
00:21:57
Christian McKenzie
That's true.
00:21:57
brandon g b
um
00:21:58
Christian McKenzie
Yeah.
00:21:59
brandon g b
In fact, I'll never forget. I just thought of this, um, several years ago, I was in Walmart around Easter time and I went to the candy aisle because that's what you do during Easter issue load up on candy, you know, uh, to celebrate the Lord's resurrection.
00:22:10
Christian McKenzie
Right.
00:22:13
brandon g b
Um, and I'm not even kidding you that particular year. I saw a shouldn't laugh, I guess, but I saw a chocolate crucifix.
00:22:25
Christian McKenzie
Absolutely.
00:22:25
brandon g b
It was a chocolate cross.
00:22:27
Christian McKenzie
Yeah.
00:22:28
brandon g b
I'm like, what are you gotta be kidding me? Like you would never find in any department store ever a chocolate electric chair. But there's a chocolate cross in there, you know, but, but I think that's what we have to understand is when Christ is saying, take up your cross.
00:22:39
Christian McKenzie
Yeah. Yeah. that's crazy Yeah. Yeah.
00:22:47
brandon g b
He is essentially saying, take up your electric chair and follow me. because it was an instrument of death.
00:22:52
Christian McKenzie
yeah
00:22:53
brandon g b
It was the most torturous, most brutal form of punishment in those days.
00:22:59
Christian McKenzie
Yeah.
00:23:00
brandon g b
But once again, it's in it's he's talking about cost and sacrifice. And he sort of prepares us for that when he says, you've got to deny yourself, which means you have to learn to say no to yourself, which is the hardest thing.
00:23:10
Christian McKenzie
Yeah.
00:23:16
brandon g b
No to what you want.
00:23:16
Christian McKenzie
Yeah.
00:23:17
brandon g b
No to your sinful desires. And yes, You have to learn to say yes to any cross He gives you to carry. So, I mean, following Christ, it's it's serious.
00:23:28
brandon g b
It is all-encompassing. And if we wish to follow Christ at all, we must follow Him above all.
00:23:30
Christian McKenzie
yeah Yes.
00:23:34
brandon g b
And that's one of the things that He's telling us in that passage. Now, I think it's very clear from just two passages we've looked at in this episode what it means to follow Christ.
00:23:46
brandon g b
It means to do what He did. Essentially, um, you know, like the great movement of the nineties, I believe it was, what would Jesus do? Of course, there's, you know, advantages and disadvantages to that, but that's essentially what it means to follow Christ is to, you know,
00:23:56
Christian McKenzie
isn
Why Disciples Turned Away from Jesus
00:24:03
brandon g b
ask ourselves, what would he do in this situation?
00:24:05
brandon g b
And obviously we don't have to be in the dark about that because we know what he does in every situation through the gospels. Um, but when it comes to following Christ, there's another passage that's very insightful on this.
00:24:19
brandon g b
And that is those that stopped following Him. There, there's some passages in the gospels about those who ceased following Christ. And I think they shed some light on this and I think it'd be good for us to look at these.
00:24:34
brandon g b
Um, one such passage is in John six. And I gotta think that those who put them, the verses in scripture did this on purpose, uh, because
00:24:45
Christian McKenzie
And we're about to get into some eschatology here, so.
00:24:49
brandon g b
Well, there's a, uh, uh, in John six verse 66, uh, there's something very evil going on. So maybe they did that intentionally.
00:24:57
Christian McKenzie
Yeah.
00:25:00
brandon g b
Um, let me read that for us and let's talk about why this happened.
00:25:00
Christian McKenzie
yeah
00:25:04
brandon g b
So there's this statement in John's gospel and that's chapter. I just mentioned that says this after this, many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him.
00:25:19
brandon g b
Now, what's going on there? Why did this multitude of people suddenly stop following Christ? I mean, what you've got going on in this passage earlier is the feeding of the 5,000. And you've got this great multitude. I mean, hopes are high. You know, momentum is going. Nothing can stop Jesus and his disciples. They've got this great number of people following them. And then all of a sudden, when you get to the end of the chapter, it says, nope, they were done with Christ.
00:25:49
Christian McKenzie
Yeah.
00:25:49
brandon g b
What was the reason for that?
00:25:52
Christian McKenzie
Well, the cost was too much. we We see that there was a misunderstanding of who Christ was when we looked through the scripture that that he had to leave them because they were they really wanted them to be a king at that time. and that's He didn't come to be a king of this world. He's already the king of kings. He doesn't need a kingdom here. He's here to usher in the kingdom of God. And and you know that was what the gospel was from the beginning when it says he went out and preached. He goes out and it's very simple. Repent and believe the kingdom of God is at hand. And that's the kingdom he was focused on. They wanted him to be focused on a different kingdom. And most of the people wanted a Messiah that was going to bow down to them and their will as a nation.
00:26:47
Christian McKenzie
rather than a Messiah that came to rule his it people and lead them out of their bondage of sin, not their bondage to the Roman Empire.
00:26:57
brandon g b
Right.
00:26:58
Christian McKenzie
And so when they realized that, well, man, we saw the miracles, it was really cool.
00:27:09
Christian McKenzie
But he's asking too much of us now.
00:27:13
brandon g b
yeah
00:27:13
Christian McKenzie
ah We don't want to follow him anymore. and It reminds me of that time he was talking to the young rich ruler. And now this guy wasn't necessarily following him, but he was seeking eternal life.
00:27:23
brandon g b
Yeah, right.
00:27:25
Christian McKenzie
And Jesus says, follow the commandments. He says, Oh, I've done that. and he's Oh, cool. All right. Well, then, uh, take all of your possessions, go and sell them and feed the poor.
00:27:38
brandon g b
Yeah.
00:27:39
Christian McKenzie
And then he was saddened and he turned away because he was rich. and that was that was a time where the price was too high he was comfortable in his luxury and in his wealth and he was not willing to deny that part and to turn away from that and give it all up for Jesus he wasn't willing to sacrifice take up his cross so he turned away and he walked away not even realizing at that moment that he was what he was really sacrificing was way worse eternal life in Christ.
00:28:14
Christian McKenzie
He he wanted everlasting life. He wanted eternal life but he didn't want to submit to Jesus.
00:28:17
brandon g b
yeah
00:28:22
Christian McKenzie
He wanted it on his terms and that's just not how it works and that's that's what a lot of people do today and and freely admit it to why won't you put your faith in Jesus?
00:28:23
brandon g b
Yeah.
00:28:34
Christian McKenzie
You know it's just I don't know. I don't, I don't want, I'm doing this. I'm doing that. I don't want to give it up.
00:28:40
brandon g b
Yeah.
00:28:41
Christian McKenzie
You know, I don't want to give up this partying lifestyle.
00:28:42
brandon g b
Right, right.
00:28:44
Christian McKenzie
I don't want to give up that. And there's a God that that's, you know, very big in psychology right now, you know, that um I I'd like. And he talks a lot about the Bible yet he's never submitted to it.
00:28:58
Christian McKenzie
And, and someone asked him. you know is is Jesus real is God real and he said I'm afraid so hey and what he was saying is like you know because he's got a lot to answer for and yet he you know man he can quote the scripture and share the scripture and and convince you of the truth of scripture and he says he believes in the truth of scripture yet he does not submit to Christ and
00:29:07
brandon g b
Hmm. Right, right.
00:29:28
brandon g b
Yeah.
00:29:31
Christian McKenzie
a pity the guy you know i really do because he's in refusing to sacrifice his pride and you know what else whatever else is really holding him back from submitting the christ what he's doing right now is really sacrificing eternal life with christ and choosing eternal death separated from him and and that's that's what a lot of people do it's just too big a price
00:29:31
brandon g b
Hmm.
00:29:51
brandon g b
yeah yeah
00:30:00
Christian McKenzie
But the thing is, people don't and understand that when you submit to Jesus, that it's actually not that big a price. He paid the price.
00:30:12
Christian McKenzie
And what he's doing is giving you life and life more abundantly.
00:30:15
brandon g b
Yeah, yeah.
00:30:17
Christian McKenzie
And I think that's where we fail to realize that giving up the party lifestyle or whatever thing is in between you and Jesus that you wouldn't want to give up. You actually find more joy and peace in Christ.
00:30:29
Christian McKenzie
You might not necessarily have the easiest life in the world, but you have things that you didn't have before for sure.
00:30:35
brandon g b
Right.
00:30:36
Christian McKenzie
And he says, i'm I'm not here to make your load heavier. um I'm here to give you a lighter load.
00:30:41
brandon g b
Yeah.
00:30:43
Christian McKenzie
My yoke is as light as what he says.
00:30:46
brandon g b
yeah
00:30:47
Christian McKenzie
And so its that's a big thing. it's It's the price, the price that they perceive. is too much but they don't realize how light it is when you just truly submit to Christ.
00:31:02
brandon g b
Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. That that's the dividing line in the gospels is when people responded to Christ invitation to follow him, they knew there was going to be a price, but they were willing to pay it because Jesus was worth it.
00:31:18
brandon g b
But those who did not follow Christ saw it the opposite way.
00:31:18
Christian McKenzie
Yeah.
00:31:23
brandon g b
They were like, it cut it's going to cost too much and I'm not willing to pay it. And that seems to be what happened with these multitudes, you know,
00:31:27
Christian McKenzie
yeah
00:31:31
brandon g b
They were, they were glad when they were getting something out of it, you know, when they were eating this mirror miracle buffet.
00:31:32
Christian McKenzie
Yeah. Yeah.
00:31:39
brandon g b
But when Christ got serious and was telling them about how to grant eternal life and such in that same chapter, they're like, Oh man, you know, we're all about the getting, but we don't want to give.
00:31:49
Christian McKenzie
Mhm.
00:31:52
brandon g b
We don't want to surrender.
00:31:52
Christian McKenzie
Mhm.
00:31:53
brandon g b
We don't want to give up. And there's a lot of instances of this in the gospels. Um, another one is in Luke nine where Christ is going along the road and and several would-be followers approach him. And they seem like, it seems like their intentions were good. You know, like one said, I'll follow you wherever you go. And Christ tells him something actually a little bizarre. He says, foxes have holes. You know, birds of the air have nests, but the son of man has nowhere to lay his head, which is kind of his way of saying, look buddy, if
00:32:26
Christian McKenzie
Mm
00:32:26
brandon g b
You're going to follow me. You need to be prepared to go homeless. I mean, I'll take care of you.
00:32:30
Christian McKenzie
-hmm.
00:32:30
brandon g b
I'll make sure that you have food in your stomach and a place to sleep, but it might be on a rock, you know, and nothing happens to this guy.
00:32:37
Christian McKenzie
he
00:32:39
brandon g b
He doesn't follow Christ. And there's another person that Jesus comes to and gives this command to follow him.
00:32:41
Christian McKenzie
Yeah.
00:32:46
brandon g b
And he says, Lord, let me, let me first bury my father, which I mean, kind of seems like you should have given him a little slack there, um but Jesus says, leave the dead to bury their own dead, but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.
00:33:02
brandon g b
And, you know, if you really look at the details there and read between the lines, what's really going on is this man valued his family more than he valued Christ.
00:33:03
Christian McKenzie
Yeah.
00:33:12
Christian McKenzie
Yeah.
00:33:12
brandon g b
and Again, that's that's the other the last instance there in that passage in Luke 9, 57 through 62.
Observing vs Truly Following Christ
00:33:20
brandon g b
One says, I'll follow you, Lord. I'm all in 100%.
00:33:24
brandon g b
But one thing I got to do is I got to say goodbye to my family. And Jesus says, that's not the way it works, man. That's not the way it works.
00:33:32
Christian McKenzie
Yeah.
00:33:33
brandon g b
No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God. You've got to be all in. Or you're not a follower.
00:33:39
Christian McKenzie
Yeah.
00:33:41
brandon g b
You might be a fan. but you're not a follower.
00:33:44
Christian McKenzie
Yeah.
00:33:45
brandon g b
So that's, that's kind of a big deal. A great book on that, by the way, that came out, too um, several years ago called not a fan by Kyle. idleman That was a very defining book for my, um, conversion.
00:33:55
Christian McKenzie
Yeah.
00:34:00
brandon g b
I was still a new believer when I read that. And that's one of the things that he talked about is like, you know, fans in a stadium, they might, uh,
00:34:02
Christian McKenzie
Mm hmm.
00:34:09
brandon g b
pay thousands of dollars for a ticket, which it really is that expensive. I didn't know that until recently, how expensive, uh, sports tickets are.
00:34:16
Christian McKenzie
Yeah.
00:34:18
brandon g b
But like, they're not, they're obviously not willing to like be a shoulder to cry on for some of these players.
00:34:24
Christian McKenzie
Mm
00:34:25
brandon g b
If they've got something serious, they're going through, you know, they're not that involved.
00:34:28
Christian McKenzie
hmm.
00:34:30
brandon g b
Um, They, and they don't even know these players really, they're just spectators.
00:34:35
Christian McKenzie
Yeah.
00:34:35
brandon g b
Uh, there's no real sacrifice involved. And that's the way it is. Unfortunately, with a lot of people is they're just spectators of Christ, but there's no commitment.
00:34:44
Christian McKenzie
yeah
00:34:46
brandon g b
There's no willingness to sacrifice there. And that's what makes the distinction.
00:34:49
Christian McKenzie
who Yeah.
00:34:50
brandon g b
That's what draws the line in the sand. As I said, um, following Christ, it demand it demands daily self-denial and devotion to Christ Lordship. And that distinguishes ah true disciples from mere fans who walk away when the cost becomes too great.
00:35:07
Christian McKenzie
Yeah. Well, and and when you go back to that fella saying, you know, I want to bury my father, I've read where several in commentary said he he didn't necessarily have a father that was dead at that moment, but was waiting for his father to die, wanted to, you know, be there for his parents.
00:35:25
brandon g b
Right.
00:35:29
brandon g b
right
00:35:32
brandon g b
Mm hmm.
00:35:32
Christian McKenzie
And he just wanted to wait until it was convenient.
00:35:36
brandon g b
Yeah, that precisely.
00:35:37
Christian McKenzie
or him. And i think I think that it could be true um or the dude literally could have had a dead dad. oh But what's interesting about that is the way I think about it. Like, you know, one day I'm going to die and people are going to think my funeral's important. But what I think more important when I die is not to waste your life on the dead. If there's something going on that day, don't don't feel guilty if you have a lunch date plan to go to that lunch date.
00:36:09
Christian McKenzie
I ain't doing nothing. I'm not going to sit up and say, hey, why weren't you at my funeral? you know And that's something too.
00:36:16
brandon g b
yeah
00:36:18
Christian McKenzie
you know we We do like closure and stuff like that, but but we also like to do things when it's convenient. As a pastor, we might experience this a little more on some aspects than others.
00:36:33
Christian McKenzie
Uh, but sometimes it's very inconvenient when I get a call to be there for someone, but it is a brother in Christ and not necessarily as a pastor. I try and view it more as a brother in Christ.
00:36:43
brandon g b
Yeah. Right.
00:36:45
Christian McKenzie
Uh, when, when I answer these calls and and go to people's houses and things like that, because technically that's not even the pastoral role.
00:36:56
Christian McKenzie
uh right there there's you know you can go into deaconship and stuff like that and talk about going and talking to people and making sure everything's good i just do it as brother in christ uh but it's not convenient sometimes and then i really have to take a step back and and say you know sometimes things just aren't convenient when it comes to following jesus because he gets in the way of our plans it'd be nice
00:37:20
brandon g b
right.
00:37:25
Christian McKenzie
to sit on the couch today. But my sister down the road just lost her best friend. My brother down the road has a flat tire you know and I need to be there for him and it's it's inconvenient. And we we have to sacrifice convenience sometimes. Now, I think of missionaries overseas right now, a lot of them sacrifice a lot of convenience.
00:37:55
Christian McKenzie
And here we are complaining when we get a call and some of them are running from house to house for their life right now.
00:38:03
brandon g b
Yeah, right.
00:38:05
Christian McKenzie
and But they sacrificed convenience. They sacrificed their welfare. And sometimes we're just called to sacrifice a little bit of time here and there.
00:38:14
brandon g b
Yeah, right. Yeah, like you say, it's it's about sacrifice when it's inconvenient. I mean, how more inconvenient can you get than these first disciples?
00:38:26
brandon g b
They are literally at work and they wouldn't have eaten without working.
00:38:26
Christian McKenzie
Oh, yeah here yeah.
00:38:30
brandon g b
And Jesus is like, All right, guys, it's time to quit your job and you got a new job, which is following me.
00:38:36
Christian McKenzie
Yeah.
00:38:36
brandon g b
Um, but if you love Christ, it's not going to be inconvenient to you.
00:38:37
Christian McKenzie
Yeah.
00:38:41
brandon g b
You're going to do it. You're going to, it's like many of the people in the gospels who fought through the crowds and did whatever was required to just get to Jesus because they loved him that much.
00:38:43
Christian McKenzie
Yeah.
00:38:53
brandon g b
You know, like the woman with an issue of blood for 12 years.
00:38:53
Christian McKenzie
Yes.
00:38:57
brandon g b
She didn't know a whole lot about Christ, by the way, she couldn't have since she
00:38:57
Christian McKenzie
Mm-hmm.
00:39:01
brandon g b
was probably in social isolation due to her bleeding, her hemorrhage.
00:39:04
Christian McKenzie
Right.
00:39:05
brandon g b
But she w risked her life, her neck, going through a multitude just to touch the hem of his garment. And she held out hope that she would be healed.
00:39:16
brandon g b
And she did everything she could to get
Reflecting on Personal Discipleship and Sacrifice
00:39:19
brandon g b
to Christ. A lot of other examples of that. But ah I guess just to sum it all up, what we're What we're really reflecting on in considering these different passages is the standards of what it means to follow Christ, like literally what it looks like.
00:39:40
brandon g b
And I want to encourage everybody to reflect on this and just ask yourself, am I truly following Christ? Or am I just observing Him from a distance?
00:39:49
Christian McKenzie
Yeah.
00:39:52
brandon g b
Am I sacrificing? in following Him. how How could I sacrifice more in following Jesus? We need to think about those things as we consider what it looks like to follow Christ.
00:40:04
Christian McKenzie
Yeah.
00:40:05
brandon g b
Well, there's a lot more we could probably cover. um you know Preachers tend to go down some rabbit trails sometimes. um But anything else to add, Chris, before we wrap it up?
00:40:19
Christian McKenzie
I just want to encourage everybody to follow Jesus. It's never too late to to sit back if you feel like you haven't been following him the way you should to step up and say, you know what, Jesus, I've been on the sidelines too long.
00:40:38
Christian McKenzie
Put me in the game, coach. If you're not a Christian,
00:40:40
brandon g b
yeah
00:40:42
Christian McKenzie
Jesus loves you and wants a relationship with you. He already knows you. He knows the number of hairs on your head. He knows the contents of your heart.
00:40:54
Christian McKenzie
And the fact that he loves you even knowing that is a miracle in itself.
00:40:57
brandon g b
Yeah. Yeah.
00:41:03
Christian McKenzie
it's You know, can't even put it in the words really what all that means.
00:41:08
brandon g b
yeah
00:41:11
Christian McKenzie
but He wants you to turn away from the world. He wants you to turn away from your sin and to follow Him. And that requires sacrifice. And and so I encourage you, if you haven't put your faith in Jesus to do so, to follow Him, not just hear about Him, not just talk about Him, not just observe Him from a distance, but to truly take up your cross shoulder to shoulder with Him.
00:41:40
Christian McKenzie
and follow him where he is leading you. So, but that's all I got.
00:41:46
brandon g b
Yeah, I would echo that too. Um, and you know, that's, that's a part of Luke nine 23. We didn't really cover, but the first part of that gospel call is if anyone would come after me.
00:42:00
brandon g b
So the invitation is to all it's to anyone it's all encompassing. So it doesn't matter who you are, how you're raised, what you've done, where you come from Christ gives that invitation and command to you.
00:42:13
brandon g b
But the thing is.
00:42:13
Christian McKenzie
yeah Yes.
00:42:15
brandon g b
You got to follow the rest of that. It entails taking up your cross and following Him, but you'll never regret it. You'll never regret it. The reward and blessing of following Christ.
00:42:27
brandon g b
It just, it's unbelievable. Um, and we don't have time to cover that in this episode, of course, but, um, the regret, however, of not following Christ is eternal.
00:42:30
Christian McKenzie
Yes.
00:42:38
brandon g b
And so we want to encourage you, all of you, uh, who are listening, if you haven't stepped down in faith, the fall of Christ to do so before it's eternally too late.
00:42:38
Christian McKenzie
yes
00:42:45
brandon g b
And also want to encourage everybody, if you want to learn more about what it means to follow Christ, you can get a copy of my latest book, 40 days with Jesus, which is on Amazon. It covers this very passage as well as many others where we have episodes from the life of Christ, where he continues to explain and expand what it means to follow him as Lord and savior.
00:43:08
brandon g b
But we want to thank everybody for tuning in. We pray this episode has blessed you and that you've gleaned some sanctifying truth from it. And we're going to sign off now with prayer. So Chris, why don't you pray for us?
00:43:21
Christian McKenzie
All right, let's break. Father, thank you so much for this time that we have to record this episode and and to just worship you by reading through your word and discussing it. And Father, I just wanna pray for strength for us and for those that are following you to continue to do so with boldness and such a dark and dreary world. Help us to to be alight.
00:43:51
Christian McKenzie
shining in this darkness to to reach out to those that desperately need to hear your gospel. Father, there are so many people around us. Just put people in our path that don't know you. Just put people in our path that we can share your glorious gospel with. And Father, if there's anyone that's listening to this that has not put their faith in you,
00:44:19
Christian McKenzie
it's a simple request that you continue to convict them of their sin, their need for your salvation, and that you would use us to reach out to them so that they might turn away from this world, that they might turn away from their sin and truly follow you. It's in Jesus' name that we pray all these things. Amen.
00:44:44
brandon g b
hey man
00:44:44
Christian McKenzie
Thank you all so much for listening to another episode of the Faith 168 podcast.
00:44:45
brandon g b
Amen.
00:44:50
Christian McKenzie
Again, it's Brother Brandon Say go check out his book over on Amazon and and get that there and go through the 40 day devotional.
00:45:01
Christian McKenzie
You'll probably finish it before we finish this series.
00:45:04
brandon g b
Right. Yeah.
00:45:04
Christian McKenzie
So if you want to be a step ahead of us, you need to get that book, but we love you so much. go out and live faithfully for Jesus 168 hours this week, and we will see you next week.