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"Following Jesus wherever..." PDF Print E-mail
Written by David Charlton   

Scripture

Revelation 3:20
Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if any one hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.
 Revelation 14:1-5
Then I looked, and there was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion! And with him were one hundred forty-four thousand who had his name and his Father's name written on their foreheads. 2 And I heard a voice from heaven like the sound of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder; the voice I heard was like the sound of harpists playing on their harps, 3 and they sing a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and before the elders. No one could learn that song except the one hundred forty-four thousand who have been redeemed from the earth. 4 It is these who have not defiled themselves with women, for they are virgins; these follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They have been redeemed from humankind as first fruits for God and the Lamb, 5 and in their mouth no lie was found; they are blameless.

  Core Idea, Challenge & Summary

Core Idea: Jesus wants to lead us into unfamiliar and scary conditions to spread His love throughout the earth.

Challenge: To help people follow Jesus wherever He leads.

Summary: As Christians, we should be willing to follow Jesus wherever He leads. Jesus wants to use us to spread His kingdom on earth so more and more people can experience His amazing and transforming love. This means Jesus will lead us into places and circumstances that will make us very uncomfortable. We may find ourselves in danger, facing persecution or associating with people we would not normally care to be around.

Revelation 14:1-5 makes this point very clearly. The 144,000 represents all the faithful believers in Christ. In other words, it represents the church. It describes the church as always worshipping, remaining pure from sin and following the Lamb (Jesus) wherever He goes.

Jesus understands that He often sends us into harms way. That’s why He leads from the front. In Matthew 28:20, Jesus says, “Behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.” Jesus fulfills this promise by way of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit goes with us and before us when Jesus leads us. The Spirit of God will touch people’s hearts before we show up as Jesus’ mouthpiece to explain God’s love. The Spirit will also give us the words to say. We must learn to trust and obey the guidance of the Spirit as we seek to follow Jesus.

Jesus wants to lead us. He’s knocking on the door of every local church, waiting for each church to open the door and invite Him to lead. Many local churches open the door only to close it again when they realize what Jesus is leading them to do. Not all local churches are willing to leave their comfort zones of familiar worship styles and ministries. Not all local churches are willing to make the necessary changes to invite people who are different from them. Not all local churches are willing to take risks. Not all local churches are willing to exchange their country club mind set for a Missional mindset.  (A country club mindset focuses on the preferences of church members. A missional mindset focuses on obeying the great commandment in order to fulfill the great commission. The great commandment is found in Matthew 22:34-40 and the great commission is found in 28:19-20.)

Each individual Christian must ask, “Am I willing to follow Jesus wherever He leads?” Each local congregation must ask, “Are we willing to follow Jesus wherever He leads?”   

 

The Sermon

I. Introduction: In military history, there are some commanders that soldiers will follow
                        anywhere, at anytime, to do anything, without question.

     A. In U.S. Civil War, there were three such generals

  • General Robert E. Lee
  • General “Stonewall” Jackson
  • General Ulysses S. Grant

     B. In WWII, there are two commanders that immediately come to my mind

  • Major Richard Winters, Commander Easy Company, 2nd Battalian, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division. (Band of Brothers HBO mini-series)
  • Lt. Col. Lewis “Chesty” Puller of the United States Marines
     C. In my own experience: Lt. Col Lockwood, Commander of 3/7 Cavalry Squadron,
          3rd Infantry Division
  • Put the needs of his own men before his own needs
  • All the soldiers went above and beyond what was expected of them because of the respect thay had for their commander
     D. If soldiers are willing to follow certain commanders wherever they lead, no matter
         what the consequences, shouldn’t Christians follow Jesus wherever He leads?

II. As Christians, we should follow Jesus wherever He leads

     A. Jesus may lead us into uncomfortable circumstances. We may find ourselves in…

  • Danger
  • Facing persecutions
  • Taking risks
  • Associating with people we normally would not care for.
  • Three examples from my personal life: 1) Jesus led me to minister to convicts in prison, 2) Jesus led me to study Scripture in Bars & Grills until some intoxicated person approached me to talk about God, and 3) Jesus led me to take homeless people out for lunch at the nearest fast food restaurant 

     B. Revelation 14:1-5 makes it clear that we should follow Jesus wherever He leads

  • The 144,000 is a symbolic number representing all believers in Christ. It comes from 12 (representing the 12 patriarchs of Israel) X 12 (representing the 12 apostles) X 1,000 (The basic military unit in the Israelite Army)
  • It demonstrates what the church should ideally look like
  • The church should continuously worship, remain pure from sin and following the Lamb (Jesus) wherever He goes.
  • This passage occurs right after the two beasts are described (chapter 13). In the midst of idolatry, hatred, persecution, violence, and evil, Jesus expects us to follow Him wherever He goes. Jesus will bring us into harms way.

III. Jesus understands that He’ll often lead us into harms ways. So, He goes with us.

     A. Jesus leads from the front

  • He led from the front when He became a human to show us the way and die on the cross.
  • He continues to lead from the front by way of the Holy Spirit.

     B. Jesus leads from the front by way of the Holy Spirit.

  • Prior to His ascension into heaven, Jesus promised, “I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:20)
  • Jesus, the Son of God, keeps this promise through the presence of the Spirit of God in every believer’s heart. Remember, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit all make up the one true God. To have one is to have all three because the three make up the one true God. So, to have the Holy Spirit in our hearts is the same as having Jesus in our hearts.
  • The Spirit goes with us and before us when Jesus leads us.
  • The Spirit of God will touch people’s hearts before we show up as Jesus’ mouthpiece to explain God’s love.
  • The Spirit will also give us the words to say.
  • We must learn to trust and obey the guidance of the Spirit as we seek to follow Jesus.
IV. Jesus wants to lead us. He is knocking at the door of every local church, waiting for
      each church to let Him in and lead.
     A. Revelation 3:20 – “Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if any one hears my voice 
           and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.
     B. Many local churches open the door only to close it again when they realize what
          Jesus is leading them to do.
  • Not all local churches are willing to leave their comfort zones of familiar worship styles and ministries.
  • Not all local churches are willing to make the necessary changes to invite people who are different from them.
  • Not all local churches are willing to take risks.
  • Not all local churches are willing to exchange their country club mind set for a Missional mindset.  (A country club mindset focuses on the preferences of church members. A missional mindset focuses on obeying the great commandment in order to fulfill the great commission. The great commandment is found in Matthew 22:34-40 and the great commission is found in 28:19-20.)

V. What about here, at Glynlea Grace UMC?

     A. With the new pastor coming, Jesus is at the door knocking.

  • He’s ready to lead the congregation in new ministries and opportunities.
  • Opening the door and allowing Jesus to lead will likely involve tremendous change, risk and sacrifice. 
  • Are we willing to trust Jesus to use the new pastor to take the congregation in a new direction?

     B. Will we open the door and allow Jesus to lead?
 
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