Welcome to the River Mountain Church Preaching Library. This message was delivered from our pulpit in Shefton, PA. It is our prayer that it might inspire and encourage your life. So sit back, relax and enjoy the preaching of God's Word. Our whole theme today is discipleship and the essentials of discipleship. One of the biggest, the biggest thing right in the middle of discipleship is you can know the Bible inside out, upside down. You can know every verse. And I've met people like that. But if you don't have love, you have nothing. You can say, oh, I love Jesus Christ. I love Him with all my heart. And then you go and bash your neighbor because the dog made a mess in your yard. If you did that, guess what? You didn't show the main ingredient of discipleship. Love. There's some things that we need to get clear. We are going to pray as Christians. And I love your pastor for this reason. I really do love your pastor and his message. Here's the reason. Because he tells you love, but he also does tell you the truth. And you have to tell the truth. You can't not tell the truth. I can't sit here and say, you're all going to heaven because you walked into this church today. Can I? I can't sit here and say that about me or stand here. I have to say, except you're born again, you're not getting in. Why do I have to say that? Jesus said it, right? How do I get there? I am the way, the truth and the life. Who said that? Not Mike, not Pastor Tom, the Lord Jesus Christ. So love is one of those ingredients that he kept pounding. while he was here. And boy, one thing that he really didn't like, he didn't like those people that were holier than thou. He didn't like self-righteousness. It really ticked our Savior off. So let's pray and let's study God's Word for a while together. And let's just pray that the Lord touches hearts today. Heavenly Father, I come to Thee through Jesus, Your Son, my Lord, my Savior. Father, thank You for this opportunity. I am humbled. to be standing in front of these brothers and sisters in Christ and those that are trying to find out exactly what You want them to do with their life. Lord, may I be that vessel that speaks from Your heart to their hearts so that we may deeper understand what You want us to do with our lives and we may love each other more. Father, it is for You. It's not for me that I'm here. May Your will be done in each and every one of our lives Please allow the Holy Spirit to take this message straight to our souls. It's in your blessed name. Amen. Discipleship and the essentials. Becoming like Christ. Love is the main thing. And one of the areas that I want you to understand is this is a core value and a core truth. I don't have the clicker, so I'm going to let you do the clicking. and a core truth that Jesus was very big on while he was on the face of this earth. He said, you're going to know, you're going to know that they're my disciples by the way they love one another. Sacrificial love as exemplified by Jesus's voluntary death on the cross. We do understand that, right? They didn't kill him. They did not kill our Savior. Those Roman soldiers and all the high priests and we have an emperor over here. They didn't kill Jesus. Jesus gave it up for you. Jesus gave it up for me. The sacrificial. What is to be reflected in the way Christians relate to one another. We're supposed to relate to one another in that same sacrificial way. This kind of love is so out of step with the world. that world's way that unbelievers will take notice. They will take notice. They might think you're goofy. They might think you're, oh man, here comes that Bible beater again. Here comes that person that, why is he so happy all the time? What's with the smile on his face? What's with the smile on his face? For those of you, and I did say I followed quite a few of you here, Some of you know my story. And some of you know that my walk has not been on a smooth highway. Folks, my wife is not with me today. And just so you guys know, because she's lost both legs. She's had them amputated because of diabetes. She finds it really hard to be happy about what the Lord's done for her. So I'll ask you to pray for her. But you know what? She's my wife. And she's my friend. and I'm gonna walk with her and push her every step of the way. But should I be angry? Should I be frustrated? In the real world, I've been ripped off, haven't I? In the real world, and as far as the world looks at it, man, Mike's been deprived because this has gone on for 20 years, folks. I have a daughter, you guys saw her, and I'll share this with you, who's had a heart transplant. at age 13. At age 13. She's now 25. Take a look at her. I have nothing to complain about. I've been carried by God's grace and His mercy. But what I'm saying to you is this. Why not smile? Why not show love towards one another? Why not share with one another your heartache and your hearts? Because if you do that, then you understand. This isn't something written in a book 2,000 years ago that doesn't apply today, guys. It applies. Jesus said, love one another. Help each other. My burden is light. Take mine up. And then, there's another thing about this. The more that you help one another, the easier the burden. Amen? I'm never alone. As long as I have brothers and sisters in Christ, to help me and to be there with me. The scripture, one of the first things Jesus said, and there are three scriptures that I really want to emphasize, but the first one is John 13, 34 and 35, a new commandment I give you. Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this, everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." How many times does he have to tell you to love one another? Please count the number of times. I think three, maybe four. You get it? You've got to love one another. That's how people are going to know. How are we doing? And this is not a question that I want you to answer this morning. But how are we doing with that as Christians? How well do we show love one toward another? How often do we let petty stuff come between us? And guys, please don't think I'm doing this. This is for my own inventory as well. How often do I let maybe little petty things get in the way of true love? How have we done in showing our love toward one another? And that's just a challenge. But Jesus said, you've got to do it. You've got to do it because the bottom line is that's how people are going to know that you're special. You have no reason not to love one another. Number one. Here's another part. Stop treating each other unkindly because you're going to have to live with each other forever. Think about that one. And I'm going to remember. No, I'm not. No, I'm not. I'm going to remember if you did me wrong. That's not true. It's just not true. Praise God. all the pain, all the sorrow, all those bad things, they're going to go away someday. Amen? But the reality is, just kidding, but we are going to be brothers and sisters forever. This is a little bit deeper than being born into a family. You've been adopted. But the price of your adoption is too big. It's too big to even mention. Here we go. This is something that I want you guys to understand. That is Jesus's new commandment. He only gave one while he was on the face of this earth and that was it. The next thing that Jesus wanted, this is, believe it or not, this guys, and I want to go through this slowly. There's two different slides about this, but please hear this. You know where Jesus is when he's saying this prayer? He's right outside the garden. He's down on his knees. He knows what's coming next. He knows that in Romans, I'm sorry, that's another favorite thing I like to teach out, I told the pastor. But in John 18.1, after this, I'll read that to you, but it says, then Jesus got up, finished praying and went into the garden. And guess who was the first one to greet him with a kiss? Judas, Satan in the form of man. Here it is. My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message. And what it says very, very clearly, that all of them may be one. Father, just as You and I are, Just as you are in me and I in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you have gave me, and that they may be one as we are one. I in them and you in me, so that they may be brought to complete unity. then the world will know that you have sent Me and have loved them as you have loved Me." Do you understand what Jesus is saying there? Look guys, He's on the verge of sacrificing His life for you and yet I don't see one thing where He's praying for Himself, do you? Do you want to see an example of sacrificial love? It is at the cross that it's totally understood. But prior to the cross, He's getting ready to die for us. And He's not even thinking of Himself. All He's thinking of is, Lord, if I can get these people to see that I'm in You, or You're in Me, and I'm in them, and we're in this, and we have a connection here. It's a love connection that can't be broken. Then the world's going to know that You have sent Me. It's so important that we love one another. The underlying thing here is if we don't show love towards one another, then we don't show the true Christian message. And guess what? The more that we have opposition toward one another, the more the world says, told you, told you. Those Christians can't even get along. Look at them. They're bickering amongst each other over what? Over what? Over man doctrine? There's one thing to know. It's in here. There's just one thing to know. It's in here. There's the mic. I hit the mic once, John. But the bottom line is that's how people are going to know. The second part of this. is, Father, I want those who you have given to me to be with me where I am and to see my glory and the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you and they know that you have sent me. I have made you known to them and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for Me may be in them and that I Myself may be in them." Jesus is big enough to create this world. He's big enough to sustain this world. He's small enough to be in your heart. And He wants to be there. Your heart is His throne. That's where He wants to be. He wants to show His love toward others through you. That's why I'm speaking today. Not because I want to. But because I've been asked to talk about the love that Jesus showed towards me. If my love or the love that He showed towards me can help you understand how much He loves you, good. Amen. But do you see the cycle? It is so important that He's being betrayed. And the bottom line is He's not thinking of a thing. that is his concern. He's thinking that he needs to do this to fulfill the Father's plan. And in John 18.1, just very quickly, when Jesus had spoken these words, He went forth with His disciples over the brook Sidron where was a garden. The Garden of Gethsemane. the witch he entered and his disciples." And then the next verse says, "...and Judas also, which betrayed him, knew the place. For Jesus oft times resorted thither with his disciples." The bottom line, folks, is Jesus knew he was going to die. He knew that Judas was right on the other side of that gate to that garden, but it didn't matter. What mattered to Jesus right there and then? What was all He was thinking of? Us. That's pretty incredible, don't you think? Don't you think? You think you're worth that? Here's my love for you. Yes, you are. Totally. You're totally worth it. If Jesus says you are, I've got to say you are. He doesn't lie. Right? How are we doing as far as? And once again, folks, I'm not looking for answers. Maybe I am, but maybe we all are. But the bottom line is, how are you doing with that? How are you? The challenge today is this. The truth is, how are you doing with that love that was granted to you with that total forgiveness? Do you know that when you accepted the Lord as your Savior, you were more than found not guilty? Righteousness was imputed upon you. Nothing, nothing is being held against you. Nothing is being held against you. Except what Satan wants to play with you with. And he does that. You know, one person told me, the farther you walk with the Lord, the more sins you recognize. And I used to think, now that's a terrible thing to say. But he said, the closer you get, the more Satan doesn't want you to get it. And I thought, boy, oh boy, you're kind of an unreal preacher. But he wasn't. Satan wants to put doubts in you. He wants to instill in you that, you know, you're not worth it. Jesus doesn't love you that much. And then he says, do you really love him? Because look at the way you behave. He plays with your heart constantly. But guess what? He can't win. When Jesus said three words on the cross, he meant it. It is finished. The deal's done. Satan, you lost. You can't win. All we've got to do is accept Him, and then the next essential thing is love one another. See how important that is? Love the Lord with everything you've got, and then love one another. It's number two. But it's the whole thing, Jesus said. It's the whole thing. If you can do those two things, you've got all ten. You think I'm right? I don't know. You think you're right. You think about it. That's what I can say. But really, think about those two things. If you lived that way, all those other things wouldn't be part of the scenario, would they? Because you wouldn't think of stealing. You wouldn't think of lying. You wouldn't think of committing adultery because you loved one another. Jesus made it simple. We complicate things. Amen? The people of the basin and the towel. Here is Jesus's primary example of what a servant is all about. The security of a servant. This is what I want you to know. Jesus knew his time had come to leave this world, to be with his father. The other thing that he knew is he knew that Satan was going to make a move and through Judas, Jesus would be betrayed. Jesus knew that. And then the last thing is, in spite of death, Jesus knew who He was. In spite of death, you guys know who you are, don't you? Does death scare you all that much? The worst thing that's going to happen to you is you're going to die and go to heaven. If you accepted the Lord as your Savior, that's not bad. There's no reason to fret. There's nothing to worry about on the face of this earth. You know, I noticed as I was driving here today, it was very bright. I had to put my sunglasses on. I was so grateful for a nice sunny day in November, and I thought as I was driving here, the day that I pass from this earth and go into the next world, this view is nothing. This isn't even in the top ten. How about that? When I look over that River Jordan, I'm going to see all those things. But most of all, I can't wait to see Jesus. I cannot wait to see Jesus. Imagine. How's that song go? I can only imagine. Imagine what it's like. Imagine what it's going to be like, folks. You know the coolest part? You'll be there with me. That's pretty cool, too. This is it. This whole thing, this servant thing, the washing of the feet, that was a big deal back then, wasn't it? How disgusting were those feet? Now, you know, some churches still do this. Did you know that? We're going to do it next Sunday. I'm just kidding. I'm only kidding. Get ready. Now, what's the first thought that comes to your mind? God, I hope I don't have any socks that... I hope I have socks that are whole and they don't have holes in them. I'm going to wash my feet maybe 25 times before I go in that church. Right? And yet, in this day and age, I mean, feet aren't all that disgusting, but imagine back then. A little bit of dust, just a little. The clothes toed shoes, not so. Sandals. So when you're washing someone's feet back then, what are you saying? There's not too many other parts of the anatomy that could be much more disgusting. Amen. You're going to have a lot of dirt and dust and other things. But the bottom line was Jesus did this on purpose. He did it on purpose. He didn't. He could have washed their face. He could wash their hands. It wouldn't have had the same impact, would it? This is the ultimate servant. This is the ultimate household slave. Usually it was a household slave that washed the feet of the masters. Yet Jesus was the master. What is he doing? A lot of his disciples were asking that question. One of them that we all know very well. He was a gentleman, I'll tell you. He was an interesting gentleman to study, and that's Peter. Study Peter. I'm probably Peter. Let's put it that way. I've got a lot of Peter in me. Because it's like, you're not going to wash my feet. You're the Lord. God said to Peter, well, if I can't wash your feet, I can't have any part of you. And then when Jesus explained it to Peter, this is how I'm like Peter. After that, after Jesus explained to Peter why he was doing what he was doing, he said, well, I'm going to wash my whole body. You know, I think Peter might have had addictive tendencies. You know what I mean? He might have had those underlying overdo it things in his psyche and in his makeup. That's some of my clinical stuff. Pay no attention. That's all the clinical you're going to get today. But the bottom line with this is this is just so after he had washed their feet and had taken his garment, and was set down again, he said unto them, Know ye what I have done to you? Ye call me Master and Lord, and ye say, Well, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet, ye also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example that ye should do as I have done to you. What can you do to help one another? What can you do to be a servant to each other? Ask yourself that question this week. One thing that notoriously, notoriously happens, and I watch it happen in my business. I do. People get status in this culture and they start to pound their chest. They start to say, look at me. Look at me. I'm so great. I'm so good. Even in the Christian culture, there's the debate of it happened with the disciples, didn't it? Who's going to be first? Who's going to be last? Lord, I want to know. Well, if you're last, you're first. If you're first, you're last. Jesus came and turned the world upside down. Amen? He came and said, you aren't all that in a bag of chips. Your self-righteousness is nothing but disgusting to me. And realize one thing, you forgot the very most important thing and that is God. God is at the center of goodness. You are the one that He saved from yourself. When I'm working with clients, guys, There are people here that have probably seen me in action, and I won't pretend to tell you that there are times I might not seem holier than thou when it comes to working with drug addicts and alcoholics, because I know what I'm fighting against. I'm fighting against Satan and Satan's tools, and it's a big one. It's a big one. Right now, as far as I'm concerned, in the United States of America, drugs are one of our biggest, and not just because I work in this field, but drugs are one of our biggest detriments for life to be prolonged. I see so many take their lives very young. But what I'm saying to you, when I am confronting, and it isn't always kind, one of the things I say to them is, I'm going to care about you until you care enough about yourself to save yourself. by following the direction. Also, a wonderful thing happens during the course of, as Kathy shared, during the course of recovery, a lot of them find Christ. A lot of them find Christ and they realize that, boy, this has been the missing ingredient. I tried to find happiness in drugs, in alcohol, in women, in cars, etc., etc. I tried to find it in anything I could grab in this world and I couldn't find it. That's not just Mattick's problem, is it? That's all of our problems. You look for things around you to fill that, what I call, it's just the right size for God. It's a God void right here in your heart, in your soul. And nothing else is going to fill it. Nothing else will fill it. Going on, the very last verses that I want you guys to hear are these, and that is in 1 John. In 1 John is where Jesus through and the God through John made it as clear as he could possibly make it. Now remember, John is what? The disciple who Jesus loves. He's the one who Jesus loves. John called himself that quite often. And the bottom line is this, it said, Beloved, let us love one another for love is of God and everyone that loves is born of God and knows God. He that loveth not knows not God, for God is love. Get it? It's really not an option to say, well, I'm going to love this side of the church, but I'm not going to love this side of the church. And you guys, okay, I'll like you a little. It's not the way it's supposed to be. It says it very clearly. It says, in this was manifested the love of God toward us because that God has said His only begotten Son into the world that we might live through Him. Herein is love. Not that we loved God, but He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation, say that three times, for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. No man has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwells in us and His love is perfected in us. I try to think of, there's some instances where I've done my best to try to be kind and all that jazz, and I've come up short. But when I've just turned it over to the Lord, have you ever noticed it works really well? And you're even nicer than you think you ought to be. Somewhere, somehow, something shines through you that it's more than what you could even imagine. I wonder if we ever stop, pause, and think, you know, thanks Lord, I knew you were there. I know I miss it a lot. I know I miss that opportunity a lot to say, Lord, thank you so much. This is what I want you to know. This is cyclical in its writing and in the way that it's laid out. Love is God. Love others or we don't love God. It's very simple. If you don't love others, you do not love God. Oh, by the way, does it say love them after they behave the way you want them to? That's for another message. Because guess what? Jesus goes one step deeper after this and says, now it's easy to love one another when you agree with one another. Now I want you to love the ones you don't agree with. I want you to love the ones that are unlovable. I want you to do that. Then it says that love is a connection. Love shows God in us. But last of all, God's love is made perfect in us. It's made perfect. It perfects us is what I should say. God's love perfects us. It makes us more than what we really are. One of the things that I really appreciate about this church is your eagle. I like your eagle a lot. And my reason for saying that is I grew up with a mother who was the example of what this love was all about. I grew up with a mother who was very, how to even describe it to you is hard because my mom, I come from a family of 10. I'm from a family of 10 kids, that's a lot of kids. I could say that's why I'm so skinny, but that's a lie now. The bottom line is it doesn't matter. I still put on weight at age 50. It's not that my metabolism slowed down, it stopped. That's all there was to it. But my mom, let me give you some examples of what I saw in Christian behavior. This is an example of what the Bible looks like when it's living. I remember my mom, when we were riding to church together, she'd stop. We stopped along the road and there were two kids playing in the mud. And I mean the mud. They were mud from head to toe. It was the Jones family. I want to say Robin and Dean were the two kids playing. She pulled the car off the road, pulled up, said, hey, guess where we're going? My brothers and I are sitting there saying, Mom, what are you doing? We're on our way to church. You know, we're all ready to go to church. She goes, you guys want to go to Sunday school with us? I'm thinking, okay, this is going to be cool. And they said, well, we can't go, we're dirty. She said, I'll tell you what. She goes, if you're clean and you're standing here next week, I'll pick you up. During the course of the week, guys, guess what else mom did? Went and bought two outfits and dropped them off at the house. A dress, This is when I was 5, 6, and 7. This is the example I saw. A dress and a nice little dress pants and a shirt. They came to church with us the next week. She didn't bother just looking at the outside. It didn't matter to her. You know what she was concerned about? What was on the inside of those kids. What was on the inside of those kids. Soap and water will get the dirt off the outside. But Jesus Christ is the only one that's going to clean that heart. And mom knew that. She knew that. Interesting thing. I'll give you another example. It's Christmas time. And my mother was terrible. And mom, forgive me. God rest her soul. But I love to use her as an example because she was a prime example of the way you ought to be when you're a Christian. She was terrible. We decided we're going to exchange names. Ten kids, let's exchange names. Mom goes, yeah, okay, okay. She never obeyed it. She went out and bought for each and every grandchild, each and every great grandchild, and I'm saying 22 and 24, I think were the end numbers before she passed away. Each and every kid and each and every kid's spouse. How do you do that when you work at a shoe factory? I know what her check looked like because out of high school I worked at that shoe factory and I was getting paid more than her. How do you do that? What was she trying to say though? Here was her other gig. She never asked you to come to church on Easter. She just brought you a suit if you were a little boy and she brought you a dress if you were a little girl. And she said, I'll see you next Sunday. That was her Palm Sunday. That was her Palm Sunday. But what I'm trying to say to you is, you know, we can talk all we want, but what are we doing as far as are we showing love toward one another? Are we showing a sacrificial love towards one another, disregarding what's important to us and looking at what's important to others? what we need to do to help others. I got to tell you, moms in this room do a lot better job than us fathers. We're not real bright. You know, we try. We try, but when it comes to that heartfelt what's in this, we aren't the brightest bulbs on the tree, guys. I'm sorry. You know, I'd like to tell you we are and we got it all together, but frankly, moms know how to love. And the best we can do is watch and become somewhat of an example. We could learn something from that example. Something. Because we don't come by it naturally. What's our comment? Come on, stiff upper lip. Men don't cry. All those other sayings. Well, the bottom line is men do cry and sometimes the upper lip does, it kind of wobbles a little bit when you're touched. Thank God as men get older, we get a little softer. in a lot of different ways. I need to conclude by saying this to you. We're right back to where we were. We're right back to where we were. And this is, by this shall all men know that ye are my disciples if ye love one another. Guys, if we could just live by that little expression right there at the bottom, we will find what that word is. And that's true joy. You're not going to be happy If all you worry about is what's good for you, you're not going to be happy. If all you worry about is what you have in this world, you can have a lot of stuff and guess how much of it you get to take with you. I laugh when I watch people do collection, collection, collection. If you're going to do collection, do it with a plan that you're going to give it all away. because that's the truth. You're not taking any of those things with you. Sentimental value to me is if someone can appreciate something that I happen to be able to give to them. That's the sentimental value. If I make you smile because I was able to give you something that you might enjoy for a while, but here's the deal with anything I give you, don't plan on keeping it. There's only three things that you get to keep. That's faith, hope and love. And the most important one is love. Jesus, others and you. As we go through this holiday season, I just pray that God helps each and every one of us to be more aware of Jesus and giving Jesus to others and helping others with their needs. And last and most and least, last and least is me. Last and least is me. If I can just live this week, and if I can just live this life with that in my heart and in my mind, then I'm going to please my Father. You know, the day, the most important words that you'll ever hear is, well done, my good and faithful servant. Well done. When you hear those, or when I hear them, we're there. There isn't any further to go. There's two things that you're going to be asked today that I will ask you to take a look at in your hearts. And allow the Holy Spirit to use these words, not coming from Mike and not coming from anywhere. But there are two questions you've got to answer. You've got to answer before you leave this earth. And the first one is, what did you do with Jesus? What did you do with him? Did you really believe he was God? Did you really believe He was the Son of God that came and died on the cross for your sins? No ifs, no ands, no buts. That's not negotiable. What did you do with Jesus? The second question that you're going to spend a lifetime answering, you really are, is what did you do with what God gave you? He's given each and every one of us special, special talents. And if you don't, Recognize those. As I said, I love your eagle for that reason. You need to soar. You need to soar. God did not save you for mediocrity sake. He saved you for something dynamic. And I don't know what it is. But wait and pray and listen and read and study the word of God. And guess what? It'll be very clear to you.