Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Jesus Disciples...Are Learners!


Matt. 11:28-30   Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. (29) Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. (30) For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. 

Jesus says come unto to me.  Jesus, in this plea, is clearly looking for disciples.  He offers this invitation to all that will come to him.  With that invitation, is an offer to all comers to be relieved of certain burdens that only he can unload.  But along with coming and unburdening ourselves, Jesus requires a couple of things from us.  One of which is that we learn of him.  Jesus is not just wanting us to have a good sense of history.  He desires that we truly, sincerely,  learn all that we can to understand his will.  He wants his teachings to have significance in our lives.  And for that, to be his disciples, it demands that we make a concerted effort.

Matt. 24:3  And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?

Mark 7:17  And when he was entered into the house from the people, his disciples asked him concerning the parable. 

Matt. 13:10-18  And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? (11) He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. (12) For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath. (13) Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. (14) And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: (15) For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. (16) But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear. (17) For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them. (18) Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower. 

On many occasions, Jesus’ true disciples didn’t just casually listen to a sermon, then go on home and carry out their lives as before.  We looked at 3 instances (and there are many more that we did not examine...and I am sure many more that were not even recorded) where after hearing a teaching of Jesus, his disciples approached Jesus and wanted more detail on what he had already spoken. To be Jesus’ disciples, we MUST be more than casual or curious listeners.  We must desire to know all that we can to better understand the will of God

Acts 17:10-11  And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews. (11) These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.

Here we find the Holy Spirit making a comparison between two broad groups of people: The Thessalonicans and the Bereans.  The one notable characteristic between them was the diligence at wanting to understand the scriptures. To be a true follower of Jesus, we too MUST be diligent at understanding and knowing the mind of Christ.
 
Philippians 2:5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:

How do we do that?

2 Timothy 2:15   Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 

Reflecting the SON,  
Dennis Hogan

12 Hours of Jesus is a community focused effort to teach the world more about Jesus.  Our first event is May 10th in Radcliff Kentucky.


Questions, comments or  further explanation?  Contact me at:  dennis.hogan@icloud.com
If you have friends, family, or acquaintances that you feel could benefit from RTS, please forward 
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