Previously on THE FOLLOWERS – BIBLE STUDY SERMON

Jesus called another man to follow him, but the man said he wanted to get permission from his family before he could follow.

But Jesus said, “No one who puts his hand on the plough and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God”

Some are not focused on their calling, they always look back to ruminate on their past life and find enjoyment in thinking about it as if they made mistakes in following Christ.

They still run to their partners in sin if things go rough on the way with Christ, they want to hold to the past and hold to the presence, they claim that” If you can move forward, you can easily get back to where you’re coming from, this is not the proverb of a champion but that of a failure.

When you accepted Christ, you burned the bridge that links you to the past, you set your eyes on Calvary, where you will dump your sin and all things related to your past.

No one runs a race and looks back that won’t fall behind, it’s better to focus on your future and let God handle the past by bringing it under the blood of Christ.

Some are so tied to their past that they feel guilty of what they omit or the sin they have committed, when you give your life to God, your past doesn’t matter to him anymore, he won’t remember your sin again, for they have been placed under the blood of Jesus; he only looks at your future that’ll meet with his purpose.

Abraham was called out of his family to go to where God had a purpose for him, he left his siblings behind but only went with Lot.

God stopped speaking with him until the moment he released Lot to go his own way, he was called alone not with family attachments.

Fear becomes what is holding many captives in their family bondage of religion; “if I should confess Christ, they will forsake me and where should I go? makes them remain in a captivity of religion and lose the purpose they were created.

They depend on family approval to be with Christ, they are the one who turns aside when the going is no longer smooth.

Family law becomes their law and it becomes a force that drives them back to their vomit and becomes unfit for the kingdom of God.

These kinds of people can’t follow Christ genuinely, they’re like reeds tossed here and there by the winds of circumstance.

Each of the followers had one excuse or the other, but they must remove the garment that is preventing them from true deliverance, just like blind Bartimaeus in the Bible.

Don’t tie yourself down with the dead works of the flesh, not all the followers actually follow, but it’s by abiding in Christ that you truly follow, you will be among his disciples whom he will confess before his father in heaven.

Following him indicates that you don’t follow the traditions and culture of your family, but follow only Jesus Christ, the author and the finisher of our faith.

Some saints are still fighting for family inheritance, they go from one prophet to another to make sure they get out of that heritage in their father’s house, some even take their siblings to court to fight for their right, not knowing that your right is forfeited under the authority of Christ; when God is calling them for their heavenly heritage, they rejected the call of God to secure their family’s properties thereby lost what is most important to their existence and their eternity.

You can be running a heavenly race and still look back for the earthly, that is covetousness which the lord asked us to beware of.

You need to sacrifice your earthly heritage to gain the eternal one, since you have given your life to Christ, there are no links between you and your household inheritance, you have been transferred to the family of God where you become heirs with Christ in his father’s kingdom. Whatever belongs to Jesus also belongs to you as joint heirs.

Remember, ears have not heard, nor eyes have seen what God prepares for those who wait for him.

Lot’s wife looked back at what she lost in Sodom and became a pillar of salt.

Looking back on Lot’s wife not only did it cost her her life but also cost her her family sanctity.

Peter asked Jesus, ” We have left all to follow you, what will be our gain in this life and in eternity?

Jesus answered and said, ” You will gain a hundredfold in this world and in the world to come, means that they must forsake whatever they rely on in this world for survival before they’ll be able to gain whatever God has prepared for them in this world and in eternity.

You can’t hold things in your hand and try to collect another one, you need to dump what you hold on dearly before you can receive what is dear to God and your existence.

Prayer: Father lord, separate me from whatever I’m holding that will separate me from your love, in Jesus name amen.