"FIT FOR THE KINGDOM"

(LUKE 9:62)

By

Kenneth E. Thomas

There is absolutely too much unconcern and indifference among followers and would be followers of Jesus Christ today! Many are too casual in "dress" or appearance as far as I am concerned. When their dress is immodest, too casual or indifferent to be pleasing to the Lord, who teaches "modesty" in appearance as well as attitude, other failures follow close behind. (1 Timothy 2:9-11). This indifference and casualness has spilled over into the thinking of all too many as regards our attitudes towards attendance at the local congregation, and by the listless spirit and attitude which seem to characterize all too many would be worshippers! Often the singing is not spirited and uplifting as it could be! Some seemingly do not enjoy singing the songs of praise to Jehovah and to our Savior as they should to be able to worship in "spirit and in truth" (John 4:23-24)! It isn't sufficient to go through the proper "acts" of worship. While it is necessary that we do only that which is authorized (Colossians 3:17; 2John 9), we may do this and still fail to have worshipped acceptably don't you see?

WORSHIP IS DEVOTION, HOMAGE

If we don't "feel" this devotion and homage to God as we go through those activities on the Lord's day and at other times when we assemble, we must needs do some work on our ATTITUDES! We do not wait to worship God when we assemble of course. There should be other worship and service to God that is done outside of our assemblies. Of course not everything we do is worship, much of what we do is to be done as "service" to the Lord. Paul said it thusly in (Colossians 3:23-24), "Whatsoever ye do, work heartily, as unto the Lord, and not unto men; knowing that from the Lord ye shall receive the recompense of the inheritance: ye serve the Lord Christ" (ASV). Why is a Christian a good employer or employee? Because that is what Christ's word teaches him/her to be that's why! He doesn't really work to please his employer, no, he works to please Christ and to see to his family obligations and to have to give to those in need as ability and opportunity present themselves (1 Timothy 5:8, 16; Ephesians 4:28; 2 Thessalonians 3:10, 12-14).

WHEN YOU CONFESSED JESUS

(Acts 8:37; Romans 10:9-10)

The passage in the heading of this study (Luke 9:62) should be tied in with the above passages as well. It, and they, show what is involved in accepting and claiming Jesus as my Savior! When I accept the salvation which He paid for by my obedience to the gospel (Acts 2:38; Romans 6:3-4; Galatians 3:26-29), I am "bought with a price", His precious blood (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). I became a "bond servant" by choice. I accept everything that is implied in the confession, "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God." How ungrateful it is for one thus "washed in the blood" to whine and complain at one's responsibilities as a kingdom citizen, a member of the church purchased by the precious blood of Jesus (Acts 20:28; Ephesians 5:22-25). Let's read the passage to which I just alluded. Jesus said "No man, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God" (Luke 9:62).

WHAT KIND OF A FELLOW IS THIS?

If I should tell you of a man who was so deeply in debt that there was no way for him to possibly pay his creditors in his lifetime, but someone out of compassion for his plight paid off all of his debts so he could be a free man once again. How would you expect this man to act toward his benefactor? You, like me, would probably say that one so blessed would be indebted to the one who "bailed him out" for the rest of his life. He would probably say something like the following; "If there is ever anything I can do for you, sir, just name it. I will be at your beck and call any hour of the day or night." Let us say that this isn't his attitude! Let us say that his benefactor has a desire for him to do some service for him and calls him up with a request of some nature and the fellow says something like the following. "I'm sorry sir, but my wife and children need some of my time, after all I work so many hours on the job that when I get home I just must devote some time to them. Too, don't you know a man needs some leisure time just for himself ? I'm sorry, you will have to find someone else." I think I know how you would feel about this ingrate! I think you would think of him as a genuine louse! I know I would. What is my point? You must have guessed it by now! Yes, Jesus, out of love for us, when we were dead in trespasses and sin, from which there was no way of escape on our own, paid off our "sin debt" by laying down His life to appease the wrath of God and allow us to go free by the terms of the gospel! I call your attention to the following passages from the inspired word of the Almighty:

" For He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might become the righteousness of God in Him" (2 Corinthians 5:21 ASV).

"And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up; that whosoever believeth may in Him have eternal life. For God so loved the world , that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on Him should not perish, but have eternal life" (John 3:14-16 ASV).

"For while we were yet weak, in due season Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man one will die: for peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth His own love for us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by His blood, shall we be saved from the wrath of God through Him" (Romans 5:6-9).

"Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions; He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed......He shall see the anguish of His soul and be satisfied.." (Isaiah 53:4-5, 11). There was no way for man to be allowed to go free from the sins he had committed unless someone paid the penalty for them. God's justice demands it. Christ took our sins and satisfied God's wrath against sin, and by our obedience to the gospel we are allowed to go free. This is grace unmerited. See (Titus 3:3-7; Ephesians 2:8-10).

In one of His parables on forgiveness and the corresponding appreciation one should have who has had his debt forgiven, can be seen an attitude which should never prevail in any of us, but unfortunately is occasionally seen in present day disciples, who have accepted the forgiveness Christ provided by His death, burial, and resurrection, and still complain at the service required of them, and yet demand that others treat them with kindness, respect and honesty! Let us read the parable just here.

"Therefore is the kingdom of heaven (the church ket) likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants. And when he began to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents. But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and his children, and all that he had, and payment be made. The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have mercy on me, and I will pay thee all. the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt.

But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellow-servants, which owed him an hundred pence: and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest. And his fellow servant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt" (Matthew 18:23-30). Bible students know the rest of this story of course. If you didn't, what would you think of this fellow? Careful now before you judge him too harshly lest you be hypocritical in your judgement! Is it possible that we sometimes are like this ungrateful servant when it comes to returning to Christ what we "owe" and in the way we treat our fellow servants, demanding more of them than we ourselves are willing to give! Read the rest of the story in (Matthew 18:31-35).

COMMITMENT'S DEMANDS.....

Jesus used many "figures of speech" and parables to get His points across of just what is demanded of the true disciple. It may be properly called "total commitment." Some have given a wrong concept of what total commitment involves, still it is a good phrase when properly understood. Jesus spoke of the "first and greatest commandment" as involving "total commitment" if ever I heard of such, when He said in answer to the religious leaders of His day; "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second like unto it is this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself" (Matthew 22:37-39 ASV).

HEART, SOUL, MIND

"Heart, soul, and mind service, make some demands of one! The remaining portion of this lesson will deal with some of Jesus' statements in which He uses figures of speech and hyperbole to make His points vivid. All that a Christian does in service to Christ must be done out of a heart of gratitude and from love to be of value (Galatians 5:6; 1 Corinthians 13:1-13).

Folks who must be threatened, begged, cajoled, etc., just to get them to do the basic things in service to Christ, will never know the joy of service rendered from a heart of gratitude, love, and respect. To be plain, some folks need to make a brand new start! It is very doubtful that some who have been baptized, have ever been truly converted. If you find no joy in service to Christ you should consider whether or not you need to "obey from the heart that form of doctrine" (Romans 6:3-6;16-18; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Colossians 3:1-16). Following is a list of some of the teachings of Jesus that cause some great difficulty in understanding. I shall try my hand at explaining them:

(1). "Let the dead bury their own dead.."(Luke 9:60).

(2). "Labor not for meat which perisheth.." (John 6:27).

(3). "..hate father and mother, wife, children, sister, and his own life, or he cannot be My disciple" (Luke 14:26).

(4). "We ought to obey God rather than man" (Acts 5:29).

(5). "..Whoever is born of God does not sin for His seed remains in him and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God..."(1 John 3:1-10).

(6). "He that eateth My flesh and drinketh My blood hath eternal life.."(John 6:54-56).

(7). "..do not lay up treasure on earth...lay up treasures in heaven..."(Matthew 6:19-21, 33).

(8). "Take no thought for your life what you shall eat, drink, put on..."(Matthew 6:25-32, 33).

(9). "If your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out...right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off...better than whole body being cast into hell.."(Matthew 5:28-30).

(10). "Pray in inner chamber or closet.."(Matthew 6:5-6).

All of these passages teach the same thing basically, "total commitment" to Christ. Kingdom business is greater in importance than are the things of this present world, they have eternal consequences you see. This is why Jesus said, "And fear not them that kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear Him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell" (Matthew 10:28;Luke 12:5). Considering the brevity of life and the endlessness of eternity, should assist us in setting our priorities. Sadly though, many "Christians" are like the "rich fool" of (Luke 12), their body and mind are expended in things having to do mostly with the here and now! Jesus affirmed that our Father knows of our present needs, and that He will supply them if only we can learn to put Him first in our lives (Matthew 6:32).

PONDER THE COST OF DISCIPLESHIP

(Luke 14:28-33)

The context above follows the one with which we shall deal later in this study, that of hating father, mother, sister, and one's own life in order to be a disciple of Jesus. He said so much along these lines that one should get the point that this is serious business of which we speak! Let's read it now. "For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? Lest haply, when he hath laid a foundation, and is not able to finish, all that behold begin to mock him, saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish. Or what king, as he goeth to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and take counsel whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand? Or else, while the other is a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage, and asketh conditions of peace? So therefore whosoever he be of you that renounceth not all that he hath, he cannot be My disciple." Strong language indeed! It too, is hyperbole. He overstates the case to get the point across that nothing whatsoever is of greater importance than serving Christ and saving our own souls (Philippians 2:12; Acts 2:40).

1a. "Let the dead bury their own dead." This is an impossibility of course. Some have tried to help the Lord out by explaining this to mean let the spiritually dead take care of burying the physically dead. This would allow the Christian to disregard what God has always expected of folks, namely to see to such affairs. Read in your Old Testament of the pains that were taken by God's people with His approval to "bury their dead out of their sight" (Genesis 23:4; 47:29; 49:29; 50:5-6). No, Jesus isn't saying that the spiritually dead should do such tasks and that the Christian isn't responsible! What He is saying is that spiritual matters are terribly important and take a back seat to nothing. Why, the scriptures teach that "a man that provides not for his own, specially his own household, he has denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel (unbeliever)" (1 Timothy 5:8). Can you imagine the bad rap the cause of Christ would get if a member of the body of Christ should say to his unbelieving family, "you folks see to burying our father or mother, I have more important matters to which I must attend"?

2a. "Labor not for meat which perisheth.." The same point is made in this passage. Some literalist would be in bad trouble should they take this literal for they would have Paul an inspired apostle of Christ at odds with His master and ours, for Paul said "he who will not work, neither let him eat" (2 Thessalonians 3:10). Jesus is saying, don't put all of your emphasis on the here and now for those things will not last and the things of the spirit are eternal in nature.

3a. "Hate father, mother, wife, sister, children, and your own life or you cannot be My disciple." The identical point is being made as above. Many times people do have a difficult time not making compromises with family members when to follow Christ and meet our obligations to him calls on them to make hard choices. Do I go with my unbelieving mother, child, husband, to some event that they desire me to attend to the neglect of my responsibilities in the local church? No, no, never! I can't even do what I might like to do like perhaps watch the "Super Bowl " and miss Sunday evening services. Folks who have been bought with Jesus' blood will actually stay home with family when they come a long distance to visit and miss the services of the local church. How will such folks ever convert their loved ones to Christ? They probably never will, and if they are "baptized" they are likely to display those same lackadaisical attitudes.

4a. "We ought to obey God rather than man." The context will show that this is only applicable when to obey man (human authorities) would mean to disobey God! (See Romans 13:1-10). Jesus said "Render therefore to Caesar what is Caesar's; and to God the things that are God's" (Matthew 22:21).

5a. Whoever born of God does not sin(sinneth not), for His seed remains in him and he cannot sin, because he is born of God..(1 John 3:9)" It is nothing short of amazing that some folks doctrinal position causes them to go crazy when they read this passage. They actually take it literal in the face of the fact that the first chapter of the same book says that the man who says he doesn't sin is self deceived, and the truth isn't in him (1 John 1:8). If one says he has not sinned he makes God a liar and His word isn't in such a one (1 John 1:9). What then does it mean? Only that his mind set it such and his commitment to spiritual activities and serving Christ leads him/her not to live a life of continual sin! Sin isn't a way of life with the faithful Christian, it is an occasional accident. The definition of sin is literally to "miss the mark." Sinfulness ceases to be a way of life with the person under consideration. That person should be each of us of course.

6a. "Eat My flesh and drink My blood for eternal life.." One shouldn't have to spend much time on this one to see that the context compares God feeding the Israelites with "bread" in the wilderness to Jesus as the "bread of life" that we are to "eat" to have spiritual life. I have actually heard a Christian "heading" the Lord's table use these passages to teach the need to faithfully observe the communion! Jesus is telling us that we must obey Him and follow His word to be spiritually filled and benefitted. See (John 14:15-21). Of course this would include partaking of the communion weekly in a proper frame of mind, but that isn't the subject under consideration.

7a. "Don't lay up treasures on earth.." To some this means it is wrong to have a savings account. No, no, that isn't what Jesus is teaching at all. Again, the apostle Paul said the parents lay up for the children, not the children for the parents, and he was inspired. Again, were Jesus and Paul at odds with one another? Never! That would deny that Jesus was who He claimed to be and what He claimed to be as well! Some folks live as if this life was the end of it all and the most important things were to secure our "future" here! No, that will not do. We should use our material gain in service to the Lord of course and there is nothing inherently evil in having an abundance of this world's goods if we aren't covetous (Colossians 3:5; 2 Corinthians 12:14).

8a. "Take no thought for your life...eat, drink, wear, etc." He means don't worry about such! If you don't think about such at all you will be condemned under other passages. Again, the same basic truth. Don't make these things top priority, put the spiritual above the material and the God who provides all blessings both spiritual and temporal will see to both (Matthew 6:33).

9a. "..Pluck out your offending eye and cut off the offending hand.." Sure, and be considered stupid by both the Lord and man! Hey, there have been those who literally did this, thinking they were being careful to take Christ at His word. Come to think of it, no wonder folks who view and listen to some professed followers of Christ and His word, think that the religion of Christ has caused more problems than it has solved! It is these who have zeal without knowledge and reduce the will of Christ to an absurdity. Not knowing this causes the unbelievers to think these folks are doing what Christ teaches they should. Consider the Protestants and Catholics in Ireland even today! What about the "Crusades" fought while carrying the cross into battle against the infidels by the Roman Catholic church many years ago. Consider the Inquisions of that same body in the past in Europe and in Spain!

10a. "Enter into your closet when you pray.." Some of my own brethren will not pray in a public place (although they do in an assembly) for fear of violating this passage! They condemn Paul and Silas and accuse them of disobeying Christ in the Jail at Phillipi (Acts 16:25). All Jesus is teaching is that we should not do our righteous activities "to be seen and praised by men." The context will bear this out of course. It appears to me in the light of those things we have studied in this lesson that there are some members of the body of Christ who are in need of restoration to "the faith." They are like the brethren at Laodicea. While considering themselves as "having need of nothing" spiritually speaking and perhaps even in the material realm as well. Jesus said that they were conversely, "wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked" because of their own lukewarmness! (Revelation 3:15-22).

The Hebrew writer said of God, "For whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, (disciplines NASV) and he scourges every son whom He receiveth....All chastening seemeth not to be joyous but grievous; yet afterward it yeildeth the peaceable fruits of righteousness to them who are exercised thereby" (Hebrews 12:6-17). It is this scribes hope and prayer that such lessons as this will serve that same noble end!