Matthew 19

(16) And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? (17) And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. (18) He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, (19) Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. (20) The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet? (21) Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.

 The past few weeks we have discussed the importance of Jesus and His sacrifice on the cross. From the very beginning there needed to be a sacrifice for the sins of humanity. The key is that whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life. We know this from John 3:26. Believing is more than just "believing”. Remember, even Satan himself the demons believe in Jesus. Having faith that Jesus died on the cross and rose again needs to be put into action. Goin back to one of the thieves on the cross being hanged with Jesus, his short time with Jesus, not only did he believe and have faith of who Jesus was, but took the time knowing he was still going to die, to talk to Jesus and establish a relationship that Jesus would remember. The question is are we talking to Jesus and establishing a relationship that He will remember us by? When we go back and read in Matthew 7, Even though we do great things, keeping commandments, casting out demons, etc., Jesus will say He never knew us. So, this casts out any doubt that no matter what we do, that does not get us to heaven.

Ephesians 2 (8) For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God (9) not of works, lest any man should boast. (10) For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

Going back to Matthew 9 when Jesus tells the man to follow me, the man believed Jesus was who He was, he kept the commandments as Jesus said. Even though the story is about the man not wanting to get rid of his riches, the one key element was Jesus wanted the man to follow him, establish a bond, a relationship. We are Christ’s workforce, having faith and no workmanship is dead faith.

James 2  (17) Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. (18) Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works. (19) Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. (20) But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? (21) Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? (22) Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? (23) And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God. (24) Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only. (25) Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way? (26) For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

  What a set if scriptures that really brings the point home. Remember the works do not save us but should be a demonstration of our faith. A byproduct of our faith. So now when we accept Jesus and our faith is in Him, he is calling us to follow Him.

Matthew 4:19  And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.

Matthew 8:22  But Jesus said unto him, Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead.

Matthew 9:9  And as Jesus passed forth from thence, he saw a man, named Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom: and he saith unto him, Follow me. And he arose, and followed him.

Matthew 16:24  Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

The scripture list goes on and on. But lets look at these few verses in Matthew.

Matthew 19  (27) Then answered Peter and said unto him, Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed thee; what shall we have therefore? (28) And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. (29) And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.

 The above verse shows Jesus explaining to His disciples the level of commitment it is to be a follower of Christ. Jesus is not asking us to just drop everything and follow Him, well maybe some he has, as many of the disciples had done just that. To truly have faith in Jesus requires us to sacrifice certain things. Things that hold us back, just as the man in Matthew 19, His riches, he was not willing to let go, His riches outweighed His faith in Jesus. The work we need to be doing is spreading the gospel, helping those in need, living a life acceptable to Christ.

Matthew 9:37  Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few.

James 1:27  Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

Romans 12: (1)  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. (2)And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

  All this is establishing a relationship with Jesus, He wants us to follow Him and to do His works. More now than ever, this world needs to see Jesus through each and every one of us. Are we just talking the talk or are we walking the walk?

 Is a fruit tree that does not produce any fruit really a fruit tree? It looks, feels, smells like a fruit tree, but if no fruit comes from it, then you cannot really call it a fruit tree. Go read Matthew 7 when Jesus is giving the analogy of the fruit tree.

Ok let’s recap. We are sinners and have been separated from God. Jesus came to earth to die for our sins. Our faith in Jesus and the blood He shed washes our sins away and reestablishes our relationship with God. Our salvation continues as we follow Jesus and our faith brings forth and continues the work Jesus started.

John 14:12  Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.

 Our salvation is so much more in depth than many want us to believe. It is simple in the fact that Jesus died for our sins. But why would we live our lives without wanting that relationship with Christ or sacrificed His life for us? Why would we not want to continue the work of Christ so others will be saved?  Let”s look at Ephesians 2 one more time.

Ephesians 2 (8) For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God (9) not of works, lest any man should boast. (10) For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

This new year lets live out Ephesians 2:8-10. Let’s establish more of a relationship with Christ, and be His workers.