TOPIC: AND THIS MAN BEGAN TO BUILD, AND WAS NOT ABLE TO FINISH, (PART ONE)

-THE WRITTEN WORD OF GOD-
“And there went great multitudes with our Lord Jesus Christ, and He turned and said unto them, “If any man come to Me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after Me, cannot be My disciple.

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, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, and all that behold it begin to mock him, saying, this man began to build, and was not able to finish.

Or what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand? Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage, and desireth conditions of peace.

So likewise he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be My disciple…LUKE 14: 25-33.


-WHAT I RECEIVED OF THE LORD CONCERNING THIS MATTER-
This gospel, if it must be of our Lord Jesus Christ and ordained by heaven, must be firmly founded on Matthew 6: 33, which says “But seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.” That is to say, that the essence of the true Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ is heaven at last – every other thing is a mere addition.

Every sermon that must qualify as a doctrine of Christ must be that which points the unsaved to our Lord Jesus Christ, and then instructs the saved to a continuous and daily righteous and holy walk in God. Anything short of this is error. And the present Church is creaking under the weight of this error.

Brethren of the Lord, in the days of His flesh, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Whom I choose to subsequently address as my Master, lay bare what His gospel was all about. He referred to His doctrine as the kingdom of His Father, drawing strength from the entire scriptures, even from the ones already written and the ones yet to be written. Yes. Jesus did teach that which was later to be revealed, even up to the Book of Revelation. And He did that with utmost simplicity and grace. Hr preached the end even from the beginning because He also is the Word of God. Put correctly Jesus was what He preached, and what we must preach..

And later, when Master Jesus sent out His first disciples to preach, He strictly charged them to preach what He preached: that is, the kingdom of God, no more no less. He did also instruct them to heal the sick: but that must only follow if they that heard them also received them and their their message. My Master Jesus was clear about this matter – that whosoever would not receive and hear them was not worthy of further attention – that only those who heard and accepted them would qualify for whatever follows. And that has been His set standard for whosoever He sends to fish for souls, even as He has sent me and you.

That shows that the entire focus of the Gospel of Jesus Christ my Master, as He Himself preached it, and also as His first disciples also preached in the Acts of the Apostles, was the salvation of man, and thereafter the requirement that those that are saved must continue in Him Who saved them. Master Jesus came to make disciples of men and of women – those who are saved by Him and who also do continue in Him. Even though He healed people and performed miracles, but His principal focus was on the soul of folks, to reconcile folks again to our God, even to His Father.

Therefore, when His disciples returned from the preaching assignment, rejoicing that even demons were subject to them, as many do with impunity in our days, Master Jesus was quick to caution them. He warned them not to be carried away by the healing, miracles, signs and wonders that accompany the preaching of his word, as many are today. Rather, He reminded them if they must be excited, that they must only be excited in this very truth – that their names were still in the Lamb’s book of Life. And that expectation must be the only source of excitement and hope for any true believer.See the Book of Luke chapter ten, from verse Twelve to Nineteen.

People of God, in the days of His flesh, our Lord and my Master Jesus Christ, never preached money or the things of this life as a sermon, never. He never preached healing as a sermon. He never preached miracles as a sermon, never. His entire sermon centered on the souls of folks, and then on how those who are saved would continue in Him till the end. His motto was “If ye continue in My word, then ye are My disciples indeed". That when we know the truth, His truth, and walk in that truth we shall become free indeed.

And when He ascended to heaven, He also gave gifts of men to men – He released the five-fold ministries in order to help His disciples to step into His shoes.  And His first disciples did exactly that: they went to town with exactly what their Master and my Master preached, and changed their world. With that very Gospel and doctrine, they virtually turned their world up-side down. And because a servant cannot be above his master, whosoever claims that he or she is called by Master Jesus into any form of ministry, must of necessity also preach that which He Himself also preached - which is the kingdom of God. Anything short of that is perversion and wickedness and will not go unpunished,

Brethren, the reason for this historic message is this – that the ONLY heavenly ordained purpose of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ is to save folks, and then commit those that are saved to live even as our Lord lives. That is the meaning of raising disciples of and for Jesus Christ. The sole target of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ is to raise disciples for our Lord and for our Lord alone. Any deviation from this is a grave error that must have a certain consequence - eternal damnation.

The point being made in this message is this – that whosoever does not qualify as a disciple of our Lord Jesus Christ will not make heaven at last.  Whosoever runs short of the requirements of heaven concerning discipleship of our Lord is not a candidate of heaven. And that is why very very few folks in the church of today are ready for rapture. And that is also why this message is urgent and compelling. I speak the mind of our Lord and I lie not.

(THIS MESSAGE MAY RUN UP TO FIVE PARTS DEPENDING THE EXPRESS LEADING OF THE HOLY GHOST. AND WHOSOEVER FOLLOWS IT TO THE END WILL NEVER REGRET DOING SO.)