Beyond Belief: Living as a Disciple

How many of you are actually in union with the God of heaven? What is the evidence of your union? Because this ring is not the evidence that I'm in union with Tiffany. My actions show that there is another that I am intrinsically tied to. I cannot go and do whatever I want to do because I have someone that I'm responsible to. And if you did not know, if you're a Christian, the Bible says that you are married to the Lord. Welcome to the CityLight Church podcast. Thanks for joining us today as we look into God's Word and discover the hope and truth that He has for us. If you want to connect with CityLight Church, feel free to visit us at CityLightNYC.com. That's CityLightNYC.com. Pastor Boyan Jancic and his team believe that the power of the Holy Spirit is already working in our hearts and minds. As you listen to today's teaching, remember that you are deeply loved by God, that you are surrounded by His grace, and that He has a real hope and a future for you. Again, my name is Mohammed. I'm one of the pastors here at CityLight Church, and it's a privilege to be with you this morning. God is spectacular. You notice that we never truly have enough words to ideally put him in his proper position. You are magnanimous. You are glorious. You are marvelous. None of it equals the scope for who God really is. All we can ask for is that we would have... is a better viewpoint into who he actually is. And I pray that for all of us today. That we would do as the psalmist says when it says that we should magnify the Lord. Because really what it means is that you should actually put him in the proper perspective for who he really is. Being bigger than all things, being worthy of the attention. So we magnify the Lord today. Amen? We declare that there is nothing better, nothing bigger than the God of our salvation, Jesus Christ. Well, praise God. So here's the thing. I want to talk today about demons. You felt that just now? This is what I felt. Come on. It's Sunday. I brought my friend here today. What are you doing? Like of all days, that's what you want to talk about? Are you supposed to do that at Discipleship 101? This is Sunday morning. Hit me with that grace message. Don't worry. The Lord got something good for you today because it's not so much that I want to talk about demons, but I want to talk about demon faith. Oh, Pastor Mo, what's demon faith? Well, let me ask you this question. How many people do you have in your life that you would say that this is true about them? You have a conversation. You're maybe trying to witness to them. You're trying to invite them to come and hear the word. You're trying to get the gospel message to them. And sometimes the easiest way to do that is to invite somebody to church that they might hear the gospel message. But here's the thing. As a believer, I'm putting the onus on you. Don't just wait for them to come to church to hear the gospel. You be the gospel and share the gospel with them. Amen? Because I found that even when I share the gospel with people, there are certain individuals that tell me, well, listen, listen, I believe in God. Oh, y'all heard that one. Yeah, no, no, no, no, no. I believe in God. I'm spiritual. I don't always need to be there on a Sunday morning. But listen, yo, Mo, I'm spiritual. I believe, bro. I've heard that a lot. And I remember I had a friend. And he was saying that, and I pointed him to a scripture. And I don't know about you, but I love the word of God. Because the word of God shuts up all of my arguments. Listen, I won't lie to you, and my wife knows this to be true. I can win almost any argument that I'm in. Now, mind you, for the married people, you know, arguments and disagreements... Heavenly fellowship, we call it. They're not about being right or wrong. They're about reconciliation. So being right in an argument is not really what married people should be after ever. Amen? Amen. But I feel like I can win arguments. Just because I start talking fast and I start just saying a bunch of stuff. I know how to win an argument verbally. I might not be right, but I could get to being right if I say enough words. But I've learned that it's not really about that. And what I love about the word of God is the word of God shuts down every argument that I can have. And sometimes, you know, you have people in your life that will tell you things like, well, you know, I believe. I had somebody tell me that and I said, would you mind if I just, would you be willing to read one scripture with me? Not a whole chapter, not... Just one verse. Would you be willing to read one verse with me? He says, you know what? I got time today. Come on. Open that thing up. Let's go. Because he was real confident about his not need. His self-sufficiency that he didn't need to be a Christian nor be in the religious route of going to the house of the Lord. So I opened the scriptures to James 2.19. And I said, read that for me. Did you believe that there is one God? You do well. Even the demons believe and tremble. These words from James, they cut through every comfortable, half-hearted attempt at Christianity. They expose a very dangerous truth. Mere belief in the existence of God is not enough. Because if you really look at it, demons possess perfect theology. What do I mean by that? They know there is one true God. They know he is sovereign. They know their ultimate fate. Yet their knowledge only produces terror, not transformation. They do not follow him. They do not love him. They do not obey him. I don't want us to get classified with them. See, demon faith says, I know exactly who God is. He's the one on control. He's the one on the throne, but their allegiance is not to him. And you might say, well, Pastor Mo, where are you going with this? Well, here's the thing. We have a lot of people in our lives, and sometimes those people are us. Where we can acknowledge that there is one true God who sits on the throne, who is above all religions because we know that he is the truth. He is the way. He is the life. We can acknowledge that. We can believe that. But when the rubber meets the road, we don't act like that. We don't align ourselves with the God of heaven. We align ourselves with what becomes comfortable. We align ourselves with what we want to do. Oh, I'm only preaching to me. Because I think if we all took a retrospective and introspective look at ourselves, we would all come to that place where we can acknowledge, yeah, the Bible said to do a couple of things that I thought, nah, I don't need to do all that. Oh, I'm the only one. Y'all lying in the house of the Lord this morning? We can't just believe God. We have to trust in Jesus. Have you ever, this is going to be a bit morbid, but have you ever seen anybody drown before? It's not a pleasant sight. I've seen somebody get saved from drowning. And it's a crazy picture because it's exactly as you would think. Regardless of what confidence you have and how great a swimmer you are, there are certain situations where you just ain't got it and you're going under and you need help. But I've seen somebody who was on the verge of drowning and then got saved. And the one thing that I saw that was very striking is the way that they held the life preserver when it came. See, when the Bible says that we are to believe Jesus, it doesn't just mean a mental ascent that says, yes, you are the king of the world, praise God. It takes the connotation of a person that's drowning and their relationship to a flotation device. Because if you've ever seen somebody who's drowning, it goes from... To... They hold on to that thing for dear life. Like this is my mama, this is my girl, this is my money, this is my everything. Woo hoo hoo. So let me ask you the question. How many of you are holding on to Jesus like that? Is Jesus your sufficiency? Is he the thing that you're clinging to most in this world? Because the problem comes, we believe. But let me ask you this, what is your belief really worth? What is your belief producing on the inside of you? Because what you believe produces something. It's called action. When you believe something, you put steps behind what you believe. So again, you got to ask yourself, what do I truly believe? Always going to get uncomfortable in here today. Unclench your sphincters. Relax. Breathe. The Lord is still here. Amen? All right. There is, again, a danger in demonic level faith. James writes with blunt clarity, you believe that God is one, you do well. Even the demons believe and tremble. Because the demons believe is orthodox. It is the right doctrine. They acknowledge the oneness of God long before the Shema. If you don't know, the Shema is found in Deuteronomy 6.4. It claims that God is the all in all. We believe that there is one God, right? We know that he is the one. Can I mess up a little bit? This is just a random thing that comes to my heart and my mind right now. People always argue about the Trinity and different things. Like, you know, is Jesus God? Jesus is God. And Jesus is one in all. And God is one in all. Because notice that in the book of Revelation, when John saw the end of the world, it says he saw the one sitting on the throne. That's just a little side note about... the sovereignty and the divinity of Jesus. He saw the one. All right, this is Bible nerd stuff. Don't you worry about that. We'll get you there, praise God. But again, these demons, they saw the miracles of Jesus. They saw the sovereignty. They understood exactly who God was. But notice what they cry out. They cried out, what have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God. How many of you wish members of your family would say something like that? I know who you are, the Holy One of God. We could only wish that some of our unbelieving family and friends would come to that place where they could acknowledge the Holy One of Israel. But even in that, it's not enough. Because that type of belief doesn't change allegiance. The demons believe that he is one, but yet they don't obey him. They rebel, they accuse, they seek to devour. The trembling, their trembling, they shudder in condemnation. Not the joyful shuddering of the redeemed. Because I tremble at God. But I tremble because I see him and he's amazing. Because he's awe-inspiring. Like we don't even, like the etymology of that word, like we don't use it the way that it was originally intended in English. Like when something was awful back in the day, when the king's English was prevalent, when something was awful, it was because it left you full of awe at the wonder and the scope and the majesty of a thing. It wasn't just disgusting. Oh, awful. No, it was full of awe. God should put you in a place where you are full of wonder. That's going to help give you the perspective that you need. Because it's not, again, it's not just about identifying the one. I believe that there is the one. That identifying has to now be producing some form of action. You guys still with me? Because unfortunately, we have some Christians that have stopped at demon level faith. They believe God exists. They believe Jesus is the son of God. They may even tremble at the thought of judgment, but their lives look no different from the world that is around them. There is no costly obedience. No daily cross bearing. No evidence of the fruit of the spirit. And Jesus warned against that type of empty confession. Matthew 7, 21. Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven. But he who confesses? No. It says, but he who does the will of my father in heaven. There's another point in scripture where he says, why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not do what I tell you? Mere belief without obedience is a faith that demons match. We have been called to something higher. We've not been called to mere Christianity. We've been called to discipleship. We're not converts. We're Christians. And if you're an actual Christian, that means you're a disciple of Jesus Christ. God bless you, brother. I seen it in his face. Like, hey, there was the last thing in the world he wanted to do just now. You good. You got to respect that. Don't pop blood vessels. Just let it out. We'll continue to move forward. We good. But we're not converts, we're Christians. We're disciples. But in order to actually be a disciple, there's something that is required. You actually have to follow him. You know, James, he doesn't leave us in despair. Because right after exposing shallow belief, he shows us the path forward. James 21, it says, Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? You see, the faith that was active along with his works and faith was completed by his works. Now, immediately you might hear that and think to yourself, Oh, he's calling me to performance. That is the absolute opposite of what I'm calling you to and challenging you to. We all know, everyone here under the sound of my voice and those watching online across the globe. None of us deserve heaven nor relationship with God. The Bible says that we have all fallen short of the glory. We have all sinned and are deserving of death. There is nothing that you can do to make God love you any more than he already does right now. So this is not about performance. This is not about you praying more. This is not about you coming in to get your attendance at church. Clue, if you came to only get attendance, you have missed it. This is not about praying more. This is not about fasting more. This is about you having an actual relationship with God. You know, first service, I got the privilege a little bit to talk about this wonderful thing called marriage. And I had to shout out my wife because she was late to church. Oh yeah, I made it. Some people going, aw. Yeah, it was aw. I wish we could have recorded that first when she walked in. I was like, late! But it's funny though because here I am, I'm preaching the word of God. She was literally driving around for an hour trying to find parking. That street fair be fairing. But the reason that I bring Tiffany up is because those that know her, you know this thing about her. She is a gift to the planet. Like she's such a genuine, Christ-filled person. Like all the areas that you look at me and think, Jesus, you probably need to finish working on that. Like the roughness, the hoodness, just the... She's like the opposite of that. She literally operates in a different level of love and the personification of Jesus. It's beautiful. You look at that, you see the rough edges in me and God knows. I know. That's why she's in close proximity. I'm learning more and more about Jesus every day by being in her presence. Amen? Just to put it calmly. But here's the thing. I am in union with her. She's my wife. I'm in a marriage, a committed relationship, right? So what does that mean? That means that I can no longer just do whatever I want to do because I'm in union with another. I'll give you an example. Really great friend of mine. Dare I say best friend, but I'll leave things anonymous because let all my friends think that they are my best friend. Okay. He's getting married. Wow. Well, anyway, my friend is getting married. Nobody knows who we're talking about. Well, a friend is getting married and he comes up to me. He goes, hey, man, I'm having a bachelor party. I was like, I already smiled. I was like, well, I know what this is. Let's go. And he says, I'm going on a cruise. And I took two steps back. Now, under normal circumstances, if you've never been on a cruise, a cruise is a very Muhammad like thing to do. So it is all inclusive in every way. Like there are not three square meals a day. There are 50 square meals a day because everything is open and unlimited. If you wanted to just sit at a table and eat for the majority of the day and take naps in between, so feel free. So we don't call cruising cruising. We call it Mohammeding. And he said, we're going on a cruise and my immediate response was, how long? And he said, five days. And I took another two steps back. Ah, man. I said, man, y'all gonna have to have fun without me because I can't just do that. And you might think to yourself, but Muhammad, you're a Muhammad. How could you not want a Muhammad? And the reason that I didn't want a Muhammad is because I have commitments and responsibilities. I have a wife and three kids and I can't just disappear for five days so that I can... Muhammad. Because I'm in union with somebody, so... But this is more about how, you know, I'm in union with one of the most loving and caring people in the world because she came in and she was just like, you're going. Man, I Mohammed in so much. The level of even the saints that was with me, they wasn't ready for my level of Mohammed. Oh, it was a good time. It's a good time. It was a good time. It's a good time. It's a good time. But I digress. I'm in union. And because I'm in union, my decision-making is affected. I cannot just do whatever I want. It's not that my wife is in control. No. I'm not even in control. We are in union together. So that means that we acknowledge each other. So now let me ask you the question. How many of you are actually in union with the God of heaven? What is the evidence of your union? Because this ring is not the evidence that I'm in union with Tiffany. My actions show that there is another that I am intrinsically tied to. I cannot go and do whatever I want to do because I have someone that I'm responsible to. And if you did not know, if you're a Christian, the Bible says that you are married to the Lord. How many of us actually act like we're married to the Lord? Or how many of us, when you look at our lives, it looks like a thought. If you know, you know. Like, does your spirituality resemble a devoted wife or someone who's made for the streets? All right, I'll let it out the bag. For those of you who don't know, a thought is a euphemism for that hoe over there. Does your spirituality mirror that hoe over there? The things you never thought you'd hear your pastor say from the pulpit. Exhibit A. What does your life look like? I need you to get introspective for a moment and think about your decision making. Is it reflective of the fact that you are in union with the God of heaven? Or are you doing whatever you want whenever you want? It's a scary and a dangerous thing to give yourself up to your own devices. One time I was getting my hair cut and my barber's cutting my hair. And I feel strongly from the Lord. You need to ask him a question. You need to ask him, what is he doing about his Christianity? What? What is he doing about his lack of fellowship? And I'm not going to lie to you. In that moment, I thought, Jesus, could you speak more clearly into the microphone? And the reason I said that is because you got to understand, I'm not just in the barbershop. I'm in the barber chair. This man has razors and scissors to my head and neck. Not to mention the reputation of he can do whatever he wants in that moment and give me a Zeke. based on the words that come out of my mouth. But I heard it so strongly from the Lord. You need to ask him, what are you doing about this thing? Because you claim to be a believer, but there's something very specific that I'm asking of all believers. Specifically, the Lord wanted to ask him about his need for community and fellowship and submission to a pastor. So I asked him, I said, hey, I got a question for you. What do you do When you find something in the scriptures and then you look at your life and it doesn't line up to what you've read, what is it like for you? He was quiet. And I thought to myself, Lord, there could have been better ways to get me a haircut like this. Because I thought at that moment, that's where he's just thinking about how exactly to Zeke me. But I felt the Lord push, push, continue, continue. So I asked him, I said, for me, when I find something in the scripture and I read it and I know that my life is in opposition to what I'm reading, it feels like an alarm clock is going off. You ever been in a moment where you're not supposed to have a phone and then your phone just continues to go off incessantly? And because of that anxiety and nervousness, you fumble and you can't quite turn it off just as yet. Nobody's ever been in that moment, right? Like when your phone goes off in church while I'm preaching. So I'm in that moment. And I told him, I was like, for me, it's like that where this is loud. And here's the thing. My wife knows this. When I set an alarm, I don't set off a little cute alarm. Beep. My alarm has to be drastic because anything other than that, this is my response. I'm well versed in practice, by the way. So my alarm is obnoxious. When I set an alarm, I'm not waking up. We all are waking up. Back, back, back, back, back, back, back, back, back, back, back, back, back, back, back, back, back, back, back, back. And it just keeps going. Like to the point like I've had kids try to throw shoes at me. Come on, man. Put that thing down. Sorry, Dallas. But I told him that's what it feels like. Because when I read that thing and because if we're claiming that he is our God. our Lord, our master. And we're in union with him. And we are meant to follow him. And now his scripture calls for something specific that we should do. And our life is out of alignment with that thing. It feels like this buzzer that's going off. And I said, even when I put it in my pocket, it's still going off. And I feel it moving and shaking my legs. I put it under my chair. I still hear it. I still feel it. Anything that I do, everywhere that I go, I hear it. Alarm, alarm, alarm. I was like, that's what it feels like for me on the inside till I have to acquiesce and go, I do believe that you're my Lord. So I'm going to take a look at how to get this done because I can't do it in my own strength. And I said, that's what it feels like for me. What is it like for you? It's quiet. That was the last time he cut my hair. It's a really good barber too. That's why I still look the way I look. True faith is never just faith alone. True faith is completed, perfected, and proven by obedience with action. Do not tell me how much you love the Lord your God when you are unwilling to sacrifice your reputation and obedience. Do not just tell me how much That you think Jesus is Lord. Show me. And when I say show me again. This is not about performance. Well I've prayed enough today. I've got enough hours under my belt. I've got 10 chapters for the day. Pastor Brian praise God. I don't care how much you read and don't read. I know that reading the word of God. That is food for you. So when you go too long without food. You are malnourished. You are unhealthy. So these things that we get to do, I don't want you doing them because you have to. No, no, you're privileged. You get to do these things. You get to read the word of God. You get to come and be in the unity and the fellowship of the saints. Because here's the thing concerning even that. Because the one thing that I was talking to the brother about is the Bible is very clear. Do not forsake the gathering together of the saints as some are in the habit of doing. And I said, what do you do with that? Because here you are claiming to be a believer, but you eschew faith. The fellowship of the saints, you shun and you turn away from submitting to people. This whole thing about, well, I'm spiritual. No, no, no, no, no. He made the church. God, I didn't make the church. He made the church full of broken and hurting people and said that you need to submit to them as they submit to you. That's his thing, not my thing. Okay, let's get a little bit more real. Singles. When you out here on the host row. When you out here giving the most intimate part of yourself. And you come to your senses because you've read the scriptures that say that you should forsake fornication. And now you come headlong with that in the scriptures and go, huh, I guess that really is a thing. He doesn't want me sharing that part of myself outside of covenant and marriage. Interesting. What do you do with that? So for the person who just gets off their bender and, you know, the Lord pricks their heart and they finally open the scriptures and the scripture clearly says, be not drunk with wine. What do you do? Do you pivot to vodka because it said wine and not vodka? Or do you stop and think to yourself for a minute? I'm out of alignment with what he says is right. Because that's the heart of what we're looking for today. It's the alignment to say, I only want the things that you want and not the things that I think are okay. Because I can justify myself into a great many things about what I think is okay. But that does not mean that it is actually beneficial for me. Only the things that he says are okay are actually okay. And this is not to condemn you because I'm in the same boat as you, imperfect and undeserving of glory in heaven, but receiving it by grace and mercy. But this is to put light to the fact that we need to make sure that our life is actually having the truest of ambitions to it. Truest of ambitions. Well, what do you mean? Well, here's the thing. I am holy for capitalism. Go out there. You make your money, boo. Use every intelligent, witty invention and idea that the Holy Ghost gives you. You want to start a law firm? You do you. You want to work in the financial sector? Got it. Want to start a business? Own a store? Be a teacher? Do whatever you need to do. Run. Write the vision. Make it plain. Let those who read it run. Go for it. Be awesome. Be ambitious. But what is the true ambition of your life? If you are a Christian, the truest ambition of your life, it should be two words. Well done. Because I don't care what I do on this earth. If I get there and he does not tell me, well done, thou good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of the Lord. I've missed it. It's like wasting your life. It's like taking a ladder and climbing up the longest of ladders only to realize that you put it up against the wrong building. Do not waste your life with foolish ambition that does not equal honoring the Lord's will. So do you believe? Yeah, great. The demons believe in trouble. What will you do with your belief? Will you align yourself with God and his word? Or will you justify every behavior that you say is okay? Okay. Jesus defined discipleship in very unmistakable terms. Luke 9, 23. And production team, I've lost my confidence monitor. It says, if anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. He did not say, believe these facts about me. He said, follow me. That means deny yourself. That means putting his will above our comfort, putting his will above our desires, putting his will above our reputation. Our reputation? Yeah. When you align yourself with God and you find yourself in obedience to his scripture, you are going to be in opposition to the things of this world. It's going to happen at some level where what you believe is in juxtaposition to what the world says is okay. And you have to be willing to lose your reputation here because you know ultimately what it means to align yourself with the king of glory. But are you willing to follow him? See, that's where the rubber meets the road. Because you can't just say you're a Christian. I should be able to see on some level that you are. And here's the thing. I'm not talking about doing things so that other people can see it. We know people like that. Hey, Kathy, I know you've been a little down and out. Here's $20. Nah, I'm more about that Pentecostal handshake. The things that we do, we should never be doing them to be seen by people. Again, the ambition of your life should be to hear two words from one person. We literally live for an audience of one. When I do anything that I do, I do not want to do it to get praise, acclaim from people. People do not pay like the Lord does. I want the Lord's reward. It's funny. So you guys have probably seen me online. I don't do a lot with social media. And I'm not against you if you do. It's just not my particular bag. The other day, I took my son to the Knicks parade. Knicks at five, Knicks at five. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Because it was one of those things where it's like, okay, this is a core memory that I'm gonna be able to give to my son. I get to celebrate with him something that I've wanted to see my entire life. And even if he's not the biggest fan, he's a little fan. Literally, he's only five, he's a little fan. So he's growing into his fandom and I shall shape and mold him accordingly. He will learn about the salary cap. He will figure out the minutia of how to keep Mitchell Robinson without going into the sacred emperor. And he will do, I got it. I'm working on him. But it's like, you know, core memory, trying to, trying to instill that from my son. Do you know, somebody reached out to me. They asked me a question. They said, Hey, do you live in Long Island now? I hadn't heard him from this person in years. I was like, uh, no. Why do you ask? I saw your son and your daughter. They made a sign for the Knicks. And I was looking at your house and it looks really nice. Looks like a Long Island house. And that immediately put me back into my reclusive social media show. I slowly hid into the Homer Simpson bushes and said, and I thought to myself, this is why I don't do it. This is why I don't do it. I don't want to do anything to be seen by people. Because you don't realize it, how much of a great reward there is for the things that are unseen. Even the Lord said it, when you pray, pray in, something as simple as prayer. He says, do it in secret. Go into your prayer closet where no one can see and lift up the Lord there and great will be your reward in heaven. So set your ambition to only be for the Lord's pleasure. So we have to follow him, correct? That means denying yourself. It means taking up your cross daily. You have to embrace sacrifice, suffering, and self-denial for his sake. Again, let all the married people say amen. I had a conversation just last night with a couple, and my wife and I were there. And it was a bit of a funny point, because we were talking about closet real estate. If you're married, you understand exactly what I'm talking about. Single people, it sounds all great when you're talking about getting some pies and thighs, right? You want somebody on your side, I get it. But there's a slight minutia that you don't know about. You're gonna have to share a closet one day. I remember when I got married, had over 90 pair of shoes and I couldn't bring all of them and we were talking to a couple and my wife she she let out a beautiful little thing she said sounds like you didn't want to give them up I said I didn't what do you mean no I did not but I did Because I've learned it's not about the intention. It is about the action. I might say whatever I want to say about you and thinking that, oh, because you can say all the loveliest words in the world, but without action, what does it really mean? I can tell you I love you in the sweetest, succulent voice dripping with honey, and then I can stab you in your side. What then? What does my words really mean? But I can tell you I love you. and throw out my shoes. And you know, despite what I say, I love you. So my wife was like, you still sound a little bitter. I'm not. I'm fine. And I love you. So again, I don't want you to merely believe I don't want you to merely have a confession that you are a Christian. I want you to have actions that show your love. Do you love him? Would you sacrifice for him? Would you throw away the shoes? Would you say no to sin? Would you be willing to acquiesce to live your life according to the scriptures, the guidelines that he gave you for a successful life? Or do you want to do your own thing? Because guess what? You can know a lot, read a lot, but if you're not actually going to do the things that he asked you to do, you are out of alignment. This is the difference between the demons trembling faith and the disciples transforming faith. They tremble at judgment. We tremble in awe. You know, think about the rich young ruler. He believed in God. The Bible says he actually kept the commandments from his youth. When Jesus called him, he actually called him to radical obedience. Matthew 10, 17 says, Sell all that you have and give to the poor and come follow me. This is actually one of the only instances we have in the New Testament where he specifically called somebody in the same way that he called the disciples and they rejected it. He called him to walk alongside even as the 12 would. And his response, the Bible says that he went away sorrowful. His belief was real. But his obedience wasn't that of a disciple. You know, in contrast, you think about the Apostle Paul. Galatians 2.20 says... I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith in the son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. This is what the Lord is calling us to. A living faith. Christ living through us. Not just us living for our own pursuits. Love for Jesus is not a feeling. It is demonstrated in joyful, costly obedience. So the next time you find yourself telling anyone who will listen, I love Jesus so much. Let it be that your actions would actually show that. Let it be when that person gets on your nerves and you're ready to cut them off. that you would engage in the practice that the scripture calls speaking the truth in love, setting healthy boundaries, but still loving people into the kingdom. Let it be when it says that you should forsake the ways of this world, that you would actually take suit, follow suit and do so. Because again, this is not something to be riled up in. Amen, hallelujah. No, but this is a real thing where it's like, will I actually be the type of disciple that the Bible is calling me to be? And I think we all want that. It's like in the same way where everybody wants to be fit, but nobody desires the gym. If you show me what you do, I'll show you what you believe. I was going to make a fat joke in some way, but I'll refrain. I'll refrain. Because I'm actually going to the gym now. So I can't make too many jokes about it. So I'll close with this. And worship team, you can come on up. The cost and the reward of discipleship. There is a cost. But thankfully, there is also a reward. Matthew 7, 13. Because discipleship is not easy. And Jesus was very honest about this. It says, enter by the narrow gate, for the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction. And those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life. And those who find it are few. Matthew 10, 37. But the reward is incomparable. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it. And whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. Revelation 2.10. To the faithful disciple, Jesus promises this. Be faithful unto death and I will give you the crown of life. And on that final day, we're going to hear not, you believed I existed. We're going to hear what Matthew 25, 21 says. Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little. I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master. So I want us all to examine ourselves in light of James 2, 19. Do you merely believe that God exists and that Jesus is Lord? Or are you actively following him as his disciple? Is your faith producing works of obedience, love, holiness, and fruitfulness? Are you denying yourself daily? Are you taking up your cross? Are you walking in step with the Holy Ghost? If your faith has grown cold and comfortable, hear the loving call of Jesus. Follow me. He said, come to him. His yoke is easy. His burden is light. Because the other side of this is I'm not asking you to be a better Christian. You actually don't have the power to be a better Christian. I'm not asking you to pray more. I'm not asking you to read more. I'm not asking you to fast more. I'm asking you to follow Jesus. Because when you follow Jesus, you will be empowered to do things that you could never do in your own strength. You will find yourself changing in ways that you never thought possible. Have you ever looked at yourself and thought, I don't know how I will ever overcome this. And you point to whatever this is. Some people is drugs. Some people is alcohol. Some people is pornography. Whatever that thing is, you feel to yourself, I'll never be able to overcome until you find that the power of God has made you an overcomer. I love that I get to look back on my life and go, I don't know how I made it out of that. But wow, look at what God did. And then we can have our boasting in the Lord alone because we know it was his grace that did it. Bow your head and pray with me. Hallelujah. Heavenly Father, forgive us for any faith that it stops short at mere belief. Thank you that even the demons tremble at your name, Lord. But we are called to so much more. By your spirit, stir our hearts to true discipleship. Help us to love Jesus by obeying his commands. Help us to deny ourselves. Help us to follow him wherever he leads. Complete our faith. Give us works, Lord, that are performed not for religion or an audience of many, but purely for you. Help us to do what we could never do in our own strength. Change us. Lord, our prayer, it boils down to four letters. Help. Help, Lord. We can pray the most audacious verbal vernacular, but what does it matter? We depend on you for our salvation, our freedom and deliverance. So we ask you in Jesus' name, help. That we would be an overcoming church. That we would be strong and devout disciples. Not converts, but disciples. Children of the most high God who know you, love you, and walk according to your ways. Father, in Jesus' name. This is the CityLight Church podcast. If you've missed any part of today's message, or if you would like to find out more about Pastor Boyan Jancic and CityLight Church, visit us at citylightnyc.com. That's citylightnyc.com. Feel free to visit us online or in person anytime. We would love to connect with you. We pray that you have been encouraged today, that you have been reminded how much God loves you, and that you are surrounded by grace. Thank you for listening. Make sure that you subscribe to CityLight Church Podcast wherever you find your favorite podcasts worldwide.