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HOW CAN I FOLLOW JESUS?In talking to people, many times I hear them say, “I am a follower of Jesus.”But they never really are clear on exactly how they are following Jesus.We all want to follow Jesus. But how can we do that? None of us can raise the dead, walk on water, or heal the sick like Jesus did. None of us can live a life without sinning like Jesus did.So how can we follow Jesus? The Lord Himself explained to one man how to follow him:Mt 19:16 And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?Mt 19:17 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.Mt 19:18 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,Mt 19:19 Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.Mt 19:20 The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet?Isn’t this what they tell us to do in church? If we want to follow Jesus we need to keep the law. We need to try to be perfect as best we can, and keep the commandments. That's what I always heard in church. But the church usually stops at verse 20. Let's go on to verse 21, and 22:Mt 19:21 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.Mt 19:22 But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.So Jesus Himself says, if you want to follow me, keep the commandments AND sell everything you have, give it to the poor.How many of our friends in church are doing this? Has your pastor sold everything he has and given it to the poor as an example to the congregation on how to follow Jesus?Do you see any pastors who have done this?Do you see any pastors living in a rented room in a boarding house?How about when the Lord sent forth the seventy?What did He tell them to do?Lu 10:3 Go your ways: behold, I send you forth as lambs among wolves.Lu 10:4 Carry neither purse, nor scrip, nor shoes: and salute no man by the way.Do you see any pastor in America coming to your town with no money (purse)?Do you see any pastor coming to your town with no food or provisions (scrip)?Do you see any pastor in America with one pair of shoes, old clothes, a beat up old car, maybe no car, and riding a bicycle to his church on Sunday?Here is another passage the church loves to spin and leave out little details:Mr 16:14 Afterward he appeared UNTO THE ELEVEN as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen.Mr 16:15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.Mr 16:16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.Don't they tell us this in church? They say this is our great commision on how to follow Jesus in verse 15 and 16, but they never talk about verses 17 and 18!Mr 16:17 And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;Mr 16:18 They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.Is your pastor following the great commision here?Is your pastor casting out devils, speaking in tongues, (not that gibberish you see in the Pentecostal church), meaning is he speaking real languages he was never taught? Is your pastor taking up rattle snakes without being harmed?Will your pastor volunteer to drink poison to show he is following Jesus?Is your pastor laying on hands and healing cancer victims?If he is not doing these things he is not following the “great commision”.He is not following the Earthly Jesus.So what is going on here?Well, what is going on here is the confusion that results when we do not study our Bible, “rightly dividing the word of truth”.2Ti 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.Whats going on here is we are seeing the Lord Jesus in His Earthly ministry instructing HIS disciples, the eleven, and the seventy, during HIS Earthly ministry to the nation of Israel.What your denominational church also neglects to mention to you is that the Lord jesus specifically instructed His disciples NOT to go to the Gentiles!Mt 10:5 These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, GO NOT INTO THE WAY OF THE GENTILES, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not:Why would He tell them that?Well, because the Lord Jesus Earthly ministry was to the nation of Israel!Mt 15:24 But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.All through the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, we see the Lord Jesus, and the 12 Apostles preaching the message to the Jews that the Messiah had come.Even after the Jews rejected Jesus Christ and crucified Him, we still see the 12 Apostles preaching the gospel of the kingdom to the Jews only, that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, He has risen from the dead, and He is the Messiah. We see this all the way through the first few chapters of Acts.Ac 11:19 Now they which were scattered abroad upon the persecution that arose about Stephen travelled as far as Phenice, and Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word to NONE BUT THE JEWS ONLY.This was the message of Peter and the other Apostles for at least the next ten years after Christ had been crucified. This is what Jesus taught them.There is no good news here for Gentiles like you, and me.However, in Acts chapter 9 something wonderful happens!Jesus Christ appears to Paul on the Damascus road. To King Agrippa, Paul relates what the Lord said to him on Damascus road where Christ first appeared to Paul. Speaking to King Agrippa:Ac 26:14 And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.Ac 26:15 And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest.Ac 26:16 But rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee;Ac 26:17 Delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, UNTO WHOM NOW I SEND THEE,Ac 26:18 To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.Jesus Christ gave Paul a NEW gospel message for ALL people, Jews and Gentiles. It is a message of grace, love, and hope.Speaking to gentiles in the Corinthian church Paul delivers his gospel he got from the Lord:1Co 15:1 Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;1Co 15:2 BY WHICH ALSO YE ARE SAVED, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.1Co 15:3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that CHRIST DIED FOR OUR SINS according to the scriptures;1Co 15:4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:This new message is the gospel of the grace of Jesus Christ.It is the simple message that we are all guilty sinners who can do nothing to save ourselves, but that God loves us so much that He came down to the Earth as a man, Jesus Christ. He willingly suffered and died a terrible death on the cross to pay for our sins, YOURS, and mine.Then, three days later, He rose from the dead for our justification.If by faith, you have ever believed this, and have ever trusted Jesus Christ as your Saviour, you are saved from Hell right now forever!This is God's promise to you. Once you accept His gift you can never lose it! You are sealed by God's promise!Eph 1:13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,The modern church today is comprised of religious denominations. They have hijacked Jesus Earthly ministry to the Jews through the 12 Apostles, and have mixed it with Jesus Heavenly ministry through Paul to all people, to create the religions of man, by which people can be controlled.The confusion in the modern Christian church today is caused by their refusal, and failure to distinguish in the scriptures between God dealing with the nation of Israel under the law through prophecy, from God's dealing with the church, the Body of Christ under the dispensation of grace through the "Mystery" the Lord gave to Paul.This is all clearly explained in Paul's 13 letters.Please take time to read and study them so that you can come to have peace and rest in your troubled heart, and know that God loves you and has provided a way for you to be saved.The whole Bible was written for our learning, but the whole Bible was not written TO us gentiles in this time.The four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are about God coming to the Earth in the form of a man, Jesus Christ, to fulfill old testament prophecy of the Messiah, the King of the Jews. The Jews rejected Christ and crucified Him. Satan thought he had won. But Jesus Christ, in His infinite wisdom and love, rose from the dead, and "paused" God's prophecy program with Israel to give a new message, through Paul, a mystery that God had hidden from the Old Testament prophets:Ro 16:25 Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began,Now, by Jesus shed blood on the cross, the wrath of God over the sins of the world has been satisfied, and forgiveness of sins granted, to all who by faith, have believed, and trusted, in Jesus Christ as their Saviour, believing the gospel as Paul preached it.Paul is the Apostle to the gentiles, YOU and me.Ro 11:13 For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office:1Co 14:37 ...... the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord.We get our doctrine, our special message from God in Paul's 13 letters, Romans through Philemon.The other letters in the New Testament, Hebrews through Revelation are written to the Jews who must endure the great Tribulation.There are many good things in these letters that we Gentile Christians can apply in our lives, but the doctrine is NOT for us. If you try and take your doctrine from these other letters you will be all confused. For example, James says:Jas 2:20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?This is a direct contradiction to what Paul says:Eph 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:Eph 2:9 NOT OF WORKS, lest any man should boastHow do we resolve this seeming contradiction?Easily. By looking at who James is talking to in his letter:Jas 1:1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, TO THE TWELVE TRIBES which are scattered abroad, greeting.Are you and I part of the Twelve tribes of Israel? No we are not.James is addressing his letter to the Jews!Another common contradiction is this one:1Jo 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.Why would we constantly be confessing our sins if Paul told us ALL our sins are already forgiven?The PERSONAL PRONOUNS are CRITICAL to understanding this.John isn't talking about "personal sins" in 1 John 1:9, John is speaking about NATIONAL SINS regarding the CIRCUMCISION, the NATION OF ISRAEL.The PERSONAL sin issue can be found over in chapter 2:1Jo 2:1 My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:1Jo 2:2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.AGAIN John is NOT addressing PERSONAL sins in 1 John 1:9 he is addressing NATIONAL ISRAEL'S SINS"If WE ( national Israel ) confess OUR ( national Israel ) SINS ( plural ) he ( God the Father ) is faithful and just to forgive US ( national Israel ) OUR ( national Israel ) SINS ( plural ) and to CLEANSE *US* ( national Israel ) from all unrighteousness.Israel was given the COMMANDMENTS, the COVENANTS and all the PROMISES. Israel was to OBEY the COMMANDMENTS of God.These are just two examples of how when you rightly divide the scriptures and read and study your Bible for yourself, all things become clear.2Ti 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.But if you are just going to sit in a pretty building and let men who are sinners just like us tell you what the Bible says you are going to be a sheep led to the slaughter, and you will be so confused you will do whatever the church tells you to do. And that is exactly what the devil wants! The devil wants to distract you away from the truth.That is exactly the situation we see today in the modern Christian church.So then how do we follow Jesus?We follow Jesus by following the Apostle Paul who the risen and ascended Lord Jesus Christ sent TO US with the instructions and message FOR US!Ro 11:13 For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office:2Ti 1:11 Whereunto I am appointed a preacher, and an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles.Ro 15:16 That I should be the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Ghost.We will all be judged by Paul’s gospel!Ro 2:16 In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.Paul received his gospel by direct revelation from the Lord!Ga 1:1 Paul, an apostle, (not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead;)Ga 1:11 But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man.Ga 1:12 For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.We are commanded to follow Paul!1Co 4:16 Wherefore I beseech you, be ye followers of me.1Co 11:1 Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.Php 3:17 Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample.2Th 3:9 Not because we have not power, but to make ourselves an ensample unto you to follow us.Php 4:9 Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.1Co 14:37 If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord.If your denominational church is adding anything to Paul’s simple gospel of the grace of Jesus Christ they face dire consequences! And so do YOU if you preach ANY OTHER gospel!Ga 1:6 I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel:Ga 1:7 Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.Ga 1:8 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.Ga 1:9 As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.Our great commision today is not found in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.We are “new creatures in Christ”.Our instructions are found here:2Co 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.2Co 5:18 And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;2Co 5:19 To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.2Co 5:20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God.2Co 5:21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.In this time we live in now, if you want to follow Jesus, you must follow Paul.You must be a minister of the reconciliation and show sinners how to be reconciled to God through the finished work at the cross of Jesus Christ.You must show people how we were justified when Christ rose from the dead!Ro 4:24 But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead;Ro 4:25 Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.TO BE SAVED INSTANTLY: Without doing, saying, or praying anything, simply TRUST 100% in God the Son, Jesus Christ, as YOUR Saviour, BELIEVING that Christ died for ALL your sins, that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day to justify YOU. If you have ever once BELIEVED this, then you are SEALED by God's Holy Spirit of promise, saved from Hell, having forgiveness of all your sins, and eternal life in heaven. Read it for yourself in a King James Bible. 1Cor 15:1-4; Ro 5:8; Ro 8:1; Eph 1:13; Eph 2:8-9; Ro 4:24,25; Col 1:14; Tit 3:5; Ro 6:23; Tit 3:7; Eph 1:7; Col 2:13 KJV.People die and go to Hell every day having their sins PAID FOR but no one dies and goes to Hell having their sins FORGIVEN. Forgiveness is not granted until the gift has been accepted. Trust Jesus Christ as YOUR Saviour!Do it now!Then tell someone you care about!This is the good news gospel that the risen and ascended Lord Jesus Christ gave to Paul.