Chapter # 8 Paragraph # 7 Study # 5
November 29, 2022
Moss Bluff, Louisiana
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Thesis: Understanding Jesus' requirement of "follow Me" is expanded by His explanation of the final reality of how Jesus is going to respond to men who refuse to identify with Him.
Introduction: In our previous studies, we considered the expansions by Jesus of the basic requirements of "coming after Him". "Denying oneself" means putting one's focus upon the priority of "Life" even when the physical "soul" is seriously "at risk" because the relational "Soul" cannot be lost to the ones who put their focus upon "Him and the Gospel". "Taking up one's cross" means jettisoning the normal fixation of men upon "gaining the world" as if "Life" could be found by that means. We have already looked at these two parts of Jesus' "come after Me" concept.
This evening we are going to look into the third of the three issues of "coming after Jesus": what is means "to follow Jesus".
- I. The Original Statement.
- A. Consists of the necessity of "following" Jesus.
- B. Is focused upon "going where He goes" in respect to the ultimate end so that by "following" we end up where He is when all is said and done.
- II. The Expansion Of That Original Statement.
- A. The focus is upon "the ultimate outcome" as determined by the intervening commitments.
- 1. The setting Jesus puts forth is "when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels".
- a. This setting involves the climactic, historical event we know as The Second Coming.
- 1) This is the actual appearance of Jesus "in the glory of His Father"; this is not what is known as "The Rapture".
- 2) At issue in this actual appearance is the Son's triumphant conquest of the nations of this physical world so as to begin His reign as the Father's King of His Kingdom.
- 3) The critical focus is not upon the establishment of that Kingdom; it is upon the determination of the participants in that Kingdom.
- b. This setting involves the judgment of men.
- 2. At issue at this coming is the determination of how men are to be treated for the future.
- a. The determinative question is one with two parts.
- 1) First, those under judgment (i.e., everyone) will be judged upon the basis of what caused them to take the course of life that they took.
- a) In this text, that "causal" factor is "shame".
- b) At issue in "shame" is what gives a person a sense of "status-identity" in the eyes of others.
- c) The point of "shame" is its ability to motivate one's behavior as the outcome of being identified with the "leader", i.e., the giver of the status.
- d) The bottom line in this "seeking for status" is the question of "in whose eyes does one have status?"
- i. The first alternative of "in whose eyes" is "this adulterous and sinful generation".
- ii. The second alternative of "in whose eyes" is "the Father, the Son, and the holy angels".
- 2) Second, the Judge will determine His judgment upon the "causal factor" in respect to the two alternatives.
- a) The first alternative is one's attitude toward Jesus and His words as the "Leader" with whom one is to be "identified".
- b) The second alternative is one's attitude toward the "generation" as the "leader" in its "adulterous" and "sinful" behavior.
- b. The outcome of the determination will be permanent (inclusion/exclusion in respect to the Son's Kingdom).
