In this sermon, the speaker emphasizes the importance of dealing with the root issues in our hearts and lives rather than just focusing on practical matters. He warns against the danger of attending Bible schools or conferences without allowing the work of transformation to take place in our hearts. The speaker then discusses the spirit of a learner and the attitudes of a disciple, using the example of Jesus' teachings in the Sermon on the Mount. He encourages listeners to unite their hearts with the lowly attitudes expressed in the Sermon on the Mount and to humble themselves before the Lord.

Hello, this is Brother Denny. Welcome to Charity Ministries. Our desire is that your life would be blessed and changed by this message. This message is not copyrighted and is not to be bought or sold. You are welcome to make copies for your friends and neighbors. If you would like additional messages, please go to our website for a complete listing at www.charityministries.org. If you would like a catalog of other sermons, please call 1-800-227-7902 or write to Charity Ministries, 400 West Main Street, Suite 1, EFRA PA 17522. These messages are offered to all without charge by the free will offerings of God's people. A special thank you to all who support this ministry. Beautiful song, isn't it? Greetings this morning in the name of the Lord Jesus, precious Lord Jesus Christ. Well, we want to sing that song this morning, if I can find mine here. I just want to encourage you sisters to lift your voice up a bit more because we're doing it back and forth and all these strong men over here give their all and you're counted down like this, it won't be balanced right. It should be a good strong sound on the ladies' side as well as on the men. And please bear with me because I don't know a lot about music, but in this little song, the second time where we're all saying it together, it goes up a little bit. You know, at the end it says, And He shall lift you up. And He shall lift you up. Got that? Don't ask me what notes those are because I don't know. Praise God. Shall we try, let's stand and sing it. From our hearts, in the spirit of the words that were breathed out by the Holy Ghost. And He shall lift you up. Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee. Draw nigh to God and He'll draw nigh. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners, and purify you. Draw nigh, dear Lord, draw nigh to us this morning. Lord, we tremble before you. We know, we know that we stand before the throne of the Almighty God. We're not here in this building, Lord. We are before the throne of the Almighty God of the universe. And we're here to hear your word, Lord. Oh, speak your word from your throne this morning to our hearts, dear God. We commit this session into your hands, Lord. Have mercy on us, Lord. Have mercy on us. In Jesus' name, Amen. This morning we're going to look at some of the heart issues in discipleship. Some of the foundation stones which hold up the rest of the building. It's very important that we view this whole matter of being a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ in the right perspectives. We must get first things first. And I hope, young people, that you will keep these things in proper order all this week. Because there are many different things that are being said. You're getting teaching from many different directions in many parts of the Bible. But I assure you that the heart of every preacher and teacher that is giving you instruction, all of them, their heart's desire is that your heart would be fixed upon the Lord Jesus Christ soundly. And then from there, out of that heart will flow all the many different things that you're being taught this week. I hope you will keep all of that in perspective. The issues of the heart is where it all begins. It is a matter of root and fruit. Amen? We will be discussing practical issues all through the week, and that is the fruit. But you can go home with a lot of good ideas, a lot of new resolves, a lot of fresh concepts to try. But if you don't get down to dealing with the root issues in your own heart and your life, it will end in frustration and discouragement and despair. And there are young people who have been to Bible schools like this, who went home without the work being done deep in the heart with resolves, and they're not here today. They're not here. So we want to strike the tuning fork four times. Today, looking at heart issues, issues of the heart. There are four of them that we will look at this morning, and the first one is the spirit of a learner. The title of my message is The Spirit of a Disciple. I wasn't sure if I could take these sixteen points and fit them enough into categories to give titles to the next four messages, but I have been able to do that. And so this morning it is The Spirit of a Disciple. And the first point on that is the spirit of a learner. A disciple has the spirit of a learner. And if I may put it in the form of our confession, the confession of our discipleship, it will go like this. I have the spirit of a learner. I am a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ, and I have the spirit of a learner. I want to learn. I have not arrived. I have many needs, and I need to learn everything that I can. This is the spirit of a disciple, young people. This was not a new concept in the days of the Lord Jesus Christ when He walked upon the earth. If you remember, these words were used, the disciples of John and the disciples of the Pharisees. It was not a new concept, this Master, Teacher, Learner, Follower concept. It was not a new concept. And even Paul gave his testimony that he was a disciple of Gamaliel before he came to the Lord Jesus on the road to Damascus. He was also a disciple. He sat at the feet of Gamaliel and learned from him. He was his disciple, and he listened to what he had to say, and he followed him. And Gamaliel made a very good Pharisee out of Saul. But Jesus made a beautiful disciple out of Saul and turned him into the Apostle Paul. Hallelujah! Thank God for that. But even though this was not a new concept, the Lord Jesus deepened the concept as He walked upon the earth because He was God. And when God begins to speak into the hearts of men and women and says, Come, follow Me and be My disciple, yes, He is going to deepen the concept of discipleship. And so also we will be deepening the concept of discipleship with this living God this morning as we consider these things. I think of the words of Peter that time when Jesus said those hard words in John 6. You probably learned about them already this morning. And Jesus turned to His disciples and said, Will you also go away? But the disciples had the spirit of a learner, and Peter expressed all of their hearts when he said, Where do we go, Lord? You have the words of eternal life. We have nowhere else to go. We are the learners and You are the teacher. We are the needy ones and You are the one that has it all. We are the empty ones and You are the all-sufficient one. Where else can we go? You have the words of eternal life. And brothers and sisters, that's the way it needs to be with us also. We must have that same kind of an attitude. A learner. And by the way, a learner is a listener. Not a talker. Note that, young people. A learner is a listener. Not a talker. Some time ago we were meditating in our family devotions. We've been going through 2 Timothy or 1 Timothy 2. And we came to this verse which says, Paul was admonishing the women. And he said to them, Let the women learn in silence with all subjection. And as we studied that verse, we learned that the word silence there means quietness. Or, a quiet spirit. Let the women learn with a quiet spirit in all subjection. And as I read that and meditated upon it, in light of our subject this morning, I thought that is exactly what a disciple is. That's the spirit of a disciple. What Paul said to the women there is the spirit of a disciple. A quiet heart. Which is a learning heart. With all subjection under what I'm hearing. A disciple. The spirit of a disciple is the spirit of a learner. It is the lowly heart of one who wants to learn. And may I remind you that the Apostle John refers to himself as a learner. As he called himself the disciple, many times what he was saying was, I'm a learner. And you know, I pondered that early this morning. You know when John wrote those words? He wrote those words after he had been walking with Jesus Christ for 60 years. He's 90 years old when he says these words. I am a disciple of Jesus Christ. I'm just a learner, the Apostle John says. We read some of the things that he wrote and we think, you're not a learner, you're a master, you're a teacher. No, John says, no. You haven't met my Jesus the way that I have. He's so far beyond me. He's so much higher than I am. He's so much deeper than I am. I'm just a disciple. I'm that other disciple. That's who I am. That's what John said. And oh, young people, if somehow we could get this one deep in our soul, you will never get away from this point. If you're going to go on with God, you're a learner. You're a learner. You're needy. You have a lot to learn. A lot to learn. Second of all, we want to look at the attitudes of a disciple and to put it in the form of a confession of faith. Number two, we find these words coming out of our hearts. I unite my heart with the lowly attitudes of this Sermon on the Mount. I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, and I unite my heart with the lowly attitudes of this Sermon on the Mount. And if we could turn there and just read those beautiful, lowly attitudes that the Lord Jesus gave on the Sermon on the Mount, you can turn there, Matthew 5. And surely this second point flows right out of and broadens from the first point. Now picture the scene. Matthew 5. Jesus has been baptized in the river Jordan. The Spirit of God came upon Him like a dog. The voice of God out of Heaven spoke and said, This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. He's gone into the wilderness. He was tempted of the devil for forty days. He came out in the power of the Spirit of God, and He's done a few miracles, and all of a sudden He's got His disciples around Him. He's got their attention. They're ready to listen. You can be sure they're ready to listen. What does He say? What are the first words that comes out of the mouth of the Lord Jesus as He recognizes, I've got My disciples' attention? What does He say? What does He say? Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven. Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God. Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven. Yea, blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for My sake. Jesus begins His teachings to His disciples by laying out before them the foundation stones of the attitudes that every disciple has. If he's truly a disciple, they will be there. If he's going to continue to be a disciple, they will be there. They were in the heart of John until the day he opened his eyes in the presence of God and saw Jesus. Those beautiful, lowly attitudes of a disciple. Now, in this day that we live in, when everything is all upbeat, you know, even among Christendom today, everything's got to be upbeat, you know. You've got to have an upbeat message. It's happy-clappy time, you know. And everybody's got to be happy. And if the church doesn't go home happy, we didn't go to church, you know. But in the midst of all of those things, these words ring true out of the throne of God this morning, young people. The lowly attitudes which are listed here in the Beatitudes, the foundation stones of every true disciple, they are still the way into the reality of the blessed presence of the living God. They are still there. It doesn't matter whether everybody else out there wants to be happy-clappy and feel good every Sunday morning. Blessed are the poor in spirit, young people. And that word blessed means the reality of the living God and the salvation that He gives upon everyone who is poor in spirit. Don't forget it, young people. That's what that word blessed means. It doesn't just mean happy. It's so much deeper than that. It means the reality of a living God in your life. And I'm so glad that Jesus started with those words with His disciples. And I want to start with them also with you. Words of lowliness are not popular today, but they are the key to everything, young people. I promise you, they are the key to everything. I don't know, it's a couple of years ago we did a whole series to the youth on these attitudes. I think it's called the jewel of humility. But let's just consider them briefly here this morning. Poor in spirit means to be poverty stricken. That's not just talking about somebody who has a little bit in his pocket, but not enough. No, that word poor in spirit is talking about poverty stricken. Oh, the blessedness, the blessedness, young people, that settles down over your heart when you find yourself in that place where you say, I have nothing. I have nothing. God will run to your aid when you have nothing. God will run to your aid. Poverty stricken, they that mourn are those who weep and sigh and groan over their needs. Now that doesn't sound very exciting, does it? But yet, that little verse fits very much into the spirit of that little song we were singing this morning, doesn't it? Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to heaviness, as James said in chapter 4. Mourning, it means what it says. It's like what you do when one of your loved ones dies. And that's a blessing. It's good. It's profitable. Blessed are the meek. The meek? The yielded. The ones who have given up. The ones who have given up to God and given up to others. Blessed are the meek. They've yielded. They have a life that is yielded to God. And young people, that's not talking about a trip to the altar where one time you get on your knees there and you say, okay, God, I give You everything. Now, that's beautiful and that's right and we'll probably ask You to do that sometime this week, but I'm telling you, that's only the beginning. It will bring a blessing upon your life if you do it in sincerity, but young people, this is something you do every day and many times in a day. If you're going to walk with God, you will do it many times in a day. Blessed are those who have given up and given up and given up and given up. Amen? That's the way it is. These are the hard attitudes of a disciple of Jesus Christ. Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness. And basically what God is saying there is that there is in the heart of a disciple who in fact is a learner, who recognizes their need, they're always longing for more. Always longing for more. And I call it a sanctified dissatisfaction. God means to fill our heart with a sanctified dissatisfaction. And when I say sanctified, I mean this. There is a place where you can stand and rejoice before God in all that He's done in your heart, but yet at the same time your heart is saying, God, more! I'm not satisfied. I'm glad for what You've done in my heart, but God, I want more! I want to be more like Jesus. I want more righteousness in my life. I want to learn more how to be a servant Lord. I'm thankful for what You've done, but God, give me more! That's one who hungers and thirsts after righteousness. And the merciful, that attitude of the merciful is one who is full of compassion and full of forgiveness. And oh, brothers and sisters, we need to learn this because we are all human beings. Amen? We are all human beings. And we make mistakes and we hurt each other sometimes. Sometimes we know we do. Sometimes we don't even know that we do. Oh, but blessed are the merciful, the forgiving ones. Oh, I just forgive and I just forgive you. And you don't even need to come and tell me you're sorry. I already forgive you anyway. Oh, that beautiful attitude is the hard attitude of a disciple. And the pure in heart as we look at these attitudes, the pure in heart, I want to say to that, blessed are those who are morally pure and motivationally pure in their hearts. It's speaking of both of those. A pure heart is a heart that has been cleaned and washed by the blood of Jesus. A pure heart is a heart that is morally pure. And you'll learn more about that this week. But a pure heart is also a heart that has been purified in its motives. And oh, those are things that God works on all the rest of your life. Purifying your motives. Why do I do what I do? It's a good question to ask yourself. And if you'll ask it sincerely and honestly before God, He'll order circumstances in your life to help you to see the answer to that very question, why you do what you do. And I can say from my own testimony, it's rather painful at times when I begin to see why I do what I do. Blessed are the peacemakers. And for this one, we'll simply say, blessed are those who take the low road of making peace wherever they go. I want to make peace. I don't want any strife. I want to make peace. Are you offended at me? I'll take the blame. I want peace. I want peace. It's the low road of one who wants to make peace. With their fellow man around them. And lastly, blessed are the persecuted. Those who take their persecution with no retaliation. Oh, I hope you'll grasp that one, young people. There is such a depth of fellowship and knowledge of God when you learn to take your persecutions without any retaliation, without any fighting back, with no fight in you, but a heart that just simply bows to the persecution that God has allowed to come your way. I tell you, you begin to enter into the fellowship of His sufferings which Paul talked about. You just begin to enter in. It's deeper than that. May I say it this way, the sum total, if we could write all of these down and put them in a list, this poor and the mourning and the meek and the hungry and all that, the sum total put down at the bottom of it, draw a line under it, add them all up together and it simply says, blessed are those who live in a state of brokenness. Brokenness, young people. Covet brokenness. Covet it. Long for it. Ask God to bring you into circumstances where you find yourself all broken up inside. This is good. This is a good place to be. These are the foundational heart issues for a disciple. And this is the reason why I chose the little song for us to sing each day because this is the foundational stone of being a true disciple. Brokenness. And oh, God does promise us reward, reward. The reward, the reality of the living God in my heart, in my life, now. I like the way Brother John said it. It's years ago now in a Bible school, but he said it this way, God's kingdom now. Beautiful. Not some kingdom later, although I believe there will be more coming yet, but God's kingdom now. That's what a disciple wants. Number three, we want to look at the love of a disciple. The love of a disciple. The confession, I love the Lord Jesus with all of my heart. That is the confession of a disciple. I love the Lord Jesus with all of my heart. Thou shalt have no other loves before me. That's kind of a different way to say it, isn't it? Thou shalt have no other loves before me. Why? Because I'm God. Jesus affirmed the commandment of God from the Old Testament when He said to His disciples and to those who asked Him questions, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy mind and with all thy soul and with all thy strength. And thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Jesus confirmed that Old Testament commandment and brought it into the New Testament context and says to every one of us today, this is the standard of the New Testament. Thou shalt have no other loves before me. Amen? That's fitting for God to say to us this morning, young people. Surely it is. That's fitting for God to say, no other loves. That's fitting for God to say, I don't want a boyfriend ahead of me. I don't want a girlfriend ahead of me. I don't want anything ahead of me. I don't want your career ahead of me. I don't want your plans ahead of me. I don't want anything ahead of me. I'm God. Thou shalt have no other loves before me. I'm God. These words and others can seem to be a bit extreme. Remember, we read them yesterday, but let's turn again there today in Matthew 10. Jesus said it this way in Luke. I believe it's Luke 14. He said, Whosoever hateth not his father and mother cannot be My disciple. You know, you hear those words and you think, boy, those are extreme words. He said it this way in Matthew 10. And verse 37, He that loveth father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he that loveth son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. They seem like extreme words until you bring it into its proper context and say, now wait a minute, this is God speaking to us. God can say that, can't He, young people? Yes, God can stand up and say, if you love your father or your mother more than Me, you're not worthy of Me. God can do that. He's God. And it puts it all in the right perspective, doesn't it? I think of the rich young ruler. He felt he had kept all the commandments from his youth up. Boy, was he in for a shock when he came to Jesus and all this proud religious self-confidence. He thought he'd kept all the commandments from his youth up. And the Bible says that Jesus looked upon him and loved him. That's an interesting little phrase, isn't it? You know, I don't know if that's how we would do it, you know, if we knew what was inside of his heart, maybe we'd say, well, you proud so-and-so, who do you think you are? But Jesus looked on him and loved him. But I want us to know He loved him enough to tell Him the truth. And isn't it interesting what He did here? Jesus cut right through His self-confident assurance. Jesus cut right through all of that and showed Him that He was breaking the whole of the law. The whole thing. He said, you have a love that is before Me, and it's called your money. Sell all that you have. That'll take care of your idolatry. And give it to the poor. That'll take care of loving your neighbor. And come and follow Me. That'll take care of loving God with all of your heart. Are you ready for that, rich young ruler? And the rich young ruler went away sorrowful that day because he had a love that was more precious to him than the God of Heaven who was standing before him, God incarnate in the flesh. These words come home to our own hearts this morning also. Maybe as we sit here, their issues come up before our hearts. Yes, I do have a love in my heart. And that love is there and I'm loving it more than God and it's hindering me from going on with God. Thou shalt have no other loves before Me. Do you see the heart of the matter, young people? To follow Jesus Christ is a personal commitment to love Him, to walk with Him, and to walk in His ways in that order. To love Him and to walk with Him and to walk in His ways. That's what it means to follow Jesus. Come, follow Me, Jesus said. And I believe this morning that this mandate of love needs some balance. Needs a bit of balance. True love is a very powerful emotion united with an unshakable commitment. That's what true love is, young people. It is a powerful emotion, affection, united with an unshakable commitment. And that's what Jesus meant when He said, if you love your father and mother more than Me, or your brother and sister more than Me, or anything else more than Me, you cannot be My disciple. Because I want the love of your being. I want the powerful emotion of affection from your heart united with an unshakable commitment. That's what love is, true love. It is both. It is a flow of an affection, of worship and adoration coupled with the will to obey and to serve. And young people, it's both. It's both. You must have both. Many. Through the years, I've had the privilege of marrying many young couples. Many of them. To marry them in the purity and the balance of this genuine love. There they sit. A heart full of emotion and affection for one another. But also, there they sit with a heart that is committed to one another. Think about it, young people. What if your bridegroom had emotions and affections for you, but no commitments? Would you be satisfied with that? No way! But, what if they had all the commitments, but there was no affection or emotion? Would you be satisfied with that? I know none of you would. I mean, who wants a lady that will just, you know, wash the clothes and cook the food and be there to say good evening, honey? Who wants that? I want my wife to love me! Young people, that's the way it is with the Lord Jesus Christ too. It is the flow of affection, of love and adoration and worship for the Lord Jesus Christ united with an unshakable commitment to walk with Him and walk in His ways. We're looking at the spirit of a disciple and heart issues here this morning. I think of the Apostle John. He's a beautiful example of this. He was, he referred to himself as the disciple whom Jesus loved. Now, why do you suppose he said it that way? If you look down below the surface of that little statement, you know what he's really saying? I'm the disciple who loves Jesus with all my heart. So much so did I love the Lord Jesus that I was the disciple whom the Lord Jesus loved deeply. That was John. That was John's testimony. He was the one, you know, who laid His head on His breast. Beautiful. Beautiful. That was John. What about Mary of Bethany? She's another good example, isn't she? Oh, how she loved Jesus. She loved Him with an extravagant love. But she loved Him with an affection and an adoration and a worship. And He knew it. And she was a balm to Him those last few days before He went to the cross. She was a balm to His heart because of her love and her adoration and her worship. But notice, young people, that that love and that adoration and that worship caused her to take that alabaster box full of ointment, which was one whole year's wages. Her one whole year's wages which she saved up. And she broke that. She broke that. It was a symbol of her past. It was a symbol of her present. And it was a symbol of her future. And she took the whole thing and broke it and poured it on the head of the one that she loved. And that's a beautiful example of the balance of those two coming together. I am a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ. And I love the Lord Jesus with all of my heart. And God wants you to be His possession, young people. Don't ever forget that. God is God. And you are His purchased possession. And He is pursuing His possession with all His heart. Sometimes you may not understand what's going on in your life. Just remember, you are God's possession and He is pursuing His possession with all of His heart. Because He wants you to delight in being God's possession. God! Oh, that ministers to the heart of God when His bought possession says, Oh, Lord, possess me! Take control of me! So, we find these beautiful words balanced out. If you love Me, keep My commandments, Jesus said. And if you love Me, thou shalt have no other affections before Me. Thou shalt have no other affections before Me. The love of a disciple. And lastly, this morning, young people, we want to look at the foundation, the foundation of a disciple. And given in the form of our confession, it goes like this. I am a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ. I have been clearly, soundly converted. I have been clearly and soundly converted. Oh, the burden, young people. The bondage of attempting to be a disciple without a regeneration in the inner man. Listen, young people. If you think trying to live by the Old Testament was tough, you tried to be a New Testament disciple of Jesus without a regenerated heart, you will be more frustrated than those Old Testament tellers were, I guarantee it. You can't do it! You must start in the right place, young people, with a regeneration, a regenesis in the inner man. A born-again, born of the Spirit experience is the first step in true discipleship, young people. Translated from one kingdom into another. If you don't do that, if you don't have that, you have a religion without reality. And all you'll get is a new order without a new heart. And like Brother Emmanuel so beautifully shared with us last night, that is an abomination to God. When we begin to look into the heart of God and see what God is really after, a new order, a new order of ways of doing things without a regenerated heart is an abomination to God. He doesn't want a bunch of people running around on the earth doing things in a different way. That's not His heart. He wants you! He wants your heart. He wants your life. He wants a body that He can come and dwell in and move in and breathe in and work through and speak through. That's what God is looking for. That will never happen until there is a regeneration on the inside. Amen? Dear young people, know this. Salvation is not a new order to follow. It is not. Sometimes young people, they get that kind of a mindset. It just kind of slips in on them. You know, they grow up in a Christian home. You know all the right things. You hear all the right things. And maybe you're even in a church and you know all the things that Christians do. And so you think, okay! I'm going that way! And you start going that way! I'm telling you, that's a new order without a new heart. It's not a new order to follow. It's not a belief in a set of doctrines. It's not a prayer that you prayed, young people. Salvation is a Person. Salvation is a Person. The Lord Jesus Christ. Remember? Remember? Come unto Me, O ye that labor and are heavy laden. I will give you rest. Come unto Me, Jesus said, personally. And I personally will give you rest. Take My yoke personally. My personal yoke upon you. And learn of Me. Me personally. And you shall find rest unto your soul. Young people, salvation is a Person. I agree with Brother John. Something that he shared yesterday when the disciples met Jesus and when John the Baptist met Jesus. He was righteous. Oh, I wonder what He was like. I wonder. He was righteous. He had the beauty of holiness all over Him. His face shone. Now, it didn't shine like it did on the Mount of Transfiguration, but I guarantee you, His face shined with the God who was inside of Him. His face shined. He was full and running over with grace and He was full and running over with truth. He was the visible image of the invisible God. And when His disciples saw Him, they wanted to be with Him. They wanted to be with Him. They wanted to hear Him. They wanted to see Him. They wanted to be like Him. Just like John said there in 1 John, oh, we've seen Him. We've looked upon Him. Our eyes have looked upon Him. Our ears have heard His words. Our hands have touched Him. John was pretty excited about that. And he was the one who said, oh, the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full and running over of grace and full and running over of truth. Yeah, when they saw Jesus, He was a holy man, young people. Don't you doubt it. There was an awesomeness about that Lord Jesus when He walked upon this earth. Now, I know His glory was hidden. It was robed in flesh. I know that. I know it. But I'm telling you, He was a holy man. And those disciples, they saw Him and they wanted to go with Him. They wanted to be with Him. They wanted to hear what He had to say. When He sat down and began to clear His throne, everybody stopped talking. What's He going to say? What is He going to have to say now? Well, it's the same way with us, young people. We want to be with Him. We want to hear Him. We want to see Him. We want to be like Him. And these things can't happen until you have regenesis. Amen? Until there is a regenesis. That's what regeneration means. It's the word genesis. Until there is a regenesis. I agree with Brother John. You have the opportunity to start over. But starting over is not a new resolution. Starting over is so much more than that. Starting over is starting over after a regenerated heart and a cleansed heart and a heart that's been filled with the Spirit of God. And then you say, ok, now I can start over. And you've got the power to succeed. Nicodemus. Remember Nicodemus? Oh, some call him the secret disciple. He was into this whole discipleship stuff. He knew it very well. He came to Jesus and used those words. Rabbi, Master, we know that Thou art a teacher come from God. And He came as a learner. I want to learn something from You. What are You going to tell me? Master, what will You tell me? But isn't it interesting what Jesus did? I mean, here comes Nicodemus, very familiar with this whole matter of the Master Teacher and the Learner and all that. And all of a sudden, you know, he knew this man's got some new things to say. I mean, never a man spake like this man spake his words. He speaketh when he speaketh. He speaketh as one who has authority. He doesn't speak like the scribes and the Pharisees when He opens up His mouth. I want to go and hear some teachings from the Lord Jesus. But Jesus turned it right around on him and said, Nicodemus, except a man be born again, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. He cannot see the Kingdom of Heaven. He cannot experience the Kingdom of Heaven until he is born again. Beautiful! I mean, He took that disciple right back to square one. And young people, that's where we have to start also. We have to start at square one. Have you been born again? Transformed! Translated from the Kingdom of darkness into the glorious Kingdom of His dear Son. Have you been born again? That's the challenge. That's the foundation of true discipleship. Have you? Someone asked me last evening. It was a visitor. Not one of you young people, but it was a visitor from a distant state. They asked me this question. They said, Brother Denny, can a five-year-old get saved? They asked me that question. Ooh! I answered that very carefully to the dear person who asked it to me. Can a five-year-old get saved? Well, I'm not going to be dogmatic here today. I'm not going to tell you, No, no way! No five-year-old can get saved. I'm not going to tell you that. But I'm going to tell you this based on my own experience over the last 25 years of ministry. Most of the time, they don't. Most of the time, they don't. Here's what happens. They're a little child. An innocent child. Oh, they know they do things bad. Sure they do. They know they disobeyed Mom. They got a spanking. They go to church. They hear a sermon on heaven or hell. They don't want to go to hell. And they surely would like to go to heaven. And so they come in tears to their mom and dad. Or they come to the preacher and they say, I want to get saved. I'm afraid I'm going to die and go to hell. And I want to get saved. And so, Mom or Dad or the preacher or somebody says, Oh, that's good, sonny boy. You get down on your knees and you just tell God that you're a sinner and ask Jesus to come into your heart and everything will be fine. And they get down on their knees and tell God that they're a sinner and say, Lord Jesus, please come into my heart. And they feel good. And everybody's happy for them. And Mom and Dad pat them on the back. And the preacher does, you know. And depending on the setting they're in, he gets them up in front of everybody and says, we want to rejoice with little Johnny this morning. He has Jesus into his heart and he's going to be baptized next Sunday. Only thing is, that doesn't really do much most of the time. And there's a reason for that, young people. And this is the reason. Because salvation... Jesus did not come to earth just so that you could get a one-way ticket to heaven and get your escape route out of hell. That is not why Jesus came and died. That's not why He came and died. Salvation is a person who saves you and salvages you from your sin and from yourself. Right? And so the heart who begins to realize the corruption that is inside of me, the heart that begins to say, I need help! I'm tired of the way I'm living! Oh, wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from this body of death, this body of sin, this corruption within me? Who shall deliver me from this? That kind of a heart can call upon the name of the Lord and say, Lord, save me! And they get a regeneration in here. See, when you cry out to God in desperation of the deep need inside of your life, then Jesus comes and saves you. His name is Jesus. And He shall save His people from their sins. Amen? Usually when you're five years old, you don't have any concept of any of that yet. So that's why I say, most of the time, they don't. Now, if you're here today and you look back to something that happened when you were five years old, and as you sit here today, you know you're sitting here in the grace of God and you love the Lord Jesus with all your heart, and your heart unites with the things that are being said here, praise God! I'm not going to question that. But if you're sitting here today and there's no reality within, and it happens, young people, it does! They do that. They pray that prayer. Somebody pats them on the back and for ten or fifteen years, they go through the motions. They go to church. They try to read their Bible, but there's nothing on the inside. And when there's nothing on the inside, it gets pretty dry pretty fast. And I just want to recommend to you that you don't get on this road, this path of discipleship, until you come to Jesus and say, Lord Jesus, save me! I need it! Make sure that the Spirit of His Son dwells within. That is salvation. When the Spirit of His Son is dwelling inside of me, God is inside of me, and I am a new creature. That is salvation. Let's stand to our feet. Lord, we quiet our hearts before You here this morning. We open our hearts to You. O God, I do not want to unsettle anyone who is born again. God, You know my heart. But O Father, there may be some here who are settled in, who need to be unsettled. And I pray that You by Your Spirit will do that work. God, I pray that You will surround the heart of those frail ones who get filled with doubts when they hear this, Lord, but truly are born again. I pray that You will protect those, but God, those that are in this room, they know there's nothing inside and there's never been anything inside. I pray that You will send conviction down upon the heart. And God, we pray, make us these kind of disciples, Lord, that we have heard this morning in this session. We pray in Jesus Christ's name. Amen. You may be seated.