Yeshua Calls You to Leave the Past Behind and Follow Him

“But what does America have to do with ancient Israel? Israel was unique among nations in that it was conceived and dedicated at its foundation for the purposes of God. Ok..But there was one other – a civilization also conceived and dedicated to the will of God from its conception…America. In fact, those who laid its foundations…the Founding Fathers. No, long before the Founding Fathers. Those who laid America’s foundations saw it as a new Israel, and Israel of the New World. And as with ancient Israel, they saw it as in covenant with God? Meaning? Meaning its rise or fall would be dependent on its relationship with God. If it followed His ways, America would become the most blessed, prosperous, and powerful nation on earth. From the very beninng they foretold it. And what they foretold would come true. America would rise to heights no other nation had ever known. Not that it was ever without fault or sin, but it would aspire to fuilfill its callings. What calling? To be a vessel of redemption, an instrument of God’s purposes, a light to the world. It would give refuge to the world’s poor and needy, and hope to its oppressed. It would stand against tyranny. It would fight, more than once, against the dark movements of the modern world that threatened to engulf the earth.”
Jonathan Cahn

Above the things of God. You’re putting the dead above the law about what is alive. What about the Spirit?
Righteousness, peace, Holy Spirit. You know, everything else becomes that people who put their, their, their life about material things that ends up being dead in the end.
Even if they’re there, it doesn’t matter if they’re billionaires, it’s dead without God, but you righteousness, peace, love the Holy Spirit that’s alive.
It’s true.
The disciples had backgrounds, they had jobs, they had professions, a good amount of them were judged as being of a low class, but that’s not who they were or who they became or how the entire world knows them.
2000 years later, they were disciples of the Messiah. And you have the same honor tonight.
You’re not bound by the world. You have the greatest honor. You are his disciple.
And this is now a verse which is very much about the disciple and his and the calling of God verse 57 as they were going on the road.
Somebody said to him, I will follow you wherever you go.
And Yeshua Jesus said to him, the foxes have holes, the birds of the sky, they have nests.
But the son of man himself, the son of man has nowhere to lay his head.
In other words, you want to follow me. Well, this is what we’re doing. This is where it’s at.
This is what this is what you have. And he said to another follow me.
But he said, he replied, Lord, allow me first to go and bury my father.
Now, one of the key words throughout this entire account is the word follow the word following Greek is the word Ako.
Ako, you theo interesting word because it literally means to be together on the road, to be on the same road together.

The disciples of Messiah were literally together with him on the road, which tells you something right away.
Being a disciple is linked to the road, not necessarily a physical road, but a spiritual one which me means that you’re going somewhere, there is movement in your life.
If you’re a disciple, there is a direction to your life, there is change in your life or else you’re not a disciple.
Messiah is on the road and in a spiritual realm, he’s moving and you need to move with him.
Spiritually, the man says, we’re assuming it said, let me bury my father. Now what happened? What happened?
That would think about that. Let me bury my, what happened? His father just died that morning. They’re eating cereal.
His father chokes on the cornflakes and dies and the guy leaves him there and hangs out with the Lord.
Is that what happened? There are different forms of funerals, different cultures have different forms.
If you’re Irish, it’s often a long, you know, wake, it’s many people are buried, uh, you know, a week after and there’s so there’s all these things going on.
The Jewish form of burial is not quite like that. It’s very quick Jewish burial.
They take you out, you’re out gone, you’re sick. You’re over 60. You took a nap for too long.
They take you out. Where are you taking me? We’re taking you out. But I’m not dead. You coughed.
You know the rules, you’re out. Now that morning, let’s say his father had choked died.
There’s no way he’d be somewhere else. So what does he mean here first? Let me bury my father.
It’s a way of saying I will follow you after my father has died. That’s what he’s saying.
I will follow you after I take care of all my obligations. When and my father are finished.
Maybe he worked for his father when he’s dead.
Then I will follow you as your Messiah as, as you are the Messiah and I’ll be your disciple to which Messiah says, Jesus responds.
Yeshua says, let the dead bury the dead. Whoa let the dead.
But now again, the, the, the whole thing is not about that. The father just died.
It’s like he says, he said, let the dead. Now, family obligation to our family, of course, is important.
The Bible says, if you don’t take care of your family, you’re like an infidel family is ministry.
But even family is not above God. God is first and only then can everything else be right?
People can make idols of good things and things that are of God.
You can make an idol of ministry and then you can make an idol of family that’s still, that’s not God.
Yes. All these things are of God. But God has to still be first. Let the dead bury the dead.
The Greek could be translated. Let the dead take care of all the funeral rites, let the door, let the dead celebrate the funeral, the dead, but the dead can’t bury the dead.
Why? Because they’re dead? He’s speaking in a different realm.
He’s speaking in a sense of those who are, they don’t have the light or, or, or spiritually dead can focus on the dead.
Things focusing on death is for the dead is what he’s saying really. But you, you’re of life.
The Bible says that if you’re of God, your of life, God says you’re gonna people of life have nothing to do with death in the Jewish way.
When you look at the, you look at the law, they were to have nothing to do with that.
That doesn’t mean they didn’t bury, of course they did.
But keep everything all the dead all that’s outside the camp, don’t touch any dead thing.
And in a sense he’s saying you’re a disciple, you need to be concerned with life.
I didn’t call you to bury the dead. I called you to raise the dead, the dead, bury the dead.
But those who are truly alive, they make those who are dead come alive in one way or another disciple has to get away from the way of death.
That’s the ultimate point that let the dead bury the dead. But you proclaim the kingdom of life.
That’s what you’re called to. Now, he’s not speaking to a summon every student here or a ministerial student or a Bible college student.
He just, he simply says, you proclaim the gospel.
Proclaiming the gospel is not for the ministers, proclaiming the gospel is for everybody.
He said, if you are a disciple, if you’re a believer, you’re a disciple.
If you’re a disciple, he said, go and proclaim the kingdom. Every single person has a calling in that.
And if and if the world is the way it is, it’s because probably about 90% of believers are not doing that.
And so all those people who would have been affected are not being affected.
We are called to proclaim the king. That’s what he said.
If we don’t do it, don’t expect things to go well or with your society, you are called to proclaim disciples are to proclaim and be bold.
Just do it. He didn’t ask you to do it.
He commanded it go therefore and proclaim the gospel do it.
Now we have a million excuses just as they did. I can’t because of this.
I can’t because I’m not qualified. I can’t because I don’t have time.
I can’t because it’s all, it’s all saying, Lord, I won’t. You told me to do it and I won’t.
Instead of having excuses just stop repent and do what he called you to do.
He’s gonna bless you. So here’s the choice. Proclaim the gospel of life or bury the dead.
Go with God’s calling or you’ll end up with dead things if you put that which is dead above that, which is alive, you become dead now who hangs out with the dead in the Bible?
Well, who hangs out and dead?
And in the movies, zombies do vampires do ghouls do ghost, do you’re a disciple you say?
But I don’t put, you know, in the Bible. Damani ax. Do they hang out in tombs?
But you’re saying I don’t put dead things above living things. Okay. Think about it.
How much emphasis do you put on? Money? Money is not alive. Money is dead.
How much do you put on possessions? Possessions aren’t alive.
Most of them are dead above the things of God.
You’re putting the dead above the law about what is alive. What about the spirit, righteousness, peace, holy Spirit.
You know, everything else becomes dead?
People who put their, their, their life about material things that ends up being dead in the end, even if they’re there, it doesn’t matter if they’re billionaires, it’s dead without God.
But you righteousness, peace, love the Holy Spirit that’s alive.
I know a man who put, who in the ministry years ago, put his calling.
He had a calling on his life and he loved the Lord and I mean, but he had a strong calling and he knew it, but he ended up getting involved in business and money.
And I’m not saying getting involved in business is wrong.
You can use that for the Lord if it’s God’s will.
But he, he was taking all sorts of courses on business and he wasn’t home.
And the time came where a ministry position opened up, it was his chance to fulfill it.
And he said he knew it recently, God was speaking to him and he was saying, speaking to him saying it’s now or never.
But then a few weeks later, he said, no, he had to pursue a higher position in his job.
Soon after his marriage fell apart, he lost his ministry. He lost everything you are of life.
Why do you seek the living among the dead?
The living, don’t dwell in the dead, dead, dead, dwell with the dead disciple must be of life and leave anything that is not alive that is dead.
And so that is not going to to life, sin is dead, sin leads to death.
Gossip is dead, leads to death. The disciple has no business. Gossiping, bitterness leads to death.
I mean, literally, it actually messes up. Your health, actually gives you grazes the chances you’re gonna get cancer.
If you, if you get with bitter and many other problems, disciple has no business with it.
Idolatry is dead has no business. Sexual immorality is dead.
It leads to it, it takes sexuality which is of life and turns it against God’s way and it leads to death.
The disciple has no business in things that are not alive that are dead.
Let me first bury, the dead. Disciple is in the business of life.
Once when I was before I was in full time ministry and I was working with disabled Children.
I was driving a van with everybody there and others who help me with this and I exited onto a road and I looked back and all the cars in back of me have their lights on.
I had exited right into a funeral possession.
Possession and I didn’t realize it and I just came right in and I was right behind the hearse and it’s a big van.
It was blocking the whole thing. And they’re saying, what do we do?
We’re in the middle of a funeral. What do you do? What are we doing? What we do?
I said, I don’t know, I’ll put my lights on.
So I put my lights on and then had to figure how to get out of there.
You may be in a course of life or a pattern that is dead and you’re part, it’s a funeral possession and God is saying, get out of it, break out of what is dead.
Do the work of life, pursue life and you won’t be caught in that don’t get wrapped, get wrapped up into the things of God and the, and the purpose of God and the call of God and the ministry of God and the, and the spirit of God and you won’t be wrapped up in dead things.
Don’t get, if you’re in a dead, dead situations, get out dead thoughts, get out of it.
The disciple must leave what is dead.