The Call, Costs & Rewards of Discipleship - 2 By Apostle George on Tuesday, October 28, 2014 at 6:59am Introduction During a mission to pray over Rome and its religious altars, we saw with our spiritual and natural eyes how the personal relational gospel which came to the city from Jerusalem and Antioch was effectively substituted with a religious system. This dead religious system has two pillars on which it rests. #.1. The first is that personal relationship with Yahweh is jettisoned for a system where people are primarily members of a physical church. This is the root of denominationalism, a critical enemy of the Most High and His redeemed. When people are comfortable with membership of a church over and above their personal walk with Yahweh they acquire a false sense of security based on observance of religious routine and rituals which act as a sop to the human conscience. The people are thus programmed to see loyalty to the physical church as superior to their loyalty to the King Yahshua their redeemer who is supposedly distant in heaven. #.2. The second pillar is that those who are in the physical church but have no vibrant personal relationship with Yahweh will, of necessity, need mediators to access the mysteries of the heavenlies for them. This is the origin of the apostate priestly caste which stands between Yahweh and men. The result of this situation is that the word of the priests is authoritative and accepted without question since the people are shielded from knowing the Bible themselves. In this state of ignorance, church folks can be manipulated to do the bidding of man rather than the will of their Father. People can therefore be in church and work ostensibly for Yahweh without knowing Him. See Romans 9:1-5; Romans 10:1-5 to see how this principle affected the Hebrews as a people. This is the sad end of legalism. Yahshua is reforming His Church. Part of that process is to empower saints with the right information which will lead them to have a vibrant personal relationship with Him. Flowing from that personal relationship they are taken through a process which will enable them to enjoy intimate fellowship through Holy Spirit indwelling in them and from that stand point proceed to hear and respond to His call to service as co-labourers in His vineyard. It is not the will of Yahweh that any should perish for which He received the sacrifice of Yahshua on behalf of the whole world and those appointed unto salvation receive it by faith, not works as Romans 10:8-12 clearly state. However, the whole counsel of Yahweh in the New Covenant reveal that Salvation by faith is to be the beginning of a process, not an end in itself. That process of discipleship was not only practised by Yahshua with the disciples who came to Him. He furthermore articulated with clarity the demand for those who claim to believe to press on into deeper waters: Matthew 7:13-14 13 Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. Here then is a present and future danger for those who jump the discipleship step and step into ministry based on their spiritual gifts and callings, avoiding the discipleship process to which they are appointed. They may end up as mercenaries preaching, ministering and supposedly blessing multitudes but eventually missing the mark when it counts most. Matthew 7:21-23 21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. A. Definition of a disciple In plain language, a disciple is a Christian indeed. There is a difference between a nominal believer and a Christian. Anyone can claim to believe based on hearing the gospel and purporting to believe in Him. The popular scripture such people use to justify their shallow faith is Romans 10:8-10. That scripture however speaks of the key to enter the kingdom which is faith in Yahshua, Jesus expressed by receiving revelation of Him as propitiation for sin acceptable to the Father in the heart and confessing the same verbally. Yahweh, in His benevolence, made it simple to enter the Kingdom so that no one will be with excuse on the last day. It must be stressed however that He does not expect anyone who enters the Kingdom to remain at the doorstep. A disciple is a follower of Yahshua, Jesus who walks after Him and seeks to be more like Him. As we said in the previous lesson, disciples are not fair weather, milk drinking believers but rather saints who have allowed Holy Spirit and the Word to renew their minds, transform their hearts and they become personal representatives of Yahshua through whom He continues His redemptive assignment in the earth realm. Two Dimensions of Discipleship. There are many saints who grow weary and even offended when they hear teachings on discipleship. The flesh suggests to them that such teachings are for new believers. Some other saints believe that since they are doing great things for Yahweh through their gifts and callings, no one should talk to them about such ‘elementary’ topics as discipleship. This is a major strategy of Satan to confuse such saints. It is necessary to understand that discipleship has two dimensions: an Act and a Process. Using the relationship of Yahshua, Jesus with the Disciples, we see clearly that there were specific days when they encountered Him and received His call. The whole counsel of Scripture also teaches us that they still needed to be processed throughout His time with them and even after He ascended to heaven. The Act is the dramatic dimension of discipleship which happens the day you discover the vanity of life that is lived for self and make the decision to reverse course and live for the redeemer as His vessel to manifest His nature, Presence and Power. This is the day the believer responds to the upward call of King Yahshua and dies to self. Matthew 16:24-26 (KJV) 24 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. 25 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.26 For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? It is an experiential encounter that is not easy to forget and one which is a tangible reality which shifts the focus of life and determines what pursuits that becomes primary in life. This affects every area of life including attitude to life, death, money, fashion, fame and indeed all other things which average Christians are concerned with! Galatians 2:20 (KJV) 20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. The second dimension is the process of longing after Him which never ceases until you run your course or see Him in glory. Paul best illustrated this dimension through these verses of scripture: Philippians 3:7-14 (KJV) 7 But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. 8 Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, 9 And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: 10 That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; 11 If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead. 12 Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. 13 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Explanation There is thus an invitation to enter into the Kingdom in its fullness. That invitation is the call to discipleship, a call which draws a believer into a life of: Seeking after King Yahshua for a deeper, intimate relationship with Him and not for the blessings he bestows. It is a state that makes you hunger and thirst for more of Him and yet seeking more and more. You are processed daily to be like him from glory to glory, never stopping until you see Him in the ultimate glory of the hereafter. Matthew 5:6 (KJV) 6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. 2. A covenantal relationship with Yahweh rather than a casual one so that He can commission you to represent Him as His ambassador by the real anointing of the Holy Spirit that produces a transformed character and empowered witness - Acts 1:8. 3. Dying to self so that Yahshua may occupy the throne of your heart; this requires switching loyalty from yourself to Him. In effect, it is an invitation to lose your self life at the cross and take up His own life instead as the core of your being - Matthew 16:24–26; Galatians 2:20. 4. Pressing into the fullness of the purpose of Yahweh in creating and redeeming you. 5. Coming to a place where Yahshua, Jesus is the centre of your life and where you find the fullness of satisfaction in Him alone. 6. Discovering and utilising all the properties which are part of your spiritual DNA (spiritual gifts, talents, life experiences, skills acquired, education, opportunities, business/job and income thereof) to declare the gospel and advance the Kingdom as the primal purpose for which you are alive. Caveat This is not an invitation to resign businesses or jobs for ‘full time ministry’ as some religious people teach. Someone may be in full time ministry but not be a disciple of Yahshua, Jesus because his/her belly is the really god being served. The principle behind discipleship is this: Yahweh owns us by Creation, Redemption and His Providential care over our lives. He is simply asking us to recognize this reality and come to a place where we surrender all of our beings, ambitions and desires to Him. In recognition that He owns us, we give His Holy Spirit right of way to lead us in making decisions about everything including how to use the time, money and other assets and resources He graciously gives us
Posted on: Mon, 26 Jan 2015 09:44:02 +0000
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