1. The
Perspective of Discipleship .
2. The Position
of Discipleship.
3. The Purposes
of Discipleship.
4. The Priorities
of Discipleship.
5. The Proofs of
Discipleship
6. The Prize of
Discipleship
7. The Placement
of Discipleship [Ed note: Bro. Earls
omitted this topic from the final series]
8. The Posture
of Discipleship
The Perspective
of Discipleship
First, we want to view
discipleship from the perspective of the
importance that Jesus placed on
it, in relation to other truths that He
taught. Jesus began his ministry
in the flesh by calling disciples
(Mt. 4:17-24), and ended His
ministry by commanding these disciples
to "go therefore and make disciples
of all the nations, baptizing them in
the name of the Father and the Son and
the Holy Spirit, teaching them
to observe all that I
commanded you; and lo, I am with
you always, even to the end of
the age." (Mt. 28:19-20.) Notice, that
He did not tell them to just make
converts to get people saved, but rather
to "make disciples," and to teach them all
He had commanded. The Greek word for disciple
means a "learner" or "pupil;" one who has
placed himself under another to be taught
and disciplined by him in a WAY OF
LIFE. I will say
more about this later, but let me make it
clear right now,
that there is no Scriptural
grounds for being a disciple of anyone
except Jesus Christ. We are not to be
disciples of men.
In Marks
account of the great commission, Jesus is simply
quoted as saying, Go into all the world and
preach the gospel to all creation. (Mark 15).
Tragically, this "gospel" word, which in the
original Greek means "good news" or "glad
tidings," has been limited by the traditions of
the churches to just the message of initial
salvation. But what "gospel" did Jesus preach?
It is repeatedly stated that He preached the
"good news" of the KINGDOM of God
(and / or "heaven"). (Mt. 4:17,23, Mark 1:14,
Luke 4:43). Surely, the "good news" of the Kingdom
of God
is more than that there is an "entrance gate"
(initial salvation!) Oh the MAGNITUDE of the
TRUTH which Jesus taught concerning the
KINGDOM-RULE of God for this earth, for the here
and now, and for the future.
Beloved, can we begin to comprehend the magnitude
and greatness of the Kingdom Jesus came
to present and to demonstrate, and all of the
"good news" that characterizes ALL of it, not
just the "gospel" of an entrance gate (initial
salvation). I cannot go into detail here or
document with Scripture, because the subject is
too vast. But to summarize briefly: what about
the ineffable beauty and glory
of, the KING of this Kingdom, whom to know is to
LOVE, and which, in time, begins to so captivate
the "lover" so that only infinite wisdom could
possibly comprehend the extent to which that
love would SACRIFICE for the King, the interests
of the Kingdom, and the ultimate welfare of ALL
(or every last one) of its citizens.
But lest we get things
out of their proper order, what about the LOVE
of the KING (who "begat" His love IN us), and
His ULTIMATE; and ABSOLUTE sacrifice on the
cross, whereby He bore the full weight of
man's sin with incredible suffering, but also
sealed an everlasting covenant
(Heb. 13:20-21) which ESTABLISHED His KINGDOM
of LOVE (He has no other kingdom, for He
accepts only those who are willingly obedient
out of love), and also made available to every
citizen all the INCREDIBLE BENEFITS OF THAT
KINGDOM. And, beloved, ALL of the blessings,
rights, privileges, authority, power,
purposes, responsibilities, sonship, future
destinies, as well as present day provisions
yes, even miracles, whenever necessary. What a
glorious "gospel" (good news) of the KINGDOM
we have to declare and to be a part of. Let's
take a look at what Paul says.
After rebuking
the Corinthians for their sectarian
preferences for certain preachers, and
likely different aspects of truth
they were emphasizing, Paul shows the
foolishness of such "picking" and
"choosing;" for, he declares: "Therefore let
no man glory (boast) in men. For ALL THINGS
are yours; whether Paul, or Apollos,
or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death,
or things present, or things to
come; ALL are yours; and you
are Christ's, and Christ is God's" (I Cor.
3:2l-23).
A very important
distinction needs to be made here, however. As
citizens of God's Kingdom, what is ours legally
or positionally, must become ours experientially
(actually become a part of our experience,
incorporated into our lives as a "living
reality," so that we can say that we "possess"
it). This takes time, and also depends upon
the degree of our diligence,
and the eagerness of our response to God and
the truth of His Word. This is where Discipleship
comes in. But before I further develop that
theme, I want to illustrate from two other
perspectives the difference between positional
truth and experiential truth.
[ Positional Vs. Experiential
Truth ]
Suppose that a young man came
from another country to the United
States
as a legal immigrant with a view to
becoming a citizen. He rents an
apartment in New York
and in due time, after completing the
requirements, he becomes a citizen of
this great country. But because of [the]
language barrier (he doesn't put forth
the effort to learn English very well),
as well as fear of venturing out and a
desire to be left alone, other than
frequenting the stores to secure the
necessities of life, he never goes
beyond two or three blocks of his
apartment, having secured employment in
a store within that area. He spends the
rest of his life never experiencing
the wonders of the great city of New York,
let alone "taking in" the vast
"richness" of the beauty and glory of
all 50 states of the country that he is
now a citizen of, even though he has the
"right" and "privilege" to travel where
he pleases. Contrast this man
with another immigrant becoming a
citizen of this country in his youth.
But his desire and "drive" is entirely
different. He diligently studies the
English language, goes to school and
gets a good education, which lead to a
well paying job. On his week-ends and
vacations, he travels as much as
possible and "takes in" much of his new
country. He diligently seeks to please
his employer and rapidly advances in his
company, making more money, having more
time off and traveling to more parts of
the country.
After accumulating considerable wealth,
he is able to retire early and spend
many years traveling to virtually every
state to enjoy the beauties, wonders and
blessings of this great country. Now
consider: legally, both
of these citizens [have] exactly the
same "positional rights" or
"standing" in this country. But how vastly
different is their experience.
Potentially, of both it could be
said of the vast expanse and "treasures
beautiful" of this country: ALL THINGS ARE
YOURS. But one is just content to be a
citizen and incorporate very little into
his experience. But the other, through a
life time of diligent effort and application
takes the potential and turns it into
actual experience, vastly "enriching"
himself with what this country has to
offer.
Now keep in mind
the above is only meant to be an illustration.
I'm not trying to get you interested
in the natural things of this life or
nation. But spiritually there is a parallel.
Few Christians have grasped the great spiritual
potential that is theirs to claim,
"press into" and incorporate into their
experience as they grow in their knowledge
of Christ and "go deeper" INTO Him in a
personal and intimate love relationship. But
it will never happen without a commitment to
DISCIPLESHIP, which will become clear as we
progress in this study. But let me
illustrate further the difference between
what is ours positionally (and potentially),
because of our citizenship in God's Kingdom,
and what can become ours personally (in
experience).
[ - Typified in Abraham ]
After God had
brought Abraham into the land of Canaan,
He said to him: "Lift up now your
eyes, and look from the place where you are
northward, and southward, and eastward, and
westward: for all the land which you
see, to you will I
give it, and to your seed for
ever" (Gen. 13:14-15). But then God gave
Abraham a command as follows: "Arise, walk
through the land in the length of it,
and in the breadth of it; for I will give it
to you" (Gen. 13:17). "It was one
thing for Abraham to view from a distance
the land that God promised as a part of the
covenant position which was his. It was
quite another thing for him to put forth the
effort to walk throughout that land
and make it a part of his personal
experience. After the commandment to
"walk through it," we read in Gen. 13:18:
"then Abram removed his tent, and came and
dwelt in the plain of Mamre, which is in Hebron,
and built there an altar to the
Lord." As Abram continued to move
through the land, every place he went, he
built an altar to the
Lord, which speaks to us of a fresh
dedication to the will of God. And we
need to realize that our personal possession
of our FULL "inheritance in Christ" can only
become a reality through a daily "ALTAR
experience" (see Rom. 12:1).
Later, when Abraham's seed was
ready to actually take possession of the
promised land, God re-emphasized
the same truth as portrayed
through Abraham. Speaking to Joshua, who
was t o lead the people in, He said: "go
over this Jordan, you, and all
this people, to the land which I
do give to them, even to the children of Israel.
Every place that the sole of
your foot shall tread on,
that have I given to
you, as I said to Moses" (Josh.
1:2-3; see also Deut. 11:24). Although the
land was theirs by covenant right, only
that portion which they were willing to go
in and take and put their foot on
would become their personal possession.
This not only requires time and effort, it
required WARFARE against the inhabitants
of the land. Although God promised to
fight for them and drive out the
inhabitants of the land before them, they
still had to be willing to "take
up the sword" and do battle, so
that God could defeat the enemy THROUGH
them. He also said that he would not drive
out the enemy all at once, but rather He
declared: "By little and little, I will
drive them out from before you,
until you be increased, and
inherit the land" (Ex. 23:30). The lesson
for us is that we do not possess our
inheritance in Christ all at once,
but gradually, as we are
willing to take our commitment to
Christ seriously and become
His disciples, as we shall see
later.
[ Concept of "Inheritance:"
Moving from Position to Experience ]
This very matter of
"inheritance" illustrates further positional
and experiential truth as we apply it to the
Christian who has been born into the family or
Kingdom
of God.
Consider a natural family. Any child born into
that family immediately has certain legal
or positional rights (inheritance)
just by being in the family. As he grows,
he is able to begin to actually experience
increased measures of that "inheritance"
as he is able to enjoy and benefit from the
things his parents provide for him, know and
experience their love and care, and as he
gradually broadens his scope and number of
activities which "enrich" his life. In
addition through growth and knowledge, he is
required to assume greater
responsibilities as a part of enjoying
his inheritance. Eventually, along with
any other children in the family, he is
destined to be a joint-heir of all that his
parents have to offer. Actually, from the
point of "positional truth", he is a
"joint-heir" the moment he is born into the
family; but he will not actually experience
the FULLness of it until time, growth,
experience and responsibility
have come to pass in his life.
[ - Understanding the Jewish
Custom of Inheritance ]
Since the Jewish
customs of inheritance in Bible days
differed somewhat from ours, let me briefly
outline the process required of a Jewish
boy.
When a Jewish boy reached the age
of 12 (some say 13), a
special religious ceremony was held for him.
Through this ceremony, the boy is recognized
as beginning his adult life, has
reached the age of accountability whereby he
becomes accountable for his own actions. At
this time he entered the business of his
father as an apprentice so that he might
learn his life's occupation. At the age of 20,
he entered the military service of his
country and was subject to call to battle
whenever necessary. At the age of 30,
having been released from active military
duty, the Jewish man reaches the age of full
maturity. It is usually in his 30th
year that he goes into business for
himself, no longer working with his
father. And at the age of 40, he should be
able to enjoy the fruits of his labors. It
was at the age of 30, when it was time for
him to launch out on his own, that the
father gave him his portion of the family
inheritance. It was not at the time of
the death of the parents that the
inheritance was divided up, as is our
custom. We can see this Jewish custom in the
story of the "prodigal son" as given in Luke
15:11-32. In vs. 12, one of the sons says:
"Father, give me the share of the estate
that falls to me." And the Father divided
his wealth between them. (NAS Bible). At
that time the Father obviously did not know
what the son was going to do with his
portion. He probably thought the son was
eager to get started "on his own" to make
his living.
It is interesting to note
that this practice was followed by the
Heavenly Father's dealing with His own
Son, Jesus. Jesus did not leave his
natural family to "launch out on His
own" until He was 30 years old. It was
at that time (with the Heavenly
Father's approval"This is My beloved Son, in
whom I am well pleased." (Mt. 3:17). The
portion of the "inheritance" given to
him to accomplish the "work" he was to
do on the earth was the "Spirit without
measure" (John 3:34), leading to the
"Spirit-powered ministry" (Luke 4:14),
which enabled Him to "finish the work"
which the Father had given Him to do
(John 17:4). When He performed His first
miracle at Cana of Galilee, we read that
He "manifested forth his glory"
(John 2:11). He was not only the Divine
Son of the Heavenly Father, but He was
also humanity's FIRST "manifested
(unveiled) son", walking in the
pristine glory of restored
immortality which was lost by the
first man, Adam. This "manifest sonship"
was later raised to a higher level
when His physical body was GLORIFIED
(after His death for our sins, and AT the time of His
resurrection).
When a Jewish man, at
the age of 30, was given his portion of the
family inheritance, he became a "joint-heir"
with His father, being officially PLACED by
the father in his FULL inheritance. What had
been his legally and positionally
even at his birth, was now his experientially.
But between the two were years of
learning, discipline, growing
experiences, and incorporating truth into his
life. With this natural illustration in mind,
I want to comment on a portion of Paul's
writings in Romans, chap. 8, as we consider
our spiritual inheritance "in Christ."
(Be patient, for all of this preparatory
"perspective" will eventually lead us to
understand the importance of DISCIPLESHIP).
The following is taken from Rom. 8:16-19: "The
Spirit itself bears witness with our
spirit, that we are the children
of God; and if children, then heirs: heirs of
God, and joint-heirs with Christ; IF so be
that we suffer with him, that we may be
also glorified together. For I reckon
that the sufferings of this present time are
not worthy to be compared with the glory which
shall be revealed in us. For the earnest
expectation of the creature (all creation)
waits for the manifestation
of the sons of God."
First, notice
that we are "children," which is
translated from the Greek word teknon
(which means "a child"--as produced). This would
indicate one spiritually immatureyet, as Paul says, "an heir"
(positionally and potentially).
But then in the last verse, Paul speaks of
the expectation (future) manifestation of
the "sons" of God. The Greek word
translated "sons" is huios, which
is usually used to denote a matured son.
And such, Paul says, are to be
"manifested" (unveiled or revealed). This
"manifestation" would correspond in our
illustration of the Jewish custom when the
age of 30 had been reached and the Father
was ready to "reveal" to his friends and
neighbors, and other family members, that
a certain son was ready to assume the
status of full manhood, receive his
portion of the family inheritance, and be
officially "placed" in the presence of those called to witness the
occasion in the position of full "joint-heir"
in the family.
[ The Meaning of "Suffering"
with Christ ]
But take note that Paul
places a qualification between being
"children" and "manifested sons;" he
says, "IF so be that we SUFFER WITH
HIM (Christ)." The word "suffer" is a
translation of the Greek word sumpascho.
The "sum" part is a preposition which
denotes "union""together with"
(in association or companionship), and
can also connote the idea of
"completeness." The rest of the word
means to "experience a sensation or
impression" (sometimes painful). It is
the same word that is used of Jesus in
Heb. 5:9, where it says the He "learned
obedience by the things which he
suffered." The English word "suffer" as
we use it today conveys a too "narrow"
and "specific" meaning to give us the
full, meaning of the Greek word, which
simply indicates any or all of
the impressions or sensations
(mental, emotional or physical) which
make up an experience or all
the experiences of life. This is
one of the drawbacks of using the King
James Version, which was translated in
1611 A.D. In any "living language," over
a period of time, words tend to change
their meaning. However, the Greek word
does convey the idea that these
experiences can be painful; thus
implying "suffering" (either to the
"inner man" of the heart or to the
physical body). It's like a child
growing up who must go through many
experiences to come to maturity. For
various reasons (which you can obviously
figure out), some of those experiences
are going to be painful and involve some
suffering.
With the above
explanation, go back and read again the
passage from Rom. 8:16-19, and I believe you
will better understand the qualification
stated by Paul for those who aspire to be
among the "manifested sons" who will be
"glorified together" with Christ to "reign"
with Him, namely: "IF SO BE THAT WE SUFFER
WITH HIM" (8:17). Just as Jesus placed
Himself under the instruction
and discipline of the Father,
that He might learn to be obedient
in every situation and experience to the
Father's will, so must we place ourselves
under the instruction and discipline
of Christ for the same reason. This is
the essence of DISCIPLESHIP as we shall see.
Another pertinent scripture is found in Heb.
2:10 where we read: "For it became him
(Jesus), for whom are all things, and by whom
are all things in bringing many sons to
glory, to make the captain of their salvation
perfect through sufferings."
The Greek word translated "sufferings" here is
pathema; it is slightly different than
the other word we were discussing, but is
similar and can be traced back to the same
root: it means "something undergone
(possibly a hardship or pain; or an emotion or
influence.). But again, we are dealing with
the varied experiences of life. The Greek word
translated "perfect" in this passage is telos,
and indicates the reaching of a set
goal, and can thus be variously
translated "complete," "finish," "conclusion,"
"mature," "perfect"--as indicating the
"ultimate" arrived at. If you will read the
rest of Heb., chap. 2, you will see that Jesus
was, through the experiences of his life,
being prepared for that ultimate "role" He was
to fulfill as a "merciful and faithful HIGH
PRIEST:" ". . . for in that he himself has
suffered being tempted, he is able to [help]
them that are tempted" (Heb.2:17-18). But,
remember, that as a KING-PRIEST ("High
Priest"), He is not to fulfill this "role" or
"function" ALONE in the coming Kingdom. There
are those who are going to rule as "kings" and
"priests" WITH Him (Rev. 1:6, 5:10). That is
why Heb. 2:10 says that He must "bring many sons
to glory" (the same glory that He has). Notice
that it is sons (huios), that He will
bring to glory; not "children" (teknon).
[ Explanation of Sonship ]
There is one other word that I
must bring to your attention before
going to Jesus specific teaching on
Discipleship. It is the Greek word huiothesia,
translated several times in the King
James Version as "adoption." The Greek
work means "the placing as a son." It
has nothing to do with "adoption" as we
use that English word in our day.
According to the Scriptures, we are
"born" into the family and kingdom of
God;
not "adopted." John 3:3-7 & I Pet.
1:23. The
problem comes from not understanding Jewish
customs. The "thesia" part of that
Greek word comes from another Greek
derivation which can mean to "appoint,"
"commit" or "ordain;" "give," or "set
forth." We are dealing here again with
that specific time when the son
of a Jewish father reaches the point in
his life (around the age of 30),
when the Father, usually in a special
ceremony, "appoints" to that son his
portion of the family estate or
inheritance, and "places" him in
the position of a FULL joint-heir
in the family. With this understanding,
then Rom.
8:23 makes sense: "And not only they,
but ourselves also, which 'have the
firstfruits of the Spirit, even we
ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting
for the adoption, to wit, the redemption
of our body." Notice that this "placing
as a son" is something that we are
"waiting" for; and it comes only when it
is time for the "redemption" (and
glorification) of the physical
body. Then the "joint-heirship"
with Christ will become a reality
in the experience of those who qualify.
I will not take time to deal with the
other passages where this Greek word huiothesia
appears. Just one more remark. I am sure
that when Paul uses the expression "we,"
he was not thinking of anyone less than
a born-again, spirit-baptized,
sanctified, cleansed, maturing and
"overcoming" Christiannamely the 100-fold
category. I believe I can prove this by
other references in Paul's writings, but
that is beyond our scope in this
particular study. Great confusion comes
from not recognizing the different
categories of Christians, and our
foundation for this is provided in the
teachings of Jesus, although I believe
such are alluded to in Paul's writings IF
we first get the right understanding from
Jesus' teachings. Great confusion has also
come from trying to build foundational
doctrine from the writings of Paul.
The foundation must come from
the very words of Jesus. Writings beyond
that provide amplification and additional
insight.
The
Position of
Discipleship
[
Distinguishing Discipleship from the
Initial Gift of Eternal Salvation ]
We do not become a
disciple of Christ in order to
become a Christian, or in order to "get
saved." Salvation precedes
Discipleship. Neither do we take
Scriptures that are dealing with
Discipleship and try to make them
applicable to salvation as many do.
For the sake of this study, I am using the
word "salvation" in the sense of our initial
receiving of Christ as our Savior with the
resultant gift of eternal life for the soul.
That which Jesus referred to as being "born
from above" (John 3:3), and expressed in his
words in John 5:24: "Truly, Truly,
I say to you, He that hears
my word, and believes on him that
sent me, has everlasting life, and
shall not come into condemnation; but is
passed from death to life." In John 4:10,
Jesus calls it the GIFT of God, and makes
clear that this gift IS "everlasting life."
I need not go into the many scriptures which
show that this "eternal life" for the soul
is the present possession of all who have
truly repented and sincerely believed with
their heart in Jesus Christ as the Son of
God and their Savior.
I point out the
foregoing only because some teach
"salvation" as on on-going process; such as,
we have been saved from the guilt and
penalty of sin, we are being saved from the
power and defilement of sin (as well as
being saved or delivered from many problems,
both inner and outer, that hinder the
progress of our "Christian walk," and we
shall eventually be saved from the very
presence of sin. I believe there is merit
in this approach, but for my purposes in
this article,
I am seeking to emphasize Christ's
call to DISCIPLE-SHIP as context in
which to portray our need to progress
and grow in our Christian commitment
and experience IF we are to receive the greater
benefits of Christ's Kingdom; even as
I pointed out earlier, the "gospel" (good
news) of the Kingdom involves far more than
just the message of the GIFT of eternal life
for the soul, which is just the "entrance
gate".
[ Ed. Comment:
Brother Earls has undertaken the
difficult task of separating out the
concept of ongoing discipleship from new
birth class salvation. The difficulty
is that the term "salvation" has
many degrees of biblical application,
some of which are permanent, others not;
some of which are instantaneous and
others progressive; and some of which
are besttowed entirely apart from our
participation while others must be
"worked out with fear and trembling" on
our part. From my perspective,
discipleship is in fact all about the
ongoing salvation of the soul beyond
eternal spiritual rebirth, though
Brother Earls would be reticent to
acknowledge this if not outright
disagree with it. Regardless, whatever
relationship discipleship has to any
other degree of salvation, his burden is
to prevent confusion of
discipleship with eternal spiritual
new birth which is bestowed entirely
apart from our participation and cannot
be lost--contrary to the indiscriminate
teaching of extreme wilderness
discipleship salvationists
who confuse these two dimensions of
salvation. For this cause at very least,
he is restricting the term "salvation"
to refer to eternal spiritual
new birth.]
I want now to
focus your attention on a KEY scripture
which, I believe, presents Christ's
two-fold call or invitation: first to
SALVATION, and then, secondly to
DISCIPLESHIP. The scripture is found in Mt. 11:28-30.
For the sake of illustration I will divide
the Scripture as follows:
|
SALVATION
Come
to me, all
that labour and are
heavy laden, and I will
give you rest.
(Mt. 11:28)
|
DISCIPLESHIP
Take my yoke
on you, and learn
of me; for
I am meek and lowly in
heart: and you
shall find rest
to your souls.
For my yoke is easy and
my burden is light.
(Mt. 11:29-30)
|
Notice that there are two
distinct invitations and two promises of
"rest." The first "rest" Jesus promises to ''give"
would certainly relate to those who come to
Him laden with their great burden of sin and
guilt, receiving from Him that which He is
willing to give: forgiveness of all their sins
and the gift of eternal life. Thus the first
invitation is to come to Him for salvation.
The second "rest" is that which He will enable
those who respond to "find," providing
they fulfill the conditions. The first
condition is to "take my yoke on
you," and the second is "learn of me." Now,
immediately following, Jesus states two things
about Himself which are parallel
to the two requirements He gives. Let me
"pair" them as follows to show what I mean.
|
Take
my yoke on
you
I
am meek.
|
Learn
of me
I am lowly in
heart.
|
There is no way we can
understand these statements of Jesus about
Himself unless we see them in terms of His
relationship to His Heavenly Father.
Thus, Jesus is asking us to relate ourselves
to Him, in the same way that He is related
to the Heavenly Father. I will explain what
I mean by this, but I want to unfold it
under the next section as we discuss the purposes
of Discipleship.
The Purposes of
Discipleship
[ Purpose 1: To
Become "Yoked Up" ]
(1) The first purpose of
Discipleship is to "get yoked up"
to Jesus Christ, even as He is "yoked"
to the Father. This will enable Him to
work the quality of "meekness" in
us, even as He is "meek." What is
"meek? Some translations use the words
"mild" or "gentle," but I believe it
means far more than that. I
think most of you are aware that a
"yoke" is the "brace" that "ties" two
animals together in such a way that
makes it imperative for them to move
and work AS ONE; making a
"team," as a "yoke of oxen." To "take
Jesus' yoke" means that you give up
your "right" to any independent
action on your ownyou are committed to
the will of Jesus Christ and His
will alone. It means also that you
"yield" to the Lord all other so-called
"self rights" which the carnal
nature in each of us instinctively wants
to "exercise"the
"rights" to be self-assertive, to be
selfishly ambitious, to take offense, to
"get even", to retaliate, to take things
into our own hands, to get
carnally angry and "lash out" at someone
(in word or deed), to always justify
ourselves and blame someone else, to
"put someone else down," to try to
promote ourselves, to get resentful or
bitter, to try to promote ourselves in
the eyes of others, etc. etc. (you can
add to the list). The reason for this is
that our "yoking up" with Christ is NOT
a "yoking of equals."
Jesus did NOT say "let's get
yoked together." He said, "you TAKE MY
YOKE upon you." He Is the Lord
(masterboss), and we are His
servant, or more accurately, His
"love-slaves." Although we are
"workers together with Him" (II Cor.
6:1), Only He initiates the
work or "spiritual activity." We cease
from our "labours" (Heb. 4:10) and enter
into HIS. We desire and seek
to function ONLY in those ministries
and / or gifts He has ordained for us.
He is our KING and He takes good
care of us as citizens of His
Kingdom. He is our leader, provider,
advocate, lawyer, manager, judge,
rewarder, promoter, and/or anything
else that we need. That is why we come
out of the kingdom of darkness
(and Satan) and surrender our
stupid, carnal
"rights," and receive from
Jesus, our King, whatever "rights"
(and privileges), coupled with
the necessary authority and power, to
enable us to [be] truly blessed
and productive citizens of His
kingdom. Hallelujah! This is a part of
the "gospel" (good news) of the
Kingdom that I mentioned earlier in
this article.
The truly "meek" person
has learned the secret of total
YIELDING and TRUSTING. "Meekness"
is NOT "weakness;" it is rather
"STRENGTH UNDER CONTROL." Like the
animal whose self-will has
been "broken" (not the
"spirit"inner "drive" or "vital
force"), and yields to the "yoke"
(as the oxen) or to the "bit and
bridle; saddle or harness" depending
on use (as the horse), and then waits
for and responds to the
command of the owner (master). What
a beautiful sight is a horse hitched
to a carriage, standing at
attention, waiting for his master;
head erect, neck arched, nostrils expandedwith maybe a "snort" or two,
as the head shakes the mane a little;
muscles "rippling" with strength; yet,
not a movement forward until the
master arrives, takes his place in the
seat, picks up the reins, and gives
the command. That is a picture [of]
"strength under control."
Jesus was the perfect
pattern of meekness throughout His
life. However, from the time that
He allowed Himself to be taken
"captive" in the garden until He
"dismissed" His Spirit on the
cross, His "meekness" was severely
put to the test. For at any time
He had the power to instantly
vanquish His "captors" and set
Himself free. Even on the
cross, He could have exercised the
power to dislodge Himself from the
spikes which held Him, instantly
heal His body and go free. But
Jesus was unequivocally "yoked" to
the Father's will, even obedient
unto the death of the cross (Phil.
2:8), that He refused to
exercise His "right" NOT to die.
Since He had never sinned He was
not subject to death and did not
have to dieno fault was found in Him
(Luke 23:4, 14). He refused to
exercise that which we carnal
humans think is a "right"to retaliate again His
tormentors and crucifiers. A
scripture which so beautifully
expresses this is found in I Pet.
2:23. Quoting from the Amplified
version: "When He was reviled and
Insulted, He did not revile
or offer insult in return;
when He was abused and suffered, He
made no threats {of
vengeance}; but He trusted
{Himself and everything} to Him
Who judges fairly." Dozens
of examples and
scriptures could be given to
illustrate throughout His life and
ministry that Jesus was truly
speaking the truth when He said "I
am meek" (Mt. 11:29), but I will
quote just one scripture: "Jesus
answered and said unto them,
Truly, Truly,
I say to you, the Son can
do nothing of himself, but
what he sees the Father do:
for what things soever he does,
these also does the Son
likewise" (John 5:19). He "couldnt"
do anything independent of the
Father because of His COMMITMENT to
be "yoked" to the Father's will. His
total yielding of any "rights" of
His own, and His total TRUST that
the Father would "espouse His cause"
in everythingthat was His "meekness"STRENGTH UNDER CONTROL.
It was said of Moses that
He was "very meek, above all
the men which were on the
face of the earth" (Num. 12:3). This
is why God could use him so
greatly, and trust him to
follow His directions in leading
over two million people out of Egypt
and through a forty year wilderness
journey. But on one occasion, Moses
lost his meekness. The people of Israel
arrived at a certain place near the
end of their wilderness journey and
there was no water for them. They
gathered against Moses and contended
with him severely. Moses fell on
his face before the Lord as he
had done many times before to get
the Lord's direction, and
the Lord told him what to do. He was
to gather the congregation together,
and along with Aaron his brother, he
was to take the rod in his hand and
speak to a certain rock and it would
give forth water. The details are
give in Numbers 20:1-12 On a previous
occasion, toward the beginning of
their wilderness journey, when the
congregation was in need of water, and
they strove with Moses because of it,
Moses was instructed by God to take
the rod and strike a certain
rock, causing waters to come forth
(Exodus 17:1-6). On the second
occasion, however, Moses
evidently became more irritated by the
people's "attack" on him (he had been
the object of their "wrath" on many
and varied occasions and circumstances
throughout almost forty years), and
for some reason he evidently felt he
had a "right" to vent his
uncontrolled anger on them. Gathering
them before the rock, he "lashed out"
at them with these words: "hear now, you
rebels; must we fetch you water out of
this rock?" Not
only in anger did he imply that he and
Aaron ("we") were going to produce the
water (not giving glory to God), but
his infuriated mind failed to recall
God's specific instructions. Instead
of "speaking" to the rock, Moses
"lifted up his hand, and with his rod
he struck the rock twice"
(Num. 20:11).
Although God responded
to Moses action by providing
water for the people, He rebuked
Moses with these words: "Because you
believed me not, to sanctify me
in the eyes of the children of Israel,
therefore you shall not bring
this congregation into the land which I have
given them" (Num. 20:12). It cost Moses
dearly when he lost his meekness, failed to
yield totally to the Lord's control, took
things into his own hands, and acted "on his
own" in disobedience to the command of the
Lord, and by doing so "exalted" himself in
the eyes of the people by implying that he
(and Aaron) were going to produce the water.
To be a "Disciple"
is to take Jesus' "yoke"
upon us; to be so yielded,
surrendered, committed
and "united" with Him
that we become "meek"totally under His
control and will, as He was
"meek" when upon this earthtotally under the control
and will of the Father. "Meekness"
is listed as one of the "fruits" of
the Spirit in Gal. 5:23. We don't
become meek overnight. But by
consistent submission to His "yoke"giving Him total "right of
way" in our lives, this beautiful
character quality will be developed in
our lives. The Greek words translated
"meek" and "meekness" are usually
translated "gentle" and "gentleness"
in the New American Standard, and some
other modern English translations.
Although this is an essential
ingredient in meekness, I believe that
if you will re-study this section on
"taking Christ's yoke," and deeply
ponder all of the ramifications, your
understanding will
be greatly deepened, and the impact on
your life (if taken seriously) will be
significant. Other New Testament
Scriptures that you can study where
"meekness" is mentioned are as
follows: I Cor. 4:21, II Cor. 10:1;
Gal. 5:23, 6:1; Eph. 4:2; Col. 3:12; I
Tim. 6:11; II Tim. 2:25; Titus 3:2;
Mt. 5:5, 21:5;
I Pet. 3:4; James 1:21, 3:13;
and II Pet. 3:15.
[Purpose 2: To Learn of Him]
(2) The second purpose of
Discipleship is given in Mt. 11:29 in
the second statement Jesus made
following the one we have been dealing
with: "Take my yoke upon you, and LEARN
of me." The parallel to this, as
we have already noted is "for I am lowly
of heart." The Greek word translated
"lowly of heart"tapeinos,
indicates one who is "abased or lowly
(in circumstances or disposition)."
Although variously translated in the New
Testament, it is most often translated
(taking the noun and verb forms
together) by the English word "humble,"
or "to be humble" or "to humble
oneself." The same Greek word, but
combined with another wordtapeinophrosune,
is translated "humbleness of mind" or
simply "humility." For the purpose of
emphasizing Jesus' command to "learn of
Him," I want to impress on you
three important aspects of humility: (1)
our willingness to be teachable;
(2) our desperate need; and (3)
honestythe willingness to admit
when we are in error in our
thinking and beliefs and the willingness
to change and adjust in
our understanding.
Before elaborating on these,
let me say that the only way we can
LEARN of Christ Is by diligently
studying His WORDthe Scriptures. Jesus clearly
distinguished between those who believed
on Him and those who were His
disciples. Quoting from John
8:31-32: "Then said Jesus to those
Jews which believed on Him, If
you continue in my word,
then are ye my disciples
indeed; and you shall know
the truth, and the truth shall make
you free." I will come back to this
scripture later, but right now I want
to emphasize the importanceas
we approach the climactic events of
this age, and as the Lord is getting
ready to manifest Himself through His
people as never before, as a necessary
part of our preparationof setting aside
things that are not important, and
GETTING INTO THE WORD OF GOD (in
study, meditation and prayer)
CONSISTENTLY (daily, unless hindered
by unusual circumstances). Probably
the greatest contributing factor to
most Christians spiritual "anemia" is
the failure to consistently
and prayerfully read
and meditate on the WORD of
God. You may have sincerely believed
on Jesus for salvation; you may be
"born again;" but according to the
Scripture just quoted from John 8:31,
if you are not "continuing" In Jesus'
Word, you are NOT His disciple;
neither will you reap the
blessings and rewards of discipleship,
one of the most important of which is
given in John 8:32: "and you
shall know (by personal experience)
the truth, and the truth shall
make you free (from the "disease"
of sin: its bondage and
inevitable consequences; as well as
the debilitating effects of an unrenewed
mindfear, worry, depression,
etc.). More on this later! The word
"continue" which Jesus used in John
8:31 is a translation of the Greek
word meno. It is used well
over 100 times in the New Testament
and is variously translated by the
English words: "abide," "continue,"
"remain," "dwell" (for more
information on this word and its
implications in our spiritual life,
order my booklet titled "Daily
Abiding in Christ;"
it has helped to uplift and liberate
many lives, as indicated by many
testimonies received). This word is
used by Jesus in John 15:7 where He
declares: "If ye abide in me, and my
words abide in you, ye shall ask
what ye will, and it shall be done
unto you." It should be obvious to us
that if His words are going to "abide"
(dwell, remain, continue) IN us, that
we must spend considerable time
consistently "continuing" (abiding,
dwelling, remaining) IN the Word.
[ Ed. noteextraneous
dated local/national
commentary omitted here ]
[ Grace Through Humility: the Key to Learning ]
Now back to LEARNING from Jesus.
The key is humility, even
as Jesus said He was humble (lowly in
heart). Jesus had to "humble" Himself in
order to take on human flesh. Phil. 2:7-8
says that He "took on him the
form of a servant, and was made in the
likeness of men: and being found in
fashion as a man, he humbled
himself, and became obedient unto death,
even the death of the cross." While in the
flesh, it says in Heb. 5:8 that He LEARNED
obedience by the things which He
"suffered" (experienced). I have already
dealt with that Scripture, but I want to
point out now that the Greek word
translated
"Learned" in the verse just
quoted is exactly the same Greek word
which is used when Jesus said "LEARN of
me" (Mt. 11:29). Although the mighty
Spirit (being) who indwelt the body of the
one known as Jesus of Nazareth was the
very Divine SON of the HIGHEST, yet in
"lowering" Himself to take on
human flesh and LIVE as a human,
He had to be "humble" enough to
LEARN how the Father wanted Him to conduct
Himself in every situation He faced: what
He was to say, to do, and how He was to
respond to every person (or persons) that
crossed His path, that
He called to follow Him, or that
confronted Him in any way. Without such
"humility" to LEARN OBEDIENCE in every
situation, He could not have fulfilled the
Father's will or finished HIS work (John
17:4).
How much
more do we need the quality of humility
to LEARN of (from) Jesus. The Scriptures
promise that with humility comes the
GRACE of God. "But he gives
more grace. Wherefore he says,
God resists the proud, but gives
grace to the humble"
(James 4:6; see also I Pet. 5:5).
Whatever we receive from the Lord is a
manifestation of His loving GRACE
("unmerited favor"). "Grace" not only
indicates the "unmerited favor" of God
extended to us because of what Jesus did
for us, it also implies the Divine
influence upon (and within) the
human mind and heart to do
supernaturally what we are incapable of,
because of our human limitations, doing
for ourselves. With reference to our
immediate subjectlearning from Jesusit is impossible to rightly
understand the teachings of Jesus (or
any other Scripture) so that they
become LIVING REALITY within us,
unless our minds are supernaturally
illuminated. After His
resurrection, Jesus appeared to the
twelve who were gathered together, and
at that time Luke 24:45 says: "then opened
he their understanding, that
they might understand the scriptures."
It is now the function of the Holy
Spirit to "take the things of Christ
and reveal them to us" (John 16:14).
In writing to the Ephesian Christians,
Paul prays that "the God of our Lord
Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may
give to you the (Holy)
spirit of wisdom and revelation in the
(full) knowledge of him (Christ)."
Eph. 1:17see also John 6:63 & I Cor.
2:9-14. "It is the Spirit that quickens"
(makes "alive" and "real") said Jesus,
but even the Holy
Spirit cannot reveal anything to us
unless we have the quality of HUMILITY.
[Teachability: The First
Aspect of Humility]
There are many aspects of
that which we call "humility," but
earlier I said I wanted to emphasize
three; if we are to "learn of Jesus."
First, a teachable spirit.
Jesus links humility with the nature
of a child (Mt. 18:4). We must become
truly child-like in our approach to
the Scriptures. There are three things
that keep most people, even most
Christians, from being truly
teachable: (1) to much secular
(humanistic) education; (2) too much
religious tradition; and (3) too much
carnality remaining in the heartmost Christians believe what
they want to, and I'll tell you
why later.
[ Effect of Secular
Humanist Education
on Teachability ]
First, with regard to "secular
education," most people in this nation
have gone through high school, and a
great many have had some or much college
education. Having been exposed to so
much foolish "worldly wisdom" (see I
Cor. 1:18-29), most heads are so filled
with faulty concepts that it takes much
time and "humility" to get the mind
"open" to Scriptural concepts (which are
usually so completely
opposite to that which is learned
from the world society). To help us
understand, let me give you a factual
illustration. During the 1980
presidential campaign, before the
political parties had selected the
respective candidates, there were three
men running for the office who claimed
to be "born again" Christians; John
Anderson, Jimmy Carter, and Ronald
Reagan. (The following is in no way a
"judgment" on the claim to be "born
again"only God knows; I personally
hope that each one is a "born again"
Christian). Because of the claim of each
to be "born again," a group of concerned
Christian citizens made a study of
position or "stand" of each of these
candidates on a number of important
moral issues that are "festering" in the
nation. The results of the study were
published in a small brochure which I
read. I don't have one at hand right now
so I don't remember the exact number of
issues the candidates were polled on,
but it seems there were eight or more.
The result, however, was rather
dramatic. On every one of the
moral issues, the "stand" of John
Anderson and Jimmy Carter was exactly
the same. On the other hand, the
"stand" taken by Ronald Reagan was exactly
the opposite of the other two
candidates on every moral issue.
Furthermore, the study showed that the
positions taken by John Anderson and
Jimmy Carter were identical to
that advocated by the secular
humanists. Whereas the position
taken by Ronald Reagan was Biblically
oriented on each moral
issue. Just what influences shaped the
thinking of these men, I cannot say. I
do know that Ronald Reagan went to a Christian
College,
which might help to explain his Biblical
perspective.
The above simply
illustrates the fact that one can be a
professing Christian and either not
understand, or not be "open" to Biblical
truths because [ ] the mind has
been so conditioned by the
knowledge accumulated by secular
education. Knowledge tends to inflate the
ego (I Cor. 8:1). Strongly held opinions
are not easily relinquished. Not many are
willing to admit that they "know nothing
yet as they ought to know" (I Cor. 8: 2).
But DISCIPLESHIP demands a child-like
spirit of humility which is teachable,
so that the mind can be completely
"renewed" or renovated (Rom.
12:2, Eph. 4:23, Col. 3:10).
(To be continued)
[Next:
The
Purposes of Discipleship, Cont ]
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