Discipleship - "... the tree is known by its fruit"

©Thomas Dolhanty

Overview:

• Upon hearing the simple command "follow me", New Testament men dropped everything, left their occupations, said good-bye to their families, and followed the Lord Jesus Christ - many of them to their death. Furthermore, we are told that Moses left the riches of Egypt to follow Christ because "He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward." What was it that caused these men to follow Christ? Why did they prefer Christ above life itself?
• There is a cost in becoming a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ, and it is the highest cost one could imagine - my very life. During His time on earth Jesus repeatedly warned those who wished to follow Him that they should begin by counting the cost. Otherwise they would incur the scorn of others when they discovered they weren't willing to pay the price.
• One of the most tragic pictures in all of Scripture is the picture of the false convert and it is a tragedy that is seen again and again in the modern Church. This is the person who imagines that he or she has been delivered from the judgment of God by fulfilling some requirement like the sinner's prayer, Church attendance, an ethical life and so on. These are the "foolish virgins" to whom the Lord Christ will one day say, "I never knew you".
• The Lord God Almighty is sovereign. Every event, every outcome, every facet of life is under His power and authority and nothing happens unless He has decreed that it would happen. Man, on the other hand, is responsible for his actions and is free to follow the inclinations of his heart. Human beings are not able to fathom all of the depths of these two realities, but Scripture is clear that both are true. Jonathan Edward's work "The Freedom of the Will" is a classic in helping human beings to understand how the human will functions within the sovereign will of God.
• Every Christian is an "overcomer", and every Christian is exhorted by the Lord Jesus Christ and by all Scripture to "overcome". To fail to overcome is to prove oneself to be something other than a Christian. The true Christian overcomes by the grace of Jesus Christ which he or she accesses through faith.
• The reward of discipleship is, above all else, fellowship with God in Christ. Jesus said "And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent." John 17:3. Christians are adopted into the family of God and, as true children, are made heirs together with Christ of all the riches of eternity.
• No one is able to walk the path of discipleship to the Lord Jesus Christ. The natural human being cannot find within himself the confidence or even the desire to deny his very life to follow the Lord. Power to do this must come from the Holy Spirit - the "promise of the Father". Before they were baptized in the Spirit, the disciples wanted to follow the Lord but they were not able. After being filled with the Spirit, however, they proclaimed the kingdom of God with boldness, while again and again "the blood of the martyrs was the seed of the Church".
• The new disciple of Christ should set himself or herself to establish a few basic disciplines which will foster growth and maturity in Christ. These disciplines include study and reflection upon the Scriptures, daily prayer, fellowship with the saints, partaking of the sacraments, and developing habits and an attitude of praise and thanksgiving towards the Lord. All Christians, moreover, should seek to honour the Lord Christ in every part of their lives whether work, or study, or family, or recreation and so on.
  

"Follow Me."

By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward. Hebrews 11:24-26

While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And he said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." Immediately they left their nets and followed him. And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him. Matthew 4:18-22

After this he went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax booth. And he said to him, "Follow me." And leaving everything, he rose and followed him. Luke 5:27-28

Jesus said to him, "If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me." When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. Matthew 19:21-22

He entered Jericho and was passing through. And there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and was rich. And he was seeking to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was small of stature. So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was about to pass that way. And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, "Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today." So he hurried and came down and received him joyfully. And when they saw it, they all grumbled, "He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner." And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, "Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold." Luke 19:1-8

In these passages of Scripture we see how a number of different men responded to Jesus Christ. First we read of Moses who judged the "reproach of Christ" to be of more value than "the treasures of Egypt". Why? Because "he was looking to the reward". What we must ask, of course, is how did Moses know about a reward for following Christ? Then there were two sets of brothers - Simon and Andrew along with James and John. Jesus issued a simple command to them - 'follow me" - and they immediately left their trades and their families and followed him. Why? Levi also, a tax collector, rose up from his place of business and abandoned all upon hearing the Lord Christ utter the simple command "follow me". What caused this businessman to make such a strange decision? Next we read the account of a rich young ruler who had sought Jesus out, but who went away sadly when he was invited to abandon all and follow the Lord, Finally, another rich man was filled with joy at the invitation of Jesus, and by his action he showed that he perceived something in a relationship with Jesus Christ was of more value than all his wealth. How I respond to the Lord Jesus Christ has everything to do with my ability to "see Christ Jesus" and to "hear" what He is really saying to me.

About six hundred years before the birth of Jesus Christ the prophet Ezekiel wrote:

And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. Ezekiel 36:26-27

Of the same act of God, and at about the same time, the prophet Jeremiah wrote:

I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me forever, for their own good and the good of their children after them. I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. And I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me. Jeremiah 32:39-40

Finally, the Lord Jesus Christ brought the subject of these great prophecies into focus with these word:

Jesus answered him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God." Nicodemus said to him, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?" Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. John 3:3-6

while the Apostle Paul summarized it in these words:

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 2 Corinthians 5:17

Each of those who left everything to follow Jesus Christ did so because he had a "new heart" to use the language of the Old Testament prophets, or was "born again" in the words of Jesus, or had become "a new creation" in the words of the Apostle Paul. They were, in other words, changed in the very essence of their beings. They saw things that they could not see before and they understood things that they could not understand before and they had a desire for Jesus Christ which they did not have before. They were, in fact, different than other men and different from what they had been before. Elsewhere in the New Testament the language that is used is "alive from the dead" (eg. Ephesians 2:1-6; John 11:25-26; John 8:51; Romans 8:10-11 and so on).

Moses would not have considered choosing the "reproach of Christ" to be a sacrifice. He knew that the reward for doing so made earthly riches pale to insignificance. Brothers Simon and Andrew and brothers James and John did not consider that they had made a great sacrifice in leaving their homes and occupations and families to follow Jesus. On the contrary, when asked if they wished to leave their Lord when many others were turning back they said:

..."Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, John 6:68

Zacchaeus must have spent many years assembling his great wealth as a tax collector, and such men are not prone to let go of their fortunes lightly. Nevertheless, when confronted with the Lord Jesus Christ, Zacchaeus appeared to lose all interest in money, or at least to count money of little value next to the favour of Jesus Christ. He did not give the appearance of making some great sacrifice either. On the contrary, this rich man seemed to toss his wealth about like a giddy youth. He was filled with joy and his whole value system was turned upside down. In a moment he was willing to part with the wealth which no doubt took years and years to amass and which had cost him the contempt of his own people. (Jewish tax collectors were despised as traitorous pawns of the Roman occupiers).

What we are saying about these different individuals who left all to follow Jesus is not that they were offering some sort of a great sacrifice, but simply that they were acting in character. The lives of these men give us a picture of what happens to a person when he or she is "born of the Spirit". Their entire understanding of the nature of things has changed - but more important, their "hearts" are different. They now desire what they did not desire before, and they have little interest in the things that the world desires. They now must have Christ Jesus no matter what the cost - indeed, the cost is not even a consideration. They now "hunger and thirst" for the things which one time they did not care about at all. Simon, Andrew and James were to lay down their very lives as martyrs rather than turn back from following Christ. Moses and the Apostle John suffered much hardship and sorrow throughout their long lives, but still they sought after their goal without hesitation and without wavering.

It is very important for the Christian to understand not only what each of these disciples did in leaving all to follow Christ - even to the death - but also WHY they did it, or perhaps we might say HOW they did it. In an earlier essay we showed how God had revealed to Asaph (Psalm 73) the difference between true treasure and that which only appears as treasure to the lost. Moses and the four Apostles and Zacchaeus had all been given "eyes" to see what true treasure is and a "heart" to desire that treasure above all the riches of this world. As we said, when they left all to follow Christ, and when they followed Him even to death, they were simply acting in character with their new nature. They were simply responding, with "hearts of flesh" to the beauty and the excellency and the surpassing desirability of Christ Jesus which they could now perceive. The things they had formerly valued, when they had "hearts of stone" now meant nothing to them. They are like the man which Jesus describes in the parable of the hidden treasure:

"The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Matthew 13:44

The true disciple is filled with joy when he discovers Christ - the "treasure hidden in a field" - and he sets out "in his joy" to sell all that he has in order to have this treasure. Relationships, possessions, talents, careers, savings, and even his own life in this world are as nothing to the disciple in comparison with the treasure that he has "discovered". This does not mean, of course, that the loss and the rejection by this world are without suffering. Far from it, the life of the disciple has much suffering - it is the life of the cross. But even in the midst of his suffering the disciple knows a deep and abiding joy because of the treasure which he has found, and which will be his forever. He does not consider it a sacrifice. Rather, like Moses he has weighed the cost against everything else and "He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward.".

Far from considering their act of following Christ a sacrifice, these men, and countless other men and women after them, were willing to strive with all their might and to lay down everything if only they could gain Christ. The Apostle Paul gives us a very clear description of the new motive:

But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith-- that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. Philippians 3:7-11

It is this reckless love for God - this great desire to have Christ - that is the fruit of a true Christian life. Remember, Jesus taught us that each tree bears fruit true to its type. If you see dates on the ground, then you know you have a date tree. If you see grapes, then you have a grapevine,not a thornbush. When a man or woman desires Christ above all else, and when that man or woman separates himself or herself from all else to follow Christ, then you have the true fruit of the kingdom of God. If love for Christ is the motive, and if this love overshadows every other love, then that tree is a tree of the kingdom of God - the person is a true disciple. He or she is a "new creation in Christ Jesus". He or she has been "born again of the Spirit of God". He or she has "has eternal life" - has "passed from death into life".

This essay on discipleship is not first of all an exhortation for Christians to follow the Lord Jesus Christ, although it certainly is that also. But my first and most important goal in this essay is to show that one is not made holy by striving to follow Christ. Rather, one strives to follow Christ because one has been given a new "heart of flesh". He or she who truly follows Christ from a heart of love, does so because anything else is simply unthinkable. Out of love for this glorious Saviour, and from a heart which is able to experience real love for God, and because of the ability to "hear" the Word of God, and "see" the kingdom of God, the disciple "counts everything else as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus" (Hebrews 11:24-26).

If there is a person who professes to know Christ and yet does not have a heart desire for Him then that person ought to reexamine his or her heart. If the wealth of this world or relationships or profession or personal ambitions or anything else compares to the desire for Christ, then the one who professes to be a disciple of Christ should take stock as to whether he or she really is a "new creation" at all, or whether what is possessed is simply a religious conviction. The one who truly is born again of the Spirit of God will always desire Christ above everything else, and will follow Christ to the loss of all else. There will be struggles - maybe terrible struggles - but desire for Christ will always take precedence in the heart of the true disciple. The false professor may appear to be doing the same things as the true disciple, but he or she will never act out of a heart of love for God and real desire to prefer Christ above all. We will say more about the false disciple later in this essay.

In the passages of Scripture above, as we have noted, there was one man who did not obey the Lord's command "Follow me". The situation of the rich young ruler is a very sad one indeed. Here was a man who had sought out Jesus, and who clearly desired to enter into the life that Jesus Christ came to establish. This man knew that the Lord Christ was from God, and that he was able to show the way to God, and the young man desired "to inherit eternal life". He was also very religious, and he imagined that he had fulfilled all of the requirements of the law. Sadly this rich young man, like so many today, had never even begun to understand the requirements of the law, nor did he really understand the faith of his fathers. The rich young ruler had a heart that desired the things of this life, and eyes that were focused on the riches of the present age, and ears that were deaf to the real call of God. He is a type of the nominal Christians of our age who imagine that they are fulfilling the requirements of Christianity, while their hearts are unchanged, and their desires are for the things of this life. We will have more to say of these below.

The cost of discipleship

Then Jesus told his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. Matthew 16:24-25

Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them, "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, 'This man began to build and was not able to finish.' Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple. Luke 14:25-33

If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him. John 12:26

.... Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life. Revelation 2:10

Anyone who desires to follow the Lord Jesus Christ should know that there is one standard for discipleship, that the standard is very clearly stated in the New Testament, and that the one who established this standard is the Lord Himself. False shepherds and false Churches have preached a Christianity that is really just a human religion designed to be in harmony with this world and the things of this life. To deal with the obvious conflict between their teaching, and the teaching of Jesus, some of these deceivers have argued that Jesus is talking about "disciples", not ordinary Christians. Others have said that Jesus is simply stating the ideal - the high bar. No one, they suggest, expects the normal christians to attain to this 'ideal' of discipleship. Untold multitudes have been lured into a false confidence through the preaching of this fatal deception, which has no foundation whatever in Scripture. Churches have been filled with "foolish virgins" who will find nothing but rejection when they stand before a glorified Christ.

There is no such thing as a Christian who is not a disciple. There are not two classes of followers of the Lord - disciples and everyone else. The clear, oft-repeated, and inclusive teachings on discipleship in the New Testament declare that the Christian is a citizen of another kingdom, that his allegiance is to that kingdom, and that this present world is at war with that kingdom. Furthermore, the Lord emphasized over and over that there could be no divided loyalties among His disciples. To choose Him is to renounce every other loyalty. If I have put my family first, or my spouse first, or my friends first, or my Church first - or even my own life first - then I cannot be a disciple of Jesus Christ. He has stated clearly and unequivocally that whoever tries to do so will be rejected. This is a matter of such importance, and one which is so misunderstood in the modern Church, that every Christian who cares about his or her relationship to the Lord should study the Scriptures on this topic - what is the cost of discipleship?

No relationship can be placed at the same level as my relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. To make this ever so clear, Jesus declared:

"If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple." Luke 14:26

The Lord is not, of course, instructing us to hate those who He has elsewhere instructed us to love, nor is He teaching us to disobey those we are told to obey, nor are we being taught to dishonour those we are told elsewhere to honour. What the Lord is saying is that allegiance to Him is first and all else must be based on that commitment. The Lordship of Jesus Christ is to take precedence over every other relationship for the disciple, and love for Christ is first before any other love. Again, this is not an invitation to lawlessness so that the child may disobey the parent, or the husband fail to love his wife or the wife disobey the husband. To do these things would be to sin against both the other person and the Lord. Nevertheless, the Christian wife must not deny her Lord no matter what her husband says, nor must the Christian husband allow love for wife to take precedence over obedience to Christ, nor must the child obey a parent's command to renounce Christ.

As we see from the Scripture quote above, it is not only others who we must "hate" but our own lives also. For those who are determined to present Christianity as a "nice" and a "respectable" religion for the worldly this teaching is sheer fanaticism. Who, in their right mind, hates their own lives? The typical modern Christian in the typical modern Church knows nothing of this, and would be appalled if it were taught as requirement for all Christians. But anyone who cares to hear the Word of God on the topic will be left in no doubt that this is precisely what the Lord is teaching. Love for Jesus Christ is to take precedence above love for life itself. Moreover, this is not just a sort of emergency plan to be followed in the case of physical persecution as so many imagine. Many Christians fantasize about being faithful through great persecution while they live their day to day lives just as the world lives. The Scriptures, though, teach this radical discipleship as the norm for the day to day lives of all Christians all the time. Here is just a brief sampling of the outworking of discipleship as found in the New Testament:

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:20

.... Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life. Revelation 2:10

For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. Philippians 1:21

And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death. Revelation 12:11

The whole body of teaching that we are to "take up our cross" and follow Jesus is just to say that we are to embrace loss and death in our own lives in order to advance His interests and His commands. The model is Jesus Christ Himself who suffered through His entire life and then was put to death only because He was obedient to His Father. His mission is our mission, His strength is our strength, and the hatred which was directed toward Him will be directed towards us. How many times, and in how many ways, does the New Testament teach us:

For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. Matthew 16:25

This is not some radical and fanatical corruption of true Christianity, although the modern Church would have us think so. This is the consistent teaching of the Lord Christ Himself, and it applies to all who would follow Him. Only those who MUST have Him will follow Him according to these principles, and only those who have been "born again of the Spirit of God" MUST have Him.

The other thing that the Lord demands of His followers is that they renounce all attachments to this world, and that certainly includes physical possessions and all of the wealth of this life. Again, this is stated in many different places in the New Testament, but never more clearly than in the following:

So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple. Luke 14:33

The Greek word for "renounce" is 'apotassomai' and it means literally 'to bid farewell to', or 'to say good-bye to'. Does this mean, then, that Christians are to rid themselves of every single worldly possession and walk around in sackcloth begging for something to eat? Does it mean that I am to divest myself of all property, and give away whatever I have in my bank account? Should I cash in my retirement savings and give them away? Not necessarily - but it certainly could mean that, and it has meant that to many who have followed the Lord Jesus Christ. It certainly meant that for the rich young ruler and where refused to obey, many many others have heard the same command of Christ down through the ages and have obeyed. For all disciples this command means that I no longer have authority over "my" possessions or "my" wealth.

However, the intent of the command is the same as the intent of the command to hate your family, and spouse, and even your own life. The Lord Christ and His kingdom must take precedence and whatever earthly treasures I have must be laid at His feet. One time I owned all of these treasures - now I am to take the position of a steward who manages these things on behalf of my Lord. Today I may be asked to manage these things for the interests of the kingdom of God - tomorrow I may be asked to give them all away and follow the Lord to the mission field. I must have the same detachment, and the same accountability, as the steward who oversees his master's goods. Many pretend to have such a detachment, but the Lord knows the heart.

Something must be said here about the hypocrisy in modern North American Christians with respect to possessions. We live in the richest society that ever existed, and we have come to consider worldly riches as our entitlement. The thought that we are to "renounce" these things is quite shocking to us, and so we have re-interpreted the Word of God to read that we are to live the same kind of rich and worldly lives that our unbelieving neighbours are living and we are to consider this as part of our stewardship. Many of us give a set amount - perhaps a tithe - to the Church and this, we feel, allows us to do what we wish with the rest of our wealth - so long, of course, as we are "good stewards". This attitude is in outright defiance of the Lord's teaching, and it is blatant hypocrisy. If not repented of it can only end in disaster.

May all of us in this rich society let these words sink down into our ears:

So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple. Luke 14:33

One more thing must be said about what Jesus demands from His followers, and perhaps this is the most important of all. Jesus said:

If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him. John 12:26

What we must ask is this, ‘What did the Lord mean when He said that His servant would be where He is?’ Clearly, the Lord is teaching here, as He does elsewhere, that His disciples are fully identified with Him. As He took up His cross so must they; as the world hated Him, so will it hate them; as He was persecuted so will they be persecuted; and as He lead men and women to God, so will they. Thus, if we consider ourselves disciples of Christ we should consider what is the attitude of our neighbours, our co-workers, our family – even our Church - toward the Lord Jesus Christ. And then we must ask, 'Is their attitude the same toward me as it is toward the Lord Jesus Christ?'

Of course many have created a fictional Jesus Christ who is just a 'good man', or who is a kind of heavenly santa claus, or who is the "baby Jesus" of the Christmas story or some other aberration. What we are speaking of here, though, is the attitude towards the real - Scriptural - Jesus Christ. If my neighbour hates the Christ of Scripture but thinks highly of me, then something is wrong. If my fellow workers despise the Christ of the Bible, but approve of me, then I am not where Jesus is. If my country hates Jesus Christ, then it hates me also. Otherwise it cannot be said that I am where Christ is. Many who imagine themselves to be Christians are themselves ashamed of the Scriptural Christ, and would be appalled at the idea that they are to be identified with that person. They are false professors, and have no part in the kingdom of God. They have denied Christ, and He will deny them (Matthew 10:33).

So many in this evil day have been lead to believe that they "were saved" by a simple prayer and perhaps by following a few basic religious obligations. It is a very tragic reality of our age that whole multitudes who profess Christ have a false confession and have been lulled into a false confidences. They know almost nothing about true faith, have no heart for Christ or for the real Gospel, and are deeply offended by the truth put forth in Scriptures. They are the most pitiful of all, and their end will be the most tragic end of all. They are the "foolish virgins" of Matthew 25.

The tragedy of the foolish virgins

"Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. As the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept. But at midnight there was a cry, 'Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.' Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, 'Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.' But the wise answered, saying, 'Since there will not be enough for us and for you, go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.' And while they were going to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut. Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, 'Lord, lord, open to us.' But he answered, 'Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.' Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour. Matthew 25:1-13

One of the most frequent warnings that Jesus Christ issued is the warning to those who have been lured into a false confidence. The Jews, themselves, believed that they were the "people of God" and the "sons of Abraham" and therefore that they were acceptable to God. The almighty God, however, sent "the greatest of all the prophets" - John the Baptist - to warn the nation of Israel that such confidence could only end in disaster. Here was John's message:

Bear fruits in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' For I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire." Luke 3:8-9

Unfortunately most of the nation of Israel did not heed this message, and they were lost. They were left in the position which Jesus described as rejected from the kingdom of God while others were admitted. But it wasn't just to the nation of Israel that the Lord Christ issued His warnings about false confidence. Again and again He painted the picture of many who would come to Him saying "Lord, Lord" and claiming to have known Him, only to hear those most tragic of all words - "I never knew you". Such were the foolish virgins of the twenty-fifth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew, and such are many in the compromised Church of the twenty-first Century.

The foolish virgins of Matthew 25 represent members of the community of God's people - they are 'virgins'. They were part of the bridegroom's reception company and they were awaiting the bridegroom along with the wise virgins. The foolish virgins as "virgins" were no doubt arrayed in the required garb of those who were to meet the bridegroom and to usher Him into the wedding feast. They are the people that are found in every Church. They are part of the congregation, and they live the life of a Christian as far as external appearances go. But they have treated the whole matter of their calling very carelessly . What they do, they do in an external fashion and not from the heart. In the parable the foolish virgins did not take along a supply of oil to sustain their lamps. Oil in the Bible is associated with the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit is resident in ALL true believers. Indeed, the Holy Spirit is pictured by Jesus as a spring of water which flows continually in the life of the true believer.

Both the wise and the foolish virgins carried lamps, which are a type of our confession, but only the wise carried oil which is a type of the presence of the Holy Spirit. The foolish virgins had nothing to sustain their lamps - their confession was without foundation. They remind us of the seed in another parable which fell upon shallow ground and sprang up for a brief time, but soon enough wilted and disappeared because there was no good soil to sustain it. The soil in that parable is in the same place as the oil in this parable - that is, it symbolizes the life of Christ in the believer which sustains the disciple. Without real oil, or soil, Christian profession is nothing but an empty claim which has no support and which disappears under testing. The foolish virgins did not have a sustainable confession. They had treated their calling and the Bridegroom Himself lightly, and so they were rejected by Him.

The great tragedy of these ones - and the Lord emphasized this tragedy in His parable - was that they really thought that they would be accepted. Thus, the words "I do not know you" are particularly devastating. The reader of this tragedy might ask himself, 'How could these ones have been so foolish?' 'Surely, anyone who knew anything about the wedding celebration should have understood that this might happen. How could they have been so careless in their preparations?' But this is exactly the point of the parable. The Lord Jesus Christ seeks to make it as clear as possible to anyone who will give heed that following Him must be the one focus of the disciple's life. Everything else must be subordinated to this. Many will come to Him on that day who presumed that they could serve two masters - and they will hear the most tragic words that could ever be imagined - "I never knew you".

How can I imagine that I will be admitted to the kingdom of God based on some little "sinners prayer"? How can I imagine that I can live my life just as the world does, and yet be admitted to the heavenly realm because I followed some religious formula, or observed some religious rituals or gave a little of my income to help the Church? This is the most unbelievable carelessness, and even the most casual reading of the New Testament ought to warn me that it will earn me nothing but a scornful rejection before the judgment seat of Christ. There is nothing in the Bible that supports my claim that I have any right to the kingdom at all based on these things. It is the most astonishing carelessness and foolishness in a matter where the stakes are eternal life and joy versus eternal loss and suffering. How could anyone be so careless in such a matter?

As we said at the outset of this essay, one is not acceptable to the Lord Christ because he renounces all and follows the Lord as a disciple. Rather, the disciple has been born again of the Spirit of God and he has a new heart - a heart of flesh - and he desires nothing more than Christ Himself. Though he may fall often, and stumble along the way, his compelling desire is to be with Christ Jesus, and for this he happily turns his back on everything else - counts everything else as nothing. This is the attitude of the wise virgin. She has within herself the oil which will sustain her lamp through the night. She has the Holy Spirit of God dwelling within. She suffers the loss of all for Christ not because she considers this a great sacrifice, but because she has seen the beauty and the excellency of Christ, and she must have Him. As the Apostle Paul says, all else is counted as nothing in comparison with gaining Christ (Philippians 3:7-8).

If a person professes Christ - perhaps has professed Christ for many years - but does not have this real desire for Christ or this willingness to renounce all for the kingdom of God, then he or she should come honestly before God and beseech the Lord to fill his or her lamp with the oil of the Holy Spirit. He or she should ask and keep asking, knock and keep knocking, seek and keep seeking to be filled with the Spirit of God. The Lord will not refuse this request from an honest seeker:

And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!" Luke 11:9-13

Let no one who professes Christ treat this matter carelessly. Only the oil of the Holy Spirit can sustain true faith and only true faith will claim the prize. Only the Holy Spirit of God can heal my eyes so that I see what real treasure is and how worthless are the things of this world. Only the Holy Spirit can fill me with the courage and confidence to renounce all and to take up my cross to follow Christ. It is not that I love the cross or that I welcome suffering. It is simply that I must have Christ, and the Spirit of God will enable me to walk that walk like so many before me and to hear, in the end, those wonderful words "Well done good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your master." (Matthew 25:21)

After years of very bad teaching as a young Christian, and many many years of stumbling along in ignorance, I finally gave myself to learning the foundations of the faith. When I did so, I was shocked and appalled when I finally began to realize at how ignorant God's people are concerning even the basic precepts of the Gospel, and I was horrified to realize that Churches are literally filled with those who have no reason at all for confidence in their salvation. Ignorance and carelessness and foolishness are found everywhere while there is a more or less universal confidence that some simple formula like the "sinners prayer" is all that the Lord requires of anyone - together, of course, with some simple moral correctness.

What could be more important than my place in Christ? How could there be any stakes greater than my eternal destiny? Every thoughtful Christian ought to be clear from his or her own reading of Scripture whether he or she has a solid basis for confidence in Christ. It is not good enough to take someone else's word for this. The matter is simply too important. The stakes are too high Each one should give himself or herself to settling the matter before Christ in diligent study of the Bible. To do anything else is madness.

The sovereignty of God and the responsibility of man

... work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. Philippians 2:12-13

... I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:12-14

Throughout these essays we have been speaking at times of the sovereignty of God and at other times about the responsibility of human beings. For example Jesus said, "No one comes to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him..." (John 6:44), and yet in another place the Lord upbraids the Jews because they will not "come to me that you may have life" (John 5:39-40). We've said also, for example, that every last one who is chosen by the Father will come to Jesus and every one will be saved - they will be "called", "justified" and "glorified". On the other hand, we have exhorted all who "hear" the Gospel to give all diligence to respond to it in faith. Scripture also, in many different places commands men to believe in the Gospel, even though it also states clearly, as we said, that only the elect will be "called" or, in other words, only the elect will believe. How are these two things possible?

With respect to the Gospel some will ask, 'What is the point of worrying about it? If I am chosen then I will believe, and if I am not, then I will not believe. Who can change God's will?' The Apostle Paul, in fact, raises this very question in Romans 9:16. What was the Apostle's response? Paul wrote, "...who are you, oh man, to speak back to God?" Here is the whole passage:

For he [God] says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion." So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, "For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth." So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills. You will say to me then, "Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?" But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, "Why have you made me like this?" Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? Romans 9:15-21

What we see throughout the entire Bible is that God is certainly sovereign in all things. Nothing happens in God's creation which is not ordained by Him. Not one sparrow falls from the sky, except as part of the ultimate plan and in keeping with the ultimate purposes of God. Secondly, man is indeed free to exercise his will, and that freedom does not contravene God's purposes. The freedom of man's will, however, is freedom to act in character with his nature. The great American theologian, Jonathan Edwards showed in his work "Freedom of the Will", that human beings cannot act in a way that is at odds with their inmost desires. This is why all human beings are described by the Apostle Paul as slaves - "... either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?" (Romans 6:16). Human beings will always act in character. True believers will believe and obey and love God. Unbelievers will refuse to believe, and refuse to obey God, and they will not love the Lord.

This does not mean, of course, that the true believer will not stumble. The believer is a "new creation" and operates from a new principle of life (what Paul calls "the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus" Romans 8:2), which is love for God. But while yet in this mortal body of flesh and blood the believer experiences resistance within himself (see Romans, chapter 7, Galatians 5:17), and occasionally he gives place to his old nature. Indeed, at times true believers have committed very serious offences against the Lord, such as the denial of Christ by the Apostle Peter after Jesus was arrested. In the end, though, the true believer will always come to a place of repentance and obedience and his or her love for God will be restored. This is never the case for those who are not truly born again by the Spirit of God. The unbeliever, also, is not always consistent in his unbelief, but in the end he always moves away from the light - away from God.

Human beings, then, are free but they will not - cannot - act out of character with their own nature. The unbeliever will never submit himself to God in the true sense, nor will he ever love God from his heart. He may do many religious things, and he may imagine that he follows after God with great energy, but his real focus is always himself, and his own religious life. He has no real love for God, nor does he have any real understanding of his own lost nature. He, rather than God, sits on the throne of his life. He, and not God, is lord of his life. What God does is to force each individual to express his true nature. God never forces a man to sin, nor does He tempt anyone to do evil, but God does cause each man or woman to express the true nature of the heart. Thus, under great pressure Job cried out to God, "Even if you slay me, I will still trust you". King Saul, on the other hand, when brought under pressure demonstrated that he trusted himself and held the commandment of God in contempt. Job's confidence, in the end was in God while Saul's confidence was in Saul. Where the true believer trusts in God, the false believer trusts in self, or religion, or sacrifice, or duty, or human reason, or science or a myriad of other things. In the end, though, the unbeliever's trusts is in himself and his ability to evaluate right and wrong, good and evil.

When we preach the Gospel to men and women, then, we exhort and encourage each person to believe in Jesus Christ. This is how we are commanded to preach the Gospel, and this is how we do preach the Gospel. Because we love all people, we desire that all should respond and come to faith in Christ. We desire this deeply and we plead earnestly with men and women to turn and be saved, and we pray fervently that they will do so. Thus we are commanded, and thus we do. In the end, though, those who are "appointed" to eternal life will believe (Acts 13:48). All others will reject the invitation of the Gospel, even though God extended to them open arms and a true invitation to salvation. They rejected God's invitation because their heart's were evil, and therefore they are guilty. Thus it was with the rich young ruler. In a given place and at a given time all might be saved, many might be saved, or few or none might be saved. It is entirely in the province of God. Here is the sovereignty of God and the freedom of human beings.

Those who are saved, moreover, are saved by hearing the Gospel. To say 'I won't worry because if I am meant to be saved, then I will be saved' is just to condemn oneself to hell. THE ONLY WAY TO BE SAVED IS TO RESPOND IN FAITH TO THE GOSPEL. Just because God is sovereign does not mean that I do not strive with all might might to lead men and women to Christ. This is how He chooses to call His own to Himself. Just because God is sovereign does not mean that I should take my own salvation lightly. To do so is to risk being lost forever. If I hear and understand the Word of God, then I should seek to enter into relationship with God through Jesus Christ, and I should strive with all my being to complete this transaction. The very sense of urgency I sense is God's call to me.

This same principle can be seen in the commandments and warnings of God in the Bible. One might say, 'If I am a true believer, than I will surely be saved to the uttermost, and therefore I don't have to trouble myself about obedience to the Scriptures.' However, it is the warnings, and the teachings and the exhortations of the Word of God which lead the true believer along the path of righteousness. To confess that one has no interest in obeying God's Word is just to confess that one is not a true believer. Or to ignore the warnings of Scripture is to demonstrate that one is deaf to the Word of God, and therefore not "of the household of faith".

The Gospel, then, is like a great sword which divides people from people. It separates the one who is truly called by God from the one who is simply interested from a human point of view or even opposed. To the one the Gospel brings life, while to the other the Gospel confirms that person in a place of independence from God and unwillingness to bow before Christ and be saved. The Apostle Paul describes this dividing nature of the Gospel as follows:

For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things? 2 Corinthians 2:15-16

The same Gospel, which means eternal life to one separates another unto eternal judgment.

Let us now return to Paul's response to those who wondered what was the point in doing anything since God is sovereign. The Apostle did not give them a direct theological explanation in his response. Instead he rebuked them for "answering back to God". The great and holy and just and merciful God has purchased deliverance from wrath for all who will turn to the Lord Jesus Christ and trust in Him and in Him alone for their salvation. All who are willing to come to Christ and believe in Him will be saved. If a man or a woman chooses to reject this offer of mercy, he or she does so because of an evil determination to be independent from the God who created him or her. To enter into debate with God over His sovereignty simply underlines and reaffirms the astonishing wickedness of the human heart. For the creature to impugn the justice, or mercy, or kindness of a just and merciful and compassionate Creator simply magnifies the arrogance of his evil heart.

If we are honest, we all find this arrogance in ourselves. For some of us, though, by the great mercy of God, a moment comes when we recognize the shocking evil of our own nature. We have seen something of our own ugliness and had a glimpse of the of beauty of Christ and therefore we despise our own rebellious natures, and beseech the Saviour for mercy - and the Gospel will be, for us, "a fragrance from life to life". To the creature who insists on "answering back" to his Creator, however, the Gospel will be "a fragrance from death to death".

"He who overcomes ..."

"Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many. "Because lawlessness is increased, most people's love will grow cold. "But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved. "This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come. Matthew 24:11-14

I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world." John 16:33

Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? 1 John 5:5

.... To him who overcomes, I will grant to eat of the tree of life which is in the Paradise of God.' ... He who overcomes will not be hurt by the second death ... To him who overcomes, to him I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and a new name written on the stone which no one knows but he who receives it ... 'He who overcomes, and he who keeps My deeds until the end, TO HIM I WILL GIVE AUTHORITY OVER THE NATIONS;... He who overcomes will thus be clothed in white garments; and I will not erase his name from the book of life, and I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.... 'He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will not go out from it anymore; and I will write on him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God, and My new name .... He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. ... Revelation 2:7, 11, 17, 26; 3:5, 12, 21

"He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son. Revelation 21:7

And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, "Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death. Revelation 12:10-11

In the last book of the Bible, the Revelation of the Apostle John, we are given a picture of seven Churches found in Asia around the end of the first Century. These seven Churches are understood by most to represent all of the Churches during the entire Church age. The risen Christ sends a message to each one of these Churches which consists of commendations for some and, in the case of five of the seven, chastisements, corrections and warnings. Each of the seven messages ends with a promise to "him who overcomes", and the promise, couched in symbols specific to the situation of each Church, is that the one who overcomes will receive eternal life. The clear and necessary implication is that he who fails to overcome also fails to receive eternal live. Indeed, this is more than an implication. It is stated clearly in prophetic language (eg. "remove your lampstand", "war against them with the sword of my mouth" and so on).

What we take from these seven messages, then, is that the true Christian is an "overcomer", or, to state it in the converse, "This means that those who fail to prove themselves "overcomers" fail thereby to prove themselves Christians." (G.K. Beale, The Book of Revelation, NIGTC, Eerdmans, 1999, pg 272). If this is true - and I believe that all of Scripture teaches the same thing - then it is obviously critical to discover exactly what is meant by "overcoming". If failing to overcome is to fail as a Christian, that is just to say that failing to overcome will result in falling under the wrath of God and being cast away with all others who will suffer forever for their hatred of God and their love of sin.

The first thing that someone will say is that 'This is salvation by works rather than salvation by faith'. In fact, many who profess Christ argue just that point. But to take such a position is simply to misunderstand the whole nature of salvation - which again is the position of many, many in this 'age of ignorance'. What the world calls the 'age of knowledge', turns out to be the 'age of ignorance' for the Church. The true Christian is saved by faith in Christ Jesus, and he is made a "new creation in Christ Jesus". He becomes the abode of the Holy Spirit of God, and the Holy Spirit will enable him to "overcome". Every true believer will receive "power from on high" to follow after Christ, and to complete his journey as a disciple of Christ no matter what the cost to him. All who are true disciples of Jesus Christ - that is all true Christians - will persevere in their obedience to the Word of God. Not one will fail to be an overcomer. Jesus said:

... the one who endures to the end will be saved. Matthew 24:13

Thus it is crucial for the Christian to understand just what is meant by the Lord Christ when He refers to "he who overcomes". What is an overcomer? What is it that he must overcome? In his excellent exposition on the Book of Revelations (cited above) Greg Beale has provided a very helpful discussion on this topic. We see first of all that Christians are called to the same ministry in this world as Christ their Lord (thus the name "Christian" which means "follower of Christ"). The mission of Christ in the world was to announce the Gospel (He, alone, of course by His death and resurrection BECAME the Gospel). Jesus began His public ministry with the announcement, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." (Mark 3:2). He was a faithful witness sent from God with the good news that mercy and forgiveness would be extended to all who trusted in Christ to save them. One might imagine that this would be the best - the most wonderful - news that humanity could ever hope for and that all would rush to the Lord Christ to be saved by Him. Instead, because He was a faithful witness, the people of the World hated Jesus Christ and they murdered Him. The Bible describes their reaction to the Gospel as follows:

Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. John 3:18-20

There are those who "hate the light" because they do not wish to submit themselves to God and they do not wish their evil deeds to be exposed. It is these ones who murdered Jesus Christ, and it is these who have persecuted the disciples down through the ages - often in the name of religion and often thinking that they are "offering a service to God" (John 16:2).

Christians are called to overcome, then, just as their Lord overcame. So how did the Lord Christ overcome? He overcame by being obedient to His Father and faithful to His testimony, even to the death on the cross. Jesus was faithful to proclaim the Word that His Father gave Him, and to proclaim "the whole counsel of God", and to remain faithful to the truth even to the point of death. He overcame, by entrusting Himself to His Father and by refusing to compromise His message or His obedience no matter what the threat or what the pressure. He overcame by becoming "the lamb of God", committing His entire life into the hands of His Father, and refusing to raise a hand on His own behalf. The Lord Christ ordered all of His life to fulfill Scripture placing Himself and His safety in the hands of His Father. Just before He was to willingly surrender Himself to His executors, Jesus encouraged His Apostles with the words:

I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world." John 16:33

He overcame the world by faithful testimony and by obedience to His Father, entrusting Himself entirely into the hands of God. In a sense, as Beale points out, He overcame by being overcome - He established Himself as Lord of all by becoming 'a sheep among wolves'.

The Christian overcomes by his faithful witness to the Gospel, and by entrusting himself into the hands of His Lord in all things. The Christian overcomes by refusing to compromise his testimony to Christ under pressure from the world, and by being faithful to obey all that the Lord has commanded his disciples. He overcomes by loving those who oppose him while remaining true to the Lord Christ and to the Gospel. How does the Christian do this? - by faith. Just as the Christian is justified by faith, so also he is sanctified by faith. Just as he is saved through trust in the Lord Jesus Christ to save him, so he is faithful to his testimony and obedient to his Lord by trusting in the Lord Christ to uphold him by grace. When His Father refused to remove the cup of wrath from the hand of our Lord, Jesus entrusted Himself entirely into the hands of His God. This was how He overcame - this is how we overcome.

The Book of Revelations describes exactly how the disciples of Christ overcome their enemy in the following words:

And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, "Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death. Revelation 12:10-11

This is a very instructive passage because it shows us what it is that we MUST overcome and it describes just HOW we overcome. Satan attempts to drive a wedge between Christ and His disciples by accusing them "day and night before our God". Were he to succeed, the saints would lose confidence, would be overcome by their guilt and unworthiness, and would turn back in discouragement from following God. They would abandon the Gospel and turn back to the world. However, Satan does not succeed because the saints put their trust in "the blood of the lamb", and they do not abandon "their testimony", and they "loved not their lives even unto death". They are sustained by the Holy Spirit not only to remain true to their testimony but also to maintain a heart of love towards all men.

Let us consider each of these elements in the overcoming action of the saints. First, they overcome by the "blood of the lamb". It is by the shed blood of the Lord Christ that the saints have been delivered from the guilt of sin, have been washed of the pollution of sin, and have been set free from the dominion of sin. By faith in the sacrifice of Christ, the saints are justified and declared righteous, and therefore they have access to God and to His grace. Now the saints can come to their heavenly Father with confidence to receive help in the time of need. Now God keeps the saints because He regards them as His own children and places them under His protective watch.

The next weapon in the saints' arsenal is "the word of their testimony". This is the Gospel, and it is the Gospel as it has been applied to the life of the saint. When Paul preached the Gospel, he was not simply stating a theological position - he was also declaring the gift of God that delivered him - Paul - from deadly blindness and transferred him - Paul - into the kingdom of God. Many times, as in the last verses of Romans chapter 11, the exuberance and adoration of Paul spill over as He reflects on the "glorious Gospel". This is Paul's testimony. Note, it is not some unique or unusual experience that Paul is telling forth so much as the simple Gospel of salvation. While it is true that we read of Paul's dramatic conversion, the testimony that he gives us over and over again, as do the other writers of the New Testament, is the "glorious Gospel of the blessed God" (1Timothy 1:11). It is the Gospel that saves, not a retelling of my experience. But only those who have been saved can preach the Gospel from the heart.

The third reason the saints are overcomers is because "they loved not their lives even unto death". Actually, the construction of the Greek language suggests a bit different reading - although the effect is the same. Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that the saints overcame BECAUSE "they loved not their lives even unto death", and the WAY they overcame was "by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony". In any case this self denial is a crucial element in overcoming, and it is a crucial focus whenever the Lord Jesus Christ is talking about the nature of discipleship. If anyone loves his own life - or anything else - more than he loves Christ, he will fail to overcome and thus will he be rejected by the Lord. As we said above, nothing can be clearer than the teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ on this subject. It is all the more astonishing, then, that whole denominations in the modern Church deny it. The simple truth of discipleship is:

Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. John 12:25

It would be instructive at this point to consider Greg Beale's discussion of the Lord's message to the Ephesian Church. The Ephesian Church received a strong commendation from the Lord Christ, but it also received a very sharp rebuke and ominous warning. Christ presents Himself to that Church as the one "who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstands." (Revelation 2:1). With each Church the way the Lord presents Himself is related to the issues He wishes to address for that particular assembly. Here Jesus reminds the Ephesians that He holds their very existence (their "star") in His hand. Jesus Christ is the head of His Church and He oversees His Church continually and personally. Nothing is added that He does not add, and nothing remains that He does not bless. The Ephesians are also reminded that their Lord "walks among the golden lampstands". What's the significance of golden lampstands here?

Lampstands are a symbol for the light of the Gospel. When Jesus was directing His disciples to declare the Gospel boldly, he referred to putting a lamp on the lampstand and not hiding it under a basket (Matthew 5:15). The Greek word for lampstand (luchnia) is the same in both instances. We are to overcome by letting our lights shine - by putting them on a "lampstand" where they can be seen, rather than hiding them under a basket. The Ephesian Church, it seems, had ceased to "let their light shine". They had abandoned their testimony of the Gospel. There was much persecution in the early Church, and especially in such a pagan city as Ephesus, and so the Ephesians had not been testifying to the Gospel as they had at the beginning. They had "fallen from their first love". Even though they were doing much that is right and true to the faith, the Ephesians were slowly letting the fire of their testimony die out. They were turning back from the first calling of every Church - to proclaim the Gospel to their community, and to be a living and faithful testimony to the salvation of God in Christ Jesus.

Other Churches - Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, and Laodicea - had let their lights go out in a different way. These Churches were guilty of compromising with the world so that the true Gospel light began to be lost in the fog of compromise and confusion. The message - the light - became lost because the pure truth of the Gospel of God cannot be tainted by the thoughts and traditions of men. Half a Gospel is worse than no Gospel. A Gospel that is half right, is fully tainted and corrupted and more dangerous than a completely false religion. This was Paul's great indignation in the first chapter of the Letter to the Galatians. It is hard to imagine a more serious offence against the Lord from those who profess Christ than to water down and taint the Gospel with the philosophy of the age, and the thinking of human beings.

Still another way in which some of the seven Churches had let their lights die out was to allow sin to reign in their midst. The testimony of the Church is destroyed if sin is allowed to have free reign in it midst. Whole Churches and whole denominations have been destroyed by failing to exercise godly discipline against those who are found to be living in sin. Any Church which does so is in immediate danger of having its lampstand removed by Christ, and then having to face Him in judgment rather than with the open hand of a friend.

So let us see if we can gather the threads together and bring into focus the calling of a Christian to be an overcomer. Each Christian is saved through the Gospel of the grace of God in Jesus Christ, and each Christian is called upon to be a witness of that Gospel to the world. I must not let the world intimidate me or threaten me into denying Christ and the goodness of God through the Gospel. My love for Christ is expressed, in part, by being a faithful witness of His goodness to me, and by making known to others what God has done for me. When we speak of a Church, as opposed to individuals, then, there is a calling to publicly declare the Gospel. Moreover, this Gospel must be the true Gospel, pure and undefiled by the traditions and reasoning of human beings. Finally the saints must keep themselves free from sin so that the light of their witness will not go out.

To be a faithful witness does not mean that I have to go up and down my street handing out Gospel tracts - although some are called to do just that. It does mean that I must be faithful to confess Christ as I have opportunity, and I must be faithful never to deny Christ or to hide my faith just because the people of the world will disapprove of my confession of Christ. It means that I have one Lord and one God and that when called upon I must be faithful to confess my faith in my Christ my Lord, and my allegiance to my God. I must not ever partake in behaviour which denies my God or which exalts another above my God. The Lord Jesus Christ said:

So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven. Matthew 10:32-33

To be a faithful witness does mean that I will suffer persecution and rejection. The world does not love Christ. In fact the world hates Christ and it hates Christians. The world does not mind the false Christ which so many profess today, but it hates the Christ who convicts them of sin, and it hates the Christian who belongs to that Christ. If a Christian is not experiencing rejection by the world, then, quite simply, that person is not walking as an overcomer. If a Church is loved by the world, then that Church has left its love for Christ, or else it never had such a love. Jesus said to His unbelieving brothers:

The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify about it that its works are evil. John 7:7

This is why the two Churches which received blessing without rebuke from the Lord - Smyrna and Philadelphia - were Churches under persecution. Both Smyrna and Philadelphia remained faithful to their Lord, and maintained their testimony of God's goodness through the Gospel even though they were both under attack from Satan. They were not commended by the Lord because they were persecuted. They were commended because they were faithful witnesses, and because they were faithful witnesses, they were persecuted.

Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, 2 Timothy 3:12

The Lord Jesus Christ did not have to TELL the world that its works were evil. He had only to be faithful to God, and when the people of the world inquired of Him about Himself, and He told them the truth, then they hated Him. So it is with Christians. One has only to be faithful to Christ and it will not be long before the people of the world begin to ask why you are different than them. When the Christian testifies about the goodness of God and the salvation of the Gospel through faith in Christ, some will be drawn to the Lord, but others will hate that Christian. Once again, the Lord warned His disciples:

"If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you: 'A servant is not greater than his master.' If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have been guilty of sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. Whoever hates me hates my Father also. If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin, but now they have seen and hated both me and my Father. But the word that is written in their Law must be fulfilled: 'They hated me without a cause.' "But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me. And you also will bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning. John 15:18-27

Some might object that this is a very difficult teaching - it will scare people away from following Christ. But this is exactly what a person should consider before he or she decides to follow after the Lord. Modern Churches have been filled with individuals who have received a self-centred Gospel of easy believism, and who have never really been converted to Christ. What they have been "converted to" has nothing to do with the true Gospel. They are yet dead in their sins, and they are heading for eternal separation from God. Whoever wishes to follow Christ as a true disciple should consider very carefully the cost of discipleship as the Lord Himself warns in the following:

Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them, "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, 'This man began to build and was not able to finish.' Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple. Luke 14:25-33

The one who is really called will embrace Christ because he or she MUST have Him who has been revealed to them. They may not like the the idea of suffering and loss and rejection - who does? But, in the end, nothing will stop them from following after the One who "has the words of eternal life" (John 6:68). They are the overcomers. They will receive the "crown of life" - eternal life and all the riches of God's blessings.

The rewards of discipleship

By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward. Hebrews 11:24-26

For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what can a man give in return for his soul? Mark 8:35-37

Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. James 1:12

The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs--heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. Romans 8:16-18

In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory. Ephesians 1:11-14

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away." Revelation 21:1-4

The last three sections of this essay are meant to be brief and practical answers to questions regarding discipleship that may arise in the mind of new believers. The first question that we set out to answer is, 'What, exactly, is the reward of discipleship?' When one considers the cost of following the Lord Jesus Christ - which is one's very life - then one is inclined to ask, 'Why would I enter such an arrangement? What would be my inducement to do so? What would be my reward?' Some Christians might think that this is a very selfish and mundane question - that it is not very 'spiritual'. The Bible, though, has much to say about the reward for following Christ. It is a major theme of both the Old Testament and the New, and the topic appears often in the discourses of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The first reward that the disciple receives is that he is delivered from the world of fantasy and pretence which leads to eternal suffering, and into the light of the Gospel, which brings peace and joy and where the disciple may grow in the truth of God forever. Jesus asked the question, "For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?" Mark 8:36. In other words, what could I possibly gain that would compensate for the loss of my soul. One would think that it's sort of a no-brainer, and yet because of the blindness of sin the multitudes seem unable to come to terms with the question. Men and women become fascinated with the passing pleasures of this life and cling to them at the cost of their eternal souls. The disciple is delivered from this insanity.

The passage from the book of Romans quoted above (Romans 8:16-18) gives a most concise description of the chief reward which the disciple receives. The disciple is adopted by God as His very child and is granted all of the the rights and privileges of a child. He or she is made an heir of all the riches of eternity - a fellow heir with Jesus Christ. This is such an astonishing piece of information that one can hardly fathom it, but it is the unmistakable and repeated testimony of the Word of God, and so it cannot fail. I, who was a prisoner living in slavery to sin and bound over to eternal punishment, have been delivered from judgment and made heir of all the riches of heaven through no effort or ability or goodness or wisdom of my own.

No other reward, though, can be compared with the reward of attainting peace with God and being brought into a loving and eternal relationship with God the Father and with Jesus Christ my Lord and Saviour. All other rewards pale beside this one blessing - that I am known by God, loved by God, welcome to come to God, and a friend of God forever. That I should be where Christ is forever, to see His majesty and His glory and to be considered a friend to Him is more than my mind or my heart can fathom. This is, though, the reward laid out for all the disciples of Christ. What is more, we have entered into this reward right now in this present life, and the Holy Spirit has given us a 'down payment' of the joy which shall be ours forever (Ephesians 1:13).

With relationship to God through the Lord Jesus Christ comes peace and joy and love and blessing right now. Even in the midst of the difficulties and trials of this life, joy attends the disciple continually. This is because the Holy Spirit has "sealed" the disciple (see Ephesians 1:13 above) with a promise of eternal life - a kind of "guarantee" or 'down payment' of the blessing reserved for all of God's children in the resurrection at the time of Christ's return. Those of us who have tasted of this joy and this peace and this sense of the love of God have no difficulty understanding the Apostle Paul's observation (above) "that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us".

When the writers of the New Testament try to describe the setting and the experience of heaven, they must use symbols to try to convey their impressions or else they must confess:

... "EYE HAS NOT SEEN, NOR EAR HEARD, NOR HAVE ENTERED INTO THE HEART OF MAN THE THINGS WHICH GOD HAS PREPARED FOR THOSE WHO LOVE HIM." 1 Corinthians 2:9

Power for discipleship

I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. Matthew 3:11

And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, "you heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now." So when they had come together, they asked him, "Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?" He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." Acts 1:4-8

Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. Isaiah 40:30-31

If a man or a woman is drawn to Christ but feels that he or she is not ABLE to walk the path of a disciple, then that person should know that NO ONE IS ABLE TO WALK THE PATH OF A DISCIPLE OF CHRIST. A person who feels that he or she is able to lay down his or her life and follow Jesus in the way that He demands has not yet understood the calling of a disciple. They are in the same presumptuous place as Peter when he insisted that he would be faithful, and then denied the Lord within a few hours. This, in fact, is the position of many new Christians - and especially of young Christians. The Holy Spirit must slowly teach them the limits of human strength so that they will begin to call upon the inexhaustible resources of God. It is by the power of the Spirit of God that the disciple follows Christ. The mature and tried disciple knows deep within his or her being that the victory is won:

... Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of hosts. Zechariah 4:6

When John the Baptist was describing his calling from God he told the people that he baptized them with water, but the One coming after him - the Messiah - would "baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire". The launch of the New Testament Church described in the second chapter of the Book of Acts was accomplished through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit which was promised throughout the Old Testament, and which Jesus Christ told His disciples to await. In fact, the Lord referred to this outpouring as "the promise of the Father" From this moment when the Holy Spirit was "poured out" upon God's people, the Church moved forward with a power which was not of this world and the disciples preached the Gospel of Christ with great boldness and effectiveness. No matter what one's understanding is on particular manifestations of the Spirit and gifts of the Spirit, every believer should seek to be filled with the Holy Spirit, because:

... the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself." Acts 2:39

Disciples need to be filled with the Holy Spirit. It is God's provision for His people in this present age.

It is the Holy Spirit who empowers the disciple to follow Christ. It has often been pointed out that the disciples of Jesus Christ were rather weak and frightened individuals before the day of Pentecost. They all fled when He was arrested. Peter denied Him outright. They hid themselves behind locked doors, and eventually some of them even returned to their occupations. After the outpouring of the Spirit, however, this little band of disciples turned the whole Roman world upside down, "and they loved not their own lives, even to the death." (Revelation 12:11). They were filled with joy and love and they proclaimed the Gospel with great power and effectiveness. The religious leaders in Jerusalem were stunned at the boldness of these simple and unlearned people, and all efforts to curtail them, it seemed, simply ended up in more people being drawn to Christ.

Learning how to follow the Lord Christ is the occupation of the disciple from the moment he or she commits to Christ, until this life is over. Typically there is a time after conversion of great joy and rejoicing - a kind of honeymoon. When my wife and first came to Christ we spent as much time as we possibly could reading the Bible, and singing songs of praise and worship to the Lord, and fellowshipping with the saints. It was a most marvellous time. A few others had come to know the Lord at roughly the same time and it was like a continuous prayer and praise meeting. Our theology was atrocious, but our hearts were smitten by the love of God in Christ Jesus.

Soon, though, in the wisdom of God, the disciple begins to be taught the things of God by the Holy Spirit. Fellowship with true Christians and regular study and meditation of the Word of God is most important here. The work of the Holy Spirit is to form the disciple into the image of Jesus Christ, and the chief work that He does to accomplish this is to teach the saint to put all of his or her trust in the Lord and no trust at all in oneself. This might sound simple enough, but this is a lifetime work of the Holy Spirit, and He cuts ever deeper and ever more directly to show the saint that the inclination of the human heart to trust itself is very strong indeed and it leads one away from the truth. Slowly the disciple must learn that it is in trusting and obeying the Lord that we find our strength and our safety. Mature saints learn to pray with Augustine, "Grant what you command, and command what you will". What God demands, God must provide for. Only by the enabling of the Spirit of God can the true work of God be done.

Disciplines of discipleship

So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls. And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved. Acts 2:41-47

The disciple who comes to maturity in the faith, will do so by applying discipline to his life which will serve to conform him ever more into the image of Christ. The purpose of the Father for all of his children is that they should be conformed to the image of His Son, and thus be "holy and blameless before him":

For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. Romans 8:29

even as he [the Father] chose us in him [the Son] before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love Ephesians 1:4

This is the work of the Holy Spirit, and it is also the work of the disciple who, in response to the Holy Spirit, strives mightily to "work out his salvation":

Therefore, my beloved, ... work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. Philippians 2:12-13

We must always be clear when we speak of this 'striving' or 'working out your salvation' that we are not speaking of "earning" your salvation or of somehow doing something which puts God in our debt. We are saved by grace through faith - and BECAUSE WE ARE SAVED we strive to do that which pleases our heavenly Father. It is because "God works in us" that we work. It is because we have confidence in our relationship with God through Jesus Christ that we strive to "work out our salvation". Moreover, just as we are saved by faith, so also we walk - or live - by faith (Galatians 2:20; 2Corinthians 5:7).

The passage quoted above from the second chapter of the Book of Acts (Acts 2:41-47) is a very interesting one because it shows how the new disciples of Christ spontaneously gave themselves to the disciplines of discipleship. In the tremendous blessing of God poured out upon the infant Church at the time of Pentecost, there was great joy and excitement amongst the new believers. Like any new believers during a time of revival, these Christians had a great hunger for the things of God. What they applied themselves to - (1) the apostles' teaching, (2) fellowship, (3) breaking of bread, (4) prayers, and (5) with glad and generous hearts, praising God - are the very disciplines which must be present if the disciple is to "grow in the grace and the knowledge of the Lord." (2Peter 3:18)

1. Reading, study and meditation of the Scriptures:

   All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3:16-17
   

What was called the "apostles teaching" for the primitive Church (see Acts 2:41 above) has since been written down by the Apostles under the guidance of the Holy Spirit and handed down to us as the New Testament. Of course, the Apostles' teaching was based fully on the Old Testament, so this is a reference to the Scriptures as a whole. It is highly significant that the Lord Jesus Christ took much care after His resurrection to explain to the Apostles how His life death and resurrection were in exact fulfillment of the Scriptures. As He did throughout His entire ministry, the risen Christ placed much emphasis on the Scriptures which He affirmed again and again as the very Word of God.

One of the first things that the new Christian should do is to set aside a time of the day for reading and meditation of the Scriptures. There should also be a disciplined study of the Scriptures which would usually be under the direction of a gifted, and learned, and anointed Bible teacher. It cannot be stressed too much that the new disciple must choose a teacher who is himself properly trained and equipped to teach the Scriptures. Many teach God's Word in a defective or even totally misleading way. My own experience is that I was taught by those who had a very defective understanding of the Scriptures, and so I, in turn taught others. I do not doubt the sincerity of my teachers, nor do I question their confession of Christ. They were, however, not competent to teach the Word of God, and their incompetence caused me great difficulty over many years, because to come to maturity in the faith one must learn the Word of God correctly, and to do that one must have competent teachers - this is the provision of God for His people.

I would advise new Christians to inquire whether his or her teacher believe the Scriptures to be the very Word of God and to be trustworthy in all of its parts. Does the teacher believe that the resurrection of Christ took place just as it is described in the Scriptures? Does the teacher believe in the miracles of Christ and the miracles of the Old Testament just as they are described in the Bible? Does the teacher believe in the account of heaven and hell as taught in the Scriptures. Does he believe that the Scriptures are reliable as a historical record? Does the teacher believe that the Scriptures have been preserved for us by God, so that what we have today is essentially what was given in the original so that we are able to trust our Bibles? If the answer to any of these questions is in the negative, then I would not accept that person as a teacher of the Word of God - no matter what qualifications he might have. Better to study the Bible on one's own or with a friend than to come under the teaching of an unqualified teacher.

In the daily reading and meditation of the Scriptures the disciple should begin by prayer, always asking the Lord to speak to him or her through the Word of God. Again and again the Holy Spirit will teach the disciple from the Scriptures, and this is a most wonderful aspect of following Christ. What I may have read many times before all at once becomes "alive" and ministers fresh insights into my soul. Day by day, week by week, month by month, meditation and study of the word of God will cause me to be "transformed" by the "renewing of my mind" (Romans 12:2).

The teaching of the Word of God should be consistent with the the teaching of the "giants of the faith". These are men whom the Lord Christ has given to us to help us to understand the sacred writings. Anyone who claims to be a teacher of the faith, but who is not thoroughly steeped in the teachings of these men, is not competent to hold the office of a teacher in the Church of Jesus Christ. He may function as an undersherpherd or a small group leader, but that must be under the authority and guidance of a man who holds the office of teacher in the Church. Among the great teachers of the faith given to us down through the ages, I would include following:

• Martin Luther
• John Calvin
• John Owen
• Jonathan Edwards
• Charles Spurgeon
• Benjamin Warfield

Amongst modern teachers I would recommend:

• John Murray
• Martyn Lloyd-Jones
• William Hendriksen
• John McCarthur
• John Piper

There are many many other gifted and competent teachers of the faith of course, but these few names will serve to give a guideline concerning the teaching of the Scriptures as God has provided for His Church down through the ages. Once again, my own experience was to be taught by men who did not understand the great doctrines of the faith, who were not learned in the original languages, and who were ignorant of even the basic precepts of the Gospel. Even though they were sincere, these men because of their incompetence did not properly ground the people under their charge. A true teacher of the Word of God is a great gift from the Lord and should be treasured by the Church.

2. Prayer:

   And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. Luke 18:1

   Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. Romans 8:26

   Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

   If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. John 15:7

   The new Christian should develop a routine of daily prayer - a time set aside for prayer - and should also teach himself or herself to "pray without ceasing". I understand this last commandment as a direction to submit matters to God throughout the day as we encounter different challenges. It does not mean that we do not give ourselves to our daily work, but rather that we maintain an attitude of dependence upon God at all times and in all the facets of our lives. The mature Christian is one who has learned to rest in God, and he has done that by trusting God to be with him and to provide for him in every situation. At times God will give me grace to endure a difficult situation; at other times the Lord will provide for me in answer to my prayer whether it be in the resolution of a conflict, providing deliverance for a brother or sister, providing finances and so on. What is important is to set my needs before the Lord and to trust Him to hear and answer my prayers.
   
   As with other aspects of the disciple's life, the life of prayer grows and becomes more effective as the disciple practices this discipline. There are times when I am feeling "flat" or even discouraged and depressed or perhaps I have no sense of the presence of the Lord at all and my faith feels very weak. These are just the times when the mature saint has learned to pray diligently, and these are often the times when God will give dramatic answers to prayer. At other times, the Holy Spirit may wish me to repent for some sin, or to ask forgiveness for someone who I have wronged. Prayer is our high privilege as children of God. We are encouraged to come before the throne of God with boldness and confidence (Hebrews 4:16), and each time we do so we grow in grace and the knowledge of the Lord.

   The important thing for the new disciple is to set aside a time of prayer each day and to be faithful to pray during that time. Most have found that the time to pray is first thing in the morning before the cares of the day begin to distract one. In the beginning this may be just 15 or 20 minutes. One might begin with a brief prayer of thanksgiving, followed by reading a passage of Scripture and then a brief time of bringing one's requests before the Lord. What is important is that the new Christian remain faithful to the routine. There may be days when one feels 'dry' and 'unspiritual' and the prayer time seems a waste of time. It is important to maintain the discipline during these times, even if one simply reads one's Bible for the entire time.

If one is aware of any particular offence than one should confess that to the Lord and should commit oneself to correct any area of one's life that is not in keeping with the Lord's will. Our natural inclination is to avoid the Lord if there is sin, or if there are areas where we are struggling, but it is just at these places where we need to seek the Lord diligently to receive help. Jesus said that He didn't come for the righteous but for sinners, and it is the desire of God that we should be open and honest in all our dealings with Him. He will heal us and bring us to maturity as we entrust ourselves to HIm, and look to Him for strength to overcome.

3. Fellowship:

   So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. Ephesians 2:19-22

   In this dark day when the Church has so often been seen as little more than a corporation the new Christian should earnestly beseech the Lord Jesus Christ that He would establish him or her in a true Church and amongst true brethren. When we come to Christ we become a part of "the household of God" with a whole new set of rights and responsibilities. Often in this modern age, as I said, this is not at all the way the local congregation functions. In many cases members of modern Churches come and go as more or less independent subscribers to a society rather than as members of a family with real accountability. Many would be deeply offended to learn that they are commanded to be under the authority of the elders of the Church in a real and active sense - and, in fact, there are many many Churches where the "elders" are not elders at all in the Biblical sense, and one should never submit to such as these.

Fellowship with the saints in the Church of Jesus Christ is an essential part of our faith and of our service to Christ. If there is not a true Church where the new Christian can enter into fellowship with other disciples, then it is important to find other individuals who are committed to Christ and to fellowship with these ones on a regular basis. There is no such thing as "private Christianity" and the new Christian will put himself or herself in grave danger if he or she does not enter into fellowship with others who belong to Christ. This is a matter, as I have said, for earnest prayer.

On the other hand, there is no fellowship on earth which can be compared to the fellowship between those who belong to Christ and have given themselves to follow Him. There is a blessing and a joy and a fulfillment in the Church of Jesus Christ which is unique in all of the world, and it is a foretaste of our eternal blessing as the people of God. There will be trials and challenges and great anxieties at times as we grow and develop together, but the joy and fulfillment of being part of "the household of faith" is worth it all.

4. Breaking of Bread and Baptism - the Sacraments:

   For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, "This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me." In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me." For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. 1 Corinthians 11:23-26

   having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. Colossians 2:12

   So Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever." John 6:53-58
   

The two sacraments of the New Testament Church are baptism and the breaking of bread. These two are a means of grace and blessing for the saint. Baptism is an outward or public confession to signify that the disciple is identified with Christ in His death and burial. One is saved by faith, not by baptism, but one is baptized to signify that one has been saved through identification with Jesus Christ. The Bible teaches that when Christ died the saint died with Him and when He rose from the dead the saint rose with Him (Romans 6:3-11). Baptism signifies this union between Christ and the disciple.

The breaking of Bread - or communion - was instituted by the Lord Jesus Christ on the night before His crucifixion. This sacrament also signifies our identity with Christ in His death, and this sacrament is to be repeated by the people of God on a regular basis. Communion is more than just identification with Christ in His death and resurrection. It also signifies that I "partake" of Christ, or that I draw my strength from Christ day by day. In the words of the Lord I "eat His body" and "drink His blood". The bread and the wine (or grape juice) of the communion table symbolize my spiritual 'partaking' of Christ which sustains me every day.


5. Praise, Thanksgiving, and Worship:
   

   give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 1 Thessalonians 5:18

   Praise the LORD! Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens! Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his excellent greatness! Praise him with trumpet sound; praise him with lute and harp! Praise him with tambourine and dance; praise him with strings and pipe! Praise him with sounding cymbals; praise him with loud clashing cymbals! Let everything that has breath praise the LORD! Praise the LORD! Psalms 150:1-6

   Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name; worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness. Psalms 29:2 NKJV
   

It is of great importance that the new Christian develop an attitude of thankfulness to the God Who created him or her, and Who redeemed him or her, and Who daily provides all things which are necessary for life and godliness. When we first come to Christ we still have the mindset of the world to a large extent, and our minds must be renewed to accommodate the light which we have received by the Holy Spirit. This is a lifetime process. What is important in the early stages of our discipleship is to strive to correct the habits of ungodliness which are particularly offensive to the Lord. Unthankfulness and grumbling and a critical attitude are very wrong and very offensive. As children of Adam we simply are not inclined towards true thankfulness. Our strong inclination is to "pay our own way" wherever we can so that we do not have to express thanks to any other. This is simply a facet of our evil heart of unbelief and our determination to be independent from the God who created us and Who sustains us.

The saint should always approach God with an attitude of thanksgiving, and of worship and praise. The reason is that our glorious God is worthy of all worship and praise and to approach Him with something less than this is an affront to His glory. Moreover, it always demeans the person who has been so careless in the presence of the Almighty God. This does not mean that we should develop a distant and fearful attitude towards the Lord. Not at all! We come to Him as His children and we say "Abba, Father" (Romans 8:15) which means something like "poppa" or "daddy", or "dear father". It is a term of endearment, and it is the privilege of God's redeemed. Nevertheless, we should also treat our glorious God with all respect and honour, because He is worthy to be worshipped and praised. Indeed, it is in our worship and praise of our Father that we ourselves are greatly blessed and elevated.

These are the key disciplines that the new disciple should establish in his or her life. The Spirit of God will lead the new Christian to observe these disciplines as a natural outcome of the desire to seek God and to be with God and to grow in the grace and knowledge of God. It is important to establish routines and habits so that we will maintain our relationship with Christ not just in times of great blessing and favour, but also in times of difficulty and spiritual heaviness. The Holy Spirit will surely bring every saint through those times, and he or she should be diligent to develop the habits of a disciple. There is not a single man or woman of God who ever reached maturity or accomplished significant works in the service of the Lord who did not practice these disciplines on a daily basis. In fact, it is a very helpful and useful exercise for the new Christian to study the lives of those who have gone before and who have been proven as faithful disciples. Men such as Calvin, and the Puritans, and John Bunyan, George Whitefield, George Muller, Charles Spurgeon, Jonathan Edwards and countless others teach us much from their lives as well as from their pens.

Finally, in our daily walks there is a very important aspect to the life of the disciple which is also a real challenge to the new Christian. We are all called upon to be a witness to Jesus Christ and to the Gospel IN ALL THE FACETS OF OUR LIVES. We must be watchful that we do not create a kind of false dichotomy between the secular and the sacred as many religions and sects have done down through the ages. We are disciples of Christ in the workplace as much as we are in the Church. We are to honour the Lord in our marriage and our family just as we are to honour Him in the prayer closet and in the assembly of the saints. Whatever we do, we are to do for the glory of our God. The Lord is just as interested in how we conduct ourselves in the office, on the jobsite, in the family gathering, or at the neighbourhood garage sale as how we conduct ourselves in Church gatherings. Thus, the new disciple must work to develop an attitude of honouring our Lord and Saviour everywhere and in all - and I do mean all - that we do.