BUY THE TRUTH

WBS.006

DISCIPLESHIP 101

THE FIRST LESSON IN DISCIPLESHIP - III

Proverbs 23:23  Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.

Let’s recap what we have covered so far.

1.  We must choose to take upon ourselves the Master’s yoke.  Within the yoke, we forfeit all right to our own life and to self-determination.  We become the servant of the Master, and our lives are devoted to the performance of his will.

2.  As a disciple we are purposed to become like the Master in all respects.   The first attribute that he wants us to learn of him is that he is meek and lowly in heart.

3.  Meekness is power under control.  It is being content to be under the control of another; the resignation of our will to his.  We can be useful to the Master’s Kingdom only when our resistance to his will has been harnessed.

4.  Lowliness of heart is the firm conviction that you are no better than anyone else.  If pride exists, lowliness of heart does not.  If you seek to be noticed, if you feel the need to protect your image, if you need to make people think you are something special, your life is focused on you; and you do not see others as you ought.  This will forever limit your usefulness to the Master.  One must be at peace without and within.  This is the first lesson of discipleship unto Messiah.

Genuine discipleship is not marked or graded by the pursuit of training certificates or college degrees.  Accrual of information is necessary, but that is not an end unto itself.  When the Master says we must learn of him meekness and lowliness of heart, he was not referring merely to learning and believing the information presented in this and the last posting. 

1 Corinthians 8:2  And if any man think that he knoweth any thing, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know.

The Scripture, and all that is within it, serves a variety of purposes.  Paul told Timothy that “All scripture is given by inspiration of Elohim, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness” (2 Tim 3:16).  Such purposes can be gleaned by reading the words on the page and taken to heart.  Messiah said that the Scripture testifies of him; and that is the purpose that provides the change that takes place on the inside of man. 

Discipleship is concerned about both the regulation of the outward behavior and the inward man of the heart.  We see this in the first command to learn Messiah’s meekness and lowliness of heart.  Contemporary Christianity appears almost completely content with the former, allowing the heart to retain every imaginable negative attitude and pride as long as it is not demonstrated outwardly.  I attained a position of respect and leadership in the church and held that place for many years.  I was able to display the most spiritual deportment and attitudes required of the Christian culture; but inside, like the Pharisees, I was full of dead men’s bones---self-will, pride, ego, etc.  Mostly, this was due to my lack of lowliness of heart.  Though I could teach on any subject, knew the Scriptures better than most, ministered in the gifts of the Holy Spirit, I had not learned the first lesson of discipleship in the way that it mattered.  I knew it with my mind, academically; but I had no revelation of it.  That is what we need to discuss in this lesson, today.

Some people refer to this as the difference between head knowledge and heart knowledge.  I prefer to contrast it as academic understanding versus revelation. The question is, how do you move from a doctrinal understanding of a matter to actually possessing the revelation of it?   Even the simplest and most obvious of biblical truths is subject to this contrast. 

The quick answer to the question is, “The Father must reveal it to you.”  That is the bottom line; and we cannot force the Father’s hand to do anything.  He does not work for us.  We serve Him.  Since we cannot make revelation happen, we must look at how to facilitate it, how to provide the Father with an invitation such that He would be inclined to provide us with the revelation we desire.

Romans 8:5  For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.
6  For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
7  Because the carnal mind is enmity against Elohim: for it is not subject to the law of Elohim, neither indeed can be.
8  So then they that are in the flesh cannot please Elohim.

A mind focused on self is the enemy of the Father.  Such a mind may earnestly desire doctrine, and to the extent study is devoted to that pursuit, doctrine may be obtained; but it is not a mind that is qualified to receive revelation.

James 4:6  …Elohim resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.

This word “resisteth” in the Greek, is a military term meaning, “to be set in opposition against as to an enemy of war.”  The praise of men does not attain the grace of IAUE.  Any such attitude of heart that causes the Father to be our enemy is not an attitude that qualifies us for revelation.

A verse well known to the Christian community is:

Jeremiah 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

Who can know it, indeed?  Many years ago, the Father showed me a way to help understand my own heart.  It is a strategy that forces one to be honest with himself.  It can bypass the instinctive lies we tell ourselves in order to maintain our own self-image within acceptable parameters.  I call it “The Lists.”  I would encourage you to try this exercise as a step toward qualifying yourself for revelation.

On a sheet of paper draw three columns.  The headings of these three columns should be:

1.    Whatever is in your life (thoughts, attitudes, actions) that you KNOW is displeasing to the Father.   This is a list of sins you allow in your life.  It is usually fairly easy to compile this list, because if you have any sensitivity at all to the Spirit, He has already spoken to you on these matters.

2.    Whatever is currently in your life that you would resist if the Father required it of you.  This can include almost anything:  your comfort, your job, your home, your family, foods you enjoy, liberties you enjoy, your possessions.  This list helps identify things in your life that you enjoy, things for which you have any particular attachment. It could be the beverage you prefer to drink, a particular food you would not want to be without, an object that holds sentimental value, places you go, things you do, the music you listen to, the TV shows you watch, the movies you attend, etc. Think of things you love, appreciate, are fond of, hold dear, enjoy.  Any of these things that would be a problem releasing were it required of you goes on this list.  A person who belongs to the Master does not have the privilege of holding to anything if the Master should require it.  (I had to include such things as my enjoyment of popcorn or bread.  Yes, even the most innocuous things can be on this list if you know you would have difficulty giving them up if required.)

3.    Whatever is currently NOT in your life that you would resist if the Father required it be brought into your life.  This list is possibly the most difficult to compile because it is about things that are not currently a function of your life.  They represent changes to your life; a different job, a different home, a change of wardrobe, adding to your family, allowing a new or modified relationship.  It may include that thing you say you will never do, or would never want to do, like move to Alaska or be a missionary in Africa. Think of things you would not want in your life, things you hate, things that would be unpleasant or "go against the grain" of your personal preferences, your likes and dislikes. There is potentially no limit to what could populate this list; but if you enter this task with a true desire to be pleasing to the Father, you will be made to know what goes on this list. 

I can assure you that the Holy Spirit will work with you intimately to draw up these lists if you really want to weed out every vestige of resistance to the Father’s will. The Father knows your areas of resistance better than you do.  A sincere pursuit of this project will be very rewarding.

Once you are satisfied that your lists are as complete as the Holy Spirit wants them to be (which means it may only be as complete as He knows you can handle the first time), then go through the lists and strike off each item when you have found the grace to no longer resist the Father’s will in that matter.  This is not accepting that these things ARE the Father's will for you.  It is arriving at the place where IF they were to become the Father's will you would not resist obeying Him. When you are enabled to strike off the last item on the list your life will change. 

If you approach the lists with pride in your heart, you may be like someone I suggested do the lists.  He thought about it for five minutes and couldn’t think of anything to go on any of the lists.  As well as I knew him, I could have populated the lists for him, and they would not have been small lists.   His pride would not permit him to disclose even to himself that he was full of resistance to the Father’s will.  It was because he had a specific objective he wanted to accomplish in his life, and if he took this project seriously, he knew it would mean the death of his personal dream.

A disciple may have only one dream; and that is to do the will of Elohim.  Once this becomes the purpose of our heart, our lives invite the voice of the Spirit.  We become candidates for revelation.   We are instructed to “buy the truth and sell it not.”  There is always a price to be paid to receive the revelation of Elohim.  The first price to be paid is the resistance we would raise up against the logical consequences of what the Father would reveal.