WBS.205
FUNDAMENTALS OF DISCIPLESHIP
DISCIPLESHIP 101
Part 2 – The Heart of a Disciple
Psalm 40:6 Sacrifice
and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast thou opened: burnt offering
and sin offering hast thou not required.
7 Then said I, Lo, I come:
in the volume of the book it is written of me,
8 I delight to do thy
will, O my Elohim: yea, thy law is within my heart.
Contemporary Christianity wastes its time and energy and
finances on people of the first three types of ground, and they ignore the
fourth type. Current Christian ministry
focuses almost entirely on people who have not forsaken their own lives for the
gospel. Why is this? It is because they are in constant need of
care. Why is this? It is because they
are incapable of discipleship…The yoke harnesses us to the work of the
Kingdom. If this isn’t what you signed
up for, your heart condition is ground #1, ground #2 or ground #3.
It has been said that when the gospel began,
it was a movement of disciples mentoring disciples. When it moved to Greece, it became a
philosophy. When it moved to Rome, it
became a religion. When it moved into
Europe, it became a culture; and when it came to America, it became a business.
Contemporary Christianity is an amalgamation
of the philosophy, the religion, the culture and the business; but rarely ever
is it a manifestation of discipleship.
Today, we measure the success of ministry by the size of the ministry in
the same way we measure the success of a business by size of the business. Seminary graduates seek to find the largest
congregation possible to begin their pastoral ministry; and then either grow
its numbers into a megachurch, or they hope to be “called” from congregation to
larger congregation through the years until they are pastoring a very large
congregation and have reached the appearance of success in ministry. This is one
empirical evidence that the contemporary gospel message is simply a device for
growing a business.
Frankly, a megachurch is a virtual
impossibility with the gospel; because of its cardinal instruction to “Go.” Even in Jerusalem, at the birth of the church,
there were 3,000 who responded to the gospel in response to the very first
presentation of the gospel ever made.
Not long afterwards, there were 5,000 men (we don’t know how many
additional women and children were not included in that number); and then a bit
later, the Scripture says that multitudes were being added regularly to the
church. Once properly instructed, they went out to do what they had been
taught. They did not rush out and start a building program with an enormous
sanctuary, a huge fellowship hall, buildings to house Sunday School classrooms,
and a gymnasium. No, they met in houses. Why is this?
It is because the gospel commanded them to teach the people to observe
to do what Messiah had commanded them to do.
That is mentoring disciples; and you can’t do that en masse. It is
personal and intimate.
Today, Contemporary Christianity teaches people
what to believe. It does not teach them what to do. Surprisingly, the Scripture does not tell us to
teach people what to believe. We are
commanded to teach people what to do, how to do it, and then to get them out to
do it. The apostle Paul tells us that
the Scripture is good for doctrine and instruction in righteousness; and the
apostle John tells us that the Holy Spirit will guide us into all truth and
teach us all things, such that we have no need for any man to teach us. What we
need is for someone to teach us how to minister to the sick, the afflicted and
the demonized; and how to present the gospel; so we can do it and then mentor
those who respond to us so they are able to do the same.
I have heard so many Christians through the
years say, “Well, that isn’t my gift. I am not called to evangelism.” If they told the truth, that sentence would
become: “Well, I am terrified to share my
faith with others, because I barely have enough faith myself to keep me going
from day to day.” You can
translate this sentence to: “I am a
disobedient and selfish child. I will
not do as my Master commands me because I don’t like being told what to do all
the time.” They are such as have hearts that are ground #2 or ground #3 in
the parable of the sower. They are incapable of discipleship. They do not have what it takes within them to
bear the fruit of the gospel.
It is entirely possible that they simply have
never heard the gospel, before; and have never been given the opportunity to respond
to it. What has passed for the gospel
message as long as I have been alive bears little resemblance to the gospel of
the Book of Acts. Messiah commanded that
repentance and remission of sins be preached in His name; and to heal the sick
and cast out demons and set the captives free in the process. If churchgoers have heard THAT message and
still will not DO what they are commanded to do; we need to stop spending time on
such “believers.” They are a distraction
from the mission.
Matthew 7:13 Enter ye in at
the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to
destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:
14 Because strait is the gate, and
narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
The Master explained to us that the masses
will enter in at the wrong gate. Only
the few will follow the correct path. We
need to stop being concerned with the masses whose hearts are grounds 1, 2 and
3, and shake the dust off our feet from them.
We are in the business of making disciples, not believers.
Our opening verses demonstrate what
discipleship is.
Psalm 40:6 Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears
hast thou opened: burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required.
7 Then
said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me,
8 I
delight to do thy will, O my Elohim: yea, thy law is within my heart.
Notice it does not say, I delight to learn
what your will is; or I delight to believe what your will is. No; it says I delight to DO your will. Now look what follows these verses:
Psalm 40:9 I
have preached righteousness in the great congregation: lo, I have not
refrained my lips, O IAUE, thou knowest.
10 I have not
hid thy righteousness within my heart; I have declared thy
faithfulness and thy salvation: I have not concealed thy
lovingkindness and thy truth from the great congregation.
He did not hide or conceal from others the
truth. He DID as he was commanded. He preached the righteousness of IAUE. He declared His faithfulness and His
salvation. He came to DO the will of
IAUE. Where would we be today if
Yahushua only believed in the will of IAUE?
The overwhelming majority of Christendom,
today, are people whose hearts are the third type of ground.
Luke 8:14 And that which fell among thorns
are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and
riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection.
This kind of heart is not capable of
discipleship. Why not? It is because a disciple is one who is
devoted to the instruction of a master.
These people are ruled by their own concerns and interests. They are not capable of serving a master
because they are their own master. They
cannot bear fruit. Yahushua personally addressed
this condition.
John 15:4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the
branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can
ye, except ye abide in me.
5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in
me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do
nothing.
6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch,
and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are
burned.
We cannot bear fruit unless we abide in the
Master Yahushua Messiah. If we are not
fruit bearing, we are of no interest to him.
Only the 4th ground bears fruit. Only a disciple can bear fruit.
Making disciples is the objective of the
gospel. Making believers is not.
Discipleship is not easy. It costs
everything; but then, Messiah died for all so that they who live would no
longer live for themselves; but for him who died for them. That is the exchange; and it does not get any
easier than that. If you believe the
gospel and you are not DOING what is commanded of you, there are other names
for you. Disciple is not one of them. If
you are not bearing fruit, your own life testifies against you that Yahushua
Messiah is not your Master.
Kingdom
heart: a heart that offers no resistance to the
performance of the will of IAUE.
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