Download Lesson 2 - Pentabja

PRINCIPLES OF DISCIPLESHIP (PART 2)
EVIDENCES OF DISCIPLESHIP
JOHN 8:28-32
28
Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that
I am he, and that I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these
things.
29 And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those
things that please him.
30 As he spake these words, many believed on him.
31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are
ye my disciples indeed;
32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
It is significant that the Lord Jesus Christ did not instruct His followers to make believers, or
converts, of all nations. His instructions to them were clear and unmistakable: “I have been given all
authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them
in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the
commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age”
(Matthew 28:18-20, New International Version).
We stated in the previous lesson that Discipleship is the true calling and function of the church.
Our Lord requires nothing more and He expects nothing less. Every member of the body of Christ has
the privilege and the responsibility to respond in obedience to this call and function. The goal of the
church should be Discipleship, in light of the fact that discipleship is what Jesus Christ demands of
the church.
We considered Luke 14:25-33, and noted that there are at least three inseparable conditions
for true discipleship-an unrivaled love, an unceasing cross-bearing and an unreserved
surrender. We also noted that of any individual who is unwilling to fulfill these three conditions, the
Lord Jesus Christ states categorically “He cannot be my disciple.”
A disciple is simply “a learner.” The word is derived from a root that means “thought
accompanied by endeavour.” A disciple of Jesus therefore may be defined as “a pupil of the Lord
Jesus Christ who learns of the teaching of his or her Master and accepts that teaching, not only in
belief but in lifestyle.” It involves an acceptance of the views and practices of the Teacher and
obedience to His commands.
J. Edgar Hoover, the first director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), once conducted
an interview with a young communist. The communist volunteered the following statement: “We
communists do not learn in order to show what a high IQ we have. We learn in order to put into
practice what we have learned.” The attitude of that young communist is the essence of true
discipleship. A true disciple puts into practice what he or she has learned.
The Communist Party required of its members absolute commitment. One Communist leader
is reported to have asserted, “In Communism we have no spectators.”
Vladimir Lenin was a Russian Marxist revolutionary, the creator of the Soviet Communist
Party, and the founder of the former USSR. He said that the Communist Party would not accept into
membership any individual with any reservation whatsoever. Only active, disciplined members of one
of their organizations were eligible for membership in the Party.
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When a person responds to the call of Jesus Christ to discipleship, that individual enters the
Lord’s university and places themselves under His instruction. Originally the terms “Christian” and
“disciple” could be used interchangeably but they cannot be used interchangeably today. The sad
reality is that many persons who would wish to be classified as Christians are unwilling to comply with
the strict and exacting conditions of discipleship as outlined by the Lord Jesus. Let us look at them
again.
If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and
brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. And whosoever doth not
bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple. For which of you, intending to build a
tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? Lest haply,
after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him,
Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish. Or what king, going to make war against
another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him
that cometh against him with twenty thousand? Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he
sendeth an ambassage, and desireth conditions of peace. So likewise, whosoever he be of you that
forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:26-33).
The Message renders verse 33 in the following way. “Simply put, if you’re not willing to take
what is dearest to you, whether plans or people, and kiss it good-bye, you can’t be my
disciple.”
My brothers and sisters, can we honestly say that we are disciples? Have we accepted and
embraced these conditions? If we are not willing to do so, then we are wasting our time in the
University of Eternal Life. We will not be allowed to graduate.
It is necessary for us to observe again that our Lord never led those who followed Him to
believe that the path to discipleship would be an easy one. He placed the cost of being His disciple
very high and never concealed the cross. He coveted men and women who would follow Him through
thick and thin and go with Him to hell and back. As far as His own disciples were concerned, the Lord
Jesus was aiming more for quality than quantity and therefore He did not tone down His requirements
in order to gain more recruits. In giving the Great Commission the Lord did not make the comfort of
the messenger a deciding factor.
In the course of His teaching ministry, Jesus expressed in definite terms three fundamental
principles to guide His disciples in their service. These three principles are the evidences of
discipleship.
The Continuance Principle
Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye
my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. (John 8:31, 32)
This principle gives us the inward view of discipleship, permanent continuance in the word or
the teaching of the Master. This is the appropriate attitude of the pupil to the teacher. Where a
permanent continuance in the word of the Master is absent, discipleship exists in name only and
lacks reality. In order to be a genuine disciple of Jesus Christ, we must be willing to continue in His
Word.
What is the significance of the words “my word” in this passage? In a sense the words are not
to be distinguished from the Lord Himself for He is the “Living Word”. The primary meaning of the
words however, is that of the entire range and substance of His teaching. It stands for His message
as a whole, not merely our preferred passages or favourite doctrine, but the whole scope of His
teaching. The following passages indicate that this is a fundamental principle of God’s Word:
 Deuteronomy 8:1-3: All the commandments which I command thee this day shall ye
observe to do, that ye may live, and multiply, and go in and possess the land which the Lord
sware unto your fathers.
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And thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these forty years in the
wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou
wouldest keep his commandments, or no. And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger,
and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might
make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out
of the mouth of the Lord doth man live.
 Joshua 1:6-9: Be strong and of a good courage: for unto this people shalt thou divide for an
inheritance the land, which I sware unto their fathers to give them. Only be thou strong and
very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my
servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest
prosper whithersoever thou goest. This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but
thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that
is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have
good success.
 Psalm 1: Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in
the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the
Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the
rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and
whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the
wind driveth away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the
congregation of the righteous. For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of
the ungodly shall perish.
 2 Timothy 3:16, 17: All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine,
for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be
perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.
The true disciple of Jesus Christ must be committed to a permanent continuance in the whole
range of scriptural principles. To continue in His Word is to be faithful to His teaching. In order to be
faithful to the teaching of the Master, the disciple must make a conscious decision to make the Word
of God his or her rule of life in daily practice. Our discipleship begins with the reception of the Word.
Continuance in the Word is the evidence of the reality of our discipleship.
At a conference in South Carolina, U.S.A., a young lady testified about the call of God on her
life. In the course of her testimony she held up a blank sheet of paper, stating that it contained the
plan of God for her life. The only writing on the sheet of paper was her signature at the bottom. She
explained saying “I have accepted God’s will without knowing what it is, and I am leaving it to Him to
fill in the details.” She demonstrated the attitude of the true disciple.
Some persons have decided to follow Jesus on impulse, making their decision on the crest of
a wave of enthusiasm that more often than not proves to be short lived. Our Lord stressed the
importance of first counting the cost before making a decision with such far-reaching implications.
The individual who makes an impulsive decision very often lacks the element of intelligent
commitment. When the implications of their decision become clear, the cost proves to be too great
and they fail to continue in the word of Christ. It was with such a person in mind that our Lord said in
Luke 14:28-32, “For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the
cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not
able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him, Saying, This man began to build, and was not
able to finish. Or what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and
consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty
thousand? Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage, and desireth
conditions of peace.”
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There is no such thing in the New Testament as short-term discipleship. The location in which
our discipleship is exercised may be for only a short term, but total commitment is still involved.
Samuel Chadwick stated the implications of discipleship in very absolute terms that recognize
the Lordship of Christ. He said: “We are moved by the act of God. Omniscience holds no conference.
Infinite authority leaves no room for compromise. Eternal love offers no explanations. The Lord
expects to be trusted. He disturbs us at will. Human arrangements are disregarded, family ties
ignored, business claims put aside. We are never asked if it is convenient.” The reassuring truth is
that God is not only a sovereign Lord who does as He pleases, but He is also a loving Father whose
role as father will never clash with His role as sovereign. The fact that God is our father is our
guarantee that His sovereignty will never require of us anything that will not, in the long run, be in our
best interest.
A permanent continuance in the Word of our Lord is not automatic but is the result of strong
purpose and self-discipline. It demands taking time, not only to read the scriptures but to memorize
them and meditate on them. The Word will also need to be “mixed with faith.” In Hebrews 4:1, 2 the
writer of the epistle warned the Hebrew Christians of a possible failure on their part of entering into
rest of Christ. He had just reminded them that the generation which came out of Egypt did not enter
into the rest of Canaan because of unbelief and he urged them not to make the same mistake. He
said: “Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should
seem to come short of it. For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word
preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.” The word that was
preached to the generation that left Egypt with Moses did not profit them, because they had not
allowed the word to find its way into their minds. They never gave the word an opportunity to
transform them. They did not assimilate the good news by faith. They did not make the promise of
rest in Canaan their own.
In order to be disciples of Jesus we must be prepared to embrace the Word of God and allow it
to find its way into our minds. We must own the Word of God and submit ourselves to its transforming
power by applying it to our lives continually. Our Lord said; “Ye shall know the truth, and the truth
shall make you free.” The disciple, by embracing the Word of God and diligently applying it to his or
her life, will expose themself to an increasingly greater degree of light and will increasingly be made
free of the cruel dominion of sin and self.
There is a striking parallel and a vital connection between Ephesians 5:18-6:8 and Colossians
3:16-25. It will be noted that the same results that follow being filled with the Holy Spirit in the
passage in Ephesians, are attributed in the passage in Colossians to letting the Word of Christ dwell
in us richly. The very clear inference is that an individual who has received New Testament salvation
will remain filled with the Spirit as long as the Word of Christ dwells richly in that individual.
The Love Principle
A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye
also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to
another (John 13:34, 35).
These verses give the outward view of discipleship. They have to do with our relations with
each other.
The apostle John refers to the love principle as a “new commandment”. It must be noted that a
part of this “new commandment” was not really new. The old covenant law had in fact instructed the
Israelites to love one another. The aspect of the commandment that was new was the quality of the
love. “as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.”
As we have seen, a disciple of Jesus Christ is one who not only studies His teaching but obeys
His commands as well. We are commanded in the new covenant to love each other as Jesus has
loved us. We are to love each other, not because we like them necessarily. Our love must not be
selective. We must love simply because we are commanded to do so by the One that we claim to
love.
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We know the quality of the love that our Lord exhibited for His disciples who were often dull, slow to
learn, fumbling and even denying. Every one of us knows very well the quality of the love that He has
lavished upon us who have been unfaithful, disobedient, rebellious, and backsliding. This is the love
that Jesus demands that we demonstrate in respect of each other. It is a new commandment indeed!
What was it that demonstrated to other nations that Israel was the chosen of God? It was not
the way they loved that demonstrated this. Rather it was demonstrated by external things such as
what they ate and what they did not eat; where, when and how they worshipped, the clothes they
wore, and other such things. However, in the new covenant, the true followers of Jesus Christ are
to be known by the way they love! The supreme, authentic evidence of discipleship is the
demonstration of genuine love for one another. As Peter Scazzero observed “The church is to be
known, above all else, as a community that radically and powerfully loves others”. He went on to say
“Sadly, this is not generally our reputation”.
This “new commandment” is repeated several times in the New Testament (John 15:9-17,
Ephesians 5:1, 2, Colossians 3:12-14, 1 Peter 4:8, 1 John 3:10-20, 1John 4:7-21).
The Lord Jesus expressed love in a selfless, forgiving and sacrificial manner. We are to
express love in exactly the same way. Brothers and sisters, we can preach, pray, witness, worship,
give and even sacrifice, but without this love we gain nothing and are spiritual nobodies. 1Corinthians
13:1-3 emphasizes this point: If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love
others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I
understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could
move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. If I gave everything I have to the poor and
even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing
(New Living Translation).
In Romans 5:5 the apostle Paul advises that “the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by
the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.” The New International version renders this clause in the
following way: “For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill
our hearts with his love.” Every person who has received the Holy Ghost has the capacity to
express love in the manner that Jesus did, for the Holy Ghost has filled their hearts with the love of
God. If we are unwilling to express love in a selfless, forgiving and sacrificial manner, our spiritual
lives are bankrupt and we cannot claim to be disciples of Jesus Christ.
The Fruit Principle
If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done
unto you. Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples. (John
15:7, 8)
But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it
will be granted! When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory
to my Father. (New International Version)
This passage presents the upward view of discipleship. A fruitless disciple of Jesus Christ is a
contradiction in terms. If there is no real fruit in our lives, we cannot sincerely claim to be true
disciples.
What constitutes the “fruit” of which our Lord spoke? The passage indicates that the fruit is for
the glory of God. The fruit is manifested in two areas.
1. Fruit in Character - in the inward life. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no
law” (Galatians 5:22, 23).
We were not saved merely to take up space and receive blessing. God has an intended
purpose in and for, our lives and that purpose begins with bearing, or manifesting, the fruit of
the Spirit. Manifesting the fruit of the Spirit in our lives is a lifetime process.
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There are not nine different “fruits” of the Spirit. It is one fruit with nine different aspects. Each
part of a fruit has different aspects, such as the seeds, the flesh, the peel, the stem, etc. When
all of the aspects are in order then the fruit is available to be used for its intended purpose.
Likewise, there are various aspects to the Spirit. When all of the aspects are in order in our
lives then we are available to be used for our intended purpose.
The fruit of the operation of the Holy Ghost in our lives is expressed in nine aspects. A tree is
known by its fruit. The disciple is recognized by his likeness to Christ in inward character. Are
we allowing the beauty of Jesus to be seen in us?
2. Fruit in Service – in outward ministry. “You know the saying, ‘Four months between planting
and harvest.’ But I say, wake up and look around. The fields are already ripe for harvest. The
harvesters are paid good wages, and the fruit they harvest is people brought to eternal
life. What joy awaits both the planter and the harvester alike” (John 4:35, 36 New International
Version). Fruit is seen when precious, lost souls are won to the Lord and are led to spiritual
maturity by concerned disciples. When was the last time we were engaged in personal
evangelism?
The fruit-bearing that is an authentic mark and a genuine evidence of discipleship is not
automatic but conditional. Jesus made this very clear in John 12:24-26: “Verily, verily, I say unto you,
Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth
much fruit. He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it
unto life eternal. If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my
servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour.”
Let us consider The New International Version’s rendering of this passage: “I tell you the truth,
unless a kernel of wheat is planted in the soil and dies, it remains alone. But its death will produce
many new kernels—a plentiful harvest of new lives. Those who love their life in this world will lose
it. Those who care nothing for their life in this world will keep it for eternity. Anyone who wants to be
my disciple must follow me, because my servants must be where I am. And the Father will honor
anyone who serves me.”
Jesus connected fruit-bearing with the cross and He exemplified this principle in His own
death. A single corn or kernel of wheat fell into the ground at Calvary and died, but on the Day of
Pentecost it produced three thousand souls and much fruit has been brought forth ever since. The
operative words in the passage are “except” and “but if” in verse 24. The glorious possibility of “much
fruit” lies in our hands. It is as we apply the cross to our lives and die to the self-dominated life that
the Holy Ghost can make our lives fruitful. The more we apply the cross to our lives the more fruitful
we will become for Jesus Christ.
Several years ago I had occasion to visit a certain place of business. While there, I saw a card
on the desk of one of the employees which greatly convicted me. The words on the card were as
follows: “If you were arrested today for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to
convict you?” Our Lord expressed three fundamental principles, The Continuance Principle, The
Love Principle and The Fruit Principle which are evidences of true Christian discipleship. Every
one of us should carefully examine ourselves to see if these principles are operating in our spiritual
lives and whether there exists any evidence at all that we are genuine disciples of Jesus Christ.
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