

About the Book

These Bible studies, the first part of a larger collection, were first given in Ethiopia, Somaliland, Tanzania and Kenya. Cuthbert Dawkins was close to young African Christians. They were often in difficult circumstances. For them being a disciple of Jesus was a weighty matter. The studies were a conversation. They led to questions and discussions, and the faith was confirmed to the young believers. They had known waterless deserts and muddy pools of spiritual life, but they came to love Jesus' own illustration of His truths being like a spring of pure water.

The original book has been edited by White Tree Publishing for eBook publication.

A SPRING OF PURE WATER

Being a Disciple of Jesus

Bible Studies by

Cuthbert H Dawkins

Missionary in East Africa 1934-97 Founder of Trinity Fellowship 1963

Copyright © The Estate of Cuthbert H. Dawkins 2020

eBook ISBN 978-1-912529-51-3

Published by

White Tree Publishing

Bristol

UNITED KINGDOM

More books on www.whitetreepublishing.com

Contact mailto:wtpbristol@gmail.com

All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the copyright owner of this abridged edition.

Scripture quotations from Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1946, 1952, and 1971 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Table of Contents

Cover

About the Book

Foreword

Publisher's Note

1. Drawn to Jesus

(Matthew 3:1-6; John 1:35-51)

2. Called to Serve Him

(Mark 1:14-20; Luke 5:1-11)

3. The Principles of the Kingdom

The Beatitudes (Matthew 5:1-11)

4. Working for the King

(Luke 10:1-21)

5. Jesus Teaches His Disciples on Prayer

A. The Principles of Prayer

B. The Pattern Prayer

(Luke 11:1-13; Matthew 6:5-15)

6. The Transforming of a Disciple

Death and Resurrection (Mark 8:27-37;

John 20:19-23)

7. The Empowering of a Disciple

Filled with the Spirit (John 3:8; Luke 3:15-16)

About White Tree Publishing

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Younger Readers
Foreword

These discipleship Bible studies were first given in Ethiopia, Somaliland, Tanzania and Kenya. Cuthbert Dawkins was close to young African Christians. They were often in difficult circumstances. For them being a disciple of Jesus was a weighty matter. The studies were a conversation. They led to questions and discussions, and the faith was confirmed to the young believers. They had known waterless deserts and muddy pools of spiritual life but they came to love Jesus' own illustration of His truths being like a spring of pure water.

He who believes in me, as the scripture has said, "Out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water" (John 7:38 RSV).

Cuthbert Dawkins urges us to share the searching and sensitivity of the young Africans. He urges us for the sake of those around us to be part of the flow of life-giving water which comes from Jesus.

Publisher's Note

The main Bible passages in this Study are shown at the start of each of the seven Parts. However, it may help if you have a separate Bible as you go through each Part, because with an eBook it is difficult to go back to the start of each Part to read the Gospel verses again, and return to the page where you left off.

If you do not have access to a printed Bible (and you may want to read the passages in a different version anyway) you can find free online Bibles of nearly every English version, old and new, on the Bible App you can download at http://www.youversion.com/ or find by entering youversion in the Apple and Android app stores.

On the youversion website you will find Bible readings with helpful notes for every day of the year, plus other Bible related material. There are also Bible versions in many other languages, all free.

There are 7 Parts in this book. In the second half are advertisements for our other books, so this book may end earlier than expected! The last Part (7) is marked as such. We aim to make our eBooks free or for a nominal cost, and cannot invest in other forms of advertising. However, word of mouth by satisfied readers will also help get our books more widely known. When the book finishes, please take a look at the other books we publish: Christian non-fiction, Christian fiction, and books for younger readers ‒ a range of over 100 books available from White Tree Publishing. More details on the website www.whitetreepublishing.com .

Being a Disciple of Jesus

Part 1

Drawn to Jesus

Reading: Matthew 3:1-6; John 1:35-51

Today we are starting a series of studies on the subject of "Being a Disciple of Jesus". I believe most of us would like to be disciples of Jesus; and, that being so, it would be good for us to learn from the story of His original disciples in the four Gospels.

So we will read the account in John 1 of how some of these were drawn to Jesus in the first place. But first, to put it in context we read from Matthew:

Matthew 3:1-6:

In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judea,

2 "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."

3 For this is He who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said,

"The voice of one crying in the wilderness:

Prepare the way of the Lord,

make his paths straight."

4 Now John wore a garment of camel's hair, and a leather girdle around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey.

5 Then went out to him Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan,

6 and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.

John 1:35-51:

35 The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples; 36 and he looked at Jesus as He walked, and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God!"

37 The two disciples heard Him say this, and they followed Jesus.

38 Jesus turned, and saw them following, and said to them, "What do you seek?"

And they said to Him, "Rabbi" (which means Teacher), "where are you staying?"

39 He said to them, "Come and see."

They came and saw where He was staying; and they stayed with Him that day, for it was about the tenth hour.

40 One of the two who heard John speak, and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. 41 He first found his brother Simon, and said to Him, "We have found the Messiah" (which means Christ).

42 He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him, and said, "So you are Simon the son of John? You shall be called Cephas" (which means Peter).

43 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. And He found Philip and said to him, "Follow Me."

44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. 45 Philip found Nathanael, and said to him, "We have found Him of whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph."

46 Nathanael said to him, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?"

Philip said to him, "Come and see."

47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming to Him, and said of him, "Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!"

48 Nathanael said to Him, "How do you know me?"

Jesus answered him, "Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you."

49 Nathanael answered Him, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!"

50 Jesus answered him, "Because I said to you, I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You shall see greater things than these." 51 And He said to him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man."

That, then, is the story. So let us now examine the passage in detail to see what lessons we can draw from it for ourselves. Please keep your Bibles open at John 1 and look at the verses as I mention them.

But first, what does the word "disciple" mean?

It conveys the twofold idea of being both a pupil, or learner, and also a personal follower. A disciple not only receives instruction from his teacher, but also becomes personally attached to him and places himself under the discipline of his teaching, (hence the word "disciple"). Jesus, of course, was not the only great teacher to have disciples. The famous Greek philosophers, like Plato, had their disciples. Leading Jewish rabbis, like Gamaliel, had their disciples. And John the Baptist, as we read in the Gospels, had his.

Now, John the Baptist was the great prophet raised up by God to be the forerunner of the promised Messiah, and to prepare people to receive Him. Naturally, therefore, when the Messiah did appear, it was some of John's disciples, men who had been prepared by John, who were the first to be drawn to Jesus. These were young men who, some time before, had hurried down to the Jordan River, with multitudes of other Jews, because the news had reached them that a new prophet had arisen and was preaching there.

What these young men heard from him about the Kingdom of Heaven and the coming King thrilled them, and soon they had become John's faithful disciples, their hearts on fire with a new hope of deliverance and restoration. Conquered and oppressed by heathen foreigners, with their own Jewish leaders self-seeking and corrupt, everywhere amongst the Jews there was great need and suffering. They were "like sheep not having a shepherd" (Mark 6:34). It seemed as though God had forgotten His people.

And yet their prophets in Old Testament days had persistently foretold that one day Messiah would come to save them and to establish God's Kingdom of Righteousness. So, naturally, they were longing and yearning for His appearance. He alone, they felt, could deliver them from their enemies and satisfy all their needs. And here, now, this new prophet was telling them that the old prophecies were about to be fulfilled. The Kingdom of Heaven was at hand.

Not that his teaching was acceptable to all the Jews, because the messianic hopes of many were on a political and materialistic level. Their longing was for a great leader who would drive out the Romans and give Israel worldly power and wealth. They were like so many today who think political action and material improvement are all that is required to meet men's needs. John the Baptist, on the other hand, went straight to the root cause of all Israel's troubles ‒ sin.

Certainly the Messiah, when He came, would concern Himself with the people's material and physical needs. The prophets had made that clear enough. But the all-important need, John taught, was spiritual; and to qualify for a place in Messiah's Kingdom a person must have a spiritual change ‒ we must repent ‒ and this was a very urgent matter as the Kingdom was just about to come.

"Repent" John cried, "for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!" (Matthew 3:1-2.) He realised, moreover, that the Jews' one-sided view of the Messiah as a mighty king and conqueror was inadequate. To be sure, the Messiah would be mighty, the Judge of the nations, the Baptiser with fire, for the prophets had prophesied of Him thus. But they had also prophesied of Him as the suffering One, the innocent Lamb who was coming to offer Himself in sacrifice.

And so it was when Jesus came and John saw Him, walking humbly among the people on the banks of the Jordan, he pointed to Him and said, "Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!" (John 1:29.) To save men and women from their sin the mighty Messiah would have to become a weak and helpless lamb, and to die in their place. Only in this way could He meet their deepest needs.

And so we come to the events of our reading in John 1:35-36: "The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples; and he looked at Jesus as He walked, and said, 'Behold, the Lamb of God!'"

Here was the prophet on the banks of the Jordan with two of those young men who had joined him so eagerly and become his disciples, and he was pointing them to Jesus. Who could these two young men have been? If we glance forward to verse 40 we shall discover the name of at least one of them. "One of the two" we read, "was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother."

Of course, we know something about Simon Peter and Andrew. They were in the fishing business at Capernaum on the Sea of Galilee, in partnership with another pair of brothers, James and John, the sons of a man called Zebedee.

But who could the second disciple have been, standing there with the Baptist? It seems strange that his name is not also mentioned. However, this is not the only occasion when the writer of this Gospel mysteriously omits the name of an important character in his story.

He does it a number of times later on in the book, when speaking about one whom he simply calls "the other disciple" or "the disciple whom Jesus loved". But in his final chapter it is revealed that this unnamed "disciple whom Jesus loved" is the writer himself.

When telling of his own part in the story it seems John preferred to remain anonymous. So, here also, we can assume that the unnamed disciple of John the Baptist was the writer himself, John the son of Zebedee, who happened to be Andrew's close friend and fishing partner.

Now the fact that these two fishermen, Andrew and John, had left their work on the Sea of Galilee and travelled down into the Jordan valley to hear the new prophet shows that they were seeking something; they had a sense of need.

Whether they had any special material or physical needs we don't know. But, like other Jews of the time, they were undoubtedly longing in their hearts for the salvation of their nation; and, further, in submitting to John's baptism of repentance, they acknowledged their own personal need of salvation from sin. But they soon found that the Baptist's ministry itself could not satisfy their longings. He could only point them to someone greater than he, who was to come.

So on that day when they were standing there with him, and he, seeing Jesus walking nearby, once again pointed to Him and said, "Behold the Lamb of God", Andrew and John suddenly recognised the only One who could meet their innermost needs; and immediately they acted. (Verse 37): "The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus."

The Baptist had done his work. His teaching and testimony had shown them where their needs could be met. Now, at all costs, they must follow Jesus.

John the Baptist is a model for Christian ministers today. Some ministers may seek to satisfy their people with eloquent preaching or the beauty of their services. But to meet people's real needs, their one concern should be to point them to Jesus, the Lamb of God, and make them His disciples.

So it was their sense of need which first brought Andrew and John to follow Jesus. And so it will be with all of us. We men and women have many needs, material, physical and spiritual; and Jesus is concerned with all of them. But, above all, it is when we feel our need of salvation from sin, and recognise Him as the Lamb of God whose blood was shed to take our sin away, that we start to follow Him and become His disciples.

Now let us see what happened next. Verse 38: "Jesus turned, and saw them following, and said to them, 'What do you seek?'"

Sometimes when we are walking and pressed for time, and there is someone coming who might delay us, we do not stop to greet him, but look the other way, and go right on. But Jesus is never too pressed for time when needy souls are seeking Him. He heard Andrew and John coming up behind and He turned round ready to welcome them. He started, however, with a very important question: "What do you seek?" ‒ "What are you looking for?"

Had these two young strangers followed Jesus out of curiosity? Because they thought He would be an interesting person to talk to? Did they want to question Him about His religious ideas? Or His political views? What was it that they were really interested in? "What do you seek?" Jesus asked them.

That is a question that He might well ask you and me today: "What do you seek?" ‒ What are you looking for in life? Even in your religion, what is your real interest? What is your real motive in going to church or to Christian meetings? Why do you pray?

Andrew and John's answer to Jesus' question was itself a question, but it revealed their purpose, and their purpose was sincere. "Rabbi," they said (verse 38) "where are you staying?" They could not be satisfied with a brief conversation with Jesus by the roadside ‒ a few polite words, and then "Goodbye". Their need went deeper than that.

Some Christians today seem to be satisfied with a few minutes; saying their prayers at night; a little religion for an hour on Sunday morning, while, for the rest of their time they are busy seeking other things. But for these two it was different. To Jesus' question, "What do you seek?" they answered, "Where are you staying?" ‒ In other words, "It is You Yourself that we are seeking, and we shall never be satisfied unless we can come and be with You where You are."

Jesus realised these two young men really meant business. And He's always ready to receive those who mean business. So at once (verse 39) "He said to them, 'Come and see.' They came and saw where He was staying; and they stayed with Him that day, for it was about the tenth hour."

The tenth hour, as far as we can tell, means ten o'clock in the morning, because John, in his Gospel, uses Roman (or European) time, unlike the writers of the other Gospels who use Jewish time. So, it seems they had a good long day with Jesus ‒ from ten o'clock in the morning until the evening. And what a wonderful day it must have been! It changed their whole lives. He had given them the invitation, "Come and see."

They had come; and they had seen. They had been seeking; now they had found. Of course, it was only a beginning. They still had a long way to go. But they would be going that long way with Jesus, and henceforth they would be His disciples.

Naturally, when you have found something so wonderful as Andrew and John had found, you cannot keep it to yourself. You just have to tell others and bring them in too. And that is what happened with these two. It was, in fact, the beginning of a move of God in which, one by one, others were drawn to Jesus and became His disciples.

It can still happen like this today. Young people who have found Jesus for themselves have gone out to tell others and invite them in, until there has been a whole new group of disciples starting to follow Jesus.

The remainder of our passage in John 1 outlines for us how this happened the first time; and we shall now go briefly over it.

Verses 40-42: "One of the two who heard John speak, and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. He first found his brother Simon, and said to him, 'We have found the Messiah' (which means Christ). He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him, and said, 'So you are Simon the son of John? You shall be called Cephas' (which means Peter)."

The first place to witness for Jesus is in your own family, and so Andrew went off to find his own brother, Simon, and he brought him to Jesus. He could hardly have realised what an important catch he had made, but Jesus at once recognised the potential for strong leadership in Simon's character and named him Peter, the Stone.

Andrew himself would never have the same gift of leadership as his brother, but practically every time we read about him in the Gospels we find he is bringing someone to Jesus. And that's an example which, whether we're called to be leaders or not, we should all do well to follow.

So by this time there were three following Jesus: Andrew, John and Simon Peter. Then (verses 43-44): "The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. And He found Philip and said to him, 'Follow Me' Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter."

Philip probably knew Andrew and Peter already, because they came from the same town. But we are not told that it was either of them who brought him to Jesus. In fact we are not told how he met with Jesus. But the important thing is that Jesus found him, and he responded to His call. And so it is, also, with us today.

Some are drawn to Jesus by the testimony of friends. Others meet Him in some other way. But it does not matter how it happens. What matters is that Jesus finds us, and when He calls we come. Philip came; and it was such a wonderful experience to him that he had to go right out and find his friend to tell him about Jesus.

Verses 45-46: "Philip found Nathanael, and said to him, 'We have found Him of whom Moses in the Law and also the Prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.'

Nathanael said to him, 'Can anything good come out of Nazareth?'

Philip said to him, 'Come and see.'"

Philip claimed that this Jesus from Nazareth was the One whose coming was foretold in the Old Testament Scriptures. That is, the Messiah. But Nathanael was not prepared to accept this, and started to argue. He could not remember any mention of Nazareth in the Scriptures as the home of the Messiah. It was from Bethlehem that Messiah should come. And, besides, Nazareth was a town with a bad reputation and was generally despised by religious Jews. How could any good thing come out of Nazareth?!

Philip wisely did not attempt to argue. He simply echoed his master's words to Andrew and John, "Come and see." These are indeed key words for those who would bring others to Jesus. Though reasoning and discussion can be helpful, if they are in the right spirit, plain argument will rarely bring a person to Jesus. He needs to come and see for himself.

Let us remember that today, since Jesus is no longer visible in the flesh, those whom we would draw to Him need to see Him in us Christians first. We can invite them to "come and see" and bring them to our Christian meetings. But if they do not find the love and goodness of Jesus manifested there, they will not be drawn further. The invitation to come to Jesus must reach them through our lives as well as our words.

When Philip invited Nathanael to "come and see" Jesus, I think Nathanael could already see a wonderful change in the life of his friend, and so he did not stay to argue any longer. He went right off with him to find Jesus.

Verses 47-49: "Jesus saw Nathanael coming to Him, and said of him, 'Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!'

Nathanael said to him, 'How do you know me?'

Jesus answered him, 'Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.'

Nathanael answered him, 'Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!'"

When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching He already knew what was in his heart ‒ that here was a man without guile (without cunning and deceit), an Israelite worthy of the name. The name "Israel" means "a prince with God", and it was given by God to Jacob after he had left his life of guile and cheating.

And here was his descendant, Nathanael, who had also rejected such evil things, and so was ready to receive the Messiah in all honesty and sincerity of heart ‒ a true son of his father, Israel; or, as Jesus put it, "An Israelite indeed."

He was astonished that Jesus had already seen the hidden things of his heart, and asked Him, "How do You know me?" Whereupon Jesus revealed to him that before ever Philip had called him, He had seen him under a fig tree.

What does this mean? The garden of a Jewish home was normally planted with vines and fig trees, and a godly Jew would often sit in their shade to meditate and pray. And that is where, in spirit, Jesus had seen Nathanael. And while he was praying there, Jesus had looked right into his heart and seen its sincerity.

So when Jesus said, "I saw you under the fig tree", the sudden realisation of what had happened came as a tremendous revelation to Nathanael. All his doubts and intellectual difficulties vanished away, and he cried out, "Rabbi, You are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!"

Jesus can look right into our hearts too. But what does He see there? Guile or sincerity?

So Nathanael had now become a believer. But this was only the beginning. There was far more to come. For he was not going to stop at being just a believer; he was going right on to be a disciple. Verse 50: "Jesus answered him, 'Because I said to you, I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You shall see greater things than these."

There are truly great things coming for the real disciples of Jesus, which means those who will follow Him all the way. Verse 51: "And He said to him, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see Heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.'"

"You will see Heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man." What a tremendous promise this was! And His promise was not only for Nathanael, because the word "you" ("you will see Heaven opened") is plural ("ye" KJV). The promise then is for all true disciples of Jesus.

So, just as Jacob in his dream saw the ladder reaching from earth to Heaven, with the angels of God ascending and descending on it, and God Himself standing above, so all who will go right on with Jesus to be His real disciples are promised an open Heaven above them, and a ladder reaching up to link their souls to God, with angels going up and down on it to minister His mercies to them.

This ladder will be none other than their beloved Master, the "Son of Man". For He, by dying for the sin of mankind, has bridged the gulf between earth and Heaven and restored man to communion with God.

My brethren, by His grace let us go right on with Jesus, and strive to be His true disciples; that, as we humbly follow Him along the rough paths of this world, we may live under an open Heaven and enjoy unclouded communion with our most merciful Heavenly Father.

Being a Disciple of Jesus

Part 2

Called to Serve Him

Readings: Mark 1:14-20; Luke 5:1-11

Here are the passages for our study today, and we'll first read them through.

Mark 1:14-20:

14 Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, 15 and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent, and believe in the gospel."

16 And passing along by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net in the sea; for they were fishermen.

17 And Jesus said to them, "Follow Me and I will make you become fishers of men."

18 And immediately they left their nets and followed Him.

19 And going on a little farther, He saw James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, who were in their boat mending the nets.

20 And immediately He called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants, and followed Him.

Luke 5:1-11:

While the people pressed upon Him to hear the word of God, He was standing by the lake of Gennesaret.

2 And He saw two boats by the lake; but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets.

3 Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon's, He asked him to put out a little from the land. And He sat down and taught the people from the boat.

4 And when He had ceased speaking, He said to Simon, "Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch."

5 And Simon answered, "Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at Your word I will let down the nets."

6 And when they had done this, they enclosed a great shoal of fish; and as their nets were breaking, 7 they beckoned to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink.

8 But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord."

9 For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the catch of fish which they had taken; 10 and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon.

And Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid; henceforth you will be catching men."

11 And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed Him.

In our last study we saw how the earliest disciples of Jesus were first drawn to Him through the teaching and testimony of John the Baptist, His great forerunner. One of these was the Galilean fisherman, Andrew; and another, we have reason to believe, was Andrew's partner, John the son of Zebedee.

Andrew's testimony soon drew his brother Simon into the circle, and no doubt before long John's brother, James, had also joined the group.

Now these two pairs of brothers, Simon and Andrew, James and John, worked together in the fishery business on the lake known as the Sea of Galilee, with Zebedee, the father of the last two.

So, although through their visit to John the Baptist they had made the tremendous discovery of Jesus, the One who could meet all their needs, and had become His enthusiastic followers, yet they could not spend all their time going round with Jesus and listening to His teaching.

Zebedee was waiting for them at Capernaum, and the fishing nets required their attention. They had to get back to work. But these young fishermen, when they returned from the Jordan to Galilee, were changed men. They had gone to John the Baptist seeking. Now they had found. Henceforth, whether at work on the lake or, whenever they could, spending time with Jesus, they would always be Jesus' men.

So we will continue their story in the passage that we have read in Mark 1. Let's turn back, then, to Mark 1 and we'll read again, for a start, verses 14 and 15: "Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, 'The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent, and believe the gospel.'"

John the Baptist had by now completed his work and God had allowed him to be taken out of the way; he would soon be going to his reward in Heaven. He had prepared the way for the King, and now the King was here. The long awaited time of the Messiah's appearance was at last fulfilled. John's work of calling men to repent, in readiness for the Kingdom, would now be taken over by the King Himself.

And so the King came into Galilee and started to proclaim the message. Only, the King's message went further than His forerunner's. Repentance was a necessary beginning, but to John's call to repentance Jesus added something more positive; the gospel (meaning "good news") ‒ something for people to believe in, which would change their lives. "Repent," He cried, "and believe the gospel."

Let us notice, further, that it was in Galilee, in the north of the country and far from the Holy City, that Jesus started His preaching. Verse 14: "Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God."

In the great prophecy of the coming of the Messiah and His Kingdom in Isaiah 9, the prophet foretold it would be in the dark region of Galilee and its "sea" that the great light of God's glory would shine forth. And so, when it was time for the Messiah to start to establish His Kingdom, it was to Galilee that He went.

The so-called enlightened leaders at Jerusalem echoed the prophecy of Isaiah in regarding Galilee as a region of spiritual darkness. But it was just there, among the simple fisher folk by the sea, that Jesus already had some who had begun to see the true Light. These, as we have seen, had first been drawn to Him down by the Jordan River, because it was there revealed to them that He was the One who could meet the needs of sinners, and satisfy the longings of men's hearts.

But now they were to receive a further revelation. It was not only that they needed Jesus, but also that Jesus needed them. As He was about to start His tremendous task of building the Kingdom of Heaven among men He knew that He must have assistance. And so these first disciples who had already been sitting at His feet as His pupils, were now to be called to assist Him in His work. Earlier they had been drawn to His Person ‒ now they would be called to His service.

So let us read on. Verses 16-18: "And passing along by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net in the sea; for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, 'Follow Me and I will make you become fishers of men." And immediately they left their nets and followed Him."

The call to service came to Simon and Andrew in language they would clearly understand. The one thing they knew all about was catching fish. They had no doubt been engaged in it since childhood, and as adults they depended on it for their living. If they had poor catches they and their families would go hungry, but if the catch was a big one they would make good money at the fish market in Capernaum.

But however important catching fish and making money was, they had already come to realise that there was something more important still. So on that day, when the call of Jesus came to them, they were not unprepared. "Follow Me and I will make you fishers of men" ‒ it was like saying, "Simon and Andrew, you've worked so hard all your lives catching fish, drawing them out of the sea and bringing them safe into harbour. But now I'm calling you to a greater work: to fish for men, to draw them out of the troubled waters of a sinful world and to bring them safe into the Kingdom of Heaven."

Thus, in this very first instance of Jesus calling men into His service, He revealed what must surely be the primary and basic task of all who are called to follow and serve Him. This is, quite simply, fishing for men. And that means bringing others into His Kingdom; and thereby increasing and establishing that Kingdom upon earth.

This is what we pray about in the Lord's Prayer: "Thy Kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven." But it's not just a matter to be prayed about. We must work for it as well. For if this was the task that Jesus gave to His first disciples it's equally the task that He gives to us who are called to be His disciples today.

When Jesus called those first disciples to His service He used the work which they already knew so well, catching fish, as an illustration of their new calling. We ourselves, of course, may have had no experience of this particular work; but we too, if we would catch men, can learn something from the methods employed by those who catch fish.

Now fishermen catch fish in several different ways, using different types of equipment. Two of the basic types of equipment used on the Sea of Galilee as elsewhere are, of course, the net and the bait. Ordinarily these two may perhaps not be used at the same time, but in catching men for Jesus they are both needed together.

The bait is that which attracts the fish, and the net is that which imprisons it. In ordinary fishing the attraction of the bait is false ‒ it deceives the fish and lures it to its death. But in our fishing for Jesus the attraction that will catch men must not be false. It must be the attractiveness of genuine, not pretended, Christian character ‒ His goodness showing through us ‒ which will draw them, not to death but to life.

It was, indeed, the character of Jesus Himself that had attracted those first disciples to Him when they met Him on the banks of Jordan. Of course, people cannot see Him walking by the Jordan today, so if they are to be attracted to Him, as Andrew and John and the others were, they will need to see Him walking in us.

Those early disciples, however, did not come to Jesus without having first been prepared by the teaching of John the Baptist. He had cast the net, the net of God's Word, and they had been arrested by it. The Word of God is still the net that we must cast into the restless sea of humanity, and the Holy Spirit will still use it to catch men for Jesus. But let us always remember that both the net and the bait are necessary in our fishing, because if we preach the gospel without living it we may simply drive the fish away.

Now at the time when Simon and Andrew heard the call of Jesus they were very much occupied with their job, "casting a net in the sea". That was the work by which they supported themselves and their families. Abandoning it, just when they were about to draw in a catch of fish, would mean financial loss, and possibly hunger.

But they had already taken Jesus as their Lord, and over the weeks or months since they had met Him by the Jordan they had been learning more and more to trust and to obey Him. So when the call to follow Him and do His work came, they were ready.

They did not think about the inconvenience involved in the interruption of their work, or the financial loss that would result from it. They did not stop to consider the hunger and the hardships that might lie ahead. They had caught a glimpse of His glory, and the rest did not matter. And so, we read, "immediately they left their nets and followed Him."

Next, it was the turn of their partners, James and John. Verses 19 and 20: "And going on a little farther, He saw James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, who were in their boat mending the nets. And immediately He called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants, and followed Him."

While Simon and Andrew were busy fishing, their partners were equally busy on maintenance work ‒ they were "mending their nets".

This was a side of the work which they could not afford to neglect, or their nets would soon become so torn as to be of little use for catching fish. And here too is a lesson for us if we would be fishers of men.

Some folk are so busy with Christian activities ‒ attending meetings, preaching, etc ‒ that they have no time for maintenance work. No time to get alone with God and renew their own spiritual lives. No time for private prayer and feeding their own souls upon the Word. Naturally then, their nets will begin to tear; the effectiveness of their fishing will suffer.

When James and John heard Jesus calling them, their response was the same as that of Simon and Andrew. They too were prepared. Perhaps it was a little easier for them to leave their work at once, because their father, Zebedee, had some hired servants with whom he would be able to carry on.

Nevertheless, one can imagine that he was not well pleased that both his sons should suddenly leave him like this. He could probably not understand that their devotion to their new Master had to be given priority over the filial duty to help their father and to keep the family business going when he was getting old.

James and John no doubt loved their father, but leaving him in this way was one of the sacrifices they had to make ‒ if they were to follow Jesus. And, indeed, obeying the call of Jesus to follow and serve Him always involves sacrifice of one kind or another. In the case of Simon and Andrew there was a financial sacrifice. In the case of James and John a sacrifice in the realm of the family. Simon and Andrew had to leave their catch. James and John had to leave their father.

And still today, we who would serve Jesus as his disciples must be willing, where necessary, to leave what is valuable or dear to us. We too may be called to sacrifice financial security or family ties. And we shall certainly have to give up some of our comfort, our pleasures and our interests ‒ because henceforth we shall need to use our time, our strength, our abilities, and our money, not just for our own selfish ends, but in the service of our Lord.

But making sacrifices for Jesus does not mean giving up or getting rid of all that is ours. On the contrary we may still have possessions, and these will still be ours to use as we feel is right. Those four young fishermen still had their boats and their nets, and they could still make use of them, as, according to the Gospel story, they certainly did from time to time. But these things were no longer the centre of their lives. That place had been taken by Jesus.

What they still possessed, whether their boats or their houses, their abilities, their strength or their time, was now all at the disposal of their Master. This is well illustrated in the other passage which we read at the beginning ‒ the story of the miraculous catch of fishes, an event which probably took place very soon after Jesus had called the four to His service.

So let us turn again to Luke 5. We'll read for a start verses 1-3: "While the people pressed upon Him to hear the Word of God, He was standing by the lake of Gennesaret" (another name for the Sea of Galilee). "And He saw two boats by the lake; but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon's, He asked him to put out a little from the land. And He sat down and taught the people from the boat."

Now, those fishermen had been busy washing their nets to get rid of the rubbish and debris picked up from the lake. It was important to get them clean and also mended. But there were masses of people pressing down upon the lake shore whose lives were more soiled than the nets, and who desperately needed "the washing of water by the Word" (as Paul was to call it in Ephesians 5:26). And so the fishermen had to sacrifice their net washing. They had become servants of Jesus. Their time now was for Him.

And Jesus needed their help just then because the eager crowds were on top of Him, and pressing on Him so hard that He could not minister to them as He longed to do. So He got into one of the fishermen's boats and asked Simon, the owner, to push out a little from the shore.

The boat was still Simon's property, but it was now entirely at the disposal of Jesus, and Jesus was going to use it as it had never been used before. Thus it was that from Simon's rough Galilean fishing boat the Son of God Himself on that day cast a net ‒ the net of God's Word.

In doing this He was actually giving His disciples a demonstration of how to fish for men. And then He followed this up with a practical illustration ‒ an acted parable ‒ in the realm of their own work of catching fish. Verses 4-7: "And when He had ceased speaking He said to Simon, 'Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.' And Simon answered, 'Master; we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.' And when they had done this, they enclosed a great shoal of fish; and as their nets were breaking, they beckoned to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink."

How many lessons about serving Jesus and fishing for men we can learn from this incident!

First, the command to Simon: "Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch." Why "Put out into the deep"? On the Sea of Galilee fierce winds would sometimes rush down from the surrounding hills and quickly lash the water into great waves. It was dangerous when this happened, and out in the deep, in the middle of the lake, no help was at hand for stricken boats. It was surely safer for a boat to keep close to the shore! But it was out there in the deep that the fish were to be found. So Jesus commanded, "Put out into the deep."

Now, this same command comes to all of us who would serve Jesus, even today; for all His disciples must, in some way or other "put out into the deep", leaving earthly security and human props behind. And there will be nothing to fear if Jesus is sailing with us and in command of the boat.

This, indeed, is the life of faith which we all need to learn if we are to be effective fishermen for Him. Our human nature, of course, prefers the shallow water near the shore. But, also, those who cling to the shallows not only catch few fish, but they sometimes end up by drifting onto the rocks.

In Simon's case, when the command came to him to put out into the deep and let down his nets, it was not that he, the experienced fisherman, was worried about possible dangers; but he and his partners had fished right through the night (the night being the best time to catch fish) and they had caught nothing.

So it seemed unreasonable, now that it was light and they were all tired out, to waste time trying again. And after all, they were the ones who knew all about fishing ‒ it was their job ‒ while Jesus was just a carpenter, so how could He know?

If such thoughts as these were Simon's immediate reaction to Jesus' command, they were only momentary. By this time he knew and trusted his Master so well that obedience was the only possible way for him. "Master," he said, "we toiled all night and took nothing! But at Your word I will let down the nets." And without further hesitation he pushed out into the deep and did so.

Sometimes we too may be called to do something that to human wisdom seems unreasonable, but if the Lord's word has come to us our trust must not be in reason but in Him, and the results of our obedience will be according to the measure of His power.

The results of Simon's obedience were nothing short of miraculous. Where just before, during the night hours, nothing had been caught, there was now a great shoal of fish in the nets, more than the nets could take. The partners in the other boat had to be called, until both boats were full, and overfull.

This, surely, is an illustration of the abundance ‒ the 'over-fullness' ‒ that the Scriptures promise us in Jesus. Paul, in Ephesians 3:20 writes that "[He] is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think."

We too may toil all night in our own strength and catch nothing. But it is when we have come to the end of ourselves and our own resources that He is ready to come on board; and if we let Him take over as Captain we shall see an abundance that we have never known before.

Another lesson we can learn from this story is the importance of partnership in the Lord's work. Simon's boat, by itself, could not cope with the catch of fish. His partners, James and John, had to be called in with their boat to help. And the catch was saved, though it now had to be shared between two boats.

Today, we see many different boats fishing for Jesus. Praise the Lord for that! But there is a tendency for each boat to go its own way and to catch as many fish as it can for itself, regardless of the others. Let us, rather, remember that we are all partners, and that our fishing will be much more effective if we are ready to cooperate and share. We are not fishing for ourselves but for the Master.

Finally, let us look at verses 8-11: "But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, 'Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.' For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the catch of fish which they had taken; and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon.

"And Jesus said to Simon, 'Do not be afraid; henceforth you will be catching men.' And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed Him."

Simon was completely shaken by this tremendous event, as were also his partners. In it he had caught a glimpse of the glory of the Son of God. And, as always happens when the white light of God's holiness shines into someone's soul, the dark recesses of their sinfulness are revealed to them as never before.

So Simon fell down before Jesus crying, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!" He had seen his own uncleanness, and his cry was like a leper's "Unclean, unclean! Keep away from me; I am unclean!" He felt he could have no place in the presence of the Holy One of God.

"Leave me alone, Lord," he was saying. "I'm too unclean to be Your disciple." But, as Jesus had known all along, it was just to this place of utter humiliation and despairing of self that the forceful, self-sufficient fisherman had to be brought if he were ever to be a true disciple. Now he was there, down on the deck of the boat, a broken sinner, self- confidence smashed, his hopes all vanished. And then came the wonderful words of Jesus, "Do not be afraid; henceforth you will be catching men."

That very day, after his own efforts through the night had utterly failed, he had seen what could happen if he let Jesus take over. And Jesus was saying to him now, "Don't worry. Once you've come to an end of yourself and let Me take over, there's nothing to fear. What you saw today is going to be repeated in future. But in future the catch won't be of fish but of men ‒ great shoals of men and women caught in the net of the gospel and drawn into My Kingdom."

Simon still had a long way to go. There was yet much that he had to learn. But those who know the New Testament story will remember how, later on, after his Master had gone back to Heaven, at the Feast of Pentecost he let down the net in the city of Jerusalem, and with the help of his partners drew no fewer than three thousand souls into the Kingdom on that one day. And that was only the beginning!

But the miraculous catch of fish that day on the Sea of Galilee not only foreshadowed the still greater catches of men that would later be made, but there and then it changed the lives of those who had witnessed it, and brought them into a more complete dedication to their Master. They had seen His glory, and the things of the world did not matter any more.

As verse 11 puts it: "when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed Him."

Shall you and I do likewise?

Being a Disciple of Jesus

Part 3

The principles of the Kingdom

Reading: Matthew 5:1-11

The Beatitudes

Matthew 5:1-11:

Seeing the crowds, He went up on the mountain, and when He sat down His disciples came to Him.

2 And He opened His mouth and taught them, saying:

3 "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

4 "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

5 "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

6 "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

7 "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.

8 "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

9 "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

10 "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11 "Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.

In the preceding studies we have seen how the original disciples of Jesus were drawn to Him in the first place, and then how they were called into His service for the work of establishing His Kingdom among men. Now up to this point, apart from their desire to follow Jesus, and their zeal for His Kingdom, they were not very different in character from the masses to whom He wanted to send them.

They had little idea of the vast difference between the standards of the world, as found amongst these masses, and those of the Kingdom of Heaven, which they themselves would henceforth have to exemplify. They had much to learn, and for the next three years or so Jesus had to give them a great deal of teaching, as we see in all four Gospels.

In Matthew's Gospel this teaching begins almost immediately after the disciples' call to service in the fourth chapter, for in the following three chapters (Matthew 5, 6 and 7) we have that great body of teaching known as the Sermon on the Mount.

We cannot possibly deal with the whole of this Sermon on the Mount in one Bible study, but let us look at the beginning, which is foundational for the whole.

First, to understand the context, let us read the end of the preceding chapter, Matthew 4:23-25:

"And He went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and preaching the gospel of the Kingdom and healing every disease and every infirmity among the people. So His fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought Him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, demoniacs, epileptics, and paralytics, and He healed them. And great crowds followed Him from Galilee and the Decapolis and Jerusalem and Judea and from beyond the Jordan."

Here we have a picture of feverish activity and excitement as one man, albeit the divine Son of Man, struggles to bring the Kingdom of Heaven, with all its saving and healing power, to the oppressed and suffering masses thronging around Him. No doubt the disciples, whom He had already called to His service, were at hand and eager to help. But they could not do much; they had so much to learn themselves.

Moreover, the vast crowds who were streaming to Him from all directions had little interest or understanding for the Kingdom of Heaven. Their motives in coming were largely on a physical or material level, and there was little hope of their deeper, spiritual needs ever being met in this way.

Of course, Jesus knew what He was doing all along, but at this point He saw it was time to change over to a different course of action. Matthew 5:1-2: "Seeing the crowds He went up on the mountain, and when He sat down His disciples came to Him. And He opened His mouth and taught them."

When He saw those masses crowding the lake shore in all their helplessness and need, He did a strange thing: He left them and went up on the mountain. He saw was that that was the only way to meet their real needs. You would think many of that crowd would be eager enough to climb up after Him; but we don't read that they did. Perhaps the mountain path was too steep for them.

So it seems as though it was mainly His disciples, or at least those who really meant business with Him, who followed Him up that rugged path. And there, up on the mountain and away from the crowds, He sat down and taught them.

He knew that the only way to bring the Kingdom of Heaven to the masses on the plain below, and in every other place too, was to teach its principles to the few who were ready to separate themselves from the world, and spend their time on the mountain with Him; for these were the ones who would eventually go out to establish the Kingdom of Heaven throughout the world.

And so we have the Sermon on the Mount. In it we find Jesus was giving His disciples a kind of manifesto, or declaration, of the principles and standards of the Kingdom He had come to establish ‒ a set of character guidelines for those who would be its citizens, and its representatives in the world. And between these Kingdom standards, here set forth, and the usual standards accepted by the world ‒ or even those laid down for Israel in the Old Testament ‒ we shall find an enormous difference. Here we are on far higher ground. Here, truly, we are "on the mount"!

The standards set for the citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven are indeed so high that the King Himself is certainly the only One who has ever fully lived up to them. So when we study the Sermon on the Mount we shall see that it is His own life that provides the one perfect pattern and example for what He teaches. And, of course, His disciples can only follow this example in so far as they are indwelt by His Spirit.

Those first disciples of Jesus, who followed Him that day up the mountain, had been brought up on the Old Testament Law of Moses, which had hemmed in their lives with a complex system of rules and regulations as to what they must do (or not do) on every occasion. This, no doubt, had been a necessary preparation for them. But now the Sermon on the Mount was to tell them not so much what they must do, as what they must be. It is being rather than doing which comes first in the Kingdom of Heaven.

Now, just as the Law of Moses starts with the Ten Commandments, which are the basis of all that follows, so the Sermon on the Mount starts with the so-called Beatitudes, which are likewise basic to the rest. The word "Beatitude" is derived from the Latin "beatus", in English "blessed" ‒ "blessed" being the word with which each of the Beatitudes starts.

What does "blessed" really mean? Well, its meaning carries the sense of "happy", or "fortunate", or even "to be congratulated". So in the Beatitudes we have a series of pronouncements from Jesus telling us who, by the standards of the Kingdom of Heaven, are to be regarded as happy or fortunate or to be congratulated. We can see straight away that we have ideas here about happiness and good fortune which are very different from those of the world. Let's look, then, at these Beatitudes one by one.

The first Beatitude, verse 3: Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven." Here then in this first Beatitude we find the first qualification needed for possessing the Kingdom of Heaven. It is to be poor ‒ not materially poor, but poor in spirit. And those in this kind of poverty are called "blessed"; they are the happy ones!

How different are the ideas of the world where poverty of any kind is shunned, and the people who are considered happy and to be congratulated are the rich ‒ rich in material possessions, rich in ability, rich in popularity. And such riches, of course, are normally accompanied by pride. But there is no place for pride in the Kingdom of Heaven, for it is not the rich but the poor who have a place there ‒ the poor in spirit.

Who are the poor in spirit? They are those who sense their utter poverty before God ‒ who know they have nothing at all to be proud of ‒ that in themselves they are completely undeserving and without merit. The door into the Kingdom is indeed a low one. No one can enter standing erect and confident in his own worthiness, for as Isaiah wrote, "all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags" (Isaiah 64:6 KJV).

This surely is why the Pharisees could not come into the Kingdom, as is clearly illustrated in Jesus' story of the Pharisee and the publican praying in the Temple. The Pharisee stood there, erect and self-confident, and thanked God he was so much better than other people. How rich he was in his own eyes! But the publican, knowing his own utter poverty spiritually speaking, hung his head and cried, "Lord, be merciful to me, a sinner."

We can understand from this, perhaps, why the publicans like Matthew and Zaccheus, with others of bad reputation, were so readily drawn to Jesus. Realising their own worthlessness they were "poor in spirit", and so the Kingdom of Heaven became theirs.

It is striking it was Matthew who recorded all this for us in his Gospel. How well he had come to know the truth of this Beatitude: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven."

Being poor in spirit is not only needed when sinners are first drawn to the Saviour. It must be a lasting element in the character of every disciple of Jesus; for without this kind of poverty no one can possess the riches of the Kingdom; no one can enjoy its blessing.

In the natural, of course, we all like to feel we have something to be proud of ‒ our skills and attainments; our position, our possessions and even what we have achieved in the service of God. But let us rather consider the One whose example we are called to follow.

He was the only One who really did have something to be proud about. But, "though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor" (2 Corinthians 8:9). And Paul's advice to us in Philippians 2:5-8 (KJV) is, "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who ... made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and ... humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." Yes, let this mind be in us ‒ then the blessedness of possessing the Kingdom of Heaven will be ours too.

We now come to the second Beatitude, verse 4: "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted."

What a strange contradiction in terms ‒ "blessed are those who mourn"! It is like saying, "Happy are those who are unhappy"! And to the world this does not make sense at all. But a disciple of Jesus, one who has become a citizen of His Kingdom, has begun to see things in an altogether different light ‒ the light of the Holy Spirit. And the brighter that light shines for them, the darker do the shadows appear.

Under the Spirit's influence they have developed a new sensitivity to the darkness of sin with all its tragic results, and they cannot but mourn over it. But this very mourning is the prelude to a supernatural comfort in their heart, such as the world knows nothing of.

"Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted" ‒ the very comfort of God will steal into their hearts and they will have a foretaste of the blessing of Heaven, where all tears will one day be wiped away.

A disciple, of course, mourns first of all over the sinfulness in their own heart and life. The people of the world are generally insensitive to their own sinfulness. They are not greatly concerned about the wrongness of their lying and cheating, their selfishness and their impurity. They do not mourn about these things, but at the same time they find no happiness in them.

The members of the Kingdom on the other hand, having become sensitive to sin, mourn bitterly over their own shortcomings and failures. But what a comfort is theirs when they find that the Blood of Jesus cleanses them, and in Him victory over sin is assured for the future!

But, of course, it is not only about their own sinfulness that these members of the Kingdom will mourn. In this rebellious world, they will be faced with all the tragedy and suffering that has come upon man as the result of his enslavement by the great rebel Satan ‒ not to mention the bitter opposition of Satan against themselves as representatives of the King.

They will meet with sickness and poverty, with cruelty and injustice, with blighted lives and broken homes, with the tragedy of bereavement or loved ones gone astray. They will have much to mourn about. And in this they will only be treading in the footsteps of their Master, their great example, for He, above all others, was "a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief" (Isaiah 53:3).

He was the One who wept with the mourners by the grave of Lazarus; and His disciples, too, will "weep with those who weep". But their mourning will be followed by divine comfort, and this comfort will pass from them to others who mourn.

As Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 1:3-4: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God."

Next, then, the third Beatitude, verse 5: "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth."

What, actually, does the word "meek" mean? We are apt to confuse meekness with weakness. But the two are not the same at all. In fact, to be meek is a mark of strength not weakness. It requires real strength of character, for while it's natural in this world for people to be pushing and self-assertive in order to gain their ends, the person who is meek will hold themselves back from pushing and fighting for their own interests.

If someone is a disciple of Jesus, they know that in the Kingdom of Heaven there is something better for them than earthly riches and honours. They will even forego their just rights rather than get involved in worldly rivalry and quarrelling. Where others are selfishly aggressive, they are willing to leave things to God and to submit to God's will for them, whatever it may be.

In the Old Testament we have an outstanding example of meekness in the character of Moses ‒ and he was certainly not a weak man. We read of him (Numbers 12:3): "Now the man Moses was very meek, more than all men that were on the face of the earth."

We find that when he was unjustly criticised and opposed, Moses did not fight for his own honour and position ‒ he was only concerned for the honour of God and the welfare of God's people. He submitted to all the unfairness and ingratitude because he had submitted himself to the will of God.

But the supreme example of the meekness that marks the Kingdom character is found, as usual, in the King Himself. He, the Son of God, was certainly not pushing His own interests when He left the Glory and came into this world. Though He realised what it would cost Him, He gave up all that was rightfully His on High and submitted to the will of His Father.

"I have come down from Heaven, not to do My own will," He said, "but the will of Him who sent Me." (John 6:38). And in the agony of the Garden of Gethsemane He prayed, "My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as Thou wilt" (Matthew 26:39).

But if meekness means submitting to so much injustice and wrong, how can the meek be "blessed" ‒ how can they be the happy ones? It is because of the inheritance they are going to receive. "Blessed are the meek," Jesus said, "for they shall inherit the earth."

One day they will be extremely rich; the earth itself will be theirs. But how can this be?! Surely it is Heaven that the meek are going to inherit, not the earth. And at any rate the kind of people who, we see, do inherit the earth ‒ or more than their fair share of it ‒ are not the meek, but the forward ones ‒ those who are always active and pushing in their own interests.

Yes, that's true. But such people soon find out their possession of this earthly inheritance is very temporary. What they have gained is easily lost, and they certainly cannot take it with them when they leave this world. No; as so many Scriptures testify, when the King at last comes back to take His Kingdom and reign, it will be His own redeemed people, the meek ones, who shall be given the earth to reign over with Him. And their inheritance will not be taken from them.

But even now the meek may enjoy a foretaste ‒ a token ‒ of their future inheritance, for the King already places at their disposal all of earth's riches that, as His servants, they stand in need of. "My God" writes Paul in Philippians 4:19, "will supply every need of yours according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus."

We come now to the fourth Beatitude, verse 6: "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied."

We have seen how, according to the principles of the Kingdom of Heaven, it will be the meek who inherit the earth, and even now may begin to enjoy its riches. This is certainly something to make the meek happy. And yet they will soon find they are not really satisfied.

Earthly benefits are truly a blessing, but by themselves they cannot satisfy. All of us, of course, hunger and thirst for the good things that are available to man on this earth ‒ material things, yes, and also immaterial things like friendship, success, interests, enjoyment. But sooner or later we shall find that these things, however good in themselves, are not enough. They cannot satisfy the longing of our innermost souls, and we are missing the blessing we crave.

Who, then, are the really blessed ones, those who are truly satisfied? They are the ones who hunger and thirst for righteousness, as our Beatitude says: "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied."

Now the meaning of the word "righteousness" is "being right with God"; and, of course, a person who is right with God is one who is doing God's will.

Jesus, who once again is our great example, was always right with His Father; and the longing of His heart was that He should always be doing His Father's will. After talking with the Samaritan woman at the well He told His disciples (John 4:34); "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to accomplish His work." That was the food He was hungry for.

Of course, being right with God and always doing His will means unbroken fellowship with God. And to enjoy this unbroken fellowship with God must surely be the longing, the hunger, the thirst of all truly Christian hearts. But here Jesus is not only our example, He is also the means by which this longing can be satisfied.

Yes, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness" ‒ and He Himself is righteousness personified ‒ as Paul wrote (1 Corinthians 1:30), "Christ Jesus whom God made ... our righteousness". And so in hungering and thirsting for righteousness we are actually hungering and thirsting for Him. He, the eternal Son of God, came down from Heaven to satisfy that hunger and thirst.

As He said to the Jews in John 6:35, "I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me shall not hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst." In other words, it is in Him who is our righteousness that the hunger and thirst of our souls will be eternally satisfied.

Next, the fifth Beatitude in verse 7: "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy."

Those who themselves are satisfied with Jesus begin to share His compassion for the unsatisfied folk around ‒ His mercy towards both the suffering and the sinful. In the Kingdom there is no place for a critical or condemning spirit.

In the world, of course, people are always ready to criticize and condemn. In fact, one of their favourite pastimes is what we call gossip, which is talking critically about other people and taking a delight in finding fault with them. The world is greatly concerned with people's faults, but not so much with their needs.

The citizens of the Kingdom, however, take delight not in the faults of others but in the goodness of Jesus. They know that they themselves have no more righteousness of their own than anybody else, and are just as deserving of judgment. They know it is by the mercy of God that their own needs have been met, and so now their hearts are free to go out in mercy towards others.

And here, as always, it is the King Himself who is their great example, for throughout the Gospel story we find Him showing mercy on the afflicted ‒ the bereaved, the lepers, the blind ‒ as well as on those who have fallen into sin ‒ the woman taken in adultery, for instance. His whole life and ministry were full of mercy.

And today people everywhere still need mercy. Alas, in many places we see its opposite ‒ heartlessness ‒ older students tormenting younger ones in the schools; carers and nurses neglecting those for whom they are responsible; gangs armed with knives killing others without compassion.

These things and many others show the merciless spirit of the world. But the disciples of Jesus must be careful to have a different spirit. How else can they have the blessing, and how else can they expect mercy for themselves? For He said, "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy." And how we all need the mercy of God for ourselves.

And so we come to the sixth Beatitude, verse 8: "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God."

This Beatitude takes us a stage further than the last. It goes deeper, for it speaks of the heart. Mercy shown to a person can be seen and appreciated by that person. But it is only God who can see right into the heart. And it is only in his heart that a person can see God.

Most people do not see God at all. And the reason is because their hearts are not pure. They are like windows so dirty that you cannot see through them, or water so muddy that the sunlight cannot penetrate it.

Down through history the longing of godly men and women has been to have a pure heart and to see God. King David, overcome by the sense of his sinfulness, cried to God (Psalms 51:10): "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me." And in Psalm 17:15 he expressed his great hope that one day, when God had answered his prayer he would see Him face to face and be satisfied: "As for me," he said to God, "I shall behold Thy face in righteousness; when I awake I shall be satisfied with beholding Thy form."

Turning to the New Testament, we find the Apostle John holding out the same hope for all the disciples of Jesus as David did for himself (1 John 3:2-3): "Beloved," he writes, "we are God's children now; it does not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when He appears we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And every one who thus hopes in Him purifies himself as He is pure."

Yes, to see Him our hearts must be pure. Now it is clear in these passages that both David and John were looking forward to seeing God at some time in the future. But those who have pure hearts can begin to see Him and experience the blessing of His presence right now.

And here again Jesus Himself is our supreme example. His heart was so completely pure that all through His earthly life there was nothing to dim His view of the Father or interrupt His communion with Him ‒ until He hung on the Cross. And then, even as the sun itself was darkened, the light of the Father's face ceased to shine through to His heart, because it was covered with our sin, and He cried that desolate cry, "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" (Matthew 27:46.)

Here is the wonder of it. It was through the desolation of His own pure heart in this way that a means was provided whereby our defiled hearts might be made pure; for, as we read in 1 John 1:7, it is the blood of Jesus shed on that awful Cross that "cleanses us from all sin".

Yes, He went to the Cross for us, that our hearts might be made pure and that we might enjoy the unspeakable blessing of "seeing God". It was all His work, all of His grace; but of course there must be a response from us.

If we would "see God" we must actively cooperate with Him, for, as John wrote, "Every one who thus hopes in Him purifies himself as He is pure" (1 John 3:3). In view of what He has done for us we must no longer tolerate uncleanness in our hearts ‒ deceit, lust, envy and all the other things that defile. Let us purify ourselves as He is pure, and then we shall begin to see God.

So we move on to the seventh Beatitude, verse 9: "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God."

It is a law of the Spirit that those who "see God" become like Him. Paul explains it in 2 Corinthians 3:18: "And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being changed into His likeness from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit."

This means, if there is no veil of uncleanness to hide God's face from us, and we live day by day beholding Him in His glory ‒ the Holy Spirit somehow impresses His likeness upon us.

The more we behold Him the more like Him we become. And it is a family likeness ‒ the likeness of a child to his father ‒ so striking that people will call us "sons of God".

This likeness will be especially striking in one feature of our characters: like God we shall be peacemakers. "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God." What a stupendous blessing, to be called Sons of God, and to be accepted as Sons of God! And, of course, daughters too!

The world is so full of selfishness and jealousy that quarrels are inevitable. And worldly people accept this state of affairs and are not so concerned about it, so long as they themselves are not hurt. There are many, even, who enjoy hearing of others quarrelling. But this is not God's way, nor is it the way in His Kingdom.

It is Satan, the prince of this world, who is always behind quarrels. While it is God's desire that His children should be united in love and live at peace, it is Satan's to cause division and hatred. Unhappily, he sometimes succeeds even in bringing these things into the Christian church; which certainly ought not to be.

It is natural that people of the world should so often have no peace between each other, because there is no peace between them and God. But God is the great peacemaker, the great reconciler. Ever since man rebelled against Him He has, in His love and mercy, been working for a reconciliation.

He promised through the Old Testament prophets to send His Son into the world, the One whom Isaiah called "the Prince of Peace". When at last He came, the sky was filled with angels praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men" (Luke 2:14).

He had come to make peace between man and God, and also between man and man. So the Kingdom which He came to establish is a kingdom of peace, and all who have become its citizens know that "He is our peace" (as Paul put it in Ephesians 2:14). Yet He could only make peace at terrible cost to Himself ‒ again, as Paul put it (Colossians 1:20), He made "peace by the Blood of His Cross".

There will be a cost for us, His disciples, also, for it is we who are now called to be the peacemakers in the world. "The ministry of reconciliation", as Paul calls it, will not be easy. We shall meet with misunderstanding and rebuff. We shall be trying to persuade people to stop quarrelling among themselves when they don't want to stop; or to repent and be reconciled to God when they still love their sin.

But if we really are sons of God, the peace of Christ will "rule in our hearts" (as Paul expressed it in Colossians 3:15), and our very presence will breathe it to others. The blessing from our Father will somehow reach them through our lives. Yes, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God."

So we have now dealt with the first seven of the Beatitudes of Character, because they give us seven features of the character which should mark a citizen of the Kingdom of Heaven. Now, it's noteworthy that in the Bible, seven is the number which stands for completeness or perfection. And so, if our characters are to be complete or perfect in a way that befits our citizenship in the Kingdom, they should manifest all these seven features.

Alas, it must be admitted that we have all fallen far short. Nevertheless this is the ideal which we should all be aiming for. How can the King be satisfied with anything less, for His final words at the close of this chapter are "You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect."

Following the seven Beatitudes which speak of Character, there are two more which speak of the reaction of the world to such character. We will read the two together because they form a pair (verses 10-12): "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you on My account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in Heaven, for so men persecuted the prophets who were before you."

Now, in the same way that seven is the number of completeness or perfection in the Bible, two is the number of division. So, just as the seven Beatitudes are followed by the two, when the complete Kingdom character is manifested in the world, it is always followed by division. Here is the "great divide".

There will be those who are attracted by such character, and even drawn into the Kingdom themselves, while others, slaves of the prince of this world, will be offended by it and will turn to opposing and persecuting, as described in these two final Beatitudes.

Persecution has been the lot of the disciples of Jesus right down through the centuries, from the time of the Apostles to the present day. Naturally it has been most severe in countries where the rulers themselves have, for various reasons, been anti-Christian, as, for instance, in ancient Rome under Nero, and since then under various governments and terrorising groups. Through the centuries, indeed, untold thousands of the citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven have faced imprisonment, torture and death at the hands of evil rulers.

Even today, what dreadful sufferings are being inflicted on Christians in many parts of the world ‒ fathers of families being dragged off to prison and death; mothers denied food for their children; children torn away from their parents to be trained in atheism. But according to Jesus, these Christians living under intense persecution are the happy ones.

"Blessed (happy) are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake"! Jesus said. But how can this possibly be? How can anyone suffering such things be happy? Well, they are happy simply because "theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven".

To possess the Kingdom of Heaven is the most wonderful thing in the world. Death cannot rob you of it; and in this life you can enjoy it even under the most adverse circumstances. Richard Wurmbrand who wrote the book Tortured for Christ (1967) after suffering for fourteen years in Communist prisons in Romania, tells how, while in solitary confinement, he used to dance for joy in his cell. The atheistic authorities could not take away that joy, because he was a citizen of the Kingdom of Heaven.

Many similar, terrible but wonderful stories are being told today, especially by such organisations as The Voice of the Martyrs founded by Richard Wurmbrand, Open Doors founded by Brother Andrew and Christian Solidarity Worldwide first led by Baroness Caroline Cox.

Of course, there are different degrees of persecution, and some of them seem comparatively mild. Imprisonment, torture and death are not for all of us, though I think we all ought to be prepared in case they should come our way.

But the devil is not only at work in lands where there is tyranny and oppression. He is alive and active in all parts of the world. Everywhere he has his agents who are bitterly opposed to Christ and will do what they can to make life difficult for Christians.

It may only be by mockery or ridicule; but that is hard enough to bear. It may be by slander ‒ and slander is a very damaging form of persecution ‒ when untrue things are said against you which can spoil your good name, rob you of your friends and even cause you to lose your job. But Jesus speaks of the victims of these forms of persecution, as happy ones too: "Blessed (happy) are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account."

Indeed the victims of all persecution which is "on His account" really do have something to be happy about. "Rejoice and be glad," Jesus tells them, "for your reward is great in Heaven, for so men persecuted the prophets who were before you."

Here He is looking beyond the Kingdom of Heaven on earth, to Heaven itself, their everlasting home, where there will be no more death nor pain nor sorrow, and where they will enjoy their great reward in the blessed company of the prophets of old, and indeed of all God's servants who trod the road of suffering before them.

Of course their greatest joy there in Heaven will be the King Himself, their wonderful example and their beloved Saviour, who, while on earth, was "despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief".

He went the way of the Cross in order that they might live with Him in Heaven for ever.

Being a Disciple of Jesus

Part 4

Working for the King

Readings: Luke 10:1-21

Luke 10:1-21:

After this the Lord appointed seventy others, and sent them on ahead of Him, two by two, into every town and place where He Himself was about to come.

2 And He said to them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few; pray therefore the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into His harvest. 3 Go your way; behold, I send you out as lambs in the midst of wolves.

4 "Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals; and salute no one on the road. 5 Whatever house you enter, first say, 'Peace be to this house!' 6 And if a son of peace is there, your peace shall rest upon him; but if not, it shall return to you. 7 And remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they provide, for the labourer deserves his wages; do not go from house to house.

8 "Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you; 9 heal the sick in it and say to them, 'The kingdom of God has come near to you.'

10 "But whenever you enter a town and they do not receive you, go into its streets and say, 11 'Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off against you; nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near.' 12 I tell you, it shall be more tolerable on that day for Sodom than for that town.

13 "Woe to you, Chorazin! woe to you, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. 14 But it shall be more tolerable in the judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you. 15 And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You shall be brought down to Hades.

16 "He who hears you hears Me, and he who rejects you rejects Me, and he who rejects Me rejects Him who sent Me."

17 The seventy returned with joy, saying, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!"

18 And He said to them, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 19 Behold, I have given you authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing shall hurt you.

20 "Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you; but rejoice that your names are written in heaven."

21 In that same hour He rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, "I thank Thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that Thou hast hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to babes; yea, Father, for such was Thy gracious will."

In our previous Bible studies we have seen how Jesus, after drawing those first disciples to Himself, started to prepare them for the work of establishing the Kingdom of Heaven among men.

They had much to learn, so He set about teaching them; and we have already studied something of what He taught. He had twelve especially promising pupils whom He decided to train for leadership, and in Mark 3 we find His programme for their training.

Mark 3:14-15: "He appointed twelve to be with Him, and to be sent out to preach and have authority to cast out demons." Notice the two parts of the programme. Firstly, they were to be with Him, watching Him, listening to Him and learning from Him. Secondly, they were to go out and put into practice what they had learnt.

As in any other course of training, the theoretical teaching, the "class-room work" had to be supplemented by practical work in the field. They had to spend time with the Teacher first, and then go out on their own. After that, of course, they would come back for a further period with Him before being sent out again.

Now, this is still the programme for any who would be disciples of Jesus: alternately in and out. First in ‒ times of close fellowship and learning with Him. Then out ‒ going out to do His work. Only, this programme differs from an ordinary training programme in that it continues throughout life. We Christians will never reach the stage where we can say, "Now I've graduated; I don't need these times with Jesus any more; I can do the work without them." Or, if we do, things will go badly wrong. Indeed, the fruitfulness of many disciples of Jesus has dried up, simply because they have been too busy "out" at His work, and not had enough time "in" with Him.

But, some may object that what we've read in Mark 3 is about the leaders, the famous Twelve Apostles who were very special people, not about ordinary Christians like ourselves. Let me remind you that in the Gospel story, after Jesus had appointed the twelve leaders, many other disciples came on the scene ‒ ordinary people whose names for the most part we don't even know ‒ and these also, after spending time with Jesus, were given a part in His work just like the Apostles.

We read about some of these in Luke 10, so let us turn to the passage and learn what we can from it for ourselves; for, clearly, all who are His disciples, even today, however ordinary they may be, are given work to do for Him.

Luke 10:1: "After this the Lord appointed seventy others, and sent them on ahead of Him, two by two, into every town and place where He Himself was about to come."

These seventy unknown, ordinary people had been with Jesus, and now they were sent out by Him as His representatives, ambassadors of the Kingdom of Heaven. He knew how weak they still were to undertake such a responsible mission, and so He sent them "two by two". In teams of two they would encourage and strengthen one another, and the devil could not bring them down with loneliness. Loneliness can be a real snare in God's work, and of course Jesus understands this very well.

Where was it that He sent these thirty-five teams of two? He sent them "into every town and place where He Himself was about to come." In other words, they were sent ahead to make preparations for the arrival of the King. The important thing was that the King Himself was coming.

The disciples as His representatives, by their teaching, their testimony and their labours of love, would introduce His Kingdom. But they, by themselves, could never meet the needs of the people. Their task was to prepare them to receive the One who could. And this will always be the task of the disciples of Jesus.

Why did Jesus need to send out those seventy ordinary people to represent Him, when He already had such outstanding men as the twelve Apostles on the job? Verse 2 supplies the answer to that question: "And He said to them, 'The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few; pray therefore the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into His harvest.'"

There was a great harvest to be reaped, and more labourers were needed on the job. Where there is a good crop in the field, and insufficient labour is available to bring it in, the grain will eventually be lost.

In His mind's eye, Jesus could see a vast harvest field ‒ all those villages full of people, strung along the lake shore and dotting the hills of Galilee; the thickly populated coastal plain to the west; the crowded towns of Judaea to the south; and the great city of Jerusalem itself. Multitudes of people everywhere in all their need and waiting to be harvested for God.

The harvest truly was plentiful. Perhaps He saw still further harvest fields beyond Palestine, out in the great Roman Empire, and away in the unknown lands of Asia and Africa.

Maybe His vision even reached out into the future, to the kingdoms and empires that would rise and fall through the centuries. Perhaps He caught a glimpse even of our own century with its worldwide population explosion, its teeming cities and its unending human problems, and He would know that all down through these centuries it would be harvest time. Endlessly wide fields would become ripe for reaping; but so often the crop would perish for want of reapers.

"'The harvest is plentiful,' He said, 'but the labourers are few; pray therefore the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into His harvest'"

Now, notice that the first thing that He told His disciples to do about the harvest was "pray". Even today when we think about the vast harvest fields of the world with the great need in practically every sphere of life today, the first thing for us to do about it is "pray" ‒ plead with the Lord to send more labourers into His fields.

But the second thing to do about it is "go". For, after saying "Pray" in the middle of verse 2, at the beginning of verse 3 Jesus says, "Go". It is, perhaps, not so difficult for us just to pray, but how many of us are willing to face the effort and inconvenience of going?

So we have come to the commissioning of these seventy unnamed disciples, Jesus commissioning them to "go". Verse 3: "Go your way; behold, I send you out as lambs in the midst of wolves." What a strange commissioning! Jesus was sending them out as "lambs"!

I can well imagine they were not very pleased to be likened to lambs. They would have preferred, no doubt, to think of themselves as lions, strong and fearless as they went forth to do exploits for the Kingdom. But Jesus did not see them as lions; He saw them as lambs, weak and defenceless creatures who would be no match for the wolves of hell all around them.

He knew it would be their very weakness which would cast them on God, the One who could shut the mouths of wild beasts for them, as He had done for Daniel of old. Furthermore, in order to teach them to trust only in God, Jesus forbade them, for this first practical exercise, to make even the most reasonable and modest provision for their material needs.

Verse 4: "Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals," Jesus said. No purse meant no money. No bag meant no food. No sandals meant no spare footwear for the rough, stony roads. This does not mean that later on, when the time came for the disciples of Jesus to "go into all the world and preach the gospel" they would still have to travel entirely empty-handed. However, it does mean that those who go forth to work for Jesus must learn to rely not on money or material provision, but on God.

Furthermore, it is a reminder to us even today that if we, as workers for Jesus, weigh ourselves down with too much in the way of possessions, these may prove a hindrance to us in the work and curtail our freedom of action for Him. The servants of God must avoid any encumbrances which would hold them back from fulfilling their calling.

Much the same idea underlies the next rule that Jesus gave His disciples for this exercise, at the end of verse 4: "Salute no one on the road." What a strange rule this seems today! To us it is only polite to greet acquaintances when we meet them, and even strangers, if they are friendly enough to greet us. After all, a Christian should always be polite and courteous. Besides, stopping to talk for a moment when you meet someone on the road can provide a welcome break in a strenuous journey.

Yes, all that is true. But Jesus knew that oriental salutations could be very elaborate and waste a lot of time. No doubt He remembered how the prophet Elisha, when sending his servant Gehazi on an urgent mission (2 Kings 4) had found it necessary to warn him not to get held up by saluting anyone on the way.

God's work, indeed, is always urgent. As David once said, he had brought neither sword nor weapons with him, because "the King's business required haste" (1 Samuel 21:8).

Of course, a degree of rest and relaxation is a physical necessity for servants of the King as for others, and they certainly need times of fellowship with their brethren. But today so often a sense of urgency in His service seems to be lacking. How much time is spent by some of us talking with our friends, or otherwise taking our ease, instead of getting on with God's work. How often is our social life given priority over the Lord's business. "Salute no one on the road" was no doubt a hard rule for those early disciples to keep to. But it taught them a necessary lesson: the urgency of their calling.

Perhaps some of us modern disciples need to learn that lesson too, or much of the crop waiting to be harvested in the fields today may be lost forever.

Verses 5-6: "Whatever house you enter, first say, 'Peace be to this house!' And if a son of peace is there, your peace shall rest upon him; but if not, it shall return to you."

The mission of these seventy was first and foremost a mission of peace. They were representatives of the Prince of Peace, and they were going out to bring peace to people who had no peace in their hearts, in a world where no true peace was to be found. Later on, before returning to heaven, Jesus was to tell His disciples (John 14:27), "Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you."

Although at first they could not have understood it, those disciples would eventually come to realize that this true peace was theirs only through the Cross of Jesus; "Peace by the Blood of His Cross," (as Paul explained it in Colossians 1:20).

But, already during this time of their early training, it was granted these disciples not only to possess this peace themselves, but to convey it to those to whom they were sent. As they entered a stranger's home their first words of greeting would be, "Peace be to this house!" and they would bring the peace of God with them into the house.

Sometimes those in the house would prove to be "sons of peace" and would gladly receive it for themselves; but others would have no place for it. Then it would, so to speak, return to those who had brought it. Isn't it like this still? If we who are His disciples today "let the peace of Christ rule in our hearts" (as Paul put it in Colossians 3:15), we shall be shedding it forth wherever we go".

Many people will shut their hearts against it. But we shall find that there are others, "sons of peace", who will open right up to it, and upon them our peace will rest. And, of course, those who welcome the peace of God in their hearts are the ones who welcome the servant of God in their homes.

When those early disciples were welcomed into the home of a "son of peace", Jesus said they should remain there as long as they were in that place. Verse 7: "And remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they provide, for the labourer deserves his wages; do not go from house to house." They could take it that the hospitality that they were receiving was the Lord's own provision for them.

He Himself had planned it all, for He knew that a labourer could not do his work without his wages ‒ in other words, that the material needs of His workers would have to be provided ‒ and this "son of peace" who had lovingly received them in his house was God's chosen agent whom He had appointed to look after their needs.

So they should gratefully accept what they were given, and not start looking around for something better. "Do not go from house to house," Jesus said. Other houses might offer greater comfort or better food, but what God had seen fit to provide was best for them.

Not only individuals, but whole communities, the disciples would find, would either accept or reject the message. Those communities which accepted would begin to experience the power of the Kingdom of Heaven in their midst.

Verses 8-9: "Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you; heal the sick in it and say to them, 'The Kingdom of God has come near to you.'"

'The power of the Kingdom would manifest itself especially in the healing of the sick. Why was this? Because sickness is an oppression of the devil, from whose power Jesus had come to set men free. In the words of Peter (Acts 10:38) "He went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed by the devil"; and in the words of John (1 John 3:8) "The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil." So when He sends His disciples out, He is sending them like soldiers into battle; into battle with the forces of Satan.

If the Kingdom of Heaven is to be established among men, the power of the prince of this world over them has to be fought and conquered. Satan has enslaved them not only in sin, but also in sickness and demonic oppression, which are all part of the Curse he has brought upon mankind. His bondage, while basically spiritual, manifests itself also in the physical and mental, and indeed is the cause of untold trouble and suffering in all spheres of human life.

In the face of such a formidable enemy we might well lose heart. But we have been sent forth armed and equipped by the King, and wherever He deploys His soldiers, the banner of the Kingdom is unfurled ‒ "the Kingdom of God has come near", as those seventy were told to proclaim. And where His Kingdom comes, there is deliverance.

But, alas, as we have seen not only individuals but sometimes whole communities reject this deliverance. They are so bound by Satan's lies that they don't even want to be free. And so Jesus instructed those first disciples (verses 10-12) "But whenever you enter a town and they do not receive you, go into its streets and say, 'Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off against you; nevertheless know this, that the Kingdom of God has come near.' I tell you, it shall be more tolerable on that day for Sodom than for that town."

As representatives of the King, His disciples must not only bring the message of salvation but also, when this message is rejected, of judgment. The wiping of the dust of a town from their feet was a vivid illustration of God's condemnation of that town. Jesus Himself had sad experience of the most privileged communities rejecting what He offered and bringing judgment upon themselves.

We can see this from His next words (verses 13-15): "Woe to you, Chorazin! woe to you, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. But it shall be more tolerable in the judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you. And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to Heaven? You shall be brought down to Hades." Such condemnation of those who reject the Kingdom is a very solemn matter and must not be taken lightly.

Of course, people will oppose and mock when they hear of God's judgment, but as Paul wrote in Galatians. 6:7, "God is not mocked", and the message, both of salvation and of judgment, is from Him. His disciples in proclaiming it, do so with His authority as His ambassadors. "He who hears you hears Me," Jesus said (verse 16), "and he who rejects you rejects Me, and he who rejects Me rejects Him who sent Me." It is a very serious matter.

Of course, the wiping off of the dust from their feet implied the disciples were finished with that particular place and were going elsewhere. There was no point in wasting any more of their time where their message was not welcome, when there were so many other places waiting to hear it. So it is even today.

There are some places where a faithful Christian witness only meets rejection and closed doors, while elsewhere people are just waiting to receive it and the doors are wide open. So let us not waste time banging on closed doors when God has opened wide doors of opportunity for us elsewhere ‒ fields where He needs labourers to reap a great harvest.

Moving on then to verse 17, we'll read what happened when those seventy disciples had completed the task Jesus had set them. "The seventy returned with joy, saying, 'Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your Name!'"

They were overjoyed with what they had seen on their mission ‒ with their first experience of the power of Jesus working through them to set men free from the power of Satan.

They had never expected anything like this. Even demons had obeyed them, trembling at the Name of the King whom they represented. When Jesus heard their report He seemed to see, as in a vision, that these humble followers of His, by going forth in His Name, had embarked on a campaign against the kingdom of Satan which would ultimately lead to its complete overthrow.

Verse 18: "And He said to them, 'I saw Satan fall like lightning from Heaven.'" For Satan, it was the beginning of the end.

What a privilege it is that we who are His disciples today may also have a part in the destruction of Satan's kingdom. What a thrill it has been to many of us to discover that even demons are subject to us when by faith we come against them in the Name of Jesus!

These satanic powers, of course, are not to be taken lightly, or we may find ourselves in trouble like the seven sons of Sceva in Acts 19. But in the service of the King we need have no fear of them, for the triumphant words of assurance which He next spoke to these seventy we can still take for ourselves today. Verse 19: "Behold, I have given you authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing shall hurt you."

It would be nice to end our study with these wonderful, reassuring words, but Jesus didn't end here. A word of warning needed to be added. He saw there was danger to those seventy disciples in the very success of their ministry. So He continued (verse 20), "Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you; but rejoice that your names are written in Heaven."

Their great joy as they went about in the service of the King, was not to be in their success or in the power that He had given them, but in the fact that they belonged to Him, that they were citizens of His Kingdom, and of Heaven itself where their names were already inscribed. It must be like this also for us today. Otherwise we shall be in danger of falling into the sin of pride and even of taking for ourselves the glory that belongs only to Him.

Jesus Himself was very happy when He heard of His disciples' success, not because they had demonstrated such great wisdom and ability in doing His work, but because He saw that it was to these unimportant people, who were weak and ignorant like children, that God had chosen to show such wonders.

Verse 21: "In that same hour He rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, 'I thank Thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that Thou hast hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to babes; yea, Father, for such was Thy gracious will.'"

It is still the "babes", the simple believers who are small in their own eyes, to whom it is God's will to reveal His power, and whom He will use mightily in the extension of the Kingdom of Heaven.

How wonderful it must have been for those first disciples to know Jesus in the flesh; to walk the roads with Him; to listen to Him teaching and to witness His mighty works ‒ then to go forth wherever He sent them. Yes, they were greatly privileged. Yet in one respect we who today only know Him in the spirit have a great advantage.

When we go forth in His service we don't have to leave Him behind as they did at the beginning. For when He was about to return to Heaven, knowing that in future those who were His disciples would no more see Him in the flesh, together with a new commission He gave them a new promise.

Matthew 28:19‒20, "Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations." That is the new commission. "And lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age" ‒ there is the new promise.

The age, that is, the age of grace, has not yet closed, and the nations still need the gospel. So, both the commission and the promise still hold for us who are His disciples in this century. If we respond to the commission and go to work for Him, wherever He would have us, we can be certain that though we don't now see Him with our physical eyes, He is truly with us as He promised ‒ always.

Being a Disciple of Jesus

Part 5

Jesus teaches His Disciples on Prayer

A. The Principles of Prayer

B. The Pattern Prayer

Readings: Luke 11:1-13; Matthew 6:5-15

A. The Principles of Prayer

Luke 11:1-13:

He was praying in a certain place, and when He ceased, one of His disciples said to Him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples."

2 And He said to them, "When you pray, say: "Father, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come. 3 Give us each day our daily bread; 4 and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive every one who is indebted to us; and lead us not into temptation."

5 And He said to them, "Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, 'Friend, lend me three loaves; 6 for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him'; 7 and he will answer from within, 'Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything'?

8 "I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him whatever he needs. 9 And I tell you, Ask, and it will be given you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 10 For every one who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.

11 "What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; 12 or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 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!"

Matthew 6:5-15:

5 "And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by men. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.

6 "But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

7 "And in praying do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard for their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him. 9 Pray then like this:

Our Father who art in heaven,

Hallowed be Thy name.

10 Thy kingdom come,

Thy will be done,

On earth as it is in heaven.

11 Give us this day our daily bread;

12 And forgive us our debts,

As we also have forgiven our debtors;

13 And lead us not into temptation,

But deliver us from evil.

14 "For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father also will forgive you; 15 but if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."

Those first disciples of Jesus could not have been with their Master long before they began to realize that, however wonderful a person He was in Himself, He was utterly dependent on His Father, God, and needed constantly to spend time communing with Him in prayer.

The disciples, of course, were familiar with formal prayers such as those used in the public worship of the synagogue and Temple, but this direct personal communication between a man and God, which they now saw practised by Jesus, was beyond their experience. Some of them had, indeed, learnt something about prayer from their former teacher, John the Baptist. But now, as they daily observed the prayer-life of Jesus, they began to long to know more about praying themselves.

Thus, in Luke 11:1 we read, "He was praying in a certain place, and when He ceased, one of His disciples said to Him, 'Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples." And at this, Jesus proceeded to give them some instruction on the subject of prayer, which we find in the verses that follow in Luke 11:2-13.

He began with the model prayer which has come to be called "the Lord's Prayer" (verses 2-4). It is a shorter version of this prayer which we have here, and we won't stop on it now as we shall later be studying the fuller version in Matthew 6.

After this, Jesus told a little story to illustrate the need for importunity, or persistence, in prayer, verses 5-8: "And He said to them, 'Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, 'Friend, lend me three loaves; for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him.' And he will answer from within, 'Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything'? I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him whatever he needs."

So the lesson is that, in prayer, God wants His people to be importunate ‒ persistent ‒ to mean business. "Don't grow weary and give up," Jesus tells them, "Keep right on, and believe that in the end you will receive what you seek."

He promises that in the end their persistence will be rewarded. Verses 9-10: "And I tell you, Ask, and it will be given you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened."

Incidentally, in the original Greek here, the words for "ask", "seek" and "knock" are in the continuous tense. So some people prefer to translate them "keep on asking", "keep on seeking", "keep on knocking", thereby bringing out the idea of persistence most clearly.

After this, in verses 11 to 13, Jesus comes to the heart of the matter, and gives His disciples the secret of Christian prayer ‒ a kind of prayer which is different from all other kinds. This secret is the child-father relationship between the one who prays, and God.

Throughout the Old Testament period the Israelites had known God as the Lord of Hosts, the almighty King of their nation, a God of righteousness and truth. But they had little conception of Him as a Father who loved and cared for each individual believer as His child. It was left to the Son of God Himself, when He came into the world, to bring the full revelation of God's loving fatherhood; and this revelation put prayer into a completely new light.

Verses 11-13: "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!"

From these words we can see that when a disciple prays, he is a child coming to his loving Father for his needs to be supplied. Even human fathers, very imperfect as they are, will want to give their children what is good. So, how much more will the heavenly Father want to meet the needs of His children with the very best!

In a parallel section of teaching, in Matthew 7, Jesus says, "How much more will your Father who is in Heaven give good things to those who ask Him." But there in Luke 11, passing over all the other good things that God has for His children, He mentions only the best, (verse 13), "How much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?"

When God gives His own Holy Spirit to His children, He is giving them Himself, which is the most wonderful gift of all. And, by the way, it is when the disciple has received this gift of the Holy Spirit that his or her prayer-life can begin to develop more like that of their Master whose praying was always "in the Spirit".

Elsewhere in the Gospels we find that Jesus taught His disciples the all-importance of believing when they prayed. Mark 11:24, "Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you receive it, and you will." So, it is believing that will ensure the answers to our prayers. But this "believing" is a matter of our confidence in God as our Father. Children who know their father's love for themselves do not doubt that when they ask, he will give them what they need.

So, it is our confidence in God as our loving heavenly Father that causes us to believe that our prayers to Him will be answered. He loves us, and we can be sure that He delights to give us what we need ‒ and what He knows to be best for us. If we are hungry and ask for an egg, He certainly won't give us a scorpion instead! Of course, He may sometimes see fit to keep us waiting. He doesn't want to spoil His children by making life too easy for them.

Their faith will sometimes be tested, and they will have to learn patience; but they must never lose confidence in their heavenly Father's love and concern for them. They must keep on asking ‒ reminding Him of their need ‒ and that means they must keep on believing ‒ believing in His willingness to supply it. Then, in the end, they will surely receive, as Jesus promised.

Incidentally, when we pray this kind of believing prayer, our believing will naturally express itself in thanksgiving; because, if we are really trusting our heavenly Father to give us what we need, we cannot but thank Him for it.

The believing heart just has to pour out its gratitude. And, if believing leads to thanksgiving, strangely enough the converse is also true. Thanksgiving leads to believing. It works both ways. So, believing prayer and thanking God go together; which is why Paul wrote in his letter to the Philippians (4:6), "Have no anxiety about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God."

Now, let us turn back to the Sermon on the Mount, that great body of teaching which Jesus gave His disciples after first calling them to His service, and let us examine the section in Matthew 6 where He taught them about prayer.

Matthew 6:5: "And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by men. Truly, I say to you, they have their reward."

Jesus began, then, by telling them how they must not pray. They must not pray like the hypocrites. The Greek word translated "hypocrite" means an actor in a play, and Jesus repeatedly used it of the Pharisees. The Pharisees were a Jewish party who were greatly honoured and respected as the most religious people of their day. They were extremely careful to observe all the rules and traditions of their religion.

They were always in the synagogue (the Jewish church), and they were always praying, even in the streets. How very godly they were! But it was all acting. It was not real, for the simple reason that they did not know or love God as their Father. It was all done to make a show, and the only reward it brought them was being admired and honoured by people. "They have their reward," Jesus said.

Do we find hypocrites like this today? Well, we don't have a Pharisee party, but there are many in our churches and Christian unions who seem to be Pharisees at heart. They go to church on Sunday. They take part in Christian activities. They may sing like angels in the choir; but somehow their lives do not ring true.

They want you to think they are good Christians. They may even try to impress you with their well-worded prayers; but you feel it is all a show; that their prayers are not real. One must not judge them ‒ only God knows their hearts ‒ but one cannot but suspect that they have never repented of their sins, or submitted their lives to Jesus Christ, and so do not know God as their Father.

If this is the case, of course, they are not real Christians at all, and we need to pray that God will save them. Let me say here, there is a grave danger of a hypocritical spirit creeping into the hearts even of those who are real Christians, who are saved. We must all beware of any tendency to unreality in our religion; to "play-acting" and putting on a show; to praying so as to impress others ‒ instead of simply lifting up our hearts to God.

Of course, if you, as a believer, do find unreality in your religion, the solution is not to give up your religion but to make it real by realizing that, unworthy as you are, in Jesus you are indeed a beloved child of the heavenly Father. And He is always ready to listen to your prayers ‒ provided they are for Him alone.

So, we come back to the secret of real prayer ‒ our child-father relationship with God, verse 6: "But when you pray," Jesus says, "go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you."

Real prayer is not for public show at all. It is something very private between you and God. So, go into a private room and shut the door behind you, and there you can hold secret communion with your heavenly Father. This is reality; and God, who alone can see the secret longings of your heart, will reward you with His own love and blessings.

When you make your private room a prayer room it becomes, in effect, your Father's room, and you become like the little child who knocks at his father's door and calls, "Daddy, can I come in and talk with you?" The father is delighted to have his child come in and talk with him, and the two are surely going to enjoy each other's company.

So it is when we "go in" to our heavenly Father. We can pour out our hearts to Him and bring Him all our problems, but the best is that we can enjoy His company and come to know and love Him better.

However, here someone may complain that this is not practicable as far as they are concerned. There is no privacy in the house where they live. They don't have a private room to go into (especially if they are at school or college), and so they can't get alone to talk with God.

Many young Christians find themselves in this situation, and of course it presents real difficulties. However, much as it will help if we do have a private room to go into, what really matters is not going into a room, but going in ‒ to God. And there are many other places besides a private room where we can do this.

Those of us therefore who are faced with this problem of privacy must decide on some way to solve it. We must find some other place where we can get alone with God, and find the best time to do so. It may be a secluded spot outside, under the trees. Jesus Himself used to get up before dawn and go out into the hills to pray.

Indeed, some place outside in the open air can not only provide the privacy we need, but often the calm beauty of nature ‒ God's creation all around us there ‒ will breathe His peace into our hearts and make His presence more real.

In the last resort, however, when there seems to be no other way of getting alone with God, we may have to have our prayer time when others in the house are asleep, or perhaps even in the privacy of our own beds. Remember, "Where there's a will there's a way!"

Finally, let me add there's another sense in which we can "go into our room" to pray to our Father, when "our room" means simply the privacy of our own hearts. In any place, at any time, in any company, God's children are able to "go in" and shut the world out, and for a moment enjoy secret communion in their hearts with their Father. Although it cannot be a substitute for the regular "quiet time" that we have been thinking of, I am sure He wants us to form the habit of doing this very often, every day, wherever we happen to be.

Next, Jesus gives His disciples a further warning about how not to pray. He has already warned them not to pray like the hypocrites among the Jews; now He tells them not to pray like the Gentiles, the heathen people, verse 7: "And in praying do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard for their many words." Instead of "empty phrases", here in the RSV, the KJV has "vain repetitions" ‒ "use not vain repetitions as the heathen do.". This, I think, is a more accurate translation. "Vain repetition" is the essence of heathen prayer.

Repeating the same set of words over and over again, often without any thought as to their meaning, is to this day a common practice amongst those who worship idols and other false gods. As prayer, it is completely vain and empty.

Actually it can be worse than that, because it is a known fact that the constant repetition of mysterious words and phrases invites the intervention of demonic powers who come and take control of the heathen worshippers. It works this way, for instance, amongst the followers of some of the modern oriental cults like Hare Krishna and Transcendental Meditation, with the constant repetition of their so-called "mantras".

But even amongst Christians, who by God's grace will never be misled into heathenism, there is a dangerous tendency to use "empty phrases" and "vain repetitions" instead of real prayer. How often do we join in prayers at church, or sing Christian hymns and worship songs without giving a thought to the meaning. Thank God, we are not heathen, but He won't hear us "for our many words" anymore than He will them.

Going on, then, to verse 8, Jesus says, "Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him." The difference between us and the heathen is that when we pray we are praying to a heavenly Father. The heathen, or any others who don't know God as a Father, may think that by constantly nagging at the deity with their many words they can persuade him to do for them what he doesn't really want to do.

On the other hand, we who are God's children know that He loves us and longs to do the best for us. Of course, He knows what we need before we ask Him for it, but He likes His children to come to Him and tell Him what they want. As a true father, He is more than ready to supply our needs. We certainly do not have to persuade Him to do so against His will.

Jesus, then, having told His disciples how not to pray, went on to give them some guidance as to how they should pray. This guidance took the form of a model prayer which has come to be called "The Lord's Prayer"; and this we must study next.

B. The Pattern Prayer

The Lord's Prayer, in the fuller version, occupies verses 9-13 of Matthew 6. Let us read it through.

Matthew 6:9-13:

9 Pray then like this:

Our Father who art in heaven,

Hallowed be Thy name.

10 Thy kingdom come,

Thy will be done,

On earth as it is in heaven.

11 Give us this day our daily bread;

12 And forgive us our debts,

As we also have forgiven our debtors;

13 And lead us not into temptation,

But deliver us from evil.

Notice, for a start, that Jesus was teaching His disciples as a group, and so, naturally, in demonstrating how they should frame their prayer He used the plural, or group, forms of speech ‒ we, us, our. These plural forms serve to emphasize the element of fellowship that there is in prayer. Those who are disciples of Jesus are members of a group ‒ the family of God ‒ and whether they are physically together or not, in praying they are united with their brethren.

But, remember, a group is made up of individuals. As we have seen, prayer is essentially a matter between the individual and God. So in studying the Lord's Prayer we shall be thinking of it, not so much as a collective prayer to be prayed together by a group, but rather as a guide to the praying of an individual, whether praying with a group (and saying "we"), or alone (and probably saying "I").

We have noticed there is a shorter version of the Lord's Prayer in Luke 11, but even here, in the longer version of Matthew 6 the prayer is still brief. Now, I do not think Jesus ever intended His disciples to limit themselves to something as brief as this when they went "into their rooms" to talk to their Father.

It seems to me rather that in this prayer He was giving them a short summary of the kinds of thing they should talk to their Father about, each item of which they could, in practice, expand as they wished. He introduced it (verse 9) with the words, "Pray then like this", which I take to mean, "Here is a pattern for you to follow when you pray." A pattern which only gives the outlines, and these have to be filled out with one's own material.

So, let's see how this pattern is made up. We notice for a start that it divides into three sections containing three different prayer elements. First: Worship for God; second: Intercession for the World; and third: Supplication (or humble pleading) for Ourselves.

This means that if we are going to take the Lord's Prayer as a pattern, our prayers, too, will contain these three elements. It will be as well for us to keep them in the same order, putting God first, others second, and ourselves last.

Now, then, for the details. First, the element of Worship For God, verse 9: "Our Father who art in Heaven, Hallowed be Thy Name." We have already seen that the basis of Christian prayer is our child-father relationship with God. So, when we come into His presence as His children, our whole hearts will go out to Him crying, "Abba ‒ Father!" We shall be confident that because He is our loving Father, He is going to hear our prayers.

But He is more than just "Our Father". He is our Father "in Heaven". He is our heavenly Father. He is not an earthly father, of our own kind, and subject to all the weaknesses of humanity like ourselves. No, He is on the throne in Heaven, "high and lifted up" in the glory, as the Old Testament prophet saw Him in his vision. (See Isaiah 6:1.)

When we think of Him thus, how lowly we shall feel before Him, and how utterly unworthy to be His children. Yet in Isaiah 57:15 this "high and lofty One" declares, "I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and humble spirit." It is the contrite and humble ones, those who are nothing in their own eyes, whom He loves to have with Him as His children.

We Christians who are His children in this New Testament age realize this is only possible through our union with His Son, our Saviour. As Paul puts it in Ephesians 2:4-6: "God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ ... and raised us up with Him, and made us sit with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus."

Wonder of wonders! In Christ Jesus, Christians actually sit with God in the heavenly places! So when we enter God's presence with the words, "Our Father who art in Heaven", it is that we, His most unworthy children, have actually come to spend time in the heavenly places with Him, the One who is not only the most high God, but also our loving heavenly Father.

This must inevitably lead to an outpouring of our hearts in worship; and this worship is expressed in the next words of our prayer: "Hallowed by Thy Name." In Bible language the name of a person is completely identified with the person himself. The name is the person, and stands for their whole personality.

So the Name of God embraces all the attributes of the divine personality ‒ His infinite power and wisdom, His perfect righteousness and justice, His everlasting love and compassion ‒ the sum total of all these being His holiness. When we come into His presence, then, bowing low before Him in deep humility, our hearts will cry to Him, "Hallowed be Thy Name!" In other words, "May your Person, O Lord, be revered as holy!"

This is the sample expression of worship that Jesus gave us in His model prayer ‒ "Hallowed by Thy Name!" But there are, of course, many other ways of expressing our worship of the holy God, and we don't need to limit ourselves to any one set of words, even the ones that Jesus gave us.

With the Seraphim of Isaiah's vision we can cry, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts" (Isaiah 6:3); or, with the twenty-four elders around the heavenly throne in John's vision, we can sing, "Worthy art Thou, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honour and power" (Revelation 4:11).

But generally we shall simply pour out our hearts with phrases of our own choosing, like, "Praise the Lord!" ‒ "Hallelujah!" ‒ "Thank You, Father!" ‒ "We love Thee, our God!" ‒ "We worship and adore Thee!" ‒ "Thou art the holy One!" ‒ "We praise Thee for Thy mercy and goodness!" ‒ "Glory be to God on high!" ‒ "Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah!"

Indeed, we can hardly find sufficient or adequate words with which to express our worship. But it's not so much the words that matter as the adoring attitude of our hearts.

Incidentally, though Jesus does not mention it here, one important outlet for our hearts' worship is God's wonderful gift of song. Paul at a later date when writing to the Christians at Ephesus (Ephesians 5:19), recommended them to use "psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with all your heart." Some people even in their private prayer times use song for worshipping the Lord.

Now, worship has two components: thanksgiving and praise. In thanksgiving, of course, we are thinking of what God has done for us; while in praise, our minds and hearts are focused on God Himself. It is hardly necessary to differentiate between the two, because in practice we cannot keep them separate. Often we start with one and then imperceptibly move over to the other. Thanksgiving and praise are the inseparable ingredients of our worship.

The element of worship, then, is what comes first in the pattern for our prayer that Jesus gave us. This teaches us it is with worship ‒ with thanksgiving and praise ‒ that we must come into God's presence. The Psalmist expressed this truth in the words of Psalm 100:4, "Enter into His gates with thanksgiving and into His courts with praise." Furthermore, we shall often find that these two are not only the accompaniment to our entering, but they are themselves the way in.

It is sometimes said that praise brings God's presence down; and in Psalm 22:3 (KJV) the Psalmist addresses God as the One who "inhabits the praises of His people". In other words it is in praising or worshipping Him that we find His presence.

Next comes the element of Intercession for the World, verse 10: "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven." This sample prayer of intercession, like every part of the Lord's Prayer, is extremely brief, consisting of only two short sentences. But these embrace all who are "on earth", in other words, the whole of mankind; and so we can take it that all our interceding, whether for individuals or for groups of people, is included under it.

Whenever we open our newspapers we see that the world is full of trouble. Selfishness, greed, cruelty, injustice and fighting are causing suffering and sorrow to multitudes. The crying needs we read of throughout the world should certainly drive us Christians to intercession. Besides these, we all know of so many individuals amongst our own acquaintance who are suffering in one way or another and need our prayers.

Now, the Bible reveals that the basic cause of all this trouble and suffering is that the first man, Adam, fell into sin and brought a curse upon himself through which the devil was able to usurp authority over mankind and become the prince of this world. But the Bible also tells us that the Son of God came into the world to destroy the kingdom of the devil and to establish His own kingdom called "the Kingdom", "the Kingdom of Heaven", or "the Kingdom of God".

Ultimately then, it is only the destruction of Satan's kingdom and the establishment of the Kingdom of Heaven that offers any hope for mankind of any solution to the world's problems. So Jesus tells His disciples to pray, "Thy Kingdom come."

We know this Kingdom will only be fully established when the King Himself returns to rule the world, and then, at last, all the wrongs will be righted. This indeed is what disciples of Jesus have been yearning for down through the centuries, their hearts echoing that last prayer of the Bible at the close of the book of Revelation, "Even so, come, Lord Jesus!" (Revelation 22:20 KJV).

Seeing the state of the world today, we might well add to this cry, "Please hurry, Lord, we need Thee so badly; may Thy Kingdom come quickly!"

Meanwhile, as the Word of God has spread in the world, His Kingdom has already come in very many individual lives, and we must pray "Thy Kingdom come" for many more. When men and women receive the King into their hearts, His Kingdom does indeed come where Satan has so far been reigning.

When His Kingdom comes, even though it is not yet universal, the bondage of Satan is broken by the power of Jesus; demons are cast out; love takes the place of hatred; joy replaces sorrow and even sickness gives way to health. Not only individuals, but whole families, communities and nations have been changed in this way. So, remembering the plight of those who are still, directly or indirectly, suffering under the bondage of the prince of this world, let us pray "Thy Kingdom come even now."

Next follows the petition, "Thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven."

Heaven is the only place where all tears are wiped away; where there is no hunger or thirst; no greed or cruelty; no poverty or injustice ‒ because only God's love reigns in all hearts, and only God's will is done. So what better prayer can we pray for our fellow men than this, "Thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven"?

The full answer to this prayer would, indeed, solve all our social and industrial problems, and wipe out all the corruption and injustice from which the world suffers today. Again, of course, we know we cannot expect the answer on a universal scale before the King returns. But let us meanwhile keep on praying this prayer in regard to all situations in which we see that God's will is not being done, on whatever level of society; and let us especially remember those who are suffering because of it.

Finally, the element of Supplication for Ourselves. Verses 11-13: "Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors; and lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil."

We see here that Jesus summarizes the praying that we should do for ourselves with three short supplications: first, for our Father's provision of our daily needs; second, for His forgiveness of our shortcomings; and, third, for His leading and protection. In all three, the underlying thought is that we are like little children, helpless and inadequate, and are utterly dependent on our heavenly Father.

First, then, supplication for God's Provision of our Daily Needs. Verse 11: "Give us this day our daily bread." Mankind's basic physical needs are summed up in the one word "Bread". The primary reference here is, of course, to the food that our bodies need each day. However, we can read much more into the word than that.

Surely everything that we actually need (but not necessarily everything that we wish for) can be included here ‒ food, clothing and shelter, yes; but also many other things as well, like money for various purposes, strength to do our work and even friends to help us.

So, when we pray, we must humbly ask God to supply such needs. As a loving Father He likes His children to bring their requests to Him, and He is always ready to give them what He sees to be necessary.

But children are only concerned for the needs of the present, the needs of "today". They do not worry about future needs ‒ their father will see to those needs when the time comes. Weymouth's translation brings this point out very clearly. Instead of "Give us this day our daily bread" it has, "Give us today our bread for the day."

To look to God for the needs of "the day", without worrying about the future, was a lesson the Israelites had to learn during their forty years in the wilderness. Day by day He sent them "manna", "bread from Heaven", and each morning they had to go out and gather enough of it for that one day only. They were not to worry about the next ‒ if they did gather extra to put by for the future it only went bad on them.

While on the subject of manna, which gave life to the Israelites in the wilderness, in John 6 we read how Jesus told the Jews, their descendants, that He Himself was the true "Bread from Heaven", who had come down to give life to the world (John 6:51). Thus it is that when we pray, "Give us this day our daily bread," our prayer may have a spiritual application as well as a physical. For we certainly need to seek fresh spiritual manna each morning ‒ to feed on Jesus anew every day. Our Father knows this and delights to satisfy our need.

Second, supplication for God's Forgiveness of our Shortcomings. Verse 12: "And forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors." This petition is surprising, coming, as it does, in the middle of the prayer; because when we have sins on our conscience, surely they need to be confessed and forgiven before our fellowship with God in prayer can start.

So I do not see how the "debts" here spoken of can be specific sins which should have been dealt with at the beginning. Besides, the word "debt" indicates a state rather than an act ‒ a state of having failed to pay what is due, or of continually falling short in payment.

It seems to me, therefore, that it is our tendency to failure and shortcoming, rather than definite acts of sin which is here in view. Thus it may well be that when we ask our Father to supply our daily needs, we shall begin to feel very unworthy and to realize that we do not deserve such good things.

We owe it to God to live as His children, but we always fall so far short. We get badly in debt. So, after asking Him for "our daily bread", our next plea is "forgive us our debts" ‒ which is like saying, "O Father, we don't deserve what we are asking for; we are so weak and fail You so often. Please be patient with our shortcomings, and forgive."

Praise God, He is a truly patient and merciful Father. Even in Old Testament times the Psalmist knew something of this when he said "As a father pities his children, so the Lord pities those that fear Him. For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust" (Psalms 103:13-14).

But there is a condition to His forgiveness. If He is to forgive us, He needs to see that we, for our part, are sincere in our efforts to live up to His standards ‒ the standards of the Kingdom of Heaven; and these standards require that we should be merciful to others. Jesus made it clear in the Beatitudes at the beginning of this Sermon on the Mount.

"Blessed are the merciful" He said, "for they shall obtain mercy." So that is why, in His pattern prayer, after "forgive us our debts" He added, "as we also have forgiven our debtors". And, at the conclusion of the whole prayer, He further explained (verses 14-15), "For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father also will forgive you; but if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."

If we are not trying to live as citizens of His Kingdom by showing mercy to others, how can we expect God to show mercy to us? Of course, the judicial pardon of our sins does not result from our forgiving others, but from our faith in the One who bore them on the Cross. Nevertheless, if we who are saved through faith still harbour an unforgiving spirit towards some other person, however guilty that person may be, the flow of God's mercy towards us will be blocked, and our fellowship with our heavenly Father will be spoilt.

Third, supplication for God's Leading and Protection, verse 13: "And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil."

We have been thinking how weak and prone to failure we are, and so it is natural that our prayer for forgiveness for these things should be followed by a plea that God would henceforth take care of us all along our way, leading us past the pitfalls and protecting us from the dangers: "Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil."

The Greek word here translated "temptation" means "testing", and so can be used either of temptation to sin, or of the trials, the hard things that sometimes come upon us in life. Either way, of course, we do not like being tested, especially as our failing the test can have unhappy consequences. So it is understandable that our hearts should cry out to God, "Lead us not into temptation!"

Nevertheless, this seems a strange prayer, because we know God allows both kinds of testing ‒ both temptation to sin and trials in life ‒ to come upon us for our blessing ‒ that in facing the tests we may learn to be overcomers.

So how can we ask Him to keep us from them? Well, remember we are still thinking in terms of a child-father relationship. Children by themselves are weak and helpless; their well-being and security lie entirely in their dependence on their father. And so it is with us.

There are so many pitfalls and other dangers on the road of life that the Christian, feeling their own hopeless inadequacy, will cry out, "Father, take my hand and lead me the right way. I'm too weak and foolish to cope with all the temptations and trials, so please keep me clear of them and protect me from all the dangers."

We can take it, then, that these words, "Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil", are the expression of the Christian's sense of their own weakness and their utter dependence on their heavenly Father. Yes, we are indeed weak, and we need to realize our dependence, but let us always remember when we pray this prayer that He upon whom we depend is very strong.

When a severe testing had come upon St. Paul, God told him, "My grace is sufficient for thee," He said, "for My strength is made perfect in weakness" (2 Corinthians 12: 9 KJV). His strength can truly "deliver us from evil".

Now, in the RSV, for the word "evil" (at the end of verse 13), there is a footnote which gives an alternative reading: "the evil one". So, instead of "deliver us from evil", we could read, "deliver us from the evil one"; and the scholars tell us that the original Greek can be translated equally well either way. Actually, it doesn't matter which way we take it, because evil and the evil one are inseparable. Wherever there is evil in this world, there is the evil one.

This should at least serve to remind us that the power of evil with which we are constantly confronted is a personal power, the power of Satan himself. This must not be taken lightly. We constantly need God's protection from it, especially if we are engaged in God's work. We have to recognize our own weakness, for our enemy is far stronger than we are. But we don't need to fear, because our Father is much stronger still.

So, this brings us to the end of the so-called Lord's Prayer, the prayer which Jesus gave His first disciples as a pattern to guide them in their praying. As we have seen, the picture it conveys is of the child, in all its weakness, looking to the Father in all His strength

The child can pray with all confidence because of what the Father is. So it is understandable that someone at a later date should have added that outburst of triumphant faith found at the end of the prayer in the KJV, "For Thine is the Kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen."

Praise God, it does not matter that we are weak and inadequate, because the Kingdom and the power and the glory belong eternally to Him who is our beloved heavenly Father!

So, in these passages from the Gospels we have examined together, we have seen something of what Jesus taught His first disciples about prayer. Actually this teaching was only preliminary, an introduction to the subject, so to speak, because they still had much more to learn later on, especially after Pentecost, when they would enter a new realm of prayer in the Spirit.

Nevertheless, what Jesus taught His first disciples in the early days of their discipleship by the Sea of Galilee was basic ‒ and remains so for us who are His disciples today.

Being a Disciple of Jesus

Part 6

The Transforming of a Disciple

Death and Resurrection

Readings: Mark 8:27-37; John 20:19-23

Mark 8:27-37:

27 And Jesus went on with His disciples, to the villages of Caesarea Philippi; and on the way He asked His disciples, "Who do men say that I am?"

28 And they told Him, "John the Baptist; and others say, Elijah; and others one of the prophets."

29 And He asked them, "But who do you say that I am?"

Peter answered Him, "You are the Christ."

30 And He charged them to tell no one about Him.

31 And He began to teach them that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. 32 And He said this plainly.

And Peter took Him, and began to rebuke Him. 33 But turning and seeing His disciples, He rebuked Peter, and said, "Get behind Me, Satan! For you are not on the side of God, but of men."

34 And He called to Him the multitude with His disciples, and said to them, "If any man would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. 35 For whoever would save his life will lose it; and whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it. 36 For what does it profit a man, to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? 37 For what can a man give in return for his life?"

John 20:19-23:

19 On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, "Peace be with you."

20 When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.

21 Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent Me, even so I send you."

22 And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained."

A disciple is one who follows his master wherever he goes. In the case of those first disciples of Jesus, though for long they failed to understand it, this meant following Him on the road of death. Their whole discipleship was to be, in a sense, a Calvary road. They would be going the way of the Cross. Only thus could they really be His disciples, for in Luke 14:27 Jesus proclaimed, "Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after Me, cannot be My disciple."

Death by crucifixion was, in the cruel days of the Roman Empire, a form of punishment reserved for the lowest criminals. These poor wretches would themselves have to carry the heavy crosses onto which they were to be nailed as they were led along the road to the place of execution.

Probably the disciples had sometimes witnessed these tragic processions, and one can well imagine their shock when their Master told them this was the way they themselves would have to go if they were really to be His disciples. It was the way He Himself was going, and there was no other way by which they could "come after Him", as He put it ‒ only this way of death.

Now, this was an exceedingly hard lesson for those first disciples to learn, and it was to be a long time before they had learnt it. It seems they soon forgot John the Baptist's testimony to the Lamb of God who was to bear away the sin of the world, for there was no place for suffering and death in their ideas of the Messiah and His Kingdom.

Their ideas were well enough grounded, for they were based on many Old Testament prophecies of the glory of the Messianic Kingdom, like, for instance, the one about the birth of the Prince of Peace in Isaiah 9: "Of the increase of His government and of peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David, and over His kingdom..." But it never occurred to them that other Old Testament prophecies like those in Isaiah 53 about "a lamb that is led to the slaughter", or those picturing the agonies of crucifixion in Psalm 22, could also refer to the Messiah. Any such suggestion would, indeed, have been quite unacceptable to them.

So, through the Gospel story we see Jesus repeatedly trying to enlighten them on this subject, to prepare them for the suffering and death He knew must come before His Kingdom could be established among men. We find an example of this in Mark 8:27-37 which is the first of the two passages we are going to study together.

First we will read verses 27-30: "And Jesus went on with His disciples, to the villages of Caesarea Philippi; and on the way He asked His disciples, 'Who do men say that I am?'

And they told Him, 'John the Baptist; and others say; Elijah; and others one of the prophets.'

And He asked them, 'But who do you say that I am?'

Peter answered Him, 'You are the Christ.'

And He charged them to tell no one about Him."

The stupendous fact that this Jesus, the carpenter from Nazareth, really was the long awaited Messiah, the Christ, had been too much for those disciples to grasp all at once. The realization of it came to them gradually, like the light of dawn. Many other people, of course, realized Jesus was more than just a carpenter. They saw Him, at the most, as one of the prophets.

To the disciples, who had committed their lives to Him, He soon became much more than that. And now, finally, when He asked them, "Who do you say that I am?" Peter, speaking for all of them, replied, "You are the Christ" ‒ "the Christ, the Son of the living God" in Matthew's version.

This plain declaration of their Master's messiahship, on that day near Caesarea Philippi, was the climax towards which their faith had long been moving. Now at last full daylight had come, the darkness of doubt had fled away. Now they were confident and assured that Jesus truly was the Messiah. That meant they could now confidently tell others about it and start drawing the multitudes to Him. Yet, immediately after this, we read that Jesus "charged them to tell no one about Him".

Why ever was that? Well, in spite of the growth of their faith, their view of the messiahship was still one-sided. They still saw the Messiah only as the King, and not at all as the Lamb to be sacrificed for sin. They were looking for the glory, but not for the suffering and death. Jesus knew that their telling everyone only about the glory would stir up the masses to flock to Him with purely worldly and political motives. This He did not want at all.

Verse 31: So, "He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. And He said this plainly."

To the disciples who had placed their hope in Jesus as the unconquerable King, His words were shattering. They simply could not comprehend them, and were in no wise prepared to accept them. The part about His rising again from the dead seems not to have registered in their minds at all.

So, Peter, again the spokesman for the whole group (verse 32), "took Him and began to rebuke Him". "God forbid, Lord!" he said (in Matthew's version), "God forbid, Lord! This shall never happen to You." "And if it did," he may well have added in thought, "what would happen to us who have staked our all on Your Kingdom?"

Peter's apparently well-meaning protest was met by a surprisingly vehement rebuke from Jesus (verse 33), "But turning and seeing His disciples, He rebuked Peter, and said, 'Get behind Me, Satan! For you are not on the side of God, but of men."

What did He mean by this? Well, the NEB renders it, "Away with you, Satan, you think as men think, not as God thinks." Peter, in saying what he did, had voiced the typical thoughts of men, and behind such thoughts stood Satan, for they were in direct opposition to the thoughts of God.

Men, deceived by Satan, think that success and fame are the all-important things, without any suffering or shame. But in the thoughts of God no crown can be won except by way of a cross ‒ or, in other words, before there can be glory there must be crucifixion; before there can be abundant life there must be painful death.

This was what Jesus now had to teach His disciples and the others who were with them; and it was probably the hardest lesson for them to learn of any that He ever gave them ‒ as indeed it is for us who want to be His disciples today. Verse 34: "And He called to Him the multitude with His disciples, and said to them, 'If any man would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me." Similar words to these we have already cited from Luke 14.

Anyone who would come after Him as His disciple, Jesus now explains, must know that he will have the sentence of death upon him. He must be willing to accept this and to "take up his cross" to follow his Master on the road of death. This will not be just once in his life at the time of some great spiritual crisis, for in Luke's version the word "daily" is added to Jesus' command: "Let him ... take up his cross daily."

In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul made the astonishing statement, "I die every day" (1 Corinthians 15:31); and from the Book of Acts, as well as his own letters we know something of what this daily dying meant to Paul.

He had been a highly gifted and educated young man, in good standing with the Jewish leaders and with a great future before him; but for the sake of his Saviour he had denied himself ‒ turned his back on his ambitions, his interests, his comforts and all that had meant life to him, and become a persecuted, homeless wanderer.

Paul, of course, with the call of God upon him for such a very special work, was an extreme case, and we need not all expect to suffer for Christ as much as he did.

Nevertheless, Jesus was speaking to all His disciples when, in verse 35, He continued, "For whoever would save his life will lose it; and whoever loses his life for My sake and the Gospel's will save it."

Paul had lost his old life, of which self had been the centre. For Jesus he was even willing to lose life physically ‒ which indeed he did in the end. But, either way, in losing his life he saved it, because Jesus had become its centre instead of self. "For to me to live is Christ" he wrote to the Philippians, "and to die is gain" (Philippians 1:21).

Many of those first disciples of Jesus ultimately gave up their physical lives and died as martyrs. Many more of His disciples have willingly done the same thing since then, right down to the present day, as we have seen recently in many countries, particularly in lands dominated by other religions. But most of us, it must be admitted, have our hearts firmly set on life in this world with all that is dear to us here, and we don't at all want to lose it.

We have failed to accept what Jesus emphasized again and again, that this world is not our home, that "here we have no continuing city". St. Paul knew the dilemma. He wrote, "I am hard pressed..." In other words Paul was eager to go to heaven but willing to stay on earth, while for us the opposite might be true. We are willing to go to heaven but eager to stay on earth!

So, in seeking to save our lives we are in danger of losing them, for unless we relax our grip on what is earthly, the heavenly will escape us. We may be highly successful in our grasping at the things that mean life as far as this world is concerned. But they won't last for ever and (as Jesus added in verse 36) "What does it profit a man, to gain the whole world and forfeit his life?" ‒ our true life, which is eternal?

For those first followers of Jesus, as for those who have followed Him since, it was not an easy thing to give up their physical lives in martyrdom. But right through their time with Him up to His crucifixion it seems that the hardest thing for them to do was to give up their self-lives, to deny themselves.

Isn't it like this for all of us? Because, as we have seen in Paul's case, until it is replaced by Jesus, self is the centre of our lives. Self is a real tyrant. It has frequently been said that the greatest enemy we have is not the devil ‒ but ourselves.

So often, when we are trying to follow Jesus as true disciples, we find that self gets in the way and spoils everything. Like a serpent, it rears its ugly head and blocks our path. Sometimes it seems as though we are caught in its snake-like coils, and just cannot break free.

We shall, in fact, never really be free to follow Jesus as long as this monster is still alive. How shall we ever be able to get into Heaven (the Bible says that nothing unclean can enter) if this unclean thing, self, is still clinging to us? Here, indeed, we have an enormous problem, and with Paul (in Romans 7:24) we may well cry out, "Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?"

But Paul found the solution, and so shall we if we look again at Jesus' words in verse 34: "If any man would come after Me," He says, "let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me."

Here we see that if we would be free to come after Him (which means to be His disciples), our first need is to deny ourselves ‒ deliberately to turn our backs on our own self-centred desires.

Our second need is to take up our cross ‒ willingly to accept death for our self-lives, and to follow our Master on the Calvary road. It is only in the crucifixion of self that freedom from it is to be found.

In the case of those early disciples, their self-life was manifested especially in two ways. Sometimes we see them as very self-seeking, and sometimes as unduly self-assured. Both these tendencies are apparent, for example, in the story of the brothers, James and John, asking Jesus to reserve the top places in His Kingdom for them: "Grant us to sit, one on your right hand and one on your left in your glory" was their request (Mark 10:37) ‒ pure, ambitious self-seeking!

Jesus did not rebuke them, but in the next verse asked them a hard question, "Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?" They answered with complete self-assurance, "We are able."

James and John did ultimately drink their Master's cup of suffering when He Himself had gone back to Heaven. However, at this stage it would seem their confidence in their ability to do so was quite unfounded. Their self-life was still so strong that they did not realize their weakness, and that they would never be able to drink that cup in their own strength.

Of course, when the other disciples heard about James and John's request, they were indignant. But this does not mean that they themselves were any less self-seeking. To judge from several passages in the Gospels, the whole group of them seem to have been obsessed with the question of who would be the greatest in their Master's Kingdom ‒ which of them would be prime minister, which would be commander-in-chief, etc. There was obviously much ambition and rivalry among them, perhaps even jealousy.

Sadly, on more than one occasion we find them arguing about this matter just after Jesus had been trying to explain to them about His own humiliation and suffering. This even happened the night before He went to the Cross, at the Last Supper, as we see in Luke 22.

Just after He had spoken to them of the broken bread and the poured-out wine as symbols of the sacrificial death He was about to suffer for them, and then of the traitor through whom this would come, we read that "A dispute also arose among them, which of them was to be regarded as the greatest" (Luke 22:24).

It was not only their self-seeking which was still so apparent on that sad night, but also their self-assurance. For as we see in Matthew 26, when Jesus warned them they were all going to fall away, the over-confident Peter declared, "Though they all fall away because of You, I will never fall away.".

When Jesus further warned him he would even deny his Lord three times, we read, "Peter said to Him, 'Even if I must die with You, I will not deny You.' And so said all the disciples."

Those eleven who had followed Jesus so far, dearly loved their Master and certainly never intended to forsake or deny Him, but on that last tragic night before His death, "self" was still very much alive in them.

Within a few short hours, however, the whole edifice of their self-life was to come crashing down. A band of armed men from the chief priests came to arrest Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, and all the disciples, in spite of their former confidence, left Him and fled.

Then we see Peter in the courtyard of the High Priest's palace, frightened by a servant girl, and swearing he did not know this man ‒ three times running ‒ then, when he heard the cock crow, going out and weeping bitterly. We do not know where he went, nor where all the other scared and broken disciples hid themselves that night. But in the morning Jesus, on whom all their hopes had been placed, was hanging on a cross.

For the disciples this was the end. The road they had thought would lead to a kingdom had instead led to Calvary. Their hopes for their Master and their ambitions for themselves, all they had set their hearts on, had come to nothing. Their self-assurance was completely deflated. They were failures. They were no good.

They had been confident they would have a wonderful life running the Kingdom with Jesus. But Jesus was now crucified as a criminal, and it seemed as though their own lives were finished. Their lives had, so to speak, come to an end on the Cross with Him.

When, that evening, Jesus' dead body was taken down and laid in Joseph's tomb, frightened and confused they took refuge in the upper room of a Jerusalem house and kept the doors barred for fear of the Jewish leaders.

That is where, on the third day, their risen Lord found them. Let us read about it in John 20:19-23. This is the second passage that we are studying now. "On the evening of that day; the first day of the week, the doors being shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, 'Peace be with you!"

Those disciples had known no peace in their hearts during the last three days, only fear and despair. Now, however, a radiant figure was suddenly standing there in their midst greeting them with these words, "Peace be with you." What a wonderful greeting for such a time! Strangely enough, the sudden appearance of the risen Jesus in that upper room at first brought anything but peace to the hearts of these men.

In Luke's account we read that when they saw Him they were startled and frightened, and thought that they were seeing a spirit ‒ a ghost. So, to prove to them that He was not a ghost but their own Master who had so recently been put to death by crucifixion, (verse 20) "When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord."

When they saw the wounds of the Cross still there in His body they suddenly realized it was indeed He, alive from the dead. A mighty inrush of joy flooded their hearts and something wonderful began to take place within them which itself was nothing less than a resurrection ‒ a rising from the death of their despair to a new hope-filled life with the risen Christ.

It was not only to prove His identity that Jesus showed the disciples His wounds. He had come to bring them peace. Even before His arrest and crucifixion, as long as the self-life was so active in them, their hearts could enjoy little peace. So, after the greeting, "Peace be with you" He showed them what had now made peace possible for them.

He showed them the wounds of the Cross. It was these wounds which had poured forth His Blood to wash away their sin. More than that, it was the awful tragedy of the Cross of which these wounds were the marks that had at last brought the disciples to an end of themselves. These wounds were their own death wounds!

And so it must be for all of us who have chosen the way of discipleship. It is only when we follow our Lord to the Cross and die with Him there, that we come to an end of ourselves; that we enter into rest from the strivings of the self-life and find peace. As Paul wrote in Romans 6:6, "We know that our old self was crucified with Him".

If this is so, then all the things of self that have disturbed our peace in the past are now buried in His grave ‒ both things that have fed our pride and things that have caused us pain ‒ all buried now and no more to be seen. Here in this place of death, self is finished and we are nothing.

It is in our nothingness that we have rest. Prostrate beneath the Cross we are not occupied with the things of self any more, neither the bad nor the good. Even our righteousness is buried in the grave. But our Lord is now no longer in the grave, for He is risen. When He, still bearing the wounds of the Cross, has revealed Himself alive to us it is with Him alone that we shall be occupied, pouring out our hearts in thanksgiving and worship.

He alone is now our righteousness. We are nothing, but He is all. When our vision is filled thus with our crucified but risen Saviour, we shall be like those first disciples who, we read, "were glad when they saw the Lord" as they looked away from their own hopelessness and saw only Him. The joy of His resurrection flooded their hearts, and their lives were transformed.

Let us now go on to the final verses of our passage and see what else the risen Lord said and did on this momentous occasion. Verse 21: "Jesus said to them again, 'Peace be with you.'"

Through His death on the Cross He had brought His disciples peace. But He had more for them than that. Their old self-life had died with Him, and He now had a new life to give them in its place; and this was His own life, which of course is divine life.

This gift of His divine life would not be just for their own enjoyment. His plan was that they should henceforth be the channels through which it would flow out ‒ throughout the world.

He Himself had been sent by His Father to bring it to the world (as is clear from that well-known verse, John 3:16, where it is called "eternal life"). Now He was about to return to Heaven, and so He told His disciples (verse 21 again), "As the Father has sent Me, even so I send you." He was actually commissioning them to take His place and carry on what He had begun.

It would be their responsibility henceforth to convey His life to the world. Naturally then their first need was to be quickened with this divine life themselves. And so we read in the next verse (verse 22), "And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, 'Receive the Holy Spirit.'"

Now, in the Bible we find it is the Holy Spirit, the third Person of the Trinity, whose work it is to impart divine life. He Himself is often spoken of as the "Breath of God", breath being the essence of life; and as a matter of fact, in the original languages of the Bible the same words are used for "breath" as for "spirit"; the former (breath) being a metaphor for the latter (spirit).

Thus, for instance, in the account of the creation of man in Genesis 2, we read how God breathed the "Breath of Life" ‒ His own life-breath, or Spirit ‒ into man, and man came alive ‒ spiritually alive. So now when the divine Son of God, the second Person of the Trinity, wished to convey His life to the disciples He did the same thing, "He breathed on them and said, 'Receive the Holy Spirit."

Even if the physical action of breathing on them was only symbolical, coupled with the words that followed, it expressed an enormously important truth: namely that if the disciples of Jesus are to do His work in the world, they will need His life-breath in them ‒ and this means the Holy Spirit.

It is the Holy Spirit who will reproduce in them the life of their Master and make their lives fruitful for Him. And if His Divine life is in them, when doing His work they will even be endued with His divine authority, as He indicated in the final words of our passage, "If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained"!

If we are to be Jesus' disciples today we are called to fulfil the same function in this century as those early disciples were in the first century: namely to be the bearers of His divine life to the world. Of course we would like to be fruitful in this as they were, which means we must learn the same hard lesson as they had to learn: namely that before there can be life there must be death; before there can be fruitfulness there must be burial.

So let us take for ourselves those words in John 12:24 which Jesus spoke when He Himself was about to go to His death: "Truly, truly; I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit."

Being a Disciple of Jesus

Part 7

(Last Part)

The Empowering of a Disciple

Filled with the Spirit

Readings: John 3:8; Luke 3:15-16

John 3:8:

8 "The wind blows where it wills, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know whence it comes or whither it goes; so it is with every one who is born of the Spirit."

Luke 3:15-16:

15 As the people were in expectation, and all men questioned in their hearts concerning John, whether perhaps he were the Christ, 16 John answered them all, "I baptize you with water; but He who is mightier than I is coming, the thong of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.

In the preceding study we have noticed that in Bible symbolism "spirit" is sometimes pictured as "breath" ‒ the Spirit of God as the Breath of God. Thus, when Jesus had risen from the dead and wished to convey the Holy Spirit to His disciples, He performed the symbolic act of breathing on them.

Sometimes in the Bible instead of "breath" we find "wind" (which of course is essentially the same). In fact in the Greek of the New Testament the word "pneuma" is used both for wind and for spirit, which clearly shows that the one is an image of the other. They are both invisible but mighty forces.

Jesus Himself made use of this imagery when explaining spiritual things to Nicodemus. John 3:8, "The wind blows where it wills, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know whence it comes or whither it goes; so it is with every one who is born of the Spirit."

So we shall find that this symbol of wind (or breath) will have an important place in our present study on how the first disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit.

This wind/spirit symbol is by no means the only symbol used in the Bible to depict the character, or the work, of the Holy Spirit. There are a number of others, and two of these will also play a part in our study, namely: Water (that which washes, quenches thirst and gives life); and Fire (that which consumes, refines and gives light).

When Jesus breathed on those first disciples and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit", they already knew something about this Third Person of the Trinity. As boys in the synagogue schools they had gained a considerable knowledge of the Old Testament Scriptures, and these abound in references to Him.

It was probably John the Baptist who had first aroused in them a personal interest in the Holy Spirit, for when as young men they had gone down to the River Jordan and heard John speak of the King who was about to appear, he had distinctly connected the work of this King with the Holy Spirit.

Let us read Luke 3:15-16, "As the people were in expectation, and all men questioned in their hearts concerning John, whether perhaps he were the Christ, John answered them all, 'I baptize you with water; but He who is mightier than I is coming, the thong of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire!'"

Notice that in these few words of John describing the spiritual work of the One who was to come, all three of those Holy Spirit symbols we have noted come into view. First there is the symbol of Water: "I baptize you with water," cried John, "But He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."

The word "baptize" is derived directly from the Greek word for "immerse", and under John's ministry repentant sinners were baptized or immersed in water as a sign of their being not only washed from past sin, but also dead and buried to the old life. But under the Messiah's ministry he said they would be baptized, immersed, in the Holy Spirit ‒ the living water which would not only cleanse them but give them new life.

Next there is the symbol of Wind. This is not at first apparent in the English, but as we have already seen, it is implicit in the very name used by John, as by others, for the Third Person of the Trinity: the Holy Spirit, that is, the Holy Wind (Greek "pneuma") ‒ the mighty, invisible, unmeasurable Wind of God. There is a further suggestion of this image of Wind in the next verse (verse 17) where John, speaking still of the Messiah, continues, "His winnowing fork is in His hand, to clear His threshing floor, and to gather the wheat into His granary, but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire."

When the farmer tosses up the reaped corn on his threshing floor with his winnowing fork, it is the wind which separates the light and worthless chaff from the precious grain. So it is with the Messiah's winnowing. The wind of the Holy Spirit blows ‒ and a great separation results.

The wheat ‒ the precious, the worthy ‒ will then be gathered in for God's use, while the chaff ‒ the worthless, the unworthy ‒ will be swept away to destruction. Even now before the final ingathering takes place, whenever and wherever the Wind of the Holy Spirit blows, there is a great separation.

So, we come to our third symbol: Fire ‒ a symbol which is used in Scripture if not for the Person of the Holy Spirit at least to characterize some of His work. (In Isaiah 4:4 He is revealed as "the Spirit of Burning".) Now, the "unquenchable fire" in which John the Baptist says the Messiah will burn the chaff is presumably the fire of Hell rather than of the Holy Spirit. However, it is clearly the Holy Spirit fire to which John the Baptist refers in the preceding verse: "He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire."

This fire, if not the Holy Spirit Himself, is closely associated with Him and is a manifestation of His presence. It can be interpreted in different ways. Some will see it as the fire of holy zeal kindled within a person when they are baptized with the Holy Spirit. It is often said that such a one is "on fire for God".

It may also be taken to mean the fire of persecution which is apt to result from such zeal, and which so many Spirit-filled servants of God have had to endure. But the work of the "Spirit of Burning" in Isaiah 4:4 was to purge.

Therefore Malachi used much the same image when he spoke of fire as an agent for purifying or refining precious metals. In his chapter 3:2-3, predicting the coming of Messiah, he wrote of Him, "He is like a refiner's fire ... He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver."

The fire removes the dross which is mixed with the good metal, just as in winnowing the wind removes the chaff from the good grain. In both cases that which is unworthy and worthless is removed, while that which is worthy and precious is preserved.

Surely there is much dross, or chaff, in all of us which needs to be removed. So God uses fire not just to burn up unrepentant sinners on the judgment day, but even now to remove and consume all that is unworthy and worthless in those who are precious to Him.

In 1 Corinthians 3 St. Paul applies this figure even to our work for Him. In verse 13 he writes, "Each man's work will become manifest ... because it will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done." Verse 15: "If any man's work is burnt up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire."

Now when those young men who were to become Jesus' first disciples heard John the Baptist talking about the Messiah's baptism with the Holy Spirit, it is not likely they understood very much of all this. And, strangely enough, during the following years while they were with Jesus Himself and learning from Him, He does not seem to have taught them much about the Holy Spirit until the last night before His death when, as we read in chapters 14‒16 of John, He had a lot to tell them about the Comforter who would be coming to take His place.

Meanwhile, there had been at least one incident which must have made them think. We will read about it in John 7:37‒39, "On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and proclaimed, 'If anyone thirst, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, 'Out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water.' Now this He said about the Spirit, which those who believed in Him were to receive; for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified."

Now, notice that the occasion was the annual Feast of Tabernacles when vast crowds of Jews gathered in Jerusalem to commemorate the wanderings of their ancestors in the wilderness. In particular they remembered the time when these ancestors had no water to drink. The desert was utterly parched and dry, and it seemed they were all going to die of thirst. But God commanded Moses to take the rod with which he had brought God's judgment on Egypt and to strike the rock with it at Horeb.

When Moses did so, a stream of water poured forth. Not only was the people's thirst quenched, but the very ground on which they stood was watered ‒ and when the desert is watered, life springs up and it becomes fruitful. So, during this Feast of Tabernacles at Jerusalem a ceremony was performed to remind the Jewish people of this gift of water in the desert. A priest filled a golden pot with water at the Pool of Siloam and brought it into the Temple in the sight of all the people, and there it was poured out before the Lord beside the altar.

One can imagine Jesus and His disciples there among the crowds in the Temple court on that great last day of the feast, as they all watched the priest perform this ritual of the poured-out water. In Moses' day when water had poured from the rock in the wilderness, the people's physical thirst had been quenched.

Now, as Jesus looked around the faces of that vast throng witnessing the ceremony, He realized neither the water from the golden pot, nor any merely outward ceremony, could ever quench their inner spiritual thirst. They were still a people dying of thirst in the desert.

Then suddenly the disciples saw their Master stand up, and as they looked He opened His mouth and cried aloud to the crowds, "If anyone thirst, let him come to Me and drink!" And then He added, "He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, 'Out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water.'"

The Water or "River of Life" is a familiar topic in the Old Testament Scriptures, and those Jews who had studied the Old Testament would no doubt have some head-knowledge of the subject. Here Jesus was offering them not a head-knowledge but a heart-experience ‒ the quenching of their innermost thirst.

More than that, He was telling them if they would believe in Him, that is, put their trust in Him ‒ not only would their own barren lives be watered and become fruitful, but the living water would flow forth from them to bring life to the human desert around. How many understood and accepted this wonderful offer we do not know. Probably not many as yet. They were too occupied with external things.

It is likely that even the disciples at this time were too much taken up with their hopes and ambitions for the Kingdom to realize their own inner dryness and the barrenness of their lives. It is certainly highly doubtful that they understood what or who this Living Water was of which Jesus was talking.

Years later, however, when the apostle John, who had been one of them, recorded this event in his Gospel, it is clear he had meanwhile come to understand; for in his account, after giving Jesus' words about the Living Water, he added (verse 39), "Now this He said about the Spirit, which those who believed in Him were to receive."

He had also come to understand that this offer of the Holy Spirit made by Jesus on that memorable day had been for the future; for he went on to explain that "as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified." What did he mean by this? Well, we who live after the event can see it was through His awful death on the Cross that Jesus would be glorified. For it was at the Cross that the glory of the infinite, self-sacrificing love of God would shine forth as never before.

In 1 Corinthians 10:4 Paul, referring to Moses bringing water out of the rock, wrote, "The Rock was Christ." So it becomes clear to us that before the Living Water of the Holy Spirit could be poured forth to man, Christ, the Rock of Ages, had to be struck with the rod of God's judgment for man's sin. In other words, before Pentecost there had to be Calvary.

So, moving on to the end of the Gospel story, we come again to that scene in the upper room on the resurrection day evening which we were thinking of in our last study. From the moment when the risen Jesus, bearing now the wounds of the Cross, breathed on His disciples and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit", the Holy Spirit was theirs. Though they could hardly have understood it yet, the Blood of the Cross had cleansed them, and they were now clean vessels to receive the Living Water.

For the great task Jesus was setting them, they were not yet ready, because they had not yet been immersed in this Living Water ‒ or in other words they had not yet been baptized in the Holy Spirit. For the work that lay ahead, these vessels would need to be immersed and filled to over-flowing, for only thus would they have the necessary power. Jesus told them the Father had promised to do this very thing for them, and they must wait for His promise to be fulfilled.

Let us read about it; first at the end of the Gospel of Luke 24:49: "And behold, I send the promise of My Father upon you; but stay in the city, until you are clothed with power from on high."

Then, at the beginning of Luke's second book, Acts 1:3-5: "To them He presented Himself alive after His passion by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days, and speaking of the Kingdom of God. And while staying with them He charged 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 before many days you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit."

In the first of these two passages "the promise of the Father" to the disciples was to send upon them "power from on high"; while in the second it was to baptize them with the Holy Spirit. It is clear, then, that we have two ways here of saying the same thing; the wind of power from on high and the water of Holy Spirit baptism are clearly one.

So, the day arrived when Jesus was to be taken from the sight of His disciples. He blessed them and rose into the sky and they saw Him no more (Acts 1:9). But they did not feel forsaken and forlorn. They knew that He was alive. He had been crucified for their sins, but He had triumphed over death; and He had said He would always be with them.

He had breathed His Holy Spirit upon them, and furthermore had promised them still more wonderful things to come. They were going to be baptized in the Holy Spirit and receive power from on high. So now they had to wait expectantly for that promise to be fulfilled.

Let us notice here how much we, who would follow Jesus today, have in common with those first disciples of His waiting there in Jerusalem. Like them, we cannot see Jesus with our physical eyes, but we know that He, the crucified One, is now alive, and we too believe His promise that He will always be with us. To us, as to them, He has given the task of taking His salvation to the world; so surely the promise of power from on high is for us also.

Finding ourselves, then, in a situation so like that of the first disciples, perhaps we can learn something from their example. So, let us see just how they carried on after their Lord had been taken from them into Heaven. What did they do with themselves? How did they occupy their time?

First we will look again at Luke 24:50-52: "Then He led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up His hands He blessed them. While He blessed them, He parted from them. And they returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the Temple blessing God."

No, they were not shattered or depressed by their Lord's departure. They had so much to be happy about. They could no longer see Him, but they had His promises and believed in His presence with them. So they returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and day by day while they waited in faith, we read, "they were continually in the Temple blessing God"; they were praising Him for what He had promised to do, as well as what He had already done. Here is an example for us to follow.

Today, of course, we cannot spend our time in the Jerusalem Temple as they did. Even the time we can spend in our churches is limited. But, as the New Testament makes clear, for Christians the real temple is a spiritual one. So we disciples of today, if we would follow the example of those first disciples, should be continually in the temple of the spirit, blessing God for all that He has done, for all that He has promised to do.

The Jerusalem Temple offers a valuable illustration for us here, for just as the worship there centred on the great altar where every morning and evening the lamb of the Continual Burnt Offering was sacrificed, so in our spiritual Temple the great Altar of Calvary must always be central to our worship, and the Sacrifice of the Lamb of God kept continually before our eyes.

Of course, even those first disciples did not remain twenty-four hours a day worshipping within the Temple walls. Continuing their story in Acts 1 we find they had the use of a large upper room in a Jerusalem house to which they could return and which became their temporary home where they lived in fellowship together during this time of waiting.

Let us read verses 12-14: "Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a sabbath day's journey away; and when they had entered, they went up to the upper room, where they were staying, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot and Judas the son of James. All these with one accord devoted themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers."

So, during this time they were not only "continually in the Temple", the place of worship, but also "with one accord" in the upper room, the place of fellowship. It was most important for them to keep together with their brothers and sisters.

Indeed, one or other of them might well have grown impatient during this waiting time and said, "I'm sorry, but I can't wait here any longer. I have some important matters to see to back in Galilee"; or "I'm afraid I shall have to leave; these constant prayer meetings are too much for me." But they did not talk like that. They persisted. They continued in fellowship. They kept together in that upper room.

Even the term "upper room" is suggestive here. Unlike a downstairs room opening right onto the busy street, an upper room is a place of privacy and peace to which one can withdraw, with friends and loved ones, from all the business and bustle below; a fitting picture of the disciples separating themselves from the clamorous world and gathering together unto God in the "secret place of the Most High".

So then, we have discovered the two main occupations of those first disciples as they waited there in Jerusalem, namely, Worship ‒ worship for God, in thanksgiving and praise; and Fellowship ‒ fellowship with the brethren, in staying together and praying together. So, surely it must be with us, His disciples today, when we are seeking Him and the fulfilment of His promises to us; and in particular His promise of the Holy Spirit baptism.

We must be continually in the spiritual temple of worship offering the sacrifices of thanksgiving and praise; and we must continue steadfastly, with our brethren, separated from the World in the "upper room" of fellowship.

Those first disciples continued thus for ten days. They were still waiting expectantly together when the Day of Pentecost arrived. Let us read about it in Acts 2:1-4, "When the Day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly a sound came from Heaven like the rush of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire, distributed and resting on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance."

For many days they had continued waiting and worshipping together, when suddenly this momentous event took place.

The wind of the Holy Spirit, the very Breath of God, blew like a gale into that upper room and filled it full with heavenly power. With the wind came the fire, tongues of fire flashing and forking like lightning, charges of divine electricity entering each one of them. The power rushed right through them and poured forth from their mouths as they worshipped the Lord with a torrent of unknown words.

Jesus had kept His promise. The "power from on high" had come upon them and filled them to overflowing. Now, at last, they would be ready to start the great work to which they were called.

In this description of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2, the images of wind and fire are very evident. But the other one of our three images, that of water, is not explicitly named. Nevertheless, it is there implicitly, for as we have already seen, the wind and the water are one, and what the disciples experienced that day in the upper room was certainly a baptism. The house was filled with the wind of the Spirit, and this meant they were literally immersed in it as in water.

When a person is immersed in ordinary water they keep their mouth closed and it does not go inside them. But when the disciples were immersed in the Holy Spirit, their spiritual mouths were wide open ‒ and the Water of Life poured into them. Their spiritual thirst was at last quenched as Jesus had promised long before at the Feast of Tabernacles. Henceforth out of their innermost being the rivers of living water would begin to flow.

The results of those disciples being baptized with the Holy Spirit were soon to be seen. A great revival immediately broke out in Jerusalem; multitudes of souls saved and wonderful miracles of healing taking place. On that same day of Pentecost, no fewer than three thousand souls turned to the Lord.

So it continued throughout the story of The Acts of the Apostles; first in Jerusalem, next in Judaea and Samaria, and then to the uttermost parts of the known world. The rivers of living water were flowing. People everywhere were coming to drink. As God continued to fill His servants with His Spirit, the rivers continued to flow.

Now, when Jesus made His great offer to the thirsty at the Feast of Tabernacles, it was to Himself that He invited them to come: "If anyone thirst," He said, "let him come to Me and drink." But, sadly, over the centuries since then, many, after becoming Christians, have still tried to quench their thirst from the broken cisterns of the world rather than from Him, the fountain of Living Waters. The result has been that the rivers which should have been flowing through them all this time have largely dried up.

Now, in our own day, many in the churches even deny that the experience of Pentecost is meant for us any longer ‒ and especially the speaking in tongues which, they say, was only for the Apostolic Age. So, the deserts of the world have remained largely unwatered all around us. And yet Peter, while preaching to the crowds on that great day, after explaining to them that what they were witnessing was the fulfilment of God's ancient promise to pour out His Spirit, went on to tell them, "The promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call." Surely, this includes us too!

Indeed, many Christians are experiencing this very thing today. If we want to be disciples of Jesus, we certainly need it, just as those first disciples did. Each of us needs a personal Pentecost, and He is ready and waiting to give it to us, just as He did to them. Yes, if we are thirsty, and if we long for the power ‒ to serve Him ‒ He has the selfsame gift for us. Only we must believe and seek in the same way as they did.

Let us remember, however, that when we have received the promise and even spoken in tongues like the first disciples, that is not the end. It is only a beginning. We need to go right on as they did. We must keep on being filled with the Spirit. We must keep on breathing in the Breath of God that the refining Fire may keep burning within us. We must keep on drinking the Living Water, that from us the rivers may flow out to the world. Only thus can we be true disciples of Jesus.

THE END

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My Life and Work

Gipsy Smith

White Tree Publishing Edition

eBook ISBN: 978-1-9997899-4-7

Real Religion

Gipsy Smith

White Tree Publishing Edition

eBook ISBN: 978-1-912529-10-0

As Jesus Passed By

Gipsy Smith

White Tree Publishing Edition

eBook ISBN: 978-1-912529-05-6

The Lost Christ

Gipsy Smith

eBook ISBN: 978-1-912529-20-9

Rifted Clouds

Bella Cooke

All Three Parts

White Tree Publishing Edition

eBook ISBN: 978-1-912529-08-7

Paperback ISBN: 978-1-912529-09-4

Deeper Experiences

of Famous Christians

James Gilchrist Lawson

eBook ISBN: 978-1-912529-15-5

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Christian Fiction

The majority of these books are Victorian classic romances that have been sensitively edited and abridged for today's readers.

The Abi Button Cozy Mystery Romances are brand new!

A Gamble with Life

Silas K. Hocking

White Tree Publishing Edition

eBook ISBN: 978-1-912529-42-1

The Lost Lode

Silas K. Hocking

White Tree Publishing Edition

eBook ISBN: 978-1-912529-45-2

The Scarlet Clue

Silas K. Hocking

White Tree Publishing Edition

eBook ISBN: 978-1-912529-53-7

Rex Raynor, Artist

Silas K. Hocking

White Tree Publishing Edition

eBook ISBN: 978-1-912529-60-5

Keena Karmody

Eliza Kerr

White Tree Publishing Edition

eBook ISBN: 978-1-9997899-5-4

Hazel Haldene

Eliza Kerr

White Tree Publishing Edition

eBook ISBN: 978-1-9997899-8-5

Rollica Reed

Eliza Kerr

White Tree Publishing Edition

eBook ISBN: 978-1-9997899-6-1

The Secret of Ashton Manor House

Eliza Kerr

White Tree Publishing Edition

eBook ISBN: 978-1-912529-11-7

The Mystery of

Grange Drayton

Eliza Kerr

White Tree Publishing Edition

e-Book ISBN: 978-1-912529-22-3

Gildas Haven

Margaret S. Haycraft

White Tree Publishing Edition

eBook ISBN: 978-0-9935005-7-2

Amaranth's Garden

Margaret S. Haycraft

White Tree Publishing Edition

eBook ISBN: 978-0-9935005-6-5

Rose Capel's Sacrifice

Margaret Haycraft

White Tree Publishing Edition

eBook ISBN: 978-0-9954549-3-4

Una's Marriage

Margaret Haycraft

White Tree Publishing Edition

eBook ISBN: 978-0-9957594-5-9

Miss Elizabeth's Niece

Margaret Haycraft

White Tree Publishing Edition

eBook ISBN: 978-0-9957594-7-3

Silverbeach Manor

Margaret S. Haycraft

White Tree Publishing edition

eBook ISBN: 978-0-9935005-4-1

The Clever Miss Jancy

Margaret S. Haycraft

White Tree Publishing Edition

eBook ISBN: 978-0-9957594-9-7

Freda's Folly

Margaret S Haycraft

White Tree Publishing Edition

eBook ISBN: 978-1-912529-02-5

Sybil's Repentance

Margaret S Haycraft

White Tree Publishing Edition

eBook ISBN: 978-1-912529-04-9

Sister Royal

Margaret S Haycraft

White Tree Publishing Edition

eBook ISBN: 978-1-912529-03-2

Iona

Margaret S. Haycraft

White Tree Publishing Edition

eBook ISBN: 978-1-912529-14-8

The Lady of the Chine

Margaret S Haycraft

White Tree Publishing Edition

eBook ISBN: ISBN: 978-1-912529-19-3

A Previously Unpublished Book

Locked Door Shuttered Windows

A Novel by J Stafford Wright

eBook ISBN 13: 978-0-9932760-3-3

Paperback ISBN: 978-0-9927642-4-1

When it Was Dark

Guy Thorne

Abridged Edition

eBook ISBN: 978-0-9954549-0-3

The Lost Clue

Mrs. O. F. Walton

White Tree Publishing Edition

A Romantic Mystery

eBook ISBN: 978-0-9932760-2-6

Doctor Forester

Mrs. O. F. Walton

White Tree Publishing Edition

A Romantic Mystery

eBook ISBN: 978-0-9932760-0-2

Was I Right?

Mrs. O. F. Walton

Abridged Edition

A Victorian Romance

eBook ISBN: 978-0-9932760-1-9

In His Steps

Charles M. Sheldon

Abridged Edition

eBook ISBN: 978-0-9927642-9-6

Paperback ISBN 13: 978-19350791-8-7

A Daughter of the King

Mrs Philip Barnes

White Tree Publishing Edition

eBook ISBN: 978-0-9957594-8-0

Stepping Heavenward

Elizabeth Prentiss

White Tree Publishing Edition

eBook ISBN: 978-1-912529-23-0

Tall Men and Strangers

Lizzie Lewis

An Abi Button Cozy Mystery Romance #1

eBook ISBN: 978-1-912529-48-3

Paperback ISBN: 978-1-912529-54-4

Poetry and Mayhem

Lizzie Lewis

An Abi Button Cozy Mystery Romance #2

eBook ISBN: 978-1-912529-49-0

Paperback ISBN: 978-1-912529-55-1

Cake and Calamity

Lizzie Lewis

An Abi Button Cozy Mystery Romance #3

eBook ISBN: 978-1-912529-50-6

Paperback ISBN: 978-1-912529-56-8

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Books for Younger Readers

(and older readers too!)

The Merlin Adventure

Chris Wright

eBook ISBN: 978-0-9954549-2-7

Paperback ISBN: 9785-203447-7-5

The Hijack Adventure

Chris Wright

eBook ISBN: 978-0-9954549-6-5

Paperback ISBN: 978-1-5203448-0-5

The Seventeen Steps Adventure

Chris Wright

eBook ISBN: 978-0-9954549-7-2

Paperback ISBN: 978-1-5203448-6-7

The Two Jays Adventure

The First Two Jays Story

Chris Wright

eBook ISBN: 978-0-9954549-8-9

Paperback ISBN: 978-1-5203448-8-1

The Dark Tunnel Adventure

The Second Two Jays Story

Chris Wright

eBook ISBN: 978-0-9957594-0-4

Paperback ISBN: 978-1-5206386-3-8

The Cliff Edge Adventure

The Third Two Jays Story

Chris Wright

eBook ISBN: 978-0-9957594-4-2

Paperback ISBN: 9781-5-211370-3-1

The Midnight Farm Adventure

The Fourth Two Jays Story

Chris Wright

eBook ISBN: 978-1-9997899-1-6

Paperback ISBN: 978-1-5497148-3-2

The Old House Adventure

The Fifth Two Jays Story

Chris Wright

eBook ISBN: 978-1-912529-07-0

Paperback ISBN: 978-1-912529-06-3

The Lost Island Adventure

The Sixth Two Jays Story

Chris Wright

eBook ISBN: 978-1-912529-17-9

Paperback ISBN: 978-1-912529-18-6

The Black Lake Adventure

The Seventh Two Jays Story

Chris Wright

eBook ISBN: 978-1-912529-28-5

Paperback ISBN: 978-1-912529-27-8

The Hidden Room Adventure

The Eighth Two Jays Adventure

Chris Wright

eBook ISBN: 978-1-912529-39-1

Also available in paperback

ISBN: 978-1-912529-40-7

The Holy Land Adventure

An Adventure Book

with optional puzzles

(Some are easy, some tricky, and some amusing)

Gold Medal Winning Book!

Chris Wright

eBook ISBN: 978-1-912529-36-0

Also available as a paperback

ISBN: 978-1-912529-34-6

Mary Jones and Her Bible

An Adventure Puzzle Book

Chris Wright

The true story of Mary Jones's and her Bible

with a clear Christian message and optional puzzles

(Some are easy, some tricky, and some amusing)

eBook ISBN: ISBN: 978-0-9933941-5-7

Paperback ISBN 978-0-9525956-2-5

Pilgrim's Progress

An Adventure Puzzle Book

Chris Wright

A similar format to Mary Jones

with optional puzzles

(Some are easy, some tricky, and some amusing)

eBook ISBN 13: 978-0-9933941-6-4

Paperback ISBN: 978-0-9525956-6-3

Pilgrim's Progress

Special Edition

The original story retold

Chris Wright

eBook ISBN: 978-0-9932760-8-8

Paperback ISBN: 978-0-9525956-7-0

Zephan and the Vision

Chris Wright

eBook ISBN: 978-0-9932760-6-4

Paperback ISBN: 978-0-9525956-9-4

Agathos, The Rocky Island,

And Other Stories

Chris Wright

eBook ISBN: 978-0-9927642-7-2

Paperback ISBN: 978-0-9525956-8-7

Please visit our website www.whitetreepublishing.com for full details on all these books, and their availability.

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