 
### Revolutionary Discipleship

### By M.E. Brines

### Smashwords Edition

### Copyright 2011 by M.E. Brines

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 - The Problem

Chapter 2 - The Solution: Discipleship

Chapter 3 - How Jesus Chose His Disciples

Chapter 4 - Disciples are persecuted

Chapter 5 - Being a Disciple Changes You

Chapter 6 - What do Disciples Study?

Chapter 7 - What does Jesus expect of his disciples?

Chapter 8 - Disciples do good works

Chapter 9 - Disciples Pray

Chapter 10 - Disciples don't hold grudges

Chapter 11 - Disciples do good works without thought of reward

Chapter 12 - Disciples trust God to take care of them

Chapter 13 - Disciples make a priority of their mission

Chapter 14 - Disciples put doing what's right above being "nice"

Chapter 15 - Disciples do good works 2

Chapter 16 - Disciples have their faith tested

Chapter 17 - Disciples are persecuted 2

Chapter 18 - Disciples don't stay inside the church

Chapter 19 - Disciples are more than just passive watchers

Chapter 20 - Discipleship promotes unity

Chapter 21 - Being a disciple is not complicated

Chapter 22 - Rules are not as important as people

Chapter 23 - We are saved by FAITH, not simply by reciting a prayer

Chapter 24 - A disciple's fruits are his credentials

Chapter 25 - Disciples do the works of Jesus

Chapter 26 - Traditions are not as important as people

Chapter 27 - Jesus wants his disciples to do great things

Chapter 28 - The commandments of men do not compare to those of God

Chapter 29 - Disciples get corrected when they are wrong

Chapter 30 - Jesus told his disciples to "take up your cross."

Chapter 31 - Disciples study the Bible 2

Chapter 32 - Disciples need to develop their faith

Chapter 33 - Disciples don't let the responsibilities of the world distract them

Chapter 34 - Disciples resolve disputes peacefully

Chapter 35 - Disciples either stay married or stay single

Chapter 36 - Disciples do not worry over the things of this world

Chapter 37 - Disciples are to be like servants

Chapter 38 - Jesus is their example

Chapter 39 - Disciples watch for Jesus' return

Chapter 40 - Disciples aren't afraid to do the right thing

Chapter 41 - Graduation Night

Chapter 42 - Death is only the beginning

Chapter 43 - The defining characteristics of a disciple

Chapter 44 - How does the Church in America measure up?

Chapter 45 - Join the revolution!

### * * *

The Problem

The Christian church in America is dying and it's not from natural causes. It's being slowly poisoned and the perpetrator is someone no one would ever expect. It's not murder; it's suicide.

That's a pretty harsh statement, one you may not agree with. After all, your church may be doing fine, or at least may seem so. But lets examine some facts and statistics about the Church as a whole in America.

According to the Barna poling organization "More than four out of five Americans claim to be Christian and half as many can be classified as born again Christians. Nine out of ten adults own a Bible. Most adults read the Bible during the year and a huge majority claims they know all of the basic teachings of the Bible." This would seem to indicate that America is a Christian nation and that our churches have been very successful.

Yet Barna concludes his study saying, "How, then, can most people say Satan does not exist, that the Holy Spirit is merely a symbol, that eternal peace with God can be earned through good works, and that truth can only be understood through the lens of reason and experience? How can a plurality of our citizens contend that Jesus committed sins and that the Bible, Koran and Book of Mormon all teach the same truths?"

The fact of the matter is that in America today there are many church attenders but few actual followers of Christ. This is borne out further in the same study:

"The year's research also underscored the fact that half of the people who attend Christian churches on any given weekend are not Christian - that is, they do not trust in Christ alone for their eternal salvation. The vast majority of those people have been attending Christian churches **for more than a decade**.

"Regardless of its true character and intent, the Christian community is not known for love, nor for a life transforming faith," explained the researcher. "Outdated means of outreach, inappropriate assumptions about people's faith, and a lack of passion for helping non-believers to receive God's love and acceptance are hindering the Church from fulfilling its mandate. America remains one of the largest mission fields in the world, and the American Church remains the most richly endowed body of believers on the planet. There is no lack of potential." ["Barna Identifies Seven Paradoxes Regarding America's Faith", December 17, 2002]

Ask a pastor and he'll admit to a few challenges, but most seem to think things are going all right. We blame any such problems as we have on the unsaved themselves, on the influence of Hollywood Liberals and the secular media. Christians seem to believe that if people like Rosie O'Donnell would just shut up, everything would be fine.

Barna concludes: "Most pastors are content with the way things are going in their ministry. A national survey among pastors revealed that a majority feels they are doing an excellent or good job in leading people spiritually in relation to 12 of the 13 areas of performance evaluated. (The exception was in the area of raising money for ministry.) In fact, the larger the church is, the more likely the pastor is to feel pleased with his performance as its leader."

Yet he confessed confusion over that outcome. "Pastoring is a difficult job," he acknowledged, "and it's important not to become discouraged by the magnitude of the spiritual battle in which we are engaged - after all, we know that we are aligned with the winning camp. However, it's a bit troubling to see pastors feel they're doing a great job when the **research reveals few congregants have a biblical worldview, half the people they minister to are not spiritually secure or developed, kids are fleeing from the church in record numbers, most of the people who attend worship services admit they did not connect with God, the divorce rate among Christians is no different than that of non-Christians, only 2% of the pastors themselves can identify God's vision for their ministry they are trying to lead, and the average congregant spends more time watching television in one day than he spends in all spiritual pursuits combined for an entire week**.

"Pastors, alone, cannot be held accountable for the spiritual disrepair of America. But it's worrisome when there is a strong correlation between church size and self-satisfaction, because that suggests that attendance and budget figures have become our mark of success. It's troubling when our spiritual leaders cannot articulate where we're headed and how the Church will fulfill its role as the restorative agent of our society."

But is the Church in America really doing that badly?

In a national study at <http://www.barna.org/>only 7% of Christians identified spiritual wholeness and development as the factor that will produce a successful life. "Family and Personal Accomplishments Lead People's List of Success Determinants," Barna went on to state: "The Christian faith commends sacrifice, servanthood and sharing as the means to significance. How is it possible to have more than 120 million adults attending Christian churches on a regular basis, but only 15 million who grasp the message that success is not about personal accomplishment or material possessions?"

Only one-third of teenagers attending church today are likely to do so once they reach adulthood. [All statistics from "Barna Identifies Seven Paradoxes Regarding America's Faith", December 17, 2002]

In America today a large majority of people describe themselves as "followers of Christ" and believe in the accuracy of the Bible yet believe that there is no absolute moral truth and argue that truth is always relative to the individual. [ Barna: "Americans are more likely to Base Truth on Feelings."]

"While most believers have heard of spiritual gifts, half of all born-again adults either do not know what their spiritual gift is or claim that God did not give them one." [Growing True Disciples, page 74]

According to the Gallup polling organization in June 1990 74% of Americans describe themselves as having made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ [Awakening the Giant, Jim Russell, page 13], yet in the last few decades rates of illegitimacy and divorce have skyrocketed and unmarried couples have become a standard feature of our society. Over a million people are currently in prison, (statistics from Prison Fellowship figures) one of the highest rates of incarceration in the world, certainly in American history.

For several decades now most American churches have experienced declining attendance, increasing apathy and lack of spiritual development. The youth drop out en masse as soon as they graduate and adult men are difficult to find in pews on Sunday morning. **Christian churches in America are in danger of becoming nothing more than social clubs for old ladies**.

Christian influence in society has declined and we are pushed ever more onto the fringes. In the last sixty years abortion, pornography, and gambling have been legalized and praying in school has been outlawed. It's legal and considered socially acceptable to support an on-campus homosexual club with tax money but a Bible club has to sue just to be allowed to meet. **In three generations we've gone from a society where teaching evolution in a public school was illegal to one where mentioning a creator is**. All of these trends are clearly documented by statistics gathered by the Barna poling organization. In fact there's a newly coined term for the increasingly successful advance of modern secularism. It's been described as a culture war. And the Church is losing.

You may think that I'm just out to bash the Church, but I'm not. I want to reform and restore the Church and get it back on track to what it's supposed to be doing. I believe that the cause of our problem is that we've lost sight of our true mission, the one assigned by the Master, and that we've in a large part replaced it with ideas of our own about what our mission should be.

I came to this conclusion by looking at the 'success' that the Christian churches in America have had over the last sixty years. We've gone from being a Christian nation to one where Christianity is one Supreme Court decision away from being banned. Our very constitutional rights to practice Christianity are under attack in a country largely founded by Christians and on Christian principles. What happened? And more importantly, what can we do about it?

### * * *

Since these trends only really became apparent since the Second World War the problem seems to be a recent development, so to discover its cause we should compare church organization now with the way things were done in the past. What changed to create the current situation? How is the modern church different from what it was a generation or two ago?

Looking back to New Testament times we see that there was no official church organization. There was no 'staff' and the only 'professional' paid positions were pastors and missionaries. There was no intermediary layer of professional clergy between the individual members and God. Each individual member was expected to be a disciple and produce fruit himself by using his own spiritual gifts.

By the time of the Reformation 1,500 years later this had all changed. The Catholic Church had a huge and very organized hierarchy of professional clergy who performed ALL the church functions. Individual members were expected merely to attend Mass and were the passive recipients of the teaching and ministry of the paid clergy. People believed all they needed to do to guarantee a place in heaven was to become a member of the church (usually by being involuntarily sprinkled as an infant) and then maintain semi-regular attendance. A particularly zealous layman might perhaps become an altar boy or sing in the choir. No spiritual fruit was produced nor was any expected. The result of this was rampant corruption among the clergy, lack of interest by the laymen and the declining social influence of the church.

Eventually valiant, Christian men attempted to introduce reforms. These people were persecuted by clergy who didn't want to lose their comfy positions and by conservatives who were convinced that the only way a church should be run is the way it was being run, as if the medieval Catholic Church with all the bizarre customs and procedures it had acquired over the centuries would have been recognizable to Christ and the apostles. Eventually the reformers realized that it was impossible to accomplish any sort of positive change under those circumstances and they left the Catholic organization and formed their own Protestant churches, each based on different aspects of the reforms that each individual leader felt was the most important.

After the Reformation, the new Protestant churches, regardless of sect, typically adopted a lean organization. Usually only pastors and a few missionaries were paid professionals. Without an extensive paid staff of priests, the pastor had to rely extensively on laymen to accomplish the day-to-day activities of the church. Laymen started and ran most of the new ministries that arose in the coming years: abolition, overseas missions, prison reform, temperance, the Red Cross, the Salvation Army, the Gideons, etc. Christians were expected to be disciples and produce good works to demonstrate their faith. The Church grew in size and spread its influence across the globe.

From this period we get the term, "Protestant work ethic" from the idea that good Christian disciples should produce good works, not to earn their salvation (or reduce their time in purgatory as the Catholics taught) but as proof of their faith:

### * * *

James 2:14-26

(14) My brothers, what profit is it if a man says he has faith and does not have works? Can faith save him?

(15) If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food,

(16) and if one of you says to them, Go in peace, be warmed and filled, but you do not give them those things which are needful to the body, what good is it?

(17) Even so, if it does not have works, faith is dead, being by itself.

(18) But someone will say, You have faith, and I have works. Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith from my works.

(19) You believe that there is one God, you do well; even the demons believe and tremble.

(20) But will you know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?

(21) Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?

(22) Do you see how faith worked with his works, and from the works faith was made complete?

(23) And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, "Abraham believed God, and it was imputed to him for righteousness, and he was called the friend of God."

(24) You see then how a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.

(25) And in the same way, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she had received the messengers and had sent them out another way?

(26) For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

### * * *

But that was five hundred years ago and times and people change. Today the modern American church is characterized by an extensive organization of paid clergy and staff. Since the Second World War, the bigger the church, the more money they have, the more they pull out of the hands of laymen and make the responsibility of paid full-time ministers. The paid clergy organizes and heads up all ministries and programs and individual members are expected merely to attend church and become the passive recipients of the teaching and ministry of the paid clergy. People believe all they need to do to guarantee a place in heaven is to become a member of the church (usually by reciting a short prayer to "get saved") and then maintain semi-regular attendance. A particularly zealous layman might perhaps become a Sunday school teacher or sing in the choir. Little fruit is produced nor is much expected. The result of this is the mass exodus of men and youth from the Church, a general lack of enthusiasm by the ones who remain, and the declining social influence of the church.

We have become obsessed with the ABCs: attendance, building programs and cash. The solution to any problem, challenge or opportunity is some sort of program, preferably pre-packaged and slickly produced by some well-known Christian publishing house.

"Is there a new package on the market in the area of stewardship? What techniques are working for reaching out to disenchanted members? Has anyone come up with a fresh curriculum for training deacons? How about a 3-day seminar that will be our booster shot for evangelism? But programs are poor substitutes for vision, and completely unacceptable as any Christian group's reason for existence. God's will cannot be discerned from a resource catalogue or downloaded from a one-size-fits-all package."

"A second standard feature of the ABC church is the tendency to rely on hard work as the way to go forward. If the goals aren't being realized, our leaders will simply have to keep a few more balls in the air...." [from The Disciple Making Church, p6, Glenn McDonald]

### * * *

Does that sound like your church?

How many times have you seen the response to declining attendance or problems in meeting the church mortgage payments presented as some new program to attract more attendance? It may be presented as a means of evangelism, but the heart of the matter is the belief that if this new program will just fill the pews, people will be exposed to the Gospel, they'll get "saved," join the church, fill the offering plate and then we can fund that new expansion for all the new pews we'll need so we can keep growing - everybody wins!

But do they? The evangelical church in America has become so fixated on the truth that salvation is by faith alone they've forgotten that's not the end of the Gospel. Just as the medieval Catholic Church forgot about grace and became fixated on works, the modern Protestant church has become fixated on grace and forgot about works. Our definition of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus is no longer the same as Christ's definition and our idea of what it means to fulfill the Great Commission is no longer the same as the mission Jesus assigned to us. We've substituted our own agenda for that of God and consequently He has withdrawn his blessings. Our churches, our society withers in a spiritual drought.

We teach a system whereby we share the Gospel, get people to recite the little "prayer of salvation" (as we call it), get baptized and enrolled in Sunday school. Mention is seldom made of anything further. Apparently that's all it takes to be a disciple. And that's all anyone really expects.

Meanwhile the concept of discipleship has changed from being an active follower of Christ to being a passive "member" of a local church. But there's more to being a disciple than just getting saved. We quote Ephesians 2:8-9: "For by grace you are saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast." But we never finish Paul's thought in verse 10: " **For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to good works, which God has before ordained that we should walk in them**."

We completely neglect James 2:17-20:

### * * *

"Even so, if it does not have works, faith is dead, being by itself. But someone will say, You have faith, and I have works. Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith from my works. You believe that there is one God, you do well; even the demons believe and tremble. But will you know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?"

### * * *

Christ Himself had something to say on the subject of works:

### * * *

John 15:1-8

(1) I am the True Vine, and My Father is the Vinedresser.

(2) Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away. And every one that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bring forth more fruit.

(3) Now you are clean through the Word which I have spoken to you.

(4) Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it remains in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me.

(5) I am the Vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, the same brings forth much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.

(6) If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered. And they gather and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.

(7) If you abide in Me, and My Words abide in you, you shall ask what you will, and it shall be done to you.

(8) In this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit, so you shall be My disciples.

### * * *

But notice that it isn't us that produce the fruit. Jesus said, "As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it remains in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me." If a pew potato isn't producing fruit the answer is NOT for him to get off his duff, out of the back pew and get to work. The answer is for him to get connected into the vine (Christ). Lack of fruit isn't a sign of a lazy Christian, it's the sign of **someone who thinks he's a Christian and is not**. Real disciples are connected to the vine and bring forth fruit; they can't help it, it's involuntary. If you're connected to the vine you're going to produce fruit whether you try or not. But if you're not connected, no amount of busyness is going to produce spiritual fruit.

But what we teach is that fruit is unconnected to salvation in any way. Good works (fruit) are unnecessary. My even mentioning them is likely to get me branded a Pharisee by some readers. But Jesus Himself directly linked fruit production to our salvation: **"In this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit, so you shall be My disciples." (John 15:8)** How much more obvious can it be that disciples "produce much fruit" and those who are not producing are **not** His disciples?

Merely attending church does not make one a disciple any more than attending a professional football game makes one a member of the team playing on the field below. Merely reciting a prayer as if the words themselves are magical does not save us. Faith saves us, not praying a prayer. And anyone who has merely chanted that prayer without faith and who isn't abiding in Jesus isn't going to produce any fruit, isn't saved and is going to end up burning in hell: **"If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered. And they gather and cast them into the fire, and they are burned."** These aren't my words but those of Christ Himself in John 15:6.

And Christ assigned us a mission. In Matthew chapter 28, as Jesus stood upon the Mount of Olives preparing to return to Heaven he gave a last command to His followers who were gathered around to see Him off.

### * * *

"And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." (NAS)

### * * *

This has become known as the "Great Commission" and although some translations render "make disciples of" as "teach all nations," the Greek phrase Jesus employed here means to disciple, to enroll as a pupil or to teach. What Jesus ordered them to do until he returns was to go recruit and train more disciples.

Notice that Jesus gave this command to his disciples, **not** to the Church.

### * * *

Matthew 28:16-20

(16) And the eleven disciples went into Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had appointed them.

(17) And when they saw Him, they worshiped Him. But some doubted.

(18) And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, All authority is given to Me in Heaven and in earth.

(19) Therefore go and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

(20) teaching them to observe all things, whatever I commanded you. And, behold, I am with you all the days until the end of the world. Amen.

### * * *

Jesus didn't assign this mission to the Church. The Church didn't exist yet, at least not the Church as we imagine it with pews and a sanctuary and a paid pastor to run the show. Jesus assigned this mission to his disciples. If you're a disciple of Jesus then your mission is to recruit and teach disciples. You can't pawn it off on the church by throwing a fiver into the collection plate on "Missions Sunday."

Yet in America today we seem to think the Great Commission was given to churches in general and that it only has to do with foreign missions. We have "Great Commission Funds" that raise money exclusively for **foreign** missions and whenever foreign missions and missionaries are featured we always quote from Matthew 28 about the Great Commission. But "all nations" includes America too. Fulfilling the Great Commission doesn't start at the shores of Africa, it starts at the door of our very own bedroom and extends to the ends of the earth, both geographical and temporal.

We've been far-sighted for generations, never seeing the mission field all around us. Since the Great Commission is wrongly assumed to only have to do with overseas missions we've turned the idea of each and every disciple going out himself and making more disciples wherever he happens to be into the sole responsibility of a handful of paid professionals. The results have been predictable. There are now more Christians in Africa than in either North America or Europe and the Christian lands that used to sponsor Christian missionaries are now overrun with homegrown pagan cults, New Age witchdoctors and crystal gazers.

But the problem is even worse than that. Those few professionals that we pay to do the work here at home that Jesus left for us all to do actually spend very little of their time on making or training disciples. They spend most of their efforts on trying to build up their local church. Any real disciple-making that occurs is usually a side effect of trying to ramp up attendance. Much more effort is expended in trying to finish the current building program or raise more cash for a new building or in producing more "programs" than is ever spent training up the existing laymen to go out and make disciples themselves. Laymen are seen simply as "sheep" to be herded by the pastor-shepherd and his professional staff.

At this point any ministry professionals that are still reading this are going to start screaming at me, about all the good that they do and all the hard work that they put in. **My intent is not to run down the work that pastors and their staff do and have done, but to point out that the other people in the church should be doing it too.** I want to illustrate from Scripture what Jesus told us we should be doing and then point out ways that the Church can more closely adhere to our Master's Plan. If we're not following His plan it doesn't matter how much good we do. If we base our ministries on tradition or upon the ideas of mere men then we're just wasting our time. Racing full-speed up the wrong path will get us nowhere fast and that's exactly where the church in America has been going for the last fifty years. Believe me, what I have discovered upsets me at least as much as you're probably feeling right now.

In Acts chapter 26 the Apostle Paul gave his personal history as a way of demonstrating to his accusers his credentials to speak on the subject of Judaism. I'm probably more qualified to write about the church than most. I've been attending for more than 45 years, since before I was born. During the time when my mother regularly attended and was pregnant with me, my father was the Sunday School Superintendent. I grew up in the church. I've got a first cousin who's an ordained minister and a great-grandfather who was a Pentecostal preacher. My father organized a church from its beginnings as a house church with two families through a storefront with a part-time pastor (who officiated at my own wedding in a "real" church rented for the occasion) all the way until it was able to build its own building.

I was saved and baptized as a teen and since then I've served in the church in just about every capacity that a layman is allowed to: teacher, Sunday School superintendent, janitor, youth group leader, as a deacon and on the church governing board. I've taught Sunday School, vacation Bible schools (including one on the Navajo Indian reservation), AWANA, been a summer camp counselor, done home visitation, door-to-door cold calling to present the Gospel, participated in Christmas pageants and small groups, and organized, cooked for and cleaned up after banquets and dinners and breakfasts of all sorts. My family used to move a lot when I was a kid and I've attended Christian and Missionary Alliance churches as well as Evangelical Free, Community, Methodist, Presbyterian and several varieties of Baptist churches. I don't think anybody could be more knowledgeable about what goes on inside of churches in America from a layman's point of view than I am, so when I say that as busy as I've been for all that time that I've been mostly wasting my time and not fulfilling my Master's last command, that that conclusion didn't come easily. I understand exactly how you feel. But just give me time and let me show you what I've discovered and then maybe we can halt the current decline and become the true Church that Jesus meant us to be.

Of course, if you don't agree, if you think that everything is going fine and all we need to do is more of what we've been doing then go ahead and put this book down and walk away. You can dismiss me as a crank. (I'm certainly cranky.) But facts don't lie. If the Church in America were doing exactly what it should be then we wouldn't be in the trouble that we're in. Something's very wrong, and merely running harder up the wrong path isn't going to set matters straight.

### * * *

When Jesus gave us the Great Commission did He say we were to go out into all the world and get everyone to pray the prayer of salvation and join our church? Or are we supposed **to go and make disciples**? What does it mean to be a disciple? Is there more to being a disciple than just reciting a prayer and then sitting back and being a pew potato for the next forty years?

If you look at what most modern American Christians actually believe rather than what the church staff thinks they've been teaching, you'd see that the message is that all one has to do to be a Christian is to pray a short prayer, get baptized and then attend church regularly. We specifically instruct new Christians that good "works" are unnecessary and have absolutely nothing to do with salvation (or in other words they're "optional".) Then we further ensure their passivity by emphasizing that it's possible to earn rewards in heaven for our good deeds here on earth. Everybody knows that you get rewards for doing more than what is merely required, therefore all good works are totally optional and only exceptional Christians looking for extra credit might be expected to do anything.

Little or no effort is made to identify the spiritual gifts of the lay members or to develop them. "Christian service" is defined as filling in as "spear carriers" for the programs the professional church staff is running.

Where in a modern American church would you find a situation like that of Acts chapter three where Peter and John, a couple of fishermen that were not seminary trained or even college graduates, went down to the temple and preached to a crowd? Laymen preaching? Or heading up some kind of ministry? By virtue of his seminary degree, the 25-year-old youth pastor is considered more spiritually mature (and reliable) than a retired church member who's been a Christian longer than the youth pastor has even been alive. If he's lucky the member will be permitted to run the kitchen for the monthly "Men's Breakfast," but organize a Christian ministry? That's what the pastors and staff are for. Members exist to provide the volunteer manpower for the programs the staff organizes. We're considered merely "sheep" to be herded.

Consequently, "far from being challenged and empowered to do great things for God, rank-and-file church members are chiefly expected to be compliant . . . In a program-based congregation there is hope (usually a futile one) that large numbers of individuals will magically choose to be fully committed to the mission of the church. More realistically, pastors of ABC churches settle for a situation in which a majority of church attenders are content to be at least formally complaint – that is, in exchange for less than passionate devotion to Christ they will not rock the devotional boat." [The Disciple Making Church, p11] We're happy if they just show up on Sunday morning and put a little something in the offering plate as it passes them by.

"A fourth characteristic of the ABC oriented church is the overt or implied use of control. Only a few individuals are granted permission to do ministry. 'No' is heard more often than 'Yes.' When it's time to make decision, only a few opinions are considered valid. Trust is extended to a handful of people, but not just anyone." [The Disciple Making Church, p13]

Consequently eighty percent of the work is done by twenty percent of the membership and this is considered normal, as if "The Eighty/Twenty Rule" is found in scripture somewhere. The Church shrinks in size and influence and people wonder why.

Notice the similarity between the modern Protestant Church and the medieval Catholic Church, not in style, but in substance. This is why we're in decline, not only the church but also our society. Churchgoers aren't growing and they aren't producing fruit. They feel bored and useless. Eventually they wander off in search of something more fulfilling, never knowing that they've missed the whole point of Christianity because we've reduced being a lifelong disciple to just 'getting saved' and then providing the church staff with financial support and someone to minister to.

If we want to reverse the downward trend we need to go back to what worked in New Testament times, not just try harder at trying to copy other churches that seem to be doing well at the ABCs. Our standard should be the Bible, not some mega-church or any other human organization.

The Solution: Discipleship

Christ's last instruction to his followers just before he returned to heaven is given in Matthew 28:18-20, more popularly known as The Great Commission:

"And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." (NAS)

The King James Version reads "Therefore go and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things, whatever I commanded you." The verb "teach" in this passage is translated from the original Greek word " _matheteuo_ " which means, "to make a disciple of."

Christ's last instruction to his disciples was to go to the entire world, make disciples and teach them the things that Christ had taught them. We're supposed to be the latest link in an unbroken chain of disciples beginning in the first century and lasting until Christ returns again. But before we can follow His command and make disciples, we need to know what a disciple is.

The dictionary defines a disciple as 1) One who embraces and assists in spreading the teachings of another. 2) An active adherent of a movement or philosophy. 3) One of the original twelve followers of Jesus.

The origin of the word is from the Latin _discipulus_ meaning pupil. Interestingly the English word discipline has the same Latin source.

Discipline is defined as 1) Training expected to produce a specific character or pattern of behavior, especially training that produces moral or mental improvement. 2) Controlled behavior resulting from disciplinary training; self-control. 3a) Control obtained by enforcing compliance or order. 3b) A systematic method to obtain obedience. 3c) A state of order based on submission to rules and authority.

It can also be a verb: 1) To train by instruction and practice, especially to teach self-control.

Obviously discipline and being a disciple are related. But what does it really mean to be a disciple?

I think that the best illustration of what it means to be a disciple can be seen in the martial arts. You have a master who takes on pupils, students, disciples, etc. and imparts to them his knowledge and skills over a period of time, with the intention that some day the disciples will themselves become masters and impart those same teachings to others. Isn't this exactly what Christ did? Isn't this what he told us to do in Matthew chapter twenty-eight?

How does the master do this? By placing the disciples under discipline, teaching them the basic principles, demonstrating to them the proper behavior and helping them to duplicate it. This requires time, discipline and effort on the part of both the master and his disciples. It is common for serious disciples of the martial arts to attend classes several times a week. They are also expected to study and practice at home on their own time. To achieve success requires a great deal of discipline to make the time necessary to attend the classes and practice. Disciples who lack the interest or discipline will not succeed in achieving their goal.

But the important thing isn't what Webster thinks a disciple is, but what Jesus thinks. If our mission is to be the best disciples we can be and then to make disciples of others, then we need to know exactly how Jesus would train disciples so we can emulate the Master.

How would Jesus recruit, educate and train disciples? Wouldn't it be great if there were a book on how to do that? Wouldn't that be the perfect way to model our lives? Wouldn't that be the perfect mission to organize a local congregation around? Isn't that what Christian churches are supposed to do?

Currently there are dozens of books available on discipleship by all sorts of authors who come at the subject from every different perspective. But if we really want to know Jesus' ideas on the subject, why not examine the "books" written by disciples that Jesus personally trained? We should examine the Gospels and see exactly how Jesus trained his original disciples for clues to how He expects us to be disciples and to make disciples of others.

Together you and I are going to examine Matthew's account of his discipleship training at the hands of the Master. Unlike most discipleship books you may have seen, we're going to follow Matthew's account of Jesus' training of His disciples verse by verse. We may take a few side roads along the way to find backup and quote other verses to reinforce the teachings presented, but what I'm NOT going to do is quote two verses and then expand them into an entire book by padding them out with my own ideas. You are beginning a journey to discover what the Apostle Matthew said that Jesus taught about discipleship, **not** what I or any other merely human author thinks discipleship ought to be. Think of me as a fellow student; Jesus is the teacher. I just want to share with you what I learned from Matthew who learned it from our mutual Master.

I'm going to quote from the New King James version because I like it. You can follow along in any other translation or paraphrase that you prefer. The concepts presented will be the same.

Along the way let's see how the discipleship training that Jesus practiced two thousand years ago compares to what goes on in modern American churches today. How do we stack up against the teachings of the Master?

As we look at Matthew we may not like what we see. A lot of readers are going to undoubtedly disagree with many of my observations. Some of them are going to think all I want to do is attack the Church and tear it down. But that's not true. I see problems and I see a solution. I want to build up the Church, reform it and restore it to what it once was: an organization designed to make and train disciples. The problem is that the modern Christian church in America today is not organized with that as its primary goal. We **say** that we are, but if you look at the way we actually **do** things and **the practical effect** of what we teach and **how** we teach it, most churches fall very short of the mark Jesus set for us at His ascension. We don't understand what it really means to be one of His disciples.

Now, if that makes you want to toss this book aside snarling, "that author is an apostate bent on destroying the Church as I see it," consider: isn't that exactly the same thing that first century Jews said when Paul preached Christ to them as the Messiah? They denied that the Jewish council could possibly have been wrong to reject Jesus. They clung to what the synagogues had been teaching them all their lives about the Messiah coming as a conquering king and attacked Paul as a heretic and blasphemer. He was beaten and stoned and run out of town, over and over again.

The Bible says that eventually Paul traveled to the city of Berea and began to preach the Gospel there in the synagogue. Those Jews soon realized that what he was teaching was different from what they were used to hearing, but instead of rejecting it outright as the Jews in other cities had done, they checked his teachings against what the Scriptures had to say, "to see if those things were so." The result was that many of them discovered the Truth and were saved.

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And the brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea. They, when they arrived, went into the synagogue of the Jews.

And these were more noble than those of Thessalonica, in that they received the Word with all readiness of mind and searched the Scriptures daily to see if those things were so.

Therefore many of them believed, and quite a few of honorable Greek women and men. (Acts 17:10-13)

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I urge you not to reject my message but instead to examine the scriptures with me and see if those things are so. Because if they are, then the Church is in trouble and it's up to us to do something about it.

How Jesus Chose His Disciples

The first three chapters of Matthew concern Jesus' genealogy, birth and upbringing. It wouldn't be a bad idea to read those chapters and I encourage you to do so, but in the interest of staying on topic we're going to skip ahead to the section in chapter four which first mentions the disciples.

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Matthew 4:13-22

And leaving Nazareth, He [Jesus] came and lived in Capernaum, which is on the seacoast, in the borders of Zebulun and Naphtali, (14) so that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying, (15) "The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, by way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the nations! (16) The people who sat in darkness saw a great Light; and Light has sprung up to those who sat in the region and shadow of death." (17) From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, Repent! For the kingdom of Heaven is at hand. (18) And walking by the Sea of Galilee, Jesus saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea. For they were fishermen. (19) And He said to them, Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men. (20) And they immediately left their nets and followed him. (21) And going on from there, he saw another two brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets. And He called them; (22) and they immediately left the boat and their father and followed Him.

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We see from this that at the very beginning of his ministry, right after he first began preaching, Jesus began recruiting his disciples. Making disciples was an integral part of his ministry. They were there right from the beginning.

Notice the method of recruitment: he went to where they were at work and chose them. **Jesus chose them** , not the other way around. We tend to think of the Kingdom of God as a voluntary organization. After all, don't evangelists encourage **us** to "make a decision" for Jesus? It's as if it's all up to us; we are the ones making the decision, after all, right? But that's not how it really is. He chose us.

God is not willing that any should perish, so He's sent out to each of us a draft notice. Some of us respond and report for duty. But most of the people of the world are simply draft dodgers trying to avoid the call of God.

Remember Paul's words in Ephesians 1:3-6:

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Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Christ; (4) according as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, (5) having predestined us to the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, (6) to the praise of the glory of His grace, in which He has made us accepted in the One having been loved.

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Now, I'm not trying to push any Calvinist theology here. I'm quite familiar with that although I happen to believe in Free Will. But the fact of the matter is that the Lord chose us to be his disciples; He chose everyone:

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2 Peter 3:9

The Lord is not slow concerning His promise, as some count slowness, but is long-suffering toward us, not purposing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

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Unfortunately not everyone responds as they should. But we should keep the idea in mind that He chose us, both the keep ourselves from becoming too high-minded about our relationship and too low-minded.

Remember: Jesus initiated the relationship, not you. Don't start thinking how superior you are to all those other unfortunate sinners out there. But for the grace of God you'd be right there lost alongside them.

But on the other hand, God sought you out: don't make the opposite error and think that you're not valuable. The God of the Universe loves you and knows your name. That means you're somebody.

Continue on in the passage we are studying in Matthew and notice what Jesus did with his disciples.

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Matthew 4:23-25

And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people. (24) And His fame went throughout all Syria. And they brought to Him all those being badly ill suffering various diseases and torments, and those who had been possessed with demons, and those who had been moonstruck, and paralytics. And He healed them. (25) And great multitudes of people followed Him, from Galilee and Decapolis and Jerusalem and Judea and beyond Jordan.

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He didn't send His disciples to seminary or Bible School or a seminar. He took them right out into the world and they went to work right alongside him. Being a disciple is on-the-job training. We learn by doing. You see the same thing in martial arts _dojos_. I've never seen one yet with a chalkboard in front of a row of desks.

Continue reading in Matthew 5:1-10:

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And seeing the multitudes, He went up into a mountain. And when He had 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 they that mourn! For they shall be comforted. (5) Blessed are the meek! For they shall inherit the earth. (6) Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness! For they shall be filled. (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 the sons of God. (10) Blessed are they who have been persecuted for righteousness sake! For theirs is the kingdom of Heaven.

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Even though great multitudes were following him, Jesus took his disciples up into the mountains for special training. If we want to be the best disciples we can be we need to try to get all the special training we can get. You can see this same principle in the martial arts. The best students are always the ones who are there the most. They're the ones who go to the extra training sessions, the seminars, and conventions. Many of them may even be students of several different techniques. The students who become masters are also the same ones who are participating in tournaments along the way. The students who merely show up for one class a week, never make much progress and rarely accomplish anything.

In his first lesson Jesus gives his disciples a quick summary of the course he is about to take them through, presenting the principles he intends to elaborate upon over the next three years. Observe these principles in action in the chapters that follow as the disciples go through their training with the Master.

Disciples are persecuted

Matthew 5:11-12

Blessed are you when men shall revile you and persecute you, and shall say all kinds of evil against you falsely, for My sake. (12) Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for your reward in Heaven is great. For so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

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Real disciples also get persecuted just like Jesus was persecuted.

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John 15:17-20

(17) These things I command you, that you love one another.

(18) If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you.

(19) If you were of the world, the world would love its own. But because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.

(20) Remember the word that I said to you, The servant is not greater than his master. If they have persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they have kept My saying, they will also keep yours.

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However, if you think you're a disciple of Jesus but nobody picks on you, it's probably because nobody has noticed anything in you that would make them think that you're a disciple. Notice what Jesus said in verse nineteen above: "If you were of the world, the world would love its own. But because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hates you."

What does it mean to be "not of the world?"

Does being "not of the world" mean that we are to be beacons of righteousness demonstrating perfection to the filthy sinners of the world by our quiet lives of persistent dedication to the things of God? Or as those around us might put it: arrogant self-righteous holy rollers that are "so heavenly minded that they're no earthly good." Does that sound like a good description of Jesus or His disciples?

No, The world will not persecute us because we are arrogant, prideful, self-righteous jerks like the Pharisees, but because we are like Jesus. Remember verse eleven of Matthew chapter five: "Blessed are you when men shall revile you and persecute you, and shall say all kinds of evil against you falsely, for My sake."

Our life and actions should be so much like Jesus that the world will want to deal with us in the same way that it dealt with Him. What it means to be not of the world is that we are to be so completely different and alien that we stand out unmistakably from the crowd. Ask yourself: do your life and actions make you stand out from those around you at church and work or school? Do your neighbors think you're "weird" but in a good way? Or do you just blend in with everybody else?

Is being a Christian your secret identity?

Being a Disciple Changes You

Matthew 5:13-16

You are the salt of the earth, but if the salt loses its savor, with what shall it be salted? It is no longer good for anything, but to be thrown out and to be trodden underfoot by men. (14) You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. (15) Nor do men light a lamp and put it under the grain-measure, but on a lampstand. And it gives light to all who are in the house. (16) Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in Heaven.

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We're supposed to be a beacon and demonstrate the love of God to mankind through our actions. We're supposed to be different; otherwise what's the point of being a disciple? But if you're not any different; if being a follower of Christ hasn't changed your life, then maybe you're not really following Jesus.

Repent is an old-fashioned word that you don't hear much these days, rarely in church and never outside it. It basically means to turn. When a person repents he turns from the way he was going with his life and takes a new path. Jesus refers to "the way that leads to destruction" (Matthew 7:13) and contrasts that with "the way that leads to life." To repent means to turn from the one path to the other. If you want to change your destination you need to change the path you're on.

On the other hand we hear a lot of talk about "having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ" and "accepting Christ" into your life. These terms can be misleading. I think the old word "repent" was better.

You can have a personal relationship with someone and be unchanged by it. We do this with our co-workers all the time. I used to manage a fast-food restaurant. My employees changed constantly, coming and going like the tide. I was friendly to them. I knew their names and interests, which ones were dating who, and what clubs and pastimes were important to them. It was important to have a relationship like that. If I needed to call someone in to work on Sunday morning it was good to know who's going to be in church so I didn't waste my time trying to get hold of them. I needed to know who was on a sports team and wasn't going to be able to work Friday night because he had a game or that Bob and Linda are dating and if I schedule them on the same shift together they'll spend more time flirting with each other than actually working.

But having that kind of relationship with them didn't change me. When the person quit after a few weeks or months, someone else would replace him and the burgers would continue to be flipped. Life went on pretty much the same.

We see this same sort of personal relationship among people in the church today. They show up Sunday morning and go through the ritual: have a nice cup of coffee and a donut, say "hi" to the folks, sing a hymn or two, nod through the sermon and then go home, the same old, same old. Nothing changes, neither the person behind the hymnbook nor the world outside.

People seem to think that "accepting Christ" is like accepting a gift, and maybe in some ways it is. But the problem is, most people treat it like the gift they got from Aunt Sadie last Christmas: that itchy wool sweater with the arms that are a little too long? They put it on and change the way they appear, maybe look a bit more neat and presentable. But after a while either they get bored with it or they put on a few pounds and it doesn't really fit anymore, so it ends up back in the closet and only gets worn on special occasions like Christmas and Easter (when Aunt Sadie's around.)

This is why people drift away from the church. They 'accept Christ', but they don't repent. They pray a little prayer of acceptance and then go on just like they did before. They're the same old person in a new sweater. Sometimes after a while they decide they like the feel and the cut of a different garment and end up at the Mormons, or the Methodists or the Moonies or someplace else, at least for a little while until they drift off further down the Road to Destruction again. **Praying a little prayer of acceptance is meaningless unless it leads to genuine change in your life**.

Now, some of you are going to be offended at this point because I put the Methodists in the same category with the Mormons and Moonies. (The Mormons would probably be offended, too.)

But I did that for a reason. Yeah, I know that the Methodists are a Christian church, and that they've got the same gospel we have. As a matter of fact I went to a Methodist church when I was a kid, so I know all about them. But it doesn't matter: Adventist, Baptist, Charismatic, Disciples of Christ, Episcopal, Lutheran, Methodist or whatever denomination you like, Protestant and Catholic, every church is full of people who are going straight to hell when they die.

"But how can you say that!"

Well, I didn't come up with it on my own:

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Matthew 7:21-29

Not everyone who says to Me, Lord! Lord! shall enter the kingdom of Heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in Heaven. (22) Many will say to Me in that day, Lord! Lord! Did we not prophesy in Your name, and through Your name throw out demons, and through Your name do many wonderful works? (23) And then I will say to them I never knew you! Depart from Me, those working lawlessness! (24) Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on a rock. (25) And the rain came down, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house. And it did not fall, for it was founded on a rock. (26) And everyone who hears these sayings of Mine and does not do them shall be compared to a foolish man who built his house on the sand. (27) And the rain came down, and the floods came, and the wind blew and beat on that house. And it fell, and great was its fall. (28) And it happened, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at His doctrine. (29) For He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.

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Churches, your church, my church is filled with people who've gone through the motions of accepting Jesus, who think that all they need to do is mumble a little prayer and they're saved.

I know. I used to be one of those people.

But there's more to being a disciple than just saying a little prayer. We have to repent, get off of the path we've been following and onto a new one:

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Matthew 3:1-3

In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, Repent, for the kingdom of Heaven is at hand. For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying, "The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord, make His paths straight."

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In the Bible every time someone repents and begins to follow God they are changed. They're no longer the same person.

Moses messed up his life so bad he ended up a fugitive from justice, a murderer, herding sheep on the backside of the desert, too afraid of Pharaoh to even speak directly to him. (Exodus chapter 4) But he was changed and became a mighty man of God challenging Pharaoh to his face and becoming the leader of a nation.

Gideon changed from being a coward into a successful military leader. (Judges chapter 6)

Trying to keep a low profile at Jesus' trial, Peter denies that he even knows him, not just once but three times. But after the resurrection he became a new person. His whole attitude changed so radically that he went down to the temple to preach, the most public location in the city, the one high-profile place where the authorities who murdered Jesus just days before couldn't help but notice him.

Paul went from being leader of a lynch mob trying to stamp out Christianity to being the foremost missionary spreading Christianity and a victim of many such mobs himself.

Again and again we see people undergo radical change after they truly begin to follow God. Now, here's the hard part: examine your own testimony. Is there any difference between before you 'accepted' Christ and now? If you're like most people in any church, the answer is probably no. There's little more change than putting on that itchy sweater, and for the same reason - deep down inside you're still the same person.

Second Corinthians 5:17 says, "So that if any one is in Christ, that one is a new creature; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new."

Yet it's a statistical fact that the average churchgoer leads not even one other person to Christ in their lifetime. [from www.barna.org] Is this any wonder if the typical church member's 'relationship' with Christ has made no more difference in their lives than their relationship with their Aunt Sadie? If Christianity has made no essential difference in your life, why should anyone else want to bother with it?

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Second Corinthians 13:3-5:

Since you seek a proof of Christ speaking in me (who is not weak toward you, but is powerful in you; (4) for even if He was crucified out of weakness, yet He lives by the power of God. For indeed even we are weak in Him, but we shall live with Him by the power of God toward you), (5) examine yourselves, whether you are in the faith, prove your own selves. Do you not know your own selves, that Jesus Christ is in you, unless you are reprobates?

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Examine your life. Has your relationship with Christ made a difference? Are you truly a "new creation?"

If not, then it's time to repent; it's time to turn from your own way and follow God.

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Isaiah 53:6: All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, each one to his own way; and Jehovah has laid on Him (Christ) the iniquity of us all.

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Do you find church a bore? Or is it a whirlwind of social activities of no more significance than membership in the Elks Club or the VFW? Do you attend Sunday worship out of a sense of duty, because 'it's the right thing to do on Sunday morning?' Do you wish the sermons were shorter and donut time was longer? Do you ever wonder why in other countries where Christianity is illegal that Christians risk imprisonment or death to participate in such a dull, unsatisfying activity as studying the Bible?

Maybe it's because they're on a different road? Maybe it's time to turn back from the way you're going and seek the narrow road that leads to life: a changed life. Because without that change you will never achieve what Jesus your master expects of you.

What do Disciples Study?

Notice what else Jesus taught his disciples: He taught them the principles of the Kingdom of Heaven. Where do we find these principles? In the Bible.

No one can be an effective disciple of Jesus without a thorough knowledge of Scripture.

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Matthew 5:17-19

(17) Do not think that I have come to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I have not come to destroy but to fulfill. (18) For truly I say to you, Till the heaven and the earth pass away, not one jot or one tittle shall in any way pass from the Law until all is fulfilled. (19) Therefore whoever shall relax one of these commandments, the least, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of Heaven. But whoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of Heaven.

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Paul in Second Timothy warns that only a good understanding of the Scriptures can prevent our being deceived by evil wolves who seek to lead us astray. This is especially important in these days of post-modern philosophy and situational ethics with the constant stream of New Age revelations and alternative gospels that are discussed and constantly promoted in the media. Notice what Paul says in 2 Timothy 3:13-17:

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But evil men and seducers will go forward to worse, deceiving and being deceived. (14) But continue in the things that you have learned and have been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, (15) and that from a babe you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. (16) All Scripture is God-breathed, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, (17) that the man of God may be perfected, thoroughly furnished to every good work.

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Knowledge of Scripture is "profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness" so that we might become perfected and able to do the good works that Jesus expects of his disciples.

**Good disciples study the Bible**.

Unfortunately, in today's churches in America people do a lot of studying but not much of it actually involves the Bible. Many of the latest "devotional" books and study material are long on the author's opinions and rather short of Biblical references. I recently read a new book on discipleship that ran to 197 pages but rarely quoted or examined more than a couple of verses per chapter. In this day of rampant Biblical ignorance it seems to me a crime to neglect the study of the Bible in favor of "inspirational" books. No matter how good the author, he's not an Apostle and his words aren't divinely inspired and are not "profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness" so that we might become perfected and able to do the good works that Jesus expects of his disciples.

According to the Barna Research Group, the majority of American Christians today (not just people who attend church but people who profess a personal relationship with Christ) believe that the Bible teaches that "God helps those who help themselves", that if a person is good they can earn their way to heaven and that neither the Holy Spirit nor Satan are real, living entities, but are only symbolic of good and evil. [Growing True Disciples, pages 68-69] Reading the full report in chapter four of Barna's book of the mishmash of secular humanist and New Age philosophy that's considered true by even large minorities of American Christians is a nightmare, and most of it has grown up over just the last generation.

The MAJORITY of American Christians are so biblically ignorant that they believe all sorts of heresies and don't realize it. But is this their fault? Or is it the fault of the church for not requiring them to participate in any systematic training in doctrine?

**Good disciples study the Bible**.

What does Jesus expect of his disciples?

Matthew 5:20-48:

For I say to you that unless your righteousness shall exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall in no case enter into the kingdom of Heaven.

(21) You have heard that it was said to the ancients, "You shall not kill" --and, "Whoever shall kill shall be liable to the judgment."

(22) But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be liable to the judgment. And whoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be liable to the sanhedrin; but whoever shall say, Fool! shall be liable to be thrown into the fire of hell.

(23) Therefore if you offer your gift on the altar, and there remember that your brother has anything against you,

(24) leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.

(25) Agree with your adversary quickly, while you are in the way with him; that the opponent not deliver you to the judge, and the judge deliver you to the officer, and you be thrown into prison.

(26) Truly I say to you, You shall by no means come out from there until you have paid the last kodrantes.

(27) You have heard that it was said to the ancients, "You shall not commit adultery."

(28) But I say to you that whoever looks on a woman to lust after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

(29) And if your right eye offends you, pluck it out and throw it from you. For it is profitable for you that one of your members should perish, and not that your whole body should be thrown into hell.

(30) And if your right hand offends you, cut it off and throw it from you. For it is profitable for you that one of your members should perish, and not that your whole body should be thrown into hell.

(31) It was also said, Whoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a bill of divorce.

(32) But I say to you that whoever shall put away his wife, except for the cause of fornication, causes her to commit adultery. And whoever shall marry her who is put away commits adultery.

(33) Again, you have heard that it has been said to the ancients, "You shall not swear falsely, but you shall perform your oaths to the Lord."

(34) But I say to you, Do not swear at all! Not by Heaven, because it is God's throne;

(35) not by the earth, for it is the footstool of His feet; not by Jerusalem, because it is the city of the great King;

(36) nor shall you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black.

(37) But let your word be, Yes, yes; No, no. For whatever is more than these comes from evil.

(38) You have heard that it was said, "An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth."

(39) But I say to you, Do not resist evil. But whoever shall strike you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also.

(40) And to him desiring to sue you, and to take away your tunic, let him have your coat also.

(41) And whoever shall compel you to go a mile, go with him two.

(42) Give to him who asks of you, and you shall not turn away from him who would borrow from you.

(43) You have heard that it was said, "You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy."

(44) But I say to you, Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who despitefully use you and persecute you,

(45) so that you may become sons of your Father in Heaven. For He makes His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.

(46) For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax-collectors do the same?

(47) And if you greet your brothers only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax-collectors do so?

(48) Therefore be perfect, even as your Father in Heaven is perfect.

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Whoa! Jesus expects us to be **perfect**? How can he expect that from us? Isn't that just a little bit unreasonable?

On our own we haven't a hope in hell (literally) of achieving perfection. But through following Christ as disciples he will make us perfect.

### * * *

Colossians 1:21-29

(21) And you, who were once alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled

(22) in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy and without blemish, and without charge in His sight,

(23) if indeed you continue in the faith grounded and settled, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which you have heard and which was proclaimed in all the creation under Heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister,

(24) who now rejoice in my sufferings on your behalf, and I fill up the things lacking of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh, on behalf of His body, which is the church;

(25) of which I became a minister, according to the administration of God given to me for you, to fulfill the Word of God;

(26) the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints.

(27) For to them God would make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the nations, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory,

(28) whom we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, so that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus.

(29) For which I also labor, striving according to the working of Him who works in me in power.

### * * *

It is Christ in us that makes us perfect. Notice in the passage from Colossians above Paul uses the present tense; we are already perfect. It's not something that we work our way up to. In this case practice does NOT make perfect. As far as God is concerned, I am already perfect "according to the working of Him who works in me in power."

Some church organizations stress holiness and the performance of good works to achieve perfection. They teach that disciples must act holy, not sin and continually do good works in order to work their way to the perfection that God desires of us. But how does that square with Hebrews 10:10-14?

### * * *

Hebrews 10:10-14

(10) By this will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

(11) And indeed every priest stands daily ministering and offering often the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins.

(12) But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right of God,

(13) from then on expecting until His enemies are made His footstool.

(14) For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are sanctified.

### * * *

We are perfect both now and forever. But do we always act like we're perfect? No, not always. We still sin, but that sin has been forgiven. As it says in verse twelve above, Jesus offered ONE sacrifice that atones for all our sins FOREVER. There's nothing more that we can or should do to achieve this: we're already perfect.

Now, some people would point down the page to Hebrews 10:26 as a proof that Christians should no longer sin and that if they do, that they can lose their salvation, or that they will not achieve the perfection or holiness that God requires. But is that what that verse actually says? Let's do as the Bereans would have done and look at it IN CONTEXT and see if those things are so:

### * * *

Hebrews 10:26-31

(26) For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more sacrifice for sins,

(27) but a certain fearful looking for judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.

(28) He who despised Moses' Law died without mercy on the word of two or three witnesses.

(29) Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy of punishment, the one who has trampled the Son of God, and who has counted the blood of the covenant with which he was sanctified an unholy thing, and has insulted the Spirit of grace?

(30) For we know Him who has said, "Vengeance belongs to Me, I will repay, says the Lord." And again, "The Lord shall judge His people."

(31) It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

### * * *

It says that if we continue to sin after receiving the knowledge of the truth that we have nothing to look forward to but judgment and fiery indignation. But what does verse twenty-nine refer to? Who is "the one who has trampled the Son of God, and who has counted the blood of the covenant with which he was sanctified an unholy thing, and has insulted the Spirit of grace?" Does this sound like a description of a Christian disciple who commits a sin?

No, this is a reference to someone who has heard the Gospel (received the knowledge of the truth) and then rejected it, trampling the Son of God and spurning the blood of the covenant. This whole passage does not refer to Christians who don't act as if they should, but to unbelievers who reject the sacrifice of Christ.

Those who believe that Christians must also "be good" and work to achieve perfection or holiness are simply teaching that Christ's sacrifice on the cross was insufficient to cleanse all their sin, for all time, forever, as Hebrews 10:12 clearly says. Those who do so "insult the Spirit of grace" and put themselves in an impossible position. Consider James 2:10: "For whoever shall keep the whole Law and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all." God doesn't grade on a curve. It's pass/fail and if you miss one question you fail the whole exam. Does this sound like we can ever possibly hope to achieve perfection on our own without Christ?

And it's worse than just that, for Christ didn't say in Matthew 5:48 to work on being perfect, He said to BE perfect, present tense. He didn't give us a lifetime to work our way up to it. (Not that we could achieve that on our own even if we had eternity to do it in.)

We don't have to be sinless to achieve perfection. Our stupid actions when we sin do not negate the blood of Christ or mar our perfection in God's eyes. What did the Apostle John teach about Christians sinning?

### * * *

1 John 1:7-10

(7) But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.

(8) If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

(9) If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

(10) If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His Word is not in us.

### * * *

1 John 2:1-6

(1) My little children, I write these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.

(2) And He is the propitiation concerning our sins, and not concerning ours only, but also concerning the sins of all the world.

(3) And by this we know that we have known Him, if we keep His commandments.

(4) He who says, I have known Him, and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.

(5) But whoever keeps His Word, truly in this one the love of God is perfected. By this we know that we are in Him.

(6) He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk even as He walked.

### * * *

All Christians sooner or later do things that they shouldn't, but that doesn't affect their relationship with God. We're still perfect because the blood of Jesus cleanses us from ALL sin. We may not sometimes ACT perfect but we are perfected. And along the way we try to keep His Word and commandments, not to achieve perfection (which we already have through the blood sacrifice of Christ) but because we want to please our Lord, for "He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk even as He walked."

Over the centuries religious people have erred in both directions about this teaching. They seem to alternate between teaching that we MUST keep the Law of Moses or some variant of it in order to purchase our own salvation, thus rendering pointless and trampling on Christ's death on the cross, or they teach that since Christ's death was sufficient to save us that now there's absolutely nothing whatsoever further expected of us. This is true to a point. There is nothing further that we can do to improve on our salvation or to achieve perfection. We're already perfect. But there IS something more that Jesus expects of His disciples....

Disciples do good works

Once we have been transformed and become true disciples, not just passive "pew polishers" who think that they have merely secured their "fire insurance," then we can truly begin to practice the exercises that our Master has set out for us to learn. But what did Jesus expect his disciples to do? Let's continue to read in Matthew from where we left off:

### * * *

Matthew 6:1-4

(1) Take heed that you do not do your merciful deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward with your Father in Heaven.

(2) Therefore when you do your merciful deeds, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may have glory from men. Truly I say to you, They have their reward.

(3) But when you do merciful deeds, do not let your left hand know what your right hand does,

(4) so that your merciful deeds may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret Himself shall reward you openly.

### * * *

Notice that it says when you do your merciful deeds, not "if" you do them. Just as Jesus expects his disciples to be perfect, he expects them to do good deeds. But he also doesn't want us to get a big head about it. Just do what everyone ought to be doing and then get on with your life. Don't expect rewards for your "good" deeds.

You get a reward for doing something "extra", something beyond what is merely required. But God created mankind with the expectation that we would all do good deeds. Somewhere along the way from Adam and Eve we've lost sight of this. In this wicked world of ours where just being ignored is often more than people can hope for, any sort of compassionate help is now considered "extra credit." But that's not how it's supposed to be. We're supposed to be compassionate, to "do unto others as you would have them do unto you" and "love your neighbor as yourself."

Look what Jesus says that he expects his disciples to do:

### * * *

Mark 16:15-18

(15) And He said to them, Go into all the world, proclaim the gospel to all the creation.

(16) He who believes and is baptized will be saved, but he who does not believe will be condemned.

(17) And miraculous signs will follow to those believing these things: in My name they will cast out demons; they will speak new tongues;

(18) they will take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them. They will lay hands on the sick, and they will be well.

### * * *

Does this sound like an accurate description of what has been happening in your church lately?

It's no wonder that so many young people who are interested in spiritual power these days are turning to Wicca rather than to the Christian church. They don't see anything more going on in our churches than they could find in a fairly active retirement home. We have regular socials and potlucks and gather every Sunday for a sing-along and an inspirational message. Spiritual warfare is a thing of the past. Instead of confronting evil we pray and hope God will do something about it. Millions of babies are murdered every year in abortions and we don't even picket the clinics anymore. It becomes illegal to pray in schools, so we file a lawsuit and hope the courts will be fair. Indian gambling casinos open all over the country and we don't say a thing. Poverty, starvation and AIDS rampant in Africa? Rock stars seem more effective at dealing with it than most Christian organizations. On a scale of spiritual power, as far as our secular society is concerned the church doesn't even register. This is a complete turnaround from times past.

In the old days the archenemy of Evil was always seen as the Christian church, even by secular society. In old popular books and movies the cross was a weapon that could vanquish evil and ward off monsters. You can see the change in the way society thinks of Christians and Christianity by looking at the change in the way vampires and their opponents have been portrayed in the popular media.

### The decline of Christianity and of good vampire movies

Since I was a kid I've always enjoyed a good vampire movie. I mean, what's not to like about them? You get a dark, thoroughly evil villain terrorizing some community, then, just when all seems lost, the heroes step up and save the day and everybody (except Count Dracula) lives happily ever after. But I've noticed over the years that the movies have changed both in the way vampires are portrayed, but also the nature of the heroes and the way the plots play out.

Vampires make excellent villains because there's really nothing likable about them. They eat people, after all, and seem to prefer to snack on young, pretty women. But the thing that makes them stand out from other cinematic villains is their supernatural aspect. Frankenstein was just another monster, and King Kong just a big ape. But vampires are immortal and can be harmed by only a few things: garlic, sunlight, holy water, the cross, communion wafers and the spoken Word of God. While pretty much anything can be killed by stabbing it through the heart with a wooden stake, that's about the only way to kill a vampire. They're completely immune to ordinary weapons like swords and gunfire. An angry mob of villagers with torches and pitchforks won't hesitate to set out after Frankenstein's monster, but where vampires are concerned they'll rush home and bolt their shutters instead. (The recent movie Van Helsing has a graphic example of this in its opening scene.)

If you notice, most of the things vampires are vulnerable to are not only supernatural in nature, but most are specific to Christianity. I remember one movie I saw as a kid where a guy pulled out a star of David and tried to ward the vampire off with it: it didn't work. While that movie played it for laughs, it also made a good point: vampire movies demonstrate the power of the Gospel of Christ **alone** to defend against Evil.

As a big fan of such movies I spent many a late night or Saturday afternoon watching Bella Lugosi or Christopher Lee being hunted down and staked. Many of the movies featured overt religious symbols and themes. **The Satanic Rites of Dracula** featured an attempt by a satanic cult to seize control of Britain and bring on the apocalypse by unleashing a biological weapon. In the end the plan was foiled by agents of British Intelligence but only with the help of Professor Van Helsing, a scholarly vampire hunter who quotes from the Bible. In the final scene of the movie, the evil plan has been foiled, the cultists have perished from their own plague weapon and Dracula pursues the professor into the night seeking his revenge. The professor lures him into a thicket where Dracula is severely wounded in an encounter with a hawthorn bush. He ends up with a branch entangled about his head like a crown of thorns, sprawled spread-eagled at the professor's feet, arms outstretched as if he's being crucified. The professor stabs him in the heart with a wooden stake from a handy nearby picket fence, jabbing it into Dracula's left side in an upward motion reminiscent of the actions of the Roman centurion testing whether Christ was still alive during the crucifixion, an obvious religious allusion and reference to the death of Christ on the cross as a way of vanquishing Evil.

The most effective weapons used against vampires are all related to Christianity: communion wafers, holy water, crosses, etc. The thorns of the hawthorn bush are reputed to be especially effective; the hawthorn is the plant used for Christ's crown of thorns. This is why I like vampire movies: the victims invariably find that they can't cope with the evil in their lives on their own and they are forced to turn to God for assistance, aid that always results in the defeat and destruction of the Evil One after everything else has failed.

At least until recently.

In the last twenty years or so a new generation has grown up in our thoroughly secular society and are remaking the vampire genre. Probably the most famous of these new vampire hunters is Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The original Buffy movie was a comedy that parodied the old vampire movies. The hero wasn't some old crusty professor with a library full of books on the occult. She was a bubble-headed blonde high school cheerleader.

The original movie was silly. (It was difficult to take seriously when Paul Rubens, aka Peewee Herman, played one of the vampires.) But the TV series it spun off was serious. It played for years and eventually spun off another series: Angel, about a vampire who "gained a soul" and switched sides, choosing to fight against evil.

These and other recent movies like From Dusk 'till Dawn, Blade and Bloodrayne, are similar in that everything having to do with Christianity has been neatly edited out. There are no priests or communion wafers. Crosses still work but the heroes seldom employ them, preferring simple wooden stakes or arrows. The typical hero has turned from a scholarly academic who employs ancient scripture as a weapon, into a young martial artist who kicks vampire butt by being even tougher and stronger than they are.

Without Christianity, the heroes are invariably forced to turn to the Dark Side, fighting wickedness with its own weapons, even turning to the vampires themselves for assistance. In the new Buffy the Vampire Slayer the heroes include a reformed vampire, a Wiccan witch (who is also a lesbian) and an occultist wizard. They fight vampire magic with more magic. Their tame vampire defeats the enemy vampires because he's stronger or tougher than they are. In the movies Blade and Bloodrayne the champion against evil is a half-human/half-vampire hybrid.

The movies themselves are also bad, not so much wicked but poorly made. The plots have holes you can drive a moving van through, the violence is graphic, gratuitous and cartoonish with blood spurting by the gallon from every wound. But the worst thing about them is that the "heroes" aren't.

What I mean is, they aren't heroes. They really aren't any different than the villains, not in the way they fight, or even the way they dress. They triumph in the end not because of supernatural assistance but because they are badder and meaner than the villains. In Bloodrayne the movie ends with the female half-vampire 'heroine' seating herself on the throne of the evil vampire king they had just spent the whole movie overthrowing with the implication being that now it's her turn to rule. Meanwhile, all the other "good guys" are dead: everyone from the monks that guarded the ancient 'magical' vampire bones (no religious relics here!) to the "Brimstone" secret society organized to fight the vampires.

In the TV show Angel the message was even clearer. The series ended with every single one of the heroes going down to certain death at the hands of the bad guys. The moral of the modern vampire movie is: embrace the Darkness. In the end, evil always wins; why fight it?

The two sides are almost indistinguishable from each other. The only difference is that the bad guys are all universally ugly, uncool and rather stupid. The new movies treat good and evil almost as if they have no more significance than a person's preference for a particular sports team or flavor of ice cream.

This message comes directly from our secular society. They don't, can't, believe in anything supernatural: evil, yes, but not supernatural. Somehow in the transition to a thoroughly secular society Satan made the switch, but God got left behind. We can believe in monsters that drink human blood. But our salvation can't come from someone who shed his blood for us in an act more supernatural than anything found in any vampire movie.

Think of it: the crucifixion was where a man who could perform miracles that outclass the magic of any sorcerer was murdered by an illegal government conspiracy worthy of the X-Files. Dozens of prophecies were fulfilled; the sun became dark as sackcloth. The Bible says when Christ died there was an earthquake and that the dead came back to life and walked the streets of Jerusalem testifying to the power of God. (Matthew 27:51-53) Then three days later Christ himself rose from the dead, not as a zombie but fully human, even more than human, with the power to walk through walls. The soldiers guarding his tomb fled from the sight of beings from the spirit world, but their testimony was covered up in another conspiracy that continues to this very day. (see Matthew 28)

But today our secular society has no more use for that than they do for old Professor Van Helsing. They look around at a world filled with violence and despair, full of terrorism, poverty and crime, shrug and just give in to the darkness. Yet, just like those old-fashioned heroes in the Saturday matinees, we have hope. We can count on supernatural resources that the rest of the world doesn't know about or even understand.

We need to take Professor Van Helsing as our example, and confront evil wherever it presents itself and show the despairing world that there is hope, that we needn't have to give in to fear and surrender to the Evil One. Satan's power is just as constricted as that of Count Dracula and by the same force: the cross of Christ.

But just as in those old movies, if we just sit around at home in safety, selfishly clutching our crucifix and garlic, the rest of the world will perish and the Prince of Darkness will triumph. We need to get off of our sofas and out of our comfortable church pews and into the world and spread the good news that there is hope so that evil cannot and will not triumph. Each of us has a part to play in this drama.

Will you step up and be the hero you were meant to be?

Disciples Pray

I don't think it's any coincidence that right after Jesus tells his disciples that they need to be out in the world doing good deeds that he then begins to teach them how to pray. If we are going to be out working in this wicked world we need to know how to protect ourselves.

### * * *

Matthew 6:5-13:

(5) And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, They have their reward.

(6) But you, when you pray, enter into your room. And shutting your door, pray to your Father in secret; and your Father who sees in secret shall reward you openly.

(7) But when you pray, do not babble vain words, as the nations. For they think that in their much speaking they shall be heard.

(8) Therefore do not be like them, for your Father knows what things you have need of, before you ask Him.

(9) Therefore pray in this way: Our Father, who is in Heaven, Hallowed be Your name.

(10) Your kingdom come, Your 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 forgive our debtors.

(13) And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil. For Yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.

### * * *

Here's Jesus' lesson on prayer, and it's pretty simple. His whole example prayer only lasts five verses. He teaches: first don't make a big issue of praying, just pray quietly to yourself. And don't make a long, flowery speech like your Uncle Bennie always does at Thanksgiving, like he thinks he's the Poet Laureate, or something. God knows what you need. Just get to the point. But be respectful. Ask for your necessities, like your daily bread, and forgiveness, and deliverance from temptation and protection from evil. And always remember whose kingdom it is. A good prayer doesn't have to be long. (Somebody ought to tell this to Uncle Bennie.)

Disciples don't hold grudges

After teaching them about prayer, Jesus reminded them about forgiveness:

### * * *

Matthew 6:14-15: For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; but if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

### * * *

Forgiveness is just another exercise to practice along the way to the perfection he expects of us. Remember that we're the biggest criminals imaginable, rebellious, wicked sinners, deserving and destined for an eternity of hellfire and reprieved only because of Christ's voluntary sacrifice in our place (John 3:16). We got off scot-free. If we aren't forgiving to others who've wronged us, we just set ourselves up as hypocrites.

Disciples do good works without thought of reward

Matthew 6:16-18:

(16) And when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, of a sad face. For they disfigure their faces so that they may appear to men to fast. Truly I say to you, They have their reward.

(17) But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face,

(18) so that you do not appear to men to fast, but to your Father in secret. And your Father who sees in secret shall reward you openly.

### * * *

Again we see the same lesson repeated: when you do the things you're supposed to do, don't do them in expectation of receiving a reward, do them because you're supposed to. The point of doing good deeds is not to score points for the afterlife, or to try to earn your salvation. Scripture is pretty plain that you can't earn your salvation. The Apostle Paul writes in Ephesians 2:8-10:

### * * *

(8) For by grace you are saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God,

(9) not of works, lest anyone should boast.

(10) For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to good works, which God has before ordained that we should walk in them.

### * * *

Notice that the Apostle Paul says that not only can we not earn our salvation (it's a gift) but the whole point of our being created in the first place was to do good works. That's what discipleship is all about. It's not about memorizing a few dry scripture verses from a dusty Bible. (And it wouldn't be so dusty if you used it more often.) And it's certainly not about polishing a pew once a week with your backside, singing a couple of hymns and nodding through a sermon.

Discipleship is an active lifestyle more akin to that of a martial artist in training. If that doesn't sound like your own Christian life, then maybe you're not the disciple you think you are?

The point of good works is to CHANGE us into the sort of people who do them all the time because that's what we do, not because we HAVE to or because we're looking for a reward.

As we continue reading in Matthew we see these same few teachings presented, over and over and again.

Disciples trust God to take care of them

### * * *

Matthew 6:19-23

(19) Do not lay up treasures on earth for yourselves, where moth and rust corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal.

(20) But lay up treasures in Heaven for yourselves, where neither moth nor rust corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal.

(21) For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

(22) The light of the body is the eye. Therefore if your eye is sound, your whole body shall be full of light.

(23) But if your eye is evil, your whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

### * * *

Keep your eye on the prize! Remember what this life is about. This life is Basic Training for our real life in Eternity. We're here to become the sort of people who can live in heaven without ruining the place.

Just imagine what it would be like if everyone had eternal life but no one was any different that they are on the earth right now. There's a definition for a place like that: Hell.

The earth is a beautiful place where food literally grows on trees, yet Mankind has managed over the last 6,000 years of history to create famine and slaughter and misery on such a scale that we have to have different terms for the different levels of killing men do to each other, everything from simple manslaughter through various degrees of murder all the way to genocide. We've got one word for love and a half dozen for murder. Hell could start out as a paradise and the unrepentant people trapped there for eternity would change it into a place of torment anyway. Just look at what we've managed to do to the earth. We must be changed if we are to have any hope of happiness in heaven.

And with that in mind, what sort of perspective should we have toward our jobs and bank accounts?

### * * *

Matthew 6:24-27

(24) No one can serve two masters. For either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.

(25) Therefore I say to you, Do not be anxious for your life, what you shall eat, or what you shall drink; nor for your body, what you shall put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?

(26) Behold the birds of the air; for they sow not, nor do they reap, nor gather into barns. Yet your heavenly Father feeds them; are you not much better than they are?

(27) Which of you by being anxious can add one cubit to his stature?

### * * *

Worrying about problems doesn't do anything to fix them. Notice what Jesus teaches: if you can do something about the problem, do it. If you can't, then don't worry. What's the point?

And why worry anyway? Do you think that God isn't going to take care of you? Do you think he doesn't know what's going on? Of course he does. God knows everything: omniscience is very definition of what it means to be God. Do you think after all the things he's done and all the times in the Bible where he rescued his people that he's going to abandon you now?

Ah, now we see another reason to study scripture: so we can see all the great things God has done in the past so we can KNOW that we can trust him in the future.

One time while teaching Sunday school I asked some kids for the definition of 'faith" and a little girl replied, "Believing what you know isn't true." I think far too many Christians have this same idea, that faith means believing things that we have no evidence for. Perhaps they feel that way because they are unfamiliar with the Bible and get most of their theology from whatever they can remember of the pastor's sermons and from movies like The Ten Commandments. But somehow I never find Cecil B. DeMille listed as a prophet or an apostle.

If you actually READ the Bible you will see many positive examples of how God was faithful in the past, but even better, you'll see many negative examples of how other people screwed up their own lives by not following God. There's truly nothing new under the sun and the Bible can give you tried and true perspectives on all sorts of "alternative lifestyles" and philosophies that most people think are something new.

Real disciples study the Bible.

Disciples make a priority of their mission

Matthew 6:19-21

(19) Do not lay up treasures on earth for yourselves, where moth and rust corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal.

(20) But lay up treasures in Heaven for yourselves, where neither moth nor rust corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal.

(21) For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

### * * *

True disciples of Jesus should make their life's priority the recruitment and training of new disciples. Those are the only commands Jesus gave his disciples: to live like disciples and then make more disciples of all the nations.

Everyone works at a job. You have to do something to support yourself, whether it's as a tentmaker, like the Apostle Paul, or as a purchasing agent for a landscaping contractor (like me.) Everybody does something to earn their keep and that's perfectly OK. The idea that Jesus is trying to get across here is that we aren't to take those jobs too seriously. They're just jobs: ways to make a living. Our **career** is to make disciples.

Don't get so wrapped up in making a living that you forget what our reason for being on this earth is, and it's not to max out our 401K.

### * * *

Matthew 6:22-23

(22) The light of the body is the eye. Therefore if your eye is sound, your whole body shall be full of light.

(23) But if your eye is evil, your whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

### * * *

Keep your eye on the prize. Don't get distracted by your physical needs. Isn't that the first thing Jesus listed for us to ask God for in His lesson on prayer? If your mind is on your belly it won't be on the Master's teachings.

### * * *

Matthew 6:24-34

(24) No one can serve two masters. For either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.

(25) Therefore I say to you, Do not be anxious for your life, what you shall eat, or what you shall drink; nor for your body, what you shall put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?

(26) Behold the birds of the air; for they sow not, nor do they reap, nor gather into barns. Yet your heavenly Father feeds them; are you not much better than they are?

(27) Which of you by being anxious can add one cubit to his stature?

(28) And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They do not toil, nor do they spin,

(29) but I say to you that even Solomon in his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

(30) Therefore if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much rather clothe you, little-faiths?

(31) Therefore do not be anxious, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, With what shall we be clothed?

(32) For the nations seek after all these things. For your heavenly Father knows that you have need of all these things.

(33) But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you.

(34) Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow; for tomorrow shall be anxious for its own things. Sufficient to the day is the evil of it.

### * * *

I don't know about you, but for myself, not worrying is one of the hardest parts of being a disciple. Whether it's the rent that's due, your car broke down and you don't know how you're going to pay to fix it, sickness or whatever, we get to worrying. But God is in control. He'll take care of you. I went through a bankruptcy and lost both my business and my life's savings. I lost all my money, but I never missed a single meal: God took care of my family and me; he'll do the same for you.

Part of our training as disciples is to learn to trust God. When I was in the army, as part of our training we had to cross an obstacle course. One of the obstacles was a large wooden tower about four stories tall. There was no ladder, stairs or any way to get from floor to floor and they were about eight feet apart: too high to reach out and pull yourself up. The only way to the top was by cooperation: we had to lift each other up from below, then when those people made it to the next level they reached down and pulled the rest of us up. The point of the exercise was to teach us confidence in the other members of our unit. I've always been afraid of heights and I can still remember the absolutely helpless feeling I had as I was lifted up by hands I had no control of and handed up to other hands to be pulled up onto that last, and highest fourth floor. I HAD to trust them: it was the only way up. But it sure wasn't comfortable.

And it's the same thing in our training as disciples. God is going to put us through some very unpleasant situations in order to teach us to trust Him. And just like the US Army, God seems to believe that the scarier the situation, the more effective the training. And sometimes God even uses live ammunition!

But we need to remember that God loves us and knows exactly what He's doing (unlike the army) and however things come out it's the best thing for us, even if the situation kills or cripples us.

### * * *

Romans 8:28: And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.

### * * *

Of course that doesn't mean we're necessarily going to like it at the time.

My bankruptcy was a terrible time in my life and it took a long time for me to get over it. But I look back on it now as a good thing: it showed me the bankruptcy of the road I was following and got me to change the direction of my life. You just have to hang in there through the tough times.

I remember a sermon I heard once, long ago. The pastor first read a bunch of Bible verses chosen from all over the Old Testament that didn't really seem to have anything to do with each other. The only thing they had in common was that they began or ended with the phrase "And it came to pass...." Then he preached about how we shouldn't get all stressed out about what was going on in our lives because sooner or later it's all going to pass anyway. Whether good or bad, things never seem to stay the same for long, so if you're having a rough time in your life, just wait a bit and things will get better.

Of course, being the pessimistic realist that I am (and it's not cynicism, it's experience), I also noted that if things are going well, it's probably only a matter of time before that silver lining has a cloud.

But even then, God's behind it all helping to train us to achieve that which he desires of us and that He knows that we can achieve with His help.

It's part of our training as disciples to learn how to handle setbacks and not to become obsessed with worries about a future we cannot affect in any case. When problems happen (and they will) remember what Jesus taught his disciples in Matthew chapter six: first pray (Matthew 6:11) and then leave it up to God and don't worry about how things will come out (Matthew 6:34).

Disciples put doing what's right above being "nice"

Jesus has a lot more to say about relationships in the next chapter of Matthew:

### * * *

Matthew 7:1-5

(1) Judge not, that you may not be judged.

(2) For with whatever judgment you judge, you shall be judged; and with whatever measure you measure out, it shall be measured to you again.

(3) And why do you look on the splinter that is in your brother's eye, but do not consider the beam that is in your own eye?

(4) Or how will you say to your brother, Let me pull the splinter out of your eye; and, behold, a beam is in your own eye?

(5) Hypocrite! First cast the beam out of your own eye, and then you shall see clearly to cast the splinter out of your brother's eye.

### * * *

Again we're back to being told not to be a hypocrite. Don't hold others to a higher standard than you hold yourself. Remember when you point one finger at a wicked sinner that there's three other fingers on that same hand pointing back toward you.

On the other hand, some people use this passage to teach a sort of laissez-faire gospel of live-and-let-live where no one is ever held accountable for anything. Many wolves have infiltrated the Church using this as a defense, teaching basically that regardless of their actions they are immune from criticism or correction, but that's not what this passage is saying at all.

Jesus doesn't want us to become high-minded and puffed up thinking that we're better than unbelievers just because we are disciples and they aren't. That's like a draftee looking down on a draft-dodger for not wanting to be in the army: yet neither of them was a volunteer, anyway. But that doesn't change the fact the draft-dodger is currently in the wrong.

The whole point of this passage is we should be more concerned with our own faults and about trying to correct them rather than ignoring them and obsessing about somebody else's. Our primary concern is to be with improving ourselves, not fussing over other people's failures. But **Jesus is not saying to ignore wrongdoing**.

Nowhere in Scripture does it ever say we are to ignore wrongdoing. Unfortunately the practice of the modern American church has been to ignore and whitewash all wrongdoing, sloppiness and ineffectiveness in favor of being "nice."

They tell us we're not supposed to be hurtful. "Judge not lest you be judged" is a consistent theme. "There, but for the grace of God, go I."

"Gentle Jesus, meek and mild," that's our conception of our savior: a guy who "turned the other cheek" and allowed himself to be abused, tormented, beaten and then murdered without so much as a bleat of complaint: a real pushover, as if the Church being weak and ineffectual is somehow the same as Christ being obedient and fulfilling prophecy.

"God is love" they say, as if God is some sort of great cosmic grandfather in a white beard gathering his little grandkids into his arms and saying, "there, there, don't cry. Here, have a sweet." In some minds God is the ultimate nice guy, responsible for everything good that happens: all-loving and all-forgiving. He never gets mad and he never punishes anybody.

First Corinthians chapter 13 is our life verse; love of others is what we're all about. Love trumps all the other spiritual gifts. A quick reading of chapter 13 gives one the impression that as long as you love everybody nothing else matters at all. We can just throw out the rest of the Bible and keep this one chapter.

And essentially that's what the Church has done over the last 60 years.

But what does love really mean? And is being 'nice' the sum and total of the Gospel? Were Jesus and the apostles nice? Were they non-confrontational, never critical, always brimming over with love and acceptance for everyone? They are supposed to be our examples, after all. Whatever they did is what we should do.

But when Christ talked to the Pharisees was he nice? Was he non-confrontational and uncritical? Did he "love them into the kingdom?" Let's take a look:

### * * *

Mat 23:23-33

(23) Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithes of mint and dill and cummin, and you have left undone the weightier matters of the Law, judgment, mercy, and faith. You ought to have done these and not to leave the other undone.

(24) Blind guides who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!

(25) Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of extortion and excess.

(26) Blind Pharisee! First cleanse the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of them may be clean also.

(27) Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which indeed appear beautiful outside, but inside they are full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness.

(28) Even so you also appear righteous to men outwardly, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.

(29) Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you build the tombs of the prophets, and decorate the tombs of the righteous,

(30) and say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.

(31) Therefore you are witnesses to yourselves, that you are the sons of those who killed the prophets;

(32) and you fill up the measure of your fathers.

(33) Serpents! Offspring of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell?

### * * *

Christ could never have got away with talking like that in an American church today. He'd be condemned as being unkind. The deacons would pay him a visit and try to help him understand the true meaning of love.

Again and again Jesus himself criticized the religious leaders of his day for corruption and hypocrisy. He criticized his own disciples for wrong thinking and sloth.

Old Testament prophets actually sometimes killed those who refused to repent. Elijah himself killed hundreds of false prophets in a single day:

### * * *

1 Kings 18:19: And now send and gather to me all Israel to mount Carmel, and four hundred and fifty of the prophets of Baal, and four hundred of the prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel's table.

### * * *

1 Kings 18:40: And Elijah said to them, Take the prophets of Baal. Do not let one of them escape. And they took them. And Elijah brought them down to the torrent Kishon and killed them there.

### * * *

That's hardly a live-and-let-live attitude.

But we're so caught up in 'love' and acceptance and being nice that we'll overlook almost anything in the name of unity.

And we're afraid if we offend someone they might leave the church and then we'd be responsible for them going to Hell, as if salvation can only occur within the walls of a church and as if we can take someone's salvation from them. We can do nothing whatsoever to save anyone. Only Jesus can save them and once He does, there is nothing that we can do to snatch them out of His hands. If we cannot save anyone then we also cannot do anything to cause anyone to become lost. Everybody STARTS out lost to begin with.

Proverbs 27:17 says, "As iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the face of his friend." But we're afraid if we allow any criticism in the church that the sharpening will cause sparks to fly. And it does. But guess what? You let those sparks fly and see if both of them don't end up sharper and more effective.

If, for instance, the worship service is done in a haphazard and unprofessional manner because the music director doesn't bother to provide the praise team with the music ahead of time, doesn't hold any effective practices before hand or sometimes doesn't even attend the practices himself, anyone who is dissatisfied at the quality of worship is dismissed as a 'troublemaker.' Being nice to the music director is more important than honoring God. Acceptance is more important than letting the music director know that he can do better, that his half-hearted effort isn't good enough. God forbid that his feelings might get hurt.

But what does God himself say about this half-hearted sort of worship?

### * * *

Malachi 1:6-13

(6) A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If then I am a father, where is My honor? And if I am a master, where is My fear? says Jehovah of Hosts to you, O priests who despise My name. And you say, In what way have we despised Your name?

(7) You offer defiled bread upon My altar; and you say, In what way have we defiled You? In your saying, The table of Jehovah, it is a thing to be despised.

(8) And if you offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? And if you offer the lame and the sick, is it not evil? Bring it now to your governor. Will he accept you, or lift up your face, says Jehovah of Hosts?

(9) And now entreat the face of God, that He favor us. This has been by your hands, will He lift up your faces, says Jehovah of Hosts?

(10) Who is even among you who will shut the doors, and you not kindle fire on My altar in vain! I have no pleasure in you, says Jehovah of Hosts. I will not be pleased with an offering from you.

(11) For from the rising of the sun even to its going in, My name shall be great among the nations; and everywhere incense shall be offered to My name, and a pure food offering. For My name shall be great among the nations, says Jehovah of Hosts.

(12) But you are profaning it when you say, The table of Jehovah, it is polluted; and its fruit, His food, is to be despised.

(13) You also said, Behold, what a weariness it is! And you have puffed at it, says Jehovah of Hosts. And you bring plunder, and the lame, and the sick, and you bring the food offering. Should I accept it from your hand, says Jehovah?

### * * *

Sloppy and slovenly worship is insulting to God. If we don't give the worship service AT LEAST the same level of effort that we'd give a public performance, he'd rather we just stayed home and left the doors of the church shut.

If a Sunday school teacher spends his entire classroom time discussing football or if her class has become merely the social equivalent of a quilting bee, all fellowship and no actual teaching, anyone who is dissatisfied and points out that there are better ways to invest scarce time on Sunday morning is himself condemned as critical and unloving. So time is wasted, people remain ignorant and we directly fail the Great Commission, but nobody's feelings get hurt, so it's all good.

But we weren't called to be 'nice.' In Matthew chapter 28, Jesus gives us the Great Commission:

### * * *

Mat 28:18-20

(18) And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, All authority is given to Me in Heaven and in earth.

(19) Therefore go and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

(20) teaching them to observe all things, whatever I commanded you. And, behold, I am with you all the days until the end of the world. Amen.

### * * *

He doesn't tell us to be nice, he says to go change the world, teaching them, or as some translations put it, making them into disciples. And disciple-making isn't very "nice" any more than the workouts at a martial arts dojo are nice.

Yet the current church in America seems determined to "be nice." They avoid challenge and confrontation. Church membership becomes a social round of potlucks and small groups that are heavy on fellowship. It's not really all that difficult to be a Christian. It doesn't really cost a lot and doesn't ask much from us.

In prison it costs a lot to be a Christian. It's safer to be in a gang. Yet according to Prison Fellowship 75% of people who convert in prison give up the faith not long after they're released. I think it's because on the outside there's no challenge, no sacrifice. It takes more dedication to be a member of the company bowling team. A labor union demands more of its members than any typical church does, and probably accomplishes more to change society.

It's no wonder men are bored with church. The whole church is designed around being "nice." Old ladies are nice. Men and youth need a challenge. They want to change the world. They long for a crusade; a cause to embrace that'll make a real difference. But what do they get in the church? A "men's breakfast" with biscuits and gravy one Saturday morning a month.

I've heard people wondering why the young guys never show up for the men's breakfasts. It's because they all have something better to do Saturday morning than drive over there to eat a meal and then maybe discuss something nice they might want possibly do at church, maybe, if anything actually gets decided upon. They can't even mow the church lawn or trim the shrubbery anymore: there's a paid custodian who takes care of that.

In most churches the men go to the Promise Keepers rallies, a few fishing trips and breakfasts and that's about all. The Lions club has done more public service than we ever do. Yet we're supposed to change the world. We ought to take the Communist Party as our example, but we can't even match the dedication of the Shriners or the Lion's Club.

And the youth group also dwindles in numbers. When I was a kid I went to a church a quarter of the size of the one I do now that had at least TWICE the number of kids in the youth group. And we didn't have a band or a computer room, or for part of that time, even a church building. But **this** youth group has become just another club, simply another place to "hang out." I can't really blame my own daughter for not attending. If they're not going to do anything except "hang out" why even bother to go? Yet unchurched kids from the same schools will volunteer to help Habitat for Humanity build somebody a house because they know that they are making the world a better place.

People are always complaining that whenever we have VBS or Children's Church or some other program that there's never enough volunteers. We offer evening classes and nobody shows up. So why do we have this lack of interest?

Because we teach the idea that the church is a hospital.

We teach it's a refuge from the world for hurting people, a place of solace and healing. People come here to have their hurts tended to. But when people see themselves as patients they expect to be ministered to, not to minister to others. It's no wonder most of them are cruising along on autopilot in their comfort zone – "It's about time for one of those Deacons to make his rounds and fluff my pillow!"

Where in the Gospel is sitting back like a plump baby bird waiting to be fed given as an example of what Christians should be? Christ said he came to serve, not to be served and that whoever would be great in his kingdom would be a servant. He commanded us to make disciples of all nations. We're supposed to be revolutionaries out changing the world, not pew potatoes waiting for our ten o'clock feeding.

Those of us "troublemakers" who aren't satisfied with the status quo are exactly like perfectly healthy people stuck in a hospital ward. We wander the halls in our drafty hospital gowns frustrated and wishing they'd give us back our clothes so we could get out of here and get back to work.

The last time the church saw itself as a refuge from the world, the monks and nuns took their vows and withdrew from the world, and the Dark Ages were the result. In the last sixty years the church in America has withdrawn more and more into its "nice" little cocoon. We've given up trying to change the world and focus instead on recruiting other nice people to attend our potlucks and help pay the church mortgage.

The result has been outlawed school prayer, legalized abortion, rampant immorality and a society that more and more resembles the pagan world of Biblical times than something supposedly based on 2,000 years of Christian heritage. And it's all happened in the last sixty years. In two generations we've blown 2,000 years of work because we're nice. It makes me sick.

And then when I want to do something about it people tell me, "Now, you can't be critical because that isn't nice. We can't say anything bad that might hurt somebody's feelings. You're just too negative."

But what have YOU done lately to resist the spread of evil in the world or to spread the Good News of Christ? There's a spiritual war raging outside and the world needs strong warriors who are not afraid to confront evil, that's what being a disciple is all about.

That is the spirit that abolished slavery throughout the Western World. "Nice" people didn't operate the Underground Railroad. "Nice" people don't rock the boat. They certainly don't break the law. Why do you think that there are "Southern" Baptists and "American" Baptists now? Because back before the Civil War the Southern Baptists were too "nice" to confront the issue of slavery and the denomination split.

Now the American Baptists are too nice to confront homosexual preachers. Oh, sure, they're doing something about it. If you consider splitting the denomination "doing something." But how long did they hem and haw around without taking any action? Fourteen years. Even though the Bible specifically condemns homosexuality we don't want to rush into anything too quickly because somebody's feelings might get hurt. So instead of expelling the homosexuals, the congregations that refuse to accept that sort of behavior in a leader are withdrawing from the denomination. We've got it completely backwards from the Biblical model given in First Corinthians where they were commanded to expel the wicked one from their assembly, not the reverse.

The Boy Scouts, another volunteer organization, dealt with this problem years ago. When the Tailhook scandal took place the Navy had policies in place in a matter of months to prevent a repetition. Corporate America deals with financial scandals in a matter of days or weeks, establishing firm policies and firing those who transgress. But the church is too "nice" for that. "Judge not, lest ye be judged," we say.

The Catholic Church is the same way. That's why a few pedophile priests got away with their atrocities and the problem spread to the point today where the whole organization is held in widespread contempt even by many of its own members, and numerous parishes are facing bankruptcy because of lawsuits. But it isn't the few pedophile priests that are really to blame. It's the "nice" church authorities that refused to confront a problem that could have easily been dealt with when it only affected a few individuals. The "nice" poison is what's destroying the Catholic Church, not the perverts. The cover-up has done, and is doing, more damage than the pedophiles ever could.

And speaking of the Catholic Church, it was their refusal to allow criticism that resulted in the Reformation in the first place. Without their refusal to hear honest complaints and suggestions for improvements there would be no Protestant churches today. We're called " **Protest** -ants" for a reason. We started out protesting and criticizing the established church authorities because they were screwing up. Yet now, our own church authorities tell us to be nice, that criticism is unacceptable. The Inquisition tried that 500 years ago and it didn't work then with thumbscrews, it's not going to work now with a double dose of "just be nice."

Back then refusal to talk about problems didn't fix the problems. And redefining the problem as the person who isn't satisfied with mediocrity isn't going to help, either. We preach niceness and non-confrontation and acceptance because we fear conflict. We're afraid that if we allow any criticism, especially of those in authority, it will cause disunity. So we don't talk about problems. We just accept it when people do less than their best. When problems occur and resources are wasted, rather than address the issue, we smile and talk up our "success," like a losing athletic coach whose team can never seem to make the playoffs. We can't improve ourselves if we can't identify our shortcomings. Honest and constructive criticism is the ONLY way to achieve success. If any organization can't identify where they've fallen short, if they're simply satisfied with the status quo no matter what it is, then whoever they are, however good they're doing now, they're destined for mediocrity. Identifying failures is the ONLY way to avoid repeating them.

If a person in a leadership position is too immature to accept constructive criticism they've no business being in a position of leadership. And if the criticism is not valid the only way to demonstrate that is to address the issue in an open and forthright manner.

Squelching any dissent or criticism won't stop disunity. It encourages it. When people cannot openly express opinions and honest criticism it doesn't stop them from expressing their dissatisfaction. Instead of constructive criticism openly expressed you end up with destructive criticism, backbiting and rumors. And it doesn't stop the person affected from hearing it. But instead of hearing something from the source, something that might be constructive and beneficial, instead they get "what I heard so-and-so say that they heard from such-and-such." By then anything that might have been useful has long since been stripped away from the general message of dissatisfaction. The target receives all the possible harm inherent in the criticism without anything useful being gained. The real cause of the problem will never be addressed and the problem will continue.

Instead of trying to improve ourselves we redefine the problem as "those yammering troublemakers." Eventually the "problem" is solved when those troublemakers give up any hope of improvement and leave to join another church or just quit the faith entirely: so much for unity.

And so much for the blessing that the church could experience through striving for excellence. After the Reformation the Protestant church went on to invent Sunday School, publish the Word of God in the language of the people, abolish slavery and send missionaries to the far ends of the earth. The Catholic Church missed out on all that because they refused to accept legitimate criticism from their own members like Martin Luther and others, who then left and made the Reformation. Ignoring problems won't make them go away. It'll only transfer the blessings of fixing those problems to another organization.

Maybe it's about time for another Reformation?

Disciples do good works 2

We've been trying to follow the Gospel of Matthew verse by verse, although along the way we do end up discussing other passages, demonstrating how interconnected the whole Bible is. Now, after a lengthy tirade about the harm being passively "nice" has done to the church, we continue on in Matthew chapter seven. Notice the subject Christ turns to immediately after teaching us not to judge others. What is it that we are supposed to do instead?

### * * *

Matthew 7:6-12

(6) Do not give that which is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet and turn again and tear you.

(7) Ask and it shall be given to you; seek and you shall find; knock and it shall be opened to you.

(8) For each one who asks receives; and he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, it shall be opened.

(9) Or what man is there of you, if his son asks a loaf, will he give him a stone?

(10) Or if he asks a fish, will he give him a snake?

(11) If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Father in Heaven give good things to those who ask Him?

(12) Therefore all things, whatever you desire that men should do to you, do even so to them; for this is the Law and the Prophets.

### * * *

Ask, seek and knock is what he tells us to do. All of those are action words. **Disciples take action.**

If you want something, you have to ask for it. You don't just sit back in the pew and wait to see what God will do. How many times when a new opportunity for Christian service comes up and someone is asked if they want to participate have you heard them say they'll "pray about it."

The homeless need feeding, those who are sick or in prison need visiting, children need teaching, but we're not sure if God would want us doing any of those sort of things so we need to pray about it? Does that make any logical or ethical sense whatsoever?

Jesus says "each one who asks receives; and he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, it shall be opened." I see in this the corollary: if you don't get, it's because you haven't asked. If you don't find, it means you haven't looked. If you find doors closed to you and your way forward blocked, it's because you haven't knocked.

How many times do you hear people say that they are praying for God's will to be revealed before they do anything? And they're frustrated and passive and don't really DO anything, just sitting there waiting for a message from God before they move forward. But when Jesus gave his lesson on prayer, was revealing God's will something Jesus said his disciples should pray for?

Let's go back and look at that example prayer again.

### * * *

Matthew 6:9-13

(9) Therefore pray in this way: Our Father, who is in Heaven, Hallowed be Your name.

(10) Your kingdom come, Your 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 forgive our debtors.

(13) And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil. For Yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.

### * * *

What did Jesus tell us to pray for?

For God's will to be done.

For our daily bread.

For forgiveness.

For deliverance from temptation and evil.

Nowhere in this list of things for us to pray for is it listed for us to pray for God's will to be revealed. Anybody who spends any time studying the Bible KNOWS what God's will is. And God's will for anybody who hasn't spent much time studying the Bible is to study the Bible more so they'll know what His will is.

The life of a disciple is an active life. We're supposed to ask and seek and knock and make other disciples along the way. What we're not supposed to do is passively sit back and wait for God to move. That's a very dangerous way to be.

If you sit around long enough either God will pick you up by the scruff of your passive neck and toss you out of your comfort zone into scary situations just like he did Gideon, Moses and numerous other Old Testament heroes, or else He'll do something even worse: He'll just let you sit there on the back pew ignored, unmoved and useless, wasting your life and talents waiting for God to come down and reveal His will, **again** , with the perhaps futile hope that **this** time you'll listen and maybe DO SOMETHING.

Meanwhile, let's get back to the passage we were studying:

### * * *

Matthew 7:13-14

(13) Go in through the narrow gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many there are who go in through it.

(14) Because narrow is the gate and constricted is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.

### * * *

Notice here that Jesus teaches that it is extremely difficult to be saved. Contrast this with what modern ministers have been preaching about how easy it is to be saved: just recite one simple little prayer and you're done. For most people the hardest part is working up the minimal courage necessary to walk an aisle in front of a crowd of strangers. If it's really so easy why did Jesus say it was so difficult? Somebody is confused and I don't think that it's Jesus.

### * * *

Matthew 7:15-20

(15) Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.

(16) You shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles?

(17) Even so every good tree brings forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree brings forth evil fruit.

(18) A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruits, nor can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.

(19) Every tree that does not bring forth good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

(20) Therefore by their fruits you shall know them.

### * * *

Notice Jesus says there are **two** kinds of trees: good trees that produce good fruit and corrupt trees that produce evil fruit. He didn't mention a third type of "good" tree that just sits in the back pew every week nodding at the sermon and never produces any fruit at all. Somehow a lot of Christians have the idea that making fruit is optional, that being a disciple is something for really devout, above-average Christians. (Maybe because churches offer "discipleship classes" that are optional and rarely, if ever, express any disapproval of the majority of the congregation who never make the time to take those classes.) But what did Jesus teach?

" **Every tree that does not bring forth good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you shall know them."**

If you're not producing any fruit you're going to end up the same place as the corrupt trees: the fire.

So does this mean that people who've prayed that prayer of acceptance, who're regular attenders, church members in good standing, are lost, just as lost as the most hardened, homeless drug-addicted prostitute?

What does Jesus say in the very next passage?

### * * *

Matthew 7:21-29

(21) Not everyone who says to Me, Lord! Lord! shall enter the kingdom of Heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in Heaven.

(22) Many will say to Me in that day, Lord! Lord! Did we not prophesy in Your name, and through Your name throw out demons, and through Your name do many wonderful works?

(23) And then I will say to them I never knew you! Depart from Me, those working lawlessness!

(24) Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on a rock.

(25) And the rain came down, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house. And it did not fall, for it was founded on a rock.

(26) And everyone who hears these sayings of Mine and does not do them shall be compared to a foolish man who built his house on the sand.

(27) And the rain came down, and the floods came, and the wind blew and beat on that house. And it fell, and great was its fall.

(28) And it happened, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at His doctrine.

(29) For He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.

### * * *

If you're not producing good fruit you'd better get up off your blessed assurance and start producing some. Those weren't my words, but those of Christ.

Let's continue on in Matthew:

### * * *

Matthew 8:1

(1) When He had come down from the mountain, great crowds followed him.

### * * *

I'm actually amazed after his last teachings there was anybody left following him at all. What he taught was hard to swallow and I'm sure that the Pharisees and other look-gooders were enraged by it.

Just as I'm certain that many readers will be also enraged, thinking I'm trying to push some false alternative Gospel of Works. But again, I say: **we cannot earn our salvation**. The Bible clearly teaches this in several places, notably the passage in Ephesians chapter two:

### * * *

Ephesians 2:8-9

(8) For by grace you are saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God,

(9) not of works, lest anyone should boast.

### * * *

This is the passage that a lot of us who were raised up in the church memorized as young children. But somehow everyone seems to just ignore the very next verse: **"For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to good works, which God has before ordained that we should walk in them."**

We've already read the passage in James where it specifically says to prove our faith BY our works. I remember exactly when this first hit me. I was doing some street witnessing to a Mormon and talked about how we are saved by faith, that salvation was not something we earned by our good works. I quoted the passage in Ephesians as proof of this.

And the Mormon threw James 2:17 right back at me: "Even so, if it does not have works, faith is dead, being by itself." It hit me square between the eyes, and it hurt too, coming from an unbeliever. His church might have been screwed up but he had that one point right: faith without some evidence of it is useless, pointless, dead.

Our works do not save us; the works are the evidence that we are saved. If you don't have any works then it calls your salvation into doubt. Do you have faith in Jesus – or in the magic words of that little prayer?

If you can't accept this, and most modern American church-going pew potatoes probably won't, then I suggest you re-read the words of Christ himself in Matthew chapter seven and then go over the teachings of the Apostle James in his epistle before going on to the next chapter of Matthew. Examine the Scriptures for yourself and "see if these things are so."

Disciples have their faith tested

Matthew 8:2-10

(2) And behold, a leper came and worshiped him, saying, Lord, if You will, You can make me clean.

(3) And Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, I will; be clean! And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.

(4) And Jesus said to him, See that you tell no one; but go, show yourself to the priest. And offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a testimony to them.

(5) And when Jesus had entered into Capernaum, a centurion came to him, beseeching Him,

(6) and saying, Lord, my son lies at home paralyzed and grievously tormented.

(7) And Jesus says to him, I will come and heal him.

(8) The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof; but only speak the word, and my boy will be healed.

(9) For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this one, Go! And he goes; and to another, Come! And he comes; and to my servant, Do this! And he does it.

(10) When Jesus heard, He marveled and said to those who followed, Truly I say to you, I have not found such great faith, no, not in Israel.

### * * *

Notice what the Roman officer said: "For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this one, Go! And he goes; and to another, Come! And he comes; and to my servant, Do this! And he does it." His soldiers did what they're told.

I was a soldier once and discipline hasn't changed much in 2,000 years. And I was an officer, similar in rank to the centurion with men under me. Just like his, my men knew what they were supposed to do and went and did it.

Young soldiers often have to be told specifically what to do. But the older men who've been around a while "know the drill." They know what to expect and don't need as much supervision. As a matter of fact, they often end up promoted to various non-commissioned officer ranks (corporal, sergeant and so on) and end up in supervisory positions themselves. This is the same sort of thing Christ expects from his disciples: to grow to the point that they can operate independently and go out and make disciples themselves, although in the passage we see he hasn't seen that level of faith yet from them or anybody else in Israel. But eventually their training will be complete and he is going to leave them behind with a command to make more disciples. They'll be on their own. And that should be our goal as disciples: to grow to the point where we can in turn begin to train others.

### * * *

Matthew 8:11-13

(11) And I say to you that many shall come from the east and the west, and shall sit down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of Heaven.

(12) But the sons of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

(13) And Jesus said to the centurion, Go. And as you have believed, so let it be to you. And his boy was healed in that hour.

### * * *

What does Jesus here say about those in Israel who don't have the faith to believe in him?

Their lack of faith is going to land them in Hell. It isn't our works that save us, but faith. (This is a particularly good set of verses to share with Mormons, by the way, since it teaches that **lack of faith** is what will end you up in the Outer Darkness, not any lack of works.)

Does this contradict what I said before? Not at all. Remember it's faith that saves us and works are just the **evidence** of the faith. The two are like a locomotive and railroad cars; they only work when they're hooked together. Faith is the locomotive and Works are the railroad cars. Without the locomotive of Faith your train is not going anyplace. Loading your railroad cars with works is just a waste of time if they're not connected to the locomotive. And the locomotive by itself isn't going to be able to do any effective work on its own. A train with locomotives but no cars is just a waste of fuel. But put the one with the other and great things happen.

The modern American church expends great effort making sure that all its locomotives are fired up and running but hitching any railroad cars up to them seems to be pretty much an afterthought. We'll expend time, money and effort to hold a revival service and get people to walk the aisles. They'll be hordes of people lined up at the prayer rail shouting "hallelujah!" We'll enroll those people into Sunday School, give 'em the Right Hand of Fellowship and invite 'em to church next Sunday.

And a week later everything's back to normal. Our new disciples are left mostly on their own. Does anybody explain to them what being a disciple really means? Probably not. And few of the other church members really understand what that means, anyway. New member classes are optional, and we seem to expect the weekly sermon and Sunday school to provide most, if not all of whatever Biblical education the members receive. People treat a Bible study if it's advanced education for fanatics, rather than the basic training every REAL disciple of Jesus needs to even begin their training.

The new disciple's spiritual gifts usually remain unknown and certainly untapped. No effort will be expended trying to help them find a place for their gifts. On the contrary, instead of looking at the individual's gifts and trying to help find a ministry, we look at the holes in the church's various programs and try to fit the new disciple into one of our predetermined slots that needs a warm body. "Hey, here's a place for you: the Christmas pageant only has two wise men."

If he has the gift of teaching but the church doesn't have any openings for teachers, we don't see this as a sign that perhaps God might want us to start a new class. Instead we have him on KP duty brewing coffee for the fellowship time or watching the kids in the nursery because nobody else wants to do those chores.

If a martial arts dojo operated like that, then after they signed up a new student there wouldn't be any mentoring, or any beginners lessons. They'd just sign them up and have them show up to class and stand in the back and try to follow along as best they could. If they did that how long do you think their new students would stick with it? How many of them would ever last long enough to become martial arts masters, themselves? Only the most dedicated (or obsessed) students would stick with it. Class attendance would dwindle as more and more of the older students died off or moved away. Soon the only ones left would be a handful of stubborn old-timers and a bunch of raw, brand-new recruits who have no idea what they're really supposed to do. Does this description sound familiar to you? From reading Matthew do you think that that was Jesus' plan for the Church?

Isn't it about time to give up our own failed ideas and embrace Jesus' plan for us?

Continuing on in Matthew 8:14-17:

### * * *

(14) And when Jesus had come into Peter's house, He saw his wife's mother laid out and in a fever.

(15) And He touched her hand, and the fever left her. And she arose and served them.

(16) And evening coming on, they brought to Him many who had been possessed with demons. And He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick

(17) so that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying, "He took on Himself our weaknesses and bore our sicknesses."

### * * *

Notice Jesus here is healing the sick and casting out demons. This isn't something new; he did this sort of thing all the time. But there's more going on here than what we usually see. His disciples are right alongside, learning to do the same things themselves that they will do later on. In the Book of Acts there are numerous examples of the disciples healing the sick and casting out demons. Here is where they learned to do so.

This is something to consider. We seem to think today that only an ordained minister can pray for healing or cast out demons, as if a degree from a Bible college is somehow required. (Do Bible colleges really offer such a class as Exorcism 101?) But demons don't stop to ask for your academic credentials. All they care about is whether you're a disciple of Jesus:

### * * *

Acts 19:11-16

(11) And God did works of power through the hands of Paul,

(12) so that even handkerchiefs or aprons from his skin being brought onto the sick, the diseases were released, and the evil spirits went out of them.

(13) And certain from the strolling Jews, exorcists, undertook to name the name of the Lord Jesus over those having evil spirits, saying, We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preaches.

(14) And there were seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, who did so.

(15) But answering the evil spirit said, Jesus I know, and I comprehend Paul, but who are you?

(16) And the man in whom the evil spirit resided leaped on them, and overcoming them he was strong against them, so that they fled out of the house naked and wounded.

### * * *

Note also that Jesus didn't have his disciples casting out demons and such until they were pretty far along in their discipleship. This isn't the sort of thing you want new believers to attempt. Not that the power to do so comes from anything that YOU are doing; there is no special knowledge or ability of your own that causes the healing or casts out the demons, nothing but the name and power of Jesus. But if you're the slightest bit weak in your faith, the demons may take advantage of it as they did here with these fellows who weren't even disciples, and who got off very easily being only beaten up and wounded rather than killed or possessed.

But continuing in Matthew 8:18-23:

### * * *

(18) And seeing great crowds, Jesus gave orders to depart to the other side.

(19) And a certain scribe came and said to him, Master, I will follow You wherever You go.

(20) And Jesus said to him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.

(21) And another of His disciples said to him, Lord, allow me first to go and bury my father.

(22) But Jesus said to him, Follow Me, and let the dead bury their dead.

(23) And He entering into a boat, His disciples followed Him.

### * * *

There is a cost to following Jesus, a cost that apparently "a certain scribe" wasn't prepared to pay because when Jesus entered the boat in verse 23 it doesn't mention the scribe anymore, just the disciples.

True disciples should put following Jesus above even their relationship with their relatives. I'm sure the disciple, who is not named, had problems with his relatives after he didn't show up at his father's funeral, but unlike the scribe, he considered it a price worth paying.

### * * *

Matthew 8:24-27

(24) And behold, a great tempest arose in the sea, so much so that the boat was covered with the waves. But He was asleep.

(25) And His disciples came to Him and awakened Him, saying, Lord, save us! We perish!

(26) And He said to them, Why are you afraid, little-faiths? Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm.

(27) But the men marveled, saying, What kind of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him!

### * * *

Again, the disciples had their faith tested. On the positive side, they woke Jesus and asked him to save them. This shows they at least had the faith to believe he could save them. On the other hand they apparently didn't think he was going to be able to do so while he was sleeping. But Jesus was unconcerned enough to sleep through the storm. That should have been a clue to them not to worry.

### * * *

Matthew 8:28-34

(28) And when He had come to the other side into the country of the Gergesenes, two demon-possessed ones met Him, coming out of the tombs, exceedingly fierce, so that no one might pass by that way.

(29) And behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with You, Jesus, Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?

(30) And there was a good way off from them a herd of many swine, feeding.

(31) And the demons begged Him, saying, If You cast us out, allow us to go away into the herd of swine.

(32) And He said to them, Go! And when they had come out, they went into the herd of swine. And behold, the whole herd of swine ran violently down a steep place into the sea and perished in the waters.

(33) And those who fed them fled. And going into the city, they told everything, and what had happened to the ones who had been possessed of demons.

(34) And behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus. And when they saw Him, they begged that He would depart out of their borders.

### * * *

Again Jesus casts out demons, this time from two men possessed by multiple demons. It's as if he takes the disciples out for training and gradually works his way up from the simple through more and more complicated tasks, which is exactly the best way to train anybody.

Continuing on in Matthew 9:1-8:

### * * *

(1) And He entered into a boat, and passed over, and came to His own city.

(2) And behold, they brought to Him a paralytic, lying on a bed. And Jesus, seeing their faith, said to the paralytic, Child, be of good cheer. Your sins are forgiven you.

(3) And lo, some of the scribes said within themselves, This one blasphemes.

(4) And Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, Why do you think evil in your hearts?

(5) For which is easier? To say, Your sins are forgiven you, or to say, Arise and walk!

(6) But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins, then He said to the paralytic, Arise, take up your bed and go to your house.

(7) And he arose and departed to his house.

(8) But when the crowds saw, they marveled and glorified God, who had given such authority to men.

### * * *

Here Jesus returns to Nazareth and heals a paralytic. But this time he doesn't just heal he also forgives the man's sins, just to prove he can.

What thoughts do you think went through the minds of the disciples as they saw all these miracles? As they said after he calmed the storm in chapter eight: "What kind of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him!" Traveling with Jesus must have been quite a journey: they never knew exactly what Jesus might do next.

Yet we're following the same master, and we know what he did, and can do, or we do if we've read the scriptures. There shouldn't be any surprises for us, but so many times when God moves in a wonderful way, we end up acting surprised, as if we've read what he did back then but don't really believe it really happened, or that he could do the same today.

Jesus is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow (Hebrews 13:8). The same power he displayed through his disciples 2,000 years ago he can display through us. Jesus hasn't changed. If we aren't seeing the same sort of miracles now, maybe it's because we aren't the disciples **we** ought to be?

### * * *

Matthew 9:9

(9) And as Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax-office. And He said to him, Follow Me! And he arose and followed Him.

### * * *

Again, we see that Jesus chose his disciples; he went to where they were working and told them to follow Him.

### * * *

Matthew 9:10-14

(10) And it happened as Jesus reclined in the house, behold, many tax-collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Him and His disciples.

(11) And when the Pharisees saw, they said to His disciples, Why does your master eat with tax-collectors and sinners?

(12) But when Jesus heard, He said to them, The ones who are whole do not need a physician, but the ones who are sick.

(13) But go and learn what this is, I will have mercy and not sacrifice. For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

### * * *

Again we see another repetition of a previous lesson: we are not to be judgmental. The Pharisees are just as much in need of forgiveness as the tax collectors they despise and condemn. Jesus came for sinners, the very people that many church people also despise. If Jesus had come in our century you'd find him downtown in a bad neighborhood dining with people who sport tattoos and piercings and torn jeans. You'd be a lot more likely to find him hanging out with a bunch of Goths or motorcycle bums than the nattily dressed deacons of a typical American church. He went to where the sinners were, rather than trying to get them to come to him. How does this compare with our typical strategy for evangelism? Do we go out into the streets? Or do we just invite people to church, as if spiritual things can only occur within the walls of a church.

### * * *

Matthew 9:14-17

(14) Then the disciples of John came to Him saying, Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but Your disciples do not fast?

(15) And Jesus said to them, Can the sons of the bridechamber mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then they shall fast.

(16) No one puts a piece of new cloth onto an old garment; for that which is put in to fill it up takes from the garment, and the tear is made worse.

(17) Nor do men put new wine into old wineskins; else the wineskins burst, and the wine runs out, and the wineskins perish. But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved together.

### * * *

My fear is that these 'revolutionary' ideas about discipleship (that originate way back in the first century) will not work in our churches as we have come to know them and they'll bust just like an old wineskin. Maybe it's time for reorganization, a new way of doing things. We have to change. If we continue down the path we're following it only leads to further disaster. America is NOT becoming more Christian and it hasn't been headed in that direction in sixty years or more. We're not even just holding in place. The wine in our old leaky wineskin has turned to vinegar. It's way past time for a new batch.

### * * *

Matthew 9:18-26

(18) While He spoke these things to them, behold, a certain ruler came and worshiped Him, saying, My daughter has just now died. But come and lay Your hand on her and she will live.

(19) And Jesus arose and followed him. And so did His disciples.

(20) And behold, a woman, who had a flow of blood for twelve years, came up behind Him and touched the hem of His garment.

(21) For she said within herself, If only I shall touch His robe, I will be whole.

(22) But turning and seeing her, Jesus said, Daughter, be comforted; your faith has saved you. And the woman was saved from that hour.

(23) And when Jesus came into the ruler's house and saw the minstrels and the people making a noise,

(24) He said to them, Go back, for the little girl is not dead, but sleeps. And they laughed Him to scorn.

(25) But when the people were put out, He went in and took her by the hand, and the little girl arose.

(26) And this report went out into all that land.

### * * *

Here's the same progression again, presenting the same lesson step-by-step beginning with easier examples. Jesus has healed leprosy and all sorts of other diseases. Here he heals the most difficult and dangerous disease of all: Death.

As time went on Jesus continued to do good works of healing and casting out demons.

### * * *

Matthew 9:27-31

(27) And when Jesus passed on from there, two blind ones followed Him, crying and saying, Son of David, have mercy on us.

(28) And when He had come into the house, the blind men came to Him. And Jesus said to them, Do you believe that I am able to do this? They said to Him, Yes, Lord.

(29) Then He touched their eyes, saying, According to your faith let it be to you.

(30) And their eyes were opened. And Jesus strictly charged them, saying, See, let no one know.

(31) But going out, they made Him known in all that land.

### * * *

Notice that Jesus told the blind men not to tell anyone what happened. This fits right in with his admonitions not to seek rewards by doing good deeds openly. Jesus practiced what he preached.

Disciples are persecuted 2

Matthew 9:32-34

(32) As they went out, behold, they brought to Him a dumb man, who had been demon-possessed.

(33) And when the demon had been cast out, the dumb one spoke. And multitudes marveled, saying, Never was it seen like this in Israel!

(34) But the Pharisees said, He throws out demons by the ruler of the demons.

### * * *

Here we see that Jesus was actually persecuted for his good deeds by the religious leaders of the day. Jesus warned that his disciples would also be persecuted, but remember what He was persecuted for: **his deeds**. If he hadn't been healing the sick and casting out demons nobody would have persecuted him.

As disciples we need to consider if we're not receiving opposition, then it's probably because Satan doesn't think we're effective. If we neutralize ourselves by not doing anything, why should the Devil waste his time bothering us? Yet, in many churches today the leaders try to steer a course that avoids any opposition or controversy. They're "nice" and they don't ruffle any feathers and they're also ineffective.

Edmund Burke the 18th century historian is reputed to have said, "Evil can only triumph when good men do nothing." And by trying not to offend anyone we neutralize the church and the power of God. If we put a premium on not stepping on any toes, Satan will make sure that our path is blocked by as many toes as possible.

Disciples go out into the world

Real disciples will be persecuted just as Jesus was persecuted, but notice that Jesus didn't let the opposition stop what he was doing.

### * * *

Matthew 9:35-38

(35) And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.

(36) But seeing the crowds, He was moved with compassion on them, because they were tired and scattered like sheep having no shepherd.

(37) Then He said to His disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few.

(38) Therefore pray to the Lord of the harvest that He will send out laborers into His harvest.

### * * *

Notice what Jesus prayed: that the Lord of the harvest would send out laborers to the harvest. Again, let me point out Jesus' evangelism strategy: go to where the sinners are. First he took care of their immediate problems: healing the sick, casting out demons from the possessed, etc. Then he preached to them the Gospel and called upon them to become disciples and follow Him.

He didn't passively lay in wait for sinners to happen to drop by the church on Sunday morning and then preach at them. He didn't sponsor magic shows or concerts or craft fairs to try to attract the unsaved and maybe get them interested in coming by the church some Sunday to see what else is going on. As he went from town to town he didn't call upon people to attend their local synagogue more often, he called upon them to repent and be baptized and follow him.

But I bet when Jesus moved on the local synagogues were packed with people he'd turned on to seeking God.

Disciples are more than just passive watchers

There comes a time in any training program where the trainees have to begin to put into practice what they've learned. When I was a restaurant manager the company had a training program that consisted of four steps:

### * * *

### First you explain to the trainee what you're trying to teach them to do.

### Second, you show them how to do it.

### Third, you have them explain to you how to do the task so that you know they understand.

### Then, finally you have them show you how to do it.

### * * *

Jesus trained disciples in a similar fashion. In Matthew chapters five and six Jesus explained to them the facts about the Kingdom of heaven. In chapters seven through nine He showed them what to do. Now in chapter ten he sends them out to minister on their own.

### * * *

Matthew 10:1-4

(1) And when He had called to Him His twelve disciples, He gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease.

(2) And the names of the twelve apostles are these: First, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee and John his brother;

(3) Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax-collector; James the son of Alpheus, and Lebbeus, whose surname was Thaddeus;

(4) Simon the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him.

### * * *

Notice here that while the disciples are listed in the order they began to follow Jesus, they are all equal, there's no distinction between "senior" disciples and "junior" ones, no division between pastors and staff, church office-holder and layperson. The disciples aren't stratified into ranks.

But people like hierarchies. Human organizations are usually divided into management and workers, officers and enlisted men, nobles and commoners, with the understanding the upper classes are more important and honorable than the lower. But what does the Bible teach?

### * * *

Galatians 3:26-28

(26) For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.

(27) For as many as were baptized into Christ, you put on Christ.

(28) There cannot be Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is no male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

### * * *

All of us are equal. There aren't any second-class Christians. Perhaps some of us are more mature, but is that a permanent condition?

Unfortunately we seem to treat each other as if it were. Don't we refer to the pastor as our shepherd and the laymen as his flock? But the problem with that is it implies a permanent condition. Sheep don't grow up to be shepherds. No matter how long they're together, the shepherd is always superior and the sheep never grow up. But that's not the way disciples are supposed to be. In the martial arts a disciple is expected to eventually master the techniques, become a black belt and then go out and train his own disciples. But in America today we're organized more like the medieval Catholic Church with a professional priesthood and a permanent underclass of dependants.

The problem is that Jesus referred to Himself as the shepherd and the rest of us as his flock. His urging of Peter to "feed my sheep" (John chapter 21) didn't imply that he was now appointing him to be the new shepherd, merely that he's to look out for the other sheep. Misunderstanding that lead to the Catholics declaring Peter to be the first Pope. But modern Protestants don't believe in Popes, or a professional priesthood; or do we?

Look at the way churches actually operate rather than how that we say that they do. Are Christian churches organized in an egalitarian manner? Or are they organized in a rigidly stratified class structure?

I see churches in America, especially large churches, organized around one or more pastors at the top of the pyramid, with a layer of staff below them. They think of themselves as the shepherds. Underneath those are the trustworthy laymen: deacons, ushers, Sunday School teachers, etc. These are the ones that the 'shepherds' delegate a little responsibility to and allow a minor role in the various ministries of the church. (Are they the sheepdogs?) At the bottom is a large mass of ordinary 'sheep,' those who rarely get a chance to do much more than brew coffee, distribute programs or sing in the choir. The further that you go down the pyramid the less actual ministerial activity there is, nor is anything much expected. Doesn't this sound like the typical modern American church? But from what we've been reading, does that sound like the plan Jesus had for His disciples?

### * * *

Matthew 10:5-10

(5) Jesus sent out these twelve, commanding them, saying, Do not go into the way of the nations, and do not enter into any city of the Samaritans.

(6) But rather go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

(7) And as you go, proclaim, saying, The kingdom of Heaven is at hand.

(8) Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. You have received freely, freely give.

(9) Do not provide gold nor silver, nor copper in your purses,

(10) nor a bag for the journey, nor two coats, nor sandals, nor staves. For the workman is worthy of his food.

### * * *

Notice how he tells them to prepare: take just what is necessary for your immediate needs, no money, no food, no extra coat. They are to rely on God to provide for them. This is the same teaching he gave for everyday living in chapter six on the Sermon on the Mount. Now it's the disciples' turn to practice what was preached.

According to Jesus' teachings they should expect God to meet their needs. But what else should they expect? Didn't he also say they'd face persecution?

### * * *

Matthew 10:11-34

(11) And into whatever city or village you enter, inquire who within it is worthy. And there abide until you go away from there.

(12) And when you come into a house, greet it.

(13) And if the house is worthy, let your peace come on it. But if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you.

(14) And whoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when you depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet.

(15) Truly I say to you, It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city.

(16) Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be as wise as serpents and as harmless as doves.

(17) But beware of men, for they will deliver you up to the sanhedrins, and they will scourge you in their synagogues.

(18) And you shall be brought before governors and kings for My sake, for a testimony against them and the nations.

(19) But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what you shall speak; for it shall be given you in that same hour what you shall speak.

(20) For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.

(21) And brother will deliver up brother to death, and the father his child. And the children shall rise up against their parents and cause them to be put to death.

(22) And you will be hated of all men for My name's sake, but the one who endures to the end shall be kept safe.

(23) But when they persecute you in this city, flee into another; for truly I say to you, In no way shall you have finished the cities of Israel until the Son of Man comes.

(24) A disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord.

(25) It is enough for the disciple that he is like his master, and the servant like his lord. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more those of his household?

(26) Therefore do not fear them, for there is nothing covered that shall not be revealed, and nothing hidden which shall not be known.

(27) What I tell you in darkness, speak in the light; and what you hear, proclaim on the housetops.

(28) And do not fear those who kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul. But rather fear Him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

(29) Are not two sparrows sold for an assarion? And one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father.

(30) But even the hairs of your head are all numbered.

(31) Therefore do not fear, you are of more value than many sparrows.

(32) Then everyone who shall confess Me before men, I will confess him before My Father who is in Heaven.

(33) But whoever shall deny Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father in Heaven.

(34) Do not think that I have come to bring peace on earth. I did not come to send peace, but a sword.

### * * *

Does this sound like the "gentle Jesus, meek and mild" that's preached in modern American churches today?

### * * *

Matthew 10:35-36

(35) For I have come to set a man against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.

(36) And a man's foes shall be those of his own household.

### * * *

Does this sound like the words of a man who expects his followers to be nice at all times and non-confrontational?

### * * *

Matthew 10:37-38

(37) He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.

(38) And he who does not take up his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me.

### * * *

That sounds like he has something a little more dangerous in mind for us than just getting up extra early on Sunday morning to brew coffee for the weekly fellowship and donut time.

### * * *

Matthew 10:39

(39) He who finds his life shall lose it. And he who loses his life for My sake shall find it.

### * * *

Being a REAL disciple is dangerous duty. If you haven't done anything dangerous for Jesus then you're not doing it right.

Christian service used to be dangerous. Missionaries risked disease, privation and a cannibal cook pot to spread the Gospel. Many of the abolitionists who ran the Underground Railroad ended up in jail. The Freedom Riders risked imprisonment, beatings and even lynching. But in 21st century America the most risk we seem to run is from the elevated cholesterol levels brought on by the donuts served during fellowship time.

### * * *

Matthew 10:40-42

(40) He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me.

(41) He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward. And he who receives a just one in the name of a just one will receive a just one's reward.

(42) And whoever shall give to one of these little ones a cup of cold water to drink, only in the name of a disciple, truly I say to you, He shall in no way lose his reward.

### * * *

"He who receives you receives Me." Jesus says that as we go out into the world doing his works, that we are doing so as His representatives.

We are ambassadors for Christ. When an ambassador arrives in his new posting the first thing he does is present his credentials to the foreign government to prove that he is a representative of his own government and not just some imposter. What are our credentials?

### * * *

Matthew 11:1-6

(1) And it happened, when Jesus had finished commanding His twelve disciples, He left there to teach and to proclaim in their cities.

(2) But when John heard in the prison of the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples.

(3) And they said to Him, Are You he who should come, or do we look for another?

(4) Jesus answered and said to them, Go and tell John again those things which you hear and see:

(5) the blind receive their sight, and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear; the dead are raised, and the poor have the gospel proclaimed to them.

(6) And blessed is he, whoever shall not be offended in Me.

### * * *

Notice how Jesus proves his credentials to John the Baptist. Notice Jesus didn't refer to his virgin birth or his parentage. His credentials were his fruit: "the blind receive their sight, and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear; the dead are raised, and the poor have the gospel proclaimed to them."

Our credentials as a disciple are our fruit. It's not how long that we've been a member of a church, or if we have a title or office, or a seminary degree. The only thing of importance is our fruit; what have we done for God. But fruit doesn't have to be something flashy and spectacular. A little, green, wrinkled avocado is a fruit just as much as a huge, juicy watermelon.

Disciples aren't just passive watchers; they produce fruit. How extensive are your credentials?

Discipleship promotes unity

### * * *

Matthew 11:7-19

(7) And as they departed, Jesus began to say to the crowds concerning John, What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken with the wind?

(8) But what did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft clothing? Behold, they who wear soft clothing are in kings' houses.

(9) But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yea, I say to you, and one more excellent than a prophet.

(10) For this is the one of whom it is written, "Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, who shall prepare Your way before You."

(11) Truly I say to you, Among those who have been born of women there has not risen a greater one than John the Baptist. But the least in the kingdom of Heaven is greater than he.

(12) And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of Heaven is taken by violence, and the violent take it by force.

(13) For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John.

(14) And if you will receive it, this is Elijah who is to come.

(15) He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

(16) But to what shall I compare to this generation? It is like little children sitting in the markets and calling to their playmates,

(17) saying, We played the flute to you, and you did not dance! We mourned to you, but you did not wail!

(18) For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He has a demon.

(19) The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold a man who is a glutton and a winebibber, a friend of tax-collectors and sinners. But wisdom was justified by her children.

### * * *

Churches today lack unity. The people bicker about the style of music, PowerPoint versus hymnals, contemporary versus traditional, what sort of instruments to use in the praise band, or even whether to have a praise band. They're scandalized over a deacon serving communion in a polo shirt and complain if the freebie fellowship donuts are cut in half to make them go twice as far. And if you run out of decaf you'll never hear the end of it. As I sit back and watch all this I'm reminded of a bunch of little kids playing church, fighting over the most ridiculous and unimportant things and completely missing the whole point: discipleship.

That's what Jesus spent three years training the disciples to do: to make more disciples. That's his last command to his followers: make more disciples. So what do we do when we get together? Bicker about donuts and music.

Why do churches lack unity? Because unity comes when a group of people all work together toward the same goal.

Why do churches today lack unity? Because they don't share a common goal.

Some people come to church because that's what they've been taught Christians are supposed to do on Sunday morning. Others come because their friends come, or because their wives or parents drag them. Some come from curiosity or because they have a spiritual need they're trying to fill. A few even come because they want to become better disciples.

When you get that mob together on a Sunday morning, all coming together separately for all sorts of completely different reasons it's no surprise you lack unity. Arguing, bickering and disunity? It's a wonder you don't have a riot.

I've seen all sorts of 'solutions' to the unity problem. As soon as the issue surfaces somebody will suggest a seminar. "If we could only get everyone to read _The Purpose Driven Life_ (or if you'd rather, fill in the title of another inspirational book of your choice) then everything would be fine." Or they'll institute a prayer service to pray for unity.

I've got nothing against _The Purpose Driven Life_ or prayer services. Both are fine ways to spend your time. I recommend them. But none of that is going to solve a church's problem with disunity.

The only way to create unity is to **have the same purpose**. As long as everyone is coming to church for all sorts of reasons most of which have nothing whatsoever to do with disciple-making you're going to have problems with unity.

The way to share the same purpose is to share the same priorities. Everyone in the church has to be convinced that disciple making is the sole and primary purpose of any and all Christians. Until that happens and everyone begins doing whatever they can to make disciples of all nations then you're going to have disunity. People have to experience the power of God, their lives have to be changed and with that their priorities.

We need to stop 'playing church' and start being the disciples that Christ has called us to be.

Being a disciple is not complicated

Matthew 11:20-26

(20) Then He began to upbraid the cities in which most of His mighty works were done, because they did not repent.

(21) Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the powerful acts which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes!

(22) But I say to you, It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you.

(23) And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to the heaven, shall be brought down to hell. For if the mighty works which have been done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.

(24) But I say to you, it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you.

(25) At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank You, O Father, Lord of Heaven and earth, because You have hidden these things from the sophisticated and cunning, and revealed them to babes.

(26) Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight.

### * * *

You don't have to be a rocket scientist to be a disciple. (I don't know about you, but for me, that's encouraging news.)

### * * *

Matthew 11:27-30

(27) All things are delivered to Me by My Father. And no one knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son will reveal Him.

(28) Come to Me all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

(29) Take My yoke on you and learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you shall find rest to your souls.

(30) For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.

### * * *

Sometimes we get the idea that being a disciple is difficult, that the Bible is complicated and hard to understand, but Jesus himself says that 'babies' can understand it and that his yoke is light.

Contrast what he says here with his teaching earlier that "narrow is the gate and constricted is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it." (Matthew 7:14) If Christianity is not that difficult to understand and being a disciple is so easy, why do so few find that way which leads to life?

Do you think that perhaps it's because the way to destruction is even easier?

We'd rather not humble ourselves and admit that we're on the wrong road. Admitting that we need to repent is tough on our pride. A lot of people would rather eat a bug than ever say they've been wrong. It always seems to be somebody else's fault. But that's the only way into the kingdom.

We need to be changed and we can't be as long as we keep insisting that we're really OK, we just need a little sprucing up, maybe practice a little more at 'being good'.

That's why Pharisees like rules. Rules are neat and tidy. You can tick off the ones you're keeping and know exactly which ones are left. And the more complicated the rules are, the more the lawyers like them because **they** know all the loopholes and can sit there and point fingers and laugh at the rest of us laboring under the heavy burdens that they've managed to transfer from their shoulders to the rest of us.

But what did Jesus teach about rules?

Rules are not as important as people

Matthew 12:1-8

(1) At that time Jesus went through the grain fields on the sabbath day. And His disciples were hungry, and began to pluck the heads of grain and to eat.

(2) But when the Pharisees saw, they said to Him, Behold, your disciples do that which it is not lawful to do on the sabbath day.

(3) But He said to them, Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, and those who were with him,

(4) how he entered into the house of God and ate the showbread, which was not lawful for him to eat, nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests?

(5) Or have you not read in the Law that on the sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the sabbath and are blameless?

(6) But I say to you that One greater than the temple is in this place.

(7) But if you had known what this is, "I desire mercy and not sacrifice," you would not have condemned those who are not guilty.

(8) For the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.

### * * *

Rules are not as important as people.

### * * *

Matthew 12:9-14

(9) And when He had departed from there, He went into their synagogue.

(10) And behold, a man having a withered hand. And they asked Him, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath? This so that they might accuse Him.

(11) And He said to them, What man among you will be, who will have one sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the sabbath, will he not lay hold on it and lift it out?

(12) How much better is a man then than a sheep? Therefore it is lawful to do well on the sabbath days.

(13) Then He said to the man, Stretch out your hand. And he stretched it out, and it was restored whole like the other.

(14) Then the Pharisees went out and held council against Him, as to how they might destroy Him.

### * * *

Why do they want to destroy Jesus if he's doing such marvelous works of healing?

Because to Pharisees rules are more important than people.

Beware of Pharisees. Just as in Jesus' time, they are the primary ones crushing the life out of the church today. Who are Pharisees? They're the rules lawyers who are always pointing fingers and judging people. You know exactly who I mean:

"Look at that girl's skirt! Why, it's scandalously above her knee!"

"Jeans in church! How can you worship God in jeans? Jesus' disciples never went to church in jeans!"

"Did you notice deacon so-and-so? He wasn't wearing a tie when he served communion."

"Drums in a church service! That noise the youth group sings to isn't music. I don't know why the youth pastor permits such things. Why can't they ever sing REAL hymns? Why, if the Battle Hymn of the Republic was good enough for Jesus it should be good enough for people today!"

"I know it's 90 degrees but the pastor really shouldn't have taken off his jacket during the sermon. What will people think?"

"Oh, but we HAVE to have a Christmas pageant. We ALWAYS have one. Why it just isn't Christmas without one."

Notice Jesus' response to the Pharisees' opposition to his healing:

### * * *

Matthew 12:15

(15) But when Jesus knew it, He withdrew Himself from there. And great crowds followed Him, and He healed them all.

### * * *

True disciples of Jesus will face opposition from "Pharisees" who will try to halt any movement of God, any healing, any good works in the name of tradition and rules. Suggestions for new ministries will be greeted by "we don't do that here" or "we've never done it that way." We need to remember that Jesus kept doing his good works in spite of opposition by small-minded people who value rules over people.

### * * *

Matthew 12:16-33

(16) And He warned them that they not make Him known,

(17) so that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying,

(18) "Behold My Child whom I have chosen; My Beloved, in whom My soul is well pleased. I will put My Spirit on Him, and He shall declare judgment to the nations.

(19) He shall not strive, nor cry, nor shall any one hear His voice in the streets.

(20) He will not break a bruised reed, and He will not quench a smoking wick, until He sends out judgment to victory.

(21) And in His name the nations shall trust."

(22) Then one who had been demon-possessed was brought to Him, blind and dumb. And He healed him, so much so that the blind and dumb one both spoke and saw.

(23) And all the people were amazed and said, Is not this the son of David?

(24) But when the Pharisees heard, they said, This one does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub the ruler of the demons.

(25) And Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation. And every city or house divided against itself shall not stand.

(26) And if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself; how then shall his kingdom stand?

(27) But if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they shall be your judges.

(28) But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come to you.

(29) Or else how can one enter into a strong man's house and spoil his goods, unless first he binds the strong one, and then he will plunder his house.

(30) The one who is not with Me is against Me, and the one who does not gather with Me scatters.

(31) Therefore I say to you, All kinds of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven to men, but the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit shall not be forgiven to men.

(32) And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him. But whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this world or in the world to come.

(33) Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree corrupt and its fruit corrupt; for the tree is known by its fruit.

### * * *

Do you remember this teaching? Again Jesus says to judge each tree by its fruit and he only gives examples of two kinds of trees: good ones and corrupt ones. Disciples produce good fruit. What do we understand then about people who stand in the way of making good fruit?

### * * *

Matthew 12:34-37

(34) Offspring of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.

(35) A good man out of the good treasure of the heart brings out good things; and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings out evil things.

(36) But I say to you that every idle word, whatever men may speak, they shall give account of it in the day of judgment.

(37) For by your words you shall be justified, and by your words you shall be condemned.

### * * *

So faced with this teaching, the Pharisees do exactly what rules-lovers always do when their opposition is shown to be harmful or against Biblical teachings: they change the subject.

### * * *

Matthew 12:38-45

(38) Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we want to see a sign from you.

(39) But He answered and said to them, An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign. And there shall be no sign given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.

(40) For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the huge fish, so the Son of Man shall be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

(41) The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it, because they repented at the proclaiming of Jonah, and behold, One greater than Jonah is here.

(42) The queen of the south shall rise up in the Judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it, for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, One greater than Solomon is here.

(43) When the unclean spirit has gone out of a man, he walks through dry places seeking rest, and finds none.

(44) Then he said, I will return into my house from where I came out. And when he has come, he finds it empty, swept, and decorated.

(45) Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more evil than himself, and they enter in and live there. And the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so it also shall be to this evil generation.

### * * *

Again we see another teaching repeated: Jesus was not afraid to say things that offended people if those things were true. He called upon them to repent, to change their ways. But so many times Christians allow themselves to be prevented from doing good works, or worse, allow others to do things that are wrong without opposition simply because they are afraid that they will not appear "loving".

But Jesus wasn't loving to the Pharisees. Or was he? What did he call upon them to do? To repent and avoid the terrible fate that awaited them otherwise. If they listened to Jesus' warning they would have become disciples themselves. Perhaps some of them did become followers. We know that Joseph of Arimathea did. Isn't it love to call upon someone to repent? Isn't it love to try to stop the commission of wickedness?

Or do we consider it more "Christian" today to not take the chance of offending anyone and just let the sinners go on their way happily to destruction?

### * * *

Matthew 12:46-50

(46) But while He yet talked with the people, behold, His mother and His brothers stood outside, desiring to speak with Him.

(47) Then one said to Him, Behold, Your mother and Your brothers stand outside, desiring to speak with You.

(48) And He answered and said to him who told Him, Who is My mother? And who are My brothers?

(49) And He stretched out His hand toward His disciples and said, Behold, My mother and My brothers!

(50) For whoever shall do the will of My Father in Heaven, the same is My brother and sister and mother.

### * * *

Disciples should consider each other as blood relatives. This is good news for Christians who come from bad family situations: we get a new family. But it also tells us how we should treat each other: as brothers and sisters.

But not as brothers and sisters often treat each other in this world, but as brothers and sisters SHOULD treat each other.

We are saved by FAITH, not simply by reciting a prayer

Matthew 13:1-17

(1) In that day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the seaside.

(2) And great crowds were gathered to Him, so that He went into a boat and sat. And all the crowd stood on the shore.

(3) And He spoke many things to them in parables, saying, Behold, the sower went out to sow.

(4) And as he sowed, some seeds fell by the wayside, and the birds came and devoured them.

(5) Some fell on stony places, where they did not have much earth. And they sprang up immediately, because they had no deepness of earth.

(6) And the sun rising, they were scorched, and because they had no root, they withered away.

(7) And some fell among thorns. And the thorns sprung up and choked them.

(8) And some fell on the good ground and yielded fruit, indeed one a hundredfold, and one sixty, and one thirty.

(9) He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

(10) And the disciples said to Him, Why do You speak to them in parables?

(11) He answered and said to them, Because it is given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of Heaven, but it is not given to them.

(12) For whoever has, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance. But whoever does not have, from him shall be taken away even that which he has.

(13) Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they see not, and hearing they hear not; nor do they understand.

(14) And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah which said, "By hearing you shall hear and shall not understand; and seeing you shall see and shall not perceive;

(15) for this people's heart has become gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and they have closed their eyes, lest at any time they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them."

(16) But blessed are your eyes, for they see; and your ears, for they hear.

(17) For truly I say to you that many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which you see, and have not seen them; and to hear what you hear, and have not heard them.

### * * *

So does this mean Jesus taught in parables so people wouldn't understand because he didn't want them to be saved? Did Jesus want people not to hear the Gospel and be lost?

No, not at all. The parables he taught were not terribly difficult to understand and Jesus generally followed them up with an explanation of what they meant. Anybody who was interested could easily find out the meaning. The key point here is that the person has to be "interested." Most of the unbelieving masses didn't pay any more attention to the real meaning of the parables then, than people often pay to sermons today. It's as if the actual meaning of what's said isn't really important, not compared to just being there while it was said. Many people then put as much store in having seen 'Jesus the Prophet' and as little notice to actually listening to his message as the same sort of people today put into attending church regularly and dozing through the sermon. By Monday morning they won't remember a word of it. All they consider important is that they attended church on Sunday. Because, after all, isn't going to church what makes them a better person than the terrible sinner in the next cubical? (Not hardly.)

But what was the meaning of the parable Jesus presented here?

### * * *

Matthew 13:18-23

(18) Therefore hear the parable of the sower.

(19) When anyone hears the Word of the kingdom and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and catches away that which was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown by the wayside.

(20) But that which was sown on the stony places is this: he who hears the Word and immediately receives it with joy.

(21) But he has no root in himself, and is temporary. For when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the Word, he immediately stumbles.

(22) And that sown into the thorns is this: he who hears the Word; and the anxiety of this world, and the deceit of riches, choke the Word, and he becomes unfruitful.

(23) But that sown on the good ground is this: he who hears the Word and understands; who also bears fruit and produces one truly a hundredfold; and one sixty; and one thirty.

### * * *

Notice the one who "has no root in himself" responds to the Word with joy, but it's only temporary. The seed springs up but there's no permanent change. He produces no fruit.

This is just like the one who walks the aisle, prays the prayer but doesn't repent and then goes right back to sitting in the rear of the sanctuary every Sunday just like before. Nothing's different, not his testimony, his actions, or his life. But he thinks he's a Christian because he recited a little prayer. Is this any different from a medieval Catholic that's never read the Bible, can't even understand the Mass (because it's done in Latin) but knows that he's going to heaven (eventually) when he dies, just because he's been baptized into the church and attends Mass regularly?

What's the essential difference between just praying that little prayer of acceptance in a modern Protestant church and being confirmed in the Catholic Church? Other than the fact that a Catholic priest will actually require you to study a little and memorize some Bible verses before the confirmation, nothing. So why do we teach that the one saves us, while the other is just a misunderstanding of scripture, a mere tradition of men? It's **faith** that saves us, not reciting a catechism or praying a prayer of acceptance.

Is a person saved who prays that prayer out of ignorance, or insincerity? How about a teen-ager who just does it to get his parents off his back? I know for a fact that he's not saved because that teen-ager was me. I gave my life to Christ eventually but not until years later when I began to wonder why I wasn't any different. Being a Christian was supposed to change a person and I knew I wasn't any different. That was thirty years ago and I am different now, but only because I didn't just stop after praying that prayer. How many people sitting in church today have done the same thing? Perhaps the ignorance and apathy that plagues the modern American church isn't so much a symptom of the spiritual apathy of Christians as it is evidence that many of the members of the church we think are disciples aren't even believers, just people who once upon a time recited a little prayer. They think they've paid up their 'fire insurance' and don't really see the point of anything more strenuous.

My homosexual brother prayed that same prayer the very next Sunday after I did, probably for the same reason. He hasn't been inside a church for 25 years or more but in spite of the fact that he's 'married' to another man, my parents still believe he's saved because once upon a time he recited that prayer. They say, "He's just backslidden; one of these days he'll come around."

There's no condemnation of him or his lifestyle. They treat his 'partner' like a son-in-law as the two of them prance happily hand in hand down the road to perdition. And my parents criticize my attempts to point out the danger, because since he recited that prayer, in their minds he's not going to Hell no matter what atrocities he commits in this life: he's covered. Protestant churches teaching that reciting that silly little prayer is what saves a person has done more harm than all the indulgences the Catholic Church ever sold.

"For by grace you are saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to good works, which God has before ordained that we should walk in them." (Ephesians 2:8-10)

It's FAITH that saves us, not chanting some silly prayer. Anybody who puts his faith in that prayer instead of Jesus will be just like the seed that never managed to grow up into a plant and produce fruit.

Remember how Christ concluded that parable:

### * * *

But that sown on the good ground is this: he who hears the Word and understands; who also bears fruit and produces one truly a hundredfold; and one sixty; and one thirty. (Matthew 13:23)

### * * *

Some people are going to challenge this interpretation because it goes against what they've been taught at church. But these are the words of Christ: fruit matters. If you don't believe me then let's look at the very next parable:

### * * *

Matthew 13:24-30

(24) He put out another parable to them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field.

(25) But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed darnel among the wheat and went his way.

(26) But when the blade had sprung up and had produced fruit, then the darnel also appeared.

(27) So the servants of the householder came and said to him, Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? Then where have the darnel come from?

(28) He said to them, An enemy has done this. The servants said to him, Then do you want us to go and gather them up?

(29) But he said, No, lest while you gather up the darnel you also root up the wheat with them.

(30) Let both grow together until the harvest. And in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, First gather together the darnel and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my granary.

### * * *

All the plants grew up together in the same field. But at the harvest they were separated into two groups: one for the granary and the other destined for the fire. And how was it decided in which group each plant should go?

By their FRUIT!

### * * *

Matthew 13:31-43

(31) He put out another parable to them, saying, The kingdom of Heaven is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field;

(32) which indeed is the least of all seeds, but when it is grown it is the greatest among herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in its branches.

(33) He spoke another parable to them: The kingdom of Heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal until the whole was leavened.

(34) Jesus spoke all these things to the crowds in parables, and He did not speak to them without a parable,

(35) so that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, "I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world."

(36) Then sending the crowds away, Jesus went into the house. And His disciples came to Him, saying, Explain to us the parable of the darnel of the field.

(37) He answered and said to them, He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man;

(38) the field is the world; the good seed are the sons of the kingdom; but the darnel are the sons of the evil one.

(39) The enemy who sowed them is the Devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.

(40) Therefore as the darnel are gathered and burned in the fire, so it shall be in the end of this world.

(41) The Son of Man shall send out His angels, and they shall gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who do iniquity,

(42) and shall cast them into a furnace of fire. There shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

(43) Then the righteous shall shine out like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

### * * *

It's not my teaching but Christ's. Over and over again he repeats the same message: repent, and do good works. Love God. Love your neighbor.

How many times does he have to teach that good works is the evidence of our changed hearts and salvation before we believe it? If we want a church that DOES things, if you want a church that participates, that volunteers and gives sacrificially, that changes the society around it and makes disciples in all the nations, then we must stop denigrating the idea of doing good works.

We pooh-pooh good works. We stress over and over that they don't save us, and they don't. But when the only thing you ever hear said about works is that they don't save you, pretty soon you begin to think that doing them is pointless. But good works are the evidence of our faith.

We preach Ephesians 2:8-9 but we never finish the passage through verse ten where it says we were created for good works.

We memorize Romans 10:9: "Because if you confess the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved." And leave it at that as if that's the end of being a disciple and neither Christ nor James or anyone else ever said anything about good works.

We preach "just pray this simple prayer and be saved" as if that's all there is to being a disciple. Then we wonder why there's no change in ourselves, why church attenders seem so shallow and immature, and why society ignores our fine example.

Christ taught, "take up your cross" yet we teach that becoming a Christian is easier than signing up for the book-of-the-month club and with considerably less future commitment involved.

But whose ideas do you think are closer to the truth?

### * * *

Matthew 13:44-46

(44) Again, the kingdom of Heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which when a man has found it, he hides it, and for the joy of it goes and sells all that he has, and buys that field.

(45) Again, the kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls;

(46) who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.

### * * *

People value things that are hard to get. Jesus taught the kingdom of Heaven was valuable, and "narrow is the gate and constricted is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it." But we've cheapened it to the price of a simple prayer: that's the price of eternal life.

It's no wonder so many people in church are bored and just seem content to sit and watch others serve. The church is like a bus station. They've got their tickets to heaven paid up and now all they have to do is wait for the bus. It's no wonder to keep attendance up we have to resort to pageants and potlucks and sing-alongs and socials. It's the same reason bus stations have video arcades: to give the bored travelers something to do while they wait.

Frankly, I don't see why anyone who truly believed in salvation by faith as it is currently taught would ever bother to come back to church after being "saved". What's the point? He's got his fire insurance paid up. He's just like a medieval Catholic who can then go out and pretty much commit any sort of sins he likes as long as he comes back and confesses once a year. And we don't even have to do that much!

But what do you think is going to happen to all the people that we've inoculated against the real Gospel by teaching them that all salvation consists of is saying that prayer?

### * * *

Matthew 13:47-50

(47) Again, the kingdom of Heaven is like a net that was cast into the sea, and gathered some of every kind;

(48) which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down and gathered the good into vessels, but threw the bad away.

(49) So it shall be at the end of the world. The angels shall come out and separate the wicked from among the just,

(50) and shall cast them into the furnace of fire. There shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

### * * *

Jesus called upon us to become fishers of men (Matthew 4:19). We need to stop practicing 'catch and release' and start actually making disciples.

A disciple's fruits are his credentials

Matthew 13:51-58

(51) Jesus said to them, Have you understood all these things? They said to Him, Yes, Lord.

(52) Then He said to them, Therefore every scribe who is instructed to the kingdom of Heaven is like a man who is a householder, who brings out things new and old out of his treasure.

(53) And it happened when Jesus finished these parables, He departed from there.

(54) And when He had come into His own country, He taught them in their synagogue, so much so that they were astonished and said, From where does this man have this wisdom and these mighty works?

(55) Is not this the carpenter's son? Is not his mother called Mary? And his brothers, James and Joses and Simon and Judas,

(56) and his sisters, are they not all with us? Then from where does this man have all these things?

(57) And they were offended in Him. But Jesus said to them, A prophet is not without honor, except in his own country and in his own house.

(58) And He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief.

### * * *

The people can't understand how Jesus can do the mighty works he does. They know his family. They know he's a nobody from a hick town in the mountains on the backside of nowhere, a mere carpenter. In their minds mighty works come from mighty men with mighty credentials.

This is backwards of how God works. In the Bible we see time and again where God uses people who have no worldly credentials to do mighty works. He seems to prefer to work with people like that to demonstrate the actual source of those works: His power. Just look at a few examples:

Abraham was just a shepherd. Isaac was a liar and a cheat. Moses was a washed up murderer, living on the lam and 80-years old when he started doing God's work. Neither King Saul nor David was a firstborn son. And just look at what Gideon said to God:

### * * *

Judges 6:15

(15) And he said to him, O, my Lord, with what shall I save Israel? Behold, my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house.

### * * *

We have the same ideas today. We don't think anybody is fit to do any serious work for God unless they have a seminary degree and preferably an ordination of some sort. We want to see some sort of credentials before we'll allow somebody to teach (unless of course, we simply need a warm body to fill an empty slot in a program.)

But as disciples our fruit should be our credentials.

Disciples do the works of Jesus

Matthew 14:1-17

(1) At that time Herod the tetrarch heard of the fame of Jesus

(2) and said to his servants, This is John the Baptist. He has risen from the dead, and therefore the powerful works are working in him.

(3) For Herod had laid hold on John, and had bound him, and had put him in prison because of Herodias his brother Philip's wife.

(4) For John said to him, It is not lawful for you to have her.

(5) And when he desired to put him to death, he feared the multitude, because they counted him as a prophet.

(6) But when Herod's birthday was kept, the daughter of Herodias danced before them and pleased Herod.

(7) So he promised with an oath to give her whatever she would ask.

(8) And she, being instructed before by her mother, said, Give me John the Baptist's head here on a platter.

(9) And the king was sorry. But for the oath's sake, and those reclining with him, he commanded it to be given.

(10) And he sent and beheaded John in the prison.

(11) And his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl. And she brought it to her mother.

(12) And his disciples came and took up the body and buried it, and went and told Jesus.

(13) When Jesus heard, He departed from there by boat into a deserted place apart. And hearing, the crowds followed Him on foot out of the cities.

(14) And Jesus went out and saw a great crowd, and He was moved with compassion toward them. And He healed their sick.

(15) And evening coming on, His disciples came to Him, saying, The place is deserted and the time has already gone by. Send the crowd away so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.

(16) But Jesus said to them, They do not need to leave, you give them something to eat.

(17) And they said to Him, We have here only five loaves and two fish.

### * * *

The disciples had seen Jesus do all sorts of miracles before, everything up to and including raising the dead. And then he had sent them out to do good works themselves and they had done them, casting out demons and healing. Now Jesus wants them to do another miracle: feed 5,000 or more people. Their response is they can't do it; they've only got five loaves and a couple of fish. But that's the point: if they had a couple of truckloads of food available, it wouldn't have been a miracle.

Notice what Jesus does: who feeds the 5,000?

### * * *

Matthew 14:18-21

(18) And He said, Bring them here to Me.

(19) And He commanded the crowd to recline on the grass. And He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to Heaven He blessed and broke, and gave the loaves to His disciples. And the disciples gave to the crowd.

(20) And they all ate and were filled. And they took up twelve hand baskets full from the fragments that remained.

(21) And they who had eaten were about five thousand men, besides women and children.

### * * *

**The disciples fed the 5,000**. Jesus just gave the blessing. Jesus wants his disciples to imitate him by doing the work of God. He's trying to train them up so that when he goes away they can take over for him and make more disciples. We see this same teaching in the next passage:

### * * *

Matthew 14:22-29

(22) And immediately Jesus constrained His disciples to get into a boat and to go before Him to the other side, while He sent the crowds away.

(23) And when He had sent the crowds away, He went up into a mountain apart to pray. And when evening had come, He was there alone.

(24) But the boat was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves; for the wind was against them.

(25) And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea.

(26) And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a phantom! And they cried out for fear.

(27) But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, Be of good cheer, I AM! Do not fear.

(28) And Peter answered Him and said, LORD, if it is You, tell me to come to You on the water.

(29) And He said, Come. And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus.

### * * *

Peter here is beginning to understand that Jesus expects his disciples to do what He can do, but Peter's faith is still too weak:

### * * *

(30)But seeing that the wind was strong, he was afraid. And beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me!

### * * *

Peter's faith may not be all that strong but at least he knows where to turn when he has problems!

### * * *

(31) And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him; and said to him, Little-faith! Why did you doubt?

(32) And when they had come into the boat, the wind ceased.

(33)And those in the boat came and worshiped Him, saying, Truly You are the Son of God.

Traditions are not as important as people

Matthew 14:30-36

(34) And when they had passed over, they came to the land of Gennesaret.

(35) And recognizing Him, the men of that place sent to all that neighborhood, and brought to Him all who were diseased.

(36) And they begged Him that they might only touch the hem of His robe. And as many as touched were made perfectly whole.

### * * *

Matthew 15:1-2

(1) Then the scribes and Pharisees who were from Jerusalem came to Jesus, saying,

(2) Why do your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread.

### * * *

Notice that Jesus and his disciples are over in the land of Gennesaret and the scribes and Pharisees came all the way down from Jerusalem just to make trouble.

What is Jesus response to their accusations? Was he meek and mild, turning the other cheek and not responding to their obvious provocation? Did he let them walk all over Him, an emasculated Christ who only has power over the sick, the lame and the demon possessed?

### * * *

Matthew 15:3-9

(3) But He answered and said to them, Why do you also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?

(4) For God commanded, saying, "Honor your father and mother"; and, "He who speaks evil of father or mother, let him die by death."

(5) But you say, Whoever says to his father or mother, Whatever you would gain from me, It is a gift to God;

(6) and in no way he honors his father or his mother. And you voided the commandment of God by your tradition.

(7) Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, saying,

(8) "This people draws near to Me with their mouth, and honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me.

(9) But in vain they worship Me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men."

### * * *

And he didn't do this privately to avoid embarrassment to his accusers, either.

### * * *

Matthew 15:10-12

(10) And He called the crowd and said to them, Hear and understand.

(11) Not that which goes into the mouth defiles a man; but that which comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man.

(12) Then His disciples came and said to Him, Do You know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?

### * * *

Duh!

### * * *

Matthew 15:13-20

(13) But He answered and said, Every plant which My heavenly Father has not planted shall be rooted up.

(14) Let them alone. They are blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.

(15) Then Peter answered and said to Him, Explain this parable to us.

(16) And Jesus said, Are you also still without understanding?

(17) Do you not yet understand that whatever enters in at the mouth goes into the belly, and is cast out into the waste-bowl?

(18) But the things which come out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile the man.

(19) For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies;

(20) these are the things which defile a man, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man.

### * * *

Notice that Jesus compares what the scribes and Pharisees are doing to murder, adultery, fornication, stealing, lying under oath and blasphemy. Religious leaders who lead people astray are as bad as it gets. Keep this in mind as we continue our study. If the leaders of the church in America today aren't doing what they're supposed to be doing, if they aren't making disciples and stand in the way of those of us who are trying to obey the Great Commission, throwing obstacles in our way and trying to impede us by telling us 'that's not the proper way to do things' what should we do? Should we hesitate to do the right thing because they might be offended? Is that what Jesus did? Or did He continue to do the right things in spite of their opposition, preaching to them the error of their ways and calling on them to repent?

### * * *

Matthew 15:21-23

(21) And going out from there, Jesus withdrew to the parts of Tyre and Sidon.

(22) And behold, a woman of Canaan coming out of these borders cried to Him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! My daughter is grievously vexed with a demon.

(23) But He did not answer her a word. And His disciples came and begged Him, saying, Send her away, for she cries after us.

### * * *

Even though they've been traveling around healing and casting out demons the disciples don't want to deal with this woman because she is a Gentile. She's a foreigner and their traditions say to stay away from such people: they're unclean. If that wasn't bad enough, this woman is also exceptionally annoying and just won't shut up or go away.

But what does Jesus do? He turns on the woman and at first acts just like we'd expect one of the Pharisees to act:

### * * *

Matthew 15:24-26

(24) But He answered and said, I am not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

(25) Then she came and worshiped Him, saying, Lord, help me!

(26) But He answered and said, It is not good to take the children's bread and to throw it to dogs.

### * * *

This is not what we'd expect to hear from the Prince of Peace. But he's doing it to make a point. Everything he did or said was for a reason. Look at her response and his reply:

### * * *

Matthew 15:27-28

(27) And she said, True, O Lord; but even the little dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' tables.

(28) Then Jesus answered and said to her, O woman, great is your faith! So be it to you even as you wish. And her daughter was healed from that very hour.

### * * *

Even the spirit of the Law of God which the Pharisees held themselves in such high esteem for enforcing would have allowed people to give scraps to Gentile 'dogs' but the Pharisees would rather keep the letter of the law and condemn them. They'd rather keep their own traditional interpretation rather than help someone out.

Pharisees put more importance on traditions and rules than people and good works. The way things are done is more important than what is actually accomplished.

This is why churches today spend a fortune in time and money on Vacation Bible Schools that attract no unchurched kids, time and effort that could more profitably be used in a different manner to either go out into the community and reach out to unchurched kids and their parents or else to disciple our own. But we stick with VBS because 'we always do a VBS.'

There's never an altar call and nobody ever gets "saved" at the Christmas pageant but 'it wouldn't be Christmas without it.' And anyone who declines to participate in a 'traditional' church activity that does not create or train disciples is condemned.

We're so fixated with our traditions we've almost completely lost sight of what our mission is supposed to be: to make and train disciples.

Our men's group may not have a Bible study they can go to but, by God, there's a pancake breakfast the first Saturday of every month! And if you don't attend then you're not supporting the men's program.

The youth may not actually be studying the Bible or growing in the Lord but the youth band practices every Wednesday and they go to camp every summer.

I know that Sunday School teacher spends most of every class talking about the playoffs or the latest sporting event, but attendance is up, so it's all good.

Is this really Jesus' plan for His Church? Or just what we've slipped into over the years?

It's time for a revolution that throws out the Pharisees and replaces playing church by the rules with true worship and disciple making.

Jesus wants his disciples to do great things

Matthew 15:29-39

(29) And moving from there Jesus came beside the Sea of Galilee. And He went up into a mountain and sat there.

(30) And great crowds came to Him, having with them the lame, blind, dumb, maimed, and many others. And they cast them down at Jesus' feet. And He healed them,

(31) so much so that the crowd wondered when they saw the dumb speak, the maimed sound, the lame walk, and the blind see. And they glorified the God of Israel.

(32) Then Jesus called His disciples and said, I have compassion on the crowd because they continue with Me for three days now and have nothing to eat. And I will not send them away fasting, lest they faint in the way.

(33) And His disciples said to Him, From where should we get so many loaves in the wilderness, so as to fill so great a crowd?

(34) And Jesus said to them, How many loaves do you have? And they said, Seven, and a few little fish.

(35) And He commanded the crowd to sit on the ground.

(36) And He took the seven loaves and the fish, and gave thanks, and broke, and gave to His disciples. And the disciples gave to the crowd.

(37) And they all ate, and were filled; and they took up seven lunch baskets full of the pieces that was left.

(38) And those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children.

(39) And sending the crowd away, He went into the boat and came into the borders of Magdala.

### * * *

The thing that astonishes me when I read this is the disciples had already been with Jesus when the five thousand were fed, yet here they are in a similar situation but none of them has the faith to believe they can just go and do what they already did before. Again, Jesus has the disciples feed the people, who in this case number more than four thousand.

Feeding people is something modern churches seem to do a lot of. It seems like every week there's a potluck, dinner or social of some kind. We have Easter sunrise breakfasts, men's pancake breakfasts, ice cream socials, Thanksgiving dinners, and all sorts of other dinners and fellowships mostly designed to get people into the church where the pastor can ambush them with the Gospel. We figure if we offer them food, outsiders will want to attend and they'll eventually be persuaded to recite that little prayer, get "saved" and maybe even join the church. Serving free food has become an important evangelistic outreach. But is this what Jesus was doing?

No, every time in scripture where you see Jesus or his disciples feeding people it's because the people were hungry and didn't have food available. In the example we just read the people hadn't brought any food with them and it was too late in the day to get any. If Jesus and the disciples hadn't fed them they'd have gone hungry.

How often does your church feed the homeless or distribute food to the poor? If it's like most, probably rarely and even if it does those sort of good works it will spend a lot more time and effort on feeding its own members. In a nation so rich and well fed that our own Surgeon General considers most of us overweight, do we really need another free meal? Do we have our priorities straight? Or instead of going out into a lost world and meeting their needs, would we rather put on a lovely feast for ourselves with the excuse of maybe, perhaps attracting someone who might hear the gospel if it's actually presented when the food is (which doesn't usually happen anyway).

The Great Commission doesn't say, "host a potluck and they will come." It says, "GO into all the world, and proclaim the gospel to all the creation." (Mark 16:15)

The commandments of men do not compare to those of God

Matthew 16:1

(1) The Pharisees and the Sadducees came to Him, tempting Him. And they asked Him that He would show them a sign from Heaven.

### * * *

Just as they did after the feeding of the five thousand, the Pharisees and the Sadducees came back at Jesus in a counter–attack after the feeding of the four thousand. Satan has lost some ground and he doesn't want to let Jesus' miracles go by without some kind of reply, but neither does Jesus let their attack go by without one:

### * * *

Matthew 16:2-4

(2) He answered and said to them, When it is evening, you say, Fair weather; for the sky is red.

(3) And in the morning, Foul weather today; for the sky is red and gloomy. Hypocrites! You can discern the face of the sky, but you cannot see the signs of the times!

(4) A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign. And there shall no sign be given to it, except the sign of the prophet Jonah. And He left them and went away.

### * * *

Earlier in chapter seven, verse six Jesus said: "Do not give that which is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet and turn again and tear you." Here he again practices what he preaches. Rather than argue with them and lower himself to their level, Jesus simply points out the obvious and then goes about his business.

There's no point in arguing with people. Once you've demonstrated the truth, if they won't accept it there's no point in rehashing it. You're better off spending your time making disciples among people who will listen. Few of the Pharisees ever became disciples, not because Jesus couldn't back up his teachings with scripture, but because in spite of what the Pharisees said and taught, scripture was not what they based their beliefs upon. Even today Orthodox Jews put at least as much authority in the Talmud, a collection of the writings of medieval Jewish rabbis, than they do in the Torah, the very word of God.

The modern protestant Pharisees that will oppose your efforts to restore disciple-making as the only true priority of the church are the same way. To obstruct attempts at reform they'll quote the church bylaws, custom, traditions, "the way we've always done things" and perhaps even the Statement of Faith if they can twist it around to fit. If they bother to quote scripture at all it will be individual verses almost always taken out of context. They'll look down upon your lack of worldly credentials: "who are you to make such suggestions? You're not even a deacon."

In short they'll treat you just like they treated Jesus. In the end all you can do is emulate his example: proclaim the truth and if no one will accept it, go your way and remain true to God.

### * * *

Matthew 16:5-12

(5) And when His disciples had come to the other side, they forgot to take loaves.

(6) And Jesus said to them, Take heed, and beware the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.

(7) And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have taken no loaves.

(8) And knowing Jesus said to them, Why do you reason among yourselves because you took no loaves, little-faiths?

(9) Do you not yet understand, nor remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many hand baskets you took up;

(10) nor the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many lunch baskets you took up?

(11) How is it that you do not understand that I did not speak to you about loaves, but to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees?

(12) Then they understood that He did not say to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

### * * *

And what was the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees? That the rules of men are more important than other people or the commandments of God.

When Pharisees get in positions of authority they aren't interested in making disciples. They already KNOW what God wants: God made rules and he put them in charge of making sure everybody else keeps those rules. All they want from their flock is for them to be obedient sheep: keep quiet and do what they're told. No rocking the boat.

Again and again we see them in scripture quenching the spirit of God and calling a halt to whatever great works were going on, usually for no better reason than because THEY weren't the ones in charge of doing the works.

Jesus is condemned for healing on the Sabbath because in this way the religious authorities put him in his place and show themselves as the ones in charge of the Lord's Sabbath. They condemn the disciples for not washing their hands before they ate hoping everyone will think their wonderful works are therefore of no consequence. They can't compete by doing any good works of their own. Nobody wants the rotten fruit they produce; therefore nobody else is allowed to make any fruit that might be more acceptable or effective.

In a lot of modern churches today any attempt by laymen to attempt to organize any sort of ministry will immediately attract opposition from the local Pharisees in the church hierarchy. All sorts of obstacles and objections will appear. Over and over again I've seen people who wanted to start a fellowship or a class or even a Bible study denied the use of otherwise empty rooms for no better reason than because their new idea didn't fit in with the concepts of those in charge. "We already had one of those."

Or because they felt it would pull people away from other ministries that the church is sponsoring, as if giving people choices was a bad idea.

Or worst of all, because they needed volunteers for a different ministry that they felt the church should have, perhaps a long-standing tradition, so that instead of starting a different Bible study, the would-be teacher should instead serve in the empty slot that the Pharisee wished to fill. "Thank you for suggesting you'd like to teach a new Bible study on discipleship, but what this church REALLY needs is someone to run the PowerPoint projector for the Sunday evening song service. Could I get you to volunteer to do that instead?"

The issue has become less the value of the actual ministry suggestion than the source of it. How often have you heard: "This church has programs that need be staffed and run in an orderly and controlled fashion. We can't let just anybody serve in whatever capacity they feel like." And another chance for a disciple to train himself and others is turned into a missed opportunity.

As efforts to volunteer and actually recruit and train disciples become diverted into performing just another required religious chore, eventually those fired up disciples who want to do great things for God become fed up themselves and leave. Or they burn out: the fire just dies down by itself and they quit volunteering for endless service at jobs that that probably have little or nothing to do with actual disciple making and that don't need or use the spiritual gifts that God gave them. How many times do the "needs of the local church" (as determined by the staff) determine our ministry priorities rather than the needs of the congregation to employ their spiritual gifts? Or the needs of the surrounding community to be ministered to by those gifts?

But how did Jesus train His disciples? Don't you believe that's how we should do things in our churches today?

Disciples get corrected when they are wrong

The martial arts master has his disciples go through the various exercises to practice the various moves, acting as if they're in control and know what they're doing, even if they're just beginners. They start out slow, and practice over and over again until they get it right. And if they're doing it wrong the master corrects them. He isn't afraid of hurting their feelings. He just wants His disciples to learn their lessons correctly.

Criticism is an essential part of discipleship. If somebody is off the mark it does no good for them to keep practicing incorrectly. The longer they go without correction, the harder it will be for them to correct their behavior later. Yet we are often told Christians shouldn't criticize each other. One of my mother's favorite sayings was "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything." But is that actually helpful? More importantly is it Biblical? Did Jesus and the apostles correct other believers?

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Matthew 16:13-17

(13) And coming into the parts of Caesarea Philippi, Jesus asked His disciples, saying, Who do men say Me to be, the Son of Man?

(14) And they said, Some say, John the Baptist; some, Elijah; and others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.

(15) He said to them, But who do you say I am?

(16) And Simon Peter answered and said, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.

(17) Jesus answered and said to him, You are blessed, Simon, son of Jonah, for flesh and blood did not reveal it to you, but My Father in Heaven.

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We see here when one of the disciples does well Jesus commends him and tells him he's doing a good job. This is an encouragement to continue to do well. But what does Jesus do when Peter does badly?

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Matthew 16:18-23

(18) And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

(19) And I will give the keys of the kingdom of Heaven to you. And whatever you may bind on earth shall occur, having been bound in Heaven, and whatever you may loose on earth shall occur, having been loosed in Heaven.

(20) Then He warned His disciples that they should tell no one that He was Jesus the Christ.

(21) From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day.

(22) Then Peter took Him and began to rebuke Him, saying, God be gracious to You, Lord! This shall never be to You.

(23) But He turned and said to Peter, Go, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you do not savor the things that are of God, but those that are of men.

### * * *

When Peter screws up, Jesus lets him know he's off base. If we have children or employees we do the same, otherwise they'll never learn to do things right. Yet with other Christians we somehow feel that we can't say anything (at least to them) because it would be unkind. So they continue to do poorly and don't improve. But is this the way Jesus did things? Did he ever criticize his disciples or the church?

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Matthew 26:40 And He came to the disciples and found them asleep. And He said to Peter, What! Could you not watch with Me one hour?

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Revelation 3:14-19

(14) And to the angel of the church of the Laodicea write: The Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Head of the creation of God, says these things:

(15) I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I would that you were cold or hot.

(16) So because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.

(17) Because you say, I am rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing, and do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked,

(18) I counsel you to buy from Me gold purified by fire, so that you may be rich; and white clothing, so that you may be clothed, and so that the shame of your nakedness does not appear. And anoint your eyes with eye salve, so that you may see.

(19) As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten; therefore be zealous and repent.

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Did the apostles ever criticize other believers?

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1Cornthians 5:1-13

(1) On the whole it is reported that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not even named among the nations, so as one to have his father's wife.

(2) And you are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, so that he who has done this deed may be taken from your midst.

(3) For as being absent in body but present in spirit, I indeed have judged already as though I were present concerning him who worked out this thing;

(4) in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you are gathered together, with my spirit; also, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ;

(5) to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.

(6) Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?

(7) Therefore purge out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, as you are unleavened. For also Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.

(8) Therefore let us keep the feast; not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

(9) I wrote to you in the letter not to associate intimately with fornicators;

(10) yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters; for then you must go out of the world.

(11) But now I have written to you not to associate intimately, if any man called a brother and is either a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such a one not to eat.

(12) For what is it to me to also judge those who are outside? Do you not judge those who are inside?

(13) But God judges those who are outside. Therefore put out from you the evil one.

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But would an American church ever kick somebody out? Maybe, but not until after their sin became so gross and scandalous it was no longer possible to ignore. And even then some would still call for us to forgive and forget. If you don't believe me, think back to what seems to happen to televangelists on a regular basis. We seem to somehow have the mistaken idea that people can only get saved in church and if something we do causes them to stop coming to church then somehow we become responsible for them becoming lost and going to Hell, so we put up with all sorts of wretched and unchristian behavior and let the wolves overrun the church, all in the name of 'Christian unity' and love.

"God is love" but that's not all there is to God. God is also just.

People say it was love that nailed Jesus to the cross. But it wasn't. If God was all about love, acceptance and being nice he could have just given us all a free pass. He could have just ignored and overlooked all our sin. But he didn't. Jesus HAD to die because God is just. He's not just all acceptance and unconditional love. If he was then Jesus didn't have to die.

Christ's death freed us from the Law. But that doesn't mean that there's no standards to follow, that anything we do is acceptable. The New Testament is full of advice and criticism... that the man of God may be perfected, thoroughly furnished to every good work. (2 Timothy 3:17)

But we're so caught up in 'love' and unconditional acceptance and being nice that we'll overlook almost anything in the name of unity.

Proverbs 27:17 says, "As iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the face of his friend." But we're afraid if we allow any criticism that the sharpening will cause sparks to fly. And it does. But guess what? You let those sparks fly and see if both of them don't end up sharper and more effective.

This is discipline. Remember our dictionary definition: Discipline is training expected to produce a specific character or pattern of behavior, especially training that produces moral or mental improvement. Without criticism there can be no discipline. If you can't tell someone they're not doing it right, how can they improve? Christ didn't look at us wallowing in our sin and say, "Oh, that's OK, just keep doing what you've been doing, I'm sure you'll stumble onto the right path eventually." He didn't say that. Instead he picked us up, cleaned us off and said, "You can do better than this."

It says in Revelation 3:19: " **As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten** ; therefore be zealous and repent." These are the very words of Christ. We should follow his example. If our fellow believers are on the wrong path we need to help them get turned around where they ought to be, whether that hurts their feelings or not. This is what love is really all about, not just smiles and being "nice."

But this doesn't mean that we're to be brutal about it. However, what I see in the church today is a high unwillingness to even acknowledge a problem, let alone do anything constructive about it. It seems most people would rather just complain about the problem person behind their back and create more trouble. What the Church needs is more constructive criticism and less backbiting.

And a realization of what the difference between them is.

Jesus told his disciples to "take up your cross."

Matthew 16:24-28

(24) Then Jesus said to His disciples, If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.

(25) For whoever desires to save his life shall lose it, and whoever desires to lose his life for My sake shall find it.

(26) For what is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

(27) For the Son of Man shall come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He shall reward each one according to his works.

(28) Truly I say to you, There are some standing here who shall not taste of death until they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.

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In verses 24-25 Jesus compares being a disciple to being crucified. Isn't this similar to what he said about the narrow gate that leads to life and the broad way that leads to destruction? But how does it compare to our modern concept that being a Christian requires nothing of us other than a quick, simple prayer?

In verse 27 Jesus again mentions works. How many times has Jesus mentioned this subject in Matthew so far? Yet in our own churches "works" is a bad word. We only mention them to say that we don't need them, yet the Bible clearly teaches that good works (fruit) are the EVIDENCE of our salvation and that every believer MUST have them.

We do not earn our salvation. Our works do not save us. We are saved by faith, not by a prayer, but by faith in a person: Jesus.

Good works (our fruit) are the evidence of our salvation. There are only two types of trees: those that produce good fruit and enter the kingdom of God, and those that do not produce good fruit and end up in the fire.

Which kind are you?

Disciples study the Bible 2

Matthew 17:1-13

(1) And after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, and brought them up into a high mountain apart.

(2) And He was transfigured before them. And His face shone as the sun, and His clothing was white as the light.

(3) And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah talking with Him.

(4) And Peter answered and said to Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here. If You will, let us make here three tabernacles; one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.

(5) While he yet spoke, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them. And behold a voice out of the cloud which said, This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased, hear Him.

(6) And when the disciples heard, they fell on their face and were greatly terrified.

(7) And Jesus came and touched them, and said, Arise and do not be terrified.

(8) And lifting up their eyes, they saw no one except Jesus alone.

(9) And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying, Tell the vision to no one until the Son of Man has risen from the dead.

(10) And His disciples asked Him, saying, Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?

(11) And answering Jesus said to them, Elijah truly shall come first and restore all things.

(12) But I say to you that Elijah has come already, and they did not know him, but have done to him whatever they desired. Likewise also the Son of Man shall suffer from them.

(13) Then His disciples understood that He spoke to them about John the Baptist.

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Notice here what the disciples asked Jesus: "Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?" They're asking him about the prophesy in Malachi about the coming of the Messiah:

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Malachi 4:5-6

(5) Behold, I am sending you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of Jehovah.

(6) And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the sons, and the heart of the sons to their fathers, that I not come and strike the earth with utter destruction.

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The Day of the Lord is the Second Coming when Christ returns to judge the nations and set up his earthly kingdom, but the disciples, like the rest of the Jewish scholars then and now, confused the two separate comings of the Messiah as a single coming. They see in the Transfiguration that Jesus is indeed the Messiah and they saw Elijah testifying to this. But they know the scriptures and they're familiar with the current teachings. They just can't understand how what they've just seen relates to what they've been taught. So they ask Jesus for an explanation.

But remember these were once just a bunch of ordinary working-class fishermen. Now they're asking deep philosophical questions about Biblical prophecy. This just shows how far their discipleship training has progressed. By the time it is complete Peter will be preaching sermons and arguing theology with the priests. This should be the goal of our own discipleship: the someday learn enough about the Bible that we can carry our own side in a debate with anybody.

If you don't think you can, you're probably right. Just remember this is what Jesus has in mind for us, in the same way he demanded that we be perfect. Don't refuse to try because it looks difficult, just do the best you can and leave the rest up to Jesus. Remember what Peter did when he saw Jesus walking on the water. He attempted the impossible and he succeeded, at least as long as he kept his eyes on Jesus.

If Jesus can make a middle-aged fisherman into a scholar who can argue successfully with the temple priests and preach a sermon that gains three thousand converts (Acts chapter 2) he can make any of us into Bible experts. All we have to do is study.

But if we want to become Bible experts, and the only studying we do each week is passively absorbing a half-hour Sunday School lesson and a bit of a sermon, we aren't going to make much progress, even in a whole lifetime. How long would it take to get a college degree if you only spent a couple hours a week at school? (And then spent most of that time shaking hands or singing or listening to the announcements?) But somehow, most American Christians seem to treat going to Sunday School as if it was something over and above, beyond what is usually required of a Christian, as if doing anything beyond sitting through more than two worship services a month makes you a spiritual heavy hitter. (And anybody who shows up regularly for the mid-week service or a Bible study is some kind of crazy fanatic with no life.)

But that's exactly what Jesus wants: fanatics that will change the world.

Disciples need to develop their faith

Matthew 17:14-21

(14) And when they came to the crowd, a man came to Him, kneeling down to Him and saying,

(15) Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is a lunatic and grievously vexed; for oftentimes he falls into the fire, and often into the water.

(16) And I brought him to Your disciples, and they could not cure him.

(17) Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I suffer you? Bring him here to Me.

(18) And Jesus rebuked the demon, and he departed out of him. And the child was cured from that very hour.

(19) Then the disciples came to Jesus apart, and said, Why could we not cast him out?

(20) And Jesus said to them, Because of your unbelief. For truly I say to you, If you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you shall say to this mountain, Move from here to there. And it shall move. And nothing shall be impossible to you.

(21) However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.

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Notice that the man with the demon-possessed son first took him to the disciples (verse 16.) This demonstrates that by this point the disciples were well known to be able to do the same sorts of miracles Jesus did. But in this particular case they failed, so the man takes his case right to the top and Jesus cures his boy.

The disciples are concerned and ask why they had been unable to do the same (verse 19) and Jesus replies it was because their faith was too weak.

As disciples, if we want to achieve all Jesus has planned for us we need to develop our faith muscles to match our desire. Jesus says here we can move mountains if we have enough faith. Obviously, if we could move mountains then we could perform any easier task just as well. But to do that we need big faith and you don't get that overnight any more than you get big muscles overnight.

You develop faith and muscles the same way: by stretching your abilities to the utmost. The big bodybuilders didn't start out lifting 400 pounds at a time. They started out with smaller weights and worked their way up to heavier ones over time.

But at the same time they had to be willing to put their strength to the test. If a bodybuilder never lifted more than a few pounds and rarely that, he wouldn't "build" much of a body and he wouldn't look any different than the "before" pictures in the magazine ads for weightlifting equipment. It's only as he gradually increases his load and dares what he never thought possible that he grows. Our faith is the same way. To make it grow we need to stretch it, and as far as we want to stretch it, God will help us grow in faith.

But you can't do that by just sitting in a pew for a couple of hours a week.

Disciples don't let the responsibilities of the world distract them

Matthew 17:22-27

(22) And while they stayed in Galilee, Jesus said to them, The Son of Man shall be betrayed into the hands of men.

(23) And they will kill Him, and the third day He will be raised again. And they grieved exceedingly.

(24) And when they had come to Capernaum, those who received the didrachmas came to Peter and said, Does your master not pay the didrachmas?

(25) He said, Yes. And when he had come into the house, Jesus anticipated him, saying, What do you think, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth take custom or tribute? From their sons, or from strangers?

(26) Peter said to Him, From strangers. Jesus said to him, Then truly the sons are free.

(27) But lest we should offend them, go to the sea and cast a hook, and take up the first fish that comes up. And when you have opened its mouth, you shall find a stater; take that, and give it to them for Me and you.

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Here we see that Jesus and Peter owed a tax, but rather than try and make some excuses about why they shouldn't have to pay, Jesus told Peter to just go fishing and pay the tax. Usually when people read this passage they see it as just another example of Jesus' miracles, but what I see is that Jesus told Peter to go to work at the job he was used to doing (fishing) and make the money needed to pay his taxes. While it was a miracle the fish he caught had money in its mouth, Jesus could just as easily have let Peter continue catching fish until he had caught enough to sell to pay the tax. The point of this isn't HOW he made the money to pay the tax, but that Peter worked to pay his obligations.

Living in this life we accumulate obligations: taxes, mortgages, car payments, clothing and food for our families. As disciples we aren't immune from taking care of these obligations. Few of us can forsake the world and go off somewhere like monks and devote all our time to being a disciple.

What we can do is pay our obligations and then concentrate on our training. You notice in the next section of Matthew that Peter didn't continue to fish after he had made enough to pay the tax. Yet most Christians today don't treat being a disciple as one of their priorities. They'll forgo opportunities to serve because of time constraints imposed by working to store up treasures here rather than training for eternity.

If you dropped dead tomorrow, by Monday they'll have replaced you at work. And a bigger house and more money won't make your family (or you) better off in the Kingdom of Heaven.

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Matthew 6:24-25

(24) No one can serve two masters. For either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.

(25) Therefore I say to you, Do not be anxious for your life, what you shall eat, or what you shall drink; nor for your body, what you shall put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?

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If being a disciple isn't more important to you than that, maybe you're not doing it right?

Disciples resolve disputes peacefully

Disputes are inevitable any time you get more than one person involved in anything, so we need a way to resolve them.

Some organizations resolve disputes harshly. For example, if you argue with your boss, you might be fired: end of argument, but kinda rough on you.

Other organizations appeal to sweet reason and try to persuade people they ought to agree. This is a better idea because often a dispute may arise out of simple misunderstanding. But some people are just not reasonable and in the end reason alone is sometimes not sufficient by itself.

One of the primary reasons the Christian church in America today is so ineffective is the way we resolve disputes: basically we don't. Typically American churches deal with disputes in one of two ways, either by misusing authority or by a futile appeal to just "love one another."

Pharisees in leadership positions tend to respond to disputes by treating them as a violation of the rules. The offender is told in no uncertain terms that he is a troublemaker and to knock it off or leave the church. The actual problem is not addressed and resolution of the issue is not seen as important as the end of dissention. It's like a parent dealing with a couple of squabbling children. The parent is not as interested in justice as in the lack of noise and children soon learn not to expect justice regardless of the merits of their case. In practice this doesn't work any better in church than it does with your kids. The arguing may stop but the problem never goes away.

Other churches aren't so dogmatic. They won't kick anybody out. That goes directly against their top priority: attendance numbers. It hardly makes any sense to subtract a problem member when you're spending all the rest of your time madly trying to lure more people to join. And they don't want to take a chance of offending anyone by appealing to reason, so the usual churchy solution for disputes is to appeal to everyone to practice Christian charity and 'just get along.' Meanwhile the actual problem is ignored. In practice this doesn't work any better in church than it does with your kids.

But how does Jesus say we are to handle disputes?

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Matthew 18:1-15

(1) At that hour the disciples came to Jesus, saying, Who is the greater in the kingdom of Heaven?

(2) And Jesus called a little child to Him and set him in their midst,

(3) and said, Truly I say to you, Unless you are converted and become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of Heaven.

(4) Therefore whoever shall humble himself like this little child, this one is the greater in the kingdom of Heaven.

(5) And whoever shall receive one such little child in My name receives Me.

(6) But whoever shall offend one of these little ones who believes in Me, it would be better for him that an ass's millstone were hung around his neck, and he be sunk in the depth of the sea.

(7) Woe to the world because of offenses! For it is necessary that offenses come; but woe to that man by whom the offense comes!

(8) And if your hand or your foot causes you to offend, cut them off and throw them from you. It is better for you to enter into life lame or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire.

(9) And if your eye offends you, pluck it out and throw it from you. It is better for you to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into the hell of fire.

(10) Take heed that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I say to you that in Heaven their angels always behold the face of My Father in Heaven.

(11) For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost.

(12) What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them strays, does he not leave the ninety and nine and go into the mountains and seek the straying one?

(13) And if it happens that he finds it, truly I say to you, he rejoices more over it than over the ninety and nine which did not stray.

(14) Even so it is not the will of your Father in Heaven that one of these little ones should perish.

(15) But if your brother shall trespass against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother.

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Step one: if you have a problem with somebody, then go to them and work it out, just the two of you. If you have a problem with the drums in the praise band you go to the music director and talk to him about it. You don't go and complain in your Sunday School class to sixteen other people who aren't involved and try to get them all stirred up and angry, too.

The reason for this is simple: most of the time a dispute is caused by a simple misunderstanding. Once you actually go to the other person and communicate with them, often the problem turns out not to be such a problem at all.

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Matthew 18:16

(16) But if he will not hear you, take one or two more with you, so that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.

### * * *

Step two: if that doesn't work THEN you go to a couple more people (NOT the whole ladies sewing circle) and talk to them about it. It's a pretty safe bet that if you can't find two or three other people who agree with you that maybe you're the one in the wrong, not the other guy. At that point a reasonable person who is trying to be the disciple Jesus would want him to be would then drop the issue.

But if the other person is in the wrong and you are able to find others who agree with you about the seriousness of the problem and you go to the other person again and he still refuses to work things out, what do you do next?

### * * *

Matthew 18:17

(17) And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he neglects to hear the church, let him be to you as a heathen and a tax-collector.

### * * *

Step three: if he rejects the three of you: take it to the church. This doesn't mean you go complaining to everybody in the prayer chain. This means you go to someone in authority and call a church meeting about it.

But what if it's not really a big enough problem to justify something like that?

Well, if it's not that big of a problem why are you making such a big deal about it? Every problem that might arise is either too petty to let divide us or else too serious to ignore. No problem is just big enough to keep the pot boiling behind the scenes but not important enough to settle.

If you have a problem with the praise band, call a church meeting about it. Let everybody have a say. Work it out and then when everyone decides what to do – it's over. It's been dealt with. The matter's closed. If you don't like the verdict, that's too bad. Disciples have to be mature enough to get over it and if the dispute was dealt with in reference to biblical principles there shouldn't be any problem with that.

What you shouldn't do is exactly how we generally handle problems in the church: either the pastor and his staff squelch any dissent faster than the red queen in Alice in Wonderland (Off with their head!) or else we avoid talking about the problem at all and hope it'll just quietly disappear. But problems don't just go away. Like a neglected wound they fester and spread poison throughout the system until a minor scratch that could have been cleaned out easily and then healed itself a long time ago now threatens the whole body and may require a major amputation. How do you think churches end up split over silly, stupid little things like the color of the carpet? Or the music played by the praise band? It wasn't the tiny, insignificant wound that killed those churches; it was the festering poison that spread throughout their entire system because the injury wasn't dealt with. But we would rather destroy the whole church than possibly hurt one person's feelings.

### * * *

Matthew 18:18-20

(18) Truly I say to you, Whatever you shall bind on earth shall occur, having been bound in Heaven; and whatever you shall loose on earth shall occur, having been loosed in Heaven.

(19) Again I say to you that if two of you shall agree on earth as regarding anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them by My Father in Heaven.

(20) For where two or three are gathered together in My name, there I am in their midst.

### * * *

Usually these verses are quoted to support the idea that Jesus is just as present in a small prayer meeting as a whole assembly but look at the context: Jesus said these words during a lesson on resolving conflict. When you go to that other person one on one, Jesus is right there with both of you. You'd better handle your dispute as if Jesus was watching because he's right there next to you. A dispute between disciples should never progress to the point of calling a church meeting. That's a measure of last resort for use against people who shouldn't be in the church causing trouble anyway. Remember how Jesus said to treat the one who refuses to accept the verdict of the church? Like a heathen. If you've gone to them twice, the second time with a second or third witness and he still refuses to repent, maybe he is a heathen. He's certainly acting like one. Expel him from the church until he repents. This is exactly what the Apostle Paul commanded in First Corinthians 5:7-13, the passage we looked at in an earlier chapter.

Yet what do most modern American churches do? They 'practice forgiveness' and just let the person continue in sin, spreading infection and stirring up trouble.

Several times in the Bible sin is compared to yeast. I worked for a while as a commercial baker. When mixing bread dough a fifty-pound sack of flour is combined with several gallons of water and several pounds of salt, sugar and other ingredients. Then a half pound of yeast is added to that huge mass of dough to leaven it. That half pound is enough to saturate and raise that entire seventy-pound mass of dough, fermenting and puffing it up with bubbles of foul-smelling gas. Isn't that the same effect just a few unrepentant troublemakers have on a church body?

And notice what's the next thing Jesus gets asked after he discusses conflict resolution:

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Matthew 18:21-22

(21) Then Peter came to Him and said, Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Until seven times?

(22) Jesus said to him, I do not say to you, Until seven times; but, Until seventy times seven.

### * * *

Jesus commands us to forgive those who've wronged us. Notice that Peter wants to know what's the minimum number of times he has to forgive and still keep the rule. Jesus doesn't really mean you keep an actual record and count 490 times, He means you just keep doing so until it becomes ridiculous. But doesn't this contradict the previous teachings where we were told to treat an unrepentant troublemaker as a heathen and not to associate with him?

Not at all, although somehow the modern church seems to have forgotten that teaching in its efforts to be all-forgiving. What Jesus means here is to forgive those who've done you wrong, to give people another chance and not blow up a slight altercation into a life-long grudge. He didn't say to ignore blatant sin or to allow a person to continue to spread wickedness or false doctrines unchallenged. We can see this by continuing on and reading the example parable that Jesus uses to illustrate this message:

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Matthew 18:23-35

(23) Therefore the kingdom of Heaven has been compared to a certain king who desired to make an accounting with his servants.

(24) And when he had begun to count, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents.

(25) But as he had nothing to pay, his lord commanded that he, and his wife and children, and all that he had, be sold, and payment be made.

(26) Then the servant fell down and worshiped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me and I will pay you all.

(27) Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion and released him and forgave him the debt.

(28) But the same servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. And he laid hands on him and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me what you owe.

(29) And his fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him, saying, Have patience with me and I will pay you all.

(30) And he would not, but went and cast him into prison until he should pay the debt.

(31) So when his fellow servants saw what was done, they were very sorry. And they came and told their lord all that was done.

(32) Then his lord, after he had called him, said to him, O wicked servant, I forgave you all that debt because you begged me.

(33) Should you not also have pitied your fellow servant, even as I had pity on you?

(34) And his lord was angry, and delivered him to the tormentors until he should pay all that was due to him.

(35) So likewise shall My heavenly Father do also to you, unless each one of you from your hearts forgive his brother their trespasses.

### * * *

Jesus did not command us to allow wicked wolves to continue to victimize His sheep.

Disciples either stay married or stay single

Matthew 19:1-9

(1) And it happened, when Jesus had finished these sayings, that He departed from Galilee and came into the borders of Judea beyond Jordan.

(2) And great crowds followed Him. And He healed them there.

(3) And the Pharisees came to Him, tempting Him and saying to Him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause?

(4) And He answered and said to them, Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning "made them male and female",

(5) and said, For this cause a man shall leave father and mother and shall cling to his wife, and the two of them shall be one flesh?

(6) Therefore they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.

(7) They said to Him, Why did Moses then command to give a bill of divorce and to put her away?

(8) He said to them, Because of your hard-heartedness Moses allowed you to put away your wives; but from the beginning it was not so.

(9) And I say to you, Whoever shall put away his wife, except for fornication, and shall marry another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is put away commits adultery.

### * * *

According to statistics gathered by the Barna organization, in spite of clear teachings against divorce in Scripture, Christians are just as likely to become divorced as non-Christians. We should be setting an example for the world, not the reverse.

Divorce used to be a big scandal. Now it's just another alternate lifestyle. We're serial polygamists having multiple wives or husbands, just never more than one at the same time, and we don't seem to think anything of it. Yet what does Jesus say? Remarriage after divorce for any reason other than fornication is adultery.

It used to be, when America was still trying to be a Christian nation, that you couldn't even get a divorce unless there was some proof your spouse was cheating on you. Then the sixties came and along with drugs, sex and rock n' roll we got legalized abortion, pornography and no fault divorce. Divorce rates skyrocketed, followed a decade later by crime rates and all the other 'benefits' of broken homes. Sin has consequences and divorce is a sin. Isn't this what Jesus is teaching in this passage? And what else does Jesus teach:

Christians should not get divorced.

If they get divorced for any reason other than their spouse cheating, they shouldn't remarry.

### * * *

Matthew 19:10-12

(10) His disciples said to Him, If this is the case of the man with his wife, it is not good to marry.

(11) But He said to them, Not all receive this word, except those to whom it is given.

(12) For there are some eunuchs who were born so from their mother's womb; and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men; and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of Heaven's sake. He who is able to receive it, let him receive it.

### * * *

If you can't stay married you shouldn't get married.

If you're a disciple who is already married NOTHING is a valid reason for divorce except infidelity by your partner. Any two people can learn to get along if they want to. It's just that in America today for some people that's more trouble than they want to bother with and their children pay the price.

### * * *

Matthew 19:13-21

(13) Then little children were brought to Him, that He should put His hands on them and pray. And the disciples rebuked them.

(14) But Jesus said, Allow the little children to come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of Heaven.

(15) And He laid His hands on them, and departed from there.

### * * *

Divorce is the bitter fruit of putting yourself first instead of others. Real disciples shouldn't get divorced.

Disciples do not worry over the things of this world

Matthew 19:16-21

(16) And behold, one came and said to Him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?

(17) And He said to him, Why do you call Me good? There is none good but one, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.

(18) He said to Him, Which? Jesus said, You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not bear false witness,

(19) honor your father and mother, and, you shall love your neighbor as yourself.

(20) The young man said to Him, I have kept all these things from my youth up; what do I lack yet?

(21) Jesus said to him, If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you shall have treasure in Heaven. And come, follow Me.

### * * *

What does Jesus teach here? What must we do to be perfect?

Do good works and don't lay up treasures for yourself on this earth. Haven't we seen these teachings before?

### * * *

Matthew 19:22-30

(22) But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful; for he had great possessions.

(23) Then Jesus said to His disciples, Truly I say to you that a rich man will with great difficulty enter into the kingdom of Heaven.

(24) And again I say to you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.

(25) When His disciples heard, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved?

(26) But Jesus looked on them and said to them, With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.

(27) Then answering Peter said to Him, Behold, we have forsaken all and have followed You. Therefore what shall we have?

(28) And Jesus said to them, Truly I say to you that you who have followed Me, in the regeneration, when the Son of Man shall sit in the throne of His glory, you also shall sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

(29) And everyone who left houses, or brothers, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for My name's sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.

(30) But many who are first shall be last; and the last shall be first.

### * * *

Matthew 20:1-16

(1) For the kingdom of Heaven is like a man, a housemaster, who went out early in the morning to hire laborers into his vineyard.

(2) And when he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard.

(3) And he went out about the third hour and saw others standing idle in the marketplace.

(4) And he said to them, You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you. And they went.

(5) And he went out about the sixth and ninth hour and did likewise.

(6) And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing idle, and said to them, Why do you stand here all day idle?

(7) They said to him, Because no one has hired us. He said to them, You also go into the vineyard, and you shall receive whatever is right.

(8) So when evening had come, the lord of the vineyard said to his steward, Call the laborers and pay them their wage, beginning from the last to the first.

(9) And when they who were hired about the eleventh hour came, they each one received a denarius.

(10) But when the first came, they supposed that they would received more; and they also each one received a denarius.

(11) And receiving it they murmured against the master of the house,

(12) saying, These last have worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden and heat of the day.

(13) But he answered one of them and said, Friend, I do you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius?

(14) Take yours, and go; I will give to this last one the same as to you.

(15) Is it not lawful for me to do what I want with my own? Is your eye evil because I am good?

(16) So the last shall be first, and the first last, for many are called, but few are chosen.

### * * *

We're all supposed to do good works and produce good fruit. That's our purpose. Just like the laborers in the parable, we should be up and about our work. Some of us have been followers of Christ all our lives, some for only a short time, but we all get the same pay: eternal life. Those of us who do more good works aren't going to get more pay. We're all going to live forever, how much more life can you have than that?

Disciples are to be like servants

Matthew 20:17-28

(17) And going up to Jerusalem, Jesus took the twelve disciples apart in the way, and said to them,

(18) Behold, we go up to Jerusalem. And the Son of Man shall be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes, and they shall condemn Him to death.

(19) And they shall deliver Him to the nations to mock and to scourge and to crucify. And the third day He shall rise again.

(20) Then the mother of Zebedee's children came to Him with her sons, worshiping and desiring a certain thing from Him.

(21) And He said to her, What do you desire? She said to Him, Grant that these my two sons may sit in Your kingdom, the one on Your right hand and the other on the left.

(22) But Jesus answered and said, You do not know what you ask. Are you able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? They said to Him, We are able.

(23) And He said to them, You shall indeed drink of My cup and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with; but to sit on My right hand and on My left is not Mine to give, but to those for whom it has been prepared by My Father.

(24) And when the ten heard it, they were indignant concerning the two brothers.

(25) But Jesus called them and said, You know that the rulers of the nations exercise dominion over them, and they who are great exercise authority over them.

(26) However, it shall not be so among you. But whoever desires to be great among you, let him be your servant.

(27) And whoever desires to be chief among you, let him be your servant;

(28) even as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.

### * * *

Notice again Jesus teaches that there are no upper ranks to discipleship. Humans like everything set up in tiered ranks, especially the humans who get to occupy the upper tiers. But in the Kingdom of Heaven there are no ranks, any more than there are in a sheepfold. Jesus is the shepherd and the rest of us are all sheep. Some of us may be fatter or fluffier or stronger or older but we're all sheep.

"But whoever desires to be great among you, let him be your servant. And whoever desires to be chief among you, let him be your servant." Instead of lording it over each other Jesus expects us to be in an open competition to see who can be the best servant.

In America today we pride ourselves on freedom and equality. Few Americans have servants and nobody much even knows how to deal with them. People don't know how to be a servant and they don't know how to treat them. When I was running restaurants I saw this quite a lot. Customers sometimes were abusive and had unrealistic expectations. They wanted the impossible done yesterday and became unreasonable when things didn't go their way. I've seen otherwise reasonable people act in ways that would have made Marie Antoinette blush.

But late at night, after the bars closed we'd often get people in who were waiters or bartenders: people who worked as servants. Those people were always the most gracious and patient and they always left big tips, the reason being the empathy they had for us as fellow servants. Serving together provides unity and understanding.

Do you think much of our current problems with disunity in the church may stem from the fact so few members actually volunteer and do any good works?

"Twenty percent of the people do eighty percent of the work" is the quote I keep hearing, as if it's in scripture somewhere. But that's not Jesus' plan for his church. His plan is for 100% of the people to do 100% of the work. We're ALL supposed to be servants.

So how did it get this way and what can we do about it?

Pastors have been preaching about servanthood for years. That's not the problem. I've heard plenty of sermons about how we should be servants. And some of us take that to heart. (How else do you think that 80% of the work gets done?) The problem is the 80% of the people in the pews who think it's acceptable for them to sit back and provide the rest of us with an object to serve. What we need is more sermons about doing good works.

And about what happens to the fruit trees that don't produce.

Jesus is our example

Jesus knows His time on earth is running short. It's less than a week before he will be arrested, tried, convicted and executed. Just like a master teacher the week before finals he begins to cram his students in preparation for their exams. Just look at the teachings he reviews over just the next few days:

### * * *

Disciples do good works

Matthew 20:29-34

(29) And as they departed from Jericho, a great crowd followed Him.

(30) And behold, two blind men were sitting by the wayside. When they heard that Jesus passed by, they cried out, saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David!

(31) And the crowd rebuked them, saying that they should be silent. But they cried the more, saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David!

(32) And Jesus stood still and called them, and said, What do you desire that I should do to you?

(33) They said to Him, Lord, that our eyes may be opened.

(34) So Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes. And immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed Him.

### * * *

Disciples know the Bible

Matthew 21:1-5

(1) And when they drew near Jerusalem, and had come to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples,

(2) saying to them, Go into the village across from you. And immediately you will find an ass tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to Me.

(3) And if anyone says anything to you, you shall say, The Lord has need of them, and immediately He will send them.

(4) All this was done so that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying,

(5) "Tell the daughter of Zion, Behold, your King comes to you, meek, and sitting on an ass, even a colt the foal of an ass."

### * * *

Disciples obey Jesus

Matthew 21:6-11

(6) And the disciples went and did as Jesus commanded them.

(7) And they brought the ass, even the colt, and put their clothes on them, and He sat on them.

(8) And a very great crowd spread their garments in the way. Others cut down branches from the trees and spread them in the way.

(9) And the crowds who went before, and those who followed, cried out, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!

(10) And when He had come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, Who is this?

(11) And the crowd said, This is Jesus the prophet, from Nazareth of Galilee.

### * * *

Disciples should do what's right regardless

Matthew 21:12-13

(12) And Jesus went into the temple of God and cast out all those who sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the money-changers, and the seats of those who sold doves.

(13) And He said to them, It is written, "My house shall be called the house of prayer"; but you have made it a den of thieves.

### * * *

Disciples do good works

Matthew 21:14

(14) And the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them.

### * * *

Disciples are persecuted

Matthew 21:15-17

(15) And when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things which He did, and the children crying in the temple, and saying, Hosanna to the Son of David, they were angry.

(16) And they said to Him, Do you hear what these say? And Jesus said to them, Yes, have you never read, "Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings You have perfected praise?"

(17) And leaving them, He went out of the city to Bethany, and spent the night there.

### * * *

Disciples need faith

Matthew 21:18-22

(18) And returning early to the city, He hungered.

(19) And seeing a fig tree in the way, He came to it and found nothing on it except leaves only. And He said to it, let no fruit grow on you forever. And immediately the fig tree withered away.

(20) And when the disciples saw, they marveled, saying, How quickly the fig tree has withered away!

(21) Jesus answered and said to them, Truly I say to you, If you have faith and do not doubt, you shall not only do this miracle of the fig tree, but also; if you shall say to this mountain, Be moved and be thrown into the sea; it shall be done.

(22) And all things, whatever you shall ask in prayer, believing, you shall receive.

### * * *

Pharisees oppose discipleship

Matthew 21:23-46

(23) And when He had come into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to Him as He was teaching, and said, By what authority do you do these things? And who gave you this authority?

(24) And Jesus answered and said to them, I will also ask you one thing; which if you tell Me, I likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things.

(25) The baptism of John, where was it from? From Heaven or from men? And they reasoned within themselves, saying, If we shall say, From Heaven, he will say to us, Why then did you not believe him?

(26) But if we shall say From men, we fear the people; for all consider John as a prophet.

(27) And they answered Jesus and said, We cannot tell. And He said to them, Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things.

(28) But what do you think? A man had two sons; and he came to the first and said, Son, go work in my vineyard today.

(29) He answered and said, I will not. But afterwards he repented and went.

(30) And he came to the second and said likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir; and did not go.

(31) Which of the two did the will of his father? They said to Him, The first. Jesus said to them, Truly I say to you that the tax-collectors and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you.

(32) For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him. But the tax-collectors and the harlots believed him. And when you had seen it, you did not repent afterwards so that you might believe him.

(33) Hear another parable. There was a certain housemaster who planted a vineyard and hedged it round about, and dug a winepress in it, and built a tower, and rented it to vinedressers, and went into a far country.

(34) And when the season of the fruits drew near, he sent his servants to the vinedressers to receive its fruits.

(35) And the vinedressers took his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another.

(36) Again he sent other servants, more than the first, and they did the same to them.

(37) But last of all he sent his son to them, saying, They will respect my son.

(38) But when the vinedressers saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and get hold of his inheritance.

(39) And taking him, they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.

(40) Therefore when the lord of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vinedressers?

(41) They said to Him, Bad men! He will miserably destroy them and will rent out his vineyard to other vinedressers who will give him the fruits in their seasons.

(42) Jesus said to them, Did you never read in the Scriptures, "The stone which the builders rejected, this One has become the head of the corner; this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes?"

(43) Therefore I say to you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you and given to a nation bringing out its fruits.

(44) And he who falls on this Stone shall be broken, but on whomever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.

(45) And when the chief priests and Pharisees heard His parables, they knew that He spoke of them.

(46) But seeking to lay hands on Him, they feared the crowd, because they held Him for a prophet.

### * * *

Jesus chooses his disciples

Do you remember my analogy of our being drafted? We didn't 'accept' Christ, he chose us.

### * * *

Matthew 22:1-10

(1) And Jesus answered and spoke to them again by parables, and said,

(2) The kingdom of Heaven is like a certain king who made a marriage for his son.

(3) And he sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding; and they would not come.

(4) Again he sent out other servants, saying, Tell those who are invited, Behold, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and fatlings are killed, and all things are ready. Come to the marriage.

(5) But not caring, they went their ways, one to his field, another to his trading.

(6) And the rest took his servants and treated them spitefully, and killed them.

(7) But when the king heard, he was angry. And he sent out his armies and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city.

(8) Then he said to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they who were invited were not worthy.

(9) Therefore go into the exits of the highways, and as many as you shall find, invite them to the marriage.

(10) So the servants went out into the highways and gathered together as many as they found, both bad and good. And the wedding was filled with reclining guests.

### * * *

We are saved by faith, merely reciting a little prayer is not what saves us

Matthew 22:11-14

(11) And the king coming in to look over the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment.

(12) And he said to him, Friend, how did you come in here without having a wedding garment? And he was speechless.

(13) Then the king said to the servants, Bind him hand and foot and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

(14) For many are called, but few chosen.

### * * *

Disciples are responsible

Matthew 22:15-22

(15) Then the Pharisees left and took counsel that they might entangle Him in words.

(16) And they sent their disciples out to Him along with the Herodians, saying, Master, we know that you are true, and that you teach the way of God in truth. Nor do you care for anyone, for you do not regard the person of men.

(17) Therefore tell us; what do you think? Is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar or not?

(18) But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, Why do you tempt Me, hypocrites?

(19) Show Me the tribute money. And they brought a denarius to Him.

(20) And He said to them, Whose image and inscription is this?

(21) They said to Him, Caesar's. Then He said to them, Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things which are God's.

(22) When they heard these words, they marveled, and they left Him and went away.

### * * *

Disciples must understand the Bible

Matthew 22:23-33

(23) On that day the Sadducees came to Him, who say that there is no resurrection. And they asked Him,

(24) saying, Master, Moses said, If a man dies, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife and raise up seed to his brother.

(25) Now there were with us seven brothers. And the first, when he had married a wife, died. And, having no issue, he left his wife to his brother.

(26) The second also did likewise, and the third, to the seventh.

(27) And last of all the woman also died.

(28) Therefore in the resurrection, whose wife shall she be, of the seven? For they all had her.

(29) Jesus answered and said to them, You err, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God.

(30) For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in Heaven.

(31) But regarding the resurrection of the dead, have you not read that which was spoken to you by God, saying,

(32) "I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob?" God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.

(33) And when the crowd heard this, they were astonished at His doctrine.

### * * *

Disciples Love Others

Jesus summarized the entire Bible into two relationships:

Matthew 22:34-40

(34) But hearing that He had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees were gathered together.

(35) Then one of them, a lawyer, asked, tempting Him and saying,

(36) Master, which is the great commandment in the Law?

(37) Jesus said to him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.

(38) This is the first and great commandment.

(39) And the second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

(40) On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.

### * * *

To put things in perspective, there are only three things that are eternal: God, His Word and the relationships we have with other disciples. Everything else: the world, your job, that house you're working so hard to pay the mortgage on, all that will pass away. Ten thousand years from now none of those things will matter so we're a lot better off not worrying so much about them and concentrating on building the relationships that WILL last and that DO matter.

Jesus said we should love God with ALL our heart, ALL our soul and ALL our mind, holding nothing back. God has to come first in your life before anyone or anything. But how do we demonstrate our love for God?

Some people might answer that the way to love God is through elaborate acts of sacrificial worship. But which does God say he prefers: our obedience or our worship?

### * * *

1 Samuel 15:22-23

(22) And Samuel said, Does Jehovah delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of Jehovah? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice! To listen is better than the fat of rams!

(23) For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idol-worship. Because you have rejected the Word of Jehovah, He has also rejected you from being king!

### * * *

According to the prophet Samuel, God would much prefer we obey Him over any other act we could possibly do. To refuse to obey is as bad as practicing witchcraft or idol worshiping.

Now put that in perspective: in Matthew 22:37 Jesus commands us to love God with ALL our heart, ALL our soul and ALL our mind. That doesn't leave any left over for anything else. Failure to do so is as bad as idol-worship, because if God's not number one in your life, then whatever is number one has taken the place of God.

A disciple can't allow anything else to interfere with his relationship with God. If your job doesn't allow you the time to practice your discipleship, it's time to change jobs. If your family is getting in the way of your discipleship, then they need to change – not that you need to find a new family, but they need to get serious themselves about being disciples. Your whole life should be oriented around your relationship with God. Being a disciple means much more than just setting aside Sunday morning.

Jesus didn't call his disciples to graft a little religion into their current life and then keep going as they were before. When he recruited them he told them "Follow me" and they dropped their nets (or whatever else they were doing) and followed him.

Is this what most Christians in America do today? Or do we simply try to graft a little church into our current life and continue on pretty much like we did before? After all, it's just Sunday morning, right? The rest of the week belongs to us, right?

But does that attitude sound like ALL our heart, ALL our soul and ALL of our mind?

### * * *

Loving your neighbors

When Jesus said to love our neighbors one of the first questions raised was, "Who exactly is my neighbor?" The guy that asked this is a perfect example of how we're not supposed to be. What he's really asking is "what's the fewest people I can love and still squeak by?"

When it comes down to someone in need, we shouldn't ask, "Is this my neighbor?" but "what can I do to help." Jesus' answer demonstrates that what he meant by our neighbor is whomever we happen across in our life, even if they're a foreigner with a different religion. If Jesus had told the story of the Good Samaritan today, instead of setting it along the road to Jerusalem he might have set it along the road to Baghdad about an American wounded in a roadside bombing and a traveling Shiite Moslem who stops to give him aid. Jesus' point is whomever you meet is your neighbor.

But what exactly is love, then? The apostle Paul addressed this in his letter to the Corinthians. Let's read that section. Keep in mind that the King James Version translates the Greek word 'agape' (love) as 'charity.' This is not the same idea as the modern definition of charity as alms-giving, so as you read replace "charity" with "love" as most other translations do:

### * * *

1 Corinthians 13:1-12

(1) Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity (love), I have become as sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal.

(2) And though I have prophecies, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so as to move mountains, and do not have charity (love), I am nothing.

(3) And though I give out all my goods to feed the poor, and though I deliver my body to be burned, and have not charity (love), I am profited nothing.

(4) Charity (love) has patience, is kind; charity (love) is not envious, is not vain, is not puffed up;

(5) does not behave indecently, does not seek her own, is not easily provoked, thinks no evil.

(6) Charity (love) does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices in the truth,

(7) quietly covers all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

(8) Charity (love) never fails. But if there are prophecies, they will be abolished; if tongues, they shall cease; if knowledge, it will be abolished.

(9) For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.

(10) But when the perfect thing comes, then that which is in part will be caused to cease.

(11) When I was an infant, I spoke as an infant, I thought as an infant, I reasoned as an infant. But when I became a man, I did away with the things of an infant.

(12) For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall fully know even as I also am fully known.

### * * *

That is what love is and that is what we're supposed to have for ALL our fellow humans. Again, Jesus calls his disciples to a high, even impossible standard.

But nobody ever said that being a disciple was going to be easy. Nothing worthwhile ever is.

### * * *

Disciples must know the Bible

Matthew 22:41-46

(41) While the Pharisees were gathered, Jesus asked them,

(42) saying, What do you think of Christ? Whose son is he? They say to Him, David's.

(43) He said to them, How then does David by the Spirit call him Lord, saying,

(44) "the LORD said to my Lord, Sit on My right until I make Your enemies Your footstool for Your feet?"

(45) If David then calls Him Lord, how is He his son?

(46) And no one was able to answer Him a word, nor did anyone dare from that day to question Him any more.

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Disciples do good works but not for rewards

Matthew 23:1-12

(1) Then Jesus spoke to the crowd and to His disciples,

(2) saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat.

(3) Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, observe and do. But do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do.

(4) For they bind heavy and hard-to-carry burdens and lay them on men's shoulders. But they will not move them with one of their fingers.

(5) But they do all their works in order to be seen of men. They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge the borders of their garments.

(6) And they love the first couch at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues,

(7) and greetings in the market-places, and to be called, Rabbi! Rabbi! by men.

(8) But you must not be called Rabbi, for One is your teacher, Christ, and you are all brothers.

(9) And call no one your father on the earth, for One is your Father in Heaven.

(10) Nor be called teachers, for One is your Teacher, even Christ.

(11) But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant.

(12) And whoever shall exalt himself shall be abased, and he who shall humble himself shall be exalted.

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Pharisees oppose discipleship

Matthew 23:13-26

(13) But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of Heaven against men. For you neither go in, nor do you allow those entering to go in.

(14) Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows' houses, and pray at length as a pretense. Therefore you shall receive the greater condemnation.

(15) Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you compass sea and the dry land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, you make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.

(16) Woe to you, blind guides, saying, Whoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor.

(17) Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifies the gold?

(18) And, Whoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is a debtor!

(19) Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifies the gift?

(20) Therefore whoever shall swear by the altar swears by it, and by all things on it.

(21) And whoever shall swear by the temple, swears by it and by Him who dwells in it.

(22) And he who shall swear by Heaven swears by the throne of God, and by Him who sits on it.

(23) Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithes of mint and dill and cummin, and you have left undone the weightier matters of the Law, judgment, mercy, and faith. You ought to have done these and not to leave the other undone.

(24) Blind guides who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!

(25) Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of extortion and excess.

(26) Blind Pharisee! First cleanse the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of them may be clean also.

### * * *

Disciples should do what's right regardless

Matthew 23:27-39

(27) Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which indeed appear beautiful outside, but inside they are full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness.

(28) Even so you also appear righteous to men outwardly, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.

(29) Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you build the tombs of the prophets, and decorate the tombs of the righteous,

(30) and say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.

(31) Therefore you are witnesses to yourselves, that you are the sons of those who killed the prophets;

(32) and you fill up the measure of your fathers.

(33) Serpents! Offspring of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell?

(34) Therefore, behold, I send prophets and wise men and scribes to you. And you will kill and crucify some of them. And some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city;

(35) so that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah the son of Berachiah, whom you killed between the temple and the altar.

(36) Truly I say to you, All these things shall come on this generation.

(37) O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one killing the prophets and stoning those who are sent to her, how often would I have gathered your children together, even as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you would not!

(38) Behold, your house is left to you desolate.

(39) For I say to you, You shall not see Me from now on until you say, "Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord."

### * * *

Disciples know the Bible

Matthew 24:1-3

(1) And Jesus went out and departed from the temple. And His disciples came to Him to show Him the buildings of the temple.

(2) And Jesus said to them, Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, There shall not be left here one stone on another that shall not be thrown down.

(3) And as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? And what shall be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the world?

### * * *

Notice that Jesus' comment about the destruction of the temple provokes a question about the End Times: the disciples know the Bible and are familiar with the prophecies.

Disciples watch for Jesus' return

In Matthew chapters 24 and 25 Jesus speaks at length about the Second Coming and advises His disciples on what to do at that time. Obviously none of the original disciples would still be alive at the time of His return, so his teachings are intended for later disciples. You may not believe that you will be around then either, perhaps expecting to have died before that time or you may anticipate being removed in a pre-tribulation rapture. I do not. I recommend that you read my book _Jesus is Only Coming Twice_ for a complete and biblical examination of the End Times, Tribulation Period, Second Coming, Rapture and Millennium. In any case the general principles illustrated by these teachings still apply to disciples today.

### * * *

Matthew 24:4-16

(4) And Jesus answered and said to them, Take heed that no man deceive you.

(5) For many will come in My name, saying, I am Christ, and will deceive many.

(6) And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled, for all these things must occur; but the end is not yet.

(7) For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines and pestilences and earthquakes in different places.

(8) All these are the beginning of sorrows.

(9) Then they will deliver you up to be afflicted and will kill you. And you will be hated of all nations for My name's sake.

(10) And then many will be offended, and will betray one another, and will hate one another.

(11) And many false prophets will rise and deceive many.

(12) And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many will become cold.

(13) But he who endures to the end, the same shall be kept safe.

(14) And this gospel of the kingdom shall be proclaimed in all the world as a witness to all nations. And then the end shall come.

(15) Therefore when you see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place (whoever reads, let him understand).

(16) Then let those in Judea flee into the mountains.

### * * *

Notice that Jesus expects His disciples to be familiar with the Bible enough to know the prophecy in Daniel that he refers to and to remember this warning when the time comes.

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Matthew 24:17-25

(17) Let him on the housetop not come down to take anything out of his house;

(18) nor let him in the field turn back to take his clothes.

(19) And woe to those who are with child, and to those who give suck in those days!

(20) But pray that your flight is not in the winter, nor on the sabbath day;

(21) for then shall be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world to this time; no, nor ever shall be.

(22) And unless those days should be shortened, no flesh would be saved. But for the elect's sake, those days shall be shortened.

(23) Then if any man shall say to you, Lo, here is Christ! Or, There! Do not believe it.

(24) For false Christs and false prophets will arise and show great signs and wonders; so much so that, if it were possible, they would deceive even the elect.

(25) Behold, I have told you beforehand.

### * * *

Notice Jesus has warned us beforehand not to believe in the signs and wonders of the false prophets coming in His name. He says if it were possible "they would deceive even the elect" (Christians) but we've been warned.

But a warning is no good if it isn't heard and this warning will do no good to any disciple who doesn't read the Bible and never hears it. **Disciples need to know the Bible**.

### * * *

Matthew 24:26-28

(26) Therefore if they shall say to you, Behold, He is in the desert! Do not go out. Behold, He is in the secret rooms! Do not believe it.

(27) For as the lightning comes out of the east and shines even to the west, so also will be the coming of the Son of Man.

(28) For wherever the carcass is, there the eagles will be gathered.

### * * *

Notice how the people of the world are deceived: "they" (whoever "they" are) say, "He's in the desert!" or hiding out in a secret location somewhere. They claim that someone is Christ returned but don't have any scripture to back up their claims. But Jesus teaches here when He returns it will be unmistakable, as easy to see as lightning and as obvious as a gathering of buzzards circling over a carcass.

### * * *

Matthew 24:29-42

(29) And immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun shall be darkened and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from the heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken.

(30) And then the sign of the Son of Man shall appear in the heavens. And then all the tribes of the earth shall mourn, and they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of the heaven with power and great glory.

(31) And He shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather His elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.

### * * *

Again, I see a post-tribulation rapture here "after the tribulation of those days" when "He shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather His elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other." However, rather than pursue this topic in a book that's supposed to concern discipleship I refer you to my book _Jesus is Only Coming Twice_ for a complete examination of the question of the timing of the Rapture.

### * * *

(32) Now learn a parable of the fig tree. When its branch is still tender and puts out leaves, you know that summer is near.

(33) So you, likewise, when you see all these things, shall know that it is near, at the doors.

(34) Truly I say to you, This generation shall not pass until all these things are fulfilled.

(35) The heaven and the earth shall pass away, but My Words shall not pass away.

(36) But of that day and hour no one knows, no, not the angels of Heaven, but only My Father.

(37) But as the days of Noah were, so shall be the coming of the Son of Man.

(38) For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered into the ark.

(39) And they did not know until the flood came and took them all away. So also will be the coming of the Son of Man.

(40) Then two shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.

(41) Two shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.

(42) Therefore watch; for you do not know what hour your Lord comes.

### * * *

What does Jesus tell his disciples to do after He left? To watch for his return. And what else should we be doing besides just sitting back and watching?

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Matthew 24:43-47

(43) But know this, that if the steward of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched and would not have allowed his house to be dug through.

(44) Therefore you also be ready, for in that hour you think not, the Son of Man comes.

(45) Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his Lord has made ruler over His household, to give them food in due season?

(46) Blessed is that servant whom his Lord shall find him doing so when He comes.

(47) Truly I say to you that He shall make him ruler over all His goods.

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We should be ready for his return and be about our work, whatever that might be. He promises a blessing to us if we remain at our assigned tasks when he returns.

But what else does he promise for those who forget their assignments?

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Matthew 24:48-51

(48) But if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My Lord delays His coming,

(49) and shall begin to strike his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunken,

(50) the Lord of that servant shall come in a day when he does not look for Him, and in an hour which he does not know.

(51) And He shall cut him apart and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

### * * *

He continues his teachings in chapter twenty-five with a parable concerning being ready and watching for His return.

### * * *

Matthew 25:1-13

(1) Then shall the kingdom of Heaven be likened to ten virgins, who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.

(2) And five of them were wise, and five were foolish.

(3) The foolish ones took their lamps, but took no oil with them.

(4) But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.

(5) While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.

(6) And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom comes! Go out to meet him.

(7) Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps.

(8) And the foolish said to the wise, Give us some of your oil, for our lamps have gone out.

(9) But the wise answered, saying, No, lest there be not enough for us and you. But rather go to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.

(10) And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came. And they who were ready went in with him to the marriage, and the door was shut.

(11) Afterwards the other virgins came also, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us.

(12) But he answered and said, Truly I say to you, I do not know you.

(13) Therefore watch, for you do not know either the day or the hour in which the Son of Man comes.

Disciples aren't afraid to do the right thing

Matthew 25:14-30

(14) For it is as if a man going abroad called his own servants and gave them his goods.

(15) And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to each according to his ability. And he went abroad at once.

(16) And going he who had received the five talents traded with them, and made another five talents.

(17) And likewise he who had received two, he also gained another two.

(18) But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the earth and hid his lord's silver.

(19) After a long time the lord of those servants came and took account with them.

(20) And so he who had received five talents came and brought another five talents, saying, Lord, you delivered five talents to me. Behold, I have gained five talents above them.

(21) His lord said to him, Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful over a few things; I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.

(22) He also who had received two talents came and said, Lord, you delivered two talents to me. Behold, I have gained two other talents above them.

(23) His lord said to him, Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.

(24) And he who had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew that you were a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter.

(25) And I was afraid and went and hid your talent in the earth. Lo, you have yours.

(26) His lord answered and said to him, Evil and slothful servant! You knew that I reaped where I did not sow, and gathered where I did not scatter,

(27) then you should have put my money to the exchangers, and coming I would have received my own with interest.

(28) Therefore take the talent from him and give it to him who has ten talents.

(29) For to everyone who has, more shall be given, and he will abound. But from him who has not, even that which he has shall be taken away from him.

(30) And throw the unprofitable servant into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

### * * *

In the parable of the talents in Matthew chapter 25, the servant who made two talents did so because he wasn't satisfied with the status quo. He took some risk. He stepped out of his comfort zone. But he was up to the challenge and he made two more. The one who made five did the same, although because of his better abilities he was able to make five instead of just two more. But the third servant didn't want to risk making anybody upset. He wanted to avoid a confrontation. Remember what he said: "Lord, I knew that you were a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter. And I was afraid and went and hid your talent in the earth. Lo, you have yours." (Matthew 25:25)

He had talent and abilities. But he was satisfied with things as they were and didn't want to rock the boat. Because of that not only did he miss out on any blessing he might have had, but he also caused the very confrontation he was trying to avoid.

Notice also the master didn't criticize the servant who made only two more talents. He didn't demand he perform up to the same standards as the one who made five. We each have our own talents and abilities. But the third servant didn't live up to his potential. He didn't use his talent or his abilities at all. He stayed right in his nice comfort zone and waited for the Rapture.

God gives us talents and spiritual gifts for a reason. We are here for a purpose: to put those talents and abilities to use bringing others into the Kingdom of God and making disciples of them.

But I pity the person who stands before Christ at the judgment and when he asks what they did with the time and money and talents that he entrusted to him, all he has to say for himself is, "I was nice."

The question before us is this: Do we want to reorganize ourselves in such a way to take full advantage of the talents and resources God has given us to make and be His disciples?

Or do we want to just cruise along like we have been because "compared to other churches we're doing OK?"

But what does Christ say to his church?

### * * *

Revelation 3:15-19

(15) I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I would that you were cold or hot.

(16) So because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.

(17) Because you say, I am rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing, and do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked,

(18) I counsel you to buy from Me gold purified by fire, so that you may be rich; and white clothing, so that you may be clothed, and so that the shame of your nakedness does not appear. And anoint your eyes with eye salve, so that you may see.

(19) As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten; therefore be zealous and repent.

### * * *

Christ gave his utmost. He deserves from us the same in return, not some kind of watered-down, insipid "niceness." Outside the world is dying and all we seem to be able to say is "God bless you." That's like just patting a starving child on the head instead of feeding him.

Right after His lesson about doing the utmost with the talents we have, Jesus continues right on into what's going to happen when he returns. Do you think that when that happens that he's going to rule as King Jesus the Meek? The second psalm describes the Messiah as ruling the nations with a rod of iron. How does Jesus himself say he will act upon his return?

### * * *

Matthew 25:31-33

(31) But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He shall sit on the throne of His glory.

(32) And all nations shall be gathered before Him. And He shall separate them from one another, as a shepherd divides the sheep from the goats.

(33) And indeed He shall set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats off the left.

### * * *

And how does he judge which of us are sheep and which are goats? Does he have a list somewhere with a record of who has recited the magic prayer of salvation? Is that how he sorts us out?

No.

### * * *

Matthew 25:34-46

(34) Then the King shall say to those on His right hand, Come, blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

(35) For I was hungry, and you gave me food; I was thirsty, and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger, and you took Me in;

(36) I was naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.

(37) Then the righteous shall answer Him, saying, Lord, when did we see You hungry, and fed You? Or thirsty, and gave You drink?

(38) When did we see You a stranger, and took You in? Or naked, and clothed You?

(39) Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and came to You?

(40) And the King shall answer and say to them, Truly I say to you, Inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brothers, you have done it to Me.

(41) Then He also shall say to those on the left hand, Depart from Me, you cursed, into everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his angels.

(42) For I was hungry, and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty, and you gave Me no drink;

(43) I was a stranger and you did not take Me in; I was naked, and you did not clothe Me; I was sick, and in prison, and you did not visit me.

(44) Then they will also answer Him, saying, Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister to You?

(45) Then He shall answer them, saying, Truly I say to you, Inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.

(46) And these shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into everlasting life.

Graduation Night

Matthew 26:1-31

(1) And it happened when Jesus finished all these sayings, He said to His disciples,

(2) You know that after two days the Passover comes, and the Son of Man is betrayed to be crucified.

(3) Then the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders of the people, assembled together to the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas.

(4) And they consulted so that they might take Jesus by guile and kill Him.

(5) But they said, Not on the feast day, lest there be an uproar among the people.

(6) And when Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper,

(7) a woman came to Him, having an alabaster box of very precious ointment, and poured it on His head as He reclined.

(8) But when His disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, To what purpose is this waste?

(9) For this ointment might have been sold for very much and given to the poor.

(10) When Jesus understood it, He said to them, Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a good work on Me.

(11) For you have the poor with you always, but you do not always have Me.

(12) For in putting ointment on My body, she did it for My burial.

(13) Truly I say to you, Wherever this gospel shall be proclaimed in the whole world, that which this woman has done shall be spoken of also, for a memorial of her.

(14) Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests.

(15) And he said to them, What will you give me, and I will betray Him to you? And they appointed to him thirty pieces of silver.

(16) And from that time he sought opportunity to betray Him.

(17) And on the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus, saying to Him, Where do You desire that we prepare for You to eat the Passover?

(18) And He said, Go into the city to such a man, and say to him, The Master said, My time is at hand. I will keep the Passover at your house with My disciples.

(19) And the disciples did as Jesus had appointed them. And they made the passover ready.

(20) And when evening had come, He sat down with the Twelve.

(21) And as they ate, He said, Truly I say to you that one of you will betray Me.

(22) And grieving sorrowfully, they began to say, each one of them, Lord, not I am the one?

(23) And He answered and said, He who dips his hand with Me in the dish, the same shall betray Me.

(24) The Son of Man goes, as it has been written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born.

(25) And answering, the one betraying Him, Judas, said, Master, Not am I the one? He said to him, You said it.

(26) And as they were eating, Jesus took bread and blessed it, and broke it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat, this is My body.

(27) And He took the cup and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink all of it.

(28) For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

(29) But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on, until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father's kingdom.

(30) And singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

(31) Then Jesus said to them, All of you will be offended because of Me this night. For it is written, "I will smite the Shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad."

### * * *

Notice again that Jesus refers to Himself as the shepherd – He says that He will be smitten and the flock will be scattered. What he does NOT say is that afterwards the flock will get a new shepherd. Jesus is our Lord and the **only** shepherd. Pastors and professional church staff are sheep just like the rest of us.

Psalm 23 says, "The LORD is **my** shepherd...." Who's YOUR shepherd?

### * * *

Matthew 26:32-40

(32) But after I have risen again, I will go before you into Galilee.

(33) Peter answered and said to Him, though all shall be offended because of You, I will never be offended.

(34) Jesus said to him, Truly I say to you that this night, before the cock crows, you shall deny Me three times.

(35) Peter said to Him, though I should die with You, yet I will not deny You. All the disciples also said the same.

(36) Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane. And He said to the disciples, Sit here while I go and pray there.

(37) And He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee with Him, and He began to be sorrowful and very heavy.

(38) Then He said to them, My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Wait here and watch with Me.

(39) And He went a little further and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me. Yet not as I will, but as You will.

(40) And He came to the disciples and found them asleep. And He said to Peter, What! Could you not watch with Me one hour?

### * * *

Jesus criticized his disciples when they did poorly, not to make them feel bad but so they could improve and avoid repetition of their mistakes.

### * * *

Matthew 26:41-54

(41) Watch and pray that you enter not into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.

(42) He went away again the second time and prayed, saying, My Father, if this cup may not pass away from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done.

(43) And He came and found them asleep again, for their eyes were heavy.

(44) And He left them and went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same word.

(45) Then He came to His disciples and said to them, Sleep on now and take your rest. Behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.

(46) Rise, let us be going; behold, he who is betraying Me is at hand.

(47) And as He was yet speaking, behold, Judas came, one of the Twelve. And with him came a great crowd with swords and clubs, being sent from the chief priests and elders of the people.

(48) And he who betrayed Him gave them a sign, saying, Whomever I shall kiss, He is the one, lay hold on Him.

(49) And coming up to Jesus immediately, he said, Hail, Master! And he kissed Him.

(50) And Jesus said to him, Friend, why are you here? Then they came and laid hands on Jesus and took Him.

(51) And, behold, one of those who were with Jesus stretched out his hand and drew his sword, and he struck a servant of the high priest and cut off his ear.

(52) Then Jesus said to him, Put up your sword again into its place; for all who take the sword shall perish with a sword.

(53) Do you think that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He shall presently give Me more than twelve legions of angels?

(54) But how then shall the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must be so?

### * * *

Jesus tells them not to resist not because resistance is inherently wrong but so prophecy will be fulfilled. Those who live by the sword shall perish by it. But that is an exhortation not to resort to violence, not the principle that resistance to wickedness is inherently wrong, an idea that many Christians today seem to believe. How many times in the Old Testament did the people of God fight against Evil? Did not Jesus Himself violently drive the moneychangers out of the temple not just once but twice?

### * * *

Matthew 26:55-75

(55) In that hour Jesus said to the crowds, Have you come out in order to take Me with swords and clubs, as against a thief? I sat daily with you, teaching in the temple, and you did not lay hands on Me.

(56) But all this happened that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled. Then all the disciples fled, forsaking Him.

(57) And they who had seized Jesus led Him away to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders had assembled.

(58) But Peter followed Him afar off to the high priest's court, and he went in and sat with the servants to see the end.

(59) And the chief priests and the elders and all the sanhedrin sought false witness against Jesus, in order to put Him to death.

(60) But they found none; yea, though many false witnesses came, they found none. But at last two false witnesses came up

(61) and said, This one said, I am able to destroy the temple of God and to build it in three days.

(62) And standing up, the high priest said to Him, Do you answer nothing? What is it that these witness against you?

(63) But Jesus was silent. And the high priest answered and said to Him, I adjure you by the living God that you tell us whether you are the Christ, the Son of God.

(64) Jesus said to him, You said it. I tell you more. From this time you shall see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming on the clouds of the heavens.

(65) Then the high priest tore his clothes, saying, He has spoken blasphemy! What further need do we have of witnesses? Behold, now you have heard his blasphemy.

(66) What do you think? They answered and said, He is worthy of death.

(67) Then they spat in His face and beat Him with the fist. And others struck Him with the palms of their hands,

(68) saying, Prophesy to us, Christ; who is the one who struck you?

(69) And Peter sat outside in the court. And a girl came to him, saying, You also were with Jesus of Galilee.

(70) But he denied all before them, saying, I do not know what you say.

(71) And when he had gone out into the porch, another saw him and said to those there, This one was also with Jesus of Nazareth.

(72) And again he denied with an oath, I do not know the man.

(73) And after a little while those who stood by came and said to Peter, Surely you also are one of them, for your speech betrays you.

(74) Then he began to curse and to swear, I do not know the man. And immediately the cock crowed.

(75) And Peter remembered the word of Jesus, Who said to him, Before the cock crows, you shall deny Me three times. And he went out and wept bitterly.

### * * *

At this point in Matthew the disciples have almost completed their training. Jesus has been arrested. He'll be tried, condemned and executed and three days later he'll rise again. The only two things left for the disciples before graduation are one final lesson and the bestowing of the gift of the Holy Spirit to equip them for service.

Death is only the beginning

The last lesson the disciples needed to learn was the one that made the greatest difference in their lives. When Jesus was arrested they fled into hiding and remained so for three days, dreading every knock at the door might be the Jewish authorities coming for them.

Yet when they discovered Jesus had been resurrected it changed their whole perspective. They transformed overnight into death-defying fanatics, refusing to be silenced and preaching the Gospel in very public places like the temple square.

They weren't afraid of the authorities anymore. What's the worst that could happen? That they get killed? So what? God raises the dead. Jesus ended up even better than he was before.

Consequently death lost its terror for them. Eleven of the original twelve disciples died a violent death: every one of them except John, yet none of them lived in fear anymore. They knew this life is temporary and afterwards they'll live on forever. If we could just get our brains around that concept we'd be fearless too. Our current pain, disappointments and sorrows would fade in importance.

Handicapped? Chronically sick and weak? All you have to do is endure it for the little while this life lasts and you get a whole new body with all new parts. Maybe having to put up with your pain for thirty more years sounds like a long time to wait, but patience is something else we need to learn here.

Upset at being passed over for that promotion at work? Why should you care? In a thousand years will you even remember who your boss was?

Worried about retirement? Are you kidding me? As long as we've food and clothing, why worry? What did Jesus teach on this subject?

Loved ones die? Don't grieve; remember if they're Christians you'll be seeing them again in a better place. If they weren't Christians then grieve for them, but redouble your efforts to reach others who are headed down that same road to destruction.

Afraid to witness? Why? What's the worst they can do to you? Kill you? Remember what Obi-wan said to Darth Vader in Star Wars? "If you strike me down I will become more powerful than you can possibly imagine." Persecution? Bring it on!

When the original disciples realized this they became unstoppable. Before all but John died a violent death, they wrote most of the New Testament and spread the Gospel across the Roman world and beyond reaching even Ethiopia, India and the barbarian lands to the north. We have but a little while in this life to practice being the best disciples we can be and to recruit as many others as we can before we begin our REAL life in eternity, so let's make the most of it that we can before that REAL life begins.

Truly, death IS only the beginning.

The defining characteristics of a disciple

We've studied the whole Gospel of Matthew to determine how Jesus trained his original disciples and what He expects from us. Let's do a quick review of the different lessons Jesus taught them:

### * * *

Who chooses disciples? Jesus chooses His disciples.

Disciples study the Bible.

Being a disciple changes you.

Disciples are persecuted.

Jesus expects perfection of His disciples.

Disciples do good works.

Disciples pray.

Disciples forgive.

Disciples trust God to take care of them.

The things of this world do not distract disciples.

Disciples put doing what's right above being nice.

Disciples have their faith tested.

Disciples go out into the world.

Disciples are more than just passive spectators.

Discipleship promotes unity.

Being a disciple is not complicated.

Rules are not as important as people.

Disciples are saved by FAITH not merely by reciting a little prayer.

The credentials of a disciple are his fruits.

Disciples do the work of Jesus.

Traditions are not as important as people.

Jesus wants His disciples to do great things.

The commandments of mere men do not compare to those of God.

Jesus corrected His disciples when they were wrong.

Jesus told His disciples to "Take up your cross."

Disciples need to develop their faith.

Disciples don't let the cares of this world distract them.

Disciples resolve disputes peacefully.

Disciples either remain single or stay married.

Disciples do not worry about the things of this world.

Disciples are to be like servants.

Jesus is our example.

Disciples watch for Jesus' return.

Disciples aren't afraid to do the right thing.

How does the Church in America measure up?

What is the mission that Jesus left to His disciples? To make more disciples. (Matthew 28:19)

What then, is the mission of the Church?

If the Church is entirely made up of disciples, each of whose mission is to make more disciples, how can the mission of the Church be any different than that of its component parts? **The mission of the Church is to equip and enable its members to employ their God-given gifts to their maximum potential in order to maximize the making and training of more disciples**.

Does the modern church in America give priority to this mission? Do they promote and encourage the sort of environment conductive to that mission? Let's examine some of the defining characteristics of a disciple and compare them to our current customs and procedures. How does the modern American church compare to what Jesus taught we should be doing?

### * * *

Disciples study the Bible

Jesus' disciples started out as relatively uneducated working-class men but eventually became Biblical scholars able to debate with the best of the scribes and Pharisees. They wrote much of the New Testament.

**PROBLEM** : In most American churches today actual Bible study takes a backseat to the worship service. The burden of Biblical education is primarily put onto Sunday School, which is short, often an hour or less, with much of that time devoted to fellowship. The few evening studies or small groups are not well attended and often study inspirational books by contemporary authors rather than the actual Word of God. Fellowships and social events are much more frequent and better attended than Bible studies, and in my experience more effort is put into promoting and sponsoring such events than Bible studies in the mistaken idea such activities are "evangelistic" and that attracting people to attend church is the same thing as making disciples.

We seem to believe a social or potluck that attracts outsiders who might possibly join the church is a disciple-making activity while a Bible study that will only be attended by a few die-hard members does not make disciples. But Jesus didn't call us to add to the number enrolled in our Sunday School, he called us to make disciples. Our idea of a disciple is anyone who'll show up on Sunday morning but from what we've seen studying Matthew, Jesus has an entirely different idea of what a disciple is and how they are trained, and it's not by nodding through a forty-minute sermon once a week.

**SOLUTION** : We need to emphasize the importance of time spent studying the Bible and ensure that our curriculum has more Bible and less of the words and philosophy of current authors, no matter how good they might be. The Apostle Paul didn't teach _The Prayer of Jabez_ was "God-breathed, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfected, thoroughly furnished to every good work."

### * * *

Being a disciple changes you

**PROBLEM** : In American churches today most members think the Christian Life consists merely of "going forward" after a service and "making a decision for Christ" then attending church more or less regularly for the rest of your life. Being a disciple is seen as something that particularly devout (and fanatical) members might do, something for above-average "saints" rather than the average pew potato.

Yet in the Bible Jesus taught that there were ONLY two kinds of trees: those that made good fruit and those destined for the fire. (Matthew 7:15-20) He sent us out into the world to make and train disciples, not to get people to join our church where the more fanatical 20% of them might possibly decide that they want to be a real disciple and do the 80% of the work that keeps the church going. That's our plan, not His.

**SOLUTION** : Emphasize the change, repentance, the difference between a true disciple and the man who builds his house upon sand. (Matthew 7:26-27) Stop teaching salvation by prayer and start teaching a balanced and Biblical doctrine of salvation by faith and demonstration of your salvation by works. Make people understand that prayer does not automatically save us. We are saved by faith in Jesus, not by faith in a prayer. If Jesus is truly your Lord, then you'll obey his command and go make more disciples. (Matthew 7:21)

My brothers, what profit is it if a man recites the prayer of salvation and does not have works? Can that prayer save him? Show me your prayer without any works, and I will show you my faith in Jesus from my works.

You believe there is one God, and you talk to Him in prayer; yet even demons can do the same. Do not actions speak louder than words?

But will you know, O vain man, that simply mumbling a prayer without works is dead?

Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Do you see how faith acted with his works, and from the works faith was made complete? And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, "Abraham believed God, and it was imputed to him for righteousness, and he was called the friend of God." You see then how a man is justified by works, and not by faith in a mere prayer only.

And in the same way, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she had received the messengers and had sent them out another way?

**For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith in anything without works is dead also.** (See James chapter two.)

### * * *

Disciples do good works

**PROBLEM** : Twenty percent of a typical congregation does 80% of the work and much of the rest of the congregation consists of painfully passive pew-polishing potatoes.

**SOLUTION** : We need to go back to the Protestant Work Ethic. Emphasize that works = fruit = evidence of salvation. No works = No fruit = No salvation.

Stop teaching salvation by faith in a little prayer. That teaching has done more to inoculate people against the REAL Gospel than all the lies spread by all the cults in America. People believe since they've recited that little prayer actual repentance is now unnecessary. Telling the Lost merely reciting that prayer guarantees their salvation is worse than not presenting the gospel to them at all. It is exactly the same thing as the Catholics teaching confirmation in their Church guarantees salvation: a comfortable lie that anesthetizes the person and ensures no resistance on their journey through life straight to an eternity afterwards in Hell.

And more than that, we need to emphasize the nature of the works done. Our works should be works of service to those in need in the community: feeding the hungry and visiting the sick and those in prison. In the modern church today most of what passes for Christian service is serving others in the same congregation. Christ said to serve those in need. Instead we serve donuts and coffee, shake hands and hand out bulletins to other attendees. We need to be about our Father's business, not about trying to increase our church's market share.

### * * *

Disciples put doing what's right above being nice

This doesn't mean to be rude. What it means is to take a stand for Jesus and against wickedness even if it's going to offend. And when the wicked are offended, rejoice in the persecution that follows. Disciples do the work of Jesus and they get persecuted for it, too.

**PROBLEM** : Evil can only make progress when good men do nothing to oppose it. Yet in America today Evil is running rampant because Christians do little or nothing to oppose it.

**SOLUTION** : We need to stop thinking "somebody else" is going to do our work for us and go out into this world and do the work of Jesus. He went back to heaven and he left instructions for us to watch over the world while He's gone. We need to start acting like we're responsible for opposing wickedness and upholding righteousness, because we are. We need to start pushing back the Darkness, rather than just accepting "it's a fallen world" and trying to make the best compromise we can with it. In this fallen world, we are the hands of God and those hands need to be working.

### * * *

Disciples go out into the world

**PROBLEM** : Much of what passes for "the work of God" in American churches today consists of little more than socials or dog-and-pony shows put on for the benefit of other members of the church or their immediate family and friends: potlucks, breakfasts, dinners, VBS, seasonal pageants, choir extravaganzas of various sorts, and "revivals" that are rarely attended by anyone outside of the church members and their immediate family. We fool ourselves by saying they're being done for evangelistic purposes when the truth is the vast majority of the attendees are people who attend our churches anyway and the Gospel of Christ is rarely even presented during such events anyway.

Instead we present the clubhouse gospel: "Isn't this a cool place? We have so many fun activities. Wouldn't you like to join us and be a regular part of this? Here, just walk the aisle and recite these magic words and you're a member of our club. Dues and active participation are entirely optional although encouraged."

**SOLUTION** : We need to make a priority of going out to the Lost and meeting their needs. We need to stop trying to lure them into a church building and expect the pastor to ambush them with the Gospel. We need to switch from **thinking** of a potluck dinner as a form of evangelism to knowing that making disciples is up to us. We need to go from a strategy of church building that says, "if we feed them they will come" to going where the Lost are and making disciples of them there.

We need to re-evaluate our church programs and stop wasting time, treasure and talents on projects that bear no fruit. Instead of organizing our church activities based on tradition, on "what churches do" and "what we've always done," we need to expend our time and resources on projects that matter, projects that use the gifts that we've been given and that truly reach the Lost where they live and work and that make and train disciples. That is the ONLY reason that the Church exists. We need to stop treating the Church as a goody-two-shoes version of the Elks club and start feeding the hungry, helping the homeless, visiting the sick and imprisoned and meeting the needs of the world in Jesus' name. God gave us each spiritual gifts for a reason.

### * * *

Disciples are more than passive spectators

**PROBLEM** : Twenty percent of the membership does eighty percent of the volunteering. When the staff tries to run a program there's always a lack of volunteers.

**SOLUTION** : We need to ensure that the members of the congregation understand that there are no pew potatoes in the Kingdom of God. Trees that do not produce fruit are cast into the fire. (Matthew 7:15-20)

The pastor and his staff also need to understand that this doesn't simply mean that they get more puppets for their one-man show. "But you must not be called Rabbi, for One is your teacher, Christ, and you are all brothers." (Matthew 23:8)

We are ALL disciples. The only difference between the Pastor and his staff and the rest of us is that they have been blessed to be able to do the work of God 100% of the time without the distraction of having to earn a living. They are not our shepherds or masters or some sort of a holy priesthood and all of us need to stop thinking of them as "Professional Christians" with the rest of us as a permanent underclass of amateurs. We're ALL disciples:

"Do not lie to one another, having put off the old man with his deeds and having put on the new, having been renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him, where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, foreigner, Scythian, slave or freeman, but Christ is all things in all." [Colossians 3:9-11 See also Galatians 3:28]

### * * *

I believe this issue right here is the **key** in the failure of American churches to make disciples and be the influence on society that we ought to be. In churches with hundreds of members we depend primarily on the pastor and a half dozen staff members to do the entire work of the church. And we do this because the members in the pews have the money to hire other people to do our work for us. We need to stop doing this.

We need to go back to the model of the local church that worked: the one with a single paid employee, the pastor. The duties of the staff need to be put back where they belong: on the shoulders of the disciples in the pews.

This is not going to be a popular idea, neither with the staff nor with the passive pew polishers who'll actually now be expected to work, but it has to be done. And it will be done. Because even if this idea is rejected, the continuing decline in attendance is going to deplete churches of the finances necessary to pay for a large staff. As they lose members, and giving declines in the years to come, they're going to have to shed church staff, too. The only question is whether the remaining laymen will step up to take back the duties that rightfully belong to them, or will the loss of staff will mean an end to any activity by American churches at all?

One objection to this idea will be the morality of forcing so many "good Christian workers" out of their jobs.

I have no objection to staff remaining on the payroll of a church, as long as they are engaged in training the laymen to replace them in their jobs. They need to stop organizing and heading up the ministries of the church and instead spend their time training up laymen to replace themselves. This is what being a mentor is all about.

The current staff should be the last generation of our glorified professional priesthood. When they quit or retire then their positions should be filled by real disciples of Jesus, not another paid salaryman employed to do the work that real disciples are called to do.

A second objection is that laymen won't be up to the task and church administration will either be neglected or will be done in a slipshod and unprofessional manner. This is a typical objection raised by the professional priesthood who don't want a bunch of "amateurs" messing up their comfy positions.

But consider that Jesus Himself took His own Church and left it entirely in the hands of a dozen laymen: fishermen, tax collectors, and the like. Then with the training that they had and the spiritual gifts God gave them they were able to take a "Church" of a few hundred souls and increase it almost ten-fold in a single day (Acts 2:41).

Right now you have hundreds of people filling the pews of your church who each have both spiritual gifts and the experience and training of secular jobs that could be used in the service of God, but that mostly go untapped because we dismiss that experience as having no spiritual value. God gave each of us spiritual gifts to use to recruit and train disciples. Too often we entirely discount those and put our faith in someone's ordination instead.

We'd rather hire one person to be a professional church secretary rather than employ the volunteer skills of the half-dozen professional administrative assistants that are merely "members" of the church.

We'd rather hire a professional Director of Christian Education, than divide the responsibilities among the score of actual schoolteachers in the membership.

We'd rather hire a professional Church Administrator than trust the judgment of the managers and administrative professionals in the membership. People who run multi-million dollar companies during the week are lucky if the church trusts them to run the kitchen for the Men's Breakfast on the weekend. Does this make any sense?

Break free of the concept of a professional priesthood. Employ the gifts of every disciple in the service of God and witness the blessings that will result.

And employ them in the manner God intended. Too often we seem to treat ministries of the church as if they are completely independent of the people who do them. We look at the body of Christ and say, "well, I think we ought to have some feet." So we look around, grab a couple of extra hands that we can guilt or nag into volunteering, slap them onto the ends of the legs and go out for a stroll, staggering around on our make-shift feet, never thinking that perhaps if God gave us hands but no feet maybe we should be reaching out instead of walking around. (And next time, those hands that got all mashed and stepped on are going to think twice before volunteering to help again.)

It's as if God has given us a boxed kit filled with all shapes and sizes of pieces to make a complete, well-equipped church, but instead of putting the pieces together they way they're meant to be, we've been assembling a church the way WE want it to be, regardless of the form or function of the pieces we're been given and with no reference at all to the instructions.

There needs to be a systematic inventory of the gifts of the membership. Yes, I know there may be an occasional class about it, but what happens after the class is over? Does anybody actually get a chance to use his or her own particular gift? Or do we simply shove them into the first available slot we need a body in? We need to match the ministries of the church with the gifts we have available, instead of the other way round. The gifts available to the congregation should determine the ministries of a particular church; we shouldn't force the people into predetermined slots to fit the ministries we think are appropriate for the church.

This will mean ending some ministries when the people who are doing them move away or die. But it will also mean adding on new ones as we attract new membership. The inspiration for the activities of any church needs to come from ALL the members, not just the few who receive a salary. God gave your church dozens, maybe even hundreds of body parts, not just the handful in paid leadership positions. You might be surprised at how many volunteers you'll get when it's THEIR own ministry they're working on, not somebody else's.

### * * *

The Commandments of God are more important than the traditions of men.

**PROBLEM** : While only twenty percent of a typical congregation does 80% of the work, the vast majority of even that effort is misdirected into maintaining traditional church functions rather than recruiting or training disciples.

We've seen that disciple making consists of going out into the world to recruit disciples, giving them extensive training in the Bible, then providing the support to develop and use whatever spiritual gift God has given them to do good works (and incidentally recruit more disciples.)

But look at the typical functions performed by representatives of your church any typical week. A certain amount of visitation may be undertaken, but more to retain the attendance of existing members and recruit new attendees than any real effort to recruit or train any "disciples." The people typically targeted for a church visit are members who miss Sunday services. As long as they show up regularly on Sunday morning we seem quite satisfied regardless if they are actually growing spiritually, studying their Bible or putting their spiritual gift to use.

The emphasis is on "accepting" Jesus and then joining the church as if merely becoming enrolled in Sunday School completes our training as a disciple. Once thus enrolled, the hard-core members will be expected to "take up their cross" and perform such heavy "discipleship" tasks as serving donuts and coffee, handing out programs before services, attending potlucks and other social events, craft fairs, maybe sing in the choir, or help out with VBS one week a year. Oh, and there's probably a mid-week or Sunday evening service or "Bible" study they could attend sporadically and maybe a small group at somebody's home that may or may not actually involve a small amount of Bible study. (If there's any time left after the pie.)

But notice the nature of all those busy "works" – the primary emphasis is on socializing, and only with other members of the church. Any actual Bible study is purely incidental to the socializing (if the study even involves the Bible itself and not just some popular Christian best-seller) and any outsiders we expect to participate have to be brought into the church to do so. We spend all our time and budgets on ourselves. Outreach is now defined as trying to recruit the lost into our circle. Instead of being servants and going out into the world and meeting their needs we try to bribe them into our world with potlucks and Christmas pageants and parent training seminars so they will hopefully join us and help out with the church mortgage. It's no wonder the outside world thinks all churches are just prowling for new recruits with deep pockets. They'd rather just ignore us and hope we go away. And the odds are good if they stay away from Sunday services and don't fill out one of those little colored "visitor" cards, nobody will probably ever visit them, anyway.

**SOLUTION** : We need to repent of our selfish attitudes, become the servants that Christ taught we should be and go out into the world and make disciples. We need to stop thinking of the church as a refuge from the world and start thinking of it as a training camp from which to conquer that world. We need to stop thinking of ourselves as the "religious" equivalent of the YMCA or the Elks Club and start being the subversive world-conquering organization Jesus intended us to be.

### * * *

Disciples are to be like servants

**PROBLEM** : People today see the church as a business, with the members as the customers and the pastor and his staff as the sales clerks. People shop for a church "that meets their needs." It then becomes vitally important for churches that want to "keep their numbers up" to establish new ministries to meet those needs and to maintain all existing ones. We don't want to offend anyone and we want to make sure that we offer a full selection of ministries for their every 'need.' Otherwise attendance drops, giving is reduced [our 'sales' decline] and there's danger of going out of business. When problems arise, the issue becomes not what would Jesus do, but what will keep people coming, and more importantly, keep them giving.

This is an accurate description of the Church in America today and the primary reason attendance is declining, Christian influence is eroding in public life and that the Church is increasingly seen as irrelevant. Meanwhile people's spiritual hunger is not satisfied and they turn increasingly to the New Age, Witchcraft and the occult.

The Church is not a business. Servicing believers was not what it was established to do. The members of the church are supposed to be the servants of OTHERS, not passive sponges tended to by a handful of professional clergy. Yet we think of the attendees as customers and only bring up the idea of them being servants when we need a warm body to fill an empty ministry slot.

### * * *

Matthew 20:25-28

(25) But Jesus called them and said, You know that the rulers of the nations exercise dominion over them, and they who are great exercise authority over them.

(26) However, it shall not be so among you. But whoever desires to be great among you, let him be your servant.

(27) And whoever desires to be chief among you, let him be your servant;

(28) even as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.

### * * *

The Church is more like an army than a business. Whether you believe we are all free will volunteers or (as John Calvin) that we're just conscripts, an army has a different mission than a business. An army has no customers, and isn't concerned with pleasing anyone but its commander. And unlike a business, an army has an enemy. Our enemy comes to kill, steal and destroy. Satan is not just a competitor out to take away our "customers." There's more at stake here than just market share.

We should not be concerned with the popularity of our actions. We should do the right thing and if people fall away from the church because they are offended, it is their problem, not ours. Christ never tiptoed around issues in order to avoid confrontations with the Pharisees and other religious authorities and neither should we.

I'm not saying to go out of our way to offend people – what I'm saying is, if there's a problem: fix it. If a change needs to be made, make it. Don't be too intimidated to do the right thing because somebody is going to be upset about the fix. There will always be opposition; Satan will see to that. But if we let that keep us from doing what's right and what's necessary then we'll never do what's right or necessary.

**Christ came to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable. Too often we are afraid to tell the truth because we fear that it might offend. Calling someone a whitewashed tomb full of dead men's bones is Christ's example of how far we should go in the matter of compromising principles in order to avoid offense. The problem with the church in America today is that no one is willing to tie up a bundle of cords into a whip and drive the moneychangers out of the temple**.

SOLUTION: The Church is NOT a business. We need to stop treating it like it is.

### * * *

Disciples aren't afraid to do the right thing

But what is the right thing? What do we need to do to get the Church back on track to what Jesus intended us to be doing?

We need a complete reorganization of the educational resources of the church, a reorientation of the way we recruit people for ministry opportunities, proper supervision of existing teachers and an effective training program for future ones. Once those are in place we can work towards training the disciples that Christ commanded us to do.

In the eighteenth century there were no public schools. Protestant churches took it upon themselves to teach believers how to read so they could read the scriptures for themselves. This is the actual origin of "Sunday School." The church saw an educational need that was not being met and stepped in to fulfill the need in a spiritually useful way.

Today society is bombarded with lies, everything from the important role of Christianity in the history of this country, Evolution, the Da Vinci Code, to the real truth behind UFOs. These lies bombard us from all sides: public schools, popular entertainment, books and movies. In eighty years we've gone from having trials over whether it's legal to teach Evolution in school to trials over whether it's legal to even mention Creationism.

This didn't happen overnight. And it happened because the church in America abandoned control of education to the Secular Humanists and of popular entertainment to Hollywood Liberals. A hundred years ago the best selling novel of all time in the United States was Ben Hur, a historical novel about a First Century man who finds Christ. Today it's The Da Vinci Code, a modern murder mystery about a detective who discovers that Christianity is "the greatest fraud ever perpetrated upon the human race."

**PROBLEM** : The average age of churchgoers is rising faster than the average age of the population because we're losing the next generation. Eighty percent of young adults brought up in the church, quit between graduation from high school and college. They are turning away from the church, turning to witchcraft, New Age mystery religions or materialism, seeking counterfeits for something they don't know we already have. We bemoan the loss of Christian values even as school prayer is outlawed and discrimination against Christians is institutionalized, and in a country originally settled by Christians seeking religious freedom!

But the problem isn't that the enemy's propaganda is better than our message. The New Age isn't new. It's the same garbage that was around at the time of Christ, just repackaged with a modern look. But it's been proven time and again that a shoddy product with good advertising will outsell a good product that nobody knows anything about.

We're not doing our job. Christ gave us a commission to teach the world. Instead we get together on Sunday mornings for donuts and coffee to talk about our week. Most churches anymore are indistinguishable from the Elks Club. The only difference is that they meet on Sunday morning instead of Thursday night. They have some potlucks, do a few community service projects, a holiday party or two, then maybe try to recruit a few new members to help out with finances. Doesn't that pretty much describe the modern American church today?

If there's no essential difference between Baptists and the Elks or Shriners, it's no wonder the youth are abandoning us. (At least the Shriners get to wear a cool hat.)

We've lost sight of what the church is for. We think it's a nice social club with plenty of opportunities for fellowship and a nice uplifting sermon on Sunday morning.

But we're supposed to be revolutionaries out changing the world. Instead we spend our time arguing among ourselves about whether we should change the praise music.

**SOLUTION** : Since the public schools won't teach Creationism, the Church should step up and do what they did when the government wouldn't teach poor people to read: we should do it. We need to start up regular classes on Creationism. These classes should be held at night so people who work can attend. They should be oriented to teach the basics of Creationism and the failings of Evolution. We can advertise these classes among neighboring churches and step up to meet a common need in the whole Christian community.

We should sponsor other classes on topics of interest such as refuting The Da Vinci Code, explaining UFO phenomena from a Christian perspective and the like.

There is an appalling ignorance among people on basic Christian doctrine, not just among ordinary citizens who learned most of their theology from watching The Simpsons, but even members of the church. The majority of people who convert to Mormonism (as opposed to simply being born to Mormon parents) formerly attended real Christian churches. But they drifted away and fell for a counterfeit church because they don't know what the Bible teaches, what Christ taught or even basic Christian doctrine such as the method and purpose of Salvation. Most Christians learn the majority of their doctrine secondhand, gleaning bits and pieces from a 40-minute sermon and a 50-minute Sunday School class each week, neither of which is designed or intended to teach basic doctrine.

Churches need a series of classes in basic doctrine: Salvation, Baptism, the Inerrancy of Scripture, etc. You could compile a list just using the Statement of Faith. While most members agree with the Statement of Faith, (and they'd better) few of them can explain why they agree or what most of those points actually mean or why they're important.

The first weapon in Satan's arsenal is "Did God really say...?" (Genesis 3:1) In a multicultural world where more and more beliefs tend to blur together, if we don't understand what makes Christianity unique, we risk being deceived. Christians are supposed to teach the world and make disciples of them. We are not supposed to be conformed to the world and become disciples of it.

### * * *

Romans 10:13-15

(13) For everyone, "whoever shall call on the name of the Lord will be saved."

(14) How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without preaching?

### * * *

And how can we preach if we don't even know what we believe? Before any Christian can be effective they need instruction. Too many believers aren't really "believers". They're more like "attenders". They don't really know what or why they believe; they just show up for church on Sunday. Consequently they are "tossed to and fro and carried about by every wind of doctrine, in the dishonesty of men, in cunning craftiness, to the wiles of deceit" (Ephesians 4:14) and are easily led astray by cultists and crooked televangelists.

I don't think it's any accident that that passage warning about Christians being led astray, comes directly after the passage about using our spiritual gifts. The passage ends with:

### * * *

Ephesians 4:15-16

(15) But that you, speaking the truth in love, may in all things grow up to Him who is the Head, even Christ;

(16) from whom the whole body, fitted together and compacted by that which every joint supplies, according to the effectual working in the measure of each part, producing the growth of the body to the edifying of itself in love.

### * * *

If that is our goal, the way to the goal is through the equipping of our congregations in the Scriptures and the employment of their spiritual gifts. Christ calls us to change the world and he's given us the means to do so. All we require is better organization and a willingness to follow his command.

Join the revolution!

If you are a rank and file member of a local church you need to do everything in your power to persuade others to become the true disciples that God intended them to become. You need to follow the teachings of Christ in Matthew chapter 18:

### * * *

Matthew 18:15-17

(15) But if your brother shall trespass against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother.

(16) But if he will not hear you, take one or two more with you, so that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.

(17) And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he neglects to hear the church, let him be to you as a heathen and a tax-collector.

### * * *

In this wicked and perverse generation where spiritual corruption is rampant both in society and in our churches, where even most Christians have lost sight of what the purpose of the church is and what it means to be a disciple, YOU may have to be the one to bring this message of revolution and restoration to your local assembly. You can't leave it up to the pastor or the deacons or the elders. Just look around you: most of them don't know what they're really supposed to be doing either. We spin our wheels 'playing church' while our society falls to pieces around us. We have a form of godliness but deny the power of it (2 Tim 3:5). Just look around you. Are the things I've been saying about the churches completely foreign to the one you attend? If so, then rejoice!

If not, then YOU need to do something. Just like it says in Matthew 18, start with one friend. Help him to understand both the problem but more importantly, the solution: Revolutionary Discipleship.

Then the two of you go to others and they go to others and so on until you've reclaimed your whole church.

And if you face opposition and persecution, then rest assured, you're doing the right thing.

Start from the bottom and work your way up because if you start with the pastor and his staff I guarantee that they will reject this message as being critical of them and then brand you as a troublemaker. (They probably will eventually anyway.)

If the pastor refuses to get behind the revolution and call his people to repent and become true disciples then he will either be replaced by a pastor who isn't afraid to do the right thing, or else in the coming great shake up, the dwindling of the flock will force that church to close its doors and the pastor will become unemployed anyway. If the church board refuses to embrace the revolution, they will also be swept away.

### * * *

Revelation 3:15-19

(15) I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I would that you were cold or hot.

(16) So because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.

(17) Because you say, I am rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing, and do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked,

(18) I counsel you to buy from Me gold purified by fire, so that you may be rich; and white clothing, so that you may be clothed, and so that the shame of your nakedness does not appear. And anoint your eyes with eye salve, so that you may see.

(19) As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten; therefore be zealous and repent.

### * * *

Change will only come about when the majority of the congregation has become true disciples who are tired of merely playing church, or when they die off and are replaced by a new generation who are not satisfied with just playing church – they want to BE the Church.

But your mission is not to foment disorder in your local assembly. Your mission is to make disciples. Transform the individual members and you will transform your church. Isn't that exactly what Jesus did?

And if your efforts are thwarted by Pharisees, the 'traditionalists' who 'know what church is' and think that what you're suggesting isn't 'church', then you may have to do what our forefathers did 500 years ago when they removed themselves from an organization that had forgotten what its mission was really supposed to be and transformed into a monster that devours time, talents and tithes while accomplishing little of lasting eternal value.

Christ gave us the mission: make disciples. Anything that we do that doesn't accomplish that, no matter how well intended, just plays into the Devil's hands. He would like nothing better than for us to sit back in our snug little sanctuaries singing hymns and serving each other donuts while he drags the whole world around us down into the flames with him.

Christ didn't die so we could play church on Sunday morning. He died to redeem us so that we could change the world: "Therefore go and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things, whatever I commanded you. And, behold, I am with you all the days until the end of the world."

Notice that Jesus didn't say, "go into all the world and get them to join your church." He didn't tell us to get them enrolled into Sunday School, he said to make disciples. But we've turned the means into the end. Church used to be a way to make disciples, but it's turned into being its own purpose. Attending church used to be a gathering of disciples, a way to coordinate disciple making. Now the whole point of church is to recruit more members, preferably dues paying (tithing) members of the club so we can build a new and bigger meeting hall and recruit even more members, like a giant pyramid scheme, except nobody gets rich off of this one (except maybe a few televangelists.) Any discipleship that occurs is purely unintentional, a side effect of getting attendance up, increasing the budget and finishing the building program.

Maybe I'm too cynical, but I've attended too many churches where their whole concern was with numbers. "What can we do to get our numbers up?" seems to be the entire sum of their concern. "What can we do to attract more visitors and to persuade the ones that we get to stay on as members?" We treat the church as if it's some sort of business that just needs a better promotional plan to increase its market share.

But the church isn't a business. We're supposed to be revolutionaries out to change the world. We're supposed to be recruiting revolutionaries and subverting society from within. Instead we try to be as nice as possible and avoid controversy so as to appeal to as many people as possible.

We offer fellowships and potlucks and free donuts on Sunday morning, nice happy songfests, Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas programs and try not to have too many "negative" sermons that might offend anyone. And then after recruiting people that find all that appealing, somehow we're surprised when the majority turn out to be uninterested in spiritual things and unwilling to volunteer to do anything more involved than maybe hand out bulletins and greet people at the door on Sunday morning (if that.)

The hope is if we get them into Sunday School and the worship service that somehow they'll eventually come around, become converted and magically change into disciples that want to pick up their cross and follow Jesus. But this obviously doesn't work (or the Church and our society wouldn't be in decline) and it wasn't what people did in Biblical times.

In New Testament times churches ONLY consisted of believers. They were assemblies (which is what the Greek word translated as "church" actually means) of believers that met together in their homes for fellowship and Bible study. People didn't go to "church" until AFTER they were converted.

Yet today somehow our whole evangelistic approach has become trying to find ways to attract outsiders under the roof of the church so they'll "get saved." We seem to believe people can't get saved unless they go to church.

And maybe that's true because since we've taken evangelism out of the hands of laymen and put it all onto the church staff, how is anybody going to become a disciple unless they have some contact with the "professionals" at the church? It's no wonder the first century church was so much more successful than we are. Back then everyone was out recruiting and teaching and making disciples. Today we just invite people to church and hope the pastor can ambush them with the Gospel when they stop by for a free donut.

If McDonalds ran restaurants like we run the church the manager would take all the orders, make all the change, cook all the food, make all the sandwiches, and then bag it all up and hand it out the drive-thru window while the rest of the employees stood around and told him what a good job he was doing. All they'd ever be expected to do is tell everybody they met how great their restaurant is and that they should go there. This doesn't work with restaurants and it isn't working with the church, either. We need to change the way we think and the way we do things.

### * * *

We are ALL Disciples

First, we need to realize that we are ALL disciples; we're ALL supposed to produce fruit, not just the paid staff. Laymen are not inferior or subordinate to the paid staff. And the paid staff is also not here to do our work for us.

The purpose of being a disciple is to eventually become a master. The staff need to think of themselves as parents in the position of training the membership up in the way they should go so that when they are "grown" they can go out on their own and reproduce themselves successfully. Unfortunately, in American churches today too often the staff feels they are shepherds trying to herd a flock of uncooperative sheep, sheep that never grow up. Sheep are always sheep. No one expects a sheep to ever become a shepherd.

By virtue of his position a full-time 25-year old youth pastor is usually considered spiritually superior to laymen who may have been Christians longer than he's even been alive. But the Bible never teaches that there are two classes of Christians: church staff and laymen. We're all on the same journey. It's just some of us are further along than others right now and that may or may not have anything to do with how we earn our living.

### * * *

God gave each of us spiritual gifts to USE

God has given each of us a spiritual gift to use. We need to determine what it is and then develop it. People need to understand that knowing and developing their gift is THE priority of their spiritual life. How can you produce fruit if you don't even know what kind of tree you are?

### * * *

The local church exists for its members, not the other way around

Finally ALL activities and ministries of the church need to be organized around finding and developing the gifts of the members. The staff should be here to provide support for the members, not the other way 'round.

Instead of deciding we should have X number of classes or that we need a Thanksgiving Potluck or a Vacation Bible School and then trying to find volunteers to staff those events, we should determine the gifts of the membership and then host programs that will develop those gifts. This means many ministries that have been done in the past may come to an end. But it also means more, new ministries: ministries that will have the active interest and support of the membership, rather than just apathetic acquiescence.

The staff needs to stop being puppeteers, cut the strings and allow the puppets to produce their own fruit.

"There's a world of difference between structuring a church the right way and actually learning how to let go of the brakes – how to cease being fixated with programs and initiatives and Sunday morning bulletins, and to simply surrender to the movement of the spirit. It's the difference between the deadness of dry, institutional bones and authentic spiritual vitality." [The Disciple Making Church, p15] It's the difference between a growing, vital church and one that's just slowly wasting away through apathy. It's the difference between the first century Church and the modern American church.

This is going to mean a lot more work on training laymen: less emphasis on producing programs and more on producing disciples. The staff shouldn't run ministries. They should supervise laymen who'll run those ministries. They need to be the coach, not the quarterback. We need to change the way we think and the way we do things.

We need to go back to the idea of the church being an organization of Christians, committed disciples undergoing serious training. What we're doing now would be like a martial arts dojo inviting anybody in the neighborhood to come by once a week to watch kung-fu movies and talk about martial arts or even try to practice a few simple moves on their own with the idea that maybe they'd want to sign up for classes. I'm sure that doing this would get their numbers up. Attendance would be great, but if that's all they ever did how much actual training would get accomplished? With the constant masses of immature and unserious "students" attending practices the lessons would never get beyond the beginning stages. The advanced students would become bored and unsatisfied and probably quit to try and find another dojo where they could make some real progress. Meanwhile the dojo would churn through the beginners as the fickle "students" wandered off to try another dojo down the street promising something more interesting or different. Isn't this a good description of many modern American churches today?

It's no wonder American churchgoers are shallow, biblically ignorant and fickle. We've all heard stories of the proverbial congregation that broke up over the color of the new carpet. What else can you expect from people who aren't disciples, who were never recruited to be disciples, and who aren't interested in even being disciples? If Christianity was illegal, those people wouldn't be anywhere near a church. They'd be in a social club where they belong.

If your church quit serving donuts and coffee, what would be the effect on attendance? Shouldn't that tell you something about the priorities of many of the attendees?

But most ministers are afraid to challenge their people or to demand anything from their congregations for fear of rocking the boat. They're afraid if they hold people accountable, if they hold them to a standard, or God forbid, that if they say anything "negative" that people will leave the church.

Attendance numbers and cash are our sacred cows. We seem perfectly willing to ignore our Master's command and fail to make disciples as long as our numbers stay up. Our first concern about any new change is whether it will affect church attendance. It doesn't seem to matter if it's the right thing to do or not. We look for our examples to mega-churches. If Saddleback Community Church is doing it, whatever it is must be good.

I don't mean to disparage Saddleback Community Church, but my point is that modern American churches ONLY look at them for an example because of their size. Whether or not their message is actually biblical is not a question anybody much concerns themselves with. I'm not saying their message is unbiblical. What I mean is the primary interest people have in _The Purpose Driven Church_ is that they went from a little church to a mega-church. We're mostly just interested in getting our attendance up, and if the message is biblical too, well, that's a nice side benefit. Saddleback was once just a tiny little church on a dead-end street nobody had ever heard of and nobody paid them any attention. If they hadn't become so big there still wouldn't be any interest in what they were doing. People's interest in them is entirely because of their size. Saddleback Community Church has got the ABCs down pat and we think if we imitate them, then we'll get our numbers up, too.

But what did Christ say? "Go in through the narrow gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many there are who go in through it. Because narrow is the gate and constricted is the way that leads to life, and there are few who find it. (Matthew 7:13-14)

Bigness wasn't what Jesus was looking for. Out of the huge multitudes that followed Him, Jesus selected just eleven ordinary men, mostly uneducated working-class fishermen, and He made them into disciples. Those eleven men then changed the entire world.

But instead of making a handful of effective disciples who'll change the world, we'd rather try to build up an organization of hundreds or even thousands of shallow, mostly untrained and passive church "members" who'll raise the cash to maintain the local organization and building program, pay off the church mortgage and support a few "ministry professionals" who might actually try to do some good, in between spending most of their effort trying to maintain the existing organization that supports them. This actually seemed to work for a while back before the 1960's when America was a nominally Christian nation and going to church was seen as a worthwhile social activity by much of society. But in our postmodern secular society the idea has lost all traction. The new younger generation wasn't brought up in Christian churches and doesn't see the point of mumbling a few musty hymns weekly and then dozing through a goody-two-shoes sermon, not when the New Age promises spirituality with power and a way to save the planet. The promise of a pagan counterfeit is more attractive than the limp-wristed, watered-down, insipid niceness that is what America thinks the transforming power of Christ consists of.

And it didn't really work back then, either. Church attendance was high and budgets were fat, but disciples were few. Remember, back during the peak of church attendance in the 50's and 60's was laid the foundation for the legalization of abortion and pornography and the criminalization of school prayer. Pharisees ran America with predictable spiritual results: a whitewashed tomb full of the bones of millions of aborted babies. The decline in church attendance today is simply the working out of this trend. The spiritual vacuum created by the emphasis of churches on the ABCs at the expense of disciple-making has resulted in the decline of those churches and in the ballooning interest in alternate sources of spirituality such as Wicca and the New Age. People are seeking something to fill the spiritual vacuum in their souls, a vacuum than cannot be satisfied by potlucks, parenting seminars, Christmas pageants and a weekly service with contemporary music. The church doesn't transform our lives – Jesus Christ does. God didn't send the Church to save mankind, he sent us his son. Jesus didn't tell the Church to go into all the world and make disciples, he told his disciples to go and do it. Growing the Church isn't the point of Christianity; the Church isn't even the means to the end. The Church is merely another term for an assembly of the disciples that follow Jesus. "And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch." (Acts 11:26)

As long as we treat it as a separate organization, with franchises on every street corner, and waste our time, talents and effort building up that local franchise at the expense of disciple-making we will not accomplish the mission our Savior assigned to us: a mission that there is no one else to do for us.

But the good news is that there are some disciples who are out in the world doing the mission that Jesus assigned. According to the Barna research group, in the next twenty years American churches are going to lose about half their members to alternative sources of spiritual fulfillment such as home churches, para-churches, and other non-church groups. [ _Revolution_ , by George Barna]

Could your church survive with only half as many members, and half the budget? Thousands of churches will be closing their doors. To churches that are obsessed with the ABCs this will be considered the greatest catastrophe in the history of Christianity.

But they're looking at it from the same perspective as the Catholic Church after half of Christendom abandoned them in the Reformation. Rather than being a catastrophe, the Reformation was the greatest thing that happened since the time of the Apostles. The same thing is going to happen here.

The question is: which side of this revolution are YOU going to be on?

Are you going to fight it? Are those who are seeking REAL discipleship and who are forced to seek it outside the church "backsliders, and anti-Christian zealots bent on the destruction of the church?" Will you condemn them for abandoning ship? In response will your church desperately try a new evangelistic program? After all, if you can just recruit faster than people wander off you can keep your numbers up. Or perhaps the staff could try a slick new prepackaged "discipleship" program to try to stave off the inevitable?

### * * *

Why not just embrace the revolution? Join us. Become a **real** disciple of Christ. Work to spread the revolution in your own church. If enough Christians abandon the bankrupt idea of passive church membership with everything run from above and embrace the Biblical principle of the active discipleship of every believer, your church will be transformed from the social club it probably resembles into the training academy for disciples it was intended to be.

And what if your local church leaders reject your efforts? What if your efforts to become an active disciple-maker are subverted into merely slinging pancakes for men's breakfasts, brewing coffee for fellowship time and being a shepherd in the annual Christmas pageant? Then you do what the disciples did when the Jews rejected their message: they went out into the world and made their disciples elsewhere.

Make your own ministry: Start a home church or Bible study, or a lunchtime prayer group at work. Buy Bibles at used bookstores and give them away at Laundromats and bus stations. Visit people in hospitals, old folks homes and prisons. Feed the homeless and pray with them. Write letters to the editor deploring the latest anti-Christian bigotry done in the name of "separation of church and state." Picket an abortion clinic. Or better yet, work with unwed mothers so they'll keep their babies or place them for adoption. Fix up old junk cars so they run and then donate them to unwed mothers or the working poor for transportation. Mentor the teen-age boys attracted to your garage by the car repair projects. God gave you some sort of spiritual gift – go figure out some way to use it...

And change the world.

### ###

### If you liked this book (or at least appreciated having your belief-system thoughtfully challenged) please leave a comment or review on Smashwords.

### You might also be interested in reading:

### Spiritual Embezzlement Made Easy (or How NOT to Run a Church)

###  Of Myth and Magic

A comparison of religion, philosophy and magick through history. Are all religions basically the same? What are the similarities between secular humanism, Catholicism and paganism? Available as a Nook e-book from Barnes & Noble.

### What Darwinists Don't Want You to Know

### All of those and more by M.E. Brines are available from Smashwords

### Or visit http://www.fantasynations.com/

### **Follow** M.E. Brines **onTwitter.**

### Or view his author page.

