GROUND OF TRUTH BIBLE
NSTITUTE
G.P.O BOX
17171IBADAN
DISCIPLESHIP
BIBLE TEXT Matt.16: 21-25
INTRODUCTION: This subject became necessary when Jesus ask his disciples about whom
people thought he was, and Peter answered. But not quiet long after, the same
Peter began to {rebuke} him and said, you will not die, but Jesus knew that
Satan has spoken through the same vessel that has just been used by the Holy
Spirit.
According
to Matt.16: 24 Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone desires to
come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me
(NKJV).
“If any of you want to be my followers, you must forget about yourself.
You must take up your cross and follow me” (C.E.V).
From this passage we notice some things, e.g.:
1 That one can call
himself/herself a Christian, and yet the Lord can still say, “if anyone want to
be my disciple.
2. We also discovered that this matter of
being a disciple is an individual or personal
decision.
WHO IS A DISCIPLE?
1.
A man who has encountered the Lord. This is because
all the process of discipleship are spiritual. Except a man is born a new by
the Spirit he has no potential to become like Jesus. A baby lizard can never
grow up to become a crocodile, so also a sinner cannot develop by training to
become a saint. He has to be born again. John. 3:1-7, 1Cor 2:13 -14.
2.
A man who has been
converted. This means after encountering the Lord, the next thing is the stage
of conversion. Peter has been a believer for some years, but yet Jesus was
telling him that he couldn’t strengthen the brethren until he has been
converted. LK.22:31-32, Acts.3:19.
3.
A man who wanted to be like
his master Matt.11: 29-30 having had rest from sin and the devil.
THE CONDITIONS FOR
DISCIPLESHIP
“If any man will come after me, let him DENY himself and take up his
cross and follow me” Matt.16:24.
From
this passage we will look at three conditions for been a disciples. E.g.
1.DENY HIMSELF
2.TAKE UP HIS CROSS
3.
FOLLOW ME
HIMSELF
THE ORIGINAL PURPOSE OF GOD FOR CREATING MAN (Gen. 1:1-5)
This passage has shown us the story of
creation and how a being put in – charge attempt to dethrone God and in the
process lost his place in heaven, which give opportunity to darkness to cover
the earth.
In
Gen. 1vs 3 we saw how God began to deal with darkness by commanding light to
come, because the only language that darkness understood is light.
The light we saw in this verse 3 is not the same
with that of verse 14 but the light that is located in life, the light that
conquer darkness which is called, ‘DAY’ (1Thess.5: 5-7, Eph.5:8). The Bible said that they that sleep do sleep
in the night and they that drink do drink in the night, I know that is not
talking about physical light...
John
1:1-8 This passage talk about the beginning, and in as much we don’t have two
beginning, it means this place is talking the same with Gen.1: 1 therefore when
God commanded in the beginning that “let there be light” it became clear
that it was Jesus that appear not sun or moon, but light that was located in
life which darkness cannot Comprehend.
In
other for God to keep darkness outside completely, God made a carrier or a
container in form of human being, though lifeless until God came to breath into
his nostrils the breath of life which is life-light and he became a living
soul. So by this, man can dominate over all God’s inheritance.
THE MINISTRY
OF MAN ON EARTH
Do
you know that the purpose of God has not change, the plan of God has always
been to have container that can carry God’s own kinds of life light that subdue
darkness where–ever he found it. “That
is the only ministry of man on earth”.
When
God is talking about fruitful and multiply, He is saying that man should
produce a kind of container that can carry life – light more. So, if you are also going to be involved in
any work of God, the first thing God will do is to impart light that is life
inside of you.
GOD’S PROVISION FOR THE MAN
All things that man will need in life
that will not make him to be a beggar, but to focus on the work giving to him
(custodian of light) has been provided even before he was created. Do you know that even for your own ministry,
God has provided all you will need before calling you to His work, but you can
only have them, as you became the light- bearer.
Accommodations, food, water, flowers, mineral resources and even God fence his house.
The
fellowship of this man with God was very cordial, when God created anything; it
is this man that will give name to call it.
Matt.18: 18 God also give this man a wife so as to do his ministry
without distraction Gen. 2:18.
THE FALL OF MAN
God
gave everything into the hand of man, but He gave only one instruction to test
his obedience, as we know that God will not use un-interested instrument for
his work.
When
the wife came, she was fully informed, but when we got to chapter 3, the story
changed because the enemy of light which is Mr. Darkness who has been in this
garden of Eden before and always sorrowful whenever he sees man, because of
God’s provision to man according to Isa.14; 12-17; Ezek. 28:13-17 came into the
garden of Eden, he mask himself inside serpent and deceive the woman and her
husband and they ate what God had commanded them not to eat and they die
spiritually, which means the life light of them quench and darkness rush inside
because the light that the devil fear has
died. When God was coming to have
fellowship with them, He met the place in total darkness, so He started calling
“Adam! Adam!! Adam!!!”
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THE IMPLICATIONS OF DARKNESS LIFE (Gen.3:8-13)
1
They could not see God
again: All they can hear is just to hear the sound of God, but can not see Him
again (1 Jn. 1:7, 3:6)
2
The problem of self
centeredness: we noticed that in just only one statement, this man refer to
himself four times, “I heard your voice, I was afraid, I was naked, I hid
myself.
3
Fear of shame: This man was afraid because of many shame he
is going to face, he can afford to do other things in as much he knows that the
shame will cover, even if it is to go into debt and borrowing.
4
Cover- up: They saw their mistake, short-coming and
nakedness and what they do was that they cover up, because that life is
darkness life and it does not come to light, so, anything that covers the light
is darkness.
5
Shifting of blame: These natural
life can not accept blame, but he will shift it upon another person.
Gen.3:11-12 He will has explanation for everything he did just to cover it.
NAMES GIVEN TO THIS LIFE OF DARKNESS ARE;
1.
Mr. Darkness
2.
Natural life
3.
Physical life
4.
Old man
5.
Mr. self
6.
Sinful nature
7.
Adamic Nature
8.
Lower nature
9.
Flesh
10.
Mr. Iniquity
11.
Carnal life
12.
Old nature
13.
Old sinful nature.
MANIFESTATION OF NATURAL OR DARKNESS LIFE
The
question that God asked Adam was “who told you that you were naked” From
this question, we know that Adam should have not known if anybody did not tell
him. Therefore, as we know that this Mr. Darkness is a being, he does these:
1
He always talk
2
He is a commander
3
He is a dictator
4
He is a teacher
5
He is an inner controller
e.t.c. Read
Rom. 7: 15 – 25
From
the time of falling of man, you will continue to see the manifestation of this
natural life from chapter 4 of Genesis.
You will see murder, polygamy, and striving e.t.c.
This
natural life did not come into our life by training, but naturally, that is, by
birth Gen. 5:3, John 3:3-7
ACTS AND WORKS OF FLESH
If
we study the book of Gal. 5:19 –21 from many versions of the bible, we will see
many works of this natural life, before any sin can enter into a man, the light
in him must have been quenched first and darkness took over, and that is the
only channel by which sin can enter into a man or woman. Rom.8: 6-8
Bro.
Paul dealt with his body. 1Corin.9: 27.
LET HIM DENY
HIMSELF
Having
discover all what self is all about, we will now return to the first part of
this first condition of becoming a disciple of our Lord Jesus (DENY) Matt.16:24
“let
him deny himself” (KJV)
“Say
no to things he want” (Easy to read )
“You
must forget yourself” (C.E.V.)
“let
him disregard himself” )
“Let
him lose sight of himself” ) (A. M. P.)
“And forget himself and his own
interests” )
GOD’S WAY OUT
As
Moses lifted up the serpent (Jn.
3:13-15, Num. 21:4-9, Deut.21:18-21)
As
Jesus was talking with Nicodemus about new life, Jesus make it clear that it is
by birth and not by training . He remind
him of Moses’ time in Num. 21:4-9
Looking
at this passage you will notice that the only way to escape from these serpent
is not by struggling with them, but rather it is by obedience to God’s
instruction of looking at the serpent on the pole.
The
serpent on the ground can bite you, but when you started looking at the one on
the pole, all the venom of that serpent will come out by itself, so by that the
serpent on the ground becomes a toy, incapacitated useless and render
impotent.
You
cannot stop the serpent from biting, but you can siphon out the venom by
looking at the serpent on the pole.
In
the real sense of it, when a sin come to (bite) you, if you start to struggle
with that sin, it will conquer you, but when you started to look at Jesus on
the cross by denying, disregard and forget yourself you will have
victory over such a sin.
(Deut.21:
18-21)
Here the Lord was giving an instruction about anyone that has a stubborn
child, instead for that child to bring a problem that can eventually kill his
parent, there is a solution from God of Israel, and the solution is that after
the parent has done all what they could do, and there is no changes in the life
of that boy.
They should first lay hold on the boy and not allowing him to
escape. Secondly, they should drag him
to the elders of the city and complain.
Thirdly, they should hand him over to these elders without pitying him
and these elder will now arrange for this boy some men that will stone him to
death.
What
the Lord is saying is that after you have discover your own flesh you will take
his case to the Lord in prayer, after that you must allow God to arrange for
yourself those who will stone him to death by treating you roughly, doing what
your body will not like to you.
But it is unfortunate that many times
you quickly collect him back from the elder and not allow them to stone
it. But if you allow all this to happen
to yourself, that would have been the end of self in your life.
TAKE
UP HIS CROSS (
The third condition of becoming a disciple of
Jesus is what He called “take up your cross,” many times this word has been
erroneously interpreted, someone said you must be Christian with your problems,
even if that is part of it, may be it is the smallest part of that word.
The
fact of this matter is that we all know that cross is a symbol of death. Whenever there will be announcement of death,
the cross will be used as a symbol, therefore to carry cross means to always
keep announcing the death of old man. Whenever any sin knock at your door and
ask for old customer , you announce to it that “it is no more here, why are you
looking for the dead among the living” Rom.
KNOWING
THIS
You must always know that your old man is dead, because if you do not
know, you may be expecting a dead man to come and take his place again. Rom
6:6. If a man died and you don’t know,
you can still be writing a letter to him and be making some preparation down
for him, but the day you know, you stop hoping and expecting him.
AND FOLLOW ME (Gal.2: 20, Col. 3:1-4)
NEW MAN IN OLD TABERNACLE 
From
Gal.2:20, we noticed that the life we are expecting us to live is not our
normal life again, but the life of Christ in us. You don’t do things the way
you know or the way you think again, you ask Him that is living in you about
where to go, when to sleep, what to say, to do and to wear because it is no
longer I that liveth but Christ that liveth in me’. Another important thing we
should know is that people may not know what has happened to us, they thought
it is the same man of yesterday, therefore, they still want to deal with you as
usual, but you must always know that you are new man in old tabernacle.
PRIVILEDGES OF NEW MAN
This
is the reason why ancestral curses cannot have power on you again, even some
sickness that is inside before must go now, because this new man did not know
it.
SETTING OF THE MIND
(ROM: 7:2-4 COL. 3:1-4)
The
book of Rom 7v2-4 tells us that a woman is bound under her husband in as much
as the man is alive, but the day the man died, the woman becomes free to marry
a new husband. You cannot re-arrange your life when old man is still there,
because he has his own way of doing things, he has his own choice about your
dressing, talking, preaching and way of life. But now that the old man is dead,
the next thing to do is to re-set those things he has set before and this could
be done in two ways: e. g:
PARK OUT THE LOAD OF THE OLD MAN
RE-SET YOUR MIND ON THINGS ABOVE
(1)
PARK OUT THE LOAD OF OLD
MAN (COL
There
is no tenant that will like to park to a new apartment and not first remove the
load of the old tenant; even you will not bring your load until there is
vacancy. So for Christ to take His full position in you, you need to park out
all the load of the old tenant, which is this old man. According to the passage
above, you must put them to death, because they are your members and park them
out.
(2) RE-SET YOUR MIND ON THINGS ABOVE (COL
Setting
is what we can call arrangement or organizing, for us to understand this matter
very well, we need to remind you of telephoning system, when there is a
congestion around the area you are calling, you will hear your phone talking to
you that you should call back that the line is not reachable e.t.c.
So
many times you need to re-set those things that old man has already set inside
your mind, some times you will be hearing his voice as usual but the fact is
that he (old man) is dead, that voice is setting of the mind. All this is
because he has helped you to set your mind on many things e.g.
(i)
Your daily food (ii) Your dressing (iii) The way you should be addressed (iv)
Cake on your wedding day (v) Organization of your sitting room e.t.c.
If
after you have taken these steps that you can follow the Lord and also it is
then that Jesus will recognize you to be his disciple. Having completed the
condition of becoming His disciple which is just the pre-requisite, we will
still continue on the matter of “FOLLOW ME” the matter of following is endless
relationship, therefore we may not be able to finish it in this class, even
till you finish in this institute, but we will look at few things before we
close it in prayer.
To
follow Jesus is more than just walking lazily behind Him, it entails walking in
His footsteps. This means to pattern one’s life after Him and that is the goal
of this lecture, “To become the image of Christ”. All these can become reality
if you can submit your life for discipleship because it takes a man who has
denied himself to take up his cross and it takes a man who has taken the yoke
of Jesus to learn from Him.
Therefore,
you must put your life under human discipler who takes spiritual over-site over
your life. A hen will stay for 21 days inside incubator before it can produce
chicken. Joshua enter into discipleship relationship under Moses, Samuel also
become a disciple under Eli before the work of God can become effective in
their lives.
Except
you voluntarily yield your neck into discipleship relationship and stay inside
incubator for the time that God has arranged under a man God will lead you to,
you may not be a vessel unto honor.
May
the Lord encounter and convince your heart and also make you to become the
image of Christ as you submit your life for discipleship. Amen.
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