Newsletter Article

December 11, 2016

 

On Being a Disciple

 

One must be a good disciple of Christ to become a good evangelist of Christ. The discipler must be greater than his disciple, because he will be teaching about the Christ. No one knows the Christ except the Father (Matt. 11:27). Hence, God the Father through the Holy Spirit discipled John. The author Walter A. Henrichsen said, " a good disciple will always have a faithful heart and have an objective in life; the same objective God sets forth in the Scriptures. Jesus said, "But seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you" (Matt. 6:33). Here we see two objectives that our Lord Jesus mentioned. The first is to seek first His Kingdom, and the second one is His righteousness. Jesus does not say to seek money or a wife or any of the other things that occupy our attention. Rather, He says that if we seek His Kingdom and His righteousness, He will assume responsibility for meeting every other need in our lives.  Most probably the reason why John the Baptist, the evangelist of Christ, spent his time in the desert was to maintain purity in his heart to receive direct revelation from God (Matt. 5:8). Likewise, his life in prison was his time of reckoning. He tried to recall and to prove whether Jesus was the Christ, or whether he should expect another person. He only heard in prison (most probably from the feedback of his disciples) what Jesus was doing, but did not actually see for himself how He did it. "To see is to believe" is a doubt principle (John 20:25).  Sensing that John's days were numbered, Jesus had to make sure that prior to his departure, his evangelical efforts (Luke 1:77) for the salvation of the people were not in vain. Jesus, being sensitive to John's queries, answered John's disciples with the ministry of the Christ in Isaiah 35:5-6. Furthermore, in spite of the doubts of John, Jesus considered John as more than a prophet, because he started making disciples. He demonstrated the work of a disciple who leads other people to follow him. He started making a church, but Christ must be the Head of the Church. John is seen in the principle of the church as the bridegroom (Matt. 9:15).

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In this season of Advent, we must have a heart of readiness and patience to welcome our Saviour, to be sensitive, because we do not know the hour. Last time when He came, He was not welcomed. This was a lesson that was learned by all, and any recurrence of such an incident must be avoided. Therefore let us start to make an objective in our lives today: to seek first His Kingdom, and be a disciple of His Kingdom.