Disciples

By Gregory Van Court.

What are those who are born of God called most often in Acts? Does this correlate with what Jesus said in places like Mark 8:34-38? How does that apply to us today?

While today we most often call one another Christians or believers, in Acts those who were born of God were most often called disciples (Acts 6:1-2, 7; 9:1, 10, 19; 11:26, 29). The connotative difference between "believer" and "disciple" can be significant. For instance, the demons believe (Jam.2:19). Jesus once taught a crowd of listeners that He was the Son of God, and "many came to believe in Him" (John 8:30). "Jesus therefore was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, 'If you abide in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine'" (John 8:31). A disciple then is one who abides in His word. Jesus later said to these who had believed in Him, "You are of your father the devil" (John 8:44). Jesus taught elsewhere what it meant to be His disciple. He said, "If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple" (Luke 14:26). Submitting to the ownership of Christ means the Master's business takes priority over everything else, including family ties. Following Christ may result in being disowned by one's family or even being turned over to governing authorities hostile to Christianity by one's own family. Hating even your own life speaks of dying to yourself and living only for Christ. He says, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me" (Luke 9:23), and "Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple" (Luke 14:27). A disciple is the one who crucifies his own will, his own pride, his own concerns, his own comfort, and his own safety; a disciple is one who gives his life away in self-denial; a disciple is one who completely dies to self so that Christ can reign within him. Paul wrote, "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me" (Gal.2:20). A disciple of Jesus Christ abandons everything and dies to self. When he is mistreated, ridiculed, maligned, reproached, or made to suffer on account of Christ, the disciple's heart is full of joy that he has been counted worthy to suffer shame for his association with Jesus (Acts 5:41). Genuine discipleship involves not only abandonment of self in service to Him daily but abandonment of everything. Jesus says, "No one of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions" (Luke 14:33). Your most intimate relationships, your entire life, and all of your possessions now belong to Christ if you are truly His disciple. That is why Jesus warns the hearers of the gospel to count the cost (Luke 14:28-32) before they set out to follow Him. The alter call of Christ is not an appeal to self; it is not a "come to Me to be blessed" kind of message but rather a "come to the alter to die, to pour out your life everyday for Me" message. He wants people to know from the very start that the cost of discipleship is death to self, total abandonment of everything in service to the Master. A disciple is not a subcategory of God's redeemed. Only disciples of Jesus Christ are redeemed. If the Holy Spirit dwells in you then, sacred Scripture teaches, "you are not your own" (1Cor.6:18) but rather are the possessed slave of the Master Jesus Christ. "For you have been bought with a price" (1Cor.6:19). With the heresy of "easy believism", which is basically old-fashioned antinomianism, encroaching deeply into the evangelical churches of America, the truth about what it means to be a disciple is more important now than ever.

Consider the following scenario: Mainstream Fellowship Church (MFC) of Anywhere, Texas, meets for worship at 9am and 11am on Sunday mornings. A worship service at MFC typically consists of a worship band playing everyone's favorite contemporary tunes, followed by announcements, prayer, special music, and then a fifty-minute sermon consisting of a practical and relevant message interlaced with funny, interesting, and sad stories followed by an alter call, accompanied by dimmed lighting and soft music, consisting of an invitation to those who feel led to make a decision for Christ to please come forward to invite Jesus into their heart. As the music softly plays, the pastor of MFC asks that everyone remain with their heads bowed and their eyes closed as he offers suggestive commentary into his microphone to help convince the indecisive to respond. He asks that the congregation, with every head bowed and every eye closed, to sing along softly to the music, perhaps repeating a stanza or chorus to allow time for those in the back to make their way forward. Those who feel so led make their way down to the alter where they are met by a trained member of the MFC staff who, after determining that they have come down to make a decision for Christ, then leads them in a prayer to ask forgiveness for their sins and invite Jesus into their heart. Afterwards, these respondents are introduced to the MFC congregation as new members of the body of Christ and, after a follow-up by MFC staff to ensure they really understand the decision they are making, are then slated for baptism. Those who have thus understood their decision and have invited Jesus into their hearts are assured that they were saved by faith when they prayed the prayer, are given the great hope that they can never lose their salvation, and are told that that they should never question their salvation - to do so would be to succumb to the oppressive influence doubt.

There are several serious fallacies at work in this scenario. The first serious error is the pastor's belief that it is partly his job rather than God's word and Spirit alone to change the hearts of lost sinners. Hence, God's word is repackaged and reduced to a relevant message that is mingled with funny and interesting stories to elicit the listener's full attention; sad stories to tug at the listener's heart-strings; and finally soft music, dimmed lighting, and suggestive phrases designed to manipulate an emotional response from the listener. This error is a result of the corrupting influence of the revivalist and heretic Charles Finney, who popularized the "alter call" during the nineteenth century.

The second serious error stems from the fact that neither the concept nor the example of "inviting Jesus into your heart", "making a decision for Christ", and coming forward to the altar to pray a "sinner's prayer" are to be found in Scripture. That these phrases are an all too familiar part of church vernacular exposes just how highly we have elevated our view of man. God does the inviting (John 6:44,65, 15:4), makes the decisions (Rom.8:29-30, Eph.1:4-5), and even prays the prayer (John 14:16-17, 17:9-11). Walking a church aisle, getting on your knees, and inviting Jesus into your heart will not and cannot save you. It is not the efficacy of a prayer that saves; Christ alone saves. This error is the result of "easy-believism", which teaches that all one must do to be saved is simply make a decision to believe in Jesus and accept Him as Savior, as if it were humanly possible for man to do something to be saved. Revelation 3:20 is often quoted out of context. The picture of Jesus standing at the door and knocking is given in the context of those at the lukewarm church at Laodicea who had entered their church and shut the door on Christ, altogether forgetting the Lord of the church.

The third serious error was the poor counsel that the MFC staff gave to the respondents; namely, assuring them of salvation and instructing them to never question their salvation. The Holy Spirit gives assurance (Rom.8:16), not the ministry staff. Quite the opposite from never questioning one's salvation, Scripture commands all who profess Christ to question their salvation in order to make certain about it. Peter writes, "Brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you" (2 Pet.1:10). We are exhorted to make our calling and election sure. Likewise, Paul's commandment to church members is as follows:

"Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you-- unless indeed you fail the test?" (2 Cor. 13:5)

It's healthy for all of us to run through the test from time to time. We have a national day of prayer, but we ought to have a national day of examination, where everyone who calls themselves a Christian examines themselves to see if they are really in the faith. Warning against such a test is an error resulting from the harmful influence of the "word of faith" and New Age gurus who falsely teach that to even entertain the possibility of negative realities bring about negative results. These common yet serious errors which seal the lost in deception can be rooted out by a proper opinion of God and a solid understanding of discipleship. As in the example of MFC, many evangelical churches today have sadly misunderstood or abandoned Christ's command to "go therefore and make disciples" (Mat.28:19) and instead are recklessly baptizing the unregenerate and hopelessly attempting to moralize the unconverted.

Isaiah 54:1-10 - Miracle Children

by Steve Owen

Isaiah 54 tends to be a somewhat forgotten chapter today. Lying as it does between the wonderful prophecies of the suffering Messiah in Chapter 53, and the glorious Gospel invitation of Chapter 55, it tends perhaps to be ignored by preachers looking for an evangelistic text. But this was not always the case. As a matter of fact, Isaiah 54 was the text for one of the most famous, important and influential sermons in history- the so-called “Deathless Sermon,” preached by William Carey, the father of the modern missionary movement.

Carey was born into a poor family and received little education. He initially worked as a cobbler. Eventually he became minister of a Baptist Church in Leicester. This was in the late 18th Century, when British power was expanding in India. Carey had a great burden for the pagans in India, perishing without Christ. There were no missionaries in those days. He took the opportunity of raising the matter at a Baptist Association meeting, but was told by an older colleague, “Sit down, young man! When God pleases to convert the heathen, He will do it without your help or mine!”

Carey could do nothing but wait until he was asked to bring a sermon to a meeting of the Northamptonshire Baptist Association in May, 1792. He seized his opportunity and preached on Isaiah 54, applying it to the Church in his day- a barren widow, bereft of husband, with no offspring to give her hope or cheer. Yet Isaiah calls for rejoicing, not sorrow; for celebration, not lamentation. God is about to do a great work and commands His people to expand their tents and lengthen their guide-ropes. There is to be an enlargement of God’s people, a bringing-in of others on the right and left, a winning of the Gentiles who are yet to be included in the Covenant of Grace. Carey ended his sermon with a rousing exhortation to his colleagues: “Expect great things; attempt great things!” For some reason, many books corrupt his words into, “Attempt great things for God; expect great things from God.” But this is to put the cart before the horse. It is our knowledge of God’s will through His word that should lead us to expect His blessing. This should be our impetus for action. We should not attempt some great work in our own wisdom and strength and then expect God to support us.

In January 1793, having gained the active support of his colleagues, William Carey sailed for India along with his wife, Dorothy and their four children. Over the next forty years, he translated the Bible into forty different dialects, successfully campaigned for the abolition of suttee, the Hindu custom of burning widows, and saw many converts for Christ. Today there are 60 million Indian Christians, a wonderful testimony to the work of this great man.

But what do these verses have to say to us today? In order to find a true understanding of this wonderful chapter, we shall need to find the answers to three questions:-

1. Who is the barren or desolate woman addressed by the Lord through the prophet?

2. What is the nature of the promises made to her?

3. To what time is the Holy Spirit pointing in these verses?


Fortunately, the answers to these questions are not hard to find, since the Lord has graciously supplied them in the New Testament.

So who is the desolate woman of verse one whom the Lord exhorts to rejoice? Well, the most famous barren woman in Scripture is Sarah, the wife of Abraham. She had a miraculous child, according to God’s promise, when it seemed utterly impossible that she should bear. Abraham of course, had another son, Ishmael, who was born ‘according to the flesh,’ that is, by normal procreation, his mother being Hagar, Sarah’s servant or ‘bond-woman.’ We read that earthly promises were made to Ishmael, but God’s true covenant containing heavenly promises was made with Isaac, the child of promise (Gen 17:18-21 ).

Turn now to Gal 4:21ff. Cities and nations are often spoken of in Scripture as the mothers of their citizens, and not unreasonably so, for the city or nation in which a man is born may in many respects be fitly called his mother. Paul tells us that there are two Jerusalems. The first city is that which ‘now is,’ and is aptly described as being in bondage with her children. This city, says Paul is intimately connected to the old, Mosaic covenant, given on Mt. Sinai. It is the mother of all those who seek to get right with God by what they do. But the second city is the Jerusalem that is above, God’s holy city (Rev 21:2 ), and it is this city that corresponds to the New Covenant given by the Lord Jesus Christ and promised to Abraham (Gen 12:3; John 8:56; Heb 11:9-10 ). Then Paul quotes Isaiah 54:1 and continues (v28 ); ‘Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are children of promise………So then brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman but of the free.’ Therefore we may conclude that the desolate wife is Sarah in the sense that Christians are her spiritual children; those of a miraculous birth (John 3:3; 1Peter 1:3 etc), born of the Spirit of God, to whom ‘Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but a new creation’ (Gal 6:15 ). It is they who are the heirs to the new Jerusalem. The desolate woman is promised, ‘Behold, I will lay your stones with colourful gems and lay your foundations with sapphires. I will make your pinnacles of rubies, your gates of crystal, and all your walls of precious stones’ (Isaiah 54:11-12 ). What will be the fulfilment of this promise? Where else but in the new Jerusalem? ‘The foundations of the wall of the city were all adorned with precious stones’ (Rev 21:19 ).

So what is the nature of the promises made to the barren woman? The nature of the promises is the same as the nature of the city; they are heavenly promises; promises that in Isaiah’s day were ‘Good things to come’ (Heb 10:1 ). It is promised that, ‘All your children will be taught by the Lord’ (v13 ). The Lord Jesus Christ referred to this prophecy when He said, “It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught of God.’ Therefore, everyone who has heard and learned of the Father comes to Me” (John 6:45 ). Those therefore who are the children of promise and citizens of the heavenly Jerusalem (Heb 11:16 ) are they who have learned of the Father and therefore fly to the Son for salvation. They and they alone are the members of the New Covenant, as it is written; ‘For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts’ (Jer 31:33; Heb 8:10 ). The promises made are therefore the promises of the Gospel (Gal 2:28-29 ).

So to what time is the Spirit of God pointing? To the time of the New Covenant. As Peter said (Acts 3:24 ), “Yes, and all the prophets, from Samuel and those who follow, as many who have spoken, have also foretold these days,” and again, ‘For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy’ (Rev 19:10 ). It is in the time of the New Covenant that the word of God shall go forth and ‘Expand to the right and to the left .’ It is Abraham’s spiritual children (Gal 3:7 ) who shall ‘Inherit the nations' (Isaiah 54:3 ), and in the cities that are ‘desolate’ without the Good News of the Gospel, churches shall spring up and the children of the New Covenant shall dwell there. The desolate woman is assured that the children of her widowhood (v54. cf. Lam 1:1 ) shall be more numerous than those of her married life; that is, the citizens of the Church of Christ shall exceed in number those of the children of Israel even in their greatest days under Solomon (cf. 1Kings 4:20 ). Therefore the woman is to 'enlarge the place of your tent' for the number of the children of promise are so many that no man may number them (Rev 7:9 ).

It is impossible to understand this chapter unless one realises that the children of promise are not born of physical procreation. In the Old Testament one often comes upon promises to ‘You and your children’ (eg. Jer 32:39 ), but if these promises have a literal, physical fulfilment, then it has to be said that it has not yet come to pass. But in fact, the ‘You and your seed’ formula of the Old Testament is realized in Christ and His seed in the New Testament. This was understood by the writers of the Westminster Confession of Faith:-

The Larger Catechism of the WCF

Q31: With whom was the covenant of grace made?
A31: The covenant of grace was made with Christ as the second Adam, and in him with all the elect as his seed.

It is proved by the following Scriptures:-

Isaiah 53:10. ‘Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, And the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in His hand.

John 1:11-13. ‘He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.'

Heb 2:13. ‘And again: "I will put My trust in Him." And again: "Here am I and the children whom God has given Me."

If we take these verses and compare them with Isaiah 54:13, John 6:45 and Gal 4:28-29 given above, it becomes clear that the children of promise are those who are born of the Spirit and saved by grace through faith (Eph 2:9-10 ). ‘Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham’ (Gal 3:7 ).

To the barren woman, labouring, at the time, under the legal demands of the Old Covenant (cf. Acts 15:10 ), God speaks of another, much older covenant (Isaiah 54:9 ), a covenant of promise that speaks of the everlasting Covenant of Peace (v10 ); a covenant which ‘Was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began, but has now been revealed by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light in the Gospel' (2Tim 1:9-10 ).

The chapter ends with a great promise: 'No weapon formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue which rises against you in judgment you shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is from Me," says the Lord' (Isaiah 54:17 ). Is this not adequately fulfilled in the Gospel which entitles all the children of promise to say with Paul, 'Who shall bring a charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us' (Rom 8:33-34 )?