- Christ ministry showed forth four qualities, which were evident in His life., obedience, submission, love and prayer. These ethical qualities are proof one is a disciple.
- 5:22-23 (amp) – But the fruit of the [Holy] Spirit [the work which His presence
- within accomplishes] is love, joy (gladness), peace, patience (an even temper,
- forbearance), kindness, goodness (benevolence), faithfulness, gentleness (meekness),
- humility, self-control (self-restraint, continence). Against such things
- there is no law [that can bring a charge].
- Obedience is the first mark of a disciple
Luke 11:28 (amp) – But He said, Blessed (happy and to be envied) rather are those who hear the Word of God and obey and practice it!
When we obey God’s we demonstrate our love for Him. He ask us to:
2Tim. 2:15 (amp)- Study and be eager and do your utmost to present yourself to God approved (tested by trial), a workman who has no cause to be shamed, correctly analyzing and accurately dividing [rightly handling and skillfully teaching the Word of Truth].
To obey God we must know His will. To glean truth we must diligently study the word not leisurely browse through it. Many Christians remain biblically illiterate because they are too lazy to study God’s word. We must be committed to obeying God’s word.
John 8:31- So Jesus said to those Jews who had believed in Him, If you abide in My word [hold fast to My teachings and live in accordance with them], you are truly My disciples.
The disciple wills to study God’s word. Consuming the word must be the priority of a disciple’s life.
Matt. 22:29 (amp) – But Jesus replied to them, You are wrong because you know neither the scriptures nor God’s power.
We must have a working knowledge of God’s word because a Christian’s life is based on the word of God. Without the word a disciple is gambling his/her future on feelings, hopes and opinions instead of securing it in God’s will and acts of faith.
Most Christians want to obey God’s word but wanting is not enough. Wanting is a function of our emotions. It fluctuates with our feelings. A disciple wills to obey God’s word.
Phil. 2:13 (amp) – [Not in your own strength] for it is God Who is all the while effectually at work in you [energizing and creating in you the power and desire], both to will and to work for His good pleasure and satisfaction and delight.
Your Spirit empowered can override your feelings.
Romans 6:16 (amp) – Do you not know that if you continually surrender yourselves to anyone to do his will, you are the slaves of him whom you obey, whether that be to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience which leads to righteousness (right doing and right standing with God)?
True happiness can only be found by obeying God.
- Submission is the second mark of a disciple.
Submission is much more than obedience. It is an inner attitude of trust in your sovereign, loving and omniscient God.
I Peter 2:13 (amp) – Be Submissive to every human institution and authority for the sake of the Lord…
Romans 13:1-2 (amp) – Let every person be loyally subject to the governing (civil) authorities. For there is no authority except from God [by His permission, His sanction], and those that exist do so by God’s appointment. Therefore he who resists and sets himself up against the authorities resists what God has appointed and arranged [in divine order]. And those who resist will bring down judgment upon themselves [receiving the penalty due them].
Matt. 11:28-30 (amp) – Come unto Me, all you who labor and are in heavy-laden and overburdened and I will cause you to rest. [I will ease and relieve and refresh your souls]. Take my yoke upon you and learn of Me, for I am gentle (meek) and humble (lowly) in heart, and you will find rest (relief and ease and refreshment and recreation and blessed quiet) for your souls. For my yolk is wholesome (useful, good-not harsh, hard, sharp, or pressing, but comfortable, gracious, and pleasant), and My burden is light and easy to be borne.
To take His yolk means submit to His authority and trust Him. Submission is a precondition for the rest Christ promises His disciples. Disciples must voluntarily submit to their leaders because the authority a person exercises is determined by the authority to which he/she submits. A person who does not submitted to those in authority has no right to exercise authority. All authority comes from God. Unwillingness to submit to those in authority is a great sin with severe consequences.
Mark 10:44-45 (amp) – And whoever wishes to be most important and first in rank among you must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man came not to have service rendered to Him, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for (instead of) many.
We also exercise authority through servant hood. Servant hood is the highest form of leadership. Servant hood should be motivated by love.
- Love is the third mark of a disciple
John 13:34-35 (amp) -I give you a new commandment: that you should love one another. Just as I have loved you, so you too should love one another. By this shall all [men] know that you are My disciples, if you love one another [if you keep on showing love among yourselves]?
The words and actions of each member of Christ’s body must promote unity among believers. Fellowship and honest communication develop unity. Most disunity is grounded in pride. A dangerous form of pride is jealousy, which cripples a body. The body is supposed to promote healing.
- Prayer is the fourth mark of a disciple
Ez.22:30-31(amp) – And I sought a man among them who should build up the wall and stand in the gap before Me for the land, that I should not destroy it, but I found none.
Therefore have I poured out My indignation upon them; I have consumed them with the fire of My wrath; their own way have I repaid [by bringing it upon their own heads, says the Lord God].
Why did God who is almighty and self-sufficient devise a plan of prayer? And why did He become dependent upon the intercession of men and women.
God asks us to pray because He has done nothing in the realm of human redemption since its inception outside of prayer and intercession, which is indicated by His many pressing invitations to prayer in the word. In Matt. 7: 7 He not only invites us He entreats and urges us to pray. In John 14:13-14 It’s as though God has handed us His scepter and begged us to use it.
What is God’s purpose for prayer?
Eph. 3:10-12 – [The purpose is] that through the church the complicated, many-sided wisdom of God in all its infinite variety and innumerable aspects might now be made known to the angelic rulers and authorities (principalities and powers) in the heavenly sphere. This is in accordance with the terms of the eternal and timeless purpose which He has realized and carried into effect in [the [person of] Christ Jesus our Lord. In Whom, because of our faith in Him, we dare to have the boldness (courage and confidence) of free access (an unreserved approach to God with freedom and without fear).
Our character is fashioned by communication with God.
Through prayer we encounter the living God.
Why did God choose to work within the framework of this system of prayer?
God had an eternal plan to obtain a companion for His Son, which will occupy the highest position in the universe short of the Godhead itself.
I Corth. 6:2a (amp) Do you not know also that we [Christians] will [one day] judge and govern the world?
I Corth 6:3a (amp) – Do you not know also that we [Christians] are to judge the [very] angels and pronounce opinion between right and wrong [for them]?
Rev. 2:26 (amp) – And he who overcomes (is victorious) and who obeys My commands to the [very] end [doing the works that please Me], I will give him authority and power over the nations:
As the Bride of the Eternal Son we are to share with Him universal sovereignty. Some day we are going to judge and govern the world.
Since we are to share the throne of the universe with our Lover and Lord we must be trained, educated and prepared for our queenly role. Prayer is on the job training. We must learn the art of spiritual warfare, of overcoming evil forces in preparation for our assumption of the throne following the marriage supper of the Lamb. Prayer is the technique of overcoming God established to enable us to acquire the character and the knowledge we will need as co-sovereign. This constitutes the highest honor and elevates us to the highest rank of all created beings. The greatest thing we can do for God and man is to pray. Prayer should be the main business of our day.
Some business requires two signatures on each check to make them valid. This illustrates God’s method of operating through the prayers and faith of His people. His promises are His checks. His checks are signed in His own blood. His part was fully completed at Calvary. No promise is made good until a redeemed man enters the throne room of the universe by prayer and faith writes his name beside God’s, then the checks resources are released.
If we fail to pray we are frustrating God’s high purpose in the ages. We are also robbing the world of God’s best plan for it and we are limiting our rank in eternity.
