Intro.
Discipleship of Jesus.
Welcome to RTGF. Am Dr Danson Ubebe, Teacher & Author. This is the 18th episode of our teaching series. Today, the topic is discipleship of Jesus. The objective is to draw your attention to foundation knowledge necessary to know the truth. Scripture is written in the form of common sense for man’s understanding. It is not for robot. But some men chance favored in the past nearly two thousand years have brutally and substantially, twisted some key scriptures to conform with their logic. Then fenced it with heresy rule. Till this day, many people are trapped in the brainwash to believe lie as truth. This is made obvious in the interpretation of the rock on which Jesus promised He would build His church. Until salvation by grace through faith was unveiled man believed a lie for centuries. Jesus declared; And you shall know the truth; and the truth shall make you free (John 8:32). End of Intro.
Stiff-neck attitude of man and take-away from this teaching.
To hear the truth and not believe is blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. Despite the scripture which declared that we should not succumb to rules and regulations of man, many so-called believers remain adamant, believing man rather than believing God. At the end of this teaching, you would have been again reminded of:
1. The rock on which Jesus built His church (Mt. 16:18).
2. What is the church of Christ.
3. We live, move, and have our being in the Lord. (Acts 17:28).
4. We live life of Christ for Him in the flesh by faith (Gal. 2:20).
5. As Christ is, so are we in this world (1John 4:17).
6. We are a living stone being built a spiritual house (1Pet. 2:25)
7. The body of who hears the voice of Christ (John 18:37) is the visible structure of the universal church (Eph. 5:23).
8. The message of Jesus’s cross is the new way through His flesh
9. How we know the location of the right church. [It is the congregation where members or majority speak in unity (1Cor. 1:10) and personify truth as members of one body (Eph. 4:25)].
Scriptures provide proof for every key word revealed.
Jesus was explicit in His ministry, using things we see and know to explain spiritual things. To further ensure we know the truth, He gave gifts to men before He ascended to heaven (Eph. 4:11-13). The gifts are for recipients to hear the voice of God and then equip others.
Despite the gifts, man cannot understand the scripture on his own because it is spiritual, written for spirit being. So, God gave the Spirit of truth to dwell in man (John 14:17). He is the anointing who teaches and reminds us of all that Jesus said (1John 2:27). Due to man’s impatience to wait and hear from the Spirit many twist scriptures to fit their opinion, exemplified by storybook understanding of the rock Jesus talked about (Mt. 16:18), the grace which came through Jesus (John 1:17), etc.
Emphasis. Explain Items 1-7 in Stage board. End emphasis.
[1]. 4th *. A key prayer Jesus begged God.
“Sanctify them by Your truth, Your word is truth.” (John 17:17).
It is said Christ is the foundation of the church. But it is specific part of Him, the body, formed by truth and which is equivalent to the rock that is the foundation of the church of Christ (Mt. 16:18). This clarification is necessary because truth can be quantified. For the church, Christ’s body, is made of member, and members together (Col. 1:18, 2:19). Therefore, truth who is Christ and vice versa, is the foundation of the church. Emphasis. Return to stage text. End emphasis.
[2]. 5th *. What does it mean to abide in Christ, and why? To abide is to fuse at a point to Christ as single entity like a branch is join to a tree. It is by it, man receives spiritual nourishment and live alike, and receives gifts, and bears fruit (John 15:4) of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23). So, the fruit or blessing of seed (word) sowing are of spirit nature and not perishing things of dying world (Lk. 8:5). Godly marriage between man and woman is a semblance of abide (Eph. 5:26; Gen. 2:24).
Emphasis. Return to stage text. End emphasis.
[2]. 6th *. Jesus bore witness to (incarnation of) truth.
“Pilate therefore said to Him, are You a king then? Jesus answered, you say rightly that I am a king. For this cause, I was born, and for this cause, I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of truth, hears My voice.” (John 18:37).
How is truth linked to the church of Christ?
A man who is of truth is like the sheep which hears the voice of Christ and follow Him (John 10:27). In like manner, men who hear the voice of Christ follow Him as His body and church (Eph. 5:23). Therefore, the church is an embodied truth.
What is the truth?
It is written “For the word of the Lord is right, and all His works are done in truth” (Ps. 33:4). As shown before, God statement is truth. So, truth is what you say, hear, or do in accordance with the word of God in the way Jesus imitated God (John 5:19).
Emphasis. Return to stage text. End emphasis.
[2]. 7th *. Danger of wrong identity of the rock Jesus referred.
It results in insecure church foundation. The consequences include attraction of crowd to the wide gate and walking the Broadway which leads to eternal condemnation (Mt. 7:13-14), wrong interpretation of scripture, message according to man’s logic, falsehood, fables, exploitation, and carnal pleasures, etc.
Emphasis. Return to stage text. End emphasis.
[3]. Godliness with contentment.
“Now godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition.
For the love of money is a root of all evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.” (1Tim. 6:6-10).
Things seen are temporary (2Cor. 4:18).
The different voices claiming to be spirit filled church is an indication many have indeed strayed from the faith. As a result, many do not know that the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross is the only reason for faith, which is ‘trust and believe’ in God (Eph. 1:13-15). So, they entangle themselves with discontent worldly things like material prosperity, fame, pleasure, etc. and give less attention to heavenly things.
Emphasis. Return to stage text. End emphasis – Quote Gal.2:20.
[3]. End 1st *. So, ‘’I have been crucified with Christ, it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me, and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me’’ (Gal. 2:20).
Emphasis. Return to stage text. End emphasis.
[4]. 2nd *. The Lord’s glory man sees upon him.
“For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and deep darkness the people; but the Lord will arise over you, and His glory will be seen upon you.” (Is. 60:2).
This glory first appeared when Jesus was crucified and the veil at the temple tore from top to bottom (Mt. 27:51) and the light of God shone in our hearts, etc. (2Cor. 4:6).
Emphasis. Return to stage text. End emphasis.
[4.1]. 5th *. Common salvation of man by the cross of Jesus.
“(Jesus Christ) whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed.” (Rom. 3:25).
By the forgiveness, man was returned to position similar to that of Adam when God forbade him to eat the forbidden fruit again. So, man who believes is to live upright life and not to commit sin. But what do we have? Fake believers who wallow in sin, stiff-neck, and pretenders, unwilling to renew their minds.
The task of men Jesus gave gifts, is to lead others to Christ by way of witness of scripture to them to know and understand it. Everyone is to develop his procedure to live according to the word of God and speak and do things in unity with others according to what he heard or was taught. Scripture did not call men given gifts to lay down procedures and principles, etc. for the people taught to follow. That is presumptuousness and an overreach.
Emphasis. Return to stage text. End emphasis.
Self-condemnation.
It is the height of self-deception to take word of God for granted, to fellowship without understanding, and not ask for clarification. Everything seen is doomed and to desire them beyond need, instead of perfect things, is to settle for eternal separation from God (James 1:14-18). Think about it.
Emphasis. You can take a snapshot of the summary to study and be your own judge. (All References are from New King James Version (NKJV) of Holy Bible. All rights Reserved).
Finally, we thank God for His grace and the Spirit of truth He gave to us. We encourage you to avoid dogmatism and to ask questions where necessary. It is one way to learn. Use our contact below. The electronic copy of this lecture is available on demand. We will treasure your partnership. God bless you for your time. Till next Episode, it’s goodbye from me, Dr. Danson Ubebe; Teacher and Author. Please listen to next information.
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