John McArthur on Discipleship

This article is an excellent read, I highly recommend it.

Bringing Light to the World
If we are following Christ, we will be making disciples.
by John MacArthur

Being a disciple of Jesus Christ can never be reduced to merely producing Christian character in ourselves or loving one another, as important as those things are. Being a disciple of Jesus means making other disciples, because that is what our Lord has commanded us to do...

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Acts 18:26

What: He [Apollos] began to speak boldly in the synagogues. When Priscilla and Aquilla heard him, they invited him to their home and explained to him the way of God more adequately.

Why: Apollos knew the scriptures and the baptism of John, he spoke with fervor and taught accurately about Jesus. Priscilla & Aquilla, who were mature believers, saw this and invited him to in to show him more, to teach him about God's way more adequately (def- meeting the requirements especially of a task), so he came and learned, then left on a mission.

Apply: There are guys in the church that know and believe but are not fully equipped. By inviting them in to learn more we will be able to help them more fully (adequately) grasp the fullness of God's way, so that they can turn around and do the same for others. We must seek willing, faithful, teachable men, both within and outside of the church. Most of our Churches still don't really teach more than the baptism of John (repentance of sin) so we have the onus when we see their faith and hear their fervor to teach the baptism of the Holy Spirit to those people and invite them to see how much more there is to following God according to His way. They have had basic instruction, but not the hard teachings which are the ones that lead toward maturity in Christ. If the baptism of John was sufficient for salvation then Jesus would never have had to come and endure crucifixion, death, and be ressurected.

Define "God's Way": I think this means His reasons and His methods for our life. We need to know, for the most part, why He does what He does and how He does it. Then we can conform our minds thru the Holy Spirit to His thoughts and apply His methods in our lives to follow Him in "His Way".

Joshua 10:9,11,13b

What:
After an all-night march from Gilgal, Joshua took them by suprise... As theyfled before Israel on the road down from Beth Horon to Azekah, the Lord hurled large hailstones down on them from the sky, and more of them died from the hailstones than were killed by the swords of the Israelites... The sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed for about a full day.

Context:
Joshua and Israel had destroyed Jericho & Ai, but were tricked into a treaty with the Gibeonites, when the kings of 5 neighboring Amalekite nations hear about the treaty they decided to attack Gibeon for revenge, causing Joshua to march his entire army out to save Israel's new servant nation.

Apply:
Even though Israel was tricked into a treaty with Gibeon, they kept it even when it meant they had to bail out Gibeon militarily. Joshua's oath was made before the Lord on behalf of Israel and he understood how it was binding, breaking it would invite the wrath of God yet again. Because he feared God, he sought his guidance then lead the entire army of Israel on an overnight forced march, allowing him to catch the Amalekites by suprise, God delivering them into their hands as He had promised. Now an all-night march is a gruelling affair especially when it is followed imeadiately by 36 hours of non-stop combat! But the Lord blessed them by smashing the retreating Amalekites with large hailstones, killing more thant the whole Israelite army slew by the sword, and he stopped the sun to give them the time to capitalize on slaying the fighting men of their enemies before they could reach the protection of their cities.

The lesson here is two-fold:

1. Fear God even when it means you will be subjected to gruelling, difficult, or distasteful work; the Lord knows that it will try your mettle and test your endurance, His reasons for such endeavors are just, righteous, pleasing to Him, and ultimately beneficial to you; know that He will bless/honor your obediance to His commands.

2. Make the most of your opportunities. Joshua saw that he could completely crush the armies of the 5 nations of Amalekites if he just had enough daylight, so he asked God to delay the sun, and God gave him his request. He was able to do in a day and a half what would have probably required at least 5 sieges and at least 5 battles to accomplish. God gave Joshua the initiative and he and his men just had to keep at it until they got the job done.