SHILOH MESSENGER - February 2019
















Are The Converts Remaining as Babies?

“When I was with you I couldn’t talk to you as I would to spiritual people. I had to talk as though you belonged to this world or as though you were like babies in the Christian life.” (1Corinthians 3:1)

 

 

Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers (disciples) are few; therefore, pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers (disciples) into His harvest.” Matthew 9:35-38

The Work that Jesus gave to us is that of making Disciples, so that The Lord may receive His soul harvest. Unless we are making Disciples, we are not obeying what HE has commissioned us to do. (Matt. 28:18-20) In making Disciples the focus is always on instructing others to become like Christ Jesus, in proclamation and demonstration. To become like Jesus is to rescue the sinner from the grip of satan and then instruct them in righteousness.

There are many say that they believe In Christ but have no spiritual fruit on display to show that they are indeed a Disciple of Christ. Carrying our Cross (dying to self) and following HIM (serving humanity in love) has been reduced to self-promotion by carnal oratory skills to wow the masses. Jude 1:12 says, “they are like clouds without water.” In this age we are living in, we have not made the message clear. The message has been watered down to present a Gospel of comfort and ease. Dietrich Bonhoffer stated, “When Christ calls a man, HE bids him to come and die.” It takes time to make Disciples. It takes training, It involves imitating Christ 24/7.

The first Disciples left everything and immediately began following Christ Jesus. (Matt. 4:19-20) They were captivated by His love and the demonstration of The Kingdom of God in Power to drive out the devil. (Lk. 11:20) They would indeed lay it all down. The Disciples were persecuted, most of them died a martyr’s death (beaten, stoned, and crucified upside down). JESUS wasn’t a part of their lives, they were crucified with Him. (Galatians 2:20)
So many people begin by believing but never mature. The Apostle Paul admonishes us in 1 Corinthians 13:11, “When I was a Child, I spoke as a Child, I thought as a Child, I understood as a Child, but when I became a man, I put away Childish things.” Meaning: I am showing signs of being matured in Christ by overcoming hardships and difficulties, because of God’s Grace in the commissioning. (Phil. 4:13)

For years The Church has been involved in working to get people to make decisions to accept Christ, which is vital but WHAT IS NEXT??? How are we doing in modeling the maturity (training, equipping, and releasing)? The Lord Jesus gave His Church The Authority to drive out evil spirits and to heal the sick and set the captives free. (Luke 4:18) The world is not a playground for the Church, but a battlefield in which we are commissioned to preach The Word and have signs following. (Mk. 16:20) All converts have to be trained in discipleship so The Kingdom of God can be known and expressed by radical love for The Captain of our Salvation. (Heb. 2:10)

We start as Converts (babes in Christ). We began by being nourished with pure milk and then strengthen further with the solid food of God’s Word. The Lord wants us skilled in prayer (knowing what to ask for), in righteousness and spiritual discernment. “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.” (Hebrews 5:12-14)

Many people come to JESUS with a mindset that it is OK just to have faith in their profession in Christ, they stand on the sidelines and root for those who preach and evangelize. JESUS is not looking for Cheerleaders. He is demanding participation from the whole Body of Christ (Church) to be a team player in pushing out satan from our communities and our nation.

Discipleship is not an easy assignment because it demands that you die. You have died and have been raised to new life by The power of The Holy Spirit. (Romans 6:1-4). Here is the question I believe The Holy Spirit is asking us in this hour, are you dead to this world, in order to become alive in Christ? (Romans 6:11)



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