DISCIPLES OF CHRIST.
“Then said
Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are
ye my disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make
you free.”-John 8:31,32.
OUR Lord’s preaching
always produced two opposite effects upon the promiscuous multitudes that heard
him. It attracted one class and repelled another. Those who were full of
pride and conceit, and who preferred darkness to light because their deeds were
evil, and because they realized that if they admitted the light of truth they
must of necessity conform their characters to it,-all such were repelled by the
teachings of Christ. And if the Lord had undertaken the work of the ministry
according to the methods pursued today, depending for support on the good will
and contributions of the people, that support would often have been very
meager, or, at least, very fluctuating. On some occasions multitudes received
his testimony, and later deserted him and walked no more with him, as he
continued to enforce the lessons of divine truth. (Luke 4:14,15,22,28,29.)
Sometimes the multitudes hung upon his words, wondering at the gracious words
that proceeded out of his mouth; and again and again they forsook him, while
only a mere handful remained. (John 6:60,66-69.) What consternation would
follow in the various churches of today, if the professed ministers of the
gospel should follow the Master’s example in similarly declaring the whole
counsel of God. How quickly they would become unpopular, and be charged with
breaking up the church. Why, the great congregations that now throng the
temples of fashion dedicated to the service of God and the teachings of Christ
would not stand it! They go there to be entertained with pleasing and eloquent
discourses from titled gentlemen who, presumably, know their tastes and ideas,
and who will preach to please them. They are quite willing to pay their money
for what they want, but they do not want the truth.
Those who followed the Lord only for a little season and then forsook him,
of course, ceased then to be his disciples and were no longer so recognized;
nor did they presume longer to claim to be his disciples. A disciple is a
pupil, a learner; and when any man ceases to be a student and pupil of Christ,
the great Teacher, he is no longer a disciple of Christ. This was very
manifest when the Lord was present, and when his name was one of reproach among
men; but later, when his presence was withdrawn, and when his doctrines were unscrupulously
mixed with human philosophies to such an extent as to divest them of their
reproach, and to make them really void, then men began to claim to be his
disciples-long after they had utterly repudiated his doctrines.
The Lord’s expression-“disciples indeed”-implies a distinction between
real and merely nominal disciples. And since we desire to continue to be his
real, sincere disciples, let us mark the expressed condition: “If ye continue
in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed.” The hypocrisy of merely
nominal discipleship is an abomination to the Lord.
It is a blessed thing to take the first step in the Christian life-that of
belief in and acceptance of Christ as our Redeemer and Lord; but the reward of
this step depends entirely upon our continuance in his Word, in the
attitude of true disciples. It is not difficult to do this, yet the
disposition of human pride is to wander away from the simplicity of divine
truth and to seek out new theories and philosophies of our own, or to pry into
those of other men, who desire to be considered wise and great according to
this world’s estimate.
The reward of continued discipleship is, “Ye shall know the truth”-not
that we shall be “ever seeking and never coming to a knowledge of the truth.” (2
Tim. 3:7.) Here is the mistake that many make: failing to continue in the Word
of the Lord, they delve into various human philosophies which ignore or pervert
the Word of the Lord and set up opposing theories. There is no promise, to
those who seek for truth among these, that they shall ever find it. And they
never do. Divine truth is never found except in the
divinely appointed channels: and those channels are the Lord and the apostles
and prophets. To continue in the doctrine set forth in their inspired
writings, to study and meditate upon them, to trust implicitly in them, and
faithfully to conform our characters to them, is what is implied in continuing
in the Word of the Lord.
But the idea is entirely compatible with that of heeding all the helps
which the Lord from time to time raises up from among our brethren in the body
of Christ, as enumerated by the Apostle Paul. (Eph. 4:11-15; 1 Cor. 12:13,14.)
The Lord always has raised up, and will to the end raise up, such helps for the
edification of the body of Christ; but it is the duty of every member to prove
carefully their teaching by the infallible Word.
If we thus continue in the Word of the Lord, as
earnest and sincere disciples, we shall indeed “know the truth,” be “established in the present truth” (the truth
due), and be “rooted and grounded in the truth;” we shall be “firm in the
faith,” and “able to give a reason for the hope that is in us,” to “earnestly
contend for the faith once delivered to the saints,” to “war a good warfare,” to
“witness a good confession,” and firmly to “endure hardship as good soldiers of
Jesus Christ,” even unto the end of our course. We will not come into
the knowledge of the truth at a single bound; but gradually, step by step, we
will be led into the truth. Every step will be one of sure and certain
progress, and each one leading to a higher vantage ground for further
attainments both in knowledge and in its blessed fruits of established
character.
The truth thus acquired, step by step, becomes a sanctifying power
bringing forth in our lives its blessed fruits of righteousness, peace, joy in
the holy Spirit, love, meekness, faith, patience and every virtue and every
grace, which time and cultivation will ripen to a glorious maturity.
And not only shall the true disciple thus know the truth and be sanctified
by it, but the Lord also said, “The truth shall make you free.” Those who have
received the truth know by blessed experience something of its liberating
power. As soon as any measure of it is received into a good and honest heart,
it begins to strike off the fetters of sin, of ignorance and superstition, and
of fear. It throws its health-restoring beams into the darkest recesses of our
hearts and minds, and thus invigorates the whole being. Sin cannot endure its
light; and those who continue to live in sin when a sufficiency of light has
been received to manifest its deformity must inevitably lose the light because
they are unworthy of it.
Ignorance and superstition must vanish before the light of truth. And
what a blessed realization it is to be thus liberated! Millions are still
under this galling yoke. Under its delusions they fear and reverence some of
the basest tools of Satan for their oppression and degradation, because they
hypocritically claim divine appointment; and they have been made to fear God as
a vengeful tyrant consigning the vast majority of his creatures to an eternity
of torment. Thank God, we who have received the truth have escaped that
terrible nightmare, and the bondage of Satan over us is broken!
We are made free, too, from the fear that we now see coming upon the whole
world, as the great civil and ecclesiastical systems that have so long ruled
the world are being terribly shaken. All thinking people are in dread of the
possible outcome of anarchy and terror. And the alarm of all will increase as
we near the awful crisis toward which we are rapidly hastening, and as the
danger becomes more and more visible. Yet, in the midst of it all, and with the
fullest assurance of the infallible Word of God of the terrors of the conflict
through which the world will have to pass within a few years, the true
disciples of Christ who abide in his Word are not afraid, but rejoice, because
they know that God’s object in permitting the storm is to clear the moral
atmosphere of the world, and that, after the storm, there shall come, by his
providence, an abiding peace. Instructed in the truth, they realize the
necessities of the situation, and have confidence in the divine providence that
can make even the wrath of man to praise him.
Blessed promise!-“If ye continue in my Word, then are ye my disciples
indeed, and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
Dearly beloved, having received this favor from the Lord, shall we not continue
in it, giving no heed to seducing doctrines? And shall we not be faithful to
it under all circumstances, defending it against every assault, and with it
bearing its reproach? Let us prove our appreciation of it by our loyalty and
faithfulness to it.