General Articles

A Disciple of Christ :: By Grant Phillips

Published on: by RR7

Which came first, the chicken or the egg? How many times have we heard that? The answer is obvious. They both come first. Why? The chicken is born with all the eggs she’ll ever need. She doesn’t lay them all at once, obviously, but a few or one at a time until they run out. Also, she doesn’t need a rooster to lay her eggs.

To me, this is a perfect analogy for being a disciple of Jesus Christ. For many years, Christ’s teaching on being His disciple has morphed away from what He clearly taught.

Think of the chicken as representing the believer and the egg representing being a disciple. They both come first. In other words, we become a believer and a disciple at the same time. Our salvation produces a believer who is a true disciple, or if you will, a true disciple who is a true believer.

Many today are teaching that being a disciple is optional. They teach that not all Christians are a disciple, but they should be. They say that only those who move on to obedience in the Word and follow Him are disciples.

Now, I grant you that being Christ’s disciple does mean to be obedient, to grow in the Word and follow Him. However, all true Christians are disciples, and all true disciples are true Christians. They are as one once they rest their faith in Jesus Christ and are saved by His grace. They are believer/disciple at that very moment.

Robert Jeffress, in his article “The Test of Discipleship,” states the following:

“A disciple is somebody who not only believes the right things about Jesus but also obeys and follows Jesus Christ. This idea of being a disciple is not optional. The greatest heresy that has entered the church of Jesus Christ is the heresy that you can become a Christian and not have one single change in your life as a result. That is what James calls dead faith.”

John MacArthur, in his article “What is a Disciple of Jesus Christ?” states the following:

“In the past hundred years or so, it has become popular to speak of discipleship as a higher level of Christian experience. In the new terminology, a person becomes a believer at salvation; he becomes a disciple later when he moves past faith to obedience.

Such a view conveniently relegates the difficult demands of Jesus to a post-salvation experience. It maintains that when He challenged the multitudes to deny self, to take up a cross and follow Him (Mark 8:34); to forsake all (Luke 14:33); and to leave father and mother (Matthew 19:29, He was simply asking believers to step up to the second level and become disciples.

But how does that square with Jesus’ own words, “I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners?” (Matthew 9:13). The heart of His ministry was evangelism, and those difficult demands are evangelistic appeals.

Every believer is a disciple and vice versa. A careful reading of Acts shows that the word disciple has been a synonym for Christian from the earliest days of the church (cf. 6:1-2, 7; 11:26; 14:20, 22; 15:10).”

Before going on, I already know there will be those screaming that I am teaching that we’re saved by our works. Nothing could be further from the truth. Saying that all true Christians are disciples has no conflict with Ephesians 2:8-9. I have written many times that salvation only honors the works of Jesus Christ and not of man. We are saved by putting our faith (trust) in Jesus, and every part of salvation and all of salvation is by the grace of God, not by any works of man.

I love Ephesians 2:8-9 and often quote these two verses because it reminds me that I am saved exclusively by God’s grace and that my faith (trust) in Him was just the instrument that brought me to His grace. With that said, we often omit the next verse, Ephesians 2:10, which says, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” These three verses are actually one thought and should always be taken together.

The problem allies with false teaching that says lip service is all that is needed to be saved. By “lip service,” I mean acknowledgment of Jesus but no real faith in Him. Easy believism is taught today, but Jesus made it clear that the way is not easy.

“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it” (Matthew 7:13-14).

This same “easy believism” or “lip service” teaches there may not be any change in the new believer’s life, but as long as they have mouthed the magic words, they’re saved. This, too, is a false gospel. What does Jesus say?

“Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn ‘a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’ Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it” (Matthew 10:34-39).

“Then said Jesus unto his disciples, if any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matthew 16:24-26).

The New Testament is saturated with this very same message about obtaining salvation. These are just two I have shown.

Jesus says if one is to be saved, “come after me,” he must (1) deny himself, (2) take up his cross, and (3) follow me. That is real faith. That has nothing to do with works, but to the contrary, it has everything to do with true, legitimate faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.

Someone says, “But that’s “Lordship salvation.” Yes, it is, and it still has nothing to do with works. It is real faith.

“Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, ‘Does this offend you? Then what if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before!

The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life. Yet there are some of you who do not believe.’ For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. He went on to say, ‘This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them.'” From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve. Simon Peter answered him, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life'” (John 6:61-68).

Peter, and the others who stayed, were the real believers and true disciples of Christ.

Grant Phillips

Email: grantphillips@windstream.net
Pre-Rapture Commentary: http://grant-phillips.blogspot.com
Rapture Ready: https://www.raptureready.com/featured/phillips/phillips.html

 

Isaiah 26:20: Isaiah’s Pre-Trib Rapture Passage :: By Gary W. Ritter

Published on: by RR7

(Isaiah 24-26; Ephesians 4)

There are many who dispute the notion of the pre-Tribulation Rapture of the church. So be it. They claim to find verses here and there in the Bible that support their various positions, be they mid-Tib, pre-Wrath, post-Trib, or no-Rapture. I respectfully disagree and declare that God is so clear in His communication to the church that He has provided evidence throughout the New Testament of His intent to remove the Bride of Christ from the earth prior to the 7-year Tribulation. Not only that, but this mystery that Paul discussed in 1 Corinthians 15:51-53 is even validated in the Old Testament.

Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.

Most people who read Scripture from a literal perspective should be able to see that Isaiah 24 is all about the Tribulation. Several examples should suffice:

Isaiah 24:1 “Behold, the Lord will empty the earth and make it desolate, and he will twist its surface and scatter its inhabitants.”

Isaiah 24:6 “Therefore a curse devours the earth, and its inhabitants suffer for their guilt; therefore, the inhabitants of the earth are scorched, and few men are left.”

Isaiah 24:17 “Terror and the pit and the snare are upon you, O inhabitant of the earth!”

Moreover, the prophet tells us that at the end of the Tribulation (Armageddon), the rebellious demonic host of heaven, which includes Satan, will be thrown into Tartarus until their day of final judgment. The human element in league with them is likewise cast into this temporary prison. We see this in Isaiah 24:21-22:

“On that day the Lord will punish the host of heaven, in heaven, and the kings of the earth, on the earth. They will be gathered together as prisoners in a pit; they will be shut up in a prison, and after many days they will be punished.”

Why does God bring the Tribulation’s punishment upon this planet in the first place? Isaiah 24:20 provides the succinct answer:

“… its transgression lies heavy upon it, and it falls, and will not rise again.”

Throughout the Bible, God shows His unfathomable love, mercy, and grace upon mankind. However, in His dealing with the children of Israel, we see His wrath as a result of their disobedience. He reaches a point time and again that He must punish them in judgment because they have spurned His love and chosen another way to live other than in Him. The example of Israel is reflective of the rest of humanity. When anyone, whether it’s Israel, with whom God has a special relationship, or mankind in the all-Gentile nations, He gives people more than adequate opportunity to choose life with Him. When they decide not to follow His righteous ways, the time comes that He must bring correction. The ultimate righting of this wrong will occur during the Tribulation.”

The Lord has two primary purposes in raining down His wrath upon the earth during this most horrible of seven years:

One: Through this time He will bring final redemption to Israel in the remnant that finally acknowledges Jesus Christ as Messiah.

Two: He will punish this unbelieving world while at the same time redeeming a remnant of mankind that turns to Him in faith.

For all those who believe that the church of true believers in Christ must go through the Tribulation, as always, I have to ask:

Where do Christ-followers, saved by the blood of Jesus, fit into this picture? Are we redeemed? Have we accepted the gracious gift of salvation offered by our Lord? Has He removed our iniquities as far as the east is from the west? If so, why do you think God requires the blood-bought Bride of Christ to endure these horrible days of Tribulation? Why is our generation so much worse than that of believers in 1700, 1800, 1900, or whatever earlier time, which necessitates our having to suffer through the day of the Lord? If the Tribulation is for Israel, which it is; if the Tribulation is for unbelievers, which it is – then what purpose in God’s overall plan to draw all men to Himself is served by believers entering into this time of wrath?

Most pre-Trib Rapture believers see the Lord assuring us of His taking us to heaven as protection and blessing in John 14:1-3:

“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.”

If we don’t go to heaven and find refuge during the Tribulation in our Father’s house, when exactly would we do that? After all, at the end of the Tribulation, when Jesus returns to earth – with His saints following, by the way – He remains here to rule and reign on His throne in Jerusalem. We’re here also in glorified bodies ruling and reigning under His direction. During the Tribulation is the only period which believers spend any time in heaven. Forevermore, at least until the end of the Millennium, we remain on the earth once we come back with Jesus.

Moreover, we also believe that Revelation 4:1 speaks of the Rapture:

“After this I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, ‘Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.'”

The church is spoken of, and to, only to this point in John’s Revelation. Note the verse says: after this. It is after John is transported, i.e., Raptured, to heaven that he is shown what will occur on the earth following that translation. This is when the Tribulation begins. The church is not mentioned again until Revelation 19 as the time of Tribulation concludes.

I stated earlier that Isaiah has a pre-Trib Rapture passage. Consider what the prophet says in Isaiah 26:20-21:

“Come, my people, enter your chambers, and shut your doors behind you; hide yourselves for a little while until the fury has passed by. For behold, the Lord is coming out from his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity, and the earth will disclose the blood shed on it, and will no more cover its slain.”

Can you read this and not see John echoing this in the verses noted above? God’s people are called to their chambers, i.e., the rooms or mansions in heaven that He has prepared for them. They provide refuge, that is, a hiding place for believers (my people) while God reigns down wrath upon the earth for the sins of mankind. It will be a bloody, awful time of punishment.

The takeaway is that God will protect His own. He intends great harm to come upon this unbelieving world, yet because of His love and mercy, He will shelter those who have chosen to align with Him prior to His judgment.

Any other position besides belief in a pre-Tribulation Rapture fails to understand the character of God. He is our blessed hope. Because He loves the Bride of Christ, He will provide safe quarters for her.

Jesus is returning soon. We stand upon this Rock in our faith. Because of that, He will keep us from the great and terrible day of the Lord.

[Author Note: Briefly, I want to set the stage for you as to the nature of most of my articles in this season. Each year I read the Bible through completely at least once – that has been my practice since I came to the Lord in 2005. I remain astounded at what God has done in my life because of that discipline!

Each day I read from both the Old and New Testaments. I choose a verse from one of those passages and write my commentary and reflection based on that. In the title of my article, you’ll see the verse I chose. In addition, you’ll see the reading for that day if you’d like to follow along with greater context.]

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Gary W. Ritter is a lay pastor, Bible teacher, and prolific author. His Whirlwind Series comprises three books: Sow the Wind, Reap the Whirlwind, and There Is A Time. These books are contained in the collected volume of the Whirlwind Omnibus. Gary has been given the Christian Redemptive Fiction award for three novels: The Tattooed Cat, Alien Revelation, and for his collaboration with Terry James in writing The Minion Protocols, the third book in James’ Second Coming Chronicles.

Earlier this year, Gary released a four-volume set of Awaken Bible Study Notes that comment verse-by-verse through Scripture from a Biblical prophetic lens. He is currently editing a sequel to Alien Revelation called Alien Zombie Plague, which he plans to release later in the fall of 2021. Recently, Gary wrote a novella for the new Kindle Vella platform. That story is called Tribulation Rising: Seal Judgments – The Coming Apocalypse. This seven-part short work can be found at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B099Z462WD.

Each day this year, Gary has been writing commentary and reflections based on his reading through the Bible in a year. The intent in all his writings is to bring a strong Christian witness to what people read. You can see all his books and blog articles and reach him at his website:www.GaryRitter.com or his Facebook Author page: https://www.facebook.com/gritter3390. You can also see his older video Bible teachings on his Gary Ritter YouTube channel – look for the fish symbol, and more recently on Rumble on his Awaken Bible Prophecy channel: https://rumble.com/c/c-783217.