Are you a fan or a disciple? We want to deal with the issues that pertain to God’s power and His principles, which is the demarcating line. In John 6:1-15 we are told that Jesus provided bread for the people. Then they decided to make Him king because of bread saying “come and rule over us, because You have power to produce food from nothing.” They accepted Him as Lord over them; He did not ask for it. That is how the antichrist will be crowned – the Bible says they will make him king, since he would provide the peace that they thought God could not bring. But Jesus is not that cheap, He said I was born a king and to this end was I born. So you are not the one to make Him, He was born one. And so He would not fall for such bait.
hen the people therefore saw that Jesus was not there, neither his disciples, they also took shipping, and came to Capernaum, seeking for Jesus. John 6:24 Imagine how much they “loved” their Jesus. They took ship and were chasing their Lord around. They love Him so much that they had to take ship to be scouting around for Him like a pin that was thrown into the sea. They were ready to pay a price, to sacrifice their money, convenience, time and effort. You that is a disciple, how much are you giving up for Christ? They were ready to follow Him because their agenda was miracles and they had eaten bread. Jesus even said they followed Him not for miracles but for bread (John 6:26). Now you, what have you given for God?
There is a song we sing in which Jesus says “I gave Myself for you, I sacrificed My whole life, so that you can be redeemed, be delivered from the curse of the law, be rescued from perdition but you, what have you done for Me?” These are the questions we should be asking ourselves, simple questions that God is asking us who go to church every Sunday. Many of us go to church out of mere habit. If you stay at home on Sunday, you would not enjoy it because all your life you’ve always gone to church on Sundays, so you only go because it’s just a habit. Everybody needs to check himself on this. Is it just out of mere habit that you are in church? What is the cause of your following Jesus, of your being in church? Of your professing His name?
And when they had found him on the other side of the sea, they said unto him, Rabbi, when camest thou hither? Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled. John 6:25-26.
The people found Jesus on the other side of the sea, He was not where they left Him. Then they asked Him, “when did You come here?” Jesus did not owe them an explanation for when He came, so He did not bother to answer, I was reading the Old Testament and came across so many “thou shall not, if you do, you will be killed. Then at a point God said “thou shall not… because I am the Lord.” And God told me that He was exercising His sovereignty.
There comes a time that your questions will not be answered as a disciple of Christ but will you go further with Him? There comes a time that you can’t trace God but will you trust Him? When you can’t see God in your situation, you can’t see how it can work together for good, you have tried to be very generous in your thinking but you can’t see God in this matter, all you see is the devil, defeat and failure, would you still trust God?
Sometimes God gives bad dreams! And when he gives you one and you get up to bind and loose and cast out, you are casting out the Holy Ghost. It’s high time we grew in our knowledge of the word of God and His ways.
Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.” John 6:27
That statement is very powerful. Many people are in ministries today to identify with miracles or because they partook of airacle. If that is and remains the attraction for anybody, even when God comes down and says that He has moved beyond this, they will not go anywhere. That will explain why some people will want to die for messages and men of God like William Branham.
The attention of the people who were asking Jesus “when did You come here and didn’t inform us?” was on the man but the Bible says we know no man after the flesh (2 Cor. 5:16). If it was the miracles and eating of food that attracted you to Jesus, then when He is teaching, you sleep off, but when He says “there’s somebody here, God is going to do so-and-so for you”, you wake up. How many fans of Jesus do we have and how few disciples! When he is teaching he is wasting time, but when it’s time to do anointing service, four hours is too short, they will still be waiting to be anointed. Are you a fan or a disciple?
Verse 28-29 “Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.” They’ve become voluntary instruments in the hands of the master their king (you know they have already made him king in their hearts because the going was still smooth).
Jesus told them; “don’t go and preach, don’t be an intercessor, don’t go and evangelize, don’t build church, don’t bring money, one thing you do is to believe on Him”. When you say you believe in someone, it means you trust the person’s words you trust his sincerity even when he’s not speaking. You trust in what he says and does. The people who came to Jesus wanted to serve Jesus as prophets, evangelists and other positions, but Jesus told them to just believe in him. When you are a believer, them you will now fit into where you ought to be among the believers but the prerequisite is not being a pastor, a deacon or anything. Being a believer is the lowest common factor.
Verse 30 saw them asking for a sign. That means they never really believed. The emotion of the miracle was what made them seem to believe on him.
In verse 31 – 34 They compared Jesus with Moses who also gave them Manna not knowing that the bread of life Himself was standing before them. This of course annoyed them because they knew He meant he was God on earth and they didn’t want God; they only want bread/miracles.
Verses 41 – 44 “The Jews then murmured at him, because he said, I am the bread which came down from heaven. And they said, Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? how is it then that he saith, I came down from heaven? Jesus therefore answered and said unto them, Murmur not among yourselves. No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.” When Jesus went beyond power to principles, trouble started, they began to murmur. When he began to show the nitty-gritty of how to be part of him, they remembered where he came from, that he was the son of Joseph. When the miracles where flowing, he was God, but when he outlined his principles, he became the carpenter’s son, a bastard to them. Yet they were the same people that went looking for Jesus in ships.
Fans!
Verse 59 – These people are now in the Synagogue (Church) but they were still fans because they still did not believe on Him. Today they speak in tongues, come to church early but do not believe (act on) His principles. How? They keep malice, envy one another, fight and do things that run contrary to the principle of Love.
Verse 67 – 69 “Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away? Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.” Simon Peter was a kinsman redeemer there. If they were asked one by one, there would have been casualty. Some people needed bread and that was their attraction, and as long as well was not flowing, they went their ways. Some could not stand the doctrine even if there was bread along with it. And that is even easier now that even “Baba Alawo’s” in Lagos are using bible and they also call it ministry. But when you enter, “Baba” will pray for you and tell you to read certain Psalms, ten times by 12 midnight inside water, and drink it. You have just gone to consult a ‘Baba Alawo’. You can say is it not bible he uses? Oh yes but you have consulted with a wizard! Some will say you should use ashes to make a circle and use the water t o bathe inside the circle. What else is called occultism? Fans beware!
Fans are blind; even when their person is losing, they will still be praising him but that is only because the person is performing. What happens in the day the person is not performing?
A disciple is somebody who strongly believes in the TEACHINGS of a leader and tries to LIVE ACCORDING to them. A disciple tries, he puts effort to live according to his master’s teachings, he doesn’t quit because they are tough. It is only disciples that stay when the going gets tough. Are you really a disciple? Are you a disciple indeed? There is difference between a disciple and a disciple indeed, in the bible. So even among the disciples, there is still a stratification. Which one do you belong to?
A fan can give his life for you, as long as you are performing. They cease when performance ceases. They can’t go beyond responding to performance, they have nothing to do with the principles and any wise church does not care about them if they will not care about Jesus’ teachings. Their own is to drag the church down, bring you from the spirit to the flesh. They want miracles and anointing services even when God is not calling for such. And they cause trouble when you don’t give them what they want, going from house to house to poison other people’s minds. That is a fan.
What informs what you do is your principle. If you are going to be like your master, you must know what informs what he does, you don’t just keep doing what he does; if you are just doing what he’s doing, you are not a disciple. You must also take the light from the source. What makes him to do what he’s doing? That’s why many of us keep praying to be like Jesus but we can never be because we don’t know what informed what he was doing. You only see what he’s doing and you are trying to do it.
“Matetics” is the Greek word interpreted ‘disciple’, it means “a pupil”, not a student. Pupils’ are small children that go to school and that means as a disciple you must be meek, be ready to be corrected, be ready to carry out instructions given to you; you must be ready to receive orders! If you cannot endure teaching and commandments, you are not a disciple, you are a mere fan and you may likely end where Judas ended. What is your interest. Is it about church? Who are you with God? are you a disciple or a mere fan? Are you excreted about Jesus only when he is performing?
There are levels even in discipleship. Though everybody following Jesus was called his disciple at a point in John 6, at another point some of his disciples left him. They were mistaken for disciples. But those that He actually called disciples, even were not all disciples.
That was why John 8:31 clarifies it, that there are disciples and there are disciples indeed. “Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;”
You have to CONTINUE in the word of God, just continue and don’t stop. Many of us give up on our faith, we are not acting as good disciples, we have to continue in the word of God. Does the word of God say you are sick? No! Then continue saying and acting as if you are not sick. If you say that is pretense, then God is the greatest pretender because He called out things from nothing. As a disciple you have to see things from the spiritual side, not a carnal side. Choose to insist on what God has done. Many have received their healings in this manner. (examples quoted in the message)
Unfortunately the true level of one’s commitment isn’t tested by good times but by times of conflicts and disagreements. It’s easier to work together when you agree with the one you call spiritual authority and you are having a good time together. But what happens when you disagree or experience a conflict in your relationship? This is the critical moment when the truth about your level of submission will be observable.
When Judas Iscariot came to the garden of Gethsemane the night he betrayed Jesus, he said something that revealed he had never been truly submissive to him.
The truth about Judas’ recognition of and submission to Jesus’ authority was exposed that night just as my submission to that minister was also proven to be defective. Mark 14:45 says “as soon as Judas was come, he goeth straightway to him and said “Master, Master” and kissed him.” Notice that Judas called Jesus “Master, master’. These words revealed the type of relationship that existed in Judas heart, towards Jesus. These words also reveal the reason the devil was able to use Judas and not one of the other disciples to betray Jesus.” (if you are pretending to be under somebody’s authority and you are not, you are the greatest instrument in the had of the devil to use against that person).
The word ‘master’ come from the Greek word ‘Disacalo’ which means teacher. When it is translated master as this verse, it is intended to give the idea of one who is fabulous and a masterful teacher.
This is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew word ‘Rebbi.’ Of course, a rabbi is a teacher who is honoured and respected because of his understanding of, and ability to explain scriptures. Not just a teacher, but a well respected one that exposes and expands the word of God with authority.
When Judas approached Jesus in the garden that night, this is exactly the tithe he used when he referred to Jesus, he called him ‘master, master’. It literarily meant, ‘teacher, teacher’.
Tithes are very important, because they define relationships. For instance, the words ‘Daddy and mother’, defines the relation between a child and a parent. The word ‘boss’, defines the relationship between an employee and his employer, a relationship much different than the one that exists between the employee and his employer, and his fellow employees. The word ‘Mr. President’, defines the relationship between the nation and it’s leader. The word ‘Pastor’ defines the relationship between a church and its pastor. A world without tithes will be a world with confusion, for titles gives order and definition to relationships.
Jesus told his disciples, “ye call me master and Lord, ye say well for I am so.” But I want you to notice what title Judas used that night, he didn’t call Jesus Lord. The word for Lord expresses the idea of one who has ultimate and supreme authority, and yielded every realm of his life to his management and direction and control. Had Judas called Jesus ‘Lord’ that night, it would have meant that Judas had surrendered his life to control and was submitted to his authority. But Judas didn’t use the word ‘Lord’, he used the word ‘teacher’ which revealed that Jesus had never really become God’s authority in Judas’ life. The truth is, Judas had only received Jesus’ life. The truth is, Judas had only received Jesus as teacher, a rabbi, a gifted communicator but never as lord.”
Are you under spiritual authority? When relationships move beyond brother to brother and fellow minister to authority-over, then you’ll know who believes. When it’s time to correct, to rebuke, to exhort, then you know whether you are really under authority or not. When God places an authority over you and you recognize it, you are blessed of all men. Both you and the authority will not have to sweat, there is always a flow, heaven flows to you through that authority. When is the authority over your life? And don’t let anybody bewitch you into making you a spiritual father by force, because he won’t be in submission. If you know God has placed anybody over you as authority, make sure that he is an authority over you, not just somebody that gives you gifts; not just somebody that encourages you to do right; but somebody that would also correct you when you are wrong. He should be somebody that can give you orders and you will obey without grudging!
Are you under authority? Are you a fan or a disciple? Many of us are not under under the authority of even Jesus. And if you are not under the authority of even Jesus, you will have a human authority over you. He said “you can’t say you love me except you love the man you see”. You can’t be accountable to God without being accountable to man. Are you a fan of your pastor or you are under his authority? If all you know about him is that he is anointed, you are not under his authority and that is why his prayer can do little for you; his prayer will just do what your own prayer will do for you. But when you are under his authority and you are sure and walking in that light, when he speaks, so shall it be, it may take time, but so shall it be! God is following principle, he has honoured his principle above his power, so his power follows his principle. So when God has put you under authority and you are under authority, God flows to you from that authority. He (the authority) doesn’t have to believe and you don’t have to believe too much, when he lays hand on you and says “so shall it be”, if you go in that strength, so shall it be for you!
How many of us assume that we are under authority when the goings are smooth? Until there is a major disagreement, then you go and gather your own congregation, and begin to demean the same man of God you call your pastor? You have your secret meetings, where you pieces him and bring him down? You better don’t call him pastor again because you are incurring wrath upon yourself. She is not your mummy, if she cannot correct you. If you get offended anytime she corrects you, she is not your spiritual mother. He is not your father, if you only flow with him as long as he flows with you. then you are not under authority. Seek God for who God has given to you and just leave him quietly and go to who God has led you to and be subject to who God has led you to.
Are you a fan or a disciple?
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