The Opposition to Discipleship

As a leader you must enter each counseling or discipleship session with the following principles at the forefront of all that is said or done: The only meaningful opposition to this plan will come from within yourself. The problem is with the spirit of the mind (the soul): what it thinks, desires and wills to do. Therefore, the focus of all counsel or discipleship must begin with the disposition of the soul. At the time of counsel, we need to discover the soul's location (whether it be in darkness or the light). This means determining whether an individual is really saved or not, as well as whether the son is in agreement with the will of the Father.

IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO COUNSEL OR DISCIPLE THOSE WHO ARE DETERMINED TO REMAIN IN THE FLESH. Those things of the Spirit sound like foolishness to them, or they are simply stubborn and refuse to submit to the principles of godliness. We cannot blame God for our failures. God told us to possess our vessels. It is the soul that is not in agreement with the will of the Father. It is the soul that pursues those things that bring pleasure to the flesh. God did not take us out of this body of vanity. He left us here to subdue the body through the power of the Holy Ghost. We will reside in one of two places: either in the Spirit (where we were supernaturally birthed) or in the flesh. It is here that we must understand the nature of the laws that govern our flesh. Through the crucifixion of the old man and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, we were transformed into a New Creature who through obedience to the Word of God is able to maintain a body whose members desire nothing more than righteousness. This preference for righteousness in the members is made possible by the act of obedience which initiates the Law of the Spirit of Life. Likewise, however, when we walk in disobedience we initiate the Law of Sin and Death and become subservient to it. The choice belongs to the individual. You must rehearse this thoroughly to those you attempt to disciple.

God will never take choice from the Sons of God. The Sons of God will always have an opportunity to choose whether they will serve Him or not. The choices they make manifest the disposition of their hearts, as well as the approval or disapproval of the Father. God must first approve all who enter the Kingdom. We have been left in these natural bodies that we might be approved of God. The root of all sin is pride. It causes a gulf of separation between God and people. Pride will take us far from righteousness; farther than we ever thought it could take us. You must bring the disciple face to face with the consequences of not allowing God to use him in His purpose.

Judging the New Creature

The foundation of God’s judgment is motive. Scripture bears us witness in motive being the foundation of God’s judgment. Before God judges anything, He looks into the heart to see motive. It is impossible to perform an act of sin, even in the heat of passion, and the motive in the heart be different from the act itself. The Lord has increased the meaning of this principle by allowing me to see it from the perspective of the salvation message. I hope that I am able to explain this truth in a way you will be able to receive it. We must always minister to or counsel the New Creature. It is the counseling of the flesh that has caused a severe slow down in spiritual development.

Whenever a saint walks in the flesh he is whatever the enemy desires at that moment. His motives are influenced by evil; therefore, it is impossible for his heart not to be evil. In that state, you are entertaining the flesh and not the new creature. The minister that follows the flesh in counseling will not be able to bring that person to spiritual truth and a change of spiritual location. We must cease to be wishy-washy about the faith. We are either in the Spirit or in the flesh. We are either walking in the light or we are walking in darkness. The two dispositions cannot co-exist at the same time. Nevertheless, when in our remorse, we say that it is not in our heart to do evil, this is not the case. It is in our heart to do evil. If it was not in the heart, the deed would not have been done. Consider these verses of scripture:

St. Mark 7:20-23

20 And he said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man.

21 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders,

22 Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness:

23 All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.

St. Matthew 15:18-19

18 But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man.

19 For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:

When one says that which came out of his mouth was not in his heart, he deceives himself. He spoke out of the flesh; the evil deeds of the flesh begin with the evil in the heart. The truth is, the members of the body, (the mouth, the ears, the hands, etc.) cannot perform evil works except the heart be evil first. Again, when one walks in the flesh his whole being is that of darkness.

St. Matthew 6:21-24

21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

22 The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.

23 But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!

24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

When we set our sights on the things of this world, the light that was within becomes dark. This is the light that shined in our heart (soul) as a result of the indwelling of the Holy Ghost.

2 Corinthians 4:6

For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

Now the inference here is that the light rendered by the Spirit in the soul is now darkened by the lusts and way of the world.

St. Mark 4:19

And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful.

We have been conditioned to think that an evil disposition of the heart takes time to develop in an individual. But that is not the case. The soul must allow the entering in of lust, cares and the deceitfulness of the things of this world. This is possible where there is a lack of temperance and contentment. Therefore, to say that the heart is not evil when such is the case is a gross misrepresentation of its spiritual condition.

1 Corinthians 2:9-10

9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.

10 But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.

According to the above, the New Creature was given a revelation in the heart (soul) as to the things that God has given to him freely. This revelation is witnessed by the indwelling of the Holy Ghost. Therefore, in order to pursue or submit to the mentality of the world the new man must do so by choice. He is not ignorant concerning the things pertaining to God. He is simply not in agreement with God. He wants to be in control of his life and enjoy the things this world has to offer the flesh. The heart (soul) moves to the satisfying of the flesh. It allows lust and more lust. This is true whether it is the securing of physical pleasure or mental satisfaction.

St. Luke 22:3-6

3 Then entered Satan into Judas surnamed Iscariot, being of the number of the twelve.

4 And he went his way, and communed with the chief priests and captains, how he might betray him unto them.

5 And they were glad, and covenanted to give him money.

6 And he promised, and sought opportunity to betray him unto them in the absence of the multitude.

Even as Satan was able to enter into Judas and immediately become the enemy of Christ, so does the saint immediately become the same enemy when he allows darkness to enter his heart (soul). Once the saint has allowed darkness to enter the soul, he or she is walking in the flesh. Consider then who you are talking to in your counseling session. If the individual does not immediately come back into agreement with the will of the Father (the Word of God), then you are simply ministering to the flesh. It is the flesh that would say, “It was not in my heart to do, to say, such and such.” It is the flesh that is now listening to you recite the principles of righteousness that can only be accomplished by a creature who walks in the Spirit. Therefore, your counsel will be ineffectual if you are unable to bring that individual back into agreement with God. If not, then from that point forward you are dealing with all the attributes of a natural man trying to abstain from the lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. One must not allow these things to enter the soul. Nevertheless, we cannot escape the bottom line to all of this. The disagreement, the entering in of lust and the disobedience are all matters of choice. Your ability to chose makes your actions deliberate. Therefore, all evil deeds committed in the flesh start with an unclean heart and an impure motive. In other words, the heart is only completely free from impurity when we walk in the Spirit. Our motives are always under the influence of evil when we walk in the flesh. We take on all the attributes of the old man when we do not agree with God.

God’s judgment is based upon motive. He looks inside the heart to determine its spiritual disposition. The problem we are having is that motive in many instances has never changed. This is the reason many find themselves consistently falling back into sin or periodically committing acts of sin such as talking too much, backbiting or lying. When God comes to judge the situation he looks at motive. He goes inside of the heart to judge motive. If the motive is evil, temptation is not needed to commit that sin. All one needs is opportunity. If a man or woman’s heart is not converted to righteousness, all sin needs is opportunity. Temptation is not an issue because the heart is already convinced and persuaded inside of it. If we acknowledge sin, go to God and say we are sorry we call this repentance. However, this is deception. This is not true repentance, because the motive in the heart has never changed. All that is needed is another opportunity. Motive will not change until one comes into agreement with God. To change the heart takes agreement with God. But why is it so hard for us to agree with God in some things? Simply put, many do not appreciate what God has done. They do not appreciate salvation.

Beware of the spiritual cracks saints will try to crawl into.

An example is “I am spiritually deficient.” Many saints try to take some of the responsibility for manifesting righteousness off of themselves and put it on the growth path by asserting that they need more spiritual development. In essence, all they need to do is purify the heart. How does one rid himself of negative motives? Want is the root of motive. Want is the fuel for motive and motive cannot live without want. Some deceive themselves by declaring that they want nothing. But God will allow a simple, little situation to evolve that will manifest want. This is evident in the failing of trials and offenses. You must not relent in your ministering of this principle. “The Sons of God shall not want.” The Body of Christ must rid itself of wantonness. This will only happen when it agrees with God. The saint must come into agreement with that. Want is a refusal to deny oneself. Many assume that they have the right to want. This is an insult to God. Wantonness will never allow the sons to walk in contentment. It only serves to keep the Sons of God walking in the flesh. Saints have to allow want to be an issue in their lives. The only way to be rid of want is to move into the Spirit.

Many people have not moved into the Spirit because they are not willing to give up what they want. They know that if they move into the Spirit, they will have to deny themselves. Instead they draw a line of demarcation as to what, how much and how far they are willing to travel inside this principle. They never consider complete self-denial. Oftentimes, based upon their observation of the blessings operating in the lives of their leader, saints form an erroneous conclusion regarding self-denial. Their definition of self-denial is based upon the present natural state of those they observe. However, no thought is given to the disposition of their beginning. They discount the seasons in the lives of leaders where they denied themselves. Because their focus is on anything that will justify their own wantonness, they will often not discern that the spiritual location of the leader is that of “no confidence in the things of the world or that which the world provides.” One may not be aware of the times when God stripped the leaders of all material things and demanded that they deny themselves. Because some have never actually witnessed the suffering of leadership for material things their view of suffering and self-denial is distorted. The mind must not be impressed with material things. The impression with material things will cause the believer to move away from the purpose to become self-serving. When one is impressed with this world’s goods, he will easily lose discretion, benevolence and patience. The only safeguard against losing discretion, benevolence and patience is a baptism of the heart into purpose.

Some saints feel that they would change if they could rid themselves of negative or wanton thoughts. They often say, “Thoughts just keep coming.” But thoughts are initiated from what is in the heart. We think on those things that are in our hearts. This is the reason some find it so difficult to shut their thoughts off. They will not shut off until the heart is made clean. Saints will have thoughts, emotions and overwhelming desires until their hearts are made clean.

Paul instructed us to think on those things that are pure, holy, lovely and of a good report. This will cause the heart to produce the mind of Christ. But when it has “want” in it, the mind will think on those things the heart wants. Never forget that the Holy Ghost is a discerner of the intentions and motives of the heart. The Holy Ghost knows what motivates us. The Holy Ghost sees the want and lust. Saints can tell you all kinds of things in an attempt to impress or elude the truth.

The Holy Ghost is the Spirit of Truth. Listen and wait for His guidance in dealing with the Body of Christ. God is not impressed with anything less than righteousness. He is not moved and knows when the saints have not moved. He knows when the heart is not pure or the motive is not right. The only information that begs for discovery is that which He renders. Do not allow your flesh to be a hindrance to the counsel of God. Only deal in the areas the Spirit leads you to. Then only disclose those things that He gives utterance to. Iniquity is anything in your heart that hinders the work of the Spirit in the lives of the people of God. GUARD AGAINST hindering the work of the Spirit! Allow that which God does to be enough. Do not allow the negative disposition of others to cause you to deal unrighteous in your endeavor to minister to them. Trust the handiwork of the Holy Ghost.