Glory to God! I trust you’re well and enjoying your Inheritance in Christ Jesus.

We’re still on our series about the crisis confronting the Church today. We’ve concluded that it’s an identity crisis that manifests itself in the Church failing to produce Disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ but Church and Movement Members based on false teachings.

But today I want to shed more light on the reason highlighted yesterday about the perceived differences between what the Lord Jesus Christ taught and what the Apostle Paul taught.

Apostle Paul’s Writings are the single most abused parts of Scripture and what’s responsible for many false doctrines in the Church today. The reason for this is that we’ve made Paul the Chief Cornerstone instead of the Lord Jesus Christ.

This was also covered in yesterday’s Teaching.

The Apostle Paul was himself a Disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ, he therefore didn’t differ with the Lord Jesus. The only material authorised by the Lord Jesus Christ to produce Disciples is what He said, it’s His Words found in the Gospels, and Paul taught exactly that.

So I’m going to show a few Scriptures that prove this.

1 Corinthians 11:1 says, ‘Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.’ The Apostle told the Church to follow him as he follows Christ. In other words, to follow him because He was following Christ.

But how does one follow Christ?

Luke 9:23-24 says, ‘And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it.’

In fact in Luke 14:27-28 the Lord Jesus Christ says this, ‘And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple. For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?’

The Lord Jesus was showing His Disciples the cost of being a Disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ. He was telling them that the only way to follow Him as His Disciple, is by laying down one’s life. The cost of being His Disciple is your life.

Acts 20:24 says, ‘But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.’

The Apostle Paul didn’t count his life dear unto him. He had counted the cost of being a Disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ and was willing to pay the price with his life.

That’s why Paul says this in Philippians 1:21, ‘For to me to live is Christ, but to die is gain.’ His life meant nothing to him. He had laid it down and was now living the Life of Christ. The Apostle Paul was a Disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ through and through.

If the Church had to understand this about the Apostle Paul, She wouldn’t discard such Scriptures and distort the Truth of the Gospel.

Another example of the Apostle Paul submitting wholly to the Teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ is on the issue of money.

Matthew 6:19-22 says, ‘Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.’

Here the Lord Jesus Christ was telling His Disciples not to invest their resources in this life but the Life to come. He was telling them not to put their money in the things of this world which depreciate and lose value, but to put their money in eternal things which have eternal value by doing good with their money because they’ll be rewarded for it in Eternity.

1 Timothy 6:17-19 says, ‘Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.’

It’s exactly the same reasoning. The Apostle Paul’s Teaching about money is exactly the same as that of the Lord Jesus Christ. That’s because the Apostle Paul was making Disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ by teaching them to obey whatsoever the Lord Jesus Christ had commanded while still on the earth.

Another example is the Lord Jesus Christ’s Teaching on how to respond to our enemies. Matthew 5:43-47 says, ‘You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? 47 And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that?’

The Lord Jesus Christ taught His Disciples not to retaliate when being persecuted by their enemies, and the Apostle Paul taught exactly the same thing.

Romans 12:17-21 says, ‘Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. On the contrary:

“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.’

The two Teachings are identical. That’s because the Apostle Paul was a Disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the only way to produce a Disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ is through His Words in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

That’s why the Lord Jesus Christ said in Matthew 28:19-20, ‘Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”‘

The only authorised Curriculum of producing Disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ is what the Lord Jesus Christ Himself commanded the Apostles. He told them to make Disciples by teaching others to obey what He commanded the Apostles when He Himself was discipling them.

By making Paul the Chief Cornerstone, we end up producing disciples of Paul or even worse, disciples of ourselves based on our own misinterpretations of Paul. But by going back to the real Curriculum, which is Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, we end producing the same quality of Believer as the Lord Himself. We end up producing Disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ and not Church and Movement Members based on our own personal revelations.

Us being Church and Movement Members is nothing but an identity crisis. But when we turn to the Red Letters in the 4 Gospels, we become Disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Don’t miss tomorrow’s session where we’ll expose the falsehood of the prevalent Grace teaching of today. We’ll prove that the Lord Jesus Christ never taught and neither did Paul.

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Glory to God!