A disciple is one who learns and understands. Jesus chose twelve men to learn about Him and the Kingdom. He provided them understanding beyond what had been revealed to the church at the time. There were higher laws to be revealed by the Son of Man and the mystery of the cross. In Matthew 16:
21 From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.
22 Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!”
23 But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.”
A disciple of Christ must be mindful of the things of FATHER rather than priorities established by men. Peter was operating in the carnal mindset and expected Jesus to conquer Rome. Peter wanted war but did not realize that Jesus would conquer by Love.
24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.
25 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.
26 For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?
27 For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works.
The cross is a door between two ages and one must come to a close and at the same time the next age begins. Death represented that door and Jesus knew He had to embrace the cross for the next age to begin. His reward was to come from Heaven rather than the trappings of the world. The devil attempted to give Him the whole world at the beginning of His ministry in Matthew chapter 4:
8 Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.
9 And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.”
10 Then Jesus said to him, “Get behind me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ ”
11 Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.
As we fully accept the death of our flesh, Heaven opens up to us with its resources to minister. As disciples we accept the cross and the path we must take and embrace the death of the old man. We must do away with the Pentecostal mindset and let it pass away as well. We must receive our understanding from FATHER as HE prepares us to minister in the dispensation at hand.
Jesus challenged the leaders of the day as He instructed His disciples. In Matthew 12:
1 At that time Jesus went through the grain fields on the Sabbath. And His disciples were hungry, and began to pluck heads of grain and to eat.
2 And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to Him, “Look, Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath!”
Jesus corrected their thinking and told them “I desire mercy and not sacrifice” and “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.” We must believe there are higher Laws than those we are currently aware of and as we die to the flesh those higher Laws will be revealed and at our disposal. The angels are given to those who choose the cross as the door to the other side and will not seek the world’s reward but that only found in Heaven. In Philippians chapter 3, Paul wrote:
7 But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ.
8 Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ.
Are you will to accept that narrow path to be a disciple of Christ? If so you too will be challenged by the adversary. Do not allow compromise to cause you to take an alternative path but trust FATHER to show you the Way.