A Spring of Pure Water: Being a Disciple of Jesus

By Cuthbert H Dawkins

These Bible studies, the first part of a larger collection, were first given in Ethiopia, Somaliland, Tanzania and Kenya. Cuthbert Dawkins was close to young African Christians. They were often in difficult circumstances. For them being a disciple of Jesus was a weighty matter. The studies were a conversation. They led to questions and discussions, and the faith was confirmed to the young believers. They had known waterless deserts and muddy pools of spiritual life, but they came to love Jesus’ own illustration of His truths being like a spring of pure water.

• Language: English
• Publisher: White Tree Publishing
• Release date: Dec 3, 2019
• ISBN: 9781912529513

Book preview

About the Book

These Bible studies, the first part of a larger collection, were first given in Ethiopia, Somaliland, Tanzania and Kenya. Cuthbert Dawkins was close to young African Christians. They were often in difficult circumstances. For them being a disciple of Jesus was a weighty matter. The studies were a conversation. They led to questions and discussions, and the faith was confirmed to the young believers. They had known waterless deserts and muddy pools of spiritual life, but they came to love Jesus’ own illustration of His truths being like a spring of pure water.

The original book has been edited by White Tree Publishing for eBook publication.

A SPRING OF PURE WATER

Being a Disciple of Jesus

Bible Studies by

Cuthbert H Dawkins

Missionary in East Africa 1934-97 Founder of Trinity Fellowship 1963

Copyright © The Estate of Cuthbert H. Dawkins 2020

eBook ISBN 978-1-912529-51-3

Published by

White Tree Publishing

Bristol

UNITED KINGDOM

More books on www.whitetreepublishing.com

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All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the copyright owner of this abridged edition.

Scripture quotations from Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1946, 1952, and 1971 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Table of Contents

Cover

About the Book

Foreword

Publisher’s Note

1. Drawn to Jesus

(Matthew 3:1-6; John 1:35-51)

2. Called to Serve Him

(Mark 1:14-20; Luke 5:1-11)

3. The Principles of the Kingdom

The Beatitudes (Matthew 5:1-11)

4. Working for the King

(Luke 10:1-21)

5. Jesus Teaches His Disciples on Prayer

A. The Principles of Prayer

B. The Pattern Prayer

(Luke 11:1-13; Matthew 6:5-15)

6. The Transforming of a Disciple

Death and Resurrection (Mark 8:27-37;

John 20:19-23)

7. The Empowering of a Disciple

Filled with the Spirit (John 3:8; Luke 3:15-16)

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Foreword

These discipleship Bible studies were first given in Ethiopia, Somaliland, Tanzania and Kenya. Cuthbert Dawkins was close to young African Christians. They were often in difficult circumstances. For them being a disciple of Jesus was a weighty matter. The studies were a conversation. They led to questions and discussions, and the faith was confirmed to the young believers. They had known waterless deserts and muddy pools of spiritual life but they came to love Jesus’ own illustration of His truths being like a spring of pure water.

He who believes in me, as the scripture has said, Out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water (John 7:38 RSV).

Cuthbert Dawkins urges us to share the searching and sensitivity of the young Africans. He urges us for the sake of those around us to be part of the flow of life-giving water which comes from Jesus.

Publisher’s Note

The main Bible passages in this Study are shown at the start of each of the seven Parts. However, it may help if you have a separate Bible as you go through each Part, because with an eBook it is difficult to go back to the start of each Part to read the Gospel verses again, and return to the page where you left off.

If you do not have access to a printed Bible (and you may want to read the passages in a different version anyway) you can find free online Bibles of nearly every English version, old and new, on the Bible App you can download at http://www.youversion.com/ or find by entering youversion in the Apple and Android app stores.

On the youversion website you will find Bible readings with helpful notes for every day of the year, plus other Bible related material. There are also Bible versions in many other languages, all free.

There are 7 Parts in this book. In the second half are advertisements for our other books, so this book may end earlier than expected! The last Part (7) is marked as such. We aim to make our eBooks free or for a nominal cost, and cannot invest in other forms of advertising. However, word of mouth by satisfied readers will also help get our books more widely known. When the book finishes, please take a look at the other books we publish: Christian non-fiction, Christian fiction, and books for younger readers ‒ a range of over 100 books available from White Tree Publishing. More details on the website www.whitetreepublishing.com .

Being a Disciple of Jesus

Part 1

Drawn to Jesus

Reading: Matthew 3:1-6; John 1:35-51

Today we are starting a series of studies on the subject of Being a Disciple of Jesus. I believe most of us would like to be disciples of Jesus; and, that being so, it would be good for us to learn from the story of His original disciples in the four Gospels.

So we will read the account in John 1 of how some of these were drawn to Jesus in the first place. But first, to put it in context we read from Matthew:

Matthew 3:1-6:

In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judea,

2 Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

3 For this is He who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said,

"The voice of one crying in the wilderness:

Prepare the way of the Lord,

make his paths straight."

4 Now John wore a garment of camel’s hair, and a leather girdle around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey.

5 Then went out to him Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan,

6 and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.

John 1:35-51:

35 The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples; 36 and he looked at Jesus as He walked, and said, Behold, the Lamb of God!

37 The two disciples heard Him say this, and they followed Jesus.

38 Jesus turned, and saw them following, and said to them, What do you seek?

And they said to Him, Rabbi (which means Teacher), where are you staying?

39 He said to them, Come and see.

They came and saw where He was staying; and they stayed with Him that day, for it was about the tenth hour.

40 One of the two who heard John speak, and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. 41 He first found his brother Simon, and said to Him, We have found the Messiah (which means Christ).

42 He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him, and said, So you are Simon the son of John? You shall be called Cephas (which means Peter).

43 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. And He found Philip and said to him, Follow Me.

44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. 45 Philip found Nathanael, and said to him, We have found Him of whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.

46 Nathanael said to him, Can anything good come out of Nazareth?

Philip said to him, Come and see.

47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming to Him, and said of him, Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!

48 Nathanael said to Him, How do you know me?

Jesus answered him, Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.

49 Nathanael answered Him, Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!

50 Jesus answered him, Because I said to you, I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You shall see greater things than these. 51 And He said to him, Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.

That, then, is the story. So let us now examine the passage in detail to see what lessons we can draw from it for ourselves. Please keep your Bibles open at John 1 and look at the verses as I mention them.

But first, what does the word disciple mean?

It conveys the twofold idea of being both a pupil, or learner, and also a personal follower. A disciple not only receives instruction from his teacher, but also becomes personally attached to him and places himself under the discipline of his teaching, (hence the word disciple). Jesus, of course, was not the only great teacher to have disciples. The famous Greek philosophers, like Plato, had their disciples. Leading Jewish rabbis, like Gamaliel, had their disciples. And John the Baptist, as we read in the Gospels, had his.

Now, John the Baptist was the great prophet raised up by God to be the forerunner of the promised Messiah, and to prepare people to receive Him. Naturally, therefore, when the Messiah did appear, it was some of John’s disciples, men who had been prepared by John, who were the first to be drawn to Jesus. These were young men who, some time before, had hurried down to the Jordan River, with multitudes of other Jews, because the news had reached them that a new prophet had arisen and was preaching there.

What these young men heard from him about the Kingdom of Heaven and the coming King thrilled them, and soon they had become John’s faithful disciples, their hearts on fire with a new hope of deliverance and restoration. Conquered and oppressed by heathen foreigners, with their own Jewish leaders self-seeking and corrupt, everywhere amongst the Jews there was great need and suffering. They were like sheep not having a shepherd (Mark 6:34). It seemed as though God had forgotten His people.

And yet their prophets in Old Testament days had persistently foretold that one day Messiah would come to save them and to establish God’s Kingdom of Righteousness. So, naturally, they were longing and yearning for His appearance. He alone, they felt, could deliver them from their enemies and satisfy all their needs. And here, now, this new prophet was telling them that the old prophecies were about to be fulfilled. The Kingdom of Heaven was at hand.

Not that his teaching was acceptable to all the Jews, because the messianic hopes of many were on a political and materialistic level. Their longing was for a great leader who would drive out the Romans and give Israel worldly power and wealth. They were like so many today who think political action and material improvement are all that is required to meet men’s needs. John the Baptist, on the other hand, went straight to the root cause of all Israel’s troubles ‒ sin.

Certainly the Messiah, when He came, would concern Himself with the people’s material and physical needs. The prophets had made that clear enough. But the all-important need, John taught, was spiritual; and to qualify for a place in Messiah’s Kingdom a person must have a spiritual change ‒ we must repent ‒ and this was a very urgent matter as the Kingdom was just about to come.

"Repent" John cried, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand! (Matthew 3:1-2.) He realised, moreover, that the Jews’ one-sided view of the Messiah as a mighty king and conqueror was