Characteristics of Disciples

12/27/1994

Here is a resource we passed around a number of years ago. It’s certainly worth recirculating now.—Kevin

John Gillies, in his 1795 classic, Accounts of Revivals , noted what he perceived to be the marks of a revivalist. God desires that these characteristics mark his entire priesthood of believers and not merely a few great men of God. Here is a summary of those characteristics:

1. Disciples are EARNEST about the great work of the ministry on which they have entered.... They feel as ministers of the Gospel that they dare not act otherwise; they dare not throw less than their whole soul into the conflict; they dare not take their ease... they dare not be indifferent to the issue when professing to lead on the hosts of the living God against the armies of the prince of darkness.

2. Disciples are “BENT UPON SUCCESS”; to be indifferent to their office would be to “prove themselves nothing short of traitors to Him and to His cause.” As warriors they set their hearts on victory and fight in faith, anticipating triumph under the guidance of such a Captain.

3. Disciples are PEOPLE OF FAITH. They plow and seek in hope. They know, in due season, they will reap if they do not faint. They have confidence in God, in their Savior’s commission, in the promise of Scripture and the Holy Spirit’s almighty power and grace.

4. Disciples are PEOPLE OF LABOR. They bear the burden in the heat of the day... freely offering to the Lord, keeping back nothing, grudging nothing, joyfully, thankfully, surrendering all to Him who loves them. They labor for eternity as people who know the time is short and the day of recompense at hand.

5. Disciples are PEOPLE OF PATIENCE. They are not discouraged though they have to labor long without seeing all the fruit they desire. They are not soon weary in well-doing.

6. Disciples are PEOPLE OF BOLDNESS AND DETERMINATION. Enemies may oppose, timid friends may hesitate, but they press forward, in nothing terrified by difficulty or opposition. It requires more than natural courage to face natural danger and difficulty. There is, in our own day, a still greater need of moral boldness, in order to neutralize the fear of man, the dread of public opinion—that god of our idolatry in this last age, which boasts superior enlightenment, and which would bring everything to the test of reason or decide it by the votes of the majority.

7. Disciples are PEOPLE OF PRAYER. It is true they labor much, visit much, study much, but they also pray much. In this they do abound. They are much alone with God, selflessly interceding for their brothers and sisters and the lost. They replenish their own souls.

8. Disciples are PEOPLE OF MOST DECIDED DOCTRINE both in law and Gospel. There is a breadth and a power in their speaking—a glow and an energy about their thoughts and words that makes us feel they are “people of might.” Their trumpet gives no feeble, uncertain sound either to saint or sinner, the church or the world.

9. Disciples are PEOPLE OF SOLEMN DEPORTMENT AND DEEP SPIRITUALITY. Their daily work furnishes the best illustration of what they say. No frivolity, flippancy, worldly conviviality or companionships neutralize their public speaking or mar the work they are seeking to accomplish. They live what they believe.

The only thing that separates you from possessing these characteristics is your own self—your own idolatry and selfishness. God has already given you provision to attain to the FULL STATURE OF JESUS CHRIST. These are the qualities of Christ IN YOU. So raise your vision!

(Gillies, Historical Collections of Accounts of Revivals , pp. vi-xi, updated )