Developing Disciples of Nations & Generations

What I’m going to talk about today is something I taught from a trailer outside our church building in May of 2020, during the hight of the Coronavirus concerns.

Those difficult days spotlighted the reality that this side of life is not heaven. While there are many wonderful aspects to life, we’re still stuck with Sin, Sickness, & Death. And it seems that most people on the planet inherently understand that Something’s wrong and it shouldn’t be this way!

But since we CAN’T stop the world from spinning and get off until Jesus comes back, we have to walk through the good days and the difficult days, just like the first followers of Jesus did. Remember what Jesus prayed for them…and for us.

John 17:15–18 I am not praying that you take them out of the world but that You protect them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 17 Sanctify them by the truth; Your word is truth. As You sent me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.

Just moments later Jesus prays these words:

John 17:20–23 I pray not only for these, but also for those who believe in me through their word. May they all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us, so that the world may believe you sent me. I have given them the glory you have given me, so that they may be one as we are one. I am in them and you are in me, so that they may be made completely one, that the world may know you have sent me and have loved them as you have loved me.

You see, Jesus was praying that His 1st century disciples as well as US 21st century disciples would be people who were Livin’ Forgiven in a Fallen World, taking His light into the darkness.

So, throughout this journey there will be FRUITFUL days and FRUSTRATING days, days of TRIUMPH and days of SUFFERING, but through it all, the first followers of Jesus remembered what WE SHOULD REMEMBER - that the CROSS always outweighs our circumstances. God’s love does not change with our circumstances in a “He loves me, He loves me not” kind of way.

The first followers of Jesus, trusting how much Jesus loved them, lived out what Jesus had taught them as they committed to Love God, Love People, & Develop Disciples who loved God, loved people, & developed disciples.

To Love God, we must KNOW Him, OBEY Him, & GROW in Him.

He is to have 1st place in our lives. We are to love Him above all others - even our family.

Love People includes family, friends, new acquaintances, and even enemies.

LOVE is NOT feelings of affection. Love is an ATTITUDE & ACTION that both desires & demonstrates that you want the best for another person.

And then we settled down on the mission Jesus gave His followers - to Develop Disciples. We defined a disciple as…

A Disciple is an Imitator of the Teacher.

We noted that “disciple” is the primary term for followers of Jesus. 269 times in the New Testament while using “Christian” only 3 times. We realized that although many have tried to dissect disciple from Christian, you can’t be a Christian without being a disciple - they are synonymous.

We were reminded that discipleship must start @ home, where we are to…

Love God Passionately & Lead Children Diligently

The week after that we discovered How Jesus Developed Disciples, 5 steps that we can follow. Last week Justin reminded us that Disciples Do Life Together by Accountability, Growth, & Sharing Burdens.

And today we finish this series by talking about Developing Disciples of Nations & Generations.

Of course, Jesus famously gave these marching orders to His disciples just before He ascended to heaven.

Matthew 28:19–20 Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Can you imagine Him looking US in the eyes and giving US that task? I don’t know about you, but that task seems daunting…on our own. And it is…if we rely on OUR power & influence. But if we trust Jesus’ promise that HE IS WITH US then we can accomplish what He told us.

Thankfully the first followers of Jesus began to do exactly what He commanded. Just as Jesus poured his life into His disciples over many days, weeks, months, & years, so His disciples poured their lives into others…all nations (ethne - many people groups) and generations.

In fact…this is the BIG TRUTH we learn today.

The heartbeat of God is the salvation of all nations & generations

As our Guys Group has been reading through Acts we have seen many different ethnicities trust Jesus as Messiah, an Ethiopian man from over 1000 miles away - likely with black skin; Simeon call Niger (a Latinism meaning “black”). Further, we have read about many Gentiles like Cornelius coming to trust Jesus, so that Jews who followed Jesus have to have a pow-wow to determine how this could be. Jesus had, just as He said, sent His disciples to develop disciples of ALL NATIONS.

This is the heartbeat of God, to make disciples of all nations, and over the next few minutes we are going to hear the pulse of God through the power of Scripture.

We start with God’s covenant to Abraham. God told Abraham to leave his land into go to another (Gen.12:1). He promised Abraham…

Genesis 26:4 I will make your offspring as numerous as the stars of the sky, I will give your offspring all these lands, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed by your offspring,

✴In the LXX (Greek translation of Hebrew Scriptures) nations is the Greek ethne, just as in the Great Commission - to make disciples of all ethne.

Hundreds of years later God spoke these words to Isaiah:

Isaiah 49:6 He [YaHWeH] says, “It is not enough for you to be my servant raising up the tribes of Jacob and restoring the protected ones of Israel. I will also make you a light for the nations, to be my salvation to the ends of the earth.”

Again, nations is ethnon (ἐθνῶν) coming from the same root word as Gen. 26:4 & Matt. 28:19-20. God is saying, “I’m going to forgive and restore Israel, but not for them to keep this to themselves, but so that she will be a light to other nations by carrying my salvation (deliverance) to them.”

The heartbeat of God is the salvation of all nations & generations

By Jesus’ day many of the Jews had become selfish & prideful. The religious leaders didn’t have their finger on the pulse of God. Instead of being a light to the other ethnos or nations, they had formed a holy huddle - a barrier - to other ethnicities who wanted to seek Yahweh, the One true God. We see this played out at God’s temple where it had become obvious that non-Jewish people of other nations weren’t very valuable. This infuriated Jesus and THAT’S why He started throwing tables & driving out people and animals with a whip. That happened in the place where Gentiles...other nations could gather.

Mark 11:17 He was teaching them: “Is it not written, My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations? But you have made it a den of thieves!”

While the primary mission of Jesus was to make disciples of Jewish people, He made it clear that He expected His disciples to develop disciples of all nations. After He rose from the dead he explained how the Old Testament Scriptures pointed to the worldwide mission of the Messiah [Christ].

Luke 24:45–47 Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. He also said to them, “This is what is written: The Messiah would suffer and rise from the dead the third day, and repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in his name to all the nations, beginning at Jerusalem.

And in the writing called Acts, we see that play out - as disciples take the message of Jesus from Jerusalem, to Judea, to Samaria, and all over the Roman Empire (Acts 1:8). It was clear that Jesus didn’t die to form a huddle of of Jewish people, but to save all nations. The 1st century Church understood that...

The heartbeat of God is the salvation of all nations & generations

They faced persecution & tough times to carry that message to others. Many of them, like us, had many different ethnicities (nations) in their own cities. So while many weren’t able to cross the sea, they could cross the street.

Further, leaders were to equip future GENERATIONS.

2 Timothy 2:2 What you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses,

Paul didn’t just teach Timothy what to BELIEVE, he showed Timothy how to BEHAVE. Paul had equipped Timothy to impact people Paul might not meet until heaven. Paul reminds Timothy that he must continue to pass the BATON. He was to…

commit to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.

That’s 4 generations of disciples that were committed to the salvation of all nations & generations! And less than 40 years after the death, burial, & resurrection of Jesus, the gospel message had spread throughout the known world! And despite the persecution they faced, all nations and generations would continue to be reached in the days to come!

In fact, the purpose of the last writing of the New Testament - Revelation - was a challenge and encouragement to the 7 churches who were going through difficult days & saw more on the horizon. Yet their faithfulness to develop disciples of all nations and generations would not end in failure.

Revelation 7:9–10 After this I looked, and there was a vast multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and language, which no one could number, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were clothed in white robes with palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: Salvation belongs to our God, who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!

This was a GREAT ENCOURAGEMENT to them, and should be to us! Now, 6000 miles & 2000 years removed - many ethnicities - including us - have been blessed by the truth of Jesus.

The heartbeat of God is the salvation of all nations & generations

And now we get to participate in His pulse.

Rather than becoming a holy huddle, we must develop disciples of

all nations - ‘red, & yellow, black & white’ they are precious in His sight. We must cross the street, cross state lines, & cross the oceans to share with other ethnicities. all generations - We should care/share with the oldest, the youngest, and everyone in between. We must pass the baton to the next generation and the next and the next.

Church Nursery Several years ago I drove to another church building to meet with several pastors. After the meeting I was exploring as I had never seen their building. The Fellowship Hall was new, bright, and clean. the worship center was older, but well kept, and going through some technology upgrades. But as I peered into the nursery was shocked by what I saw. The carpet was 30 years old. The walls were dark. And the toys looked like those that children would quickly give away. If I were visiting a church I would not leave my young children there. That musty, ragged, dark nursery silently screamed, “We aren’t prepared to take care of your babies.” (By the way... brand new room w/new carpet for infants in THIS building) Later that week I was really struggling with why Fellowship at not seen anyone surrender to Jesus in several months. Just then my mind drifted back to the nursery I had seen and it hit me: “Why would God bring us baby Christians when we aren’t prepared to take care of them?” Since then I have been convinced that we must get the spiritual nursery ready. And I wonder...I just wonder...how might God open the floodgates with people who need to know Jesus...when we prepare the Nursery… and share God’s heartbeat - the salvation of all nations & generations.

FEET2FAITH

In light of what you have heard today....will you?

Pray: Ask God to give you His heartbeat for the salvation of all nations & generations. Give: Give money to help carry the message of Jesus to others. We partner with multiple ministries across the globe from S America to Alaska; to Ethiopia to Cambodia. Beyond that, a percentage of everything you give to Fellowship goes to help fund missionaries in the US and overseas. Go to our Community & beyond. Help us develop disciples right here @ home, as we begin to open back up - you might volunteer to serve with our children, student, or adult ministries.