Discipleship

Matthew 28:18–20 KJV 1900

And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

Why Is Discipleship Biblical?

Many of us make the excuse of “I am not good enough to do the work of Christ”

Using words like “that’s just not me” or “God didn’t call me to that”

Though their is certainly things that God may or may not call you to the discussion for today is one in which all believers are called to.

The Biblical truth of discipleship is found in one of Jesus’s first acts of ministry as he called his first disciples into ministry.…

Matthew 4:18–22 KJV 1900

And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers. And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. And they straightway left their nets, and followed him. And going on from thence, he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and he called them. And they immediately left the ship and their father, and followed him.

You see the truth of these scriptures is that Jesus himself called everyday men into discipleship.

There one quality of this scripture we need to particularly notice.

as already mentioned, Jesus called everyday guys into discipleship.

Fishermen who spent their time making a humble days wages.

They weren’t well trained individuals in sharing the Gospel.

But Jesus didn’t need well trained individuals he needed a sponge who was willing to soak up his teachings.

He needed someone who was willing to love him and learn from him.

Jesus’s call to discipleship is Biblical because it is the model he followed himself

This then brings the question....

What is Discipleship?

But what they did next is what defines them as a disciple.

In verse 22 scripture teaches us that they immediately went.

What is discipleship, simply obedience to be a learner of the gospel….

A Disciple is a learner of Jesus

In fact, the very definition of the word disciple used in the Great Commission is simply “a learner”

So to call disciples to the gospel is to call learners of God’s story.

This is a humbling call.

It teaches us that what is right in the eyes of man is not always right in the eyes of God.

It teaches us that the worlds definition of success isn’t his definition.

Jesus could have by the worlds standards called the most spiritually elite.

The world saw the Sadducees and Pharisees as spiritual juggernauts.

The ones who were elite when it came to the spiritual ways of the world.

What we learn through this most of all is that Jesus calling these men who were just everyday men meant that....

Jesus calling Disciples was not a call for them to be spiritually superior.

He didn’t expect Peter, Andrew, James, John or any of the other disciples to be spiritually elite.

He desired for them to be learners of his.

To have a deep desire to know Him and to see others know Him.

To desire to walk with him personally and faithfully.

This call was a humbling call to be a learner of the faith.

It wasn’t a call to spiritual supremacy.

It wasn’t a call that would have the disciples standing above the rest.

All it was was the humble call of a Jesus follower.

but you know what? that humble calling is the greatest calling to ever be.

To be a disciple of the most high King may not cause a sudden display of worldly success.

But, it will display the calling of one who wants to be known by God.

This brings us to a crossroads.

You see there are aspects we must remember today.

Let’s address this simple truth first...

We Should Disciple

It’s that simple.

When you and I made the decision to follow Jesus this calling became a part of our inner being.

But here is the thing.

Many Christians fall short here.

A calling to disciple another is not a lazy one.

It is not even one where we can simply tell of Jesus then move on....

The call to make disciples is the call to teach all, not a little. (v.20)

according to these scriptures we aren’t to only teach a little of Jesus’s commandments but all.

For the christian here this means that we are pouring into the lives of those around us.

Teaching them all that our Lord has commanded of us.

Sharing all that we have learned through scripture.

why do we do this?

You see we aren’t trying to create people who simply believe in the existence of a superior being.

We are trying to create disciples.

We are trying to see the holy Ghost transform peoples lives in to real life everyday Jesus followers.

We are trying to see learners of the Savior not neglectors of the word.

We are seeking to see lives transformed and the Gospel reach the nations through the disciples made.

So brothers and sisters are you here today to make disciples or simple to convince people that God exists their is a big difference.

The saducees and Pharisees believed God existed but they didn’t know how to follow him.

in this simple truth we begin to see plainly....

The Great Commission asks us to create more disciples (learners) of Jesus.

We can continue to sit here. wasting our time.

But friends who are you discipling today.

Who do you find yourself going to and teaching all that our Lord has commanded.

We can seek the Great Commission all day but if we fail to disciple it won’t manner.

We will create more people that believe in a higher power but don’t know how to live for Him.

Their is another scriptural expectation for all who live.

We do disciple others...

While Being a Disciple

The most important aspect of any of this is that we must be a disciple.

There are many people here today, both those who find themselves following Jesus currently and those who do not.

You see manmy people can convince themselves of many false hopes.

a few of those may be like this.

“I believe in God and I am a good person so I will be in heaven”

“My daddy/granddaddy was a deacon and im always in church”

and let’s not forget the always so popular

“God wouldn’t send good people to Hell”

Here is the simple truth....

One can believe in the existence of God without the desire to be a learner of him.

The scariest part about this is their is a lot of people that feel secure and safe in the hopes we have just listed.

They think they are ok.

They think they are going to heaven.

the modern day disciple has failed today.

We ahve chosen not to disciple, so therefor we have raised a group of people who have been given a false hope.

Many times if Jesus’s disciples would teach all, not just a little these situations could be avoided.

No matter how much one may think they have no need to follow Jesus or be born again the truth is not so lien-ant...

You can go to hell and still believe in Jesus if you have not been made a disciple of his.

You must be made new, you must seek to follow Him and walk with him.

our calling is not a calling of good works or spiritual supremacy but rather a calling to humility and grace.

Our calling is one of grace and mercy.

One where Jesus came to the earth, lived a perfect sinless life, died on the cross of Calvary and rose again on the third day.

He called us to simply love and follow him with all of ourselves.

To be a learner of His and seek to live the way he lived even though he knew wed fail.

And you see, here is the thing with being disciple......

Being a disciple never really stops, we know that we may never reach Jesus therefor the call to discipleship is a lifelong one.

No matter how long we may try and how much we may put into it the pinnacle in which case is Jesus Christ is unattainable by us.

So once you have been saved there is not end to being a disciple.

We never suddenly learn all that we feel we need to.

Instead being a disciple will last the test of time