Building Disciples: Part 2

Intro:

In 1800s, a group of missionaries were sent to the South Pacific. Some of the first missionaries sent didn’t survive but were eaten by the cannibals. But missionaries continue to be willing to go and were sent.

John G Patton missionary to New Hebrides Islands recounts years later after effective gospel ministry there among the island people.

“Recall . . . what the Gospel has done for the near kindred of these same Aborigines. On our own Aneityum, 3,500 Cannibals have been led to renounce their heathenism . . . In Fiji, 79,000 Cannibals have been brought under the influence of the Gospel; and 13,000 members of the Churches are professing to live and work for Jesus. In Samoa, 34,000 Cannibals have professed Christianity; and in nineteen years, its College has sent forth 206 Native teachers and evangelists. On our New Hebrides, more than 12,000 Cannibals have been brought to sit at the feet of Christ, though I mean not to say that they are all model Christians; and 133 of the Natives have been trained and sent forth as teachers and preachers of the Gospel. (p. 265)”

Review:

I. The Disciple’s Transformation

A. Known By The Lord

B. Called By the Lord

1. A Leaving Lifestyle

2. A Learning Lifestyle

3. A Loving Lifestyle

The third aspect of our calling is a loving lifestlye. The transformation of the heart of the disciple transitions from hate/selfishness to a lifestyle of love/ self-sacrifice. To be transformed by the love of God means that God’s love is birthed within us. As Christ as come to show us the ultimate expression of love, so we also will display love towards God and towards other people. Jesus reverses the effect of the curse in Gen 3. In Genesis 3 after the rebellion, there was opposition between God and man and man and woman. Salvation in Jesus name reverses such a curse so that we can now once again love God and love our neighbor as Jesus stated in the gospel.

1 John 5:1–3 “1 Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and whoever loves the Father loves the child born of Him. 2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and observe His commandments. 3 For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome.”

a. Love God (character and revelation and glory)

To be transformed into a disciple of Jesus Christ means that we love God. To Love God is not a means to an end but a priviledge to express a passion towards God for all that He loves. That which God loves, we also love.

The chiefest of that love is for God’s own glory. Consider the verses in the Old and New testament which tell us that we are love God with ALL our hearts, with ALL our soul, with ALL our mind, and with All our strength.

Thomas Watson comments on Love for God when he writes

“Love is an expansion of soul, or the inflaming of the affections, by which a Christian breathes after God as the supreme and sovereign good. Love is to the soul as the weights to the clock, it sets the soul a-going towards God, as the wings by which we fly to heaven. By love we cleave to God, as the needle to the loadstone.” (Thomas Watson. All Things for Good (Function). )

Watson goes on to say that the aspects or kinds of love that we express towards God are:

Appreciation- “We so esteem God, as that if we have Him, we do not care though we lack all other things.”

Delight- “The soul that loves God, rejoices in Him as in his treasure—and rests in Him as his center.

Reverence- “This is to love God—when we are well-wishers. We desire that His interest may prevail. Our desire and prayer is that His name may be had in honor; that His gospel. which is the rod of His strength, may, like Aaron's rod—blossom and bring forth fruit!”

To love God according to these helpful definitions is to appreciate, delight in, and revere the character and majesty of God that is communicated in his word. To love God means that we love His word as the foundation of his revelation to man. John then says that to love God requires us to obey (love) his word(3)

1 John 5:3 “3 For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome.”

Before John said this, Jesus our Lord said to his disciples

John 14:21 “21 “He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him.””

All disciples of Jesus must love the things which God loves and similarly, we will hate that which God hates. God hates rebellious acts against his holy name. By God’s grace, the disciples sees the continual progression of attitude and action whereby he hates more and more the sin of the world as he grows more and more to love the things of God.

b. Love God’s People (the church)

Secondly, John states that the disciple of Jesus is one who loves those born spiritually of the Father. This is spiritual birth that John to referring to.

1 John 5:1–2 “1 Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and whoever loves the Father loves the child born of Him. 2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and observe His commandments.”

It is inconsistent or disobedient for the person who claims to love God with all their heart, soul, mind and strength, to not show a love for those in the church. This includes those disciples who come from different backgrounds, those who hold different views on second and third tier issues, those who speak different languages. To love God means to love all who the Lord has brought into the spiritual family of God, united in Christ.

That love towards others is reflected in 1 Corinthians 13:4–7 “4 Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, 5 does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, 6 does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”

The call to love those in the church is a call to lay down our own wants in order to serve others needs. We are to seek the good of others, to care for their hurts, to be patient in their sin, to be gentle in disagreements, and to be sacrificial with our gifts towards them. In light of the grace and love of God manifested to us, we can love one another rightly when we see just how much of God’s grace is needed in our own lives, we surely can surely relate to their need for grace as well.

Of course to love those in the church also means that we love the church as a whole. We love the bride and we are excited for the belonging to the bride of Christ. Disciples look at the church as a haven of belonging by God’s grace and a center to all of life’s worship of God. The worship of God in the church occurs at the beginning of the week as a means to send us out into the world each week with a focus and intention to display the love of God to the world and to proclaim the focus of that love, the Lord Jesus coming to die so sinners can receive reconciliation with God.

c. Love God’s Goal (Local and Global Disciple-making)

John 3:16–18 ““For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. “For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. “He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”

Our last component of a Loving Lifestyle is that we love God to the degree that we love his mission, his goal of bringing his supreme glory to cover the earth. This occurs on the earth now through the work of the church until Christ comes again. The church reflects the glory of God by being his representatives in the world, loving all men in order that they may come to hear the good news of Jesus Christ and be saved. Just as Jesus said his word should not be burdensome, we could also imply that his great commission to make disciples should not be burdensome, since it comes from his word.

The great commission that the Lord gives the disciples is not another thing to do in their new lives in Christ. Since we love God and we they love Christ, then this task is not burdensome. Secondly, this task is the foundation of all others tasks. Their list is not: work hard, clean your house, make disicples of all nations. Instead, the command is more than a task…it’s a worldview change. How do you see your job integrating with the mission of God? How does your parenting sync with the mission of God? Do you Think missionally with your hobbies, your community involvement, your goals in life.

Disciples of Jesus Christ love the mission of God because he has changed their heart to see the purpose of making disciples and to see their part in making disciples.

4. A Leading Lifestyle

Now for many in the church, a leaving lifestyle, a learning lifestyle and a loving lifestyle is an understood responsibility of the Christian life. But many fall short of being obedient to this last point…we are called to be leaders. Leaders come in different shapes and sizes but they all play a part as leaders in the church. Philip didn’t write any canonical gospel, but he was a faithful evangelist. Timothy wasn’t an apostle but he helped lead the church at Ephesus faithfully. Phoebe wasn’t a preacher but she displayed such faith that Paul acknowledge her faithfulness in the church. If you read Romans 16, there is such a long list of a variety of people who lead others in gospel ministry in one form or another.

In the same way, the Lord wants our spiritual lives to include leading others in discipleship. The Lord’s growth chart of the Christian life includes leading others in the path of leaving, learning, loving and leading. This reproducibility is the pattern of discple-making that Jesus displayed and commanded for his people.

Now after some time of training the 12 disciples, Jesus send them out so that those learners can now be leaders. Turn with me to Luke 9

Luke 9:1–6 “1 And He called the twelve together, and gave them power and authority over all the demons and to heal diseases. 2 And He sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to perform healing. 3 And He said to them, “Take nothing for your journey, neither a staff, nor a bag, nor bread, nor money; and do not even have two tunics apiece. 4 “Whatever house you enter, stay there until you leave that city. 5 “And as for those who do not receive you, as you go out from that city, shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.” 6 Departing, they began going throughout the villages, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.”

a. Equipped By the Lord

Now Jesus displays his complete sovereignty as he lays this mission before the disciples. He will be the one to give them authority over diseases, and demons. This power was to display the kingdom of God coming in the person of Jesus Christ and manifesting his power over evil. They did not have this power in themselves but the Lord Jesus gave it to them.

He also sent them out with the bare essentials. There were not to stockpile supplies for the Lord wanted them to learn that he will supply their needs by his providence. He will direct them to homes in each city where the Lord will prepare hospitable people who would feed, clothe and give lodging. It wasn’t that their Master was trying to teach them to live a life of poverty, but to trust in his provision and to build their faith. ‘Finally, those homes that received them most likely also had people whose hearts were cultivated to hear the gospel and believe. Those that rejected the message, the disciples were not to fret but to shake the dust off their feet. This was a message to push forward in faithfulness and not allow rejection to put a wet blanket on their gospel faithfulness.

If we are going to make disciples faithfully, We must know and understand that we have been blessed abundantly by Christ and so we have much to give to others a portion of our blessing. We have been given provisions to live by and our heart must be to share a portion of those provisions with people in need. Likewise, we have given the truth of the Scriptures and the illumination by the Holy Spirit to understand this truth and so we must share that with others. Our responsibility to lead is one that rests on the Lord Jesus giving us courage, giving us wisdom, giving us opportunity to build disciples with others.

The greatest moment in the lives of these disciples in relationship to the Great Commission is when Jesus promised them the coming of the Holy Spirit.

Acts 1:8–9 “8 but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”

He gave the Holy Spirit to these new disciples just as he gives to us today. He directed the disciples to go to places locally, regionally and nationally to proclaim the kingdom and he will do the same for us today. With this same commission and these same opportunities to meet these new potential disciples, we must show faithfulness in proclaiming the good news.

With the promise of the Holy Spirit, we can have every confidence that the Lord will use us mightily to accomplish disciple-making, which terrifies us, which inconveniences us, but that which glorifies the Lord who has equipped us for His mission.

b. Sent By the Lord

One final point about Luke 9 and Acts 1:8 and Matthew 28:19-20. We should count it a joy and privilege that the Lord would send us out as his representatives. What a great honor that the Lord would use us as his ambassadors to represent and declare his great name.

Look with me at 2 Cor 5.

2 Corinthians 5:17–21 “17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. 18 Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, 19 namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

We cannot divide the transformation by the Lord Jesus from his calling us to be ambassadors for his great name and kingdom. Our calling to salvation comes with it a repurposing of our lives to expand the kingdom of God through disciple-making.

In Christ, you are called to leave the world behind, learn the truths of Christ in his word, love all that God loves, and lead others to become disciples of Jesus Christ.

II. The Disciple’s Mission

With the goal now set before us, let’s look at the Great Commission verses so that we can very practically consider how to accomplish the task set before us.

Matthew 28:19–20 NASB95

19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

A. Lifestyle Mission

GOING: As you are going … make disciples

The clarity of this command is the structure of the sentence. Make disciples is verbal emphasis here with the phrase “go” actually translated more clearly, “as you are going.” The disciples were to make disciples on the way. They traveled from city to city proclaiming the gospel and those who responded by faith, they discipled and started churches.

This sounds more like the missionary lifestyle than the typical Bill and Sue who comes to church each week and lives their lives in service to the Lord. Bill and Sue have been given the same commission even if they don’t travel city to city. They are missionaries in a small region, a local place. Yet while they are going, they understand the need to proclaim the gospel and then help those who follow Christ to grow in their learning and understanding of God’s word. Bill and Sue make a priority of seeing new believers become reproducing disciples, even in a small town or a big city church.

As you refocus your prioritizes, look for those around you who you can help make into new disciples or reproducing disciples. Some in the church are saved and secure in Christ, but the mission of God is not their priority. You can help them. Get together, study the gospels together, do a book study on gospel mission in everyday life.

There are also those who do not know Christ. You see them on your daily trip to the coffee place. You know their name and you always have cordial small talk with them. Pray for them and ask the Lord to give you an opportunity to grow that relationship into a gospel conversation. We have to be wise and strategic as Jesus said to his disciples when he told them,

Matthew 10:16 “16 “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves.”

Sharing Christ in some areas brings hostility towards Christianity. This requires a different type of wisdom and shrewdness than other more free areas like the US. But nonetheless, proclaiming the gospel requires us to ask: HOW CAN I USE MY TIME FOR EFFECTIVELY WITH MY WITNESS?

This means that if you are a young mom, it may be inviting another unbelieving young mother to the park so that as the kids play, you share Christ with them. In that you identify her, pray for her openness, invite her, and then share Christ. Or you can just how up to a park and try and spark a conversation with a stranger. Both scenarios are still providential encounters set up by the Lord. Now apply these same truths to sports teams, gym memberships, employee fellowships and be faithful on mission.

“…of all nations”

The scope of this mission starts locally but extends to global mission. If you have the capacity to go on global mission, you should go. It will radically grow your understanding of lostness, well beyond the news headlines and social media that you see on a screen. That is sterile information that does not compare to hearing the loud speaker in an Indian city blaring muslim evening prayers. That screams how a city full of people need Jesus as Lord and Savior.

Some cannot go but they can give financially and they can pray strategically for the global mission that goes out from the churches. Do you pray regularly for Casey and Guily, for the Lord to flourish their ministry, to bless their family, to grant them the resources they need. You may never step foot in the Matses area but your prayer and gifts are effective ways to serve.

B. Kingdom Mission

The second areas in building disciples is we must see to it they are faithful in the ordinance of baptism as entrance into the local church.

Baptizing: “baptizing in the name of the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit”

As we teach and believe here at RCC, baptism and church membership are inseparable components of the Christian life. If you are baptized to represent a new life in Christ, then baptism symbolizes a new life united in Christ with other local believers. Therefore, we can understand Jesus’ commands that making disciples includes leading them to join with a local church and following through with believers baptism as a public declaration of their faith in Christ.

I am reminded about my former youth pastor who has saved out of the slums of Chicago. Christianity came to him in the woods where he was smoking weed. A young woman shared the gospel with him and repented and believed. But he didn’t know anything about a church. He had no idea where Christians congregated. Seems hard to believe but people need to be guided to fellowship and membership in the local body of believers.

Teaching:

Not only does the church bring in new disciples, but the primary component of shepherding new disciples is teaching them. Of course this highlights the pulpit ministry as the primary means of discipleship but not the only form of teaching. There is also a need for smaller groups where teaching can occur in peer groups for students, for men and women, and with individuals one on one as well.

Paul tells the church

2 Timothy 2:2 “2 The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.”

Titus 2:3–4 “3 Older women likewise are to be reverent in their behavior, not malicious gossips nor enslaved to much wine, teaching what is good, 4 so that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children,”

In these verses, it is the church committed to investing in younger generations so that as a community we are engaged in helping one another grow in wisdom and understanding. Discipleship should not be a program to be followed as much as an organic movement day by day in the life of the church, from immaturity and disobedience to a maturity and obedience to the Lord’s commands.

C. Guaranteed Mission

Guanteed Success:

I think Jesus commands to his disciples in Matthew 28 is bookmarkd with a guarantee:

Matthew 28:18 “18 And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.”

Matthew 28:20 “ and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.””

John Piper states in book Holy Ambition,

A Holy Ambition: To Preach Where Christ Has Not Been Named 10. The Mission Will Succeed

The global cause of Christ cannot fail, and nothing you do in this cause is in vain…He has ransomed a people for all the nations. And he will have them.

The cause of Christ and the disciple-making efforts in history will prevail over evil and will rescue the blind, grant new sight, because Jesus is Lord. He rules and therefore his kingdom will not be thwarted because his plans cannot fail. He states elsewhere,

Matthew 24:14 NASB95

14 “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.

The Lord promises with our faithfulness that the gospel will flourish. We may not always see the measure of the fruit that is gathered from that harvest but we can know that the Lord will use us if we are faithful.

William Carey, missionary to India in 1793, gathered together with friends before his journey. One such friend was Andrew Fuller, great Baptist preacher and theologian. Carey’s purpose was to gather support before his mission journey to the unreached peoples of India.

Carey was quoted as saying to Fuller and friends,

“I will go down into the pit, if you will hold the rope.” Fuller responded, “I will most certainly hold the rope.”

Carey was envisioning the mission to unreached india like he was descending into a deep mine but needed help by those up top, holding the rope. Fuller was committed to partner with Carey in the missionary effort. This quote has become like a battlecry for the church to realize our partnership in making disciples of all nations.

Some may go far into unreached places and some may simply go next door. Will you hold the rope as partners in the global effort to make disciples? This may mean you sell all your possessions and take up the call to be missionaries on a foreign context. This may mean you will simply be strategic in making disciples were you dwell now.

Regarless, will you be faithful to make disciples of all nations?