Following in the Footsteps

Following in the Footsteps

Matthew 28:19-20

Sermon Outline

Introduction

Bill Hybells, pastor of the Willow Creek megachurch recently confessed: “Some of the stuff that we have put millions of dollars into thinking it would really help our people grow and develop spiritually, when the data actually came back it wasn’t helping people that much. Other things that we didn’t put that much money into and didn’t put much staff against is stuff our people are crying out for. We made a mistake. What we should have done when people crossed the line of faith and become Christians, we should have started telling people and teaching people that they have to take responsibility to become ‘self feeders.’ We should have gotten people, taught people, how to read their bible between service, how to do the spiritual practices much more aggressively on their own.”

Recently, we too have been assessing how we are doing as a church in cultivating people in their spiritual development and how we plan to continue that process. So today we begin a three week series pertaining to a biblical philosophy of ministry. And that’s just a fancy way of saying how we carry out ministry according to God’s Word, the Bible. Though many have since departed from acknowledging the Word of God to be authoritative or sufficient in ministry, we strongly and unequivocally stand on its foundation and necessity for life and godliness. We recently organized a conference that many of you attended pertaining to Sola Scriptura. And there we learned and affirmed that we cannot be driven by empty philosophies and methods of man. We will continue to go straight to the source. We will stand exclusively on what we believe to be an accurate understanding of God’s inspired Word as our guide. For it is through the Bible that He continues to speak, continues to convict, continues to guide and counsel and rebuke. In fact 2 Timothy 3:16-17 speaks to that very fact when Paul asserts that “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching the truth, rebuking error, correcting faults, and giving instruction for right living, 17so that the person who serves God may be fully qualified and equipped to do every kind of good deed.”

As we grow in our understanding of Scripture, we believe that we can essentially boil down the expectations of the church to three major categories. And we have identified them as “Worship, Discipleship, and Evangelism.” This has served as the foundation for our discussions in Board, Leadership Team and Staff meetings. And we have communicated that these three elements need to be carried out both individually by our members and also corporately as a church.

Regarding worship, we want to ensure that while we are away from this building, we continue to be living sacrifices to our God – worshipping Him in study, prayer, in song. Romans 12:2 reminds us that we are to present our bodies as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to God, which is our spiritual worship. Regarding discipleship, we all need to be actively involved in learning and teaching others to obey Him, helping them to become fully devoted followers of Christ – disciples. Regarding evangelism, we all need to be actively sharing our faith and the good news of the Gospel with our neighbors, co-workers, friends, and family. Matthew 28 tells us that we are expected to make disciples of the nations – which includes proclaiming the gospel and leading them to maturity in Christ.

*Illus. –

The name Dawson Trotman, founder of the Navigators, will forever be associated with discipleship, because discipling others became the passion of his life. It happened like this. One day early in his ministry Dawson was driving along and he saw a young man walking down the street on his way to caddy at the golf course. Trotman often picked up hitchhikers, for it gave him a chance to witness.

The hitchhiker on this day swore as he got into the car; Dawson reached into his pocket for a gospel tract and handed it to him. The man glanced at the tract, then looked at Dawson and said, “Haven’t I seen you somewhere before?”

Dawson looked at him closely. As it turned out, the two men had met on the same road the previous year. Dawson had witnessed to him, led him to Christ, and had “sped on my merry way” confident that another soul had entered the kingdom.

But now, a year later, there was no more evidence of the new birth in this young man than if he had never heard the gospel.

“After I met this boy the second time on the way to the golf course, I began to go back and find some of my ‘converts.’ I want to tell you, I was sick at heart.”

Motivated by that experience, Dawson Trotman began working on follow-up, on developing ways of mentoring those whom he was winning to Christ.

“Before I had forgotten to follow up on the people God had reached through me,” he later said. “But from then on I began to spend time helping them.… You can lead a soul to Christ in anywhere from twenty minutes to a couple of hours. But it takes from twenty weeks to a couple of years to get him on the road to maturity.”

Throughout modern history, there has been a trend in evangelism strategies, evangelistic crusades, and church services to bring people to pray a simple prayer of confession and a request for forgiveness of sins so that Jesus can become one’s “personal Savior”. I believe that the church has done a tremendous disservice for the cause of the Kingdom by emphasizing this simple prayer mentality and deemphasizing the need of counting a cost. As you survey the gospels, it is clear that those whom Jesus called to be disciples had to count a cost before they followed. They left behind business and career, family and friends, and many even gave their lives. They forsook all to follow the One they considered the Messiah promised for thousands of years. They understood what it meant to follow after Christ. They understood “Discipleship”.   

And it is this morning, we are going to begin by looking at the area of Discipleship which, I believe is all about “Following in the Footsteps”.

Please turn with me to the Gospel of Matthew, chapter twenty-eight. Let’s read beginning with verse 1. READ TEXT.

In Matthew 28, Jesus is calling on his disciples to make more disciples. This text is often preached in the context of world missions. And indeed it is imperative that we emphasize the great need to go into all of the world. However, this is not merely a call to missions. Rather the primary command here is to make disciples. And this is required of all Christians, all disciples. Jesus commissions his disciples to carry on where he had left off. He was “passing the mantle”. In so doing, it is interesting that what he commanded them to do was not to go out and get as many people to say a sinner’s prayer as you can. 

So, if Jesus has commanded us to make disciples, we should know what a disciple is. So what I attempt to do in these next few moments is just take a brief glimpse at what it looks like to be a disciple. I’m merely going to highlight a few characteristics. And our text here gives us a couple of them.

My first point this morning is Be a Disciple.

Before we can personalize this command, we have to ensure that we are a disciple of Christ. Jesus is speaking here to his disciples. And we need to realize that there is no sense making what we are not. We are not able. If we do not know Christ, we do not know what a disciple looks like.

First, a disciple of Jesus Christ confesses him as Savior and Lord through faith in him. This confession comes in the form of baptism. Baptism was a public declaration of an inward faith. And this is the first step and an act of obedience. It is a way of declaring whose team you are on. And through immersion, also communicates the death, burial, resurrection of Christ. And it communicates our death to self and new life in Jesus Christ.  

Second, a disciple is one who obeys all that is commanded them. There must be a translation from belief to behavior. If your behavior hasn’t changed since you prayed a sinner’s prayer, you need to reassess your state before God. Notice Jesus did not command his disciples to lead people in a sinner’s prayer or even to make “believers” or “converts”. He called them to make disciples who would obey his commands. A disciple is one who follows in obedience. A disciple is active in his faith. You cannot be a Christian and not a disciple. Dietrich Bonhoeffer has stated that “Christianity without discipleship is Christianity without Christ.”

            Let’s peruse some other New Testament texts to see what it means to follow after Christ. Turn with me to Luke 14:25ff. (Matthew 10:37 states it like this, “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.”) Verse 26 tells us that a disciple must love Christ more than anyone or anything else – including his own life. In Matthew 10, he expounds on that by saying that “Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” It is only in surrendering our lives to Christ, that we gain life.

            Then Luke likens discipleship to cross-carrying. One commentary helps us out: “When the Roman Empire crucified a criminal or captive, the victim was often forced to carry his cross part of the way to the crucifixion site. Carrying his cross through the heart of the city was supposed to be a tacit admission that the Roman Empire was correct in the sentence of death imposed on him, an admission that Rome was right and he was wrong. So when Jesus enjoined His followers to carry their crosses and follow Him, He was referring to a public display before others that Jesus was right and that the disciples were following Him even to their deaths.” 

            In verse 33, Luke records Jesus’ words when he says that “any one of you that does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.” There cannot be anything that we would not forfeit for the cause of Jesus Christ. We must surrender all to Him. Our tendency is to think that when we give Him most, we are doing pretty good. 

I believe it was Karl Neufeld who challenged us men to ensure that we were not cheating on God – that we were not withholding any area of our lives in submission to Him. He indicated that if we haven’t given ourselves entirely, we are committing adultery and practicing idolatry. Now we may feel good that we have given God the vast majority of our lives, maybe even 80%. “God, we are giving you the BIG portion of our lives!” According to that logic, we could encourage our wives by telling them that though we may be involved some other women, we have chosen to give them most of our time and most of our love. Jesus says he wants it all! He is worthy. There is nothing better. And through it, we gain life.

Matthew 16:24 adds, “Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. 26 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?” Galatians 2:20 states, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” Colossians 3:3 says, “For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” Are you sensing a theme here? It’s not about you. It’s not about me. It is only in surrendering our lives to Christ that we really live!

            In presenting the “gospel”, many people will present merely the benefits of Christianity and leave out the high calling of discipleship. Some may tell you that Christianity is about attaining material wealth, or fame, or health. That God only wants what’s best for you – and fail to mention that godliness is what is truly best for us. Others may rightly mention that there is peace, comfort, happiness and joy in Jesus Christ and perhaps fail to mention the suffering, temptation, and total commitment to him.

We will talk more about the Gospel next week. But look back at Luke 14 with me – beginning with verse 28. “For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? 29 Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, 30 saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ 31 Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand?” There is a cost to be counted. When we share the Gospel, we need to be clear in what it means to be a Christian. Is there joy, peace, comfort in knowing Christ? Absolutely! But isn’t there also suffering, cross-carrying, self-denying, temptations that are also included? Let’s not mislead people into Christianity.

Not only are we to be disciples, we are to Make Disciples.

We’ve already read that Jesus commanded us to make disciples. We are to baptize them and to teach them to obey God’s Word. How do we do that? I would suggest that it is done the same way that Jesus did it. He began by calling the disciples to a high level of commitment – counting the cost. He then spent three years with a select group of men. He taught them how to apply biblical truth to life and ministry to others. He would teach them and then show them. They spent countless hours walking, talking, sleeping, and praying together. He taught them. He taught them how to pray, how to interpret Scripture, how to heal, how to bring glory to God the Father. He modeled it. He modeled compassion, forgiveness, suffering, submission, obedience, authenticity. Jesus taught them how to make disciples

            We also see the Apostle Paul constantly bringing someone else along with him as he ministered to the churches he planted. He modeled biblical ministry to Timothy. In his second letter to Timothy he writes, “You, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, 11 my persecutions and sufferings that happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra—which persecutions I endured; He then discipled him into the pastorate at the church at Ephesus. 2 Timothy 2:2 says, “You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, 2 and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.

            It is not only important that we individually disciple others. We need to be intentional as a church body to do the same. Listen to the words of John MacArthur: “The church is not an arena where a professional minister is cheered on by lay people who are nothing more than spectators. The church should be discipling and training Christians for ministry. Church members, not just staff, are supposed to be ministering. That is the point of Ephesians 4:11, 12. Apostles, prophets, evangelists, and pastor-teachers are given to equip the saints to do the work of ministry.

All of this results from discipleship. Discipleship is the ministry of developing deeply spiritual friendships focused on teaching biblical truth, applying Scripture to life, and thus learning to solve problems biblically. It must be reinforced by a godly example, not just delivered as a set of academic precepts. Therefore, discipleship involves time and personal involvement with people. Jesus’ earthly ministry to His own disciples is the biblical model. The church must provide an environment that encourages that kind of discipleship at every level, from the pastor to the newest convert.”

That is what we are attempting to do. We desire that every member be in a discipling relationship and that every ministry is intentional with training leaders. We have asked our leadership team to be active in the process of training the next teachers, small group leaders, preachers, youth workers, etc.

When we observe the life and ministry of Christ, we notice the different settings in which he taught. He spoke to multitudes, to the twelve disciples, and to the more intimate three of Peter, James, and John. That is easy transferable into the life of the church. We continue to preach and teach the Word corporately in these larger settings. We also continue to invest in our small groups which closely resemble the level of intimacy that the twelve disciples likely enjoyed. Then we also see the value of deeply intimate relationships where we can be more precise and intentional in sharpening one another – as in accountability partnerships.

If we were all involved in each of these three areas, I believe that we would be better connected and united. When we allow others to invest in our lives in these settings, we are more accountable in our walk with Christ and we are encouraged to pursue godliness.

Application

1. Follow Christ
1. Ensure that you have surrendered all, that you have died and your life is hidden in Him, that you have denied yourself and taken up your cross to follow the Lord Jesus Christ
2. Follow “Paul”
1. Latch on to someone more spiritually than yourself
2. Watch them. See how they live their lives biblically. Watch the translation from belief to behavior. How do they parent biblically? How do they carry out their roles in marriage biblically? How do they conduct themselves at the workplace? At Extra Foods? And dare I say it, at the hockey game?

“Timothy” Following

1. Find someone else that may be a new believer and show them the same things.
2. Show them how to read and study God’s Word. Show them how to pray, to make the pursuit of holiness the ultimate priority.
3. If you have children, you have “Timothys”. And these are your primary disciples because they watch and follow you daily to see how you translate biblical truth to life. And the extent and consistency to which you do so communicates even more powerfully your view of the Word of God.

Benediction – “One must love Him more than anyone or anything else in life. There can be no competing affections. There can be no competing allegiances. Jesus Christ must be number one in your life or you cannot get in line and follow after Christ.” - Steve Lawson