Christ's Disciple, are you one?
Just a closer walk with thee series • Sermon • Submitted
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· 6 viewsDiscipleship, defined, marked, cost and how to become one
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Just a closer walk with thee. . .
Just a closer walk with thee. . .
You know the song, we just sang the song, we all have that desire to have a closer walk with Jesus. We want to be disciples of Jesus Christ and today we are starting a new series that will look at a closer walk with Christ and service to Christ as a disciple of Christ.
This morning we are going to be looking at discipleship and may we start with (Mt28:18-20)
18 And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 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.”
18 And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 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,
Words of authority, words of direction, words of promise
20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
Impact of the words (Mk16:19-20)
The ascension and follow through as disciples (Mk16:19-20)
19 So then, when the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. 20 And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them, and confirmed the word by the signs that followed. And they promptly reported all these instructions to Peter and his companions. And after that, Jesus Himself sent out through them from east to west the sacred and imperishable proclamation of eternal salvation.
The Matthew passage and even the parallel in Mk16:15-16 are commonly known as the great commission. The command is pretty simple
(Go make disciples picture)
Go, or in the real translation in the Greek the definition of this is “as you are going” meaning it is something that is already going on. So as we are going
Make disciples, make disciples in all places, of all people
As you go, as you make disciples, baptize them
as you go, making disciples, baptizing them, teach them
and then know He will be with you always
Expand on why we need the assurance Jesus will be with them, and in turn us, always.
The question now stands before us: - - - - - - - change slide now, important! ! !
(Are you a disciple of Jesus picture)
We all believe in Jesus, we all call Him Lord and Savior
We are sitting in the assembly today, most make it a habit to do such
But does that make you a disciple of Jesus?
Our study this morning, our lesson this morning, our challenge this morning it to look at what does it entail to be a disciple of Jesus, not a claimed disciple, but a true disciple as it shows in the scripture.
Definition of Disciple
Definition of Disciple
When you think of the word disciple, what do you think of? May we look at a few things to help us define disciple so then we can look at what a true disciple of Jesus looks like.
(Disciple defined picture inserted here)
Disciple
The word disciple is used 269 times in the New Testament. The Greek word is “Mathetes”
A learner, a pupil
Follower of a teacher
Imitator of their teacher
now according to Vines bible dictionary it says “one who follows another’s teaching” - - - so a disciple is not only a learner, but someone who follows the teaching by application, so an imitator.
What do you think the purpose, the goal of being a disciple or of discipleship is?
Goal of being a disciple
To be like the teacher (Lk6:40)
Jesus himself said what the goal is
40 “A pupil is not above his teacher; but everyone, after he has been fully trained, will be like his teacher.
To be conformed to the Son (Rom8:29)
So what does fully trained look like? Check out Rom8:29
29 For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;
Conformed to the image of His Son!
So, are you Christ’s disciple? Is your desire to follow Jesus and become like Him?
Are you a marked man, or woman? Marked with the marks of a disciple?
Marked men
Marked men
As a disciple of Christ, there are certain markings, characteristics that are seen, shown, some are internal, some are seen externally too, so, may we look at some of the marks of a true disciple.
Knows and abides in the truth and is free (Jn8:31-32)
31 So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”
So our first mark is knows and abides in the truth. So to know something what must we do, seek it, learn about it, then apply it. So this is someone who is diligent study of the Word, then takes the Word and applies it, and that brings in the next mark.
Does the Fathers will; is a doer of the Word (Mt7:21-27; Jm1:21-25)
In Mt7:21-27 is a great section, outside of Jam1:21-25 that speaks of being a doer. I was only going to give a verse but maybe take a minute for the passage. For the results for the disciple are great, for the one who is not, well, not so much.
21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. 22 “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’
23 “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’ 24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock.
25 “And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock.
25 “And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. 26 “Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.
26 “Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 “The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and great was its fall.”
27 “The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and great was its fall.”
A true disciple will study the bible diligently
A true disciple looks for opportunities to share the word with others (be a good disciple invite people to come to know Your Jesus, Your Teacher, Your Redeemer through His Word!
Next mark of a disciple
One who loves the brethren (Jn13:34-35; Jn15:13; Act2:44-45)
34 “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35 “By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
So, how did Jesus love here? He had just washed the disciples feet (Jn13:1-12) He then told them to do the same (Jn13:14-15) follow his example, he then identified his betrayer (Jn13: 18-30) and then came the commandment we just read and is on the screen now.
We are called to follow the pattern, the example that Jesus gave in love.
We are called to have a love that is visible to the world
Love is to be displayed as Christ displayed His love for us and laid down His life look what more he tells us (Jn15:13)
13 “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.
We no longer live for ourselves, we died, we rose to walk in newness of life to live for Christ, to follow his example, we lay down our lives for our brethren.
So a true disciple gets to know his brethren
A true disciple loves his brethren in the good and hard times
A true disciple wants to be like the teacher and is willing to do as the teacher did, lay down life, be willing to sacrifice time, resources, etc. for brethren. Makes me think about Act2:44-45.
44 And all those who had believed were together and had all things in common; 45 and they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need.
Jesus was willing to lay down his life, to sacrifice
One who bears much fruit (Jn15:8, 15:5; Mt5:16; Col3:17: Jn15:1-2)
Jesus is speaking, teaching about being bearing, as proof of your discipleship, check this out
8 “My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.
Bearing much fruit glorifies the Father and proves you are Jesus disciple
5 “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.
You bear fruit when you stay connected to Him, to the vine, for without Him, we can do nothing.
16 “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.
When we bear much fruit, it comes from a heart of service, of good works, a habit of good works glorifies the Father.
When we don’t bear much fruit we do not prove we are Jesus disciple and we can be severed, cut off from Christ and how can we be a disciple if we are cut off?
1 “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. 2 “Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit.
Jn15
Sometimes we may be pruned so we will bear more fruit, the pruning maybe uncomfortable but the results will be beautiful and proof of discipleship.
A true disciple of Christ comes with commitment to Christ, commitment to:
The teachings of Christ
The love of the brethren and
Bearing fruit to the glory of God
Discipleship, being a disciple comes with a cost, and that cost needs to be considered when you are evaluating “Am I a true disciple of Jesus Christ?” (Lk14:25-33)
You need to put Christ first, before everything and everyone (vv.25-26)
You need to bear your cross or you cannot be His disciple (v.27)
Count the cost of discipleship (vv.28-32)
and that brings us to that final verse
33 So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.
Now let’s look more at the cost.
Cost of being a disciple
Cost of being a disciple
Being a disciple of Christ comes with commitment but it comes with the power to perform too.God gives us what we need to accomplish His will, but first look at the cost for a few minutes.
Jesus must come first (Lk14:26; Mt10:34-37; Lk9:23-25)
34 “Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 “For I came to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;
36 and a man’s enemies will be the members of his household. 37 “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.
when we couple Matthew with think you see the strong language that Jesus uses the importance, in fact command that the cost is high, hard, not easy.
23 And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me. 24 “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it. 25 “For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world, and loses or forfeits himself?
Our willingness to pick up our cross, burden, willingness to suffer for Christ (Lk9:23-25; Lk14:27; 2Tim3:12; Jn16:33)
Our willingness to pick up our cross, burden, willingness to suffer for Christ (Lk9:23-25; Lk14:27; 2Tim3:12)
23 And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me. 24 “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it. 25 “For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world, and loses or forfeits himself?
Lk9:23-24
Picking up our cross by self denial, to bear the burden of being a Christ is eternally worth it! But again, it may not be easy, may not be comfortable. Look what Paul said to Timothy.
12 Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.
Jesus said it like this
33 “These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”
We need to be willing to forsake all for Christ (Lk14:33; Act2:36)
Knowing that as a disciple we are willing to forsake all things to follow Him. Nothing can take precedent over Him.
Look at what Peter said on Pentecost that pierced hearts.
36 “Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ—this Jesus whom you crucified.”
So with the cost comes rewards, may we consider the rewards, the blessings of being a disciple of Jesus Christ.
Reward/blessings of being a disciple
Reward/blessings of being a disciple
Rewards programs you hear about them all the time. Maybe you participate in something with a rewards program, but those are temporal and being a disciple of Christ has eternal rewards, blessings to it.
Present and future blessings (Rom5:8-10)
8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.
10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.
Future blessings and freedom (Rev21:1-8)
A new heaven, a new earth
The tabernacle of God in which we will dwell with Him eternally
Wiped tears, no more death, sorrow, crying, pain, all those things will have passed away, oh what a blessing that will be won’t it?
You may read that entire section and see there is even more.
Blessings of peace for the troubled heart (Jn14:27)
God’s peace brought by Jesus that can help the troubled heart and so you don’t have to be afraid of this world and the things in this world
Knowing that as a disciple we are willing to forsake all things to follow Him. Nothing can take precedent over Him. e
Joy that is full (Jn15:11)
He came to give us life full, Jn10:10, and joy full in Jn15:11, not just fullj joy but His joy!
Fear casting out through abiding love (1Jn4:18)
18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love.
As a disciple who has the blessings has God’s perfect love in them that is being perfected in them and is able to cast out fear!
And blessings of extended eternal family (MK10:28-30)
God’s family which is bigger than our physical family, and is extended eternally
28 Peter began to say to Him, “Behold, we have left everything and followed You.” 29 Jesus said, “Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or farms, for My sake and for the gospel’s sake,
30 but that he will receive a hundred times as much now in the present age, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and farms, along with persecutions; and in the age to come, eternal life.
So to be a part of God’s family, to be a disciple of Christ we need to come to Christ first and know what that means.
May we remember where we started today, and again consider the question Am I Christ’s disciple?
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.”
(invitation slide -1) invitation (Invitation slide-2) song, prayer (exit slides)