A Continuing Investment

Introduction

The apostle Paul has just witnessed the riotous uproar at Ephesus, but when the dust had settled, Paul took the time to spend a few final moments with the disciples embracing them before he was to depart.

Throughout Paul’s epistles to the churches and all of the narrative accounts in the book of Acts, we gain a sense of the love that Paul had for each member of the body of Christ.

Paul was constantly praying for them and seeking to continue to invest into their lives to help them to grow and become stronger and more firmly established in the faith.

In this particular passage we can see three ways that Paul continued to invest into the lives of the disciples of Christ in the various regions where he traveled.

There is much that we can learn from this passage concerning our own spiritual growth as well as the opportunity that God gives us to invest in the lives of others to spur their growth.

First we see Paul’s

Continued Discipleship (Vs. 2-3 & Vs. 7)

Paul was constantly teaching, preaching, and exhorting the disciples in the Word of God. His desire was to continue to help them to grow through the careful and diligent application of the truth of scripture.

Paul was not only interested in their salvation from sin and from hell, he was also intensely interested in their spiritual growth as believers in Christ.

If you are a new believer, it is vitally important that you are discipled, otherwise you may begin to build your faith upon false doctrine and outright error.

If you are a mature believer who has been through some sort of discipleship program you should continue to deepen your knowledge and understanding of the Word of God desiring continued growth from the meat of the Word of God.

Those of us who have received some discipleship ought also to have a desire to disciple others who are new converts or who have simply never had the opportunity to be discipled.

If you are teaching a class or laboring in some area of ministry or even simply raising your children, you ought to be continually discipling those within your sphere of influence.

Paul never felt that his job was done. Again and again he would return to the regions where churches had been planted to help and to strengthen them, to correct error and to deliver to them more spiritual truths that he had received from God.

The process of discipleship is clearly laid out as Paul writes to Timothy- II Timothy 2:1-2- Paul had taught and discipled young Timothy and now it was Timothy’s responsibility to teach others, and ultimately those whom Timothy taught would go on to teach and disciple the next generation of converts.

We ought to each have people in our lives who are more spiritually mature than we are from which we can learn.

We ought also to each have people in our lives who are less spiritually mature that we are which we can teach and disciple.

Paul never stopped discipling those who had been won to Christ, but constantly sought to impart to them some greater truth or to correct in them some false teaching they had believed.

Continued Involvement (Vs. 4)

Paul also recognized the importance of not only teaching and discipling but also involving others in the work of the ministry.

In this verse we have seven names from various regions where Paul had traveled in the past. Paul knew that the work of God could not be done alone, and he sought to involve others.

Each and every one of us should ultimately reach a point at which we are ready to have some involvement in the work of God.

Some may teach a Sunday School class, others may drive a church van, still others may serve in the nursery, some may teach children’s church, others may join the choir or sing special music, but each of us should become involved in the work of God.

Personal involvement in the work is a great key to spiritual growth. When you become involved you will naturally have a more intense desire to learn and grow so that you are better equipped to do what God has called you to do.

Involvement at Mountain Youth Academy- at first I had very little knowledge or understanding of the scriptures, but out of a desire to minister more effectively I increased the intensity and consistency of my study of God’s Word.

There are a number of individuals here at High Plains Baptist Church who have become personally involved in the work of the ministry and it is these who are steadily growing and progressing in their walk with the Lord.

Not only should we desire to become involved ourselves , but once we have become involved we ought to be intent on inviting and even imploring others to become involved.

If you are in the choir you ought to encourage others to join the choir. If you are involved in the greeting ministry, you ought to strive to recruit others to become involved as well. If you are going out soul-winning you ought to encourage some teenager or young person to become involved too!

There is not greater way to help those that you minister to grow than to involve them to some degree in the ministry!

Continued Care (Vs. 7-12)

Paul continued to exhibit a personal care and compassion for those that he was ministering to.

As your pastor I want to begin this point by making sure that you know I care about you. I care about your heartaches, your pain, and your frustrations. I also care about your successes and your victories and I count it a joy to be able to rejoice or to weep with you.

Never get the idea that I am too busy or too tired or too stressed to talk with you about what you are going through. I want to know, I want to help you and pray for you!

We ought to also have the same care one for another as well. I Corinthians 12:25-26- we are share together in suffering and in rejoicing.

As we read Paul’s letters to the churches and as we follow the record of his missionary journeys we begin to see the care and concern that Paul had for every disciple.

II Corinthians 11:23-28- the care of all the churches was a constant concern for the Apostle Paul.

This is evidenced by his response in the events which transpire at the close of this passage. Eutychus fell asleep during the sermon and tragically fell from the third story to his death.

Paul did not simply cry out to the ushers to deal with the situation. He didn’t ask the deacons to go and deal with the young man but he personally ran down and fell on him embracing him. This shows the personal care and concern that Paul had for each of the disciples.

Paul sought to comfort the other disciples by raising Eutychus back to life, not by his own power but through the power of God working through him.

He took the time to share a meal with them and continued to converse with them through the night offering comfort and encouragement to them.

Paul certainly cared deeply about each of his brothers and sisters in Christ and we ought to emulate this same care for our brothers and sisters in Christ.

We ought to especially take a special interest in those we minister to and we ought to make certain that they know we care. Take the time to sit and talk with them to ask them how they are doing, ask them about school, about work, about their family but let them know you care deeply for them.

Bus ministry- sitting down and taking five minutes to ask how school was going and to take a personal interest would often yield tremendous results.

Conclusion

We see Paul’s continued efforts in discipleship, involvement, and his personal care for the disciples and if we desire to be effective in our ministry we ought to follow this pattern.

We also ought to continue to allow others to invest in us as we continue to be taught and discipled, as we continue to get more involved in the work of the ministry, and as we continue to share our burdens and cares not only with the Lord but with our brothers and sisters in Christ.