Disciple-Making (Pt. 2)

1 Thessalonians 2:9–20 NASB95

For you recall, brethren, our labor and hardship, how working night and day so as not to be a burden to any of you, we proclaimed to you the gospel of God. You are witnesses, and so is God, how devoutly and uprightly and blamelessly we behaved toward you believers; just as you know how we were exhorting and encouraging and imploring each one of you as a father would his own children, so that you would walk in a manner worthy of the God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory. For this reason we also constantly thank God that when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God, which also performs its work in you who believe. For you, brethren, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea, for you also endured the same sufferings at the hands of your own countrymen, even as they did from the Jews, who both killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove us out. They are not pleasing to God, but hostile to all men, hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved; with the result that they always fill up the measure of their sins. But wrath has come upon them to the utmost. But we, brethren, having been taken away from you for a short while—in person, not in spirit—were all the more eager with great desire to see your face. For we wanted to come to you—I, Paul, more than once—and yet Satan hindered us. For who is our hope or joy or crown of exultation? Is it not even you, in the presence of our Lord Jesus at His coming? For you are our glory and joy.

INTRO: Some of you know that I enjoy building things- working with my hands. I recently rebuilt my back deck on my house. Now, to be honest, I was planning on simply replacing the decking because it had a few boards that had cracked and sun-damaged. But, the framing looked good. Well, looks can be deceiving. In fact, while I was preparing the framing, I decided to add a couple braces on the posts so the deck would not shake so much. But, when I went to knock the support in place, the post fell over and the deck came down. Yeah… well, as it turns out, it was not constructed well at all.

When I rebuilt it, I wanted to ensure that it was strong and so I made sure to sink the posts into concrete, bolt the band boards to the house and put construction anchors and brackets on. When I did all this, I had some evidences of a well-built deck. #1, it didn’t fall down. #2, it’s stout- you can see the brackets, bolts, and braces that give it strength. #3, It brings me joy- I don’t worry about it falling down when my family is on it and we are pretty happy with the way it looks too.

Well, If you were with us last week, we looked at the necessary attitudes and actions to be a disciple-maker. This week, we want to look at how we can tell the effectiveness of our disciple-making.

Our text today begins with Paul recounting the paternal efforts that he and his companions took in order to truly make disciples in Thessalonica. Paul says that they went through all this - the exhortation, the encouraging, and the imploring (BTW- these are all different teaching strategies) just as a father does for his children so that, as he says in v. 12

1 Thessalonians 2:12 NASB95

so that you would walk in a manner worthy of the God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory.

Another way of saying this is that Paul put forth his life and efforts in order that the Thessalonians would live their life in a way that is fitting of God’s heavenly kingdom and glory.

This is similar language in the letters to the Colossians and Ephesians. Clearly, Paul understands that the goal of disciple-making is that people would be living out the gospel in their thinking and actions. A disciple is not a disciple in one or two areas, but as a whole, they are exemplifying WHO they are in Christ. It is being, not doing.

This is certainly a BIG calling. So the question is, now that we have learned the tenants of being a disciple-maker, How do we know that the work is paying off? How can we tell if those who we have brought under our wing as apprentices of the Gospel are really walking it out?

I believe that Paul gives us a few ways that we can measure the results of our disciple-making in these verses. Indeed, there are 3 distinct marks of a growing disciple. So, if you picked up a bulletin on your way in, I invite you to open it up to the sermon guide as we learn together this morning.

A True Disciple has a High View of Scripture (13)

Look at v. 13 with me (READ)

Paul commended the Thessalonians because they received and accepted the word of God as truly the Word of God. Now, I want you to consider what this means:

It is NOT simply man’s word.

Not an opinion or perspective / tradition or hearsay

Not popular theology or popular vote/ not hypothetical

Not a conspiracy theory or any other man-made concoction.

Rather it was God’s Word. The writers of Scripture, both in the OT & NT were guided along by the Holy Spirit in order to record God’s revelation to man.

ILL: The culture today has a real problem with the Bible. They don’t like what it says about creation, humanity, sexuality, and a host of other things. They say that it’s offensive. Well, friends, let me just tell you: The truth is offensive when you’re insistent on living a lie.

As we talked about last week, we hold up God’s Word as authoritative in our life. We know that we must have an anchor of truth in our lives. If we don’t have a true revelation from a sovereign God, then our hope is pretty dim.

And because this is God’s Word, it is so vital that we seek to study it and rightly divide it so that we can apply it to our lives. Friends, having a high view of scripture starts with accepting it as God’s Word.

But look what else Paul says, 13b- it… “performs its work in you who believe.”

A high view of Scripture is displayed when we are surrendered to God’s will and His Spirit then applies the Word to our lives and we become CHANGED by it. If you don’t have a high view of Scripture, you will be unchanged when you study it. You will try to reason through the supernatural and likely have little desire to read it or hear from God.

Paul wrote to Timothy that all Scripture is “God-breathed” and thus it is unchanging, yet ever relative. It is powerful and, with the aide of the Holy Spirit, allows us to hear from God and to respond to Him as He has commanded.

One way you can tell that you are a growing disciple or that you are mentoring one, is by their high view of Scripture.

Discuss: Do you really believe that the Bible is God’s Word? How has God changed you through His Word?

Another result of effective disciple-making is that

A True Disciple Will Be Consistent in Faith (14-16)

Let’s look at v. 14 (READ)

Paul says that this church had become an imitator of the churches that are in Judea. It wasn’t that they had been watching these churches or that they exchanged emails/ newsletters. What did Paul mean?

He is referring to their steadfastness in faith. This church was suffering at the hands of their own neighbors, just like the churches in Judea. Yet, they stood strong and persevered.

They were consistent in their beliefs and behavior even though they were being pressured and punished because of them. This is the ultimate peer pressure.

We see this kind of pressure as the influencers in society try to force governmental policies, laws, etc. We see this in the school system, where certain groups place pressure on teachers and school boards to move toward a certain path of thinking. And we also see it in churches where people will either entice or pressure church leaders to not speak about certain subjects or to relax their stance on certain issues.

I have a friend who pastors in the middle of the state. About 2 years ago, he preached a topical series on Biblical personhood and sexuality. When word got out- and this is a small town, but there were threats made and protests formed in the streets around the church by people in the town. He preached the series anyway… and I’m pretty sure it rained on the protesters, so it was a win-win.

As we look at those who we are discipling, we hope to see that they are consistent in their faith. And we ought to encourage them, just as we see here, that they do not stand alone!

Church, we mustn’t ostracize ourselves from other believers. It is through the faithfulness of others in the Kingdom that we find encouragement and strength. We need to understand that we are not alone and that we serve a mighty God!

I love how Paul reassures the Thessalonians of the justice of God here. Even when people hinder you from speaking- when they persecute you or cancel your twitter account or whatever… Listen, when someone comes against the Gospel- speaking church, they are filling up the measure of their sins. And God will bring justice.

A true disciple knows the God they serve and the Gospel that they proclaim, and thus they have a high view of Scripture and are consistent, steadfast in their faith.

Discuss: Have you compromised your beliefs because of peer pressure? What would you do different today?

Finally, we see that

A True Disciple Brings Joy Through Their Progress (19-20)

Let me read v. 19-20 for you

Paul frames this rhetorical question so that we are led to the obvious answer in v. 20.

This church, because of their authentic Gospel-living, brought expectant joy to Paul (19a). He had “hoped” that they would flourish- that they would grab hold of the teachings and that they would surrender wholly to the Gospel of Jesus Christ- He had prayed that they would and trusted in the God whose Gospel it was would work in a tremendous way!

This church in Thessalonica was enduring the same kind of hardships as the churches in Judea that had a more consistent witness and even more time with apostles like Peter and James.

But this is the joy of disciple-making. You see, Paul was trusting God to do this work in them, and He did! They did not need Paul there to constantly hold their hand because they were moved in genuine faith in Jesus Christ.

It was no accident that Paul used parenting metaphors in v. 7 &11. The goal of parenting is to raise your children so that you can release them and they will flourish on their own. You teach them, love them, discipline them, and then send them out to fly on their own. And, when you see that your child is responsible, that they are making good choices in their life, that they are leading their own families in the truth of God’s Word, it is a great reward.

I am going to ask you to close your eyes and use your imagination this morning.

I want you to imagine a young man or young lady who you care for. (Do you have their picture) I want you to think about their life… what story does their life tell? What does their faith look like? Does their life reflect the Gospel? Now, I want you to picture them before God. How confident are you that they will hear Him say “Well done”?

Now, I want you to picture one of the youth in our congregation. One day, they will stand before God. If we are making true disciples of these young men and women.. if YOU are making disciples of these young men and women, what would you want more than anything for them?

3 John 4 NASB95

I have no greater joy than this, to hear of my children walking in the truth.

Are you effectively making disciples today?

Discuss: Have you experienced the joy of effective disciple-making? What does that mean to you?