Discipleship Path and Pattern

1 Corinthians 2 NASB95

And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God. Yet we do speak wisdom among those who are mature; a wisdom, however, not of this age nor of the rulers of this age, who are passing away; but we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God predestined before the ages to our glory; the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood; for if they had understood it they would not have crucified the Lord of glory; but just as it is written, “Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, And which have not entered the heart of man, All that God has prepared for those who love Him.” For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words. But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one. For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he will instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ.

INTRO: I believe we’ve been a bit spoiled by technology, don’t you? I remember when I used to know several phone numbers just off the top of my head… now I couldn’t tell you several of the ones I call regularly. And do you remember when we planned a trip and we used a map? We looked at where we wanted to go, and then found the roads that would get us there. What would happen if, on a trip your GPS device went out or went crazy? We’d likely have no idea how to get where we want to go… we’ve been simply waiting for the next directive from Siri...

Well, unfortunately, I think this is also true when it comes to our fulfillment of the Great Commission. We know where we ought to be going, but we treat it like we do our drives to vacation. We don’t go there often and so we don’t know the way. We often find ourselves, then, lost on the path of discipleship.

This morning, we are continuing our study in 1 Corinthians. As we look to chapter 2, we get to see the apostle Paul lay out this Discipleship Path. He illustrates the natural path of a Christian and how that becomes a pattern for us as we seek to live out the Great Commission of making disciples throughout the whole world.

My hope is to give us an overview of this path- like a map. As we do, I will ask you to locate where you are in your discipleship journey. Then, we will take this path and turn it into a pattern that we can use to work toward our mission as a church.

This is not complex… indeed it’s quite simple. Just as we learned last week of how God uses what the world would see as foolish to redeem mankind, His plan for building His kingdom is similarly simple. Even so, it must be intentional. We cannot be lazy, for laziness and apathy are acts of disobedience to God’s command.

So, let’s get started, shall we? If you picked up a bulletin, I am going to invite you to make use of the sermon guide that has been provided. The sermon is entitled Discipleship Path and Pattern.

We can see as we look to 1 Cor. 2:1, that Paul is sharing about his mission when he came to Corinth. When he came there, he had a plan. Now, as he writes back, he explains his plan- what he did and what he intended for the Corinthian Church as they grew in their walk with Christ and fulfillment of the mission of the church.

For our time this morning, we will look first to the path of discipleship and then we will take that path and turn it into a pattern for LRBC. The path has 3 basic markers that are all actions upon the commands of Jesus.

Let us begin. The path starts with our response to the Gospel, or simply put:

You Must Believe (1-5)

The first 5 verses lay out how Paul began his ministry in Corinth. Let’s read them again (READ)

Here Paul stated that he was careful to proclaim the simple truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. (v.2)

He didn’t dress it up with flowery or persuasive language. Look, you didn’t see Paul put on any sort of theatrics nor did he try to sell the people of Corinth on the message.

Instead, he was humble and shared with clarity how God loved the world so much that He paid the ultimate price for our redemption. He shared how our sins have bankrupted us and we stand as enemies of God, but through the sacrifice of Jesus- God in flesh- God made a way that we could be reconciled with Him. He spoke the truth of how that old Roman cross was a visible instrument of God’s wrath poured out upon Jesus so that you and I could stand forgiven and redeemed.

Just as Jesus spoke to Nicodemus in John 3, Paul shared the simple truth that we must be born again. That through the blood of Jesus, we have been made clean if only we believe in Him.

Notice what Paul is saying: He didn’t go trying to win converts with trickery or by confounding them with his words. He didn’t require them to understand all the ins and outs of every single doctrine. Paul didn’t come to Corinth with the notion that he needed to get people to his level of understanding right off the bat.

Paul wanted to ensure that the converts were genuine. (Read v.5) He wanted them to trust solely and fully in the supernatural power of God to rescue them from their sin.

ILL: Think about it: If your belief rests in some sort of human wisdom, it will eventually be challenged and perhaps even overcome through another whose worldly wisdom exceeds your own. If your belief in the Gospel was by coercion - perhaps you came to confess your belief to please your parents or through a sense of fear for the alternative, are you truly trusting in Jesus?

Perhaps we simply look back to the ministry of Jesus as he spoke to Mary of Magdalene in

John 11:25–26 NASB95

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?”

In order to embark on the journey of discipleship, we must begin here. You must believe in the simple truth of the Gospel. You must be able to say, “My hope is built on nothing less that Jesus’ blood and righteousness! I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly trust in Jesus’ name! On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand.”

Discuss: Describe your belief. How do you know that your faith is genuine?

We must believe. This is the launching point of our discipleship path. It is crucial that we have authentic faith in Jesus Christ alone. But this faith does not simply remain in our hearts. The next marker of our discipleship path is

You Must Follow Christ (6-9)

Let’s read verses 6-9 again (READ)

Here is what we need to see. Paul states that he speaks God’s wisdom to those who are growing spiritually.

Earlier, in 1 Cor. 1:30, Paul explained that God’s wisdom is Jesus.

In other words, we are looking to Jesus as the embodiment of God’s wisdom as we learn and grow because we are intended to be made into the image of Christ (Rom. 8:29)

Christians are rescued from sin and called to live lives striving for holiness, to be the image of God restored in humanity.

This is what Paul is getting at here- we are seeking to grow in our understanding of Christ and His character. This does not happen through worldly wisdom. It happens as we pursue Christ, as we seek His kingdom first (Matt. 6:33), as we renew our minds and devote our lives to that which God has called us to before the time began (7)

This is ongoing and intentional. Just like we cannot stop believing in the simple Gospel, we cannot stop following Christ in our lives. We are always to be learning, growing, and becoming more like Jesus.

You can tell where people are in their discipleship path by examining their growth. For some of you, the Gospel only has meaning as you look at your conversion. You have not grown to see the riches of God’s Kingdom now- how you have been wrapped in Christ’s righteousness and you cannot add to it. You haven’t yet discovered the joy of being known by God- warts and all - and experiencing the depth of His love in the midst of your pain and shame. You haven’t yet realized that your worth and identity are wrapped up in Jesus!

Again, we can look at Jesus’ model as he taught the disciples. First, he called them to follow Him- to walk with Him and watch as Jesus taught, healed, and suffered. Then, they helped Him teach, serve, etc. Then Jesus let them take the lead and he assisted them in teaching.

You see, as the disciples walked with Jesus, they were learning and growing. That is our call as well!

This is why we teach through the Bible. It’s why when I preach, I walk through books and try to connect you to the mission of God. It’s why we have small groups and why we are so careful to oversee what is being taught in our Sunday School classes and Children’s ministries. We must be following Christ, who is the wisdom of God.

Paul didn’t want the Corinthians to simply believe in Christ and their lives not reflect that truth. The same is true with us. We must be intentional in our own lives to follow the footsteps of Jesus… to grow in our faith and to mature in our understanding of the calling that has been placed upon us.

Discuss: Are you more like Jesus today than you were last year? How so?

In the discipleship path, we must believe and we must follow Christ. Learning and growing are not just exercises in themselves. We must continue to follow the example of Jesus to the final marker on this path.

You Must GO (10-16)

As we look at these final verses in chapter 2, we can see that they speak of a transformation that should take place in the life of every believer. Let’s read these verses again (READ)

Here is what I want you to see. Having relied on the Spirit of God to save us through our belief in the Gospel and having relied upon the Spirit of God to teach us and guide us as we follow Christ, we are called to live out that which we have learned.

Paul describes this mature Christian as one who has allowed the Holy Spirit to shape them and transform their thoughts. He contrasts them with the unbeliever and helps us to see that we are not of this world.

No, we have been given the Holy Spirit which informs our thinking and thus shapes our actions to GO and make disciples...

Let’s go back to Jesus’ example. You see, after he called the disciples, and they watched Him, and helped Him, the were sent out to do that which Jesus had taught them. They preached, they modeled, they led. This is not something they did int their own power, mind you.

In Acts 1, we see that the disciples were given the Holy Spirit to empower them to be witnesses to all nations and to launch into the greatest endeavor taken on by men.

Here, Paul echoes this in v.16. Look at what he says- we have the mind of Christ! We have been gifted the Holy Spirit to guide us so that we can live under the direction of the same Spirit that is in Christ.

Romans 8:11 NASB95

But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.

This is where we simply take what we have learned and experienced and boast about His goodness! If the Spirit of God dwells in us, then we must GO and live out the mission of God with full surrender.

Discuss: How does your life reflect your belief in the Gospel? Are you making disciples?

This is the path of discipleship. Now, I’ve tried to put this in a graphic to help us see this clearly:

As you can see, this is a clear progression of our Christian walk. As we mature, we are more like Jesus in our thinking and our mission. Take a second- where are you on this path?

Now, we are going to take this path and turn it into a pattern for us to use in order to make disciples and grow the Kingdom of God.

We begin with others at the same point we began, by engaging unbelievers with the Gospel so that they can believe in Christ with an authentic faith.

You don’t have to be the best public speaker. Remember, it is in our weakness that we display the strength of God. We rely on His supernatural power alone. It is completely His act to save someone. You don’t have to talk them into it, but you must intentionally ENGAGE them with the Gospel so that they have the opportunity to respond.

After a person believes, it is our responsibility to EQUIP them to follow Christ. We do this by teaching them. Getting them plugged into church, a small group, etc. By walking with them through life and pointing them the person of Christ.

We teach them to rely on the Holy Spirit to grow them as He grows us. We demonstrate how God is renewing His image in mankind as we become more like Jesus.

As a person matures, they need to be EMPOWERED to GO!

A disciple is not simply learning for their own sake or for the sake of their pride, but to take up the Great Commission! We are called to launch out on mission!

This creates disciples who make disciples who make disciples.... We might call it discipleship production. This is what a healthy church does.

No, let us contextualize it for LRBC. What should the ministry of LRBC look like? It would look a lot like Acts 1:8.

My question for you church is this: Where are you on this path? Are you willing to take the necessary steps to be a disciple-maker?

I am asking for a commitment. I am asking for you to be intentional. I am asking for you, whether you are young or old- wherever you are on this path - I am asking for you to move forward.

Perhaps you have never responded in authentic belief. If that’s you, I invite you to repent, turn from your sins and trust in Jesus Christ for your salvation.

Or maybe you are stuck… you have been a confessing Christian, but you have never made a disciple or you are scared to do so… Friends, your fear must lead to us trusting in the supernatural power of God so that we can live out this mission.

Will you respond to God’s Word today? Please, as we sing, come and devote your life to God’s mission.