Discipleship
Matthew 28:18-20
"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you: and Lo, I am with you always even to the end of the age".
This statement was made by Jesus to his apostles shortly before he ascended to Heaven. This is what is commonly called the great commission. If you will notice the emphasis here is on making disciples, not just making converts. It says go and make disciples, not go make converts, now don’t get me wrong, first you must be saved to be a disciple, but just because you are a believer doesn’t automatically make you a disciple.
In Matthew 10:24-25 Jesus described what a disciple should look like.
“The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord. 25It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord.”
The word disciple literally means a learner or student. Vine’s dictionary of new testament words describes it as "one who follows anothers teachings". The word disciple implies discipline. Not only is a disciple one who is a learner or student, but one who follows or adheres to someone’s teachings. That is why in the early church the disciples were called Christians or more literally imitators of Christ. To be a disciple is then to strive to be like Christ. In Romans 8:29 Paul said Gods goal for redeeming or saving mankind was that they were to be conformed into the image of his son. When we today look at the early Christians, we might consider them radicals with a radical form of Christianity, but from their view point theirs was normal Christianity and what we have is a watered down form of Christianity. Now I ask you, are you striving to be a learner or student of Christ. Are you trying to be like Him; if not, are you truly a disciple of Christ?
How can we expect to fulfill the "great commission" if we don’t have a clear understanding of what a disciple is? According to Gods word, the Bible, disciples will have certain characteristics. .
John 8:31 says: 31Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed.
A disciple of Christ is one who abides in Jesus’ words. According to strong’s dictionary of hebrew and greek the word used here for “abide”, means “to stay” and could also be translated - continue, dwell, endure, be present, remain, stand, or tarry. It speaks of someone who not only studies the Bible, but also applies or lives by it.
And in John 13:34-35 It says A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
A disciple is one who loves others, first of all with the type of love Jesus showed us. "As I have loved you" And secondly with a love that is visible. "By this all will know"
Now we must realize, a disciple is one who wants to become like his teacher. Was Jesus willing to sacrifice time and effort for his fellow believers? Yes, and so should we if we are disciples. We should make every effort to get to know our brothers and sisters in Christ, and encourage and build them up as often as we can. Does this sound like you so far?
Next a disciple is one who bears much fruit as seen in John 15:8.
8By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My
disciples.
If you will notice, it says "much fruit". Jesus is not talking about an occasional good deed, but a lifestyle which causes people to glorify God. Are you living your life to please God? Are you living your life in a way that brings attention and glory to God or are you living life according to your own desires and in such a way that you get all the attention and praise?
In Matthew 5:16 it says: "Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your father which is in heaven".
We should be living a life that brings glory to God. And when someone notices our good works, do we take the credit? Or do we give the glory and praise to God who deserves all the Glory?
In John 15:1-2 it says that: "the vine that doesn’t bear fruit is taken away". Some might say this refers to someone losing their salvation. Others would say it refers to someone who was never saved. I’m not sure. You need to study the scriptures for yourselves and pray, and let God speak to you about this issue. But either way you can’t be a disciple if you have been taken away.
Are you bearing "much" fruit for God?
So far we’ve found that a disciple requires total commitment especially in regards to :
1) The teachings of Christ
2) The love for other believers
3) Bearing fruit to the glory of God
When we look further we see that there is a cost to being a disciple. Luke 14:25-33 Jesus talks about the cost of discipleship.
In verse.26 it says: "If any man come to me and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brothers, and sisters, and his own life, he cannot be my disciple". I don’t believe Jesus was talking here about showing hate to our family members, friends, or ourselves. Instead I believe he was using a hyperbole or a sharp contrast to make a point. Your love for God should be so strong that in comparison your love for others would look like hate. Most importantly Jesus must come first. In Luke 9:59-60 Jesus says to a man "Follow me”, the man replied, Lord let me first go and bury my father. Jesus answered, “Let the dead bury their own dead , but you go and preach the kingdom of God". This man was basically saying, let me wait until my parents grow old and die and I can bury them. He didn’t want to cause conflict in his home. This shows us an example of how the care of relationships can conflict with our love for God. In Matthew 10:34-35 addressing the same thought, Jesus says " Do not think I have come to bring peace on earth. For I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law". Being a disciple of Christ will cause conflict in our personal lives, it may cause conflict in our own family, or with our friends. Are you willing to risk conflict in your life to be a disciple of Christ?
Luke 9:23-27 says a disciple must be willing to suffer and even die for Christ. By trying to live Godly lives in an ungodly world we may suffer ridicule and persecution, as a matter of fact, I can almost guarantee if you do not stand out and seem a little odd to this world, your probably fitting in a little too well.
For the Bible says "to be in the world but not of the world". To be a disciple, Jesus must not only be saviour of our eternal soul, but He also needs to be Lord of our lives in the here and now. That means He needs to be in control and have total reign over every area of our lives. Luke 14:27 says:" Whoever does not bear his cross and come after me cannot be my disciple". Many today even in the church teach that the answer to all our problems is to build up our self esteem. The bible says just the opposite. In fact the apostle Paul seemed to have pretty low self esteem when he said in Romans 7:24 " O wretched man that I am"!
Second Timothy 3:1-5 says that " in the last days people will become lovers of self "
Ephesians 5:29 says " No one ever hated his own body, but we feed and care for it".
I think of the story in Luke 18:18 of the rich young ruler. Jesus told him to give all to the poor and follow Him. Jesus knew his heart and He knew that money was taking the place in this young rulers life that Jesus wanted to take. That is 1st place. The Bible says our God is a jealous God. He won’t share the throne in our lives with anything. This high cost of discipleship has caused many to turn from following Christ. But Jesus wasn’t trying to attract large crowds of half hearted followers. He wanted disciples. You could say Jesus wants quality more than he wants quantity. I once heard a story of a man who got lost in the desert. After wandering around for a long time his throat became very dry, about that time he saw a little shack in the distance.
He made his way over to the shack and found a water pump with a small jug of water and a note.
The note read: "pour all the water into the top of the pump to prime it, if you do this you will get all the water you need". Now the man had a choice to make, if he trusted the note and poured the water in and it worked he would have all the water he needed. If it didn’t work he would still be thirsty and he might die. Or he could choose to drink the water in the jug and get immediate satisfaction, but it might not be enough and he still might die. After thinking about it the man decided to risk it. He poured the entire jug into the pump and began to work the handle, at first nothing happened and he got a little scared but he kept going and water started coming out. So much water came out he drank all he wanted, took a shower, and filled all the containers he could find. Because he was willing to give up momentary satisfaction, he got all the water he needed. Now the note also said: after you have finished, please refill the jug for the next traveller.” The man refilled the jug and added to the note: “ Please prime the pump, believe me it works”! We have the same choice to make, do we hold on to what we have because we don’t believe there are better things in store for us, and settle for immediate satisfaction? Or do we trust God and give up all that we have to get what God has promised us? I think the choice is obvious. We need to pour in all the water, trust God with everything.
Then once we have experienced what God has to offer, the living water, we need to tell other people, “Go ahead prime the pump, believe me it works”!
Is it worth it? I think so. Consider the rewards of discipleship. First there is the promise of future blessings. Romans 5:9 says we shall be saved from the wrath to come. In Revelation 21:1-8 it says we can look forward with joyful anticipation of eternity with God, free from sorrow, pain, or death. Then there are the present blessings. John 14:27 says that Jesus offers a peace the world can not give and in 1 John 4:13-18 it says Jesus offers to those who will follow him the abiding love of God, which can cast out fear!
At this point we should ask, "How does one become a disciple?"
1) First and foremost you must have a relationship with Christ, for He is the object of our discipleship. This may seem a little too obvious, but to some it may not be. I’m not just talking about saying I believe in God and Jesus and all that religious stuff. I’m talking about a love relationship with the creator of the universe. Has Christ taken residence in your heart? Have you asked Him to not only be your saviour, but to be your Lord, to rule and reign over every area of your life. For only when you do this can he conform you to be all that He wants you to be. We can’t do it in our own strength, only He can do it and only if we allow Him. In Romans 12:1 Paul writes "present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God which is your reasonable service". Paul here is talking about more than just acknowledging that Jesus is God. He is talking about obedience and sacrifice. Again in Luke 9:23 it says to "deny yourself, take up your cross daily and follow Christ". Taking up your cross is making Gods will your will. When you lay aside personal goals, desires, and ambitions; that is when God will reveal the desires, goals and ambitions that he has for you. Have you submitted your desires, goals and ambitions to God? or are you still the lord of your own life?
2) Next: are we students of the Bible? Do we read it regularly and allow Him to speak to our hearts through it? I would encourage you to study Gods word daily, and pray and ask him to speak to you through what you read. And are we obedient to what we know to do? Because knowing what to do is not enough. We can’t just talk the talk, we need to walk the walk. It’s been said "that obedience turns said faith into real faith". If we are aware of Gods will for our lives, but unwilling to follow.... than we are not disciples. Are you looking for God’s will in your life? And when you know it, are you willing to follow it?
3) Next comes Baptism.
Mathew 28:19, the verse we started with says: Making disciples…baptising them in the name of the father and the son and the holy spirit.
Let me start by saying that baptism does nothing to change your standing before Christ. Baptism is an outward sign of an inward change, it is symbolic of being born again, the old man is buried and the new man is born.
Nowhere in the bible does it say that you must be baptised to be saved, but there are verses that show people being baptised after they believe and are Born Again.
In Acts 10:44-47 Peter was preaching to some Gentiles, The Holy Spirit fell upon them, and they began to speak in tongues, then they were baptised.
Baptism is an act of submission that follows putting our faith in Jesus Christ and repentance for our sins.
Galatians 3:27 says: For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
The bible always puts a greater emphasis on spiritual baptism than on physical baptism. Have you been baptised into Christ? Both physically and Spiritually?
If not I would encourage you to do so.
Please don’t think my intent here was to condemn anyone. The bible says, "there is now no condemnation to those that are in Christ Jesus"
My only intent was to encourage you as Peter put it "Grow in grace and knowledge of the lord Jesus Christ"
Does anyone remember when you were growing up and you would mark your height on the wall or a chart? That way you could tell how much you were growing. Physical growth takes time and so does Spiritual growth, it won’t happen overnight. You may not be where you want to be in your spiritual growth, but you should be bigger spiritually than you were a year ago. If we don’t follow Christ as his disciples we will wander through a mediocre Christian life rather than living the Christian life that God intends us to live. We will be like the farmer who was teaching his son to plow. He told his son “I want you to plow a straight furrow from one end of this field to the other.” The son asked, “How will I know when I am plowing it straight?” “Do you see that cow over in the next field?” The father replied. “Just keep your eyes on that cow and plow straight for him.” The father came back later to find the furrows going every which way. He said, “son what in the world happened, didn’t I tell you to keep your eyes on the cow so you could plow a straight furrow?” The son said, “I did dad but he kept moving!” If you focus on the wrong object, your spiritual life will is going to wander all over the place, you’ll be up one day and down the next. But if you keep your eyes focused on Jesus you’ll plow a straight line every time, he’s not going anywhere. He is the same yesterday, today and forever.
Martin Luther once said "If you can’t fly...run,
if you can’t run ...walk,
if you can’t walk....crawl.
But for heavens sake... don’t stand still.”
I would like to close by saying, Give up, because you can’t do it. Stop trying to live the perfect Christian life...……… and start letting Jesus live it through you. Because only He can. If you could have lived the perfect Christian life, then Jesus would not have had to come and live the perfect Christian life for 33 years, and then die to pay for your sins.
Titus 2:11-13 says: For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, 12Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; 13Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; Paul says here that the Grace of God has appeared. Grace is Gods undeserved favor, It is God doing what we can’t do for ourselves. Do you see how it works? God supplies whatever you lack in order to get you where he wants you to go. He takes your weakness into account when he supplies you with Grace. So when you say I cant, God says, “you can do all things in Christ who strengthens you”.
There’s a song that goes: He paid a debt he didn’t owe, to pay the price you couldn’t pay. Galatians 3:3 says...” Having begun in the spirit why are you trying to finish in the flesh”. Trust God and live in the power of the spirit and not in the weakness of the flesh.
