Wed. Night Bible Study Prepared For Jan. 23rd, 2002 (Christian Discipleship)
Defining Discipleship (Part Two)
Matt 4:19 (NKJV)19 Then He said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you
fishers of men."
Acts 1:8 (NKJV)
8 "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."
Introduction:
Discipleship means what Jesus meant by it, nothing more and nothing less.
Some people want to give Discipleship a simple, short definition, but it just
cannot be done.
In order for us to understand what being a disciple truly is all about, we must first carefully examine what Jesus meant by it.
A. What ever the word disciple meant before Jesus got a hold of it is not
adequate because Jesus transformed the concept of discipleship into His
complete, perfect divine plan for reaching men and women around the
globe with the good news of salvation in Him.
B. In coming to understand what discipleship is, we must look at Jesus’
relationship with the original twelve.
C. Discipleship is the act of being what Jesus meant by "disciple."
1. An intimate personal relationship with a disciplemaker.
2. A personal commitment to be made into a disciple
3. Personal instruction by a disciplemaker.
4. Disciplemaking cannot be accomplished by impersonal means.
5. Disciplemaking cannot be done without personal commitment.
6. Disciplmaking cannot take place apart from personal instruction.
Page 2
D. As Disciples of Christ, we are to grow and mature and then we are to
become disciplemakers.
1. A disciplemaker cannot make disciples just any way.
2. Disciples MUST BE MADE they don’t just happen accidentally!
3. When Jesus returned to Heaven He turned the job of making
disciples over to His followers.
4. He gave His followers the gift of the Holy Ghost to empower their
disciplemaking efforts.
5. The Church Of God has the power, but Satan has tried to rob us of the
vision of disciplemaking so that he may stifle the growth of this
Holy Ghost filled church.
E. Satan seeks to hinder us by intimidating us.
1. You cant be a disciplemaker, you are too fat, too skinny, too tall, too short,
too ugly, you don’t have enough education, or else you are educated in the
wrong field of study.
2. It is time that we stop allowing the devil the opportunity to intimidate us
and that we get on with the business of the KING!
3. Somebody has to do it!
Luke 19:39-40 (KJV)
39 And some of the Pharisees from among the multitude said unto him, Master, rebuke thy disciples.
40 And he answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out.
4. We are different from all the rest of creation.
Human beings are the only part of the creation that God breathed into.
We are created after His likeness, His image, it would be a crying shame if
He had to raise up stones to do the work of an evangelist.
page 3
I. Jesus Left Us With A Command
Matt 28:18-20 (KJV)
18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
One Christian Author has this to say about the last words of Jesus;
"You can often get a pretty good idea of a man’s basic concern from his last words. This isn’t always the case, to be sure, for there have been famous people whose last words are of no more profundity than ’May i have a glass of water.’
But in the case of our Lord, since His last word was given before ascending into
heaven, when He was fully aware of what He was doing, we can be quite sure that He was saying something that He wanted emphasized above everything else
in His church."
A. Everything Jesus did and taught during His earthly ministry was leading up
to this climactic statement.
1. This was an absolute command with no options implied
2. He spoke with authority;
Jesus said; "All power (authority) is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
3. After He stated His authority, He then gave His command:
19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, (make disciples) baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
B. The Apostle Paul was a disciplemaker: He touched the lives of men like
Timothy, Titus, Mark, etc....
C. You and I must also be disciplemakers, but if you listen to self and if you
listen to those around you, and if you listen to the devil, you will never
do it!
Page 4
1. There is always some excuse to prevent us from beginning.
2. There is always some place to go, something else to do,
something on television to watch etc....
3. But God is saying "What about me?"
Well I am too shy, I am to backward, I am just quite by nature.
4. After He saved us from eternal death and hell how can we live
with ourselves and not offer Him the time that He deserves?
D. The Apostle Paul was determined to work for the cause of Christ no matter
what the conditions were.
1. Sometimes he went to countries as a preacher and other times he went
as a prisoner, but despite it all he NEVER FAILED to testify of Christ.
Paul standing before King Agrippa
Acts 26:13-19 (NKJV)
13 "at midday, O king, along the road I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining around me and those who journeyed with me.
14 "And when we all had fallen to the ground, I heard a voice speaking to me and saying in the Hebrew language, ’Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’
15 "So I said, ’Who are You, Lord?’ And He said, ’I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.
16 ’But rise and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you.
17 ’I will deliver you from the Jewish people, as well as from the Gentiles, to whom I now send you,
18 ’to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.’
Paul’s Post-Conversion Life
19 "Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision,
Page 5
Paul said to the Church at Corinth:
2 Cor 12:15 (NKJV)
15 And I will very gladly spend and be spent for your souls; though the more abundantly I love you, the less I am loved.
Paul said you look for excuses but I tell you that no excuse is good enough!
Paul said; you talk about tough times, I have seen tough times but I have kept
my hand to the plow refusing to look back
Paul said: 2 Cor 11:23-28 (NKJV)
23"...,I sound like a fool to many but -I am more: in labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequently, in deaths often.
24 From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one.
25 Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep;
26 in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren;
27 in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness--
28 besides the other things, what comes upon me daily: my deep concern for all the churches.
And after suffering for the cause of Christ and at the hands of the religious,
how does he feel about those who have wronged him?
2 Cor 11:29-30 (NKJV)
29 Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to stumble, and I do not burn with indignation?
30 If I must boast, I will boast in the things which concern my infirmity.
D. Circumstances are opportunities!
1. Where ever you and I are, and whatever circumstances we find ourselves in,
God says, I can use you where you are and I can give you a miracle so that
that you can effectively minister for me.
E. You need to understand that Commitment is contagious!
Page 6
Paul writes from a prison cell while being chained to Roman Guards
Phil 1:12-14 (NIV)
12 Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel.
13 As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ.
14 Because of my chains, most of the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly.
1. Paul is not bragging on himself.
2. When ever God finds someone who is willing to stay the course no matter
what, that spirit of commitment will become contagious and spill over on
someone else.
3. Paul said, since I have been here in this prison preaching and witnessing to
to the Roman guards and those who visit with me I have noticed brothers
and sisters in the Lord who are much more verbal now than they were
before....
II. A Look Back At Church History
A. In the early 1700’s there was a preacher of the Church of England who
had pastured the same church for 35 years.
Along the way he found a 12 year old boy laying in the gutter, he took him in
and gave him a home. The little boy’s name was Robert.
During his last year as pastor of the church he had only one person saved.
The church came to him and said, we know that you are getting older and that
are slowing down, we would like for you to retire and let us bring in somebody
younger.
It was Robert whom the Lord had saved during this pastor’s last year.
Without any indignation the pastor resigned his church and he and His wife took
Robert and they moved away.
30 years after that pastor resigned his church a preacher came on the scene
and litterly changed the landscape of England.
page 7
This man was so impressive that when he would walk into a room people
would stand to their feet. Even when he walked in before the King or the Queen, royalty stood in the presence of this man.
He was very educated and very much in love with God.
He studied the ancient languages and could even write them.
You have probably heard of the Moffat’s Translation.
Yes Robert Moffat- He was the 12 year old boy that the preacher had
pulled from the old rat infested side street.
_________________________________________________________________
Robert Moffat was a great preacher but he also was a teacher.
He took a position as a Bible Teacher in a school in England and one evening as
he looked out across a sleepy class room he touched the heart of one young man when he said;
My last missionary trip to Africa I saw a thousand villages and I saw the smoke
of a thousand villages ascending upward and there was no one to tell them the
story of Jesus Christ.
In the middle of that class room that day was another young man who saw the
commitment of Robert Moffat, the Holy Ghost leaped out of Moffat’s heart and touched that young man’s heart.
He stood to his feet and said "I can tell somebody about Jesus."
That young man’s name was David Livingstone
_________________________________________________________________
David Livingstone spent several years learning the Bible and learning medical
insights and then He left out for Africa to the thousand villages to tell them about the Lord.
The Church of England was angered, they said, "Let God raise up one from
among Africa and they can preach to their own."
They almost ex-communicated Livingstone from the Church.
Page 8
When he would return home to England for supplies, the Church Of England would give him the cold shoulder.
But in Africa He was winning thousands to the Lord through his missionary efforts.
You see Moffat’s Heart had touch Livingstone’s heart,
Then came the day Livingstone died, the Church In England needed a hero,
the church was going down, it was dying, litterly dying out of coldness
and liberalism.
The church said we want Livingstone body and we want to bury it in West
Minster Abby because it might wake up the church of England to a great
man who did a great work for the Lord.
But the church of England could not have his body, the people in Africa said
He is our shepherd, He is our missionary, we want to bury him, his heart is in
Africa.
After a court battle, the Church of England won the right to have Livingstone’s
body brought back to England.
On the night before the ship was to leave out of Africa with his body, some
African Christian’s went into the belly of the ship, they found the body of David
Livingstone and they carefully removed his heart.
They took his heart back to the Christian compound where he had preached to
thousands of the them and they buried his heart there under a tree.
They placed a sign on that tree that read "England may have his body, but Africa has his heart!
________________________________________________________
You and I wouldn’t be where we are tonight, if someone hadn’t prayed and sought God and acted on God’s behalf!
_______________________________________________________________
1855 in America a frustrated Sunday School teacher named Kimbrell laid a trembling hand on a19 year old shoe clerk and told him the story of Jesus Christ.
That shoe clerk was gloriously saved.
page 9
He wanted to join the church immediately, but the church said, no you cannot join right now, you are too young and by far way too ignorant.
They put him on trial for a year and made him learn some stuff and one year
later they let D.L. Moody Join the church.
Then he begged them for a Sunday School Class. They gave Him a class to teach.
The class soon out grew the church and D.L. Moody’s reputation spread throughout the land.
He received invitations from throughout the world to come and speak.
One invitation came from well educated Minister and Theologian over in England
by the name of Frederick D. Myers.
Moody went to England and He preached for a week or so.
When he left Frederick D. Myers wrote in his journal "I have never been so glad to see somebody leave town in all of my life."
Moody had murdered the King’s English and He had preached death bed stories
Mr. Myers was much to dignified for all this.
A couple of weeks after D.L. Moody had returned to America, Frederick Myers
met with some of the ladies within his church, he ask them how their
Sunday School classes were going.
They informed him that since D.L. Moody had left, we have led every one of our pupils to Jesus Christ and not a one of them is lost today
Mr. Myer that night was struck by the Holy Ghost because of D.L. Moody
Myer went to his room and prayed through and wrote in his journal
"Today I have learned the language of the soul."
Myer dedicated His life to the Lord and the Lord started using Myer in a great way. He went to be a great Evangelist.
He came on invitation to America preaching crusades with the same fire from Moody.
____________________________________________________________-
Page 10
In one meeting there was a discouraged young minister who was thinking about
leaving the ministry.
But there was such an anointing and such passion on Frederick Myers that it leaped out of His heart and touched that young preacher.
Wilbur Chapman came to the altar and God did a work in his heart.
God started using Wilber Chapman in a great way.
He went around the country preaching crusades, his crusades grew to such a limit that he could not handle them by himself.
He went down to the YMCA and found a young 19 year old man and recruited him as his helper.
He stayed with this young man and taught him what he knew and not long after
that the fire from Chapman got on that young man who’s name was Billy Sunday.
_________________________________________________________________
Billy Sunday
Billy Sunday with a high school education blazed a trail throughout America
preaching crusades.
It is said that he led 1 million people to Jesus Christ.
One million people walked a saw dust trail down to the front of the tent
and surrendered their lives to the Lord.
In 1924 Billy Sunday went down to Charlotte North Car. and preached a crusade,
he closed down the gambling joints and bar rooms and the wiskey outlets.
People turned to God,
Then after a while there was a wyaning away
But There was a prayer group that formed from that 1924 crusade and for the next four years they would met and pray for God to visit their city with another revival.
Page 11
In 1929 the great depression hit and the people began crying out, God send
us your word and wake up our city.
And God sent another preacher by, his name was Mordecai Ham.
Mordecai Ham preached with a powerful anointing, he backed up to call the
devil, the devil and to speak the truth about Jesus,
One night a 16 year old boy came into that building, his restless soul moved all
over that room that night.
But before that revival was over that 16 year old kid had come to altar and giving his life to the Lord.
And the catajous nature of Mordecai Ham, and Wilbur Chapman and Billy Sunday, and Frederick Myer, and D. L. Moody, and that Sunday School
Teacher in 1855 named Kimbrell reached out and touched that 16 year old boy
who’s name was Billy Graham.
_________________________________________________________________
If there is a Paul some where then there is a Timothy somewhere,
If there is a Paul somewhere, then there is a Titus somewhere,
If you are somewhere and you love God, somebody is looking at you!
_________________________________________________________________
Oh I want to be all that I can be for the Lord!
I want to represent Him well in this world!
EXAMPLE: What God has spoken into my heart..............
All of my ministry, in fact most of my life, I have felt that God had called me into
some type of special ministry.
Several times the Lord has given me visions of His power being displayed in
measures unheard in our day.
It is not that I am any thing great or supper, but He is looking for people who
will accept the call to be different. The call to stand out!
Page 12
The call to be used in ways that are certain to draw criticism from many in the
religious world.
You see most every body would like to do something great but not many are willing to pay the price and they will criticizes anyone who does!
But God began to re-new that vision in me the other day, "I have called you
to be different, I have called you out that I may work my supernatural abilities
through you."
I said , "I know Lord and I am ready to see it come to pass."
He said; "Well YOU are the only thing stopping it!"
Stop allowing the devil to intimidate you.......................
Don’t be intimidated by the size of the vision.....................
Don’t be intimidated by the things required of you to prepare for all of this.....
Don’t be intimidated by the fact that you are just an old country boy........
For in all the areas where you are weak I will match it with my Strength!
I am convinced that if you will join with me in fasting and prayer that God is
going to ROCK LEXINGTON and HIS NAME IS GOING TO BE GLORIFIED!!
_________________________________________________________________
I like D.L. Moody’s message: He preached on the three R’s
1. Ruin by sin,
2. Redemption by Christ
and 3. Regeneration by the Holy Ghost.
Moody focused his ministry on saving souls;
His famous remark was "I look upon this world as a wrecked vessel. God has given me a life boat and said to me, ’Moody save all you can"
page 13
Tonight, I am telling you, that YOU can make a difference!
What keeps ringing in my heart and mind is:
John 3:30-34 (NKJV)
30 "He must increase, but I must decrease.
31 "He who comes from above is above all; he who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of the earth. He who comes from heaven is above all.
32 "And what He has seen and heard, that He testifies; and no one receives His testimony.
33 "He who has received His testimony has certified that God is true.
34 "For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God does not give the Spirit by measure.
Gary L. Smith, Senior Pastor
Lexington Church Of God
11280 Hwy 101
Lexington Al. 35648
