"Defining Discipleship" Part Two Series

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.

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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.

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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: