“How to be Discipled”
October 13, 2013
Matthew 28:18-20
”Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Mark 1:17
“Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.”
2 Timothy 2:2
“And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others.”
The last two weeks I challenged you to get out pen and paper and write down, “My plan to become a better disciple is ...” Last week as I was sharing this instruction that came from the Lord, the Holy Spirit whispered to me to give you a little more help is sharing how to do this. So that is the ‘why’ and the purpose of this message this morning.
There is too much teaching in Christianity today that infers if it doesn’t come right out and say it – that “it’s one and done” when we accept Christ. They say, or infer, “We have our ticket to heaven so we can just go on living life and doing our thing.”
Nothing could be further from the truth. Salvation is just the beginning; it is just the door; it is just the gate to a path that leads you ever upward. John Bunyan wrote a book called, “Pilgrim’s Progress” that beautifully illustrates that truth. Life is a path that leads to opportunities to choose correctly. Life is a path that is filled with all kinds of tests and trials. The purpose of life is to prepare us for eternity. The purpose of life is to give us opportunities to become more like Jesus. It is an opportunity to grow in knowledge and in God’s grace. Life is an opportunity to learn how to correctly use this tremendous God-quality that we call ‘will’. We are free to make our life and ourselves anyway we choose. And remember – to not choose is to choose. No choice is a choice – so use the incredible power of you will carefully.
In our Scripture we read where Jesus gives us a job. He calls us to become teachers. All Christians are to work, in one way or the other with their particular talents, to be involved in the process of making disciples and teaching them. What do we teach them? “To obey everything Jesus taught us.”
When Jesus calls us to follow Him – what is His purpose? Why do we follow? So He can disciple us. So He can teach us how to fish for men – or how to make disciples. Every Christian has this calling. Every Christian needs to be involved in this process somehow. It may be as an evangelist or soul winner or as a teacher or doing something to support the work. There are many ways we can be involved, but we all need to be able to show some way in which we are involved with the Great Commission to make disciples.
Paul said in our Scripture that we ought to pass on those things we have learned to other people that are able to pass on what we teach them to others – who can do the same. That’s how the Kingdom grows. When we all do our part it just keeps growing and growing and growing.
But the first step is in becoming discipled ourselves. We need to grow and learn and become the disciples Jesus wants us to become. Let me show you what you can do to become a better disciple. Remember the challenge. It was to write down some things you can do to become a better disciple. Here are some things I have learned in my life – and I am passing it on to you.
First, Read the Bible daily. I think that was just a given in Jesus’ culture. The great command that He quoted as being the most important in the entire Old Testament was a part of Deuteronomy 6:4-9. It goes,
“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.”
Jesus just lifted that verse out of the Scripture – but it continues,
“These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.”
It was obvious, as you read the Gospels, that Jesus was very familiar with the Bible. He knew the Old Testament very well – as did His disciples. Part of the Jewish culture was to learn the Scriptures. They had them pasted up all over the place – they talked about them a lot.
Shortly after Jesus was crucified, resurrected and ascended to heaven, His disciples were doing what He had called them to do. They were making disciples. Now, you need to understand that this was only a few weeks after they had scattered, scared like little school girls and hid themselves behind locked doors. But since that time, Jesus had appeared to them and commissioned them and thay had been filled with the Holy Spirit. So, less than two months after this crowd had crucified Jesus, they were preaching to them. They were leading thousands to the gospel, including a lot of priests. And the religious leaders of the people were amazed. The Bible says,
“When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.” Acts 4:13
They knew that the apostles were just ordinary men. They hadn’t been to school. They hadn’t been to seminary. They hadn’t been to Bible College. But they had been discipled by Jesus for three years. Part of that training was to learn the Word of God, I have no doubt. We should making knowing the Bible one of our highest priorities in life. The Scripture says,
“But grow in... knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”
2 Peter 3:18
“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.”
2 Timothy 2:15
I want you to know I pray before every sermon I write. I pray daily that God will help me intellectually as well as spiritually to correctly handle the Word of God. I pray that I will correctly understand it and correctly teach it. There is a lot of confusing and contradictory theology out there. I want the truth. I want to preach the truth. And I believe I am doing just that. This is not a game with me. This is not a job with me. It is a calling I received from Jesus, Himself. And I am doing my best not to be disobedient to MY heavenly vision.
Last week I told you that I have no ambition to pastor elsewhere. I have no ambition to pastor a bigger or better Church. I do what I do in obedience to the Lord and my love for you. And I will continue my mission until the Lord calls me home. And I will do my very best to rightly lead you. I will do my very best to correctly explain the Word and the Truth to you. What happens after that is between you and the Lord. You can choose to believe what I share or not. But this one truth I want to impress on you. Get into the Word – daily! I can make mistakes. I am only human. So it is important that you know the Word for yourself.
It is also important to know the Word and read it daily because that is the primary way Jesus speaks to us today. It is no accident that He is called “The Word”. He is infused in the Holy Bible. He leads and reveals and explains and encourages and loves through the pages of the Bible. To me, it is as important as eating or breathing. It is a supernatural book that only those endued and filled with the Holy Spirit can fully appreciate. Read it.
The second most important thing you can do to become a better disciple is to pray. That seems a given. That seems to go without saying. We all know that – right? Then why do we do so poorly at it? I’ll tell you. It is an acquired skill. It is a learned skill. Even the disciples had to learn how to pray from Jesus. What we call “The Lord’s Prayer” is really “The Disciples Prayer”. They asked Him to teach them to pray – and He gave them this example. Listen.
“One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”
He said to them, “When you pray, say:
“‘Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come.
Give us each day our daily bread. Forgive us our sins,
for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.
And lead us not into temptation.’” Luke 11:1-4
Luke’s account isn’t as flowing as Matthews but I like how Luke records the fact that this prayer is in response to one of the disciples’ request. And apparently John the Baptist also taught his disciples to prayer as well. Prayer is an acquired skill that is honed by practice. You get better at it the more you do it. It is also good to watch and learn from some old prayer warriors. The disciples had Jesus to mentor them. The Bible says,
“But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.” Luke 5:16
Over and over again in the Gospels we find Jesus praying. We need to learn from His example. I often say that praying is simply talking to God – and it is. But just as you need to learn to talk to your mate or your children and other people – you need to get better at praying. There are a lot of helps out there – the important thing is that you pray. Just talk to Jesus. He will disciple you in this area. OJT is always the best way to learn (On the Job Training). So pray and work at getting better at it.
Another thing you can do to become a better disciple; another thing you can do to grow and mature in the Lord is to always be reading a good Christian book or watching a good Christian DVD. There are so many of them out there. Often I am reading two or three at the same time. We live in a day and age where we have so many resources it is simply incredible. There is no excuse to not learn and grow. There is no excuse for the overwhelming immaturity we have in the church. We have the best teaching and training available at the push of a button or the touch of a key. What we need to do is use them.
Here’s another thing you can do. Join a small group Study. In the Bible we find small groups were the normal thing. When Jesus rose from the grave and appeared to His disciples – where were they? Behind locked doors in a small group. After Jesus had ascended to heaven in front of their very eyes, what did they do? Let’s read about it.
“Then the apostles returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day’s walk from the city. When they arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying. Those present were Peter, John, James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew; James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.” Acts 1:12-14
When the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples they were in an upper room praying. After they were filled with the Holy Spirit and finished sharing the Gospel with the people – what did they do? Let’s read about it.
“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.” Acts 2:42-47
Every day they met together. They met at the temple and they met in each others homes. They were committed to learning what the apostles taught. They were committed to fellowshipping together. They were committed to communion and prayer. That’s what they were doing in their small groups. We need to learn from them. We need to be committed to meeting together. We need to be devoted to these same things. Later, as the months and years went by, Paul’s testimony is,
“You know that I have not hesitated to preach anything that would be helpful to you but have taught you publicly and from house to house.”
Acts 20:20
They learned, not only publicly – probably in Church or in the temple or synagogue – by also in homes.
If you want to grow in grace you need to meet in each other’s homes. That is the example Jesus left us and that is the example the Apostles left us and that is the example the New Testament Church left us. It’s not ‘either home or the church’ it is both. We need to meet regularly together to worship on Sunday. The Scripture says not to ‘forsake’ that. But the best learning times are when we gather in small groups and study the Word together. It is in small groups that we feel the communion and fellowship of each other and the Holy Spirit the most.
Today so many Christians, if they go to church regularly, think that is enough. But it isn’t. We need to grow. We need to mature. And to do that we need to be committed to doing those things that help us grow and mature in the Lord.
Stop just going through the motions. Let’s dedicate ourselves to grow in the Lord. How do we do that? Here are four ways. There are more but start here.
1. Get into the Word daily.
2. Pray often and grow in this skill.
3. Read good books. Study.
4. Join a small group study.
Jesus has so many things to teach us. You were created for such awesome things. We need to grow into these responsibilities. We need to learn the skills that will help us for all eternity. We need to be transformed. That happens only as we willfully, purposefully, renew our minds. It is your choice. It is up to you. Make it happen in your life. I will do all I can to help you – but your growth is your choice. Choose well.
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