“THE BIBLICAL BASIS FOR DISCIPLESHIP”
Matthew 9:35-10:4
FBCF – 1/9/22
Jon Daniels
INTRO – The word “Why”, means “For what? For what reason, cause, or purpose?”
- Can be a one-word response to a statement or a request – “Can you stop by my office?” “Why?” Asking, “What’s the reason?”
- Take car to mechanic – “Why is my car making this noise?” “What the cause of this noise?”
- You’re asked to join an organization or group of some kind. Before you do, you ask, “Why was this group formed?” “What’s its purpose?”
Bible verses use the word “why”:
- Psalm 10:1 – “Why, Lord, do you stand far off? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?”
- Psalm 42:5 – “Why are you cast down, O my soul, & why are you in turmoil within me?”
- Matthew 14:31 – “Immediately Jesus reached out His hand & caught him. ‘You of little doubt,’ He said, ‘why did you doubt?”
- Mark 15:34 – “At the ninth hour, Jesus cried out w/ a loud voice, ‘Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?’ which means, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’”
Today, I want to ask WHY in a question for us to consider: WHY DO WE DO WHAT WE DO IN THIS CHURCH? What’s the reason, cause, or purpose for what we do? That’s what we want to answer today as we look at “The Biblical Basis for Discipleship.”
EXPLANATION – Matthew 9:35-10:4 (pg. 814)
Jesus had a 3-fold ministry while on earth: teaching, preaching, & healing (Matthew 9:35).
- Matthew 4:23 – “Now Jesus began to go all over Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people.” (CSB)
- Luke 6:17-18 - “And he came down with them and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases.”
These 3 things that Jesus did in His ministry are the 3 basic things that Church does now.
- Preaching ministry – from the pulpit to “the multitudes” – personal preaching through witnessing
- Teaching ministry – Life Groups, various Bible study groups, one-on-one discipleship
- Healing ministry – through prayer, laying on of hands, anointing w/ oil. Also spiritual, emotional, & relational healing through pastoral care & counseling
How desperately we need to do these 3 things in our day w/ all the turmoil, trouble, uncertainty, unrest, despair, & deception that is happening in so many areas of our lives! We must preach, teach, & heal more intentionally, more courageously, more passionately, more frequently, & more tenaciously than ever before, which means that we need to be making disciples like never before!
As Jesus was going about His 3-fold ministry, He saw the crowds of people all around Him & He was moved w/ “compassion” (v. 36) – His heart went out to them – felt moved for them from deep w/in His heart. “That sympathetic compassion is unique to Christianity b/c it is unique to Christianity’s God” (John MacArthur). The reason He was so moved was b/c of their desperate condition – “harassed & helpless, like sheep w/out a shepherd.” Such a perfect description of the desperation of our world.
APPLICATION – The biblical basis for discipleship involves every Christ-follower in Great Commission work.
WHY question: Simple reason – Great Commission – People are lost & need Jesus, & we are called & commissioned to go. 3 components of that:
GOD’S GOT A PLAN – “Plan your work & work your plan.” God always has a plan & He has been working His plan since the beginning of time. Not a fickle, careless deity who just things in a random, haphazard way.
- Jeremiah 29:11-13
- Isaiah 46:11b – “What I have said that I will bring about; what I have planned, I will do.”
He had a plan for creation, a plan for redemption & salvation, a plan for His Church, & a plan for discipleship. Most know that plan as the Great Commission, our memory verse.
Bible also details God’s purpose for discipleship
- Spiritual growth - Peter Waldo, religious leader in 12th century: “Look to Jesus! Listen to Jesus! Learn of Jesus!”
- Sharing Christ
- Serving others
GOD USES PEOPLE – Last week’s message was “Win1 – Disciple 1”, challenging all of us to win 1 person to Christ this year & disciple 1 person in their walk w/ Christ this year. That’s the Great Commission boiled down to 4 words. For that Great Commission plan to work, He’s got to have some folks who are workers for Him. He could do it w/out us, but His plan is to use His people to accomplish His purposes. Jesus told His disciples to pray for workers to be sent out into the harvest field. He answers their prayers by calling the 12 disciples to embark on their mission (10:1).
- “A disciple is one who continues in the Word, loves others, bears fruit, & puts Christ first.” (Church Discipleship, Vol 11, No 1, the Navigators)
The beauty of God’s plan for discipleship is that He uses all sorts of people who have all sorts of gifts & abilities that HE has given to accomplish the plan.
- Coach not going to put 11 QBs on the field on offense at same time. Or 11 safeties on defense.
- CWBC medical mission trip to Nicaragua – med/dental, kids workers, cooks, I preached about 15 times a day, translators
That’s a picture of how God uses people in His plan. The biblical basis for discipleship calls for God’s people to surrender their lives to Him to be used by Him in whatever way He sees fit. You can be sure that if He calls you to do something, He will equip you to do it.
- Matthew 10:1 – He called His disciples & “gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, to heal every disease & every affliction.” That authority was HIS divine authority.
- Great Commission – “All authority in heaven & on earth has been given to me” (Matthew 28:18). That authority gave them security to do their work. It also gave them to ability to do their work. And we’ve been given that authority, too.
o Don’t have to fear
o Don’t have to shrink back
o Don’t have to wonder if God’s going to care for us & come through for us.
They had been w/ Him, touched Him, talked w/ Him, shared w/ Him, learned from Him, watched Him, & fellowshipped w/ Him. And now it was time for them to step out & be used by Him.
The people that God uses in His plan for discipleship are people who have met Jesus, have been w/ Him, learning about Him & from Him. People who have been in the Word & stay in the Word. People who have been praying & continue to commune w/ Him in prayer all the time.
GOD GIVES US POWER – Just as God equips those He calls to follow Him, He also empowers those He calls to follow Him. That empowerment for living for Jesus & serving Jesus & making disciples comes from the Holy Spirit living within us. HE is our power. HE is our strength – Psalm 27:1 – “The Lord is the strength of my life.” HE is the one who makes us effective. HE is the one who gives us success. HE is the force at work in us & in the one we are witnessing to or the one we are discipling.
- Acts 1:8 – It was the power of the Holy Spirit working in the apostles:
o When Peter preached on the day of Pentecost & 3000 saved
o When the Church began to meet for fellowship & teaching & ministry
o When “the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved” (Acts 2:47).
o Acts 4:13 – “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus.” That boldness was the power of the Holy Spirit. The astonishment of the religious leaders was b/c they saw the evidence of the Holy Spirit in Peter & John.
Be careful how you live b/c we can grieve & quench the Holy Spirit’s power in our lives.
- Ephesians 4:30 – “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit…”
- 1 Thessalonians 5:19 – “Do not quench the Spirit.”
- We grieve the Spirit when we act out in a sinful manner, whether in thought only or in thought & deed
- We quench the Spirit when we choose not to do what He tells us to do, or when we choose to do something He tells us not to do.
God’s power that He gives us through the Holy Spirit is absolutely essential in being the disciple He wants us to be & making disciples like He commands us to do.
CONCLUSION/TAKEAWAYS - God has a plan. God uses people. God gives us power. Let's join Him in doing the Great Commission work He's called us to!
