Course Title: Disciple-Making 101
Professor: The Apostle Paul
Acts 18
August 15, 2002
Intro:
A. [Finger of God]
An old deacon was leading in prayer using one of his stereotypical phrases, which was “Oh Lord, touch the unsaved with Thy finger.”
As he intoned this phrase in this particular prayer, he stopped short.
Other members came to his side and asked if he were ill.
“No,” he replied, “but something seemed to say to me, “Thou art the finger.”
1. It is true that Christ has called all of us into the ministry of leading others to Him.
2. Sometimes God will speak directly to someone like He did with this gentleman.
3. But all of us have the Words of Christ calling us into this ministry recorded for us in the Word of God.
B. Matthew 28:18-20 (NKJV) 18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 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, 20 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.” Amen.
1. It’s interesting as we read through the Bible that we never come across phrases like soul-winning or evangelism.
2. Although those are modern terms to describe the process of getting people saved, they are not found in the Bible.
3. Of course, getting people saved is an important thing that should be a priority of the church, but the truth is that conversion is only the first step.
4. When Jesus gave us this statement that we call, “The Great Commission,” what comes to our minds is getting people saved, but in actuality that is only part of what Jesus has commissioned us to do.
5. If we look closely at what Jesus really said, we see that there are three parts to this Great Commission…
a. First, Jesus said to go make disciples.
b. Second, He said to baptize them.
c. Third, he said to teach them to observe all things that He commanded us.
d. So go make disciples, baptize them, and continue to teach them everything Jesus commanded us.
e. We are not just to convert people.
f. We are not just to baptize people.
g. We are to disciple them.
h. We are to make disciples.
i. We get them to believe, we baptize them, and we continue to disciple them.
6. We often get confused into thinking that there were 12 disciples and may wonder how we could make a new apostle.
7. But there is a difference between apostles and disciples.
8. There were, in fact, many apostles—not just the twelve.
9. But Apostle is an office to which many are installed like elders and deacons.
10. However apostles is not what we’re talking about.
11. A disciple is anyone who is a follower of the prescribed teachings of the leader.
12. A disciple of Christ is anyone who is a follower of the teachings of Christ.
13. You and I are all disciples.
14. All apostles are disciples, but not all disciples are apostles.
15. So, according to what Jesus said, we aren’t finished when we get them saved.
16. Our real goal is to transform men and women and boys and girls into fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ.
17. Christ has called us to go make disciples.
C. Today we are going to get an overview of the college course given by the apostle Paul in disciple making.
1. Today we are gong to look at Acts 18 and 2 Timothy 3 and get an overview of the course entitled: Disciple-Making 101 given by the instructor the apostle Paul.
2. Let’s begin by looking at the first four verses of Acts 18.
I. Paul made friends.
Acts 18:1-4 (NKJV) After these things Paul departed from Athens and went to Corinth. 2 And he found a certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla (because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to depart from Rome); and he came to them. 3 So, because he was of the same trade, he stayed with them and worked; for by occupation they were tentmakers. 4 And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and persuaded both Jews and Greeks.
A. Paul found a promising couple and began pouring himself into them.
1. Paul met a couple named Priscilla and Aquila.
2. Paul looked for ways to spend time with them.
3. Paul lived with and worked with these people.
4. Paul was a tent-maker by trade and so were Priscilla and Aquila.
5. They spent their day making tents to support themselves and no-doubt Paul had a lot of time to teach and train them.
6. While they sewed their tents, Paul was pouring himself into Priscilla and Aquila.
B. Luke also says that Paul stayed with Priscilla and Aquila.
1. Not only did Paul spend the working hours with them, but he also spent the nights with them as well.
3. Paul spent all day and all night with these people!
4. Paul knew that he could not disciple the whole world, but he could disciple this couple and then turn them loose to disciple others.
5. Do you see how effective this is?
6. Paul was as committed to discipleing people as he was to getting them saved.
7. Paul was not ignoring the rest of Christ’s Great Commission.
8. Paul found ways to spend the entire day and night with Priscilla and Aquila so that he could train and disciple them.
C. Of course we don’t live in a society that lends itself to spending the entire day and night with people.
1. But we must find people that we can share with.
2. We must find people that we can pour ourselves and our beliefs into.
3. We must find people that we can disciple.
4. Therefore, we must find things we have in common with them and get involved with them so that we can disciple them.
a. We might have jobs that will allow us to spend time with them.
b. We might have hobbies that we can do together.
c. We might have leisure activities in common.
d. We might enjoy the same types of entertainment.
e. But whatever it is, we need to look for people to disciple and then look for ways to spend time together.
5. Who do you know that God would have you disciple?
a. The first step of course is to start praying that God would show you who you can disciple.
b. Second, after you know who God has lead you to, you need to pray that God would show you how you can spend time with them.
c. Who among your family, friends, relatives, associates, and neighbors would God have you disciple?
Transition:
1. Now, wouldn’t it be great if we at least had a syllabus for the course that the apostle Paul used in disciple making?
2. Fortunately, Paul did leave us a syllabus.
3. Another of the disciples that the apostle Paul trained was Timothy.
4. And Paul did review the syllabus of training that he had given to Timothy when he later wrote his first letter to him.
5. Let’s look at 2 Timothy 3:10-11 and see what it was that Paul taught Timothy when he was spending time with and pouring himself into him.
II. Paul trained disciples.
2 Timothy 3:10-11 (NKJV) 10 But you have carefully followed my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, love, perseverance, 11 persecutions, afflictions, which happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra—what persecutions I endured. And out of them all the Lord delivered me.
A. …my teaching…
1. As Paul reviewed his training with Timothy, he mentioned his teaching.
2. Of course, Paul got his teaching from Christ and the OT.
3. Paul’s teaching was the Word of God.
4. Much of Paul’s writing became the written Word of God.
5. Our writings will not become the written Word of God, but what we teach people should clearly be the Word of God.
6. We should teach people what the Word says.
7. The teaching of the Word is much different from the teaching of the world and we must make sure that when we are pouring ourselves into these disciples that we are teaching them the truth of the Word of God.
B. …my way of life…
1. Next, Paul mentioned his way of life.
2. Timothy spent time with Paul and knew how he lived his life.
3. So not only did Paul tell Timothy what the Word of God said, he allowed Timothy to see how he applied it to his life.
4. No doubt, Paul explained how and why he did certain things the way he did because of what the Scriptures teach.
5. And I’m sure that Paul allowed Timothy to ask him questions sometimes about why and what Paul did and Paul explained how those things were direct applications of the Scripture.
6. When we disciple others, we need to let them see Christ in our lives.
7. We need to let them see how we apply the Scriptures to our life.
8. We need to model for them Christ-like living.
9. People want to be followers of Christ, but they have never done it and have never seen it done, so they don’t really know what a follower of Christ looks life in real life.
10. They need to se our way of life.
C. …my purpose…
1. Paul branded his purpose into Timothy’s memory.
2. Paul emphasized in the classroom the importance and urgency of his purpose.
3. Paul’s purpose, of course, was to seek and save the lost.
4. Paul’s purpose, of course, was to make disciples.
5. Paul’s purpose, of course, was to train others to make disciples.
6. And Paul had branded his purpose into the memory banks of Timothy.
7. Paul made his purpose, Timothy’s purpose.
8. Because of the intenseness of this training, Timothy adopted Paul’s purpose for his own life.
9. And that is exactly what we are called to do as well.
10. We are called by God to have the life’s purpose of fulfilling Christ’s Great Commission.
11. And we are called by God to engrain that purpose into other people who will in turn go and do the same.
12. When we do this, the Kingdom of God will begin to grow and multiply.
D. …my faith…
1. Paul showed Timothy his faith.
2. Paul demonstrated his faith before Timothy.
3. Paul demonstrated to Timothy how to walk by faith and not by sight.
4. Here, we are beginning to see that this is not a college course of today.
5. Few professors today would allow anyone to see how they lived their lives.
6. Few professors today would allow anyone to see if they practice what they teach.
7. Few professors today would allow anyone to see if they believe what they teach enough to practice it in their own lives.
8. But Paul was not afraid to put his faith on the line for others to see how he did it.
9. And of course when we are training others to be followers of Jesus Christ, they need to see our faith in action.
10. They need to see that we have faith and that we walk by faith and not by sight.
11. They need to see that faith is not just pie-in-the-sky by-and-by, but that it is real.
12. They need to see how we live out our faith.
E. …my patience…
1. Paul demonstrated patience.
2. I’m sure he demonstrated patience with Timothy himself and with others.
3. When we have our disciples in the car with us and things don’t go quickly in the drive-thru, do our disciples see patience in us?
4. When disciples don’t seem to be getting it, do they see us being patient with them?
F. …my love…
1. Paul demonstrated his love for Timothy.
2. Paul demonstrated his love for God for Timothy to see.
3. Paul demonstrated his love for others for Timothy to see.
4. Of course, we could train lots of disciple, but if we don’t love, what good would it be?
5. What kind of disciples would we be making if they were not trained to love?
6. If they don’t love, then they aren’t disciples of Christ.
G. …my endurance…
1. Paul demonstrated stick-to-it-iveness.
2. Paul demonstrated the ability to keep going when things got tough.
3. Disciples need to be taught the importance of sticking with it.
4. Disciples need to be taught the importance of not giving up.
5. Disciples of Christ persevere!
H. …my persecutions…
1. Paul told Timothy that he knew all about the persecution that Paul went through in Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra.
2. Timothy knew all about them because Paul had told him about them as they traveled together on subsequent missionary journeys.
3. We all know about the persecutions and stoneings and beatings and jail and slander that the apostle Paul endured because we’ve read about them in the book of Acts.
4. But look at what Paul continues to say in verses 12 & 13…12 Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. 13 But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.
5. Paul said everyone who desires to live a godly life will suffer persecution.
6. It is a fact of life that if we want to live for Christ, we will be persecuted.
7. We cannot give up because people do bad things to us.
8. We cannot give up if people say bad things about us.
9. We must endure and persevere even when we suffer persecution.
10. We must endure persecution ourselves and we must let our disciples see this so they will know how to handle it themselves.
11. Part of the syllabus of disciple making must include enduring persecution.
H. …my sufferings…
1. Of course Paul suffered in many ways—not just what we would call persecution.
2. Sometimes it was physical things, sometimes it was financial, sometimes it was emotional.
3. But Paul did suffer in many ways for the cause of Christ and he demonstrated for his disciples how to continue on and endure despite suffering.
4. And that is exactly what modern-day disciples need to see as well!
5. Today (maybe more than ever before) disciples of Christ need to be trained to endure whatever sufferings and persecutions we may face!
Transition:
1. That was Paul’s syllabus for disciple making.
2. Clearly a very in-depth course.
3. What we have is just an overview of the intense training that Paul gave to disciples like Timothy and Priscilla and Aquila.
4. It can be frightening prospect when we stop to think about the enormity of the task.
5. So let’s look back at the story of Priscilla and Aquila and see what kind of encouragement the apostle Paul got.
III. Paul received encouragement.
Acts 18:9-10 (NKJV) 9 Now the Lord spoke to Paul in the night by a vision, “Do not be afraid, but speak, and do not keep silent; 10 for I am with you, and no one will attack you to hurt you; for I have many people in this city.”
A. …do not be afraid…
1. When Christ spoke to Paul that night, he had plenty of reason to be afraid.
2. He had been spending time with Aquila and Priscilla.
3. Then verse 5 tells us that Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia and Paul began spending a lot of time in the synagogue.
4. Of course, in the synagogue, people opposed him and got abusive with him and he left the synagogue.
5. Paul knew what happened when people got abusive with him, so he went next door to the house of Titus Justus.
6. While there, Crispus, the synagogue ruler and his household got saved and many others.
7. I’m sure that Paul is wondering if people in the synagogue were going to stir up persecution for him after he’d gotten the synagogue ruler saved.
8. But God came and spoke to him and told him not to be afraid.
9. Christ came to Paul and told him not to be afraid.
10. And Christ will tell us the same thing when we step out in faith to begin the urgent task of making disciples: don’t be afraid.
B. …speak and do not keep silent…
1. Then Christ told him to continue to speak out and not keep silent.
2. Christ told Paul not to be afraid of continuing to speak out; he should not keep silent.
3. Christ will tell us the same thing: don’t be afraid, keep on speaking.
C. …I am with you…
1. Christ assured Paul that He was with Paul.
2. Christ has assured us the same thing.
3. Matthew 28:20 (NKJV) 20 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.” Amen.
4. When we step out on faith in undertaking to do what Christ has commanded us, He has given us his word that He will always be with us—even till the very end.
D. …I have many people in this city…
1. Jesus told Paul that he had many people in that city.
2. There were people there who already believed and there were people there who were going to believe.
3. Christ was telling Paul that it was going to be worth it to hang in there.
4. There were going to be rough times, but there were going to be results as well.
5. And if we have the courage to hang in there and continue to disciple people into the image of Christ, we will see results as well!
6. We will see the Kingdom of God expand!
7. When we train people to follow the teaching of Jesus Christ, good things will happen!
8. Do you believe that?!!
E. …no greater joy…
3 John 4 (NKJV) 4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.
1. John is writing to his dear friend Gaius because some people had come to tell John about Gaius’ faithfulness and the he continued to walk in the truth.
2. This is perhaps the greatest encouragement that any disciple maker will ever receive!
3. I cannot tell you what it means to me to know that even though I have left Sallisaw, OK there are four young women graduated from two different Bible colleges as a result of my ministry there and that brings me great joy!
4. John is speaking about hearing that our disciples are continuing to walk in the truth and when we hear that, it brings great joy to us!
5. I cannot tell you what it means to me to know that even though I have left Rochester Hills, MI there is today a young man in Georgia who is a youth minister who came out of my youth group and that brings me great joy!
6. When we pour ourselves into people and they stay the course it brings great joy!
7. Although I have not directly worked with the youth in this church for some time, I still take great joy in the fact that Debra Feilen and my daughter Amber have answered the call of God in their lives to go into full-time Christian service!
8. There are many others who, although they are not in full-time Christian service, that I can tell you bring me great joy because they are continuing to walk in the footsteps of Christ as a result of my pouring myself into them!
9. There are over 100 people in five different cities who I have had the privilege of baptizing into Christ and watching them grow into the image of Jesus Christ—what joy!
10. I’m sure the apostle Paul had no greater joy than to hear the news about Priscilla and Aquila…
a. Acts 18:19 They arrived at Ephesus, where Paul left Priscilla and Aquila. (Disciple training completed!)
b. Acts 18:24-26 Meanwhile a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was a learned man, with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures. He had been instructed in the way of the Lord, and he spoke with great fervor and taught about Jesus accurately, though he knew only the baptism of John. He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they invited him to their home and explained to him the way of God more adequately.
c. Aquila and Priscilla had been so thoroughly trained that they could tell when someone was in error scripturally—even when he was a preacher.
d. Aquila and Priscilla had been so thoroughly trained that they could tell when someone was in error scripturally—even when he had a thorough knowledge of Scripture.
e. Aquila and Priscilla had been so thoroughly trained that they could tell when someone was in error scripturally—even when he spoke with great fervor and taught about Jesus accurately.
f. Aquila and Priscilla were so thoroughly trained that not only could they tell when someone was in error, they could take them home and explained their error tactfully in a way that was palatable and not offensive.
g. The rest of the chapter tells how Apollos benefited as a result of the help he got from Aquila and Priscilla.
h. And I’m sure that all of this brought the apostle Paul great joy.
i. All of these people who were brought to Christ as a result of the ministry of Apollos were benefited indirectly because of the work that Paul had done with Aquila and Priscilla.
10.There is no greater joy than to see results from our efforts at disciple-making!
Conclusion:
A. But I, like the apostle Paul, know that if the Kingdom is going to grow in significant ways, we must all join in the urgent task that Christ has given us!
B. So what is it that Christ has called us to do?
1. Matthew 28:18-20 (NKJV) 18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 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, 20 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.” Amen.
2. First, He says to “Go!”
a. Christ tells us to go to them.
b. Christ doesn’t tell us to sit in church and wait for them to come to us.
c. That’s great if they do show up, but even if they do, the only way to disciple them is to find ways to spend time with them outside of church.
d. But we are to go out into the highways and byways of life, seeking the lost at the uttermost cost.
3. We are to go and make disciples.
a. Paul has graciously given us his syllabus and left a written account of many of his efforts at disciple making.
b. We have seen the instruction on how to do it and we have read the stories of how he actually did it with different people.
c. We too, are called to go and make disciples.
4. When we go and make disciples we are to baptize them and teach them to obey every thing Christ has commanded us.
5. And we must never forget that he has promised to always be with us when we step out in faith in this great adventure of disciple making.
B. So who is it that God has called you to disciple?
1. Do you know who they are?
2. Have you prayed about who they are?
3. Have you prayed about how you’re going to spend time with them?
4. Have you prayed about the changes that you’re going to have to make in your life in order to be a true disciple maker?
5. What are the next steps that you need to take?
C. #184 “Make Me a Blessing”
Course Title: Disciple-Making 101
Professor: The Apostle Paul
Acts 18
August 15, 2002
Intro:
A. [Finger of God]
An old deacon was leading in prayer using one of his stereotypical phrases, which was “Oh Lord, touch the unsaved with Thy finger.”
As he intoned this phrase in this particular prayer, he stopped short.
Other members came to his side and asked if he were ill.
“No,” he replied, “but something seemed to say to me, “Thou art the finger.”
1. It is true that Christ has called all of us into the ministry of leading others to Him.
2. Sometimes God will speak directly to someone like He did with this gentleman.
3. But all of us have the Words of Christ calling us into this ministry recorded for us in the Word of God.
B. Matthew 28:18-20 (NKJV) 18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 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, 20 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.” Amen.
1. It’s interesting as we read through the Bible that we never come across phrases like soul-winning or evangelism.
2. Although those are modern terms to describe the process of getting people saved, they are not found in the Bible.
3. Of course, getting people saved is an important thing that should be a priority of the church, but the truth is that conversion is only the first step.
4. When Jesus gave us this statement that we call, “The Great Commission,” what comes to our minds is getting people saved, but in actuality that is only part of what Jesus has commissioned us to do.
5. If we look closely at what Jesus really said, we see that there are three parts to this Great Commission…
a. First, Jesus said to go make disciples.
b. Second, He said to baptize them.
c. Third, he said to teach them to observe all things that He commanded us.
d. So go make disciples, baptize them, and continue to teach them everything Jesus commanded us.
e. We are not just to convert people.
f. We are not just to baptize people.
g. We are to disciple them.
h. We are to make disciples.
i. We get them to believe, we baptize them, and we continue to disciple them.
6. We often get confused into thinking that there were 12 disciples and may wonder how we could make a new apostle.
7. But there is a difference between apostles and disciples.
8. There were, in fact, many apostles—not just the twelve.
9. But Apostle is an office to which many are installed like elders and deacons.
10. However apostles is not what we’re talking about.
11. A disciple is anyone who is a follower of the prescribed teachings of the leader.
12. A disciple of Christ is anyone who is a follower of the teachings of Christ.
13. You and I are all disciples.
14. All apostles are disciples, but not all disciples are apostles.
15. So, according to what Jesus said, we aren’t finished when we get them saved.
16. Our real goal is to transform men and women and boys and girls into fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ.
17. Christ has called us to go make disciples.
C. Today we are going to get an overview of the college course given by the apostle Paul in disciple making.
1. Today we are gong to look at Acts 18 and 2 Timothy 3 and get an overview of the course entitled: Disciple-Making 101 given by the instructor the apostle Paul.
2. Let’s begin by looking at the first four verses of Acts 18.
I. Paul made friends.
Acts 18:1-4 (NKJV) After these things Paul departed from Athens and went to Corinth. 2 And he found a certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla (because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to depart from Rome); and he came to them. 3 So, because he was of the same trade, he stayed with them and worked; for by occupation they were tentmakers. 4 And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and persuaded both Jews and Greeks.
A. Paul found a promising couple and began pouring himself into them.
1. Paul met a couple named Priscilla and Aquila.
2. Paul looked for ways to spend time with them.
3. Paul lived with and worked with these people.
4. Paul was a tent-maker by trade and so were Priscilla and Aquila.
5. They spent their day making tents to support themselves and no-doubt Paul had a lot of time to teach and train them.
6. While they sewed their tents, Paul was pouring himself into Priscilla and Aquila.
B. Luke also says that Paul stayed with Priscilla and Aquila.
1. Not only did Paul spend the working hours with them, but he also spent the nights with them as well.
3. Paul spent all day and all night with these people!
4. Paul knew that he could not disciple the whole world, but he could disciple this couple and then turn them loose to disciple others.
5. Do you see how effective this is?
6. Paul was as committed to discipleing people as he was to getting them saved.
7. Paul was not ignoring the rest of Christ’s Great Commission.
8. Paul found ways to spend the entire day and night with Priscilla and Aquila so that he could train and disciple them.
C. Of course we don’t live in a society that lends itself to spending the entire day and night with people.
1. But we must find people that we can share with.
2. We must find people that we can pour ourselves and our beliefs into.
3. We must find people that we can disciple.
4. Therefore, we must find things we have in common with them and get involved with them so that we can disciple them.
a. We might have jobs that will allow us to spend time with them.
b. We might have hobbies that we can do together.
c. We might have leisure activities in common.
d. We might enjoy the same types of entertainment.
e. But whatever it is, we need to look for people to disciple and then look for ways to spend time together.
5. Who do you know that God would have you disciple?
a. The first step of course is to start praying that God would show you who you can disciple.
b. Second, after you know who God has lead you to, you need to pray that God would show you how you can spend time with them.
c. Who among your family, friends, relatives, associates, and neighbors would God have you disciple?
Transition:
1. Now, wouldn’t it be great if we at least had a syllabus for the course that the apostle Paul used in disciple making?
2. Fortunately, Paul did leave us a syllabus.
3. Another of the disciples that the apostle Paul trained was Timothy.
4. And Paul did review the syllabus of training that he had given to Timothy when he later wrote his first letter to him.
5. Let’s look at 2 Timothy 3:10-11 and see what it was that Paul taught Timothy when he was spending time with and pouring himself into him.
II. Paul trained disciples.
2 Timothy 3:10-11 (NKJV) 10 But you have carefully followed my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, love, perseverance, 11 persecutions, afflictions, which happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra—what persecutions I endured. And out of them all the Lord delivered me.
A. …my teaching…
1. As Paul reviewed his training with Timothy, he mentioned his teaching.
2. Of course, Paul got his teaching from Christ and the OT.
3. Paul’s teaching was the Word of God.
4. Much of Paul’s writing became the written Word of God.
5. Our writings will not become the written Word of God, but what we teach people should clearly be the Word of God.
6. We should teach people what the Word says.
7. The teaching of the Word is much different from the teaching of the world and we must make sure that when we are pouring ourselves into these disciples that we are teaching them the truth of the Word of God.
B. …my way of life…
1. Next, Paul mentioned his way of life.
2. Timothy spent time with Paul and knew how he lived his life.
3. So not only did Paul tell Timothy what the Word of God said, he allowed Timothy to see how he applied it to his life.
4. No doubt, Paul explained how and why he did certain things the way he did because of what the Scriptures teach.
5. And I’m sure that Paul allowed Timothy to ask him questions sometimes about why and what Paul did and Paul explained how those things were direct applications of the Scripture.
6. When we disciple others, we need to let them see Christ in our lives.
7. We need to let them see how we apply the Scriptures to our life.
8. We need to model for them Christ-like living.
9. People want to be followers of Christ, but they have never done it and have never seen it done, so they don’t really know what a follower of Christ looks life in real life.
10. They need to se our way of life.
C. …my purpose…
1. Paul branded his purpose into Timothy’s memory.
2. Paul emphasized in the classroom the importance and urgency of his purpose.
3. Paul’s purpose, of course, was to seek and save the lost.
4. Paul’s purpose, of course, was to make disciples.
5. Paul’s purpose, of course, was to train others to make disciples.
6. And Paul had branded his purpose into the memory banks of Timothy.
7. Paul made his purpose, Timothy’s purpose.
8. Because of the intenseness of this training, Timothy adopted Paul’s purpose for his own life.
9. And that is exactly what we are called to do as well.
10. We are called by God to have the life’s purpose of fulfilling Christ’s Great Commission.
11. And we are called by God to engrain that purpose into other people who will in turn go and do the same.
12. When we do this, the Kingdom of God will begin to grow and multiply.
D. …my faith…
1. Paul showed Timothy his faith.
2. Paul demonstrated his faith before Timothy.
3. Paul demonstrated to Timothy how to walk by faith and not by sight.
4. Here, we are beginning to see that this is not a college course of today.
5. Few professors today would allow anyone to see how they lived their lives.
6. Few professors today would allow anyone to see if they practice what they teach.
7. Few professors today would allow anyone to see if they believe what they teach enough to practice it in their own lives.
8. But Paul was not afraid to put his faith on the line for others to see how he did it.
9. And of course when we are training others to be followers of Jesus Christ, they need to see our faith in action.
10. They need to see that we have faith and that we walk by faith and not by sight.
11. They need to see that faith is not just pie-in-the-sky by-and-by, but that it is real.
12. They need to see how we live out our faith.
E. …my patience…
1. Paul demonstrated patience.
2. I’m sure he demonstrated patience with Timothy himself and with others.
3. When we have our disciples in the car with us and things don’t go quickly in the drive-thru, do our disciples see patience in us?
4. When disciples don’t seem to be getting it, do they see us being patient with them?
F. …my love…
1. Paul demonstrated his love for Timothy.
2. Paul demonstrated his love for God for Timothy to see.
3. Paul demonstrated his love for others for Timothy to see.
4. Of course, we could train lots of disciple, but if we don’t love, what good would it be?
5. What kind of disciples would we be making if they were not trained to love?
6. If they don’t love, then they aren’t disciples of Christ.
G. …my endurance…
1. Paul demonstrated stick-to-it-iveness.
2. Paul demonstrated the ability to keep going when things got tough.
3. Disciples need to be taught the importance of sticking with it.
4. Disciples need to be taught the importance of not giving up.
5. Disciples of Christ persevere!
H. …my persecutions…
1. Paul told Timothy that he knew all about the persecution that Paul went through in Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra.
2. Timothy knew all about them because Paul had told him about them as they traveled together on subsequent missionary journeys.
3. We all know about the persecutions and stoneings and beatings and jail and slander that the apostle Paul endured because we’ve read about them in the book of Acts.
4. But look at what Paul continues to say in verses 12 & 13…12 Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. 13 But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.
5. Paul said everyone who desires to live a godly life will suffer persecution.
6. It is a fact of life that if we want to live for Christ, we will be persecuted.
7. We cannot give up because people do bad things to us.
8. We cannot give up if people say bad things about us.
9. We must endure and persevere even when we suffer persecution.
10. We must endure persecution ourselves and we must let our disciples see this so they will know how to handle it themselves.
11. Part of the syllabus of disciple making must include enduring persecution.
H. …my sufferings…
1. Of course Paul suffered in many ways—not just what we would call persecution.
2. Sometimes it was physical things, sometimes it was financial, sometimes it was emotional.
3. But Paul did suffer in many ways for the cause of Christ and he demonstrated for his disciples how to continue on and endure despite suffering.
4. And that is exactly what modern-day disciples need to see as well!
5. Today (maybe more than ever before) disciples of Christ need to be trained to endure whatever sufferings and persecutions we may face!
Transition:
1. That was Paul’s syllabus for disciple making.
2. Clearly a very in-depth course.
3. What we have is just an overview of the intense training that Paul gave to disciples like Timothy and Priscilla and Aquila.
4. It can be frightening prospect when we stop to think about the enormity of the task.
5. So let’s look back at the story of Priscilla and Aquila and see what kind of encouragement the apostle Paul got.
III. Paul received encouragement.
Acts 18:9-10 (NKJV) 9 Now the Lord spoke to Paul in the night by a vision, “Do not be afraid, but speak, and do not keep silent; 10 for I am with you, and no one will attack you to hurt you; for I have many people in this city.”
A. …do not be afraid…
1. When Christ spoke to Paul that night, he had plenty of reason to be afraid.
2. He had been spending time with Aquila and Priscilla.
3. Then verse 5 tells us that Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia and Paul began spending a lot of time in the synagogue.
4. Of course, in the synagogue, people opposed him and got abusive with him and he left the synagogue.
5. Paul knew what happened when people got abusive with him, so he went next door to the house of Titus Justus.
6. While there, Crispus, the synagogue ruler and his household got saved and many others.
7. I’m sure that Paul is wondering if people in the synagogue were going to stir up persecution for him after he’d gotten the synagogue ruler saved.
8. But God came and spoke to him and told him not to be afraid.
9. Christ came to Paul and told him not to be afraid.
10. And Christ will tell us the same thing when we step out in faith to begin the urgent task of making disciples: don’t be afraid.
B. …speak and do not keep silent…
1. Then Christ told him to continue to speak out and not keep silent.
2. Christ told Paul not to be afraid of continuing to speak out; he should not keep silent.
3. Christ will tell us the same thing: don’t be afraid, keep on speaking.
C. …I am with you…
1. Christ assured Paul that He was with Paul.
2. Christ has assured us the same thing.
3. Matthew 28:20 (NKJV) 20 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.” Amen.
4. When we step out on faith in undertaking to do what Christ has commanded us, He has given us his word that He will always be with us—even till the very end.
D. …I have many people in this city…
1. Jesus told Paul that he had many people in that city.
2. There were people there who already believed and there were people there who were going to believe.
3. Christ was telling Paul that it was going to be worth it to hang in there.
4. There were going to be rough times, but there were going to be results as well.
5. And if we have the courage to hang in there and continue to disciple people into the image of Christ, we will see results as well!
6. We will see the Kingdom of God expand!
7. When we train people to follow the teaching of Jesus Christ, good things will happen!
8. Do you believe that?!!
E. …no greater joy…
3 John 4 (NKJV) 4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.
1. John is writing to his dear friend Gaius because some people had come to tell John about Gaius’ faithfulness and the he continued to walk in the truth.
2. This is perhaps the greatest encouragement that any disciple maker will ever receive!
3. I cannot tell you what it means to me to know that even though I have left Sallisaw, OK there are four young women graduated from two different Bible colleges as a result of my ministry there and that brings me great joy!
4. John is speaking about hearing that our disciples are continuing to walk in the truth and when we hear that, it brings great joy to us!
5. I cannot tell you what it means to me to know that even though I have left Rochester Hills, MI there is today a young man in Georgia who is a youth minister who came out of my youth group and that brings me great joy!
6. When we pour ourselves into people and they stay the course it brings great joy!
7. Although I have not directly worked with the youth in this church for some time, I still take great joy in the fact that Debra Feilen and my daughter Amber have answered the call of God in their lives to go into full-time Christian service!
8. There are many others who, although they are not in full-time Christian service, that I can tell you bring me great joy because they are continuing to walk in the footsteps of Christ as a result of my pouring myself into them!
9. There are over 100 people in five different cities who I have had the privilege of baptizing into Christ and watching them grow into the image of Jesus Christ—what joy!
10. I’m sure the apostle Paul had no greater joy than to hear the news about Priscilla and Aquila…
a. Acts 18:19 They arrived at Ephesus, where Paul left Priscilla and Aquila. (Disciple training completed!)
b. Acts 18:24-26 Meanwhile a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was a learned man, with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures. He had been instructed in the way of the Lord, and he spoke with great fervor and taught about Jesus accurately, though he knew only the baptism of John. He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they invited him to their home and explained to him the way of God more adequately.
c. Aquila and Priscilla had been so thoroughly trained that they could tell when someone was in error scripturally—even when he was a preacher.
d. Aquila and Priscilla had been so thoroughly trained that they could tell when someone was in error scripturally—even when he had a thorough knowledge of Scripture.
e. Aquila and Priscilla had been so thoroughly trained that they could tell when someone was in error scripturally—even when he spoke with great fervor and taught about Jesus accurately.
f. Aquila and Priscilla were so thoroughly trained that not only could they tell when someone was in error, they could take them home and explained their error tactfully in a way that was palatable and not offensive.
g. The rest of the chapter tells how Apollos benefited as a result of the help he got from Aquila and Priscilla.
h. And I’m sure that all of this brought the apostle Paul great joy.
i. All of these people who were brought to Christ as a result of the ministry of Apollos were benefited indirectly because of the work that Paul had done with Aquila and Priscilla.
10.There is no greater joy than to see results from our efforts at disciple-making!
Conclusion:
A. But I, like the apostle Paul, know that if the Kingdom is going to grow in significant ways, we must all join in the urgent task that Christ has given us!
B. So what is it that Christ has called us to do?
1. Matthew 28:18-20 (NKJV) 18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 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, 20 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.” Amen.
2. First, He says to “Go!”
a. Christ tells us to go to them.
b. Christ doesn’t tell us to sit in church and wait for them to come to us.
c. That’s great if they do show up, but even if they do, the only way to disciple them is to find ways to spend time with them outside of church.
d. But we are to go out into the highways and byways of life, seeking the lost at the uttermost cost.
3. We are to go and make disciples.
a. Paul has graciously given us his syllabus and left a written account of many of his efforts at disciple making.
b. We have seen the instruction on how to do it and we have read the stories of how he actually did it with different people.
c. We too, are called to go and make disciples.
4. When we go and make disciples we are to baptize them and teach them to obey every thing Christ has commanded us.
5. And we must never forget that he has promised to always be with us when we step out in faith in this great adventure of disciple making.
B. So who is it that God has called you to disciple?
1. Do you know who they are?
2. Have you prayed about who they are?
3. Have you prayed about how you’re going to spend time with them?
4. Have you prayed about the changes that you’re going to have to make in your life in order to be a true disciple maker?
5. What are the next steps that you need to take?
C. #184 “Make Me a Blessing”
