The Purpose of the Church; Discipleship

The Purpose of the Church: Discipleship

We have seen The Purpose of the Church: Worship, Prayer, Fellowship

And now, The Purpose of the Church- Discipleship

Paul told his son in the faith, Timothy:

Till I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. 1 Timothy 4:13

 So, the Bible is commanding us to get into the word of God and learn about it, to be students.

Much of Western Christianity has taught us to view Jesus ‘ return as an evacuation plan or exit strategy. Jesus never commanded his church to wait for an escape.

He commanded his church to make disciples.

 Matthew 28:18-20 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.

When Jesus wanted to explain His return, He pointed to Noah.

Matthew 24:37-39 ³⁷ But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. ³⁸ For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, ³⁹ and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.

Noah wasn’t preparing to leave. He was preparing to remain faithful through God’s judgment.

Genesis 6:13-22 ¹³ And God said to Noah, “The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold, I will destroy them with the earth. ¹⁴ “Make yourself an ark of gopherwood; make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and outside with pitch. ¹⁵ And this is how you shall make it: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits. ¹⁶ You shall make a window for the ark, and you shall finish it to a cubit from above; and set the door of the ark in its side. You shall make it with lower, second, and third decks. ¹⁷ And behold, I Myself am bringing floodwaters on the earth, to destroy from under heaven all flesh in which is the breath of life; everything that is on the earth shall die. ¹⁸ But I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall go into the ark–you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you. ¹⁹ And of every living thing of all flesh you shall bring two of every sort into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female. ²⁰ Of the birds after their kind, of animals after their kind, and of every creeping thing of the earth after its kind, two of every kind will come to you to keep them alive. ²¹ And you shall take for yourself of all food that is eaten, and you shall gather it to yourself; and it shall be food for you and for them.” ²² Thus Noah did; according to all that God commanded him, so he did.

God never told Noah to watch the sky. He told him to build an ark.

Biblical readiness has never been about escape. It’s always been about obedience. Luke 12:35-43 ³⁵ “Let your waist be girded and your lamps burning; ³⁶ and you yourselves be like men who wait for their master, when he will return from the wedding, that when he comes and knocks they may open to him immediately. ³⁷ Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, will find watching. Assuredly, I say to you that he will gird himself and have them sit down to eat, and will come and serve them. ³⁸ And if he should come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants. ³⁹ But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. ⁴⁰ Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” ⁴¹ Then Peter said to Him, “Lord, do You speak this parable only to us, or to all people?” ⁴² And the Lord said, “Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his master will make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of food in due season? ⁴³ Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes.

The question isn’t whether you’ll recognize Jesus when He returns.

It’s whether Jesus will find you faithful when he does.

Luke 18:8 I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?”

The KING is coming! We need to make people aware of that and to teach them what the word of God says.

Discipleship

1 Corinthians 1:1-3 ¹ Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes  our brother, ² To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours: ³ Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

You are either a Saint or you Ain’t! 
Paul writes to those sanctified in Christ. Jesus called them saints; the word saints it’s Hagios (hag’-ee-os).

 INTRODUCTION

If we were in a baseball game, your job would not be just to get on base but to score.

We need to finish the course, not just start it, more than just leading them to the Lord, but teaching them to stay the course even in bad times

2 Timothy 4:7-8 ⁷ I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. ⁸ Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.

It’s like a race, not how we start, but how we finish that matters

1 Corinthians 9:24-27 (NKJV) ²⁴ Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. ²⁵ And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. ²⁶ Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. ²⁷ But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.

Hebrews 12:1-2 (NKJV) ¹ Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, ² looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Over the last couple of times I preached, we have looked at the purposes of the Church. Worship, Prayer, and Fellowship. This week, we are going to look at Discipleship.

Before going into the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prayed this prayer for you and me.

John 17:20-26 (NKJV) ²⁰ “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; ²¹ that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. ²² And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: ²³ I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me. ²⁴ Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. ²⁵ O righteous Father! The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me. ²⁶ And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.”

And then: Victory is Declared

After the Lord Jesus arose from the dead, He called a meeting. It was no ordinary meeting; in fact, it included hundreds of people assembled on a Galilean mountainside.

Among those he addressed were three groups of people.

According to Matthew 28:16, Christ’s eleven surviving disciples were there.

From 1 Corinthians 15:6, we learn that 500 other believers attended the meeting too.

But there was also another group of people invited to the meeting, a group that grows bigger every day.

And as of Friday night, there are 14 more who got IN at the Truth in Nature retreat this weekend…!

He’s addressing those who accepted Christ.

And that assembly includes you and me. According to Matthew 28, at the close of this gathering, Jesus said these words,

Matthew 28:19-20 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.

The age of which He was speaking hasn’t ended yet, and since you and I are living in that age, the agenda of that last meeting is intended to apply to us.

disciple, = matheteuo (math-ayt-yoo’-o); from NT:3101; to become a pupil; transitively, to disciple, i.e. enroll as scholar: KJV – be a disciple, instruct, teach.

Paul tells the women to teach the younger women how to love their husbands. Parents are to teach their children how to live and how to love God. The pastor, preacher, teacher, shepherd is to lead and teach the flock, and you are to teach the world about Christ

With one hand, reach out to Jesus; with the other hand, grab a friend and bring them along. That’s in a song by Love Song Band

That’s not only discipleship; that is also evangelism and service, and we will be getting into those in the next few weeks

So, how do you teach the world?

In your lifestyle?’ because I promise you, people are watching you; the world is watching you, and as the saying goes, sometimes, you’re the only Bible some people will ever read. What are they reading? Not what are you here in this building not what are you around other church people what are you out there in the world that’s what they’re reading that person Let them see Jesus in everything you do

JC Ryle: Says let the Bible and not the church or any church upon earth or any minister upon earth be your rule of faith.

We are commanded to make disciples.

This is a two-part process.

This is the first part of making a disciple to evangelize (go and teach). And we’ll get into more of that in a moment

The second instruction for disciple-making is to baptize new believers “in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”

Tim told me that, out of the 14 Young men who were saved this weekend at the Truth in Nature retreat, all 14 were baptized. He said Not too bad for a bunch of men with beards and shorts on out in the woods, and then baptizing them in a horse trough or a big galvanized washtub. They’re doing what God commanded them to do, and I love that!

Why was Jesus baptized?

To fulfill all righteousness, to begin his ministry, to identify with humanity, all that is true, but there’s so much more hidden beneath the surface and in the Old Testament before a lamb could be sacrificed. It had to pass four requirements:

One publicly presented out in the open, before witnesses

Two were examined by a priest

Three were found without blemish

Four acceptances before the Lord, divine approval, God has to say yes!

Requirement one fulfilled

John publicly identifies Jesus as the Lamb of God

Behold the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, John 1:29

Requirement two fulfilled

John was from the Priestley line. He had the bloodline and the authority to examine the lamb.

Luke 1:5 tells us that his father, Zachariah, was a priest

Requirement three fulfilled

The lamb was found without blemish, not a single accusation, not a shadow of sin, not one flaw in 30 years of life Coming up to the start of his ministry and even after

Requirement four fulfilled

God himself came down and approved the offering

This is my beloved Son, whom I am well pleased with Matthew 3:17

We all understand the word baptism, but we need to examine it to learn what it means in this context.

One possibility is that it means to immerse in water.

Water baptism is like a wedding ring—an external reminder of an internal reality.

A man can be married without a ring, but wearing it tells others that he’s married and not available anymore, and it also reminds him that he is committed to another.

So, although a gold band worn on the third finger of the left hand is a symbol of marriage, it doesn’t make the wearer married.

Walking, wet, death, burial, and the resurrection.

I love what West Ridge says when they baptize somebody, buried with him in death, raised to walk a new life

Charles Spurgeon says, “Baptism is not essential to your salvation. It is essential to your obedience to Christ. Nothing is more plainly taught in the New Testament than that. It is the duty of every believer in Christ to be baptized.

I don’t believe Jesus is talking about the external reminder only when He commands the disciples to baptize believers.

The Greek word baptizo literally means to immerse; however, its theological usage throughout the New Testament is “to identify with someone or something.”

This sense of the word is working in 1 Corinthians 10:2, where the writer says that Israel was baptized into Moses, that is, accepted his leadership, as they crossed the Red Sea.

1 Corinthians 10:1-4 ¹ Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, ² all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, ³ all ate the same spiritual food, ⁴ and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ.

From that day until his death, the Israelites identified with him as their leader. In Romans 6:3, we see the same usage where Paul teaches that “all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death.”

Romans 6:1-6 ¹ What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? ² Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? ³ Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? ⁴ Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. ⁵ For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, ⁶ knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.

This means that by placing faith in Christ we are identified with Him—identified with His death on the cross and identified through His resurrection into newness of life.

Then, if baptism is used to mean “identification,” we can substitute identify for the commandment to baptize. The verse would then read:

“Identify them with the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.”

A group can be identified with a name, as the Israelites were with Moses in the Scripture verse considered earlier.

Acts 4:13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus.

They have been identified as one of Jesus’ believers

My prayer partner, Ben Bennett, says that wherever he goes, he hopes that when people see him, they don’t see Ben Bennett but that they see Jesus. That’s a great prayer.

That’s all that matters if you’ve been with Jesus.

Can the world and even other Christians tell or perceive that you are, or are trying to be identified with Jesus?

We are going to look at what we are to do once we have added a person to the kingdom of God.

 We are called to disciple them.

What happens in a typical church when we win a person to Jesus?

We usually leave it at that.

We are happy, we got them to first base!

When a person accepts Jesus as their Lord and Savior, our job does not stop there.

That is like getting a person to 1st base and saying that our job is finished. But there is so much more.

Our goal is to help bring that person around the bases to score!

Too many times, we get a person to first base and then forget about them; we leave them stranded.

Part of making a disciple is teaching them all that Jesus commanded.

The Great Commission tells us this, and the early church was committed to the apostles’ teachings.

Acts 2:41-47 ⁴¹ Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them. ⁴² And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. ⁴³ Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. ⁴⁴ Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, ⁴⁵ and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need. ⁴⁶ So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, ⁴⁷ praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.

What we believe is then taught to other believers. This is our Creed, 1.creed [krēd] NOUN a system of Christian or other religious belief; a faith:

I saw something from a Christian school teacher who said that he did some research. It said 68% of the people who graduated from their Christian school claimed to be atheists. Now, they were taught the words; they weren’t taught what they meant. What is your creed?

This is the Apostles’ Creed

Rich Mullins

I believe in God the Father almighty

Maker of Heaven and Maker of Earth

And in Jesus Christ

His only begotten Son, our Lord

He was conceived by the Holy Spirit

Born of the Virgin Mary

Suffered under Pontius Pilate

He was crucified and dead and buried

I believe that He who suffered

Was crucified, buried, and dead

He descended into hell and

On the third day, rose again

He ascended into Heaven, where

He sits at God’s mighty right hand

I believe that He’s returning to

Judge the quick and the dead

Of the sons of men

I believe in God the Father almighty

Maker of Heaven and Maker of Earth

And in Jesus Christ His only begotten Son,

Our Lord

I believe in the Holy Spirit

One Holy Church, the communion of Saints

The forgiveness of sin

I believe in the resurrection

I believe in a life that never ends

And I believe what I believe

Is what makes me what I am

I did not make it, no, it is making me

It is the very truth of God and not

The invention of any man

I believe it, I believe

 

What is a disciple?

A disciple is a student, learner, or pupil. In the Bible, the word is used most often to refer to a follower of Jesus.

You never grow out of it.

You never stop trying to learn more, and you can’t learn it all.

Whenever you think you’ve achieved everything you think you can achieve, you learn that you truly know nothing about this word and then you want to learn more.

The Apostle Paul, just hours possibly before his execution, sends a letter to his son in the faith, Timothy.

2 Timothy 4:6-13 ⁶ For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. ⁷ I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. ⁸ Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.
⁹ Be diligent to come to me quickly; ¹⁰ for Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world, and has departed for Thessalonica–Crescens for Galatia, Titus for Dalmatia. ¹¹ Only Luke is with me. Get Mark (If you recall, back in the first missionary journey, Paul kicked Mark out of his group and didn’t seem to trust Mark. But now he has fixed things; that’s what we’ve got to do: you’ve got to make things right with other believers, now look what he says about ol Mark,) and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for ministry. ¹² And Tychicus I have sent to Ephesus. (He’s lonely. I’m quite possibly afraid not of its destination but of what is going to happen to him, and even in the end he says this)

Note winter is coming: 2 Timothy 4:21 (NKJV) Do your utmost to come before winter. Eubulus greets you, as well as Pudens, Linus, Claudia, and all the brethren.

¹³ Bring the cloak (a coat or a mantle) that I left with Carpus at Troas when you come–and the books, especially the parchments.

 Charles Spurgeon said: He is inspired and yet he wants his books, He’s been preaching at least for 30 years and yet he wants his books, he had seen the Lord and yet he wants his books, He had a wider experience than most men and yet he wants books, He had been caught up in the 3rd heaven and had heard things which was unlawful for men to utter, yet he wanted books, He had written the major part of the New Testament and yet he wants books, the Apostle says to Timothy And so he says to every preacher And I believe every believer needs to give yourself unto reading, you never stop studying and Never stop learning and reading about our Savior.

And then sharing, making disciples, teaching. And if the Apostle Paul still wanted to learn, who are we not to?

As a disciple, as a student, as a learner, you never, never, no matter how old or how young, what kind of physical shape you’re in, however smart you think you are, never stop learning what the Word of God is trying to tell you!

The word disciple is rarely used in the Old Testament. Isaiah used the term disciples to refer to those who are taught or instructed.

Isaiah 8:16 Bind up the testimony, Seal the law among my disciples.

The word disciple is sometimes used in a more specific way to indicate the twelve apostles of Jesus (Matt 10:1; 11:1; 20:17; Luke 9:1; the Twelve, NIV, NEB, NASB, RSV).

In general, apostles refer to a small, inner group of Jesus’ followers; disciples refer to a larger group of Jesus’ followers, such as the women who stood at Jesus’ cross and discovered the empty tomb.

(from Nelson’s Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Copyright (c)1986, Thomas Nelson Publishers)

Quite simply, a disciple is a learner or a pupil of someone.

In the context of the Bible, a Christian is supposed to be a disciple. Whom are we to be a disciple of?   Jesus?

The word disciple is used over 250 times in the New Testament and is only found in the Gospels and Acts.

Discipleship is simply spending time with Jesus.

So, I encourage you to spend time with Jesus. Get in the Gospels every month, just read through them, and then read the book of Acts of the Apostles, which are the acts of Jesus through the Apostles

 Everyone, when fully trained, will be like their teacher

 If you can’t find time to read the four gospels every month, then can you really call yourself a disciple? Because the disciples spend time with their rabbi.

 Acts 11 is where we find that Christians and disciples are called the same thing.

Acts 11:26 And when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. So it was that for a whole year they assembled with the church and taught a great many people. And the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.

The name “Christian” was given to the disciples by Paul and Barnabas through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. The English translations of Acts 11:26 make it sound like the people called the disciples Christians, but the grammar of the original will not allow that. The original says that Paul and Barnabas called them Christians. Or to be Christ-like. The word “called” has a prophetic meaning to it.

Discipleship is the development of Christians.

The Characteristics of a Disciple

Love for the brethren.

Jesus is speaking:

John 13:34-35 ³⁴ A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. ³⁵ By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Mark 12:30-31 ³⁰ And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. ³¹ And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

As I have said: It’s not what kind of neighbor I have, but what kind of neighbor my neighbor has. Me, what kind of person am I?

Commitment to Jesus.

Luke 14:27 And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.

You have to have a Love for Jesus. Tony Evans says:

What is a disciple? A disciple is one who has decided that following Christ takes priority over everything else in life. Jesus didn’t say being a disciple would be easy. He told His followers that they would have to deny themselves and take up their own crosses to follow Him.

He emphasized the fact that He would have to be first in their lives when He said, Luke 14:26 “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate (In comparison to the love you have for Christ) his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.

The way the word hate is used here is the same way you look a beautiful woman in the eye and say You are the only person in this world I see Are they really the only person in the world you see? No, but compared to the rest of the world, they’re the only ones you want to see.

Remember, Jesus wasn’t speaking just to the people who saw Him in Galilee or heard Him in the Temple in Jerusalem. He wasn’t talking just to the twelve disciples.

He was talking to you and to me and to everyone who will ever be born again on this earth.

 Did everyone who heard Jesus preach become His disciple? No.

Does everyone who walks through the doors of this church or comes to the meetings here become a disciple, a Christian, or a believer?

No, I’m afraid not

Whenever Jesus drew a large crowd to hear Him teach, He would eliminate most of them by telling them about denying themselves, carrying their crosses, and putting Him first in their lives.

If Jesus had been interested in boosting His Nielsen rating or His position in the Gallup Poll, He would have kept quiet about the cost of discipleship.

But Jesus wasn’t playing the numbers game.

He was making disciples—exactly what He has commanded us to do.

Unfortunately, most of the Jews who heard Him weren’t interested in absolute commitment to the authority of Christ;

Religion and “getting by” were enough for them. Sadly, that is also the case in far too many churches today.

Make Him a part of you. As I said about Pop the Top, you have to make it a part of you. Not every disciple stayed a disciple.

John 6:53-58 ⁵³ Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. ⁵⁴ Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. ⁵⁵ For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. ⁵⁶ He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. ⁵⁷ As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me. ⁵⁸ This is the bread which came down from heaven–not as your fathers ate the manna and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever.”

 Listen, everybody’s gonna spend eternity somewhere. It’s either gonna be in heaven or in hell, which is eternal death.

If you die before you die, then when you die, you won’t die. If you die to yourself before you die the physical death, when you die the physical death, you won’t die the second death that’s in Revelation, which is hell, eternal damnation

 Revelation 2:11 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death.” ‘

Revelation 20:6  Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.

Revelation 20:14-15 ¹⁴ Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. ¹⁵ And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.

Revelation 21:8 But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”

So if you die before you die then when you die you won’t die

John 6:59-69 ⁵⁹ These things He said in the synagogue as He taught in Capernaum. ⁶⁰ Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this, said, “This is a hard saying; who can understand it?”
⁶¹ When Jesus knew in Himself that His disciples complained about this, He said to them, “Does this offend you? ⁶² What then if you should see the Son of Man ascend where He was before? ⁶³ It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life. ⁶⁴ But there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who would betray Him. ⁶⁵ And He said, “Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father.” ⁶⁶ From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more.

Don’t miss this; this was so freeing for me as a minister. People will walk away. People will stop listening to you. People will turn their back on you and hurt you worse than you ever imagined, but at no time did Jesus chase them down. He never told them, ” Oh, wait, guys, I meant this; don’t be offended He let them leave.

 ⁶⁷ Then Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you also want to go away?” ⁶⁸ But Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. ⁶⁹ Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

When the going gets hard, most walk away…

 Signs of being a Disciple:

Be like Jesus.

Matthew 10:25 It is enough for a disciple that he be like his teacher, and a servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more will they call those of his household!

Benevolent.

Luke 6:38 Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.”

As Brian was pointing out this morning you will not you cannot outgive God

Abide in Jesus.

John 15:4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.

The objective of discipleship is to smooth the progress of the spiritual growth of Christians.

When we are immersed in Christ (when we become Christians), we are born again.

2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

2 Corinthians 3:18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.

Do you see Jesus in your life?

Jesus gives us a principle in Matthew 12:

Matthew 12:43-45 ⁴³ “When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none. ⁴⁴ Then he says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when he comes, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order. ⁴⁵ Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first. So shall it also be with this wicked generation.”

This is another one of the things pinned in the back of my Bible:

Separate crowds

Fear knocked at my door tonight, silently begging for a preferred chair

I opened the door of my heart a bit and thought I’d make room for him there

But when reluctantly I turned to seat the guest, I thought must stay.

I saw the room was much too full; he saw it too, and went his way.

For in that moment, Christ had placed a special guest in every chair.

And how could fear be comfortable with faith and peace already there?

Carole Rapp Stone

 

Discipleship fills our house with tools and encouragement for growth.

Myths about spiritual growth.

• Spiritual growth is automatic once you are born. BABY?
• Spiritual growth is mystical, and maturity is attainable by only a few
• Spiritual maturity can occur instantly if you find the right key. You didn’t start in kindergarten and all of a sudden get a doctorate from college. It takes learning for spiritual growth
• Spiritual maturity is measured by what you know
• Spiritual growth is a personal and private matter
• All you need is the Bible to grow.

If we fall for these myths, then we will not work on helping people grow.

If we fall for these myths, we will not do what we need to do to grow.

If we fall for these myths, we will become discouraged if we are not growing.

If we fall for these myths, we will become lazy.

We need to get people to go from 1st base (saved) to 2nd base (commitment to maturity or separation) to 3rd base (commitment to service) to home plate.

We need to intentionally do things that help Christians become more Christ-like.

One definition of discipleship is MAKE ONE TO MAKE ONE.

You got saved to save others.

Frank Halcomb, the 3^rd pastor here, used to have a saying, and it was: If everyone won one, and that one, won one. And those won one. Pretty soon, there would be no one left to win

WAYS TO HELP A DISCIPLE GROW.

Church programs

• Bible studies. The early church was devoted to the scriptures.
• Sunday school. This cannot be the only food we eat.
• Preaching. This cannot be the only food we get.
• Service opportunities.
• Providing fellowship opportunities for people.
• Mentoring programs.

Individual

• Personal devotion time.
• Prayer time.
• Serving others
• Bible reading
• Mentoring
• Giving
• Fellowship with other Christians
• Have a person that you are accountable to.

Back to Ben Bennett saying Are you clean? Have someone hold you accountable.

Roscoe Stevens at New Brooklyn, I told him if I crossed a line, if I did something that he didn’t agree with, if I said something that was not according to the Word and the will of God, he had my permission to get in my face about it.

He then leaned over into my truck and said, ” Son, I don’t need your permission; I’m gonna do that anyway. That’s the kind of people you need in your life, someone who would get in your face and tell you if you do wrong

The key to growth is commitment to the truth of the word of God.

Notice that part of the Great Commission is teaching, and the early church was committed to the word.

If we are not putting the word in people’s lives, then we have to ask ourselves: what are we winning people over to?

What we need to understand about discipleship is that I cannot be a disciple without being disciplined. The more disciplined I become, the more God can use me.

The mark of a disciple is continual growth. As we saw with Paul in the book, a second Timothy continuing to study, continuing to want his books, and continuing to want to grow in Christ

I believe the main keys to being able to make someone more Christ-like are the desire to grow, discipline, and time spent with both God and His people.

THE BENEFITS OF DISCIPLESHIP

The Church grows deeper through discipleship.

Discipleship gives us principles to live by. A foundation to build our lives on. Word of God.

It gives us stability. The world is in turmoil because it lacks a foundation.

As we become more Christ-like, we will experience more blessings than we can imagine!

CONCLUSION

When the church stops making and developing disciples, it is not a church.

For the church to be able to develop disciples, there has to be a great deal of involvement in each other’s lives.

Our worship is an extension of the way that we live our lives. In turn, we feel a strong sense of community and desire to strive with others in our walk in Fellowship.

Our worship helps us to see how much we need to grow more Christ-like because we are in awe of God, and we want to be more like Him.

Through our fellowship, a great love for other brethren is strengthened; we then seek to help others grow and develop (discipleship).

When we get a person to 1st base, our job is just beginning. It takes time, effort, and resources to develop disciples.

As a Church we must make sure that we are fulfilling this purpose.

As individual members of the body, we must make sure that we are committed to growth.

Are you willing to invest your time to help others grow closer to Jesus?

Victory Guaranteed

Matthew 28:18-20 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.

The last phrase is amazing: “And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Because it is such an impressive promise, people often quote it out of context.

For example, when someone gets sick or loses their job, a fellow believer will remind the sufferer that the Lord is with them always. But this verse isn’t about being sick or losing a job.

It’s primarily talking about making disciples.

What Jesus is saying is that when we make disciples, He will be with us.

In other words, if we want to know where to find Jesus, we need to look where disciples are being made.

Do you want to know which church Jesus is attending on Sunday?

Look for Him in a church where disciples are being made, not one where contacts are being made, or religion is being practiced.

“Lo, I am with you always.” When God sees a disciple-making church, He gets involved there.

When He looks out and sees disciples going out to make new disciples, then baptizing and teaching them, He gets excited and gets involved.

According to:

Romans 8:28-31 ²⁸ And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. ²⁹ For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. ³⁰ Moreover, whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.

³¹ What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

But look at the flip side of that: if God is against you, who can be for you?

God wants Christ to be the first of many brethren; that is, He wants disciples to be conformed to Christ’s image and is willing to help us make disciples to accomplish that goal.

There’s a war on in our cities, in this church, in our families, and the very souls of those who live there are at stake.

We want the victory, and it’s ours in Christ if we claim it through active discipleship.

I encourage you to fight the good fight in Christ’s army by being His true disciple.

The people of our church are depending on you.

Calvary Baptist Church, July 12 2026, PM