Making Disciples Pt 1 - Introduction - Joe Sweet

and so tonight we want to talk about give an overview of what is a disciple and what is our part as a believer as a follower of jesus what's our part in becoming a disciple and helping to make disciples so if you have your bible and you want to turn and read along with me you can open your bible to ephesians chapter 4. i'll begin reading at verse 11. the apostle paul writes and he himself he's speaking of the lord jesus christ gave some apostles some prophets some evangelists and some pastors and teachers we call that the five-fold ministry apostle prophet evangelist pastor teacher for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry so we're breaking out of centuries-long tradition where the mindset of many in the church and i know it's not your mindset but historically the mindset of man in the church has been we have full-time ministers and they do the work of the ministry but that's not what the bible pattern is the apostle prophet evangelist pastor teacher is to train equip enable empower equip the saints for the work of the ministry the god's intention is that the body of christ be a living network of uh of members of his body knit together in love if you read later in this chapter were to be knit together in love and as a living net we catch the harvest and we do the work of the ministry the body so we're to be equipped to do the work of the ministry for the building up of the body of christ until we all come to the unity of the faith into the knowledge of the son of god to a perfect man that word means complete entire lacking nothing how perfect to the measure of the stature of the fullness of christ so he's saying god has given us apostle prophet evangelist pastor teacher what we call typically the full-time ministers to uh equip the saints to do the work of the ministry and to do that work unto this goal to build up the body until all of us come to the measure of the stature of the fullness of christ so that's god's plan for the body of christ now if you want to turn to matthew chapter 28 we'll read what's called the great commission and this commission is repeated in the gospel of luke and also in the gospel of mark but in matthew 28 verse 18 it says jesus came and spoke to them saying all authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth that's all authority jesus christ has all authority go therefore and make disciples of all the nations so that's his commission he's giving to his disciples go and make disciples now a disciple is a follower of christ and he said make disciples of all the nations the word nations is ethnos we could also translate it as all ethnic groups or make disciples of every tongue every nation every tribe that's what ethnos means then he says baptizing them in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit the word baptized means to immerse and wash the name of now we know i'm not going to give a teaching about baptism right now but the name of the father son of the holy spirit the word name means character and nature so really as we make disciples we're to immerse them and wash them in the character and the nature of the father the son and the holy spirit teaching them he's telling us the great commission the great commission is not simply to evangelize to evangelize means to proclaim the gospel message the gospel of salvation the gospel of the kingdom but that's only the first step in discipleship because when someone is born again now they begin a journey of becoming a disciple so he said as you go and make disciples he didn't say go and just preach to all the nations only he said go and make disciples of everyone every ethnic group immersing them baptizing them in the name of the father son of the holy spirit and teaching them so making disciples involves teaching teaching them what to observe all things that i've commanded you so now here's the the 12 or it was 11 because judas had hung himself but jesus is speaking to them and he said here's my commandment go into all the world make disciples we're going to look at what a disciple is followers of christ and he said as you do it immerse them baptize of course we do baptize literally in water we're to do that but there's another layer of meaning immerse them in the character and the nature of god and teach them to observe that means to obey everything i've commanded you so he commanded those 11 to make disciples so as they make disciples they're there to command the the new disciples to make disciples so that great commission is not only for the eleven it's for everyone who becomes born again we are the we are to take the commandments that jesus gave to the eleven were to take them and to observe them so the great commission rests upon every believer do you see it and then he says lo i'm with you always even to the end of the age so becoming a disciple of the lord jesus we're looking at that as we're going to learn about making disciples we need to first look at what is a disciple what are we called to do and then uh what is our part and we'll get to that in the future of how we can be involved in making disciples so becoming a disciple of the lord goes well beyond merely becoming a believer in jesus christ or someone who's been born again or saved what is a disciple the lord jesus describes some of the attributes of a disciple clearly in john chapter 15 if you want to turn there i'll begin reading it verse 5. jesus said i am the vine you are the branches he who abides in me and i in him bears much fruit for without me you can do nothing there's a lot of meaning a lot of depth in these words he's the vine where the branches without him we can do nothing if anyone does not abide in me that word abide means to stay connected to rest and to remain stay connected to rest and remain in him he said if anyone does not abide in me he is cast out as a branch and is withered so he said now why is that because if we don't abide in him we cannot bear fruit he's cast out and withered and they gather them and throw them into the fire and they are burned so this teaching directly from the lips of jesus christ obliterates the false teaching of once saved always saved that we can just claim our salvation but not abide in christ he's saying if you don't abide in me you'll be cast you wither and men take these branches and they throw them into the fire they're burned but he said in verse 7 if you abide in me and my words abide in you now there's a secret this is to abiding in christ is for his word to abide in us and we'll see that later the lord speaks of it again in john chapter 8. he said if you continue in my word you're my disciples jesus said in john chapter 6 the words that i speak they are spirit and they are life in john 14 verse 21 and verse 23 jesus said whoever keeps my word is the one that loves me keep means obey to keep it in our heart we can't keep it in our heart unless we read it and meditate on it repeatedly so he said the one that keeps my word is the one that loves me i will love him my father and i will love him and i will manifest myself to him he said in verse 23 if we keep his word the father and jesus will come and make their abode so as we progressively abide more and more in christ by his word abiding in us we carry more and more of the manifested presence of god we stay connected because all the life all the fruit of the spirit comes from jesus the fruits of righteousness we're told are by christ jesus so abiding in christ is how that happens if you abide in me my words abide in you you will ask what you desire and shall be done for you so here's a secret to answered prayer that his word abides in us and we abide in him then he said when you ask it'll be answered there's popular teachings going around today about the courts of heaven and you've got to write down your petition you've got to bring it a certain way and all that why do we have to come up with these complicated formulas when the words we're not going to get any greater revelation than the words of jesus christ he said if you abide in me and my words abide in you you'll ask what you will that would be granted see that's not complicated it's not some deep mystery i don't need to have some complicated teaching first john chapter 3 john the beloved who walked with god he said and this is scripture so it's the word of god if we ask anything according to his will we know he hears us and if he hears us we have the thing that we've asked so the elements for answered prayer are simple they're in the word they require us to know god's word for his word to abide in us for us to abide in him for us to ask according to his will and ask in faith if we do that our prayers are answered so he said if you abide in me and my words abide in you you will ask what you desire it shall be done for you by this my father is glorified that you bear much fruit so you will be my disciples so jesus gives us a good definition of what a disciple is if we're going to become a disciple we need to know what a disciple is number one he said someone who abides remains and rests in christ that's a progressive work we're all growing in that as we grow in the word so number one according to john chapter 15 according to jesus christ a disciple abides in the word in christ and the words of god remain and abide in him or her number one that's a disciple number two a disciple has a prayer life they ask and they receive and that's an ongoing lifestyle i'm god's i'm feeding on god's word god's word is transforming me romans 12 says we're transformed by the renewing of our mind according to the word of god it says we're digesting the word the entrance of his word brings light psalm 119 verse 130. john 6 jesus said his word is spirit and life as we feed on his word the life and light of christ is transforming our mind is renewed as we're growing in the word we ask according to the word we receive answers those answers cause fruit in our life so he said the disciple remains in the word the word remains in him number two a disciple prays and receives answers and then number three that the disciple uh because of the word in him and him abiding in christ and praying and receiving answers as a lifestyle fruit is happening he said my father is then glorified and you are my disciple so a disciple feeds on the word the word abides in them they pray regularly and get answers according to the will of god that brings fruit into their life and that glorifies god and that makes him a disciple that's one good definition we should know that if we say okay i want to be a disciple if we're weak in our devotional life in regularly studying and praying the word with the intention of doing what the word says if we're weak in that area we'll be weak as a disciple in john chapter 8 verse 31 and 32 jesus said to the jews who believed him if you abide in my word you are my disciples indeed and you will know the truth and the truth will make you free the word abide again means continue in it stay in it rest in it and the word is in you so it's impossible to be a disciple without having a lifestyle of regularly reading the word meditating the word and practicing the word in our life i uh a year or two ago i heard a poll quoted by mike mcintosh a respected pastor calvary chapel pastor in san diego he quoted a survey that was done that said that about 88 percent of professing christians in the united states do not read their bible regularly do not read the bible rarely read the bible about 88 percent what that means is 88 of professing christians are not it's impossible cannot be disciples we can't be a disciple we can't follow christ if we're not devouring his word and seeking to obey what's in there the entrance of his word brings light the psalms tell us that his word is a lamp and a light to our feet and to our path so only can we we can only follow jesus as we're following his word that's the path now the goal of a disciple is to be conformed into the image of jesus christ to to bear his nature and to do his works jesus said in luke 6 40 a disciple is not above his teacher but everyone who is perfectly trained will be like his teacher the word perfectly means fully so it's a process we could say like this a disciple is not above his teacher but every disciple who keeps following him and stays in the process stays in the word and the word stays in them and they keep following jesus they will eventually become like him so that's what jesus said in luke 6 40. the disciples not above his teacher what does that mean we're not above our teacher it means there's not a shortcut for us there's not an easier way to do it the way jesus did it is the way we're told in first peter 2 that jesus suffered for us and left us an example that we should follow in his steps so jesus rose a great while before day he went out into a solitary place and there he prayed we know that he studied the scriptures at age 12 he was found in the temple talking with the his elders and scholars and they were amazed at the wisdom coming out of him so at 12 he was in the word we know he knew the word because oftentimes when he was asked questions his answer would be have you never read for it is written so he was not only the word made flesh but the word came out of him continually so jesus is our example we're not above him if we're going to become like him we have to have a prayer life and a devotional life in the word that's what it means we're not a we can't just say amen i claim my salvation i'm a disciple no you're not above jesus if he had to get up in the morning and pray so do we but now it's not have to it's a privilege it's how we stay connected it's our lifeline but if we think we can walk in the flesh and still be his disciple no that's not it we're not above him there's not another way we can we can get to where jesus was without going the path he went that's what it means but when we're fully trained we'll be like him now to be like jesus that's what it says luke 6 40 we will be like our teachers so that's the goal of discipleship john 17 verse 4 and verse 6 gives a glimpse into the summary of the life of jesus as he prayed this prayer the night before he was crucified he said father i have glorified you on the earth i finished the work you gave me to do verse 4. in verse 6 he said i have manifested your name so there's two things about the life of christ and if we're going to be a disciple we want those two things in our life at the end of our life of a disciple whenever that is and the thing is none of us knows how long we have on earth some people have 18 years on earth some have 10 years on earth and then they go to heaven at 10 years old if they go to heaven you know some people have 30 years on earth some people have 50 years some have 80 some have 60. we don't know but whatever time we have we want to be able to say at the end of our time when we go to stand before the lord as if we're going to be a disciple we want to be able to say to the lord lord i finish the work you sent me to earth to do that's what jesus prayed and i did by your grace by your spirit manifest your name that means progressively as we're following jesus we are being changed into his image and every year every month every as time goes by more of the character and nature of christ is manifesting through us so the goal of a disciple is to be like his master we want to be able to say at the end of our life i manifested the nature of christ and i also finished the work god gave me to do that's two things don't get him confused i don't want to just do do the work that he gave me i want to manifest his name amen now jesus john the beloved said in first john chapter 2 verse 6 he who says he abides in him ought himself also to walk just as he walked first john 2 6 whoever says he abides in jesus ought himself also to walk just as he walked so that's the goal of a disciple and the good news is when we say yes to begin our journey of following in the footsteps of jesus god in his sovereignty causes all things in our life the good the bad and the ugly he'll cause it to work for our good to conform us to christ even our own mistakes even our sins he can read i'm not saying go out and sin i'm saying when we stumble god can even turn that for good he can humble us he can tell teach us to learn humility and to learn to repent and and to become and to change course and make corrections god causes all things for the believer who's following christ he causes all things to work together for our good even satanic attacks everything here's what it says romans 8 verse 28 we know that all things work together for good to those who love god to those who are the called according to his purpose the next verse tells us what that purpose is for whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son that he jesus might be the firstborn among many brethren many many like christ so god's saying he works all things everything that we go through god works it to conform us to christ now being conformed to christ is the goal of the disciple to manifest his name to do his work and that was the apostolic burden of the apostle paul to be apostolic means to have the the burden the image of christ worked into our soul and to have the burden of christ in our heart to do the will of god paul's apostolic burden in galatians 4 verse 19 my little children for whom i labor again in birth until christ is formed in you okay is our primary life goal to know the lord and to be transformed in the image of christ each of us is called the ministry we are to make disciples who will continue to grow in the word with the goal of conformity to christ jesus presenting a people to the lord who would be found blameless and perfect in christ was the burning motivation of paul's ministry that's the apostolic burden that's the great commission here's what paul said in colossians chapter 1 verse 28 him jesus him we preach warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom that we may present every man perfect in christ jesus to this end i also labor striving according to his working which works in me mightily amen this is why christ died for the church we're just giving an overview of what discipleship is why christ gave himself for the church so that he could wash us as believers with the water of the word he said in ephesians 5 christ also loved the church and gave himself for her that he might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word he might present her to himself a glorious church not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing but that she should be holy and without blemish so why christ gave himself on the cross is so that he might when we received him as our savior and our sins are washed away the process of us giving ourself over to his word he might wash us all through our life week after week month after month year after year he might wash us with his word so his word would sanctify us cleanse us and make us without spot or wrinkle so that he could present us to himself glorious that's why christ gave himself for us not so we could just pray the sinner's prayer and then here's some kind of a an americanized gospel that tells us how to have a good blessed life a comfortable life have all our needs met and have things go our way the gospel message is not a lifestyle enhancement message it's a transformation into the image of christ following in his footsteps so that when we get to the end of our life we can say i did the work you sent me to earth to do not i followed my dreams so that we can say lord by your grace your your word and your spirit changed me progressively to make me like christ so that's the goal of a disciple so jesus himself gave himself for the church so that she might give herself to his word he said if anyone loves me he will keep my word john 14 23 colossians 3 16 says let the word of christ dwell in you richly so to neglect the word or to be indifferent or sloppy about the word is to deny lord jesus the reason for him giving himself on the cross for us wasn't just to get us out of hell and i'm thankful for that aren't you that's the that's awesome we could just stop for 10 000 years and praise his name but that's not the only reason it wasn't just to get us out of hell it was to transform us into his image and that was paul that's what discipleship is about we're going to get we'll continue in a moment about the process of discipleship but that's what was burning in paul's heart not just to make converts to make disciples people that understand when you're born again we're a new creature in christ old things are passed away we've been washed in the blood of jesus our sins are forgiven we have an eternal purpose now to know the lord to be conformed to him and abide in him and his life to manifest through us we have a job to do every person that's born again has a job to do on this earth and it's not for you and me to decide what's my dream it's for us to come to the lord and say lord what's your will assign me lead me all do lord whatever you want as we see that uh in uh the book of revelation we see standing on mount zion the overcomers that were standing with the lord on mount zion he said these are those who follow the lamb wherever he went that's what a disciple is that was paul's burning passion to know him i'm reading out of philippians chapter 3 verse 10. paul wrote the book of philippians toward the end of his life so he was an older man and he said that i may know him now this is paul who's already been caught up to heaven he's had numerous encounters face to face with the lord jesus christ he's filled with a spirit he said probably more revelation than any man alive on the planet and maybe even in history who knows he's written more than half the books of the new testament he's planted churches fought demons moved in all the gifts raised the dead all every kind of thing you can think of paul did it he's riding toward the end of his life philippians here's a cry of his heart that i may know him i want to know him more because to the degree that we know him we're changed it's by beholding him that we're changed peter writes set your hope fully upon the grace that should be given to you at the revelation of jesus christ so having the person of jesus christ made known to our heart is what transforms us and god uses his written word and when we meditate on the written word it becomes the living word and the spirit of god the holy spirit breathes and moves through the word of god to reveal christ to our hearts so paul said that i may know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship or the partnership of his sufferings being conformed to his death now if we read first corinthians chapter 13 paul's description of what love is when paul begins he said love the first word that follows love is suffers he said love suffers long anyone that loves will suffer because when we love god we take on his desires become our desires and when his desires aren't being fulfilled we suffer when we love other people when they hurt we hurt when things aren't going well for in their walk with god we suffer when we follow jesus to do his will there are evil powers in this world satan is called the accuser of the brethren isn't he everyone paul wrote all he didn't even say those who are godly he said all who desire to live godly will suffer persecution so jesus warned all of us sufferings are part of the deal but paul reminded us he said paul called it all the sufferings will ever endure in this life paul called it a light affliction that's what he called it a light affliction which is but for he called our 70 or 80 years a moment he said this light affliction which is but for a moment is working for us an exceedingly great weight of glory so paul realized that part of the process of being conformed to christ involves some degree of suffering it's not all suffering there's joy there's peace there's exhilaration in the lord the right the kingdom of god is righteousness peace and joy there is all of that and there is also suffering and paul knew that without suffering we can't be conformed to his death why would he want to be conformed to his death because it's by being conformed to the death of christ that the life of christ can manifest from us the death of jesus on the cross is the zenith it's the pinnacle of the manifestation of the ex of the display to all creation of the love of god there is no greater love jesus said than the man lay down his life for his friends so jesus displayed that god didn't just say i love you jesus came in the flesh and romans chapter 5 said god manifested his love and that christ died for the ungodly so christ's death is the highest manifestation of the love of god we're called to that we're called to become like christ that means we're going to have to at times i don't want anybody to get a wrong idea it's not all pain and suffering there's there's even a way that as we walk with god even through our hardship we haven't we can have an inner peace an inner buoyancy and a strength from the lord to keep going and god gives us times of refreshing there's blessings all along the way but suffering is a part of it so paul said i want to know him i want to know the power of his resurrection i want to know the fellowship of his sufferings without the fellowship of his sufferings we will not be conformed to christ being conformed to his death if any means i may attain to the resurrection from the dead he's not talking about the physical resurrection because that's going to happen to every believer whether they end up being conformed to christ in this life or not every believer depending on how hard they follow after christ is probably at different levels of being conformed to christ so paul's not talking about the physical resurrection but the moral the spiritual resurrection where a person is completely abiding unhindered unbroken in christ his soul is conformed to christ as flesh is crucified paul said i'm pressing for that not that i've already attained or am i already perfected but i press on that i may lay hold of that for which christ has also laid hold of me so he's now telling us the reason why christ laid hold of your life and laid hold of mine the reason christ laid hold of us is that we would press after him to know him and allow him to conform us to him that's why he laid hold of us brethren i don't count myself to have apprehended but there's one thing i do forgetting the things which are behind me all of us need to do that we need to forget everything of our past that we've repented of and it's under the blood of jesus forget it jesus said well actually the word of god says in hebrews chapter 8 verse 12 i will remember your sins no more so when we confess and repent and forsake our sins stop looking back so paul said he said i i'm not there yet but one thing i do i forget the things that are behind me and i'm reaching forward to the things which are ahead i'm pressing toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of god in christ in christ jesus now that upward call he was talking about was knowing the lord partaking of the fellowship of his sufferings and all of us if you're a believer and you're following jesus you're going through some degrees of suffering people reject you anybody been rejected people misunderstand you anybody been misunderstood people will betray you anybody been betrayed people backstab you anybody been backstabbed you'll go through mental oppression from demonic things trying to attack your mind anybody been there the enemy will try to attack you with physical infirmities anybody been there yeah we're we live in a fallen world surrounded by demonic spirits that are hostile to the kingdom of god and people who were like we were before christ that are unregenerate the bible says the sons of disobedient are it's the spirit of this age works in them so it's just part of the deal but he said i'm pressing for the upward call of god in christ jesus to know the lord be conformed to him now listen to this therefore let us as many as our mature have this mind and if in anything you think otherwise god will reveal even this to you what's he saying if we're going to be a disciple he said let us who are mature have this mind i'm going after union with jesus i'm not going to be afraid of the fellowship of his sufferings i want to know the power of his resurrection i want to be conformed unto his death in other words it's going to you know it's going to take the grace of god and it will be the grace of god amen here's the promises of god to be conformed unto his death means to be conformed unto divine love that's what it means came and showed us i'm going to show you what the greatest degree of love is is to be falsely accused unappreciated lied about and gladly lay down my life for you and pray for those that are hating him and spitting on him while he's dying that's what we're called to how many know we're never going to get there unless we go through something but it's glorious it's a place of freedom so that's what paul said that's what our calling is to to to know him conform to him we can just say it like this to know the love of god and allow the word of god and the spirit of god to conform us to that and here's the promise of god god will do it first thessalonians 5 23-24 now may the god of peace himself sanctify you completely may your whole spirit soul and body be preserved blameless at the coming of the lord jesus christ he who calls you as faithful who also will do it here's another prayer in first thessalonians by the way let me not go too fast that's an awesome promise i would encourage everybody to memorize it and hold it in your heart now may the god of peace himself sanctify you completely may your whole spirit soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of the lord faithful is he who calls you he also will do it we need to believe that word hold it in our heart even when there's times where it feels like we're stumbling and we're not doing very well and our flesh might even be manifesting we need to keep our eyes on jesus and say lord you promised you would sanctify me completely and you would be able to preserve my whole spirit soul and body blameless until the coming of the lord jesus christ faithful are you who calls us you also will do it our faith has to be in his grace and never give in to some man-made doctrine that says god doesn't expect us to be perfect or just stay where you're at god understands that's not what the goal of a disciple is the goal of discipleship is supernatural the process of discipleship is supernatural it's philippians chapter 2 verse 13. it is god who works in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure that means his spirit gives us the will to do it he come on somebody so we shouldn't when things are hard or we what i mean hard we can see our own weakness we can see the areas of our life that are so not like christ yet and be discouraged we become discouraged because our hope is in us instead of in christ he's our sanctifier jude 24-25 now unto him who's able to keep you from falling and to present you fallens before his presence with exceeding joy to the only wise god be glory that's a faith walk we've been bought with a price we are no longer ours he's taken us up ephesians chapter 2 verse 10 you are his workmanship so a disciple believes that it says i'm his workmanship i may stumble along the way the righteous man falls seven times but he gets up and knows that god is working in me to will and to do according to his good pleasure to transform us into the image of christ that's what a disciple is a disciple says i want the will of god done in my life i want to get to the end of my life and say lord by your grace i did your will by your grace your name was manifested in my life so god is able to sanctify you completely if being conformed to the image of christ that paul was panting after to know him and to be conformed unto his death again when it says unto his death put the supreme act of love all right so paul said i want to know him i want to be conformed to the supreme act of love that jesus manifested and paul did it his life was a living sacrifice he went through shipwrecks stonings beatings scourgings persecutions read about it a day in the night in a deep trouble in the country trouble in the city unwavering the holy spirit prophesied that this every city you go to he said chains and imprisonment await you paul said none of these things move me that i might fulfill my ministry and the calling so paul became a living sacrifice he was conformed into the image of jesus christ and that's our calling it's not for super saints it's for all the saints because it's not based on our ability it's based on our trust in christ and if we trust him we'll follow him amen so to conform us to the love of christ we have another promise first thessalonians 3 verse 12 and 13. may the lord make you increase and abound in love to one another and to all just as we do to you that is my prayer growth in our walk with god is always going to be a growth in the holy spirit illuminating our hearts to areas where we're not walking in love and changing us so that we grow in love that's spiritual growth love for god love for people love for god means obedience love for people means to love our neighbors ourselves she said the lord will make you do it isn't that good the lord will make you increase he'll make you abound i pray this to the lord because when we become convinced of our own weakness is where our spiritual growth starts accelerating when we become convinced of our own of our inability to be conformed to christ is when we start growing because now our faith is in him and god you're the one who's able to make me increase in love you're the one who's able to make me overflow in love come on claim it ii peter said that all things that pertain to life and godliness have already been given to us in christ jesus so we follow jesus not as someone who's on our own leaning on ourself trying to be like christ no we follow him as the vine that we're connected to and as we feed on his word and have that prayer life going his spirit and his word transform us his grace does the work anyway that's the goal of a disciple i'm just giving us an introduction tonight into discipleship and what god wants us to be as christians he wants us to become disciples we haven't even scratched or gone toward the part of what is our part as believers in the goal of making disciples we're not called to make converts or make believers a believer's a first step you believe good that's the first step are your disciples lots of believers few disciples god's given us everything that we need to abide in christ second peter one his define his divine power has given us all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of him who called us to glory and virtue so we're a new creation in christ his spirit is in us ephesians 1 says we've already been blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places come on let's follow jesus we're new creatures our past is gone our sins are washed away the spirit of christ lives in us we've been blessed with every spiritual blessing all things that pertain to life and goddess are given to us as a free gift we earned none of it we deserve none of it it's all given to us in the grace of god believing that we follow him i'm not following the lord courageously because i think that i'm strong and i can do it i'm following the lord because i believe his grace can keep me i believe his spirit can transform me i believe he can do things in me that i can't change that's what a disciple is and he expects us paul said everyone that is mature has this mind meaning this please hear this anyone that's a believer that does not have the passion to be pressing for closer walk with god so they can be conformed to him even knowing even partaking of the fellowship of his sufferings you are not a mature you're not on the path of maturity he said everyone that's mature has this mind okay so if we're going to go on to maturity we got to have that mind we got to have the mind lord i'm going all the way amen we have a limited amount of time in this life that's why paul called it a race it's a race i don't want to squander time not only that not only squander don't squander the time don't squander the trials the painful times are the times when when we can grow the most that's paul understood that times when we're hurt times when we're disappointed times when we're perplexed times when we're betrayed those are the times that god will work in us to die to our ego die to our flesh and and let his love rise up in us that's how we're conformed nobody gets out of here without going through suffering whether listen whether you're saved or unsaved the only thing is even if a believer and there are many that are believers but they don't want to go all the way with christ they're here on earth they want to be saved they want to keep they don't want to they want to don't want to have big sins you know they want to keep a clean life but they want to live their dreams you'll never be a disciple that way to be discipled jesus said unless you forsake everything you can't be my disciple a disciple says i counted the cause lord do whatever you want with me i'll live wherever you want i'll do whatever you tell me that's a disciple now everybody's going to suffer if you're a disciple or not a disciple you're going to suffer you're saved or not saved you're going to suffer you can't avoid it but for the person that's following jesus all of the suffering works for our good all of it propels us forward all of it has eternal value because it's going through it or we're being changed that's what paul said this light affliction works for us an exceedingly great weight of glory so be a disciple now the pathway let me just finish a couple more versatile finish for tonight this is our introduction to discipleship what is discipleship jesus said in matthew 4 19 and he repeated this throughout the gospels follow me and i will make you he said to his disciples fishes of men but you can put in whatever god's called you to be not everybody's called to be a full-time evangelist like these disciples were they were apostles they were they were more than evangelists but not all of us are called to that but whatever part god's called you to here's god's promise to you you follow me and i the lord will make you that's discipleship and it's liberating it's joyful it should fill us with confidence god will make us anybody that follows christ will be a success and i'm not saying that by the world standards the world may not see you as a success but you'll stand before god one day and be a success anybody that follows jesus he will make you that's disciple that's the process and again the pros the process of discipleship is the process of us following in his footsteps and it's a supernatural process because philippians 2 verse 12 and 13 says work out your salvation that doesn't mean don't work out the forgiveness of your sin the salvation means the transformation of your soul work it out with fear and trembling knowing this it is god who works in you both to will and to do now that means whenever you get face something and it's really hard just like jesus faced it in the garden of gethsemane it's really hard there's a part of him that did not want to do it wasn't there there was a part of him but he prayed father not my will but thine be done the bible says an angel came from heaven and strengthened him you see when jesus walked the earth he never ceased to be god but philippians says he emptied himself so he emptied himself of all divine privileges and he walked as a man i'm not saying he was he ceased he was always god but he walked as a man so he had to get up in the morning and pray to be filled with the holy spirit he had to pray and wait on god to find out the will of god that day the holy spirit in him had to speak to him and guide him he walked as a man if he didn't he couldn't be our example but first peter chapter 2 says he's our example so the process of discipleship is supernatural god works in us he does the willing what i'm saying when we face something difficult that's where we look to him we rely on him we say god oh you know there's so much part of me that doesn't want to do this but the other part of me wants to do your will god will you please work in me right now to will to will make my will agree with yours that's discipleship it's following jesus let my will lord be conformed to yours amen the goal of a whole thing is to to love god with all our heart love our neighbors ourself the process of discipleship is applying the word to our own heart as we relate to god and to each other so let me sum up our review we'll conclude this introductory message on what a disciple is and and we'll in the weeks to come we'll talk about how we can pursue being obedient to the lord to fulfill what's right there in the wall go and make disciples at the beginning of this message i read to us from the word of god what jesus told his disciples he said go and make disciples and teach them to do everything i commanded you so that means the disciples that they made had to be commanded to make disciples agreed all right let me say it one more time jesus told his disciples go into all the world make disciples and then teach them to obey everything i commanded you that means when they made new disciples they were to command them now you go make disciples so it's the five-fold ministry that equips all of us to make disciples now we can't make a disciple if we're not pursuing discipleship ourselves okay let me sum up so today we're just talking we're giving an overview an introductory message on what is a disciple what is the goal of discipleship it's to be like christ let me sum it up a disciple is someone who continues in the word of god number two the word of god progressively abides in us more and more number three we have an ongoing prayer life this is from john chapter 15 we we're continually asking god for things that are according to his will and we're continually receiving them four that causes fruitfulness in our life and by that fruit god is glorified and we are therefore called his disciple we abide in him his word abides in us we have a relationship with god where we're answering prayers he's talking to us we're talking to him prayers are coming and it causes fruit in our life and that glorifies god we're a disciple then the goal of a disciple is to follow in the footsteps of jesus according to his word so that at the end of our life we can say lord i finish the work you gave me to do and i manifested your name the process of discipleship is supernatural it impart it involves us walking according to the word applying the word to our lives while god is supernaturally at work in us as we seek to be obedient to finish the work god gave us and love people so that's kind of a nutshell overview what a disciple is what the goal of a disciple is the process of discipleship [Music] amen is

Channel: ShekinahWorshipTV

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Keywords: Joe Sweet, Shekinah Worship Center

Id: tqWbHkkD-EY

Length: 57min 32sec (3452 seconds)

Published: Sat Oct 24 2020