Make Some Disciples

What can we do to make disciples today?

Matthew 28:18-20 Jesus came and told His disciples, "I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. 19 Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

Ephesians 1:21 Now He is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else--not only in this world but also in the world to come.

Acts 1:8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be My witnesses

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Just a few days ago Jesus seemed to be totally powerless, he seemed to be unable to do anything for himself that day, but today we see that when we were looking at him on the cross we were so wrong about what was really going on and what he was capable of doing.

The man that took the role of the Passover lamb and humbled himself to die on the cross didn't do it because he didn't have the power to stop the events, oh no, he gave his life willingly. He could have easily taken the power of his captors away so that they could not finish their evil plans, he could have caused their bodies to become too weak to bring any harm to him but instead Jesus actually empowered them to accomplish HIS purpose. (John 10:15-18, Romans 13:1)

Jesus tells his disciples to go, go be the church, go tell others the good news, go and grow them into maturity in Christ. The question that we should never stop asking is this "What can we do to make disciples today?"

He didn't tell us to go and build programs and keep them forever because of tradition, he didn't tell us to go and make workers or tithers, he told us to go and have an affect on other people so that they will come to know him.

I have the power to be a witness for Christ, the power was given to me by Jesus I want to help create disciples in my church.

Help us Lord to remember the power that we have, you told us to go and make disciples and that is what we are to be doing. I pray that my church will become better equipped to make disciples.

Following Jesus

Following keeps on happening one step at a time no matter what happens.

 

John 12:12-19  The next day, the news that Jesus was on the way to Jerusalem swept through the city. A large crowd of Passover visitors  13  took palm branches and went down the road to meet Him. They shouted, "Praise God! Blessings on the One who comes in the name of the LORD! Hail to the King of Israel!"  14  Jesus found a young donkey and rode on it, fulfilling the prophecy that said:  15  "Don't be afraid, people of Jerusalem. Look, your King is coming, riding on a donkey's colt."

16  His disciples didn't understand at the time that this was a fulfillment of prophecy. But after Jesus entered into His glory, they remembered what had happened and realized that these things had been written about Him.

17  Many in the crowd had seen Jesus call Lazarus from the tomb, raising Him from the dead, and they were telling others about it.  18  That was the reason so many went out to meet Him--because they had heard about this miraculous sign.  19  Then the Pharisees said to each other, "There's nothing we can do. Look, everyone has gone after Him!"

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Jerusalem was probably in a state of chaos, there were crowds in the city with their animals for the Passover celebration, and there were people that were amazed that Lazarus was back from the dead. It reminds me of the commotion that Mary and Joseph experienced when they arrived in Bethlehem to register for the census.

The excitement goes a little bit higher when the word gets out that Jesus is on the way to Jerusalem. A crowd begins to parade out of the city to meet him as he comes to town.  The Pharisees are annoyed at the welcome party that Jesus received and unsuccessfully tried to persuade him to silence the people, they told Jesus but he told them that "If they kept quiet, the stones along the road would burst into cheers!" (Luke 19:38-40).

The crowds were amazed by Jesus. 

The thing the Pharisees most feared was happening right in front of them and there doesn't seem to be a way to stop it. "Everyone has gone after him!" And why not? Jesus has made their dull life of oppression and poverty so much better. He has fed thousands, given them help with their physical ailments and brought back relatives that have died. Following was easy and for a while it made their life better.

But are they really followers of Jesus? They followed him around but that didn't make them people of faith anymore than going to church makes you a Christian. A fully committed follower knows that Jesus isn't the key to your "best life now."

The Pharisees were amazed by the crowd.

These guys were deceived into thinking that they needed to worry about losing their position and power but Jesus knew better. Jesus knew that the crowds wanted something that he wasn't going to give them, Jesus knew that they didn't understand the mission that brought him to earth, he knew that they would turn against him in a few days. Jesus would disappoint the crowds when he didn't leverage his influence to overthrow the system.

Maybe it wasn't their position or power, maybe some of the Pharisees really believed that they were doing the right thing, in Deuteronomy 13:1-5 God instructed them to kill false prophets, maybe some of them believed that they were obligated to get rid of Jesus in the same way that Saul was persecuting the early church.

The problem with that thinking is that the Pharisees are the real false prophets and teachers that are leading the people astray. Somebody should be throwing rocks at them!

Following Has A Price

Luke 14:25-28  A large crowd was following Jesus. He turned around and said to them,  "If you want to be My disciple, you must hate everyone else by comparison--your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters--yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be My disciple. And if you do not carry your own cross and follow Me, you cannot be My disciple. But don't begin until you count the cost.

Jesus didn't smooth talk his way into getting followers, he didn't give the itching ears the stuff that they wanted to hear, Jesus told the crowds that following him was not going to be easy. Many times he told the crowds that his committed followers would have to make great sacrifices.

Make sure that you follow Jesus because of who he is not because of what you think he might provide for you. The truest test of following comes in the “even if” moments, even if my marriage falls apart, even if this cancer never goes away, even if I lose my job, even if we never get pregnant. Following keeps on happening one step at a time no matter what happens.

Isaiah 43:2  When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you.

Are you a part of the crowd or are you fully committed? The crowd questions God's love when the going gets tough. The crowd isn't going to keep on following when the goodies and benefits are surpassed by the struggles and disappointments that will surely come.

We question God's love in the difficulty but he knows that in those uncomfortable situations we grow and we make choices that increase our faith, he will put us in those situations on purpose because he wants so much more for us. It is only when we come through the tough times that our faith muscle gets exercised and it gets put on display for God's glory.

We are satisfied with where we are and who we are but God wants so much more for us. Our amazement with Jesus only requires us to use our brain. God is after our heart and that is what he needs to get us to be his committed followers!

Do we have the faith to follow Jesus one step at a time? Will we follow Jesus wherever He goes, knowing that it is God who leads the way?

Standing On The Promises

God's promises compel me to pursue living up to a higher standard.

2 Peter 1:4-7  And because of His glory and excellence, He has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share His divine nature and escape the world's corruption caused by human desires.

5  In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God's promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge,  6  and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness,  7  and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone.

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God has given me everything I need to live in this world that is corrupt and full of uncontrolled passions. As a child of God I have his nature within me to help me live drastically different than the rest of the world. So much has been given to me that I didn't do anything to deserve and I am responsible for my response to God's promises.

I love how the New Living translation says that I must "escape the world's corruption." As Jesus disciple, I am saved through faith without any effort on my part but now that I am saved I am compelled to discipline myself and make every attempt to live for him. This doesn't come naturally and I will need to resolve to work at the change that God wants to see in me.

True Christians will want to increase in their understanding of God and take on his character. Some of the qualities that I must grow in include:

✔  Virtue (moral excellence)
✔  Knowledge
✔  Self control
✔  Patience
✔  Godliness
✔  Brotherly kindness
✔  Love

My life should honor God in every way, all that I am and in everything that I do, in my worship and in my relationships. It is so easy to do things that dishonor him, we think more about pleasing our friends than we do about pleasing the greatest friend that we could possibly have.

Spiritual Training
1 Timothy 4:7-9  Do not waste time arguing over godless ideas and old wives' tales. Instead, train yourself to be godly. "Physical training is good, but training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life and in the life to come."  This is a trustworthy saying, and everyone should accept it.

The world wants us to focus on physical training which doesn't do anything for us when we step into eternity. Paul told Timothy that training for godliness comes with a promise of benefits for this life and in the life to come.

Putting my faith in the work of Jesus on the cross is the starting point on a long journey. I need to respond to God's promises by training myself spiritually to become more like him.

Thank you Lord for your promises, thank you for showing us a better way to live, I want to honor you by becoming more like you.

Everything I Need

There is only one source of strength that I need to live for God.

2 Peter 1:3-4  By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence.

4 And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.

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Checkout the unlimited power that we have in our lives to live the way that God wants. I did not do anything to deserve it, he is offering this power to all of his children, he has done this because of his glory and excellence.

God promises that we can live above the evil worldly sin nature because we have his nature in us. God's children are enabled to share in his nature and moral excellence which is far greater than the code of ethics that our world lives by.

My eternal life starts now, I shouldn't sit back and wait to be changed when I get to heaven, I should already be making progress toward being like my Savior. So many of God's children don't look much different than the rest of the world, they have not made any steps forward in becoming who God wants them to be, Jesus doesn't want us to wait. (Luke 6:40)

Ephesian 1:19-20  I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms.

My strength to start my eternal life comes from the enormous power from God. My old sin nature is nothing in comparison but it is still a stronghold that I will have to work to overcome. I can break the power of the hurts, habits and hang-ups that Satan wants to use to keep me from reaching my potential in Jesus but it cannot be defeated by my own efforts.

Jesus love for me and all of these great promises and power motivate me to live for him. When you see yourself through the eyes of God without Jesus sacrifice and then you look at yourself with Jesus you will begin to realize how much he has done for you that you didn't deserve. How could I not live for him? (2 Corinthians 5:14, Colossians 1:13-14)

You are an awesome God, full of glory and power! Thank you for choosing me and making your power available to me.

Responding To Jesus

How will you respond to the radical claims of Jesus?

John 6:41-42  Then the people began to murmur in disagreement because He had said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven."  42  They said, "Isn't this Jesus, the son of Joseph? We know His father and mother. How can He say, 'I came down from heaven'?"

John 6:60-69  Many of His disciples said, "This is very hard to understand. How can anyone accept it?"

61  Jesus was aware that His disciples were complaining, so He said to them, "Does this offend you?  62  Then what will you think if you see the Son of Man ascend to heaven again?

63  The Spirit alone gives eternal life. Human effort accomplishes nothing. And the very words I have spoken to you are spirit and life.  64  But some of you do not believe Me." (For Jesus knew from the beginning which ones didn't believe, and He knew who would betray Him.)

65  Then He said, "That is why I said that people can't come to Me unless the Father gives them to Me."  66  At this point many of His disciples turned away and deserted Him.

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John chapter six could be called the bread chapter, it starts off with Jesus asking Phillip where they could get enough bread to fill the stomachs of thousands of people, then the next morning the crowd demands to get breakfast. Jesus reply to them is that he is not so concerned about their belly but rather he is the bread of life that their souls are hungry for.

The people that were following Jesus around were not really followers of Jesus, he gave them so much evidence to prove who he was and yet they still didn't get it, just look at all of the miracles that he performed in Galilee. In Galilee he turned the water into wine, he healed the nobleman's son without even seeing him, he fed the hungry crowds but none of that mattered to this crowd. The evidence is overwhelming and their lack of understanding is inexcusable.

Matthew 11:23-24 "And you people of Capernaum, will you be honored in heaven? No, you will go down to the place of the dead. For if the miracles I did for you had been done in wicked Sodom, it would still be here today. I tell you, even Sodom will be better off on judgment day than you."

They are unaware of the danger in ignoring God's blessings. As immoral as those Old Testament cities were they are still better off than the city of Capernaum.

Even the guys that grew up with Jesus had a hard time believing and it wasn't until after the resurrection that they finally got it.

John 7:5 For even his brothers didn’t believe in him.

The crowds could handle the physical benefits of following Jesus, the free food and the free medical, the stuff that he did made him very popular but then the things that he said made them turn on him. They could take his works but not His words. As soon as He starts talking about being God's son and that he came to save them from their sins they are out of there.

Will You Believe?
John 6:67-69 Then Jesus turned to the Twelve and asked, "Are you also going to leave?" Simon Peter replied, "Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words that give eternal life. We believe, and we know You are the Holy One of God."

At the beginning of this chapter there are thousands of followers and by the end there are only eleven. There are plenty of people that want the Jesus that came to do good deeds and talk about being nice to each other but the number of people that are willing to follow Jesus as their Lord and Savior is much smaller.

Peter responds to Jesus question with another question, it is a question that we should all ponder, the answer to this question should help build up our faith. Where will you go if you turn from Jesus to follow something else?

Will you go to those who deny God’s sovereignty or to those that deny that he exists? Will you hang out with those that deny the power of sin or those that say it really isn't a big problem?

The world offers a long list of alternatives to Jesus but they all fall short of dealing with the issues. We may not have all the problems solved—the problems of following Jesus and saying yes to his teaching and his Lordship and his saving work.

-John Piper

We cannot possibly understand everything about God or his son Jesus, there are plenty of things in the Bible that baffle us and some things that we will find offensive, but where else can you go to solve the dilemma of your sin? Where else can you find the words that give eternal life?

Thank you Lord for your word that gives light to help me know you.

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You Have The Words Of Eternal Life (desiringgod.org)

Come And See

Jesus invites us to come and check him out.

 

John 1:38-46  Jesus looked around and saw them following. "What do you want?" He asked them. They replied, "Rabbi" (which means "Teacher"), "where are You staying?"  39  "Come and see," He said. It was about four o'clock in the afternoon when they went with Him to the place where He was staying, and they remained with Him the rest of the day.

40  Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, was one of these men who heard what John said and then followed Jesus.  41  Andrew went to find his brother, Simon, and told him, "We have found the Messiah" (which means "Christ").

42  Then Andrew brought Simon to meet Jesus. Looking intently at Simon, Jesus said, "Your name is Simon, son of John--but you will be called Cephas" (which means "Peter").

43  The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, "Come, follow Me."  44  Philip was from Bethsaida, Andrew and Peter's hometown.

45  Philip went to look for Nathanael and told him, "We have found the very person Moses and the prophets wrote about! His name is Jesus, the son of Joseph from Nazareth."  46  "Nazareth!" exclaimed Nathanael. "Can anything good come from Nazareth?"

"Come and see for yourself," Philip replied.

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Two men took the initiative and start following Jesus and it doesn't take long for him to realize that he has company. Have you ever been followed by a couple of rough looking men that you don't know? Would you walk faster and try and get away?

Jesus is a very kind and inviting person and he decides to break the ice with these two guys by asking a question. In the previous post we looked at the question that Jesus asked. The disciples make it clear that they are anxious to spend time with Jesus and they want more than just a few minutes on the road with him. (What Do You Want From Jesus?)

"Come and see" is the invitation that Andrew and John received from Jesus. The offer is the same one that we have today. He doesn't force himself of us but if we take a step toward him he will invite us to come closer and check him out and make an informed decision about who he is. His response to the disciples revealed nothing and it didn't promise anything, it only invited an opportunity to begin a relationship. Do you desire to be in the presence of God?

It didn't take long for Andrew to be fully convinced that he had found the Messiah and he wanted to share the awesome news with his brother Simon. That's the same response that most new followers of Christ have, they cannot keep it to themselves and hide it under a bushel, they seek to tell their family and friends so they may be brought to the Saviour. That is the thrust of mission work today. We do not wait for them to come to us, but we go for them and seek them out, and tell them that a Saviour is found.

Jesus invites Philip to "come follow me," Philip must have made up his mind about Jesus very quickly. We see another immediate reaction reaction, Philip's reaction was the same as Andrew's, he wants to find his brother right away and share the good news."

"Come and see," is the reply that Philip gives when Nathanael shows that he is skeptical that somebody that comes from the region of Galilee or the town of Nazareth could possibly be the Messiah. Philip didn't try to convince him, he didn't give him any apologetics or try to reason with Nathanael, he just wanted to show him Jesus.

So we should beg the people around us to lay aside their prejudices against religion, since there are so many definitions for the term Christian, we should be cautious about asking them to be one. We should just ask them to "come and see" Jesus for themselves.

John 7:52 They replied, "Are you from Galilee, too? Search the Scriptures and see for yourself, no prophet ever comes from Galilee!"

"Can anything good come from Nazareth?" Nathanael may have been skeptical or prejudiced but he certainly was not proud like the religious leaders that couldn't believe that the Messiah would come from Nazareth or from the region of Galilee. As soon as Jesus met  Nathanael he confirmed that Nathanael was a man of good character.

Jesus knows each one of us but do we know him? Do we know more about our definition of a Christian than we know about Jesus? A Muslim, a Jehovahs Witness, a Mormon or any other religious group, don't need to be convinced to become a Christian. They need to be shown Jesus for who he really is.

If we seek to know him then we will have a better chance of becoming like him. If we show Jesus to the people around us then we will overcome the prejudice that people have toward Christianity. After all of the history of messing things up, they can easily say, "Christian, can anything good come from that?"

Philippians 3:8 Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.

We don't need to show anybody a lot of knowledge or doctrine. We need to invite the people around us to learn about Jesus by inviting the to "Come and see."