Making Disciples

0:00All right, let's pray, Lord, let's pray that you would but know this message that it'll be led by your spirit, given over to your spirit. Let's pray you speak to all of our hearts. Give us soft hearts to receive your word. Give us an eagerness also to want to obey your word, knowing that it's not by might nor by power, but by your spirit, even our obedience need to be empowered by you. More importantly, that helps us to understand your text in Jesus' name. Amen. All right, this morning, the message is entitled Making Disciples. I personally believe that this is probably one of the greatest commands that the Lord has given, just his body. It's helping others to know Jesus more,

1:00helping others to be solid in their relationship with the Lord. And this is the direction that we're going in. I'm going to read the passage first, and then we'll go back through it. So starting in verse 16, this was after Jesus' crucifixion. This is after his resurrection. Matthew says, then the 11 disciples went away into Galilee to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them. When they saw him, when they saw Jesus, they worshiped him, but some doubted it. And Jesus came and spoke to them saying, all authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth, 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, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you

2:02and low, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. So here we see Jesus commissioning, commanding his disciples to go out and make disciples. In verse 16, Matthew tells us that this commission to make disciples actually took place on a mountain in Galilee. It was a place appointed by the Lord, it was a place where the Lord wanted to meet them. And it's something that he repeated to them a couple of times. In Matthew 26, verse 32, just talking about this location after his resurrection, that he wanted to meet them there. He says, after I have been raised, I will go before you to Galilee. The angels, I'm sorry, the angel when both Mary's were there at the tomb, the angel had a message for the disciples

3:03to meet Jesus at this location. He said to them, go quickly until his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and indeed he has gone before you into Galilee. And there you will see him. And then as they were going to deliver this message, Jesus met them and said, do not be afraid, go until my brother to go to Galilee and there. They will see me. So it was very important that the disciples go to this location to meet the Lord because of this commission that he was going to give them. And it was on this mountain, in this particular place that in verse 17, Matthew says, when they, the 11, when they saw him, they worshiped him and noticed, but some doubted. So there were two reactions to the resurrected Jesus.

4:07There were two reactions to seeing him raised from the dead, standing right before them. There was praise and there was hesitation. Some worship, but some doubted. Some were joyful and some were skeptical. Now, this word doubted that Matthew uses here. It means to be of two minds about something. It means to waver. It means to be uncertain. It means to hesitate. It means to be split. It gives the picture of a person standing where two paths meet and not knowing which path to take. And this is some of the disciples. They see Jesus probably,

5:07if wounds in this hand, the nail prints, probably see the scars from the thorns. And they're having a hard time deciding which way to go. Do I fully buy into what I'm seeing? Or is this something that I'm not sure about that having trouble processing the risen lower? And there's something about the resurrection of Jesus. It causes people to stumble. His resurrection is something that causes people to stumble. They have a hard time with it. Even one of his disciples, Thomas, said when he heard that Jesus was risen from the dead,

6:08he said in John 20, 25, unless I see his hands, unless I see in his hand the prints of the nails and put my finger into the print of the nails and put my hand into a side, I will not believe. It says about the Sadducees in Acts 23, 8. It says the Sadducees said there's no resurrection. So even to this day people have a hard time accepting the resurrection of Jesus, him being raised from the dead. But for his disciples, this was something, they actually shouldn't have struggled with this. Why? Because Jesus told them over and over and over again, prior to his crucifixion, he told them repeatedly, I'm going to rise in three days. So they were for war and they had a heads up that this was going to happen. He said to them in Matthew 16, 21,

7:09it says from that time, Jesus began to show to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and the scribes, and be killed and noticed and be raised the third day. Matthew 17, 22 and 23, it says, now while they were standing Galilee, Jesus said to them, the Son of Man is about to be treated into the hands of men and they will kill him in the third day, he will what? Raise up. Matthew 28, I'm sorry. This is the verse I was talking about and I mixed it up with my title passage, Matthew 20 verses 18 and 19. Jesus says, behold, we are going to Jerusalem and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes and they will condemn them to death and deliver him to the Gentiles to be scourge and to crucify and the third day he will rise again. And then Mark 831, he Jesus began to teach them that the Son of Man

8:09himself must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and scribes and be killed. And after three days, what? Rise again. So guys, they had a heads up on this. They were told repeatedly that this was going to happen. And yet face with the reality of something Jesus told them, they doubt it. They doubted his word. And for us, it's very important that we don't waver hesitate or be uncertain about the word of the Lord. When we read his word, we have to take him at his word. Especially when it seems too good to be true.

9:09No doubt those disciples who doubted struggling about the death of Jesus and seeing him raise, that could have been something that they struggled with. This is too good to be true. And oftentimes, when we've been praying about a certain thing, stressed about a certain thing, and we get into his word, and he gives us a verse that fits perfectly to our situation and joy fills our heart and then we're like, this is too good to be true. There's no way the Lord would answer my prayer. Doubting. So when we hear from the Lord from his word, even if it's too good to be true, we have to take him at his word. And if we start this struggle with doubts about that,

10:10we have to take out thoughts captive and trust in the Lord with all of our hearts and lean on our own understanding. Because we have to resolve that because of who he is, he's a God who cannot lie. He's a God who does not lie. He's filled with truth and light. So whatever he says is gonna be true and is gonna come to pass. And we have to believe that even if it seems supernatural, God stands behind this word. And we just have to believe it. But something interesting here, even though some of these disciples doubt it, Jesus still gives the great commission he was still willing to use them even though they had doubts.

11:13There are doubts that incandor his calling their lives. Yes, they were struggling. Yes, they were hesitant. But because of the grace of the Lord, it's like, I understand, but I still have a question. I'm like, I understand, but I still have a call for your life. And your doubts aren't gonna hinder being used by me and being called by me. And we see this throughout scripture, Moses struggled with doubts, being called by the Lord to go to Pharaoh, go to Egypt to proclaim a message to let my people go. And when the Lord appeared to him at the burning bush, he was like, I can't do this, I can't speak. You have to find someone else struggling with doubts and yet the Lord still called them and used them. Joshua, after Moses died,

12:14the Lord called him to lead us people to take Moses this place, to be the leader over Israel and yet hesitation wavering doubt. The Lord was doubting God's call. Three times in nine verses in John, Joshua chapter one, the Lord had to tell him, be strong enough, good courageous, be strong enough to be courageous. Why? He was fearful. He was doubting that he's able to do what God had called him to do and what the Lord still used them. The Lord still called them. The Lord worked with those doubts and still had a plan for Joshua's life. Saul, alright, the first king of Israel, when it was time for him to take that office to take his position, he hid behind armor. He hid behind the battle equipment because he fell inadequate. He felt that he couldn't live up to what God was calling to do, struggling with doubts.

13:14You see this with Jeremiah the prophet when the Lord called him to be a prophet to his people, he was like, Lord, I can't, I'm too young and yet God's call remained and he was used by the Lord. So even though we may have doubts, even though we may struggle with what the Lord is calling us to do, that doesn't disqualify us from being used by the Lord. It doesn't disqualify us from God using us and having a call on our lives. But our disobedience will. Our disobedience will. Disobedience will hinder the call that God has on our lives. Are we going to struggle with doubts? Yes, but we cannot allow doubts to become disobedience. That's when that'll put the breaks on what God wants to do with us.

14:18So here we see even through the doubts of some of the disciples, Jesus still gives them the great commission to go and make disciples. Now in verse 18, look now in verse 18 with me, we see the reason why the disciples can go and make disciples of others. Jesus says, all authority has been given to me in heaven and earth. And because of this, because of all of his authority, then he says, go and make disciples of all the nations. So because of the authority of Jesus, because of the power he possesses, because he has the freedom and the right to command his disciples to go and make disciples of all the nations, because of this complete authority, we're able to do what he commands.

15:21The authority of Jesus, this all-encompassing authority that he has, he says, it was given to me. I now possess this because it was given to me and Scripture tells us that it was given to him by his father. Jesus said in Matthew 1127, all things have been delivered to me by who? By my father. And John 335, Jesus says, the father loves the son and has given all things into his hand. And then John 522, Jesus says, for the father judges no one, but has given how much judgment? All judgment to the son. So this complete authority, this complete power that Jesus has, it's given to him by the father. And this authority, notice it has no locate of bounds.

16:24It's not limited because of location. Jesus says, all authority has been given to me, notice in heaven and on earth. So all authority everywhere belongs to Jesus. There's no authority that exists that's not his. He has all authority everywhere. He has authority in heaven. He has authority on earth. And he has authority under the earth. Paul, when he was raised to the Philippians, says in Philippians 210, at the name of Jesus, how many knees should I bow? Every knee should bow. And notice the location in heaven, in on earth, in on the dearer, in every time confess that Jesus is the glory of the father. So Jesus's authority extends everywhere. All power, all authority, in all places.

17:28And it's from this position of authority, it's from this position of power that he gives the command go. David Gusik says, regardless, because Jesus has this authority, we are therefore commanded to go. It is his authority that sends us. It's his authority that guides us. And it is his authority that empowers us. So the authority of Jesus empowers us to make disciples. It empowers us to do what the Lord is calling us to do. Jesus would never command us to do something that he has not empowered us to do. His authority comes with his power. And if he's calling us to do something, he's going to equip us and empower us to do the call.

18:28Paul, when he was right into the Thessalonians, he said in 1 Thessalonians 524, he who calls you is faithful who will what? Also do it. He will provide power for the call. So for us in here today, we may be sensing a call from the Lord in whatever area of our lives. And we're struggling because we see our inadequacy, we see our insufficiency. And we're wondering, I don't know if I can take this step of faith. Notice because of his authority and his power, he enables us to do what he calls us to do. He gives power. And in this case, he gives us the power for discipleship. He gives us the power to go and make disciples. And this is why he tells us this at the beginning of verse 19 to go and make disciples.

19:35So what does it mean to make disciples? We know we have this command. We know that the Lord is looking for an obedient response to his authority and power to make disciples. But practically, what does it look like to make disciples? What is it to make disciples? To make disciples is to help others to become learners of Jesus. This is actually what their word disciples mean. It means to be a learner. It means to be a student and a apprentice, someone who learns from someone else. So to make disciples is simply to help others to become learners of Jesus. It's to help them to live a lifestyle where they're constantly learning from the Lord, surrendering to Him, being a submission, and being willing to receive from the Lord.

20:39It's all about a willing heart. It's all about surrender. And to make a disciple is to help a person get to that place of surrender where they're willing to allow the Lord to teach them. And that's what we're called to do to help people get to that place, to help them to become a learner. And actually, Jesus speaks on the principle of being a disciple, making disciples or discipleship. And something that He describes about Himself in Matthew 1129. He says, take my yoke upon you, meaning come into submission to me. Surrender to me. Allow me to be in control, step one, and what's next, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lonely and hard.

21:43So it's surrender to the Lord so that we can learn from the Lord. If we have a surrender heart, the Lord will teach us about Himself. And what we will learn is what He said, you will learn that I am gentle and lonely and hard. And I believe personally, this is, I think, the heart of the Lord behind discipleship is He simply wants us to know Him more. He wants us to know the truth about Him, that He is gentle, that He is humble, that He is gracious in loving and compassionate and forgiving. But we will never personally know and experience that until we come under submission and learn from Him.

22:43Because if we have that teacher of the heart, He's going to teach us about Him. And for us to make disciples is to help people come into that position as students to help them live in surrender to the Lord. Warren Worsby says, regarding disciples. He says, the term disciples was the most popular name for the early believers. Being a disciple meant more than being a convert or a church member. A disciple attached Himself to a teacher, identified with Him, learned from Him, and even lived with Him. He learned not simply by listening, but also by doing. And this is the call of the Lord for us to help people get to that position where they're learning from the Lord.

23:46Now, notice in verse 19, Jesus wants this discipleship making process to happen everywhere. He says, go there for make disciples of what? All the nations. Jesus's desire is for every human being everywhere to be a learner of Him. He died for all people everywhere so that they can have the opportunity to learn from Him that He is gentle and humble in heart. And I think He's really stretching us to get outside of this at home only mentality. Stretching us to get this mindset far from our lives where we only think about our physical location.

24:55What Jesus is calling here, and what He's telling us here, that when it comes to disciples making, He wants us to think globally. He says, all the nations, there's not a place on this earth where the gospel shouldn't be preached. There's not a place on this earth where a person shouldn't have the opportunity to become His disciple. Everywhere they need to hear about Jesus in all locations, they should have the opportunity to be a disciple. In Jesus' saying, this is the mindset we need to have. We need to think outside of our bubble, outside of our own location, we should be open to go to all the nations or support those who do go to all the nations.

26:08But we need to be involved when it comes to all the nations. And we have a wonderful ministry that we're a part of here at the church, the GSI organization who actually go to all the nations to make disciples. Jesus goes on to say in verse 19 regarding making disciples of all the nations. He says, not only should we go, not only should we make disciples, but also baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. So here Jesus is communicating the importance of disciples being baptized, the importance of disciples making a public declaration by full immersion into water that he or she belongs to Jesus.

27:10Jesus is saying, baptism is important. He's commanding this. And I know a lot of times we don't really see baptism as a command. We kind of better nigh out it. But Jesus thinks it's important where he's commanding his disciples to do it. So that tells us that baptism is important. Now it's important to know that being baptized only means salvation. It doesn't mean that baptism saves us. It doesn't mean that baptism protects or prevent us from going to hell. It's not a means of salvation, but what it is, it's an act of obedience. It's an act of response of obedience to the Lord from something he commanded.

28:11John Mark author actually says something pretty heavy when it comes to baptism. He says, the person who is unwilling to be baptized is at best a disobedient believer. And if he persists in his unwillingness, there is a reason to doubt the genuineness of his faith. If he is unwilling to comply with that simple act of obedience in the presence of fellow believers, he will hardly be willing to stand for Christ before the unbeliever world. Baptism, the Lord takes a serious. And if you haven't been baptized, there's an opportunity here September 27th, we're going to have a baptism back in the playground area to make that act of obedience to the Lord where we let him people know that I follow Jesus. I'm going to say to Jesus to say, go to all nations, baptizing the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

29:16And he goes on to say about making disciples in verse 20, teaching them to observe all the things that I have commanded you. So to make disciples, we have to help others to obey God's Word. We have to teach them how to apply God's Word through the lives. Jesus is saying, my word for disciple is something that they need to obey. And to make of the disciple is simply teaching others how to apply God's Word to their lives. How to apply verses and passages to their situation is teaching them how to do what the Lord has commanded through His Word. And the reason why obedience to the God's Word, the reason why obedience is so important to the words of the Lord, it's because this is how we experience spiritual growth.

30:22Spiritual growth happens when we apply God's Word to our lives. And this is a disciple. A disciple lives in obedience to the Word of the Lord because it causes growth. Peter says in 1 Peter 2, 2, as newborn babes desire the pure milk of the Word and notice that you may grow thereby. Jesus says in Matthew 4, 4, man should not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. So if we want to grow, if we want to become solid, if we want to be a disciple of the Lord, then we have to apply His Word to our lives. We have to live in obedience to what He tells us in His Word. And James really hits the nail on the head on how important it is to live according to God's Word.

31:28So keep your finger in Matthew and turn with me to James chapter 1 and we're going to look at four verses regarding the importance of Obey and God's Word. James chapter 1 22 through 25. So in the context of receiving the Word in humility, James says in verse 22, but be doers of the Word. And not here is only deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the Word and not a doer, and now he's going to give a description of what this person is like, he is like a man observing his natural face in the mirror for he observes himself, himself goes away in the medley for gets what kind of man he was.

32:43But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty, which is God's Word and continues in it and it's not a forgetful here, but a doer of the word this one will be blessed in what he does. So we see the importance from James of yes, we need to hear God's Word. Yes, we need to read God's Word. Yes, we need to receive God's Word. But more importantly, we need to obey God's Word. It's interesting when Jesus was in the wilderness being tempted by Satan, you know, tempted with the bread, tempted with jumping from the high point of the temple, tempted with becoming or worshiping Satan. What did Jesus do? Yes, scripture, right? He quoted the applicable scripture for each temptation. But he didn't just quote it and gave into the temptation. He has scripture, but he obeys scripture.

33:46Okay, showing us that yes, we need to know the word. Yes, we need to be able to apply scripture to certain situation. But the most important thing is we need to obey God's Word because it's through obedience to God's Word that we grow and become strong. And this is what disciples do. We obey God's Word. So Jesus says, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded. Go ahead and flip back. So Jesus ends our passage on making disciples by saying in the second half of verse 20, in the context of going, in the context of teaching, in the context of baptizing, he says,

34:48I can't allow him with you always, even to the end of the age. He's not calling us to make disciples on our own. He's not calling us to disciple others on our own. He's not calling us to this ministry of discipleship apart from his presence. He's calling us to help us to help others. He is the one who really should be knowing the disciple. He is the great disciple of men. And by letting us know that he's constantly with us, especially when we're going and making disciples. He's always to know that I'm here to teach you, to lead you, to help you, to speak through you so that others may be able to learn from me. He's with us as the disciple maker in order to make disciples through us.

36:00He would give us guidance, he would give us strength, he would give us insight, but we have to surrender to him. We have to be in tune to his spirit. We have to have a heart that says, Lord, how do you want me to go about this? Lord, what should I say to this person in this situation? Lord, what's 30? Do you want them to go through? Lord, what is the best way to go about this person? Surrender discipleship to him because he's with us to disciple others. We're collaborating with the greatest disciple maker ever. So this surrender to him. Paul says in regards to us being this collaborer with Christ, he says in 1 Corinthians 3.9, we are God's fellow workers, meaning we're going to work with that. He works all the machines, he does everything and we're just there for fellowship and obedience. So allow him to disciple others through you, through me.

37:11In closing, three kind of exhortations. I want to make from one word in verse 19 and it's the first word go. Number one, go make disciples even when we don't feel like it. We have to be willing to pour into others, invest in others when we simply don't feel like it. A lack of desire is not an exemption to discipleship. A lot of times the Lord will call us when we're empty, drain, don't have anything to give past us. Let's go talk to this person. Why? Because it brings us to a place of dependency on him. And often it will be in those times where our plates are full, when we've got a lot going on, when we're lacking energy that he will call us to disciple someone.

38:28And there are those signs where we just completely drain and lacking spunk or just desire. Paul actually ministered to the Corinthians from this position of being empty and spent. He says to the Corinthians and second Corinthians 12 15, I am very gladly spent. And I will be spent for your what? For your souls? Yes, I don't have anything in me now. I'm drained, I'm tired. But for the sake of your souls, I'll be spent for discipleship because your soul is on the line. Your relationship with the Lord is on the line. He told the Philippians in Philippians 2 17, yes, implying that he's already at this place. Yes, and if I am being what poured out as a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your what?

39:35Your faith. I'm glad and I will rejoice with you all. It's like I'm poured out. I feel like I don't have anything left. But because we're dealing with your faith, because we're dealing with your walking your relationship with the Lord. I'd be glad to be spent in order to disciple you so that you can become a learner of Jesus. But here's the good news. You know, like depressing me. I want to do stuff when I'm tired. A couple promises. Psalm says in Proverbs 11, 25. He who waters, he who pours out, he who gives of himself or herself will also be water. So as we're pouring out, the Lord is pouring in. We're just the vessel. So let's be open and willing to be poured out when we feel like we don't have anything, you know, anything else left.

40:42Feelings can be powerful, motivators, but feelings can be the biggest liars. Paul also tells us about God's greatest suspicion for every situation even when retired. He says, second Corinthians 2 9 and 8. God is able to make how much grace, all grace, about toward you, that you always having all what, sufficiency in all things that you may have an abundance for every good work. Lord, I'm going to give you more than what's enough for every good work. I'll give you more than enough to disciple others. I'll give you more than enough to be able to pour into others. I'll give you more than enough to invest in others.

41:45We have to reject our feelings when it's calling us to be disobedient to the Lord. We have to go against our feelings because our feelings at times will tell us there's no power. The Lord, because He promised to give power in the grace, a lot of times that's there when the feelings aren't. Let's go off of what He says in His Word regardless of how we feel and make disciples even when retired, even when He leads us to disciple others when we have a lot on our place. So go make disciples even when we don't feel like it. Secondly, go and make disciples of whoever the Lord leads us to. Sometimes the discipleship is going to happen with people we don't prefer.

42:47We may be the un-prefered people, but we have to be willing out of obedience to the Lord to disciple someone or others that we may not have a preference to disciple. Often times the Lord will bring difficult people into our lives in order to teach us about unconditional love. Titus probably had the most difficult people to disciple and yet he still calls it. You got to disciple them. Titus chapter 1, 10 through 13, Paul says to Titus, For there are many rebellious people, full of meaningless talk and deception, especially those of the circumcision group.

43:47They must be silent because they are disrupting whole households by teaching things, the ought not to teach, and that for the sake of dishonest game. One accrued own prophets has said about them, creedens are always liars, evil broods, lazy glutton. This saying is true, Paul says, therefore, rebuke them sharply and listen to them so that they will be what sound in the faith. Paul is like, I know what you got there, Timothy. I know it's hard. I know the aren't preferred, but for the sake of their faith, for the sake of them being sound in their faith, for the sake of discipleship to cause these people to become learners of Jesus. Dig in, disciple those we may not prefer. So let's be willing to go and make disciples of whoever the Lord leads us to. And lastly, go and make disciples wherever the Lord leads us.

44:51Again, we have to think outside of our box. We can't limit the Lord on where we only would choose to go. We have to be open to go wherever he wants us to go and wherever he will send us for the sake of discipleship. And if it's a short-term mission strip, we want to go. If it's midterm, if it's longterm, whatever the Lord is calling us to do and wherever he's leading us to make disciples, we can't put them in the box. We have to be open to be willing to go. The Lord will work with those dogs. Remember we talked about that earlier. If he's calling us, he's empowering us. And it may not be to another country. It may not be to another region or another state.

45:54It may be at work. He may be calling us to reach someone on our lunch break. He may be calling us to make disciples at a nursing home. He may be calling us to make disciples in the children's ministry. He may be calling us to make disciples in the youth ministry. In the youth ministry. Wherever the Lord is leading us to make disciples, we have to be willing to go. We can't put them in the box. We have to be open to any and every place to make disciples. Let's go wherever he leads. Closing by the power of the Holy Spirit, less resolve, even though it may be uncomfortable. This is a command. It's like, Lord, I am struggling but I want to be obedient to this commission of making disciples.

47:00I want to go and disciple whoever you may lead me to. I want to go and make disciples wherever you may send me. Lord help me to be obedient and what you're calling me to do. Any will. Because of all authority is his, all power is his as well. He will give power for the call. So let's be willing to make disciples regardless. And the reason why, because Jesus says, I am with you always, even today and of the age. So if you're here today, worships can come up. And you've been discipling your own life. You've been one who's been in control, making the decisions, calling the shots.

48:00And you're at a place now where it's like, this is hopeless. This is empty. This is pointless. And it's like that because the wrong person is in charge of your life. We have to surrender to the Lord to have purpose in life. We have to surrender and give our lives to the Lord in order to have hope. We have to surrender a life to Jesus in order to be saved. He died and rose from the dead so that he could teach us about himself. And if that's you, if you've never given your life to Jesus and you want to pass us down the rest of your life about the greatest person ever, then I invite you to come up and see me.

49:00Others or other pastors that are in here, you come and talk to us and we will talk to you and introduce you to the greatest disciple maker ever. And that's Jesus. That's great. Lord, help us to be obedient and what you call us to do. Help us just to take that step of faith, Lord, even when it's uncomfortable, because you empower whatever you call us to do in Jesus' name. Amen.